The Sun.
London, England, 1840-08-18 00:00:00

THE AIN,. JLONDON, TUESDAY, AUGUST MI 1840.

are gross errors; and there is great reason
to believe that the myriads of men of which Mr.
Alison has collected the accounts. were, in most
instances, lumping exaggerations. Pronouncinrs,
however, no positive opinion on them, we icier to
them merely to remark that, with that exception---
if that were an exception—the general rule, as de-
duced from the actual progress of population in
Europe and in America, if not in the whole world,
since the beginning of the Christian era—the ge-
neral rule is, that the spring of population becomes
mote powerful as society advances—that every
increase of the species, instead of being an obstacle,
as is supposed, to their further increase, has in fact
facilitated it ; so that every successive generation
has increased more and faster than its predecessor.
That is. the deduction from Mr. Alison's own facts ;
his theory is that the spring of population is most
vigorous in the infancy of mankind, and is weakened
in their progress.
There is another aspect under which the question
may be viewed. We have looked at the actual
increase of mankind—Mr. Alison may mean their
power of increase, the preereative faculty in the
mate end the fecundity of the female. In savage
life the parents rear only two children ; but the
supposition or the assertion is, that they beget a
great many more. Pair for pair, it is asserted
or implied that the spring of population in
this sense is greater in the hunter than
in the pastoral state—in the pastoral than in
the agricultural—in the agricultural than in
the state of many mixed occupations in which we
now live ; or, in other words, stronger in the man
and woman grubbing amongst rotten wood for
norms as food, and exposed to all the.severities of
the weather in savage life, than in the man and
woman abundantly supplied with food and shelter
in the towns of the United States or of England.
That assertion appears to us as erroneous as the
other, and the greater procreative power, as well
as the greater fecundity, corresponds with that ratio
of actual increase in the species which we have
brought under notice. The spring of population
in this sense is stronger amongst the civilised in-
habitants of the United States than it was amongst
the savage tribes which, three hundred years ago,
hunted and fished where cities now stand. We
are not, however, establishing a system—we are
only showing Mr. Alison's contradictions and
ignorance, and whether •he mean by the principle
of population the increase of the species or the
procreative faculty, he is equally in error and
equally contradictory, in both recognising the ac-
celerated ratio in which population has increased
as society has advanced, and in contending that it
increased most rapidly in early times, and that the
power or operation of the principle diminishes in
the progress of society.
Besides this false theory of a diminishing opera-
tion of the principle of population as society ad
vances we are at a loss to discover, so vague are Mr.
Alison's sonorous periods, what are the main prin-
ciples of his book. The second chapter is en-
titled " On the fundamental relation between popu-
lation and agricultural subsistence." The object is
to show that the power of production in our society,
and in agriculture, is greatly superior to the power
of population ; that the soil is here only in part
brought tinder cultivation, and that a great portion
of that is very imperfectly cultivated ; that not only
here, but in every other part of the world, the soil
is not half tilled, and that millions of acres are
everywhere yet untouched. The inference from all
which is, that the territory of the United Kingdom
alone might maintain with ease and comfort
180,000,000 human beings ; that all the rest of
the world might be conveniently peopled up to the
same density ; and that the vast unpeopled, or half
peopled, wastes of the world require nothing but
human beings, which they in vain invite, to till
them. That is the substance of Mr. Alison's
second chapter ; and we find him in the third stat-
ing "that the difficulty which becomes most press-
ing in the advanced periods of society, is employ-
ment to engage, and subsistence to feed, the multi-
tudes who are continually brought into the world."
At many other places he speaks of a redundant
population, of the lower classes multiplying faster
than subsistence, and so becoming degraded ;
while, if his fundamental relation of population
to subsistence be well founded, no such thing
could happen, and the deficiency of employ-
ment, the want of food, the redundancy of
population, must all be referred to some vicious
institutions like the Corn-laws, of which Mr.
Alison is a defender, and should be carefully sepa-
rated from the " Principles of Population," so that
tl7e miseries of society may be properly ascribed to
its faulty legistation, not to its Divine Creator.
Like a great number of other reasoners, Mr.
Alison, after laying down one proposition slides
into another, without being aware of the change.
If his chapter on toe fundamental relation between
population and agricultural science mean anything,
it means a natural relation which would exist if all
the impediments to the prosecution of agriculture
and the cultivation of land were withdrawn. In
his fourth chapter, " On the circumstances in the
progress of society,which limit the demand for labour,"
he departs altogether from this natural relation, and
,
takes up the actual limitations to the demand for la-
bour caused by the peculiar appropriation of the soil
which prevails, by a vicious system of fiscal regu-
lations, by a great national debt, and by a variety
of other factitious circumstances, and assumes that
the actual limitation is the natural result merely of
the progress of population. The error of this view
is plain from this circumstance, that the demand
for labour here has been increased by the growth of
people across the Atlantic. On the principles of
population merely, the demand for labour must be
co-equal with the demand for food, or with the in
crease of population ; the demand for labour being
necessarily first limited by the demand for sub-
sistence. Every body knows, and no one,
we presume, better than Mr. Alison, that our
present social condition has grown out of a
state of slavery which formerly existed in Eng-
land, and of which vestiges remained till the
great Revolution. Of that state, the limited de-
m And for labour, or the demand of masters for what
servants can supply, is a consequence. Society, how-
evil., is now, and has been for some time, struggling
!,o throw off those consequences. Now, Mr. Ali-
son's error is, that he assumes them to be the natu-
ral consequences of the progress of society, anti so
confounds artificial restraints, which are felt to be
onerous, with the laws of nature, which arc known
to be wise and beneficent. In a scientific work,
treating of a natural relation, we require that it
should' be traced throughout ; hut Mr. Alison
mingles the regulations of man with the laws of
God in such admirable confusion, that it is difficult

