The Sun. — London, England, 1830-04-20 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. After the publication of last Wednesday's Bul letin, announcing the King.'s unfortunate indispo sition, wihad shared the hopes experienced by most of his Majesty's syhjeets in observing that no further Bulletins,. descriptive of increased or con tinued suffering, had been issued for many .subse quent days. The public tranquillity was, however, interrupted yesterday,—i hough we unfeignedly bust it will only, and for a very short space, have been suspended,---by the unexpected appearance of another Bulletin, stating that his Majesty " con tinues to suffer occasionally from attacks of embar rassment la his breathing." This, it must he ad mitted, is somewhat odd treatment, either for his Majesty, for the country, or for both. If, as the new Bulletin distinctly as erts, there had been no cessation since the first Bulletin of a symptom so grave as that of " embarrassed breathing," then it is self-evident that there ought not to have been any cessation of the Bulletins. If, on the other hand, the breathing had become free, and had afterwards become so difficult that a medical advertisement of the fact was deemed unavoidable on the part of the King's attendants, then we say that the malady has been represented under deceptious colours, and that his Majesty's subjects ought not to have been told of their Sovereign being affected by a " con tinuance" • of his first disorder, when, in truth, he had suffered an unequivocal and serious re lapse. This matter •is of too high importance to be disguised or trifled with. To know precisely the condition of their Sovereign, when any disease of body or mind afflicts him, is the - constitutional_right of every free people, and the prescriptive privilege even of such as - are enslaved. The uncertainty in which the world was left regard ing the health of his Majesty, from Thursday fore noon until yesterday, gave rise in some people to painful fears of his aggravated illness; and in many to still more cruel suspicions that his Majesty had not been sick at all, but had merely got up the ap paratus of a " bilious attack," and a Bulletin, to spare himself the annoyance of an indiscriminate and crowded Court, although the consequence might be a severe mortification to hundreds of the Nobility and Gentry of the realm, and, what is far worse, a loss of their bread to thousands of industrious trades men, whose families might at the time have no other food than what could be obtained by mort gaging their prospective labours for the use of the levee and drawing-room. This, we say, was a most unfounded and cruel suspicion ; and the proof that it ti as so is in the grievous Bulletin:of yesterday af ternoon, which implies a tendency in the King's frame to a class of disorders, of which, neither in hind nor in degree, is there one which can be viewed without alarm. Should this uneasy crisis endure a little longer, and no solution of it be afforded by me dical skill, or by events which set that skill at defi ance, the effect will, of necessity, be no less hurtful to the public interests than afflicting to the hearts of all honest and loyal Englishmen. Nevertheless, we shall hope the best. The peace of England and of Europe need not, we are well enough convinced, be compromised by the removal of any one of its guar dians from his post; but who can answer that it will not be so compromised ? We recommend the most frank and straightforward dealing in official juan upon this momentous occasion.—Tinres. We regret to state, that the conclusions which we drew yesterday from the cessation of the Bul letins of his Majesty's health, coupled with the non attendance of the physicians, have not proved to be c orrect. Our readers will see from the Bulletin, in the communication of the Court newsman, that his Majesty's health has not improved. " His Majesty," says the Bulletin, " continues to suffer occasionally from attacks if embarrassment in his breathing." There is great reason for saying that a knowledge of his Majesty's real state is confined to the very few immediately around him, and - that many persons in high official station are as little acquainted with the facts as the mass of the public. For the very brief and unsatisfactory statements which have been made, we are indebted to the apprehension of responsibility in his Majesty's attendants. The name of the chief and authoritative mover of the Court machine is kept from the public eye ; on him no responsi bility rests; yet it is certain that without him no thing is or can he managed either in regard to body politic or natural. There are persons bold enough to hint that the greatest indisposition in the case was tin indisposition to undertake the trouble of the Levee and Drawing-room. It would be strange indeed if the slavery to forms were such in this country that the Monarch must feign indisposition In escape from the burden of them! So far, how ever, was this from the fact, that the first Bulletin issued without a previous intimation to the indi vidual most concerned excited his high displeasure, and that he desired no other should be issued. 'The appearance of a second Bulletin in defiance of this command is, therefore, we fear, to be regarded as an ill omen, whatever be the terms in which it is couched, and there is certainly nothing in the lan guage of that bearing yesterday's date to allay ap prehension. We bare said that persons in high official station appear to kuow as little of the real state of his Majesty's health as the mass of the public, and the reason for our saying this is, that we know the most contradictory accounts have been given by some of them. While one nobleman says his Majesty is not ill, another says he is very ill. If persons who, from their stations, ought to know the real state of his Majesty's health, give such different representations, our readers do not require to be told by us that all representations on the sub ject are to be received with considerable distrust. When attacks of embarrassment in breathing are mentioned, people are led to fear the worst. We wish the professional gentlemen in attendance on his Majesty could have stated so much as to satisfy the public that the difficulty in breathing has not its cause in circumstances calculated to inspire serious apprehensions. The want of such expla nation may lead some persons to suspect the worst. However, they have the best reasons for their silence.