The Sun. — London, England, 1842-05-02 00:00:00

aroma I IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS, April 30. SOUTHAMPTON ELECTION. Mr. THESIGER (in coniinuation from our After ntein Edition of Saturday, Said— In order to obviate the manifest inconvenience and expense of this sort of attendarce cf witnesses when they were not wanted, the form at :present -in question had been devised, which form might be an extre mel y g ood one, to compel the attendance of parties and witnesses during the Session of Parliament, to which the warrant applied. It might he perfectly efficacious for that purpose, and yet might not be of the slightest validity tu compel their at tendance .is the subsequent Session.—( Hear, hear.) That was th® question which the House had to determine—a question depending upon the character of the warrant, and the authority from which it emanated, whether it was a warrant tisatsproceeded from the authority of the House, and therefore like AM other proceedings terminated with the end of the Session. or whether it was a statutable authority, which, therefore, w ould not terminate with the Session, but would be operative at a subsequent period. Prior to the Grenville Act, in 1770, that House was alone the tribunal to try contested elections. The Speaker, by the authority of the House, issued his warrant to bring up parties, papers, and records before the House, in order that the House might determine upon those documents, and the examination of the witnesses, whether that election was eed or bad. Of course the inconvenience of that was seri nusle felt, and the Grenville Act was passed i u 1770, by which Act the House delegated its authority to a Select Com mittee, to be appointed at a particular day named, to try the merits of the petition, sod under that Act the Committee had pows rto martin - ion parties, and to order the production of papers :sea rricords, and without that power the Committee would h dsprivad of any authority over the witnesses ; that audio ray N, as given them by Statute, and continued by subsequent statutes. but it was not until the 28 Geo. 111. that the warrant of (the Speaker was mentioned in the trial of controverted eleet ions ; and when it was mentioned, it was mentioned not as an minority conveyed to the Speaker by the House, but a resognised authority in the Speaker to issue his warrant. He believed the invariable custom had been, from the 'passing of the tat enville Act down to the present time, for the Speaker, under the order of the House, to issue his warrant to summon parties, and soma fur papers and records. From the time when the authority was delegated to a Committee, down to the present time, the warrant of the Speaker was not treated as an authority in him, fret as an authority in the House, and conferred by it on the Speaker. New this was a meat important consideration, and he wished to call the, particular attention of the House to it, because on this determinatien the great, part of the question turned. If this were an authority proceeding from the House like every other order made and proceeding from the House, with a few ex. cep:ions, it would terminate with the conclusion of the session, and he should I.e able to show by authority, not to be disputed, that it could not be resumed at any future session, but there must be a renewal of the authority.— . ( Hear. ) He would call the attention of the House in the first place to lirdsell; in the 2d vol. p. 335, the different effects of a prorhgation and an adjournment were stated to be, that with regard to a prorogation, any Bills or other proceedings not concluded at the end of one session in either House, in whatever state they might be in , were entirel y put an end to, and must in the next session be commenced again ; whereas, on an adjournment every proceeding remained entire, and might, after the recess, he taken up where left. In a note to that page to which he had referred.it would be foundthat there were exceptions men. tinned, such as cases of privilege; and the House would observe by reference to the journals, that where a breach had been committed in one session, the House had in a subsequent session resumed the consideration of that breach, had a eted upon it, and bad punished the individual ettiltyof it, . but not without resuming the consideration of it. He hoped that the observations which he had made would induce the House to hesitate before they came to a rash - conclusion, because he apprehended that at the conclusion of the last session, the warrant had ex hausted its force, and had no power to require that witness's attendance on Parliament. He would,new briefly call the atten tion of the House to same great legal authorities on the subject. Without entering into detail, he would refer to the general result of the cases, as condensed in a passage contained in IlawkinskPleas of the Crown, ch. 16, sec. 54. It was there stated that a person who had been committed for contempt by this order of either House of Parliament might be dis ialarged from the King's Bench after the disso lution or prorogation of the Parliament; and that all matters before either House must be commenced anew in the next Parliament, except in the case of a writ of error. To this he ( Mr. Thesiger) might add the case of an impeachment. Hawkins referred to several cases in illustration of his state ment, but this passage contained the substance. Now the authorities appeared to have determined this, that every order and proceeding connected with the privileges of the House terminated with the termination of the Session of Parliament. He would put the familiar case of a person who was committed for contempt, or for a breach of the privileges of the House. Honourable Members were perfectly aware that the moment the session ended the party was entitled to be relieved from imprisonment.—(Hear, hear.) He would take sinother case. It frequently occurred that shortly before the owl of the session of Parliament, a motion was made that a particular Bill be read that day six months. Now the object of such a motion was not to enable the House, supposing it should reassemble before the expiration of the period, to take up the Bill in the state in which it had been left, but the object was to get rid of the Bill, or compel the party to renew it in the nest session. If it were agreed by the Home that a Bill should be read that day six months, and there happened to be a new session of Parliament, hefore the periodrespired, that Bill could not be taken up in the state in which it had been left, but the Honourable Member who introduced it must begin de novo.—( Hear, hear, he r.) Now he would next submit to the House that the warrant' of the Speaker was not a warrant esta• blished by any statute, but that it emanated from the House. If he was right in his premises, the warrant - expired in the ' last session' of Parliament, and there was no authority to compel the witness to attend after the close of the session. The lion. Member for Devonport (Sir G. Grey) had, he thought, on a former discussion of this question, cited the 83d section of the 4th and sth of Victoria, as having the effect of contintriog the Speaker's warrant. Sir G. GREY made an observation across the table dissent ine, as we understood, from what the Hon. and Learned Mem ber attributed to him. Mr. THESIGER hoped the Hon. Gentleman would not suppose that he had any desire to misrepresent him, but he (Flr. Thesiger) had so understood the Hon. Gentleman's ar gument. However, it would be seen, upon referring to that section of the Act that it did not apply to this warrant Of the Speaker. He trusted he was sa far advanced in his argument as to have satisfied the House that this statute, to which be had just referred, was not a statute of au thority in the present instance, and that it was situated in the same respect as all the other orders and proceed• ings connected with the privileges of the House, and coming to an end upon the termination of the session. But the decision as to the propriety or impropriety of keeping this party in custody would not depend altogether upon the decision they might come to as to this point, because, if the House should be of opinion that this authority had been con ferred upon the Speaker by the Act ;of Parliament ; the ques tion would still remain if the warrant was such as to render the party disobeying it guilty of a con tempt of the House.—( Hear.) The warrant commanded the party on whom it was served to attend the Committee ap pointed to try the merits of a petition, complaining of an undue election for the borough of Southampton during the present session of Parliament, and he apprehended that the authority of the warrant, from the manner in which it was framed, was not such as to compel the attendance of the witness during the present session of Parliament. He would refer the House to what was the practice of Courts of Law under analogous circumstances. If a subpoena were served upon a witness, requiring• his attendance at a particular sittings or assizes if the cause were made what was techni cally called a remunet, the party on whom the subixena had been served could not be compelled by any intimation from the attorney or agent of the other side to -attend at any subse quent sittings or assizes by that subpcena. (Hear, bear.) There was no reason why there should be any difference between the warrant of the Speaker end a subpoena. Even if it were admitted to be a floating warrant, he conteuded that no warrant so worded would be compulsory on a party to attend in a totally different session to that mentioned in the warrant. The Hon. and Learned Mem ber for Bath. had alluded to the case of a person bound over in recognizances to appear at the Quarter Sessions, but when a part, attended cn his recognizances, and was ordered to attend at a subsequent Court, his rccognizances had to be respited in or der to corneel his attendance. Some act must be dune to trans fer the obligation of attendance from ore Quarter Session to an other. his Hon and Learned Friend the Member fur Bath would forgive him for saving, that the analogy to la hick he referred militated against his own position. 