The Sun.
London, England, 1824-04-01 00:00:00

MERCANTILE SHIPPING.

The following Letter was this morning posted at Lloyd's
" His Majesty's ship Astrea, Falmouth, March 29.

GENTLEMIN—I beg to acquaint you, for the information
of such merchant vessels as may arrive here bound to the Me-
diterranean, that the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
have ordered the Commander of his Majety's ship Grasshop-
per to proceed to this port, and take under his protection the
vessels bound to Gibraltar, sailing with them on the Ist of next
month, if ten vessels shall then be assembled, or at all events
on the 7th of April.
(Signed) " XING, Captain.
" To Messrs. Broad and Son, Agents,
for Lloyd's, at Falmouth.'

DIAL, MARCH 31.—Wind N.ll7.—Arrived and remain the
Alexander, Just, from Jamaica; Ilebe, Davison, from St.
Kitt's ; Sydney packet, Emmett, from the South Seas ; Navi-
gator, Barton, from Jamaica ; Telemachus, Mills, ditto
Kains, Cunningham, Bombay • and Layton, Miller, ditto.
Passed through the 'Tyne, \Varrington, for Madras.' The
Ogle Castle and Demerara packet, for the River, have put
back ; also several other vessels, homeward-bound. The Ogle
Castle has just telegraphed us, in want of an anchor and cable ;
the Demerara packet also appears to have lost one.
PORTSMOUTH, MARCH 31.—Wind N.—Sailed his Ma-
jesty's ship Maidstone, for the Coast of Africa; Arethusa,
Clark, for Rio Janeiro. The Catherine, for Madras, still
remains at St. Helens.

PLYJtouTH MARCH 30.—Wind W.—Arrived the Me-
dusa' Asplit, from Messina; Industry, Barclay, from Long-
sountl. Sailed the Minor, Gerrard, for London.
FALMOUTH, }Liam 30.—Wind N.W.—Sailed the hope,
Reward, Susannah, Thomas, and Orion, for London.
Dov Ext, 31Ancu 31.—Off the port the Transfer, Goodsir,
from Charente to London. About 50 sail of vessels are at
anchor in these Roads.

LIVERPOOL, MARCH M.—Arrived the Chevy Chace,
from Macaio ; Thomas Bouch, —, Honduras; Sir A. Mac-
kenzie Mobile ; Latona, Morrison, Riga; Proven,
Amdahl ; and Hoffnung, Birdhing, from Memel.
SIITERNESS, MARCH 31.—Sailed
_yesterday the Phatix
transport with convicts to New South Wales.

SMUGGLING.—On Saturday morning a curious
seizure was made at the quay, Greenock. On the arrival of
the Swift steam-packet, from Belfast, the crew of the- Cus-
tom-house boat went on board in quest of smuggled arti-
cles, when they found the end of a log of timber, abdtit two
feet and a half long, made in the shape of a buoy, and ttiapped
with ropes in the usual manner, carel-ssly lying on deck, which,
on being minutely examined, was found to be hollowed out, and
full of window-glass, containing about 80 or 90 panes.=-(Glaa-
gole Herald.)

BIRTH.
On the 27th of March, the Ladrof Tomyns Scott Diains,
Esq., of Kirkby-Mulzeard, Yorkshire, of a daughter.

DIED.
On Monday evening, Mrs. Nicholson, the wife of ‘Fsaneis
Nicholson, Esq., of Charlotte-street, Portland-place.
On the 80th ult., at his residence, Cheynt-walk, Chelsea, on
his Bth birth-day, John Mitchell, Esq., tormerly of tie Rays!
Navy, one of the few surviving officers who sailed round the
world with Admiral Byron.

THE LONDON JOURNALS.

DAILY

Extracts from the Morning Papers, April 1.

