The Sun. — London, England, 1834-10-18 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. Cobbeit's Register of this day is a strange mixture of good description, and absurd reasoning. He has seen a good deal of Ireland, and he gives a very striking account of the wretchedness of the people to Charles Marshall, labourer, Normandy Tithing ; but the con clusions he draws, both in the letter to Marshall, and in another to Lord Radnor, are often most absurd. We say often, because in these letters, as in all his writings, his absurdity is always relieved by occasional acuteness. The letter to Marshall is dated from Waterford, 6th October, and contains the following description of the Irish farmers nere are some large farmers, and these have barns and thrashing-machines ; but the greater number have from five acres of land to forty perhaps. Our acre is about three quarters of an Irish acre ; but I speak of our acre. Where there are barns, they are of stone. The ground of all this kingdom seems to be upon beds of stone, and great part lime-stone : so that all buildings are of these, stone and mortar ; and the fences, where there are any, are of stone. The farmers in general have no barns. They put their sheaves into little cocks, and seldom thatch them ; and they do the same with the hay. They beat out the corn (wheat, &c.) in their miserable houses, and winnow it by the wind, on cloths, having 'no vans to do it with. They then put it into bags holding about six of our bushels, which are lifted on a car (a sort of bed of a cart without head or tail or sides, which, when wanted to carry potatoes or apples, are made of osiers), and carry it and sell it to the corn-dealears, who send almost all of it to Eng land. The farmer and his family are all in half nakedness or rags ; their lot is little better than the mere labourer's. They raise wheat and barley and butter and pork in great abundance ; but never do they taste any of either, except, perchance, a small part of the meal of the oats. Potatoes are their sole food. I wish the farmers of our parish could see one that I saw in the fine county of Kilkenny. His dress was a mere bundle of rags, tied round his body with a baud of straw ; his legs and feet bare, no shirt, and his head covered with a rag, such as you would rip out of the inside of an old cart-saddle. The landlord generally lets his *Treat estate to some one man, who lets it out in littles ; and this one man takes all from the wretched farmer." was reduced, there were no towns or fixed habitations. The natives moved their wigwams from place to place —so that Sir John Davies, on his second circuit, was astonished to find none of the collections of huts in the places where he had found them the year before. The blunders of the English Government have prevented the extension of better habits ; so that an immense population, utterly unacquainted with the arts of life, and satisfied with the very lowest animal existence, has been suffered to grow up. The English people have been weak enough to suffer the Aristocracy to waste their resources in keeping Ireland barbarous. A dominant caste and a sinecure Church have been the object of the care of the Government ; the people have been considered merely i as instruments. The Govern ment, however, s now honest. Civilization is making its inroads, and will in time complete the conquest of the country. But we must not suffer ourselves to be led away with the notion that the bad habits, and the vices, the result of original barbarism and subsequent misgovernment, can be re medied in a day. By way of illustrating the difficulty there is in rooting out long-confirmed habits, we shall notice a case lately communicated to us on the best authority. We may übserve that combination enters into every transaction of life in Ireland. There is, indeed, scarcely any earthly object to which combina tion is not occasionally applied. And yet our English readers would guess a long time before hitting on the object of a combination which took place the other day in Ireland, and which, we should imagine, must be no vel even in that country. Three armed men entered a house at night, into which they had previously fired shots, and swore the owner not to get married. " What !" it will be asked, " is Malthus making such way in Ireland that combinations to keep down the population are entered into ?" Oh, no ; the com bination in this case is supposed to have been the work of a man who had a reversionary interest in the pro perty of the person sworn. Strange mixture of law lessness and religion I—Morning Chronicle. Among the most obvious and pressing considera tions which the late awful calamity gives rise to, is the suggesting and providing some place for the re ception of both Houses of Parliament on their next meeting ; which, though in the ordinary course of things it may not be till February, on the other hand is liable to be sudden and almost immediate. The erection of new edifices will, at .any rate, occupy a period of from one to two years ; and as they cannot, in all probability, be so much as commenced till after the ensuing winter, we may reasonably calculate that temporary Houses of Parliament will be required for at least two sessions. Numerous suggestions are al ready afloat, and are all more or less worthy of con sideration. The House of Lords, it is said, might meet in 'Westminster Hall, if fitted up as it is on the occasion of a state trial, and that Committee rooms, &c., might be formed by taking some of the houses in Palace-yard for that purpose, while the House of Commons might be provided for in Whitehall chapel or Banqueting-house, with one or more houses in Privy-gardens for the Speaker, Committees, &c. But this plan is open to the objec tion of the two Houses assembling at inconvenient dis tances from each other. Others suggest that as the new palace at Pimlico is now ready for the reception of their Majesties, the old palace at St. James's is ca pable of affording temporary accommodation for both Houses, which, if to be practicable, presents the most desirable and least objectionable plan of any. It has been said that two halls of the Inner and Middle Temple are capable of affording the accommodation ; but this we doubt--and also that Exeter-hall in the Strand presents rooms large and numerous enough for all the purposes of both Houses ; but with this build ing we are not sufficiently acquainted to offer any nion. Upon the whole we must repeat that St. James's Palace appears to present the readiest means of meet ing the difficulty, which at any rate must, for obvious reasons, be met promptly, and, as we hope it may, as effectually as circumstances will permit.