The Sun. — London, England, 1842-05-28 00:00:00

rramosmoil ent tbaff , n of her ne to to et whicb it vio,: es peet of 11 e , if iv ofl Mr. of tit' ,e ►u not precis discos , ' to thro he blutis I to tIO on wb sP transa v Or HA :had° Phi 0.; to a the 0°- ring e nY uld c° ° ' tisi ber t, the ,edisutl' f e er, tb haveit w • the tug 7 Dtill o+ tth hoses t s td in fa r e nt O.,*EL 00 0° Ofg ° lesl,s r e s ia ef e , 1' I a s - t ee pe e 10 fie by Mr. War btu% too in his petitio n . On the 24th of August, the day the io etitioa was ' , resented, Alr. Warburton sent his igel i t, to If! Mr.C.' s ) agent, asking f_r a delay of twenty-four hciurs, in order that iiegoti itions might take plane. Ile (Air, C. ) " h oJeet e d to i t, but ultimately consented ; another twenty-tour Mitch e ll was th en requested, and it was then said that if Mr. Initehell did not accept the Chiltern Hundreds Mr. Warburton n`Wuld• hat h a d h appene d? M r. W ar b urton reques ' e d an erviev i ' that with him th a t even i ng Mr. Warburton then stated behad would not take the Chiltern Hundreds, and that he not at fi rs t k nown that any allegations had been made af eetirig his character. But, said he, " I have a character to PPP°rt•—(Cries of " Oh, oh.") I cannot shrink from the i nvestigation." To that he (Mr. Cochrane) replied t hat he had never sought to delay the presentation of the peti • 1 2 .. a. A long conversation then ensued, whieh lasted about two 4r. , at the end of which Mr. Warburton again said, that he sho w,. not accept the Chiltern Hundreds. There was then an explicit understanding between his (Mr. Cochrane's) agent and S u l t e i nta gzetenit; of Mit 4, Mr. Warburton, that :he petition against Mr, Lell should be proceeded with, so that the second seat might afterward be &mined for Mr. Warburton. Mr. Warburton (Ai _ s accepted the Chiltern Hundreds, and engaged him l i, r• Cochrane) to prosecute the petition against Mr. Mitchell. fute 'aid ' " our object is to get Mitchell out of the way; for the ebee r r e we shall our seats one and one."—(Loud and continued ; di e on the Ministerial benches.) He (,11r. Cochrane) li e d rWa tda went down to Bridport, after Mr. Warburton byb the the Chiltern Hundreds. He was then returned Mi constituency He had stated, certainly, in Bridport he lir, Warburton's' conduct had been most' honourable; riot wish to retract that assertion. But at the same e he should say it was a little ungenerous of Mr. NA ar ,J,l,°rl to publish the letters of his (Mr. Cochrane's) agent, bate he had suppressed a letter of his own which had contri ve eed much to induce him to make the statement in Mr. re ceived arbur thies favou r . O n th e 4th o f S e ptemb e r his agent a letter from Mr. Warburton to this effect The snor e ;,P oi nts you ca n th row i n my sca l e by s t a ti ng that through eertne whol e negotiations I have been actuated by honourable fr e „,, in r. and by a d es i re to save m y f r i en d s in the borough part wsgrace, the greater will be my influence in leading my p n yer,." of 4 to atte n d to reason, " (as we understoo d . —L ou d cries h and laughter on the Ministerial benches. ) ra s hi ' s 0 1 r. Coch rane ' s ) arr i va l i n th e b orou gh, .he found tlen elf threatened with opposition. fie had found an opposi twiithreatened to him by those very gentlemen, whose neu arra Y bad been insured to him before he left London. An _ cu d article whi e z t e i n ient was afterwards entered into to avoid the opposition s ee , "ad been threatened in the borough to his return. The of that arrangement was, that the petition e l re i at Alr. Mitchell's return, was to be presented on such do pes:int-4'Y evidence only as would not implicate any other n et , h ; and if such evidence proved insufficient, that the poi linotnerrertrlet be '`,;" ssl d be abandoned. That last arrangement, it should red, superseded the ether which had been in London. It was most unjust of the -fact: not for Liskeard, if he were aware of that (Me. Cochrane) to have mentioned it in his statement. He moan 'ochrane) carried out, to the best of his power, the t'gement into which he had entered. He had done so i t u t rea t personal expense ; although he remembered, at one th i a t Mr. Warburton bad slid that the question of ex -11.44- should be an open one. He did not know what the set t L' e ntlernan had called " an open question ;" but the re ..„.("as that he (Mr. Cochrane) had to pay the entire expense. liiarond cries of " Hear, hear," and laughter.) In the mean ..re a ,„. Pl 41 r. Warburton engaged him to delay his deciston with ~,,,- e set to the Presentation of the petition. His colleague had I ,7 as /seated his seat in February, as had been expected. It 1 4 4 the o pinion of hi s Co u n se l, that they could not success , hilt PrOsecute that petiti on , wi th ou t the evidence of Mr.l% ar attio as 'it : 41.3 agent; and they did not rece I ive hat evidence, until too late to make use of it. n the mean time, rtae n : had been commence d ag a inst his (Mr. Coch.- t r i ed ) friend s i n the borough, w h o were to b e w at the next Somerset Assizes. He then found, while he betti at to carry out his arrangement with Mr. Warburton, ,„,?''old not carry on the petition against Mr. Mitchell with- ItiVnaPlieating other parties, contrary-to the agreement . entered Net: Bridport. Mr. Warburton himself did not wish . those were to be implicated. If Mr. Warburton's own evidence do.. given before a Committee he could not again have gone )41.wsani6to the borough ; because it appeared from his own ad- Ju r 4, in the petition that he had bribed nine or ten parties. C BULLER—He never said so. gon e r* t ' O CHR.ANE—At all events, if that evidence had been o w. i nto Mr. Warburton could net again have gone near - Brat tie would say th a t o p en ly. U n d er th e c i rcu mstances in Vie r i„: ,s4 ` was placed; he found it advisable to write to Mr. Al t T t ", r tun, stating that as there was no probability of inducing •ae le ; "liteliell to yield, and as his (Mr. Cochrane's) friends and • threatened with heavy penalties, he found it necessary to ae d thaw the petition, and thus rescue his friends from danger 0 "le borough from disgrace. That letter was dated the s e i eh lit :f March. He had ' stated the case as fully as he could, Lethi tit °e t. euPYing the time of the House with needless details. oe allow e d t o remar k that he had read no letter which I l a s s, }private or confidential, while everything in the petition re (ITO t o transacti ons o f a p r i va t e an d c nfidential nature.— eith ea r bear.) He would now state a fact which would probably W h the House. It had come to his knowledge that M r . •is uvah n ron had b e en endeavouring to undermine him in th e th e "gu ; and had stated that he himself had never wished a li Petitionhiseinent against Mr. Mitchell to go on, lest it might lead to e -i ,„, disfr anc of the berough. In September his agent ‘ 4l to his ast on i s h ment , h a d received a very singular t e q n est from th e agent o f M r. W arburton, that he would write Igletter., stating that he had been no party to the petition a inst Mr. Mit c h e ll. Th e only object of that request must /5 been that he might be enabled to exculpate himself at 1,(1." (Alr. Cochrane's) expense from any blame from the electors hthe borough.. Mr. Warburton . afterwards . wrote . a letter to is friends Bridport, which was extensively circulated among the electors, which was to the fellowing effect He under- Stood that the news of his retirement, and the unopposed re ''tarn of Mr. Cochrane, had occasioned great excitement among the Liberal party. This was gratifying to him so far, as it - afforded evidence of the attachment to the cause in which '-they had. been associated for so many years.—( Hear, hear. ) 'lklany of his friends, he was t o ld, wer e i m pli cate d in corrupt 'liroceedings in the borough • and he had n o t on l y to d efen d hi s ' 'aw n case , b u t th e case of others. For the sake of his friends, - And for the reputation of a constituency which he had so long .41 Presented, he bad been induced to offer his seat as apropit iation ?• Bose who had the character of the constituency at their mercy. vie borough of Bridport would stand among those which were. &Ed down as the most notorious in the annals of borough . 4ering.—( Hear, hear.) Such a case might be shown as ~7. i ght lead to the suspension of the writ, arid all this he had en i7oured to prevent by the course he had pursued. Let not st.,z;excellent friends in the borough be among those who had Att. : l ' 6 d his advice ; he adjured them not to be parties to any h 4 t h,lit th return a Lib era l M em b er i n t h e present vacancy, ee p te ld to the pres s u re o f a d verse c i rcumstances, an d l i ve in grees e t ti cw of a more propitious . period."—(Hear, hear, and in ten- 3144 4 14 7, .with which the Hon. Gentleman was frequently ax beh eii „ . ouring the reading of the letter.) Now, could had ;. ed , (continued the Hon. Member) that the gentleman ipetition?, - "t p .ten that letter would have put forth the present n Othi„:l ll ear.) In what he had stated he believed he ' set d .- 4 , 5 e xtenuated," in a single circumstance, nor had he 113- ce h — fl w ,h aught in malice" towards Mr. Warburton ; lie 4eV eSt6.„ - Th e nts moreover, that if every fact should be fully %et t r p ,7 4 l it would rather strengthen than weaken the AgogWa"ed• He was led on, day by day, in a course d 11.. better reason condemned, and in that way he had sanction to a statement opposed to all argument ` = baking 4" truth. He did not wish in any way to make any ';lao st r emarks respecting Mr. Warburton ; he had felt al ''dig Mill in stating all that he had done, because, when he vetL" e et on th e con d uct h e h a d pursue d towar d s hi m (M r. lard 'r e ), the m ild es t t erm h e cou ld use w i t h re -,slat.4 it was, that it was ungenerous. In making toliti f „ etb ent refer r ing to an individual just ent er i n g m al l ife, every fact ought to have been fully substantiated. could not so lightly pass over his conduct towards the tl,!h itself, and even (he was sorry to say it) with respect .k ti ,!truth the petition. He found in the first page of the -,iti t in. that hesaid in 1826, when he became first connected k W tn e bOrOUgh, he found it an established custom to give -tare to the electors ; that a twelvemonth after his re- to paid to his agent 2,0001. which he had no doubt was Ale 11 ° ' i tluidate that demand. He found that in the debate of petit' of February, 1631, when Lord Ebrington presented -the `, l ° ll from a gentleman of Bridport, which stated that t ° th e il' it tOrs were accustomed to receive 101. per vote, Il ata - „' u tr. Warburton replied, that the gentleman whose - tha, "as attached to the petition, was a very respectable iluacter, but that he (Mr. Warburton) had a petition from t ag t er ?ox body of the constituency, praying for Parliamen- W ere R eform —(L aug ht er )— an d that none of those persons tie 4 t i eon cerned in th e matter ; that this was the second peti ties . e had h a d t h e honour o f present i ng f rom t h e same pate e n, 110 f avour of the purity of election.—( Laughter. ) He • s ag that a t present nothin of the kind was known— Wasti a ,` ' a ughter)—not even in the shape of drinking; that it e lect' : "Mora for the successful candidate, some days after his e Sist.', l ° ..to give one di nn er ; and, he beli e v e d, if no thi ng worse Wi,f m in other parts of the count r y than existed in eliteurt, therewould be no great need of R e form —( Laught e r. ) hew (e,intinued the Hon. Member), he could not conceive ~c ' itc 4 4l, y gentleme n w h o could have s tated thi s , i n th e H ouse ' 1 , 4 4 f„ fli tins, could have ventured to present such a petition to 'eron - l es e• And with regard to his conduct towards the i 4 all , he f e lt d eep l y f or t h e pos i t i on i n w hi c h h e h a d p l ace d %e e l I na own statement, lie had been returned for the N4 4 4 g° thre e or ! our t i mes f ree o f ex p ense , and what was his "/cry.,Qt with reg ar d to th e con stitu e n c y ? Why, he was the eler r 'on to turn common informer against them—( Hear, , 0,4 4 the w as t h e very man to come f orwar d an d ma k e h is ' 4 . 