The Sun. — London, England, 1841-03-12 00:00:00

MORNING EDITION that this House will make provision for such assistance as her Majesty may be graciously pleased to direct." In doing so he begged the indulgence of the House, for it was a question of the utmost importance to the well being and welfare of the working classes. His attention was first called to the subject by an application for as sistance, which had been made from the School of Arts in Edinburgh. It would be a most gracious act on the part of the House to grant money to such institutions, inas much as the Royal Society and the College of Edinburgh, which were for the improvement of the higher classes, were supported by assistance from the public purse. Application had first been made to the Committee on Education of the Privy Council, but they said there were no funds under their control from which they could give any assistance. The House ought to consider the propriety of carrying on the education of the people after they left school, and when the energies of the mind became invigorated. The object of the institutions now in existence, and which he wished to see supported by the nation, were not solely the improvement of the mechanic in that particular line of business to which his attention was daily directed ; it was not to enabls him to produce by his labour a greater quantity of goods to bring to the market, but the great object was to afford to the labouring man a wholesome instructive occupation during his hours of leisure. The Hon. Gentleman then read an extract from an address by Mr. Hugo Reid, the brother of Dr. Reid, to whom Hon. Members were so much indebted for their comfort in that House, in support of his views, and also some remarks made by the President of the Edinburgh School of Arts on the opening of that insti tution in October last, in which the principle of giving the labouring classes information on matters connected with the various departments of trade was dwelt upon. He contended that the instruction of the la bouring classes of the population of that country would ,Aevate the moral standard is their minds, and was a subject worthy the most earnest consideration of that House. He thought they would much better discharge their duty to the public, if, instead of wasting their huge in the party warfare in which they had consumed the last three or four Sessions, and thereby impeding the course of useful Legislation in that House, by which they had brought their meetings considerably into contempt—he thought they would much better discharge their duty, if they devoted a portion of their time to the practical and moral im provement of the people, by removing the restrictions to free trade, and giving to all God's creatures the benefits of a moral aed intellectual education. He would beg leave to call the attention of the House to different votes in the estimates of last Session, for the purpose of showing how other claims on the Legis lature were provided for. Tney had voted large sums for the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dub lin ; and they had voted sums for public museums, and for pictures in the National Gallery, 2,410/. They had voted for the support of captured negroes 25,000/. ; for negro education 30,000/., and for the negro expedition :61,263/. Now while they were ready to vote such large sums for the negro population, they should not forget so vast, intel ligenf, and energetic a class as their own labourers. For convicts at home and in the colonies they had voted a sum of 73,000/. ; for convicts in New South Wales and Van Diemer.'s Land a sum of 235,0001.; for the correction of juvenile offenders a sum of 5,807/. ; and for the inspecting of prisons a sum of 5,9001. they had voted such a sum for the punishment of crime, it would be but :i wise and wholesome system of economy to give the means which eduetation elle:red for the im provement and amelioration of the humbler classes. It was a duty incumbent upon the House not to neg lect the education of the great body of the people, who were the graat and broad basis on which rested the welfare of the country. Ile thought they were pushing their benevolence too fir when they relieved the wants of tee negro pepulation, and left a moral, wilderness at Lova:, Another reason for asking for this assis'aeraell'i for the puldic was, a fear that • the difficulties under which the i ihourin; popel dim) at present wore, prevented there from deriving many of the benefits of these insti tutions, added to which the institutions were crip pled far want of tun ds, and many of their be nefits, iret 'eel of bring conferred on the poorer claescs, were received by the middl.: cl ISSC3. If assistance could b affereed to these valuable tutions, enabling them t) defray the rent of the pro in, see wleeir t fey occupie !, or the interest of the debt which they had incurred in their erec tion, it would carrier great benefit upon tars hbotering population of this country. It appeared to hire that the multi and paltry sum which was annu ally voted for (ter ryine on the education of the juveed part of our population stopped at a very important point. Provision was made for tee education of the young, but artothing was done to c 3:nplete the work which was thus beg ua ; they we-e not encouraged and supported in those: works of Let) and these ennobling pursuits which would make them better men, better citizens, and better members of the gre it social community. Yet who had so good a right to such asistaucti? Who was it that bore the public burdens? Who was it that paid the forty millions of taxes which were annually levied upon the people of this country ? It was the labouring population who supported the burdens of the country, who maintained the national superiority, who both manned and supported our fleets and armies, and to whose industry, enterprise, and skill we were indebted for our domestic comforts and commercial prosperity. Believing that this class were pre-erninently woithy of the attention of the Legislature, he sincerely hoped that the House woull agree to his motion. Mr. HASTIE seconded the motion. Mr. LABOUCHERE said it was unnecessary for him to assure the Honourable Gentleman on the opposite side of the House, that he felt the full importance of the subject which had been so ably brought under their notice.—( Hear, hear.) He was perfectly aware that a knowledge of art was of the utmost importance to the stability of the manufacturing prosperity of the country—au every ground, both poi:- teeny and commercially, it was the duty of the House to promote the education of the people. These were his opinions ; but at the same time he entertained the strongest objection to the motion, worded as it was. It was a most important question, but because it was so it ought to stand upon its own merits. Those compa risons of what was done for one class and what for an other were injudicious to say the least of them, and the Hon. Gentleman by drawing them put the question, which he had made his own, upon a very wrong principle. Both subjects were most important, but each ought to be considered end decided upon their own merits, and without any invidious distinctions being drawn. He should decidedly object to the motion as it stood, and he trusted that the Honourable Gentleman would consider that his object would be as well accomplished by being left in the bands of the Government. They were fully alive to the i mportance o f the quest i on ; t h ey h a d d one a ll in their p ower to atta i n t h e o bj ec t o f diffu s i ng educationwe all over th e c ountry, but if the House were _ to interf ere i t wou ld on l y cause f a l, e hopes of assistanee, and so tend to paralyse private benefactions towards such institutions as had been allu ded to. The Governme n t ere aware i this country did present a most disadvantag eous w tn discreditable sebnn is nf artcon trast to other countries, in rela:io n h n e made, and he Very recently a beginning had trusted a good beginning, which at e b n n e o n distant ß period itial results ; would be attended with the most at the same time he must say, althoughewas very well to spend money in encouraging a taste for the knowledge of art an d science , vet, unless care a are was taken that that money was expended upon good system, they might run the risk of doing no good whatever. The first thing, therefore, was to act upon a sure and definite principle, and to adopt some system by which they might be assured the money would not be thrown away. Two or three Years ago, in consequence of the recommenda tion of his Noble Friend Lord Sydenham a School of Design was established. The subject had engrossed the attention of many eminent men, and he believed Schools of Design had been productive of much good. Masters had been provided to instruct the pupils at a cheap rate in those branches of art, which applied more particularly to manufactures. The number of pupils in those schools had considerably increased within the three years they had been esta 'insbed. Thr e e y e a rs was cer t a i n ly a s h or t p er i o d for producing any very great effect, but he had no hesita tion in saying, from what he knew of that school of design that the pupils had already attained ver y great proficiency, an d he lead no doubt that it would become a nucleus from which very e mortant benefits would be de rived. They had been ed to to give th em mas t ers taught at their own schools,.'they had gon e up on a principle which they tho ug h t and ws a veryadesirable one to he established, Hamel}, that hereaftera all the regular current of the sch oo l s should be defrayed by local expenses s subscriptions. Be cause if the Government was called the current expenses over whi c h theyupon to pay control, they woe' I lay a very h a d no heavycha r g e upon the public, without any commensurat e bene fit.