—Morning Herald. After some absurd observations on the supposed schemes of the " Scotch vagabonds" to reduce the English to this very state, in which he informs the farmers that " their wives will have no hats; bon nets, or caps ; but must have a wad of straw tied upon their heads," he exclaims, " Mrs. West, and Mrs. Faggotten, and Mrs. Heathorn would look so nice, naked up to the knees, some rags tied round the middle, no smock, and their heads covered with a wad of straw I " He then adds, " I have now been over about 180 miles in Ire land, in the several counties of Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare, Carlow, Kilkenny, and Waterford. I have in former years, been in every county of England, and across every county more than one way. I have been through the finest part of Scotland. I have lived in the finest parts of the United States of America. And here lam to de clare to all the world that I never passed over any fifty miles in my life, any fifty unbroken miles of land so good on an average during the whole way, as the average of these 180 miles." In going from Kilkenny to Waterford, he passed through a fair for cattle and fat hogs, at a place called Mullinavat. There might be four thousand people, and there were about seven acres covered with cattle, mostly fat, and all over the street of the town there were— " About three thousand beautiful fat hogs, lying all over the road and the streets ; and our chaise was actually stop ped and blocked up by fat hogs ; and we were obliged to stop till the civil and kind people could get them out of our way ! There was a sight to be seen by me, who had never seen thirty such hogs together in the course of my life these hogs weighing from ten to thirty score each ! Ah, but there arose out of this fine sight reflections that made my blood boil ; that the far greater part of those who had bred and fatted these hogs were never to taste one morsel of them, no, not even the offal, and had lived worse than the hogs, not daring to taste any part of the meal used in the fatting of the hogs. The hogs are to be killed, dried, or tubbed, and sent out of the country to be sold for money to be paid to the landowners, who spend it in London, Bath, Paris, Rome, or some other places of pleasure, while these poor creatures are raising all this food from the land, and are starving themselves." We have often said that in Ireland all goes to the landlord ; that the farmer and cottier, out of the whole produce of the land, have only the potatoes for their own subsistence. " And this, " says Mr. Cobbett, " is what we shall come to in England, unless we call upon our Member, Mr. Leech, to protect us." We trust we shall be protected from such a fate without the aid of any such cunning leech. If the people of Eng land and the people of Ireland are to be reduced to potatoes and water, what is to become of all the fat cattle and fat hogs ? No man would raise fat cattle and hogs without a market for them ; and if neither the people of England nor the people of Ireland eat beef and pork, what is to be done with it ? Are we to export it to Russia, or the United States of North America ? Mr. Cobbett thinks the potatoes are the cause of the evil ; that if the people of England do not make a stand against potatoes, we shall be victims to them in our turns. In his indignatien against the accursed root, he issues the following whimsical anathema : " I hope that all of you are well ; and that not a man of you will ever again suffer a potato to grow in your gardens, or be brought into your houses ; and if any one bring a potato into my house, except to stuff' a fat goose, or a fat sucking pig, Mr. Dean has my order to discharge that per son directly. You have peas and Inane of all sorts for summer ; carrots, parsnips, beets, for winter ; white cab bages all the year through ; the best of bread, bacon, and puddings always ; and if you still hanker after that accursed root, without which Ireland could not have been brought to its present state, and which has banished bread from the labourer's house here ; if you still hanker after this ' coarse food,' you shall go elsewhere to get it ; for you shall not have it in the service (in house or out of house) of your master and friend, William Cobbett." It was hardly to be expected that the misery and injustice which so sweeping a measure of destruction as the miscalled Poor Law Amendment Act was sure to create would be made manifest in a day or two, and the public must, therefore, not be too greatly shocked if in every number of every Journal published through out England and Wales, accounts are given for some time to come of fresh grievances generated under the operation of this unprecedented work of legislation. A Correspondent, whose letter will be found in another part of our Paper, asks with great naivete, whether lie can obtain any relief if his poor rates are greatly in creased, in consequence of any orders that may be issued by the triumvirate, and more partieularly if they should determine upon building a new workhouse in the district where he resides. Alas, we regret it is out of our power to suggest any mode by which our correspon dent, and those who are in his situation, can hope to ob tain the smallest relief from the partial and unjust opera tion of this iniquitous measure ; for when the main object of the promoters of such a work is to secure a certain amount of patronage, they pay as little atten tion to private rights as to the public interests. The sec tions in the Act by which the Commissioners are em powered to build and enlarge, or alter, workhouses, are the 23d, 24th, and 25th, by the first of which it is enacted that it shall be lawful for the Commissioners, with the consent of a majority of the guardians of any union, or with the consent of a majority of the rate payers and owners of property entitled to vote, to order and direct the overseers or guardians of any parish, or union, not having a workhouse, or workhouses, to build a workhouse or workhouses, and to pur chase or hire land for the purpose of building the same, or to purchase or hire a building for the purpose of converting it into a workhouse. And the overseers and guardians to whom any such order shall be di rected are authorised and required to assess, raise, and levy such sum or sums of money as may be necessary for the purposes therein specified by such powers, ways, and means as were at the time of the passing of the Act vested in them. It is clear that according to this section the Commissioners will have very little trouble in obtaining any sanction they may require for building and altering workhouses, for, ex clusive of the influence which they will in most cases exercise over guardians and overseers through the means of sundry little jobs and small baits of patronage too numerous to mention, they will, as a matter of course, secure the suffrages of those members of a union who hope to be relieved by a copartnership with some prosperous neighbour, and they can always take care that these rotten portions of a union shall form its major part. By the 24th section it is fortunately provided that the sums to be raised for the above purposes, and charged upon the poor rates, shall in no case ex ceed the average annual amount of the rates raised in the parish or union where the workhouse is to' be built. But even with this limitation the sum which may be raised will in many cases be pretty large, and the whole of it will, as our correspondent seems to ap prehend, fall upon the tenant, although the advan tages to be derived from such erections will be mainly enjoyed by the landlord, whose estate is to be perma nently benefited by them. The 25th section empowers the Commissioners to order the erection or hiring of workhouses in any parish without any consent at all ; but the sums to be so raised are not to exceed one tenth of the average annual amount of the rates, and their powers of mischief are, therefore, in this instance, materially circumscribed ; but still the same injustice is wrought towards tenants, and we are bound to tell our correspondent that his case, like many others which required equitable consideration, is a casus omissus in this matured and well-digested Poor Law Amendment scheme.