4 l4.e.t ee tia the grounds on which they were to be subjected to v4 tic . : sand punishment.—( Hear, hear.) Really he could not `he e• k; e ,What change could have come o'er the spirit of his 9rt- 1 but a short time since he had seemed a second Prepared to leap into the gulf to save them, and . now ed to think that the best course was to throw his rien "Sr t o fin it up He (Mr. Cochrane) did feel that a grea. s east on * the constituency ; at any, time it threw a 1 1 4 , 1 'ilto on an electoral body, when a charge was made . ; 4 18 te e an T Particular borough, and the case was still worse Marge was made by a gentleman who had been for 4eTiyears connected with the borough.—(Hear, hear.) If ttlie:"l charge was monstrous ; if it were true, he knew no atati i :P *t bet that could be applied to the conduct of Mr. War tie -- (Hear, hear.) He could say that if an thienemy had l ead they cou ld par d on it, b u t w hen a companion and a i l etve t ' L d it, it was i nexcusa bl e . H e mus t now ma k e one ob • 1j3,.., on the general question ; perhaps the House might tea % "Port to the other boroughs, and he admitted that in all • e , e4 " 5 in which it had been proved that bribery had existed ' 4ll ' tb"Promise s h a d ta k en p l ace , it was a que s ti on th a t ca ll e d 1 ) 4P. 5. , .e con sideration of the House. But who was to blame? th ose who t oo k a d van taee of the imperfection of their tett e :, or those who would not provide a remedy for that nu t? Would the House stop at Bridport,,or would they te em to Tiverton and Stroud.—(Loud cheers.) Hon. er fo r Bath (who was not present) had talked for tl , 1311 1 of Indemnity ; he should rather call it a Bill . be kes e eXterision of perjury, for they would find no lack of wit tht „while they were supported stop e public expenr, and Re eer s o ": extent of the evidence w y limited by their own i i !ous e ' t Y and credulity. He felt that if the power . of the ,91e do as unlimited, then these was the more necessity that out ihe ese should limit its exercise. They spoke of privileges, whi c h Y ought to to act as to preserve their great support, ttal ei.t w aspubli c Op i n i on. They might be establishing a pre tel,,tit winch would be perhaps of little use to men of limited ir'aj, iri Y and influence, but which, in the hands of a corrupt Pose s t y' Might be made subservient to the basest party po 4te ir ,_ 0 . 1 tyrannies, that which s h ou ld be the roost carefully a e i vi t7o against, w as the tyranny of a majority, and of . if Pri vile ges. th a t which ought to be the most guarded was the )il rnrae ge of a mi nor i ty. - lle felt, in conclusion, that the pro a!4.4,es.of that H ouse ought to be to it what personal honour ielt u :_ Individ ua l s; i t ought to animate all their actions, and sit all th e i r d eal i ngs, but it should not be too loosely set do nor too slightly asserted. (The Hon. Gentleman wn amid considerable cheerin ) 1,444 r. MITCHELL said, if the b II just sat down felt h • • in • the ' Honourable Member who some hesitation a (messing tou r ' It was still more the case with himself. 1, 4 , was it a light matter for him to be brought into collision s h , a gentleman like Mr. Warburton He was not there to in • f e -Mr. Warburton's public character. Although he ciif rifr.°4l him in some points of polities, still he appreciated letrba 'form tenor of his political life. Be believed that Mr. urton entered that House an independent and unflinching and that he had maintained his course as such. Cer .4oe:l in any observations he should make as to his private con bee,;! .. he sh ou ld spea k with great relu c t ance, arid the greater, se pe us e he Was extremely sorry that th e c h aracter of a public man s pected as that gentleman should in any way be dama g ed. °r e noti c i ng the allegations contained i n the petition he must refer to a statement which had been widely circulated in the clubs of London, that he had acted with exceeding ingrati tude towards Mr. Warburton, because he owed his seat for the borough to Mr. Warburton's influence. Mr. Warburton him self had been too prudent to put any such statement in the petition, because lie well knew that he (Sir. !Mitchell) went down to the b.uough without any nommunication with him, and that he was not indebted in any way to his influence for his election.—( Hear. ) The first statement of the petition seas to the effect that. Mr. Warburton saw Mr. Mitchell, and told him tnat his estimated majority was only four, and advised him to weigh well the discretion of continuing a candidate under such circumstances. Now, that statement was totally incorrect. Mr. Warburton had never told hint one single word about an estimated majority of four; on the contrary, his reason ing was, that he (Mr. Mitchell) had a connexion with gentle • men in the borough, that if he quarrelled with his agent, and did not go down as a candidate, his friends in the borough would consider him to have been ill-treated by the agent, and that, therefore, art other candidate going down on the Liberal interest would stand a poor chance of being elected. Ile pledged himself that his statement of the interview was the correct one. He now came to the statement, that he had resolved to carry his election by force of money. He wished to state in the most distinct terms, as a Member of that House, and a gentleman and man of honour, that, when he a ent down in 1841, he had not the least intention, so help him Ged, to give any bribe to any invididual in Is - ridport. To corrobo rate that, he would mention that, before he went down, he arranged with his agent that the expenses should not exceed a certain sum, and that that sum was less than Mr. Warburton himself had ever spent, according to his own allegation, at any election for the borough. Now, the next thing he would no tice, was the reference to Mr. Hutchinson. In his opinion. Mr. Hutchinson's name had been most unhandsomely brought into this petition. From reading the petition, every one would conclude that he was some paid agent, like Mr. Coppock, who went down with him to assist in procuring his return.—(Cheers from the Tory benches.) This was not correct. Mr. Hutchinson was a gentleman of very high stand ing as a merchant of London, a gentleman of the most unim peachable honour and integrity. He fully admitted that Mr. Hutchinson was his personal and particular friend, but he went down because he had from his earliest years been in close and direct communication with the manufacturers of the borough ; and because this gave him considerable influence amongst them.—( Hear, hear.) When he heard the s atement in the petition the other night, he had stated distinctly that Mr. Hutchinson was not his agent. With reference to the other sums which were alleged to have been expended, he again pledged his honour as a gentleman that of those . sums he had never paid one farthing ; that he had never premised to pay them ; that he had never received an account of them ; arid that no relation of his had paid or promised them on his behalf. He would next refer to the general allegations of bribery prac tised after he had gone down to the borough. He would nut go into those allegations further than to observe that they were not true ; and that if they were, they must have come to Mr. Warburton's ears through the interchange of strictly confiden tial communications, and that Mr. Warburton, in making them known to the world, had been guilty of a gross breach of con fidence.—(Hear.) He would not accuse Mr. Warburton him self of bribery ; but he must say, that if he had intended to commit bribery a more convenient course than that of leaving his agent to do what he pleased could hardly be conceived.— ( Hear.) Mr. Warburton stated that at the last election he spent 2,100/., whilst at every previous election he had spent about 1,700/. The difference he stated to have arisen from sundry breakfasts on the morning of the election. He (Mr. DI.) lied been informed that similar breakfasts had been given at pre vious elections; but whether that were true or not, he had no hesitation in saying that they could not have cost more than 501. altogether, and it remained to be explained how the re maining 3501. had been e-xpended.—( Hear, hear.) It was alleged that Mr. Warburton's agent had lent his (Mr. Mit chell's) agent 1501. He supposed that that arwe from the close intimacy which subsisted between the two agents ; be that as it might, he had since been told by some of his friends that that sum was entirely unnecessary. He now came to what he conceived to be the most important point of all—namely, whether or not he lead sacri ficed Mr. Warburton at the last election.—( Hear. ) ' With regared to the question of the non-payment of the agent :—although he had refused to pay the agents' accounts — and he did not know that any person was obliged to pay every sum demanded of him—yet there were other gentlemen totally unconnected with him, who had guaranteed the payment of that account, so that there was no excuse for the rupture. He denied that Mr. Warburton had ever expressed his sur prise at the non-payment of the accounts. No such conimuni cation had ever taken place. He would now come to what 1 , ad taken place in the month of August. A day or taco before the meeting of Parliament, Mr. Warburton's agent had come to him (Mr. Mitchell) and said that a disclosure of secrets had taken place, and that he (Mr. Mitchell) must resign his seat at once ; and on the next day a long conversation had taken place on the subject, in the course of which he (Mr. Mitchell) had distinctlyadmitted that if it should become necessary for one of them to resign his seat, it was his (Mr. Mitchell's) duty to do so, but as no election petition could come on for trial before the month of February or March, he had said he saw no grounds for coming to a hasty decision on the subject, and had asked for that time to collect materials for his defence. Shortly afterwards he had received another communication, stating that if he did riot give up his seat it was Mr. Warburton's determi nation to resign ; for that Mr. Warburton had determined that not even a petition for bribery should be presented against him. His (Sir. Mitchell's) reply was, " Good God ! am I to be sa crificed to Mr. Warburton's purism. —( Cheers and laughter. ) Why a petition might be presented against Sir Robert Peel for bribery. "—( Item-wed laughter.) He had said that because he knew pretty well how he could defend himself —(Laughter.) That was a matter pretty well understood—( Laughter)—and he considered it a folly for either of them to resign his seat six or eight months before any necessity could arise for their so doing. The agent said, " Mr. 'Warburton has made up his mind that he will not have a petition presented against him accusing him of bribery, and if you do not resign your seat, he web' He (Mr. Mitchell) had again urged the extreme folly of this course of proceeding, and had refused to resign. Mr. War burton, at the same time, had sent down to Bridport to endea vour to get up a requisition, calling upon him (Mr. Mitchell) to resign his seat, and the first gentleman who had been waited on, and who had throughout these transactions proved himself the firmest and most judicious friend Mr. War burton had got, stated that he could see no necessity for either of them resigning, and would not sign the requisition. At the end of fourteen days Mr. Warburton had resigned, and then his next proceeding was to endeavour to get his Hon. Colleague (Mr. Cochrane) to turn him (Mr. Mitchell) out, and at his (Mr. Cochrane's) expense, as the cheapest mo:.le of regaining the seat.