The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-15 00:00:00

SADLER'S WELLS THEATRE:

A new nautical melo-drama has been pro
duced at this Theatre, by Mr. Harmer, which,
for splendid scenery, for telling effects, and for
picturesque groupings, surpasses any of his for-
mer efforts. .It is entitled. the Black Rover,
and represents the adventures of a certain Ed-
ward Martin (Mr. H. Marston), who, having on
an unjust accusation of smuggling been. pressed
ou board a man-of-war, is, by the tyranny of
his officers, forced to run away from the ship,
vowing vengeance on his persecutors. He turns
pirate, and,, as the ,Black Rover, becomes the
terror of his oppressors. The opening scene, re-
by moonlight,
) and the. effect of
iptshr ee sennitoi
onngl
exceedinglyi
gt hhet coonba
es
the
etfi
waterii 1 Cornwallis
.c xcelle i 1 t 1 y . ma .
naged. Another scene, representinpgerarcedtisastanat
which it it also possesses the merit of
represents the deck of the
view of
°off Sarti,
pAailctiictdilni age lt.'
the
el\
slcoeunnet ~0
fi. s
pro-
fesses to be a representation. The last scene of
faithfully de
the first act, representing the boarding and cap-
ture of a frigate by the pirate, is admirably ma-
naged.frigate ; the pirate ship appears in the distance,
bears down upon her, and captures her by board-
ing. The stage
In the second act we had some beautiful
views of West India scenery ; and in the third
we were removed from the torrid zone to, the
frozen regions of the North, and it was amongst
the icebergs of the Polar Seas that the
denouement took place. The disappearance
of the icebergs, and the appearance of the
monster-ship at the conclusion, was one of the
most magnificent effects ever attempted, and the
curtain fell amidst the loudest applause. Marston,
as the pirate, was, as he always is, admirable;
and he was ably supported by r. and Mrs.
Honner. The former acted the part of a rough,
honest, open-hearted Jack Tar, a line of charac-
ter in the delineation of which he is treading fast
on the heels of T. P. Cooke. The serious parts
of the drama were well relieved by Mr. Herbert,
who, as a nigger cook, elicited roars of laughter.
We cannot close this notice without paying a
tribute to the excellent acting of Mrs. Richard-
son, as the Widow Morton. She had but little
to do, but that little was done excellently well.
Her dying scene was a beautiful piece of acting.
Honner must have been at an immense expense
in fitting out The Black Rorer. His cruise, how-
ever, will be a long and successful one, and no
doubt the priie-money he will bring home will
I repay his outfit withexcellent interest.

THE FINANCIAL MOVEMENT.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
hope to convince your readers that the -pre-
sent financial movement carries with it some great ans..-
logies from history and human nature ; whereas our
opponents bring forward nothing but transparent fal-
lacies.

