The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-30 00:00:00

THE FUNDS.

Although money commandsthe high rate of interest
of six per cent. on the Stock Exchange, both the English
and Foreign Securities remain firm. ' Consols are 89*
for the opening ; Three per Cents. Reduced 89* f ; Do.
Three-and-a-Half per Cents., 99* ; Bank Stock, 165 166;
Exchequer bills, l 2 14 prem.
Towards the close of business yesterday, some large
purchases were made in Mexican Stock, and an advance of
one per cent. took place, the last quotation being 274 28,
and a still further advance has again taken place, this
morning the quotation being 281 I; Spanish Active
Stock has also advanced to 244 ; Portuguese Five per
Cents. are 324 334 • ditto Threes, 191 20.
PRICES OF SHARES THIS DAY AT ONE.
RAILWAYS. Paid. Per Share.
Great Western ... 65
Ditto New .... 50
London and Brighton 5O ... . 40i to 39
London and Blackwall
Ditto New
London and Birmingham
Ditto New
Manchester and Leeds
Ditto New Shares
Midland Counties
Northern and Eastern
South Eastern and Dover
Ditto New
HALF-PAST ONE.
Consols have advanced to 89*
.; Three per Cents.
Reduced 891- i ; Three-and-a-Hall ditto, 99* • India
Bonds are quoted at 1 prem.; India Stock, 245; 'Exche-
quer Bills, 12 14 prem. The market looking very firm.
It is currently reported, and pretty generally believed
in the City, that an arrangement has been concluded at
Madrid for the payment of the over-due dividends upon
the Coupons of the capitalised stock. In consequence
of which Spanish Active Stock has advanced to 248 ;
Passive, 58 ; Deferred, 128 ; Mexican Bonds are now
284 --1- ; Colombian, 21* ; Portuguese Five per Cents.,
33i ; Dutch Five per Cents., 99:1.
There has been a fair amount of business transacted in
the Share Market again to-day, and prices continue to
improve. London and Brighton are 398 i ; Great
Western, 88 87 ; London and Birmingham, New, 29 ;
Northern and Eastern, 291 ; South Eastern and Dover,
23 22i; ditto New, 101 ; London and Blackwall, lii.
HALF PAST TWO.
Consols, Account, 891 i ; Mexican, 2841,- ; Portu-
guese, 331 i ; Spanish, 241 25.
QUARTER TO THREE.
There is a belief in some quarters that a plan will
shortly be made public, tending to the relief of the
Spanish Bondholders, and that the money for
the payment of a dividend will certainly be here
in a day or two. In the meantime we should
be loth to encourage delusive hope, and much more
rash speculation, and would fain counsel, therefore, all
who are interested to wait awhile, and see the colour of
the Spanish " oilier."

MR. CHRISTOPHER'S PLAN OF
CORN-LAWS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,- The persuasion in some quarters in,
creases,. that Mr. Christopher's speech discloses,
or at 411 events approximates to, the intended
proposhl of the Minister on the subject of the
Corn-laws.

The Substance of Mr. Christopher's plan, as
stated ina journal on the same side of the gene-
ral question, is " that he would have the
price of wheat fixed as nearly as possible be-
tween 565. and 655. the quarter. This end he
would Secure by a minimum duty of ss. the quar-
ter on wheat, when the price reaches 65s ; and
as the price falls, by increasing the duty to a
maximum of at least 205., at most 305." The
speaker, however, is not responsible for the in-
vention of a maximum which shall have a least
and a most; for on reference to the report in the
Times, what was said is stated to have been,
" that he cannot say whether it ought to be 205.,
255., or 305., until he has positive and authentic
information as to the quantities and the prices at
which such quantities could be purchased abroad.'
The brief method of reply to this seems to be
by asking, why the manufacturing and commer-
cial interest should not be found demanding to
keep the price of wheat fixed as nearly as possi-
ble between 265. and 355. the quarter; which
end they would secure by a minimum bounty of
ss. a quarter on foreign wheat when the price
fell to 265., and as the price rises, by increasing
the bounty to a maximum, which they will
settle at 205., 255., or 305., when they have
positive and authentic information as to the
quantities, and the prices at which such quantities,
could be purchased abroad.
It is difficult to see how this lex talionis is to

