The Sun. — London, England, 1834-02-08 00:00:00

to add' ess another let er to Er.rl Grey on the sub ject. It is happily observed by Dr. Whately, that " a colony stocked with worthless vagabonds, is in itself bad as a colony; a penitentiary, again, in a young settlement as the Antipodes, is, for many reasons, likely to be in itself a bad penitentiary; but each of them becomes incomparably worse when they are combined ; because, in the most important points, two, not only different but even opposite systems of management will be dictated by a regard f r the promotion of this object or of that. And thus, besides other eviis inevitably consequent on the pursuit of incompatible advantages, we might also have anticipated (and experience shows with how much reason) the evil of a course of perpetual vacillation and reiterated changes of measures under different governors, according as each may be in clined to look more to the welfare of the colony, or to the efficiency of transportation." It is some times said of us, as a nation, that we are carried away with every novelty. In the case of penal set tlements the nation cannot be charged with having displayed any great fondness for innovation. Forty l i years ago Jeremy Bentham demonstrated the ab surdity and the mischief of penal settlements. Sir Samuel Romilly more than once availed himself of Mi. Bentham's ideas in the House of Commons, and showed that, while New South Wales was a great burden to the mother country, no benefit could be de rived from it as a penal settlement. In the Supple ment to to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Mr. James Mill, in a masterly article, demonstrated the incom patibility of penal settlements with every just notion of crim , nal jurisprudence. Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield has had recourse to argument and satire, and, in his evidence before a Committee of the House of Commons, his letters to Mr. Justice Al derson, and his England and America, exposed the monstrous absurdity of supposing that the ends of penal justice could be obtained by placing a convict under the control of a master whose interest it is to treat him with kindness. And now we have Arch bishop Whately protesting against the absurdity of the whole scheme, and proving, even from the statements of the advocates of transportation, that the interests of the colonists and of the British na tion are utterly iireconcileable with each other, as far as transportation has reference to punishment; and emphatically declaring that, " among all the extravagancies that are recorded of capricious and half insane despots, in times of ancient bar barism, I do not remember any instance men tioned of any one of these having thought of SO mischievously absurd a project as that of forming a new nation, consisting of criminals and executioners." Yet transportation still goes on—the nation is still burdened with large sums every year for penal settlements—and Judges, not deficient in shrewdness, and well informed with respect to matters beyond their own profession, are not ashamed to declare their belief in the efficacy of the discipline of such settlements. We would fain hope that this last publication of Dr. Whately will render all further publication on the subject of penal colonies unnecessary—that Government will at once put an end to the system—that New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land will be considered purely as colonies—and that some other means for the punishment and reformation of offendeis will be devised. There is not an argument worth a mo ment's consideration to be advanced in favour of transportation as a mode of punishment ; and it may be safely said, that they who are not convinced by Dr. Whately's volume are beyond the reach of argument. The Commissioners sent out by the French Government to inspect the American system of secondary punishments, have made some admirable remarks on transportation as a means of punish ment, which the Archbishop of Dublin has given in an Appendix : " From what they say (he observes), and from other con siderations, it may, I think, be anticipated, that if we persevere much longer in adhering to a system which has of late been so fully exposed, our Legislature will become, not undeservedly, the scorn of the civilized world. " But the present system has sometimes, I am inclined to think, been even the more readily tolerated in the minds of some persons, from the very enormity and the palpable charac ter of the mischiefs and absurdities which it involves ; which must, it is thought, be counterbalanced by some very great a dvantages; and those advantages are taken for granted as existing, even by many who would be at a loss to describe and ettimate them ; but who conclude that it is impossible a scheme would have been persevered in for near half a century, in spite of so many and such monstrous attendant evils, were it not found to produce some important benefits as a com pensation." Mr. Daniel Wakefield, in his volume on Expendi ture, which we recently noticed, does not hesitate to attribute the perseverance which his Grace is a' toss to account fnr, to the love of patronage of the Government. The offices of Governor of a_Colony, Deputy Governor, Surveyor-General, &c. &c., sound much better and are much more profitable than the offices of gaoler and turnkey. But however this may he, it is quite clear that penal settlements can not be kept up much longer; and it is we believe equally clear that the whole subject of penal law must speedily become the subject of serious inquiry. There is literally no secondary punishment in this country at the present moment. Dr. Whately sug gests the appointment of a Commission for Inquiry. Something must he done, and that soon. Trans portation is an incentive to crime, and not viewed as a punishment by the mass of the people. Our pri sons are crowded, and even from that the spread of crime is greatly promoted hy 'he knowledge acquired in these receptacles of criminals.—Morning Chron. We know not how far an Evening Contemporary (77e Sun) speaks from authority or from conjecture in the f.u.llowing observations on the subject of the inquiry about to be instituted into the conduct of Mr. Shed. The hypothesis is so circumstantial, that we are inclined to believe it derived from authority The House now has the question before them in their iitclicial capacity, and we are confident they will exercise their high functions with the most impartial justice. If, after all, it shotita turn out that some strong expression was uttered, in A hasty moment, at a Club-house, when the gentleman in ques. 