First, We have with us the fixed opinion of her Ma-
jesty, whose character unites the intrepidity of her fa-
ther's royal line, the political prudence of King Leo-
pold, the affectionate disposition of her mother's family,
and the great qualities of the lamented Princess Char-
lotte ; and how can it be borne, that after losing in so
sudden a manner, all the illustrious persons near the
throne, who held liberal opinions, the hopes which de-
volve on her Majesty as the cherished enfant de la mai-
.son should be blighted by this fourth Potignac attempt?
2. The history of these realms has uniformly turned
on a strict defensive alliance between monarch and bo-
rough towns against barons ; with this principle the ori-
ginal Reform Bill harmonized, and princely favour
raised into legislative power, cities till then unknown to
the Constitution. The present movement is a more di-
rect manner of asserting their indefeasible clainis to
equality.
3. We have universal history on our side. The mis-
fortunes of France arose from the corrupt monopolies
of Colbert, styled Grand, because he was too grand
to listen to the laissez faire, laissez passer, of his
merchants; he had his reasons for protecting each, till
his unproductive taxes paid by poor to rich —alms •
taking wealth, alms-giving poverty—withered every
branch without exception. Maurepas, Necker, and
Monseigneur de Calonne, finance ministers after
these evils had become wholly insupportable, gave
way to a general rabblementing which ended in hideous
regicide, as ship-meney and other expedients sealed the
fate of Charles I. In modern France, the restoration de-
pended on our paying the civil list of Louis XVIII. BOna•
parte landed at Cannes because his civil list was not paid,
and Villele now predicts a financial" July." Fiscal errors
united the Provinces against Philip ll.—the Stamp Act
united the States against George 111. Spain, perfect speci-
men of restrictive system—perfect specimen of monarchy
in dissolution. Discovery of America suppling an ample
currency, alleviating the weight of debts and taxes, led to
the revival ofEurope, and even the Reformation itself, such
as it was. Athens was great under Themistocles and Peri-
cles, because the rich paid all the taxes and the people
had all the power. Free trade in corn confirmed the
strength of Phoenicia and Rome ; civil wars arose from
the debts of Caesar and Antony. Our own cotton
trade thrives from having escaped protection; China is
ruined by neglect of the people, together with absurd
ideas about specie.
4. If in the opposing scale the venerable associations of
Church and King, Bible and Crown, were to be found,
our cause would be much weaker ; the catechism of in-
fancy, the soothing aspect of a parish church, will always
be revered : but in fact, these traditions and the unsus-
pecting persons who depend on them, are all sold to one am -
bitious man, as an elegant investment of his fiirtune. So have
I seen in a large collection of pictures, the portrait of Raf-
faelle painted by himself, whose mild complaining eyes,
looking out as it were for a congenial mind, seemed to
shrink with terror from the Peel arms, double lackered
on the frame. -
On the other side we find nothing but fallacies, which
would long have disappeared if any one vested interest,
any chartered body, any coterie, caucus, garrison, mono-
poly, University, corporation, academy, oligarchy, or Par-
liament had been profitably concerned in demolishing them.
Most of the corn fallacies have been ably pointed out, or
if any have not yielded to the vast intelligence applied by
Ebernezer Elliot and his followers, it is because they
are nbt farmers, because English general society cares
little about farming, because the agricultural interest
have less georgic simplicity, less knowledge of the sub-
ject than any body of men in the world. For instance,
Lord Stanley spoke as if all tolerable ground must pro-
duce either corn or grass—this was said at a cattle-
show. Many Noblemen who attend on these occasions
(like the portly creatures they behold) show more
blood than sense, and are equally distinguished for high
breeding and low views. But did his Lordship never
lift his glass to survey one of the parish allotment fields
in August, in the golden sunshine ? He would they.
have seen the people in their birth-right land, trudging
many miles to cultivate halfa quarter ofan acre of the worst
ground ; but he would have seen neither grass nor corn,
except here and there a single shock of wheat, and per-
chance the wakeful ingenuity of a family exerted to scare
the birds from this little luxury. Cattle shows and phea-
sants do not properly constitute an agricultural body.
These Sabine tillers, sua si bona norint, would repudiate
the petits profits they now procure; they would be pre-
pared to show the precise manner in which exclusion
ruins them, as it does all trades protected from com-
petition, and would pay twenty millions yearly to be
rid of it, rather than receive that much to strengthen
the blood-cemented fabric. The great landowners
must long have seen that differential duties do not per-
manently improve rents : their object in maintaining
them must be to keep their inferior acres in cultivation,
so that when Lady Bountiful extends her drives beyond
the deer park, she may not be shocked with an ap-
Faranee of desolation. For this purpose, certain "doses
of capital " are necessary—these are given on the faith
of Parliament prices. Another security for the capitalist
is, that when a bank contraction, or an uncontrollable
abundance, hauls down prices, paragraphs appear, an-
nouncing that some landlord has thrown back .20 per
cent. at his last "audit." I venture to remind your
readers who may not be farmers, that land should be
kept clean and dry, and well manured ;—to secure
these objects, half the soil of England requires a
great outlay in draining and trenching, the surprising
effects of which are every day more obvious. The
