The Sun. — London, England, 1831-12-29 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. Even now, Wore the enactment of the Re form Bill into a law, and in the mere hope of such a bles , ed consummation in our home policy, its good consequences upon the constitutional energy of the country are visible in many respects throughout England. Everywhere the true re presentative principle begins to make head against a clegradint* prescription, the laws of vicious habit to sink under the power of reasoning and the new-born sense of right. Looking at the question of Reform only, it is very disinterested in the friends of that great measure to urge upon Ministers the necessity of passing it without de lay through Parliament, inasmuch as every man must see that each hour's postponement brings in a fresh accession of numbers and enthusiasm to the cause. But there are other interests to be cared for, besides those of the Reform Bill. Englishmen must be considered, not merely in their character of constituents and representa tives, but as composing their several and re spective classes of professional men, merchants, manufacturers, agriculturists, artisans, labourers —all ranks of British subjects engaged, each in his peculiar walk of intellectual or manual in dustry, with worldly distress to ward off, in dependence to achieve or to preserve, and fa milies to feed and provide for. The social wel fare of the citizen must be guarded by means direct and immediate, no less than circuitous and final. Whatever produces distrust, ill temper, and agitation, and therefore tends to interrupt the enjoyment of peace and the pursuits and profits of domestic industry, ought to be depre cated by every honest man, and prevented, if pos sible, by statesmen in possession of office. How ever pressing and irresistible, therefore, may be the motives for getting rid of the horrid old mockery of free Government, which we have hi therto been enduring, they are motives connected with the order of society, and with the comfort of every household circle throughout Great Britain, which command us to speed the essential work, and not lose an hour in its accomplishment. If some of the Political Unions in this country be composed of respectable bodies, and be directed by discreet and conscientious leaders, it is just con ceivable that others may be less happily guided and constituted. They have now the single pur pose of Reform before them, and profess to have no other : the executive Government ought, there fore, to beware of furnishing these demo cratic brotherhoods with excuses for a pro longation of their activity beyond its ori ginal and avowed intent, thus corrupting a transient, perhaps wholesome, stimulus, into a perpetual alterative. We have once be fore alluded to the condition of Europe, which is probably such as to require that the infinence exercised by England should be as un impaired and preponderant as at any former period of her history, and doubtless a protracted state of angry division amongst ourselves, a state of distrust or of half reliance on the part of the nation towards its Government, can be no other wise Than fatal to the hope of any thing like British ascendancy in the councils of foreign Cabinets at a distracted crisis. But if an unset tled question of Reform at home, conspiring with an uneasy posture of affairs upon the Con tinent, afford just cause of anxiety to an English patriot, what shall we say when Ireland is thrown in, to agitate still more the boiling and bubbling cauldron ? What Mr. O'Connell's ultimate objects may be, are probably not deve loped even to himself: he declares that they are not limited to even the most unexceptionable Reform. The sooner, therefore that the Bill does pass, the less time will be allowed to that restless and dangerous agitator for shaping his evil designs, if he entertains any, and for ma turisg his preparations to fulfil them. A speedy collision between Protestant and Catholic is, we are aware, foretold by experienced observers of Irish troubles ; and assuredly, should such a dreadful day be at hand, O'Connell will have no small share of the blood 4nd guilt to answer for. We are convince Ministers have fcr some time been several sources of uneasiness which we merate. It is a further satisfaction that they are not only as determined warmest friends would wish to carry the vatire measure thrLaigh all obstacles, brf and complete it without a minute's di can be avoided with due regard to the Parliamentary proceeding. The Anti Lords need not flatter themselves with victory. But if the King's Ministers whit are the people?• Have they " resolution ?" Why the very rotten h: b •*i to -k ti • AC save begun to work their own purgatro, think you of Buckingham ?—the duke the heavily-laden—the broken-backed of Buckingham l—that exaggeration of whose half-dozen wholesale voters, if b lb that twake to 'ere enu to learn as their conser- to carry !lay that laws of -Reform another ie fixed, lulled iu oroughs ? What ridden— borough ' Gatton, roken tip by the Macadam process into fragments, would form just such a constituency of multiplied, but hitherto in no degree ameliorated, slaves, as the Buckingham voters have always proved them selves, when the word of their masters dictated to them who should be their Members. At present some better symptoms have begun to show themselves in the reviving borough. A party of the inhabitants have invited Sir Harry Verney and Mr. Morgan to stand on liberal principles against Sir Thomas Fremantle, who is consiiLred by the independent interest to hold such a relation to a (Titan; grandee, as ought to preclude him from ever representing men that :will not sell their votes. Sir Thomas, too, for the first time, shows himself in the humble cha racter of a canvasser. This, we suppose, will he termed "re-action" by Lord Chandos. The liberal candidates have made an active canvass of Buckingham, with a view to the election which must take place after the Reform, and they have met with the most flattering success.