'I here was another point to which he wished to allude, and which appeared to have made some impression on the minds of lion. Gentlemen on both sides of the House; he alluded to the cirenmstance of the party being supposed to have waived any advantage he might have derived from the invalidity of the warrant, by his .having chosen to appear before the Committee. (Hear, hear hear.) The question ,had . no doubt been raised in the first instance in the How e , 'and had nut been brought under the consideration of the 5,% /ois 4nittee by the able counsel fot the sitting Member, his Learned Frieiel,-Mr. Austin. But be should observe that hi 3 Learned Friend had had no opportunity of bringing the objection Iseecew the Select Committee before the party s • n attendance. The answer of the Committee to the ei;je a c l o o l a earleuldese that thee had nothing to do with any argument re siseerine the validity o r i nva lidit y o f t h e war the w it ness before teem, and whether h e -"n'• They had .or opals compu:sion, it was e , Yras th,re voluntarily questions to him they - _ . ..leis duty to p u t any ion petition which ...opt think p ro p er touc hi ntz they ware ealed upon to try. It should also bo 0 , ...erred that the witness had not li stilted for an ,ring he had done before the Committ e e, but for le:using t o p uss i es , 1s it certain pap•r which it was alleged , hid been, imps custody at the time the warrant was issued. It was ',131 thin to say that a witness having attended was compelled ..t.e, answer - fairly and honestly whatever questions might be put 'sw bins ; and it was another thing to say that coming Wore the Committee, either voluntarily or upon a notice served upon him, he ought to • have produced the documents referred to in the Speaker's \variant. That was perfectly clear. His desire was, to follow the wish of the House, because he was sure they were all desirous to do justice to the int'iieldull who o case was under consideration.— ( Hear. beer.) He was sure if they had taken a false step, then wotild recede as quickly as possible; if they acted without t'veiticient authority, they should redress the injury • !Ley had done as soon as possible. (Hear, hear. ) lie trusted that he had, with fairness, with calmness, and glue deliberation, brought the subj ect before the Hiouse, -under the sincere conviction of the validity of the argu ment lie had addressed to them—a conviction which he had voine to before he.had been able to consider the matter as fully as he had since done. At all events he hoped the House would take the matter into its serious deliberation, and show an anxious desire to do justice to this individual. (Hear, hear.) He hoped he weuld succeed in having that *tic() done, for it was infinitely inure important than the re sult of the inquiry itself; and though sure of being correct in the result he had conic to, that was of little consequence in comparison with the injustice of detaining this individual. Ile should, therefore, move that William Rous Mabson should be discharged from the custody of the Sergeant. at-Arms. Mr. C. W. WYNN said he rose to second tie motion of his Hoe. and Learned Friend. During the many years he had t4L in that Nouse, he trusted he never showed any want of application or care in preserving its due authority. it might be useful to look baek to the nature -of . the jut - tsdietion of the House of Commons. They would ' _lied that a petition complaining cf an undue election, if continued to the next session, became necessary to be renewed, or it became valueless. Why, then, was the Speaker's warrant greater now than it h a d been beloie? 'the Hon. Member described the form er practice of the noose with considerable minuteness, and was understood to argue generally against the validity of the present warran t Mr. REDINGTON would not speak as to the legal sisa :s d _ lien n to which the Right Honourable Gentleman 'ho i i g ,t, sat down referred, but he trusted the House w ou ld believe him when he said, that the Committee, in committing ``this' individual, did so from a sense of their duty. I.a The Committee col - 181(10 that the warrant was a perfect one, ---` . till ' till it had been questioned in tha t House. They considered y to o t f he a l e s,, s .N , ---.... id er_ ute the. Howe would give bins the benefit contemptofgiatlegality- yB of thea se wof sure, ~;l u ar ie r. e i r . .4 , 7 - at en th , i b s ut in i d i itvhiedruealwahsadanbyedenoubgtuailst - -:.~ t #~. after the unprecedented occurrence of last night, .the House would expect that he should say a few words upon that sub ject. He had only casually heard that this motion was to be made; and if the lion. Member for Woodstock had wished that Hon. Members should know that he intended to bring forward the subject, he . had adopted a very inefficient course to effect that object. He felt con• fident that the House was taken by surprise last night, and that the course adopted by the Hon. Member for Woodstock was not very respectful towards it. There was another point to which he wished to advert. An expression hat been made use of in the House last night, which had been withdrawn that day, which, if he had been in the House, he should have been induced to repel in the strongest terms, for he believed that a more foul or groat aspersion had never been thrown on seven sworn men.—(Great. cheering.) Much had been said on the subject by met eminent at the Bar. lie would not gainsay their state ments, he trusted that justice would never be forgot ten by those who practised in Westminster Hall.—(Cheers.) Mr. THESIGER said that he rose to explain, after the as persions which had been made against him, with reference to his notice of motion, that he erred entirely through ignorance. Sir G. GREY said he did not mean to impute to the Hon. Member fur Woodstock that he had intentionally given hi , notice in an irregular way, but he must 4ay that having heard, at five o'clock last night, the Honourable Mem ber give notice that he intended at the next meeting o; the House, to take the sense of the House, he (Sir G. Grey) was certainly under the impression that the motion would have been made on Monday.—( Hear, hear.) He thought the Hon. Member ought to have stated that at a late hour of the night; he should move that the House meet again on Saturday.—( Hear, hear.) It was quite aecidentall: that casting his eyes over the Votes he perceived that tin Speaker was to take the Chair at Two o'Clock.—( Hear, hear. ) He did not rise to follow the Honourable and Learned Gentleman through the whole of • his learned speech, but he really did not think—and he said it with all defer ence to the House—that that House was a tribunal capable of judging Of the legal arguments which might be made use of, or of the legal merits of the case now under their consideration. Grave doubts had been expressed on the subject of the warrant by Hon. and Learned Gentlemen, whose authority he though . entitled to great respect, and he was quite ready ti admit that means might be taken to ascertain whether those doubts were well-founded, awl if se to provide a remedy for the evil.—(Hear, hear.) But were they then competent to do that? Notwithstanding all that had been said by the Hon. and Learned Gentleman opposite and from the Law Officers of the Crown, he was not prepared, on the statement of any Hen. Member, to assume that a practice, which had existed for such a length of time. was illegal. What he would venture, therefore, "to suggest to the House was, not that they would entertain the motion upon the ground either of the legality or illegality of the warrant, but that they should decide whether or not the witness should be discharged upon the merits of the, case.—. (" No, no," from the Ministerial benches.) He would also suggest that a notice of motion should be given cn en early day for the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire as to what the practice of the House then Was with regard to the issuing of summonses for the attendance of witnesses before Com mittees, arid that the Committee should retort whether am and what law was requisite on that subject. He would pro pose that the Speaker should give that Committee the benefit of his experience. The Report of that Committee would be document on which the House might rely.—( Hear, hear.) With regard to the warrant, he was prepared to say that it had not been proved tobe illegal ; but the question of its legality or il legality was one which could not then be decided. It would involve a reference to the Journals of the House for several years past, and he must say, with reference to what had fallen from the Honourable and Learned Gentleman, that he thought it might involve a reference to the proceedings of the ether House of Parliament. There were many cases in which resolutions of the other House had been held to be binding beyond the session; and he thought that was a case somewhat analagous to the one se hich they were then engaged in considering. The necessary inference from the Hon. and Learned Gen tleman's argument was that every warrant issued since the beginning of the present session by the Speaker, having been issued on the authority given in the session of 1841, was invalid. If he understood the Hon. and Learned Gentle man's arguments right it was this, that the authority given in the session of 1841 had ceased with the termina tion of that session, and that the warrants issued tinder such authority had also ceased to be valid. The result of such a doctrine being adopted would be that the five election petition warrants now issued by the Speaker, sum moning witnesses to give evidence before the respective Com mittees, having been issued under circumstances similar to that in the Southampton case, would not be attended to by the witnesses ; and was it a desirable result, he would ask, that these witnesses should be empowered to say that they would not attend the Committees, because the House of Commons had declared that the Speaker's warrant issued in those ,cases was illegal. With regard to the merits of the case, be certainly was not prepared to dissent upon the merits from the motion of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman (Mr. Thesiger) to discharge the witness from custody. With regard to the legality or illegality of the summons, it was admitted by the House, that if the summons was not legal, it was because there was a defect in the law, and whether the summons was, legal or not when the witness had the document in his possession at -the time he was called upon to attend a Committee, the House would do right in visiting the individual with its displeasure. He would not advert to the conduct of the witness before the Committee ; he had no right to -do so ; but looking at the evi dence which he had given at the bar, it appeared to him (Sir G . . Grey) to amount tothie, that he had possession of these do cuments—that he knew they would be wanted—and that he had incautiously parted with them but since the witness had stated that he was willing to make inquiries as to the individual by whom he had sent these documents to Captain Ward, and as there was no -suspicion that he had absconded, he thought it just,.. as -he _had been kept in confinement for three days, that he should now be discharged—( Hear, hear ) but still liable to be called before the Committee, still being bound to exert himself for the recovery of these papers, and . Vowed to exonerate himself before the Commit tee, and, it might be, hereafter before the House, from the charge ,of having knowingly got rid of the papers. If the motion for his discharge was rested upon those grounds, and not upon the ground of the illegality of the warrant, he would consent to it. He would not consent to declare that warrant illegal; but he would, as grave doubts seemed to be entertained on the subject, suggest that some course ought to be adopted analogous to the one he had pointed out for the purpose of setting the question at rest.