to separate the two, and to know when he is dis,
cussing a natural law, and when an artificial regu

atiou.

ABINGDON.—In the afternoon of Monday In
two young men proceeded from this town to a place
called " The Ferry Boat," about a mile distant, for the
purpose of bathing in the Thames. One of them, Win.
Mountain, a fine youth of IS, son of the late Mr. Moun-
tain, of Cirencester, and one of the Coroners for
Gloucestershire, and nephew of Mr. Neale, of the Lion
Inn, in this town, having undressed before his companion,
plunged from the head of the ferry boat at the place
above alluded to into the water, which is there at all
times very deep, and at that moment rendered more so by
a " flash," but a very short interval had elapsed from the
time of his getting into the water when the attention
cf his companion, a youth named Henry Burden, was at-
tracted towards him by his struggles, but only one 'of the
hands of the unfortunate young man was above water, and
that only for a moment, when he sank to rise no more.
Burden was ,linost paralysed by the frightful fate of his
friend, as well as being unable to tender him assistance,
as he could not swim. The melancholy circumstance was
soon spread through town, and several excellent divers
with the drags hastened to the snot, hut their efforts to
find the body were unremitting until it became dark, and
they were obliged to relire unsuccessful. At an early
hour on the following- morning, their exertions being re-
newed, they succeeded in raising the body from a depth of
17 feet, and about 20 yards from the place where the
young man first got in. An inquest was held on the body
the same morning. before E. Coweher, Esc , Coroner,
when evidence to the above effect being adduced, the Jury
returned a verdict of Accidental Death.— Oxford Herald.
QUICK 'FAA VELLING.—A gentleman who
cline passenger in the Royal Mail Steam-ship Britannia
from Boston travelled, between the 18th of July and the
1 4th of August, by " canal, stage, railroad, and steam-
boat," not less than 5,921 miles, or at the rate of 2194
miles per day. —Liverpool Albion.
WORCESTER THEA TRE.—Braham has ap-
peered for the last two nights before Worcester audiences,
or rapier half audiences; for, notwithstanding the attrac-
tion of I:i3 great name, added to that of a very efficient
company, orchestra, and other inducements, there have
been but meagre and scanty houses.
FUNERAL OF MR. RICKAIAN.—The remains
cf the late Mr. Rickman, Assistant-clerk of the House of
Commons, wereinterred yesterdaymorning in St. Margaret's
church-yard. The funeral procession consisted of a hearse,
drawn by four horses, and four mourning coaches, contain-
ing the relatives and friends of the deceased.