'ion was excited by accounts of an attack made on his own property, but which, on reflection, he did not consider a suffi cient reason for assenting to so severe a measure as the Coercion Bill, we only wish the relator joy of his communication. Is it pot possible to suppose that same peevish expression may have been used, without impugning the sincerity of the person who made it ?" Matters have now, probably, proceeded too far to admit of the refusal of an inquiry. We suspect, however, that a few days' reflection will have the effect of greatly cooling the ardour of Members to sanction a proceeding which will form a most ob jectionable precedent. The inquiry can have no result. Whether Mr. Sheil, in a fit of ir►itation on learning that the Whitefeet committed the unpar donable blunder of making no distinction between the property of Orangemen and Repealers, gave cent to a little declamation which might admit of heing construed into a wish, on his part, that those who were so stupid as to ►,e unable to make the distinction in question ought to be coerced—or whe ther h e absolutely recommended Members to per severe with the Coercion Bill—or whether Mr. Sheil never uttered a sentence which could, by the utmost ingenuity, be turned into an approbation of the Coepion Bill, either in whole or in part—or whatever the case may be, the House can adopt no proceeding. The inquiry will merely furnish the House and the country with ma erials for forming an estimate of the sincerity cf A.. Shed. All those who are particularly inte rested in appreciating with accuracy the character of Mr. Shed might have conducted the inquiry in a more satisfactory manner than through the House of Commons. As for the House itself, it can . neither expel Mr. Sheil nor subject him to any penalty. And although it might not have occurred to English or Scotch Members that the whole na tion was interested in the establishment of their character for unimpeachable sincerity, yet, now that the precedent has been set, they will wish not to be behind the Irish. Whenever it is insinuated that their language in private has not always accorded with their language in the Senate, we may lay our accounts with an a pplication for a formal inquiry. This will, of course, add greatly to the despatch of business in a House of between six and seven hundred orators. Perhaps it is not yet too late to give the business the go-by.—Morning Chronicle. The proceedings in the two Houses of Parliament last night were almost entirely preparatory to the real business of the session, and nothing took place which calls for an observation from us, if we except the presentation to the House of Peers by Lord Dacre of the petition of the Protestant Dissenters, of the Presbyterian, Independent, and Baptist per suasions, resident within twelve miles of London, praying for relief. This petition presents us with in authentic record of the practical grievances of which these by far the most numerou s and im portant classes of Dissenters complain, and we refer to its contents with considerable confidence as an illustration, not of the hardships or oppressions to which the Dissenters of Great Britain are at this moment subjected, but of the mild, gentle, and benignant character of that Constitution which, consisting of the union of Church and State, has yet left to those who have conscientiously diss rented from the doctrines or repudiated the forms and services of the Church, so little against which, even in their own judgment, they are entitled to utter a remonstrance. The petitioners pray to be placed on the same footing as the members of the Established Church with respect to the registration of their births, marriages, and deaths, and that at the same time the rites of baptism, marriage, and sepulture shall be allowed to be performed by their own Ministers, and according to their own forms. They further pray that they may no longer be ex cluded from the Universities of Oxford and Cam bridge. And, what is probably in the estimation of the petitioners the most important part of their pe tition, they pray also to be relieved from the liability to pay church rates. With respect to the rites of baptism and sepulture it is in the first place proper to remark that there is now no interdic tion or impediment to the performance of those ites by dissenting ministers, who do in fact perform them whenever they are applied to for the purpose. As to the religious ceremony which the law has made essential to the validity of the marriage contract, the same answer to the petition of the Dissenters cannot be given. If they consider this a grievance they have a right to complain of it and to seek its redress. The question, however, ought not to be regarded as one between them and the Church of England, so much as a question, for the State to decide, with reference exclusively to the effect which any proposed altera tion in the long-established and universal mode of celebrating marriage may be thought likely to pro duce, upon public morals and the domestic habits and feelings of the community. It is obvious that nothing can be done to relieve the Dissenters from this particular grievance without introducing an in finite diversity of forms, or abolishing religious forms altogether, in connection with the nuptial contract. The injustice of attempting either to add any thing or to take any thing away, from the forms and ob servances with which the members of She Church of England are fully satisfied in their own case, or of forcing upon them, for the accommodation of the consciences of the Dissenters, a change of which they do not perceive the neces sity, is too manifest, we imagine, to be in the contemplation of any party. Uniformity is evidently more conducive than variety of forms to that general reverence in which it is so desirable for the welfare of society that the obligation of marriage should be held. It is for the Legislature, then, to determine whether, to gratify the Dissenters, this important advantage to society at large shall be sacrificed. And in the determina tion of the question it will not, we hope, be forgotten that the anxiety of the Dissenters upon this subject is by no means general, that it is of modern growth, and that during a long period, in which the Dis senters displayed quite as much of the zeal of piety, and somewhat less of the zeal of politics, than they now exhibit, their anxiety upon this subject was never heard of. It is at least probable that but few of those Dissenters, whose separation from the Church of England is the result of conscientious conviction, care much for the disadvantage under which the members of their body are placed at Oxford and Cambridge. But be this as it may, it is infinitely beyond the power of the Legislature to place Dissenters upon an equal footing, at those establishments for education, with the members of the Church of England, unless by measures which would amount in effect to the abolition of the two existing Universities, and the creation of new ones in their place. Each of the Universities consists of a congeries of independent corporations, possessing property, patronage, endow ments, privileges, and rights, legally acquired, and employing the powers and advantages they possess in obedience to an impulse coeval with their founda tion, essent;al to their existence, and