The Sun. — London, England, 1835-01-27 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. - The speech of Sir Robert Peel at the Tamworth dinner on the 16th inst, of which we gave some days ago, from another journal, a short and uncorrected quo :talon, has since been published in the Staffordshire 'Advertiser at full le•se,th, and in a form which appears to be authentic. This is a striking exposition of the sentiments of the. Right Hon. Baronet, more animated than his written address to the same community, and more apposite and interesting at the present moment, because it treats, and, in our judgment, settles, with masterly power and truth, some points which have •been most fiercely mooted since the appearance of the first address to Tamworth, and which, while they re mained disputable, were of a nature to leave the conduct of the Right Honourable Baronet exposed to much and unme:itcd suspicion. It is notorious with what impusience a conspiracy of the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel, to destroy the -former Ministry, and usurp its place, was assumed by ,all the present Opposition journals, and vollies of malignant execrations were heaped upon the plot, so taken for granted, and its authors. The gross injus tice thus offered to the Sovereign and his new coun sellors was denounced by this and some contemporary newspapers : assurances were given that the whole case was misrepresented, that a monstrous injury was inflicted upon honourable men, and a flagrant outrage offered to the first personage in the realm. The clamour, nevertheless, in no degree subsided ; the same lies were repeated in the same words, the fury of the winds or waves might as well have been deprecated as the rage of dismissed and disappointed faction. But Sir Robert Peel noticed this iniquitous clamour, and by the late speech -of the Right Hon. Baronet it has, we think, been silenced effectually. Instead of con spiring to return to office, - Sir Robert Peel de clares, " upon the honour of a gentleman," that he ' left " England, never dreaming of office, or the re turn to it." " That he left England without one word of previous communication with his illustrious friend the Duke of Wellington, as to his intention of quitting England at all, and of course without a word either as to the place of his destination or the period of his a.lsence ;" and he put it to the meeting, as indeed he may safely put it to all reasonable men, whether he would, with any designs upon office, have left England at all, or at least have left it without a word of communication to his most intimate friend and confidant upon political matters. Thus falls, and sinless we are mistaken, not to rise again, one grand topic of abuse against the present Government, rest ing, as it did, upon a monstrous and convicted false hood. The hardship which the partisans of the ex- Ministers would entail upon the King, viz., that of being forced to adhere, under all circumstances, how ever discouraging, to any one fragment of the liberal Ministry which might pertinaciously cling to office, after almost all its original members had retired from it, is well exposed by his Majesty's present Prime Minister. Now we shall never retract our own early and repeated declarations, that the King's dismis sal of the late Government, under all the then ap parent circumstances of the case, was abrupt, pre mature, inconvenient, and unfortunate for the coun try, which would itself have dismissed the Mel bourne Cabinet before many months should have expired, even had his Majesty been ever so well disposed to retain th em . B u t th e groun d o f the condemnation passed by the Radicals upon the Sovereign, and transferred from him to his present ad visers, is somewhat different from the ground of our regret. They insist on turning an ordinary and con stitutional exercise of the Sovereign's discretion into an unpleeedented crime, and although of the original Government of Lord Grey, not h a lf in respec t of-per sons, and a still less portion in point of ability or weight, as estimated by public opinion, held seats in the Melbourne Cabinet, the King must by their rea soning have no choice but such as would equally bind him to one, and that the most insignificant, member of the whole Whig party, should that one be the last and most reluctant to qu i t his hold of office. But again, Sir R. Peel and his colleagues must either be enemies to the Reform principle, or by conforming to it, prove themselves devoid of all public' principle whatever. What says the Minister upon this dogma of the candid Whigs ? He bids them first explain to him what they signify by " a Reformer," a term of which we are apt to suspect it would be difficult to devise a definition equally agreeable to the Whigs and Radicals, or even to any haft' dozen members- of the Whig Government itself. Sir Robert Peel might remind his Whig assailants that more than half of their professed supporters—to wit, the Radicals—n the former Parliament, almost worried them to death for being , said the Radicals, f a l se to t h e reform principle—in o ther words, not Reformers. Sir Robert does remind them that he himself voted with Lord Althorp and Lord John Russell against five or six motions which by th e R a di ca l s were maintained to be Reform motions, but to which the above Reform Mi nisters, as to Sir Robert Peel, appeared no other than revolutionary motions : of whom, then, the advocates of such motions or their enemies, can it be with most Robert predicated th a t th e y were R e f ormers ? I s Si r Robert Peel to be termed an apostate for still agreeing on many points with Lords Althorp and John Russell as he did before ? Is he, as he himself asks, an apostate, supposing he does " enforce economy, reduce unnecessary offices, facilitate commercial en terprise, or remove impediments from the course of justice ? " He may not agree in regarding as an abuse that which Mr. Joseph Hume or Mr. Daniel O'Connell (if the latter be in Parliament) shall choose to designate an abuse. He may deem a proposed " re medy ' worse than an imputed disease ; but is he for either of such examples of dissent from the quack doctors of the constitution, to be set down as a foe to the real and substantial cure of recognized gri evances ? As he pr ou dl y d ec l ares hi mse lf, " he has done mc,re in the cause of real and substantial improvement than nine-tenths of those who call themselves Reformers," —men who throw the greatest obstruction in. the way of real reform—wh o consume the public time in use less motions—who make speeches for niere display-- who condemn every thing as wrong, P:nd set nothing right—who soar above the vulgar task, of devising prac tical remedies themselves, and leas:e no time to others to devise them. Sir Robert Pe e l, it seems to us, may dispense in future with any o'oliaation to disprove the charge of his apostacy, as Irma; as of his conspiracy with the King and the Duke of Wellington to under mine the Melbourne As:iministration. However, the most important passa,,,Ter of the speech i s th a t w hi c h contains the Right Hon.' Baronet's judgment as to the character of the -new House of Commons, and the like lihood of its rendering him such a support as will enable him to carry on the Government. The