The Sun. — London, England, 1831-04-05 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. We ere every day told by the enemies: of Refosm, to ten, argument agaiust passirio the present Bill, that the people of England ought to be satisfied with a slight, or at least a very gradual, change in the materials of the elective body throughout the king dom, and consequently in the composition of Our representatives. it is foolish to talk of contenting a nation with anything short of what they unanimously believe to be their right, and what they feel theM selves able to insist upon. This is not a difficult or complex question. The right or wrong of suffering a vet of men to make what laws they please foi a whole nation, and to take from it just so much money as they please, when the law-givers and the money-rakers are responsible to themselves alone for the consequences of such laws, and for the use and application of such enormous sums of money,—that, we say, is not a matter which calls for any profcund wisdom, or for long consideration, to decide. Prac tical common sense assures us that the mart who has nothing to fear but from himself will not, so far as worldly interests are concerned, be very nice about encroaching on the privileges or properties of his neighbours. Tyranny is but another name for irre sponsible power. The owner of a close borough' not being amenable to any authority in the state, or to any portion or description of the people whom he taxes and coerces, for . his Parliamentary conduct, has the executive government as well as the nation at his mercy. That he may not embarrass the public service by voting factiously, there is no expedient left for the King's Minister but that of bribing him to vote cor, aptly, and there is no fend but the na tional revenue from which to provide those wages of dishonesty. .Now it will be admitted that this is a cue, the. merits' of which, as respects the public welfare; may be discerned at once through the aim s pleat a priori reasoning. We have but to state the premises, and the same conclusion must be drawn by a practised logieian as by a child of a dozen years of age. The chise boroughmonger is set down by both, from•the very position which he cccupies,' as a public robber. But it is said, Reform " gradually," or, to use a Parliamentary term, bit by bit. How, then, " gradually ?" Disfranchise one or two boroughs, perhaps ! We put it to a " gradual" Reformer —a regular practitioner of the old Tory school :—suppose there he known to exist in ore • of the southern agricultural counties a gang of daring , and irreclaimable poachers, and, for argu ment sake,- suppose that they are all detected loaded With game, sixty or seventy of them in a single nigh., and marched off next no ruing, before a country-gentleman-justice—our friend " the gra dual,". example. The worthy gentleman will no doub', listen to the charge, and ponder well the evidence, and, being a consistent and sagacious f ene rineary, he will say to these culprits—" I re joice that you have been caught in the fact, you ta gabonds, for I always held your trade in abhorrence —you subsist by perpetually violating the laws, and . trespassing on other people's proper y, and carrying off their hares arid pheasants, and selling them to as sturant-knaves as yourselves, while you spend the price of them in all manner of low debauchery, and keep each other in countenance by' your formidable numbers, to the ruin of the public morals, and the utter sharre and infamy of the Legislature, width permits such criminal confederac e ies to exist. To show, you , t h e refore, try snse of what the public good requires, I have resolved to cerrect such atrocious evils, by a safe, tempe rate, and gradual' process : and whereas, there are no less than sixty of you, all taken in the fact,—all equally guilt y,—all nuisances to the State, and a terror to the countryt—but whereas, likewise, it might be a rash and dangerous experiment to con demn so many offenders at once, or to put down by too sweeping a measure that practice of poaching, which,. however indefensible in theory, has mixed itself up with the most ancient and venerable of our institutions, —namely, the whole system of country gentleman jur'sdiction throughout England,—my sentence is, that one of your number shall be sent to the treadmill, and for ever disqualified from join ing in future depredations; but the remaining fifty nine of you may go about your business for the pre sent, and if we find that this fellow's punishment works well,' why it is possible that I may in the course of a year or two move the quarter sessions to take in hand one more of the gang, so as by proceed ing on this safe and cautious principle, to get rid of the whole of you before the end of the 19th century : that is to say, provided always, that we can discos , . r a sound and constitutional eubstitete for poaching." Such is, in sober carries', the true meaning of gra dual Reform. But will tire people of England be satisfied with it ? Will their reason aperove of such a languid, indefinite, and most pr carious policy ; and if trot, will their patience endure it? We answer with a decided negative to all these questions. The people call throughout the whole United Kingdom for a full and prompt, and, in its principle at least, a final Reform of the House of Commons. Their plain sense tells thorn that they have not now a representative Government in any thing but name, that under the present system the Press, and the habeas corpus are their only guaran tees for the undisturbed enjoyment of the rights of person and property ; and that with a borough Par liament, rendered desperate by an exposure of its vices, and by a progressive abridgment of its oppor tunities of plunder, no man can tell how soon and - how successfully a regular warfare may be opened against the two great fortresses of English liberty, or under what circumstances of impaired advantage we may enter upon a future struggle. Since the above observations were written, we have been gra tified by seeing a report of the proceedings yesterday at the Lord Mayor's dinner. If any sentiment so acrimonious or vindictive, and therefore 30 un worthy of a great occasion, as one of