The Express. — London, England, 1849-03-23 00:00:00

BAWL:O thich were arrogated by other hon. meatten, gut he maid only my that Huai* during the last melee menthe hod, under Sae prasnt temptation, ealtibited ▪ degree elmederstim whit*, whit costrasted with the eon duet of she remelt republic fifty yens ego, nil eted the wen arm the mikes's% to load laugh.) Soppoes Ire a rysfer, fallowing the example which the French r. pub- Nom lod sot at the bagionleg of the century, had seised epee elms adjacent termer, fir its sggractbsemeat, what gels, what castanets might nut hays touted in emot- Cr(e. Hear," end s leigh.) SO far from seneuriag ammer, be thought rho hoe gettlemsa opposite ought ge give I. io_peaho. not for what he had do at, bet for what he A do, (Hest, hear.) The emduet of the Emperor was usg bpd with great Sarni:aim in the protium which he b e g geispiedwith his troops. The case wee by no 0r.... a are set. Difficulties might have arisen out of mistakoa spbaustie marespeedsoac, and benea th, necessity for mare k lieg Muth* Dement* wetly's,. !night have arises. The base, upset a WIN lon all the present, mint to mallets .a che sinister of the mown, let hie psr.y be whet it =light. Meer, h ear) The segothatione of the noble viseespt geed* hare the feu contalmsee of the poliantent, mad if Soy laded, thee it would be time to resort to ulterior mos. MO. Bat if the Howie of Ceekeeens wee to interfere a , it wo g sew sousht to effect, the best thing ti ds was to abulieh the cam of Foreign Secretary, and to recall the acttessador. TM modes before the home would le td to rest inc noted lON if it was affirmed. It would elites fe.• impression. abroad. He hoped the house would always be prompt to Maw sympathy where natiois soffe red. lint he must say that A. did sot think the house or the pea.: le of Eagtind held the Superego( liar sis in such &thorough distateem as , hespoehes if the Imo. member for Ylontroas represeuted him to de ism. The nem and the English 'plea l e keel upon the Camas a loan of tousumensie abilities sni of great intellec tual power amongst the ewe. reigns of Europe. And that he mareised his peer with a due r, gard ta—(a laugh) t—a doe regard to his reeponeibilitioi. (A Luck, and 6 .0 h !") To quarrel with the Cs ir because he was ant ene. (Wn by Lards sad Commove, or called to as. 'Coat by • committee of that !ionic war, in his (Hr. Dirsaeli's) opinion, very idle, and err laity such an idea was not entertaiaed by people walking outside that house. Toe hon. membe r for )I•ntroet had— with a:1 due respect he it said—talked unmitigated nonoti:1141 St speaking of the Can w h: '1 he Elver:if of Ramis bod be 54 reoreeented as a dupe—little short of as ego—. whose delight consisted to creating the m , sery of mankind. That wee not the way in which • g speak of a man al the Messes intellectual rosins The Czar wee deeply ssecikle eirthe of otos entertained of him by the people of Eng- Nod, sad each statements were alike %mune, un.air, owl likely to canto pain in the slid of a man who merited better tr. saint nt at the hands of the ;nog!. of E age lead. The B open, Nichol I d justly the rank inn gr those sovereigns wha had pier, d to be the bent- Beton of them own subjects, and of the human rem in raerel. (• laseh.) Sir H. VERNEY said, that if the Cser had pommel the stederation tie rind to him by the lion. in. inter opposite, he would hive joined England in dcwiucciog .the breach of the treaty of hialmne, which was peipetrated by Yriusia ; netrad of vedette Nicholas bad 140t1A011ed the eggrestiee sethy if Germany towards thin ancient and iedepeadent om. He joined in the request that the noble I:rd would not &doe the house on his maim. Mr. J. A. SMITH said that he did not ustrily join in de eming the Eat eror of Russia, but he could not help saying that Me peep's of England, justly in Li 4 °pink n, considered that inemenh to be the determined rot my of all constitu tional freedom. (Hear, hear.) Hs was surprised that the boo. nVISOItr for Buckinghamshire should forget the parti cuar cimumatecces on which the troi aloft of the English people sea founded. Himvy would preserve the re Olds of Poland, of Cfreassia, and of Cracow— (►ear, h. a,)—and more particularly when the vit iate eat by the noble lord (Palmerston) upon the contioct of the Emperor of Rush in the cclse of Cracow was reveler red. The nuenl ore* exerted by the union of Fracce ev.d England wan c•rtein to promisee its %fleet. It was to the noble 111.611111 el COTl•hltt that Etl,o2llti owed that alliance with Frames to which the p; sea et Use world was to be attributed. (Hear.) He b liev.d that the rights of the Wallachinna ted Moldavian. had hem violated. To vindi cate thou, rights was to Fromm Turkey. lie was glad the motion had been madt ; it was sure to prod.ce an elfin: ; and. as that bad almcdy Vern done, be must join in the general ruiner. that the noble lord would r.ausnt to a ith draw it. - - - - - Mr. J. O'CONNELL corerretaleed the hon. member for Buckinitistesbirs 03 his el eat, the Emperor .sf Russia, who, he !,i , opinioo, sou a moader, sad the scourge alike of women and ut children. Ili" eoaduct is the nuos of Minsk would b• err be for,: oils:, Bur Fie horril is Web srities to the Polish exile% who were aat to Sibetia. if the noble lord divides) the house he would rota with Lim. Lord D 8 l'Ustlt r said that when she hon. =Wee for Ba kinghamehire assorts) himself to he esivocwing different Unmets to thou which he (Lord D. Stuart) su ‘ sported by Ilia present motion, he surely forgot the vs ry strums and able speedt which he wale me f chili( of the Serdsna moo time ego, which epee*, as w-s Lie (L ied D. Stater) own epoees of that ironing. wets aleilidatil di mmed towards the prntervatauo of the interests of Turkey. The ton number h.d pronounced the most nub* slide tu be to ei.c Emperor ul Russia. He had said Old he was the me at seamatge, the lean ambitious, and the lead lik e ly to cause 'prelim Sob to other staies ; but he thought, not withs'an ling ihie, that the Wm. p Woman had betrayed, in the soiree of his epreith. eisusiderah:* doubts of the WWl nay of what he had Wasik stated; for aft). he had pro. limed that it was matte' of stwigratulstioa that the Emperor of Russia Will sot lett/feria milt say other country, he maid that Le mos not gifted with Use power of divinatiser, es as is divine the iwentions of the Emperor of Reath'. As we judged of a tree by Pe (suits, so we, seeing whet Hausa had dew, What had hoe her sondnet in Polies!, the Crimea, and Torkey, how, by last linus proeedirgs she had extended her frostier', mad entered her territory, we naturally con abided that she was going to do that which s h e had does before. He bdievied Oaten the Turkish empire wasted was we morel support from this sountry. With two such countries as France and lieglaud united, ate did not believe that it they spoke out and declared their opini us forcibly, they would Sid any country in the world to go against them. H. was meals) that the noble lied app wed to participate in his views. As to Ramie being Inv& d by th., authorities of Moldavia, ha bociiend that the Hospoder had invited the Remises. but teat it wee entirely against the will of the ewe of the p'pulatiou. As to Wall AM', the Ruasi ens had inn red it gratuitously, without any invitation whatever, sad atter all pretext had b.en taken away by tee Turks. The noble lord professed to feel ....rest eat- Ideas' that the Russian trove would withdraw, and said that it was oil y a questim of time ; but, in this time, the unfortunate attitiines of the priccipality were foreed to pay for the mainteessee of these sixty thousand Reiman troops. The ni ble iota be been deceived bikes so the very liveries by the Russians, who told kiss last year that they were going oat of Moldavia. The noble Intl said that, tee pt as in gards the subject of the present motion, their conduct was masked by dignity sad f risearanee. TWa reminded him of what had mostly emend to a friend of hie, who was also known times, boo. me meters—he meant the eeiebrated writer, Mr. Charles Dickens. Ho was walking in the des et, when be felt a man put his head in his pocket ; he trite I him, and bed him taken More the Maril.h)ne P.thee-avert, where he himself attended. Mr. Dickers bacilli( visited