The Sun. — London, England, 1841-04-07 00:00:00

~___"~ ~~ NI 0 R 1 1-i RFE RE NCE WITH THE N G EDITION. .T 1 , e in▪ Gteleb 4 ` 7,4, f 7,4ni i drunkard . s ,..ll . rt , ive nor hew - , . • -h e ot _ , . 43 ,,..• in e ceirii , tete, from "yrlog judicious remarks on this subject a'e making,. 7 le ed that indeeeerient and excellent ournal the err a lei I v. Abe,b e, deer H erald. it farms, or Ill,i e 11e 4 ,. , ‘!JIt is refreshing to find , such mete re The F i ri er p hild i• ~,published in a Seoich newspaper amidst tee noise w rears , in t e . e. per , . :Y of the benighted bigots, and the liberal sup -1 ie ,•; in are,so o 4 , Prot tr bleb it receives trout a numerous class of read rs bas farra ;e l 4 u es that the people of Aberdeeu still preserve their is, comes toIS s ,. tit s'g established ciraraet r for sound discretion and in acirri:.n t 1 0 7 0 . 0. ':' te e i i stl n ' i e ca u b e , e , - ,o \ t \re trust the statement of Mr. Chalmers .d c na d e Coall i e 'alii 1 ...., s on the Chancellor of the Exchequer or a said a oii m i t , i n tvt 'sl"ro N . ormanby, who at present appear to chime % be geee br s e r s , c ` r ? a fanatical sect elite ignoraht of the injunctions r in to give s 0; • ,_ scripture tend the dictates of coaituon sense : more of twa t. leaks be . s it ima P Y to . u question by Mr. Hume, stated that Go d feels th' t r at“ tire eat ,had entered into an arrangement wnereby h „ au est 4 t e ho ea l l44ll a ss (odd be carried on stx days of the week by !or lendloree,ork.et. tett s z ty, Bud 4y coach on Sunday. Tai: is obviously a o ow 0 a l io' $ . is ,"aitin to the 'preposterous demands of the Agnew 'yet we D '"e0 1114 'l' . ", st alons, and. is as discreditable to Mr. Baring as ibourboori; 01 1 ' i ele ikni,etin . erl .. 0 , a* , ., g with the Non-intrusionists is to his col ." a re v er telte l e : e rho lav e d Advocate. It is bad enough to ho 1 - tie any Ole b' `trtd mt . • „,,,, o nce eil o e xet ,:. .11 the lioesertse ef our tricelern Peeris, es et ` 1 •••••••- f s o, ii is er "oal'i, Inetales and in Scottie Preshstr rets, but :- ssion 0 , at Oluci, t e d t 0 1 11 s i l d As N I, 1 in r,,t_ilTueseet y last, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, vt nee to find it countenanced at tile Tre.ilur). II coMfOrts , ' r 44; 1 , t ,_ ' n l , power is to be handed over to the soi-disaut ja a 0 (1 ;0 41 eehit ; °a eotii sides of the Teeed, it is high time that have. tie 'k w ' sea it'ailr priople were preparing to emigrate ; for, le withealtoolire it c uti e i r l, thi 3 dominion of the Exeters, the Agnews, the a may he of ic ei urn '4 earns, and the .Macgills, anything but a milieu in the a" fit 4 bmay be anticipated. t) came tabst, eerlyz,,,, th ~• . . • • , ;•, N I t , c ivtinistr: imagine that they are strength low an e i . , e .. r sene i . h a '5 ['shelves by vieding to the importunities of the m bonne iir riga/ ca l _ . - , , n, and Ile th ere : ' party , but they are grievously mistaken, greet deal of over-pretension to piety, both and bethif etig is E r ~" a 1111 0 ,, l e:ianel and Scotland ; hut, as worldly gain is often user, bere l -V'' the oel U .t ; i er, li kti 'ert `to interfere with reel religious duty, it is not regard: ''', Olio A .. Y tst steed out of the wey of a mere mock observance. necessare ° o at t e g i liohbe r of bigoisnd enthusiasts have, in opposition triP an 1 0 tu t whole • y outs nr g e 4 e g ... of Christendom, and without the slight .hem• v`, 10 01": $: N'ai rant from Scripture, adopted the notion that ainkling t a i ' . 0 , 0 0. 0che.4,2 must be observed exactly in the way that the :e t d ion:i c t ibe ' r eo the'",.vsere ordein-ed to observe the Sabbath ; and heve in tejld ii iikl Utianeellor of the Exchequer is weak enough to annea l ta a era . t tlett ti llr their eidiculous fancy, at great inconveni 'e , e x „, ll cd mud. expense to the country. For this he may r ' nn it : ,i rs e , s . 4 ,4lo th eo„. _ l4 th e th auks of the fashionable pictists who occupy eitlerc, 0 015 ' ate a 7lves much more with natioaal sins than with their I app ly o w e, • • 444 , but he may rest assured that he will give grieve some of t o tJ,‘' i ."'ef iL l'eteee to the really religious and sensible portion t sriole"S'l''.:,S : ea let 7 ' °immunity. 'roe merchants of Liverpool, Man sions, an° et i ,;:s tl e itrs Leeds, York, Gas ow, Edinburh, Dundee, st s oiled tii te i „.,. Q A . k' . '"•berdeen, however serious ' they maybe, a-e too ye fulls' el',d o f ~,`k ~all , • , .t tf. ,.. 1 1 alive to the athiantages of regular cominuoleation here ag ( fi . siu.ces d l'',-i r if 4 , elli t '7 4 e t yr it to be ieterfered with on such hypocritical , aces as those put forward by the Agacw.itcs. vealth e n4f 4t 1 1 4 .. °: what, atter all, will be the effect of the new on then° 10 1 4 ernost of I ,` e ir e t „ %ement ? 'Why, neither more - nor less than to ae r , ste a within a b e i 444 _ , great deal more Sunday labour than is re differanen_ o yl o , r i vt _ea at present, and create meny opportunities for [early ere d rYol or i lt i: t eration of the Lord's De), that do not now mile ; a n or te o r t t „,„, The mail coach, carreing only eight passen iore cot ache 1 1 i t ,ee , requires nearly as many attendants as the railway leratie d e s t b oce f fi l os hsti'lle.arrying a hundred. Tneu there are the grooms itet°ovdemeall'i her 'rappers at every stage ; and last, not least, r eseulebon 041; d ay is the working of God's dumb creatures on the Drs. he rea7ocio 3. 1. 541, 0 1 rest. It has been remarked, too, that wherever . t i, e 'tk3r linos have beep established, intemperance has ountrY ,ss . 1 .4 a' seen Rio 11 ) „ e r eilsed. The wayeide taverns are deserted, because we here , ' ° O r e traveller is hest seed on to his joureey's cud in a Were e on, e'' Be e of time so short, and under regulations so stiiin r3s. , _ jC,,,,, IN , d theren.vd c ielo rl , prti aas to preelurie all eecessity or excuse for taking men, a'' c oo t ) , d r eshments. "The consequence of this has been ren ne in this i d el l! te th t l e ve_ry conspicuous on some of the English roads taint , s , ei,it I L , desolate and deserted look of wayside taverns, rleat‘t'err to s - ,1 0 . r lan e befnei, le it ,_ 43 rmerly 'were well frequented. Indeed, the corn -1 the e tf . t h lute from country victuallers have been so numerous„ cost the oi l .4t, were we uat well assured of the contrary, we meats for ti le , Iti4latilit bel i ieve th.at the Chancellor of the Exchequer had cheap, f ro '',, t re„ • a ; e.his : arrangement with a view to the protection of c "' r o O w I f ..4 " by ough t th e . ttall .erest rather than of Sabbath oirservonce l—for, home , e g o s tg°,4 tit Y , the mail coach with its eteeking horses—its rue wag e % o .' th ' "!'i. b - . 5 f t to , born—its bustle of streppers, grooms, and spec r diet° , * eie° i rs o " 11 at inn doors—its delays for drinking—and its t lT o a r a t ° o : l ' s llr d o ° ri j a b ill ti ll ,v a i r ll atively leisurely pace 'through tile heart of towns !gee, is but a :furry exchange in the way of sof both ''',o 3 r t ; . fti raw, get frn oe i 0 e o roess for the rapid mail train passing along a route ot girls ba re ,j,ett at any rate, yhicky et uttdot vviih houses. Li • , eu nger ke , pi', ti;:fl.tuittiog, fe e a fluent et, th rt tie. Pfie• isees are _,ise is . dF ~ , k i r lo ins atir ,g on a Jewish Sebbeth, %sr eilill:Ot SCe : 1 1 : rit o•actUr ot ‘ 1 ,11:70 thowl,the erreingenneet, agretri to by the Chancellor of are nt'' r Ba d it . li ew .c ' l4 tesauer, is to promote the object they have in ! ding CD 4 ,"0",,,0 tn e • it. will, rather, as we have already said, he the esor- ..,i, I 111 411 , • eat iwr ic pez k 1 t 1 ts, , of causing a greater breach of the fourth com itfet:ent" J e w -' Oll, t 14,7 are It horses be cattle—and on the coach-box , ehae ge , e ir '4 4 re so designated—they are strictly included in j 'ls it ' l S aio OL i C o l iel 111)13.. p r ohibition frem labour—" The seventh day is the h i e) anY lu de r? 41,y:th of the Lord thy God, in it thou Antic not do e a in C°r' e s o etlY vrei t 'rark, thou nor thy man servant, nor 'illy insid-!er and 1 is . ba t r' , thy !.aver thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within Id st 4; ° r eel oe tt !titles: - Surely, then, even According to their ' -waY West," ts I deas, the SAbbatarians ought to prefer machinery "fa r • A iniallVO 4 , ~ B ones travelliug on Sunday. The emoting en .ove" ~ me . a le IS not included in the 'letter of the command -1 your. of r riet t i.ts andrthe spirit of ki • tre'ness to inferior animas Is rir , infringed Tiro letting ywer work be done by inanimate something ettl. t , to -itter. ; h e m toolisl'oa , , l it , s -1 :n Almighty rested on the seventh day, but ,te St.ll and planets were allowed to revolve for the la'esltaisPt;teelcOi!rt i i ntfit of his creatures. May not man, imitating at an ;l i rnble distance Him in whose image he was made, s rel before lb to r o i ~, ha te, o ,ow the inan;anate nem, which he has fashioned almost wow. ge e a - l et . oorious fe sit e ° a thing of life., to proceed on its course, dispensing fit '? hie and life lo r e sings. of a high state of civilization. Hit be law incur a° 0 0, *. to do Perod on the Sabbath day, surely the mail-bag, ilea it bI I , pp:, . ith i t . n. i 00 1 1 , it a various and interesting contents, bearing tid -enild,et:eteldlii! e Qt s .:" joy and sorrow t o equa lly an xi o u s breast', should I t oil up o,, "of, i t , a e unnecessarily delayed or interrupted. And if a 1 ;,,..el O l . 4 ,,' . to be forwarded at all on Sunday, the railway is f , 6 , t wee, q vlousl the mode by which it can be accomplished id 9 . b, t i a hicit , g if4 34, 1 ; t,h greatest, regularity, and at the same time with G o d I °' 00' ,i J er i injury to the feelings of such as think that the des ire i s o ir Ail . o 4 : s ! 31 1 observance of the Sabbath is still imperatively q t utr e d, at tbe li j' i l V o f the Si t hosel ' tie of the change from railway to coach is only one and hY t hredr o OY iltils, towards the complete abcl;tion of our Christian ? Ir live s etnj ri alt, t itles which the Agnewitescontemp ate. They are e • urhtri t c s es ; r , a l s i r iti r o e r , . o '.e clamouring for an entire stoppaee of the mails 1116 stw, oat, • 1 14 ''unday, and, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer etree° o ' r aon . :oo ,4 ee i s already yielded one point, we do not see how he e. as; r etes e rfir' sl 1 , 10 4 . refuse to go all lengths with them. There is no : 3 1f ae ble fpfe ° '4 l :: d argument for a change from railways to coaches— have eve it f 4vo : lo o3a thing nn the score of huma• nay can be said in 3h , ca ttoi is tr of the total suppression of Sunday travelling. It e h we pt , th e of w th e ll, therefore, that the public should be made aware 113artudafe' is t e et:at at which a pharisaical observance of Sunday 100/ it 0 0 tai °he purchased, lest perchance our complaisant , fe eri e ct 4 il 14.' 4 should feel themselves compelled to curry out e a° r ef , or tii 1 " Measure for conciliating the sanctimonious. When " A° si l ° 41 at r e the io eto oo sl or hi tt °Ppaze of the mails was talked of before, we ig ric ar N (~ :41,h. te a out the inconveniences that would accrue ; the „ sel e ati3 0 .100 5, i ieif lect has since been taken up by Mr. Chalmers, book its'sPundee, and is thus practically and ably treated : /inters arc ra,os, ce otr! JO h IS now eerily teeety years since I first begun the leo ° F ie c devote attention to Mail-coach acceleration and ion ,A a.