The Sun. — London, England, 1837-08-28 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. O'Connell is still the bugbear with which a section of the Tories think they can " fright the isle from its propriety." We have shown that, if Mr. O'Connell were a bad or a foolish man, the present representation of Ireland is not one which he could ever make the instrument of wickedness or folly. It is at the same time abundantly manifest that every accession of strength to the Liberal party in the House of Com mons—if Mr. O'Connell act with that sagacity which even his enemies ascribe to him, and with that regard to the public welfare which we are convinced he feels, and of which he has given the most signal proof in the recent elections—will and must augment his power to aid in preserving the helm from Tory hands, and to assist in sustaining a Liberal Government acting up to its principles and professions, and in keeping such a Government steady in the performance of its own duties. The false and hypocritical outcry against the support which Mr. O'Connell has given to the Whig Ministry, is one of the most disgraceful instances of political cant that has marked the recent career of the Tory party in England. There is not a rational man in either island who does not know that the shouters of this wild halloo employ it to gather around them packs of sup porters whom they could not decoy with less coarse and vulgar deception. Some five and thirty years ago, a practising barrister in Ireland, with moderate though independent private fortune, at a very early period of life, with the Court, the Government, and the then newly-united Legislature against him ; with a Roman Catholic people but a few years disenthralled from a state of little less than political servitude, and as yet hardly accustomed to an erect posture, or a movement directed by their own will ; with no aid from the roweifil, with litt'e assivance from the :rich, and pressed by the necessity of creating a public spirit out of no other materials than the wrongs of a whole people, their susceptibility to feel them, and the re sources of his own mind ; this singular man formed the design of working his countrymen to instruments of their own redemption. He put himself at the head of this movement at an age when sonic men are yet boys. With every opposition from power, from craft ; from determined, interested, and exasperated ene mies ; from the mistakes and follies of his own party, and often with impediments arising from his own errors—inevitable in the career of a man who undertook his Herculean task concurrently with the daily toils of a most labourious and time-exhausting profession—he still struggled en. Year after year he roled the ball up the opposing mountain. Year after year it tumbled back to its former level. Year after year ha brought his countrymen nearer and nearer to tile goal, and bound, faster and faster together, the increasing millions who congregated to gain it. Gained it was at laSt. The citadel was surrendered, with a frank avowal that the spirit which Mr. O'Connell had done so much to embody was not to be resisted ; and the extraordinary incident of his election for the county of Clare (a Catholic, in defiance of law, returned, to he rtjected, ns a Member of a Protestant Parliament) se tied the question of Catholic emancipation. That sti a man, winning such a victory for his country men after some seven-and -twenty years of incessant conflict, should become an object of unprecedented popularity, was to be expected as an event in time or.irnary course of nature. Whether he would have re e l i ne a his vast influence had he ceased to be the su' , jest of marked and continued offence, amount in almost to persecution, is unhappily now a matter merely of speculation. The Duke of Wellington, whether or not coerced by a power that controlled his own wiser wishes has bcen never yet explained, not only denied to Mr. O'Connell the practical benefit if the Roman Catholic Relief Bill, but, in strange incon sistency with tile principles of his own measure, and with a pertinacity perfectly unaccountable on any maxims by which the conduet of men acting the part of Statesmen is usually scanned, refused the practical operation of that measure to the mass of those for whom it was framed. Having yielded emancipation with avowed reluctance, he sought to govern on the principles on which it had been so long denied. The result was, to cast around Mr. O'Connell, in addi tion to the devotion to him which arose from the people's gratitude, the further charm which persecu tion, or the appearance of persecution, ever gives, when its real or supposed victim is also the object of strong popular attachment. When Lord Grey became Minister, that wise and sound-hearted Statesman is said to have been fully penetrated with the importance of bringing to the aid of the Government and the pub lic service the vast power with which the singular circumstances of the man and the nation in vested Mr. O'Connell. Unhappily, the Government or advisers of Lord Grey and of his colleagues, had then badly studied Ireland, and, as the event proved, had made sad mistakes respecting the condition of parties there, and, what was still more strange, re specting the individual characters of public men. Events have demonstrated that the bitterest enemies of the principles and policy of the government of that enlightened nobleman contrived, by same singular fa tality, to nestle themselves in Ireland as its nearest and most trusted advisers ; and the Irish appointments made at the very accession of Lord Grey, and some untoward circumstances to which it is vain now to re cur, led to that tempest of political agitation which raised the frenzy of the repeal of the Union, and placed Mr. O'Connell, and the vast party which con tinued to give him their unwavering confidence, in an attitude of open hostility to the Government. Suc cessive Ministries had fallen in the effort to govern Ireland upon maxims of coercive policy. The whole history of both countries indicated the necessity of the experiment, which has been made with such astonishing success for the last two years and a half, to rule that island in the spirit of the statute which passed the irrevocable measure of Catholic Emancipation—that is, with per fect impartiality in the administration of the laws, and with the determination that religious creed shall neither advance nor retard the claims to the pa tronage of Government of those who shall honestly sustain its policy. The fruits of this system of admi nistration are the best proofs of its wisdom. The failure of every other scheme of government in Ireland demonstrated the necessity of its tardy adoption. Each succeeding day's experience shows the benefits which it has produced, and the peril, and, indeed, the utter impossibility, of ever abandoning it. Ire land was never so tranquil, or so prosperous ; crime has diminished, not more by reason of a