The Sun.
London, England, 1841-07-03 00:00:00

IV AtiES

PRI

ES

In order the more clearly to see how little
connection there is between wages and prices, let
us suppose, for a moment, that the contrary was ,
the case, and that wages and prices rose and fell
together. When corn is unusually dear, it is be-
cause
the quantity in the market is smaller than
usual; and when the stock for the consumption
of a country is unusually small, it is pretty evident
that some part of the community must consume.
less than usual. Now, the question is, which
are the classes that must submit to this denriva-,
tion ? It cannot be the poor? for, altb
is dear, the rise in their wages P.i.orrhloread
cff,' Ives them more
money to buy it with ; ar:,,, as they arc not
likely to go without thei: usual quantity of bread,
as long as they can afford to buy it, they, no
doubt, continue '.,0 eat as much as before. But,
as the labour.ng classes form by far the largest,
as well as the hungriest part of the population,
their r...nrestrained consumption would make fear-
fill havoc in an originally deficient stock of corn,
r..nd would leave but a very scanty supply for the
use of the rich and. middle orders, who would thus
be condemned to suffer all the inconveniences of
scarcity, from which the poor were happily
exempt. This is an advantage, strangely omitted
by Xenophon, from the list, given in one of his
small pieces, of the blessings attendant upon
poverty; and it is equally remarkable, that it
should not have been pointed mitby some Chris-
tian writer, as one of the most striking among
the merciful dispensations of Providence. The
generosity of the employers of labour, in thus
raising wages, is
also deserving of the highest
admiration :-:tor is their liberality more wondrous
than th
.`,:ir ability to exercise it on so large a
s. cy...11e. The population of England and Wales
being, probably, about sixteen millions, the
number of labourers for wages cannot be less
than tWro millions; and if the family of each of
these consume, on an average, eight quartern
leaves a-week, or 416 a-year, the whole quan-
tity consumed in a year will be 832,000,000
quartern loaves. A rise of threepence per loaf
would raise the price of this quantity of bread
by .10,400,0001. ; and would render it necessary
for the employers of labour, to make an addition
to the wages of their labourers to that extent.
Surely, it is no sign of scepticism, to doubt whe-
ther charity was ever carried so far.
But some of my readers probably pique them-
selves on being practical men. They may admit
what has been said to be very good in theory ;
but they want to see how it works in practice
(just as if theory and practice were two distinct
things, and as if one were any thing more than
a description of the other); they want facts, and
it is but right that they should be satisfied. The
price of corn in this country has fluctuated very
considerably during the last ten years—it has
never been the same two years together—and, in
1835, .it was 395., and in 1839 70s. per quarter.
Now, let it be asked (and the question is one
which every body, who has arrived at years of
discretion, may answer for himself), whether
wages, in 1835, were lower than in 1839 ? On
the contrary, it must be fresh in every one's re-
collection,
that the first was a year of unprece-
dented prosperity to all but the agriculturists;
that our manufactures were highly flourishing,
and every one who desired it obtained constant
employment, at wages as high at least, and often
higher, that ever before; whereas 1839, al-
though corn was nearly twice as dear, was a year
of commercial distress, when many manufac-
turers stopped work, and the condition of the la-
bourer was depressed, either by a positive re-
duction of wages, or, which was the same thing
in effect, by impossibility of getting full em-
ployment. In America, and in all new colonies
and newly-peopled countries, corn is cheap and
wages are high. When a famine takes place in
India, men die, not because there is no food in
the markets, but because their low wages are
not sufficient to purchase it. How can these
facts, and hundreds of others of the same kind
that might be cited, be explained upon any other
hypothesis than that of the total wane of con-
nection between prices and wages-I
—The True
Consequences of the Repeal of the Corn-laws,
by William T. Thornton, Esq.

COURT CIRCULAR.
Her Majesty and the Queen of the Belgians rode out
'esterday afternoon, in an open carriage and four. The
I.adics in Waiting followed in another open carriage and

four.
Prince Albert visited Prince George of Cambridge
yesterday, at St. James's Palace.
Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal was taken an
airing yesterday, in an open carriage and four.
The Duke of Cambridge visited his Majesty the King
of the Belgians yesterday at Buckingham Palace.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert rode out on horse-
back yesterday afternoon.
Viscount Melbourne had an audience of the Queen
yesterday.
Earl Grey had an audience of his Majesty the King of
the Belgians ;yesterday.
The Queen and Prince Albert, and their Majesties the
King and Queen of the Belgians, honoured the perform-
ance of Mademoiselle Rachel, at her Majesty's Theatre,
with their presence last evening. The Royal Suite in-
cluded the Countess of Sandwich, Countess Vilain XIV.,
Hon. Miss Paget, lion. Miss Anson, Lord Byron, Gene-
ral Goblet, Sir Robert Otway, Colonel Buckley, Colonel
Bouverie and M. Van Praet.
Colonel Buckley has relieved Colonel Wemyss in the
duties of Equerry in Waiting on her Majesty.
Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge, Prince George and the Princess Augusta of
Cambridge, attended by Lady Augusta Somerset, ho-
noured the Duke of Devonshire with their company at
dinner yesterday evening, at his residence at Chiswick.
Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester left
Gloucester House yesterday morning for the Lodge in
Bushy Park, on a visit to her Majesty the Queen

