The Sun.
London, England, 1840-10-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27. 1810.

considering the loose state of finance in the Peninsula,
is of no small importance ; but also because it is not
impossible that some good may arise from the anxiety
of the new Regency to secure the good feeling of fo.
reigners, an important step towards which would be the
speedy adoption of some vigorous measure to satisfy just
claims, which are but of too long standing, and the liqui-
dation of which would at once stamp the existing Go-
vernment with a most favourable character.

Letters from Manchester state that the Lancashire
joint stock banks are not in a condition at present to
render any assistance to parties who have been taken
unawares by the stoppage of discounts for bills dated as
usual. Hence paper, heretofore current, has been sub-
jected to rates of interest which the trade cannot bear,
and further than this, to refusal altogether, where other
securities could not be found.

The latest accounts respecting Ceylon mention a
considerable sensation caused among the planters (par-
ticularly the natives) by an ordinance issued by the Go-
vernor and Legislative Council. By this Ordinance,
intended to prevent persons from taking Government
lands without title, it is enacted that all forest and
waste land shall be presumed to be the property of the
Crorn, till proof of the contrary, and that lands which
can only be cultivated after intervals of -several years
shall, if situate within the districts formerly comprised
in the Kandian provinces, be deemed to belong to the
Crown, and not to any private person except on proof
of a grant. This Ordinance has given much dis-
satisfaction, as it is considered that it would de-
prive nearly all the inhabitants of the Kandian
provinces of their property. These persons have
hitherto possessed certain hereditary lands, con-
sisting of paddy fields with the appurtenances, and
have so completely identified themselves with them
as to derive their name from them. It appears

that no specific term of years will give a pre-
scriptive title to these hereditary possessions, but a long
and undisturbed occupation was considered as a strong
proof in favour of the occupier. In fact any other evi-
dence would have been nearly impossible, as the Kan-
diens are said to have no written laws, and no records
of judicial proceedings, either in civil or criminal cases,
were preserved, so that tradition and the testimony of
living witnesses were the only safeguards of property.
By the convention held at Kmndy in March 1815, the
safety of the persons and property of the inhabitants
with their civil rights, according to the laws and cus-
toms in force among them, was guaranteed ; and at the
same time all taxes, except a rate on paddy lands,
were abolished. In accordance with this convention
a proclamation, framed in 1828, admitted the validity
of a tenure of lands according to the prevailing laws
and customs. Now, it is with titles thus admitted that
the new ordinance is considered to interfere, since not
only is the grant required to be produced, but also evi-
dence that the customary taxes have been paid. On
the high lands, possessed by the owners whose
title is compromised by such a requisition, no taxes
have ever been paid, and hence this means of proof
would be impossible. Another difficulty would arise
from the circumstance, that although the paddy lands
have been described by name in grants, the high and
low lands attached to them are generally called " ap-
purtenances," without further specification. For these
different reasons, the ordinance is thought to be ex-
ceedingly harsh and arbitrary, and likely to lead to the
greatest confusion.

POST.—The confirmation received in town this
morning of the news which was current in the City
yesterday concerning the dissolution of the Thiers Minis-
try caused no movement at the Stock Exchange.
The continued depression of the Spanish Market is a
proof that the bondholders at large are not at all sanguine
in their auguries relative to th© future march of events in
the Peninsula. Some of the number are not, it is true,
altogether discouraged by the circumstance of Queen
Christina's abdication. The admitted fact of a fresh
and increasing family, by Senor Munoz, having been
brought into existence is, in itself, deemed sufficient to
warrant the opinion that her solicitude for the interests
of the young Isabella cannot be so pure and single-
hearted as it should be. Much of the prejudice which
prevails against the late Regent may be the result of her
imprudences, but, beyond these it is felt that she has
on many occasions exhibited a very grasping disposition,
and one but little in accordance with the impoverished
state of the country, and the position of its creditors,
both domestic and foreign.
The death of Sir J. W. Lubbock, Bart., has been a
topic of very general conversation in the City to-day.
The event is greatly regretted, as Sir John was not only
one of our most respectable bankers, but a gentleman
who was much esteemed by those who had the pleasure
of his acquaintance.
Late letters from Macao mention that the accounts
received there of the determination of the English
Treasury not to honour the drafts passed upon it by
Captain Elliot for the 63,0001., with an intimation that
it was the intention of Government to act in a similar
way with respect to the opium bills given for two mil-
lions and a half more, took people a good deal by sur-
prise. Those interested in the matter were quite
certain, however, that the Government at home would
be compelled eventually to discharge the engagements
of its Representative. The return of the bills in ques-
tion might, it was thought, have produced inconvenience
in India, hut it has evidently made far less stir at Macao
than could have been expected, considering the magni-
tude of the sum at stake. " Little," it is observed, "is
said .pon the subject. The Queen's marriage and the
probable election of Mr. Jardine seem to occupy people's
minds at least as much, simply because they feel sure of
the result, namely, of the payment of the money." Even
those who had hundreds of thousands ofpounds to recover
are represented as being perfectly at their ease on this
point. The statements made here and elsewhere, with
regard to the traffic still carried on in the drug, arc con-
tradicted. It is not true, it appears, that the trade is
pursued as eagerly and successfully as was formerly the
case. Prices had been high, and the profit made on the
number of chests sold was large, but the deliveries for
the fifteen months anterior to the month of April had
not exceeded one-third of what they would have been
for the same period under the old system. The follow-
ing remarks are made on the sinking of junks to stop up
the river against our shipping, which was supposed to
be one of the schemes contemplated by the Chinese,
and of which some notice has already been taken in the
journals :

