The Sun. — London, England, 1837-02-20 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS• It is hardly necessary again to call the attention of the Liberal Members of the House of Commons to the important subject which is this night to occupy the attention of the House of Commons. Ministers pro pose to cement the union between Great Britain and Ireland by extending to the latter country the muni cipal institutions which have been productive of such signal benefit to England and Scotland. On the other hand, the Opposition say that the empire should not be governed impartially, that the institutions and the laws of one section of the United Kingdom should be dissimilar to those of another, and that the salutary reforms which have been effected in Liverpool should not be extended to Dublin ; and they assign as the reason for these monstrous and insulting distinc tions, that the majority of the citizens of Dublin are Roman Catholics. Should Parliament sanction these Tory opinions, it will be downright inconsis tency not to repeal the Catholic Relief Act, and not to make it penal to write or speak of the United King dom. Ministers think it more politic, more consis tent, more virtuous and just, to legislate for Ireland as they do for England, and in the same spirit, than to revive religious animosity and engender diseffection in the sister country. In this admirable determination they will be warmly sustained by the representatives of the people, when the division shall be taken upon Lord Francis Evert; U's dexterous and mischievous amendment. We regret to find that a number of Liberal Members are still absent from their post ; but we are confident the majority will be such as to de monstrate to Sir Robert Peel the utter hopeless ness, nay, the fatuity, of any attempt, in any quarter, to govern Ireland as a conquered province. We may as well correct here a misrepresentation on the subject of the majority against Lord Francis Egerton's motion last year. It was not 86, as stated by the John Bull, but 64 ; and when the Bill was read a third time, the majority was 61. In the division on the Lords' Amendments they were re jected by a majority of 86 ; and that is the only ma jority of 86 in the whole progress of the measure. It is not without design that this majority is misrepre sented. It will, of course, be carefully shown by the Tories, should the majority against Lord Francis Egerton's motion be anything below 86, that this falling off is a proof of the feeling of the country hav ing changed with regard to the measure. The accounts from Dungarvon and Carlow afford a pretty conclusive demonstration that, at all events, the feeling of the " aliens" is not changed with regard to the insult of Lord Lyndhurst and the Teries, which they propose to renew. We trust that the English liberal Mem bers will not be behind the Irish Members, in their anxiety to conciliate Ireland, by the communication of wise and beneficent Institutions.—Morn. Chronicle. We were yesterday prevented by want of space from noticing the case of Gompertz v. Weston, tried in the Court of Common Pleas on Tuesday, and re ported in the Chronicle of Wednesday last. It af fords a pregnant proof of the degraded condition in which the working clergy of the Church of England are suffered to remain. Can we wonder that the clergy of that Church should on almost all occasions be the ready instruments of despotism, when we find them in a state of the most hopeless slavery ? When did ever the slave feel due respect for the rights of the free man ? The Bishop of London may in some respects ,be considered the greatest benefactor of the in ferior clergy, because the enormous power possessed by the Prelates has never been suffered to remain idle in his hands. It used to be said of the old monarchy of France that it was a despotism tempered 'by ballads. In like manner it may be said that the absolute power of the Bishops over the work ing clergy is often tempered by gentlemanly feeling. But to all those who are acquainted with the interior history of the Church, it is tolerably well known that the Bishop of London has never shown himself particularly anxious to temper the power with which he is invested by too much regard for the feelings of others. Hence his treatment of the working clergy, by leading the public to sympathise with them, is calculated to accelerate the remedial measures necessary for their protection. The Rev. Mr. Gompertz had served several curacies in a very exemplary manner, conciliating the goodwill of the flocks committed to his care, and displaying a more than ordinary zeal for the promotion of education and charitable institutions. On leaving Little Bromley to return to Little Harlington, the cure of which he had formerly served, it was necessary that he should obtain a licence from the Bishop of London, and on making application to his Lordship he received for answer, that there were certain complaints lodged against him, ,and until an investigation had taken place, his request could not he complied with. The charges were proved to be all of them without the slightest foundation. The Bishop of London stated in Court that " if the charges had been cleared up before the Archdeacon, I should have granted the licence, although unwillingly, being convinced Mat a good deal of ill-will existed between Mr. Gompertz and some of hi.; parishioners." This was stated on cross-examination. On his re-ex amination the Bishop stated that— " Application was made to inspect the papers, but it was refused. If the complaining parties had not appeared before the Archdeacon, I should have granted the licence : but it would have been necessary, in the first instance, to make inquiry ; that inquiry would not have been made on oath ; I have no power to compel the attendance of wit nesses ; the application to inspect was made on the 29th of June ; the charges were received by me on the 17th of that month ; it was an application in writing from a solicitor, and I refused because I conceived it was a privileged com munication; and if it were not kept private it would be impossible to know what the conduct of clergymen was in many cases." We may see . the working of the Bishop's anxiety not to discourage communications respecting the con duct of clergymen, that lie had been led by them to believe that there was much between Mr. Gom pertz and some of his parishioners, and would in con sequence have unwillingly granted him a licence ; whereas it was proved that he was greatly respected by his parishioners, and that all the hostility to him was traceable to an individual. But let us see how the lion's-mouth system works as regards the poor curate : " The Bishop of London being about to retire, a jury man begged to put a question to his Lordship as to whether Mr. Gompertz was entirely suspended from his clerical functions ? " His Lordship said he was not suspended except in this particular parish. " Mr. Sergeant Wilde—Until an investigation shall have been made under the directions of your Lordship, can Mr. Gompertz be licensed for any other parish ? " The Bishop—l cannot speak of other dioceses ; but as fir as my diocese is concerned, be would not be licensed till this matter is cleared up. " Mr. Sergeant Wilde—Could Mr. Gompertz be licensed in any other diocese without testimonials from your Lordship ? " The Bishop—Certainly