The Sun. — London, England, 1829-04-25 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE LONDON JOURNALS. The people are beginning to . stir themselves against the oppression of the Corn Laws. A meet ing of artisans and mechanics was held a few days ago at. Leicester, and, as the report says, was nume rously and respectably attended: The purpose of the meeting was to petition the Legislature against the prolongation of the above grievous laws. it cannot reasonably be expected that such assemblages of afflicted and irritated men should distinguish themselves by much new knowledge upon a subject the details of which must be diligently and elabo rately sought for by those who have time and money at their disposal ; we look to popular meetings more for evidence of tile general spirit and bias of men's minds, than for any just pleasure of their progress in the scientific lore of Statesmen, or in the prin ciples of national economy. There was nothing learned at Penenden-heath, but the art of organizing and manoeuvring a Kentish multitude, fraught with a hatred of Popery from their cradles, and ready to transfer, at the beck of any titled fanatic, this abhor renee of the creed to the persons of thcee who enter tained it. So at Leicester, the assembled artisans produced no facts nor arguments whatever beyond the single one that they were perishing because of dear bread. But there is this essential dif ference between the nature of the feelings dis played by the people of Kent and those of Leicester,—viz. that the Kentish men were roused Through abstract fears affecting their ima g ination only, and appeased as readily as they had been excited ; while the men of Leicester's dissatisfac tion is that of pinching want, and mush find matter of aggravation and permanency in the occurrences of each succeeding hour. The people of England, too, were divided in sentiment on the subject which brought the mob of British peasantry to the scene of Lord Winchilsea's triumph—the first triumph, and the last, which ever graced his Lordship's brow. The spirit of toleration, moreover, being that of the enlightened classes throughout England, and eminently so of the inhabitants of great towns, as as naturally a growing spirit among Englishmen : the cause of No-Popery sunk under it. But the pro gress of opinion throughout the country is favour able to the wishes of the poor artisans of Leicester, and most adverse to the grand corn monopoly—that giant monopoly—the convenient precedent for all and every other which can, however preposterous and barbarous towards the nation, be imagined.— The natural course of things, therefore,—public meetings public discussions—justice itself—the great destroyer of intolerance—rcalitg, the great antagonist of No-Popery, as chimera was its ally— these things will go to swell the cry of the people of England for " free bread," and a repeal or important modification of the corn duties. It is lamentable to recollect that no breathing time was al lowed the people of England, and that on the con clusion of the general peace of 1814, the first sample of gratitude afforded by the aristocracy to the bulk of the nation who had so gloriously fought its battles was this snatching away of the loaf from the • hands of the industrious and the hungry. Give the poor " cheap bread," was the prayer of every gene rous heart during 22 years of desperate and sangui nary warfare. " Peace Will bring us plenty," was the eager and comforting anticipation of the poor Themselves. But, alas ! the peace came to them widowed of its customary helpmate. Not one mo ment was the curse of blood removed, when the curse of famine was inflicted,—not by the Deity, but by Act of Parliament. The peace itself gave birth to a species of enemy from which the naval war had protected us—namely, that of a manufac turing competition on behalf of foreign countries. To raise prices, then, at such a time, was to ensure the success of that new rival. It was as if the Eng lish landlord had been bribed by the Continental speculator to betray the interests of the British loom. To render this scheme less revolting to the nation', we were told that it %Yea for the sake of the British former, —to enable the " poor farmer to pay his rent,"—that foreign corn was to be placed beyond the grasp of the British v,orkmail, But why was the British farmer compelled to pay a rent which could only be maintained by such rapacious and cruel devices ? and who was it that so compelled him? Ansmver us that ! Why, the very landlord who pocketed the same rent.----the very law-maker who was so compassionate towards " the poor farmer," would not let his pity lead him to reduce time farmer's out going by abating the rent, so long as :here remained a single shilling to be squeeZed from him ; but his compassion prompted the said landlord to rob the foreign grower of his accustomed market in this country, the English master-manufacturer of his profits, and the English weaver and artisan of their breakfasts, out of pure love for that individual who held " the poor farmer" to a ruinous contract, and wrung the fruits of it into the strong box of that " individual"—viz. the country geotieroan himself. Now, we hold the act to have been a cruel one, but not more cruel than the pretence for it was hypocri tical and base—affecting to lay it all upon the ne• cessities of the farmer, when those necessities were created by the stubborn rapaciousness of others. The prohibitory corn law was, within these two years, replaced by a " protecting" statute. The eomplaint of the manufacturing interest throughout Great Britain is, that the protection operates too nearly like prohibition, except in cases approaching to famine; and in the justice of that complaint we so far acquiesce, as to believe that justice, and there fore policy requires, if not the total abolition of all corn duties, a very serious diminution of those which are now in force against the British eaters of bread, —Times. A letter from " A Constant Reader," on the sub ject .of certain indefensible practices alleged to be carried on at Gibraltar, which have, We believe, been productive of various evil consequences to the health of the garrison, as well as to the public revenue, ought, we think, to receive attention from men in office. It has been frequently stated in our hearing, that the non-military population of Gibraltar has become by far too numerous. The inhabitants of late years have exceeded - by many thousands—and that iv ithin a very small compass—the number of civil residents there at the dose of the last century, This density of living creatures