worm wood of the whole composition will appear to a certain class of Ctsto lit ical read ers t o b e concentrate d i n t h at One sentvis6 but to the great bulk of our unbiassed county: l men it will be a• wholesome and palateable The batteries which the Whig-Radical Press had been ordered to re-open upon Sir Charles Manners Sutton have thrown out much more smoke than fire. But all that smoke will not have the effect of blinding the eyes of the public to the real merits of the ques tion. The public know that Sir C. M. Sutton is struck at in the furious way in which he has been as sailed, not because any individual can be named whose qualifications for filling the 'Chair of the House of Commons can for a single instant be placed in com petition with his, but because the faction that intended, and openly avowed the intention of making the King's exercise of his constitutional prerogative the subject of a vote of censure, have discovered from the turn which the elections have taken, that such a step would ex pose them to certain and ridiculous discomfiture at the ,very opening of the campaign. Seeing this to be the case, but not yet abandoning their project of trying to oust the Ministers before the country shall have had any opportunity of judging of their measures, the Whig-Radicals have thought it a more prac ticable effort of hostility to oppose the re-election of sir C. M. Sutton to the Speaker's Chair. They flatter themselves that if they succeed in that ef fort, the - Ministers would be compelled to resign, without receiving that " fair trial" which they have asked, or rather without receiving any trial at all ; and the consequence would be the triumph of the allied ▪ lorcia,tharmgrch under the associated-banner s of the i., Whii'aia.EK4ructive battalions, to the establishment . k--- ' '• mo t , o :4 :" ,- •,i;;41 1 °. . . '4' of a wild democracy, on the ruins of our mixed Con stitution. The idea of passing a vote of censure upon the King, for that was, in reality, the . meaning of the original project of the Whig Radicals, was so extrava gant and monstrous that it could have no other effect than to rouse the deep and general - . indignation of the country against the Whig-Radicals, and to cause con stitutional and loyal addresses to pour into the Throne from all parts. The people of England, who have so strongly spoken out at the elections, would not patiently and silently look on while the agents of the " Work house Government" offered such an insult to the So vereign, whom only a few months ago they extolled as the most patriotic and liberal Monarch that ever reigned in England. But the opposition to any par ticular individual proposed by the Government for the office of Speaker has nothing in it indecorous or un constitutional. To propose a competitor for the Chair in opposition to the Ministerial candidate is fair enough, and ought to be encouraged whenever it is not undertaken from factious motives, but with a view to procure a better man for that important office than the candidate who has the support of Govern ment. In the present instance it is universally allowed that no man is so well qualified for the situation of Speaker as Sir C. Manners Sutton. The only ob jection made to him is that of being a Conservative ; and those who make that objection say that it is ne cessary to have in the Chair of the House of Com mons a person of strict impartiality. Now, on this very score of impartiality the strongest testimony has been borne to Sir C. M. Sutton by his political adversaries. The Whig Ministers, when they proposed him to pre side over the first reformed Parliament, alluded to his many pre-emiment qualifications for that office, and among others his total disregard of political predilec tions in the Chair. 'What then has the Right .Hon. Gentleman done since that time to forfeit the public confidence ? He obeyed the summons of the King when the fag-end of the Whig Ministry, from which Lord Grey was obliged to disconnect himself, was dis missed. This is at least misprison of treason towards the Whig-Radical faction, .and therefore a more impartial person must be chosen for the office of Speaker in the person of some vehement partisan of that faction, such as Mr. Abercromby, Mr. Littleton, or Mr. Spring Rice. Since those names have been mentioned, indeed, and not received by the public with any great favour, the name of another candidate has been introduced ; but we doubt that it is with his own consent. The Whig-Radical Press, that lavished no small measure of vituperation on Sir James Graham for dissociating himself from the Whig Cabinet, when he found it mistaking the road of de struction for that of reform, now laud him as an object of their warmest admiration, and set him up as a rival to, Sir C. Manners Sutton. Sir James Graham is certainly a man of most respectable character, of con siderable Parliamentary talent, and, we believe, an honest politician ; but in point of qualification for the Chair of the House of Commons, there can he no sort of, comparison between him and the Right Hon. Gen tleman who has so long presided over the representative assembly of Great Britain, with so much credit to himself and advantage to the public business of the country. We doubt very much, indeed, that Sir James Graham would allow himaelf to be made the " cat's paw" in this matter of a party with whom he could not continue to sit in the Councils of his Majesty. Be sides, he has pledged himself to support the Ministers, if they introduce good measures ; but the question just now raised about the Speakership is for the purpose of effecting the turning out of the Ministers, before they can submit their measures to parliament. If the thing should, indeed, be attempted, we believe that, whoever may be the opposing candidate to Sir Charles M. Sutton, it will be a decided and signal failure. Since writing the above, we have been informed that Mr. Spring Rice, whom we were the first to name as the competitor of the late Speaker, has not abandoned the idea of contesting the Chair of the new House of Commons. We have reason to believe that an active canvass is going on for him at this moment. So then, by the way of securing an impartial Speaker, the Whig-Radical party propose to place in the Chair a vehement partisan of their own faction ! This is a strange avay of securing impartiality. It reminds us of the Irish prisoner who said that he could not have just'.ce or a fair trial unless his " own faction" were put upon the jury. It may be very well for the Whigs to have their own nominee in the Chair, hut it will not be so well for the country, nor for the'House of Com mons. The new House of Commons will want an experienced, judicious, learned, and able Speaker ; no man unites the qualities which constitute an efficient President of a popular, and, at the same time, a delibe rative assembly, in such perfection as the Right Hon. Gentleman, who by the concurrent testimony of all parties, was selected as the best qualified to preside over the first reformed House of Commons.