The Sun. — London, England, 1837-10-05 00:00:00

r -•41 - ~~; ~' ~`= ~_ -~-'ri 4. the parish. rip 4 - g - Atio; g - IN 11 C __ .; , SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. In our brief notice of the Third Report of Com missioners under the Poor-law Amendment Act, on Tuesday last, we confined ourselves to a statement of the proportion which the parishes formed into union bear, with regard to the population, to the un-united parishes. The Report embraces a number of parti culars of great public interest. The Commissioners apply themselves, among other subjects, to the consi deration of the question, how far the provisions of the Act can be carried into effect in the case of a general cessation of employment in the manufacturing districts. They maintain that " on no occasion is a strict adhe rence to principle more necessary than on any failure of employment in a manufacturing district." The first case in support of this position adduced by them is the general strike of the workmen engaged in the Potteries in 1836, when about 30,000 persons were deprived of their usual mode of subsistence during ten weeks, and of these at least 7,000 during twenty weeks. About 5,000 of the ope ratives were maintained from their own funds, and the remainder had no other resource than the poor-rates. Great numbers of workmen were thrown out of employment against their con sent:were ready to work, but could not, be caus , from the peculiar nature of the manufacture, every branch of it must Tro on simultaneously. The guardians were informed ° by the Commissioners that they considered " that no able-bodied applicant should receive out-relief as long as there remains room in the workhouse. Next to relief in, the workhouse, out• relief in kind is best ;jind, there fore, where the work house is full, at least three-fourths of the relief to the able-bodied should be given in kind." The Commis sioners, after quoting extracts from the reports of the guardians, " consider that they only discharg e . their duty in stating that the Poor-law Amend ment Act has worked most: beneficially in this manufacturing. district, and -that it has enabled the guardians to meet a crisis,;and pursue a course both humane to the destitute and preservative of the rights of property, and thus rendered a sea sonable and invaluable service to the parish.' The next instances are the manufacturing coun ties of Stafford, Nottingham, and Leicester, which had hardly been formed into unions before the interruption of the American trade produced a cessation in the demand for labour more sudden in its approach and more extensive in its opera tion than has been known on any former occasion. With respect to the Leicester district, they say the relief of the necessitous persons " is proceeding, if not satisfactorily, owing to the want of adequate workhouse accommodation, but in such a way as to avert the main pressure of the distress under which the population has been so extensively labouring?' But it is in Nottingham that they conceive the experi ment to have been most successful, and that under as trying and difficult circumstances as can at any time he expected to occur. In Nottingham the guardians hind premises in addition to the ‘workhouse ; but the Cuountsaioners, though of course they prefer in-door labour, observe that " the out-door labour test is the same in principle. In both cases a man's time is taken in exchange for his maintenance, and he must be withdiavvn from the motks of gaining subsistence, in order to test the reality of his present want and des titution." The great point is to prevent the mixing up wages and relief, the effect of c hich is to lower wages generally, and degrade the workmen. On this subject the following excellent observations arc made by the Commissioners—too much attentio❑ cannot be paid to them : The persons employed were paid by the pies , , and vi gilantly supofintended. Nothing ap pears to have been more clearly proved in the experience of such cases as this of Nottingham, than that no payment should be made either fr7.m subscribed, funds, or from the poor -rates, in the shape of allowances to make up wages ; an error of this, kind was committed during a period of ccanmercial distress which occurred a little before the close of the late war, when a number of parishes commenced manufacturing hosiery, in order to employ the frame-work knitters, although stockings were already sold at such low prices as to be ruinous to those who made them. As this example is both curious and pregnant with instruction, we think it right to give it. in detail. " It was thought right by the parish authorities to em ploy the paupers at their own trades ; the parish purchased cotton, and manufactured goods, which they afterwards sold at a loss of fifty per cent., or more. 'These goods being brought into the market, necessarily reduced the price of labour for that description of article, and the consequence was, that it immediately effected a large reduction in the men's wages. In the frame-work knitting trade it is cus tomary for the master workmen to take front the hosier or other manufacturer a number of frames, for which they pay a weekly rent. In times of depression of trade s the interest of the hosier to keep the frames going and he 14;1! give a partial employment to the work-„ of these frames. If the workmen can obtain the Pid of parish al lowance, his employer will obtain his frlme-rent, and thus be enabled to keep his workmen together at the expense of " The efforts which were thus made to relieve the dis tress had the evident tendency to increase the cause of it, namely, production beyond the demand, and in this man ner both to prolong its duration and aggravate its intensity." The Commissioners further refer, in proof of the soundness of their views, to the case of the Mansfield Union and to the Unions of Nuneaton and Foleshill in Warwickshire, and the district of Spitalfields. In Lancashire and the Westl Riding of Yorkshire there had been already an approximation to the system of the Poor-law Amendment Act; but the Commission ers show that that system has been greatly improved by the extension to those districts of the provisions of the act. We could hardly have believed that in Wales jobbing in cottages was carried to the extent it appears to have reached. In many districts of the principality cottages not worth 11. a year yielded to the proprietors the double of that sum through the rates. In the agri cultural districts it is now almost universally admitted that the bill has been productive of unmixed benefit. The following extract from a statement made by the Board of Guardians of the Eastry Union (Kent) speaks volumes We have practical, the best possible of all proofs, of the return to more industrious habits, and the practice of forethought ; that value is given to character ; that the labouring classes are really and truly benefited by the alteration, rather than oppressed, as some would fain have it believed, by this absolutely necessary change; obtain ing more independent employment for themselves, as proved by the actually diminished, indeed, as respects this union, totally extinct, item of out-doer