The Sun.
London, England, 1827-09-21 00:00:00

SPPRIT OF. TEM 1)UBLIC JOURNALS,

Little is now expected from periodical meet-
ings of the. Bank of England, beyond a naked
assurance from the Governor that every thing is
going on precisely as it ought to do) followed by
a proposition on the part of the Directors, that
a certain dividend on the profits of the last half-
sear shall be agreed to by the Court of Proprie-
tors. When any individual Proprietor thinks fit

to answer this appeal to his nominal fres agency,
by asking for such information as might serve to
direct his judgment and decide his vote, he may
ask until doomsday without obtaining the
slightest satisfaction. As for the production of
that which has been so often and so vainly called
for, not by Proprietors of Bank
.Stock ition6, but
_ _

by every right-thinking man in the tammunity—
viz. a debtor and creditor amount of the transac-
tions since the last half-yearly Court, and a ba-
lance sheet, which would at once determine what

ought to be the amount of the dividend, and
'what has been the condUct of the managing Di.-
rectors—whether improvident with regard to the
currency, or unduly subservient in their accom-
modations to the Treasury, or in gkln6ral saga-
cious and successful—such documents -or evi-
dences are as much out of the question, as they
would he were the whole property of the Bank.
of England vested exclusively in the Governor
himself. Yesterday, when Mr. Young required
t 3 know what was the amount of Bank notes in
circulation, so very simple and allowable a de-
mand could not, it appears, be distinctly answer-
ed, without something in the nature, of a civil
badgering being administered to the Chairman j
by the above-named Proprietor. So far as tould
be made out in the sequel, it seems that the
present circulation varies from the amount of
Bank paper in March last by 400,000/. or
500,0001.: that is to say, that the gross amount
at present little if at all exceeds 22,000,000/. of
paper. It was urged by Mr. YoUng.that the
sums deposited with the Bank, which he took
(we know not whence) at the value of
5,000,000/..,ought to be added to the 22,000,0001.
acknowledged by the Governor, making the
whole circulation 27,000,0001. instead of
22,000,0001. This, however, is not quite fair.
The Bay, it is true, may be called upon at any
time for the full amount of, the deposits of its
customers, but it is to be considered that this
equivalent may be rendered in other forms than
that of Bank notes—as in specie for example ;
and it would be too much tocharge- the Bank
, not only with, the notes in esse, but with those
in posse likewise. On another point the mys-
terious silence of the Governor seems to us alto-

gether inexcusable. When he was solicited to
state the amount of notes which were circulated
by branch banks throughout the country,
he pertinaciously (though courteousl de-
clined, in his official capacity, to "divulge
it. Now, if there be a circumstance
in relation to the Bank more curious,
more interesting, or in its explanation more
likely to prove instructive than any other, it is
the extent to which the recent establishment of
provincial branches from the main trunk in
Threadneedle-street have carried their circulating
paper. Whether the" notes which have been
issued by these branches ought to be looked
upon as substitutes for a portion of those which
were issued previously by country bankers, or as
an actual addition to an undimished mass of the
country paper circulation, there can be nothing
more desirable than to 1-ave the amount of them
defined and published throughout the kingdom.
Of this knowledge the key is kept by the Bank
of England alone. The gross quantuM of
country bankers' notes may be had pretty fairly
from the Stamp-office—about them there cannot
be much serious embarrassment ; but what has
been the specific operation of the branch-bank
system we can never ascertain, except from the
Official organ of the parent Bank ; and we .re-
peat, that with a view to principle—to prece-
dent—to accurate reasoning upon the exchanges,
and to sound precautions for futurity—that
knowledge ought not to be withheld. It would
be, lastly, most useful to learn by what magic,
or dexterity, amounting at least to sleight of
hand, the Directors of the Bank of England
can so manage their money as to make it pro-
duce a yearly profit of no less than 8 per cent.,
*hen other capitalists (except only the large spe-
culators) can with difficulty gain more than half
the sum—when the Bank discount at 4per
cent.—when they lend to Government at less
than 3—and when their duty forbids them to en-
ter the lists of mercantile or pecuniary specula-
tion. Is it that the deposits in their hands are
fixed as well as enormous ? or that they issue
hardly any gold ? On the whole, if the Direc-
tors wield such influence as to defeat, at their
own pleasure, all attempts to obtain information
on the part of their constituents, or to pass by-
laws by which they might be compelled to grant
it, Parliament, we trust, will see the necessity, of
,taking up the subject as an affair of State. 'or
be it recollected, that the Bank as now moulded,
by long, and, we must add, pernicious usage,, is
no longer a private commercial firm. It is
closely interwoven with the Administration of
the 'day—it has become the great arbiter of the
exchanges—the ruler of prices—the creator or
destroyer of public credit —the power by which
private fortunes are enhanced or impaired, and
the rise or fall of every man in society deter-
mined.— Times.

