The Sun. — London, England, 1828-02-04 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. It is not without a strong sense of public duty that we have recently, on more than one occasion, enforced the necessity of a complete separation be tween the first civil and the first military appoint ment tinder the Crown. We say a complete sepa ration, thereby meaning that in what relates to tht details of the service, and more especially to the dis posal of military patronage, the person at the head co the Army should not only be distinct from the First Lord of the Treasury, but altogether free from hi , vontrol or influence, and absolutely independent of him. That such a doctrine should not have been more liegaently recurred to, and impressed more zealously, by others, on the minds of the people, both in Parliament and out of doors, may have arise!, from the apparent. impossibility of the danger al. laded to ever in fact befalling us. Two thin would seem to have been taken for granted by a son of universal consent :—lst, that no man of nuilitaru education, habits, and character, could ever, b'e dreamed of by a King of England as a fit person to discharge the duties of a Prime Minister of thi,- - -ealm ,2d; that if by some miracle an exception ;bould be foand, the total abandonment of all con nexion with the Army, by the new head of the Ca binet, was too much a thing of course to require or ro hear discussion. We find, however, that there are few political extravagancies which may not oh ' twin countenance among the advocates of party. A respectable evening paper of Sat urday (the Standard) presents its readers with the following treatise 01! the innocence of pluralities in the State, leaving those of the Church, we presume, to stand upon their acknowledgefl usefulness to religion : " As to all that is said of the incompatible nature of the office now held by the. Duke of Wellington with the even direct command of the army, it is mere nonsense in a con stitutional point of view. The Constitution, according to the letter, knows nothing of either standing armies or prime ministers. In spirit, it combines all ministerica, functions in the object of the Sovereign's choice, be that Object simple or complex, one or many. The incompati bilities recognized by the Constitution relate to the combi nation of legislative or judicial offices with ministerial ; and among themselves ; but we must descend a long way below the principles of the Constitution—,lve must sink to the details of service, before we can fin 3 any incompa tibility between merely ministerial 'inlet; ins. But if we are told that there is danger iu the comb' ttion, we reply by asking what danger ? What militate power has the Duke of Wellington, as First Lard of the Treasury, which be had not as Commander-in-Chief? Power he had, no doubt, and power he has, but it is power under strict re sponsibility. The grenadier who mounts guard at St. James's Palace has the King's life in his power. 'What then ? The danger arising from that power is neutralized by responsibility. And what power has the Duke of Wel lington, or could he have, with whatever plurality of offices, for which he would not be responsible, and which he most not exercise through responsible hands ?" We have given the above extract, as an edifying i ns t a nce of the tendencies and contingencies which seem to be ripening around us, if matters are suf fered to take their unmolested course. Because, forsooth, what is called ministerial o' responsibility" was the only safegtterd that our ancestors could de vise, against the evil (stimitted to he inlay:346l4e) n placing great power in one irituie hands, end therefore great temptation to abuse it, the . evil according to the Standard, to be aggravated as much us possible by increasirg the quantum of pown to the utmost, and by enabling this new species of inetn I pluralist to diminish to the utmost -,hAs responsibility for the abuse of it, by playing off one kind of power to uphold the other, and to screen him from the co nsequeneee l Of abusing and perverting both. Here i s a plairillangerse-namely, that of distributing mili tary fitin'ofictt: 04'Y 'as while the army is ruined by it, the favour of the Aristocracy is secured, and a bad Administration wrongfully and iniquitously strength ened . And yet the Standard talks of " responsi bility," forsooth, and law ! as if responsibility is not evaded in the exact degree in which patronage is abused, and Parliament corrupted ; or as if any - device of statute-law or common can punish a Prime Minister for even the most fla gitious system of packing and destroying the British army, should he, or any person de pendent on 'hint, be placed unfortunately at its head. 'I hat the Duke of Wellington has resigned the command,—that is to say, in form,—we are not ignorant ; and our remarks go merely to the neces sitv,—the military as well a; constitutional neces sity,—of making that resignation as perfect in sub stance as it is in semblance, while the argument of the Evening Paper would justify an assumption of every office in the Cabinet,—nay, of every dignity in Church and State,—by the same individual Duke of Wellington; for is he not " responsible ?" says the Standard,— -and is there not the law to restrain him ? The Duke himself appears to have enter tained more becoming sentiments on every part of the subject, at we very distant period,—at least, if we may judge by his printed speech on the 2d of last May. The following passage shows clearly enough what notions he then had formed on two important points-Ist, his own fitness to be First Lord of the Treasury ; 2d, the incongruous nature of that offeee with the command of the troops, which latter he speaks of sacrificing, as a painful but ine vitable consequence of his appointment to the head of the Cabinet:— :a Do your Lordships suppose that, having raised myself to the: highest rank in the profession which I had pre viously ;.ollowed from my youth ; that, having been ap pointed to the highest situation in that profession—for I Gallant yriends, may say I rah -ed myself, without indi ca ti ng any d es i re to o ieligations to my Noble, underrate my the General Officer; of the Army by whom I am sur rounded, and still less those which I owe to his Majesty for his most gracious favour and kindness, I may safely say that bis Majesty could not have placed me where I was, if I had not rendered some service to the State deserving of his approbation ;—I say then, that having raised myself to such a station in my profession, I could not be desirous of leaving it in order to seek to be appointed to be the head of the Government, a situation for which I am sensible that • I a m not qualified ; and to which, moreover, neither his Majesty, nor the Right lion. Gentleman, nor any one, wished to see me called. Do your Lordships think it pos sible that I was not gratified by being restored • to my old relations of comman d o ver m y old friends and com p anions, and to have attained the power of recommending them to his Majesty for the professional rewards of their services, after having passed my life in exciting and directing their exertions ? Does any man believe that I would give up such gratification, in order to be appointed to a station, to the duties of which I was unaccustomed, in which I was not wished, and for which I was not qualified ;. as it must be obvious to your Lordships, that not being in the habit of addressing your Lordships, I should have been found, be sides other disqualifications, incapable of displaying, as they ought to be displayed, or of defending the measures of Go vernment as they ought to be defended in this House by the person thus hoeoured by his m e jesty's confidence?— My Lords, I should have been worse than mad, if I had thought of such a thing."-- Times. c: The Schoolmaste r is abroad (said Mr. Brougham,) and I will trust more to him, armed with his primer, than to the soldier with his bayonet" In another part of our Paper will be found an abridge ment or an account in The Leicester Chronicle, of the progress of the Schoolmaster in that town. The Rev. T. C. Vaughan, of Cesar and God notoriety, figures in that account consistently enough, as the determined opponent of Infant Schools and he was supported, conscientiously, no doubt, by his ' trate. " The Schoolmaster is abroad!" But truly h e h as business enough on his hands. How many men are there in situations of power and influence throughout the country, with less eccentricity of character, per haps, than the - Rev. T. c. Vaughan, but with notions not one whit more enlightened as to matters as t o which it is of the uttitost moment they should enter tain correct opinions. The Rev. T . C. Vau g han, am idst all his High. Church absurdity, displayed .something like feeling for the condition of the poor. He thought, indeed, that it was better the children of the poor should receive no education, than one which was not exclusively adapted for members of the Established Church, but he seemed to feel the hardship of the separation of children from their parents. Unfortunately for a high Churchman, when his heart is in the right place, his head is sucli a receptacle of perverse notions and absurdities, that his sensibility becomes a nuisance instead of st benefit to the communit.v. The Rev. T. C. Vaughan, for instance, imputes the separation of the child from the parent to the avarice oi , the manufacturers. They decoy the mothers e the children into their establishments, and the educating by wholesale, in Infant Schools, the chil dren so unnaturally abandoned by them, is merely a scheme of these avaricious manufacturers to varnish over their cruelty . with a seeming humanity. But how happens it that the Leicester manufactu rers do not succeed in decoying the ladies of the Rev. Mr. Vaughan and the Rev. Mr. Page, hi. Curate, into their establishments? 0, but they are not poor; and it is only poor mothers that so aban don their children. It is the poverty, then that is the cause of the abandonment, and not the cupidit) of the manufacturers. The Infant Schools do not ether produce the poverty, or cause the mothers to abandon their children, but they preserve thou children when poverty forces their mothers, against their inclinations no doubt, to abandon, from that early initiation in vice which is the inevitable con sequence of allowing children to roam about without c mtroul in large town , . The poverty is the evil; and the Rev. T. C. Vaughan would have been much better employed, when in his far famed Ser mon he traced our Gracious Sovereign's right to rule us without controtil to his inheritance of King Adam's absolutism, if he had endeavoured to find out how it happened that, while one of King Adam's descendants can relax himself from the toil of makine Ministers and Bishops, with building Palaces and Colleges, the descendants of the younger branches of the family are reduced to so li:ar a plight, that the labour of a father alone will not support his wife and infant child; but that both parents must roil, while the child is deprived ()fa mother's care. It is not alone in manufacturing towns that this spectacle of cheerless poverty presents itself. In the Address of the Chairman to the Grand Jury, at the last Quarter Sessions of the county of Devo;,, he states that the prisons arc crowded with juvenile offenders, which he attributes to the compulsory separation of children from their parents. The child so separated at a tender age, is, he says, consigned " helpless, and almost useless, to an unwilling master." To a parent we may safely en trust the power of chastishig his child for misconduct, iral even in most cases such a power will not be abused by a slave owner ; but it would be pregnant with danger, to allow a master to punish at his dis cretion, the hapless children consigned to him as apprentices, in whose well-being hehas little interest. The Magistrate, therefore, supplies the place of parent, and the Correction-house is the school, and the Beadle's whip the birch. " All this mischief (says the Chairman—the having the prisons crowded with juvenile delinquents) is attributable to the sys tem which prevails of binding parish apprentices, who are committed upon complaints preferred against them by their masters for misdemeanour." The whole rural population throughout the South and West of England are paupers, and the children are at the disposal of the parish, and hence the functions of the parent cease when the child is begotten. In the West Indies the parents arc in like manner re lieved from parental cares, and after the child has been nursed by the mother, she returns to field labour, and it is transferred to a plantation-nursery. The planter, however, having an interest in rearing theelitele Blacks, takes as good.eare of them as he etla e he)Oeie - young cattle —a very different care from `.