The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-25 00:00:00

perpetually " getting up"—to their own gratification,
probably, but to the detriment and injury of the com-
merce of the civilised world, and all the blessings
which follow in its train ? It is true that modern
jurists have ruled very decisively that a blockade--
maintainable as to all other circumstances—is good,
so long as it can be effectively enforced. It is also true
that France has concurred with Great Britain in re-
cognising this exercise of the right of blockade by
Buenos Ayres against Monte Video. Nevertheless,
in a case where the sufferers by the interruption and
prohibition of the trade of the place are foreigners,—
English,
Spanish, and French subjects, against whom
there is no charge of contraband trading or smuggling,
but who, in the lawful pursuit of their commercial
operations, are suddenly placed in a position from
which they are not permitted to extricate themselves,
wherein their capitals are sacrificed, their trade ruined;
and their lives endangered by the proceedings of
belligerents, each of whom is under treaties of amity 1
with their own sovereigns ;—it does appear to us that
on every principle of expediency and justice those
sovereigns, or one of them, should insist on the per-
sonal rights and liberty of their own subjects being
respected. Reparation ought clearly, we think, to be
enforced in this instance, which comes precisely under
the conditions we have been supposing. The conduct
of RosAs, in sending back the vessels from Corrientes,
was a wilful interference with the private property
not merely of the merchants of Monte Video, but of
his own compatriotes of Buenos Ayres, that his own
Government should be made to disavow, as some sort of
guarantee against the recurrence of such exhibitions
of wanton folly in future. Let us hope that a little
Cromwellian vigour may yet be aroused in the re-
cesses of Downing-street, to bear upon the wings of
the wind the once dreaded and omnipotent protest of
Britair, against all dishonour to her flag, or injury to
i her subjects, in any corner of the habitable world !

A. DEBATE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN 1781 f+
MARCH 22.—Proceeding thence to the lobby of the Com-
mons' House, I found it filled with gentry in livery ;
just peeping in, I went directly to the hatch leading to
the ante-chamber of the gallery, which the old enfeebled
keeper opened to me. After the delay of a quarter of
an hour, I obtained entrance, and found many persons
there before me. The House was very full below ;
among others, Lord North, whom I discovered on the
Treasury bench by his blue ribbon. The Members sit
with their hats on, but always uncover when they rise
to speak, and on departure salute the chair by a bow.
The Speaker is always covered, and with the clerks
habited in black gowns; after some time, he commanded
to order, and some Members to their seats ; then direct-
ing his looks to a Mr. Minchin, with a motion of his
head, the Member arose, when a profound silence ensue],
and continued to be observed through the whole of the
speech. * * During the course of his speech, he
was now and then interrupted by a murmur on the
other side of the House, which was at times succeeded to
by " Hear him, hear him," and very generally attended
to. Sir George Young followed, but was less minded.
Sir Charles Bunbury spoke next, who made a long, and
more formal oration on same side, pretty well listened
to, and frequently complimented with "Hear him, hear
him ;" which expression was also used to two men, who
followed, viz., Admiral Keppel, who spoke well, and
with some warmth, and Sir Hugh Palliser, who was
called by name by his party. He having finished, and
sat down, the House resounded with "Burke, Burke ;"
hereupon the Irish orator arose, and in a loud and manly
voice, with singular energy and compass of expression,
and a torrent of eloquence, reprobated Sir Hugh's ac-
count, exposed the futility of his arguments, excited
universal attention, and frequently raised more than a
smile in the features of his listening hearers."—ln
letter describing the same debate, Mr. Curwen says :
" The great Irish-born orator, Mr. Burke, spoke, and
his thundering elocution fixed the attention of the ouse;
and his wit and satire diverted them, and produced peals
of laughter."
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.—SITTING OF JANUARY
15.—M. Arago made a further communication respecting
the comet discovered by M. Faye, from which it appears
that it is a periodical, having a revolution of six years
and 200 days. A paper was received from M. Bonjean,
of Chambery, on the effects of the ergot of rye. In a
memoir communicated to the Academy in 1842 the author
had stated his opinion that the ergot is much less dange-
rous when baked in bread than in its natural state ad-
ministered in powder, the heat and fermentation of the
baking process having the effect of changing its proper-
ties to a great extent. In his present communication, M.
Bonjean. in illustration of the correctness of the opinion
that he had expressed, relates a case of poisoning with
bread made frora rye, a portion of which had the ergot.
A family of nine, father, mother, and children, at Envers,
in Savoy, had eaten in three days eighteen pounds of
this bread. They were all attacked with pains and rigi-
dities of a very severe character, accompanied with
shiverings, but all recovered. On examining the rye,
part of which had been used to make the bread, it was
found to contain 14 per cent. of ergoted grain. If, says
M. Bonjean, the same quantity as was consumed in the
bread had been taken in powder certain death must have
been the consequence. A paper by M. Robinet, mem-
ber of the Royal Society of Agriculture, on the formation
of silk by the silk-worm, was next read. It has been
contended by some writers on this subject that the silk
exists in the animal in a perfect state before it is throw n
off; whilst others have asserted that it is in a liquid
state in 'the body of the insect. M. Robinet has ascer-
tained that it is liquid until it reaches the capillary tubes
where it becomes solidified, but the process of solidifica-
tion is still a mystery.
