The Sun. — London, England, 1830-03-22 00:00:00

Mr. Peel has predicted—the giving its quietus to he many•lived scheme for reverting to a paper cur rency. The challenge which was thrown out by the Right Hon. Gentleman to Mr. Attwood, arid other declaimers against a circulating medium com posed of the precious metals, is one which it re quires no gift of prophecy to foretell will not be ac cepted. These gentlemen are too dexterous to ri-k an exposure of their object in its real nakedness and nee hingness. They will go on bewailing and abus ing, and threatening about the fall of piices, and the ruin of the landed interests, but they know better than to come to the point, and say at once, let us debase the standard and get rid of our gold and silver money. We are tired, we acknowledge, of this never-endiag talk, which not only points at so eptciflo temedy for distresses which are described us tthiversal, but which goes to recommend a mode of Parliamentary proceeding inconsistent with the notion that a remedy is so much as dreamed of by the individuals who suggest it, If facts are to be inquired into, well and good; hut can an inquiry into farts be pretended by Mr. Davenport, and his supporters, as the purpose enter tained by their motion, when, from their mode of treating the subject, it is plain that evidence must be adduced, relating to the condition, past and present, ottrery trade, every class and interest, through all the counties of the United Kingdom—an investiga tion which could not be concluded through the whole term of a septennial Parliament. No; it is a com mittee of opinions which is wanted—aot one for the collection of facts. Why, Parliament itself is al ready'l the proper Committee for mooting and sane- tioning opinions. Let Hon. Gentlemen embody theirs in the shape of precise and intelligible reso lutions, and then see how they are likely to be dealt with by the Legislature and the country. Lord Althorp's declaration has produced a salutaryin fluence; the Noble Lord announcing for himself and the powerful body of friends who surround him, that he will oppose the motion of Mr. Davenport, as being brought forward in a spirit of hostility to Ministers,--a sentiment which his Lordship dis- Much difference of opinion must necessarily exist in fixing upon such of the public burthens as call the loudest for repeal. Every man and class of men will naturally infer that the tax which presses most upon themselves is the heaviest, and the most ob jectionable. Even the votaries of gin probably would, some of them, contend that they ought to be allowed to poison themselves "duty free." It is the business of the Government and the Legislature to discriminate between these conflicting opinions, and to determine upon a large scale that which pre sents itself in so many narrow ones. We do not, by any means, deny that the selection which the Government has made is, as far as it goes, a wise one ; though we feel confidently persuaded that the remedy, to say nothing of the remoteness of its operation, bears no proportion to the disease. We wonder that, in making the selection of such bur thens, the removal of which would most lighten the general load, so little has been said, both in and out of Parliament, on the importance of the repeal of the whole, or, at all events, great part of the assessed taxes. We know that there are persons who enter tain an idea that this repeal would only afford relief to the wealthier classes of society ; and if such were really the case, we should be among the List to con tend that, in a time of such pressure upon the work ing classes, a relief operating upon the higher only is that which should be resorted to. The truth, how ever, is, that the greater part of the Assessed Taxes, though paid directly by the middle and upper classes, fall virtually and indirectly as much upon the work-' ing classes as the taxes upon their tea, sugar, or tobacco. In the articles of house and lodging rent they directly affect all classes except the occupiers of the smallest cottages in the country. It would not he too much to say that it is the pressure of the house and window taxes which enhance the price of every poor family's lodging, in London and other large towns, full twenty-five per cent.; while it is equally notorious that the claims of the tax-gatherer are made the reason, sometimes true and sometimes fictitious, of the harassing mode in which the pay ment of small rents are enforced. But by far the greater part of the relief which the repeal of the assessed taxes would give to the whole community would be indirectly, by the different channels such a measure would open to the increased expenditure, in other ways, of those who now pay them. Is there any one who doubts that one great cause of the emi gration of so many persons, who now spend their fortunes elsewhere, arises from the high price of house rent in this country ? And does not one-fourth of that house rent consist of the quarterly demand which the collectors of assessed taxes make upon each occupant ? And, if so, does it not follow that, by removing great part of the cause, a considerable part of the effect would cease also ? Again, is there any body who can doubt that, by the repeal of the duty even on carriages (the least onerous, we admit, of all the assessed taxes), a great impulse. would be given to that valuable branch of trade, included as it is tinder so many heads of produce and manufacture ? Or can there be any doubt that, if the taxes on horses and servants were repealed, many more of the latter would be employed than are now engaged ? Few things press at this moment more heavily upon humble families than the support of their grown-up boys, for whom no kind of service can be obtained; arid that principally because even the tradesmen cannot employ one of them to clean his shoes without a surcharge from the tax-gatherer ; because the wealthier man cannot add one of them as a helper Or additional servant in any part of his establishment Without having the tax upon all his previous servants greatly increased. It would he easy, would space permit it, to augment the proofs of the general and Oppressive way in which the influence of the assessed taxes extends beyond those who pay them. Suffice it to say we feel convinced that the more their effects are traced and examined, the more will their repeal he found to be one of the heads of relief which, in its consequences, must prove most extensively bene ficial.