be attempted to be parried, except on one
ground ; which is that the landlords, being in
possession of the legislature as they have been to
the extent of an exclusive test, have taxed
themselves in such a manner as to make it im-
perative on them to recover part in a mode that
inflicts a hundred-fold loss on the community.
And here the war shall be, not with the
landlords, but with the men calling themselves
political economists. Can there be wonder at
the low estimation in which that name is
popularly held, when there is found among them
a prostration of intellect sufficient for giving way,
knowingly or unknowingly, to such an enormous
proposition, as that any legislators can possess a
right like that supposed ? Imagine the case to
exist in its simplicity, and without a suspicion of
ill intention of any kind ; and what would be the
conclusion, but that such legislators should be
cashiered and the public mischief removed, by
the quickest process known to the community ?
Would a single individual of any kind be found
to maintain, that such a blundering self-sacrifice
presented any claims to the perpetuation of the
public loss?

One point in the speech I take the liberty of
noting. The speaker entirely goes with me in
the belief of the, indissoluble connexion between.
the Corn-laws and the present Ministry, inti-
mated in the last letter you did me the honour
of inserting.
Yours very sincerely,
T. PERRONET THOMPSON.
Blackheath, 30th December, 1841.

GREAT NORTH OF ENGLAND RAILWAY.
Traffic returns for the week ending Dec. 27, 1841 :
Passengers £BO9 6 1
blereh andize

Darlington, Dec. 29.

£1,200 0 9
W. O'BRIEN, Secretary.

BLAYDON BURN RAILWAY.--On Monday
amidst cannon firing and colours waving, took place the
opening of this beautiful line of railway, made by
Messrs. Joseph Cowen and Co., from their fire-brick-
works and colliery at Blaydon Burn, through that
rugged and winding valley to their depot at the river
Tyne. This work was commenced not six months ago,
and was thought by many to be impracticable ; but by
the perseverance and energy of the principal in the above
firm, aided by Mr. G. G. Bell, engineer, it has been
brought, without a single accident, to a successful con-
clusion.— York Courant.

" 9 7" P' 7'34 *
V r e

AND

Vitt)Ur Optnton.

" Who runs may read."