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS•

(mosuAY xvxmNo.)
CHRONICLE—We men,ioned on Slturday that
the fail in Birk Stack in Ann riots appeared to have
arisen from a want of confidence in the public mind as
to the real post ion the affairs of there in,qituti,ps,
and a suspicion that there had bean concealment, The
letter of cur PhiladellMia toi-iez).voiatteCi " PublikAit;" in
the Chronicle of to-day, however, explains fully the man-
ner in which this want of confidence was produced ; and
private teams received by the British Queen from per-
sons of the best authority corroborate his statement, that
the fall in the price of the Shares of the United States
Bank was the result of a Stock Exchange speculation.
The manner in which the panic was got up is very
correctly detailed by our correspondent, and the
real character of the affair will he understood when
we mention that the low quotations which we

gave yesterday, turn out to have been chiefly done
on time bargains, at sixty days. The last price on the
31st of July, at Philadelphia, for cash, was 70 donors
per share, which price was offered on that day for
500 shares, and no sellers ; at New York the cash
price on the Ist of August was 66i. When, then,
we find the time price so much below that for money,
it is evident that the jobbers had entered largely into
speculations for a fall, and the ground-work of their
operations may be very shortly stated. Being all
Bears of the stock of the United States Bank, their ob-
ject was to create a heavy fall on the very eve of the
sai:ing of the steamers for England, so as to produce a
panic here, which, on the return of the :steamers to
America, would produce a similar reaction there ; and,
as their bargains were done for time at sixty days,
they calculated on having ample opportunity to operate
upon the result, and to be thus enabled to buy back
their stock at a low figure. The circumstance of the
Morris Canal Company having failed to pay the divi-
dends due on their stock in July last, led to the ap-
pointment of a commatee to investigate their affairs ;
and it hetng known that the United States Bank were
large holders of their stock, an alarm wag thus first
of all c:eated. It will be recollected, however, that
in the balance sheet of the affairs of the United
States Bank, published here in October last, an
allowance is made for the loss upon these Mor-
ris Gala' Shares, which were taken by the Bank
for a debt of long standing. In addition to the
want of confidence produced by this debt of the
Morris Canal Company, it was currently re-
ported on the other side that the non-payment of
the July dividend by the Bank itself would create a
serious panic here, and that a large amount of shares
would be sent out for sale to America. We believe,
however, that although very heavy transactions have
been done in the shares of the United States Bank,
they have been almost entirely for time, and that the
amount of shares that have changed hands has not been
extensive. Bafore the rising of Congress they passed a
resolution giving the President authority to withhold
the appropriations if the exigencies of the State should
call for such an unusual measure. This was done by
the Administration party as a substitute for calling upon
Congress to allow them to issue Treasury paper to
supply the deficiency in the public chest.

TIMES.—A. New York paper, published in the
evening of the Ist instant, gives the quotations of money
business for that day, in which appears a considerable
rise in the United States Bank stock, compared with
the day preceding. The highest price is 69, which
would be an advance of $8 each share ; but as there
are other quotations on the same day as low as 63, they
are more likely to be the result of speculation than any
causes denoting actual improvement in value. There
may be even some delusion practised—which is not
without a parallel in the New York money-market
—for the purpose of sending better quotations to
England by the British Queen. The last price named
was 64-i.

HERALD.—Private letters from New York, by the
British Queen, dated the Ist of August, the day of her
steaming away, notice that a large business was done in
United States Bank Shares on that day, with a consi-
derable re-action and fluctuations in prices. From 61
to 2, which were the last quotations of the day preceding,
prices were driven up by some extensive purchases
to 68 and 9, and after various turns downwards and
upwards between those quotations and 63, finally
left off at 64k. It is more than probable that
very great exertions were used by the principal spe-
culators interested for the fall or the rise to produce
such an effect on prices as would influence the market
here in the sense favourable to their operations, and
particularly that the result should he remitted by the
British Queen, as by her superior speed over the
sailing packet ships the intelligence would exercise a
longer sway over markets here, whatever its tendency
might be. It is quite clear that this heavy depreciation
in the value of United States Bank stock must have an
adequate cause s@tnewhere, however insufficiently the
facts connected with its real situation may be known,
except to the few initiated. Two or three years ago
the shares ranged from 115 to 124 or 5, and now, as i;,•
seen, they are scarcely marketable at one-half those rates.