not. Testimonials would be required in any other diocese, which I would not give till this matter was cleared up. " A Juryman—May I ask your Lordship whether Mr. Gompertz's pecuniary emotuments have ceased ? " Tho Bishop—Certainly." Here, then, a man to whose exemplary character a host of witnesses bore testimony, and against whom, literally, nothing whatever could be urged, would by the system of the Church of England law have been completely ruined but for the interposition of a jury which awarded him 2001. damages against his accuser. Had, however, the accuser been witliout the means of paying damages the poor curate would have obtained no redress. The Bishop of London 'deems it hip duty to encourage communications from all quar ters. He suspends the curate till he is satis fied with regard to his conduct ; the curate s f, suspended receives no pecuniary emoluments, and there is an understanding among the. Bishops not to interfere with each other ; so that a curate who dis pleases one Bishop may be said to be placed without the pale of the Church. So long as the Bishop of London refuses his testimonials, so long must a curate resign himself to starvation. Such is the abject state of the working clergy of the Church of England ! What degree of vigilance can ensure a curate against the ruinous exercise of a Bishop's power? While he imagines his labours have obtained for him the grati tude of his parishioners, a secret detractor may have gained the ear of the Bishop, and a suspension re duces him to beggary. A curate receiving less than a journeyman carpenter, perhaps with a wife and large family, must abide the is sue of air inquiry, the dura tion of which depends on the discretion of the Bishop, without the means of support. Purity of life, exemplary zeal in the discharge of the ministerial duties, are no protection ; but the favour of a Bishop may be gained by servile and obsequious conduct. This affords us a key to the servility of the clergy. The clergymen of the Established Church of Scotland, and of the Dissent ing Presbyterian Churches in that country, have this advantage over the working clergy of the Church of England, that they are secure against private detrac tion. If their conduct be impeached, it must be im peached in a Church court, according to prescribed forms, and they are presumed innocent till condemned after a fair trial ; whereas the poor curate is first con demned to poverty, and then tried. The power pos sessed by the Bishops is often, if we are to credit the Rev. Sydney Smith, most tyrannically abused. Surely much time will not be suffered to elapse before some steps are taken to place the working clergy of the Church of England on a footing somewhat above that of the lowest menial. If you discharge your footman, he can at least find employment elsewhere ; but the curate who has been turned to the streets in one dio cese can find shelter in no other.—Morning Chronicle of Saturday. On the motion for going into committee on the mea sure which is so absurdly miscalled the Irish Corpo rations Bill, Lord Francis Egerton will this evening repeat his motion of last year—viz., " That the Com mittee be empowered to make provision for the abo lition of such Corporations ; and for such arrange ments as may be necessary, on their abolition, for securing the efficient and impartial administration of justice, and the peace and good government of cities and towns in Ireland." The notice of this motion has already produced much weeping and wailing and and gnashing of teeth among the Whig-Radical scribes, and, taking these as indications of the feelings of their employers, we are certainly not all surprised at them. Last year not a single argument was ad duced in favour of the Government measure; and though we can easily believe that the Ministers and their supporters may have since last Session stumbled upon a plausible pretext or two, over and above the advantage of establishing normal schoolsof agitation for Mr. Daniel O'Connell, still it is not within the bounds of possibility that they should have found out a way to meet any one of those reasons which were so power fully and (out of doors, at least) so successfully urged against the Bill by the Conservatives, as well in the House of Commons as in the House of Lords, eight or nine months ago. As well might an exhibitor of " Punch and Judy " attempt to persuade the crowd that his puppets are real flesh and blood, as Lord John Russell and his colleagues endeavour to palm this Bill upon the public as a measure of " reform, or of " equal justice to Ireland, after the minute and searching exposure to which it has been subjected. Out of doors these are not two opinions upon the sub ject. Every body admits the pretence of the Bill to be sheer humbug, and it is supported only as a party measure, no one really believing that it does establish municipal corporations in Ireland, or anything like municipal corporations. The point in dispute lies in the narrowest compass imaginable. The Ministers and their opponents both agree that the power now vested in mu nicipal corporations in Ireland ought to be taken away. The Ministers, by their Bill, seek to take it away from the party now possessing it, and to this end, they propose to abolish all corporations in Ireland. Thus far the Conservatives concur with the Ministers ; but they desire to stop here : they wish that a power which, it is admitted on all hands, ought to be possessed by no party shall be utterly extinguished ; whereas the Ministers would have the Legislature by a side wind revive the power in favour of another party—of a party opposed to those who are at present in the enjoy ment of it. The truth of the matter therefore is, that while the Conservatives propose to get rid of an ad mitted evil—the Ministers propose merely to shift its position : the Conservatives would root up the rank weed and destroy it,—the Ministers desire to take it out of one part of the soil and transplant it in another. We have said that there are not two opinions on this subject out of doors ; and this fact we attribute mainly to the circulation of the speeches delivered by the Con servatives against the measure last Session. It may also prove that Mr. O'Connell's declaration, that " if they will give him this Bill he will get all else he wants," has made some converts within the walls of Parliament, as it is well calculated to have done among those who recollect that the "repeal of the union" is only in abey ance—that Mr. O'Connell has lost no opportunity du ring the recess of impressing upon the Irish, that his ceasing to urge it for a time is a mere experiment ; that, upon a very recent occasion, he declared his con viction that nothing but a Repeal of the Union would satisfy Ireland after all. Be this, however, as it may, there can be no doubt that so long as argument pre ponderates so clearly and decidedly on the side of the Conservatives, the result of divisions will have no effect upon the public mind, especially when it is recollected how some Members have found their way into Par liament, and how some who ought to be there have been kept out of Parliament. Look at the account of the Carlow Election, which appears in another column. There we have Mr. Vigors, the go-between in the affair of Raphael and O'Connell and the 2,0001., re turned by voters who have