The Sun. — London, England, 1834-01-08 00:00:00

rnent of the navigation of other countries ? Why, for instance, do they compel the traders to Brazil, and the various islands in the Eastern Seas, to dispose of their return cargoes to Ame ricans, who thence obtain the commission and freight which ought to be pocketed by our own merchants and shipowners ? Why do they not endeavour to open the trade in food, the restric tions on which are equally injurious to them selves and the rest of the community ? Trade cannot be carried on without returns; and what ever the wants of an agricultural community, they can only purchase manufactures by the sale of their own produce. We can only purchase food by the sale of manufactures, and the more we purchase the more we sell. We should not import food into this country if we were not able to produce other commodities on better terms than the food so imported. Happy the condition of the landowners of a country which is under the necessity of importing food ; for the very fact proves that they sell their produce at a higher rate, and purchase manufactures at a lower rate, than the nations which export the food. One might suppose the shipowners would not be insensible to the bene fits which they would derive, in common with the rest of the community, from the removal of restrictions on commerce. But at the meeting of yesterday, the speakers, instead of taking a liberal and comprehensive view of the subject, seemed chiefly to be occupied with narrow jealousies of the foreigners who might share with them the additional trade in food. Those speakers, who dwelt so much on the importance of a commercial navy to islanders, ought to have asked themselves the question--How islanders can carry on commerce by exporting without importing in return ? This country exports manufactures to the real value of thirty-six millions a year. By preventing the obtaining food in return for these manufactures, the market for British industry is narrowed, and the return for it less than it otherwise would be. What ever the difference between the price of food in the home-market and the price at which it could be imported, is of course a tax on industry for the benefit of the British landowners. It is a tax levied ol those who must produce their goods at a lower rate than foreigners, for the benefit of those who must always have a higher price for their produce than foreigners can obtain, by the amount of freight, commission, &c. There would be more rea son in imposing a tax on the landowners for the benefit of the manufacturers, to com pensate them for the additional price they must in all cases pay for their food, in consequence of the home supply falling below the demand. Of all classes in the community, the landowners are the last who ought to have any favour shown to them, in a country like this, in which food is dearer than in any other, and manufactures always cheaper. We rejoice to see that if the shipowners are inattentive to their duty in this respect, other classes are on the alert. Through out the country we perceive a strong disposition to agitate the most important of all questions— the trade in food. A better time than the present cannot be conceived for restoring the trade to freedom, because the difference between the price of food here and on the Continent is by no means great, and the change would not be productive of so much inconvenience as if it were to take place after two or three years of scarcity and high prices. But nothing is to be done without agitation. The public must be familiarized with the arguments in favour of free trade, and enabled to refute the fallacies urged in favour of the monopoly. Hence the benefit of publications, which present the subject in all its bearings, and periodically to the public. We trust that the Corn Law Magazine, which has been started in the metropolis, will, in this respect, be an instrument of much good. Sure we are, that if the people do not take up the subject with vvarinth, the landowners will no relent.—Morning Chronicle. The decrease upon the Quarter's Revenue, as well as that upon the whole year, is so intelli- gible a symptom of public distress, that it may be said to speak for itself. It is not an isolate'd fact, the cause of which might, therefore, be looked upon as accidental and temporary ; it is the additional decrease of a series of declining years ; it is another step towards a crisis which it will require more honesty and intelligence than the reformed Parliament has yet displayed, and greater wisdom than, we fear, is to be found at the helm of affairs to avert. But, even in this state of things, the Candide of the Evening Treasury Journal finds subject of congratula tion. He reads the melancholy tablet of finance which has been laid on the grave of the departed year not only without sorrow, but with some thing like an affectation of lightness, if not gayety of heart. Where those who do not look through the spectacles of Downing-street see nothing but new proofs of the declining resources of the country, he discovers nothing but the " elasticity of the revenue, and the increase of the comforts and wealth of the people." Credo quia impossibile est was the motto of Tertullian, and the optimist of the Treasury Journal adopts a si milar rule of faith. He believes the people wealthy, and the country prosperous, because the revenue is in a state of progressive decline. If his faith grow strong in proportion to the failure of our re sources, he is not likely to want for evidences of prosperity as long as the present system of Go vernment is pursued. But for people whose faith in the prosperity of the country and the successful administration of its affairs is not founded on so paradoxical a principle, let us see what the proofs of the fortunate condition