The Sun. — London, England, 1837-01-03 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. It is generally understood that Mr. Hume's Bill, or one similar in principle, for establishing boards in the different counties for the administration of local affairs, will be proposed in the ensuing Session. At present the power of levying money to a large amount is exer cised without any responsibility, and it is hi g h time that protection should be afforded to the inhabitants against arbitrary exactions. The sound constitutional principle, that taxation and representation should al ways go together, can never be departed from with impunity. At all events, the rapid increase of county rates demonstrates that in this country irresponsible magistrates have not proved themselves the most eco nomical guardians of the money of the people. Lord John Russell last year expressed himself not unfavour ably disposed towards the principle of county boards, and if an institution of so much benefit to the people be conceded, it may deserve consideration whether these boards may not be placed in the same relation to the new constabulary force, which cannot much longer be withheld from the country, as the town councils are in to the urban police within their respec tive jurisdictions. It is observed by :VII.. Miles, in a sensible pamphlet on the subject, that at present ‘, in the rural districts, and also in the provincial towns the business of detection is most wretchedly performed, because the vagabond offenders are well organized, while the officers of justice are equally ignorant of one another, and of the people with whom they have to deal. And yet it is detection alone which puts the limit to professional vagabonding and crime, and it will decline in proportion as restraint and the certainty of punishment are increased." So utterly unfit are the officers and beadles of country towns, and parish constables to detect crime, that it is notorious, when any case occurs which excites alarm in a district, the assistance of a police officer from London is always re quired. One county, however, forms an exception — Cheshire. The rapid increase of crime, and the ut ter inadequacy of the existing means either for preven tion or detection—forced the inhabitants to apply to Parliament for a local Act for the appointment of a well-organised constabulary force. In each hundred there is an experienced officer who has the superinten dence of the different constables, and so effective has this arrangement proved that it has never been found neces sary to obtain the assistance of a London police officer, while many cases of difficult investigation have been fol lowed up to detection. A constabulary force under the supervision of rural councils would be much less objec tionable in a constitutional sense, than the partisan force to which alone recourse can at present be had for the re pression of disorders. But the object of such a force would not be so much affording physical resistance to mobs, as facilitating the detection of crime by means of a small body distributed through the different dis tricts of a county in communication with an intelligent head. The new Poor-law has filled several well meaning persons with fears least the number of sturdy criminals should be greatly increased. We cannot say that we share these fears, being firmly persuaded that hard working men seldom commit crimes. The new Poor-law will put an end to the equivocal characters who constituted so large a portion of the village popu lation, men who took care to behave so ill that no master would employ them on any terms, and, secure at all events of parish pay, spent their nights in poach ing and thieving. Had we had the new Poor-law ten or twelve years ago, there would be much less crime at this day. But be this as it may, it is quite impos sible to afford that protection to the inhabitants of the rural districts to which they are entitled, without an improvement of the constabulary. The existing pa rochial constabulary are perfectly inefficient, and a change of system is loudly demanded from all quar ters.—Morning Chronicle. The diminution of the poor rate has not been ac• companied by an increase of crime, for a comparative statement of the number of persons charged with dif ferent kinds of offences before the Criminal Court in the years 1835 and 1836, in another column, exhibits a difference of 140 cases in favour of 1836, though in the 2,679 cases in 1836 are included nine persons committed to give evidence. The Morning Herald will see, from this account, that there is no foundation for its assertion that the new Poor Law has swelled the calendar of the Central Court- ; and if w e may take the liberty of offering advice to our Con temporary, we would recommend patient inquiry in preference to sweeping assertion. In all changes from one system to another there must, of course, be suffer ing ; but, on the whole, we will venture to say, that so extensive a revolution as that of the alteration in the Poor Law never was effected with so little distress to the labouring classes. In the long run the new law will necessarily diminish crime by diminishing idleness and profligacy. Industry and independence, which the new law generates, never yet tended to increase crime. —Morning Chronicle. The gradual change in the public sentiment of this country towards the United States of North America has been one which it is impossible for the statesman of the present age to behold without solid approbation, or the philosopher and philanthropist without the most benevolent delight. It was not only during the imme diate and not unnatural exasperation produced by sue ces.sive wars Between the two Governments, that Eng lishmen generally used to indulge themselves in a spirit of inveterate dislike towards the Western Republic, her institutions, interests, prospects, manners, pro ceedings—as well towards the characters of her most distinguished citizens. This jealous antipathy seemed to have taken a stubborn possession of the English mind, and to have mingled itself with the whole cur rent of our national tastes and instincts—nor can we assert with truth that such an unkindly disposition had been justly provoked by the people of North America. Its manifestation was embittered to their remembrance by the frequent expressions of contempt with which it had been accompanied. Our travellers, soldiers, sailors, politicians—all pitched their voices in the same abusive key, until, at length, a corres ponding tone was heard to murmer from America ; and even so recently as ten years ago both nations ap peared conscious of nothing more than of those hateful contests wherein they had spilt each other's blood, for getful that they had , been rocked in the same cradle, and that the same mother had nourished them. No good man can have seen without deep gratification the progressive, and latterly very rapid, amendment, on both sides, of that baneful temper—a change which even the most sceptical has not questioned, nor the coldest or least generous calculator, in either country, shown an inclination