The Sun. — London, England, 1833-12-30 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS The important official document which, on Saturday, was published (exclusively) in this paper, contained a clear and well defined out line of the measures which remain to be taken for carrying into execution the Slavery Abolition Act of the last session of Parliament. The form in which the proposed regulations are ex• hibited, seems to us to be at once convenient and becoming. Those enumerated and ex plained in the official paper are to be applied, under the authority of an Order in Council, to the Crown colony of Guiana (containing De merara and its dependencies), where the legis lative power is lodged with the King in Council. It is, however, plainly assumed, that the sub stance and spirit of the same instructions, varied by the circumstances of each particular case, will be acted upon by the King's Government in all the remaining Crown colonies, as well as in British Guiana ; and an expectation is more than hinted, that in the colonies which possess repre sentative legislatures the principle at least, if not the precise letter, of the same regulations will be adopted, reference, of course, being always had to their local wants and peculiarities. Each Justice having jurisdiction over a given district is to fix his station there, a track of land being set apart, and buildings thereon erected, one of which is always to be a House of Cor rection, as near as may be to that spot where the population of the district appears most dense, and, therefore, the subject matter for magisterial interference most frequent. The station thus fixed upon is to be termed the " Police Settle ment" of the district. The Justice is always to have at his command an armed party of one sergeant and ten able bodied policemen, who are to be assisted in any duties of fatigue by a " penal gang," composed of such persons as may have been condemned to imprisonment with hard labour. Periodical (quarterly) reports are to be transmitted or delivered in by the Justice to the Governor of the colony concerning the s'rength and conduct of his police party, and the condition of the settlement. The police are to exe cute the orders of the justice for the repression of crimes, and for enforcing obedience to the laws. In determining the procedure to be observed by these new magistrates in the administration of justice, great and laudable pains are taken by Government to facilitate amicable compromises, and to deter, by reasonable and appropriate pe nalties, both employers and apprentices from bringing forward frivolous, vexatious, or un founded charges; and any mode of proceeding which is found unnecessarily to embarrass the magistrates, or in any manner to impede the prompt and effectual administration of justice, the Governor of the colony is empowered to suspend that mode of proceeding, and to substi tute others, his proclamation for such purpose holding good until disallowed by his Majesty. A delicate part of the duty of Government has been the suggestion of expedient rules for the classification of apprentices. The three classes are denominated—" attached,"44Pry dial unattached," and " Non.prxdial," or what we suppose maybe called artificers and domestics. We du not see that provision has been made for altering, subsequently to the first registration, the class under which any given apprentice is to be ranked, however desirable such a change may be for both the parties interested. The ap prentices are to receive henceforth from their masters the same amount of provisions, &c., for their maintenance, in consideration of 45 hours' work per week, as they now receive for sixty hours', and no extra labour imposed as a penalty on the apprentice for misconduct is to exceed fifteen hours per week in addition to the 45 during which the Abolition Act compels him to labour. The clauses which treat of the duties to be performed by the apprentices and employ ers reciprocally, have been drawn up with great good sense, and in a spirit of laudable imparti ality. Hard labour, and in some aggravated cases whipping, but under the sentence of the magistrate, are the chief punishments resorted to for neglect of duty, absence, desertion, &c., on the part of the apprentice. Repetition of an offence always subjects him to an increase of punishment. Drunkenness, insubordination, turbulence, are marked out distinctly for the visitation of the law. Women are in no case to be degraded by whipping, but for offences which expose men to that species of chastisement, females shall be confined in the stocks and clad in peculiar and disgraceful dresses. The em ployers are restrained from the exercise of fraud or injustice towards the labourer by the autho rized vigilance of the magistrate, both as to the nature of all contracts for task or other special work entered into between the parties, and as to the manner in which their stipula tions have been fulfilled. Fine, and in some instances imprisonment, are the penalties to be inflicted on employers for a breach of contract. We have thought it might be useful to recapitu- ' late, thus briefly, some of the more striking and important of those regulations which the bulk of our readers may have been deterred frem en countering in the voluminous form in which they were last published. There are other clauses designed to govern the enfranchised negroes in their relation to the state as its subjects, and to which we omit any present reference from the inferior interest attached by most people to every other aspect in which the negro appears, as com pared with that of slave transformed into an ap prentice. It is but justice to repeat that, as a whole, this body of regulations reflects the highest credit on the quarters from which they have emanated—that they promise a diminution of real difficulties much greater than we had ever dared to expect—and that from the introduction of that new description of magistracy into the interior of the colonies, with the executive force attendant on it, which is capable of being en larged at pleasure, a foundation seems to be laid for superseding one day or other the military garrisons of a large proportion of our colonial settlements, and for reducing in the same ratio the mass of our annual expenses.