The Sun. — London, England, 1827-05-22 00:00:00

Han. Gentleman, the Hon. Baronet has no right to do.— (Hear, hear.) The petition was_ then breiught up and ordered to be WESTMINSTER MEETING. printed. Lord EBRINGTON rose to present a petition from Dr. Tucker, Chairman of the late meeting in Westminster, and certain Inhabitants of that city, complaining of the refusal of Mr. Morris, the High Bailiff of that city, to call a meet ing to congratulate his Majesty, though called upon to con vene one br a requisition, signed by a numerous and re spectable body of household inhabitants. The petition set forth the circumstances of the meeting, which have already been fully before the public ; and besides the refusal of the High Bailiff to call a meeting, they attribute the dispersion of the meeting, that was subsequently convened, to his undue interference. The petitioners further complained of the dispersion of the meeting convened at Covent-garden, by constables, of which notice was g'ven to Sir R. Birnie, and to Mr. Lee, the High Constable; of the violence and outrage of the constables, and their having been forcibly expelled from thence. The petition concluded by praying that witnesses may be heard at the Bar of the House, to substantiate all the allegations of the petitioners, and that the Houk would be pleated to adopt such measures of re lief as the House may think proper. The Noble Lord felt It to be his duty to present this petition. He declared, at the same time, that he declined to express any opinion upon it, and thought it hut right to state, that from what he had finown and heard of the character of the High Bailiff, he was not disposed to give a ready credit to the charge of his having been guilty,Of the gross misconduct imputed to him. Without, therefore, taking upon himself to affirm or deny any of the allegations of the petition, he considered it one 'worthy of the attentive consideration of the House. Mr. HOBHOUSE said, that he was favoured with a comrt;unication from Mr. Morris, the High Bailiff, which would furnish a satisfactory answer to that part of the charge contained in the petition, which referred to him. The first charge in the petition referred to the refusal of Mr. Morris, in compliance with a requisition, he (Mr. H.) presumed respectably signed, presented to Mr. Morris, to call a meeting of the inhabitants of Westminster. The fact was, the terms in which the petition was couched were such, that Mr. Morris did not think he could with pro priety comply with it ; for it was requisite, that before convening such a meeting, Mr. Morris should know the object for which it was convened. But this Address c ommence d thus—'4 We, the undersigned, inhabitant seuseholders of Westminster, request you to call a meet 7int, for the purpose of presenting an Adiress of Con ruttdatioa to his Majesty," but what it was about, where send when it was to beheld, and what was to be done, no siltation was made. Mr. Morris to be sure, might guess what was intended, but he (lid not think it proper to do so, n o,l accordingly declined to call the meeting. This his in tention he communicated to Dr. Tucker. The substance of his note W:cis to present his compliments to Dr. Tucker, and to state that under the circumstances he did not deem it proper to comply with the wishes of the requisitionists. The answer of Dr. Tucker to this intimation was s—" Sir —Your refusal to accede to the wishes of the requisitionists appears to me in so hideous a form, that I cannot submit in silence to your will"—(A laugh.)—ln a hideous form ! These were the circumstances of the first charge, and he trusted that the conduct of the High Bailiff was such as the House would approve of. The second charge was an accusation a• - •aiiist the High Bailiff, for interfering with the aneeting which was convened at Covent-garden, by giving orders for its dispersion. Now the fact was, the High Bailiff gave no such orders, nor was he in any way acces sary- to its dispersion. So much for the charge of his Laving sanctioned the wanton dispersion of the Meet and for the attempt to connect him with the outrages alleged to have occuiTed there. Jle (Mr. Eloblosuse) greatly disapproved and daprecated the in terference of the constables. It r- as highly improper. It took place on this occasion, he understood, on the authority of the Ccmmissioners of Paving. The situa tiara of the inhabitants of Westminster was peculiar re specting a place fir meeting. They were deprived of their usual place of meeting—Palace-yard, by a Bill which passed through this House in 1807. In Mr. Fox's time _ _ they used to meet in Westminster-hall; but now, by a Bill called Mr, Angelo Taylor's Bill, they might dispersed by thR authority of the Commissioners of Paving, although they bad been convened by the Pavinc , Board at Covent-garde►; so that, deprived of Palace-yard by one Act, and of Covent-garden by another, they really now had JlO place of meeting. after enforcing the im pr►;nriety of the interference of the Police, and the advan tage; and right of free discussion, the Hon. Member con cluded by calling to the attention of the House the fact,— that Mr . . Morris Was now nearly twenty years High Bailiff of Westminster--that this was the first complaint that had been in that time preferred against him for the dis- charge of his public fluty, and it was highly creditable to Oat officer that it was . = unfounded one. fiord EBRINGTON expressed himself quite satisfied with explanation of the conduct of the High Bailiff, but still di.`aPProved and deprecated tht improper disper sion of the nu:eting in Covent-gardeu : after which the petition was brou g Nt up, and ordered to he printed. 111r.,1IUNDY proented a petition from Derbyshire, 4;,..-irning Women in Indi a . against the practice of RATION ACTS. TEST AND CORPC. unity of men ti on i ng a Mr. DENISON took this oppo t : very small opposition to which he liappiOed to belong, re lating to hackney-coaches ; and he ventnreci Pa predict to the lion. Member for Somersetshire, that he o ld find himself in a much smaller opposition if he persisted in is e ;irregular course of opposition he was now pursuing.— (Hear, hear.)-:-The petition which he rose to present, was from one of the wealthiest and most intelligent parishes in the county of Surrey. It was a petition praying for a re peal of the Test and Corporation Acts, and he had the sa tisfaction to state, that it was signed by a Clergyman of the wish, and that one-third of the persons who had subscribed the petition were persons of the Established Church.