—(Hear.) Mr. FERRAND would not have trespassed upon the House, had it not been for the strong language that had been used by Hon. Gentleman opposite.—( Cheers. ) The Speaker last night had told him (Mr. Ferraud) 'that he was out of ordere in making . use of the language which he had used, and he had immediately withdrawn that expres sion.—( Hear, hear.) He had wished to call the atten tion- of the House to the fact that the Chairman of the Southampton Committee had reported to the House, thit he had eomniitted the witness to the custody of the Ser geant-at-Arms for having disobeyed- the Speaker's warrant. He found On inquiry that the 'person had been met with in London accidentally, that he - had been taken be fore the Committee without having any opportunity given him , to go down to Southampton, and that it bad been impossible for him to go down to search for the paper. He (Mr. F.) had heard with 'surprise the Hon. Member for Gates head assert-that the majority of the Cornmitteehad reported the conduct of that man, and had directed that he should be placed in the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms, not for the par pose of procuring additional evidence from him, but as a punishment for the manner in which he had given his evidence. He felt that in using the expressions he had done, after that avowal of the Hon. Member for Gateshead— Mr. HUTT—I rise to order, Sir. I feel, Sir, that that Hon. Gentleman is not entitled to say, after having used the indecent expression—(" Order, order.") The SPEAKER—The Hon. Gentleman is clearly out of order in characterising any expression of an Hon. Member - in the Howe-a, indreent.—(Cheers. ) Mr. HUTT—Sir, I apologise to the House for having been so far carried away by . the warmth of my feelings as to give utterance to an expression unworthy of my position as a Member of this House. I rise to order, Sir. It is evidently out of order for the Hon. Gentleman opposite, after having made use of an expression with regard to the Southampton Election Committee, and after having been called to order by you for using that ex • pression, and after having retracted that expression, to attempt now to justify it. If he have retracted—which I understand he has done—the expressions which he applied last night, I presume he is not now to rise here in his place to justify them. He apprehended that that was the line of argument which the Hon. Member was pursuing, if he did not use the very words; and es it appeared to him that such conduct was in the highest degree objectionable, he had thought it his duty to call the Hon. Gentleman to order. The SPEAKER said that the Hon. Member for Knaresbo rough had last night made use of a term for which he had found it his duty to call him to order. He had used the word " v:n -d ctive," but when that expression was withdrawn, no reflect ices should have been made upon it in any other form. If he had tucertained, after the Hon. Member had concluded his sentence, that it was his intention to justify the expression he had before used, it would be his (the Speaker's) duty, and he should cer tainly have' found it necessary, to call him to order again. He was sure the Hon. Gentleman would perceive that no Member had a right to refiect upon the conduct of a Coromi 4 .lee which was sitting to deride a case upon the, authority delegated to it by the House.—( Neer.) Mr. FERRI% ND said, that he sincetely regretted • that he had used the language complained of last night.—(ll(llr, hear.) But he did not knew whether it was nec e ss ar y for hull any farther to justify the language he had used.—( Loud laugh ter.) Ile was not going to jus*.if c the word " vindictive," but he did think that the Hon. Meinbe: would allow him to say that the language he had used was %ery extraordinary language for a Member of a Committee. Mr. HUTT—What was ? Mr. Fl - ....ItRAND said that he had understood the Member to make the very extraordinary assertion that, the Committee had not confined tho witness for the purpOse of obtaining Any further evidence from him. Mr. HUTT—I did not. say so. Mr: FERRAND said that, so far as he remembered, that was the language used by the Honourable Member. Mr. BERNA L rose to order. Ile was sure the House and the Hon. Member himself would perceive that it w o u ld b e highly injudicious and highly indecorous that the time of the Mouse should be wasted by repetitions of what had passed in former debates. Mr. FERRAND said that he had first been attacked in very strong language, and he had only risen for the purpose of re planting. 't he lion Member had at all events used very strong language towards him personally.—( Cries of " Order.") The SPEAKER said, that the Hon. Member for Knares borough had acted most properly by retracting the exptgiror he had used last night, after he had been called to order. The Hon. Member for Dundalk (Mr. Redington) had not, on that evening, as he (the Speaker) !earl understood him, attacked the Honourable Member for having used that ex pression. But the Honourable Member for Dundalk had said, that if that word were applied again, he should feel it his duty to use the strongest terms which the forms of the [louse would allow. The lion. Member had not, however, as it appeared to him, used any strong expression affecting the Hon. Member for Knaresborough. He trusted the lion. Member for Knaresborough would allow him to say, that it was perfectly irregular• to allude to what had been said in a former debate.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. HUTT—Perhaps, if I am perfectly:in order the House .will permit me—(Loud cries of" Chair," and "Order.") I presume the House is not going to refuse to hear me, in expla • nation of my course of proceeding—some explanation of the charges made against me. Sir, lam disposed to approach this subject in all ealenne-s. As I have stated, I did not use the expression attributed to me. The expression 1 did use was— ( The Hon. Member was again interrupted by loud cries of .t. Order," and "Chair.") Surely the commonest indulgence might be granted me. 1 did not say that "for the purpose of obtaining evidence, I did think it was desirable to. retain the witness."—( Cries of " Order, order.") The SPEAKER said, that after his having . called cne Hon. • Member to order, it was quite unnecessary Le . the Hon. Mem ber. (Mr. Hutt) to explain. Mr. HUTT—I will not 'Tess. An How. MEMBER en the Ministerial benclies—Orou have to_right. Mr. HUTT—Who says I have" no presume, Sir —. Mr. C. W. WYNN-1 thought that the Hon. Member for Knaresborough had not concluded his speech. He was inter rupted by a speech to order. He is therefore in possession of the House.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. FERRAND—After the remarks which have fallen from the Hon. Gentleman opposite, I shall not go on.--( Hear.) Mr. HUTT—I can assure the House that I had no intention of interrupting the Hon. Member for Knaresborough. I thought he had concluded his speech. It is impossible for me not to feel myself seriously affected by the different charges made against the Committee of which I am a member. I can assure the House that, according to the best of my ability, I have endeavoured to discharge my duty upon that Committee.—( Hear, he3r.) I will say, that with respect toemy acting as a member of this Committee, if any one should say that I have made an unjust application of my oath, or in any way perverted my duties' as a man of honour—if such an allegation were made, either in this House or elsewhere, I ,vould treat that person who made it as a calumniator and a !iar !--(Loud cries of " Order, order," "Chair, chair," and great confusion.) The SPEAKER—I must tell the Hon. Member that such , xpressions cannot be tolerated here.—(Tremendous cheering.) is my duty to call on the Hon. Member to retract his pression. Mr. HUTT—I assure you, Sir, and the House, that I feel , incerely sorry if I have in any way offended against the regu lations of this Holl3e.—( II( ar, hear.) Using the expression I did, I thought it was a part of speech which was per mitted in this House. I had no intention of going tieyend the regulations of the House. Both these eepressions, then, I regret to have u ed." The Hon. tiember continued. He would dismiss this subject. He was surprised that the Right Hon. Gentlemen who occupied the Treasury benches did not stand forward in defence of the Honourable and Learned Gentleman. He thought that the Honourable Gentleman hart given notice of a motion for Monday to bring this subject under the consideration of the House, and he thought he would have acted a more becoming and a far fairer part if he had communicated his intention to the Committee or to one of the Members of that Committee, instead of bringing the subject under consideration late in the evening. He was not surprised that many exalted and lion. Members did not acquit the lion. arid Learned Member of disingenuousne-s. lie thought he acted with a great want of candour. Mr. THESIGER said he did in t know if the Hon. Member was in order. He had enderen ured to explain to the House, that he had not any improper n otives, and he trusted he had explained that satisfactorily.—( Hear.) Mr. HUTT presumed he was in order.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman had made an explanation which might be satisfactory to his own mind, but it was not so to his ( Mr. Hutt's) mind, nor to a majority of that House.—( Hear, hear.) With regard to the motion which had been brought before the House, he could only say, that gentlemen of the legal procession on both sides of the House having decided that the warrant was not a legal instrument, the individual in ques tion ought to be discharged. But the House must recollect that it was not for disobeying a legal warrant that he was confined. He would say in addition, that Members who served upon Committees, had a very arduous duty to perform—(Hear, hear) —which was rendered still more so, when, after serving upon a Committee from 11 to 4 o'clock, and then, performing their duty as Members in the House, they were called upon at half-past two to defend any portion of their conduct.