relief to the able-bodied, for when this union was first declared in April, 1835, the number of able unemployed labourers drawing the maintenance for themselves and families from poor-rates in the 26 parishes then comprising this union, was 497 ; whereas the number of able-bodied labourers now subsisting on the poor-rates in the 30 parishes, including Deal, and the three parishes of Sandwich, since added to this union, having out door relief is none ;' and the number of able-bodied male paupers in the union work house is only 5. The amount of expenditure for out-door relief the year ending 19th June, 1835, in the 26 parishes originally comprised in this union, when the new Poor law commenced operation, was 10,6651. ; number of paupers at that period 3,609. The amount of expendi ture for out-door relief in the same 26 parishes during the year ending Christmas, 1836, was 2,9761. ; number of paupers at that period, 519. The total of expenditure for in -maintenance in the several workhouses, the year end ing 19th June, 1835, in the same 26 parishes, was 2,7271. ; number of inmates at that period, 233. The amount of expenditure for the in-maintenance in the union workhouse, charged to the same 26 parishes, the year ending Christ mas, 1836, was 1,0041. ; number of inmates at that period 175. The amount of annual payments by the parishes, for illegitimate children, was fully 3001. There is not now a single instance of payment for illegitimate children I The amount of poor -rates collected in the same 26 parishes the year ending 25th March, 1835, 16,9601. The amount cf poor-rates collected in the same 26 parishes, in one year, ending 25th December, 1836, 8,965/.! The poor in the union workhouse are as provided for : their diet is wholesome, substantial, at the same time fully sufficient. Their cleanliness is a matter of great con sideration ; they receive the utmost attention, when need ing it, from the very able medical gentleman who superin tends the medical department. Their clothing is su:table ; their moral and religious improvement duly attended to ; and their general comforts most indubitably ex cee d b y f ar what they could possibly enjoy elsewhere. 44 The,childrcn of both sexes are reared and trained in a manner far surpassing those of independent labourers, ig well attended to, having both schoolmaster trot, and are properly instructed, both mo ,usly ; thus imbibing habits the reverse of probably hare possessed them, had they , Morning Chronicle. ier evidences of the unbounded sway now and since the last accession of Lord Melbourne to the Government, exercised by the Irish rebel faction over that Noble Lord, his disreputable colleagues, their purblind partisans, and humble followers, we have to notice a speech by one of the very blindest of those partisans, and most abject of those followers, delivered about a week ago, at what was nicknamed a " reform" dinner. With respect to the materiel of that dinner, little, we apprehend, is known beyond the single and somewhat curious fact, that long after the cloth was taken away, a calf's head hashed still occupied a portion of the table, but whether intended for third course, devil, or what other form of bonne bouche, no intelligence hath reached our office, nor as to the merit of the dish itself, save that the greater portion of the company pro nounced it to be ill-cooked and insipid—the usual ap pendage of brains moreover being altogether wanting. The speech referred to was spoken by Lord Ebring ton. There are those who might think that any fur ther allusion to it was unnecessary—not such is our opinion. His Lordship has been for years a trained camp-follower of the Whigs. He has now with the Whigs themselves been absorbed into the service of their common master, although for convenience and fashion's sake he calls himself a volunteer. The pass-words of O'Connellism are, however, distributed among all alike ; the gabble of the faction may be I picked up from one who is shut out from its mysteries and recesses ; and gabble systematically circulated even through such channels as Lord Ebrington shows now and then how the wind blows. Lord Viscount Ebrington lockers over the men of Ilfracombe, in re turn for the civil reception which he boasts of their having given him on his entrance into their town, by "assuming" the said reception as a " proof that they continued to entertain the same great political pin ! ciples which first recommended him (Lord Ebrington) to their notice." He proceeds with his hypothetical I panegyric on the Ilfracombers, by telling them that in the reception he had experienced from them " you have paid a well-merited tribute of praise to, in my opinion, the best Administration which, in my recollection, has ever swayed the councils of this empire," The wise land self-satisfied hanger-on of faction proceeds to assert, that this unrivalled Administration has his I support, because, adapting its measures to the wants and feelings of the people, so far as they can be practically carried into effect, it has steered a wise , temperate, and judicious course of improvement." IVery unfortunate (poor Lord Ebrington) for your reason (he is a wise man that has a reason, and a rash man that explains it), —very unfortunate, that the obstacles to.vards cairying into effect those measures— so well " adapted to the wants and feelings of the people' "—should arise from the people themselves, who have taken the first opportunity afforded them, by an appeal to their suffrages on a dissolution of Parlia ment, to spew the world that they feel no such wants and no such wishes as those to which the Melbourne Cabinet have so skilfully " adapted their measures ;" in fact, that they will have nothing to do with the mea sures thus tetilerly adapted to their wants ; for this elo quent panegyrist and able supporter of the "best Admi nistration" which in his opinion ever ruled Great Britain, acknowledges in the very next sentence that the people of England set so little value on the opinion of the camp follower Viscount, and on the paternal "adaptations" of his patrons, as, in spite of the latter being the Mi nistry, and having the whole power of Government at their command, to have sent to the right about niany of those who voted for that Ministry in the last Par liamer.t, and to have sent into the House of Commons in place of them as many staunch opponents of the " want and feeling" Administration. Lord Ebriocr ton, while pi aising the popular spirit of the Minillik rW m!asores, so far admits the notorious unpopularity of their perseus, as to state broadly that the numbers of those who vote with them in the House of Com mons have been diminished by the last election. But this, it seems, is the. " best of all Administrations" known to history. Lord Ebrington is one of those high-minded conformers to the policy of an existing Cabinet, who are ready with their spaniel praise on all ,great and prominent occasions. We think we recol- Je-:t the Noble Lord being a Member of the House of Commons in 1834. He was so, to the best of " our recollection." What was .his conduct then? It is a fancy of ours when idle time—which is not often— befalls us, to cast an