beyond the reach of any power which the Legislature has to exercise, short of the power of direct confiscation. The remaining grievances alleged by the Dissenters in their petition are the liability to church rates, and the want of a satisfactory registration of births, marriages, and deaths. We shall, for the present, confine ourselves to a single observation upon each of these topics. Those only of the Dissenters who desire the total abolition of religious worship and the cessation of religious instruc tion of any kind in many extensive districts of this country can consistently desire that the State should withhold its assistance from the Church ; for, whatever might take place in towns or in densely peopled districts of the country, it is evident and notorious that the aid of the State is absolutely required to the maintenance of religious worship and instruction in districts where the popu lation is thinly scattered. But those who are actu aed by such a desire are plainly persons to whose opinions or wishes no attention whatever ought to be paid. Church rates are an indispensable part of the aid which the State lends to the Church. They cannot be abolished without providing some ade quate substitute, unless it be intended that the Church shall be extinguished precisely where it is the most useful and necessary, where but for a na tional religious establishment, there would be no means or opportunity whatever of religious wor ship and instruction. But from contributing to a great and general good, no portion of the people in any State can upon the grounds of their peculiar faith, justly claim an exemption. It may, perhaps, be expedient to substitute a charge upoo the aggregate income of the State, in lieu of the parochial rates which are now collected for the building and maintenance of churches. But in any change of this nature the Dissenters have no pecu liar interest. The principle upon which some of the Dissenters so much insist, that men should not be obliged to pay for that from which they derive no benefit, is not applicable to the subject of church rates, inasmuch as church rates are necessary to the general maintenance of religious worship and in struction throughout the kingdom, and from these the whole community derive great benefit, direct or indirect. But this principle strictly applies to the new system of registration which the Dissenters re quire, inasmuch as there is already a systern of re gistration, which costs the country nothing, and with which the country, excepting the Dissenters, is fully content. Let the Dissenters, then (if they will), have a new system of registration for them selves, of which they are no doubt q uite willing to bear the whole expense, while the members of the Church of England continue to avail themselves, undisturbed, of the present uncostly mode of re gistering births, marriages, and deaths, to which they are accustomed, and with which they see good rea o be satisfied.—ltiorning Post. In the year 1775, it was found necessary, in cAisequence of the numerous defalcations in the returns of plate, to institute a rigorous system of inquiry, and to compel, under the penalties awarded by the Act, a true account of the quantity kept by every individual. A peremptory notice of this kind, but couched iu very re spectful terms, was sent to the celebrated John Wesley. Tue following was his characteristic reply :—" Sir,—l have two tea spoons at London, and two at Bristol. This is all the plate 1 have at present, and I shall not buy any more while so many around me want bread. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, Jno. Weeley." LONDON CORPORATION COMMISSION INQUIRY ; FEB. 7. Mr. Thomas Rooke, Ward Clerk of Candlewick Ward for twenty-six years, gave an account to the Commis •iioners of the nature of the jurisdiction exercised in the Ward, which in no important manner differed from the Wards already inquired into. THE TENANTRY UNDER THE GRESHAM ESTATE. Mr. Wilson, publisher under the Royal Exchequer, appeared before the Commissioners in cutler to inform them of the peculiar condition in which the tenantry under the Gresham es•ate were placed. PRACTICES OF SWORN BROKERS• Mr. Anthony Henriches, a sworn broker since the year 1824, attended to make communication to the Commis•- sioners. He had, he slid, had occasion to make a com plaint to the Court of Aldermen of the conduct of some sworn brokers in 1830, at which time he petitioned the Court. This complaint was that they had done business on their own account in articles in which they were brokers. ORGANIZATION OF THE MUNICIPAL. POLICE. Mr. Cope, the Governor of Newgate, but lately one of the City Marshals, and at the head of the police, was then examined as to the police force of the City. The Corporation had, he said, made a complete change in the! police force of the city about two years ago. The new system began on the Ist of April, 1832, and the force was very much increased. Under the old system there were sixty men. This force was wholly independent of the ward constable, and exclusive of marshals and mar - shalmen. The old system bad been found very inefficient. The force was increased by the new system to ninety.nine men, consisting of one superintendent, three inspectors, ten sergeants, and eighty-five men. There were also a few extra police officers to attend the Sessions, a clerk, and a surgeon. The forcedid not go over the water at all. The superintendent was usually at Guildhall. His duty was to go about and see that the men were on duty. The new plan was founded very much upon the system adopted on the formation of t! e metropolitan police. THE OMNIBUS AND STAGECOACH NUISANCES. Mr. Cope stated that the time of the men was much taken up by their attendance to put down the omnibus and cab nuisances, which had increased immensely. There was no limit. A return had been made out showing the extent of the nuisance. The number of short stages, omnibuses, and cabs, passing through the city, Sundays excepted, was 533, performing 1,836 journeys. On the 28th, 29th, and 30th of January last en account was taken of the number of empty cabs going up and down between nine o'clock in the morning and seven in the evening. It showed that they performed 2,985 journeys, independently of the journeys performed by hired cabrio lets. The city to have a more complete controul over these carriages, and additional legal powers to regulate the driving and standing in the streets. The average length of the omnibuses was twenty-one feet six inches from the horses' heads to the steps. Some were twenty-four feet long, and six or seven of them often stood in a row. Mr. Pearson gave some evidence relative to the charges in , urred by the city police, and said he considered if there was a consoli.la.ion great advantages would result from it. He bad refused to sign or pay a watch-rate. The inquiry was then adjourned to to-morrow (thisday). COURT OF KING'S BENCH, FEB. 7. Sittings after Term, before the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE and Special Jurie..) GAS-WORKS.