The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1826-09-29 00:00:00

I LETTER THE FOURTH F Rom TJ t lIAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF STAMPS, TO THE RIGHT 110 N. T. WALLACE. dispel-t 1 of the accusation rept-ding the i r .;l:t I'M-office, which had been shap;vl with so much .tr. 3 131 pt up with su much privity. I can now pro_ a 1,1;m: undivided attention, to the tab): that Ilea Ibefure me The orcr-cogo roles, to criminate shines out, as I have b:fi r i m:liked, so glaringly in your Reports, as to liave i ; „r e ee I 3 vo ry general 1,e.i.-f that the motivt s %vhich ex :,d is sere oioen to distrust. Yoni have !Iwo* If shown,— ki sill appear by try last Letter,—that this belief was well •:-reled. Icm wish fur no better or more conclusive Pof than is furnisluol Ly the Ito ports themselves. They b,Ar evidence of your iiiteitipetate and keen p ursuit of one t are page ; but, fortunat:ily, your efforts have failed , k f , ff a bring to o viaiblc overwroo4ot ; and l am mode to owe ,orntr cxcer; of zeal an adviortage I nevi should have ob- 1:.c , l from your sense of jttstice. I shall prooeol to notice in detail the farther imputations : ,,ruined in y.nlr Reports, and the charges which, by im ,., :!it,a, aut.,: fit ports Fe,l to establish against me. I will i 1.. ., them in their order; and, when I shall have so dune, I !sill not content myself nit!! a, king for my acquittal; no, ill., I uill take my stain! in 111,:ther ground. I will put it to l'arlismeno anti to the Country to decide which has meat ci.etiedy discharged his duty to the public—l ou. as l :;AIRMAN of the Itiora of Inquiry, or I, as CHAIRMAN of 1!;: Board of Stamps. Putting this point in issue, we will to trial. I take your consent for granted, because. with 6: case so favourably put, you can hardly be supporti eta r to 'decline the appeal, or to ektuttr to the juris- I:car that 11.11a11 be dawn into seme length ; but I 7 .;0t coma indulgence. I will contrive to be as brief as I able. In an English Public I have a generous and en- Jut y. 1 4ey will be patient with me. - 114rtit first with remarking the anxiety with which l'olimient--wwwil to its honour—has clulcavuured to o.4.ainEt all undue bias on the part of the individuals uriai.Al to the high trust reposed iu them by this Cum r:•noN OF Revs:Nes Ixor . For tl c more Oft ctually insuring the equitable and un r:,,istliorl discharge of their de y, the Act unthr which 314:ein:ed imposes the following oath upon each atni,sioner respectively 1..1. 11., wear that sih fsi hfully, impartially. and u ;.".1 - g to ttic b pt of my still and judgment, cx , vote the several 3id tfl:•1% vested in itie by an Act made in the cond year '•; King (hinge the Fourli, iiiiittileil •An Act to aft fot inquiting into the Collection end :11ainige. . ~t he Revenue,' &c. according to the true tenor and purport Act.—So help me, God !" I: is impossible for me not to pawn here fora moment, to ask, how the attempt publicly to brand my mane ::1, ignominy by insinuations unsay unfounded—which not even the shadow of any thing like support—and s:. 1 , , in my third Letter, I so completely and convincingly this attempt, I say (which so wofully :..:.-!) C3ll lx n corroded with that .fiiitltful, iripartial, and arge of your duty, from which you have sworn F.0,1' to ? This offers a wide !tope for observation, but I have no loo.re to iursue it. In the menu time, I keep this oath siuf it purport steadily before me; because, in the inquiry el.lch 1 am now conducting, the references which I shall lure to n ske to it, a. 1 pcocerti, reader it of Use turncoat *twice. I turn now to your Report, and I shall begin at ;be Ont:ing yrevious t t merirg upon our examinations ccmectal . vicb Ilergnue of the camps in England, a ehad been intorined that r.rdetable difficulties were exi.erienced in carrying on the usual tfa.ll ottinucication between your Lordships at:o the Commis of itamps; that great delays bail taken place io the tran, of hosiness. and nr:^h incunreniance had heels sustained ty LiepOlic."—ldtli Rep. p. d. • Now it was, manifestly, most essential that the Commis . uo:rs of Revenue Inquiry, who had awl rn to fulfil the mist reposed in them " faithfully, impartially, and truly," Ilea I enter ill on it with minds perfectly utt warped ; that Ley should give no car to any rumours which might give tiwirjnelgment an undue bias; but that they should come elcir task of investigation perfectly unprejudiced, and s:ii: no inclination to turn from the onward course of jos s e:.l.cr to the right hand or to the kft. But we have melt r their hands—we have it on their own unre. :br:ing confession—that they had, each in his own path of het, .sy, imbue I their minds Lefurehand with those pre the result of which are even hue put on ream], ado to operate with all the effect of a positive and char;, , e. They state that, peerions/i to rattriag spun ;nation, they had Let. re i• L brateel—but they do ,t say when, bow, or by whom—that the accustomed communica:ion between the Commissioners of and their Lordships had been interrupted—that • , !../q.ir were experienced in the manairement of sa,l rtue4 iscoAvenienee sustained by the public; and t, • :rituitous animadversions are sent forth to the world, a to produce their effect, while no evidence is arta ,.; Adduced that sustains them. , . i.e rt..port thus proceeds:— r:ry imfortmaii , ra elan, relating to this giro HE Ito senfitrukrgid, is:titre:Owe 11J 10 Me •Ili pasaNAToneat--an lorpressto d which our own °buc k,. r-mse of the commanicaions that we found it neces. •,. heard. preliminary to our detailed inquiry, In the Appendix we have enucert; the Copy 1,-m? . 