The Sun. — London, England, 1834-11-19 00:00:00

Tinges, indeed, tells us that it is. " When the reign of party (says our contemporary) is utterly at an end—when the whole 'people, a name unknown, as Burke said, in his time, to any text book of the Eng lish constitution—when the public has become its predominating element—when the essential . power of the State, the representation of the people in Parlia ment has devolved upon themselves, and on their own free choice, and when no given number of individuals or of families can by any concert, however skilful, or de termination, however fixed, present the least effectual barrier to the declared wishes and resolution of the people,' names become, as we have already stated in a comparison between the French and English Governments—names become as much a matter ap proaching to indifference in England, because of the real supremacy of the nation—as they do in France from the absolutism of the Crown. The Duke of Wellington, therefore, whose Conservatism has hitherto shown itself to be of a somewhat mitigated colour, in contrast with that of many of his supporters—the Duke, we say, must have the countenance of a freely chosen House of Commons for his entire policy, and for each separate measure by which it is illustrated, or he must from the hour at which that countenance is withdrawn from him cease to be Minister of Great Britain. To imagine that the Duke of Welling ton, or that any man with a tithe of his sagacity, could undertake the administration of a country so per vaded as this is by a universal consciousness that the application of the reform principle to many gross abuses of Church and State still remains uneffected, and that without its further and systematic progress the peace and well-being of every rank of society must be altogether insecure—to imagine, we say, that the Duke of Wellington could undertake his present office in the expectation of being able to obstruct the regu lar advancement of the reform principle, and in doing so, to resist the whole intellectual and moral force of En gland, would be to stamp him for a maniac." For maniac, read fool (for only on the 23d of June last the Times pronounced him what amounts to the latter), and then we may observe that the Duke must make his election between fool and knave on the showing of our contemporary. He has hitherto declared himself the determined opponent of Reform ; and he must be a knave, if, believing in the indispensable necessity of all that the Times has enumerated, lie yet constantly opposed it. But we think better of the honesty of the Duke than to suppose for a moment that he wishes for power for any other purpose than to prevent Reform. The Times now assumes the possibility of the Duke of Wellington beina t' good Reformer, and that lie can patch up a Ca binet of Conservatives equally good Reformers. But would not all men in that case have a just right to repeat after the Times (15th May, 1832), " Who is there that would now change places with the Duke of Wellington ? With a hardi hood of infatuation of which there is no example, he goes on doggedly in this miserable work of building up a Cabinet without one sound material—a Cabinet of which the first condition is that every man who enters it must leave his good name behind him ;—yes, let it be written over the door-way, Principle and reputation are the price of admission here.' We really cannot think so ill of his Grace and the whole body of Conservatives as to believe they have hitherto been always speaking and voting against their convic tion ; and we are satisfied that if the Duke should show himself so reckless with regard to principle, he would disgust many of the Conservatives, on whose support alone he must necessarily count. That the Times may think lightly of professing a devotion one day to what it repudiates the next, is far more probable than that the Duke should act on the views it ascribes to him. With what face could the Duke stand up in the House of Lords even to adopt the principles so charitably given to him by the Times? "W e stated yesterday," (says our contemporary) "on the allegation of the Duke of Wellington's friends (friends !), that he is deeply im pressed with the necessity of a thorough Church reform. If his Grace be so convinced with regard to the Church of England, how much more profoundly must he en tertain the conviction as to what concerns the Irish Church ? In persuading ourselves, however, that the Duke meditates reform,' we must wait for his actions before their sufficiency can be relied upon ; and if they fall short of what the evil requires ; if they touch but the surface and leave the roots unmolested, the country will soon display its sense of the failure by taking the remedy into its own hands. So, respect ing economy at home and in our distant possessions —so for reform of the manifold abuses of our Corpo rations —so, with what is wanting towards a better ar rangement of the criminal law and the law of real pro perty. If the Duke of 'Wellington proceeds with these in sympathy with the people, and in a spirit of good faith, there is no man from whom Englishmen will accept a benefit more cordially or gratefully than from him who has already served them." This as sumption is really one of the coolest affronts ever offered to the people of England. They are to put faith in a man whose claim to their confidence is his having proved that he is a hypocrite and a knave ! If the people were to allow themselves to be juggled for seven years out of their power on the vague promises of the Conservatives to act fairly by the Reform Bill, and to introduce effective improvements in Chureli and State, how can they prevent a bad use being made of their confidence ? Is it not more prudent now to withhold power from men of suspected principles, than to confide in them, trusting to the ability to resist in case of abuse of the power ? To be consistent, we ought to pray his Majesty to exclude such men from his Councils—to carry into effect those measures of Reform in Church and State which the country requires, andpar tictilar/y to exclude all those whose conduct, while in office, and subsequently in opposition to the Reform Bill, and the measures to which it has led, has justly exposed them to the DISTRUST of the people. Only let his HIGHNESS once get a majority in the Com mons, and then we may expect a return of the Gag ging Bills—a re-modelling of the Reform Bill—an increase of the ten pound to a twenty-pound franchise (twenty, the favourite sum with the Conservatives). The attempt would be madness—the country would resist it, our contemporary will exclaim. But we can resist it better by constitutional than by unconstitu tional means. If we confide in the Conservatives, and the Conservatives vote the mutilation of the Reform Bill, we can only prevent them by violating the law. It is better to trust to honest men ; men who do not need to violate their principles to do justice to the people. We repeat, then, to the Duke, the language held by the Times to Dugdale, the Tory candidate for Warwickshire, at the election for the Reform Parlia ment (17th December 1832) :—" What right has Dugdale to the support of the new constituency ? Had his opinion been followed, or had his exertions been successful, none of the tenantry voters would have been in possession of their new franchises. In every division on the Reform Bill, during 1831 and 1832, we find his name in the list of its opponents. If the freeholders and new electors of 'Warwickshire (10 not unite to throw out such a candidate, and to bring in his two Reform antagonists, they will render themselves the tools of a degraded faction, and prove that they are unworthy of the privileges conferred upon the nation by our new Bill of Rights."