to repel. While the growth and multiplication of ties, both commercial and personal, between the two branches of the old British stock move steadily, though silently, onwards, year after year, we discover periodically the fruits of that com plex, continuous, and strengthening relation, in the reception now I given every six or eight months by Englishmen to the expositions made by the President to Congress of the general affairs of the Republic. It is not too much to say that each successive ad dress of General Jackson and his predecessor to the Legislature of the United States, intended as are these documents for the whole civilized world, have not merely created a respectful sensation throughout the British islands (virulence against the people of the Republic being now confined to the oratory of Mr. Daniel O'Connell), but have met with a cordial and brotherly hearing, and have excited sympathies in the breasts of the people of England nearly, if not com pletely, akin to the feelings with which considerate and upright Americans themselves are disposed to view the several topics treated of by the message of the Presi dent, where those topics embrace the international commerce between the United States and other inde pendent powers. As concerns England, the only question remaining unadjusted between her and the Republic is that of the New Brunswick boundary, in tricate and tedious as it has already proved, but one which is obviously not of a character to produce any serious difference between Governments ac tuated as those of Great Britatn and of the Ame rican Union are, and must be, to maintain unim paired the inestimable advantages of their existing friend ship. The message of General Jackson, which appear ed in yesterday's Times, has the characteristic common to it with all the preceding ones of that plain-spoken, diligent, and sagacious veteran—great industry, great perspicuity, great firmness and apparent integrity of purpose. The two subjects which form the staple of the Message are the plethora of the Treasury, and the dangers of a speculative and excessive banking sys tem. With a surplus in the national coffers of at least 10,000,0001. sterling, which every day is likely to in crease, an Englishman might be apt to conceive that the wildest dreams of a financial Utopia had been realised, and that nought but the luxury of repose and enjoyment was left to be experienced by these happy, debtless republicans. But no such thing. There seems to be no less formidable difficulty in reducing a revenue to the sober level of an economical expendi ture, than in raising one to meet the emergencies of wantonness and profusion. It would not surprise us, however, from a sentence of the Message, where the President limits his own view of the just measure of any system of taxation to the absolute wants of the public service, if the whole machinery of protecting duties were ere long to be altogether given up, and the revenue of the United States were to spring e xclusively from the sale of unappropriated territory. This would cease of course in time, but not until after a consider able interval. On the banking question we can only see that the President is a stern reprover and represser of the monstrous vices of an excessive paper currency ; and for the sake of the great country which he governs, we trust that his predilection for the precious metals will be shared by the majority of the people. The President takes leave of his fellow-citizens in a pas sage which conveys some apprehension that he may not live to repeat his valedic tion on proroguing Con gress. The message is less interesting to foreign Powers than others which have gone before it ; but its tone is temperate, and its reasoning on some diffi cult questions of finance and currency are those of an able and searching mind.—Times. These Glasgow " boys will be the death of us." They have infected the Conservative operatives of Lan cashire with the itch of exhibiting similar vagaries in honour of " old Tom" or " old Cognac." At a din ner given on a cheap scale at Wigan, on Wednesday, to Mr. John Hudson Kearsley, M.P., their health, proposed by one Mr. Elias Chadwick, was coupled with a eulogy on the " consistent followers of that prince of Scotchmeu, John Knox," by the Rev. Mr. M'Kenzie, of the Scotch Kirk. A more ridiculous affair than this cheap feed was never got up by the hungry students themselves—and, certainly, their appe tite, while anticipating a succession of dinners, appears to be as little troubled with qualms of digestion as their political conscience. We are informed by the reporter of the Conservative print w hich records the great doings at Wigan on Wednesday, that a great num ber of distinguished Members of Parliament were invited to eat " leg of mutton and trimmings" at the above cheap dinner ; but it appears that they had no stomachs for those unctions dainties, and one and all in succession declined the advantage of cramming the ear and body at the same time. A Mr. J. Hamwell and a Mr. Richard Hall, both affecting to be operatives, made themselves as ridicu lous as could be well desired by any Conservative booby in existence. One proposed Church and State, the other J. H. Kearsley, Esq., as their champion, — the band very appropriately playing the tune of " Jack's the Lad." We should be glad to ask the above two operatives whether the smile of Toryism, even if it be attended with more substantial profits than it usually is, will be sufficient to remunerate or repay them for the necessity under which they consider themselves to be placed of stultifying themselves in the eyes of all the industrious classes to which they pretend to belong, but which we cannot abstain from thinking they have for some convenient object, best known to themselves, deserted ? What interest can any of the working classes have in the immoral scandal of that scarlet harlot a State-church, or in the inordinate expense which the impure wedding saddles upon the country ? Do they mean to argue it is for the benefit of the operatives to have their pockets picked of the hard earnings of labour for such a pur pose of religious and political prostitution ? Do they mean to argue it is for the moral benefit of themselves and families that the progeny of that State Church should be maintained and propagated ? What is its progeny ? Simony and jobbing — episcopal nep otism and episcopal intrigue—military and political church men—racing, sporting, and wenching parsons. It will require great talent to prove that any part of the in dustrious population of this country are interested in keeping up such a costly abomination as this. Per haps, of all the unmixed relics of Paganism, there is no other that can be pointed out so purely and demon strably Pagan as a State Church. The Reverend Mr. M'Kenzie could have told the mock converts John Knox's opinion on this head. Do Messrs. Ham well and Hall, in their supreme wisdom, think to operate on the common sense of the nation to such a ddgree as to delude it into a belief, that Pa ganism and religion are the same thing, and that