The Sun.
London, England, 1828-07-23 00:00:00

elated, on account of the expiration of the Act
which was ihte'nded to prevent the treasonable
meetings and the seditious harangues in which
they delight, and by means of which they live.
Why they should be so elated we cannot ima-
gine, since, so far as regards the Act now ,about
to expire, ,it has•been one of their proudest boasts
that they have been enabled successfully to evade
and defy the Legislature. Under the name of
the Old Association, which they now mean to
assume, they can hardly be more efficient agita-
tors than they have already been. They may
now adjourn from day to day throughout the
year, instead of occasionally dissolving them-
selves to re-assemble in a clay or two afterwards.
But these meetings and harangues will be just as
pestilential as they have been ; more so they
cannot be. They are relieved, perhaps, from
.1
the stigma of meeting in defiance of an Act of
Parliament, but to that stigma they and their
adherents have ever been insensible. Tile truth
is, that the Act intended to suppress the Asso-
ciation was not a measure sufficiently strong for
the turbulent and artful men it was intended to
controul ; and we question if any measure will
be efficacious for this purpose, which does not
prohibit political meetings in Ireland altogether,
or subject them to the constant supervision and
prompt interference of a vigilant police. We
are, at all events, fully convinced that the Roman
Catholic Association must be put down, and
that the 40s. freeholders must be disfranchised,
or that another rebellion in Ireland is inevitable.
—Morning Post.
When a Minister of the Crown says, " I

will strictly adhere to the principles and engage,
ments of my predecessor," what construction are

we to put upon his words? If an un••official

person were to declare that lie would faithfully
fulfil the obligations of his partner or predeces-
sor, we would take for granted that he would
discharge all his just debts, perform all his fair
promises, and execute all his honourable con-.
tracts. Bat vie are afraid that there are some
shades of difference between civil and political
engagements, and that the definitions of Samuel
Johnson are often found to be at variance with
those of the Court Suite. A somewhat re-

narkable and consolatory, though amusing, in-
stance of tliis is to be found in the conduct of
the Vice-President of the Board of Trade, with
regard to the silk duties in the new Customs'
Bill. At the time Mr. Huskisson brought for-
ward his " improvements" in our commercial
system, he proposed to admit silks, the manufac-
tures of all countries, at an ad valorem duty of
thirty per cent. In legislating upon this branch
of our trade, he professed to be guided,
in his estimation of the rate of protection,
by the opinions of a Select Committee of
the House of Lords. Their Lordships, of
whom the late Noble Home Secretary was
Chairman, reported it as their conviction that
the silk-manufactures of this country would be
amply protected by a duty of from 12 to 20 per
cent. Mr. Huskisson, who has since shown
that he knew nothing of the subject, in order
that he might err on the safe side, proposed 30
per cent., which, on his recommendation, was
inserted in the original Bill, and agreed to by
the House of Commons. But, while the Bill
was upon the eve of being read a third time, it
was discovered that if the India silks were ad-
mitted at this rate, not only our domestic ma-
nufacture would be involved in deeper ruin, but
even our excellent friends, the French, would be
driven from the market by the weavers of Hin-
(fasten and China. Mr. fluskisson, however,
had tinkered the Bill so long, that he was asham-
ed to recommend an additional patch. Hence
the aboitive Bill required a new midwife, and an-
other old woman, in the shape of Mr. Charles
Grant, was called in. He, to the astonishment
of the House, and without even giving any ex-
planation, altered. the principle of the Bill en-
tirely, and, as regarded India silks, changed the
ad valorem duty to a rateable duty, by which these
latter goods were only rendered admissible to this
market on paving from 40 to 60 per cent. duty.
The East Indians, who did not comprehend the
distinction so nicely drawn by the then Vice-
President of the Board of Trade, and who be-
lieved that the change was a mere matter of con-
venience for the officers, no sooner discovered
the trick than they complained in severe terms
of the consequences of it. They then received
from Lord Goderich and Mr. Huskisson a dis-
tinct pledge, that in October, 1828, the addi-
tional duty would be discontinued, the ad valo-
rem one of 30 per cent. restored, and the silks
of India admitted precisely on the same terms
as are those of France. The time has, however,
come, but the pledge is not to be redeemed.
Mr. Courtenay being a sheet of white paper, is
not Mr. Huskisson, who is any thing but a
sheet of white paper, and consequently the thing
cannot be done. We know that it cannot be
clone without turning many thousands of la-
bourers upon their parishes. We knew from the
first that it. could not be clone. But still it is a
hardship, and one of a rather vexatious kind
too, that the silk manufactures of France should
be admitted to our market on better terms than
we admit the manufactures of our India Colo-
nies. As to the pledge—the solemn pledge—
it, we fear, must lay in pawn a few moons longer.
'That it will be redeemed we doubt much. The
only way to overcome the difficulty is to place
the silks of Europe on the same footing as the
silks of India—by raising the duty upon the
former, not by reducing that upon the latter.—
New Times.

A` picture-dealer of the name of GRAMAIN
was convicted on Thursday last, by the Chamber of Correo-
tional Police of Paris, of having exposed for sale two
lithographic engravings, called " The Dream of Maria
Louisa," and " The Sleeping Lion," which had been seized
by the Commissary of police, He was tried for baying—
. Ist, exposed for sale designs neither deposited with nor au-
thorised by the Goyerniraent; 2d, of attacking the order of
succession to the Throne ; 3d, for having exposed in oublic
places signs and symbols calculated to excite a spirirof re-
bellion, or to trouble the public peace. The prisoner stated
that he had purchased the blocks without being aware of
their nature; add denied, that they were intended to attack
the Throne, sr'exeite rebellion. The Court sentenced him
to fifteen days' imprisonment, and a fine of i 00 francs, and
the costs of the proceedings.
The Pandore (a French literary and dra-
matic journal), in the course of a long article on " the pre-
sent state of the dramatic art in England," says—" The
London Theatres have now no tragic actress; Miss KELLY,
andKELLY,
the daughter of a retired officer, 'began too young,
although her talents were of an order to justify brilliant
hopes, she is not equal to great tragic character% Miss
isArFrna, when in London, never reached her true sta-
tion. Being naturally timid, she wanted there both oppor-
tunity and encouragement-shehasonly found them in
Paris. Mrs. Wvsre bad formerly beauty and a little sensi-
bility; is still pretty, but that is all, and her declama-
tion has degenerated to a
psalmody without soul or
energy. Miss PoorF had same talent; speculating upon
the publicity of a scandalous adventure, and upon the bad
taste of the public, she went through the provinces, giving
herself out for a first-rate actress, asid lost the little talent
which she possessed. Qmsedy is as badly off as' tragedy :
Miss CnEsT R has neither mind, energy, nor correctness.
Mrs. OtartnaLF.Y, Who was intended for a dancer, is
still more cold and ignorant than Miss CREsTEit. There
is, however, a Miss KELLY, who plays in farce and melo-
drama with much effect and correctness,"