The Sun. — London, England, 1831-01-29 00:00:00

r2FIRIT OF THE PTYBLIC JOURNALS. i s A pamphlet, entitled ..Question of Reform Consi flered, opens with an admission and an explanation of the dillicullies which Ministers will have to con tents wiih in their promotion of that great national good. " The proposal of Parliamentary Reform," says the author, " which Ministers are pledged to introduce after the ri cese, is, unquestionably, one of the most important measures that ever was sub mitted to a deliberative assembly,; and whether it shall obtain the sanction of the whole Legislature, or be defeated by the weight of interest, prejudice, and opinion, arrayed against it, the consequences cannot be indifferent to the public welfare and tran quillity. It must be acknowledged, that Ministers have undertaken a task of prodigious difficulty They have to encounter the active, ecalous, and dis ciplined hostility of the whole host of the late dis banded Administration and their connexions,—ef the 4 general camp, pioneers and all,' who have grown up in the employment of Government ; they have, fuither, to combat the interests of many powerful and respectable individuals, and of the class to which they belong, who have long enjoyed the personal benefit of engrossing the actual nomination of a large portion of the mem bers of the House of Commons." The writer's an ticipation of hostility from certain portions of the " late disbanded Administration," we have reason to believe is correct. There has been hatched, ac cording to the best intelligence, --and in fact we have already denounced it,—a plot for thwarting the measure of Reform at every stage of its progress through the House of Commons. Almost incred ble as such an enterprise might appear, in the nresent state of public feeling and opinion throughou t England, we are told that the thing is undeniable. The par ties to this plot have agreed among themselves in a conclave, held lately at a certain country seat (it matters not where), to oppose Parliamentary Re form to the uttermost, and to make their systematic stand on this opposition. The parties express them selves (so profound ( is their knowledge of the state of Parliament and of the national temper and feel ing) with a perfect assurance of success; reckoning ou it as a necessary consequence of their victory that the present Cabinet must be dissolved,—that a new Administration will be formed by Sir R. Peel him self—(how must the Right Hon. Baronet have been amazed at the intelligence!)—and that, to reinforce still further the vast power of the conspiring Poten tates, some members of the existing Goverrtrnent will be solicited and persuaded to serve under Sir Robert Peel ! We understand that one main re liance of the contracting parties is on those staunch and sturdy veterans, the Daubers (miscalled Re presentatives) for Scotland—a description of allies which must tend no doubt to enhance the popularity of the whole proceeding, and to facilitate the return to office of those Englishmen who avail themselves of such creditable agents for prolonging, in this part of the island, a system of representation, than which none but that of Scotland herself can be more execrably vicious. As it seems desirable that all Members of Parliament, especiaily mo derate and unsuspecting men, should be made acquainted with the tactics which are to be employed on this occasion, we think it right to announce as our conjecture, that, so far as the plotters now alluded to are concerned, no direct or open resist ance will be made to the principle of reform. No, no ! that would be too dangerous. But a wily and plausible course will be pursued; professions will • be made of a full acquiescence in the abetreet ex- pedieticy of some Reform ; but ample vengeance will be taken fur that unsavoury acknowledgment, by opposing, clause after clause, and syllable by syl lable, all and every item in the details of the men- • sure to be laid by Ministers before the House. In this way will the fight be conducted. The shadow will be spared, the substance massacred. The " prin&ple"—worth nothing, because it is a mere word—will remain unmolested; and the credit will be assumed by some of those who vote for it as if they were themselves Reformers but from behind the " principle," as a screen, the conspirators will attack the body arid reality of Reform, and will so contrive, if they can win over a credulous majority by thus exhibiting false colours, that the same House of Commons which glorifies itself for consecrating theab stract right of the country to a Reformed Parliament, may effectually strangle every hope of improving the right into the possession. if Sir R. Peel should, by same accident, not have learned the great tidings of all that is intended to be done for him, we would respectfully beg of Messrs. Goulburn, Twiss, and one or two others, to acquaint the Right lion. Baronet. As for looking for any succour from the hard old Tories, we advise the agents of the Peel party riot to take labour in vain. The Tories, par exeell: nee, hate Sir R. Peel : they Will have nothing to do with him—nothing to say to him, either towards badgering the present Ministry, or towards forming a new one; nor will the Duke of Wellington be apt to serve under an old colleague whom his Grace is said to regard as but his own lieutenant. But there is another party which may, perhaps unconsciously, cause as much mis chief' as the regularly organised opponents of Reform : we mean the radicals, who, with their hopes excited by a reforming Ministry, aim at procuring by one `stroke all those results which few but themselves think of para mount importance. We warn this party, whose in tentions we believe to be good, but whose seal we think too exacting, to be careful lest they fall into the snare already prepared for them by the Tory conspiracy : they would, we arc sure, be the first to regret the ineffable mischief of upsetting an honest Cabinet, and would never forgive them selves for having contributed to such a catastrophe by their junction mith men whose principles they abhor, and by whom they themselves would be laughed at and abjured as soon as the baneful victory should be achieved. It is, however, to the people we chit fly look ; unless the people—the people every where—come forward and petitioo, ay, thun der for Reform, it is they who abandon an honest Minister—it is not the Minister who betrays the people. But in that case, Reform, and Minister, and people too, are lost.