The Sun.
London, England, 1834-11-04 00:00:00

DRURY-LANE.

suit so well.
The pernicious consequences which must result
from such a law, so administered, it is not difficult to
foresee. The conscientious importer, seeing his ca-
pital at the mercy of an Inspector, in whose judgment
he can have no confidence, and who, by a slight mis-
take, may subject his good Bohea to the Congou duty,
or his good Congou to the Souchong duty, will be in-
duced to import only such qualities as there is the least
chance of mistaking, that is, the lowest qualities of
each class ; and the fraudulent importer will do much
the same thing, though with a different view. He
will have his low Souchong imported as good Congou,
and his low Congou as good Bohea, trusting to the
well-known dexterity of the Chinese packer, and the
ignorance of the Inspector. If he escape detection, he has
the advantage of Bd. or 10d. per lb. on his importation
over the fair trader ; and if he is found out, he pays
no penalty, and is still on a par with his neighbour.
In this case the revenue is defrauded, and the fair
dealer undersold and driven out of the trade : and in
both cases the tendency is to encourage the importa-
tion of low teas. And for what is all this mischief to

importance, that it is considered a fit subject for a new-
fangled experiment? We say new-fangled, for we have
not been able to discover that this mode of taxation
has been applied to other commodities—to sugar,
coffee, drugs, wines, spices, &c., in each of which
commodities (as in all others) there is a good, a bad,
and an indifferent sort, each sort being again split into
more minute sub-divisions. Why then has not a scale
of duties been applied to these articles ? For this
plain reason, the thing was impracticable—there
was no taxometer by which their intermingling
gradations could be measured. And can we won-
der that it should be equally impossible to draw
a practical distinction between the various sorts of
tea, when we find (as we do from Mr. Reeve's
evidence) that they are all the produce of the same
identical shrub ? " 'When the pickings begin," says
Mr. R., " which is about the month of May, it (the tea
tree) will then be in full leaf, and nearly ready to
shoot out again with the young shoots. The first
shoot on the bud coming out, covered with hair, then
forms the the fine flowery Pekoe. Should it have a
few days more growth, the hair begins to fall off, the
leaf expands, and then it becomes the black-leaved
Pekoe. In this tree, of course, there are some young
shoots which have more fleshy and finer leaves ; they
would make the Souchong. The next best leaves
would make the Campoi, and the next the Congou,
and the refuse _leaves would make the Folkien Bohea.
Generally speaking, that may be considered as the way
in which the tea would be made. This, however, relates
only to the tea farmers. The tea farmers pick the leaves
in this way, give them a sufficient rough drying,
and
carry them to the market, where they are met by the tea
manqficturers, much in the same way as the dairy
farmers are Met here by the cheese and butter factors.
The manufacturers knowing the kinds of tea that will
best suit their own manufacture, purchase from the
persons growing it the particular kinds that they want ;
those they take home, and they mix so much of this
kind and so much of the other as will make the tea up
to the quality they are accustomed to make each par-
ticular chop." Can any one wonder, we say, after
reading this account of the way in which tea, naturally
one and indivisible, is artificially manufactured and
chopped into teas, that there should be some little
difficulty in fixing the boundaries of the various sorts ?
There is one argument, as •it is called, advanced
against afixed duty, to which we cannot help briefly ad-
verting. It is monstrously unjust, say certain parties, to
make the lower classes of the community pay the same
tax on their Bohea as the higher classes pay on the
finer qualities used by them. This is a bit of clap-
trap cant truly edifying ; and those who sport it se-
cretly chuckle at the simplicity of the gulls who are
caught by it. The lower classes, we are quite sure, are
not such gulls. They are too old birds to be caught with
such chaff. The deceit is too obvious—the contrivance
too clumsy. Mr. Travers, at page 13 of his excellent
pamphlet, has given a table of the importations of tea
for the last seven years, from which it appears that
the real Bohea imported during that period constitutes
less than a twentieth part of the whole, and even when
the Congou, with which it is avowedly mixed, is taken
into the account, it does not exceed one eleventh part
of the importations. This is a fact, and we apprehend
rather too obstinate a one to be pushed aside by a mere
assertion, however impudently advanced. We may
also refer to an admirable letter from Sir G. Staunton
to the Chairman of the Committee, (which, by the
way, seems not to have been communicated to the
Members in due time,) in which he thus expresses
himself ;—" The only plausible argument I have heard
in its (the scale of duties) favour, is the giving the
poor man cheap tea ; but this expectation is evidently
fallacious. It is evident, on a mere inspection of the
proportions in which Bohea, Congou, and Souchong
are imported, that the poor man's tea (the poor being
so much more numerous than the rich) must chiefly
consist of Con gou, the tea to which it is proposed to
affix the medium rate of duty. This medium rate
must, therefore, govern the price of the poor man's
tea." Now the medium rate under the scale of duties
—that rate which is laid upon the poor man's tea, is
2s. 2d. per pound ; Mr. Travers would lower this
duty, and fix one rate of 2s. on all teas. If, then, the
advocates of the scale system can show that it is better
for the poor man to pay 2s. 2d. than 25., we shall
allow that they are the friends of the poor. And here
we may remark that we hope to see this new-born
zeal in behalf of the poor display itself not merely in
words, but in a substantial alleviation of such burdens
as the malt tax, the corn tax, the sugar tax, and the
600 per cent tax on tobacco, an article used exclusively
by the poor.
With respect to the motives imputed to the Tea
Trade in their opposition to the scale of duties, we
need not say more than that if the Trade had been
fraudulently disposed, they would have hailed the Go-
vernment plan as a god-send, and combated a fixed
duty tooth and nail. Their conduct, therefore, reflects
great honour upon them, and we doubt not will be duly
appreciated by the public.
Here we must stop, at least for the present. Those
who wish to see this interesting subject ably discussed in
all its bearings and details must consult Mr. Travers'
unanswered and unanswerable pamphlet, which we are
glad to see has already reached a second edition, and
which we strongly recommend to the attention of the
public, regretting that the length to which we have
extended this article precludes us from giving such
extracts as might convey an adequate idea of the ad-
mirable skill and effect, with which the author brings
his formidable battery of facts and arguments to bear
upon the unfortunate scale of duties.

