The Sun. — London, England, 1833-01-15 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. It has been long understood that English law is the "perfection of reason," at least by English lawyers. In a celebrated six hours' speech, the present Lord Chancellor Brougham, when a Member of the House of Commons, endeavoured to disturb that opinion, so long and so well established at the bar. He, in fact, attempted to show, and some of the " unlearned" Members of the Legislature thought his proofs unanswer able, that many things which are law are neither reason nor common sense, nor good policy, nor justice. In an unreformed House of Corn mons, however, the quiver of sarcasm was ex hausted in vain as to any very important practical results, and the " perfection of reason" still con tinues to maintain its close alliance with what the human mind, uninitiated in legal mysteries, might easily suppose to be the " perfection of absurdity." We formerly unfolded to public admiration a good deal of the peculiar excellence of the modern system of spe cial pleading. A little of its luxuriance has been lately pruned, but still the redundant jargon of this " occult science" is quite suffi cient, in a great proportion of the business of our Courts, to conceal the real merits of the case from the investigation of Judges and Juries, and to present in their place to the eye of justice nothing but the quirks and quiddities of the law, those scintillations of I , perfect rea son." But it is not in special pleading alone that this mystical excellence consists. There are judicial decisions which, of course, consti tute law, which are equal to anything in the logical deductions of " Crowner's Quest" law, as celebrated in the play of Hamlet. Judge Buller, a great luminary of the Bench, once held that a man who made a tender to another. to whom he owed money, of a few shillings more than his debt, did not tender the sum due. In logic it is understood that the greater quantitt contains the less. Accordingly logicians would say that the man who offered another foul pounds and a few shillings over, when he only owed him four pounds, had, in fact, offered the four pounds due. Bu what is sound in logic is not always good in law. It was only yesterday that a rule was applied for in the King's Bencl for a new trial, and the rule granted upon the following point :—The plaintiff sued the de• fendant for 20/. ; the defendant pleaded a tender to that amount, which would have barred the ac tion. The Jury having heard all the evidence on both sides, relative to the tender, were of opinion that the defendant had tendered not the bare debt of 20/. to the plaintiff, but the sum of 20/, 9s. 6d. A point of law was now raised. whether a tender of the latter sum was in law, as well as in fact and logic, a tender of the former. One of the Learned Judges asked why the plaintiff, knowing he was tendered more than his debt, did not take the debt out of it and leave the remainder? All their Lordships seemed. indeed, to desire to reconcile the law with the fact, if the " authorities" would allow them. and to have an inclination to rule that he who tendered- another 20/. 9s. 6d., did on the prin• ciple of the greater sum containing the less. tender him 20/. But the law was peremptory. The " Judge-made" law of Mr. Justice Buller having established that 4/. 19s. 6d. did . not contain 4/. 9s. 6d., a rule was granted calling on the defendant to show cause why there should not be a new trial, on the ground of his having tendered the plaintiff more than the sum due, and thereby made no tender at all. This is law, but whether it is " perfection of reason" let the unlearned decide.—Morning Herald. The recent communication from the King of Holland will not, we trust, be made by Lord Palmerston and his colleagues of the Conference a peg for the support of a hundred further pro tocols. The country is in no temper to endure such trifling. If the King of Holland profess a desire for peace, let him open the Scheldt to the trade of England and of Europe ; or, if lie will not spontaneously, let it be done for him. We have men-of-war in abundance, and they could not be more worthily employed. The King of Holland, in common consistency, must be grateful to this Government for helping him to act upon his own professions. But we se riously protest, on the part of this country, against any longer indulgence of delay, or de monstration of weakness in our foreign policy. Our allies, Russia, Prussia, and Austria, pro fess an anxiety for peace ; why are they not called upon to show their sincerity by an imme diate co-operation with England and France in some decisive measure to compel the King of Holland to abandon that absurd and mischievous policy which alone endangers the tranquillity of Europe ? ' This is the plain and simple course, and ought instantly to be adopted.—Times. We do not recollect, among the changes of political feeling in this country, any progress so rapid, or indeed, it might be said, any transi tion so striking, as that which has taken place in the national sentiment with regard to a readjust ment of the temporalites of the Church of England. Twenty years ago a whisper of dis approbation directed against the constitution of the Church establishment, against the abuse of patronage, the inequalities of ecclesiastical in come, the multiplication of pluralists and sine tisists, or above all, against the working of the tithe system itself, would have been tolerated just su far as it was purely speculative and barren of all intentional remedy ; but if hinted at with A view to practical amendment, to a real correc dop of abuses which in the abstract no man was bold enough to defend, or especially to a substi tution for tithe of some less obnoxious means •of clerical subsistence, the unhappy church )(dormer was charged with " sedition," " blas phemy," and " hostility to Church and State c." " wisdom of our ancestors"—" sa cred edifice"—" danger of removing a single brick"—" opening the flood-gates of innova tion," &c., were pelted at him from all quarters ; . nor were the members of the reverend profession backward in maintaining that meddlers in state affairs might be not the worse ministers of the Gospel. But how is it now ? Pluralists are denounced even from the gates of Lambeth. Translations are admitted to be snares for the consciences of Bishops. We have discovered that