Star. — London, England, 1831-06-17 00:00:00

The catalogue of crimes and punishments would be sufficient to convey to every man a proof of the efficacy of the pro ceedings under this commission." Of the efficacy we have a vcry extraordinary ad mission—enough of itself to give sight to the stone blind - enough, we should think, to cause a reversal ,if the entire proceedings, and the adoption of ,onie course directly the contrary. Let us hear -mr candid and humane orator, who, be it remem ilored, still speaks as Attorney-General of Ireland : I•• It may not be improper for me to notice the effect pro loctd by these proceedings. lam free to confess that I 1 tem expected any immediate effect . ; but that time would be h:cessary to accomplish the object of the commission. The +habitual wickedness of this county, the long estrangement .i the people from the path of rectitude, propriety, and vir tue, made it impossible for Inc to believe that they could, hry any means, suddenly check themselves in their career, and become amended and reformed subjects of the -calm. lam not at all surprised to learn from unques -1 honable authority, that during the sitting of this corn. mission, murder has been perpetrated, outrages committed, houses thrown down, and that excesses go on with very little abatement, because it is to time, to reflection, to the rhmeniltrance of the heart-rending scenes we have wit nessed, aid of the sufferings and miseries introduced by crime into the country that I look for the effects of this :ommission." If reason and the printing press are ever to be of use, they formally contradict this pleading. If the scenes described would not deter by their im mediate effect—we frankly state, that time will rather obliterate than increase the warning of pu nishment. No ! This, "we fear, is a case beyond the terrors of punishment ; and we return to our , old points—THE C A USE !—THE REDRESS !—this is what human nature demands—this is the cure, the sole cure in such cases—worth all the racks, tortures, gibbets, convict-ships, crucifixes, or punishments ever invented. REDRESS, is the golden word to cure such criminals, and prevent the repetition of such crimes. Let us hear our amiable legal orator, for we never read a more effective forensic discourse : ~ I pass from this subject and come to the present condi tion of the county, the CAUSES of which it is important to investigate and ascertain. I merely advert to this that I may not be considered to have passed this topic unnoticed—sin tonnEcrlow or TIME CAUSES must take place else where—but this I will say, my impression is that the great cause of the misery and poverty of this county arises from t! , e injudicious management of property. In exercising that ;:ght over property, which man derives from the social compact of society, the landed proprietor should remember that, while for his own sake, he exercised it with discretion, yet, for the sake of his fellow-man, he should exercise it with humanity." (Loud applause.) Now, after reading this sentence,ls there a man, worthy to be so called, who will not drop a tear of pity over the victi m s o f suc h a system — over t h ose ' aho suffer by the letter of the law, because they were UN II EEDED Victims ? For what do we pay the Irish Government, Magistracy, local authori ties, and clergy, if none of them would condescend 1 to be the advocates of these poor people, and in struct the Government in their wrongs, before their ignorance, their sufferings and their natural pas si,ns led them to take the law into their own ' hands ? But these having failed in duty, and the Administration and Parliament being ignorant of the wrongs so pathetically, and, we doubt not, so justly described by this eloquent minister of the laws—on whom ought the sword of Justice to fall? —are there not as guilty as those who have been ecnvicted—and is it not a case, the strongest upon record, for royal clemency to the legal sufferers, and for immediate ENQUIRY and effectual RE ' DRESS ? Nothing can be more able and eloquent than the above description of the wrongs, and the title I to remedy : as a questi on , t h ere f ore , o f j ust i ce an d i humanity, we leave the case of these 88 convicts to the consideration of this enlightened nation. Land being the natural inheritance of all men, and by convention a mere grant from the Crown, for the common benefit of the King's subjects, does not, proof of abuse, incur forfeiture by the laws of Nature and Society ? Is not this the real question and remedy pointed out by the ATTORNEY-GENE RA L ; and if no other consideration will restrain the cupidity of landlords, ought not some examples to be promptly made, and, if necessary, a law passed, to determine right and wrong ? ,_______ ROYAL EXCHANGE, ONE O'CLOCK. The French Funds have receded one-half per cent. since the last prices, in consequence of which our Funds, which left off yesterday at 82 1 83 for the Account, opened at 82 i, and at present may be quoted 82 i i. In the Foreign Market nothing doing as yet. Mr. Rothschild still continues indisposed. TWO O'CLOCK. Consols have been fluctuating during the morn ing from 821 to 83k, for the Account : at present they are 83 to I. In the Foreign Market, Brazil Stock is lower. THREE O'CLOCK. STOCK EXCHANOE.