actually been struck off the roll by a Committee of the House of Commons 1 And yet even so he would not have had the fictitious majo rity he has, except for the exertions of the brawling, bullying priests, a sample of whose oratory will be found elsewhere. Father Maher is already so discreditably known to the public, that even the filthy story about a prostitute which he edified his hearers with, and which we have no doubt his own nasty imagination suggested—though he pretended to give it only at secondhand—will hardly sink him lower in the estimation of all respectable people. We invite the attention of our readers also to the conduct of the persons assembled at the nomination. Surely it was like carrying coals to Newcastle when O'Connell gave vent to his blackuardism in Carlow, and talked to a populace under the guidance of such priests about spitting in their opponents' faces while living, and throwing dead dogs into their graves when dead. Mr. Vigors's vote, however, will be given for the present, while the gentleman who ought to have his seat, and the gentleman who ought to have the seat for Long ford, which Mr. Luke White will not defend, are lost to the other side. In the conviction, however, that the opinions of those with whom the decision of the question must ultimately rest are decidedly opposed to the Ministerial measure which is to be discussed to night, we leave the matter for the present ; and so long as justice and reason are on the one side, we care little what, for a time, may be the amount of numbers on the other, or how those numbers may be made up. The day of reckoning cannot be very far distant.— Times. Lord Brougham has presented several petitions from the Dissenters, for the abolition of Church-rates. The petition which his Lordship presented on Tuesday night was the more important as coming from the great congress of the Dissenters established in London in October last, to which deputies were sent from all the Dissenting communities in the country. The con gress of delegates empowered to sit in London by their constituents, for the purpose of watching over their interests, are justly entitled to be considered as •the representative body of all the denominations of Dissenters. From this representative body, thus qualified and authenticated, the petition presented by Lord Brougham on Tuesday night was derived. It was distinguished by some preliminary remarks on the part of his Lordship, who justly and forcibly vindicated for the petition that character for unani mity and authority for which we have just con tended. It must be considered in the light of the last and ultimate resolution of the entire body of Dissenters throughout the United Kingdom. The petition demands the immediate and unqualified abro gation of Church-rates. This was a step which we have long urged on the consideration of the Dissen ters. It was a step demonstrating the sincerity of their religious convictions—a step which is no less a duty they owe to the country than to themselves. On a former occasion, a few nights ago, Lord Brougham presented a petition from the dissenting body, similar in spirit, though not supported by the same weight of unanimous authentication. On that occasion Lord Lyndhurst, willing to wound and yet afraid to strike," inquired, with a cloaked but obvious insinuation of censure, whether the petition was for the total abo lition of the Church-rates ? To this insinuation Lord Brougham replied, with a manly frankness worthy of the resolution and the manly conduct of the petitioners with whose petition he was invested, " that the petition was for the total abolition, and that the petition was, in that respect, a very wise one." We fully concur with his Lordship. There can be no " bit and-bit" reformson the question any farther. There can he no hermaphrodite measure for shuffling off the paramount necessity of the abolition. The time for compromise, which might have done some years ago, is pasecd. The Dissenters have, as we urged, put their should& to the wheel—and without calling on the problematic assistance of Jupiter, have assisted themselves. They have resisted the illegal infliction Inuch-rates, and they have borne in person and in property the penalty of the resistance. Having screwed their courage to that sticking point, there is no letting themselves down again to the old depth of civil and moral humiliation. The question of aboli tion must now be carried unconditionally by the Go vernment ; or the Dissenters will be deserted by those n ho have been their best friends, and their most effica cious allies ; and, if deserted, they will be alienated for ever. If we have any complaint to make of the Dissenters—and we have candidly stated that senti ment before—it is not because they have finally come to this perempterily urgent resolution, but because they did not come to it at a much earlier period. We khow and respect their scruples in abstaining from doing so. We know that they abstained from doing so, because they did not wish to trammel the steps of Government while adopting measures—like the Reform Bill and its results—for the common benefit of the entire community. Their moderation enforces their claim. But there is a point at which patience under grievance ought to cease. Men may consent th:oagh patriotism, to suffer in their persons, in their properties, and their interests; but they have no right to sacrifice their religious and conscientious scruples to any earthly purpose whatever. Hard as was the trial, the Dissenters might submit to the nefarious robbery of paying 40 per cent. for religious comfort and in struction where their neighbours pay but twenty ; but they have no right to sacrifice, to any religious expe diency, their religious and conscientious convictions. We repeat, that the question of paying Church-rates by the Dissenters involves a principle of religious li berty—of resistance to anti-Christian persecution— equally as much as in the case of the Society of Friends. They had no right, in duty and in honour, to waive this paramount principle. They have now resolved to waive it no longer. Their demand of being freed from this galling chain of fiscal oppression andl religious persecution is now become irreststible, and must be complied with.