—(Hear, hear.) But the assi s t ance affo rd ed central schools was of a eery different charact er , and toat the same time afforded great benefit to the local schools. They were now publishing elemen tary works on the subject of the various de partments of art and manubctures throughout the . fntre, which had done much good. That eas ....., ant benefits ft. these going on to some extent alpresent. Another way in which they might afford very all parts of :mport fro school., was to form a collection Europe of mode!s from which casts the m might be taken, and distributed at a cheap rate throughout .. country. He trusted that was an object which would_ he carried into effect in a short time.—(Hear, heir.) He could assure the House that the attorden of tie Government and the school of design tvoull be directed to the subject.—Bear, hear.) They had already taken some steps towards improving the present state of things, and t h ey would always be ready to adopt such further proceed- I logs as they might think expedient. When they found such a course practicable they might come down unhesitatingly to Parliament for a vote, to he was assured that they were too sensible of the value of a wise and liberal policy, not to know that as the re presentatives of a commercial and manufacturing country they were consulting its best interests, by supply in g with a liberal hand the means of carrying into e 'ect such an important objeet as the improvement of the working classes. He thought, however, that the pro position then before the House would be unnecessary and superfluous. Sir R. PEEL said that he had received a letter from a gentleman on the subject of a School of Design in that city, to which he would briefly direct the atten tion of the House. The application ma de to him was founded on the circumstance, that 9.0 years ago, he had been a subscriber to the School of Arts in the same city. If it were necessary to advance a sum of public money for the encouragement of a School of Design in Edinburgh, he should have no objection to such a vote ; but he should say that, c onsidering the opulence and prosperity of that city —considering its just claim to he at the head of science in Scotland, and the promoter of the liberal arts, he could not bu t entertain a san g uine hope that the affluent in Edinburgh, would contribute from their own fund, whatever might be wanted for the purpose: The Right Hon. Gentleman then read a letter from a gentleman in Edinburgh, in which it was stated, that the School of Arts there had been of the greatest use in enabling students to obtain a knowledge of the sciences, which might be useful to them in life, and Neat the school was numerously attended not only by boys, but by men of mature years, who were instructed in their different trades. When he stated that his correspondent was Mr. Hope, who filled one of the highest offices at the bar in Scot land, he was sure it would meet with the greatest atten tion. He agreed with the Right Hon. Gentleman that it was incumbent on the House to consider the condition of the great population of this country, to bear in mind what was going on in foreign countries, and not to let this country be behindhand with them in so great a work.—( Hear, hear.) With reference to the popula tion of large towns he thought that they could not take any measure which would contribute more to peace and order, or lay the foundation for loyalty and attachment to the State, than that of providing for the population of the country not only food for the mind but the means of relaxation from the labours in which they were en gaged, by permitting them to enjoy fresh air and exercise, and to participate in those manly sports which formerly were the pride of the country.—( Hear, hear.) For his own part he would most cheerfully provide, by a vote of public money, the means of setting apart a space near large towns for the purpose of the recreation of the working classes. The House, by adopting that coarse, would show to the labourers that amid their centeations they did not disregard the interest and welfare of the poor. He could not conceive a wiser application of public money than that, and he hoped that the exanip'e sst by the Legislature would be followed by the rich and in fluential classes who had derived their property from • the labour of the artisan. He trusted that they would come forward and supply the means foe so eesirable an object. He had heard with great satisfaction that a measure had been introduced for the purpose of con tributing to the welfare and the enjoyment of the la- Inuring classes. It might be very well to leave these great classes in the enjoyment o f sensual indul gence, and to the influence of low and degrading habits —it might be very well to charge persons with ea couraging infidelity and irreligion.—(Hear, hear.) His firm belief was that they were encouraging not merely morality, but that they were encouraging the Christian religion when they rescued them from debasing habits, when they tried to convince the work. Mg classes of this country that science was not exclu sively confined to the rich, when they showed that they had confidence in them, and did not suppose that by admitting them to participate in the advent ige - 3 (4 sci ence you prepared their minds to be perverted from refigioo. Compare the evils of leav:ng them as they were left now to the influence of low and degrading vice 3 without any means whatever of occuyation, and of giving them access to good pursuit 4, and thus prevent ' ing them from having recourse t) bad ones, and then let any man decide whether it tea; right to give to the working classes of this country the mean: of improve ment in the arts and sciences of this country, from which thy derived the means of subsistence, gnat of leaving them to the evil influences to which he hal referred. Having been a subscriber to that institution 20 ; ears ago he had proved at least that his opinions were consistent and uniform.--(Hear, bear.) He en tirely agreed with the Right Hon. Gentleman that it would be of the greatest importance to collect from all Countries models of the inventions for which these coun tries were justly ce'ebrated. They did very great injustice to the ingenuity of other countries when they fancied that they had some exclusive monopoly of mechanical inventions. It was just the reverse. 'llO capitals or other countries shoved a most slzdrul adaptation of machinery to manufactures, and the Right 111 n. Gen tlem,in would fin.l in the records of the Board of Trade a letter addressed by himself to the Right Hon. Gen tleman (Mr. Poulett Thomson) four or five years since, earnestly recommending that measures should be taken, through our diplomatic agents in foreign countries, and by application of the public funds, for the purpose of collecting models. He recollected sending to Mr. P. Thomson a letter of Mr. Richards, a great manufacturer at Birmingham. who had travel led in all parts of Europe, and who was exceedingly struck with the models which he had met with. The chief objection felt by the Right Hon. Gentleman with re.pect to these models arose from the dif ficulty of providing any room in London for their reception and for their proper examination. He felt convinced from what passed that if there were any objections to the particular form of the Hon. Gentleman's motion, there were none whatever to the principle on which that motion was founded. They should recollect—many of them at least—from what sources their own fortunes were derived.—(Hear, hear.) The inferior classes ought to be furnished with the means of acquiring perfectly rational informa tion. He (Sir R. Peel) insisted, in every institution with which he was connected, that the education should be conducted in conformity with the principles of the Church of England. He made that a condition for the admission of children in all those schools, and he thought it a just condition ; but the consequence was that boys, when they arrived at thirteen or fourteen years of age, were turned out of the schools in great numbers. He would suggest then, that a reading-room should be established in each locality, and that precautions should be taken that whatever means of knowledge should be afforded to the working classes they should not be capable of being perverted to a bad purpose. Mr. L ABOUC HERE thought that the establish ment of central schools would he attended with great benefit, as furnishing the means, by their local advan tages, of normal schools being founded in each particular district. - Mr. E WART said that the speech of the Right Hon. Baronet would have a useful moral effect on the country. He was glad to see the recommendations of the Committee, of which he and the Right Hon. Baronet had been members, adopted by the Government. He now rose principally to call the attention of the Presi dent of the Board of Trade to a suggestion of the Committee relating to the conversion of the central School o! Design into a normal school, upon the prin ciples stated in the memoir of Mr. Dyce, the rector of that schoi )1. He was convinced that these principles would ultimately prevail. He was sure they were sound one 3, and that any expense incurred in the taking of these casts would be amply repaid, not only in a commorei al point of view, but also in the increased en lighten= at and intelligence of the people. He believed that by et eating schools of design, circulating casts and works of art, it would be found that, so far from there being airy inaptness for works of art on the part of the people, th ly were capable of speedily rivalling any other nation. Mr. NV ILLIAMS was gratified to find that the Right Ho n. Ge n tl eman ( t h e P res id ent of the Board. Trade) IT ad t a k en so f avoura bl e and judiciousof a view of the safa)ject. There was evidently a great anxiety on the pat t of the people t o i m p rove t h emse l ves i n these departm en ts, for in the schools of art at Som erset H ouse there were net less than .500 pupils, and i n t h e school at Spit alfi elds, which had not been more than three months C 3 tablished, there were already a censiderable number. It appeared to him that the great towns o ught to G mtribute to the support of these School s o f y Design, as id if the Government would onl y ad vance ac m a . m cil e_l, Man (Much 1,0001. fc r the establishment of schools in the fou r c principal • s G e l a a t s s go o l f v, th c es o e v e m n t a r n y uf , andtu reNs,ort laughter, —they would co nfer very important__ benefits upon the peoPle• The advance of manufactures in France .0 id Prussia was entirely owing to the esta blishmen t of Schools of Design in the various rnanu lecturing a districts of these countries. I . 