•Bank Stock, 1991 9 81. Three per Cent. Red, 811 2. Three t er Ct. row. shut. Three and a Half per Cent. 1816, 89j 1. Three and a Half per Ct. Red. 891 f. Three and a Half per Cent. New, shut. Four per Ct. 1826, 881 j. Long Annuities, Jan. 1260, 16 13.16. Annuities, Oct. 1859, 16 13-16. India Stock, —. • ditto Bonds, par 2 pr em . £lOOO E xc h equer 13111 s, 12 11 ; £5OO ditto, • £lOO and X2OO ditto. 13 12; Advertised, 10 11. Corht.olsfor Account, 82j / I 31. The topic of conversation in the City this morn ing, entirely relates to the affairs of Belgium, and the restless state of the French ; it is still the general opinion, that Prince Leopold will soon de. part for Brussels. Accounts from Memel state, that the Polish in surgents of Lithuania are assembling in very great force on the frontier, and are making an attempt t.) drive the Russians out of Polangen, with an in. te.ntion of obtaining possession of the sea coast. It is supposed that Diebitsch is going to unite with the corps of Generals Rudiger and Roth, in the palatinate of Lublin ; and afterwards to pass the ' Vistula at Pulaway. The cholera morbus has made It+ appearance in the government of Grodno, and the recruiting of the Russian army in that district b 43 been suspended. SPIRIT OF THE JOUR:V.4LS. TIMES.—We beg to invite the public attention to a de. claration against the Reform Bill, signed by certain parties in the county of Stafford, which has been advertised in the columns of some contemporary journals. Of the force and effect of such declarations, we have had a pretty fair exam ple in those two or th ree count i es i n which they had been gotten up before the recent dissolution. Id all those in stances what followed ? Why this: that in spite of the flourishing display of titled, clerical, and other high-sound ing names, their potency vanished, either in the contests that ensued, or in the general acclamations amidst which the members who had been their champions were, without con. tests, driven from the field, wherever they were indiscreet enough to offs to offer to the public a renewal of their ser vices. So much for the value of such declarations in ge neral, when weighed against the public voice. HERALD.—We always considered the entire im partiality, shown to the press of the Metropolis, and re linquishment of that paltry favouritism, which have before existed in the public offices, to be one of the great merits of the Duke of Wellington's Administration. The Courier, who, it is well known, long ago, felt cut on the occasion, has been adducing this independence of the press as a fault to the late Administration. In the Herald we find the following manly and correct observation on the subject:—ln every sta. don of society it is in a man's own power to make himself respectable ;—but the writer in the Cottrier:greatly nifinakes what constitutes respectability if he supposes that its " out ward and visible sign" is an acknowledge fitness for what he calls the half-educated, fop-civilived, people of high life." Dr. Franklin, we suspect, wanted in his day that teat of respecta bility ; lie was a printer by trade, a patriot by principle, and the glorious sins of a f'ree Press, struggling for the improvement and liberties of his countrymen against the oppressive Stn. totes and menacing bayonets of the oligarchy of England, lay heavy on his name ; but his masculine virtue was strong enough to bear the burden, sod, if the " vulgar great" of this day did not court his society, neither did tie court theirs. Ile worked the great engine of opinion to their discomfiture. Their memories have perished, or have been preserved on the page of history only to be despised ; while his name is, and ever will be, associated w ith the imperish. able recollections of the triumphs of knowledge and virtue over ignorance and oppression. Swift, and Addison, and Steele, and Johnson and Goldsmith, and many other writers of distinguished name, were contributors to the periodical press in their day, and none of those persons ever thought himself peculiarly honoured by being asked into the com pany; of the " half:educated, fop-civilized, people of high life." They certainly never would have regarded exclusion from such society as a grievance, or have thought themselves degraded by not being placed upon a level with such persons. It is true those were men of ge nius; but it is not want of genius, but want of integrity and worth in those who are connec:ed with it, that can ever make the Press contemptible. If the Press ever becomes slavish to power and forgetful of principle, it may be warmly patronized but it cannot be respected, by those who make use of its services. The idolaters of mere power, rank, or wealth, may complain of not being held in very high consideration by the lofty personages whose smiles they propitiate by the incense of servile adulation ; but they divest themselves of all the dignity which the manly sense of independence confers, and are treated accordingly. The purest government which it is possible to establish in the world could not make the Press more respectable than it can make itself,—nor could the worst sink it in the estimation of the public without its own co operation.