The Sun. — London, England, 1825-02-02 00:00:00

NLCEURS .FitANC.II4ES. R FRENCH CA NDOUR. FOR THE SUN. Under the head of " illteurs Anglaises," lheurs Britatiniques," &c. the French Papers , -gale us, from tune to time., with selections from of bad that occurs or exists in this kingdom. Lt is scarcely possible to suppose that in a great '1 (I erilietteued country there-cast be many igno rant enough to believe that these are fair pictures cc English society, and yet it is difficult to con otherwise, when we see these-same impar t:A specimens of English manners perpetually w.troded on. the French public. The Etoile is very conspicuous among his brethren in this laudable work. One of his late specimens is tAken from the case of Mr. KEAN, which Ave catty notice to exhibit his-singular candour, and as it will also afford us an opportunity of glancing at .what are not insulated instances of individual conduct, but what are really and truly national peculiarities—Maws Francaises. The case of Mr.KEAN, rich as it is in intrinsic merit., seems to have beets selected for astimad ver- Sim', by the Etoile only in subserviency to some thing still more suitable to the purposes of 'the Editor. Vilifying the English nation is Away-6 with him an inferior object, so long as he can - vilify the English Church. It is on this ground e ere intend to meet him. We will analyze, therefore,:the following passage :-- "Among the curious circumstances of this case, we ought not to omit ajmtruey, .or-rather a dramatic tour, which Mr. .1;.1:AN undertook in .company with Mr. Cox, his wife, and a t'krgyruan of the Church.of England !" The object here plainly is, to connect a Cler•- •tzyman with the guilty proceedings, and, through him, to degrade the Church of which - he wa-s.a member. Let us see how far this has been at tained. _ _ First of all, THE rAcT IS NOT Tatc; for the Clergyman did not make the tour with the par but only met them on one occasion. But the inference is, that the Clergy of Eng. 1:1nd are either of equal rank with strolling i , layers, or, if not, they scruple not to demean themselves by entering such society. In investi gating this inference we shall be able to throw the whole weight of the odium which the Etude would excite against the English Clergy, on " French manners." The French make no distinctions between a Ell 13 I. F. or a TALMA and any stage-struck Jack Mince, who makes the circuit of all the barns and wooden theatres in his country. This is about as wise as it would be to class the Masters of Eton or Winchester with every:petty village schoolmaster ; or, to refer to the same rank in society, Sir AsTLEY Cooeca and Dr. :EAny. A 'French Clergyman, therefore, cannot, as a gen tleman, associate with an actor. But there is yet a graver cause why these characters can never meet, a:lid this is a cause which would puzzle many a 4.vise bead, did not THE IN F.U.I.IBILITY or THE CHU cif conveniently step in, as it often does in tlialculties and dilemmas, to satisfy us. That the Church must he right is certain, and it is not for bcnighted Heretics like ourselves to explain why --but thus stands the difficulty. The profession of an Actor is held in France ithOUt the pale of Christianity : his very body .is pollution to a Church ; what his soul must be, and what lit►ally becomes of it, may be concluded filo/lion. Yet the French are passionately fond Gt . dramatic entertainments, and the Church does not refw.e them, although they are inevitable de struction to thousands who were once her chil dren. This may he 1NF...U.1.M YOMIt it is not CONSISTI:NCY. If actors in this country were per- sons UN:WORTHY CHRISTIAN burial, -such a class of society would soon be suppressed by the Go vernment. These, therefore, are the-“ tour s Franchises Ihey are not the sentlinents of individuals, but the national fetilings; and if they pre vailed in England, as happily they do not, then the attack of the F.:toile on a Clergy man for associating with an Actor might have some basis. As matters stand, there is no such ground, for we neither exclude Actors from .earth nor from heaven ; and if an Actor chooses to take the ground of a gentleman, which he al -vidys may do where he has a gentleman's educa tion, there is no reason why gentlemen of any profession should abjure his company. This edu t ation is almost necessary to a Player who aspires to professional excellence ; be is, indeed, a kind of literary character ; he is a critic, who is ex pP.cted minutely to feel the scope of every pass age in his part ; and he must be a student of Na tore to delineate successfully what he feels. Diost impolitic, therefore, is it to discourage by arbitrary and illiberal customs education where it is almost indispensable, and thus degrade and 4Pbase instruction in one of its most popular, ex tensive, and pleasing sources : and, Heretics as we are, we cannot divest ourselves altogether of a.secret satisfaction when we contrast the obse quies •of PHILIPPE with the monument of GARRICK. ItormEny OF THE RECORD OFT ICE., WESTMINSTER...— Yesterday a man of the name of Edward Tuckey, a boot closer, was charged at Marlborough-street Office on suspicion of robbing the Record Office of certain valuable manuscript works relating to Greenwich Hospital and the Custom House also some parchments relating to the Port of London.