— (Cheers.) -1 his was satisfactory, as it shelved they could live on amicable and charitable terms, notwithstanding a difference of religious opinion. Ile regretted that the Right Hon. Gent. opposite (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had expressed such determined opposition as he bad done to Reform and to the Repeal of the Test and Corpo ration Acts, desirous as he was to support the Administra tion of that Right Hon. Gentleman as far as was consistent with the principles upon which he had always acted, and by which he would ever hear.)—lf the Ri g h t H o n. Gentleman would only support Reform— repeal these Acta--introduce economy into every depart ment of the State—be would do more than by any other " um, if n ot for the strength of his Ad m i n i s t rat i on , certainly f or ot increase of his future fame ; and might laugh to :Torn" the opposition of those, high in rank and influence, h 0 ,,,- . ever strongly, he might alm os t say however personally, a erse they might be to th e tiZ Right Hon. Gentleman. He tn:_ust say he did not regret the secession of those who had resigneJ: and who were, in 'his opinion - he meant no disrespect to the Right Honour able Gentleman (Mr. Peel) on the bench below him--full f i fty y ea rs behind the rest of the world, in intelligence, in civilization, in liberty, and in all those leading principles which contributed to the greatness and happiness of man kind—(Loud cries of hear.) The petitien was ordered to be printed. SALE OF BREAD. Mr. Alderman THOMPSON moved for leave to bring in a Bill for the Regulation of the Sale of Bread in Lon don.—Leave granted. Mr. Alderman WAITTIMAN presented a petition from the Bakers of the East Division of London, praying for the obcervance of the principle of Free Trade in the article of B rea d, as it had been introduced into the sale of other ar ticles. The petition (as we understood) was against the Bill introdue.?d by the Hon. Alderman Thompson. ADMISISTRATION OF JUSTICE. Mr. PEEL ( w h o appeared for th e fi rs t t i me on the Opposition side of the House, and sat in the place on the lower bench usually occupied by Mr. Brougham) rose to apply for leave to hcing in a Bill for the better administration of Justice criminal cases.— He commenced by stating it to be Ilia intention at first to propose the abolition pf all those Eornas ip the administration of the Criminal Le,w, the observance of which was unnecessary, and may be omitted with advantage. For instance, he would propose, ia the first place, that a practice which seemed to him to be continued „, r no useful purpose, should be abolished ; namely, the I practice of asking a prisoner after he has pleade,d " not " s uilty," " how will you be tried ?" This question seemed t o hfo to have the effect only of puzzling or confuting the I p r i sone r for instead of giving the prescribed an swer , h e usually gave pne either exhibitinglerity, es that "he would rather not b' triefi at a 11," or one inconsistent Alike with the question put to him and the gravity and solemnity of the occasion; or he rf fuse4 often to answer at all, and some• times the gaoler answer ed fpr the prisoner. Now he would appeal to the conariou sense of an, if it were neces sary to continue that form.—(Hear, 114,i-, hear.) ?—He would propose instead of that 9uestion, that aft e r tke plea of " Not Guilty" was entered, no further question or in _ _ _ _ - _ quiz The next repeal, was ihroi general Guile who, pose in Id be a '6 Not .rey, and with reason, that he should be considered so, merely for being mute, rather than otherwise—that his trial should take place, and a verdict of acquittal, or of guilty follow according to the facts proved in evidence. In former times, when prisoners persevered in being mute, the an cient punishment, known by the name of "peine forte et dare," was resorted to. Although it was sometimes re laxed in practice, yet in cases of treason, the continuing obstinately mute was equivalent to a conviction, and two such convictions had taken place, and execution followed ; one of these was on a charge of murder, and the other one of burglary ; the former occurred in 1777, and the latter in 1793. Now he thought the extreme sentence of the law was too great a punishment to inflict for this offence; and he submitted, that in all cases whatever of treason, or other crime it would he more consistent with justice and rea ' son, and more satisfactory to public opinion, if the punishment were to follow, and to be apportioned to, the evidence given at the trial.—( Hear, hear.) Although Mr. Justice Blackstone considered it to the honour of our laws, that the 'seine forte et dure was abolished by the statute of 12th Geo. 111. c. 20, yet in his opinion, it was necessary to go beyond that statute which determined the standing mute in cases of felony as well as of treason amounted to a con structive confession, and to adopt a contrary rule of enter taining evidence and opportunity of defence on all occa sions. —(Hear, hear.)—The next alteration he would pro pose was that which incurred conviction from the party persisting to challenge beyond the number to which he was entitled. In cases of treason, to challenge beyond the number was also enacted to amount to legal conviction, and was attended with all the consequences of the accused party being found guilty. In other cases, the challenges beyond the proper number were declared to be null and void. Now he would propose as a general rule, that those challenges that were made after the proper number was exhausted, should in all cases be declared null and void. He would next propose the correction of a great practical abuse—namely, that of pleading a former attainder in plea ' of an indictment. Now he would propose that a previous conviction in future should not be a bar to an indictment, unless it were a conviction for the same offence to which the indictment referred. The last change he would pro pose was, perhaps, the most important ene—it was the total abolition of what was called " without benefit Of Clergy."—(Hear, hear, hear.)