— Morning Chronicle. The Lord Mayor has acquired a claim to the appro bation and gratitude not only of every loyal citizen of London, but of every man who entertains any respect for the principles of the British Constitution, by the manly, spirited, and just rebuke which he has just ad ministered to the officious and self-important Common Councilmen, who manifestly wish to wrest from their Sovereign the prerogative of appointing his own Minis ters, and to keep, exalted and enlightened personages as they are, this power in their own clean hands. The oc casion upon which time Lord Mayor, thus early in his year of office, has had the good fortune to make this dis play of good sense and sound Constitutional feeling, was the presentation of two Requisitions from certain noto rious members of the Common Council, calling upon his Lordship to convene that body for the purpose of taking into its high consideration the state of the nation, now that it is bereft of the Whig Ministers, who did so much for it and so little for themselves. The first Requisition of these city senators to the Lord Mayor spoke of " the general alarm of the citizens of London," an alarm of which certainly nobody but themselves can perceive the least symptom ; of the measures of re form " for which wise and extensive preparations had been made by his Majesty's late Ministers"—although of such preparations these sages of the Common Coun cil could know absolutely nothing, unless, for their in— struction, some Privy Councillor had violated his duty and his oath ; and of a distrust, premature, even if it were not unfounded, of the Ministers whom they suppose Ins Majesty may be pleased to call to his councils, in contempt of the Royal prerogative, and in defiance of the general feelings of their fellow citizens, and of the community at large. This requisition the Radical faction of the Common Council were obliged to withdraw, and to substitute another in its place, less ofilmsive and unconstitutional in its terms, less mischievous in its import and probable consequences, and in exactly the same proportion less agreeable to the individuals who concocted both. The excellent Chief Magistrate of the City of London knew his duty too well to listen to the first of these requisitions ; but he has so far complied with the second, as to promise to convene the Common Council on this day se'nnight. The Duke of Wellington's Administration is to be assailed accordingly, on 'Wednesday next, by all the power of eloquence and weight of character for which Mr. Galloway and Mr. Stevens, Mr. Richard Taylor and Mr. Pritchard, Mr. David Wire and Mr. Ashurst, individually and collectively are so much distinguished. The crisis will be an awful one. If the new Administra tion survive the attack of Wednesday next, what more can it have to fear? Our readers will naturally enough be impatient that their time should be intruded upon by any notice of persons so insignificant as those we have named, and the only apology we can offer is that we have the strongest reason for believing that these persons are merely puppets, and that the wires which govern them are held by more important and able although not more respectable or loyal men than themselves. We wish some of these requisitionists • would be so kind as to answer two or three questions which, in consequence of information we have received, we deem very fit and proper questions to be put to them at the present moment. Did a deputation, con sisting of one or more of their number, pass a considerable part of last Sunday morning in conference with a Noble and Learned Lord ? Supposing (as we believe) such a conference to have been held, were the terms of the first Requisi tion to which, on account of its disloyal and unconsti tutional character, the Lord Mayor refused to listen, settled at that or at any subsequent conference with the same individual ? Was it in consequence of any suggestion thrown out at that or any subsequent con ference with a Noble and Learned Person that the Requisitionists in their discussion of yesterday with the late Administration as creating an emergency in the affairs of the nation equal to what would be pro duced by a demise of the Crown ; and intimated with so much correct taste and manly feeling their opinion that the death of her Majesty would have been in comparison a very trivial calamity ? That such con ference or conferences were held we have not the slightest doubt. All that is doubtful in the matter is whether the Requisitionists have not gone a little be yond the spirit of their instructions, as low people, too zealous m their servility, are sometimes prone to. — Morning Post. Our evening contemporaries—a few of them at least—are busy in the gathering of the slightest morsel of intelligence respecting the new Administration and the persons who are to figure in it. One will have it that Lord Denman has been called upon by the King, which we can scarcely believe, to resign the Chief Justiceship of the King's Bench, to which he was raised not less by his own character and talents than by the unanimous voice of the people—another, that the greatest and most recognised enemies of the people are to fill the most important situations, in order to strike terror into the people. We cannot, we confess, enter into these feelings. The Duke of Wellington, the declared opponent of all Reform, is the Prime Minister, and who his official adjutants are, is a question of about as much importance as that of the name of his butler or groom. His poli tics must be their politics—his course of action, their course of action—his commands, their will. To fish for the lieutenants would be to fish for things that are not worth catching—having the salmon, we know of what complexion the sprats are. When the new Minis try—how long will it last ?—has been formed, if ever it shall be formed, we shall, as faithful journalists, chronicle it from the Gazette. Till it appears in that cheap and interesting channel of useful knowledge-, we really, the chief being settled, shall not take the trouble to walk even so far as Whitehall to ascertain who is to wipe the dust from the Duke's feet. Having got the master—the men are of little import ance. We agree with our evening cotemporary, the Globe, which, with ourselves, has " nailed its flag to the mast of reform," and we doubt not will stand true to the principle of honest and good government — that expectations are propagated and entertained that the Duke of Wellington will accomplish most excellent reforms in Church and State—but vide the com mentary—look at the position in which he would place himself by such conduct—look at the apostacy of which he would be guilty—think for one moment of the confidence which, in consequence of such conduct, he would acquire with the honest people of England, and say—we appeal both to Tories and Radicals— ought he to be trusted ? In what the Globe says on this subject we perfectly concur : " Had his Grace," says