The Sun. — London, England, 1841-03-05 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION were before ,in possession. He must take le.ng. ave to say the instructions said --no such thing. ' They said , they were to continue & possess and occupy—a very important word, because . it seemed they were to continue in possession of only those things of which they were in occupation— that they should continue to possess and occupy their houses of residence to which they were lawfully entitle] on the 13th of September, 1759. Unless, therefore, on the 13th of September 1759, those seminaries were lawfully entitled to the possession of the property which • they now claimed, those instrucfons the Commissioners appealed to as conclusive in their favour, were conclu sive against them. The Commissioners themselves ad mitted they were not lawfully entitled, that their legal title was a mere joke and farce. But what was the property they were then considering? Was it houses _ and lands ? No, seignorial rights and dues. If ha might be permitted to call the attention of the Noble and Learned Lord opposite to this, (and he wished there were more Noble and Lea-ned Lords pre s-et) he would beg of him t consider whether the phrase " houses and lands," which those parties were to continue to possess and occupy, could cover the claims of those seignorial rights and dues? Unless they did, those words would exclude instead of bring them within the- contamplation of the statute. But the case, strong as it was, did not rest there. Unless they were in possession, they were not to be permitted to hold them. He would not de tain their Lordships by going at large into the nature of these seminaries. They were most respectable semi naries, and of great antiquity—they were bodies that were known to the primitive Church—they were bodies which the Church of Rome had done wisely in retaining, and which he would be much pleased to see i a our own Church. They were insftuted, filet, for the purpose of giving instruction to persons who were qualifying:for holy orders, a most useful purpose, and he thesight such an institution would prove of great benefit to our Church. Another purpose of the seminaries was to attend to foreign missions, and this St. Sulpice was a most illustrious instance of the piety of an excellent man, an intimate friend of Fenelon. To his piety did it owe its existence. The exertions of the missionaries its New France, as the United Province of Canada was then called, were crowned with much success ; they had been very successful in converting the Indian tr.bes ; he was sorry to say that the impression was not more per manent. However, the consequence of their success was the formation of a society resembling our Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and to them was made over the Island of Mont real by Louis the Fourteenth in the year 1667; but he distinctly guarded against permitting the Montretl seminary to be anything more than a mere de pendency to the society in Paris. They occupied the houses end lands even now; they occupied near 15,000 acres, 800 of which was wood, from which they obtained tl eir fuel—one farm of 180 acres was in their own oc cupation, ar d another farm was let. With regard to the seignories they were distinctly possessed by the Seminary of St. Sulpice in Paris, as was clearly proved by Sir John Sewel in 1 5 301—he adduced proofs clearly showing that the society in Montreal was an cff shoot— a dependency of the society in Paris. Now he appre heneed that the recognised principle of national law was that all the corporations, nay, that all the rights of in dividuals which were opposed to the institutions of the conquering State, were ipso facto abolished by that conquest. Thee was the ordinary r.nd common sense doctrine, and therefore it was perfectly open to the new State to say that they should devolve to the Crown for the cot:eversion and instruction of the Protestant popu lation, as they were formerly applied to the Roman Catholic population. If that was not done they fell to the Crown of right. From the year 1773, down to the year 1829, various officers of the Crown, after investigating the legal rights of these ecclesiastics, affirmed the principle he had stated. What occurred? Why, that besides being extinct, they were not even to be dealt with as individuals. They were not even entitled to the benefit of the capitulation. None of the terms of the capitulation of Montreal gave any recognition to these parties. On the contrary, they had permission to hold the property till his Ma jesty's pleasure should be known. They were per mitted to go to France and dispose of the property, no intimation having been given of his Majesty's pleasure, and in 1784 the Seminary of St. Sulpice at Paris, who were not parties to the capitulation, executed a deed of gift of their seminary (although they did not pretend to be a corporation)of St. Sulpice at Montreal. That was the title by which these gentlemen claimed, and it was a title wholly repudiated by all the Commissioners. The Commissioners had considered that the Crown bad invariably treated the members of the Seminary of St. Sulpice as legally and equitably entitled to con tinue in possession of the property. He had shown that by the instructions which continued to be given to each successive Governor, down to the time of Lord Gosfotd, the members of the seminary were entitled to the subject of their claims, but from the time of Lord 4Gosford those instructions were changed, and the right was in his (Lord Grosford's) time first withdrawn. That Visuld show that the notion wasrepudiated, of the assert of the Crown being given to the possession of this pro perty, by the members of St. Sulpice. He would give another instance of it to their Lordships. He was sorry that the Noble Earl who, in the year 1835, fillet the office of Colonial Secretary, was not in the House, but lra would beg leave to read to their Lordships an ex tract from a despatch of the Ist of January, 1835, which he had sent to Lord ALerdem. It happened that the Provincial Legislature passed a 811 relative to public education. That Bill con. tained some provisions of so objectionable a nature that the then Government thought it necessary to ad vise his Majesty to withhold h's sanction from it. In the despatch to which he refers their Lordships, we find those words—" The decision of the question in favour of the seminary would involve consequences which every Canadian, whatever might be his origin or of whatever religious persuasion ? he might h a pp en t o b e , wou ld a lik e deprecate. So much for the acquieFcence of Govern ment in the uninterrupted tit'e of the seminary to the property claimed. There was, then, he contended, no necessity for holding a great commercial city hound by usages which were now become obsolete. There hey had a complete contradiction to many of the allegations of the Commissioners on which they founded the opi nion, tbtft this seminary was entitled to bold this in equity whatever they were in law. But they had the authority of the Government in 1835, announced by the Secretary for the Colonies, at the time of the disastrous consequences which every Canadian, whatever his religious profession or political opinior.s might be, would have reason to anticipate. He (the Bishop of Exeter) rejoiced that the petitioners had so high au author ty in their favour. He would now say t% few words on a part of the subject which involved a great deal of delicacy in its consideration ; he mean. the merits of this body. As individuals, he be:ieved they were entitled to the honour, respect, and re verence of every religious communion upon earth. In deed this was exemplified by their conduct and by the uniform testimony of everybody in the colonies ; but their merits as a useful body was a different thing to their merits as individuals. To what object had they directed their exertions? Their objects were stated in the appendix_ to Lord Durhsen's Report, as r e t urne d b y the .Superior o f t h e sem i nary. T hey were first the a Tame of the parishes of Montreal, containing 20,000 Roman Catholics, only 3,0000 f whom were E ng l; s h, Irish, and S cotch ; secondly the mission 'to the Lakes of the Two Mountains; c t a liLd o 7, the littl e sem i nary o f scholars ; f ourt hl y, a masters and f ourteen hundred children Consistin, of thirty ; fifthly, the foundation of Grey a S ye i. d -ter . s ; sixthly, a 'fort Individuals ; se foundation for poor and for y was lrish •:female Tenthly, a foundation orphans ; and in the year 1838 there established, that of the Br e th ren of taheneCwhroibject Schools. This was a body of men bro ug h t from France, and be (the Bishop of Exeter) confessed h e did not think the worse of them on that account, but it was right to say he had heerd and they were Jesuits. He did not wish to enter kb any discussion of the merits of ti at order, but he thought it was not entitled to special favour from their Lordships.-- icHear.)This establishment was frequented by 260 young Auee, who were taught Avriting, arithmetic, &c. The sec...nd ofthcse objects was the only one that at all agreed with the 'objects for which the Seminary of S'. Sulpice 40 Paris tad endowed flit property. This semi zary was in Montreal, and the only ohjsct for which it lined been established, by King Louis XIV., in 16 77 , was for the conversion and instruction of all his sub accts. Their Lordships would observe it was not given for the iebabitents of Montreal alone, bat for all the sub jeets of Lo u i s XI I n N ew F rance it belonged to a ll . It baeosed equ a lly to all—first to the environs of the Indians, and arter that to all the subjects of the Crown in that part of the French dominions called New France. It-was remarkable that in the capitulation of Montreal there was a special demand that the Indians who had taken part with the French during the war should he protected ; and i n t h e 40th article it was demanded that the Catholic Bishop should he ll allowed to send A missionaries amongst th e Indians. that part of the article which referred to the protection of the Indians was agreed to, but the British general refused to Artv the Bishop the power of sending missionaries. All the Governments since that time had acted upon those principles up to the recent despatches sent to to the present Governor-General, Lord Sydenhain. Reassured their Lordships that he held the exertious of those gen tlemen in great respect. But what had been the result of their exertions? The Learned Prelate then read an extract from Lord Durham's Report, in which it w as stated that it was impossible to exaggerate the want of education amongst the labouring population, and the gross neglect of their teachers.