would in itself be favourable to the introduction and to the rapid pro . gress of diseases of a febrile character. We have been informed by intelligent Spaniards, that most of the dwell:ngs at Gibraltar are of a very slight ' construction, and altogether unsuitable to the climate of the south of Spain, being pervious to the heat in every part of them, and exhibiting a marked contrast to the solidity and wholesome arrangement of spa nish houses. An investigation, it seems, is going • on, or rather (says our correspondent) continues, but makes no progress, having for its ostensible object the acquisition of some insight into the causes of the fever which recently raged throughout the fortress. The complaint of our correspondent appears to go to this—namely, that a tax of Doe real per diem being payable by foreign sojourners at' Gibraltar, is made the guarantee of ,a sort of licensed protection to all adventurers, no matter what may be their demerits, who find it nece,sary to seek a refuge where, for a tribute like this, an easy asylum is afforded, and no questions asked. The imputed gravatnina of the accusation are-Ist, that the police has fallen into the hands of subaltern agents, void of all effectual responsibility, and that ,these men exact from foreigners an amount of bush-money, proportioned to the emergency antler which each indisidual finds himself k---251, , that this tax produces a sum of not-leria'tharr• - 90,0 001 . per annum, part of which on ,IY - lind that * small portion, equal to about or 15,000/. annually, finds its way to the - 'local treasury, . „Gibtaltar,requiros such a numerous garrison, and,costa: the nation so heavy an expenditure, that we concur in opinion with our _ correspondent, as to the wasteful and indefensible policy of diverting the large sum of money stated to arise from the above-mentioned poll-tax to any pur poses distinct from those of regular revenue. 90,0001. per annum would support two-thirds of ti:c standing garrison of Gibraltar. It would be better, indeed, that no such sum were. levied, and that few or no inhabitants were suffered to enter the fortress but such as might minister to the wants and comfort of the troops. But if the tax be raised, it ought to be accounted for; and to make such an account effectual, a separate functionary, acting under the Governor, but removable by the Board 4:A . Treasury at home, might with advantage be ap pointed, and rendered responsible for the sums re ceived, as the Governor ought to be for the descrip tion and numbers of the parties who were permitted to pay them. The police of Gibraltar, we have heard, is fallen almost into decrepitude : a super fluous, vicious, and overgrown population has mul tiplied as the restraints upon licentiousness and mis conduct have been weakened. An aggravated ten dency to disease has been amongst the fruits of this double calamity, and the habitual suppression of the finance accounts gives added opportunity and temp tation to interested men to enlarge and perpetuate the general corruption of the system. We arc afraid that our foreign military stations afford many in stances no less conspicuous than Gibraltar, of vice or negligence in matters both of finance and of po lice ; and we do not know that Sir George Mor i ray could turn his mind to a more useful object than the examination and remedy of such abuses, wherever a trace of them can be laid hold of The scope of our observations on the subject of the new Police Magistrates seems not to have been understood by some of our Contemporaries. It will be recollected that the Police Committee of last year recommended the separation of the Police, pro perly so called, from the Magistracy. " Magistrates (said the Committee) are immediately responsible to the law for the exercise of the power committed to them in the ordinary administration of justice, and must be left to act according to the best of their judgment, uncontrouled in this respect 'by any ex trinsic authority. But the Police Magistrate in a great city may be considered as an executive as well as a judicial officer; and one of the chief advantages of the establishment of a 1-lead of Police would consist, in the opinion of your Committee, in its possessing a general superintending authority -in matters of Police, which would remedy the incon venience that at present results from the indepen dent and unconnected action of the several Police Offices." Now, it appears to us, that though the Heads of the Police, under Mr. Peel's Police Bill, are called Justices, yet they are the sort of officers in dicated in the above extract from the Police Report. They are to execute the-duties of a Justice of the Pcace, it is true, at the Police offices to be established in the city of Westminster, and in all parts of the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, Hert ford, Essex, and Kent ; but they are to execnte a number of other duties specified in the Bill, and to receive directions - from the Home Secretary. The name of a Magistrate may at any time, no doubt, he struck out of the Commission ; but, de facto, except in times of political agitation, a name is never struck out, no matter how a Magistrate may misconduct himself, or prove himself unfit for his situation. Bur, by this Bill, the Police Justice may be removed, if his Majesty " shall see occa sion so to do." The- Police Magistrate is freed j from the necessity of having the qualification re quired by law in the case of Justices of the Peace— it is not necessary for him to take "any oath of j office or qualification by estate;" and he shall not act "'s a Justice of the Peace at any Court of Ge neral or Quarter Sessions, nor in any matter out of Sessions, except for the preservation of the peace, the prevention of crimes, the detection of offenders, and in carrying into execution the purposes of this Act." The superintendence and contiol of the Police force, Watch, &c., will impose so many and heavy duties on these Police Magistrates, that their functions must, of necessity, be - confined to Police matters. They are vested with the powers of Justices of Peace, merely because it would be improper to give discretionary power to the Police-men ; and it would be equally improper, in cases requiring despatch, to interpose the delay which would attend the necessity of having recourse to ordinary Magistrates. But it is obvious that the great mass of business at present despatched at the several Police-offices will still be despatched there. These Acts were, in fact, appointed.chiefly for the relief of the mass of the people, who used to be fleeced and harrassed in various