The Sun. — London, England, 1830-05-18 00:00:00

U-01 other improvements of their navies ei We wish to ' be understood as by no means desirous of throwing blame upon existing Boards or individnals. Whether the marine Of England shall or shall not be improved and perfected, by a reference as well to former errors as to present negligence, is any thing but a party question. Every Englishman feels an inte rest in the subject, which may almost be called per sonal, for the familiar and domestic light in which he views the concerns of the navy; and, knowing what we do know of the embarrassments which beset all members of the King's Government who show sagacity enough to recommend an occasional depar ture from old models, whether of law or naval archi tecture, no longer adapted to the times we live in, or a return to ancient methods which, through caprice or circumstance only, had been abandoned, and which ought, for their intrinsic and unchanging merit, to be at once revived, it is to us a source of encouragement and sincere satisfaction that we can, by bringing the press into activity, convince those more enlightened among our public functionaries of the zeal and boldness with which their plans of reform are likely to he supported by their country men out of doors. As the observations of this 'worthy old officer extend over upwards of 70 pages, and embrace a variety of topics, we must content ourselves with a quotation now and then from the work, as space and opportunity may admit of,—merely premising, that his views of re form may be comprehended under the two general heads of construction and instruction; on each of which he puts forth remonstrances, rebukes, and warn ings, from which every public officer in our naval department would do well to refresh his judgment by a frequent and earnest consideration of the best means of giving them effect. The professional reader will have his interest excited by the first few pages of the pamphlet, wherein he arraigns the gross folly and perverseness of persisting in a multi plication of certain class of s'aips inferior in all re spects tc those of similar denominations among the warlike vessels of our enemies,—an error from which England suffered so dreadfully in her commerce at the be g n ining of the French wars of 1778 and 1793; end in pride and reputation, throughout the whole of her last brief contest with the Americans. We have etc selves looked through the Navy List in this instance, cud have had the misfortune to find that the author's remarks on one great error of the Navy Board ere fully borne out by the official re turns in that volume. The vessels through whose extreme inferiority to enemies men-of-war of the same nominal class, were our old 3S-gun frigates, scow called 46's, which were captured by the heaver frigates of the United States almost as often as they met them. Since both France and America have discarded the above ships, there seems no obvi ous reason at least why this country should per severe in employing, much less building, them. Yet cf that inaspicious order of frigates there are at this moment noted down in the list, no less than 77, of which .59 arc finished ships, and 18 actually building ! which really does appear to us the most preposterous thing in the world, for the frigates of the two other maritime powers are mostly built to carry 60 guns, though with the name of " 44-gun frigates" annexed to them ;—ships with which experience has shown us that our 46-gun frigates cannot cope, and much less can our 42-gun frigates—formerly 36's,—of which, moreover, the navy contains 25. But if they cannot fight the enemy's frigates, so the corvettes of France and America will take care not to meet them, having better game in the sloops and 28-gun ships of England, to which they are as superior as the fri gates are to ours. Even the 52 and 50-gun frigates, of which we have some dozen or so in our fleet, are far overmatched by the vast 60-gun frigates which now constitute the only ones of France and the United States. And we repeat the words of the gallant author, that it is barbarous to put our brave officers and seamen into a situation, where they are ashamed to sly from such superior force, and where they are censured when they prove unable to resist it. If we enter warmly upon this painful subject, it is because we feel the safety of England, which is inseparable from victory, to be involved in the ques tions now discussed. " It wdl be readily believed that at the conclusion of tie ::tte eventful war I was an anxious as well as an at tentive observer of the measures to which our naval Ad ministration would resort for the purpose of effectually meeting the new circumstances which had arisen. The war with the United States had but too clearly developed the system of naval policy on which our new rival for mari time superiority was succesiifully acting. Their three pincipal classes of ships, although nominally of the same force as our own, were really nesrly one-third superior in sizo, calibre of guns, and number of men ; and various unsuccessful actions bad hut too clearly proved that neither professional skill nor the most brilliant personal courage rind exertions could compensate for this great disproportion pf force. " I had therefore felt perfectly confident, that when we began . to turn our thoughts seriously towards rebuilding cur navy,—a measure which at the termination of the war had become one of inevitable necessity, the greater part of our ships, and especially the smaller classes, being in a very decaying state,—the considerations to which I have referred would have their due weight, and that in de termining the dimensions and force of our new ships, we should, instead of adhering servilely to old models and classes, he very careful to build such only as might be fully capable of opposing at least an equal force to that which we were to encounter ; and this was the more necessary, because it very soon became universally known that the success of the American navy had produced a deep im pression throughout Europe, and that France especially, as well as several minor maritime powers, were following the example of that system which had been attended with beneficial results. " I saw with much pleasure, that with respect to our ships of the line, we were very judiciously abandoning our old-fashioned and heavy-sailing second-rates, and deter mining to build in future no three-deckers smaller than the Caledonia ; and that our new two-deckers were to be powerful 54.