triumph over a fallen foe, could find admission into the minds of Englishmen when they have the most glorious of -all causes to animate and inspire them, there might have been enough in the transactions of that festive but eminently important meeting to justify such a spirit. All doubts, for those by whom doubts had been entertained, thouglewe were not among them, —all fears, though we feared nothing,—all jealousies about the result of things among the most suscep tible friends of constitutional liberty—may now, and for ever, be dismissed. The Duke of Sussex, speaking as he did with manly dignity, the eentie merits of his illustrious Sovereign and brother, bore 'the most emphatic testimony to the, cordial and complete support which his Majesty affords to his confidential Ministees, :rad the encouragement Which he vouchsafes to his !opt people, in their joint pue suit of the measure of Parliamentary Reform. Lord Grey, Lord Brougham, and Lord John Russell, all distinctly and solemnly 'eontirmed, in their respec tive speeches, the satisfactory declaration already delivi red by the Duke of Sussex, and left upon the mind of the company an itnpression—which no ma lignant intrigues or manoeuvres will henceforth be able, though ever so slightly, to disturb—that our 'gracious Monarch is, head and hand, and heart and tool, devoted to the same grand national object with his people.—Tintes. The Austrians have entered Bologna ; end not only entered it, but, according to the news which have reached us, been received with open arms by the corporee 'on party—by the creatures who are likely to be l'ilueipally benefited or principally in jured by any ch rthae. There was, in fact, no resist ance on the part of the inhabitants, so far as appeara from the accounts Which have hitherto reached us, .and it will he a matter of som e difficulty, therefore, for the French Government, if i t be iclined to go to w ar with Austria, to find it plausible pretence for carrying its wishes into effe c t . The - pe o pl e of France will, no d oubt, call on M. Cas imir Perrier to fu'fil tire hopes held out in th is r es pect , in Lie some what indiscreet spee ch which he lately .delivered ; but Jinlesf r te is determine d to make war a g r eeably to their inclinations, arid without any other reason able excise than the sort of intervention exhibited in the entry of the Ausy,[ans into Bologna, on the invita tional the Pope, ariwould appear from accounts which have reached lig; with the consent of the an dimities, we think he will have some diMeulty in rendering it palatable to the common sense of Eu rope. The Fremsb Cabinet ought to have begun its enterprises with Poland,Where there is real coinage and real patriotism, and where it was bound to inter fere by every tie which can possibly link two inde pendent nations together in the bonds of amity and mutual defence,—that great occasion it has allowed to pass away unimproved, and the intervention in the affairs of Italy comes upon it, in consequence, in a disadvantageous position. At the same time there can be no doubt that that intervention is con y to all the principles recognised in the law of nations, and that every country has a tight to cont. plain of it, as laying the basis of a policy which, at some future period, might be fatal to its just desires. —3l - ot ning Advertiser. The great fall of the French Funds sufficiently in divates the feeling in France as to the difficulty of avoiding war. The entrance of the Austrians into Bologna is no longer a matter of doubt ; and when the cautious character of the Austrian officers is considered, we must consider the measure as com manded by the Austrian Government. The con sequences mu it have been foreseen and calculated on. The French Government must, however re luctantly, have recourse to the sword. It is im possible not to be struck with many of the argu ments used by M. Guizot in the sitting of Wed nesday last : " As to the war (said he), those who desire it, no doubt wish it grand, brilliant, and generous in the interest of the liherty of nations, of civilization. They call to their aid the propaganda and the iugurection ! F * Here the propagators of these principles depart from all t!,e ways of civilization:. they prepare universal war ; they summon the nations to a general struggle. They tell you, two principles exist in Europe which cannot di vide between them peaceably the empire of the nations ; the one must succumb to the other. The struggle be tween them must terminate by a mortal combat. This is the doctrine of the day. As to the question of the right divine, and the sovereignty of the people, there is nearly the same understanding. This is not the difficulty. The -true question is, to know whether society at this time should pursue its developments by a progressive civilization, or whether it should remain stationary ? Very well! The war which is proposed to us would i e fatal to civiliza tion, to the progress of the people ; and society, far from advancing, would retrograde." There can be 110 question that a war in Europe would greatly retard the progress of civilization, if not cause civilization to retrograde. There is not one ceustry in Europe,. whatever its Government, which does not make greater advances under that Government in peace than it could do under any other in war. Besides two or three millions of the very worst of the population, demoralized and bru talized, by a series of campaigns, would, after a peace, carry the contagion into every corner. But this is hardly a fair statement of the question. The period of war is an interruption of the progress of civilization. But if the war leave a countty in possession of a Government not hostile to the people, a series of wise organical laws may, in a short time, cause it to advance more than it w ould otherwise have done for centuries. Can arty one doubt the benefit whicli would be reaped in Italy by the an nihilation of the temporal power of the Pope, and the establishment of a properly constituted Govern- • ment in the place of it ? The policy of M. Guizot is to consider Visa unjustifiable except in case of in vasion, and to !et every country defend itself. " The period of 1792 (he says), that time of illusion and heroism, is ()Pen invoked. But in 1792 we acted more prudently than it is wished we should now act.