The Sun. — London, England, 1828-12-15 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE LONDON JOURNALS. (FROM THE TIMES.) We are glad to learn that there are good reasons for believing that the Catholic mission, or deputa tion, or whatever else it has been called, will not come to this country, notwithstanding all the va pouring of its ill-advised and imprudent supporters. Mr. Sheil and Wyse, more rational than their col leagues, have declined accompanying it, and the ab surd project has, we understand, been abandoned. 'I he idea of Mr. O'Connell, and a few retainers, preaching up a new light to the people of this coun try, during the Christmas holidays, would be a sub-, ject of laughter, were it not for the danger of in fecting the cause which they professed to espouse • with a share of the ridicule. The reformation cru sade in Ireland was rational compared with this last attempt to mock the common sense of the people of England with the frothy effusions of these itinerant declaimers. The project being abandoned, it is un necessary to say one word about the qualifications • of the members of the strolling company who were to act professionally in this preposterous farce. While on the subject of these worthies, we may as well correct an erroneous version which has been circulated of the .cause of superseding Mr. O'Gor man Mahon's commission of the peace. This dis creet person thought proper to assert at a meeting of the Dublin Association, on the 18th of Novem ber, that " the Association, arid mot the Lord Lieu tenant, governed the country." The Lord Chan cellor of Ireland called upon Mr. Mahon to explain or deny the expressions attributed to \ him. After taking more than h week to reply, and qffter his re moval from the Magistracy, he states that he did not utter the sentiment with which he has been charged, and which he was sworn to have uttered. Whether the promulgation of such an opinion was a sufficient cause for depriving the orator of his commission of the peace, we shall not discuss ; but we certainly think persons so utterly destitute of judgment as Mr. Nlahon, very unfit administrators of the laws. (FROM THE MORNIN( CHRONICLE.) The Papers of Thursday are filled with the trial and sentence of M. Beranger and his bookseller.— ' He is condemned to nine months' imprisonment, and a fine of 10,000 francs ; the latter suffers an im prisonment of six months, and a fine of 500 francs. It was said by a distinguished individual, " Let me have the making of the ballads of a nation, and I do not care who has the making of the laws." If ever there was a country in which ballads were influen tial, it was France before the Revolution ; but still, in spite of Vaudevilles, Kings and Ministers and their Mistresses went on their old way. Surely, if a vicious Government in every sense of the word could stand the incessant attacks of the Vaudevilles, the present Government of France, on which public ellittion exercises considerable influence, may afford to disregard them. The song, which no doubt led to the prosecution, is the Coronation (Satre) of Charles the Simpl_ l e and woven very well conceive that Charles the ~Wenth.ifalt yary uneasy under this salt composition. But,..unifuestionably the wiser policy would have beeceto have taken no public no-, t ice of them. The Construction put upon a couplet of the song, called the Guardian Angel recommending ! the drawing lots to know the place of final des tination, Heaven or Hell, seems exceedingly forced. The Poet could hardly mean to question a future life ; but must hive had in view the uncertainty which Theologians have introduced into this subject —no uncertainty which has often led individuals of the purest lives to conceive themselves in a state of reprobatiot:, and under the influence of that impres sion to destroy themselves. It was, no doubt, thought that it *Quid have a better appearance to exhibit the Poet also ..^.s an infidel, than to prosecute him solely for his bitter rLtlicule of Charles X. - M. Berville, the Advocate of M, de Beranger, alluded to England as a country where caricatures and sa tires are disregarded, and he quoted it dialogue be tween Blucher and the Prince Regent in the Morn ing Chronicle of 1814. M. de Berville is mistaken, however, if he think the practice uniform in this country. It .is, no doubt, true that the satires of Peter Pindar on the late King were not made the subject of prosecution ; but it is also true that Mr. John Hunt suffered, not many years ago, a long imprisonment for the Maio?: of Judgment affair, though the temptation afforded by Dr. Southey to Lord Byron was almost irresistible. The very first libel ease after the establishment of our glorious Revolution was for a Ballad. For some time past, indeed, the Government of this country has very wisely abandoned prosecutions for libel— a course from which men in power have been the greatest gainers. Persecution has the effect of making the object of it dear to the multitude. The suffering atones for all sins and imperfection 4. The sympathy of the public with a writer under prosecution for a Government libel has always multiplied the claimants of the honours of martyrdom. All Churches have thriven under persecution ; and all have suffered from prosperity. Burns has even made the Devil an object of sympathy. I'm was to think upon you Dan, Even for you sake." _ _ M. de Beranger has gained much more than the Government from this severe sentence. The couplets will be read and repeated with increased relish; and the Catholic Church, which is net over and above popular in France, will not rise in general regard by this prosecution. It is altogether a foolish affair, and men in power will find that out, to their cost, ere lopig, or we are much mistaken. An article in 'the Constitutionnel, on the subject of mendicity, paints to an evil of great magnitude in France. The number of poor in France, and indeed in every country of Europe, is very great; and France is, we believe, the Only country, pretending to civi lization, without a regular provision for its poor. Mendicancy is the most expensive mode of relief, while it is also the most demoralising. (FROM THE MORNING POST.) COOPER V. WAKELY.