- , „ i w ow- 0 . c l f §,,-.; matters connected with Post-office arrange ),;e:itin`f;efe tr, it,:‘. B , and in ceusequence was occetionally led to to f cOne3 op it) t ill ogest improvements which have generally been ie c ottl o t , ;( l ' iii:Pted, and publicly acknowledged as beneficial to )tio. l * ef orgoc, fa, community—l therefore should very much re the f e tifr o l'os f i l j tt , t _ if any over -zealous motive, or mistaken con iduatt'be,c°eoit, 'th 're, should in the least be instrumental in curtailing i ts of iri t fo t .i to o r ch , . ‘4 .1 e Privileges we now enjoy in our regular correspon he ‘,. r ipl' , l i ' - 41:?• In the hope that a statement of a few facts c an a'e a se- Je e r. V t tvethereto tea, show wlt:t the coosi.qizences would , r etur e ci , if ' n i c atios . ., th e i ;l: te ret i e TY chatige were to take place, even on a limited rre por p perod; . i t ; am induced to submit the foilowing: T s of o r ca l o il! la te ,.newspaper reports of various recent proceedings at i', r ocl i° lab ° ll'i te .` ll3 ga of presbyteries we have been entertained with pea . t i r e ~ ob er , is . 50 1 0 14 itie h as and notices of motions, to petition Parliament, eueee' 0 set t le 1, 5 ' e r Majesty's Governmt nt, to discontinue mail-coach i As o • a ~ liven' a , .- i de log on the Sabbath-day. (ores , s . w - AY object is to show what effect the proposed scheme ~ )4ld have F. rier , , y than on mail-coac h operations ; anti in meg so, --"'''" ote K t -- f's,„, - confine my-elt to one line of road—namely, that _et ,S.....Brune td. ° 1 London to Aberdeen via York and Perth—and , t e r --- . E l be e n .le s t t le'iter make a few remarks on its consequences, i a i tie , ct ibe t or e It - • Tin, a commercial and secial point of view. tion''and ° pil e ( ' • ti l e distance from L radon to Edinbu gh is 398 ua rioos ors ‘f . mite , pr d o a r a i l tr am Edinburgh, by Perth to Aberdeeo, 134 roe* hoe t e e s , vt ao 0 , %e l l , ""makiag together 532 miles ; which distance the pare, 10 ,(II o bj: e 0 01 ' ,,l ° kill acco mp li s h es in about 60 hours! Therefore, the w hich e lny . which leaves London, at 8 o'cloek on gee' li f. ru tinsDAy evening, reaches Buckland (35 miles in , etia d r atl tth POSe tb` bo ' o lt t') 2ga of London) about 12 o'clock that night ; Durham, Dr there ° 0!,, '(h mites, at 12 o'clock on Friday night ; Woodhill Inn u i r.. 3 the se ar' ir tr 12 sv aY betwixt Dundee arid Arbroath), 472 notes, et ' aer tier i ,, t ;ion e e to , e PI 2. . , Saturday night, where it would have to remain e bar' es' bi e r 1", °41. -e, until 12 o'clock on Sunday night. rid ‘ ce og rsi ' 'l'' , . czDAy's London Mal reaches Durham at 12 o'clock o t i g ' k i ' ll Sat o ate to g mo uis. rday Night—there it would have to temain 24 Ee , i , pi 0 the Nes ili s o SA a °' ;,,or e ,,(lel ‘/'tlo rtlaDAY's London Mail reaches Buckland Et - 12 Vijat e r -Vir'f'4- . 1 10 h e k that Night—where it would have to remain 24 r a . e • o bit A. • ',. 'four oii V • de l I n, the Mail from Aberdeen to London, which leY of' 1' ~arts a v ' r ea r a ° . from Aberdeen at three o'clock, afternoon, on T li pu b.', o ti ~ th at ullseree, reaches Pt rth at halfspast 12 t, ' c ock the gig ofti i ii Pri t i 13 !ght; Durham, at a quarter past 11 o'clock on ditio s-- o li e !r?: 14 11. 4 Y ni ght ; Arrington (45 miles north of London) at to aP eC at ill Pe Of A ..- 11g f' . 14 4 Pest 12 o'clock on Saturday night,• where it would pt`atie remain 23'- hour'. " ine ren° io" f ;r .f it tbe ,• ei . „ ~r, ter b icir's Aberdeen Mail reaches Durham at a quer inoti''s " C P / ' tav e ll4 t ' ) t 11 o'clock on Saturday night, where it would c op irießY r halt s SATURDAY'S 24i hours. rake s he to t .ATURDAY'S Aberdeen Mail reaches Perth at be rar / ~t to reverse 12 o'clock that night—where it would have e oi , re , ft * ' s resb illen until 12 next night. I eANP i ll s ( I I l‘ili et/ ai Ve Y the Preceding, it will be observed, that exclu ls f' r for 0 I ,t I. °f the blank or Sunday Mail from %li on - present , roa re ed i l ir each ~,' the"e would be three days lost weekly isep pos b .O l il e ,kbur t i wa Y in the correspondence betwixt London and iesee re el) iiine ; CO O O l 4 m a il s run lens anti , that every intermediate place would h fr° , li fell i° l ' : 'l gitlil 3 st °r less affected by it ; and farther, were the :5 1, e ,. • re • .', Isozes ef e ce PPod on Sundays, it consequently follows that 1 unft' f 'll tat on " i f day ei t h . s would not be opened for delivery on that , e re 5 vriye, er• The effect, for instance, would then be, '. a te lie . , ewe- , el : h ' aa ' , i)''' 't re tc, Durham, Dunde • aid Pertly, that the bare F i e r , p4,..' ~ u tb, , e t" ' e „. -e , i s . in Ili r - , ~ -• ; ate ~,, .--..,!. -,:iii,,, 3rr!t,! L. ....:1 , °R ' Saturday night, the correspondence by i MAILS. theli would have to remain in tLe respective Post offices uhtil Mooday morning-35 hours ; aNd many ether places would be similarly situated. Therefore, d such would be the result on one line of road, how ext,m.ivo and serious would its consequences prove if the whole m.il-coach arrangements in the kingdom were subjected .to the proposed change!—a change, I admit, not at all likely to take place, or even to be listened to. We may, however, be inclined to give the peti tioners etelit for their inot,vt—namly, to avert the (tin.e , •ration of the S.ilaaath—th:. p-esent system pre velting coach-guards, drivers, &c., were they so dis posed, w tending churches. In answer to this, I say that, to respect to guards and drivers, they woull be left on the Saturday [lights at such distances from their hottiez that they might riot be prepared to go to places of worship ; and if mails were compelled to - . ;, ops perhaps at a coutitr2 inn, or some obscure vil l :47e, where no place of security could be found to deposit the bags —however attentive guards mia t ..c be in looking after ',heir charges—many cbane of robbery by stratagem or confederacy might t;;ixe place. In fact, guards would be prisoners by ( 4 .sv, and require assistants to watch along with ther, by - night. Byte eat expected remittances, of.forei„zii IDTk relative to shipping, orders for g 00 0.6, amount sales, states of markets, &c., such de 1-.sys might prove disastrous to the commercial world ; awl, in a social point of view, equally serious to ti.ose who have friends at a distance, perhaps in sickness, from whom they may be anxiously waiting intilligence, while such communications may be lying in the pest offices of the to mos in which those to whom they are addressed reside, or within a few miles of their desti nation. Under these circumstanceF, it is not in human nature to suppose that individuals or families could composedly reconcile themselves to go to church, divested of feelings which must be uppermost, and there attend to their devo tional exereiseswith that Christian spirit which they mig.ht otherwise do, were their anxieties raeved by be'ng in pos session of expected communications; when at present there is no unnecessary detcation, neither is there any com pulsion to take letters from post-offices on Sundays by ithose who deem it wrong to do so. I admit that lam ere entering into unnecessary details, and therefore conclude for the precat. Should these remarks meet ;he eyes of those who have not considered the subject fully, they may be the means of making them pause be. fore committing themselves in promoting petitions for what cannot be granted. And with these views, I re spectfully zubseribe, JAMES CHALMERS, Bookseller. Dundee, March 26,1841. RATES FOR HIGH.WAYS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SlR,—Surveyors of highways produce their accounts to the various vestries of their parishes next week, who have uneoetr. power to levy rates. In tie dis bursement there is usually much jobbing and pecula tion. The parishioners have the power to remedy this evil by insisting upon a legal account, which the statute (the Act 5 and 6 Win. IV., cap. 50, sec. 40) requited to be kelt week by wc...k, under a per.a , lt,y tl five pounds for each weekly default. The 4tnedule of the Act, No. 5, gives the form. The 1 1 3th section di rects that it shag be used, and the 44th sect.on that it shall be presented to the vP'stry balanced, and from thence to the Sessions for t'ae allowance. No other form of book or account should be ac knowledged by the Vestry, but the ore made weekly and open to the 'inspection of the rate-payers, as " required from time to time to be kept ; a book in which shall ' d e entered a just and true and particular accouo..., of all money which shall have come to his, ha:ads as surveyor, tor the purposes of this Act, and to whom, and on what occasion, and for what work, and in what, place, and on what day he shah have paid or applied the same." They will then hate an oppor tunity of detecting any imposition ; but if they Mlow a new, made-up. book expressly for the Vestry, or merely OTC productions of tradesmen's biDs and receipt?, and a balance-shet;t, ' as . .; the account, the parishioners may expect' a . coat,nuanee of heavy rates and bad roads. 1 7 :Ours, &c., A REFORMER. April 2 iB4 I. TO COMMERCIAL TRAVELLEP.S TO THE EDITOiI OF THE SUN. SlR—Believing that many of my brother-travellers are not aware of the following facts (arising from recent circum stances), I beg to acquaint them that " things of guests in a public inn" cannot be distrained for rent; but " livery stables are not exempt." Therefore their horses and gigs standing at livery may be distrained for the rents of the livery stables. insertion of the above in your Journal, Will much oblige, Sir, vour's truly, A CO.IIMERCIAL TRAVELLER. London, April 5, 1841. THE PRESIDENT STEAMER. Nothing whatever had been heard of the President to to a bite hour last night, and great anxiety is now felt respecting her. Si e may have gone into the Western Isles for coal or repairs, as the Liverpool did on her last voyage from Americ 4. —Liverpool Times of yesterday. EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCE. On Wednesday wick a most extraordinary circumstance oc curred between Workington and Maryport, by which the turnpike road, for a considerable distance, was literally strewn with gold I On the morning of the day above mentioned a servant man belonging to Mr. Walker, of Ma-yport, was sent to the Whitchaven Bank to draw the purchase money to pay fir an eAattt which his master bad bought, amounting to 2,800/. It appetrt , , however, that the sum of 2,000/. had been paid through the Bank, and the man received the sum ef 8001, the whole of which was in soverti.inF, carefully packed up in brown paper, This amount in soy. reigns Leirg deposited in the saddle bags, the man instantly mounted his horse, and set out on his return home to Mary port, and was seen on the road, prok ceding at a rattling pace. The man, however, fad no sooner reached nis master's, and had dismounted, than he discosered that many of the sove reigns were loose in the b,gs, which had burst, and no less than 233 of them were missing 1 The rue,senger immediately began to retrace his journey back towards Workington, in search of the lost gold, and at the bridge-end, on corning out of Mars port, be found not less than seventeen of the sovereigns 1; Lig nearly altogether. Proceeding onwards he picked up several more near the same place, and a number of odd ones on the road. A man named Joseph Graham found forty-six of these sove reigns, and another man named Richard Gill found tw eight ; these were gathered near Flimby. As Mr. Walker's servant proceeded, tie heard of a gang oh vagrants who had been seen pushing each other, and scrambling fcr the golden treasure on various parts of the turnpike. These vagrants, consisting of an elderly man, two young men, two women, and two children, had picked up