— We waited till our territory was invaded.—(Negative ex clamations on the left.) If the invasion was• not con summated, at least the declaration of Piluitz was made, , 1 and it announced an imminent war, which broke out almost immediately. Then also France did not begin by the war of propagandism, nor by distant war; she de fended her liberty, saved her territory, and at a later pe riod she ended by what she is now advised to Jo." But if the principle which leads the despotic powers to crush revolutions in Italy and elsewhere, leave France in a state of alarm for her own security, the country, as is well observed by a contemporary,'' is forced to be at all the expence of a war, without having any of its excitements. There is a danger, too, of popular discontent finding a vent in civil war, which would aid the despotic powers. It is a question of prudence, and cannot be resolved abso lutely so easily as M. Guizot pretends. It may not always be prudent in a Government to allow itself to become an object of contempt, and much will depend on the character of the people governed. We have great doubt whether the Government which allowed Austria to put down the revolution in Italy without opposition,. could long exist in France. M. Jay, in an eloquent speech, treated the question of peace, nod war more satisfactorily— " For may past (said he) I will sat frankly to the Mi nistry, if you - can preserve peace with honour, preserve it, it is the wish of France. I am not ignorant of the ma gical and powerful effect which the words triumph, glory, and warlike heroism, have 'on French imaginations. I • could, perhaps, combine them like another in warlike and sonorous phrases ; but I am not covetous of this success. A mandatory of - the people, I have a severe duty to die charge ; not to draw on my country so formidable a scourge as that of war, a scourge which dries up all the sources of public prosperity, if it is not demonstrated to me that it cannot be avoided without wounding the national dignity, without compromising our independence. I have too much confidence in'the courage of our soldiers, in the ex perienced ability of their chief,, to doubt au instant, if the war break out, as to the success of our arms. I know that Europe would be shaken to its foundation. What has been seen would be again seen ; but consider the con sequences which would result to us from it: the annihila tion of commerce, the want of markets for the produce of our industry and our agriculture, the mourning of families, the rivers of blood which would water the palms of victory ; and if, contrary to our expectation, the conflict should be prolonged, would you not have to dread least the extinction of credit, the exhaustion of our resources, the want of labour in our workshops, the necessity of de manding fresh taxes from the public distress, might not furnish, by producing the disgust, the fatigue which cause nations to be worn out, under the very burthen of glory, till they lose the very sentiment of liberty ?" It is stated confidently by many of the speakers, that the great body of the French, among whom pre perty is much diffused, are averse to svar ; but the question is, whether the display of a disinclination to war may not lead to it ?—Morning Chronicle. An interesting letter from Earl Grey to General • Kosciu-zko, dated July, 1814, will be found in another column. His Lordship was then a private individual ; be is now at the head of the Councils of a great Empire. That he entertains, however, the same sentitnents in 1831 which he entertained in 1814, when he condemned so loudly the grand vio lation of the - sacred - principles of liberty in the boc ci ssive partitions of Poland, we firmly believe. His Lordship then not only attributed the dangers from which Europe had escaped to the example set in the case of Poland, but he declared, that " there. rail exist no real security against the retutn of these dangers if Poland remain excluded from the benefit of the general deliverance which, in order to be per fect, ought to be gincanteed by the solemn recog nition of the rights and the independence of nations." Three opinions ate a guarantee, that as far as his Lordship's influence extends, and as far as he can act without compromising the interests of the country which are entrusted to him, he will use that influence in behalf of the unhappy Poles. Difficulties, however, of no common magnitude oppose them selves to the restoration of Poland. The great Powers did not take the same view of their inte rests which his Lordship doe`, when be recommends to them fcr their security and a better preserva•ion ef their mutual tranquillity, tore-establish Pola nd as an Independent State. They conceived they could sit down and enjoy in peace the fruits of their robbery, and their reading of the principles of Christianity, as exemplified in the far-fa med Holy Alliance, which professed to be founded on Christianity, wa s the same which we find among banditti in a forest : we will give up nothing, and assist each other in resist ing the attempts of the rightful owners to have their own. Prussia is a country wade up of recent spolia tion% an d inw t be peculiarly hostile to the principle of restitution. Austria, though dragged into the iniquity, in the first instance, by Russia and Prussia, will not easily be brought to give up Galicia. On the other hand, the independence of the kingdom of Poland ensures the independence of the greater part of the country, as it existed before the partition ; fur the tics of race, language, relig:on, historical eecol lectioas, and traditions must always be far more powerful than the arbitrary arrangements of the parti tioning Powers. It is in this difficult to see how Europe can be tranquil till the Poles effect their in dependence ; and yet the interests opposed to them ate so powerful as almost to exclude all hope of suc cess. For we must bear constantly in mind, that the robber-powers will yield woo argument but force. The independence of a country so extensive as Poland, besides the moral effect, would be an effectual limit to the encroachments of