`that which is besti;lkedon the children of the parish i4toor, by thaiihalbrs on whom they are forced , or oy the gaolers under whom they so often finish their education. The Schoolmaster is a broad ! We wish the Members of the Honourable House had come in his ' t vay ; for, with a few exceptions, it would be difficult to find, in any assembly of full grown people, a larger proportion of individuals who owe so much to beef and wine arid so little to his ministrations. Year after year the condition of the labouring people throughout the country has been growing worse ; year after year have they been adding to the number of penal laws, and to the number of prisons, never once doubting their capacity to legislate—and the consequence now is, that the labouring people have at last become so utterly reckless, that if the country were covered with prisons, punishment has utterly llst it; terrors. Some of them console themselves for their inability to dieconr the cause of this evil, vith their acuteness in discovering more in one clause of Magna, Charm; than in all the boasteddiscoveries of modern philosophy. Others console themselves with their blindness at home, by their quicksighted ness in finding panaceas for all the nations lan guielkee under the Holy Alliance. There are many ‘veliemeaning men in the Legidatnre, but it is impossible to look on the countenances of most of these well-grown gentlemen, without per ceiving, symptoms of an exceaent digestion, and the absence of all traces of thought. Many of them would rather see the labouring people comfortable than otherwise, but they have no idea that more can be expected from a Legislator than adding to the number of penal laws, and countenancing the erec tion of prisons. The schoolmaster has never fallen in with them. Mr. Otwav Cave, at the Leicester Meeting, made a sensible speech, in which he endea voured to satisfy the Rev. T. C. Vaughan, that the abandonment by the mothers of their childrea e was caused by poverty, and that this poverty was the result of the disproportion between the supply of la bourers and the' demand for them. One of the best signs of the times is, the disposition of young men of family to improve themselves by stetly,_ The generation entering on life is, in respect of unow ledge of a substantial kind, greatly superior to the generation immediately preceding. This will, no doubt, gradually improve the composition of the Legislature, from the ignorance abounding in which we sutler so much at present.—illorning Chronicle. Tire Dal,s which lay dormant and unnoticed upon the table of the House of Lords for some time pre vious to the conclusion of the last Session of Par liament, for transferring the right of representa tion from Penryn and East Retford to the populous manufacturing towns of Manchester and Birming ham, are again, we perceive, called into life by their original movers, Lord John Russell and Mr. Tenny son. The principle of these J3ills, it will be recol lected, was strenuously opposed in the House of Commons by Mr. Canning, then Prime Minister, but was nevertheless sanctioned by the House, through the efforta end influence of the party with which that Right Hon. Gentleman had just con tracted his ill e omened alliance; these circumstances illustrating in a very curious and instructive man ner, that unanimity of principle which was the daily boast of the new allies. Such is not the unanimity, nor are the principles such, which pervade the present Government; and we entertain no doubt whatever that these Bills. (clearly revo lutionary as they are in their tendency)—will meet with the prompt and uncompromising re sistance, and undergo the e arl y fate, of• which they are so entire!) , worthy. The question is . of the utmost magnitude in . a Constitutional point of view; 'and we cannot . suffer it to be narrowe d into a mere question of local corruption here, and of lo cal wealth, population, and importance there. i It s not whether the offence of bribery ought to be puniehea,' or whether the immense po pulation of two great towns ought to be distinctively considered or gratified, or even whether we have it right to expect tour better Sexators from Manchester and Bi rm ingham than from East Retford 4114 P en _ ryn ;--tllv question is, whether it is wise or safe for the Legislature to remerd in two solemn Acts its de liberate admission, that the principles upon which the British House of ' Commons is now constituted are vicious and unsound. The slightest reflection suffices to shew that this is the real question at issue : and we entertain nut the least doubt, that 1 these Bills if suffered to pass • into laws would soon be appealed to as the highest possible autho iv y in favo ur o f more extensive innovation. Are the principles of our National Representation sound • and beneficial ? All who answer this question in , the affirmative must in consistency strive, not to protect and perpetuate local corruption, for this is o pposed to those p r i nc iples, but to chastise and eradicate it, by means which will effect the least • possible change of the existing system, or to speak more explicitly, by merely extending the right of voting in the offending botoughs to the freeholders of the adjacent hundreds. Are the principles of our national representation vicious and mischievous ? Those and those only alto are prepared to answer this question in the affirmative can consistenly ap prove of so violent a departure from them as would be involved in the transfer of the right of representa tion from one small borough in Cornwall and an other in Nottinghamshire to two large manufac turing places in the counties of Lancaster and Warwick, whose only claim to the distinction con sists in their being large manufacturing towns. But it is not individuals who are. now called upon to answer the questions above stated. The whole Legislator e of the United Empire is in substance anti effect called upon for a sentence of approval or conderimation of the entire system of our National Representation —and its sentence will be conclu sively pronounced by the fate of these two Bills. It would be an insult to the Legislature to doubt for one moment what will be its sentence. If, indeed, the Bills in question promised any great practical benefits as likely to result immediately from their enactment, this might serve to reconcile us in some degree to the mischief which lurks under their principle. But the reverse of this is the fact. The only effects which these Bills can possibly produce upon the character of the House of Commons, are to strengthen the manufacturing- and commer cial, and exactly in the same proportion to weaken the landed intbience; to strengthen the reforming (we employ the mildest term), and to Weaken, in the same proportion the conservative influence in that House. These, in our judgment, so far from being benefits, would be palpable inju ries. We dislike the end as much as we dislike the means. We should dread to see the landed in fluence weakened in the House of Commons. We should dread to see the opponents of rash innova tion and experiment less powerful than they noa are in that House. We should dread to see the House of