—( Cheers.) The SOL)CITOR-GENERAL said that after the debate which had taken place there could be little doubt that this individual ought to be discharged from custody. His Right Honourable Friend near him, who had given his opinion on the subject, ought to be conclusive on the point. the present was a question of great constitutional importance. He should not enter into anything like an argument upon it, but should merely call the attention of the House to it, and they wodd at once ere its very great importance. He could not quite agree with his Hon. Friend, that there had been any practice prevailing in that House which the present notice fell in with, because the point was altogether a new one, and it' was because it was a new one that he con sidered it of so much importance. He woulA show the House that the question could not have arisen before. Pre vious to the passing of the present Act, it was so well confirined that everything of this kind, commenced in one session of Par liament ended with that session, that evenn petition against a return, if prepared but not presented in that session, was with drawn, and a new, petition presented in the subse quent one.-(Hear, hear.) Thus, not only everything in - the shape of orders and warrants ceased with the session, but even a petition itself. Then it was usual for the House to give the customary order to the Speaker to issue his summons to the witnesses to attend. Under the Bill of his Right Hon. Friend, (Sir Robert Peel,) a clause was, for the first time, introduced, by which a petition presented but not prosecuted in one session of Parliament, might be left over to the next one. He did not think that it had ever occurred, that a petition presented in one session of Parliament had been tried in another. Sir G. GREY—A few sessions ago. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL—But no such question as the present bad ever occurred. The present case had not arisen from the Bill of his Right Hon. Friend, but from the circumstance that so many petitions were presented after the general election, that in the short session of Parliament, it was not possible to try them. It was thus the question had arisen, whether the warrants then issued were binding in the present session. That had arisen from the peculiar state of the circumstances arising from the short session of Parliament. This had given rise to a serious question, and when the warrant was read at the table, he (the S'olicitor-General) asked the Speaker whether that was a regular warrant? At the One he put that ques tion, he was not aware that there were any other warrants of a similar description, but he considered it to be a mistake of the parties in the peculiar case. Now that the question had been moved, it became a serious matter as to how that question was to be settled. He agreed that the opinion of lawyers given in that House could not be considered as satisfactory. He believed that no direct legislative power was given to the Speaker to issue his warrant. It was issued as one of the privileges of the House of Common 3, and therefore it was an authority derived from the House, and not held by the Speaker independent of it. Under such cir cumstances, the question was, whether any authority given by the House was not put an end to by the termination of the session. There was great doub t upon the subject, and such being the case, he thought the party in custody ought to have the benefit of that doubt. After the party was discharged, they could then discuss. the-matter calmly, and deal with it as they should think fit. For his own part, he thought that alt these subjects would be better decided by a tribunal out of the House, and be had come down with a deter mination to move for a Committee to inquire into the subject. He did not say that this question should be removed altogether from the House, bathe thought it right certainly to remove it from the body of the House, and that every matter should be decided by: the Committee appointed to try it. He wished to express his entire concurrence in what had. fallen from his Right Hon. Friend, and if that House consented to the discharge of the witness, he should give notice—and he would now give notice, that on Monday next he should moss that a Select. Committee be appointed to inquire into the practice of the House with regard to the summoning of witnesses to the Bar of the House, and to report what alterations in the present law were requisite. Sir T. WILDE said, he apprehended that no feeling could exist in the House but that of perfect concurrence with what had fallen from his Honourable and Learned Friend, namely, that a Committee of inquiry should be appointed. The Committee which sat, and had made this Report to the House, appeared to have made the Report in such a form as to give rise to a question of legality. The debate which had arisen on this question had strikingly proved that very little good could follow discussion on such a question in that House. This had arisen more from the peculiar form of that Report than from the parti cular nature of the subject matter. He did not think that a new Act of Parliament was required in this instance. The House was perfectly efficient to decide on the question before it. All the original constitutional authority which, it alone possessed it still retained, and he was of opinion that the Speaker's warrant was issued by him under his general Parliamentary authority. The Committee appointed to try a contested election was authorised to report whether witnesses had disobeyed the Speaker's summons, or the summons of the Chairman, or had given false evidence, or hid otherwise misbehaved himself. What was the condition in which the matter stood? A person had been before the Committee to be examined. It was a matter of - perfect indifference whether he went there by virtue of a summons or warrant. He was there voluntarily under . examination ; he was called on to produce certain papers, and it was for the Committee to decide whether his conduct was contumacious in not pro ducing them. If the Committee were of opinion that he had had reasonable notice to produce the papers, and that having had that, he made away will them, in order to prevent the jurisdiction of the Committee, he was guilty of contempt of the authority of the House, and was liable to be committed. Much ambiguity appeared to have arisen from calling the docu ment a warrant. In point of fact it was nothing more than a notice to produce, elli a the sole question was whether that dom. meet, signed by the Speaker, was a reasonable notice. If the witness had asked for further time to comply with the terms of the warrant, a re Committee would, no doubt, have granted his request; but, his statement was that he had put it out of his power to produce them, and that took place three .months after he had received notice.—( Hear, hear.) It was a momentous question whether a witness should be allowed to destroy papers on the ground that the summons had expired. 11 a Committee reported that a witness had misbehaved himself, what was the House to do ? Under the Act of Parliament the Chairman of the Committee, by their direction, might, at any time, in the course of their proceedings, resort to the House, for the interposition of its authority or censure.—( Hear, hear.) All that was deputed to the House by the Act of Par liament was, whether censure or commitment should be the consequence of the verdict of the 'Committee. It always gave him discomfort to hear Hon. Members refuting la that House to the proceedings and practice of the Courts in Westminster Hall. The practice of that House was founded upon higher principles than were then proceeding in the Courts of Law. It it should turn out upon inquiry that this authority of the House issued in one ses sion ceased in . another, he deprecated remedying that by Act of Parliament. They could make Standing Or ders in one session, which would govern the proceed ings of the 'louse in that and future sessions. If the , douse is Sailed on to decide, whether a witness had or had not been guilty of prevarication, it unfortunately happened that the opinions of Members on that subject would be' too often foretold by knowing on which side of the House he sat -- ( Ikar, hear.) A nether important circumstance Wes, that in 1 he3l discussions they saw Members of the saute Commit tee rising on opposite sides of the House, and giving oppo site opinions, and mithing could more incapacitate Gentlemen nssembled together in Committee for coming to acalm judgment than being thus brought into collision one with another. The HOll5O would du %tell to consider, that in all those cases they had not to decide on the conduct of the witness— all that they bad, to do was to look to the record. That record set forth that the party had been con victed by a proper tribunal, and all that the House had to do, sitting in - its judicial capacity, was to consider the sentence which should be passed upon ' it. He should vote for the discharge of the man, because he thought that pending the inquiry, which had been Proposed, he ought . not to be kept in custody. He approved of the _condnct of his Hon. and Learned Friend in expressing a doubt on the subject, and although he ( Sir T. W. ) entertained no doubt whatever, yet he thought that after a doubt had been expressed by such high authority as his Honourable anti Learned Friend, inquiry was necessary. He did not think that the witness should now be kept in cus tody ; and he should therefore vote in favour of his dismissal, with the understanding that he should be ready to attend again before the Committee if his attendance were required. Sir C. NAPIER said that he had been last night charged by the Right Hon. Baronet, the First Lord of the Treasury, with having brought forward a motion of an unparalleled cha racter.... (Cries of " Order.") Lord MA 110 N rose to order. He submitted that it was not proper, in the absence of the Right lion. Baronet, to refer to what had fallen from him on a former e vening. Sir C. NAPIER would only say that in the course he had taken last night, it had not been his intention to embarrass either the House or the Government, or the Committee. He was happy to find that the motion he had made last night, and ehich was rejected by a large majority, was now unanimously adopted. After a few words from Sir R. INGLIS, .Mr. W. 0. STANLEY said he had been much surprised at the course adopted the minority in the Committee. He thought it was decidedly wrong in them to state their opinions nintil the whole dare proceedings -were before the House. He should support the motion of the Hon. .111einber for Devonport. • After agweworde from Mr. Reningeon and Sir. Y. Issue, Mr. THASIGER moved that the prisoner be discharged from the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms. The motion was then agreed to. At the suggestion of Mr. C. WOOD, it was added to the THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MAY '2, 1842. motion, that the attendance of William Rous Mabson, before the Committee, be required on 111•mday. The House then adjourned at Five o'Clock. 6211L1T cf the PUBLIC JOURNALS, FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OE SATURDAY. GLOBE.