eye now and then over the pag es of die Annual Register. That useful an'! uncompro mising publication for the year . I _S'f,4l contains a short statement of the secessiPn of Lords Stanley and his friends from the Grey Ministry. This produced a sort of crisis as is well known ; to dissolve which ?risis after a manner of his own, and in which no Whip,- camp follower has ever come near him, Lord Viscount Ebrington, says the annualist, " got up an address to Earl Gray, signed by a great number of the Ministerial adherents in the Lower House, entreating his Lordship to retain his place, and expressing their unaltered confidence in him as the only Minister on whom the country could safely repose." This, mark ye, was the express language of the camp-following Viscount of the year 1834. Lord Grey was at that time the " best possible Minister ;" now Lord Mel bourne.. Let Sir It. Peel be once fixed in his stir rups, and who knows ? What, then, were the political sentiments of Lord Grey, as stated in his reply to the address of this all-admiring Viscount ? Was it a Mel bourne answer—or an O'Connell answer—or an " adap tation to the wants and feelings of the people" answer ? Not at all. It was a Grey declaration, wherein that Noble Earl deprecated strenuously as an evil the "constant and active pressure from without," and the " adoption of measures, the necessity of which has not been fully proved, and which are not strictly regulated by a careful attention to the settled institutions of the country both in Church and State." Whatever may have been the merit or demerit of such language at that period, it was at least the language of that Mi nister "on whom alone," according to Lord Eb rington, " the country could safely repose." It was not such language as has ever since fallen front the lips of him whom Lord Ebrington now proclaims to be " the best Minister that ever swayed this coun try." It was not the language that has ever at any time been employed by Mr. Daniel O'Connell, who does escape without one fragrant whiff of adulation from our incense-puffing Viscount. After a passing glance at repeal of the Union, which Lord Ebrington tells his hearers he opposed, he continues thus : But " when Mr. O'Connell and his followers limit their object to what I in my conscience believe to be but common justice (I !)—when they ask only what we enjoy, and what, let it be remembered, we promised Ireland when the Union.was effected—l say when they limit their views within so reasonable a compass, I will not be deterred by any apprehension from demanding—ay, and from demanding as loudly as Mr. O'Connell himself, the concessions to which I conceive Ireland is most justly entitled I 1 I" Hoyty, toyty, most obstreperous echo of a Viscount. If you be net crazed, you are something worse, we guess. It is not one month since Mr. Daniel O'Connell an nounced, among his other " reasonable-compass" de mands upon the people of Great Britain, the downfall of the -House of Peers—the total abolition of the Protestant Clergy's right to any subsistence whatever, but such as shall depend upon'an annual rote of Par liament I—and such a Corporation Bill as shall make the lowest rabble delegates of municipal power, under the most ferocious of a greedy horsewhipping priest. hood But these, it seems, are no more in Lord Ebrington's estimation than " common justice to the people of Ireland"—privileges promised at the Union ! Good bye t' ye, my camp-followinee.Lord—y ou may bid farewell to the representation of ° North Devon.— While participating, in the feeling of exhaustion and disgust evinced by our Liberal Contemporaries in day by day refuting and exposing the multitudinous and monstrous LIES of the Tory press, we must in justice acknowledge that there is something amusing in the frauds and fallacies it attempts to pass upon the public, which, like the knavish dexterity of Filch, in the Beg gar's Opera, compels us to laugh at, while we con demn, the exhaustless deceptions practised against so cial interests and public credulity. No one who has seen the knave draw from his cuff, his neck, and his knee, the produce of his professional avocation, but must be struck with th e str iki ng s i m ili tu d e o f th e frauds which the endless mendacity of the factious or gans pour forth from every pore of their system. Lie after lie follows eaeh other with as much celerity, as THE STN, LONDON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1837. handkerchief after handkerchief is drawn forth by that distinguished opera " Conservative"—Mr. Filch. If the scheme of villainy were deeper laid we might feel it necessary to give it an unqualified denunciation, but the fraud is so superficial, so glaring, that it is im possible not to indulge in a sort of ludicrous emotion, a half-condemnatory, half-farsical feeling, at witnessing the tricks of political Charlatanism. In these dull times, " the phantasma, the hideous dream," the interim be tween the acting of a great event and its first concep tion—between, as we may suppose, the proposition to reform the Lords and their actual reformation, for this is the conclusion to which we must come—the Tory Press in its serio-comic exhibitions has some claims on public indulgence ; nay, its varlet contribu tors appear to lay the whole Liberal press under obli gation, for without their copious misrepresentations there would be no variety in the manner of discussing the leading subjects which occupy public attention. There would be nothing on which to argue, the ra tional portion of the public being already convinced of the necessity of the measures against which the great force of the opposition is directed ; to enforce the ex pediency and good policy of these measures, would be like persuading a hungry man to eat, or a man thirsting in a desert to drink. Therefore we freely ac knowledge ourselves indebted to the Tory Press, for the fresh subjects it supplies for discussion in the numerous falsehoods of its invention. Not even in the affecting an," hear:-rending tragedy of Tom Thumb is there anything so pathetic—so convin cingly appealing to our sympathies, as a passage in the Times of yesterday, wherein, in allusion to the disposal of the police patronage in Ireland by Lord Mulgrave, by which it is inferred that peaceable citizens are left without protection, the writer, en deavouring to rouse the Orangemen into resistance and rebellion, exclaims—" Great Heaven ! do Ens lishnzen live to see this day ? No protection Why then, what say all writers on civil government 7 Why the answer is, then—no allegiance." This "no alle giance" cry, taken in conjunction with the Address of the Dublin Corporation to his Majesty of Hanover, and the conspiracy which was exposed be fore a Committee of the House to set aside the suc cession, is calculated to excite a greater vigilance than the ordinary harangues of the faction. And the sub sequent observations of the Times shows but too clearly the association which existed in the mind of the writer between the doctrine of " no allegiance" and the Orange conspiracy, when he observes— " If Lord Mulgrave will not suffer the force paid by the people to interpose for the preservation