[Txx TSMEC.J
, Yesterday we received letters from Paris by
express, dated Monday evening. In one of them
is quoted a curious declaration of the King of
Spain, in relation to the Constitutional Loans,
-who is reported to have said, oa being pressed to
recognize them, even at some fractional part of
their nominal value, that he would prefer" eat-
" ing black bread, to acknowledging those secu-
'! rities to be worth a single maravedi." His ob-
stinate resolution on this point is supposed to
have been well understood by the Spanish Am-
bassador in Paris, previous to the departure of
those persons who repaired to Madrid to become
competitors for the new contract, as he is said to
have remarked to some of those who consulted
isim on the subject, that all proposals of that na-
ture were wholly useless. It is a curious fact,
that one set of contractors had determined on
presenting tenders for a loan to the Spanish Go-
vernment at 75, provided that the Constitutional
Bonds were made receivable at 15 per cent.only.
The rejoetion of this offer proves that the an-
nulling those securities is made a point of honour,
and not of financial economy, by the Spanish Court,
since they can scarcely hope, in the present state
of the- country, to contract for a loan so high as
CO per cent., which, according to the above
plan, would be the amount to be paid them in
money. It seems that the negociations at Madrid
have raised the hopes of the noted M. Guebhard
and his adherents, who are now endeavouring to
force what are termed the " Royal Bonds" into
circulation, for which he possesses powers to the
extent of 16,000,000 of dollars, in the expecta-
tion that these must be made receivable far be-
yond their present value in any new contract that
may be entered into. From these respective causes
the slate of Spanish finance becomes every day more
desperate, and the period appears not to be far
distant when the dependents of the Spanish
Court, if not the Monarch himself, may be re-
duced to the meagre diet to which he has de-
voted himself, rather thaw perform on act of pub-
lic justice.

[MORNING POST.)
The Royal Assent was given by Commission
yesterday to the Slave Trade Piracy Bill ; and
that measure which does so much honour to its
author, to the country, and even to the age in
which it has been proposed, is now become an
integral part of the Law of the Land. The bu-
siness in the Commons was of no importance ;
consisting chiefly in the presentation of Petitions
on various subjects. Mr. Goulburn gave notice
that it was his intention on the 28th of April to
move for leave to bring in a Bill to drain the
Bogs in Ireland—a measure of little pomp and
pretence, but of real utility.

[saw TiMas.)
The letters received yesterday by express
from Paris are of little importance beyond com-
municating the price of the Rentes on Monday,
en which day they closed at 103 f. 30c. and at
103 f. 50c. far the end of the month. There still
continues some doubt whether any Loan has been
yet contracted for the Spanish Government,
although a report prevailed of a Mr. Grove
having completed an arrangement for one
to answer the present exigences of the
Spanish Treasury, in which no mention is
made of the Old Bonds. This report is not,
however, generally believed to be correct.--An-
other new scheme of the Poyais species made its
appearance yesterday in the City, in the form of
proposals for a loan for the " service of the
ancient kingdom of Guatimala !" under the more
modern title of the " United Provinces of Central
America 1.." This republic is stated to be divided
into fifteen provinces, five of which are situate on
the shores of the Atlantic, five on the Pacific,
and five in the centre of the country. The situa-
tion of these fifteen provinces is said to be such,
that from the year 1821, when they declared
their independence, they have not been once
disturbed by any civil war or commotion. The
finances are well regulated : there is no public
debt, nor any paper money : yet with these
advantages, and the most fertile and pro.
ductive soil in the world, a Mr. Wm. May
Simonds, of London, modestly proposes that the
British public shall advance Two Millions and
a Half Sterling by way of loan, to bear an inte-
rest of six per cent. The security, as usual, is
the revenues of the country. Seeing that there
is neither civil war nor commotion, debt, loan,
Ear paper money, it is very naturally inquired
what can be the object of the loan ; to which it
is answered with great naivete by Mr. Simonds,
that it is for the purpose of giving an impetus to
the trade and commerce of the country ; but the
particular mode of application of this small sum
of two millions and a half sterling Mr. Simonds
has not hitherto disclosed.

DuortNixo cunonzor.z.]
The remarks which we yesterday made on the
projected extension of the power of the Scots
Justices of the Peace have drawn forth some
remarks from an intelligent contemporary, who,
we are happy to see, takes nearly the same view
of the matter with ourselves.