—Tin:es. Rumour speaks every day more loudly of the efforts that are making on the part of the Aristo cratic Borough-holders to resist Reform, and by combining to withhold their support when that great question comes on, to force Ministers to resign, by driving them into a minority. Such a combination, for such a pui pose, we conceive to be the greatest calamity that could befitl the nation. Its success be equivalent to a declaration of hostilities, and dreadful will be their responsibility who hazard the result. If a war of vengeance is once provoked, no human foresight can predict the calamities that may—that must follow the train of it. It is mad ness to. hope that the cause of corruption can be brought to prevail against the cause of the people. Nothing can endanger the latter but the apathy of the people themselves. If the reforming spirit of the Government is backed by the energy and active zeal of the great body of the nation, • there is no counterection that can defeat it. A Ministry, strung in the strength of the people, is irre sistible. If the many are content to sow and reap for the few---if they are content to dig and sweat that the rich borough -owners may riot in the harvest, leaving to them the gleanings of the field, as matter of grace and favour were it so, our opponents would have everything to hope, for their confidence would b e well justifi e d. Th e powerful support of Lord Bronglotria would be Pa ralysed, and the efforts of Lord AlthO r p be brought to nought. But happily the case is far otherwise, and the opening of the campaign against Reform will only manifest the insane calculations of th e Council of War by which it was planned. The policy of oar Aristocratic Rulers has ever been to guard against admitting any one to office who had not previously given good proof of his devotion to their views, and to their will. The instant any thing like a sense of duty was seen to oppose itself to intrigue and jobbing, and to side with the pub lic, the offender becomes a marked man. The case of Mr. Sedgwick, the Chairman of the late Stamp Board, whose letters to Lord Wallace appeared in our Paper, is a else in point. To act uprightly, was to act against all the received notions of official subordination. Individuals, whose integrity and ta lents would be duly valued by an Administration like the present, would, under its predecessors, have ensured annoyance of every kind, and ultimate dis missal. Government is happily composed at pre sent of men who give an example of intwity in their own persons, instead of visiting it in others with odium and resentraeht ; and no better pledge than this can cr ,teed be given of their determination to act up to the principles they have so nobly pro claimed.--iltorniug Chronicle. The Press teems, at present, with pamphlets on Parliamentaty Reform, some of them possessed of much merit. To notice all, or even any consi derable portion of them, is impossible. One has just made its appearance, which it would, however, be unpardonable Hot to recommend to our readers. Its title is, " The Question of Reform considered, with Hints for a Plan." The writer, in the outset, makes a remark on the subject of the strength which the Government would derive from Reform, which, though contrary to the notions commonly entertained, we believe to be founded on truth. " It is not merely," he says, " that men doubt whether the House of Commons, as at present constituted, is qua lified to discharge the functions of an enlightened, diligent, and faithful guardian of the public interest, and to form a wise, intelligent, and dignified legislative assembly; but whether it has not, by a suspicious connexion and identi fication with the Executive Government, contributed nt, less to impair the constitutional energy and efficiency of t' e Executive Administration, than the exorbitant in flu,.nce of Government has operated to corrupt the purity and to sully the reputation of the House of Commons. Thee may appear contradictory results, but they are na tural and consistent. The Exerutve Government, by drtiitt'ng the Home of Gammons to an undue participa ti at in the functions of Government, has been reduced to the neces,ity of admitting them to a corresponding share in the profits and patronage of Administrati•in. This is a natural and equitable arrangement. Quorum facinus est commune eorum delta esse prtrda communis. " The loose invectives of party violence, or prpular ma _. lignity, in casting indiscriminate charges against Mini sters of systematic corruption, in order to carry through tunisures destructive of the public freedom or welfare, have little foundation. The faults of Ministers, in the influence they employ in securing Parliamentary majo rities, are the faults not of the men, but of the system. They must always be under the necessity of conciliating the great Parliamentary interests—that is, in truth, the owners of boroughs and the purchasers of seat.. The force of that portion of popular representation which finds its way into the House of Commons, naturally ranges itself in opposition to Ministers ; while, under the present system, Ministers deprived of the general confidence and support of the people, ate driven into an offensive and de fensive alliance with the unrepresenting portion of the House of Commons. The systematic opposition, how ever, given by the proper representatives of the people (as thus distinguished), appears to me rather accidental than necessary, and inherent in the true principles of the Con stitution. That the Executive Government, meaning and at•tiug fairly, should be the object of systematic and vexa tious opposition by the people Of their representatives, ap p •ars to me an unnatural state of things. The interests of the Government and of the people ought always to be the same ; and, under a fair representation of the people, would be so. As things are now constituted, the constant leaning of the popular parts of the representation against the Executive Government, seems to have arisen from the necessity of counterbalancing the dangerous preponde ranee on the other side, arising from the dead weight of purchased seats or proprietory influence. "It is evident, however, that the powerful Parliamen tary Proprietors, either by the right of nomination or actual purchase, must naturally be drawn into an associa tion with Government, of which a partiCipatien in its pa tronage is the condition and the pledge. The caprice or the rapacity of these high and mighty powers, with whom Ministers confederate, must often prove exceedingly embar rassing to an honest Administration. Extravagant de mands refused may, at a critical moment, throw a power ful interest into the ranks of opposition." We have bore a very natural