—Re i-nanded for further examination. Instruction, when conveyed through the me ,eium of fiction, seldom fails to make a deep im pression on the youthful mind. The truth of t his position has been happily instanced in the salutary effects produced by " Telemachus," 4 ' The Travels of Cyrus," and other works of a similar description ; and we much mistake, if the recently published Egyptian Tale of " Itanieses;* illustrated as it is With copious historical and descriptive notes of the era of the Pharoahs, do .:lot prove one of the most popular and most effec tive of its class. In that well-constructed story ; .all that can be learned respecting the religious superstitions, rites, and ceremonies of Egypt— tile gorgeous magnificence of her Monarchs—the overpowering grandeur of her public buildings -is developed with the most imposing effect. It is impossible, indeed, to estimate too highly the ,labour and research to %Well the author, in the . progress of his work, must have been subjected. THE DECCAN BOOTY. The following statement upon this subjert, so interesting to the Army, we copy. from the Courier of yesterday evening : " Property, consisting of specie, jewels, guns, stores, grain, &c. exceeding in value five millions of pounds sterling, was' either captured by the brave army of the Deccan in the year 1817, and beginning of 1818, at the point of the bayonet, and delivered over by it to the civil servants of the East India Company, or left in possession of these servants, by the army, on its capture, when the army was obliged to proceed to ul terior operations, without waiting for the realization of that booty. " The army submitted its claim, as usual, for the value of the property or booty so taken to its Sovereign, who was graciously pleased to grant the whole to the captors, and to appoint Trus tees for carrying the same into effect; but, notwithstanding the exertions made by those Trustees to realise the property in question, we are informed that the Company has as yet only admitted a small portion of the claim, anti paid no part of it ; which delay has led to the unpleasant consequences alluded to in the statements before mentioned, and which must continue to increase until the payment takes place. When, however, we consider the gallant and important services rendered by the army of the Deccan, to their KING and country, and, more especially, to the East India. Co►npany, who are now reaping -an annual revenue of upwards of one million sterling, from the additional territory conquered, and secured to them by their prowess and exertions, we cannot but hope that they will soon act fairly and promptly, by paying over, without further loss of time, the full amount to which the captors are justly entitled, including interest, &c. It is estimated that one-third of these brave men are already dead ; anti it is known that great discontent prevails among the Sepoys of the i'mladras army entitled to participate, which would in all probability have led to most unpleasant and serious consequences, had they not been informed•that the Duke of 'WELLINGTON (who is adored ky the Madras army, and under whose victorious banners many of' the men in question, and their fathers, had served,) had condescended to be their trustee, owing to which, their spirits and confidence were revived, and they were induced to volunteer cheerfully against the Burmese in the present war, relying that, through him, they would speedily receive their prize-money for the campaign of 1817 and 1813 ; and it will be wise on the part of the Directors of the East India Company to cause their expectation to be speedily realised. We understand that most of the hi G's regiment's en titled to share in this prize-money have returned to England, and been in part disbanded, and that men, women, and chil dren, entitled to receive more than half of the whole prize-money are already in England, most anxiously, and, in many cases, most distressingly, waiting for it." LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF CHANCERY, FEB. 1. MA"I"FERS OF PRACTICE. The Loan CHANCELLOR refused an order for sequestration of the goods of an insolvent confined in Whitecross-street pri son, that place being, according to all which he could find in the books, out of the sphere of his jurisdiction. EXETER V. SCOTT. This was a subject of more grave importance, as it reports the power of this Court. It was an appeal from the Vice- Chancellor, who had refused the motion asked by the plaintiff, to restrain the defendant, a bond creditor to an estate of which the plain tiff is executor, from pressing his action for the recovery of the judgment debt. The Vice-Chancellor had refused the motion, because the plaintiff' had entered on record in defence to the action a false plea of plow adatinistravit, whereas he held 2,000/. which belonged to the estate. The LORD CHANCELLOR admitted that the judgment of his llonour was agreeable to a precedent which he had him self furnished in a similar case (which is to be found in Al er rivale); but he now doubted the soundness of it, and would therefore restrain the action for the present, until he could apply his mind again to the question. The defendant could suffer nothing from the delay, because he could not enter up judgment, if he obtained a verdict, before the third day of next term ; and in the mean time the point would be finally ruled. llis Lordship spoke at some length on the comparative scope of his overt and the common law jurisdictions, and con tended that the Lord Chancellor had as much power and autho rity in judging questions of common law as the Chief Justices of the two Courts in Westminster Hall. Upon that point he was as confident as Lord Mansfield or Lord Kenyon could be. For if the Lord Chancellor should think there was a neces sity to invite any of those Judges into his Court to aid him with their advice upon a question of law, the decision, with all due respect to their persons and offices, would be that of the Lord Chancellor. His Lordship adverted to the practice in those cases which caused the communication of the pro ceedings in one of the jurisdictions to be communicated to the other. Ile observed that the common law did not give that con . sideration to the decrees of equity which the Court of Equity gave to the judgments of common law. In most instances, he thought that those courts paid too little attention to equitable circumstances, which a Court of Chancery could not overlook. This made it often happen, that the Court could not establish the verdict sent up on tr►al of an issue from Chancery in those Courts. He mentioned an instance where the Chief Justices of the two Courts had sent up opposite judgments upon a case which he had referred to them, and he differed from both. Lord Bathurst had once