—Morning Chronicle. After all that political economists have said and written about the wealth of rations, we believe it will ever be found that the best riches of a State are the comfort, the virtues, and the independence of its people. This is the moral wealth that con stitutes the strength and bespeaks the true pro sperity of a nation. It is to the condition of the middle and working classes that the genuine philo sopher looks for the indications of national welfare or decline. :If those classes are industrious, comfort able, moral, and contented, he will infer that the State is sound at its core, and that the subject re ceives, in return for his allegiance, the protection of a capable and intelligent Government. If, on the other hand, they are vainly endeavouring to struggle agnitist circumstances over which they have no con troul, and the mass of the labouring population are plunged in wretchedness and debasement, he will not consider that country either prosperous in its affairs or happy in the choice of those who admini- Ater them, although sumptuous living and luxury may prevail among the higher ranks of society, and some fortunate individuals may possess a vast ac cumulation of capital. It is, indeed, to this " ac cumulation of capital" that the " political . econo mists" of the present day would sacrifice every thing that makes a nation truly affluent, and a people truly happy. They are a sect that worship Mammon with an intense and ex elusive devotion. Their minds, ingapable of ap preciating the real dignity of man, measure all degrees of human m er it on a scale of " capital." Their creed is Virtus post nunzmos—' their motto Quocunque modo rem. In the zeal of their degrading idolatry to wealth, they hate despise, and, if possible, persecute the poor. They, at all events, give advice to that effect. They milt oi, them as the "superabundant population" that ought to be got rid of some way or other; although it is well known that this country, if its resources were tinder a right management, has the means of mu; taining a far greater population than that which t at present possesses. It was well said by a poet who gave to the dietates of good sense rnal ight, feeling the finest inspiration of genius— A time there was, ere England's griefs tegan, When every rood of ground maintained its man. That was not " accumulation ;" it was not a state of things that dazzled the eye, while the substance of national prosperity was wasting away. It was not a state of, things that raised a few splendid for tunes upon the degradation of the great mass of the people. No; it was that sort of policy which made the nation rich and invincible by the diffusion of comfort and the preservation of manly virtue among all classes of society. In this country, at present, there is great wealth, great industry, but still greater distress. The resources of the country have not been annihilated, nor have the energies of the people perished ; but the folly and ignorance of the Legislature have crippled the former, and ren dered the latter unavailing. Dishonest or super ficial reasoners are accustomed to appeal to the luxurious habits of a large portion of our aristo cracy, and the great opulence of a few moneyed men, as evidence to contradict the alleged distress of the country; but the luxury and opulence of the few are not incompatible with the poverty and wretchedness of the many. When Rome flourished in the pride of unrivalled empire, and excited the admiration of mankind, there was far less luxury and revelling and ostentatious splendour among her higher classes than when she had forfeited her glo rious fame among the nations, and her power was departing like the virtues that had sustained it. Then was there wretchedness, and misery, and de basement among her people; and though the sum• mits of society looked brighter for a time, as the rays of declining prosperity flashed upon them, they were SOON lost, like the regions beneath, in the gloom that covered for ever the fortunes of the mighty em pire. But, unlike Rome in one respect, England has still the means of regeneration within herself. The industry of her people is still unabated— their skill in the arts, that have poured wealth into the country, yet unrivalled ; their energies only want the free and judicious exercise which a wise Govern ment ' could give them, to make England great and prosperous once more. But ►what can be done as long as the doctrines of absurd theorists are in more favour with the Government and Legislature than the principles which raised the nation to an unex ampled state of opulence and grandeur ? Let those principles be restoredLelet a real spirit of eco nomy among our rulers abridge the expenses of the State, so as to enable them to reduce the taxes to the level of our currency—let the grievous errors of ignorant legislation be retraced—let the " political economists," with Mr. Huskisson at their head, be sent to try their cruel and absurd experiments in some Utopian island of their own. Let these things be done, and the people will do their part ; they will beat down rivalry, as they did of old, and re establish the prosperity of the empire,—Morning Herald. The Bulletin published last night confirms the apprehensions which were on Sunday, and the early part of yesterday, very generally entertained regard ing the King's health, and the existence of which we adduced as a reason why an additional Bulletin was indispensably necessary. To those who are aware of the tenacity of life and the astonishing force of reaction in the physical powers of his Ma jesty, the continuance of his disorder cannot fail to excite much anxiety. On all former occasions copious bleeding has almost instantaneously re stored him. After this operation but a few hours have seldom elapsed before lie felt new vigour mid fresh life, the transition from pulmonary oppression, extreme lassitude, and great feebleness, to a state of convalescence and active health, being rapid in a re markable degree. The present attack, however, has not terminated in any such sudden or salutary change. The weakness has continued, and his breathing has been impeded at intervals to an ex. tent painful and even alarming. We do not, however, despond, but, on the contrary, rest as sured that even this attack will be subdued. How ever, while we say this we cannot countenance the delusion that his Majesty is not in a dangerous state.