—Morning Herald. There is one fact connected with the recent general election in England and Wales which ought not to be overlooked or unnoticed by the friends of the Constitu tion. The fact to which we refer is the generous con fidence reposed by the Conservative body in the candi dates who sought their suffrages on the principles of attachment to the King, and reverence for the ecclesi astical and civil institutions of the land. Pledges were neither offered nor exacted, the sole assurance given by the gentleman who desirod the Representa tive trust to the constituency at whose hand s he r.xed it, was the expressed determination of mar aining the just prerogatives of the Crown and-+. 1 .1e liberties of the people, •;;Vhose co-existence is '.7iclispensable to the se curity of either. It is wel; - known that the agricultural in'kerests expect (wht`:ner reasonably or not it is unne cessary now to 'inquire) that great relief would accrue to them from the repeal of the malt tax; the householder of towns desires with equal anxiety the abolition of the window duty; the conscientious Dissenter looks forward to the redress of those grievances which may Tex and annoy him; the zealous Churchman seeks the re moval of those defects which may in his judgment im pair the efficiency or diminish the usefulness of the admirable establishment of which he is a member ; 3et have none of these parties pressed their claims or wishes upon the persons whose duty it will be to attend to and deliberate upon them, convinced that whatever can be effected can best be executed by the Noblemen and Gentlemen to whom the Sovereign has been gra ciously pleased to entrust the administration of affairs. We will take first the repeal of the malt tax. Two Cabinet Ministers, Sir Edward Knatchbull and Mr. Baring, are the Representatives of agricultural dis tricts, inferior to no , part of the United Kingdom in importance and intelligence. Faction was ready to throw the apple of discord ; there was, however, none to pick it up. An opposition was indeed talked of both in Kent and Essex, but no one could be found venturous or fool-hardy enough to en counter a certain and disgraceful defeat. Yet we imagine that the electors of those counties are not less anxious for relief than others, but they know well that they are safe in the hands of their able and high principled Representatives, whose deliberative functions they are unwilling to suspend by demanding a pledge the fulfilment of which may be (for the present at least) utterly impracticable. Again, Leicester and Norwich are important manufacturing places, whose inhabitants would be greatly benefited by the abolition of the duties upon windows ; nevertheless the loyal electors of those towns, convinced that Sergeant Goul burn and Lord Stormont possess the two requisites, of "prudence and good-will," insisted upon by the great moral philosopher of the ancients, fettered them by no declarations upon that topic, leaving them with the most perfect confidence to the free and entire use of their judgment on that as on otlier questions of im portance. Nor are we to suppose that the Christian Dissenter (always to be distinguished from the poli tical sectarian) of Exeter and Yarmouth desires less the removal of real and bowl fide grievances now than he did a few months back. He is, how ever, certain that Sir William Follett and Mr. Praed will do all in their power to forward his legiti mate views, and be repudiates with indignation the idea of binding such men by specific promises and ab solute engagements, whatever might have been his disposition towards the Proteus-like persons of the defunct Administration. But is the Churchman of Oxford or Cambridge anxious that the abuses and de fects which may have in the lapse of time crept into our admirable and unrivalled ecclesiastical A THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1835. ment. should be removed ? Does he demand a pledge of Sir Robert Inglis or Mr. Goulburn to a particular measure for the attainment of that very_desirable end ? No ; he leaves it in perfect and full security to the excellent men who represent his interests, convinced that whatever can be executed by integrity and abi lity, will be effected by the combined zeal and energy which characterise the proceedings of their public life. We have thus, we think, fully illus trated the fact, whose value and importance no reasonable person can deny. What remains to be done ? Time should be granted, freely and liberally, by the constituency of the empire for the enactment of the measures about to be proposed by the executive body to the great council of the nation. No greater civil calamity can befal a State than hasty and inconsi derate legislation, for to the positive injury of evil done by this course is to be added the negative mis chief of good neglected. Better, then, a little delay in the first instance than crude and undigested plans, pretty and specious in theory, but impracticable when applied to the real purposes of life. We, indeed, en tertain, a full, perfect, and entire confidence, a confi dence shown by the great majority of the people of England, that the new Administration will effect more real reforms, work out more solid and permanent ad vantages to the British nation, than any preceding Ministry for many years past. Our confidence is based on a sound foundation—on the characters of the men composing the present Government—on their intellect, station, and vast stake in the welfare of the country.— Mornino- Post. The project of the Church of England Reform, of which we gave an abridged account from the Standard on Saturday last, and which has since been re-echoed through the columns of the Tory press, as the basis, at least, of the Ministerial plan, if not also a com plete and fair outline of the whole of it—is, notwith standing the pretensions with which it is put forward and promulgated, in order that it may be seen how the clergy, on the one hand, and the laity, on the other, may be disposed towards its adoption— is precisely the sort of measure which might have been expected from an Administration struggling for existence—hampered by previous professions and previous practice—afraid of going too far in the way of Church Relorm, lest the Church should turn and rend it in pieces, as, with the aid of the Court, it tore, and rent, and destroyed the last Administration—still more afraid of being expelled from office by the voice of a disappointed and indignant people, and therefore yielding something to them, in the hope of procuring thereby some mitigation of their re sentment—and, in consequence, so sunk in difficulties, and so devoid of my other stable purpose but the mere retention of power ; as to have produced a scheme which will satisfy no one— Monstrum horrendum atque informo, Cui lumen ademptum! —a thing without a name—a double-faced monster, full of hypocrisy and fraud—stroking down the Church with one hand, and with the other cutting its throat— exclaiming, with one voice to the people, " See how I am about to hew down the high places of iniquity I" and with another, " Behold how ye shall be made to feed on the green pastures, and to drink out of the re freshing streams which flow from the persevering toil of an industrious and already overburdened people !" That such is the true character of the measure will be seen at once, when stripped of the vague explanations which accompany it, and the unmeaning froth of words in which it is enveloped. What of good there is in