declared, that he never liked law so much as when it looked like equity. Lord De Grey had said, that he liked equity best when it looked like law. Lord Thur. low thought that there should be no difference between them. He himself was of opinion that there was the greatest danger if they should be mingled. VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT, FEu. 1. The Court was occupied this day with hearing causes of no interest but to the parie concerned. ;COURT OF KlNti'S IIENCII, FEn. 1. c.tmiNG ItousEs. THE KING v. JOSIAH TAYAOR. This was an application to the Court to take from the file a plea of outrefois acquit, to an indictment for keeping a com mon gaming -house, ;pleaded pui3 darrien continuance, on the ground that it was entitled generally of .Michaelmas Term, though it was not pleaded till the 19th Nov. The prosecutor also swot' that the acquittal so pleaded was obtained by fraud and collusion, which was not denied on the part of the defen dant. The case was argued an a former day. The Loan CHIEF .1 t - sT icv. now gave judgment that the plea was irregularly pleaded, and must be taken off the file.— There were cases, indeed, where the Court would, in its dis cretion, receive such a plea, or allow it to remain, though plead . ed out of time ; but they would not grant this indulgence in a case where it was sworn on the one side, and not denied on the other, that the matter to be introduced on the file was fraudu lently procured, and could only tend to defeat the purposes of justice. The rule, therefore, for quashing the plea must be made absolute. _ LIABILITY OP HUSBANDS TO PAY THEIR. WIVES' li LBTS. MONTAGUE r. EsPtwAssE. This was an action by a jeweller against Mr. Espinasse, the special pleader, to recover 49/.. the balance of a bill for jewel lery furnished to the extent of 90/. on the order of his wife.— At the trial, before the Lord Chief-Justice at Westminster, it appeared that no express authority ever was given by the hus band to the wife to purchase the jewels. The articles supplied were furnished in about two months, anti left with Mrs. Espi nasse, at her house in Guildford-street. On these occasions, Mr. Espinasse was from home, being engaged by his proles. sional pursuits in chambers. The maid-servant of Mrs. Es pinasse never saw her mistress wear any of the articles in the presence of her husband. Upon this evidence, Mr. Gurney submitted that the plaintiff must be nonsuited, as he had shown no authority, express or implied, from the defendant which could bind him. The Lord Chief-Justice, however, then thought it was a question for the jury, under all the cir cumstances, whether Mr. Espinasse, by word or by conduct, authorized the purchase; but gave the Learned Counsel leave to move, in case the verdict should pass against lihn. Mr. .Jas. Espinasse, the nephew of the defendant was then called on his behalf, anti stated that Mrs. Espinasse brought a fortune to her husband soinewhat under four thousand pounds ; that out of this sum 601. a year was paid to her for her separate use that Mr. Espilasse resided in a house very mode rat e l y furnished, taking aTiouse in the country for a short time in the summer; that he kept no man -servant, and that his lady had trinkets suited to her condition in life. The Lord Chief Jus tice left the case to the Jury, with strong observations in favour of the defendant, but :they found for the plaintiff. In Easter Term Mr. Gurney oil-lined a rule to show cause why this verdict should not be s e t as id e , an d a nonsuit entered or a new trial had. Against this rule Mr. PLATT now shelved cause. The matters, he urged, which had been submitted to the Jury, were proper for their consideration, and the Court could not say that they had decided wrong. Two questions had been left to them --whether the articles were suitable to the station and degree of the defendant, and whether there was ground to presume that he assented to the purchase.; and on both these the Jury had expressed their opinion, after every remark had been made calculated to direct their opinion to all their bearings.— As to the first question, it was state d t hat .llr. Espinasse was a special pleader —one of a class who performed a great deal of labour for very little money ; but still he was living in 41 cer- Lain style, and holding out an appearance to the world which fairly justified a tradesman in regarding him as enjoying a con siderable income. In the case of " Horton re Willey," re ported by Skinner, a claim was made on a serjeant-at-law fo r jewellery and brocade furnished to his wife to the extent of near ly uni.; and tho'igh it appeared that the lady had threateried to ruin her husband, and that there was a disagreement between them, the Learned Judge directed the .fury to find for the plain tiff, if they thought the articles suitable to the degre of the husband ; and " the jury, being of gentlemen," found for the plaintiff So, here, the jury, " being of gentlemen," also found a similar verdict. On the second question. great stress was laid at the trial upon the absence of proof that Mrs. Espinasse wore the jewels in the presence of her husband. Surely, it was hard to cast the burden-Pet such proof on the tradesman, whodid know, and who could know, little or nothing of the matter, anti who gave credit to the appearance•of the station which a hus band enabled his wife to sustain. Mr. Scant. ETT, in support of the rule, said he thought the jury had very much overrated the profits and the rank of a special pleader, the relation of which to that of a sergeant the Judges were etter able to estimate. By the general rule of law, a wife could not bind her husband; the cases in which she might reasonably be presumed to have this authority were exceptions to that rule ; but if these exceptions were held to extend to articles like those under consideration, they would desii.oy the rule. It was a remarkable fact, that the maid of the lady had never seen her wear these jewels ; surely then it could not be pretended that her husband gave her authority to buy them. All the