— Times. The recent proceedings at meetings.through ont the country appear to demonstrate that the suffrages of farmers, whether they hold their possessions by lease or at will, are merely the suffrages of their landlords. It is supposed that tenants on lease are more independent than tenants at will. Well, then, we will take te nants on lease. The tenants in Scotland all hold by lease. They have at the recent meetin gs been regularly Reformers or Anti-Reformers, as their landlords happen to be Reformers or Anti. Reformers. The county of Perth is the Yorkshire of 4cotland. Till lately it was a Tory comity, under the sway of the Duke of Athol. But the death of the Duke of Athol, a staunch Tory, has given the controul of his estates to the Earl of Ornielie, a Reformer, and the lead ing landholders are Reformers. At a public meeting of noblemen, gentlemen, freeholders, Justices of the Peace, Commissioners of Sup ply, heritors, tenants, and' others, held at Perth, on the 16th inst., an address, to the King and petitions to the Houses of Lords and Commons were unanimously agreeeto. In the petition to the House of Lords the, petitioners declare— " That, deeply sensible of the inestimable blessing of a full :tol fair representation of the p-ople, and aware of the in tense anxiety of the nation on this vital question, it bath aupeared to our petitioner. , their paramount duty to ex pros their conviction, that no measure of Reform less effective than that which was rejected by your Lordships last session will afford satiefection and correntment to the people of Scotland ; thJ, in common with the nation at large, we received the rej-ctien of the late Reform Bill with sorrow and alarm—with sorrow, because your peti tioners are constitutionally attached to the hereditary peerage of the country, and were concerned to sec it plac ing itself in dangerous opposition to the just wisher and constitutional rights of the people—with alarm, because we are of unchangeable opinion, that an efficient Pallia mentary Reform is now, in the present crisis of affairs, absolutely called for, in order to allay the present excite ment, and to inture peace and prosperity to the United Kingdom." So much for the county of Perth. The county of East Lothian and the county of Ber wick adjoin each other. They are the two counties of Scotland in which the cultivation is most perfect and the farmers are most intelligent. They are both without trade and manufactures, and purely agricultural. The farmers of East Lothian have more than once met of late to declare their approbation of the Reform Bill. There :was not long since a meet ing of the landholders and tenantry, at which the most liberal resolutions were passed. It might naturally be supposed that the tenantry of the neighbouring county of Berwick would be as strenuous Reformers as their brethren of East Lothian. And so they no doubt would if their landlords were Reformers. But the Ber wickshire landholders happen to be all Anti- Reformers, and the tenantry are also of course Anti-Reformers. A requisition for a meeting on the 20th of December instant, of such of the freeholders, Justices of the Peace, Com missioners of Supply, and tenants of the county of Berwick, as were disposed to concur in pre paring and subscribing a loyal and dutiful ad• dress, embodying certain sentiments, was sub scribed by the leading landholders, and by what, in common parlance, would be called a most re spectable body of tenantry ; that is, rich and substantial men. The meeting was accordingly held ; and with the same unanimity with which, at Perth, strong Reform petitions were agreed to, an Anti-Reform address, embodying the fol lowing sentiments, was adopted : " Ist. To express tour unabated attachment to his Ma jesty's person, and to that form of Government under which the country has su long and so greatly prospered. "2d. To express our most grateful thanks to his Ma jesty, that at a time when both Houses of Parliament are called upon to exercise a free and unbiassed judgment on the momentous question of a R form in the representation, some steps bare at length been adopted for suppressing those dangerous Political Associations, the objects of which have been to overawe the deliberations of the Legislature, as well as to usurp its functions aLd authority. " 3d. To express our regret that the rejection of the late Reform Bill by the House of Lords, in tke exercise of its ondeubted constitutional right, has been usrd by design ing men as a pretext for inciting the unwary to flagrant acts of violence anti outrage. " 4th. To express our gratitude that his Majesty has not yielded to the suggestions, made from various quarters, for a creation of additional Peers, to carry a particular object, and which, if followed, would have led to the anni hilation of the independence and usefulness of the Hou.e of Lords. " .sth. To declare that, while we recognise the expe dieney of extending the scale of the elective franchise, and of introducing tench a correction of any practical defects in the repreeentation which the present state of society suggests, we deprecate many of the provisions of the Bills recently under the consideration of Parliament, as partial, unjust, and subversive of the fundamental principles of the Con stitution. " Lastly. To express our most ardent hope, ,that no treasures may be introduced into Parliament which will have the effect of unduly lessening the influence of the landed interest in the representation, or of injuring, in any way, the agricultural prosperity of the country." We could take nemerous other instances, but we content ourselves with these distinguished cases. When the tenantry of two adjoining counties, attending the same markets, pursuing the same system of agriculture, and in constant communication with each other, are seen to be Reformers or Anti-Reformers, just as their land lords happen to be Reformers or Anti-Reformers, the inference is obvious—that the opinion is that of the landholders, and not of the tenants them selves. These contrasts are only to be found among the tenantry. Throughout Scotland, the inhabitants of towns are, almost to a man, de termined Reformers. We do not find the inha bitants of one town Reformers, and those of another Anti-Reformers. The man who culti vates the earth is, and