1 f Finsbury, if there was to be any' g rant of the public Mr. W. AKLEY felt bo und to put I his claim or money.--y A laugh.) But was there to be any money . There he been a most interesting conversation, there had been,.: a most admirable—a noble and most philan thropic w ,xech—from the Right lion. Barootit—(Hear, hear)— a speech which would give delight to millions of his cow rymen—a speech which the Right Hon. Ba ronet a vi ;Id be reminded of when he changed his peal tion—( f 1 laugh)—when he would have full power to carry 'rat his noble views. But what would the Go vernor 3nt think of this to-morrow—or would they think of it ; t all ? He thought not. They had enough on their i minds at present—enough to do to maintain their positio, to ward off the heavy blows aimed at them by the Gi rclemen opposi:c, and in the struggle they would forget vl ,at was intended for the people by the motion of his 1 )n. Friend. The people wanted money—(A laugh)- longer and mo ne y th e y must have ; they would no tr at up with kindly expressions of sentiment on the part ; a of H on . M em b ers. N ow , t h e ques tio n was, would t' it 'y get a n y money ? He thought not. Now, why way ; this? He would ask, was it not a matter of importa ai :e that the people should he instructed and amused ? Was it not rational that such a mot ion as that of his .on. Friend should be made—was it irrational to expect that it would be negatived ? He hoped it would not be. He would beg his Hon. Friend to with draw his motion, not to run the chance of its being ne gatived, and let him introduce it again ; let it be free from all invidiousness, let it be a simple proposition of voting a certain sum of public money for public purposes. He had occasion to mix much with the working classes, and he very frequently heard them complain of the vote of 70,0001. for the stables at Windsor. He heard that complaint almost every day of his life, and generally put in contrast with the miserable vote of 30,0001. for the education of the people. It was the cause of great discontent out of the House, and was the means of creating much indignation in the breasts of the people towards the Houses of Parliament. He had been at a large meeting that morning, where the working classes were very numerous ; the question put to them was, whether they should petition the House against the Poor-laws, and the language they held was this—" Why should we petition the House ?—it does not represent us, and there is nothing but class legislation ; the House of Commons ! We despise and hate it ; they tyrannise over us ; we will not petition." Now, was not that dangerous language to be constantly in the mouths of the people ? The Right Hon. Baronet and the Right Hon. Gentleman seemed now willing to vote the money, and he trusted that it was not too late. He hoped that his Hon. Friend would consent to with draw his motion, for the purpose of introducing it in another shape ; and, after what had taken place, he had no doubt he would effect his object. Sir R. PEEL—As the Hon. Gentleman had told him that he would be reminded of his speech of that night, he wished that there should be no mistake upon the matter. What he had said was, that in his opinion great dependence ought to be placed upon local exer tion. He would only remind those who made magnifi cent promises and eloquent speeches in favour of the poor, that they need not wa t t till they put their hands in the public purse. The Hon. Gentleman and his friends might apply themselves to fulfil their own pre dictions by voluntary contribution.—( Laughter.) Mr. HUME—If the Right Hon. Baronet intended to allude to his friends around him, he could assure him that they had not been backward upon the subject. —(Heir, hear.) He would entreat his Hon. Friend to svithraw his motion, for it would not be well that it should be negatived. He could not help taking that opportunity of offering publicly his thanks for the course which the Right Hon. Gentleman had pursued. He hoped that he would look with perfect contempt and disregard on every attempt which was made to misconstrue his really benevolent and useful intentions. He was b ound to say, that in his conversations with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the President of the Board of Trade, their difficulty had been, not as to tle propriety of affarding means, but how to afford them without preventing private individuals from con tinning their support. No later than list Session, both those individuals had assured him, that if any plan could be adopted for placing institutions upon a firm footing, and providing for the education of the working classes, they would be prepared to support them ; and a 3 his Honourable Friend had spoken of the 70,000/. voted for the stables, whilst other objects were neglected, he begged to remind him that 15,0001. had been expended by the Govern ment, in order to give that opportunity for recreation, which was so essential to mechanics and to those who lived in the crowded parts of the metropolis.—(Hear, hear.) He was bound to say, that the Government lot. 1 shown every disposition to provide healthful re creation for the public. Hampton Court, when com pleted, would hold out a collection which Europe might be challenged to equal. He (Mr. Hume) would have to eppeal to the House for the purpose of obtaining admission for the public to the national monu ments in Westminster Abbey, which, to the great di-credit of the parties concerned, had so long been secluded from the public eye. He hoped that her Majesty's Ministers would also accede to the ap- Flimition which had been made to them by the popcl ma district of the Tower Hamlets v ill regard to providing for the recreation of the people. It was Lighly important that enclosures of live or six acres should be made for the amusement of the poor. He trusted that the general expression of desire to attend to the comforts, and he would say, to the humanising of the classes who had hitherto been so much ne. glscted, would lead to the adoption of some practical measares for their benefi ,- .—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") He could not hear any allusion to the public col'ections with out recalling the time whoa it was said that they could not trust Enghshmen as they could foreigners. Tnsy could now look back to that period. At present 25,000 persons could pass through a single dwelling on one day without the least injury to the col -1.-2et:on. He would only say in conclusion, that in any step that might be adopted, it was most desirable that the public money should not be applied towards the ce,,ent expeuses, which, in his opinion, should be pro vide 1 for out of other sources. Mr. GILLON replied. He had heard with great pleasure the opinions of the Right Hon. Gentleman, the Member for Tam-North, and he could assure him, !bat although he withdre AI his motion now, he should take another opportunity, in the course of the Session, of re.-ninding him of his statements. The motion was then withdrawn. COLONIAL LABOURERS. Mr. MACKINNON then rose to move for a Select Committee to ascertain the expediency of admitting la bourers into the colonies of Great Britain and her de- cadencies. It was not his intention to address the House at any length, but he thought it was incumbent on the Government to come to some determination on the subject. if they considered the vast territory of Guiana as compared with Jamaica and some of the other colonies of this country, he thought the House would agree with him that the present was a most important question, and be must say that he found some fault with the Government for the manner in which they had treated it. If the Government wished the importation of Hill Coolies into their West India possessions why not adopt some legislative measure for the purpose of showing what their intentions were. He was satisfied something ought to be done, but he thought the public opinion in Great Britain should be consulted before any legislatite enactment took place. If anything convinced him of this it was the conflicting statements of different Secretaries of State. A decided discrepancy existed on the subject between several of the functionaries of her Majesty's Government,.and he tbouyht that the Noble Lord opposite (Lord J. Russell), or any other member of the Government, had sufficient time to prepare a Bill on this subject which would be satisfactory to the country. An HON. MEMBER, here moved that the House be counted, when there being only 24 Members present, the House adjourned at Half-past Seven o'Clock. PARLIAMENTARY DIVISION. (From the rotes and Proceedings of the House of Commons.) WDDNESDAY, MARCH M. JEWS DECLARATION BILL. Order for Second Reading read ; Motion made and Question proposed,—" That the Bill be now read the second time :" Amendment proposed, to leave out the word now,' and at the end of the Question to add the words, upon this day six :nouths " —Question put, " That the word ' now' stand part of the Question :"—The House divided : • , John ‘ v .