explanation of the phenomenon in English politics, that men in place regularly follow the same practices, no matter what their profe'sions when out. When in opposition, they address themselves to the nation; when in place, they forfeit the opinion of the nation, because they cannot propose what is best, but what is ne cessary to command a majority in Parliament. hence, unpopularity is the fate of every Ministry without Reform. Were the Members, however, accountable to a respectable constituency, Ministers might safely propose such measures as they deem the best adapted to promote the interests of the nation ; and if these measures should be opposed fac tiously, the Members so opposing would meet their punishment at the next election. To oppose Ministers is a road to popularity only when the measures are objectionable; and most mea sures must be liable to many objections when Ministers are under the necessity of purchas ing majorities ; but to oppose a Ministry when their measures are good would be a sure road to unpopularity. Besides, a Ministry under a Reformed Parliament stand on firm ground. The caprice of two or three great borough proprietors, the intrigues of Court favourites, may suddenly overturn the best-intentioned Ministry. But a Mi- nistry acting fairly and honestly towards the nation, and not destitute of ability for business, need fear no cabals, no intrigues. They might always count on the approbation of that public they were con scientiously serving. The author.shows the futility of all the pretexts of which the object is to show that Parliament, as at present constituted, is .ade pate to the wants of the nation. " The House of .Commons (lie observes) which we de sire to see arise from the hands of Reform, is a House of Commons calculated to give new vigour to the Executive Government, trammelled and subdued as it now is, in its natural functions, by the predominance of Parliamentary influence. The House of Commons, which, we trust, will, be produced by the infusion of fresh popular spirit, will be a House of Commons that will emancipate the ser vants of the CrOwn from an ignominious dependence upon Parliamentary caba!s, and from a timid and enervating subjection of the executive authority, to a system as in compatible with high and generous action as it is incon sistent with all practical responsibility." _ _ We shall in our next number allude to the views of Reform of the Luthor.—Morning Chronicle. We do not regret the result of the late City elec- don, for this plain reason, that the candidates being equally qualified for the office they aspired to, they were fa'rly matched against each other, and, there fore, on whichever the election fell, it was sure to devolve upon efficient hands. At the same time we cannot but look upon the treatment which Mr. Waithman has experienced as most disreputable to that party, bo:h in the country and in the Corpora tion, of which he has been long the ostensible, the consistent, and powerful organ. It is now little short of forty years since Mr. Waithman took his stand in defence of principle., of which, whether right or wrong, he has evec since, through good and evil report, been the sincere and intrepid advo cate. After years of struggle, the Livery of Lon don chose him as their representative in Parlia ment ; where, without assuming a station beyond his merits, he has consi-tently redeemed the pounds upon which he put himself forward as a candidate for their suffrages. Well then, how do the party whose organ he has been, and who have hitherto extolled him to the skies, redeem their consistency when it is put to the test ? Why, without rhyme or reason, by turning their backs upon him and upon themselves, the moment an op portunity occurs Land how frequently do such op• portunies occur) of rewarding the faithful and con sistent advocate of popular rights and opinions. The conduct of some persons upon this occasion presents a sickening view of human nature. We %%ill not particularise—public observation has done that already. One thing we cannot help mentioning. In the performance of our public duties, .it has fallen to our l ot to speak very often, in no very measure d terms of contempt, of the corruption which per vades the civic body. We happen to know that Mr. Waithman, with an esprit du corps, which he must now feel has both been thrown away and mis placed, has felt our remarks as being too severe. He cannot now think so. The rottenness which we exposed is now laid open to the public gaze, and has burst upon the very person who, of all others, if it were not rotten in the extreme, it never could have visited. Let us hear no more then of civic patriotism; and let the wisdom of Gotham pass in future for I%hat it is really worth—•the mere 'Nice of selfishness.—. Morning Herald. It appears pretty certain, from the "signs of the times," that Parliament will be the scene of a great and fierce struggle on the question of Reform. Al ready the boroughmongers prepare themselves for battle, putting on a panoply far different from the " whole armour of righteousness," that they may defend the "rotten parts of the Constitutive from the assault with which they are threatened. Whe ther they will, with the desperate energy of the Ilighland Thane, hang out their barner on the outer wall, and fight man to man in the breach, or whe ther they will prefer resting their hopes of safety on springing a mine beneath the feet of their antago nists, remain yet to be seen. Certainly some indica dons have already appeared of preparations being in progress for the latter mode of defence. Indeed, the circumstances of the times hardly allow of any chance of success to the champions of the rotten borough system in open warfare; arid, therefore, e should not be surprised to find that they had taken advantage of the present long recess of Par liament to arrange some plan of political strategy which may supply, by secret and well-concerted miveMelitS, the want of force necessary for more open operations. By such means was the celebrated India Bill of Mr. Fox defeated in the House of Lords, while that great Statesman was himself Minister, and which defeat caused the over throw of his Administration. The present Pre mier, one of the ablest and most high-minded of the pupils of Mr. Fox, knows, from old experience, the difficulties that the question of Reform must, of ne cessity, encounter. It is now upwards of forty-five years since Mr. Pitt proposed his last plan of Re form to the House of Commons, which was three years after he first introduced the subject to the Legislature. The plan he declared to be not a