-gun ships, carrying 24-pounders on the main deck, and therefore, in my opinion, not materially inferior even to the Americans. But here, alas ! my satisfaction ended; and what was my disappointment when I saw between 40 and 50 new frigates laid down in our different dock-yards, all except eight built on old French models, carrying 18-pounders only on the main deck ; all, in short, of the force of the unfortunate Java and Guerriere, pos sessing all the defects of these ships, their want of room and stowage, and that we were consequently replacing our frigates on the same footing of comparative inferiority, which I had hoped it would have been our first study to avoid ! I should have thought that instead of incurring such an immense expense* in building frigates of an in ferior description, it would have been better economy and wiser policy to have contented ourselves with a smaller numier but of a superior class, following rather the model of the Pomone and the 21-pound frigates built after that beautiful ship, one of which, the Endymion,t proved in her action with the President, the largest of the American frigates, that those of this class are very little, if at all, in ferior to any single-decked ship. " It will hardly, therefore, appear credible that while we have been building at such an expense so large a num ber of small frigates, we have not since the peace laid down a single one on the model of the Pomone or En dynzion,—a class which excel the former as much in good qualities of sailing and stowage, as in the snore important point of superior force. " I regret to say that my animadversions do not end here. " When it was seen, towards the conclusion of the war, that the Americans were constructing a class of corvettes intended (as they unfortunately too soon proved themselves) to be decidedly superior to our eighteen-gun brigs, which until that time were undoubtedly the finest and fastest vessels of their class, it was naturally to be expected that, when we came to rebuilding our smaller descriptions of ships, our attention would have been peculiarly turned to wards a larger and more powerful ship-corvette, carrying twenty-two or twenty-four heavy guns, calculated to su persede the old-fashioned ship-sloops of former times, which from their overweight aloft, and want of stability and stowage, had become totally unfit for modern naval warfare. Here, alas ! I was again entirely disappointed. The subject does not appear to have excited any attention until about IS2O, when fourteen of the old class of twenty eight-gun frigates, which had been from their bad quali ties totally exploded during the last war, were ordered to .t • Probably nearly two millions, taking the old calculation of 1000/. per gun. " t The President was captured by a squadron, but engaged by the Endyndon only. The loss in killed and wounded stood thus : Killed. -Wounded. Total. President 3. '7O 105 .Endomivn „„ ll 16 25." . . be built, and aLout the same time we commenced a series of expensive . (and as it always has appeared to me most unprofitable) experiments on our eighteen-gun brigs, against which we had conceived an unreasonable prejudice, because they could not beat the American corvettes, in every way so much their superiors. " There can be no doubt that vessels of this peculiar description are less calculated than others for regular en gegements ; because, having only two masts, if one is disabled, they become comparatively helpless ; but this disadvantage is counterbalanced by their remarkable han diness; good sailing, and stability, in which latter qualities they equalled most of our best frigates ; and my naval readers will not have forgotten the brilliant actions fought by the Pelican, Sylph, and Kangaroo, (as well es many others which I do not now recollect,) during the late war. " Instead, however, of availing ourselves of the good qualities of these brigs in our draughts for a new and im proved class of larger corvettes, the very extraordinary idea occurred to us of converting these very identical brigs into ships, and that, by the addition of a mizen-mast, we should at once secure the decided superiority. Surely profes sional experience can scarcely be necessary to convince my readers of the absurdity of such an expectation. I need only say that vessels of this description are built on the nicest mathematical calculations, and that any alteration by which these are even slightly deranged, must produce an injurious effect. It will therefore not surprise any one to learn that our brigs thus converted into ships lost all their good qualities; and although a heavy expense was incurred in placing, replacing, and again shifting and al tering the height and position of their masts, they still continue very inferior to their former selves. " I am aware that some official reports on the good qualities of these ci-decant brigs may be produced against me ; but I will only just venture to ask, whether, as the alteration in question was very generally known to be a favourite hobby at the Admiralty, it is not just possible that a commander, looking forward to promotion, might not like to hazard a very decidedly adverse opinion on a supposed improvement of his superiors? Let me also in quire whether the Trinculo, the only brig which was al lowed to join the experimental squadron under Sir T. Hardy, did not, in spite of defective copper, spars, and riggim.f, give very satisfactory testimony of what might have been expected from her if she had been fairly and pro perly prepared for the trial? And did not the Alert, on the contrary, newly fitted out and coppered, and with every advantage given her, sail worse than any other ship in the squadron ? Would it not have been fair in this case, if truth was the object, either to have tried the Trin culo against the Alert, or having proved that the latter, as a ship, did not answer, to have restored her original equipment, and then ascertained with the same squadron whether the brig or the projector was in fault ? . _ _ _ " I confess I felt much mortified when I heard these particulars, because it was impossible not to feel that an important experiment had been unfairly conducted, and the most obvious test apparently evaded. " With respect to the 10-gun brigs, of which we appear to be so fond, and on which, during the last ten years, such large sums must have been laid out, I can only say that, in my judgment, they are entirely unfit for every purpose of war, as they sail indifferently, and are, in point of force, inferior to most privateers. I would therefore . almost pledge my existence rot one of them is seen on the sea in six months after the commencement of hostilities. How those who have lavi , hed the public money on this most useless class of vessel will then be able to justify themselves, I do not presume to conjecture. " I see, by referring to the list of the navy, that we have now above 40 of these brigs afloat or building, all ex cept one or two laid down since the peace, besides 28 more employed as packets ; for which service experience has now fully proved them to be less calculittd, and, from their construction more unsafe, than any other description of vessel which could possibly have been selected."