The Sun.
London, England, 1826-08-04 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF Tin PUBLIC JOURNALS.

•
If any thing could weaken our feelings of compassion for
the working claws of this country:when plunged into want,
it would be the conduct of large bodies among them while
employment and comfort are actually in their power. The
iseuneymen and women throughout the north of England,.
`were, during the war, when large wages were paid, and
the people importuned to earn them, accused of the most
heedless insolence and extravagance—of spending all they
got in drink and finery, and at the first moment of a de-
cline in trade, throwing themselves upon the parish for
subsistence: but this is not altogether what we complain
ef. Petty farmers, swelled into gentlemen throughout the
progressive advances of rent which followed each other
from 1797 to 1812—the middling men of business, petty
merchants, and dapper clerks, as they handled larger bun-
dles of bank-notes, began to think that there would be no
end of the growth of that in which they had been taught
that wealth consisted; they one and all strutted about and
looked big, and talked confidently, and' flung about the pa-
per freely. Such swaggerers, therefore, were just as im-
prudent as the poor journeymen, who lived from hand to
mouth, and, under the stimulus of an hilarity new to his
condition, spent thoughtlessly the income which it cost
him no: trouble to gain. Those who make extravagance
a crime in labourers, while they laugh at in educated
idlers es, a folly, have strange notions about the standard
of wright and wrong. No; that for which we most con-
demn the working classes, is no, kin to joyous careless-
ness or gaiety of diaposition. Their true reproach is
one
.proceeding from a dogged and tyrannical spirit,
iniquitous towards their .employers, and grossly op-
pressive towards each other. • Theinanner in which their
combinations :are carried on, Appears to us a rank disgrace
to the community. They are not satisfied with voluntary
leagues, and an enforcement of common measures by those
who are parties to them, for the common benefit of such
parties. Their system is, to rob every journeyman of his
bread, who will not be their confederate ; and, virtually
to drive all masters out, of the trade, who attempt to
manage it by giving employment to the recusants. This
must be' resisted, or the master tradesman, as well as the
non-combirfing workman, will look with envy on the sub-
jects of an Egyptian Bitahaw, The shoe-makers of Lon-
don are now in one of these somewhat frequent paroxysms.
Because a:master did not turn out of work an unfortunate jour-
neyman, who, it vial the pleasure of these members of a
revolutionary tribunal, should be condemned to famish,
they, therefor a, one and all, quitted the employment of
this offer:ding master, and further prevailed upon the
jourr.-qm„p, who had been working for 22 other masters,
v,si abandon the business by which they were earning high
wages for their families, because, indeed, these 22 em-
ployers were so unreasonable as to refuse work to tiny
Members of that particular society whoie rule it was to
inflict upon masters and men a yoke so audacious and in-
toletable.:. We publish a report of some of their proceed-
ings, and refer our readers to it. We should like to see
a score or two of these follows, for just one week, chang-
ing places with the same number of patient sufferers in
the north of England. If such a prescription did not cure
them, it is plain that the tread-mill would have little
chance.—Tintes.
Gold continues to arrive in this country. from all _ parts
of Europe. A remittance worth .1.50,000/. is shortly ex- '
petted from St. Petersburgh, in a Russian ship of war,
and the greater part of it is said to be the produce of gold
mints lately discovered near Tobolsk, in Siberia, and
which are the property of the Russian Govern-
ment. The account of so early and so hiige a
return is a little difficult to believe, but 'as we have
the fact from the merchant to whom the gold is con-
signed, we cannot entertain any doubt respecting it.—
Other consignments to the same quarter are expected
from Prussia, so that an opinion we have frequently heard
expressed seems in a fair way of being realized, viz.
that if a deMand for gold existed in England, the effect
would ho, to drain the Continent' of the precious metal*.
was industriously reported yotiterdtly tat 'Change,
1
that a firm of some cotinnercial eminence had stopped
Payment, but it proved without foundation, at least
as applicable to any mercantile house of high character.