of our finances are—and here we must borrow a line or two from our ingenious contemporary. " The quarterly decrease," says the Globe, " is in the taxes, and may be deemed attributable in part to ' considerable reductions, and in part to the in dulgence shown in the collection of the assessed taxes." What reduction there has been in the assessed taxes to account for this falling off we Should be glad to know. Perhaps our contem porary, whose jokes are usually no laughing matters, and whose serious arguments are very often jokes, only means a silly and sarcastic hit at Lord Althorp's boasted and ludicrous relief to-the country by the reduction of duty on tiles and taxed carts ! But whether he be serious or in jest, the subject is not one likely to add much to the pleasant anticipations of the country on the opening of the new year. We cannot avoid quoting here the just and sensible observations of the Standard, in reference to this falling off in the taxes, with which we entirely concur :--‘, In a healthy state of finance, it is well known that the reduction of the taxes is always attended by the improved productiveness of those taxes which are not re duced ; and when, as in this case, the opposite phenomenon follows a reduction of taxation, it is plain that an injudicious and mischievous selection must have been made in the taxes re- (bleed, or that the resources of the people are 'sinking at a more rapid rate than the diminu tion of their burdens." When the tax on gin was reduced, it was, as we recollect, reduced on the avowed principle that the increased con sumption would make the lower tax more pro ductive to the revenue than the higher duty. In this instance the morals of the people were deliberately sacrificed to a rapacity for revenue. We believe the excise has been considerably aided by the reduction ; but Ministers care little for the morality of the people as long as they can get money, or they would before now have taken off the taxes from houses and windows, and raised the duty on gin. But the Globe speaks of the indulgence shown to the people in the collection of the assessed taxes. Indul gence with a vengeance ! Never was the screw of taxation worked with so high a pressure since the assessed taxes were first laid upon the country as it has been by the Whig Mi nisters, who denounced and voted against those taxes, when in the cold latitudes of opposition they sighed for the sun shine of the Treasury benches. Tax collectors have been, under their gentle sway, promoted to more lucrative appointments for their assiduity in running up surcharges—and, certainly, the system of surcharging was never carried on to so oppressive an extent as under the present Administration, who stood pledged by their former acts and speeches to the aboli tion of those taxes of which they make the people feel the galling pressure beyond what they had ever before experienced. To whom, then, has indulgence been shown ? Have not: the Government papers maintained that those taxes should he enforced wherever there was ability to pay? If indulgence has been shown to any, it must have been to those who were already beggared—to those from whom even the inge nuity of the Exchequer could obtain flowing, simply because they were not able to pay. If the number of such persons has been greatly increased of late, and the necessity for such " indulgence" consequently increased, what becomes of the assertion that there is an " in crease of the comforts and wealth of the peo ple ?" As to the great decrease in the customs of the year, it is the very best evidence that could be afforded of the fallaciousness of the argument of those theorists who contended that, to break down the navigation laws, and enter upon experiments in " free trade," vdiile the mill-stone of enormous taxation is round the neck of British industry, would promote the trade, and thereby augment the revenues of the nation. But we suspect the great mass of• the people of this country are now fully sensible of the delusions which the race of English Doctri naires have palmed upon the world under the specious name of political economy. " The decrease on the year," says the Evening Organ of the Treasury, " is more than covered by that of the Customs, amounting to 612,8941., which is reduced to the amount of the average decrease of 442,4941., principally by the increase in the Excise of 183,7411., and in the Post office of 63,0001." As to the Excise, we believe, with the Standard, that, so far from being at the present day evidence, by its increase, of the increased comfort of the people, which we see nowhere, it is evidence of the increase o beer•shops and gin-palaces, which we see every where. These things impoverish the people while a few individuals are enriched ; they increase the revenue of Excise, while the mora lity of the people is blasted. If the beer-shops were annihilated there would be more comfort among the labouring classes and less crime ; but as the Government derives an augmented revenue from their demoralization, we fear it will be a very difficult task to procure reform in this respect. Yet, as we predicted the consequences of the Beer Bill from the beginning, so we hope to see that fatal measure—that source of rural depravity and crime—that exciting cause of a great pro portion of the robbery and incendiarism which disgrace the land, erased from the statute book, with the sanguinary laws which extermi nate the victims that its debasing influence pre pares for enterprises of depredation and violence. As to the increase of the income of the Post. office during the past year, the public are too well aware of the means which were resorted to for that purpose to make it necessary more par ticularly to allude to them at present. Still, with all the fiscal ingenuity which has been