it, " never linked himself with the opposition to Parliamentary reform, never declared an uncom promising attachment to the worst of existing abuses, we should think him ill qualified to guide the people in the thorough and careful correction of our institutions. But it is absurd to overlook the events of the last year—to forget that the Duke of Wellington has been the unbending enemy of re form ; that he has been brought into collision with the people on that point ; that he has been thrown into close alliance with the most bigotted adversaries of popular opinions ; that he has contracted or strengthened enmities and partialities in the cause of Parliamentary hostility and co-operation ; that he has pledged himself to principles of conduct to which he never was linked before ; that he is specifically committed to the maintenance of the very abuses precisely the most obnoxious to the people, and the most urgently requiring correction. It is vain to expect concession of opinions so recently and distincly avowed. It is disgraceful to the character (yr the Duke himself to imagine that he will fling by the pro fessions of opposition the moment they have served him to gain power, and as preposterous to imagine that he can do it with safety as with honour. We are told, indeed, of the reli ance which is to be placed in the Duke's candour and good sense, and sufficiently reminded of the facility with which he retracted opinions and flung over political associates in the matter of the Catholic question. But we have always thought that the Duke acted honestly and wisely in that matter, and we do not know how we can well draw from thence the infe rence that he is now prepared to act basely and foolishly. One change of faith on sober deliberation and honest conviction confers the merits of a noble sincerity : the infamy of apos tacy or the contempt of disgraceful levity is incurred by the renegade to repeated vows. How could the Duke retain power on terms such as these, if he would? He has been bolne into power on the shoulders of the supporters of abuses, and he must do their work. He is supported by the House of Lords—is it that he may destroy the abuses by which the aristocracy thrive? He relies on the activity of the Orange men and the clergy—will he retain their support on the con dition of eradicating the abuses of the Irish or the English church? He depends on the support of those who fatten on the abuses of the corporations—does he think they will fight for him except as the champion of municipal corruptions ? " Of the Duke of Wellington and Sir R. Peel, there is but one opinion to be entertained, after their gulp of the Catholic Emancipation Bill, against all of whose provisions they had repeatedly declared themselves, and that is, that they will find no obstacle in eating any other Bill which it may be necessary to past, in order to keep them in power. One lie is enough for all honest men--one roguery a proof that the person guilty of it is not to be trusted. We do not trust the Duke of Wellington, whatever he may do, or promise to do—and for the special reason to which we have already adverted, that having been guilty of one unaccountable conversion, we do not know of what other conversions, upon other grounds, but under the same pretexts, he may not be guilty. How ever, we care not much what his Grace may or may not do. The result must be in favour of the people —the only danger to be apprehended is, that he will trick them out of a few months of the enjoyment of a large and extended franchise. Our fears, however, are not strong on this subject. The people are meet ing and resolving in all quarters—they are up and do ing—they are awake to the crisis—they are about to make a staunch and determined stand against the rob bers and plunderers of their purses, and the enemies of all reform ; and if we do not greatly mistake the import of the numerous communications which reached THE SUN, EJONDON, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1834 us in the coarse of lacit night, the Tories will soon find good reason to be lieve that they have put their sickle into the corn ". - , when the harvest was green."— Morning Advertiser. The answer of the .TLord Mayor to certain members of the Common Count il, who signed a requisition for an early Court to c onsi . der the propriety of presenting an address to the King, expressing the general alarm of the citizens of .London at the dismissal of the Melbourne Ministry, is an answer becoming the Chief Magistrate of the city of London on such an occa sion. It is temperat reasonable, and constitutional. The requisition itseliF contains two statements, which we abstain from callinv untruths, because the word is discourteous, but which we must take the liberty of designating as political , if not poetical, fictions. The requisition states it :as a fact, an admitted fact, that the dismissal of the Melbourne Ministry had caused a general alarm of the citizens of London. It might as well be said that the event had clone that which the flames that burned down the Parliament Houses had failed to tio—had set the Thames on fire. General alarm, indeed! Where is it to be seen? where are the evidences of it ? Does the mind of London, then, so distinguished. for good sense, and so capable of discriminating between . genuine pate iotism and interested partisanship—does the mind of London, we say, re flect the tragic solemnity of Dr. Wade's countenance, and the moping melaTacholy of Mr. Buller ? Illus trious leaders of an illustrious cause, is their agony of alarm so contagious tha t it infects all London, which can find no vent for its grief unless in spouting dolo rous addresses to the throne to tell his Majesty he has no right to do what every other man has a right to do —to choose his own servants—and to assure him, in fact, that lie is and ought to be the only slave in his own dominions ? The other fiction introduced into the requisition is that the late Ministry possessed a large share of public confidence. When the Whig Mi nistry was in its best days, before Stanley, Graham, Richmond, and Ripon abandoned it, there was much rea son to complain of its frequent deviations from principle, and its falsification of pledges formerly given to the public. But from the moment when Lord Grey, compelled by treachery to retire from his high station, abandoned the Cabinet, which his hands had originally con structed, its last claim to respectability was gone. His successor never had any political name or weight in the country ; and Lord Brougham so conducted him self as to give the finishing blow to the lath-and plaster thing which was built upon the ruins of Lord Grey's power. Indeed the declarations of Lord Brougham, both in his itinerant speeches and in the Edinburgh Review, made it no fiction to say, " the better Broughamite, the worse reformer." Now, those members of the Common Council who have been so anxious to give the citizens of London the opportu nity to express their " general alarm," and who have ventured, after the manner of their patron, to make opprobrious charges against the press, because it will not lend itself to the con templated political juggle, are evidently inte rested for one man, and that man the one who has had more to do in overthrowing the Melbourne Ministry than any other man living. We mean that Noble and Learned Lord, who lately