Christianity stands in need of a nti-Christianity for support ? They must form no very modest estimate of their pretensions to eloquence if they imagine they can do this. It is a task that would tax the eloquence of the most eloquent of men —it would tax the elo quence of Belial himself, although his " tongue dropped manna"—and notwithstanding his power to make the " worse appear a better reason." We admit that there are men of great and even of consummate eloquence among the operatives and mechanics. But all genuine talent and real genius is modest ; and they would shrink from such a gigantic task. But these shallow simpletons, misled by small vanity, or other motives—perhaps by the cunning calculation that any oratorical rubbish would be greedily seized, and printed by the Conservative prints at the present time, —like fools " Rush in where angels fear to tread." More pitiable exhibitions of silly and vulgar nonsense we never read than the two speeches of these two ope rative converts to divine right, passive obedience, and high church. And they forsooth, with helpless imbe cility or brazen effrontery—we know not which—have the modesty to advocate that " bge-word "—" that " antiquity "—Church and State. We congratulate the Tories on the valuable acquisition they have made of these arcades arnbo—these cousins Simple and Shal low of the stanch reforming borough of Wigan. No wonder the gentlemen to whom we have referred were not willing to have their names mixed up with such a flimsy imposture, as the pretence that the operatives of England are becoming converts to the absolute dogmas of Church and State Toryism. We do not wonder that Mr. C. Wilkins, to whom we have before paid our respects, should favour the company with the coun tenance of his itinerant eloquence. His rhetoric was quite in character with theirs, though of a different texture. His fustian and bombastic nonsense formed a very appropriate pendant to the helpless imbecility of their scatter-brained jabber. We shall believe the con version affected to be demonstrated by these got-up meetings, when birds swim and fishes fly—when peti tions are presented from the army for the better encou ragement of flogging among the soldiers—and when the emancipated negroes get up resolutions throughout the colonies for a restoration of the ancient benefits of the branding iron, the spiked collar, and the Barbadoes whip.—Morning Advertiser. There seems to be a ridiculous notion prevalent among some Whig-Radicals, that the Conservatives, and especially such of them as happen to be .Mem bers of the House of Lords, have an interest in pre venting public inquiry into the foundation of political power in this country. Such a notion as this is the result of extreme arrogance, acting upon extreme igno rance. These people are so overweeningly confident in themselves and their crude judgments, and so little acquainted with the facts and the feelings which sup port and encompass the hereditary legislation of the kingdom, that they assume it to be a something that will not bear the open daylight, into which it must be brought in order to be examined. It is perfectly lu dicrous to read their advice, couched in the form of compassionate caution, which they are so considerate as to bestow upon the Conservatives. They tell the Peers that, if they continue to oppose the Govern ment—that is, if they do not (like the disinterested worthies of Lichfield House), bow their necks to the O'Connell yoke, and agree to inflict " heavy blows, and great discouragement upon Protestant : ism," they will bring into serious discussion their rig to the power of legislation—the people will begin to ask " Why are they troubled with a House of Peers ?" Can there be any thing more mean in thought, or more absurd in ignorance, than the idea that such a threat as this is likely to have any effect upon the Peers, or upon the political party which looks to that THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 183 House with deference and confidence ? Can the persons who make this threat really believe that the Peers of Great Britain are afraid of fair inquiry, or wish to hold their power and maintain their position in the country by stealth ? This is indeed a prepos terous. conceit. The more intelligent and out-spoken of the Radicals incline to no such folly ; but it is the Ministerialists, those trimming servile politicians, who know their own ways to be such as cannot bear honest examination—it is they, whose threats betray their fears, and who think that others will shun inquiry as dangerous, because they know it would be death to themselves. The Peers have no fears of the kind. They know the duties which belong to their part in the legislative Constitution, and these duties they will not be deterred from by threats of inquiry, which, if honestly conducted, must only make more and more clear what those duties are. We are very certain that no honest inquiry can bring any man, or body of men, to the conclusion that it belongs to the duties of the British Peerage, to inflict a heavy blow and a great discouragement upon Protestantism. The present Prime Minister says, indeed, that he considers it expe dient to do this, and, of course, Lord Melbourne can not consider anything expedient which he does not also consider conformable _with his duty as a Member of the House of Peers ; but his Lordship, although Prime Minister, is not, we venture to think, a first rate authority in points of duty ; he is a much better judge of what is (to himself) convenient. But let us mark the exquisite morality of those political sages who would have the Lords whisper their assent to the O'Connell policy, and make as little noise as possible, lest their right to sit as Legislators should attract no tice. What does their advice amount to this—" If you will be heedless of your oaths as Privy Council lors, and neglectful of your honour as Peers—if you will consent to be, in fact, the mere registers or com plimentary reviewers of the acts of the Com mons, then you shall be allowed to remain in form the Legislators for this realm ; but if, on the other hand, you insist upon the exercise of your inde pendent judgment, as Noble and Hon. Lords, then look to yourselves, for an inquiry very dangerous to You will be set on foot by the people ?" Such is the morality and 'the high-mindedness with which the Peers are assailed, and the persons who thus assail them are the very same who make a continual outcry about corruption and want of public virtue. Would it not be better if they would inquire into the foundation of their own political advice than threaten others with inquiry ? There does seem to be " something rotten" in their state, which they should lose no time in en deavouring to remedy. Is there not some reason to believe that they who recommend cowardly desertion of duty to others, are not very much to be depended upon themselves ? The matter, when rightly considered, comes to this :—A man may honestly, though, we think, very erroneously, contend that the House of Lords is not a useful institution, and that it would be better to abolish it ; but he who contends that the Lords should abandon their own sense of duty in order to preserve the institution of which they are members, must be a dishonest or a stupid politician, and de serves, accordingly, to be marked out for detestation, or passed by with contempt.