1.1•:un we deenscil it neet &eery to address to the Ilcard, '‹: • , aiTcl the wisluctioo of certain accounts, by no means e, , ctipthat, for a hich we had at th.kt time •.. ...:Iningh accounts of 4 similar Latina had beta tat no in a lesa n ttttt ber of we. k, from et her departments, me•uied. our ctioi.itions had been dinned. ". *-13111 Rep: p. G. 4.i. dirt of that emfametrabid isaressiox thus avowedly rrerious to entering on the exercise of their func .is most strikingly exemplified in this their prclivii - procevding. It denotes in a marked mann: r the • t of hostility which the Reports evince throughout. .;oily this, it is necessary to go into the folLuing par :War;, which ought in justice to have been staLtl, but :yell the Report bas omitted. T:10 Act of Parliament (I and 2 Gm. IV.) under which fi Coonniesion of Revenue Inquiry is instituted em mers the Commissioners to require the production of any vds, books, papers, writings, or documents, relating to s•i;ject matter of their inquiry; and if the !knows sum .; to appear before them shall wilfully neglect to pro . suzli books, writings, or documents, touching or con- rilin g any matter or thing which the said Commissioners I :l9ulry are, by this Act, authorizA to inquire into, it is Jett.il dna— nen, nod in every such ease, It shal nod no y be lawful Its '"d for th e sa id Com in i- st on e r s o f I nquiry, or my mice of tato), d •11. 1 . are h er eby a t ithorisi d a nd empowered to make and //vv.. . t , t. JII owl er warrants, um; ..r diet& kinds and sys.s, or under !• • •• , .s and seals of any three of thcni, for to,',iiis: and apprc. and bringing before them any such person or persons; and' , • ~ id Commissioners shit!! deem it necessary fur the tine:nal tr:atio d of Cie purposes of this Act, it shall be lawful for the said "Pst!ssoloners, or any three of than, by like warrant under their , •' d , and stals, to comtat any such person or persons, so !nought , ' I, *? , c htft.ire !hem, to sad, prism,' as the said emomis , itoters of 'y, or any three of them, shall :Ma. ft; thereto rroodu,soilli. I mil UP Mine '? Ili?, until Stitt 1;e: wt; or penults shall submit to be examined touching and concerning all matters and things neces sary fi r the execution of the posan given by thi% Act, or to make sueh production of such accounts, returns, records, books, papers, Oceds. writings, or documents, its aforesaid, u the case m. .y re. (111;;C... The power here granted is very great—it is a power, which, if applied in the spirit of hostility, is obviously opal& of king abused to purposes which it is fearful to contemplate. The Legislature, in its wisdom, m;„ let pot, sibly foresee some occasion on which its application might be called for; but it was clearly meant to be employed mily in the last resort, and under circumstances—hardly to contemplated—of such wilful and obstinate resistance ai jiistitital its necessity. The following is a copy of their letter above rerarral to by the Commissioners of Inquiry, addressed by their Secretary to the Commissioners of Stamps. It is dated from Edinburgh, where they then were, and before they had as yet commenced their inqui rias at Somerset-house. " Office of Revenue Inquiry. Edinburgh, 28th net. 1824. " Gentlemen—l am dircemel by the Parliamentary Commission. Mot' Revenue Inquiry to toter yeu to my letter of the Pith of January last, enel- sing a schedule of accounts required by the Cemnitseinners, with as little delay as practicable, in reference to their inquiry into the Stamp Department : and also to my letter et the .21101.1 ii n e t i ,r, referring to the above, and desiring that the secouma in question might be forth w ith t ransm i tte d ; end I am to express to you the surprise and dissatisfaction of the Contriission. ere at the rontinticti delay of these accounts ' unprecedented in any department t o w hi c h th e i r i nqu i r i es have hitherto extended. It is the commend of the Commissioners that this delay may be forth. with explained; and it the accounts be not transmitted witlamt ,far/tier delay, WARRANTS WILL DE IS3CED TO ENFORCE THEIR DELIVERY. "I have, &r. (Signed) " J. S. REYNOLDS. " To the Commissioners of Stamps. London." A letter, bearing a menace so degrading, was never be fore addressed to any Board of Revenue in this kingdom since Revenue Ber.rds had existence. It was natural to suppose that only the most perverse and refractory disre gard of their application for the accounts referred to could have drawn forth such a letter; and to this conclusion it was intended that Parliament and the pubic should be led ; for, while the letter itself is inserted at the very outset of the Report, the answer to it, which contains a satisfactory and respectful explanation of the cause of the imputed delay, i.. sorpessed ! Is this, again, consistent a ith the oath enjoined by Parliament, and which the Com missioners of Inquiry have respectively sworn, that they " will faithfully, baps: tidily, and truly, according to the best of their skill and judgment, execute the trust reposed iu them ?" The following is the answer which was forwarded on the net ipt of the above letter:— " Stamp Of ice, London, Nov. I, 11 1 24. " SIR—In answer to your letter ot, the 2.lltit ultimo, I ant di. meted by the Commissioners to acquaint you, for the information of the Porliamet.taty Commissioners of Revenue Itiquiry, that they 'egret the enclosed accounts have not been earlier forwarded, but the delay did not arise front any intentional neglect. The fact is, that sonic misapprehension appears to have arisen, on the part of the eert hay, as to the necessity of forwarding them after it was known ha h• (ontmi•sirmers of inquiry were gone to the Nut th, instead of in tinning their ingutry i n to the state or