The Sun. — London, England, 1837-05-26 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. The Tories are rampant, as might be expected, on their minority of five. To them a party and a mo mentary triumph (their happiest triumphs now never mount higher than defeats) has always been the wisest and noblest object of a vote. Their prescience never extends further than the night—it is lucky for them that it does not. Poor Mr. Goulburn, how much longer will his pillow be feverish and his slumbers broken'! He cannot sleep until the question of Church * rates is settled. What a blessing it is to labour for one's ease and comfort ! How much nearer has he brought himself by Tuesday night's proceedings to the moment of repose And thus it has ever been. The Tories, and this is remarkable, have always lost less than they anticipated by being defeated. The Reform Bill was carried in spite of them ; but the very song of triumph which they are now singing proves that Bill to have been calculated as it was, professed to be, not for the extermina tion of any party in the country, but for repre senting the country as it is—with all its passions, all its prejudices, and all its parties. The Tories have always lost less than they anticipated by being defeated, but they have perpetually lost all they wished to preserve by being successful. Not a calamity ever befell them but can be traced to some stupid bonne fortune. Even the tithe question in Ireland was settled three years ago had they not blundered into a victory. Just so now ; what will become of Church rates, which the vote of Tuesday, remember, was in sended to save ? Yes ; if that vote be what it is called—a triumph—they will be saved ; but not to the Church I they will be saved to the rate-payers, who, as sure as we are writing, will not pay them, and who —we need not again enter into the recondite recesses of the law to discover what may or may not be its pre cepts—cannot (this every one acknowledges) be prac tically forced to do so. Well, then, how, we should like to know, will the Church profit ? It will have repudiated the attempt of conciliating the Dissen tcis, and it has no available arms with which to fight them ; it will have scorned to resign by a treaty of peace what it compels itself to lose in a dis graceful battle. And the Tories, as a party, what will they gain ? Hitherto they have had the opportu nity of cajoling by evasive promises the formidable body they have now excited and insulted. We need not re ft r our readers to Lord John Russell's reminiscences of Sir Robert Peel's declarations. Sir Robert (the memory shortens with years) had forgotten them. It was easy at that time to talk (with no test about to be applied to him) of a desire to satisfy the scruples of conscience, of the justice that - ought to be done to the Dissenters, and. the advantages that might be conferred upon the landed proprietors by a repeal of the Church rates. Some, no doubt, believed him, and helped to swell the minority which is now exulting at their credu tv. But the trick cannot be played over again. There een he no more angling with ambiguous words ; the bat. is gone—the hook is detected. The only plan evr yet proposed satisfactory to the Dissenters has b-en scouted by Sir Robert Peel and Sir Robert Peel's adherents. Between the Disk: tors and the Right Honourable Baronet, then, there is now a c:ear and positive understanding : they know he is their enemy—he knows that they are his oppo neets. In the meantime, the alternative that the S!anda7d has presented, viz., that the Bill must be nloned or the Government go out, is, whatever cour.A.! the Ministers may adopt, ridiculous enough. So eood is the measure, and so certain, if allowed time, to vanquish the lordly lies and saintly absurdities pro pactated against it, that we should have no fear, were it laid by till next Session, but that, as far as the House of Commons were concerned, it would then receive full though tardy justice ; but if this course were now or at oeie future stage adopted, with the concurrence of the D:3senters, God knows it would be from no fear of that awful event to which the Standard refers. The stundard itself well knows that another division, if a (~w votes more or less were an object of glorifKation,, would lie rather to be sought than shunned. But were it otherwise, what then ? The Bill wouhl be lost. Tnat, indeed, as the Church will find, is a calamity (Lei :nit to deplore sufficiently. But as to the Mi eiciry going out in such a case, unless they took the S!andard into their councils, there is little fear of coat. A Ministry goes out when left in a mi t o..:ty on some question, which argues that it will be left in a minority upon all. In the Cliurch nite question are mixed up a thousand private and lo cal interests, which prevent it from being a public (pieition of that description. Some of the best friends of the Government arc either in themselves or in those they represent interested in Church leases.• Their vote here is anything,kut a test of their vote on almost any 0,11.21- conceivable matter of State policy. No, the only reason for postponing the Bill, were it judged advisable to postpone it, would be the time of the House. 4f, indeed, it appeared that no practical re sult could possibly follow the present c o ntinued discus sion, and that the Dissenters echoed, as if it were evi dent they would echo, this opinion, then labouring, as thu House does under a weary load of business, the greater part of which must be completed, the mere de sire to answer Tory bravadoes would not be sufficient justification for the sacrifice of public business it might require. But, whatever now happens, the Tories, they may depend upon it, will not be gainers by what has iienpened; and were this all we might have the con ra Je to comfort ourselves. But to see the Church fishing blindfold into the only course that can threaten it with peril—to see that Church, which was and night to be the people's Church, linking itself every d iy more closely with the people's foes, defyine. the Log_ish Dissenter, insulting the Irish Catholic, be coming in itself the party watchword of an unpopular and hateful cause—this, we confess, to us who wish well to the Church, and only less well than we do to the nation, is a subject on which comfort is with more chillenity to he found. But, alas ! for the Church's _ • cha:npions, they have one unfortunate and quixotic fancy. Knowing their own attributes, they mistake their own powers ; and will persist, like Mr. Trevor, iu thiliking it is theirs To rob the ancient geese of all their glories, And cackling save the Monarchy of Tories. • Morning Chronicle. It will soon, we think, begin to be suspected by the p diticai Dissenters themselves, that they do not con !etute the " people of England," any more than Mr. Daniel. O'Connell is now, after 20 years of laborious mystification, supposed to comprehend within his own r - rson the whole " people of Ireland." The first re mark made by Sir Robert Peel on Tuesday last must have been wormwood to the self-importance of some of those; vain and turbulent persons, who, being them selves s.mong the least tolerant of the human race, are perpetually