The Sun. — London, England, 1830-02-16 00:00:00

LITtRATURE. LAWRIE TODD.-LONDON, 1880, Mr. Galt, an author well and deservedly known to the devourers, wholesale and in re tail, of Scotch novels, has in the present work afforded us many amusing, and, we doubt not, characteristic glimses into transatlantic scenery and manners. The hero of his tale is a Scotchman of homely birth, manners, and edu cation, who possessed, like Sir Andrew Wylie, of the usual shrewdness of his nation, and of more than its usual inflexible pertinacity of pur pose, carries these natural advantages with him to America, where they serve him in lieu of for tune, and enable him in the fulness of time to become the successful founder of a settlement in the back woods. The incidents of his life are few, and far from startling or dramatic, but as faithful transcripts of reality teem with interest and possibly with instruction. Lawrie Todd, in fact, is a plain unvarnished history of what the author himself saw, heard, and experienced in the wilds of Canada. It is a tale abounding in details of the local peculiarities of raw Ame rican settlements—of the manners and customs of their inhabitants, their modes of building, plant ing, clearing; of every thing, in short, that is either directly or indirectly connected with the subject. In this respect it is not unlike Mr. Cooper's novel of the Pioneers, though as it is more homely and natural in the style and quality of its incidents and personages, it is likely to become more generally read and appreciated. The cha racter of the hero Lawrie Todd, Mr. Galt has drawn with all that spirit and archness which ren dered his Leddy Grippy and Ayrshire Legatees such general favourites. He appears also to have caught the peculiarities of the Yankee character with equal felicity and readiness, as the subjoined extract will testify : This old Mr. Hoskins was, in his way, something of a Yankey oddity. He was tall, thin, and of an anato mical figure, with a long chin, ears like trenchers, lengthy jaws, and a nose like a schooner's cut-water. His hair was lank and oily, the tie of his cravat was always dislo cated, and he wore en old white beaver hat, turned up be hind. His long bottle-green surtout, among other defects, lacked a button on the left promontory of his hinder parts, and in the house he always tramped in slippers. " Having from my youth upward been much addicted to the society of remarkable persons, soon after the trans lation of my Rebecca, I happened to fall in with this gentleman, and without thinking of any serious purpose, I sometimes, of a sabbath evening, called at the house where he boarded with his family, and there I soon disco vered, in the household talents of Miss Judith his niece just the sort of woman that was wanted to heed the bring ing up of my little boy. This discovery, however, to tell the truth quietly, was first made by her uncle. " I guess, Squire Lawrie,' said he, one evening, the Squire has considerable muddy time o'nt since his old wo maa went to pot.' " Ala, Rebecca! she was but twenty-one'— " Now, Squire, you see,' continued Mr. Zerobabel 1.. Hoskins, that ere being the circumstance, you should be a-making your calculation for another spec;' and he took his cigar out of his month, and, trimming it on the edge of the snuVer-tray, added, Well, if so be as you're agoing to do so, don't you go to stand like a pump, with your arm up, as if you would give the sun a black-eye, but do it right away.' " I told hien it was a thing I could not yet think of, that my wound was too fresh, my loss too recent. " If that ben't particular,' replied he, Squire Law rie, I'm a pumpkin, and the pigs may do their damnedst with me. But I ain't a pumpkin, the Squire he knows that.' " I assured him, without very deeply dunkling the truth, that I had met with few men in America who bet ter knew how many blue beans it takes to make five. " I reckon, Squire Lawrie,' said he, 'is a puffing of a parley von, but 1 sells no wooden nutmegs. Now, look ye here, Squire, there be you spinning your thumbs with a small child that ha'nt got no mother; so I calculate, if you make Jerusalem fine-nails, I guess you can't a hippeu such a small child for no man's money—which is tarna tion bad.' " I could not but acknowledge the good sense of his remark. " He drew his chair close in front of me, and taking the cigar out of his mouth, and beating off the ashes on his left thumb nail, replaced it. Having then given a puff, he raised his right hand aloft, and lad in; it em phatically down on his knee, said in his wonted, slow, and phlegmatic ' Well, I guess that 'ere young womm, my niece— she ben't five-and-twenty--she'll make a heavenly splice !—I have known that 'ere young woman 'liver the milk of our thirteen cows afore eight a morning, and then fetch Crumple and her calf from the Bush—ding that 'ere Crumple ! we never had no such heifer afore—she and her calf cleared out every night, and wonldn't come home on no account, no never, 'till Judy fetch'd her right away, when done milking t'other thirteen.' " No doubt, Mr. Hoskins,' said I, ' Ansa Judith wiL make a capital farmer's wi'e in the country, but I have no cows to milk—all my live stock is a sucking bairn.' " By the Gods of Jacob's fither-in-law ! sbe's just the cut for that. But the Squire knows I ain't agoing to trade her. If she suits Squire Lawrie—good, says I—l - shan't ask no nothing for her ; but I can tell the Squire as how Benjamin S. Thuds—what is blacksmith in our viHage—offered me two hundred and fifty dollars—gospel, by the living jingo !