—Venality—grossness of taste—traffic in private scandal—scurrility of language--a weathercock versatility of principle —may bring the press into contempt ; but if con ducted so as to instruct and improve mankind, and to realize the proper objects of a " great engine of moral power," it may despise the efforts of any oligarchy to degrade it. Their influence may be great, but there is no authority connected with prejudice or ignorance that can loos resist the power of enlightened opinion. POST.—The question, what will the Housed Lords do upon the subject of Reform, meets us in every quarter; it is the leading topic of conversation and of argument in every societ7 and in every corner of the land. The answer to this quesuon cannot surely be difficult or hasardous, at least in the esthr.ation of those who believe with us, that the Peerage of England, as a body, will do what it ought to do. There is, we have not the least doubt, a compl e te conviction in the minds of 999 men out of every 1000 of those who are perpetually asking the question, that a large majority of the British Peerage are, upon principle, decidedly averse to any violent change in the institutions of the State. If this be so, the question would appear in this very large ma. jority of instances to amount to nothin g leas than a direct insult to the House of Peers. The House of Lords are averse to any great change in the institutions of the country. Such a change is threatened. What course then can the House of Lords pursue, in the judgment of any man who does not believe their Lordships to be the proper objects of insult and contempt, but to proclaim their aversion to violent change—to avow it distinctly, to their Sovereign and their country, on the very first day of their deliberations ? It is not the duty of the House of Lords to pronounce a premature judgment upon any arses. sure. It is not their duty to approve or to condemn, by anticipation, this, that, or the other bill, which they may expect to Se sent up to them from the other House of Par. liament ; but it is plainly their duty, in the circumstances of the present day, if they are sincerely and conscientiously averse to any sweeping and radical change of the Constitu don of England, to put an end at once to the possibility of misapprehension or mistake as to their sentiments, by de claring, in their address to the King, at the commencement of the Session, that they hold any change of this description to be unnecasary, dangerous, and pernicious. HERALD.--We sincerely trust the Belgian Minister will continue in the firm tone he hitherto held, and that the bravery and nationality of the Belgians will shortly receive the reward of their perseverance. An arrangement, which thus saves Belgian honour, whilst it contrives to adhere to the main requisitions of the Protocols, is a happy middle course, and we hope that it will prove as stable as it for the present looks unobjectionable. Their Majesties entertained the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland, the Princess Augusta, and a select party, at dinner, on Wednesday evening, at St. James's Palace. The Duchess of Cumberland and the Duke of Gloucester visited their Majesties yesterday, and partook of a dejeune with the Queen. Her Majesty, accompanied by the Duchess of Saxe Weimar, took an airing in the after. noon, and visited the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Sophia at Kensington Palace. In the evening the Land. gravine of Hesse Homburg, the Duke and Duchess of Cum. berland, the Duchess of Cambridge, the Princess Augusta, and Earl Grey, dined with the King and Queen. Prince Leopold gave a grand dinner last evening, at Marlborough House, to the Deputation from Belgium. The Duchess of Cambridge, accompanied by Prince George, and the Princess Augusta of Cambridge, paid visits, yesterday, to the Duchess of Kent, the Duchess of Cumberland, and the Princess Augusta, at their respec tive residences. Prince Leopold had an interview with Viscount Palmerston yesterday afternoon, at the Foreign-Office.-- Prince Talleyrand and others of the Foreign Ambassadors and Ministers had afterwards a conference with the Noble Viscount. Earl Grey entertained the Cabinet Ministers at dinner on Wednesday evening, at his residence in Downing. street. Lord John Russell, to whom a seat In the Cabinet has recently been assigned, dined with the Ministers. Lord Ponsonby had long interviews both with Earl Grey and Viscount Palmerston on Wednesday. The Belgic Deputation had a conference yester day with Viscount Palmerston. An extraordinary courier arrived yesterday fore noon, at the residence of the Russian Embassy. The des. patches were immediately forwarded to Prince Lieven, at Richmond. Lord Palmerston gives a grand diplomatic dinner party to-day, at which, we believe, the Deputation from Belgium will be present. A Jew from Strasburg has written to the princi pd horse-dealers, that he has undertaken to perchase for the French Government 5,000 hones, and that he expects to obtain them at the old rate of prices before the former pur chases were interrupted. The Kling of Denmark has forwarded, through his Ambassador, a donation of 1001. to the Salmon's Floating Hospital. Messrs. Devaux and Nothonel, the Belgian ne gotiators, with the 10 dcties who accompanied them,dined yesterday with the Prince Leopold. Lord Ponsonby was also present. It was understood that some definitive me. rangement of the Belgian question would be made before the party broke up. LITERATURE. Fraser's Mapasine.