of the people's lives and properties, or for the maintenance of the Qicen's peace, what title has Lord Mulgrave to be defended by the people —on what plea dares he demand their allegiance--by what pretext will ho dare to prevent them from associating for their own defenco—reduced, as by his arbitrary and in famous deerse—reduced as civil society now is—Co a state of nature? We maintain that, for this act alone, among five hundred others which call for impeachment—for this alone Lord Mulgravo is impeachable ; and we pray that he maw be iinvache,l. We know he will be, if there exist a single spark of public spirit in the Imperial !Luse cf Commons." This is all very tragical. What will become of Lord Mulgrave ? Of his conviction by the House of Com mons, should he be impeached, of having ruled Ire land in direct contradiction to Tory principles, no doubt can be entertained ; we must admit the chare; eu only hope of saving his Lordship from the scaffold must rest in that prerogative of mercy vested in the Sovereign, which is not strained, and which, to provide against accidents, we solicit in his behalf. Now comes the bathos. Who will not sympathise in the zeal of the Times, when, in anticipating the massacre of the whole Protestant portion of the Irish community, it exclaims— What ! to consign every poor Loyalist in Ireland, by one stroke of the pen, to unrestricted massacre ? Is it not proclamation that every Protestant in the island, who has not wherewithal to hire mercenaries for the garrison of his dwelling, must make- his peace with the rebel ruffians, by abandoning the religion of his ancestors, and turning Papist on the spot." If this do not rouse all the nervous old women and hypochondriacs of England to contribute to the Irish petition conspiracy fund, we know not what %Nil', unless a few Protestants volunteer to murder each other, by way of illustrating the dangers to which the wh o l e s ec t is exposed. The tranquillity of the Irish " Papists" is most provoking—they leave the Tory press nothing, but lies to comment upon. Could they but be pro voked to follow the example of their enemies, and cry " no allegiance," there might be some hope to be en tertained of them."—Morning Advertiser. Alderman Venable, who was once, we believe, a candidate for the representation of the city of London in Parliament, is reported to have said the other day in • the Court of Aldermen in reference to a motion respect ing the new Poor-law, that "It could not be in the contemplation of any of the Aldermen to cast impedi ments in the way of so excellent a measure as the Poor law Amendment Act. Alderman Venables is a tho rough-going " Liberal " of the Whig-Radical cast, and therefore we are not surprised at this expression of his excessive admiration of the Whig law, to inflict upon poverty the punishment of crime, and place in the hand of •‘ Christian charity" a scourge of scor pions for the discipline of the destitute inmates of the union bastile. When Alderman Venables and " libe rals " of his sort are told that the Whig law turns the dearest affections of the human heart into the source of the most poignant anguish ; that it sanctions the tearing asunder of the relationship of husband and wife—of parent and child ; that it leaves to the poor and friendless man whom dire necessity compels to accept of its cruel " relief," nothing but a sorrowing and lonely existence upon a semi-starvation diet, an existence blast ed and withered, from which "all the pleasant boughs of life are gone ;" that it forbids him to visit his accustomed altars on the Sabbath-day, and insists upon the isolat ing distinction of poverty in the home of the grave I When, we say, Alderman Venables and " Liberals" of his sort are told that such are part and parcel of the admirable provisions of the Whig law, they act just as might be expected of such "Liberals" by calling it excellent. Mr. Grote, at present a nominal represen tative of the City of London, is a Liberal also, or rather an ultra-Liberal. He it was who, when the present Lord Abinger, then Sir James Scarlett, made some allusion in the House of Commons to the arbi trary and unconstitutional character of the Whig Bill, tauntingly declared that his only objection to the Bill was that it was not arbitrary and unconstitutional enough ! The sentiments which Mr. Alderman Ye nables expressed respecting the oppressive and odious Whig Poor-law make us glad that he failed in his attempt to become a representative of the City of Lon don ; for the same reason we are glad that Mr. Grote is soon likely to cease to be one. The poor are not without an avenger even in this world, and Whiggery found that out at the late elections. The law, as it now appears in the statute book, is, Heaven knows, arbitrary and unconstitutional enough, but it is not quite so much so as it was when first introduced to the House of Commons, when the Whig-Ra dicals hailed the " boon to the labouring population," introduced by Lord Althorp, with the heartless plaudits of sycophantic inhumanity. This alone shows what sordid tyranny the people of England might ex pect if ever they allowed a usurping House of Com mons, under pretence of " privilege," to assume to itself the supreme powers of Government. The claim of " privilege" set up by the last House of Commons was monstrous, and we opposed it accordingly, being convinced that of all tyrannies an unrestrained demo cracy is the worst, because it is the least responsible. The Gospel, which we believe in as Christians—the great charter of man's redemption—is particularly care • ful of the rights and interests of the poor, and enjoins no Christian virtue so emphatically, so constantly, as charity. The Whig Poor Law was framed to eradi cate Christian charity, both from the laws and the hearts of the people of England. Judge if a law so opposed to the-benignant spirit of the Gospel can he good, can be excellent. " That man should thus encroach on fellow man, Abridge him of his just and lawful rights, Eradicate him, tear him from his hold Upon the endearments of domestic life And social, nip his fruitfulness and use, And doom him, for the crime of poverty, To barrenness, and solitude, and tears, Moves indignation." And what can the patriot say to a law that confers upon three Government Commissioners the legislative power of King, Lords, and Cclnrnons ? "It is not and it cannot come to good."