exclaiming against the grievousness of certain. " hardships," which, though suffered by their forefathers for four or five centuries, had never by them been deemed any hardships at all. The political asseaters having attempted to raise a democratic outcry - against the continuance, for the benefit of the listabsshed Church, of an impost upon the landed property of the realm, which had endured for many ages, the honest and high-minded Ministers of the King, moved by a more than religious alarm fur the conseltience to their own temporary power of turning a dee: ear to the said sectarian outcry, brought in a measure which was thus characterised by Sir R. Peel. Speaking of Church -rates, the Right Hon. Baronet said, that " for many centuries personal and landed: property (the latter especially, for the last 300 or 40i) years) had been subject to this contribution. Nine-etenths of the landed property are in possession of tubise holding communion with the Church of Engi ; and it was proposed to relieve their estates from t:,,ee contribution, to gratify those who owned the remaining tenth." This is, in one respect, a fair view of the ;Ministerial project, in so far as concerns the proplirei t el of Church-rate paid by Churchmen and that wink h is levied on Dissenters ; but there is another eansid,wion here left out, although glanced at signi ticantly- in a subsequent passage of the saute beantifnily reason al speech. Church-rates (as well as tithes) were i:ayab.c for years before dissent was ever heard of, and it is obrvious that if the plea of Ministers be valid, and int;ia be excused from his immemorial contribution to :in object recognized by law to be a national one, hecau se of his choosing to profess opinions different from teilie doctrines of the Established Church, the result tau t bt, a bounty upon the encouragement of sectarian crotchets, and a temptation in the path of mercenary and loose-principled men to get up simulated scruples of conscience, which they may be sure of turning to account, in the shape of a release from the payment of so much money. " On the principle of this measure," says Sir Robert Peel, " a person having purchased property, subject to these charges, may be guilty of a dishonest trick, affect conscientious scruples, and refuse to pay." And what must be the conscience, or the face of Ministers, to propose a robbery of the Church like this, in the teeth of their own recorded declarations I " Five of them" had signed the report of the Church Com missioners, " stating that such destitution existed that there were not. funds enough to supply a number of Churches" adequate to the wants of the population. Yet it is from this destitution that funds are to be ex torted, and the rightful owner robbed that the defaul ter may be gratified. After a notable immolation of Mr. Sheil—Mr. Sapper Sheil—who with pickaxe and shovel had been making puny efforts to undermine the noble pillar of Sir F. Burdett's popularity, Sir Robert Peel affirmed the absence of all precedent in history for interfering with the acknowledged property of the Church—any precedent indeed, but in the history of the Irish Church, which furnished an example within these four or five years of making Bishops annuitants on Commissioners appointed by the Crown, but which case the Whig Ministers themselves declared to be " a peculiar one, not establishing any rule for this cowry." Nor is the conduct of Ministers less grossly inconsistent with the general principles of Lord Althorp, in favour of the support of a Church Establishment by the nation, than with their own much specific pledge, relating to the above treat ment of the Irish Bishops. It must be remem bered, that Lord Althorp was the organ of a Ministry of which Lord John Russell formed a part, when he made the following avowal of what we must suppose to be their common sentiments on the subject of maintaining the fabrics of the Church, which they now insist on upholding by a revenue filched from the Bishops d Chapters. In referring to the topics raised, by the Dissenting interest on the 21st of April, 1834, Lord Althorp spoke thus—" The principal argument used this evening is that no contribution ought to be made by the State out of the public funds for the purpose of maintaining the fabrics of the Church. I entirely agree with the Right Honourable Gentle man. (Mr. Wynn) that it is the absolute duty of the State to provide the means of public religious in struction for the poorer classes of the community." It is, then, with such recollections vivid in the mind of every man, that Lord John Russell now comes forward, and insists on a measure which not only Lord Althorp in his name, but which he himself since the peliod of Lord Althorp's pledge to Parliament, had distinctly and solemnly reprobated, avowing that he adhered to the sentiments delivered by Lord Althorp. It is for their conscientious opposition to this same measure, or at least to the principle which it embodies, and from which opposition they have never for a•mo ment deviated, that the Conservatives in and out of Parliament are vilified through all the forms of gross and scurrilous rancour, because they have steadfastly maintained and acted on a doctrine which the Whig- Radical Ministers have afmndoned,—naincly, that of supporting the sacred edifices of England from the landed property of the nation at large. '' In what," cries Mr. Pickaxe and Shovel Shad, " in what are we changed," that you, Sir F. Burdett, should now oppose, when in 1534 you helped us? We answer for Sr F. Burdett, that beyond all question the Roman Ca:hoiics are not intrinsically changed—that they and their religion are alike immutable. But this we can tell them, that the colours under.which they fight are signally and revoltingly changed—that they wore masks at that time, which they have since flung away—that in 1834 they had not proclaimed, at every meeting and in every point, their determination to em ploy each successive grant or indulgence vouchsafed to them by Parliament hut as a stepning-stone to_further encroachments on the Protestant Church—that they had kept to themselves, or at least repressed, their now placarded purpose to destroy the Church Establish ment. In these respects, Mr. Sheil, you and your brethren are changed—amid they were for concession, when on your own authority and assurances they were led to hope that it would quiet the dissatisfied, and conduce to the stability of the Church—must be wo fully changed indeed, if, with their late experience of your gross and shameless hypocrisy, they hesitated now to resist and repudiate that which they formerly supported.