The Sun. — London, England, 1831-09-29 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. Last night the Lord Chancellor, pursuing " the even tenor of his way," introduced his Bill for re forming the Courts of Equity. His Lordship's ob ject may be stated in one word—to save the suitors from plunder. His Lordship (lid not use this phrase, nor perhaps would it be strictly in order that he should use it, seeing that he was addressing an assembly, some of whose Members had allowed the plunder to go on under their very noses for a num ber cf years, though perfectly blameless themselves, except so far as blame attach to that idolatrous re spect for precedent which gives reason and pries ciple no chance in the competition. His Lordship's Bill, however, though it is only the first blow, is a home blow—a blow which strikes at the very root of the evil. The first thrust made by the Bill is against the enormous expense of suitors in the Master's Office, by appointing three Masters to sit in open Court, to hear and determine on the validity of the ob jections male to the individual Master's report. By this simple process his Lordship anticipates that the hearing of exceptions, a most expensive proceeding before either of the three Courts of Chancery, will be prevented in ninet) -nine cases out of a hundred. But the most important object embraced in the Bill in the provision which paves the way for the intro duction of viva voce evidence into Chancery proceed ings. It is surprising that in a country like this, in which the efficacy of the parole evidence is so well understood, it should have been so long excluded from the Court of Chancery, in favour of a system which more resembles the whispers of aninquisi tion than the honest sifting of evidence familiar to our common law. But precedent—the lawyer's ar gument—has always prevailed with minds not ca pable of looking further; and when to this we add the tendency which fees have to perpetuate them sslves by the pros!) , et which they hold out to ex pectants, and the friends and patrons of expectants, perhaps we ought not to be much surprised at the long life they have enjoyed. The period, however, has happily waived at last, when justice is to be done to the suitors, and when the threat of throwing a cause into Chancery will no longer be tantamount to locking up the property for ever. his not intended by the present measure to adopt the principle of Vices rote examination in all cases, but to make a be ginning, professedly with that ultimate view, by sub stituting for a written interrogatory, after the witness has made his first statement in the usual form, " the more rational test of a parole examination." It is almost incalculable what a mass of expensive papers will be saved to the suitor by the adoption of such a course, to say nothing of the comparative facility of coming at the truth. Few people but those who have unfortunately paid for their expe rience, or those who, having profited, are not very likely to publish the abuse under which they have grown rich, can conceive what a mass of absurdity, rubbish, and falsehood, goes to make up the written evidence in a Chancery suit. If the present Lord Chancellor shall succeed in bringing about this great and beneficial change in the practice of the Court over which he presides, the nation will have an ad ditional motive for congratulating itself on an ap pointment, the advantages of which have already outstripped its most sanguine expectations. The arrangement for paying the high efficers of the Court by salaries in the place of fees, and only allowing fees as stimulants to the industry of inferior clerks, is ose from which great good is likely to arise. We hope that, after all the carping which a comprehen sive measure of the kind is likely to undergo from inveterate lawyers, the good sense of the Legisla ture will support it against all difficulties until it shall become the law of the land.—Morning Herold. I , has been actively circulated within these three dais, that the success of the Reform Bill in the House of Peers will depend upon the votes of my Lords the Bishops. For the sake of the B shops, and of the Church which they represent, provided they be friendly to the Bill, we do ardently hope that the honour of carrying it may be theirs—for should the majority be composed of their suffrages, never surely was such a debt of gratitude entailed upon any civilized people, as that by which Eng lishmen and their posterity, to the remotest gene rations, will have been bound towards these fathers of our national Church. Should the Bench of Bi shops, on the other hand, be unhappily found ad verse to the reform of our political institutions, and in the exercise of that hostility should they blight the hopes of their countrymen, by adding to the votes against the Bill just so many as may be suf ficient to secure the defeat of it, while, had the measure been left to take its chance among the Peers who are laymen, it would have passed into a law—should, we say, so terrible a disaster happen, what—what will be the position of the Church and of the Prelacy ? what the feeling of the whole British empire towards them ? Oh ! let the Bishops be wise in time, and not realize, against our venerable Church, the only possible answer to that inauspicious question. The Socinian, the Pa pist, the Jews are all in port, all exulting in their own increased security; but the Reformed Church of England will, by the unskilfulness or obstinacy of her proper pilots, have been driven from her moorings in the hearts of the people, and exposed to a hurricane, the like of which has never blown."—. " it is the Bishops," will an exasperated nation cry,—" it is the Bishops, who have crushed our liberties and destroyed us; but for them we should have had a free Parliament, a responsible Govern ment, and the downfall of an oppressive oligarchy : our charter is lost, and it is to the anti-national spirit of the Church we owe this grievous disap pointment. How shall we forgive the clergy?"