—Times. We have been much amused by an article from Biacktuood's Magazine for January, un der the title of " Hints to the Aristocracy—a Retrospect of Forty Years from the Ist of Ja nuary, 1834." The writer, while inveighing against the Reform Bill, furnishes himself the best justification of that measure. After de scribing the variou s changes which preceded that measure, he observes:_- " The Protestant Constitution , th e T es t an d Corpora tion Acts, were successively abandoned ; and at length a desperate and reckless faction got possession of the helm, and, wielding the whole force of the prerogative to sup port the advances of revolution, succeeded in overturning the Constitution. In what a state has the British empire been ever since that, disastrous epoch : and what are the prospects whieli ) ,on the Ist of January, 1834, open upon her people,?',. Distrust and anxiety universally diffused; every profession, and occupation suffering and preparing to suffer ; the• lower orders reused into general and, fearful activity; the higher lulled into a desponding and hopeless calm; the bulwarks of the Constitution, the eecuritiei against spoliation,' completely swept away S and all the mighty interests of the empire laid open to the caprice and the invasion of a reckless revolutionary faction, driving before them a weak and vacillating Administra tion. Such is the sad termination, so far as time has yet advanced, of this glorious and animated era, and such the prospects which that generation have to leave to their children, who received from their fathers the sacred deposit of the British Constitution !" But, as he truly observes, everything must have a cause, and the cause of the revolution of 1832 is to be found, according to the writer in Blackwood, in the misconduct of the English ' aristocracy. " In investigating the causes which had previously prepared the nation for the prodigious change which our rulers have effected, there is one which strikes us as pe- culiarly prominent, and to which sufficient attention has not hitherto been paid in any discussions on the subject ; and that is the separation which had insensibly grown up during the last thirty years between the higher orders of the aristocracy and the middling ranks by whom they were surrounded. If the knowledge of the causes of a complaint is the first step towards its cure, the considera tion of this subject must appear to be a matter of vital importance at this time, in order to unfold the means of stemming, if anything human can indeed stem the fur ther progress of disaster. " That the higher ranks—understanding by that term the class of considerable proprietors, of whatever political opinions or party—cannot of themselves, without external aid, resist the attacks of their inferiors, is evident from the consideration that they are not one in a hundred amongst them. How, then, has it happened that they have so long, and in so many countries, succeeded in maintaining the ascendancy due to property in every well regulated state, notwithstanding all the jealousy which the prospect of their opulence must have occasioned? Simply by awakening the affections and supporting the interests of their inferiors—by mingling with their amusements and taking a share in their desires, and sympathising with their wishes—by throwing down the unseen but hateful barrier which separates the noblesse and the tiers etat, and making the people feel that they would lose, not merely v....L.4.w. 1... a f- .ohs, the aristocracy were destroyed." According to the Hindu Mythology, the world rests on an elephant; but as we do not know on what the elephant itself rests, we are just as wise as before. What was the cause of the mis conduct of the aristocracy ? Why did they neglect the classes below them ? Because the machine of corruption could move without their giving themselves any trouble. The slaveowner of Jamaica or Virginia, having the power of the whip, does not seek to persuade his slaves to work. The system of corruption under Pitt and his successors became so gigantic, that the boroughmongers found it no longer necessary to use even a semblance of conciliation. In fact, the writer in Blackwood, if he were aware of the conclusion to which his premises point, ought to worship the Reform Ministry for ren dering it necessary for the aristocracy to endea vour to be on good terms with their inferiors. It was Pitt that destroyed the aristocracy by the grand system of corruption which he organised. When the system of clanship was in force in the highlands, it became necessary to the chiefs to be on good terms with their followers, and the most endearing intimacy prevailed between them. But the moment clanship was destroyed, the vassals became of no importance to the chief, and they were neglected. Down to the time of Louis XIII. of France the noblesse lived in the country among their dependants. Cardinal Richelieu exerted himself to destroy the power of the French aristocracy, and he succeeded. On the loss of their power, they abandoned their dependants, who were no longer useful to them, and repaired to Paris. On the breaking out of the French Revolution they found themselves utterly without influence. Where men are necessary, they will be courted, and where un necessary, they will be neglected. Borough mongering has a necessary tendency to self destruction. It led to expensive wars, and expensive wars led to increased corruption, by which all our institutions became so many fictions ; and at the moment when the aristo cracy seemed at the height, they were precipi tated into the gulph, from which they can never extricate themselves. But, independently of the causes assigned by the Reviewer, there are others. During the period mentioned by the writer in Blackwood, the face of the country became covered with commercial and manu facturing towns, and in such a state of society an Aristocracy can have little influence. Trade is a great leveller. The landholder may retain much influence in remote parts, but in large towns he can have little. Commerce and ma nufactures add to the income of the landholder and multiply his enjoyments ; but they deprive him of the consequence he enjoys in a simpler state of society. If any of our great Aristocrats were to mix with the workmen of a cotton-mill, and to hob-nail with them in the public-houses, he would rise in their regard, but might probably become their butt.