Commons assimilate less to the other branches of the Legislature in principle and feeling than it does at present. It appears to us, for the reasons we have already given, to be the imperative duty of Ministers to resist these Bills ; and we have little doubt that this duty will be vigorously and suc cessfully discharged. The most zealous advocates of these Bills, in the Commons, do not affect to believe, should they even be successful there, that they have the smallest chance of a favourable reception in the House of Lords. And the zeal of some of these advocates, although in this censure the Noble and Honourable Movers cannot, we are satisfied, justly he included, is stimulated less by any sincere anxiety for the ultimate fate of the Bills, than by the hope that their final rejection in the House of Peers may furnish them with another opportunity of reviling and ridiculing, collectively and individu ally, as they have often done before, the Noble Mem bers of that illastrious Assembly. Such persons it is the special duty and • interest of an honest and patriotic Administration to thwart and disappoint upon every possible occasion; anti it is an interest and a duty which can be forgotten or neglected only by an Administration so base and feeble as to de pend in some measure upon the support of Faction or by Otte which reckons among its members some who are at once so foolish and so malignant as to harbour selfish feelings of resentment towards the Aristocracy of the land. We have now fortunately an Administration, to which neither of these dis graceful descriptions will apply.—Morning Post. Mr. Brougham has give» notice of a motion for inquiring into the present state of the laws, with a view to their amendment; and as that Gentleman is most conversant with what is called the Common Law Department, it is naturally supposed that that will he the first object of his attention. We trust, however, that this supposition is erroneous, its we have full faith in his ability to treat even the other branches with success, if he had previously bestowed on them that degree of attention which the long va cation has left at his disposal. We say we trust that the supposition is erroneous, because we conceive that, many as the abuses and imperfections are which even that department presents, they fade into utter insignificance when compared with those of that di vision of the law which is, generally, though perhaps not very accurately - , designated by the name of Equity. That Law is, in common parlance, called Equity, or Chancery Law, about which Chancery Barristers and Conveyancers are conversant; and Common Law that which occupies the Common Law Courts, and Special Pleaders. Under these distinctions, therefore, we shall treat them in the' folloWing remarks :---sThe prin cipal complaints against • the present system are the very great expense and delay attendant on it ; and, secondary to these, the impossibility of a client perceiving, through the complexity of its structure, the justice of a decision. iNow, with res pect to all these points, the Courts of Common Law have a very decided advantage over Chancery. However enamoured we may he of the simple modes by which our very remote ancestors redressed wrong and secured right, we are instructed by history that no civilized and prosperous nation ever enjoyed such simple process, unless, indeed, when all law rested on the absolute and unfettered will of the Prince. That some inconvenience should attend on litigation is a great public as well as individual benefit, because it dispeses men to adjust their differences in a more amicable way, and inculcates that spirit of forbear ance which is necessary to the repose of society; and, therefore, it is not so necessary to facilitate a recourse to law to those who are led there for the sake of anger or redress, as to those who apply for the aid- of judicial decision on the subject of doubtful right, or complicated claims. It is not intended to assert, that either ought not to be as easy of access as possible, but merely to point out how much more material this object is with respect to the latter class of litigants; but still more important is it that all difficulty should be removed to the effecting of legal precautions against future litiga tion. In reality, however, as the law is now prac tised, this order is nearly reversed, and the precau tionary measures, such as the legal and accurate this , position of property, involve in general more ex ' pence than an appeal to a Court of Common Law, in case of a dispute. The evil most oppressive, most needless, and most easily remedied, is the ex pence attendant on conveyances. So needless and so - easily remedied is this, that scarcely more is wanting to'its abolition, than a hearty desire on the part of solicitors to accomplish it. It is well known in the profession, that a conveyancer, who was in the habit of making ;host drafts, would soon lose his clients, because, though the length of the in strument contributes to his own profit, it con tributes in a threefold ratio to that of the soli citor. It is not an uncommon thing for two sets of instructions to come into a conveyancer's of fice, exactly the same in substance ; and while the objects of both will bp equally effected, the expence of one shall vastly exceed that of the other, merely because the words " as short as possible" were written under the instructions for the latter. As conveyancing, then, ought to be at tended with the least expence, but is actually accom panied with the most, and as the evils connected with it are most easily remedied, this should be the first object of the man who wishes to purge the present system of our law of its many imperfections. With respect to the common law department, the expences are not sufficient to deter men frOm having recourse to the Courts, on grounds so friv olous and trifling, a s a l mos t d a ily to call forth the animadver sions of th e J u d ges . A n d in the state of society t o which we h ave arr i ve d, it is difficult to imagine how a suit can be more expeditiously brought to a conclusion, without manifest injustice to the parties, than it is at present in the King's Bench. It is not for a moment intended to defend the system of spe cial pleading in its details, or to say that the plead ings in a suit might not be materially abridged, and, of course, the expence in some degree dimi nished • but, in its principle, the English system of pleading is the most - perfect in existence; for none other tends so much to attain certainty and despatch; and though it, like every other, affords opportunities ' for dishonest delays, they are few, in comparison, to those of other SySteins. We will, in a future article, enter more fully into this subject; but, for the pre sent, must content ourselves with repeating that this is the least imperfect branch of our law, and that the interests of society are more directly con cerned in the amendment of the system by which property is secured than that by which mere per sonal wrongs are redressed.