The Sun.
London, England, 1824-06-23 00:00:00

[THE TIMES.]

The Mexican intelligence of this day excites
a more than ordinary interest. That a crisis of
gle,lt anxiety and urgency has arisen in the affairs
of that infant State, we may suspect from the re-
markable cilcumstance affirmed in the Yew fork
Papers, of a " Supreme Directorship," amount-
ing almost to a Dictatorhip, having been unani-
mously recommended by a Select Committee of
the Congress, and afterwards agreed upon by a
majority of the entire body. Supposiug this ac-
count to be a true one, the dangerous condition of
the country is not the only inference to be de-
dueed from it, but a more important conclusion
still—namely, the existence of so much sagacity
in the Congress, as enabled them fully to discern
the danger, with a fund of probity and energy
sufficient to provide against it the most effectual
safeguards. No individual is specified as the
person to he clothed with the trust of Supreme
Magistrate ; but it will be seen, from one of our,
private letters, that General Bravo, the first form.;
tionary of the Executive Government, had arrived
in Mexico about the date assigned to the above
measures of the Congress, and that great public
confidence had already resulted from his active
proceedings and his high reputation. The sin-
gular, though not incredible part of these state-
ments, however, is, that Iturbide turns out to he
what many people have suspected—a treacherous
engine of the Bourbons, for the subjugation of
his countrymen. A letter of Iturbide, the ex-
Emperor, r to Ferdinand, the ex-K ing of that
quondam Spanish province, was, it seems from a
Mexican publication of the 10th of April, dis-
covered and copied at Madrid, by a friend to the
cause of America; wherein Iturbide is made to
acknowledge chat he had studiously directed all
his measures to the object of preserving Mexico to
Spain,—that is, we take for granted, after he found
it no longer tenablenn his• • own account ; and that
be had abstained from capturing the Castle of St.
John of Ulloa, that it might serve as a point
d'appui for the Spaniards. There may lie truth
in these confessions; but whether Iturbide be a ,
treble or only a double traitor, is perhaps of
little consequence to any other than to himself
and his Bourbon Allies. II; designs
appear to
notoriety in Mexico
be matters of where on the

4th of April a conspiracy in favour of this ad-
venturer was crushed, and the leader of it seized
and beheaded. From the precautions which are
represented to have been every where had re-
course to on the part of the existing Govern-
ment, some hope is entertained that the object
of his expedition may be defeated. Whatever
schemes may be projected by the Holy Alliance
against the freedom of Mexico, or that of South
America in general, a strong suspicion prevails
across the Atlantic, that the English Ministers
stand by no means clear from the guilt of secretly,
participating in them. The neutrality of Eng-
land is declared, and by men of eminence and
authority in the United States, to be no more
than an artful screen for her determined hostility
to the cause of American independence.

[BRITISH PRESS.]
The intelligence from Mexico, received yes-
terday, represents the state of that country as
very unsettl'•d. As a remedy for the want of
energy in the Government, the dangerous expe-
dient of a Dictator has been adopted. We fear,
however, that such an authority was necessary,
as we observe that the Committee, by which it
was recommended, were unanimous in their re-
port, which was immediately approved by a
majority of the Congress. We notice also,
that no period is fixed for the duration of the
office. Probably it is intended to continue it
till the country is tranquillized and consoli-
dated. May the Mexicans not again suffer
by reposing their confidence in another military
adventurer ! We are glad to find that they are
fully apprised of the movements of Iturbide,and
prepared vigorously to resist them. It would
appear, from their representations, that his de-
parture is concerted with Ferdinand against the
independence of Mexico. These imputations
will not easily be credited on such grounds as
they rest at present. An act of outlawry was
unanimously passed against Iturbide and his ad-
herents. The promptitude of the Mexican Go-
vernment will, we trust, enable it to seize him on
his landing, and thus at once crush his enterprise.
The Congress have settled the tariff. It will be
found in their proceedings, and must prove of
great interest to the •commercial world.

