The Sun.
London, England, 1842-11-23 00:00:00

THE SILK-WORMS AND MUL.

BERRY-TREES OF AFFGHANISTAINT.
ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.—At the ordinary meet-
ing held on Saturday, Dr. Royle read an interesting
Report forwarded by the East India Company, from
Captain Hutton, on the culture of silk in Candahar.
After some remarks upon the history of the
introduction of the silk-worm into Europe, the
Report referred to the importance of this trade a
few years since at Herat, where, however, during
the last invasion of this place by the Persians,
the whole of the mulberry-trees in the vicinity had
been destroyed by the besiegers. This had directed
some attention to the facilities which Candahar af-
forded for the supply of silk to a very considerable ex-
tent, and a good criterion of the profits which might
result from its culture might be obtained from the re
sults in Affghanistan. It was estimated that there
were 1,316,300 eggs in one seer, the produce of
30,936 moths, which required 4,000 mulbery trees
for the support of the worms. A profit of
nearly 100 per cent. was obtained from the growth
of silk in Affghanistan, and this might be in-
creased in Candahar by the use of machinery. In
Candahar there were many tracts of land particularly
eligible for the growth of the mulberry tree ; and
whilst the culture of silk would afford a good revenue
to the Government, it would also furnish a profitable em-
ployment for thousands of persons who are now suffer-
ing under the accumulated and aggravated evils of
want, poverty, and misrule. The eggs of the silk-
worm in Bengal are hatched three times in the year,
whilst those at Candahar, and in the south of Europe,
have but one crop annually. In Affghanistan the eggs
are hatched under the arm-pits of persons, or in bags
placed round the body ; and the whole of the period
required for the attention of the worm is two months,
during which time, a large number of the poorer
classes find constant employment at a profitable
remuneration. Some interesting observations were
made in connexion with the subject of the Report, in
which the recent destruction of several mulberry plan-
tations during the progress of the British troops in
India was much regretted, as striking at the root of a
very important staple article of commerce.

LOUIS PHILI PPE.
(From the Gazette de France.)
The inhabitants and frequenters of the Court re-
mark that there has been for some time past an extra-
ordinary change in the habits and temper of Louis
Philippe. He is subject to frequent attacks of debility
and acute pains in the head. Formerly he slept easily,
whether in his carriage when he went to Neuilly and
St. Cloud, and even in his billiard-room, notwith-
standing the noise made by the players. Now he is
afflicted with a continual difficulty of sleeping, which
is become insupportable to him. When by chance he
does sleep he has painful dreams. He breathes labo-
riously ; inarticulate words come from his lips. His
features are contracted; large drops of perspiration
fall from his forehead ; and he awakes suddenly pale
and overcome. If this state of Louis Philippe cause
uneasiness to the inmates of the palace, who owe their
position to his Goverment, they do not experience
less surprise at seeing the profound change which
his manners have undergone. Everybody knows
what efforts he used to make to be polite. He re-
ceived ladies with a courtesy which reminded one of
his early youth. At present visitors are an annoy-
ance to him ; he receives them coldly ; and those
ladies who had an audience on the same day, left the
Palace struck with the icy reception that they had
experienced. Louis Philippe, who formerly was so
fond of conversation, scarcely speaks now. His voice,
which for the last three or four years has been broken
and rather tremulous, is sometimes so inaudible that
to catch what he says one must approach very near to
his person. The force of habit is such that he does
not cease to enrich with notes, reflections, and anec-
dotes, the voluminous volumes of manuscripts which
are the treasures of his memory. These contain ob-
servations which are very piquante upon the principal
persons of the age, and particularly those who have
been Ministers since 1830.. The hand-

writing of these manuscripts is very neat and plain,
and the most careful punctuation is observed. But
for some time past Louis Philippe feels fatigue and
difficulty in writing. He still, however, preserves
the same degree of neatness, and a few days ago
was much annoyed because a blot of ink had
fallen on one of his notes. This Prince has re-
tained the habit which he acquired in England, of
making his tea. He takes a great deal of it, and for
some weeks past tea has been almost his only nourish-
ment lt is easy to perceive that this