— Times. We were glad to hear it stated last night by Lord Althorp that, as a Member of the Committee to In quire into the Expediency of introducing Poor Laws into Ireland, he could say that the investigation had been impartially conducted. We wish it were as easy to dispose of the great paupers as of the small. A contemporary (the Globe) observes, with re gard to the discussion of Friday last, " If it be the fact, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer intimates, that be has been deterred from some propositions of economy by the fear of the House of Commons, he has acted very absurdly; let him press his ques tions to divisions. We can assure him, that as a matter of policy (on the point of duty he needs no such assurance) he could not place the Ministry in a better position than in an occasional Minority, while supporting savings of the public money against a rapacious Majority of the House of Com mons. The indignation of the people would in such a case give the Government irresistible force; there would be no repetition of so disgraceful a phenomenon." Perhaps something might be con ceded to public indignation. But we may depend on it, that so long as we have rich paupers, in one way or other they will extort a subsistence from the nation. The high Aristocracy of this country must provide for their younger branches at the public ex pence. The very idea of an Aristocracy of wealth supposes large contributions from the body of the people, without which it could not exist. This subject is well handled in an admirable Letter from Tours, on the Agriculture of France, and the effects of a Division of Property in Land, in the Ninth Number of the Edin burgh Quarterly Journal of Agriculture. The writer, who left Scotland with prejudices in favour of primogeniture, was struck with the beneficial effects of an equal division of property in land in France, in diminishing the number of small paupers as well as great. He contrasts the state of the lower orders in France with the same classes in England, and observes, that " the sound and prosperous state of the peasantry of this country is best proved by the fact, that a substitute to serve for eight years in the army, which is a respectable and comfortable sta tion in life for a common man, compared to our ser vice, cannot be got under 801. sterling ; and we re cruit men at present for life at 1/. Is. of bounty, and get so many that we only take men of a certain size and age." He observes, that those whose inheri tance of land is too small for a family do not marry, but sell their lots, arid that the population is only increased by those who have food and accommoda tion for the increase. So much with regard to the small poor. But with regard to the great paupers, the scourge of this country, he observes, " No man has a right to beget children, and leave them at his death to be supported by his neighbours out of their property, while he himself left property sufli cient, if fairly divided, to support his own children. We are all ready enough to admit, that perscns in a state of such poverty and destitution that they can not support their children without the aid of the poor's rates ought not to have married, and have committed, in fact, a fraud upon society, in mar rying without being able to support a family ; but we forget that the man is equally culpable, and com mits a still greater fraud upon society, who hav ing property to support his family, bequeathes that property entirely to one of his children, and throws upon society the burden of supporting his other children. Whether they are supported out of a tax caled a poor's rate, or are supported out of the assessed and other taxes, constituting the reve nue of the society ; whether they are chopping stones on the road side, or are commanding fleets and armies, or are sitting on the bench; there is no difference in the argument, or in the culpability of throwing the support of a man's children entirely upon his neighbours, while he had property suffi cient to support them. In both cases the children are supported entirely at the expense of the so ciety. Whether the employment which society provides for the pauperism qf the rich is much more beneficial or necessary than the labour provided for the in►nates of the poor-house, may be matter of opinion and doubt ; but it is undeniable, that whether their services be more or less useful, the expense to society would be less if their entire support had not been throw❑ upon society—if the father had by law been compelled to provide as far as his property could do so for each of the children he had thought proper to add to the society." We have never hesitated to pronounce Aristocracy and Primo geniture, on which it rests, to be the political sore of this country, and we have long been satisfied I that the sore is incurable. Wherever we turn we see the fruits pf it. A channel of profuse expen diture may occasionally be stopt ; but like a river which has been arrested by some obstacle, a new direction is soon found. This subject is handled in a most masterly manner in an article in the Scotsman .0 . 6in:o-- of Saturday last, on the subject of our diplomatic expenses. On a future day we shall notice the in ,tructive comparisons between our diplomatic ex penses and those of some other countries. In the mean time we avail ourselves of the following re ina,ks on the cause of the profuse expenditure in every walk of life in this country : " The radical vice of our Government," says our con temporary, " is profusion, and that we fear is incurable so long as political power is a monopoly, and those who possess it are benefitted by a wasteful expenditure of the public money. It is marvellous to find how many useless offices have been retained, and how many extravagant sala ries remain unreduced, after 30 years of an oppressive fixation, which has presented, one would suppose, such urgent motives to the practice of the most rigid economy, as the most flinty-hearted Minister could not resist. Ii we inquire into the causes of salaries being so much higher in this country than in any other, we shall gene rally find that they resolve themselves into the ascendancy of the aristocracy, who have the privilege of filling all dis tinguished offices, and must be paid, not according to the duty done, but according to the scale of living which, in their own opinion, befits the dignity or consequence of the situation. Now this scale of living is modelled on that of the nobility and great landholders, who enjoy, by virtue of the law of primogeniture, such overgrown fortunes as are unmatched in any other part of the globe. The sala ries even of those offices which the Aristocracy have seldom the necessary talent or industry to fill ; are regu lated by the same standard. No Minister of State in this country can fill his station decently with less than 10,0001. per annum. Why is this ? Because he must interchange visits, and hold up his head with the Lowthers, Caven