Russia towiosis the wtst. Segur supposes the Russian territ cry capable of sup porting a hundred and fifty millions of human beings. As the population becomes more thence, it will, of course, become more civilized, and we must sup. pose that the Government will improve with the civilizetion of tie country. What renders Russia at present so mischievous to the rest of Europe, is the despotism of the Got.ernmstioand the necessity of furnishing employment to the army to prevent revolts and conspiracies. Civilization supposes the diffusion of property and knowledge, and thus, when the power of Russia shall render her more formi dable than she is at preseno we may suppose that the Government will be forced to act on principles more in harmony with those of neighbouring Go ' vernments. Still it would be of great consequence to have a country nearly twice as large as France, of great fertility, and capable of maintaining a great population, lute posed between Russia and the we,t of Europe. Every well-wisher to the cause of na tional independence and good government must, therefore, wish well to the Poles in their resent struggle.—Morning Chronicle. The organs of the Revolutionist Ministry appear to think that they cannot too deeply insult the Throne which their patrons' machinations would subvert. One of these organs—the loudest, the most audacious, and the most fevoured of the num ber —has the insolence to say that there are persons honoured by the personal favour of, and accordingly enjoying facilities of access to their Majesties, whose names need only be publicly mentioned to compel them to betake themselves to flight, so degraded, so infamous are the habitual associates of Royalty, as they flourish in the calumnious descriptions of the revolutionary party. From this the Members of the House of Brunswick may anticipate what they have to expect should the revolution be accom plished. The party which threatened to ride rough shod through Carlton House were disappointed by the wisdom, the firmness, and the patriotism of George the Fourth. In revenge they now seem fully determined to throw the torch of conflagration into St. James's. We suspect they are once more rash and premature in the exhibition of their purpose. There is yet time for William the Fourth to spew himself the worthy successor of his Royal Brother. It is the duty of every man to whom any Member of the House of Brunswick will lend an attentive ear to point out the fatal nature of the trap, baited only by the allurement of a worthless and momen tary popularity, by which it is sought to ensnare that Illustrious House to its destruction. This duty has been and will be fulfilled; for the constitution of English society is fortunately such as to put it out of the powt r of auy Administration to surround the throne and the Royal Family exclusively by traitors. That this duty has been performed, not only faithfully but effectually, there is the greatest reason to believe from the acrimony and venom with which the promoters of the revolution begin to speak of those whom they suppose to have dis charged it—an acrimony and venom which extends front the friends of the throne even to the throne itself. Nor can the task have been diflicult of those faithful servants of the Crown, whom loyalty and affection may have com pelled to point out to their Sovereign the chasm which has been dug under his feet. To recall to his recollection the past history of the most indefatigable and dexterous of the sappers and miners, busy in their destructive operations upon the foundations . .of the throne, might alone probably have sufficed for thirptirpose. Who at every season of popular excitement have laboured to direct the in dignation and fumy of the populace against the indi vidual members of the Royal Family—who but the same sappers and miners ? Who, wheo the noble minded predecessor of the present King rejected their services, because he knew them well—made it their constant effort, and directed all the efforts of their myrmidons and their Press, to alienate from him the affections of his people ? The same sappers arid miners? ‘1 ,1 120 strove to create an insurrection in th e country, and to endanger the person of the Sovereign, when that high-minded Prince would not consent to associate with his name, his rank, and his fate, and to place at the head of the tnatroes of Eng. land, a misguided and degraded woman ? The same sappers and miners. Could- it be difficult to con vince the King that any cause advocated by these parties exclusively, is a cause inimical to the British Throne? To suppose this is to insult the under standing of the Sovereign ; and when we find any advocate of the revolution asserting; it, we know of no language in which to address him so appropriate as that which the present Attorney-General once applied to a very different person, and on a widely different occasion, " Come forth , tho u slam. derer 1 .” It is quite consistent that those who, whenever the emoluipents amid advantages of office I were withheld from them, have been the sys tematic calumniators of the Royal Family of England, should, now that they are in office, strive to perpetuate their own power by over throwing the Constitution of England. This is a consideration which, independently of auy sug gestion from others, could not escape the sound practical good sense of the King, who, like all other men of sound practical good sense, reveres, for its practical effects, the real working Constitution of time country, so contradistinguished from time ideal Constitution to which the revolutionists perpetually re - er us. Of the real working Constitution of Eng land something is known by experience, but of the ideal Constitution of the revolutionists nothing. Are time wealth, power, happiness, and glory of Great Britain ideal themselves, or are they to be traced to the efficacy of a Constitution which all mankind acknowledge never to have existed but in idea? Were the exhibition of national strength and time splendid glories of the last war ideal ? Was time rescue of Europe from time iron sway of a military despOt ideal ? Were the domestic triumphs by which the powers of the Constitution resisted, subdued, and humble:l time faction that laboured incessantly to prevent the rescue of Europe, to tarnish time honour mf England, to uphold the European despot, ideal triumphs? Or, to go back to points of national history, still, if possible, more interesting to the House of Hanover, was the whole series of measures whiCli prepared the way for the accession of that illustrious House to the British Throne ideal ? Was time Act of Settlement itself ideal ? No, surely, these are all substantial advantages to which the nation and its Monarchs have been indebted to the legislature of England as it is, to time real bona fide working Constitution of England, and not to any fanciful scheme of constitutional perfection which theorists may have brooded over in their closets, or political dreamers have imagined in their intone reveries.