—Morning Post. This is putting the cart before the horse. Men do not take a coarse food from choice, but from necessity ; and they always abandon a coarse food when they can obtain a better. It is notorious that wheat has been continually encroaching on the inferior grains all over this island ; and that it is only since about 1760 that wheat became generally the food of the labouring classes. In the reign of Charles the Second, oaten bread was given to the servants in noblemen's houses in London ; and now, barley and oaten bread are to be found only in a very few remote dis tricts. In Scotland as well as England, the con sumption of wheaten flour has greatly increased, and is increasing. In the same manner the consumption of animal food has greatly increased, and is increasing. A nobleman or gentleman does not consume indivi dually much more than another man ; and, as the ob ject of all improvements in agriculture is to increase animal and vegetable production, the increased produce supposes an increased consumption by all classes. The fat hogs and fat cattle of Ireland are consumed by English labourers and manufacturers, as Mr. Cobbett might have seen in Lancashire, and as he may see in almost every village of Kent and Surrey, where the labourer buys Irish bacon of the very best quality for threepence per pound. There has been a great increase of population in England within the last century ; but the increase of animal and vegetable food has increased in a far greater ratio. If in Ireland the people do not benefit by this increase, it is because, from the diseased state of that coun try, there are far more labourers than can be employed, and that the wretched peasantry, from being obliged to have a piece of land as the very con dition of existence, will consent to live on anything — even on potatoes and water--and promise anything for land. The introduction of Poor-laws would be ex tremely useful in diminishing the excessive competi tion for land, and putting a stop to the mendicancy and vagrancy, and the daring irregularities which pre vent the employment of capital in agriculture and other branches of industry. The labourer is a beggar in Ire land, because there is no adequate employment for him, and he must, therefore, take anything that is offered to him. More than one cause has producod these mise rable effects. The absurd vanity of the Irish, about their ancient civilization (which had no connection with arts or industry), makes them unwilling to allow that the laws and usages prevailing among them, when the English first attempted the conquest of the country, were such as to exclude the possibility of all improve ment. There was not a building in the country but churches, and a few Danish fortalices on parts of the coast, when the English first invaded Ireland ; and on the suppression of Tyrone's rebellion, when Ulster We give elsewhere all the additional particulars which we have been able to collect respecting the de struction of the two Houses of Parliament, by the fire which broke out in them on Thursday night ; and if our words upon the occasion are not those of the re gret and unmingled sorrow, almost with a few excep tions, universally expressed by our contemporaries, we assure our readers that we do our feelings no violence by the abstinence. We may, as the Albion of last night observes, be " dull of understanding, and hard of heart, not to be moved to pity " at a " cal am i ty " to the " affli ct i ng h orror o f which no tongue or pen can do justice ;"—but, in truth, although " the confla gration was dreadful," as our contemporary hath it,— " the night fresh and breezy—sometimes stormy, THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1834. but without rain—and the fearful energy of the fire seemed to devour every thing that it touched, and no one who did not behold the scene could imagine the absolute irresistibleness with which the progress of the fire impressed those who witnessed it," we must plead guilty to the accusation of having remained, even to the present moment, comparatively unmoved. To what cause this equanimity of temper upon an occur rence which has excited more sorrow in our cotem poraries, and bedewed their pages, if not their cheeks, with more tears than we have ever . known them to shed upon any former occasion, is to be attributed — whether to " dullness of understanding,"—to " hard ness of heart,"—or the subject not being of suffi cient magnitude to move us—or to our nerves having been recently braced by a visit to the sea-side--=it is not for us to determine. Suffice it to say, that the cause has not been in us, and that the effect has not followed ; and further, that it has been a matter of no slight wonder to us, how those who never found a tear for the subject of military torture—or the sorrows of the African slave—or the miseries which are suffered, to an extent of which few have any conception, by a tax-ridden people—should exhibit such foun tains of affliction for the mere, and as there appears to us every reason to believe, casual, destruction of a mass of inanimate matter. If there had been any thing truly valuable in the buildings which have been destroyed—if they had been specimens of architecture upon which future ages would have desired to look, or from which they might have derived useful lessons —if they had been a Westminster Hall, or a West minster Abbey—or if their contents had been so va luable as to be incapable of being replaced—why we are frank to own that we too should deeply have la mented the devastation ; but neither was the case. All that possessed value—we mean irrecoverable value—in the two Houses of Parliament—has been saved ; while with regard to the buildings themselves, we perfectly agree with the Standard, that " their architectural pre tensions were of the very lowest—that the House of Lords had been dressed up in the worst millinery of George the Fourth's taste; and that the House of Com mons was, by the consent of all, quite a monster of mean ugliness." Besides, it is not matter of fact that a new House of Commons, more commodious and more adapted for the accommodation both of Members and of the people, had been a subject of universal desire for years past, and that the fire of Thursday and yes terday has only done that in one way which, in the course of a year or two, an Act of Parliament wouli have ordered to be accomplished in another, and less expeditious, but more economical mode—and what is there, then, to be lamented ? Why nothing more than the consumption by fire of materials which might have been sold for a purse of gold ! But the associations ali, truly, the associations ! We had almost forgotten that overflowing source of sorrow among our contempo raries ; but on recollection we are inclined