vigorous administration of the laws, than by rea son of the universal confidence in the Govern ment which pervades the great mass of the people. Where habits of this sort are once acquired, their improvement becomes every day more and more accelerated by mere force of the continuance of the causes and impulses which originally pro duced them. The most signal proof that could possibly be given of the improved temper of the people was afforded in the recent elections. The creed of the candidate was no passport to popular favour. The people forgot their predilection for a domestic Legislature in their confidence in that which xas called under the auspices of a young Sovereign in whom all their hopes were centered. "To support the Queen's Government" was the only pledge re quired at the Irish hustings. Never before, since Ireland became part of the dominions of the Bri tish monarchy, was attachment to the Government of the Sovereign the condition of popular favour at a ge neral election in Ireland. Such are the fruits of this policy. The Minister who. should attempt to govern on an opposite system, would fall like the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel. The Ministry who, in carrying out that policy, should perversely reject the aid of Mr. O'Connell, must be either knaves or madmen. The influence of Mr. O'Connell forms part of the existing condition of things in this realm. Some puling canters may affect to deplore it, but they know full well that it can no more be removed than can the transactions of the last thirty years be recalled—than can Ireland be sunk in the ocean. However that influence has been produced, there it is ; a stupendous engine for good or evil. Are we, by using it, to control it, and to direct it for the advance- j merit of good government; or are we, like mulish chil dren, to fling it from us, in the chance, if not cer- tainty, of giving it a wrong dir ec ti o n, and then leave it to its own fitful and eccentric movements ? The con- duet of Mr. O'Connell during the elections which have just closed, while it shows how slanderous is the imputation that he is actuated by a vulgar personal ambition, confers upon the whole Liberal party in both countries, and not the least upon those who entertain the most moderate views, obligations which it would be equally unwise and base to forget, even if it were perfectly safe to do so.—Morning Chronicle. We have said, and we adhere to it, and shall con tinue, even at the hazard of fatiguing the fastidious, still to say it, because it is the most material of all things to be said and repeated and reiter;ted, that the band of between twenty and thirty Irish Members re lied on by Ministers as their majority, and drawn up in that character, to arbitrate the destinies of this em pire in the House of Commons, are the nominees of one man, and that man Mr. O'Connell. The organs of the Ministry encounter our argument, in the first place, by misrepresenting our assertion. " The writers on the Conservative side," say they, "in sur veying the Irish elections, treat all the Liberal Mem bers as the nominees of O'Connell : we have shown the ludicrous absurdity of this bold fiction, in describ ing who and what the new Members are." This fic tion is indeed sufficiently absurd, of treating all the 72 Liberal Members for Ireland as the Agitator's nomi nees ; but it is no absurdity of ours. We certainly think it quite enough, that of the 72 he is able to nominate about half ; his nomination of the whole has not yet, as far as we know, been conceived, unless perhaps by his own irregular ambition. But one-half, or even one-third, of the 72, are as many as our argument re quires. The remainder may be as independent of him as the Ministers would wish that themselves could afford to be, and still our assertion stands unshaken, that if mere numbers are to arbitrate the destinies of this empire in the House of Commons, the arbitration rests with four-and-twenty of the nominees of Mr. O'Connell. The independent gentlemen of the new Whig birth in Ireland may be reckoned, if you will, for the purpose of our argument, as paired against an equal number of the independent Conservative Mem bers : what we heie have to do with is the difference, or excess, of the whole Ministerial majority, over the whole Conservative minority : and this difference or excess consists of the twenty-four nominees. In the assertion that the Conservatives " describe the entire majority of Irish representatives as the nominees of Mr. O'Connell," the word " majority" is rather ambiguously used. It may mean the entire 72 Irish Ministerialists, or it may mean the entire ba lance of 40 by which the 72 Irish Ministerialists out number the 32 Irish Constitutional Members. Which ever be the meaning, we have never said anything which can bear the construction imputed. We have never said the 72 were all of them Mr. O'Connell's nominees ; we have not even said, though we should not have been very far from the truth if we had said, that the, forty are, all of them, the nominees of Mr. O'Connell ; but that which we have said, and shall continue to enforce, is, that the 23, or, if you will, the 24, Irish Ministerialists, who remain when the other 317 Ministerialists have been balanced against the 317 Conservatives, are 24 of Mr. O'Connell's nominees, vulgarly called his Tail. Perhaps, from the following list of 35, some of our readers may like to select the specific twenty-four for themselves:— Athlone Carlow (County) V_igors Clare O'Brien Macnamara Cork (County) Cork (City) Dublin (City)... Hutton Dundalk 4l?eddington Ennis ,- Bridgernan Galway (County) *Bodkin Galway (Town) *Blake Kerry Kilkenny (County).. ..... 'Bryan Kilkenny (Town) King's County *Fitzsimon Kicsale Limerick ( cown)... "Roche ....... *BtAlcw Brabazon, Sir W. *Browne Meath '`M. O'Connell New Ross Sligo (T0wn)........ ..... , Somers Tipperary *Shed Cave Louth . Mayo . Waterford (County) Fl'o;er Waterford (Town)... Wyse We5tmeath........... 