The Sun. — London, England, 1841-01-21 00:00:00

MORNING EDITION- SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS - - FROM THE DAILY PAPERS OF YESTERDAY. (From the Morning Chronicle.) The Tories are as deficient in blushes as in most other ch arms , e l se , instead of voluntc er in g dail y crite cams upon the Repeal agitation, the slightest reference to that topic would damask their checks. The blush has been called the color vertutis, which accounts for its having no place amongst the beauties of Toryism. The 'Repeal is their ow n especial question : they al0:11) are responsible for the mooting of it, and for wieetever interest it has excited in any part of Ire ta.nd. If its favourable reception has been anything but wry cordial, or very gen ril, the merit is not theirs. Had the Tories been in power, what is now but a murmur would have long since been a mighty roar, If th re is a breeze under Lotd Ebrington, whet a huneean: it %you d have blown had some 'Very viceroy filled his place! What impudence it h$ in the Tories to taunt the Whigs with an agitation which has been rendered powerless and hurtless ex clusively through the popularlty of a Whig Adini- nistration, and the respect which it has earned for the Psritish sceptre ! A Government founded upon principles of justice and protection despises the shocks which, under one of an opposite character, would con vulse and disjoint the kingdom. Let an administration 'ec me into office upon the principle of treating Irishmen as the inferiors of Englishmen, and curtailing the feev rights and liberties that Irishmen enjoy, than indeed will Repeal be an alarming question, and the voice of the agitator be echoed by the nation. The Tories, wit'a Lord Stanley's Bid in their hands, and actually U'.enaeing Ireland with the manifold proscriptions and iniquities of that nefarious measure, presume to charge the Whigs with the Repeal movement. The parallel for such effrontery is the fugitive pick-pocket, bellow ing " Stop thief !" Why, had the Tory chiefs held a solemn synod to deliberate upon the most effectual mode of driving the people of Ireland into the adoption of a course of desperation, could they have struck upon a better plan than the commencement of an attack upon the elective franchise, led by the most malignant and pertinacious enemy of Irish liberty and the Irish name ? t' The blood will follow, where the knife is driven ; The flesh will quiver, when the pincers tear." We do not justify the tactics of opposing Lord Stanley by raising a cry against the Union ; on the contrary, the more violent the assailant, the greater the expedi ency of conducting the public defence coolly, and com bining as much popular strength as possible in resist ance to aggression. Mr. O'Connell's prevailing error, as it appears to us, has been the notion that furious at tacks ought to be furiously repelled, and every frantic Tory demonstration met by one equally frantic on the part of his outraged countrymen. Now, our notion is, that the more of demoniac hostility the Tories exhibit in their Irish policy, the more should so briety and discretion characterise the public oppo sition. Let th e s t rugg l e b e one o f v i o l ence an d pas so3 upon one side, and calm resolution and princi ple upon the other, and reason and experience forbid us to doubt for a moment upon which side will be the victory. But the question is, which is the party answerable for this Repeal agitation, the extravagance of which we thus condemn, and the mischiefs of which we have so often pointed out? Who, but the authors of all evils, and all calamities, discords, and distubances, through the length and breadth of the empire, but es pecially in Ireland, the country of their peculiar hate, the mark of their uncontrollable animosity ? When the Tories reprobate the Repealers, we reply that the Re peal agitation is but an index to the extent of Tory outrage. That such a question has been agitated at all is their workmanship, w hil e the f ac t that, having been agitated, it has made such little way with the people,is the praise of the party in power, who are so preposterously and impudently upbraided with having raised and encouraged it. But the Tories ace not merely the real authors and originals of the extravagant designs which they vainly labour to fasten upon those who not only disap prove of them in principle, but have discountenanced them in practice ; the Tories are the only party in the country against whom the Repealers could have the slightest chance of making head. The Liberals have once already overpowered a Repeal agitation (and one too, of Lord Stanley's production, his Lordship being then a Tory statesman in Whig colours and a Whig Cabinet) ; but we never have read or heard of a Tory Ministry extinguishing a national flame, except by throwing into it the object of desire. In doing so they have violated ev er y p r i nc ipl e o f po li c y an d honour without a scruple. In doing so, they have sacrificed, without hesitation, the vastest and most sacred inter ests. Not even the Church itself have they respected, when its immolation was necessary to suppress an agitation and maintain a Cabinet. Thus they put down the Catholic Association ; thus they ex tinguished the agitation of the Catholic question ; thus they subdued Zr. O'Connell, and thus only could they subdue him again. Is the Act of Union dearer to them than the Established Chureli ? Yet, holding the latter to be the holiest interest and the noblest institu tion, and holding also its safety to be incompatible with the emancipation of the Catholics, they nevertheless conceded that emancipation, and thereby sacrificed that holiest interest and that noblest institution, prov ing by such conduct both their perfidy and their cowardice, and acknowledging themselves the beaten slaves of an agitation with which they had neither the honesty to sympathize nor the courage to grapple. And this is the party which would snatch the reins of Government out of Whig hands—to resist Mr. O'Connell and Repeal ! They resist Mr. O'Connell and Repeal'. Probably as they resisted Mr. O'Connell and emancipation. No, no ! we want other, better, and stouter defenders both of the Church and the Union. A just Government is the only one that can successfully resist improper demands. Judging by analogy, the Tories would be as easily frightened out of the Repeal of the Union as they were out of the Repeal of the Penal Laws. Tyranny is ever cowardly ; and, besides, we know that the official Tories would not only repeal the union between England and Ireland, but the union between heaven and earth to keep them selves an hour longer in place and pay. (From the Morning Post.) We understand that preparations are making in many populous places—the town of Leeds being the most active in the work—for carrying on a general and systematised " agitation," with the avowed . object of altering the present Constitution of Parliament. The first point to be striven for is the extension of the elec tive franchise. What we have to apprehend in this matter is a kind of Chartism engrafted upon O'Con nellism—the principles of democracy, but without the open and undisguised declaration of them which English democrats have hitherto preferred. Revolution is to be sought for by a continual process of torment and dis quiet—by a persevering system of disturbance within the verge of the law. We are of opinion that this at. tempt will fail, because it is opposed to the tas:e and habits of the English nation. We will not patiently elbmit in England to this Irish plan of perpetual irritating disturbance, so opposite to the sense of peace and security which is congenial to England. A good deal may be done, perhaps, to annoy us through the agency of the large amount of Irish population now set tled in our manufacturing towns, but, so far as the as sistance of English sentiment is necessary to the scheme it will not prosper. The national habit of English Pro testants is to state boldly what they want, to strike boldly for it when the desire arises to a thorough cor.- viction that they ought to have it, and so to settle the question one way or the other. They cannot bear a smouldering conspiracy which lasts for year after year, until it grows into a national habit of half violence, half treachery. This is the Irish Romanist method—an odious and detestable method of political action, which may Heaven avert from the public proceedings of Eng lishmen ! It were not well, however, that statesmen should shut their eyes to the fact that among large bo dies of the English working people there exists a feeling of strong discontent with the present distribution of th e elective franchise. Nine years ago the late Mr. Coleridge foresaw this, as the probable effect of the changes contemplated by the Reform Bill I am afraid," he said, " that the Conservative party see but one half of the truth. The mere extension of the franchise is not the evil ; I should be glad to see it greatly extended—there is no harm in that per se ; the mischief is that the franchise is nominally extended, but to such classes and in such a manner, that a prac tical disfranchisement of all above, and discontending of all below, a favoured class arc the unavoidable re sults." This prophecy has been fulfilled by the event in almost every place where the Reform Act has had any practical effect at all. We actually find a far greater degree of discontent among the masses, on account of the state of the representation, since