[MORNING HERALD.]
Sunday's Paris Papers arrived late last night.
The French Ministry has been a second time
left in a minority in the Chamber of Peers. The
question was scarcely of a political nature. It
was a proposition for permitting the proceedings
in the Chambers to be reported in the Journals.
But the fact of a majority against the Govern-
ment on any subject is not without importance.
The partisans of the disgraced Minister Chateau-
briand almost exult In this event, and anticipate
more serious defeats. Some new light is thrown
upon the quarrel between M.M. Chateaubriand
and Villele. They had long been disunited.—
The former was labouring not merely in the
Council to supplant the latter, but it is
said joined in the Chamber of Peers,
with M.M. Montmorency and Laine,ex-Minis-
ters, to form a party which should turn out M.
Villele and make room for them. The speeches
of Sir James Mackintosh and Mr. Canning, on
the Petition of London for the independence of
South America, are given in these papers as
matters of curiosity and speculation. The Jour.
nal des Debuts, an Ultra advocate for the subju-
gation of the new States, hints rather than asserts
en infinite deal of meaning in certain sentences
of Mr. Canning, which this Journal prints and
points in Italics. The Courier Francais a
,Jour-
nal of the Liberal party, has been, now a second

r its 4g general
time, brought before the tribunals fo
spirit." Such is the law of France, as lately
enacted, that the spirit of a Journal, though no
one sentence or phrase be pointed out as a spe-
cific libel, may subject it to the punishment of
suspension or suppression. The punishment
prayed for in this instance is three months sus-
pension of the Journal.

[MORNING POST.]
We yesterday had the satisfaction of directing
public attention to the Bills brought into Parlia-
ment by Mr. Berries, on the preceding night, for
the Consolidation of the Custom and Excise

Laws, and the regulation of trade and other
matters connected with the commerce of the
country. More important measures to the com-
mercial Interests of the country, in our opinion,
never were submitted to Parliament. It is ob-
vious that, with a view to the success of indivi-
dual enterprise and the prosperity of the coun-
try, a merchant should be able to see his
course clearly, and occupying himself only
with the natural probabilities of his speculations,
feel no doubt, experience no embarrassment,
respecting the nature and effects of those do-
mestic laws by which his business is to be go.
verned. This, however, could not be the case, so
long as, from the multiplicity as well as com-
plexity of the enactments relative to trade, it was
impossible for a man to know himself, or with
certainty to be informed by others, whether or
not in the honest pursuit of self-interest and na-
tional welfare, he was transgressing one or more
of several hundred obsolete Statutes. That much
had been done before the present Bills were
framed, is proved by the fact that the laws allud-
ed to were reduced from 2,000 to about 500! But
what chance of safety remained, we ask, when
the risks included in the ramifications of five
hundred enactments were to be encountered ?

—What confidence in the result of his own
foresight could any merchant indulge when
cotnpelled to walk over such fearful foot-
ing ? Need we add too, that the destruction of
mind thus produced must have paralyzed more
,
every bold exertion
or less and, even where no
actual loss was incurred, have diminished the
gain which would otherwise have been realized.
The casualties of land and sea, of circumstances
and seasons—of political and natural events, are,
Heaven kuowns, quite enough to disturb the
order of speculation, without being
subjected
to the snares of five hundred incongruous
laws besides. We know ourselves, from
good authority, that some of the first houses
in Englaud have incurred the confiscation of'

property to a considerable amount, although,
owing to the clemency of the Treasury, it may
not ultimately have been forfeited, by uncon-
sciously violating a law only understood to exist
when its penalties were threatened to be en-
forced. We cannot therefore applaud in terms
sufficiently strong the wisdom pf the Bills intro.
duced by Mr. Herries. To render them perfect,
it will only be requisite to enact that they con-
tain all the laws upon the subjects in question, in
order that subsequently no perchance excluded
provision of an irrelevant statute may be raked
up to thwart the present object of the Legislature.
But as Ministers have undertaken the task in the
spirit which we see, it may he safely concluded
that nothing will be left undone. Indeed, as we
shall soon take an opportunity of illustrating, the
whole of this Session has exemplified a zeal and
practical success on the part of Government to
perfect the laws and institutions of the realm,
which has given the greatest satisfaction to ell
classes of his Majesty's subjects. We may say
in a word, that the history of man exhibits little
or nothing like so faultless a system of civil po-
lity in all its relations as this Empire now pre-
sents.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

FRACAS AT THE SURREY THEATRE.