ways by the trading Justices, described by Burke as the very refuse of society, as men whom no respectable person would associate with; and in the statements made to Par liament at the time, the principal stress was laid on the advantage which would arise from the public having free access to the offices, and on the cheek which such publicity would have on the Magistrates. Justices of Peace have power, by Statutes out of number, to determine a variety of matters, and to enforce fines and penalties. All these matters will still be determined at the present offices. The line of distinction between the present Magistrates and time Police Magistrates under the new Bill may, we apprehend, be easily drawn. The former are effie eient in determining cases of quarrel between citizen and citizen; in interpreting Penal Statutes; and in deciding whether, when a person is brought before them charged with a crime, there is sufficient evidence to warrant commitment. The prevention of crime is hardly considered a part of their duty, and in all that relates to the measures to be applied for the discovery of crime the officers may be said to act without supe rior controul—acting, or not, according as there is a prospect of reward, and according to the ability of those who choose to employ , them. Now, the new Police Magistrates are, we apprehend, to be made personally responsible, as it were, for the pre servation of order in the Metropolitan district; to have the direction and controul of the Police force; to have, in short, communicated to them the plan ning and securing the execution of the means of reaching evil doers, and obtaining evidence against them ; ' the anticipating them, where possible, by means of ;intelli/ence, and thereby defeating their schemes. This most important duty is at present en ' trusted solely to individuals and to Police Officers, Who have, as is well known, an interest in the en couragement of crime. As is matter of necessity the new Magistrate; most abandon the tedious business of examining evidence in cases of difficulty to the old .Magistrates, and accordingly we intimated it as in contemplation sleet all such cases will be trans ferred to the ezisting Police Magistrates. In our observations of yeeterchey we stated that military men were, of all otheis ' from their education and habits, the best calculated for coping with the very de praved and very native part of our population who live by violation of the laws, The habits of a bits, raster are not favourable to lie development of this energy and activity. But, as we observed, the list of half-pay (Akers must contain numbers of clever men, many of them now forced to live on a pittance in Frar s ce and Italy, to whom the appointment would be a meet desirable object. On the contrary, a barrister, except as a pis alter, or in order to lead an easy indolent life, would not thing of accepting the situation of a Police Magistrate. There is no reason why the situation should be confined to either barristers or military men. The only reason pro bably for thinking particularly of military men is, that except in the case of men of property, all men must eithee live by a profession, or live by their wits; and the military profession is best suited to form the qualities required in a Superintendent of Police, The Globe of last night remarks, with re terence to our observations in the chronicle of yes, tarday ; 7 . s " if the proposed duties of- the superintendents . were limited to combining end executing plans of operation against thieves and swindlers, the appointment of military men would, uo doubt, be better calculated to accomplish the objects of the new police establishment than that of barristers. taut the Bill does not separate the two busi nesses of police and magistracy ; on the contrary, the superintendents are to be Justices, who will have to hear anti decide, in a civil capacity, on the cases !Nought before them. Now, for the due exercise of functions partaking of a judicial character, the habits formed by a military education afford the worst possible preparation. Barris ters, it is said, are too much attached to precedents to deal effectually with lawless men who despise precedents, and who may be most atiecesifully attacked with their own weapons; but it would be a dangerous experiment to at tack eveni thieves and swindlers with a vigour beyond the law. If it were possible to organize a body of faultlesS -police-men, or if thieves and swindlers Were the only classes of the community subject to the operations of a police, there would be no objection to handing theth over to the summary jurisdiction of three military justices'. Bnt the misfortune is, that whatever care may be exer cised in selecting the new officers, cases must frequently occur in which their authority will be over-stepped or abused. Nor are the flagrant cases, to which extraordf nary vigour is supposed to be most applicable, those which are of most frequent occurrence in the business of a pn lice-office. The petty offences, which constitute a ma jority of the cases brought before the Police Magistrates, certainly need not be treated with the energy of [untied law. The rule of the camp is, that no breach of dis cipline should pass unpunished ; civil policy suggests that, in some of the minor Offences against social order, it may be expedient to tell the offender to go and sin no more. '" What we have already stated meets the objec tions of our contemporary. If the Bill do not ex pressly separate the two businesses of Police and Magistracy, it is obvious from the spirit of it, and from the extent of other business committed to the new Magistrates, namely, the direction of the Police force in a district containing one.sixth of the popu lation of the kingdom, the appointment and super intendence of the watch, &c., that they cannot pos sibly attend to the decision of those petty offences which are of most frequent occurrence in the business of a Police office." Our contemporary's con.titu tional apprehensions are, we conceive, needless. Our contemporary, the Standard, observes— , " There is, according to our liberal contemporary, no qualification far a Magistrate in this once free coubtry so high as a military education, military habits, and a mili tary temper—no qualification so great as an acquaintance with the laws to be administered. We wonder what Lard ChaViatn or Lord Camden—we mean, as Mr. Moore says, the clever one," not the present one—would say to this doctrine: we know not what Lord Holt did say to it. But let us leave the new Constitutional Magistracy to come to what Blackstone calls the " Constitutional force of the country." We have only to re-state on this, that what we said respecting military men applied exclusively to Police. With respect to Magistracy, both in the country and in the Metropolis, there is a wide field for discussion, on which we shall not enter now.