landlord having no security for his rent under Corn-laws,
cannot undertake the expense ; the tenant having no
tenure of his ground can still less afford it, especially in
Ireland. Also, to keep the land well manured, a varied
succession of green crops is requisite in summer, without
which stock cannot thrive in the stall : this involves the
necessity of a large rotation, with a small proportion of
white straw crops and a complete change in the whole
plan of farming, now carefully adjusted so as to rack the
ground, to take the heart out of it by repetition of ex-
hausting crops ; the produce favoured by climate and
comparatively secure from injury being discouraged, the
farm houses tumbling down, and the tenants—
Not knowing which, to stand or fly,
With rent-rolls mounting zenith high,
They have their choice to run away
- Or hibtnir for a groat a-day.
England is but one huge dilapidated farm going out of
lease without any prospect of renewal. If we are to re-
ject all dependance on foreigners for bread—if we are to
despise the consideration that commerce loves, liberty
and peace, that mutual intelligence promotes charitable
feelings (an argument which Lord Shrewsbury at least,
ought not to give up, for it was an emphatically free
trade in corn which brought the first apostle to Rome,
and thus in a manner founded the apostolic chair)—if we
are to relinquish all this, and be again the penitus tote
divisos orbe Britannos, then, there is nothing for it but
to begin by prohibiting the growth of corn at home
during the next five years, and so recover the heart of
the ground before we throw down the gauntlet.
The currency fallacies are chiefly verbal, and arise
from the distastefulness of the inquiry. Members of
Parliament refuse to study what " bores" their consti-
tuents—the press avoids it—above all it is Arabic to the
reporters, and now that Parliament has made itself
dictator, that the reported debates are our laws, and
that most of the speeches must be re-written to make
them readable, this aversion is a serious evil. Hence
arose the failure of Mr. T. Attwood, who besides had
some unexplained reasons for being obscure. The cur-
rency will never be understood, till the daily press con-
descends " to popularize the discussion and put the
many-headed au fait. Why do not the learned oftener
avail themselves of this power ? Unless the editors had
a peculiar talent of justice, and great freedom from
egotism, they could not conduct their papers a month :
their " all- sidedness" does not imply both-sidedness ;
they see too much of human errors, as Walpole said
from his own experience, not to be warned and guided
by the sad spectacle.
The metals being stationary in amount, are inapplicable
to the domestic transactions of a reading and writingpopu-
lation so rapidly augmenting. Pecchio or Adam Smith
knew nothing of bank-notes as a "universal solvent." Sup-
pose they had written before the discovery of Mexico,
their principles, so far as money is concerned, would
have been superseded by that event: suppose again that
productiveness of mines had no bounds, and that the
metals were limited to a single nation—still more would
their teaching as to these particular points have been
superseded. Nor is this a gratuitous unsupported theory;
our English currency from 1797 was wonderfully pros-
perous till 1819, when the Bank began to " keep its
securities even," at which time the direst distress com-
menced and remains to this hour. There is also a still
longer experience among the Jews: inventors of the bill
of exchange, they have always maintained a credit cur-
rency or paper money. We believe a veil to be on
their hearts as to certain subjects, they must surely
think a veil is on our minds as to the uses of money; we
act as if money was an atmosphere whose composition
cannot be changed, they consider it as a receiver, whose
contents may be modified—yet no one pretends to say
their wealth is fictitious, or only of yesterday. The
Scotch keep no specie, the Jews reserve it for dealings
with strangers.
1. Among the verbal fallacies put forth on this subject
of
_
is the word " convertibility," implying
notes at will of the holder, the effect of
ri which must be
Peel
con
that they will seldom be converted, but
com-
pelled us to-convert them against our
about
was th
t j` irredeem-
e
butt of his eharacteristic pleasantry
able paper " and again " a few more oroaufew less one-
pound notes "—these last and half-pound notes being_t the
only medium commensurate with the exigencypf he case.
2. In the word " depreciation" there is a double am-
phibclogie : in fairness the word should mean what it is
supposed to mean—the fall in value of certain securities
or promises to pay, but it is used without previous no-
tice, by some writers determined to muddle the subject
in order to conceal their own position, in the different
sense of an increased total fund of money, which of
course lowers the value of any sum in purchase, or
in other words raises prices. It is also used as
implying bad faith in the subscribers of the promise
to pay, or a total absurdity in the whole affair—as in
Poyais bonds. It is recorded that a certain king made
silver to be in his dominions as stones ;we may next
imagine another king calling stones silver, and passing
them as such. The first instance of depreciation is as
great a blessing as can well befal a country, the second
represents the base coin circulated by Austria in her
Italian dominions—or the French assignats, founded on
biers nationaux—originally the flimsiest of all properties
and which, after the assignats being issued, were re-
confiscated over and over again, by the ephemeral go-
vernments of France. No moral confidence ever attached
to the assignata—no moral discredit ever attached for a
moment to one pound notes—nobody can deny that every
acre of England was fairly pledged to redeem them ; the
only objection was that they could not be exported ; and
people reasouiag as usual that all which was actd in

