The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-14 00:00:00

CORN-LAWS.

CITY, TWELVE o'CLocx.—The plan of the Ministry
for the future regulation of the import of foreign corn
has at length been suffered to transpire; and as it is
supposed to have received the sanction of the leaders
of the agricultural party, we may presume it
will be adopted by them, when the Parliament
assembles. The sliding scale is retained, but
under a modified form, the duty fluctuating only to the
extent of 145., the maximum being 18s. per quarter, and
the minimum 4s. per quarter, rising or falling Is. for every
fall or rise of one shilling in the average price of wheat ;

the pivot being Ms. per quarter or under, for the
highest rate of duty and 685., or over, for the lowest
rate. The plan also embraces some wholesome regu-
lations for taking the weekly averages, with a view to
remedy the trickery which is now practised by inter-
ested parties in making their returns of sales and
prices. We need not say that we think a fixed duty
would have been preferable to a sliding scale ; but
after the violent hostility displayed against this propolal
by the dominant party in Parliament we despair
of seeing it carried at present. Therefore, we
gladly accept this modification of the sliding
scale as an instalment of what We claim.
It is a very great improvement upon the old
system. It will ensure a certain amount of revenue from
corn, the average duty being 11s. per quarter, the mean
between 4s. and 18s. ; it will reduce the temptation for
forestalling, and also for making false returns ; it will
ensure a more steady trade for the article, regular sup-
plies, and less fluctuation in prices.—Globe.
FUN

ERAL LATE DR.
• BIRKBECK.
(ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.)
Besides Lord Brougham's carriage, the presence of
which we mentioned yesterday, we noticed the carriages of
the Turkish Ambassador, Dr. Clutterbuck, Dr. Conquest,
Mr. Aston Key (the surgeon), Mr. Bevan (the surgeon),
Dr. Babington, Mr. L. Murray, Mr. Saner, and Mr. Page.
Besides the members of the London Mechanics' Insti-
tute, deputations in mourning coaches attended from the
Aldersgate and other literary and scientific institutions.
The chief mourners were Mr. William and Mr. George
Birkbeck (the deceased's sons), Mr. Foster, and Mr.
Lloyd. Amongst the friends of the family who attended
we noticed Dr. Southwood Smith, Dr. Clutterbuck,
Lord Nugent, Mr. Basil Montague, &c., &c. The
hearse, notwithstanding the continuance of most unfa-
vourable weather, was accompanied the long distance to
Kensall-green by a considerable number of persons on
foot, who are, or have been, members of the Mechanics'
Institution. It was there joined by others, and the body
was followed to its last resting place by a very numerous
cortege. The road up to the chapel within the grounds
was lined by people standing in respectful silence, and
amongst them we noticed a considerable number ofPoles.
On reaching the chapel, which was filled with the mourners,
the body was placed on a catafalque in the centre, and the
funeral service, according to the Church of England,
was impressively read by the officiating clergyman. By
a mechanical contrivance, which is terribly hostile to
devotional feelings, from making a harsh grating noise,
the body was lowered into the vaults beneath, and placed
in one of the little cupboards, into which the space is
portioned out, and which, small though they be, are
quite large enough for him whose fame fur goodness
has spread over Europe. The family mourners
went first to see their beloved father and
friend in his last resting-place ; and then the whole of
those who had followed him out of respect and gratitude
also descended, and saw where for ever was laid, in soli-
tary, stillness, that tongue which had poured out instruc-
tion for them, and that mild countenance which had, in
the midst of large assemblies, continually taught amenity
and checked disorder—so having attended their friend
and teacher to his final home in this world, their duties
to him were achieved, and they retired with sorrowful
hearts, yet neither ashamed nor despairing, asking one
another when they should seeanotherßirkbeck, and who
could supply his place at the
Mechanics'
Institute ?

To the MEMORY of DR. BIRKBECK.
THE GOOD MAN'S GRAVE.
The grave hath closed :--another setting star
Bath pass'd adown the dark horizon's shade.
The star bath gone : —not so the light which made
Its glory : that, still beaming, lives, and far
Above the lordly range where death can mar,
Bright'ning one track of earth, when darkness crst
osmwar.
And Did, brooding,
the,
dear,
dea mind r spread :
ttlkihehr
ee
odrpips insidious
wing accurst
Breaking isdsiu
,d shall linger near
That train of light :—their children.by their side,
And mourn thee as their truest friend and guide,
And with their blessings blend tho falling tear.
Oh ! could each waning star bequeath such light,
How little might we fear the mind-enthralling, night.
LL B.

WEST INDIA MAILS.—The following com-
munication transmissionrespectl:entheerall'ost-offie, cof
West Indies will serve for the guidance of the public : '
(Copy.)
,:
Decl.elttoe,rslst4olt.he
Wr
"Sirs--In reply to your inquiry, I beg to inform you
that the Postmaster-General has authorised ship letter-
bags to be made up and forwarded by, the steam-vessels
about to sail from Southampton for ' the West Indian
Islands, prior to the commencement of the new arrange-
ment for the transmission of the regular mails to the
_
West Indies. I am, &c.
(Signed) "THOS. LAURENCE, Assistant Secretary.,
" Messrs. Fowles, Brothers and Co., 13, Austin-friars,'
Cod have been kept in salt water ponds in dif-
ferent parts of Scotland, and found to maintain their con-
dition unimpaired. Of these ponds there are three—one
in Galloway, another in File, and a third in Orkney. That
Logan, in Galloway is at the seat of Colonel M'llowall ;
it is a basin of 30 feet in depth, 160 in circumference,
hewn out from the solid rock, and communicating w ith
the sea by one of those fissures that are common to bold
1 and precipitous coasts.