—Morning Chronicle. It is now some time since the circular of Lord Althorp to the Churchwardens of the Kingdom appeared in our columns, yet we have, within the last few days, received constant communica tions on the subject of it. We therefore take this opportunity of informing our Correspon dents, in answer to their numerous inquiries of whether they are " obliged" to give the infor mation demanded by his Lordship, that, if they mean " obliged" by law, they are justified in taking just the same notice of Lord Althorp's circular as they might feel inclined to take of a letter from any one of their acquaintances which should inform them that he "should feel greatly obliged by their letting him know the amount of their respective butchers' hills, and the quan tity of meat of that description consumed in their several families." We shall not dwell now on the flagrant assumption of authority upon the part of Lord Althorp in addressing the Churchwardens throughont the kingdom on the subject to which his letter refers, either in his capacity of Chancellor of the Exchequer or of Commissioner of the Treasury ; nor shall we offer any observation on the slight offered to those Reverend Prelates who might well be looked upon as the proper channel through which to collect information ; upon which information, be it remembered, it was intended that a measure of Church Reform should, probably, in no small degree be founded. We shall now confine ourselves to the simple question, whether Lord Althorp is sanctioned, either by his official situation, by prescription, or by Act of Parliament, in de manding from the Churchwardens such infor mation ; and we answer, once and for all, that he is not. His Majesty's Government by and by may, perhaps, find a pretext for employing a few more of their friends by instituting " a Com mission" to inquire into those matters on which Lord Althorp now seeks to be informed ; and, indeed, considering their partiality for this plan of putting money into the pockets of their friends and supporters, it is matter of surprise to us that " a Commission" was not resorted to in the first instance. It will then be subject for considera tion whether " the ecclesiastical rovers" are entitled, by any law at present existing, to answers to their polite inquiries. At present the affair is with the Churchwardens, and to them we have given our answer. By this letter emanating from Lord Althorp we are led to imagine that to his Lordship will be intrusted the honour of introducing the proposed measure for Church Reform to the attention of the House of Commons ; and we already anticipate the clear, the able, the fluent exposition which the subject will receive at his hands. We have not forgotten the ability displayed by Lord John Russell when a no less celebrated measure of Reform was introduced by his Lordship ; and an able coadjutor in the office of Master of the (Reform) Ceremoniei is now presented to us in the person of Lord Althorp. We forget, in deed, if his Lordship can pretend to the same claim for this distinction as was possessed by Lord John Russell, that of having written a book antithetically opposed to the measure to which he was called upon to stand Parliamentary godfather ; but we believe Lord Althorp's wri tings have not been directed to ecclesiastical matters. Posterity will set us down as owing a deep debt of gratitude to Lord John Russell and to Lord Althorp. From the lips of the one, will they say, did his contemporaries first hear the great outline for remodelling that Con stitution under which their country had ascended to the highest rank among the nations : under the inspired eloquence of the other did they first contemplate the great and extraordinary changes which took place at that period in the direction of their religious institutions—insti tutions under which the churchmen of that era had united the munificence of the Noble with the piety of the Prelate. Thus will posterity say of Lord John Russell and of Lord Althorp. —Morning Post. The advantages which I3.ussia has gained in be East of Europe,, hot more by the _superior cleverness of her diplomatic agents and political emissaries, than by the supineness or culpable connivance of the Ministers of France and Eng land, she does not seem disposed by any means to relinquish, in consequence of the tardy re monstrances of the representatives of those Powers, who, now that the mischief is done, have been instructed to protest against that which it was the duty of their Governments to have pre vented. The Turkish empire may be regarded as defunct, and Russia has constituted herself as the heir of an immense materiel to assist the progress of her ambition. The weak-minded Sultan, whose passion for innovation, without any talent to conduct the great work of remo delling an ancient people, peculiarly bigotted to their ancient customs, and the sanguinary and treacherous violence to which he had recourse, in order to bring about his crude and precipitate projects, gave the finishing stroke to the already decaying empire which a race of barbarian war riors had planted in Europe, through the corn bined efforts of valour and enthusiasm, which swept away all opposition, and gave a ter rible splendour to the early career of the conquerors of Byzantium which for centuries filled Christian Europe with astonishment and alarm. The first shock to this once formidable power, then threatening to over run all Christendom, was given by the Polish chivalry, led on by the renowned John Sobieski, who routed the supposed invincible bands of the " Prophet" of Arabia under the walls of Vienna, the spoils of which capital, but for that saving interposition of the Poles, would have gone to enrich the Seraglio. The gratitude of Austria to that gallant people is well known. The in famous partition of Poland, for the co-operation in which the Austrian Monarch required the price of a nation's blood, has placed the proofs of that gratitude on a record which will preserve its imperishable ignominy to call forth through every age the execrations of the civilized world. Austria, as well as Prussia, having assisted the Russian Government in its nefarious designs upon Poland, until they were consum