the grand " reform" was enacted, than was ever known to exist before. They thought that " reform" was to do something for them, and they shouted for it accordingly. But they now perceive that they were duped, and that they helped to make a revolution, from the real or supposed benefits of which they have been excluded. We think they have been wronged —thitt they have been misled and cheated ; but we wish they would bear in mind who they are who have 1 misled and cheated them. Surely it is their part, as rational men, to recollect that the Conservatives had no shire in this delusion. If the Conservatives have not been " liberal " iu extending the franchise, they have at all events been honest. They have practised no trickery upon the working people. They have not flattered crowds into the belief that the common multi tude ought to influence or control the Government of the country, and then taken advantage of the assistance of these crowds to make a revolution which gave every thing to themselves, and nothing to the multitude. This was the conduct of the Whig-Radical managers and tricksters —of those persons who are now Ministers, or supporters of Ministers, and who still maintain their po sition by other jobs, and manceuvres, and dexterities, of which honest English statesmen would be ashamed. Whatever, then, the working classes may have to com plain of, they should remember that the Conservatives are guiltless towards them, in comparison with the pre sent Government party, who, for its own advantage, did most certainly cheat them in a very base fashion. But the Conservatives oppose the present claims of the working people—the people without any fixed property —to such an extension of the elective franchise as will reach them. They do, but they are prepared to show that, having regard to justice and a reasonable distribu tion of power among the various classes of the State, they cannot do otherwise. If the working people would but reflect upon the circumstances of their condition—upon their limited opportunities of political knowledge— upon the occupation of their time on the daily tasks of procuring subsistence—upon the complicated and important interests which exist separate from them, they must surely come to the conclusion that they ought not to have a preponderating and overwhelming amount of political power in the country. They cannot but per ceive that they are not equal to such responsibility. And yet, looking to the numerical amount of their class, it is certain that the extension of the elective franchise to them would give them this overwhelmi n g power—that it would be, as Mr. Coleridge says, a practical disfranchisement of all above them. e think we are not paying them too great a compliment in supposing that this injustice cannot be their ob ject. They cannot deliberately wish to engross every thing, and to make themselves the exclusive managers over interests which they cannot ualyibly . under stand. It may be urged that, thougro give them this preponderance would be unjust, still they have a right to some share in the distribi:tion of the fran chise. We certainly should agree to this if it could be shown that the possession of the franchise in a due pro portion to their class would do them any good. But they have never made any such modified claim to the franchise as could be granted without up , etting alto gether the balance of power imong different orders of society. When they do dify their claims the argument with respect to the must assume a dif ferent shape, and lead, perhaps, to a different con clusion. But no claim founded upon the abstract assumption that the elective franchise is a valu able possession can be evidently a just one. To some the franchise would undoubtedly be a mis chief. They, therefore, who would have their claims listened to as just and reasonable should try to show what good to themselves and to the country would be likely to arise from the possession of the pri vilege to vote for Members of Parliament. Let us do the working people the justice to say that in respect of moral and intellectual qualification we certainly regard them as far better entitled to votes for Members of Parliament than the " ten pound rent" class in our large cities and towns. These, taking them as a class, are the worst set of Englishmen in existence—the least honest, the least generous, the most sordid, the most self-indulgent, the most irreligious. It is not among the working people that we find the base and sordid cry for foreign bread at foreign prices. The working people would rather pay a little more for their loaves than see thousands of their countrymen who work upon the land of England turned adrift because corn could be got cheaper from Poland or Hungary. No, it is the grasping, greedy creatures who pick up money here and there by a sort of half-labour, half gambling—who care not a doit for anything on earth but their own gain, and the grossness in which it will enable them to indulge—these are the creatures who run after Corn-law repeal agitators, and who long to spend Ices money upon bread, that they may spend more money upon gin. Happily the influence of this class is but of limited extent. To whatever extent it goes, however, it is mischievous and degrading. ( From the Morning Advertiser.) " Nothing is settled," so saith the Times, and, in most audacious defiance of facts, proceeds to support its as sertion by the following process :—" Nothing is settled. Instead of a little war's having already produced great results,' the great opium war against China has produced no results at all—not a shilling of indemnity— not an approach to a treaty—not even a promise to ne gotiate worth the least reliance. And what have we really and definitely accomplished in the east of Europe? What is the actual state of affairs between Mehemet Ali and the Sultan? Whore is still the army of Ibra him Pacha ? How far has he proceeded on his march towards Egypt ? Has the Turkish fleet arrived at Constantinople, or is it at Alexandria still ? Has the prolongation of the contest there—for in Syria the fight ing is not yet over—not yet:produced anu change of pos rule, or return to ill humour in the french Govern ment ? Admiral Duperre has at this moment in Tou lon 18 sail of the line, well manned, which our ships (as is complained of by scores of British officers in the Mediterranean) are not, nor in a safe condition for conflict with a skilful European enemy. Is our quar rel with the United States made up, or the slightest approximation towards it? Ask Mr. Van Buren, who hopes, as every American President has hoped, and every British Minister, for so many years ; but not a single point is yet decided, nor a single atom of Ameri can tenacity relaxed, nor a single ground of hope esta blished (though many of apprehension) which did not exist ten years ago. Then, in fact, there is nothing settled anywhere ; east, west, north, south, there is nothing settled. Yet out of such nothingness a Queen's speech must be vamped up, and everything like an amendment sneered at ! Will the Speech allude to the state of Ireland, and the repeal agitation too ? We guess not." We are altogether at a loss to decide whe ther astonishment should be excited more by the shame less audacity of these assertions, or by the shrewd in genuity whereby such a number of fallacies are im. plied and compressed within so small a compass. " Nothing it settled !" " Rome was not built in a day ;" and had the Times existed during the progress and establishment of Rome's mighty empire, it tnight at any time have exclaimed, " nothing is settled," with a disregard to facts as shameless as that with which it now asserts that in fact, " there is nothing settled " any where ; east, west, worth, and south, " there is nothing settled." Perhaps not. The phraseology is dubious. Mutation is the law of being, and therefore it may at any time be said that " nothing is settled ;" and we rejoice in the fact, for in pro gression consists improvement, and in the enunciation of the opinion that " nothing is settled," Toryism or the conservatism of settled abuses, may recognise the announcement of its ultimate and inevitable ex tinction. So far we exult in the opinion which the Times promulgates in apprehension ; but on its insidious and base application of the opinion, we pronounce an unqualified denial and denunciation. It is curious and amusing to remark the manner in which the Times exhibits its own enormous inconsistencies. In the extract just quoted, for instance, it refers to the collision with China not as a " little war," but as " the great opium war," though but a few days since it treated it as undeserving any public interest, more than might be excited by a party of policeman in pursuit of some runaway thieves. It is not " the great opium war," however, which it now endeavours to depreciate, but its results. " The great opium war against China," saith the Time:, "has produced no results at all." This is great news for Sir James Graham. Everything demanded by Admiral Elliot has been acceded to by the Celestial Emperor, indemnity promised, inquiry granted into the conduct of Commissioner Lin, who was the agent of the outrage on British subjects and property, and Commissioners appointed to prepare a treaty for the regulation of future commercial intercourse. Yet the Times asserts that the " great opium war" of yes terday—the thief-catching expedition of last week— " has had no results at all." Similar opinions arc pro nounced upon the