—Few instances have oc curred in which more general i n terest was excited. It is seldom that we remark on the result of judicial proceedings between private indiyiduala ; and it for once we transgress our rule, it is because we cchs i_ der the professional character of an eminent medic a l practitioner as an object of the highest public im portance. The plaintiff in this action seems to have become the object of envy, and there is 'nothing easier to accomplish than the purposes of those who are led by unworthy motives to vilify the Charader and detract from the professional skill of their supe riors. The first unsuccessful operation is waited for, and reported with an thdelicacy, a coarseness, and a vulgar affectation of wit, truly disgusting, accom panied with aspersions on the character of the ope- rator, imputinito him incapacity and total unfitness for die office which he se ably filled. The answer to this case produced one of the most noble and most elevating spectacles that was ever witnessed in a Court of Justice : the whole profession rushed forward to vindicate the surgical abilities of a successful competi tor , and placed Mr. Bransby Cooper's professional character in that brilliant light in which every man of competent science has always viewed it. The facts established on the trial, by men of acknowledged talent, reputation, and honour, were—first; that the length of time occupied in an operation was no criterion of the . skill of an operator, far that-although Sir Ascley Coope r bad often per formed for the same malady in one minute, yet had lie had them occupy him an hour, depending, as it did; upon the natural obstacles which there may hav e been to overcome ; while Mr. Bransby Coop er , t h e plaintiff; who was fifty minutes over the case r e p ort . ed in the Lancet, had performed the operation even since that tim e i n one m i nute; se condly, that the case reported in the Lancet was one of extreme dif. Utility, performed on a fat unhealthy. man; and lastly, that Mr. Branshy Cooper was a skilful sur• geon, and highly qualified, from years of experience, abroad and at home, an apprenticeship under Sir Asiley, and an extensive practice, for the situation he holds in the. Hospital. It seems, too, that under these operations • one patient in five used to sink; that still one •in fifteen is calculated to suffer : so that if the system of reporting the unsuccessful cases only is adopted, the more extensive the practice, the more liable is a surgeon (who is favour) - tr o be denounced. as incompetent, and be visited with the libellous imputation of incapacity. Lord Ten terden charged the Jury to decide on the simple question—whether the operation had been-perform ed skilfully or otherwise. They found that the ope ration was skilfully performed . ; and feeling that this result would fully establish Mr. Cooper's reputation, which such slanderers as those of the Lancet could never seriously injure, they gave temperate damages, thus marking rather their sense of the utter false ' hood of the libel than measuring punishment by the indignation which they must naturally have felt to wards the libeller. In thus confining their decision to the naked fact, they have effected Mr. Cooper's object much more completely than if they had suffered extraneous considerations to aggravate the damages. (FROM THE MORNING HERALD.) Sir Herbert Taylor, on whom a great share of the popularity of the late Duke of York appears to have descended, is about, it seems, to confer a boon upon the army, which is almost • the only one it did not receive from his Royal Highness—we mean by abolishing, as far as he is able, the expensive tawdry trappings which press so heavily, in a double sense of the word, upon officers iu the army, transform ing them often into something scarcely resembling human beings; and, above all, putting .an end to those frequent capricion4 changes, in dress and ac coutrements by which both the country and indivi duals are burdened in a most severe and reprehen sible mariner. Of course, no one wishes, on the mere score of economy, to see the army prevented from deriving any benefit its materi4 can un dergo by means of necessary and judicious im provements. But expence does not imply im provement; nor cart our officers become one jot the more terrible to an enemy, or useful to their country, by being- " bearded like the pard," or decked out in trimmings which appear ridiculous when exhibited on the stage. It should be the po licy of the country to attract the youths of respectable families into the public service. That is the link which best connects the citizen with the soldier, and renders it least probable that the standing army, which necessity has imposed upon us, will become. dangerous to the liberties of the country. Hitherto however men of moderate fortune have been afraid to place their sons in the army, knowing that their pay as subalterns will be quite unequal to the heavy charges which will be brought upon them by the expensive nature of their equipments, and the con tinual changes that they have been constantly tinder going. In putting an end, to this abuse, Sir Herbert Taylor will confer a signal boon upon 'the country, and one of which the illustrious Duke at the head of the public service must be best qualified to estimate the value. In fact, it is a subject upon which there can be but one voice in the country, except among the few who have contrived to gratify their whims and fill their pockets by this cruel arid unnecessary tax upon these whose interests it was their duty to have protected. - _ . (FROM THE NEWS.) " Call me not Fool, till late bath given ma fortune." THE REFORM OF THE TORIF-S.—We are now told, i 5 good set terms," by the best informed—or those who Ktght to be the best informed liberals, that the Catholics will be emancipated-4 the Tories; and we are likewise told, by the Tories themselves, that the Assessed Taxes will be taken off, and the consequent defection of the Revenue met by a reduction in the Army, and by other minor or. rangements. If this intelligence do not rank among that order of news which is called " too good to be True' we shall begin to believe *Atli Parson Irving that the awn of the Millenium has actually com menced. The R a dicals themselves will soon begin to admit that it would be extremely dangerous to introduce any changes in iiich an admirable cdnsti tution of Government ! If the Toxlps should really surprise ( the Whigs, by thus stealinf a niar,..." on the vanguaid. of Liberal " intellect, ' they will, pos sibly, not know Yikey.e to stop; popular applause may so bewilder them, Ow, god forgive them ! they may next set about reforming the Clergy ! and parody tl Poet by exclaiming that " A lath: pruning is a dangerous thing, Cut deep or touch not * * *" Give us but the odium of th,e Assessed Taxes; and the Liberly of the Press; and wiz would undertake to innoculate the otherwise best Goveciv,:?ent on the earth-with a deadly v:Aus; fatal alike to tlie:repa7e and seelwity of Princes anti Ministers. The mere ai stractiot; of the money: from the pockets of the people by tthAse taxes, is the least consideration of the public, as far as the character of the taxes pay go; though the money is all that the Government /pants in the affair. The greet and obnoxious "mass of disgust and annoyance rests w;th the