----This was a most useless and unmeaning form. To every capital offence it was an nexed—it was, in' fact, a mere mockery, and ought no longer to be permitted to continue to encumber the Sta tute-book. There were some offences to which, " with out benefit of Clergy" was annexed, in which cases immunities were provided for Peers ; but as these cases were only two, namely, " sacrilege" and " horse stealing," he thought, with respect to these two, it was not necessary to observe any particular exemption, and the abolition of this form might be general, and extend to all cases. In all crimes of a capital na ture, where it was intended that the punishment of death should remain, that punishment was to be declared, without mentioning benefit of Clergy. When, in addi tion to the present, the offences against the person and forgery were comprehended, nearly the whole of our Cri minal Law would he consolidated. He meant to introduce a clause to prevent all the endless repetition of singular and plural, masculine and feminine, &c. This clause had been drawn up by a gentleman from whom he had re ceived the most invaluable assistance in the whole of his undertaking—he meant Sir James Richardson. (Mr. Peel here read the clause, which provided that singular and plural, masculine and feminine, a body corporate as well as an individual, should be subject to the provisions of the Bill.) He apologised for having trespassed so long on the attention of the House, but it was necessary for the purpose of explanation. The Bills last Session had stood for commitments. Under the circumstances which had since taken place, he regretted the delay which had oc curred in their progress. He had since, however, submit ted them to some of the most learned men in the country —men whose talents and experience qualified them to give the best opinions on the subject, and had received from them a number of valuable suggestions. The Right Hon. Gentleman concluded by moving, " for leave to bring in a Bill for the further improvement of the administration of justice in criminal cases." Mr. WYNN had not the slightest intention of opposing his Right Hon. Friend's motion ; but was anxious for the explanation of that point which related to an accused per son standing mute. If it were found that he stood mute by malice, then he allowed that it was proper that lie should be proceeded against, as if lie had pleaded not guilty; but he might be mule, and incapable of understanding what was going on, and in that case he ought not to be put on his trial. A jury ought to be impanelled, to ascertain whether or not he had sufficient use of his reason to make a defence against the charge brought against him. With respect to Peers guilty of clergyable offences, there were other offences of that nature besides those comprehended in the Bill. The Duchess of Kingston, when she was con victed of bigamy, first pleaded benefit of clergy, and them the right of Peerage, and thereby escaped punishment, al• though she was told that if she committed the same offence again, if she married two more husbands, the right o Peerage would no longer avail her, Mr. PEEL said that he had introduced in the margin 01 the bill a clause, empowering the Court, in a case of stand ing mite, to have a plea of not guilty entered or not en tered, at their discretion. Mr. BROUGHAM thought the suggestion of his Right Hon. Friend the President of the Board of Controul on the subject of a prisoner standing mute, a good one. If a tiry found a person mute for malice, to enter a plea of guilty, as was the practice at present, was a most harsh proceed ing; ,since the person was punished for obstinacy. It was the old law that he should undergo the pressure of a heavy stone on his breast in a damp apartment; and Mr. Justice Blackstone had very properly considered that alteration of the law, by which so savage a practice was abolished, a great comparative improvement in our Criminal Laws.._._. New, if the Jury found the prisoner mute by malice, he was put on his trial ; but he thought it would be better, in cases where the prisoner was found mute by the visitation of God, to let the law remain as it was, than to give so large a discretion to the - Court as that proposed by the Right Hon. Gentleman. Mr. STURGES BOURNE said, that the House and the country were under the greatest obligations to the Right Hon. Gentleman for the attention which he had bestowed upon this most important subject ; a subject which he should be sorry to see in any but such safe and able hands. The abolition of the benefit of Clergy would be as import ant an alteration in the law, and as entitled to he applauded by every one, as was the increase of the punishment of fe lony for a second offence. The House and the country must, he was sure, feel the greatest gratitude to the Right Hon. Gentleman for his exertions. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL concurred in praising the meritorious exertions of the Right Hon. Gentleman.— _ He lamented it as a misfortune, that owing to his having been on circuit, and to other circumstances, he had been unable to render himself master of the details of the Although the principle of consolidating so many statutes in one Act was admirable, yet it was obvious that if the exe cution were out good, the whole design must fail. Unless the object in view wa re accomplished by the most clear, distinct, and intelligible provisions, instead of saving labour to the Judges and the Professors of the Law, it would very much increase and multiply their present toils. He by no means intended to say that such would be the consequence of the present Bill; he only wished to guard himself against being considered a party to it, if in its result it should be found not to be so good as was expected. He would not oppose it, or throw the least obstacle in its way. M r . PEEL observed, that if the Hon. and Learned Gentleman had undertaken the management of the Bill, he should have had his (Mr. Peel's) hearty co-operation.' He entirely concurred with the Honourable and Learned Gentleman that if the execution of the Bill were not good, the principle would Le useless. He could only say that there had been some experience of a Bill of a similar de scription, by which eighty or ninety statutes had been consolidated ; and which had now been two years in ope ration; and yet not a single representation had been made to him of any objection to that pleasure. He had consul ted upon the subject a number of persons concerned in the administration of the law ; and he must say, for the ho- nom- of the legal profession, so frequently exposed to.vul- . . gar abuse, that he had never met with a Member of that profession who was net always ready to give him every possible assistance and advice. ' tlessrs. Russell and Star kie, and many others, bad devoted days and nights to the purpose cf suggesting remarks which might be available to the promotion of his object. With respect to the Bill which he was about to have the honour to introduce, he had !to right to ask any Hon. Memiiew to abstain from proposing any Amendment ; but he hoped that no sadden Amendment would be proposed so as to prevent hini from having sufficient time to consider it. Mr. FERGUSON, while he admitted that the exertions of the Right lion. Gentleman were most meritorious, ob served, that when a proceeding, consolidating 127 Acts of Parliament, was proposed, they ought to knoW the legal authority on which such proceeding was founded.