POST,—The intelligence brought from Lisbon by
the Iberia steamer, as published in a second edition of
the Post, is not of a nature to afford much satisfaction
to the Portuguese bondholders. The project of the
Finance Minister had been made public, by virtue of
which, in the event of its being agreed to by them (the
bondholders) and by the Cortes, a half-dividend is, it
appears, to be paid on the original amount of the bonds
on the Ist of December and Ist of January next, no
arrangement being yet matured for disposing of the
arrears of interest already due. It will be seen, on re-
ference to the comments of our correspondent in
another column, that, little as it is the Portuguese Go-
vernment propose doing for the foreign creditor, there
is no chance of that little being persevered in beyond
the single half-year, and not even so much without re-
course being had to another of those " mixed opera-
tions" which go to increwe the public debt, and which
are on other accounts so little to be approved of.
Our correspondent says, and we trust that his excellent
admonitions will not be lost upon the reader :
" It is after mature reflection that I am induced to ven-
ture an humble suggestion to the British bondholders, one
the adoption of which they will never have cause to repent.
Let them make a stand, and unanimously reject all and
every arrangement of the nature proposed ; let them
firmly declare that they will agree to no compromise the
basis of which shall not be, first, the conversion of the
whole consolidated debt of Portugal, whether foreign or
internal, into one class of debt; secondly, that the over-
due dividends shall be converted, at par, into bonds of the
same debt ; thirdly, that the funds at present under the
control of the Board of Public Credit, together with such
others as may be hereafter placed at its disposal, shall he
equally and faithfully divided among the holders of stock ;
fourthly, that the foreign bondholders shall have the op-
tion of naming one of the members of the said Board of
Public Credit, without whose signature, no matter by who
else signed, no payment is to be considered as properly au-
Jlorised by is treasurer. La them not deviate from this;
once embarked in the same boat with them, the Portu-
guese holders of the bonds of the internal debt will take
good care to press the Government for the punctual pay-
ment. Any other arrangement is only intended as a pure
delusion.

Had the Portuguese Government had the honesty to
put both classes of creditors on the same footing in the
first instance, there would not now have been the diffi-
culty there is. As it happened, the most impudent par-
tiality was shown, to the prejudice of the English bond-
holder, and yet Baron de Moneorvo would, if he could,
intimidate the press by threats of actions at law, and
prevent ourselves and others from stigmatizing so in-
famous a course of injustice.
It is gratifying to us to perceive that the bond-
holders have called a meeting on an early day (Fri-
day) to express their sentiments on ,the subject of this
proceeding.

SUN.—The Funds closed heavily, Consols at 90
for money, and 90k for time. Bank Stock at 1671,
and India Stock for account at 249. Exchequer Bills
were 21s. to 245. premium.
The weather, a failure or two among the jobbers,
and the state of affairs at Paris, were the causes which
depressed the market.
The Foreign Securities have in some measure been
affected by the state of our own Funds, but there have
also been one or two particular causes to influence
their value. The accounts of the 10th instant from
Lisbon are certainly not quite of so vague a nature as
those we have received for many weeks past ; but they
are only explicit in a very unfavourable sense. It seems
the Cortes will leave the adjustment or negotiations of
the claims of the foreign bondholders entirely in the
hands of the Government, and that some scheme is
contemplated for proposing a reduction of the present
rate of interest, to which the English creditors, of
course, will not agree. John Bull may often be taken
in, but is of too dogged a character to relish com-
promises.
The New Five per Cent. Portuguese Bonds fell to-
day from 34 to 334, and the Three per Cents. from
221 to 211, each closing about a per cent. higher. The
market for Spanish Stock being heavy at Paris, is de-
pressed here also. The Active Stock ranged from 25
to 251, and the Passive from 6 to 6i ; Colombian
Bonds of 1824 varied from 24} to 244 ; Chilian de-
clined to 43, and Mexican of 1837 to 30 and 20/ :
Dutch Two-and-a-Half per Cents. opened at 511, went
down afterwards to 511, and closed at 51i ; Russian
Stock fell from 1151 to 1144 ; Brazil Bonds were at
79i- to 80.
Very little business was done in the Share Market
and South
to-day, and sales were again made at a decline. Great
Western brought 25,1 to 23 ; New 91 to 8 ; Binning_
orthllli
SharesdlandNe 3,v,w,ere n
dis.;
hWames7te7rn; IN7e- pw
r em. ; Nm; Brighton
Blackwall 1 dis. to prem. ; North Midland 14A- ;
Birmingham and Gloucester 7 ; and Eastern Counties
9 discount.
A general meeting of the Shareholders of the Com-
mercial Bank of England was held. by adjournment,
on Wednesday, at the York Hotel, Manchester, to re-
ceive the Report of the Committee appointed at a pre-
vious meeting, to investigate the affairs of the Bank,
Mr. Thomas Edge, of Birmingham, in the chair. The
Report, which had been formed by a Manchester -Cam-