—in my right hand away ; but you see, as how, he was an almighty boozer, though for black smithing a ptime hammer—l sa'd no, no, and there she is - still to he had—and I reckon Squire Lawrie may go the whole hog with her, and make good operation.' " Discovering by this plain speaking of Mr. Hoskins how the cat jumped—to use one of his own terms—we entered more into the marrow of the business, till it cam , : to pass that I made a proposal for Miss Judith, and soon after a paction was settled between me and her, that when the Fair American arrived front Palermo we should he married ; liar she had a share in the cod-fish venture by that bark, and we counted that the profit might prove a nest-egg ; and it did so, to the blithsorne tune of four hun dred and thirty-three dollars, which the old gentleman counted out to me in the hard on the wedding-day." The chief fault we find with this otherwise correct production is the strange discrepancy that exists between the hero and his language. Lawrie Todd is a homely untaught Scotch me chanic, yet he talks perpetually in a poetic style. Speaking of the yellow fever at Philadelphia, he states that " the angel of the pestilence was on the threshold of Heaven, shaking his black wings for a flight to the earth." Again, " The city of Philadelphia was forsaken, and silence, with weeping eyes, sat in the market-place." Now we can no more fancy a Scotch mechanic talking in this strain—a strain, by the bye, which re minds us of the sublime description of the plague in Anastasius—than we can fancying him cap ping verses in Hindostanee with a Pundit. Bating this defect, we have received unalloyed gra tification from Mr. Galt's ingenious production. THE COUNTRY CURATE. By the Author of " The Subaltern." We have often seen it remarked that Eng land is the only country in Europe where the peasantry, properly so called, are totally devoid of every thing approaching to the romantic in their general character and habits. We have long been persuaded that no prejudice was ever entertained more groundless or unjust ; indeed, the very condition of the labourini , classes in our own favoured countiY'lSiirotigh to secure them, from what even in these " march of in tellect days," must be considered a gross libel upon their mental information. The inhabitants of a free country must always possess in a greater or less degree the elements, at least, of noble thoughts and high aspirations. Circumstances may, indeed, tend to prevent the display of these, and partial enactments—the objections, as it were, to a general rule, may here and there suppress or even annihilate the finer feelings. But where every man knows that his house is his castle, that he is free as the air that blows around him—that the proudest man, and wealthiest aristocrat, who passed him unheeded, is just as much amenable to the laws of the land as himself, it were strange, indeed, if that man were net conscious of his own importance, as one of a nation of freemen, and an independent member of the great family of mankind. No , notions can, therefore, be less founded in fact than that our own hardy peasants present few points on which the delineation of human pas sion and human manners may work; fur though the peculiar characteristics of the Italian, the Spanish, and even, the Frenchman may, perhaps, be more prominent, the feelings of Englishmen are at once deeper and more lasting than those of any people, not in Europe only, but in the world. We have been led into these reflections by the perusal of the intensely interesting work with which the author of " The Subaltern" has just enriched the literature of his country. With some exceptions it is devoted entirely to a delineation of the feelings, conduct, and senti ments of the lower classes, under circumstances of peculiar excitement, and we freely confess, that it is a long time since we have found our selves more completely engrossed by the details of a work, avowedly of mere fiction. The author, indeed, tells us that his sketches are all drawn from life. We believe this perfectly ; for we apprehend that no man's imagination, how ever vivid and acute, could conjure up such pictures as these volumes bring before us. Of course, we cannot pretend to analyze the con tents of the volumes themselves ; but, if our readers, after perusing the following specimens, refuse to adopt our opinions, we shall ow❑ our selves exceedingly surprised at the occurrence. " THE PARISH APPRENTICE. " John Bushell, the natural son of a woman of depraved habits, first saw the light in one of those abodes of profli gacy and wretchedness, a union workhouse. his mother dying soon after his birth, and before an opportunity was afforded of taking an oath of affiliation, the little orphan became dependent for support upon the parish officers, who maintained him, with other paupers, in the place where he was born, and, as a matter of course, gave up the care of his education to strangers. It very seldom happens that persons circumstanced as the masters of work houses are, find it either convenient or practicable to pay much attention to the moral training of children. Th• re is occupation enough for them in striving to maintain something like the appearance of order, among the crowd of idle and debased wretches who, in addition to the aged and infirm, usuilly make up their families ; and hence the young people are, for the most part, left to form a character for themselves, after such models as may be placed most prominently before them. The conse quence is, that, in nine cases out of ten, a child reared in a workhouse proves, when he attains to manhood, both idle and wicked. It is early instilled into him, by those with whom he associates, that to make the slightest effort to procure a livelihood for himself, were an act of extreme simplicity and folly ; whilst the examples before his eyes are almost invariably of vices the most disgusting and the most gratuitous. To the full influence of such a training was the boyhood of Bushell exposed ; and the tenor of his maturer years was, in some respects, not such as to do in justice to his early education. " It is contended by many accurate investigators of that most inexplicable of all fiddles, human nature, that there are no persons living who are not, and have always been, in a greater or less degree, the slaves of some one roaster passion. Whether there be any truth in the theory, I take it not upon me to determine; but nothing can be more in disputable than that we do see, every day, the most power ful bias in men's minds towards things and objects for which it is difficult to conceive how they could have ever acquired a predilection. Perhaps there never lived a mare memorable instance of this anomaly in the order of things, than John Bushell. A parish pauper, brought up among persons who either never earned a penny, or spent