—( Hear, hear.) The Nobl e E ar l a d ded, that no more t h an two hue dyed _ three h un d re d persons were e du ca t e d i n t h e Canadian school s • and that those parties who were all maduveocdateinshooronneoetaeies, or surgeons, possessed an unli- The inst ructe d el : v er their u ne d uca ted neighbours. distinct f rom the rest ss had no sympathies or interests theta a confidence wh. the popul a ti on , w h o re posed in feeling could generate. The neoettibrine want but a similarity of of education had rendered the pepuletion ungovarnaide, and given the agitators a power which they . wielded against the laws and interests of the community'. Such were the statements of the Earl of Durham; in his able Report—Le would not say wise Report, for he did not agree with many of its dactrinee—( Hear.) He admitted that the prie-ts of tee sernitiaay of Saint Sulpice had done great good in preventing an outbreak in Meet. eel, but it could not he denied that it was in those parts of Canada which we-e most under the in fluence of the clergy, that the worst excesses of the insurrection lad taken place. He the7efore said that oa that head there was no special reason which should interpose between that body and justice—if it should be found that justice required that that vast property shoull be employed by the Crown for the public good. There could be no doubt but the ordinance materially benefited the seminary. That, however, he held to be nothing ; but there were higher considerations which, proved the illegality of this ordinance. The ordinance, effected to create an Ecclesiastical Corporation of k f i, wish priests. He would venture to say, that this'was the first attempt to do such a thing. King James IL' never attempted it, and Father Peter never attempted it. No, such an attempt was reserved for the present Go vernment in the year 1840 —an attempt, be would venture to say, which was against the fundamental law of the country. Now, what was the first object of incorporation ? Why; to make perpetual ; and could a Protestant Government, or a Protestant Legisla-, ture, if it was what it professed to he, dare to per petuate that which ought not to be perpetuated, and which must cease to exist ? If he were called upon to cite a statute that defined clearly, and declared the Constitution of the land, he would cite the statute of appeals of the 24th of Henry VIII.,• chap. 12. That statute described the state of England, and it claimed for the Crown to be independent of every foreign Power. It stated that there were bodies politic of different classes of persons, cal'ed by the names of spiritual and temporal, that that body which was bound to the Crown of Great Britain was sufficient to dis charge all the demands for justice in the realm, and it proceeded to declare that it should be un lawful to appeal to any foreign State, .and it espe cially ousted the authority of Rome ; and that statute passed before Henry VIII. ceased to be in communion with the Church of Rome. The next statutes to which he might refer were the Quebec Act, and the Consti tutional Act of 1831, which stated that while every favour should be given to the Roman Catholics of Ca nada, it must be subject to the supremacy of the Crown declared end enacted by the Ist of Elizabeth, and that Act declared that that supremacy should exist over the whole of the British Empire, and it was beyond the moral power of Parliament to do any thing in deroga tion of those fundamental statutes, what then must be said to this ordinance ? But then it might be said that it was necessary to pass some ordinance to make this an Ecclesiastical Corporation ; he thought such a state ment would be perfectly farcical. For this he bad the authority of the British Legislature in the establish ment of the College of Maynooth. That Col'ego was enabled by Act of Parliament to hold lands ; but the Legislature of those days never dreamed of making it a corporation ; they only meant it to continue as long as the educational necessities of the Roman Catholics of Ireland required ; and they studiously avoided giving it a corporate character. Not only, then, was this ordinance not necessary for the purposes contemplated, but the framers ought to have been warned by the example of the wise men of those days, to adopt some other scheme far carrying their object into effect. He must say, he said it with pain, but he must say frankly and fairly, that he re garded this as only one of many instances of the en croachments of Rome at the present time. Bigot as their Lordships might think him, be fairly avowed that he believed that never, from the era of the Reformation, were the rights and liberties of every state in Europe, of America, of our Colonies, of Newfoundland, and of other pats, more endangered than at the present time. At no period were such gigantic efforts made by Remo to resume her empire ; and never, never were they met with—he wished that he need only say such utter indifference, but he must add, with such partiality and favour.—(" No," from Viscount Melbourne.) He rejoiced to hear the Noble Viscount disclaim this par tiality and favour. He would give him ample credit for his averment in spite of all the appearances to the contrary ; he would give him credit for not meaning to extend such favour. But then, whether the Noble Viscount meant favour or not, some how or other favour was shown. The Noble Marquis near him did not mean anything of the sort ; yet it so happened that in a docu ment given to that House by the authority of the No- hie Marquis when he was Colonial Secretary, a certain Roman Catholic functionary in Canada was called the Bishop of Quebec. No doubt it was done quite inad vertently, but it indicated the manner in which such things were regarded. At the capitulation of Quebec, one of the points required on the part of the inhabitants was that the Bishops of Quebec should be of the Roman Catholic community. The Legislature laughed at the very notion, and every attempt which was afterwards made to establish a Roman Catholic Bishop had totally f ,fled. On one occasion an inavidilial who had assumed that title under the authority of the Pope, had a severe reproof administered to him by Lord G.lsborougb. Yet the Colonial Office of the present day did not scruple to recognize a Roman Catholic functionary as Bishop of Quebec. He (the Bishop of Exeter) thought it a great misfortune, that when the late admirable Bishop died his successor did not assume the title, but he was only called the Bishop of Montreal, and the Government recognised a Roman Catholic as the Bisl op of Quebec. Th shouli at least be aware of these things, that they might be prepared to meet the enemy. This ordinance must, in some way or other, be blotted out of the legislation of Canada. The Act of Union passed last year, was in the very teeth of this ordinance. By that statute, the consolidated fund of the province was charged with the payment to her Majesty of two several sums of 45,0001. and 30,0001., for the several services and purposes named in the schedules. Then it went on to say, that so long as the said sums should be payable, they should be ac cepted instead of all territorial and other revenues then at the disposal of the Crown. In whet he said upon this subject,' he was supported by the spirit of the first Re.. port of the Canadian Commission, in 1837. The Rev. Prelate read a paragraph from the speech of Lord Gosford, on opening the Legislature of Lower Canada, in which he promised to give up all the King's casual, territorial, and hereditary revenues, on conditioa,of being granted a Civil List—and in the rppendix to that appeared a list of what was proposed to be given up ; and in article 10 in that appendix, was the el tint of the Crown to the seignories of Montreal. That appeared in the Report of the Commissioners. Now he would ask, was that either fair —nay, he would ask, was it honest ? Was it what would be done between man and man in decent common life ? first propose to give it to one party, and then turn round and give it to another ?—(Hear.) The Noble Viscount might think that there was no daeger in this, but of late they had found that unions did not always give satisfaction ; that even after forty years, much agitation prevailed against a union with which there was not one particle of fraud connected. Now what might be the case in Canada? The people of that coun try would have no shadowy grievance to complain of— they would feel it in their purser, in their religion, in all that man held d ear ; t h ey wou ld f ee l the bad faith which would be dealt t) the Canadians if the ordinance were p a ssed into a law. If common honesty and common sense had anything to do ,with the question their Lord s hips wool I comply with the ptaaer of the petition, un:ess the Noble Viscount could satisfy them that in justice would be done by it. It wits for their Lordships to consider how deeply they would be responsible for the frightful evils which might and would flow from the measure, if, when he called upon them for a vote, they allowed the ordinance to become law. When that time came he would call upon them to deal with it as a Bill on their Lordship's table, without whose concurrence it could never become law. The British population -of Mln'real called it a fraudu.; lent inva.ion of the tights of propert,-, and had they urged it still further, al..d called it a manifest and di rea violation of the compact, he thought they would have Lea right. They who urged that it was a viola tion of good faith, and well they might, for it was these men, who, at the risk of their lives, and by their valour and virtue, at a time when the parties connected with the Seminary of St. Sulpice, endeavoured to wrench th e province from the British Crown —it was these men who had secured that province to Great Britain. Their Lordships would bear in mind that the time chosen for passing that ordinance was when there had negative of that system of re p resentat i on to were entitled. The subj ec t was a grave o whichbeee n a an t d Ley should Sc gravely attended