—Morning Advertiser. The great question whether or not Ireland is to be admitted to a fair participation in the rights enjoyed by England and Scotland, is this night to be once more desated in the House of Commons. The principle of the Ministerial measure has been so frequently dis cussed, and not only its justice, but its expediency— not alone its expediency, but its inevitability, so indis putably demonstrated, that it appears almost an insult to the understanding of rational men to reiterate the so oft-repeated arguments adduced in its support ; and it would be a mere waste of time to go in search of new evidences—if there be any not already brought forward —to convince those who, blinded by the ferocity of faction, would plunge the country in civil war rather than concede the imprescriptible rights of the Irish people. Lord Francis Egerton is this evening, before going into Committee on the Irish Municipal Corpo ration Bill, to move, " That the Committee on the Bill for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in Ire land be empowered to make provision for the abolition of such Corporations ; and for such arrangements as may be necessary, on their abolition, for securing the efficient and impartial administration of justice, and the peace and good government of cities and towns in Ireland." There is a flat contradiction involved in this motion ; for, to any one at all acquainted inith the present state of Ireland, it must be e,ident, that if that country be denied municipal institutions, it will be impossible to preserve the peace, and equally impos sible to secure the efficient and impartial administra tion of justice. In the House of Commons the Tories admit that they have no expectation of a majority, and that the discussion is raised merely for the purpose of affording to the House of Lords an excuse, or rather the resemblance of an excuse, for treating the Bill in the same manner as they did that of last session. Some again say that it is intended by their Lordship to pass the Bill wick just such an extent of mutilation as may not altogether force upon the Commons the ne cessity of its rejection, in the hope that the adjust ment of the Irish Corporation question may enable their Lordships to make a firmer stand in favour of the abuses and corruptions of the Irish Church. We vouch not, neither care we, for the truth of the ru mour, as, on both questions, the people Ireland are pledged to the assertion of their full rights, and of neither will they admit a compromise. Therefore the matter on which the House of Commons will this evening be called upon to decide is simply this—are the people of Ireland to be governed as a conquered and degraded race ? And before the Legislature pro nounces an affirmative on the point we could recom mend it to ponder well, even if justice and sound policy did not revolt against such an attempt, whether any power it has, or may have, at its disposal, be suffi cient to hold eight millions of people' in bondage ? Catholic emancipation, as acknowledged by the Duke of Wellington, a man not likely to give way nor quail before an inferior force, was yielded to imperative iiresistible necessity—a far greater force is now orga nized in support of Church and Corporation Reforms for Ireland than was ever enlisted in the cause of Catholic Emancipation. That was in part, or rather was sometimes unfor.unately discussed as a sectarian question—the present are national questions. In proportion to their relative numbers throughout the whole of Ireland, there are a greater number of Pro testants than Catholics in the General Association. The whole Protestants, including all grades of dissent, are not more than one-eighth of the whole popula tion, and of the members of the General Association one-third are Protestant ; and if it were impossible to withhold Catholic Emancipation from the demands of a sect but weakly supported by the people of Eng land and Scotland, then but little acquainted with the actual state of Ireland, how much more so must it be to withhold those measures now demanded by the whole people of Ireland, and supported by all that is just and liberal in Great Britain ?—Morn. Adver. The manoeuvre of the whig-radical party in Buck inghamshire, headed by Mr. Temple Leader and Lord Nugent, to steal a victory from the Conserva tives, has ended in their signal discomfiture. The beating which they received was, under all the cir cumstances, most decisive ; and if it has not satisfied the whip-radicals that at the next general election, they might as well expect to return the " man in the moon" to Parliament as one of the three members for Buckinghamshire, we know not what evidence of the fact would be sufficient to satisfy them. When we find that the result of the trick which we alluded to the other day, has produced 2,228 votes for Mr. Harcourt, the Conservative candidate, and only 982 for Mr. Dashwood, the nominee of the wing -radicals, we are justified in saying that they who spread a net for their opponents have been caught in it themselves, and are exhibited as the unhappy victims of their own contrivance to the public derision. Had they allowed the Conservative candidate to walk over the course, as appeared to be at first intended, the forlorn con dition of the Ministerial faction in Buckingham would not have been so apparent as it now is to the country. The inference would have been, indeed, that they had no hopes of success, but such a miserable dis play of weakness as they have now presented to the world would not have been e xhibited. Already Buck inghamshire had two Conservative candidate;, and that the iVinisterialists should have been be sten by cossiderably more than two to one, in an atte apt to get in a third candidate, makes their political prostra tion in that county more manifest than ever it was be fore. The right to practise the manoeuvre which the Whig-Radicals did in this instance, we do not dis pute. It was an allowable part of electioneering stra tegics. What we observe upon is the folly of the thing, when it ought to have been. known to those who practised it, that, instead of serving their cause, it would have had just such an effect as their enemies would desire. Truly Lord Nugent and Mr. Leader are clever tacticians in one way. No chiefs could dis play more elaborate ingenuity in ruining their own cause. Buckinghamshire has now three repre sentatives whose principles are conservative and constitutional—that is, whose principles attach them to the preservation of the integrity of the British Constitution in Church and State, and who are, of course, decidedly opposed to the destruc tive doctrines which, under the pretence of reforming, would subvert the settled institutions of the country. In upholding such principles the Conservatives but act in accordance with the sentiments expressed by Lord Grey's Ministry when they brought in the Worm Act, but which the Melbourne Administration, for the sake of the support of O'Connell and his Parliamentary " tail," have disgracefully abandoned. Great influence was exerted, it appears, by the Government and the landowners in its interest, to bring up the Whig-Radi cal candidate to the poll. A morning journal men tions that Lord Morpeth, who has some property near Wotton Park, the seat of Lord Chandos, sent a man date to his tenantry to vote for Mr. Dashwood. The sturdy yeomanry declared they would not be dictated to by the Noble Secretary for Ireland—one of the convenient tools of Mr. O'Connell's policy. They went to Lord Chandos, the " fanner.i' friend," and accompanied him to the hustings, where every one re corded his vote for Mr. Harcourt. The tenantry of some other Whig landlords received similar mandates, and acted with similar spirit and independence.