—Morning Herald. The more we reflect on the promised repeal of the Beer Duties, the more are we convinced that the expected reduction in the price of beer is a fal lacy. The Chancellor of the Exchequer calculates the abrogation of these duties will have the effect of lowering the price three farthings per quart. Sup posing, for the sake of argument, that this calcula tion is correct, which it is not, but in order to make the sum more divisible, let us admit the reduction will be from fivepence to:fourpence per quart. This is one-fifth of the present price. The probability is that more beer will be consumed in the proportion of the reduction. An increased quantity of beer, if the quality be not deteriorated, will require an increased quantity of malt, and an increased demand for this article will naturally raise its market price. The increased price of the malt will either compel the brewer to raise the price of his beer, or . he will lie forced to adulterate it, or at least ditnini•h its strength. In this way, while the Government re ceives an increased sum in the shape of malt duty, the beer drinker will not be benefitted even though he be able to afford five quarts instead of four. The whole thing is a contemptible juggle, and will con tinue to be so while the malt duty remains unre duced or unrepealed. Had Government been de sirous to relieve the people in reality, and been more anxious to minister to the wants of the poor titan protect the interests of the fundholder, instead of the beer they would have repealed the sugar duties.— Sugar is an article much more indispenFable than either ale or porter. It is required by the poorest classes. It is actually a necessary to the humblest person—to the aged, the infirm, the sick —to the poorest widow and:the Most veritable old maid who vegetates on 201. a-year--even to the pauper it is a necessary. By reducing the duty on this article all classes of society would have been benefitted, and none more so than the indigent and reduced labourer and spinster. It does not produce altoge ther much more than 4,000,0001. per annum. The jsrimeebst of tlseartiele is not more on the average . tban twopence halfpenny per pound, and on this twopence halfpenny there is levied the monstrous and oppressive duty of threepence farthing per pound. By repealing the duty the increased con sumption might probably increase the prime cost from twopence halfpenny to threepence halfpenny a pound; but this increase would not be felt nor regretted, seeing that it would benefit the planter, who at this moment is in a state of unparalleled dis trm.-211orning Journal. The House of Commons is a body, with all its sins, of a somewhat uneasy conscience ; and com punctious twinges will occasionally disturb the ame nity of the most self-satisfied memberson its benches. We can easily account, therefore, for their holding in so much favour those smooth-faced, plausible men, from whose oily tongues the common-places of commendation flow glibly and freely, like that class of Divines who excel in allaying the torments of re morse, and teach the guilty sinner to find in himself virtues and graces with the possession of which lie was wholly unacquainted. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, who had long carried on a commerce of this sort with Members, took occasion, in delivering his Budget the other night, to soothe the House by protesting his deep conviction that no assembly was to be found in the whole world, nor had any ever existed, in which the sufferings of the poor met with afore ready or lively sympathy. Certainly Parlia ment dues not, at this crisis, exhibit any indifference to the general distress; but if Mr. Goulburn's me mory serves him aright, lie may recal a period, one of great suffering to the manufacturing classes, when the country gentlemen, now so querulous and com passionate, were unanimous and firm in recommend ing patient acquiescence under the inevitable calami ties of commercial change. The bowels of a land holder do not, in truth, yearn towards a starving weaver, as they do towards an insolvent tenant; it is a deficient audit which awakens the tender mer cies of the Aristocracy, and ins ructs tratesmen such as the Chancellor of the Exchequer. " How various and innumerable Are those who live upon the rabble ! 'Tis they maintain the church and state, Employ the priest and magistrate; Bear all the charge of Government, And pay the public fines and rent; Defray all taxes and excises, And impositions of all prices; Bear all th' expence of peace and war, And pay the pulpit and the bar; Maintain all churches and religions, And give their pastors exhibitions! ! !" —Morning Chronicle. The Abstract of the Returns of the Poors' Rates levied in England and Wales for the year ending March, 1829, which has just been distributed, proves that the s:aternents of Members of the Legislature of a rapidly increasing Poor-rate can, at most, have been founded on extreme causes. The total of the sums expended for the relief of the poor in the year alluded to amounts to 6,332,110/. The increase in some counties seems balanced by the de crease in others. In Lancaster, for instance, the decrease is 10 per cent.; Yorkshire (West Riding). 3 per cent.; Stafford, 7 per cent.; Westmoreland, 9 per cent.; Warwick, 3 per cent. ; Gloucester, 2 per cent.; Somerset, 3 per cent.; Nottingham, 3 per cent.; Leicester, 3 per cent.; Norfolk, 2 per cent. ;—in short, in all the manufacturing districts there is u decrease more or less. In the agricultural districts again, there is generally an increase. In Suffolk it is 12 per cent.; Berks, 10 per cent.; Cambridge, 3 per cent.; Essex, 6 per cent.; Buck ingham, 3 per cent. ; Huntingdon, 6 per cent. ; Wilts, 10 per cent,; Sussex, 3 per cent. Of the money disbursed for other purposes than the relief of the poor, amounting in all to the enormous sum of 1,280,3281., we grieve to see so large a portion wantonly expended every year from the failure of Government to discharge its most essential func tion—namely, the bringing justice home to the door of every man. The whole sum raised in Lancashire, for instance, is 398,742/. Of this sum no less than 109,637/. is expended for other pur poses than the relief of the poor. The people of Lancashire are taxed at least 50,0001. out of this sum unnecessarily—that is, for the conveyance of prisoners and witnesses to the distant town where the Assizes are held. The County Rates are higher in Lancashire than in Middlesex, though in the latter county the number of commitments and trials be so much greater. In Middlesex the whole sum raised is 740,7771.; the payments for other pur poses than the relief of the poor 96,7231.; that is, 14,000/Jess than in Lancashire. The West Riding of Yorkshire too, from the same cause, pays a dise proportionately large county rate, no less than 84,1811. out of 345,3701. These sums may enable us to form something like a guess as to the extent of the suffering inflicted on suitors in civil cases, in con veying witnesses to the assize towns, and maintain ing them there. The distress in Kent and Sussex has often been referred to as particularly great; but the increase of expenditure in these counties does not seem great. Thus, for instance, in the year ending 25th March, 1823, there was levied in Kent 373,7861., and in Sussex 259,2561.; in the year end. ing 25th March, 1829, there was levied in Kent 384,4421.; and in Sussex 267,4591., a very trifling increase, which is more than accounted for by the increase in the county rates.