The Sun.
London, England, 1829-04-15 00:00:00

doubt, we believe, has been ever cast), we have
scarcely a public buildiug of modern date which is
not a libel on the age, or a monument of the nation's
folly. And then, as in the case of this Court,
the supreme mortification is, that the whole ex•
pence is to be incurred over again, of course
with a fresh chance of the second attempt being
no more fortunate than the first. Though so much
has been said about want of space, the real error
consisted, we think, in not placing the Courts as
they were previous to the Coronation. Had two
of the Courts been placed, as they then were, at
the extremity of the Hall, ample space would have
been found for the test in the area, within which,
under the new arrangement, the whole are now
huddled: And this, we apprehend, must be the
plan resorted to after all. At any rate, the Court
of King's Bench cannot remain as it is; for indepen-
dent of there being actua►ly no room for one half
of the attorneys, the suitors, and the witnesses,
which are compelled to resort to it, so injudiciously
is it planned as to air and ventilation, that the main
entrances are obliged to be kept closed, and persons
are forced to grope their way into it by a side door,
finding themselves, probably, after all, just the farthest
point from the place or person which they wished
to reach.—Morning Herald.

A subject—the state of the Silk Trade—which
has been so often discussed, and under such variouN
forms, that it is almost as threadbare as the impor-
tant question of Emancipation, which has now been
finally set at rest, was again brought to the notice
of the House of Commons on Monday, by Mr
Fyler ; but without, so far as we have been able to
perceive, throwing any new light, or advancing any
new argument upon it. The argument of the Hon.
Member was, that the Silk manufacture, previous to
the establiihment of the system of Free Trade, had
been in a most prosperous condition, and that since
that period it had- not only greatly fallen off, but that
those who were engaged in it, were labouring under
the most dreadful distress. Neither of these posi-

tions, however, are correct; and if they were cot,
rect, they would not make out the case which he
attempted to prove; for we contend, in the first
place, that the Silk Trade never did prosper in this
country; and, in the second, that it is not to the
system of free trade that the present distress is pro-
perly to be attributed, but to causes which have long
been in operation, and which are operating much
more extensively than any system of free trade could
possibly have done. Prior to 1825, it is true that the
Spitalfields weavers had higher wages than they
have, generally speaking, since had; but these
wages were the result of a monopoly, the expense
of which was paid by the country, and- even with
the aid of that monopoly, they were not, as is
well known, enabled at all times to procure work.
They had their periods of distress, in fact, as every
other class of workmen had; and that too, not on
account of free trade, or foreign competition, but
because the public was unable to buy to the extent
that they could manufacture. Such, we contend,
also to be in a great measure the case now. The
Silk Trade is labouring under great depression, and
those engaged in it unable either to derive a profit
from their capital, or to realize competent wages ;
but is not this the case with every other branch
of trade ? Was there ever a period, except during;
the existence of a panic, when such universal de-
pression was experienced ? And if such be
the case, and in branches of trade, too, to
which the principles of Messrs. Huskisson and
Grant have not been applied, with what fairness can
it be alleged that it is in consequence of having had
recourse to free trade, that the silk manufacture is in
a declining state, and the workmen formerly em-
ployed in it in a state of starvation ? Now what do
the provincial Papers state respecting those branches
of industry to which the free trade system has not
been applied ? Why that they are all in a state of
ruinous depression—that the iron. trade has never
been so depressed, as now, within the last twelve
years—that the cotton market is . dull beyond pre-
cedent—that there is no demand for goods—no em 7
ployment in the wool trade, and that, in fine, were
workmen in demand in any one branch, they could
be had by hundreds and thousands every where !
But it is unnecessary to proceed further in this line
of argument, or to expose the futility of one of the
causes—excessive trading—which Mr. Vesey Fitz-
gerald assigned for the present distressed state of
the trade. It is not overtrading, nor yet is it
smuggling that is the cause of the evil ; it is the
Currency which is at the bottom of it—it is the
Debt which is pressing with leaden fingers on every
branch of industry—it is the enormous amount of
Taxation with which we are saddled, and the
shameful Corn monopoly, which are drying up
the sources of our national wealth, and giving to
foreigners those advantages in the foreign
market, which we at one time enjoyed ex-
clusively. Do away with these, and trade will
again revive—let them remain on their present
footing, and reactions, similar to those which have
occurred every second or third year since the war,
will continue to drive our merchants and manufac-
turers to the Gazette, and to reduce the wages of
the working classes below the point of even common
necessaries. We agree, however, in its fullest ex-
tent in what Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald said respecting
smuggling, and also in the remedies which he pro-
poses to apply. Were there no duties there would
be no smugglers; and the lower the duty, therefore,
the fewer will he the smugglers, because the less
will be the chance of gain in such a hazardous
- course.—Morning Advertiser.

AWFUL EVENT.

Yes, W—nch—ls—a (I tremble while I pen it),
W—ncli—ls—a's Earl bath cut the lb itish Senate,
Huth said to England's Peers, in accent gruff,
" That for ye all," (snapping his fingers) and Eait,
in a huff!

Disastrous news !—like that of old which spread
From shore to shore, " our mighty Pan is dead,"
O'cr the cross-benches (cross, from being crost)
Sounds the loud wail, " Our W—nch—ls—a is lost

Which of ye, Lords, that heard him, can forget
The deep impression of that awful threat,
" I quit your house ! !"—midst all that histories tell,
I know but one event that's parallel :

PARALLEL CASE.

It chanc'd, at Drury-lane, one Easter night,
When the gay Gods, too blest to be polite,
(Gods at their ease, like those of learn'd Lucretius)
Laugh'd, whistled, groan'il, uproariously facetious,—..
A well-dress'd member of the middle gallery,
Whose "ears polite" disdain'd such low canaillerie,
Bose in his place,—so grand, you'd almost swear
Lord W—nch—ls—a himself stood towering there,—
And, like that Lord of dignity and noes,
Said, "...Silence, fellows, or—l'll leave the house ! !"
How brook'd the Gods this speech? Ah, well-a-day,
That speech so fine should he so thrown away !
In vain did this mid-gallery grandee
Assert his own two-shilling dignity,—
In vain he menac'd to withdraw the ray,
Of his own full-price countenance away,—
Fun against dignity is fearful odds,
And, as the Lords lati;li now, so giggled then the Gods
(Times.)

We are gratified to learn that some slight re-
rival has taken place in the light silk manufactures of
paisley. Several of the principal houses in these branches
have for this last week been taking on additional hands.—
'Glasgow Herald.

We received accounts from Portsmouth yes-
terday, stating that transports are being engaged at that
port for the conveyance of 8,000 troops. The general
supposition is, that they are intended to take some of the
:Regiments now in Ireland to different sea-ports in Eng-
land, previous to a general reduction of about 12,000 me*
'of the army.

The season was never so backward. as it is
this year, in the neighhourhood of Dublin, and Ireland
generally ; but we have been informed that there are fewer
cases of fever at present in the hospitals than were ever
before known at this period of the year. We need, net
observe that a late season is always-considered auspicious
to the hopes of the agriculturist in this climate.—Dtibliu
Nortting Register.