'Nagle, Sir R. Wexford (County)... *Maher * Power In the foregoing list we have not included Mr. Barry, whose Parliamentary relation to Mr. O'Con nell, though generally assumed, is perhaps doubtful, and we have omitted Mr. Lynch, though uniformly acting with the O'Connell section, because he may be fairly considered as owing his seat less to the leader's nomination than to his own personal character and connexion. If we had included these two gentlemen, the number of Roman Catholic members in the list (who are distinguished by an asterisk against each name) would have amounted to twenty-six ; at pre sent it stands at only twenty-four, the precise num ber of the Ministerialist majority in the present Par liament. According to the list, therefore, as it stands, we have 35 nominees of Mr. O'Connell, of whom a number equal to the twenty : four are Roman Catholics. Now, to preclude our opponents from all excuse or pretence for mistaking our meaning, which they would do if they could, we tell them expressly what we mean by the word " nominee." We mean by it, a Member of Parliament, elected on the recommendation of some powerful or influential person, against whom, or without whem, he could not have offered himself, and to whose party he is understood as being so at tached, that he cannot oppose it by a vote on any trying question without being bound in point of ho nour to vacate his seat. This was the sense in which Members of Parliament were called nominees before the Reform Bill, and to terminate such nominations was among the mai❑ objects for which that Bill was passed. The way in which it is attempted to refute our computation is a bold, but by no means a novel, one. The Ministerial paper already quoted produces the names of eleven members who have never been de signated as the Agitator's nominees, " describes who and what they are," and then defies us to show that he has nominated them. It might indeed have been suspected that in the county of Dublin, where Mr. O'Connell's relative, Mr. Fitzsimon, makes way for Lord Brabazon, Mr. O'Connell's influence had some thing ;to do with the arrangement, and peradventure the same suspicion might attach to the retirement of Mr. J. O'Connell from Youghal, to provide a seat for Mr. Howard ; nor is it impossible, when we consider the connexion of the great leader with the county of Carlow, where there has been so much which he "---fixit pret.io atque refixit " that Mr. Yates may be indebted for some of his good fortune there to an understanding with the same patron. But they are not, nor is Mr. Maule, the member for Carlow town, included in our list of Mr. O'Connell's nominees. Mr. O'Callagha n may, and we believe does, derive his election for Dungarvan from the more elevating influence of an English nobleman, and the remaining six are probably returned rather by the ge neral influence of the priesthood connected with Mr. O'Connell than by the specific nomination of Mr. O'Connell himself. But, be it as it may, our list of his 35 nominees does not include any one of the 11. Now, let it be supposed, as we doubt not it will be asserted, that even among the 35 who are enumerated in our list, there are some who cannot properly be ranked as the nominees of the one great borough monger. We believe there are none so enumerated who are not fully entitled to their places there ; but we can afford to make our adversaries a present of another 11, whom they shall deduct from the 35, and still there will remain 24 nominees of Mr. O'Connell, the precise majority for Ministers in the Imperial House of Commons. Now, let us not be misrepresented. We are not here urging it as a reproach against any gentlemzn whose opinions conscientiously coincide with Mr. O'Connell's, that he profits by the aid of that powerful person to obtain access to Parliament, thoug h we can con ce i ve th at op i nions may differ on this poin t ; much less do we insinuate, in the most distant way, that it is a reproach to any man to be a believer in the Roman Catholic faith. But we do say, that with the opinions which we Protestants entertain of the views of the Catholics upon our own Church and its endow- I merits, we have a right to challenge such jurors asl they are, not because we hold them incapable of form ing an honest judgment, but because we feel that on their premises their honest judgment is and must be ' against the Protestant Constitution of our Crown, country, and Church. If, after pairing off the 317 Ministerial against the 317 Conservative Members, the 24 who remat are Catholics, or even Protestants, who go all lengths with Catholics, the result to this Protestant nation is practically very much the same as it would be if the 317 on each side had never been elected at all, and the whole House of Commons con sisted of the 24. Let the Protestant people of Great Britain ask themselves with what feelings they would regard a House of Commons of which the whole should be Roman Catholics, though not nominees of one man. Then, would it mend the matter to know that one man had nominated the whole ? The power, be it always considered is in the casting voice ; and that voice is now the voice of Mr. O'Connell. It is idle to tell us that by magnifying his power we aggravate his mis chief. Not, we answer, if the country, be true to it self. The majority returned . to the House of Com mons by Great Britain, and the concurrent majority of the House of Peers, will yet be too much for Mr. O'Connell's majority of 24 from Ireland.— Times. There is no party in the State who declaim so vio lently, and manifest such a furious zeal in behalf of " our glorious Constitution" as the Tories. Under their new-fangled title of " Conservatives," they claim the right of its guardianship as prescriptively and pe culiarly their own ; and yet not the most violent Re publican, either in profession or practice, in theory or policy, commits, nor proposes to commit, such gross outrages on the spirit and letter of this most perfect and most excellent fabrication, as is daily implied or recommended in the organs of those blusterers for the preservation of existing institutions in the plenary per fection of their abuses. Without attempting to define or discuss the precise limits which form the demar cation between " constitutional" and " unconstitu tional," as the current jargon terms it—or expatiating upon the flagrant infraction of those limits, whatever their extent, so licentiously indulged in during the recent elections—we shall for the present confine our selves to a few observations on the mode in which the Tories propose to counteract the preponderance which—notwithstanding all their misrepresentation, falsehood, bribery, intimidation, and corruption— the Electoral body of the United Kingdom have placed against them in the House of Commons. First—it is argued that, as the English Counties prostrated to Tory domination, have returned a majo rity of factious representatives to the Legislative Coun cil of the nation, therefore the Members so elected should have a paramount voice to those representing cities and boroughs, wherein undue appliances were less potential, and where, therefore, the opinions of the representatives are more in unison with the popular sentiment. Next, as more than two-thirds of the re presentatives of Ireland are favourable to the claims of justice and the people, it is proposed to deprive them of their fair share of influence in the House of Coin :ll°ns, on the ground of their being the mere nominees of Mr. O'Connell, elected by " Aliens," " Infidels," and " Priest-ridden Papists ; ' at best but demi-civi lised savages, incapable of discriminating between right and wrong. In plain and intelligible language, the drift of the Tories is to deprive the cities and boroughs of Great Britain of all practical representa tion, and bind the country neck and heels to the clue, ' riot-wheels of the Aristocracy. This is the purpose avowed in