-THE KING V. MEDLEY AND SEVEN OTHERS This was an indictment preferred by the Corporation of the city of London, as conservators of the Thames, against Mr. Medley and others, as persons connected with the gas works on the Middlesex bank of the River Thames, for a nuisance. The indictment charged them with con ducting the works, and, by means of pipes and a hose, discharging into the river Thames certain noxious and deleterious fluids, by which the fish were killtd, and the fishermen thrown out of employ. The nuisance was limited to the period between the 16th of May and Octo ber, 1832. The Jury found four of the defendants Guilty. The others, who did not appear to be responsible, were acquitted. WARRANT OF A CLAUDE.-JADIS V. PENNELL. The SOLICITOR, GENERAL appeared for Mr. Jadis, and felt that he must be cautious in his observations respecting Mr. Pennell, as the defendant had threatened some paper with an action, for reporting something he had said in a former ac ion, when Counsel for Lord Foley. Mr. Jadis was the Paymaster of the Exchequer bills, but, like many others, was sometimes pressed tor money. He applied to Mr. Pennell, who agreed to discount a bill for 8,001. The defendant said he would advance the money, but Mr. Jadis must take a Claude for 4001. Mr. Jadis agreed to take it, and he received a memorandum to this effei t : Paid to li. Jadis A Landscape by Claude 401) XBOO Mr. Jadis, after he had got the paper, was not satisfied as to the originality and v.due of the picture ; therefore called for a warranty. fie received from Mr. Pennell the fol. lowing note : " WO, Piccadilly, Sept. 2, 1520. " SlR—The picture I have this day sold you I warrant to be a Claude, and for which you have paid 4001.—1 am, Sir, your obedient servant, " J. PENN ELL." .111 r. Pennell some time after agreed to sell the picture, and it was left with him for that purpose, but _Sir. Pennell could find no purchaser, and it remained in his gallery. At last it was put up to auction, and bought in at 211. It turned out that it was not a Claude, and not worth 5/. Edward Smart lived at No. 10, Titchborne-street. He was a dealer in paintings, thirty-five years of age, and was born in the trade. He was acquainted with the works of old masters. Knew the style of Claude. He bad seen the picture in Court. It was not the production of Claude. The value, frame and all, did not exceed 151. Cross-examined by Sir JAMES SCARLETT—He said Claude flourished about 150 years ago. He belonged to the French school. Henry Smart, brother to the last witness, was ac quainted with paintings. His opinion was that the pie. ture was not a Claude. The alteration was made fifty years after the picture was painted. He did not know when Claude was born. Phillip Hill had attended to the art of painting the greater part of his life. He had bought pictures on his own account, and on account of others. His late Majesty George IV. had pictures from him. Many Claudes had been in his posse.sion. Had seen the Marquis of West minster's and Mr. Angerstein's pictures. He did not consider the picture in Court a Claude. It was of a class of pictures be never bought. SirJ. SCARLETT said if Mr Jadis should recover in 'this action it would be clear gain. It was no question of fraud. If the character of the picture had been anisrepri. tented the plaintiff must recover, notwithstanding the defendant might he the most honest man alive. He should prove that Pennell bought it as a Claude from a person who would be called to prove it a Claude. The fact was that on the application of the King of Sardinia four hundred ancient pictures were discovered walled up in a subterraneous part of Turin, and most of them had been altered to render them more perfect. He had seen those pictures at Turin. Claude was born in 1600. Like many other painters he changed his style. He should prove it was one of Claude's earliest pictures. Mr. Allan Woodbur❑ sold the picture warranted to be a Claude. He knew the pictures of Claude. There were few of his pictures in England. He saw the picture firet in 1828 at Rome, and soon after it came to this country. The witness made the alteration to improve it, and bold it to Pennell for eighty guineas. Mr. John Smith was the author of a s work giving an account of pictures in all the galleries in Europe. He was acquainted with Claude's works. He ascribed the picture to the early manner of Claude. It was a picture of capricious value. It teas not a fine performance. II the picture had been done in CI suile's hest style it would be worth from 1,000 to 1,500 guineas. Mr. J. Melton, a picture-dealer twenty-five years, believed the picture to be a Claude. The touches about it were Cl iude's. No other man could have made them. The touch of a little castle convinced him it was done by Claude. The SOLICITOR.-GENERAL, in his reply, said that Rome ' was the Birmingham of Italy in respect to the manu facture of pictures, and the painting in Court was a trumpery copy of the early works of Claude. The Jury found a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages 3601., by which they allowed the defendant 401. for his picture. COURT OF ADMIRALTY, FEB. 7. (Before Sir J. NxcHotr,.) IMPORTANT JUDGMENT. —THE NEPTUNE. The arguments in this case, which is one of great im portance to the shipping and commercial interet=, were heard last Court day, and Sir John Nicholl this day pro nounced a very elaborate judgment, in the course of which he detailed all the material facts in the c iuse. Sir J. NICHOLL said the vessel sailed for India in IS3I, and returned in May, 1E333, having in the interval rriormed various voyages and cat ried considerable freight. Soon after her arrival home she was arrested for the pry meat of seamen's wages, and uo bail being given on the part of the owners she was sold, and the proceeds brought into the registry. The wages paid out was 1,5001., and 6,0001. was paid in as the proceeds. The question the Court had to decide was if material men had a lien on the ship for stores supplied for her outfit. Looking to what had been the established practice of this Court, founded upon the civil and general law, the Court did not feel authorized to prevent the material men from proceeding with their actions against the proceeds. An appeal was asserted from the decision of the Learned Judge, and the proceeds were directed to he kept in pos session of the registry till the decision of the superior Court is known. COURT OF EXCHEQUER, FEB 7. (Before Mr. Baron VAUGUAN and a Special Jury.) UNSTAM PRO PUBLICATIONS , --T FIE ATTORNEY-GENERAL D. C. PENNY. Mr. SHEPHERD, for the prosecution, stated that this W 39 an information filed by the Attorney-General against Charles Penny, for having printed and published a news paper called the People's Police Gazette, without having paid the stamp-duty, and entered the necessary affidi;it . at the Stamp Office, describing himself as the printer and publisher