humble curates are inadequately paid, that stall-fed dignitaries are at once too rich and idle, and last, and of all things on earth most won derful, that tithes can be, and ought to be, no longer borne. The ministers of the Church of England, it is worthy of repetition, have met in some of the dioceses to pray the Legislature for an extensive ecclesiastical reform, that the interests of the established religion might be more securely and permanently protected. We ' wish that in every diocese, and more particularly in and about the metropolis, the wise and gratify ingetipplevigit t find imitators, and that the spirit w rivrtiih - anitnateth . ,, --- "e ' pious clergymen of Durham ' Ivitetleithect e noughout thesouth and west , .tt . giiil:44tlit,feti are that no such snappish \ e‘ ~„_-_ 110,-1.1.1gA.,601 or absurd rebuke need be dreaded by the digni - caries and parochial incumbents of the see of London, as the Prince-Bishop of a certain place which shall be nameless thought proper to ad dress to his far more candid and sagacious brethren, because they saw, though he did not, that the breaches in the temple must be repaired, that rottenness could not be effectually propped up, and that if it was crafty, it was at least not wise to hallow and consecrate corruption. There is before us now a pamphlet by the Rev. Wil liam Pullen, Rector of Little Gidding, Hun• tingdonshire, which affords evidence, not merel), of the ripeness of this question of Church Reform for immediate, and we hope permanent adjust ment, but of the earnest and conscientious zeal with which the minds of the worthiest among the ministers of the Gospel have been for some time employing themselves upon this all-important subject. Mr. Pullen's publication has been con fessedly called forth by those of Lord Henley and of Dr. Burton, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford; and although the rector of Little Gidding may not go so far, in the practical abo ition of what many hold to . be abuses as may in the end be found expedient or unavoidable, the spirit of his suggestions is so admirable, and his orinciples so just, that we conceive the work will bring no less benefit to the cause than credit to the Rev. Author. Pluralties are by this time so utterly condemned and reprobate& that it may seem but loss of time to add a new authority for their overthrow ; yet are we tempted to quote one passage from the pamphlet, in illustration at once of the excess to which this crime against the interests of religion has been carried, and of the preposterous as well as frightful consequences which it involves : " It is admitted by all writers, all speakers, all advocates ''or Church reform, and many and various are they, that the most prominent ill in our establishment is the system f pluralities, and its inevitable consequence, the non esidence of the beneficed clergy. The arguments against this system are so plain, so rational, and so many, that there is no difficulty in showing that it ought to be Wished. They have been brought, too, in such varied f.,rms before the public, that little more is now necessary , o be done than to repeat them ; and when we consider the folly and injustice of one man holding two or several iistant appointments, each requiring active personal duty, we shall begin to wonder how such a system could ever have been tolerated. Still it exists, and under circum 4,,nces in the highest degree scandalous. A late Bishop held twelve pieces of preferment at the same time, and the treater number parochial benefices ! It may be argued 'hat they were, for the most part, low in value ; but still -hey involved the cure of souls. And how ridiculous toes it seem that a Bishop, as rector, or vicar, or perpe tual curate of a parish, should be his own diocesan, and, iroperly speaking, under the control of his own Arch heacon ! What should we say at seeing the Lord Chan -ellor, when his court was up, pleading as a barrister be fore his Honour the Vice, or the Lord Chief Justice of he King's Bench defending an action for trespass, or what not, in the Common Pleas? The poor barristers would, in either case, think it very hard that the chance of a urief had been taken from them, merely because their Lordships did not consider themselves rich enough with out such addition to their incomes. In the army, we never uear of a man being Colonel in the Guards and a Lieu 'enant in a Marching Regiment at the same time; or, in the navy, of an individual filling the chair at the Admiralty Board, while he is, or is appointed to be, the commander in an expedition to the North Pole. This may appear a t:enciful analogy, and may excite a smile, but I cannot see hat one case is a jot more preposterous than another. Had not custom reconciled us in a measure to the system pluralities, and were not the interests of eternity always made to yield to those of time, I am persuaded we should , ee no difference. Lord Henley, in his pamphlet, has ;laced the arguments against this mischievous system in he clearest light ; and I trust and pray that the great uody of my clerical brethren may be led not only to a con ..urrence with his Lordship in opinion, but that, by a more unequivocal testimony of their sense of the evil, they will it once show that we are no longer eminent for the supine 'less and lack of courage which his Lordship, too justly, I fear, imputes to us." On another point of much value to the ser vice of the established faith Mr. Pullen, speaks as follows, and we trust that in the forthcoming measures for an extensive and complete reform, his, implicating the fate of whole families, and Lhe effective ministry of a large proportion of parishes, will not be entirely overlooked,—we mean the establishment of a fund for merito rious clergymen, incapacitated by age from a further performance of their duties : " I am fully persuaded that there is one ground on which sinecures ought nut only to exist but to be insti tuted, namely, as a retiring pension for the old and inca pacitated pastor, to enable him to withdraw from a field in which he is no longer able to work.