—Morning Chronicle. The speech of Sir James Scarlett, in moving on Tuesday for leave to bring in a Bill for the better Administration of Justice in Wales, was quite charac teristic. "He knew (he said) that the popular opinion was in favour of destroying all the ancient institutions of the country ; but he was the furthest from wishing to minister to that appetite; he wished as far as possible to adhere to existing arrangements ; his endeavour was to preserve ancient forms as nearly as possible; there was nothing he more ear , neatly wished to avoid than giving way to the vi sions of wild theorists. The longer the experience, the more minute the acquaintance with the jurispru dence of England, the more apparent were its po sitive excellencies, and the more striking its supe riority over the systems of every ether nation. It was true that we had only fifteen Judges; but those fifteen Judges tried more causes, and decided con- cerning a greater amount of property, than all the Judges of France." After enumerating the differ ent Courts, and the number of Judges, &c., he ob served that " the whole of the expense, when turned into English money, at 25 francs to the pound ster ling, amounted to 582,556/. If the House com pared the quantity of business done, he was satisfied that it would be found that there was no reason to complain of what was decided in the English Court." In all this there is a great deal of assumption on the part of Sir James, and a great deal which, if true, is beside the question. We do not see how, even sup posing the English system of Jurisprudence to be superior to that of France, that it is therefore neces sarily superior to the systems of every other nation, because it is not proved that that of France is better than the systems of all other nations; and still less does it follow that because the system of all other na tions are bad, that the system of England is necessarily good. As far as we can learn, the French system is worse than that of almost every nation in Europe. Again, a faulty system may render it necessary to have an immense number of Judges in France; but that does not justify the denial of justice in Eng land to alt but those who are able to sue in th.e King's Courts. The reason why fifteen Judges do all the business of England is because law is a lux ury in England, only within the reach of the rich.— The amount of property decided on is nothing to the purpose, because England is a much richer country than France, and the denial of justice to the mass of the people may still leave a greater amount of pro perty to be decided than is under litigation in the Courts of France. The idea of comparing the amount of property occurs only to a man steeped in the prejudices of English Aristocracy. The ques tion ought not to be the amount of property decided on, but the number of individuals to whom Justice has been administered; for the happiness of a poor man ought to be as dear to the Legislature as the h mt a t ia n pines s o f a r i ch man, and the happiness of a poor may be a s muc h dependent on a quest i on of 10 / . value as the h a p p i ness of a tick man on a question of a million. When We see that the whole number of causes tried in the half-yearly Northern Circuit, fl section of England containing a population of be tween three and four millions of the most active and intelligent people of the world, amounts only to a few hundreds, it is clear that there is a complete denial of justice to all but the very rich, and that the description of causes decided in local Courts in France and Scotland (amounting, in the latter country, to twenty thousand a year) has no tribunal in England, except an occasional Court of Con science in the horrible County Courts. When the sum is large, a suitor will in England brave the delay and the expence; but the injustice of half yearly delays, and the being compelled to travel with witnesses to a distance, and to maintain them ' for weeks at the Assize town, when the whole might often be settled at a small expence in a local Court, are not the less evident. "It might be supposed," ' said Sir James, " that as the expence to the Go vernment was so great that the expellee to the suitor was less. He had directed an irquiry to be ' made on this subject, and he had derived some accu rate information from a celebrated Avocat at Paris. When a cause went through all its regular stages, and taking an average of ten causes, he found that the average cost of each cause was 1401., he believed that the average of ten causes tried in London would be found not to amount to so much." We should like to know what is meant by cause here. A cause may commence in a Sheriff's Court in Scotland, be from thence removed to the Court of Session, and thence again appealed to the House of Lords, and the costs may be two or three thousand pounds. This may be called a cause going through all its regular stages, for every cause commenced in a local Court in Scotland may be carried to this extreme. Yet it would not be fair to say that a Scotch sauce going through its regular stages costs 2,0001. It appeared from a Parliamentary Return, that only one out of every 118 causes tried in the local Courts of Scot land were carried to:the Court of Session, and of that number comparatively few are appealed to the House of Lords. In like manner, no doubt, the great body of causes in France are finally decided in the local Courts. But we admit that the judicial procedure of France, according to the accounts of their own writers, quoted by Feuerbach, an eminent German Jurist, is execrable. As little is known in this country of the manner of French procedure, we shall here extract from the author above named an account of some of its chief defects. " The above interruptions, which may and usually do take place in an ordinary trial, from the instruction, through the hearing, down to the decision, are far from being the only or principal causes which lengthen the pe riod of the suits, and of which chicanery avails itself to exhaust the patience of the litigants, and exhaust their purses. The principal causes, originating in the very nature of French proceedings, are— " 1. The almost inexhaustible abundance of what are called incidens, which furm so