The Sun.
London, England, 1840-08-10 00:00:00

DESTRUCTION OF LIFE IN

ANCIENT WARS.

Accustomed as we are to the effects of war in civilised
times, when the most bloody contests are followed by
an increase in the numbers of the people, it is diffi-
cult to form a conception of the desolation which it pro-
duces in barbarous ages, when the void produced by the
sword is not supplied by the impulse of subsequent tran-
quillity. A few facts will show its prodigious influence in
former ages. It is ascertained by an exact computation,
that when the three great capitals of Khorassan were
destroyed by Timour, 4,347,000 persons were put to tile
sword At the same time, 700,000 people were slain in
the City of Monsul, which had risen in the neighbour-
hood of the ancient Nineveh ; and the desolation pro-
duced a century and a half before by the sack of Gen-
ghiskhan, had been at least as great. Such t: ere the
ravages of this mighty conqueror, and his Mogul
followers, in the country between the Caspian and the
Indus, that they almost ,exterminated the inhabitants ;
and five subsequent centuries have been unable to repair
the ravages of four years. An army of 500,000 Moguls,
under the sons of Ginghis, so completely laid waste
the provinces to the north of the Danube, that they
have never since regained their former numbers ; and
in the famine consequent upon the irruption of the same
barbarians into the Chinese empire, thirteen millions
are computed to have perished. During the great in-
vasion of Timour, twelve of the most flourishing cities of
Asia, including Delhi, Ispahan, Bagdad, and Damas-
cus, were utterly destroyed ; and pyramids of human
heads, one of which contained 90,000 skulls, erected on
their ruins.

Nor was another of the instruments of Malthus—
pestilence—quiescent.
" During thirty-two years of the reign of Justinian,
the barbarians annually made an incursion into the
Grecian empire, and they carried off or destroyed at
an average, on each occasion, 200,000 persons. Nor
was the depopulation of the Southern and Western
provinces less during the some disastrous period. In the
wars of Belisarius in Africa, five millions of its
inhaii-
tants are computed by a contemporary writer to have
perished ; and during the contests between that illustrious
warrior and his successor Narses, and the barbarian
armies in Italy, the whole Gothic nation, and nearly
fifteen millions of the natives of Italy, disappeared.
The plague which followed these sanguinary contests
carried off still greater numbers than the sword ; and
during the fifty-two years that it desolated the Roman
empire, it is said to have destroyed a hundred trillions
of inhabitants."—Alison's Principles Population.

On Friday last, Mr. Marler, of Bridgewater,
baker, accompanied by the two sons, daughter, and daughter-
in-law of Mr. Ackland, ironmonger, Taunton, left Burnham
in a fishing boat, and proceeded to the till of the Gore Sand.
On the return of the party with the flood tide, about four
o'clock in the afternoon, the wind suddenly freshened, and the
boat was in a moment capsized ; fortunately another boat was
near at hand, when, with great difficulty they were (with the
exception of Miss Ackland) rescued from a watery grave.
II extern Times.

SINGULAR ACCIDENT ON TIIE BLACKWALL
RAILWAY.—On Thursday evening a man named Tanner, in
the employ of the Company, was standing on that part of the
line about a mile and a half from the terminus, when, perceiv.
ing a train of-carriages coming in each direction, he imme-
diately jumped out of the way, and stood clear of the rails. On
the trains passing each other the gust of wind occasioned by
the swift motion of the vehicles was so great that Tanner was
dashed with considerable force against one of the carriages,
having a most narrow escape of falling under the wheels. The
violence with which he struck the carriage, however, caused
him to rebound against the wall. One of the guards picked up
the man, who was found to be quite insensible, and, with the as-
sistance of two of the railway police, he was immediately con-
veyed to the London Hospital, Mile End-road, where on exa-
mination it was ascertained that he had received a severe con-
cussion of the brain, and of so dangerous a nature as to leave
no hopes of his recovery.
CORONER'S INQUEST.—An inquest was held
On Fridaybefore Mr. W. Carter, at the Battersea-Union Work-
house, Wandsworth, on the body of William Cripps, who incau-
tiously got on the line of the Southampton Railway, as the four
o'clock train was coming, his foot caught one of .the plates, and
he was thrown down. It was impossible to release him or stop
the engine in time. When the train had passed, he was raised
up, and life was not quite extinct, but he died almost imme-
diately, the hands and legs of the unfortunate man were nearly
severed from his body,and he had also received dreadful in-
juries in the stomach and other parts—Verdict, " Accidental
death." ,
CHINESE APHORISMS.--ne who tons witn
pain will eat with pleasure. No duns outside, and no doctors
within. Forbearance is a domestic jewel. Something is
learned every time a-book is opened. f o stop the hamd it the
way to atop the mouth. Who aims at excellence will be above
mediocrity; who aims at mediocrity will fall short of it.