— Morning Post. The East India Company's ship Edinburgh arrived off Scilly the 31st ult. She left China the 30th November, and St. Helena the Bth February, in compalq with the Macqueen, and parted is ith her on the 24th of the same month in lat. 6. 00. N. long. 23. 30. W. Notwithstanding the confirmation of the entry of the Austrians i into Bologna, and the fu, titer decline of full 2 per cent. irPthe French funds, prices are maintained with a degree of firmness in the Consol market, which has appeared to many persons to be quite unaccountable . This may be in part owing to the great scarcity of money stock ; but the principal cause is the growing confidence in the success of the Reform Bill, and the protection it will afford, as it is conceived, against war and every de s•criptioa of extravagant expenditures— Tinges. MIDDLESEX SESSIONS, APRIL 4. These Sessions commenced yesterday, before the Ciia;rman and a full bench of Magistrates. John and.2l.fary Weller were placed at the bar an indictment, charging them with keeping a house of ill-fame, in the month of August last, at N 0.87, Devonshire-"street, in the parish of Mary lebone. A second' count charged them with keeping tk , irderly house. Mr. ADoLPHus was sorry to begin the Sessions with such a case, but the parish had thought it their luty to lay the indictment, as the house had been conducted by the two prisoners, who were married, under singular circumstances of disorder. Mr. Francis, a carpenter, residing in Devonshire -treet, deposed to the bad character of the prisoners' noose. John Smith, a s)oetnaker, living in Devonshire reef, corroborated this, and said that there were constant noises in the prisoners' house which exceed ingly annoyed the neighbours. Mr. C. PHILLIPS (who appeared for the pri soners)—lndeed. I should like to know if you ever knew a house in which women resided, to be free from noise ?—(Laughter.) You may go down, Sir. Elizabeth Welch, resided in a house opposite to that inhabited by the prisoners, and had frequently complained of the noise that prevailed in it. People were constantly going into it at all times of the night in a " tosticated'' state. Witness was going away from her lodgings in consequence of the die turhances in the prisoners' house. Cross-examinee'.—There were five women in the house in which witness lived.—( A laugh.) Andrew Bundy, a police constable of the D had seen women sitting at the windows with their breasts exposed, beckoning to young mengoing by. Had seen the girls come at late hours in the night with young men. Mr. PHILLIPS—Had the girls at the windows airy gowns upon them ? Witness—Yes. Mr. PlltulPs—And, pray, have you ever had the luck to see ladies go to routs and the Opera ? Witness—Yes, I have, Sir. Mr. PHILLIPS—And have you not seen them with their bosoms as much exposed as the girls ? Witness—Why, yes, I have.—(Great laughter.) A constable of St. Marylebone parish deposed to the disorderly character of the prisoners' house ; had seen girls come out of the house half-dressed and walk up and down the street. Mr. PHILLIPS—What do you call half-dressed ? Witnes,—They had their shoes down at the heels, and their stockings were over them. Mr. PHILLIPS—Is that what you call undressed ? —Yes. This being the case for the prosecution, Mr. C. PHILLIPS addressed the Jury. There ad not been one tittle of evidence to . I,rove thn the house was one of ill fume, in which, according to the count in the indictment, improper practices had taken place for filthy lucre and gain. It was clear, from the nature of the occupation of the wit ne4ses, that Devonshire-street was one to which the lower classes flocked; and why should not the poor girls, who had fallen from the paths of morality, have an asylum there as well as any one ? Would the July have those poor creatures cast out of doors and die like dogs ? Oh, but it was said, these women make a great noise, and annoy the neighbourhood. He apprehended that the good lady, who said there were five women residing in the house in which s he lived, was as noisy us any of theta over her cup of tea, or her other cups, which, being a widow, she would take to dry up her sorrows. Well but (said the squeamish parish officers,) these girls were at the windows with tlier gowns so arranged as to show their brtasts. A policeman, who had been thought to have made a mistake, had said he had seen a similar exposure by ladies who went to operas and rout. Why, if the Jury went to the opera they might see the same sight, not, perhaps, quite agreeable to him and them as married men, but no doubt extremely so to bache lors acid unengaged *clinkers of the fair sex. He supposed that if time immaculate parish beadles were allowed to have their will, they would cause the vestry clerk of the parish to go round the various houses and measure the gowns of the ' ladies, in order that they might not exceed the boundaries of morality. They might even set down a certain width for the gown, saying," thus far shalt thou go and no farther." The Learned Counsel concluded, by contending that then! was no evidence for the Jury to find the prisoners guilty on either count. The Jury found the male prisoner Guilty on the second count, and acquitted the other. The CHAIRMAN then sentenced him to three months' imprisonment. LEN T ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. GL 0 UCESTER, APRIL 2. Thomas Woodhouse, 4 very respectable-looking lad, was charged with entering the house of Mr. Thomas Phelps, and stealing a pair of silver sugar tongs, a pencil-cage, a signet ring, and a variety of other articles. Mr. Thomas Simpson said—l took the prisoner into custody. He told me where the property ww, and I got it all back pin. The prisoner, when called upon for his defence, said he must beg for mercy. Thomas Lloyd Baker, Esq. (one of the Grand Jury), said—l have known the prisoner since he was ten 'years of age. He has always borne the best of characters, and I, myself, would have trusted ' him; but of late he has taken to frequent one of the new beer shops, and he hus, in consequence, become idle. Mr. Justice PATTESON said that in his experience on the circuit, he had observed that these beer shops 'were the cause of much mischief, and he hoped the Legislature would put a stop to them, as a great many robberies had been planned at some of these shops.