Every friend of peace must be delighted on
reflecting what a change has taken place lately in
the respective opinions of England and France
regarding each other. During the inveterate war
with Buonaparte we were regarded by the great
body of the French. People as a species of
monsters ; our Lords and Gentlemen were be-
lieved to delight only in drinking, in attending
pugilistic contests or dog fights, and the lover
classes were looked upon as inferior to the most
barbarous nations. The English people too
were not at all backwards in forming an equally
incorrect opinion of the character of their neigh.
bours. They regarded the French as a nation of
dancing-masters, and thought no imputation of
cunning, deceit, or treachery too great when ap-
plied to a Frenchman. For several years after
the peace these prejudices remained nearly the
same. Even many of the French philosophers,
seemed as little inclined to do justice to us as the
lowest of the people. When M. pupil' read in
the Institute his first Treatise on the manufac-
tures, roads, canals, &c., of Great Britain, and,
with the liberality of true wisdom, pointed out
P,Ur. ;Superiority in these respects, his voice was
a repetedly
• drowned by iho groans of the
wise, taen of
d were re g a
Paris. Our tragedies and come-
dies rded as the effusions of barbarism,
and
attempt was made some years
%.0 to
establish an English Theatre at Paris,
it was put. aowt,
by the almost unanimous
voice of the people. Our statesmen were Be-
lieved capable of .anY
sort.of intrigue and dark
policy, in order to iw
ard the interests 'of
England, and ruin those°r.of alt other countries.
Mow the was a the writers of that country iqid

the teelings of the people have been: changed
within a few years ! The characters of our

statesmen and ,poets, and oratorsi, are nbvv •as
well known and as justly appreciated. at Paris as
in London. The death of Byron produced as
great a sensation in France as in England. A
company d English actors has obtained a footing
in one of the finest theatres of Paris, and been
welcomed by the almost unanimous voice of the
audience. These and numerous other circum-

stances prove that national antipathies are on the
decline. We attribute this in a great measure to
the effects of peace, and to that constant inter-
course which has been maintained between the