:unnel.

The Hon. Randal Plunket, only brother of Lord
Dunsany, died on Thursday night at his seat, Ballybride, near
Bray, in the county of Dublin.

The Winter's Tale was gone through here last night, and
certainly never did decoration, or any of the aids of the same
class so essential to the effect of a full play, render less assist-
ance. Of all the plays which have possession of the stage,
this is, perhaps, the one which is the most difficult to perform
with anything like just effect. The fable is so- wild, so hard
of belief, and the action is necessarily so abrupt, so hurried, that
no intellect short of the genius of Shakspeare couldhave clothed
it with any of the attractions of an acting drama ; and yet, his
wondrons efforts being duly seconded, the very difficulties be-
come beauties, and the exhibition is triumphant. All this was
felt to its fullest extent by John Kemble ; and when he dis-
tributed the characters, he attached as much importance to the
efficient personation of Dion, Cleomenes, or of Phocion, as
he did to that of Leontes or of Hermione. Very different was
the case last night. Mr. Matthews was cast into Polixenes,
and most miserably did he mumble it ; and Mr. Diddear,
Mr. Bartley, and Mr. King were extremely unsatisfac-
tory as Camillo, Antigonus, and Florizel. Mr. Vandenhoff
appeared as Leontes, but, surrounded as he generally was, both
as to acting and to management, it was no wonder that he oc-
casionally played with little effect, if not with carelessness.
His two best scenes were the first and last. They were both
powerful ; and the latter in particular contained some fine
touches, which drew forth warm applause. Mrs. Sloman, as
Hermione, played the trial scene with admirable discretion and
good tone of feeling. As Autolgcus Mr. Harley was amusing,
but when most succecsful he strongly reminded us of the in-
comparable Munden. Mr. Webster was a tolerable Clown,
and there all praise must end; for, although Miss Taylor was
Perdita, it is not a character to which her abilities or her style
are suited. The audience was not more numerous than might
have easily been anticipated.

