The Sun.
London, England, 1824-01-03 00:00:00

MERCANTILE SHIPPING.

PORTSMOUTH, AN. 2.--Wind N.W.--Arivzd the
Thames, Haviside, from China ; left the Cape 01,-2 5;11 of
November, and passed by St. Ilelena the 17th.
FALMOUTH, JAN. I.—Wind W.S.W.—The whole of last
night and to-day it has blown a strong gale ; the shipping ail
ride well.

Livsuroor., JAW. I.—Wind W.—Arrived the New York,
Maxwell, from New York : sailed the 16th of December ;
Betsey, Thomson, Carnpeachy, in 10 weeks ; and Belgrave,
Fleming, from Petersburgh.
DEAL, JAN. 2.—Wind W.N.W_—lt has h!ctvn liTsh the
whole day, accompanied with come heavy squalls. It is re-
ported that the schooner Betsey, of Bridport, was run'down
and sunk in the Downs last night, but cannot at present learn
the particulars. A brig is laying to the northward with her
bowsprit gone. Came down from the River and remain, with
the rest of the outward-bound, the Columbus, Kennedy ; and
Amazon, Holder, for .Jamaica.
RASASGAT E, JAN. 2.—The schooner Betsey, from London
to Bridport, was run down and sunk in the Downs last night by
a Swedish brig; crew saved, and landed here; the Master had
his leg broke, but is doing well:
UL VERSTONE, DEC. 31.—Three hundred firkins of butter
came on shore on Walray and the neighbouring coast, supposed
to be part of the cargo of the Richard, lately lost between
Belfast and Liverpool; this supposition is strengthened by the
boat of that vessel having drifted on shore in the same direction.
‘VEXFORD, DEC. 24.-Iln Friday morning a vessel was
discerned off St. Patrick's Bridge, Kilinore ; and a short time
after she went down with all the crew. A boat has come aslior:,:
at Kilmore, with the words " Palmer, of Whitehaven, Wolf
master," on the stern, supposed to have belonged to her.

Yesterday a Court of Directors 'was held at the East India
House, when the following Commanders took leave of tha
Court, previous to departing for their respective destinations,
viz., Captain George Welstead, of the General Harris St.
Helena, Beneoolen, and China ; Captain John Shepherd, Harris,
wickshire, Bengal and China; and Captain Archibald Henry
Campbell, Duke of York, for Bombay and China.

THE LONDON JOURNALS.

• DAILY
, .
Extracts from the Morning Papers, Jan. 3.

[MORNING POST .1 ,
We lately expressed our conviction, that if the
present ricketty Government of Spain attempted
the'reConquest of South 'America, notwithstand-
ing the independence of that part of the world
Iteadheen achieved while the Peninsula compared
with its actual condition was rich and powerful,
the fact should be considered a proof that the .
floly.Alliance was using the Cabinet of Madrid
as %A:e instrument of aggression against England.
The-.last advices from Cadiz seem to imply
thac some attack on the c:-defiant Spanish Co-
lenies _is really meditated by the Continental
Powers. In such an event, this country can
pursue but one line of policy. The King of
Spain and the High Allies will please to re.
collect that twelve months back the Government
of the 'United States formally recognized the in-
ierentlence of the South American States, and
that, in the last Message to CongresS the Presi-
deut lies declared any attempt to restore the
authority of the Mother Country in those parts a
sufficient cause of war in the estimation of the
North American Republic. Is. it .possible then,
-we ask, for the British Government to become a
calm spectator of such a struggle, and tamely
submit first to have its commerce with South
America destroyed by the Holy Alliance, and
then to see the entire trade of the Southern
World monopolized by the United States ? Yet
such is the dilemma in which England is now
placed. The question is not so much what we
will do, but what with a due regard to our own
safety.. we must do—not only to thwart the
schemes of the European Powers against our
prosperity, but to prevent their policy from ren-
dering other and at present friendly nations the
successful rivals of England in a quarter where
we have already to contend against the disadvan-
tages of three thousand miles of ocean and loose
connections. Although in the race of mercantile
or political competition we may allow the United
States to start before as, it would be folly not
only to lose the stakes, but to be distanced every
heat. The Holy Alliance should therefore be-
ware of the policy which they will compel this
country to adopt, by stimulating a war against
the independence of America. From a respect
fur those rights of sovereignty which became a
great empire like this, we have hitherto forborne
to ieterfere between Spain and its former Pro-
vinces ; but there is a time when forbearance de-
generates into timidity—and the latter is a virtue
for Which, thank Heaven i England has never
been renowned.

