The Sun.
London, England, 1817-10-01 00:00:00

I'itOVINC:L.\ 'l, ..;OURNAL§.

, • .
liar tb‘-. follOiVing pertlitent, and sett-
amiable' remarks, historical illustrationi,
whith Wet npplicahle at the present i.iontent, we
are intlebletl to tr!*,..! feeds Intellitencer Of the 29th

ult..-

" It is rurions to that complaints of. the
distress.es of the limes, of the Misconduct of ru-
lers, of the declension of lie:lA:mai poiver. and
prosperity, of religious and min depravity, and
even of inferiority in bodily vigour, of emery sue,
ceeding genet ar iou, while it was a present 0,0
ration, have been the favourite theme if every
gloomy declaimer, of every weak or disecintented
mind, of every Cynic and every enthusiast; in all
countries amid in all ages of the world.
" Smith, in his celebrated work, 'The Wealth
of Nations,' b. ii. v. 3. ingeniously traces the
chain of incessant complaint and despondency, fa-
bricated by a certain class of political writers iu
this country :

The annual, produce of the land and labour of England,
for example (says he). is certainly much greater than it was is
little more than a cehtury ago, at the restoration of Charles-
But though at present, I believe, few people doubt of
this, yet, during that lung period, five years have seldom
passed away, in which some work or pamphlet has not been •
published, written too with such ability, as to gain some au-
thority with the 'public, and pretending to demonstrate that
Um wealth of the nation was fast declining, that the country
was depopulated, agriculture neglected, manufactures de-
caying, and trade undone. Nor have these publications been
all party pamphlets, the wretched offspring of falsehood and
venality; many of them have been written by very candid
and very, intelligent people ; who wrote nothing but what_
they believed, and for no other reason but because they be-
lieved it.'

" He then goes on to show that the situation
of Engliml was much better at the Hi storation
than at the accession of Queen Elizabeth, about a
huudred years previous.
" Again, that at Elizabeth's accession it .was
richer and more prosperous than it was a hundred
years before that period ; that even then, its con-
dition was superior to %vita it had been at the
Norman Conquest; that at the Norman Conquest
it was better
,than during the confusion of the
Saxon lleptareby ; and, even at that early_period,
that it was certainly a much .more improved coun-
try than at the invasion of Julius Cwsar, when its
inhabitants were neArly in the same state with the
savages in North Auierica, and about which pe-
riod, by the way, an extensive trade WAS actually
carried on, in British Slaves, by adientitrit'Stror4)
the Continent.

" Every succeeding age, however, has been:agi-
tated by the complaints of the credulons,. the dis-
contented, and the designing. The good old
times,' has been in each the conVenent and la-
conic, but vague and absurd mode, of imp!ying
that all had been prosper.pus, and happy, and vir-
tuous, and well, with their forefathers,, and that all
was miset y, and calamity, and vice, and ruin,
with their descendants. Yet when you re-trace
the connection of future prophecy, present cOin-
plaint, and posthumous admiration, you find, that
at each step the time which was present -was al-
ways, in paint of fact, better than t bat which
preceded it, though its possessors lamented its
evils so loudly; and thus you go up, through the
times that are past, arriting always at worse, and
worse, and .vorse, instead of better and better, till
you reach the highest ages of vnticiuity, and ob-
berve that the highest possible degree of igno-
rance, ferocity, and wreteheddess, were their at
tentlauts and bentirge.