the prisoos, reale siwd the man as one whom he had before seen, and said, "Have you not been /a prison before ?" " No ' taper," was the newer. Toe policemaa who was by, sad moseyed tint to prison, nudged hiss, and said, " What me you talkie' about?" " Well," said the prisoner, " I never wee—except for two mouths." The Russians bad not teemed in the offline of any other country ; they had only taken possession of a territory to which they were not en titled. In reference to the motion before the house, consi dering the recommendation' from all quarters, he would not best on going to a . division _ _ Tha mOti,n was then w:thdrawe. MUTINY OF SEPOYS. Mr. C. ANSTEY said that he you'd not detain the home at any length in hentrin r forward the motion of which he had gds. n notice. In the end of the year 1844, a court marto I was held on 17 spiny', private soldiers of the 6th Regiment of M sdras Light Cavalry. The offence with which they w. to charged was surged to have been committed nine months previously. The sepoys of this regiment were to receive es much beats, and ineeeased baste when they took the field. The Marquis of Tweeddale suspended the issue of the field bate, and the consequence was that the semi were usable to take the field, and accordingly refused to saddle their horses. On its being announced that the Italia woad be restored, the men returned to their buy. The Marquis of Tweeddale, by a ger.eral ord.-r, announced his satisfac tion that the men had returned to their duty, but expressed his disapprobation of their conduct, and informed them that in consequence of what had tsken plus they should n,.t be selected for a post of honour ; but he called them out upon ordinary, daty, and they dischargod their duty from that time for nine months without interruption. They mounted guard about the person of the commander-in-chief bias If. No distinction was made between them and other soldiery. He would appeal to every one whether that did net constitute • cue of pardon and mitigated punishment ; homey r, to the astonishment of every one, a court of in quiry was held, and a emartnertial was summoned to try the men on a charge of mutiny. They were accused of an illegal conspiracy, and di®. from the service, as the general order rated, because they knew nothing, or would not tell what they knew. The officers who refused to give evidence against the men for mutiny were dismissed. They then put themes upon their trial for mutiny, and although it was re quisite that the court should ontsist of nine poisons, this asset-martial consisted only of seven. The principal witness against these men was an *Meer, who was afterwards dis missed from the service on a charge of falcehool. They ap plied for copies of the charge, and the applin tim was reined. They applied for the asinine, of weasel and an attorney, and that application wee termed. Wittman stated that they were intimidated into rvirg evidence. A general °Meer went to the Marquis of Iwseddsle, and exhorted him in vain not to enforce the ens knee of the courterartial. 'rws of the mutineers were net. Of the ethers, one was acquitted ; but one was pardoseg des pined of having gins something like what he .51156 dome% widen*. The rentainiag thirteen were senseeid beahheinn hi life. Applicafies was Inds fee a labor dorm le bthes ant to the bar of the Supreme Om% but they were twiney :snored eat of the jurisdiction of the depene Owen le their pine of exile. l bat win wen taw nedieuen Oben isliwir mines enuauted hen two, breinnsut *Mu fasisinent he sees leen. Imeasesel attempts W bees nab tendon the newt et wamlalaw to biter fee, end, es e het Tellik die Mends of tieper nee bed one Is Ida and semi Ids to in the matte Whn win innt, sod be bed wide& esessated. The applisaties erne hem 6 pieseis fibilagbeit royeetabally Ylain, who • had se pummel iatcrest to consult. The boa. member gen 'hided by swig tor espies of the_ townsman. In the court ef inquiry aid the wart-martial held at Asset in the year 1644,1 n dre ease of the alleged madmen of the 6 . h Reel mat et Madras Light Cavalry, sod of all rososausots and emempudenee »leave thereto, or to the punishments or nemmematione ell the punishm ents, of any each mutineer' ; end abe el the Madras pay regulations and the Native Mutiny Ate. Sir J. C. HOBBOUSE said that whin he saw the notion mid* bed hem originally Rims he was in hops that the beg. psimmea would net Krieg beware' this qoesticn. Per the many years that he had hem in parliament he did am Welk that he rembected a sloe* instance in which the pees ilemilep of &swat martial ei her in England or in Indialmil hem IM aubjem Om inquiry Were a committee. In thb bahmee, the inquiry was Is 1843 and the court-martial in OM; and why wee it that this transaction, if it was me semmirous had hitherto slept ? Why had not the indigna tion wide: was be universal in ladia reached this country ? He thought he could explain to the House of Commons why it was chit, after having slumbered and slept it had ' ban brought for card on the present tension. Al though the pada who gave the hon. member htformeteet might be mug reeptetable gentlemen, yet the hon. genilernaa must punk him to remind him that the commencement of this Week en the Marquis of Tweeddale bream with the prose nta done a petition to the House of Commons, which being re ferred to the comsat:tee that sits on petitions, the same petition was found to be so Itbellnus that they refused to Vi-e it epos the table of the bouts. It was perfectly true that the hole gentleman had, wi h • wisdom for which he was to be applauded, proceeded upon the statement, aster as the house knew, of the petition, but it was his (Sir J. Ilebhoesee) duty to state to the house, in defence of the Marquis of Tweeddede, what he believed to be the case— els., that had it not been for come unfortunate trareettion which to k plue with respect to the petitioner (Mr. Mal- Ulm Lewis) the house would not have beard of this transac tion. There was acme unfortunate difference between the Marquis of Tweeddale and Mr. Lewin; that gentleman, having been in several places of high trust in Madras, having been made a member of the council, being in the erjoyeuntof consideration i i the presidency, end against whose private character he had cot a word to say, pursued a course of conduct which forced him (Sir J. Hobhetaee) to perform a most painful duty, he was rtmoved from the pre visiesal council of Madras, end was ohLeei to quit India. This was the plain and unvarnished statement of the facts as to this gentleman, the petitioner against the Merqu's of Tweeddale. If the bon. gentleman who had brought forward this ter, chooses on any future occasion, to e ill fog paper., it would be his (Sir J. liebhm en's) psiuful duty to present papers signed by tte gentleman, which would be a full Juni dead= for the souse pursued by the Marquis of Tweeddele end the Court of Directors and the Board of Contra , . The hog. gentleman's statement was founded almost verbatim on the statement made by Malcolm Lewin. He had told the hon. member privately what he now self publicly, that he was confident there was no case, and that the movieg of this matter trieroated from a great deal of private feeling. Having said this with reference to Mr. Lewin, who first presented tee petition to the house, which cold nut be printed on account of its libellous matter, he would advert shortly to the statement made by the hon. gentleman. H. held in his baled the rotund ord. r which the Marquis of Tweeddale published on the 2nd Nov., 1844, in which he found an hitherto uncuntradicted report of the whole of this transaction. The room why them men could rot be tried at the time their mutinous conduct took place was this, that a great pori in of the whole regiment was im plicated in the transaction, in consequence of the disappoint ment arising from the b stta question ; also, because they we re stationed, not in the Madras presidency, hut Bengal, and it wan thought it would not be right that they rhould be there tried and marched into the presidency to which they belonged. At the time the tranvei ion was geiog on, it was expected that • general .slice wail take ,place, which did shortly after take place, • i., the celebrated battle of Gwalior. If an immediate