—Veriiet, Mr. Justice PATTESON—Prisoner, I shall order the judgment to be recordel; I don't think it will be necessary to send you out of the country. Thomas Bennett, John Bennett, and Thomas Allard, were charged with breaking into the house of William Allard, the elder. The Jury found all the prisoners Guilty. Mr. Justice PATTESON passed sentence of death upon the prisoner John Bennett, but intimated to the other prisoners that their lives would be spared. The prisoner John Bennett heard the sentence passed upon him without the least emotion, and merely said," I hope your Lordship will have mercy en me ;" but the pi isoner Thomas Bennett was cry ing and sobbing all the time. Robert Cooper, aged 36, was charged with rob bing James Allen of Is. 1 hi—Verdict, Guilty. YORK, APRIL I. Richard Hornsby, a Man apparently about fifty years of age, and of rehpeciable appearance, was indicted for the wilful murder of his wife at Leeds. H e was frequently much affected during the progress of the trial. The prisoner, a cooper, resided at Temple Bridge in Leeds, and also possessed a shop in the centril market for the sal e c f toys, which his wife was in the habit of attending. He was in the frequent practice of beating and ill-treating his wife; and on the afternoon of F r id a y, the 16th July, he was seen to strike her wi t h apeggy (washing-stick) in the shop, and also with a walking-stick and a pa;nier's brush. She complained much of pain in the head, and was confined to the house the whole of the week follouing, but medical assistance was not sent for till Friday, the 23d July. From that time she got worse, became delirious, and died on the llth of August. It appeared upon the examination of the medical men that on the post mortent examination they found the app earances they had anticipated, exceF sive vascularity, and inflammation of the membranes of the brain. Mr. Baker deposed that the inflam mation was such as could - be accounted fcr only by the fact of external violence having been inflicted; and to that he attributed the death of the woman. On the other hand, Dr. Williamson and Mr. Price averred that the appearances were not such as to indicate external violence, and attributed the state of the brain to mental anxiety and excitement, na tural and artificial, or induced by an excessive indul gence in spirituous liquors. Under these circumstances his LORDSHIP directed the July to acquit, the prisoner: and, of er some hesitation, which appeared to arise from a dhinclina t ion to accede to the order,they eturne 1 a verdict of Not Guilty. Joseph Senior, age.! 23, and William Brummil, aged 32, both very decent-looking men, were put upon their trial,on two charges of highway robbery, accompanied in both instances with violence. The first charge was that they attacked one Saul Jessop, music-master, on the highway between Hudders field and Wakefield, and robbed him of two 51. notes, a quantity of silver, and a tuning-fork. His LORDSHIP having summed up the evidence, the prosecutor, at the request of the Jury, was asked if he felt any doubt as to the identity of Senior. He replied " None whatever. lam as po sitive be is the man as I am of my own existence." The Jury then withdrew to consider their verdict and returned, finding Senior Guilty, and acquitting Brummit. The second indictment against the prisouets charged them with an assault and highway robbery on Joshua Hirst, at Dalton, and robbing him of three sovereigns and some silver. The Jury found them Guilty. TAUNTON, APRIL 1. This being Good Friday, the Judges, at eleven o'clock, attended Divine Service, and at two o'clock their Lordships took their seats in their re spective Courts. Rubert Brewer, a c ed 42, was indicted for mali ciously cutting and wounding his wife, Mary Brewer, with intent to murder her, or do her some grievous bodily harm. Elizabeth Brewer had been married to the pri soner. 18 years, and they had eight children. On the night of the 10th of January he returned from his club rather intoxicated, and abused her and her lodgers. in consequence of which she went for a constable, and atter some time lie agreed to be peaceable. He had previously said that " he'd be - if he did not do execution before he slept." After tl►e constable's departure she, retired to rest, .and the prisoner followed her.— He recommenceile, his abuse, and she and her daughter Fanny went down stairs and locked themselves into a room. The prisoner afterwards came down stairs and tried to break open the door. Witness desired her daughter to open the door, which she did, and he came in and he laid himself down by the side of the bed, having pre viously lighted his pipe. She said he should not smoke there, it being dangerous, and she knocked the pipe out of his mouth. He lighted another pipe, and she broke that also. He then lighted a third, and said that if she broke that he would cut her throat. She did break it, and then she heard her daughter say, " Oh I mother, he has got a knife." She then flew to the door; her husband followed her, and aimed a blow at her throat, which she caught on her chin. Other evidence was called • corroborative of these facts, and the Jury found the prisoner Guilty, but recommended him to mercy. His LORDSHIP, after a suitable address, ordered sentence of death to be recorded. LONDON MARKETS. PRICE OF BRNAD. The highest price of Bread in the Metropolis is 10}4d. for the llb. Loaf. There are others who sell from 30. to 1;0. below that price. PRICE OF SEEDS.