—Morning Herald. When Whigs and Whig-Radicals complain that the Tories regard too much the institutions of the country, and too little the object of these institu tions—that is to say, the good of the nation—they seem to forget the value of settled rules, and the un certainty of human ability. It is not every year that men arise capable of altering for the better such insti tutions as those which have so long made the domes tic peace of Great Britain secure, and her name il lustrious throughout the world. And if at all times, even when men of original and powerful minds have walked conspicuously upon the public scene—if, when Locke and Newton, and Harley and Bolingbroke, and Swift and Addison, and Pope and Steele, were leaders of the public thought—if, when the immortal Burke stood forth, the illustrious champion of social virtue and regulated freedom, throwing around politics the golden glow of religious philosophy and generous en thusiasm--if, in such proud seasons of Great Britain's history, we clung fast by our institutions, as the best. anchor of our prosperity, is it the voice of reason or of preposterous vanity which bids us be less careful of them now ? We protest that, looking back through the time which has elapsed since the great political settlement of 1688, we do not perceive a period at which it would have been so unreasonably pre sumptuous to have abandoned our institutions, and trusted to the wisdom of living men to make for us better in their room, as it would be now. " Great men have been among us; bands that penned And tongues that uttered wisdom, better none : The later Sydney, Marvel, Ilarrington, Young Vane, and others who called Milton friend. These moralists could act and comprehend They knew how genuine glory was put on : Taught us how rightfully a nation shone In splendour. What strength was, that would not bend But in magnanimous meekness." Who is there in the present day among those will- ing to do the work of revolution that any man whose heart beats with emotion in the cause of household good or national glory could for a mo ent esteem or trust? We know not of such a man. Is it among the herd of empty chatterers in the House of Commons we are to look ? We protest to Fleaven that we should as soon seek among the row of caged monkeys in the Zoological Gardens for a creature capable of being first in the race that leads to glory's goal as amoni , that wretched spawn of vanity, conceit, and superficial knowledge, yclept the " political philosophers" of this present time. Men who are really enlightened are not apt to call themselves so. In our day men seem to fancy that, because they are busy, they are wise ; but me chanics' institutes may do very little towards leading the mind to a right appreciation of political institu tions, and railroads have not as yet been laid to the temple of Minerva. We have fallen upon such evil clays that there is not eren " a soul of goodness" in the impudent activity of our bustling and conceited partisans of chancre. No touch of generous enthusi asm ever appears in their plans—no notion of happi ness beyond the exercise of small fractions of power, and the gratification of small emotions of vanity, seems to cross their minds in speculating upon new laws for the government of the people. Goodness of nature seems to be discarded by these political triflers, as something too simple to deserve their attention. With out goodness of nature, says Lord Bacon, " Man is a mischievous, wretched thing, no better than a kind of vermin." Such do we verily believe to he a most just description of those who in the present day carp and cavil at the institutions of the country. " Perpetual emptiness ! unceasing change ! No single volume paramount, no code, No master spirit, no determined road ; But equally a want of books and men." These are really and truly the characteristics of the revolutionary party, and if they find themselves grow ing more and more into contempt, as they cer tainly are in every quarter where knowledge and free dom of thought and discussion most prevail, they ought to attribute that circumstance to the lamentable want of heart and mind which is the reproach of their party. There is no question that the elements of power are, by the progress of society, and especially in mechanical science, becoming more and more diffused among the people ; but political wisdom is not a branch of mechanics, but of morals, and with that species of incral teaching which elevates and purifies the minds of men the modern revolutionists seem utterly incapable of sympathising. Some will perhaps think that our quotation should have been given with an exception ; for, if there be not now, there lately was one Bentham, who, like Napoleon, is to go down to posterity with his code in his hand. Alas, poor man ! we fear this will be but a sorry crutch wherewith to hobble before poste rity. Mr. Bentham forms to himself a fanciful notion of whst . ; man is, and frames a code according to this fancy. To man as he is, Mr. Bentham's philosophy is about as applicable as were Doctor Arnott s hydro - tatic beds to the comfort of the hospital patients. Ac cording to every rule of science the patient ought to have been delighted to repose upon so yielding and so accommodating a couch ; but, somehow or another, he could not conform his habits to it. however clear the scientific demonstration that he ought so to do, and he uniformly besought, after a trial of the novelty, an unphilosophical bed of feathers. When they who wish to seem wise tell us that the institutions of the country are nothing worth in themselves, but only valuable as they tend to the good of the people, they tell us merely what everybody knows, and everybody admits. Everything in the world, from political institu tions down to shoes and stockings, are good only in the effects which they produce. But political institu tions are not like many other things in the changing of which there is no evil belonging merely to the act of change. If we think one shoe will answer better than another there can be no harm, beyond the loss of time, in making the experiment ; but it is not so when rash men seek to make experiments with the political in stitutions of a nation. We then adventure upon that which we cannot recal, and upon the issue of which no man can calculate with certainty. There are oc casions, however—zreat occasions—in which such great risks must be run ; and happy it is if on such occasions there be wise and humane men to lead and govern the popular force, and to persuade the people to co►isent to new rules for their government. But to live in a continual doubt and — suspicion of our fundamental institutions—to acknowledge nothing as settled, nothing as permanent—to have no sheet anchor, but to be for ever tossed upon the sea of speculation as to that form of government which would best suit the people, would be most certainly a state of national weakness, tutbulence, and misery. That city, says Thucydides, which is governed by the worse laws but those firm and stable, is in a safer condition than the city where the laws arc better and more eligible in their original institution, but where they are adminis tered in a-loose and fluctuating manner. Now if this be a well-founded opinion, and to us it seems one of those dicta which carries its own demonstration along with it, in its harmony with general experience, how much stronger is the case where not merely the laws are concerned, but the principles of legislative Go vernment out of which laws spring. We, therefore, hold that, as a general rule, the fundamental institu tions of the State ought to be maintained for the sake of the peace, security, and happiness of the people.