—(Cheers and laughter.) Mr. Warbur ton knew that the Liberal party in Bridport was the strongest —that in general it could return two Members—yet he offered to divide the borough of Bridport for the future with a gentleman of different politics to himself; he offered to sacrifice his party, to sacrifice the borough of Bridport, so that he might but be permitted to keep his seat.—(Cheers.) Not only had Mr. Warburton carried on the petition, but he had identified himself with the actions for bribery brought against his (Mr. Mitchell's) supporters, so that Mr. Hutchinson and several other gentlemen were to be ruined, in order to enable Mr. Warburton to walk into his (Mr. Mitchell's) seat for the borough. From the statements in Mr. Warburton's petition, it would appear that he (Sir. Mitchell) on January 24, had been the first to refuse to sub mit the matter in dispute to arbitrators. Would the Home believe that, when that arbitration had been first proposed by certain of their mutual friends, that Mr. Warburton had been the first to refuse to submit to it ? A fortnight after that first proposition, finding things were likely to take an unpleasant course, Mr. Warburton had expressed his willingness to submit to an arbitration, but he (Mr. Mitchell) knowing he had a good defence to the petition, had refused. He now came to consider that part of the petition in which Mr. Warburton called upon the House to refer it to a `elect Committee, and he could not but consider it as rather remark able that the Hon. and Learned Member for Lath should be absent cn this occasion.—( Cheers and laughter. ) An Hon. Memssea said " he has been here, but has been obliged to leave the House from indisposition." Mr. MITCHELL could not see how as far as he was concerned, this petition could be properly referred to that Committee. He had been no party to any compromise. He had made no admissions of guilt—(Cheers)--he had stood his ground manfully.—(Loud cheers.) True, his Hon. Col league had withdrawn his pet ition,but how could it be expected that he would prosecute, at his own expense, a petition from which he was to derive no benefit? True, he himself hail withdrawn a petition against his Hon. Colleague, which had been entrusted to his care, and his reason for doing so was that he had been assured by his counsel that the petition was mere waste paper.—(Cheers.) It alleged that bribery had been committed at the election in June. Now as his Hon. Colleague had been elected under a new writ in the month of September, his counsel had told him that bribery committed at a previous election could not vitiate the return.—( Cheers. ) If, because these petitions had been withdrawn, that was to be considered as a case of compromise, he should like to know where they were to stop. He could te-morrow come down with a list of at least thirty boroughs, in which petitions had been withdrawn, and which must therefore be referred to the Committee. It waserue fifty-one actions had been brought to recover penalties to the amount of 25,0001., but that was only a part of Mr. Warburton's system to get the seat at a cheap rate, by frightening him (Mr. Mitchell) into resigning. He (Mr. Mitchell) was not, however, to be frightened.— (Cheers.) The House knew that there was a great difference between bringing an action and carrying it out. Those actions, however, had all been given up, but they had not been given up at the same time that the petitions had been given up. He had gone through all the points, and there was only one more paint to which be wished to draw the particular attention of the House, and that was the letter of Mr. Warburtoc, to which Isis Hon. Colleague had referred. This letter was ad dressed to friends with whom he had been long in the habit of acting, and in the petition those individuals were denounced. He (Mr. Mitchell) could only say tt , at if they were, upon alle gations of bribery from a party who was a disappointed can didate, to appoint a Committee of Inquiry, that the House would have nothing else to do but to appoint Committees from one year's end to the other.—(Cheers,) He had been par ticularly anxious to draw the attention of the House to the point where Mr. Warburton made a demand upon him (Mr. Mitchell). Had that demand been made in proper time it would have been different, but it was perfectly absurd the manner in which it had been brought forward. Sir THOMAS WILDE said that after having heard the speech of the two Hon. Members, he certainly should not have thought it necessary to have addressed the House on the sub ject of this petition, but that the two Hon. Members them selves had made such statements to the House that he could not for a moment suppose that whatever hesitation there might be to the prayer of the petition being granted, they had confirmed all the material allegations of the petition as far as those alle gations related to this borough. The parties had admitted these allegations themselves, or he should not have thought at necessary to trouble the House with any remarks, as Mr. Warburton was a friend of his.—( Cheers from the Ministerial benches.) He felt no necessity for disavowing Mr. Warburton. —( Hear, hear.) He felt no discredit in claiming that gentle man's friendship,, nor was he aware that he was less entitled to be heard because he rose for the purpose of setting that gentle man fairly before the House.—( Cheers and counter-cheers.) This petition came before the House in a judicial form, and the House was bound to exercise its judgment upon it, and refer it to a Committee to inquire. If any eelividual should have been in the House at the time, and stopped for a moment to consider the House as a judicial tribunal and called upon to exercise most important functions, how would they be struck to observe the very loud and continued cheers with w hich every statement reflecting upon that party appeal ing to the House of Justice was met on the other side of the House?—( Cheers.) He appealed to the House whether one single remark which reflected upon Mr. Warburton had not been received with gladness by every Hon. Gentleman on the opposite side of the House?—(Cheers.) Mr. Warburton stood in a peculiar contrast with the Hon. Member whose remarks upon Mr. Warburton had been so much cheered. That cone trast might be presented with two aspects. First, Mr. War burton was not there to be heard in his own behalf.—(Cheers and laughter.) The other two gentlemen had been heard in their own defence, and most fully heard. In the next place, Mr. Warburton was heard, praying for inquiry, pledging him self to prove the allegations before a Committee. The other gentlemen were there making contradictions and opposing the inquiry. Mr. Warburton said, " why make charges against me—my character is involved—bring me to trial— let me hear the charges"---(Loud cries of " No, No.") He said Mr. Warburton was there because charges were made against Ile trusted he ea cr r i , es he o a f r :;N A O, n n H o o . might t b h e i heard.—(Hear, ar d —( . 1 :-- ° ' n ' o ) urable Gentleman who said No, might rise in h i s p lace and sa y N o in due order , ( u H d and prove that it was no. He trusted they would be so good s as to hear him in confirmation of his views, that Mr. War ( burton ought, seeing that these charges had been made against him, and seeing that these imputations had been cast upon hint, to be granted an inquiry. He was certain that Mr. Warburton would not hate been there except for that reason. Mr. War burton resigned his seat. He said be would resign his seat, and he would sacrifice his interest to his friends. He gave ue his seat, but he would not give up his character. —(Laughter and cheers.) When a gentleman came forward and prayed for an inquiry,.and stated his object in asking that inquiry—be cause'cliarges were made against him,lhe asked was it justi e to refuse it? Was it inconsistent that a man should sacrifice his interest in order to save those from whom he had received kindness, and that when it became a matter of personal dis• grace he called for an inquiry, by which, if he was guilty, his character would be condemned, and if his motives were otherwise than those which had been alleged, it could be proved ? He said, "Do not take my character away without evidence."—(Cheers.) The two Hon. Members concerned were then in that House, but the principal party concerned could not speak in his own behalf. The petition stated, a pledge had been given to present a petition against one of t. e sating Members. That pledge was withdrawn, and both lion. Mem bers admitted that such was the fact. Another engagement was that no opposition should be offered to Mr. Cochrane, and Mr. Warburton wrote that letter which had excited so much merriment in the House, supporting Mr. Cochrane. That let ter was a bona fide letter, written for the purpose of preventing opposition to the Hon. Gentleman. What was alleged as the motives of Mr. Warburton ? It was alleged that the letter was written for the purpose of getting the borough disfranchise a. Upon that Mr. Warburton resigned his seat, and he agreed that, as far as he was concerned, there should be no opposition to the Hon. Member. He then wrote a letter, which ap peared to him ( Sir T. Wilde), to be perfectly unexceptionable for the purposes for which it was intended ; in it he urged every motive which he thought would be likely to operate in such a manner as to prevent them from taking any part against the Hon. Meir ber. Mr. Warburton interfered no further than to prevent opposition. And that letter which the Hon. Member desired to ascribe to another cause, was written to his agent, expressing a high sense of the honourable conduct pursued by Mr. Warburton. Mr. Cochrane, who stood in opposition to the Hon. Member, was attending the proceed ings of the election ; the Hon. Member requested the agent of Mr. Warburton, Mr. Warburton not being there, to introduce them to the Committee of Mr. Cochrane, to state that their words might be relied on. Mr. Nicholets, who was not Mr. Warburton's agent, introduced them to the Committee, not with Mr. Warburton's knowledge. or with the slightest authority from Mr. Warburton so to do. With him the Hon. Member entered into an engagement, which he said was the second engagement, and superseded that made with Mr. Warburton, and of this second engage ment Mr. Warburton knew not one wcotd. If Mr. Warburton and the Hon. Member were at issue on that point, there were written documents which might be relied on to which he could refer. Did that arrangement, however, as it stood, supersede the previous arrangement? The letter which was written after the recognised previous arrangement would show—( The lion. and Learned Member then read a letter, dated the 27th of September, which spoke in high terms of Mr. Warburton's conduct, and concluded with, " All I beg of you, for Mr. Warburton's sake is, not hastily to decide on steps as to li.'s action.") This letter was written on the 27th of Sep tember, ten days from the time of making the arrangement. A most extraordinary use had been made of that letter ; the passage, " All I beg of you, for Mr. Warburton's sake, is not hastily to decide on steps as to H.'s action," was read as though Mr. Warburton's agent wished to press the action. The fact was, that the arrangement made with the t-lon. Member opposite, was that no proceedings should be taken against Mr. Hutchinson ; it appeared that it was afterwards agreed that proceedings should be adopted against Lim, because they would act as a lever against the Hon. Mem ber behind him. The letter was written to induce not to bring an action, and it had been read as if it were intended to stimulate to an action.