—ApriI 4. New English Red Clover Seed (per Cwt.) —s. 70s. fine —5.1055. Old Ditto New Foreign Ditto. Old Ditto New White Clover, Old Ditto Ditt0...,.., New Trefoil 31d Ditto Rib Gras s ••••••~.•••••••• English Carraway Foreign Ditto coriander St. Foin --s. '7.5e. fine 80s. 82s. 'Rye Grass . _ --s. new 20s. 255. Pacey Ditto , 40s. 455. new —s. —s. Linseed, for feeding —s. 50s. fine 58a Ditto, for crushing 44s. 465. —a. tine —s. Canary Seed, "Itto White 'Mustard Seed..--(per 8u5he1)„,...... —a. Bs. Ifis. fine —s. Brown Ditto , Si. 17s. —s. "Furalp Seeds, Rounds —s. —s. —s. tine I4s. Green and Red Ditto . --s. —s. --s. fine 18s. Tares, Old - —s. 255. 365. fine —a. Ditto New —a. —s, fine 425. 465. Rate Seed, English, fine (per Last) 381. 38/. Foreign —l. —a. 5.25; 70s. tine —s.llos. —5. —s. fine —s. —s. —s. 60s. fine —s. 755. —3. 20s. fine —s. 525, —s. 15s. fine —s 20s. 255. fine Ws. Mt, ..—s. 455. 50a. fine 58s. --a. --a. 55a. fine 575. —s. 60s. fine --a. 6:35 PItICES OF HOPS.—Avil 4. Kent Pockets 7l 16s. 91. 153. to 13'. Su ex Ditto Frife X Di ttO F Atrham Ditto. Seconds •••••••• "MM. Kent L to 91. 9• Of. Os, 141. Os. to 161 Os. 01. OS, 71, Os. to 12.1 Os. 4/. Os. 81. Os. to 91. 9 Essex Ditto_ Sussex Ditto _ . 61. Ps. 71. Os. to 71. 121. 71. Os. 71.'15 , . to 81. PRICE OF OIL. RApe Oil, brown Cs. Refined X4l (S Linseed Oil Linseed Oil Cake at die Mill, per thousand Rape Cake, per ton WHITECHAPEI , HAY MARKET.—ApriI 2 Hay 554. (At. to 80s. Od. I Clover (Al. to HOs. Od, VAC (ki. to 40i. Od. PRICE OF POTATOES.—ApriI 1. 31. Ms. to 4/. Os. per ton 13. to 4/. Os. ditto. Kidneys Scotch Hods... Marsh Champtons---,... 01. IN. to 4!. Ws. ditto. Oxnobles and Shaws IIAW HIDES. Per Stone. s. A. to s. d. Per Stone. s. d. to s. d. st Ileit,rs& Stgers2 8 3 0 Ordinary 110 2 0 4 2 6 Market Calf 6 6 each. SHEEP Long Wool 4s. Od. to fis. Od. SKINS. Short W 001.... 2s. 6d. to 4s. Cd. Os. Od. to Od. LEATHER. Per lb. d. to d. Tanned Horse Hides.. 15 18 Spinish Ditto 18 22 l'er dozen. Calf Skins... 36 to 4l lib. 15 19 ITitto to 70lb. 20 24 I)itto to 8111 b. 19 21 Small Sella, Greenland 211 2_'2l E t.—April 4. Wall. End Hotspur.. 265. 9d, Ditto Jesmond coasting 24 0 Ditto Monkseaton........ 22 0 Walls c.:11.1 New march— 25 6 Ditto Nottliumberland 21 6 Ditto 22 0 Ditto Perkins and C 0... 24 6 Ditto ...... 26 0 Walls End Russell's... 27 0 I Ditto to deliver at 23 6 Ditto Walker 26 6 Eden Main 2-1 0 Lambton V 6 Walls End Hetton ....... V 0 Walls End Larnbton.... 2S 9 Walls End Ly0n5....... Y.. 5 9 Walls End Stewart's .... 2> 0 W. E. Russell's Hutton 21 0 Ditto Russell's Lyon's... 26 0 W. E. Cleveland..—..... 0t 6 C0wpen...........1•••••••;/..• V 6 Fordel 25 0 Hartley 26 0 New Flockton, Milne and Co. 0 Silkstone 23 0 ITatilleld V 6 cold, 66%—Unsold, PRICES OF Per lb. —d.to d. 11ittt5...........50 to 561 b... 16 22 to 661 b... 17 23 Dressing 14 16 Fine Coach Mies 17 14 Crop Hides, 4 0 to 401 b. 13 Lit to 451 b 14 15a 15 17 Ditto COAL MARK Adair's .1••••• Of OW •••••••.."..... 21s. Od. 22 6 Bensham Main 21 0 Bishop's 9.0 6 Charlotte 3 Felling 21 9 24 0 Killingworth 24 0 Liddell's 34 in 21 9 Ord's Redhugh 22 6 Peiaw - 23 6 21 6 i'ontop lantield 24 6 23 0 Willington 25 6 Wylain 24 3] %Valls End Bew icke&Co. '4' 6 Ditto Bell Rolison & Co. 24 0 Walls End Boundary.. 22 ( 1 Walls Erd Brown's--- 24 0 Ditto Burraton 23 9 Walls End Caller ton—... 21 t; Walls End Carr and Co. 22 6 Ditto Clarke and Co. « 22 6 Di . to Crawling t 22 0 Ditto GreenWcll 21 0 Ditto 26 9 Wails End Hilda 23 0 at market, 249—ship MANCHESTER, April 2. Wheat has again declined 2d. to 3d. per bushel, but other hinds of Gram are, unaltered. Flour is considerably lower. Oatmeal remains steady Wheat, per 701 b. 10s. 4d. to tls.3d. Red los. Id. to It's. 9d. Barley, per 601 h. 5 0 6 0 Oat. Beans, per Imperial quarter Pease, White, per Imperial bushel 5 6 6 9 Malt, per 6 Imperial bushel. 5O 0 53 0 Hour, per Saak uf 2901 b. 53 0 33 0 CHEAP EDUCATION•—At a meeting of the Edinburgh Gaelic School Society, last week, it was stated that the average expense incurred by the Society in teach ing au individual to read the Scriptures, and in furnishing bins with a Bible or Testament, has nut exceeded thirteen shillings and twopence. - - THE NEW HUNGERFORD MARKET.-011 Saturday a Court of Compensation was held at Guildhall, Westminster, before Mr. SMEDLEY, the High Bailiff's as sessor, for the purpose of assessing the value of Villiers street Wharf, which the Hungerford Mat ket Company re quire to effect their iu-iprovements in restoring the market. The case occupied the whole day. Mr. ADAM and Mr. Por.Locic conducted the case for the proprietor of the pre inises, Mr. JAmEs Ricxmatf. The claim made by Mr. Rio:max amounted to about 11,000/. for lease, fixtures, and loss of removal, and 3,0001. for loss sustained on two }ears' profits. A great number of respectable witnesses were examined, and the Jury, after an hour's considers : lion, a warded the sum of 9,b00/. to Mr. litcxxiArt in satisfaztion of all claims. THE LAW OF. HUSBAND AND WIFE, AS NEWLY REVISED . Sir. Peter Laurie noticed, with concern, a , hurt time since, a change which had rec.mtly been worked by the Judges, in the law of Eng land, upon the subject of adultery. The deci sion to which he referred was pronounced by Judge Bayley (with whom sat Justices Little dale and James Parke), in the Court of king's Bench, in the early part of November last ; and, as it escaped observation at the time, it may he interesting to give a brief account of it now. It is no longer true that there is, one law for the rich and another for the .poor, where an un happy husband discovers that his connubial hap piness has been destroyed; for, altl.o igh the poor man may, by reason of his poverty, be in capable of raising a suit for , separation in the Ecclesiastical Courts, yet,,ir he chooses to se parate without obtaining a legal sanction for so doing, the overseers of the poor can no longer claim to be indemnified against the expence of maintaining his wife. It has been the almost universal practice of the Magistracy to hold that