—Morning Herald. The address of the American President to Congress has, we perceive, afforded to some of our Radical Contemporaries the opportunity of expressing their unbounded admiration and intimating their decided preference of republican institutions. They seem to think that an irresistible argument in favour of the republican form and principles of government may be founded upon the facts that the general and State Go vernments of the American Union are republican, and that the general Government, after having discharged every debt due by the federation, has a large surplus of revenue over expenditure, and an actual accumu lation, the disposal of which is a question of some dif ficulty and embarrassment. We have no inclination, and indeed no inducement, to deny that Republican institutions are well suited to the peculiar situa tion of the United States. Expesience we may admit proves sufficiently that they are so. But unless it be taken for granted that the same kind of Government can he established with ad vantage in all nations, without exception, what ever may be the dissimilarity of their position, cir cumstances, and character, a proposition which has never been maintained or even advanced, the more natural and reasonable inference from the fitness and excellence of Republican Government, as shown in America would be, not that this description of Go vernment must be good and suitable everwhere else, but that it can be suitable and good nowhere else. It would seem idle to enumerate circumstances so ob vious as those which distinguish the American from every other nation on earth, circumstances not derived from, but antecedent to, and independent of, the character of the Government, and which absolve the Government from the necessity so imperious every where else, of cultivating and exercising the quali ties of energy and activity in the application of the national force. One or two of the chief of these circumstances it is not, however, improper to recal to the recollection of those who, in the ar dour of their republican predilections, are disposed to overlook them. The people of the United States may be said to possess a Continent to themselves. Hence they are without a rival or a foe among the other nations of the world, at such a geographical distance from their boundaries as to threaten either danger or annoyances, and thus they are exempt from the neces sity of imparting to their executive Government the same degree of power that is freely c onceded by other nations, in the conviction that less would be incompa tible with the cultivation or display of activity, promp titude, and vigour. Exempt from all the natural causes of quarrel among nations, and from the apprehension of all that is really formidable in foreign hostility, the Americans can have no motives to desire that their Government should be either active or power ful, unless these qualities were required in order to restrain and subdue some refractory and dangerous portion of their own countrymen. But the situation of the American people relieves them as effectually from the latter apprehension as from the former. Having yet at their disposal boundless tracts of pro ductive and unoccupied land, both labour and capi tal find an easy and abundant return ; an invitation to profitable employment is constantly open to the whole people ; large masses of the population can never be subjected to painful privations ; there can be no inconvenient pressure, or irritating friction, upon any considerable portion of the community. The irregular and wayward spirits among them, who revolt against the restraints and obligations of society, have a ready refuge in the unreclaimed portion of their territory, where each individual may, if it so please him, be King, President, Con gress, subject, everything to himself. In such cir cumstances as these, it is more wonderful that the Americans should have discovered the necessity of any Government at all, than that the necessity o f a vigorous and active Government should still remain unknown to them. These are circumstances which may last long, but which cannot last for ever ; and, whenever they cease it requires but little sagacity to foresee that the Republican institutions of America will cease with them. There is evidence enough, indeed, in the speech of General Jackson to show how incompetent a Government like that of the United States would be to conduct the war and the diplomacy of any of the m o r e considerable European States, or to cope with the intense conflicts of interests, the fiery passions, the rest less activity, the reckless enterprises, and the political and social crimes which are necessarily engendered among a dense population, pent in by barriers which it cannot overleap. The President informs us that the United States Bank has been permitted for a considerable period to set the authority of the Govern ment and the law at defiance, without appearing to be conscious that indecision, uncertainty, and weakness on the part of the Executive are implied in the com plaint. The charter of this Bank has expired. The law has ordained that the Executive Government should withdraw the money deposited in its hands on ac count of the State. Repeated applications have been made for the payment of this money. But the Bank, which holds it, refuses to let go, gets a new charter from the Legislature of one of the other State of the Union, carries on its banking business as usual, thwarts the financial objects of the Go vernment as much as possible, and virtually prolaims its determination to keep the money of the Union, in order that it may be enabled to do so with better effect. We apprehend that the Executive Government of England, with the law on its side, would not have endured this with the exem plary patience manifested by that of America. Some thing, certainly, would have been done more to the purpose than putting a complaint like that of the American President into the King's Speech. But General Jackson, who, as a man, cannot be suspected of wanting energy and decision of character, lets the contempt be prolonged, and the mischief proceed, without rebuke or interruption, for the purpose of complaining to Congress of injuries which, by his own showing, the executive and judicial powers were per fectly adequate to redress. We adduce this instance as an illustration of the languid and feeble character of the American Government, and as a proof that, how ever that Government may be suited to the present ' condition of the American people, it is not such as ' would be very likely to succeed in Europe.