— Trines. The result of the late discussion o►► Church rates has filled the winds of the friends of religious liberty, whether they be Dissenters or Churchmen, with the deepest regret. The majority for relievi►►g a large class of our fellow-men from a burden which presses so heavily on their consciences, is undoubtedly small —it is hardly worthy of the name. It is, we will frankly add, considerably less than we had anticipated. Still we look not on the result as one which ought to dishearten the Dissenters, or cause them in any de gree to relax their exertions to rid themselves of those odious imposts, by the enforcement of which a haughty and pampered establishment still seeks to outrage their feelings. It ought, on the contrary, to stimulate them to still greater efforts. It ought to bind them together in the bonds of a yet closer union, in their endeavours to disengage themselves from the grasp of an avaricious Hierarchy, and to vindicate for ever the rights of con science. Let the Dissenters, aided by all who are friendly to the great principle of religious equality, as regards one's conscience, if not as regards one's stand ing in society—let the Dissenters, thus assisted, only make the proper use of the disaster of Tuesday, and that disaster will eventually prove the most fortunate circumstance which could have occurred. Is it asked in what way this seeming evil may be rendered pro ductive of good ? The question admits of an easy answer. We are on the eve of a general election, that is beyond all doubt. Let then the friends of an equality of religious rights make the abolition of Church-rates the leading test by which to try the claims of those candidates who may solicit their suf frages. There could be no better criterion of a man's general principles, or general fitness for the discharge of the duties of a British representative in Parliament. He who is for the entire and unconditional relief of the Dissenters from their 'existing grievances, will in varibly be found the friend of popular rights generally ; while he, on the other hand, who scruples to knock of the fetters of that large and respectable body of our ellow Christians, will be found at bottom—no mat ter how high-sounding may be his pretentions to the name of Reformer—a Tory of the worst class. Had the Church-rates measure been carried through the House of Commons with a majority as great as that by which it was introduced into it, and then been—as we know it would have been—unceremoniously rejected by the Lords, had such been the fortunes of the measure, comparatively little would have been thought of the Commons; public indignation would have been directed solely against the Lords. And as that body are irresponsible—neither liable to be punished nor ejected from their seats—the probability is, that years might have elapsed before the triumph of the Dissen ters over a domineering Chureh would have been achieved. The Lords would have continued to treat with aristocratic scorn so small a majority as 23, backed though that majority were by the voice of public opinion ; but by the Commons taking on them selves the fearful responsibility of virtually rejecting the present measure, they will find that they have drawn on their own heads the indignation as well as attention of the whole country. They will also find whenever a general election shall take place—which general election, we repeat, is just at hand—that no man will be returned by a liberal constituency who will not unconditionally pledge himself .to make every effort in his power to procure the immediate and entire ex tinction of Church-rates. With the most entire con fidence do we anticipate, that the result of a general e!eetion will be the return of so formidable a majority of Members in favour of the abolition of Church-rates as, tl►ouh not disarming the hostility of the Lort!s against ijissenters, will cause them to shrink, bold and adventurous as ti►ey are, from the desperate expedient of rejecting a measure thus sanctioned by so great a number of the people's representatives, as well as by the people themselves.—Morning Advertiser. Of all parties in the State, the true Tories are they who should, apart from the consideration of office, its patronage, influence, emoluments, &c., be most so licitous to p►eserve the present Administration at the helm of affairs, for should any change take place in the Government, the country will never be content with the same measures of Reform as are now before the Legislature. The very forbearance with which the people are now waiting to ascertain if, even at the last hour, the Lords will allow the measures proposed by the Ministers to become law, is the strongest indica tion of a calm and fixed resolve to enforce their claims to still greater extent if the present compromise be re jected. The confidence reposed by the country in the present Ministry, and the general satisfaction with which most of their measures have been received by the nation, predisposes the people to be content to re ceive at their hands a less ample extension of Reform than would be accepted from any other Ministry what ever. Suppose even the hope of the Tories to in stal themselves in office were as well founded as it is in reality absurd, on what terms could they possibly hope to retain possession of the Government, unless a mancouvre similar to that practised by the Duke of Wellington on his debut as a Premier, when he granted Catholic Emancipation—an out-bidding of Reformers in their own market ? The first act of the Tories in the contingency we suppose, if the outbreak of public opinion did not at once drive them from their usurped authority, would be to endeavour to forestal popular favour by taking up the measures which they now de nounce, and by political juggling re-produce them as their own—then seek to arrogate public confidence and, on the strength of a patched-up bankrupt charac ter, renew their old system of political swindling, plunder, and oppression. But the time for cajoling the people by political " humbug" is gone by. The Tories may be fertile in devices, but the public have suf ficient discernment to recognise knavery in whatever guise it may present itself, and sufficient acquaintance with their own power to inflict by a summary process merited chastisement on political delinquents ; so that even should the Tories, by a miraculous fortune and the chicanery we mention, succeed in holding the Government through one Session, it would only be in the end to be hurled from their iniquitous dominion, and replaced by an Administration based on more liberal principles' than any thA has hitherto existed in this country. The principles such as we here suppose are the complexion to which any Ministry must come, who can expect to hold the reins of this country's Go vernment in an efficient and vigorous grasp. Of this result there can be no doubt ; but there are different ways of arriving at it, and the great danger to be avoided, in progressing to it, is that of leaving, by the temporary accession of the Tories, the country exposed to the danger of a convulsion, and even of dismember ment ; for the presence of a Tory Administration would excite in Ireland and among the Dissenters a spirit of indignation and opposition as boundless as is the power to give it effect irresistible.