always was, a slave. His limbs may be large and hisshoulders broad, and his complexion that of ruddy health, but he wants resolution. It is only where a man is surrounded by others that he feels him self secure and confident. In towns, the for tune of a man seldom depends so much on any other man, as to make it neces sary that he should take his opinion from him. In towns, therefore, men dare to profess their own opinions. But a tenant knows well that his landlord has a hundred ways of harrassing him ; and where all the landlords of a county are of a party, the tenant who should not be of the party would literally be an outlaw. We should, there fore, suppose that the servants who feed every day in a nobleman's hall are just as likely to oppose that nobleman at an election as his te nants, except under very extraordinary circum stances. Where the nobleman happens to be a hard landlord, and the tenantry are held rigor ously to a rent its their leases which they are unable to pay front their profits, they may vote against hint from spite. But if a nobleman do not prove altogether a monster, he may count with certainty on the vote of his tenants. We are glad that these instances have occurred before the Bill goes through a Committee, because the mass of mankind are more affected by ex amples than by reasoning. Without the ballot, or some means of protecting farmers, the giving votes to them will be unquestionably mischievous. It would be better at once to confine the suf frage to the landholders, titan to give votes to men who are necessarily their creatures.—Morn ing Chronicle. When laws are radically vicious, the Legis lator who has not the wisdom to perceive the necessity of a thorough Reform, and the courage to execute it, had better not meddle with them. His superficial attempts at improvement will produce snore evil than good. The commence ment of his design will inspire hope, but the con clusion of Isis work will create nothing but dis appointment. The failure of a . professed attempt to ameliorate bad laws will snake such laws ap pear inure grievous than they were before, and the discos eat of those who are affected by them will be thereby aggravated. That the Game Laws are radi ca lly v i c i o us we have on former occasions show n . But the vice of their principle is hardly worth considering, when England pre sents everywhere so many melancholy Itroats of the mischief of their practice. As a badge of the Norman Conquest, which grafted one oldie worst forms of feudal tyranny upon the mutilated stock of Anglo-Saxon freedo m , th e i r , ex i s t enc e at the present day is disgraceful to an enligh toned age ; but, as being a nest powerful engine devil in demoralising the rural population of England, they must be viewed with still more abhorrence than that with which the eye of patriotism regards any badge of political d.. pendence or speculative degradation. When Lord Althorp undertook to reform the game laws he promised great things. "He kept the word of promise to the ear, but broke it to the hope." We cannot say of the performance of a magnifi cent promise, in this instance, nascitur ridtculus mus—for not a small benefit but a great evil crept forth. We explained and exposed the mis chievous operation which the new Game Act would have, in various ways, soon after it had passed into a law. One or two writers, with flippant ignorance, praised the law as a great amelioration of the preexisting system, and a boon to the country. A case which has recently been decided before the Magistrates proves what sort of amelioration of a tyrannical system that law has effected ; and it proves, also, that we did not inconsiderately or unjustly condemn an effort of legislation by anticipating its failure as a measure of improvement before that failure was proved by the test of experience. The case to which we refer, and which has been given at some length in a country paper, may be briefly compressed into the statement that a gentleman named Simpson was summoned before the Ma gistrates at Wentbridge, upon an information of trespass, for having entered upon land to shoot game, which land was the property of a Mr. Beckett, under whom it was occupied by a yearly tenant, who had given Mr. Simp son leave to shoot upon his ground, the latter having also a game certificate. But neither the certificate nor the consent of the occupier of the land availed the defendant. He was fined by the Magistrates as a trespasser, upon the section of the Act on which he made some strong observations on a former occasion, and which states in substance that the game belongs to the landlord, and t hat in fact, the game in all cases of tenancies by parol, or leases not exceeding twenty-one years and without fine, is the property of the lord of the soil, except where lie may have expressly granted it to the tenant or some other person. In point of law we consider the Magistrate wrong in having con victed without the landlord having been present to prove that he did not give his consent but this is only a point of practice, and does not alter the correctness of their interpretation of the Act itself. Well might the country Paper say, which reports this case, " Surely, if this decision be according to law, a more unjust Act of Parliament, or one that has a greater ten dency t 9 the restoration of the tyranny of feudal times, was never passed by the British Legislature." We quite agree with our contemporary, whom ex perience has taught to repeat the sentiment which we placed upon record before the practical effects of the law were known.