—Morning Journal. The manner in which the foreign department of the Post-cffice is managed has long and justly been complained of. If any system were sought to be de vised in order to retard business in the most effec tual way a more perfect mode than the present one could not be invented. It is a bad system in all its bearings—badly conducted from the highest clerk to the lowest—and little less than a 1 positive obstruction to active commerce and the faci lity of transmitting foreign intelligence. It is well known that the French Government have esta blished estafettcs between Paris and Calais, by which newspapers and letters are sent to and from Paris and the outpost in the shortest pos sible space of time. As soon as the mail-bag arrives at Calais it is despatched to Dover with the utmost expedition, and in ordinary weather the mail-boat generally reaches Dover in time for the London mail which eliparts at eight o'clock.— It sometimes happens, however, owing to the weather, that it does not reach Dover before eight o'clock. In this case the letters are allowed to sleep at Dover for twenty-four hours, and are despatched by the succeeding day's mail. The distance from Dover to London is only about seventy miles, and yet this lumbering machine culled a mail—(it might be driven by an old woman and dragged by the post office bipeds in a shorter time)—takes from eight o'clock in the evening to seven next morning to accomplish this poor journey of about seventy miles. This is doing little more than six miles an hour. But this is not all the delay. The letters that arrive at the Post office at seven in the morning are rarely distributed in the metropolis till noon, thus giving them another nap of four or five hours in St. Martin's-le-Grand. The result of this sleeping here, napping there, and indolence every where, is, that the letters and papers of Paris are often longer in coming from Dover to London—seventy miles—than they are in coming from Paris to Calais—one hundred and seventy miles. In the uni dated these facts will, doubtless, excite some surprise. But the secret cause has only to be exposed in order to account for the delay in a most satisfactory manner. We have long expected to see our excellent friend of the gironiele take up this question in his seurching and persevering way. But he, perhaps, has enough to do with the " unpaid," and the task, con sequently, devolves upon us. It is, we admit, an Herculeau one, and a disagreeable one to boot ; but we shall not cease till we have accomplished our ob ject, and swept away for ever all its jobs, tricks, de lusions, and a thousand et ecteras, all extremely dis graceful to the, foreign department of the Post-office. Be it known, then, to all men that the foreign de partment of the Post-office is not u nder the juris diction a Sir Francis Freeling, but is managed by y about a devil's dozen of persons called secretaries and clerks, who enjoy ex-officii salaries scarce ade quate to the supply of a stinted a llowance of soup emigre. They do little it is true, but still they are wretchedly paid, and but for their perquisites, as they are called, would be worse remunerated . than many of the respectable sweepers of crossings. But they have their perquisites. Now, what think you, curious reader, are these ? Why, the right to trade on their own bottoms —keep boats on their own account—outride the lazy jades who drag the mail—and bring expresses to bankers, jobbers, and the London newspapers. A good delay at Dover is worth to them from fifty to thrice fifty pounds per night, including cost of transit. They live like the lawyers, not by the laws, but the mail's delay. A French ti;liffette is deemed an invasion of their privileges, and we here no doubt they would if they could bribe the directees of posts to abolish it altogether. ' It happens, however, .the.;_t the interests of the British public run counter to their private interests On this point, and therefore we hope some hind of reform will be introduced by which they may be enabled to keep themselves, their wives, their little ones, and their tiburies, without the endurance of this shameful monopoly. What is to prevent the Dover mail from travelling to London in seven hours ? Nothing, that we can perceive, but their vested interests. What is to prevent the home from managing the foreign department in. the Post office ? Nothing but their vested interests.— They alone stand in the way of improve ment. Nothing exists to prevent the Dover mail from leaving Dover at twelve instead of eight o'clock, and travelling ten instead of six miles an hour, and that as cheaply and safely the one way as the other, but their vested interests, their priv a te expresses, their nice plump jobs, through which they draw from certain foolish parties in London perqui sites which add to their incomes from 2001. to 3001. a year. We believe the jobs to be worth more than this—perhaps twice as much as this—but we state the minimum of the reward in order to gain the maximum of the argument. We shall return to this subject, but meanwhile beg leave most earnestly to press its importance on the consideration of Lord Aberdeen, and subjoin an admirable letter from Paris, for which we are indebted to our contempo rary the Times. The Times has stitched to the letter a head-piece as well