— Morning Post. One Saturday night, about five weeks ago, a respectably-dressed individual entered the parlour of a public-house in the neighbourhood of Drury-lane, and pro duc►ng a pocket-book, said he had just picked it up coming out of the New Strand Theatre, professing at the same time that he had not yet examined its contents. On open ing it there appeared, among other palm's, what seemed to be a bill of exchange for a considerable amount, some pro missory notes, and three country bank-notes of 5/. each. The persons present congratulated him on his good fortune, as doubtless, a considerable reward would be offered for the restoration of the property, when he expressed his regret that he had to set off on a voyage to China the next day. After some parley, a person present purchased the chance of the reward for a couple of sovereigns, and the pocket- book was deposited in the hands of the landlord, the honest finder being particularly careful that it should be sealed, lest any portion of the contents should be abstracted se cretly. Week after week the purchaser of the reversion waited for the expected advertisement in vain. At last lie went to the parties whose names were on the bill, and was a mazed to find that the whole were forgeries. On further i nqu i r y, it was discovered that the notes were the issue of a bank that failed in 1825, and, of course, were wholly worthless. The pocket-book and its contents were worth about a shilling, MIDDLESEX SESSIONS. FORD V. A CONVICTION OF B - oircx COMBE, ESQ.—This was an appeal against a conviction of Mr. Combe, the Ma gistrate, who fined the appellant for refusing to pay a toll. Mr. BODKIN, for the respondent, stated the facts of the case. The defendant was a dairyman residing at Clapton, where he kept a great number of cows. He had a right of pasture for those cows on certain marshes in the neighbourhood of Hackney, which marshes were situate on both sides of the road in question where the toll alleged to be payable was demanded. The cows, both in going and returning from pasture, were driven partly along that road, but did not, he would admit, proceed the distance of two miles along it. He would also admit that the road had been established upwards of 25 years, and that until lately no toll had been demanded of him, and his cows had been allowed to pass toll free. The only question in dis pute was whether his cows came within the excepting clause of the General Turnpike Act, the 3d George IV., ch. 125, sec. 32, which excepted " all horses and other cattle employed in husbandry" (evidently referring only to beasts of burthen), either going to, or returning from, pasture. Mr. ADOLPHUS, for the appellant, said, if the Court de cided against the appellant the inevitable consequence would be one of serious importance to the inhabitants of the metropolis, for the dealers in milk must raise the price of that necessary article of consumption if they were to pay a toll for their cows in going and returning from pasture. The toll, in fact, would amount to! nearly as much as the value of the milk. This last observation had evidently an effect on the Bench, and after consulting together some time the Court quashed the conviction, thus depriving the purveyors of that neces sary article of an excuse for increasing the price of chalk and water. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. MANSION-HOUSE. ElUak Silkman, the Jew of Salee, who was a few days ago charged with having induced a boy named Abrahams to rob Messrs. Davis, the hardwaremen, his masters, of con siderable property, was brought up for final examination. Abrahams stated the following particulars :—He had about two years ago entered into the employment of Messrs. Davis as an errand boy. He had previously been in service at the house of a grocer, and while he was there a Turkish Jew, who was called David, asked him for a piece of gum, which he consented to let the Jew have. A. soon as he got into Messrs. Davis's service, David asked him for some hardware articles, and threatened if the re quest was not complied with to tell about the gum. This led the way to the plunder which took place to a very great extent. He gave some ornamental articles to David, and soon afterwards the prisoner Silkman applied to him for some of the same sort with which David had been supplied, and said that if any difficulty was thrown in the way, he knew what course to take. The boy said that fear of being betrayed and punished worked upon his mind, and he stole property whenever an opportunity occurred, and handed it over to Silkman, who gave him 6d. or I s. for himself as a reward for his exertions. At length, for the purpose of possessing himself of plunder to the satisfaction of the Jew Silkman, lie made a hole from one cellar to another, in which a great deal of property was kept, and proceeded to pillage in a wonderful way. When he first made the hole and got in lie was much alarmed, and he told Silkman that he was afraid to go at the work. " Oh (observed Silk man) stop it up when you are done ony good, and open when you want to go again." Up to within the last few days he had continued robbing, until he was accused by one of his masters, and taken into custody by a policeman. Th,t piisaner was committed for trial. HATTON GARDEN. Yesterday Charles Gould, a sullen-looking fellow, nine teen years of age, attired as a fisherman, in a pilot -coat and oilskin hat, was brought to this office in the custody of William Terry, an officer of the county of Southampton, charged by Mr. Thomas Beard, coachmaker, of No. 7, Mount Pleasant, Clerkenwell, with having robbed him of 1401. in gold, 8/. in silver, and other property. Mr. Thomas Beard stated that the prisoner was his ap prentice, and had served five years of his time. On the sth of September last, about eight o'clock in the evening, witness proceeded to his bedroom, when he discovered that his drawer had been forced open, and 140/. in sovereigns and half-sovereigns, 8/. in silver, a bill of exchange, and a gold watch, chain, and seals had been stolen. He saw the property safe at six •o'clock in the evening, when he left the prisoner at work. He absconded, and has been ever since missing until Sunday last, when he was appre hended. Subsequently to the robbery the witness found the empty cashbox, and a knife with which the drawers were broken open. Thomas Pilley, journeyman to the prosecutor, on the evening of the sth of September saw the prisoner in the room adjoining the bed-room where the robbery was com mitted, and in ten minutes after he saw him go out. William Terry, officer of police at Southampton, deposed that in consequence of reading a description of the priso ner's person in the line and Cry, he Lying a peculiar mark on one of his hands, and receiving information that such a person was sojourning amongst the fishermen at Hamble, in Hampshire, on the Southampton Water, on Sunday night last he proceeded thither, in company with his son, to make inquiries. He traced the prisoner to the Victory inn, where he found him in the company of a boatman. He asked the prisoner to sit down and show him his hands, which he did ; and he found the mark described in the Hue and Cry on his finger. Witness asked his name, and he replied " Charles Gould." Witness informed him that he was advertised for robbing his master ; that he was an officer ; and he was his prisoner ; and he sat opposite to him, and asked him