[THE Times. j
A Portsmouth paragraph informs us, that
Arias, the Admiral appointed by Ferdinand
VII. to take - the command of the squadron
destined for South America, -has been conveyed
by a Britihh steam vessel to Cadis.. As the steam
ship was, we suppose, engaged in the ordinary
service of a passage -boat, her Captain would
not, of course, be very nice in inquiring into
the character or .bnsiness of his passengers : we
shall therefore only wish him on other occa-
sions a worthier freight than this Corn-
mandt.r of the Serviles. It
.will be seen by
the same account, that the Spanish squa-
dron " was far from being in a condition to go to
sea ? How, then, are they to arrive at the wished for
condition? Manifestly not by an outlay of Spanish
trioney—of a non-existing fund ! French gold,
perhaps ; but French gold for such a purpose is
contraband—it subjects the vessels upon which
it will have been expended to capture by the
squadrons of the United States, whose President
has just denounced, as an act of hostility, assist-
ance by .:t►y European Power to Spain against
South. America, given under " any form." There
is likewise an English squadron not a thousand
miles from Cadiz. What will Sir H. Neale, in
the Revenge, :have been instructed to say to
Admiral Arias ? Tbis is an interesting question.

The attempt of some of the Tax Collectors
to increase the House Tax for the present vear,
by•a new and unprecedented valuation, has been
already noticed in The Times. W e confess that

our impression led us from the first to impute
this encroachment to the rapacity of the inferior
officers, Who derive their incomes from a per-
centpge on the sum total of payments into the

•
Exchequer, rather than to any disingenuous

or shuffling scheme of those who preside
over the 'Treasury Department, for obtaining
at once die credit due to an ostensible re-
duction of the public burdens by Act of Parlia-
ment, and the profit arising out of their actual
continuance, by silently giving an additional turn
to the sci-etv. ft gratifies us to observe something
liken confirmation of our surmise in an advertise-
ment from the Board of Taxes, which suspends
the increased charges made by Collectors on ac-
count of the Douse Tax, and states the notice to
be issued by authority of the Lords of the Trea-
sury. The country,- therefore, it is to he hoped,
will enjoy the benefit of the late reductions at
least—if not, as report says, of an entire repeal
of the assessed taxes.—(lbid.)

[MORNING CURONICLE.
It is now pretty well ascertained that the late
visit of the three eminent London Bankers to
Paris was in consequence of an express invita-
tion of the French Government, and for the pur-
pose of discussing matters of too delicate and
complicated a nature to be confided to a cor-
respondence, and too urgent to brook the form
of a diplomatic negociation. That the monied
gentleinen alluded to had some vague ideas of
the object which gave rise to the polite and
pressing summons of the French Minister, act-
ing on behalf of his Matt Christian Majesty,
we can easily imagine ; but when the grand
plan in which they were solicited to . become
partakers was completely opened to their view,
they must, we think,
,have been struck with
no little surprise. Being called upon to a:con-
sultation on the means by which Spain could be
relieved from her present financial difficulties, no
doubt they must have felf.,thMselves highly

honoured hjr-tbe compliment. Yet we are in-
clined to think their nerves could hardly fail to
be somewhat shaketi-,' when they beheld . the
labyrinth into which they were solicited to enter,
without any certain guide to extricate them. Hav-
ing, however, performed the journey to the banks
of the Seine, it would have been unmanly to re-
turu without listening to the propositions intend-
ed to be submitted to them, and we make no
doubt the preliminary observations by which the
subject was introduced by the French Minister
(for we have not understood whether or not he
was accompanied by his Excellency the Duke
de San Caries), formed a very interesting part
of the solemn conference. Spain, however, re-
quired money, and her faithful Ally, France,
was sensible she must have it, at whatever
sacrifice, otherwise the benefits of the late
re-action would be inevitably lost, and the grand
deeds of the Duke d'Angouleme rendered en-
tirely abortive. In this negotiation, France
therefore became a party immediately interested.
he French Minister prudently hesitated to give
a guarantee : it might be construed as opposed to
the Royal Charter ; and it might besides create
some uneasiness among the French people. It is
natural enough to imagine ,that his Excellency
was anxious to try first what could be done with-
, out one; and'it is equally so to suppose that the
three monied Gentlemen answered that they
were ready. and willing to lend money to Spain,
provided only she could offer them adequate
guarantees.