Dowager.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and the Prin-
cess Augusta of Cambridge, attended by Lady Augusta
Somerset and Baron Knesebeck, honoured the Marquis
and Marchioness of Ailesbury with their company at
dinner on Thursday evening, at their residence in Gros-
venor-square.
'The Committee on Education of her Majesty's Most
Honourable Privy Council, held a meeting yesterday
afternoon in the Council Office. The Lords present
were the Earl of Clarendon, the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, and Mr. Lahouchere.
The Earl of Fingall, and the Earl of Altamont had
interviews with the Viscount Melbourne yesterday at his
official residence in Downing-street.
Captain Bernal had an interview with the Marquis of
Normanby yesterday at the Home-office.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sat yes-
terday. The Lords present were—Lord Brougham, the
Judge of the Prerogative Court, Mr. Baron Parke, and
the Judge of the Admiralty Court. Sir E. East sat as
a Privy Councillor.
The following appeals were heard :—" Rajah Pedda
Vencatapa Naidoo Bahadur," appellant ; and " Arosvala
Roodrapa Naidoo and Paupa Naidoo," respondent, from
Madras.
Mr. Miller, Queen's Counsel, and Mr. Jackson, were
heard for the appellants ; Mr. Sergeant Spankie, Mr.
Lloyd, and Mr. Edmund F. Moore, appeared for the re-
spondents.
." Sheik Imdad Ali and others," appellants ; and
" Mussumat Rootby Begum," respondent, from Bengal.
The same Counsel appeared for the respective parties
as in the former case.

THE " CONTEMPORAINE."

To THE EDITOR OF THE EUROPEAN COURIER (COURIER DE

Visurtore), IN LONDON.
14th June, 1841.
am not unwilling to believe that the intelligence
transmitted to me from Paris concerning yourself, consists of
reports destitute of foundation ; and, prior to my embarking
in any course with a view to obtain justice, as to the articles
which are attributed to you, it is, my wish to make applica-
tion to you for your own admission, or disclaimer. I have in
no way to trouble myself with the motives of your silence re •
specting the letters, not by any means attributed to, but most
positively in the own handwriting of Louis Philippe, as an
emigrant and a King. I pay for and read your Paper without
busying myself any further with it ; but what I owe to my-
self, Sir, is to ascertain whether you are or are not the author
of the articles in the Morning Post of Jan. 20, and in the Times
of May 31. Concerning these letters, a mere written disclaimer of
your part will be deemed sufficient by me ; but in case that that
should not be forthcoming the author being sufficiently
pointed out' by your silence, I am, Sir, under the necessity of
informing you, that prior to my applying for a remedy to the
slow operation of legal proceedings, I shall appeal for support
to the daily publicity which both the English and the French
press will afford me, in order to mark you out, and prove you
to be a base and cowardly calumniator, a man sold over and
over again, a venal pen, in short, hired by the French Police,
iSw., a detertniFlA and extreme course, which I sincerely trust

may be saved the necessity of adopting, by your early, very
early reply. I remain, Sir, yours, obediently,
The Editor of the Courier de l'Europe having inserted my
letter in his number of the 12th instant ( No. 54), but without
any satisfactory reply, I here repeat what I have said, that
my letter having remained unanswered, he is, in my estimation,
most positively a dastardly, vile calumniator, a man sold over
and over again, with his mercenary pen, to the French police,
and that from this very day measures are efficiently going to be
taken by me, legally to compel the Morning Post and the
Times to give up the names of those correspondents who have
supplied them with these base and calumnious articles, with
which they have disgraced their columns.
LA CONTEMPORAINE,
Responsible Authors of these Articles.
24, Tuubridge-place, New-road.

son of an extensive
Gardan T,htuhray, at the Sessions,
esd
THE LATE MURDEROUS ATTACK UPON
A for EGre
,
upholsterer in High-street, Epsom; George Ecks, tile-maker,
rrg3et.—On
James Phipps, and John Ratcliffe, recruits in the 89th Foot;
hAelPdoatticLausitfrr
and Charles Fetcher, labourer, were indicted for a riot, and
assaulting and wounding Joseph Russell, police constable
269 V. The circumstances of the ease must be fresh in the
recollection of our readers. After a very long examination,
in which the constable and his witnesses were severely cross-
examined, the Chairman charged the Jury, and they returned
a verdict of Guilty against all the prisoners. The sentence of
the Court was, that Gardan was to be confined in the House of
Correction for twelve months and hard labour, and the others
nine months each with hard labour.
. .
At Winchester assizes, in 1763, a soldier ob-
tained 3001. damages against his officers for his having been
flogged without just cause. Had the punishment taken place
on the Sabbath it would. have aggravated the offence, and the
man would probably have. got, greater damages.