inquiry had tak-n place it would hove been nece-sa-y to have had the artillery on the ground to take tte orders of the rommeneer-in-chief, for it was not certain it might not be necessary to fire upon rat ne In this sta'e cf things was it not right that the regi ment should be removed from the scene of confu , ion ; end th it before the inquiry took place it should be in such a quar ter that the result of the inquiry could do:no mischief? As to the time that had elapsed he greets d that it was a misfor tune. The mutiny was one of the mod value character. It embraced not only the tritratts but a great number of the native officers. Secret oaths were taken, meetings were held; there was a pciseive refusal to go upon the line of march; they would not parade upon duty; ti ere was the violation of all duty, without which it was impossible that any dbeiplin• could be maintained. Was 't not rather an awkward time to make these complaints against tee mode in which military discipline was 'maintained in ladui ? If it were true that toe Marquis o Tweeddale was guilty of injustice, and tyranny, and cruelty —if that cou'd be prom d, an I the hon. gentleman bail moved only for the paper , , it would have been a prectudiog more con formahle to common usage. Was this the time that any man *yawed with so high •eh trader as the Marquise( Tweedd to could be guilty of that with which the non. gentleman charged Liu, ? The rial tut of the ca e was just the con. trsrv. The Marqitii of Two dale w. s too much of • gallant Iseldier to lee a cruel men, and too ho- (nimble to s: ift fres himself the mponsikility which fairly belonged to him. There were no less teen 13 men condemned to be executed, end of these 13 the 111 irquis of Tweed !ale re quired the exe cution only of two, and they were the two who had ad ministered theme Memel oaths, or who had endeavoured by combination to destroy all discipline in the army, and to march back this regiment to a quieter where it was to be headed by a seneadar or subah.lar of its owe, He thought it Emit bu char to any disputionate judgment, teenier*, that under the ere-guests, ens of the ease, no unnecessary severity of punishment hid beta visited epos these men. (Hear, hoar.) He deemed it a fortunate thing that this case was one of no recent occurrence. It was almost untiteeesi.ry for him to remind the house that the first repriseutatious upon the subject were %dile seed to the home government, at a period when it was proddi d over by the right hon. b 'rout opposite, the member f.r Tamworth. Now, although he (Sir J. Holthoute) had not at that time, of course, any official coonezion with the ministry of the day, yet from torend r aseccietions mid old tonne:lens with the government of India he naturally felt a pr -at interest in the affair, end took ewe, at that time, to inesiode inquiries into the particulars in querten which he thought the most likely to furnish him with the desired info-rotten. The re cite of those iemuirb a bad satisfied him tbat the v ewe which be had ever mime ente liaised upon the state of those trate actions were cornet, He bellied he was not mistaken in affirming that the home government Of that period referred the case for Lis opinion to the Dake of Wellington. He held in his hand a copy of the minute which his grace the Com• mander-ie-Corof thereupon had drawn up ; and without occu• eying the ti me of the house by reading extracts fr sot it,he would only remark that teat distinguished personage had handled the question with all that clearness, precision, and sound judgment which he was so well known to bring always to bear upon any military topic. There were many others in the regiment who were moved to have been guilts of acts of decided intubordination ; but the 13 whose offences bad been aljw'grd to amount to mutiny en re condemned by the court-martial to death. The minute adverted to the fact that mane of these parties had been sent down to take their ' turns, in the rs g meat, of certain duty after the inquiry bad taken place ; and it seemed to be assumed thet they must have tad :amen, * r flee, to supped' that no sentence would be enforced against them. But it seemed very doubtful whi ther they had at any time done anything more than mount guard about the tent of their commanding dile -re There was no pretence to assert—and he b -leered no evidence of the feet—that, in all the interval which elapsed before the execution of the capital sentence on the two mutineers con demned to death, they were brought under fire. Had they been brought under Sr', the Duke of Wellington ad nti ted that, in the event at the question having been re ferred to him, it would have been the inc Minion of his mind to recommend them as objects of mercy. But this state of things could not be pleaded as their ease. (Hear.) He did not think it necessary to go much further into this distrissing subject. (Hear, hear) Well, it was a distressing subject, though not to him in par ticular, except in so far as he regretted that the hon. gentleman from whom that cheer had just now proceeded should have thought fit, at a period like the present, to bring forward a motion of so untenable and so mischievous a chsraeter. For his own part, he must certainly object to the production of the panes moved for. (Hear, ' hear.) He believed it was not very often indeed that the minutes and proceedings of courts martial were ever called fortis that house, and they were certainly never laid before it except on grounds of far more weight and expediency than any which the hon. gentleman had been able to assign in telling for those now in question. It most be assumed—and he thought it only (fair to amume—that military courts generally administered military law with fairness and impar tiality; nor could he be brought to believe, except upon the most clear and positive evidence, that British officers, in high military stations, had any such political tendencies to exercise the authority with which the law invested them, in dealing with offence. of this nature, with such unnecessary harshness or tyranny as should induce the house to support an application like that before them, which went to revive, before parliament, the proceedings of a case so long by-gone, without any adequate reason stated to justify such an appeal. The pardons granted to the other parties who had been proved guilty of mutinous practices were extended to them at a subsequent period, simply on account of the good con duct afterwards manifested by them. It wee thought neces sary after justice bad been done upon the two criminals, who, in addition to specifie acts of personal mutiny, had been detected in administering oaths to their comrades, binding them to refuse discharging their duties or rendering obe dience to their officers in future, and thus attempting to debauch the fidelity of whole regiments, that the pending sentence* against the other parties should be tempered by mercy and unsideration manifested for those who by their ennfwelens had not been drawn into the sadb malpractices. Upon these grousds, then, he could not consent to the pro- elution of the papers. Mr. J. O'CONNELL thought that no clearer evidence could be adduced of the weeknem of the case which the go vernment hod undertaken to vindicate than that the right hon. "mamas (Stir J. C. Hobbouse), with all his Im talent, mold make out no better one this he to establish in excuse of these proceedings. It woe Vle press upon the house the length of time whisk me ia hod dapapilviore this grave complaint had pressed It. te the eser of parliameat. That delay was quite sommated for by the general inattention or Mdilltemme 'Mit was paid in England to Indian affain o mid V e r o meummy lapse of time that would always interemi sashislets—from so distant quartere—muldmeelt their dsedmmliil.. But there was one ispetest pad In the elm gawkish the right hon. member's sposibledseltinshei at a& Thew hole ethos* contempt ame= ai llegat beams they had bees puled by eel net coanitutad according to the articles of sir. Asti& ex pressly required that no comet-martial should be competent I'HE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 23. 