The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-06 00:00:00

THE SILK TRADE.

Accounts from the silk-producing departments
announce that native silk is becoming every day
more scarce. There was scarcely any business
transacted at • the last market of Aubenas, the
heavy rain having prevented the growers from
coming to market. The little silk ofered for sale
was purchased at from 88f. to 92f. the kilogramme,
according to quality. The manufacturers of Lyons
are living almost entirely on orders received from
the United States. Spun silk from Syria is quoted
at Marseilles at 92f. the killogramme. Wines of
last year's growth are in good demand at the wine-
market at Bercy, and prices are firm. The near
approach of the vintage appears to produce no
effect on prices. Holders of stock are now convinced
that the vintage will be deficient in quantity,
and the quality will depend on the weather. It is
generally believed that a further rise in prices will
take place. At Auxerre, where the vineyards pro-
mise an excellent vintage, the light stock of wino
on hand, and' the unfavourable accounts received
from other wine-producing districts, have caused an
increased demand, and good ordinary Burgundy is
not to be had for less than 110 f. the cask of 300
bottles. White wines of 1857 are quoted at Ber-
le-Dec at 70f. the hectolitre. Macon wine was
sold at Bourg last week at 56f. the hectolitre.
The wine-growers of Chaulieu have raised their
wines 15f. the cask within the last month.
The vintage in that neighbourhood is not as
good as last year. Wines of the Beaujolais
have risen 20f. the cask at Macon within •the last
few days. The wine-growers in that neighbour-
hood are in despair at seeing the appearance of the
grapes. They have become small and withered,
and, as they drop off the stalk, the crop is daily
diminishing. The damp nights have improved the
vineyards in The neighbourhood of Montelimart ;
grapes are-sold there at 12f. the 100 kilogrammes.
The approach of the vintage and the prospect of a
good crop in that nighbourhood have produced a
fall in the price of wine at Nantes. There is very
little business doing in brandies in the Paris mar-
ket ; prices, nevertheless, are well maintained. At
La Rochelle brandy is quoted at from 105 f. to 120 f.
the hectolitre, without the cask. Beetroot spirit
is worth, in Paris, 87f. the hectolitre ; Languedoc,
nor.

TIIE DUKE OF MON.TROSE ON TIIE PROBABILITY
or• INvAsioN.—At a meeting held on Friday last at Dum-
barton, for the formation of a volunteer rifle corps, Sir J.
Colquhoun, lord-lieutenant of the county, presididg, the
Duke of Montrose said—" Wo know, as the lord-lieu-
tenant has said, that we are now more liable to invasion
than formerly—that is to say, that an invasion might more
readily take place now than in former years, as the navies
now-a-days ere different from those of past times, so that
there is no doubt it would be easier to land a large body of
troops here than formerly. We must feel that,motwith-
standing the great amity that is professed by a neighbour-
ing country towards us, which we reciprocate and are
anxious to maintan, yet 'we cannot feel so safe as if there
was a constitutional Government in that county, when the
whole is dependent on the single will of one individual.
(Cheers.) We must feel that there is no check upon him
if he should think it to be to his advantage—but I think
he won't find that—to attack this country. He has not the
check of a Parliament or of the representatives of the na-
tion, or the more mild influence of the country through the
public Press ; and therefore we cannot possess all the secu-
rity which we should have without baing armed for all
c,,ntingencies. This feeling has spread all over the coun-
try, and has been spoken of in Parliament, and the expres-
sions there given forth have been endorsed by the people
at large; and therefore I think we ought to adopt a line of
conduct pursued by a large portion of the people of Eng-
land, and also by many in various parts of Scotland—a
course which I consider extremely desirable."

ASCENT OF Mos.!: BLANc.— Messrs. Tyndal and
Frafrikland have just made a successful ascent of Mont
Blanc. On the 21st August these two English savants
macho% the summit, where they placed their tent of india-
rubber on the south side, and prepared to pass the night,
with the intention of returning at 10 o'clock the following
morning, which they accordingly did. Thus these two
gentlemen sojourned on the summit of Mont Blanc for the
space of 20 hours, with their three guides and seven porters.
Thus thiS hazardous enterprise, and which was the first
attempt pf the kind which has been made' was happily
crowned with success. The party suffered from violent
attacks of headache, exactly resembling sea-sickness in
their efe3ts, and from which none of them were exempt.—
Journal de Geneve.