— lie thought that it would have been very important if the Hon. and I,eicried Attorney-General had had an opportu nity of considerin g the measure from b eg i nn i ng to en d, and if it had been brought forward iir4r bis responsibi lity. The best plan, however, Would have been to have referred the subject to the consideration of a Commission of eminent and 'learned persons thoroughly conversant with ;he criminal law, and who would have immediately known What were the precise parts of the existing,laW Which it was desirable to retain. When so many statutes were swept away, the probability was that in the new measure provisions might be omitted which it would be most expe dient to preserve. At the same time, he was far from opposing the motion, taking it, as he did, on the Right Hon. Gentleman's word, that lie had consulted numerous learned and eminent persons on the subject; although he )nfessed that he doubted 101,e-her they had examined all the existing statutes with sufficient care and accuracy. He regretted that one of the three offences which that learned and excellent person, Sir Samuel Romilly, wished to except from the punishment of death—namely, stealing in a dwelling-house, under the value of five pounds, and un accompanied by putting in fear, or any other circum stances of aggravation—was not excepted. He also thought that if the opinion of the Learned Judges had been taken, the punishment for larceny and the punishment for ob taining money under false pretences would not have been confounded. It should be considered that by this pro vision the person charged with obtaining money under false pretences was deprived of the benefit of Counsel ; and that if found guilty, his punishment' was accompanied by forfeiture of goods and corruption of blood. If those two last circumstances were guarded against, he should not so much object so the provisions. He wished that the Hon. and Learned Attorney-General would bestow his attention on these points. Such was the confidence in that Hon. and Learned Gentleman, in his talents, his knowledge, and his experience, that if he merely said that the provisions were necessary, he (Mr. Ferguson) would be ready imme diately to adopt them on his word. He must again, how ever, press the appointment of a Commission of learned persons; that on their high authority Parliament might proceed with the greatest alteration that had ever been made in the laws of England. At the same time, he felt the g reatest obligation to the Right H o n. Gentlem an f or his having so frequently abrogated the punishment of death. When the Right Hon. Gentleman entered upon office, he met the good sense and feeling of the country on that subject, and had gone with it. The country at large, And he (Mr. Ferguson), as one of the country, owed him the greatest of all possible obligations for having in so many instances abrogated that punishment which had so long been the disgrace of our Criminal Code. Leave was then granted to bring in the Bill. „ . On the motion of Mr. PEEL the House then resolved itself into a Committee on the Larceny Laws' Consolida tion Bill. Several Clauses of the Bill were discussed seriatim, and agreed to. A conversation across the table took place upon some other Clauses, which were at length agreed to, up to the 13th. Mr. SYKES objected to the clause making the attempt to kill deer punishable, when there was no such provision with reference to the attempt to kill sheep. An Honourable MEMBER, who stated himself to be a Magistrate, residing about the middle of the New Forest, said, that notwithstanding the severity of the law, the crime of deer stealing had increased prodigiously, and if the law were relaxed, the greatest confusion would ensue. Mr. SYKES said, that the circumstance stated by the Hon. Member who spoke last, only convinced him that the law was too severe to be rigidly executed. The Clause was then agreed to. Several other Clauses having been agreed to, the Chair man reported progress, and obtained leave to sit again on Wednesday. The Orders of the Day were then postponed, and the House adjourned at one o'clock this morning. PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF COMMONS. NOTICES OF MOTIONS FOR THIS DAY. I. Mr. Michael Angelo Taylor—Motion tending to sepa rate the jurisdiction in all matters of Bankruptcy from the High Court of Chancery. 2. Sir John Wrottesley--Bill to give cc,, - .!urrent jurisdic tion to the Magistrates of Warwickshire in the City of Coventry. 3. Mr. Charles Pallmer—Bill to consolidate and amend the laws relating to Saving Banks. 4. Mr. Henley Eden—Bill to amend the Bankrupt Act. 5. Mr. George Bankes—Bill to relieve certain persons pro fessing the Roman Catholic Faith from double Assess- ment of the Land Tax. 6. Lord John Russell Select Committee to inquire into the cause of the increase of crime in England. 7. Mr. Herties—Bill for carrying into effect the Treaty with Sweden relative to the Slave Trade. 8. Mr. Moore—To bring under the consideration of the House the Petition of the Mechanical Operative Classes of the City, liberties, and vicinity of Dublin (presented 12th April), and praying the establish ment of a Loan Fund. 9. Mr. Hume—Bill to repeal Act 60 Geo. 3, e. 9, subject ing certain publications to the Duties of Stamps on Newspapers. ORDERS OF TUE DAY FOR THIS DAY. I. Coventry Election Committee Report—To be consi dered. 2. Grahame's Divorce 8i11...-Committee ; Counsel and Witnesses. 3. Prerogative Court (Ireland) Bill—Second rea di ng . 4. Edinburgh Oil Gas Company Bill--Petitions for Com mittee of Appeal to be considered. 5. Church Rates (Ireland) Bill—Second reading. 6. Foundlings (Ireland) Bill—Second reading. 7. Parochial Settlements (Scotland) Bill—Further consi deration of Report. 8. Insolvent Debtors (Ireland) Bill—Report. 9. Roads and Bridges (Ireland) Bill—Report. NOTICES GIVEN YESTERDAY. Friday, May 25. I. Mr. Herries—ArmyExtracq , linaries, Commissariat, and to pay off Exchequer Bills for Public Works. (In Committee of Supply.) 