the claim of pre-eminence for the county representatives. Such also is the object of de preciating the value of the Irish representatives, though the more direct and natural inference to be drawn from the Tory mode of reasoning would be, that the repeal of the Union offered in this re gard the most easy and accurate mode of adjusting the representation. No opinion can be more fallacious than the supposition that the landed proprietors have a greater interest in the prosperity of the country than those engaged in commerce. It is stupidly asserted, that being fixed as it were to the soil, they cannot, like the merchant or trader, take their property with them to another country, and, therefore, the permanent wel fare of the country inwit be to them an object of para mount solicitude. But what class is it that gives worth to the possessions of the landed proprietor ? Whose labour enriches the soil, and de velopes its powers of production ? Is it the aristocracy who toil and sweat in extracting the riches of the earth, or in multiply ing to an incalculable extent, by means of continu ous industry, care, and ingenuity, the value of the native original product ? No, the vile task of making the fruits of the earth available, is left to the con temned industrial class, who are not esteemed worthy of a voice in the Legislature. True, the owner of the land cannot transport his acres to other shores ; but he can transport himself, and spend in other countries the wealth realised by the exertions of others at home. Yet those who give value to the soil, those whose exertions enrich themselves and their country at the same time, are to be left unrepresented, while the land lord's voice, or that of his nominee, is alone to be heard in the Senate-house. But what is to become of those " grand Conservative operatives" of whom the Tories some time since made such a magnificent display ? Are they to be thrown o ve rb oar d? Are they to be swamped with the boroughs which they have failed to make subservient to Tory machinations? It was certainly a grand discovery, and one which could have resulted only from unparalleled daring, to find out that the landed proprietors have a greater stake in the country, and consequently a greater right to the supreme controul of its affairs, than those whose in ... dustry and enterprise are the pillars of its greatness. This is constitutional doctrine with a vengeance. What will the " grand Conservative operatives' say to it? We can easily fancy the reply which the " Aliens" would give to the disqualification urged against them. Paddy might say to his revilers, " Why thin if we be unfit to sit in the same House with you, of course you can have no objection to give us the re pale."—Morning Advertiser. We have lately received several communications on that important subject, " imprisonment for debt," and the tone of those letters is invariably averse to that practice, as now in operation amongst us. Whether such a powers hould be permitted to exist amongst a free people, in a Christian land, appears to us, we con fess, very questionable, as there cannot be a doubt that the practice as well as the theory are diametri cally opposed to the essential principles of our holy religion, as well as to the natural and inalienable rights of mankind, conferred upon every human being at its birth, by the Creator himself ; and this great prin ciple, and the denomination of " the liberty of the subject," is one of the first principles secured by " the great charter." But, with the highest respect for this great and indefeasible right, we cannot acknowledge that there is in it any recognition of the propriety of allowing persons to get the property of others into their possession, and not to be compellable to make proper restitution. Magna Charta does not anywhere sanction any such anarchical practices ; but whether the right which, for a long time, has legally existed in Britain of incarcerating the body of a debtor was con templated by that charter of British liberties, we think is not only doubtful, but impossible, for this simple reason—that it would quite stultify the very principal objects intended by that noble charter. Thes• were chiefly that all men should be equal in the legal sense of that term ; that persons, if accused, should be tried by their equals, per pares ; and that punishment, when awarded, should not he excessive, but in proportion to the offence committed. Yet imprisonment for debt is an infliction far more grievous and heavy than is gene rally visited upon ordinary felonies. The term of im prisonment in the latter class of offences is limited ; but a debtor, whom the laws of England do not consider as a criminal, as our readers will please to remark—a mere and perhaps very honest debtor—is shut up for years, perhaps expires in a gaol, unless he can propitiate some ruthless or perhaps revengeful creditor, and yet the laws of Britain sanction this monstrous anomaly. We should think that the regular way of going to work would be, first to make it a criminal act for a man to get into debt, and then on conviction to treat the party as a convicted felon. This simple process of legisla tion would be clearly comprehended by every one, and would no doubt to a very great extent diminish the number of creditors, as well as debtors, which would be quite as great a disappointment to the former as to the latter class ; for, though it must be admitted that THE MIN, LONDON, MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 1837 there are very rninv franrinlent (1-lit-ors, yet it is too true that there is also a numerous class of fraudulent creditors, individuals who entice weak and extravagant persons to take their goods on usurious credit, often charging double, treble, and even quadruple the ordi nary legal price of the articles. Those fraudulent creditors lose nothing by their insolvent customers, for they make their solvent customers pay one way or other for the losses sustained by their unfortunate customers. Thus, by trading on a bad and dis honest principle, the fraudulent creditors inflict a great injustice upon society, robbing, in fact, their honest and solvent customers to make up for the loss they may have sustained by their own immoral enticement of others to become their debtors ; and so long as the present mode of imprisonment for debt shall be persevered in, so long will that most dishonest mode of carrying on business continue ; but let some other mode be adopted which would deprive a creditor of the power of indulging his avarice and revenge upon the person, wife, and children of his perhaps inveigled debtor, and we boldly assert that trade would take a far sounder, more moral, and more profitable character ; and as honest customers are now indirectly obliged to pay the tradesman what the latter loses by giving cre dit imprudently or dishonestly, so under a new and ra tional order of things, " the paying customer " would not have to pay within 15 to 30 per cent., so much as he does under the present profligate manner of doing business. Some allusions have been made in those letters to the Attorney-General's abortive attempts to alter and amend that system ; but we think the less that is said about that forensic gentleman's exertions the better. Among all those whom we have heard speak on that subject, not one expressed any opinion in favour of the Whig-Radical dignitary's sincerity. It seems to have, however, acted as a good bait to catch the flat-fish of Edinburgh at the last election.