There is a casual remark of Fielding's, alike true of
the operation of these Corn-laws, and of all other modes
of partial and unjust legislation. " Pity it is," says
he, " that those for whose pleasure and profit man-
kind are to labour and sweat, to be hacked and
bowed, pillaged and plundered, and every way de-
stroyed, should reap so little advantage from all
the evils they occasion to others :"—an observation
which the history of unequal government in all nations
abundantly proves to be true. These Corn-laws, for
instance, designed for the protection of a particular
class, besides bringing irreparable evil upon every
other class, have failed in the objects for which they
were instituted. They had their origin in the profli-
gate overtures of Walpole to the agricultural interest
in Parliament to raise supplies for the purpose of car-
rying on his wicked wars, and front the beginning, while
they were extending small benefit to the interests they
proposed to aid, they became the sources of multiplied
and lasting wrongs to millions of people. Under a de-
lusive expectation of raising prices, they exposed the
farming interests to perpetual fluctuations of price. They
placed many of the vast markets of the world, not
only beyond the reach of the manufacturer, but
they raised up a host of competitors in their stead,
They took the bread from the mouth of the workman,
by augmenting its cost, while they diminished the value
of the products of his skill, and so by. a double process
reduced him to the verge of starvation and want. They
have hung commercial pursuits upon the beams ofspe-
culation, and by their potent assistance in deranging
currency converted all honest employments into games
of hazard, making them the alternate victims of insane
excitement, and of withering depression and distress.
What would be the effect if these pernicious laws
were annulled? It would strip the overgrown landed
proprietors of a portion of their ill-gotten gain. It
would shoot life and health into the decrepit limbs of
English manufacturers, by opening extensive markets to
their products, and cheapening the means of their sub-
sistence ; it would diminish the artificial causes that
excite feverish alter:lations of trade ; it would restore
the prospect of comfort to myriads of a working popu-
lation, whose only hopes of escape are either in revolu-
tionor the grave.

Nor would the operation of the change be less
benignant towards every department of industry in this
country. To the agricultural interests it would admi-
nister a healthy stimulus by greatly expanding the de-
mand for its important products. Those vast grain-
fields in the west and north-west, fast coming under
cultivation, would find a more profitable outlet to their
abundance, while the supply of goods in common use
and wear, received in return, would increase the means
and comforts of the body of consumers constituting the
majority of every nation. As the market for broad-
stuffs enlarged, the demand for the facilities of transpor-
tation from the interior to the ocean would strengthen,
thus giving more substantial ground for the hope that
our present vast system of internal improvements,
founded upon debt, might one day or another pay for
itself by means of its own revenues. Increased expor-
tations would prevent those immense drains of
specie, which periodically exhaust the strength
of commerce, at the same time furnishing a safe mode
for the liquidation of an enormous balance of debts,
which now makes us the miserable dependents of foreign
creditors. With this relief from the pressure of debt,
accompanied by an augmented demand for the staples,
which every provision of nature indicates that this coon-'
try was designed to produce, there would spring up a
genial activity in every branch of trade—an activity
founded upon no rabid thirst of speculation, but upon
the substantial and durable elements of national pro-
sperity. So true is it that nations are reciprocally
benefited by the adoption on the part of either of them
of a just, free, and enlightened policy ; so true is it
with communities as with individuals, that the quality
of liberality and justice, like that of mercy, is twice
blessed—blessed in those that give, and in those that
receive —New York Evening Post.

ELECTION OF AN ALDERMAN

FOR QUEENHITHE WARD.