There' is less danger now, by far, as it ' appears to us,.
of such an event, than has been the case for a very
long time put. One result of the superabimdance .of
eapitel has been to indOce gradually a greater degree
of confidence in each other, on the part of the merchants
generally; because when the employment of money
with borrowers of first-rate credit begins to be cir-
cumscribed, it is natural to select some merchants
of the scond and third class, to whom similar fitci-
lities may with safety be extended. This principle,
wee, in action' spreads itself rapidly. Prom the
discount 'of bill' s under such circumstances, it is an
easy step to, make advances on goods, and thus by
imperceptible degrees, the whole commercial machine,
unless some new check occurs, is again set in metion.—
Thie.state of things forms a species of security against the
failure of any house-of great resources, and it may at once I
be safely concluded, either that such reports are untrue,
or that the failure is of no general importance. A short
time back money was scarce, and credit almost annihilated,l
sio .that houses of character, though possessed of very
large stocks of goods, were in constant :peril unless re-
sources in money were within their immediate controul.—
There is something so contrary to the spirit of English
good humour, and the prescriptive freedom of election
time, in the eagerness with which Mr. Alderman Wood
Still pursues the printer of MI election squib, that we would
almost be induced to believe that, he hes become heartily
ashamed of the " liberal creed," and wishes to shoW that
he can fie as arbitrary as any man, where his own interests
are concerned. And what is this squib which has excited
so much " patriotic" indignation '? We inserted it in
our Guildhall report, for the edification of our readers.
It is a poetic scrap worthy of an election album, and, as
an effort•of the Muse, equal to about nine-tenths of the
effusions which the Castalian fountains, that always flow
in the neighbourhood of a contested election, inspire.—
If the worthy Alderman were suddenly seized with a
direful aversion to all bad poetry, and had undertaken to
exterminate it by force of arms, as the Knight of ,La
',Mancha sallied forth to subdue all monsters, what it Her-
tidean task be hai imposed upon himself! IloWever, we
suspect this not to he the case, as he looks with the most
tolerant eye upon the bad poetry, of which his own Com-
mittee were the advelituroos fabricators. Well might all
Grub-street tremble, and the Seven Dials fear that its
population of maiiiifaeturers of verses would become as
distreased as the artisans of Spittilfields or Manchester,
if all songs and lyricalAyroducttons, of equal merit with
that which Alderman Wood persecutes, were to be put
down by the strong arm of the law. Then would it be
necessary to raise another subscription, for, the express
purpose of supporting ell those who manufacture poetry
by the acre, or sell it by the yard, in the elessleal retions
to which we have adverted. Row would the' Arcaiba of
London then be silent!--410w would the Moses be seen
`weeping over their deserted bowers! " But it is not in-
tended," say the friendis of the Aldirman,:anxioui to set
us right on this subject; " it is note intended to quash,
by this proceediog, the whole ma4nerY,of poetic liters-
ture,
even at eleetion time----Were we we only resolved to si-
Nice every unpatriotic' bard who Sings against us ; but
all those who tune their voices in our favour, shall meet .
N, for our t,
with encouragement and appla
use."oeotw should. contend
we think it better and fairer that p
hen that the humble
'against poet to the cod of time, t
children or song. should be ferrette
d out by the sharp.
'fanged gentlemen of the law, and consigned to durance
vile because their
"inspiration" may ..so far mislead them
ence to deran
as to choose some other idol in prefer „
dm not
Wood. But then we are told it is the printerA, lan
the poet, who has been the subject of the, proceedings at
se,„
Guildhall. True • but did not the Alderman hi
ma
that the only motive of those proceedings was " W
obtain the name of the author" of the squib ? I
en n other
words, the law was only employed as a sort of gine of

torture, to extort from the printer the important secret of
the poet's name—that he, no doubt, might receive the full
Measure of " liberal vengeance''' for presuming to make
the Alderman's name " the sad burden of a merry Song.''_
What a becoming eMployment for the-City Solicitor! .It
is worth observing, too, that the offence, by means of
which the Alderman and his advisers got ' the printer
within the grasp of a penal 'statute, is one that . his own
Committee felt no scruple' to commit, as Mr. Robarts, the
defendant, showed, by producing a bnndle of placards -of
Alderman Wood's, without the printer's name or address.
