The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-13 00:00:00

PRICE 5(1

• Besides the towns which I have enumerated, there
are several islands, many of which are well wooded :
amongst them I may mention Juba, Haditha, and
Moose, strongly fortified, having each 500 inhabitants,
and beautifully situated in the valley of the Euphrates,
between Bit and Anna.

" This climate is delightful, and produces all the va-
rieties of European fruit, besides many of the tropical
ones lower down the river. Here is the only obstacle to
the navigation of this river. It consists in the remains
of the water-wheels used for irrigation. In the short
space of 130 miles we found nearly 300 of these wheels,
about one-third of which are in operation at the present
day. They consist of large parapet walls built into the
stream, directing the current of the "river to the wheels,
which are the most clumsy pieces of mechanism, made
of branches of trees, and having slung round them 150
clay vessels to raise the water in. The wheels are forty
feet in diameter, placed at the end of an aqueduct raised
upon well-built Gothic arches. They are the nearest
approach to perpetual motion that I have seen, and it is
surprising the quantity of water which they raise to the
surface. They cause a current six or seven knots with a
fall of two or three feet where they are, so that this part
of the river is difficult and somewhat dangerous ; but as
it is, we have surmounted all ; I should rather say, the
genius and skill of Messrs. J. Laird and Macgregor. who
furnished the boats and engines, have overcome obstacles
which baffled the well-disciplined legions of Trajan and
Julian, when they went to besiege Ctesiphon, and failed
to drag their fleets against the stream on account of the
current.

" The Tigris to Mosul, the site of the ancient Nine-
veh, and the Euphrates to Baulus—l might say to tl e
' heart of the Taurus (for we may go higher)—is now
proved navigable. May British enterprise drive from
this field the Austrian and Russian who now occupy it,
and may civilisation, flying on the wings of commerce,
carry with it the blessings of the Gospel salvation ! Yea,
here is a fine field for the missionary and the merchant.
To the former it opens up the Christians of a thousand
hills—the Armenians, the Chaldeans, the Nestorians,
the MaroniteS, the disciples of St. John, the worshippers
of the Devil, (who inhabit the Tinjar Hills), and the
Arabs ; but the time for the conversion of the latter, I
fear, has not yet come. To the merchant it offers a
market for the cottons of Manchester, the cutlery of
Birmingham, and all sorts of trinketry ; in return they
get the splendid wool of Arabia, far superior to
anything I ever saw at home ; the Cashmere wool which
is brought to Bagdad, gall nuts, the gum sandrac, myrrh,
the balsams from the south, pearls, dian-o -ds, and tor-
quoises from Persia; all which might be co i .eyed by steam
up the Euphrates to Bells, thence to the Mediterranean, a
four days' journey.
" So much for the commercial advantages to be derived
from the opening of the Euphrates ; let us now look to
the political. A communication is kept up with our In-
dian possessions, independent of that of Egypt—a great
advantage in our late broil with that Power ; India is
reached in a much shorter time than that by the Red
Sea ; the mission in Persia is brought mueh nearer ; and
the means exist of throwing an Indian army either into
the heart of Persia or Syria, in the space of a few weeks.
Surely these things, taken collectiVely, reflect credit on
the wisdom of those who have designed and supported
this expedition throughout, and placed it upon its pre-
tent prosperous footing."

HIMLEY HALL, THE SEAT OF
LORD WARD.

The mansion is beautifully situated in the midst of an
extensive and rich park of 600 acres, abounding with
deer, and enclosed with a substantial stone wall. To the
west a magnificent sheet of water of about 17 acres is
seen, and there are the various lakes which cover about
50 acres, filled with numerous aquatic plants. In the
background on the left, a steep rocky hill, finely clad
with ancient and modern trees, appears, while the fields
and hills gradually rise towards the horizon, where the
spire of Sedgeley Church, and the windmill towards Dud-
ley, lift their heads amidst the picturesque scene, here
so totally secluded by a barrier of hills from the manu-
facturing towns beyond. The upper part of the park;
the woods and water on the right, appear to great advan-
tage ; the village church is a pleasing object, and the
rising background over Swindon Common and Ashwood
is enriched by the distant hills and woods at Enville, the
seat of the Earl of Stamford. The walks through the
woods and plantations extend between six and seven
miles. Welking along my intention was taken by an
old veteran Yew that had stood the vicissitudes of many
centuries ; and I was afterwards furnished with the fol-
lowing lines written by one of the late Lord's visitors,
W. T. Fitzgerald, Esq.:—
" This stately Yew, which has for ages stood,
The gloomy monarch of its native wood,
Perhaps some Norman Baron planted here,
Who lived by rapine and who ruled by fear ;
The tree a symbol of its master's mind,
Emblem of death, and fatal to mankind.
Beneath its boughs no verdant plants are seen,
Its baneful branches poison every green ;
And thus the feudal tyrant's hated reign
Oppre§s'd the village and laid waste the plain.
To these dire scenes a happier age succeeds,
No despot threatens and no vassal bleeds ;
At Ilimley now the poor man finds relief;
Forgets his poverty and checks his grief,
Raises his languid eyes and drooping head,
To bless the lib'ral'hand that gives him bread ;
While in the mansion mirth and song attend,
To cheer the stranger and delight the friend.
But still the Yew, though hastening to decay,
Retains the venom of its pristine day ;
Its branches still their gloomy nature show,
And frown upon the cheerful scenes below."