it, belongs to the public voice, not of to-day, but of more than the last half century—what of evil, is purely the offspring of Toryism, and so far overbalances the good as to excite,astonishrnent that Sir Robert Peel, who is neither a fanatic nor a fool, but a man of common sense, should have ever dreamed either of lending his sanction to it, or of imagining that it would ever be agreed to by the people of a free and enlightened country. The secret, however, of such a strange jumble it is not so very difficult to find out. The common-sense part of the scheme belongs unquestionably to Sir Robert—the other, the fanatical project of proselytism, to that section of the Cabinet which rejoices in the names of Knatchbull and Roden, and has now, if we mistake not, inflicted a deadly blow not only upon a measure which might otherwise have commanded some portion of the respect of the country, but upon its more liberal section, which boasts of Peel and Lyndhurst for its chiefs. Thus has the monster been begotten which, alike hateful to friends and foes, is destined, like its imaginary proto type, Frankenstein, not only to affright from their propriety, but to pursue to their very death, those by whom it has been begotten. To come to particulars, however, the scheme is as follows : " 1. Provision for the ultimate extinction, and for the pre sent diminution, as far as respect for existing interests will permit, of the practice of pluralism. " 2. Respect being still had to existing interests, the friends of chapters and other collegiate institutions, not con nected with the Universities, may be rendered available to a certain extent ; still reserving enough to provide for the re wards of learning, exertion, and piety. " 3. The abolition of commendams hereafter, by an equaliza tion of the labours of the several bishops, and the adjustment of incomes, in due proportion to these equalized duties." So far so well. If the above project come short of what the public has a right to expect, there is nothing in it which can be objected to, except that it is a theft from th e Whi g book of Church Reform, and is impu dently rf:llmed upon the public as of Tory origin and T:6ry manufacture. But for what follows, the most ample credit is to be given to the Tories. It is theirs by birth and by adoption, and Heaven forbid that we, or our friends, should lay claim even to the smallest shred of the garments in which the new Guy Fawkes has been swaddled ! " 4. The providing or resident, accessible, and efficient re ligious teachers for every family in England and Wales, whe ther congregated in manufacturing towns, or dispersed through agricultural districts." That is to say, the mission of an additional band of Church of England crusaders into all those pacts of the kingdom where the Church is at a discount—dis sent from its discipline and doctrines triumphant — and the erection of more new churches, curaeles, rec tories, &c.—at the expense of whom ? Why, of a people overburthened with taxation—groaning under the oppression of a national debt—not favourable to the extension of the domination of the Church of England—and of whom nearly two-thirds are Dis senters, feeling that they have no right to con tribute to the support of a clergy, and a faith, and a discipline, of which they do not approve, and who will assuredly lift up their voices as one man e not only in order to oppose such a notorious scheme of ex action and proselytism, but to get rid of all the mani fold grievances of which they have so much just right to complain I Let them cry aloud and spare not— for, verily, the enemy is come nigh unto their gates ! But on what pretence is this notable scheme brought forward ?—for what purpose ? 'Why, on the one hand, that dissent prevails, because there is not suffi cient accommodation in the national churches for those who are friendly to the national church—and, on the other, that Dissenters and Church of England men may come to blows for the sole purpose of dividing their strength, and placing their uni ted power in the hands of the Government ! Divide et impera is the basis of it, on the part of one section of the Cabinet—propagandism on that of the other. But is it the fact that there is not a sufficient number of churches to accommodate those who be long to the Church of England ? Look around, friends of the Church, and say that such is the fact. Where is it that the casual and willing hearer can not find a seat ? Where is it that there are not more churches than hearers ? 'Where is it that there ate hearers sufficient to fill the churches which are already built ? In making these observations, we beg to be understood as not making a part of those who are unfriendly to a national Church Establish ment. We are friendly to such an establishment, based on a proper foundation ; and it is because we are unfriendly either to any invasion by such an esta blishment of the just rights of others, or any invasion of wha.t we deem to be its just rights, that we de nounce the misbegotten monster of the Peel and Roden school. Do justice to the working clergy—equalise the incomes as far as, consistently with the discharge of duties, and the proper reward or genius and talent, they can be equalised—let talent In the Church be rewarded as talent is rewarded in all other professions —let every Clergyman of the Church have, as he ought to have, the income which befits a gentleman wily has ten . pended a large sum upon his education—. put - an end to church-rates and all other-burdens which bear upon those who do not belong to the Church ; and what more does the country want ? What more does it require ? What more do the great body of the clergy wish for ? To talk of the building of more churches in the present day, when those already built are not half filled, is to return to the age of darkness, and to raise enemies to the Church where enemies did not previously exist. Verily, were we to speak in the spirit of party, we might say of the authors of this notable scheme of national taxation—" the Lord hath delivered our enemies into our hands."—Morning Advertiser. Our opinion of Sir Robert Peel was not so low as to prepare us for the gross untruth in his history of the Melbourne Ministry. The Tory writers have found it convenient to identify the Grey and Melbourne Governments ; but we did not suppose it possible that the Chief of the Ministry would attempt to ground his accession to office upon the same false pretence. We expected, at least, more ingenuity from Sir R. Peel ; but in this respect we may have been unreasonable, for it is probable that the most consummate art could make nothing better of so bad a case. When we see such a master of the plausibilities as the Premier having recourse to a notorious untruth, we have most decisive evidence of the hopelessness of his cause. There is the wildness of despair in the attempt to place to the discredit of the Melbourne Ad ministration the secessions from the Grey Go vernment ; nay, the resignation of Lord Grey himself, the breaking up of his own Ministry, is numbered among the weaknesses of the Melbourne Government. This is, indeed, but another version of the wolf's quarrel with the lamb—" If it was not you it was your grandfather, and that's all the same." By the resignations of