to. The G overnor- Generaln himself had adnetted that the ordinance was not a good one, and that it ha f t! t b h een c rel w uctantz .h for ce d upon him by the v,t obligationsa talent, t, Undoubtedly and whoseh o n . was ae t s a werewa man ability of great a the Governor-General to them by that ordinance alone. He had recommended a measure which bad come under their consideration (Canada) Bill. They did not then bear anything f the obligations of the Crown, although their Lordships last Session. He alluded to the Clergy Reserveso never to be would recollect that George 111. a name mentioned without honour, when he consented to favour the Roman Catholics in Canada, so far as to give. them the free exercise of their religion, sent a message to Parliament asking them to make a grant of land (his property) for the support of the Protestant Establish ment. Parliament did so, and there was the obligation of the Crown recognised. That did not, however, ap pear so stringent to the Governor-General as the other obligations to which he alluded, nor did it prevent him from setting at naught all those rights which had been consecrated and acknowledged by the oath of the Sove reign. He rejoiced to say that that example had been followed by his late Majesty William IV. who had sent down a message to the Legislature of Canada, desiring them to make sonao arrangements to put an end to the differences about the Clergy Reserves, and stating therein that he was bound, no less by personal feeling than by the sacred obligations of the station to which Providence had called him, t o watc h 6V2t the interests of the Protestant Church in all parts of the empise, and never to abanden them to any other p Irty. The first purpose to which those clergy reserves were to be applied, was to pay those ministers of re'igion to whom the faith of Government was pledged. Aincing those ministers were the Roman Catholic priests. The amount to be paid to them was 1,500/. That was done by a statute which their Lordships passed. They were now ten by that same Governor-Gener a l who urged that measure that he would be glad not to urge it; hut that he was so hampered he could not help it. He (the Bishop of Exeter) called upon their Lordships to stand between the country and the danger which such a measure as that to which the petition referred was calculated to produce. The high considerations of duty and faith were not trampled even by the Legislature with. impunity. He would therefore move that the petition be received. Viscount M ELBOURNE'said that the subject on hwhichlhe Rev. Prelate had spoken at such length, was .certainly one of considerable importance. It, however, involved some degree of obscurity, and he be ' lieved their Lordships were not familiar with its details. It was net, then, unnatural that the Rev. Prelate, conceiving what he had to say was of great im portance, should have entered somewhat more into de tail than seemed necessary on the present occasion. The Rev. Prelate, in stating his views on the subject, had entered into such length, that he (Viscount Melbourne) thought their Lordships would see that it was not ne cessary for him to follow the Rev. Prelate through all the details. It would, he conceived, be sufficient for him (Viscount Melbourne) to treat this matter in the light in which it really stood as the presentation of a petition. He did not think it necessary to go into the full and complete length of the whole of the statements and arguments which had been gone through by the Rev. Prelate. The Rev. Prelate, in the first place, took some objections against that ordinance which were stated in the petition. He (the Bishop of Exeter) made allegations which were not made in the petition, and which rested entirely upon his own authority. He (Viscount Melbourne) supposed that he learned them from the persons from whom he received his instructions. The Rev. Prelate said, that the Le gislature, in pressing that ordinance, had not received that which it ought to have received—that some of the motions made for information on the subj ct were nega th ed. Now, they must always give credit to an As sembly for proceeding on the information which might be necessary. The Rev. Prelate complained of the course of proceedings in Canada. It was to be sup posed:that the Special Council in that country did their duty. The Rev. Prelate made statements about what persons voted, and the reasons why they voted, and that somebody would have voted but that he was sent. for by the Governor-General. The Rev. Prelate did not mean to say that the vote of that person would have had the least influence on the proceedings ; but merely that he was absent. Why there never was a measure passed in any Assembly that was not subject to imputations and observations of that nature, and it woult be, therefore, fitting for their Lordships to dis miss from their minds all that the Rev. Prelate had said on that subject. It was stated that the Attorney- General, contrary to his usual custom, presided over the proceedings of the Council. That was a matter on which he (Viscount Melbourne) was not instructed, and he could only say that, if the Attorney- General did preside, he did nothing unbecoming on that occasion. Whatever was done was in accord ance with ti e rules of proceeding there, and was un connected with any unfitting or improper mode of proceeding. The Rev. Prelate went on at great length to observe upon the number and importance of the persons who signed the petitior. He (Lord Mel bourne) was not instructed to say anything to the con trary. That petition was precisely identical in terms with the petition transmitted by the Governor-General in the despatch of the 13th of March, 1840, and which was addressed to her Majesty. The Rev. Prelate had gone into the whole question of what was the state of this Seminary of St. Sulpice before the conquest of Canada, and of how far it was affected by the capi tulation, of bow far it was effected by the grant of the Seminary of Paris, and of how far it was affected by the Act of 1774, and had said that on all these matters considerable legal doubts had arisen and been entertained, and that many Govern ments had received opinions of great legal authority impugning the right of the Seminary of St. Sulpice to these estates, and to the feudal tenures with which they were accompanied. There was no doubt of that, and the Right Rev. Prelate had gone into a long ar gument against the Report of the Commissioners, by which, unquestionably, he felt himself much embar rassed, and which, in his (Lord Melbourne's) opinion, was so distinct, clear, and decisive, that it was impos sible to allege a word against it. The Commissioners reported that it was true there was no legal title in the Seminary of St. Sulpice, but that it would be deroga tory to the honour of the Crown to contest it, but for some great principle, in the seminary having been in uninterrupted possession of it for seventy years. He (Lord M.) begged their Lordships to consider what the claim of the Seminary of St. Sulpice was. Since the year 1773, when the country came into the possession of the British Crown, they had been in possession of all this property, and in the complete exercise of all these seignorial rights. Here was the recognition by the Go vernor-General, by as many Councils as had sat in Ca nada since the Act of 1794, and by as many Assemblies as bad sat in Lower Canada since the year 1790, when the Act was passed. Now, he (Lord Melbourne) said this permission, notwithstanding any legal or spe culative opinions that might be entertained on the sub ject, a permission of this kind by the Seminary of St. Sulpice, of the cornpl to exercise of these rights—he said if a possession of this kind was not to be con sidered as a settled and fixed possession, there was no such thing as a settled and fixed possession among man kind. If this was not to be considered as a moral and equitable right to this pro perty, superseding any prior legal right that might possibly exist, there was nothing in human affairs that could by possibility be con sidered as fixed, settled, stable, and permanent. It was on these grounds, the possession being so settled, that this ordinance had been framed in order to make a future means of relieving the country, by the regular course of purchase and sale, of the evils which these feudal tenures were supposed to inflict. The Res. Prelate had not made any serious attack upon the terms in which the ordinance was framed, but he had made an attack upon his Noble Friend, saying that the mat ter was set ied by contract betweeo the seminary at Paris and that at Montreal and between the litter aad the Commissioners. But therein he (Lord Melbourne) apprehended that' the only evidence furnished by Mr. Buller in his report was the statement that there was as fair evic'ence of consent on the part of the semi nary at Montreal as could be coilected, not meaning that these persons were exactly authorised to contract on their part. If the Rev. Prelate should be induced to effect that he seemed to hope for, and bring the matter forward in a manner which would lead to more decisive consequences, he (Lord Melbourne) did trust that on consit!eration their Lordships would fuel this ar rangement was the best mode in which the whole mat ter could be Settled, and that their Lordships would think it their duty not to advise her Majesty to with hold her assent from it. The Right Rev. Prelate had taken a great many objections to the ordinances as con trary to the previsions of the Canada Act, for which he (Lord Melbourne) thought there was no foundation whatever. He had also taken an objection to it, as establishing an ecclesiastical Romish corporation, which he said was coatrary to the fundamental principles of the Constitution. In that reasoning he (Lord Mel bourne) could not go along with the Right Reverend Prelate.