The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-24 00:00:00

THE SUN', LONDON, moNDAN„ JANUARY 24, 1842.

barrassments, and materially checking the demand for
our manufactures. If, however, in addition to their cot-
ton, tobacco, &c., we could receive their flour, the people
of the United States would be thereby supplied with the
means of purchasing, and the merchant with the means
of remitting for our manufacturers. The -` sliding
scale' acts to a great extent as a prohibition of flour
from the United States, and our best customer is thus
placed on a worse footing than our manufacturing rivals
on the Continent ; the latter being near at hand can
bring their corn here before. any material alteration can
take place in the averages, but flour cannot ordinarily
be received in this country from America, in much less
time than three months from the date of the order. To
show. the, unfortunate operation of' the sliding scale,' I
will advert to my own experience, only premising that it
operates prejudicially to the American merchant in a
twofold manner; first, by the uncertainty in which he is
held as to the amount of duty he is to pay, and, secondly,
to the certainty that if he has to pay a high rate of duty,
it will be because he must submit to a low price for his
flour; his gains or losses may by this means be increased
twenty fold, and then that which is in itself one of the
most legitimate operations in which a merchant • can en-
gage, is rendered a hazard fit only for the desperate spe-
culator or gambler. Between the 18th of April and 15th
of May, last year, Messrs. Brown, Shipley, and Co.,
sold for my account 6,624 barrels of flour, received from
the United States ; duty was paid on 1,949 barrels,
amounting to 8011. 3s. sd. ; the remainder was sold in
bond, but at the same rate it would have amounted to
2,7201. Had a speculator been the owner of this flour,
he would probably have held it till the end of August or
beginning of September, when the duty would have been
only 5201. ; he thus has a great advantage over the mer-
chant, who, having received the flour as a remittance to
provide for his coming payments, cannot hold it for the
favourable turn in the market, by which the, speculator
frequently obtains a much higher price, and consequently
pays a much lower duty.
" The duty, then, in May on the above lot of flour was
2,7201. ; in the first week in September it would have
been 5201. ; in the first week in October, 4,1121. Bs. ; in
the first week in December, 5,1331. 12s. ; so that f I
had given orders. in June for a similar quantity, in the
expectation that it would arrive early in September, and
I had accordingly received it at that time, the duty
would have been only 520 L, but if from head winds or
any other cause the arrival of the ship had been delayed
till October, the duty would have been 4,112/. Bs. I
need not say that, with my past experience, I dare not
attempt to bring flour from America, subject to the ope-
artion of a' sliding scale.' But if we cannot increase our
imports from thence, it is folly to look for an increase
of our exports, or for a profitable return on the amount
at present sent. A moderate fixed duty on their
flour, by opening a safe market for a portion of their
surplus produce, would supply them with the means
of obtaining this increase —would give employment
to the artisan now unemployed and dependent on the
rates or on charity, and furnish him with the means of
purchasing that food which now he must either beg -or
steal : while the merchant, the manufacturer, the artisan,
and the rate-payer, would thus be benefited. I know no
class amongst us that could be injured. As a rate-payer,
the farmer would derive a large share of the benefits, nor
need he be alarmed at its effect on prices; as long as the
English farmer cannot supply his countrymen with a suf-
ficient quantity of food, it, must be obtained elsewhere, or
the people must starve; and surely it is as much the in-
terest of the farmer as any one else, that this supply
should come from a nation who will give it in exchange
for the labour of our artisans, rather than from thoseparts
of the world whose rival manufactures are doing much to
throw them out of employment. The interests of the
landowner being identical with those of the farmer, he
would, of course, be benefited by the same policy. The ex-
pense of bringing flour from America is in itself a great
protection to the English farmer. The expense on the flour
above referred to was 38 per cent. on the selling price, but
as an unusually high freight was paid in this instance
it would not be a fair criterion, neither have I any data
whereby to judge accurately of the average expense of
bringing American flour here, but I do not think it can
possibly be less than 20 per cent., probably 25 per cent.
would be near the mark, or it may. reach 30 per cent. I
find that the expense of importing wheat from America
is estimated in Mr. M'Culloch's. Dictionary of Com-