— Morning Chronicle. As far as Parliament is concerned the present Ad ministration repose upon a " bed of roses." The Duke of Wellington and Mr. Peel, by wheeling round from " Toryism" to " Liberalism," and all that, as suddenly as the wind changes from one sjuarter of the heavens to the opposite, have won the " warm hearts" of the Whigs, and the loud praises of the Whig Press. They have, at the same time, carried over with them as many of the Tory forces as " live, move, and have their being" only in the smile of a Minister. Thus have they extinguished an opposition in Parliament, and got the ball of power completely at their feet. For all this, we suspect, will John Bull have to pay. Notwiihstanding all the golden promises that have been made of economy and retrenchment, the day of reform in that respect seems farther off than ever. Some little " cheese-parings," indeed, in the minor departments of office, have been osten tatiously pared. But has a single one of the more luxuriant branches of the tree of venal pa tronage been cut away? Has a solitary sine cure been lopped off? Not one. On the con trary, jobbing, that seeme4 to look rather fearful and desponding for a time, has renewed its spirit, awl prepares to march abroad as vigorously as ever. The Babylonish din and confusion of the " Catholic Question" was particularly favourable to the finae cial speculations of Ministers. What Representa tive of the people could be so bigoted to a narrow and old-fashioned notion of duty to his country as to refuse to open the purse-strings of the people " liberally" to so " liberal" a Ministry ? Or, if such a Representative had been found, who would listen to his voice ? Need we, then, wonder that the Irish Miscellaneous Estimates passed without opposition? Can we be surprised that no trouble some calculator was so discourteous as to sift a single item - in that rich repository of jobbing ? Well may Parliament rise early, when the money of the people is so generally voted. John Bull %vas in duced to vote 10,0004 a year to support the Roman Catholic College at Maynooth, because he was taught to believe the Roman Cathc lic religion was nothing- but superstition and idolatry. Now John is induced to vote 10,0004 a year for the same purpose, because he is taught to believe the Roman Catholic religion is neither su perstition nor idolatry. So much for the consist ency of the logic which relieves John of his super fluous cash. The job of the immense tract of land in New Holland, which has been allotted to a rela tion of Mr.:Peel, along with other connections of the Mioistiy, affords further assurance of the manner in which Government intend to redeem their pledge as to the management and repair of the financial re sources of the State. Why should any power but Parliament have the disposal of lands which have been brought under subjection to the country at the expence of the people ? 'Why are not these lands parcelled out in lieu of half-pay and pensions to those who would accept of them, on a reasonable principle of exchange, and thereby diminish that eternal burden absurdly called the " Dead weight ?" Or why are they not put up to sale by public corn. petition, as national property ought to be, and the proceeds applied towards the reduction of the public debt ?---illorving Herald. Amongst the few subjects which appear at present to occupy public attention, and, at the termination of the recess, will occupy hat of the Legislature, is the new Police Bill, introduced by Mr. Peel, and of which, on a former occasion, we gave a lengthened account. It is agreed, on all hands, that nothing can be more truly wretched and defective than the pre sent system of guarding the persons and property of the public; and nothing, on the other hand, can be more self-evident than that one great cause of this deficiency is the total want of unity and general con trout in the system. This great error, therefore, Mr. Peel has very properly attacked in his Bill, as the primal y source of the mischief, by proposing that instead of the night watch being appo'nted, paid, and regulated by each. parish, according to i t s will arid inclination, the whole of the watch shall be under the controul of one department — appointed and regulated by it, and paid by the State from a tax imposed equally on each parish, according to its extent, and other circum stances. To such a plan no feasible objection either has, or, indeed, can be made ; but then it is urged, on the other hand, that although persons and pro perty would be much more secure under the new system than they have been, or can be, under the old, the Bill would not only throw an im mense patronage into the hands of Government, but also furnish it with a sort of übiqueous knowledge, which, under an evil-disposed Ministry, might be converted into an engine for oppressing, and cur tailing the liberty of the, public—might, in fact, become, what the police of France was, in the time of Napoleon, the means, not of guarding the public, but of acquainting the Government with circum stances and facts which it neither has occasion to know, nor has any right to be informed of. Such an evil is certainly not only possible, but would be ex tremely probable, in a country which did not enjoy, like this, the benefit of a representative Leg:slatore, exercising a regular controul over the acts of the Government, and which could not boast, like Eng land, of the wholesome influence of public op:nion; but who can imagine that a Ministry, which attempt' ed to convert an engine of public security into one of • priVate grievance, would exist in this country even for a month ? It is not possible to believe that it could when once the fact became generally known. The whole country would rise in arms against such a base usurpation of inquisitorial power; and the Minister who had dared to assume it, be hurled from his seat, , and justly consigned to a remembrance in its annals to which no Minister or his successors would be proud to refer. \\ r eale inclined, therefore, on the broad basis of the 'power of public opinlon, to consider tie - jections which bave been made to this part of Mr. Peel's Bill , as wholly groundlesi. At the sane . _ time we are not prepared to state that a Board, such as that proposed by Mr. Peel, appointed and paid by all . the parishes of the Metropolis and its vicinity, ; and having the power of appointing and regulating the police, would not be better, and more satisfactory in every respect, than a police appointed and paid by the Government. If the opinion of the public be, in fact, decidedly against the latter scheme, it could not, on any plausible ground, ex press itself against the former ; and Mr. Peel ought, in consequence, if he be really desirous of increas ing the security of the public, of which we have no dOubt, to frame - his Bill accordingly, rather than to run the risk of losing it, because in one point, by no means essential to the proper working of the measure, his views . were not altogether adopted.