The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-01 00:00:00

- ,
EVENING, MAY ix-1844.

Few Passages on Dreams," is an agreeable, gossiping,
little essay by Mr. Charles Oilier, who alludes to
some of the most remarkable dreams recorded in
ancient history, but makes no mention of that re-
lated by Cicero—to the effect, that a man once
dreamed that a friend and neighbour was
murdered, and his body hidden in a cart which was
standing at the door of a particular house. The
dreamer started up in a fright, dressed himself, and
the instant day broke hurried to the house indicated
in his vision, and there, sure enough; found the cart,
and b-uried in it; beneath a heap of dung, the body
of his murdered friend. This dream is perhaps the
most remarkable on record, and. Cicero expressly
states that he had it on the authority of the dreamer
himself. " There are more- things in heaven and
earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philo-
sophy." In the " Elliston Papers" we find a curious
account of an epistolary squabble between the great
lessee of ;Drury-lane and the still greater Edmund
Kean, when the latter first arrived in London, and
was anxious to try his fortune as a tragedian on
the hoards of a metropolitan theatre. Elliston's
lofty disdain and Kean's bull-dog independence are
very amusing touches of character. " Oriana and
VeTerella " is a sort of allegorical story, the drift
of which, will not we fear, be sufficiently obvious to
magazine readers. The following graphic little poem_
(a portion of which we quote) is from the pen of
Mr. Charles Mackay :
Alone, amid a million souls,
Rimed him the tide of people rolls ;
But lorn and desolate is he,
None heeding what his lot may be—
A drop of water in the sea.
'Mid all the crowds that round him swarm ;
He feels for him no heart will warm ;
There is not one that knows his name,
Or cares to ask him whence he came ;
His life or death to them the same.
The rich man's chariot passes by,
And lacqueys with a saucy eye,
From outside plush, and inward meals,
Grin at him, as the rattling wheels
Splash him all o'er, from head to heels.
He walketh on, a friendless boy,
With much of hope, with little joy ;
Elbow'd fur ever by the proud,
As if they grudged the room allow'd
To this mean mortal in the crowd.
On through the busy mass ho goes,
But whither bent he scarcely knows ;
Through lane and street, and park and square,
And looks at wealth he may not share,
Though he is hungry and half bare.
For him amid these houses small—
For him amid these mansions tall,
There is not one, where he could go,
And say, " I am a child of woe,
To cheer me let the wine-cup flow."
No ; he is friendless, and alone
To no one are his sorrows known.
His hope, or, joy, or grief, or fear,
There is not one, would care to hear,
Or say the word, " Be thou of cheer 1"
And evil thoughts will sometimes rise,
When flaunting wealth affronts his eyes ;
Envy, perchance, and discontent,
That he into this world was sent—
No good with all his evils blent.
"No good?" saith he. " Ah, surely wrong;
Fresh health and youth to me belong;
• And from endurance I can learn
Still to endure and never turn
From the high thoughts with which I burn."
And still within himself he says,
" Each man must pass his evil days—
'Each man should suffer ere his prime,
If up the world's high steeps he'd climb,
Some grief to fit him for his time.
" I am not all alone nor sad,
The face of Nature makes me glad,
The breath of morn, the evening's sigh,
The contemplation of the sky,
That fills my soul with yearnings high.
" The leafy glory of the woods,
The rushing of the mountain floods,
The wind that bends the lofty tree,
The roaring of the eternal sea,—
All yield an inward joy to me.
" I find a pleasure in the sight
Of meadows green and corn-fields bright,
I find a pleasure in the lay
Of birds that hail the breaking day,
Or warble to the moonlight grey.
" If no man loves me, Nature's voice
Is kind, and bids my heart rejoice;
The path I go, true souls have trod,
I will look upwards from the clod,
With a firm heart, and trust in God."
And thus he walketh, hour by hour,
And day by day, and gaineth power
Over himself, and worketh still,
Through storm or shine, through good or ill,
The one good purpose of his will.