for the watch which he then had i❑ his fob, which he handed to him, and confessed having stolen it from Mr. Beard. He then ordered him to turn out his pockets, which he commenced doing very slowly, when witness said, " You seem to be a slow hand at searching—let me assist you ;" and he pro ceeded towards him, on which the prisoner fumbled at the side-pocket of his pilot-coat, and he drew a double-bar relled pistol, and; presenting it at witness, he exclaimed, " Stand off !" and fired at him. The cap and the powder came in witness's face, and stunned him for a time ; and he could not tell whether he was shot or not. The ball grazed witness's face, and passed through the wall over the mantle-piece. Witness's son exclaimed, " Father, he has got another pistol in his, pocket." He immediately rushed upon the prisoner, and wrested the pistol from his grasp, and he found that the other muzzle was loaded with ball. On searching his pocket he found another double barrelled pistol, capped, cocked, and loaded. He secured him, and found only ss. 6d. in his possession. He asked him what he had done with all the gold ? He replied that he had spent it, and the gold seal he had given to a girl of the town, from whom witness had received it. He was fully committed for trial. _ BIGAEIY.—Maty Daly appeared, pursuant to her bail, to answer the charge of J. Forester, a law-stationer, for intermarrying with him, her second husband being living. Mr. BODYI/4 appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. C. PHILLIPS for the defence. James Glee, clerk to St. George's, Hanover-square, proved that on the 14th of September, 1834, the prisoner was married to Charles Daly. Her name was Mary Hodson. Mrs. Celia Daly, the actress, was acquainted with the prisoner. Mr. BODKIN—Pray, are you the wife of William Charles Daly ? Mrs. Daly—l am. I think his name was William Charles. Mr. BODKIN—What, don't you know your husband's name? Mrs. Daly—l think it was William Charles. Mr. BODKIN—He played Pantaloon at the theatres ? Mrs. Daly—He did, Sir. Mr. BODKIN—Do you know Mary Hodson ? Mrs Daly—l do. . Mr. I3onuN—Did she not marry his brother? Mr:. Daly—l !knew they paid attentions to each other ; she told me they had been married. Mr. Philips here stated that it was admitted, but the friends of the prisoner were averse to the match, and she went into the country, and they would not let her return, and the marriage was never consummated. Mrs. Glee stated that two persons, named Cromer and Stanfield, were attesting witnesses to the marriage —the latter was a miniature painter. The prisoner was again remanded for their attendance. MARLBOROUGH-STREET. John Capel, Esq., yesterday summoned James 214 - oore be. ."ore Messrs. CONANT and HALL for furious driving. Mr. Capel was in a phaeton with a friend on Sunday, and when near Hyde Park Corner the defendant, who was driving one of Sibley's Ham omnibuses, and racing with a Kew omnibus, ran the hind part of his vehicle against the hind wheels of the phaeton, and tore them completely away. It was fortunate for complainant and his friend that the phaeton was constructed without a pole, otherwise, in all probability, the most serious consequences would have occurred. In defence, the driver said the hind wheels of his omni bus " skidded" as he was passing the other omnibus, and the accident was thus occasioned. Mr. HALL remarked that there was at present more racing between the omnibuses than ever. Mr. CONANT said the practice had been quite prevalent lately. He was passing down the Richmond road, and he saw an omnibus come in collision with a cart. The omnibus pulled both cart and horse along with it for some dissance, and finally threw both over. The fine of l Os. and costs was inflicted. Q UREN- S Q UA Robert Holmes, footman to H. Cummins, Esq., of East Hill, Wandsworth, was yesterday placed at the bar, cliargcd with stealing a silver watch, the property of Mrs. Anne Harris, residing at No. 28, Charles -street, Westminster. ,t The prisoner was desired to attend the carriage to Gi . ,2 . 3 George-street, w h ere hi s mistress alighted to p a y a visit. During the i n t erva l h e went to the prOsecutrix's, whom he slightly knew, and, under the pretence of wanting of . water, stole th e wa t c h. I n f or mation was immediately given to Sergeant Martin and he despatched a man to Wandsworth, so that ho should arrive before the carriage! On the vehicle driving u p t o th e door the prisoner hand ed the ladies out and was ab ou t t o mount the bog, when t he constable searched him an d f o und in his waistcoa t p ocket the watch that had been stolen, and in his fob p ocket an other watch that he was in th e habit of wearing , a nd about 81. in money. a glass Prisoner in defence said h e w ent in, saw the watch, took it up to see what the tim e was , thought it was his o wn, and put it in his pocket. He was fully committed for trial. MARY LEBONE. Yesterday Francis Saunders, a dairyman, re siding at No. 63, Market -street, Paddington, was placed at the bard before Mr. RAWLINSON an d 'Lord MotiTFoan, charg e , with having, while in a stat e o f i n toxication, and th rough furious and negligent driving, knocked down and run over t Mrs. Ann Henry, an elderly lady at present staying a , Webb's Hotel, Piccadilly,. and whO, , from the injury infheteu on her, is still confined to her bed. The prisoner entered into good security for his apner ance at the Sessions, and in the meantime to be forthcoming at this office if required. UNION-HALL. Yesterday a you ng man name d Wilkins was brought "P by the master of St. George's workhouse, Southwark, charged with refusing to maintain his wife, and leaving her chargeable to the parish. Mr. WEDGWOOD asked the defendant what his grounds were for supposing that he was absolved from the sup Pert, of his wife ?—Th e d e f en d an t, i n rep l y , sa id that she h ad formed an improper intimacy with another man, and that on the discovery he left her, considering that she had no fur ther claim upon him as a husband. ite Mr. WEDGWOOD—What proo f h ave you that your has committed adultery ? Defendant—A man nara ( Owen I believe is present who can prove the fact. The Magistrate directed the person to be called ; bu t it appeared that he was not in the office, and defendant sat ing that he supposed his witness was compelled to go toll° work, the Magistrate said that he must be under the jne cessity of committing th e d e f en d an t f or th ree mo nths to BO" Defendant (with surprise)—What, for not supporting an adultress ? Mr. WEDGWOOD said that he had brought forward ro proof whatever to criminate his wife in such a charge. The defendant said th at if a short time were allowed for that purpose he would be in a condition to prove the accu sation against his wife. Mr. WEDGWOOD said that the defendant, being without the necessary proof, he must therefore go to gaol for three months, and that when he came out he must support his wife:. Dcfendant—lf I am comm i tte d f or tre bl e th e time I shall n o t su p port a woman t h at I k now has bee n falsa to me. I'll support the child, although I have s ome doubts whether it i s m i ne ; b ut, as f or h er, rot in o °l