— Morning Advertiser. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. BOW-STREET. Yesterday William Walker, a well-dressed man, who, it appeared, has lately returned from transportation ; John Bayley, a decent-looking man, apparently upwards of 60 ; and Robert Wall, driver of the hacknier.:coach No: 130, were placed at the bar before Mr. MlNsitua, the sitting magistrate, the former and litter charged with having been concerned in a burglary which took place at the premises of Mr. Henry Barnes, drysalter, Long-acre; and Bayley with having received the property stolen with a guilty knowledge. Mr. Barnes- stated, that at twelve o'clock on Good Friday he received information that his shop in Long-acre had been broken open on the previous night, and that a quail . - tity of cochineal, indigo, safflower, gum, &c., had been stolen from the premises. Henry Gill, a clerk in the service of. Mr. Barnes, de posed to his having locked up hiti emploieSt premites on Thursday night, about eight o'clock. The shop-door was fastened with a bar of iron and two padlocks. On going to the premises the next morning, witness discovered that the two padlocks had been wrenched off, and that some persons had obtained forcible entrance to the premise% The lock of the outer-door leading to the street had been picked, and was just as it had been left. Upon searching the shop, witness found it in the greatest confusion. All the drawers had been opened, and about 231. worth of goods, consisting of indigo, safflower, gum, &c. were stolen. In a corner, at the farther end of the shop, witness disco vered the watch-dog lying dead, the thieves having cut his throat in two places. Two or three pieces of prepared liver were found upon the floor. The dog was a faithful vigilant animal, and had most likely refused the liver, upon which the villains stunned him with a blow, and then cut his throat. The witness then identified the greater part of the -stolen property, and swore positively to the bags in which the gum, cochineal, and safflower were contained. Mr. MINSIIULL asked if the premises were situated in a public part of Long-acre. The witness replied that they were ; adding, that the reflection from the gas-light at the opposite side of the street shone strongly on the very door where the thieves had entered. Mr. MiNsituz.L.--Where was the watchman? Wit ness.—l don't know, indeed, Sir. Mr. MINSIIIILL. 7 -Nor I neither. Now look at the pri soners, and say whether you remember to have seen diem before. Witness.--I swear that I saw this gentleman (point ing to the prison. r Walker) about six weeloi ago in Mr. Barnes's shop. I cannot sI , upon what occasion it was I saw him,, but I think it was to ask the price of some article. Prisoner.—lf you saw me at all, it must have been at least seven years ago. William Loop - late, a boy in the prosecutor's service, corroborated the evidence of the last witness with respect to the state in which he found the premises on the morn ing of Good Friday. The witness added, that he re membered to have seen the prisoner Walker, at his master's shop two or three months ago. He came to ask the price of goods, and he remembered his face per fectly well. Ibbertson, one of the Bow-street patrol, deposed to his having examined the premises in company with the laSt witness on the morning after the robbery. The Witness here produced a deadly weapon called " a life-preserver," being a thick piece of whalebone, about a foot in length, having a knob of lead at each end about the size of pigeon's egg. He found it upon the floor of the shop a few yards from the spot where the dog lay dead. Daniel Forrester, one of the city officers, stated that on Tuesday last Herdsfield, a brother officer, the prosecutor, and himselF, went to Brick-lane, and he (witness) observed at the corner of Ayre-street, a costermonger's cart with a pony in it. Two boys were inside the cart. In a few moments the prisoner Bayley appeared bringing a big with him, which he handed to 'one of the boys in a cart, to whom he also gave some/coppers. The cart then droie away, and witness followed it as far as Blackfriari-bridge, th e prisoner Bayley walking either before or behind it. The cart went on to Cornwall-road'and stopped at the Cornwall. Arms public-house, where Bayley was joined by the prisoner Walker. Witness followed the cart across Westminster-bridge until it stopped at another public house in Great Peter-street, where witness and the prose cutor again saw Bayley and Walker conversing together•. Bayley soon after got into the cart and drove away. The next (lay witness and H-rdsfield went to Wheeler -street, Spitalfields, and saw a coach drive up the street. The coach drew up, and the prisoner Bayley got out. Wit ness and his brother officer immediately went up to him, and witness said, " What have you gut here ?—where have you brought these goods from ?" Bayley replied, " I have brought them from the market." 'Witness asked " what market," to which Bayley answered, " I shall say no more at present." The whole of the goods stolen frotn the. prosecutor were in the coach. The prisoner Bayley, and Wall, the driver of the coach, were then taken by wit ness before the Lord Mayor. They both prevaricated in accounting for their possession of the property. The coachman said he took up the goods in the Borough, while Bayley said he brought them from Westminster. On the same evening (Wednesday) witness and Herdsfield took Walter into custody in the parlour of the Black Boy public house, Nicholas-lane, Lombard-street. Upon searching his person, witness found a paper with some figures upon it, which appeared to correspond with the weights of the different r•rticles stolen from the prosecutOr. Herdsfield also produced a paper which he found upem the prisoner Bayley, containing a list of the stolen articles, and the prices at which they appeared to have been valued • being considerably below the regular price. A