—Morn. Herald. FRENCH PAPERS. CHAMBER OF PEERS, DEC. 26. The debate on the Peerage question was re=umed. M. le Comte St. Simon supported the project of the Ministers. The Duke de Montebello admitted that his nobility was one of the revolution, and had no connexion with feudality, but those of more ancient names were now no more so than himself, since they renounced their titles to the Constituent Assembly—the Duke de Noailles being one of the first. He opposed the law. The partisans of the abolition had asserted that the monarchy would not fall if an hereditary Peerage were abolished, but they had neglected to prove it. The Ministers say, " You tell us that the monarchy cannot exist without the heredite, yet the ancient monarchy was powerful enough without an hereditary peerage." Well I then the misfortune of that ancient monarchy, and the source of all the evils o hick called forth and disgraced our revolu tion, were that France had a noblesse without an aristocracy, and that now we shall have an aristo cracy without aristocrats. The United States, which have been referred to, is quite a distinct case —there is no monarchy there at all. The Senate is a Chamber of Controul, because there is no complete centralizaiion in the country; the House of Repre• sentati ves represent local, and the Senate federal, in. terests. As for our being told that we had better yield to-day, lest we should be forced to yield to morrow, this might apply, if the Peerage was the only thing attacked ; but look at the opposition organs, and you will find the royal prerogative, elec toral right, rights of eligibility, all debated. Yield the Peerage, and these privileges will next be at.. tacked. Public opinion ought not to be the sole guide of statesmen. The Carbonari and conspirators, after the restoration, pretended that they led it; they were mistaken, because the Government was firm. Baron Moonier said, he did not think it worth while to ascend the tribune, because, in fact, all the arguments were exhausted : and, as he saw no more defenders of the project inserted, he thought its op ponents might save themselves the trouble of adding to what had been already said from his side.—(There was some di,cussion on a point of order, which ter minated in the Baron ascending the tribune.) He said that he had intended not to have said anything in favour of a principle condemned, as he thought, by a Chamber, the votes of which were already canvassed; but since he had learned that the new Peers came in unfettered, he would veature to say a few words. In spite of this law, he said the Peer age will be hereditary, because the principle of here ditary descent was accordant with the manners of the country, and the hen:dire of fact will exist in the place of the heredite of right ; but then, being an object of suspicion for complaisance and servility, it will be without any power to interpose between the elective chamber and the throne. All mo narchical Governments must depend upon hereditary castes or classes ; the absolute despotisms of the Eitst are the only exceptions. Poland fell, not from want of mountains. or fortresses, but because, while all other monarchies around were strengthening themselves, she preferred remaining a republic, sur mounted by an elective crown. He voted against the law. The President of the Council said that he would have wished, as a Minister, not to have taken any further part in this discussion, but there are some duties paramount to delicacies. It was impossible to keep silent when Noble Peers, departing from theoretical and constitutional discussions, transported themselves to attack the very principles of the existing Government, the revolution of July, and the 'noway which %s as founded on that revolu tion. Some persons have made the principle of heredite only a pretence for attacking persons, and aimed only at an anti-ministerial triumph. Others (the Duke of Fitzjames was alluded to) say that the hereditary principle is incompatible with the events of July, for the purpose of compromising that revolution, and pushing it to extremities, by which the auti•revolutionary party might profit. These Peers will not have a hereditary Peerage under constitutional forms, and they declaim against a Peerage for life. Whet, then, would they have ? We cinnot have two Kings and two Charters at the same time, and therefore it would seem as if they celled for the abolition of the Peerage altogether. This may not be their intention, but it is the fair deduction from their arguments. They can look to nothing but a new revolution; they propose nothing which has any other tendency ; for that they would sacrifice the Peerage itself. The champions of privilege have united with tire ultra-revolutionists. And yet what do those gentlemen mean by taunting us with being the authors of the revolution ? The party of the restoration—l should rather say - the party which lost—had formidable means of . force and action— the dogmas of legitimacy were all in its favour— European alliances, founded on political sympathies of all kinds—the fruits of fifteen years of peace and stability—a Press checked by severe lases, and by tribunais not slow in the application of these laws —nay, this very principle of the heredhe And when this party, so far ftom employing their means to save the Monarchy, could find nothing on the fatal day to supß).l the Throne of which it had constituted itself the sole stay, is it becoming in it to call them revolutionists who threw thew selves forward to preserve at least that social order which this party had compromised by over.- turning all political order ? The Duke of Fitz-James— Does this apply to me ? M. Casimir Perier—To no one personally—least of all to you, Sir ; for though we were nut in the same ranks I am not ignorant of your efforts for ten years in the cause of liberty. The Marquis des Dreux Breze said, that though he had not had ten years of combatting for the same opinions as his Noble Friend, yet his intentions were equally pure. Ile proceeded to defend his con duct generally, amid much noise and interruption. The President of the Council again disclaimed any personal allusion, and spoke at seine length concerning the unnatural coalition against his Mi nstry. lie admitted that he was obl ged to make a sacrifice, but appealed, " with his hand on his heart," to the Chamber, if the two days' discussion just passed, was riot a full justification, when in all that time no one had offered a single suggestion for reconciling the political institution they have been examining, with the social necessity, the evidence of which appeared to all. Some oi her Peers offered a few obeervationa. The close of the discussion was moved and rejected. The discussion was adjourned until the next