—Jena. Originality has daily increasing charms; and in the pre sent period of literature, and when what is termed civiliza tion is constantly polishing men into one form, we may say great merit. It is really not a little surprising, considering the constant demand for the produce of genius, that so fair a sheaf as that which is here brought before us, should be every munch ready for the devouring multitude of readers., This is an excellent number, and proves Regina in good plight, notwithstanding the terrors of Reform and broken windows. The second article, on the " National Song of Ireland," is a curious and pleasing paper. Poetry or music, which becomes rutile,:4Z or popular—as It is termed—always possesses beauty of the first order—that which is consonant to the inherent sympathies of human nature. We have in this article some pleasing specimens. We regret to perceive a drop of blood has accidentally escaped from the pen of the author. In prefacing a beautiful ballad, to commemorate the death of William Orr, one of the unfortunate men executed a few years back in Ireland, for their opinions, the writer, although expressing ignorance of the facts, says, he feels satisfied he was " justly hanged at a rchel." Now, we hold he could not be justly hanged but as a murderer. One remark, often made, is denied in this paper, that there is no National Music peculiarly English ;" and, as the author is to favour us with a continuation of his inger.ious disqulsi- Con, we should suggest a little further illustration on this in teresting point. We wish he.could specify some old English tunes. The third article is an able Critique on the Poetry of Wordsworth. We next recommend the remarks on God. win's " Thoughts on 3lan." in which will be found some profound researches. The Life of Campomanes is an interesting memoir of a great character. Towards the conclusion of the work are several most acute essays on the great question of the day ; viz. Reform, and Its probable consequences. With the author's tenors on this subject we cannot participate.—The Consequences of the Reform Bill are here specified to be—lst, The extinction of the Protes tant church in Ireland. 2dly, The loss of Ireland. 3dly, Emancipation of the negroes. 4thly, Loss of the colonies. 6thly, Reduction of interest of the national debt. 6thly,l Abolition of tithes, and appropriation of church revenues. Mthly, A call on the nation for supplies in the name of Be. nevolences. oth, The Treasury unable to meet its demands. 9th, National insolvency. 10th, The aroxin. 11th, A Provisional Government. 12th, —_— NEW BEER TRADE. The Committee appointed at the former meeting of this meritorious class of traders, last evening brought their labours to a close, by dressing into firm a series of bye. laws, to be submitted to a meeting of the whole trade on Thursday next, the place and hour to be advertised in the STAR and other London papers. Much animated dis. cuuion arose on the reading of certain unwarrantable attacks on this newly erected set of Traders, in the Sun of yesterday, the Herald of Monday, and one or two other daily prints, to which some individuals of the Committee had replied—it seems—in the same columns. Resolutions were thee entered into for the purpose of presenting petitions to parliament, and other measures for the consolidation of a permanent society of Licensed Retailers of Beer. Sir Anthony Carlisle's letter on the cholera war bus, in another part of our paper, will be read with the respect due to his high reputation. The College of Physicians are a mere close corporation. AMERICAN LAW.—Ex-Sheriff Parkins being imposed upon at an hotel, and then robbed by a swindler, mine host, with puritan conscience, sued Parkins for the swindler's reckoning! The Eng lishman kicked the officer who served him with process, and thereby so offend e d Me law, that he was held in durance for 20 days, and what is no discredit to him was made to pay the insolent demand. In the starving counties, potatoes are, it seems, but 2d. a-stone of 141 b. yet the absentee landlords, tithe collectors, and tax gatherers, have so com pletely drained the district of money, that the people have not 2d. to feed their families. The Irish Reports describe the starving popula tion as 15,000 in number. This, with the wretched supply of 4d. per day, wou ld b e 60,000 pence, or 2,5001. Now all the subscriptions do not amount to quite 2,0001. or sufficient for 8 days, at only 4d. a day ; and wo have heard of the famine for two or three months. Surely it was the duty of Go vernment not only to advance 50,0001. but to have prohibited the export of provisions from Ireland.— Ile public demand, with one voice, a liberal sys tem of Irish Poor Laws. ORIGIN OF BIBLE SOCIETIES.