measure of innovation, but one calculated to pre serve the spit it of the Constitution by restoring it in conformity with its original principles, which the changes induced by time had materially impaieed. He stated that it would correct the inequalities of ' the existing system—give back its pure energy to the representative principle, and not only render the Constitution consistent, but, if possible, im mortal. What was Mr. Pitt's project of Refor:n ? He proposed that the actual number of Members constituting the House of Commons should remain inviolate, while thirty-six rotten boroughs should be disfranchised, and the right of choosing the seventy two Member., which they returned should be trans ferred to the counties, and to such large and popu lous towns as were till then unrepresented. He also proposed the admission of copy holders to an equal right with freeholders, and an extension of the elec tive franchise in populous towns where it was exer cised by a select few, to the inhabitants in general. Connected with this plan was a recommendation to appropriate one million sterlinx to be applied to the purchase of the franchise of the boroughs on their voluntary application to Parliament—a recommen dation which nee noticed with the reprobation it de served when recently started by some writer on ParFarnentary Reform, as anew mode of reconciling the boroughmongers to the transfer of the elective franchise. This plan of Reform, moderate as it was, and favourable in a pecuniary point of view to the proprietors of boroughs—supported as it was by the eloquence of . Mr. Pitt, in power, and that of Mr. Fox, in opposition, was rejected in the House by a majority of 248 to 174. It may be doubted, indeed, whether Mr. Pitt was sincere in advocating his own measure, or whether he only brought it for ward to afford a colourable appearance of redeeming the pledges he had given when out of office, and to show, by its defeat under such circumstances, that no hope wee to be -entertained -of-a Civoutable result from any future discussion of the ques tion. Certain it is, that when, in the year 1793, Mr. (now Earl) Grey introduced the memo rable petition for Reform from the Society of the " Friends of the People," and moved that it,. along with other petitions for Reform, be referred to a Committee of the House, the proposition, though only preliminary to a measure of Reform, found in Mr. Pitt a most determined and uncompromising opponent—who vehemently dwelt upon the danger to be apprehended to the country from what he was Men pleased to describe and denounce as meaning nothing else than a change in the Constitution ! He then knew the value of an unreformed House of Commons to a Minister who had resolved to em bark in a career of ambition which required the as sistance of the boroughmongers. By means of that unreformed House of Commons he was enabled to plunge the country into a war of which it is now paying the price, and of which remote generations will 'feel the bitter consequences. The motion of Mr. ..Grey for a Committee to take into consideration the petitions on Parliamentary Reform was defeated by the enormous majority of 282 to 41. Hence the profligate expenditure of blood and treasure to restore the Bourbons, who when, after a war of more than twenty years, they re-ascended the throne from which their folly and vices had justly expel!ed them, so small was the store of wisdom which they derived from their adversity, that in much less than the time occupied in fighting to restore them, they con trived to make France perform a new revolution, which has shaken Europe to its centre, and made the fabric of despotic power " a mutilated structure soon to fall." There is a retributive justice which Statesmen are not apt to calculate upon—but which the Divine Wisdom that governs tee universe has ordained shill grow eut of the political vices which it is designed to chastise. Mark it in the present instance. The champions of the rotten borough system hurried the nation into the destructive war against France, which nearly ruined the two finest and most enlightened countries in Europe. Out of that war grew the gigantic national debt, which in grinding operation on the national resources and, the national industry, makes the cry for Reform more loud anti general than ever it was before. If Earl Grey succeed in breaking down that borough system in 1831, which in 1793, with the splendid, talents of Mr. Fox to support him, he could not touch, lie will owe it to that debt, which the bd rough-patrons created, arid which descends as an avalancheto overwhelm themselves.—Morn. The Government of the Marquis of Anglesea and Lord Plunkett in Ireland is at length fairly com mitted in uncompromising hostility to the cause of agitation. They are acting vigorously and well. We do not upon the present occasion see any reason to doubt their zeal or sincerity, for they have not now any political object to carry, which agitation is likely to promote. We believe that this time they really wish to succeed in restoring the peace of the country, and we heartily wish them success. It is perhaps to be lamented, however, since it rather diminishes the chance of their success, that the task of suppressing agitation, by the vigorous application of the law, should have been committed to men who cannot even pretend that in their estimation any moral guilt is implied in the act of disturbing the peace of a country with a view to promote the success of a political project. Lord An glean has openly encouraged agitation. Lord Plunkett, when filling the important office of Attorney-General, encouraged it still more effec tually, by conniving at and tolerating it. But then the object in view was a pet object of their own. These elevated Statesmen are now wielding the thunders of the law against agitation, the only vi sible difference being, that the present object of the agitators happens no longer to be a pet object' of their own. The inconsistency must be allowed to to be unfortunate, by all who really wish that the powers of the law should be effectually exerted, and its dignity adequately sustained. If the facts upon which the pending prosecutions in Ireland are founded were one degree less notorious than they are, or the law one degree less clear than it is in application to those facts, we own we should have considerable misgivings as to the result of legal pro- ceedings instituted for the suppression of agitation, by the authority of a Government which con •ists of the Marquis of Anglesea and Lord Plun kett, the ancient friends and abettors of illegal agitation. It is wrong, no