it, as soon as procured, in low debauchery, the child's faculties no sooner began to develope themselves than he exhibited the most determined disposition to accumulate ; hoarding up every thing of value which came within his reach, and pilfering, not to enjoy a passing pleasure, but to hide the article stolen where no eye besides his own might see it. Young Bushell was not, indeed, backward in learning the other lessons which his situation spread out bef , re him. He could swear as round an oath as any individual within the walls; he set truth boldly at defiance whenever it suited his own purposes to do so ; but not all the exertions of those about hint succeeded in imbuing him with the true spirit of a pauper,—that of squandering away, with a free hand, his own means, and looking to the parish for the support which - our laws compel it to afford. On the contrary, his saving propensity grew every day more and more strong; at first, to the amusement, and latterly, to the annoyance of the ribald set about him ; till in the end it attracted the notice of his superiors, who admired it in proportion to the infrequency of its occurrence. " I have said, that the boy's instinct of boarding led him, on all favourable opportunities, to appropriate to his own use such articles of value as fell within his reach. Pieces of bread and cheese, trifling bits of clothing, occa sionally a penny, a knife, and even a button, were found to have disappeared, no one knew how ; yet such was the cunning of the young thief, that he either escaped auspi sion altogether, or, if suspected, he managed to avoid detection. But it was not to such proceedings only that the love of gain impelled him, He was ready to perform any office, to undertake any task, to run on any message, provided a pe:uniary reward was promised; indeed, he became marked before long as a lad of exceedingly indus trious turn, whom it was a pity not ta treat with more attention than was generally wasted upon parish boys. The result was, that his master took him by the hand. He was taught to read anti write, and he made rapid pro- ' gress in both accomplishments; he was sent out to keep cows in spring-time, and to tend pigs in autumn ; and as he always received a portion of the hire paid for his ser vices, no lad could be more attentive or more zealous. In a word, John Bushell having discovered that the readiest way of indulging his ruling propensity was to acquire habits of regularity and industry, applied himself dili gently to whatever occupation his superiors chose to chalk out for him ; and he became, in consequence, an especial favourite with the leading men of his parish. Nor was this all. John Bushell possessed the happy knack of ac commodating himself, with perfect ease, to the humours of those about him. With his fellow-paupers .he was a blusterer and a blasphemer, taking care however, even among them, not to speak evil of dignities ; whilst with his superiors, he was gentle and docile, mean, abject, and servile. Thus, whilst the former estemed him no bad fellow after all, though abominably stingy, the latter• re garded him as one of the most discreet and well-behaved 'ails in the house." SELECT ORATIONS OF DENIOSTHENES , LONDON, 1830. " Germany" and " Agricola" or Tacitus. We have an awful school tecollection of those works, particularly of the huge mass of notes which page after page spread themselves in cumbrous deformity throughout each volume. Here, however, we have luckily nothing of the sort ; the notes arc numerous but not exuberant ; in fact, the work is edited with consummate skill and good taste. As such we warmly recommend it to those among our readers who may wish to acquaint themselves with the works of the most manly and vigorous orator the world has ever known. HISTORY OF FRANCE AND NORMANDY. LONDON, 1830. _ An excellent school abridgement of the His tory of France, penned in an easy simple style. Every chapter is followed up by a series of ques tions on the main points discussed in it ; which will serve to impress them more forcibly on the attention of the young reader, than if he were left to the unassisted exercise of his memory. GRANEVS FRENCH GRAMMAR.—LoNnos, IS3O. Clearness, conciseness, and simplicity are the chief recommendations of this little elementary treatise, which will, no doubt, be duly appre ciated by students in the French language. LORD GRAVES. on the contrary, reduced to a state of complete disc tress. He was aware that what he was saying was not new, for during the last ten years he had un ceasingly laboured to point out the evils of the mis chievous course which Mi isters were pursuing. They had ever since the conclusion of peace kept up a war establishment. It might appear to some gentlemen that our situation was not capable of any great relief from any remission of taxation which it was in the power of this House to effect; but when he called to their attervion what might have been done if, at the conclusion of the war, a system of economy had been acted on, they would see at onc e that a • great deal of mischief would have been avoided ; and they would likewise perceive, that by adopting a plan of retrenchment now, much good might yet be effected. Taxation, which was at no time light, was, by the chanee which had taken place in the currency, rendered almost one-half more onerous on the count!), than it ought to be. When that change took place, they ought to have insisted on a proportionate decrease in the amount of taxes, which had not been done. In 1817, 1818, and 1819, the taxes were not greater in amount than they were during the last' three years. Ministers had taken care to keep up the different establishments to the full means which were at their disposal. He therefore called on the House to do that which the whole country mewl moils's, demanded of their representatives in various way: to do—namely, to reduce the taxation and the expenditure. Now, he would ask, under what cio ctonseaeces they had assembled ? His Majesty did not, in his Speech from the throne, say one wor d' about lowering the taxes, and he could not find, from any thing which had occurred in that House, that aay reduction was intended. There was scarcely a Speech from