affairs of the Sultan stud Mehemet Ali the inefficiency of the British fleet in the Medi terranean'. ! and the mistake committed by Van Buren in supposing the boundary question in progress of satis factory adjustment !!! To all these statements we shall say to all those, if there be any, not familiar with the infamous incansistences and fallacies of the Times —Read and wonder ! (From the Times.) " Like master," says the proverb, " like man." As is Mr. O'Connell, such are the Whigs who live by him. He plays for rent, and they for salary. His in terests are most assisted by a cry against the Union ; theirs by a yell against the honest registration of voters. He has had his repeal gatherings among the wild men of the mountain and bog ; they have assembled their Dublin audience in the Hawkins-street Theatre, to damn Lord Stanley and his fair play, and pledge aro other benefit to " her Majesty's servants." Through box, pit, and gallery, the general cry was, " Silence that dreadful Bill." It has already defeated the Minis ters, disunited their friends, and endangered the very te nure of office. Since last July it has lain asleep ; but in a few days more it wakes from its own slumber to chase away theirs. By whatever means, fair or foul, by what ever agency, Irish or English, it must be crushed. So vowed and roared the Reformers who filled the Dublin playhouse on Friday last. The requisition for Oar meeting is described as bearing the signatures of a great many Noblemen ; but the only one who could be in duced to make his personal appearance was the Earl of Charlemont, the Chairman. The leading resolution, condemnatory of Lord Stanley's measure, is worded in a strain well contrived to raise among ignorant people the notion, that the Noble Lord ha s been proposing and still meditates, some horrible enormity, such as , flogging for rent in arrear : for these Reformers are not content to signify disapprobation—that would be far too feeble. No ; they say, " We do hereby express our deep abhorrence of the measure proposed in the last Session of Parliament by Lord Stanley." Th ey vote the lic.form Bill a failure as to the wants of Ire land, they desire an extension of franchise, and th e y call upon English and Irish to join for protecting the elector, " in the legitimate exercise of his rights, from the attacks of those who now scok to destroy it." W e will shortly remind our readers what is that " exercise of right" which Lord Stanley is seeking to destroy, and what is that measure of his which these sensitive people so " deeply abhor." At present, an Irish voter, once registered, stands upon the register not merely, as in England, for one year, but for eight. In the counties a very large proportion of the voters claim the franchise in respect of a holding for lives. Many of these lives, of course, m us t d rop b etween one octenn i a l reg i s tration and another ; and whenever the freehold has there by expired, common justice would seem to demand that the right of vot i ng should cease with it. In like man ner we should humbly presume that the death of the voter himself ought to discontinue the operation of his franchise, since it is difficult for common understandings to apprehend on what principle the family of a free- 1 holder who has died in the first year of his registration should be permitted to leave his certificate of registry in operation for seven other years, available at every election occurring during that period through the agency of some stranger suborned to personate the deceased. To Lord Stanley and the Conservatives it appeared that the exercise of the freeholde r ' s t i g ht o f voting after the freehold interests had expired, and the exercise of the living man's right of voting by his perso nator after his death, were proceedings savouring very strongly of fraud. But to the Reformers, who take a liberal view of morals as well as of politics, all these things seemed quite just and reasonable ; and when Lord Stanley proposed to prevent such practices by requiring the Irishman to be registered annually, as the Englishman is, they came to the deliberate conclusion that the culpable party was not the voter who committed the fraud, but Lord Stanley, who attempted to prevent it. But there was, and still is, another fruitful source of injustice. If a voter, seeking to be registered, be improperly rejected he is allowed to appeal ; and the question, where it is one of fact, is settled by a Jury, or where it is one of law, by a Judge of As s:zo. But if a hundred, or a thousand voters, be im properly admitted, be it by mistake, or be it by the political partialities of the registering barrister, there is no appeal either on the fact or on the law ; so that the genuine constituency may be swamped, and the rightful candidate defrauded of his return without the possibility of redress. To Lord Stanley and the Con servatives it appeared that what was fair on the one side was fair on the other ; and that if the ascer tainment of the parties justly entitled to vote was the real object of the registration, the appeal against the admission of bad votes was as ne cessary as the appeal against the rejection of good ones. But the Reformers, on the contrary, thought that justice should be not only blind but lopsided ; and they adjudged that the Bill of Lord Stanley, which proposed to give " the appeal both ways," was a wicked infraction of the undoubted right of sham voters to be retained as real ones. In these two enactments, of an nual registration and of reciprocal appeal, consisted the whole principle of Lord Stanley's Bill. (From the Globe.) In consistency with our invariable rule, to afford all parties who conceive themselves injured by any state ment which has appeared in our columns, an opportunity of explaining or denyinc , the whole, or any part, of such statement, we insert a letter from Lord Strangford's so licitors on the article which appeared in the columns of the Globe on Friday last, with the copy of an opinion of his Lordship's Counsel on the decision of the Court. In support of our remarks on the republication of the Times' article, and our allusion to the criminal proceedings instituted unsuccessfully by Lord Strang ford against another journal for some severe comments on the case, we are bound to state that the letter and opinion of counsel leave the matter just where it was before. The Court requires those who seek the pro tection of its extraordinary powers included in a crimi nal information for libel, to deny upon affidavit the imputations upon their reputation of which they complain. is the " technical rule " with which Lord Strangford failed to comply. There was no shrinking from responsibility on the part of the defendant ; no pretence that the publication did not impute falsehood to Lord Strangford. This was unequivocally and boldly avowed. Lord Strangford could not, as his counsel states, " frame any affidavit which should operate as a denial of every charge con tained in the limes' article ;" and the Court left his Lordship to the ordinary remedies, either by indictment, or action for scan. snag., of both of which the Noble Lord declined to avail himself. If Lord Strangford or his solicitors should be of opinion that the publication of the observations of the Court on dismissing the rule will at all benefit his Lordship's reputation, we will readily give them a place in our columns. We abstain from doing so until such request be made, because we do not think that any such benefit to his Lordship would accrue from their publication. " TO TIIE EDITOR OF THE GLOBE. " SlR,—The following observations appoar in the lead ing article of the Globe newspaper of Friday last, with re. ference to an application made to the Court of King's Bench by Viscount Strangford in Nlichaelmas Term, 1828 : " ' The affidavits in support of the application did not satisfy the Court, and the Noble Lord took nothing by his motion.' " As his Lordship's solicitors on that occasion, we take leave to set you right as to the grounds on which that ap plication was refused. " The accompanying opinion of his Lordship's Cowie! will fully explain the reason why fwtber proceedings were discontinued in this case, and will also afford the public an opportunity of !earning the opinion of two of the most eminent lawyers of the day, that it was only on ac count of the non-observance of a technical rule, which it was almost impossible to have observed, that the Court refused to grant the information applied Li-. " The observations in the Globe would lead to the sup position that it was on the merits of the case that the Court had refused to comply with the application made by Viscount Strangford. " We have the honour to remain, Sir, " Your obedient humble servants, " PICKEItING, SMITH, and TOMPSON. " Stone-buildings, Lincoln's Inn, Jan. 18, 1841. " Copy of opinion cf Sir C. Wetherell and Sir N. C. Tindal—in re Lord Strangford. " We are of opinion, that after the decision of the Court as to the insufficiency of the affidavit upon which the rule to show cause was granted (and which deci sion we are free to confess was greatly to our surprise), it will not be advisable to have recourse to further proceedings. Indeed, the nature and description of the paragraph originally printed in the Times newspaper were such that we scarcely see how it was possible to frame any affidavit which should operate as a denial of every charge contained in it. All persons who understand the nature of the case will perceive in a moment