displayed in that department—with all the breaking open of solicitors' and other parcels, there is a falling off on the quarter of 14,0001. The decrease in stamps, too, is the very opposite of a proof of ncreased wealth and business. But we need not pursue the subject further. Our sincere wish is, that such proofs of prosperity may not be too often repeated. We have a word or two to say, before we conclude this article, on the conduct of the Government towards ourselves. We have for a long time past, as the public are aware, been in the habit of receiving the account of the quarter's revenue, and publishing it simultaneously with some of our Morning Contemporaries. Even when we opposed the Duke of Wellington's _ Government, his document, in which the public are always so much interested, was not withheld from our columns. We had it as early as those Contem- poraries who were then the organs of the Tory Government, and are now the " slaves of the lamp" to the Whig Administration. On the present occasion the " liberal and enlightened" ook care that we should be excluded From that which was not so much a favour to us as an accommodation to the public. On inquiry being made in the proper quarter, it was said that there «•ere orders to that. effect from " superior audio- rity." We despise too much the paltry policy which dictated such a measure to state the cir- cumstance as a matter of complaint. We feel it necessary to say so much that our readers may be aware there was no default on our part in not having this document as early as any of our Contemporaries. It is the penalty which we have paid for the crime of independence— that independence which, if it causes a Mini- ster to frown upon us, has also brought with it the compensation of the public favour. It is true we have supported several of the measures of the present Administration, or rather several which the public voice has forced upon them, and we will continue to give our support to any of their measures that may deserve it ; but it is not to be forgiven that we prefer the public in terests to those of any party, and that abuses of Power and dereliction of principle receive from us neither protection nor apology.—Morning Herald. The circumstance that during the last month no less than twenty-eight patents for scientific improvement—chiefly in steam, and its applica tions—were taken out, forms a subject of deep interest in our notice, and which has been dis cussed by Sir H. Parnell, in his work on "_Financial Reform." The anomalous laws which regulate the right of patent are among those which call most loudly for revisal. Those laws are at present totally at variance with justice and good sense as well as with the principles of free trade. They are in concur rence only with the feudal prejudice and dark ness in which they originated. How much more, then, must they disagree with that spirit of inquisition and improvement which so meri toriously characterizes the present age ? Those who are not familiar with the subject can form no idea of the obstacles which present themselves to the secure possession of the results of mental acquisition, which,_ dependent on more evanescent operations, cause more wear and tear than mere bodily labour. One would think that the object of the Legislature in mak ing those laws was to leave the highest class of mental labour without protection, or to protect the somnolent exclusiveness of the aristocracy from the encroaching rivalry of untitled talent. A poor man—and it is rarely any one else whom narrowness of circumstances—the res augusta dorni—conjoined with the elasticity of health, stimulates to invention— e ith er fi n d s it impos sible to secure his discovery by paying the enormous sum required for its appropria tion—or if he can manage to scrape the sum together, finds his dearly purchased patent altogether insufficient to protect him from imitation and oppression. In obtain ing the patent he- is obliged to reveal his secret. Another is thus tempted to get pos session of it ; and the latter either evades legal penalty by a slight alteration, or, trust ing to the uncertainty of the law, and the chances of failure in obtaining an injunction, boldly passes off the invention as his own. What, then, is the inventor to do ? After pro bably disbursing every farthing that he possesses or can collect in the materials of the invention, and the fine for the patent, he finds himself presented with the fatal alternative of being engulphed in the fatal vortex of a lawsuit, or compelled to yield to impudence and inadequacy the anticipated harvest of a life of toil. He must get an injunction in Chancery, and he may then proceed in the King's Bench or Common Pleas for damages. But this is not only expen sive, but attended with the usual risks which wait on the uncertainty of the law. He must prove it to be the precise invention which is violated. A variation would be fatal to him, and load him with additional expenses to those already incurred. The consequence is, that the fruit of a life's labour has often been torn from a man in inferior circum stances, not only at the end of the fourteen years, when his patent expires, but during the very period when he is supposed to be protected. This state of things ought surely not to be. As it grew out of the restrictive policy of a barbarous age, it ought to be abolished in this new era of commercial liberalism, in common with all that tends to chide the spirit of productive emulation. As one remedy, we should recommend that the law officers, who receive the fees for their opinion on the merit of the patent, which con stitute the chief materials of this burdensome fine upon an invention, should defend it gratui tously when it is impugned. But others wi readily suggest themselves. In the meantime, we call on the free-trade Ministers to be true to themselves and their system in this instance, as in others. Why should not the trade in mental production be as well protected and encouraged as that which looks to physical and grosser materials for its profit ?