2. Mr. William Lamb—lrish Miscellaneous Estimates. (In Committee of Supply.) Wednesday, May 30. Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer—Budget. Tuesday, June 19. Sir Henry Parnell—Renewal of the Bank of England Charter. CONFESSION OF MURDER.—We under stane that a man, named Littlewood, who is at present in our City prison, under a charge of being a deserter, had made a voluntary confession before Mr. Alderman Blackall, of having poisoned his wife, by mixing arsenic with some medicine, about three years since, at Leicester. There is, however, great doubt, whether this is not a fabrication to prevent being sent to the depot of his regiment. The authorities at Leicester have been written to, for the pur pose of ascertaining the truth or falsehood of his story.— Exeter Gazette. A SPARE DIET.—" There was a friend of mine," says Mr. Abernethy, "who was supposed to be dying of a hepatic affection--a thorough break-up; he was advanced in life ; his liver was all wrong, and he was (lying —at least so his doctor said ; but as he was dying, and as a drowning man will always catch at a straw, he expressed a particular desire to see me, to know if I could order any thing that would do him good. I was sent for, and I went into the country to see him. I said to him, ' Upon my life, Sir, I should be most happy if I could suggest any thing that was likely to do you good, but I am very igno rant of the medical profession, and if I were not, I really don't think I could suggest more judicious treatment than has been prescribed; but, Sir, I shall give you a lecture on your diet, in the presence of your me di ca l man. ' I knew the man before ; be prided himself on his virtue ; be drank no wine, but he did that which, for any thing I know, is as bad—he eat most preposterously—was a perfect glutton. Now, said I, I know you like milk ; I shall give you a cup of milk for breakfast, and you may put a piece of bread in it, but not one drop of the milk displaced by the bread must be replaced i n th e cup ; you may take a new-laid egg to dinner, and a piece of bread and butter; about four o'clock you may think some soda-water, and then have done fur the day. Continue that for some time, taking it at the distance of every six hours in the day. He did so, and, egad, the man got well ; he seemed to have grown young again ; he got quite active, and really it was quite astonishing to see him. —About three months afterwards he asked me to dine with him ; I went, and I saw him just at his Old trick, stuffing most enormous quantities of food into his mouth. After dinner, we walked in the garden ; lie was a mer chant, and in the course of our walk I said to him. ' Pray, Sir, what would you think of a Man, who from nothing had raised a small capital, and who might, if he chose to go on, increase that into an immense fortune, but who did not choose to go on, but squandered that capital away; what would you thing of him?' Why,' said he, ' 1 would say he was a d—d fool ..' then said I, ' what one may think of wealth, another may think of health, and thou art the man.' I say health is like wealth, extremely diffieu:t to get ). little of; but when you have got it, if you take care of it, it will increase, and 'increase, too, with compound interest; but it is the nature of man that he will not do well unless he is compelled ; and I be lieve you will find this to be the lesson of human life. If people will not take care of health, and do well from in clination, they will be obliged to do it from compulsion ; but there are those who will even defy necessity, and those people go to the devil of course."—Abernethy's Lectures. xiAikcgi sTCiCKS 'tins Bank Stock 0933i 3 3 per Cent. Red. ...... S per Cent. Cons. 93. 3 tto peßedr Cent 98% Di 4 per. Cent. New' 99% 100 99%% Ditto, 1846 913%g Bank Long Ann........... 19 India Stock Ditto Bonds '76 pm. PRICES OF FOREIGN FUNDS Austrian Bonds, 5 percent. Brazilian Bonds" 594 Buenos Ayres BOnds. Chilian Bonds, 6 per ct. Colombian Bonds Ditto, 18'24 .31 Danish, 3 per cent. Greek Bonds Ditto, 1826 — Guatunala — Mexican Bonds — Do. 1835 681 ,4 %%% FRIO/CS OF IRISH Bank Stock 943% Consols, 3 percent........ 82%.; Gov. Stock, 3% per cent sr.) Ditto, New B9 4 per Cent. 9 314,N0i Gov. Deb. 3% per cent. Royal Canal Stock Grand Canal Stock City Deb. 4 per cent Ballast Office Deb. 4 p. ct ' MAY AT ON2 o'CLocr. South Sea Sao& Old Annuities New Ditto Ex. Bills, £l,OOO 2d. 49 50 pm. Ditto . . . 500 2d. 49 50 pm. Ditto S mall . ... Vd. 49 50 pm. Ditto Commercial _p m. Bank for Account India for Account Cons. for Account 83 THIS DAY AT ONE O ' CLOCK. Neapolitan, 18.21 Peruvian Bonds Portuguese Bonds Prussian, 5 per cent cent Ditto, New Russian, New Spanish, 1821 123; 3 ,4 .Q 9.2 0...3 French Renter, sp. c. —t —c. Exchange —f..—c. 3 per cent —f. —e. Exchange —t. —c. 3TOCES, MAY 19, St. Patrick Instil'. (per sh.) Royal Irish Ditto National Ditto Patriotic Ditto — Hibernian Bank — Provincial Ditto — Royal Irish Mine — Imperial Mine — Mining Co. of Ireland Commercial Buildings — _.--.,. Arrived. Due. Arrived. Due. 0 America 0 0 Hamburgh 0 0 Brazil 0 0 Holland 0 0 Buenos Ayres I Dublin 0 Flanders 0 I Lisbon 0 I France 0 Gottenburgb 0 0 Mexico 0 0 Guernsey. & Jersey. 1 I Waterford 0 HIGH WATER Ay LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORROW. Morning ... 6 minutes after 0. I Evening ...32 minutes after 0. • f t rtir LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, MAY 22, 1927. An express has arrived from Paris this after noon, bringing the Etoile, dated yesterday morning. It does not, however, contain any important intelligence. An article from St. Petersburgh, states that the Emperor of RUSSIA is about to proceed to Weasmar for the purpose of reviewing 60,000 cavalry. The intelligence from Lisbon, in the Etoile, comes down only to the 9th inst. The debates of last night in both Houses of Parliament, again displayed the powerless ran cour of the Ultras. The Marquis of LONDON DERRY seems resolved to die at his post. His Lordship evidently wishes to be the JOSEPH HUME of the House of Lords. He moves for returns almost every evening, and bids fair to share popularity with the Member for Aberdeen, as a vi gilant guardian of the public interests. But there is something very pitiful in thus harrassing the Government by putting stupid questions without having the courage to come to a division, and we sincerely trust that Mr. CANNING'S taciturn system, of which he has given notice, will be adopted in the House of Lords. NV e think that the Bishop of LONDON should get Lord HARRoWItY'S speech by heart. Being communicative is not one of the requisites most sought after in a Member of the Privy Council, and whether the question and answer were preconcerted, or simply the result of a strange coincidence, ,the_ whole proceeding was certainty most extraordinary.. 