—As linlac convinced Rasselas that it was impossible for any man •to be a poet, so Mr. Goulburn and Sir Robert Peel appear to have convinced Parliament that it is impossible for any man to mend their measure into a just Income-tax. Were this proved, it' would seem to follow that an Income-tax they ought not to ' have proposed. If such evident inequalities as those pointed out by Mr. Roebuck are to be viewed as no worse than others inseparably inherent in the nature of an'lncome-tax, it surely must folloiV that an Income-tax is a measure only for the most perilous times. At such times, any nation which has spirit to save it from destruction will acquiesce in almost any sacrifice, without weighing its equity. Those of the most precarious, or the narrowest means, feel pride that their contributions are important and necessary. " The beggar is as ready tO fight for his dish as the 'lord is to fight for his land." The enthusiasm of the moment does not stop to compare sources of in come. It is felt that all is at hazard ; and there is a generous shame in weighing contributions. But to come down on the country when there is no such enthu siasm awakened,. and exact compulsory. aids, whose amounts are scanned with a sober eye—is to attempt a very different trial or national temper. It is all the difference between Bailie Jarvie ready to fight with a hot poker, and Bailie Jarvie with his pen behind his car in the Salt-market. We agree perfectly with Lord Howick in decided preference of the principle of taxation on expenditure to taxation on income— always excepting extraordinary crises of national safety. Whether an equitable property tax is prac ticable is another question ; it is also another ques tion whether taxation on succession to property would not be the most appropriate fund for reducing the National Debt. These are the gpeculative regions of finance; but, so far as experience has yet gone, it certainly seems that demands which are not very ex traordinary are supplied with least hardship by taxa tion on expenditure, in one shape or other. This leaves the voluntary element some play in incurring taxation. We are not prepared to say that we would not add a tax upon absenteeism, in order toi-each those who draw their revenues from this country, and with draw them from its burdens. But we certainly would not tax income, except as an extraordinary measure ; and, if an income-tax is essential to a pro perty tax, we would reject the latter, notwithstanding the arguments which must be felt to exist in its favour. STANDARD.—Lord Normanby manifested again his judgment and good taste by last night directing attention once more to the , appointment of borough Magistrates. One would compassionate the Noble Marquis under the reply that he provoked from Lord Lyndhurst, were it not that No creature feels so little as a -- Lord Normanby---some one must complete the lacuna, in Pope's verse, by a monosyllable, which shall describe the ex-Lord Lieutenant and general gaol-deliverer of Ireland. Lord Lyndhurst's speech is, however, worth 'reading for its own sake, as we read the Satires and the Dunciad, without knowing or caring about the Tigellii, the Gorgonii, the No mentani, the Oldmixons, or the Gildons. The master artist makes something valuable out of materials the most contemptible; and even Lord Normanby is worth something when the Chancellor favours him with a few strokes. The Income-tax occupied the House of Commons in Committee last night. Various and contradictory amendments were proposed and sup ported by arguments exhibiting as much variety and contradiction as the projects themselves. The several clauses considered were passed as pro posed by Ministers, either without , any division, or by . , overwhelming majorities ; and as these are the clauses that have been most angrily discussed out of doors, there is little reason to doubt that the whole Bill -will pass without material alteration. The subject has been exhausted, and we should only weary our readers by„reference to the details of-last night's debate. At the end of the Income-tax discussion Mr. The siger called attention to Mr Mabson's case, declaring his conviction that the warrant for an alleged disobe dience to which Mr. Mabson is deprived of his liberty is an illegal warrant, or a warrant the legal force of which expired with the second session of 1841. The Attorney-General professed himself of the same opinion, and we have already seen the opinion uptn the point of. Sir - William Follett, the highest law au thority in the country. In short, every lawyer in the profession agrees in the opinion which we have wen• tured to offer, and, what ought to flatter our vanity, condemns the validity of the warrant upon exactly he same ground that we have taken. AFFGHANISTAN. We find in the Belfast Vindicator the following extract from a letter written by Sergeant Brown, of her Majesty's 13th Light Infantry, being a portion of Gen. Sale's brigade, shut up in Jellalabad, at the date of the last accounts. The letter is addressed to his sister, at Tandragee. With the events stated the reader is already acquainted ; but the fact mentioned regard ing the shortness of ammunition, in the beleaguered fortress, is calculated to produce great uneasiness for the safety of the little...force in Jellalabad. Most earnestly do we hope that the next accounts will put an end to all anxiety on the subject : " Jellalabad, Jan. 13, 1842. " Dear Sister,—We marched from Caubul on the 11th of October last, and were engaged on the 12th forcing a mountain pass, and had to fight our way from Caubul here. I may say we were engaged, day and night, from the 12th of October till the Ist ofDecember We arrived here on the 12th November; and I assure you I thought the whole world was after us, as the peo ple from every . village turned out against us. 'After taking possession of this town, the enemy surrounded it in thousands ; but on the 14th, two days after We came in, we sallied out, and drove them off the plains, killing great numbers. Still they annoyed us very much until the Ist of December, when we dashed out, swept them before us, and drove hundreds into a large river, where they were drowned, leaving the plains covered with bodies. We suffered severely on our way from Caubul to this place, as the roads are through high mountains, and our men had to drive the enemy on the sides of the hills before any baggage or main body of the co lumn could proceed on the road ; but still the Affghans shot all our camels, so that; at length we were obliged to burn almost everything we possessed, tents and all ; and when we came in here we had nothing what ever with us but three days provisions. • ." We are fortifying the town of Jellalabad, and doing our best against the enemy ; but we are short of ammunition. We coUld hold out a long time, if we had plenty of that ; but if we don't soon get relief, God knows what the consequences will be. '1 hough it three months since the disturbances broke out, still we haVe got no assistance from Bengal. This rebellion burst forth in one day, the 2d November. ,On that night the 'natives murdered Sir A. Burnes . and his brother, and every European that lived outside of can tonments in Caubul ; since that period, the whole peo ple have been in arms to put every European in the province to death, or drive them out of the country. assure you we are now in a dangerous situation how long it is to last we don't know. The present force consists of hut 'our regiment and the 35th Ben gal Native Infantry, one squadron of Native Cavalry, and some guns, with a detachment of Native Sappers and Miners. So here .we are besieged, .until relieved from Bengal.—l remain, your affectionate brother, "M. BROWN." LAW INTELLIGENCE, COURT OF Q►UE'ENNS BENCH, April 30. THE QUEEN IN RE WOOLLEY V. THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY. It will be in the recollecion of our readers that in December last an accident occurred •on the Great Western Hallway, by which several persons were killed, and among others a man of the name of Woolley, who died a few days afterwards within the borough of Readin g . The Conmer for the borough held an inquest on the body, and the Jury returned a verdict of accidental death, with a d eo dand of 10 01 . A rule had been ob tained to set asid , ! this inquisition, on the g round that the , Coroner h a d no jurisdiction. • It appeared on the face of the inquisition that the cause of the:sleath arose in the parish of Sonning, in the county of Berks, and that the death itself Occurred in Reading, an d the inquisition was taken by the Reading Coroner. Mr. WADDINGTON now showed cause against the rule, and contended that the Coroner of the borough, where the death actually occurred, had full authority to summon a Jury and take the inquisition, and that the Coroner for the county had no such authority. because the body was not in the county at the time of the inquisiton, and an inquisition onuld only be taken on view of the body ; that to say the borough Coroner had no jurisdiction would be to prevent an inquest altogether, when the death was in one jurisdiction and the caused it in another. The old law, which might have raised a doubt of this sort, had been remedied by the Statute of Edward I. Mr. KELLY, in support of the rule, said that the defect of the old law had not been remedied ; that a case like the tiresent had never been provided tor; that the jurisdiction of the ceroner did not exist, because the possession of the body alone was not sufficient, but the cause of death and the body being found must both concur, and as that was not the case, he had no right to hold the inquest. At all events, if the statute had remedied any defects as to Coroners of counties, it had not been extended to Coroners of boroughs. The COURT said it was a matter of great importance, and therefore time ought to be taken to consider its judgment. An old man, named Noel, residing at Portbail (says the Journal de la Manche), had been for some time past attacked with mental weakness, sometimes even imagining Sim self dead, and going to the cemetery to see i f his g rave was du g . Hiison o w ee a t t i t r •he attention , f d ro h m im h w is ith st g ra re n a g t efanei es fealriiengwsoasT 'however, accident might obliged to go out a few evenings since. and he shut his father up in the house. The old man contrived to get out, and entered the court-yard of a neighbour, where a workman hearing the noise Of his approach, thinking him a robber, ran down to at tack him. He inquired who was there, and receiving no answer, he immediately struck the intruder with the butt end of a gun, and beat him until the stock broke ; hethert stabbed hint with a knife, and would have continued, had not the old man cried-out in a feelle voice, - "'You want then toskill - me.", The man, who appears to have been as stupid as he was brutal, astonished, stopped his hand, and called out for help. Every aid was offered, but the sufferer died the same night. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. MANSION HOUSE. A poor woman, named Eleanor Ann Preston, who ap peared to be in deep affliction, waited upon the Lnrd Mayor for the purpose of craving his Lordship's assistance in her most deplorable extremity. The applicant had, she said, re sided in the family of the Rev. J. Lowry, of Armagh, in the county of Tyrone, Ireland, for fifteen years, and had by gre economy during that period, and for some time ixeviously, con trived to save the sum of 7501., which was transmitted fo her from the bank at Armagh, through Messrs. Spooner and Attwood's house, and which she received in one note of 5001., one note of 200/., and one note of 50/. Being determined to place the whole of the money in the English funds, she deposited them in her pocket inclosed in a pocket-book, and got into an omnibus at Hammersmith, where she resides, for the pur pose of calling upon a broker in the City to purchase the stock. When she was about to leave the omnibus, however, she discovered that her clothes had b een cut, and her pocket book stolen. As soon. as she was able, after the shock, she called at the banking-house of Messrs. Spooner and Attwood, who informed her of the numbers of the notes, which she forth with communicated to the Bank of England; but she heard no intelligence of their presentation until the lath instant, when she was told that the 5001. note was in the hands of Mr. Bolt, the bullion•dealer, in Cheapside, who had received it from a house in Paris, where it was changed a few days before. She also learned that the other notes of which she had bt en robbed, were changed in Paris: The following is the answer of the money-broker in Paris, into whose hands the note for 5001. passed after the robbery, to Mr. Flower, of Moorgate-street . " Paris, April 20, 1842. " Replying to your favour of the 16th instant, I purchased the note for 5001., I think, on the 12th of April ; but I do not know the person from whom I received it; but it strikes me that it was of a Monsieur, of about thirty-seven years of age, of good manners, and of respectable appearance. I think I caused him to write his name on the back of the note, which you can ascer tain. When these notes were lost, you should have sent me a list of the numbers; I should then have known how to have acted. 1 remember when this note was presented to me, and consulted all the advices I had received of lost notes, but none agreeing with your number, I purchased it without hesitation. I regret it is not in my power to afford you more information. (Signed) " V. EMERIQUE." The LORD MAYOR asked the poor woman whether she had any notion of the identity of the persons who sat near her in the omnibus in which she was robbed ?—She replied, that she had nut the slightest knowledge who they were. His Lordship, after communicating with John and Daniel Forrester, the officers, who stated that bank notes of consider. able amount, obtained in the manner in which the applicant's property had been obtained, were regularly taken ever to the continent and sold, and thus all possibility of tracing was re moved, told the unfortunate woman that he had not the slightest expectation of succeeding in procuring the restoration of the bank notes, the amount of which was no doubt divided by this time between tke thieves who watched and followed her into the omnibus. . The applicant said that she was now completely destitute, after having worked and economised all her life for the purpose of falling back upon her savings in her old age. The Loan MAYos declared that he would most willingly receive subscriptions for a poor object, who was plunged in so pitiable a condition by her ignorance of the ways of the town, and hoped that the press would give the details of this must lamentable case. FROM THE FRENCH PAPERS. The Siecle contains the following :—" The Duke and Duchess Decazes gave a splendid soiree last week at the Luxembourg, on the occasion of the drawing of the lottery for the shipwrecked marines of La Teste. The company consisted of persons of distinction, be longing to the corps diplomatique' and peerage. All of a sudden, the gentleman usher announced some names, vulgar enough to excite surprise. The com pany turned round, and beheld five persons sailing up the room—three ladies and two cavaliers, the former dressed in tartan merinos, with large bonnets of blue and red, whilst the gentlemen were in frock coats and grey trousers. On they came, saluting right and left with imperturbable gravity, and at last took their seat in fine fauteuils at the head of the room. What could this mean ? Was it a hoax, or merely some mistake on the part of these good people! The. Grand Referendaire at last approached, and inquired to what circumstance he was to attribute the honour of their visit. They exhibited the lottery tickets which they had purchased, and announced that the drawing was to take place that evening at the residence of the Duchess Decazes, and stated, good easy souls, that they had considered it as an invitation." On the •eve of his death, the late Count Perregaux delivered to Mme. Lacombe, in token of his gratitude for her long attachment to him, and her unremitted care and attention, a stock receipt for 240,000 f., pro ducing 10,000 f. a year. On the day after the Count's death, Madame Lacombe sent the document to his two sons, reminding them that their father had re peatedly-promised to insure her a future maintenance. The sons, however, lodged a charge against her of fraudulent spoliation ; but of this, on trial, she was honourably acquitted. She, on her part, commenced a suit against Messrs. Perregaux, for an investment of the -24,000 f. stock, which the tribunal on Saturday ordered, but limiting her interest in it to the receipt of the dividends during her life, the principal revert ing to the Count's family after her death. Last week a labourer, named Pipart, residing at Boissaut en Balaze, says the Auxiliaire Breton, went to examine a wolf-trap which he had baited. On arriving, he found a large wolf held fast by one of the hind legs. On seeing him, the animal made some -violent efforts to escape, and at last succeeded in tear ing away the trap. Pipart pursued him, but seeing that he was likely to escape, and being armed with a gun, he took aim and pulled the trigger ; the piece flashed in the pan, and the wolf returned and attacked his adversary ; he bit him in the leg, threw him down, took him by the ' throat, and began tearing him. Pipart's dog came up at the moment, and flew at the wolf, which he forced in the end to make off. Pipart received 13 severe wounds, and the wolf remained possesior of the trap. The Journal de l' Ouest of Nantes state that a credit of 10,000 f. has been opened to the Prefect of the Loire Inferieure, by the Minister of the Inte rior, for the purpose of transporting from Nantes to Montevideo such, Spanish refugees as decline availing themselves of the amnesty allowing them to return into their native country, but may be willing to go into one where their mother tongue is spoken, and where they will consequently have a greater facility in gaining a subsistence. The allowance for the passage of each individual is only 100 f., but as it is a measure of charity, the Journal del' Ouest states that the shipowners have shown a dis position to concur in it. The grave-digger of a village, near Valenciennes, lately lost his wife, and so jealous was he of the ho nour of his post, that it was with difficulty that he could be prevailed on, after digging her grave, to yield his place to another to let the coffin down into the trench, and cover it with, earth. A letter from Rome, April 17, announces that the Pontifical Council has decided that a Neapolitan vessel, seized some time back for having more bales of goods on board than were specified in the bill of health, is to be released. This vessel belonged partly to French merchants, and ft is owing to their energetic protes• tations and the representations of the French Ambas• sailor, that the matter has been brought to a close Cardinal Lambruschini, the 'Secretary of State, has transmitted to the Minister of Finance an order to . restore without delay, the bales that were seized, be longing to the French merchants. • A fourth man, named TroUillet, has been arrested on suspicion of having been an accomplice in the murder of the coachman Cataign. He was one of the party present at the public-house, in the evening, when the pocket-book of the deceased and its contents were exhibited by Barra, alias Delicat. It appears that these two malefactors have been guilty of several night robberies since the murder, and even in the neigh bourhood of the Buttes Saint Chaumont, where it was committed; for, on their being brought up together to be confronted and examined, they each wore round their necks coloured handkerchiefs, which were recognised by the persons from whom they were stolen, and which were still marked with the initials of the names of their right owners. Trouillet, as well as the three other prisoners, is a well-known old offender. The following details are given relative to the per son mentioned, in a journal of Monday last, as having absconded from Paris with 200,000 f., and being arrested at Vienna, after passing through Ratis bon. It is stated' that he was a banker or merchant, named W., who left Paris for Meaux on the 18th ult., to meet the Strasburg mail, in which he had en ard a place by the-name of Reutter. On the day before his departure his partners , 'en commandite, had placed in Ws hands 24,000 f., to meet bills which Were coming due. When his flight becanie known, his creditors, who had made him a bankrupt, in the hope of discovering the direction 'he had taken, opened a letter that came to his addresS, and found it to be from his mistress, .promising to meet him at Rotterdam, and thence cross over with him to England:. Upon this one of the creditors set off for London, and another to Frankfort, thinking that the fugitive might either go to America, or to the north of Europe. Be ing made acquainted with the exposure of the above mentioned letter, and convinced that he would be fol loweot to London, he, with the lady, took the road to Frankfort. The person who went to Frankfort, imme diately on arriving there inspected the registers kept at the hotels of the travellers who alighted there, and found an entry, in the handwriting of ,W. of a M. and Mine. Collin, who had on that day taken their departure for Aschaffenburg, and followed them there. At this place they assumed the names of M. and 'Mme. Durand, by which they went on to Wurz 'burg, where they became M. and Mme. Reutter. Hence they were traced to Ratisbon, where they . resumed .the name of Collin, and passed on to Vienna. At this capital their pursuer arrived four hours after them. Having obtained the assistance of the police, the bank rupt and his companion were soon