—Morning Advertiser. PREROGATIVE COURT, JAN, 7. (Before Sir J. NwrioLL.) J UDGM EN Te-- CONSTABLE AND BAILEY V. T UFFNELL AND MASON. Sir J. NICIIOLL gave judgment in this will cause to-day, the arguments in which occupied several days in the last term. He said the question was as to the validity of the last will of James Robinson, of Worthinford, deceased, who died, aged seventy six years, and possessed of real property to the amount of 3,0001., and a personal property of about 10,0001. The deceased left several relatives by the half and whole blood. The Learned Judge went over the facts of the case as stated in a former report, and noticed in detail the testamentary acts of the deceased; the first of which greatly heneficted the Rev. Mr. Tuffnell and Mr. Mason, and his last will gave the residue to Mr. Constable and Mr. Bailey. After alluding to the various bequests in the will under dispute, the Learned Judge said the question was whether the last will of the deceased, dated the 27th of August last, was the act of a ca pable testator. The last paper was regularly exe cuted and attested, and there was no reason to doubt but that the witnesses to the execution, which, with the exception of Mr. Daniels, the soli citor, who prepared the will, were related to the persons benefitted by it, were fully deserving credit before the Court. The Court had only to decide upon the validity of the instrument. It was fully proved that the deceased had assented to the dis tribution of the property contained in the last will. The opposition made to the will by Messrs. Tuffnell and Mason was that the family of the Reverend Mr. Bailey, who were relatives of the deceased, had taken possession of his house, and had the deceased under control, and that the will obtained in August was by fraud. After referring to other parts of the case, the Learned Judge said, on carefully looking to the tenor and tone of the evi dence, he was clearly of opinion that there was no ground for imputing fraud to the family of the Bayleys ; that the last will of the deceased was valid ; and that he should pronounce for it, and condemn the executors of the former will in the costs of the suit. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. MANSION-HOUSE. Mr. Tickner, the Common Councilman, waited yesterday, as Chairman of the Navigation of the Port of London Committee, on the LORD MAYOR, in consequence of the publication of what took place in the Justice-room some days ago between his Lordship and Captain Fisher, the principal Harbour Master, relative to the mooring of a vessel in ac. cordance with the application of the Middlesex Ma gistrates, who, it will be recollected, have issued an order for the reception of Irish and Scotch paupers on board a 300-ton ship, previously to the removal of such paupers to their respective destinations. Mr. Tickner said that, as Chairman of the Navi gation Committee under his Lordship, he considered it necessary to state that he had seen in the news papers a report which represented that his Lord ship had said that the Navigation Committee had no right to authorise the mooring of any vessel in the port of London without the sanction of the Chief Magistrate. The Navigation Committee believed that the report was incorrect, because they thought that his Lordship must be aware that there were several Acts for the regulation of the port of London which distinctly authorised that Committee to appoint the mooring or unmooring of vessels in dependently of any other authority. They were charged with that power by the Lord Mayor, Alder men, and Commons in Common Council assembled, and acted upon it without reference to the rights of the Lord Mayor as Conservator of the River Thames, or otherwise. The Committee, he assured the Lord Maytr, would not have noticed the statement, or at all taken up the matter, if the duties which they had to perform, and which were very onerous, were not likely to sustain a check and interruption from the circulation of the report, the regulations which it had been found necessary to establish being viewed in different ways by different interests. It must be evident that the idea that the Navigation Committee exercised an usurped power, and the impression that the Lord Mayor en tertained that opinion, were calculated to depreciate that authority which they were bound to use for the benefit of the community. Convinced that his Lord ship was misapprehended in what he stated, and that a satisfactory explanation would be given, the Committee had deputed him to wait on his Lord ship, to give utterance to their sentiments. The LORD MAYOR was perfectly happy to re ceive the Chairman of the Navigation Committee, of whose labours he could express no opinion but the very highest. He would be the last man not to allow the Committee the great praise which was due to them; but his observation on the occasion alluded to was to the effect that before the Harbour Master had acted upon the application of the MA dlesex magistrates, the Chief Magistrate ought to have been referred to, and that no order for the mooring of the vessel ought to have been issued without the knowledge of the Lord Mayor. It ap peared that the error lay with the Harbour Master, who stated that he had received an order from the Navigation Committee, when in fact no such order had been issued ; and it struck him (the Lord Mayor) as very odd that any order of the kind should be given while he was occupied on the sub ject of the application in question. The Harbour Master had been certainly in error in saying that the