—Morning • Post. CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. OLD COURT. Edward Green, an elderly person, of respectable ap pearance, who surrendered to his bail, pleaded guilty to an indictment preferred against him for a misdemeanor. Mr. CLARKSON was instructed by the defendant to pray the mercy of the Court. As his Lordship was aware, the indictment contained a variety of counts varying the offence which charged the defendant with selling light bread by means of there being attached to the scale in which the bread was placed a piece of lead of the weight of one ounce. In praying the mercy of the Court, he trusted that he might be allowed to call witnesses respecting the previous character of the defendant for honest and correct conduct as a tradesman. • Mr. Simmons, a clerk in the Bank of England, and Mr. Corry, a surgeon, gave the prisoner a character for irre proachable honesty. Mr. GURNEY, the City Pleader, on behalf of the prose. cution (which was instituted by the city of London) trusted that the Court would not permit the defendant to escape with a slight punishment, for the offence had been carried on in a very poor and densely populated neighbourhood. The RECORDER said the Court would take time to con sider its sentence, and in the mean time the defendant must stand committed. Robert Hogg, aged 50, was indicted for stealing five gold chains and other articles, of the value of forty pounds, the property of his masters, Messrs. Frodsham, of Grace church-street. The Jury found the prisoner Guilty. MANSIONV-HOUSE. James King, a waiter at the King's Head public-house is Fenchureh-street, was brought before the LORD MAYOR, charged with having struck a man named William King with a poker on the head. The wounded man had been sleeping in the tap-room on Tuesday last, after having drank too much, and two or three of the customers, as a Christmas joke, covered his mouth and eyes with potatoe skins, and introduced a snow-ball between his skin and his shirt. The prisoner expostulated with them on the trick they were playing, and began to remove the snow-ball. The drunken man then started up, and, evidently under the impression that the person who was befriending him was acting with hostility, struck the prisoner most violently. The prisoner fell back apparently dead, but was recovered in a few minutes, when he made to the fire-place, seized the poker, and struck his assailant on the left side of the head. A medical certificate was produced, which stated that the wound was dangerous, and the waiter was repanded. The fondness which the injured man had got for gin was very unequivocally shown by the succeeding statement. He had, some witnesses declared, been drunk for three clear days, and even the blow on the head, and the alarm ing description given of it by the surgeons, had not the effect of checking his propensity. The priso ner having expressed much regret at having in the agony of the a ssault committed upon him used so deadly an instrument as a poker, and having given to the man he had so assailed a half-crown and a shilling, and a glass of wine and water on the two days following, the unfortunate fellow, instead of going home or to the hospital, spent the money in gin, and the wound, of course, grew worse. His wife stated that she took him to the London Infir mary on Saturday, but he objected to stay, and was told there that if he choose to go he might go to the Devil ; so he returned, and became delirious. Afterwards an attempt was made to take him by force to the hospital, but she, knowing the dislike he had to the trouble of being cured in a place of the kind, refused to allow him to be removed. The LORD MAYOR said it was seldom that the attach ment to gin showed itself in so extraordinary a manner. The man had aggravated a wound which would, if proper care had been taken by him, have been much improved ; and although it was now dangerous, bail should be taken for the appearance of the prisoner, who, although wrong in using such an instrument as a poker, had acted with hu manity afterwards to the person he had assailed. The master of the prisoner immediately consented to bail him. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent transmitted to the Lord Mayor 201. as her donation in aid of the As sociation for the Relief of the Poor at this dreadfully severe season, by the distribution of coals and potatoes in the City of London and its vicity. A lady, who would not allow her name to be mentioned, handed yesterday to the Lord Mayor two sovereigns for the same benevolent purposes. The Lord Mayor observed that, at this moment, a great deal of benefit might be accomplished by a small fund at his disposal. GUILDHALL. Mr. Langdon, of Newgate-street, stationer, attended to give information of a fraudulent trick which was being prac tised daily at the west end of the town. Some trash was made up into a parcel, with an invoice made out in appli cant's name, and a boy about fourteen years of age who de livered it required the payment of twelve or fourteen shillings, pretending the goods had been ordered by the master or mistress. If they happened to be at home and disengaged, and it was discovered that no stationery had been ordered of him, the parcel was returned as a mistake. But in other cases the servant paid the sum mentioned in the invoice. At Mr. Thomas Duncombe's, the Member of Parliament, the servant had not silver enough, and entrusted the boy with a sovereign to get change. He of course did not return. At Sir Peter Pole's the trick succeeded, and the servant was hoaxed besides _by being told to deliver the parcel that night at the Earl of Winterton's to the lady who was going away next morning. On Saturday last the trick was played off at Lady Dover's and at another house. He enume ra t e d the names of several persons who had been duped, and hoped the press would afford the means of guard ing against the imposition, and perhaps of catching the rogues. Mr. Alderman PIRIE said the information, if it reached the public, would no doubt put an end to the fraud. Mr. Langdon thanked the Magistrate, and retired. --- MARLBOROUGH-STREET. Three young men of fashion, whose names in the police sheet were written down James Makombe, and Henry and George Simpson, were yesterday put to the bar, before Mr. CHAMBERS and Mr. CoNANT, charged, the first w ith an assault, and the two last wit h having acted in a disorderly manner. The bench fined Malcombe for the assault 5/., and the other two 1/. each. To raise the needful one of the defen dants had to make interest with his " father's brother." HA --- TTON-GAR DEN. John Wishart was again brought up, charged by Miss Jane Abbot with bigamy. A solicitor stated that since the last examination they had traced the prisoner to have married other women, and that he bad been twice married at the same church. John Chipperton, in 1832, was present when the pri soner married Sarah Collins. She herself married at the time of her marriage wi th the prisoner. She and her first husband were now living. Mr. LAING said they were a pretty race altogether. If evidence of two marriages cou ld be produced he would send the prisoner before a Jury. He inquired whether the evi dence of his first marriage at Glasgow could be brought forward ? The solicitor replied in the