But the City Solicitor told him that the offence of another
was no justification of his own. This argument, coming
from any other quarter, might be sound logic ; but to be
made use of by the Alderman's party, shows little of
either modesty or wisdom. It was once a maxim of Bri-
tish law, that suitors ought to come into Court with clean
hands.—Morning Herald.
Persons who have the best means of information in the
City assert that an important improvement has commenced
in the manufacturing districts, that, trade is reviving, and
that the markets are becoming relieved of goods. We
believe this to be the case to a certain extent, but we
must again warn the country against too sanguine expee-
tations of amendment. A' convulsion in commerce like
that we have experienced, the worst symptoms of which
we trust . may .now be considered as over, cannot pass
away like a summer cloud. Many relapses' must occur
before• commerce can be ,placed upon a sound footing, and
before those principles are brought into operation that
will so materially tend to prevent a recurrence of the tbs..
tress that has been and still is so
.severely felt. There is
one fact connected with the commercial difficulties of the
present year that is worth remarking upon—that through-
Out the whole of them the Ministers have never lost their
popularity ; which proves, probably as strongly as any
individual circumstance can do, the progress that know-
ledge and liberal opinions are making amongst us. How-
, ever trifling may have been the influence that the Non-
Restrictive System has had upon the existing state of
Commerce, we all know that there have been monopolists
in abundance ready to descant on its evil effects, and to
assert roundly that the whole of our embarrasements have
arisen from the change in our commercial system. It is.
evident that the great mass of the reflecting portion of the
community must have. approved, in the first instance, of
this alteration, and must continue to feel the necessity of
its adoption ' • for, if the contrary were the case, discon-
tent would have been extensively abroad, and unmea-
anted censure would have. been the reward of the Go-
vernment. This absence of discontent is also a proof of
the increasing intelligence amongst the operatives them-
selves; for, if there did not exist in this class a strong
predilection in favour of the measures of Ministers, and
their unfeigned endeavours for the public welfare were not
appreciated, the; ebullitions of the people would have gone
much further than to the destruction of a few power-
looins and silk-manufactories.—British Press.
On Saturday the Times announced,' in act:tilts of pro-
phetic woe, the rapid downfall of English power and
wealth—that downfall too produced 'by our monopoly
laws, and the extravagance of our Ministers. Already the
scene has shifted. Ruin, forsooth, is still before us and
around us ; but there is vouchsafed to us the consolation
Of not having to accuse ()wolves. We are now told that
*ere is nobody to blame--that we are in distress, because
(sublime discovery !) the "supply' exceeds the demand"
—that this state of things proceeds not from accidental,
but from general and permanent, causes—and that; even
if the present crisis Should pass away, any gleam of sun•
'shine that may ,succeed, will soon; be followed by another
season of darkness. Such is the altered tone of those
marvellous hicubretions, which are fitted to excite surprise
in many respects, but in no respect more thanby the difficulty
,of guessing who are the persons who read, or pretend to
read, them: It is 'fitting that we shoidd be thankful for
,the retractation, or rather the non-repetition of the en-
tumnies Which were before thrown out against Ministers,
andour,lows; but we arc not quite sure that wo Wiitild
not prefer the unintelligible jargon of host` week, to the
pompous common places of this. The sappy exceeds the
demand! And what of that ? Has not. the same thing
happened thousands of times ? Does it not happen, from
time to time, and in a greater or less degree, in almost.