Committee had issued an order. Mr. Tickner intimated that the Harbour Master's error was a very venal one. The Committee cer tainly had not given any order. The question was not one of such importance as to require that a di rect authority to act should be received from the Committee. It was usual on occasions not of a serious nature for the Chairman to give directions, and afterwards to inform the Committee, and he (Mr. Tickner) had done so (as our reporter under stood him) in the present instance. By some mis take, perhaps, his Lordship had received no com munication on the subject. The LORD MAYOR—I admit the very great exertions and utility of the Committee of which you are Chairman, and I shall always feel very much gratified at your interference to save me trou ble ; but I am sure you could wish to do nothing that was calculated to diminish my power as Con servator of the River, and it certainly was neces sary upon the occasion that I should have been referred to in that capacity. Mr. Tickner was one of the last persons to de tract from the dignity of the Chief Magistrate. His object was to remove the impression that the Navigation Committee acted without being author ised to act. He was perfectly satisfied with his Lordship's explanation, and should report it in such a manner as would no doubt give satisfaction to the Committee. The LORD MAYOR—" I must say that nothing can be so bad as confining paupers in the way con. templated. I see by the order of the Middlesex Magistrates that they are to be restrained. Is not this removing the distinction altogether between pauper and criminal ?" His Lordship hoped, in conclusion, that the Harbour Master would in fu ture communicate with him on such matters, and prevent the necessity of recourse to the Act of Parliament. .MARLBORO UGH. STREET. FURIOUS DRlVlNG.—Benjamin Goss, coachman to the Countess of Berkeley, and Thomas Bentley, coachman to Doctor Bright, were brought before Mr. CONANT, and charged under the following cir cumstances : A gentleman of the name of Palmer was passing along Regent-street last night, when he save Goss enter the above street from Cockspur-street ; a few yards before him was the carriage of the other de fendant. On the two carriages coming in a line they both started off at a most furious rate up Re gent-street ; the result was, the carriages came in collision with a backney.coach, the driver, of which was knocked off the box ; a boy was afterwards thrown from a cart. On going a little further, a lamp -post was broken, and lastly, a female was knocked down by one of the horses. The conduct of Goss was very violent, and it was with the greatest difficulty the horses could he stopped. Several witnesses corroborated the above state ment. The defendants were fined 3/. 10s. each, which they instantly paid. UN/ON-HALL. On Tuesday morning, between two and three o'clock, as policeman 117, P division, was on duty in Acre-lane, Camberwell, he observed a man evi dently labouring under great irritation of mind pacing up and down in front of some houses. The policeman, suspecting that all was not right, stood at some distance to watch the stranger's motions, when at length he saw him appioach a stall where prepared coffee was sold, and call for a cup of the beverage. When he was served with the coffee he stared around as if with the intention of seeing that no person observed what he was doing•, and then taking a large phial from his waistcoat pocket he commenced pouring the liquid it contained into the cup, and was about to swallow its contents when the policeman rushed towards him, seized his arm, and prevented him from taking the fatal draught. The stranger, on finding that his intentions were frustrated in the first insiance, then endeavoured to convey the portion remaining in the phial to his lips, but in this attempt he was likewise disappoint ed, and the policeman, having reason to believe that the man centemplated self-destruction, imme diately conveyed him away to the station-house. It was ascertained at the station-house that the policeman's conjectures on the subject were perfectly right, for on examining the phial it was found to contain laudanum, and that he had mixed up with the coffee a quantity of that deleterious ingredient, sufficient to deprive three men of their lives. The impression as to his intentions to destroy himself were further confirmed, when, on examining his waistcoat pocket, a note in his own hand-writing was found there, describing that he was about to destroy himself, in consequence of unhappiness of mind, arising from perpetual disagreement with his wife. He made a dying request of the finder of the note to have his body, wherever it might be found, conveyed to the residence of his wife, in order that she might have it decently consigned to the earth. The inspector on duty, perceiving that the man still exhibited great perturbation of mind, kept him there, and brought him up to the office yesterday morning, in order that the magistrates might deal with the case. When placed at the bar and asked his name, he made no hesitation in giving it, and said his name was William John Carr ; and he also freely confessed that he had procured the poison for the purpose of putting an end to a life which was embittered by the conduct of his wife towards him. At this moment Carr's wife, a women quite old enough to be his mother, entered the office, and upon made acquainted with th e c i rcumstances, being neither betrayed or expressed any unpleasant feeling on the suljeet. She was asked by Mr. TRAIL', how long she hal been married to Nlr. Carr, and she replied that they had been wedded six months; adding that she was not surprised to hear that h e had attempted to commit suicide, as he had previously made an attempt on hi s l if e. When questioned upon