Lord Stanley, Sir James Graham, the Duke of Richmond, and Lord Ripon, the Grey Ministry got rid of the impediments to the reform of the Irish Curch. This was the defecation of the Government. Lord Althorp tendered his re signation, it will be remembered, upon the difference with Lord Grey as to the re-enactment of the political clauses in the'Coercion Act, and Lord Grey then with drew ; upon which the King sent for Lord Melbourne, and charged him with the formation of a new Ministry. This change was so material that it allowed of Lord Althorp's return to office, though Sir R. Peel has the effrontery to assert that Lord Althorp retired from the Government which his party supplanted. With re spect to the policy towards Ireland it was certain that the Melbourne Ministry was more liberal than that of Lord Grey ; for Lord Grey, in retiring, had given way to the men of the milder counsels .who had differed with him as to the Coercion Act, and the improved spirit of the Government was afterwards manifested in the appointment of some staunch supporters of the po pular cause. The choice of these men was accepted as a sign that something was to be done—that there was to be an end of the system of sacrificing friends in the vain attempt to propitiate enemies ; and, therefore, those who trembled as others rejoiced at these appear ances seized the first pretext for dismissing the Ministry, before it had the opportunity of realizing the good hopes that were entertained. We have given this brief sketch to show the more strongly the variance between Sir R. Peel's statement and the truth. It is certain that if the Melbourne Ministry had been the same as the Grey in principles, spirit, and intentions, there would have been no shadow of a reason for the retirement of Earl Grey. The difference may not have been great, but what there was must have been on the side of improvement, and more re solute counsels ; but the Government, changed for the better, as it was generally thought, in these respe, ts, was refused the trial which is now claimed as a matter of right by its successors, in whom we have a change so wofully for the worse. When next Sir R. Peel speaks on this subject, and speaks where he can be answered, we hope he will be asked to name the period in which the Melbourne Ministry had its trial, and to explain, at the same time, his notions of the identity of Ministers under a change of heads and combinations. At present, with a marvellously convenient logic, he would at once discredit the Whig Ministry because becatise of the changes in it, and argue that it was tried, as there liad been no change to destroy identity. Thus, when the object is to make out that it was tried, it is one and the same under the auspices of Mel bourne or of Grey ; but when the object is to dis parage, it is not the same, for the best men are said to have withdrawn. Sir Robert rates the seceders as the best, because they halted short of an im portant principle of Church Reform adopted by their colleagues ; and as they wer: so backward, he in vited them to join his Ministry. Yet we are told with matchless impudence that this Government will go as far, or farther, than its predecessors—and in the work of Church Reform ! In one particular Sir Robert Peel is frank enough. He refers to what he has been as a Reformer, and declares that such as he has been he will continue to be. This Ministry must then, ac cording to his assurances, be a mere revival of the Mi nistry of 18.29 and 1830—it simply carries us back to those years ; and yet they cry out that they are untried, though judgment was given against them five years ago, and they protest that what they were then they are now. If Sir Robert told us that we were not to judge tf what he is by what he has been, he might have some claim to a new trial, that is to say, if the people were so credulous as to believe him.—Morning Chronicle. ROLLS' COURT. KNATCHBULL V. FEAItNHEAD. The arguments in this case were to-day concluded. His Honour the MASTER of the ROLLS said that be should look through the papers before deciding whether he should direct an inquiry in this case, which seemed to be rather a hard one against the defendant. COURT OF KING'S BENCH. THE KING 1.7. DYER AND HALL. Sir JOHN CAMPBELL showed cause against a rule for a mandamus to be directed to Messrs. Dyer and Hall, two Magistrates of the county of Middlesex, commanding them toissue a warrant of distress against the goods of James Beale, to enforce payment of a rate assessed for the sup port of the poor of the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, and St. George, Bloomsbury. There was an estate in St. George's parish, well knewn as the Spencer Estate, be longing to a gentleman named Spencer, who resided in the principality of Wales, and who was the owner of about 150 houses in tho- parish in question. Beale had been the collector of his rents, but was well known only to fill that office, every one being aware that the houses belonged to Mr. Spencer. One of the churchwardens himself held one of these houses. The Court would not interfere in the manner now prayed if there was any doubt as to their authority to do so, nor was it clear that the parties applying for a mandamus had another remedy. Here the parish had another remedy, by action. This was a distress warrant, applied for to enforce rates alleged to have become due in 1833. In the meantime Beale had paid over to Spencer all the rates he had received, and yet he was now sought to be charged with them. The application was made un der the provisions of the 11th of Geo. IV., a local. Act re lating to those two parishes. He submitted that the rule for the mandamus must be discharged. Mr. TuEssiGmt said that it was desired by the parish to take the decision of this Court upon the question whether the rates of the small houses should be collected or not. Unless this mandamus was granted is was impossible to collect them. Lord DENMAN said that the power now contended for was large and extraordinary. There might be good reasons for making the owners of lands or the collectors of rents rateable for property in the parish, for they had the profits of the estates in their hands, and might conveniently be called on to pay the rates ; but at the same time, before the Court could enforce the issuing of a distress-warrant in such cases there must be clear proof given that such a power did really exist. He much doubted whether there was any such authority here. Mr. Justice LITTLEDALE and Mr. Justice WILLIAMS concurred. —Rule discharged. COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. JONES V. BROWN AND OTHERS. This was an action of trespass tried at the last Warwick Assizes before Mr. Justice PARK. It was brought to recover damages for breaking and entering the plaintiff's house and taking his goods. Judgment was suffered by default as to the breaking and entering, and as to that the Jury g ave a farthing damages. To the remainder of the declaration not guilty was pleaded, as also two special iz., that the goods were net the goods of the pleas, —v plaintiff, and that the defendants seized goods under an authority from the assignees of one Metcalf, a bankrupt, to whom they belonged. To this there was a replication that the goods did not belong to Metcalf, but to