184 e. to pass rouses of death noises it was composed of 13 Ann, szeept within entakt limits. This nun was ommalds4 at Anot, and, therefore, sot within the jertedistisa whisk alone could have made any Inter somber of oaken a competent tribunal to pronouns' a ( etsesteneo—and ft consisted only of saves abets. ) But dimmer yet another informality. It was de eland that the stints should not consist of len than nine caorre to give offset is its seaman Now, how the sentence of seven could comply with this condition he was yet to learn. The plea of inconvenience was one he bad been surprised Wheat urged by the right bon. gentleman against • ens which involved questioos is important to law and At tica. He should support lb. motion. lir. HUME explored • similar intention. Than wins souse points romuctel with then truant:ions which loudly ailed foe szplanation. What he want. d know was, why were their mould sentences saspended over the heads of these men for nisei long months—most of the men is that interval, too, being allowed to do duty of • certain kind—if it will intended finally to punish them ? (blear, bear.) No man was better swan than he was of the absolute ne- unity for maintaining dirsipline and anhoTecinttloalnas Indian army, and repenting by exemplary runishment any attempt at mutiny. Bet to keep such sentences as these in at eyanoe for such a perisd appeared to him a proceeding as illegal as it was cruel. Then came the nest question : if there was anything in the manse that it had been attempted to plead for the delay—namely, the difficulty of Sadie' an adequate punster of officers properly to conatitu.e the court which gas to try the offenden —why were not the men mcrched at once Into some one of their numerous mill- tory station', in any of the three pn aileneTe;,;wherein the assistance of an abundant supply of officers could have been immediately sowed? Far from thinking that this was, for reasons which the right hon. baronet who had just spoken had rather hinted at than stated, an improper time for instituting such an 'equity as it was the ohject of the mottos for these papers to e.tablish, he contended that this was, of all others, the mat 'roper time for such a purpose. It wee now avid or nth' to impress the minds of alt our native soldiers is India with the conviction, that the British parliament would insist on their being treated nem rd ing to the institution of law and justtea. Here had been great responsibility incurred, in the first instance, ho the estreordieary conduct of superior authorities somewhere He wanted to know, first, who ordered the war batty .1. lowance to be withdrawn? Was that withdrawal. after wards repudiatel by the act of the Ineilan government the m , salves, a legal or en Illegal act ? He, foe one, attached no sort of value to the report of Mr. Lein, on which the right bon. baronet hail laid mach 'trees in his speech. He thought it bad been introduced lots the debate rather for the purpose of distracting the attention of the house from tte main ques tion before 1:, than affording any itstomstion to guide r e judgment of hon. members upon it. Tee point which laei. they the right hon. baronet nor Mr. Lewin's ratement d toselsed was the al•importsnt one: had the Marquis of Twewidale exceeded his powers sad the law by ordering the execution of those two men so long aster 'heir senteace bed been passed witout being acted upon ? Ile was of opinion that these papers should be granted. Mr. ELLIOT desired to t teplain the me in which the disursion had originated about the order fur the reduction of the butte allowance. No doubt, such an order was issued by a mistake on the part of the official flounce authorities at Madras • but the mistake was diaocertud, and rectified within t woi days. In that time a new order was promul gaud, retracting that which bad diminished the buts, and putting the allowance on the old footirg. When it wee argued, therefore, that this reduction had been the cane a the meeting of these eery', it should be understood that they continued under such misapprehension tt r no longer a time than forty-eight hours. How could such a pies, then, be urged for the insubordinate cores to which the men commuted themtelves ? The bon. gentlemnn then entered into a recapitulation of the facts as they hod oceurr.d, to chew bow impossible it would have been tcund to consaute or assemble the court in question, before it was really found practicable to convene it at Arcot. Mr. AGLIONBY supported the motion. He thought it doe to the obaracters of all those connected with the presecu tion of the court-nesreiel, as well as the charier's. of t h e pro. eeedings itself, that some further explanation should be gismo. The right hon. baronet intimated that he had the means of giving an explanation—that he had the papers in bit possession—but, he declined to do so. It would be as well now, perhaps, alter the lapse of so many years that the subject had not been revived, but as it had been raised it was absolutely necessary that the public mind should be satisfied, and that the matter should be tit at rest. The hon. member for Limerick, quoting from the articles of war, clearly showed that the court-mat Cal itself was illegal I —that injustice had been done, and that the law had been tranegreesed—yet, not ono wo rdi of explanation had been offered with respect to that subject by the right hon. haroret. The public mind would re quire to be satisfied, ani after a pubic discussion of the matter in parliament the papers re , latin.z to it should certai:.ly be produced. Sir R. PEEL was unwilling that the debate should close without saying a few words. He could not, however, agree whit the hon. and l-arned eenieman who spoke le s', who mid that it was a real misfortune that the question was re. rived at all, especially after the lame deo long a time. It was a very disagreeable question, nu doubt, but it was com petent to any me fiber of that busies to bring it forward, and they bad no option but to proceed to debate it. Why, every night they had disagreeable questions, butthet was no reason why they should not be con-idered. I hey were completely dependent upon every individual member of the house. The hoe. and learned gentleman brought forward this motion acting under a sense of duty—(a laugh)—buta thnugn thee are maey Rend:met lets prudent and leer diseteet than the hon. gentleman--(laughter)—he (Sir it P el, thought it the undoubted privilege of every member ol that house to submit any queetisu he thought deserving of enquiry, to the nosic• of the home, however disagreeatle the discussion might prove. He felt bound to admit that he had no recollection of the facts. But, in all such questions as those there must be a great ameunt of confidence 'laced in men to whom control of such subjects was given, and great allowance should be made kr them in some difficult circumistancts in which they were cce.sionally placed. lie certainly should say that frees all be had ever men, known, or heard of the Marquis of Tweeddale, he (Sir R. Peel) had a strorg cone clan that he was the last man in the world who could be charged with any excess of duty. (Hear.)l What was alleged against the noble lerd—not that the punishment was infi.c ed suddenly or simultaneously ; for eine months elapsed alter the cemmistion of the offence, and before the infliction of the punishment ? The TS were then 13 capital convictions, and two only were carried isle execuii en. Surely there was no want of clemency thee I The commander-in-chief (the Duke eif Wellington) pew totally examined into all the facts of the case and Mitoses ately approved of them. Well then, was it right, after all this, for the Hones of Commons to review this question determine it? (Hear, hear.) If the House of Commons chose to supersede the authority of the commander-in-chief in such matters they might, but all he (Sir It Peel) could Fay was, that the British army would be infinitely less satis fied than they have hitherto been. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. baronet deprecated the House of Commons deal ing with a question of this sort, and opposed the motioo. Mr. AGLIONBY, in explanation, said he objected to the right of any hon. member to ask for the production of papers, nor did he say that the convenience of the house should be consulted b fore a member exercised his Fri vivilege to bring forward any action he thought fit. The ATTORNEY GENERAL thought the house would do well to dispose of the motion, without going into a detail of the fasts at all. They should assume that the Tenderly constituted military tribunals lied done their duty properly, as nothing to the contrary had been shown. Yet the pre-eat motion was in the nature of en appeal to the lay and unpractised members of that house to review the proceedings of the court-martial in question. He op posed the motion because it was a most dangerous precedent, and, in his opinion, it would be destructive of all discipline in the army. If such a precedent as this was set, court.- menial would be indeterminable, and military discipline - - . would soon end altogether. The professional experience of the hon. and learned gentleman who had brought forward the motion would enable him to see at once the ineneveni once of allowing lay members of the house to pronounce an opinion upon the validity of proceedings at courts-marti a l, ap; roved and affirmed by the properly-constituted authori ties. The hon. and learned gentleman had done his duty :n bringing forward the motion, but he (the Attorney-General) trusted, after what had just passed, he would see the neces sity of withdrawing it. Mr. ANSTEY said as to the alleged excuse for the delay that had taken place after the eataurbsion of the offence and before the court-menial was held, it amounted to nothing It was said that the prisoners being in Bengal could not be tried by the Marquis of Tweeddale artoording to the Madras articles of war. That was no explanation; for k eras admitted th the prisoners were at Arcot, in the pre sidency of Madras. The act of mutiny charged was refusi,g to saddle hones, and there was not a wyllable of explanation ventured with respect to that, whilst theeaffia, which were mere matter of sggravation, w, re attempted to be explained. Ho contended that this was a proper ease for inqu'ry, and in sisted that there were many precedents in which the house reviewed proceedings at courts-martial, and punished unjust judges and juries, and pr. fligate attorney-generals too (laughter.) The proceedings by court-martial against Lord Bradenell (now Lard Cardigan) were reviewed by the Huse of Commine ' a-41 the remit was highly honourable to the noble lord. Mr. Anatey, therefore, insisted that parlitment had juriedietion to institute an inquiry, and so convinced was he that this was a proper cue for et, that he was deter mined to take the sense of the house upon the question. The house then divided. For the motion l4 Against it GAOLS IN IRELAND. Sir W. SOMERVILLE obtained leave to bring in a bill to continue an set of the 10:h and 11th years of her Ma i jesty's reign, to authorise for one year, and to the end of the then next eresies of •, the removal of prisoners from the *maga& Gi Ireland in eases of epidemic diseases. RECOVERY OF WAGES (IRELAND) BILL. The report on this bill was consklared, and the bill ordered to b. road • third tine to-day. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said (in reply to Er. Hutto) that the NirOgatiaa Bill would be taken to-morrow (this day) ' • bat they would not go Into a committee of supply until that btl passed through coat mines. PROTECTION OF JUSTICES (IRELAND) BILL. Tile report on this bill having has amidosod s t r i rod to, and it beteg moved that the bill be & dna to-day, Mr. J. O'CONNILL owned tbe meat altogether se beim ieheele=tbe pest amm, end es derbies him of al woe of iseeklmilee iebe obi unjustly. He thin moved Liiillitebs pet elf he ifs meedis. Major ILACHALL dedimie4 the gentry of Ireland from tb that tbsy w e aspeteltioaeld est weinstly. Sir W. SOMERVILLE briefly eefendrd the Mk add ft plsiard thank wee istaaded by it se give the has. poked*. teetrates fa Ireland se Enalend. a few wards from Mr. Di. I. &Cog/mu, the boww divided—For the satardastat it The third day.—The house adjourned st tea minutes sitar 11 o'clock. glie OrpreOL OUTGOING MAILS. ml was IhrMl North Amino% rad the Unita& States, will be am& tles waft& loirrk ors Mara Mks. to the Metbanns/ea, rapt. Aden. Cellos. lank lifewliasse, Ire., wN be mode op on the etemisit IM fithie,b. _ _ - lititimile der Vigo, Liston, Madeira, Cad* and Gibraltar old lee mode op ea the ot the Wth Werth. The iris kr the West Nest oil An sad Madeira will be made up on the wain( et the Slat of Ilsreh. The wile for New dootb Wales, Van Diemen% Land, and New Zabel will be ass an ea the twenty/ of the ilst Womb. Dm West ladle /Leib. instodbot nenenda. tineauna, Nemo, Beodeens, New Odom% awl Mateo, sad excluding them lot Walk% J11.14.441111/11/14. Now Chords, CUL and Peru, will be WWII so dil a zMet the tad of Aped. lhe maLs Oar sad Bores Ayres, will be made op tot Use wredg e t i t i e "di or* Ilts meth ter Mita, the lonian Islands. KUM Ad.., Oaten. bah Idemolkom add nouthampont, will be made open thomemingol the Idtb MOH WATIN AT LONDON MOON. am Dia' —Nondar. li slah um 1 g Mimosa. MI wille. MM I. ID-Il••••••—ilankm, IS AM 10111, 1: ILAMMINI. is Mla. ion 2. LONDON, FRIDAY, MARCH 23. Ma. Bouvrmin ietroeuces his very unaccountable amendment on the grverament measure for the re peal of the navigation laws this evening. If Mr. BOUVERIE knew no better we cartel more readily par don him. If his teachers before e itering parliament, his professions upin catering parliament, and his as sociati Ise sitce no Las occupied& se at in the house of tepresentetives, had been other than they have been, we should the less regret his present course bemuse it You'd have has surprised us. But all the grounds en which palitical anticipations can reasonably be formed must be hell vaheilese, or the hon. member foe Kiimarnock must be held in the present cue to have committed waywardly and wantonly a grave, and, fur his own sake, an important error. The purport of Mr. BODVERIE's amendment is th s —to limit the opeiatioa of the proposed fn e trade in thipk log to our i..tercauree with such couttries as choose; to make with us reciprocity treaties or conventions to that effect. At present France, Russia, Germany, and England oom pete—or, at hest, ate said and suppos d by the argument of the protectionists t be capable of cote petiog—with one another in navigation. Free traders+, of atom Mr. BOUVERIE calls himself one, insist that it is not good for the ships of any or all of there countries to return to their respective norms in ballast instead of with such cargoes as they could, if they were suffered, obtain. if all wi:l not see their true interest in this respect, at all events let those who do, get ril of their absurd restrictions as fast as they can. The pretretisniets say no; these restrictions ale not injurious, for, though they appear to be so, they are, in tact, eesentiel to oar national safety. We cermet expaiin how very distinctly, but no man who rev. n noes "the flag that braved a thousand }ears, the hauls, and the bre, z •," or his any tree feeling about "the British Lies," and all that sort of thin/, will agr. e to sweep away the navigation law.. AU this may be, and we think it ir, downright nonsense; but it is consistent non sense; area this is a free land, in which every man has politically a right to be a fool it he pleases. But the honourable member for Kilmarnock is nn He affect. to be above all these obs3ltte superstitions. He is a doctrinaire—o' eof tbo wire—and a polit'esl eemierniet. He avows that restriction are esscetirlly hunful a.d wrong; yet be would keep them up, us against his own country, wheeler superior intel ligerce spurns and would fain be rid of them, 80 long as end wherever any less enlightened, leis cnnuorcial, and therefore less deeply interestrd ratio i cho *e to do 83 too. " We can understand pro teeth! ism, an Iwe can understand free trade ; but the I appy esnfinion of 13)03, that Mr. BOUVERIE set ins ambit ors to personify, surpasses, we must own, our humble comprek Th, re is only one individual in the Home of Com mons whom bewilderment on the present on a-ion we should imagine to be still more complete and distre ss ill. And that is Mr. GLADSTONE. He has declared already that ho agrees with Mr. BOUVERI3: ; and, therefer., we are bound to presume that he will vote against him.: Unlike his wouldlia leader in tt is meter, he tat never fluctuated