before I do so. length ot The defendant was thm ordered to 13.1 locked up. THAMES OFFICE. aS Yesterday three c hild ren , ill c l a d and b a dl y f e d, as far appearances went, named Jane Davis and Sarah Davi s (sisters), and Sarah Chambe) s, the eldest not more thso thirteen year s o f age , were put i nto the doc k , b e f o re I!!r . s BALLANTINE, on a cha rge o f stea:inic a necklace 011 child's neck, stated by the parents to be worth Bs. 6d. The children h ave a ll b een i n custody before, an d Sara n Davis was some time ago sent to the Old Bailey ea, charge of f e l on y, an d conv i cte d , when, on account of he ll ' , tender years, s h e escape d w i t h a sl i ght punishment , whit' e however, f a il e d i n re f orm i ng h er, for she has ever sinc_ been a le a d er o f a party o f li tt l e p i lferers. A fortn i g ht ago she was p u t t o th e b ar, w i t h h er sister, who is two Y ears younger th an h erse lf, on a c h arge of stealing a pillow enc._ quilt, when, ow i ng t o t h e re l uctance of the p arties to pros secute such child ren , the Magist ra t e d e li vere d them e their parents. On this occasion it.vvas given in evidence that Jane Davis and Sarah Chambers took the nee l ""lac e from a child d 5 it was sitting at its mother's door, and ra n away with it. The robbery was observed by several other children, and when two girls were taken into custody by Reuben Webb, a policeman, they said they would tell, all about it, an d re l ate d t h at they had given it to the eleiesci girl, Sa ra h Ch am b ers, who, on being taken, said she h ad pawned the necklace and sold the duplicate. A smartly-dressed woman, who keeps a broker's and marine store shop, said she gave the girl 6d. for the doPII - of the beads, and immediately afterwards a we rn , a9 came into h er s h op w h o sa i d she just wanted such a 6;n', as the necklace, and she (the witness) disposed of the au plicate again for the same money as she gave for it. Mr. BALLANTINE—How lucky it was that a w al l " should come I nto your shop who wanted to purchases nec lace directly after you purchased the ticket! The marine-store dealer—Yes, Sir, it was indeed• h did not buy it k now i ng i t was sto l en ; I would not do s ue" a thing. Mr. BALLANTINE--Oh, no ; none of you people do. The marine-store dealer—No, Sir, I have a child of DIY, own ; I would not buy s t o l en property a other children n I knew it. Mr. RAWLINS O N—H o Id your t ongue, woman . I wish one-half of you were hanged. Hire is a system—that child pledges the stolen necklace at a pawnbroker's shot/ and then sells the duplicate at a marine-store shop! Police Sergeant Shepherd, No. 22 K, said the children were common pilferers. Mr. BALL A N TINE sa id h ere were t h ree ch ild ren before hi m who we re thieves, and could an ythi ng be more dre adful He was called to put the law i n f orce , and must do it• He sent ence d th e g i r l to three months:imprisonment and hard labour, as reput e d thi eves, go i ng a b out with inten t t° commit felony. The child ren no sooner h eard the sentence than th e y began scr eam i ng an d cry i ng i n a most piteous to2nnert' T and th row i ng t h emse l ves on their knees ca lled on , he " Mercy, mercy, it will b r e a k m y father's heart.' policeman had great difficulty in removing them, and on be ginning, t o use f orce , M r. B a ll ant i ne said, D o n't hurt them —pray don't." W OR SHIP- STREET. fore Yesterday Mary B r i an was placed at the bar , be he T Mr. Grove, char ge d w ith h av i ng attempte d to take a w "' the lives of a man and his wife of the name of Wood. En e charge was laid under th e I s t Vi ctor i a, cap. 8 5, into operation on S un d ay l ast. T he assault too k Place tbe Monday last, but h a d i t occurred on the Saturday ted " prisoner would h ave b een c h arged with having a tt°l to murder th e comp l a i nants. The priso ner was committed for trial. ,d( Thr w hich ea 00 ne Hereditary Prince of Orange, travelling on the na me o f C ount V on Buren, arrived at Stuttgar t on the 26th ult., on a visit to the Court of Wurtemberg'• ____,.• PATENT LEVER. WATCH . "g o With silver doubl e -b o tt om cases £ 6 - 6 6 16 With silver hunting cases This celebrat e d cons t ruct i on (the most * ;;;;:r . a . te ... e n watch can be made) is now offered, with the latest improvernefed, e. the detached escapement, jewelled in four holes, caP hand to mark th e seconds, hard enamel dial, and maintaining Power to continue going while winding up, at the above price, at T. CON SAVORY'S, Working Silver and Goldsmith, 47, Cornhill, London.e. N.B.—Second-ha n d W a t c h es purc h ase d in B IR T liS. On the 4th inst., in Eaton-place, L a dy Augusta Baring ' of a daughter. 4th inst., at IF hb I Esq., of a son. On the 3d inst., at East Ham ig ury-p ace, the wife of of O w iii ,i t c h h e is 2S si t n h c u e l d t. e , a a d t . Clapton-terrace, Mrs. Neilson, of twins, one On the Ist inst. in Hunter- On the 2d inst., at Hammers • George Ogles daughter. of R. 11. Meade, sq., surgeon, of a son. ter. On the 30th ult., at Kensington, Mrs. C. Hay, of a daughter. Hunter -street, t r m re es ] Hammersmith, 13, A i ‘fu. Brunswick -square, Mrs. J. Cijci.i.c Fry, s . Sl T e i. . a ro J ef o s ante;o.,n o f lady a MARRIED. Th wea l ' On the 3d inst., at St. Nichola ' Church, Brighton , - --, 1 I , o f , a L r h a Lansdowne-place. s m d , o wjeer-epf Herefordshire a r c d e s Gordon Hake, M.D., to Lucy, youngest s daughter of R. Bush, Psq'' hire, to ' of On the 28th ult. at Criekhowell Mr. Marcellue Nevrtonze, C. Vaughan, of Crickhowell. Catherine, sec; _,,,, ;on sent On the 2d inst., at St. Mary' Lambeth, George NY"" ht r Esq., of the Wandsworth -road, to s' Diana Hargrave, eldest daug4 of R. Curtis, Esq., of the Wandsworth-road, and grand-daegn of the late F. Hargrave, E K.f Liverpool• „....,... sq. ,K. C., Recorder o i ___...------- nd daughter of the 11 , titci l( O el)yr o I: ntw t fi l a i iie e iriet i 3 2.oya d .f. of n; Rev. Jame‘; . JM.akicaitiolKl DIED. Madras Government), li r a ! i the Nicholls Esq., of the 25th Regiment of ... G . ib o s s o t. n ,.in Sloanc-itreet, Mary Elisabeth, wife of On the 2d inst., Catherine, wife of Mr. W. Spooner; o f Gbis _well-street, Finsburquare. On the 29th ult., at B ce chwood, near Plymouth, Richard Res " y-s clew, Esq., aged 81. s treet, Is - On the 2d inst., Mr. Thomas Whitmore , o f Lower lingt onthe, aged 71. . ...Ist On 2d inst., in Sloane-street, aged 19, Louisa, runo. daughter of Dr. Baillie, Deputy Inspector - Ge neral of Army I pitals. On the 2d inst., Joseph Clarke, Esq., of Upper Phillirnore-place' Kensington, aged 86. On the 19th ult., at Alphington, Devon, and late of the Blac heath-road, Thomas Pocknell, Esq., aged 47. On the 2d inst., at Brighton, aged 4, John Frederick, secont:lol of Mr. John Clark, of Maidenhead, Berks. c i eel On the 25th ult., at Hyde, Isle of Wight, Mary, wife °' -135 k Boyer, Esq., and only survivitig daughter of the Rev. J. Piddoe of Ashby-de-la Zouch, Leicestershire •o 101. ()d London: Printed and PubliphEd by_MURDO YOUNG, _!..nity 112, Strand, at The S ice, No. IP>, Strand , i n the cu" of Middlesea.—'Thursday, Oct4hor 5, 1837.