this point, the old wife described that when she first met Mr. Carr at Brighton he was smitten with her, and in consequence of her refusal to marry him he procured a large dose of laudanum, and, going down to the beach, swallowed it off. Ile was found soon afterwards lying in a state of insensibiltiy on the sea shore, and conveyed home, when his life was preserved by the stomach pump. Upon his recovery he declared that he had made up his mind to destroy himself in the event of her refusal to marry him ; and under the im pression that he had a strong an l ardent affection for her, she at length consented to give her hand and her heart, and they were accordingly joined in :he holy bands of matrimony. Ere long, however, she had ample reason to repent of her choice, for, instead of his paying her that attention which every married woman had a right to expect from her hus band, he neglected her, sought after the society of more youthful dames, and in no way contributed to the support of the house. Owing to this conduct, and knowing that she had made a sacrifice, for she was neither so old nor yet so ugly as to preclude the possibility of meeting witli a congenial spirit to her own, with whom she might have spent the re mainder of her days in happiness, and being in this disappointed, she had made up her mind never to live with her husband again. Carr implored her to change her determination, and declared that he should from henceforth act towards her in every respect so as to give her per fect satisfaction. The wife, however, was inex orable, notwithstanding Mr. MURRAY and Mr. TRAILL endeavoured to effect a reconciliation, aided also by the promises of Carr to behave better in future. The Magistrates, finding that Mrs. Carr still ad hered to her former resolution, then spoke seriously to her husband on the subject of his attempt at self destruction, and advised him to separate from his %vile, and not think of committing an act which would hurry him into the presence of his Maker, unprepared as he must be at such a time. He was then liberated, but left the office very tin. happy in his mind. THAMES_POLICE. THE OLD LOTHARIO.— SINGULAR CASE.—Yes terday Isabella Fell, a woman very meanly attired, but of the most plausible manners, who owned to 40, but appeared much older, was brought before Mr. BALLANTINE and Mr. COMBE, charged with stealing several articles of linen and wearing appa rel, the property of Mr. Richard Lee, a master butcher, in John-street West, Biackfriars-road. It appeared from the evidence of the prosecutor, who is many years older than the prisoner, that he accidentally met her on Sunday week last, and en tered into conversation with her. She then ap peared in very great distress, and was drenched with rain. She asked him to give her something to drink, and he, taking pity on her forlorn condition, gave her some hot beer and gin and a biscuit, and expended the sum of sevenpence-halfpenny in making her comfortable. In the course of conversation she intimated that she had an allowance of 504 year from her husband, who held a situation in the War Department, but in consequence of his not remitting her the last quarter's allowance she had been turned out of her lodging, and was without a home. He offered a room in his house, which she accepted, and bad remained with him ever since until Tuesday night, when she left the house under a pretence of calling on a friend, with a promise to return in an hour ; instead of which she never re turned, and he found to his sorrow that she had taken every portable article she could lay her hands on, including a new comforter, which he wore round his neck to keep away the rheumatism.—(A laugh.) Mr. BALLANTINE—That was very cruel of her. Pray, Mr. Butcher, what room in your house did you supply her with ? Prosecutor—A bed-room, of course, your Wor ship.—(Laughter.) Mr. BALLANTINE—ExactIy so; and there was only one bed in it ? Prosecutor—Only one, Sir ; that was enough. —(Much laughter.) Mr. BALLANTINE—Yes, and you slept in it as well as the lady. Prosecutor—Why, ye-e-yes, Sir; I must own it. —( Great laugh t er.) Mr. BALLANTINE—Upon my word this is a very pretty amour. I should have thought you would have been making up your accounts for the next world instead of making love to this lady. Had you no qualms of conscience about her husband ? Prosecutor—Oh, I can assure your Worship no thing wrong has occurred between us. lam quite innocent, an't I ?—(appealing to the prisoner).— (Roars of laughter, in which the magistrates could not help joining.) Mr. BALLANTINE, who could scarcely preserve his gravity, said he did not think the poor man, her husband, would be satisfied with that declaration. The butcher would, most assuredly, be the de fendant in an action for criez. con. Prosecutor—May I never kill another sheep If I am not an innocent man. Oh, what shall Ido ? Mr. BALLANTINE—WeII, Sir, what has she robbed you of ? The butcher enumerated a list of articles she had taken away, including his " bran new com forter," and said she had pawned an umbrella and other things since she had been living with him. Mr. BALLANTINE—Did you give her any money ? Prosecutor—No ; But I gave her plenty to eat and drink. Mr. BALLANTINE—Had she a good appetite ? Prosecutor—lndeed she had vi hen she first came to my house. Why, on the second day she swal lowed two pounds of mutton chops for her dinner ; but yesterday her appetite was so delicate that she turned up her nose at a shoulder of mutton, and said she must have something better to eat. Mr. BALLANTINE—AA where did you find her this morning ? Prosecutor—ln Love-lane, close by, in Wapping. Mr. BALLANTINE—The name of the place seems to be in keeping with your amours. Well, Madam, how came vou to rob this young gentleman of his comforter ? Prisoner—l did not rob him, Sir. He said I was to consider everything in his house as mine. Mr. BALLANTINE —And you have taken him at his word. You and I are old acquaintances, and your plausible manner when you was last time be fore me I shall not soon forget. There were a brace of you then. Prisoner—l can assure you, Sir, you are labouring under an error. I was never here before. I know I have done wrong, but he has not behaved to me like a gentleman.