We are authorised to state that there is no truth in
the report, copied from the Morning Chronicle of Saturday,
that Lord Althorp was about to marry Lady Clinton.
The Earl and Countess of Jersey are expected to
visit Lord Forester in Shropshire previous to going for the
%%-inter to Brighton.
Viscount Melbourne will entertain his colleagues in
office at dinner during the season at his residence in South-
street, it not being, we believe, his Lordship's present inten-
tion to remove to Earl Grey's late official residence in Down-

ing-street.
The Earl of Minto left Mr. Abercrornby, only son
of the Right Hon. the Master of the Mint, as Chargé d'Af-
faires at the Court of Berlin, until the arrival of his successor,
Sir George Shee, who takes his departure for the Continent
this week.
The Earl and Countess of Orkney, and two of their
sons, have left his Lordship's seat at Taplow, for Naples, where
they purpose to remain two or three years. His Lordship's
brother, the Hon. Captain Fitzmaurice, and other branches of
the family, have sailed in the Jack o'Lantern schooner, to join
the Noble Earl at Naples.
The Right Hon. C. Arbuthnot is about to retire
altogether from the gay world. Mr. A. has given directions
for the sale of his splendid mansion in Carlton-gardens, of
which he has held a Crown lease since he was First Commis-
sioner of Woods and Forests. The Right Hon. Gentleman
has been on a visit to his relatives, the Fanes of Tolbeck, and
is now the guest of Lord Westmoreland, at Apthorpe, North-
amptonshire. •
The Hon. 'William Ashley, the newly-appointed
Treasurer to her Majesty, is now, and has been for eighteen
months, resident at Naples for the improvement of his lady's
health. The Hon. Gentleman will return to England early
in the ensuing year, when he will enter on the joint duties of
Vice-Chamberlain and Treasurer to the Queen.

The Earl of Eldon left his seat, Encombe, Dorset-
shire, the beginning of last week, for the purpose of spending
his 90th birth-day with his brother, Lord Stowell, at the latter's
scat, Early Court, near Reading.
The Earl of Minto is again spoken of as the succes-
sor of Lord William Bentinck in the Government of India.
His Lordship and family are at Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley-
square. Sir T. Metcalfe, the new Governor- General, pro
tern., on the coming away of the Noble Lord, now holding the
high appointment, was late Resident at Hydrabad, and his
family have for many years held high office in the East. His
father, the late Sir Thomas, a Director of the East India Com-
pany, and his brother, the late Sir Theophilus, was President
of the Select Committee at Canton.
Mr. Aston (nephew to the Marquis of Hertford),
Secretary of Legation at Paris, arrived last evening at Mivart's
Hotel, Lower Brook-street, with despatches from Earl Gran-
ville. The Hon. Charles Ashburnham, Attaché, performs the
functions of Mr. Aston during his absence from the French
capital.
On Monday, the 3d instant, a General Assembly of
the Academicians was held at the Royal Academy of Arts in
Somerset House, when Mr. Frederick Richard Lee was elected
an Associate of that Institution.

Government, we understand, have agreed to grant
to Mr. Brunel, a sum of 250,0001., bearing an interest of
three and a half per cent., for the completion of the Thames