sentenced, with a dash of his pen, in the Edinburgh Review, the in dependent London Press to extinction, because it vainly endeavoured to avert from the heads of the poor of England the curse and the calamity of the Mahhu sian Bill. The Lord Mayor truly stated that the "terms of the requisition were such as directly to involve the principle of dictation to the King with reference to one of his Majesty's most important prerogatives— the free choice of his Ministers, the constitutional and responsible advisers of the Crown." Nothing could be more correct than this view of the matter. We have never advocated any unfair stretches of the Royal prerogative; but, as lovers of Constitutional principle, we consider the legal prerogative of the Crown ought to be as sacred from infringement as the privileges of the Par liament, or the liberties of the people ; and, certainly, there is no more undoubted prerogative of the Crown than the right of the Sovereign to choose his responsi ble advisers. When chosen, if their acts displease the country, let Parliament and the people, according to the prescribed forms of the Constitution, express their sentiments, or carry them to the foot of the throne ; but to constrain the King in the choice of his Minis ters is, indeed, to supplant the Constitution of England by a wild democracy. We observe, however, that after the Lord Mayor had returned his answer to the requi sition, another one was drawn up by the same persons as had signed the former, and containing nothing illegal upon the face of it. It was in the following words, as our report in another column will show : " We, the undersigned members of the Court of Common Council, request your Lordship to call an immediate Court, to take such measures as the Court may think right in the pre sent state of public affairs, and to address his Majesty thereon, if the Court shall think fit." _ On reading this the Lord Mayor observed that he saw nothing objectionable in th e t erms of it, (and having promised to give an answer at two o'clock, he was waited upon by the requisitionists at that time), and he would comply with the requisite on by sum moning a Court, but it was impossible to Lill one im mediately. It was a custom from which he could not at all consider himself at liberty to deviate, for the Lord Mayor to go in State to the first Court of Alder men, before he went to try any other Court, and it would be impossible to hold a Court of Aldermen at a moment's warning, for most of the Members were out of town. He was, therefore, constrained to wait for the regular time of summoning the Court of Alder men, which would be Tuesday next ; but instead of appointing the Thursday following, which was the re gular time for holding the Court of Common Council, he should appoint the Wednesday, on which day the matter of the requisition should stand first on the paper. This courteous—and some what accommodating answer, however, was not quite satisfactory, to the Broughamite patriots, —the admirers of the " do-little," and " do less" principle of government. They wanted to strike the blow while the iron was hot. They wished to embody the " general alarm" of the citizens in the address, lest, peradventure, it might evaporate in the space of one littl e wee k. Thereore they pressed the Lord Mayor for an immediate Court,. and one of the requisitionists put it to his Lordship, whether if he re ceived intelligence of the demise of the Crown to morrow, he would not call a Court of Aldermen at the moment? He answered in the affirmative, saying that would be an emergency indeed; but another declared that the present was a far greater emergency. The Lord Mayor,in the midst of the combined attack made upon him with great nafvate,observed that he had been on 'Change, and in very many public places,and did not find any symp toms of the alarm which some people spoke of. The matter ended by the worthy Chief Magistrate declaring he could not possibly hold a Court until W e d nes d ay week, on which the requisitionists departed very much dissatisfied. Why should they he so ? If there be a general alarm, and a just cause for it, surely it must increase instead of diminishing in a week's time ; but the fact is the " alarm" is like the merits and public virtue of the late Melbourne Cabinet, very difficult to find out.—Morning Herald. While the public, we suspect, are destined to wit ness—nay, indeed, are already witnessing —some changes on the part of the public Press which add neither to its respectability nor to its influence, we have fortunately no such metamorphosis to undergo_ no new adhe;ions to give in. Our party is that of the country—to its interests we have hitherto adhered, and shall adhere, quite regardless of who the persons or the party may be which are at the head of affairs. While their measures are such as in our opinion are calculated to promote the general welfare, they have our unbiassed support—when otherwise, our free and fearless censure. With these preliminary remarks we proceed to notice the all-absorbing subject of the changes which are now taking place in the Adminis tration—changes which we have long been persuaded were as inevitable as any political event which has ever taken place. The return of the Duke of Wellington to the head of affairs was not so ob viously the necessary result of any change. We are not behind the warmest of the Duke's admirers in enthusiastic respect for those high claims on public gratitude and homage which he, above all men of the age, possesses. But it is not in the Cabinet that his Grace's laurels have bent won ; nor as a Statesman, that any portion of his splendid fame bas been ac- quired. In that character he has hitherto been on all occasions as much behind the spirit of the age, as on the field of battle he has ever been in advance of all foes and competitors. While we admire and partake of the Duke's attachment to the institutions of the country, in mistaking salutary and timely reform for re volution, he has uniformly postponed the one till he brought the country in danger of the other. Since the Duke of Wellington last presided at the helm of public affairs, he has had more both to learn and to unlearn than any man who ever reached so high an eminence. We are not without hope that the interval may have been passed by his Grace in so drilling and disciplining his mind, as to enable him to become as eminent in council as in the field. Should such be the case— should the Duke be found willing and prepared to carry out the necessary results of the Reform Bill in its true spirit, the country will hail his return to office with alacrity and confidence—with a confidence not a little enhanced by the conviction that in his hands the ancient landmarks and buttresses of the Constitu tion will be safe from wanton innovation. In no other spirit, in no other tone, can the Duke of Welling ton's Administration stand. As an earnest then of what that spirit will be, the country will, in the first instance, naturally look with anxiety to the persons of whom his Grace's Cabinet is to be composed. Perhaps it is fortunate both for the Duke and for the country that, owing to peculiar circumstances, those arrange ments cannot be made in haste, but must await the re turn from abroad of more than one of the persons to be either consulted or included in them. Ihis will give the new Premier breathing time. It will give him time to take counsel not only from his own mind, but from the state of public opinion, in the teeth of which no man can long hope to govern in this country. In the mean time much may be done to propitiate and to in fluence that opinion. Let the Duke of Wellington, for instance, lose not a moment in disclaiming and dis carding the errors of his predecessors—let him begin in Ireland, that fatal scene of Whig and Tory misrule. We hear that Lord Resslyn is destined to replace the Marquis of Wellesley, and Sir Charles Wetherell, Lord Plunket. We give these merely as among the rumours of the day. But this we know, that no part of the kingdom presents such a field for a Statesman to distinguish himself upon as Ireland—none where ‘, golden opinions" may be so readily gathered, and where an earnest of good Government can have a wider influence on the confidence of the whole com munity.