" Such is a brief glance at theitind of spirit,
and complaint, and propheey, of political writers
and declahners, in this country.
" lint the same result attends a similar observa-
tion of every description of desponding dis-
contented characters in all nations. HoracF :was
of opinion That
,inanintl had become -More and
mote vicious-down to his time; and that the ge-
neration which was to follow him would he.worse
than his own. Juvenal; who lived long otter Ho-
race, thought with Horace; that mankind had
been always degenerating, till at length, lie as-
serted the vice and infamy of.his own age were,so
complete, that: it was impossible mankind. could
get worse. Several centuries after Jtivenal, how-
ever,. we find his tiLsie spoken of with admira-
tion,' as the age, comparatively',-of reason, tind,:f

virtue.
" Homer thought men were once so mmohniore
vigorous than himself, that he mak-es each of his
heroes stronger than any t wo of his cotempora-
ries. Virgil assures us that twelve chosen men
•could- not have carried, iu his days, the-stone
which Timms dung, with easy vigour .and forie.
" Credulous narrators and dis Contented de-
claimers have been the numerous -offspring of
every age, and designing demagogues and dis-
turbers have been not less numerous, from the
earliest period of history to the present time:
" But the bawlers after popular rights are ge-
nerally, when in power, the greatest tyrants. The
Hunts, the Waithmans, and the Cobbetts, are
creatures indigenous to -evert soil -and climate.
The history of the world - presents them in every
page and at every will. That of Syracuse contains
one illustration -so apposite, that if the Reader,
while perusing the following abstract, choose to
change the name of Dionysius for that of a -well-
known noble Patriot of -the present day, he will
find a history of our own times, acted-upwards of
-two thousand' years ago.
" Diunysius imps ached the Magistrates, as at-
tempting to introduce an Oligarchy. • -
His speech', which was t=ntire!y levelled
against wealthy and powerfulcitizens, and there-
fore agreeable to the humour of the people, set
all the assembly in a flame; the people,- already
incensed against their commanders, being more
exasperated by .the speech 'of Diot4sius, forth-
with deprived them of their commands, and named
others in their room, -among whom was Diony.-
sins. Having gained this step to preferment, he
began to consider wit-It himself-'how he might
have his colleagues turned out, and -the whole,
command of the army lodged in himself. With
this view--he never joined in any council of war
'with the other commanders, nor imparted to them-,
his resolutions, giving out, that he dorm not Ito*
them, and that they had more at heart their own
interest than the welfare of their coantly.
lie was thus by degrees paving his way to the
throne; lite_tost pi:Went among the citizens-, be,
log well apprised of his wicked designs, compilin-
ed of his proceedings to the senate and tnagis-.

trates, fin.ed Lin; F;s (ilstut'l)er di(
peare. ACCOrMng to the Igoe wa• to he
pain before he eciuld Spe4. io and Y.)!nuy.-
sins wits
.4nOt discharge
ti ereutiont,rfiitstus the ilif•;torian, a in ,n llf
Meat- wealth, tint otilY.1!.011 the lice for him: I),a
cnvottra4ed hini to speak his mind ft eels, as it
became n Lesbos citizen to do, offering to
pay all the fines th9eY slipiald lay upon him.
Dionysios„ beini; thus supported by the wealth of
It rich citizen, and the favour of the people, as be
was an eloquent speaker, bitterly itiveiAlied against
those, who, on account of their power or in-
iercst, were iii recondition to obstruct his designs;
and by degrees brought them into disgrace with
the people.
" Thus ids things succeeded accordinc to his wish,
DinnysiuS, from a siinple notary, as Diod;irus
forms us, raised himself to the sovereignty of
.the
greatest and most opulent city of Sicily.
" Syracuse, from one of the most flourishing,
powerful, and free States of the time, groaned
under the tyranny of Dionysins and his successor;
till she encutintered the ,worst strokes of wretch-
edness and degradation ; and was at lengtEl, oft
her emancipation by Timoleon, re-peopled by the
beneficence of other Greek States—a-sad and in-
structive example _of the danger of popular delu-
sions, tint( of entrusting power • to • der:la:20;111es
whose ambition advances. upon the abuse of pei-
sons in atitls ritY, and the subversion of the iu-
stitntions of their country. Dionysi,is kept in
constant pay, for the preservation of his ill-got:
ten power, an army of alitindred thonsand foot
and ten thousand horse, aria a-itavv of four butt-
tired ships ; yet, such were his criielty Mutt his
crimes, and such, lo consequestee, the terrors
Lis guilty conscience, that, though at the head or
all this force, he slept in a tied sorrounded• by a
deep trench, across which there a as a draw_bridgx
he durs: not submit his head to the of a
barber; but used to 'burn It is beard ; and he tue4r
admitted even his wifeandellitireo to his prese!ce
without a previous examinath?n of !Leif- go.unt:Tiri,
lest they should have arms concealed about their
persons."

