The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-10 00:00:00

MORNING SUN.

vengeanc3 on the Canadians. The fellows, it is thought,
came by way of Lake Ontario—Hark, they are firing at
the gaol. I fear we may have bloody work of it.—Your's,
in haste, &c., "' WM. EUSTACE.
" P.S. By the way, it is thought poor 'Teller, from
New York, is kidnapped, as he is not to be found at his
boarding-house. Rumour is also rife about the abstrac-
tion of Mackenzie. God 'only knows what will be the
end of it. 64 I E

JOHN HOCKINGS, the BIRMING-

' - HAM BLACKSMITH.
John, " take him all in all," as our great Bard has
it, is an extraordinary individual. For five nights,
during the present week, he has been lecturing at the
Queen's Theatre, in this town, to numerous and re-
spectable audiences. On each night he spoke for
about one hour and three quarters, and his physical
and mental powers are such, that he could apparently
continue his lecture to double the time, to the great
satisfaction of his hearers. Hockings is a stout, well-
made man, and he has a good-looking, smiling coun-
tenance. He appears to be about fifty-six years of
age, dark complexion, and stands about five feet eight
inches in stature. His dress bespeaks the order to
which he belongs. It consists of a coarse dark-
coloured cloth frock coat, with pockets outside, some-
thing like that of a shooting coat, dark pantaloons,
striped or spotted waistcoat, and black neckerchief:
When addressing the audience he is not very particular
whether his coat is on or off. Should the atmosphere
be rather warm, John throws off the coat, and having
relieved himself from that incumbrance, proceeds with
the subject with fresh vigour. As an orator, he may
with great propriety be called one of the Thauma-
turgi of teetotalism.. His style is natural, powerful,
and eloquent ; and when describing the baneful
effects of alcoholic drinks upon the unfortunate, in-
dividuals given "up to them, he is remarkably happy.
He is quite what is understood by the term an nu-
' educated man—that is, he never received ordinary
instruction in any school during his boyhood, and did not
know how to read till one of his own children taught
him, after he had become a teetotaller. He is eloquent
to a high degree, and carries both the feelings and judg-
ment of the audience with him. When describing the
misery and woe of the drunkard and his family, his man-
ner and the tones .of his voice are such that he not un-•
frequently draws tears from his audience.. On thee
other band, when giving a rich and picturesque de-.
seriptiee of tte. follies and alisurditieseefeAksi drunk-
ard, his inimie powers are so great and so `%lK•urs'a,
that he sis sure to elicit peals of laughter. Without au
regular Connexion in his speeches, he goes on, with
perfect case to himself and pleasure to the audience,
from " grave to gay, from livelyto severe ;" and, how-
ever mal-apropos a word may occasionally be, he is never
short Of one in the course of his address. His style of
reasoning is perfectly original. He knows nothing
about forming a syllogism, or the rules of logic, but he
brings his own experience and common sense to bear
upon the matter, and he is generally victoriotys. He
gave a proof of this in one of his recent IPetures.
Describing a discussion he had had with a per-
son who opposed teetotalism, he said, his oppo-
nent objected to the word " teetotaller," and said
it was like the system itself—ridiculous, as it could
n it be found in any dictionary ; and, with regard to
alcoholic drinks, he contended they were perfectly
justifiable, as the barley from which they were made
was alcohol, and, therefore, on the principles of logic,
teetotalism was absurd. In reply, Hockings said he
]anew nothing about logic, but the gentleman would
perhaps be so kind as to tell him what was the name
of the upper article of dress he then wore. " a'i,"
said his opponent, " that is a Mackintosh." "Nov -,"
said Hockiugs triumphantly, " what a ridiculous aid
absterd thing that must be ! What dictionary slid
you find that word in ?" " Oh," said the gehtlemetn,
" that is a word merely to express the name of t.he
c oat." " Just so," said Hockings, " and the word
' teetotalism', is similar. It implies that those who ab-
stain from intoxicating drinks are sober, respectable
men. Now with regard to barley being alcohol,"
continued liockings, "I said to one of my hearers,
4 I say, Jack, this here pocket handkerchief is papery
a'nt it ?" No,' said Jack, 'it is cotton.' Oh, but it
must be paper,' replied Hockings, 'on the principles
laid down by that gentleman respecting barley,—for, if
barley be alcohol, this handkerchief must be paper.' "
Heel:imp' common sense here prevailed over his oppo-
ntmt, who retired from the contest crest-fallen. Al-
though the manner, reasoning, .and eloquence of
Ho ckings are of native mint, and all three of a very
sup erior caste, there is, nevertheless, a coarseness.
abc ut them that would not be tolerated in any other
public man. His expressions, however, come from
so , unsophisticated a source, that they add to, rather
than diminish the effect of his discourse. Thus,
"Down with the (lust"—" Any brass in your rags ?"
--" Getting the sack"—" Cutting his lucky," ania mu&
tite_de of other similar phraseology, are made in the
hands of John Hockings so many ornaments to his
speech. ' It is quite the language he has all his
life been used to, and it flows as naturally from him
EIS a spring does from its source. Hockmgs, in the
early part of his manhood, according to his own ac-
cc,unt, was much given to intemperance. His appear-
ance was such, he says, that " the boys would cut
=way from him, as from a robber," but since lie has
" joined teetotal," he has been enabled to keep him-
*elf and family respectable, and buy " a little free-
, hold" into the bargain. He is most ardent and inces-
-1 sant in his calling, by day and by night, in winter and,
summer, Wand :England,- Ireland, lind -Scotland, are by
i turns the scenes of his operations. In Ireland, he was
one of the precursors of Father Mathew, and he reveres
1 that great man with filial affection for his efforts in the
1 cause of teetotalism. Although a resident of Birming-
-1 ham he is a native' of London, and has a strong southern
11 accent. From his long residence, however, in the above
1 town, he has obtained the sobriquet of the •' Birmingham
Blacksmith," a name of which he appears to be proud,
ir
and which will, no doubt, long distinguish him in the
annals of teetotalism.—Liverpool Journal.