the Throne, since the year 1817, which did not state the wish of his Majesty to - reduce the public expenditure ; but, notwithstanding these professions and promises, they would find that the estimates of last yiar, the lath year of peace, were upwards of 1,000,0001. greater than the estimates of 1817. Under all the circumstances, he felt it necessary to call on the House to demand, in strong terms, a reduction, and a great reduction, of the ex- i penditure, toeether with a change in the extent of taxation. In 1821 he had moved an address, calling• for the adoption of a system of rigid economy, which was unanimously carried ; but so far from that ad dress having the desired effect, the contrary was the result. No sooner did a vacancy in any situation (however useless) occur, than it was immediately filled up ;—witness the office of Treasurer of the Navy, which was given to a gentleman .a few days since. lie was convinced, that if they had made proper reductions in the first year of peace, they might, without detriment to the establishments of the country, have reduced the amount of their debt between 8,000,0001. and 9,000,0001. He had cal culated the sum extracted from the industry of the peonle of England, in the shape of taxes, during the fifteen years which had elapsed since the war, turd he found it amounted to no less than 896,000,0001., —a sutn which, if they could have retained it, would have enabled them to pay off all their debt, or if they could have saved from it but 8,000,0001. or 10,000,000/. would have afforded the country very great relief. From 1817 to 1828 inclusive, the net 1 money received was 700,000,0004, of which to the amount of 56,000,0004 was raised last year. Now, he would ask the House what portion of this gross sum of 896,000,0004, levied since the peace, was within their controul ? Now, looking to a paper which had been laid on their table, he saw, tent from the pee iodof the peace, uP the year 1829, the sum of 316,500,0001. was de voted to the support of the establishments - olthe country. The House had, therefore, to deal With this sum of 316,500,0001.: and there could be no doubt that if the most ordinary attention had been paid to economy, the one-half or the one-third of it might have been saved, and the country have kept up, nevertheless, all the civil and military establish ments that were necessary to be maintained. By this means they might have paid off from 130,000,000!. to 150,000,0001, of their debt, and thus given permanent relief to the country to -the amount of 6,000,0001, or 7,000,0004 He asked the house to recollect what was stated by the Se cretary at 'War and by the Ministers generally last year, as to the military expenditure. '1 he Weise was told that it would be considerably lowered; but how stood the fact? He found the expendie ture of 1828 was 17,300,000/., while that of 1829 was 17,666,0001., lacing an increase of upwards of 300,0001. He hoped the House would excuselite if he very shortly showed them what appeared to him to be, iii a great measure, the cause of their present situation. There had been a call in the country, and to very general one, that the landed proprietors should return to the rents of 1792;•-e' because, in fact, their expences had fallen to the rate of 1792. In his opinion, if they expected that this country should go on, under the changed. cirt-tun" stances of the present period, they must approxis mate as nearly as possible to the standard of 1792. He said this the more confidently, because the Finance Committee of 1817, wits Lord Castlereagh at its head, had laid down I! in the clearest and most distinct manner, that .they ought to approach to that standard as nearly as they could. The establishments of 17 91 and 1792 were every way sufficient to maintain the rights and interests of the country, and thel ought unquestionably to return to them. The ' Finance Committee of 1828 also took the expel' diture of that period as their basis. All their cony parisons had reference to those years, and he will exceedingly sorry to say that the investigations of, that Committee were cut short by the proceedings of Government. We well knew that except we. had • full exchequer our fleets and armies could not be maintained with effect, and yet we proceeded year after year screwing every shilling that was practicabl e from the pockets of the people,--a course that must eed in general poverty and destitution, and wae equally inconsistent with policy. And justice. Per haps Government wished to make England the arbi. , tress of the world, and therefore ' , thought it neces• cessary to keep up our military and naval establish• . ments on au extravagant footing; hut an attempt like this was absurd and impracticable, and if per sisted in could only have the effect of impairing the national resources. The present amount of taxatio n was upwards of 56,000,0001.; in 1792 it was only 16,000,0001. In the latter year the whole of our naval and military expenditure, that for the Kips e household, &c.,—in fact, the cost of the civ ' and military government,—was not more ths° 5,300,0001. on, an average of three years; the sato ° items of expenditure now amounted to a sum es: needing 24,000,0001. Now When. the value_ of :ir e currency was so much altered, and the rate of pro and wages fast coming down to the level 0 1792, it was only right to demand from Minister, such reductions as would approximate, our , tel penditure to the scale of 1792. .The:only . .inateri° reduction in our expenditure that: bad been- 0 1 complished of late years consisted-in the loaiering the interest upon the public debt from 31,500,00 0( ' 0 which was the amount payable in 1818 or 1819, t „ 28,500,0001. or 29,00 0 , 000 /. But though), 14 P o garded the public debt, we had made some litr e , progress in reduction, we had made little or n 1 .