— Morning Herald. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. (From the Hampshire Telegraph.) PORTSMOUTH, AUG. 26.—The following is an extract of a letter from an officer of the Buzzard, dated Fernando Po, June 3, 1837 :—" Among the recent changes on this station are the following :—Lieut. Batt, Ist of Columbine, to command the Dolphin, vice T. L. Roberts, deceased ; and Mr. Stoddard, Mate, to be Acting Lieutenant of Co lumbine till the pleasure of the Commander-in-Chief shall he known ; Lieutenant Birch, Ist of Scout, to Lynx, vice Huntley, gone home with despatches ; Mr, Bailey, Super numerary Assistant of Thalia, to Buzzard, vice Morrison, deceased ; Lieut. Q. L. R. Stoll to command Buzzard, vice P. Campbell, appointed Flag Lieutenant to the Com mander-in-Chief. The Dolphin and Scout are very sickly ; the former has lost her Commander, Assistant-Surgeon, nine men, and one boy, all buried here a few Says ago. Lieut. Roberts was universally beloved by the ships' com panies of the Buzzard and Dolphin, both of which vessels he had commanded, and in both of which he was successful in capturing slavers. Since his return, only a few months he was in the Dolphin, and captured one corvette ship with 718, and a few days before he was taken ill, a schooner with 352. He was interred with military honours at the head of Lander's grave, the noted African traveller, and the Assistant-Surgeon at the foot, and four of his people on each side. The Scout and Dolphin both caught the fever at Bonny River ; the former proceeded via Accra, to As cension ; the latter here, for medical assistance ; two bad cases were on board her when she sailed 26th May, and Second Lieutenant (Acland) of Scout (since dead), and several of Scout's people were very ill when she left Accra. The gunner had died, also the gunner of the Columbine. The Columbine sailed on 27th May, for Bonny, to afford any protection requirod by the merchant ships during the present revolution in the Government there, and which has affected the palm oil and ivory trade to such an extent that ships are leaving half full and some with nothing at all. Rolla sailed this morning on a cruise. Charybdis captured a three-masted schooner a short time back with 487 slaves on board. The Pelican is hourly expected to assume the senior officer's place in the Bights. The Lynx is at the Cape ; the Curlew at Sierra Leone and Gambia : the Buz zard will still remain in this neighbourhood, so soon as she has finished caulking and re-coppering, for which purpose she is now here, th copper being in so bad a state as to have been hanging off in sheets for a long time back." The Pembroke, 74, Capt. Moresby, was to proceed yes terday from Plymouth for the Mediterranean, calling at Lisbon with supplies for the squadron there. The Her cules, 74, Capt. J. Toup Nicholas, with the service orders, will leave Spithead in a few days ; one of these ships, how ever, will, it is expected, relieve the Malabar, 74, Captain Sir W. Montagu, which ship will be paid off on her return to England. The Cornwallis, 74, was at Halifax on the 25th July ; Champion, 18, at Quebec, July 13 ; Harrier, at Coquimbo, April 25 ; Lightning steamer, at Elsincur, on her way to Stockholm, 15th inst. ; Firebrand steamer, at Antwerp, 16th inst., to bring the King and Queen of Belgium to Eng land ; Andromache, 28, left Singapore for Acheen on the 3d March ; and the Imogene, 28, left Rio Janeiro for the Pacific, May 28th. The Barham,s2, Captain Corry, was at Gibraltar on the 16th instant, and would return to Valencia as soon as re provisioned. The Volcano steam-packet, Lieut. M'llwaine, left Gibraltar for Malta on the 11th inst. The Governor of Gibraltar has issued a notice that he has received orders to erect a light-house on European Point, for the safety of navietors approaching the Bay of Gibraltar. The Melville, 74, Captain Douglas, will be paid off on Monday, and re-commissioned by Captain the Hon. Ri chard Saunders Dundas, for the flag of Rear-Admiral the Hon. George Elliott, who succeeds Admiral Campbell in command at the Cape. The Arab transport is fitting for the Meditterranean ; and the Prince Regent and Parmelia transports for six months' service. The Pique, 36, Capt. Boxer, is destined for the Mediter ranean station. The Edinburgh, Alligator, and Hyacinth are fitting in the Basin. The Tyne will be masted next week. At Spithead—Caledonia, Hercules, Isabella Spanish steamer, True Briton, for Madras, and Berkshire, for Bombay. In HARBOUR—Britannia, Victory, Melville, Edinburgh, Excellent, Royal George, Pique, Alligator, Hyacinth, Pearl, Prince Regent, Parmelia, and Arab, transports, Mes senger steamer, and Raven cutter. In consequence of the health of Rear-Admiral Sir Ed ward Brace not allowing him to assume the arduous com• mand of the British Naval force in the Tagus he has ten dered his resignation to Lord Minto, and his Lordship has promptly named as his successor Rear-Admiral Sir John Ackworth Ommaney, recently a candidate for the represen tation of the southern part of this county. Sir John will hoist his flag in the Donegal, 78, at Plymouth ; Captain Drake will be his flag Captain ; the other officers of that ship will remain in her. APPOINTMENTS.—Capt. the Hon. Richard S. Dundas and Com. W. David Puget, to the Melville, to which ship the following officers are re-appointed :—Lieuts. T. K. Sul- livan, R. Harris, and 11. Schomberg ; Mr. John Macdo nald, master ; Mr. Isaac Nott, surgeon ; Mr. E. O'Maley, purser ; Mr. George Doak, Assistant-Surgeon ; Mr. James Jeffrey, second master ; and Mr. John Bedun, gunner, Cap tain Sir W. Elliot, C. 8., to the Royal Adelaide, vice Sykes ; Lieutenant Woodford J. Williams, from the Her cules, vice Broadhead ; Mr. C. F. Gorton, mate ; Mr. J. M. Deas, Assistant-Surgeon, vice Chambers ; and Mr. T. Turner, additional clerk to the Pique ; Lieut. R. H. Ban bury, from the Minden, to be Flag Lieutenant to the Hon. Admiral Bouverie ; Lieut. W. E. Triscott to the Pem broke ; Lieut. James Hogg and Mr. T. S. Copinger, mate, to the African steamer ; Mr. George Walker, mate, to the Edinburgh ; Lieut. Thomas Edwards, and Mr: G. C. Fowler, extra College mate, to the Alligator ; Mr. G. Heathcote, mate, and Mr. J. Allen, additional Assistant- Surgeon to the Britannia ; Mr. James 0. Macwilliams, Surgeon to the Scout ; Mr. H. G. R. Page, Assistant- Surgeon of the Melville to the Donegal ; Lieut. G. Mac adam to the Hercules ; Mr. Thomas R. 11. Thomson, hos pital mate to the Haslar ; Mr. W. Comben, additional acting master, to the Victoria for the Fearless, Mr. John Blackmore, mate, from the Minden to the Edinburgh ; Mr. F. W. Paul, late second master of the Talbot, to the Red wing steamer, at Liverpool ; Mr. Richard Singer, assistant cletk 9f the Pylades to be clerk of that ship. RdirAL MARINES.