___ c i James—Galwayr _ ew l \ wE ea I mdKni i Edward—Tyne.. i ,ard .T :i k, nheir O oadhi rri . . . .R de y, l i , T y n Y e_ B A o t c w i k o i o n d , Attwood, M.—Whitehaven Baines, Edward—Leeds Baldwin, Charles Barry—Totness Baring, F. T.—Portsmouth Barnard, E .G.—Greenwich Beamish, F 13.—Cork Berkeley, Hon. C.—Cheltenht.M Bernal, Ralph—Rochester Bewes, T —Plymouth Blake, Wm. J.—Newport, Isle of Wight Bottield, Beriah—Ludlow Bowes, John—South Durham Brocklehurst, J.—Macclesfield Lrotherton, J.—Salford Bulwer, Sir E. L.—Lincoln i Busfield, \V.—Bradford Byng, George—Middlesex Campbell, Sir John —Edinburgh Cantilupe, Viscount--Lewes Carew, It. S.— Chalmers, Patrick—lnverbervie Chichester, J. P. 11.—Barnstaple . :I::::ltitHyro°,Yl:- Childers, John W.—Malton Clive, Edward B.—Hereford Collier, John—Plymouth Coote, Sir C.—Queen's County Cowper, Hon. W. F.—Hertford Craig, W. G.—Edinburghshire Dalmeny, Lord—Stirling DooglAs, Sir C. E.—Warwick Daft; James — Banffshire Duke, Sir James — Boston Duncan, Viscount—Southampton Duncombe, T. S --Finsbury Easthope, J.—Leicester Eaton, R. J.—Cambridgeshire LEEFF:GlavlewiorilerEierainogninyrt:::::::ni,l-os:::NNlni,vovr:i John — Hampshire Cornw all oxbrg I i : s h i r e —Bury ;tp: drrbt}n B.—Ayles bury Leicestershire_ Fitzroy, Lord C. Greg,GHe Hamilton,l bury Hamilton, Lord C.—Tyrone Harland, William C.—Durham Hawkins, J. H.--Newport, Isle of Wight Hcatlicoat, J.—Tiverton flobhouse, 'F. Benj.—Rochester Howard, Hon. E. G.—Morpeth Hume, L0 , , ,v ,,:. a .tr r( 1 1 , j , OP l: e . kl J l . ; —___Y KC o ai t ir i k, g lies h ,l a iei l l l y i 4 i titittrit,pliNevr.L, I J l o u l i i i n —Southwark rthenshire j..,e,,,rnilne;;,, , ‘,,l ll: l,ir li iii e t, r n t i_ T uc l: , ; i i :n b: ;l l ,, n ,,,tilyainkci Jona:, John —Caren: NlVP.sS.—"%Vaktfield —AYES, 137. Lemon, Sir Chas.—W. Cornwall Listowell, Lord—St. Alban's Lowther. J. H.—York Lushington, Rt. Hon. S—Tower Hamlets M.Taggart, John—Wigton, &c. Marsland, Henry—Stockport Martin, John—Tewkesbury Mauls, Hon. Fox—Elgin Burghs Miltlnlay, P. St. John—Winches ter Milnes, B. M.—Pontefract Morpeth, Lord—Yorkshire Morris, D.—Carmarthen Murray, Alex.—Kirkcudbright Muskett, George A.—St.:Alban's O'Connell, John—Athlone O'Connell, M. J.—Kerry 'Pattison, James—London Pechell, Captain—Brighton Pendarves, E. W.—W. Cornwall Philips, Mark—Manchester Philips, G. R.—Poole Polhill, Frederick—Bedford Pryme, George—Cambridge Itawdon, John Dawson—Armagh Reid, Sir John Rae—Dover Roche, William—Limerick Rundle, John—Tavistock itussell, Lord John—Stroud Rutherford, Rt. Hon. A.—Leith Sandon, Lord—Liverpool Seymour, Lord—Totness Smith, J. A.—Chichester Smith, Benjamin—Norwich Smith, Hon. R.—Wycombe Smith, It. V.—Northampton Smythe, Hon. G.—Canterbury Stanley, E. John—North Cheshire Stanstield, W. R. C.—Eluddersfield Staunton, Sir George Thomas Stewart, James--Honiton Strutt, FAlward—Derby Stuart, Villiers--Waterford Co. Style, Sir Charles--Scarborough Tancred, H. W.—Banbury 'Peignmouth, Lord—Marylebene Thompson, Ald.—Sunderland Thornely,Thos.—Wolverhampton Tufaell, Henry—Devonport Turner, Edmund—Truro Villiers, C. P.—Wolverhampton Vivian, Major Charles—Bodmin Vivian, John Henry—Swansea Vivian, Sir It. H.—East Cornwall ;Vakley, Thomas—Finsbury WO, C. Baring—Guildford Warin.'rton, H.—Btidport White, Andrew—Sunderland WilbrahaLl, George—Cheshire Williams, - N, Villiana—Coventry Wilshere, William—Yarmout h Wood, Charles-. -Halifax Wood, Sir Matth e w—London " ood, G. W.—Kendal Wof - sley, Lord—Lincolnshire Wrightson, W. B.—Nortiijallerton %),' yse , 'l' hotnas— Witerfbrd Yates, J. Ashton _Carlow TELLERS. Eli„lges, T. L.—West Kent Ilawe-4. B. -Lambeth NOES, 24. Ossulston,Lord—NorthNorthum berland l'akington, J. S.—Droitorich I Parker, IL T.—Preston , Pringle, Alexander—Selkirkshire n_e l F — ro S n u i fl e lilk . Richards, Richard—Aleri.Thethsii Itickford, %V.—Aylesbury Sir C. I3.—East Suflblk Vac, s, l l i ci t b ea r rr i , ;k :)j e b, , hno C z o laos TELLERS. '• • Sir li. 11.-ox. University Lifuee, C. L. C.—Liginshire L:.scel:es, MINORITY. Antrobus, Edmund —Surrey Badge, W.—West Norfolk Darby, George—East Susse.xetforti Duncornbe, lion A.—East It Estcourt, 'l'. G. 11.—Oxford Univ. GkuLtone, W. E.—Newark -on- Trent Gore, 0. J. I{.—Carnarvoush ire I 1 epburn,Si r -- H a d& ngtonsli ire I iocigson, Ml.—Berwick -on-Tweed Hope, Cliar:es—Linlithgow shirc tlou.ton, G. J.—ltenfrewshire Mackenzie, Thomas—Ress-snir e MacLenzie, W. F.—Veeblesshire Joseph—chippenkam THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 1841. - GREAT BRITAIN ANI) THE UNITED STATES. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF FOREIGN RELATIONS. (From the islet!) York Express of the 19th ult.) " The Report in the House of the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relation s i s one o f th e trashiest official farrago of words we ever read—so trashy even, that it would hardly pass muster for an editorial article in the loudest demand for, and absence of, all other copy. It has in it neither dignity nor a good construc tion of the English language, and were it the work of a college Sophomore, it would be discreditable to the writer. There is an air of smartness in it, very peculiar to the Honourable Member for South Carolina, but very disreputable to the Hon. Chairman of a Com mittee of the House of Representatives, so that it is in many respects as improper and as mean a public document as ever emanated from any tentli-rate public functionary. It comes nearly up to the blustering bravado of Governor Fairfield, the hero of the cam paign of the Madawaska, though the logic in it is not half so meritorious as that of the Maine Commander in- Chief. " The reasoning of Mr. Pickens upon the case of the steam-boat Caroline, and M'Leod, will pass for what it is worth, though he has very poorly argued here upon the claims of nations to violate each other's terri tory, and made but a miserable case for his country men, when he might have made a good one ; but we pass from all this to comment upon the style, tone, and manner of the Report, which is a disgrace to the House of Representatives for even sanctioning its pub lication. _ _ " In the opening of the Report, Mr. Pickens speaks of an insinuation' of the British Minister, which might well be ' retorted,' and then goes on sneeringly, in a grave official report, to speak of Great Britain 'in the plenitude of its power,' casting the aegis of British jurisdiction over American soil,'—following on with the idea the t ' the British Minister is pleased to call the Caroline a piratical steam-boat,' to conclude with the remark, that the loose epithets of any one, no matter how high in plaee, cannot make that piiaey which the law of nations does not recognise as such.' We are then told in a subsequent paragraph what is disgraceful to us if true, and which, therefore, a Committee on Foreign Relations should not publish to the world, that —' There is an assumption in most of our intercourse with Great Britain revolting to the pride and spirit of independence in a free people' (a flourish of rhetoric this, sadly out of place) whereupon we are urged further on, not in words though, but in the tone of the style, and the rhetorical sputter of the sentences to be mighty smart in showing off our pluck—at lea,t so to swagger as to seem to be born insensible to fear.' Further on, we are toll, the demand for M'Leod is ' preposterous in the extreme,' as if this were fit diplomatic language, and not disgraceful to the parties employing it ; when Mr. Pickens, in the progress of his logic, concludes with the remark, that in this case, the demand for libera tion has been made by the accredited agent of a great Power, and under circumstances of peculiar aggrava. tion and excitement.' " The most absurd and out-of-place part of the Re port, however, is, the dissertation of the Honourable Gentleman, political and geographical, upon the power of Great Britain, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Ame rica ; as if, when his Committee was charged with two specific cases, that of the Caroline' and of he had a right to print a treatise upon Gibraltar,' Malta,' the lonian Islands,' St. Jean d'Acre,' St. Helena," Halifax," Bermuda,' China,' Trinidad,' and the Caribbean Sete—with `steam power' to boot, and seine additional grave disse►tations, to wit, that a. arice and ambition are the ruling passions of mo dern times, and it is its vain to shut our eyes to the state of things around us.' [lndeed !—important, too, it is so new I] " It is in vain to shut our eye!, though, to the fact, that 'Mr. Pickens is a very great swaggerer in words, and has made a Report in Congress disreputable in logic, disreputable in tone, expression, mid character, and in the worst .d taste. What does the man mean ? If there assumption' in oar intercourse with Great Britain revOltiog to the pride and spirit of independence in a free people, it was the duty of this great swaggerer to end his Report with a resolution for the declaration of war, or for direct taxes forthwith, and an appropriation of a hundred millions of dollars to prepare. If Great Britain's `accredited agent' makes demands of us pre posterous in the extreme, and under circumstances of peculiar aggravation,' why not forthwill recommend a conscription of one hundred thousand men, a fortified garrison of ten thousand for Detroit, another of twenty thousand for Buffalo, and so on, with twenty millions of dollars for steam-ships to defend Om coast ? If Great Britain demands what is revolting to our spirit and pride as a free people, preposterously, and in the extreme, aggra vating us ton, the remedy at least is preparation for war, for which this Boanerges of South Carolina makes not the least preparation. " The object of the South Carolina swaggerer is pal pable, however, in all this utterance of words. Mr. Granger, i❑ the course of the debate, beat what he well called `the bag of wind,' and Mr. Adams let it out of the bags. Mr. Pickens was making a