day, when it was supposed it would be concluded. (From the Messaper des Chartres of Tuesday.) The general discussion of the 23 , 1 article of the charter again occupied the Chamber of Peers through the whole of yesterday. The discussion has ad vanced too far, and has been too uniform in its cha racter, to offer a very lively interest. The interest was, however, powerfully re-animated when the President of tie Council proceeded to address the Chairman. The powerful and energetic language of M. Casimir Perier could not fail to recall the minds of his audience to the true state of the question, to overturn all false impressions, check all exclusive theories, and determine the vote of the noble as sembly. The list of orators inscribed to speak in behalf of the 1 «v is exhausted : already many of the opponents of the measure have renounced their in tendon of speaking ; the Chamber will doubtless vote to-morrow. If we can credit the Aviso, of the 21st of De cember, a report was current at Toulon thar the mail-boat, the Var, arrived at Ajaccio on the 19th, had been taken up by the Prefect of Corsica to bring despatches to our Government. It is asserted that this hasty communication had for its purpose to an nounce the explosion of a violent insurrection at Rome. The populace had risen in rebellion, be sieged the Pope and five Cardinals in the Vatican, and finaily possessed themselves of that Palace, as well as of the castle of St. Angelo. This move ment took place on the 4th, at Rome, and on the .s'll the insurrection had extended to Faenza and Rimini. In the National Guard (Marseilles newspaper) we read the following : " TOULON, DEC. 19.—The steam-boat has just arrived from Bastia ; it has been expedited by the General, upon the demand of our Ambassador at Rome, and bears some most urgent despatch for the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It is said that this despatch contains the news of an insurrection at Rome, that the Papal Government is overthrown, and that it is impossible to foresee the ends or tl:e results of this revolution." We read also in the Semaphore—" The rumour runs to-day that a steam-boat arrived at Toulon, brings the news that serious disturbances have broken out at Rome." This news was speedily pro pagated at the Bourse in Paris. We have before our eyes a letter from Rome of a very recent dare, according to which the most perfect tranquillity remained at the Holy See. This news, circulated at Marseilles five days ago, may therefore be considered as who:ly unfounded. (From the Courrier des Eleetturs of Tuesday.) They write from Toulon of the date of the 20th— `Yesterday evening nothing was spoken of at Toulon but a great revolution which had broken out at Rome, in which it is said his Holiness the Pope had lost his life. It was added that the people had pro ceeded to all sorts of excesses—that they had taken possession of the fort of St. Angelo, and had pillaged many of the palaces belonging to the Cardinals. This news had been brought to us by the Corsican steam-boat, which had been sent by the Prefect, with orders to set out instantly for Toulon. Imme diately upon the arrival of the steam-boat, the de spatches, of which she was the bearer, were for warded to Paris by express. This news, arriving simultaneously with that which we have received from Paris, has caused some anxiety. We wait with impatience the arrival of ano.her steam-boar, which will bring us the details of an insurrection, that, it is now slid, has extended through all the Papal states." TO THE EDITOR OF THE NATIONAL. Paris, Dec. 25. Stn,—l have just read in your Paper the ordinances on the subject of the pensions. It is said that, independently of the 21 pensions, they might have rejected those of the Marquis de Larochejacquelin, mhich is 10,000 E—Viscount de Chateauhriand, 12,000 E—the Count d'Uzes, 12,000 f. ; but that the withdrawment of the pensions was effected after the renunciation made by the incumbents in conse quence of their refusing to take the oath of allegiance. This, Sir, demands a short explanation on my part. My refusal to take the oath arises front the 7th of Au 4 ust, the day I voted in the Chambers of Peers against the declara tion of the Chamber of Deputies. On the 10th of the same month I had the honour to write to Boron Pasquier, to announce to him that I had renounced my pension as a Peer. The President returned for answer that he must refer me to the Minister of Finance, whom I then ad dressed, sending him a copy of my two letters to the Mar quis of Semonville. Thus I have ceased to derive any emolument from the state ever since I withdrew my ser vices. At the period of the revolution I enjoyed no other pen,ion, neither as Minister of State, nor as a former Minisire a Portefellille, nor as late ambassador, even though I was absolutely without fortune. In fact, every time that I have been deprived of my place in the cause of public liberty, my works alone have supported me. I should also have wished to have got rid of 900 and odd francs attached to my academical chair, but I was assured that no dismission to the members of the academy were g iven, and that if I never touched the above sum, it would still remain in my name, and on my account, in the budget of the Institute. I entreat e d the Ministers to assist me in withdrawing this money, which w.is so disagreeable to me. It is the oily favour which I beg, and which I would ac cept from Government. I have the honour to be, Sir, with the highest considera tion, your very humb!e and very obedient servant, CHATEAUBRIAND. FRENCH FUNDS, PARIS, Dec. 23. -Five per Cents., 96f. 90e. Sc.: 75c, 8.5:t. SOc. 75c. 70c. 60c. 50c. 40c. 30c. 40c..50c ; Three per Cents., 6Sf. SOc. 85c. 65c. 69c. 55c. 50c. 40c 30c. 25c. 35c. 30c. 25c. •,20, 15e. 30c. .10e. 45c. Rente de Naples, 7Sf. SOc. 70c. 50c. 70c. ; Royal Spanish Loan, 77V, 77 ; Rente Perpetuelle d'Espagne, !i• r. BULWER'S new novel, entitled " Eugene Aram," is now before the public. It has the reputation, of being the best of his works, and of including in its pages two e xquisitely delineated female characters, whose fate i, blended with that of the hero. The seems between Len ENE and his guilty confederate irresistibly fix the mind of the reader. COURT MARTIAL ON COLONEL BRERE ,,,,N.