—.When Messrs. Pitt and Dundas rewarded the noted John Reeves I for his political services in the Crown and Anchor Association, by giving him a share of the King's Printer's Patent, Reeves not being initiated in the mysteries of printing, sold his interest to his part-' ners for 30,0001. but reserved to himself the right of printing Bibles in whi c h th e y saw no a d van - , ' tage. Reeves then, with his usual tact, started the idea of Bible Societies, and by a forced sale of his Bibles, &c. through the east amounts of pious subscriptions realised an immense fortune. He pur sued the same course in them as in his political as sociation, having first established the parent so ciety, he then covered the country with branch societies, and by these means and indefatigable perseverance sold millions of his Bibles, &c. at a: respectable profit, and without himself publicly appearing. We are requested by the proprietor of the Stam ford News and Stamford Champion, to positively j contradict a paragraph which was copied from one of those papers, which stated that the Rev. Mr. I Shield, of Preston, in Rutland, with another cler gyman, had been aiding and abetting in a cockfight, and to state, so far as regarded the Reverend Mr. Shield, that that gentleman is in no way favorable to such cruel and unclerical amusement. The pa ragraph was inserted on authority which turns out to be utterly worthless. The Courier says, " We have great plesure in being able to state, from authority, that the story about the sale of swans by our Government to Russia is wholly without foundation." Our readers will perceive that this is no contradiction of the re port to which we alluded. That report did not charge the Government with selling arms to Russia, but with supplying our gun-manufacturers with arms from the Tower to send to Russia. The words em ployed were as follow :—" It has bean announced that our gun manufacturers, 'with the consent of the Government—for they could not do it without —have engaged to supply the Russians with two hundred thousand muskets, and that a part of these muskets have been actually supplied from the Tower." What we want to know is, whether our gun-manufacturers have been allowed to export arms to Russia ? and whether, if so , any of those arms were taken from the Tower.- Herald. COMMON COUNCIL. A Court of Conrtmcm Council was held yesterday for the dispatch of public business. Mr. Pzaasow presented a petition from Mr. Michael Solomon. a Member of the Jewish nation, praying to be admitted to the Freedom of the City, with which the Court complied, and directed the Chamberlain to admit him ac cordingly. It wos referred to the Committee for General Purposes to consider and report as to the necessity of the Members of the Court taking the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy yearly, in addition to the oaths they took upon their elections. On a Report from the London Bridgo Committee, the Court directed the payment of some monies Into, the Bank, for premises purchased for the approache s to th e new Bridge. The Chamberlain presented his account of arrears of rent, &c. to Christmas last, and the Comptroller presented his annual charge upon the Chamberlain, which were severally ordered to be printed. Seieral Petitions fcr Leases were presetted and referred for examination. Upon the motion of Mr. Deputy O LDHAM , th e sum o f I five hundred pounds was directed to be subscribed by the' Chamberlain, in the natte of the Court, towards the relief of the distressed Irish. Mr. Deputy OLDHAM, the Chairman of the Royal En.' tertainment Committee, presented a Report for payment of sundry small expenses incurred in the recent preparations for fitting up the Guildhall, which was agreed to. Mr. JUDAS Jacoss, another Member of the Jewish Nation, was, upon his petition, ordered to be admitt e d to the freedom of this City. The Court then proceeded to consider a Report from the London Bridge Committee, on their proceedings in carrying into execution the Acts of Parliament for building the new Bridge, and making the Approaches, when Mr. 'Thornhill, after a speech of considerable length, concluded by moving a Resolution for the Rentcmbrancer to lay before the Court the Resolutions passed by Committees of the House of Com mons, on the 4th May, 1829, and the 17th March, 1830,0 n Petitions from the inhabitants of Bridge Watt!, to be al lowed compensation, that they may be entered upon the Journals, and also be printed in the Minutes, and sent to several Members of the Court. The Moion was agreed to without opposition, and the Court then broke up. ROYAL NAVY SCHOOL Yesterday the adjourned meeting of the Naval Officers, for the purpose of taking into consideration the best means of carrying into execution the plan for establishing a Royal Navy School, for the education of the sons of naval and ma. rine officers, was held at the Thatched House Tavern, S.. James's; Sir H. BLACKWOOD, Vice-Admiral, in the chair. The meeting was most respectably attended, there being several of the most distinguished officers in the navy present, and there is no doubt that the attendance would have been still more numerous had there not been a mistake in the ad. vertisement appointing the day of meeting. The CHAIIIMAN said that the first duty which he had to perform was, to inform the meeting that he had