of the paper, both which evasions were a violation of the Act of Parliament, and subject to the consequent penalties. It would perhaps, the Learned Counsel continued, be endeavoured to show that this publication was not a newspaper; but he would prove, on the authority of Dr. Johnson's definition of a newspaper, that it was one in every respect. That learned person stated that a "Newspaper, under the third sense of news. is a paper which gives an account of the transactions of the present time." Now, the paper in question, in one of its columns, gave information under the heads of "Middlesex Sessions," " Police, " " Adelphi Theatre," " A Row in a Chapel"—(Laughter)—&c, &c. ; and, with the exception of its being deficient in a leading article, was in every sense a newspaper, and in opposition to the spirit and meaning of the Act of Queen Anne, regulating newspaper duties. The Learned Gentleman having re ftrred to the various other Acts relating to the stamp duties, &c., in connection with newspapers, called Mr. John Hawker, a clerk in the office of the solicitor of stamps, who deposed that he had purchased the first number of the paper, date, 17th of August, at the de fendant's shop ; and that he had subsequently seen the defendant in the solicitor's department of the Stamp Office, for the purpose of executing a bond engaging to defray the advertisement duty on all advertisements appearing in the paper; which duty it was proved he had paid, by Mr. John Franks, Sub-Registrar in the Advertising Duty Department. This witness further deposed, that the de. fendant entered into a conversation with bins respecting his liability to proceedings, on the ground of his not com plying with the obligations of the Stamp Act; and said, that "he would abide the issue, for his paper, of which he was then selling 15,000 copies a week, was too good a thing to be given up." Mr. Tilsley, chief cltrk in the office of the s tlicitor of stamps, deposed, that he examined the Oise where affi davit, such as that which the Act required the defendant to mate, are kept, and that there was no affidavit in the office, in his name, on the subject. Mr. FOLLETT, who cross-examined the witnesses, now addressed the Jury on behalf of the defendant, and said, :hat the real question in the case was, " whether the publication came within the meaning of the Statute or not." He knew nit who instituted this prosecution, nor for what motive it was instituted ; for it was clear the revenue must lose by the suppression of the papa in question : it was in evidence that its number of advertise ments was very large, and the duty on each being 1 s. 6d., the loss must be very considerable ; and on this ground alone he could hardly suppose that Isis Majesty's Govern ment would act with so much apathy towards the public interest. He could have hardly thought that it would show itself so inimical to the unrestrained circulation of the present kind of paper amongst the lower orders of the people. Tile defendant, he would show, now publishes no less than six of those cheap publications, every one of them containing advertisements, by which tlie revenue profits much. He was allowed to publish, the duty was taken from him on his advertisements, and now he is pro ceeded against. His (Mr. Follett's) Learned Friend hod said he bad referred to Dr. Johnson's Dictionary for a de• finition of the word " News ;" that, be must say, was not very good authority on such a subject; the proper authority would have been the Act of Parliament itself. the Learned Counsel then referred to The Journal of the Royal Society, Blackwood's Magazine, The Literary Gazette, The Law Chronicle, and Legal Observer, and, in a particular manner, to The Legal t. bserver, as coming as much within the meaning of the Act relating to newspapers as the paper in question, and yet (he would not be und-rstood to wish it) no prosecution was insti tuted against them. From The Legal L'aminer he read several paragraphs, which caul-1 not, be contended, but be considered as information, such as " Mr. 13 trnwall, Re porter of the Kitig's Bench, is about to retire ;" " Mr. Baron Bayley, it is ►aid, will soon retire ; and the Attor ney-General, Mr. Sergeant Spankie, &c. &e. are men tioned as candidates for the judicial seat.—(A laugh.) The Attorney-General, we are credibly informed, has de clined the honour." Now all this was information. The Art under which this prosecution was brought was passed in 1793—a period when there was a strong spirit of opposi tion to the constitution of the country, and a disposition to overturn its settled institutions. Much was then feared from the introduction of foreign politics, to which that Act alluded ; but in the present paper there was not an allusion to foreign politics—there was no allusion to Minis ters—no allusion to Parliament—nothing, in fact, that relates to the affairs of Government in Church or State, in domestic or in foreign politics. The 38th of Geo. 111. enacted, that " no un;tanlped newspaper or paper ebould print cr publish any news, intelligence, or occurrences." Now, he would ask the jury if those words, in their mean. ing, had not a reference to the affairs of Government? And if the publication of Police, Law Courts, and Courts of Aldermen, intelligence and accidents, with which the paper in question was filled, could be supposed to have any such meaning ? Mark (continued the Learned Gen tleman) besides the above, the sort of news it contained ; " Account of a Court-martial," " Captain Ross's wel- come back," " The Adelphi Theatre," " A Row in a Chapel."—(Laughter.) An action, he recollected, was broaght some time ago against a cheap publication, and the strong hold of the defence then was, that there was nothing relating to foreign politics or domestic occur renc,s contained in it. Lord Lyndhurst, however, before whom the case was tried, observed that there were letters in it addressed to the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, and other distinguished characters, which had a political bearing, and a verdict was therefore returned against the publisher. In this paper there was not, as he said before, anything that could justify a verdict against the publisher. Government, then, if resolved to suppress such publications, would have to pass a special Act of Parliament for the purpose. He would refer the Jury, in addition to the publications he had before quoted, to the following, which were equally liable to prosecution as the present paper—namely, The Penny Magazine, issued by the " Society for the diffusion of Useful Know ledge," of which the present Lord Chancellor is Presi dent, to The Mechanics' Magazine, and to The Spec. tator. They all contained news and intelligence. Mr. 13aron VAUGHAN—Da they contain such news as is set forth in this paper ? I fancy not. Mr. FOLLETT resumed—And having urged the harm lessness of the present paper, said that the newspapers of this country, when the Act in question was passtd, were . - what