Urr oNHALL.— Yesterday this-Office was crowded with
Theatrical Gentlemen belonging to the establishment of the
above Theatre, in consequence of a riot that took place the
previous night on the stage, between the Proprietor and an emi-
nent Tragedian, who had been announced, in some of the
penny pamphlets, to perform the character of Edward Morti-
mer, in the new piece, entitled " The Ranger of the Forest."
Mr. Kemble and a Mr. Warner appeared as the defendants.
Mr. W. Williams, the Proprietor of the Surrey, stated,
that on the preceding evening, during the performance of
The Banger qf the Forest, Mr. Kemble, who had recently
belonged to his company, jumped from the pit across the
orchestra on the stage, and there proceeded to harangue
the audience, and create a disturbance, which he (Mr.
lVil-
Hams) was fearful at the time would have ended in the demoli-
tion of the whole interior of the house. During the disturbance,
a Mr. Warner, who appeared to be the friend of Mr. Kemble,
stood up on the seats in the pit, and by his language and ges-
tures did every thing in his power to excite the audience to
acts of disorder. Mr. Williams added, that he was under the
necessity of ejecting Mr. Kemble from the stage back into the
orchestra. As for Mr. Warner, he said, that gentleman, he
had every reason to believe, was the instigator of the whole
proceedings, and he was persuaded that a party was formed to
kick up a row, and do every thing they could against the inte-
rests of the theatre.

Mr. CHAMBERS inquired whether Mr. Kemble still be-
longed to the company, and whether it was a fact that he was
announced to play there that night ?
Mr. Williams declared it was no such thing, and added, that
that gentleman's engagement had expired some time since.
Mr. CHAMBERS then asked Al r. Kemble what business he

had to jump upon the stage, and act in the manner described ?
Mr. Kenibie replied, that he had witnesses to prove that the
riot commenced in consequence of his having been announced
in the bills to perform a character in one of. the pieces. He
happened to be in the pit when the play alluded to commenced,
and immediately ()lithe appearance of another performer, who
was substituted in his stead, a scene of uproar and confusion
ensued, when lie (Mr. Kemble) was loudly called fOr from all
parts of the house. Under these circumstances, and at the de-
sire of the whole house, he admitted that he crossed over to
the stage, not for the purpose of exciting a disturbance, as
had been stated, but for the purpose of addressing the audi-
ence, and informing them the reason that he did not appear
before them in the part he was announced to perform in. At
the moment he was about to address the audience, Mr. Wil-
liams ran out on the stage, and coming behind him (Mr. K.) as
he stood near the foot lights, gave him a violent push, knocked
him into the orchestra, and had it not been fortunately " that
he came down" on a kettle-drum, which broke his fall, he was
certain some of his bones would have been broken. These,
Mr. Kemble declared, were the real facts of the case.
Mr. Williams said, that he waft convinced M. Kemble and
Mr. Warner came to the house with the intention of " raising
a row," and that was the object of their being in the pit, ready
at the moment to cross the stage.
Mr. Auld, the stage manager here stated, that, while the
above circumstances were passing on the stage, Mr. Warner
stood on the benches of the pit, waving his hat, and exciting
the audience by caking out, 47 Go it ; that's right, my boys,
pull down the house."

Mr. Warner denied that he went to the Theatre for the pur-
pose of engaging in any disturbance ; he went there to_ see Mr.
Kemble, who was announced in the bills, and he could not
help expressing his dissatisfaction, as well as the rest of the
audience, when he saw that character was put into the hands of
another performer.
The Magistrate observed, that enough had been stated to
authorize him to call upon both defendants to put in bail.
Mr. Williams said, that lie would be perfectly satisfied if
Mr. Kemble would enter into his own recognizances to keep
the peace.
Kemble was accordingly bound in his own recognizances,
and Mr. Warner in two securities of 501. each, to keep the
peace.

We arc informed, by an arrival from Trinidad,
that the inhabitants had determined to petition the Governor to
suspend the promulgation of the new Order in Council. A
meeting for that purpose was to be held on Friday, the 11th of
ay.—(Barbadoes Paper.)