dishes, and Percys, who sport revenues of one or two hundred thousand per annum ! The highest Judge in France, the President of the Court of Cassation, has only 60,000 francs, or 2,4001. per annum, while our Judges of the first class have 10,0001., and our Chancellors are supposed not to be overpaid with 20,0001. What is the cause of such a difference ? It is first the constitution of our Courts which drives enormous emoluments in the hands of a small num ber of Counsel, while the rest are starved, and Judges, however little they do, must be as well paid as the most hardworking barrister ; and next, that due regard must he paid to what is called the dignity and respectability of the Bench ; in other words, the Judge must be somebody in the circles of the richest aristocracy in the world. Why lavish twenty or thirty thousand per annum of the earnings of the industrious classes on a Bishop, the sum of whose duty, as the Examiner observes, is to wear a quizzical dress, and make solemn faces ? Paley answers the question. He says it is necessary to station Clergy men in all the various ranks of society ; and with the Nobility, of course, religion would have no chance for ad mission, unless it approached them glittering in gold lace, and rolling in a coach and six ! You have, in short, an excessively opulent aristocracy, and you must pamper a portion of your Clergy, to fit them for such gorgeous society ! Whether Christianity gains by this waste of public money is another question." 'NT T. riTT The position of our Northern Contemporary, that the ascendancy of the Aristocracy is felt throughout every part of our social system, could receive many curious illustrations. In most other countries, law, trade, and physic were confined to the commonalty. In England the Nobility and Gentry departed from the practice of their brethren throughout Europe; and it is confidently affirmed by our old writers, that we owe the high fees to professional men in this country to the condescension of the great to enter professions. When England was comparatively a poor country, the fees of professional men were ten times higher in it than in any other. In a curious Pamphlet, entitled " The Present Interest of Eng land stated," published in 1671, a curious compa rison is given of professional fees at that time in England and other countries. " Law and physic (observes the writer), by great fees and corrupt practice, having a great share in im poverishing this nation, but none in the enriching of it, fees to both professions being in all other countries very moderate, compared with England ; a phy sician, in no other place, having for a visit above 18d. sterling, except at Venice, where it is 2s. Gd., and in some places, as at Newport and Lisle, in Flanders, &c., but Gd. ; and even at Amsterdam and Antwerpen, the first equal to any place for wealth, and the latter next considerable, not above twelve stivers, which is about 13d.; and lawyers 2s. Gd. for their opinion, and as much an hour, for a busi ness that requires long consultation and work, much of their pleading being cast into that price ; so that England may be reckoned to exceed in their fees to both professions, ten times the rates of other coun tries." At that time " all callings were reckoned a debasement of gentility in other countries ;" but protected by monopoly, the professions into which the Aristocracy allowed their children to enter, were made to yield aristocratic fees; and hence in Eng land all who were unable to defray large fees, were deemed fit subjects for exclusion from Courts of Law. Still, with all the resources of professions, the Aristocracy of this country could not have long sur vived the Catholic Church, but for the new sera of taxation which commenced with the victory gained by the Aristocracy at the Revolution of 1688. There was published during the time of the Common Wealth," An Apology for younger Brothers," which contains a most disrressing account of the condition to which primogeniture had reduced them. " I am compelled by the violence of truth," says the writer, " to confess in defence of the antient consti tution of the laws and government of this nation, that whatever were their other faults, they were not injurious to younger brethren, till after the sale of Church lands, and the abrogating those many pre ferments that were their former inheritance. This was the former state of the nation, in which, if younger sons were debarred a share in their fathers' inheritance, they might receive an ample com pensation from the Church their mother, whose jointure was no less than two-thirds of the whole land, so that they might seem rather owned as the only children - of the Com monwealth, and honourably maintained at the public charge thereof, than disinherited by the unkindness of the laws." He adds pathetically —" What's_the reason so many of the best names and families throughout the realm lie stinking in the streets, covered with rags arid vermin, but that for a fond and Lidle fancy of keeping up the name and family, the whole inheritance is entailed on the first born, and nothing but poverty and misery on all the rest of the blood and kindred, as if it were less dis credit to have many beggars than not to have one gallant that is able to fly a hawk and keep up the cry of hounds belonging to the family ? What mad . ness is it, that on the account of primogeniture the whole estate should be swept away by one, who, perhaps, is fitter to wear long coats and a fool's cap than manage an estate, or bath not a grain more wit than will just secure its being bag'd, while his most ingenious brethren are either roosted under the ruins of sonic smoky old cottage, or exposed as pension ers to be maintained by the cold charity of a wretch ed, miserable world ?" In fact the Law and Physic would only do for the few possessed of talents. The Protestant Church (as Bishop Warburton remarks) was not entered by the higher orders till about the middle of last century. But now the funds for our great paupers are most ample, and with every in crease of these funds, the number of small paupers receives a corresponding increase.