—( Hear. ) A criminal information, charging the Hon. Member personally with bribery, was after wards moved against the Hon. Gentleman behind him, and that was nosy pending, if indeed it had not been compromised. —(Hear, hear.) Two indictrnepts, charging him with bri bery, had been raised against him.—( Hear, hear.) Six actions also had been brought against him for bribery; they stood for trial first for the Somerset, and then for the Dorset Assizes, but nothing had been heard of them since.—( Hear.) There were 55 charges against him for per sonal bribery, and there was an action against him for 5,5001. Air. Aberdeen, the attorney, defended that action, in which it was pleaded that the Hon. Member's agent had bribed 74 per sons, and the names of those persons were given ; and that plea was put on the record by Mr. Aberdeen. Then there were actions against four other persons for bribery ? What had be come of them? The petition had buried them all. No doubt. being suggested that they had evidence enough to maintain the petition, the opposition prevailed. Application was made for evidence. Mr. Warburton gave the answer which had been read. It was stated that unless the Hon. Member behind him furnished the evidence of bribery, the petition would be with drawn. On the 19th of February a letter was written which was dated Carlton Club, requiring the evidence to he given by the 2lst ; it was furnished by that day, and, notwithstanding that, the petition was withdrawn. Now, hots stood Mr. War burton's charge against the Hon. Member opposite? His charge against the other Honourable Member was that when he came to the borough, he was appointed upon an understanding that -the seat of Mr. 'Warburton was at all events to be secured; and that his friends practised bribery to such an extent, and so mixed themselves up with the friends of Mr. Warburton, that, though the latter gentle man defied any one to pi rive that he had personally or intentionally been guilty of bribery, yet it was impossible that he could retain his seat. He then said, •, I shall therefore resign, unless you do " Was he not right in saying that if bribery could be proved, he would not join with the Honourable Member, whom he had a right to complain of ? The Hon. Member refused to resign, and kept his seat, and his excuse was, " I think I could have maintained my seat, and I have maintained it." That was the excuse, but how did he maintain it ? By a compromise, upon •which the petition which had been presented was withdrawn. He there fore thought Mr. Warburton had fair grounds for the state ment he made. He presented himself to the House protesting that his return was effected by no personal bribery, directly or indirectly, and he prayed the House would inquire into the lacts. There was no doubt that, in 1836, he paid what was called head-money.—(Ministerial cheers.) He was not going to de fend, or say one word in extenuation of that.---(Cheers ) He only hoped that no Member on the other side was guilty of the same.—(Laughter.) He did not turn his head, lest he should look at any particular Member.—( Great laughter and cheering.) "They had heard admissions made in that House, of head-money being paid by Hon. Members. Whatever obloquy attached to Mr. Warburton for such a proceeding, in 1836, there it must rest, and he would not extenuate or defend it.— (Cheers.) But an impression was made on the House unfa vourable to Mr. Warburton, and which he, as a friend of his, should regret to see remain, and which, he believed was nut well founded. It was supposed he made a speech in the House, in 1830, which was inconsistent with the allegations in the petition. The petition stated that certain electors determined to put an end to the payment of head-money after the introduction of the Reform Bill, and required a pledge from him (the peti tioner) to abstain from paying the head-money of any future or previous election. But that was not at all inconsistent with the speech of Mr. Warburton in 1830. He might be willing to surrender his seat for the purpose of not exposing certain electors, as long as he was not subject to a charge of personal corruption, but when the accusation was made he prayed the House for inquiry. If there was any warrant for the charges made, how unwise for Mr. Warburton to press for inquiry. And if the other Hon. Gentlemen were fair and pure, it was surprising they should resist inquiry—( Laughter) that he who was condemned should pray for investi ga ti on , an d t h ose who were acquitted should evade it.—(Lau g ht er. ) How could it be said that there were no grounds for inquiry, when crimi nal proceedings were taken against both Members, one of whom obtained his seat by an agreement not to present one petition, and not to prosecute another? The means by w hi c h the Hon. Member near him obtained his seat, afforded abun dant grounds to justify inquiry in his case also.—( H ear h ear .) They had, therefore, here not surmise or report, they had one seat resigned.—( Hear, hear.) They had both Hon. Members trying to throw obloquy on Mr. Warburton. Now, if the charge was just against Mr. Warburton, did it not, he would ask, furnish a strong ground for the House to act, and upon what ground, therefore, could it be said that inquiry ought to be refused on the present occasion ? There was one ground, and one ground only, on which inquiry could be refused—il it was admitted that bribery was so extensive and general, that it could not be remedied by any measure with respect to par ticular boroughs, but that some general measure must be brought forward for the purpose, that would be one ground, hut when they had before them a case of admitted guilt, to re fuse inquiry would be acting in a most unjust and irtjudicious manner. It had been said that Mr. Warburton had broken faith ; he had dune no such thing, it was the party's own agent that had done so. In conclusion, he would only say, that he left the matter entirely with the House, believing firmly that it would assent to the Committee. Mr. MITCIIELL, in explanation, said he had neither ad mitted nor denied bribery. Sir J. WALSH, after the allusions that had been made to him by his Honourable and Learned Friend the Member for Liskeard, could not give a silent vote on the present question. He was not desirous of shielding bribery ; but his objection to the proposed inquiry was, that it would necessarily be a partial one. It might form a bad precedent hereafter ; a powerful and corrupt Minister might avail himself of the example for the purpose of disfranchising obnoxious boroughs, and thus destroying the rights of constituencies. Mr. HUME hoped the motion for a Committee would be agreed to. No one could say, after the disclosures of that evening, that its labours would not be necessary. Mr. ESCOTT said that it appeared to him the case of the borough of Bridport was very different from the case of the other boroughsupon whose proceedings the Committee were to decide. In the one case, the motion was made by the Hon. Member for Bath, a man whose own character was untouched; while, in the other case, they were requested to institute an inquiry by one who, according to his own admission, had been guilty of corrrpt practices. He did not think that the latter motion should be agreed to. Sir R. PEEL said that he should confess it appeared to him, so far as compromises were concerned, he saw as good cause for inquiry into the case of Bridport as into any other.—(Heat•.) He did net think that the fact of the party soliciting the inquiry having himself participated in the transactions complained of was a sufficient ground for refusing it. He confessed that in his opinion a general inquiry into bribery at the elections re ferred to should not be entered into, but that the case of bribery should be investigated only for the purpose of obtaining evi dence as to the alleged corrupt compromises. The labours of the Committee could not otherwise be brought to a close before the termination of the session. He thought, too, that they ought not to proceed with a view to criminate individuals. He did not think that such a course would be eonsistent with jus tice, because it was a matter of notoriety that for more than twenty years compromises of this kind had taken place. It would be absurd to deny the fact, that individuals were only concerned in defending individual rights, and the opus did not lie on them of exposing the transactions connected with the dif ferent boroughs. To select five or six cases, and to hold them up to particular exposure and vengeance, would be. he con • sidered, inconsistent with justice, when every body who had sat in Parliament for the last 30 years, knew that this construction had been put on the position of Members of Parliament. It had never been implied as a charge against them that, having individual rights to maintain, they maintained them at the lea t cost and trouble. He thought they ought to take effectual security against the future possibility of these compromises, and he considered the most effectual mode would be to institute a searching inquiry into bribery in either of the following cases, namely, where corruption existed in a borough, and individuals were not inclined to petition for the pu: pose of exposing it, or where compromises were made before an Election Committee. in order to prevent exposure. 'I he Noble Lord opposite had undertaken to bring in a Bill on this subject, and he had acted wisely in not bringing it forward too hastily. The Noble Lord knew that he (Sir H. Peel) had offered him all the co•operatien necessary to effect his object, as soon as the principles and de tails of the measure should have been sufficiently matured. He felt inclined to vote for this preliminary inquiry ; but he re served to himself the power of considering whether or not the Committee moved for by the Hon. and Learned Member for Bath, should perform its of iginal intention of inquiring into those cases where bribery had decided the fate of the elec tion. If it was merely a preliminary inquiry as to whether bribery had existed in the past election, he was satisfied that the very first case would last the whole of the session. He recommended that the Hon. Gentleman should take the sense of the House on the preliminary question, and then leave it to be considered what course should afterwards be pursued. THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, MAY 28. , 1842. Lord J. RUSSELL said he perhaps differed in opinion from a large majority of the Howse, as he thought there was less reason to refer this case to a Committee than the others.