that it was only on account of the non-observance of a technical rule, which in the particular case it would have been almost impossible to observe, that the Court refused to grant the information. " CHARLES WETHERELL. N. C. TINDAL. " Lincoln's Inn, Dec. 1, IS2ii." (From the Standard.) When it is difficult or impossible satisfactorily to answer a question which has been proposed, it is no un common stratagem, to seem to reply by answering a ques tion which has not been proposed, or to offer a defence against a charge unjustly assumed to be involved in the tormenting interrogatory. We yesterday put a ques tion, which, as we believe, must, long before we or any one else of the public had propounded it, have sadly perplexed the Queen's Ministers, the question—Would her Majesty's advisers dare in the Royal Speech to re fer to the Repeal sedition, or would they dare to pass over that tremendous danger as undeserving the notice of the Legislature ? This plain question, plainly put, has provoked from the Morning Chronicle an angry article, in which it is assumed that the Ministers are ac cused of having crested the Repeal sedition, and the at tempt is made to fasten the production of the mischief upon Lord Stanley's Bill. Now this, u e submit, is not answering our question. We did not charge Ministers with having created the Repeal sedition ; in deed, we brought no charge of any kind, not even that which we might have justly brought—the charge of supinely neglecting the advance of the formidable evil ; we merely inquired whether it was likoly that Parliament would be expected to close the eye upon it ? As to Lord Stanley's Bill, making even the ridiculously false admission that the treasonable movement is the effect of the Bill, still the Morning Chronicle can make nothing of the admission in reference to our question. If we are to accept the doctrines of the Morning Chronicle, Ministers are only to restrain sedition of their own making, or such as they, according to their own taste and judgment, do not alto , gether dislike : but such is not the doctrine of the British Constitution—by that Constitution Ministers are bound to protect the institutions of the country whenever threatened, or upon whatever provocation threatened. True it is that her Majesty's present advisers have a sufficiently heavy task in guarding against the con sequences of their own misconduct, and it is equally true that they have a direct and a vital interest in encouraging whatever may embarrass any mea sure that shall check the frauds, the corruptions, and the prejudices of Irish elections ; but it ought not to satisfy the nation to hear that Ministers are too busy in staving off the effect of their political crimes to give attention to an imminent peril, or too deeply interested in the collateral purpose of a sedition threatening the dismemberment of the em pire, to offer it to the notice of Parliament. What it concerns the nation to know is, not the origin, but tho existence of the danger—not the bearing which that danger may have upon the interest of parties, but its tendency to the ruin of the empire itself ; and if any danger of great magnitude really threatens, it is surely the duly of the executive—all other considerations laid aside—to communicate the fact to the assembled Par liament. Will Ministers dare to do this, or will they dare to leave it undone? (From the Courier.) The chief thing complained of as a monopoly is that of the coal trade ; and if there be one article more than another which ought to he brought free from all the charges incidental to such a state of things, to the door of the consumer, it certainly is coals. We have been blessed by Providence with extensive beds in differont parts of the country of the most beautiful coal ; that which lies under the counties of Durham and Northum berland being the acknowledged best. The insular posi lion of Great Britain brings with it humidity and fogs, followed by catarrhs, rheumatism, and fever ; the hest prevention, however, to these complaints is the social habits of an Englishman's fireside, And where a good blazing coal fire can be procured the vice must be natural, and not acquired from necessity, that drives a person to the gin -shop. But in this immense metro polis, where the highest degree o f l uxury an d t h e l owest depths of misery are equally t o b e f oun d , coa l s, t h e ar ticle most essential, and indeed the very foundation of all our comforts, is the very d earest we have to pur chas and this evilis made doubly severe by the cir cumstance that they are made dear, especially, to the metropolis. Take coals to any distant outport, the freight is no greater than in London, the charges less, and, in fact, they may be carried on to the West Indies and sold at the ordinary London price. MONEY MARKET and CITY NEW S (TUESDAY EVENING.) TlMES.—Attacks have been made from time to time in this journal upon the principle, and still more upon the practice, of the various loan societies which have sprung up in the metropolis under the recent Act of Parliament by which they are authorized and re4u lated. In doing so, many facts which are not to be controverted were adduced to show that these socie ties are susceptible, at least, of great abuse ; that they are a cover to great extortion, and oppress the classes they were intended more especially to relieve. These attacks have been felt, and are complained of, as would naturally be anticipated, by the parties suffering under them ; and as they hare a fair claim, under such circumstances, to ha beard in their de fence in the same channel from which the attack proceeded, it is proper to notice what the arguments are which are set up by their defenders, i. e., the parties interested in their behalf. A long letter, under the signature of " Veritas," is as well calculated for this purpose as any we have seen. The writer, after adverting to the injury done to the loan societies by the attacks referred to, denies that the Acts of 5 and U William IV., by which they are authorised, were in tended merely to enable benevolent individuals to ad vance small temporary loans to the humbler class, while he has no doubt that this was among the objects de signed. On the contrary, its progress th a t th e a l tera • tions the Bill underwent in progress through the House prove that it was considered a trading, not a be nevolent measure—that is, one that would give an op portunity of assisting worthy persons at a small risk, while those who wished to invest capital might find a remunerating profit by advancing sums not above 151, to persons who would prefer borrowing on the pay ment of a per tentage to receiving charitable aid If 5 per cent. had been the maximum of interest allowed, he says the law would hale been inope rative, and that in London, out of 120 enrolled societies that existed in -Nue, 1840, with an aggre gate capital of 500,0001., only one—namely, the " Friendly Loan Society" —was established on the benevolent principle, the capital of which never amo'snted to 3,0001., while even that sum could not be employed, though the other societies had applications beyond the power of their funds to supply. The in sufficiency of five per cent. profit to pay the working of this society is considered by this writer as an argument in favour of the increased rate, and be says that the parties connected with it, who gave a great portion of their labour gratuitously to save expense, hailed as a great benefit the raising of interest under the:Aet. Such means as were possessed by that society could not, he thinks, have annihilated the old money-clubs,l which have gradually died away since the establishment of the present loan societies. As for the enormous profits said to be made by loan societies, he considers that competition with one another will be a sufficient check to any excess of that kind. The large nomi nal rate charged by loan societies is, on the whole, according to the statement of this writer, no more than is counterbalanced by the risk of loss which these societies run, and they are altogether use ful assistants to the poor, protecting them from the grasping avarice of private money-lenders. With respect to the arguments above stated, it is evi dent that they, in reality, amount to no more than to show that a loan society, conducted on fair principles, will be a good rather than an evil—a fact which can hardly be denied, the only difficulty being the obtaining of a guarantee that these fair principles will be adhered to. It will be seen that competition is the only check against extortion mentioned above, but it is hard to dis cover how that should operate more in the case of so cieties than in that of private individuals, the extortion sof whom is admitted as one of the great cads against which the societies are to afford protection. Societies, it is well known, are not accustomed to be more scru pulous than individuals, where their interest is concerned, and the doubt whether the removal of restriction on the rate of interest, as far as regards sinall loans, does not operate injuriously oil the poor, who, inexperienced in money matters, would least of all pause to balance the advantages offered by different lenders of money, seems just as much to apply to societies as to private money lenders. CHRONICLE.