the Staotp-ollice in L atinn, as it was expected they would do. and for which it loos th sight tfic.c do , tintettfy re i it,larled. The greater part of them Lave been ready since July last, before which time they could not Le completed. The Board greatly regret that such a misapprehen sion should hare arisen, as the papers l'orwartled by to-day's post m:ght have been transmitted, and would have been, had they not been thus reserved till the inquiry I. 4: place in London. This cir. cutiostane t, hat it been understood, would have made it necessary to rr, rare them with as little delay as practicable. • Mr. happen, the Secretary, was ultligetl, about ten days ago. to 'cave London !Ur Hastings. fot the recovery of hie health ; and e e is tine document, being the second article required. which is (: e supposing it not to be wanted) locked up in his private drawer, a- d which, had be been here. would have accompanied these; but :he I'oa•d have written to him to return to London, which, if the state of his health .dish t his undertaking the journey, he will im. mediately do, when the remaining document wilt be forthwith transuaitted. " I sin, Sir, your moat obedient huiublesercan " WILL/A3I WARb, Pro Sec. " J. S. ReynoWs, Esq." On what principle of common justice could the Con,- mission( ra of Inquiry justify the suppression of this answer, while they introduce their own extraordinary letter into their Report, and make it the ground of such invidious and uncalled-for animadversion? The letter itself, for warded by the Commissioners while at Edinburgh, suf ficiently denoted, ht fore-hand, the disposition with which they would enter on 'lair office of Inquiry when they tame to London. Setting aside, for a moment, the indignity pas std upon the Conunissioners of Stamps by this threat, that, if the accounts were not issued will.mt further delays, warrants o•:•a1.! I,e irstied aga;nst thcm—passing on, I say, from this imperious and arbitrary threat, there is one passage in their letter which thscrvei; particular remark. It is the following : " And I am to express to you the vurprice and ditivatiiiNction of the Ceinerh.vioners at the rentinued delay of these acco , dita. unpre cedented in any dein:rine:it to which their inquizies have hitherto extended." The Commissioners, be it remembered, were at this moment sitting in the Stemp-rSice, Edinhurgh. They must have had before them all that frightful system of fraud and mismainezement detail,d in my correspondence with Mr. B:ndley ! They must have had within their knowledge, not merely the dehr . tie of Mr. Bremner, the Solic:tor of Stamps in Scotland, to produce his ac counts, or to reply to the endless applications of the Board for them, but his absolutely persisting to with hold his accounts altogether, and treating their applica tions with the most deliberate disregard! And yet, when the Secretary in Englend is found to be open—though un intentionally, and in a single in:dance—to a charge of delay in forwarding a mere document of ofnce, the Commis sioners publicly denounce the of as being. in its kind, " tinprere. dented in any department to 14 , ir inquiries hoer hither to extended." Add to this, that the whole detail of abuses which / had ulrredy brought to /iArld, and to whieli the Commissioners had every doe to investigation which ray prreines inquirie s and R e p or t a ff o rd e d, hive not only been hitherto kept back from the eye of Parliament and of the public, but the Comtnissioncts have taken—as I will show hereafter—every pains to shelter them, and— with enormous less to the Revenue—they arc upheld by Scotch influence to this hour. There are no RoronT:4 to which the public attach greater weight, or whi.:ll they tee:lye with greater reve rence, than Reports proceeding from a PA arrA NIARY COM`.:iSSION OP IN:WIRY. This feeling is most pro per;—it is a feeling which lies at the foundation of that respect which ought ever to exist towards whatever ema nates from so high and estimabie an authority—from an authority del,i,ated by the highest tri'ounal known to this kingdom, end which is a , sumed to have been in trusted to individuals who, from their known whalom and tried integrity, were peculiarly fitted for so arduous and hemourabk a trust. The persons so appointed have not only their own reputation to support, by the faithful, upright, unbiassed manner in which they discharge the duty Unposed upon them, but they have—what is of infi nitely greater moment—the character of Government to sustain. It behoves them to take especial care that they do not, by perverting the power dm confided to them, bring these into discredit who placed that power in their hands. Parliament itself is made to lose much of that strong bohl which it has, and deserves to have, upon the minds of the country, if, in any instance, the persons whom it selects as Com MIS..SION ens of REVENUE INIZIAILY should be found to have 30 inverted their authority as to put down the rtfirmer of the abases instead of the abuse, and to up hold a system fraught with ruin to that Revenue, which it was their express duty to rescue, es promptly as possible, from such pernicious and flagrant mismanagement. I subscribe myself, Sir, Your most obedient servant, Stamp.OfFee, Somerset-home, JAMES SEMWICK. • Sept. IX, 182 G. • . THE PItESS. ,---,,--- •,-,4-;- - - - e . .._-,-.., ir...... .1 111P. e2k ljr , t-r.... , ••••':: •\7 -..:- • ..Z. : " , :. :. \-::.--. .:;% . e . t;i:::•.i _.--. C r - ;,?L;?k,..g.....,..,-,..._ .- .1 6 i:l° Atis 4, ;4l o .. y . ' ' - 'J. ,' ' .';: z> .•.l%) * .. ~T-7 1.. t... .. - .--t,: wak...„ - ..-,---.......,,,.. ), .v 1 • 1,. i , 1.„, t .„....., : :.