On Saturday a wardmote was held before the Lord
Mayor in the Ward of Queenhithe, for the purpose of
electing an Alderman in the room of Mr. William Yens-
bles, deceased. There were, as we announced last week,
five candidates for the office, as soon as the vacancy was
known to have occurred, but they were all gentlemen
who had no residentiary connection with the ward, and
they all declared upon offering themselves, that should a
resident start with the approbation of the inhabitants,
they would retire. Early in the week it became known
that the friends of Mr. Hooper, the Deputy of the late
Alderman, intended to apply to that gentleman, who had
been long living in the ward to represent them in the
Court of Aldermen, and the moment intimation was
given to the candidates above alluded to, of the acqui-
escence of the Deputy, they severally withdrew their
pretensions. The wardmote was held in the church.
As there was no opposition, there were but few of the
inhabitants present.

Mr. RouTH (of the firm of Crawshay and Co.) rose
to propose Mr. Hooper. He had, he said, had the
honour of proposing to the ward twenty years ago a
gentleman who filled the office with as much honour to
himself and satisfaction to his fellow-citizens as any
man who had been raised to the dignity, the late Alder-
man Venables. He was sure that all who were present
agreed in that opinion of the able and excellent indi-
vidual to whom he alluded.—(Applause.) The recent
melancholy event which had deprived them of Alder-
man Venables, placed him in the situation of again
proposing a fit and proper person to fill the office of
Alderman, and he accordingly proposed a gentleman
known to the whole ward, and qualified to perform the
duties to his own credit and the satisfaction of the in-
habitants. There were several gentlemen, who when
the vacancy occurred, were willing to come forward, and
who had indisputable qualifications, but there had ex-
isted for a long time in Queenhithe, a strong feeling in
favour of a resident magistrate, and when it was seen
that in the present instance that feeling could be grati-
fied, they retired without hesitation.—(Cheers )
Mi. HOWELL seconded the nomination of Mr.
Hooper.

Tic LORD MAYOR asked whether any gentleman
had any other name to propose ; and no answer having
been returned, put the question, and declared that Mr.
Hooper was unanimously chosen Alderman of the Ward
of Queenhithe.—(Applause.)

Alderman HOOPER ther; rose, and addressed the
wardmote. It was, he declared, impossible for him to
express the high sense he entertained of the honour
which had been just conferred upon him by the worthy
inhabitants of the ward. He felt the honour more
deeply as he had not sought it, but had been applied to
by several gentlemen, for whose characters he had the
utmost respect, and of whose advice and assistance in
performing the duties of the situation he knew he
should be permitted to avail himself very largely.
If such a thing as a party existed in the ward,
there had been no exhibition of it upon the
present occasion, and he assured his constitu-
ents that in exercising the functions of his office
he should act upon the same principle. He
was perfectly :aware of his inadequacy to the task of
making a distinguished figure in the new situation to
which he had been elevated. He knew, too, that he
owed his good fortune to the desire of tranquillity which
prevailed amongst the inhabitants, a lesson which had
been read to them by other wards. At all events he
should, whatever defects he might have, put all the
energies and the industry and the zeal he possessed into
exercise, to show those who elected him that he was in
earnest in his wishes and his endeavours to please them.
iwhich
Mr. ROUTH proposed a resolution of condolence to
the widow and children of the late Alderman Venables,
lut io and af-
flicted expressing, at the same time, his belief that such a vote
would be extremely consolatoryonded to that e
so
r
amiable
A;d elardmyan Hand
ohoorrEfittmisl)e•c.
thewa The
he
resolutionLosecarried A
unanimously.
O
l‘Y°R'having been requested to convey
Mrs. Venables, stated_ that it would
give him the highest gratification to obey the instructions
of the ward upon the melancholy occasion.
Thanks having been voted to the Lord. Mayor lor
his conduct in the chair, the wardmote was dissolved.

Yesterday a young man of very respectable ap-
pearance (who has been some time employed by the Rev.
J. J. Smith, of Caius College, as secretary, was taken be-
fore tile Magistrates at the Town-hall, on a charge of
forging a.eb.eque for 50/ , and at the instance of Mr. E.
Foster, banker, was remanded for further examination.—
Cambridge Chronicle.