machinery of the impact; and the wide-spreading ks,r_anehes of offence that diverge therefrom ; making the empn, which should he the sacra liberal creditor of the Ern- pire, the most illiberal, the mast oppressive, and the most crud; scattering desolation im its inquisitorial processes; and carrying ruin and confisc,i,tion in its train ; and that too by a saloction of such pet tyrso,iron= temptible instruments, as reader the means hateful, while the result is destructive. We have so often broken the 1, - ghts of the Window Tax, that we will not now stop to rake up its long train of absurd and iniqui tous enactmeQts ; only juste to observe that they are made to operate alike as a tax on rile and light ; and this wicked impost, should therefore take its name accordingly ; viz. the i` Light and Air Teal" If a man stop up a light, it must Lie with brick and mortar; or the same materials as the house; and hence the fact that many upper and unoccup‘epi rooms in every person's dwelling, are made receptacle, for foul and unventilated air; so that the tax is, prac tically, so much in money, and so.much in sickness; with a garnish of architectural deformity ! It is likewise deserving of remark, that though it was found " too bad" to extend the Window Tax to lights in workshops, manufactories, &c. &c.; yet it was deemed only cotuistent to mix up with the gra- ciousness of an abatement in this particular, as much of the original malignity of the impost, by way of alloy, as would work with the material; and though a man might carry on a trade (where as ratieli light was necessary as, if paid for, would consume douhie, the amount of the whole profits) untaxed of light, it was considered proper to preclude all internal com munication between the dwelling-house and working house ;--f or die benefit, as we suppose, of thieves and burglars ; for we can devise no other object in such a preposterous clause. The more dangerous part of this detestable system, is the facility with which the most contemptibl e and the least respon sible agents of the Board of Taxes can invoke the people in ruinous Exchequer processes, from motives of caprice or oppression ; and thus place them at ever be properly applied to t h e t h e i r own mercy, us it were —if the term can "compuncti ou s visitings" of suuch cold-blood e d extremities of the law. i t i s likewise a ..serious objection to the morale of the machinery o f these taxes, that the Surveyor is paid by a Per crutage on his squeez i ng , " t h us placing him out of the or di nary circle of humanity; and dep e n den t on his own ex action and extortion, for all perhaps that can be called a luxury of life; he &Wine his wine, mo rally speaking, under the power of the thumb screwr ow th e ; and furnishes his drawing-room w rack of the wheel.. A vagary has lately seized mow. , of these worthies, y towns, of surcharging in- - shopkeepers fur their apprenikei, as „journeymen.— Different hearings have been bad 41,0e.44.rg the Magis trates;and Linen-drapers, Grocers, lie., baKe been • obliged to swear that they received the premindis with such apprentices, for the consideration of teaching them the " art and mystery of their trades," and not as a consideration of finding them board, lodging, &c. In the Abstract of some affairs of taxes, several 'cases of this kind have been pub lished; with the principles on wbie,b they were adjudged, —t o the confusion of the tax-man. Put we notice the matter as it involves a peculiar absure . dity. What kind of „surveillance can a surveyor of taxes affect to exercise over the private engagement of an indentuTe ? The stamp of the indenture covers the deed, with a heavy tax on the obliglation; a finer speci►nen, therefore, of tax-once insolence than this prepostOrous attempt acofficio extortion,-we serer remember. An apprentice.is in the eye of the law, as _well as in the social principal, a part and parcel of a man's farnily ;and it would be just as decent torequire man to pay a tax for his wife, as for any other part of his lawful houSehohL The Magistrates before whom these cases were brought,decided in one or two points in favour of the Tax Inquisitionists ; viz. that where the indenture was for a less term Man seven years, they held the apprentice to be a taxable servant within the meaning of the statute. This decision involves another absurdity ; viz, that if you permit a youth to. go unapprenticed beyond Me age of fourteen years, he is no longer an apiventiceable character; because his parents have no power to bind him beyond the period of his mrfjority. Thus would this ridiculous decision go to throw thousands of youths out of employment, or rather legally pre elude them from employment, at a period of life when it is most essential they should he learning some means of obtaining a future livelihood; and at an age the most dangerous of all others for the for motion of indolent and capricious habits. Tories and Whigs have alike condemned and denounced the As sessed Taxes; because all have suffered from them; not only in the mere affair of money, but by the paltry and vexatious system of tyranny and exaction in which they are made to um)* ; calling down on the heads of the " authorities that be," a gratuitous odium that answers no profitable end whatever, either to the purposes of finance, or of power. If the Tories are not absolutely afraid of being popular, they have a chance of shouldering off this code of taxes ; the most hateful in the history of national imposts;-- but we will believe in any well-principled economy of theirs—when we see it. In the case of Catholic EmancipatiOn, Ministers are beset: Pat has " sur rounded them," as the story says. Menace, and the shadow of rebellion stalks through the land with as large a stride,—and set forth equal if not greater dimensions,--than Government misrule itself. This dilated creature of re-action,—the Agitator,— might, with Cwsar, say to the vicious spirit of Irish Go-; vernment,— " We were two Lions, litter'd in one day, And I the bolder and more terrible." There is no way on earth to prevent an explosion in Ireland that will involve both countries in tiarne-s, but by a measure striking at once at the great master root of the evil. Ministers are now pretty well aware of this ; they have run out to the extreme of the tether, the policy of expedients; and finding the earth quake under their feet at every step, they are—even so late in the day—turning round (though in the dark) to face the_ gigantic evil which they have created. The Duke of Wellington's and Mr. Peel's prejudices are brought fairly to a parley, and they are sending out a flag of truce, as the forlorn hope of their ascendancy policy, to show a disposition—to treat. 