the plain tiff. To prove his case the plaintiff called various witnesses, who deposed to his having given Metcalfe several hundred pounds for his business (that of a grocer in Birmingham) and stock in trade ; but it appeared, upon their cross examination, that Jones had been a bankrupt shortly before the alleged sale ; that he bad been heard to declare himself a ruined man ; that lie had passed by other names ; and that the sale only took place a week before the second bankruptcy of Metcalfe. As the breaking and entering were admitted, the Jury was directed to find for the plain tiff on that head. The Jury accordingly did so ; but they found for the defendants on the other issue. On a preced ing day a rule had been obtained calling upon the defend ants to show cause why the verdict should not be set aside, and a new trial had. Mr. Sergeant GOLTLBURN now showed cause against the rule. Mr. M. D. HILL showed on the other side. Rule discharged. EXCHEQUER COURT. BERESFORD V. NEWTON. This was a case sent by Mr. Baron Alderson from the equity side of the Court, to take the opinion of the Learned Barons on certain points arising in a suit instituted by the Rector of St. Andrew's, Holborn, against the occupiers of certain houses in Gray's Inn-lane, for the non-payment of dues in respect of such houses. The case stated that certain clues had been invariably paid for the last 100 years by the occupiers of these houses to the Rector of St. Andrew's, Holborn ; that if payable for the land it was a right modus ; that they were not payable in respect of all houses in that district, nor were any of them charged in proportion to the rent. The questions for the opinion of the Court were, whether, from the statement of facts, a custom from time immemorial should be inferred ; and, if not, whether any reasonable foundation could be assigned for such custom ? Mr. BOTELER, for the plaintiff, maintained that it should be presumed from the admitted existence of the custom for one hundred years that it had existed from time immemorial. Sir C. WETHERELL contended that the payment in question could not be considered either as made in lieu of personal tithes or as a modus for a house. It must have originated in an agreement between the parson, the occu pier of a house, and the ordinary. But how could the occu pier of a house bind his successors to pay tithes, if such successors were not liable by law ? Lord ABINGER could not doubt but that any Jury would infer from these payments having been made for a hundred years, that the custom had existed from time immemorial. With regard to the second question it would be doing vio lence to many decisions if the Court were to overturn them all because there was no legal origin for these payments. It was the duty of the Court to find a legal origin rather subvert so many decisions. He thought that whether this was a modus or not,it was a payment from time immemorial. The other Barons concurred. ST. MARTIN'S-IN-THE-FIELDS. A numerous meeting of the rate-payers of the above pa rish met at the Vestry-room, to take into consideration the third Report of the Committee. Before the chair was taken, 400 persons had assembled, when the Rev. Mr. DUKENFIELD took the Chair. Mr. FENN then rose, and begged to remind the Vicar the Act giving the plurality of votes was not applicable to this parish. Mr. SIMPSON, the Churchwarden, said, before they en tered upon the business for which they had met, ha had to inform the meeting that he had met a dozen gentlemen on a previous day, at. the house of Mr. Dukenfield, when that gentleman requested his (Mr. S.'s) assent to there being a Committee, to whom the third report, which was now be fore them, should be referred. To this he had declined his assent, but stated, if they questioned his veracity upon the correctness of that report, he should have no objection to their forming a part with the original Committee, and with them again examine into its statements, but this was not assented to. Dr. BAINBRIDGE then rose to move that the report re lative to the Rev. Anthony Hamilton holding the situation of Parish Clerk in conintendant, which returned to him the sum of .334/. per annum, which sum is guaranteed by the Commissioners of the Woods and Forests, under an Act 7th Geo. IV , c. 67, that " the situation is in the right of the parishioners, and not a self-elected vestry, who usurped the power by appointing the said Archdeacon, and that they, therefore, declare the situation vacant," and that it be now adopted. Mr. HOWARD seconded the mc,tion. Mr. PAYNE, surgeon, who addressed the meeting at con siderable length, and with much force, lamented the neces sity of his appearing on that occasion to censure the con duct of a gentleman holding so high and dignified an office as that of a Minister of the Gospel, for retaining a lay situation of so humble a character as that of Parish Clerk, merely for the sake of the emolument derived from it, the duties being performed by deputy ; he was happy to see the spirit of the parishioners awakened to so gross an abuse of power, and he trusted the meeting would display their dis approbation, by its unanimous condemnation.—(Hear.) The Hon. Sir EDWARD CusT said, he had long been a vestryman of that parish ; but he had never been aware that the Archdeacon Hamilton held the situation of Pa rish Clerk ; he admitted he merited some reflection for not having inquired into it before, but he had never contem plated the existence of such an abuse.—(Hear, bear.) Mr. HAYES, Churchwarden, Mr. A. SMITH, and several other of the rate-payers, took a part in the discussion ; the question was then put, and the show of hands was greatly in its favour—five only out of 400 being against it. SUSPICIOUS DEATH. Yesterday morning a Coroner's Inquest was held before THOMAS STIRLING, Esq., and a respectable Jury, in the Board-room of Kensington workhouse, to inquire concern ing the death of Mary Wilkins, aged sixty-seven years. The husband, John Wilkins, stated that about a quarter before six o'clock, on Sunday morning, the deceased got out of bed and went through the stable into the garden. She had not been out of the room many minutes, before he heard the boards which were placed over a well in the gar den removed. He immediately got up and ran to the spot, when he found the deceased had thrown herself into the water. He instantly called up his daughter, and by her assistance got the deceased out of the well, and conveyed her into the house. Finding her still alive, he, after dry ing her, put her into bed, and got in himself, for the pur pose of warming her. Some time afterwards, finding she did not speak, he sent for a surgeon, who pronounced her dead. She had for some time been in a bad state of health, and was an out-patient of St. George's Hospital. He could not account for the mark at the bottom of her neck. The deceased was in the habit of fastening the top of her gown with very large pins, which might have caused the discolouration. Maria Wilkins, the daughter of the last witness, corro borated her father's evidence. The Jury expressing a wish that the body should be opened, the inquiry was adjourned until the afternoon. At five o'clock the Jury re-assembled, when Mr. Charles Robson Laycock, the parish surgeon, deposed that he had, by desire of the parochial authorities, opened the body, and found a quantity of dirty water in the trachea and lungs, which, in his opinion, was the cause of the deceased's death. There was a bruise just above the sternum. Could find no evidence of that bruise having produced death. There were other bruises on the body, but none of any importance. The mark on the throat might have been caused by a blow, or by pressure of the wind pipe, in which case, being momentary, inflammation of the windpipe might not ensue. By a Juror.