—(Hear, hear.) He did net think there was any thing whatever in these objections. or in the objections with respect to the , • Act, because unquestionably the Act of Union related to property in possession of the Crown at the time it was passed, so that this was morally and equitably in possession of the Seminary of St. Sulpice. It did not appear to him (Lord Melbourne) to be in the slightest degree an infringement of the Act of Parliament. The Rev. Prelate said it was also evidence of, and originated from, a disposition in the Government to favour and assist the progress of the Realists Church. He ( Lord Mel bourne) of course could only deny any feeling or in tention of that-kind, and he did not think that the slight matter he had mentioned of the recognition of the title of a Roman Catholic Bishop was quite sufficient ground for the foundation of so grave a charge. The orpcßefa resistance. u v stß . tr Prelateoaconhmeheoee: RometTß(oho r temot a orir l ae n k ?Ina etkbeerlearwoaessatrgidreesat aaddisposition great encroach ments, n c o r n o ac t he ments, and that it met with very weak and feeble t i largel at Melbourne)i b t e hs t e rai Presbyterianddei.sd dispositionanne and great gs raeya t ont encroach ments,htheer e p w a a r o c t o t ; l a b n u d t be w e a n s v t e h r a y t fe d e i disposition o . n d e e a rn ti a r t n l d c s onfined .p present the se n t e in occasion ? Was the its Church of England from a disposition of this ort to encroach Cq m hu e lu n t domination ? He had heard s d 'n t the speech of the rete lt hfar e nt s ; : f Discipline rines, and the sane toPonlrdetlieht3eCirhtEcurhii~ht similar lships, that though wlicn measure beyond their legal and legishitiveNpotw"eer,Repevt. v‘Pt'alrisealtnaotiett d that en c h r e o a ( c fs h o i n r s c. ] Melbourne) wabeyond t c h a e l r e d moaraidoPmowineere.ring owa spirit.—( Hear, hear.) If the Right Rev. Prelate said that there was in all the Chpunrweheers, ahegr(eLatorddispioesli.- btioounrntoe) antic eutsle neocteltbseiasdtiicsuplosedeit,oardzieffetr,, ft'rhoemchhimurcsho eActsofa thought th i e t c oh o e n a fi r : a et n l d th a a l t augh.) u interfere with thoseAl ow m fo u un c l h do m a b s ee. when_u unwise wlli se h ea e r Colonial Government, upon which depended the pre sent tranquillity and the u!timate prosperity of that part of the empire. The Duke of WELLINGTON Righthuandd under setgve.rnepeadrte olwabititeih: was a h b e led them to d ce id e he e ight which he had th rown upon a g n re d at he at t t h e o n u ti g o i n a t t o h t a h t e th s i p e c H e b c ao l d l u o see f n t tghaet o subject, byul far wh itchhe THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, MARCH 5, whether or not they would .take further steps in the fees days that rerndoed for the consideration of the que,'.ien. He did not think that the Noble Viscount opposite had done enact just'co to the argualeats of the R.ght Rev. Prente, espez.ially in respect to the ordinance of tht Special Council of Lower Canada. The Noblo Vis count hmt passed over a point open the, Right Rev. Prelate had particularly dwelt—it was this, that, the ordinance was passed by the Council under the superintendence of the Governor-General, the repre sentet;ve of her Majesty, who had a knowledge all the irregularities, and urged the adoption this particular measure.—(Hear, hear, from Cie Bishop of Exeter.) There could be no doubt that this body, which was now turned into a corporatiote, and a Roman C stholic corporation, had no legal title previ ously to the property which was vested in them by the ordinance. Only for that ordinance the property would have come to her Majesty, and her Majesty would have the power of conveying those seignories. He (the Duke of Wellington) was very much struck when he read the petition, and the ordinance, by the total departure from the principles of the Reformation, principles un touched up to this moment.—(Hear, hear, from the Bishopof Exeter.) He entreated the attention of their Lordships and the British public to this, as the first blow struck at the principles of the Reformation— ( Hear, hear) —principles maintained in Canada from the conquest down to the present day. He felt strongly with the Right Reverend Prelate, that this was the act of the Governor-General on the( part of the Queen, whose r i g h ts, i nterests, prerogatives, - and duties he ought to have maintained and lulfiile —(Hea-, hear.) On these points the Noble Viscount had given no answer.—(Hear, hear.) By the Act of Union of last year, all the property of the Crown, whether in possession or reversion, was made over to the disposition of the Canadian Assembly. But the very Commission of Inquiry which discovered the equi table right of the Seminary of St. Sulpice to this pro perty, also discovered that the Crown had a valuable reversion. —(Hear, hear.) The Noble Viscount who set up that Commission so highly, had no right—but that was a mistake—(hear, hear, and laughter)—the Government had no right to dispose of that property, and particularly under an ordinance which was uncon stitutional. These were all points for their Lordships' consideration. (Hear.) For his part, he felt obliged to the Right Reverend Prelate for let• ting them know where the information was to be found, and for the luminous manner in which he had laid the subject before them. It would be for their Lordships to consider in the next t:n or twelve days whether they would proceed further in the matter or not. He was one of those who thought that the union of last year was premature, but he had been un willing to press upon their Lordships, and he was equally. unwilling to press upon them now, his own opi nions on the subject. But he entreated them to give it their best consideration, as it involved some of the most important principles that could come under the consi deration of Parliament—the principles of the Reforma tion, untouched to the present moment.—(Hear, hear.) The petition was then laid on the table, and the House adjourned at E:ght o'Cleck. 110 USE OF COMMONS, MAirem 4. There being but 37 Members present at Four o'Cluck, the House adjourned till to-morrow. PA RLIAMENTAR BUSINESS. NOTICES GIVEN AT THE PRIVATE BILL OFFICE. THURSDAY, MARCH 4. 1 . Abingdon Road,—Com iiittee on Bill, March 12, at one. 2. Oakwood and Argoed Coal and Iron Company,—Committee on Petition, March 15. 3. British India Sugar Company,—Com. on Petition, March 15. 4. Britannia Life Assurance Company,—Committee on Bill, March 12, at one. 5. Whitby Improvement, Committee on Bill, March 12, at one. 6. Liverpool and Crosby Road,—Committee on Petition, adjourned till March 11. 7. Brighton and Shoreham Road,—Second Reading, March 8, 8. Barnstaple Ro ads, — Conamittee on Bill, March 12, at one. 9. South Western Railway (No. 2),—Com. on Pet., March 15. 0. Olveston Incl osure,—Committee on Petition, March 15. 1. St. Marylebone Paving, dge ,—Commlttee on Petition, March 15. 2. Drogheda Harbour,—Committee on Petition. March 15. 5. Mersey Dock Dues Exemption,—Com. on Petition, March 15. 4. Preston and Longridge Railway,—Com. on Bill, Mar. 12, at one 5. Ipswich Docks,—Second Reading, March 8. COMMITTEES ON PRIVATE BILLS APPOINTED BY THE COMMITTEE OF SELECTION. I. Whitby Improvement Bill, referred to Mr. Bernal, Mr. Aaron Chapman, and the Hon. W. Duncombe. 2. Preston and Longridge Railway Bill, referred to Mr. Bernal, Sir Hesketh Fleetwood, and Mr. Townley Parker. The meeting of the Committees on ;the above-mentioned Bills, is fixed for March I% at one o'clock. COURT OF ALDERMEN. THE RUINOUS HOUSES IN FLEET-STREET.—YCS terday a Court of Aldermen was specially held in the Old Bailey, to receive a presentment from the Inquest of St. Bride's, in the ward of Farringdon-without, in re ference to the state of the ruinous houses in Fleet-street. The Foreman of the inquest, in delivering the pre sentment, acknowledged their obligations to the Lord Mayor For the very prompt manner in which his Lord ship had complied with their wishes in summoning the Court. Mr. Smith (the Vestry Clerk) said, that the back walls left standing after the late disastrous accident were, in the opinion of competent judges, in a very precarious state, and that unless properly secured they might fall, and drag with them the adjoining houses. Since the last. interview at the Mansion-house, the Inquest had succeeded in finding the freeholder of one of the fallen houses, the back wall of which occasioned the ap prehended danger. and his surveyor was present and wil ling to co-operate - with theowner of theadjoininghousein securing the property from further accident. Had they known that before, it was probable that the Inquest might have spared the Court of Aldermen the trouble of assembling ; but as they were not he trusted that an order would be issued for the immediate removal of the wall without waiting for the dilatory process pointed out in the building act. It was probable that the necessity of resorting tl such a summary proceeding might be obviated by the active co-operation of Mr. Blackburn, the respectable surveyos of the freeholder. Mr. BLACKBURN assurred the Court that he had received instructions to cause immediat e measures to be taken to save the property from further acciden t, and he should carry these measures into effect without detry. The CITY SOLICITOR said that the presentment of ,ha Inquest, in conformity with the provisions of the building act, had described the state of the ruinous buildings in proper technical terms to bring' them within the jurisdiction of the Aldermen under the 70th section. The authority of the Aldermen un der that statute was strictly defined, and it was not competent for . them to act in the sum mary manner suggested by Mr. Smith. The Act required the Aldermen, upon the receipt of tie pre sentment, to cause a proper and sufficient board to be put up for the safety of the passers by, and to eau e notice to be given to the owners of the buildings, if known, and if not known, to be affixed to the premises, aid in case the ruinous houses were not taken down or repaired within fourteen der, it would be the duty of the Aldermen to remove them at the expense of the City, looking to the sale of the materials or to the ar rears, when discovered, for repayment. If the Court of Aldermen were to act in any other way than strictly in conformity with that prescribed by the Act, they woull subject themselves to actions at the instance of the owners of the ruinous premises and of the adjoining property. By the ancient custom of the City of London, there was no doubt that at , : Lord Mayor, in cases of sudden emergency, attended with imminent and immediate danger to life and limb, might interpose his authority to wall in the dangerous buildings, and to abate the nuisance. That power, since the passing of the Buildings Act:, had been rarely put in execu tion, and could only be recommended in ca es when, from the urgency of the