„, i,e--.0 ,-,-.....y.ij--221"---1....4 MOVE M E NTS. Prince and Princess litven and farnily left town yesterday for Bellevill House. Brighton. The Cod and Countess of Sefton have arrived at their seat, Crux teth Ila!1, near Liverpool. from a tour. The Yarl of Sandwich left town yesterday for Eton. The Earl anti Countesit of Weinyss have left their seat in Scot land. on a tour. The Earl and Countess of Dards - it-1;e have arrived at their seat, Tittinhanger Ifs!!, Derr:, from Wimpole Hall. Cambridgeshire. The Earl and Couples!. of Darnley have arrived at Sandgate, from their seat. Cobham Hall, Kent.- Mrs. Nexhitt has l e ft Sir Hobert llrownrtgg, twat, Minton Holm. Monmouth,. fur E. Sneyd, s, sett , Byrkley Lodge, near Lief:Mitt. :Mr. and Alm Ti 3 OITIVI \Volker and fitmib.. arrived yesterday at Joni m'a (fwd. St. James'a.atreet, from their seat in Norfolk. Thomas Page, H.q. attired yesterday at Fenton's New Hotel, St. Jamts's.street. from hit neat in Surrey. Departures from ditto: Captain Sautin, for Ringwood, Hants; and Captain Johnson, for Witklsor. Arritais at Ellis's Mack St. Jamcs's.streitt t—Count St. Priest. from a tour ; A. F. Reynolds, Esq. ditto. T. Yard, Esq. has left ditto 14 Brighton. Atrivals st Alivart's Hotel, Lower Brook.atreet :—Count Fla- Itault and Lady Keith and family, from Scotland; Mr. and Mrs. Furren and family, froin a tour; Mrs. Smith. ditto. flepatures from ditto:—The Dowager Contacts of Mansfield and Lady M ur. ray, for their seat at Richmond ; Mrs. Ross and family on a tour. Arrivals at Kirkham's Hotel, I Brook street t—John Cory. ton. Elul., and tom front iftwaßie ',e,Plymouth; Captain Cotton and Captain Hill, hum a tour. Mr. sad Mrs. Fordyce and family have left ditto tor their atm in :•ic+aland. DRURY-L4NE THEATRE. The performances at this theatre last night were, The llieinis, A Dub h Fair, and Joh* Brown ; and the novelty of the evening was a Mr. Burke, from the Dublin theatre, in the character of Sir tacius O'Trigger, in Sheridan's admirable comedy. The delmtunt appears to be well ac quainted with the business of the stage, and when we have said that, we have said all that our critical justice will allow us to say in his favour. His reception was the coldest, for a first appearance, we ever recollect to have witnessed; and nothing occurred in the course of the !performance to take off the chilling effect of the in troduction. Mr. Burke made no points, and his brogue was by no means rich, although just arrived from the place where it ought to havestrengthened most luxuriantly. Mr Lucius probably is a dangerous part for a candidate for public favour to appear in. A London audience has fresh in its re-collection Jack .Tolinstone's inimitable acting in the part, and that is an unfavourable circumstance to any other person who attempts it. His rich brogue; the national pecu liarities of character which he so completely made his own— (for no one could see Johnstone in Sir Lucius without being convinced that, in the whole catalogue of Irish eccentrici ties, there was not one that did not belong to him)—made him at once the Irish Baronet that Sheridan drew. But, after making every allowance for this unfavourable circum stance, we still consider Mr. Burke's as a very mediocre perfortnance ; and we are the more inclined to believe that lie is not likely to add to his fame in a second attempt, should lie be induced to make it, because we did not wit ness any of the minimise hone of a debut. Dowton's Sir Authouy Absolute was every thing we could wish. Harley was very good in Acres, after he got rid of that execrable that dress. Mr. Bennett's Freak/and was deep tragedy; why does he whine in that dismal manner? Mrs. Davi son's Julia was admirable.; and Mrs. Harlowe's Mrs. Mafoprip convinces us that she will very soon equal Mrs. Davenport in these sort of c har ac t ers . M rs . 11 .IV eSe s Lydia Languish was very lackadaisical indeed. But, undtr existing circumstances, we will say no more on that suliject : at any other time we should not have let this lady off so easily. The house was full at half-price. LIBERTY OF THE PRESS IN FRANCE. A question of tromr titteftlt ta the "French rue his lately been decided in the Coat Royale of Lyons. M. Baron, a man of letters, residing in that city, produced upon the stage there a comedy in three acts, entitled Le 31nri sans Femme. The pieee was damned; and the .Journal du Commerce of Lyons thus expresses itself with respect to this dramatic failure:—." The public has pushed its vengeance.even to cruelty in insisting on the name of the author being given up to expiatory hisses: he wisely pre fers preserving his incognito. In the mean time it has been whispered in the saloon that this is the production of the purchasers of the 7obletter LNonnaites, and that they mean shortly to exhibit their wit in a new journal. Truly their debut is one of marvellous bad augury." M. Baron, on this , writes thus to the Editor :— " The comedy of Mai Ana Femme has hut one author, myself. I may perhaps require some courage to confess this, considering its fate, but I owe it to truth so declare, since you assign me fellow-labourers in the composition, and designate dient as the nurehe.ers of the rablrla.s Lyounaises, that your assertion is false. I require you to correct this account in your next number, other. wise I shall take such proceedings against you as the law directs. (Signed) "THE AUTHOR OP rilaut SANS FEMME." The editor takes no notice of this requisition, which circumstance produces a second letter, enclosing a copy of the first, re-demanding its insertion, and concluding, " As for the low invectives and foolish personalities you have indulged in, they are worthy of you, and it would be un worthy of tree were I to treat them otherwise than with si knee