• trenehment as regarded our establishments. D. charge on the consolidated fund, hiCh 1792 4 1 w only 105,0001., now amounted to 1,200,000/.;' t i the expences of our army, navy, and some of items, which were then about 1,000,000/., were 17,600,000/. We bad raised the expenditure ° the civil list to a scale of great extravagance the last few years. The present scale was ^ framel in 1815, on an average of. the expenditure of 18 13 and 1814, one of the most extravagant periods English history. li.e could not approve o f tb i i present profuse expenditure, and • would 1 1 ,J support the dignity of the Croton at the expense the infi:cting increased sufferings upon the peopl; at a time when rags, starvation, and misery preVaild throughout the laud. Why prefer a Monarchy, I) ) because we conceived that form of government I I culated to procure in greater degree of happiness innocent, and that her lord believed her to be so. We know not, nor do we dare to say that she is not; but much remains to be explained, before the world can be sa tisfied that she has not acted with very great indiscretion, and that her lord did not think that she had left her con duct open to imputation. The stifling of all inquiry at the Coroner's Inquest was unfortunate. The nature of the de fence attempted by the Times has been still more so. lii the one case, it was evident that explanation and evidence had been kept back; in the other, it is plain that although much th a t i s culpable has been admitted, nothing that car, he called extenuating has been proved. We wish most sincerely that it bad been otherwise ; and we think it is not yet too late to meet the difficulty. Instances of fresh inquests have been numerous, and when the coroner refuses to grant them, or where there has been an informality i❑ the proceedings, the Court of King's Bench never hesitates to interfere. We quit the subject with the renewed ex pression of an ecroest hope that the honour of the lady may be freed from the cloud which hangs over it. We wish this for the sake of her family and friends, and still more from compassion for her feelings, already dreadfully agoniz.-d by the unfortunate consequences of the suspicion. Whatever, however, may be the result of an inquiry into the conduct of the tempted, there can be no apology formed for the tempter." IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. This is another classical publication proceed ing from the Valpy Press. The editor is Mr. Barker, an accomplished scholar—in fact a com plete Helluo Librorum—of the Parr and Porson school. To say that this gentleman has brought great research and unwearied industry to his task is saying little or nothing ; he has done more than this, he has held a reasonable check over his (lading propensity to write long interminable notes on the most frivolous disputed points. In his present edition of the " Select Orations of Demosthenes," Mr. Barker has avoided in part the rock on which he split in his editions of the (From the Times.) Oa a subject which has much engaged the public sympathy, and deeply implicated the fame and hap piness of members of more than one family of dis tinction in this country, we have been charged by those who must have known bettcr, with incon sistency at least, if not want of honesty, in chang ing our expressed opinions upon the question sub mitted to the Coroner's Jury. We have already stated the origin of that change to be the communi• cation of evidence, subsequently to the inquest, which had not reached us at an earlier stage in the course of these melancholy transactions. Following the intelligence as it poured in upon us, we cor rected, or at least modified, conscientiously, our first impressions. But although we were convinced by the documents that we read, the public, as we frankly acknowledged in a former number of the journal, was not so by our declaration of the credit which we conceived to be due to them. We therefore re commended to the families concerned, if they deemed it probable that any good might be done by further investigation, to insist upon it. We have, or can have, no object under heaven hut the development of truth, for the ends of justice. For those who think that it may possibly serve that cause to cir culate extensively the opinions of contemporary newspapers, which entertain upon the above matters judgment directly opposite to that which we de livered, the following temperate but decided nega tive on the hypothesis of the lady's innocence, is in serted from the Observer of Sunday. "THE LATE SUICIDE IN HIGH LIFE. (From the Observer.) "We have two reasonsfor, laying before our readers the full and complete series of accusation, explanation, and re cantation, which our eminent cotemporary, the Times, has been compelled to put forth during the week. The first is, that it contains all of fact, or of insinuation, which we have not already made public ; and the second is, that these facts, and these insinuations, are contradicted—we wish we could add, refuted—by the authority, and under information acknowledged to be received from the family and connexions of at least one cf the parties most interested. Hating all slander, or mere scandal, full as much as our cotemporary—less anxious, perhaps, to fasten guilt on a person already sufficiently obnoxious, because less called on to justify great previous censure—desiting ant to see venial offences too severely punished, nor to snake innocence more suspected—we yet felt it our duty, for the sake of public morality and public decency, to advert at a very early period to the rumours which, for nearly three weeks before, had been bandied about in every circle where it. could he mentioned with the shadow of . propriety. This we did, we repeat, not that spleen or mischief might be gratified, but that those who felt themselves accused might have an opportunity to put fo r t h a defence ; • that, if in nocent, they might make that innocence appear ; that, if guilty, they might be compelled to retire from society, and save our wives and our families from the profanation of their example. Loving trials much, but honour more, we shill now proceed to show why it is, as the Times acknowledges, that the public does not go with them in this matter—and why it is, that although its editor may he satisfied of the innocence of the parties, and of the in justice of the imputations against their c haracter, the great mass of the people have failed to a do p t his opinions. W e cannot bring ourselves to insult the well-known Integrity of the Times, or to pander to the purposes of those who wish to cast