circumstances tended to raise the presump tion that the plaintiff dealt with the lady in her own credit, believing her to be possessed of an independent fortune ; and the time might come when she would be able to pay him, but he had no claim in law or justice on her husban,d. Mr. Gu RNE V, on the same side, was stopped by the Court. Mr. Justice BAYLEY said be was clearly of opinion that there was no evidence of authority to go on to the jury, and that the plaintif should have been nonsuited. The rule of law was this—if a man, except for sufficient cause, turned away his wife, he was liable to fulfil .contracts made by her for ne cessaries; if he omitted to supply her with necessaries while residing with him, perhaps he would also be liable ; but when the husband and wife - were living together, he was liable only for articles which she might reasonably be supposed to purchase by his sanction, as wearing-apparel for herself, or provisions for tile family. In this case there was no reason to suppose such authority, but every reason to believe that none was given. The lady's fortune was under 4,0001., which would yield an income of less than 200!. a-year ; and was it to be be lieved that her husband authorized her to spend nearly half a year's income in two months, in jewels which she did not want ? While he was working hard in chambers to support his family in respectability and comfort, was he to be made liable for jewels, while the appearance of his furniture informed the tradesman who called for orders in his absence, that they were wholly unsuited to his station ? In this case there was gross negli gence on the part of the plaintiff, who surely ought to have called on Mr. Espinasse, and asked whether lie sanctioned the purchases which his wife proposed to make. Had lie made the inquiry, he might have received for answer " You are the sixth jeweller who has asked this question, anti to whom I have answered that I will be liable for no such purchases." On these grounds, therefore, the rule for a nonsuit must be made absolute. 111 r. Justice Ilot.noYn and Mr. Justice LITTLEDALE con curred. The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE said—l entirely agree with all that has fallen from my Learned Brothers. If this decision should have the effect of teaching greater caution to tradesmen in giving credit, the result will he often beneficial to husbands, fathers, guardians, and friends ; generally beneficial to infants ; and constantly and invariably beneficial to tradesmen, who too often find that by rashly giving credit, they not only injure those whose extravagance they encourage, but bring ruin on themselves.—The rule for a nonsuit was accordingly made ab solute. SMITH V. LONG WELLESLEY. Mr. GURNEY moved for a rule to chew cause why the out lawry in this case should not be set aside. The affidavit upon which the application was made, stated that 31r. Smith, the plantitf, brought an action against the Sheriff for returning 71U11a hone, and was nommited. He afterwards found some effects on which he levied, and afterwards went on against the defendant to outlawry. The defendant had offered to pay all the costs of the outlawry, but the plaintiff refused to take any thing, unless all the costs of the action were paid, Mr. Gurney now contended that the costs of the action and the outlawry could not be both saddled upon the defendant.—The Court granted a rule to spew cause. couicr OF ALDEItNIES. Yesterday the Lora Mayor held a Court of Aldermen at Guildhall, at which lt; Aldermen, the Recorda, Sheriffs, and City Officers attended. A petition from a numerous body of the inhabitants of the Ward of Aldersgate, in opposition to a petition from sundry other inhabitants of that Vi artl against the election of a beadle on St. Thomas's Day last, was presented, and read. The first petition was also read: . The several parties having withdrawn, and the Court deli berated on the circumstances, the election was adjudged and made void, the party having been elected contrary to the pro visions of the Act of Parliament, and the Lord Mayor was re quested to issue his precept for a new election. The Court then considered Mr. Crook's petition against the election of Common Council for Wintry Nrartl. The lion. Mr. Law, attending on behalf of the petitioner, shortly addressed the Court, and called several witnesses, who were examined by the Alderman of the Ward and one of the Common Council. The Court was then dared, and after further deliberation it adjudged and declared the election to be null and void, and requested the Lord Mayor to issue his precept fur a new election. The Court agreed to a report from a Committee to apply to Parliament for an act for the further and more effectual regula tion of the prices of carriage of goods sent to London front the country, and also front inns. The Court on a report from an other Connnittee, agreed to grant an increase of livery to the Glass-sellers' Company, under certain regulations. Commis sioners for the Court of Requests were appointed for the next month. Sundry brokers were allowed, and sworn. Licences were presented front coal-undertakers. THE EARL 0"11IANET. We have already noticed the death of this Nobleman, and we subjoin an article, respecting his family and character, taken from The Kentish Ga.:Pile:— " His brother Charles, the present Earl. is now in Paris, and had an interview with his Lordship when his illness took a serious turn. His Lordship, who was Sackville Tufton Earl of Thanet, Baron Tufton, and a Baronet, Hereditary Sheriff of the County of Westmoreland, and Lord of Skipton in Craven, was born June 30th, 1769 ; he succeeded his father Sackville, the eighth Earl, April 10:11, 1786 ; married February 213th, 1811, Anne Charlotte de Bojanovitz, descended from a noble family in Hungary, since deceased, by whom he had no issue. Lord 'Mallet, though not standing conspicuously forth as a public character, was in private life a highly estimable individual. As a great Landholder, he was, especially in this county, amongst the ihrentost in