transmitted to Sir James Graham the resolution passed at the last meet iug, expressive of their most grateful thanks to his Majesty for having graciouly condescended to become the patron of the intended institution, and he should now read the follow. ing reply, which he had received from the First Lord of th e Admiralty, acknowledging that communication. " Admiralty, June 15. "St a—l shall have the greatest pleasure in conveying to his Majesty the vote of thanks adopted at a meeting of naval officers, noblemen, and gentlemen suembled yesterday at the Thatched House, for his Majesty's gracious condescension in consenting to become the patron of the Royal Navy School. I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, your obedient servant, " J. R. GRA HA Vice-Admiral the Hon. Sir H. Blackwood." He should now read the resolutions which would be pro. posed for the adoption of the meeting on this occasion. They were to the following effect :—" That this meeting was highly gratified by the report which had been read by Commander Dickson at the former meeting, on the 14th instant, and at the amount of subscriptions (nearly 1,0001.) which had been collected there on that occasion ; that what had taken place at that meeting offered a happy amen of the future exc.. tions which would be node in furtherance of this project, and constituted an earnest of the seal and liberality with which the proposed school would be supported by the service of the country; that a committee for ascertaining the propriety of establishing a naval school, for boarding and educating 200 pupils, the sons of naval and marine officers, be appointed, and that the following noblemen and gentlemen (e list comprised a great number of naval officers from admirals downwards) be requested to act upon that committee, seven to be a quorum ; that the said committee meet for the above. named purpose every Monday and Friday for the next four weeks, and that a general meeting be ailed for Thursday, the 4th of July, to receive the report of the committee, or, if it should not then be ready, at the earliest possible day after the committee should have terminated their labours. Having read the resolutions, the gallant Chairman pro ceeded to state that the subscriptions received at the last meeting were— Donations - 4340 0 0 Amount of Shares - GOO 0 0 Annual subscription same day . M 10 0 Total - - 991 10 0 Amount of ►hares previously taken . 1,304 0 0 Previous donations - - . 430 0 0 Brand total subscribed - f 2,925 10 0 This, he observed, was the amount already received, and there could be no doubt that when the projict became more generally known, the sum required for its complete success would be very soon obtained. He begged to sta:e that there was another resolution to this diet—that all expenses aisles out of the attendance of the Committee should be defrayed out of the general fund subscribed. At the former meeting he had stated to them that Captain Dickson would riot take anything for the expenses which he had already incorred,and , which must have been considerable (applause) but all fu use I expenditure should be defrayed out of the general fund. The gallant chairman pledged himself to watch narrowly over that expenditure. Captain Diexsox then read the list of donations and sub scriptions, and announced that the number of members for the establishmen of the Royal Navy School already amount. ed to 334. He was quite confident, he said, that all the officers in the service would exert themselves for the promotion of such an ohjec. The object of the proposed institution was the education of the sons of poor, not of rich men, ' and the more it became known, the more he was cer. tain it would receive the countenance and support of the service. He was glad to be able to state, that yesterday, after the publication of the proceedings of the former meet. ing in the papers, one general and unanimous feeling was evinced among the very highest members of the profession to second the objects of that meeting. (Loud cheers.) — He had no doubt that that feeding would soon ensure them success. He was furthermore certain, that when their proceedings should be published in the naval papers, contributions would pour in from all portions of the service. The seamen in Deal had already met to cotribute, and a meeting for the purpose had been called at Plymouth, at which that distinguished officer, itesr.Admiral Sir Jahletl Brenton, whose devotion to the cause of education of seamen was well known, had consented to preside. The object of the proposed institution was the education of the sons of the poor man, who at present was obliged to go about in obscu rity in his own country, or to become an exile in foreign lands. The object of the institution was to provide educa tion for the sons of such a man in their own country, where they might be brought up in reverence of those institutions which had made England the greatest nation on the face of the earth. The resolutions were then put serialist, and carritli. Captain SZIP4IY, re erring to the scale of annual sub scriptions, and the minimums qualifying subscribers to be come members, thought that it was nut fairly or equitably distributed : be therefore proposed, that