—We understand that this prosecution will be opened pro forma on Saturday, the 7th of January next, at Mer chants' Hall, and the proceedings commence on the fol:ow ing Monday. General DALBIAC 14 the prosecutor. The c.rnmission will include General Sir IL FANS (President), General Lord BuIeGIIERSH, six Major-Generals, and other iffteys. Colonel BKERETON has been furnished with a copy of the evidence taken on the preliminary Commission of Inquiry, to enable him to prepare his defonce. BRUSSELS PAPERS. BRUSSELS, DEC. 24.—The Minister of War has authorized the Colonels of regiments to allow from ten to fifteen men per company to go to their homes, on furlough, for a fortnight. General Piquet leaves Brussels tomorrow, to re turn to France. We ate assured that several manufacturers of this city have just addressed a petition to the Govern ment., in order to obtain bounties on the exportation of their manufactures. Hitherto no official information has come to con firm the non-ratification of the twenty-four articles by Russia. We are informel that from the Ist of January, to the Ist of December of 1830, the number of boats that passed through our city (Tourney) was 5,993. From the Ist of January to Ist December, 1831, it was only 3,742.—Tourney Journal. The King received a courier to-day at noon. His Majesty immediately sent for General Desprez. A letter from the Hague of December 18, says, " The army is reinforced daily, and the Government is said to intend, in case of necessity, to call out the 2d ban of the militia, which would add to the at my 36,000 men, and in the case of a general arming to call out the Landwehr, amounting to at least 100,000 men. Since the month of July our coasts are de fended by 300 pieces of cannon, and the magazines are amply stocked with ammunition, The Go vernment is said to have approved of a plan for in unda:iiig the country, which might be carried into effect very promptly, and for which all measures are taken. It is reported that seventy merchantmen are to be armed, and that there will be a great promotion in the army." A Liege journal of the 231 says, that a person, whose testimony may be relied on, affirms that he had heard that morning very distinctly, for a quarter of an hour, the report of cannon in the direction of Maestrieht. ANTWERP, DEC. 23.—The Court of Assizes ha, to-day been engaged in the affa'r of the persons (five in number) indicted for acts of pillage. NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT. HORRORS OF THE SLAVE TRADE. (From the Brighton Guardian.) A public meeting was held on Tuesday even ing, the 20th inst., at the late Choral Society's Concert Room, at which Capt. C. Stuart, a native of America, but now of and from Lon don, delivered a very interesting lecture on Negro Slavery, to 300 or 400 people. Captain S. is connected with a few other gentlemen in town, who have resolved to apply their time, talents, and property, as far as they possibly can, for the immediate abolition of slavery. Most of the I\linisters of the town were present, and the meeting was both respectable and numerous, and he was listened to with a profound attention, and was frequently cheered. His lecture was preceded and followed by a very short extempore prayer. He began by stating that there were many things wrong in their own nature, which no length of custom, force of laws, learning, or talent, ever could make right ; they might be legalized ; but where that was the case, there law had taken a part against right. One of these was slavery, by which he meant any kind of forced servitude against the will and interest of the persons so bound. Such a one might have all that could pamper his body and indulge his lusts; yet so long as he was thus kept, except for crime, so long would human happiness be subverted. Negro slavery, he said, was a pecu liar slavery ; it has features of deeply-rooted atrocity ; so much so that he found nothing similar to it in the world —no, nothing in the most barbarous nations was like that which exists i❑ the British Colonies. Every principle in the laws of Great Britain frowns upon it, nor do the colonial charters sanction it ; they say nothing shall be done contrary to the laws of England ; so that nothing is wanting but to set them free, to bring them back to the laws of the laud. The law which holds them in bondage is, custom and one or two acts of Chancery in this country legalizing the acts of slavery in other countries, and they have no more right to keep them in slavery than the Cannibals have to kill and eat each other. The ground is that of de spising God and wronging their brethren. They have a prison in every state, which serves also for an hospital, some of which have dungeons attached to them. The masters and mistresses have the same legal title to flog their slaves when ever they please. He referred particularly to Jamaica. There a master can inflict 39 lashes, while an underling can inflict but ten ; he added, " but you would have but a very faint idea of the suffering if you suppose that each lash is no heavier than that of a cat-o'-nine-tails ; for a gentleman of the House of Assembly in Ja maica, a Mr. Barrett, has stated that 39 lashes from one of these whips (C. S. showing some of the whips whose thongs, some of rope and one of white leather, nine and te❑ and a half feet long without the handle, which is sometimes four feet long) may be made as severe as 500 lashes from a cat-'o-nine-tails." He then re ferred to a document by one of the Governors, dated February 18th, 1831, stating that a Mr. Bridges had beaten, kicked, and caused one Kitty Hilton, a domestic slave, to be most in humanly flogged for a trifling omission of part of her master's orders in cooking a turkey. It was so very bad that it was brought before what is called a council of protection and these consisted of slave-masters I ! Dr. Stenuett was swor❑ ; he had seen her ; she had two black eyes and her body bore very severe marks of punishment. Henry Cookson, Esq. sworn, stated that he had never seen any thing so severe of the kind