making agricultural ex periments and improvements, which tended materially to the advantage of the community. As a landlord, he deserved and obtained the respect and esteem of his tenantry, and was much beloved by the poorer classes ; and as a mere private individual., his conduct was invariably distinguished by the greatest ur banity, affability, and gentlemanly demeanour. His Lordship was in the halm of residing great part of his time at his seat at Hothfield, in this county, where he was distinguished for his hospitality and benevolence. Ile used frequently to visit sonic of the Markets, particularly the Stock Market at Ash ford, at which he was accustomed to converse very fami liarly with several of the butchers attending there. Since the death of his Countess, which happened a few years ago, Lord Thanet ceased to be a regular resident in this county, only coming occasionally to his family seat, and passing much of his time upon the Continent, chiefly at I'aris, where he died. His Lordship was in possession of large estates in Westmor land, where it was understand that the great influence na turally attached to his property was exerted at the two last Elections for that County in fhvour of Mr. Brougham, but it was not sufficient to obtain a victory over the great power enjoyed there by the Noble family of Lowther .— The trial and convi c ti on o f L or d Th ane t, several years ago, in the Court of Ki ng ' s B enc h, f or an assault corn nutted in the Court at Maidstone, at the period of the trial of O'Connor, Quigley, and others, and his subsequent imprison ment in the 'rower of London, are circumstances well known ; but it was afterwards understood that his Lordship was not the individual who really committed the assault ; it is said there was a mistake on the witnesses as to identity, and that his Lord ship knew who the person was that actually struck the blow, but refused to betray him." A man named Walton has been guillotined at La Somme, in France, for s tabbing his father to the heart. The report which was spread yesterday in the neighbourhood of Jermyn-street respecting the young woman, who was missing and suppos^d to be burnt , in the late fire; is totally without foundation. SHIPWRIG lITS' PROVIDENT UNION. A Society under this name has recently been formed among the Shipwrights of the Pon of London. It em braces already, we are informed, the whole of the shipwrights employed in the merchants' yards, and several men belonging to the King's yards are enrolled in. it. _.lt extends to beyond the port of London, and die workmen at most of the out-ports of the kingdom have already established a connection with their brethren on the Thames, or haw-liad communication with them. In some places they have applied for advice, in others they have solicited assistance, and it seems not too much to say, that the working shipwrights throughout the kingdom. either have united, or will unite, to obtain a common object. The number in London, exclusive of those employed in Ills Majesty's dock yards, is said to be considerably above 2,000 ; Messrs. NVigram and Green alone employ upwards of 400 at Madman ; and what the number at the outports may be, we have no means of determining. Such a number of men united fora common pur pose might be alarming, if that purpose were not praiseworthy, and it were not certain that all numerous associations to obtain an improper object cannot possibly subsist fin any length of time. The sh-pwrights in the port of London, we under stand, have long complained of the rate of their wages. We believe, during the whole of the late long war, when every ar ticle of consumption had risen to double or treble its former amount, there was only one rise in the rate of the shipwrights' wages, and that was not obtained till after a hard struggle on the part of the men. They do not seem, however, at that period, to have complained, or to have suffered much, owing to the great demand during the period of war for their labour. When peace came, however, and commerce slackened, when that ge neral stagnation was felt which all classes complained of, the shipwrights were particularly affected by the discharge of a great number of workmen from the King's yards, who increase the number of hands, while the quantity of work was very sensibly diminished. From 1813, up to 1820, they are said to have laboured under very serious hardships ; at the latter pe riod work became more plentiful, and has augmented from that time till the present, so that now there is a greater demand for men than can be supplied. On the eastern and northern coast of England, we understand, enough shipwrights cannot be procured, and applications have been made to workmen to proceed to that part of the country. Under these prosperous circumstances, not prompted by henger and discontent, but a prudent foresight, they have resolved to form an extensive so ciety among themselves to relieve and support each other, to uphold the price of their own labour, and prevent themselves from again suffering in the same manner as they suffered be tween 1813 and 1820. Their object at present is to obtain a book of prices, settling the sums they are to receive for their labour. Hitherto this has been unsettled, and has varied in different yards ; anti they have of late had reason to complain of sonic masters not keeping their promises. By the exertion of several leading men amongst them, a society, bearing the name which stands at the head of this article, after several abor tive efforts, was finally established on August 16, 182-I;and as we have already staved, now includes all the shipwrights in the port of London, and has connection with all the out-ports. They make no secret of their proceedings, as our admission to their meeting proves, and seemed to be guided in their conduct to their masters, as well as to one another, by principles of jus tice and reason. This Society, on Monday night, held one of its quarterly general meetingsl at the Saint Helena Tavern, at I )eptford. The room in which they met is capable of holding 800 persons, and it was crowded to excess. Most of the other rooms of the house were also filled ; and great numbers stood around the doors and in the gardens. There were not on the whole, we should suppose, less than 1,500 men present. The business of the evening commenced at six o'clock, and Mr. N. G. Clark, the President of the Society, took the Chair. He was apparently still a young man, that is, not upwards of 30 years of age ; and he needed no dignity to preserve order.