between the clear ani the mysified—the pl in speech of matter-of-fait and the dialeefe self-obscure:qua of a mediaeval sihool men. In an ungnordel moment he let fall, it is true, stmothi: g that would have pinned any other min to the reciprocity dictrire of shipp;rg. But that was an inadvertence. lie only th =t , g'rt it in passing. Either his convictions changed on the point immediately of or he only got a peep at them through au male ky chink in the wordy wall wherewith they are usually environed, and which it must now be the business of their inde fatigable keeper and con.erler to step up with the first rubbish that may lie at hand. As for Mr. GLADSTONE voting with Mr. BOt/VERIE tip n his own principle, the thing is out ef the Tres lion. Why, anybody could do that. The commonest leaguer, wing or Peelite, could take up a notion, and stick to it for a while. Even the poor protectionists, elways excepting Mr. DISRAELI, who is said to harbour notions on a very particular question impend ing, that will render him a dangerous rival to Mr. GLALSTONE—but even arty ()Milieu country gentle man could say, though indistinctly, what he though+, and Veen die rutin+ act up to it. But the representa tive of Oxibril University is above diatinetheas in anything. If he ever falls into it, his by a mere lapses I:ngue ; all flesh is frail, and he must not be held accountable to a law he repudiates. We have every confidence that the absurd amend ment of Mr. BOUVERIE will prove abortive, but we have no doubt whatever that Air. GLADSTONE Ow. a it to his own charre.or for incomprehensibility to vote against i: becouw we are sure that he agrees with it. WE see Itee profit or utility in the present day of phsiding the cave of rational rights of innking tieatiee ' or ss:ablishicg claims to liberty or indeptn denet! b y the plainest principles of ioterna.ional lace. That Hungary and Sicily are fully warranted in de manding and defending their old constitution by treaties and laws and coronation oaths, tanctioced and repeated through centuries, is too manifest to need th- support of argument. That Italy has a right to free itself from the German yoke is a troth that no special pleading of diplomacy can set aside. Genoa and Venice were free republics in the last century, robbed of their liberties by treachery and violence. Austria may plead the treaty of Vienna as her claim to Venice, whilst she must set aside the same treaty in her claim to Cracow. The sovere gas of Europe have in fact made and unmade and crushed treaties, just as it suited their advantage or caprice, and as their relative atreng h or weakness might permit. They have since 1814 bemoeked every law, and shown their contempt for every treaty and fr every right. We do esteem it therefore quite gratuitous, and an idle, however plausible, expenditure cf argument, to enter into a comparison of Russian deeds acd Polish grievances. Tne Times aeserts the divine right of the Sclavonians and the Crca's to mulct awl decimate the Lombards. That journal declares that RADETSKI exercised no penal vindictiveness against the chiefs of the Fallen insurrection, in only confiscating their pro perty ! It condemns the career of CHARLES ALBERT as the champion of Italian independence, because for sooth the house of &may obtained some territory by treaty last century. Why, who pretet.ds that CHARLES ALBERT is fighting for the house of SAVOY P He is the champion of Italian independence against German despotism and oppression. And the An-tria• s can never be other than despots and oppressors in Italy. To narrow such a question to one of princes and dy nuties is merely repeating the nonsense of our cowts of law, and deciding cases of life and death by the worth of form and quibble. 'the sensible public ought really to kick aside at the present day this special pleading of diplomacy, and demand to have plain questions stated in plain terms. For these reasons we c 'mot enter, with the anther of an able pamphlet just published,* into the rights of the Moldavian and Wallschiers to self-government and independence, and into the claims founded on diplomacy and intrigue by the Russians, as usual with them, to constrain the independence of those whom they protect, into a mere dependence •Ds Haulms in Moldavia end Wallee64. Midgwoh 1849. Mt the commandant of their frontier force. The rights of lloldavla and Wallachia ar, stranger than eves those of Hungary. Bat wha• power rcs,Asetr right in the present day? What military or despntio government erres one fig for trea ties, unless conclunel with a power able to defend and insist upon them ? If Russia has hitherto re @reed the DannWan principal►ties, it has done so, b•canre not only the moral force of England and Fiance wombed the Porte in its rights, but b. clue- Atudzia was also able and ea:tied to hold the same language. But The Austrian coat t,repudiated by the Germane, ee'ranged from i's people, even from the population of Vienne, beaten by the Hungarians, menaced by the %slims, and obliged to have recourse to Russia to man her fortresses, has, in reality, ceased to be a p twers, except for the purposes of domestic oppression. The young Emperor himself has aqumel the crown under Russian auspices, and performs the functions of , a Russian prefixt. In such a state of things the prin cipalities of the Danube are clearly at the mercy and at the feet of Russia. We may prcdest ; but would Lord DUDLEY &rerun. have us do more P We think it would be impolitic and vain. A great struggle is going on in Europe between the despotic and the democratic principles. The banners on bath ides are borne by first-rate powers—by France and by Prussia on one side, by Rasria and by Aurtria on the other : the fate of the lesser states and powr were will inevitably depend ea the remit of the stru4e between the great ones, a straggle which we d.exrib.d the ether Mar as one not nc•esearily of open war. On the result of that *toggle the fate of minor states will for some time depend. Notwithstand ing the trumpet of war, now sounding in North Italy, we doubt much the failure or the might of Italian arms being very dmisive one way or the other. Brave as are the Pielcoonte-e, we doubt the conclusiveness of their guns and bayonets. The Lombard, the Sicilian, the Danish, tae Hurgtrian was are all ep's Ides and side-play. And how much stutter they all attract attention for the moment, we cannot keep our eyes from turning in another direction to see, what say the great German peo?lo and the gnat French ptople to the rights, the f atoms, and the roue quences of this great struggle. It we do not think the G troika knot of the present difficulty likely to be cut either on the Po or the Theism, we are still less inclined to consider the ques tion of the Danubian princ'paht;el as ail-im portant. Russia may occupy these principalities., and organise them to her interests and tastes, cajoling and menacing by turns the government of Turkey. But any serious advet ca of Itusnia to the Balkan is at present, we thit.k, not to be feared. Russian anxiety and efforts are at present turned to wares the centre of Europe. The enemies which the Cz it has to combat are to be found in the German c our:s, assemblies, and armies. Nor will NICHOLAS tompllcate that question by any signal provocation of the maritime powers. If we mistake net, Russia makes every effort at present to sooth France and England, and to tranquill se their gorernm. rits in,teud of arousing and provoking them. Loed PALMERSTON'S kng oag indeed. bespeaks this. Imre td, then foe, of joining Lord DUDLEY STUART in his generous and , perhaps his natural ansielt for D.nuotun indepen dence, we rather confine our prayers to the wish that Pru•s a may be staunch, and the French, true in the ma ntenance of th se intern sts in which are bound up the cause of constitutional freedom and of national independence in Europe. Int Court. The Duchess rf Kent, attended by Baroness de Bpeth, arrived at Buckingham Palace, at h .it-pest one o'clock yesterday afternoon, from her resid.nce, Preget:lore House, Windier, and visited her Maj , sty and Prince Albert and the Queen of the Belgians. The It Duchess afterwards pre retdsd to Clarence Muse, St Jamie's. The Itlyal di: ner party y. eterday at Buckingham Pal inewled her M.j sty