'What will these great men do ? They will draw a broad line of Protestant demarcat;on, that shall pass close up to the toes of the Privy Council, and touch the thresh. hold of the House of Commons;--they will then say to the, Catholic, " Thus far shalt thou go, and no further; and here shall thy proud hopes be stayed," The British Catholics will come into the terms : and Daniel O'Connell will - fling the Charter back into their faces, and call 4 council of . . . . " agitators." The Liberals, and the War party irr France and in America, will eventually be consulted; and an expensive substratum of War and Rebellion, will be projected, and laid down ;, to be brought into action:in due season. The nation will advance to the verge of the precipice. The question will be who shall assume the reins ? The greatest blusterer and the biggest fool, will probably have the best • chance ; and Europe will be PUP more at logger heads. Let the Government—if it be wise—give to Ireland, all that she is fairly entitled to; and she is rnwally and politically conquered. The Minister that does legs 11,aii 401 does wrong. (FROM Tab: Joita )3&ILL.) The newspapers have been very busy (I;riTig the last few days new-modelling the Ministry; the Duke of Wellington's visit to the Duke of Richmond, at Goodwood, whence his Grace returned on 'Wednes day, does not appear to have struck the quidnunes as any thing politically strange or itoportaot; but his Grace's visit to.the Marquis of Chandos, to shoot wooAcocks and rabbits in Buckinghamshire, is a matter of /4.7.t r iate consequence, coupled as it is with the extraordinary faict thtg Mr. HolmeS, the Trea surer of the Ordnance, i; gone to Dublin. This is seriously said—not only interred, but when we come to couple it again with the Duke of Bedford' i 3 nuitting Brighton in the same week with Lady AffieCk, ,ord.. Frederick Beauclerk's appoint ment as a Lieutenant of the Southampton , Mr. Wygliiile's Knighthood, and tpe fi r e in York-house stables, at 13g,th, really does appear a patter full of matter and mystery; . Mr. Planta's shooting at jr:.. 7 a, thant, we were told, would bring Mr. INskissoli back into the Cabinet, and the Duke of Wellington's shooting at Apthorpe pop the Privy Seal smack into Cite stands of Lord Westmorland. This sort of inference is verif ,411011. One part of the Morning Chronicle's history is eri•Gw;tw6—that which inVolves the chronology and locality at it; 4;e whole of the pp, yty of Ministers are represented in •thra pet. of Friday herd at work, shooting right and left, 4 the very momeAn i t the reader is feasting his eyes with the mystified detail, 44.:4 p,be Honourable Member from Dublin is to he at Stokoe oir the same mmning. The party are not going to shoot et ;., - :t29!,ye but at Wooton, and they do not go there until next w 7,ey. (,1.#4, 1 M THE ATLAS.) Nos ,O,F 511.1.SICAf. grrlclsm.—The wi hers of the musical depArttoeo i t ,t4e Paily Papers have, by their misapplication a the cerAno of the Art, long betrayed the grossest ignorance subject. Tue;rameuess of their assertions sometimes sc,tce.ns them from A4PPlion ; at other times, venturing uppli a bolder flight, they ,convict themselves of nonsense. As though we should sab ." Mr. Spagnioletti's per formance was characterized by ,t,r;„),kch contrapun tal tire Sand considerable soprano. flis:gelodiotts Bowing, and the brilliancy of his intonation, zil,c4,y, him versgd.i.ti the score." This is not much worse than an extract v.lo,ich we subjoin from the Globe of Tuesday, taken from m bevy of other blunders, in a criticism upon the opera lierfoprkcJi by tile Royal 4,eylemy pupils. " The .Baxiiio of was a . . . great twal. The voice of this gentleman is ayi. trait° of the 1..:,e9t description, not the cavernous bas of the Bohemian iiirother, but a deep, full-toned power," &c. Seguin is 4 .144,0-si tiger— the writer thinks that contralto meant: a boo z:oice. Rather an tuArtunate mistake for a critic VIRTUOUS IpMIGNATION.-A Daily Paper nay. 'ales, with all due itanieularity of time and eireum. stance, the elopement of 4 frisky, frightened horse, not with, but from, a gig, not 0 Gretna, but to Camben'veil.green. Tire pablic, Al much interested in the fact ; but the public does not care fig for the fact independent of the philosophy th.e.q -,-;f: for the public is a very philosophic gaiMal. public is therefore informed that this importAini elopement wi a ls owing to the circumstance of the driver of the gig tiayi,ng " descended for the purpose of lighting his cigar," therefore . , the horse "suddenly took fright." Now, what a pity it is that horses will take fright " smidePlY;" w.. 1 . 1 y,ca,T, 1? t Pin $i ye a quarter's notice, and take fright deliberately 1 What " suddenly" taking fright is one of 14 Piglat 19,9,1i4 1 things a horse can be guilty of. The eattistrophe the; affair is, .that the horse upset the chaise, and at Terigg) got extricated from it and "ran off towards Cambcirwcl:., and was seen to go through the W a l wort h turnpike., over Camberwell green ; but no one could stop its mgress. The * 1)4 7 o the chaise is completely shattered - to d . - 7,2;_ws —the hora 6 * very valuable one." Here i ifie narrative pauses, but the Virkt e lou, indignation of the Editor adds, " We hope it ha's brekeli its netf)L" That is a very cruel hope, and brings ti Imrs FP' membrance a , passa ge i n a play, where one saith, and Dr. Pangloss respondeth," Now And does not every lover of e. live horse-flesh—(for we do not include , upon dead horse-flesh) imme diatelyspontaneouqy " Now don't hope that the poor horse has brok en its OVPiii" The • ' cases are parallel ; for Dido's trouble 4 were not in- , creased-by the execration so named, nor was the horse a whit nearer to breaking its neck by virtue of the wish above expressed: But an inquiry rises in :the mind of the reader of the narrative alluded to, " Why does or did the editor wish that the said horse had broken its neck ?" The only reason ap parent is, that the owner of the animal " descended for the purpose of lighting his cigar." It may, per haps, be very easy to prove that every man who smokes cigars deserves to have his horse's neck broken ; which is visiting the sins of the aims upon the horses. (FROM THE EXAMINER.) The Non-ling Chronicle has ably shown the im policy of vesting the prerogative of mere) , in the Crown. .It remarks, that the Crown in effect ex ercises the functions of a Revisionary Tribunal over the High Criminal Courts, but it performs this office very inadequately in all respects, and in a manner strikingly disadvantageous to the convict, who has no opportunity of meeting and rebutting the repie• seutations which may secretly be made to the Mini ster, in proof or aggravation of his offence : the whole affair being conducted in the privacy of a Se cretary's chamber. • Our contemporary