person named Baxter, who said he was a drysalter, and lived in Thomas-street, Whitechapel-road, stated that two persons called upon him soon after the robbery, and showed him samples of articles,'such as had been stolen from the prosecutor. Witness, however, declined to purchase them. The prisoner Bayley was one of the persons, and Walker was ihe other. He knew Bayley for forty years, and was quite sure of the person of the other prisoner. The prisoner Walker here culled upon Forrester, and asked him if Baxter had not pointed to Herdsfield, and identified him as the man whom he had seen with Bayley. Forrester admitted this fact, and Herdsfield gave similar evidence.' The witness Baxter, upon his oath, denied that he had made any mistake with respect to the identity of Walker. The city officers maintained, on the contrary, that the Mistake had occurred, and Forrester expressed his deter mination to mention the circumstance at the prisoner's trial. Sir R. BIKNIE said he did not think the circumstance was at all mater;al. Mr. Barnes, with some warmth, said that there would be but little use in prosecuting the prisoners if this was the sort of evidence upon which the case was to rely. Mr. Mistsu L observed that he should remand the pri soners until next Tuesday. Walker said he thought it very hard that he should be sent to prison. In answer to a question by Sir it. BIRNIE, he admitted that he had been .c over the water," but that he had nothing to do with the present charge. The prisoners were then tetnoved. MARLBOROUGH-STItEET. Yesterday a respectable military man, about 60 years of age, who described himself as Captain John Oliver Arm strong, formerly belong;ng to the Royal Irish Artillery, and since the union of that branch of the service with the English artillery, deriving a pension from his commission, was brought before Mr. DYER, the sitting • Alagistrate, charged with giving a false character to a man named James Singleton, alias St. Leger, alias Lever; and the said James Singleton, &c. was charged with having, by means of the said false character, procured the situa tion of under-butler in the establishment of Mr. Trot ter, a gentleman of fortune, residing at No. 13, Con naught-place. gr. Trotter stated, that on the 31st of March (last month) the prisoner Singleton came into his service as I under-butler, having referred for his character to a gcntic man whose name, he said, was Oliver, then staying at H a tchett's Hotel, in Piccadilly, but who kept hie country house, and had his establishment near Maidenhead, in Berkshire. He (Mr. Trotter) being at the time rather inwetti not - being Ale io wide Oil Mr. Oliver at Hatchett's Hotel, requested, through the prisoner Single ton, that Mr. Oliver might call upon him (Mr. Trotter), and accordingly the prisoner Armstrong, called at his (Mr. Trotter's) house, represented himself to be Mr. Oliver, a g ntleman of fortune, residing as before stated near Maiden head, but then staying at Hatchett's Hotel; and he stated that the prisoner Singleton bad lived in his service for upwi.rds of two years last past, and had only left him in the last month. lie then described Singleton as a most excellent servant, and possessing every qualification that could be required for the situation he was to fill—that of under butler,—and that his integrity, &c. were undoubted. Upon this representation lie (Mr. Trotter) took Single : ton into his establishment; but it was not long before several articles of plate and other property were missing, and the upper butler was robbed of three sovereigns and other money ; b and a strong suspicion falling upon the prisoner Singleton, he (Mr. Trotter) began to suspect that lie might possibly haVe been imposed upon by, a false character : and he dispatched the head-butler down to Maidenhead, to inquire furthor particulars of or concern ing Mr. Oliver; *hen it was discovered that no such Person as Mr. Oliver resided there, or ever did reside in that neighbourhood within memory. Being thus satisfied of the imposition practised, he (Mr. Trotter) immediately sent for an officer to this office, and gave the prisoner Sin gleton into custody. Maid, the officer, stated, that en going to the house of Mr. Trotter, he put some close questions to the prisoner Singleton, who in his answers betrayed much confusion and some insolence, and at last he took him into custody, and on searching him found several Pawnbroker's duplicates in h's pocket. He (Ballard) then set about searching for Mr. Oliver, .n I after a great deal of difficulty, traced hiM out to be no less a per Son than Captain Armstrong now at tlie bar, and he found him residing at No. 11, Stockbridge terrace, Eaton-street, Pimlico, where he took him i n to cu,tody. One of the proprietors of Hatchett's Hotel attended, and stated that there was no person of the name of Oliver stopping at that house at the time spoken of by Mr. Trottet, nor indeed at any time lately; but be now recollected that, some short time since, a person, who said his name was Oliver, and who the witness believed to be the priioner Armstrong, called at the hotel and bespoke a private sitting room for a short time, to receive a lady in, who called in a carriage to inquire the character of a servant. B_l and said, that there was no doubt but that the pri soner Armstrong, and it vast many others who lived fashion ably about town, gained a subsistence chiefly by supplying false characters to servants, who pay them for the accom modation of their false vouchers. The coachman of the Hon. Edward Stanley, residing in Grosvenor• square, attended, and said that the prisoner Singleton could not possibly have lived with any Mi.. Oliver cr Armstrong for two years up to last month ; be cause, in the month of July lust, the prisoner was in the service of Mr. Stanley, and then discharged from there for misconduct. A publican also stated that he knew the prisoner Single ton to have been in custody on a charge of felony, in the month of September last, at Alarylebsne police-office. The prisoner Armstong admitted the whole of Mr. Trotter's statement to be correct, and that he did give 'a false character to Singleton ; but not with any bad design but to get him into service, as he knew something of him. Mr. DYER said that no case could be Inure clearly esta blished, and the public were much indebted to Mr. Trotter for following it up as he had done, for the offence was oae of the most serious and dangerous that could afflict society. Both prisoners were then convicted in a penalty of 201. each under the Act of Parliament, and in default of payment they were c'mmitted for