— No w, that such language may not be heard, we ear nestly and devoutly pray, because it is the most anxious desire of every honest mind that no such provocation may be furnished. But that if the offence be given, the anger will be roused, and will so express itself, there is too strong reason to apprehend; and we do, with deep and affectionate solicitude, beseech the Right Rev. Lords in lawn sleeves to ask themselves, ere the second reading of this great Bill on Monday next, whether they prepared to put before the eyes of every public spirited man in England the naked alternative— " which is it best for sue, to do without a Reformed Parliament, or without the Bench of Bishops, since their Lordships by their vote inform me that I shall not have both?" In truth, upon every consideration of prudence, comprehensive patriotism, and gratitude to the counts), we make sure in our own judgment that the Bishops will support his Majesty's Ministers on this occasion, and his Majesty's people too. As for the lay Lords, we have little fear for them. They must feel, when they come to reflect a little, so grave an interest in breaking up the capricious and invidious monopoly, possessed by a few borough-holders of their own body, to the prejudice of all fair competi• tion for honour or power by the Peers in general; and they must likewise be so indignant at the certain odium which will fall upon the whole body, in con sequence of a vote for the exclusive benefit of the boroughmonger minority, that we must presume their Lordships to be gifted with an absence of discern ment, and a lunacy of self-devotion, seldom apper taining to full-grown men, if we could conjecture that, when the trial comes, they will commit such waste upon the rights and welfare of the Peerage. Some important accessions have, we understand, been made to the noble Reformers within the last forty-eight hours.—Times. The subject of Windsor Castle and Buckingham ll ou se, brought on ht nigh t opt ullaitiin the House of th i C o mmons, will o bli g e cto cast i back their minds with many a sigh on find c last reign. instruments e i gn . How proposed readily do extra va g ant Kings of their will ! In 1824, fir. Hume only that the improveme nts in Windsor Castle should not be begun till a plan and estimate were before the House. Surely nothing could be more reason able than this. The Chancetlor of th E e xchequer then pledged himself, in every variety of speech that the human language contains, that the " expences should not, could not, exceed 300,0001. He had no hesitation in saying, that certainly nothing which was contemplated, nor any thing which, as it seemed to bim, could reasonably be contemplated, could go beyond the charge of 300,0001." —Parliamentary l Debates, April 5, 1824. The first item in a state ment laid before the House last night, for expences already incurred at - Windsor Castle, is 594,0001. — nearly double the sum I—and a farther sum of 177,000/. is proposed for carrying on the improve ments there ! besides 267,0001. already granted for furniture. Thus, so far is 300,0001. from being sufficient for the building expenses, that that sum hardly pays for the furniture. Windsor Castle, however, is something to look at and admire, be cause it was left a noble structure by a noble race of Kings to their descendants or successors. But of thee, thou structure of crockery, raised on an ob structed puddle !—of thee, thou Buckingham house, or palace, or hole, or hovel, what are we to say ? Two hundred and fifty-two thousand pounds were all that was required for the completion of this nondescript : nearly twice the sum has been ex pended, and it is unnecessary to say more is re quired. Can any one wonder that we are a distressed people ? But what is more remarkable still is, that a commission was appointed to controul the expenses of these buildings :—" So far from there being any disposition to lavish themoney which it is proposed to apply (as the gestures of some Honourable Gen tlemen opposite seemed to indicate), it is the express desire of his Majesty that the direction of the ex penditure shall not be under the sole eontroul either of himself, or of any department of the Govern ment, but it is his Majesty's desire that a commis sion be appointed for that purpose."—Chancellor of the Exchequer's speech on opening the Budget of 1824. To the Commissioners, then, Parliament and the nation ought to betake themselves for re dress. We do not say, if the expenses had exceeded the estimate by any moderate sum, that we should in that case have adverted to the conduct of the Commissioners, or asserted their liability ; but where there has been such an evident neglect (or some thing worse) of duty, it is but proper that they upon whose judgment and supposed integrity the public was induced to confide, should repair the da mage they have done. The private fortunes of the Commissioners ought to supply the lavish expendi ture which they have sanctioned. It was on their responsibility that the House agreed to the repairs and building of the two Palaccs. While we were making these remarks, we have received a document of considerable importance, which follows : WINDSOR CASTLE and BUCKINGHAM PALACE. " The Select Committee appointed to inquire into Matters connected with Windsor Castle and Buckingham Pa lace ; and to whom the papers presented to the House by his Majesty's command on the 15th day of Febru ary, 1831, together with the minutes of evidence taken by the Committee in the last session of Parlia• rnent, and the papers laid before them, were referred ; have agreed to this their first report, which has re ference only to the furniture of Windsor Castle. " The Committee have ascertained that the amount of Parliamentary grant for furniture at Windsor Castle, was iC4137,000 " That the sums paid to certain tradesmen in the department of the Loid Chamberlain, on account of their bills, amounted to 217,943 " That there has been paid to the tradesmen in the department of the Lord Steward, for kitchen furniture 1,7(78 " That there has also been paid for tapestry 3,550 " Making an aggregate of 23,261 " That the balance of the Parliamentary grants in the Exche quer is consequently 43,7:391. " The Committee,•after the best inquiries they were able to make, resolved to recommend the payment of certain balances due to the tradesmen, whose bills were either withi❑ the original estimates delivered, or the excess of whose bills above their estimates was satisfactorily explained. These balances amounted to 11,603/. 