two ctuntries for the last twelve years, which, by
affording the two nations opportunities of form-
ing a just estimate of their respective characters,
have contributed to destroy ignorance, the mo-
ther 'Of prejudice. This, too, is partly owing to
the judicious and impartial conduct of some of
their principal authors, and it is only just to say
that M. Dupin was
,the first to, lead the way.—.
The Xing, latterly has shown the same praise. 7
worthy example. We alluded to it yesterday,
with pleasure, because such a trait in a Sove-
reign's character covers a multitude of sins, and
forms a noble contrast to that of the ambitious
and selfish conqueror who, regardless of the suf-
ferings of his people, tries to excite animosities
and involve them in war with a neighbouring
state.—Morning Herald.
There is an adage, that the Devil is not so
bad as he is sometimes said to be ; and we are
inclined to think that the. French Government is
at present something in the predicament of his
Satanic Majesty." The French are unquestion-
ably a clever people, and their Statesmen can
hardly, therefore, fail to be. clever ; but we al-
ways feel inclined to apply to them the cutting
observation made to atricky fellow by a shrewd old
merchant :—" You are a clever follow, and my
only wonder is, how so very clever' a man should
not have seen the advantage of being honest."
A French Statesman would think himself dis-
graced, if he were found to do any thing in a
straightforward way ; wisdOm, with him, mean-
ing that little dirty, sort of artifice which enables
a woman of intrigue to deceive her confiding
lover. The consequence of this everlasting
finesse is, that no 'confidence can be reposed in
the sincerity of French Councils, and that people
are always looking out for other intentions than
those which are expressed in public declarations.
Thus, at present, the world seems disposed to
give the French Government credit for exciting,
or at least encouraging, the present insurrection
in Catalonia, with a view to obtaining a pretext
for eluding the demand for the evacuation of
Spain by the French troops, now the subject of
negociation. This Machiavelian policy was first
imparted to the French about a fortnight ago by
a correspondent in The Globe, which paper Made
the following. remarks on the subject :
"The Spaniards in London, we hear, imagine that the
wide-spreading insurrection has been contrived by the
French or Ferdinand, to prevent the evacuation of Spain
by the French troops ; and they ground their opinion on
(among other circumstances) the inertness of the French'
garrisons. It is the general disposition of those who
have lived under despotic and secret Governments, to see
plots in every thing. The insurrection appears to us to
be too disastrous to the best province of Spain, to be ex-
cited• by 'way of trick or experiment."
The Courier of -Wednesday, in commenting
on the Circular from the Spanish Minister of
War to the Captain-General .of Catalonia, ob-
served, that if the French Statesmen were not so
Very much distinguished for sincerity, people
might be disposed to infer from the nature and
time of this insurrection, and various suspicious
circumstances connected with it, that it was the
work of the,French, and had for object to render
;he negociation inoperative ; thereby insinuating,
n a very polite manner, that. the French Minis-
ters 'are at the bottom of the insurrection. The

Times of yeqerday improves upon the idea, so,
only insinuating : but the insinuation approaches
as closely to an accusation as may be :
" It was remarked," says our Contemporary, " as a piece
of political drollery, between three and four years" ago, when
Ferdinand did the Duke of Angouleme the honour of
meeting him for the first time after the fall of Cadiz, that,
during their interview, violent shouts were heard throughout
the town (St. Mary's, if we recollect right), and under the
King's windows, of Long live the Absolute King !'
4 Your Highness bears,' queth Ferdinand, with much
gravity, ' how my subjects detest the very name of a Con-
stitutional Sovereign
" The shouts of the populace were well-timed shouts,
and they were turned to good account by Don Ferdinand,
who, though at the moment Constitutional King of Spain,
was not much offended, to all appearance, by these anti-
constitutional and disloyal outcries.
" At present, it is pretty generally understood, there are
on foot, and have been for a considerable period, negocia-
tious on two most important questions, viz.—whether
King Ferdinand shall follow the example of the Emperor
Pedro, and of his other relative Louis XVIII., by giving
some sort of a Constitution to his people; and whether
the French Army shall evacuate Spain or not?
" Now, protesting quite as ceremoniously as can be re-
quired of us, against any false and scandalous imputations
upon the Courts of Madrid and of the Thuillerics, and ad-
mitting that this is a most serious, and most bona fide re-
bellion of Spaniards, because they feel themselves too-free,
against King Ferdinand, because he is not sufficiently ab-
solute, let us hive way to a slight sentiment of wonder at
the aptitude of the said rebellion to furnish Ferdinand with-
arguments against granting any possible Constitution, and
Charles X. with protests against consenting town imme-
' diate evacuation. In these respects it must be considered
an opportune—and, as we may call it, a lucky hit—on the
part of the Apostolical insurgents.
" Passing over the oddity of a Minister of War address-
ing a long paper to a Captain-General for no seeming ob-
ject but to tell the Captain over again a long string of cir-
cumstances which he bad already told the Minister at
War himself, we shall only venture to observe, that there
is no bitterness of tone or spirit apparent throughout the
despatch, or, more properly, manifesto, in speaking of
these Catalan rebels. They are complained of they are
compassionated ; but they are not to be persecuted or pre-
scribed. They march almost to the gates of Barcelona,
but the French garrisons never think of attacking them :
on the contrary, it is stated in many letters from the neigh-
bourhood, that the orders of the French Generals to their
subalterns are, not to molest the insurgents. It was not
so when Valdez landed with a handful of insurgent spa-
niards at Tarifa, in 1824 ; but they were on the Consti-
tutional side, and of course experienced no mercy. The
French garrison at Cadiz—the. French squadron in the
bay—were ready enough then to interfere. AU this may
be odd. It is certainly a little odd to see &legitimate rebel-
lion raging, and the auxiliary forces of a constitutional
neighbour, like Charles X., looking quietly on. Should
the rebellion, indeed, change its character, and from des-
potic become constitutional, the troops of France will be
told, unqnestionably, that it is their duty to undergo a
converse change; and, instead of remaining tranquil spec-
tators of violence, to make use of violence as the only
means of preserVing the public peace. "
For our parts, we are inclined to think the
French Government must be, by this time, de-
sirous rather of quitting Spain, than of finding
pretexts for continuing in it. Believing, as we
do, the French Statesmen to be Sciolists in poli-
tics, unacquainted with the sources of the pros-
perity of nations, and more especially of the in-
fluence which the prosperity or adversity of one
great nation has on all
.countries which are in
commercial relations with it, we yet cannot sup-
pose them so blind as to conceive the further
occupation of Spain can be any thing but detri-
mental both to Ferdinand and the French Go-
vernment. The French are now receiving cre-
dit with the world for the disturbances.. which
,
preceded their invasion, and tne tustractea state in
which Spain has been ever since. The world

