The Sun. — London, England, 1837-12-07 00:00:00

APPREHENSION OF A GANG OF COINERS. For a length of time past the town of Manchester and 1 its neighbourhood have been very much inundated with base coin, and scarcely a day has elapsed without a prisonei having been brought before the magistrates at the New Bailey, under charges of paying base coin. Under these circumstances, the police were of opinion that coining was goiqg on in Manchester to some extent, and they deter mined to use every effort to discover the parties. Mr. Diales, deputy constable of Salford,received some informa tion' which caused him to despatch four of his officers— Normansell, Rooney, Lindsey, and Atkinson—on Saturday evening to Lees-street, Ancoats, to a cottage inhabited by an old man named Fearns. They found that the lower part of the house was perfectly quiet, and it was only at in tervals that signs of any living creature being within ap peared, so well had all the inmates, who, it will appear, were engaged in a room above, managed to prevent the light shining from the window. Normansell, the officer, who was engaged in a similar expedition about a year ago, and carve off with great credit, had, as before, provided himself with a heavy sledge-hammer ; and the signal having been given, " at one fell stroke" he burst the door, in spite of four very strong bolts by which it had been secured. The officers then, in a body, rushed up-stairs, and the first things that met their attention were two very fierce dogs ; but Normansell, with his hammer, very speedily kept them at bay, and Lindsey then entered the apartment. He found all in perfect confusion, there being four persons in the room, one of whom was stamping upon something on the floor with his foot. The other man was taking a pan from tha fire and pouring out the contents. Lindsey rushed upon the first, and threw him down ; and the other officers speedily secured the other persons in the room. It was then found that the first man, whose name is Richard Sin- gleton, had been endeavouring to destroy a plaster of Paris cast of a shilling, and in which was the metal ready cast. The pan contained metal in a state of fusion. Several moulds of shillings, made of plaster of Paris, were found, and the usual implements used by coiners. A shilling, with which the impression on the false dies had been made %leas also found at the bottom of a bucket of water. During the whole time, two of the persons in the room, Fearns, the occupier of the cottage, and his wife, were laid upon a bed ; and Fearns was asked what account he had to give of the matter, but made no reply. He subsequently asked the officers what had brought them there at all, he should like to know. The fourth person, a man calling himself George Alan, said that he was there for the purpose of looking at a dog belonging to Fearns. On Monday the four prisoners were brought up at the New BailLy, before Mr. J. F. Foster and Mr— L. B. Holling,shead, sitting magistrates. Mr. Naftali, of the Harp Tavern, Lees-street, big sworn, proved that the prisoner Allen had paid a bad half crown to him, which he said he had got for fighting a battle. Mr. Nuttall told him it was a bad one, and he then wanted it to be rcturoed, but Mr. Nuttall would not gi% e it him un ti he produced the person front whom he had received it. Mr. Nuttall afterwards gave it into the care of 'Mr. Dig gies. A person named Wolstenhulme also stated that 1 7 ,arnes had offered a bad shilling to him ; but he detect ty it, and told hm it was a bad one. Foams then said that 1 it was a had one, he would give him a good one in its stead, Mr. Wolstenholme then told him that he would not do this. t h 3 would keep it for his sake. The above evidence was titer committed to writing ; and the four prisoners were, be the names of Thom ts end azabeth Foams, Richard Sin t;lcton, end George Allen committed to take their trial at the ensuing assizes at Liverpool, on the charge of coining. Free Picss. COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE. Lest week a " new grand romantic opera," entitled or the Love Test, was produced at this theatre with complete success. The fellowing is the hie:lily-interesting story an which al admirable display of musical composition end performance is roweled :—A mah'en cf Tyrol, Amille Vernet (Miss Seirreff), is beloved by a foendling youth ( An deal), who, to procure a decent competence for both, has (six months previous to the commencement of the drains) quitted the valley of the Eysach, and enlisted in the :lustrlan service, assuming- the name of Lavigne (that of his nurse, long since (read), in the hope that it may lead to the discovery of his pa rents. Jose Speckbacher (Wilson), the celebrated brigand hunter, afterwa.ds so distingui-led as the friend and confede rate of Hofer, during the rolean struggle for freedom, is also a suitor for the love of Amilie; rejected by her, he employs two hunters, Jean and Paul, (Bedford and Stretton), to carry her off to their rendezvous in the mountains; he is to be apprised of their success by a signal fire. Amilie and Jose subsequently meet at the grave of her mo tiler. The ruffians missing their intended victim, fire her cot tage, and she is for a time rescued from Jose by the interposi tion of the reiigieux of the neightouring monastery. The Count der Tierner (Phillips), who has purchased an estate in the valley, arrives during the festival of the vin•age to take possession of it. He becomes the friend and protector of Amilie. A letter is delivered to the orphan containing money, which she supposes comes from her absent lover : in reality, it is a fabrication of Jose's, and the money an off,. ing of com punction for the destruction of her home. She is all joy, and the first act terminates with the congratulations of the pea santry. Six months is again supposed to elapse. Amilie has been induced to give a laughing promise that if Awlerl claims her not, she will choose among her other admirers. Jose is discovered writing a letter, falsely informing her of her absent lever's marriage to wealth and rank. Pierre (Manvers), a tipsy wandering through the mountains, encount rs hint, and ,aartts him of the hopelessness of his passim. Ile deter mines, however, to rely on the power of his forged epistle. Amilie has become mistress of the village inn. The Count der Tierner, for some mysterious reason, still continues her friend, but she is unhappy, and begins to doubt her neglectful Anderl, The letter is delivered ; its effect is such as for a time to bereave her of her senses. Six months again elapse —she has resided in the castle. Ceaseless study has greatly _improved the unhappy orphan. The hour arrives for her de ciding- on Jose's claims ; she resolves to take the veil. The hunter, rather than lose her, rest its to an act of violence. His hand seize her ; at this instant the gipsy Pierre is discovered to be her faithful Anderl, and the Count der Tierner's son, who, to prove if she be worthy of that son, and the rank be bear, has put her to so severe a " love test." The composi- Sleet is the work of Mr. W. M. Rooke, long known amongst the highest class of professors, to whom Mr. Macready has afforded an opportunity (it is said to be too long denied by - others) of presenting his performance to the public, and of receiving their unqualified approbation. The chorusses in ge neral were full of spirit; sonic of them were splendid compo sitions. " The Yagers' Mountain Chorus" produced bursts of enthusiastic applause, and a universal call for its repetition, which was given with, if possible, increased eff.ct. Several of the duets and songs were also rapturously encored. The opera has been got up in magnificent style, and the performers exerted- themselves to do justice to their respective parts with an ardour and spirit that met their appropriate reward in the repeated, or rather continuous plaudits of the audience. On the fall of the curtain the audience called for the appearance • of the composer, of Miss Shirreff and Phillips, with a vehe mence that was quite irresistible, and on their appearance they were received with rapturous applause. Abraham Greenslade, of Totness, who had been ex cavating a gutter in a field in Berry Pomeroy, not returning home the night of the 17th instant, his wife became alarmed, and, with a neighbour, went in search of him in the morning, when he was found buried beneath a quantity of earth fallen into the gutter. Assistance was soon procured, and on dig ging they found him perfectly upright, his head about two feet under the top of the earth; his hat prevented his being suffocated. After much labour and difficulty he was released, but how long he had been there, it is impossible to say, as he spoke but two or three sentences after his release; the night was extremely cold.