— ( Hear, hear.) The point that most affected the character of the House was, whether there had been a compromise for the purpose of avoiding an investigation into bribery. If that were established, then there would be stronger ground for further legislation than they yet had. From the petition of Mr. Warburton, and the full statements of the two Hon. Members, they had all the facts relating to the compromise before the House. This was the reason he thought there was the less necessity for referring this case to a Committee than the others. He did not wish to enter into all the details of the case, and the disputes that had taken place between the three gentlemen. Though they gave rather a discreditable exposure—( Hear, hear)—yet he thought they were not of such public interest as to require special investigation. It they were to have an investigation into the bribery in Brid port, the motion ought to have been a different one; it ought to have been for an inquiry at the bar of the House, or before a Special Committee, that had the case of no other borough to try. He thought there was less ground for inquiry in this case than in m triv others, but as there was a full statement in the petition of case of a compromise, he felt disposed to accede to the motion of the Hon. Member. Now he whiled to observe, with re spect to the motion of the Hon. Member for Bath, that the re had been words added to that motion, which he for one did not expect to see ; and he would state in what course he thought the Committee could inquire into bribery and corruption in respect to these several places. He thought they would ascer tain first, if they could, where a compromise had been entered into, and in the next place whether it might not have been made from motives totally unconnected with bribery and cor ruption. It might prove that Members had resigned their seats, because they did not like to face a long inquiry, or because they found themselves in a bad state of health. They would not as certain anything decidedly by ascertaining that certain persons had surrendered their seats by compromise--( Hear, hear.) He thought it would be utterly impossible for the Select Committee to state to what extent bribery had been committed, so as to enable the House to suspend the writ or to disfranchise the borough ; and, in the second place, he thought that was not the mode in which such a Committee should be appointed. There were two modes in which the in quisition might be carried on. They might have an inquiry before an Election Committee in which the facts being stated on oath were reported by that Committee; or there might be a special inquiry, as in the case of Grantham, with respect to a particular borough, with a view to ascertain the state of that borough, unconnected with any mere personal considerations. The motion for a Select Committee with regard to compro mises, did not appear to him to be calculated to answer either o: these ends. He thought the inquiry should be directed to the question whether the compromises were connected with bribery and corruption. Though he did not oi•ject to the pro posal to send the case to a Select Committee, he must say that he was exceedingly sorry that it had been thought necessary to enter into details of these transactions. Sir R. INGLIS said he felt compelled to differ from his Right Hon. Friend on the motion before the House. So far as the constitution of that House was concerned the law had vested in a special tribunal the decision of all questions respect ing it; so far as public morals were concerned, the law had vested in another tribunal the question of punishing persons accused of bribery. They were now endeavouring to transfer the latter jurisdiction to a tribunal which they had already declared to be overworked.—( Hear. ) The Hon. Member for Bath had not even got his machinery prepared for the experiment. The Bill had only been read a second time, and there could be no hope that it would become law before the end of June. He mentioned that, lest the Ilouse, in a fit of virtuous indignation, should mislead itself and the public.-- (Cheers.) It appeared to him that it was phy sically impo•sible for the Committee to do all that was expected of it. He would, before he sat down, merely allude to what had fallen from the Hon. and Learned Member for Worcester, The cheers at the statements of the two Hon. Members for Bridport had not been confined to his (Sir R. s ide of the House, for he heard cheers quite as hearty proceeding from Gentlemen on the opposite side of the House.—(Opposition cheers. ) Viscount PAL 11ERSTON would submit to the House whether they were not running away with rather an exagge rated view of these questions of compromise.—( Cheers. ) Gentlemen seemed to think that there was a great deal in these compromises, which were as culpable as if the object of them had been to withdraw from the cognizance of Election Com mittees facts relating to bribery at elections. Those gentle men seemed to labour under a misconception of the existing law relating to the trial of election petitions. The law con sidered those matters as entirely and solely questions of private right. It did not let in the interest of the public at all at • a third party concerned.—(Cheers.) He thought that was a fault in the law, and ought to be corrected—(Che ers )—b ut they had no right to complain of individuals taking advantage of the law as it was.—( Hear, hear.) The la w i nv i te d com promise; it expressly gave the petitioner power of withdrawing his petition at any time, and the 85th section enacted that if the Committee should be of opinion that the sitting Member's defence of his seat was frivolous and vexatious, they should report the same to the House, and the sitting Member should be punished by being forced to pay the petitioner's ex penses. • So that the sitting Member was told by the law to consider well before he undertook to detend his seat. Sup pose that a petition, being presented against a Member, his counsel, having duly considered the case, sho u ld t e ll hi m t h at b y the flagrant misconduct of his agent bribery could be clearly proved against him—could that Member be expec t e d to d e f en d his seat at the risk of having his defence declared frivolous? compromise And yet, if he resigned his seat he was subjecting himself to the imputation of having a charge of corrupt brought against him, and of having a Committee ap• pointed to inquire into the transaction. — (Loud cheers. ) Just let the House consider the position in which such an individual was placed by the law.—(Cheers.) He ' thought lion. Members were going too fast in attributing, to these compromises that degree of criminality which they seemed disposed to attach to them.--(Cheers.) He thought it desirable that the law should be altered—(Cheers)—he thought that the public ought to be admitted as a third party. —( Cheers.) He denied that the seat was really private pro perty, in which light the existing law considered it. He con sidered that it was a public trust, and that all proceedings re. lating to it ought to be conducted mainly with a view to the public interest.—( Cheers.) The seat was not a private right—(Cheers)—it was a public trust.—(Cheers.) He thought the main object to which they should direct their attention was the system, and not the individual. They should make such a change in the law as would prevent these com promises being made in future. For these purposes he would faithfully and cordially give his vote; but he thought, for all the reasons which had been alluded to in what had passed, that the Committee, which had been agreed to by the House, could not arrive at any conclusion which would materially assist them in that which was the object of their labours. Take the case of bribery. If the existence of bribery were a thing surmised, but not proved, they would then have to go into the cases of ' bribery ; but no man would question the great extent to which bribery had prevailed, and they all knew that the system of bribery had been more extensive than could be inquired into. He doubted, then, the propriety of going into the inquiry to the full extent.—(Cries of " Oh, oh," and hear.) He would tell them why. If the practiee had been as extensive as he was afraid it was, he thought that the public morality would be best consulted by passing some law to prevent its re currence in future; because lie held that if they proved to the couutry that criminal practice s had prevailed, it would tend rather to diminish the magnitude of the offence than to in crease it in the eyes of the public.—( Hear, hear.) There became a kind of sympathy with it, and the abhorrence at it died away. The most useful object to which the labours of the Committee could be directed, would be to consider the mode in which these practices could be prevented. 'That would cer tainly be a more useful occupation for the Committee than in quiring into a few out of many cases , an d h o ldi ng up to o di um a few individuals in which many more ought to share ; and more, after the House had determined in the case of Ipswich that no inquiry should take place, he could hardly understand on what principle the House should act in a contrary manner on the present occasion.—( Hear, hear. ) Lord STANLEY concurred with the Noble Lord opposite, that the House appeared to take up, w ith an ex t raor di nary de gree of energy, the investigation into matters of compromise, which must be known to nsernbers who had sat in that House as long as he (Lord Stanley) had, to take;place at every generel election. The Noble Lord stated quite truly, that an Election Committee was a trial for a private right, and in it the public had no right of interference,---( Hear, hear. ) Agreeing with the Noble Lord thus far, he differed with him in the view which he took of the duty which ought to devolve on the Committee about to be constituted. He differed also with the Hon. Member for the University of Oxford, who con.: sidered that there were only two courses for the House to pur sue, that of examination before a Committee of the House, or before the criminal tribunals of the country. If that were so, if those were the only courses open to the House, he thought there was a great gap about to be supplied.—( Hear, hear.) He thought there was little difference between the Noble Lord opposite and the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir H. Peel) as to the course which ought to be taken. They both considered that the point to be a i me d a t was th e inve s ti ga tion of bribery, not for the purpose of individual punishment, but for the purpose of aiding in future legislation, effectually to apply limits to bribery for the future. He wanted to know, then, what better course they could have for their future legislation than the eli citing by evidence of the system of bribery in all its modifica tions, the different manners in which it might be carried on. He thought there was a great objection to keeping a kind of Parliamentary lion's mouth open, for the purpose of receiving accusations coming from any party. He did not understand the Right Hon. Gentleman nor the Noble Lord, in assenting to the motion of the Hon. and Learned Member for Bath, and pledging themselves to no distinct opinion, as to whether it was right that this ease should be referred to that committee ; but simply to pledge themselves, that on the petition of the Hon. Gentleman lately Member for Bridport, and upon thefitate nients of the two Hon. Members for Hridport, in their places in that House, that it was desirable that that House should enter on the inquiry, not for the purpose of visiting Mr. Warburton, not for the purpose of visiting the other Hon. Gentlemen, with any pi nal consequences, but for the purpose of laying before the House that which hest occurred at Bridport, that which might take place to-morrow, that which would take place year after year, until the House of Commons t oo k suc h s t e p s as would put a stop to such practices. On the one hand he was not prepared to give at that moment a distinct declaration hist it y waes for p m io thes - be for the House upon this point, he thought it wa s a case to he re f erre d t o t h e pr isk a e fi ar r d m . that this was a case which o u g ht not to p ass unnoticed by the House. An inquiry ought t o take p lace in t o the case of Brid port,Committee ; and on the other baud with resp ec t to t h e mot i on of the Noble Lord, to refer this t o the Com mittee appointed by the Hon. .Memberforoeto d Bat e li c , ide ; this was a case th e but he was rep a for ed Lto f Mr. BANKES had ne ver understood that there w as any other motion for an inquiry bef o re the House, but that o f th e Hon. Member for Path. He did not think th is was a case to first motiona nd he that was was therefore madebyprtehpear H e o d n. to iv Member e vote be submitted to the Commi ttee appointed by the Hon. Mem ber for Bath. The House could not with ju s t ice agree to this i petition, and refuse to grant it n any other ease, and that, in his opinion, was a sufficient ground for rejecting the motion. Mr. C. BULLER replied. Sir R. PEEL said he had some doubts as to the Committee which should conduct the inquiry. The Hon. and Learned Member for Bath had a Bill under the consideration of the House to give indemnity to witnesses who were to be examined before the Committee, and it would be necessary, if the inquiry asked for by the Hon. Gentleman was to be r e f erred to a sepa rate Committee, to have a similar Bill passed in that case also, and he thought the pass i ng of many such Bills was open to strong objection.