9s. Id. Messrs. Morel and Seddon had been paid the full amount of their estimates, 143,0001. ; but the bills by them de livered were for the sum of 202,9631., and a balance was consequently claimed of 60,963/. " The Committee felt that they were wholly incapable of fixing any value on the furniture so provided, and yet that they could not be justified in advising the payment of so large an excess over the original estimates, without en deavouring to obtain further information. Certain charges for differ. nt articles of furniture, to which the attention of the Committee had been specially directed, were, at their recommendation, submitted by the Treasury to the exami nation of competent judges, who, however, after a prepa ratory inspection of the same, declined a task which they considered themselves wholly incapable of performing. " The Committee having thus failed in an attempt to value those selected articles of furniture, which might have been a criterion of whether the general charges in the bill were or were not extravagant, at length entered into an arrangement with Messrs. Morel and Seddon, that they should deliver a statement of the sums actually by them expended in labour, materials, and trade charges, and the profit to them accruing; this statement to be verified by the examination of their books, by an accomptant to be appointed by the Treasury. " Mr. Abbott was consequently appointed; and after due consideration of different reports presented by him, and the answers thereto made by Messrs. Morel and Sed don, and after the examination of many witnesses as to the fair profit which ought to be charged by upholsterers for such costly and elaborate furniture, your Committee report that the bill of Messrs. Morel and Seddon, origi nally amounting to 203,9631. 6s. 5d., should be di minished to 179,300/. 13s. 9d. " Messrs. Morel and Seddon having paid 1,0501. to the Lord Chamberlain's Office, in part of fees, a practice to which the Committee strongly objected in all instances, and to which the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury have in this case especially objected, the'Committee recom mend that this sum should be repaid. " The account will be as follows: X. s. d. " Balance due to various tradesmen, ex clusive of Morel and Seddon 11,608 9 7 " Balance to be paid Morel and Seddon 37,350 19 71. £49,959 9 21 " The balance of grants in the Exchequer Icing 43,7391. there will remain to be provided for by Parlia ment, to complete the sums due fur furniture at Windsor Castle, 5,2201. 9s. 2141. less such sum as may be repaid by the Lord Chamberlain's office for fees received. " The Committee trust that they do not exceed the duties intrusted to them, if they express an opinion that a very heavy expense has been incurred for furnishing Windsor Castle, without due regard to economy, and without sufficient check from the proper authorities. '• The appointment of a Furnishing Committee, so far from realizing the •expectations of the Lord' of the Trea sury, who in their minute of the 27th July, 1826, say, Lards receive with much satisfaction the corn munication of th:s arrangement, under which they are convinced that the service will be executed in the manner best suited to the peculiar nature of it, and most consistent with the utmost economy of which such an expenditure may be susceptible,' has, it is to be feared, been productive of an increased • lavish ex penditure, inasmuch as neither the Treasury nor the Lord Chamberlain's Office appear to have considered themselves responsible, while the members of the Furnishing Com mittee did not supply any adequate check on this extra vagant waste of public money. " The Committee strongly deprecate the practice of establishing any irresponsible Boards, who thus relieve the proper authorities from the performance of duties which strictly belong to their official situations. " Sept. 27." Our readers will observe that the authors of this report are not the body composing the Commission first spoken of, which we believe was called the Comistittee, or Commission of Taste. The authors of the report just insetted were, we presume, chosen as a cheek upon the " Taste" Committee, whose names ought to be made public, as well as their pro perty liable for the scandalous extravagance which they have sanctioned.—Times. The Edinburgh petition, in favour of Reform, received 36,159 signatures, a larger number than ever subscribed any former petition from that city, though it remained open little more than two days. The Caledonian Mercury observes, that " if the Peers are inclined to believe men upon their own words, there will be no difficulty, we should think, in persuading their Lordships, that the interest taken by the people of Scotland is not a jot abated; but rather increased. Since our last we have re ceived so many notices of meetings of communities, e land,orp r f a o t r i out,ies,pp purpose o publicaunrd: of petitioning bodies, in all lhe thatScotls- L 1 it is quite impossibl e to enumerate the t quite evident that, before t h e end o e f m t ; h e but it week, the table of their Lordships must groan under the load of petitions from this country. No fewer than twelve petitions we observe go from the p u bli c bodies in Perth alone." In short the petitions in favour of this Bill, as we have already stated, may • be considered a tolerably accurate census of all the male population of age. The Anti-Reformers form so small a fractional part of the population that the result is hardly affected by them. This comes of ill-timed taunts. Had the Anti-Reformers held their tongues on the subject of the senti ments of the people, the Peers,—many of whom know nothing personally of what the Ipeople think,—might have been spared these formidable demonstrations. Some of them might have conscientiously believed that as the people were silent, there was something in what Mr. Crofter said, in the beginning of the discussions, that the absence of petitions for Reform in any numb er . for many years proved that the call for now was not the result of any settled determination of the people, but a passing impulse, and that the people had returned to a state of indifference. But, unfor tunately, the assertion was made in time to allow the people time to give a most striking demonstra tion of the falsehood of it, before the second reading of the Bill in the House of Lords. No Noble Lord can now pretend to have any doubt that the people are united and determined on this great question. The Peer who votes against the second reading of the Bill, must do so on the ground that the opinions and feelings of a nation ought not to influence its Government. He must be prepared to approve of the worst despotism ; for if we know anything of freedom, it is essential to it that the opinions and wishes of the people should influence their Govern ment. He who says that three hundred m en should disregard the opinions and feelings of a nation, must be prepared to maintain the prin ciple, that 30 men, nay that one man—an Aristocrat —may equally disregard the opinions and wishes of a nation. The -opinion begins to prevail that their Lordships are more reasonable than it was ever thought they sstould be. Mr. Hume, at the Middle sex meeting, said he could not believe that the House of Lords would " refuse a concession de manded by an united people. He could not believe it, numerous as were the acts of their Lordships' Howse which testified ignorance and imbecility of understanding.