France was to be done in England—because England is not
France, plausible Cobbett, and still More plausible Mr.
Peel, confounded the small notes with the assignats. By
withdrawing these in 1821, he made such an ovethrow of
trade and silver, that the Sycee silver began from that
very moment to leak out, and our celestial statesmen are
still in agony to keep it at home without relieving'in-
dustry by concession of any Mandarin perquisites what-
ever.

3. In various " city articles" the word " accommo-
dation " is used as if all extension of currency were
owing to some such cause ; but accommodation, consi-
dered as the transactions of two or more persons,
one of whom, A, has nothing to trade on but the promises
of B, and he nothing but the promises of A, being the
worst enemy of reaCbanks, can be allowed only by imita-
tions of banks, and can never swell the currency except
for a moment, being the very antipodes of credit, which
keeps money in circulation, and without which business
cannot go on at all.
4. But thi- greatest currency-fallacy of all rests in
the word "•eapansion." There may be presumption in
a mere " occasiTal reporter " seeking to make such a
subject as this .9ttractive. I appeal to those who have
taken out regular diplomas as currency doctors, whether
such an acievemedt isnet 'difficult enough to task their
utmost powers. AriSe ye few who to a mercantile edu-
cation have added a lowe study of general principles,
and a profound conviction that all' legislation will prove
worse than useless while these contemplations are
omitted,!.. To Imaketill greater contraction recommended,
to see thetblame of. increasing and interminable distress
laid on sivollen currency; and this last ascribed to accom-
modation; is too' painful. Sight'so - deformed what
heart of man can bear ? These gentry entirely con-
ceal the.pbvious,. klistinetiou between expansions de-
manded by, the trading public " for business and
for return,' which never can be tod'great, which
require, care to make - them' sufficient ; and et-
pensions on temporary,, teapiicious grounds, as, pur-
chase, of dead weight and' negroes, or mortgages, or
accommOdation, the receivers of Which must either pay
the money, bury it, or lose it, and then the Directors
say, as they did in 1832, " The spirit of speculation, is
abroad, and don't think proper to encourage it."
The privite'batiks are; simply branches of the Bank of
England, attcl. the *Wok machine is accurately contrived
to depress indiistryr,:.,Xycii:the City bankers .-principally
have to do with money-mongers; at all events, the great
banks about Temple-bar and the " West-end" have no
eonneXion-WilatesWiteith industry. 'Devoted servants of
landholdersiapdifundholders, they are steadily pursuing
a design foundect in the vast enhancement of mortgages
at---presee,lio ''itpplant the former in possession of whole
counties. Identical is the policy of the Bank, which
acknowledges that mercantile paper is the very worst
security for them to hold ; waging moreover an inter-
necine war against all establishmenti which, like the
Scotch and French banks, exist for trade and industry.
You never see a notice that on account of distress
among manufacturers, " the governor is ready to ad-
vance money on approved bills." The qudterly no-
tices merely enable the bankers to do civil things by
their customers, and support the idle market till the
dividends are paid on the overgrown trust properties. The
great plan or charter of directors is this : they thought
theta overnment thought they ought to keep their securities
even,and now the Government cannot think how they came
to think any such thing; but while this notions remains, all
the securities coming in by quarterly notice, must be sub-
tracted from the issues "for business and for return." Take
the simplest case of that right sort of money—that plenty
of circulating money which constitutes plenty of profit, ex-
tending itself to every spiracle of society, and not that
redundance of buried money mis-called capital,
which indicates paucity of transactions—while wealth
accumulates and men decay. Suppose a ship in
the coasting trade, ready to weigh anchor, but re-
quiring some advances on the security of the whole
cargo. The bank, on which the country banks depend,
refuses to discount and does all in its power to destroy
the property, which of course is worthless if not ex-
ported, and thus ruin the shippers, whereas the number
of securities held by the bank, ought to be precisely the
number of transactions of this stamp, and the more the
better. The same case must often occur with regard to
expensive machinery standing still for want of materials.
The'money discounted would be turned and repaid,—the
advantage would transpire to the villages around, and
the blessing of him that is ready to perish would rest on
the beneficent power but the bank, prodigal to rich
men and their rich bankers, must keep its securities even,
and has no discounts to spare for starving Walsall or
vulgar Blackburn. It is scarce possible to imagine a sum
so small that might not, if thus applied, make the dif-
ference between contentment and death. It is like the
sick man, described by a poet as perishing amidst un-
bounded wealth for want of eightpence
--Sume hoc ptisananum oryzte!--'
Quanti, inquis ?—Parvo.—Quantiergo ?-octus,ibus.—Shea
And the wretch is found dead—at his loom.
5. We are constantly informed that such and such
causes derange the currency, but no idea is attached to
the phrase : the only "derangement" is insufficiency,
uncertainty, and misapplication. The excuse is, that
when symptoms appear in Mark-lane or the exchanges,
general distress must be artificially produced, in order
that foreigners may be led to take our cheapened ex-
ports. Undoubtedly deficient currency keeps prices
down, and a sudden contraction of that deficient cur-
rency compels the manufacturers to sell at a " tremen-
dous sacrifice," but it is incredible that foreigners
should take goods they do not want, because they
ato something cheaper—cheap 'enough, however, to
ruin the manufacturer—or refuse what they require
because dear enough to. keep the mills going. That
plenty of money in the true
_sense gives an ins
pulse to trade no one 'denies ; this must produce
competition, and the supply must press on the limits
of foreign demand so as either to prevent prices being so
high that foreigners will not buy—or to raise them
abroad. It is not by cheating industry, but by encou-
raging it, that we shall undersell all competitors and yet
raise prices every where ; Accordingly Mr. Levett, in his
petition to Congress, stated that the Americans did not
wish for cheap goods from us, but for a cessation of ex-
clusion. In all the ludibrious panics which have oc-
curred, as soon as the Bank was frightened and became
liberal, the exchanges turned because trade revived; but
the selling-off plan always fails, and this appears to have
struck the candid side of Sir B. Peel's mind, who ob