—Morning Advertiser. The club system has, we hear, just been put to a test, the result of which but too amply confirms the charge of selfishness, which has been frequently brought against the members of these modern institutions. A n application, it seems, was made by no less a person than the B:shop of London to the Committees of some of the principal clubs, with the view of obaining from them some aid towards the church'-building fund in the parish (of St. James's) where most of the clubs are situated. With one exception, it has been rumoured, that this application has not only been refused, but its propriety questioned in not very courteous terms. Certainly the managers of these luxurious palaces have a right to do what they please with their own ; but in what respect the endeavour to rouse them, for once, into an act of public spirit amid propriety can be reprehensible, we are at a loss to imagine. Corporate bodies, public compa nies, and private partnerships, have numerously contri buted to the object in question, and why, therefore, a number of gentlemen, keeping tavern; for their own economy and convenience, should not do so too, we see no reason. It is true that the subject may appear to some of these persons, at least, a rather sore and awkward one, we fear it cannot be denied, that the members of clubs ate habitual . Sabbath-breakers. Their taverns are open when all other places of re freshment are, by law, kept shut—their servants, un like those of private fiunilies, are in a great degree prevented from attending Divine Service ; and, what is still worse, at some of them the card and the billiard tables are in use during the whole of the Sabbath-day. If this is denied, our answer is, we know it. Any contributions then which these associations might have made to the object in question would, in the true Scriptural sense of the word, be " sin offerings." That the application has failed, proves, we fear, but too clearly, that these institutions, as they arc conducted, cherish an indifference to laudable objects which is but too likely to follow the parties into private life.— Morning -Herald. The ingenuous Morning Chronicle, following the example of the ingenuous Lord John RUssell, deduces from the refusal of Sir Robert Peel to support Mr. Johnston's amendment, an inference that the Right Hon. Baronet either will not assent to such a change in the laws which regulate Bishops' leases as would improve the value of Bishops' lands, or will not devote that improved value to the supply of the spiritual wants of the poorer classes of the community. Sir It. Peel stated precisely the reverse of that which his candid opponents, in and out of Parliament, impute to him. He asserted his full belief that, consistently with sound policy as regards the position of the Bishops, and consistently with perfect justice as regards the interests of the lessees, an improved value might be given to Bishops' lands by a change in the law which regulates their management. He expressed his entire conviction that the amount of that im proved value ought to be applied to the extension of the .means of spiritual instruction and consola tion in districts where at present those means do not exist. Our most veracious Contemporary cites the half of Sir Robert Peel's sentence which supports the letter of his assertion, and omits the half which negatives its spirit. Sir Robert's dissent from Mr. Johnston's motion is correctly quoted ; Sir Robert's assent to Mr. Johnston's opinion is wholly forgotten. But, upon this hint, let us hint with what views, and at whose suggestion, this motion was brought forward by Mr. Johnston. In the previous debate, in committee on Mr. S. Rice's resolution, Mr. F. Buxton had found himself in a difficulty. By no man had louder profes sions been made of love to the Church than by Mr. F. Buxton. From no man had sadder complaints proceeded of the insufficiency of Church accommo dation and pastoral superintendence than from Mr. F. Buxton. I'o no man c:id the country look for a more vigilant defence and improvement of the ex isting resources of the Church than to Mr. F. Buxton. While large districts, by his own declara tion, wera without Churches—while vast multitudes, by his own statement, were without Ministers—it was awkward for Mr. F. Iltixton to vote away, for the special relief of Mr. Baines and his friends, those funds which, if available for any purpose, were clearly available, in the first place for the erection of places of worship, and the support of teachers of religion. Mr. F. Buxton, therefore, with that seriousness of aspect and solemnity of tone which win for him the confidence of all who think of him as we do not, protested that there were other uses to which he deemed this meditated surplus might be more fitly appropriated—that he would not surrender it for the benefit of the Dissenters, if he could see any prospect of securing it for the advantage of the Church ; and, finally, that if Sir. Robert Peel would pledge himself to take the money on the first opportunity, and devote it to the building- of Churches where no Churches now stand, and the paying of Clergymen where no Clergymen now minister, Sir Robert Peel should have his vote. It was a tempting bait—the vote of the candid, the conscientious, the pious, the saintly, M r . Powell Buxton. But the. Right Hon. Baronet withstood the lure, and poor . Mr. Fowell Buxton, the firm Protestant, the (layout Christian, walked into the lobby with Mr. O'Connell on one side of him and Mr. Roebuck on the other. And thus stood Mr. Fowell Buxton's case on that evening. He ad mitted he was about to make wrong use of a sum of money ; but, no matter—he was justified in making a wrong use of it, because he could not induce another man to promise to make a right one. The object of Mr. Johnston's amendment, recommended to him by Mr. Powell Buxton, was to give a greater consistency and formality to the miserable pretext by which M r . Powell Buxton had, in the previous discussion, excused his vote. We do not attribute any unworthy motive to Mr. Johnston. We respect him very sincerely. His THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1837. uprightness of purpose was vindicated by his absence from the division. But for his father-in-law we have no such forbearance. Let it be remembered, that, throughout the whole of the debate on the resolutions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Conservatives had maintained two positions : the first, that it was not made clear that so large a profit could be obtained by the measures suggested, without gross injustice to individuals ; the second, that if it could be made clear that a large sum could be obtained, it ought to be consecrated to other uses than those to which the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed to divert it. Now, Mr. Johnston moved an amendment on the resolutions, to this effect—first, that a profit may be obtained ; second, that it ought to be employed other wise than as the Chancellor of the Exchequer would employ it. "We shall have Sir R. Peel," said Mr. F. Buxton to himself, "in a pretty dilemma. If he supports the motion of my son-in-law we shall convict him of abandoning his claim of justice for individuals : if he opposes the motion of my son-in-law we shall chastise him for deserting his intentions to benefit the Church." Excellent polemic. Sir R. Peel chose what we think to have been a wise course. Explain ing his principles in such a manner as could leave none but Lord John Russell and the Morning Chro nicle an excuse for misrepresenting them, he refused to pledge himself to the adoption of any step, until he was satisfied of its practicability