negative. The prisoner denied the charge, saying they were all false, and he would be able to rebut them. He was again remanded. LAMBETH-STREET. Yesterday among the numerous night charges brought to this office was a middle-aged man, dressed in the garb of a mechanic, named George Fenton, who, as appeared by the police-sheet, was given into custody on Saturday night for being drunk and creating a considerable uproar in the Mari time Chapel in Wellclose-square. Police-constable Wm. Parry, H 71, about half-past eleven o'clock on Saturday n ight, while on duty in Weil close-square, heard loud cries of " Police" proceed from the church, and on going thither the prisoner was pointed out to him as a person who had created a considerable disturbance among the congregation there a ssembled, and by the violence of his expressions and manners had dis turbed the religious ceremony. Perceiving that the pri soner was rather far gone, and that even his (Parry's) appearance did not restrain him from his apparent fervour, he took him into custody, and conveyed him to the station house. It further appeared that the congregation was composed of the members of a temperance society, whose practice is to meet at the church in question e night of the 31st of December , to see the old year out a th nd the new one in. The prisoner, who appeared very penitent, had been for some time a member of the society, but admitted that he was more than " three sheets in the wind on Saturday night, or he should not have conducted himself as had been stated. Mr. Halswell, the sitting Magistrate, told him he should discharge him on one condition, and tortureas that he (the prisoner) should take the earl iest oppty of reporting to the society generally the fact of his being drunk, and his disgraceful conduct while he was so, and making an ample apology to that society for what had happened. This the prisoner willingly consented to do, and he was discharged. WORSHIP-STREET. Yesterday the police-sheet, which, of a Monday morn ing, generally contains the names of between 30 and 40 delinquents, charged with the various offences of inebriety, robbery, assault, &c., had only six prisoners brought before Mr. BROUGHTON. UNION-BALL. Yesterday John Robloon, mate of the ship Reformation, SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. VESSELS ENTERED INWARDS AT THE CUS TONI-HOUSE, JAN. 2. The Produce, Poole, from Hamburgh; Friends, Manning, Harlingen ; Anternekueng, Christophers, Rouebeck ; Flora, Manning, Harlingen ; Wave, Cummin g , Medemblik ; City of Glasgow, Fairburn, Boulogne ; Independence, Phillips, Dram ; Hercules, Meyer, Stettin ; Robert, Moritz, Stettin ; Cathe rina, Schelatt, Altona; Monarch, Fox, Havre; Orbes, Ter vich, Riga. ENTERED OUTWARDS FOR LOADING. The Anna, Griffiths, for Bombay ; Scotsman, Williamson, Jamaica; Effort, Brien, Trinidad ; Matilda, Moore, Naples ; Augustus Caesar, Croker, Sierra Leone ; Emma, King, Cape of Good Hope; Rosendale, Curling, Calcutta. CLEARED OUTWARDS WITH CARGO. The Conception, De Gochie, for Cadiz ; Parisian, Hopton, Sydney; Marquis of Wellesley, Stayner, Grenada; Duke of York, Brown, River Gambia. CLEARED OUTWARDS IN BALLAST. The Emerald, Neilson, for Tobago; Emma, Hood, Madeira. ARRIVALS AT LIVERPOOL, DEC. 31. The Thomas, Hatton, from Ulverstone ; Lady Maxwell, Ennis, Obairs ; Charles, Crockhill, Isle of Man. ENTERED FOR LOADING. The Grace, Pearson, for Antigua ; Winscales, Walmsley, Demerara; Atlantic, Reath, Savannah; Ambassador, Upton, New Orleans; Letitia, Sevatridge, Gibraltar. CLEARED OUTWARDS. The Fame, Whitby, for Buenos Ayres; Robert, Hamilton, Curacoa ; Hankinson, Have, Africa; Helen, Hall, New York; Harvest Home, Brown, Hayti; England, Waite, New York ; Lady Stormont, M‘Minne, Maranham. TELEGRAPHED. Signals will not pass, dense fog all day. Wind, at Holyhead, West. Off Holyhead, inward bound, this day, Grace Brown, from Virginia ; Konahasseld, from New Orleans. Off Holyhead, inward bound, yesterday, the Hope, from Bristol. Off Holyhead, outward bound, yester day, the May, for Demerara. THE WEATHER.—The thermometer yesterday morning, at Hackney, stood at 14 deg. Fahrenheit, being 12 deg. lower than on Friday morning. The Stockport Advertiser of Friday is full of abuse, and Mr. Cobden, the candidate for the suffrages of the Stockport Reformers, is assailed with an elaborate rancour, that shows how much it is dreaded that he should get into Parliament, and " move the straw." On Tuesday afternoon last, an inquest was held at Mr. Richard Thornley's, the Griffin public-house, Grundy Hill, Heaton Mersey, before W. S. Rutter, Esq., Coroner, and a very respectable jury, to enquire into the death of Ann Highfield, of that township, who was generally supposed to have died in consequence of some injuries occasioned by two bailiffs, whilst distraining upon her husband's goods for rent, due to a person named Brown, of Brinksway, the poor woman having been confined in child-bed about 13 days. After a lengthy investigation, the verdict turned upon the opinion of the surgeon, that her death had been caused by fits.—Stockport Advertiser. On this side of the Severn, there has not been any fall of snow, and the roads are consequently unobstructed ; but in our communications with the metropolis we expe rience the same inconvenience as our neighbours on the other side.—Cambrian. The horrid murders which have been lately perpe trated at Kirton in Lindsey, where, in consequence, great sensation has been aroused, have awakened the attention of the inhabitants of those parts to the necessity and import ance of the establishment of a rural police. Balfe has nearly completed his new opera, most of the dialogue of which is in recitative ; but where it is to be brought out is not yet settled. The subject of the libretto is historical, and of the time of Elizabeth. The skaiters in the Regent's Park commenced ope rations on Saturday last. The ice was better than could have been expected, considering the effect which the drift ing snow had upon the water, previously to the frost set ting in, and the gale of wind which then prevailed. The Skaiting Club met at noon. Soon after noon the spacious marquee belonging to the Club, was pitched on the lawn opposite the Ilindoo pavilion of the Marquis of Hertford. A store of excellent provisions, cogniac, and cigars were provided, with proper attendants, and many of the bye standers were liberally invited to partake. On Sunday the scene was greatly improved, owing to the cheering rays of a brilliant sun until the afternoon, and the spectators were very numerous. A vast number of carriages graced the road, filled with beauty and fashion. DESTRUCTION OF THE THAMES STEAM BOAT. —About half-past three o'clock Sunday morning a fire broke out in the engine-room of the Thames steam-boat, lying off Union-stairs, Wapping. The Thames Police gal leys and several officers soon rowed up to render assistance to the captain and crew, and the floating engine of the London Fire Establishment was shortly afterwards brought into operation, but the fire had extended its ravages from one end of the vessel