—Morn. Chronicle. The Jewish Disabilities Bill was lost last night, the majority against the second reading being 22S to 165. We are astonished that Sir E. Deering, who, being a Kentishman, ought to know something of the history of his native county, should have admitted that the Jews had never persecuted for eighteen hundred years. Is not crucifying persecu tion ? Doth not the learned Somner, a writer of the highest authority, in his Antiquities of Canter bury, tell us that " the motives for the expulsion of time Jews from this land were chiefly two; their im moderate usury, and their barbarous practice of crucifying at places where they abode any Christian child they could get about Easter time." In this sceptical age, there is no point, however well vouched, that is not questioned. Our Constitution has had after ali a narrow escape this time. What would become of us, as Lord Darlington sensibly observed, if Turk, Jew, or Infidel should ever be come a Member of the Commons House. Minis ters have proved themselves on this occasion true watchmen of Zion ! They have done enough al most to cause them sin in admitting the Catholics and Dissenters within the pale of the Constitution. —Morning Chronicle. The " age of intellect," as the nineteenth cen tury has been pompously styled by a certain class of writers, will ever be distinguished and disgraced in future annals as the "age of bubbles"—the pre eminent era of knavery and delusion. The grave and "thinking" people of this country are accus tomed to smile at the simplicity of barbarous tribes, who, captivated by bits of painted glass, and other glittering baubles, barter valuable property to cun ning adventurers for such worthless toys; but never did the savage natives of the woods of America or the islands of the Pacific exhibit more stupid igno rance and credulity, in their traffic with the crafty and mercenary agents of European commerce, than the wave and " thinking" people of England did in their dealings with the joint-stock schemers a few years ago, who sold them nicely-printed bits of paper, not as valuable as Birmingham buttons and coloured beads, for their solid cash. Some credit do we take to our selves for having, from the beginning of those nefari ous schemes, endeavoured to open the eyes of the pub lic to the true character and designs of their projec tors. We prophesied what would be the end of those things when they were in their " high and palmy" state, but, like Cassandra, we met with few or no believers, for such was the infatuation of gambling adventure which possessed the minds of men, that ' the voice of reason could no more repress the pre vailing folly which overspread the land than that Canute could drive back the advancing waves of the sea ; the influence of the moon was too powerful for either. Unheeded reason has, however, an ef fective avenger—that is experience—and bitterly did experience come at last. The golden dream of universal and boundless wealth vanished as suddenly as the palace of Aladdin. That " over flowing tide of prosperity," which Lord Goderich, then Mr. Robinson, congratulated the country upon, in one of those splendid exhibitions of finan cial wisdom with which he signalized his office as Chancellor of the Exchequer, turned out to be an "overflowing affliction," in which the eager and ava ricious hopes of thousands perished, who fancied it would float them into the glittering " El Dorado" of their bewitched imagination. Then there was lamentation and mourning in all our streets, and many a sorrowful communication did we receive from those who regretted that they had not taken our advice while they might yet have saved their property from the rapacious grasp of the knaves and swindlers whose artifices, assisted by the corrupt and venal portion of the Press, had swept away the earnings of long years of industry, and left their deluded vic tims, in its stead, those nicely-printed bits of paper, which were worthy to be treasured as memorials of folly, and nothing else. But, though the machinery of joint-stock fraud then suffered a dreadful crash, and came tumbling to the ground in all directions, carrying magnificent plans of human prosperity in confusion to the dust, yet the spirit which con trived such modes of deception and plunder has not yet perished. It has since made its appearance in a partial way, and in various shapes. There are also newspapers base enough to lend themselves to attempts to revive the ingenious iniquity of Bubble Companies, and in some instances, although we have cautioned the public from time to time against those things, have done so with some suc cess. Among the most impudent of such schemes of recent date appears to be that of the " Birming ham and London Junction Canal Bill," on which a Committee of the House of Commons have been sitting, and who have given in a report, the sub stance of which will be found in another column, exemplifying the tricks and dishonest contrivances by which the expert blowers of bubbles are ac customed to deceive the Legislature and dupe the public. Among the resolutions to which the Com mittee have come, it will be seen, is the follow ing one: " That a great part of the said subscrip tion has been proved to represent needy and in digent persons of inferior station in life, deeply engaged in Bubble Companies and gambling transactions, and unable to pay the sum affixed to their respective names in the said list.". —The report also states, that the names of H. Griffiths, Samuel Stone, and John Bellingham, en tered in the subscription list as subscribers, repre senting the gross sum of 7,000/. areficlilions names, and fictitiously used, by a person in indigent circum stances, in letters applying for shares !—Again, it states that the names of the petitioners, Richard Paterson and William Thompson, respectable and affluent members of the Stock Exchange, )appear to the Committee to have been forged, or fraudulently used in letters applying for shares; and, after stating other acts of deception and fraud connected with the "getting up" of this impudent scheme, concludes by giving the following instruction :—" That the Chair man be instructed to move the House that the minutes of the proceedings, and the evidence taken before the Committee, be laid before the House, and that the said minutes, with this report, do lie on the table, and be printed ; and to move that the report be early taken into consideration, that the House may adopt such measures as it may deem meet to vindicate its violated privileges and dignity, to protect the public from a repetition of similar fraudulent practices, and to devise an amendment of the Standing Orders." We trust the parties who have been at the bottom of this nefarious pro ject, and are still alive, whoever they may be, will meet whatever punishment the House of Commons can inflict upon them, in vindication of their outraged dignity and violated privileges. We observe that Mr. Dugdale, the Chairman of the Committee, has, in pursuance of the instruction, given notice of a motion, the object of which is to " put an end to fictitious and gambling subscriptions by premium hunters and share-jobbers." If the Hon. Member succeeded in causing the House to adopt severe and effective regulations on this subject, he will have conferred a great and substantial benefit on society. Too often have spacious swindlers, who would disgrace even the hulks, been enabled to at tain all that " elevation" which guilty riches and in famous distinction can confer, by deceiving the Legislature, and making its forms auxiliary to the success of gross frauds upon the public.