TRADE WITH FRANCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—lt is not our province to take part in public dis-
cussions upon questions of political economy : but we
are compelled, in self-defence, to refer to the letter of
" Publius," in the. Times of this day, on the subject of
" Trade with France," which is made the medium of an
unwarrantable attack upon us.
" Publius" is, no doubt, an interested party, who,
under the shelter of an anonymous signature, would fain
serve himself and other holders of French brandy. To
do this, he adopts two means—argument, if his writing
can be so called, tending to a reduction of the
duty on French brandy, and thereby to enhance
the value of that article in bond ; and abuse, applied
to British produce, with a view to creating a greater
demand for the foreign. He, and those interested with
him, or whose feelings he is engaged to represent, may
justly feel alarm at " the continually declining quantity
of French brandy, which pays duty for consumption, in
the face of a constantly increasing population ;" and,
having little regard for truth or consistency, it is not to
be wondered at that, in the spirit of unscrupulous advo-
cacy, he should assign any but the real cause for such
decreasing consumption ; or that he should attempt to
put down successful competition, which is the real cause,
by vulgar abuse, Indeed, so reckless is he, that, not
satisfied with an onslaught upon British distillers, he
even assails the whole medical and chemical professions.
The simple truth is, that the constantly increasing
demand fur our patent brandy has made an important
inroad upon the trade in foreign brandy ; and that this,
with the adoption of our patent metallic capsules, as an
effectual security to the public against the fraudulent
substitution of inferior spirits, has occasioned the utmost
uneasiness in those who deal in foreign brandy.
That " Publius" is what we have described him to be
there cannot be a doubt. He asks for a reduction in the
duty on French brandy, not for the benefit of those con-
sumers who will, at any price, indulge their taste for
" the finest Cognac;" but for the pnrpose of effecting
"a conciliation of the powerful agricultural interest" of
France. Generous cosmopolite ! He is eager to semi
five every native interest (except that of th holders of
French brandy) at the shrine of foreign prosperity.
What to him the grain of England in competition with
the grapes of France ? If there be sorrow in our farm-
steads, will there not be joy in the vineyards abroad ?
" Although our farm is not mentioned by name, yet,
as our patent brandy is the produce of British grain"—
as the trade description of it comes within the scope of
" high-sounding titles"—and as its healthfulness and
genuine purity are borne out by the " testimony of i
scientific men," it is barely possible to suppose that
"Publius" did not intend, and deliberately perpetrate, a
personal attack upon us ; or that the passage referred
to has not been, more or less, applied to us by your
readers, and the public generally, many of whom are
unpossessed of the absolute merits of the case.
We maintain, Sir, and we have the most incontro-
vertible evidence of the fact, that our patent brandy,
distilled from British grain, is a purer and more whole-
some spirit than Cognac or other French brandy. This
has been ascertained by the most careful analysis, made
by chemical professors whose names rank with the most
eminent in the world—by "scientific men," who were
unquestionably paid, not any agreed sum, as is basely
insinuated by " Publius," for the purpose of influencing
their opinions respectively, but according to the charge
made by them, for the time and professional skill
bestowed upon the inquiry, as a physician, a barrister,
or any other gentleman, would be paid for first-rate pro-
fessional services. That the opinion of such a person as
" Publius " would conform with that of any purchaser,
at a given price, we have no reason to doubt. On the
contrary, we believe him to be a commodity for any
market—at present disposable by the holders of foreign
brandy.
But "the gall and wormwood" to "Publius" is, that
the genuine and decided testimonials in our favour have
had their natural effect upon our sale. They have led
to the use of our patent brandy by an immense number
of private consumers, among whom the greatest men of
the day might be named ; and to its being prescribed
daily, in preference to French brandy, by the highest
medical authorities at Guy's, St. George's, and the
Westminster hospitals ; at the Manchester, Bristol, and
Brighton infirmaries ; and, in short, at the principal
hospitals and public institutions in England.
Free from the acid inseparable from French brandy,
and from its astringent nature, we challenge competition
at home and abroad ; and whilst we thus tear away the
mask from " Publius," controvert his statements, and re-
pudiate his conclusions, we say at once, that fear of com-
petition does not for a moment influence us in writing
this letter. The fashion for the use of French brandy is
rapidly passing away. British science and British en-
terprise have succeeded in raising the produce of British
grain far in intrinsic value above that of foreign grapes;
and however much the duty on foreign spirits may be re-
duced, we are confident that such a reduction will not
prevent the continued increase of demand for our patent
brandy.—We are, Sir, your most obedient servants,
J. T. BETTS. Jun., and Co.
7, Smithfield-bars, Friday, April 26, 1844.

THREE LIVES Losr.— On Wednesday last, a
powerful steam boiler, employed by Messrs. Hipkiss and
Green, brewers, at Olwinsford, Stourbridge, suddenly
burst, and destroyed everything around it. Three indi-
viduals were killed; and Mr. Green was severely scalded.
The anniversary of the birth of Shakspeare was
celebrated on Tuesday last, at Stratford-on-Avon, by the
annual dinner of the Shaksperian Club. The attendance was
not numerous, and it was stated, has been diminishing gra-
dually for several years past.