every man is bound to support his wife, and that, however licentious her conduct may be, the obligation to support her continues until he obtains a formal relief in the Ecclesiastical Courts. Therefore, if the wife becomes chargeable to any parish (which she sometimes elects to do, from spleen rather than necessity), the Justice will commit the husband as a rogue and vagabond for neglecting to main tain his family, unless he shall agree to make a sufficient allowance to prevent her from being burdensome any longer. The Judges, how ever, have now de:ermined that such commit ments are illegal, the Vagrant Act only empow ering the Magistrate to punish every person re fusing or neglecting to support any part of his family " whom he may be legally bound to maintain," while a husband cannot be said to be legally bound to maintain an adulteress, who could not recover a maintenance in an Ecclesia stical Court. Henceforward, then, it will be a valid defence, upon being charged before a Ma gistrate with neglecting to maintain a wife, to call witnesses, and adduce legal proof of her ,nfidelity. But to the case. Mr. W. H. Flintan, a com mercial traveller, married Miss Elizabeth Ste vens in 1814, and they lived together till November, 1826, when she quitted his house in consequence of a dispute about her having pawned his plate, and lent his watch to a man named Bevan ; and three days after this separa tion the husband received a citation from the Consistory Court for cruelty and adultery ; which citation was dismissed in July, 1828, upon proof that the wife had herself committed adul tery, with divers persons, at an earlier period than that proved against the husband. The wife then threw herself upon the parish of St. Andrew by the Wardrobe, from which she received four shillings per week ; and the husband refusing to reimburse this sum (because he contended he was relieved from his liability to maintain her from the very moment she committed adultery), he was summoned before Sir Peter Laurie at Guildhall. Here Mr. Heaton, the bar rister, ably supported, by reference to cases, the position taken up by the husband, and was permitted by the Alderman to prove adultery on the p art of the wife ; first, by the examination of witnesses ; and next, by reference to the record of the proceedings in the Ecclesiastical Court. The Alder man was completely satisfied on this point, but having taken the opinion of several, Magi s . trates, as well as of the City Law Authorities, he ultimately convicted the husband, under the third section of the Vagrant Act, and committed him to imprisonment and har 1 labour for one month. The husband immediately put in bail, and appealed against' this conviction ..to the Quarter Sessions, where he was at the expenCe of taking all his witnesses on two days, and n it was then adjourned to a third, when the appeal was called on out of turn, and in the absence of his Counsel, and it was affirmed, subject, hoW ever, to the opinion of the Judges of the Court of King's Bench, on a special case, admitting the adultery to be proved. The case stated the fact of the wife being chargeable to the parish while the husband was able wholly to maintain her—the separation of the parties—and a copy of the record of the dismissal of the wife's suit for alimony, in con sequence of her having committed adultery ; and it concluded that the question was, whether the husband was, at the time of the conviction, legally bound to maintain his wife, within the meaning of the Vagrant Act ? i. Mr. Mirehouse and Mr. Patteson were heard on the 3d of November in support of the con viction ; and the last-named Counsel, in the course of his argument, admitted that, if the parish had stood in the same situation as an in dividual, affording assistance to the wife, it would have had no claim to indemnification from the husband. The Court asked how could the husband be bound to maintain her if she could not recover maintenance in an Ecclesiastical Court ? and the Judges forthwith quashed the conviction, with out troubling Mr. Heaton or Mr. Jones, who were retained for the husband, to rep ly. Having been put to some expellee (about 401.) in resisting an illegal decision which wag attempted to be upheld by the long purse of the Corporation of London, the husband•naturally thought the Court of Aldermen would, in justice, refund to him at least a portion of the costs of liti gation (as, it has been said, was done in Mr. Alderman Winchester's case), and he presented a memorial on the subject, through Sir Peter Laurie, who, however, shortly afterwards, wrote to him that the Court of Aldermen did not con sider it in their power to comply with his applica tion, and that his memorial was laid on. the table. Now, inasmuch as the husband had been: l compelled to find sureties to pay the exAcnces;, of the City, in case the Judges should decide: , ignorance whi: v h e against him, certainly et , j ustice and the' honour of the Corporati..;;de.manded that the then from in o m fairnesstmlishould be reimbursed the experices and c os ts he had been put to, throug h the i g noran ce of the City Law Autho Judges deemed too cl ear for argument. How f, isin to rescue the chara c t ers o f the imputation of a pin ever, n con serjeant (Denman), an d the present Coroner of London, whose opting • 151 were in accordance with that afte rwar d s pro nounced by the Judges, BIRTHS. On the 4th inst. the lady of M. J. Quin, Esq. of a daughter. On the 2d inst. at Coombe, Surrey, the lady o f J. W. Suthel Lind, Esq • of a son MARRIED. oak i On the 94 inst. at Lambeth, Mr. T. Grissell, of York-r Lam b e th, to Eliza, widow of the late J. Sheen, Esq. of Wallinl ford, Berks. DIED. On the 3d inst. at County-terrace, New Kent-read, R. Carl Esq., aged 75. On the 3d inst. Mr. H. Gubbins, lata cf Charlotte-stn Bloomsbury, aged 56. FRUITS') AND FIAItIRRED MURDO YOUNG, AT TI SIN OFFICE, 112, STRAND, LONDON, 12 0 7 10 L._- the 13 lest is To the H Comps ViiS YI your V April z CABE M best-se Egglar Leaden ably to and ern bine to Membi at 'cleat Japanii Ditto d Lady's Daft., Large Japann Roiew( Lou .tat B 1 the dt GE.S% , best ac of the 1145 Tr , Beetioi tion.— To th rff c East Fast T DEL: erupti efforts llr table ous it