—Morning Herald. The " Jews' Relief Bill" came on last night for a second reading, and gave rise to a warm and ani mated debate. That a general prejudice exists in this country against the admission of the Jews to , all the rights and privileges of British subjects we are fully aware. They are in this country a sope culiar people," as th e y always have been in every other; but, on the other hand, it is but fair to them to state, that for whatever of cunning, or craft, or knavery, may be attributed to them, as a body, they are mainly indebted to the severe enactments which have been passed against them wherever they have chosen to take up their abode. They have, in fact, been an oppressed as well as a peculiar people ; and oppression will as natu rally and surely beget cunning and overreach ing—trick and fraud—as fire will produce heat— not that we mean to observe that the Jews, as a body, are parti cu l ar l y di st i ngu i s h e d f or th ese v i rtues , but simply, that they have got the reputation of being so; and that while they continue to be ex cluded from the exercise of their natural rights arid privileges, it is mo re th an p ro b a bl e th a t th e y w ill b e distinguished by them. The only mode, in fact, in which the character of a people can be improved, is by placing before them proper objects of ambition —by widening, instead of narrowing, the field of industry and enterprize—by admitting to, instead of excluding from, civil rights ; and, on the other hand, if it be . proposed to deteriorate it, no better mode can be invented than that of depriving men of their rights, which are enjoyed in full by their fellow citizens.—Morning Advertiser. A man of the name of MA RTIN, a fisherman, of Guernsey, lately disposed of his wife for the sum of ed. 10s., for which he received a bill at three months, drawn in a business-like form, from the present owner, who it appears had made free with her during MAitures absence.—.Hant s Advertisor. -0 7 " .19•4 A! Plf, LAW INTELLIGENCE. VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT, MAY 17. ',ATHA 151 V. BARNETT. Mr. Parrs on the part of the plaintiff in this case (one of the partners in Messrs. Meux and Co.'s house) moved for an order, ordering the sum of 20,500/. Three per Cent. Consols, standing in the name of the defendant, also one of the partners in Meux's house, to he trans ferred into the name of the firm of Mena and Co., and also that the Bank of England should he re strained from transferring that sum of stock to any other parties. By the articles of partnership it was stipulated that the cask of the house should be kept at Messrs. Robarts and Co's., the bankers, each of the part ners having the power to draw it out for the purposes of the trade, entering the particulars of all payments in the books of the house immediately afterwards ; all se curities were also to be in the name of the firm. Without the knowledge of Ms-. Latham, the other partners had advanced to a house of the name of Field and Co. upwards of 18,0001. at 3 per cent., the entry of which had not been properly made in the part nership-books, or, if it had been, it had been done in such a way as entirely to keep Mr. Latham ignorant of the transaction. The answer of the defendants contended that the whole transaction was for the benefit of the firm, and necessary for the jurposes of the trade, in that it was the constant practice of the house to make such advances under similar circumstances. The VICE-CHANCELLOR dismissed the motion, observ ing that the Court could not interfere, when it was sworn that a practice, although contrary to the articles of part nership, was what the partners were in the constant habit of doing. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. MANSION-HOUSE. Yesterday a half-drunken person named John TVemyss was brought before the LORD MAYOR, charged by Joshua Hudson, the keeper of a public-house in Leadenball market (and once the successful combatant of many a des perate pugilist in the prize-ring), with having broken windows and insulted Mrs. Hudson, and also with having offended the quiet customers of the house. The landlord, who was called the John Bull fighter, and whose present appearance indicated meat physical strength, stated that the defendant had walked into the house, but instead of taking his place in the tap-room, to which his station in society entitled him, he moved his body up stairs, where the gentlemen assembled, and was not long there when he began to be very annoying to the room. He (the landlord) was not in the house when first the defendant began to play his pranks, hut he entered soon enough to hear the ugly customer address some very queer talk to his wife, who had thought fit to expostulate with him on the. disposition he had showed to make a fool of himself. The LORD Mixon—Pray what sort of language (lid he address to Mrs. Hudson ? The landlord—Why, shameful language—such languago as my customers would never think of using. The Loan MAYOR thought that, at that rate, the de fendant must have completed his education.—(A laugh.) A butcher, who resides in the market, stated that the defendant was, while in the house, a most intolerable nuisance, and that he had an unfair trick of drinking other gentlemen's beer when their beads were turned, a thing which was considered very ungentlemanly.—(Laughter.) —So frequent was this practice with him, that any gentle man was not safe when the defendant was in the room, except they had their hands upon their own pots ; and the moment a stranger appeared, his drink was sure to vanish, as the man seemed to hare an everlasting thirst upon him. The defendant really did not know what he had been about in Mr. Hudson's house, but be remembered taking a draught of beer there, and he might not have asked whose it was, for the skin of his back was actually crack ing with thirst.—(Laughter.)—He most heartily begged MrA. Hudson's pardon, and he should pay for the damage he had done. The landlord should be perfectly satisfied with this ar rangement, but the defendant must promise never to set foot in his house again, until he should break himself of the habit of drinking other people's beer.