COURSE, OF EXCHANGE, June 22.
?,instei dant
Ditto, at Night
Rotterdam
Antwerp l2 5
Hamburg
Altona
Paris, 3 i)ay's sight 25 50 0 Us.
Ditto
Boni-deatix, dil to
Berlin 7 10
Frilnk fort on the Main
Peteisburgli . 9
Vienna lO 7
Trieste lO 7
Nladria
Cadiz

Rilboa
Barcelona
Seville
Gibraßat
Leghorn
Gel..•a ...... '44 -Venice, Ital. Liv. 9.7 0
Nlaitit --Naples 3B
Palermo
Lisbon
Oporto
Itio.latteiro
Bahia .................................. ••
50
1/111)1.111 ........ Coil; DA vet Cent.

35A Effective-
-354 Effective
35;
351
3ot

BULLION.

Portu;al Gol(1,i u Coin --
Foreign Gold, in Bars
New 1)0111)loons .........
New D011ar5.....
Silver in Bars, Standard..,,,

..L.O 0 0 pr.4oc
3 17 6
... 3 14 0
0 4 OPI
•••.0 4 114

Surrey,
Mary, the wife of Philip Alex
BIRTH.
On Monday, the 2lst inst., at Durham Cottage,
Prince, Esq., of a daughter.

gr
MARRIED.
On the Bth inst., at St. Nicholas church, Bristol, by the Rev.
T. Eden,
to Mary, only daughter
of Peter the Rev. Thomas Greo ,
Mage, Esq., of Bownham Lodge, Somerset.
At St. Andrew's church, Holborn, on the 22d inst., Joseph
Dixon, Esq., of Ilatton-garden, to Louisa, youngest daughter
of Robert Patten, Esq., of the tame place.

DIED.
At sea, on the 3d Inst., in his 29th year, on his return from
Madeira, Thomas Martineau, Esq., M.D.
On Monday, the 14th inst., at Devonport, aged 39, Robert
Mills, Esq., purser in the Royal Navy.
On the 22d inst., in Hill-street, George Stone, Esq., in his
80th year.
suddenly, yesterday morning,
at her house in Montague-
street, Portman-square, Mrs. Eleanor Bettisworth, aged 53.
.
On the 21st at his house In Park-street, Park-lane,
James Peter Auriol, Esq.
Tuxford, Nottinghamshire, the Rev.
George Waddington, vicar of that place, aged 10'
On Saturday last, at

FOR THE SUN.

FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF POLITICAL
ECONOIIIISTS.

MR. EDITOR—My father has frequently stated
his conviction, that the world had attained a
point in civilization, where an important change
in the institutions of society was equally de-
sirable and inevitable. A principal reason for
this belief he has, i❑ general terms, stated to be
deduceable from the progress of scientific im-
provements, and, as it appears to me, with
much reason. If the following considerations on
this important subject, which my father's nume-
rous engagements prevent him from explaining
to the public as fully as he wishes, should place
the matter in a novel or striking point of view
before any of your Readers, I shall have attain-
ed the object which induced me to commit them
to paper.
Let us suppose a country, the inhabitants of
which existed, in tolerable comfort, by the pro-
duce of their own unassisted labour, to have dis-
covered a nation of slaves, who existed in full
health and vigour without eating or drinking, or
sleeping ; the end and aim of whose being was
labour; who would work for any length of time,
even at the most monotonous and disagreeable oc-
cupations, without becoming either impatient
or fatigued ; who always performed the allotted
task with unwearied punctuality and undeviat-
ing, steady uniformity and exactness, day by day,
and week by week, and year by year, yet without
promise of hire or expectation of reward, whose
united efforts produced a gigantic and overwhelm-
ing power, yet one which was never exert-
ed but in their master's service and at his
command, and which never injured him in any
way but by the effect of accident only ; amongst
whom no combinations against their master could
be formed, no opposition to his wishes be ever
shewn, nor his right of uncontrouled direction
and absolute government be ever doubted or
questioned ; with whom a touch was sufficient to
express his wishes, and to insure their fulfilment;
for whom no treatment was cruel, nor any de-
mands on their exertions unjust or exorbitant ;
whose incidental infirmities could be easily and
certainly cured, and whose bodies, when at last
wor❑ out by age and incessant labour their
powers began to fail, might be taken for any pur-
pose to which the materials which composed
them were applicable ; yet, withal, a race sus-
ceptible of infinite and increasing improvement,
without prejudices, and capable of being moulded
to any character which their master required them
to assume.