served that in 1838 the exports increased, but the gold
had to be sent after them to balance the trade. _ _

6. There is another miserable fallacy about what is
called " the little shilling." The total existing gold and
silver having altered in their supply and demand, the
sovereign is now worth about 21s. If the sovereign
is kept at 205., some nameless person is to carry off
the odd shilling, or the clippings of the sovereign.
The same effect of obtaining a more level standard
or legal tender would be obtained by enlarging the
shilling (or silver bars) and keeping the sovereigns as
they are, if a single reason or precedent existed
for it. 'When the same event occurred in the reign of
Elizabeth, Bacon and Coke advised that the silver money
should be kept as it was, and the gold coin either
lowered in value or raised in denomination. The Ame-
ricans did the same thing before 1834, and very wisely,
lowering the gold eagle to its silver value. But it is a
curious fact demonstrated by Mr. M. Attwood, before
the Agricultural Committee of Lords, in 1836, that the
Peel Committee potently believed gold to be the cheap-
est of the two metals, and adopted it as standard and le-
gal tender for that very reason. Yes the real (public)
motive of the change, the star of the house of Peel, was
in deed and in truth neither more nor Less thah the little
shilling itself.
" Thrift, thrift, Horatio !"
Besides this, they had a nebulous sort of inkling that all
fixed incomes, such as places, sinecures, rents in parti-
cular, and the 30,000,000 of dividends, would rise in
value they dared not think or say how much. By acci-
dent they adopted the metal totally unfit for standard,
and, contrary to their intention, the scarcest of the two,