WEEKLY STATEMENT OF LON-
DON, LETTERS, Ana. 9, 1841.
THROUGH' THE GENERAL POST.
Four weeks ending Aug. 7 1841
Corresponding period of 1840
Ditto as nearly as can be given of 1839
Increase since 1840 on the four weeks' letters 1,560,229
Ditto 1839 ditto 3,868,503

THROUGH THE DISTRICT POST.
Four weeks ending Aug. 7, 1841
Corresponding period of 1840
Ditto as ner.rly as can be given of 1839
Increase since 1840 on the four weeks' letters 146,699
Ditto 1839 ditto 673,316

BRUSSELS, AUG. 7.—lt results from the ave-
rage prices of wheat and rye last week in the ten pro-
vincial markets, and from the law of the 31st of July,
1834-1. That wheat will be exempt from import duty,
dating from the 11 th of this month ; 2. That, the im-
port duty on rye remains fixed at 25f. 50c. for 1,000
kilogrammes ; 3. That the export duty on both wheat
and rye it 25c. for 1,000 kilogrammes. The average
prices of wheat is 21f. 60c. ; that of rye, llf. 85c.
EXTRAORDINARY AFFAIR.—Great excite-
ment prevailed at Wootton Bassett on Saturday week, in
consequence of the following circumstance :—A man of
the parish of Cliffe Pypard had been taken into custody
the Saturday previous by the police officer, for threaten-
ing to beat a woman. The officer, whether acting under
th advice of a magistrate-or not is unknown, took him
into the parish of Wootton Bassett, and turned him over
to the policemen stationed in that town, who, without any
oeremony, put him into the Blindhouse, here he was
confined until the following Thursday. He was then
taken to the County Magistrates, but from some cause
or other, nothing was decided, and he was again placed
in confinement, where he remained until Saturday, the
policeman refusing to allow him to breathe fresh air, or
to obey the 'calls of nature, otherwise than in his
sodun-
geon ! Thus was a free-born Englishman imprisoned
for a week, without any inquiry having
been instituted
,The
into the charge on which he was a
the manner of the inhabitants were disgusted
Mayor hearing of the matter, and understanding that
miserable hole, only 6 feet
confine-
ment (the Blindhouse being
by 4 feet), desired the pel
`tom
committed, and in
parish where the alleged oicfreeamnanceke the man to the
which a County
Magistrate ndismissed, it appearing that he
resided. The case was then
disposed of, the
Surely this matter requires in-
was of unsound
vestigation.--
NEW WORK
bDITEDBY Boz.—Now READY.
requested to state that the new work entitled
—We are
Topers,
:11t1_4ire Independent.
by Various Hands," edited by
The Pie Nile Es
. q. (Boa), in 3 vols. post Bvo. with
illustratC .1 k Phir &c., i • pub-
lished George rui cs an ,
this day Mr. 9
Colburn, of Great Marlborough-
street, and may nowCllarles.Di,,ckebnlh,,
be had of every Bookseller, and at
throughout the kingdom. Agents for
Scotian( , .M. Ed' b
a I Messrs Bell and Bradfute, urgh ; for
ll the Libraries thro .
Ireland, Mr. John Cumming, Dublin.
THE CROPS.—We . had very heavy rains on
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday ; but the
weather has been better since, and we have good hopes
of a safe harvest, if advantage is taken of every hour of
sunshine. The wheat will be under an average crop.—‘
llanipshire Guardian.
c.; The wheat harvest in this neighbourhood com-
menced on Monday, and had the weather continued
favourable for a few days a great quantity would have
been cut, but the wet coining on so heavily has put a stop
to further progress.—Hants Adrertiser.
Too BAD.—A shoemaker at Lynn, Massachu-
setts, the place where they shovel so many shoes toge-
ther, and so fast, lately whipped one of his apprentices to
death because he could not hang up the shoes as fast as
the master made them !

THE EYES.—Optical improvements to enable
persons at an advanced age to read with ease and discriminate ob-
jects with perfect distinctness.—Messrs. S. and B. Solomons, 39,

Albemarle-street, Piccadilly, opposite the York Hotel, and 76,
King William.street, City ; their long extensive practice has ena.
bled them to invent Spectacle Lenses upon a new construction, of the
greatest transparent refractive power, which have gained universal
approbation. Immediately they are placed Wore imperfect ision
every object becomes clear and distinct, so that the must aged imper-
fect sight becomes bright and brilliant, and is brought to its youth.
ful, natural, and original state. The valuable advantages derived
from this invention is, that these lenses arc constructed on a princi.
ple that persons can see with them of a much less magnifying power
than those now in common use; nor will they require the frequent
changes that other spectacles generally do ; they are also adapted to
imperfect vision to the greatest nicety; they are found to preserve
and strengthen the most weak and defective sight. Their invisible
operative Voice Conductor for deaf persons is mot the least percepti.
ble, nor more uncornfortab!e than having apiece of wool in its place;
they give immediate relief to old . standing extreme cases of deaf-
yin
eabnsedarmst heoenf unqualifiedmedical
Aaipbppe
mrroofbcasar
oo.nsnt.
r_oefeNtal
000
pvepoe
on4linti
ti
°loiter,
ness. Those valuable inventions have also gained the patronage of
withte
tthh
ee pßrio,ienyrcasilopnFasla mom: let
York Hotel, and 76, King William-street, City.