PORMIGN.
M. Sauzet has been re-elected President of the French
Chamber of Deputies. 'He had 193 votes, whereas M.
Lamartine, the poet, had but 64 votes, and M. Odilon
Barrot only 55. This is the first triumph of the
Ministers.
The opinions of the French press upon the King's
Speech, selected from Galignani's Messenger of Tuesday,
will be found in another part of The Sun. The Speech
is denounced as a compound of rhodomontade and imbe-
cility by a majority of the journals.
Senor Olozaga, late Minister of Spain at the Court of
France, arrived in Madrid on the morning' of the 21st
inst., for the purpose of taking his seat in the Chamber
of Deputies. When the difference took place between
M. Salvandy and the Regent, the latter sent an express
to Olozaga to remain at his post, buthe had reached Vit.
toria before.
The following gratifying news from Spain is from
a Madrid letter of the 21st inst.—" Nothing can be more
satisfactory than the rapid development we observe in
the reviving industry of this country; though the tax
levied by Government on the proceeds of the mines is
only five per cent., and that we must take it for granted
that fraud is practised to some extent, it yields about
60,0001. sterling this year, though none is paid by the
proceeds of the quicksilver mines of Almaden, and the
new one of Almadenejo, belonging to Government,which
yield 1,204,000 dollars per annum, or 251,0001. sterling.
The milling undertakings afford employment to half a
million of people, and to 50,000 beasts of burthen ; and
little doubt need be entertained that the next year's ac-
count will be considerably more cheering; it is thus that
we see the industry of Spain springing up in every
direction."
The Malaga Bishop Ortigosa, who lies under the
Pope's displeasure, has been raised by this Government
to the Archbishopric of ;Burgos, and the canons and
other members of the Seville Chapter have been com-
manded by Ministers not to obey the Archbishop and
Cdrdinal Cienfuegos, and to proceed to the election of a
diocesan governor as in cases of sede vacante.
The accession of Mehemet Izzet Pacha, to the office
of Prime Minister at the Porte, cannot but be injurious to
British interests, as it was the remonstrances of our
Government that caused his removal from the army in
Syria, where he was noted for his atrocities.
PUBLIC OPINION.
The Post endeavours, but not with the happiest results,
to be sarcastic on the subject of the two addresses pre-
sented to Lord Melbourne, from Derby, on Monday last.
The whole article is a mere tissue of pertness and flip-
pancy, and bids defiance to anything like analysis.
The Times, like the Post, affects the satirical as regards
the presentation of the two Derby addresses to Lord
Melbourne, and observes of his Lordship's reply, that it
was " characteristic "—an expression of dubious import,
but intended, we presume, to be condemnatory.
The Chronicle, in reply to some remarks lately made
by the Dublin Morning Register, on the question of the
Repeal of the Union, says—" The Union with Ireland
will never be repealed. Hundreds of thousands of men
may fall a sacrifice in the attempt to effect such a repeal,
but as long as England is secured by her navy from con-
tinental invasion, Ireland cannot be forcibly separated
from her."
The Herald contains an article suggested by the Derby
addresses to Lord Melbourne, wherein, glancing at the
Whig Budget propositions, our Contemporary observes—
" That Lord Melbourne knew or cared little about the
propositions, we can readily believe ; the more so, as the
Noble Lord, in his reply to his Derby admirers, again
gives a characteristic instance of his utter ignorance of
public opinion, in protesting that he expected the greater
part of the proposals would have received the sanction of
Parliament. In such expectations, however, the Noble
Viscount stood alone."

The Dublin Evening Post contrasts the magnificence
of former Irish Viceroys with the petty economy of the
present, and observes—" It has always been the custom
of the Viceroys of Ireland to send a fat ox to the Mendi-
city Institution, that the mendicants might fare substan-
tially on Christmas Day. It was, at least, a harmless
custom; but his Excellency judged—whether wisely, we
shall not say—that you might fulfil all the obligations of
charity at a less expense. Accordingly, determined to
send something, he ordered that a quarter of beef should
be sent to the beggars. This, no doubt, is in accordance
with the economy and retrenchment which the Mail as-
sured us so unctuously was to be the principle of his
Excellency's administration."

The York Courant remarks, in allusion to Lord Mor-
peth's reception in America :—" A private letter states,
that this worthy and patriotic Nobleman intends to re-
turn from America to this country at the close of Febru-
ary, or, at the latest the first week in March. However
gratifying to Lord Morpeth's feelings must be the gene-
rous hospitality shown to him on transatlantic shores, we
feel confident the warm and cordial welcomes which will
greet him on his return home, and amongst the Refor-
mers of the West Riding of Yorkshire, will be equally
pleasing."
The following is from the Cheltenham Examiner :
" Well says Mr. Christopher that Parliament must legis-
late on the Corn-laws—that the feeling of the country
demands an investigation which cannot be withheld ;
and well he says that no mockery or half-measures will
be accepted. The events of the present winter, the agi-
tation and discussion which have been. carried on, and
tho suffering which has been endured, have placed the
parties in a very different position to that in which they
stood at the close of the past session'. ; even Mr. Christo-
pher knows now that the chance of an Bs. duty is lost to
the monopolists for ever." •