EFFECT OF ROCKETS ON THE ABYSSINIANS.—AS
soon as it became dark, rockets, which had been brought
by the Embassy, were to be discharged from the tents,
by the King's express desire. With fire-arms the Abys-
sinians were previously acquainted ; and the brass gal-
loper (cannon) which had echoed so recently, although
viewed with wonderful respect, was still the only engine,
on :a colossal scale, to which they were familiarised.
But these were the first rockets of which his Majesty
had viewed the flight ; and the impression they pro-
duced upon his mind, as he gazed from his watch tower,
was scarcely less than that worked upon his assembled
subjects. Night had thrown her sable mantle around,
and the novel principle of ascent, with the grandeur of
the brilliant rush into the skies, afforded matter of
amazement to all spectators. When the projectile
started, with a loud roar from its bed, men, women,
and children, fell flat upon their faces. Horses and
mules broke loose from their tethers, and the warrior
who had any heart remaining shouted aloud. The
Galla tribes, who witnessed the meteor-like explosion
from the vicinity, ascribed the phenomena to the use of
potent medicines ; and declared, that, since the Cyptzis
could at pleasure produce comets in the sky and rain fire
from heaven, there was nought for them left, save abject
submission to the King's commands.—Harris's Highlands
of ~Ethigiia.
THE FATE OF THE INVENTOR OF THE GUILLOTINE.
—His retreat was so profound, that it was said, and
readily believed, that he too had fallen a victim to his
own invention. But it was not so ;he was indeed impri-
soned during the Jacobin reign of terror—his crime
being, it is said (Guyot, p. 8), that he testified an indis .
creet indignation at a proposition made to him by
Danton to superintend the construction of a triple
guillotine. There is no doubt that a double instrument
was thought of, and it is said that such a machine was
made, and intended to be erected in the great hall of
the Palais de Justice, but was certainly never used ;
and we should very much, and for many reasons, doubt
whether it could have been a design of Denton. The
general gaol delivery of the 9th Thermidor released
Guillotin, and he afterwards lived in a decent mediocrity
of fortune at Paris, esteemed, it is said, by a small circle
of friends, but overwhelmed by a deep sensibility to the
great, though we cannot say wholly undeserved, misfor-
tune which had rendered his name ignominious, and his
very existence a subject of fearful curiosity. lie just
lived to see the restoration, and died in his bed, in Paris,
on the 26th of May, 1814, at the age of seventy-six.—
Quarterly Review.
THE TEMPERANCE REFORMATION IN IRELAND.—
Many persons are of opinion that the change will not
last, and that a re-action against the temperance move-
ment may soon be expected. For ourselves, we have
great confidence in the permanency of the benefits pro-
duced. There may, perhaps, after a time, be more oc-
casional instances of drunkenness, and less of total ab-
stinence, than at present; but the charm has been broken;
the same talisman will never regain its lost influence.
The habit of drinking is rarely acquired from the mere
gratification afforded by it to the palate, or the plea-
sures of intoxication. It is the creature Of conventional
usages. Working men invited each other to drink at
markets and fairs, as the higher classes of England
formerly did at their tables, because it was the custom,
and a sign of hospitality and good fellowship. The cus-
tom is now destroyed ; intoxication no longer receives
the countenance of opinion ; drinking must henceforth
be individual, it cannot be national.— Westminsterßeview.
MY FEELINGS.—Stephen Kemble went to a re-
hearsal one day at York without his coat. The manager asked
what had become of it. " Sir," said he, " the landlord of the
house where I was reading she London paper charged me
double for my ale. I told him he had cheated me, and would
not pay him. H. seized me and pulled off ray coat ; so rather
than submit to his extortion, I came away without it." " But
Mir. Kewble,"
coat
Ith
said the manager, " walk through the streets
outyour,,
But, said Stephen, " pay sixpence
for my ale I" " But your coat, Mr. Kemble ?" " Curse my
w
goat, Sir; think of my feelings !il-
-1 PRICE OF BEER AT BOTANY BAY.—The author of
" Tales of the Colonies" gives the following amusing sketch of
a Botany Bay Boniface :—" Glass of beer,' said I. " Nothing
under a bottle," said the landlord. " How much does your
bottle hold ?" said I, fur I knew it was necessary to be cautious
in dealing with these town chaps. " Just the same as in
England, said he, showing the bottle, with Barclay's double
stout marked on the label. It's true, my heart did warm to
the beer, and quite forgetting to ask the price, I said with a
sort of glee, " Out with the cork." It was out in a twinkling ;
that drink was a prime one, I must say, if I never have an-
other. " Take a glass yourself, landlord," said I. " With
pleasure," said he, and filling it slowly
to the brim, " Your
very good health," said he to me. " The same to you," said I,
filling another. He filled his at the same time
wait-
ing to be invited. " y
How do o • me., without u like said he " Never
drunk better in my life," said I, " What's to pay?" "Half
a guinea," said he. " Half a guinea l" said I, " fora bottle
of beer ?" " Yes," said he, " and cheap too ; there's Only
two dozen left in the colony, and you have just drunk one
them."
A letter from our Correspondent at Constantinople,
dated the 3d instant, announces the dismissal of Sir Baldwin
Walker from the Ottoman navy, owing to the resentment of
the Capudan Pacha, whesej infamous, conduct, while lately
the Archipelago, would
cruising in appear to have justly
roused tin indignation of our .all countryion,...ros,