—Might a person, having water in the throat, live for near three hours, and during that time speak and swal low a glass of brandy, which it appeared the deceased had done. Mr. Laycock replied—lf her head had been raised on a pillow, it was not at all improbable. After a lengthened consultation, during which one of the Jury mentioned circumstances of a most disgusting and horri ble nature, totally unfit for publication, which he said he con sidered had driven the deceased into such a state of despera tion that she had deprived herself of existence, the Jury re turned a verdict—" That the decaased died in consequence of injuries received by imbibing a quantity of water in the lungs, caused by throwing herself into a well, being at the time in a state of temporary derangement." EXTRAORDINARY AND DIABOLICAL CON DUCT IN WATERFORD GAOL.—On Wednesday evening a fra cas took place among three of the debtors at present confined in the city gaol, all of whom are rather respectable persons ; two of them fought desperately with empty wine bottles, and such other weapons as they could lay hands on. On the alarm being given, the constables were sent for, who, on their arrival, immediately succeeded in separating them. Shortly after, one of them, a man of most ungovernable temper, sus pended himself from one of the windows by a cord, but fortu nately he was discovered in time to preserve his life. After being cut down he was placed in bed, and appeared perfectly quiet, but as soon as the constables had retired, he twisted his shirt with which he again suspended himself from a large hook in the wall. Mr. Abernethy, the second constable, previous to his leaving the gaol for the night, was anxious to see how the refractory prisoners were ; he therefore again visited them, and to his utter astonishment and horror he again found the unfortunate man, whose name, we understand, is O'Callaghan, hanging by the neck, as before stated, and life nearly extinct. He was a second time rescued from a horrifying and disgrace ful death, and to prevent any further attempt of so diabolical a nature, a straight-waistcoat was procured from the Lunatic Asylum, with which, and the aid of some chains, he was se cured. The other two were placed in solitary cells, sepa rately, where we hope they will be kept for the protection of their own lives and the safety of the prison. We have been also informed, they set fire to their beds, forms, &c., at one period of their mad pranks, and but for the timely discovery of the act by Mr. Wright, the governor of the gaol, there is little doubt that the entire building would have been consumed. LONDON MARKETS. PRICE OF BREAD. The highest price of Bread in the Aletropolis is Sd. for the 41b. Loaf- There are others who sell from a half-penny to three half-pence below that rate. iEEDS.—Jan :]6 Per Quarter. St. Foin —s -6. --S. Rye Grass • —4, 40s. 48s. Pacey Grass —O. 31s. Vs. Linseed, for feeding —s. 51s. Ws. Ditto, for sowing —4. —6... 4 . Ditto, for crushing --s 411 a. 535. Canary —s. 4Ss • 5:18.• Hemp --is. 3113. 425. Per Bushel White Mustard 9s. Oil. lls. Od., Brown Ditto 98. Od. los. titi. Winter Tares t) 30 , . 33 Per Cwt, New English lied Clover42i. 5 i 60s Ditto Ditto s. —s New Foreign Ditto —s. —s. —s. Old Ditto Ditto ..10s. 50s. sfs. New White Clover 46s. Nis. tiss Oil Ditto Ditto —s s's New Tretoti lBs tns. OA I)itto l4s 18s Bib Grass —s s —s English Carraway s 625. Cas. Fore - gn Ditto —s. 5 1 1 s. 60s Coriander —s 13s 16s Rapeseed, English tineiper Las' PRICE OF HOPS —Jan. 26 Pockets (p.r cw'.) Choice ditto Kent Bags SUSiCX Pockets Superfine .litto . . . .. 4! 4i. s'. C. to 5i Os. 4! 114. to 5! 53 5 10-. to et 0, PRICE OF OIL Rape Oil, brown, rer ton, 49 Cs —Refinea, 51 •Os —Linseed Oil, 41/. Linseed Oil Cake at the Mill, 1000 , 12.. 12s --Rape Cake, per tor:, PRICES OF LEATHER. Per lb d to d. Per lb d to e. Crop Hides, 30 to 401 b each 11 13 Horse Hides, German !7 '..5 —1)) 5.) CO 6! ... 11 17 Calf Skins,3o to 40113.(d0z )•14 2 1 Bull Hides 'V Butts, Vitriol - 50 to •2l English 1-oreign ....... ..... .... 14 I7i Seal Skins, 1arge............. 11 15 Foreign hides lt) 13 Dre,sing Bides ---- Shawl .... i2i 15 Basils S I 3 Be t Saddler,: Hides Horse Hideti, English • If rounded 2.1 to Id per lb more NY iIITECHAPEL HAY MARKEL' —Jan. •J-1. 953 d to Was •tl • Clover ( ,0s • d to 110.9 Od StrAw • d to :12s d Hay PRICES OF POTATOES AT SPLTALFIELDS. Kidneys (York; from ve3sel C/. Os. to 3/. Os. per ton Scotch Reds ditto . :1. Os. to 31. l's ditto Common Reds , ..11. 1 cu. to el O. ditto i‘larsli Champions. 31. Os. to 4/. 04. ditto !Thaws 1Ii(1(1ling ... ('hats ..11. 1(18 to 01. OA. ditto ~11 ss. to (W. O. ditto PRICE OF RAW FAT, por stone of tlb Price of Tallow (as stated by the Tall)w Melterg, PRICE Ok"I'ALLO W Town Tallow 42s Od Yellow Russia White --s. Od. Soap Ditto s Cd Melting Stu (P I),tto hough l9s Od 4a. Pd, . SOAP, ste per 1121 b ;Yellow Soap 'Mottled g Cd Curd —s Cd Graves lfis Pd. Good Dregs PRICE OF CANDLES. The price of good Store Candles in the Retail Shops is as follows: — Candles. per dozen, 7s nd ; inferior, 6 , ..0.—M0u1d5, 8s V& Sixpence per dozen discount for cash. COAL MA lt KEE Jan. *46. Per Ton. s d Per Ton s. d• Cl'ester M :in l5 6 Walls End No; d.. 20 3 ,- East Percy l6 li Walls End Riddell's iebburn Main. 2O 9 Walls End Braddyll Hulywcll l9 3 Wttlis End Hetton ... ‘,3 Ditto Reins . IS 6 Walls End Lambton ... 23 6 , tad's Redhugh l5 6 Walls End Stewart s South Hartley St. Lawrence 6 Tantield 6 %Vest Hartley „. Walls End Itewicke and C 0... 21 9 1 Walls End West Hetton Y 1 \Valls End Closforth 15 " W..11s End Heaton 2l 91 Hartley Walls End Hilda W.Ois EnslJesmond l5 0 Walls End Henderson ...... ... 16 Walli End Ntwinarch 2O 61 Ships arrived since last market.day, 13 In a neighbouring county the Tory Candidate, tic' companied by young Mr. B —r, of B—lb, called upos an honest tailor at Markinch, to solicit his vote, and a billt was dropped that perhaps some new clothes might be re quired. " Na, na !" said the tailor, " they that turn their coats ne ed nae new class." " The Tailor of Markinch" is now a staa ing toast in that part of the country.—Dundee Chronicle. ECLIPSE TOTAL OF THE SUN IN SOUTH CARO B LiNA.