party Report, he told us, and it came from the Committee by a party vote. ' A defeated enemy in war was abandoning a tenement, and setting fire to it upon their retreat.' Now that Mr. Pickens's party had lost the control of the Government, if words would set it on fire in new hands, he meant to leave enough to burn it up. To a bankrupt treasury lie wished to add the bequest of a war. To foreign affairs, now already complicated enough by the want of management, he wished to add more of complication. The train might not reach—the fire might not catch well. Mr. Pickens would prepare it all, apply the torches, and run to South Carolina ; the last we should probably ever hear of him in case of war though born insensible to fear.'" CASE OF THE AMISTAD. -•-• The following cor respondence between the British Minister and the Se cretary of State has been communicated by the Pre sident to Congress : " MR. FOX TO MR. 2ORSYTH. Washington, Jan. 20, 1840. Sir—l am instructed to represent to you that the at tention of her Majesty's Government has been seriously directed to the case of certain African negrocs, found on board the Spanish ship Amistad, the same persons whose case had been brought before the Courts of law of the United States, and for whom a powerful and humane in terest appears to be felt in this country as well as in Eng land. " It is known to her Majesty's Government that those ne groes were imported into Cuba direct from the coast of Africa, in a Portuguese slave-vessel, called the Tecora, in the summer of 1839, and that shortly after their arrival, they were purchased as slaves at the Havannah by two Spaniards of the names of Jose Ruiz and Pedro Montez. Ruis and Montez then placed the negroes on board the Arnistad, in tending to convey them to another port in Cuba. It ap pears that during the voyage, the negroes, with a view of recovering their liberty, seized possession of the vessel, put the master to death, and ordered the remaining whites to navigate the vessel to the coast of Africa. The whites, however, directed their course towards North America, un til they were fallen in with by the United States brig of war Washington, when the Amiatad was finally brought into the port of New London, in Connecticut. The pro ceedings which have taken place subsequently to the ar rival of the negroes in the United States are sufficiently well known to you. " Now her Majesty's Government have to observe that, since the year 1820, it has become unlawful, according to the law of Spain, to import negroes from Africa as slaves into the Spanish dominions, and that, as the negroes here referred to had been newly imported from Africa into Cuba, and could not by law be imported as slaves, they must, in the eye of the law, be considered as free persons. " And Great Britain is also bound to remember that the law of Spain, which finally prohibited the slave trade throughout the Spanish dominions from the date of the 30th of May, 1820 (the provisions of which law arc con tained in the King of Spain's Royal Cedula of the 19th of December, 1817), was passed in compliance with a treaty obligation to that effect, by which the Crown of Spain had bound itself to the Crown of Great Britain, and for which a valuable compensation in return was given by Great Britain to Spain, as may be seen by reference to the se cond, third, and fourth articles of a public treaty con cluded between Great Britain:and Spain on the 23d of Sep. tember, 1817. " Her Majesty's Government, therefore, are moved by special and peculiar reasons to take an interest in the fate of these unfortunate Africans, who are known to have been illegally and feloniously reduced to slavery by sub jects of Spain. "It is next to be observed that Great Britain and the United States have mutually engaged themselves to each other by the tenth article of the Treaty of Ghent, to use their best endeavours for the entire abolition of the African slave trade ; and there can be no doubt of the firm inten tion of both parties religiously to fulfil the terms of their engagement. " Now the unfortunate Africans, whose case is the sub ject of the present representation, h a ve bP©n thrown by accidental circumstances into the hands of the authorities of the United States ; and it may probably depend upon the action of the United States Government, whether those persons shall recover the freedom to which they are en titled, knownwhetherl atwhs and eysh contracts r ats r educed pub t i o i a p v a e s r s y e t d i : l vi o pro hibitinglation th continuance of the At% ican slave trade by Spa nish subjects. elrtnnisienutndaenrxiothuesslye hope a o Government that Presidenth er Majesty's o f tie United States will find himself empowered to take such measures in behalf of the aforesaid Africans, as shall secure to them the possession of their liberty, to which, without doubt, they are by law entitled. " I avail myself of this occasion to renew to you the as surances of my distinguished consider." L i () IT. S. FOX." " •Die Hon. John Forsyth," s a s, Sac. " MR. FORSYTH TO MR. FbX. " DePartmczt of State, Washing awl F Sir,-1 have the .honour to acknowledeb. ge thel 8 receipt of you r lett e r of the 20th in4which you state that 1, 41. yosi are instructed to represent to me that the attention of her Maj es ty' s G o ve r nment hac bc..:u seriously dircctei to the case of the negroes of the Sp anish ship Amistad, with the anxious hone that the President of the United States will fe e l himself empowered to take suc h measures . ti:eir behalf as will secure to them f:e possession cf their liberty. st " Viewing this communication as an evidence of the be nevolence of her Majesty's Government, under which spect alone it could be entertained by the Government of the United States, I proceed, by the direction of the Pre sident, to make, in reply, a few observations suggested by the topics of your letter. The narrative presented therein, of the circumstances which brought these negroes to our shores, is satisfactory evidence that her Majesty's Govern ment is aware that their introduction did not proceed from the wishes or directions of the Government of the United States. A formal demand having been made by the Span ish Minister for the delivery of the vessel and property, in cluding the negroes on board, the grounds upon which it is based have become the subject of investigation before the judicial tribunals of the country, which have not yet pro nounced their final decision thereupon. You must be aware, Sir, that the Executive has neither the power nor the dispo sition to control the proceedings of the legal tribunals, when acting within their appropriate jurisdiction. With re gard to the other considerations presented by you in behalf of the negroes of the Amiatad, I have to remark that it is not understood that the facts upon which they are founded are admitted by the Minister of her Catholic Majesty; and this Government would with great reluctance erect itself into a tribunal to investigate such questions between two friendly sovereigns. If, however, these facts are established, they cannot be without their f ,rce and effect in the proper time and place. You have doubtless observed, from the correspond ence published in a congressional document, that it is the intention of the Spanish Minister to restore these negroes, should their delivery to his Government be ordered, to the Island of Cuba, whence the vessel in which they were found sailed, where they will be placed under the protee• tion of the Government of Spain. It is there that ques. tions arising under the Spanish laws and the treaties of Spain with Great Britain may be appropriately discussed and decided ; and where a full opportunity will be presented to the Government of her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain to appeal to the treaty stipulation applicable to the subject of your letter. " I avail myself of this occasion to renew to you the as surances of my distinguished consideration. "JOHN FORSYTII. " Henry Stephen Fox, Esq.," &e. &c. &c. LICENSE OF COUNSEL. An article upon the criminal procedure of the Eng. lish and Scotch Courts, in the last number of the West minster Review, contains some arguments and state ments on'this subject which ought to be generally circu lated. The occasion which gave rise to it was the re markable speech of Mr. Charles Phillips, in de fence of Courvoisier, which shocked the public, on the supposi tion that the advocate had exceeded his line of duty. The writer, however (Mr. Chadwick, we believe), pro poses to show that the defence came within the rule of duty laid down by the bar of England, and points out this and a great many other absurd practices in the English law which impede and often defeat the ends of justice. Among some of these are the annoyances thrown in the way of prosecutions, the browbeating of respect able witnesses, the apathy, not to say acquiescence of the Judge,when unjust imputations are made on their charac ters or veracity, and the absurd practice so much praised by Judges and Magistrates, of refusing to interrogate sus pected persons lest they should say anything to convict themselves. In the subjoined extract two remarkable instances are given of the workings of the two different systems in England and Scotland. " The practical superiorityiof the Scotch law, though capable of amendment, may be established by abund ant evidence. One result of the careful preliminary examination is, that fewer doubtful cases are sent for trial, and fewer persons tried escape conviction. Sus pected persons obtain ready discharge on accounting for themselves, and the pursuit of criminals is better directed. But for the power of interrogating suspected persons, which was exercised by Captain Stewart, chief of the police at Edinburgh, in his capacity of public prosecutor, Burke and Flare would both have escaped, as Gould and several murderers, of whose