—Morning Herald. An evening paper of yesterday inserted a list of supposed appointments under the Duke of Wellington, for which there was, we take upon ourselves to state positively, but without meaning the slightest disrespect to our contemporary, no shadow of foundation. We have the strongest reason to believe that not one ap pointment has been made the Duke, either to Cabi net or other office, and that none will be made or intimated until Sir Robert Peel's return. It is even possible that the Right Honourable Baronet may supersede the Duke of Wellington as First Lord of the Treasury, the latter accepting some inferior post. No doubt it is possible, and even probable, that some of the persons distinguished by the Courier may within a fcrtnight have places in the new Ministry. All we mean to contend for is, that with the exception of the Duke himself, the whole is at this moment a carte blanche, without a single name inscribed upon it. It may be hoped, moreover, that in arranging the Cabi net it will not be so crammed to suffocation as it has been during the greater portion of the last thirty years. Fourteen or fifteen members are too many by half for the business of close, deep, and difficult consultation. A Cabinet so crowded degenerates into a debating club, and calm decision becomes no less impracticable than the necessary secrecy. Seven, eight, or at most nine members, ought to be the limit of such a Council. For it is not with the combination of brains, as of bankers, —numbers in the former class of partnerships (.10 not always add to the safety of the firm. Mr. Pitt's Cabinet for many years did not, if we remember right, contain more than seven members ; so that the Right Honourable Gentleman's objection to " count ing noses" was not caused by the labour of the pro cess. But a . party so completely organised and disci plined as that which the Duke of Wellington com mands, presents fewer embarrassments than other Ministers have had to deal with in the formation of a Cabinet. There is less confusion of ranks, less con flict of aspiring and unweighed pretensions, less divi sion of interests, less untried comparison of persons. Waving all reference to political principles good or bad, the party mechanism of the Conservatives is far more workman-like than that of their reformist rivals. It may, we apprehend, be said of each respectively, that their four years' possession of office must have im proved the administrative talents of the Whigs, while the exclusion of the Wellingtons during the same pe riod has probably tended to enlarge their views, and familiarised them more with the value of general prin ciples towards directing the affairs of nations.— Times. The Lord Mayor, it will be seen, has refused to accede to the requisition of Messrs. Taylor, Galloway, and Co., for the assembling of a Common Council. The first reason he assigned for his refusal was de cidedly bad. The second may, for aught we know, be good ; but as we are unlearned in the mysteries of civic etiquette, we are not competent to form an opinion on the subject. We regret, however, exceedingly, that the " general alarmists" should be delayed a single hour in demonstrating to the country that the farce they have in rehearsal will not succeed. By the way, who was it that first pulled these puppets ? Can it be true that on Saturday or Sunday last Lord Brougham sent to Mr. Galloway and urged him, by every means in his power, to get together political unions, meetings of the Common Council, and of other bodies of men, which would be likely to worry the Duke's adminis tration ? We ask merely for information. Such a report is very rife in the city, and it has, we are told, received much encouragement from two other circumstances besides the requisition of a Guildhall rump. The first is the attempt to revive a Political Union at the Crown and Anchor, where, it appears, the proceedings will not bear the light, and therefore reporters are ex cluded. The second is the rather inexplicable con duct of Lord Brougham, who continues to hear new cases in spite of the indignation he expressed at the bare supposition that he would condescend to hold the seal one moment longer than was necessary. lll natured people have supposed that his Lordship wants to gain time for the operations of his friends the " ge neral alarmists," and we have even heard the lines of Prior applied to him— " He fitted the halter, and travers'd the cart, And often took leave, yet seemed loth to depart." In truth they are not inapplicable, for there is as little option in Lord Brougham's case as there was in the other's ; and in sober seriousness, is it not self-de gradation of the lowest and the most pitiful character in the ex-Chancellor, to pretend that he would be suf fered to hold the Great Seal for more than a few short days to come, even if he were to beg f or it on hi s bended knees ?—Times. The income for the past year of the Wesleyan Mis sionary Society was 54,767/. 9s. 7d. ; of the London Society, 45,175/. 4s. Sd.—Sheifield Mercury. Sunday night, the bottle containing the various coins of the realm, and other things, deposited about four months ago in the foundation -stone of the public offices now being built at Hamilton, as a bonne bouche for the antiquaries of future years, was carried away. The bottle was laid in the base or foundation of one of the columns of the building, and was covered with a heavy stone and firmly battened down with iron.—Scotch Paper. [The abstraction of matters thus depo sited is probably less uncommon than the depositors imagine.] ACOUSTIC CHAIR.—This invention is of the size of a large library chair, with a high back, to which are affixed two barrels for sound, and at the extremity of each is a perfo rated plate, that collects sound, into a paraboloid vase, from every part of the room, and impresses it more sensibly on the ea-, by giving it only a small quantity of air. The converse end of the vase serves to reflect the voice, and to render it more distinct. By means of sufficient tubes, this chair might be made to convey intelligence from St. James's to the Houses of Lords and Commons, and even from London to the King at Windsor. Marvellous as this may seem, the idea is not a no velty ; it is but another confirmation of the saying of Solo mon, that there is nothing new under the sun. M. Itard, in his excellent work on the ear, tells us that Aristotle (who was physician to Alexander the Great) invented a trumpet for his master which was capable of conveying orders to his generals at the distance of 100 stadia, equal to rather more than twelve miles. And I may remark, bearing in mind, too, that both Alcmeon and Hippocrates are said to have invented ear. trumpets, that the ancients do not seem to have been so igno rant of acoustics as some in our day have represented them.