as a tail-piece, and we therefore give the whole : " Some of our leading merchants are earnestly engaged in measures for bringing about an improvement in the Post-office communications with France and the South of Europe. These depend more or less on the Paris estafette, an arrangement which has now existed nearly twelve months, but from which all the advantages of which it is susceptible are certainly not as yet derived. Even with regard to the Paris merchants and the direct communication with London by the estafette there appear to exist impediments which betoken any thing but a zealous co-operation on our side of the channel. These difficulties and the proper remedy for them are well pointed out in the annexed letter from one of the first commercial houses in Paris, to which we have been requested to give publicity: " 'Paris, April 11. " ' In establishing the estafette` our adu.:oistration of the post-office his shown great attention to the wishes and the advantage of merchants. It has defrayed the whole of the expense, a very small pert of which has been hitherto covered by the increased rate of postage. It would have seemed natural that the administration of the English post-office should also make some efforts to facilitate the correspondence by estafette, especially as a pecuniary sacrifice was not so much required as more expedition in the conveyance of the bags. But your post-office has not co-operated with ours in en deavouriug to improve the means of communication be tween the two countries ; and we therefore address you in hopes that the merchants of London, and your house in particular, will snake an application to the Board of Trade, er the heads of other offices, in order to induce them to accelerate the service of the estafette as much as possible. The following are the principal points to which attention is requested by our direction des posies:— " 1. The estafette bag is despatched from Calais by a special boat, which generally arrives at Dover in time for the London mail. But it happens sometimes, and particularly in winter, that the boat arrives at Dover after the mail-coach has set off, and then the estafette letters, which the French post-office has sent by express, are detained twenty-four hours at Dover, and go by the mail of next day ! I❑ such cases, which are not of frequent occurrence, it is desirable that the English post-office will either have the bag sent by express from Dover to London, as is practised for the regular mails which are landed late, or order the mail.coach to wait at Dover for such letters. It may be observed here, that it would be much better that the mail-coach should set off from Dover at midnight, instead of eight o'clock; the Calais boat would then always reach Dover in time, and with proper despatch the mail-coach might arrive in London by eight o'clock in the morning. " 2. It is necessary, for the delivery of the letters at Paris in convenient time, that the express start from Calais by two o'clock in the afternoon, which cannot be done unless the English packet sail from Dover at about nine o'clock in the morning. This can easily be ac complished, even when the mail leaves London at mid night; but it frequently happens that the private interest of the captains of packets induces them to remain at Dover for passengers till a late hour, and consequently they ar rive at Calais only in the evening, thus rendering it im possible to deliver the letters at Paris till after the hours of business. Strict orders, then, should be given by your post-office that the estafette letters be despatched fur Calais at nine o'clock at latest, and that the packet get out of harbour earlier whenever the tide does not allow it to be done at that hour. " If the trade of Lenion set any value on the continu ance of the estafette it is absolutely requisite that they in duce your post-office to assist ours on the above points, or any other of the same kind which we may not be aware of. Otherwise this advantageous establishment must be given up,' " But, besides the facilities here sought for, and which appear too reasonable to he withheld long after a wish ex pressed to that effect, it is the opinion of the merchants here that the French estafette system is capable of being usefully extended, in connexion with the German, Italian, and Spanish mails, as well as the communications generally with the Mediterranean, Greece, Egypt, and the coast of Africa. As this embraces a very' wide range it may be some time before the plans under consideration will be sufficiently matured to meet the public eye ; but, the subject being a highly-important one to the interests of our commerce and manufactures, it is proposed occasionally to revert to it under this head as nesv materials shall present tbemselves."--Morning Journal. A rumour has been for some time current that the delay which has taken place in the negotiations for the final settlement of the affairs of Greece has arisen from the anxiety of Prince Leopold that pro vision should be made, by the generosity of the Allied Powers, for the payment of the interest on the Greek loans contracted in this country. In the absence of all authentic information upon the sub ject, we agree with several of our contemporaries in die opinion that this rumour must be incorrect, inasmuch as it would be a monstrous extravagance on the part of Prince Leopold, or on that of the Greek bondholders—whose interests are chiefly concerned in the accomplishment of his supposed wishes—to expect the Allied Sovereigns to guaran tee to the latter the payment of annuities, for which it is notorious to all the world that they never gave, and the Greek nation never received, any thing like a proportionate value. It does not, however, ap pear to us to be improbable that Prince Leopold may have manifested some reluctance to assume the Government of Greece so long as claims re mained in existence against the new State, by which its character might hereafter be discredited, and its financial or commercial operations might be impeded or embarrassed. To enter upon