[NEW TIMES.]
We recently mentioned the project of a Franco
Mexican Company, for working the Gold and
Silver Mines of Mexico. Whether that scheme
has or has not had any success, we cannot say ;
but we learn that an Anglo Mexican Company
has just started with similar views, though totally
independent of the former. The List of Di-
rectors, which has been circulated in the City
(but for the accuracy of which we do not vouch),
is very respectable, ,containing the following
names :

David Barclay, Esq. Charles Herring
David Bevan T. H. Anderton
S. Majoribankt, M.P. George Lyall
R. M. Raikes 'W. Thompson, M.P. &Ald.
'illiam Ward Benjamin Shaw
Mathias Atwood, M.P. J. D. Powles.
The Capital is proposed to be one million ster-
ling, and with so large a sum of British Capital
at command, with British machinery, and with
British enterprize, there certainly may be great
reason to anticipate success, if the internal
convulsions of Mexico should not present new
and unforeseen obstacles. Up to 1810 the
produce of these mines was immense. In
1809 it amounted to upwards of twenty-six
millions of dollars ; but since that time almost
all the works have been suspended ; the water
has drowned the mines ; and the Proprietors,
ruined by the Civil War, have been unable
to erect machinery for the purpose of overcoming
this difficulty. It is stated, that the Proprietori
of the Anglo Mexican Company have agreed with
the Proprietors of six of the richest mines for
their occupation during a limited period. Five of
these miner are in the district of
Guana xuato,
a province wholly situated on the ridge c-f
the Cordillera of Anahuac, the most WWII'
ions in New Spain, and the riches itt gold and
silver. The other mine is in Petisi. It is
said the shares in this undertaking have been
done at the very high Premium of 12-1 pet. Cent.
No doubt the scheme is an extremely plausible
one ; but still we cannot help testifying
our sur-
prise that while million upon million is flowing
from Britain to enrich every other part of
the world, Ireland alone is overlooked !
Can Englishmen rely so much better °"
the Government and Laws of Mexico than
on those of Ireland ? Or did they think that
Spain was so much more tranquil and unanimous
than Ireland ? Or had they ascertained that the
soil of. Poyais was so much more fertile than that
of Ireland ?—We should be unwilling to believe
that a British Capitalist, where the risks were
equal, and chances of profit as great, would not
have patriotism enough to prefer the improving
o( a part of the British Empire, to the enriching
with his money the subjects of a foreign State.

[BRITISH PRESS.]
The present state of Ireland is a deeply agi.
tating one ; as connected with this country, it
becomes also of first rate importance; as such,
we have paid the closest attention to it, and to
the progress of the Government of the Marquis
Wellesley, which forms, from its wisdom and
moderation, altogether a new era in Irish po-
litics. The most prejudiced visitor, who goes
over to Ireland to " spy out the naked-
ness of the land," if ever his footseps pre-
viously pressed those shores, must confess
that a great and sensible change has im-
perceptibly taken place all through that
Country. Twenty years since, a faction ruled
supreme throughout the land, and now they are
in a great degree powerless and inoffensive. The
" eternal" orators of the Capel-street Board,
however, think otherwise. The hall of their
paltry senate still rings with vituperant decla-
mation ; from noon-day to night whole hours
are consumed in their debates. And what have
they achieved ? When the learned Casaubon
explored the halls of the, Sorbonne, where ca-
suistry had spent its idle breath for more than five
centuries, he asked, after so much disputation,
what decision had been come to, or what good
obtained. And we may put the same question to
the frequenters of this Board. At one of their
last sittings, we observe, it was resolved to meet
no longer i❑ the eye of " garish day ;" and their
discussions, for the future, were to take place
after dinner. The circulation of the kindling
rglass, like rouge to the eyes of beauty, will give
double animation to their meetings. The spirit
of their legislation will no be fearless and un-
bounded. Those who proposed this important
change had, of course, the precepts of Horace in
their memory :7
" Siccis omnia nam Jura Deus proposuit ; neque
" Mordaces aliter diffugiunt solicitudines.
" Quis post viva gravern milldam aut pauperium crepat ?"
This Board will now become a " Landaburian
Club"—a nightly arena for declamatory folly, at-
tended alike by the mischievous and the idle. It

is too hard that a great and a just cause should
be thus implicated and deeply injured—that the
madness of a few ihOuld commit the hopes of
the unoffending and deserving many. A Govern-
ment proclamation, in the time of the Duke of
Richmond, extinguished this same Board, just
when its last light was weakly flickering. The
state-physician might have shared the expiring
draught to a patient in the last stage of a con-
sumption; and we should be sorry, even if legal,
to see the same remedy resorted to now. But
we wish their sessions were at an end : they can
do no good, and they ate doing infinite mischief.