three months to the Howe of Correction. Alexander Finlayson, late a footman in the service Of Sir Wm. Beechey, who has undergone several examinations upon a charge of robbing Sir William's house of a large quantity of plate, was again brought before Sir G. FAR RA NT, the Magistrate, in the private room, but no farther evidence whatever, with reference to the immediate robbery, transpired, and still there is nothing but strong circum stances to implicate the prisoner, nor has any trace what ever been found .of the stolen property. It came out, however, in the examination yesterday, that this prisoner, too gut into 'service by means of a false character given to him in writing by a person named flirt, a tailor, residing at No. 6, Charles-street, Blackfriars. Hart attended yeri terday, and admitted that be did give the written character produced with the prisoner to Sir Wm. Beechey, and,the prisoner himself it was that wrote it out, he (Hart) aftei wauds copying and signing it. The prisoner, he ad mitted, never did live with him at all as servant, and he only knew him as a mere acquaintance ; but believing him to he honest, and seeing that he was in distress, he gaie him the character at his request. A respectable man named Gilmour, connected with one of the charitable asylums, came forward, in consequence of seeing in the papers that the prisoner was in custody, and stated that the prisoner was a relation of his, but his friends had all lost sight of him for some months, and the . ) , thought he bad gone into the country. It was quite un true, Mr. Gilmour said, that the prisoner had ever lived as a menial servant with Mr. Hart or any body else, for the fact was that the young man had been educated and brought up by an uncle of his in Holborn, a respectable tradesman, and the prisoner hid frequently since lived as shopman with various linen-drapers in Oxford-street and other places ; it was also untrue, he said, that the prisoner had ever, as he represented, travelled abroad in the capacity of servant or any other, for he had never been abroad in his life. Mr. Gilmour however, admitted, that although the prisoner was rather wild and unsteady, there never was before any imputation on his integrity, that he, Mr. Gil mour, had heard of. Captain Beechey and a younger son of Sir William at tended the examination, which lasted a considerable time,. and in the end the prisoner was again remanded for another week. LAMBETH-STREET. A ruffianly looking fellow, who gave his name James Bird, was brought before Mr. WYATT, charged by Keys, an officer of Bow-street, with collecting a mob, and hawking inflammatory publications in the Whitechapel rOad. From the statement of Keys it appeared that while on his patrole, yesterday morning, his attention was attracted by a very crowded mob assembled in the road, and a per son in the centre flourishing some papers, and haranguing finis,: about him with violent gesticulations. He went up to ascertain what was going on, and heard the prisoner addres , ing his audit Ors in language calculated to excite a bread' of the peace, and urging on them the purchase of some paper, which he called " a dialogue on the Catholic question." He desired him to desist, but he refused, and he (Keys) being convinced that if there had been any Is ishman or Roman Catholic within his hearing, there would have been some violent outrage, on his refusal to leave the place he took both him and Isis papers into charge, and brought him in custody to the office. Mr.•WYArT asked what was the nature of the papers? :-Keys said that they were of a religious character, and reflected in a very seditious and inflammatory manner upon his Majesty's Ministers and their conduct in con nexion with the Catholic. Relief Bill. The papers, about 3,000. in number, were here handed to the bench, and were headed, " An account of a conversation between St. Paul's Cathedral and the Monument." The printer's name was Carpue and Son, Roselane, Spitalfields. The Duke of Wellington was accused of treason, and Mr. Peel • as his abettor in his designs. Mr. WYATT agreed with the officer that these publica tions were of a nature to excite turbulence and diSorder, and approved of his conduct in apprehending the prisoner; who was vending them. _ _ _ The prisoner in his defence pleaded poverty, and said that from a weakness in his hands he could not otherwise support life. Mr. WYATT observed that this might be the case, but, however, he could not be permitted to make these ha rangues, or vend such publications as were calculated to tend to a breach of the peace, if not fir worse conse quences ; he must, therefore, find bail for his good beha viour for the next three months, and give 24 , hours' notice of its solvency. THAMES POLICE. Yesterday Aaron Smith, whose case we mentioned yesterday, was committed for trial at the next Admiralty Sessions, upon three distinct charges of piracy. ELSINORE, APRIL 14.—We have of late had strong gales from the south and south-east, with some fro; s t and snow ; the Elizabeth Prussian mdritz that left there on the 11 th inst. for the Baltic returned yesterday, having been beset by the ice off Faistorbo, where the whole of the ships that sailed on the 11th are partly in the ice, and partly cruizing about to avoid it. Some have lost anchors and cables. Letters from Memel of the 11th inst. state that during the month they had thaw and rain, the cur rent had removed the ice from the bar, in which 14 feet water was found. The ice in the river was still fast, and much is to he seen at sea along the navigation cannot be expected Wore month. coast,eo that the beginning a free of ner 111 g! ARMY': b• A Detachment of the bth Regiment of Dragoons, sv have for "some months been quartered at Tiewbridge• on Tuesday for Cluterburv, 1.,46e1J The 9th Lancers have received their ronte for and Nottingham, whither they are "to nifliA of a few days. The 14th Regiment of Light Dragboner are:6o o ",_ l° succeed to the quarters of the 9th Lancers, at thp,!.:-..- barracics. Copy of an Order issued. by Lieutenant-Ceti: Sir Eithl srl. toi j Barnes, K.C.8.,.0n the departure of. his lliajeitY'l Regiment from -Ceylon, " GENERAL ORDERS. 0 4 . " Head-quarters, Colooy, Dec. 41. 1 P 4 "1, " The Lieutenant-General cannot allow the..344:T;i i ment to quit his command without placingon rf0PEY : .,....-Ai r . testimony of his highest aPprobition of Aeir'aindu' ,7 ,l i is . ing a period of eleven years that they haVe served island. " The 93d Regiment brought with if in . 