and contempt." The editor, M. Galois, still declin ing to notice his communications, M. Baron cited him be fore the Correctional Tribunal, whith gave the following sentence " The Court, considering Opt M. Galois, the proprietor of the Journal dti commerce, had refused to insert the answer of the Sieur Baron after two requisitions made according to law, find that the said M. Galois has acted in contravention of the II th article of the law of the 25th of March, ISW, whirl' provides that the pro- prietors and editors of every journal, or other periodical paper, shall be compelled to insert, within three days from its reception, or in their next number, should that not be published till after the expiration of three days, the reply of every person named or noticed in their journal or peri o dical work, under a penalty of not less than fifty, nor exceeding one hundred francs; the Court therefore condemns M. Galois in the sum of fifty francs and costs." From ibis ju Igment Galois mitred an appeal to the Cour Royale, and contended by his counsel that the action was altogether of a frivolous nature; that the Editor hail only chimed in with the public voice as far as regarded the con ch rimed comedy ; that the law of thel:ith March, 1822, was merely Li tended to repress defamation, not to grant a license of impunity to datnuell authors ; thst the paper had dealt no very heavy blotti upon the work of M c Baron; it had not pro nounced his comedy detestable, or said that he had inherited the name alone and not the wit of his namesake; still less that lie might tmt become a man of bosses fintwees at the Court of Thalia. had this paper, one of some weight in the re public of letters, no right to notice M. Baron's productions? M. Baron has written a bad comedy: the ridiculous conies properly within the province of the critic. " What would become of a journalist, or his undertaking," said M. the Duke de Broglio in the Chamber of Peers during the dis cussion of this law of the 25th March, 1822, " if every day he were obliged to insert a reply, which would per haps take up all his columns, from every actor or author who might wish to insert his apology to the public?" So M. Baron, having been only noticed in the Jour nal du com merce in his literary capacity, hail no right to demand any insertion of his answer, and the Tribunal had made a wrong application of the law in question. On the other side it was argued, that by hie retusal the editor had made lthn self amenable to the Art, inasmuch as that from the word ing of the law it was not necessary that defamation should he joined to the other offence. The law recogni se d t h e right of reply to a ll egat i o ns even of an Innocent nature, and this intention of the enactment was evident from the addi tion which it contained of the words " without prejudice to any other pains and penalties." And lastly, that M. Baron had demanded the contradiction of an aslettion which might have been injurious to him. He was not one of the purchasers of the Tabh lies Lyonnires ; if lie had been, he would have been liable to a penalty of 3000 francs to be paid to M. Galoia, in consequence of a stipulated agreonent between them. Even ttlblly, the Court confirmed the judgment of the Lower Tribunal, in opposition to the opinion of M. Rienssee,•the AttonatoGlneral• MILTON'S LATIN LETTERS. nAttst.ATtott OFFICIA,L LETTER OF AI IbTON, WHILE LATIN S Et; tt ETA It 1"II) t 110 11 L To the most Serene Prince Leopold, Archduke of Austria, Gave/. nor of the Spanieh Netherlands. ffnisoon as we were *pp:iced—not without a moat adieus corn. plaint—that Jars Puckermg, an heiress of a distinguished and opu lent faintly, while yet &minor, under the care of guardians, was forcibly taken from the hands and fond care of her attendants, not far from the bonne where she then resided, at Greenwich, and was suddenly carried tuff to Fl orders, on board a vessel prepared for the purpose, by the treachery of one Walsh, who, in defiance of laws both human and divine, planned all manner of schemes, even to putting her in fear of her life, that he might compel the wealthy young lady to marry him, we resolved at once to counteract this equally atrocious as unheard-of rillsny, 111,(1 bare authorized err tam persons to treat with the Governors of Newport and Ostend (fur the unhappy captive wes said to havebeen landed at one or 612 other of those places), in order to rescue her from his hands. Both individuals, front their remarkable humanity and love of virtue. readily assisted the young lady thus hell in bondage and carried off front hsr home by robbery. But, to avoid the violence el the rut. liana who took her away, she was placed in a nunnery it were in pledge). Walsh, however. striving to get her out of it, has com menced an action in th e E cc l es i ast i ca l Covert of the Bishop of Ypres, on a untended matriontrial contract between him and her. Now, as both parties are natives of our country, as the crime has been committed within our jurisdiction (a fatt which sworn wit. nesses can sufficiently prove), and as the splendid fortune, which alone the criminal evidently gapes after, lift, within cur dominion, we think that the cognizance. ea well as the decision of this tans:, must belong solely to us. het the fellow who represents himself* as the husband come over to this country. Let him colonic:ace his suit here • here let him dem and that the lady whom he calls his wife should he delivered up to him. Meanwhile we earnestly re. quest of your Highness that which we have already frclef-ntly sought through our 31u:timer at Brussels—namely, that, so far as lies in your power, you would ails an afflicted and ill-treated young burn of worthy parents, but