to think that they had better not draw too strongly upon it. Many valorous and patriotic things have been said and done in both Houses of Parliament—many scenes enacted which fill the mind with glorious and grateful reeollec- Cass—many men spoke and acted in them as men and patriots ought to speak and act ;—but look—and we say it not from party prejudice—to the many acts which have emanated from these houses of a very different character—to the many men of corrupt. habits, disso lute conduct, and tyrannical dispositions, who under their roofs have wielded the destinies, not of this coun try only, but of Europe, and is not the account more than balanced ? If it was in them, as the Courier bath it, that " victorious generals were tendered the thanks of the assembled nation," so also were the most unprincipled Ministers that either this or any other country ever saw—if in them " resounded those patriot words, which hurried on the people indignantly to a national contest, or directed their energies to improve the national institutions," so also did those which it would have been well for the utterers that they had never spoken. The scathed walls, in fact, could, if they could speak, tell of various " moving accidents ;" but there is so little of that glorious uniformity to be met in them, which our contemporaries would desire to find, that they were much better left " alone in their glory" by them, than prominently brought forward with the risk of contradiction. Hic siste viator /—the boundary is not to be crossed with impunity.—Morn ing Advertiser. It would be trifling with public attention to indulge in long comments on the disastrous accident of Thurs day night. Although we are not of the number of those who regard ancient public buildings as composi tions merely of wood and stone, or their destruction as the dry undoing of so much handywork once executed by carpenters and masons, we feel unwilling to to dwell upon the loss of the ruined edifices, as one which after a short time can be much grieved over even by the most sensitive or imaginative of our fellow-citizens, whose feelings ought rather to be those of rejoicing at the preservation of what have been for centuries en deared to numerous generations of Englishmen as monuments of the antiquity and glory of their country, viz., the stupendous Abbey of Westminster, and the noble and spirit-stirrring Hall, than of regret for a mis fortune which does not awaken any very profound or hallowed affection, and of which the amount in point of definite and 'measurable quantity, whether as to in convenience or expense, can be more than remedied after the lapse of a single twelvemonth. Two houses of Parliament much less adapted to their purpose could hardly have been imagined. They wanted air, and it was difficult to ventilate them. They wanted space, and to enlarge them was almost impossible. We trust that since the opportunity, by whatever means, has ar rived, of constructing senate houses upon a deliberate and harmoni o us pl an , the cardinal objects will he well considered, of space, form, facility of hearing, facility of ventilation, facility of access, and amplitude of ac commodation for the public as well as for the members themselves, and for those who have immediate business with them. We wish that it might be found compatible with the above useful ends to isolate the majestic Hall itself from all the neighbouring edifices, save in so far only as regarded a covered gallery of communication with the debating rooms of Lords and Commons. Westminster Hall might then be reserved and fitted up for occasions of high and paramount state, such as the coronation of the Sovereign, and the opening and closing of each session of Parliament, when his Majesty might sum mon both Houses to attend him there, and to receive his Royal communications ; with raised galleries at the sides for a large admission of the King's subjects. We can conceive no spectacle more magnificent, more im pressive, or more elevating than that of King, Lords, Commons, and people of England, assembled under such a roof, within such walls, and on such a national solemnity. So much for the future. Looking to the immediate wants of the State, it gives us pleasure to announce that his Majesty—always liberal and consi derate towards the country—has offered the use of Buckingham Palace (almost in a condition to receive himself and his Royal Consort) for the meeting of both Houses of Parliament, until a more suitable and lasting provision can be made for that necessary purpose. This is done in a cordial and characteristic spirit by King William, and we are sure will be so appreciated by his people ; but with a view as well to the better comfort and conveni ence of his Majesty, we would humbly recommend, in corroboration of the sentiments of a correspondent in this day's Times, that as the old palace of St. James's contains some apartments fit for the reception of large numbers of persons, but does not offer suitable house-room for the various departments of the Royal Family, his Majesty should still apply to his own use and accommodation the palace of Buckingham house, and turn over the obsolete pile of St. James's to the now unhoused Legislature. This hint will at least l;e considered, we hope, by Sir John C. Hobhouse and the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, before they hold themselves committed irrevocably to any other scheme. Should any objection exist against the application of St. James's Palace to the use of Parliament, might not ample accommodation be found in Somerset House ? With some skill, and at no great expense, Westminster Hall might, as we have already stated, be applied to the use, of the two Houses. But be this as it may, it is certain that without any great difficulty a temporary place of Parliamentary meeting may be found, so that there is not any necessity for any precipitate commence ment of a new pile of buildings. Time should be taken, and the best consideration employed, in order to ensure the erection of a noble Parliamentary edifice , worthy of a great nation. Accident (for we are happy to see that, after the strictest inquiry by the Speaker, Sir John Hobhouse, and other authorities, the fire is ascribed to accident alone) —accident has afforded an opportunity, which, however wished for, would pro bably never have arrived through the process of mere deliberation and conviction : let advantage be taken of this opportunity to show that our taste and spirit in our material works have kept pace with the improve ments in our legal and parliamentary institutions.