* " * It is deplorable to reflect how many parishes there are suffering from this defect in our ecclesiastical economy. The living is, perhaps, too small to afford a resident, or even an occasional curate; and the old incumbent, so long as he can crawl from his parsonage to his church, contrives to appear once each Sunday, sometimes not so frequently, in his pulpit, to preach to the few of pis flock whom an active Dissenter may not have been enabled to draw from his pasturage. I feel particularly called to speak on this point by an instance coming ,mmediately under my own observation, where the rector of a parish in the country, the living of which afforded him no more than a decent maintenance for a very small fimily, became incapable, from age and debility, of per forming the afternoon service. Not being able to afford a curate, be gave up the second duty; and the conse quence was, that the preacher at the conventicle took care to have his chapel open at the time. The meeting house filled, and, in time, the parish church was thinned of a very large portion even of the morning congregation, to the extreme sorrow and dismay of the rector, for be had been a faithful labourer. To resign the living would have been to exchange the parsonage-house for the work house. What could he do ? The increased difficulties, however, in the performance of his duties, rendered it essential that he should have some assistance ; and at length, after much compromise of conscience, he supplied his Church, from year to year, by giving titles to young candidates for orders (without stipend), through the me dium of an agent. The practice is, alas ! a common one, and is too full of mischief not to require suppressing." We may again have occasion, in the progress of this great question, to refer to the little work of Mr. Pullen for the more effectually impress ing upon our readers the opinions of a rational and reflecting clergyman upon some of the most essential branches of the whole ecclesiastical sys tem. His remarks addressed more directly to the Bishops are extremely useful, and seem to borrow more from the matter at which they point, than from the disposition of the author,—a pungency by which some of the Right Rev. Persons may be more edified than pleased. But, in one word, a Reform of Church abuses is at hand. We state it broadly as fact, not a mere conjecture. It will be a broad, full, sub stantial, sound, and deep Reform. It will em brace both extremes of the temporal Church of England,—Bishops, Curates, and all that lies between. The nature of Church property will be improved, the unjust and pernicious distri bution will be corrected, and, for that reason, the amount appropriated to religious purposes need not and ought not to be impaired. It is a Reform which contemplates not the interest of . the rich or of the poor exclusively—not that of the rabble only, who have hitherto felt the Church to be a load,—still less of the aristo cracy, who have seized on it as their plunder, —but in the interest and for the well-being of the nation generally—for the diffusion of a re ligious spirit throughout the land, which can be accomplished no otherwise so easily as by a close approximation of feeling between the pu pils and instructors—between the laity and clergy.— Times. The Westminster election dinner, at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, yesterday, demands our attention. The Chairman, Mr. T. Dun• combe, laid himself out in lecturing Mr. Stanley and some of his colleagues, who have been ex erting themselves to produce a conviction in the minds of the people, that now that they had ob tained the Reform Bill, all further improvement was at an end. No doubt, a true Reform, and a final Reform, are not easily reconcileable. A true and effectual Reform transfers power to the people ; and it is for the people themselves, and not Mr. Stanley, to determine, whether the Re form should or should not be final. The Re form Bill is but a means to an end—good go vernment ; and it would be saying very little for the people, to suppose that they will refrain from urging such further measures as may give them a better security for good g overnment, than they possess under the present Reform Bill. " Toryism," said Mr. T. Duncombe, " ever factious and never scrupulous, has also not hesitated to circulate reports that some Ministers have declared that we have arrived at the ne plus ultra of Reform. But I for one, will not believe in such reports ; if I did, I would not be the man to propose the health of those Ministers. I will not believe them until I have them confirmed by the lips of his Majesty's Ministers themselves. Until then I will not believe such pusillanimous declarations have been made, or any such treason towards the people been in con templation ; but if such speeches have been made, I do not hesitate to declare, that such speeches are only wor►hy of being framed, glazed, and placed in the same cabinet window as :the Duke of Wellington's memorable declara tion against all Reform, when his Grace condescended to inform the world, that if be bad been called upon to con .truct a new representative system, he should take the old British boroughmongering one as his model—that being his Grace's beau ideal of free representation." We must suppose that liberty has been given to run down Mr. Stanley's declaration. All that Ministers could pledge themselves to was, that they would use their influence to prevent any extension of suffrage, or any constitutional change, such as the ballot, by which a greater power would be given to electors than under the Reform Bill. But Ministers could only pledge themselves, not the Parliament ; and should Parliament see the necessity of further change, it will, of course, be effected. Sir John Hob house, too, in eulogising the Reform Bill as the most stupendous of all the stupendous measures that human ingenuity ever devised, observed, that— " It has called the people of England, not in person, but by representation, to speak their own minds in their own House of Commons.—(Cheere.) If there should be anything in that measure with which to find fault—any thing that good, and honest, and temperate men, whose principles and whose motives of action will bear investiga tion, should desire to alter or amend—you will instruct your representatives to that effect, and they will, no doubt, attempt to effect the desired improvements. Our Honour able Chairman has justly said, that he considers nothing final—nor do I.