large Tian- Cities of the money, and were traced to various places, and on the,,, were found the sum of 461. Mi. 6id.. and no less than five watches I They argued stoutly that the money was th, it own I but they were taken into euswdy, and th ,n admitted that they had picked up the sovereigns on tne road, and said that they tiad given them all up. There is still a considerable per_ tion of the money missing. The man who bad charge of the money is very deaf. We are not aware of the precise amount of, the sovereigns yet missing; bt:t through the activity of the police officers, and the honesty of other in dividuals, Mr. Walker's loss is much less than could have been calculated on under such extraordinary circumstances. —Carlisle Journal. NVooLi,victi—On Saturday morning the whole of the men of the Royal ArtiliTy not on duty were assembled to witness the inflict on of punishment to the extent of lUu lashes on gunner .Sl),cartney, a native of Ireland, who was tried by a Court-ilkrtia!, and found guilty of having attempted to stab sergeant Freeburn on the pi evious Sunday morning. It appeared the prisoner had insisted on joining in the parade be fore church service while he was in a state of intoxication, and after he had been erdercd to retire ; and that on being brought before his sergeant and ordered to be taken away, Lo made a stab at him with his bayonet, which would have taken effect had nut one of the men had presence of mind to ward off the thrust and succeeded in wresting the weapon out of his hand before he could use it again. islacartney bears a ve.e bad character in the regiment, having been tour times in custody for habitual drunkenness ; and although he has been two years in the service he has not yet learnt his drills, ()wing to the periods he has been in eenfinernent in the guardhouse and in the Milbank Penitentiary. RAILROAD TttAVELLING.—It has been al -1 ged, that the being viatt id through the air at the rate of twenty or thirty suites an hour must affect delicate lungs and asthmatic people : that to such as are of a sanguiatieus constitution, and labour under fulness of bLiod in the bead, the movement of rail-trains will produce apoplexy ; that the sudden plungirg into the darkness of a tunnel, arid the emerging out of it as suddenly, cannot fail to make work for the oculists; and finally, it hasnever been doubted, but that the air in such tunnels is of a vitiated kind and must give rise to the worst effects; while that at the bottom of deep cuttings or excavations, being ne ces-atily damp, will occasion catarrh, and multiply agues I There is not much of truth in tt,e allegod rne:ii c6l grievances against railway travelling, and that, per se, such a mnde of conveyance is not more likely tis do mis chief to people's health than any other hitherto adopted.— Granville's Spas of England. THE CONFESSION OF A PRIEST.—The Bishop of Angers having appealed to the [loyal Court of that place against the decree of the Tribunal of First Instance, which had condemned him to a fine for refusing to give evidence con cerning facts which had come to his knowledge in the exercise of his ecclesiastical functions, the Court has quashed the de cree, and declared the Bishop discharged of the fine. One of his clergy, who had also refused to gave evidence in the same case on similar grounds, and had been fined, and who had lodged an appeal, was judged by the Court not to have esta blished sufficient cause for overturning the decision of the infe rior Court, and the fine was therefore maintained. THE GREAT WESTERN STEAM-SHIP.—GE NERAL POST-OFFICE NOTlCE.—Monday the following no tice was posted at the Chief Post-office, St. Martin's-le-Grand : —" Ship Letter-office, General Post-office.--A ship letter-bag will be made up for New York, to be forwarded by the Great Western steamer. Letters in time at this office till Wednes day evening next, the sth of April. Newspapers will also be forwarded by this conveyance. The public are particellrly re quested to take notice. that the Great Western will not call at Ibilifax as heretofore." Should the President not arrive before the departure of the Great Western, much additional incon venience, not to say immense anxiety, will be sustained by the mercantile interest. We understand that arrangements have been made to carry pa:-en4eiiis from Linden to Liverpool by fast trniO,, ...,y shortly, in six boars and a quatter.— . Railway Magazine THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7. isli COURT OF SEWERS, WEST- MINSTER. An adjourned meeting of the Court of Sewers for the City and Liher:y of Westminster, ~as }esterday held at the Office of the CorrinA,.sierwrs, Greek street, Soho. J. L Donaldson, E , q., in the Chaii. Mier the oriinary routine bu,iness had been transacted, Tne CLERK reported that the Gimptroller-Gcneral's Office, and various other offices in Whiteball-yard, and also the various offices in the Horse-Guards, had be:: ; „ omitted from the Poor -rate, and that the o v .rseers bad reported that those places had been ...Limed on account of the impossibility of enforeinT es t!ie rate. He further re ported that those ? lac % had all hitherto been rated to the 8 "e"' -rate ' f Lail th it the rate had always been paid, and the Court ordered that they should coLtinue on the pre `e :meat. On the quettion of the expense of the traverse, which came betore the Court on the examination of the Bill of CSSTF. Smith, tht. aolicitor4, The CHAIIIMAN propoted that it should be borne by tb;. whole district. Mr. LECLIE objec;ed to that course. Tne expenses of Mvdly and Prichard had been thrown exelu:;:v ly on the Western District, and now it was souglt to throw upon the Western Di,tr;et a portion of the law expetnet of ae ravrrPc, whir!, vcal cxclusvety :he concern of the Rule iagh 'Nutlet. Mr. BARKER thought that as the questim decided by the traverse jury affected every dittrict, the expense ought to be borne by the districts generally. Mr. GOODRICH thought it was clear under the rules of the Court thtt the expense must be borne by the whole district, Mr. HAVVRES objected to throwing the experm upon the vi hole district. It wai a mere local matter, and ought t 3 be borne exclusively by the district concerned. The Court then di . vided— For throwing the expense on the general district 11 Against it Majority —9 The CHAIRMAN then reported on the MAI guts of Nor manby's Drainage Bill, stating that the Bun had beet divi-ied into two Bus as the Court had su4 , sted, so that the drainage was kept distinct from the regulations respecting builoings and veniilation. The Bois were then la d on the table for the information of the Commis sioners. The CHAIRMAN gave notice that at the neat meeting the Court would have to consider the propriety of issuirg a precept to the Sherd, ceiling upon him to summon a Jury to make a presentment of property liable to be rated in the western division of the district. The Court then proceeded to consider as to signing war rants for levying upon the churches and other newly rated property in the Eastern division of the Westminster Sewers. The CistAtitMAN complained of the great inconvenience of leaving such questions as these open, and impressed urn the Court the rieces3ity of coming to a decision on the question as speedily a 3 possible. He briefly recapitu lated the history of the proceedings in taation to the rating of cuurchei, and concluded by saying that it it were decided to issue those warrants, they must be drawn up in such a manner as to throw the protection uf the Court around those who signed them. He for one could not, holding the opitiims he did, sign a a arrant agstinst the church. Cluptitin ilAoon thought it would be daligerous for the etnitni,sioners to igrt warrants against the churches at or, sent; and theiefure he should mine " that the signing of warrants of distress against the churches be post : wired until the decision t f the two Courts of Exchequer and Queen's Bench oc duternuned." So G. t?ARRANT could not see how the decision of tie Curt in the case of Clie:ex Hospitil could determine the quesiln of the churches. He should therefore mote as an amendment that warrants of distress be issued against tt:e churchwardens of the church of St. fields. Mr. WHITE seconded the amendment. He would sign the warrant, and he apprehended that, being a qualified Commi,sioue►-, he shook] run no risk from doing hi, duty. On the contra , y, if he refused to carry out tt,e law, he should run the risk of being struck ►off toe Commission—a thing which he should dread much more tha❑ any ecclesiastical censure. He had no doubt ad V.) the liability of the churches ; and, viithout ;irking the protection of the Court in any way, he was yerfectly ready to put his name to the vs arrant. Sir J. S. LILLIE thought the only way of bringing the matter to a decision, was by immediately issuing a V. arraut. He did nut see 13 Av they could recede. They had d vancrti boldly until they came within siLfht of the enemy, and now they were showing the white leather._( Hear.) They were all sworn not to show any favour, dreai, ur malice, and Fun: they were showing dread.—(A liugh.) They a ur . t.i he guided by law and nut by any man's opi nions. He suppi rte,l tie am,aido eat. Mr. GUNTEtt bud sign: d tee list warrant, and hoped that those who had not already signed, would now come firward and sign ih , a one. He thought there could be no difficulty in executing the warrants, and he hoped they would he signed tc-day. If there were not enough to sign without him, hi would put his name to the warrant. The Court then dividei, when there appeared-- For the amendment ll Against it... Mej rity for issuing the warrant 5 Sir J. S LILLIE moved that the warrant be prepared and laid before the Court on the next Courc•day for sigaa lure in such term as the Solicitor might advise. Toe motion was agr.ed to. On the motion that a warrant be issued against Mr. Madge, or the trustees of the Unitarian Chapel in Essex street, Mr. SMITH, the Solicitor, said he could not take upon himself to say that a warrant signed in an alternative would be a valid one. Mr. LESLIE—Can you issue a legal warrant out of the presentment? Mr. should think not, Sir. The CHAIRMAN—Which would be the most safe, to is sue a warrant against Mr. Mudge alone, or to include the alternative of the trustees? Mr. SMITH —The most safe course would be to follow the presentment. Warrants were then ordered to be issued far levying dis tresses on various chapels, schools, and other public buildings. The next business before the Court was to receive the Report of the solicitors of the circumstances connected with the case, and opinion given thereon by Sir Wiliitm Horne and Sir John Campbell in 1833, as to the right of the CommiWours to distrain for aricars of rate. The Report stated that on a case beiog submitted to the Law Officers of the Crown in 1833, these °flier re gave sepw a e °plumbs, as one of them, Sir J.rbn Campbell, was in the country. Tire opinions differed, and the Commis sioners desired the solicitors to procure a joint opinion. They accordingly attended the Law Officers in consulta tion, and on that occasion Sir John Campbell retracted his Lrrner opinion, and the joint opinion was in favour of the powers of the Commissioners. The solicitors were not an are that either opinion had been laid bdure Parlia ment. Mr. LESLIE moved that the Report be printed and cir culited among the Commissi ,ners. Captain RAMIE seconded the motion. fir J. S. Liners could not support the motion until he knew the object of it. Mr. GODERICH should like to see the affair cleared up. Mr. LESLIE said his object was to show that the opi. nions had not been fairly represented