doubt, that witnesses or jurors, or any other persons forming part of the popular machinery by the aid of which the laws are administered, should ever permit their attention to the abstract and inherent merits of the case before them to be disturbed for a moment by any extrinsic circumstances whatever; but experience abundantly proves, nevertheless, that extrinsic circumstances do very frequently and powerfully influence the minds of such persons. Nor is it possible, we think, for the imagination to conceive any extrinsic circum stance so likely to defe:tt a criminal prosecution, as the fact that the authorities who institute it have, by their previous language and conduct, upheld the moral innocence of the practices which the prosecution is intended to punish and restrain. That this is the precise case of the prosecutions now going on in Ireland, nobody, we suppose, will be so impudent as to deny. It is impossible to re flect upon the mischief and danger, which, in the present temper and circumstances of Ireland, would inevitably result from the failure of the prosecution instituted against Mr. O'Connell and his confede rate demagogues, without anxiously wishing that the persons who must be popularly considered in that country as the authors of the prosecution were such as could stand recti in curies. If any mischance should arise, in a case of which the facts and the legal merits are so abundantly clear, it will plainly be impossible to ascribe it to any other cause than the moral disqualification to which we have alluded on the partof thechief members of the existing Government. The present Administration of Great Britain will, however, have itself exclusively to blame for what ever evil may arise in Ireland, whether the dema gogues whom it has provoked by withholding from them place and power, or the ci-devant patrons and abettors of those same demagogues, to whom it has confided place and power, should triumph in the approaching struggle. Why did not Earl Grey's Administration adopt the obvious and honest policy of admitting to high office in Ireland none but men with clean hands—none but men unpolluted by communion with the cause, the artifices, the crimes of agitators ? Then the Government of Ireland would have occupied high ground in its contest with O'Connell and his fellow-conspirators. Now, " change places; and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief."—Morning Past. LAW INTELLIGEL‘CE. ROLLS COURT, JAN. 26. GILL V. SIIELLY. In this case a testatrix had left a certain fund to " children." It appeared that of the only children whom she could have contemplated, one was legiti mate and the other illegitimate. The question in the case was, whether the latter should take equally with the former. Mr. BACON contended with considerable ingenuity that unless some intimation was given in a will that illegitimate children had been intended by the tes tator, evidence could not be received to prove such an intention, and that all property devised to " children" should go to those alone who were legitimate, or even to one as in this case. His HONOUR considered it to be a general rule that any person was at liberty to give evidence to prove that he came under a description of legatees. In this case it appeared that the testatrix must have been aware that there only existed an illegitimate and legitimate child—her intention in using the word " children" could therefore not be doubted. She must have intended both, and consequently the ille gitimate child should take equally with the legiti mate one. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, JAN. 28. E$- SLING V. TILE „MASTER AND WARDENS, &C. OF THE MERCHANT TAILORS' COMPANY. This. case occupied the attention of the Court tu day foi' a considerable time. It came on on an ap plication made in the last term by Mr. F, Pollock, for a writ of mandamus to the Master and Wardens of the Company of Merchant Tailors, commanding them to permit certain members of the Company to inspect and take copies of all records, books, papers, and muniments, belonging to the Company, or relating to their affairs. Sir JAMES SCARLEIT now showed cause against the rule. In the affidavits of Messrs. Smith and Franks, members of the Company, it was stated that their at tention had been called to the affairs of the Company from reports that the Company's revenues were mis employed in frequent and extravagant feastings, and by other mal-practices, on the part of those members who had the management and controul of the Com pany's affairs ; that before 1810, the fine for admit ting freemen to the Livery of the Company was,thirty guineas only, and that since then it had been raised by the Master, Wardens, and Court of Assistants to .56/. ISs., and afterwards to 801. 18s.; that most lavish and expensive entertainments, involving the outlay of thousands of pounds of the common funds of the society, had been given without the consent of the mpjority of the members, and for the purpose of feasting persons who were not members ; that a person who lately acted as clerk to the Company had been found to have misappropriated the Company's funds to the amount of several thousand pounds ; that the defalcation had not been made good, nor could the members ascertain, unless they were al lowed to look at the charters, by-laws, books, muni ments, and documents, whether such their common funds had been properly applied and duly accounted for. The affidavit, after disclosing some other matters of minor importance, went on to state, that by a charter of Richard 11. the power of electing the, Master and Wardens was given to the Company at large, and riot to any select body. In showing cause against the rule, Sir JAMES SCARLETT observed, that this application was in the nature of a bill of discovery, or fishing bill, the ob ject of it being to endeavour, by art inspection of the muniments and documents in the possession of the Master and Warden, to discover some ground on which to apply hereafter for a quo warraulo informa tion. Tllere was no suit or legal proceeding of any kind at present pending, and the only reason for this application was, the hope entertained by these high-spirited gentlemen, who formed only a small part of the Livery of the Company, that they should he able by and by to call in question the title of the present Master and Wardens. The Learned Counsel proceeded to detail from the affidavit of Mr. De Mole, the clerk and solicitor to the Master and Wardens, the history of the Company, and of their constitution and affairs. Mr. GURNEY foiioVred on the same side. Before he had concluded his