—(Laughter.) LAMBETH-STREET. A very curious case came on for hearing yesterday be fore Mr. HARDwicfc. Our readers will recollect that some time since a man, named Samuel Pantland, was charged at this office with bigamy. lie was subsequently tried at the Old Bailey for the offence, but was acquitted. He was again brought up yesterday in custody of Stone, the beadle of the hamlet of Mile-end, Old-town. One of the ove►seers of the hamlet said, that the man was now brought up for the purpose of making him sup port a child, the issue of his second marriage. The parish were at a loss how to act, for as the man had been ac quitted of the first marriage at the trial, the second mar riage was consequently good and the children legitimate. The second wife being sworn, deposed to being married to the prisoner, and to having one child, the Produce of that marriage. The prisoner, upon being questioned by Mr. HARD WICK, refused to give any answers. Mr. HARDWICK said, that although the prisoner had been acquitted at the trial, yet that did not at all in fluence him, for, from the evidence adduced before him, he was quite convinced of the first marriage, mad conse quently that the second marriage was not worth a farthing, and the child of course illegitimate, and that a regular order of affiliation should be made out against the prisoner. The wife had suffered a great deal from the prisoner's conduct, and was at present totally unable to support her child. The prisoner was willing to take the child, if his wife wished it, and it was accordingly ordered to be so settled, an order being made out for ss. per week, to stand over, in case he should neglect to fulfil his engagement. The wife then asked Mr. Hardwick whether she could marry again if she wished it ?—Mr. HARDWICK said, certainly ; for her marriage with the prisoner was not good for any thing. A respectable looking man stood forward, and said he was the perso❑ who intended marrying the woman. A Magistrate said all that was necessary for him to find out was, that the prisoner had married a person before the present woman, and that that person was alive. The prisoner, Pantland, told the man, as be was leaving the office, that he was very welcome to his wife, for he had had enough of her ; and he hoped, at the same time, that she would behave better to her second husband than she bad to her first. UNION.HALL. About a month since, a man named Dando was up to this office, on a charge of entering a coffeiah _ and devouring at a single meal three pounds of animal food, besides a half quartern loaf, sundry fresh eggs, and washing down the whole with upwards of a dozen cups of coffee, for which he refused to pay. He was then com 'flitted to Brixton gaol under the vagrant act, and his term of imprisonment having expired on Saturday, he came up to town, and had not been many hours at large before lie was given into custody again, and yesterday be was brought before Mr. CHAMISI:R3 on the following charge: Mrs. Louisa Hennell stated that she kept an oyster *hop, and that on Saturday the prisoner walked in, and asked to have some natives opened for bite. Having eaten a dozen first, to try them, he then asked for a half quartern loaf, and cut away until he did not leave a mor sel, and with the bread actually got through thirteen dozen of oysters. Before he had finished the repast, Mrs. Hen nell was compelled to employ another oyster opener be sides herself, the customer bolted them at so rapid a rate, one after another. When be had finished the thirteen dozen, he was talking about having another dozen, but Mrs. Hennell advised him not, saying, that he would get ill if he eat so many at one time. " Bless your soul," exclaimed Dando, " if I was to eat twice as many oysters, they wouldn't hurt me a bit—they so soon digest in one's stomach; and I took a fancy to them, for I have not touched one for the last month ; however," added he, " I don't think I'll have any more this time, and now, Ma'am, let me have some of your ginger beer, for it's good for the wind on the sto mach." Mrs. Hennell opened a bottle and he drank it off. Open another, said Dando, for I am very partial to ginger beer, and he drank five bottles off in quick succes sion, and then said that lie had no money to pay for what he had had. He was making preparations to leave the shop, after the voracious meal, when the mistress called a policeman, and gave him into custody. During the statement of the charge, Dando stood grinning at the bar, and, at its conclusion, with the greatest effrontery ex claimed, " I was very ' peckish,' your Worship, after living on the gaol allowance so long, and I thought I would treat myself to an oyster." Magistrate.—You have gone into this poor woman's shop and devoured her property, without ever intending to pay for it. This is not the first occasion on which you have been in custody on a similar charge, and I was in hopes that a month at the treadmill would have had the effect of curing you. We must now see what a longer pe riod of imprisonment will do. It was here stated that previously to the prisoner's hav ing been at Mrs. Hennell's shop he had called at another in the same neighbourhood, and had as many oysters and bread and butter as amounted to 3s. 6d, for which he did not pay. The shop-keeper, indignant at his conduct, IV ." took . the l aw own 'hands, and punished Dando b y kicking him out of his house into the 5treet.... ..... Mr. CHAMBERS committed the prisoner foiihree mouths to Guildford gaol, observing that as the discipliOe o f that prison, in many instances, was more severe than Brixton, he should go there on this occasion. The Magistrate de clared his determination of returning the third..conviction to the Sessions, should the prisoner commit the offence on his liberation, and he would then be prosecuted, and most probably be convicted and transported. .1'• LONDON MARKETS PRICE OF BREAD. The highest price of Bread in the Metropolis is IN& foe the 41b. Loaf. There are others who sell from d. to I}6d. bolos , that price. PRICE OF SEEDS.—May 17. New Englishßed Clover Seed (per Cwt.) —s. —s. fine —s. —B. Ohl Ditto Ditto New Foreign Ditto —..... 525. Ws, fine 955.1055. Old Ditto New White Clover. —s. —s. fine —s. —s• 60s. 70s. fine —s. —s• Old Ditto Ditt0....,,, New Trefoil - ()Id Ditto - Ilib Grass --. English Carraway Foreign Ditto —s. —s. fine —s. 20s. 50s. fine —s. —a . --S. —9. fine —s —8• 10s. 20s. fine '2ss. 30s -s. —s. 525. fine 514. —a. —B. 555. fine 575. coriander .. — —6. 225. fine —s. 245. St. Foin (per Quarter).---- —s. 42e. fine 435. 465• Rye Grass 2os. 335. new 355. 455. Pacey Ditto . . 40s. 455. new --s. --IL Linseed, for feeding . _ —s. 3 2 5. fine —s. 46s . Ditto, for cru5hing—...........------.—... —s. —s. —4. fine -- 8 . Canary Seed, New—............ _ —a. 465. fine ...44. 513. Ditto 01d—.... .......---. —s. —s. —s. fine --a. White Mustard Seed--(per Bushel).— —a. 7s. Ss. fine ..^ 4 . Brown Ditto . —s. 9s. 10s. fins. ...." 8 . Turnip Seeds, Itounds..--- —6. —s. —s. fine 14s. Green and Red Ditto - —a. —s. —a. tine 163. Tares, Old . --B. 255. 365. tine --IL Ditto New _ --s. —s. fine 424. mss; Rape Seed, English, tine (per Last) 3QI. 341....,,. Foreign —/. ....." .... PRICES OF HOPS.—May Kent Pockets - 51 16s. Sussex Ditto --- , 51 10s. 17. 61. 153. to t/ 61. 33. to 61. 106. 61. 113. to 71. 54. 81. Ss. to 91 10'. 71. 5s N SI f i t• " 61. ss. to 7 1 . ' 5/. 15s. to 61. Os. 61. Os. to 61. 113._ Emit Ditto— 5l. 16s. E arttl.ain Ditto, Fine , 01. os. Seconds . 01. Os. 51. ss. 51. Is. Kent Jags..,,, Essex Ditto.. Sussex Ditto PRICE OF OIL. Rape Oil, brown 49/. 6s. ........s. Refined ........ £4l 6 Linseed Oil .........— . 23 10 Linseed Oil Cake at the Mill, per thousand ....................... 