his dominions clear and unencumbered is an object which does not appear to be unworthy of the attention of his Royal Highness, but an object, on the con trary, by his attention to which he would give per haps the most unequivocal proof he hes yet had the means of giving, of his fitness for the exalted sta tion and the arduous duties he is about to under take. The nominal amount of the Greek debt con tracted in this country falls little short of three millions of pounds sterling. The stipulated rate of i interest is enormously high, and the annual pay ment on account of these loans, if recognised ac cording to the letter of the contracts, would absorb 1 1 a large portion of the revenue which Greece for many years to come can, _upon the most san guine anticipation, be expected to yield. This however, would be no valid plea on which to dis pute the claim of creditors. An honest contract, honestly fulfilled on one side, ought to be so fulfilled likewise on the other, however barren it may have been of beneficial consequences, or how ever burdensome the obligations it enforces. But were the contracts for the Greek loans honest con tracts, or were they honestly fulfilled on the part of the Englishmen who were chiefly and ostensibly concerned, and by whose conduct the inferior race of speculators and Philhellenists, who confided in these leaders and followed their steps, ought in all equity to be concluded? Were any of these pecu niary transactions void by reason of fraud from the beginning, or vitiated in any or in what degree by the subsequent conduct of the parties ? What amount in money or other valuable things did the Greek nation actually receive ? What became of the residue ? Was there any visible collusion be tween the agents of Greece and the leaders of the British loan-mongers ? Were any of the latter pep. mitted to traffic and job iii the bonds created by those loans, not at their own proper risk, but to the certain hazard and the eventual diminution of the fund raised ostensibly for the maintenance of the Greek cause ? Did the leading and prominent' contributors, or those rather who chiefly induced their more simple countrymen to contribute to these loans, usurp and alsuse an authority over their out lay, convert it into a means of corrupt patronage, employ engineers, who were more celebrated for their skill in directing the power of faction than of steam, provide steam-boats, of which the only fault that ever could be discovered was that they would not move upon the Water ? These are questions which touch the very foundation of any claim that can be made on the Greek State by the bondholders. It would be absurd and irrational, no doubt, to expect the Allied Powers to guarantee the interests of the Greek loans ; but Prince Leopold may very fairly and reasonably have been desirous, before be took upon him the Government of Greece, to obtain from the Allied Sovereigns a distinct and authorita tive expression of their opinion as to the relation in which he and his future subjects would stand towards a class of creditors whose claims are weakened by so many grievous flaws, and sub ject. to so many important deductions. Con sidering all the circumstances which took place with reference to these loans to the Greek people—many of them notorious and avowed—a more monstrous proposition could hardly perhaps be advanced than the new Greek Government is bound to recognize the debt at its full nominal amount. To what extent it ought in justice to be acknowledged, is a point which it would be well for all parties to have determined now, at once and for ever, by some competent and unimpeachable au thority. Whether the proportion of the nominal amount which is really due may be best expressed by shillings, or pence, or farthings in the pound, we profess not to decide, although we strongly incline to the opinion that ie lowest denomination of coin will be found its most suitable exponent. Be this, however, as it may, it is prudent and expedient that a definitive estimate should now be framed and pro mulgated to the world. And as there is no just principle of computation by following which the sum justly due can be made to amount to much, it is also perhaps prudent and expedient that it should be liquidated without delay, if it were only for the sake of disuniting the future fortunes of Greece from the speculations of 'Change-alley, and pre venting the mischievous excitement and exaggera tion which will otherwise be sure to attend every fluctuation in her affairs.—Morning Post. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, Arias 19. ROPER V. PHILLIPS. This was an action against Mr. 11. Phillips, the auctioneer, of New Bond -street, to recover damages fcr maliciously suing out a commission of bankrupt against the plaintiff, Major Roper. Mr. F. POLLOCK opened the case. The principal facts stated were these :—The plaintiff, who had been in the army, and retired some years ago on half-pay, became acquainted with the defendant in 1815, and was in the habit for several years of at tending his sales, in New Bond-street. Being the agent for the Margravine of Anspach, the plaintiff introduced to the defendant, from time to time,busi- ness connected with her affairs, and also introduced to him a variety of sales of property belonging to persons with :whom be (the plaintiff) was ac quainted. In this way a great intimacy arose be tween the parties. The plaintiff being in the habit of buying and selling various articles at the de fendant's auction-room, an account was opened be, tsveen them; and, as alleged by the defendant, at the beginning of 1828, there was a considerable balance due from the plaintiff to him. The plaintiff at that time resided with his wife and two daughters, in Manchester -street, Manchester-square, and moved in very respectable society, enjoying the friendship of many person of high condition, In May, 1828, he had the misfortune to be attacked by apoplexy, accompanied by palsy, affecting his right side and his ,peech. Having remained in this state for about a month, his medical men