the newsparrs of the Continent now are, contain. . . _ i n g—not accounts of police or accidents—but comments o n the political state and political events of the country. li e hoped, in conclusion, for the sake of the defendant, and of all those who had, like him, embarked their capital In publications of this sort—that the Jury would acquit him ; and he begged of them to bear in mind, that there was no sedition in the publication i and th it nothing had been pointed out in it by his Learned Friend reflecting in the least on his Majesty's Government. Mr. StromErtn, in his reply referred to the statement of his Learned Friead, Mr. Follett, " that Government would be a loser by the suppres•iou of this paper ;" but lie (Mr. Shepherd) would put the question in this shape —namely, it was in evidence that the defendant had stated his weekly sale of the paper to be 5,000 copies; which, at tourpence a stamp for each, would on a calculation yield a sum of 2501. a week; and would this, he would ask, be nothing to Government ? The Learned Judge summed up ; and having referred p e,,p leH,s i sapAnotilalii.ceresatny Gazetteot thus utisie: 0:: to the various Acts of Parliament passed on the subject, drew the attention of the Jury to the following article ; which, his Lordship observed, notwithstanding it had been urged that the paper did not contain anything of a political bearing, was as strongly marked for its political meaning, as anything he had ever read. It was an t Saturday h is moonstricken on ..st Evening, ri cke n Half. pa r.. a llusion to the King's Speech at the last prorogation of parliament, h a ein cop f : r o t f he th s e ho S o p t e i e n c g h s d e e :. past Ten.—We have just received (by express) from our cor ril iiov,isinepro:iiidtb_eyn(tir,,::::: e t :l:n ip :h o e r o lN g l u o i o n n g , t ' son. As the names of persons, places, and cities in the Moon, would be unintelligible to our readers, we have taken the liberty of altering them into names better known i but we beg of our readers not for one instant to suppose that we hereby mean to make any allusion to the political affairs of this country, a subject from which we are excluded by the absence of a stamp. " Ml* LORDS AND GENTLEMEN—When I first called you together, I told you that you would have most important busi ness to get through, and you certainly have got through it.- -(A laugh.) The manner in which you have discharged the duties intrusted to you, the thorough humbug displayed by all parties, the gentlemanly manner in which you have swindled my subjects of their money, and the great power you have dis played in leaving things no better than you found them, I can never sufficiently admire.' " The article concluded as follows : " In the next Session I hope you will repeal that humbug the Habeas. Corpus Act.—(Much laughter.) Upon my soul I I am very much obliged to you for the Supplies and Civil List, and will do my best to spend all I can get. Your vote of 70,0001. to furnish Buckingham Palace, which you have declared uninha bitable, is a sure proof of your wisdom and economy.'" " Such was the speech of his Majesty of the Moon.— (Laughter.) It only remains for us to say, that scoundrel, swindler, and other hard words, which in our language bear an opprobrious signification, are, in the language of the moon, titles of high distinction." His LORDSHIP commented strongly on the above speech, and said that the publications between which and that in which it appeared, a comparison had been drawn, never contained anything of the kind, and were perfectly inno- cent in comparison with it. Publications of this descrip tion, his Lordship continued, were like "smuggled goods," an injury to the fair trader, who was undersold by them in the market. He implored the Jury, then, to dismiss all political feeling from their minds, and to remember tint they were upon their oaths, in which case he was sure they would act fairly and impartially in determining their verdict, The Jury conferred shortly together, and returned a verdict for the Crown. His Loansuur then recommended the Counsel for the Crown to be content with the p e nalties on th on th e one co u nt s se lected to proceed upon, whic h are, 201., and on the other 100/. C ounse l consented. POLICE INTELLIGE MANSION-HO USE. Alexander Brennan was brought up for final exami nation upon charges of forgery. A number of respectable tradesmen whom the prisoner was s till to have defrauded of money by means of forged checks were in attendance. The prisoner, who is a roan of off-hand address, was wonderfully lucky in his speculations. He was in the habit of going into a tradesman's shop, claiming acquaint ance with the master, producing a check for 6/. or Si, which he said he was too late to present at the banking hon-e, and requesting a few pounds to answer some press ing occasion, or make some immediate purchase. He never refused a smaller sum than he asked for, and on no one occasion had he ever returned to take up his check. One tradesman (a foreigner) received a visit from the prisoner, who addressed him in the following manner Oh, my dear Sir, how do you do ? I hav'n't seen you a long time." " I'm pretty well, Sir," replied the shop keeper, " but really I don't remember where I have seen you." " Seen me !" said the prisoner ; " your memory must be short then. Why, I have seen you here in your own shop." The shopkeeper looked again, " I do, I think, Sir, recollect your features now, Sir, Oh, I hope you are quite well, Sir." " Why, I hav'n't been quite so well as when I used to come here formerly I've lost my wife, and that's a bard thing after twenty years of affection; but where shall we all be one hundred years hence, you know ?" " True, Sir, true," said the shopkeeper; "it's hard to part; but—what can Ido in my little way for you, Sir?" " Let me see," said the pri soner ; " I relieve -I.'m too late for the Bank, I'm afraid ?" "Yes, Sir, you are just too late." " What shall I do?" said the prisoner ; " I've got a check here for 61., and I want a few trifles in this neighbourhood ; perhaps you can give me change for it." " I'm very sorry I havn't got so much about me, Sir. I happen not to have more than two sovereigns about me." " Let me see; two sovereigns ; that will do. Here, you can keep the cheek." " Oh, certainly, 'Sir, with the greatest pleasure con ceivab!e," said the shopkeeper, bowing low, and hand ing over the sovereigns, for which he was never to receive an equivalent. The prisoner, who had stood at the bar with an averted head, and apparently in great pain, shook with the violent effort to suppress his laughter while the adventure was relating. It was also stated that the prisoner, succeeded in doing Mr. Eanton of a gun value thirty guineas, and a breeches maker in Bond-street of some pounds, for which the un fortunate tailor held one of the manufactured checks as security. Tile prisoner was committed upon two charges. GUILDHALL. _ . Yesterday three men, named Alexander