—New Times. Amongst what may be fairly called the rubbish of antiquity, nothing seems to work more decided injustice than the claims set up by small but wealthy spots—such, for instance, as Inns of Court—lb' exemption from their fair share of public burdens. While parochial levies were trifling matters, ivhat are called extra-parochial places excited no attention ; but now, in the Metropolis especially, when these local taxes amount to more than what was the rent of the houses on which they are rated .50 or 60 years ago, it is high time that these claims to exemption should be narrowly investigated, and, where possible, done away with. The law is a tolerably lucrative trade, and why it should not bear its share of the public burdens, in common with trades that are far less so, we cannot imagine. Privileges which place men beyond the reach of those services and burdens which attach to others are the same in their nature, though not in their effect, as a distinction which should make them outcasts of one part of the community, and place them out of the pale of the law. Sergeant's' Inn, Chancery-lane, it seems, claimed a right some years ago to be exempted from the Poor -rate; the question was tried, and decided against the Inn; but now, forsooth, the payment is resisted, op the ground that Sergeants'-inn, Fleet-street, has since obtained a contrary decision. Nearly all the Inns of Court, we believe, have at some time or other claimed a similar exemption; but that a decision in favour of exempting one, is to be a precedent for exempting the rest, and that in the teeth of a decision to the contrary, is a species of logic which lawyers may comprehend, but which we confess that we do not. Acts of Parliament, we believe, are sometimes passed " to settle doubts ;" though lawyers, we dare say, will continue to doubt, in spite of doubt-resolving Statutes. We think, however, that no great harm or injustice would be done if one general Statute wem passed, sabjecting all the Inns of Court to the same taxes and regulations as apply to the rest of the Metropolis; for considering how much the law gets by its own doubts, there can be no doubt but that it ought to contribute its quota towards charges it has so large a hand in creating.—Morning Herald. • POLICE, INTELLIGENCE. GUILDHALL.—On Friday, a servant in the establish ment of the French Ambassador attended before Sir PETER LAURIE, with Frances Carpenter, a young native of the north of France, to request that a Mr. Henry Leeson might be compelled to fulfil a contract made with her, when he engaged her at Paris as a servant. She was hired. at 'lO/. a year, with a stipulation thattif she was dissatisfied with her place, she should be sent back to Paris at the ex pence of her master. She had demanded to be sent home, and her master had refused to comply. Sir PETER said he had no authority to interfere, but as the applicant was a stranger in the land, he would endea vour to assist her, and obtain an explanation by sending a summons. On Saturday the Frenchman and his young country woman again attended, and the former said he had seen Mr. Leeson that morning, who confessed he had not the means to pay her wages or her fare home. From what he saw, he feared Mr. Leeson was about to abscond, and he had failed to wait on the Alderman according to his pro mise. Mr. Leeson held about 335. which belonged to the girl, and applicant was fearful lie would not only carry that off, but all her clothes. Sir PETER directed the Guildhall messenger to bring Mr. Leeson before hint immediately, if he could find him at home. In a short time Martin, the messenger, returned and re ported that he had been to the house of Mr. Scott, a boot maker, in Ilolborn, and found that Mr. Leeson and his lady had absconded, but the servant's chest of clothes re mained untouched, and Mr. Scott was willing to surren der it, as he held four pictures as security for twelve guineas rent, then due to him.' Mr, Scutt represented' that they were a young couple, the lady being apparently about 19, and the gentleman a year or two older. They hired his first floor about a month ago, stating that they had just ar rived from France, and could'not give any reference. Mr. Leeson, however, offered him a week's rent in advance, and Mr. Scott expressed himndf satisfied upon seeing him in possession of three sovereigns. They had since been in great distress, borrowing money from their French servant, and even selling a bonnet they had given to her, to provide them all with a breakfast that morning. Sir PETER put a variety of questions to the girl, in answer to which she stated that she had been for four years cook and lady's-maid at the Prince Regent Hotel, at Paris, when, about two months ago, Mr. Leeson and his lady took a lodging there, and hired her as their servant. She could. not understand their English, nor they a word of her French, but still they corresponded very satisfactorily by signs. They remained at the hotel for a month, and then came to London, but they did not receive any visits at either place, and she had no knowledge of their connexions, but she understood the lady was a Scot, and her husband an Englishman. She had seen enough of England, and de sired to return home, where she partly supported her mother and family. . Her countryman thanked the Magistrate for Iris inter ference, and explained that the girl would be.sent home at the charge of the French Ambassador. Sir PETER gave her lOs., to make up part of her loss, before she quitted the office. A lad named William Thompson was charged with wanton c.uelty towards an ass.. Charles Benwell, a butcher, residing at No. 91, Long lane, stated that on passing through Smithfield on Friday evening his feelings were excited by the brutality of the prisoner towards the pool. animal ; and although he knew it would be exceedingly inconvenient to him as a butcher to attend at the Justice-room on the Saturday morning, be could not resist the desire to see such cruelty punished. Sir PETER LAURIE said he was happy to find there was so much humanity among the butchers. Only the day before he bad, at the instance of butchers, inflicted two fines for wanton cruelty toward's oxen in Smithfield that morning. The complainant proceeded to state, that he stopped about twenty minutes observing the motions of the prisoner, and saw him repeatedly strike the poor beast about the sides with a stick. He thought he was intoxicated, for he kept laughing while he was striking. lie seemed to beat the animal purely for amusement. Witness met an officer, and desired him to watch the prisoner, who, in the course of two minutes, repeated the blows, and was apprehended. Roe, the officer, said he saw the priSoner inflict two very severe blows on the ass's sides. He seemed to do it by way of exercise." Sir PETER—To keep the muscles of his arm in play. The prisoner said he was a vender of Flanders brick, am, and worked very hard. Sir PETER—You mean your donkey works hard—he carries the burden, I suppose.