—Exeter Paper. Amongst the latest of the curious and capricious interferences of authority in the dominions of the Czar, is the ukase which prohibits, under a punishment, the wearing of spectacles for the eyes. The order has been enforced, and, it would appear, with painful harshness towards persons whose sight really requires this artificial aid. It would appear that the authorities have at last felt the cruelty and harshness of this absurd piece of legislation, and, accordingly, those who could prove that they were really short-sight,d had been in dulged with the permission to wear spectacles, but with square glasses I—French Paper. Quarters in Ireland seem to produce a theatrical effect on some regiments. The 93d, at present stationed in Belfast, have got up amateur plays ; essaying, in their drama tic career, and with some success, even Hamlet. In Limerick, too, the officers in garrison are thespianising, to some advan tage, to the charities of the city. In reference to a meeting held on Monday evening► relative to the case of the imprisoned cotton-spinners, the Glasgow Chronicle observes—" Without entering upon the charges brought by the speakers en this occasion against the law authorities, we may remark that the violence of language in which some of them indulged is deeply to be regretted. The prisoners themselves may have cause to regret it. It will furnish the Crown Counsel with a fertile source of declama tion, and it may even produce an unfavourable impression on the minds of the jury. The Tories, we understand, are much vexed with Lord Stanley for forcing oa the division on Monday evening. They complained of the prudencs , ? of Sir R. Peel; but now they can contrast his prudence with the rashness of their new leader. On Wednesday afternoon a man named Francis Cleave, in the employ of Mr. Cracknell, a patent ship's pump-maker and anchor-smith, of Wapping-street, St. George's, was about to pass over the swivel-bridge at the London.dock at Wapping, as it was about to close, after se veral vessels had passed through the lock, with some bars of iron on his shoulder, when the lever of the eastern half of the bridge caught his leg as he was stepping on the bridge, and crushed it between the lever and the iron curb separating the horseway from the footpath. As the bridge closed his leg was shattered in a shocking manner, so that it is feared re course must be had to amputation. • On Thursday night a fire was discovered at Swaby, Jlear Louth, on the farm of Mr. Robm-t Sharpley, of Carle tin, by which seven of Lis cora stacks were completely de stroyed. Not the slightest doubt exists but that it was the act of an incendiary.—Lincolnshire Chronicle. UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE. CAMBRIDGE, DEC. 2. —At a congregation on Wednesday Last the following degrees were conferred : - _ MASTER OF ARTS. Rev. Julian Robinson, Jesus College. BACHELOR IN CIVIL LAW. Henry Belcher Pigot, Trinity Hall. At the same congregation the following Graces passed the Senate : To affix the seal to the contract made with Mr. George Baker, for building the Fitzwilliam Museum, pursuant to the grace of Oct. 25, 1837. To appoint Mr. Wordsworth, of Trinity College, an Exa miner for the Classical Tripos. To appoint Mr. Dobson, of Trinity College, an Examiner for the previous Examination in Lent and Michalmas terms. To add the names of Professor Miller, of St. John's Col lege, and Mr. Steventon, of Corpus Christi College, to the Syndicate for visiting the Observatory. The select preacher at St. Mary's Church for the present month, is the Right Rev. Lord Bishop of Hereford. Clare Hall.—The following college prizes were on Tuesday last, adjudged:— Declamation Theme . Bartlett. Green. Reading in Chapel Bartlett. On Thursday the 23d ult., the Rev. T. F. Layng, M. A. of Sidney Sussex College, and Head Master of the Free Grammar School, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, was appointed to the Head Mastership of the Junior department of Bristol College. Robert Pashley, Esq., M. A., Fellow of Trinity College, in this University, and author of " Travels in Crete," was called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, on the 17th of November lest. The Rev. Edward Pollard has been presented to the Vicar age of Ewerby, Lincolnshire, by our Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria. Archaeological Essays.—The premium for the best essay on the life of Robert Fitzwalter, has been awarded to George William Johnson, Esq. The subject announced for next year is Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, the mother of Henry VII. and foundress of St. John's College, in this University. The following statement has just been published of the number of resident members in this University : In College. In Lodgings. Total Resident. Trinity St. John's Queens' Caius Corpus Catharine Christ's St. Peter's Jesus Emmanuel Pembroke Magdalene Clare Hall . .... 53 Trinity Hall ... 28 King's Sidney Downing 1,178 602 1,703 Matr:culations ( Michaelmas Term) 3BO EAST INDIA SHIPPING. Arrivals, Dec. 4.—The Ann Wise, Remen, from Van Die men's Land, in the River, sailed from Launceston the 26th July ; Francis Webb, Edmonds, from Bengal, in the Downs, sailed July 2, St. H..lera October : the Induq, M`Farlane, from Bengal, in the Downs, sailed July 15, and St. Helena Oct. 10 ; the Scarf.cld, Evans, from Bombay, off Swanage, sailed Aug. 5. and St. Helena Oct. 17 ; the Ranger, Sel lard, from Bengal, at Liverpool, sailed July 23, and St. Ile lena Oct. 18 ; Benconlen, Brown, from China, off Liverpool, sailed June 15, and St. Helena Oct. 12 ; the Gen. Chasc, Haskerna, from Batavia, off Dover. Arrivals at Singapore.—The Glenelg, Langley, July 21, from Bombay, and sailed the 21st for China; the Cowaajce Family, Wallace, July 21, from Calcutta, and sailed the 2:3(1 for China; ArcLzscar. M'lntyre, July 23, from Bombay, and sailed the 24t11 for China ; Conqueror, Moor, July 25, from Siam; Emma and Mathilde, Janson, from Siam. Depa-tures fioin Sinzapore.—The Sylph, Vial. July 22, for Calcutta; Helen, M'Alister, July 22, for Pedir Cost; Charles Grant, July 22, for China ; Jane, Middleton, July 26 for Batavia. Arrivals at Launceston (Van Diemen's Laryl).—The Dawson, July 1, from Hobart Town; Isabella, Maryban, from Sydney. Arrivals at Maailla.—The Atia, Felix, Dos Ami2v, and Aurelius, May 8, from China; La Jam:, May 18, from Sin gapore ; Mary Tri:zer, May 31, from the Sandwich Islands; Canton Packet. June 1, from Sydney; Lady Nugent, June 4, from Chh;a, put in. in consequence of eight of the men re fusing to do duty, and sailed with eight Manilla men instead, for Java. Ships Spoken With.—The Marquis of Hastings, from London to Sydney (New South Wales), Oct. 29, lat. 40, N., long. 22, W., per Scarfield, arrived off Swanage ; Gul nare, from I2anelly to Bombay, Oct. 21 ; and St. George, from London to the Mauritius. Oct 22, by the Globe. GARDENING OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK. (From the Gardener's Gazette.) All tender or half-ha: dy Shrubs, planted out in the open air, should be protected with mats, or other covering, but be unco vered on all mild de.% s. Any roots of Dahlias, which are in great esteem, or that raay be small or short of tubers, should be regularly potted as if for workin', but be kept in the greenhouse. It will not hurry their starting a day. but it will prevent shrivelling or rotting, and save many which, without such care, would be lost. Such as it may be desirable to push very early, may be placed in the stove ; but it would be highly dangerous to commence working with dun. , heat, though we have seen a one light box full not many miles' from town. GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. Whether there be frost or not, it will be necessary to put a little fire occasionally into the greenhouse to get rid of the damp. Let even this be done when air can be given at the same time. Give air to greehouse plants every mild clear day. Give air to LETTUCES, CAULIFLOWERS, &C., under glasses or in frames, every opportunity. If the weather be wet, prop the glasses ' • if dry, take them right off. Sow RADISH seed for succession crops. Prepare ground for BEANS. . , Tie up ENDIVE for blanching. Do not let the stove below GO, nor let it exceed 70, if it can be helped ; 55 or 75 would entail positive mischief. STAMFORD BULL RUNNING.