to the Court, and that the first opinion of Sir John Campbell was the one he was acting on in regard to Chelsea Hospital. That first opinion had never been inserted in their book, why he could not tell, neither was it returned to Parliament ; but 'he last opinion was attached to the case. That was in explicable. Sir J. S. LILLIE, after that explanation, would not op pose the motion, which was agreed to without a division. Mr. LESLIE moved that the present system of collecting the Sewers-rates he taken into consideration. Ho eb jected to the present system of collection, and alluded to the recent defalcation as a proof of its inefficiency. It would not do to dismiss the present collectors ; but, as the places became vacant, the re staining collectors might do 'heir duty. They were now p :id Si. in the pound. The °hectors of St. Geolge',, Hmover-square, were paid only 3d. in the pound. Tney had collected 51,0001. arid paid it into the Bank. Every Court day many persons came to the Court and paid their rates. Now he pro posed to make this a bead office for the collector, and to have a young man appointed to that situation who would not be liable to the casualties to which persons in trade like the present collectors were liable. Ha should there fore propose that the present vacancy be not filled up in order to introduce a new and improved system. He would not wish to throw off or reduce the present collectors, but he would propose that vacancies as they occurred should not be filled up, so as gradually to introduce an improved system, and he would move to that effect. Mr. UNWIN objected to the proposed plan. The non wpointment of a new collector would inflict great injury upon the owners of small houses who would have to pay the rates to which the tenants were liable. Mr. GODERICH seconded Mr. Leslie's motim. It was an exceedingly bad plan to employ tradesmen as collec tors, as it always led to defalcations. The poundage given by the Court was a great deal too much—they ought not to interfere with the present collectors, but they should take that opportunity of introducing a system for gradually reducing the expense of the collection. Mr. UNWIN moved as an amendment that the present vacancy be filled up. Mr. BROOK seconded the amendment. Mr. BROUGHTON thought that the question of defalca tion had nothing to do with difficulties in business, but was an abstract question of positive honesty, and, in that point, he did not see how the new plan was to be better than the old one. He thought it could not be done at the rate alluded to, for there was no analogy between the collection of Pat-tale rates and Sewers-rates. If t h ey looked at the work done, they paid less for the collection of S e wers rates than was paid for the collection of Perisb-rates. They ceuld not alter the system in the way proposed, because, if the vacancies were net filled up, they would not have strength enough to do th e wor k . Sir J. HAIISLIGR supported the amendment. Mr. WILLOUGHBY, although approving of the system of collection, thought the method of appointing the col lectors, and the mode of remunerating them, well worthy of consideration. He thought it advisable that the col lector should not have any other occupatton. Sir J. S. LILLIE thought Mr. Leslie ought to have stated in his notice what. alteration he proposed. Mr. GRACE supported the amendment, on the ground that the old system had answered extremely well. He did not consider the commission allowed to the col lectors too high. There could be no large defalcation if the rule prohibiting a collector from retaining more than 50/. in his hands had been acted on. Mr. BROUGHTON suggested th it no security should be taken from the collectors, tut that they should be put in in the situation of servants of the Court, and then, in the event of any defalcation, they might be indicted for felony. Mr. HAWKEI, COOSPV , d the pounea7" much too Itieri, and would titipport the tootioe. thought, it::e.e.e,:et7, - that I a aca' collector might be appointed on a lesepoundage, The Court then divided, For the amendment Against it Majority • • - • • --2 Friday, the 23d of April, Was fixed for ex , tniving can didates, Sir ionic fti.NL'An. move]--" That, for tl:e future, the Sheriff be directed to summon a Special Jury cm all oc casions." On the last occasion there had ariseo a d iicussion as to wb?thcr a guinea or a shilling t•h)uld be raid to each juryman, and as a guinea was paid lie thougliz they mere enti led to have guinea men. The motion not basing been sec ended fell to the ground, and the Court adjourned to the 16th of April next. SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS. FROM Tint DAILY CAPERS OF YESTERDAY. ( From the l'imes.) The account of the year's and quarter's Revenue was pub -I;shed last night. Compared with the revenue of the preced. ing year, the decrease has been 309,3801.: compared with the curreTom:ing quarter of la.t year, the decrease in the present quarter is 70,5141. The deficiency in the Customs is 301,042/. on the year—;l4,llsl. on the quarter. The defi ciency in the Post-office is 833,000/. for the year-37,0001. for the quarter. In the branch of Excise the tables represent an increase in the year of 489,299/., but. a decrease on the quarta of 44,5'26/. Though the total deficiency may not be very formidable, yet looking at the increased expenditure which has been lately incurred, and which is still being incurred, it is impossible not to feel some apprehension as to the balance of ways and means with the demands upon them. It is a bad fea ture, too, that the decrease in the Customs seems regularly progressive, and that in the last quarter the Excise has begun to decline. (From tie Morning Post.) We publish in another column the quarterly official tables of the net produce of the revenue of Great Britain the years and quarters ending respectively on the sth of April, 1646 and Those official statements present, we regret to say, a very gloomy view of the financial situation of the country. The loss in the year upon the Post-office revenue alone is 834,0001.; and in the quarter just ended, as compared with the eorre spending quarter of last year, when the fourpenny uniformity was in operation, the loss under this head is 27,0001. For this sacrifice the increase of taxes proposedlast year by the Chancel lor of the Exchequer, and granted by the House of Commons, has yielded no adequate compensation. The dirninutien of the aggre gate revenue in the year is above :100,0001., and in the quarter above 70,000/., although the comparison relates to pe riodi in which the declining condition of the national finances hail excited such a degree of public anxiety as compelled the Chancellor of the Excuequer to make an eftort for their resto ration to something like an equality with the necessary expen diture of the Government. 'llls effort of the Finance Minis ter was not a skilful one, and the result shows that it is utterly unsuccessful for the renovation of the public resources ; while the necessary expenditure of the State, from circumstances with which the public are familiar, has greatly increased. By what means the Chancellor of the Exchequer will now attempt to ex. tricate himself from the difficulties in Which the failure 6f hit scheme of taxation proposed last year has left him involved it is not very easy to conjecture, The general opinion is that sonic temporary makeshift project, aiming at no higher pur= pose than that of getting over the immediate difficulty, will be resorted to.. It is natural that such an opinion should pre vail, considering the precarious position of the Government. Bat even a Government conscious that it only lives by suffer ance from day to day will scarcely venture, we should hope, to propse to the House of Commons so startluig a novelty in finance as the project of a loan, without offering, at the same time, she clear and satisfactory development of some financial system based upon existing facts, and presenting a guarmtee for the payment of the interest in the form of ordi nary net revenue. . ( From the Advertiser.) We present to our readers, in this day's paper, an abstract of the revenue of Great Britain, in the years and quarters ending April 5, 1840 and 1841, showing their increase and decrease. As there happens to be a small decrease' in the Customs, as well as in the Excise and in the Post-office, we doubt not that our Tory Contemporaries will lay hold of these facts as grounds for assailing the present Administration, and charging it with incapability, as well as injudicious legislation. The real truth however, is, that it is much more astonishing that the de crease of revenue should, under all circumstances, be so small, and not that there has not been an increase. In the first place, every one must he aware that such an experi ment as that of a penny post could not have beets carried into effect, either without a large expenditure of money in a variety of arrangements, or, in the first instance, a direct and positive loss of revenue. A boon, however, of such an extensive nature is beyond all price, and our readers will perceive that the loss ensuing by the experiment is des creasing to such an ext •sit as to be: scarcely ss orthy of notice. It is, in fact, on the quarter, only 27,0001., and who would ex= change the accommodation, the comfort, and the cheapness of that diminishes! tax for twenty times the amount? With res gard to the trifling decrease in the Custuens, Mounting to only a trifle above 1)0,0001., we need not remind our readers that there have been causes of a political nature more than sufficient to account fur it. What with the war in Syr a—what with the threatened war with France—what with the actual war with the Chinese anthorines—and what with the anticipated rupture with the United States—it is ass tonishing that our foreign trade should have suffered so little diminution as it has undergone. The decrease s in fact, is as tonishingly small, and furnishes a proof of the good sense which, under such a combination of alarming circumstances; Englishmen, and Englishmen only, could be found td ditpleys W till respect to the Excise, there. is * decrease of more than 40,000/. ; but this decrease it 068ily to be accounted for on two grounds the firsts the imposition of extravagant and injudici ous duties upon the sale of spirits ; and the second, the estalstiahment and hypocritical pretences of Temperance Societies. Respecting the first of these causes there can be no doubt, for increased taxation invariably carries along with it decreased consumption; and with regard to the latter, there can be no question that in endeavouring to reform in temrerance, they have done immense mischief to the revenue. This is, however, only the mania of an hour. Father Mathew may preach gist inenee from the good things which Providence has provided for his creatures, and Mr. O'Connell may sup cold water instead of the vivifying Champagnes and generous wines to which he has been accustomed ; but we repeat, that the mania cannot long prevail, and that ere twelve months have passed over our heads the charm will have been broken, and the people have returned to the senses of knowing what nature meant tor them, and of what is best adapted to their constitutions. There is no other item in the account on which it is necessary for us to make the slightest observation. Considering all the cir cumstances to which we have alluded. we cannot regard the state of the country as otherwise than highly gratifying. When the affairs of China shall be settled—when the excitement in the United States shall have passed away, and the Eastern Question subsided into repose ; there