—(A laugh.) Mr. BALLANTINE—If what he says is true he has not indeed —(Loud laughter.) But you have .50/. a year ? Prisoner—l wish I could get it, Sir. Mr. BALLANTINE—WeII, what is your husband ? The prisoner replied that he was a sergeant-major in the South Hants Yeomanry Cavalry, and that she came from Christchurch. Mr. BALLANTINE—When you come here again don't disclaim my acquaintance, and particularly the writing of begging letters under the auspices of a German Count. Now get back to Christchurch, and don't you sail quite so near the wind again. And you, Mr. Butcher, stick to your oxen and sheep in future, and don't let your chivalry and sympathy for a lady in distress extend quite so far. Give him his things, policeman. Prosecutor—This shall be a lesson for me as long as I live. Mr. BALLANTINE—That will not be very long. exc T ia h im e prisoner in g,,l madewish a youlow gentlemen." good left d m t o h rembnagr TV OR SHIP • S TREE T. TRICKS OF OMNIBUS PEOPLE.—Yesterday a gen tleman, named Warren, a special pleader, came be fore the Sitting Magistrate, to prefer a complaint against the driver of an omnibus. On Monday the complainant, with his lady, en. tered the omnibus at the Flower Pot, Bishopsgate street, to proceed to Stamford-hill, and gave parti cular directions where he wished to he set down, opposite the Bird Cage, a welt known sign at Stam ford-hill. The driver very civilly told him that he knew the house very well w h ere h e w i s h e d to go to, and they started ; but i nstea d o f b e i ng set down at his friend's door, as h e expecte d, t he omnibus stopped at Clapton, an d h e was to ld t hat he must get out there, as it was not go i ng a ny further his way. He was then half a mile from the place of his destination ; and, to add to the unpleasantness of the affair, it was raining fast at the time, and he remonstrated against the trick, and threatened to complain to a Magistrate ; but the fellow having got him out of the omnibus shut the door to for fear he should get in again, and toll him he might do his best or his worst, and apply to a hundred Ma gistrates for what he cared. The complainant and Mrs. Warren were at last, obliged to walk across the country to Stamford-hill, nearly half a mile, in the wet. After some conversation with the Magistrate ''r. Warren said he would consider further of the matter, before he took a summons, and he then retired. MORTALITY IN THE ARMY. ,all, Deputy Inspector-General of the t, through the medium of the Edin ' Surgical Journal, furnished some o the rate of mortality in the army ing that among the troops employed ie world. To the army medical prac the statesman, every word and figure st be interesting; but it is to the ge t most readers can be expected to pay therefore, collected a summary of the adduced, which we insert, together is and interesting explanations. Mr. Henry Marsh, Army Hospitals, has ; burgh Medical and curious statistics as to generally, distinguishi in various parts of th titioner, and even to I in these statistics mus neral results only that attention. We have, various particulars a with the most curioui Annual ... Annual Decrease Stations. Period. g Mean by Death cm Ratio of and From T o g- Deaths. Invalids. Great Britain Ireland Bengal Army 1825 1826 7,976 9.7 14.5 Madras ditto Ditto lBl5 1821 12 ,592 6.3 10.1 17th Dragoons lBO9 1622 730 7.8 7.8 Royal Regt. 2d Batt lBO7 1831 1,067 7.6 10.8 13th Regiment 34th ditto .•••,,, 1803 1823 895 7.7 7.7 45th ditto 59th ditto 65th ditto 69th ditto lBO5 1820 8 4 4 8 . 5 8.5 78th ditto 1797 1815 846 11.3 11.3 Ceylon' lBll 1820 2,362 14.8 19.6 19th Regiment 734 ditto lBlB 1820 654 28.1 33.4 83d ditto Mauritius, 82d Gibraltar Malta 1824 1831 2,226 1.5 1.5 lonian Islands :820 1832 :3,467 2 . 6 au Jamaica lBl2 1828 3,287 13.3 13.3 Barbadoes lBl4 1814 1,774 4.1 4.1 Other W. India Islands 1303 1814 13.1 . • 13,1 The highest rate of mortality appears to have occurred in regiments on service in the East Indies and the Island of Ceylon. Respecting the very high ratio of decrement in the 73d Mr. Marshall remarks—" As I served with the regiment during the abov e p er i o d I had a good opp or . tuniti of obtaining exact returns; and therefore I feel confident that the conclusions are quite correct." It was in 1813 the chief mortality occurred, the deaths in that year being 356 ; in 1819, 160 ; and in 1820,38. " The very high ratio of mortality," says Mr. Marshall, "which took place in 1818, miy in a great measure be attributed to excessive fatigue (luring the insurrection of the Candyans scanty and innutritious diet, great exposure to variations of temperature and inclemencies of weather, and insalu brious stations. A small portion only of the mor atgtaiminlaiotteyn2ngltoj the regiment was occasi one d by i nstrumen t s , of war." After a table of details relating t o th e 45th re m6Meprne. rAucleriandr cent, of o a 2 l f l obs 0 erves, a rwhole o f " na ug ß rne y ;b e t ar h niosdf deathstt l l t e , iwt while appears h theoccurred ratio of deaths in each year of age under 20 was 10.8, it was not higher at any other time of life than 5.6. Six and one-half men died in each year of age from 35 to 45 ; while eighty-two died in each year of age from 18 to 20. The conclusion is obvious—namely, that men who have reached the prime of life are much better able to endure the fatigue and privations of a military life than youths who have-not attained 20 years of age. BURNS' DISLIKE OF SOLDIERS.