Suppose, too, that millions of these slaves could
be imported annually by the nation which had
discovered them.

Then, let me ask, what would be the effect of
such an importation I Would the discovery, in
itself, be a fortunate or an unfortunate one ?
I reply, it would be a most fortunate and va-
luable discovery in itself ; yet capable, without
a corresponding change in the institutions of the
nation, of producing infinite misery and mischief.
in this way.—The present institutions of all ci-
vilized nations render each member of the working
classes dependent for subsistence on the demand
is the market for the articles, in the produce of
which he may happen to be employed. What-
ever, therefore, diminishes the market demand,
creates misery in the same proportion.
Now the influence which the importation of
such slaves would produce is two-fold. Those
who employ the working classes, and, by their
labour, supply the market, would find themselves
called upon to choose between them and the
newly-imported workmen. Can we doubt what
the decision must be ? Is not the answer, which
they, as men of business, must make to any of
their former servants, who might remonstrate
against a decision in favour of the slaves, evident
and conclusive : " Can you exist without eating,
4' or drinking, or sleeping? Will you work with-
" out wages, and never exhibit a sign of itnpa-
" tierce or fatigue, however long we may wish
" to employ you ? Will you never complain of
CO cruelty or injustice, in whatever manner you
" may be treated ? Even then you are inferior,
‘C as work-people, to this new race. How can we
44 be assured that you will form no combinations
‘C against us to our injury, that you will never
4C oppose our wishes, never dispute our authority,
44 or question our right of government ? How can
" we be assured, in fine, that you will give up
" your wishes, your feelings, your prejudices and
44 your interests, and become our willing slaves
"as this invaluable nation. is ? If these things
" are so, how can you expect to be preferred, as
" workmen, to them ? As superintendents, we
" are willing and desirous to employ some of
44 you, but in any other capacity your labour is
4' now useless to us."

Thus, then, would the newly-imported slaves
become the work-people of the nation who im-
ported them ; and the two-fold influence of their
importation would consist, Ist, In a vast increase
of market produce, and, 2dly, In a diminished
necessity for the labour of the working classes.
Now, certainly, in themselves, these effects are
not calculated to produce much misery. To have
too much of every thing that is desirable, and too
little to do in obtaining it, if it be a misfortune, is
one, at least, of which the working classes seldom
complain, and one which does not seem neces.
sarik allied to penury and starvation. Yet, as-
suredly, in countries where the market demand
regulates the employment, and consequently the
food which the labourer can obtain, superfluity
of the objects of desire, and increased facility in
producing them, do prove positive and lamentable
evils.

In a nation, therefore,, whose commercial at-
rangements were similar to ours, the importation

of a multitude of slaves, possessed of the quali-
ties I have enumerated, would be calculated, by

affording extreme facility of production and in-
creasing its wealth proportionably, to glut its
markets, and to deprive its labourers of employ-
ment and of food, because they were producing
too much of every thing.
Now, I believe that a state of things, in which
an increase of wealth creates poverty, and in
which the facility of producing the means of sub.