mated by the utter extinction of the last re mains of Polish independence, are now covertly engaged in furthering the projects of that in satiable ambition which has at length placed Turkey in the grasp of the Czar. This is not to England a question merely involving the rights of insulted humanity, not , does it call upon her by the faith of a solemn treaty, which, in the cases of Poland, met with no attention ; it ap peals not to her feelings on any ground of ge nerosity or national honour ; it addresses, what the cold and calculating minds can feel that despise the former—her sense of self-interest— her selfish feelings ; for the existence of her commerce in the Levant is at stake—her naval ascendancy in the Mediterranean is threatened, and even her East Indian possessions are brought nearer the grasp of that ambition which we al lowed to efface Poland from the map of Europe, after erecting it into a barrier against her aggressions in Western Europe. Whether our Government really feel shame or not at having so completely sacrificed our political and commercial interests to Russia, we cannot tell. There is at least an affectation of peni tence for the criminal neglect of the obvious duties of British Statesmen, and remonstrances are made, but we suspect that the feeble tone of our Foreign IVlinister will never scare the vulture from the prey on which it is now fastened. Nor let our Government place much reliance upon the Doctrinaire Government of France. That Government may seem to go along with them in making unavailing protests against the Turco-Russian treaty, but Louis Philip and his Ministers would betray England at any time, if they thought that an alliance with the Autocrat would procure them greater advantages. Still our Ministers must have some answer for questions that will be put in Parliament, and so they are strengthening our fleet in the Mediterranean ; but if it be only to make an empty ineffectual demonstration, like that against Holland, they will cover themselves with indelible disgrace. If they once allow the Russian fleet to take possession of the Darda nelles, the weak betrayal of British interests will have been consummated, and England must prepare for a sanguinary struggle, or sit down content with an infamous surrender of national influence and commercial relations.—Morning Herald. There is a rumour abroad in quarters entitled to some credit, but too good, we fear, to be believed, that Ministers are seriously engaged in considering whether, instead of abolishing the house tax only, as being the most obnoxious and most unequal in its operation of the assessed taxes, it would not only be wiser and more con ducive to the public interest, but well as a mea sure of greater popularity, to do away with the assessed taxes entirely, and to impose in lieu of them, a direct property tax. We do hope and trust that the rumour is not without foundation, though, as we have already hinted, we fear that it is too good to be credited, and the con templated measure too just, as well as too much exposed to aristocratic opposition, to be brought forward by a Ministry gifted with so much timidity, and so much dread of the wealthier classes, as that which is now intrusted with the reins of Government. Whether, however, they will or will not have the courage to propound in the ensuing Session of Parlia ment such a mode of raising the revenue neces sary for defraying the expenses of the country, there can be no doubt in the mind of any reflecting person, that to that complexion the taxation of the empire must ultimately come, as well as that of all the modes by which the revenue can be raised ; it is' the most just, the most impartial —the cheapest, and the least liable to objection. There was a period, we allow, when the bare idea of either an income or a property tax car ried a certain degree of odium with it, which was afterwards very righteously improved into its over throw by all who had an interest in getting rid of the tax upon their property, and laying it upon the shoulders of those who had little or any ; but that delusion has passed away—the continued pressure of unequal and heavy taxation has brought new notions with it—and it may be fairly enough alleged that three-fourths of those who were formerly the abettors, on various grounds, of indirect taxation, in preference to all other modes of assessment, do not now care a straw in what way the tax be levied, provided its amount be diminished. The thing aimed at —the universal desire, is to get rid of unne cessary expense in the collection. and unne cessary pressure in the amount ; and there is assuredly no way in which this object can be so safely, so easily, and so advantageously obtained as by the commutation of all domestic taxation into a tax on property. There are, no doubt, disadvantages attend ant upon this mode of levying the re venue, and many objections to be encountered t and to be put down, before It could be carried into effect; but what tax is not subject to dis advantages, and liable to objections ? Is not every tax an evil ; and is it not, such being the case, the part of a wise financier, as well as of a wise people, to choose the least evil—that is to say, the cheapest tax ? But the truth is, that all the objections which have been urged against the imposition of a property tax are either visionary, and have no foundation, or are mere bugbears, invented by the wealthy to frighten those whose interest it is to desire it, into oppo sition to it. There are none of them which are not applicable to some one or other of the taxes with which we are at present saddled ; while of many of them it may be fairly enough alleged, that they are rather recommendations than dis suasives. Upon these points, however, we must defer our observations, until to-morrow.— Morning Advertiser. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. GUILDHALL. Mr. Stockdale revived the question whether the pa rishes in which the Fleet Prison, King's Bench, &c., are situated, are liable to maintain the poor inmates. A prisoner for debt, if in destitute circumstances, is allowed 3s. 6d. a week out of a fund, to which every county in England contributes its share ; but this payment is not continued to him beyond the second term after his commitment, it being assumed that no man need be under detention for a longer period. Sufficient time is allowed for the prisoner to apply for his discharge under the Insol. vent Act, and surrender up all his property to his cre ditors; and if he is not discharged on this application he is maintained at the charge of the debtor who causes him to be remanded. Mr. Stockdale said Samuel Reed, on whose behalf be applied, had been a prisoner three years, and he would have died from hunger had it not been from the kindness of the warden. He submitted that the parish of St. Bride was bound to supply the necessities of the poor man. Mr. Alderman Smnkt, under the advice of the City Solicitor, decided that by the Act no order could be made upon the parish for the prisoner's relief. BOW-STREET. THE POOR MAN'S GUARDIAN.-Henry Hetherington the printer and publisher of the Poor Man's Guardian; was summoned by Thomas Stephens, his apprentice, for refusing to give him sufficient food and clothing. The defendant's answer to the charge was, that the complainant had refused to do the work on which he had set him. The complainant stated that the work he had refused to do was composing part of the Poor Man's Guardian, an unlawful publication, published, as stated in the title page, " in defiance of law to try the power of might against right." The complainant had already been indicted for printing part of the work, and he was determined to have nothing more to do with it. He was willing to do any lawful work that his master required. Mr. HALLS having read several passages from the Poor Man's Guardian, said that in his opinion the apprentice was justified in refusing to compose such a work. Mr. MIN/HULL was of the same opinion : but, as the case was one of great importance, be wished the evidence on both sides to be reduced to writing, and the Magis trates would take time to consider their decision. After hearing the whole evidence the Magistrates dis• missed the summons, and told complainant that he had another remedy if his master set him on unlawful work. MARLBOROUGH•STREET. At the evening sitting a police sergeant of the C divi sion brought before Mr. CONANT a number of women, whom he charged with obstructing the footway pavement in Oxford-street and its vicinity, and refusing to go away when desired so to do. Mr. CONANT admonished the defendants upon their con duct, but on their promising not to obstruct the footway any more they were discharged, and their goods delivered over to them. On one of the women being discharged, Plank, the chief officer, went up to her, and thus addressed her,— " You are discharged, but I would have you mind that the little butcher boy, with the red night-cap, whom you murdered, does not lay hold of you." Every person in the office appeared surprised at this observation, and Mr. CONANT was induced to ask for an explanation. Plank said that he once had a house to let in the neighbourhood where this woman lived, which remained empty for nearly twelve months, in consequence of her reporting that a little butcher boy had been murdered therein, and that the victim was to be seen every night, sitting at a back window, with his red nightcap on.—(Great laughter.) " Nobody," continued Plank, " would take the house, and I lost nearly one hundred pounds in consequence." The woman, at the conclusion of this statement, ex- . claimed, " Oh ! la, Mr. Plank, how can you say so? it was Mother Handey, my dear child, and not me ; you know as how I wouldn't burt the hair of your bead. Lord forgive and bless you, I never said a word about the little butcher boy." Plank shook his head, and the defendant left the office, strongly denying the accusation. Q UEEN-SQUARE. INFORMATIONS. —The renowned Byers made his ap pearance at this office, after a long absence, to support a number of informations against publicans and others for various infringements of the law. The first called on was against Messrs. Page and Courtney, pawnbrokers, residing in Lower Eaton-street, Pimlico, for demanding and taking one penny for an affidavit, being double the amount allowed by the Act. The informer's witness (Daniel Byrne, of the Woolwich road) on the sth instant pledged two silver spoons at the shop of the defendants for five shillings. On the 12th he destroyed the duplicate, and the same evening applied for an affidavit, for which he was charged one penny. Solicitor—What did you do with the duplicate? Wit ness—l burnt it. Solicitor—lndeed ! And what was your reason for that? Witness—Because I wanted to see if the pawn brokers conducted their business properly, and according to law.—(A laugh.) John Grinle, a servant to defendants, swore most posi tively that he never charged the witness more than one halfpenny for the affidavit, and produced a book in which he entered it at the time. Mr. GREGORIE had more regard for the pawnbroker's evidence than the informer's, and he should discharge the case• Mr. John Duvall, the landlord of the Wheat Sheaf, Fulham-road, pleaded guilty to an information which charged him with allowing gambling in his house. The record of a former conviction was put in by Byers, and the Magistrates convicted the defendant in the penalty of 51. and costs. Mr. Henry Pareloe, landlord of the Red Lion, Wal. ham-green, pleaded guilty to allowing persons to play at bagatelle. The defendant had just taken the house, and as there was a bagatelle-board in one of the rooms some persons commenced playing a game. Mr. GREGORIE convicted the defendant in the penalty of 40s. and costs. Mr. George Hodgson, of the Three Kings, North•end, Fulham, was charged with allowing cards to be played in his house. The defendant said that his wife was dead, and while he went out for a few errands cards were introduced without his consent. It appearing that the defendant had been convicted upon a former occasion, the Magistrate ordered him to p,y a penalty of 5/. and costs. Mr. James Perian, of the Ship, Fulham, was also con victed in the penalty of 51. and costs for a similar offence, Byers in this case, as in several others, putting in the record of a former conviction. Mr. Blanch, of the George, Walham-green, was con victed in the penalty of 20s. and costs for serving during divine service. Several other similar cases met the like fate, and Byers must have pocketed a considerable sum by his