The Sun.
London, England, 1846-02-09 00:00:00

THE STUDENT.

A serious. sober, honest strial. Partially scientific,
partially tritical, plrtially devoted to light lterature.
In this number there are —" A Legend of Ancient
Wioxic,b," a " Lite of John Rouge," a botanical account of
nemlock " and its prop _Tties, with other miscellaneous
tontri )utions. And as the whole is devoted to the "In-
-rests of Trade," it is surely to the interest of trade
`that it bhould be supported.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN IN-
STITUTE.
A very interesting convmazione took place on Saturday
at the above Institute, when the ,question of the best
means of increasing the supply of food to the people
Was discussed. The attendance was not so numerous as
lz:ght have been anticipated from the interesting nature
of the subject. Mr. J. S. Buckingham opened the dis-
custion by observing that a deficit ncy of food was one of
the gyeatest evils that could befal a country, as its con-
sequences fell on those least able to bear them, the poor
'-while these consequences reacted on the rich, who
'Were the only parties able to provide for the
P9or. It was also injurious in a moral point of
view, as when a people were pressed by hunger they
Could not respect the barriers between right and
s'or,bg- Various causes tended to produce a deficiency
Opd ; ignorance was one cause ; on the banks. of the
itisdisaoinusri and along the valley of the Missisippi there
Indians
millions of acres lying unproductive, because the
were ignorant of the method of cultivation.
Indolence was another cause, while tyranny and des-
potism formed a third cause, for no man would sow when
e Iv" ignorant as to whether he should reap. Having
alluded to the causes of deficiency of food, he would now
ring forvvard his plans for preventing that evil. The
tirst was by draining the bogs and fens of England and
for This should be undertaken by Government,
?rerivate individhsls coul,l not expend the sums requi-
stte far draining; on the necessary scale, nor could they
afford to wait till a profit was returned. There Were
afollY ssful instances of draining in England—Chat
to. ss, foe instance, which, not many yews ago, was
11I:lly barren ; there were also the fens of Lincolnshire.
V next plan was to convert all the waste lands of Eng-
!and and Scotland into productive land, by covering their
,urface
with fresh soil by means of manures and earth
?r`lught from elsewhere. He mentioned several instances
tn which land formerly barren was now most fertile.
alta, when it was presented to the Knights of St. John
of Jerusalena by Charles V., had not one hundred acres
;t. productiv. land in the whole island. The Knights of
Lt
St, &dn., however, had caused shiploads or heearthotothe
u
suroUght from Sicily, and made a layer
now one
of
the
rface of the rock, so that Malta w.,s i ,
'1'0.4 fertile spots on the face of the earth. Then there
,wuhre the numerous lakes in the North of England,
W:llasmi,abt be stocked with fish from the ocean.
thought that sea-fish could not live in fresh
nter but this was a mistake; for many species of
lamprey, were common to bosh, such as the salmon, smelt,
B:"PreY, and others. Another means of preventing
'arcity of food was by carrying out sea-fishing to a
;trg extent by Government, who might provide a
number of vessels, and man them with seamen, under a
-taa,ita-isct,petray °t prosier
rpsr„oryaer d;scipline, with officers who might be
for:
Would bof •
pay all
af,rum the half-pay list of the navy. This would
scheme
the coast froe sailors for the navy, while it would
its own expense'. For Ireland such a
the sea along
unablee °f
5 especial advantage, as
"ranta ° that country was teeming with fish; an ad-
oto.ot, would which the people, from their poverty, were
to avail themselves. A proper system of sewerage,
same
soil,
atiltiheinss also be of great advantage, as the manure thus
might be employed for the fertilisation of the
of, as now, running t.o. waste ; while;
the e time, it would be a positive saving from
superior cleanliness thereby produced. The last
"154 he would propose, was freedom of exchange
with
•.._other nations. England had immense stores of
and coal, great mechanical invention. and un-
wearied industry ; aided by these, she could produce
great quantities of manufactured articles, which she
flight then exchange with other nations for articles of
the Mr. Buckingham concluded by observing that
mutual dependence of nations on each other was the
best guarantee for peace.
An animated discussion then followed on the ques-
tion, and many interesting facts were adduced in favour
of the views advanced by Mr. Buckingham.
The party did not break up till a late hour.