the Queen of the liOgian.. ' her ' It.. al Ilighnees the Dn . :he:Rd Kent, his Emelleney M. Van de Wryer, the Countese tha Duke of Wellington, the Baroncas de Spath. the Eel of Liverp3ol, the Earl and Contest Grey, Lard Byron, and .r Mocrkerke. Ilia Excellency le ammendeur Marquis Lisboa, II aailian Minister, presented Mr. John Logan Hook, Bra s lien Vies Caul at Sierra Leone, to the Queen at her ALjesty's levee on W. &medley in St. JSMeell Palace. Toe Miuqu's ut S . alfcrd had the huh( ur of dining with the Q.10:11 at Buckingham Pal.ee on Wednesday. Her Majesty's private hand was in attendtnce on Wedne-dly ev. wog, and pia) ed the following selection : overture, "Joseph" Selection, "St. Paul" Mendelsohn. Arvind° ar,d Minuetto annals (Nos March, 012,r0n Weber. On Tuted.y evening the taiceit's private band attended, and performed tae tollowiag pieces to Buckingham Palace : Overture. . La Domino Noir " Auber. Rena and Cdr.stion, "Dm Pampa!'" DmlaeOL reherzo Menlelsrohn. &keno°, "Oberon" Weber. The Earl of Clarendon had an interview with Lsrd John Ruses ll yesterday. Governer Sir George Anderson had an it.terview with Earl Grey yesterday, at the Col• ni d-other. The E elesiastical Commissionets for England had a gent r A meeting yea.arday. A deputation, consisting of Mr. Arbuthnot, Mr. ()reopen, Mr. Brll, M. Caristiar, Mr. tin.lal , ani Mr. G. Moffatt, M.P., had an itintiew with the Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday at his official residence in D.waing street. COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL. Yesterday a court was held fur tho disratch of public business. THE PROPOSED NEW PRISON. The report of the committee appointed on the 20ii March, 1946, " to co-operate with the Court of Aldermen, and to view and examine the eity prisons, and to report their opi nion whether tho re existed anynectosi y f r building • ne prison, or for enlarging or altering the existing prisons, with a view to carry into effect the improvements in prison disci? Inc which modern experience had suggested," was read at length. The report, referring to o former communi cation us the court, urging the penes i:y of a new pr s as, re commended that it should be erected on lands at liolloway belonging to the corporation, and stated that tenders had been received from 18 builders; upon cper:ing which, the lowest, that of Mr. William Trego, amountieg to 92,2901., hr.s been accepted, eubj ct to such modifications as the committee and the City's architect might suggest, with • view to reducing the amount. And that the City's architect and surveyor having . reported that in his opinion modi fi catioes might be made en the designs, by which a redurion might be efftc'ed, sees to bring down Mr. Trego's tender to 77,6551., thecommittee recommended that the court of common council shculd give them power to proceed with the building of the propesed ',llion at lb no way, and to draw upon the chamber for the sum required. The report was ultimately agreed to, but upon the distinct understanding that the money to be applied to the purpose of building the new prises should not exceed 80,0001. ST. STEPHEN'S, WALBROOK, AND MR. ALDERMAN OIBBS.—END OF THE DISPUTE. Yesterday a me.ting of the parishioners of St. Stephen's, Wa'brook, was held in the vestry-mom, for the purpose of nominating eight persons as trustees of the legal enure of the parish in the room of Mr. Alderman Gibbs. The Rev. Dr. Croly, the rector, presided. The Rev. CdAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, said the vestry had Leen called in pursuance of an order of the Lord Chancellor, who on the 20th of February lut had ordered the vinery to elect eight persons as parish trustees, in the room of Mr. Alderman Gibbe, who had been con demned to pay the costa in the long pendingsuit in Chancery. Mr. ROCK proposed the following list of gentlemen as trustees: The Rev. Dr. Croly, Mr. Roger Cunliffe, Mr. Benjamin Wilson, Mr. William G. Harrison, Mr. Edward Dewie, Mr. Jacob Unwin, Mr. Henry Rock, and Mr. Ben jamin Yeats,. The motion was carried stew. dis. Mr. CUNLIFFE moved the following: " That the cordial thanks of this meeting are due and are hereby offered to Mr. W. F. Rock, for his anxious and untiring devotedness to the interests of this parish in prosecuting, with success, the proceedings in the Court of Chancery, by which the parish estates are sliced in possession of, and under the control of the parishioners." Mr. WILSON seconded the motion. It was suggested that a more substantial return shoull be made to Mr. Rock for his services. He thought a silver cup. Dr. CROLY.—The parish cannot he cupped. She has already lost blood enough. (Laughter.) The resolution was then carried. Mr. ROCK returned thanks. In the course of his speech he said the 1,0001. which they had in hand would he thought be quite sufficient to repair the church. It was a well-known tact that the church was the chef el' mare of Sir Christopher Wren, and he (Mr. R.) had no doubt that Mr. Barry e could oat of resp Let to the great architect come down end give them the benefit of his great experience before theyre-dico rated the church, in order that they might not Injure the beauty of the style. Dr. CROLY said the chards at present was a disgrace to a protestant country. He agreei with Mr. Rock in all he had said, and he hoped that they should oon for the innate quietly and an peace with all persons in the parish. (Hear.) A vote of thanks to the rev. chairman then closed the pro ceeding. 3 THE AMERICAN OCEAN STEAMER HERMANN ar rived at Southamton from Bremenesterday morni. passage from on e port to the othe r occupi ed 48 hom ng e. Her A coloured .in, a fireman, lost Cis life during the voyage. It is supposed that he WWII have tainted and fallen under rotas part ol the 'moving mwhinely, whisk immediately crushed him to death. Tim Hermann leaves 8 mthamptott on the 28th for New York. ROBBERY ON THE SUSPRNBION Sense tints bask there appeared in your paper an aceuunt of a on rob e t:r y • similar natu ttia r: a seas the rrin n"" g to 2:l7 4 lsa lf3 t ull" rugh ali°6 t, thl iki ri ge it . my duty to inform the public of it, that attention might b directed to the uneustded rate iu which the bridge Is left. L:s*. night, about quarter to eleven ck, I was returning home from the Elephant and Castle, Newington Butts, and had prceeededabont 100 yards from the Surrey side of the Hungertord foot suspruei bride, as tar as the fret sup porter, when in (runt of me 1 noticed a respectable lookieg man and woman, arm in -arm, the a.an hasisg in his band a large walking stiek. I. welking fast , r then lhe. Passed Y and was instaotly felled to tho ground, caring out Inrily for satiate , ee, although the blew etnnne d me, recollection was I..ft for me to feel a hand thrust in my pocket; 171.83. in sil ver waa ab:trackti th.refrnm. M 1 gold repeater, fortunately, escaped their hands. I must ant forget to mention that ens paying the half-p noy at the toll, I saw nn poloeman on duty, sor do not net pert seeing say the length of the brdge. —A CONSTILLIT EVADER, 114, St. Martin's-lane, Cheering cram. FINANCIAL REFORM. ST. JAMES, CLERIEENWELL. • Last evening a very numerop ly attended vestry meeting of the rat cpayera of the shove parish took place in the vestry-reora of St. James'. Church, C'erkenwell.nreen, pursuant to a revisitien, to take into conaideratioa the 'pro pri-ty of petitioning the Howse of C =mons to adopt all ne cenery measure. for reducing tine burthens of the people, occssinned by heavy tassti,u and the wint of a fair repre senta•inn of the people. The following resolutions were "Mlto : , whereas the national expenditure ot 1935 has proved suffi cient to answer all the purposes of a to, y governmenr and to meet the ureewitiesof the country, then labaunng under the e ffects of lavish and unjust burdens ,to import unmet Ito) pensimia, siureures, mad pfl the tumorous eatakeus at other government c.Truptlons. this meating has to deplore the oonatantly.tnertncing amount of taxation, until It hue elseeded that enormous amount ta the extent of ten milLons per 0111111111 ; that tilt meting le, therefore, of opinion that pooh oppres sive exactions are OppOPPti to every principle of a wire and just go 'eminent, and denvoids the union of all classes, to endeavour, by all lawful means, to prevail upon the 'Lavine of Common. to effect such re citations in the estimates for the preecnt year as ncd ht ing the finan cial burdens of the people within the ammod exacted from them in the yew 1835. That while we tally appreciate the effort+ now %ring made bye large and influential number of our h bow-countrymen, to obt tin a oonsideruble reduction in the burthens or national taxation, wo feel satiated that evils are to be tracer) tow lash legialat'on, the effect of the present exclusivestate of the mdse.:sent/anon, and we therefore are of opinion to effect wally remedy tills state of things, so prejudicial to the Interacts of the people, that a jug end equal system of representation is necessary before pon d and cheap government, or honest legislation can be emend. 