—This annual cus tom took place on the 13th inst. The interest taken by Government to put down this custom of feudal times induces us to give a brief sketch of its origin, it having existed now nearly 600 years. The history of Stamford states that it began in 1215, in the reign of King John, to run a bull through the town annually on the 13th of November, for the support of which John, Earl of Warren, then Lord of Stamford, gave the extensive meadows near the town of Stamford to the butchers for their use, that they should provide a bull as aforesaid, on that day for ever. Tradition says that this custom originated in the following manner :—That the above named Earl Warren was standing on his castle and saw two bulls fighting, and that a butcher with his dog, in trying to part them, drove them into the town, when the Earl and the townspeople ran the bulls throughout the day. Many have been the attempts to put a stop to this custom. In 1789 the military were called in, and again in 1790, but to no purpose. Every precaution was taken in the present year; but the bullards were rather in a feverish state, in consequence of the last bull running being kleemed a riot, and some young men of respectable families being tried at Lincoln, and acquitted with an admonition from the bench. Lord John Russell this year sent down an order to the Magistrates to prevent a bull being brought in, and on Saturday, the 1 I th, the dreadful note of preparation sounded —two hundred extra constables were sworn in ; and on the same day Mr. Bull arrived, and was placed in safe keeping ; and, like the fable, not an individual was found to put the bell round the cat's neck. Mr. Bull made his appearance ac cording to charter, at ten o'clock on Monday morning, and such were the immense numbers of people that had arrived and were arriving, that the Magistrates judged it proper to dismiss the constabulary force. The bull showed some excel lent sport, and was what the bullards term a good one ; and, after a little rest, showed himself by torch-light, and we are happy to say that the most ruffianly-like part of this custom has disappeared.— Wilts Independent. • ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.—Many claimants for this invention, says the Scotsman, are now coming forward ; but the following extract sent us by a friend from a well known work, will show that the idea of such a mode of com munication was conceived and experimented upon fifty years ago:—" Its the evening to Monsieur Lomond, a very inge nious and inventive mechanic ln electricity he has made a remarkable discovery ; you write two or three words on a paper ; he takes it with him into a room and turns a machine inclosed in a cylindrical case, at the top of which is an electrometer, a small fine pith ball ; a wire connects with a similar cylinder and electrometer in a distant apartment ; and his wife, by remarking the corresponding motions of the ball, writes down the words they indicate, from which it ap pears he has formed an alphabet of motions. As the length of the wire makes no difference in the effect, a correspondence might be carried on at any distance—within and without a be sieged to xn, for instance—or for a purpose much more worthy and a thousand tim-s morn harmless, between two lovers pro hibited or prevented from any better connection. Whatever the use may be, the invention is beautiful."—P. 79, Vol. 1., 4th Edition of Arthur Young's Travels in France. May 1787. INCOMBUSTIBLE THATCH.—It has been proved by repeated experiments that straw saturated with a solution of lime, or common whitewash, is incombustible. This fact is of great importance to the rural population, especially as thatch is thus not only rendered fire-proof, but much more durable. A solution of alum has been tried, but, being soluble, the rain destroys its virtues. The contest for the coronership of one of the divi sions of the county of Worcester has just terminated in favour of Mr. Smith, who has, out of eight thousand votes, polled a majority of two hundred in his favour. The remarkable fea tures of this contest are, the immense number of freeholders who voted, and the larg e expenditure of money by the candi dates ; Mr. Smith and t Mr. Stokes, having each spent 5,0001. to obtain 2001. a year, that being the highest remuneration yet received from the office.— Worcester Journal. THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1 837 CITY OF LONDON ELECTION. refute them. The money subscribed to unseat their present Mem- 1 bers did not come out of the pocket of Mr. Palmer ; it had been subscribed by the wealthy Tory merchants of the c it y ; and the 1 means of defending their seats could not be subscribed by the sit ting Members—they must be provided by the independent and Liberal electors of the City of London. Their cause was not a private or a personal one—it was a struggle for a great public prin ciple, and he had no doubt that the exertions of their friends would be successful.—(Loud and long continued cheers.) Their conduct personally at the late election must be well known to many present. Their duty indeed had been confined to the atten dance of many public meetings of the constituency, not quite so numerous as the one now present. All the proceedings at the late election had been under the superintendance of Mr. Travers, a gentleman devoted to the cause of the people and of Reform.— (Cheering.) As their opponents had provoked a full disclosure of all the circumstances that took place at the late election, he only hoped Mr. Alderman Brown, on behalf of the Tory can didate, would be enabled to give as good an account as Mr. Travers would on the part of the Liberals. The present was not a time to enter upon any political matters—his conduct was before his con stituents, and it was for them to judge whether what he had done deserved a continuance of their favours.—( Cheers.) He felt deeply sensible of the hardships under which the electors of England had been called upon to perform their solemn duties, and that the situa tion in which they, as the Representatives of the City of London had been placed, should render it necessary for them to call upon the Liberals of the City of London to open their purse-strings. The Hon. Gentleman concluded by saying that he would ever be found in the energetic and faithful discharge of his duty as a sincere Reformer, whether in or out of Parliament.—(Loud cheers.) Mr. CRAWFORD then presented himself to the meeting, and was loudly cheered. He participated deeply in the sentiments of gra titude, expressed by his colleagues who had preceded him, towards the meeting.—(Hear.) He would be glad to ask them what was their real position with respect to the opposition that had been arrayed against them ? They had not been able to ascertain whom the scrutiny Committee that had been appointed was composed of, for there seemed to be a species of political cowardice about the whole of them, except the respected gentleman who presided —he meant Mr. Ward.—( Hear.) The Committee was the organ of the Tory party in the City at present ; but he had good reason to believe that they would not receive the support they had so san guinely calculated upon.—(Cheers.) There was one other fact to which he would refer. He was in possession of a laborious ana lysis of the poll at the late election, and it appeared that the four Reform candidates had at least 800 votes more than those given to Mr. Palmer, who owed his position to the divided and crooked votes which circumstances had conferred upon him.—(Hear, and cheers.) After again thanking the meeting for the kindness with which it had come forward to support the men of their choice, Mr. Crawford concluded amidst loud cheering. Mr. PATTISON then presented himself and was most warmly received. The excellent speeches of his Colleagues had left little for him to add ; but he could not omit expressing his acknowledge ments for the kind manner in which he had been received by them on that as well as on all other occasions. He felt quite confident as to the result of the petition, and he was convinced that it would slim that the constituency they had the honour to represent was as free from any imputation of corruption as any other in the kingdom.—(Loud cheers.) So long as he was their re presentative he would do his best to promote their interests, and to assert the rights and liberties of the people.—( Applause. ) Mr. W. PRESCOTT then proposed a vote of thanks to the Chair man, which was seconded by Mr. HErrELL, and carried with ac clamat ion. The CHAIRMAN returned thanks for the compliment paid him, and the mee'ing, which was extremely crowded throughout the yoceedings, separated. ( Continued from our First Edition of Yesterday.) J. lIANKEY, Esq., then rose to propose the second resolution, and had he not done so with pleasure, when he was asked to do so by the Committee, he would have considered that he would have deserved to be branded as a deserter from those principles which he had avowed in July last.—(Loud cheering.) In July he had thought it desirable that four Liberal Members should be re turned to represent the City of London in Parliament ; he therefore considered that he was now bound to do all that lay in his power, in order to support that return when it was questioned by their opponents.—(Cheers.) It was impossible for the citizens of London to allow such imputations as were now made against ' them to remain. For his part he had had the honour of pro ' posing one of the Members on the Hustings at Guildhall ; he cordially joined in the return of the four Members ; he fully believed that the return of the four was properly and fairly made, and therefore he would do all in his power to support it.— (Cheers.) Bribery was the charge made—not against the four Members, but against their Committees—and he saw a great num ber of them present ; therefore he called upon them to cast off the foul imputation—to do their duty to themselves, by proving that those charges were false.