7. There is some ambiguity in the very term currency

Four-penny pieces would appear currency, yet they were
hoarded. The old pasteboard " exchequers" are a sort of
currency, about as inconvenient as wooden tallies. Gold is
hw
ail s
ill,
currency, but hoarded gold is not. Stocks are not cur-
rency, but coupons of the debt paying daily interest, or
Royal bonds or debentures would be a most popular cur-
rency, so mu?h so that all notes of 501. and upwards
ought to have some such form. The 1,0001 notes pass-
ing in the neighbourhood of the bank are not currency.
Abank in Scotland is a sort of clearinghouse between
receivers and employers of money, and the deposits are
perhaps the more active part of the circulation. The
differences require a quantity of small notes, that best of
having no .salaries
all currencies, which stopped the panic of 1825, but it
would be murderous to let the supply of these depend on
a corporation like ours, self-elected,
for lose—no interest in hank-stock—no assignable motive
but their own restless schemes. Is fecit eni prodest.
We might as well centralise tea-dealing, and give the
and Miller k
uutnao,-,enient to the first score of tea-dealers one met iu
the street. But for the monetary system in the north,
whoseanwins'
contrac-
tion--" may truce a little farther the miseries of
twieculTraiiiTtYretatilineZtliPlatZ)
tion-4, That various, complicated
symptom is enough to kill:. From 1800 every
to 1808 the
quantities of our annual exports, barbarously called
their " official value," remained stationary, and the cut-
rency,pricc still more barbarously called their " real
value, ' remained stationary also. Again,
1819 the exports increased as from from 1808 to
22 to 41, almost dou-
bled, and the currency price
millions. This rise in rose from 36 millions to 45
currency value, however insuffi-
cient, was owing to the country banks and small notes.
In 1819 Logic came into power; from that year to 1833
the quantities of annual xf portsincreased as from 41 to
64, but the currency valuee the.mass went back to the
same sum as in 1808, namely,
l millions. Since that
time the joint-stock banks and 3
an increased quantity of
bills ofexchange . ~..
~ have rushed into the vacuum, in spite
of
roues and " Baronites."
Talk about remunerating prices ! Labour in 1808 was
not a bit t3o well paid, but the total transactions and
productio,ns as to exports in 1833 being almost trebled,
'Were paid for by- the same sum. Lukewarmness and
mediocrity reply to all this, that we live in an artificial
society--that things find their level and that if the
artizan received a shilling for three times the work,
that shilling would go three times as far. This is
s
not true. The situation of a person who h
shilling's:worth, who is worth a shilling, is not so good
as if he could get a shilling when he chose. When
tradesmen complain that money is scarce, they speak b
naturally and philosophically, as I have shown above.
But the great hardship—one which historians will re-
fuse to believe, is, that the fixed numeracy engagements
of this country in their inconceivably high amount,
are changed in the same ratio. In round numbers tax-
ation is fifty millions annually ; ten of these millions
go to a peace -establishment army, ten only to the navy,
the State, and the beloved Sovereign (who receives a
much smaller proportion of her subjects' earnings than
any other Monarch)—the remaining thirty millions go
to fundholders. Suppose the annual debt equivalent to
the exports of 1808 (which is true within five millions),
then, the same fixed and fatal sum of thirty millions

EVENING SUN

now rvresents very near three times as much wealth,
if measured by any fair standard ; three times the toil
and moil—three times the cark and care—the wear and
tear of mind and body, :and all this again multiplied by
that vast negative co-efficient, the loss of hope which is
life—dolendi modus; timendi'tion item,
---But besides the Debt, there are the other taxes;--all
bill and book debts, rents of house and land (except
the few intelligent landlords . who adopt the system
of mezzadria or metairi, that is, -rents ad valorem),
all these, measured by the excellent test Of manu-
factured goods, arc nearly trebled in pressure and in
cost since 1808. It is a_ well-known postulate nr
axiom, that if transactions and produce are increased,
for instance doubled, and the total fund of currencyin the
same district remains'the same, any nominal sum as "ten
shillings" or " fifty pound " becomes equivalent to twice
as many goods as at the former period, all.contraets are
disturbed, all rents, taxes, and what is worst, all debts—
impossible to be paid. If production remains the same,
and currency is halved, the same effect arises. The facts
above-mentioned as to the quantities and . currency
prices of onr exports, make the first of these proposi-
tions visible to the senses. The other case actually hap-
pened in America—in 1836, the President Jackson de-
claring that he would punish and ruin the banks for
voting against hitn at his own election, eliminated. their
notes from circulation. by the famous specie order ; the
year before this piratical exploit the mass'of English
exports to America, equivalent to our imports from
thence, was worth 78 million dollars, the year after 44
millions. In this case also, the converse of ours, any
fixed denomination of money represented a vast deal
more goods before the change than after. If any Ame-
rican owed 44 dollars in 1836, he owed 78 in 1837. It
happens hourly that a debtor is absolved on paying 10s.
in the pound, but who ever heard of a creditor saying—
Pay me twice what you owe the ? John Bull pays his
debt,—and such a debt'—three times over.