merce,' page 435, at about 37 per cent. on the cost. The
average price in New York being one dollar and twelve
cents the bushel, it would cost the importer in London
495. 9d. per quarter free from duty. I would observe
that in the session of Congress which has just com-
menced, the question of duties on our manufactures
necessarily comes before them, as the law imposing the
present rates expires on the Ist of June, 1842; and there
can be no doubt that the future rate would be in a great
measure regulated by the course our Government may
pursue in reference to the Corn-laws." In corroboration
of these views, Mr. Cripps read extracts from the New
York Weekly Herald of the 18th December, as follow:
" The western banks in the interest of the millers and
flour speculators have been obliged to curtail their circu-
lation very rapidly, to sustain themselves against the re-
turn of drafts from this city, caused by the fall in flour.
The millers and their organs resorted to the most despe-
rate expedients to force up the price of flour, in order to
save themselves and the banks, but they have thus far
been ineffectual. The supply of produce in all the Atlan-
tic cities has been far greater than the demand, notwith-
standing the ridiculous twaddle about the banks not
being able to assist the forwarding of produce to market.'
The fact is the contrary. The banks of Western New
York have endeavoured to prevent flour from coming to
market, in order to keep up the price to protect the paper
they have discounted for the speculators. They have
discounted no business paper, the wants of flour specula-
tors absorb all their means, and but a short time must
elapse before a general explosion. The last arrival has
caused a further fall in the price of flour. * *
" This country is an agricultural one, and must for
years continue as such. That is, its agricultural pro-
ducts are greater than can be consumed by its own in-
habitants. Of course the surplus must be destroyed or
exported. If they are exported payment must be re-
ceived in the peculiar products of the country which pur-
chases them. If France buy 100,000 barrels of flour
per annum, silks and wines must be taken in exchange.
England and colonies took last year 1,000,000 barrels of
flour, valued at 6,000,000 dollars. Payment was re-
ceived in British manufactures at less prices than those
fabrics could be made for in this country, with the addi-
tion of 30 per cent, duty. If these fabrics had been
excluded by high duties, not only would the farmers
here have had to pay double price for what they bought,
but their means of buying would have been diminished
by 6,000,000 dollars. This purchase of flour for goods
is actually made a cause of complaint by the high tariff
men, wh9 seek to exclude, by high duties, the medium
of payment for our produce. In the same proportion
they seek to deprive the great agricultural interests of
their markets. * * *
" The same principles are spreading rapidly through-
out the United States. The Governor of Indiana, in
his message, admits that that State cannot pay now,
hopes that it will he able to pay hereafter.
" This is undoubtedly the truth. The people are
small farmers, and never can spare thirty dollars per
annum in cash for each voter. The produce of these
farmers is rejected from the English markets by prohi-
bition laws to protect the landed interests of those who
are mostly holders of these stocks.
" There is one way, however, in which the debts
might be paid beneficially to all parties ; that is, by
taking payment in kind, at fair market prices. For in-
stance, the joint debts of Indiana and Illinois are
37,000,000 dols. ; of this, 30,000,000 dols. is held abroad.
The interest is about 2,000,000 dols. per annum.
Now, let the holders have a meeting, and appoint
one agent to receive pork, lead, corn, wheat, and
flour, in payment, and obtain a dispensation from the
English Government of the produce so collected. In that
shape interest and principal would be paid regularly, and
the profits on the transaction would yield to the land-
owners more than sufficient to pay the expenses of col-
lection and transportation. The interest of the two
States would amount to 250,000 quarters of wheat,
which would realise in the English markets 3,750,000
dollars, or nearly 100 per cent., which would cover the
expenses, great as they necessarily would be, and yield
a profit beside. * *
" If the Federal Government really wishes the States
to pay their debts, let it exert itself to extend the
markets for their produce, instead of hoping that they
will be able to pay.' If foreign Governments wish to ob-
tain payment, let them facilitate the means of getting it.
Unless some change in our commercial relations takes
place, not a dollar will ever be paid."
Having laid before our readers a report of this inter-
view, they will immediately. see that the most vigorous
measures are necessary to induce the Government to
carry out the views of the Deputation.