— Morning Herald. To-night Lord John Russell will propose to the House of Commons to go into Committee on the Irish Municipal Corporations Bill ; and Lord Francis Eger ton will move " That the Committee be empowered to make provision for the abolition of such Corpora tions, and for such arrangements as may be necessary on their abolition for securing the efficient and impar tial administration of justice, and the peace and good government of cities and towns in Ireland." To the debate, and the division which will follow, the country will look with the deepest anxiety. A conflict, in volving consequences of the last importance to the in terests of eight millions of our fellow-subjects, would attract every English eye, would engage every Eng lish heart, even if that conflict were not, as Lord John Russell describes it, " vital to the present Ad ministration." We cannot, however, expect that the discussion of the question will have in it much of interest apart from that which is inseparably attached to the question itself. Novelty seems. impossible. We are familiar alike with the arguments of our friends and with the fallacies of our opponents. The lapse of another year may have afforded some additional il lustrations of the soundness of Sir Robert Peel's con clusions, and some additional proofs of the extrava gance of Mr. O'Connell's demands. But the truths which rested on the record of many centuries can de rive little further confirmation from the observation of a few months. We shall have, therefore, a debate similar in its general features to the debate of last year. On the one side it will be admitted that mischief has arisen from the present state of municipal government in Ireland ; it will be shown that such mischief is at tributable not to any extraordinary personal vices in the individuals to whom municipal govern ment has been entrusted, but to the error of the system which, in a country rent asunder by religious dissensions, entrusts municipal government to the adherents of a dominant Church ; and it will be in ferred that the mischief is to be remedied, not by confiding municipal government to the adherents of one Church instead of the adherents of another, but by providing that, with respect to municipal govern ment, there shall be no dominant Church—not by substituting Popery for Protestantism in the mayor s chair, but by taking care to vest the power and the patronage of local rule in such hands as neither to enable Popery nor to tempt Protestantism to corrupt or to oppress. On the other side it will be contended, that since the circumstances of Ireland are different from those of England, the institutions of Ireland ought to be identical with those of England ; and the logical proposition will be enforced, as on for mer occasions, by the exertions of the most discur sive 'eloquence ; by eulogies of Lord IVlulgrave's clemency, and of Lord Morpeth's discernment ; by vaunts of the victories of priestcraft at Dungar von and Longford ; by the usual misrepresentation of the language of Lord Lyndhurst, and the usual mis-statement of the story of Rathcormac. ' Nor have we a better right to anticipate a different division from that which disposed of the question in the last Session. There are still, we believe, some two or three Conservatives who in 1837, as in 1836, will absent themselves from the contest, unable to reconcile themselves to the wholesale extinction of the charters of Irish cerporate bodies, although even those bodies themselves are willing and desirous, for the promotion of great and good ends, to resign their rights and trusts. There are other Conservatives who were induced, in the vain hope of conciliating by sacrifice and purchasing by surrender, to give their support to the Government measure ; and we suppose that a mistaken idea of consistency will still array against us those few respectable, however ' mistaken, gentlemen, though recent events may have .led them to perceive the insufficiency of the sacrifice and the insanity of the surrender. Taking these circumstances into consideration, we anticipate that the majority of the last Session will be the ma jority of time present. If we are beaten by more we concede to our antagonists a victory ; if we are beaten by less we claim a victory for our friends. It is un necessary, we trust, to impress upon the Conservative minority the necessity of a steady attendance on their post upon this momentous occasion. They feel how much is staked upon the issue—the dissolution of an unprincipled Administration, which confesses the suc cess of this measure necessary to its continuance in office—the independence of the House of Lords, which an increasing Radical majority in the House of Commons would enable the factious more audaciously to assail—finally, the good government of the Sister Island, than which no object ought to be pursued with more profound desire, more perfect sincerity, or more constant exertion.—Morning Post. The following account of the immolation of a Faqueer may not be uninteresting to our readers ; as, if true (we give it upon the testimony, and in the words of a cor respondent), it will serve to show the extent to which blind fanaticism may sometimes hurry its votaries :—On the morn ing of the 6th of August, a Faqueer was buried alive in the village of Nidrana, three coss S. E. of Jumaul, in the Bicka neer States. It seems he was aware of his end 15 days before ; he was put into the grave, but died before the earth was thrown on him—his brother fanatics attended him in the tomb, but when he thought his time was come, he told them, in no very measured terms, to begone, hung his head a little, and the soul was released from its earthly tenement. Previous to his immolation, if it may be so called, he prophesied three years of plenty, after which a famine ; and that the sword of strife would be drawn at Joudpore this year. .—Delhi Gazette. An instance of the danger of judging from circum stantial evidence recently occurred at Berlin. In the month of July last the body of an individu a l was f oun d mur d ere d . The b ody was stripped, but beside it l ay a pa i r o f torn b oots. A name which had been written on the inside, but which was much obliterated by. the use of some chemical compound, was again made legible, and appeared to be Feidler. A miller's man of that name was consequently arrested, and confined in an unwholesome dungeon till his health was completely ruined. He was subsequently liberated as not guilty, the real murderer having given himself up and confessed his crime. A subscrip tion in favour of . Feidler ha s b een set on f oot b y t h e courts, an d it is hoped will be sufficiently productive to compensate in some measure for his unjust confinement. CORSICAN ROBBERS.—A trial has just taken place at the Court of Assizes of Corsica (Bastia), which has been the means of breaking up a formidable band of robbers infesting that island. It appears that Luciani, Fernidori, Tamboni, and the two brothers Nicolar, were the chiefs of the marauding parties; and that not only were isolated indivi duals attacked, but at times whole villages were put under contribution. At length their audacity went so far, that proclamations were issued, and posted against the church doors, prohibiting any assistance to be afforded to persons who had made themselves obnoxious to the band. The Corsican troops in vain attempted to seize the brigands; they always contrived to elude the pursuit of justice. Eventually a man named Dominique Battcsti, connected with the armed force, was found to be a spy of the robbers. He is the cousin of Tamboni, and it was clearly ascertained that he had afforded them signals of danger, and had given at all times false re ports of their movements to the authorities. Battesti was according tried, and, for the first ti me s i nce t h e establish ment of trial by juryin Corsica, a prisoner was condemned for furnishing provisions and supplying news to robbers. Previous to this verdict, such was the appr e hension of the bandits, that parties