—Prisoner--Yes, Sir, but a' helps him up . behirid.—(A laugh.)--He explained that he was about to purchase the:donkey in question, and the owner had given him a stick to try his. paces, which he deemed a very necessary precaution, having once hastily bought a donkey which could not be induced triwalk away from the spot by either punishment or caresses. He declared. solemnly he struck the animal only twice. Complainant—On my oath, Sir Peter, I saw him strike u pwards up twenty blows. The ALDERMAN, taking into consideration the pri soner's means, fined him only 55., which he paid and was discharged. MARLBOROUGH-STREET.—On Saturday a young woman , named Elizabeth Mercer, 21 years of age, was brought before Sir GEORGE FARRANT, by the parish . officers of St. James's, to swear 'to the father of a fine child, which she carried in her arms. • The oath having been ad ministered, she was desired to point out the father, and s he immediately fixed upon a boy, only 16 years of age, the of he ofes e on A r lr. Hathaw a y, o f P o l an d -stree t, as being the offspring. The Magistrate was surprised. Mr. Hathaway declared that the 'girl had asserted . a falsehood, and she might as well swear he was the father. The MAGISTRATE asked the boy' if he ever was upon i n timate terms with the girl?—" No, Sir," said the boy, , c Not in a bed-room." ,‘ But were you ever upon intimate terms with her in any other place ?" inquired the Ala c isTßaTet.—" Yes, Sir, said the boy, " three or four times." Mr. Hathaway said, that the girl's statement was totally false, and that the boy bad been taken without any notice having been given to his friends. The girl had been in his service four years, but was discharged in July last. Since that time she had been in the country, and having become acquainted with 'some man, and got into trouble, she to town, and wished to make it appear that his on was the father of her child. He hoped, however, the Magis trate would look on the youth of the lad ; he contended it was impossible he could be the father. Sir GEOR.GE FARRANT said, that the girl had sworn that the boy was the father, and he had admitted that he had been upon intimate terms with the girl. He should therefore make an order for the boy to pay 2s. per week, and Mr. Hathaway could appeal, if he thought propel. Mr. Hathaway was then called upon to pay 21. 15s. the expenses of the girl's acconchement ; but he said he should appeal. Mr. Tweeddale, a medical gentleman, was charged with assaulting a pupil, named Morgan. The complainant stated, that he went into the Royal Metropolitan Infirmary, in Broad -street, Golden-square, a few days ago, when he was insulted by Mr. Tweeddale, who placed his hands at the back of his neck and pushed him out of the house. Mr. Tweeddale said, that he was in the infirmary at tending to some children who required his assistance, when the complainant entered, and by the conversation he kept up with the other pupils, prevented him from doing his duty. _ _ _ A witness, however, having proved the assault, Mr. Tweeddale was bound in his own recognizances to appeal at the Sessions. MARYLEBONE-OFFICE.—On Saturday night, a man, genteellv . dressed, was charged with having insulted young lady, between two and three o'clock the same after noon, in Kensington-gardens. He was taken into custody by Walker, the gatekeeper at Bayswater-lodge, to whom the young lady complained, and he endeavoured to bribe him with a sovereign to let him go. • The defendant said he was a lawyer's clerk, living in Smith•street, Westminster, and denied the charge. Mr. GRIFFITH toll him that the evidence was quite suf ficient to require the decision of a jury, and committed him for trial. The feelings of many respectable females in that neigh bourhood having been outraged in a similar way, Harris, the countable who brought the prisoner to the office, re quested Mr. Griffith to give them an opportunity of seeing him, and he will be brought back from prison te-morrow for that purpose. WORSHIP-STREET.—A young man, named Jona than Reynolds, was on Saturday brought up on a charge of bigamy, in having married last November a young lady named Jennings, he having previously, in 1823, intermar ried with a female named Aldridge._ Miss Jennings, a lady of very interesting appearance, gave evidence of the prisoner paying his addresses to her as a single man, and the marriage was proVed to have taken place at Sandwich, by licence. on the 7th of November ; 1827. Miss Jennings had 150/. per annum, but, fortu nately, it was so settled as to be beyond the prisoner's con trol. Soon after the marriage the first wife made her ap pearance, and, of course, all connubial harmony was de stroyed. There was a deficiency of proof as to the first marriage having taken place by banns, there was also some further evidence wanting : under these circumstances the prisoner was remanded till Wednesday, with an intimation, how ever, that he would be committed for trial. TOWY-HALL, SOUTHWARK.—Mr. Stephens, a reputable tradesman residing in Snowsfields, was summoned at the suit of the parish officers of St. Olave's, to remune rate them for advances made to his wife. _ . The wife being sworn for the purpose of substantiating the parish claim, stated, that she had been married to the defendant ten years, and borne him three children, living very happily with him till about 14 weeks back, when he commenced an amour with a female of her acquaintance, for whose sake he abandoned her and her infants to mourn the loss of his affections as wretched supplicants for parisk support, after having on many occasions taken up a knife and threatened to be her butcher. The husband denied having fOrmed any improper con nexion, but had reasons of his own, he said, for refusing to live with her longer. The Wife assured the Magistrate he had none whatever, except such as sprung from the source she had mentioned, and from whence flowed all the misfortunes of herself and children. Alder Man J. J. SMITH told the husband he could have