—(Cheers.) The four Members had been fairly and honestly returned, and it was the duty of the con stituency notsnow to desert them, but manfully come forward and prove that these four Members had not been returned to Parlia ment by the bribery of their fellow-citizens. He believed that the petition against those gentleman was part of a system to put down all liberal feeling in the country—( Cheers) —and therefore he most cordially moved the second resolution, which !lad been put into his hands. Mr. W. PILITCHARD felt much pleasure in seconding the reso lution. Their Chairman had told them the power of their adver saries, and their strenuous efforts to recover the power which they had for half century wielded with so little advantage to the peo ple. They had been deprived of that power by the efforts of inde pendent bodies of electors like those before him, who had arisen in the majesty of their rights, and declared they would not submit to such intolerant domination. The Reform Bill was the result of the successful efforts of the electors of England seven years ago, and they could not expect that those from whom it had been wrung would sit down contented with their defeat. They had rallied their scattered forces, and brought them again to the battle, as was visible in the late contest. Their leader (Sir R. Peel) had told them that it was useless to continue the contest on the old principles of Tory opposition to the popular party. They now did it. by concilia tion and the battle wasrenewedbefore the Revising Barristers, where they had put forth the elements of wealth and influence unhappily with too much success.—(Hear, hear.) They were now again resorting to the same sinister influence, and by means of their wealth they were endeavouring to deprive the people of the legitimate advantages of the Reform Bill.—( Hear, hear.) Such was the character of the proceedings in the late con test, when intimidation, bribery, and undue influence were set in motion, and they had unblushin g ly avowed through their organs of the press that the public had been applied to to get up petitions to Parliament against the return of all those men who had endeavoured by their support of Liberal principles to prove that they were the true advocates of the people's rights. He should have thought that in the prosecution of such a conspiracy they would not have dared to make such an application to the con stituency of London; but a petition had been presented which teemed with the most unblushing allegations; and with the spirit and feeling of enlightened Englishmen he trusted that this meeting would resist it by every legitimate means.--( Hear, hear.) He considered that obligation to-day attached to the present meeting, as well-wishers to their country, but particularly as the guardians of their own rights and elective franchises against the unholy attempts that had been made to assail them.—( Cheers.) The present petition was an attack upon the franchise of the people at large.—(Cheers.) He thought there could be little doubt that the resolution would be received by the meeting with unanimity. —(Cheers.) The Chairman then put the resolution to the meet ing. which he declared to be carried unanimously. WILLIAM GREGG, Esq., then rose to propose tke third resolution. During the twenty years that he had witnessed the contested elec tions in the City of London, he considered the present contest to involve more important results than any he had ever witnessed. Such being the case, lie thought it demanded the most strenuous, active, a nd energetic exertions that could be made with respect to it.—(Cheers.) The contest in which they were engaged was good government against bad—net mere Whigs against Tories.— bat reform against no reform, or only such reforms as might be wrung from an unwilling government, if the Tories get into power. It was a contest in which they had a suit against four of the best Members the City of London ever had. The present petition was got up without a shadow of reason, for if he could speak front what he witnessed from the commencement of the contest to its close, not the slightest bribery, coercion, or inti midation was exercised by the Committee, who conducted it on the part of the Reform Members. Who, he would ask, was op posed to the Reform Men.bers ? Mr. H. Palmer, a gentleman no doubt who was in every ray respectable, bat were not their pre sent Members equally so? —( Cheers. ) If Mr. Paltrier was a Di rector in the Bank of England, had they not also a Director in the person of Mr. Pattison? If he was a merchant, had they not a merchant equally respectable in the person of Mr. Crawford ? And if they wanted a le:railed in every respect, had they not that parallel in the person of the worthy Bart. Sir Matthew Wood, who had at last received the honours to which he was so justly entitled, but which had been so long kept from him by Tory Governments. —( Cheers.) As to Mr. Grote, his name was synonimous with truth, determination, and the most sterling patriotism. lie could not help denouncing this petition as the first evidence of the working of the Spottiswoode conspiracy. With regard to the importance of the latter part of the motion, it was needless to im press on them, that as they were opposed by monied interest, it would be necessary that they should enter into a subscription com mensurate with the formidable power opposed to them. Mr. G. concluded amidst loud cheering by moving the resolution. The lion. Tnosias DENMA N, on rising to second the resolu tion, was received with loud cheers. He said he could only at tribute his favourable reception to the name which he bore. The meeting might be surprised at a person so young in politics presuming to address such a respectable and important assem bly, but he had thought that if he did not come here to-day it might have been imagined that he had become lukewarm in the cause.—(Hear, hear.) Referring to the prospects of the Liberal party in the House of Commons, he said that he thought they were as favourable as ever they were. It was supposed that her Majesty's Ministers were hostile to the cause of Reform. from some little differences among the Reformers manifested the other night ; but he was not discouraged, and he hoped that no person in this meeting would be discouraged.—( Hear, hear. ) With res,iect to the Ballot, differences of opinion might arise among Reformers, and Lord John Russell was not willing to purchase the support of any section of the Reformers—( Loud hisses, mingled by some cries of " Hear") —by any uncompromising premise.— Hear, hear.) As to Household Suffrage, he himself roost firmly believed it was more safe than the close system of the old boroughs. —(Hear.) But these were things which required great considera tion.—( Hear, hear.) Lord John Russell was not hostile to Reform—(Cheers)—and his mind was open to' conviction. If they lost their tried and faithful representative they would have a Tory in his place. Would they have the false measures of the Tories, or the honest and humane measures of the Whigs? —( A cry of " The Poor-laws," and laughter.) The measures of the Whigs were good coin, but that coin was clipped by the Tories ; but if they had the Tories in power they would have counterfeit coin altogether.—(Cheers.) The question was, whether a Com mittee should be appointed? It had been said that the Reformers did not manage these matters so well as the Tories. He hoped the City of London would afford a contradiction to that. He trusted that an immense subscription would be collected ; and he considered it of more importance that every one present should subscribe, even if it were but a farthing each, than that large sums should be sub scribed by a few individuals, who might be supposed to have inte rested motives. By subscribing in a mass, they would convince their opponents of the moral sense they entertained of the necessity of being well represented.—( Cheers.) The mite he had to offer was small, but it was made smaller from the prevalence of a cheap administration of the law, which rather curtailed his means. —( Cheers and laughter. ) BLACKBURN, the Chancery Barrister, supported the resolu tion. In that meeting, in which he saw some of the leading refor mers of this great and noble nation, perhaps no two were agreed upon minor matters, and at the same time he was sure that no two of them differed as the main business of the day.—(Cheering. ) Their representatives were charged with bribery, and they were assembled there to subscribe for their defence against that charge. He had no doubt of their triumphant success, but he did doubt of the success of others, who had entered into a subscription, or rather a conspiracy, to disfranchise the Irish boroughs.--s (Loud and continued cheering.) He had risen chiefly to suggest that in constructing the Committee, they should make it so open as to admit Reformers of every opinion. He knew that, however divided they were, the present danger of Reform—a danger which was increasing—would unite them and make the most timid come forward.