can be no doubt that the trade of the country will increase to an extraordinary amount; and that instead of there being a decrease in its re venues, there will be a yatifying surplus over the expenditure. The Morning Chronicle of this day, alluding to Mr. Labou chere's resolutions last night in the Commons, and his modifi cation of them, altering the differential duties on foreign com modities imported into our colonies, remarks as follows i— " The British consumers have a right to expect some advan tage in their turn from the relief afforded to the West Indian cultivators. It is confidently affirmed by intelligent persons, who have lately visited the West Indies, that the greet cause of the cheapness of Cuba and Brazil produce is superior skill. There is nothing like competition for calling forth ingenuity. As lung as the West Indians have a monopoly price in our markets, which are scantily supplied, they are without any powerful motive for the exertion of diligence and ingenuity. That monopolists should dislike to be disturbed is intelligible enough, and Mr. Goulburn thinks only of the monopolists, re gas dless of the severe privations to which the British labour rug classes are subjected by the monopolies of sugar and corn." he Morning Herald thus recurs to the question of the Poor law Continuance Bill:—" We call on every Member of the House of Commons to recollect by how sacred and how distinct obligations he is bound to prove that he has not permitted the intervention of this or any other recess to withdraw his mind from the most anxious consideration of the measure in all its bearings ; and will not permit any accumulation of business to be despatched within a given time, which may grow out of this in'erruption of two weeks to the deliberations of the Legisla ture—to withdraw him from a conscientious and vigilant care of the interests and the claims of the pauper, as well as of the ratepayer, under each and all of the enactments of the pend ing measure." The Times observes, in a leading article suggested by the Poor-law union system:—" The metropolitan unions may de pend upon it, that either the London system must be intro dotted into the country or the country system wi . l be introduced into London. If they do not insist upon the former alterna tive, they must be prepared to submit to the latter : if they make themselves the Commissioners' accomplices to-day, they will be anir victims to-morrow, and unpitied victims too." (From the Globe.) The Post lays hold, and makes its own. in its usual manner, of some sensible remarks in the Spectator on the absurd menaces of the secession of the Irish Re pealers from the side of England in case of a war. Fortunately, these threats arc nut likely to ho put to tne proof at present. We hope that before England is again engaged with a f reign enemy, farther progress wdl have been made townrds the identification of interests between the British and Irish divisions of her empire. We hope some progress has been made already; and we are sure that notee who have rightly at heart the me te, i d prosperity and moral advancement of the Irish people can believe, that these objects will be best served by placiug her jut an attitude of Iris'ility towards England. But we agree with the Spectator in thinking :has the threat is an i,ec one. Force attracts force ; let the ha finer of England be raised ; and we shall fear no lack of concourse under its folds.—in favour of any other ! We nig - 4c complain more particularly of Mr. O'Con nell, if we iinaeteed him in earnest in ee:ting this tone of defection. Mt. O'Connell was the man NllO called forth the meat emphatic demonstration of sentiment which took place in the House of Commons i., viadication of the national honour, whea it appeared likely to be threatened from without, in the case and person of Mr. M'Leod. It is impossible that Mr. O'Connell can have meant to lead us into an ambush —to c'ttnn - iit. us in arms, and thea draw off the Iri:h as a hostile reserve. We m beliaervnee what we d o b e li eve, t h at t h e Hu b d Member ex p resse d hi mse lf sin cerely e u t r t a le 7 c fu a r n e d , Le , and elsewhere—rhe t Whatever response rhetoric may meet e rn. r i e c d a y lly in . the vv h H a e t u ev ie e of C from an audience of ReFe il propensities, it cannot but be f e l t t h a t th ere is, at this moment, less foundation for it in the relations between the two countries, than there has been at any former period. It is truly observed that " Ireland never received so much respectful and reasonable attention, and never attained so many of her desires." It might be added that she never advanced so far towards that state of prosperity which will, we firmly trust, be the ultimate result of a teal union with England. (From the Standard.) The official account of the revenue for the years and quarters ending respectively on the sth of April, 1840 and 1841, will he found in another column. They exhibit, on the ash de }ear, a decrease of 309,280/. ; and upon the quarter, 70,514/. The principal sources of revenue which exhibit a diminution, arc the Customs and the Post-office. The dedeLncy iet the Customs is 301,042!. en the year, and 54,115/. on tie qtamt r. The decrease of the Post ',thee revenue on the year realises the worst anticipations th ,t ha I been formed respecting it ; it amounts to the enor mous SUM of 833,0001. the deficiency on the last quarter, however, as compared with the corresponding quarter of last year, when th fourpenny rate was i a o p e ration, is only e 27,000/. The reason assigned for the large loss on this branch of the revenue by the apologists of the Quixotic measure which has occasioned it, are, that in the first quar ter of 1840 the amount paid into the Exchequer was swol len partly by its including one month's proceeds of the fourpenny rate, and partly by a diminution of the balances left in the hanr's of the deputies. Afterwards, in rhe great increase of . the money older r.ei:Ls.=, it neearne indispensuble to increase the balances left in the hands of the deputies to meet the de. islands tipon &fin In Noifernber last the reduction in the commission on money orders occasioned a large in crease of businbss in,this department) and rendered a ;dr . : theft augnientkion of the ballinbea in the hands of the deputies necei:ary. That a certain portion bf capital must always be at the disposal of the Money-ordef Office for the payment of the demands upon it, cannot be doubted ; but when it is r membered how short a time the Post-office has to wait for its repayment, we cannot con sider the explanation by any means satisfactory ; and if it were, the amount would be more than counterbalanced by the large sum received by the Post-office from other de partments of the Government, whose letters used on the old arrangement to be sent postage free. No gloss or apology can disguise the fact, that this claptrap measure has proved an c.,tire failure. (From the Courier.) The revenue returns for the year and quarter just ended show but a " beggarly account'' of a falling exche quer. The decrease upon the whole year, ending yes terday, as compared with the similar return to the same date for 1840, amounts to 309,280/. ; for the quar ter this year, as compared with the corresponding quar ter of last r, to ;0,514/. The decrease mainly arises in the Customs and Post-office departments) from the former the less recei,its being 301,042/. for the yeA , -, and 54,1151. fur the quarter; for the latter, 833,000/. foe the year, and 2 7, 0001 . fur the quarter. The Excise shows an increase of 489 2891. on the year, but a d.- crease on th^ quart sr of 44,5261. In Stamps, the increase for the year is 162,722/ and 19,2161. on the quarter ; in taxes, 275,019/. for ti e year, and 42,987/. on the quarter. Now there would be nothing to excito uneasiness about a deficiency cf so little epper'nt consideration, with reference to the millions of totsla involved in the revenue accounts, but for the fact which must not be lost sight of —teat last ear a general supplementary increase of taxation was resorted to for covering the large deficit then establisbe I against the Treasury, and that, notwithstanding such supplementary taxation, the results of which were at the time calculated by the Chancellor of the Exchequer with great pains and securing precision as quite ample to repair existing damage and replace the income in the more satisfactory position of being equal to face the future demands upon it, we have it now in evidence that the deficiency so far is yet unconquerable. The most remarkable item of decrease, and that which will be re garded with most distaste, is to be found under the head of Customs, and the whole amount of which is in reality not represented by the sum at which ostensibly tiken. For to the 301,0421. apparent must be added, in order fairly to est iblish a point of comparison with the produce of the Customs of last year, the gross amount of the adei ional per centage test laid on commodities passing through the Custom-house. MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS. :FROM Tlll3 MORNING ?Antes 01 , TECTERDAY. TIMES.—The news from the United States this morning has in itself prodheed no great effect on the public securities; but the market has been weakened by a large sale by parties supposed to have American connections. As the same parties had previously been speculating for the rise, this change in their operations rather diminished the general confidence of the jobbe;'s,who,.in their turn, offered Stock, so that the move ment of the day was downward, although the high prices from Paris had in the first instance strengthened quotations. Consols for Money %used 89k, receded to 893, rallied to 894, and left off $94 sellers; for the Account the opening price was 90 to A, they then fell to 89, rallied to 89k, and closed 894 buyers ; New Three-and-a-Half per Cents were last quoted 983; India Bonds, par to 2 premium ; and Exchequer Bills, 95. to Ils, premium. With the rather reduced values - of the English Stocks the Foreign Funds have sympathized, but no great deal of business has been transacted. It is stated out of doors, that a price has been made in the Stock Exchange for the bonds converted under the late decree issued by the Portuguese Government, and although not quoted in the official list, Wag paged in the market for that security as 284 to The New York Papers state that the Money Market is itr a very singular position, those who have money finding a diffi culty in investing it, and those who have nonnueing obliged to pay high rates for it. The Southern Stocks, whether State of corporate, are said to be uriatailabt.; while the ca pitalists, who have money they would wiltirlgly in vest, abstain from so doing, from a want of con fidence in the Seettrities that present themselves. Buy ing stocks for Money and selling them for time is said to have occasioned severe losses among many of them. With respect to the Bill authorizing the suspension of the Pennsylvanian Banks for 40 days, it was brought item the State Senate on the 16th of March, and read in the Hodge for the first time without opposition. The result of the investigation of the affairs of the United States Bank by the Committee appointed for that purpose *as looked forward to with the greatest anxiety, as the appearance of the Repast in April would be the first satisfactory statement of the conditoti in 'Winch the Bank really stands, and is expected to bring 4- traorditiary affairs to light. The panic in the notes of the free Banks of the State of New York had spread, and during the last week the Bills of no less than seven batiks were thrown out at Albany. The effect of the panic at Albany which is described as very great, was the passing of an Act by the Legis'attire to do tiVrej , with the priority in pay ment of notes first protested, so that the bills are litfid equally from the proceeds of securities. Many of the notes the brokers have altogether refused to buy up, and it is said to be now generally ascertained that many of the b-nks have been the mere tools of speculators, one being especially mentioned as having been started for the purpose of obtaining money on Indiana Stock. Several were constantly expected to stop, and were endeavouring to force their notes into the market at the smallest possible discount, previous to the opening of navigation, since, when trade fairly commences, the influx of bills into the city of New York will cause a great discount. Then it is supposed the banks will come irto the market, buy up their own bills at the low rate, and make good the loss sus tained by the depreciation and sale of their stocks. The whole appearance of the money-market, according to these journals, is that . of panic, anxiety, and thorough want of confidence everywhere.. The papers from Buenos Ayres to-day extend to the 23d of January. On the 22d there were in the port of Buenos Ayres, 197 vessels, of- which there were 62 British, 35 American, 21 French, 17. Sardinian, 13 Spanish, 14 Brazilian, &c. The exchange on England was quoted 2d. - - LAW INTELLIGENCE. PRIVY COUNCIL, Arm 6. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sat yesterday in the Council Chamber, Whitehall, for the purpose of hearing the important appeal from the decision of Sir Herbert Jenner with respect to the will of the late Mr. James Wood, of Glou cester. The Lords present were—Lord Lyndhurst, the Master of the Rolls, the Vice-Chancellor, Mr. Baron Parke, and Sir J. Littledale. Among the legal gentlemen employed are the Attorney- General, the Solicitor-General, Sir W Follett, Sir F. Pol lock, Mr. Wigram, Mr. Pemberton, Dr. Phillimore, and several other gentlemen. The case, it is generally understood, will occupy to the first day of Term in argument. WOOD AND OTHERS V. GOODLARE AND HITCHINGS. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, at the sitting of their Lord ships, proceeded to address them on the behalf of the appellants. The case, he said, came before their Lordships upon appeal from the decision of the Prerogative Court. In tLe ear 1636 there were propounded in that Court three testamentary papers, dated Dee. 2 and 3, 1834, purporting to be the will of Mr. James Wood, of Gloucester, by which he nominated four persons as his exe cutors of his personal and real property. Those pipers were propounded by his executors as containing the last will and tes tament of James Wood. There was afterwards propounded a codicil bearing date in April, 1835, but there was no day of that month_named. These papers led to lengthened proceed ings in the Ecclesiastical Court, and the Learned Judge by his decree pronounced against the papers. The Learned Counsel, after expressing the satisfaction he felt at the present constitu tion of the Court,land protesting against its being suposed to be the law of England that a party who had been the Counsel in a cau-e could not sit as a Judge in that cause;proceeded to say that he felt the difficulty of the task he had to perform, namely, that of impugning the judgment of a Judge of such learning, patience, and ability as Sir Herbert Jenner,buliebelieved,notwithstanding those difficulties, he should be able to show their Lordships that that Learned Judge was in error, and that the conduct, the highly improper conduct, of some of the parties had led him in his indignation to pronounce a judgment that he otherwise would not have done. It was now necessary to see what the questions were which their Lordships were called upon to de termine. There was no question as to the competency of the testator ; it was admitted that he was in full poszession of all his faculties, that he was a shrewd man, and that down to the last hour of his life he was perfectly capable of managing his own affairs. There was no question, either, of undue influence ; all the papers that had been propounded were, if genuine, voluntary and spontaneous, and the only question, therefore, was, whether the documents that had been presented for pro bate were genuine or not, and what, in point of law, was the effect of them. If they were genuine, and prima facie made a will, of which his client was entitled to probate, the question then would be, were there any to rebut them ? He thought he should be able to show, beyond all controversy, that these were genuine documents signed by the testator, with a full knowledge of their contents. He would now lay before their Lordships a short outline of the facts of the ease. The testator James Wood was a native of Gloucester; his grand father had settled there in 1716. Ho opened a bank there, called the Old City Bank. Ile was succeeded in that business by the father of the testator, who carried on the same business there down to 1793. The testator afterwards carried on the same business there, but in a peculiar manner, and he was a little shopkeeper at the same time. He was a barker, a draper, and an undertaker, and down to the last year of his life, when he was worth a million of money, he attended as un dertaker at the performance of funerals. He died a bachelor, and the only relations he had were two sisters, one of whom was married and the other not. The testator was of the most parsimonious habits, his establishment consisted of two maid servants, an apprentice, and a shopman. It appeared that the master and men slept in the same bed-room, and that all the family eat together. By;these habits, and the wealth left him by his father and grandfather, his own wealth become enormous, and at the time of his death his personal property amounted to upwards of 800,000/., and It's real to more than 100,000/. Both the sisters of the testator and a cousin named Ellis died before the testator, and upon the oc casion of the death of Ellis, the; testator had been heard to declare that he had no relation then left but thirty-third cousins. There was one cousin on the mother's side, of the name of Mrs. Goodlake, whom he recognised, and w i t h w h om he was vcrj intimate, and there was also another cousin, named Hitchings. Carrying on the business of a banker, and having no partner, a,nd being advanced in years, some of the customers who kept accounts with him were a little uneasy at the pros pect of his death, because embarrassments might arise if he left no representative. This was urged upon him, and it was possible that, if it had not been for the supposition that he should lose one or two accounts, he would have died intestate. Under these circumstances, and being indisposed in December 1834, he made the testamentary disposition which their Lord ships were now called upon to decide the validity of. The principal objects of his affection at that time were the four individuals whom he afterwards named his executors. Josiah Osborne had been an apprentice of his, and had resided with him for more than forty years. The testator placed the most unbounded confidence in him, and was greatly attached to him. Another apprentice was the testator's cousin, Mr. John Surman, who was, up to the time of his death, a mem ber of his family, and who was the second executor. The third was Mr. John Chadborn, an eminent solicitor in Glou cester, who had been for many years the confidential attorney and agent of Mr. Wood, whu had managed all his business, .and had ingratiate , ' himself with the testator, how or to what extent it mattered not, that not being the question, but whether Mr. Wood did make him his executor and agent. The fourth executor was Mr. Alderman Wood, a gentleman who, although of the same name, was no relative of the testator, who bad never seen him until the year 1824. In the year 1820 there had occurred what was now an historical event, in which Al. derman Wood had taken an active part; and 'it would seem that his exertions were approved of by Miss Wood, the sister of the testator, whe on that account devised to him a MORNING EDITION. COURT OF BANKRUPTCY, APRIL 6. (Before Mr. Commissioner HOLROYD.) IN THE MATTER. OF MESSRS. ROBINS AND WILMA MS. The bankrupts were the extensive and well known ca 'Tiers of London-wall. The case had been already frequently Ores tigated before the Court, and proceedings touching the es.`-ate strere pending in Chancery. A long discus ion was entered into concerning the transfer of certati detl - ts due to the bankrupts, and effected by them to, Messrs. Di xon , bankers, of Chancery-lane, for moneys ad vanced, in which the solicitor to the fiat, the official assignee, with several creditors and their legal advisers, took part, but it Mr. Edwards, the offic.. was without public ititer.,'st• 11 assignee, having stated that he considered the balance sheet now before the Lord Commis sioner to be as perfect as circums;an,-.es admitted, the bankrupts were allowed to pass their final ex,wination, the dividend being adjourned sine die, as the Chancecv suit prevents the assignees from interfering with the bankrupt 's assets. house in the city of Gloucester. It was, then, for the first time Alderman Wood became acquainted with James Wood, the testator. The testator became ultimately n:uch ettaehed to him, and through his instrumentality 11,F, Alder.s man Wood sits made a member of the Corporation of Ohm cester. Two of this gentleman's daughters had subsequently married in Gloucester, one to a gentleman named Maddy, and the testator became godfather of one of her children. The testator was so much pleased with Mr. Alderman Wood, that he assigned to him an estate called Hatherley Court, near Gloucester, and there Alderman Wood had re sided at the time of testator's death. Now it was allowed on all hands that these four persons possessed the principal confidence and affection of the testator. On the 2d December, 1834, the first testamentary paper was signed by the testator. It was not attested by any witness, but it was afterwards referred to by a document that was attested. That document was in the handwriting of Mr. Chadborn, and there fore was thrown upon him the onus of showing that the testator was acquainted with its contents. But their Lordships wouldsee that in this case it was impossible that any professional man could have been employed besides Mr. Chadborn. This document was indorsed " Instructions for the will of one James Wood, of Gloucester." Their Lordships would allow him to observe that ahhotigh only entitled " Inetrttetions," this document was of itself a subetentive will. By this document the testator desired the four gentlemen above named not only to take possession of his property, but to retain to themselege all his money and genurittes for money, subject to payment of his just debts, and such legacies as he might thereafter make. Teis was a perfect will of the personal property of the testator. It had never been alleged that this w as nut the genuine clecu 'tient. It happened that on the day after the date of this docu ment the testator was considerably indisposed. There was a person named Ann Lewis, in whom he reposed great con fidence, who had resided many years in the service of his cousin, and who had promised him at any time he was seriously indisposed to come and take care of him. he happened to be in his house on the 3d of December, and testator desired her to go to Mr. Chadborn and fetch him to his house. She went accordingly, and Mr. Chadborn came, and at his request testator signed the second document of the 3d of December, 