—It being true that the Bank Di rectors arc not legally responsible for their mismanage ment of the circulation since the last renewal of their charter, and that they cannot be punished for having departed from the contract with Parliament, under which their privileges were then continued as a single bank of issue,—it being undeniable that subsequent to October 1833, we very seldom find the published ac counts of the Bank in unison with the principle on which the Bank was bound to be guided in ordinary times, with regard to its issues,—we must repeat our question to the people of this country, and again ask if the Bank of England should be rewarded by a new lease of its privileges and profits, as the na tional bank of issue. Lord Althorp, " good easy man," void of all suspicion himself, and judging of others by himself, said, " I feel confident that per sons standing so prominent as the Bank Directors will be as completely controlled by public opinion as if they were acting under a legal responsibility." The test of time and experience has shown that the Bank Directors have made the observance of the con dition relied on by his Lordship the exception, in stead of their rule of managemeut. It is admitted by Mr. Norman that it was deviated from in the years 1836, 1837, and 1839 ; and he even declares that it was not founded on a correct principle. That is a separate point altogether. The question first to be considered is, whether the Directors were justified in departing from the declared rule? Mr. Norman declares that it was necessary to depart from it on account of adverse circumstances, and to render as sistance to commerce ; but the evidence adduced would seem to prove that, after last renewal of their charter the Directors were obliged, in order to keep up the former rate of dividends, to enter upon a course of action hostile to that which they were bcund to observe, and for their observance of which they had prevailed on Lord Althorp to stand forward in Parlia ment in the character of their surety. But while we thus find that his Lordship has been completely deeeived in his reliance upon the controlling influence of public opinion, and that the publicity of accounts—lance, un satisfactory, and imperfect as that publicity is—has proved that the Directors have most widely deviated fram that which his Lordship considered to be a " wholesome principle," we are not sanguine that any legal responsibility, by means of penal clauses, would be efficacious in obtaining better conduct for the future ; nor is it expedient that the contract, bur dened by such safeguards, should bo renewed. The governing machine itself must be reconstructed, and subjected to the action of a now element of power. Lord Althorp adduced one strange argument for doubt ting the efficacy of Government control, which was, that in the years 1797, 1822, and 1 825, when the Bank was charged with mismanagement, the Directors had acted with the cognizance of the Government. That very fact proves the viciousness of the existing sys tem ; for we thus see that the currency of the coun try is conducted by two irresponsible parties—the Crown and the Bank Directors ; the beautiful absurdity being that the Bank, being a private corporation, is not bound to account to the public, and that the Go vernment is in no way answerable for the conduct of the Directors of the Bank, as they are not chosen by, nor subject to, the interference of the Clown. Both of the offending parties thus escape scot free from the con sequences of their misdeeds, and it is impossible to fix the burden upon either. Although it is as clear as the sun at noon-day that the Bank parlour acts in concert with the Government, yet it is absurdly supposed by the constitution of the Bank that the Directors and the Government act entirely independent of each other ; and yet we see that the Directors are justified in their past errors, on the very ground that they were influ enced by the Minister. Tlis readers it imperative on the Legislature to see that the Minister of the day, whether Whig, Tory, or Radical, should be made responsible to Parliament for his dealings with the Bank, and, for that purpose, the Crown should have a controlling power in the management of the Bank parlour. Sir Rokrt Peel justly remarked on this subject, that "all depended on commercial confidence." The sure way to produce that confidence is to procure efficient Parliamentary controul over those who arc entrusted with the power of creating paper money, and to submit their transac tions to the test of frequent and full publicity. By these means the country would obtain the benefit of steadiness of prices, and the security attending the cir culation of a truly convertible paper currency. The nation would soon place full confidence in such a sys tem, and thus the principle contended for by the Right Honourable Baronet would be obtained. In cases of great political excitement there might be sotne tre mor at first. In such circumstances it is impossible to guard against results in all respects, but certainly, if the people knew that the paper currency was as good as gold ; that is, if they knew that they could get gold in exchange for the asking, the extent of the alarm would necessarily be limited, and if it happened once, would never likely occur a second time. Lord Sydenharn observed, "It was impossible that Vie paper currency of any county could be made per fectly secure against periods of political alarm when convertible into gold," because there was no bank, exc ept the Bank of F rance , w hich did not circulate its paper with a view to profit ; that is, no bank that re tained gold in its coffers to the full amount of its notes in circulation. This leads to a consideration of the very important questi on o f th e profits on issues derived by the Bank of England and other banks of issue. But is also bears upon th e soun dness of the principle for which we have cont en d e d, na mely, that to obtain con fidence in our pape r money , the public must feel that it is equivalent to, and, as such, is really and truly convertible into gold. Th a t is the true definition of a sound national p a p er curr ency ; and, if that rule were acted upon, political excitement would not destroy, nor even disturb to any great extent con fidence in such a system of paper money. "In order," says the reporter on the Bank of France, " that paper without any intrinsic value, and deriving its worth only from the coin for which it is a substitute, may have all the usefulness possible, it should be caps• ble of procuring for its possessor at any moment the coin which it represents." But he adds, the Bank cannot always have at its disposal a capital sufficient to cash all the notes which it has issued. If so it would derive no advantage from its credit ; its shareholders would have no interest in forming or continuing it. " It is necessary that the perfect confidence inspired by its paper should render some of its holders disinclined to exchange it. Thus it will suffice, if it be prepared at any moment to exchange that por tion which, probably, according to the ordinary course of business, will be presented to it." This shows that the partners of the Bank of France are not excluded from profit from the issuing department, but still they have not kept as much gold in their coffers as they had notes in circulation. We do not believe that this would be required to secure confidence in the paper money of this country. If our monetary system were placed again upon a sound basis —the notes proportioned fairly to the bullion—varying, too, in amount in the same ratio as the bullion, com bined with efficient Parliamentary control and publicity, so as to satisfy the commercial and trading interests, and to produce steadiness and uniformity, " the perfect confidence" which would be thus spread abroad in the nation would, under all circumstances, disincline a large mass of the holders from wishing to exchange it for gold. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF CHANCERY, .Lizr. 20. BARNARD V. POMFRET. The LORD CHANCELLOR gave judgment to-day in this case, which came before the Court upon appeal from the decision of the )Master of the Rolls. The question in the case was, whether an executor, having admitted assets to pay legacies, and being obliged afterwards to apply those assets in payment of the testator's debts, was bound to pay those legacies. The Master of the Rolls decided that he was, and from that decision the present appeal was brought. his Lord ship was clearly of opinion that the judgment of the Court below was correct, and dismissed the appeal with costs. BUCKERIDGE V. GLASSE. His Lot:Dm-11P also gave judgment in this case, re , versing the decree of the Vice-Chancellor, which dis• missed the bill with costs. TAYLOR V. RUNDELL. This case came before the Court upon appeal from the decision of his Honour the Vice-Chancellor. The bill was filed by the late Sir Herbert Taylor, and the ether executors of his late Royal Highness the Duke of York, calling upon the defendant to account for the working of the mines of Cape Breton and Nova Scotia, which were granted by George the Third to the Duke of York, and who had leased them to the defendants, who had termed a company for the purpose of working them. The defendants put in their answer to the hill, in which they stated their inability to give a full account of the transaction, as the other members of the Com pany who had not been made parties, refused to give up the books. To this answer exceptions were token for insufficiency, and a reference was directed to the Master to ascertain that fact. The Master reported the an swer sufficient, but to that report exceptions