guilt no rational doubt can be entertained, have escaped in England, to the great injury of public justice. The procedure being shorter, and private individuals being relieved from the burthen of prosecution, parties come forward with greater readiness, and fewer persons who have once prosecuted will hesitate to go forward a second time in aid of public justice ;" and it is stated in another place that, but for the accidental finding of the plate before the trial of Courvoisier was concluded, the probabilities were the defence would have prevailed and that his case would have been added to that of the murderer Gould, as an instance of the mischievous defect of our law in not permitting an in termediate verdict of not proven as in Scotland, " allowing the party to be again tried on the discovery of new evidence." The writer !Omura' under a mistake in this instance. The law of Scotland, we believe, is precisely the same :as that of England, regarding the finality of a criminal trial. The verdict of not proven legally acquits the prisoner, but infers that the Jury had strong impressions of his guilt, though the evidence would not warrant them in convicting him. It punishes him in a moral point of view by affixing a stigma to his character for life. With these remarks, we make ❑o apology for giving the following copious extracts from this excellent article on a subject so important to ev• ry civilized community : The state of our penal procedure is such, that few persons, of any respectability, who have once prosecuted or giving evidence in any of our penal courts, could ever lie induced voluntarily to prosecute or give evidence a second time. Part, no doubt, of this reluctance is ascribable to the trouble and loss of time imposed on the prosecutor or witness by the mode of the procedure, needlessly encumbered as it is with forms, which afford no real protection to the innocent, and give only chances of escape to the guilty; but a most serious part of the reluctance is the dislike of persons of any sensi bility to expose themselves to the assaults of the pri soners' counsel,—to their express or implied imputa tions of mendacity ;—to their imperious deportment and to their efforts to confuse witnesses,—assaults which modesty and timidity only serve to invite, and against which innocence or ordinary respectability af fords no protection. _ _ _ The following instance which came to our knowledge may be given of the reluctance of persons to implicate themselves in a matter which might bring them into court as witnesses :—" As we were rowing on the Thames, near Windsor, we saw near the banks the body of a man floating ;" said a young gentleman, who was one of a boating party. " Did you go near to examine it ?"—" No, we kept off and rowed away, for we might have committed ourselves as witnesses, and have made ourselves liable to be examined in Court if we had gone near it." We apprehend that there are few persons who have been engaged in making any legal or other investigations in which the examination of witnesses is involved, who have not experienced the frequency with which persons of respectable character will evade the disclosure of facts known to be in their possession, when it is made apparent that they may be called upon to give their testimony upon them in a court of justice. When an outcry, or sounds indica tive of violence, or distres, or suffering, is heard in the streets, it is generally only the young, or the labouring classes, who are seen to yield assistance ; the educated or the sensitive ride past or hurry from the spot, for fear of being drawn in as witnesses and forced on that re pulsive stage, a court of law, Public attention is sometimes roused by the very slight pecuniary penalties which are awarded in police courts for even murderous assaults, and the newspapers call down indignation against magistrates who impose such inadequate punishments ;—yet it will in general be foand, notwithstanding the slight pecuniary penalty which police magistrates are able to impose, that sum mary conviction is the one earnestly preferred and sought by the party injured, and the punishment is inflicted by the magistrate in the consciousness that to send the cri minal to trial before a jury is to inflict another and a severe injury on the prosecutor. The case of Courvoisier was extraordinary in the circumstances of the crime, whilst the procedure of its trial only presented to the public an exhibition of the common practice in our criminal courts, and has brought the barristers before the public to justify the description given of them, as " indiscriminate defenders of right and wrong, by the indiscriminate utterance of truth or falsehood"—as it may serve their cause. On the occa sion of the presentation of a petition on this subject to the House of Lords, Lord Brougham said— " I once before took leave to remind your Lordships, which was unnecessary, but there are many whom it may be needful to remind, that an advocate, by the sa. cred duty of his connection with his client, knows in the discharge of that office but one person in the world— that client, and none other." His Lordship might have been asked for a definition of the sacred duty, and the authorities wherein that duty is set forth. According to him, the counsel, who has for a client a murderer or a robber, is to know that murderer or robber, and " none other." " To serve that client," continues his Lordship, " by all expedient means, to protect that client at all hazards and costs to all others " [even the party already in jured]—" and amongst others to himself, is the highest and most unquestioned of his duties." His Lordship was assuredly mistaken when he as serted that the duty was then unquestioned. It had been powerfully questioned in the " Rationale of Judi cial Evidence ;" we hope it will he further questioned, and that the Bar will be relieved from such a degrad ing duty, and elevated to a practice dictated by common morality. " And he must not regard the alarm, the suffering, the torment, destruction, which he may bring upon any others." The Legislature w ill, h owever , b e ca ll e d upon to re gard this alarm, this suffering, this torment, indiscrimi nately and wantonly inflicted by aspersions oa respect able witnesses in our Courts of Justice : • " Nay, separating even the duties of a patriot from those of an advocate., he must go on, reckless of the consequences, if his fate should unhappily be to involve his country in confusion, for his client." We venture to doubt the legal authority of this ex tragant pretension, and were it fully made out in law, we conceive that it may be peremptorily challenged as equally pernicious to public justice and morality. In the course of his speech on the subject of Bank ruptcy Courts Bill, Lord B , ougham stated, that— " Any man who wishes to see talents beneficially ex ercised, would do well to go into a Court of Law," In the course of his description of this theatre, on which his Lordship himself was so distinguished a per former, he says— " The jury see the witness ; they have the opportu nity of watching his demeanour while giving his evi dence, and then they see him submitted to a cross examination ; after which comes his counsel, comforting and restoring, as it were, the poor man, after the flagel lation he has undergone, and setting up the broken credit of the witness, damaged by the cross-examination. A. 4 .1 . 3r the cross-examination of the adverse counsel, which has impaired the credit of the witness for a mo ment, then comes the skilful counsel, who restores and comforts the poor man, and gives hin - t a better oppor tunity of explaining the case and setting himself right with the Jury, until at last the conflict being over on both sides, the evidence of the witness is fairly before the Court." In all the self-laudation of their own skill and of the value of their own talents, no perception appears to exist as to the effects which must be produced by the indiscriminate application of such skill to respectable as well as to untrustworthy witnesses. What person of respectability, who is acquainted with the practice, will voluntarily come forward in aid of public jus tice if he be aware that no respectability or truthful ness will protect him from having his " credit broken" by false imputations ; from undergoing the flagellations of an unscrupulous tongue? Can it be expected of any " poor man," of retiring habits, that he will be induced voluntarily to endure this infliction of pain from the forensic gladiator on a public arena, by any assurances that he will have his " broken credit set up," and that he will be " re stored" and " comforted" by the skill of the counsel on the other side? The practice gives pre-eminence to the unscrupulous witnesses who can withstand such assaults. Sir Roger North, in his " Life of Sir Dudley North," relates, that the law of Turkey, like our absurd law of evidence in some cases, required the testimony of two wit nesses in proof of each fact, and that a practice had, in consequence arisen, and had obtained the sanction of general opinion, of using false witness in proof of those facts which admitted only of one wit ness. Sir Dudley North, while in Turkey, had nu merous disputes which it became necessary to settle by " and," says his biographer— " Our merchants found by experience, that in a direct fact a false witness was a surer card than a true one ; for if the judge has a mind to baffle a testimony, an honest, harmless witness that doth not know his play cannot so well stand his many captious questions as a false witness used to the trade will do ; for he bath been exercised, and is prepared for such handling, and can claar himself', when the other will be confounded ; therefore circumstances may be such as to make the false one more eligible." Maay exemplifications might be given of the " hand ling" which a bona fide witness will sometimes receive, in cases where there is no opportunity of casting direct imputations upon him. We might adduce such prac tices as that of the advocate turning his eyes away from the witness-box whilst he asks the witness a ques tion. The simple witness, doubting whether the question was addressed to him, or believing that it was addressed to some one else, hesitates, or does not answer. When the witness has evidently lost his self-possession, he is asked, in a thundering tone, why he is so reluctant to answer : or if that does not promise success, he is plied with another question which leads him away from explanation, and thus an impression is pro bably made on the minds of the inexperienced juryman, that the witness had been fearful of the effect of his answer, and had, for sinister purposes withheld it. The following is an instance of the practice of Garrow, who, was held up as a " masterly cross-examiner." The case was that of a witness who was deaf, and whose deaf ness it was this advocate's part to make appear pre tended. He said to the witness, in a low tone, "So you have the misfortune to be deaf?"