4.—gieat'lnicenix' of Opposition" - 'in the Flonse of CoMmons was frequently on his legs, notwithstanding his avowed antipathy to public speaking. The, worthy Baronet amused the House extremely, . by . saying that he considered a disinclination to join him as a very bad sign of the times: This appears to have been spoken in the simplicity of his heart, and does not give one the impression of proceeding from any un due self-estimate on the part of the Member for Somersetshire. We congratulate Mr. PEEL on having so valiantly acknowledged himself the Compeer of the Baronet, called for by Mr. CANNING as a seconder of Sir THOMAS LETIII3RIDGE'S mo tions. It seems that the Right Hon. Gentle man stalked across the House and took his seat by the Hon. Baronet, at the conclusion of Mr. CANNING'S speech, where the Premier ob served, "He did also think that his Majesty's Ministers ought to know who their opponents were —(Cheers)—and if' the Hon. Baronet were not alone in his opposition—if he were not himself the one great phcenix of opposition—he (Mr. Canning) challenged him to get a com peer, and bring these questions regularly be fore the House, in the shape of a motion." This is indeed a melancholy specimen of the bathos, and feeling much gratitude for Mr. PEEL'S exertions when in office, we sincerely regret to see him avow himself a member of such a fraternity. His business habits still stick to him, and he last night brought in a Bill for the better Administration of Justice, thereby follow ing up his former amendments of our cumber some Statute Book. Mr. CANNING'S and Mr. BROUGUAM'S speeches will, as usual, fully repay the trouble of reading them. The Paris Papers of Saturday, with the Etoile, dated Sunday morning, reached us last night. They are entirely destitute of political intelligence, and contain little else than the re newed Debate in the Chamber of Deputies, on the 18th, upon the Budget. The discussion, however, like some of those which have recently taken place in our House of Commons, had not a very close connection with the subject which gave rise to it. M. B. CONSTANT, after com menting on that part of the Budget, which re lates to Ecclesiastical Affairs, and pointing out several instances of gross partiality shewn by the Government in favour of Catholics against Pro testants, particularly in respect to the regulation of the National Schools, proceeded amongst violent interruption, to allude to the recent riots amongst the Students of the College, and to accuse the Ministers of having by their a g ents excited th ese r i o t s . H e d ec l are d t h at t h e Government had sent spies amongst the Students for, this purpose, and that papers had been found on the person of a man who had been seized by them, which proved him to be an agent of the Police. His attack on the Ministry was answered by M. de CORBIERE and M. de PEY BONNET, who accused M. CONSTANT of insti gating such outrages by his speeches. Order being in some degree restored, M. CUVIER vin dicated the conduct of Government towards the Protestants, and with his speech the sitting closed. M. CONSTANT was, however, subsequently summoned before Le Juge d' Instruction to de liver up the documents which he stated to have been found on the person of the Spy ; and we may therefore expect that this subject will give rise to renewed discussion on the next Sitting of the Chamber. We subjoin a few extracts from the Etoile (From the Etoile, dated Sunday, May 20.) ~ . " ALEXANDRIA, APRIL 11.—A few days ago a vessel arrived here which had been dismasted in the equinoctial gales, and belonged to a squadron which sailed from our port on the 2d, to convey to his destination the new Pacha of Candia. Our Pacha having been appointed Commander-- in-Chief of the Ottoman forces employed against the Greeks, the Egyptian fleet, which has been for some weeks in our port, has been reinforced by a squadron of the Sultan's of 17 sail. They expect 20 other ships from Constantinople, so that more than 100 ships of war will be assembled here for an expedition which the ,Turks expect to be decisive. It is said that 11,000 new troops will be embarked, and that this great force will make an attack upon Hydra. The Pacha has been here these five or six days, but the disorder and bad condition of the fleet, the emptiness of the treasury, and the want of obedience to the orders of the Pacha, have attained to such a point, that notwithstanding his activity, it is not probable that the expedition will be ready to put to sea in less than two or three months. Will the enemy be idle during this time? It is feared that Lord Cochrane may attempt, with his fire-ships, a coup-de-main against our port. If ke should succeed, the damage would be in calculable, and the loss would likewise be very great to the European merchants. However, we take courage from the reflection that some English and French men-of-war are always stationed here ; and if we cannot dispute the brilliant courage of the new Admiral of the Greeks, on the other hand we have great confidence in the resources and ability of our Governor.—Augsburg Gazette. " PARIS, MAY 19.—His Royal Highness the Dauphin arrived at Angers on the 17th, and immediately received the authorities and public functionaries. His Royal High ness was pleased to permit a detachment of the National Guard to do duty about his person, along with the troops of the line. " M. Benjamin Constant has been summoned before M. Leblond, Judge d'lnstruction, to deliver the documents mentioned in his speech in the Chamber of Deputies. " The Duke de Villa Hermosa, late Ambassador from Spain at Paris, after stopping two days at Bordeaux, set out on the 15th for Madrid." FRENCH FUNDS, MAY 19.