—(lmmense cheering.) Recollect, Gen• tlemen, there is no saying now and for ever. The very condition and inconstant nature of humanity does not allow of perpetuity in its moral, its physical, and far less, in its political frames." But though it is admitted that both Mr. Stanley and Lord Althorp expressed themselves unguardedly in declaring Ministers pledged against any amendment of the Reform Bill, Sir John does not hesitate to say as much that if Ministers have their way, no alteration will be allowed. " There is, certainly (he says) no reason why the Bill should be improved ; but at the same time I am sure you are not those who are ready to rush into any new experiment, be fore the old one (three days only, yet some people call it old) be found to fail.—(Cheers.)" But in one respect we have had all the experience that we can possibly have till a new election, when it may be too late to avail ourselves of our ex perience. The meaning of Sir John is—do not call for the ballot, however unanswerable the ar guments for it. But experience has, given the people all the insight into the defects of the Bill as far as the non-protection ofvoters is concerned, which they can possibly have until another Par liament ; and it may happen that without such protection, another election would exhibit a very different result with respect to the proportion of Conservatives, and that the remedy will be ob tained with much more difficulty, if at all. But Sir John sings the song which all his colleagues sing ; and we are to understand from his lan guage that the ballot will be resisted by Minis ters. Sir F. Burdett was prevented by indispo sition from attending.—Morning Chronicle. Our contemporary (the Standard), in com paring Ireland with South Carolina, is, we be lieve, mistaken in the difference which he sup poses he has discovered : " In all the comparisons (he says) that we have seen instituted between the proposed secession of South Caro lina and the threatened repeal of the Irish Union, one very important point of difference is overlooked. It would appear that all classes in Carolina concur in the determi nation avowed by Governor Hamilton. In Ireland, on the other hand, the Protestants, who constitute all the Magis tracy, whether Judges in the Supreme Courts, or Justices the Peace, or intermediate Judges—the Officers of the of Executive—the ministers of religion—the proprietors of the soil—whatever there is in the country of a yeomanry— the Protestants, who constitute all these, the only intel ligent classes, and the only classes embarked by permanent interests in the national prosperity, are decidedly opposed to Mr. O'Connell's scheme of dismemberment. We have put the propositions generally, hecause, though there are some few Roman Catholic proprietors, Magistrates, &c., and some few Protestants, insane enough to smile upon the Repeal project, the numbers are so few in either case as not to form an exception worth special notice." We have always understood that the partisans Of the general Government, though the minority, are still a large body, and that the yeomen of the mountainous range, the oak and hickory country, as the Americans call it, by far the bravest and hardiest part of the population of the State, are against the nullifiers. The State of South Carolina, therefore, is by no means united. All the cotton growers and other planters in the low lands may, perhaps, be united; but it is far from improbable, that on the ap pearance of the Proclamation of the President, and after ascertaining that the other States dis approve of the nullifying scheme, the Union ists may yet gain the ascendancy. But if it be true, as stated by our contemporary, that in Ireland there is a complete separation be tween the proprietors of the soil and the other classes, or between the producers and consumers, the difficulty of dealing satisfactorily with Ireland is no doubt fearfully augmented. When such a separation exists, we may be sure that there has been great mismanagement. Our contem porary, however, attempts to prove too much, when he wishes to show that the producers and consumers in England are also opposed to each other. " The late elections in Ireland," he says, " merely prove what the elections in England have proved as certainly—though the want of a sectarian colouring, and of a specific scheme of rebellion, causes the conclusion to be less apparent—the elections in Ireland merely prove, that the Re form Bills have, to all effectual purposes, dis franchised the proprietor class and the intelli gent classes in both kingdoms." The Reform Bill in England has given a greater power to the intelligent classes than they had before, though it has diminished the influence of individual pro prietors. But so far from causing any separa tion of classes, the Reform Bill, by universal admission, will lead to a more cordial union of the different classes than has hitherto subsisted. Boroughmongering, by rendering the higher classes independent of the other classes, led to exclusion, and exclusion to mutual dislike. When the rich are not independent of the good opinion of those beneath them, they will natu rally seek to conciliate them. Kindness on the part of the superior is never lost on the inferior. But the truth is, the condition of Ireland bears no resemblance to that of England. The peasantry of Ireland have never known the advantage of protection from the Government. They have, from the com mencement of the English connection down to the present day, been entirely at the mercy of their landlords. If Ireland had been an inde pendent country, the landlords and peasantry would soon have discovered the necessity of be ing on good terms with each other ; because a destitute peasantry would have been disposed to do themselves justice. But the excesses of the Irish landlords have been committed under the full assurance that, whatever the consequences, England would stand by them. Hence the landlords have exacted in all times the utmost farthing from the cultivator, all but the potatoes and salt on which he subsists; and it having been impossible for the cultivators to make any savings, they were without the means of improve ment, and the nation, with the exception of a few towns, is composed of a peasantry in rags, and an arrogant proprietary, limited in their exactions by the supposed impossibility of ex tracting more from the cultivators, and the ven geance of the utterly destitute. But our con temporary has a simple way of accounting for all the evils of Ireland—the existence of the Roman Catholic religion : " Spain, Portugal, Italy (be says)—the countries which we have cited as models for exclusively Popish Ireland, are, with Popish Ireland, the countries of the most mise rable peasantry in the world—and this, though undoubt edly possessing an average good soil, and the very finest climate of Europe. Why are they so? Why are coun tries so varying in almost all other circumstances—in go vernment, locality, surface of land, &c. ? Why are coun tries so different, except in those advantages which ought to produce a uniformity of happiness, so uniformly mise rable? There is but one answer—because they are uniformly afflicted with one blasting system of superstition. We now reject all consideration of the moral influence of the Romish imposture, and still more particularly would we guard against building any arguments in our present inquiry upon its soul-destroying malignity—we refer merely to its influence upon the physical condition of man. It exists nowhere, uncontrolled by temporal authority, that it does not reduce the condition of the population to beggary. This is a proposition admitting of no exception in any age or country. Let us now dress some of the plans proposed for Ireland in the glass of one of the inde pendent Popish kingdoms of the continent." There is a great difference between one Catholic State and another, as between Catholic and Protestant States. Without wishing to un dervalue the Protestant Reformation, we may observe that that Reformation was itself the offspring of a continued improvement under Catholicism. There is yet but a small part of Europe Protestant ; and the Netherlands had long been cultivated as a garden before England knew anything of good agriculture. Catholic Switzerland contains a much more industrious and intelligent peasantry than the Protestant Highlands of Scotland, though the latter are far more favoured by nature. Piedmont, Lombardy, and Tu.scany contain an industrious and happy peasantry. The peasantry of the two Austrias, Bohemia, Moravia, Ste.,.are thriving and happy. Belgium is cultivated like a garden. In none of these countries are the peasantry so demoralised as in Protestant England. The inhabitants of Spain possess no common character, though all of the same religion. The Catalonians and Bis cayans are industrious and thriving, and the peasantry are much happier than our own. In the other parts of Spain, where the despotism of the Government has pressed harder, the people are wretched. In France, under the old regime, one Catholic province was flourishing, and another wretched. We are unwilling to throw, out imputations of insincerity, but charity to our contemporary will not allow us to suppose him in earnest, when he thus dooms all the Catholic nations of Europe to irremediable wretched ness, so long as they continue Catholics.— Morning Chronicle. It is generally believed that the answer of the King of the Netherlands to the insincere and insulting propositions of Prince Talleyrand and his lacquey, Lord Palmerston, arrived yesterday. The Administration has not yet found it suit able to the interests of its popularity to permit either the form or substance of this answer to transpire. It is stated with much confidence, however, and the prudence, ability, and mode ration hitherto evinced by the King of the Netherlands corroborate the assertion, that this reply is couched in the ordinary terms of diplo matic courtesy ; that it amounts in substance to a distinct and unequivocal rejection of the pro positions of the Ministers of France and England ; but that it intimates, at the same time, the readiness of his Majesty to treat upon a definite basis, which it fully ex plains, with a view to the just and amicable settlement of the terms of separation of the two divisions of his kingdom. Into such nego tiation, however, the King of the Netherlands does not propose to enter with France and England separately, or in conjunction ; still less does he propose to descend to such negotiations with the de facto Government of his revolted province ; neither is it his intention to negotiate with the five Powers in the character which they have already abdicated of an European Conference. It is understood to be with the five great Powers of Europe, in their character of guarantees of the integrity of the kingdom of the Netherlands, that the King of the Ne therlands is desirous to concert the means by which he and they may be extricated with the least possible amount of injury or inconvenience from the difficulties in which circumstances have involved them.—Morning Post. COTTON MAN UF ACTURE.—The amazing cotton manufacture continues to increase. The reduction of the profits has sharpened the wits of the manufacturers ; and men, women, and children, as well as machines, throw o ff an increasing quantity of work. We perceive, from the evidence on the Factory Bill, that the weekly quan tity now spun by one spindle is 21 hanks of No. 40, a week. The cotton spun in Great Britain last year amounted to about 288,000,0001b5. Of this vast quan ti,y a tenth was spun in Scotland. The United States supply 3.4tLs of the consumption, or 213,000,000105. The East Indies about 20,000,0001b5. The West Indies 1,600,0001b1. only. All the cotton, except the growth of the East and %Vest Indies, pays a duty of -8- per lb. This duty would last year exceed 690,0001. ; and would be as nearly as possible 10 p-r cent. on the return of the cotton in bond.-- Glasgow Chronicle. The following is a summary of the meteoro logical observations in France of 1832 :—The greatest heat, namely 35 deg.—centigrades, 95 deg. Fahrenheit, was on August 13. The greatest cold, 5 deg. 87 centi grades, or 21. 2. of Fahrenheit, on the Ist of January. Days of rain, 135 ; of fog, 218 ; of frost, 50 ; of snow, 2 ; of hail and sleet, 10 ; of thunder, 18. The wind blew from the north 59 times ; from the north-east, 46 ; from the east, 28 ; from the south-east, 22 ; from the south, 66 ; from the south-west, 54; from the west, 54 ; and from the north-west, 37. The depth of rain that fell was 525 mill, 58 centhn., or nearly 21 inches English. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, JAN. 14. THE KING V. THE CORPORATION OF CANTERBURY. Sir J. SCARLETT appeared to show cause against a rule Nisi for a quo warranto granted last Term, calling upon Mr. Kingsford to state upon what au thority he held the office of Mayor of Canterbury. It appeared that at the election, which took place last autumn, there was a riot, which prevented the voters from polling ; that a second election, but no second nomination, was entered upon, when Mr. Kingsford was returned by a large majority. The Learned Counsel now contended that that election was good, even if bribery, as was alleged by the opposite party, had been used. But he insisted that the Court could not believe there was bribery at this election, " because no man who could com mand a majority of two or three hundred votes would be fool, or, he might say, knave enough to bribe voters."--(Laughter.) Mr. WATSON followed on the same side. Mr. Sergeant MEREIVETIIER proceeded to support the rule, but was stopped by The COURT observing that it ought to be made absolute, as the statements of the parties were of a conflicting nature, and were, therefore, proper to be inquired into by a Jury.—Rule made absolute. BAIL. COURT, JANUARY 14. CAMPBELL V. FRANKS. The action was brought to recover the balance of an account for coals supplied to the defendant's order. The plaintiff is a coal-merchant in Hertford, and the defendant is a gentleman of respectability re siding there, and a Magistrate of the county. A subscription had been entered into by the no bility and gentry to assist the poor inhabitants of the place in obtaining a supply of coals. The de fendant had the management of the business, and by his order the coals were furnished by the plaintiff, who received about 381. on account ; and on apply. ing for the balance, 621. odd, the defendant in sisted, on the several applications being made, that he had paid the balance furnished on a certain day named. The plaintiff altogether denied this, and evidence having been produced to prove that the defendant was in error, The Jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for the amount of his claim, 621. odd, adding, at the same time, that they did not think the defendant was liable to any imputation in the !natter. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. (From the Hampshire Telegraph.) PORTSMOUTH. JAN. 12.—CaptainGlascock, of his Majesty's ship Orestes, has succeeded in his demand of a free communication between the ships under his command of the Douro river and the sea. He promises also to punish every infringement of the navigation law, more than one instance having oc curred wherein merchant ships had hoisted a King's pendant with their colours, and in such instances the owners will be compelled to pay the penalty of 3001. Captain Glascock has also demanded of General Santa Martha permission to open a contract for fresh beef for the sole use of the English squadron. Rear-Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, Bart., K.C.8., who succeeds to the command in South America, hoisted his flag on board the Spartiate, 74, Captain Tate, this morning. She is refitting at Spithead, and will, when equipped, proceed to her des,ination. By a letter from Rio de Janeiro, dated 9th No. vember, we learn that the Warspite, 74, with the flag of Sir Thomas Baker, anchored at Rio from a cruise on the 31st October. The Pylades, 18, Commander Blanckley, sailed from Rio for Monte Video, on the 28th of October. The Rattlesnake, 28, Captain Graham, sailed from Valparaiso, for Lima, on the 23d September. The Dublin, 42, Captain Lord J. Townshend, for Coquimbo, on the 24th, and the Clio, 18, Commander Onslow, on the 27th September, for Rio Janeiro, The mail ar rived out in the Duke of York packet, on the 20th October, which left for Buenos Ayres on the 23d. The Goldfinch arrived at Rio, from Buenos Ayres, on the 7th November. The Blanche, 52, Commodore Farquhar, arrived at Antigua, on 30th November. The North Star, Captain Lord W. Paget, arrived at Barbadoes, from Bermuda, on the 13th November, and Victor, IS, Commander Russell, on the same day from St. Lucia. The Columbine, 18, Commander Love, sailed from Tortola for Bermuda, on 2d December. DOWNS.—The Malabar anchored here on Tues day, from Portsmouth, and the Griffon passed by on Friday, from Sheerness, on her way to Plymouth. A French corvette sailed on Sunday, for a cruise, and on the following day the Dee, for Helvoet. She returned this morning, when the Larne sailed for the North Seas, leaving at anchor the Donegal, Ta lavera, Revenge, Malabar, and Dee (English), with the Suffrein, Melpomene, and Creole (French). The Forester, three guns, Lieut. Quin, arrived at Plymouth on Saturday, from this port, with the Griffon brigantine of the same rate, whence they will proceed in a day or two for the Cape of Good Hope. The Volage, 28, Captain Lord Colchester, will be paid off on Tuesday, and it is expected will be recommissioned.—The Childers, 18, Commander Deans, will be paid off on Thursday. The Comus, was paid advance wages, and towed out of harbour into the Sound on Monday, by the Rhadamanthus steamer, and sailed the following day with troops for Pendennis Castle. The following packets sailed from Falmouth on Monday :—Leveret, for Oporto and Lisbon—pas sengers, Senor da Camera, Captain Hoffner, Miss Galway, Mr. Finis; Reindeer packet, Lieut. Dicken, for Thazil—passengers, Messrs. Dunn, Marshall, De Wittenberg; the hired packet Melville, Lieut. Webb, for Halifax and Bermuda--passenger, Mr. Atkinson, for Halifax; the Alban steamer, Lieut. Kennedy, for the Mediterranean—passengers, Messrs Young, M`Dough, Herald, Trevelyan, Trevor, and Iglisias. The Eclipse packet, Lieut. Griffin, for Jamaica, sailed on Saturday, from Falmouth—passengers, Messrs. Nelson, Stephens, and M‘Gatta. The Lapwing packet arrived at Falmouth on Wednesday, from the Leeward Islands—she left Barbadoes, 23d Nov., and St. Thomas's, Bth ult. At Spithead—Spartiate. In Harbour—Victory, Excellent, Royal George, Volage, Childers, Sylvia. (From the Portsmouth Herald.) Rear-Admiral Sir F. D. Maitland, K.C.B. (Ad miral Superintendent of the Dockyard), whose flag (blue at the mizen) is flying on board the yacht Portsmouth, has been performing, pro tenzpore, the duties of Commander-in-Chief at this port, until suc ceeded in the command by Rear-Admiral Sir Mi chael Seymour, Bart. K.C.8., who hoisted his flag (blue at the mizen) yesterday, on board his Ma jesty's ship Spartiate, destined for the South Ame rican command. The Rear-Admiral (being the senior officer at the port) will retain the command until the arrival of the next Commander-in-Chief. _ Admiral Sir Harry Burrard Neale, G.C.8., of Lymington, is expected to succeed to the command at this port in about a for night hence, with Capt. Sir Charles Burrard as his Flag Captain, and Com. L. C. Rooke, as Secretary; Mr. Harry Munro, Purser, R.N., is likewise named as likely to fill the situation of Secretary. A detachment of fifty supernumerary Royal Ma rines disembarked from his Majesty's ship Spartiate on Tuesday last, and joined the Portsmouth head quarters. An order has been issued that on no account in future are the artificers in his Majesty's Dockyards to work more than five days per week, without the direct sanction of the Board of Admiralty. An order has been issued to discontinue the sys tem of employing convicts on the ships in Ordinary. PROMOTIONS, APPOINTMENTS, &C.