— Curtia on Hearing. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. BO W-STREET. A VlSlONARY.—Yesterday, a well-dressed man, named John Hardy, was brOught before Mr. MINSHULL under the following circumstances : Mr. Payne, of the firm of Payne and Co., coachmakers, in Long Acre, stated that the defendant came into their warehouse that morning, and, bowing, stated that he had just come into the possession of immense property. He said he wanted a complete suite of carriages fitting for a Royal establishment. He said further, that he was pre pared at once to give an order and deposit security to the amount of 12,0001. Witness thought the proposition a most extraordinary one, and put several questions to his customer. In answer to vttich he said he was an intimate friend of the Duke of Wellington and was about to be united in marriage to the Princess Victoria. This last an swer convinced witness that the unfortunate man was la bouring under some strange delusion, and as a matter of kindness towards him he called a police-officer and brought him to the office, merely that he might be taken care of. Mr. MINSHULL asked the defendant if he wished to make any statement? Defendant—Statement ! What statement can I make ? lam a man of immense property, as I told this gentleman (Mr. Payne), and am descended in a indirect line from Royalty itself. The Duke of Welling ton, who has now become one of the rulers of the State, is my most intimate friend, and willing to forward my views, which are fraught with benefit to the interests of the Bri tish community by every means in his power. lam about to marry the Princess Victoria, with the full consent of her Royal mother and their most Gracious Majesties. Mr. MINSHULL.—I am afraid, Sir, you are labouring under some delusion. Defendant.—Am I, indeed ? You are under a mistake, I rather think, in imagining so. Mr. MINSHULL.—I think not. Have you any friends ? Defendant.—Friends! Aye, have I not mentioned my most illustrious friend the Duke of Wellington ? If you doubt my assertion will you convince yourself by coming to the Duke's house, where I am to dine by special invitation on Saturday next? You know where it is, and on my soul I shall be glad to see you. Mr. MINSHULL.—I must decline the honour. Defend ant (holding out his hand)—Well, will you shake hands with me, and I will promise you a handsome appointment under the Duke. Mr. MINSHULL.—Excuse me, but our acquaintance has not been of sufficient duration to shake hands. lam not in the habit of shaking hands with strangers, however high their rank. The worthy Magistrate then requested the defendant to step aside, and, having ascertained where his friends lived, sent for them, and they stated he must be rambling in his mind, for that he could not by any possibility have the least pretensions to any alliance with Royalty. The only income he had was a small annuity. The unfortunate man was then taken to St. Martin's workhouse, until the necessary steps could be taken to have him placed in a lunatic asylum. He went away very quietly. MARLBOBOUGH-STREET. Yesterday Shylock Cohen, a respectable-looking man of the Jewish persuasion, was charged on suspicion of em bezzling divers sums of money, the property of his employer, J. N. Carvalho, an extensive bookseller, of Fleet-street. Mr. CONANT ordered the constable to take the prisoner to Guildhall, as the offence had been committed in the city. UNION-HALL. Yesterday William Bush and Hugh Allen Clark, two privates belonginc , to the Woolwich division of Marines, were brought before Mr. WEDGWOOD, charged with as saulting and robbing Edward Delves, the son of a gentle man residing at Tunbridge Wells, and late a second officer of an East India free trader. The complainant, who ap peared in a weak state from loss of blood, exhibited marks of maltreatment about the face, both his eyes being very much swollen, and he complained of violent pains in the left side, where he had been kicked while on the ground by his assailants. The injuries he received internally were of so serious a nature that while in attendance at the office he vomited blood. The complainant on the preceding night as he was walking down to Woolwich with the intention of going on board one of the government steam-vessels, met the prisoners in the lower road, Deptford. It was then between seven and eight o'clock in the evening, and he had been previously drinking and was not sober at the time, and therefore did not exactly remember how he came in company with the prisoners. He, however, went to several public-houses with them, recollected that the last house of that de scription he went into with them he was desirous to quit their company ; but they urged him to walk on with them as far as the Marine Barracks at Deptford, and he was at length prevailed on, as he intended to go on to Woolwich. They then left _the Dui)lie-hours__ gether and walked on, and in about five minutes after quit ting it he was suddenly attacked, and received a tremendous blow on the forehead, and another in quick succession on the face, from the force of which he fell heavily to the ground, where he remained in a state of insensibility, bleeding pro fusely from the nose and mouth, until he was discovered some time afterwards, and taken to the Red Lion, in Lower Deptford Road. The complainant added that the attack was so sudden, that be could not identify which of the pri soners had struck him. Previously to meeting with the prisoners, he had a purse containing a good many sove reigns, he should think about eighteen or nineteen, besides some loose silver and halfpence, and also a watch, all of which were taken from him. George Wilson, policeman, 179 R, stated that about a quarter after ten o'clock, while he was on duty at the bot tom of Grove-lane, Deptford, he received information that a man was knocked down and robbed in the Lower Road, Deptford, by two marines. Witness afterwards saw the two prisoners pass, and from the description given to him he stopped them, and said that a robbery had been committed by two men answering their appearance, and at the same time expressed his intention to detain them. The moment he said these words, the prisoner Clarke exclaimed, " You have got the right two." On searching Bush, the police man found I Is. 3d. in his watch fob. Clarke, policeman of the sa - ;;;di:vision, stated that sub sequently to the outrage and robbery, as be was on duty, the prisoners inquired of him the way to the Marine Bar racks. He particularly noticed that they appeared corn fused and agitated, and mentioned the circumstance to them, upon which one of the prisoners said, " We are late for barracks." Bush wanted the witness to drink some thing with them, which he refused, and then offered him a shilling, which he also declined accepting, and they both went away towards the barracks. In about ten minutes aftewards a female came up to witness and informed him that a man had been knocked down and robbed by two men dressed in privates' uniforms, and it immediately