visit to Fulham and its vicinity. MAR YLEB ONE. John Macarthy and Thomas Biggins, the former a porter to Mr. Morel, wine -merchant, No. 210, Piccadilly, and the latter a bricklayer's labourer, were charged with assaulting Colonel Esse, a French gentleman, residing at 11, Portland-terrace, Portland-town, which house was formerly inhabited by the " renowned" John Minter Hart. The defendants were ordered to find bail to meet the charge at the Sessions, should the complainant think proper to carry it thither. HATTON-GARDEN. ROBBERY nv SERVANTS Sarah Hook, Mary Tweed, and Sarah Kelley were charged with stealing property to the amount of 2001., belonging to Messrs. Brown and Atkinson, builders, Goswell street, Clerkenwell. Mr. Brown—l have lately lost cash and other property from my counting-house, and I discharged two men from my employ, believing they had robbed me; but I now find the prisoners are the thieves. _ _ Fryer and Ashton having proved taking the prisoners into custody, Mr. Brown said he would not prosecute the Mr. LuNa—Then I can tell you your lenity is very much misplaced, and I shall bind you over in the sum of 1001. to appear here on Monday next to give evidence. Ashton—Mr. Brown offered them 2/. to enable them to escape into the country. Mr. LAING-But I will take care they shall not get away from me, for a grosser case I never heard. It ap pears two innocent persons have already suffered through these wretches (pointing to the prisoners) ; therefore I think it imperative on Mr. Brown to prosecute.—Re mended. UNION• HALL. A ruddy-faced countryman appeared before the Magis trates, and said that he had walked up that day from Westerham, in Kent. Tbere•was no work to be had there, and the parish officers would give him only '7ld. a day, upon which he could not live. He had, therefore, walked up to town to obtain justice. Mr. TRAILL could not interfere, but the applicant must walk back to the country. The Magistrate added that, as he appeared a fine able fellow, he would make a good soldier. The countryman replied in amazement, " Noa, noa; you'll not catch me going for a soldier." Mr. TRAILL—Why, what objection have you to the army ; you complain that you are worked hard and badly paid ? Countryman—For all that I should not like to go a soldiering. Mr. TRAILL then told him he must get back to Wes terham as soon as possible, and offered him a shilling to help him on his way. The countryman, on seeing the money, shrunk back in affright, and exclaimed, " Nay, Maister, that won't do. You want to get me into a line to take the shilling, and then make a soger of me ; but I'm not so easily to be caught, although I be a countryman, Maister."—(Great laughter followed this, in which the magistrate joined heartily.) The matter was explained to the countryman, who said he was rather afeared, as he had once afore been nearly bit by a sargant. LAMBETH-STREET. A young lad, with a Jewish countenance, who gave his name Michael Simmons, was charged with picking a gentleman's pocket in Whitechapel on the preceding evening. The officers informed the magistrates that the prisoner was an old and daring offender ; he bad been several times in the House of Correction, was tried at Newgate, and had been on board the Hulks. While in Newgate he had made a representation, through Mr. Wontner, to the Secretary of State, that he was the person who com mitted the offence for which Gipsy Cooper, the pugilist, was apprehended, which turned out to be entirely false, and it was proved to have been a planned trick to excul pate Cooper, who has since been transported for life. As the theft could not be proved against the prisoner he was sent to prison for three months only. THAMES-POLICE. ROBBERY AND CURIOUS DISCOVERY OF THE THIEF. —lsaac Bonham, a man of respectable appearance, an assistant elder of the East India Company's tea-warehouses in Fenchurch_street, was charged with stealing a quantity of tea, the property of the East India Company. William Reeves, a policeman, early on the morning of Saturday week, during the heavy rain, saw the prisoner standing under a doorway, and heard him call to the driver of a cab which was passing, but the driver took no notice and went on. Another cab afterwards passed, and the policeman, by the direction of the " gentleman," told the driver to stop; but when he pulled up at the side of the road the prisoner refused to get in, and the policeman, who was close behind him, then observed that his coat pockets were very bulky, and suspecting that he had been robbing the house opposite to which he was first seen, he detained him, and asked him what his pockets contained. The prisoner refused to satisfy Reeves, who thereupon put his hand into prisoner's pockets, and found them filled with tea. He took the prisoner into custody, and on his way to the station-house he discovered that the prisoner was getting rid of the tea in his possession by throwing it into the road. When Reeves first detained the prisoner his pockets contained upwards of four pounds of tea, but on his arrival at the station-house he had got rid of it all but seven ounces and three quarters. Mr. Cornelius Wheeler, chief clerk in the department to which the prisoner belongs, said his salary was 1201. a year; and he had free access to the tea in the East India Company's warehouses. Mr. BRODERIP inquired if the East India Company intended to prosecute. The clerk to Mr. Lawford, solicitor to the Company, answered this question by stating that it was impossible to identify the tea, and he wished the Magistrates to dis pose of the case summarily. Mr. Comm had no doubt the prisoner had been plum daring the East India Company's warehouses, and that the tea came from there. He convicted the prisoner in the penalty of 5/. for unlawful possession of the tea, which sum was instantly paid. SHOCKING ACCIDENT.