mittee, is comotneticil with, local committees at the
various branches was tied I)'y Mr. Absalom Watkins,
of Manchester. It stated that there jiimild be a balance
in four of the shareholders, when all the
were fully discharged, after deducting every loss, or
120,4171. This was with the exception of one debt,
axing by the Tipton Company, which might result in
a farthe! loss of 15,0004 these deductions would
leB,:e the Ilan of 21. 13s. upon each share. The lia-
bilities of the hank; the 19th June, when the
stoppage took place, were 603,704/.; on the Ist August
they were 406,8471., showing that they had been re-
duced no less than 196,857/. The Report, as amendadd
by the Committee, was adopted unanimously. and
ordered to be published. It was afterwards resolved,
that three or four gentlemen should be appointed Man-
chester Directors, and, in conjunction with the Direc-
tors and local Committees, should be empowered to
take the necessary steps to wind up the concern.

name. The Rochdale rate seems only to be the pre-
lude to other hostilities with which the Church militan'.
intends to keep the public mind from stagnation during
the Parliamentary recess.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

EGYPT.

ALFXANDRIA, JULY 27.—Trade is completely at
stand still ; how can any business be transacted when
the political existence of the country is more than ever
at stake? Everything is wanted for war; all the men
indiscriminately form part and parcel of the National
Guardsiand all the boats are in requisition for the trans-
port of a numerous materiel. The Viceroy displays the
greatest activity. We have intelligence from Constan-
tinople that protocols are again to be the order of the
day ; however, we believe here that arrangements are
more advanced than is generally thought in this capital.
There is much activity going on in the port, owing to
the frequent transits of the French and English steamers;
the Pacha's packets continue to run to Syria, to the
island of Candia, and Constantinople. The Pacha,
notwithstanding that Sami Bey's mission was attended
with no success, has lost nothing in his unalterable se-
renity of countenance and disposition ; he increases his
perambulations through the city, and his physiognomy
breathes an assurance of.triumph.
It is stated that Sami Bey will return to Constanti-
nople, the bearer of fresh proposals. The crews of the
ships commenced to-day the exercise of the firelock.
The steamer Haggi Baba, which arrived yesterday,
has brought the news that the British fleet was in har-
bour at Cyprus. The appearance of that fleet in that
port gives rise here to many conjectures—will she act
against Alexandria ?
ALEXANDRIA, JULY 26.—We are without news
from Syria. The Egyptian ships, which were to leave
for Beyrout, are still in the harbour. The Pacha is
much put out at the want of success which has at-
tended Sami Bey's mission, and waits for some im-
portant communication from the allied Powers, but
flatters himself that nothing will be done this year.
In the mean time he repeats it to whoever is willing
to listen to him, that he will defend himself to the very
last point. It is precisely because he displays so much
affectation in proclaiming that resolution, that I do not
believe it to be sincere, and therefore I shall not be sur-
prised to see him give in, if reasonable proposals were
made to him. It was always his intention not to push
matters too far ; besides, he is old, and he wishes to
leave to his children an inheritance which will be in-
sured to them.
M. Thiess might easily be mistaken, and work for
England by placing obstacles to an arrangement. The
possession of Egypt, guaranteed to the Pacha, even
without Syria, or with a portion only of that pro-
vince, would have rendered the Pacha sufficiently power-
ful not to have to fear a coup de main. It is Egypt
which has made his greatness, and it is to the resources
of Egypt that he is indebted for the means of raising
fleets, and of maintaining a large army. Let him in-
spire the country with fresh vigour—let him devote
half of it to agricultural purposes, and let the popula-
tion be no longer destroyed by continual drafts for the
army, and prevented from rendering it productive, and
he will easily be able to dispense with Syria.
ALEXANDRIA, JULY 26.—Events are preparing
around us, without our having the means of diving into
them. The Viceroy is not a little annoyed at the in-
fluence which the British Ambassador possesses at Con-
stantinople. It is the latter who dictated the replies
that were made to the Egyptian Envoy. Everything
proves that in the capital matters are carried on as if
under the sway of deplorable enchantment, for Sami
Bey experienced from the Sultan unequivocal tokens of
sympathy. The air of disdain which the Grand
Signior assumed when Sami Bey made the offer of re-
storing the fleet had all the appearance of an action
officially forced upon him, and prescribed beforehand.
There remains but one version in our city respecting
M. Eugene Perier's mission, viz , that he had come in
order to support Mehemet Ali's proceedings with the
Porte, and that his instructions were sufficiently unli-
mited to enable him, according to circumstances, to
hasten the solution of the differences in question. It is
also stated that the envoy of the French Cabinet was
to announce that a protocol was on the point of being
signed in London, notwithstanding M. Guizot's ener-
getic opposition, by the four Powers, and that it was for
the purpose of summoning the Viceroy to restore the
fleet and a portion of Syria. It is necessary to observe
that the Egyptian army numbers in Syria 130,000 men,
and that 100,000 can he detached therefrom forthwith.
Ibrahim Pacha has not quitted the advanced posts ; and
everything is in readiness to commence operations. The
Viceroy displays undoubtedly great deference for those
who exhort him to patience.
The insurrection of Syria is completely stifled, and a
single mountain of trifling importance, which is situated
near Tripoli, remains to give in its submission, and there
was no doubt as to its surrendering discretionally like
the rest. The excesses of barbarity to which those
Albanian monsters resorted are deeply deplared, and
the Syrians will pay dearly for their revolt.
A squadron of five vessels is about to be sent to Syria,
to convey a convoy of ammunition to Ibrahim Pacha.
The Turkish and Egyptian fleets have resumed their
stations in our harbour. At the .Palace the restitution
of the Ottoman fleet is no.inore spoken of, however such
a thing might be possible. That question was to be
decided before M. Perier's departure, which takes place
tomorrow, but nothing is known as to the Viceroy's de-
.finitive intentions.