occurred to him that the parties whom he had previously seen were those who had committed the offence. He lost no time in pursuing the suspected parties, and came up with them near the barracks, upon which Clarke said, " I am aware what you want us for. My comrade is the man who did the deed." The witness warned Clarke to be careful what he said on the subject, at the same time intimating that whatever he did say would be communicated to the magis trate. Clarke, however, said that he only wished to tell the truth, and proceeded to state that the complainant, together with Bush and himself, had been drinking in several public-houses, on the night in question. That at the last house they were in they (the pri soners) went out together for a necessary purpose, and when outside the door Bush, addressing him, said, " That fellow inside has got plenty of money ; we will have it ; I'll knock him down, and you take the money out of his pockets when he is down." That he (Clarke) objected to an attack of the kind, saying that he would have nothing to do with it. Soon after this conversation the complainant came out of the public-house, and they all went on together towards Deptford, he (Clarke) walking on a-head of Bush and the complainant, determined not to have anything to do with the intended attack on the latter. After going on a little way the complainant appeared unwilling to proceed, and turned back again towards the public-house, upon which he was followed by Bush, and immediately afterwards he (Clarke) heard a heavy fall, and Bush came running up to him, and said, " I have done it ; I've got all his silver, but he has got no watch." Bush then offered him two or three half-crown pieces, saying, " You have half." He (Clarke) refused to accept of any, saying, " That he would have no thing to do with it," and adding, " You'll get me trans ported and yourself too." They then walked on together, and Bush said, " Here's a half-crown, let us have some thing- to drink." He (Clarke) again refused, and told Bush that he was sorry that he had come out in his company. The policeman, in concluding his evidence, said that, on taking Clarke into custody, he dropped ninepence in copper in the road. George Dawson, landlord of the Red Lion in the Dept ford-road, stated that between the hours of nine and ten o'clock on the preceding night the complainant, accompa nied by the prisoners, entered his house and had a pot of porter. Witness perceived that the complainant was very tipsy, and refused to draw any more for them on that ac count, and they then left the house together. In about half an hour afterwards the complainant was brought back to the house by Mr. Day, a mast-maker, who found him lying near the centre of the road in a state of perfect insen sibility, and bleeding freely at the mouth and nose. The complainant 'was lying in the road in such a situation that had any vehicle passed along it must have gone over his body. The Magistrate, after having commented on the despe rate nature of the outrage, committed the prisoners for trial. A most diabolical act of cruelty was perpetrated at Bristol last week. A dog, belonging to Sir R. Wilmott, was rubbed over with turpentine, and then set on fire. The magistrates are endeavouring to discover the author of this horrid barbarity.—Bristol Mercury. MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT. 41. An Inqu es t was h o ld en a t t he Rossington Br id g e Cv on the 7th i ns t an t, b e f ore William Sheardown, Bridge, of roner for the bor oug h an d s o ke of Doncaste r, on vie ~..t o a the body of Mr. William Addeman, of the B°, s 7 e si. Bridge Inn. The following particulars transpire(' 1.".,ed dente :—On the sth of November instant, the d fi euj e ft had been attending a rent-day at Doncaster. n e t is early, and had partaken very slightly of refreshme°,:.of consequence of wishing to join the poor inhabitaopet Rossington, to whom he was in the habit of giving a S ted on the sth of November annually. Mr. Addeman P - el d two of the Rossington inhabitants at Bennetthorpkdia wished them good night ; it would appear that be O s ri n , be briskly on the road, and that the gentlemen Iht,e;got passed were merely going at a foot's pace. Wile ° t 7lllr , to Cantley-lane end, one of the horses s hied, B , l ' ha d Addeman was observed on the ground on the rig s The side of the road, lying on his back, quite senseless. surgeo n most considerate attention was paid to him—tbe,Asuderoas to the family was immediateiy sent for—and gr. '" .c h was instantly conveyed home in a post-chaise, wh passing at the time. The deceased was perfectly teak 3 , at and sober when the accident happened ; all times a remarkably temperate young man. e „l i es was not seen until about four o'clock next morning,',loes indeed,ibe " ho oe it returned to Rossington Bridge. The were broken, and the hair was also off the right snu. which was not the case when Mr. Addeman left l° s ole house in the morning. The bridle was broken , tb s e ' bead; and all were gone, excepting the curb-bit and t e fo llea stall. It would appear that the horse fell, and the n ;d o ck hair of its on its broadside. The deceased lingered until seven ° r ed the following evening, when he died. The jury 0001 a verdict of accidental death, and after examining s ti e pasi' witnesses with reference to the horse, expressed a° - Do pe m ous opinion that the accident was occaaioned by th e i d, falling over a heap of chippings, the colour o f the gad, avoiding a parcelof stones near , which, at at un- would attract attention, when • • the chippings wool noticed.---Shelfield Mercury. morning COURT FOR THE RELIEF OF INSOO.°I DEBTORS. bere ° ' The matters of the Petitions and Schedules of the . P r isoners „pr i ,o , after named (the same having been filed in the Court)3:00a101.10 to be heard at the Court-house, in Portugal-street, L.' o fclo c fields, on Monday, the 24th of November, 1834, at 14 ' ne the Forenoon. ' Rochfort, Goo., Piccadilly, assistant to an auctioneer . „.40 0. Leonard, W., Galway-street, Bath- s treet, St. Luke's , b" - ..„„ Davis, Thomas, Moulsey, Surrey, cooper. Mallam, Thomas, High-street, Battersea, furniture-b roker ' Dunn, Henry, High-street, Epsom, Surrey, cooper. Mallam, Thomas High-street, Battersea, furniture - b ros Dunn, Henry, High-street, e Epsom, Surrey, tailor. otoro' Vickery, James George, Guildford-street, Russell-W l: Noel' Cooper, Wm., Garden-place, Haggerstone, dealer in rl ctua ller' Perry, Benjamin, jun., Brewer-street, Somers-town , , Millis, Joseph, Earl-street, Lisson-grove, stage_coachiler, Brett, Richard, M"or-lane, Fore-street, Cripplegate , c' rchs ai. Pattison, Gustavus William, Cross -street, Islington, w e Stephenson, James, Chancery-lane, conveyancer. On Tuesday, Nov. 25.--Same Hour and Plac e " Somers, Lewis John, Manchester, bookseller. Giles, John, Boston-place, Dorset-square, MarylaboneLrrier. Morris, Thos., Lower Copenhagen-street, Islington , c le Cobley, John, Carlisle-street, Soho, carpenter.nt, l Hunt, Edw.'John Pratt, Deptford Bridge, Deptford, Edlin, John, Harrow-on-the-Hill, retailer of beer. Steer, Richard, Sydney-place, Chelsea, cowkeeper. ne er. _ ter , Knife, John, jun., Harp-alley, Farringdon-street, auenvorwdeP Hayes, Corbett, Beckford-place, Kennington, Surrey' h ;01" Gilson, Richard, Upper Seymour-street, butcher. 