observations, Lord TENTERDEN, without hearing Mr. 6ampbell or Mr. Coleridge, who were on the tame side, called upon Mr. POLLOCK to address the Court in support of the "rule. The Learned Counsel then made some o bservations upon the affidavits, and cited some cases to shew that the Court had interfered on simi lar occasions; and he insisted that as the Liverymen had sworn to obey the ordinances and 1)3-laws of the Company, they had a right to inspect the muni ments, in order to see what those ordinances and bylaws HILL w ere. was heard on the same side. Lord TENTERDEN was of opinion that no suffi cient ground had been laid in this case for the man damus, and he thought that to call upon a corpora tion in this way to inspect all the records and muni ments would be productive of ouch inconvenience, confusion, and uncertainty, that the Court ought not to authorise such a proceeding. The other Judges (Mr. Justice LITTLEDALE, Mr. Justice TAUNTON, and Mr. Justice FATTESON) were of the same opinion. Sir J. SCARLETT hoped the Court would dis charge the rule with costs. Lord TENTERDEN--I think the rule must be dis charged with costs, because If a person makes un entirely novel application, and fails, he ought to pay the expenses of it. PREROGATIVE COURT, JAN. 28. KILDERBEE V. WENN AND TIN DUKE OF HAMILTON. Sir JOHN NICHOLL gave sentence in this case— This was a question as to the admission of an allega tion propounding a codicil of the late Earl of Rock ford. By a will of Apr 1, 1824, he had bequeathed his real estate to the Duke of Hamilton, in tail male. There were several legacies, and the Duke was ap pointed residuary legatee. If the personal property was insufficient to pay the mortgages, debts, and le gacies, the real estate Avas charged. The Rev. Dr. Kilderbee, his son, Mr. Spencer Kilderbee, and his solicitor, Mr. Venn, were appointed executors and trustees. In 1826 the Earl executed two codicils, which made no material alteration in the will. The codicil now propounded was intended to make a ma terial alteration in the disposition of the real pro perty, but it was unexecuted. It proposed to give the estate and mansion where the Earl resided to Mr. Spencer Kilderbee, in tail male, and on failure of male issue, to his daughters in succession. The furniture, plate, linen, and other chattels, are to go as heirs-loom with the man-ion, with the excep ion of the wine and liquors; and this estate was exo nerated from the payment of the debts and legacies, which were to be charged on the other real pro perty. The instrument was dated September, 1830 (the day being blank), and was not signed; on the 3d of September the Earl died. It was clear that such an instrument could have no effect upon the freehold estate, and none as to the copy hold estate could be derived from the probate of this Court, which would be extremely unwilling to take any step that might effect the copyhold property which was without the jurisdiction of the Court. As the instrument was unexecuted, the ordinary pre sumption was against its operating. Under all the circumstances, though the question was an impor tant one as concerned the interests of Mr. Kilderbt e, he (Sir John Nichol]) thought it his duty to reject the allegation, holding that the codicil could not be admitted to probate.—Costs out of the estate. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. B OW- STREET. Last night a respectable-looking young man was brought into custody before Sir R. BIRNIS, charged with having stolen a quantity of plate from the house of ?dr. Coke, of Holkham-house, Norfolk. The prisoner refused to give his name when called upon to do so, but from a marriage certificate found upon his person, it appeared that his name is George Lilly. . . _ Abraham Goodman, a clothes-salesman, of Holy well -street, Strand, proved that on the 14th instant, about four o'clock in the day, the prisoner came to his shop with a large blue big, containing plate, which he said he wanted to dispose of. The pri. sorter then took from the bag the two silver gilt ink stands, now produced, and some silver spoons, and said he would sell them at the rate of 4s. 6d. per ounce He then said he would take 204 for the whole lot. Witness asked him if they belonged to himself? He replied no; and added, that they be longed to a gentleman who did not wish to come forward in the business; that his name was Digby, and that he lived in Charles-street, Cavendish square. Witness told the prisoner that he had bet ter bring she gentleman himself, to which the pri soner replied, " I will send him; or, if you like, you can go with me to where he lives." Witness then told the prisoner that he should detain the plate until the gentleman came forward, and the prisoner, who seemed a good deal agitated, left the shop, say ing he would go and fetch the gentleman. When he was gone, witness searched the bag, and found in it a lady's reticule worked with gold, containing some gold lace and also a steel purse. The prisoner did not return according to promise, and witness made application to Sir R. BIRNIE, who directed him to fetch the plate to the public-office, Bow-street, say ing he_had received a letter from Colonel Anson, Mr. Coke's son-in-law, stating that Mr. Coke had been robbed of such articles. The witness then said, that on the evening of last Tuesday he received a letter, bearing the post-mark of the Royal Arcade, and dated the 25th inst. This letter was to the following effect : " Six,—You would very much oblige me by sending me the 201. for the plate sold t) you. to Mr. George Lilly, No. 20, I'snton-street, Haymarket ; as by so doing, )ou would save me further trouble. " Yours, " S. KEEVEY." The witness then went on to state, that he ac companied Stevens, the officer, that morning to No. 20, Panton-street, Haymarket, where witness saw the prisoner. Sir R. BIRNIE asked the prisoner if he wished to say any thing in explanation of the charge, at the same time cautioning him that his answers might Militate against him. The prisoner for the present should decline saying any thing. The prisoner was then removed in custody. The day after the robbery took place, Sir R. 131astE received a letter, stating the circumstance, from Colonel Anson, Mr. Coke's son-in-law, and a letter was found upon the prisoner's person, ad dressed to the young woman whom he afterwards married, dated Holkham, Norfolk, and stating that he would soon be in town, and bring with him the sum of Ma to begin the world with. The pri soner, it appeared, had lived in the service of Mr. Coke, arid the letter of Colonel Anson gave a most accurate description of his