— Times. COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL. Yesterday a Court was held for the despatch of business. OFFICE OF CITY SOLICITOR. A discussion — took_ place upon the Report of the Corn mittee in relation to Offices and Clerks. The Report states as follows, as to the pecuniary remuneration of the Solicitor : _ _ " With regard to the profits and emoluments of the office, we find that the mode of remunerating the Solicitor has been by bill and charges for the business which has been from time to time required to transact ; and having laid before us the several bills of the late Solicitor for a period of eleven years, viz., from 1820 to Lady-day 1831 (since which period there has not been any final settlement of many of the bills of the Solicitor), we have had the same examined, with a view of ascertaining, as nearly as pos sible, the annual profits of the office, and it appears to us, that after deducting the expenses of his office in sta tionery, clerks, &c., the net profits may be estimated to amount, on an average, to nearly 3,0001. per annum ; and having attentively considered this part of the reference to us, we are of opinion that it is desirable and expedient that in future a fixed salary should be paid to the Solicitor for all business to be done by him chargeable to, the City's cash, and that he should not be allowed any bill or other charge in respect thereof, excepting for his usual dis bursements, (for which he should be required to produce proper and sufficient vouchers) ; and that such salary should be at and after the rate of 2,0001. per annum, to exclude the expenses of his office for clerks, stationery, or other wise ; and with respect to the business required to be trans acted by a solicitor, under any Act or Acts of Parliament, with the execution of which the Corporation, or any Com mittee appointed by them, are or may from time to time be instructed, we are of opinion that all such business should be transacted by the City's solicitor, who should be remu nerated for the same by bills payable out of the funds created by the said Acts ; but that his charges should not in any case exceed those which would be allowed in the settlement of an account between attorney and client ; and in order to insure a proper attention to the various and important du ties of the office, we are of opinion who may be appointed thereto should not be allowed to engage in the transaction of professional business for or on behalf of any other parties than the Corporation, but that his time and attention should at all times be exclusively devoted to the business of this city." Mr. PEACOCK (the Chairman of the Committee) moved that the Court should agree with the report. Mr. Deputy WOOD moved as an amendment, that the City Solicitor should be paid by fees, and not by salary. Mr. BECKWITH seconded the amendment. After a discussion the amendment was rejected by a large majority, and the report was adopted by the Court. POOR LAWS AMENDMENT BILL. ST. MARYLEBONE BOARD OF GUARDIANS AND DIRECTORS. The above Board held a meeting yesterday morning at the Workhouse, to take into consideration a notice of mo tion, that the officers be instructed to comply with the re quest of the Poor Law Commissioners in furnishing answers to the questions forwarded to the parish by Mr. Chadwick. Mr. LARGE brought forward the motion. Mr. WADMORE seconded it. Mr. REDWOOD supported the motion. Mr. MARE wished the questions to be answered. He was fearful if the Board refused they would be summoned before the Commissioners, and the consequence would be a great loss of time to the Guardians. Mr. KENsErr moved an amendment, " That a deputa tion of Vestry be requested to meet a deputation of Guar dians on the subject." Mr. MILLS seconded the amendment. Mr. SODEN was in favour of the amendment. Mr. POTTER said if he could believe that the Govern ment who fran.-ed this obnoxious Bill was actuated by a purity of intention, and that the Commissioners whom they had selected were operated upon by disinterested motives, and desired to ameliorate the condition of the poor, and remedy the abuses existing in the poor laws, he would then be disposed to qualify his opposition ; but when he found, from a statement of Ministers themselves, that their object was not to altogether ameliorate the condition of the poor, but to preserve the estates of the great landlords, at the expense, as he (Mr. Potter) believed, of the comforts of the poor, he felt himself justified, and he might say bound, to offer every opposition to it in his power. Mr. LARGE replied— When the resolution was put and carried, by a majority of three. OLD BAILEY, OcT. 17. Charles Adam Corbyn, who pleaded guilty on the first day of the sessions on two indictments for robberies com mitted at the residences of Sir C. Forbes, Bart., and Mr. Rose, surgeon, was again arraigned for stealing a quantity of jewellery, of the value of 501., the property of Miss Eliza Laing, from the house of Mr. Laing, Cannon-street. The prisoner in a firm voice pleaded guilty. Mr. Laing, the prosecutor, applied to the Court to have the property restored to him. The RECORDER—Where are the pawnbrokers ? But surely they are all much too honest to keep stolen property. Mr. Laing—One of the pawnbrokers refuses to deliver up the property. The RECORDER—Where is that pawnbroker who will not deliver up stolen property ? Let him stand up, so that we may all know him again. One of the officers here said that all the pawnbrokers were willing. The REQORDER—Then there is no occasion to stand up. I thought it was a mistake. Thomas Payne, a respectable looking man, was indicted for stealing a coat of the value of two guineas, the property of Mr. Johnson, of Gracechurch-street. The prisoner, it appeared, entered the shop of Mr. Johnson on the 24th September, and proceeded to take off his old coat, which he laid down, and put on a new one ; he then walked to the door, and, seeing an opportunity, ran up Whiteyard-court ; he was pursued and taken into custody. Several witnesses of great respectability gave the prisoner a most excellent character, they having known him for upwards of twenty years, and during that period he had been in an extensive way of business, but he had of late become greatly reduced. The RECORDER summed up, and The Jury said it was with great reluctance they found the pri s oner Guilty, and in so doing, they begged most strongly to recommend him to mercy. Mr. Doane—l am desired, my Lord, by the prosecutor to join in that recommendation. The prisoner was then sentenced to be imprisoned in Newgate for fourteen days. John Pate, a lad sixteen years of age, was indicted for stealing a valuable Napoleon banner, estimated at 121., and a quantity of gold lace. The facts of this case were lately published in The Sun. The flag was produced. The embroidering in gold on blue satin was splendid, and only inferior to English manu facture in point of weight. It is a singular relic of the rise and fall of Napoleon. When the latter effected his escape from Elba, he was joined by a troop of horse. None but this, then a Bourbon banner, could at the instant be pro cured, and to suit the emergency of the occasion, the fleur de-lis was displaced, and the eagles of Napoleon substituted. The flag waved as the standard of Napoleon until the memorable battle of Waterloo. The prisoner, in reply to the charge, said that the lace and flag were all he had stolen. In reply to a question from the COMMON SERGEANT, prisoner said Mr. Holbeck could give him a good character. The prosecutor was called up, and it was inquired of him what character he could give the prisoner ? Mr. Holbeck —I 11 give him the character of stealing all he could lay his hands upon. This closed the case, and the Jury immediately returned a verdict of Guilty. Thomas Candler was indicted for stealing 10s. from the person of John Whitney. Prosecutor on the sth of September was in company with the prisoner at a public-house in the Kingsland-road, where they drank together, and the prisoner robbed him. Cross-examined by Mr. Phillips.