no good reason for deserting his helpless offspring at least, for whom, as well as his wife, he must provide, or take the consequence. The husband sullenly replied be never would. " Then you must secure the parish from being burthen ed with their support," said the ALDERMAN, "or it will_ be my duty to commit you to Brixton for three months' hard labour." " I cannot help it," said the husband, as sullenly as before. " I have no security to offer." Here the wife offered, with tears in her eyes, to bury all recollection of the past in oblivion, and devote her ex istence to his comfort and happiness, if he would but re store her and his children to their former place in his affec tion ; but neither this nor the earnest recommendation of the parish-officers not to render harsh measures necessary, having any effect, be was left to reap the fruits of his ob stinacy by being committed. CAUTION TO SERVANTS. HERTFORDSHIRE SESSIONS. On Monday last the General Quarter Sessions for this county commenced at the Shire-hall, before the Right Hon. Lord DACRE (Chairman.) George Whitehurch and Elizabeth Jones were in dicted for stealing some pork, minced meat, apples, wine, and a hare, and other articles, the property of Levi Ames, Esq., at Lamer-park, near Wheat hampstead, in this county. The male prisoner was head butler, and the fe male housekeeper and :cook, in the prosecutor's establishment. _ _ ..... _ The indictment was framed tinder a recent Act of Parliament, passed (among other objects) for in flicting more severe punishments upon servants convicted of robbing their employers than were heretofore authorised. It is, we believe, the first instance in this county in which this part of the Sta tute has been brought into operation. The prisoners said nothing in their defence; but an attempt was made, through their Counsel, Mr. Ryland, to impute to the other servants a malignant feeling towards Whitchurch, on the ground that he had been too careful of his master's strong . beer. On the part of Whitchurch, very high testimony of character was given by a branch of the family of Lady Plnmer, in whose service he had previously lived. The Noble Chairman (Lord DACRE) remarked upon this in his charge to the Jury, suggesting, that however powerful this appeared, its consideration was the province of the Bench rather than of the jury. Upon the return of the verdict of Guilty against both of the delinquents, but with a particular re. commendation to mercy, the Noble CHAIRMAN im pressively addressed the prisoners upon the enor mity of the offence of servants c onspiring to defraud and rob their employers. Ills Lordship concluded by saying, that the Judgment of the Court, formed with scarcely a dissenting opinion, was, that the prisoners should be transported for 14 years. The prisoners, .who. were both very respectably dressed, burst into tears on the sentence being pro nounced, and a female friend of the prisoner Jones fainted, and was carried out of Court. , • A short time ago three female servants, be longing to P. G. SxENE , Esq. , Pitlour, accidentally par took of some coloured confectionaries used in garnishing dessert dishes. In a very few minutes all of theta were seized with sickness, pain at the stomach, dimness of sight, symptoms a colouringiC an d vomiting. The quantity taken was exceedinglY small — n ot a tea-spoonful ea c h. Appropriate measures were taken for their relief lan ingredient dfromth ue was sup- . posed that the pernicious mat ter was verdigris, the con f ects b e i ng chiefly of a green co lour.—Edinburgh Weekly Chronicle. THE LATE MURDER IN MARL BOROUGH fuII account of this dreadful occurrence will be found in our fourth page ; and' in addition, ', re have now to state, that the butler, RICHARD GILLHAM, has himself been taken into custody on suspicion, and, to gether with his wife, undergone several examinations be fore the Mayor, G. H. TuawAL, Esq. The investigation was continued till a late hour last night, and the prisoner was afterwards conveyed to gaol, but none of the evidence has transpired. The remains of the unfortunate young woman Who has thus met withAnich a dreadfOl and-Prema ture end; were on Wednesday morning interred in Walcott burial ground, a vast` concourse of elions attending the funeral. i We have just learni that a large q uant4 of goods w hi c h supposed not to have come honestly into the Ir --. found at his, private.lodg. . ale prisoner's possession, nave been La _ ings, bt up to this h our , they have ' 'not been m'o'rn to. The sus ected party is of most respectable appeara n ce, genteely !dressed in a. dark-brown chat, light waistcoat, and white cotton stockings. A Clergyman has Psi been' sent for, and hone to the prisop.—Baths Herakh CORONER'S INQUIST! On Saturday afternoon an inquest was held at the workhouse of St. George's parish, Mint-street, Borough, before THOMAS SHELTON, Esq., on the body of a fine little boy named Alfred Kingsman, aged about four years, who was supposed to have been smothered by its mother. This extraordinary case excited an unusual degree of interest in the neighbourhood, in consequence of the mother having been taken to Union-hall imme diately after the melancholy occurrence. Ann Kingsman, a little girl aged nine years, was the first witness sworn.—She stated that she lived with her father, a glass-turner, at No. 39, Peter street, Borough; deceased was her youngest bro ther. On last Thursday afternoon her mother, Mary Kingsman, was in liquor, and took the baby up stairs to lay him upon the bed. The house consists of three rooms, two above and one below. Witness did not see what her mother did with .the child up: • stairs. Shortly after, her mother came down .witb.