To return to the ease of America. Being obliged to
eke out their depreciated goods with gold, they looked
as usual to England, and by means of the Corn trade,
primary source of all supercherie, found what they
wanted, the relative value of gold coins favouring the
business. Among the unpleasaut popular sayings about
that craft is found a curious tradition—the famine ex-
pected never comes. Why ? Because it is a forestaller's
famine ; yet about 1838 the directors were • determined,
by whit they called symptoms of bad harvest, 'say rather
by signals from forestallen, working on their sliding
scale, to lay is an extra. stock of- gold. Strange to say,
the famine never came; and it• was thought " a good spe-
culation tosend the gold to Ameaica," several Anglo-
American merchants then in great jeopardy, having been
made directors. This supply enabled Americato balance
her own foreign trade with our • dry, money ; but we
were compelled to go to Paris and sue in forgia pauperig
for a little gold. Formerly the bank .;affixted to take
symptoms from: the foreign exeltaners,,,:but.of late years
entirely irons •Mark-Etne. It may.Ce-assumcil:that when
the great exchange Ines-chants -or -loan dealers', place
themselves on the " house list" they do so in order to
have all the great disturbing forces with them. Some
have retrieved their,afthirs thus, but fourtovernorS have
been bankrupt. The magnitude of their: private lasi,
ness creates a duty of self-preservation, a . sort of
state necessity incapable. of remorse, they
.myitily ,the
public as to our contracted and perfidious currency,
the more rare money is, the more capriciouS' its dk,
tribution, the better for them.
The two markets have this in common, that when
either money or corn are much wanted, the profit of with-
holding either till it is too late is immense. IV,en
the medium is contracted by a demand of gold for ex-
portation, the bank takes the opportunity of selling
securities and of refusing- discounts- o- bOot. So when
the corn-dealers begin engrossing and regrating, • they
also hire the Press, and also work the averages by fic-
titious sales. When they let go this triple cord, a glut
arises which falsifies all leases except the above men-
tioned rents ad valorem, Remembering what is very
plain, that the consumption _of bread. cannot with the
best intentions be much diminished; if tea is dear, people
may drink coffee—if indigo, they may dye other colours,
but corn can be replaced by no alternative. Also, the
popular mind is dreadfully busy on this point, more even
than on points of faith, both being questions of existence
here and hereafter. Also, a farmer is essentially a cal-
culator, and easily induced by rumours of improving
prices—heavy rain in Hertfordshire, thunder-storm in
July, authenticated by a newspaper high-mixed for his
peculiar taste, to keep his corn and take the chances.
All this puts the corn-trade on a strange footing.
Not longbefore the memorable correspondence—" Pri•
vete and confidential—dear Htiskisson—no mistake," the
I)uke of Wellington in the House of Lords put up as
head and front that " the trade in bonded corn was one
of great importance from the capital risked." And what
is this capital ? Every body knows that men about town
invest their loose money as deposits on time bargains in
corn, assisting the merchants to raise prices till duty
falls, and senior.; the ill,got ten store before duty rises
again ; it is not unposible that a deputation of gentlemen
from the Miller and his llcn.had waited on -his Grace
that morning. In the Money Market his presence was
still more unlucky fur us. Colonel Napier, narrating the
Peninsular Campaign of 1812, says—" These statements
tore in pieces the Ministers' pitiful pretext of want
of specie :" and • 1)r. Southey—`..o money (gold of
course) had been had for three niontlis : he shuddered
when he wrote home so often and in vain,—Gurwood mil-

lies repetita." These large appropriations to the military
chest secured the best information, but were distinctly
the cause of our present difficulties, as they led to that
phenomenon of-depreciated paper, so ill-considered and
misunderstood. The conveyance of specie to such a
shameless extent would have ruined any country Where
real credit, true confidenee, fervid, combined industry
were less universal. The Ministers of that day under
military tuition, believed it would ruin trade and leave
the oligarchy without rivals ; so did Pitt and all the
Pittites ; but in reality it merely affected the nominal
exchanges, and inconvenienced particular branches in a
degree hardly perceptible. Mr. Peel, in 1819, chose to
attribute the awe or paper- depreciation, not to military
chests all the world over, subsidized by. credulous Eng
land, but to a suspension of cash payments, nine years
before the commencement, of depreciation ; like Mrs.
Thrale, who, when accused by Dr. -Johnson of unfeelir4
behaviour, said she had dropped a tear. "Yes, madam; -
said he, " but in the meantime you ate tune larks?'
The cash suspension. of 1797 placed England in
the finest possible light. There- was hot 'much in the
real character of the French to justify the frenzy which
prevailed, nor much in Queen Charlotte, her Court and
family, excepting the Dukes, of Kent and Sussex, to
justify such enthusiastic confidence, but never did the
splendida bilis act more Wisely. The one pound note
drove home the guinea. Mr. D'lsraeli, one of the
subtlest minds now living, declared that convertibility
was a question of foreign exchange only. The suspen-
sion of cash was the effect of political extravagance, and
never can be necessary unless for our sins a second Pitt
should arise; still, though brought to it by an absurdity,
it did us great positive good,. by setting free the metals
for their only real use here—foreign exportations but
the expense of campaigning and the waste of war, con-
veying the.small quantity wanted for that purpose and for
fractional issues, produced some degree of inconvenience.
The depreciation, as we. have seen above, commenced
at least nine years atter cash suspension. Three years
after depreciation had - ceased, when the Bank was ob-
taining any quantity of gold -with perfect ease, Mr. Peel
made one of his great speeches. The currency was de-
ranged, therefore lie could set. it right ; the prosperity of
the war was fictitous, therefore it was time to do some-
thing Never finding it necessary to examine his logical
premises, provided Ins • conclusion • is ialitode et figura,
he thought it "a fair object of ambition for a public
man" to drive out the small..: note; which had fed and
clothed us, and carried us through the war, the thing
being plausible at the Moment, because Cobbett had
written them clown in the Register with at lettst as mu ch
knowledge and candour, the time chosen being the worst,
because the mines were not working, and other nations
had taken the same fancy into their heads,- The attempt
was afterwards made in Scotland, but resisted in a most
determined way by fir W. Scott, whose
letters, under
the name of Malagrowther, 1826,
are not the least excel-
lent part of his works.
Your valuable space will not allow any further obser-
vations. I remain, Sir; 81e.
November, 1841.