person, which agrees in every particular with the prisoner's appearance. Amongst the articles found on his person were two valuable studs for the bosom of a shirt composed of opal and diamonds. In the box found at the pri soner's lodgings, besides the spoons already men tioned, were two small prayer-books bound in mo r3cco, and a-variety of minor articles. The wife of the prisoner, a very interesting young woman, ap plied to see him before his removal to prison : she appeared dreadfully agitated. The Magistrate granted her request. The prisoner was ordered to be remanded until Thursday next, by which time Mr. Coke is expected in London. The ink-stands which were stolen from his house were esteemed by Mr. Coke as valuable family relics. They bear the arms of the Earl of Leicester, whose descendant Mr. Coke is, and to whose title he has often laid c:aim. MARLBORO UGH-STREET. On Thursday evening one of those extraordinary and unpleasant scenes which occur in families, and are peculiar to a police-office, took place before Mr. CONANT. Before the Magistrate had taken his seat Ballard and Goddard placed at the bar a female, about 40 years of age, the wife of a gentleman whose name did not transpire, but who was stated to be of considerable property. Her countenance was distorted from the edicts of liquor, while in a tone of voice which excelled that of Kean in his most impassioned delineations of Shakspeare, she began to call upon the Saints and the Virgin to pro tect her from her heretical husband. The husband, a person of very gentlemanly ap pearance, and who appeared to be exceeding agi tated, deposed that it was with the utmost regret that he felt himself called on to appear at a police office, and charge the mother of his children with an assault, who, he regretted to say, completely dis graced herself. During the present week he had re turned from the country, where he had been to re. ceive some of his rents; but upon presenting him self at. his residence he found he was shut out ; not being able to effect an entrance in front, he effected one from an adjoining house., when he found his wife had, during his absence, caused some iron plates to be fastened inside one of the room doors, and also barricaded with thick iron bars. On his attempting to enter this room, in which were his clothes, his wife took the poker out of the fire, and flung it at him, and u s i ng at the same time the most horrid imprecations, threatened to murder him, and he was ultimately obliged to leave the house. Mr. CONANT— Can you assign any cause for such extraordinary conduct ?—The complainant replied that it was owing unfortunately to the difference of his wife being a Catholic , their religious opinions, tRACTS FO and he a Protestant, and so imbued was she Wit l the principles of her faith, that her conduct r . ,e ll ' dered not only his, b ut hi s f am ily' s li ves , misera ble! and ns a proof that he had done all in his povrer, i make her happy, he h a d even f oregone ta king ° I '., sons to church, for sh e h a d sworn u p on seve ral ° c ' er , sinus that, if she by any means f oun d ou t ;bet i, ; OA any of them to church, s h e wou ld not ° A III , pour out her curse on them, hut sh e wou ld sever "'- head of the heretic from his body. 41 40 for the si The prisoner, who had hither() been utteringt, mot infamous language we ever heard from the I l r i ta, of a woman, here turned her eyes upwards, BA 7 4 4 b, a passionate tone of voice, called upon the Vi r g ‘ /I :i . . ''''''''''''' ' nay to strike the miscreant dead I t e e co ll Barb of the N 'IIIN '''''''''''' AO , •t '' The complainant, in continuation—lt was 13 0 ", d i k i d ''' " ''''''''' those circumstances that I desisted from carry 00,444 Articles as tri my child to church, but all to no purpose, for et until the 3 truth is the priest is the master of my , house; ° ill A r PE: in proof of my assertion, some time since I hau l ' s scc turned home very fatigued, after transacting i lkte t ot ti v e , CAI business with one of the members of the lwod n need by Family. On entering my house I found not li h rley, leaq preparation made for my comfort ; but on 4 ' 444 61%,. tea going up stairs Fzfnind my wife and the PII O I 4 Tender locked in the roo m d r i n ki ng w i ne toget h er . A tw a ' doniver e dl: l he had lef I examin e d my p oc k e t-b oo k, whirl' LT Per on , w i,!, had left behind, and con t a i n i ng c h e q u es t0:1' 41 4 mast atte amount of 500/., when I discovered one for ~,k,.._ had been abstracted. On going the following (, to the banking-house, the cheque which I he l m ' , missed had been paid in, and that by the priest W i rr was drinking the wine, and who acts as the fessar to my wife. Upon his being questioned, stated it was given h:m by that unfortunate wot who stands there, and who, [ understand, tells that she is acting in a most meritorious manner making this opposition to my wishes, in conser of my being a heretic. N ICTUALLIr CRE Comm Majeotyle Nav CIAT the 4th da) :1444 Tenders i 474p1y of th e f o 1 ,4 eV. Victual ageing each ex RED . L i ovfirri '' ' "Lug cub. to 't The wife again dealt out her curses upon his in terms too horrible to repeat. The two officers stated that, finding they not gain admittance, they forced their way in behind. On going up to the room in which prisoner had barricaded herself they were l! riled to cut out one of the pannels of the Upon forcing their way in they found the iv in a most disgraceful state, completely ex! from her exertions. They considered the very fortunate, as there were in the room : some of which were loaded, and she only re) that she was incapable of using them. Mr. CONANT, after expressing his surprise at conduct of the prisoner, asked her if she wish say anything in reply,to the charge preferred her by her husband. " Why dost thou not, 0 God !" exclaimed prisoner, hurl thy thunders upon that heretic. is the - villain in existence. Oh ! thou I Virgin, why dost thou not protect me !" She began to iterate charges of such an infamous' upon her husband, and those she happened to . at the office, that the Magistrate ordered her to bail before she had half finished her stilt( Upon finding she was to be locked up, she agar pealed to the Saints and the Virgin for prof and so doing she was removed by force from t UNION-HALL. Yesterday Wm. Jarvis alias Btiffer, Henry . and Mary Jones, were brought before MURRAY, charged on suspicion with having Mr. Clarke, a resident of Stockwell, of 4.51. preceding night. Mr. Clarke on Wednesday night met the prisoner in High-streer, and accompanied her brothel in Chapel -street, Mint, which