s'visely sug gests that a Public .Tribunal should supersede this slovenly system. The proposal, however strong in reasoa, is liable to one most serious and powerful objection, namely, a metaphor—" Would you wrest front the Crown its brightest jewel ?" This is in deed the truly British method of discussing ques tions of jorisprodence.. Our legal polity is mainly upheld by toasts, sentiments, and the burthens of old songs. The man who deiired to vindicate to the King the prerogative of mercy in a popular manner, in the Quarterly Review, need only turn to the word mercy in Stockdale's Index of hakes pear,' and by merely stringing together all the fine things that haVe been said on the god-like attribute, he would compound an article perfectly convincing of the expediency and wisdom of continuing the prerogative in the Crown. By t h e mere f orce of calling mercy a ,jewel, the business might be accomplished. The idea of jewels is neces sary to crowns. Of all jewels, mercy is surely the brightest—" Would yourob your Monarch,your own dear Georgy, of his most precious stone i" At this appeal,John Bull fairly blubbers with tenderness for the Royal baubles. In order, therefore, to take up this question with any hope of success, we must clear the ground of the metaphors before we venture to touch on the reasons. We must not hope to reach the head through the heart, by first represent ing the helpless state of the poor convict, whose ap peals for the last consideration of his hard sentence are met by the private suggestions of idleness, or malice, which he bas no opportunity of encountering and correcting. The Jewel would prevail against this picture, as all•Rundell and Brydge's against the -condemned. cell. The first object, therefore, should be to persuade honest and loyal Mr. Bull, that the stone which, he figures in his Monarch's head-geer, is, if it must needs be a stone, a stone in the ten derest part of his person, and ss painful and troubles some to his feelings as a stone like other bodies out of place is perfectly capable of being. The news papers, which. never fail to set forth with all histori cal exactness the virtues of the best of Kings, have Often told us that for days: before his Majesty re ceives the recorder's p.7ort, he is moved to un easiness, and full of anxiety from that period to . the hour of 'doom. This it is to have a precious stone—this is a fit of the mercy. Pity, in little people, is not an inordinately troublesome affec tion of the mind; we give it a free vent, and it goes fptth irr a sigh, a tear, or May be, in u thing of the substance and value of a halfpenny; after this evaporation of virtue, the mind consoles itself for its sweet pain by dwelling and wondering with a healing complacency on its getteions susceptibility to sensibly evidenced. We have seen an honest creature's head touch the seventh heaven, after having given a copper to a beggar. The personal duty of a King, in connection with his people's power, becomes, however, much more troublesome peat, and a Etre conflict is excited between his compassion and his duty, his tenderness for human life, and his reverence for Divine justice. We would spare him this struggle. The sweets of extending mercy are not comparable with the more frequent distress of doobtiogly with holding it. A Revisionary Tribunal would relieve the Monarch of this constant and sore trouble, sub stitute a more intelligible principle than lta been dis guised under the name of mercy, and give better effect, by better means to the same real end. We orzasimially see it stated, that his Majesty has been graciously pleased to commpte B.'s sentence front deakh to transportation. Now there is no grarioos, 'less whatever in this or any such act, for if A. B. merited not death, but transportation, what would his Majesty be if he suffered the undue sentence to be• carried no effeet ? ft would be in effect a misprision of murder. Al) that is vulgarly set down to the ae comic of mercy ip the Crow] 'should, if worthy of praise t or approval, be placed to the account of Tustice.. The Crown ? thigh corrects the too-heavy sentence of the Criminal Court, reduces it to the standard of Justice ; if it does more than this, it be, trays the trust of the people. Mercy, as an antithe sis to Justice, is a good cheat to the understanding. When jostiee deserves its name, mercy in the be fitting degree has wegfaletel the law; but our legis lators make the law according to the stage directions for a scene of butchery in an old tragedy, "us 01004 , 9 as may be," and leave the correction of the excess to the much lauded attribute of the Throne. Mercy thus Nines remedy of the law, but not of justice. The mercy shown by the Crown is the exact diffe rence between the law as it is, and o,e law as it ought to be. There are cases of entire error in the adminiss tration of the law, as well as of the excess of punish- Itclearly is not mercy which relieves the prisoner front t o iris ctigrr of the awarded wrong, but strict justice. It is pot yf match s:oriseonence. to under stand that what is termed Mercy is, in all cases .where it is not perniciously exercised, fl..oyal .Justice; for by this correct interpolation of expres siep, we get rid of the dangerous metaphor of ". the brigb4-st jewel," and it is readily p erce i ve d that the obj( et tieing josti,se, it were %vise to .furnish the regular machinery for earryir, it into effect. Compassion is supposed to be a feeling all sutheient in all Men, and we may safely leave the King to 04, unassisted even by a Mr. Peel; but justice is riot an artis• of wre sentiment, and it will be ad mitted that the moat estiiii s s.ivs: aids are necessary to it—such as, men practised in judgment icir, ; pleaders to present or remove objections; publicity to ensure 'care and rectitude. In the hue case of Hun. tDo, , s 7hi e :47 hits given occasion, through the able com mentary of Chi.pii.elf, , to these remarks, the law said death, the whole •Ce tfpotired fOr - mercy ; the man has antlered, a newspaper paragraA stating that a bad case had been represented against fan hi . - the Home Secretary's Office, is the only assurance ,ht e h #am hane community ,has of the fitness o f hi s . • abitot:reo s i ente i nse. How much better, as the Chmnu;c/e 4v,i.w, that apt ,Qpep court had taken coo n /0) , o 9,1 li,ioeas ? 1,1,0 t ify setting its va 4 a f. , ,n t h em , satisfy the troq,luitry of ,ategropti4 0 1 1 the fol. tence. As it is, we only know ihat rfp,rwAtapoN' fatal to the prisoner were made, but we know npt administered, they t,pe that he could not have rebutted them had they been py bli p hr ?referred, and where the opportunity of 'defence wad offered IP him. For our own parts, we •' o3 4 7 o 4 l ce ig n i i i i:a e s Cll 4 4 uC a ft t is tl' l e t P . - 01• Q t 01 'f a ii `ji 4 e o i n f 0 xtnise mercy severity in the iaw.: ho Pi, ins po : Isjielii.;i:rig*Kiwet, Legislators would ibuci4i 1 2 FoR6 „teat; Oidy , are wont to do, the common melispw 41 Fzfrq- Whenever it is understood that laws are rigidly to h 6 p , o. l ) , R ,tjon, and that Clemency which is now left to they will be framed in the spirit of #!,; substance.. • Kim", will be infused into their ~............