—( Hear, hear.) He thought it would be worth while to consider whether or no these Compromises did not partake of a general nature, and whether this inquiry ought to be referred to the general Committee or n o . Air. C. BULLER made some observat ions which were in. audible in the gallery, in consequence of the loud cries of s• Di vide, divide." Sir C. BURRELL said he did not think that the Members for Bridport were placed in the same situation as the others respecting whom inquiry was to be made, and he should therefore vote against the motion. Strangers were then ordered to withdraw, and the House divided, when there appeared— For Mr. Buller's - motipn Against it .......... ...... s •e. 37 Majority in favour of Mr. Buller's motion —ll9 Mr. C. BULLER then said, that he should move the adjournment of the debate, upon the second motion of which he had given notice, for referring the inquiry to the Select Committee appointed to inquire into the alleged com p rom i ses on the subject of the elections at Harwich, Nottingham, Lewes, and other places, After a short conversation, the motion for an adjournment of the debate was agreed to. • The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at Half-past Two o'Clock. EPSOM RACES. OAKS-YESTERDAY. There are a great many soft folks, pretending to exquisite sensibility, who are continually flinging themselves into rem cies at the sound of a name. The Derby," they exclaim, " there's magic in the name—it is truly talismanic 1" Yes, to those who delight in a picture in which " the toe of the peasant comes too near the heel of the courtier." In a name certainly there is a great deal—when it is ceupled with pleasant, honour able, or glorious recollections—and we know not among the 36,000 words or more that compose our nervous and comprehensive language one that touches our feelings more satisfactorily than the word " Oak." Apart the beauty of that wattle tree, we associate with it—what? It would be long to tellour terr.ble triumphs on the bounding back of old ocean, since the days of the Drakes and Howards of Effing ham, down to those of the Camperdowns and Nelson and Broute. That word is the staple of one of our most common national songs; it furnishes us with numberless comparisons as to our qualities, and nobody could pass a higher compliment upon us, as a people, than to describe us as '• Hearts of Oak." In the " Oaks," then, even when applied to a racing prize, there is something of a warm, stimulating, yet tonic nature— not feverish, but something calm, quiet, fresh, sed invigos ating. And yet fur this prize, bearing so stout a name, the founder of it (one of the noble Derby family calling it alter a mansion of their's, near Banstead, named " The Oaks,") ordained that it should be run for by fillies. Did he thereby mean to slyly insinuate that " the gray mare is the better horse?" The insinuation often turns out to be just, and many times the fillies of the " Oaks " prove themselves better horses than the colts of the " Derby." Be that as it may, the Oaks is —we had almost said invariably— the pleasantest day of all the pleasant ones that compose the Epsom week. It is more classical—more at istocratic —more genteel ; it is stripped of all the ignobile vulgus, and their low habits, practices, and manners, and it presents an English race-course what it ought to be ; to wit, a gathering of the quintescence of our capital city. The Derby day puts us in mind of one of our national theatres on the first night of pantomime—the Oaks of the same theatre when some sound sterling tragedy or comedy is played, unaccompanied by show or spectacle, or anything represented for the specific purpose of propitiating the " gods." Epsom Downs yesterday were not over-run by an immense, confused, and multiform multitude—they were not almost denuded of the " human face divine," as on Thursday—but they were tolerably thronged with the very best specimens of that people of whom the poet said in his review of nations, " I see the Lords of human kind pass by." The weather all through yesterday was remarkably fine— not a drop of rain fell upon the course, and a gent:e breeze that blew across the Downs prevented the heat from being oppressive. There was abundance of sport of a fair average quality, and the principal race having been extensively speculated upon was thereby rendered highly interesting. Altogether the race, though of course less important in the eyes of the porting men than the Derby, was better contested, and, consequently to the many, preyed a source of greater amusement and excitement. The first race having been appointed to take place at half-past two, half an hour later than it ought to be, and its not having commenced until three quarters of an hour after that, all that followed were thrown back, and when they did come off it was hurriedly, as if to make up the loss of time. This bad arrangement, as to time, gave rise to general complaint (and justly), since the sports of the day did not conclude before seven in the evening. The distinguished personages present yesterday being nearly identical with the attendance of Wednesday, to name them would be needless repetition. The sports commenced with,— The Oaks Stakes of 50 NM. each, h ft, for three yrs old fillies, Bst 71b each ; the last mile and a half; the second to rec?ive 100 sovs. out of the stakes. The winner to pay 100 soya. towards the police and regulations of the Course. (114 Subs ) Mr. F. Marshall's ch f, by Bran, out of Fury (Lye) I Mr. Shackell's eh f, Meal, by Bran (F. Butler) 2 Lord Jersey'. f ; by Touchstone, out of Adele ( Rubinson) 0 Lord Chesterfield's hf, Dil-bar, by Touchstone... ..(Scott) 0 Mr. Forth's ch f, Lucy Banks, by Elis ....... ...(Bell) Lord G. Bentinck's eh f, Firebrand, by Lamplighter (Rogers) 0 Lord Exeter's br f, by Touchstone, out of Amima ( Darling) 0 Duke of Graftun's bl f, Utopia, by Jerry... (John Day) t► Mr. F. Thompson's b f Pharmacopoeia, by Physician (Cotton) 0 Mr. Newton's bf Ma Mie, by Jerry (Nail) 0 Mr. Osbaldeston's Sister to Alexandrine, by The Saddler (Wakefield) Duke of Richmond's fby Elis, out of Baleine (E. Edwards) 0 51r. Rawlinson's b f Coral, by Sir Hercules... (Calloway) tr Mi. Shelley's hr f lole, by Sir Hercules (Chapple) 0 Lord G. Bentinck's b f Topsail, by Sheet Anchor ( White- house) Mr. Ridsdale's b f Eliza, by Muley Moloch (Templemau) U BETTING AT STARTING. 2 to I agst Oil-bar 20 to I agst Topsail 3 'o 1 agst Adela filly 20 to 1 agst Meal—taken 8 to 1 agst Fury filly 20 to 1 agst Pharmacopoeia Sto 1 agst I'irehrand—taken 30 to 1 agst Eliza 9 to 1 agst Lucy Banks 40 to 1 agst hale 15 to 1 agst Amima filly—taken 50 to 1 agst Sister to Alexan -18 to 1 agst Ma Mie drina Lord G. Bentinek declared to win with Firebrand. After four failures, in one of which Ma Mie reared up, and threw her jockey, a fair start was obtained, Topsail taking the lead at a good pace, followed by the Amima filly, Dil-bar, Firebrand, Coral, the Fury filly, and two or three others, the others lying well up, with the exception of lole, the Balleine filly, and Utopia, who were beaten early ; Topsail, too, gave way near the turn, and the running was taken up by Firebrand, the Amima filly and Coral waiting on her, with the Fury filly, Dil-bar, Meal, Ma Abe, and Lucy Banks at their heels. In making the turn Dil-bar ran out, and lost her chance, if chance she had ;.the others went on to the distance, where the Fury hlly, a la Attilla, went to the front, headed Firebrand instanter, and went in a very elever winner by a length. Meal laid in the rear in the early part of the race, approached the front, after crossing the last road, caught Firebrand at the stand, and defeated her for the second money by about a length. Ma Mie also waited, came from the distance, and followed Firebrand past the chair ; Coral and Lucy Banks were fifth and sixth, and afterwards came the ruck. Lord Jersey's snare coughed repeatedly before starting ; nor was the Baleine filly at all up to the mark. Value of the stakes 3,1501. Fifty sovereigns for three yrs old colts, Bst 71b, and fillies, Bst 41b, free for all horses that were entered for the Shirley Stake; those which ran for it allowed 51b, the winner of it allowed 31b. Derby course. Mr. Shelley'a Tole, 3 yrs Mr. P. Pryse's Cheops, 3 yrs Sir G. Heathcote's Arkansas, 3 yrs . Mr. Verrall's Junius, 3 yrs lo'e made her own running, and won by 'a half a length A good race for second. The Members' Plate of 50 sous., for three yrs old, 6st 71b ; four, Sit 91b ; five, Bst 131 b ; six and aged, 9st 21b ; mares and geldings allowed 31b ; the winner to be sold for 200 SOY!. Heats, two miles. Capt. Cunwingham's Mango Park, 5 yrs (Buckle) 4 1 1 General Wyndham's Aspatria, 4 yrs 1 2 2 Mr. King's Dahlia, 5 yrs Mr. She! rard's Lady Mary, 4 yrs Mr. G. Clifton's Whalebone, aged 5 5 dr 6to 4on Aspatria. The first heat was won by a neck, after a good race, the second cleverly, and the third easily. The Derby and Oaks Plate of 501. for 3 yrs old, 7st ; 4 yrs, Bst 61b ; 5 yrs, Bst 12Ib ; 6 yrs and aged, 9st ; mares and geldings allowed 31bs, and horses which have started once this week and not won, allowed 31bs ; twice, 511 A. The winner to be sold for 1201. Heats, one mile. Mr. Shelley's bc by Glaucus, out of Malibran, 3 yrs 0 1 1 Mr. Goodman's Miss Fidget, 4 yrs ..... ... 1 0 2 Mr. Jobson's b g Frank, 6 yrs ... 0 0 3 Mr. Lucas's The Traitor, 3 yrs ... 0 2 4 Captain Ives' Folly, 5 yrs Mr. Gai rard's The Dandy, 4 yrs 0 0 dr Lord G. Bentinck's Balcony, 3 yrs 0 dr 0 Lord G. Bentinck's b c by Mulatto, d by Middleton, _ . 3 yrs... (t Exeter's Patchwork, 3 yrs Mr. May's Master Aaron, 4 yrs Mr. Falconer's Miss Emily, 4 yrs 0 dr 0 Capt. Rout's Nicholas, 5 yrs Three capital heats. Malibran c the favourite. ST. LEGER BETTING. 2 to 1 agst Col. Anson's Attila—taken 12 to 1 agst Mr. Allen's Belcceur—taken 12 to 1 agst Mr. Ramsay's Cabrera—taken 18 to 1 agst Lord Westminster's Auckland—taken 20 to 1 agst Mr. Bowes's Meteor—taken 40 to 1 aist Lord G. Bentinek's Chatham—taken We are happy to conclude our notice by stating that the meeting passed off without any accidents of a serious nature, and that the excellent conduct of a large body of the A division of the police, under Inspectors Hughes, Pearce, and May, pre served the most perfect order on the Course. The office of Judge was, as usual, filled by Mr. Clarke, of Newmarket (the Chief Justice of the English Turf ), with his accustomed ac curacy, and we hope next year to have it in our power to com pliment the Clerk of the Course on the state of the running ground. ELECTION COMMITTEE. LYME REGIS. The vote of Cannicott having been struck off; the sitting Member remains in a minority of one. The Committee on meeting yesterday proceeded with the evidence on the objection to the vote of an elector named Wickerai. The objection was founded on the same alle gations of bribery and treating as the other votes that have been struck oil within the last three days. The examination of Mr. Hillman and other witnesses con tinued up to the adjournment. COAL MARKET. Ships arrived since last Market.day, 30. . d., s. d. Adair's Buddle's West Hartley l7 0; Walk End Lambton ......... 