NEwQuAY.---The fishermen here arc getting
the seans and boats ready for the pilchard fishery. Many
shoals cf small herrings.have made their appearance in the
bay within- theseiew days, by colour. and Atral4o,,,svincil
is considered a good omen that the pilchards will soon
Nam,

James TVlzife, a grocer in Barnet, was charged with:
haring in his possession two illegal measures, antl a boast
and scales, affixed to which was a piece of soli),
gave a draught against the buyer.
The defendant said that the measures, 3 pint anri .1
half pint, were used only in selling I,,,iln”vr.,,rths of
neg.() r.

The inspector said he believed th, measnr,.! 11.:d h•-en
kept to deal out v;negar, and under ti;oss.2. eircumtanceb
a fine of five shillings only and cosLs as ,e
Mr. John Healy, proprietor of the Griffin public-
house, at Whetstone, was summoned under the folio*.
ing singular circumstances :

On the 21st of July, while the complainant was in—
specting defendant's measures, anti finding one which
contained just a pint and a half, he seized it.

The Magistrates expressed their surprise. They
supposed that it was kept to serve out-door customers
with a pint and a half of porter or ale.
Mr. Healy said it was the case. It was more bandy
to draw it at once into one measure than two. He
was as often asked for a pint and a half of ale or p rter
for a family's dinner or supper as for a pot.
Mr. Childe—Of course I do not in this case impute
fraud, but the Act of Parliament is imperative that no
such measure can be stamped or legally used.
Mr. Warren—Were all the other pots correct ?

1 Mr. Childe said they were.
The Magistrates, having consulted, said it was clear
that defendant had infringed the law, which ought to be
more generally known to his brother tradesmen ; and it
was equally clear to them that he had committed no fraud.
They were bound to fine him, which they did to the
amount of 56.

Jlfr•. Moulton, landlord of the Bull, at Whetstone,
was complained of for using false measures.
Mr. Turner said he took from defendant's house four
quarts and one pint pot. One quart was deficient three
ounces and a half (chemical measure), another two
ounces and a quarter, the third two ounces, and the
pint one ounce.

The defendant accounted for it by saying that his
customers bruised the pots.
He was fined 10s. and costs.
Catherine Baker, of the Swan with Two Nesks,
Finchley, was summoned under similar circumstares.
Five of her pots were produced and measured in the
presence of the Bench. They were very deffcient.
This defendant pleaded ignorance.
The Magistrate said it was a very bad case, and
inflicted a penalty of 10s,
Air. Georg,e Osborn, of the Torrington Arms, Finch-
ley, was charged with having in use four unjust mea-
sures, and fined 10s.

Mr. Suckling, of the Re': Lion, Highga'e, ztppe.‘7
to answer to the charge of having in his possession bye
quart pots and one pint, the same being of short m.,r.sure.
Mr. Childe said, that he might have brought it
score of bad measures from defendant's house. but ur.
derstanding that he had but just taken possession of it,
he gave him the chance of making them of the legal
standard. He was fined 20s. and costs.

11frs. Emily Barenens, of the Castle, Highgate, had
four pots of a short measure seized on the premises,
and she was ordered to pay 10s. and the expenvs.
411 rs. Upton, of the Red Lion, Highgate, was fined
in the like sum for a similar offend'.

Mr. Schofield, of the George Inn, Fineliky, was
summoned far having four certain measures purporting
to be one quart each, the same being unjust.
Mr. Childe showed the Magstrates, by the county
standard, that one quart was short one ounce, another
one ounce and a quarter, the third an ounce and a half,
and the fourth one ounce.
Fined 10s. and costs.

Mr. Pickering, of the Bull, Highgate, also appeared
before the Bench. In his house one pot only was seized.
It was short nearly two ounces.
Ordered to pay the costs and 10s.
Several other cases were adjourned.
The proceedings occasioned much interest.
Mr. Childe has nothing whatever to do with the ob
noxious Leet Jury. He is a paid servant of the county,
and is elected by the Magistrates in open court. One
half of the penalties go towards the payment of the
county-rate, and the other towards the expenses of his
office.