many preparatory or inter vening trials, which interrupt the course of the main issue, and must he separately instructed, pleaded, and determined; so that a single main issue cannot often be decided till a multitude of collateral suits, the number of which cannot be previously calculated according to any theory, are brought to a successful or unsuccessful terminatisu. Of the incidens there are two principal classes. First, those which precede the entering on the defense; the issue as to the fins-de-non-proc>dcr ; then the issue as to the excep tions peremptoires de forme; further, the dilatoires ; lastly, as to the exceptions peremptoires of the second class, or the fins-de-non recevoir, properly so called. For that an advocate should avail himself of the permission to con nect these different issues, defendre a Joules fins, is a rare example in French practice. The second class consists of those which may be thrown in the way after the question has been entered on ; consequently, during the written in struction, or after the matter has already come to a hearing, or after it has been debated, or even after the Court has ordered the deliberation, Sze. They are divided into six principal classes, of which the most fall again into several subdivisions, of which subdivisions each comprehends a number of separate points. Without attempting to reckon up all these, without speaking of those kinds which may occur in one trial, as, for example, Interventions, .Recusa tions, and the like, I shall merely glance at the first class, the so-called demander incidentes, as to which Pigeau makes the general observation that their source is altogether inexhaustible. It is enough to remark that they are com petent either to the plaintiff or defendant, or to both, and that they may be engaged in every stage of the suit. The plaintiff can make a fresh addition to his main claim by a demande ineidente (as, for instance, the demand of inte rest, fruits, &c.), or he may limit his former claim, or he may vary the grounds of it, &e. ; the defendant can raise a counter-claim ; either party can throw his opponent, whom he has hitherto combated with quite different weapons, by a demande incidents of false documents (inscription en faux), by a complaint to be replaced in his former condi tion (for example, as he was a minor during the time of the execution of the document), by an actio doll and the like, interrupt the principal proceeding., till the intervening issue is instructed and conducted to a hearing. _ _ " 2. What perplexes the issue adds to the duration of it. It would be difficult to invent a mode of procedure which could give greater facility to chicanery, to involve the simplest matter, and to pervert order into the wildest disorder, than the French. It knows nothing of an ac curate firing of the issue—nothing of a regulating of the status cause et contruversice, before the decision ; it is not till after the judgment is pronounced that the fact (qualites) on which it is grounded, is drawn up by the Advocates, which gives again occasion to an after-issue. However the cause may be commenced, it may always he moved out of its course, and receive an altered shape. To what abominations do not these so called conclusions afford a handle. The conclusions which have been taken in the proceedings may, as has been shown above, be mo dified at the opening of the hearing (in the qualith), and these again in the course of the hearing sur le barreau, again in the appeal, and finally may be quite changed when the sentence has been casse before the Tribunal de Renvoi. Then come also the new mnyens in the .Appel lations-Instance ; anti finally, as the most certain and productive means of perplexing a well-introduced incident —complaint. " 3. Suds is the abundant harvest which is offered to chicanery by the numberless, trivial, and often entirely useless formalities with which a French trial is so thickly strewed, that a step can hardly be taken without incurring the danger of overlooking or failing in soma scarcely per ceptible trifle, which may annul the whole proceeding, lay a foundation for an intervening action of declaration of nullity, and necessarily compel a repetition not only of the steps already taken, but of all the actions founded on it," • &c. _ _ _ A more barbarous mode of conducting a trial can hardly well be conceived than that of the French, according to this well-informed writer, who cites French authorities for every sentence, and has studied at Paris the working of the system. The Scotch system of procedure is bad, but perfection compared with that of France. The truth would seem to be, that lawyers in all countries are equally hostile to reform, and equally success ful in defeating the attempts at it. It does not follow, however, that because our neigh bours have a barbarous system of procedure that ours should not be improved. " The proceedings before the French Courts (observed Sir James) were more prolix than those in the English Courts. Much of the superiority of our proceeding was due to our trial by Jury, which was not understood by many persons who derided it. The institution of a Jury enabled the Judge to separate the law from the facts, facilitated the administratio n of justice, and gave a certainty , to our law, such as was nit to be found in other countries. Those who were not well acquainted with the effect of Jury trials ridiculed them, but it was from not know ing their operation." Here Sir James displays his usual ability to separate the accident from the substance. It is probable that without a Jury, the English would never have stumbled on the dis tinct adjustment of the facts to be ascertained pre vious to the trial; but. would have gone on rambling from facts to law arguments, and from law arguments to facts, like their neighbours the Scotch. A Jury being confined to facts, and time being limited, it became necessary to lose as little as possible, and to f what c h ar m the matter a h t av is e s a ue c . or ß re u c t t t p h r e e s v e i p ou ar s a u ti n o d n e o rs n t c a e nd m in a g de: Jury tr m y o i r s e su t e h s an as inwaellasthe Judge, that the former ? He would do so much better , and moreover th er e l i a s t t t h er er s e ho in should a not would be this advantage in the alteration --.that the • Perrin—Traite des Nullitee de Droit en ilatiere Cinle,....Pane, 1819. Judge would not be obliged to open up verdicts again and again till he find one to satisfy him. As far as we can see, the Jury is merely a stalking horse for the purposes of the Judge, that he may throw the responsibility of what he does not like to be charged with on them, and yet leave it in his power to alter the verdict. Sir James Scarlett re minds 113 of an illustration