sistence exposes to starvation, cannot long continue
in any nation.
And this I believe to be the present state of
things in Great Britain and Ireland.
Great Britain has discovered an innumerable
nation of mechanical and chemical slaves ; and
they are beginning to produce almost every thing
she requires. Her working classes have become
superintendants of mechanism, and her real
wealth is increasing to an enormous extent.
If power and wealth constitute prosperity,
her scientific discoveries have made her prosper-
ous indeed. But if the effect of prosperity be
to produce comfort and happiness, then has
Great Britain's commercial system of arrange-
ments (formed in a period of comparative adver-
sity, when an increase of production was the
greatest blessing, and a famine the greatest evil
that could befall), not only deprived her of all
the benefits of prosperity, but turned a bless-
ing to a curse, and proved itself totally un-
adapted to the present state of knowledge and of
scientific power. As long as the supply of our
wants shall be made to depend on the artificial
and fluctuating demand of the market, so long is
prosperity a positive evil. If our storehouses
were empty, and our markets ill supplied, then
trade would flourish, employment would be pro-
cured, the workmen would receive high wages,
and the very expenditure of these wages would
serve to increase the general demand, and with
it the means of future employment for their la-
bour—until, alas ! prosperity again approached
us, until our storehouses became filled, and our
markets overflowed—and then our farmers would
begin to starve, and our manufacturers to be-,
come bankrupt. Some new vent is, doubtless,
occasionally found, either at home or abroad,
producing a temporary relief from the evils of
abundance, but part of the immense amount of
spare capital which at present inundates this
country, is instantly employed to supply each
increasing demand, and the subsequent revulsion
in the market is only the more quickly and pain-
fully felt.
If some malevolent being were to afford us the
means of increasing our production, instantaneous-
ly, tenfold, on condition that the present com-
mercial relation of demand and supply should re-
main unaltered, we should probably all die of
want before the end of the year ; for the glut on
the market would be insupportable, nothing,
would sell for half its prime cost, and the nation,
would become bankrupt.
Surely we cannot long remain blind to the fact,
that increasing prosperity is but increasing misery,
so long as our commercial system retains its pre-
sent form ! Surely it need not continue to be a con-
dition of enjoyment, that the means of enjoyment
shall not superabound !
Yet this condition, useless as it is at all,times,
and ruinous, as it has proved itself, in proportion
as we approach to abundance and prosperity, is•
virtually imposed on the enjoyment of the world,.
so long as men continue to buy and sell in the
market against each other ; in other words, so
long as the existing system of individual commer-
cialcompetition exists. Could a malignant spirit
the
do things
they of
elude
Chic
world
have imposed a restriction more ingeniously fraught
rprilddly around
wet mdaccumulateu s,the more
with. destructive influence to society ? The more
a
all
certainly
god
our grasp ! Was TANTALUS more severely
punished than this ?

And not to want and poverty alone are the
effects of this individual competition confined. I,
as a merchant, wish to buy cheap, and to sell
dear : but all other merchants wish me to buy
dear, and to sell cheap. Is not one man's hand
against every man, and every man's hand against
him ? Is it not a proof of the excellence of human
nature that honest men should be found in a so-
ciety with Institutions such as this ?

If wealth, and honesty, and benevolence, and
union, are desirable to be attained, do we act
wisely in surrounding ourselves by circumstances
so pregnant with poverty, and dishonesty, and.
malevolence, and dissention ? Is it not possible
to combine other circumstances, under which
abundance shall be indeed a blessing, and where
it shall become our apparent, as well as our real,
interest, to practise honesty and benevolence to-
wards our fellow-creatures ?

My father proposes to combine these circum-
stances in a community of persons, who shall,
unite their interests, like one large family, and
produce, in the first place for their own consump-
tion. They are thus entirely independent of any
market, until their own wants are supplied, and
scarcely any inconvenience can arise from excess
of production, except that which results from
want of storehouses. In such establishments, the
detailed managements of which shall be shortly
submitted to the public, the evident effect of
each new importation of mechanical power is to
diminish the necessity for labour on the part of
the members, and thus to afford them a real and
certain advantage. Mechanical inventions have
hitherto been brought into competition with the
working classes ; may they not now be brought
to their assistance ? We have learnt how to
create almost any amount of produce ; can we
not form arrangements to distribute and to en-
joy it

True It is, that the leisure time, which the cm,-
ployment of mechanical power would thus gradu-
ally afford to all classes, might prod ace injurious
consequences to those whose minds were unculti-
vated ; but this apparent disadvantage becomes
where education is-
at-nhaedeg,raesaitteswtilol fbobilnesaslilngtisie new establishments,
e first and most important object of society.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
ROBERT DALE OWEN.

Nall Mall, Juno 22, 1824.

We understand that a requisition is in course
of signature to convene a public meeting in this
place, to take into consideration the propriety of
petitioning the King to acknowledge the indepen-
dence of those States of North and South Ameri-
ca which had established their independence.--
(Leeds Mercury.)

Printed and Published for the PROPRIETORS, at the Sum-
Orvicx, 112, Strand, by J. B. CAtt.s-.Tmits.