AG RI CULTUR &e.

MONTHLY REPORT FOIL SEPTENMEIt.

The lingering Harvest occasioned in a great
measure by the. unequal ripening oft be Wheat an 4
soft corn crops, is- clearly closert:in the Horne,.and
Midland Counties, except fur Beans, a great
breadth of which remains abroad. In the Nor-
ibern Districts most of these crops are still uncut
-for- want of ripening weather. The new Wheat,
_too hastily got up, and threshed out, have, froar
their cold damp state,found an unprofitable market.
Many stacks thus rtin up in bad condition, having,
heated, have been taken down.— The Bader(
that did not plant regularly shew an onerrnit
sample, which is too generally the case.-r-
Oats are a lariat crop, and in most parts'
in (virility : time Fens of Lincoln; Hnnting.drnic-aud
Cambridgeshire have newer experienced a lattgee
produce, 'Tice Beans are in most parts- foitaul
lective, particulaily in Kent,• where the horse-
hoeing system rarely fails the Pent Redilishers
being. unusually .foul from -the wetness of the;
summer wlll considerably retard their being sowti
ailth Wheat. On the Hills in Gloucestershire
and Adjoining parts svhere they sow earlv-tirt3
lands, new sown. Wheat appear to plant
Clover-seed is not likely to prove -a el.( p.---
Potatoes every where rise well. linps trill /otit
average a tenth part of a crop. The Cider Coain-
irit:s of Devon and Herefordshire, Bte.. are without
fruit, except in a few ‘vorn7 garden grounds. 'Fla
Grass Lands are generak shot t of feed, btu the
Turnip and CHeseeds are every where alp:D.! !tit ;
and Lean Stock of most kinds are in constkpie::ce
got or in price. Sheep and Lambs at the late
Lewes and other Southdown Fairs have advaoeca
11111.15 per cent. Cart-horses and Colts arc toncti
dearer. The Wool-market has experienced sud-
den rise since our lust Report of 6d. per pound ja
fine clothing fleeces. Smithfield hating had a shot
supply or two, has occasioned a brisk demand Or
prime Beef and Mutton at more money. lit other
articles but little alteration.

COURSE OF EXCHANGE, 'fuEsumr, SgPT. ',20.
.4...osterthou
, Ditto, at Sight
Amstet dam
Ditto, at Sight.... ll 11 ,
• Rotterdam
Antwerp ll 15Ex.11corri
flanibtirgli
Altona
• Paris, 3 Day's date
Ditto
Bouedvaux, ditto
Frankfort on the Main
Madrid .. 06f Effvctice
Cadiz • - 361 EtlectiO Seville
Bilboa .
Gibraltar
Leghorn ... 4Bl Genoa... 466--Venice . 27
Malta... ..•17 -Naples ,• 41
Paiernio ' 1204. per 02%7
LASIIOiI
Oporto
. •
Mori:metro
Onbiin ' . .8! : ... C0rk..... 8! per Cott.
Agin of the Bank on Holland.... 2 per. Cent.
Portngal Gold, in Coin 1.4 ,0 o per OP
Foreign Gold, iii 13ars
Nem:Dollar.- 0 ry 2
silver. in Bari, Standard . . -3
_,

•
On 7,londay last, at St: t;etorge., 'fianovcr-square, Pon'
Itidul, to Miss .Fennell,,looth i.f N.u..0 Amiley-siree?.
On'the ;Pull ult. at Cautnerwell C•I ttrelt llr. Wiiiiant 111:'
well, of Iligh,trect, South wadi, E.ther, yoMagest, datige
ter of Samuel Carter, ot Peckham.