given by Dugald Stewart in his Chapter " on the Influence of Casual Associa tions on our Speculative Conclusions." He would repeat every step of a process, because he is unable to distinguish between what produces the result and what is unessential. The essential in a trial is the fixing the issue distinctly; the means by which the discovery was made that law and fact ought to be kept separate are a distinct consideration from the means by when it is known that law and fact can be separated, the fact may be best astertained. " Let us suppose (says Dugald Stewart) that a savage, who in a particular instance Isad found himself relieved of some bodily indisposition by a draught of cold water, is a second time afflicted with a similar disorder, and is desirous to repeat the same remedy. In his situation it would be impos sible for him to determine whether the cure was owing to the water which was drunk, to the cup in which it was contained, to the fountain from which it was taken, to the'particular day of the month, or to the particular age of the moon. In order, there fo: e, to ensure the success of the remedy, he will very naturally, and very wisely, copy, as far as he can recollect, every circumstance which accompanied the first application of it. He will make use of the same cup, draw the water from the same fountain, hold his body in the same position, and turn his face in the same direction; and thus all the ac cidental circumstances in which the first experiment was used will come to be associated equally in his mind with the effect produced. The fountain from which the water was drawn will be considered as I possessed of particular virtues and the cup from which it was drunk will be set apart from vulgar uses, for the sake of those who may afterwards have occasion to apply the remedy." We have now out , grown a little the state of this savage, and can dis pense with some parts of the process, if the equally good result can be obtained without them. If Sir James look at the evidence as to the Assistant Barristers' Courts in Ireland, he will see that an issue can be very well tried without a Jury, and that the parties in ninety-nine cases oat of a hun dred (for they have an option) prefer a learned and experienced Judge to an ignorant set of Jurors.— ilforning Chronicle. We have already denounced, on more than one occasion, the iniquity of the measure proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, of throwing open the trade in beer, and while any hope remains of either defeating it in told, or of procuring such a modification of it, as to render it less ruinous, we shall denounce it by such fair argument as may duly bear upon the question. The great argument on which the advocates of the measure rely is the de crease, for some years past, in the consumption of beer, which they hold to be a proof of such bad management on the part of those entrusted with it, as to render it imperative on the Legislature to transfer it to other hands ; but how stands the fact The sale of beer has indeed decreased, or at least been nearly stationary ; but then, on the other hand, while the duties have been greatly diminished on all articles which could possibly come into competition with its sale, the duty on beer has remained the same to the present moment ! The intermediate brewers and retailers have, le the first place, shared, not unfrequently by a recourse to fraudulent expedients, no inconsiderable portion of the trade of the licensed victualler ; in the second, the reduction of the duty on coffee gave rise to the introduction of an immense number of coffee-shops, which have also diminished, in some measure, the sale of beer ; in the third, the duty on British spirits has been greatly lowered, and, in consequence of the heavy duty on beer, caused a much greater consumption of British spirits; and, finally, let it be remembered, that, for years past, the country has been in a most deplorable state of distress—and that the deteriorated condition of the middle, and the low wages of the working, classes, have rendered the use of beer a matter of comparative luxury in stead of a general necessary of life. All these things have tended to prevent an increase in the con sumption of beer; and all these things ought to be taken into consideration before a sentence of condemnation be passed on those who have been en gaged in it. Had the duty on beer been either re pealed, or reduced in proportion to the reduction of the duties above alluded to, there can be no question that its consumption would have kept pace with, if it had not actually outstripped, them ; but the Legis lature, as if determined to lay the foundation of all argument, which it might afterwards bring forward to palliate the ruin of a meritorious body of men, repealed or reduced the duties on all other articles, and most benevolently left the beer duty unrepealed. One other point, and we have done for the present. In the case of all other monopolies established by law, the Legislature has deemed it just to give due notice to the parties who might stiffer by its being broken up, that after the lapse of a certain number of years the system would be abolished ; and thus has the ruin, in which great numbers would other wise have been involved, been so modified as to be only pa: dully felt ; but in the case of the licensed victualler this ceremony is to be dispensed with, and the whole body to be ruined at " one fell swoop." It might be difficult to persuade the Chancellor of the Exchequer that even the public good, though in most cases the SUMMUM jus, may in particular in stances be the sumnia injuria ; but we will put a case in point—a short argumentuni ad hominem, which Will at all events have the merit of being com prehensible, even if it should fail in persuading. It is this. Mr. Goulbern and his colleagues are all en titled to retiring pensions, for having served his Ma jesty in their several capacities,--which retiring pensions the country would no doubt cheerfully pay, as in strict justice bound, while it could; but sup pose that, owing to the pressure of the debt, and the distressed condition of the country, it was found more for its good not to continue the payment of these pensions than to pay them, we put it to Mr. Goulburn, whether lie would riot consider himself most unjustly dealt with by such a proceeding ? Yet what difference there is, if any difference there be, between the two cases, is all in favour of the licensed victualler; for while the latter has not only spent his time and labour, but laid out his capital in the improvement of his property, at great risk of loss, the former has merely given the country the benefit of such talents as Providence has been pleased to grant him, and for