before ; her clothes were so bloody that they were burnt that no one might see them. And yet there was no sufficient cause to try Mr. Bridges. lie then referred to their power to sell their slaves, and how often it happened on such occasions that the father was severed from the mother, and the children from their parents. In proof he read from one of the I n dia newspapers an advertisement, " Wanted, a quantity of old copper,. and for sale a young ma n, an excellent baker, and his mother, a good washerwoman, and may be sold separately or to gether,—a trial allowed." This is from the slave-masters' own paper. He then glanced at Antigua, where twenty years ago a great number of slaves were deserted by their owners and perished. He next spoke of a widow and an infant who were deserted by their master who came to England, and in time when the infant had grown up to be able to support her mother, the master's wife, sent out an order and had the daughter sold away from her mother for a few paltry guineas. He then spoke of a slave who was drawing near his home and heard the cries of his wife, from the lashes of the driver who was punishing her; he knocked the driver down, and for that offence was immediately hung in the sight of his wife. This was legal ! ! A Mr. Betty was threatening a young roan to send him to Rodney workhouse ; his sister heard the threat, and knowing the manager, and the danger to which her brother was exposed, could not help heaving a sigh. Her master had her thrown down, exposed, and flogged before all the other slaves ! ! But may not the negro fly from the . torment of his writhing soul ? does nut stretch out this last, this lingering h an d of P I , our fellow-subjects ? No, for when in twenty-one negroes had run away and est o ' themselves in the woods of Trelawny in Jzi, as soon as the white men heard they wer e they arrayed the military force of the etl' and they were all destroyed, for no other, whatever but running away. C a ptain , strewed the Mauritius whip used there t° the men and women to labour ; the Owe ten and a half feet long, the handle all' inches ; he also shewed a workhouse about six feet long with a collar at e a ch e' the neck of a runaway slave ; by these d' linked together in the day, and at night into a dungeon, and that every day for life stated the law to be that they shall not b pelled to labour before five in the more after seven in the evening, allowing out an hour for breakfast, and two h ours for this refers to but seven months in the p for the other five months, called crop tii are left entirely to the mercy of their The Jamaica slave law has had that punged which gave the slaves religion! Captain S. then instanced a female s'' of age, whose wrists were put throur' of cords fixed to posts ; her alleles t nooses and with a tackle extended t, direction to her hands, and was she became hysterical and remain, punishment was completed. An o. 60 years had been served the same St. Andrew's, where the block stocks, by which the body is stret, rack, is used when they flog. He afterwards, and speaking to her ging, she said, " You saw me floggi not know dat streching which tear soul asunder." They are allowed body thus stretched six hours at stoutest man can be reduced to a a quarter of an hour on these st, the M Misters who sanctioned stocks 'of such as these, or thought Of the ho, merit to which they would expose t; Ignotus, or Mr. True, who wag re, Thomas's, in Jamaica, said his co , pelled him to write nine letters to Wellington on colonial slavery. most horrible picture of slavery th, on coolly to argue for the gradual negro slavery. Mr. True said be flogged to what extent his m even though the law points the ex: tice and the law being as different as law and the cruelty within th( Captain Stuart then referred to fi Colonial Slavery in it. These at Jeremie, Esq. late first President Court of St. Lucia." He also invited in the assembly to ask him any question. two were proposed, and very sate answered. The answers and a short o'• the other lectures on the two following we defer till next week. .0; .ANT v , SITU (eENTLE3 rZ t , ptionable ch Lis late A D P y, post-1 "') 88, Stra IV O , ^ publishing DIVINE tf LAND each Sermon , b By ti L'zamining C vos• 1 to 5 ( woi 4 ,708. 6 to 12 severe -1 / 4 ) : at Canlbr INos. 13 to ItEMY TA Ace. 18 to %* 21. The Norwich markets have been oyes'', during the last week with good things for the C b t , table. The variation in price has been very g t : l ,l the early part of last week a young turkey, of t YYY thirteen pounds weight, readily (etched a shilling 4 0 ,/ on the Saturday they were sold at 9d. and 10 ,1 . the evening, when some fine young birds, of ti" r • i fourteen pounds weight, could not be sold for a l°e Vid., or at most Sd., a pound.—East Anylias• SPECIMEN OF IRISH A DDR ESS.I short time since a countryman called at the Pot 1 ,0 Cork, for a later which he said he expected frog , 01 tiler in St. Giles's, when there happened to be to him, the postage of which was Is. sd. He sai° FORTKSCUE, the Postmaster, who attended biro window, " Yea, then, place your Honour, wool' l 4 ' i after reading that same letter for me, for I'm o b own it, but 'tie the truth, I never lamed that matter, reading neather." Mr. Fokt'r kindly complied with the man's request, an , . ; . f ri had finished, handed him the letter, at the same inn fur the postage, when the countryman said , o f place your Honour, I'm greatly thankful to you , . ; I pray for you all the live long days of my thought the blackguard would hive wrote c omet ' to we, and as he didn't, had luck to the bit , a „bac, .7 t S of Drs. Li tinted and °a- cou rt, Fle (1 0LERA UNIV HE Pr after paying for MI letter; 9 0 you may send it spalpeen the same way it came, if you like;' this the fellow wade off. 1 44,at tish tt tt ,on re ti. troent of th sGV 4: 4 in stoppii MEMOIRS OF LAVALLETTE ( E 1, bale TRANSLATION.)