— COM mander J. M. Laws is promoted to the rank of Captain.— Lieut. T. Gregory is promoted to the rank of Com mander.—The Hon. G. F. Hastings, Mate of his Majesty's ship Excellent, is promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.—Lieut. E. Seymour is appointed to his Majesty's ship Spartiate, as Flag Lieutenant to KC ) Rear. Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, Bart., .• —Lieut. T. L. Massie is appointed to his Ma.le s ';/' ship Satellite.—Mr. B. Hunter is appointed Maio. of the Prince Regent yacht.—Mr. F.W. R. Slor Master of his Majesty's ship Victory, is aPP i t o t to the command of the Buffalo, fitting as a 9 0' ship at Chatham.—Commander E. T. Cou c ho i t appointed Secretary to Rear-Admiral Sir Mic Seymour, and Mr. Hawker, Purser, is aPP in ft Secretary's Clerk.—Lieuts. Wallace Houstoat: M. Rodney, and E. Grey, are appointed S u p e r; merary Lieutenants of his Majesty's ship SPe rt Ot —The following Clerks are promoted to the rasa. Purser, viz., Messrs. E. Rowe, J. Evans, F. Fox, W. Anderson, W. A. Harris, T. ThomPli E. Brown, W. L. Freeman, W. ClatworthY, W. O. Cox. Messrs. C. W. de Courcy Ross and R. 1 -"4. kinson, Midshipmen, of the Vernon, hav e " t y found duly qualified in navigation this week at Royal Naval College. (From the Devonport Telegraph.) DEVONPORT, JAN. s.—ln consequence of th e cease of Vice-Admiral Colpoys, in the West 1 0 1 e Commodore Farquhar, who was at St. Kites , on the 27th of November, hoisted his red pen l 'as Commander-in-Chief, and was to proce ed i next day for Bermuda. Commander Burnett appointed Acting Captain of the Blanche, ,, ,, Lieu!enant Strode was appointed Acting 4-1., mender in his room. The combined fleets were still at anchor in I Downs on Thursday last. His Majesty's brigs Royalist and Pantaloon s on Monday for Falmouth and Lisbon. The mus, 18, Commander Hamilton, sailed the el l day, with troops for Pedennis Castle. Mr. Jeremy returned from London on Satur tl and on Monday the Jupiter put to sea for the t b time, bound to the Mauritius. This gentleman , understand, is armed with full powers for the forcement of such parts of the Order in Counci l warding the treatment of slaves as have not b (j suspended by the present Government. An 2 , tional military force is going out to the West lo' immediately. The Forrester, carrying a long 18-pounder ol a swivel, and two carronades, Lieutenant Quin, expressly fitted for the suppression nt r slave trade, arrived on Sunday, from Cha thoo ), Lieutenants J. Pike, W. H. Wyndham, and 1 41. :d, Millar, Midshipman, to join the Isis, are passel) in her to the Cape. The Griffon, brigantine, nf e o same rate, and fitted for the like purpose and dvit nation, came in on the same day, in company , i t the Forrester ; they will start again in a few L' 6 'l having some f urther equipments to be completed, The Belvidere, 46, Capt. Hon. R. S. Dundas a j Actwin, 28, Capt. Hon. F. W. Grey, were all 4 on the 20th of November last, at Tripoli, prote c t British property, the place being in a state bo n d i ing on revolt. On Monday last the French sloop St. Jean 1 1 /11 0 tiste was captured by the coast-guard station e l Newquay; she was laden with 293 tubs of br an i which have been lodged in the Custom-house st°) at Padatow . The crew consisted of six per sa ,, two of whom were Englishmen ; they have b h i convicted by the Magistrates, before whom til were taken, in the penalty of 100/. each, and 1 1 been brought to Devonport, to serve on boa tel , ship of war, in consequence of non-payment. 1 His Majesty's ship Volage, Capt. Lord Colcho ter, and Childers, 18, Commander Deans, wi ll d laid up in ordinary at Portsmouth during the 13 week. fi l BERMUDA, Nov. 30.—The Winchester is M A P" Jamaica with the head-quarters of the 37th it*" meat. The Fly arrived here on the 22d Ocrobio and proceeded on the 27th to J ama i ca , with !j companies of the 37th Regiment. The North 7 .4 arrived from Halifax on the 31st October, and ceeded on the 3d November to Jamaica. The P' s key tender arrived on the 3d November, and W I refitting. The Tweed arrived on the 11th Scol d ber, and sailed on the 13th for the West In d The Nimble schooner arrived on the 13th Nove l ber, and is now refitting. The Pi nc h e r arrive d 27th, and is waiting the departure o f the bloo"1 to be refitted also. _J Remaining in Hamoaze—Sin Josef, Vernon , Rhadamanthus, African, and Confi ince steal' sels, Romney, and Amphitrite transport. At the Island—Griffon and Furrester. LONDON MARKETS. PRICE OF BREAD. P i The highest price of Bread in the Metropolis is 9 a 41b. Loaf. There are others who sell from ,4d. to Osia• hat price. PRICE OF SEEDS.-Jan. 14. New Englishßed Clover Seed (per Cwt.) -s. 565. fine Old Ditto Ditt0.......... . -s. -s. tine -- 8 *: Jew Foreign Ditt0............... -s. -s fine - -9 ° i Old Ditto New White Clover sBs. 635. fine 650. i Old Ditto Ditto _ -s. Ms. fine .. 4 _,,: New Trefoil 31d Ditto . ,__ .-... -s. 20s. fine 2 0 . : Rib Grass . -- - -s. 375. fine --' 9 ' English Carraway 5eed........-.,„....:„..7_, --. ......s, -s. 655. fine Foreign Ditto .......---......-...........- -s. - 4. 635. fine Coriander ............. -. -s. 12s. fine .... 9 ' St. Foin .....././NWOO• (per Quarter).......... 3515• 425. fine ..."± Rye Grass ................................---..... -s. -s. new 3'-" o '' Pacey Ditto . 4os. 565. new .." 9 'i Linseed, for feeding -s. 565. fine .. 4 ' Ditto, for crushing _ sos. 58s. --s. 0 0 :: Canary Seed, New..................*. -s. -s. 60s fie; ' 'ltto Old, ..., -5. -s. ...S. fin" _ White Mustard Seed --(per 8u5he1)...... -s. 85. ys. fine , Brown Ditto . ~.we.