—First Lieut. D. A. Doratt to the Minden ; First Lieut. Wm. Lee to the Pembroke ; Lieut. C. C. Zioare, of the Plymouth division, has been allowed to e xcharikit with Lieut. Hamilton Fleming, of the Portsmouth division. Lieut. F. J. White, serving in the battalion of Royal Marines at Passages, was taken prisoner by the Carlists on the 15th inst. ; he was on horseback, and going from Passages to Oyarzun, when a party of Carlists surprised hi m . The circumstance was seen by some women, who conveyed information to Col. Owen at Passages, and by his application to the civil and military Spanish authori ties a parley was immediately applied for, and Mr. White's restoration as a British officer demanded. They refused to give him up, but removed him to Tolosa, with an as surance of his safety until the determination of General Gui belada, the Carlist Chief of the Province, could be obtained. Mr. White is the son of the Town Major of this Garrison. A Court of Inquiry was held on board the Saracen, in this port, on Saturday, by order of Admiral Lord Aure lius Beauclerk, before Captain F. Moresby and Com mander Aldridge, of the Pembroke, relative to the cause of Lieut. Hill's (Commander of the Saracen) withhold ing the un!al certificate from Mr. D. P. Dumaresq, late Scnior Mate of the brig. After investigating the cir cumstances the Court recommended Lieut. Hill to grant the cust omar y cer tifi ca t e , an d on M r . D umaresq ' s quit ting the ship lie was greeted with three hearty cheers from the officers and ship's company.—Plymouth Chronicle. REGULATIONS OF THE ADMIRALTY RESPECTING THE RANK, PAY, AND SUPERANNUATION OF ENGINEERS OF HER MAJESTY'S STEAM-VESSELS :- " Admiralty, August, 1837. Engineers employed in her Majesty's steam-vessels are to be appointed by warrant from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, or on death vacancies on foreign stations by the Commander-in-Chief. RANK.—To be distributed in three classes, and to rank next below carpenters, and with each other according to standing on the official list PAY AND ALLOWANCES.—First class, 91. 12s. a month, and 6d. a day for each apprentice or engineer boy placed under him for instruction ; second class, 61. 16s. a month ; third class, 41. 18s. a month, when serving within the tropics to be allowed half the amount of the pay of their respective classes in addition, during the time the steam is up, or while employed on repairs. They will also be entitled to extra pay as warrant officers, according to the scale established in the regulations of her Majesty's service at sea, when employed to repair the defects of other steam-vessels than those in which they are serving. When employed by order of their Lordships in steam-vessels, or in dock-yards, the fore going is to be considered as their full pay - ; but when borne on the books of the guardship of the ordinary of the diffe rent ports for harbour service and not so employed, engi neers to be paid as follows :-Ist class, 61. 6s. a month ; 2d, 41. 4s. do. ; 3d, 31. 3s. SUPERANNUATION.—On the scale for warrant officers of the Royal Navy, as by order in Council of the 25th Nov., 1816. No one to be eligible for the appointment of En gineer until he shall have passed such examination as the Admiralty may, from time to time, think proper to require, before the chief engineer and inspector of steam machi nery, or such other officer as their Lordships may appoint for that purpose. . . Four classes of apprentice or engineer boys are also to be established in the service of her Majesty's steam-vessels at the following rates of pay :-Ist class, 11. 14s. a month ; 2d, /. 6s. ; 3d, 11. 3s. ; 4th, 14s. 6d. By order of their Lordships, To all Flag Officers, Captains, &c. C. WOOD. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. BOW-STREET. John Callaghan, charged with embezzling various sums of money, received by him on account of the parish of St. Paul, Covent-garden, was brought up for final examination. Alter evidence had been heard, Mr. Phillips said he was prepared to prove several similar cases against the prisoner, if the Magistrate thought it ne cessary. Mr: MlNsituLL said there was no occasion to proceed any further, as he had made up his mind to commit the pri soner for trial. The prisoner's solicitor requested that he might be re manded to the prison from whence he came, instead of being sent to Newgate. _ Mr. MINSHULL had no objection to that course being adopted, and would remand the prisoner until Monday week ; but it must he understood that he was already com mitted for trial, and when brought up again, would be com mitted in the usual way. MARLBORO UGH-STREET. A SLIGHT MISTAKE.—Mr. Warren, the landlord of a public-house in Piccadilly, was charged with assaulting a young man of the name of Ashell. The complainant, a gentleman's servant, resident next door to the defendant, and on Monday night, after he bad gene up stairs to bed, he was induced to get upon the para pet for the purpose of viewing the fireworks at Vauxhall. Having satisfied his curiosity he returned to his bed, but he had not there a second before the defendant rushed into his room and began to pummel him most unmercifully, and tore his shirt off his back. Mr. CHAMBERS—WeII, Sir, what do you say to this charge ?—Mr. Warren (who is a remarkably powerful man), in reply said he considered he had sufficient grounds for acting in the way which had been stated. Between eleven and twelve o'clock on the night in question his cook came running down stairs with only her night-clothes oa, followed by his niece, who informed him that a man was peeping in at their bedroom window. On hearing this he ran up stairs, and immediately got out of the window on the parapet. Not seeing any person about the place he in stantly proceeded to the adjoining house and saw the attic window open and the complainant in the act of getting into bed. This left no doubt on his mind as to who was the person who had annoyed his cook and niece, and he cer tainly did give him a sound thrashing. Mr. CHAMBERS—WeII, young gentleman, what do you say to peeping in at the bedroom window of the young women ?