—:_____ , At My ,Chsebmford W . iptex Assizes op Satur • • I Jay nothing worthr Pi Alpy par t ticular notice r.ranspired. MAYOR'S C0URT......CH.4404T V. ROS S .-- In this case, which produced seine amusement in Court, the plaintiff sought to recov er 101. from the barber and perruquier of No. 39, Cornhill, Mr. Ross. The Jury re turned a verdict for the defendant. POLICE INTELLIGENCE.. I cre as e c as e r t i e t uvli theat. h rs s h aul i s, s y. , i et io was nn 8 op a fi rheiconsideration ,guilt. he h Many s e n n loeotdot 01other lc calculated oearvre onb I a family struggling with poverty, as teas found to be th e .__. . GUILDHALL. Webb; the driver of a town-cart, No. 111,671, belonging to William Press, of James-street, Globe- te a t his having stolen the plate. fields, was charged, before Alderman LUCAS, by Mr. In the interim, however, the butler's wife was exe" John Throsby, one of the society's officers for the mined, and she stated that she bad not, till within these . ' prevention of cruelty to ahimale, with wantonly and few days, the slightest idea that her husband was in debt cruelly ill-treating a horse at Snell's warehous e , i n to the amount of 441., and much less did she euppoge.: that any parish efficer hail a claim on him. She was noft.'7 London-wall, on Monday last, and fined by the worthy magistrate 10s. to the King, and .ss. costs. satisfied that her husband was gone toWem, about a child' , • be ha, sixteen years ago. She had lived in Adams's Metre ~ BOW-STREET. for fourteen years, and had three children under seven,J On Saturday Henry Lee, a notorious pickpocket, was years of ag e. brought in custody to this o ffi ce, charged by Mr. Richard ' On Friday evening the butler returned to town, and Gude, of No.. 9, Bridge-street, Blackfriars, Secretary to fearlessly, at once went to the house of his mistrese. the Chartered Gas Company, with stealing his pocket- • Stowell, an officer, hail been apprised of his arrival, tind, book, by cutting his coat pocket. went to Mrs. Higginson's to receive him, and, with the, Slime time in August last Mr. Guile was standing with greatest alacrity, he consented to accompany him to tlail two ladies upon 13attersea-britige, waiting to witness a office. He was not put into the dock as a culprit, but boat-race. The prisoner_stood close by, and was reading a bill descriptive of the boat-race, which he very politely Mr. HoseiNs, on seeing him. said I think it tight you ' ' offered to Mr. Gude and the ladies. As'the contending should be told that a quantity of plate has been lost fro's , boats approached the bridge Mr. Gud e felt something he your mistress's house, and I ask you who was the stranger' his left-hand ctiat-poeket, and turnine• round he said to the who called on you on Sunday morning? The hutler-s•` prisoner, " You rascal...you have picked my pocket." Some He was a parish officer froin Shropshire, who cant. Sit I person then said, " Your pocket-book is thrown into the apprehend me far 41/., the arnotint of arrears due for S river." The tide was running down very strong at the the maintenance of a child I was declared to be the Wier ', I time, and Mr. Gude crossed the bridge to look into the of 16 years ago. • river, when he found that his pocket-book had been picked Very well; now as to the plate. Do you know anf .l up by a waterman. He then ran in puisuit of th e pri soner , thing about it? No, Ido not, said the man sternly, but who was making his escape over the bridge, and to o k my firm belief is that it is now in the plate-chest, where I him into custody, and lodged him with Freeman, the toll- left it. .. taker, saying, " Hold this fellow, be has robbed me ; 1 Mr. Hosersze turned round to Colonel George Higgins: .). .n nt'or d ati on die b r l ':' shall return in a few moments." The toll-taker took son, Mrs. HigginsOn'a SOD, and inquired if it were possible . , ' charge of the pis/leer ; but when Mr. Gude returned to after the search that had been made, for the plate 60.0; the toll-house he found h e had been permitted to escape. be there 2--e Colonel Higginson smiled, as if the idea waster"' Mr. Gude saw the prisoner about a fortnight ago standing absurd to he entertained for a moment. and added that at the corner of a street near the Coburg Theatre. He diligent search bad been made, and it could not be found: - went for a constable to take him into custody, hut the pri. The butler more warmly said, I repeat that I believe ir' soner ran away, and effected his escape through the back is there. I put it there myself, and unless some one luny part of a house where a billiard table was kept in the examined , the chest who knows the secret part, I shall coal Waterloo-road. Mr. Gude then gave information at this tinue to think so. 1? office, in consequence of which the prisoner was taken into Mr. HOSKINS inquired of Ctilonel Higginson if he had i custody on Saturday morning. personally exami ne d t h e chest ?—Colonel Higginson said i ; The prisoner w as f u lly comm i tte d f or tr i al. John Emonson S m ith an d Ri c h ard Bennat, two he had n o t ; b u t hi s b rother had, and was convinced the•.,•' spoons, &is were not ther e . country lads, we re c h arge d w i t h h av i ng been found in arm, in the night ti me , w i t h t h e i ntent to destroy game. Air,. f losicris _ air iiin . man, what you mean b y t he ':,- secret part. The' Is P utle.r-- Why Sir, 'underneath tli , ! s ~. The offence is one w hi c h h as rare l y b een the subject of in- vestigation at this office. place wh e r e t h e can dlesticks g o , th ere i s a ki n d of trap. which lifts up, and I took the candlesticks Out niyialf, and ', Put the s onto: in that trap ; and there I ern sure they will: Mr. Manners, j un . sa id t h at t h e prisoners were old offenders, an d prayed t h e M ag i strates to make a severe foams. example of th e m, now be fa '' Mr. Hosoctres and Colonel Higgieson were evideng e' Mr. HAL LS c d serve d, h owever, t h at as no evidence had staggered at th e earnes t manner in which the man spat: !' been offered to s h ow th at t h e pr i soners had committed the offence before, h e s h ou ld, f rom t h at c o ns i deration , send the and at the curiou s d escr i pt i on h e gave of the secret ch.;posi prison ers t o th e H euse o f C orrection for two instead of -i tory in the che s t, an d th e f ormer ordered