—On Wednesday last the fireman of the New Dumbarton steamer met his death in a most awful manner, while the vessel was on her way to Glasgow. He bad gone down to the engine house to repair the fire, and it is supposed that, while in the act of opening the furnace door, which was new, and conse quently rather stiff, the instrument used for that purpose bad slipped, and that he had fallen under one of the side levers, which literally crushed his head and body to pieces. The attention of the engineer was first attracted by something like a faint squeak proceeding from the morethatwhat renders and, he washat engine house, and on descending to ascertain the cause , be found the body in the state thus described. We understand he wasahis dealt, up young gtb t he ro f his aged parents ... Edi b 'iv - 9 h m po ant of to excellen t be decphloarreadcte i sr! the principal Paper. On the debtors' side of the French prison, called Le Fort, an eccentric Englishman, like Swan at St. Pelagie, was confined 17 years for a debt which ori ginally amounted to only 6,000 francs (240/. ), but *hich, during the course of his incarceration, was increased to 60,000 francs (2,4001.) It must be owned, however, that his long durance vile arose entirely from his own ob. stinacy. In 1815 he was arrested, and refused to pay, at the same time proving it was from what he termed a " principle of right," and not from a lack of cash. In 1832, he emerged from the prison -house, hut not till he had paid the 60,000 francs; thus, according to Cocker, his " principle of right" cost him just 2,0001. sterling, and a confinement of about a fourth part of a man's natural existence. It was ascertained that the captive's income was upwards of 2,0001. per annum, which he regularly received, and expended as far as his capabilities and possi bilities admitted of. Every three months one of the in -spectors of the prison went to receive the prisoner's quar terly payment. The Englishman lived in the greatest luxury, his rooms were richly furnished, and he devoted much of his time to the cultivation of the arts. MEETINGS OF CREDITORS AT THE COURT, BASINGHALL-STREET. (From the London Gazette.) TO-MORROW, DEC. 31. N. J. Flude, wine -merchant, Mincing-lane.... .............. 2 W. Huckel, lodging-house-keeper, Duke.street, West minster 2 M. and J. Bristow, engine-maker, Commercial-road,Stepney 2 R. Johnston, victualler, Wapping-street, Wapping H. R. Haw, merchant, Modiford-court, Fenchurch-street 2 W. T. Gooding, plumber, Hammersmith C. F. Trahn, jun„ merchant, Mark-l ane 1 It. Hayday, silk-warehouseman, Milk-street 1 J. and J. Boyn, wine -merchants, Jewry-street 1 DIVIDENDS. J. Hurst and Co., booksellers, Waterloo-place, Pall Mall , R. Stephenson, banker, Lombard.street W. R. Mott, tavorn.keeper, Throgmorton.street MURDER IN ATHERTON-STREET, LIVE! Poor..—Early on Wednesday morning a barbarous mull was committed in Atherton-street. The murderer is negro, nulled Peter Taylor, recently appointed cook to t ship Bardaster, which sailed on Wednesday for ?It South Wales. Having gone into a house of ill fame Atherton-street, a part of the town infested by le brothels, the accused met with a young woman, nan Mary Anne Benson, about 25 years of age, one of ti wretched creatures who lived in the house, and, havit some trifling altercation with her, he suddenly drew clasp knife and plunged it to the hilt into her bosom, at she immediately expired. The murderer then contriVt to make his escape, and was hurrying towards the doel in order to get on board his ship, which was to sail the morning; but the alarm being given, the watch we sent in pursuit, and the murderer apprehended before I reached the dock. At the inquest held on Thursday, tl Jury, after bearing evidence, returned a verdict of , g W ful Murder." O❑ the verdict being returned, the prisons who had previously remained immoveable, burst into teal The Coroin-- .ben made - hi ' th war Statham, relict of the late Samuel Statham, Esq., of Arm grove, Nottingham, in her 77th year. On the 26th inst., Mary Fielder, the wife of Edward Grc Smith, Esq., of the Priory, Isle of Wight, and of Kelsey.pari Beckenham, aged 64. On the 23d inst., at Elderfield, near Kidderminster, Susan; ll wife of Mr. James Morton, of that place. On the 27th inst., in Wimpole.street, William Pulsfor ( Esq., aged 61. On the 27th inst., in Eaton.place, Juliana Barbara, wife ' Sir John Ogilvy, Bart., of Inverquharity, Forfarshire, Nor' Britain, aged 21. On the 15th inst., at Rozel, Island of Jersey, Emily, (laugh' of P. R. Lempriere, Esq., aged 21. On the 26th inst., at Loder's Court, Dorsetshire, in 11 74th year, Margaret, relict of the late Right Hon. Sir EV Nepean, Bart. . . On the 28th inst., Mrs. Edwards, wife of the Rev. Rich. Edwards, of Keppell-street, Russell-square. On the 18th inst., aged 63, Lieut.-Colonel Hart, Inspect] Field Officer of the Dublin district. At Stainer Park, county Clare, Mrs. Finucan e, relict 4 Daniel Finucane, Esq. At Cloghereen.house, near Killarney, aged 70, Barbara, Wif of Peter Dumas, Esq. On the 18th inst., Francis Browne, aged 7, youngest son James Hughes, Esq., of Capel-street, Dublin. On the Wd inst., at Grove Villa near Worcester, Thorns Dixon, Esq., M.D., a Member of the Society of Friends. On the 14st inst., at Horsley Wood House, in her 82d yed Mrs. Middleton, eldest sister of the late Samuel Middleton Gent., Horsley, Derbyshire. On the 24th inst., aged 49, Mr. H. F. Jordan, of the Sault/ tion Inn, Doncaster. On the 4th inst., at the advanced age of 99 years, Mrs. AO Rylanoe, widow, of Dale, Stone-lane, near Stockport Gre 4 Moor, leaving an only daughter, a maiden lady of 80, who / 11 resided since her birth under her parental roof. PRINTED AND PUBLI, , HED BY MU RDO YOUNG, AT THI SON OFFICE, 112, STRAND. The CHI UAL, The the same Ladies' ar 'e engravii 2 s• 6d. Peacock's at acks, in Peacock's iblislied at Goldsmitt I blished at I (earsley'l 4 ', in tuck Time's Ti Court Gu Ping 800 The Briti then descril STAT W. H. obility, lees for 1 , ) tality; she lath Pc Ditto ditt Otto ditt very Ucs Ditto d '.!rfin e Sat itto ct i' h irfine cep motto Blue W ditt laid Pi Ditto best t h dirt thick 1 - Ttces "Itto ditt Ditto ditt ditt :ge lar 1 t COUNTRY CORN MARKETS DURING LAST WEEK. • Wheat. Barley. Oats. '' . S . i l l l l i 1 Per Quarter. E 3 to s. a. 6 _ to s. 7 - 4 51 A N 8 0 . to s. Carlisle 49 - 2 Hexham...........„..... 49 .03 25 29 19 22 --• l. souse, an - our a e e d com wi li t i i PenriMurpeth 36 48 26 28 16 21 32 '.I e C, G t r b e a e t n, th ................„. - 51 - 27 - 19 tiog been Sheffield - . - 50 - 30 -., 19 --. Winchester 40 52 25 28 18 22 42 Per Bushel, s. d. s. d. s. d. s, d, s. d. s, d. 5. d. '' that fro Carmarthen......... 