discovered at one of the principal hotels. W. had suffered his beard to grow, put on a wig, tnd wore spectacles. in the -hope -of' sufficiently disguising himself, but it was useless, for he was easily recognised, and committed to prison. The 7,000 f. he had with him were impounded ; but he refused to disclose where he had deposited the remainder of the large sum---now said. to be , 300,000 f. —with which he had absconded. While waiting for the formalities to Warrant his being-sent back to France as - a fraudulent bankrupt, he will be made answerable to the Austrian criminal laws, for entering and travelling in the coun try with the three false passports. The following account of the circumstances at tending the death of Marshal Clausel are given in a letter from Anterive, written on Friday last, .which we find in the Journal de Toulouse—" Marshal Clan- 1 sel had been unwell for some time, suffering from the gout in his feet. He passed through the day on IV u.l f l - nesday tolerably well, taking a walk in his chamber, eating his dinner with tolerable appetite, and taking part in conversation with his friends until they left him to go to bed..., His valet attended hi m as usua l, a n d left him to get some repose also. At two o'clock the valet re turned to the bed room to see whether his master wanted anything, but finding him in the same posi tion as \Oen he first left him concluded he was sleep ing tranquilly, and went hack to his own bed for two hours more. At four o'clock the man went into his master's chamber again, and was surprised to see that he had not stirred in the least. On touching the Marshal he found his body quite cold, and soon ascer tained that he was dead. He probably expired at about 12 o'clock. The actual cause of his death has not been ascertained, but it is generally believed to have been a stroke of apoplexy." On the 15th January last, Lemard, a labourer, was going from St. Cloud to Reuil in search of work, when he fell in with a soldier, of whom he asked the way, and who replied, that he was going to Reuil, and would accompany him. On their way, they stopped at a. public-house and drank, Lemard 'paying for the wine. To do th:s he produced a purse, in which there were 3f., and showed that he was in possession of a watch. On leaving the house, the soldier, under pretence of shortening the way, led Lenard by a by-path into a quarry, and there knocked him down, rifled him of his watch, his purse of 3f., another purse con taining two napoleons, and five 5f.-pieces, and also a copper token, on which was the name and address of a wine-dealer. Having got all this booty, the soldier left his victim in the quarry, and fled. Lemard ent to the watchmaker, of whom he had purchased his watch, and obtained its number. He then laid his information before the gendarmerie of St. Cloud. After a time, the police learnt that the soldier belonged to the 39th Regiment of Infantry, and steps were taken to ascertain which of the men were absent on the day of the robbery. Suspicion, or rather conviction, fell upon a man named Lambert, who, before he was in the regiment, had been i.npri soned for twelve months as a thief, and had since been punished several times for breaches of discipline. It was further learnt that after January 15 he had slept two nights out of quarters without leave, passing the time_ at Reuil with women of loose character, upon whom he expended 40fr. In consequence of this misconduct, he was drafted into one of the regiments in Africa. Being brought back, he was on Saturday tried before the Court-martial, and, being found guilty, was condemned to two years' Imprisonment, and public degradation. The Museum of Narbonne has just been enriched by some interesting discoveries of antiquities made near that place by the Archaeological Commission, Among them are numerous funereal urns and lamps of marble, glass, lead, stone, and terracotta ; phials of perfumes ornamented with various and most curious emblems, and other designs, Roman, Egyptian, and Gallic. On some the glazing remains perfect, although they must have lain buried at lest eighteen centuries. The names of many of the artists who made them are still legible upon the urns—some having Roman and other Gallic terminations. Among the other objects are a golden Phallus ; a diota; some amphorae ; an ex voto, represent ing the finger of grace of the Vestal virgins; fibulae, or clasps ; buttons ; iron keys ; dice ; needlea pins for the hair; metal mirrors ; fragments of musi cal instruments, and a probe for sounding wounds. Near several of the tombs, which contained these re lics, were found a great many oyster-shells, the fish having, no doubt, been eaten at the funeral feasts. To these are to be added an antique head or the Indian Bacchus in bronze of Roman workmanship, in perfect preservation ; a Janus Bifrons ; an amulet of lead of the god Fascinus, similar to those attached to chil dren to preserve them from the Evil Eye ; a small statue of Minerva with the aegis • a bronze Mercury in very fine style ; a head of Trajan, and some un known busts. The Gazette des Tribunal= contains the following almost incredible account :—Two days ago, during the absence of a man who resided at Vincennes, where he carried on a trade, in eggs, butter, &c., which he purchased at the farm houses for the purpose of selling them again in Paris, moaning sounds were heard in his house, and, as it was known that he had been absent nearly a week, the Mayor, accompanied by some gendarmes and a locksmith, entered the premises, where they found two young girls, one fourteen and the other ten years of ago, chained in a sort of dog-kennel, by the neck, with a pail before them, all the water of which they had drunk up, and without food, having eaten all that had been gives to them when their father left his home. The poor girls, who were nearly dead from hunger and thirst, and very badly clothed, were immediately set at - iberty and provided for, and a warrant issued against Le father. IRELAND. - REFORM. - SIR ROBERT PEEL. At a late meeting of a wardmote of the London Repealers, to which Mr. Thomas Steele, of the County Clare was invited, just as that gentleman was about rising to speak, a paper was put into his hand, in forming him that there was a Police Inspector in the room. Mr. Steele, who is a member of the National Complete Suffrage Union, and who took an active part in the Conference at Birmingham, immediately exclaimed—" I am informed by this paper that there is a police inspector in the room, and I am very glad of it, for I hope he will lose no time in communicating to the Prime Minister our opinions of his conduct." I cannot find language sufficiently powerful (said the speaker) to express my indignation— a sentiment in which, I am quite sure, you all participate—at the tone and spirit of derisive levity with which Peel, secure in his majority of Tory misrepresentatives of the people, had the insolence to treat the late motion in the House of Commons for inquiry into the state of the electoral. franchise, a subject of such supreme and solemn inte rest emanating from the National Conference at Birmingham, which was presided over by that admir able patriot and friend to human nature, Joseph Sturge, and which was brought forward and sup ported in the House of Commons in the most per fectly temperate and respectful form. I was present in the Speaker's gallery, and could not be mistaken. Gentlemen (continued the Speaker) it was with great sagacity and political acumen, said by a French statesman before the first revolution, "we had better take care to represent the people, for unless we do so, the people may take it into their heads to represent themselves !" The people of France did soon after represent themselves, and in direful form of representation ; and to such an organic popular representation are the slave classes of England awfully and rapidly approaching, unless means shall be taken by wise and good men to prevent it, and which can only be done by creating a union between the working slave classes, who are unrepresented ; and the middle classes, who poSz,ess the dective franchise, so that the great organic change may he made in O'Connellite fashion, and not Robespierrean ; not by blood and violence and convulsion, but by purely legal and constitu tional means, in gradual and peaceable . progression. The millions of the people of Ireland, under the guidance of the peaceful, moral regenerator O'Connell, have thrown themselves, heart and soul, into the movement of the Reformers of England and Scot land. The Irish seek justice for themselves, by the restoration of their domestio Legislature, but they would be unworthy of justice, unless they gave their fervid aid in obtaining justico for their fellow-vassals, 'the slave classes of England and Scotland. Several other gentlemen then addressed the meet ing, and Mr. Steele, amidst loud cheering, stated that he would, this day, at the Corn Exchange, Dublin, have a resolution moved expressive of the feelings of Ireland on the subject on which he bad spoken, and declaratory of her union with the Eng , -fish and Scottish Reformers. PARLIAMENTARY PAPER. COALS, CINDERS, AND CULM. These are accounts, moved for respectively by Mr. W. Gibson Craig, Mr. 11. Hinde, and Mr. R. Hodgson, of coals cinders, and calm, shipped coastways, and ex ported to foreign parts ; with the rates and amount of duty charged thereon :—of coals exported from the United Kingdom from the sth of January, 1828, to the sth of January, 1842 ; and of coals shipped to foreign countries in 1841, &c. It appears therefrom, that the total quantities of coal, cinders, and culm, so exported to foreign countries and the British settlements abroad, amounted, altogether, to 1,848,294 tons, the gross total export duties which were received thereon being 12,0151. ss. 6d. The total quantities on coal brought coastways and by inland navigation into the port of London during the year 1841 amounted to 2,942,738 tons. It further appears. that the total quantity of coals ex ported from the United Kingdom from the sth day of January, 1828, to the sth day of January, 1842, was as oars Years. Tons. 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 , 1,848,294 ..,. AOMnsILSTRATLON OF JUSTECE IN RUSSIA. " Prince 'Trubetzkpi, of whose death some myst *-.