—The 25th of Septem ber, the day mentioned in the indictment, was my birth day. It was indeed. I did say when I got up in the morning, " I'll get drunk to-day if I never get drunk no m ore."—(Laughter.) I began drinking in the morning. I had gin, rum, and pots of beer. I had the beer to keep the gin and rum down. I had all that at one house. I went to a second. I had some more gin there. I went to anothor public-house, and I had part of two pots and part of two pints of half and half. It was not later than eleven in the morning then. I went and played at skittles after that at the " Acorn," and he whopped me out of two pints of beer. I had some dinner. I had beef and pickles. I had some beer with it, and then we had a glass or two of wine.—(Laughter.) I'm not addicted to drinking. I bad some more rum and gin after that, and I had a glass or two more of wine. Mr. PHILLIPS—Did you not offer to lay a wager, and the prisoner would not allow you to lose your rapncy Witness—Yes, I did offer to bet a man 6s. or Bs.- he did not get a floorer. Mr. PHILLIPS—DO translate that for us. Witness— That he did not knock them all down at once. The COMMON SERGEANT stopped the case, and the Jury acquitted the prisoner. MIDDLESEX SESSIONS, OCTOBER 17. The Court heard those applications for musical licenses which were ordered to stand over yesterday. There was not so full an attendance of magistrates as on the former day. The first application for a music license was from Messrs Peters and Bathe, the proprietors of White Conduit-house. The licence was refused to the late proprietor last year. Mr. PAYNE, on behalf of the present applicants, urged that they had given a very considerable sum for the pre mises, and that they would be totally ruined if the license were withheld. There was no other house of the kind within two miles. One of the applicants was in partner nership with Mr. Bleaden, the proprietor of the London Tavern, and the King's Head in the Poultry, two of the most respectable houses in the city, and he hoped that any improper conduct on the part of the former proprietor would not prejudice the present application. The license was eventually granted, there being but one magistrate who opposed it. On a license being applied for for the Adam and Eve, Duke-street, Chelsea, there was same opposition to it, upon which Sir CHARLES FORBES said that in the proceedings of yesterday he thought the Act of Parliament had been con strued too strictly, and he for one should be glad to see it repealed altogether. He could not perceive why gentlemen should have their musical entertainments in Cathedrals and other public places all over the kingdom, while the poor were denied similar enjoyment in the only places to which their finances would afford them the means of admission.— License refused. Mr. ADOLPHLJS applied for a license for the New Royalty. Theatre, in the Commercial-road, and in support of his ap plication stated that formerly every nobleman had the right of having a company of players performing in any place they chose to appoint., for the entertainment of themselves and their friends, and in the reign of Charles 11. certain players were styled " his Majesty's servants," and others " the Duke's servants," meaning in the latter case the Duke of York, afterwards James 11. He contended that thea trical entertainments, when properly conducted, were pro ductive of great public benefit, and it was a well known fact that a youth had been reclaimed who was pursuing a course of folly and vice by witnessing the representation of the tragedy of George Barnwell.—Licence refused. TIIE NEW STRAND THEATRE. Mr. ADOLPIIUS, on the part of Mr. Rayner, applied for a license to the above Theatre. Mr. M'AVILLIAm (who had opposed almost every appli cation for licenses that had hitherto been made) objected to the present application. Mr. ADOLPHUS said he was not at all surprised at the conduct of the worthy magistrate ; it was beneath contempt, and unworthy of notice. The magistrates, by a majority of one only, decided against his application. Several other applications for licenses for public-houses were made, most, of which were granted. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. BO IV-STREET. Yesterday a young man of genteel appearance, named John Ellis, was brought before Mr. HALLS by Ledbitter and a gentleman named Boyle, serving the office of church warden at Buckton, in Huntingdonshire, charged with having absconded with the sum of 6001., the property of his employers, Messrs. William and Lewis Cubitt, the builders in Gray's Inn-road. An advertisement was pub lished in the papers on Tuesday last, and a reward of 501. offered by the firm for his apprehension. Mr. Evans, of Took's-court, Cursitor-street, attended as solicitor for the prosecution, and before the examination commenced requested the Magistrate to order Mr. Boyle, the churchwarden of Buckton, in whose possession the money found upon the prisoner was, to give it up to Messrs. Cubitt at once, as the possession would be as well with them as with any other person. There was another ground also, namely, that they thought the prisoner was insane. Mr. HALLS, however, said that there was a charge of felony brought before him, and he could give no order about the disposal of the money until the case had been gone into in the regular way. Mr. William Cubitt was then sworn, and it appeared from his statement, and that of other witnesses, that on Saturday last the Prisoner was sent by his employer to the banking-house of Messrs. Smith, Payne, and Smith, with a cheque for 7001., 6001. of which he was to bring in half sovereigns, and the rest in silver. He received 6001. in new half-sovereigns, and 1001. in silver, and on leaving the banking-house he went to a tavern and drank a considerable quantity of brandy and water. He afterwards went to his employers' counting-house, and deposited the 100/. worth of silver, but went out again with the bag of gold still in his possession. He proceeded to a public-house, to which he had been in the habit of resorting, and after drinking some more brandy and water, he got into a cabriolet and was driven to Enfield, where he slept. On the following morning he mounted one of the York coaches, and was conveyed to Ware, at which place, however, he left the. coach and took a Lincoln stage through Hertford into Huntingdonshire, at the border of which county he again quitted the conveyance, and proceeded on foot. On his way he overtook an old waggoner in the ser vice of Mr. Cartwright, one of the proprietors and drivers of the York Express coach, who also keeps a public-house at Buckton, in Huntingdonshire, and they walked on together. The Prisoner conversed freely, and said he had recently left London ; that he was going to see his friends, and that he had plenty of money, at the same time opening and showing to the waggoner a bag filled with gold. When they arrived at the entrance of Buckton they separated, and the waggoner went to his master's house about his work. Mr. Cartwright had ar rived shortly