1834. It was attested as " signed and pub lished by the said testator, as and for his will in our presence. Edward Swan, Ann Lewis, William Veile." These other persons Were the clerk and coachman of Mr. Chadborn, and were called on as subscribing witnesses, the testator having twice read over the document in their pre sence. He should shortly show their Lordships repeated re cognitions of this testament, even up to the Saturday previous to the death of the testator on Wednesday the 20th of April. These recognitions, which were proved beyond all suspicion, were confirmed by Mrs. Goodlake, who was that day re presented by his Learned Friend, Mr. Wigram, and un less his Learned Friend would state that his client was perjured, he knew not how this part of the case could he controverted. Things went on in this manner until the 17th April, 1834. On that day a letter was written by Mr. Os borne to Alderman Wood, informing him of testator's illness. This letter Alderman Wood received on Monday morning, and he left London on Monday night, and arrived in Glou eeetet on Tuesday morning. It appeared that about two years before testator had made Mrs. Goodlake promise that when he was ill she would come and nurse him. On this occasion she did come, but thinking him much better, she returned home. He, however, became worse, and on the recommend ation of Mr. Alderman Wood, Mr. Cother, a medical man of the city, was sent for. 31r. Cother did not think him dan gerously ill, but wished him to be bled, but this testator re fused to permit, On the 'Wednesday serious apprehensions were entertained, arid he expired between eleven and twelve o'clock that night. Mr. Chadborn was in London at the time that the letter alluded to was received by Alderman Wood, and could not then leave town, being engaged before a Parliamentary Coinmittee, but on Wednesday the Committee suddenly broke up, and he came down to Glouces ter att• nded by a gentleman of whom their Lordships would hear much, of the name of Phillpotts. Mr. Phillpotts had been an emi nent solicitor in Gloucester, he was afterwards called to the lar, and at that time was a alcinbcr of Parliament for the :ity of Glou cester. There was no difficulty in his (the Attorney-Ge:neral's) stating to their Lordships that there was abundant evidence to prove that on this Wednesday, by the advice dials . . Phillpotts, there two papers, which had been hitherto.kept seperete, were mast unnecessarily united , The one was in Mr. Vitood's house, and the other its possession of Mr. Chadborn ; but it was made out most satisfactorily that petal A referred to paper B, and paper B to paper A, but moat Unfortunately they resorted to this mode of bringing them together. He supposed that this suggeltion of Mr. Phillpotts was made in the belief that the testator would be found sensible, for at that time they were not aware that the testator was so seriously ill that he could not recover. These papers, Cline tusked, Mr. Phillpotts found after the death of the testator in an eseritoire enveloped, and etid.etneri " Will of James Wood, Esq., 2d V4l 3d of Decem ber, 1834:" It was not suggested that there was the so palest erasure Of Ittblition to either document. All that had been done was to affix them together. On the 21st of April instructions were Kelt to London to prove the will of the testator, the papers were also seftt, end on the 26th they were propounded. On the 6th of May a eatetet was en tered for .Ir. Helps, who now appeared in support of the wall, along with Thomas Wood, as being next of kin. It was, howevCf, quite certain that neither the one nor the other was next of kin, and on the 4th of June the caveat was la ithcittivan. Mrs. Goodlithe appeared its the real next of kin, and things appeared to promise a fa vourable termination, when on the tith June there occurred one of the most uneccountable and perplexing incidents that ever had perplexed a Court of Justice. On that day Mr. Helps received by the twopenny post the packet Whieft he (the Attorney-General) held in his hand, directed " Thomas Helps, Esq.," at his residence near London. " Important.' This was put into the receiving ince in the Strand, and bore deft Bth June, 1836. The de ciiir.ent inclosed was torn and burnt Its one corner, but was without any tit the soil that might have been expected had it been thrown on a cOal fire. This document purported to be a codicil to the will Of the testator, to give to the Corporation of Gloucester the silfsi of 00,0001. in addition, as it said, to a sum of 140,0 001 . which heal been given them by his will. He gave also to Mr. Phillpotts the wit , : of 50,000/., to Mr. G. Counsel, 10,0001., to Mr. Thomas Helps, 30,9001., to Mrs. Elizabeth Goodlake, and Thomas Wood, each, 20,0001. to Mr. Samuel Wood, 14,000/., and to the family of the latter gentleman 6,0001., and it purported to congeal ell other legacies and to give the rest of his property to iris executors for their own use. It was dated " Glouceser City, Old Bank, July 1631," and purported to he signed "J. Wood." This document was propounded by Mr, helps as a testamentary paper. At the foot of it was written, in pencil, " The enclosed was saved out of many burnt by parties I could hang, They pretend that it is not J. Wood's handwriting, but many will swear to it. They want to swindle me. Let the rest know." This document was at once denied by the executors to be ge nuine. The Learned Attorney-General then proceeded to ' narrate the time and order at which the claims of several par ties were put in. The case came on for hearing on the 3d of December, 1838, and lasted nine days in argument, and on the 10th of February, 1830, Sir H. Jenner gave judgment, de claring against the papers that had been propounded as the will, but that judgment was entirely silent as to the deed. He (the Attorney-General) had read the judgment of that Learned Judge with the greatest attention, and after doing so he felt bound to say that he was puzzled to find test the reasons for that judgment. As far as he could judge, be should say that tl.e Learned Judge was swayed by two reasons to decide against the validity of the papers. I'trst, he con sidered paper A merely instructions for a will, and that it was extinguished by paper B ; and, secondly, that paper B was defective —it was operative to destroy anything, but it did not constitute a will in itself. Now, lie was ready to show their Lordships that paper A was not only an instruction to make a will, but that it was in effect a will, and until another will was made paper A would remain a substantial will. He hoped also to be able to show that paper B was joined with it, and that the two together formed the perfect will of the testator. Another ground upon which the Learned Judge proceeded was this—that they had propounded A and B together as making the will, that they said they were annexed by the testator, but that they did not prove all that they had alleged. He trusted, however, that he should be able to show that they had proved enough to entitled them to probate of the papers, and, therefore, that all the rest was surplusage. The Learned Judge below had animadverted in strong terms upon souse of the executors for the manner in which lithe papers had been brought forward, but that he con tended was no ground whatever for refusing probate. The course that he should now pursue was—first, to lay before their Lordships the evidence of A and B, being genuine docu ments; he would next consider their legal operation, and then he would consider the objections that had been made as to the conduct of the executors, some of which were certainly well founded, but, even if they were, he did not see how they could be brought forward to invalidate the papers. They had been asked why the hand-writing to paper A had not been proved by a greater number of wit nesses ; to which he had only to answer, that it had never been called in question. All they had to do was to prove that A and B were signed by the testator, and that they had been done by several witnesses whose statements remained uncontra dieted, and whose characters could not be impeached. The Learned Counsel read the depositions of these wit nesses at considerable length, all of whom deposed either to seeing the testator sign the papers, or stated their belief that it was his handwriting. Those papers were further proverrby the answers the executors had put in. From all the evidence that had been adduced, it was clear that the testator had a very great friendship for Sir Matthew Wood, and had even gone so far as to write to Lord John Russell, begging of him to appoint Sir Matthew a Magistrate of Gloucester, under the Municipal Bill ; in fact down to the last moment of his life he had shown the greatest regard for Sir M. Wood, and was anxious to do all in his power for him. It was not, therefore, surprising that he should have left him so large a portion of his property. The Learned Counsel then proceeded to read parts of the judg ment of Sir H. Jenner, in which that Learned Judge admitted the strong claims of the four executors to the consideration of the testator, but, observed the Learned Counsel, all that they were to receive was given them by the paper A, and if that was in valid the gifts to them would fail. The Learned Counsel also read different parts of the evidence, for the purpose of proving that the testator had repeatedly declared his intention of leaving to Mr. Alderman Wood and Mr. Chadborn, twe of his executers, the great bulk of his property. and contended that his declarations to various parties that he had done so, and that his affairs were settled, were not, as Sir Herbert Jenner supposed, only made to avoid importunity, but were to be taken as bona fide declarations, and to refer to these documents. He trusted, therefore, their Lordships would think he was justified in saying that both documents were genuine, and that the one referred to the other. If B had been indorsed on A would there have been any doubt? And if, in such case, it were said that A had been abrogated after B was written, would not such a statement be deemed preposte rous ? And if B had been fabricated after 3d December, 1834, would not the person who had been guilty of such conduct have taken care that it should have more directly referred to A, and that there should be no doubt upon the subject? Could it then be said that A was fabricated alter B ? But. some paper had been written before B, because B, according to his instructions, re ferred to persons who had been named as executors. It was ite clear therefore that some testamentary pap er was exe cuted before B. They presented A, there was no o ther, and why . then was it not to be considered as the rightepapa Having thus established that B and ul:i genuine, and that B referred to A, he w A o their legal obligation. Did they not f s o together con e t ru consider a w llowed and of the testator? A appointed the exec u tors, B Ifie made a disposition of the real and per were on the same paper would there 13eason;al estate. fact thedoubt of that A and B together constituted the will of the testator, or if it was clearly in evidence that at the time B was executed on the 3d of December A was produced and read over by the testator, that he then recognized it in so many w or d s , and that then things were s p oken to by all the witnesses, would there be any doubt that A and B together consti tuted his will ? But looking to the witnesses, though they did not see A when B was executed there was poll reason to believe that it :was among the other papers on the table. But arguing the ease on the supposition that on the 3d of December A remained at Mr. Chadborn's and