—(Hear, and a laugh.) The House of Lords, he repeated, would pass the Bill. It mattered not that a majority of their Lordships was in grain opposed to it ; for they had passed the Ca tholic Bill, though equally opposed to it, at the mandate of a bold soldier-statesman.—(Hear.) Yes, in one day a majority of 128 Peers wheeled round on the Catholic question." The Caledonian Mer cury observes, in the same spirit—" Calculations are now beginning to be made of the strength of the divisions, and within the last day or two we have received information which dissipates all our fears, and makes us morally certain that the Bill will pass the Upper House with very slight modifications. It is not estimated that more than 320 of the Members will take part, either in person or by proxy, in the present proceedings. Of that number the opinions of 140 are known certainly to be in favour of the Bill, and those of 120 as certainly to be against it. About 60 have not declared themselves, but of these wailers upon Providence no very alarming , doubts are entertained but when the time conies they will appear in the ranks of the favourers of the Bill." But the people must not relax in their efforts. In the language of our great poet, they must not— Bate a jot Of heart or hope; but still bear up, and steer Hight onward." They have the best of all causes; but it was well observed by a speaker at the Sheffield meeting on Monday last—" It had been said of the old Scotch Covenanters, that the admonition of the leaders was Read your Bibles, but sleep upon your match locks ;' in a similar strain of exhortation he would address his townspeople to hope in the Lords, but to trust in themselves.—(Applause.)"—Morning There is the greatest reason to believe, notwith standing the pompous denial of Earl Grey, and the eloquent bluster of Lord Brougham, that the Par liamentary efforts of the Opposition, supported by the rising indignation of the country, have, as the Marquis of Londonderry said in the House of Lords, given a turn to the diplomacy of his Majesty's Mi nisters, and compelled them, at least for a time, " to assume the virtue, if they have it not," of respect for the national character, and of a determination to truckle to the French Revolutionary Government only in a moderate and plausible degree. Can any body who has watched the progress of events doubt that but for the interference of the Opposition a considerable body of French troops would have re mained in Belgium ? Is it not notorious that their stay was a settled thing, and that the arrange ment was spoken of by Ministers and their friends as unobjectionable, until it was proved by unequivocal symptoms to be repugnant to the feel ings of the British nation, as faithfully represented, with respect to this matter at least, by the Oppo sition in Parliament ? And what, we beg to ask, did produce the sudden change of language and of po licy on the part of Ministers and their adherents, if it was not the Parliamentary and popular resistanc e with which they were threatened, and of which they had already experienced some of the effects ? And are we still to be told that the continued occupation of Belgium by a French army would have been a matter of no consequence ? What could have been the motive to this occupation ? To guard . against ? another triumphant inroad of the Dutch This could scarcely have been pretended, since the King of Holland had engaged not again to attack th e brave Belgians, and his word is surely as g oo d as that of Louis Philippe. To keep the brave Bel gians faithful to their new allegiance ? No such motive could have been alleged with any appearance of respect to the principle of non-intervention. To pamper the inordinate and encroaching presumption of the movement party in France, and to sustain_ th e tottering throne of her revolutionary King Y es , this no doubt was the true reason, for it is the only one that can be rationally imagined why the Go vernment of France desired, and the abject Ministry of England would have consented, to convert Bel gium into a barrack-yard of France, and this it is which makes it of the utmost consequence that the des4o has been resisted and abandoned. It may suit the temporary purposes of feeble or dishonest Administrations, but it cannot be conducive to the peace or welfare of mankind that the national vanity of any people should be pampered, or the foun dations of any throne be rendered for a time more secure, by such means. It is scarcely to be supposed that the French Govern ment has condescended, without some equi valent, to abandon Belgium, in deference to an Eng lish Ministry, or even for the purpose, truly French though it be, of keeping in power an English Mini stry which professes unbounded confidence and in culcates unlimited submission to France. Bound less confidence and submission are not usually so rewarded in the intercourse of nations. France has obtained an equivalent, we may be sure, ere she loosened her grasp of the prey which she held • in her clutches. And every thing concurs to point out that the equivalent is the Peninsula. The wretched evasion of the treaties which give Portugal a right to the protection of England — the renewed and increased vituperation which our leading Statesmen daily pour out upon Don Miguel—the caresses lavished upon his virtuous and itinerant brother, the fugitive of Brazd— the robbery of the Portuguese fleet by France—the intrigues of the British Consul in Lisbon—the hopes and excitements by which the malcontent subjects of Don Miguel are stimulated to revolt—all express, in a mariner not to be mistaken, that the Peninsula is to be revolutionized, and the Government of Por tugal certainly, and that of Spain probably, also to be overthrown, not to benefit the people of Spain or Portugal, who desire no such change, but simply to gratify the movement party in F ranc e, and to di r ect its revolutionary energies from the throne which it set up only a year ago, and would