FOREIGN PRovistotes.—The arrivals of cattle and
Provisions from the different continental states within these
few days have, as may be supposed, been of a somewhat
limited nature, which may very reasonably be attributed to
!,11e alterations about to be proposed with reference to the
duties ,
cnargeable upon them on importation into this coon-
tr3'. The weather is remarkably mild for the season, and no
difficulty appears to be experienced in clearing from the ports
,of Rotterdam, Hamburgh, and other hutch and German
forts, still the importations of cattle during the past week
have been of a very trifling character compared with previous
Weeks, as the market returns have shown, and it is evident
that the owners and feeders of cattle in Holland are holding
back and declining to send cattle over for the present to any
greaser extent than is absolutely necessary to meet pending
position in the metropolitan markets
rfigagements or keep
our space permitteda it,it would be interesting to men-
tion some of the
importations, which' have taken place
Within the last ten days, although the arrivals during
the latter portion of thernhavenf poultry, butter, and
been of a very scanty
nature, excepting the supplies
other articles of the' from France
usual varieties
and Belgium, which
general consumption
have been of
and description. it would be seen that
If we were t.) enumerate the different
importations in their order of arrival,
their, andalthough in quantity, and important _
trie supplies of cattle have borne hut a small proportion
inof
numerous
character, are not to be compared with the supplies of
tahinrieie)stordafi(i)ur previous week's, when
experience has
Rolland, toand
proved the several vessels arrived
Y with cargoes of cattle. Past expe
especially
capabilities of foreign states,
to say with
produce- and supply us with cattle and pro.
'lb"
generally; and it would be difficult
Ca-
tblit,' degree of correctness, to how great an extent those
I:eiLilitiescan be increased, N the import duties at Present
enti,.., upon them are, as is probable will be the ca4e,
einirl-e‘tY z remitted. Holland is, unquestionably, of super-
Inatt,r,
°upartance among the continental states, in the
and tl boutwill, and supply of these neeessaries
Ver tat y
accYr e"siderabi, doubtless, consequently experience a
proportion of the advantages which will
irlabe ..tt.e' if the proposed remission of the duties on cattle, and
3_, .ledlictioas of duties on other articles of provisions, be car-
eci itite effect.
n. itIUE MEN DROWNED -On Sunday last, about two
tiwin_iz,:nnetik:s :is, the crew of one of our small beach boats was Pie-
r'ng to ;ound the Lowestoft Point, and had just set the
foe that purpose, a sudden squall from the west-
arc' rifortunate'v uet the boat, and all the men (four in
Tahneleasectlnt Johnwas Snahusenr.dveerS,l,
number) were :
thrown into the water. Their names were
, each, who immediately obtained the b James Hall, and Robert Jarvis.
the brother of the latter frome
obtained assistance, and ptit
his
r them, but we regret to add, only in timeto save
hieh
_n.rother, who had contrived to cling to a small buoy w
the boat contained. The body of Hall only has been picked
aP' on which an inquest was held last Tuesday evening, and
vet diet of accidental death returned.—Norfolk I*".'njB. • Tap le'
who 111'1"
, - lINISTERIAL
in,,,nen in business with the farmers in different parts of this
r-aVt.Y, informs us that the feeling of the farmers, gene-
pi .''' is by no means unfavourable to the measures pro-
81:sed by gir Robert Peel. Their desire is that the repeal
b ould be immediate, instead of at the end of three years,
because they would then be able to effect an immediate
arrangement with the landlords in respect to rent and other
, ,natters. The appeal of Mr. Cobden, supported as it
Robert
the Opinions of Lord John Russell, Lord Grey, Sir
Peel. Mr. Gladstone, and others, in favour of an
I,nitnediate abolition of the corn-laws, thus meets the
N lews of the agriculturists, and we hope that it will be boldly
carried out. Many of the landlords, however, will no doubt
c'lvnid.o,z2e immediate repeal in order to postpone any alteration
„.',l'll might affect their pecuniary interests, and Sir Robert,
r","'e,e, powerfully backed by the opinion of the country, will
'„r,°lAhly give way on this point to the influence of the landed
effect on
The Ministerial plans appear to have had very little
,aeuet on the corn and cattle brought to market. At the
-_.-
.nten great market on Saturday, there was no depre
ZlTting circumstance perceptible in the sales effected; and
both esame was the case at Exeter on Friday. Fat cattle in
places brought quite as high a price as usual.—
' tYinouth Journal.
. ' the floods in Germany have caused considerable in-
'iry already, and the rivers still continue to rise, threaten-
'24l:vont-Ise disasters. The Elbe overflowed its banks on the
washirtai t"
and
were the lower quarters of the town of Meissen
inhabitants
water, and caused great distress to the poorer
nts. The Danube has broken its bounds in many parts,
ii7"nu-Pn-lti- a:;
i„
_,zteg away the soil with the seeds in it, and depos"ting
sand and gravel. Most of the roads ar rendered
at iirtuuntle, The Weser has done great damage, particularly
en, in Hanover, where more than half the town is
The Ern, in Saxony. has attained an unusual
height :ild
near , ,
e,,e!Luses great apprehersions, and most of the fields
Weekt entLl in
.Raden, have been submerged for more than a
by 6 Kalsig.