was not then produced, still if it was referred to by B and proved to be the document so referred to, would it not be equally eff ective? Here the Learned Gentleman was interrupted,by their Lord ships, who wished to adjourn, and some discussion ensued as to eating on Good Friday and the following day, but it was ulti ' mately arranged that the Court should adjourn from Thursday to Saturday. Their Lordships then adjourned at Four o'Clock until Ten &Clock tomorrow. ASSIZE INTELLIGEN CE. ROME CIRCUIT—KnvosroN, .Apnr. 6. (Before Lord DENMAN and a Special Jury..) In the case of nuisance referred to yesterday w,'-tiesa was an action against the South London Gas Company by the lessee of a house near their works, after the case had pro ceeded a. great length, it was arranged that the ma tter should be settled by reference. THE INDEPENDENT WEST MIDDLESEX ASSURANCE COMPANY:. Tile disgraceful fraud perpetrated by the individuals; composing the above " Company," was this day brought before the notice cf the Court by an action brought by parties who had advanced money to the concern, against an individual named Williams, represented to be an attor ney. The aclion was brought to reeovor large sums of money, such as 3001., 4001. and 7001. Mr. Platt and Mr. Gurney appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Tliesigcr and Mr. Creasy conducted the case for the defendant. Mr. PLATT addressed the Jury, and said the present action was brought with a view to recover large sums of money, of which they had been defrauded by means of the specious artifices and contrivances of the Company with iv h;ch the defendant was connected. By dint of flaring prospectuses and promises of great advantages these unfortunate persons had been induced to pint with their little all, and in many instances had been reduced to the most hopeless ruin. The Learned Counsel went -on to state that this Company had come before the public (doing great advantages for the investment cf money, and their prospectuses con tained the names of " Esquires" and other distinguished titles; in fact, ncthing was neglected that was likely to mislead and defraud the public. The scheme was adver tised in every direction, and unhappily it bad its effect; far a great number of persons, deceived by the specious pre tensions that were put forth, were induced to invest all they possessed in the world with this bubble Company, and the consequence had been, as he before stated, their utter ruin. It would be proved that the defendant took a share in this scheme, and be should be able to prove that the whole was a fraud upon the public—that persons . were hired at so much per day to sign policies ' &c., as Direc tors ; and, uneer these circumstances , the defendant, as he was prepared to contend, was liable to the plaintiffs for the lass they had incurred. Mr. THESIGER said he could not struggle with the case, and consented to a verdict for the plaintiff. Mr. PLATT applied for immediate exeeutior. Lord DENMAN—Most certainly. CURLING V. EVANS AND ANOTHER. This was an action by the plaintiff, against the de fendants, the late Sheriffs for London and Middlesex. for alleged negligence in allowing the escape of a debtor. The case failed iu proof, and the Jury returned a verdict for the defendants. NORTHERNCIRCUIT.—LnuarooL, APRIL 5. CROWN COUkT. (Before Mr. Baron MAULS.) THE MURDER AT ASHTON. John Hulme, 31, and John Williams, 30, were indicted for the wilful murder of Benjamin Cooper, at Ashton under-Lyee, on the 11th of December last. Mr. Sergeant Atcherley, Mr. Brandt, and Mr. Wortley appeared fur the prosecution : Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Over end for the prisoners. The i,dictmrnt was of great length, and consisted of four counts. Tee first count charged them with having of malice aforethought assaulted one Benjamin Cooper, a joiner, and that Hulme,. with a certain metal pipe, plugged at one end with lead and wood, had made to serve the purpose of g cannon, then cud there charged with gun powder, and charged with twenty bullets or slugs, which was discharged at and against Benjemia Cooper, of which he died instantly. The other counts varied the charge. Both prisoners pleaded not guilty. Mr. Sergeant ATCUERLEY then proceeded to state the case. The Jury had heard fram the officer of the Court that this was an indictment which imputed to the two pri soners at the bar the crime of murder. The person, whose death formed the subject of the present inquiry, was a man named Benjamin Cooper. The day upon which the transaction occurred was the 11th of December last, and the place was the town of Ashton-under-Lyne. In Ashton-under-Lyric, be understeod, there was a con siderable traffic in the building and sawing business, end a considerable number of bands were employed in it. About the month of October List the prices which bad been paid for labour to working sawyers in the town of Ashton/ had been higher than those paid to the same sawyers in the town of Manchestee The master sawyers thought proper, whether rightly or not did not signify to-day, to reduce the prices which they had be fore been in the habit of pa3iog, in order that they might be ah!e to compete with their rivals in trade io the adjoining town of Manchester. Notice was given t d h u a c t e d fro p n t a i c a e n s d w a f o t u e l r a th a a t t on d e ay b , ethe paid.st sth e y f r l o ,i s c to n b o e t r i c , the e n a r t u e : rally begot considerable dissatisfaction on the part of the working sawyers in the town of Ashton ; they did Pot enter into the feelings of the masters who bad to compare their means with those of the master sawyers of Manchester ; the working sawyers only considering the diminution in the wages which they had been in the hab:t of receiving for themselves and their families. This dissatisfaction produced what is commonly called a " strike" or " turn out." He rneent to go over this part of the case as shortly as possible, because it was only material, on the present occasion, in so far as it supplied the motive for the deed which formed the sub ject of this inquiry. A man named Whitfield, he un derstood, was a considerable sawyer in the town of Ash ton, and, he believed, a builder too, and he employed several hands. Some of his men turned out or ‘• struck" on account of the reduction of wages; and Mr. Whitfield was forced to apply elsewhere to endeavour to obtain hands who slienld take the place of some of the men who bad struck and ceased to wcrk for hire. Two men were obtaine ,-, . Ooe of them was named Benjamin Cooper, ti.e deceased, about whom they were about to inquire, and the other was James Cooper, his brother, who would be a witness to-day. These men worked in Whit fleleee yard. In the yard there was a saw-pit. That pit was partially concealed by a sort of boarding, intervening between the road and the place where the men were working, probably for the p ur p ose of making it more warm f or the men to worse in. Here he would mention at once that he proposed to give in evidence certain attempts by the prisoners at the bar upo days antecedent to the 11Th of December. Wh at ,ver might be his evidence, he would not state a single fact, but iei .. .7er e ve to own opinion with regard to the admisziOity of that himself the right of proving it under the direction os the Learned Judge, when the rived. He came then to the 11th of December. About proper time should have as.- six o'clock on the evening of that day—probably the Jury t h e saw -pit in question. Here might be of opinion it was a little before the two exact or precise point of time, an; person who was at all bCeoothpoerusghwterite right to s a t t ate, if anything turned upon the practised in a Court of Justice must be.*ware that no great faith or dependence was to be placed epee the accuracy of different country clocks. It was only just :owards tne e e fgaoar differencer d i ns t t o an p e u e b , public t h c fi l i n o v c locks, factory case for the prisoners to remark, that no dependence could safely be placed upon the accuracy or conformity t c o r l y f o c a kemts,icluekn:d. there church Eve li m clocks, i with ht b r o f a f e distance tcooruyn ten minutes, so that upon the matter of clocks he - pLacedi no dependence whatever. However, somewhere about six o'clock these two men were engaged is their labour. Benjamin Cooper was the top sawyer, and be had a lan tern attached to his knee, or mar his knee, which would therefore make him an object clearly to be seen.. Hie brother James was the man in the pit. Suddenly a grass report or explosion was heard. Benjamin Cooper imme diately called out for help. He (the Learned Counsel) forgot who first went to him, but the untortunate man was was found to be much injured. He reeled; and he afterwards conveyed to some distance upon a board or shutter. Two surgeons were called in. He was told his situation, and be exclaimed, so What will become of my wife and children ?" or some language of that sett , also d i cat i v e of pains such as some expressions strongly in " Will nobody, for God's sake, stab me ?" or some phrase. of that sort. He remained in tbat state till eight o'clock the same evening, when bo died._ Upon examining his per son it was found that different slu. s had entered his body, One, ho though', but be did not char ge hl himself with accu racy in this matter, bad enteredt o iver, another land pe. an d a third was lo dged somewhere near netrated tbe s pine, hip. Of course an alarm was given, and different per thet d and among sons were taken into cus oye d others a man named Davies, who would be detaine d to-day. On the follow- Davies, sort of metal i e ing morning a p there would be " --""eund ; and he apprehended no doubt whatever that t he prisoners were the persons that used that pipe, and that it was the instrument which caused the death. It was a large metal pipe, plugged at one end, capable of holding a considerable number of slugs, and a considerable .quan tity of powder, with a touch-hele which had been drilled for the purpose of communicating with some train which, when ignited, would set fire to the pipe. Slugs, or marks of them, were found in the boarding be fore described as bring a screen or shed which protected the workmen from the weather. He bad mentioned that a man named Edward Davies was apprehended upon the charge. He was an tccomplice, who was this day to tell the Jury the history of this transaction. In this part of the case let him (the Learned Counsel) tell the Jury two things. In the first place, though an accomplice was, in point of law, a competent witness, and a Jury might, if they thought proper, act upon his evidence, yet, in point of practice, and in point of just and sound reasoning, i t WAS never ; r.ght to depend upon the testimony of au ac complice unless he received, with regard to hi.; story, from other quarters a confirmation which should erect his credit, and entitle him to the faith of the Jury, B ut there was another remark which he wished not to omit 'in this place, namely, that when the accomplice first gave the eccoant of lass having a knowledge of the transac tion, he did not then state the whole of that which ho was about to state to-day. According to the best in formation he had, ar.d from the best attention he had been able to bestow upon the case, he (the accomplice) stated nothing at all inconsistent with that which. to-day he was about to disclose. But, for certain reasons, as to shich the. Jury would have the duty of iequiring, he certainly did not state nil then which he bad subsequently stated. He had thought it necessary , to premise these remarks with regard to the situation in which this man would ap. ;~