Prince is agitated by a lively solicitade for all that is
attached to the future destiny of his dynasty. During
the first years of the Revolution of July, when one of
the actors in that (1789) came to visit him, Louis
Philippe would hasten to say, Ah, my dear General,
(or my dear comrade,) how many many things have
passed in half a century! How time qualifies ideas!
The dreams of our youth were only madness.' And
the visitor was, of course, exnected to conform to his
opinions. Since the death ot the Duke. of Orleans,
they no longer talk at the Palace of the calamities of
anarchy, of the absurdity of a monarchy surrounded
by republican institutions, and of the necessity
of giving force to the action of the Govern-
ment, &c. Other ideas besiege the mind of Louis
Philippe. His first, his only question, is as to what
is thought of him and of M. de Nemours. At
Court all allusion to the late Duke of Orleans is in-
terdicted, lest the recollection of his good qualities
should give birth to unpleasant comparisons. Above
all, it is forbidden to talk of the Princess Helena.
She is thought to have too much sense, and she is ac-
cused of being constantly desirous of appearing be-
fore the public. It was because she had too much
mind and judgment, that the Chambers were not al-
lowed to grant the Regency to her; for it is supposed
that, with a strong mind a nation would be ill go-
verned, which, it is said, would be more tranquil if it
had less. As to the interior of St. Cloud, it is sad
and monotonous. M. de Nemours appears to have
his mind constantly brooding over something, and
says nothing. Marie Amelie is resigned. Madame
Adelaide works at tapestry, and hardly speaks to the
Princess Clementine, who is her companion. The as •
pect of happiness and prosperity, which once sur-
rounded the Orleans family, is altogether changed."

" HOW ARE THE CHINESE TO PAY ?"—The Chi-
nese Government have given England their "promise
to pay" 21,000,000 dollars as the price of peace be-
tween this country and the Celestial Empire. The
question now comes, and will be asked by many,
How are they to pay ?" The Government of that
immense empire have been represented for years
past as very hard pressed for means to satisfy
the ordinary calls upon their exchequer. They
will, consequently, be extraordinarily " hard pressed"
to liquidate in the course of three years
recentthisextra-
o2rl,doinoao7oooanddollars.
Thaedditionto their f
sodebtsvast s t a
o f
Government
country must necessarily be an expensive affair,
swarming as it does with its hundreds of millions.
Du Ilalde apparently, however, without the means of
exact correctness, calculated the total expenses per
annum of the Imperial Government at about 200,000,000
taels, or considerably above 50,000,0001. sterling,
of which only 10,000,000 reached Pekin, the rest
being expended in the manazement and regulation of
the various and tremendous provinces of the empire.
The sources from which these sums are derived are—
a land. tax, for which the landowners, and not the
tenants, are held responsible ; a tax on salt, which is
a Government monopoly ; taxes on imports and ex-
ports , • taxes on the transit of goods within the empire ;
and certain revenues derived from tea and alum,
which are likewise monopolies to a limited extent.
Ginseng is another monopoly of the Emperor, tickets
or permits being given to those employed in the col-
lection of that root, and severe penalties being enacted
against all who presume to gather it without the
license. Several mines of metals likewise afford a
revenue ; and there is a river in Yun-nan, called
Kin-shae, or " the golden-sanded," some portion of
the produce of which is paid to Government. In the
Pekin Gazette of October 11, 1833, there appeared an
article that showed how much the serious attention
of the Chinese authorities had been turned to some
mode of increasing its regular income for the pay-
ment of the ordinary expenses of Government. This
article was the result of deliberations between the
several supreme boards- and that particular one that
has the especial charge of the revenue. They had
formed a committee of ways and means upon the
subject, with the view to increase the income for cur-
rent
expenses, because during the last years the outlay
had exceeded the receipts by more than 30,000,000
of taels. An expedient was afterwards adopted of
raising money by selling the rank of kin-jin, which
qualifies for public employment, and, by the funda-
mental law of the country, should be attainable b)
h
pre sent meansGo v etrhnamn
ent those(s
aoyfsi\ learningir
Davis) and talent.ofthe
cou"nT'tnry:
other
is evidently hard pressed for means, and would b?,
distressed by any unusual draught on its resources.
This 21,000,000 of dollars may he considered rather
an " unusual draught," and the interesting question
remY ,?ains to be answered, "How are the Chinese to
vARMARTIIHN CATTLE FAIR.--At our fair
pa"
last
Monday few sales were effecte, and those few were
at greatly reduced prices. This fair has always
hitherto been a very large One ; but this year it was a
very poor one indeed, and but the shadow of its former
stir and fullness. The felling off was no less remark-
able than lamentable. Cattle could find no purchasers
At any price,-Welshman