on the one hand, and its equity on the other. Sir Robert Peel took also what we know to have been an honest course. He expressed this refusal in language so explicit that Mr. Johnston withdrew his amendment, and left the Minis ters to boast, upon the main question of the original resolution, that marvellous majority of five, in which majority, we are most glad to see, Mr. Fowell Buxton voted. —Morning Post. CAPTURE OF THE VIXEN. The following letter has been received from Mr. Bell, dated Pera, March 13 : "'The declaration signed at Gehlengik, by Captain Childs, Mr. Moston, and myself, and the letter Captain Childs and I addressed to Admiral Esmante, and which, through Mr. James Carr, arrived safely at their destina tion, served to inform you of the most material facts of the case, and it now remains for me to give such others as I think Government would willingly receive informa tion about. " In the first place, I may state that Captain Childs, an entire stranger to the coast of Circassia, seemed agree ably surprised to find its access so perfectly easy, and its landmarks such as could be readily recognised. He was equally well pleased with the shelter and holding ground of the harbours of Soajack Kali and Ghelingek. Our re ception by the inhabitants at the former place was cordial in the extreme. They at once recognised our national flag, which they had seen at the time Captain Lyon visited the coast, and expressed the greatest satisfaction at seeing it again. " After having delivered my letter of credence, which however, created a great deal of debate among them, in consequence of the signature or rather seal of the writer having unfortunately not been adhibited, I found no dif ficulty in proceeding at once to the business of arrange ment for landing, housing, and bartering my cargo, as the people are essentially mercantile, chiefs as well as de pendents. " On the third day after our arrival we were escorted some miles up the valley, and shown into a house in which soon after the elders, chiefs, and others of the dis trict were assembled, and a deeply interesting political sic bate ensued. I was first formally introduced to the elders and chiefs as the individual spoken of in the letter whose want of a seal was again canvassed, but finally agreed to be waived in my favour—chiefly, I believe, on account of my having a servant who was known to them as being at tached to Mr. Urquhart ; and at the same time i was delicately explained to me that they • were forced to adopt such precautions in consequence of the variety of measures which Russia had recourse to for deceiving them. . "The next topic was that of extreme mortification that Eug)and had as yet made them no reply to the address for merly sent her. They said they had still hopes of the as sistance of England or France in the contest in which they were engaged ; but if these should prove fallacious, this circumstance would not in any degree alter the irrevoca ble determination they had come to never to submit to Russia, tholigh slaughtered to the last. The Russians, they said, had made to them individually the most liberal proadscs of money, agricultural implements, privileges, &c., if they would - only lay down their arms and become her subjects ; hut all was in vain, as their resolution was unalte rably taken. ---- 4AlanSWer, I endeavoured to make them comprehend the great misconception of their actual position, which had, till of late, prevailed in England, from the infinite pains the Russian Government had taken to misrepresent or suppresS every circumstance that militated against the claim of Russia made to their country ; that the visits which had been lately paid them by some of my countrymen had tended to dispel this misconception, and a feeling of deep interest had conse quently arisen, and was rapidly increasing, a proof of which they now had in me, an English merchant, ha ving come among them for the express purpose of com mencing trade between the two countries. I recommended their making another address to the King and people of England, alluding in it to the former address, and procu ring to it the signatures of as many chiefs as they possibly could. This, they said, should be done, and that an account of their late campaign and victory should be sent im mediately to their English friends at Constantinople. I stated my determination to devote a portion of my time in the country in gaining the fullest information I could respecting its circumstances, and beeged them to consult amongst themselves how this could be best accomplished. This seemed to gratify them, and I was 'accordingly in formed that they would immediately send off messengers to summon the chiefs to the north to assemble and meet me at Soujak Kali ; or if I preferred proceeding towards the Kouban to visit them, Hadgi Oglou Mehmet, chief of the district, promised to take upon himself every arrangement for my comfort and safety. This arrangement I preferred, and it was agreed on accordingly. In the meanwhile, it having occurred to me that the Russians might attempt to interrupt our proceedings, and our friends be dispirited in consequence, I told them such an event was possible, but that if it occurred they should not look upon it in at unfavourable light, as it might be the means of setting to rights any question about our right to trade. In the course of our conversation, allusion was made to the national flag and to a memorial they had received, recommending unity in their proceedings, &c., in regard to which I endea voured to impress upon them how much the adoption of both generally among their tribes would give efficacy to their endeavours, and make them looked upon in England as a great and united nation. But indeed anything I could say in recommendation of their having a national flag was superfluous, as the one they have received is already looked upon with the greatest veneration. They call it Sundial,. Sheriff, and have a guard constantly stationed over the building in which it is preserved. To you I need not ex patiate upon this astounding fact, which of itself speaks volumes for the present enthusiasm of the Circassians. " We could not but remark in all our intercourse with these people the infinite respect, I may almost say adora tion, they had come to conceive for our countryman Mr. Urquhart, with reference to whose approval every under taking is conducted. It is said they even swear by his name, as the Turks do by that of Mahomed ; and an in stance at once of this feeling, and of the high sense of honour there prevalent, occurred while we were making arrange ments for landing the cargo, in one of the chief's having called me aside to say that he had a much valued friend in Anap - a, who was detained there by the Russians, and whom he wished to go and see, but he thought it necessary to ap prise me beforehand for the information of Daoud Bey, lest by any means he might come to think ho had traitorous intentions. " Of course it is impossible for me, after so limited a stay in the country, to say much from personal observation as to the trade that may be anticipated, yet I saw and learned enough otherwise to convince me that it may become very valuable. During the day