pirated trout her native land, to return home with freedom and safety. ft is not only we thatnak this of putt. prepared an we are, upon any occasion, to do a similar favour and ktndnets to your Highness; but humanity itself, at d the very abhorrence of infamy which ought to characterize good men in defending the honour and chastity of the sex, would unitedly and urgently demand it at your hands. Westminster, March 28, ltkin. TO rile EDITOR OP TILE MORNING HERA :r Strt—ln your paper of this morning I observe my name has Leen most shamefully used by a party of the Sudbury Freemen. rend ng in London, and I cannot help t.xprinoing my surprise that you should lend yourself to any set of men. In Bending forth to the world libels, to the injury of individuals, without giving yourself the trouble to ascertain whether they aye true or not. Thrugh a humble individual, I will not allow you, or the worthy non-re sident electors of Sudbury, to defame me with impunity= there fore, unless vcu forthwith contradict the statement in your paper of to.day, the whole of which, as regard!: myself, is as gross as it is false, I will immediately commence an action against you. I ani, Sir, your most obedient servant, Tokenliouse.yard, Sept. 27. GEOIWE SCORE. We can fed little surprise at the indignation of Mr. Score at. the total absence of gentlemanly feeling which Characterises the management of the Paper which has caused his irritation. The Editor of the 1119rning Herald appears to have run a-muck with all his contempo raries, whom en masse, ha charges with supporting th e bubbles whic h have caused such distress throughout the kingdom ; and not satisfied with accusing them, he Insists upon ft that they were interested parties, and actuated in doing so by fraudulent intentioais. It happens rather un fortunately for him, that in every one of Iris assertions as to the shard held by Reporters, he was grossly in error, although, even if correct, we can hardly see what the Pro prietors of a newspaper, or the public either, have to do with the manner in which any class of Kentletnen choose to Invest them money. If he believe what he writes, what ever want of intellect his effusions might betray, we could forgive him; but when we see him challenge a Morning Paper with giving a report calculated to favotir a particular party or projector of a public company if -latid when he al leges that that Paper has upon its establiAment a Arporter holding shares in that Company (thus inferring that the partial report was given for interested purposes)—and when we know that that same Editor knew that the re. port in question was not sent to the riper allud e d to by any ft porter upon its establishment, we cannot acoid ex pressing our indignation at such an attempt to impress tapen the public at. belied' in that which the writer hirnaelf knew loa Wm. .. - . MURDERS IN FRANCE. A shocking event tonic place at Paris on the 11th instant. The woman Bendraud, whose husband had let a small garden to one Bonnet, bad at differ4nt tim es pr ovo k e d hi s tenatst by gathering the flowers as she. pa sse d. H e h a d siveMl dines threatened her on this account; but on the day in question the unfortunate woman, having had the imprudence to cut a flower in the presence of Bounet, he instantly ran into the house, fetched his gun, and return ing, shot the poor woman dead at a distance of ten paces only. He immediately absconded. CoenT OF Anuses OF CRATEAUROUX.—..LOIIis and Etienne Brault were brought before the Court, accused of the murder of the widow Pigekt, a poor infirm old lady, who lived in a lone house at the extremity of the village of Lavernelle ; she bad two daughters, one of them mar- ried to one of the prisoners, Brault, anti the other residing also in the same village, some distance off. It was known that the widow Pieelet possessed about eight or t e n thou sand francs in gold and silver. Her grand-daughter, Marie Brault, aged seven, usually slept with her grandmamtna, and was almost entirely brought up by her. Some time be fore the murder it was arranged that she should sleep aline, under pretence that it was unhealthy to sleep with an old woman. On the 15th July the little thing came running, and crying'out that grandmamma was dead. She was found stretched on her bed, her head terribly fractured ; an enormous fire-dog hail beets removed from the grate, and being found covered with bl o od, was unques ti ona bly t he in strument with which the fatal deed was performed. The trunks and drawers had been opened and ransacked, her keys had been taken from her pocket, and part of them Rom under some linen where she was accustomed to hide them. The assassins effected their entrance by mesas of a hole made in the oven, the wall of which communicated with a field. Suspicions at first alighted upon some fellows of bad reputation in the village, and at length upon Louis Brault, son-in-law to the victim, and Etienne Brault,. his nephew • they wer e both co rn -d ea l ers , an d a f ter t h e event were observed to deal more largely than before. Louis Brault had been seen, the morning the murder was committed, on a bridge near Laveruelle. Suspicions were heightened against &lame Brault, by his wife having been heard to exclaim, "We are all lost!" His mother had been heard to say, " he has threatened, and done much worse; but he is my son, I must spare him." On his examination, he stated, that on the night of the mu r d er h e wen t to b e ] at nine o'clock, and rose at four the next morning; but witnesses proved that he had been seen in the streets at 11 at night; his servant also had made use of expressions which tended to implicate his master; among others, one day, his horse having fallen