recommended him to go to the sea-side. He accordingly in July left home, ac companied by his two daughters and a Capt. Dance, who had since married one of them, and proceeded to Rochester on his way to Dover, from whence in a day ' or two he embarked for Calais, where he had an aged father and a sister residing. His departure was tin known to the defendant at the time, but in a short time afterwards he learnt that he was gone. Mrs. Roper having been left in London with one or two of their servants, proposed letting the house in Man chester-street furnished ; but the defendant, on being consulted on the subject, recommended that she should take a smaller house and dispose of the fur. rriture. Mrs. Roper did not immediately yield to the suggestion, and the defendant soon afterwards brought in an account between him and the plain tiff, showing a balance to be due from the plaintiff to the amount of between 1,7001. and 1,8001. Mrs. Roper was much surprised at this, not being aware that her husband owed the defendant any thing. Ul timately the furniture was sold, by order of Mrs. Roper, at Mr. Squibb's auction4ooms. i The de fendant, irritated by what had occurred, went down to Calais with his account, and insisted on an ime mediate adjustment ; threatening the plaintiff that if he did not execute a bond and warrant of attorney as u security for the balance which he alleged to be due from him, he would take out a commission of bankrupt against him. The plaintiff having refused proposed, the struck a docket, the defendant, im- I t i o ie s d e i I t t t t i c e i y o n t the i s termsrurr i and caused a commission of bankrupt to b e issu e d, This was in August, 1828 . The plaintiff brought an action against the defendant,for trying the validity et of the ;commission ; that action was tried in this Court, and the Jury being satisfied that the plaintiff had not in any way become amenable to the bank rupt law, found a verdict in his favour, the amount of damages being submitted to arbitration. Since then the commission had been superseded by order of the Lord Chancellor. The present action was brought to recover a compensation in damages from the defendant, for having sued out the commission without reasonable or probable cause. Some doubt being raised as to the plaintiff being entitled to the appellation of " Major," Mr. PQLLOCK asked Mr. Pettigrew whether he had not been received in the very highest circles ac Major Roper, and whether the Duke of Sussex, at whose table he had dined, in company with many distinguished individuals, and by whom he bad been visited at his house in Manchester - street , had not re cognized that title as belonging to him. The witness replied in the affirmative. Mr. BROUGHAM (with whom were Mr. Camp bell and Mr. Barstow) addressed the Jury for the defendant, and proposed to make out in evidence the three points necessary to sustain the commission, viz., a petitioning creditor's debt, a trading, and act of bankruptcy. The act of bankruptcy, he sub mitted, was already proved by the plaintiff's own evidence, it being clear, from the facts stated, that the going to Calais was a co►►trivance fer the pur pose of evading the payment of the defendant's just debt. The Learned Counsel commented at great length ON the evidence. Evidence was then given of the plaintiff's having taken the benefit of the Insolvent Debtors' Act in 1816. In his schedule he was described as a captain on half-pay, in the 4th Regiment of Foot, and he stated that he was possessed of " no estate or ef fects." In 1821 he again applied to be discharged, ❑nder the Insolvent Act. His schedule, on that oc casion, contained debts to the amount of 4,1241.; and be stated that his assets, at the time he was com mitted to prison, amounted to 261., which sum he bad expended towards the maintenance of himself and family, and that he was possessed of only a few articles of wearing apparel, and some spoons, two of which were in pawn. Several of the creditors named in this last schedule were called, to prove that no part of the debts had been paid. Several witnesses were then called to prove a trading, and it was attempted to be made out that the plaintiff had bought and sold cattle with a view to making a profit. Mr. Ball, the defendant's clerk, first knew the plaintiff in 1815. In February in that year the de fendant sold a picture for him. The plaintiff, after that time, constantly attended the sales at the de fendant's rooms in New Bond-street. A catalogue of every sale was regularly sent to him. He both bought and sold at the defendant's rooms. He bought to a very large amount, and he sold a great many articles. The defendant did business for the Margravine, through the agency of the plaintiff. There was a regular account kept with the plaintiff. The Jury, after a few minutes' consideration, found for the plaintiff—Damages, 600/. lIALFORD V. KYMER AND OTHERS. This was an action against the Asylum Life In suratice-office, on a policy of theirs for 5,0001. Mr. F. POLLOCK stated that the plaintiff, Mr. Richard Halford, was the senior partner in the bank ing-house of Halford and Co., of Canterbury. In February, 1826, he effected an insurance on the life of his son, a young man of 18 or 19, in the Asylum office, for 5,0001., the policy being subscribed by the defendants as three of the directors. The in surance was for two years, and the young man died about a month before the expiration of that period. The office had refused to pay, on the ground that the plaintiff had no interest in the life of his son at the time the insurance was effected. Various ques tions had been raised upon the record, but the sole question now for decision was, whether or not the plaintiff had an insurable interest in the life of his son. He should prove that the plaintiff had been at considerable expense in educating his son, and be should contend that, independently of that circum stance, be had an interest in his life, inasmuch as under the statute of Elizabeth, the son was bound to contribute to his support in case he should at any time be incapable of maintaining himself. He should submit also that the statute of the 14th Geo. 111. cap.4B, which enacted, that no insurance should be effected by any person on the life of another unless he had an interest in that life, did not apply to a case like the present ; and that the word ' 6 interest" was not intended to be confined to pecu niary interest. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, admitting the facts as stated by Mr. Pollock, submitted that the plaintiff must be nonsuited. The Act of Parliament, he submitted, meant a legal interest. Lord TENTERDEN—The law required that there should be a pecuniary interest. This case was very different from that of a father insuring his own life for the benefit of his son, or any other member of his family, whom he might leave behind him.. There was no doubt of the legality of such an insurance, and as little doubt of the illegality of an insurance like the present. This was acceded to, and a non suit entered accordingly. SPRING ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. CHESTER, APRIL 16. Edward Brickiln, aged 60, was charged under the 9th Geo. IV., c. 31, s. 13, with administering a noxious herb to Margaret Cartledge, deceased, with intent to procure her miscarriage, she being with child, but not quick with child. _ The ATTORNEY-GENERAL stated that the de ceased was a widow living at Bollington, with four children. Her dwelling was near that of the prisoner. who at times travelled about the country with tapes and other articles. On the 9th of October she was pregnant, and on that day the prisoner bought some herbs in the neighbourhood to cure some seat worms in a child. On the 21st he called on and saw the deceased. On Saturday, the 24th of October, after being quite well in the morning, she became so ill in the afternoon that she sent for the village apothecary, and after getting a little better relapsed, and died on Friday, the 30th of October. On the Sunday before a decoction of a certain shrub had been found in a jug in the house on a high shelf. A bill for murder had been thrown out by the Grand Jury. Mr. Scofield, apothecary, at Bollington—l was called in on Saturday, the 24th October, to Mrs. Cartledge. I found her labouring under stranguary. I used the catheter that night ; I did not ascertain pregnancy at that time. I saw her on the Sunday again ; she then laboured under the same but less distressing symptoms. Before her death I disco vered her pregnancy, vithout her giving me an ac count of it. She had had bearing down pains of the womb besides stranguary. She died on the Friday morning. These sprigs in the jug are a too well-known herb, which will produce abortion. I can't speak experimentally en the subject. It is a drastic medicine, acting powerfully on the womb and urinary organs. Elizabeth Broster lives in Bollington, half a mile from the deceased. On Monday, the 19th October, prisoner asked me for a little of the herb, mentioned, for a,child who had got worms. I gave him as much as I could hold in my hand. He went away with it. The Jury found the prisoner Guilty. Mr. Justice JERVIS sentenced him to six months' imprisonment. SATURDAY, APRIL 17. Samuel Dakin, aged 18, John M`Donnell, aged 20, Joseph Hazledine, aged 17, and James Hollingsworth, aged 17, were on Thursday tried for the rape of Martha Fox, the first as having committed the rape, and the others as having aided and abetted him in such rape. On that indictment the prisoners were acquitted; three other indictments having been found, in which each prisoner was charged with the rape, and the other three as aiding and abetting. The indictment against M'Donnell as principal, and the three others as aiding and abetting, came on to-day . to be tried on nearly similar evidence. Martha 'Fox, the prosecutrix, a slight pretty girl, swore that she was 17 last Christmas. On the 16th of March last, she • met the prisoners, and another boy, named Thomas Phillips, who had absconded, at half-past seven in the evening, on her return from the factory near Macclesfield, where she worked. Mary Boston was with her, and they were going together to her dwelling about some article of dress. She knew all the prisoners before. M'Donnell first pulled her from her companion., Hollingsworth ran after Mary Boston, who escaped into her own house, which was close; but Dakin got prosecutrix away from M`Donnell, and carried her 300 yards up the road, which was rising ground, past several houses, over a stone stile into a field. At the farther end of it, between a wall and a stone quarry, he threw her down, she struggling and screaming as much as she could, and violated her person. Before his purpose was accomplished, the other prisoners jumped over the wall, which was not three yards off, and stood there looking on about a yard off for three minutes before its completion. Without. giving her time to rise, M`Donnell, Hazledine, Hollingsworth, and Thomas Phillips, immediately committed the same act in turn, in spite of her screams and efforts. They then went off through the quarry. When she got home she told her step-mother in part what had happened that night, and the rest the next morning. On cross-examination, she• admitted having had connexion with Dakin twice, and Hazledine once, within three weeks before the event in question. She was also out for one night with Daniel Clarke. She said that Hazeldine was always with her when Dakin was not. She never said to Daniel Clarke, in presence of Dakin's mother, that she should never have said any thing about it, if the wench (Mary Boston) had not gone and told her father. What She (prosecutrix) said was, that her father went mad with her for going with them. She never said she was afraid her father should know. Mrs. Dakin said, " I hear he has been with you before; how is it nothing has been said before ? and why are you going to do this cruel deed now ?" I did not answer that my father said if I did not go next day and get law for them, he would murder me, and I should not live another hour. Hazledine's mother came to her father and