occ as i on , th e pu bli c secur i ty would not admit of the relay requisite to call in aid the powers of the Building Act. In such cases there could be no doubt t hat the Lord Mipouttould be ad vised to exercise his authority, but, in the present in stance, such an interference could not be supported. With this exception, in the meantime the back wall of the fallen houses which had been presented must be remove.] by the order of the Court. Mr. Smith, an d the geatlemen of the Inquest gene rally, acquie sce d i tk the opinion g i ven by the City Solicitor, and after a. conversaiion between Mr. Wood, of the Dispatch , broke up. and Sir Peter Laurie, the Court ii.EADFUL i/)CCURRENCE IN ST. BRIDE'S CH-17RCHYARD. Yesterday the grave-digger, Scott, his assistant David Thompson, aged 29, d a b o y, were engaged in digging a grave in St. Bride's churchyard, which was to he twenty feet deep, opposite the door of the Bell pub lic how. Thompson was below digging and filling the baskets of earth, which were hoisted up by Scott and the lad by means of poles and a pulley. At twelve o'clock Thompson had got down seventeen feet, and said he thought he could go five fect further. He continued at work till a quarter to three, when the earth on each side gave way, and the grave was almost instantly closed up. Scott and the boy gave an alarm, and very speedily Inspector Foresby and a large body of the City Police ri-ere on the spot, and without a momeat's loss of time five or six men were set to work in clearing out the grave, but as it was known the gravedigger was at least eight6en feet below, no bores were entertained that his life could be saved, as the earth i 3 heavy and loony. and likely to cause in stant suffocation. The work of the men proceeded with grca t rapidity, but it was half-past five before they came to Thompson's head. He was found standing upright; but quite dead, having been buried nearly three hours. It was now found that the coffins from the neighb our i ng grave b a d f a ll en u p o n his body, and amidst whi c h h e was so comp l ete ly j a mmed that it was found necessary to remove them before the body could be got out. Mr. Fare, the Churchwarden, who super intended th e operations, directed what was to be done, sury, the Anglo-Maltese Bank, and the Malta Bank shows that the proportion of South American dollars is above 89 per cent., while that of English is under 5, and that of all other coinage put together is under 6 per cent. • A plan proposed for the reformation of a currency obviously bad is the repeal of all the proclamations al ready existing, and an enactment that British copper shall only be a legal tender to the value of led., and shillings and sixpences to the value of 405., and that for larger amounts the only legal tender shall be a 4s, piece, a coin which it is proposed shall be created, and which the Treasury are to give in exchange for all the present coinage, to be received at their preient value. The effect of such a measure would, it is said, be the abolition of the South American coinage, but not of the Spanish pillar' dollar, sovereigns, or doubloons, which would offer no inducement for parties to present them at the Treasury. The Maltese seem to think, that in justice the British Government ought to bear the loss occasioned by the conversion, since that has caused the vicious system which demands the change; but at the same time the author of the plan stated above :oems to think that it would be better for the island to submit to the loss than to suffer such a system to con• tinuc. With respect to the plan thus offerad, and which proceeds from a resident in the island, it is not the object of this notice to advocate or condemn it, but there seems, at any rate, no doubt that a thorough re form of some kind or other is required. x.,etters from Bremen, dated the 22d ult., mention that an experiment made for blowing up the ice with gut:- powder, by which the Weser was covered, had com pletely succeaded. The ice, it is said, has been wholly cleared away, and the navigation of the river throughout its entire course, at and near Bremer, rendered per fectly free. The Hastings mail coach was overturned on Wednesday night, on its way to London, between Tun bridge Wells and Tunbridge. One passenger was injured, but not severely. J. Edgerton, Esq., aged 76, was burnt to death in lis be.!-room last Saturday at Haggerston. His &foes caught fire. THE NEW NovELs.—The following popular new works of fiction . have just been published by Mr. Colburn, of Great Marlborough -street, and may be had at all the I , braries : —l. The Moneyed Man, by Horace Smith, Esq., author of " Brambletye House," &c., 3 vols. 2. Greville, or a Season in Paris, by Mrs. Gore, 3 vols. —3. Peter Priggins, the College Scout, edited by Theo dore Hook, Esq., 3 vole., wi h numerous illustrations by Phis.— 4. Popular Traditions of England, by John Roby, Esq., M. R. S. L , &c., 3 Yds.,'with numerous eogiavings on wood.-5. The History of a Flirt, rel ited by fierself, second edition, 3 vols. —6. Legendary T a le s o f th e High lands, by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart., with illastra- Lions by Phiz.-7. Oliver Cromwell, an Historical R-- mance, edited by Horac e S m i t h, Esq.. 3 vols. ; and 8. The Chelsea Pensioners, by the Author of " The Subal tern," complete in 1 vol., with portrait of the author,' puke 6e. bound, forming the new• volume of " Colburn's Modern Standard Novelists." MISS AGNES STRICKLAND'S " LIVES OF TEE QUEENS OF ENGLAND."__ , be second volume s of the new and revised edition of this charming work bas just ap peared, and the third volume is understood t o b e a l so nearly ready. " Th e popularity which this work has a!- ready attained suf f iciently marks the public approbation of the valuable addi ion to our national history which Miss Strickland has furnished in these deeply interesting " Liv. of the Queens of England." It is a production which has been long wanted, and it is now submitted to the public with a care sui'ed to its important subject'. From mate rials most diligently sought out, Miss Strickland has pro duced a work of surpassing interest and great historical value, conferring a lasting benefit on the litt rature of the country. It possesses alt the sober truth-telling authority of well autlergicated history, with all the attractive graces of romance. It must find a place in the library of every lady of taste." Front T. J. Pettigrew, Esq., Surgeon, F.R.S., to Messrs. S. and B. Solomons, 39, Albemarle.street, opposite the York Hotel, and 76, King William-street, Bank of England.—." Gentletnen,—l have no hesitation in replying to your inquiry as to the results obtained by the use of your improved spectacles; being in the constant habit of reading and writing for many hours together by lamp-light, it is but justice to say, that your newly.invented spectacle lenses have afforded ins the greatest comfort. When I employed the ordinary pebbles, I never failed to experience in the morning a great irritation in the eyes. Since I have used your admirable glasses I suffer from no inconvenience of the kind. I shall ever feel grateful to my good friend, Dr. Blundell, for having drawn my attention to the subject. — Believe me to be your's, very respectfully, T. J. Parnottaw, 8, Saville.row, Jan. 4, 1839."—" M. G. Sir Howard Elphinstone begs leave to say that the Spectacles he has now had some time in use, have fully redeemed the assuranceof the Messrs. S. and B. Solo mona as to their excellence, and having found so much comfort and advantage from their use, far preferable to every other kind of Glasses which he has been in the constant habit of making use of for a great number of years.-13, Norfolk-street, Park.lane, the 6th of November, 1840." The Messrs. Solomons' Operative Voice Con doctor, when fixed into the cavity of the ear, the faintest whisper at a public assembly is heard with distinctness.—No connex ion with persons of the same name. (From the Times.) Some accounts have been printed and circulated privately of the state of the currency in Malta, which are well worthy of general attention. Every one will be prepared to expect from the previous history, and from the peculiar position of that island, an exceedingly mixed and partially debased currency, but, nevertheless, in a course of gradual reform, since it has become a possession of Great Britain. Of this, however, no symptoms whatever are appa rent ; on the contrary, a state of confusion exists, which must render the carrying on of the trade of the place unusually difficult and uncertain. A brief description can hardly fail, one would imagine, to bring on promptly both the consideration and the application of the proper remedy. At present, it seems, there are five kinds of money, which are legal tenders in Malta, viz., Malta money, the Spa nish pillar dollar, the South American dollar, Bri tish silver and gold, and British copper, including the grain, or twelfth part of a penny. Tne general introduction of British metallic currency was prepared by a proclamation of Juee, 1825, in which it is enacted that certain enumerated coins shall pass current, and the intention to introduce the British metallic currency generally is speci fically stated. By a proclamation in the following year it was ordered that all Government accounts should be kept in sterling, but, nevertheless, although this method was of course adopted in the Govern ment offices, the merchants and shopkeepers have continued to keep their accounts in the money of the order of St, John, the unwillingness to change being attributed to the frequent chang:'s and uncer tainty of the currency, the mulf piic ty of coins ad mitted as legal tenders, and the deprecate 1 nature of the British silver currency. It is worthy of re mark, that when British silve. was put into circula tion in the isl ind, the pound troy was, by the authority of the Act 56th George 111., cap. 68, coined into 66 shillings instead of 62 ; but while the same Act established that such depreciated silver should not be a legal tender in England to an amount exceed ing 405., in Malta it has been made so to any amount, displacing the more valuable local currencies, and causing a loss to the inhabitants of 6 per cent., since prior to the introduction of the present British coins the currency passed at rates at 625. per pound troy. The Spanish pillar dollar becoming scarce in 1834, the British Government caused proclamations to be issued at Malts, Gibraltar, the lonian Islands, and other places, enacting that the South American dollar should be a legal tender at the rate of 4s. 4d.