to the other, and every effort to save any portion of the boat was useless ; so the officers and firemen adopted the plan of scuttling, and she went down in twenty feet of water. The captain and crew arc suf ferers to a great extent by the calamity, for the rapidity with which the fire spread afforded them only sufficient time to cut the small boat adrift from her stern, and they escaped with scarcely any wearing apparel on them. The Thames steam-boat is insured in the Sun Fire Office. The Governors of the Royal Society of Musicians have voted fifty pounds to be distributed among aged and distressed members of the musical profession, having no claim on the institution. Several concerts which had been announced in the country have been postponed in conse quence of the London performers being unable to travel ; many of the latter have been obliged to pause on the road, and to take a greater number of bars' rest than was agreeable. Scarcely a single individual has been able to keep strict time. A family, consisting of four individuals, a father, two daughters, and a mother, went to bed in a room in the Wallace Fens, Dundee, on Monday night. On Wednes day one of the daughters awoke, but could not awake the other members of the family. She immediately procured a light, when, shocking to relate, she found her father and sister dead, and her mother dying. The mother is since dead. The daughter, who awoke on Wednesday morning from her protracted sleep of 32 hours, becoming again le thargic, on Wednesday night was removed to the infirmary, where the proper means for her recovery were promptly and s uccessfully applied, and we understand that she is now almost well. The circumstances attending this mysterious affair are undergoing investigation by the proper authorities. —Caledonian Mercury. In a village not many miles from Carroll Shore the spirit dealers resolved to put a penny on " the gill," in consequence of a " height " of a shilling on the gallon " halesale." But their tippling customers, to a man, de clared that they would not submit to the " vile imposition." So some of them went for the " drappie " to Carron, some to Larbert, and others to Bainsford, where business was conducted at the old prices. The strike succeeded. The penny was " ta'en aff," and the spirit dealers, to indemnify themselves, must just put a little more aqua in the cask a practice as salutary to the consumer us profitable for the seller.—Glasgow Courier. ADVENTURES IN A FOG.—On Saturday week the following very unpleasant occurrence befel the Rev. James Tyreman, of Nurton, near Tintern. This gentle man had engaged to officiate on the afternoon of that day, for the Rev. Mr. Thomas , of Tydenham, and was on his return home, when, about 5 o'clock in the evening, whilst passing through Caswell-wood a fog suddenly arose, and such was its density, that, though Mr. Tyreman was within half a mile of his borne he missed his path, and soon became be wildered in the intricacies of the wood. He continued roam ing during the whole of the night without being able by his most strenuous exertions to effect an egress from his com fortless situation. At length, about 6'clock on the follow ing morning, the Rev. Gentleman espied on the opposite side of the river, the fog by this time being somewhat less thick, a man with a lantern, and accordingly he hailed so welcome an object, at the highest pitch of his voice. The man hearing the repeated calls for help, and concluding that a fellow-being was in distress, hastened to the river and got himself put over. Having procured assistance, he pro ceeded to the spot whence the cries issued, and soon found the object of his search, who was unconsciously standing on the edge of a frightful precipice, nearly exhausted from fa tigue, and the cheerless situation he had been placed in. He was immediately conveyed to his residence, where an anxious family had, in great alarm, been awaiting his wel come return.—Liverpool,Mail. was charged before Mr. WEDGWOOD with obtaining the sum of 461. 10s. 3d. under false pretences. The master of the vessel had not authorised the prisoner to receive the above sum, and produced the bill of lading, which, he said, had not been out of his custody. The prisoner, who said nothing in his defence, was remanded. CORONERS' INQUESTS. Last night an inquisition was taken before Mr. HIGGS, the Coroner for Westminster, at the Rising Sun public house, George-street, Grosvenor-square, on the body of Eliza Hellyard, between thirteen and fourteen years of age. Miss Lawler lived at No. 4, Chapel-street, Curzon-street, Mayfair. The house was kept by a lady named Owen, witness was do a visit to Sir Nicholas Trent, who lodged there. He occupied the whole of the upper part of the house, including the first floor. The deceased was servant to Sir Nicholas. He went to bed about seven on Saturday evening, being unwell. Witness retired to rest about half past eleven, and in going to her own apartment saw that his room door was open, and that there was a rushlight burning, as usual, in the room. It was in a guard. There was no fire in the room. He appeared to be asleep. Wit ness went to bed, and about three o'clock in the morning was alarmed by Sir Nicholas calling out " Fire." Witness instantly ran to the door of his room, and saw him standing in the middle of the room calling " Fire." The room was then all alight, and the bedding and curtains were also on fire. Sir Nicholas is very old and infirm, and is labouring under the effect of paralysis. Witness then ran up stairs to the room over Sir Nicholas's bed-room to alarm the de ceased and another female servant in the house who slept there. Witness knocked at the door, calling out " Fire," and hearing, as she thought, the deceased and the other ser vant answer her, went down stairs and , alarmed the parties who were sleeping below. Charlotte Burton, servant to Mrs. Owen, about three o'clock on Sunday morning, while sleeping with the de ceased, was awoke by the last witness calling out " Fire 1" Witness jumped out of bed, as did the deceased likewise. Witness opened the room door, when the smoke rushed into her face. She said to the deceased " Follow me." The deceased made no answer, but screamed. Witness groped her way into the next room, the front attic, and made her escape by the window to the next house. Witness came back to Mrs. Owen's house by the street door, and heard the deceased screaming dreadfully ; but then no person could get to her assistance. Witness believed that the deceased, in her fright, missed following her, and being pre vented by the dense smoke from going down stair, she re turned back into the bedroom and locked herself in. Sir Nicholas slept in the back room on the second floor. The street door was broken open by the police ; but witness be lieved that it was too late to save the deceased. Miss Anne Williams, niece to Mrs. Owen, slept on the parlour floor, and was awoke by Miss Lawler calling " Fire !" Witness ran up stairs, and saw Sir Nicholas's bedroom on fire ; the flames were rushing out at the door. Witness rushed forward, and