• SYRIA.
• Bsynour, JULY 21.---The-Prince of Lebanon eon-
tribc4e4•to reduce the other princes of, the mountains,
and to sepaiate Wei-Major Part of the *Christians from
the—Drtises. 'The mountaineers who previously re-
fused the most advantageous proposals of arrangement,
have just been compelled to lay down their arms for
which they had revolted, and to surrender at discretion,
for, being abandoned to themselves, and to their feeble
resources, possessing but 2,000 muskets, they have but
to submit to the less severe conditions.
• An Egyptian army composed of 9,000 men, and di-
vided into three columns, has lately left ; the first, com-
manded by Abbas Pacha, has taken up a position at
Beyrout ; the second, headed by Soliman Pacha, was
to act on the other side of the mountain ; and the
third column, under the command of Osman Bey, was
to invade the mountains on the side of Balhec. These
three columns were to form a junction in the centre of
the insurrection, with that of Osman Pacha, which was
at Z thacle, and from thence proceed in the direction of
Betedin.

The Albanians have committed sad disasters, they
have burnt several villages and plundered a great num-
ber of convents and Maronite churches, putting to
death even the priests, and afterwards they sold the
sacred relics in the town of -Beyrout. If France re-
mains a tacit spectator of such violent scenes she will
lese all the influence which she had acquired in Leba-
non, by giving her protection there to religion.
Two vessels and an English steamer are still at an-
chor in our port. Several Englishmen who were
amongst the insurgents have taken refuge on board
those vessels.
The French Viscount Dc Onfroy has also taken re-
fuge on board the corvette La Diligente.
The expedition against the insurgents, though an-
nounced to be under the command of Abbas Pacha, is
nevertheless: under that of Solinaan Pacha, and the
Viceroy's grandson has formal orders not to come to
any decision which might not meet with &anal' Pa-
sha's approbation.