are-disposed to attribute more influence to the
Spanish Consitution in regenerating and improv-
ing the country than it could have had ; for we
. •

had
.it to be certain, that all iMprovement in
the character and circumstances of nations must
necessarily be gradual, and the work of time, and
believe, therefore, that a poor and ignorant popu-
lation, without industry, could not have been
suddenly metamorphosed by ,a Constitution
into an intelligent and thriving population.
The French Ministers of the time, however,
would seem to have been afraid. that the
Constitution would work so miraculous a change;
that the French people would be seized with an
irresistible desire of following the example ; and
by attacking the Spaniards before the Constitu-
tion had had a fair trial, they have prodticed a
persuasion in the world that it would have clone
more than it could have done, and drawn down
on themselves the discredit of defeating that
amelioration, and all the evils which have fol-
loWed their attempt. Their occupation may
not have caused all the mischief that has taken
place, but the world will give them credit for the
most of it. They cannot hope for any bene-
ficial change from their presence. On the con-
trary, they must be pretty well convinced by this
time that the longer their stay the more distrac-
ted will be the state of the country. They can-
not wish to occupy the country permanently ;
indeed they • are unable to do so'; and Europe
would not consent to their occupation. And
with regard to their supposed hatred of Consti-
tutions, we think it is refining too much to be-
lieve, that with the knowledge of the state of
Spain, they must now possess, they can imagine
it would be so easy a matter for the Constitu-
tionalists,"if the French troops were withdrawn,
to establish themselves against the Absolutists.=
Morning Chronicle.
We give in another column a critique on the.
talents of the English performers at present ex-
hibiting in the French capital, and, incidental to
it, a liberal eirlogium on the merits of Shakspeare.
The terms in which the actors are spoken of,
who, though very respectable, are certainly not
the elite of the English stage, nor at all qualified
to give to a foreigner a faithful, much less a fiat-
tered, picture, of its present condition, we attri-
bute to the unacquaintedness of the critic with
higher and chaster models than those of the
Theatre de l' Odeon. The praise of Shakspeare
is more important. The Baron de Grimm,
• though a heretic on the subject of the French
Drama, durst not whisper his sentiments in the
salons of Paris, but contented , himself with
communicating them to his master in Germany.
Not many years, indeed, are gone by, since to
praise the wood notes wild of the . Bard
of Avon would have . brought down on the
head of the panegyrist suspicions not only of his
acumen as a critic, but of his patriotism as a,sub.
ject. And wonderful must be the revolution in
the literary notions of the Parisians, when, in
open day, in a public Journal, and that Journal
Ministerial, we 'find the genius of Shakspeare
not only acknowledged and lauded, but, for the ex-
press purpose of proving his superiority, placed in
contrast:with whom ?''With Corneille ! of whom