—( Hear, hear.) The Resolution was then put and carried. The CliAlliMAl4 then expressed his belief that the meeting must almost be tired both of hearing his voice and of seeing Imsn, and he was happy to say that his duty was now nearly at a close. He had, however, to call on his Hon. and Venerable Friend Sir M. Wood, to address a few observations to the meeting ; he appeared for the first time before a public meeting since the acquisition of his new title. Sir Mareofxw Woon came forward amidst great cheering. It would ill become him to take up any part of the time of the meeting. The only duty he had to perform was one which he had the greatest pleasure in performing, namely, to return sincere thanks to the meeting for their exertions, not only at the late election, but for their renewed exertions to carry into effect the principles which they had professed, and to endeavour to retain him in their service. With regard to himself, he almost smiled when he found the petition was presented against him for bribery and corruption.—(Hear, hear.) Upon observing the pe tition to be rather bulky, he resolved to ascertain the length of it, and he with an Hon. Colleague, calculated it to be just eight yards in length—(Hear, hear)—which was just two yards for each of the City Members.—(Laughter.) He was anxious, also, to know how they could have spun it out to such an extent; and he came to the conclusion that there must have been some solicitor at work at it.—(Hear.) Every one knew that to extend a busi ness of that sort was advantageous and lucrative to a solicitor. But moreover, he really expected when he found himself charged with bribery, corruption, intimidation, and a great many other offences, to find that he was also charged with murder !—( Hear, and laugh ) H e was never more surprised in his life. His Hon. Friends who had now gone through so many elections with him were perfectly aware that he never would coerce any one. —( Cries of " Hear, hear.") Even if a man with whom he had laid out thousands voted at the election, he never was the man to inquire which way he had gone. Farther, they well knew that if a single shilling was given to influence a vote in his favour, he had always declared that the moment it came to his knowledge he would give up the contest. A friend had asked him in the outer room whether he was not alarmed upon the occasion ? But he assured the meeting that be it good luck or ill luck, it was all the same to him.—( Hear, hear.) He was certain that if they got a Committee of honourable men, he cared not from what side of the House, he was just as sure of being their representative after the labours of the Committee were over as he was now. In fact, he believed that the petition was presented merely for the ehominable purpose of preventing any, of their four Members from s itt i n g upon an Election m Com mittee, which they might think an advantage. He again thanked them most heartily for their kind support, and hoped that it would be continued.— (Cheers.) Mr. GROTE then came forward and was withreceivedei.Nh ei oe laud ijutehtdfttrobe; oio and os,mk vehement cheering, followed by one cheer more. He assur e d th em that he entertained a strong sense of the hearty welcom e th ey h a d that day given him. He rejoices! to see so numero us a meeting, but were he assembled would no from a t do them mo emt tes o hiveinl privateusti cetosuppose that partiality, b a strong sense of public electoral duty. —( Cheers.) n to find that the men they had selected in July last were s till a con sidered worthy of their choice. He would ask , were his threecol- leagues and himself to be still looked up on in th e light of their Re presentatives ?—(Cries of Yes, yes.) Then that was the best an swer they could give to the calumnies of the Meeting v place over the way, at which M r . W. Ward presided, and where it had been asserted, that they were not the Representatives of the City of London. In the petition which had been presented against their re turn, every charge that could possibly be put together was alleged against them; but he trusted the., electors of London would We understand that the legal preparations for the defence of the sitting Members for the City against the petition-mon gerers are nearly completed. 'rho Reform Association in the City early engaged Mr. Joseph Parkes as the agent and soli citor for the defence. Mr. Charles Aus!in is the leading barrister ; Mr. Thessiger conducting, as counsel, the case of the petitioners. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-DEC. 6. The SPEAKER took the Chair at the usual hour. Four Members who had not been sworn came to the table arid took the oaths. Amongst where were Mr. John O'Con nell, Mr. Kirk, Member for Carrickfergus, and Mr. Kerr— we did not recognise the fourth. ELECTION PETITIONS. The SPEAKER informed the House that the petition against the return for the county of Sligo was discharge], according to the order of the House, the petitioners not having entered into the required recognizances. The Right Hun. Gentleman subsequently informed the House that he had re c.,ived, through the Hanaper Office, Dublin, a petition against the return for Sligo. (This petition is a renewal of that just d'scharged.) The SPEAKER also stated that the petition against the return for Belfast was discharged, for the same reasons as , hat front Sligo. The Right Hon. Gentleman then informed the House that he had received, through the Hanaper Office, another petition against the return for BAfast (similar to that discharged) ; and also petitions against the returns for Water ford and Westmeath.—All those petitions were ordered to be taken into consideration on the 12th of December. " That your petitioner must respectfully approaches your Honourable House with a petition and complaint touching a matter which not only affects himself, but also deeply concerns the privileges of your Honourable House, the rights of the electors of these realms, the especial interest of the people of Ireland, and the general well-being and concord of all parts of the United Kingdom. " That your petitioner begs respectfully to call the attention of your Honourable House to the existence of a public subscription set on foot in England for the purpose of encou raging the presentation of petitions against Members returned to serve in this present Parliament for the counties, cities, towns, and boroughs of Irela:id, and of defraying the ex penses attendant upon the conduct and prosecution of the same. " That it appears from successive advertisements in the public newspapers that a very large fund has been already raised in England for the purposes above-mentioned. That inasmuch as the persons who have been induced to subscribe to this fund, for the most part, are unconnected with the constituencies of Ireland, and have had no opportunity of personally witnessing the proceedings which took place at the Irish elections, they have necessarily been liable to be misled by the false representations of persons who have an interest in deceiving them. " That your petitioner sincerely believes that the persons who have set on foot this subscription desire, and intend thereby, to frustrate and annul the choice of the electors of Ireland by the following means : " First—Taking advantage of the expensive nature of the present process for the trial of controverted elections, they hope to overbear by such subscriptions the possibility of any resistance or defence upon the part of such sitting Members as may not he able to defray the expense or defending a seat in Parliament—an expense which not unfrequently has amounted to several thousand pounds upon the trial of a single petition. " Secondly—Availing themselves of the present state of the law, they propose, by the presentation of petitions against a considerable number of Members of your Honourable House, to disqualify from sitting upon Committees for the trial of Election Petitions a large proportion of those Mem bers whose political opinions are in accordance with the sentiments of the electors of Ireland, ar,d thus to obtain Committees favourable to the objects for which this confede racy has been formed. " That your petitioner humbly conceives that such a confe deracy and subscription is in the highest degree unconstitu tional, and that if it be converted into a precedent, a similar proceeding may hereafter be used as an instrument destructive to the rights and liberties of the British people. " That in reference to the connection between Great Bri tain and Ireland, it will be productive of the most injurious effects, as tending to create in Ireland an opinion that there exists among the English nation a strong antipathy to the Irish people, and a disposition to obstruct the free expression of their opinions through their reprecentatives in Parliament, and that thus the harmony which ought to subsist between two nations united as well by mutual interest as by an international compact, will be endangered if not destroyed. " That your petitioner has seen in the public newspapers, a letter purporting to have been signed by Sir Francis Burdett, a Member of your Honourable House, in which letter the said Sir Francis avows that lie has contributed to this fund. And your petitioner humbly