— Throughout the whole evening the greatest decorum and har mony prevailed. In truth we never saw so numerous and crowd ed an assembly better conducted, or in which the people were better behaved. The speakers were all listened to with atten tion, as if the auditory were desirous of knowing what was to be communicated. The President opened the business of the night by stating, that the object of the Meeting was to receive die Report of the General Committee. The Report was then read. It stated—" That, at the last general meeting, it was re solved, that ii book of prices should be formed, for all the ship wrights' work, on the Thames. The General Committee had lowid it advisable to consign this work to the hands of a Sub rominittee, and had agreed- that these persons should be paid is. a day for their labour. Consequently a Sub-committee had been appointed ; it met on October 25 ; but owing to some disputes which ensued at that period between the toasters and workmen, the Sub-committee were obliged to transform them selves into a Committee of Management, and were compelled to postpone the consideration of the price -book. After consi derable trouble, the dispute which then existed was honourably settled, and the Committee resumed their labours. Shortly afterwards, however, another dispute broke out at Blackwall between the men and their employers, and Messrs. Wigram and Green endeavoured to sow disputes among the men, but did not succeed ; and it would be soon seen, whether or not they were to be the sole judges of the price of work. The Com mittee reported, that in their opinion, Messrs. NVigram and Green had been instrumental in procuring the discharge of the men which had lately taken place from his Majesty s Dock yards, as all men so discharged were offered work by these gentlemen.. Of the number of shipwrights discharged from the Dock-yards, about thirty are now out of employment, who receive each 21s. per week till they can get employment. The most friendly relations are now formed betwixt the shipwrights on the Thames and those of the outports, both in Scotland and England. The Committee had ascertained in what part of England most work was then to be had, that they might direct those wanting employment to the spot where their labours were most wanted. The Committee then entered into a report of the probable expense of printing the book of prices. This book of prices had, after considerable trouble, been laid before the General Committee last week, and after some few alterations, was approved of ; and in a short time the book, 100 copies of which were to be printed, would be submitted to the Society. The Report concluded by saying, this was a brief sketch of the labours of the Committee.'' The Report was unanimously approved of. lir. Purim E then explained to the Society the principles on which the price-book had been drawn up, and moved two re solutions—the first was in substance, that the price-book could not be too much discussed, nor too well known, and that 100 copies be printed for the use of the members of the Union.- 2d, That a copy of this book of prices be immediately sent to every master-builder. These resolutions were unanimously agreed to. lir. CLARK then entered into a statement of what the Com mittee had done, and the present state of the Union, which was heard by the people with much satisfaction. Mr. GusT, the Secretary, then gave an account of the funds of the Society, and pointed out to the Meeting the necessity they would be under of making a small a dditional contribution to meet the expences of printing the price-book and other extra ex pences. Mr. Gamy r. gave a short history of the causes which led to the tbnnation of the society. These w ere principally the exer tions of the masters to beat down their wages at the season of slack work, and their refusal to augment them as work because plentiful, so that the men did not share in the general pros perity of the country. lie entered into some technical explana tions as to the prices er different sorts of work, and at differ ent yards, and mentioned sonic particular disputes which had taken place between the masters and workmen. After these things bad led. to the establishment of the union, a deputation had been sent up from Sunderland, to ascertain what were their sentiments as to binding boys seven years, as the masters at Sunderland wish to bind them for three ; they advised their Sunderland brethren not to concede the point, and the masters again consented to seven years apprenticeship. —lie recommended them to respect their employers, and re spect themselves. Their former proposals to the masters to regulate prices had been scornfully rejected, but he hoped the present proposal would be agreed to. At least he was sure they must gain the only object they had in view, a decent re ward for their labour, so that they might support their families and themselves respectably, if they preserved their present unanimity,. Mr. LOMAX congra t ula t ed the members on the flourishing the Society. lie had been frequently as k e d w h ere i t was, and did it succeed ? Ile could now proudly rep ly—it i s here, a (a) a i. nd that it flourished rapidly. The Ship wr i g h ts were a most s, n important body to the nation, and w ere once d eeme d o f state much more importance than at present. Without their labours the State could not be successfully defended, and on them de pended the lives and safety of many persons. Their occupa ts.trn non s made it necessary for them to b e we ll e d ucate d , mora l men. lie was sorry to say, though, p er h a p s , hi