which he has been duly remunerated. We trust, therefore, that in the event of its being finally determined to throw open the beer trade, it will be done in such a man ner as to do as little injury as possible to existing interests—that the Act will be prospective, and not take effect for several years. The injury might be thus very greatly mitigated ; and as similar regard has been invariably paid to existing interests in other cases, we can see no reason why it should not be paid in the case of the licensed victualler. We are glad to see, in reference to the above subject, that not only are the country brewers and licensed victuallers fully alive to the injurious tendency of the proposed measure of the Chancellor of the Ex chequer, but that the proviacial Press is also strongly in favour of impartial justice being admini stered to the licensed victuallers. " On Friday," says the Leeds .illercury, A numerous meeting of the Licensed Victuallers in the borough of Leeds was held at the Saddle Inn, in Brig gate, Mr. David Kirkman in the Chair, when it was re solved to send a deputation to London immediately, to act in concert with the Licensed Victuallers of London, Bir mingham, &c. in attending to their interests in the mea sures contemplated by Government respecting the Licensing System." On Friday, also, says a Manchester Paper, A meeting of the Brewers of this town was held at the King's Arias, in King-street, for the purpose of con sidering what measures should be adopted with the view of opposing the extension of the trade in Beer, as proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr. John Hardt:llan was called to the Chair. After some conversation, Mr, Rowland Bent was requested to communicate with the Committee appointed at the Meeting of the Liverpool Brewers, held on Monday last, with the view of obtaining their co-operation in the measures deemed necessary for promoting the objects in view. The Meeting then adjourned until this day. On Wednesday a Meeting of the Licensed Victuallers was held fur a similar purpose, and a variety of resolutions were adopted. A meeting of the Licensed Victuallers of Liverpool was to be held laa evening on the same subject." . _ We ;night go on, and mention other meetings of a similar character in other places; but our limits forbid us to proceed, and we give these notices simply because they refer to towns in which im mense property is embarked in public-houses, and where, in consequence, great loss, ruin, and misery would result from the proposed measure. " In this town," says the Liverpool Chronicle, " there are about twelve hundred publicans, many of whom have paid large sums of money for their licences,—the Magi strates having for a long time refused to grant new licences, the value of the old ones was materially enhanced, and, we believe, we do not make an over-estimate, when we say, that a licence was last weak worth 2001. Thus the publicans of Liverpool will lose 210,000 f. by the repeal of the licensing system, besides the reduction which must necessarily take place in their profits. It would be only just, that this numerous body should he relieved from the burthens imposed upon them by the billeting system ; it will be most oppressive, if the.publicans be still compelled to find lodgings for soldiers,;when they only exercise a call ing open to every other person in the community." To the same effect are the observations in other papers, had we space enough left to quote them ; but we must conclude with repeating, that there is as yet no actual ground for despair, and that if those interested in the question will be but firm and united, they may succeed in defeating one of the most spe cious, but iniquitous, attempts to invade private pro perty which we ever recollect to have been sub mitted to the Legislature.—Morning Advertiser. CONSTANTINOPLE. Extract of a letter from a British officer, dated Con stantinople, January 25, 1830 : " The force of the Turkish navy now at Constantinople consists of two three-deckers (Mahmoud, of 140 guns, and &lint, of 130 guns), seven line-of battle ships, eight fri gates (one of which is double banked of 61, guns), and 20 large corvettes, of from 21 to 26 guns each; besides these, an 80-gun ship is daily expected from the arsenal at the Island of Marmora. Her masts and yards are in readi ness at Constantinople, she being at present but jury rigged. The Sultan is quite enamoured with the majes tic appearance of the Blonde, British frigate, and salt a draughtsman on board a few days back, who took a com plete architectural drawing of her, for the purpose of having a frigate built exactly after her model and dimen sions. The Turkish shipwrights are now busily em ployed in preparing timbers for the intended La Blonde of the East. The Russians are determined not to be entirely behind us in our movements through the Bosphorus ; and as England was the first Foreign power that ever sent a fri gate through the Thracian Bosphorus to the Black Sea, so are the Russians the first to send a line-of-battle ship from the Black Sea down the Bosphorus ; thus the birth which the Blonde occupied last summer at Bujuckdere is now possessed by a line-of-battle snip, in company with the frigate which carried out the Russian Ambassador, and a sloop of war of his nation. On Friday last the BI snde Wes honoured with the company at dinner of the Ca pitan Bey, second in command of the Turkish Navy, and Reale Bey, a Rear-Admiral, and Leman Reis Bey, the Naval Commissioner, with Captain Kelly, an Englishman, the Commander of the Steam Navigation ; but unfortu nately the harmony of the evening was suddenly inter rupted by the breaking out of a fire on the Galata side of Constantinople, which soon assumed a most alarming ap pearance. The flames: spread like wild-fire; and having taken a direction in the line of the Custom-house, it w.s deemed advisable, as well for the safety of the town as that of the shipping, to send a large force from the Blonde to assist in arresting the progress of that destructive ele ment. Consequently, Lieutenant Barrow (son of Mr. Secretary Barrow, of the Admiralty), Mr. Turton, the Master, Lieutenant Hayes, of the Marines, and one hundred seamen, with a division of marines, landed, and their prompt conduct excited great admiration. Finding they could make little progress in arresting the fury of the flames by the engines, they turned to and tore down by main force a range of houses which lay betwixt the Cus tom-house and the direction which the fire had taken ; and thus, by sacrificing eight or ten houses, they saved the ex tensive towns of Tophana, Galata, and Pena, perhaps the Turkish Navy, and the thousands of merchant ships of all nations that are lying along the Galata and Pera