" At the bar in the river where the passages are
very narrow the Governor (Lin) has vessels filled with
stones ready to sink, should any hostile ship appear.
Now, these junks, if sunk, will go into a tolerably soft
kind of mud, and, going certainly deep enough to stop
the ships, will remain there immoveable, so as to destroy
the navigation of the river, and consequently Canton it-
self, for ever."

The forts at the Bocca Tigris were covered with
guns. There were perhaps 140 or 150, but very
few of them would traverse, and the attacking ships
could so place themselves that hardly one would
bear upon them. In the event of an attack the
havoc made among the Chinese would, it was consi-
dered, be tremendous. It was known that drilling was
going on up at Canton night and day, the arms em-
ployed being bows, arrows, and semilunar pikes. Lin
was quite indefatigable in his preparations since it was
ascertained that fighting was actually intended. The
Chinese were, however, in great terror at the report of
fire-arms. In exemplication of this it is observed—
" Only a month or two since, when the little Hya-
cinth sloop of war hauled into the harbour of
Macao, just to show what she could do, where it was
crowded with war junks full of soldiers, every one of
them made his escape to the shore, mandleins and all.
They took off their red jackets (for they wear scarlet
like the English soldiers), and put them into their ca-
pacious breeches, throwing down their comical caps and
stamping upon them in their fury."

The final settlement of this Chinese affair will, it
was conceived, be a much more tiresome one than
was at all apprehended in England. The people ge-
nerally at Canton took things very quietly. The
Hoppo, or head of the customs, had proclaimed to
them that twenty more ships of war were about to
follqp the Druid, yet they looked upon themselves as
perfectly secure, the usual remark being, " They had
better not come here. Tell them to go to the Pekin
side. When they are there they will be bothered by
edicts, &c. The Chinese will say, they won't trade,
and won't allow- the teamen to bring the teas down.
What, then, can any commander by land or sea do
or say ?"

The politicians of Macao still talked of changing the
dynasty by turning off the Tartars and putting the on
ginal Chinese Royal family again upon the throne, but
none of them could say whether or not any of the Taco
were still alive. They talked, too, of our taking Pekin,
but it is asked, in reply to this, of what use Pekin
would be to us.? The correspondence from which we
write winds up with the assurance that we shall be
pretty certain before long to have to pay smartly for our
teas in England.

NEEDLEWORK IN TIIE MIDDLE AGES.
During the middle ages the beds, not excluded from the
day apartments, often gave gorgeous testimony of the skill
of the needlewomao, and were among the richest orna-
ments of the sitting-room. so much fancy and expense
were lavished on them. The curtains were often made of
very rich material, and usually adorned with embroidery.
They were often also trimmed with expensive furs. Phi_
lippa of Hainault had a bed on which se..-syrens were em-
d—The Art of Needlework by the Countess of

GEORGE CRUIKSIIANK'S EARLIEST STUDIES.
—The gallery in which George first studied his art, was the
tap-room of a low public-house, in one of the dark, dirt,
narrow lanes which branch off from one of the great
thoroughfares towards the Thames. And where could he
have found a more fitting place ? Where could he have
met with more appropriate characters ? for the house was
frequented, to the exclusion of everybody else, by Irish
coalheavers, hodmon, dustmen, scavengers, and so forth.
It was just the place in which to witness the lowest of low
life in all its grotesqueness and drollery. And here I may
remark, that it was George's etchings illustrative of low life
in Mornings at Bow-street" and •‘ Life in London," that
first brought him into general notice.—Portraits of Public
Characters, by the Author of " Random Recollections,"