now, if not otherwise amused and engaged, very speedily overthrow. What are treaties, what is justice or hemanity, what the peace of unoffending nations, what the rights of national independence, when compared with the satisfaction of the revolutionists of France, and the maintenance of that Government which Earl Grey honours with his special confidence and favour? It is not surprising that Ministers should strive to communicate to their political opponents the mean, truckling, and dastardly sentiments by which their own conduct in foreign affairs is uniformly governed ; but it would be surprising indeed, if they did not strive in vain. Are the Opposition in the British Parliament to be restrained from expressing their opinions of affairs in which the country has the deepest concern, and their diffidence of the w►sdom, the spirit, or the patriotism of the Minister of the day, lest they should incidently give offence to the people or the Govetnment of another country ? This idea, which our Ministers reverberate from bench to Woolsack, and from Commons to Lords, is the most base, pitiful, and abject certainly that ever entered into the mind of any Statesman. We say at once that if a national quarrel with France is to be engendered by such means, there must be a wonderful proneness to quarrel with us ; and we further do not scruple to say, and we know that in saying it we have the country entirely with us, that if there be this proneness to quarrel, no matter in what country or in what Government, the more completely and unequivocally we set it at defiance the better. But what places in the most conspicu ous light the contemptible meanness of those who read to their opponents these daily homilies to re serve and forbearance, lest France, forsooth, should be offended, is the fact, that they themselves, Minis ters though they be, delight in nothing so much, re create themselves in nothing so often, as in vituper ation—the vituperation of polished ruffians, but of ruffians still—directed against the Sovereign of an independent State, the ally of this country. But ruflitms, polished or unpolished, are seldom heroes ; and the State whose Sovereign our Ministers habi tually abuse is, we need scarcely add, a weak one.— Morning Post. SPECIAL CONSTABLES. Lord Melbourne on Friday presented to the House of Lords a Bill " to amend the laws relative to the appointment of special constables, and for the better preservation of the peace." The following are the outlines of it :—The preamble briefly says,— Whereas it is expedient to amend the laws relative to the appointment of special constables, and to make other provisions for the better preservation of the public peace, and then proceeds to enact, that in all cases where it shall be made to appear to any two or more Justices of the Peace of any county, riding, or division, having a separate Commission of the Peace, or any two or more Justices of the Peace of any liberty, franchise, city, or town, in England or Wales, upon the oath of any credible witness, that any tumult, riot, or felony has taken place, or may be reasonably apprehended, &c., and such Justices shall be of opinion that the ordinary officers ap pointed for preserving the peace are not sufficient for• the preservation of the peace, and for the pro tection of the inhabitants and the security of the property in any such parish, township, or place as aforesaid, then and in every such case the said Justices are hereby authorized to nominate and ap point, by precept in writing under their hands, so many as the said Justices shall think fit of the house holders or other persons (not legally exempt from serving the office of constable) residing in such parish, township, or place as aforesaid, or in the neighbourhood thereof, to act as special constables, for such time and in such manner as to the said .Justices shall seem fit and necessary, for the preser vation of the public peace, and for the protection of the inhabitants, and the security of the property in such parish, township, or place ; and it shall he lawful for the sa•d Justices to make such other orders and regulations as may from time to time be necessary and expedient, for rendering the said special constables more efficient for the preservation of the public peace; and the said Justices so appoint ing, or any one of them, are and is hereby authorized to administer to every person so appointed the fol lowing oath ; that is to say, " I, A. B , do swear, that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lord the King in the office of special con stable for the parish (or township, &c.) of with out favour or affection, malice or ; and that I will to the best of my power cause the peace to be kept anti preserved, and prevent all offences uainst the persons and property of his Majesty's subjects ; anti that while I shall continue to hold the said office, I will to the best of my skill and knowledge discharge all the duties thereof faith• fully according to law. So help me God." Afterwards providing the notice of the circum stances be transmitted to the Secretary of State amid to the Lieutenant of the County. Subsequent clauses provide that the Secretary of State, on representation of Justices, may order per sons to be sworn in though exempt by law; and may direct any Lord Lieutenant to cause special constables to be sworn in for the whole or arty por don of a county; and no exemption to be allowed. That the Justices of the Peace who shall have ap pointed any special constables under this Act, or any two of them, or the Justices acting for the divi sion or limits within which such special constables shall have been called out, at a special session of such last-mentioned Justices, shall have pourer to remove any such special constable from his office for anv misconduct or neglect of duty therein. 