This old Yew is likely to survive many ages yet ; it
measures at one foot from the ground, 24 feet 10 in-
ches in circumference. Some distance on, is a Yew re-
markable for its fine trunk, its extreme height is 80 feet,
at two feet from the ground it is 12 feet 6 inches in cir-
cumference, and at 27 feet 6 inches, 11 feet in circum-
ference. The Oak, the pride of England, towers above
its bumble neighbours in majestic style—a sure proof of
the rich iron and coal mines below its roots. When a
boy, trampling over the Glamorganshire hills and vales,
I always admired the splendour of the oak, where its bark
shines as if varnished when its roots penetrate the coal
and iron mines. Adjoining the park are spacious woods,
through which are commodious carnage drives inter-
secting each other, for many miles. On the south and
west sides of the house are well-arranged gravel-walks ;
disposed about the lawn are various clumps of flowers,,
such as roses, geraniums, verbenas, hydrangeas, fuchsias,
salvias, tropceolums, pansies, and petunias, in masses ;
and several beds of American plants, all forming a pleas-
ing and cheerffil contrast to the lofty monarchs above
the house. From this we walked for some distance to
the westward, and entered a lofty greenhouse, and con-
servatory, and orangery, whose inmates were mostly
turned out for the summer. In the kitchen-garden are
three peach-houses, six vineries, one stove, three pine-
pits, well stocked with healthy plants, large mushroom-
houses, five ranges of pits, and three new houses erect-
ing for propagating and forcing early flowers. Mr. Whit-
tle, the gardener, has not been there many months, but
appears an intelligent young man, a true lover of British
plants, which he is collecting from all parts.—Gardener's
Magazine.

CHEAP BREAD! CHEAP BREAD
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
[The subject has been mentioned before, but we repeat
the contradiction of the Tory lie, for the sake of our
Correspondent's letter.l
Stn,—The subjoined paragraph, taken from the Mai:-
chester, .Courier, I found transcribed into the columns of
the Glasgow Courier, and have inclosed it to you, in the
hope that you will have the goodness to enlighten the
benighted Ignorance of those two Tory journalists on the
subject of American Currency. The shilling of which
they speak, they will be pleased to note, is not sterling,
but the sixth part of -a dollar (Pennsylvania currency),
the intrinsic value of. which, rating the dollar ay
4s. 2d., its full value, will, of course, be Eildat, s
for
the loaf of five pounds' weight. 'English,
Perhaps the two journalists in question having, of
course, no other object in view than an exposition of
truth, will quote the pride of American flour, and show
how many pounds of it may bhad for a shilling, or,_ to
save them the trouble, perhaps, I may as well say that
a barrel of 1961b5. weight, net, may be purchased upon
an average at something less than five dollars—say fur
1/, sterling, or 91b. 4-sths for a shilling English money.
I would simply ask these sapient reasoners, if what
they argue be the facts of the case, how comes it that
they are so alarmed when the abolition of those infamous
poor-starving laws are hinted at ?
Here is the paragraph alluded to :
AMERICAN
The fo verbatimCHEAP
copy
of BREAD."anade
in an American paper : .
et. cor-
ner LARGE BREAD.—Five pounds of baked bread for
ls. at W. S. Wilkston's bakery, 4, Madison.-Isttz
of Chesnut ;warranted us good as any rtisement
League in
to expose the fallacy of the Anti-Corn-
The above cannot be too widely circulated,-aa:s:it will tend
their late exhibition through the
American shilling
other towns in England of the large
streets of this and
e are subject to a
bread is sold in this town,
wiuloreaf and in the land of
loaf, and the small Enlish shilling loaf. The best
g
Corn-law, at lOid. for the 61b.
flour from, it is advertised
We aro to have so much cheap
plenty—America, where there is no Corn-law, and where
as cheap-51bs. for ls.—very near a halfpenny per pound
1
I servant,
than in this town.—
T tbeUNITED STATES.
An ENGLISH RESIDEN lanckester Courier.
I am, Sir, your obedient
Glasgow, 9th May, 1841.

LEWES.—The good folks of this town and its
neighbourhood,xceedingl
the Conservatives, have been
tular
edtlhyis Assize. They were led to
e diapppai:,tiine
expect, from the bills issued by Mr. Thomson on the
25th of June last, that he would have brought to trial
the party charged with " gross bribery," who, he an-
nounced, had been that day detected, on the Whig side,
But, lo ! and behold ! the Assizes are gone and passed,
and no trial has taken place, thus proving that no charge
could be substantiated against the party accused, how-
ever easily one could be trumped up. This is the second
disappointment the leaders of the Conservatives have sub-
iected their friends to, and a third will speedily follow.
‘By-the-byo, what will become of the 25 sovereigns which
Mr. Thomson stated he held possession of ?-7Brighton
- Guardian,