S towell to pro-- three months • ceed immediat e ly t o th e h ouse w i th the man, and examine . .1 , The pri soners were t h en comm i tte d for two months. the part he ha i l d escr ib e d. MAitI.I3OItOVOH-STREET. In about an hour afterwards, Mr. Hostrires said to ova. , of the personzisotinstaatyteanndva7locnegerre,lattihveehtuerthishasbnasineaorease.s: h " tre Y sel— need the plate has been found in th e c h est, precisely, forged ch eq u es t o th e S ecretar i es o f t h e pro j ected King ' s On Saturday n i g ht, a f as hi ona bl y d ressed man, about 40 years of age, was c h arge d a t t hi s o ffi ce w i t h a ser i es of for geries on mes t o f t h e b an k s o f t h e metropolis; by uttering as he left it." College, Literary fund Society, Society for Promoting. Christian Knowledge, Society for Building Churches and Chapels, and various other national institutions, besides private individuals. The prisoner being asked his name and address, replied, " I must beg leave to decline answer ing until I obtain professional assistance." Mr. Peacock was cashier in the office of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowled g e, at 67, Lincoln's-inn fields. About three o'clock that afternoon the prisoner came to the office, and handed witness a 101. cheque, drawn on Bosanquet and Co., 27, Lombard-street, arid signed " Alexander Hope." fie ondecstaod from the prisoner that the drawer was General Sir Alexander Hope, Bart., Governor of Chelsea Hospital, who was desirous of making a donation to the Society of 5/., and he requested witness to give him change for the cheque. He told the prisoner that he must send out for change, and for t4at purpose heeded the cheque to quo,* of the clerks, epoo which the prisoner, withoet uttering a word, precipitately quitted the office, and he (Mr. Peacock) pursued him as far as Turnstile, Holborn, where he secured him, and took him into a shop. A constable was they eent for, end the pri seiner, upon whose person pothipg of importance was fotind, was bropght to thif office. Mr. Joseph Snow, secretary to the Literary Fund So ciety, at No. 4, Lincoln's-inn-fields, deposed thet en the 14th of November, between threg.;and four &clock in the afternoon, the prisoner called neon him, and requested to be furniehed with a prospectus of the society for Robert Grant, Esq. of St. John's-wood, Regent's-park, and asked witness if he was authorised to receive dont:tione, as Mr. Grant hail desired him to present Of. to firs society. Wit netts, of cows!, agreed to tevtive Ole donation, and the prisons; then handed him a printed cheque drawn on Mas terman and Co. for 10/. and demauded the difference. He (Mr. Snow) observed that 5/. seemed an odd sum to pre eent to the society, as it did not constitute Mr. Grant 4 lumber, 0141 could lie effected either lay that gpntloniari becoming an annual subscriber at one guinea, or giving the sum of 10/. as d (1011010 Po The prisoner, however, de clared that Mr, grant intended to become a tpember, end promised to call again the following day, when he would cnrii for the receipt, wineli he (Mr. Stow) aecordiogly prepared ; he gave the prisoner 51. ; the prisoner, however, never called again ; and when lie paid the cheque into the society's bankers, it was pronounced to be a forgery ; a few days afterwards he called at the office of the Royal So, ciety of Literature, and Society for Propagating the Gospel in Voreign Parts; at No. 4, Parliament -street ; anal mentioned the circorpotance of the prisoner having de, frontlet! him, to the secretaries of those institutions; when one of them informed him that the prisoner had presented of a noble and distinguished personage; end, indeed, Mr. s a ec i re l t . ni f •y or t g ri ed the 4 p q r;c t° ted M l: in l g le 's nr C y ol N leg l e7l4 °° tl l i e e n d d o g n e' attn e Snow said, that to enumerate the institutions whieh the prisoner had defrauded, would be to name 44 the national establishments with which the metreeelis alteunds, Mr. Phipp en , o f th e Whit e Horse-cellar hooking office, nigh Holbert), stated, that on Friday evening th e prisoner took pp inside and outside seat fur Bath, and gave a cheque on 13esanioet's, signed " Alexander Hope," its payment. Witness gave hire two eoyereiges in Chew. No one came to take the seats, and the cheque proved i forgery. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF CHANCERY, DEC. Is. EX FAKE scHLEsittaxit, A BANERVI'T. The Loan CuAncEr.t.ou gave judgment in this atm. The bankrupt had been indebted to the petitioner for goods' sold. The goods were so ld in distinct parcels; at different , times : two bills of exchange were given in p a y ment f o r them, drawn at 4iifferent dates. When the conunissidn issued against the bankrupt, the first bill had fallen duenn& was unpaid ; the second had also been dishonoured, but ha& not at that time been returned, and no subsequent demana for paym e nt h a d b een ma d e upon it. An actionwasafter-' , wards brought for the recovery of the latter bill, when a' summons was take n ou t t o stay the proceedings, on the ' ground that it ought to have been proved tinder the cont-1 mission, and that it was now barred. Mr. Justice Holroy&P *, before whom that sumMOna was taken out, refuted to Ulat° any such order. The matter was then brought before Sks.e Vice‘Chancellor upon petition, who had made a different order. The question in dispute, his Lordship said, turned' upon the construction of a clause in the 49th Geo. 111., which had been re-meted, with certain additions, by tha last bankrupt act (6th Geo. IV.) Two classes of cases veers thvz# provided tor; and it was clear, under the Aro put of: the clatt.e, that the proof of a debt under ei CO.Milliglian of bankrupt was a relinquishmort of the right a creditor would otherwise have to sue for it at law. The second part ofttie clause, and that it was which related particularly to this c ase ' provided that where a creditor having twe remedies chase to prove his debt b e f o r e comm i ss i oners, h e shoul d h e cons id ere d ~1 1 to have mad e •hi s e l ect i on , an d was precluded from rei4rting, to any other mode. it seemed to hi s L or d s hi p %WO ti3ke mean- ;.• ing of tho Act of P ar li ament was perfectly 'exi-itiad that the word election did not mean an electio n geriectiiiy, ii)M tk3 the pat ticidar d e bt p rove d . The tuAly dotd.4 thqt regoinc4 w a s, whether these were distinct debts; And, applying to ‘, them the .rule adopted by the judges of common law, who bad said that tlistmct contract:, wade distinct debts, hie, Lordship was of opinion that these, were distinct debt*, His opinion therefore was, that the creditor in this case 4,9 d not, by proving a debt under the commission as tq orte tall of exchange, divested himself of his right to tiring itn action upon the other, that being givon aE a ditferegt time and for a different parcel of goods from those in respear- of which the first deht had been incurred. His Lordship made no order as to the costs. - VICE CHANCELLOR'S COURT, DEC. iS. DE DEAUVOIR V. RHODES. The hearing of this cause is at length concluded, and bia Honour this day again expressed his determination of givio( judgment in the case On the 12th of January. PATHETIC App,Ws.