'The powers of special constables to extend throughout the jurisdiction of the Magistrates ap pointing. Where any special constables appointed under this Act shall be serving within any county, and two or more Justices of the Peace of any adjoining county shall make it appear to the satisfaction of any two or more Justices of the Peace acting for the division or limits wherein such special constables are serving, that any extraordinary circumstances exist which would render it expedient that the said special con stables should act in such adjoining county, then and in every such case the said last-mentioned Justices are hereby authorized (if they shall think fit) to order all or any of the said special constables to act in such adjoining county in such manner as to the said last-mentioned Justices shall seem meet; and every such special constable, during the time that he shall so act in such adjoining county, shall have, ex ercise, and enjoy all such power s,authOrities, advan tages, and immunities, and he liable to all such duties and responsibilities, as if he were acting within the parish, township, or place for which he was originally the ' o 4l : H p l c o ' e o i , n b ted. penalty or atte attend i ng for ngs refus i ng a mmo t take tig,toc.,ba but there e o r a e t of is a blank for the stun ; also a penalty for refusing to serve, or for disobedience of orders, but a blank in the Bill for the sum. There follow powers to the Justices to discon tinue the services of constables called out ; directing that notice of such discontinuance be transmitted to the Secretary of State, &c. Special constables to deliver staves,&c. to successors. Punishment for assaulting or resisting constables, or promoting or encouraging others to do so, a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds, or such other punishment, upon conviction on any indictment or information for such offence, as any persons are by law liable to for assaulting any constable in the exe cution of the duties of his office. Special constables not to gain a settlement, nor be exempt from the Militia. Justices in special session may order allowances to the special constables, such allowances to be paid out of the county rate, and directs the mode of payment in places not ccntributing to the coon! ) , rate. There are then clauses giving powers to J ust i ces of the Peace to adjourn any speci a l sess i ons, &c., and directing how proceedings for penalties under t hii Act shall take place, &c., and that in all act i ons for any thing done in pursuance of this Act, the venue shall be laid and the case tried in the county where the fact was commenced. The action to be commenced within six months. The Bill proposes to repeal an Act passed in the Ist Geo. IV., e►:titled " An Act to increase the Power of Magisirates in the appointment of Special Constables," as to all parts of England and Wales; and provides, that nothing in this Act contained shall extend to Scotland or Ireland. The following proviso concludes the Bill—That nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to abridge any powers for preserving the public peace, whether by appointing constables or otherwise, which any Jtistice or Justices of the Peace had, by law, or by virtue of any statute or statutes, before the passing of the Ist Geo. IV., c. 37. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. no TV-STREET. On Tuesday a young man named Charles Bosworth was brciuJit before Sir R. BIRNIE, by Gardiner, the officer, charged with haying falsely represented himself as an officer of the Palace Court, and with fraudulently obtaining the sum of one guinea from Mr. Peter Alexander Richardson, a me dical student, residing at No. 8, Cateaton-street. Mr. Richardson stated, that on the night of Wed nesday, the 21st instant, at about half-past eleven o'clock, he met the prisoner at the Sun Tavern, Devereux-court, Strand. They had some conver sation about a writ for 141., which the prisoner said had been issued against him (the prosecutor) at the suit of one Martha Robinson. The prisoner pro duced a copy of the service of this writ, and said he had a bail-bond in his pocket, which roust be signed by two respectable householders, otherwise that he (prosecutor) must be locked up. They then went down stairs together, and the prisoner told him that he was going to take him to a sponging-house. Ho accordingly took him to the doors of two houses, • which he told him were sponging -houses, situate in a court off Chancery-lane. They were, ho a ever, both closed, and the prisoner then told him he must lodge him in the Marshalsea. Upon asking what would be the consequence of his going there, the prisoner said, that if he was once lodged in the Marshalsea, he could riot get bail, and must remain there for seven or eight weeks, until liberated by the Insolvent Debtors' Act. He then► consented to accept of an undertaking from Mr. Cooper, the landlord of the Sun public-house, for his appearance at eleven o'clock on the following day. They then went to the public-house in question, and the pri soner there drew up a paper, to the effect, that Mr. Cooper would be responsible for his (prosecutor's) appearance on the morning following. For this do cument the prisoner demanded one guinea, which he gave him under the belief that he must otherwise have been lodged in prison. Mr. Cooper stated that he saw the document which the prisoner had drawn up, and signed his name to it, thereby making himself answerable for the appearance of the young gentleman on the fol lowing day. He, however, told the prisoner, that he was acting illegally, and said he had no right to arrest the prosecutor. Witness, after signing the undertaking, heard the prisoner demand money of the prosecutor, and saw the latter pull his purse out and give him a sovereign. An officer of the Palace Court produced the ori gami of a serviceable writ against Peter Richardson, at the suit of Martha Robinson. There was no writ issued from the Palace Court to hold Richard son to bail. The document produced would not warrant an officer holding the defendant to bail. Sir R. BIRNIE wished to know how the original writ came into the possession of the last witness. . The solicitor for the prosecution explained, that previous to the arrest of Mr. Richardson, a letter had been written to him demanding some furniture, on the part of the person named Martha R,binson, and on the non-compliance with that demand, the writ was issued from the Palace Court. Sir R. BIRNIE asked the Palace Court officer if he knew the prisoner, and whether he had authority to act as an officer of that Court ?—The witness re plied that the prisoner was employed as an assistant under his father to serve copies jfwrits,•but not to hold parties to bail. The fact was, that the prose cutor having but lately come up from the country, was wholly ignorant of business, and consequently open to the imposition which had been practised upon him. The prisoner not only received a guinea from the prosecutor in the way described, but told him he must bring him 1/. 