into a quagmire, he exclaimed, " well, lie and rot if you will, the crowns of widow Pigelet will buy another in your place." This servant, named Mari, was arrested, and on his examination a 1,000 franc note was found upon him ; he was not, however, included in the act of accusation. After a patient invcstigaticn that lasted three days, the prisoners were acquitted. The President then addressed them to the following effect:— " Etienne Brault, numerous witnesses have deposed against you. You are about to be set at liberty, to return to your ,tome; let no spirit of vengeance prevail. Endea vour that no complaint be henceforth made against you ; think that, sooner or later, justice will discover the guilty. Louis Brault, justice absolves you. We must think )ou innocent, but remember that there is a justice which can not be deceived. Descend to the bottom of your heart and conscience ; if you are guilty, behold what an example you have given to this infant : You are free; retire." On the sth Ult. M. Voisin, a notary's clerk, was found dead in the forest of La Londe, a few feet from the high road; he bail been shot through with a ball ; a pistol was found near the body ; hi■ hat was plated before him ; his horse was found feeding in the wood. The report was at first circulated that be had committed suicide, but his belt, which was faund at some distance cut in pieces, left no doubt but he had been assassinated. Three persons were arrested, namely, Jean Deguet, Jean Heurtaux, and his wife, on suspicion of being concerned, and they arc to be tried in a short time. We understand that Mr. Charles Egan, professor of the harp to her Royal Highness the Princess Atwasut, has re tun ed EoBland, to resume his professional s. RT. PATRICK ASSURANCE COMPANY: An adjourned Meeting of the Shareholders of this OHM pasty took place on Saturday last, in Dublin, for the pot / . pose of receiving the Report of the Committee eppointed to investigate the affairs of the Company, when, after very stormy dilacuision, a further adjournment took_ plate M ol to Saturday next,.. the 34th instant. Af ter the eetin was over, ten of the Directors tendered their resignations. `Chat ti can it be possible that these teh gentlemen can ets pect, by the mere form of resigning, to escape the heavy responsibility which attaches t 4 them? i o, no; let then: not lay such flattering unction to their souls, for this act of theirs comes too late. ft is quite cleat., from the special Act of Parliament obtained for the regulation of the unite of this Company, that the Shareholders are collectively - 04 individually responsible to the event of the &posed capital of the Company, and n ap aztioti Will lie against one and all who, in the mad spirit Of speculation, have Involved theme selves in this anti other. Institutions sittrilarly.replated t whether by Act of Parliorisent or Deed of Settlement. There is a sum of about Mono/. ter/lathing of the funds of this CCmpany, against which Is to be placed no lest than 1,000,0001. sterling of risks, indeilendent of outatanding averagei and other known claims. The liabilities to which the shareholders in general are thus expifted cannot be contemplated without the most painful feeling of commie seratien ; and happy will it be for other Companies if they will take warning by the disclostwe which is made in this instance. Doubtless the example here set by resignation of Directors may be attempted to be followed in other Ins stitutions, when their general reiponSibility lit otanage. meat, 113 well as their personal liabilities, threaten them whit tl!nger ; it is impossible, hoseever, that either law or eqt_ity can sanction such sprocutsking : fhe one thousand an4 one bubbles wilt Welt folly and cupidity amused John flull art daily bursting! let thesti who wish to avoid a similar fate st ones bring pursiits to a conclusion that can never lOd o prof t. The evil day may be put off, but it must come at last ; and theonly way is to hack out with present lass rather than proceed {Often the consequences must be ruinous. The awful responsibt. lity which pressct upon thole Who have the direlt o l e Lf Public Companies c a nn o t b e t o o soon u nd er i too d. may hope, in the event of failure, to find a loop-hole cut at which to effect their escape ; but the honourably-minded man will never allow himself such an altittnative, The delay of s day may be ruinous tb indithinals, and involve the commercial Character of the country ; let, therefore, an immediate suspension of business be the consequence —let the Directors boldly meet present difficulties, ratter than pruce d in the profligate consolation that chance may efli:ct that Which reason teThs us can never take place. ALLEG;I6 TOR TU.IiE THR RI CIIMO.XD PENITENTIARY, DUBLIN. itlld!t A I'ItIVATE LEiTZIO DUBLIN, Sap?. Whilst the Etoile is labouring hard to persuade its readers that a Protestant inquisition, supported by the Government, exists in Ireland, in which racks, iron helmets, thumb• crews, ind such other instruments of torture, are in daily use, to transmute Pipi:lts into sound Protestants; and, ott the other hand, while the London Journals, and a portion of the Irish Press, which thow nothing at all of the mat ter, effect to laugh at the folly of such iMputetions against the liberality of the age, it reiiy not be entirely uninterest ing to gitie you true information cn the subjects . I must first tell You that the Richmond Penitentiary is a .State Triton, established under a special Act of Parliament, fcr employing at hard labour convicts under rule of transpore tation, and that, in point of fast, the Lord Lieutenant ii the Goveistor of it. This institution is Considered in the Courts a kind of ins:dated Botany . 