every branch of commerce and manufactures ? 'Such ge-
neral forms of words throw no light upon either the past
or the, future. The points which are of importance to be
considered, are—Does the disproportion between the
supply.and the demand extend almost equally through.
the principal articles of commerce, or is it partial and un-'
equal in the different branches of trade ? )Elias it come on
slowly, and gradually, or was it sudden and rapid in its
approach ? Was it preceded by a period of great activity
and prosperity, or does it follow an interval of languor and
depression ? Has it been occasioned by, excess of produe-
' lion, or by a:diminution of the demand? In so far as it
I may have arisen from a diMinution of deMand, by what has
that diminution been.caused ? Whether, by a general dimi-
nution of consumption, or by the interference of successful
rivals, driving us put of this or that market, or 14 the lock-
ing up of capital,and the existence of temporary obstructions
to its ready employment? .Those are only a , feW of the
topics, which must be well weighed ,by • all
.who would
form a sound judgment on the nature of the temporary
distresses with which we have had to struggle; We say,
have had to struggle; because, so far as probabilities afford-
a ground for forming an opinion, we think that the worst
preasure, of the evil is gone. by. When the nation has
babre it,inzpending difficulties, we shall be the last to con-
ceal those difficulties from it. But alarm and fear were
never wise counsellors; and we look upon all, who, either
from folly, or from design, propagate unnecessary terrors,
as disturbers of the piiblic .pesee, and prolongers.of the
very evil, the increase of Which, they affect to diea&—
New Time:. , .

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT, Awl. 3.

Thomas ilolden, of Blackburn, who had been remanded last
week, to give a more satisfactory account of his property, WU
brought up to.day—several affidavits were put in, stating that he
bad omitted in his schedule several sums of money which he had
received.
The insolvent said, that he did not deem it necessary to notice
the sums alluded to, at he had paid them in 'liquidation of de-

mends against him.
Mr. HEATH contended, that the insolvent was not entitled to his
discharge, for omitting to give a full and correct statement of his
affairs.
• Mr. CooKE, on behalf of the insolvent, said that the debts of
his client were not considerable, and that his insolvency arose
from the bankruptcy of Mr. Smith. There was no evidence of
his attempting to conceal any of his property; lie therefore sub-
mitted that he was entitled to his discharge,
The CHIEF Comaussronza said, that the part of the insolvent
having come a distance of, 200 mike, in order to be arrested by
his brother, was enough to excite suspicions of collusion if a de-
tainer had not been lodged against him, the Court shouldlutve dis-
missed his petition—however he should not be discharged until he
bad given a mare satisfactory account of his property.
David. Carter and George Binglunn, were brought up for
judg,inent,' and the farmer was sentenced to be imprisoned for six
calendar months, and the latter eight months, for having fraudu,
lently made away with their properties to the prejudice of their
creditors.

......---..,.......—..--,,,..--,—,,
. .
FACILIS DESCENSUS AVERNI.—A Cornish Cler7
Rimini having &dispute concerning several shares in different mines,
found it nereisary to send for s London lawyer, to have some con-
versation with the witnesses, ,examinc the title-deeds, view the
Premiss*, Ise. The divine very soon found. that his legal assistant
was asgreet ,n acoundrel as ever was struck off the rolls.. However,
as he thought this knowledge might be useful,
papers, took him to con we the surveyor's drawing with the
situation of the pit, Are.
rope which he held tight in his hand,
When in one of these excursions" the
profeseional gentlenUm was descending a deep shaft by means of a
he showed bun his
who stood st the top, ." Doctor, as you have not confined your
he called out to the parson
studies to geography, but know all thingli from the surface to the
centre,
.pray how far is it from this to the pit hi the infernal rO.
•
gioner •—" 1 cannot exactly asttseutin the disreeet,,,, replied the
divine, " but 14 go' your held, end you'll be therein a Ininnte."-
American Paper.