reached the room where the deceased was. Witness called to the deceased to open the door ; she replied, " I can't, I can't," and continued scream ing ; the flames had by this time rushed up stairs, and ,he door of the room was already beginning to crack and blaze, and the heat became so intense that witness was obliged to retire, and with great difficulty made her escape out of the window to the next house. (The witness here became much affected, and burst into tears.) The Jury highly complimented the witness for her huma nity and intrepidity. They expressed a wish to examine Sir Nicholas Trent, who, in pursuance of a request from the Coroner to that effect, immediately attended. Sir Nicholas stated that he was a native of Ireland, and was an officer in the army. He was lately suffering from a stroke of paralysis. The deceased had been in his service for a year and a half, and was generally well-behaved, ex cept being a little giddy at times. Witness was very kind to her. Witness had a rushlight burning in the room, and there was also a lamp placed on a table at a proper distance from the bed, to warm his medicine. He was awoke by the fire, and made his escape without receiving any other injury than a burn on his right hand. He did not light his fire that night or in the morning. The curtains appeared to have caught light on the right side of the bed. The rushlight was on the left. Did not believe that the rush light occasioned the fire. Had taken a dose of henbane that night to cause sleep. Could not account for the fire occurring. The lamp to warm his medicine was not lighted on that night, as he believed. The house and all the pro perty in it, down to the parlour, was consumed. Evidence was then adduced of the finding of the body in the first floor, having fallen in with the ruins from the floor above. After a lengthened consultation, the Jury returned the following verdict :—" That the deceased was burned to death ; but there was no evidence to prove whether the fire was the result of accident or otherwise:' Yesterday forenoon a Coroner's inquest was holden be fore Mr. Stirling, at the Buffalo's Head, in the New-road, to inquire touching the death of Mrs. Mary Johnson, aged eighty-one, for many years proprietress of Johnson's a-la mode beef shop, Clare-court, Drury-lane, who was burnt to death in the manner already stated in our paper. Ver dict—" Accidental death." Mr. Gully, M.P., for Pontefract, gave a dinner on Wednesday week, at his seat, to a select number of his constituents ; after which he informed them of his inten tion to withdraw from public life, and recommended to them as a candidate at the next election, to fill his place either Sir Culling E. Smith, or Colonel Raphael,,—York- Airman. The Earl of Lindsay has met with a serious acci dent at Uffington House, Lincolnshire, by his dressing gown catching fire while standing with his back to the grate ; fortunately, the Noble Earl had the presence of mind to rush into an adjoining apartment, and there had the rem nants of his gown torn from him ; but his Lordship was severely burnt. Surgical aid was promptly obtained, and his Lordship as fast recovering. The late venerable Duke of Montrose, who had en tered his 82d year, is succeeded in his title and estates by his eldest son, James, Marquis Graham, a Commissioner of the India Board in the Administration of the Duke of Wel lington, formerly M.P, for the town of Cambridge, Colonel of the Stirling, Dumbarton, Clackmannan, and Kinnop Militia, who was united in October to the Hon. Miss Be resford, daughter of the Rev. Lord Deceis. The late Duke was for many years Lord Chamberlain to King George the Fourth, and his Grace was also Lord Justice General of Scotland, Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire and Dumbarton, Knight of the Garter, Chancellor of Glas gow University, an extra Director of the Bank of Scotland, D.C.L. His Grace married a sister of the third Duke of Manchester. Sergeant-Major Angus Ross, of the 79th High landers, when about to quit the service, was presented, a few days since, by Lieut.-Colonel Fergusson and the offi cers of this distinguished regiment, with two splendid and richly-chased silver salvers. On Wednesday morning last, an infant, about five weeks old, was found dead by the side of its parents, John Lloyd and his wife, at a house in the square at Kidder minster. It appeared quite well on going to bed the pre vious evening. An inquest w as held on the bod y Saturda y morning, before T. Allen , Esq., when the following verdict was returned :—"Suffocated accidentally in the bed clothes." - EIGHT-DAY CLOCKS, to strike the Hours and Half-hours, Five Guineas each. They are in elegant cases, about 71 inches high, suitable either to stand on a bracket or mantel-piece, and are 'Warranted, at T. COX SA VORY'S, Working Goldsmith, gcc. &c., 47, Uornhill, London. N.8.--A pamphlet c ontaining drawings and a detailed list el the prices of Silver Plate, Plated Goods, Watches, Clocks ? &c., may be had gratis, or will be fore arded in answer to a post-p aid application. _ BIRTHS. On the 26th ult., at Guernsey, the lady of R. Younger, Esq., of a daughter. On the Ist inst. , at Clapham-common, Mrs. R. Hudson, of a son. On the 2d inst., at Connaught-place, the Hon. Mrs. Trotter, of a daughter. On the 31st ult., the lady of c K. Dixon, Esq., of a son. On the 31st ult., at Barnes, the lady of H. B. Alexander, Esq., of a daughter. On the 30th ult., at 3luswell-hill, IlornseYo Mrs. A. Meeres, of a daughter. MARRIED. On the 31st ult., at St. George's, Hanover-square, Edward, eldest son of T. Partington, Esq., of Offham, Sussex, to Susan Frances, eldest daughter of J. Boodle, Esq. On the 21st ult., at St. George's, Hanover-square, J. E. Low, Esq., to Louisa, widow of Lieut.-Col. Williams. On the 31st ult., at St. Mary Ab botts, Kensington, Wm. Cur.. tis Burt, Esq., of Reigate, to Mary, eldest daughter of John Tur ner, Esq., of Burgh-heath, Banstead. ~r DIED. On the 31st of December, the Rev. Robert Crosby, M . - A. Mi. nister of St. Mary's, Haggerstone, Middlesex. On the 2.9 th ult., at Monument House, near Birmingham, John Johnston, M.D., aged 65. On the 6th ult., off Malta, Commander Henry Jellicoe, of hi s Majesty's ship " Canopus." On the 29th ult., at Sloane - terrace , Chelsea, Elizabeth, si s t er o f the late Captain Richbell, R.N., aged 69. On the 29th ult., John James Day , Esq., late house surgeon t o St. Marylebone Infirmary. On the 30th ult., at Ealing, Sarah Douglass, aged 75, On the 31st ult., at. Norwood, Louisa, eldest (laughter of the late M. Howard, Esq., of that place. On the 31st ult., aged 63, Mr. Joseph Coward, of Paul's-wharf, Upper Thames-street. On the 26th inst., at Whichford, Warwickshire, Katherine, wife the Rev. C. Turner, aged' 2. On the 28th ult., at Cheltenham , aged 22, Charlota Janata, the youngest daughter of J. Macalister, Esq., C.5.,10f Prince of Wales' Island. __- London : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG, of No. 112, Strand, at The Sun Office, No. 112, St r and, in the county of Middlesez..auasday, January 3 , 1837.