—Complainant—l did not go near the window. Defendant—My niece and cook are present. Mr. CHAMBERS—Come, we will hear the statements of the young women. The cook, who was not altogether unlike a balloon in appearance, being sworn, stated that while she was undres sing herself her attention was drawn to the window by ob serving something flicker before it. On looking up she saw a man peeping at her, on which she became alarmed, and ran down stairs and gave the alarm. Mr. CHAMBERS—Can you say that the person nho was looking at you was the complainant ? Cook— I can not say, for whenever I looked up he drew his face away. Defendant—Perhaps my niece can identify the com plainant ? Mr. Warren's niece was then called, and cor roborated the evidence of the last witness. Mr. CHAMBERS—Look at the young man, and tell me if he is the person. Miss Warren—l have no occasion to look at him, for I have seen the villain's face too often. Mr. CHAMBERS—Oh, a love affair ! Miss Warren—Certainly not ; and if I could have got at him I would have scratched his eves out. Mr. CHAMBERS—Young gentleman, you have brought this upon yourself, and I think, Sir, (addressing the de fendant), that one shilling fine is sufficient for the assault. Mr. Warren--Fortunately for the complainant I did not find him on the parapet ; if I had I would have flung him into the street, for no one but a scoundrel would go and peep at two females when they were retiring to rest. Mr. DYER, concurring with Mr. CHAMBERS, ordered the defendant to pay a fine of one shilling, and discharged the warrant. MAR YLEB ONE. A miserable half-naked female, with a squalid infant in her arms, whose attenuated forms denoted that the gaunt hand of famine was upon them, implored the assistance of the sitting Magistrate, Mr. THISSELTON. The applicant, in a hollow, sepulchral tone of voice, proceeded to state that she was formerly living in St. Pan cras parish in affluent circumstances ; but, having had the misfortune to lose her husband, who was a respectable tradesman, some years ago, she became reduced to the appalling state of misery she now appeared in. Having exhausted every means, she at length applied to her parish as the last resource, hoping by this means to save herself and helpless offspring. But in this she was mistaken, and was spurned away, and her application for relief treated with the most unfeeling levity. Stung almost to madness by th• pangs of hunger, and the imploring and heart-rend ing cries of her sinking and exhausted children, she made several other applications for relief, and encountered similar treatment, and she now implored the Magistrate to inter pose and save her and her family from a lingering and pre mature dissolution from famine, which must inevitably oc cur, unless she obtained some relief. The child she had with her had not tasted food since the previous day. The MAGISTRATE, who appeared to commiserate with the poor creature's sufferings, told her that he regretted extremely that he had no power since the passing of the New Poor Law Act, to interfere in parish affaira. The business of St. Pancras parish was generally transacted at Hatton-garden Office, and she might, if she thought pro per, apply there, but he feared she would receive the same answer. The applicant then withdrew with a heavy heart. UNION-HALL. A question of considerable importance relative to the lia bility of pawnbrokers to make restitutio❑ to parties who pledged property at their shops, and which property was subsequently stolen from the pawnbroker, was heard before the Magistrates at this office. , A Mrs. Blake pledged a diamond ring, value ten gui neas, at the shop of Mr. Walton, a pawnbroker, of Dock head. The ring, with other articles of a similar descrip tion, was deposited in a drawer in the pawnbroker's shop, and on the 27th of July the shop was broken into, and the ring, together with the whole of the other articles of jew ellery, were stolen. Since the robbery Mrs. Blake applied to redeem the ring, upon which occasion she was informed of the robbery, and told that she could have no compensa tion under the circumstances. She, therefore, applied at this office, to ascertain whether the pawnbroker could not be compelled to compensate her for the loss of her ring. Mr. Walton attended without a summons, and having described the particulars of the robbery, said that since it occurred the owners of other articles which had been stolen on the occasion had made application to him for res titution, but he had refused to comply, on the ground that he was not liable. Mr. liumPHans, for the pawnbroker, was prepared to argue the question, and cite cases to show that a pawn broker could not be compelled, under such circumstances, to make good pledges stolen from his shop. The question with respect to firs; brcahing out in pawnhrol.cpm 9 1 101 .v.c, s. hers propcy belonging to per.x;n c a tte.trop!sl, hail al ready been decided in favour of the trade, as to their non liability to make restitution to the sufferers. Mr. TRAIL was of opinion that Magistrates were not vested with the power of deciding in such a case as the one in question. He, however, advised the owner of the ring to consult some respectable attorney as to whether it would be worth her while to bring an action at common law against Mr. Walton for compensation for the loss of her ring. LIVERPOOL COTTON-MARKET, Aua. 26. The demand for Cotton has been kept up through the week with spirit, and we have again an extensive business to report. Holders have shown no reluctance to effect sales at current rates, and we make no alteration in the quotations for American. Brazils have throughout been in good demand at improving rates, and may be quoted 44. higher, at which advance the market is barely supplied. Egyptians are not freely offered, and are 1 4d. higher. In Sea Islands sales to a considerable extent had been made at prices lid. above our last week's quotations. Surats continue in good demand, and are lid. higher. During the week 3,500 American and 1,200 Surat have been taken on speculation, and 1,700 American and 1,200 Surat and Madras for export. d. d. 1 d. d. 620 Sea Islands l3 to 27 Demeraras .... oto 0 n_. 10 Stained ditto 7 0 50 P eruv i ans ..... 0 4,060 Uplands 5 74 ( 210 Laguayras 6 ,1 -- 7k 4,490 Mobile, &c. ... 5* 7i 3,800 Surats .... 11,610 New Orleans 4i El l Bengals ... o— 0 890 Egyptians 8 —l3 1 Carthagenas ... 0 0 1,210 Pernams, &c .Bi —lO I Manilla 0 0 490 Bahias 1,550 Nlaranhams 7 —9i Barbadoes Sawginned 6i 7 — Smyrna o— 0 We have had a quiet market to-day, but holders are very stiff, and no symptoms of yielding in prices are at all apparent ; the salmi amount to 2,500 bags. Taken on speculation thi s year .. . Same in 1836 .. Forwarded to the country unsold this year 44,290 Same in 1836 Increase of import this year compared with the same date last year Increase of stock Decrease of quantity taken for consumption 4,000 Decrease of quantity taken for export ... 15,915 Comparative View of the Imports and Exports of Cotton into and from the whole Kingdom, from the Ist of January to the 19th inst., and of the Imports and Exports for the same period last year : Into the Kingdom this year. Bags. American South American West Indies, Demerara, &c. ... 