2J 6 Carr's Hartley Holywell Main... l6 6 Walls End Stewart's 2O 6 Tanfleld Moor l5 6 Walls End Caradoc 9O 6 Tayloes Hartley West Wylam Wylam Walls End Clennell l6 0 Wale. End Hop k er l6 6 Walls End aosforth 17 6 , Walls End Seymour Tees... 17 u Walls End Heaton IS 11 Walls:End South Durham 17 3 Walk End Hilda ... 17 6 Walls End 'tees Walls End KillingwGrth ... 17 6 wails End West Hetton l6 9 Walls End Riddell's l7 It Anthracite ,. . ,:i 0 Walls End BelmonL Walls End Haswell. ...... ... :1' Howard's Nesherton Main 17 0 BANK OF ENGLAND. Quarterly Average of the Weekly Liabilities and Assets of the Bank of England, front the Ist day of March, to the 21st day of May, 1642, both inclusive, published pursuant to the Act, 3 and 4 W. IV., cap. 98. ASSETS. Circulation £17,533,000 Securities . £21,366,000 Deposits 8,04.5.000 Bullion 7,032,00 £25,581,000 Downing-street, May 27, 1 £28,398,00() LLOYD'S SHIPPING. VESSELS SPOKEN WlTll.—The Naples packet, Barletta to London, short of prov isions; Elizabeth Atkinson, Odessa to Falmouth ; Rover, Ancona to Falmouth. A French brig bound to Havre, which had been in contact off Malaga, with the Homer, of Sunderland, sth inst., oft ditto. Louisa Camp bell, London to New Zealand, March 7, lat. 39 S., lon. 25 ; Guiseppe, Gibraltar to Rio, 2d ult., ht. 2, lon. 25. Sophia Dorothea, Singapore to Antwerp, 7th, lat. N, lon. 23; William Roberts, Liver' 00l to Montreal, 16th inst., lat. 46, ion. 20 ; Le Victor, Binie, to Newfoundland, 17th, by the Dorothea, ar rived at Liverpool ; Brahmin, Clyde to Bombay, December 23, lat. 3 N., lon. 21 E. ; Bachelo, Jamaica to St. Helena, Ist inst., lat. 27, lon. 40, by the Moffat. A BUSINESS HINT.—CaII on a man of business in busi ness hours, only on business ; transact your business, and go about your business, in order to give him time to finish his busi ness MHOS. HARRIS and SON'S TELESCOPES 1 are warranted unequalled by any other house at the prices. Sent, carriage free, to any part of the kingdom. Cash first remitted. Exchanged if not approved. Tourists should not be without one. A pocket telescope to show objects 8 miles off... £0 18 0 A pocket telescope to show objects 12 miles ... 1 10 0 A pocket telescope to show objects 16 miles..... 2 2 0 A pocket telescope to show objects 20 miles.... 4 0 0 Thomas Harris and Son, Opticians, 52, opposite the British Museum, London, established 60 years.—T . H arr i s and Son are neither related to, nor in any way connected with a firm of the same name. HIS MAJESTY the EMPEROR of AUSTRIA, having AUTHORISED and GUARANTEED several DIS TRIBUTIONS of MONEY DIVIDENDS, which (though titey are NO LOTTERIES) over many possibilities of obtain. ing LARGE FORTUNES, HEINE BROTHERS, at HAMBURGH, Ore now Felling SHARES for the said DIS rftIBU LIONS. Persons desirous to purchase may receive, PREVIOUS to giving any order, the PROSPECTUS and PARTICU LARS, upon addressing, WITHOUT DELAY, a line lo HEINE BROTHERS, at HAMBURGH. The NE XT DISTRIBUTION contains 700 MONEY DIVIDENDS, as follows:- 1 ... .. of ...... E 25,000 'Sterling ....•£25,000 Sterling. 1 1,500 1,000 800 600 400 200 150 .... ........... 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 ~.. ..... ..... 50 43 . 593 . 700 Money Dividends, amounting t 0... £72,170 Sterling. HEINE BROTHERS beg further to state, that the NEXT POLISH DISTRIBUTION of MONEY DIVIDENDS will take place on Ist July. LARGEST DIVIDEND, £24,000; SMALLEST DIVIDEND, £lB. SELECTED GENUINE BONDS will be on Sale from 6th till 15th JUNE. The SE LECTION of both Distribw ions is taking place on Ist of JUNE. Hamburgh and Lubeck, 20th May, 1842. THEATRE-ROYAL, ENGLISH OPERA-HOUSE. THIS EVENING, MAY 28. The Performances will commence with the Burlesque Burletta of OLYMPIC REVELS—Pandora, Mrs. H. P. Grattan; Jupiter, Mr J. Bland; Mercury. Miss Murray. After which, the Farce of THE BEE HlVE—Mingle, Mr. Har ley ; Cicely, Mrs. Humby. I'o be followed by the favourite Farce, called A DAY WELL SPENT—BoIt, Mr. Walter Lacy; Mizzle, Mc . Oxberry. To which will be added, GIO VANNI IN LONDON—Don Gio vanni, Mrs. H. P. Gra tan; Leporella, Mr. Harley. To conclude with the Fairey Ballet of LA SYLPHIDE—DonaId, Mr. Gilbert; The Sylph, Miss Bailin. Boxes, 4s. Pit, Fs. Gallery, Is. Doors open at Half-past Six ; commence at Seven ; Half-price, a Quarter before Nine. Priva•e Boxes to be had of Mr. Grogan, at the Private Box-office; and of Messrs. Andrews, Mitchell, Sams, and Batty, at their Libraries ' • f • • ftfp, •-.' " , •,yo yry - - • •• • „t •. Q.' M 0 •• :777 e sv, ~ .fre c toF . ,•• a • 111 W -Ar % • •SI ‘ i • ROYAL SURREY THEATRE. Great overflows—The most splendid Novelties ever witnessed, with an immense outlay, and numbers without conception. THIS EVENING, MAY 28. ....... Will be presented a new Military and Equestrian Spectacle, en titled MURAT—THE PEASANT, GENERAL, PRINCE, AND KING, with Battles, Grand Reviews of Horse and Foot, and gor. gem's t ableaux. After which, in a more extensive and splendid Arena than ever before witnessed, NEW SCENES IN THE CIRCLE, Introducing Mr. BATTY'S unrivalled Collection of Animals, consisting of nu merous and matchless Cream.coloured Horses, Andalusian Chargers, Spotted Coursers, Fairy Palfreys, and Pigmy Poneys, and the most talented Vaulters, Riders, Gymnastics, and Contortionists in the kingdom. PON EY RACES, eclipsing all former efforts, and a real Motikey, the only one trained as Racing Jockey. To conclude with the Grand Burlesque of NORMA. ROYAL SURREY ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. The Nobility, Gentry, Subscribers, and the Public, are respectfully informed that ON MONDAYS, TUESDAYS, AND THURSDAYS, GRAND FESTIVALS will be celebrated, in which will be embo. died all those popular Entertainments that have given to this favou rite place of recreation its peculiar celebrity, with additions and in troduCtions, which it is confidently anticipated will render them even more generally attractive. The MENAGERIE has been enriched by many valuable and im. portant acquisitions in the classes of both Quadrupeds and Birds. The Colossal VIEW OF BOME has been repainted, and in some instances remodelled. Tha BAND will includa some of the most em neat Performers, conducted by Mr. Godfrey. The Programm e of the PROMENADES MUSICALES will be selected from the noblest works of the great Masters. The ILLUMINATION of sT. PETER'S, the GIRANDOLA, the FLAM.NG NESSEN. GER, the METEOR of ST. PETER'S, and a Grand HYDRO PYRRHIC TABLEAU I The Gardens are open Daily from Ten till Dusk. The Evening Fetes, with the Promenades Musicales, Illumination of St. Peter's, Girandola of St. Angelo, &c., will be given on Mondays, Tuesdays, 44 Thursdays. Admission One Shilling. All Advertisements of a Disgusting Character, or Immoral 'Tendency, are excluded from the Columns of " The Sun." int .s Ult. LONDON? SATURDAY MORNING, MAY 28, 1842. It was elicited last night from Sir ROBERT PEEL, by Mr. HUME, that a sum of money had been sent, or as Sir R. PEEL expressed it, some temporary advances have been made, by the Government to Paisley, to re_ lieve the urgent distress of the people. Before the Go vernment took such an extraordinary step, the misery must have been extreme. We do not blame it for re lieving a little of the distress which it causes, but that it is obliged to take on itself—havingno funds of its own, and being obliged to levy taxes for every farthing it expends—the responsibility of providing for a consider able number of the people, is a striking proof of the errors of its system. The whole purport and object of Government is changed by acting on the principle of mo nopoly, and what is falsely called protection. Instead o f the whole people equally contributing to the support of the Government for the common good, the Government is obliged to support some of the people. This is the consequence of acting on a false and erroneous theory. As the Government will take from the Paisley weavers to give to the landlords, it is now obliged to take from the landlords, or some other class, to give to the Paisley weavers. It is thus made plain that Sir R. PEEL'S plan of protecting one interest and another interest by high duties; continually involves, to a cer tain extent, a re-distribution by the Government of the property of the people. It is falsely called Conservative —it is truly revolutionary. Mr. HUME, we are glad to see, has given notice that he will on Monday bring the matter under the considera tion of the House. We trust that those Members who have a sincere'atid thorough conviction of the justice and policy of the principles of free trade, will take the op portunity of proving to Sir It. PEEL that the people do not need his spurious charity, if he would give theta justice. They must prove to him, also, that he is seek ing by his dishonest course and begging-letters the surest_ means to degrade and pauperise the people, by accustoming them to look for support to eleemosynary aid instead of their own exertions. When Sir ROBERT PEEL refers, in the same breath, to Hamburgh, and the distress of our people soliciting charity for both, he overlooks the dis tinction between the two cases. The fire at Ham burgh is an awful visitation, which may not occur again in a thousand years ; the distress of our people is almost a periodical visitation—a chronic disease ; and while subscriptions to rebuild Hamburgh will have no tendency to re-kindle fires, or make more contribu tions necessary, subscriptions to relieve distress have a tendency to augment demands pn charity, and require larger and larger contributions. This distinction must be pressed on Sir R. PEEL and the House of Commons on Monday, and through them on the country. Charity cannot be too much admired when she binds up wounds and heals the broken-hearted. When she follows in the train of Justice, she is most lovely ; but she is too soft and gentle, too yielding and kind, not to inflict much injury when she dispossesses Justice and takes her place. The assertion of the free-traders is, that the protective system is inflicting injury on the com munity ; they point to Stockport and Paisley, and to the general distress, as the proofs of their assertion; and Sir ROBERT PEEL is about, by the employment of charity, to suborn this evidence, and to remove the proofs of his own wrong. Justice would extinguish them. Charity can only hide them for a moment to swell forth a short time hence more alarming than at present. Charity can create no new funds, no new wealth, no additional em ployment. She will merely give of her superfluity. Let Sir It. PEEL do justice to the people, and fresh employ ment will arise, new wealth will be created, and funds be provided for a continual increase of the means of sub sistence. His plan of giving the public money to relieve distress is bribing the people with their own property to submit to injustice. From ten o'clock till two the House of Commons was occupied with the bribery practised at Bridport, and r•-•• • , ~:•.:-' we are happy to say, that the leading men of both parties agreed that it ought to be inquired into. ThCre was some little difference as to the nature of the object for which the inquiry should be instituted, though it was . generally admitted that it should be to lay the foundation for legislative measures ; and it was not finally settled whether the inquiry should be referred to