submits, that it is the duty of your Honourable House to enquire how far it is consistent with the impartial exercise of the functions which this Honourable Member may be compelled (subject to the obligation and sanc tion of an oath) to undertake, that he should thus voluntarily have made himself a party in a case in which the law consti tutes him a judge. " That in exemplification of the results which may be ex pected to arise from the employment of the above-mentioned subscription, your petitioner has observed that a petition has been presented impeaching the validity of the late election and return for the county of Limerick, which petition your petitioner conscientiously believes would not have been pre sented with a view to its being brought before a Committee of your Honourable House, unless the parties from whom it emanates had expected to receive assistance and support from the above-mentioned confederacy. " That it does not become your petitioner in his own case to make any statement which may induce Members of your Hon. House to prejudge the merits of a petition which will be subjected to the investigation of a Committee of your Ho nourable House ; but your petitioner firmly believes that his return was the result of the free choice of the electors of the county of Limerick, and that the grounds of the said petition are of a nature wholly frivolous and untenable. " That your petitioner is not ashamed to confess that even though assured of a favourable result, he does not regard with indifference the expense of defending his seat under the pre sent mode of conducting the trial of controverted elections; and he therefore humbly submits that if he should decline to defend his seat under a feeling of unwillingness to enter upon an unequal contest with parties sustained by a subscrip tion collected in England from individuals who are wholly regardless of the interests of the constituency of the county of Limerick, and only anxious to promote the objects of the party to which they are attached, the free choice of the electors of the said county would in such case be defeated and annulled by the machinations of the unconstitutional confederacy. " That, as well, therefore, upon grounds of public policy, as with reference to his own individual case, your Petitioner humbly prays that an enquiry may be made into all the pro ceedings connected with the said subscription, for the pur pose of ascertaining whether such subscription be consistent with the laws of the land, the usages of Parliament, the pri vileges of your Honourable House, and the rights of the Elec tors of Great Britain and Ireland ; and that your [louourable House may take such other measures for securing to the Peo ple of Ireland protection against any injury or injustice, that may arise from such confederacy and subscription, as in its wisdom it shall see fit. " And your Petitioner will ever pray. " WILLIAM SMITH b'BRIEN." Upon the question being put, that the petition do lie on the table, Capt. PE C HELL rose to put a question to the Hon. Baronet the Member for Shoreham (Sir C. Burrell), arising out of something which had fallen from the Hon. Baronet, in the discussion on Monday night, ,upon the proposition of the Hon. Member for London for the removal of the civil disa bilities of the Jews. On that occasion the Hon. Baronet was reported to have said that Mr. Salomons went down into Sus sex and obtained a number of votes, but that he (Sir C. Bur rell) could not tell by what means those votes were obtained. He (Capt. Pechell) hoped the Hon. Baronet would not ob ject to explain what he meant by those words, and he trusted the Hon. Baronet did not mean to cast any imputation upon Mr. Salomons. Sir E. KNATC HBULL said, that he was again obliged to rise to order. (Hear, and a laugh.) We understood him to say that the Hon. and Gallant Member for Brighton must be aware that he was out of order in referring to reports of what had been said in that House. The SPEAKER said, that if he rightly u nderstood the object of the Hon. and Gallant Member for Brighton, it was this—that on behalf of an individual who felt himself ag grieved, to ask if the statement of something said in that House were correct. If there were any doubt on the point of order, he should be disposed to give a preference to the indi vidual who felt himself aggrieved.— ( Hear, hear. ) But it remained with the Hon. Baronet, the Member for Shoreham, to answer the question if he thought fit. Sir CHARLES BURRELL said that he was most h a p py to give any explanation in his power. With regard to the oc casion alluded to, he could only say, that reference was made to himself so unexpectedly, that he spoke without deliberation, and he was not now able to say what precise words he might have used ; but of this he was sure, that his meaning was not to impute anything disho nourable to Mr. Salomons.—( Hear, hear. )—[The Hon. Member added one or teo other observa tions, which we did not hear distinctly.] Mr. II LIME said with respect to the petition that had been presented by the lion. Member for Limerick, as the subject was to conic under the consideration of the House at an early day, he should submit to the House whether it would not be proper to have it printed. The SPEAKER thought if the Hon. Member who had presented the petition rat sired to have it printed, that it was in cumbent upon him, not upon the Hon. Member for Kilkenny, ito move that it should be printed with the votes. It was also • necessary that the Hon. Member should fix some specific day on which it should be brought under the attention of the House. theMra.ttSen. attention of o ß f iE th N e s H ai n c a l. se it t w o a t s b c c e ei rt u a e i s n t l i y on li s is vh i i nt e e t n h t e i r on an to H e o a s l Member—the Hon. Member for Wiltshire, for insta nce —could subscribe to a fund to enable parties to q uestion a return, in _ which he had no interest, and of which he knew nothing? He should move that the petition be printed in the Votes of the House. He begged to give notice that he shou ld bring the subject under its attention to-mon ow.—(Cheers.) On the motion that the petition be printed, the M n r a . tu N r V e . o N t. VaYn election NN said,petthiatiton, t h the that h petitionhe thought w a s much e printed. He thought , howeve r, that the House ought to so h into pause before it adopted the principle o f the p etition. uc S e thirße. H I n N a G s eLtloSsaw adopt nothing in differentin t h p e ri p n e e t i i p t I. ‘ hat th s rheofuelrde l i t n e e dto the return for Limerick, than had been adopte d with re ference to the cases of Bridg ew ater and Berwick. ought House Mr. S. as an 0 'BR aggrievedlE N sptlr party t re h fe e re presented h the himself i stwai n 000tlitilseet conspiracy—( Hear, hear)—that had been entered into ag t w h e o r s e e a w n l a t o bl , e l i t k o e d h e i f m e i sy t , h represented es large of re t c i o ti n o s n t s i . t u e s t h ; ne h r. e n ..a t fore, motion - on the i n reference circumstances be o Baronet, the Member for North Wilts.—(Cheers Andi printed begged to move, humble as it was, that his p etition be pri with the votes. the conduct s h t e a e t e rs d ~ o )t f o t hfoeudo.it: specific cd facts ts fn ti U .it S h S re E sp L e L et s t a o id th t e ha e t ie t e h t e io p n et i i t t s i e o l n f, d b i d at n nt ot er s e ta ly tea ? n n y : tained statements in reference to the conduct of a Member of _ O 7 l. House. He owned that he did not see any reason why the li Member should propose to bring forward his motion for t, morrow, seeing that another Hon. Member had a notice ten' same effect on the books for to-night. If they were to n e e r on the general question to-night, it was quite clear that t'7 . Hon. Member would have nothing to state to-morrow that the House would not already be in possession of. Sir ROBERT PEEL said that this was not the %Olt of an individual who merely complained of another indivi y. but it contained an argument on grounds of public po.ce.. If the House ordered the petition to he printed, they would give the argument of one Hon. Gentleman an thenticity for which another Hon. Gentleman would be I „ debted to the reporters.—( Hear, hear.) He hoped, th e r e n fore, that the House would not consent to the petition ben) printed. ight Mr. O'CONNELL said that the objection of the 11 . Hon. Baronet appeared to him to be a comical one, 118 1 1 0 :;, that the petition contained an argument.— ( Laughter.) ' n it appcared to him, that if the petition contained no ment, it would be a much better reason than that of tbe nu . " ) p tition Baronet !or its not being printed.—(Continued lang hte f r so And, after all, would the Hon. Baronet say it was o great importance that an argument should be printed to-tneto row morning—that it was so formidable an objeetil iag the petition, that you should have the power of ree, two or three hours before you came down, a reason we! it was not the reason on which he founded his petition, beeaustby was his individual interest alone, and there was no cause vi,b, they should not have it printed. It involved, to be sure , interests of many individuals in the House. It migh t be h a d sirable to know how many there were in the House w ll ° A 'f ar contributed to that fund.