-- rious accounts are given,' had at least no reason con - nected with .iny pest fur destroying himself. Shortly after the supposed insurrection in Samogitia, he watf, appointed military commander there, and exercised military justengf with a severity which occasioned i h r; being removed, and served as the first step for the Te n t swap of the Konarski investigation. What the article. above alluded to says of Colonel Nasimoff requires, in order to judge it properly, a deeper in - sight into, our administration of justice. Russia possesses , .very voluminous book of laws, but n settled joris a kt zon ; courts of law, but no judges who , have studit4 been educated for office ; an d informers; mom it serous than in the times of th e Roman Emperors, t a p : the place of public advocates. Special comm i ss i on; am . appointed for all the more , important criminal investis,ltims, generally under the p c-e - son of note, and with presidency of some military out any judicial control. ussian employe who wants to rise in office has I 1 thing better to do than.. set himself to the discovery of ahn ses and political offences, as all these are reported d, rectlY to the Emperor, and often help the discover& to extraor dinary advancement ; all the more easily at. the same time is the denunciation • believed. The .srs•,:' daiun ciatory insinuations are made by word tyf inc‘uth. Then, in order to make further.. discoveries into the supposed criminality, sums of money are 11c:waved, to he used on journeys; secret investigationl, , and Then follow surprises by night, seimres.of papers, arrests of the persons informed against. It is not u: vual certainly for the . employe, from whom the first disc 13- very proceeds, to'he a member of the commission investigation appointed forthwith, b: - It the commission acts upon his advice. The informers' have free' in. gress to all the secret transactions of the counnission, and receive money.-for their maintenance (luring the time, as well as for bringing up the neces'ary wit- nesses. " The system of, bribery is the only one 'which has any chance with the witnesses for the defence, e.nd they are consequently strict. At the same time, .to preserve the informer from any temptation of tl kind, the law declares, that it he will hand in toct the commission the bribe offered to him, he shall receive it back in full as the reward of his disin terestedness. This - bribery, too, is received .as evidence against the person accused as an actual proof of his criminality. Since the Polish revo lution this_ horrible system of denunciation has 4, carried everything before it, especially in the govern ments of Wilna, Grodno, and Bialystock. .A.con quered people alwayS remains a suspected enemy, and it needs only a Suspicious temper in a ruler, to re suscitate all the misery that Dolgorucki's Humanity had scarcely assuaged. It was in consequence of de nunciations of this 'kind that the present GoveTnort General Mirkewitz ' .again took up the investigation long since ended by the execution of Konarski and his associates. According to these denunciation s,• the traitor had passed-the night in the house of such, a one, and been long concealed in that of another. In order to give more connexion to the whole matter, it was made to form a part with a supposed secret correspondence of certain Polish families with their relations living in France as political re fugees. Professors, physicians, civil officers, and nobles, all on a sudden vanished from among their family circles to be left to languish in . unknown prisons. Anxiety and terror fell upon the minds of all; the' scourge of insulted legitimacy was the sceptre that ruled the land. Doubts, however, it would seem,, be gan to arise in the Emperor's mind, especially a. s his military Governor, instead of sending him pr only announced to him continual arrests, end the con sequence was that - he sent his Adjutant-Col4 Nasimoff, to'Wilna, in order to have an eye upon. the progress of these investigations. This active officer and excellent man soon convinced himself of the want' of all'fOundation for these denunciations. But any one who at all knows how very marked are the distinc tions of - military rank in Russia, will easily con*re hend how little Colonel Nasimoff was able to effect. il l opposition to the military .Governor and his judgt:s., With straightforward openness he laid the state things before the'Emperor, and urged the necessity os" sending to the spot some one still higher placed inv rank. •In consequence of this advice, General. Kawerin, formerly tutor to the Hereditary Gra nd-. Duke, received the very honourable mission to do. ustice at length to all parties according to truth. , After a very short time all'the prisoners were set at liberty, without any exception ; and some (princi pally - the civil officers) received compensations for . their sufferings in money. Severe justice was exec. cised upon all the members of the Commission, and ;- very energetic reproof given to General Mirka.witz• -Konigsberg Gazette. THE -- MARKETS. COUNTRY MARL , ET'S i Wheat. Barley. I Opt:. I Cleans. Peei --.. Per Quarter. \s. to s.I s. to s. s. t s. e. to a. .f. to Sath - - 1,4 , 46 40 Slandford 32 72 31 32 .3 26 46 '-- csridport 68 lhard 66 • 72 28 32 22 26 38 42 40 -"e_, Exeter 3loucester...... 60 62.1 20 00 10 24 r 8 40 40 4 : Guildford Of) 73 27 34 20 28 180 36 :,0 Newbury 44 •68 23 32 16 28 30 42 31: Reading,.,.,.,: .76 4 2 36 1 8 3 0 21 43 30 %ali s burY 160 68 `;11 36 . 20 28 40 50 rborne 56 62 26 30 20 24 36 40 -- „; SheptotiNlallet 50 68 25 34 'lB 24 24 48 34 Uxbridge 37 43 2.•; Qs 38 40 WArminster.... , 48 68 s 4 33 12 24 36 46 Worcester 164 68 .2 3 0 i 26 38 42 38 4 " of €8 0 22 82 44 -- Worcester (54 €8 leovil 4B ((1 LEES Wheat, tlqrfolk and Sufli --- York. and I.invi Barley, Norfolk and Sian -- Yorkshire and Li, - Grinding Beans S. to S. S. t $. so an r 20 2S 31 32 13 26 28 32 22 26 27 34 21 29 20 . 611 10 24 27 54 20 28 23 32 18 28 42 , 361 IS 30 28 36 20 28 21; 30 20 24 25 34 18 24 37 43 24. °.3 19 24 36 46 32 3 , S 96 38 42, 24 18 22 31 44 L. SCON Al & lIK ET. k, 6011, R . 534. to Os., .: n. 601 b. ak toolnshire to 281. ......... 314. to 88s. flats, Potatoe --Mealtng, For. 9d. to lOtt ' Eng. uy,d. 'o 103 o. per sten sOtelling 4 7. to 295. per lea _ DEVIZES CORN MARKET. Par Sack. s. .1. a. d. Per Quat ter. s. d. ~ e i rqrSt. Wheat... 93 0t035 0 Oats .. ••Al 0t(32 0 S e cond ; per sack)... 10 0 24 third 'Daley - • CHELTENHAM Al AUK ETS. Per Bushel. s. d. to a. d„, p, n lb. d. ti 4. .,,, k.•tat 7 e 90 1 8eef..........% 0 'I R I Battey 3 0 3 9 Mutton ....... (hits 3 0 3 9 Veal 6 6 P Beaus ~ 7 gl Pease 5 0 8 0 Lamb • Hay 41.55. to 4/. 10,. Od. per .ton. CANTERBWII MARKET. Wheat, white.„---- 653. to 1 - oi. .„--. 01d................... s. to 71U --- red-................ 6es. tee &IL wow.. 0 ittworwoorot .4.• tel . Barley, Malting -30 s. to Ms ......... Grading.. -er.. 1 0 Oats •••••••••..we...e.".• 21a. to 21.5. ......... 041-......... -s. to --s • Beans...-e-......... Ws to 405...... 01(1-.......... -s. tO '• Pease ...........--. Os. to -s. ....- Grev........ 34i. t,' --`• CHELMSFOIt 0 MARKET. 0 Wheat, White '4 to 641 Oats Red Barley 29 31 White Yil 20 Chevalier ..... .... 1",2 33 Beans, Tick . 2,F 01 minding , • . HULL CORN MARKET. Wheat, White (per Quarter) 6os. 625. 665. Red Foreign Barley, Malting GriEdiug `iti. 299. 3os. Oats, British Foreign (in bond) lBs 20s. 225. Beans •.• '")s 3 s. 402. Pease, Grey .... "46, 365. 31a. Blue and White `l6s 3Ss. 40a. Linseed... t:s. :4;s. 62: , Flour per sack liapesped (per 10 quarters) . . . DISTRESS IN CHORLEY.-The distress preral e n • . 14, La " in Chorley is probably greater than in any other town in --- i „... cashire ; for one-half of the operatives have actually t" t , upon the donations of their brethren who are in ei n ployMe r i, i A great body of the hand-loom we avers have little or no vi qe, the calico-printers are aim st wholly unemployed ; and 0 t ",, , branches have little to do. Yesterday (Friday) week the!,i i t employed workmen paraded the town in procession, to 0, 11 ,74 something for the purpose of keeping them in existence. 1 "; of numbered nearly NO, and obtained ft/. in money, up'w! r Lor nine cwt. of bread, one cwt. of cheese, and one cwt. of Pie: On making a division, it amounted. in money and god'` , about Is. 2d. a head.-Manchester Paper. WS' A man named Guehez, only 25 years of ag e ' e n d just been found guilty by the Cou rt sif Assizes tie' vim,bery oi l wi... i .e to , murder, udder'the folloWitgreiratintstances'', o k December 15, on passing along the hue Coquillierer ll' . up a leather trunk placed at the door of &l. Leggy, a deale r , such articles, who, however, saw the act, and runiligl, 7 7„ o f the thief, overtook him at the corner of the Rue des 'eil Augustine. A struggle ensued, during which (ludic% inflict , no less than six wounds with a knife on the body of M. Leg 3 s .,, and then fled. He was followed and captured. M. 14 0 4 was carried home in a lamentable state, but, fortunately, %.be of the wounds were mortal , and he has w ince recovered. ' i , Court sentenced Guchcz to har d labour for life, and to beg posed on the pillory. A ccoun ts from Berlin, received by the French 64:i rernment, state that on the 23d' inst , at night, the ex-Kinf ( t Holland was still in great danger. The fever had subside d, is strength was nearly:exhatisted. .... ._______......2.0 BIRTIIS. ,„„ In Upper Harley-street, the lady of James Morrison, M.P., of a scn. tne On the 22d ult., at the Rectory, Stoke Hamond, Bite"' Lad Juli Bouwen, of a son. nor On the a 25th ult., s in Doughty-street, Mrs. Ferguson roux, of a daughter. st° On the 25th ult., at Leatherhead, the lady of W" i Llewellyn Nash, Eq., of a daughter. co On the 26th ult., at Bromley, in . Kent, the wife of th e Edward Stewart, of a daughter. On the 2:1(1 ult., at St. John-street-road, Mrs. Alfred Hare, of a daughter, still horn. 10 1°. On the 25th ult., at Hanover•terrace, Regent's-par-. John Moxon, of a son. MARRIED. di On the 26th ult., at St. Pancras,. Edward Browne, ffq; j ois Mark-lane, to Marianne , four th dau g hter of the late 113° Cotton, E.g., of Chase Lodge, Enfield, Middlesex. fo bta On the 25th ult., at York-street Chapel, Walworth, of Gray, Esq., sol,citor, South Lincolnshire, to Mary Anne, e' daughter of W. Hemming, Esq., of Walworth. - DIED. ,oto el On the 28th ultimo , a t his house, Murnington-er .. e - for' Hampstead-road, at an advanced age, Simon Gray, Eol"„re. merly of the War-office, and author of various literary r ductions. fri, 0 11/1 On the 26th ult., in Trinitv-square, Newington, .-° the infant son of T. Loughboroiigh Esq. Or!' On the 23d ult. , Mr. William Barton, of Clottdesley-ter Islington, aged 69. ung e't On the 26th ult., at Clapham, Elisabeth Caroline, Y°:,.t. daughter of the late L. Hate, M.D.; of Upper G o wer-st r : - - - •-..._!-•----,,,,. 0 London : Printed and Published by MURDO yovi".":6 0 No. 112, Strand, at The Sun Office. No 112, stow the County of Middlesex, Monday, May 2, 1842. to the and ti Share after be rni to con letter ! ofEcei obtain S' Mo in th THR hit Depo M Opini Ma the Sto the le. 9 Ge ether the If vestm o 8 ° eon afore*. to tar subj ee said sr , v ap. g ; Law. Aft, Of tlle VV The 1 )ISC at Tw CEIV For an Above Above cfl NViTiiat farnilie every r son, sirou s and in, decide ( 11 Yeries 'iarn-st front T tent o . I )ENi Nic e In readers Str Vicatic Patr 1 11 R. , nlent s 53 . 6d. ,e x Asti 4d, Mottle iet Alec; 4 p. Tim' 'or qt. NI,