Mr. ROEBUCK'S Com mittee or not ; but the bulk of the House agreed that the matter was so flagrant, that it could not be passed over. The persons who called out No to the motion, and who differed from their leaders, were Sir ROBERT Nous, Mr. G. BANKES, and Sir C. BURRELL, the re ' presentatives of the extreme Toryism and Churchism of the House. Those, then, are the sections of the commu nity which profit by bribery, and which, consequently, wish to encourage it in other parties w:to are becoming ashamed of it, and are constrained to give it up. A more complete exposure of the system than Bridport supplies, it is impossible to conceive. First, the late Member, Mr. I VARBURTON, by his petition, establishes both bribery and compromise ; and next, the two sitting Members, in almost every sentence they uttered, showed that they had been guilty of bribery, and were conscious that the borough deserved to be disfranchised. Sir MOMAS IVILDE's defence of his friend Mr. WAR.. BURTON, and his exposure of the two sitting Members. were complete; and nothing, we apprehend, but that cal lousness which comes from long usage, could enable either of them to retain, for one moment, a seat which has been obviously obtained by corrupt and illegal practices. But they only share what has hitherto been the general opi nion and general feeling of the House, which was riotous with rapture whenever a confession of bribery was blurted out, though it ought to have filled them with shame and indignation. The public will not share the mirth of the House of Commons, and will read with indignation the exposure of the manner in which the representation is made a matter of barter and compro mise, though it excited only the merriment of Honour able Members. Sir ROBERT PEEL, either for the reason we assigned yesterday, or some other as little creditable, opposed the appointment of a Committee to inquire into the bribery at Ipswich, of which a Committee of the House of Com mons, sworn to do justice, has reported that it is guilty of bribery ; and he supported the appointment of a Committee to inquire into bribery at Nottingham, which is only suspected, or rumoured to have been guilty of that offence. In the case of the convicted borough, the House of Commons orders the writ to isstle —in the case of the suspected borough, that said House withholds it. To us this seems a very strong ease of inconsistency in the House of Commons, and in Sir It PEEL. The real case is still stronger. Whatever the ru mours may be, and whatever may be the evidence of notoriety, on neither of which can the House of Commons and Sir ROBERT PEEL act with any show of dignity, the charge against Nottingham does not concern the constituency at all ; it concerns the late Member and ; the late candidate. The charge is, that those gentlemen, or their agents by nod for them, entered into a corrupt compromise, part of which is the giving a bond for a sum of money, in order to secure the seat for Nottingham for the former candi date. Now, that/charge in no way implicates the con stituency of Nottingham. It is a piece of corruption confined exclusively to the late sitting Member, the late candidate, and their agents. The Nottingham Election Committee has reported nothing whatever against the elec tors of Nottingham. The House of Commons, however— the just House of Commons—and the just Prime Minister. who is so tenacious of the rights of the constituencies, that he would, on no account, withhold the writ from convictel Ipswich, will not allow the writ to issue for Nottingham. On theft. own principle they punish the. electors of Nottingham for the rumoured offence or Messrs. WALTER and LARPENT. Such is the con sistency and justice of the House of Commons, led by - Sir R. PEEL. ~~~ COURT CIRCULAR. The Duke and Duchess of Saxe Meiningen, accompanied by Prince George (the Hereditary Prince), and a numerous. suite, arrived soon alter two o'clock yesterday afteinoon at Marlborough Hous,, Pall-mai', the residence of her Majesty the Queen Dowager (the sister of his Srerie Highness), from the Continent. Ia the afternoon the Queen Dowager, the Duke and Duchess of Saxe Aleiningen, and the Duchess of Saxe Weimar. took an airing together in the Parks in an alien carriage and four. Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Kent and the Duchess of Gloucester afterwards paid visits to the Queen Dowager and her Illustrious relatives. Soon after six o'c►ock the Queen. attended by Lady Port man, Lady in Waiting, arrived at Marlborough Howe in an. open homiletic and four, preceded by outriders in scarlet live ries, Colonel Arbuthnot, the Equerry iu Waiting, being oui horseback. Her Majesty remained near an hour with the august party. His Serene Highness Prince George of Saxe Meiningen and his Preceptor, and pact of the Suite of the Duke and Duchess, occupy the King of Hanover's residence in St. James's Palace. His Royal Highness Prince Albert, accompanied, by Count. Mensdorf, and the Counts Hugh, Alphonso, Alexander, and! Arthur Mensdorf, and attended by Colonel Wylde, rode out on. horseback yesterday afternoon. 'their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Kent and thee Duchess of Gloucester visited her Majesty yesterday. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal were taken an airing 3 esterday, in a carriage and tour. His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex visited Prince Albert yesterday. His Excellency Count Afensdorf, and the Coents Hugh, AL phonso, Alexander, a n d A r th ur illeusd)rf, attended by Colonel. Wylde, visited the Royal Academy yesterday forenoon. 'lle Royal Dinner-party at Buckingham. Palace last even ing, included her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, and Lady Anna Maria Dawson. The band 'of the Coldstream Guards was in attendance during dinner. The Duchess of Gloucester, Count Alensdorf, and his sous,. and the Duke Bernard of Saxe Weiner, visited her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent yesterday, at Clarence House, St. James's. The Duke and Duchess of Buccleuc,h gave a grand dinner last evening, at Montague-house, to their Royrl Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and the Princess Augusta of Cambridge, attended by Lady Augusta Somerset, bud a select party. In the evening the Duchess of Buocleuch 'had an evening party. Lord Stuart tie Rotht , ay, her Majesty's Ambassador to the Court of St. Petersbnrgh, arrived in town yesterday. Mr. Gaily Knight, General Goldie, and Colonel M'Arthur.. had interviews with[the Earl of Ripon yesterday at the office of the Board of Trade. Baron Brunow, the Russian Minister, transacted business ;esterday at the Foreign-office. PENINSULAR AND ORIENTAL STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY. The third half-yearly meeting of the Proprietors of this Company was held on the 27th instant, at the Company's Office, 51, St. Mary-Axe, Sir John Campbell in the Chair, to receive the Report of the Directors, and declare a dividend for the six months ending the 31st of March last. The Report stated the receipts of the Company for that half year to be 3,900/. in excess of the previous half-year; that 11,402 shares of 501. each had been subscribed for ; that the paid up capital of the Company amounted to 400,7871. 10s., and that instalments to the amount of 169,312/. were avail able for the further extension of the Company's operations. It also stated that 703 additional shares had been subscribed for in India, where a very favourable feeling towards the under taken had been manifested. The Hindostan, steam-ship, of 1,800 tons and 520 horse-power, would, it was reported, proceed to take up her station between Calcutta, 'Madras, Ceylon, and Suez, in September next ; and the Bentinek, of similar size and power, would soon follow for the same destina tion. Arrangements fur improving the transit of passengers and goods through Egypt were stated to be in active pro f ;ress, and that fresh assurances of the support and co-operation of the Pacha of Egypt, in etfeeting them, bad been recently re ceived. A dividend of 3% per cent. for the half-year was. declared, and thanks to the Directors being moved, and unani mously seconded and carried, the meeting separated. DISTRESSING AND FATAL ACCIDENT. ---- Two CHILDREN AND THEIR NURSE DROWNSIL—IMPIIigenee of a most distressing and painful nature hasjust reached Kendal. The family of G. B. Creudson, Esq., one of the partners in the firm of Wakefield, Creudson, and Co., bankers in the town, have lately been residing at Arnside, on the shores of Morecombe Bay, for the benefit of sea air. This das (Thursday), a female employed in the capacity of nurse in the family, along with another servant, were walking out on the sands an watch the tide come up. with two of the children, one about eight and the other six years of age. Unfortunately they got too far out and were surrounded by the tide before they could again reach the shore. All four were washed away. I have not yet ascertained further particulats as to I hcir bodies being found, excepting that one of the servants has been restorbi, but will forward what I learn further by next post. Mr. Creudson was iu Kendal when the accident happened. On receiving the dis tressing intelligence, he kimmediately set off• for Arnside, dis tant from Kendal about fifteen miles.—From a Correspondent. BIRDS' NESTS.--At Collingbourne Kingston Church, in Wiltshire, on the 13th of April, 1834, the clerk, on looking out the lessons for the day, perceived something under the Bible in the reading desk, and in a hollow place made by the Bible resting on a raised ledge, he found a robin's nest, with two eggs in it. The bird, not having been disturbed, laid four more, which were hatched on the 4th of May. The oo:1- .bird brought food in its bill, and fed the young brood during the service; and none of the parishioners, nor even the boys, inter fered with the birds, or attempted to take away the eggs._ Devizes Gazette. h ffismo ch o r f o Lu c t i o e. r It is rumoured in the Court circle that the Vene rable Archdeacon Wilberforce has been selected by her Ma b town , n breyattheedaplpaatreiltyionatofa T oulon,back j t e o s h ty is to tt fi o l y l a t i he H h ig ig h h n li ss h t o h n e ou p r r a i bLe e a o n f d w re2t e o s n . Lib ß le at o great sensation f h t a h s is among the devotees o cross in the evening on the door of the church of fit. Louis. It has been aFcertained, however, to be the shadow of some soon as the light is extinguished the cross disappear ob ject interposed between the gas - lamp and the O uc h. for as Three Auvergnats, from the same village, auil r all exercising the same calling of water-carriews at Paris, meLmf ri day on the Place du Palate du Justice, being summoned to give evidence in a case which was to come on in the course of the day, th e y at first paid each other a thousand compliments, and wont to a wine shop to drink together ; but when the moment of payment came a quarrel arose as to who was to open his purse strings. Blows followed, and, in the end, one of them, Jean Pirtnx by mite , received one in the face which forced the blood from his nose, mouth, and ears. He was immediately taken to the hospital, and surgical aid was afforded him, b u t un availingly, for h e di ed in an - hour after. His adversary, Louis Bouzard, was arrested. A woman, named Godet, has bean condemned to death by the Court of Assizes for Calvados, for the murder of her new-born infant. The unnatural mother, after having murdered her child, threw the body into a stye to de devoured by pigs. J THE INDIA SUN CONTAINING A MAP AND FULL ACCOUNT OF AFFGHANISTAN AND THE THEATRE OF WAR IN INDIA, WITH ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM INDIA AND CHINA, IS NOTV READY.