—(Tremendous cheering.) e r' Wilts s hi as he understood the lion. Baronet the Member for r o he had put his name publicly to the Newspapers. He had giv e . fair notice, and there was certainly candour in his conduliee'd (Hear, hear.) Therefore, they all knew if he wa s ea of upon to serve on any election Committee that he was °l le t i e the parties interested, that he was one of the parties to petition, and they could give him a challenge. (Hear, hearid But what could be more monstrous than that any man sh le be allowed to be both a party and a judge. —( Cheers.) would ask, was it to be endured in this country, tha t tbe,j should be a tribunal in which men who contributed to the e .. penses of a suit should be allowed to zit as judges.--( Cheers,/ He had heard of what people called un-English acts---thereil must certainly be now a new translation of the word; at events he thought the conduct of some parties was exceeding rf un- English. Therefore any Gentleman on the other side the House who might have contributed to this fund, o r this petted others, was bound to come forward and support re motion, in order that they might know whether they we r e to be judged judges who were not partizans, so that thelio might be at least the apperrance of fair play.—(Cheers. ) ( Mr. O'Connell) was very glad the Hon. Member for Limer' c r had brought forward this question. All the Hon. Men' be a asked at present was to have his petition, which then lay ° 3 the table, printed with the votes, so that there might be cavilling to-morrow about the House not having been aPP e ris e e i. of the petition.—( Hear, hear.) He had given notice ei motion, and he wished the documents on which that 1 11 ° ttt t . was founded should be in the hands of Members. He O'Connell) saw no reason for objecting to that cou rse.- ( Hear, hear.) d, Lord STANLEY hoped that the House would not b e le a p —and he had risen in the hope that his Honourahw Friend ( Sir F. Burdett) whom he saw was about to ri se ' would not be led—into any premature discussiew of a question which he (Lord S.) at least hoped was to 1 1 ; rgo a full discussion that night—( A burst of cheers fret Wi t t, Tories)—as to whether any individual or any set of inui . a .; duals had or had not a right to subscribe to the expense °. election petition?—( Continued cheers from the Tories . / This was a much more narrow question than that, an a lie would not be led from it into the general ques t ' ° ;; —( Hear.) He had risen for the purpose of pointing e ", to the Noble Lord the Secretary for the Home Departineni:i that there was between the present case and the one broug'" forward by the Hon. Member for Oxford a much closer 0 , 1 ; logy than the Noble Lord supposed ; because he thought e "" did not seem rightly to have drawn the comparison u`; tween the two. His Hon. Friend had said that in this O s there was no complaint of any proceeding affecting the cleen tion. No more there was in the instance of his Hon. Friend tl,.e; Member for Oxford, where a petition was presented that cc ", afterwards withdrawn. That petition complained that s° lll , one had written a letter to an individual who had vote d behalf of the sitting Member, asking that individual to e g evidence of bribery : and upon the answer that he could r'` ni conscientiously give such evidence, he was offered a large sur, of money to appear before the Committee, which was sub,, nation of perjury. That petition had nothing whatever to 130 with the election ; it did not enter into it even so much tis t t present petition did, and because it might appear to imP be l a n l some one in the House, it was thought most advisable el the petition should be withdrawn. It was withdrawn , an ,l he left it to the House to say whether the present petition ni enter into the election itself much more. The. ATTORNEY-GENERAL said the question for 0 1 House to decide was whether this petition was to be Pr iat ;s or not ? Now, as prime facie the petition complained t e e breach of privilege, and that a Member of that House " i t been prejudiced by the conduct of another Member, why sh ou e f not the petition be printed, according to the common cou rse lg, the proceedings of the House? If it had been a petition b.„ the Bridwater petition, that was calculated at all to P re. rii dice thee lection, he should offer his recommendation tbae`..s should be withdrawn. But if the House entered in to petition, it did not prejudice the election at du i / because the petitioner simply said, " I believe I was f a it elected ; I must have a fair trial, and I think that thatf, trial a r Bart. i s theli likely e yahtisoent :Membertht h b thah e eet prejudicederHtssilfluoioagbutr slightest uerNitsbpootstreditiro b henin y gpq tru t Ni eovhi h ern e ajeldttl s hvis u nhea b ttsi oam s r kle c ie r .egr ! n r i_aNt t ls i oo(opotnrinfat illegal h o tce hce f ser. t_ ...,eq b Ti e ue(beccLe r ouo i neb W hou ett h e a pr t rs e. t j h )u e d n i cN whether,we, whether the petition ought to be printed or not. ,•° c f could feel more strongly than himself the great impertaneeh o f anything that was calculated to prejudice the free rna n re ne.t justice in that House. Th e H on . M em b er com plained t ba justice was likely to be prejudi ce d ; t h ere f ore he hoped House would not refuse to allow the petition to be printed . 'le n Mr. H. HINDE—Wh a t h a d f a ll en f rom the L ear , Gentleman showed th e a b sur di ty o f any M em b er taking,,r r n in a debate the first part of which he had not heard.----( Ch If he had been att en di ng to w h at h a d t a k en place, he w A - f r i' have been aware th a t th e ma tt er t o w hi c h a llusion h ad . quently been made in that d e b a te, h a d taken place last wilier and had no connection with the Berwick or the Britlg e `d,---- cases, to which the Learned Attorney-General bad a llude f o ra (Hear.) Here the allegation was, that the tribunal h,%,(!, which the petition might be tried could not but be preit'utie if the Hon. Baronet, the Member for Wilts, should baler ° nen balloted on such Committee. In the one last nigh t the eBa gation was that there had been subornation of perju r e' , had not any thing at all to do with the last electiete no more to do with the last election for that bur t eie than the present petition. Hear, hear, hear.) l e pre' was a breach of privilege, so also must have been the l eo for setae(' last night. At the suggestion of the Hon. .Meu' r th' the University of Oxford, in which the Noble Secretary' it t ee Home Department concurred, he had then witedraW„islity petition, and the House would not be acting with itnna' fleet if it one night refused to receive a petition, and on thf fo al night received one o f th e same ki n d, b e cause presen teu thc other side of the House. a t of Mr. PR YME— The reason alleged for the withdinhioe the petition last ei g h t was that it related to a matter Of might be inquired into before the Election C o mmitt ° e . e t i ce course it could ; f or it was t h e d u ty of such a Con not' inquire whether any witness ha I been tampered with °r ion' That was not the case here ; for the conplaint of tb .re af t Member for Limerick could not be inquired into b' 'lts (S ir Election Committee, even if the Hon. Member for W 1 F. Burdett) was a member of it. . e dieeerea t Sir F. BURDETT was personally exceedingly 1 . 0 y o n' to the fate of the petition ; but he must say that le b e d to -3 Member by whom it bad been presented had app7e_. Hou se, unaccustomed to the courtesy of flon. Members:fthinsai,nte or he would have given him ( Sir F. B.) notice . to present it. However, the matter was of no him further than that he might not have been rstolo_,';otaee and have been prevented from replying tore e leehiat to be, that had been made upon him. It appea. r t e o urostances at the whole, one of the most extraordinary ei experience% had occurred in the course of his Parliamerilotahrywas very few!, (Hear, hear)—and it took for granted, whfor Dublin, an a( nate for the Hon. and Learned Member it a crimina li t y, a and called it by a name, which attributed it her did not pe,eeU,,. Learned Nlern n ishme (Cheers.) The Hon. and Lea _ onest men ,cO, to show how the act itself was criminal of n,2 the thy,, t cheers from to see justice done— ( Veheine n Cheers.) justice uPlldeer benches)—to see justice to Ireland, Cheers. ) Th e cO ", that aci:cle°lsarnPrbirrileta'r:acleY:weeld.--( Great Hon. and Learned :Member himself.