—" Yes, sir."— " You have great difficulty in hearing ?"—` Yes, sir, very."—" And it was not till I raised my voice thus (lowering it still more), that you could hear what I sai.f at a'l ?"—" No, sir." The Jury and the whole of the auditory roared with l.iughter, and the witness might as well have been utterly deaf and dumb too, for the service of his testimony in the case of justice. And yet any person of experience with individuals hard of hearing, knows well (and no one knows better than the counsel) that distinctness of enuacia• tion will often, better than loudness, enable a witness to hear or comprehend what is addressed to him. Iu this instance the enunciation of the advocate was painfully distinct ; and it might be that the deaf witness saw what the cross-examiner said, rather than heard it ; the counsel's voice looked loud, and the witness believed it to be so. It is not often that this noxious ingenuity, or any in genuity whatever, is exercised for such purposes at the courts adverted to ; there the weapon of attack is chiefly imperious and coarse deportment, in a word, bullying. This is often carried to an extent which arouses the sympathy of jurors for the witness, and ex cites them against the cause in behalf of which it is used (as is well known to those who use it), but no matter ; the ease being hopeless, it affords the appear ance of a defence ; and, as one of the practitioners in the Old Bailey once alleged in a brawl with another, gratifies the low and ignorant client and his associates. As they went out of court they may be overheard in the avenues using such language as this—" The jury went against us, but how -- worked for us ! how he did give it to that d—d witness." . . We shall recal to recollection some incidents which occurred on the trial of Courvoisier, as illustrative of the common style of usurpation of the functions of the Judge by the counsel of our criminal courts. It is to he borne in mind, that twenty-four hours before the defence was made, Mr. Phillips, the prisoner's counsel, had received the confession of the prisoner's guilt. The rule which the bar has prescribed to itself in such cases is thus stated in an article in the Edinburgh Review, said to have been written by an eminent counsel, No. 79, March, 1824 : " Even in the very few instances where the accused has entrusted his defender with a full confession of his crime, we hold it to be clear that he may still be law fully defended." That the prisoner should be defended, law fully defended, we do not deny ; we admit that it is certainly a useful rule that the bar, having a privilege of defending and accusing persons, should not be al lowed to refuse their services to any person who may please to retain them. Though a counsel may pro perly be bound to defend an accused person, it does not follow that he is bound to defend in soy way, to make an immoral defence—and still less does it follow, that when hired for defence of the accused, that he is engaged to attack those who are not accused. We have quoted the doctrine in its common, wide, and un restrained generality, to show that the rule of the bar is with Mr. Phillips. But we are assured that Mr. Phillips is really a man of refined perceptions, and, like Lord Brougham in private life, a man of kindly feel s ing ; and probably being uneasy at the duty which the rule imposed upon him, it is stated that before he made his defence he privately communicated the fact of the confession to the judge, and obtained his sanction to the doctrine that he must " do his beat" for the pri soner. With the knowledge of the fact of the pri soner's guilt, the counsel assailed one of the witnesses— Madame Piolans, the wife of the keeper of a foreign tavern in Leicester-square, after having, without any other ground than that there was a billiard-table in the house, charged her with being the keeper of a gam bling-house.—(The writer here quotes the attack on Madame Piolans, and the " ruffians," "gang," " blood hounds," " miscreants" of the police, with the remark able peroration of Mr. Phillips). Whilst adverting to the rules of behaviour current amongst the class of gentlemen, we must remark that it is one rule to put a double restraint upon themselves where they are protected, as in the cases of clergy men and old men. Those who have been present in our common law courts, will say whether the bar does not avail itself of its authoritative protection to cast off all restraints against all parties. To serve the client by " all expedient means, to protect that client at all hazards and costs to all others," or, according to the Noble and Learned Lord who vindicates the practice as a duty, to disregard the " alarm, the suffer ing, the torment, the destruction, he may bring upon any others, we have seep innocent and respectable females so confused, and assailed with such imperious gestures sins% condemnatory tones, on the assumptions (as groundless as the assumptions in the conspicuous case of Ceurvoi_ sier) that they had committed perjury, as wouldmaae any father or brother shudder at exposing daughter or sister to, and in such a manner as the cou nse l us i ng t h e " ex pedient means" neither coull nor would use under any circumstances in respectable private society. The most demoralizing effect produced by these exhibitions ap peers to us to be the treatment given to persons of the labouring classes, servants, or policemen. If good con duct is to be promoted in them, one means of doing so is surely to increase their estimation of the value of character ; one means of raising their moral perceptions is rather to assume that they are keenly alive to the pleasures and pains of self and social estimation, than that they are dead to them. We have frequently witnessed such treatment of witnesses as that displayed in the case of Courvoisier, but we never happened to witness an attempt " to comfort" the shattered wit ness of that class. Though the depraved state of the bar permits the practice of such inflictions in pubic trials, it does not prevent the Judge from doing justice, by en deavouring to soothe the irritation, and at the sante time manifesting the feelings of a gentleman. Obtuseness of feeling, and sympathy with the prac tices of the bar from which they have been taken, are the chief reasons which suggest themselves for this otherwise unaccountable apathy of the bench on this subject. In more than one instance the deportmr.nt of the Judge has afforded the example of habitual im periousness, and justifies the suggestion. In other cases, from what is well known of the character and superior practice of some of the Judges when at the bar, there can be little doubt that they have a suffi ciently nice perception mi of the feeling s o f b ona fide wit nesses to enable the , n the character of judge, to protect such persons, yet they fail to do so. The want of this very common benevolence is ascribable to the ~~ MORNING EDITION• pusillanimity of men of keen sensibility, whose infirmity', whose cowardice we might properly say, prevents theca from giving pain by strong expressions, either in direct reproof of those whom they have daily in their pre sence, or in protecting from as saults those whom they may never sec again. The evil complained of is, it appears to us, irnP li ; cated in the rules that a prisoner shall be protecteo against being " compelled" to criminate himself, and 1 ° the practice of the English courts, that the character of the prisoner's defence shall not affect the sentence. The practical rules of law which we should propos° for the abatement of the evil, in addition to the real ex' amination of the accused, would be to the following of feet : That no man, whether the accused or his agen t, shall be allowed to use false accusations, or do that in Co!lrt for his defence which he would be punishable for doing out of Court, for any other purpose than for his defence. That the counsel shall not assume a witness to b° untrustworthy, or be allowed to treat him as such, to less upon some fact set forth in his brief, which shall be producible in Court. That the attorney shall be responsible for the else of reasonable care in the preparation of instruca tions, that no groundless or wilfully false4mputations used in the defence. It is said we abound in mercy, but we give so m ush of it to the guilty that we have none to spare for we innocent. Criminal justice has been made to vacillate in this country between two sets of blind presunslii tions,—the ancient one, which presumed guil t in 3 who were accused, and the modern one, which Pre sumes that all who are accused are innocent, and even after conviction, overlooks the party injured n e s the tendency of the crime, and bestows unb ounn de sympathy on the criminal. A treatise sight be written in