LORD ASHBURTON'S MISSION.
With every feeling of respect for Lord Ashburton's
general talents, for his thorough acquaintance with
the science of commerce in general, and his know-
ledge of American affairs in particular, we have sun-
dry reasons of our own for doubting whether he is
indeed the fittest man . whom Sir Robert Peel could
have chosen. There is a curious propensity inherent
in his Lordship's nature, to step aside from the line
which he may have followed up to a given point, and
to do so at the very moment when his continued adhe-
rence to that is both most desired and most neces-
sary. We cannot forget that it was to Mr. Baring's
ill-timed speech in the House of Commons, after he
had accepted, under the Duke of Wellington, the office
of Chancellor of the Exchequer, that the breaking up
of the three-days' Cabinet, in 1882, was owing. Neither
is it possible to deny that his Lordship's career as a
statesman has been, in many respects, to the full as
erratic as used to be that of the great merchant,
when the management of national loans, or the pur-
chase of Texian territories, engrossed his care.
Moreover, we doubt the popularity of the name of
Baring in the Union ; and we are far from regarding
his Lordship's proprietary connection with the State
of Philadelphia, as constituting one of the many circum-
stances which especially fit him for the ditties of the
office which be is about to undertake.—John Bull.

OLYMPIC THEATRE.—On Friday night at the
conclusion of the burletta, entitled The Little Giysy, Mr.
Baker, the stage-manager, came forward to inform the
audience, that in consequence of an accident which had
happened to Mr. T. Matthews, during the pantomime,
the previous evening, and which had not appeared to
that gentleman to be of any serious consequence at the
moment, he could not have the honour of appearing
before them that evening, in the character of Clown, in
the pantomime of Riddle-me Riddle-me-rge, Mr, Wild;
the manager, undertook the impersonation of the motley
hero, which he did admirably. The pantomime was rev
ceived with the greatest satisfaction, and Mr, Wild 4,11,
pounced it from the stage, with the confident expectation
that Mr. Matthews would be able to resume his proles-
sional duties again on Saturday evening.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.--
(From the Hampshire Telegraph.)
PORTSMOUTH, JAN. 22.—Her Majesty's brig Water-
witch, Lieut. Matson, commanding, captured on the 20th
Oct. last, the slave vessel Don Francisco, fitted for re-
ceiving slaves. On the 28th of the same month she cap-
tured the notorious slaver the Ermalinda, with a cargo
valued at upwards of 4,0001., including a London-built
carriage that cost 4001, and a pair of handsome greys,
intended as a bribe from the slave merchant (owner of
the prize) for the purchase of slaves. The prize was sent
to Sierra Leone for condemnation.
The Winchester, 52, is ordered to be paid off at this
port immediately on her arrival from Bermuda, and will
be re-commissioned for the flag of the Hon. Rear Admi-
ral J. Percy, for the Cape Coast station.
The Revenge, 78, Captain the Hon. W. Waldegrave,
is ordered home from Lisbon, to be paid off. -
The Termagant, brigantine, Lieut. Seagrim, is ordered
home from the Wrest Coast of" Africa, and may shortly
be looked for ; also the Vestal, 26, from the West Indies.
The brig -Rapid, 10, Lieutenant Earle, is ready to pro-
ceed to the Cape and African station, and will take out
despatches for the Madagascar, 46, senior officer's ship,
and disposable boys. Commander Barker (appoir.ted to
the Lily, 18, vice Allen, promoted) will also go out in
the Rapid, among other supernumeraries. She will not
sail till the latter end of next week.

PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.

PROMOTIONS—CIerk—R.W7I;;;;, late.of the Con-
way, to the rank of purser.
APPOINTMFNTS—Rear-Admiral Cochrane, C.B„ to be
second in command in the East Indies.

Captain—H. W. Bruce, to the Hastings.
Comminder—Robert Harris, to the Naval College, to
avail himself of the course of instruction.

Lieutenants—G. E. Hammond, to the Howe, as Flag-
Lieutenant ; J. H. Cochburn, to the Naval College, to
avail himself of the course of instruction • J. T. Cald-
well, to be Flag-Lieutenant to Rear-Admiral Sir T.
Cochrane.

Acting Master—F. F. Strong, to the Pearl.
Masters' Assistant—T. Anderson, to the Victory.
Assistant Surgeon—T. M. Costello, to Haslar Hospital.
Mates—R. H. • Moubray, to the Hazard ; R. H. Dal-
ton, to the Queen ; H. L. Griffiths and G. Durban, to the
Impregnable ; L. Gibbard, to the Wolverine; A. J. Cur-
tis,• to the Minden.