—( ht it w as He thong r pro- House to depart from its ineial _pr e a o c o t t i r e a e r . y to all forrnbecca contrary to common sense, d a petition,iracy wr9 a'entertain such ceedings of that House, to tone of the Hon. and Learned MembFr would no e in 3 e, a coes . P r nue d combination bise laugh n '' f .. e' pa rtie i T w u a ; t ee p rot s ni Member v el h f illegal. tiie namedio Hon. and a s S i ' n t a d s a greatest conspirator he knew of in •Innit.t°mder ut tuei:l;°: n e. POOR LAWS. An HON. MEMBER, whose name we could not learn, gave notice that he nould, on Monday next, move that an lumblc address be presented to her Majesty, that there be laid before the House a return of the population of the several Unions formed under the Poor Laws Amendment Act in the tovms of Nottingham, Stockport, Manchester, Oldham, Bland ford, and other places, of which we could not collect the names ; the returns to distinguish the number of workhouses and paupers in each Parish Union, and those paupers receiving respectively out-th.or relief, or relief in the workhouses. Mr. DUNDAS presented a petition from an individual against the Poor Law Amendment Act. THE BALLOT. M. GILL ON presented a petition from Leith, praying f,)l- Household Suffrage and Vote by Ballot. The petition was agraed to at a stinting originally called for the purpose of pc. titior,ing for vote by Ballot alone. At that meeting, however, an amendment was moved that Household Suffrage should also be added to the prayer of tin; petition. The Chairman, not agreeing with that proposition, left the chair, and the greatest confusion prevailed, during which the lights wet e put out. Order having been restored, and new lights obtained, another gentleman was voted into the chair, and the meeting passed a unanimous resolution that the petition should pray for Household Suffrage as well as the Vote by Ballot. The petition was ordered to lie on the table. Mr. MILES presented a petition from the Guardians of the Poor of the Union of Warminster, deprecating the effects of the law as it at present stood with regard to Beer-houses, and praying that it might be amended, or repealed altogether. CASE OF COLONEL FRITH. Mr. O'CONNELL said that he held in his hand a peti tion from Lieutenant Colonel Frith of the East India Com pany's Service. It was not his intention, however, to present it until after the recess, when he would move that the matter stated therein be referred to a Special Committee. CASE OF COLONEL BRADLEY. Mr. G IiATT A N presented a petition from Lieutenant- Colonel Bradley, a gentleman whose case, he said, had been often before the House. It was not Lis intention to move for a Committee to consider the statements contained in this petition until after the recess ; but he begged to give notice that he would, to-morrow, move that it be printed with the votes, in order that all the Members of that House, both young and old, might have an opportunity of making themselves acquainted with them, and of ascertaining whether this Gentlaman's case demanded further investigation, did not think that being a Member of that House should de prive him of his right of complaining upon such a subject. Sir E. SUGDEN thought the precedent would be ex tremely inconvenient, because, instead of a Member getting up in his place, he would write out his arguments and deliver them in the form of petition to be read by the Clerk at the table. He was most anxious to have the benefit of the opinion of the Speaker on that subject. Mr. O'CONNELL—The question before the House was that the petition do lie on the table. Mr. LA M BTON thought after the Speaker had expressed an opinion that the petition ought to be read, it waa an act of great presumption on the part of any Hon. Member to op pose it. Sir E. KNATCHBUL L was not aware that any such opinion had been expressed by the Speaker. His Right lion. Friend had objected to the reception of the petition, inasmuch as it proceeded from an individual Member of the House, and complained of a public grievance. The Hon. Member now stated that he complained of it as a private grievance, and he therefore apprehended that no opposition would be of fered to the reading of it. Mr. H. GR ATTAN said the petition complained of a breach of privilege on the part of an Hon. Member of that House, and as such it ought to be read.—(Fear, hear.) Mr. WAKLEY said he should like to learn from the Speaker the course which ought to be adopted on an occa sion such as the present. The Hon. Member (Mr. O'Brien) had risen to present a petition, and was about to introduce it by some remarks. lie was interrupted by the Hon. Baronet opposite. The Speaker then informed him that he was to state the substance of the petition. Not being content with stating the substance of it, he desired that it might be read at the table. The Speaker intimated that he might pursue that course. In accordance with that suggestion, he moved that the petition be read ; the motion was put from the Chair, and carried in the affirmative: no opposition indeed was made to it ; but after the Clerk had commenced reading the petition, was it competent for any Honourable Member to rise and interrupt the reading of it ? He ( Mr. W.) thought that all observations should be reserved till the petition had been read.—( Hear, and " Chair.") The SPEAKER (who was almost entirely inaudible in the gallery,) was understood to say the Honourable Member (Mr. O'Brien) had a perfect right to present the petition, and that it ought to be now read at the table. The petition was then read to the following effect To the Honourable the House of Commons,—The humble Petition of William Smith O'Brien, one of the sitting Mem bers for the County of Limerick, " Humbly sheweth, _ SPOTTISWOODE CONSPIRACY. Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN said he was about to present a petition of a somewhat novel nature, but which was not more unprecedented than the proceeding out of which it had arisen. The existence of a subscription, which had been carried on for several months in England and Scotland, was a matter of public notoriety.—( Hear, hear, hear.) It had not yet however been alluded to in the House, but it appeared to him to be a subscription professedly raised for the purpose of encouraging the presentation of petitions. Sir E. KNATCHBUL L rose to order. He would be the last Member in that House to interrupt any Gentleman in presenting a petition ; but as he understood upon the authority orthe Speaker a rule had been adopted by the mutual con sent of the House, that no discussion should take place upon the presentation of any petition, the Hon. Member, therefore, had only to state the substance of the petition, and to confine him s2lf solely to that statement. He ( Sir E. Knatchbull) spoke under the correction of and appealed to the authority of the Chair. The SPEAKER said the question had been submitted to the consideration of the House, and whatever rule therefore existed was a rule which had been sanctioned by the House itself. The Hon. Member therefore, perhaps, would think he would satisfy the rules of the House, and those whom he re presented, by merely stating the substance and the prayer of the petition, as the matter would no doubt be discussed in a subsequent part of the evening. Mr. S. O'BRIEN entirely concurred in what had fallen from the Chair; and if the Hon. Bart. opposite (Sir E. Knatchbull) had waited only half a minute, he would have found that his (Mr. O'Brien's) view entirely coincided with his own. But he had always understood that Members who presented petitions had a right to accompany them with some prefatory remarks. He was not disposed to enter into any argument, but he was going to state, that under the peculiar circumstances of this case, it appeared to him the legitimate way of bringing it under the consideration of the House was the form in which he was about to submit a petition from one of the party who supposed himself to be aggrieved. He be lieved he had a right to read the petition. The SPEAKER suggested that the Honourable Member must confine himself to the prayer of the petition. Mr. O'BRIEN.—May I be permitted then to ask whether it is in my power to move that the petition be read by the Clerk at the table?—(Cheers.) He understood that he might make such a motion ; he would therefore move that the petition be brought up and read. The Clerk then read the petition, which was from the Hon. Member, Mr. O'Brien, complaining of the late subscription named the " Spotiswood e Conspiracy," by w hi c h combina tion of persons having nointerest in the particular place, the Member and the electors would find it impossible to defend the seat. If such a system were allowed to go on , it wou ld tend to abridge the rights and privileges of the people; and prayed the House for an inquiry. Sir E. SUGD EN rose to order. That was a most novel proceeding.—( Loud cheers from the Ministerial benches, re echoed from the Opposition.) He rose merely upon a point of order, and he had that satisfaction, that he was not preventing the sentiments of any Hon. Member from being given to that House. He apprehended that the petition cou'd not be re ceived. The Hon. Member complains of what he considers a public grievance— gr. W. S. O'BRIEN—No, no—a private grievance. He approached the House in the character of an aggrieved party, and called its attention to the fact, that a Member of that House had taken such a p ar t as was i ncon sistent . with the proper and impartial discha rge o f hi s duty towards him.