Armstrong, Mark Deacon, and George Deacon, were brought before Mr. Alderm•in LUCAS on suspicion of cattle. stealing. They all declined making any defence, and were remanded for a week, to give time to trace the owners of the cattle. Q UEEN-SQUARE. STEALING NEWSPAPERS ~ ...Yesterday a young man of genteel appearance, who give his name Edward Gazey, was charged with stealing two newspapers, the property of Mr. Joseph Deverell, landlord of the Buckingham coffee house, Pimlico. Mr. WHITE fully committed him for trial. H4TTON- GARDEN. Yesterday Harriet and Isabella Coates, twin sisters eight years of age, possessing the most extraordinary ap pearance, the one having white flaxen hair and red eyes, and the other long brown curly hair, reaching down to their hips, accompanied by a girl about nineteen years of age, who represented herself as their sister, were charged by Mr. Spranger, Barrister at Law, of Gray's Inn square. Yesterday morning, whilst Mr. Spranger was sitting in his chambers, a knock was made at the door, and on being opened the two little girls rushed into his presence and took off their caps and bonnets, when their hair fell loosely about their persons, and they had the appearance of a couple of youthful visions before him. The one with the white flaxen hair presented the most awful aspect ; her eyes rolled about in " fine frenzy," while the other stared wildly at him. Their extraordinary and unexpected visit astonished him, and he immediately called his clerks, who went outside, and found the young woman, who represented herself as their sister, waiting there, and on being questioned she stated that the children were twin orphans, and having no other means of procuring ssa livelihood, she took them round to the houses of various gentlemen as natural curiosities, and received voluntrry presents from them and their ladies, and lately she had exhibited them before their Majesties, the Duke of Wellington, and many other Noblemen and Gentlemen, who were surprised at their wonderful appear ance, and had made her presents. Mr. Spranger, con ceiving that it was highly improper to intrude such an ex hibition upon gentlemen while at their private studies, and having been frequently annoyed by other vagrants, sent for the officer and gave them into custody. The moment the children were placed before Mr. RO• GERS the presiding Magistrate, they took off their caps and bonnets, and, as if instructed, they moved about their heads, worked their eyes in an extraordinary manner, turned round occasionally, and pulled their hair to show that there was no deception, but that all were the works of nature. Mr. ROGERS inquired of the girl who was with them who and what she was? Girl—l am a servant out of place, end these little girls are my sisters, and they were born so. Mr. ROGERS—Have they no parents ? Girl—A mo ther, but their father is dead. Mr. Roorcas—What is their mother? Girl—She is a wash rwoman. Mr. ROGERS—Where does she live? Girl—No. 12, Gloucester-place, Westminster-road. The King and the Duke of Wellington have seen them and made them pre sents, and I thought it no harm to take them to gentle men's houses and chambers to show them. Mr. ROG ERS can only tell you that you are liable to be committed to the House of Correction for such con duct. Depend upon it, if ever you are brought here again for similar conduct, you shall be committed. The prosecutor said that the appearance of the children was tiuly astonishing, but a different mode of exhibition ought to be adopted, if they wished to make a property of them. Mr. ROGERS looked at their hair, and remarked thai it was finer than the finest silk. _ The young woman - expressed her so:row ; and the prisoners were discharged. THAMES POLICE. TERRIFIC OUTRAGE.-Yesterday Thos. Batt, an athletic Irishman, a member of the Coa!whippers' Union, was charged with being concerned in one of the most serious outrages that has occurred in the metropolis f.ir many years. Thomas Miller, a master lumper, employed Jumpers to deliver the coal ships in the river, and hired none hot Englishmen. The delivery of the colliers had been per• formed for many years almost solely by the Irish, ,lid they had late:y farmed themselves into Unions Mr the purpose of preventing the employment of English labour ers. The Union men had lately come to the resolution of demolishing the house and beer-shop called the W. ite Lion, in Pleasant-row, Stepney, where he was in the h abit of paying his men upon the delivery of the coal ship on which they had been engaged. On the pre cedine; night, about nine o'clock, he was in the kitchen of the White Lion, with a bason containing Si. in silver before him, when be beard a loud shout, enough the air, which was follo wed b y a tremendous crash, and the neat instant the house was broken into, and a body of Irish coalwhippers rushed in, swtaring vengeance against the Jumpers, and breaking and demolishing everything before them. In his fright he left the money on the table, and re treated by the back of the pr emises into the yard, where he was met on one side b y about 500 Irish coalvvhip ers, p all of whom were arme d with knives and bludgeons. They uttered the most dre adful im p recations, and swore they would have his life. He was severely beaten, and received a violent blow from a brick which was thrown at him. He escaped he hardly knew how over a wall on thrown other side of the premises, got into a neighbour's yard, and eventually got away . After the coalwitippers found be had escaped they went up stairs in search of him, smashing everything -in their way, and broke op n drawer in an upper room, from which they stole Si. 1 65 . They then commenced throwing the farniture into the street, and it was carried away by the mob, and after wards began to pull up the flooring, and reduced the house jt t ae o ll,aselo r so u pettl i avas n yek s orme . afnel tnoah T ttweh h oae e fyr h. bosonisE n g l ishne : o n n f wassilverper : a lso carriedwhich was awayin t e n w d d t far ess bad been repeatedly threatened. The Itishmen were very George Leadiett, the landlord of the house,,said that less t h f e the coalwhippers lawn househ i i p o p ow e l r .a s s broke a l! down llth article w b y i o n tf d b oeuw:sa, wearing t the. a furniturepTpahreei r w o n al t and fixtures demolished. His loss could not amount to persons y The outrag e spoke five minutes. There was a shout, a t e i r , ff u e e s c l v i t ti l d l th en e in e n e l a t o scs f rash, and the thing was done. w to ''s t han rioters, and said they had been knocked down and trampled upon. One man bad been robbed of his hat, and another of his money. Joseph Burton and Thomas Shaw, policemen of the IC division, said there could not have been less than 2,00 0 assembled, as if by concert. They were pelting the house with brickbats and stones, and some were in the interior demolishing the furniture. The witness saw the prisoner with a brim in each hand, which he threw at the house. One of the bricks struck Burton on the leg, and he im mediately collared the prisoner. At that instant a large body of policemen appeared a t a distance, and the rioters made a speedy retreat. The prisoner denied having participated in the riot. The witnesses clearly identified the prisoner as baying taken an active part in the outrage, and added t hat they could identify a great number of the Irishmen. Mr. Baonenir remanded the prison er for a week, and take directed the police to adopt the most active measres to into custody all those who could be identified as u being concerned in the outrage. - - - UNION-HALL. Yesterday three men, two of whom were fashiona a bly nd dressed, named John Will iams, James Nelson, John Davis, were charged with breaking into the house of a gentleman named Debaufier, at Doer'Peckharn.rye Furlong, the officer, identified two of the pri as belonging to the gang called the " Swell Mob," and 111( ' Magistrate remanded them , as o ther charges are likely to be preferred against them. IRELAND.