ARGENT.

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT SOMERS-TOWN.-7-
Between ten and eleven o'clock on Friday night the vi-
cinity of Son crs-Town became suddenly a scene of ex-
citement and confusion by a dreadful fire breaking out
in Chariton-street, New-road, which burnt furiously for
nearly two hours, and occasioned considerable destruc-
tionis of property, and also greatly damaged seyerailelhioi
thee
in the neighbourhood. The premises in
flames commenced were tenanted by Mr.
Stephenson,file vest side
greeer-and tea-dealer, No. 114, situate on
The
A alarm was
of Charlton-street, near the New-ron.
by the
''h
raised by an inhabitant of the sticett passinglevi°,and smoke
premises, observed a great light in tohr. shop,Fortunately the
issuing from the fanlight over theindo
ful, and by half-past eleven (i k
supply of water from the
the adjoining houses,
fire were stopped from reaching
plugs, _oc. theth set r e
ravageset wa s boo theti -
er
occupied by Mr. E.
No. 113 and No. 113, the 0_
Stephenson premises are the
All that remains of
Mr.
f, the interior being all but
by MirliParkington, tobacconist.
Callicott, and the latter
walls and a portion of the
Ornou
at the time of the discovery
and was unable to account for
of the fire was at a
single,theatre, and destroy
and when he left dot
its origin. lie was a
• at half-past nine oclock, an
premises
of the flames, the place. ap-
peareded. Mr. Steplici4
hour before the outbreakl .
insured in the Phoenix F'
building,ire-
which is the property of a gen-
tlemanoffice, and the
the neighbourhood, is insur d in the
Royal
living in
Royal Exchange-office.
a seizure for
perfectly safe. 1 e .
SEIZURE FOR EASTER DUES.---On Saturday
the Rev. W. Busfield, the Rector
last the houses of Mr. David Weatherhead,. grocer, and
Mr. W. Rhodes, milk vender, Keighley, were entered by
purpose of making
Easter Dues. They took a table and a mahogany
desk from Mr. Weatherhead's, and an eight day clock
ofth three men appointed tteldi
aby-
from Rhodes'. This being the first event of the
kind which ever took place in the town, (the late
Rector only collecting the dues of Church people)
it created a great . sensation, and on Tuesday the
walls • were covered with placards of the most
scurrillous description. Notice of the sale of the siezed
goods was given for Thursday,- at one o'clock, and at
that hour an immense assemblage had congregated in
the Market Place. When the goods were brought out
they were all broken to pieces before they could be got
through the crowd and hadp beput up for sale in frag-
ments, amid the hootings'• of the assembled multitude.
They were ultimately sold for a few shillings, a suns
not sufficient to pay expenses. The mob then proceeded
to the Rectory, to groan their disapprobation, and when
our correspondent's letter left, bad again assembled in
the Market-place.--Leeds Times..
Summonses were issued on Friday night for hold-
ing a Cabinet Council at the Foreign-office this day, at
' three o'clock.

r~