a shade over the reputation of the press, by alluding to the means through which it is vulgarly sup posed that the convictions of its editor have been produced. We take it as it is acknowledged, and shall not stop to in quire whether his judgment has been influenced by evi dence, blinded by the brilliancy of a diamond star, or biassed by private or political feelings. We are aware that after the melancholy event which has just taken place, this is a most ungracious task. When, however, there seems to be on one side a disposition to set public opinion almost at defiance, and when, on the other, there is a bold demand for inquiry, we think we may be justified in a slight invasion of rigid delicacy , and that we are in some degree at liberty to express our opinions on the nature of the defence which has been put forth, and of the inade quacy of the explanations yet presented to the world. Passing over all introd u c tor y declamation, te Times says, It is most unfortunate, when people of unpopular character are in that rank of life that they can, of neces sity, obtrude themselves where they please, and drop i n upon those whom they may choose as associates at will— it is, indeed, unfortunate for the persons who are thus dis tinguished ; for it cannot be but that the potent guest will impart to his friends a portion of the peculiar regard which adheres to himself; and that aptitude which may unfortunately exist to believe ill of him, will, of course, extend itself to those with whom be establishes re lations perhaps of only ordinary civility." Now we pause here, and ask gravely, to what meridi in is language like this to be applied'?" Do we live where the cast of the handkerchief is the symbol of love and of power, or are we under the protection of those laws, and acknowledging the customs of that society in which even the lowest female in the empire commands her own company, and possesses the power to reject all attentions which are disagreeable to her? Are we to be told that a person, little careful of public opinion certainly, but not peculiarly obnoxious to public censure, has been in the daily habit of passing from Kew to Hamp ton to force his civilities on a female relation of a family who believes ill of him,' and who were aware of the un popular nature of his character? Are there no means by which a gentlewoman, after the opinion of her husband was strongly expressed upon the subject, can refuse such civilities, and intimate her desire to be relieved from them' Are there no mean , by which such a guest can be excluded from the privacy of a chamber? Difficult indeed it is to explain circumstances like these; but still more difficult will it be to explain the continual repetition of such visits, after they had excited the marked attention of all who wit nessed them—after they had produced a partial estrange ment of the affections Of the husband, and after a promise had been given to abstain front all intercourse in futuree— a promise given at the request and through the interces sion of a relation, whose wishes are commands. We say nothing of the marked displeasure exhibited by the wife of the visiter when she heard by whom the apartmen t s at Hampton were occupied, and by whose intercession they la but c e t n o o o i o m i r i o r u t a s n e s e i n o c o n t t i b i o e o e c s Lot we m us t t a k e leave to had been procure d. We c t r u a r o r g e :Tee becameisliclt p h u a l s ,l o e e ; n r : ob serve, that an intercourse like this, persevered in contrary to the express desire of a husband, and in defiance of the wishes of a wife, and in disobedience of the commands of a relation, requires more than the production of one or two affectionate letters, to free it from the imputation of impro priety. We can understand the effect which may be pro duced by isolated co mmunications, when read without an understanding of the circumstances which produced them, or of the. situation of the patties at the time they were written. By something of this kind must the acute mind of the Editor of the Times have been led to a co nclusion which, indeed , t he mind of ever y virtuous and honourable man must have been anxious to adopt, that the lady was HOUSE LORDS.—(LAST NIGHT.) Mr. Crafer, from the Treasury, presented certa;n .ccounts relative to Bridges and Roads in the Highlands. Mr. Tierney, from the Tax-office, presented an Account of the Cases decided by the Judges under the Assessed Taxes Acts. Mr. Danvers, from the East India Company, pre sented a Copy of the Regulations made by the dif. ferent GovernFncnts of India during the year 1828. AGRICULTURAL. DISTRESS. Earl STANHOPE presented a petition from Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, complaining of great distress, and praying for relief generally ; and par ticularly praying for the repeal of the taxes on malt and beer. The Noble Earl expressed his convic tion that the Gavernment must, if it were deter mined to pursue its present course, reduce taxation to the amount of several millions. The Noble Earl said also that he would take that opportunity of asking the Noble Duke opposite if he would have any objection to .produce the paper from which he read an extract on the first night of the Session, in order to show the amount of the circulation. If the Noble Duke had no objection to produce that paper, he would perhaps move for it himself—if he had no objections, he (Earl Stanhope) would move for it. There could be no difficulty in showing that such a paper must be fallacious, though he did not suppose the Noble Duke was aware of the fallacy. The Duke of WELLINGTON replied, that the paper he had referred to on the first night of the Session was a memorandum made by himself from some conversation he had had with gentlemen who were much better informed on the subject than he was. lie did not think that the paper was of such a nature that he could produce it, but he could as sure his Noble Friend that he had not the slightest objection to give him every information he himself possessed. He would willingly give him access to all the facts stated, and to every thing which could elucidate the subject in any way he pleased. Earl STANHOPE wished to know if the Noble Duke