were taken which were allowed by the Vice-Chancellor upon their being argued before him, and from that decision the present appeal was brought. Mr. WAKEFIELD and Mr. WooD were counsel for the appellant. The LORD CHANCELLOR, without calling upon Mr. Wigram, who was counsel for the respondents, ordered the appeal to be dismissed, thereby upholding the deci sion of the Vice Chancellor. VICE CHANCELLOR'S COURT, JAN. 20. EANNATYNE V. LEADEIt. The further arguments in this case occupied the Court the whole day. COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, JAN. 20. (Sqtings in Banco.) THE QUEEN V. THUS. IIoPKINS AND THE CONIHISsION ERS OF TIIE BOSTON COURT OF REQUESTS. In this case a rule had been obtained calling upon the defendants to show cause why a writ of mandamus should not issue, directed to them, commanding them to deliver to Meaben Stamelan, who had been duly elected Clerk of the Commissioners, certain books and papers, which he was entitled to hold by virtue of his offine. Sir F. POLLOCK now appeared to show cause against the return. The return which had been made to the writ by the Commissioners was, that they had no power or control over any papers or documents connected with the office of Clerk of:the Court of Requests, and there fore they could not deliver up the same. The return of Mr. Hopkins was to the effect that by the provisions of the Act 47 Geo. 111., the Mayor and Aldermen, under the old Municipal Act, and not the Town Coun cil, under the new Act, were the proper persons to ap point to the office of Clerk of the Court of Requests ; that Mr. Stamelan had been appointed by the latter, and that at the time of his appointment he (Mr. Sta melan) was a Councillor of the borough, and by virtue thereof incapacited from filling the office of Clerk of the Court of Requests ; that he ( Hopkins) had been duly nominated and appointed by a majority of the Alder men, and by virtue of his office claimed to retain these documents. There were two points for the considera tion of the Court. First, it being admitted that the Town Council elected Mr. Stamelan, and that the Mayor and Aldermen elected Mr. Hopkins, the ques. tion was, which of these two elections was the valid one. The other question was, whether Mr. Stamelan at the time of his appointment, being a Councillor, was in a con dition to be elected to the office of Clerk of the Court of Requests. The Learned Counsel, after referring to se veral authorities on the subject, submitted that the return made by Mr. Hopkins was bad and insufficient, and that a peremptory mandamus to compel the delivery of the books and papers, ought to go. Sir WILLIAM FOLLETT took a preliminary objec tion to the rule on the ground that the whole of the facts had not been disclosed to the Court at the time the application was made. It was clear from what had now been stated, that it was an attempt to decide the right to a disputed election, both parties claiming to have been duly elected ; and the Court would at once see that that was a proceeding which could not be done by mandamus. The COURT was of opinion that the objection was good.—Rule discharged. THE QUEEN V. THE MOST NOBLE ARTHUR DUKE OF WELLINGTON, CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. Sir FREDERICK POLLOCK had yesterday brought under the notice of Mr. Justice Williams a motion of rather an unusual nature, and had by him been re ferred to the full Court. It was an application for a writ of prohibition, directed to the authorities of the University of Oxford to restrain them from proceeding further in a suit instituted in that Court against the plaintiff in a certain case, and his attorney. lie was sa tisfied that when the facts of the case came to be fully examined by the Court, although the application might be a novel one, their Lordships would be of opinion that the Chancellor's Court of Oxford, in order to relieve themselves of the difficulty of claiming cognizance, had as sumed a jurisdiction to which they had no claim whatever. The affidavits disclosed that Mr. Taylor was employed by a tradesman named Barnes to commence an action against an undergraduate of Worcester College, Ox ford. On the 22d of February last he issued the writ, and on the 27th he was served with a process or citation from the Chancellor's Court of the University of Ox ford, to appear before the Vice-Chancellor of the Court on the 28th instant, to answer certain charges of having infringed the statutes and privileges of the College in having issued the writ. With great deference to the authorities of the College, although the noble and learned personage at its head knew nothing of the matter, or much less than their Lordships at present did, he sub mitted that they had no jurisdiction whatever to take so extraordinary and unheard of a course. He (Sir F. Pollock) had had the honour of being for many years Commissary of the Chancellor's Court of Cambridge and although the Court claimed jurisdiction in certain cases where one or both of the parties were members of the University they had never arrogated to themselves so extraordinary a power as the facts disclosed in the present case exhibited to their Lordships. Mr. Taylor did not appear, and he was ordered to stay all proceedings in the cause, and to pay the costs. A similar citation was served u p on the plaintiff, who had actually been arrested under a warrant, and compelled to pay the money. There was at the present moment a warrant against Mr. Taylor to arrest him for the costs in the Chancellor's Court. He trusted the Court would not put Mr. Taylor to the cost and inconvenience of ap plying for a writ of habeas corpus , or of bri ng i ng an act i on for money had and received. He considered that al most as a right he was entitled to apply for prohibition, the Court certainly having no legal jurisdiction to take such a step. How could the Chancellor of the Uni ver.iity of Oxford have any power to punish an attorney for merely discharging his duty in suing cut the regular process of a superior Court, the Court of Queen's Bench. He trusted, under these circumstances, the Court would grant him the rule. COURT—Take a rule. THE QUEEN V. TIIE BRISTOL DOCK COMPANY. This was a mandamus di rec t e d to t h e d e f en d ants, and commanding there to make certain r e p a i rs i n a navigable cut or canal, pursuant to the provisions of the Act 43 Geo. 111., c. 140. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL now submitted to the Court that the return made to the writ by the defend ants was bad. The defendants were authorised under the provisions of the Act to make a new cut for the river Avon, and they were to keep the cut, with the banks thereof in proper repair. The mandatory part of the writ was to mend the banks of the new course, but to that they gave no direct answer—they merely referred to the depth and bottom of the new course and th© inclination of the aides, which, they maintained, were in proper repair, and as nearly of the required width and slope as circumstances permitted. The gra vamen of the complaint was that the banks were out of repair, and no answer being given thereto, he sub mitted that the return was bad and insufficient, and that the peremptory mandamus must go. Sir F. PoLLocic, for the defendants, submitted that the Court was not in the habit of granting mandamuses whenever the party had any other specific remedy. In a case like the present, where there were merely re pairs to be done, the proper course was to appeal to a Jury. Here the defendant bad made a navigable canal or cut in lieu of the old one, and if any parties had suffered by that, they could indite the defendants. He submitted that they had done every thing required by the Act—that the return was a full and satisfactory answer to the mandamus, and therefore the rule ought to be discharged. The COURT said it did not appear from the argu ments that the return went a great way to answer the complaint, hut it was a point requiring further consi deration —Judgment deferred. COURT OF .EXCHEQUER, JAN. 20. (Sittings in Banco.) HUMPHREYS V. O'CONNELL. This was an actio❑ upon a bill of exchange, to the declaration in which the defendant had pleaded that the bill in question had been given in consideration of two other hills of exchange which formed part of three bills given to cover certain monies lost at a certain game of chance called French Hazard ; they were given for an illegal considcratioi, and therefore the action could not be maintained. The plaintiff's replica tion was de injuria, to which the defendant specially de murred. WILLis appeared in support of the demurrer, and cited a number of cases in order to show that the plaintiff had no right to recover upon bills given for such a consideration. Mr. HENDERSON was about to argue on the other side when he was stopped by, The COURT, who said the rule of law did not apply in the present ease. The defendant went too far, he denied his liability to any one. Judgment for the plaintiff. BAIL COUR7, JAN. 20. (Before Mr. Justice WILLIAMS.) MS LORDSHIP heard several motions in the early part of this morning, but they were all of them devoid of every feature of public interest. (Sittings at Nisi Prius.) ALEXANDER V. LINGFORD. This case, which was an action on a bill of exchange for 8001., had been specially fixed for eleven o'clock this day. When the Jury had gone into the box, and the case was called on, it appeared that neither of the counsel for the plaintiff were present. On the plaintiff's attorney being asked