illustration of the mischiefs of neriog on presumptions, when the facts of the partil" far case are developed and require none. °tirs English practice, it appears to us, requires t;' tertium quid of " not proven." The sympathie s of 0! Old Bailey bar are, we must say, on the same sido their lucre, and with all the inmates of the gaol ; them, all policemen are what they were designated Courvoisier's case, bloodhounds,—and witnesses, Pef, secutors of the innocent. Entire innocence is alwile,: ‘ , ° peril in the dock, and has no other security than in aid of counsel. When an extension of summary PunWels'; ments in the case of juvenile delinquents was i')e proposed, the Old Bailey bar was in arms for the e; fence of the right of Jury trials, and the legislature vre scared from much needed and highly beneficial refortn by their outcries of danger to the innocent. The very rule for which the English practi tioer ! ' endeavour to maintain a superstitious awe, the riti: forbidding the interrogation of the accused in any st i 4 d of the procedure, either at what was originally intenlseit to be his examination, or at the trial,—that rule Wil l % shuts the mouth of the guilty for fear he may a llin s i o himself, also shuts the mouth of the innocent man Iv may be accused, and prevents him giving the circu l ?; stantial explanations which he alone could give Pint answer to any questions put to him. An in nece- ds person could really be in no more dangerous be t , than in those of a practitioner of the class belonging the criminal courts, who inveterately act on the hit% presumption that their client is guilty, and cannot open his mouth without endangering himself. In the doubtful case where an accused person we o f f by his explanations in answer to the interrogatories c a judicious Magistrate, obtain an early liberatio n, v, ing his tongue tied by the English precede' e, advised, as he always is, by his attorney and c0 0 n,, 0 when he has one, not to disclose his defence," b ut reserve himself until his trial,"—he is committed a:, endures a long term of imprisonment, then an a nsie c , trial, in itself a punishment, before he obtains his, Inr quittal. And here on the favourite legal gretinuisst the exclusion of testimony, viz., interest, we 111'',1 fairly challenge the competency of the prac titioner s ; t , the criminal courts to give an opinion on the stibi e vi - o If such a question were determined merely by dicta , 0 believe the disinterested practitioners of other en d . o would assent to the reform. An attoraey who reso the committal of his client for trial, or who favours succre explanations as may have that effect at the first st a tr t' e of the procedure, favours a course in which s e ..„ five or ten guineas of costs are obtainab le, stead of a prolonged course of several hazard°o, stages, from which twenty, thirty, fifty, or dred guineas of emolument are obtained, or n'edo, according to the means of the accused ; who, .e „ y pendently of any question of guilt or innocence; always in this position be termed " a victim of t he law." The substitution of a pure procedure for sty present ccurse in England, which gives to the D i ' l de , per cent. of clear and undoubted cases of guil t ' no • fences on such false assumptions of persecuted IP as cence, and of malice and dishonesty of witnesse B ' n id were displayed in the defence of Courvoisier, n, present to the imagination of the practitioner the °PaPp. rent loss of ninety per cent. of his business—we 6°) • o p parent, because the professional aid of avocets de would nevertheless be frequently required to sabr e f o re tenuating circumstances. Summary convictions the professional Magistrate w ou ld, it m u s t be eon fe r" r , B l occasion a dire diminution of busi nes s and profes ° o - ot emoluments in the superior Courts ; and we mig ht ,ijey it to the gentlemen who practise in them, whether'' Ay are competent to judge calmly of anything which 113 so powerfully affect them. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE' TATT ERSALLS—Y ESTERDAT. The Derby betting yesterday afternoon was con- 4°1 : 1 i; tory of the improvement in Rosalie and Eringo. notice 0, our last. Their respective parties were eager to ga'oint and having failed to obtain 15 to I, closed first with a pion, less, and, in subsequent bets, with a further ditniati 01-Do the lowest odds taken being 12 to 1 about Rosapatcoro had the call throughout, and 13 to 1 about Eringo ; 400 ,- nation was backed at 15 and 16 to 1, and closed • t del day's average. All the 20 and 22 to 1 horses of Wgir last were maintained, and the majority backed, the itv remaining as before : in fact, with the exception of the provement in the two favourites, and a decline in Ma n ' t 7,, n e Tian, our price current will be found to have underan very little change. We should add, however, that T e dll ing Star, an outsider in Scott's lot, was backed reli c i 9 ;te4 at 1,000 to 15, and closed at an improved figure. odds: -- THE DERBY. ,48f1 12 to 1 agst Lord Bruce's Rosalie colt—taken terwards taken 13 to 1 agst Mr. Thornhill's Eringo—taken „and 15 to 1 agst Mr. Rawlinson's Coronation—two,' afterwards offered whist le 22 to 1 agst Lord Chesterfield's Knight of the taken and afterwards offered ad of 22 to I agst Colonel Peel's Camelion—takca a terwards offered 22 to 1 agst Mr. Mostyn's Prinz° Caradoc--takcn 22 to 1 agst Mr. Greville's Palzemon 23 to 1 agst Lord Westminster's Marshal Soult 26 to I agst Lord Albemarle's Ralph—take n ta ken 33 to 1 agst Col. Anson's Duke of Wellingto n.... 35 to 1 agst Duke of Rutland's Sir Hans o va 40 to 1 agst Sir G. Heathcote's Mongolian.'" and afterwards offered 40 to 1 agst Col. Craufurd's Frrn-ngardis 40 t t o o o agst g s t Nlr . B u Lord Je ck r k s Jersey's s Gilbert ' Jo chi m4O 40 to 1 agst Mr. Vansittart's Galaor 50 to 1 agat Lord W es t m i ns t er ' s M orn i n g S tar 1000 to 15 agst Mr. King's Hambeton. 2000 to 20 agst D u k e o f G ra f ton ' s Mosque"—akin the PYTCHLEY HUNT RACES.—COIChieIiM'S h l it Br Chesterfield handicap is 11 st., and not 10 lit.' Cling' pears in the Racing Calendar," from an error In c - ----- COVENTRY RACES.-WxnxEsnAl' n o a dae d i The Craven Trial Stakes of 10 sovs. each, with e , - allee for 3 yrs old 7st. ; and 4 yes Bst. 71b. ; mares, "'".' ) I 31bs. Once round and a dis. (Six Subs Mr. Treen's Fitzroy, 4 yrs ............... .) •( Cwner '• 'i Mr. Copeland's St. Botolph, 3 yrs .......... ' ..... • •"..., '; Mr. o ß r d o a c t h r ' a s : e Benjamin, nam ed 4 s i y s r t s e r . .. t . c . , .. . s . i . r . .. 1.1.3.....1..p..h........4 y..;• • • a • 0 ' e ',1: 5 1 ;. 0 r : Chesterfield's La Gitana, 3 Yrs-. were not placed. Wo , o „ r s -a e , °° ~: thorough bred ; The City Stakes of 5 ,ovs. each, with 50 added for "-- 5 Y r " 3rs . rs list. 41b. ; Si' A list. 121 b. ; and aced 12st. ; ~ Finne d 31bs• 7, rs old 9st. 71b. ; 4 • lOst. 71 1, • ; o nce , ,&c., 51bs. extra ; mares, &c. 3lbs.; r w ic_, Mile au', half. (Eleven Subs.)(Cl}') l Mr. I-Y, (sly/ x,rgins's Roulette, 4 yrs •••••• . Mr. Aplin's' Baron, 4 yrs ..................................... •". 5 I,lr. Morris's Pickwick, 4 yrs ............................... ..2,11., The following also started, but were not pisl ci "Mr. g " Jones's Bolivar, aged ; Capt. Bell's Quicksilver, age" ; Ajarsl' e ' Tibbett's Stanton, 4 yrs. ; Mr. H. Kirk's ch. fr. b Y 4 yrs. ; and Mr. Stevenson's ch. g. by Bolero, '4 yrs. Won by a neck. t Sab s( l Handica •f 10 sovs. each ; h. ft., with 30 added. ` 6 b) cr Mr. Goodman's Colchicum, 5 yrs., 8 ' (Croul, , 5c.... ...... .., 1 Mr. Walters's Sir Mark, 5 yrs. 7st. 7st. 10Ih•••• ..... - ..... •' Mr. Jackson's Wings, 5 yrs., 8 ' st. 31b. ..... .. ............ '30,1,,, The following were not placed :-Mr. . Booth's 1 : 3 101b. 4 yrs., Bst. 21b. ; Mr. J. 'Walters's Magic, 6 yrs, 7 ' t. and Mr. Collins's Isaac, aged, 9st. 71b. 10 Won in a canter. a llowe The Silver Cup, added to a Swce k ps',a es of 1 sovs. for the second. Two mile b eat '' 1 , Mr. Collett's The Dean, 5 vrs , 9st. ................ Mr. Sanders' Frank, 5 ' 7st.. 1 ........ yrs., 8 bst... ................ i Mr. J. Walters's Joe (I).'. b.) 6 yrs., 7. I'llr. ...... ~ 1 ‘ ••• 1 7' " j' Mr. Samuel's The Knight.., 5 yrs., 85t. 'Ab- a ` 3. - Ir. ker's Lillie, 5 yrs., 7st. 81 1 ,., wer ot placed. Won eas) s ' u b;, / Hurdle Pace Stakes of 5 soys, each and 30 a dded. ( l''''ll"avis i Mr. Herbert's Sam Weller, aged, I Ist. Illb. •••••• T ' .• 0 Mr. Stevemon's True Blue, aged, list. I Ilb ......... .• ..... '... Mr. Parker's Lluenna, aged, I Ist. 1 Ill) ..................... Won easy. cr , inee tillr 3 sovs. each' THE NEW POOR-LAW BILL.-ri itiO WaS he'd yest ..!rday at the Crown and Anchor, to Pea o ! V the Legiglatuxe against this Bill. Mr. Walter I,*a t. s_ j pill , chair, anx's ix an introductory speech denounced;roo. Reselxliionsi against it were proposed and .- o l e a, if' Cc.e.:nter-resalurions were also proposed and sec nu e ,... sc a savour of tjliivirEal Suffrage, which the Chairman r 11 ;', 1 ,0 to put, he finally left the Chair, amidst uproraire . tb ' e ic Chartists appointed a new Chairman, and car a while EXPORT certain OOF resolutions by a great majority. se ll •C' to 011 _ 1 or e that g l ! ° lm ß b s le E r S a . o - IT full of alarm at the liberal purchases th.. Frenchol. _‘:f lio d. making in our horse marts, the French, on the . tn el ,, t heY . bed Lnu ria '' tli 4 are crying out most lustly at the wre c ~_. ~,i th _ i ti t d i s s a si in i c u s o i f n t g he .71,5 beo have got in return for their cash. In :act, wi al. there iitk long frost and snow, and the demand for export , been a gerwral clearance of screws. ~. Whic 06 Strap PE With 110 rI( of wit Ti PRI BE C an pir( , ] ne t , ......___r_ Al rnott e , " A e4 ts fi indeb t Hen I.IND I Sir r; ay ' , Math ( Mktai pert, Ili lln Illy tra, a »~~H ti o - r ; l a i d .1' th e ttie( i 141) t rot tg eXp Cp / I ~,' i