SPANISH MANUFACTURES.
MADRID, DEC. 4.—The. long-promised exhibition of
national manufactures is now daily open to public view
in the Conservatory of Arts, but the specimens hitherto
forwarded are trifling in number, and by no means cal-
culated to give a favourable idea of the manufacturing
capabilities of Spain at the present day. There is only
one specimen of plain Barcelona crockery, and no cutlery
to be seen ; and the few castings for grates, fenders, 8.7. c.
are far from neat. A plough is there, with a cast-iron,
mould plate
.(a great improvement in this country)
strangely disfigured by a bar of wrought iron rivetted
across the surface thereof by way of strengthening it !
A Stanhope printing press appears, but so rude and un-
polished that it would be unsaleable in England. Glass
from Carthagena, of a fine clear material, which
in other hands would produce a brilliant article,
but the choicest specimens sent hither for the
I admiration of Madrid are disfigured with air
bubbles, specks, and oily manes. The silk manufacture
is by far the best, and it must be owned that Barcelona
has produced some exquisite fabrics, but the colours are
wretched ! Many specimens of superfine shawls, &c.,
perhaps intended to show off the delicate tints, strike an
English eye as already much faded, and all the ribands
are sad lack-lustre concerns. The blonde mantillas of
Almagro are truly beautiful, both black and white (not-
withstanding the misnomer) and the specimens of raw
silk perhaps superior to anything, at this side of China.
But with the exception of their silks, all their woven
fabrics are enormously dear, particularly the calicoes and
woollen broad-cloths of Barcelona. These calicoes, plain,
are marked from 4i to 51 reels per vara. (The real
about 20., and the vara 9-10ths of our yard.) The
cotton prints of San Fernando factory, about three leagues
from Madrid, are from 51 to 11 reals per vara. Even
the coarse hard-spun mantas which serve the muleteer
for cloak and blanket and saddle-cloth, and have no
pretensions to finish or fine appearance, reach a price
to which they could only attain by the rigid exclusion of
articles of foreign manufacture which might fairly corn
pate with them. An immense benefit will doubtless arise
to the Spanish nation whenever any thing approaching
to free intercourse shall be attained, not only to the great
majority of consumers, but to the individual manufactu-
rers who now raise such a selfish outcry against competi-
tion, for they will be forced in self-defence into the path
of improvement, and not be permitted, as they now do,
to go idly plodding on in old, expensive, and (what Eng-
lishmen would call) exploded methods. As the case
stands between the two countries, your Board of Trade
need not be very anxious in the first instance to mould
the contemplated commercial treaty to anything like a
fair and reasonable level between nation and nation. Let
them get their goods into the Spanish markets on any
terms not absolutely prohibitory, as at present, and their
intrinsic excellence will always insure a sale placed side
by side with the unfinished workmanship of Spain.
I speak not merely of such ordinary articles as cot-
tons, woollens, cutlery, leather china, glass, ; but
those more expensive ones, whose excellence depends in a
still greater degree upon figure and finish, and here the
difference is still more perceptible. Thus, these exhi-
bition-rooms contain a cabriolet and a grand piana-forte,
both turned out in such a style that I doubt if any ma-
nufacturer in London, who valued his character, would
affix his name to them. Here, on the contrary, they are
" very superior articles," and those who have never been
out of Spain cannot believe there is any thing finer in
in the world. . As far as Spaniards have had an opportu-
nity of appreciating articles of English manufacture, they
manifest their opinion in a very decided way, and in fact,
will have them, whether licensed or contraband ; and the
Minister of Finance (who is well convinced of this, and is
intent on turning the dollars paid at present to the smug-
glers into the national Treasury) has only to make a good
beginning to enlist all the farmers and peasants of the
country in his favour. It is in truth a struggle of a class of
perverse manufacturers (who wish to go on in the style of
grandfathers, taking little trouble and reaping large
proin
►). against the great mass of the agricultural ...po-
pulation, fro
want,"ge to send their corn, wine, and oil to
England in exci
for her manufactures, and who are
now kept in such a,,
to of commercial destitution that
.
a good boot or shoe ciinno.: had for love or money
be
(not even in esta torte of Made.... 4); the
throughout
kingdom tea is only known and tn.:2n as a medicine.
The great difficulty and danger is in attemptingto
make any extensive or beneficial alteration svps.'edPY!n
Spain. The revolution that the conjoint Bourbon tz,.:lllY
failed to effect might be brought about by the enforce-
ment of a liberal commercial tariff, for which the people
were unprepared. It must inevitably be debated and
wrangled about in the Cortes for a Session at least ; and
during that time the Ministers of State and of Finance
will assuredly " suffer for their country." Like the
Emperor of China, " in sleeping or eating they will
have no rest ;" but their prospective consolation will be,
that when the measure is carried, the receipts on British
goods imported will fill their Treasury without further
trouble, and a market be reciprocally. opened for the
productions of their own soil, which will, in its happy
operations on the public spirit of industry (a spirit that
really exists to an admirable extent in Spain), secure a
working majority in their favour that will henceforth set
at nought the outcry of the selfish, smuggling, and manu-
facturing interests.