" As far," he observes, " as those parts of the judicial sys-
tem of the two countries which affect the lower classes can be
judged_ of by their effects, there Can be no question that the
Scotch are superior to the English institutions. We hope our
northern neighbours will not be led to imitate blindly our in-
' stictstions by vague declamations in Parliament (very fa-
shionable in an assembly of a class of persons whose authority
. the plan is calculated to increase), but that they will look to our
006 and our peasantry, to our county jobs and our county
• rates, and to the enormous power which our Magistrates have
gradually got into their hands, without the slightest real re-
.spoosibilitr (except in the case now and then of a mere itieot)
as to the use, non-ase, or abuse of them."
The truth is, there seems to be by much too
strong a disposition on the part of the Scotch
Members to recommend the introduction of,
English Institutions into Scotland. They seem
to have somewhat of the feeling in England that
Fisglishmen in Park bare, before a fashionable
tailor has. enabled them to appear a-la-mode, or
antt the Ft without the toil, in the Fable, lad

when contemplating the brushes of his brethren.
The assimilation of the practices of the lesser
country to those of the greater would, how-
ever, in many cases be any thing but bene-
ficial to the population of the former. In
the ninth Report of the Commissioners on the
Courts of Justice in' Scotland it is distinctly
stated that, " the amount of ordinary jurisdic-
tion exercised by the Justices of Peace in Scot-
land is not considerable ; a circumstance which
may be ascribed in a great measure to the regular
and efficient establishment of the Sheriff Courts,
throughout this part of dais kingdom, and the
great improvement which has taken place in the
latter since the abolition, in the reign of George
If. of the heritable office of Sheriff, and the
qualifications required in those who now receive
the appointment. By the permanent Sittings of
these local Courts, also, a great facility of access
is afforded to suitors in most, if not all of those
cases in which the Justices of Peace have a con-
current jurisdiction." Thus the pow—ers already
possessed by the Justices of Peace are seldom
exercised, because there is a regular and effi-
cient establishment, possessed of the same
powers, with a higher qualification, to which the
people naturally give a preference ; and to ad-
just the balance, it is proposed, that to those who
hat• the inferior qualification, power should be
added in extent sufficient to form a temptation to
them to make up their lee-way in point of acti-
vity. The reason, be it remarked, is not the
benefit to be conferred on the people, but the
addition of influence to the Gentry.

[MORNING H ER AL D.]
The current of modern business is strongly set
in for the useful. The splendid has had its day.
No where is this more forcibly illustrated than
in our Houses of Parliament. Our orators are
,now dumb, or speak only to make practical ex-
planations and complimentary allusions. The
time has been (fuit Ilium) when the revolutions
of empires and the conflicts of nations agitated
the public mind and called forth the splendour
of senatorial eloquence. Even the inferior, though
lively interest of party contest has disappeared.
This is worthy of remark, as indicating the stage
at which the march of public affairs has arrived.
The materials of epic poetry precede civilization
—chivalry preceded true sentiment. There was
a time when a journey from London to York was
full of wild encounters, hair-breadth escapes, and
most interesting discoveries. It was the very
eloquence of travelling. Nov, what can be
tamer and more useful, less splendid or more
convenient, than the smoothness of the roads, and
the commodiousness of the vehicles which conduct
you over the once poetical space in the course of
a few hours May we not consider the very
tameness of our Parliamentary proceedings as
a similar instance of improvement ? War, of
swords or speeches, deeply agitates ; but it
spreads misery far and wide. We think it flu
better to see sturdy Irishmen v.Pa
streets than fighting our battles, and to
lrihnegar ealuor-
quota Statesmen talking of our commercial rela-
tions than fulminating invectives against a foreign
enemy or a compatriot opponent. At any rate,
the useful is the order of the day. The Merest
felt in the useful, too, is far more general, though
much less intense, than that at once excited by
the splendid. A t least twenty times the num-
ber of persons who read the speeches of Fox,
Pitt, Burke, and Sheridan, when they came
forth fresh from the Senate, now read the
speeches of Huskisson, Wallace, Hume, and
Baring, prosaic and uneloquent as they are. Our
very Parliament is now rendered productive.