[MORNING HERALD.]
:.The apprehensions of distress in Ireland en-
tertained at the beginning of winter, have greatly,
if not wholly, disappeared. The quantity of
potatoes, the chief sustenance of the labouring
classes, is likely, to be abundant. A more than
usual proportion of land had been. devoted to the
tillage of them—and there has been no severe or
continued fall of rain to injure the crop. Farming
produce has also been for some time on the rise.
Perhaps the best evidence of improvement in
the condition of the people is the gradual re-
turn to tranquillity. Outrages are still com-
mitted, and, unhappily, murders are recorded in
the Irish newspapers. But they are no longer of
ordinary occurrence. They are not the rule,
but the exceptions. Let but the act of God,
or the prudence of the Legislature, render the
state of the population somewhat better, and
there can be little doubt of a correspond-
ing improvement in the state of society. Oue
of the most generally correct instances of rea-
soning from effect to cause is in the condition
of a people. There is scarcely an instance
in which a disorderly population is not the
growth of a distressed or comfortless existence.
Some surprise is expressed that the Irish have not
shewn a juster sense of the disposition recently
manifested by the Government and Parlia-
ment. But let it be remembered that it is
only disposition. Nothing is more impatient
than a multitude, and particularly an Irish mul-
titude. I t is not reasonable to expect that
mere good intentions', however unequivocal,
should have any effect until they begin, at
least, to be put into execution. The principal
measure of conciliation--indeed, the only one
—as yet tried, is the Tithe Commutation Bill.
But that, unhappily, has proved a source rather
of discord. It has wholly failed to satisfy either
party, and has, we are informed, been pretty
generally abandoned in despair. From the man-
ner in which it was treated in the Houses of
Parliament, but little was expected from its
immediate operation. It was universally admitted
to be rather au experiment; to be observed with
a view to ultimate legislation, than a measure of
practical and permanent effect. Upon one point
only there appeared to be not the least doubt--;
viz., the good intections and liberal feelings of
the Itight Hon. Secretary who intro loced it,—
It will we understand, come before Parliamentearly in the Session, with the advantage of know-
ing how far it has or has not worked, and what
objection and inconvenience have arisen on the
part of those to whom it applied—the payers and
receivers of tithes.

THE ComET.—This•celestial stranger is now
clearly visible to the naked eye, and may be
seen in the south-eastern portion of the heavens,
a little after four o'clock in the morning till day
break. It has attaineLl considerable elevation.
Its nucleus is dense, aPPark,4ltlv irregular in its
shape, and surrounded by a
considerable nebu-
losity. tail; which is more brilliant, points
straight upwards. A few days will decide, by
its increase in splendour or
diminution of light,
whether it be on its approach to our system, or
on its return from it.

REPORTED Loss OF HIS MAJESTirs SLOOP ARAB._We
.I%!ajesty's brig Arab, on the
have the melancholy task to notice a report which reached this
Of lunsr information is derived from
city Nor
tohn.
ersitd
caoya, s
to
of the
Ireland.l s o
a letter from Cove to a relation of the Captain's Clerk, Mr. Har-
ris, a native of this city. It states that Admiral Lord Colville
had received an account of the loss of the Arab, on the 10th or
Mayo, and that all on board
perished.
filth, o n '
.t the coast
v,,as ot h
supposede Csohtin County
in chacc of a smuggler.—
(Cork Coneatutiono _ _

A curious and fatal accident happened on Sun-
day last to the wife of Mr. Van's coachman, of
Theresa-terrace, Turnham
Green-road. This
gentleman's stables and coach-house are behind
his residence in Lime Kiln-lane, and the
coachman and his family reside in rooms over
wife went to shake the crumbs out of a cloth
them. On Sunday, after tea, the coachman's
at the loft door. She had just finished cutting
her children's bread and butter. There was
a half door, or wicket protection there, and it
is supposed that she leaned over such protecting.
slide-so far as to lose her balance and fall out.—
Her eldest child (for the poor woman has left five
children) expressed surprise at her mother's
long absence, and said she would go to see why
her mother stayed. She went to the loft-door,
and then saw her parent lying in the mews on
the stones motionless and speechless. The side of
the poor woman's forehead, or " temple," had
come in contact with an abrupt and sharply-
pointed stone, which cut the side of the forehead
so deeply and seriously thktishe expired in about
an hour, but without having the power to utter one
word to her afflicted children and friends. Me-
dical aid was had, but it could render no service.
The " accidental death" of course was appointed
to be investigated by a Coroner's Jury at the
White Hart.

DARING RoßßErty.—About seven o'clock last
evening, a most daring robbery was committed
by some person or persons breaking the shop-
window of Mr. SHILLIBEER, Tobacconist, No. 2,
Long-acre, and stealing. therefrom several valu-
able snuff-boxes, a box of se gars, and other
articles, with which the robbers escaped. It is
supposed the robbery was effected by breaking
the glass with some instrument At the time a car-
riage was passing, as not the least ❑oise was
heard, and the thieves got clear off.
FIRE.----At five o'clock yesterday morning an
alarming fire broke out at the house of Mr. BUCK-
LEY, Carlisle-lane, Lambeth, and totally destroy_
ed the same, besides damaging considerably the
adjoining .premises.