before with the York Express coach, and sent it on by another driver, and it had happened very curiously that on his journey a gentleman who was a passenger had read one of the handbills to him while on the box, which had been sent by Messrs. Cubitt per coach, on Monday morning to all parts of the country, offering a reward of 501. for the apprehension of the prisoner, and containing a minute description of his person. Mr. Cartwright was sitting in his parlour when the prisoner, who could not then have parted more than half an hour from the waggoner, walked into the room and called for a glass of brandy and water. Mr. Cartwright was immediately struck with the resem blance which he bore to the description in the hand-bills, and his suspicions were more strongly excited when be saw him pay for his brandy and water with a new half-sovereign. He went into the yard and mentioned his suspicions and the circumstances in the hearing of the old waggoner, who immediately described what had occurred between him and a stranger on the road, and on going to the parlour recognized the prisoner as the same person. Mr. Cartwright upon this took him into custody, and he confessed his identity and his guilt at once. Mr. Boyle, the churchwarden, was then sent for, and in his presence the prisoner was searched, and a bag was found upon him filled with new half-sovereigns. He was taken before Mr. Richardson and another Magistrate at Buckton, in whose presence the bag was sealed and delivered to Mr. Boyle, and information was transmitted to Messrs. Cubitt, he being in custody in the meantime, and they obtained a warrant from Mr. Minshull to bring him to London, the chief wit nesses residing here. Ledbitter went down with the war rant, accompanied by Mr. William Cubbitt, to whom when they met the prisoner confessed his guilt, and said that he first made up his mind to commit the offence as he came from the banking-house. Mr. Cubitt paid the reward of 501. to Mr. Cartwright for the apprehension of the prisoner, and the latter was brought to town. Mr. eubitt, in answer to some questions from Mr. Halls, thought the crime which the prisoner had committed was more the effect of aberration of mind than anything else. He came to them when a mere boy, and had been with them fourteen years. They always considered him worthy of the most unlimited confidence. He (Mr. Cubitt), how ever, had certainly no reason to suspect him of being insane, except the extraordinary act which he had committed. Mr. HALLS told the prisoner he stood in a very perilous situation, and he was willing to he a r anything he h wish to say. Prisoner—l shall defer what I have to say until another occasion. He was then remanded for another examination, the at tendance of a clerk from Smith, Payne, and Smith's being necessary to prove the payment of the money for the check. Mr. Boyle, the churchwarden of Buckton, was directed to keep the money in the meantime. The prisoner answered the magistrate with perfect cool ness, and throughout the examinotion seemed quite collected. QUEEN-SQUARE. Yesterday, after the night charges had been gone through, a number of persons were brought before Mr. WHITE, the Sitting Magistrate, from the station-house of the A divi sion, charged with committing various depredations and rob beries during the disastrous fires at the Houses of Parlia ment during the preceding evening. James Leech was placed at the Bar, charged with steal ing a silver s ugar b as i n an d m ilk ewer f rom th e fi re a t th e House of Lords. A police constable of the D division, No. 1 17, stated, that being directed to look after a number of suspicious and loose characters that had got into Westminster Hall, he saw the prisoner coming down a ladder, and the sugar basin dropped from him. He took him into custody, a 6 found the silver milk ewer in his pocket. Mr. WHlTE—Where do you live? H orse-shoe-alle v. Who do you work for ? For iNfr. Ashley, of Struttos' ground. said What do y ou say to t hi s c h arge ? The prisoner to that he had been lending his assistance at the fire, an d ,.. tv certainly took th e art i c l es pro d uce d , b u t it was for 63 ' aacl he intended to give them up. Mr. WHITE ordered him to be remanded. • 1 vlng John Young and D av id it were charged with la property in their possession stolen from the are. ' s• It appeared that W e ld y was ta k en i n t o custody ot rop, blue bag, in which were f oun d a quant i ty o f locks and u . • worl. belonging to the House of Lords. They were both remanded. -- d fan . Thomas Johnson, D av id D eer, Willi am C r amp, a n d l it, Craven were charg e d by th e po li ce consta bl es with atteinr . ing to pick pockets at the fire. ar The constables observed them try severe Fe -- pockets, and took them into custody. Mr. WHITE ordered them all to be . remanded. , b i te - Francis Palmer was c h arge d w i t h stealing a roll of crape from the fire. The property was found upon him by the officers , s ncib'e. was remanded. William Guest was placed at the bar charged pith tempting to pick p oc k ets . O n searc hi ng him three srl ile boxes and two 1 - .andkerchiefs were found in his was also remanded. Samuel Cox, a private soldier, belonging to the to Guards, was charged with stealing some flannel, an 00 and a napkin, belonging to the housekeeper of Lords. The property was found upon him, and he was reran a t lrlilliant Atkins was charged with stealing a , r i a ss,, memorandum books, and a box containing a looking's at the fire. The prisoner was stopped by the police, and the props found upon him. d s r * George Pitts was charged with being in liquor an saulting the Under Secretary of State. o f the P° The complainant did not appear, and the prisoner pockets. discharged. aN John LWason and Robert Taylor were charged 111 tempting to rob a gentleman of his watch at the fire' They were both remanded. resP e° As elderly man, named James Brown, of rather table appearance, but who refused to give his address, charged with the following disorderly conduct dis t • It appeared from the e vid ence , th a t d ur ing the th n r i o per the fire was r ag i ng a t th e H ouse o f L or d s , the 1 1- , conducted himself in the most violent manner, a nd i n V ulting tone cried ou t, 44 This is what we wanted! this ° o f $ to have happened y ears ago !" an d o th er ex pression i s igo o similar nature. The constable added that it was `vi! to the difficulty the prisoner was prevented from rushing i n flames. 