wharfs.; for had the fire once reached the Custom house, where there are numerous stores of combustible materials, it would be impossible to prevent its com municating to the merchant shipping; and these break ing loose, would soon have drifted amongst the Turkish ships of war, and thus have fired the Dock-yard, the City of Constantinople, and perhaps the Seraglio; owing, however, to the exertions of our people, the fire was got under by eleven o'clock at night. About forty houses have been consumed. It is but right to observe that the Capitan Bey took an active part in extinguishing the flames, and seemed to vie with our Officers in braving the fury of the element. Captain Kelly, of the Steam navi gation, was also very conspicuous on this occasion, and rendered himself particularly useful in assisting our people to tumble down the houses. For this very important service the ship's company of the Blonde has had the honour of receiving the unqualified thanks of the Turks as well as the Franks of this place. The French Ambassa dor's Lady, Countess Guilletrsinot, in speaking of it, corn pares the English sailors to angels, and their actions to everything bordering on the miraculous. A strong squadron from Alexandria, with presents from the Pacha of Egypt to the Grand Seignior, has recently arrived in the Sea of Marmora. It consists of one line of battle ship, two frigates, six corvettes, and four brigs. Mr. Mellish, our Secretary to the Embassy, left us last month for England : the Blonde landed him at Ro , hstow on the 10th of December. We have heard that the plague is raging to a great extent at Adrianople, and if it extends to this city we shall be off for another anchorage." Another communication from the same officer, dated February 6, states—" The English Ambassador,Right Hon. R. Gordon, has had two conferences with the Reis Effenli every week, and his Dragoman is daily engaged with the Porte. Important affairs are under discussion. Halil Pacha's mission to St. Petershurgh appears likely to prove favourable to Turkey, for several private letters state that the Emperor will grant facilities to the Porte, and that the Turkish Ambassador's representations are received by the Court of Russia with the kindest attention. 'Here every thing is quiet, although the people regret the Sultan's lAA for innovations, and blame it openly. The organization of the regular troops has caused less discontent than the projected erection of quarantine lazarettos, which will cer tainly be of great service to the capital. Tee accounts from the provinces are not satisfactory. The insurrec tion in Asia is not yet put down, and the Commanders in Bulgaria still commit great excesses. Notwith standing the act of amnesty lately published, many rich Bulgarians arc about to emigrate to Russia. Great acti vity prevails in re-organizing the army ; several thousand recruits, levied at Constantinople, have beers em bodied with the regular troops. Frequent meetings of the Divan have been held subsequent to the arrival of M. de Ribeaupiere, and the discussion of important topics con • nected with Isis mission. To judge by the apparent satis faction of the Turkish Minister, the overtures of the Rus sian Ambassador had produced an agreeable effect on him; while, on the other hand, the cordiality which had pre vailed between the Porte and the British Embassy seems to have diminished. A serious difference is said to have taken place between Mr. Gordon and the Reis Effendi ; the latter is even stated to have told the English Envoy that the moment of illesion is past, and that the Porte is not blind to the fact that England, notwithstanding her friendly protestations, would, without hesitation, consent to the annihilation of the Ottoman Empire, should her own interests seem to require the sacrifice. On this point the Turkish Minister probably alluded to the political equivocation of the British Cabinet with regard to Greece, whose entire emancipation is now demanded by the Eng lish Government, although at a former period she offered to assist in reconquering the State for the Grand Seignior." A methodist preacher, by trade a mason, somewhere from the neighbourhood of Cowbridge, and lately returned from America, has been doing infinite mischief among the workmen of Merthyr-Tydfil and its vicinity, by the glowing colours in which he has been painting that land of promise. In the course of the la. t two weeks a great portion of the sitting magistrate's time has been occupied with taking settlements, preparing re movals, and ordering relief for the wives and children of these deluded exiles, most of whom are gone with the full expectation of finding tobacco ready prepared on the roads, and loaves of bread ready baked upon the trees . Cambrian. COUNTRY CORN MARKETS. DURING LAST WEEK. Wheat. Barley. Oats. Bons. Per Quarter. Carmarthen—.,w„ Itexh a ITI Morpeth Penrith Sheffield Winchester Per Bushel. Coventry Newcastle (Staff.) Northallerton Stafford Swansea Warwick —,. B. to s. GO s. to 9. 29 8. to s. S. to S. .13 41 ;23 32 - 31 15 - 22 29 18 24 sa - 50 52 Elt SG 73 j 63 22 34 s.d. s.d. s.d. 90 48 54 96 46 56 9 3 3 6 4 6 9 4 5 9 62 72. 4 2 46 10 0 I 4 6 50 18 0 16 0 29 21 25 s. d. s. d. 36 40 34 40 33 40 36 40 23 28 33 40 42 46 B. d. cd. 56 60 59 60 59 66 72 80 00 00 73 76 Pcr Elarnardcastle Durham_ -- Richmond Stockton 8a 90 80 90 90 108 80 90 56 64 49 64 70 86 48 76 96 126 96 100 110 120 0 0 on 14 a WAKEFIELD CORN MARKET.-March 19. Whcat, Red, Norfolk and Suffolk 58s. 625. to 655. fine 695. -- New 60s. 645. to 68s. fine 735. Whit_ Old 625. 655. to 725. fine 75,.. -- New 50s. 565. to 60s. fine 635. -- Foreign, Red 575. file. to 675. fine 71e. White 61s. 675. to 71s. fine 75e. Barley, Norfolk and Suitt)lk - Lincolnshire 26s. to 31s. fine 3k% - Yorkshire Wold 26s. to 3ls. fine S2J. - Foreign -s. to -e. fine -s. Leans, Old New 325. to 31e. fine 365. Oats, Potato 24s. to 21s. fine vs. - Poland 22s 245. to 26e. fine 28s. - Frierland and Small oos. 225. to 244. fine 255. - healing lll4d. to 18d. per Stone. Shelling 3og. to 325. Od. per Load. Malt 36s. 40s. fine 425. per Load. Rapeseed SCOTCH MARKETS. Wlnat. Barley Oats. I 13eans. Oatmeal. Al3, , rticen 4(3 75 23 28 17 22 28 29 38 41 18 20 14 17 22 33 36 Coldstream 3.3 42 18 20 14 17 20 25 Cur ar 48 70 27 29 20 23 24 27 Dtindee --. 50 60 27 30 21 24 26 27 Elgin...,._ :0 82 20 25 20 23 19 21 Inverness,.,..,. , 54 56 21 25 19 21 19 20 40 Tr -0 40 45 !S 20 15 17 28 27 Kirhaldy---... 6O 76 33 38 26 32 30 34 Perth ....—,...., 56 70 19 21 19 21 26 32 size of the measure varies throughout the country. HADDINGTON CORN 1%1 A llKET.—March 19. Bar!ey has brought better prices to-day than last mar ket; top up ls. and average Bd.--92 quarters sold, 13 unsold. Oats arc up on the average 11. 