of the storm there were, I was told, from 700 to 800 persons assembled in the valley from all the country round ; some with articles, such as corn, wax, honey, &c., ready for barter ; and others expressly for the purpose of getting the necessary information, previously to bringing forward their goods. " Along the whole coast, grain, wood, tallow, hides, furs, and wood of the most valuable sorts—such as oak, box, walnut, chinna (a beautiful veneering wood), must soon form considerable articles of British trade. The mineral wealth of the country is said also, as 1 have little doubt you know, to he immense. We had abundant proofs in the ashes of houses, &c., of the destructive foray the Russians had lately made in that part of the country. Their entire defeat is sufficiently proved by the circumstance of their having retraced their steps from Soujak Kali to the Kouban, instead of having proceeded to Anapa, as themselves admit to have been their original determination. Their plea of having retreated for fear of the plague I believe to have been false, as we were universally assured that none had been in that part of the country this season. A captured flag, which I saw, was to have been presented to me to take to England, but my hurried departure prevented this. " I must not omit bearing testimony to the strong feel logs of interest and admiration excited in every individual on board the Vixen, not only by the hospitable reception, but I think even still more by the delicacy and manner, combined with the noble, energetic, and martial bearing of the Circassians we saw ; even their enemies, many of %I hom I have now conversed with, speak with unmingled appro bation, not only of their courage, but of the generosity and honour with which they temper warfare. For myself, I cannot find words to express the esteem and admiration I have conceived for them, and which rank them, in my mind, among the noblest specimens of the human race, whom but to have seen must form an epoch in any one's life. " I feel morally convinced, from all the information I have obtained, that although Russia may perhaps make some further impression on the northern frontier, the greater part of Circassia, and the whole of the imprac ticable regions of th© warlike and numerous Tchat centzes and Lesghis must ever remain beyond her ut most efforts to conquer. For what new elements be yond those used by her for the last forty years has she now to bring into the field, to countervail the idea of combination which, like a new day, has revealed to her ene mies the secret of her success, and is now binding them to gether in a firm and infrangible fasces of opposition to her ; and should her assumed right of blockade be now grappled with and prostrated, by what untried intrigue can her Cabinet stay in future the tide of public opinion and sympathy that has set in towards these shores, and must carry them before long all that the natives want of foreig❑ aid to make them triumphant, and to turn perhaps the scale of invasion. " The reception Englishmen have of late met in Cir cassia proves beyond a doubt the entire absence of any ob stacle to intercourse and combination with foreigners, and must, I think, place the freedom from prejudice and the enlightenment of the natives in a strong and unlooked-for light ; nor do these people present a less remarkable aspect and a contrast to all their neighbours, inasmuch as the spirit of national independence which now actuates them is not that of a faction of nobles (many of the most powerful of whom among the Circassians have fallen into the hands of the enemy), but one that per vades the masses of the Caucasian population, and inspires every one to act and think as if their common cause de pended on his exertions only. " It is not for me to determine whether the attempt which has just been made to assert our right to trade with that country was premature or not. I hope it was not. But having been made and obstructed, unquestionably a fearful crisis of our whole eastern relations now exists, as has been very forcibly represented to me by some of the most intelligent Englishmen, who look for the decision of Government upon this Circassian question, as one that must more firmly than ever establish or annihilate their in fluence in the East generally. Nor must we flatter our selves that a suspension of it at present may afford a future and better opportunity for resuming it, when the Circas-- sians have, unsupported, placed their independence in an even clearer light than it actually enjoys ; for a revulsicn of their now strongly excited hopes of countenance from England, and connection with Europe, may produce the most disastrous effects among themselves, and even shake to ruin the structure of confederation they have begun, convincing them that they have been deceived in their esti mates of comparative strength of England and Russia, and presenting to their minds a future of spiritless and intermi nable contest. " My conviction, however, as to the right Englishmen have to trade with Circassia, and my confidence that it will be now, therefore, asserted by Government, remains entire, or I should rather say increased ; and my present intention is to remain here, until I hear that the question that has been j!ist raised about it is finally adjusted.—l have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient servaut, " JAMES S. BELL." SURREY SESSIONS.-WEDNESDAY. Alice Carr was indicted for robbing John Reeve, a coun tryman, of seven sovereigns. The prosecutor came up from Buckinghamshire to dispose of some chairs, and after he had been about town to seek for customers, he met the prisoner, a well looking woman, in the New Cut, and, by her persuasion, accompanied her to a house in the Wa terloo-road. He undressed and went to bed, having, how ever, taken the precaution of placing his trowsers, contain ing seven pound -A, all the money he had, underneath the pillow. At four o'clock in the morning, on waking, he found his bedfellow (the prisoner) had gone, and also his trowsers, containing the above sum. He gave an alarm, and was informed by the landlady of the house that the prisoner had left the premises about twelve o'clock the night before, saying that she was going for a pint of porter. At six o'clock the same morning, the prisoner vas taken into custody at a gin-shop in the neighbourhood, where she had been flashing money, and treating every body who felt dis posed to drink with her. Wheel the prisoner was appre hended five of the sovereigns were found in her possession, two of which she contrived to swallow. The prosecutor occasioned great laughter in Court in detailing the circumstances under which he was robbed, and the gteat. ineunycnicwcc to which lac losing his trowsers, the landlady of the house being obliged to lend him one of her flannel petticoats to wear, as a sub• stitute for them. The landlady, an elderly woman, was very desirous of impressing on the minds of the Court and Jury the " re spectable" way in which she conducted the businc ss of her house ; in doing which, she said that, whenever a gentleman came there, br was brought there by a lady, she (the land l►dy) always made a point of asking him what money he had about him, and to give it into her safe keeping, in case of accident. The Jury-found the prisoner guilty, and she was sen tenced to seven years' transportation. Several other cases were tried in the course of the day, and the Court adjourned. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. MANSION-HO USE. A young man named Alta Kershaw was brought before the LORD MAYOR, charged with having committed a for gery upon the house of Drewett and Fowler, the bankers, of No. 60, Broad-street. The prisoner was in the custody of Forrester, the officer. Mr. John Graham, cashier in Messrs. Drewett and Fowler's house, stated that, at about half•past ten o'clock on Tuesday morning, the prisoner presented a check for 501.•f0r payment at the counter. The check was made payable to Mr. H. Haynes or bearer, and was signed E. Cooper and Co. Mr. Emanuel Cooper, the hat manu facturer, of the Borough, kept cash at the house, but neither the signature nor the writing in the body of the check resembled that gentleman's writing. Witness was satisfied that the check was a forgery, and asked the pri soner of whom he had had it, to which he replied at once that Mr. Oldham, the chief clerk, had given it to him to present at the banking-house. The prisoner was, as a matter of course, detained, and given into the custody of John Forrester. The prisoner, who appeared to be quite indifferent about the matter, said, " I'll tell you how I got it ; I found it yesterday near my master's counting-house, and I took it off to the banking-house."—Remanded till Friday. A little cripple, named Win. Lea, was brought before the Lord Mayor by Superintendent Cowton. The Super intendent found the poor boy, broken-backed and broken hearted as he appeared to be, in the streets at half-past nine o'clock on the preceding night. As the unhappy child had not received by his day's work in begging more than sixpence, he was afraid to go home, his mother being in the habit of shutting the door against him if his success did not reach double the amount, to pay his whack of the expenses of the family. He had been two months about the streets, and it was. believed that his mother regularly carried him to some of the most public situations, and re gularly placed him as an object to catch the compassion of the crowd. The Loan MAYOR—How much does your mother ex pect you to take home every night ?—The Boy—A shilling or I can't get in. She can't afford to let me in, she's so poor. The LORD MAYOR—And when you get more than a shilling do you give it to her ?—Boy—No, I a'nt a going to do that. _ _ The LORD MAYOR—And what do you do with it, my poor boy ? Boy—l keeps the rest till next day, when I needn't beg so hard. Mr. Hobler said he was convinced that the poor boy got a great deal more money than he acknowledged he received from the public. It was quite impossible for anybody with a heart to pass him by without giving alms to him, if igno rant that he was carrying on a great trade. The LORD MAYoti-=And is the fact that children of this kind, as they say, get as much as to support a family ? Mr. Hobler—No doubt of it. A deformed child in a wretched state of health is a fortune to the father and mother. Boy—Please you, my Lord, my mother used to go out a washing and charing, but she's just got a baby, and she call% do nothing for her bread but what I does. A gentleman, who stated that he had been induced to give the wretched child alms, said he had been informed afterwards that deformed persons made a vast deal of money by begging, a curious instance of which was at the same time mentioned to him. An able you ng I r i s h man asked a young woman's father, who made a property by mendicancy, for his consent to their marriage. " What !" said the father, " give her to you ! why, I have refused her to the sons of a man who goes with his bottom in a bowl." —( Laughter.) The LORD MAYOR observed that the boy should be taken care of in the Compter, and that the mother should be introduced at the Mansion House on the first convenient opportunity. A young woman, named Sarah Dinston, was charged by Mr. Smart, the vestry-clerk of Bishopsgate, under the fol lowing circumstances :—The girl had had a child by a young man, who was able but not willing to support it, and as she had no means of giving the infant subsistence, she went to him, and, leaving it with him, walked away. Th man, not fancying such encumbrance, placed the child on the step of a hall door, where it was found by the parish officers. The LORD MAYOR (to the girl)—This offence of yours was desertion, although you may think otherwise. 'The girl—My Lord, I had not a farthing in the world, and he refused the least assistance to me ; what could I do ? What on earth could Ido ? I left the child in his apartment. The Loap MAYOR—Is there any corroborative evidence to prove that the man is the father ? Mr. Smart—We have evidence of a very remarkable kind. We can prove that he got money from the girl's father to pay for the mar riage ceremony, and he spent the money, having accom plished his object, without going to the church. The LoaD MAYOR—He must be a fellow of unpa ralleled villainy, and I hope you will not hesitate to pursue him. Mr. Smart—We shall proceed at Quarter Sessions against him, and in the meantime we shall take care of the child. m Q UEEN- S Q UARE. Mr. A. S. Leith, one of the directors of the steam-boat the Fly, travelling from London-bridge to 'Westminster, on Wednesday appeared on a summons, charging him with hav ing the management and direction of the above-named vessel contrary to the provisions of the 7th and Bth of Geo. IV. Mr. Ryland stated that this was a prosecution instituted for the protection of the watermen, who were already, from the extent of steam-boat navigation, in a state of great distress. The Company had very justly considered it their duty to protect these unfortunate men, and were prepared to prove that the defendant was one of the Directors , h ad controul, and gave directions when on board the boat. In fact, the very circular which he handed up to the Magis trates, and which had been sent forth to the public, bore that gentleman's name on it. John Abbot, a man employed formerly on board the IV steamer, was hired on the first of her running by the de fendant. He had to take money and give a check. He re mained five days, and left the boat in consequence of his duty there interfering with his private business at home. During this time Mr. Leith was nearly always on board , and witness had seen him only an hour before his atten d " ante at the office. He gave directions while on board. William Andrew Cadwell, a man at present engaged oa board the Company's boat, was hired by the Board of Di rectors. The defendant was there, but he would not saY whether his brother was. Mr. Biddel, Captain Prober, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Evans, and a Mr. Gordon, were Di' rectors. Defendant took part in the conversation, wh en he (witness) was engaged. He spoke as much as anybody else, but all the gentlemen spoke one after the other. Re membered Mr. Cutlar coming on board, and took mooeY from him. Mr. Murphy contended that there was no positive proof of defendant being one of the