Married, on Saturday, November the Ist, at Mary-
lebone Church, by the Rev. Mr. Burgess, Sydney Cosby,
Esq., of Stradbally Hall, Queen's County, Ireland, to Emily,
eldest daughter of Robert Ashworth, Esq. There were pre-
sent, Colonel and Mrs. Ashworth, Lord and Lady Mary-
borough, Sir Charles and Lady Coote, Lord Crofton, Colonel
and Mr. Henry White, Colonel and Mrs. Fremantle, Hubert
De Burgh, Esq., Thomas Cosby, Esq., &c. After the cere-
mony the happy couple set off on a tour.
EARL OF RADNOR.—His Lordship is to be
removed shortly in a bed carriage to Lady Elizabeth Harcourt's,
at Nuneham, near Oxford. It has been indeed a narrow
escape, and would have been greatly lamented, for his Lord-
ship does an infinity of good on his various and extensive pro-
perties. We are sorry to hear the Countess of Radnor's
health has suffered by her unremitting kindness and attention
to her Lord. The eldest son, Viscount Folkestone, is travell-
ing with a tutor in Italy since he left college ; the other son
has just entered at Trinity College, Cambridge. His Lord-
ship has taken with great eagerness to hunting in Berkshire,
when he is not employed in political and county business,
which hitherto has been his occupation.
COWES, Nov. I.—The only members of the
squadron now here are Algernon Fleming, Charles Olive, and
Spenser de Horsey, Esqrs. Charles Smith, Esq. left the
Club-house yesterday, for France. The Xariffa brig is ar-
rived from Portsmouth. The Earl of Wilton is now the
owner, who intends rigging her as a schooner.
ll' DE, Nov. I.—The rising importance of Ryde
as a place of winter residence is most strongly evinced by the
fact of most of the lodging-houses being engaged for the
winter months. Our noble visitors, their Graces the Duke
and Duchess of St. Alban's, are still sojourning at Westfield
House ; LordWilloug,:hby occupies Buckingham Cottage; and
the Lord Templeton is at the Manor House.
GLASGOW, OCT. 31.—Lord Durham, I am sorry
t) inform you, has been so ill since the dinner, that it was
found necessary in the course of yesterday to call in a medical
gentleman. He was by no means well when he arrived here
on Wednesday, and in the latter part of the day, before he
went to the dinner, he felt himself compelled to go for a short
time to bed. I observed that he had a jaded and fatigued
look when he entered the Justiciary Hall in the morning,
although he was then only commencing the round of exciting
duties which preceded the entertainment. I believe the
forms in the presentation of the addresses were shortened as
much as possible, but the anxiety of his Lordship to give ex-
pression to his feelings, on meeting with such a flattering re-
ception from the Magistracy and people of Glasgow, led him
to make greater exertions than was prudent in his delicate
state of health. lam happy to state that, in answer to in-
quiries which I made at a late hour to-night, Lord Durham is
better, and it is hoped that in a day or two at farthest he will
b 3 perfectly recovered.—Morning Paper.
The great subject of speculation in the city to-day,
(Monday) has been, by whom and in what manner the new
Spanish loan is likely to be taken ; and it appears, that how-
ever unpromising the prospect may be, coalitions to make offers
for it are even here in a course of formation. It also appears
that the inducements to take the lead on this occasion, in
point of certain pecuniary profit, are of no ordinary nature.
The contractors for the first Spanish loan under the new sys-
tem are not only, it seems, to receive a commission on the
amount of the loan itself, but also on the whole of the stock
of the foreign loans now in existence, and which is to be con-
verted into another stock of one uniform description. In the
shape of mere bonus, therefore, the contractors have an imme-
diate profit in view of not less than 300,0001. or 400,0001., and
much more if the public come in freely as subscribers. The
Spanish Finance Minister has therefore made his calculation
well, and insured, if not brilliant success, at least a footing for
his first great operation, as many wealthy combinations will be
formed all over Europe with such a tempting bait in view to
engage in it, without too nicely considering whether the state
of Spain justifies this mark of confidence. It is right, how-
ever, that the public should know this, and take their measures
accordingly. The party invited here to bid for the Spanish
loan is numerous and with considerable command of capital,
but is without the support of names of the very first class in
the city. No time is to be lost, as the biddings are to take
place in Madrid on the 20th instant, That there must be some
great change in the financial policy of the Spanish Govern-
ment before the contract can be a popular one in this niarket,
is, however, quite evident—Morning Paper.