—a coin irregular in weight, and by no means regular in alloy. Indeed, the dollars of the Guadalaxara mint were found to contain so excessive a portion of alloy, that in 1836 it was found necessary to call them in. The effect of this introduc tion was not only the banishing of the more valuable currency, so that Spanish, Sicilian, and Imperial dollars are at a premium, but even British silver does not cir culate freely, since the Commissary engages to give a 1001. Treasury bill for every 101/. 10s., and therefore whenever the continental exchanges are at a rate which enables a banker to import dollars, and exchange them for British silver at a profit on the Commissary's rate, a premium is borne by the British silver. Besides the obvious evils of an irregular currency, in causing the heavier coins to be melted down, there is a further one occasioned by the preset - it system—namely, a practice in France and Italy of sifting the dollars received from South America, so that the light ones alone may be sent to Malta and other places where they are a cur rency. Another disadvantage of these South American dollars is, that in Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Barbary, Algeria, Fez; and Morocco, they are rejected, whila they will not pass as curreacy in Sicily, Naples, the north of Spain and Italy, or at any rate arc only taken at a dif ference of 5 or 6 per cent. under the value of the Spa nish dollar. So great is the preponderance of this vi cious coinage that a six months' return from the Tree. hat it was a work of great difficulty, and night had now COWE' On. Torches and citndles were supplied to those who were employed in the 1 ihorioas and even dangerous work, several of whom belonged to the City Police, and ulti mately five coffins were removed. The position of the body was thus more accurately discoVcred, and the hands-were found to be raised to the head, and parel7 covering the face, as if the dying man had sought to prevent by such feeble aid, the pressure of the im mense weight upon him. Still the body was so firmly locked in the earth that all attempts to remove it from the grave while life was in it, were for hours of no avail. It was necessary that great caution should be used, that every foot of earth taken away s - nould be sup plied with strong shoring, or otherwise tho lives of other five or six men would be sacrificed in addition to that of Thompson. At nine o'clock fresh difficulty occurred by the fill; of earth upon the body consequent upon the removal of the coffins, but %vitliin a quarter of an hour afterwards this was so hr loosened that the corpse was raised by ropes, and immediately taken to. the church and placed in a shell. The face was much blackened, the chest was deeply indeated, and the lea leg was broken. There is no doubt the calamity arose through negligence in not properly sharing up the grave as the work proceeded. The deceased lived in Gun rowder-alley, Shoe-lane, and was well known. The last ca ;e of a similar character occurred about 40 years ago, when the sextoa of Clerkenwell Church was in the same way buried. CURRENCY IN MALTA POLITICAL SUMMARY OF TII MORNING JOURNALS The Morning Herald of tEy coutrins a I , Nriing, for tide on the subject of Mr. Ihrmo':.3 psnot - uric on Lord Keane, which our Contempnritry asserts is at variai c.. with the op7ni.:,n he expresEel on Frizlay last in the iLiuse of Commons, on the G,-.llant. OtTicer.—The Morning Chronicle discus s es the Church-rat 3 .qucstion at sc.rn length, and observes that the simple ab3l . ticm of the rate will aat.isfy Dissenters, and not Dissenters only, but a large portion of Churchmen.—The Morning Post hes some lengthy strictures on Romanism, whose - et ject is to show that it is not reasonable to suppose that the Roman Ca tholic priests should ever be friendly to the' British nation. —The Times has a lcalling article on the subject of .the present Array Ei , timateF, in the course of which our Con temrrary argues that the army must be reinforced, and that it is a gross deceptim on the part of Ministers to a'. tempt to come forward with an estimate which they know cannot be adhered to. MONEY MARKET and CITY NE WS FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY TIMES.—Some surprise has b. en expressed in the City at another stoppage of the " Uni'ed States Bank," as-announced this morning, from the New York papers, so soon after the at tempt to resume specie payments, but by persons well acquainted with what was going on the event was distinctly foreseen, though not, perhaps, so early' as it has actually occurred. As this bank had acquired an immense increase of power just pre vious to the resumption, on the 15th of January, by the draughts on the London agent, and has been compelled, nevertheless, to yield to the pressure, it is but reasonable to conclude that it has now fallen never to rise again. All that the shareholders, therefore, and other parties interested have now to look for is a liquidation, rendered by far more disadvantageous to them than would otherwise have been the case, through the delay and useless temporizing which has taken place. Up to the period, however, of this new stoppage the notion has been very industriously spread that the Bank might go on and become more important than ever by only consenting to a declaration that one-half of the capital was lost, which would still leave it, as was alleged, the most powerful bank in the Union. The fallacy of all this, though it served the purpose of those who circulated it, need hardly be pointed out, since the real ability to go on, and to become again prosperous, must depend upon the quality of the assets, and not upon the amount of capital, whether real or nomi nal. These were notoriously bad previously to the new stop page, and will be, of course, much further deteriorated by that event. Great uneasiness existed in New York for the fate of the bills drawn on London by the United States Bank justpreviou to the resumption, but there is reason to believe that they hive all been accepted, and by houses sufficiently powerful to leave no doubt of their ultimate validity. The whole of the credits given amount, it is said, to 1,000,000/. ; of which 100,0001. was by Denison and Co., 170,0001. by Brown and Co., and 730,000/. by Morrison and Sons. Of course it is to be presumed that these houses have protected themselves by a sufficient amount of security, and that they will feel indifferent about a little delay, should it be of a nature not at once con vertible into money. The buoyancy of the English stock-market, which has been owing to the increasing demand for investment, and which it was supposed would continue on account of the public regard ing the home securities alone as safe for the employment of their capital, did not some political event of an unfavourable nature occur, has received a check to-day on account of the intelligence from America. The indictment of Mr. M'Leod and the stoppage of the " United States Bank" have probably both contributed to the decline in Consols, which was about within an hour after the commencement of business ; but there can be little doubt that this effect is chiefly to be attributed to the former cause, the belief i❑ the stability of the Bank being too weak for the latter part of the intelligence'to have caused any material fluctuation. It may tend, however, to bring cn an increased scarcity of money. were arranged to be exchanged for post notes, or others;ise re tire,l, are said to have been surreptitiously thrown on the market, and the jealousy of the New York houses was brought into efficient operation to clinch the business. • We are concerned to find that this state of things had pro duced a serious derangement in trade on the other side, and we apprehend that it must be attended with unfavourable results in our own manufacturing districts. _ If, however, the Legislature of Pennsylvania should recog nise the necessity of the suspension by modifying the law re garding the charters of the banks, and giving it a legal sanc tion for a certain period, the suspension of specie payments in the present deranged state of the currency in the Southern and Western States would be a great auxiliary to the collections of the bank ; which, for the period from the 4th of January to the 4th of February last, amounted to $1,007,000. If the suspension be legalised it will enable the Bank to devote their means to fulfil their current engagements in Europe ; and it will be satisfactory for the public to know that the three eminent houses connected with the institution in this country hold State stocks and other undoubted securities for three times the amount of their commitments for its accounts. Endeavours are now making, we believe, to make matters even worse than the sad reality, and to frighten the timorous, and particularly ladies, about the case of 111‘Leod, under the unfounded allegation that the Americans secretly foment •the quarrel for the secret purpose of getting rid of their St a t e engagements by hostilities. Jonathan is much too mercantile an animal to come to blows with his best customers • but rs these rumours are propagated with no small degree of indus try in various quarters, we think it right to show that this scheme is totally absurd, and to remove all uneasiness on . the subject by quoting the 10th article of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, and Navigation, between Great Britain and the United States, dated Nov. 19, 1794. See "Marten's Recueil de Traites," tom. V. p. 460, which runs as foll , ,ws : " Neither the debts due from individuals of the one nation to individuals of the other, nor shares, nor moneys which they may have in the public funds, or in the public or private banks, shall even in any event, of war or national differences, be sequestered or confiscated, it being unjust and impolitic that debts and engagements contracted and made by individuals, having confidence in each other, and in their respective Go vernments, should ever be destroyed or impaiied by national authority, on account of national differences and discontents. " On this Treaty, in respect of Article X., Chancellor Kent, in his Commentaries on American Law,' vol. i., p. 165, observes : There can be no doubt that the obligation of that article was not impaired by the war of 1812,.but remained throughout that wa-, and continues to this day binding upon the two nations, and continue so until they mutually agree to rescind the Article; for it is a principle of universal juri prulence, that a compact cannot be rescinded by one party only, if the other party does not consent to rescind it, and does not act to destroy it." Tis is conclusive. POST.