after the present year the minimums of annual subscriptions fmm the different portions of the service should be one day's half-pay from each officer of the various respective ranks in the service. After a few words from Captain Dicssox the proposition was adopted. Captain SoUNAKEZ proposed, that in future no officer below the rank of Admiral or Vice-Admiral should be ap pointed on the committee rot managing the affairs of the in stitution, who was not married, or who was not a parent; but as the suggestion did not meet with the approbation of the meeting, it *ea dropped. It was then determined that the framing of the laws and regulations for the government of the institution should be left to the committee, which bad been already appointed, and after thanks bed been voted to the Chairman, the meet ing adjourned. ALLEGED MURDER AT SEA. Yesterday, a partial investleation took place before .Ir. Ballantine, at the Thames Police Office, touchi6g the de.tt4 of a seaman, named Thomas Elliott, who is alleged to have been murdered on-board one of the lion. Company's ships, in January, 1823, by being confined in a small spirit room on the orlop deck. witzre he was suffocated for the want of air, the third and fourth cffirers, who ordered him into icons, forbidding any one to assist him. The enquiry originated with Mr. Chales James Bassell, saloon-keeper of the Royal Pavilion Theatre, who went out as seaman, and one of the band in the sh'p, and who stated that, ou Monday, the 10th of January, 1825. the deceased, for some t fferce, was seized by tl'e two officers, who thrust him down the after-hatchway, called for the gunner to put him in irons, and then shut hint up in the spirit.rcom, not more ti an IS feet square. Another sailor, named Edward sPAllister, on remarking that it was a sham.. to use his ship• mate in that manner, was served in the san.e way. The door of the spirit-mom was then closet', and tLe hatches put over the opening which led to it, and a tarpaulin placed over the whole, preventing the admission of air. Tice meu were confined all night, and their cries for water and the admis sion of air were described by Russell to be most dreadful ; but tho third and fourth officers refused to let them have any assistance. and in the morning, at six o'clock, cne of them was brought out quite dead, and the other, M•Allister, w:.t. so exh :tested, that the witness received him In his arms, and he cried I:kc a child. The body of the deceased, after being dissected, was consigned to the deep. Russell underwent a long cross-examination by a Solicitor, who attended on behalf of the accused gentlemen, cite of whom haw la•ely gore out to China as Commander of a:, East Ind;aman, and the witness alleged, as his reason fur not coming forward before, was, that he never met with any of the crew until within the last few weeks, when h., saw thou at the Theatre. He distinctly swore that the men woe ironed together, and were unable to use their hands to get at the spirits, and had no instruments to bore Cie casks. t ,Thomas Roberts, the gunner of the ship, said he bad a eery impelfect reculh ction of the affair, but remen:bet a putting the min in irons, by the orders of the third ai.d four: officers, hut they were in confinement from the :el...me:ay until the Thursday nier..ing, when he was ordered to °pea the door of the spirit-room, but the smell of the men and the spi rits was so strong, that it quite overpowered him, and he eras compelled to retreat. He attended the men with their meals while they were in irons. One of the prisoners was quite dead, and the other in a very bad state wh.n brought out.— The wins seemed very reluctant to say much about the affedr, as, from his ignorance of the law, he considered he might be implicated in the transaction. Mr. BALLANTINI observed that the statement of the ' gunner, and his reluctance to give evidence, only excited a graatet suspicion in his mind that the deceased had been unf..irly dealt with; and it was due to the officers impli cated, and to the seamen in the merchant service, who were interested in this investigation, that the truth and the whole truth should be told. Roberts declared that lie hid no wash to conceal a single fact; but after the lapse of so many pars, he could not bring the circumstances of the affair to his recollection. William Youlton, the sail-maker, sa'd the men were put in irons for drunkenness, and he thought it was after dinner on the 3londay when they were confined, and were not libe rated until the Thursday, when Elliott was brought out ap parently suffocated. He never heard them singing oat for water, and if they had, he must have heard them, as his bertn was near the spirit-room. The ha cites were closed, and the tarpaulin placed over ir. Mt.BALLmerms enquired of the %foetus if it was usual to confine the men in the spirit-room ? The witnesses !Aid they never knew an instance of any of the crew being confined in the spirlt-ronn, chher befcre or after this transaction. It was not tl le usual place of con finement. Na.haniel Grant, Esq. who was surgeon of the ship in 1825, stated that he recollec.ed the circumstance of the de. ceased being brought out of the spirit-zoom. The body was scarcely