190, tation arising from a long. series of most diiiiingliiihr a vice, which was not easily to be - tarnished; buf . ii;olt . : however trifling, has occurred to prodnce such tif' o ,; on the contrary, year after year has rolled on, wit h in in the. Regiment the most uniform and s teady line P l l, 1 , conduct, whereby lustre has been added to the ferour. liant career of this gallant corps. " The Lieutenant-General desires to assnre, Colonel Cother that lie will carry with hiM his 1 4 04 respect and esteem, and begs that he will eonie:x.,tfo ot regiment at large, the strongest assnrincetiof hie reg 4 .i.' their future 'welfare. e . 1" " There is one officer (Lieutenant;.Colonel t whom a particular mark of a'tention is due.-to bid , tiens are greatly to be asciihedthe subjugation of the d i n, dyan kingdom, and his conduct afterwards in coniroi s the interior was eminently conspicuous, and the; j e ribi ab . General regrets exceedingly he is about to lose his services. G. (Signed) "Y. B. GASCOYNE, A. SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. LIVERPOOL o st THURSDAY, APRIL 23.—High water 42 121.41•0.4 one o'clock.—Wind E.—Arrived the Kingston, " from Savannah ; Lady Canning, —, from Janr, i ,?; Wm. Baker, Almy; from New Orleans ; Messer I from Waterford. a p are This day being a Cuitom-house holiday, there a clearances. Arrived at Holyhead the Ceres, from New Orlesidf all well. • Arrived at Beaumaris yesterday an American ahlP s od a brig, inward bound. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF KING'S, BENCH, APRIL 2 MARYON V. CUFF. This was an action for an excessive diStresl' After retiring about half an hour, the jury food. verdict for the plaintiff—Damages, 201. JOHNSON V. LADY GRESLEY. This was an action against a lady well knoaf a , ; this and the other courts in Westminster-hall. Lj plaintiff hail been in her service as butler, and 7„ 5 - been dismissed by her Ladyship in August in the; fig , year. Gresley, it appeared, had fore i be r time entertained a notion that her servants, any tradesmen, and every body with whom she had ` - r • pecuniary dealings endeavoured to impose ou h e and she therefore thought proper to resist the P a " o meat of every debt which she contracted, 5114 ► y • refuse payment of the wages of her servant!,, no of whom she dismissed at a very short notice, 01. , - , 5 notice at all. This lady at one time had no je- i n than four butlers, two coachmen, and two Pag, e , 9 ,,, e her service; in short, she had constantly a tialm l ,- c h , or a triplicate set of servants in her family. however, seldom kept them more than a few we i e ,l being at liberty, according to the agreement wn r she made with them en their entering into h er 5° vice, to dismiss them immediately on their incurril her displeasure. The plaintiff in this a ction claim e 25/. for six months' wages as butler, having be(!!! i" hired by her l a dyship in March, and dism issed August. The Learned Counsel th en c alled a female veil°, had lived in Lady Gresley's service as housekeeper' and was proceeding to prove the plaintiff 's case' when Mr. GURNEY, who appeared for the defen da l said he would at once take the opinion of the Cont, on the only point which he had a right to urge ass, defence to the action. After the plaintiff had v i a ceived notice to quit Lady Gresley's service, be dr e two or three of the other servants took forcible e, session of her Ladyship's house, refused to allow 10'1f Ladyship to have the carriage, and conducted tehr°_,.. selves in the most violent and improper mann It was under these circumstances that Lady Gre had refused to pay the wages, and he (Mr. Gcr ne T o t ) had now to submit on her behalf that she w as - r liable. 1 Lord TENTERDEN" was o f o pi n iow, that al tho lt the alleged improper conduct of the plaintiff 01.111. have Justified the defendant in dismissing 0 11 %I I ,: ea out notice, yet as the term of his service w"es at the time referred to, he was entitled to the rveb which he claimeo► te byg one time. •T o Ist The Jury thend f , un r d h er his Lordship's dire ct ' found for the plaintiff—Damages, 251. MIDDLESEX SESSIONS, AP RIL 2 Richard Burnell was indicted for fraudulently°n taining 71. from John Wilcox, by falsely pretending that lie was an attorney. - ' The CHAIRMAN sentenced him to seven transportation ; but said he should be allow ed to Cc main in the New Prison until the first day Of Ile- sessions. i c j t mohelni t T s, he n of t h h il o u b s taßitotioliigeymwoanseychabryge eoniactrfoloton; representation; but the prosecutor in one ease to having come prepared with strict legal evidenc ed prove that the defendant was not an attorney de the indictment being defective in the other, the fendant was acquitted on both. The adjourned inquest on JOHN Bl° Clit who died, as it was supposed, from the effects of 10%h having taken part of an clectuary to kill some loadailv 1 ; 1 he imagined were in his stomach, closed on Monday' , a St following is the verdict :—" That the decease d died of sequence of taking into his stomach a large 000.. 0 poison, called arsenic ; but how or by whom the was administered, is to the present jurors unkita* sl. ' Leeds Intelligencer. PRINTED anti PUBLISHED by MURDO YOUNG, 0t• fVE, 112, STRAND, LOS V 0,1" BIRTHS. 144 On the 23d inst. at Milton-house, Southend, the of the Rev. Dr. Nolan, of a son, still born. On the 23d inst. at Crofton-house, TitchfielJ, " the lady of Thomas Naghten, Esq. of a son. On the 23d inst. at Harrow-on-the-Hill, Mr& 'I% lett, of a son. MARRIED. 1 Ref' On the 23d inst. at Rockingham, by the Hon. all` - ‘ , io n Henry Watson, Wm. de Capell Brooke, Esq. sec °° o the of Sir Richard de Capell Brooke, Bart. of Oak ' pte Hon. Catherine Watson, youngest daughter of the and and sister of the present Lord Sondes, of Lees Cool4' of Rockingham Castle. Tho ol° At Christ Church, Marylebone, by the Rev. 't; Lewthwaite, Richard Powell Price, Esq., son of o' 4 of Thomas Price, King's Advocate-General of the 0' 0 (1, Curacoa, to Maria Patincefoot, daughter of Captain 13° of n Mount Pleasant, Kingsbury, Middlesex. O ► the 23d inst. Mr. George C o u r taulJ, of 1 3 °, 1 1 0 1- to Susanna, third daughter of John Sewell, Esq . (". stead, Essex. DIED. vl otto On the 24th instant, at Horsted-place, SusseXt "'- Law, Esq., in the S2d year of his age. fu elft On the 24th inst. at Streatham Paragon, Beritib in hi s 77th23d )ear. get On the inst. at Margate, aged 20, Georg e,34l , son of the late Francis Barrow, Esq. of Strood, Ken On the 18th inst. Mark Haggard, Esq. aged 7 4 ' 10 On the 19th inst. at Dryburgh, the Earl of Balla his 86th year. OOP On the 23d inst. at the Palace, Hampton Co urt, tia, second (laughter of Captain Seymour, R.N. C•13',..'