-t—A poor girl killed herself with poison this week, apparently . by way of freak, on a more striking manner of lark, to bottoy (VA vulgar slang. When ber parent- waa ft I. l f l agonies, and the sppposo caps§ 4l}§ rpprovod him, coin , weiwipg, ae Op newspapers say, with this remarkable elk preAsiop? " My dear father, .what a silly man you are," &c. The address reminds us of the black woman's account of the affecting manner of the death of her child- 7 'f pof little Satnbo l tie said pothing lil=t curse your heart,' mammy,' aryl die 4 like a lamb !---Exambier. MY: DYER, the Magistrate, then told the prisoner, that tbs. evidence in Mr. phippen's case was so conclusive, he should at once commit him f or trial. The - prisoner merely said, hi a faltering voice.--„`f Well, sir, j 14140 submit, I suppose." The prisoner was then committed for defrauding Mr. Phippen, and (mitred to be brought up on a future day for examination on other charges. BIRTHS. On the 13th instant, at his house, at Dslstoo, the lad/ of Griffith Jones, Esq., of a son. On the 4th inst., the lady of Thomas Biqq?„ 40 1 1 * / citor, Egsof,sti - ept, 24a:id, 'of q datigUer. On the Uth July, at Calcutta, Mts. Horatio Jones, of a daughter. NARYLESONE. A charge of robbery volt eeyera) time, last week brepght under the attention of Mr. Hosxttes, whiCh, from the, peculiarity of the circumstances, and its singular termina tion, is altogether of a different character to the ordinary cases of this description. The complaining party was Mrs. Higginson, a lady of property, residipg at 1'0.4,§, Wimpole-street, and the ac cused individual; h er bull'er, was charged tle4h about four dozen of table, tea, and dessert spoons, and other valuable articles of plate. The information was given to Mr. Hoskins by a friend of Mrs. Higginson ; and, in the course of a very minute detail of events, he stated thcp, pp the morning of yesterday (Sunday) week, a stranger enll:id at 114 g. ffigginson hpuse tp inquire for the butler. They went out together; and, coon 'after the butler's return, the stranger again carne and was taken by him into the pantry. While they were there a servant went to the room for the purpose of her daily duty there, and was surprised to find the door locked; and, before she caul4 sbe distinctly heard the jingling of plate. Within a Is miliiiteg of thal; tithe the butler made a - confidential communication to tbe'loeinian "that he was compelled to go immediately into Shropshire, for that the stranger who was with him was an officer of a pa rish near Wem, who had come to L ondon to app re h en d hip foe &p., t h e arrears due to the parish, under an order . of aipliatioa matt against bin] 16 years before, for the inai,noarii dr ll?egmate child ; ass) he gave into his . (ine I f ootAitl} ? i) ciri Qo imwtrplao'4., lie' he wanting for the service o f the familydut•ini his ab sence. He then obtained permission from his mistress to be absent till the fullowing Wednesday, under an excuse that his father, who lived in the country, was dangerously 41, 11, 4 cfeedinlT ansjiotts tp see him. The different rea sons given to tie totitinari and i tie mistress as to th e cause of Ids lesiVing tolVtt *aria litre g'cireittatanee t tif skispioitin • against him, when, 'On the plate-chest beteg looked' into; wery.,Foqitrable tion of its contents' could' not be found. DLL diePonektiapPeiepily bg:c4? Indfe manif est; as, instead of ret urn i ng on W e d nes d a y, etii gagement, he sent a letter to his wife and brother, de siring one of them to call on his mistress to say he could not possibly return before Saturday. Neither could the :atraPger )71Po pc.,4 galled on him on the preceding Sunday be f4bnd, although every efertioit, hat? beep giptl2 arer iaii,‘ where he kds Jivitig. alSo'Cofistiited Mgliy tt his disadVantage; that' be hid kept 'it 'a" profotini secret '',Fm bis 7isttess, ditrini the many yeats be bad peen id her service, Zhai he iaki a ilii4EM me ant i l the father of a family of children, all of whom were living iiithai a sherlt distance of Mrs. Higginson's residence, and the expenses of I On the 10th instant, at Catnbridge, the lady of the Rev. Edward Serocohl Pearce, of a son. In Charles -street, Berkeley-square, Mrs. Arthur E4eflt ef On 'the 12th instant, the laJy of 3. Petty Mospratt, Eoq• of a son. MARRIED. On the 13th. instant, at St. Margaret's, Westminster, by the Rev. A. Gordon, Lieut.-Colonel Ebringtou, of the 3d Regiment of Guards, to Anne Margaret, second qiNgi tt el• of,lohn Miott, Esr l , of FirpliF.o Ledge. On the 13th instant, at St. Giles's, Cainberw.ell, by cence, Mr.' James Davidge,,of Friday -street, 'to Catherine, ' daughter of Mr. Charles Harden, of the Old Kent-road. On the 15th instant, at St. Saviour's Church, Southe r wank, by the Rev. William Harrison, D.D., Mr. WilliaitY l ', . • Jackson, of Three Crowu-square, Southwark, solicitor,,.l o : filaupth, tl;ird dait4 . l4eF of Georgc , Fs ; ,, of Malik street, Southwark. DIED. . On the Bth of November last, at Vienna, Thomas Jaekt son, Esq., in the 69th year of his age : he MIS the Ai '7. can of William Jackson, Esq., of Exeter, and for fi" • • years Minister Plenipotentiary to the late King .of Sar . 1 4 131 10 1 ,,i4!4 4, i 4 Y-filpfY • Ditilid'grancia JOnes, r Eiq , oue of his Majesty's Nov Lieutenants far that county, aged 71. • • - On the 17th of October last, at Trinidad, universa4 lamented by the whole community, .Philip Reinagle, :Esit;* ! after many years of unparalleled bodily a±.l 7. - r.e.p;al .• iuge, ttioaqe4 by Crneertuluesa aid' afro dith 46. • • • ' • , • On the 1 kat iiMant, Heater Robinscn, wife of.. ' • Henry Robinson, Upper Belgrave-place, Pimlico,. sitteereir, lamented by her family and friends. .. . • . t*th . ipsiaa:t, at Poilthai - 1,144ue1l lamented, Ncrs., Woodthorpu, the wife of the Town Cluk. On the 18th instant, Mrs. Groom, wife of Mr. F. U• Groom, of Aldersgate-street, leaving seven children to la' ' 1 . • nient their loss. „ Op the 27th November laNt„.pt q l l ,ll 4emjc fever; age 4 Liget. p. - Ttekirrietit of Filth', IhV rielyl fekriitea by his flan 4 " 4 brother ofEeeis. . aP4 puuNgFR 41/1,-1 1P 6. T.P , - in4G- . 2 .41 : 4°. SLR" Orricz, 112, STRAND, 1401FIgni` I ~- % fr om Pavia by 'seat, CR( ►he \VoC WE 'CH clin Art kbrl Tar eve, and tior thil hit] of qui 1101 as %Id ce! de