—Five per Cents., 100 f. 40c. ; Three per Cents., 70f. 55c. ; Bank Stock, 2,022 f. 50c. ; Neapolitan Rentes, 77f. 85c. By the arrival of His Majesty's packet, the Duke of Kent, from Lisboii, Gazettes from the 7th to the 12th instant, inclusive have reached us. They contain the successive Bul letins which had been issued relative to the health of her Royal Highness the INFANTA REGENT, from which we may infer that the imminent danger in which that Princess was considered at the date of the preceding accounts had passed over, and that ifall fears for her Royal Highness's life are not yet removed, still the hopes of her ultimate recovery are much in creased. The fever under which she has suf fered appears to have left her in a state of very great debility. Public prayers, for the recovery of her Royal Highness, were put up on the 6th in all the Churches in Lisbon. The Gazette of the 7th contains a notice from the War Office, stating the profound grief of the INFANTA REGENT, on account of the scan dalous mutiny of part of the garrison of Elvas (in which none of the officers joined), and re turning thanks to General CAULA for his firm ness and resolution, and ordering him to thank, in her name, the officers, subalterns, and privates of the regiments that remained faithful, for their exemplary conduct in quelling this disgraceful mutiny. And a further order of the day from the War Office commands the publication to the Army of the Decree of the ISth of April, and gives directions for proceeding with respect to the cases of persons included in the amnesty. These Gazettes furnish us with no political news—nor with any information relative to the state of affairs, military or civil, in Portugal. ' We subjoin the Bulletins issued respecting the INFANTA REGENT : NINTH BULLETIN.—Her Royal Highness having passed tills p. m. without fever, had a fit at that hour, which ended at 9 this morning, and with a copious perspiration, followed by spasms, which were removed in a few minutes by the remedies administered; in a few hours afterwards, her Royal Highness, of her own accord, desired to take the Sacrament, which she received in the most edifying manner, and with perfect presence of mind, at six in the evening. At seven, the undersigned Physicians held a consultation. May 5. Signed by seven Physicians. TENTH BULLETIN.—The Infanta Regent having had last night a slight fit of fever, remained pretty easy till the morning, and slept some hours ; but at noon she felt a shivering, announcing the fit, which was removed by the application of remedies, and she remains with the same presence of mind as yesterday.—May 6. _ _ _ Signed by two Physicians. ELEVENTH BULLETIN.—.Her Royal Highness the Infanta Regent had last night a slight attack of fever, which ended at ten o'clock, and she passed the remainder of the night with tolerable ease, sleeping quietly. To-day, at noon, there was some shivering, which was removed by medi cines ; the slight fever remaining, which is the resalt of her general debility.—May 7. Signed by two Physicians. TWELFTH BULLETIN.—Her Highness passed the last night very quietly, without any fit, and so remained till half-past five in the afternoon, when a slight fit came on, with some shivering.—May 8. Signed by two Physicians. THIRTEENTH BULLETIN.—her Highness, after the fit of fever mentioned in the twelfth Bulletin, which ended at nine o'clock, felt tolerably easy, and slept very composedly till the morning : to-day she has had . no fit op to seven in the evening, feeling, however, a little fever, consequent on her great debility.—May 9. Signed by two Physicians. FOURTEENTH Iluu.Erix.—Her Serene Highness having passed the whole night without a fit of fever, and with tolerable ease, continued in this manner till six in the even:. lug, when, instead of fever, she had some of her old hys teric affections, which may be precursors of her improve ment.—May 10. Signed by two Physicians. FIFTEENTH BULLETIN.—Her Serene Highness the In fanta Regent, after the hysteric affections mentioned in yes terday's bulletin, passed the remainder of the night tran quilly, and to-day, up to seven in the evening, there has been no recurrence of these attacks, nor any fit of fever. May 11. Signed by two Physicians. We received the following from our Corre spondent at Lisbon, dated May 12, 1827 : Nothing of any particular interest has taken place here since my last. The Princess is so much better that she may be considered out of immediate danger : indeed, so much so, that the Opera-house will be opened on Sunday evening (to-morrow.) The Constitutional party seem highly pleased at the news which the packet brought yes terday, of Mr. Canning's baying established himself at the head of English affairs ; but the generality of the people do not interest themselves much one way or the other. Every thing is perfectly quiet, and our soldiers walk about the streets with as much the appearance of peace and security as if they were in England, which seems strange enough in a country, I may say, on the eve of insurrection. No ad ditional troops have arrived since the date of my last. Our Marines, who were doing Royal duty at Belem, have been ordered on board, and tno companies of the Grenadier Guards, from Campo de Orique, have gone to replace them. The 2d Battalion of the Sd Guards continues at the Bar racks of the Valde Pereira, where they appear in excellent health: indeed, no troops can look better, or be kept in bet ter order, than the two battalions forming the Brigade of Guards. However easy their Officers may take the duty in England, they certainly attend to it in a proper and Officer like Tamer here. On the march from Cartaxo, nothing oould exceed their attention to the comforts of the Si. have seen several of them relieve such of the soldiers al° peered very much fati g u e d, by carry i ng t h e i r knapsac k 0 j firelocks; yet it was impo ss ibl e th ey cou ld d o th isla i cases, and some of the men would straggle in the rear v get drunk, as all English soldiers will do when they c 49 the means, and which, in this country, from the wi ne ing so cheap, is easily to be obtained. It is all very 61)e see a regiment march into a town, with fine music, and„ lours flying, "but thereby hangs a tale." The natu:" the roads in this country do not admit of wheeled car following the troops, consequently every article of 10, and provisions a r e carr i e d on mu l es ' b ac k s. S o me 01 _ . i soldiers may probably h ave a d on k ey f or th e i r wiv e. o o, children ; either some o f th e mu l es , or t h ese l at t er poor . 