11ily and when a con. vict enters thelustitution he is,to all intents and purposes, 1,-,torpoyted. Unlike other prisons, its management is ex. Clurivesy under the control of the Goi , ernor, and not at all open to she inspection of die Committee. 'The Inspec. tors-General of Prisons visit it occasionally ; and in their last Report to Government described itt Condition in terms of the warmest panegyric. The principal officers of the prisms now are, Mr. If. W. RowanGotehlenr ; Rev. Mr. Higgin, Protestant Chaplain;, ltev. fly. Donovan, Catholic Chaplain; Mr. Orpen, Physician. Ten prisoners Manus M'Lochlan, Michael Lynch, J o hn Connell , Catherine Connell, John Haffey, Peter Capper, Thomas Kelly, Joseph White, Peter Douge, and Was. Gavigan, liberated by order of the . Lord Lieutenant on . the 20th (If April latr, presented, On their discharge from prison, a memorial to Dr. Murray, the Catholic Archbishop, commencing in the following terms:— " An Appeal to his Gram the Most ger. Dr. Murray, Roman Catholic Archbishon of Dublin. " May it please your Grace—M'eos'aose names ate underaigned, unworthy members of that Church of which your Grace Is head in this diocese, consider it a duty which we owe to ourselves, to our brethren who have suffered, to those who are now suffering. and to those who IMO: hereafter suffer, for conscience' sake, most hwy. bly to submit the following statement of .what we have heard and a yen whilar we had the mirfiwturfc to be cotigleed in the kiebrnoad General Penitentiary in Dublin. " Horrified at the cruel sufferings and drtadfut prodannertt which we and others have endured in this prison, on the wee of rel. gion, we were induced to believe that we should, in the first ir. stance, publish an account of it to the world ; but conceiving that, in your Grace's prudence, acme efficacious means can be adopted to inquire into these cruellits and ptimsliments, In order to prevent sir recurrence, by a respe lit:I application to his Eaceliency the Lord Lieutenant, hefor, w ish those facts, we t#ias• loftily submit them to your G- , te's ror , ideration, beseeching your Grace to make use of all your inEuence to have those,unhcard-of treelike aboli hed. " To satisfy your Grego, or any person or presorts who may be authorized to examine tWs case, we pledge ourselves, individuaUv and collectively, to certify the truth of whatlwe here rate upon oath, when called upon ; and, that our testimony may be the more cl...arly proved to be correct, we most humbly pray that your Grace will solicit Ids Excellency the Lord Lieutenant to command an in quiry to ba immediately instituted into the internal regulatiors of the Richniond Ge.ncral P.nitcntiary, and to order that the Gover nor, door-keepers, ward-cleaners, chaplains, and prisoners, be ex amined upon oath, to ascertain if what is here stated be strictly true." • After this preamble, the memorial went on to state the charges, which certainly are of a terrific nature, and which, there is no doubt, are tinctured largely with exaggeration. The Catholic Archbishop, on rect ipt of this memorial, for warded it to Cokmel Shawe, the Private Secretary of the Lord Lieutenant. The letter of this esteemed Prelate set forth his own utter ignorance of the facts or the parties, and even said. that although from their revolting atrocity he could not believe the facts to be true., still that he ;bought them, under the circumstances, to be a fit subject for investigation, expressing, at the same time, his certain conviction that his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant would 1 4 be most anxious that the agents of his Government shoUld be tree from even the suspicion of adding to the miseries of the unfortunate prisoners the infliction of religious perm etition. I shall not occupy your attention by detailing the subsequent proceedings of the. Government; be it sufficient to say that a Commission of Inquiry it as opened at the Pe nitentiary, to investigste the allegations in the memorial, on the 10th July last. The Commissioners were J. S. Tow ns bend, Eatj. R.C., and the Inspectora-General of Prisons, Majors W oolward and Palmer. The appointment of the lat ter officers caused some surprise here. Although they are doubtlessly honourable men, it was thought to be rather an Irish way to Met stigate complaints to send officers whoseown conduct was in some measure involved in the issue of the pro calings, to report upon the facts ; and it was ccnsidered ad ditionelly inexpedient to employ these gentlemen in such a business, when their own Prison Report, lately presented to the Irish Government, contained the warmest expression possible to be conveyed of' their approbation of the management of the Richmond Penitentiary. Still there is no doubt that these gentlemen will do justice. The Com mission accordingly sat. I shall not now ativirei you,of the proceedings; but I cannot close without assuring you, that the letter which was written to Ole 'froth-Teller efts a nos lneendo), and On which the Ftoile has foinuled so much dramatic embelliAment, was extremely false in it: details; and with regard to using an iron helmet that compressed the and, as it were, rendered the bra;:t therein contained more fit. for the reception of Protestant doctrine, there was no proof whatever adduced. It is true, en iron helmet, the fitness of which to he us,d under any eircumsninces may became a proper subject for in4niry in a Court of Law, was once used in the prison, in a ease of mutiny among the convicts; but there is no proof what soever that it was ever used to mute Protestants ; atilt less is there any ground even for the suspicion that any pro ceedings, either by rermaein or Ly puttishtnent, if tithe.