0 00, Merryweither, John, Gloucester-place, Walvvorth - ms s rey, shopkeeper. Kent, Joseph, Salisbury-street, Strand, agent. On Wednesday, Nov. 26.—Same Day and Pla ce : Jones, John, jun., Tottenham-court-road, hatter. ite poiar Banner, Francis, Notting Barns Farm, Notting-hill , • c farmer. c°° r erer Hollier, Till Henry, Southampton-street, Cambervre Blyth, John Phillip% Colonnade, Brunswick-square , utt e t.o" - Parfett, W., Queen-street, Lower-street, Islington, e 2 ' . , • Jones, John, Hill-street, Berkeley-square, coachman. Griffiths, William, Bell-street, Paddington, milkman. Smellie, James, Hampstead, baker. Mather ; Thomas Lowes, High-street, Kingsland, groom' Ennever, Robert John, Edgware-road, green-grocer . Perryman, Francis, Long-acre, eating-house-keeper. cutler' Palmer, Henry Geo., Stafford- s t ree t, Bond-street, led na 'alet 0 VICISSITUDES 01 ROYALTY.—AnY uich'' s.l t . man now living may reckon up 18 crowned heads a'`Dge 4 : worn the royal or imperial diadem, and have beel l f e uipe r re l lay them down ; and so many kings, queens, ta'stj e bereft of throne, life, or country. Of these five ha testa`. by the hands of the assassin or executioner,_ vi a " joac b A L t Sweden; Louis, France ; Selim Mustapha, Turkey; ha ve r, Naples; Augustine, Mexico. Eight still exis i t:Fro ee ' rished, in exile —Gustavus Sweden _kaP e g" na i C har 14-Juts, flonana; Jeroinc, -- vvistpnaita•Josepup r Fero France ; Pedro, Brazil; Miguel . , Portugal. i'L l- F - e c) r u dio a ll 'i i , restored, and have died, or now live, on a throne a LA Spain ; Ferdinand, Naples ; John, Portugal ; France. DrAG O. 4I ANECDOTE OF NAPOLEON AND THE A vg Madame de Genlis, in her memoirs, relates the f o llow l yp iio gular fact :—" When Napoleon was engaged in the expedition, M. Desgenettes, so justly celebrated for „ r e ,l al ties, was physician in chief to our armies ; we had ae (l- 3 1 0 0r , our climate a false idea of the plague, regarding it a c s m all F e b disorder, when in truth it is often not so. Like the - 111 olv e It is, according to its quality, deadly or mild, a fact ° I A 1) 10, all our great physicians are perfectly acquainted 'notlall4 of this latter kind declared itself near Alexandria ; h u r t i e ci could calm the terrors of the pest-stricken, who rega- de s ati rC: malady as without hope of remedy ; their disquie t° et ! mented the fever, and a great number perished aucicier:oulcitiie tiros to their own fancy. Upon this Napoleon Ca - tha t ` l f M. Desgenettes to declare, in the order of the day' 0„ li , contagious malady in question was not the plagu e } u ttb°, s f . Desgenettes protested that he would not be guilty ° th ri tit ing such falsehood. Napoleon insisted strenuously' fielded be sician resisted courageously his menaces, but lit Y aru y . i tio last to the entreaties made to him in behalf of tile ex's accordingly declared, without delay, that the disord.eratioo ere was not the plague. This was believed—the ireag.„ l ?ed the soldiers were calmed, and all the sick that renw saved."—Oracle of Health. 110 54 ANECDOTE OF NELSON.—Lately died' it e t reu l ' t he Herefordshire, at an advanced age, Thomas DeVierecl out-pensioner of Chelsea Hospital. This veteran e" f bis army more than fifty years since, and in the course ° or der! 0 , sequent service had several times to act under the tot icalt e r Nelson, of whom he used to relate some c urious J o y ° A t o " o , and, among others, that he could say what he clean; pall; it man in England to pay, that Nelson had begged d ß be - ola P , " Yes," he repeated " begged my pardon I" ae -- ,'. en t thus :—Devereux had a turn " for the butchering. ",:g l °, io he was early one morning, during the service of h ie s ois h v e ir in Corsica, sent up the country in plain clothe s t f„ B to t : e r• the transmission of cattle to the camp, preparatoq lottaii, being slaughtered. On his return, and when h e ° ,bort , 0 0 ing near the lines, Nelson happened to pass at I a " t i l e tance in company with two other officers, and sef,ttl lst ,pa out of uniform lurking about, a suspicion struck uh - pr etti' he ea individual was a spy, and he came up, collared D el. " bk,c l 'OP began to question him. It happened that Devereu lL eg i",, to employed in the store tent the previous evening, - ugu e was present, and he made use of his " English t o 0 110, b bl remind Nelson that he (Devereux) was one of 0109 03 , 1 .0 e , " then and there" assisted in setting out the rum io lll ',lo Nelsct g ed Nelson for the men under his command. diately recollected the circumstance, and then 13 :.7.ed ' 1 „ ) , poor fellow's pardon for the error. It may he h e ' l io * o Devereux immediately forgave it ; but yet, like , s urs other forgiving people, never forgot it.--x lua Chronicle. London: Printed and Published by MURDO at The Slot Qfllce, No. 112, St and. _ —!----'---"-- BIR THS'. bter; a of On the 17th inst., Mrs. Buller Elphinstone of a daq„ 1 1 On the 15th inst., at Shirley, nea - r Southa ' mpto n, R. G. Hubback, Esq., of a son. to ol° . MARRIED. ,f „ i d On the 17th inst., at St. George's Hanover -square' get' r oc yo a ungest son of the late David Denne, Esq,of L Y d tg' O rit° J ne, youngest daughter of John Falconer, Esq., "'' ' f 54. Majesty's Consul at Leghorn. a ppY , A ro c ' On the 12th inst.. at Bitterley, Salop, Robert —°" bor - t Ric _Barrister -at-law, to Amelia Elizabeth, daughter ef 0 01 kinson, Esq., of Hereford. only $ o e t t On the 17th inst., at Chailev, Edmund Bryan Esq:',,, yo t4 d he late Wm. Bryan, Esq. of narley-street, to datheri: aughter of Thomas Clarke, Esq., of Ades, Susse_:x 0 eic le D lED. beth , On the 17th inst., at Brixton, in her 16th year, Eliz a 0 daughter of Mr. William Kipling, Cheapside. it.. e d Ve°e' On the 15th inst., at Huntingdon, the Rev. Af; L i. • ~,, 4 , 8.D., Fellow of St. Peter's College, CambriAe, ar;flaltl ' On the 9th inst., in London, Lieut. Jas. Win. rien. ' of the Ist Royals. till' On the 12th inst., Mr. Woodward, of Feiring, Ess el ", 1 0 On the 16th inst., aged 5, Edmond, eldest son of Mr. of Queen's-row, Walworth. 'LG., li e ,O bb ells On the 14th inst., in Ladywood-lane, Edgbaston, o.c - ol ipp- . aged 75, relict of Mr. John G. Hibbert, formerly of 131 Mr. Joseph Barber, of Grove-lane, Camberwell. jubii°°°' On the 31st ult., at Silksworth, Durham, William Ague Esq., aged 77. idest - On the 16th inst., in her 15th year, Rhoda Ann, e• iti of Mr. James Jones, Garratt-lane, Tooting. 13' 01‘6' At Deptford, Philip Thomas, son of the Rev. John his 13th year. ..,ed& 4 ' por t ' On the 17th inst., in Dover- street, Mr. Manton, •b - tre ct, On the 17th inst., Mrs. Sarah Day, of Bryanston-s ,cg, roan-square. h . § 78th ile ri On the 15th inst., Jas. Heath, Esq., A.R. A., in 1 . e sr, t , On the 15th inst., at Richmond, Surrey, in his 150: 1 3 r, Var ri pe Edmond Innes Calder, eldest son of Sir HenrY 11 ., C t :Cat he isi! On the 15th inst., at Hithergreen, Lewisham, r'e n o f O. tti Todd, wife of Francis Atkinson 2 Esq., only daughtecientfora, Charles Augustus Ferguson, Lsq., of Hodes-place, v r her 50th year. vobs' al On the 13th inst., Mr. Edw. Whitford, of the Stuck "- 11°11 in his 73d year. hroart" On the isth inst., at Richmond, Surrey, in his 15t , 0 ,, Edmond Innes Calden, eldest son of Sir Henry R. C,.. 31 _ 0 7eve , On the 16th inst., at Turnham Green, Anthony uu ..---' formerly of Gray's Inn. _....--,--- --------i11110"