would move for Returns which would show the quantity of paper and gold in circulation in 1819 and in 1830. Viscount GODERICH knew that there was no difficulty in producing papers to show the quantity of gold and silver issued ; but with respect tb the quantity of gold and silver in circulation, it was, perhaps, impossible to say what that quantity was. He intended to make a motion • for Returns which would show what quantity of gold and silver had been issued from the Mint since January 1, 1819 ; what quantity of gold and silver coin of this country had been exported ; and what q uantit y of gold and silver in foreign coin, or in bullion, had been ex ported during the same period. There was no law, as their Lordships knew, to co m p el individuals to enter gold and silver coin when exported; but, in point of fact, whenever large sums were exported as merchandize, he knew it was customary to enter them at the Custom-house, which might thus be enabled to give an answer. It would not be en tirely correct, but it would enable their Lordships to form some conclusion. All the documents to gether, for which he meant to move, would enable their Lordships to determine some facts, and to reason correctly on the subject. The Duke of WELLINGTON was certain that the information contained. in the returns intended to be moved for by his Noble Friend would give the Noble Earl every information be desired. If the 'Noble Earl thought any other documents would throw light on the subject, or if he (the Duke of Wellington) should discover any, he should be very ready to produce them. Earl S l'A N HOPE wished for these Returns, to show that it was impossible that any accurate ac counts could be obtained of the quantity of coin in circulation. The returns might show the quantity of gold issued, but not the quantity exported, not the quantity in the Bank coffers, and not the quan tity hoarded in the coffers of individuals. The Returns must be imperfect. The Duke of WELLINGTON had only quoted the returns of two periods, to make a comparison between them. 'I hese returns were, most likely, as accurate at one period as another ; and probably the later accounts were the more accurate of the two. The petition was then read and laid on the table. CURRENCY. Viscount GODERICH then moved for the re turns lie had described in his speech. Earl RADNOR moved for a return of the number of stamps of five-pound and ten-pound notes issued on January 1, 1826, and on January 1, 1830. Ordered. TREATY WITH AUSTRIA. Earl STANHOPE wished to know of the Noble Earl opposite if a co mmercial treaty, miscalled a Treaty of Reciprocity, had lately been concluded between this country and Austria; and if such a Treaty had been concluded, if it would be laid on the table ? The Earl of ABERDEEN replied that such a Treaty had been signed, and would he believed, be ratified. GAME LAWS. Lord VERNON presented a petition signed by twenty-six Magistrates of the county of Derby, praying for an alteration in the Game Laws. TRADE TO INDIA. Lord NV HARNCLIFFE presented a petition from the Merchants, Manufacturers, and others, of Leeds, in Yorkshire, praying that the Trade to India and China might be thrown open. The Noble Lord said, being himself a member of the Committee ap pointed to investigate the subject, he did not mean to give any opinion on it; but lae must say that a petition signed by more respectable and intelligent merchants was - never presented to their Lordships. He moved, that the petition be referred to the Com mittee. -Ordered. NATIONAL DISTRESS. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY, in the name of his Noble Friend the Lord Lieutenant of the county palatine of Chester, presented a petition from the Noblemen, Gentlemen, and Freeholders of that county, complaining of agricultural and com mercial distress, and praying relief.—Read, and laid on the table.—Adjourned.. HOUSE OF COMMONS-(LAST NIGHT. A new Member (Mr. Macauley, we believe, who I is just returned for Caine) took the oaths and his seat. 1 Papers of various kinds were presented from the East India House, the Treasury, the Court of Chancery, the Imperial Gas Company, the. Bank of England, and the British Muieum. Returns were also presented from the Bank of England, in obedience to the Order of the House, of the number of .Sovereigns and Half-sovereigns issued within a certain period, and of the quantity of Silver coined at the Mint. NEW WRIT. Mr. PLANTA moved that a new writ be issued for the county of Radnor, in the room of Mr. Frank land Lewis, appointed Treasurer of the Naey.—• Ordered. GAME LAWS. The Martinis ofCWANIiOS, understanding that the Hon. Member for Aberdeen intended to perse• eere in the motion of which he had given notice for that evening, postponed his proposition with respect to the Game Laws. WEST INDIA PRODUCE. _ _ _ The MarqUisof CIIANDOS gave notice of his intention to present on Tuesday,the 23d, a vet) , im portant petition with which lie had been entrusted by the West India Planters and Merchants, and which prayed a reduction of the Duties on Sugar and Rum. PUBLIC DISTRESS. Mr. EGERTON presented a petition from the Nobility, Clergy, Gentry, and Freeholders of th e County of Chester, praying the House to inquire into the cause of the universal distress which pre• wailed, and sugesting an alteration of the currency, and a rigid system of economy, as the best and most obvious means of remedying the evil. Mr. DAVIES DAVENPORT supported the prayer of the petition, and observed, that unless Mi nisters consented to adopt some remedy for the dis tress, he feared it would become still more general and afflicting. The petition was ordered to be printed. Mr. WODEHOUSE, on the part of his lion. Friend the Member for Shaftesbury (Mr. E. D. Davenport) postponed, on account of ill-health, the motion on the State of the Country, of which be had given notice for to-morrow. It was, however, from a disinclination to embarrass the Government at the present moment that he (Mr. Wodehouse) was glad to postpone the motion ; but he begged at the same time to ask the Right Hon. Gentleman, at what time or under what circumstances he intended to in troduce those modifications and extensions of the system of banking