910 Rape Cake, per ton —.......--------...........*--.......... 415 PRICES 01' Per lb. d. to d. LEATnErt. Per lb. d. to d. 16 19 21 2. 5 26 21 -:: butts .511 to 1411 b..... 151 191 'Tanned Horse Hides.. Ditto-60 to 661 b.— 21 22 Spanish Ditto Dressing fintes. 14 16 Per dozen. Fine Coach Mides —,. 17 19 Calf Skins.,.36 to 411 b. 14 Crop Hides, 35 to 40Ib. 14 151 Ditto ..........50 to 701 b. 21 Ditto 45 to 501 b. 141 171 Ditto —........70 to Shib. IS Ditto .16 19k Small Seals. Greenland 20 COAL MA 11 Adair's Bishop's Main . 26 0 Dean's Primrose—..— 23 0 Killingworth .--. 31 0 Liddell's Nlaiba— 27 0 l'ontop Windsor.---.... 27 0 Tanfield Townley . 29 6 Willington Walls End Bell and Co. 32 0 Ditto Bell Robson & Co. 30 6 Ditto Bewieke and Co.— 32 9 Walls End Brown's 30 0 Ditto Brown's unser...-. 30 0 Ditto Clarke and C 0... '2B 9 Walls End Carr and Co. 23 9 Ditto Gosforth 33 0 Ditto Heaton. 32 0 Ditto Hilda _ 3O 9 Ditto Hotspor--...... 31 0 Ditto Northumberland 30 6 Ships at market, 98-,—Shlp K I'7. Walls End Newtnarch— 31s. a Ditto Perkins and C 0... 20 0 Ditto Russell's -- 33 9 Eden Main Walls End Hetton 34 Walls End I.yons--,—., 32 Walls End Stewart's 34 Russell's Hetton's W.E. 33 Blackboy Culm Cox Pemberton Llangennech 35 Warde's Llanellv 34 Walls End Itoellley--, 26 Wainhert —_. 22 Yorkshire ----- 25 Shipcote Trader ,—. 27 Ellison small 20 Hebburn small --- 18 New Etherley 5ma11...-. 17 Tyne small 27 0 0 t; 0 0 20 sold, 42%---Uneold, NEWCASTLF—UPON-TYNE MARKET.—May 15. t Our farmers bring us in more moderate supplies o' Wheat, and sales were brisk to-day, at an advance of 2s. per quarter on the best samples. The arrivals of foreign Wheat have been very large this week. Oats were in short supply, and sold freely at an advance of Is. per quarter. Little doing in Mrley. Fine Malt good sale. Rye, if sound and fair colour, in demand. Beans and Pease as our last. Flour steady. New. Old. ~ , Wheat, Northumberland ....................",(is. 68s. -s. --4. 1 l Norfolk and Suffolk 58s. 68s. Berwick and Scotch... 565. 60s. ...... Dail tZ ig Rye, Norfolk and Suffolk .335. 365. Foreign --s —s. Barley, Malting, Norfolk and Sufthlk...34s. 355. Grinding and Feeding 255. 295. Malt, Norfolk and Suffolk Beans, Small —a. —5....... 365. 38s. Tick 345. 365. Pease, White —s. —a...„.. 4te. 46a. Gray 375. 39a. Oats, Northumberland, Potatoe Vs flds _ . , Feed 24s 28s. —o. ...mi. Foreign ...../4 ....8. Flour, Fine (per sack) --I --s. • SCOTCH MAUKETS. Barley Oats. Wheat. Deans. Oatmeal. • 30 31 33 311 40 Aberdeen Berwick,.._...._ Coldstream Cupar Dundee.-- 50 '7O 40 42 40 44 52 '7O 58 '7B 50 60 53 50 :39 44 60 ;6 52 '7O of the mm 24 29 20 22 20 23 30 32 32 33 20 25 2I 28 22 33 39 19 2'3 isure vai `2l 21 16 15 16 18 22 23 21 29 20 23 19 23 IS 20 26 32 16 20 es throui Y'.3 24 23 26 24 27 3C 32 19 21 24 2; 24 27 30 34 23 32 tout the country. Inverness,.... I Kelso Kirkal y-ra: I Perth —...- 1 , 4 - " The size EDINBURGH CORN MARKET.—May 12. Our supply of all kinds of Grain was limited, and prices nearly the same as last market-day. The top of Wheat has given way 25., while that of Barley has ad.. vanced 6d. Pease. - 0,21 - Od —3 Od Wheat. First 72s 0(1 Second 7ls Od Third Barley. Oats. 375 6,1 305 Od 375 Od 295 4d 345 Od 235 ed Beans. / 331 Od 37s Od Od PRICES OF PROVISIONS, &c. Beef, per 1b..., Os. 31d. to 08.5 d. Fresh Butter,lb.s.lo,l, to 16.0 d. ' Mutt0n......„,... 0 4 0 6 Salt 010 1 0 Veal 0 3 0 8 Ditto, per c% t. 84 6 0 0 Pork 0 3 0 4# Eggs, per dos. 0 6 0 0 Lamb, per qr. 3 0 5 0 OatStraw(kp'..) 6 0 0 0 Tallow, cwt.... 25 0 ;39 0 Wheat I)itto„., 7 0 8 6 Quartern Loaf 0 9 010 Barley Ditto 0 0 6 Potatoes, 17i1b. 0 5 0 6 Hay, per at...,.. 0 6 0 0 L MARK , May 11. )f Oatmeal at to-day's mo ll sale at last week's prices. Per Stone of 141 b. Imp. First Oatmeal £0 2 Second ditto Barleymeal () 1 10 Peasemeal s.-241, 18s.—Peal 1 225. EDINBURGH MEA We had a small supply o ket, which met with ♦ery du Per Sack of 280113. Imp. First Oatmeal £2 0 0 Second ditto 1 IS 0 Barleymeal 1 12 0 Peasemeal 1 10 01 Pot Barley—No. I, per cwt. 121 GLASGOW CORN MARKET.—May 12. Wheat is held firmly at our quotations. Barley is dull sale, and rather lower. Oats are brisk, and from 6d. to iN. per boll higher. Beans and Pease unaltered. I Wheat, per 2401 b. s. d. s. d . O ats, per 2641 b. s. d. s. 0., British, old 340 toas 0 Irish new ' Canada, free 34 0 33 0 Beans, per 2601 b. ~ Irish Barley, per 32011). Scottish English . 27 0 29 0 l'ease, Scottish , 11) 0 20 0 Sottish 27 0 28 0 Oatmeal, per I 101 b IS 0 20 ° Irish 240 260 Flour, pee2801b..., 500 52 0 HADDINGTON CORN M A ftKET.-- - May 14. A large supply of Oats, and quick sales--384 quo" - ters in market, and 364 were sold ; prices nearly the sane as last market. A small quantity. of Barley, sales heavy ; top Is., and average 11. up-68 quarters gold, 5 unsold. Wheat has fallen in this day's market, and dull sales— top 2s. and average of Id. down. Pease are up 2d. and Beans Is. Id: upon last averages-26 quarters of Pease, and 76 of Beans were sold. Wheat. I Bari Ly. Oats. Pease. Beans. First 67s Od 36s Od 2Ss Ost 35s Od 36s 01 Second 603 01 33s Od 26s thl 34s 01 34s 01 Third 52s Od 2.3 s Od 20s Od 32e Od 33s Od There were 337 qrs. of Wheat in market, 297 whereof were sold. 26 Unsold.-24 Grey. 198.31. 10-12ths. Average DALKEITH CORN MARK The supply of all kinds of Grain ket was large; prices rather higher day se'nnight. Wheat. 13arley. Oats. First 6Be 061 36s Od 241 s Od second 64s Od I 34s Od 27s Od 56s Od 22s Od 246 Od a.—May 1: at this d than . tho Ly's man e of this Tease. Beans. 40, Od 40. I'd 36a Od 37s Od 34s Od 341 Od BIRTHS. On the 17th inst. in Barton -street, Westminster, the lady of Thomas Parrott, Esq., of his Majesty's Customs, of a ion. On the 16th inst. the lady of B. Cole, Esq., of Frognal, Middlesex, of a daughter. MARRIED. '0" 1 ni - - On the 12th inst. at Adlington, by special licence, the [[on. Thomas. Americus Erskine, eldest son of Lord Ers kine, to Louisa, relict of the late T. Legh, Esq., o f Ad lington-ball, Cheshire. On the 17th inst. at Brixton, Mr. C. Wheeler, of Kennington, to Caroline, daughter of the late J. Guy, EFq• of Pimlico. - DIED. On the lith inst. at Charlton, Miss E. Longlauds, se cond daughter of the late T. Longlands, Esq. On the 16th inst. Mary Sarah, the wife of Thos. Bent, Esq., of Hillingdon. On the 16 th inst. in Manchester-square, Lown( les Stone, Esq., of Brightwell-h ouse , Ox o n, in his 80th year. On the 26th ult. at Naughton-house, Fifesliire, Captain j. Walker, of the Honourabl e th e E as t I n di a C o mpany's Naval Service. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY MUM) YOUNG, ♦T TNE SUN OFFICE, 112, STRAND, LONDON, ~.~. z 1., to( th, 0 T CATI Tater: I'VaDl4 Lord I Hon. l John Rev. 1 the S High tlnue o'cloi illgs, estab: with rang e venie of th, build soliei solid Oxer ever Mr. will, ahoy( SIT Exti ai lii al r an ink of of