'Mat this mietbwe expresses a deep regret that the large and Impor tant borough of Flnabury should have la en for *0 long a period virtu allyunreprewnted in the cum:noes halm of parliament in conic quence of the absence wholly and partially of its two honourable re preventatives. Toe proceedings concluded by carry jog a petition to the House of Commons embracing /he f megoi , v resoluoinns, with thanks to the chairman, which having been briefly acknowledged, the vestry was. dirsel.ed. LIVERPOOL FINANCIAL REXORNI ASSOCIATION. The mcnthly meting of the Liverpool kexiation was held on %Vednoday, in the Concert.ltall. Mr. EDWARD BRODRIBB was called to the chair, and, in opening the burness of the meeting, alluded to an setack made by Mr. Fox Motile, in tie seat is tie Douse of Commons, on lklon.`ay °man, last, upon the as , ociation on the enbjce• of e lothing the army. He sap creed his opinion that Mr. Fox Mauls had not read No. 7 Tract of the arso dation ; and ho contended that, although the present system of clothing the soldier might have existe d fir 110 years, now that it wee Mond out to be a bud one, the sooner it wat changed the better. The a , ‘ elation now detour Ind to turn their attention to the leincipls of direct over indirtct taxation. Kr. J. H. STEWART read the report, which con gratulated the members and tennis of the assuria lion on the rapid progress of its principles and it-fluent* throughout the length and breadth of th e land. Toe accounts received from all quarters justify the council in the a.ausar so that a secure lodgment hoe been made in public opinion, which must ultimately issue in bringing about the imp..rtant objects they have In siew. The refusal of the liouse of Cemmons to entertain the proposal for • materialsy reduc. d upes,diture, affords only a fresh incentive to nue.. d end more vigorous I vet lions on the part of the associa•iosi. Having , for a time, cealt chiefly wish a pnr ion of the g vern.nent mid-administration. the varciation in now about to ois. n rip the great subject of direst taxation; hi iugoneol the m.•nuhjeve contemplated in its formation. In commencing 11 is branch of its opera tion*, the coned hate just issued . n sti , ,nl.l address, a copy u! which has been placed in the bends of every member of the House of Commons, Ethel sod to all the principal news p - pers throughout the hisiestour. They have also prepared the form of a petition to psi iarnsist, suggestive of to pies suitahls for the cotsidtrai•tn ut the reprtsentativee of the people. Mr. J. FINCH gave asketch of the use and progress of the association, as well as its transastsions during the time whit hit has been iu existence. 11 • concluded by ap,ealing to the 'wooing to elippott the anucisti n and recommend ing its claims upon the public fir support. Mr. F. 11011 LT pre. posed th adopti nof a petition to the pause of Commons. read the document, which was of considerable length, and st god : • • • That your petitioners have heard with alarm and dismay that your honourable house has decided not to adopt any large or essmprehro. sire measures , of retrenchment; that the reductions alluded to in her Majesty's speech at the opening of writ anent, to far as their nature hart been dirclosed, consist chiefly in the discharge of a number of private soldiers, I.OOOl'S mi MOP, a.tiloent, and clerks at small saLaties, misty of whom, there is mooch reason to fear, will, Is consequeuce, become chargeable to their parishes, while no corn responding reduction pruposd in the number of military and naval o gl e . is , or , with few csoeption.e, in the number and salaries of the many 'highly paid beside of commissioners, and other principal officers in the various civil departments: anti, that sinecures and unearned pensions, wine of them singly absorb mg more titan the ply of five hundred private soldiers or ra lore, are to be allowed to continue without abatement. That your fietitionere consider such retrenchmems unjust in principle and imams• in pihey, so calculated to pro lux e a large amount of irdividual suffering without proportion ate public good. That, in the judger of of your petitionere, the true temely consiqs In the removal of legal hindrances to the herd cm ployment of capital and labour, but top-Malty in the removal of those impale of customs and excise upon t ommoditiesof general use and consumption, whereby trade and m inufactui es are, to an incalculable event, practically prohibited, ur made wholly unprofitable to all con cerned. The meetiog wan afterwards Odressed by Mr. John Smith, of the Mercury, and Mr. Castles, and the petition war ca•ried by acclamation. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. TO THE EDITOU OP THE EXPRESS. Sin,—l quim as happy as your correspoh dent can be to find mystlt mistaken in the opinion I entertain that thera is r ally more mercy in execu ting criminals for the worst Cilfei of murder than in spar:ng their lives and subjecting them to transporta tion for life. My permute nis that your correspond ent is as far from the truth in his sentiments as he is erroneous in his fact.. The wretched convict Wicks never declined my ser vices, but was always thankful, although I spoke fre quently to him with much severity. That youth mentioned to me when the vi,its were int. rdicted of a young woman to whom be was attached, aid of whom he was told that she had been seen walking with another young man while he wns in prison, that had she been showed another vi-it he meant to hsve seined her by the throat, and with his teeth to have bitten throu.h her windpipe Woes assistance could have been afforded. He more than once expressed hie great regret that instead of killing his master he had not incurably wounded him, so that he might have been only trans ported for life. I was well aware of the opinion of Dr. Ford—but my sentiments are the result of my own observations, and I feel it just as much a duty to state what I feel on the subject of capital punishments, as I stated be fore the House of Lords two years ago whatthe result would be of not sendmg tranep rte abroad. Had you, sir, power to abolish the panis..ment of death for the worst cases of murder, in two or three years, Comm humanity would induce you as earnestly to come back to the present law, as the public voice is loud for send ing our convicts abroad. The presence of executed persons at previous exe cutions does not bear upon the point that there are many among the criminal population who are restrained from committing murder by the certain knowledge that they, if guilty, will b , put to death. I am no theorist, sir, but wish to be taught by facts— and however sad the result may he, I am afraid ex perience will prove that I am correct. Your obedient servant, Newgate, March 20, 1849. JOHN DAVIS. IRELAND. DUBLIN, MARCR 21. The Lord Liente ant leaves Kingstown early this morning for England, in her Majesty's packet the Banshee. His excellency will be about three weeks away. The Hon. Thomas Brown, brother to the Eirl of Kenmare, has been appointed lieutenant colonel of the Kerry militia, in place of the late respected Knight of Kerry. The officers of the Dublin gari.son bad private theatricals last night on an extensive scale is one of oar public theatres. A most numerous and fashion able audience was invited to witness the amateur acting, which was pretty fair. The Lord Chancellor finished his sittings yester day, having finished his list much sooner than was expected. "7 -