so accused were invariably acquitted. Since the condemnation of Battesti a part of the band ha s been taken, the remainder dispersed, and security has !gain reigned in the places where pillage bad been so long existing. THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1837 ARMAND CARREL. Of the early eareer of this celebrated journalist, whose fall in a duel in the course of last year our readers will re collect, the following very characteristic anecdotes are, amongst others, told in a memoir of him, which appears in the present month's number of the Monthly MagaTinc : " Armand Carrel was born at Houen on the Bth of May, 1800. His father was a respectable merchant or linen draper of that town, and he originally designed his son to sumeed him in his basin •ss ; but fortunately for the cause of freedom, the bold and determined character which Ar mand exhibited at an early period of life, and the predilec tion he evinced for a military life, induced the father to give way to the natural disposition of his son ; and Carrel was accordingly sent to the Military College of St. Cyr. Here he scon distinguished himself amongst his companions, not so much by excelling them in mathematical exercises, as by the superiority of his compositions, especially military ha rangues and declamations in the cause of freedom. Even at this early period he evinced the bold and indomitable nature of his character, which could never bear an insult. The General who was at the head of the school, and whose opinions were but little in unison with those of Carrel, having one day reproached him by saying that with such dispositions as he showed, he ought to have remained at home and shouldered the yard-measure of his father, Carrel sternly replied, " General, if ever I take a yard measure in my hand it shall not be to measure calico." For this daring reply, which was construed, and perhaps justly so, into a threat of applying the rod against the head of his superior, an attempt was made to expel him from college ; and the expulsion would undoubtedly have taken place had not Carrel transmitted a report of the whole affair to the minister of war, who, seeing that he had only resented an insult most unwarrantably offered him, inter fered in his behalf, so that he remained at St. Cvr. But his situation at the school during the interval was rendered ex ceedingly disagreeable by his triumph on this occasion. He was the constant object of oppression on the part of the general and inferior officers ; and the indomitable obstinacy with which he passively resisted it, caused him, on his leav ing the college, to be reported to the minister of war as a dangerous and discontented youth. Notwithstanding this, Carrel was shortly afterwards appointed to a sub-lieutenancy or ensigncy in the 29th regiment of the line, and in 1821 was stationed with a corps at Neuf Brisac, where he was engaged in what was called the conspiracy of Befort. This subject is involved in considerable obscurity. It was one of those numerous ebullitions of discontent which then showed themselves in many directions against the French Government. The military, disgusted with the disposition shown by the Court to place matters on the same founda tion as in the ancient reg,ince before the revolution, were deeply engaged in it, and especially Carrel's regiment, which was stationed partly at Befort and partly at Neuf-Brisac. The object of the conspiracy was to demand a redress of grievances, and the plan adopted was to rise in both of these towns at the same time ; but the majority of the officers at the latter place, -where there was only a battalion of the regiment; refused to move, until they received intelligence of the revolt of the chief body at the former. Carrel accordingly, who entered warmly into the plot, volunteered with a friend to go to Befort to procure this information. He set out at midnight disguised in plain clothes, and arrived there at the moment when the conspiracy proved abortive, having been quelled at its out-break by the government. He immediately retraced his steps, and returned to Neuf- Brisac so quickly, that he appeared in his uniform at parade next morning without its being suspected by the autho rities that he bad passed the night upon the road. He thus saved his brother-officers from committing themselves ; and although the government, which had received information that a nocturnal communication had taken place between the two towns, made the strictest inquiries to discover the agents of it, Carers youth and apparent carelessness placed him beyond suspicion. The secret, however, seems afterwards to have been found out ; and this, along with some letter exposing the misconduct of the military com mander at Marseilles, to which the 29th had been re moved, rendered Carrel's situation so irksome, and so com pletely excluded all hopes of promotion, that he resigned his commission in the French service." Graham's Club, St. James's-sticet, which was lately dissolved and remodelled, underwent a similar purgation about twenty years ago. It is an old establishment, and forty years since was known as Carr's Club, after which Mr. Graham became the proprietor, who is now in his 83d year. Last Wednesday night, about ten o'clock, when Mr. John M'Donald, land-steward to Lord Carteret, at HaNnes, in Bedfordshire, returned to his home, called Dai r y Cottage, wh ere h e res id e d a l one , h e f ound a ladder placed against the first-floor window. On looking through the glass door he saw a man with his back towards him, and with a candle in one hand reaching into the cupboard. Mr. M'Donald, who was armed with a brace of loaded pistols, immediately took one of them out, and with the _other hand unlocked the done. On entering he called out " Stand !" when the robber blew the candle out, and rushed towards Mr. M'Donald, who fired his pistol in the dark, without effect. The man had a large clasp_ knife open in his hind, and on his reaching the doorway Mr. M'Donald collared him with the left hand, and took out the other pistol with the right. A severe struggle here ensued for about ten minutes, during which both panics were down several times. From the weight of his great coat Mr. M'Donald found his strength begin to fail him, but being unwilling to shoot his antagonist, he watched his opportunity and uncocked his pistol, and struck him a violent blow on the ear with the muzzle of it. This laid him quiet for a minute, when Mr. M'Donald relieved himself from his great-coat. The beaten man now spoke, and was recognized by Mr. 11I'D. as Samuel Farr, the son of a woman living rent-free under Lord Car teret. On his person being discovered he offered no further resistance. A man named Manyweather, who had been dis turbed by the cries of murder, now came up, and found Mr. M'Donald kneeling upon Farr. They took him into the office, and found the desk hod been broken open, apparently with a piece of iron about a foot long, which the prisoner was seen to throW away. The money was missed, and the pri soner, on being asked, gave it up, amounting to 51. 