0 1 , There being consid era bl e d ou bt as t o th e Prisn ue m r •eii s nity, he was ordered t o b e t a k en care o f u ntil hill m" could be discovered. , A t Wm. Blackinore,James Pie, Win. Wood, San g ' ingale, John Green, J ames T urner , Win. Breeeh er, s oo May, Patrick Clarey, Win. Anderson, Peter B ro och l 0 Michael Day, were severally charged with stealing r " from the fire. It appeared that during the confusion at the firP,lis erf of every descripti on were th rown ou t o f t h e wisn°,"polie r the prisoners were t a k en i n t o custo d y b y differen; ietterh men, and in their p oc k e t s were f oun d pac k a ges Ctl ier ,. petitions, and othe r p a p ers , qu it e s a t ura t e d w ith sis' ho ar, The prisoners said th a t th e y p i c k e d up t h e papers t or , curiosity merely, to read them at their leisure ; th e y it was no harm as others were doing it. t it tO Mr. WHITE ordered them all to be remanded u Tuesday. An applicati o n was ma d e t o b a il some o f the la tter fendants, but Mr. WiriTE refused to take bail. . Some of them were highly respectable tradesmen'. pas 0 1 .., ~e , On Thursday last, at Stocken Hall, the , s „ nt iro G. J. Heathcote, Esq., one of those acts if not Of itTboot of secreting the birth of a child, took place. ir- - inn, - kee ir r, Mrs. Rusher, who had been about three nac ti ,d e chta service of Mr. Heathcote, delivered herself of a f e°3 „ - 0 tic which she afterwards placed in a trunk, and meant , ',v. $e to have conveyed the infant away at a fitting o pports fl iresfr design was, however, discovered by one of the femm e ery sa i i :4 ho, in the absence of th e mo th er , f oun d t h e c hild. A o siti..4 picious circumsta nce connecte d w i t h t h e affair is, cott on to round the neck of the child, and that the navel str i rgeer t: and left unsecured. A coroner's inquest was belt' i . of , body of the child on Friday, which took up the wh ° ' - by .. •..o0' • day. Mr. Jackson, surgeon, of St. Martin's, ass iste d 'p Jones, of Oakham, conducted the post mortal O P- toeh, and by their experiments and physiological investigtori was most satisfactorily ascertained that the child;ioP: alive. We understand that the evidence of Mr. Ja c , hish o considerable weight with the jury, in consequence e A L est b 1 . 1 .4 ing stated that it was very probable that the chitd's ". g v_a caused by the hemorrhage from the untied navel string,'" : e sP" not entirely from the chord round the neck. This ° .hs ci o, made the crime one of omission and not of commiss i Sjcl;,,,,' the jury acquitted the mother of the murder of the c to or j we hear that further steps will be taken to puuish t,, h h e diear ral parent, for the conceal me nt o f th e birth.--v Journal. 0 1 Died yesterday (September 23), at Hobc kenj eets b I o p , a protracted illness, Comfort Sands, Esq., in the 8 71 6 0,,,,,, 0 his age. Mr. Sands was one of the earliest, most le n , S,!;* per severing of the patriots of the American revolutio t o 4., the storm of civil war began to gather in the e astern ; r oc; he was one of the first to mark and prepare for its toe!tt Of the committee of 100 merchants, organized as a "I; tee of Safety, he has for many ye a r s b ee n the 001 Y fort' j 4 member. When the citizens organiz e d a s volunteers,;ostir., paratory drills, he commanded a c om p an y ; and be ll. '" the ti c it on duty in the College-yard, Alexander Ham ilt°lll o s tts3 youthful student, came out and asked pernaissionbs'eeio hi:l:self to the corps, and fall into the ranks. S u o ise i c itf M:. Sands assisted him in procuring his first came thl s ,tbs the army. The first seizure of the stamp paper 1 t pe w bo i was made by him. He took the parcels into the 1 1, 001 t toll battery, rowed round into the East river, and w ho Pod among the hills towards Corlaer's Hook. Whe n ootsP e tb s arsenal was seized by the citizens, Mr. Sands firs t virbes t et the surrender of the keys, and led the assault.,,,, lc , be o r n.'ws of the battle of Lexington arrived in New , I °r d ca t folls, t) arms, and marched to join his brave New Engi a cir a teD_ A " of men. He was in the army with Washington, at d i s ebarld near Boston. Subsequently he was called to the gr. d 'i l ict i civil trusts, and since the decease of John JaY' trop ' re has been the only survivor of the State Convel/ e ste g d of formed the glorious old Constitution of 1777. the cl°; o st peatedly a Member of the Legislature, and aft er o f tb ° , o tl 3° the revolution, was, for a l o ng s e ri es of years, ca e . t , i'',l)/ extensive and enterprising m erc h an t s o f this ° V e rtsi t ol est midst of a successf u l career , h owever , he was °. For 1 1 St. adversity, and the clouds were never dispelled. ber s 0 0 0, number of years he alone has su rv i ve d o f them e r y:r! .. ? George's church, with whom he first united. —N ett ....... BIRTHS. f Jamb On the 17th inst., i n B ru t on - s t ree t, th e lady 0 flee . Ho c lg, Esq., of a daughter. On the 17th inst., in Connaught-square, the ladY ° f joie shaw, Esq., of a son. Altai° 17°ft' f On the 17th inst., in B e l grave - square , Mrs. WYri - polY - of a daughter. es, tile AI On the 15th inst., a t T e ddi ng t on H ouse , Midu' eß Of of J. C. Baird, Esq., of a (laughter. A th e On the 29th ult., i n W entwort h- p l ace , Mile -0" 5 qt3S. George Suniev, E sq ., o f a son . Deaf °rd- On the 15th inst., Mrs. Ori e l, o f Alfred-plat.',wile°, of a son, t 1 a iltop" On the 15 ll th inst., Mr s . E. D. P u ddicombe, of ie d- W. I ‘ ere St. John's Wood, of a s o n. gob__ On the 15th inst., at the Grove, Hackney, Mrs. tt nerd, of a daughter. ' Pe° stfx _u s MARRIED. 11 A ft' iste i° ' On the 16th i ns t., a t S t . Gil es ' s , Camber° i the Green, of Lambeth, t o E mma , f our th daughter 0 To&onbste' te Ilepburn, Esq., of Southwark. On the 16th inst., at the Friends' Meeting-1101;er of the .... John Pryor, o f Fi ns b ury - c i rcus, to R e b ec ca, daug N r i llty tllg John Phillips, of Tottenham. 'born, ._, . go goa t ot On the 16th inst., at St. Andrew's Church, , 0 to ~,, Henry Whittaker, Esq., of Bampton, 0xf0r(13 11 ,',,,, of ''''- youngest daughter of the late William Humfrey,.r-''' pe e vo bert ett house, Wokingham, Berks. On the 16th inst., in the chapel of the To c 7V ii ; g ap % wood, Esq., surgeon, of Beccles, Suffolk, t ration' ° only daughter of the late Alex. Barry, Esq., o f Fr cited bl id' DIED. deep ly reel CF Lately, at the Pigeon House Fort, Dublin, , ti , xei • her family and friends, Mary, relict of the late Lie 1• of lb if , _ Reynolds, of th e E. I. C. S. lkir,h Rev. bn T th h e nin H a t s h i3 h i l y s t t h . ~ `.'" at Knowle, Warwickshire' n, On the 12th inst., at Strand-on-the-Gree , : iek, Ilf; or 401 Anne Dickel, in her 90th year. . son, Cer - Por On the 16th inst., in his 74th year, On the 15th inst., at the house of her son, the ,_ te voi . Resident Apothecary to Guy R.N., High Beech, Essex, Mary, widow of ' a n her 75th Yet.: foe Esq., of Sewardstone, in the same county, l of the Rev. r _ On the 22d ult., Frances Maria, the wife . cbo r Nixon. On the 14th inst., at Newbury, s 0° s ide, London. wife of Mr. Jame ~ On the 17th inst., Mrs. Gotobed, , , 7. „ ei l •thitiAns.t.•inof Cambridge, abed , $9.00.„, 2 ," brewer and coach-proprietor, ,s Hespitabßich. Stocker:,..;fn sot,..b,ebbil: youngest .„ 0 , 0 4 '' wifea n t_ oGf eEdwardlsla o e Y i3. r J OO r b a 0 t r i) 1 , the dan l g t er u n it f ., at Liege, Wit her i!slorbnon-hall, aged 24. Forbes p 'fb °2 ' Kingston Mr. John Afarriner' °I Coto On the 10th inst., in A t Lower - h i I I the, Elisabeth , laouitzrreasrbeeLteYi-t.eshut,rt Elizabetheeent Portman-I'l°r' enof• Tringliam, Esq., aged 65., •s aged 85, Elizabeth, wi- ° t o. On the 9th inst., in an , Ss° UP in hisOn 3thsethly4,ethar.inst., at Ilastings, Mr. Henry A v 7 of Auger, timber-merchant , _ eso, --,--- y 0 uRDO Ba3l: i s, th sq i2 . Strand' at The Sea O ffi ce, No. 112, Ui:ih°l76stirseteyt,earWh. Itechapel, e• London : Printed and Published by M P' Pal