5 3 5 6 2 6 2 9 1 6 2 0 O A O N l'T o ew rt e li a a s l t le le rt ( o S n ta ....... ft.) Cowbridge 7 0 7 6 2 9 4 0 2 3 2 6 5 . , *sure the 7 8 0 0 9 8 3 9 3 4 6 6 4 5 6 0 3 3 3 0 4 3 4 0 0 6 5t0ne........-.. 8 0 8 6 4 0 48'3 0 3 4 6 u liberally CC Swansea _ - .69 72 36 39 19 22 06 I Warwick ,9 0 11 0 3 U 4 6 2 0 3 3 5 6 Years. Per 8011. I I. Sweet llarnardcastle ....... ;12 0 14 61 8 0 8 6 4 6 6 0 8 0 Durham 'lO 6 12 6 7 0 8 3 4 3 6 0 8 6 most gr e Richmond ............. 1 11 0 16 6 8 6 9 0 5 0 6 4 s 6 ttonage thi Stockton ..................111 0 . 12 0 8 6 9 0 4 0 4 8 8 6 WAKEFIELD CORN MARKET.-Dec. 27. ' tted to se( Wheat, Red, Norfolk and Suffblk...-s. 445. to 525. tine b • ost Hore Lin. and Cam. -- Yorkshire -s. 435. to 50s. fins st descri - White -s. 50s. to 555. fine' 'places sect - Foreign, Red -s -8. to .--s. fine ! , of the I White -s. -s. to -a. nne 4, Barley, Norfolk and Suffolk 325. to 345. bile on, - Lincolnshire 3os. to 325. fine - Yorkshire Wold 3ls. to 325. fine :- EMI - Foreign 0 B I Beans, Old -- New 355. to 38s. fine - LEU Oats, Potato l9s. to 225. fine , - , - Poland - s . 18 s. t o 21 s. fine , '9 , mar - Friezland and Small - Healing Shelling 23s. to 265. Od. per ' , w e than Malt 3ss. 395. fine 425. per ' , Rapeseed .0. A burner SCOTCH MARKETS. ', tuber lamp Barley oat ' 4_, Wheat. 1 Oats. _1 Beans. 1 M. Robi - • • Aberdeen -.... 35 45 .24 28 14 20 - - 21 Berwick...-.... 30 34 15 19 12 14 18 21 26 Rol Coldstream - 35 42 18 19 13 14 20 22 •-•• Cupar -,........- 48 56 26 31 18 22 22 26 - . • and Dundee ~.,.,~ 50 60 30 33 20 25 30 31 -, oTICLES Elgin .........,....... 40 50 24 26 16 20 23 30 ••••• A I Inverness....- 46 50 25 26 15 17 23 26 18 'on, and e Kelso 33 36 10 20 14 16 - 23 -.• ham Gre Kirkaldy..--„ 48 61 23 29 16 20 45 48 4.3 ngton Su Perth 50 56 23 26 20 22 22 25 - 'Ay Modle j' The size B of u t ß he G m H ea c s o ur ß e N vaLie A s it th K ro l t r tou ri t ec th . e 2 :un or Blue .....Or Livery, We had a large supply of all kinds of Grain to-day, the sales were very heavy. ' MEN' S Wheat. Barley. Oats. Pease. Bea I g he Cl, m o " A t ' First s7s Od 31s 6d 20s 8d 32s ea 325 0 I l i Second, s2s Od 28s Od 18s Oct 30s Od 30s 1 0: N oe lid ° . a : 8 1d 2 g Third 4ls Od 22s 03 16s 8d 28s Od 28s PRICES OF PROVISIONS, &C. AND] Beef, per lb. .... Os. 31d.t005.6d. Freshßutter, lb. 5.103. to 6. nufact Mutt0n,.,,,,,,...,,,. 0 3., , ,- 0 6 Salt Ditt0.,......- 0 8 0 b .aesars. Bi Veal --............,-.. 0 5 0 9 Ditto, per cwt. 70 0 0 Pork----- 0 4 0 6 Eggs, per doz. 1 2 0 '•atreet. Lamb, per qr. 1 6 3 6 OatStraw(kpl.) 6 6 7 1 Palace' Fallow, cwt.... 35 0 37 0 Wheat Ditto. , 5 6 6 i,. L . Quartern Loaf 0 0 0 7 Barley Ditto .... 5 0 5 Potatoes, 1711 b. 0 5 0 0 Hay, per 5t...,-. 0 8 0 ' ent Mould EDINBURGH MEAL MARKET.--Dec. 24. 0 ‘,o 6 f . t e: :C i e i r a u n c t : C le: There was a plentiful supply of Oatmeal at :this day's mar and the sales were heavy, at last week's prices. Per Stone of 141 b. 117.1 9d. per 11 Per Sack of 2801 b. Imp. First Oatmeal ......... £1 9 0 First Oatmeal Second ditto 1 7 0 Second ditto Barleymeal 1 5 lif Barleymeal Peaseis,eal 1 5 6 Peasemeal a -nut D Pot Barley-No. 1, per cwt. 125.-2 d, 145.-33,165.-Pearl ' At BOUR GLASGOW CORN MARKET.-Dec. 25. 34, Edwai The trade is rather heavy, with little alteration in prices. Wheat, per 2401 b. s. d. s. 3. Oats, per 2641 b. 1 6 4 . d o . to g' i British, old 26 oto2B 0 Irish 11 - new 22 0 25 0 British l4 0 1 Canada, free 2B 0 29 0 Beans, per 2601 b. • LI Irish Barley, per 3201 b. Scottish English Scottish 0 - 0 Pease, Scottish ... 16 0 1 of all 22 0 23 0 Oatmeal, per 1401 b. 13 0 ' 0 _tame ten Irish CORNWALL. MARKETS. Talmo-Wheat (average) 203.0 d -Barley, 9s. 9d.-Oats, 8s• t., KEEP: Sr. AusTELL-Wheat, -s. to 215.-Barley, Os. to 10 5 .-0 0 LAND 7s. to 7s. 9d. r. 0 RIEI , PENZANCE-Wheat, 21s. to 225.-Barley, 9s. to Ils.-.. , , 1 1 , T1 P Os. to Bs. ed.-Beef and Mutton, sfd. to 63.-Pork, Od. to 1.,* GEOGI Butter, 12d. per lb. -- A BIBLII LzotiemsroN-Wheat (average) 19s. W.-Barley, 98.0d..- 0 , IJ ATH'S 13 ss. 3.1.-Beef, sid.-Mutton, 6d. NG LA LISKEARD-Wheat, -s. to 20s. 03.-Barley, 10s. Od.-Oats, . I itdIARY to 6s. 6d. ti' NDSHI Boomiti-Wheat (average) 205.-Barley, 10s. Od.-Oats, 70 i „, AMUL HELSTON-Wheat, 20s. 6(1-Barley, 103. Od. q•GET MI Sr. COLUMB-Wheat, 20s. to 215.-Barley, 9s. to 10s.--; t ., DRANN and Mutton, sfcl. to 6d.-Veal, Od.-Lamb, Od. r , . MUSK ..a. t COMIC MINING INTELLIGENCE. Tons. C °O l3'S co Quantity of Copper Ore sold at Redruth last Thurday 3,194 Average Produce 714 \rENILE Quantity of fine C0pper...........-.....,..............----..„....... 230. ' t NEW Amount of Sale, 17,8121. lle. Od.-Average Standard, 1151. 75.' T h . put The Coroner then made out his mittimus, and the prison - 64 t 2 d was committed to take his trial at the next Lancas ,• r T g Assizes.—Liverpool Chronicle. perfi a b r e ritt ine o d BIRTHS. On the 2Sth inst., in Chesterfield-street, May.fair, the la' .he ~, of Henry Mitford Boodle, Esq., of a son. ,De rfine On the 29th inst., in Gloucester-place, the lady of J. - ..e F oo t Rooper, Esq., MP., of a son. :Icerfine e very 1 MARRIED. I] On the 28th inst., at St. Gregory's Church, Old Fish-str • Mr. Richard Folkard, of Devonshire-street, Queen.square, Frances, eldest daughter of Mr. J. Wingrave, of St. Paul Church-yard. On the 27th inst., at Corfe Castle, Captain William R. Inch S fort, Esq., M.P. for the county of Westmeath, to Arabe tittc Margaret, daughter of the late Right Hon. John Calcraft. 13141 t o I DIED, • %itte Inch • In the 79th year of his age, after a lingering illness, Andre • Di tto Berkeley Drummond, Esq., of Charing-cross, and Cadlae ' Ditto .i tto e Southampton. ' bin° On the 2Sth inst., at the house of her brother, in Resell A Dim street, Miss Brownley. 10 ,11 Cu, On the 26th inst., at Holland.place, Clapham.road, gr. 'rich S Statham. relict of the late Samuel Statham. Esq., of Arnold Pitt( Atte d Case Cto°7 Ditto..,Ditto VPaI Ditto nittO—di Ditto di s bitto di t ITtto exi ; uitto oi Ditto d ery gra LAC Made Duch Ditto er, Itpch ver Ditto d. xi.on A y a v: beak s of D re , In ..itto wit utssia Pot Ditto wit Ditto di Ditto dit rang Pouc .ong Pouc tussia Lor Ditto wi ilissia Ulm Ditto dit lotting Cz t Ditto Lo Ditto foo '',Ditto (lit bossed dit •uitto f oo Ditto dit Merch4 Iperior All ord ' lr get reef. street !ne Tii bounc