a passage, certainly a ridiculous one, is quoted
from his tragedy of Clitandrc, to show, that
though living in an age of imuch higher refine-
ment, he was not less excelled by the English
poet in sublimity than in delicacy ! After such
an honest avowal, we must not hastily accuse our
lively neighbours of national vanity. It is Pope,
if we recollect right, who exclaims—
. What great events from little causes rise"'
Whether the praise of Shakspeare be looked on
as a piece of well-judged flattery to John Bull,
on a point for which he would be inclined not
only to write, but to fight, against the world ;
or whether, as it is fairest to conclude, it he
merely the faithful expression of the writer's opi-
nions, we look On it as of considerable import-
ance. There is perhaps no bond by which dif-
ferent nations can be more firmly united than by
admiration of each other's literature. It forms
a chain much stronger than interest. It is ex-
cessively difficult to entertain feelings of hostility
against those who minister to our truest hap-
piness, or to whom we are indebted for the
purifying of our affections and the elevation of our
sentiments. It would be a curious, but by
no means an unexampled, instance of small
causes leading to great events, were the introduc-
tion of a handful of English actors into a
second-rate theatre in Paris to break down
those jealousies which have for nearly a thou-
sand years interposed to divide the affec-
tions of two nations, which, in all that renders
nations or individuals worthy of respect and af-
fection, bear so close a resemblance to each
other. We have long had an Italian theatre in
London, conducted on a scale of magnificence
which makes the national drama hide its dimi-
nished head. We are as much alive to the
" magic of sweet sounds," and can listen with as
deep pleasure to Pasta, or Caradori, or Curioni,
or De Begnis, as others. But the Italian
• theatre can only-be considered in the light of
an elegant amusement, or at most as a school for
singing. The -effects of a French theatre, which
we hope soon to see not only patronised but au-
thorised in London, and which, if so dealt with,
would, we feel assured, most amply reimburse
both actors and managers, arc of a higher
cha-
racter, and such as the patriot, not less than the
follower of pleasure, might hail with satisfaction.
—New Times.

PLAN FOR PRESERVING THE WALLS OF
NEW BUILDINGS FROM DAmPNEss.--The
author considers the introduction of moisture
into buildings, as the effect of a capillary attrac-
tion. The less time, says he, is taken to finish
dry
they more
buildings, the more rapidly does the water pene-
trate,they a
to
note yethudm of the
soil easilyte , because
conform when
themselves
soil which supports them, and the evil is more
or less rapid in proportion as the earth contains
more or less nitre or other salts, and even the
most impenetrable cements hitherto employed,
cannot prevent at all points the ascension. of
water, through the medium of capillary tubes.
It would be desirable to cover the whole thick-
ness of the wall, at about two feet from the earth,
with an impenetrable substance, and to preserve
likewise the lower part of the building from tihe
dampness of the soil. The most certain wayi of
doing this, would be by means of a layer 'of
sheets of lead, about a line thick soldered toge-
ther. If, notwithstanding the absence of air,
the oxidation of this metal were apprehended,
and the consequent penetration of dampneSs,
through the pores of the ox }'de, recourse might
be had to another method less expensive, and
which would equally well answer the proposo
end. That is, to spread over the whole thickness Of
the wall, a layer of pit coal, mingled with pitch or
rosin, and powdered charcoal. This material
being soft, when loaded with the weight of the
w9111c1411 up all the vacuities, and ef-
fectually prevent ,the access of moisture.—Btil.
do, Sciences.