•••••••*. ....8 . 20s. Zs. fin; Turnip Seeds, Rounds-----.-- -s. -s. 18s. fine: Green and Red Ditto ....-...........---.. •-.5. --9. 18s. tin e: Fares, Old owee ., •• • •• • •• • •••••••••• • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••• -5. 4s. fine " Ditto New ...«...........••••*...................... -6. ss. fine ," _ ~; Raye Seed, English, fine (per Last) 241 . 27 /...... Foreign T. 2" PTtICEs OF HOPS.—Jan. 14. Kent Sussex Ditto 61. 6s. 71. Os. to 71. Fssex Ditto 04 Os. 0/. 0:. to 01. Farnham Ditto, 01. Os. 121. Os, to 13 1 Seconds 0/. Os. 101. 106 to 11 1 71. Os. 8/. Os to 91 ; 0/. Os. 01. Os, to 4 2.• 0!. Os 01. Os. to ut Kent Sussex Ditto Essex Ditto,. PRICE OF OIL. Rape Oil k brown 63. Refined Linseed Oil 0.0•1•14MO.W.000m00,000.11.•••••...••••••••••••••••••101.1.41.11.0 Linseed Oil Cake at the Mill, per thousand Rape Cake, per ton ••••..........••••••••••••••••••••••••••warwr. PRICE OF POTATOES.—Jan 14. Kidneys (York) 01. Os. to 31. 108. pe r toll Scotch Reds _ Si.Os. to 31. ss. ditto. Marsh Champions O/. Os. to 41. Os. ditto. Oxnobles and Shaws 9./. 10s. to 31. Os. ditto:, LEATHER. Per lb. English S m l l Per dozen. 1 Calf Skins.. 30 to 411 b. : t i Ditto .......... 50 to 701 b. ' ish Ditto ilo rse .............. Hides: . li Ditto 70 to SOlb. 0 Small Seals, Gree n l a nd t i l Large ditto PRICES 0: Per lb, d. to d. Butts, English 15 23 Ditto, Foreign 14 20 Dressing 12 15 Ditto 14 16* Ditto, light Crop Hides, light ...». 12 14 Ditto 40 to 451 b 13 16 Ditto. _ 15 18 SHEEP SKINS. Best Polled ss. Od. to 6s. 6d. I Halt.breds........ 4s. Od. 0 : Middling Polled 4 0 5 0 D0wn5........—.... 3 6 RAW HIDES. ~ Per Stone. s. d. to g. d. Per Stone. 0. S ea t Heifers& Stsers 2 4 2 8 Ordinary v n i Middlings. ----....~ 1 10 2 0 M ar k et Calf—..--. '7_2,', BIRTHS. 1 On the 111th inst. at Sandwell, Staffordshire, the Cou - D ar tmouth, of a daughter. On the 14th inst. in Devon s hi re - s tr ee t, the wife of Barnes. Esq., of a daughter. On the 12th inst. in Spring-gardens, the Lady Seri'o ill daughter. __.....d MARRIED. On the 24th inst. at St. Mary's, Charles Knight, Esq. , ryk bone-street, to Caroline, widow of Captain Giveen , the Royal 10th Hussars. On the 3d of November last, at St. James's Church, VI per Canada, Thomas Mercer Jones, Esq., one of the stoners of the Canada Company, to Elizabeth Mari! daughter of the Hon. and Venerable John Strachan, 1).1 , * Archdeacon of York, Upper Canada. On the 10th inst. at Rye, Mr. William Ellenden, of Miss Harriet Butler, of Marley Farm, near Rye. Ge O o t r i g t e h l e, o 7 n th ge i , n ß st a . m at Hamp p to l n E , D A . nne, widow of the ti On the 11th i ns t. a t Torquay, Devonshire, in the 2,5 0 ' his age, Alexander Champion Streatfield, Esq., eldest sod Rev. Thomas Streatfield, of Charts Edge, in the countYA On the 10th inst. at Pe ran Arworthal, of scarlet feYb after five days' illness, Jane Catherine, youngest dor Charles Fox, aged five years. On the 14th inst. Mr. 4 Bley, of Henrietta-street, garden, in the 62d year of his age. On the 10th inst. suddenly, at his residence, Great street, aged 73, Joshua Brookes, Esq., F B.S. F.L.S. '7s Nat. Cur. Mosq. Soc., forty years Professor of AnatolnY heim-street, during which time he educated upwards ",j students, and ceased, by unexampled industry and perses the most splendid and extensive co lection of anatolp zool og i ca l specimens ever accumulated by one individu or any other country. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BYMURDO YOUNG, SUN OrrICS, 112, STRAND LONDON. A COM s for r e i° f To hi s Alajesty' s and t arr. _, Ulm tacks Isle of \\lot eeonotrllt'rrati:inlyitv"ertl 4ape.editt4eedol:ilbfaeatrrty'll trit,•Attnaa_tlllahrnaja.:tatet,iriiste:cdkti3htiredYonedo:l(;ll8 ffi irenvid..,Cr(cei, and Quart UPS a n d ne o' c l ock ""Y next, on that dal rtn Posala and - moat sane each Propo& .zed to th e 1 'Dna of know th e n pr ( ;;tlgn' no:) p f at a i) ] Tender, c e to n t and by the Yulne of the sal Zr, will b e ref ( 1 1 / tq wl not ma te niti d e ' r l3 . .l l t bow I which ma, eea tte hours ' 'ACTS by :E p°SE, ENi HE ~,.1111111414,11.:tise:11:ektisi.ileeetlithht:Tft.:.ernsT o ddteourcA r eeawI i . pv, ] ' II IIIII AC CUTING 11 41,2 r the f.h, 3,:talimaynd II t N Y to treat 'th' leb4 llli "PO r. 1: ht I rt he e Z , Y cl t l, .;%fl tosup Pone antt lean Sand :: S inu C ,etb s s ° tdbonai i yhe O e l Ifidont Publish 141 IN fry I ir e due B ueni R age t , Rte.. ; ............. ttt e ". it'trug• The C la id Office p i e „ l °ek. on th gi ng tittl", accompani t Wo Admi Ho] ty t h e L y. th Author Il tbe Authi t SEA `Viv i SONE 1414 \ 141441":11:1: : : : :4 ; r o il i li.ri t • l ES for ac , At— g ati;ol:lliti..tithiPti:kliel ,r4,ticoritlteenwS..issaTeiinzdße,nYii3cB(i., ; - '0047 4 4L PI r' l't 'ICAL J 1 Qtr ABLE „ k lev ' q. " St n•Ti iiatllhou.ea stores, L , Srablin uae s g t al i ° . and th e lo ref u ° Store s r . ' t re , very c a "114 Businf A,. w . ./7 4 tz, . ~e ! „ince. , „., plouluditrtected , ,p' (41 THUCIR4I l'i tili S and 31' a b eek 9 e , _ 0 04 ittiowpeactable ... ked re L ti , as i trade iallvtintagee, I? Particularly a 1 4 - b ! late res .;, • 14 t'l l Pe riod of , 4 4 , 4 ha ils Y , e , %ji b of 3, I N eh ,' u Pon the Wile" 4 ea b'i ._ t Pa 1 i -re d • inlints 4 i Pti atti in g a ,and p Piti fY With A i abli ea „ P WAR the LEAS . 4 'Elio,, „ ttl a SE "44 'k w ith ar h Pit, O " c "ea, corn ThPPritite th e I ei;"!, uPWarda fg L m0, t ,.._ o vat eh. :4., a talent .cughle, east-iron r oll ' Putups in e A b e ' r w Crr particu Ilia le 1 %; of Mr. d es of Messrs. ko.„ ltl a-place, 01. ' 4 , Bucklersl C ''l I> NET MAI kit. THU 1 ) ,,, t‘ N o bilit y r b tl . '''letted Stool Isti t ' t i', at the ( al'lYetkhall-street to Act t of pal ~i oet 4 c aragem en Met t o berProduce or ti th s in aickro s . Pp t, t b e tht, a ,f an Y Iltrt,l'erL4thbfledsteadu . Strati, mai peathrild4ZZ ********* , t p‘, st erbe ad s tfOr s fit p" , Ct ***** ..... eZq t .s , x featli I '' fee t " hair i n I ' u t.ir , xbe ..... st ab d teet .. ..... QI X iar' ° lste flock llitt ° k ; .. Cli 7 e ,1 4 ........ table , l ,h f dr a ,' est bikh „ o t eet any sie)rt ..ditto m h data o \ n'ght. .... bitto ..... •••• Ditto (iet . .. rO , ed R.,4itt c , and pan Po re rieo res, to bed ; 1 1 ol tlan,b o % ead, Five fe: t'A; ........ t)st t 41 111 0 , e(44 ren,. 4,1 ,1 g a nY silk ip tlt,pfrin All ..... %t h ; ..... c