Volunteers, First Class—T. H. M. Martin and Cor-
nick, to the Carysfort ; J. A. Deudney, Ralph Taylor,
and James Gill, to the Queen.
Coast Guard—Lieut. Richards, from Pembroke to
Tenby, vice Bourne, deceased ; Lieut. Goullett appointed
to Pembroke ; Mr. Forsyth, R.N., from the Kingston
Coast Guard Station, to command the Griper, Chiches-
ter Harbous, vice Davis promoted.
Captain Kuper, who commands the Calliope, at China,
is honoured with the Companionship of the Order of the
Bath in last night's Gazette.

. MINISTERIAL PROJECTS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
din —lt is interesting to watch the inclina-
tions, or as the French would call them the
velleites, of the existing administration, as dis-
played in their leading organ in the press.
On Thursday it issues a lengthened dissertation
on the merits of the rotten or nomination bo-
roughs, and the desirableness of restoring them;
moved, no doubt, by reflection on the specimens
of the results of that kind of thing, exhibited in
the present House of Commons.
"If ever a time shall arrive when the people under-
stand their own real interests, they will call for some
amendment of the Reform Bill large enough to modify
the monopoly which local influences at present enjoy,
and to open avenues through which Parliament may
again become accessible to acknowledged talent, though
unconnected with any particular county, city, or borough.
It is quite true that this can be done only through the
medium of some sort of nomination."
Note here, first, the wish of the government
avowed, to undo the Reform Bill and return to
the rotten boroughs; with the consequent ne-
cessity for a move in the contrary direction when
it can be compassed. And next, that the object
is to make " avenues," for more of the gifted
men, with whom the House is already partially
supplied from the source in question.
But oddly does the subject blossom for the
intended fruits. The next words of the ministe-
rial oracle, are these :
" A hundred seats, taken from the districts newly en-
franchised by the Reform Bill, and from towns which,
like Norwich and Nottingham, and Sudbury, and Leices-
ter, have long been notorious for their wholesale prostitu-
tion of the right of voting, would go far to restore the
equilibrium of the constitution, and to redress the com-
plaint that the Governments of our time are not com-
pounded with a sufficient leaven from the untitled classes."
Not a word here of " avenues." This is sim-
ply a proposal for cutting off a hundred seats
from the popular representation. As the Ro-
man poet says, " When you began making a
cream-jug, why did you end in a slop-basin ?"
Was it that you felt afraid to press the rest ? Or
that, like the Irish servant in the story, you
were willing to take the brandy while the rum
was getting ready ?
The next day produces a fierce invective
against the manufacturers, for not keeping the
agricultural population the lords of the soil
discharge from their estates. The landowners are
to starve them, and the manufacturers to keep.
And if they decline, they are threatened with
the vengeance of the landlords' law. What
next?
The same paper presents a clue to an important
point. The landed tyranny hangs only by the
support, some of it real but a great deal
more fable and smoke, which it has contrived to
get up among the working classes. The bribe of
a hundred millions, with twenty more to the
landowners, though never intended to be carried
into effect, is doing its work for the present.
Every kind of man who has a fraud or an ab-
surdity to sell, is crowding the antechambers of
the existing ministers. It is with the working
classes must rest the question, of driving the
whole herd violently down a steep place into the
sea.

Yours very sincerely,
T. PERRONET THOMPSON.
Blackheath, 22c1 January, 1842.

LITERATURE.