--DUBLIN, FEB. 5• WHITEFEET FORARS.— . AB DUCTWNS:, Within the last few days the lawless daring 0f.,! Ni . n , , Whitefeet system has shown it , •elf in the Coon.), of all kenny, in a species of outrage which, though not at uncommon in Ireland (and has been k nown to occur:id comparatively peaceful counties), yet, when ador ed Whitefeet, is sufficient to make every interwoven with the vengefularrangenients of the Kilken7 the county tremble for the safety and purity of its 1101:I exposed as all are to the sudden and violent ulidniel:lteven tacks of combined ruffians. Last Sunday night, at or. oin o'clock, a large party of Whitefeet, several of c h ic ,. had their faces blackened, and who carried aril", attacked had ha m n o, the house of Laurence Keefe, of Cappagh , in of Knoctopher, and within about bbt. Mile' of in mastown. They fired several shots through the w r the !al? (lows and doors, after which they sledged in when some of the party entered, but were soon expelied,e7„ Keefe and his five sons. The assailants made two nt". unsuccessful attempts, but were spiritedly driven back II the inmates. At length, however, the Whitefeet receive" reinforcements, and between forty and fifty burst 10, ° ler : powering all opposition. They beat Keefe and his °l, - . in the most savage manner about their heads, with r" - butt-ends of their guns and pinto's. Three- of them are 5° badly wounded that it is teased they will not recover,' respectable family in The ruffians then dragged Keefe's daughter out of b ( and carried her off, leaving two hats and the ramro d u ‘ i a gun behind in their haste. Chief-Constable Coborn.an: a party of police have been since making a diligent earn," la been the unhappy girl, but without success. She was BoisIn"'" married in a few days. Another outrage of mentable nature occurred inthe on the Thursday night pret inn . d ! parish of Gorki:ill, in the barony of Ida. A t : night about five or six fellow~, armed with glini and jos; of a farmer named James Griffin, demanding tots, and with faces blackened, knocked violently la ru e -13 c e were s and fire-arms. His sister and an old female sere elf o the only persons at home. The former bid " k ers : l , f f the loft, and the latter opened the door when "' re ' fi re . .. fellows entered, and searched the house, inquiriug for COn, arms, till they discovered the sister of Griffin i f orce d irr her cealment. They instintly dragged her down, ;„, out of the house, and carried her off with thrin, :siting shot at the moment. The poor girl fainted in , 1 , hands, and when she recovered found herself on bor7; back, placed before Cll2 of the party, whilst two othre., She was coo u held her hands, to preveneher falling off. three or four miles thus to the house of Thomas Cloole of Scart, where she was left by all the party eze e l )c ,: s o man, who told her he intended to marry her. I" has escaped for the present, but Clooney was apprehea ee, by the police under Chief Constable Wilder, who hostel; to search the country, and who found the poor girl in bas house next morning. She has lodged informations adtnictsu a magistrate, Joseph Hayden, Esq., against the prince who detained her at Clooney's all that night. It arPes;;' from accounts of the same date, that threate ning 013 t are still served in the county of Kilkenny. A gentleman who resides in Nantwich informs us that as he was eating an egg at breakfast a f e or no 3rP m ' r ---C/ies— ,ngs ago, he found in it a comm on g arden bean. Gourwit. WO' MELANCHOLY AND FATAL OCCURRE N CE' OF FOUR CONVICTS AT WOOLWICH, BY SATIN G HEMLOCK IN MISTAKE FOR CELERY.-On Tues,V6 afternoon last sixtee n of the convicts from aboard hulks, at,Woolwich, were employed in cleansing the 0 10 4 1 adjoining the arsenal, of the vast accumulation of 0:1A deposited the re by the hi g h tides, when they discov r; growing on the banks a large quantity of fulbgred hemlock plants, whiuh they mistook for wild celery/ s i t , ate a considerable quantity of it. In a short time. sets bl e i ff g e e c d ts to b b e e ca r n e m mo a v p e p d a t re i n n t a , s t t h a e te b t '' u ll a l e l f y u o l with nausea, stupor, and vomiting, and they we re e g,,, fe. - ing, to the infirmary of the arsenal, where the prole tidotes were applied, and fortunatel in t • lve cas es ' y, tie a fd the desired eli,ct, but the remaining four expired 0 ' t he hours, ingreat , agony. An inquest was he!J Oo e , holies on Wednesday evening, at, the Royal Mortar p ub n d house, opposite tLe Arsenal-gates, when the Jury retdr" a verdict accordingly. m ot .' n e x tbreeirrngie BIRTHS. On the sth inst., at Hadley, Middlesex, the wife of t he 'lel' H. Harvey, of a son. On the 6th inst., at Brompton, Mrs. John Sheddon geour, of a daughter. the I teg ' On the 6th inst., at Handley, Dorset, the lady of Thomas Mason, of a daughter. MARRIED. t On the 2Sth ult., in Dublin, Captain Talbot, late of 134/Dot, Regiment, second son of William Talbot, Esq., of Castle '` o f in the county of Wexford, and brother to the Right e t of Countess of Shrewsbury and Waterford, to Honoritto re Major Quin, of the 21st Royal Scotch Fusileers. Jose On the Sth ult., at the Island of St. Michael, Azores, wet 11. Dart, Esq., to Sarah Hickling Anglin, younges t da° ,4 7 ll vl of the late John Auglin, Esq., of Madeira, and forrn-mi - Cork, and grand daughter of Thomas Hickling, Esq., C " .- for the United States, at St. On the 6th inst., in Euston.s sq ua re, Mary, the wife °' josePh Aldridge, Esq., in her 71st year. Or 0 1 ' On the 6th inst., in Great Surrey street, Blackfriall' Mrs. Rebecca Barton, in her 75th year. f fr . 611' On the 6th inst., aged a.. ) , Gilbert, youngest son 0- bert Liddiard, of Stepney. ra alif On the sth inst., Mr. William Dowson, aged 64 fob years the true and faithful servant of Messrs. Tatters 3 ,7 foe On the 4th inst., Mr. W. Wilkinson, of Colornau-stiee stationer. a iV IP PRINTED AND PUBLISHED isv MURDO YOUN—,4 SUN OFVICE, 11; STRAND. ~t :.f • ;