6s. besides, when he came forward in the morning to exonerate his bail. The defendant, in answer to the charge, said he was insensible at the time the transaction took place, and was not aware until the next morning of what he had done. Mr. Cooper said, that the prisoner on the night in question was just as sober as he was then. • Sir R. BIRNIE observed, that it was a clear case of fraud, and he should certainly send the prisoner for trial, unless he could procure moit unexception able bail. The solicitor for the prosecution hoped, as the case was one of a very strious description, that the Magistrate would order the prisoner to give lorty eight hours' notice of the parties whom he meant to produce as his sureti , -s. Sir R. BIRNtE agreed to this, and the witnesses having been bound over to prosecute, the prisoner was fully committed for trial. W ORSHIP-STREE T. John Sidney Gower and William Rowland, police men, and David Morgan, were fully examined before Mr. BRouracroN, on Tuesday, charged with having, by conspiracy, defeated the prosecutiob, and pro cured the discharge, of Wiltiam Jones, who was in dicted at the late sessions, Old Bailey, for stealing a watch from the person of John Newman. The depositions, which were of great length, having been completed, were read over in the pre sence of the prisoners, and fully proved the facts al ready stated, with some additional circumstance. James Aylett, a linen-draper's shopman, and prin cipal witness against Jones, stated, that after mud) negotiation, the progress of which he detailed, he consented to receive 11/. and keep out of the way until the Grand Jury was discharged, but he asked what he was to do to save the recognizance in which he was bound ? He said that he had not been well for some time, and was not very well then ; upon which Gower told him that all he had to do was to get a doctor's certificate. The prisoners wished him to go to Manchester, but he preferred, as less expensive, to go to Hampton-court, where he has an uncle; and thii arrangement being concluded Morgan accompanied him to the Black Lion, Water lane, and paid him his money just as he got into the coach. John Newman, the prosecutor of Jones, stated that he and the two policemen were called sepa rately before the Grand Jury, and shortly afterwards, to his great sarprise, he heard the name of William Jones called out amongst the hills thrown out. Gower remarked to him that there were many others similarly circumstanced, adding that he sup posed all the prosecutor wanted was his watch and his expences, and those he would get. He then went with theta into the Old Bailey court, where their expenses were allowed, and they after wards went to the Treasurer's-office, and received the money. The following was stated to be the mode of pro ceeding by indictment before the Grand Jury. Al the witnesses who have been bound over before the magistrate attend on an appointed day at the Indict ment-office, where the bill is drawn up, and their names endorsed upon it, and they are sworn. The bill is then sent to the Grand Jury room, into which the witnesses, commonly several days after having been sworn, are singly introduced. The only per sons cognizant of what there passes are the Grand Jury and the witness, the only persons present; and the foriner are sworn not to divulge it. They have no means of sifting the statement of a witness; the written depositions transmitted from the police . Alec being reserved by the clerk of the arraigns for I the exclusive use of the Judge upon the trial. Mr. BROUGHTON said he was not without hopes that what had been disclosed in the case would draw the attention of the Legislature to the working of the Grand Jury system, but for such institution such a case as this could never have occurred. If, as he sincerely hoped, the Legislature should be in duced to remove such an obstacle to the administra- don of justice, an incalculable benefit will have° conferred upon the public. The offence with which the prisoners are chstiecio being of a blilable nature, each of the policeo.!A was required to find two sureties in 50/, each,l;; committed in default. Morgan was held to baill t sureties in 40/. each. EAT INDIA HOUSE. Yesterday a Quarterly Court was held for the trI D " tion of business. Mr. POVNDER .b wished to know if instructions b a " sent nut to Trna, to put an end to the exaction of tr ii i-u te from the ido!aters of Juggernaut, a practice Nsrb ic " strongly deprecated. The CHAIR3IAN replied, that no such instructions been sent. Mr. R enrich 111 :IGBY said it was most disgraceful to _ coffers of the Company by exacting such a tribute. Captain GOWAN. in refeterace to the money expen d the CAimpany in giving dinners, breakfasts, &c. G SM '' nuts-General, Ctimmanders-in-Chief, and other ont before going out to India, mov e d for a return of al l ' ip expences, as well as those incurred for en t er tainines itg . t o the East India House. He deprecated the expeo di f ps of RICA large sums, the consequence of which 10 ' Company were unable to reward fully the services of Op'', tot ions individuals ; and instanced the pension ° f 4 Gilcluist, who, after all his services, had a pension ofos' 125/. a year. The CHAIRMAN said, the entertainments given t° Cr vernors of India, Commanders, ize., together with ref° 4 r , meats for the Directors and some of the Proprie t ' d amounted last year to the sum of 3,1071. R e freship e o i provided for other branches of the establishment amoull to 1,117/. Fur coals and candles in the different ° f6c' ee 1,094/. It was not for him to become the eulogist CI : in t Directors ; but he thought there could not be found 3 r ° o ",, abstemious body of men thaa they were. They we re 0 3 casionaily indulger! with a cup of coffee or chocolate, of he thought that they ought not to grudge such vire; ments to men who were continually, both early ali dl3 ; toiling in their service for the genera! benefit of the piny's interests. v Aft. .r a few remarks from Mr. RIGBY and 3fr. ING against the introduction of this topic, Captain Gaga, withdrew his motion. The Court then adjourned. THE MARKETS. COAL MAR Reaumont— 2ss. Od Bensham Main 9 Garesfield --,..-- 23 9 Hebbtun Man 28 9 27 0 iWlingworth 27 6 Panto') Windsor---. 25 0 Tantiela Townley 26 6 ,Ditto (unscreened)-- 24 6 West Hartley 24 3 Willington 29 6 Wylam 26 3 Walls End Bell &Co.— 29 6 Ditto Bell,Robson,&Co. 23 0 Ditto Bewieke and Co. 31 0 Walls Dal Brown's--, 26 6 Ditto unscreened .---. 25 6 Wall- En Callerton —. 25 0 Ditto Clarke and Co. 26 3 Walls End Gosforth *33 0 Walls End Heaton—. 31 0 NN'alls End Hilda 27 9 Walls End Hotspur...... 