—The intelligence commueicated this morning of the fresh shock sustained by the banking interest of the United States, caused considerable agitation among our commercial men. The explosion of the United States Bank, and the de • rangement of money matters generally which followed thet event at Philadelphia and in other parts of the Union, cannot hut have a very bad effect in this country. The branch and i other banks of the'western and southern States may be expected , now, one and all, to suspend specie payments, a proceeding that , must operate greatly to the prejudice of the commercial body of America, and of course of our own merchants and manufac turers. It had been hoped that the long interval of inactivity which had' been experienced in the import trade would have ,been succeeded at length by one of extra. ordinary prosperity. , Without the necessary money at:comae). dation'the importing establishments will, however, be totally unable to run off their stocks, even should they have .prodded themselves with supplies ; but orders will doubtlesS be coun termanded where time will admit of it, although money may have been remitted to pay for them ;- and certainly nothing that had been in preparation for export, on consignment, will now go forward. The American community-are aes, lutely left without a currency. This second break-down is another proof of the fact for which we have over and over con'enda, namely, that the United States cannot maintain, a me tallic circulation simultaneously with Great Britain, so leng as they era borrowers of British Capital The shart . s of the ; United States Bank, which hatl previously been doing at 911. to 10L, were to-day quoted at no more than 51. to 61. per share. The interest our capitalists have in the concern is believed to be about four millions out of the seven ; yet such has been their infatuation that they have themselves by their incessant abue of it Hone even more Apan General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren toltieteete to • ita''prestnt posi tion. It is not thought, now that the mischief has le en com pleted, the Bank wilt be deprived of its charter. 111 any of the jobbers who fancied they might benefit largely by its fall, and who bought sbaree at 4U to 50 . d.illars each, mu-t pc obably— and they will in this case be but little 'pitied—Le ruined by the subsequent depreciation to 26 or 27 dollars per cent. The New York Co,,rier and Enquirer make; the fo:lowing remarks upon the subject of the second suspension We need scarcely say the intelligence that the Bank ~f the United States had again suspended specie payments cause] con siderable sensation in the City yesterelay. To us it appesrs to be an event much to be deplored —not particularly on account of its stockholders or the holders of its notes, but on account of the deleterious effect it will have on the batiking system generally, and on American public credit abro :d. and that at a moment when both the Federal Government and the State Go vernments have occasion to resort to their credit on no insigni ficant scale. Of the causes which have led to the suspension we have no doubt the most prOminent is the speculations which have been going on -here, based upon the depres-ion cf the value of the stock. There is no o . her way of accounting for the excessive demand on the institut.on for specie The demand for specie, on which the suspension took place, was made by brokers in New York at a time when the discount on the paper here was little or nothing more than the expense of sending on the notes and biin , :ing back the specie. Why, then, was the 'specie demanded.? We much mistake if there have keen any who ha, e really a s'ake in the general prosperity of the country, and who have lent their aid to promote these stock-jobbing assaults on the Bank—we much mistake, we say, if they do not hare cause to' d e pl ore their conduct, no bank is safe against such attacks. The Bank has already paid out in specie. the resumption, nearly as much as the whola ardount of specie in .the vaults of the Bank of England; qui!e as much as all the specie held by all the banks of this State, according to the Comptroller's Rep6rt, which amounted on the Ist of January lastlonly to 5,4 9 9,122 dollars, and Vet the run on her was still continued, and not for any fixeign export demand. We repeat, no bank can withstand such assaults, and believing, as we firmly do, that the welfare of the country has been most materially promoted , by the banking system, we can not but look with dismay on a line of condu c t w hi ch places the whole at the mercy of stock -gamblers.. Take, to illustrate our view, the State Comptroller's Report ju s t pub.. lisped. banks have a circulation of rising 15,000,000 dol., and deposits t o a n amoun t . r i s i n g 17,000,600 and t o Meet - all this hilt five' millions and a half of specie, if specie is demanded. We cannot account for the'really malevolait feel ing evinced by some journals at this, in our view, truly Unfor tunate event. The Bank of the United Sta:es is certainly, now, at least, in no way connected with partisan politics, and why, therefore, its downfall, if downfall it s h ou ld prove, should be,considered by any except the gamblers. in its steck, as a CHRONICLE.—We deeply regret the inability of the Bank of the United States to maintun specie payments ; and the last accounts received, by the Acadia steamer, afforded grounds for expecting a different result. The " run " was represented as having ceased altogether for the withdrawal of deposits, and the demand for specie in exchange for notes was,also said to have been subsiding. Sinister influences, how ever, were at work ' • the machinations of the enemies of the in stitution, supported by a portion of the English and American press, have been successful in the work of mischief, and the authors of it have now the happiness of being able to say, " See what true prophets we have been l" It is not surprising that the Bank of the United States, crippled and damaged by the injudicious nature of its past management, having upwards of 40,000,4 00 of dollars of its assets locked up in State stocks of various de nominations, and assailed by a host of enemies, personal and political, should- have been unable to resist the force of this combined attack, and that it should have been at last compelled to yield to the torrent which so assailed it. Before doing so, however, we observe that the Bank had paid away little short of 6,000,000 dollars in coin cud specie furids and that their efforts to maintain specie payments had been rendered abortive by the intentional accumulation and extraordinary enforcement of its instant liabilities. A large amount of its notes also, which EVENING EDITIO. Whole number ..... These held shares as fol'ows ;-- five Number,of perso ns h o ldi ng stoc k to the amount 0' ev - , • .... 6 4k. - shares and under Ditto, 10 shares and under ........................ .................... 20 ........ 5 • „ 100 500 Bover which 5 00 i s t h shares appears ............ .. ....... ........ .............................................................................. the less than 50 shares was 3,251. These are prineiP a st ly stockholders in this country. The large holders rn ° The re' Siding abroad, of whom 42 belong to the nobility. t he , ei r of the . sharo3 olviied abroad is 27,000,000 dole., and ° r eap.; 'naming 6,000,000 dole, about 6,000,000 d o l l . are rel'" t or' in this city, and the remainder in Philadelphia. i t 15ital be" fore evident that much the larger portion of the e„ 3 . ,P pnc e longs to foreign residents who can exercise no f t, P ; Philadelphia, while, on the other hand, all the ear" t ", O ° P t" other banks is owred at home, where the proprietors a f„ - do ,"" spot to lock after their own interest, an,l if necessary 1 .7 t bis even at the sacrific e o f o th er i n ' erests. " t as The prodigious a moun t o f th e va l ue of the sloe . be ld t ot, t country may be estim a t e d f rom these particulars, if e°r at eiae P it is believed they su b s t an ti a ll y are. The following , zo for k of the position of th e B an k' s a ff a i rs, taken from the re y. cILY Herald, if it could be now wound up and its prer - 30 60,`" posed of at present prices, which of course in such q u o 0' is quite out of the question, will not be very consang i 3 10(1 1 , 3 private and joint-stock country bankers' which were 01 ,,, e .p f the Banker's Circular puffs, and the lavishly brek e3 o sists oapit under travelling agents of certain London bankers and which the Banker's Circular is understood to be thed States hand instrument, to t a k e very l arge amounts o f Unitcot taece Bank Shares and Securities at very - high prices, ot fr o more than a year. ago. It was shown under this head o f tl 3 United States Bank on its own exhibit at the begiani l4 year had lost more than one half cf its capital. SUN •re , may be inferred that the tenor of the a t / a : l ic, both political and monetary, received from the 4 ,10 Stater tc-day, had the effect of depressing the v r . 0 01 0 ; stocks, and it is fortunate, this being the 4th et th e •OP when to large an amount of mercantile HI; fall dr o ' w oli no, pressure for money was occasioned by it. d frog flurtthited t.i.:day from 881 t o 883- for money? o tbe' 89. k ssi- for the aeclurit, the Market clooeg he .Ezehettuu Bills were 10e. to 11 5 . P r ai - tilio" and India Bond s 15e. cl'count; The Reduc e " TO ° and Half per • Cents, realised-98 to 97a, an d the pe T r nts.:BB} to 88. • Fua saeurlVes were dull, and undere-,, er doe.' fluelce of our own finds hal a d own ward t en c ue 4 Spanish Active B on d s were at 24 4-ato 2: portnpii; Thr. e per Ce;:t3. at 19i to 194; Ai e s lean ors' Colom!.i , n, 231 to 23/ ; Buenos Ayres 24 te. 23 , 1 ; vu!c la 7q-; Fien:ch Fi ve p er C ents , 113 f. 60e.; and 0,0 Two.and-a-Half p( r Cerits., 50a to 50. The Railway Stlerbs were rather ste i ady, but th er :litca not much husiiie3s done in them. Great Wester e f e nl i4: 24 ; the New, 111 ; an d t h e Fif t h s, 5 i ; the vi r :fax ham, 80 t) 79 ; Vie South Western, Ha and and North Midland 30 to 31 prem.; Bii;hten ": 7 •' co uot; South Eastern 16,4 ; and Hull and Selby 61, d' s . we re Natimal Provitail 13.ruk of England New Sb itre- f diieount. ie,c ° f Most persons' in the City take a very gloomY 0;1 4 the affairs Of the lini•el States Back, but some le`c wee it would be a national beaefit if the institution b-oken up. Np•-• -- FLAT SILVER WATCHES, 41 Gu` 'stc ° ' each.