—" From such works as the P e L ti le ' , es . s; i generai A says the Edinburgh Evening Post, " the world e' ' '' I ttv 'ed sever; instruction and entertainment—entertainmeut Mo t' to lay bel than centres in the wildest romance and instruetr, 1 1:,1 1t1 : e their gent powerful than is to be found in the rolls of phr" '' We really do not know a more attractive sfortit dtvitilteorrobor atinz sco " Bourrienne's Memoirs," and we must observe l i il' r 0 0 9 ,( Ik:\ SECON narrative of LAVALLETTE fully partakes of itg *: t ot ' ERAL Ai character. LAVALLETTE was the confidant of ,`',11., l i xxi ; T R o m se rISF —he was the friend and adviser of that astonieh l ot , He was connected with him in most of the ezu l o il 14Z 14 u5, L i n / E' r , - ; events of his eventful life." The second editiouf 'tPe ein e' ' "'hi' tit c rt, and whi, derstand is already nearly exhausted. ito ti n o re s s'that h KING'S JESTERS.—III the reign of . 1) ( th;,". atle ° a r s i r, 0 ttia h°ven and c( 111. a crown was given by Royal authority to 1, , , 4r , rniess Pi who made the KING laugh, ride llu3tE's Iliot °rlll the time of E 11. hearty t he I ih s t :' 41,8' Smith EDWARD a laugh cost 0 4 i m k ,„. en clang, four crowns. We find in the Antiquary ReP el ol lei i l i: 4l ,lll' rf . an , d eve following article, in one of the KING'S accounts :•'' CI ,:t'tzr a d - a - y ° ,,! as t hee p i 4 t l v t4he daught When the KING was at Wollner, to Moaars, of the Kitchen, who, when the KING was blli }t , i° ." ta::Y ';'1)• with C, tide before the KING, and often till down front l '' ' -•''itii l l ; thing, f - u g n - ' whereat the KING laughed greatly,-205." i ‘ii_i t ,, (l. t..ir w nine h 'sh'" , ere th 111 Spain, before any Barrister, Attorl9 i k ocr l ' e king to b f kt 4di ng 1, Notary, is admitted to practice, he is obliged t° ,oli l ; L 'co n 4 ect poor: i‘,' 71,4.`til?:_ttorown that he will defend the poor gratis. That this g r a - r i , t*diw fleet 23Cd. labour may be the more equally divided, thirty t li c. , l ' h te; f • ts ilo i t th of T h, year appointed front each class to defend the His t Chol cases, and every one is accounted poor who eeill' l . st,,, In e r I s , he ' ,a n t ic :pi: , himself worth less than 4,000 reals (I 01) cases the accused is entitled to make choice Of i ' ll lllll l It ti: r4 1,1 f fi l i a l p :e' mr r w h i s:i F i e n v . lister in Madrid to defend him. SCHILLER'S GHOST-SEER.—AithOlic t.lis t Z , that gi t e Romance has for many years taken its ''''' "1 ::::::::b d v e i fi lt e i i i classic among works of fiction, it has so long b eeP o ol ,' . 5 44 4 14 air . r . Iti)be i ii print, and, by consequence, so extremely:scarce, ° l ir., Nth, --en --en ill c vested on is present introduction in the " Stand° Pi' t' l l with the charm of a new work. The name of ' be oi d l . tit,:(4:,ci,liiirtmi;jasj,te is one of the most famous in modern literatur e; present performance has been called " a tale o ii i‘t i th ` L it kce i t e m if ii inspiring power, the intense interest excited by ' e o - f r Ni s l n time ; a perhaps not teen equalled by the publicatioo ° ii4, 'l e l t, t - e i c .F . .R.I years."—Reading Mercury. ,ci , Z4 1 ,,i; 5 1 arid s AN EXTRAORDINARY OCCURRO toVi'tl)leCeBlrnn Four gentlemen by chance met together in SpaldieV (tb ,'"o, a a re n ', l l l ,' d a n n One of them observed that it was something , N ' l, al l l have t ol -- i of tilt! I l s t !sa-,, , , e ore that four should have the astonishing quantity children, two out of the four having twentY'° t ' l l i 44 ,:e L ftTca il. cy I ' , :holera (wi Boston Gazette. to 10 to tt tnee, of tin ' 6 l , the rays Ii I,' BIRTHS. On the '23d inst. in Belgrave-square, the lady of J. 1 Esq., of a soli. On the '24th inst. the lady of P. Crooke, Esq., at Lodge, Bishop's Waltham, Hants, of a son. 11 X 93 , Deans • 12th ib T he " Ver gt: 1 College, trry B r en 11:. Field'K, eYkl Exelm h Liol b n-s 9 I+6 44 ennett - ‘llt . • ""( (t le 11 4 Ppin g, C 1.14 . hins Ch o Iteechi Rc : ige ktreet kr :tit ; Air. 11 41 '/. T. T 4 4 4 g ent's Veh n l u4 of "Le of,the MARRIED. On the 27th iust. at Marylebone Church, Capt3io, ' - - • - -;heri° the 75th Regiment, to Caroline, daughter of It. Si Nottingham-place. On the '27th inst. at Caterham Church, C. J. g 0... M.D., of New Bridge-street, to Marianne, youngest a' Mr. Pinder Simpson, of Old Burlington-street. Sussex. . DIED. t t ' ' On the 9:11 inst. at Leamington, Elizabeth, Dowag uf Darnley. l' On the `27th inst. at her house in Sloane-street, Lau; widow of the late Sir Ludford Harvey. 0 On the '23d lust. at Liverpool, having just arrived fro' , Major Henry Rogers, of the 6tli Regiment of Foot• o r It oi . i J. e Ki 2 r 4 b L y ii , On the ‘23ti inst. at Torquay, Anne Ruth, daughter ,' # 9 , Ann Montague, th e ,pf ' Rev. W. H. Parker, A.M., of I,;(,,,niii, College , co; e l cuhri i t n a s i t i . L Sophia, Hall, Aldermanhury Postern. road, 0(:, tts;e:t2i `pith :,) inst. lust, , ) s f t -'' . laaat: agent At, I l e w d v:: r i t A l: u i . , wife of Mr, S. Driver , second daught e. of i: tit ~, ANL) PUBLIalli: D BY MURDU SUN oFetcL, 112 STRAND, LosuoN• ;A: Ileli.rdiln, e. ae nttACsNhe c E r , Persons Is Jill FIRE AN ir i tli.. .xeceipts for that in li te4 Y ee er,Y v at the Co the to supply 1, ligious Ii 11!,1,1`iir.nenIckgents iilegill111°I(()t)i'rr:211; I : l' L lt i : hLt e hO C ° a lß p ej i l t a a nd l uu 0 1: iii:ttrfileotot,isol,(xp.ll3ieu:eefeti oli t tidiytlsiirro,ne o tfloii f l iinioetrile DENTAL 4 4 s r" NIA] k and —. liitt the horn tched 35 ,: 49, t o may be ( e wet ttvi l tilit,ipper Char] eol;d diitosll u s i., Ped,b'''' .4rie "cee=sfui b , e lii Pitig ,of Wuhan ~ / fly 0 / a ' , atracting I to kee c q., cry, on mots a time. ;. tin e 1,• Artifiei faintitl* ' Aix tir.- --- 2 - e - i j-- 1 "' 5 . ;ocks. ji eV, Al , S U neveraPj - co _ ED TEI orrible ~ivitilto?.Dll the poor ‘ a IVIONSIE •ector 0, tilt Aeon D nlscienCe„ e t i.. ET, mx •v uk i,, 1 the pr,,, Ihtir pie patrom After e4AlP"l.9l::lfesis sional here, he ' I,tkliiie in generresp al aboliliC44: i u , l7 , ED TEE' he Dego o r c ul e t EDANEI master f l I hti, 1, a Lone :tent, J41;01'1,14, beat perform as the 5..,..0 I,itr,l'il, i n o a r j le i n got, tlit:LE o r PA four es4i ' 4e INCORR g e es, without ;re ~ V ` l , t i :q of the t!;g.—cnsblegr uvited e°,i i "tlifte, Faculty e g 2stions ; f j., 1. ,, ,cc : reht___ . (I.,:tiallel:mailebrjee2onoll, lt of . . r TO CONTII ,i: to b