Directors of the Compaq' He might be in their employ, and, in the exercise of that service, would very possibly engage persons, and give orders for the benefit of the Company. Mr. GREGORIE consulted with Mr. BURRELL, and was 0f opinion that the defendant was a Director of the Company' Mr. Murphy addressed the Magistrates at some length , in which he contended that a steam-boat was not contera' plated by the Act , f Parliament, or it would have been specified in the Act, more particularly as steam navigation was very common at the time the statute was made. Th e section described " boats, lighters, or other craft." D e was decidly of opinion that the word " craft" could not pos sibly include steam-boats. Mr. GREG:MIZE adjourned the case until Saturday, 10 give judgment. WORSHIP-STREET. On Wednesday John Andersbee, a dealer in greengrocery . and periwinkles, was placed at the bar before Mr. Co'p charged with having been the occasion of his dog-cart rare ning over a little girl, aged eight years. Police Constable R. Backerson, N 51, about eig ht o'clock the preceding evenin, was on duty in the East Rood , when he was informed that the prisoner had allowed a dog cart that he was driving to knock down a little girl, whe n the wheel of the cart went across the child's body so as t ° , do it a serious injury. He was told by som e p e rsons Lila' he was going at a furious rate, and that he might bo/e avoided the accident. The prisoner was not going at a greater rate than four • miles an hour, and the child ran against the dog, when it was forced down. The prisoner was discharged. THAMES. OFFICE. On Wednesday, Mr. Pelham, the solicitor, accompanied by two stamen, named Crofts and Foley, applied to Mr. BA L.' LANTINE, the sitting Magistrate, for warrants against Jer Davies and Robert Ray, the master and mate of the sI"P • Manly, which had lately returned from a trading voyage t ° South America, Santander, and other places, for assaulting them, and causing them to be flogged with the cat-o'-ni t ° tai!s. A fter evich,..cc, Mr. BALLANTINE said, you may take your warrant's • and Lt the necessary witnesses be here when the p a rties are taken. Captain Davies is the same person who prosecuted hi s two mates for mutiny, three years ago, at the Admiral t 1 Sessions. They were acquitted, after a long trial. THE FREDERICK-STREET MURDB EXTRAORDINARY COMMUNICATION.—Yesterday Berry, the late master of the murdered barmaid, Ell" Davies, received the following letter by post : " SIR,—I am Sorry that The writer of This letter is t he Murderer of that unhappy and Unfortunate young Won o' Eliza Davies. I write these few lines to you to tell yo that i am now in the greatest distress, and if I do not sue" teed in Getting any thin , i shall give myself up to justice: i walk from Mdend road tooley street, and slep where I thot was safest—i passed by several policemen and was thea in the greatest of agony—i am now without hat, shoe, °r coat, and wandering about The streets and if i do not sue' coed in getting some ship or other employment, i must E ly myself up to justice.—l remain, &c., " THE MURDEREg• " To Mr. Berry, 8, Frederick-street, Regent's-park." , The above letter was posted in Whit ec h a p e l, Thursd a y night, eight o'clock. Aggs and Pegler are still on the look out, and at, a 16til period of the evening gave such information as may pre bably lead to the ca pt ure o f the mur d er er. It is ling; stood that two Bow-street officers have embarked 0 , France, and that the scent which they have is exceeding ly good as regards this horrid affair. It has been already stated that the operative gl°",, r , of this city had resolved upon laying before our beloved ( P e :, a statement of the di ffi culties and privations they are now e n " c i during from the depressed state of the glove manufacture, spa praying her Majesty to interpose her gracious influence e nt assistance towards the revival of the trade, and conseq ue lF mitigation of their sufferings. A memorial was a ccordal • prepared for transmission to her Majesty, accompanied wit" . , handsome specimen of gloves, of the city manufacture. Worcester Herald. •Ile Among the fetes to be given at the Hotel de Vi e r to the Duke and Duchess of Orleans, will be a grand d il , and ball. The dinner will be given in the Throne-room, th e ball will take place at the Opera. The reception room te a, the Hotel de Ville are being entirely new furnished, pait v i and decorated. In the great room will be the portraits .. ( j statues of the statesmen, warriors, magistrates, artists, T ier writers, whose fame sheds a lustre on the city. An* t room will be entirely decorated with natural flowers arran%, to suit the architecture. From the floors will proceed stt l .., ) cial fountains. Taste, grandeur, and national pomp throughout the public rejoicings. The fireworks, it is e ao will cost 40,000 fr. A fete will take place in the ChaelP t he Mars ; 10,000 men will perform a sham-fight. Among, t he credits voted by the Municipal Council on the occasion ei or , marriage, the city of Paris will give 38,000 fr. to th e Page -12,000 fr. for clothing poor children, 20,000 fr. for ence e r fr. to ment in the schools of primary instruction, and 60,00 0 _, f o r be divided amongst the societies of workmen fotrneuThe mutal assistance. The joy will, in fact, be general.. The fetes will be felt among the most humble as well as to higher ranks. the On Thursday a melancholy accident occurred oe will reolisa, or° Southampton Railway. Some men employed on the vi t he near Goldworth \Yoking, suspending their work during f to shower, had taken shelter under the projecting Pi ece ,° so& earth they were excavating, when it suddenly gav e killed one man on the spot; another was dreadfully mat and survived only a few hours. The name of the le t ; e el; George Paine, who had not been employed more tha n previous to the catastrophe. The former, a native I ton, has left a wife and three children. The NEW FLAT GOLD WAT Terticsi are offered in double-bottomed engine-turned eases, wt sh e d hot movements, for Seven Guineas each, or, with highlY-fin!' neas eal zontal movements, jewelled and warranted, at Nin e G ul in itlhl in at T. COX SAVORY'S, Working Goldsmith , Silvers f Watchmaker 47, Cornhill, London. el N.B.—The horizontal construction is strongly r ecount exl its superior --- am On the 23d inst., at Mers ß h //i H T a fi te S h . , On the `-.sth inst., in Bedford-square, the wife Esq., of a daughter. o f MARRIED Esq'' On the 25th inst. ll' • • k Friend, o f sb. ~ at ichmond, Frederic Kensington, to Emma, second daughter of T. Price, Esq*'; former place. DIED. 7 0 Lee Oa the 24th inst., in York-street, Portman-square, •03:101if On the 10th inst., at Naples aged 69 Harriet Lady r gotaw' relict of the late Sir Win. - Dr - u , , K C g L' ° g` e mmond, . ~ Lad}' Knatcloifbull., evfossis 9,00 Perthshire.ls, Chal.lottf; On the 23d inst., at Binfield Park, Berks, aged d pe ice only s j t o l i aL n ig ‘ l l l , t a e i r sh o , f ß t a h r e t. late Captain .G. DigbY________ i ( o, 2 11 ' N " London : Printed and Published by MU—R-DO Y91.3.1%°14 112, Strand, at The San Office, No. 112, Str arlui in of Middlesex.—Friday, May 26, 11:137.