s au dit or y m ight not be pleased with it—he was sorry to say, s hi pwr i g h t . ; had a hda l dn o o n bt g eke w enp a a war. . pgarce During with r were not so well informed as they ought to b e . Th e cause o f the in le tul de mand sn,wdhheoflo ershipwrights, thought, our 25 g y t e i might be found their wages our there late increasing prices, and they had been obliged to work very hard to support themselves anti their families. They had no time left for improvement. At the peace, when employment be ca.ne scarce, the competition among them for work was re doubled, and so eager were they for employment, that they accepted it at any price. It was a subject of contention amongst them ; they flew at every thing; they undersold each other; and there was no sympathy even left amongst them for the sufferings of one another. They became poor and degraded. Their bodies and minds were both enslaved ; one inde.al en. slaved the other; for whenever the physical wants of man were his masters, he had neither time our inclination fur improve. ment. There was at present, he was glad to say, symptoms of improvement, and he hoped they would go on till they regained that station they formerly held. There was now not that great demand for employment; they were not supplanting one ano ther, but acting in union. They had been much degraded but there were amongst them still a few of the old school, who would, he hoped, instruct the rest to regain their former situa tion. This Gentlemen concluded a very sensible speech, by expressing a hope that their union would extend to every part of the country, and be every where felt. The PnEsiDENT now entered into an explanation of some recent dispute the men had had with a Dl r. Johnson, and pointed out the advantage the masters would derive from the men having all agreed, that they would not work for ship owners, but only for regular master shipwrights. Mr. GasT, the Secretary, moved two Resolutions, signify ing that it was for the interest of the masters to unite with the men in fixing a scale for their work, or in adopting a price hook, and in their other exertions to promote harmony' amongst both classes. Ile observed, that he had heard it was the intention of some Members of the House of Commons to move for the re-enactment of the Combination Laws ; but he was sure, that in the peaceable, orderly, and decorous conduct of the Meeting that night, the enemies of the workmen would seek in vain for any pretext to re-enact these restrictive statutes. Ile was glad to see them all there, and so unanimous. Ting arose from the spread of information which, like the electric fluid, had extended itself in a n instant ro u nd the large circle of their sympathies. lie meant to go further back, in tracing the causes of the differences between them and their masters, than his friend Mr. G. had done, and he would say, in the language of their rules, " that they had been for a series of years in a state of disorganization, Lavin.. no general intercourse of soci ality with each other." He then entered into some explana tions as to the state of the shipwrights prior to 1811, and ad verted to a former attempt the operatives had made to get the masters to agree to a scale of prices. Of the Resolutions of the men then communicated, the masters had taken no notice whatever. He hoped they would not neglect in the same way • the present proposal. Ile then read the following Circular, which had been sent in the name of the Committee to the ' master shipwrights : " Limehouse, 1825. "Stn—The salutary measures which the operative ship wrights of the River Thames are so desirous of adopting, a.!1 ,1 which they consider of equal importance to the master-ship wrights, imperatively call for the mutual co-operation of all parties interested. We are fully convinced, that without this , the general interest of the trade can be but partially attended to. Interested men will always find means to evade the most scrutinizing attention of the operative classes. They look only to themselves ;—the good of the trade or the pressing necessities of the numerous families depending on the industry of the working shipwrights, weighs nothing in the scale of competi tion with their personal interest. It is not likely that the oper-v, ative classes can correctly ascertain by who m , an d f or w hom, many ships are fitted and repaired afloat and in canals ; but we consider it more than probable that every master-shipwright must know the condition and state of that vessel he is about to dock ; and we only wish t o i m p ress on hi s m i n d t h e neces sity of adopting, on his own part, those measures he was so streno . - ous to enforce on the o p era ti ve s hip wr i g ht s, w h en working for' owners. We are sorry to say that in many instances it has not . been the case; w e cer t a i n ly did ex p ec t a more cor di a l and 4 more social intercourse with the m as t er - s hip wr i g h ts; an d a* our views were clearly set forth in the circular, addressed to you, entitled—" An Introduction to the Shipwrights' Provident Union," nothing can be laid to our charge on the score of dis , simulation ; for we there point out the necessity of ships being repaired in proper places, anti by proper persons; and, to con solidate the connection as much as possible, a select Commit:. tee have been sitting a considerable time for the purpose 0 ' forming a book of Prices, collected from numerous documerts , anti the most experienced persons on the River Thames, which will in a short time appear, formed on a new system, containing every minute part of work performed on a ship, with tables anti scales attached thereto, which we most sincerely hope will be- - approved of by the master-shipwrights of the River Thames. With this flattering anticipation, the whole body of working:- shipwrights most cordially join, whilst we beg, in the name "' the Committee, to subscribe ourselves "Your obedient servants, N. G. CLARK, President- "J. GAST, Secretary." He concluded, after several pertinent observations, by re' minding the