—Bums' dislike of soldiers found its way into his conversation. "‘ When I was at Arbigland in 1793," said my accom plished friend, Mrs. Montagu, " I was introduced to Burns. His conversation pleased me much, and I saw him often. I was at a ball given by the Caledonian Hunt in Dumfries, and had stood up as the partner of a young officer in the dance, when the whisper of There's Burns ran through the assembly. I looked round, and there he was—his bright dark eyes full upon me. I shall never forget that look—it was one that gave me no pleasure. He soon left the meeting. I saw him next day. He would have passed me, but I spoke. I took his arm, and said, ' Come, you must see me home.' Gladly, madam,: said be, but I'll not go down the Plain stanes, lest I have to share your company with some of thlbee thisepa uletwtea., We dypuppies went with whom t ocaptuallea Hamilton's streetisfull.. Come Burns, I remember, took up a newspaper in which some of the letters of a mar, of genius litely dead were printed. This is sad,' he said ' did I imagine that one_half of the letters which I have written would be published when I die, I would this moment recall them, and burn them without redemption.' Colonel Jenkinson, who com manded the Cinque-ports cavalry, inherited, it would seem, the dislike of his brother soldiers to the Poet ; he refused to be introduced to Burns, and never even spoke to him. This was not in keeping with the character of the mild and gentle Earl of Liverpool."--Alian Cunning. hum's Edition of Burns. BIRTHS. On the 6th inst., at Catisfield House, near Farehani, Hants the lady of Lieut.-Colonel Byam, of a daughter. On the 4th inst., at Shute House, Mrs. Schenley, of a daughter. On the 28th ult., at the Manse of Colessie, Scotland, Mrs. Macfarlane, of a daughter. On the 27th ult., at the Manse of Cavers, Scotland, Mrs. Strachan, of a daughter. On the 25th ult., in Dundas-street, Edinburgh, Mrs. Stanley, of twins. On the 26th ult., at Aberystwith, the lady of J. Hughes, Esq., of Alltlwyd, of a daughter. MARRIED. On the 30th ult., at Archibald-place, Edinburgh, Henry Shield, Esq., wine.merchant, Newcastle, to Helen, daughter of William Dunlop, Esq., merchant, Edinburgh. On the 7th inst., at Bedfont Church, Frederick Pollock, Esq., M.P. for Huntingdon, to Sarah Anne Amowah, second daughter of Captain Richard Langslow, of Hatton, Middlesex. On the 4th inst., at Hatfield, the Rev. Charles Childers, vicar of Cantley, Yorkshire, to Dulcibella, youngest daughter of Sir Robert Chester, of Bush Hall, Hertfordshire. On the Ist inst., at St. Philip's Church, Mr. John Brown to Miss Sarah Fry, both of Birmingham. On the Ist inst., at Walsall, - Mr. John Eglington, architect and surveyor, to Sarah, eldest daughter of the late Mr. Smyth, of Dudley. At St. James's Church, Dec. 30, Mr. W. J. Newton, Brewer_ street, Golden-square, to Miss Charlotte Fielder, of Turnham. green, Middlesex. On the 31st ult., at the Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton, Mr. William Morgan, to Miss Sarah Perry, both of Willenhall. On the 26th ult., at the Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton, Mr. James Kidson, to Miss Ann Veal, both of WillenbalL On the 30th ult., at Leamington Hastings, Percy William Powlett, Fellow of Queen's College, to Isabella Penelope, eldest daughter of Charles John Wheler, Esq., of the former place. Esse x, Esq., to H arr i et, youngest daughter Whitfield, Esq., of D ulw i ch, Surrey. On the 7th inst., at St. Luke's, Norwood, Thomas Eden. borough, of Layton, of the late George On the Ist inst., Mr. Geo. Slack, Gent., to Hannah, daughter of the late Mr. Geo. Staniforth, Gent., of Sheffield. On the 30th ult., at Wakefield, Mr. Henry Brown, solicitor, to Eliza, daughter of the late Mr. R. Harrison, brewer, of Chapel-en-le.Frith. 43 ' on th eße njaminsth Mrs• Priscilla DIED. On the 3d inst., in Gloucester.place, Portman - square, aged Bart., of Polluton Hall, county of Carlow, Ireland. Binusrt.t,oni:Ecsaqd.,ogbaront.lipelarcteosthageedlateBo7 Chas. Burton, Vilett. On ckfr the ar :d inst., at Torquay, Devon , in his 41st year, Joseph Walker, Esq., of Clapham.rise, Sur re y , formerl y o f Earl street, of Carshalton, Surrey. On the 6th inst , at Chigwe ll, in Essex, In his 37th year, Biai Mr. Henry Barwise. the O l n at t ? h N e 7 a t t i h l inst., lie On the 6th inst., Mr. John Walter, Gove rnor o f t h e Surrey county gaol, Horse mon g er-lane . On the 17th ult., at Frankfort, A nne El i zabeth, wife of Jas. Armitage, Esq ., of Farnley-l ia ll , near Leeds, Yorkshire. an : . In August last, at Hobart To wn, R usse ll R o b er t s, E sq , third and youngest son of William Roberts, E sq ., of Clapham, Surrey. ghgeerri9.7dgtlel, year,, Rose, second dau g ht er o r , - On the 31st ult., at his residence, Crooks Moor, Mr. George Wostenholm, aged 57. On the 28th tilt., at Sandbeck Park, Alicia Darling, aged 27, niece to Mr. John Robinson. On the 28th ult., at ATtercliffe, aged 77, Mrs. Simpson, relict of the late Mr. Simpson, butcher. On the 2Sth ult., in Melville-street, Edinburgh, the infant son of Colonel Mayne, C.B. On the Ist inst., aged 43, Christopher Coakson, Esq., of .Nowers, Somerset, eldest son of the late William Cookson, 1).D., Canon of Windsor. On the 23d ult., at Dartmouth , in her 63d year , Rebecca, the widow of the R ev . Thomas Pearce Hockin, formerly vicar of O a kh a mpton, and rector of Si dford, and one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the count y of Devon. On the 2 4 th ult. , at Drumtariflglel:w, county Cork, the re sidence of the Rev. Henry Bevan, G eorge Gough Gubb i ns, Esq., o f Uregare House, in the county Limerick. PRINTBD AND PUBLI,MED BY MU ItDO YOUNG, AT VII SUN OFFICE, 112, STRAND.