which be had the other evening intimated his wish to see established. It waa on tic count of that intimation principally that his Hon. Friend and others were anxious that the motion should not be pressed. Mr. Secretary PEEL denied that he had made any declaration such as that attributed to him by the Hon. Member ; and he left him at full liberty to go on with his motion, or to withdraw it, as it might suit his convenience or his wishes. All he had stated on the evening to which the Hon. Mem ber alluded was, that it might be possible to im prove the system of country banking by a removal of some of the restrictions at present imposed on it. He had added, that be hoped, at an early period, to see a sounder system established; but he was not prepared to say at what time that was to take place, nor to make any other decimations on the sohject. SAVING BANKS. Mr. WILBRAHAM, in moving for an Account of the Amounts of the Produce of all Stock received or paid by the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, en account of Savings Banks, observed it was continually asserted that, notwith standing the appearance of distress, the capital of the country was increasing. lie was not prepared to question that assertion at present ; but he thought it might prove that such capital was every day get ting into fewer and fewer havds;and for the purpose of understanding that more plainly, he wished to be informed on the amount of monies collected by the lower classes. Mr. WODEHOUSE took this opportunity to ask the Right 800. Gent. (Mr. Peel) two ques tions. The first was, whether Mr. Frankland Lewis whose labours were much missed by the commercial interests of the country, had been appointed Trea surer of the Navy ? The second question was,how it happened that in the minutes of evidence of papers just laid on the table, the evidence of Mr. A. Baring was given at length, and the evidence of the Governor and Members of the Bank of England either generalized or omitted ? Mr. PEEL, in reply to the first question, an swered, that a new writ bad that evening been moved for Radnor, in consequence of Mr. F. Lewis having accepted the office of Treasurer of the Navy. To the second he could not give an answer; but as there weie two gentlemen in the House fron t with the Board of Trade , he was sure, when they took their places, that they would satisfacto torily explain the omission to which the Honour able Member alluded. Ott the suggestion of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, the motion of Mr. Wilbra. ham was amended, as the Right Hon. Gentleman explained, for the better accomplishment of the ob ject ; and a return was ordered of all monies had and received from Savings' Banks from the Ist of January, 1828, to the 31st of December in the same year ; with a return of the same kind to the 31st of December, 1829, acid continued to the latest period at which it could be ascertained. Mr. O'CONNELL presented a petition from an inhabitant of Cork, whose name we could not hear, praying for a Repeal of the Legislative Union with Ireland.—Ordered to be printed. On the motion of Mr. O'CONNELL, Returns were ordered to be laid before the House of the names of the Members of Grand Juries in Dublin, f:orn Dec. 1822, to Jan. 1830 ; and of the names of Members of the Common Council of Dublin, on the Ist of January of every year, from 1821 to 1830, inclusive. Mr. O'CONNELL moved for a Return of the number of persons discharged under the Insolvent Act, specifying their names, and dividends, if any. It being, however, stated by the Chancellor of the Exchequer that such a return would be exceedingly voluminous, and Mr. Hume having said that he had last Session moved for an aggregate' return, al though he did not know whether it was yet on the Table, Mr. O'Connell withdrew his motion. Mr. BANKES presented the usual annual peti tion from the Trustees of the British Museum. — Ordered to be printed. Mr. CALLAGHAN gave notice that on Wed nesday next he would move for certain Returns relative to the Church Establishment in Ireland. Mr. DICKENSON presented a petition from William Towsey, M.D., complaining of.the increase of small-pox, and praying that the House would adopt some means of remedying the evil. Mr. HUME thought the attention of the Right Hon. Gentleman ought to be especially paid to this important subject, in order to prevent the spread of the small-pox by carelessness and inattention. Parents, whose children were inoculated with the small-pox, ought to be compelled to keep them at home, in order to prevent their coming in contact with other children. After a few words from Mr. DICKENSON, the petition was ordered to be printed. Lord JOHN RUSSELL postponed, un til to morrow, his Motion on the subject of the arrange ments respecting Greece. The Lunatic Licensing Balances' Bill went through a Committee, the Report of which was ordered to be received to-morrow. of On the the co m M m o tion • • •to the collection of the Revenue, was examining in SO G N re , a t t he se ß al e , po fo r r t ordered to be printed. ° e f t . . s iM u l l -' l - d p er A tVie . COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved the Order of the Day for the House resolv consider further of the supply to be g ranted to his Majesty. ing itself into a Committee of the whole House, to Mr. HUME wished, before the House resolved itself into the Committee, to submit to the House w hat, as it app eared to him, it was their d . uty to perform before they granted any supplies w red hatev i er He had, for ma n y y ears past, endeavou to m ing on the count r y , and which were likely to weigh press on the House that the difficulties then weigh on it till a different course was pursued, arose from the scale of expenditure which the Ministers thought proper to keep up since the conclusion of peace. lle had no hesitation in saying that this country, inste,d of enjoying all those advantages which the people I had a right to expect after the termination of so long a war, —the advantages of peace and plenty,—was, the col ever, il of gov serious cootim Isi4 t civil lu ing to by Act W e w the C( Foreqi added to do duce 245,0 capab a! , d it Comt Were and ti a-yew remui Was, i for Tt oui