3d., top down 35.-261 quarters sold, 44 unsold and uareturned. Wheat is up 2s. on the top, and Is. 3d. on the average. Pease are up about Is. 2d., and Beans down 10d. on the ave rage of last market. Wheat. Barley. Oats. Pease. First oBs Od 3ts Od 29s Od 34s Od Second .., 58s Od 30s Od 25s Od 32s Od Third There were 337 qrs. of Wheat in market, 307 where°, 25 Unsold.-5 Grey. 2/. !Ss. &I. 7.l2ths. Beans. 40s Od 328 Od 278 Od were sold. Average DA LKEII The supply of ket was middling day se'nnight. CH CORN all kinds ; prices a MARKET of Grain 'bout the a 'F.—March at this s. same as thi ty's mar le of this Wheat. Barley. Oats. Pease. First 706 Rd 34s Od 2H6 Od 40s Od Second 60s Od 306 Od 26s Od 36s Od Third s2s Od 28s Od 22s Od 3.21 ffd Beans. 40s ed Od 32s Od CORNWALL. MARKETS. Taußo.—Wheat (average) 235. Gd.—Barley, 12L—Oats, 125. 3d HELATON—Wheat, 245. Od.—Barley, ns. Od. ST. AusTra.L—Wheat, 225. to VA.—Baxley, Ils. to 12...—0at5, 9s. to 10s. Od. BomuN—Wheat (average) 21s. Od.—Barlay, 11e.—Oats, 9s. Od. uNc asToN—Wheat (average) 245. Od.—Barley, 12s. a L—Oats, 83. Od.—Beef, sad.—Mutton, sd. FENZANCa—Wheat, 21s. to 23s.—Barley, —s. to 12s.—Oats, Bs. to Ws. Od.—Beef and Mutton, 4d. to 50.—Pork, 31d. to Od.— , Butter, 12d. perlb. , . . _ Liss..sstu—:Wheat, 235. 6d. to 265.—Barley. 13s. 6d.—Oats, 105. to 1 Is. Od. Sr. COLUMD—Wheat, 225. to 24s.—Barley, 104. to lls.--Beer, and Mutton, sd. to s;d.—Veal and Lamb, Od to 3d. MINING INTELLIGENCE. Tons. Cwt. Quantity of Copper Ore sold at Redruth last Thursday 2,364 0 Average Produce 8 0 Quantity of fine Copper 179 0 Amount of Sale, 12,0401. 10s.6.1.—Average Standard, 1061. Os. Od. We understand that the Treatise nn Sound, in the new part (28) of the Encyclopaedia Metropolitans, is the production of Mr. HERSCHEL ; and that on the Figure of the Earth is by the Plumian Professor of Astro nomy at Cambridge. Indeed no Encyclopaedia that has yet been presented to the world has contained so much really original matter, or could boast of such eminent writers as this very important work. PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENT.---Mr. vt.wrolf, in presentinz a petition the other evening, from a place in the gtaffordshire Potteries, signed by 9000 per sons, stated that there was not one mark's man (a man unable to write) amongst all the petitioners. A few years ago more than the half of the population of that district were mark's men. SYNIPATHY.—Sympathy is one or the prin ciples most widely rooted in our nature; we rejoice to see ourselves reflected in another, and, perversely ennegl . s, we sometimes have a secret pleasure in seeing theism which dwells in ourselves, existing under a deformed and monstrous aspect in another. Thus the miser will love to associate with another miser, who, if we judge by the stature of his vice, we may sill his elder brother. He sees in him his own quality, and thus his being becomes mul tiplied to his apprehension ; but he also sees it in its full grown ugliness, and this answers two purposes to him. First, he lauglos at the man who proceeds to that extre mity of folly ; and next, he encourages and makes much of himself, exclaiming, " I am not so bad as he, neither !"—.. Godwin. STATE OF TRADE.—Trade, we rejoice to say, still wears a favourable aspect in this town and neigh - bourhogd: One manufacturer advanced the price of weaving on four different sorts of cloth on Saturday last ; and the manufacturers in Over Darwen, Haslingden, and other places, have also made an advance. It is confined, however, to the lighter descriptions. The waggon loads of goods which have recently been removed from this town, is a strong indication that there is a considerable bu,iness doing; but we understand it is chiefly in the ex port trade. Notwithstanding the advances whichl-have been made, the wages are still ruinously low: The poor weavers are unable to inciease the home demand, as they are btrely able to procure sufficient food to support exist ence; but if a considerable advance could be given, we should soon perceive a great improvement in the home trade, and activity and comfort once more predominant in the cottages of the labouring poor. For some descriptions of cloth they have less than a halfpenny, others less than a penny, and some three-halfpence a yard, for weaving, out of which they 'have to meet several incidental ex peaces in the operations of the loom. It must thus be seen that their earnings are so very inadequate as to pre vent them procuring necessary articles of elothieg.—. Blackburn Gazette. MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT.--A FISHING BOAT AND CREW Losr.—We are under the painful ne cessity of recording the loss of a Cockenzie fishing-boat and all hands. Early yesterday morning, the Isabella, accompanied by other two boats from the same place, sailed for the white-fishing. They stood, as usual, directly across the firth ; but when they reached their usual place, they found the swell by far too heavy and the gale too strong to permit them to proceed in the fishing. Accord ingly, all their boats simultaneously resolved to return home. It was then about eight o'clock in the morning, and a heavy fall of snow came on, which hid the boats from each other. It soon cleared away, and the Isabella was no where to be seen. Suspecting the fatal result, the nearest boat pushed directly to the spot, and found the wreck of the boat. The crew, consisting of four steady and industrious men, had found a watery grave. Their names are—Ronzax Titostsow, owner of the boat; ALEXANDER THOMSON, his hrother ; Wat. STEWART, and JAmas FLUCEER. Two of them were unmarried, and the other two have left disconsolate widows and seven children.—Scotsman of Wednesday. BIRTH. On the 19th hitt. nt Brighton, the lady of Sir W. De B Abe, Bart., of a daughter. MARRIED. On the 18th inst. at Lyme Regix, S. S. Trevor, Esq, of the Madras Artillery, to Frances, 'daughter of 'the Rev. J. Randolph, of Lyme. On the 23d ult. at Lord Erskine's, the British Minister at Munich, Samuel Clarke Jervoitie, Esq., youngest son of the Rev. S. C. Jervoise, Bart., to Emily - Ann, , eldest d tugh ter of Major-General Cumming.' DIED,, On the 20th inst. in Queen-square, Bloomsbury, N Power, Esq. _ On the 18th inst. at Kentish-town, J. Newbon, Esq., of Doctors' Commons. The Rev. R. Slaney, Rector of Kemherton. ..... On the 19th inSt. after a few days' illness, aged 44, Henrietta, wife of the John Bickersteth, Vicar of Acton, Suffolk. On the 19th inst. at her mother's, Jane, fifth daughter of the late Mr. M‘Gowan, of o . errard-street, Soho. PAINTED AND PUBL/SWED BY M MUM YOUNG', Ai VIN SUN 0) 112, STRAND, LoiDON. > 1 z`2, A theel Misc have ROt street take lim e mum alreac and t whiel Tuns vicini ratioi made bible