--Elegant Sil ver -W atc h es, su i table for the O r i tio le s c ; pocket. with the horizontal escapement, jewelled in fu u c or silver dials, hand to mark the seconds, maintaining P k . to ti- 1 continue going whilst being v ound, and double b 3 '.l rt auV. 4 t ; cases ; Flee 4/. 16s. 6d each. The performance is tc' 0 , 4 ,00 A. B. SA VOI-ZY and SONS, 9, Cornhill, London,. the Bank of England. . 00 SI LVER PLATE.--Now published gr a r i ;eri,..„ ll will bob Sent pest free, if P•lplied for by a rai d r e SIT:: Pamphlet of T. COX SA V.ISIIY'S Prices of Sil v r e ' l lo and Forks, with Drawings of the Patterns Tea cnd `;`,4 Pla te , vices with Designs, Presentation Plate, Ilver-0 1 15 poT Ware, the new i'lated on White Metal Spew" ar. CO" - Ladle? and Gentlemen's Gold and Silver Watches , nr oia l Jewel'ery, Cutl er y, L a di es ' G o l d Neck Chains, w ith of the New Patterns. 3 0 J __ ....,. The ground floor, first, second. and third floors are fitt ter the exhibition of-an extensive s , ,,:tk. T. COX SAVORY, ° litlreli' Goldsmith, 47, Cornhill (S even d oors f ro m G' street), L3ndor±_________ Sil ve - --- - - - - - - TABLE CANDLESTICKS, s9pecior t° 00, 6 for durabilitv, equal in appearance. Table candlehst, ;IS' inches . high, 7s. per pair; 9 inches high, 9s. ; 1 ? inc i..e e i; 13 , 9. per pair , ditto, with rich shell mountings, D inches ' a l s "ed Ce : per pair; snuffer trays', with shell mountings and c'' :0 an"" tre, 4s. ca, h. The particular metal of which tii t 7 )j d fro o great variety of ott er art i c l es are made, can ord.Y.b e silver by reference to the stamp. Catalogues gratis. t. [(IPPON and BUitTON, Wells. B 1 R 'l' ii S. On the ilith ult., Mr s . William M of Ha unns, , an" r i_elare' Clapliam-road, of a Mf g ' On the 3d inst., at Nclsox Hou;e: ,Stoke New'Rtg fo ot • Elme,hurst, of a son. ' j 80 (4- On the 4th ins.., a t S t. P aul ' s -churc h yar d, Hire'' hilt, of a datrdi'er. fileAth . 0 At Conn:ngton Casil a ; Hunts, the lady of Joh n 3-- cote, F -- ^ of a so: Dic O k ri y, l n h , e s . l e t ,. l o i n i t t i ls a t. a , ug at ht S e b t r . lll o L f o ß p k il e . 's j :cf : - elit ( r:e , n , FinEbury. a l i u it r , ch L G q.., l Y :- .5717-51)11n c 3 : cie : ' t i_ h ll e ,(l 4 ., th ef iri i -t a . r , ri a s t ,.a St e . - J .D ar..es'e, Westminster, W. E i,ter O f . ,.n, itsq., of Lloyd-square, Pentouville. G Lau" On the4th inA, at St. James's, ‘,Ve.,:tininstert M r ' . t i ter ° f mail, of Duke-street, St. James s, to Johanna, claug - J. v ., ii . h. , ~, ,. , Devon to Eliza, el:lest daub` Denham Oid, Eyq., of lia!ham-bill, Surreyi___-- Di D. nae r On the 9th ult., a t Rcarquha r, parish (..f Dor' neck , " tie r 10 1 Sutherland, who was bo rn in 17V, and cous:quent attained the patriarchal age of 119. On the 15th_ of January, at Demerara, 11. J. G°l" of the youngest scat of Captain Hugh Goldicutt, former l y Rifles, age 3d d M. har t. On the inst., at Upper Holloway, Mr. J. Engel On the 3d inst., at Bexley, J. T. Rua, Esq., ag ed 81' London Printed and Published by IVIURDO Y. SW d iA No. 112, Strand, at The Sun Office, No: 112, the ccunty of Mitilesez.—Friday, March 5, 1841 ' # - --: 41. reo to of gratrlatior, in to us unieCetintable: W e I 'll t' t zesiueneo, besides,- fer this city - ; we fear the evi l s ' l batit e ' elY ot with the United States Bank. We fear fee ehiladelphia Med south of that city, and then it rao_ l o ' no e cruise than that New York, with her cornrnorePe should feel tile shock, and most severely too o f the The comparison made by the writer of the prec eding ' gee eccie paid out b y the United States Bank since the r Tie inn, aad tbe stock of the Bank of England, is fa l l afts et 3ank of the United St a t es h as pa id, by means of,_"' f F.ffgland, nearly six milli ons o f d o ll ars ; but the Bara,,:doete ad has in Ler vaults almost as many pounds. die mereover, whether there is juSt, gr.eind for the son b l e eee d New York will suffer to the extent anticipated. -t • eel by well-informed parties here, that both the New Ir" eir r' te' Boston banks, at all events, will continue to answer tl. in specie. l° The English Funds ha v e b een supported bettei have been expected. HERALD. —The financisi and political news from k(t Yorkt to-day, produced c e d p a u t c t o h r e s measured by the actual decline merely in the 9."'' re l Jeri' stocks, for it must be remembered that the funds we te e sively on the rise yesterday, and with a firm and evident tbe p ra th bic' of in tli i i r s e i s m si ; n re ' S n sio t n belVSout;l(: t k ' b o e s ilei dency to a greater rise still, so strong was the confident!, ',eater renewed pacific aspect of public affairs, to which the g easiness in discounts and money con ributed materiallYe foe The failure of a who!esale grocery establiAnnent, ofiver, standing in he City, com bi ne d w i t h v arious failure; to I:,tee pool and other pa r ts o f th e coun t r y tends rather to'ullite. Credit, but in f l u r a there has riot been more ceemeer c. i o rangement of this sort than what is usual and migh t peeted after two or three years of indifferent trade. t iirti The accounts to-day from the United States of th e e at of suspension of the United States Bildt, arid generally , ! ee rie the Philadelphia Banks which had so recently resualo': , ' '5,01 payments, have proved the engrossing subject of cotivf s ,,,, e ve in the City to-day. It is believed that these events wi".l t he the forerunners of greater commercial disasters still ; pro , Union, and that foreign commerce must be deeelY e s ° , by raised, if not alm os t paralysed for some time t o -elle to such a state of things, independent of the. ru inous ctioo which merchants may be exposed from past tra nsa to rity• upon which payments were at, or coming to, roa but t f There may be some rea lity in these apprehensions,. sob the action of auth or it y on the other side of the water le Ors o es as it ought to b e —th a t is, to leave the Banks to frid level, and sink or sw i m accor di ng to t h e i r d e serts or P e l l urs tisa is more than probabl e . th e cr i s i s wou ld b e of slice t n o comparatively, and would be amp'y compensated by %web steady business and a more solid money system for tee 40 1 This is not the first time that such an opinion has teen erok for in treating of the balance sheet of the United Sta'es.tv;ss in the beginni n g o f th e present year i n so me detail , ' bolt" then observed and proved that as, upon the Bank's ow`,' N ets , ing, taken conjunetively with the ruling value of States 5 y ieo of which it was and is so large a holder, it could not ceqj e rsi shillings in the pou n d o f the original capital to the st ocky s toat the very best thi ng f or them as for the United States° , 5 e to it should go to a liquidation at once, be wound up awl ce ," a st it be as a money institution, in which character for y . ea r ? it ' had worked only a most tremendous amount of reisclilesi was believed, according to the accounts now received; tn Tht Bank must now inevitably came to a liquidatio n 'ot 01 climax of misfortu ne or disgrace is no reflection or _ fo ie the present management, which, to eo it bare hal oi ty the commencement been saddled with the gratefuluttglars tf of endeavouring vainly to redeem the redeemable e r o jigalt its predecessors. The effort has been vain. The Erb ttj vast and moon-struck dreams of Mr. 'Biddle, to w „;i i eefe r .. , Bank had been pled ge d, an d i n w hi c h involved pt of withdrawal, as i s now clear, left nothing for ibis '„ u- , or ts but a perpetual and d a ily s t rugg l e f or ex i stence , by a" expedients more or less detrimental to credit, and abr a ',iey os ing the Bank at the mercy of any accident, or ao,Y, P he oe, t6 i , which dependent at the moment. No position COo", _ing disgraceful and discreditable for an institution Pr'', ( ld i e llal have, and which 'ought to have, a capital of 35,000n ee d 51 " Now that, as it may be hoped, the Ba nk is,brcught to a 'Thud' the effect will probably be all the more beneficial for gen er , - ol and whatever the present loss to the stockholders , i t " r t i allel haps be less than if the Bank had continued business as its pretensions were, and economically as the e a Plraet been properly pared down by the present board of mane 0 r The bank paper system in America has altogether tir recklessly managed, or rather mismanaged, it has be, en s i t ect hands almost universally of such wild and unprineiPlv"of fcC lators, that, whatever the present suffering of masses to for viduals, it can only be a public benefit for the Union , a- N its all States trading with the Union, that it should C Oole w a n d term and be altegether and for ever . exploded ,as.;l''' for time past conducted. It is tolerably c' er tles ies the banks of the south and south-west, the' " ,, , e itiett of which had had a meeting to consider of res— l i and .separated without a conclusion, would fol!ow one e lti,: mitted, in their career of insolvent suspension and O r sible paper system. !It was doubted whether the Pl,r, tbP batiks would be able to keep up specie payments, an u cr case the whole machinery of paper money would C' d ' riA ett stopped at once, or like that of Buenos Ayres, w °11 : 1 ,106 in a depreciation of the paper dollar to the specie ' of one-fourteenth of its-nominal amount. fiber The following is g i ven as th e l ast account o f the 0 , A:" stockholders of the U n it e d St a t es B an k' at h ome an d " According to the last report of the Bank to the as e ture, the number of stockholders at home and abroad down as follows e•—• 1,39 3 , Number of stockh o ld ers i n E ng l an d and e l sew h ere .... • 1,45,' Ditto Pennsylvania ... ......................................... LOP Ditto United States elsewhere than Pa. ......... k, 4,4 . , 1; T~~ A 6