3,784 East Indies Egypt, &c. Total of all descriptions Same period last year. Bs- American South American West Indies, Demerara, &c. East Indies t 115,611 Egypt, &c. - 855,576 Increase of Imports as compared with same period last year Exports in 1837. American, 36,605; Brazil, 2,655; East India, 43,082; West Italia, —; Other kinds, —. Total in 1837 Same period last year Stock. . _ Aug. 25, 1837 307,400 Same time, 1836 ~. 255,900 During the five months that Louis XVI. remained incarcerated in the Temple he is said to have read 1.57 volumes of different kinds, a fact that seems to announce a remarkable degree of self-possession during a situation cal culated to awaken the most anxious and painful feelings. He was surpassed, however, by Madame de Stael, who tells us that at fifteen years of age she read, on one occasion, 600 novels in three months. Even supposing that she skipped more than half, she must still have had a tough set of nerves to despatch at the rate of six novels a day. DR. GRANVILLE'S "SPAS OF GERMANY."---"' The mineral waters of Germany have long been resorted to by such vast numbers of invalids and travellers from this country that it is singular that no work has been published , until the one now before us, describing these spas in scientific manner. The reader will find in Dr. Granville's book a fuller, a more minute, and a more practical account of the German mineral springs than has ever been before presented to the public, and conveyed, too, in popular and pleasing form ; so lively and amusing, indeed, are the volumes, that the author actually apologises in his preface for the light and varied style in which he has treated the subject.—Caledonian Mercury. On Friday morning a hostile meeting took place at half-past six o'clock on Wimbledon Common. between Captain Alexander Briscoe, residing in Sloane-streer, Chel sea, and Francis Hemmings, Esq., a gentleman residing s Great Brompton. Having arrived on the ground, at tended by their seconds and a surgeon, they proceeded to the Common, where the seconds measured the ground, twelve paces ; the parties fired together by signal, without either pistol taking effect. The seconds endeavoured to bring about a reconciliation, but without effect. The pis tols being re-loaded they both again fired, Captain Briscoe receiving the contents of his antagonist's pistol through the pistol arm, above the e lb ow , an d M r . H emm i ngs those of the Captain's through his left thigh. Captain Briscoe ad vanced to his antagonist, and they both shook hands- After their wounds were dressed, they returned to their respective homes with their friends. The cause of the meeting did not transpire. Extract of a letter from St. Petersburgh, of the 9th inst. ;—" The Emperor was present a few days ago a t some practices of the artillery, in exploding mines from a great distance, the ignition being produced by means of galvanism. Two bridges were blown up ; but in a cting upon the second, the experiment had been very n early' fatal to the Emperor. The charge was either too power ful, or a false calculation of the distance was made. Th e force of the explosion was so great that an immense be am several other l arge f ragmen t s f e ll severa l yar d s behind the spot where his Majesty was stationed. He did not show the slightest emotion ; and desired that neither the inventor of the process, nor the officer who bad the direc tion of the experiment, should be subjected to any repri mand. Having, however, afterwards learnt that a g unner had been mortally wounded, his Majesty ordered the o fficer to be put under arrest, but the next morning he was set Sit liberty." NEGRO DEVOTION AT SIERRA LEONE.—Eve r y evening, about eight o'clock, the sound of psalmody wa s heard from a neighbouring chapel, where a coloured black smith officiated, whose lungs were most stentorian. So ol ' times the doors were closed, and one or two of the coo - " found the Lord," as these deluded p eo ple igua; tined ; when the most frightful yells and screams proceed*" from the premises. The pilots at Sierra Leone are gen e ' rally preachers ; and there are at least thirty chapels be' longing to different sects, built and supported by the libe rated Africans themselves.—Alexamic r ' s Colonies of We t " tern Africa. --- - LADIES' BEST GOLD CHAINS" The weight is given by comparison with the weight of Soversign!" being more easily referred to than if stated in ounces and tis e 9 j The quality of the gold is w arran t e d equa l to any that is To"' into articles of this description. Price of the Cable Pattern, £ s. Same weight as 3 SOTS. 4 4 0 Ditto as 4 sovs. 5 5 0 Ditto as 5 sovs. 6 6 0 Price of the above Patterns, vvi' every X s. d. X .• 0 Same weight as 3 sovs. 55 0 Same weight as 6 sovs. 8 0 Ditto as 4 sovs. 66 0 Ditto as 7 epos. 9 0 Ditto as 5 sov s . 7 7 0 Di tto as 8 sovs.lo 1‘, 71 THE NEW FLAT GOLD WATCHES. I 0 The price in gold cases, w i t h vertical movements .........£7 Ditto, with well-finished horizontal movements, in double bottomed engine -turned case, jewelled, silver dial, 0 warranted T. Cox SAVORY'S, Working Silver sm ith and Jeweller, 47, Cornhill, Lend°ll.oded N.B. The horizontal C onstruct i on is particularly recoavu e for its superior accuracy. or Matted Ring Pattern. j s• • Same weight as 6 $OY$ . 7 7 0 Ditto as 7 sovs. 8 8 I Ditto as 8 sovs. 9 9 th bright star ornamen ts Cut „a link. BIRTHS. Jo J On the 25th i ns t., at t h e Grove, Clapham-common, Mrs . Overbury, of a d aug h ter. - OW' On the 19th i nst . , at P ark, Aberdeenshire, the wife °. f j Shepherd, E sq ., o f a son. On the 20th i nst. , at N ew Peckham, the wife of Joseph l'''' jun., Esq., of a son. hte• On the 22d i ns t.. at P utney, Mrs. Charles Shillito, of a dauf,6lr.. On the 15th i nst., t h e lady of the ROY. T. Hatch, Vicar '4 ton-on-Thames, of a son . wife o ' , On the 25th i ns t., at S t. Anne ' s -road, Kennington, the J. Rogers, Esq., of a sen. A ., of On the 25th i ns t., at t h e R ectory, Ilartwell, B uc k s , the i". 7 the Rev. H. J. Phillips, of a daughter. ci l earief On the Lz4th inst., at Stratford Green, Essex, Mrs. of twin daughters, who survived only a short time. ___________---.' MA R /ED. On the 24th inst., at St. Mary's, Islington, Edward Over, ."1„ of St Cath er i ne H a ll, Cambridge, to Sarah, daughter of F. girl' liff, F.sq., of Canonbury- square. rd On the 24th inst., at Eccles Church, Henry, son of h a t r Hodgson, Esq., of Ashfield, near Manchester, to Sophia, daug - R. E. Cunliffe, Esq., of Leaf-square, Pendleton. On the 24th inst , at East Ham Church, Essex, Thomas,,,„. Glascott, Eq., to Harriett, youngest daughter of W. Morley, DIED. 'pis? On the 29th of June last, at St. Mary's, on the River Gan) John Daniel Tebs, Es., srgeon to tliat olony. fr • On the 25th inst., at q Pen u tonville, Mary C Ann, daughter of Campbell, of the General Pos , office, aged 17. On the 23d inst., at Park-road, Dalston, Theophilus 8r °64136' Esq., aged 74. London: Printed and Publisdled by MURDO YOOls6 ,°l oo l4 r 112 , Strand, at The Sun Office, N n . 11". Strand, in th e " of Middlesex.—Monday, August 28, 1837.