people, that though the Union might cost thew something, it had already obtained them a good deal, in havillg compelled their masters to pay them docking money ; and whe n they put their hands into one pocket to pay the expences of the union, they ought to put them also in the other, to ascertai n how much they had already obtained by its means. This gentle man concluded a speech far better than we expected to hear, bY, expressing his hope that the Union would prosper, and exteuu to every part of the empire. Mr. Pit r Li. IPS moved the thanks of the 'Sleeting to the Cora' mittee. The masters, he said, had all turned husbandman , and had planted a tree, the root of which was oppression ; they had grafted it with deceit, injustice, heavy work, and at the very top they had grafted the means of di scor d among thenbi The growth had ben speedy, and the fruit abundant. P I :, mighty as the tree w as , i t exten d e d on l y from now-creek ul' London-bridge. Now the workmen had planted their tree -- its root was honour; they had grafted it with honesty, truth ,- proper reward for labour ; there was concord at top, and con' cord at bottom, and its mighty trunk was justice. He saw fibres all around him—it was spreading too in every direction* and even the bleak northern blast had only made it more hardy and vigorous, for it had shot out even there. Mr. Phillips co n " tinued his simile by recommending the members to lop off dead and useless branches, that it might nourish for ever. I' concluded by moving, that the thanks of the Meeting be gic',l t t o o d the o Commit t s w e ea was tee c r o w n b i e a t t i they no n h i al n t to us done, ly. and Greatw h aotptphleoyo se fol lowed, and then the Meeting broke up without either noise e l ' confusion. We transcribe at full length the name of the Society. " T h t e i Shipwright's Provident Union ache River Thames ; institute ou'i the 16th day of August, 1824, for the mutual support of i ' e other on the just right of a Seven Years Servit u d e , and a Scu of Prices founded on the Principles of Equity between Maste r and Men. Union of Sentiment is the Strength of Society.", We cannot conclude without observing, that there 015 4 among the shipwrights a s t rong , b ut we s h ou ld hope, e'e r ~;( unfounded opinion, th a t th e di sc h arge o f shipwrights wl"';1 lately took place from his Majesty's 1)ock Yard, since svbie'i they say, apprentices have been entered, was intended to bre d ' up the Union. They point to the circumstance in confirmat loll of their opinio n , o f t h ese s hi pwr i g h ts h av i ng on l y been utiz charged from the dock-yards in the river, or at Chatham, o' l l , none have been s en t awa y f rom e i t h er Pl ymout h, P ortsm out2 e or Sheerness. They say openly, indeed, but this cannot u , true, that the pl a n was sugges t e d b y M r . AVigram to Sir 1 1 ° 1h ' Seppings, and acceded t o by hi m ; we w ill n e v er b e lieve,. oo any mere assertion, that a government officer, of such 11 *„, rank as a Surveyor of the Navy, would lend himself to Pr; ) mote the purposes of a rich monopolist, and enable hint be beat down those hard working and honest men wh o have t good sense and c o ur ag e now, when a f av o ura bl e o pportun' v offers itself, to exert themselves to recover their lost station society. THE HAMPSHIRE FRIENDLY SOCIETY. At the opening of the Court of Quarter Sessions at ter, on Wednesday, the 12th instant, the lion. and Rev. Cliti,; man addressed the Grand Jury respecting the Ramps Friendly Society : " After concisely adverting to the state of the calendar, " - t i, to the financial concerns of the county, he wished most par ti •, cularly to draw their attention to the establishment of an tution in the county, from which the lower orders would de rive much more solid advantages than from any other soci e .„, l l of the same nature. Ile alluded to the Hampshire Gene " - to Benefit Society, in which any individual would be enabled ej l assure to himself a comfortable allowance in sickness, af4 as an annuity in old age, when no longer able to earn '.' ye bread ! By the payment of a trifling sum, parents may refills, a premium to apprentice their children ! a moderate e , e § pence children may receive a fixed sum of money at the fst v of seven, fourteer., or twenty-one years. At a trifling rtiontli t i e , payment a sum of money may be secured to wives at to r period of their confinement, and young females, servants , „ g q others, may assure the benefits of the Institution in or in old age. Servants or labourers (male or female), I v ' o f from industry or casual circumstances, may be in possession to a little money, which they might not be enabled to emploi advantage, could at a single instalment secure all the adC a „ s . tages of this Establi s h men t f or th e re m a ind er o f th e ir The Nobility and Gentry of the County had most libe mo tn, countenanced the plan, and a subscription of more th an 4 ,vv - e had been realized. lie m us t congra t u l a t e th e C ounty on the unwearied and praiseworthy exertions of their philarahror n , and much respected Represent a tive, Mr. Fleming, who had l.. „( troduced the project, and who had pe rsevere d un d er t h e In", discouraging circumstances—it had at length reached perinse tion, and there was no doubt of the Institutio n go i ng on Ilf-te perously. They who supported it were influenced by no un rested or selfish motives, but by the pleasure which every P - m %. and feeling mind must experience in seeing the labour'; ‘ ,, classes of the community comfortable and happy. The I C , manry of the County, he was convinced, would be doin,) o . most essential service by pointing out to their servants and ty, bourers the advantages held out and secured by this Socl e i ' io t and by recommending them to enter it. He felt assured tl f ie the Grand Jury, after the performance of the important do' r:quired of them by the community, would on retiring tot i respective homes diffuse' the knowledge of this Institution widely and extensively as they possibly could.'"