The Sun.
London, England, 1821-11-07 00:00:00

LISBON.

The following is the Official Report to the
Secretary of the Cortes, respecting the papers
missing from the office of the Secretary of Stafe
at Rio de Janeiro :
(From a Lisbon paper of the Gth

" In compliance with the order of the Sovereign
Congress transmitted to me by• your Excellency,
under date of the 31st of August, I have the
honour of transmitting to you all the correspond-
ence of the English, French, and Spanish lega-
tions since the `24th of August, 1820, which is to,
be found in the Archives of the Secretary- of
State's. office.

" From the enclosed account, your Excellency-.
will observe, that there are many blanks in the
correspondence of these legations. On that sub-
ject I have to inform. your Excellency that Ca-
millo Martins Lage, Head Officer of the Archives
.of tinT Secretariat for:Foreign Affairs in RIO de
Janeiro, in transmitting me the 'Archives, in
fulfilment of the orders I gave him when his Ma-
jesty sailed for this capital, has communicated
to me,- that the Conde dos Arcos,' who was there
Minister and Secretary of State in conjunction
with his Royal Highness, removed from the said
archives various letters and papers, which ought
to have remained there in order to be forwardtid
at a future period., after such copies had been made
from them as might be judged necessary for the
administration of the affairs of that kingdom.
" To this transaction,' which cannot fail to
cause considerable confusion, must be attributed
the want of many letters in the different series
of correspondence required by the Sovereign

Congress.
.111- your Excellency's letter, only copies of
the papers are required. But considering that
it would require much time to copy writings so
voluminous, and that the originals cans incur no
risk by lying in the office of the Secretary of the
Cortes, 1 have adopted the resolution of trans-
mitting the originals to you, that the order of
the Sovereign Congress might be observed as
speedily as possible.

" SILVESTRE PINHEIRO FERREIRA.
" Palace of Zueluz,' Sept 4.
,‘ To the Senhor Joao Baptista Felgueiras."

The Romans not only rewarded those who
married, but decreed penalties against men who
remained in a state of celibacy. Fines were first
levied on unmarried men about the year of RoMe
350 ; and when pecuniary forfeitures failed to
ensure their obedience to these connubial edict,,
their contumacious neglect of the fair sex was
punished by degradation from their tribe.—
Celibacy continued, however, to gain ground in
Rome ; and Au—counteract its atiec ts, we find
that, in the year 518 from the foundation of
the city, the censors had recourse to the extra-
ordinary measure of obliging all the young un-
married men to pledge themselves on oath to
marry within a certain time. In Babylon. as
auction of unmarried ladies used to take place
annually. The virgins of marriageable age in
every district were assembled on a certain day
of every year. The most beautiful were first
put up, and the man who bade the largest sum of
money gained possession of her. The second in
personal appearance followed, and the purchasers
gratified themselves. ,with handsome wives a':•-
cording to the depth of their purses. When all
the beautiful virgins were sold, the crier ordered
the most deformed to stand up ; and after he
had openly demanded who would marry her
with a small sum, she was at length adjudged to
the man who would be satisfied with the least :
and in this manner the money arising from the
sale of the handsome wome►► served as a portio►.
to those who were either of disagreeable looks,
or that had any other fault or imperfection.

A gentleman of, this neighbourhood, who has
made various excursions through the most inte-
resting parts of Europe and Asia, was lately in
Constantinople, where he was more than once
exposed to the outrages and insults of the popu-
lace. Having applied to Mr. Salt, our Consul,
for protection, he gave him in charge to a Mus-
sulman in the service of the Sublime Porte, un-
der whose guardianship he visited every acces-
sible object of interest in that wonderful city.—
He was surprised, on a very short acquaintance,
to find that his companion spoke the English
language fluently. On questioning him, he was
informed, to his no small amazement, that he
was a native of Scotland ; that he was born and
spent his youth in Luncarty Bleachfield, in the
neighbourhood of Perth; that he had a scuffle
with another young man there, whose life .was
in consequence despaired of, and, dreading the
punishment of the law, he had fled from his na-
tive place, and taken refuge in a vessel bound
for the Mediterranean. This vessel was captur-
ed, and the prisoners carried to Constantinople,
where he was for some time in the service of an
apothecary, who employed him
,to sell drugs
through the city, allowing him a small pittance
from the sums he thus collected. He afterwards
applied to Mr. Salt, who kindly assisted hint
with money sufficient to commence business as
an apothecary on his own account, and he had
been so successful that he soon repaid the bor-
rowed money, and was now in very comfortable
circumstances.—This anecdote will remind our
readers of the story of our Ambassador, who, ia
arranging the terms of a Treaty with the Grand
Vizier, found considerable difficulty in coming
to an understanding by means of an interpreter,
until the Vizier ordering the interpreter and all
the by-standers to the dooraluted the Ambas-
sador with, " Fu' lang frae Aberdeen, man ;"
and the business was concluded between the
countrymen in a trice,—(Perth Courier.)