what gentle men he had instructed, he replied that he had given briefs to Mr. Platt and Mr. Wightman. On inquiry it appeared that Mr. Wightman was at that moment engaged in speaking in another Court, and that Mr. Platt bad not been seen about the Courts during the morning. The Attorney then said that he had, since the case had been called on, given a brief to Mr. Pctersdorff, who shortly after entered the Court, and proceeded with the case. Mr. Riciimtus and Mr. HUMPHREY appeared for the defence, which was that the defendant's signature as endorser was a forgery. Considerable laughter was excited during the course of the trial by the cross-exa mination of the accepter's brother, from which it ap peared that the accepter was living either with the drawer of the bill or her mother—that he was exten sively engaged in bill transactions—that he had not been living as a gentleman, but in the style of a gentle man, for the last three years, upon nothing. The jury returned a verdict for the defendant. KINGSTON PETTY SESSIONS. Mr. Green, a saddler at Kingston, attekded to answer an information charging him with having un lawfully slaughtered a horse without having been licensed, and without giving due notice to the inspector of the houses of horse slaughterers of his intention to kill the Mr. Guy attended in 'behalf of the defendant, and the case was one of a novel character. Charles Dobbs deposed that he was in the employ of a gentleman named Edwards, at Sarbiton, and his master, having a favourite horse that was past labour, he was sent to Mr. Green to ask him to come and kill it. Mr. Green accordingly came to his master's and lolled the animal. . Mr. Walter, the person appointed to inspect the houses for slaughtering horses in this district, said that this was his case. Mr. Guy submitted to the bench that there was n o case at all, and said that he was altogether at a loss to know what offence was charged against his &lent. It appeared that a geWieman desiring to have his hors© killed upon his own premises, which any gentleinan had a right to do if he pleased, had sent for Mr. Green to destroy the animal, and he had done so, and ha must contend with confidence to the bunch, that in so doing he had not committed any offence whatever against the law. Sir It. FREDERICK said he agreed with Mr. Guy. If any gentleman thought proper to have his horse killed upon his own premises, he did not see that the inspec tor had any thing to do with it. The Inspector said he contended that notice ought to be given to him before the horse was killed. Sir lt. FREDERICK—Do you moan to say that if I wished one of my horses to be killed, that I am bound to give you notice ? The Inspector—No, but the party who is employed to kill the animal ought to give me notice. The BENCH, after a brief consideration of the matter, decided that no case bad been made out, and dismissed the information. POLICE INTELLIGENC E. MANSION-HO USE. INDEPENDENT AND WEST MIDDLESEX ASSU RANCE OFFlCE.—Yesterday Sir PETER LAURIE came to the Justice-room while Alderman Pram was officiating, and stated that he had a communication to make which he considered to be one of considerable public import ance, and he was glad to see in the Chair on the occa sion a Magistrate to whom the public were already under great obligations for the exposure of the scheme called the British and Australasian Bank, No. 55, Moorgzttc-street, the two principal parties concerned with which were at present in the Queen's Bench prison. Alderman PIRIE lamented that he had not succeeded in obtaining for the poor people who had given them money for the letters of credit at the British and Aus tralasian Bank any part of the property they had risked. He regretted to learn that there were many other speculations by which persons with limited means had suffered considerably, and he should feel much gra tification in contributing, as much as lay in his power, to the detectieu and exposure of the inquities of the im postors who thrived by them. Sir P. LAURIE stated that he had to call the atten tion of Alderman Pirie to a Company, which, for the extent of the robberies committed by the few individuals who established it, exceeded any thing within his me mory. He had received the following note from the Editor of a Scotch paper, and he had inquired into the particulars, and found them to be by no means exagge rated : " Scotch Reformers' Gazelle Office, Glasgow, " January 16, 1841. • " The Editor of the Scotch Reformers' Gazette pre sents his respectful compliments to his distinguished countryman Sir Peter Laurie, and begs to call the at• tention of Sir Peter to an article in the paper, trans mitted by this post, respecting the Middlesex Assur ance swindlers, who have just absconded with about 200,0001. of their victims' money ! " The Middlesex are part of the same gang who had the unparalleled audacity to advertise the name of his Grace the Duke of Wellington, as patron of a Loan Company and Gcaerul Deposit Bank, formerly exposed at the Mansion-house. " The Duke wrote to the Editor of the Gazette, au thorising him to expose the gang, which was done effee tuall) in this quarter ; but the Press, in too many places, continued to publish the specious advertisements of the swindlers, and even to puff them ; and hence the swindlers succeeded in pillaging the public to the above enormous extent." The article alluded to, which contained an account of the flight of the Directors of the Company from their premises, No. 27, Baker -street, Portman-square, which were left without an atom of furniture or property of any kind, stated that the course of proceeding was most ingenious. When the Scotch paper attacked the gang they brought actions against the proprietors for damages to an enormous amount, took care to let the public know that they were appealing to the law for redress, and became more and more confident in the tone of their addresies by advertisement, so that they made the very fact of the accusation against them instru mental to the attainment of their great object of plun dering all ranks of the people. It was not supposed to be possible that an Association established in so re spectable a part of the metropolis, constantly appearing before the public in expensive advertisements, and taking its own part in the most awful mari ner in the Courts of Law when any one dared to asperse its motives, could have bean set on foot by the mere exertions of a couple of gentlemen's servants and a couple of bankrupts in desperate circumstances, and carried on in the open day, for the mere purposes of plunder. The fact, Sir Peter said, now stared the unfortunate annuitants in the face. One of them had put into his hands the fol lowing memorandum, which Mr. Knowles, a partner in the Company, had given to her, upon receiving from her the sum of 4951., on which she had been paid at the rate agreed upon, until the bubble burst :- 4. Independent and West Middlesex Assurance Office for Fire, Lives, and Annuities, 27, Baker-street, Portman-square (opposite the Bazaar.) London, 7th of May, 1839. hands a " Mrs. Wallis has this day deposited in my cheque for the sum of four hundred and rinet—five pounds, being the balance of purchise-rnoney fa' 8 : 11 annuity of thirty-five pounde r during the life of Barber, for which a deed will be (Illy enrol'ed in the Court of Chancery, by which this memorandum will he cancelled.—Triomas KNowese.. The distress occasioned by the flight of the Con l Pa t l was, Sir Peter stated, indescribable. It appeared tha t , the proprietors of the paper he had quoted had sea ' an agent from Glasgow to London to institute the closest inquiry, and it had been ascertained by tbat agent that all the Directors had absconded, tiling 0 1 with them upwards of 98,000/. of annuities, cash Pa l , down to them in sundry sums by victims who, a llure° by their advertisements, had confided in them, exel ti• sive altogether of the enormous amounts paid to the for their policies for fire and life assurance, the al'o'e amounting to not less than 150,0001. It was deplore able to see the number of poor and aged people sae bad embarked all they had in the world in this Mamm a Company, appealing to those who were unable to rendes, them any assistance. He (Sir Peter) had seen sev ere of the sufferers who, he believed, had now at their coot' mand sc ircelt' any of the necessaries of life. Alderman PlatE s .id that he had been informed e r the very exten=i‘e ruin which had resulted from th e confidence placed by the annuitants in the ComPa ri el . The Directors, it appeared, had resided in splen dor houses and kept magnificent establishments. Sir PETER LAURIE said he deeply regretted that he could not have the opportunity of determining 0 0 t he disposal of those who were engaged in so nefariou s* confederacy. All he could do was to make the state' ment, and to caution the public on the subject of delT: siting their money in the hands of companies, or gad!' viduals, without the most indisputable evidence of filet respectability. There were, he knew, several 6 4 " b establishments in the metropolis at that moment ° e ' taining large sums of money fraudulently. The nuity exhibited in the mantle ement of the concern r e. lative to which he appeared at the Mansion Hoa re that day, was very remarkable ; but crimes of jags' nuity were on the increase. The Independent an West Middlesex Assurance Company pre te nded le have been established in the year 1696, with a e tr pital of 1,000,0001, and here it ended with