cold. On the posl sesor:en examination of the corpse the stomach smelt of spirits, and the blood-vessels of the head were much distended. Believes that the conclusion he came to at the time was, that the deceased died from apo plexy, brought on by excessive drinking. He only spoke from memory, and might be misteten, but his medical journal, in the poi-session of the East India C,mpany, would explain the whole citeutr.stances of the man's death. Mr. BALLANTINI asked if a man who ha 'I been confined from the Monday to the Thursday, without tasting any li quor during that time, was likely to melt with his d.atli from the spirits he had drank previous to his being placed in irons. Blr. Grant replied, most certainly not, bat his impr s.ion at the time was, that the man had recast access to large quan tities of spirits. Mr. BALLANOINIC : If he was without liquor for three days, would behave died from apoplexy ? Mr. Grant: No. But his previous habits of excessive drinking would have predisposed him to I. Mr. BALIANSDIX referred to the kg..b.mli, which men. tioncd that the deceased was placid in irons on the 10th. for drunkenness and disobedience of orders; but on the 11th and 12th, no mention was made of him. On the 13th, the log-book says, Found Elliott in a state of apoph xy, and the surgeon is of opinion that it was brought on by excessive drinking. Mr. Grant said he did not write the kg. but he might have given that opinion to the officers. He heard that a cask had been broached, but did cot go into the epirit.room to ascertain that fact. Buasell was recalled, and said he never heard of a cask being broached, when the prisoners were 'ought out. In fact, from the manner in which they were ironed, they could not have done so. Captain T. a retired Commander of the Hnnouroble East India Company's Service, said he was in cammald of the ship daring the voyage, but was ashore at Canton alien the ' transaction occurred, and could not say any thing boon his own knowledge. He was absent from the 9th to the 10 h of January, and when he returned, heard that Elliott hod been confined in the spirit-room, and had died of apoplexy, brought on by excessive drinking. The vitit-roum 1 , 11. A not the usual place of confinement, and row braid of a man being confined there at any ethic time. The catty in the It g.book of the man's death was in the hand• writit:g of Beveridge, the pu►ser, and was riga' d by the chi, I officer. I Roberts and Youlton were questioned if they knew any thing of the deceased or his fellow-prisoner ruing at the spirits during their confinement, and they replied that they bad no reculfecticm of their having done so. 11.issell said it was impossible the men could have got at the spirits, as. from the manner in which they were confined, they could not use their hands. Mr. BALLANTINZ inquired if sPAllister, the man who was confined with the deceased, had been found. Russell replied that he had never seen him since the day the ship was paid off at the Irdie House, in 1825, and he was taken away on the pay-day. Mr. A. Mitchell, a surveyor of the Thames Police, said he had made every effort t o discover 11P Allister, but without succe-s, as no one knew anything of him, or where he lived. The third officer was now hi command of an But Irdiaman, on her voyage to China, and the ether gentleman who had succatled to the tommard of the ship in which the transac tion took place, had lately returned to England, and was then present. Mr. BeeLawn* said it would be necessary to have the medical journal of the surgeon, Dr. Grant, before he could proceed any further in die investigation, and in the mean time the officer would no doubt be able to bring forward others of the crew who witnessed the occurrence, and some of whom had probably a better recollection of the affair than either of the witnesses who had been examined. A Solicitor, who attended on the part of Capt. —, one of the secured gentlemen, mid his client was exceedingly anxious for this enquiry to be brought to a close, as he should be enabled to show the the deceased had not come unfairly by his death, and he hoped that, under all the cir. cumstanas, as one side only bad been heard, that the Bench would prevent the publication of the names of the accused gentlemen. rho could be materially injured, if their names transpired while such a charge wu barging over them. Mr. BALLANTITIF. said he had neither the power nor the disposition to prevent the publication of anything which transpired in that,Office ; but as this was only a preliminary investigation, to ascertain it he sho u ld be justified in orderin g the only one of the accused panics who was in England into custody, or to declare him free from blame, be bad no doubt the good feeling which characterised the conductors of the public Journals, would dispose them to omit the names of the gentlemen charged with having unfairly caused the death of the seaman, until the investigation was ended- The parties then retired, aftertuiving revived* order to hold themselves in readiness to attend again, when celled upon. The enquiry excited great interest. *el the Office was crowded with Captains and Officers in the East Lelia Com pany's UMW. II I I I . 1 i i k (_r I 1