6s. Bd., besides 3s. 2d. which he said was his own. From Farr's ad mission it seems that lie had thrown stones in at the window, to see if the noise would awake Mr. M'Donald ; but finding no one stirred, he concluded he was asleep, and entered the house with a ladder at the window, as described. On Thurs day he was examined before the Magistrate at Ampthill, George Musgrave, Esq., and the Rev. George Cardale, and fully committed take his trial at the Assizes on the 9th of March. One of the captures made by the Colonists during the late Caflre wars was a noble male lion, which had been domesticated and named after the late Caffre Chief Giekie. It was taken by one of the foraging parties, and sent to Algoa Bay, where it was shipped for England on board the Asia, Capt. Biddle, which arrived yesterday in St. Katha rine's Docks. It was much admired by numerous visitors, as being the finest of Iwhat is termed by the Colonists the " Black Lion," that has been imported into this country for many years. It was purchased by Mr. Cross at a large sum, for the Surrey Zoological Gardens, where it was immediately forwarded, as a companion, and marl, to the pair of lionesses, Adelaide and Victoria, lately added to the collection at that establishment. He is to be rechristened on joining his royal consorts. Major Byng Hall, in his " Letters from the Seat of War in Spain," relates the following story :—During the time that the Legion occupied Trevino, an absurd story was told, which so truly speaks the character of the Irish soldier, that I must relate it here. Strict orders had been given to a company of Rifles, who were that day on duty at the outposts, not to allow any individual to enter the town, without having first closely examined him. The consequence was, that, on the field-officer going his rounds, he was saluted by the sentry, in more than a common tone of voice, with " Who goes there ?" and being replied to by the answer " Friend," he im mediately said, " Then, by J —s, stand fast I for I an't one in this damn'd country." The officer then explained—for it was dark—that he was the field-officer of the day. " Then," said the determined sentry, " you have no business here by night ;" and it was not for a length of time he was enabled to gain an entry into the town. Another equally absurd story was told of a soldier in Vittoria, who was vainly endeavouring to dis cover the way to ono of the Brigadier's quarters. First in English, and then in bad Spanish, did the man ask which was the way, each time being answered by the Spaniard with "lono se "—or, "I do not know." At last the inquirer be came irritated, and, misunderstanding the words, exclaimed, " You won't say, won't you? there, take that 1" at the same time suiting the action to the word by applying his fist, with no gentle force, to the Don's face, to hi s u tt er aston i s h ment and dismay. - On Friday evening an inquest was held at the Cum berland Head, City-road, before Mr. Stirling and a respect able Jury, on the body of Mrs. Mary Wheelan, aged 54. Ann \Vheelan, one of the deceased's daughters, an interesting looking young girl, whose appearance was extremely squalid, stated that about two months since, her deceased parent, wit ness, and a younger sister, were turned into the streets, in con sequence of their furniture being seized for rent. Her mother applied to St. Giles's parish for relief, when they received her into the workhouse, but refused to take in witness and her sister. Subsequently witness and her sister sought an asylum at the " Refuge for the Destitute," at llox ten, as they had not a friend in the world ; here they experienced great miseries. The deceased being very unhappy at their condition, left St. Giles's workhouse, and came to them ; but being taken very ill, she was obliged to quit, and took a small room at No. 130, Golden-lan e . Witness was in the' habit of seeing her daily. She continued to get worse, and on Monday, she (witness) went to Mr. Hamblin, the relieving officer of St. Luke's parish, in order that the surgeon might attend upon her unfor tunate parent. She saw Mrs. Hamblin, who promised to in form her husband of the nature of her (witness's) visit. On the following morning the surgeon came, but her poor mother had died during the night. By the Jury—My mother, during her illness, had few or no necessaries. My father was a housekeeper, and carried on a respectable business for 26 years in the parish of St. Luke. Mr. Wilks, the vestry clerk of St. Luke's, attended the inquiry, and expressed his regret that the poor people had not made known their wretched situation, when their wants would have been relieved. The parish had taken the two poor girls into the house, where they would be taken good care of. Verdict—" Died by the visite.. tion of God." MARRIED. On the 23th ult. at Hackney Church, M r . M. S. Th o t t inwof Fleet -street, to Louisa, second daughter of the late Mr. Joseph Francis , , of Abridge, Essex. On the 141's inst., at St. Luke's, Norwood, the Rev. Charlet Turner, M. A., Minister of St. Luke's Norwood, to S a rah Ann, the eldest daughter of T. G. Knapp, Luke's, of Norwood, DIED. On the 17th inst., in llereford-street, aged 22, Anne, eldest daughter of the Hon. C. E. Law, M.P., Recorder of London. On the 15th inst., at Broom Cliff Cottage, near Llanidloes, gomeryshire, Eliza Margaret, wife of B. Combe, Esq., aged 3S. On the 15th inst., at Bath, William Henry Haggard, Esq., of Bradenham Hall, Norfolk, aged 79. On the 13th inst., in London, aged 15, Mary Alves, second /laugh' to of J. Mackintosh, Esq., of Holm, Inverness-shire. On the 15th inst., at Wombwell Hall, Kent, Thomas Harinvis Esq., aged 71. On the 17th inst., at South-place, Knightsbridge, Elizabeth, re lict of John Coningham, Esq., of Londonderry, aged 92. On the 17th inst., aged 74, Sarah, relict of the late Mr. Jozepb Cleypole, of Westham, Essex. On the 10th inst., at Jersey, H. Messenger, Esq., late of the firm of Houghton and Messenger, Bartholomew-close. On the 16th inst., at Clapham, Mrs. Neale, aged 75. On the 11th inst., Robert Newton Lee, Esq., of Coldrey, Haat' , aged 73. - On the 16th inst., at Hastings, Maria, (laughter of Mr. J. Cielan , of Canterbury-row, Newington, aged 22. On the 12th inst., at Holloway, Mr. Thomas Keyes, of Frith street, Soho-square, aged 40. On the 28th ult., at Guildford, Surrey, Mrs. Moon, relict of er• W. Moon, of Beverley, Yorkshire, aged 70. On the 16th inst., in London, George Peard, of minster, De v o ns hi re . Esq.. Commander' R.N., Ex On the 16th inst., at Chelsea, aged 68, Rebecca, widow of M t. S. Goddard, of Uxbridge. On the 15th inst., at Erikine House, Renfrewshire, Lieut.-GO' the Hon. \Vm. Stuart,late of the Grenadier Guards. On the 14th inst., at Goodrich Court, Herefordshire, Llewelly, o Meyriek, Esq., LL.B. and F. S.A., one o f t h e E querr i es o f his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, aged 33. - On the 17th inst., at Upper Deal, Sir John Harvey, K.C. l3 '' Admiral of the Blue, awd 64. On the 12th inst., Colonel Robert Pringle, late of the 51st .`e giment, - On the 17th inst., aged 23, having survived his father only thre e weeks, William, youngest son of the late R ev . Middl e t on Onsl°" Rector of Bradford Peverell, Dorset. On the 17th i ns t., at th e R ectory, Wi ll i ngale, Essex, I sa -ells' fourth daughter of the Rev. John Deedes. On the 17th inst., in Portland-pl ace, age d 77 , M rs. A . Marsden' relict of A. Marsden, Esq. _ - - London : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG, ° n if 112, Strand, at The S un O ffi ce, N o. 112, S tran d , in the no d Middlesex._Monday, February 20, 1837. STATE OF TRADE. (From the Leeds Mercury.) TRADE OF LEEDS._ Since our last the business in our cloth balls has experienced a slight change for the better, but the same depression, which has now existed for some weeks in the warehouses, still prevails. HUDDERSFIELD MARKET.