all its po r fessed advantages, after having really existed no more th" 11 four yeare, during which period it was engaged in plur dering the public and eniiehiug a few miscreants, ` 4l ' ° were at that moment enjoying the fruits of their iniquiti . Mr. Holder said that he had received a letter PI Glasgow on the subject, s t a ti ng th a t a di sc l o sure °, what had taken place w o uld b e lik e l y to be servicea ble to the pu'Jlic, and it was his intention to lay it before the Lord Mayor, in order that through the press the O P cumstances might obtain publicity. Sir P. LAURIE said that in all probability some of tb particular cases of plunder would be mentioned be n him at the Mansion-house next day. Ile understoo that the chief actors in the business had betaken the ev t selves to the Continent. He again deeply regretted tb* he hid not the power of dealing with them, but trusted that what he had said would operate as a selle rs warning. THE IIIAItKETS-YESTERDAI' CORN EXaIIANGE. too The arrivals this week have been moderate, via'," o f little disposition to business that the sal e o f a ll Corn has been very E.rnall, as the buyers arc lo kin for larger supplies soon. Flour very little in dernaod• NENVGATE AND LEADENHALL. re , All descriptions of Game and Poultry were in goo', ;.1 quest, in consequence of th e sma ll sup pl y rece i ve d 0 ;6 Saturday, and prices were as last q uo t e d. E ggs in e or ", demand at 6s. to Bs. for English. M ea t was i n ve ry d' s supply ; the trade was rath er li ve ly, an d t h e mar ket It " cleared at the prices of last week. COLONIAL MARKET. The market presented a quiet . aspect ; the public O r we rs were of little moment, and privat e ly th e t ransac tions ^,,,t on a small scale ; prices, how e ve r , were fi rm for 111 "" articles. The arrivals have been small from all quarted6 TEA MARKET. r icsi The demand for Free Trade was very limit e d, and P. 31 bad downward tendency. Company's C o ugou Is 6id per lb. Some pablic sales have been declared . TALLOW MARKET. for Prices on the•decline, and the demand very limited , P.. Y. Candle ; 46i. 3d. was the value on the spot. METAL MARKET. Spelter in good request, arid prices firm ; 241 105• the value on the spot. Iron and Lead in large deman d. SPIRIT MARKET. Brandy in better request, and prices firmer. The Market quiet, but prices firm. COAL Ships arrived since d Adair's Middle's West Hartley l9 Dement Main l7 Garestield Ord's Itedhugh Pontop Windsor Russell's High Main Smith's Pontcp l5 0 Tanlield Tanfied Moor Butes l9 0 Wylam 2O 0 Walls E d newic c and C 23 Walls End Brown' , 2l 6 Walls End Clennell Walls End Clarke and Cu._ 10 (1 Walls End Hilda 22 11ARKET. last market-day, 7. , li g Walls End ftillingworth ." 2l A Walls End Medoinsley ....... %Valls End Perkins ..........•• ,22 Walls End Walker ..........•• 0 W.!. E. BraddylPs Hatton.... ; Walls End Iletton ......••••" Walls End lambtou ...... ". g 4 9 Nails End Lyons .............. Walls E a Stcw,t's •.•.•" " Y 5 ; INValls End Ilattlepool...- - Terinani's Ha , tlepool ......... 0 I , Walls End Kelloe CW ;ik vI V PII t sy l ' e t in :r ow t u 9 ° . r : I . Q.. e a . : 3 ;1 : 1: '1:- K ending J A 14. 15. To :a 0 13 0 16 0 12 0 aft 3 - 2 13 I 10 10 IRISH MARKETS. OUBLIN MARKET NOTE for the WEE: From 26 0 12 0 12 ti 10 0 763 Wheat,per barrelt:t stone.... 4•41.1 Bere .._ l6 5t01e.... 529 Barley (25 Oats '4 stone 0 Four, per cwt... t.l stone 312 Oatmeal- S stone Sold to Bakers only. 11,653 Cwt. flour lO 0 1 25 0 I 91 Average price of IA heat Ann lour 51. S.l. per ,ack 0 ‘ s i , _ir ~ t.n s . i . 4 ., ... ..... from ..2:s. Pd to :? , 5 , 3 , Od Receipts of Flour, 9,6531 from l's Od• t ° ',,; - , .0d 5.2.4 of Do. 11,3/7 '-" Tf.irds ........2 from Ithi: Od. to ~' PKICE OW BREAD.. Quarterr Loa! ...W.', Halt !;.,astern .... 4 30' CORK MARKETS.—Jan. 1G 11 04 &l. to 24 4 l'2 Wheat (per 20.t.)25s 01. toils.6.l.loats (per 14g... 10 Barley (per 165t.)11 6 14 6 llloer (per cwt J. II 41 Oatmeal (per cwt.) AY. Ott. to 164 at Weer, 42. to 72.—Mutton, sd. to 62 —Veal, 42 to rd Pork, 41d. to 5d.--Fresh 'lintel, 10d. to Ild per lb. rates Or MIT - TER. , ntr/ To the Merchants. To the ,0 '4 6 , Past Quality )06 , •................••••••" 95 .. Second lO5 ........ ..........••• • to '.i'llird Fourth - 0 Fifth .......... ........ ... Hi ................a......" ego Sixth 73 ...Oa •••••• • •••••• ...... CLONMELL AI A RKETS.....Jan. 16 d Per Cwt. , a 0 e. d. s. d. a a. ,11 0 New Butter .Sb oto9o 0 rider (raw)... . . '', t ' c 40 i oatinea' l`2 0 12 3 liacotiPgs .......:76. !,. .., [twittered Lard 0 52 ) riead5..«..............23 a ter Bzi,. 5O 0 ?lour, Second .. - 0 44 'I 4 tour, 1 t.rd5.......,... .:, ..• —limiseheld 0 42 01— -- Fourtna..... 22 0 0 Per Barrel. 1 4 0 :tapeseod. 2O 0 01 ..... ..•••... ..... Barlav Bere 8 4 10 0 1 CA.I! ..- '' „, 00 KILKENNY MABEETS. m J. , l ' . fi Wheat,parbarrel)3o: Oci.to 375. Od. I:eef ' - :er W .... Os. „'---" 1 Harley 20 0 2 - 2 0 114t;!Te:? ........,.. 0 5 0 vats . t.,.. ti 14 A Porte ... ..... ..,,,,. ti 4 0 0 k lour (per bag) Iso 0 41) 0 V 44 - ......... .4.. 6 1 0 Butter (per ewt.) 90 0 3, 0 . scsn Butter ..... 0 6 4 0 Bacon Pigs n 5 0 36 0 a.t Ditto ..,...... 0„ 6 1.1 Claim 1 0 1 2 Cotatoes ( per at.) 01. _ O,O/ 0° THE NAVAL SURGEON, BY THR A"," ore' CY " CayENDlsll."—This new work of Mr. Neal e ' ;40 1 scuts us with a very stirring narrative, said to ha vc ° o l d; out of actual circumstances of so singular and, I , li o iris' unprecedented a nature, and giving rise to a pulo ~,,, of so curious and exciting a character, that lb e 0 0 , should have been named from them, and not i l l 0' , 0 s i mere position in life occlpied by the hero. " . 1 ",r0.1 ° , Surgeon" should, in fact , have been called " A ",, Th e Circumstantial Evidence." Be this as it ntaY o n j t h e Naval Surgeon" is cleverly conducted in its plots 8 ,/ife v ", details intu which it enters, in regard to nava l th,r, various parts of the world, present many pict ure S" have not hitherto been introduced into naval tiction3.tiotv have al-o several new phases of character, two in Par t o bs tar, which are stated by the author in his prefa ce hr oga' drawn from the life—we allude to Caustic, the s", IV sagacious, and eccentric ~ Naval Surgeon," who forta 03 Mentor of the young hero all throuzli his care ee 'd tb l who is modelled on the late Dundas Morrison; I° oo o 0 : Hon. Captain Howard, a very spirited sketch o f ~,itga , ' those brilliant specimens of gallantry and gaiety KW of which our aristocracy has contributed so many e l° to both the services.—Naval and Military Gazelle' 1 01 l During the past year the Wesleyan Meth °l ; of have erected no fewer than 130 chapels, at a c f l ye sr 80,0001., being a larger number than in any otbi" during their existence as a body. 11 U 13 6 MARRIED. l-I°6l#l On the 13th inst., at St. Pancras new church, vibi te ' • of Bath, to Alibis White, gratidds.ughtor of the late lv • Esq., of the same place. P 1 A DID. On the 17th inst., at Upper E R Tooting, Captain 'e-aorf Ib e sager, Member of Parliament for the eastern divi ai°ll county Surre, of , aged 60. J On t of he 2.9tlt y November, at B o mbay, ,d „ )1° _a Wood, Lieutenant-C o l one l o f t h e I st E uro pean lletPijerr , Secretary Po to Governme n t i n th e Military-and Nava' ments, and son-in-law of J. D uran t, o f ole. Pei On the Bth of December last, at Acre, Lieutenant' W. Walker, C. 8., of the Royal Marines, aged 57• t a A th On the 13th i ns t., a t S t. H e li er ' s, Jer;ey, Auguitib 5, of C. 11. Hall , Esq., of Horning's-heath, Suffolk. R e v On the 14th inst., Mrs. Price, widow of the We Price, of Bridgend, GlamorgansMre, aged 76. philirr; On the 15th i ns t., a t Kingsgate House, Wincheati r t widow of th e l a t e Rev Harry Lee, Fellow' of‘',L OW"' College, and younge s t daught er o f the late Sir , 11 1 stone, Knight. ' l°' (hi the 15th inst., at Bromley, in Kent, Cap t a i n Font, late of the 6tli DiN_-,oon Guards, (i - it • IN , Li. . 1 London Printed and Published by 1111; i:1)0 ° sto od No. 112, Strain!, at The Sun (Mice, No- 11 ' 041., • the county of Aliddlcsex.—Thursdky, JanuAr3 9" i~g ~,F .. u~ __ << r 1 , i on all r. Fargul t pally, It rfieut of be -thad lank E; Comm. of Into li on , i n tanctior '" r Y, to * Arti itichari Sir J ob * Fra ne Joseph J anie , With lit $07,1,, 1 h t U f a 1 . It in a In raise, Ines Jr 2. T 1 hale a e st eaal °f 3 . ' 4 1 any With th , 4. i t Q overr u their I'l sill , The ai abck Vri W SPOONS, FORKS, &c., superior to Silver O r o' , i rability, equal in appearance. Tabla Spoons sr For k , i l ; no tien Dessert, 10s. ; Tea Spoons. bs. per dozen; Table CO7 - 0 11 1 ‘,4 $ inches high, is . per pair; the particular metal °` fj , t , " these articles are made is so like silver, that it eau onli o dS 4l from it by the stamp ; every article made in silver 10 tured in this material by t t ' RIPPON and BURTON, Wells-street, Oxfor4l -5-(5e . „ 0 11. 4, 'Who, to prevent imposition, confine the sale of it to tbe" — Catalogues of prices gratis. --- B IIiTHS. I) 4 1 ' i, On the 12th inst., at Bouscat, near Bordeaux, A l " . Birkett, jun., of a son. O f OW On the 15th inst., the lady of H. Mathews, Esq. , - ha-rise. Surrey, of a daughter. l' On the 16th inst., at Rochester, Mrs. Stephen )lorgil cif . ul t‘s daughter. oa rro On the 18Th inst., at West Nlolesey, the lady of G. Esq., of a son. 'll.l-1R g 1114% LONDON. TIT'URSDAY, JANUARY tll, 1811. NIO.RNI,Ni.4 RIATTON IIA;; K 51 at i lt f I,h, :143 t, • 'with t I, 4 tit j e ` r„, „ rth.