—A total eclipse of the sun occurred in South Caroline oa the 30th of November last. The observations were made by Mr. R. T. Paine, the distinguished American astronome r, who was induced to proceed from Boston, his place of resi dence, to Beaufort, in South Carolina, a distance of n early 1,000 miles, on purpose to witness the phenomenon. The te lescope with which Mr. Paine made his observations was $ four feet equatorial one, to which magnifying powers varying, from 40 to 75 were applied. The following are the periods n` the commencement and duration of the eclipse in the we° solar time at Beaufort : h. m. sec. Beginning of the elipse 0 31 49 p.m. Beginning of total darkness End of total darkness 2 0 43 Termination of eclipse Duration of total darkne ss 0 1 19 Duration of the eclipse Mr. Paine, in a letter to his friend Mr. J. J. Audubon, ( 1 ! . ; scribing this phenomena, says — " I consider myself well repa id by the observations I was enabled to make for all the trouble and inconvenience attending my journey. The effect produced on all animals was very great, whilst the unearthly appearanee„ it produced on surrounding objects can never be forgotten. During the darkness the buzzards and the poultry were seen flying to their places of roosting, and the plants of the mimosa tribe closed their leaves. The only difference obserimble be' tween this eclipse and the total one which occurred at Boston in June, 1806, was, that, on this occasion, when the sun wa g completely concealed from sight, the moon appeared to be sat' rounded by a beautiful effulgence, which in 1806 was not per" ceived. This halo could not, however, be discerned through a darkened glass. The following stirs and planets were visible. Artanus, Lyra, Mail, Antares, Venus, and Mercury. The thermometer fell six degrees during the time of the sun's oh a; curation. No other total eclipse will occur in the Unite° States during the present century. ASSASSINATION AT SEA.—The ship Bostoiso Captain Michael, has arrived at this port from New Yol k ' Captain Michael reports that at half-past seven p.m., on S i ° 21st of November, one of his seamen, named James Barg' who had been complaining much of the effects of intemperan ce during the two days they had been at sea, went into the fore' castle, armed with a long sheath-knife, which he had sharp' ened in the afternoon, and stabbed two men who were sleeping in their births, one named John Lewin, (on whose chest 11 painted John Lewin Douglas,") said to be from Liverpool, an Charles Pendleton, said to be from Stonington, Connecticu t ' Both were stabbed near the navel—only a single blow being given each. Both expired in the course of twenty minutn o At the time the bloody deed was committed two of the crew were reading on the opposite side of the forecastle, and 01 ' hearing exclamations from the wounded men, they looked I . l le and discovered the assassin making towards them with tli; knife in his hand. One of them drew his sheath-knife, a?, brandishing it at the assassin, caused him to run up the ladd er on the deck, the two men follon ing in pursuit, and hallooinf, to those on deck, for the purpose of warning them of th el ` danger. Their chief officer hearing the disturbance, was in s i ll act of going forward, when he observed Hardy running aft a g e attempted to stop him, when the wretch stabbed him in tw $ side, but fortunately the knife did not penetrate his body, ag i i, struck him upon one of his ribs. The mate then seise d handspike, and running aft met Hardy, who had chased SI man from the wheel, and a passenger from off the quarter-de ' and knocked him down, and in attempting to secure him At As ceived another very bad wound in the side of the face. this time all on board were alarmed ; the second officer nat. out of his room on deck, secured the murderer, and took ti e knife from him, after which he was ironed and put into t n lower hold. When asked his reasons for thus killing two nocent men who had never offended him, he answered he not know—never knew them before he came on board the shir d t@ his knowledge—had served in British men-of war, and b s never killed or wounded any one before, except in batt_ile: Pendleton was about 40, and Lewin 24 years of age. g erw is about 29 years of age.—Charleston Courier. B I R TH S. On the 23d inst., at Newbattle-abbey, Dalkeith, the Marcu' °- of Lothian of a daughter. On the 24th inst., at Blackheath-park, Mrs. John Farror ICe ir sing O ton, of a son. Of n the 23d inst., at Chingford, Essex, Mrs. T. W. Btu A " a son. On the 24th inst., the lady of George Sperling, Esq., °- f thorn Grove, Essex, of a daughter. On the 25th inst.., the lady of T.D. Bainbridge, Esq., of CI r don Lodge, Croydon, of a daughter, still-born. , Af Of On the 25th inst., at North Cerney, Gloucestershire, the +s—J Captain Milligan, of a son. On the 25th inst., at Brompton, the lady of George Ogle, of a daughter, which survived only a few hours. lifil On the 25th inst., in Brunswick-pl ace , R egen t's Park, the of John Davidson, Esq.. of a daughter. MARRIED. flols' On the 12th inst., at Abergeley, North Wales, the Hip" icot Viscount Frankfort de Montmorency, to Georgina treclero, daughter of Peter Fitzgibbon Hempey, Esq., of Merrion-sclus Dublin. John V', On the 19th of last August, at Cawnpore, East Indies, ol . Loch, Esq., Aide-de-camp to the King of Oude, and second the late James Loch, Esq., who for many years held a high aPPLf, meet at the Court of Oude, to Miss Eliza Adelaide Clarksony/' DIED. jobl i On the 19th inst., at Plymouth, of a few hours' illness. - Pennycuiek, aged ten and a half years, eldest son of Major Pea cuick, of Bellarie, Perthshire. On the 2d inst., in Cornhill, aged 52, Mr. Charles Strachs On the 21st last., in Ball's-pond-road, Mr. James Jaques , Po -73 years. Leh Y e° On the 19th inst., at Windsor, near Liverpool, in his Mr. John Wilson, upwards of 40 years a shipbuilder at Livry:;egt On the 24th inst., Margaret Harriet Lee Warner, yo u w . daughter of the late Rev. James Lee Warner, of Highgro"' singham. AO . At Chilton Lodge, Berkshire, in her 4th y e ar, Isabel la isto Kemeys, only child of the present and grand-d aug hter of t ile Sir William Cooper, Bart. Sor rel' On the 21st inst., Peter Dixon, Esq., of Newington , surgeon, aged 62. t On the 23d inst., Miss Mary Tapper, Great Queen-stree , coin's Inn-fields, aged 80. On the 24th inst., in his 85th year, Robert Hibbert, Chalfont House, Bucks, and of Birkes Hall, Cheshire. „le On the 24th inst., in Bryanston-street, Portman-Wa r " , k --5 Drysdale, in her 86th year. vh• AA" - On the 23d inst., at Maize-hill, Greenwich Park , Mrs. J-• 01311 Palmer, in her 80th year. 1 On the 21st of August, at New York, United States, Mr' Fisher, late of Mill End, Bucks. gi r t On the 22d inst., at Leamington, aged 25, Charlottebirojeti youngest daughter of the late Thomas Gayfere, Esq. , of street, Westminster. On the 21st inst., Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Sumpter, of Ith'lm street, Bedford-square. London : Printed and Published by MURDO 1 1. ‘" "t 1 at The Sun Office, No. 112, Strand* • J. PITICE OF SI Ti ; „ I e N n G c welvi Salo in e►leiati vas in he. s c . Pery Superir Catal Yard. GI Til HAD and Sat ROT day am every IV ANT as follov OST] liight. CAL bight. to be ma ion th• oi Jnformat Custom_ Agent, 3 and Son Cols , ket ; and Power None. General BY To b e time of sl intervals i W. Ma P. Ani W. Un Charism The Sh requisite ; sko liabilit, Interest •en the am make up t holders Majority t time. The Cc Gentlemei 4l ay posse they i i to the Cor Pond to t. quested to lot bein g s Terenceof s kbacribers Works a lecture of bring it inl Applioat mowed to at the folio ►here A lac Office. For more directed the perfect ar t uned : hit length a pr , been obtain ` 4l , 'go ; the 41 1.` their coil elk" of his Fr o la an es