-This clay's (Tuesday's) market has been very dull, and very little business done ; prices much the same as last week. BRADFORD MARKET.-There have been more buyers and more bustle in the piece market to.day ( Thursday), and no doubt more business has been done than on recent market days. There is no variation in prices. The yarn-market continues about the same as reported list week. The manufacturers buy cautiously, and endeavour to purchase for less money, as they cannot obtain a remunerating price for goods when manufac tured. There is next to nothing doing in the wool trade this week. HALIFAX MARKET.-The attendance of buyers in the Hall has not been so good to-day ( Wednesday), and no great quan tity of goods has been disposed of, still there is a moderate de mand for low listings and heavy single goods. The yarn mar ket continues in a lifeless state, and spinners cannot obtain a remunerating. price for the little they are able to sell. There is not much doing in the Wool Market. Stocks in Staplers' hands are but light, yet they are quite willing to sell on rather easier terms to the purchaser; spinners, however, buy very sparingly, chiefly on account of the inadequate price offered for the produce. WAKEFIELD Wool, MAn KET ....__W e. have again to report an exceedingly dull sale for Wool, and what few sales have been made of both long and short Wool are about id. per lb. below the prices that were realized a month ago. TRADE OF MANCIIESTER.--The pressure on the money market, and the partial interruption of confidence, causing a continued decline of cotton wool, lead to a corresponding re duction in the prices of goods and yarns. It is, however, we believe, known that there are large orders in the market for the latter, and consequently there is no general disposition to submit to anything that can be called a sacrifice, so far as they are concerned. The market for goods, too, is expected to become brisker as the season advances, and manufacturers who can afford to hold stocks therefore abstain, in the present state of the demand, from urging sales.—Manchester Guar. dian. LIVERPOOL COTTON-MARKET, FEL 18. Our market continues exceedingly depressed, and some of our holders have not hesitated to make large sacrifices in price to induce sales of American descriptions, particularly of fair to good fair qua lity of New Orleans (new crop), which have been forced off, in some instances at a decline of %d. per lb. Prices of all kinds are very unsettled, and may be quoted nominally V t d. to 1 / 2 d. under the rates of last week. Speculators have taken 200 American, and ex porters 110 bales of American. About 3,000 bales were sold yes terday, chiefly American. _ d. d. 20 Sea Islands .... 25i to 30 50 Stained ditto... 10 —l4 d. d. 340 Maranhams 91 to 111 780 Pernams lO —l2 Madras 0 7 West India 0 0 Barbadoes 0 0 60 Demeraras 111 —l2 250 Egyptians l2 —l5 60 Peruvians 160 Laguayras 0 9k Bahamas ton-market to-day is estimated at -day, and consists of 150 Pernam% is, 10 1 4 d. ; 50 Surats, 4 1 / 4 d. to 1 / 2 d. to 914 d. Boweds 0 0 4,540 Uplands 7 9i 1,120 Alabamas 6i— 9} 5,600 Orleans 6 -11 650 Surats 670 Bahias - Carthagenas 0 0 10 Bengals The business done in our Cott 2,000 bales at the prices of yester 10 1 %d. to Ild. ; 50 Maranham. 6 1 , d. ; and 1,700 Americans, 71i Bales. Taken on speculation this year Same in 1836 Forwarded to the country unsold this year Same in 1836 Increase of import this year compared with the same date last year Increase of stock Decrease of quantity taken for consumption 40,800 Decrease of quantity taken for export ... 5,530 Comparative View of the Imports and Exports of Cotton into and from the whole Kingdom, from the Ist of January to the 11th inst., and of the Imports and Exports for the same period last year : Into the Kingdom this year. American 118,077 South American West Indies, Demerara, &c. East Indies Egypt, &c. Total•of all descriptions ... .. 161,469 Same period last year. Bags. American South American ... West Indies, Demerara, &c. ... 949 East Indies Egypt, &c. Increase of Imports as compared with same period last year Exports in 1837. American, 1,195; Brazil, 295; East India, 5,165 ; West India, —; Other kinds, —. Total in 1837 Same period last year Stock. Feb. 10, 1837 ....... Same time, 1836 .... 6,655 4,946 262,020 136,220 Robert Parnther, Esq., will have a grand musict.l party on Wednesday evening next, at his house in Graftol.- street, Bond-street. The Cesarovitch, Alexander Nicolaevitch, the En-. peror's eldest son, will attain his twentieth year in April next. His constitution is robust, his figure elegant, and his presence noble and expressive. He goes through most of the manly exercises with great grace. His education has been most carefully attended to, and the time is approaching when ho is to set out upon his travels to foreign countries. From these France is by name to be excluded, but he will go to England, as if in England, the great hot-bed of the great ancient and inextinguishable revolutionary contagion was not to be found. The Cesarovitch will, however, go to England, as Generals try to obtain a glance at an enemy's camp—to study their tactics, and prepare themselves to defeat them.—Gazette de France. Mrs. Sparks, for many years a member of the Drury-lane Company, expired on the 4th instant at Farnham in Surrey, at the advanced age of 83 years. Mrs. Sparks made her first appearance in London at Drury-lane Theatre as the Old Maid in Murphy's farce of that name, so far back as 1788, and until she quitted the stage, some 18 or 20 years ago, continued to represent the antiquated and matronly cha racters of the drama, which, on Miss Pope's retirement, wholly devolved upon her, and in the performance of which she had considerable merit. Her husband, who has been some years dead, was also a performer at the same theatre, where he made his debut, shortly after his wife's, as Gibby, in The Wonder. Mrs. Sparks was the sister of Mrs. Brown, much celebrated for her representation of The Romp, from which Mrs. Jor dan, afterwards so distinguished for her style and spirit in this particular line of character, is said to have borrowed them. SILVER CANDLE STICKS, from Five Guineas to Six Guineas per pair, An elegant and exten sive variety of Silver Candlesticks of new and tasteful patterns. va rying from nine to ten inches in height, may be selected from at the above price, at T. COX SAVORY'S, Working Silver and Gold smith, 47, Cornhill, London. N.l3.—A Pamphlet, with Drawings, Lists of Prices of Plate, Plated Goods, Watches, Clocks, &c., may be had gratis, or will be forwarded in answer to a post-paid application. BIRTHS. On the 15th inst., at Iticester, the Viscountess Chctwynd, of a daughter. On the 14th inst., at Ketteringham ITO, Norfolk, the lady of A. Ogleby, Esq., of a daughter. On the 16th inst., at West Brixton, the lady of J. Fitter, jun., Esq., of a son. On the 16th inst., the lady of John Morgan, Esq., of Broad• street-buildings, of a daughter. On the Bth inst., in Rua de St. Francisco, Lisbon, the lady of RiLhard Knowles, Esq., of a son.