• out the child. Her mother remained below, and sat by the fire for some time. , Witness thought she heard the baby cry. This was towards nightfall, as they had their dinner late. Witness went up stairs with another little brother, bet Ween four and five years old. Saw the deceased in the bed, with the clothes covered over his head and face. The lower part of the baby was uncovered, except the frock,he had on. Two pieces of bed-ticken, one bolster,And two pillows, were on his face and head, laid. one a top of another. She took the clothes off him, and he was dead. Witness carried him down stairs, and gave him to her mother, who said he was not dead when she first looked at him ; but at the second look, said he was. Her mother was in liquor then. Witness's other brother, William, aged 12 years, went out s and told a woman named Sadgroye, who came and took the baby from her mother. CORONER—Did your mother treat the baby kindly ? Witness—Yes Sir, she was very fond of it. CORONER—Why did you think the baby dead - when you took off the clothes ? Witness—Because he fell back when I put him up in the bed. CORONER—Did your mother go out after she laid the child down on the bed ? Witness—She sat a little while by the. fire, then went out, and stopped ., away till dusk. CORONER--Did any one go up stairs while your • mother was out? Witness—None but ray little brother. I was at home all the while; nobody could. go up without my seeing them. CORONER—What did your brother go up for.? Witness—He went .to play, but soon came down ; both my brothers went up. CORONER--YOU did not say t wo b ro th ers before? [The witness appeared confused, and the variation excited great interest in the Jury.] CORONER—WA S the door' open or shut ? Wit- ness—l can't say whether mother left the door open or shut ; it was in the dark. , 4 Juror—How could you tell the things were heaped • on the deceased, when you were in the dark ? Wit ness—l pushed the clothes aside and felt my brother. CORONER—What did your mother say when you brought down the baby ? Witness—She did'nt cry. A man and woman took the baby to the doctor's. Mother tried to hinder them. She, was -. • in liquor. William Kingsman, aged 12, was next examined, merelyhis testimony was a repetitio n o f the fatter part of Ann Kingsman's evidence. Susannah Sadgrove lived in Peter -street. About dusk on Thursday last, witness heard Mrs. Kings man and her daughter Ann, crying. Witness en tered the house, took the deceased from its mother, and carried it to the doctor's, Mr. Olding, i n Union-street. The mother made no resistance to a m s u e c a h lie l n d t , o a xi n ca d t a e: k . ed ' h e r T t h a e k i f n a g t ii t e h r the ch ild. the deceased was w if the mother was fond of the baby ?—Mr. man - replied; she was very fond of the deceased, which, was 4 twin. The other infant was stolen ia July last ) and his wife had never been right in hert),..l• head since, having frequently complained of dizsineas , ll:;;•A when she was perfectly sober. After a consultation of half an hour, during which considerable discussion arose, the Jury returned a verdict of " Accidentally suffocated." The mother, who is in custody, is to be brought up to Union-hall on Wednesday next. ofsaaj,:rPokr aenbhroearkent, It is understood that Lord WILLIAM BEN- TINCK is, if not already arrived, on his way to town. The woolcombers of Leicester all turned put for wages last week, and the masters are Advertisin g for new hands.—Nottingham Review. THE WAKEFIELDS.—In addition to the disappointment experienced iosfs b ,NL y ia.Hi t r h te l awTd e e. : Ak el a r ,s W tethr A e x o a r ri e Ln a , rain from_ . the recent marriage of Miss Tuntraa ir , ft a la su n, cce sfha ss te io het o ra o od f r cal bteenb a a: p sb ri a so nd n ' e s r im d p ied risonment, to whamg mities to others connected with him, haa followed his cri minal conduct. Some time ago Mrs. Wiraxs'at Waxy:- heart, ocemioned by the premature decease of his beloved daughter. ibplF M a dnir D i no e ts:"lh h h oswe !o r tiolfleßentoehoefvef timell 4 aob a f led( married. e .ole l c e s rtpthi , died also, it is Last night a young woman Was found dead in a stair in Prince's-street. Front inquiry made into the cause of her death in such a place, it appears that it has out the poor wretch, w h ose presence had become e where she lodged were un d er the necessity of ca been the re sult of a dissolute .cours e o f lif e. The inmates n' ioe of fttllng u rae hhousee, and la y ing her upon the stair, where she died. It was with the utmost difficulty she could be removed.... Glasgow Chronicle. STEAM ART ILLERY.—Mr. PERKINS hav ing been long engaged in the construction of a piece of ordnance of the calibre of a four-pounder, to be discharged is calculated of sufficient by high pressure steam, the following account may Ise ac ceptable to our readers :—The length of the barrel is`about a an t : a l e t h h ed e di t a o me th te e r of the e bore, which is grooved to carry a rifle h3ll, is about three inches. The steam ap- B p i :ra f t: 4 strength to generate steam of one hundred atmospheres, though it can never be necessary to employ steam for, the purpose of artillery, at a higher pressure than ahout sixty atmospheres, or about 8401bs. or 9001bs. to the square inch ; whiqk is greater than the elastic force of gunpowder: The elastic force of high pressure steam, however, having much greater range or limits than that of gunpowder, is infinitely better calculated for projectiles, independently of any saving of expense; for it is estimated by. Mr. P. that the projectile force of steam 'is actually ten times greater than that of gu.nlvwdec, in Lowing a ball to any given distance. On the Ist inst. Alrs. l3 ll M en T ry fi g . apel, Little Tower -street, th e O l n a d tyh of f 2 9thult. Captain a t c S h t a . s. M j i a e m h a e e s l'e H T o e p r e race ja S n tok et of a daughter: . Devort p stone, R.N . . - , of a daughter. . ' limn, daughter of M r . Elli ot Taylor, MARRIED. • Oa the 2d i ns t. at St Andrew s, Holbor n , b y the Rev. : Edward Wats on , Ki ng-stree4 Gilbert Beresford, ' gr' Cheapdoef Holborn., ca,l4l'w On the 2 8th lilt% a t Broom Hall, Robert Adam nand" E n. Au). for Ipswich ,, to Lady Mary Bruce, eldest (laugh ter of the Earl . a. Eri n . George's, On die 2 ,1 ' WO' a S Ranover.squa ra , ch in , k ol• of the Theatre:Royal, Covent-garden, to Miss; wi l i Bundock, second daughter of the late Jolla B ut ,do , • and grand -daugi4er af Mrs. Dawson, york, -J Bland , Louis Tot, Da ve tluarStoonhFouwitio:tEYra.rmi in nt Sthee c ie9 n 2 d d ary yea ' 'r of t o h f e h lti ag % 1 -:__--------- .....„ DIED. --7.--.........., R e vlon rancer's Office. the i ess mari i sn eo n B uoy o r r i th Pr o e i "nv: . On die Ist inst. Waftheritalong and:odstg:ertLini ‘ 1 1 on •e it s il ei t n iltki t s , tti : cp l os r ; . , W in, i ) l , l s i he aru s7 ll t a h r y ri e. s :i i oat: his age; Ebenezer ca t° Ro n oni ;a c ab l i rticilee.iaino. _ . . . liollick,' Esq. of 4 Totten ham, at the house bf hereon, Mrs. Hadflan, in XbP' 7 ° a Ye a r 4 . het alle•T , ' On the 24 „isp,,lipkeyt Eeesie , Poole,Esq: house-sturou - of the 114ddleselk,HAPitak; - i 111 ,Ml4l, 'AI 44 IiOnTLY T' , PRINT; di and , PUIMISHED db39,111.' U , % / T ix l . SUN OFFICE,N6:II2,'Sfrand: ' 4l 7-2 V +~~ flan Aanuti . DuriN ,:toy biJth.e- In-.the] In thd ' For el b9a Sal t .Appr pur Annu the La Fu SOI Bitlan t z Tie &Atli e . 7 ) 4 414 1 g ; * 1 , 11 20 4 int let Lady J. T, JOI E. Lord Fled , Mon. Davi Rev. Wm. Ripe ‘The Adm A' Vey. jj a ßty. Hon Hon Hon. Join Ctio Rev. Rob Sir 13 Tho - Sir Cap Cap Cap Via • cap Cap T. Cap . 4 sir Sir J. Ilea 1 'l'. J. 1 R. G. ( '3 (