MEMOIRS OF POPULAR DELUSIONS. Vol. 3
Bentley, London, 1842.
We noticed the two first volumes of this work
some months ago in The Sun, since which time a
third volume has made its appearance—the one
now before us—containing an account of the pro-
gress of alchemy during the middle ages, toge-
ther with short biographical sketches of the
chief professors of that exploded quackery; and
also some particulars respecting the fortune-
tellers and the animal magnetisers. The volume
is by no means so interesting as its predecessors,
for it is far less varied in its matter ; still it will
possess an attraction for readers of a cynical turn
of mind, if only for the numerous glaring absur-
dities which it recounts. The earliest authentic
records we have of alchemy are of the date of
the eighth century, when it was a favourite pur-
suit with the more lettered Arabians. Three
centuries afterwards, we find it a popular matter
of belief among the most civilised nations of
Europe, and engrossing the time and attention of
the ablest men of the age. One of the most re-
markable dupes of this pretended science was
the notorious Gillis de Laval, Marshal of France,
and descended from one of the noblest hours in
Brittany. This monster in human form—who,
by-the-bye, was the original of the well-known
nursery legend of Blue Beard, a fact which Mr.
Mackay unaccountably omits—was born about
the commencement of the fifteenth century ;
and in his twentieth year came into possession of
the finest property in all France. This he
speedily dissipated in every species of wanton
extravagance, and then endeavoured to recruit
his finances by the aid of alchemy. Many
adepts at this quackery were, in consequence, do-
miciliated in his castle, and amused him for
months together with promises of teaching him
the great secret of transmuting the baser metals
into gold, and prolonging his life for centuries.
But as months elapsed, and their promises
seemed as far from being realised as ever, the
Marshal turned them away indignantly from his
house, and pinned his faith on a wily Italian,
who volunteered to raise the Devil, if he would
only consent to sell his own soul to him. This
the Marshal readily agreed to do; but the Evil
One never came to fulfil his share of the contract,
and the Italian having by this time sufficiently
feathered his nest at his host's expense, set out
on a pretended journey in search of the Elixir
Vitae, from which, it need scarcely be added, he
never returned. Another adept was then found,
and by him Gilles de Raval was advised—if he
wished to renew his youth—to bathe every morn-
ing in a bath made of children's blood; this the
monster actually did, and is supposed to have de-
stroyed upwards of a hundred of the young sons
and daughters of his tenantry, not for the purpose
of gratifying his lust—as Mr. Mackay supposes—
but for the reason we have just assigned. But
the Marshal's career was now drawing to a close;
public opinion was loud against him; and despite
the reluctance of the local authorities to inter-
fere with the practices of a French Nobleman of
such high rank, they were compelled to institute
inquiries, the result of which was that Gillis de
Raval was tried, found guilty, strangled, and af-
terwards burned. His castle still exists, thougk
in ruins, and such is the horror with which the
neighbouring peasantry regard it, that, if possi-
ble, they will never pass it after nightfal. In
Trollope's " Travels in Brittany" there are some
curious particulars respecting this monster. Mr.
Mackay's sketches of the Fortune-tellers contain
little with which the generality of the reading
public is not already acquainted.
- -

ENGLAND in the NINETEENTH CENTURY.
Part I. How and Parsons, London, 1842.
We have received the First Part of an English
Itinerary, which it is proposed to bring out
monthly in half-crown numbers, and in which
England, its manufactures, commerce, agricul-
ture, antiquities, scenery, &c., will be discussed in
the same manner, and with the same careful rrli-
nuteness and accuracy that Mrs. Hall has mani-
fested in her "Ireland." For this purpose—say
the Editors in their prospectus—every. county
will be described from personal observation ; the
illustrations will be drawn on the spot ; the old
halls, battle-fields, and places remarkable in the
natural history, will be carefully noted ; and local
customs, legends, and singularities remarked;
but the antiquary and the chronicler will be fol-
lowed no further than may be required to explain
existing facts, the main object of the work being
to depict the present aspect of the country. The
Part before us is devoted exclusively to the con-
sideration of the county of Lancaster; and in it
we have copious and particular details respect-
ing the progress of the cotton manufacturing sys-
tem in Manchester and the great towns in its
vicinity, together with a description of the spin-
ning jenny, and its celebrated inventor, Ark-
wright. The Part is embellished with a map of
the county, a view of the town of Lancaster, and
several minor engravings.

BOOK OF AMUSEMENTS. Strange, London, 1842
A homely and unpretending work, in which
we find all the necessary rules and instructions
for playing games of skill and chance, amongst
others,cards,chess, billiards, cricket, and archery.

A NEW ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Simphin and Marshall, London, 1842.
This compilation is a useful and judicious one,
containing, among other requisites, a systematic
view of the formation and derivation of words,
which comprises Anglo-Saxon, Latin, and Greek
lists, by which is explained the etymology of
above seven thousand English words.

The lndustriel of Rheims, of the 19th, says:—" We
learn that the Chamber of Commerce of Rheims, was en-
gaged yesterday (the 17th) in discussing the important
question of the right of search, to which public attention
is strongly attracted at this moment by the late treaty
between the maritime Powers of Europe. If we are
rightly informed, the majority of the members of the
Chamber considered the treaty as likely to have very
fatal effects, if the stipulations are really conceived in
the sense indicated by the Press, especially by the Eng-
lish Press. -The Chamber has commissioned two of its
members to obtain official information on the subject, to
which it promises, as we are assured, to devote after-
wards its most serious attention."---Commerce.