28 0 Ditto Northumberland 27 9 lip; at market, 1334—Shil vmarch.• 0 1 NV a Ditto l s np Perkins d e ET.—Set. 9. 2 and Co. tl 0 Walls End Riddell's.... 31 0 tto Walker 5 0 2 Lambton Primrose 0 1 0 Primrose Main Walls End Hetton 6 0 Walls End Lambton.... Walls End Lyons 5 3 Walls End Stewart's 02, W. E. Russell's Hettono 2 Ditto Russell's Lyon' s.• 5 0, Walls End Butter Kno t ` Walls End Adelaide..- . , Walls End r, Barnsley Cowpen Y, Walls End u o Hartley ••••• Old Haigh Moor Silkstone Field and Co. A t: Silkstone Popplewell `,l Stone Coal Walls End Henderson 1, s A w d l a d i:'l l l‘ o l4Ln sf u a n lir. ohli 00t5, _ COUNTRY CORN MARKETS DUItING Bea' Wheat. ißarley. hats._ t a Per Quarter. s. to s. s. to s. s. to s• " Abingdon----- 62 81 31 43 22 30 Andover--.-- 73 80 37 41 Birmingham— 64 72 22 40 24 32 ""54 Ilridport « 56 74 32 39 26 30 •-"" Cirencester --- 57 68 38 44 24 29 Faringdon---- 54 86 30 41) 26 38 Guildford 48 74 23 32 26 35 ""' 4 1 ", Henley 54 83 30 35 20 30 Hereford 84 92 44 48 5. Highworth 62 80 32 42 28 34 Maidenhead Monmouth.... 61 72 23 — 4: Reading . 65 90 31 47 21 3 2 54 66 32 36 29 32 Southampton M. 54 78 37 40 28 3 2 40 , Stroud 64 78 34 38 22 32 43 Tewkesbury 65 74 40 42 34) 38 Uxbridge 48 78 32 38 24 34 • Wantage .. 58 80 30 43 21 30 """ 4 " Warminster 48 67 28 28 25 3 9 Windsor 59 -- 21 22 4 , Worcester 64 68 24 36 24 2 3 _::// LEWES t. 27. n 0 White Wheat (per quart MARKEL— £3Sep6 oto Z , - 4 0 Red ditto--.....—...-................. 33 0 3. 3 0 8ar1ey......,.. —.....—„ . 1 18 0 - U ~ Oats, New —, —. - . 1 2 1 0 „ 0 Pease ' 0 0 2 ' i Oil Cake, New------- 12 0 0 per thTIL.„.,-a° HULL MARKET—Sept. 9.7. .ai, Wheat, Old —s. 5Ss. 60s. n ow ...... --S. 56 6 ' ), Foreign —s. 50s. 545. ln bond... -- 11 ." 4 :, Oats, Poland -.c. ‘.. , 05. 2.25. ......01d... ...... --s• . .... 4 Small or Feed —s. 20s. 2ls ....,.......-...". Foreign —s. 20s. 21s ....., ..--$. . Barley, Norf. & Slit ... —s 40s. 425. Line. & Wold -- 8 . . 31' . 9 Foreign ....s ..- 6 . 0 Beans 3Ss. 4ns. 425. Foreign ...... ... ---' Afq ~ ~ , • '''' •"." Pease, White... —s. 465. 48s. Grey -..5. 30s, oe' fares —s —s. —s. Foreign ....5. 313 '' ...4' „ I k , • Rapeseed, in timid none. .. Free, per last :- .... :_„. 1 . ;,:-..:--•'*/ CHELTENHAM M A RICET.—Sept. 27. d. to Per Bushel s. d. to s. d. Pei lb. 5 6 Wheat Barley 4 0 5 0 Mutton Oats 4 0 4 3 Veal Beans Pease 50 60 I Pork 5 0 7 0 Lauib Hay ... ... 31. lOs to 3/. 15s. Od. per tot___ DUMFRIES MARKETS.—Sept, 21. a. s. d. s. ei. o r i 0 0 0 Whoat, Imp. Bush 7 4to 7 8 Butter, 16oz ........ ..... - 0 0 0 Barley ...-.... 3 9 4 0 Eggs, dozen ...... ....... 4 . Oats ~, 2 4 2 S Beef, per lb. .... .. ...... 0 o 4 (1 Flour, 141 b. Oatmeal Potatoes. cwt. A new writ was on Monday night MoVe‘ i p4' Highain Frrrers, in the room of CHARLES PEPO'fotr who has accepted the Chiltern Hundreds ; and on pe‘f clay morning, shortly before the House adjourned , 6 0 , 0' writ wa, also issued for Poole, in the room of the ao if W. F. S PONSONRY, who has accepted the steol t a l . jr , of Etst d. This is, of course, preliminary ,riot PoNsoN BY'S offering himself on the hu,tings ne%t to the electors of Dorset hire. leS' NEW PUB LICATIONS.—We a re requ e :ir o to state that the Fourth Number of Mrs. J A :stats. ,l4 ',, moirs of the Beauties of the Court of King CharTi embellished with F o ur superb Portraits, will 03100 delivery with the Magazines on the let of October ; a n d the Filth Number, which completes this splendid 3 t id e tet-e+.ting work, will s h or tl y follow. About the o gie , o o will also be published, by M essrs . COI.BURN an ,ll3fS- fo r' i the Earl of MUNSTER' S acc oun t o f hi s Campaign tuyal, and Mr. BURKE' S long-announced Dictl cfta ijoi; the Peerages of England, Extinct, Dormant, and in y 0 ance, particularising the members of each fatrn,!Y„' bringing the lineage, though either collateral! or down to existing houses, and thus, in many instance* fleeting the new with the old nobility. beeli The Turkey merchants of the City have " o pt thrown into the greatest excitement by accounts of 'tit"; dreadful fire at Constantinople at the end of lag' ulr,eol no doubt the work of incendiaries. The P.oYa l 3 TO had been set fire to ; but the fire was extinguished;„ glish great destruction is at Galati, where the valuabl e r' f ° ,l 3 e o warehouses ar e , and it is stated above 1,000 ° o de' valuable buildings h ave b ee n consumed ; the pro Per stroyed is immense. BIRTHS. t 01 On the 27th inst. in Woburn-place, Russell-square , 4, G. Hanson Esq., of a son. .1• P On the 4.. - id inst. in Billiter-street, the lady of Dr. C. . 44 , of a son. • f ociV, On the 28th Inst. the lady of J. T. Cookney, Esq-, ° d i row, s of a on, still-born. of ll' On the 'fah inst. in tipper Seymour-street, the lady LI Law, Esq. of a daughter. f 544 On the 10th inst. at Oporto, the lady of J. D. Harris, a daughter. los/ 4 MARIED. On the 27th inst. at Hack ß n ey, Mr. John Cooke , o. r t pil. , to Mary, youngest daughter of the late Richard Davis , , 0 ,1 Low-hall, Waltharnstow. ci f S._,,t i°‘ , 4 On the 28th inst. at Tottenham, J. Freeman, Esq ., - co lodge, Essex, to Elizabeth, daughter of .1. Crutchldt co Tottenham. r S1 013 1;i t( On the 27th inst. at Foleshill, Warwickshire, J. I— dog the Inner Temple, Esq., barrister, to Mary Anne, the f (; , of W. scales, Lsq., of Foleshill. on o f On the 24th inst. at St. Pancras church, William's, t he Cowell, Esq., of Fitzroy-square, to Emma, daughter 0 1 150 0 R. Gatcombe, Esq. of Moorland, Somerset'shire. , jo11 1 , : ei" On the 28th inst. at St. Botolph, Aldersgate -withoti" o ke ' Wood, Esq., of London, to Miss Amelia Bland, of St !If ington. I' DIED. , „ n don - i On the 26th inst. at Rectory -house, Allhallows , i - ^" 0 0 M. "Prattle, Esq., aged 80. oldes t ' fiC o ' On the 25th inst. at Dumbarton, J. Dixon, Esq. , - the, oi J. Dixon Esq , Provost of Dumbarton, and brother to her for Dixon, v k r On the 28th inst. Eliza, eldest daughter of J. A a r- e ' ri cc Queen-street, Cheapside, aged 24. On the 20th inst. at Burglifi e ld - l o d ge , Berks, in a '., T .Yo tt ; •- •C ' , at Preston' the Hon. Frederick Lumley, e lder brother to the o f borough. " n 1 FA' On the 2,5 th inst. at Mallon, Yorkshire , T. P Aldermanbury, aged 64. l °l UNTO, PRINTED AND PUBL I 3 I ED air D IURDO YO - SUN OFFICE, 112, STRAND, LONDON. two 1 boa; tuber Nin e 15th Vesse been the eel% by I Ray s fond_, Light Gilb ( o'clo( non the 11 fixed P ti rins su r l l 0 , -eq t aft Ti Yeit t k 1::,Y 4.erk?