0 1 animals, may probably break down; soldiers and their in t.4 l cannot get on ; some from fatigue and illness, others 1 0 the effects of strong drink; so that this latter part °f ~fit scene is sometimes mise ra bl e enoug h. Wh en the l,r to left Cartaxo, it was with mu t ua l regret on t h e p a rt ° 01 inhabitants and th e t roops . N ear l y t h e w h o l e o ,f former were assembled in the square, to 'V i l the departure, and bid farewell. The Officers 0 3 a o l d themselves with races an d ot h er sports, an tft intended to have had a bull fight at Santarem °" t bi 16th of this month, where there is a regular place for t y kind of amusement ; some o f th e E ng li s h Papers sta ff/ one took place at Cart a x o , w hi c h i s no t t rue . The rwi s j are situated much the same as when I addressed 3 1)u t bs week, with the exception of my omitting to mention t o the 10th Hussars, and the 4th Regiment of Foot, det sc . from the Brigade at Coimbra, were by the last acconn w r ii Leiria. The Staff of head-quarters are expected to sr , o , to-day or to-mo rrow a t S acavem , a v ill age a b ou t se':, miles from thi s , e ith er t o rema i n t h ere or come i n to to; There are rumou rs t o -d a y o f a war w i t h S pa i n b e ingL avoidable. Count de Villa for, with his army, ba ve ,,, 6- 6 , to the Alem Tejo ; when I was at Santarem about Al v night ago, I had some conversation with the SpanisLis fugees there, who all declared that if the people in received any encouragem en t f rom E ng l an d to f re e t selves, that 10,000 me n w o u ld d ec l are f or sae Calgtoje tion in one day ;—they stated that nothing can exceed i 6 misery of the peopl e th ere un d er t h e present state o f a"" in that country. We received this morning the Allge' l Zeitung of the 15th inst., but it only conuiP a repetiti on o f agreement b etween the C°lll- menders of the European Naval Forces to Una' in order to check piracy in the Levant. The Diario di Roma, of the sth inst., C. r i firms the arrival of hi s B avar i an MAJEST Y Rome. The following are th e stations appointee f or , the respective Naval forc e s i n w hi c h to cru ize.' d " The channels about Rodi S car p an t o w ill be gua el r by Austrian ships of war ; one w ill a l so b e anc h o red - b; tween Capo d'Oro and Andros, and another cruize Capo d'Oro to Porto Mandrize and Zea; an English $lO. of war will cruize from Zea to St. Georgic) d'Albora , then from Ceriga to Cape Matapan, and a third from than Cape to the Islands Sapienza. Two French men of g 4 will cruize between Mil o an d C er i go, an d b etween 116 1 ° 8° Cape Spada." VIENNA, MAY 10.—Aletalliques, 90 ; Bank Sha tl4 ' 1087. We are happy to find that all intention voting a grant of public money to facilitate the ,7 1 emigration of a certain portion of the distre.s,s7 manufacturers of particular districts, is at an e l l We rejoice at it, fi rs t, b ecause i t appears t hat 1 . f urgency of the distress w hi c h i n d uce d t h e Reti e Committee to recommend this measure is fi t pily diminished ; and, secon dl y, becaue public is saved the expellee which the a4 O ll of such a p rece d ent m i g h t l ea d to. O ur reade r will derive with us great sat i s f act i on f r om t he statement made by M r . CANNING inelOalio, Lion of the m o ti ves o f G overnment in corni ri g' to he this decision, th a t a c counts f rom all parts of ts' kingdom prove that there has been a visi blf ' sensible, and growi ng i mprovement i n t h e stat e of trade, so that all willing hands are emploY ed i ,: e and we may therefore reasonably entertain . t ile " hope that our industrious manufacturers will able to pursue their honest calling in' thiSjOPY ) land, instead of seeking a more doubtful-601 05 ! ence by a strange occupation in a foreign His Majesty's packet brig Sphynx has arriv ed with a Leeward Island Mail ; she sailed fr oill Tortola on the 13th April, and from St. Tb °llll's on the 25th. By this opportunity, letters from La Gul r , have been received t o th e 3d April. BoLiv:-5 was still at the Caraccas, an d was employing PI:, time in regulatin g th e T ar iff, an d i n ot her P jects for the b ene fit o f th e Revenue regui 3 t i°gs. In the me a nti me , t ra d e was a l most t o tally S u/ pended. There was no money, credit was c° lll pletely gone, and ever y thi ng wore a mo st de . sponding appearance for the future. At a time like the present, when the Na ti°"9 :l Revenue is inad equa t e t o meet t h e exigencies the State, it may be deemed unseasonabl e to propose the repeal or r e d uc ti on o f any eistlljef g tax. But, as it is und erstoo d t h at the Bard , ti t Stamps, satisfied o f t h e i mpo li cy o f t h e prese nt exorbitant Duty on Fire-insurance, intend t° po t pose some modification of this tax, and ° s ' ll any rate, the period when such a measure v“ force itself upon t h e cons i deration of G°verr e ment cannot b e f ar di stant, we s h a ll briefly as possible, the nature and o peration the tax in question, the objections to its CO t i t nuance, and the advantages which would rest' from a reduction in its amount. - be It is needless to enter into a history d i ! t origin and progressive increase of this duty. 9 , ti to it may be observed that the last addition t° 1t ; amount took place at a time when the Gover tl : ment was compelled to have recourse to everY pedient for raising a Revenue to meet the penditure of a protracted war, and when al l t o r great interests of the country were in a Etst .,, e ith high activity. It was therefore submitted to re ' e cheerfulness, from a conviction that as a s°ll es , of encreased Revenue it was essentially n ee per nary, and that it would be continued no "° ,s state, s. than the existence of the exigency which it created to meet. a ble/ Such an expe c t a ti on was certa i n l y reason. for it will at once appear that the tax is an - pedient one. It must be the object of all 0. o f Governments to foster and encourage aspir ate: prudence and foresight—n ow t hi s tax 0 1 3 - as a check on the exercise of such a spir't• ; t th e cautious man, who wish es t o guar d again st dangers to which his p ro p erty i s e xposed fire, finds that he m us t not on l y pay a Carl • k ation to the party willi ng t o un d e rtake th e Wish.l.ls, but a tax upon the amount which he may but it is more to insure. The tax on Fi re -i nsurance is bad in principie.7 ! 0 amount. The p r emium charged by the I nsuranc : Offices for undertaking the risk of 100/. for 6 whole year, and meeting the necessary chat especially objectionable from . _ iry be aaade, hat that the trial be prkeeeded in. tt part of dm tolld prolauep s that whie.,,„tai., itisoners sough obsti . I !tik - 411 prop eases ottr # arig;f h Shout leral njte thy' °red 311tiwtiA • . •'e \-• , 4 1! -Inerc : ro\e*-