she dc as her o,‘ n Having sent out for thing to drink, the girl afterwards made some to leave the room, and she had no sooner side tire door than she ran down stairs ready to her neck, and left the house altogether. The plaim tit, pettier surprised at the suddetEder.... his companion, on feeling for his purse, w in, had previously to meeting with her in his lit pocket, found that it was gone, and all that it Mined, vit., eight .5/. notes and five soy( When the complainant came to this part statement he burst into tears, and cried like He afterwards went to the station-house, and describ, d the girl he suspected, she was taken custody soon afterwards, but none of the plainant's money was found in her possession. inspector having liberated her, she was foil and observed to meet the two male prisoners, the three were taken into custody together, al searching Jarvis twenty sovereigns were fa his pockets. He did not account for the mom which he became possessed of the money well known as a reputed thief. The corn] did not know the numbers of the notes, whip was little doubt had been disposed of before in Rosemary-line. The Magistrate committed Mary Jones and for three months each to Brixton, and itaeklii six weeks to the same gaol. In the mean every endeavour will be made to trace the A man named Donovan was brought before MURRAY, charged with obt a i n i ng sma ll sel l 1;i;1 1 money, as well as food, from s eve r a l poor in duals, under the following circu m s tan c es . P t --. I Mrs. Grennan stated, that the defendant ea led I 4 . 3 4 ' her house on Thursday, and introduced himo r ' o o her first cousin, saying, that he had jest reL it hi o from America, that he had brought home ie sv ;., if dollars, and that as soon as be was enable t - 10 0 1 change them for English money, he should a t io his relations, and particularly the one he ha d d, the great pleasure of meeting with. Mrs. 01:0 readily believing the fellow's story to be true, 11 ; ( 1 1 some members of her family settled on the 10 111 side of the Atlantic, immediately spread the c V arid placed the best cheer she had in the h0P 51 .1 fareher unexpected guest. She was ratherA prised at the voracity with which he ate 14 ) ,,. 0 1)1, 21b. of cold roast beef; arid when he had . fi an' •O'l saying that the voyage had increased his appetit e that he was desirous of having another slice o l . to end his repast. She then placed a rlice,,li, of pickled pork before him, and instead of c jitli fairly fat arid lean together, he cut off all th e ~•11F and devoured it with the greediness of a con ) After having had a bellyfull, her guest havint ' A , I apprised that she soon expected her husband beiff appeared rather uneasy, s a yi n g that h e E houl,d or / off on board the ship th a t b roug ht him to P et and prepare to turn his dollars into sovereie t el: added he, " in case I should be disirprniio6; arranging my business, lend me a few 111 '04 cousin, until I come to-morrow." The cotee dr/ lent him all the money she had, and the d e ftll ll lo l then left the house. When the complainatiLl ► it bind returned home, arid was informed vi P er ea,jj taken place in his absence', he at once disce v t or was the trick of an impostor. The defeedsl o fil l wit to the house of another poor woman, an d i r e , d i described himself as a country, cousin from se , P; s not only had a good " feed" at her exP erl ili also borrowed some !Arley from her, pro oii return the next day to repay her. Se on' females whom the defendant had imposed 0 vio a similar mariner were Nesent, but their ca lte d not gone into, the magistrate having'comi ni for three months to Guildford. \f r UBLI ' vit. er e ), ant q at !" "Y , eon, : al l t 4 i, i r o bt. the expe e di , (.1 p , t(j r 1 4 , EFC E in t f„ 11 .P. lort dI; soli 'Y Arth ur p v it emiv tali,r d t ht 1 " laws, ; ItViation 1 ‘ , 41 01; t: !tXtitietic tt l ', 4 ,:) . f sine tee 0,441,6,,',:priei wi ed Ly , r 'Prese 2d . (i. e Pr d eg l en t44 4t (2.ted ' -- -' th e i r ° .",have Rted fo'r'gloutauf G t4n t% °l* P c 'rati( nY leav es while bn 1 4 , 4 "tics, , t,, tltlv Y t ' u PI f kt..t ti r pro 4 °tat' 'e ki n ,, Y Air. . 1 . i t 1 "to 4r ry es t "°t with v , ,, l''vYJ":. he ) sePh I ' l 4th cy = n,i rel l . soet, r keti, 4 I r tall '44lt i ll. 111% .. z 4t 11 th e 0 .14,1 , 1 4 P 4 Pled It t e .ge of • 11 11 "lic ' 4 - 1 1 Qll t i lti !.)l), til ,'S in ent 0 , th e 1 ) rc t'Y "' • Joh t ~ 11 1 Piese l loti o „ ra t 11 ,4 41 ;1 1 ( , ), 1 to 441), t ha t t i tlit''ll,t4U:lll'Sted to I ' , Al t q Nt l I ' ," the qpt,r,411.49, ' y PRINTED AND PUBLI NHED BY MURDO THE SUN Orrlca, 112, 82114X01 At St W -tai. it, tirio.if:''...eres.f.Too.,rou.ljijf‘tretßNllßit.veetesilcodEAEVatiCES.:,l', n eeY n i nicul : P° tPt ' s 'e: o 7: P 4l ;o ll l lr t i O n."- f to :;, I: : :i w etoailtieinge i si o Fdose bads • il e rlnne‘h h ewehYv e ir i fi d xsers m e e e r hhirPeeelhigse o ici e nir ft bac-iir g a ro si a :;:ihse . o v teb/re w, rl:lll ,o, lts:lll . .. 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Ile, sell e for so' Ppi al l u erY--13. me et '' '• 4 Italian Pk !r got ' ' to ur other Is", in k • yto, -' t uted wall The ' ?arta ° . ; b II TERARY which ' 4L NEW I brae , Its', ~ a it , 444 EL3IWA: t overt' „pplpwrows of )art 0f,.. Th. °trap.. ke a en, . . 'ab le ... umbc Ind he 1. ; .4 4 , .. the follow /Ikea i ' „ he a• 2..... 5ir 1 ~ 1,„. rin the t r , t , Paris_ on. i Al ter i p Life of a folioTl ): i tlerta l uner ch a iera , W 4 4 4 .re Place, 1 , , and,, Neil , A l i n r Parham, e folO u ' , ; t 3 t a d ,WYarie er . de Q t ue Atto Mannol '4 i lace I, • , p g ,,, --- et', , 4, , ......,-, n _ J ohn o the m plal A th 'l _ lir * 0 G alt hicb i b o 41,,,, teat Lord afore g i Th e 4 ,.., 4 on A L , n 4,1 1 , ii l uti'eello r an d Jo , 441phrty and th e I I ck 110 0 , ra,.....,rtbavy_i aeon ti e 4 44 414 Recoid the 0 0 0, ~,Zty v .-.olortopoi,, 1, ' e fore of aro a , ..1 tor truce moral's to litnitltord. BIRTHS. et terf On the 23d inst. at H a rtp u ry, n e ar Glo tic hrly of Robert Canning, Esq., of a son. 0 01 ' On the 25th inst. at Denmark-hill, Mrs. G. a daughter. d ie MARRIED. 009 0/ On the 25th istst. at Tottenham, Middlese%, o bir:) Blaydes Thompso n , E sq ., o f T a d cas ter, If °r y. Catherin.! Anne, youngest daughter of the B e lleathcote. DIED. rl' , On the 23d inst. M r . G. B! onm fi e ld, of sn I', a id, lie was the elder b ro th er o f R o b er t Bloonw e t 00e f l 9 thor of the " Farmer's Boy" and who held 5 0 00 6 ° much correspo n d ence w i t h t h e di st i ngu i s hed F di je,P brother. On the 26th inst. Jane Sarah, wife of of Camberwell.