mother, at their house, and said in her presence, that she was surprised at her son's being with the other prisoners; but, had it been him alone, she should not be so much surprised. Mary Boston was returning about half-past seven in the evening in question, with the proseentrix to Richmond-hill, where the witness lived. We met the prisoners and Phillips at the bottom; Phillips kissed me, and Hollingsworth ran after, but I e3' caped home. Dakin carried off. Martha in his invo towards the stone pit in Sitnistry's-field. In con* sequence of my brother William's information, I went out just after, and heard a long dismal scresca in the direction he had taken her. John Fox, father to the prosecutrix, said, that after he had met the prisoners ranting and sigging down the brow, he met his daughter; her bonnet was crushed, her shawl torn and bloody, and her mouth and nose covered with blood. I coked where she had been ? she said the lads had taken her, not • saying who. Sarah Fox—When my daughter came home, I asked her why she did not . come straight herue. She said she had been with Mary Boston about her cap. I saw her bonnet 'and cap much crushed and dirty, and her cap-string and shawl very bloody. She said she thought that blood had come up at her mouth with resist►ng Dakin's taking her why. She cried much, and seemed so ill and confused in her mind, that I did not say much to her, and ishe - went to bed. The next morning, before she went to work, at six O'cloCk, she was crying, and told me the four prisoners and Phillips had their will of her. The Jury having retired for half ,an turned a verdict of Guilty against all the prisoners► with a request to the Learned Judge to take their cases into his serious consideration on aecount'of their age. Judgment of death having been recorded, Mr. Justice dimly's •addressed the prisoners, n am ing them severally—" You have been found guilty of rape—a crime, the punishment of which, by the law of England, is very, very seldom mitigated. la your cases, however, the merciful recommendation of the Jury will hare its weight. What your v . ' nishment will be I cannot now say; rest assure d it will be very considerable." The prisoners were then removed in tears, except Hollingsworth, who seemed little affected. This and many other of the criminal ewes afford la mentable proof of the state of morals induced by the mixture of young persons at work in the . .silk and cotton factories. LONDON MARKETS. PRICE OF BREAD. . . The highest price of Bread in the Metropolis is 1034 d, tot .b 0" W 41b. Loaf. There are others who sell from 34d. to I)4d. u' _, that price. PRICE or SEEDS.—Aprd New English Red Clover Seed (per Cwt.) liUs. 64e. fine 'Mk 7 9 Old Ditto One —st.• New Foreign Diti Old Ditto ---- fSOs. 78a. Sne 966.115‘ —v. 504. fine _956 New White Clover. Old Ditto Ditt0...,,.,. New Trefoil ....--, 465. 765. fine 77slIgti• —s. Us. flue 82.. 66'. 128. 30s. fine.34ls. 4114* Old Ditto —e. -1. fine --s „e. Rib Grass - ----------- 10S: 20s: itie 251 3 04 ' English Carraway Seed-----......... L ...........— --s. --s. 524. lined' Foreign Ditto coriander . -•-• —s. 22*. Ake --4.44 t St. Fain..... (per Quarter)..—.... —s. 42e. fine 435. 4°' Rye Grass ....--........2—,..:-...............--......... 20s. 33;. new 35i. 4 : 01 '. Paccy Ditto 4os. 455. new —4 3 . ": Linseed, for feeding —s. 38s. fine --8. 4 2' Ditto, for crushing -- -,it ' : 37 8 6: — l3:e . .- 0 . fl" --Ids: Canary Seed, New Ditto Old _ --s. --s. --s. tine --4 _: White Mustard 5eed........(per 8u5he1)...... —e. 7s. 9s. line -- Brown I)itto —s. 12s. 13s. fins. ---,• Turnip Seeds, Pounds .........—. —s. —s. —a. fine 14a. Green and Red Ditto -.43. --11. —a. - tine PO. Tares, Old Ditto New. 2.55. We. ewe -.41. tine 425.. 46g. Raise Seed, English, fine (per LaAt) —/. Foreign —1: —l. NEW GATE AND LEADENHALL MARKETS At per atone, by the Carcass. I. d. too. d. Beet 2 2 3 6 Veal Glutton 2 6 910 Pork . $ 0 4 Lamb ss. 6d. to 6s. Bd. a. d. tog PRICES OF HOPS.—April I. Kent Pockets 5l 15s. 61. 12s. to 91 ? iti i• Sussex Ditto Si. 104. Cs., to 61. • lissgx Ditto 5l. 15s. 61. es. to IL 108. FarllhaUl Ditto, Floe 0/. Os. Pl. Os. to 111. Os. Seconds 0/. Oe. 71. Os. to 81. $9. 5/. 53. 61. 64. to, .74 Oa. 51. Os. 51. 12d. to .51. 159 . 5/, ss. el. • os: to (31. 68. Kent Bags—.,, Essex Ditto,. StUBVX Ditto PRICE OF POTATOES.—ApriI 19. Kidneys 41. 15s. to 51:• Oa. per tort• Scotch Reds . 15s. to 54 Os. ditto. Oxnobles and Shaws 31. ss: to 31. 10s. ditto. PRICE OP.OIL. Rape Oil, brown lis. Refined- 4 ,,,„,; £42 6 Linseed Oil - y 2 0 Linseed Oil Cake at the Mill, per thousand 10 Rape Cake, per ton ........••••••••••~«.••••••••swowftw orrowwwww . 415 PRICES OF Per lb, d. to d. to 561 b.... 16-j 19 to 661 b... 21 22 Dresuing 14 16 Fine Coach IlideB 17 19 Crop Hides, 35 to 401 b. 14 15 to 501 b. 141 17i Ditto . 18 19 LEATHER.. Per lb. d. to d. Tanned Horse Hides,. 16 19 Spanish Ditto 21 25 Per dozen. Calf Skins... 36 to 41lb. 14 IS Ditto 50 to 701 b. 21 lel Ditto 70 to IRIb. IS 2 : i Small Seals, Greenland 20 lig WIIITFICHAYEL HAY MARKET.—ApriI 17. .„ 11.4 y SN. 01 Nto 9. Od. Clover OS, to 1108. Vu• 455. 041. to 521. Ocl. RAW HIDES. Per Stone. s.d. to s. d. Per Stone. 1, &to 11. ol Best Heifers & Steers 2 10 3 0 Ordinary 1, 8 4 41 Middlings., 9 4 2 8 Market Calf.-- 6 0 each. SHEEP SKINS. Polled 34. 41. to 54. o.t. Shearling4....,—.... Os, W. to Os. 2 0 3 0 `Lambe. ; ,.,.,.,,,.,...,,, I S 1 COAL MARK Adair's •••••••••000....w. 99a. Ed. Beaumont 2B 6 Bishop's 26 6 Charlotte East Percy 27 Felling 27 0 Heblsurn Main 31 6 Holywell 3O 0 Killineworth 32 0 Liddell's 27 0 Ord's Redhugh 26 6 Pelaw .30 0 Pontop 27 0 Shipcote '2B 6 'Canfield Tanfield Lea . 28 3 Townley 2B 3 Willington Wharncliffe—....—... 26 6 Walls End Bell and Co. 33 0 Ditto Bell Robson & Co. 32 3 Ditto liewicke and C 0... 31 0 Ditto 29 0 D W it a s t l o i l l i ß ; E i t n i a rr d t a ß ni t r o o a n w o, ---... n e ' t s : s6x 3 3lo 6 sh Ditto Brown's unscr...... 30 6 Ditto Clarke and C 0... 30 6 Ditto Cramlington.....— 27 0 19. Walls k.nd Newmarch— 335. pi' Ditto Gosfbrth 34, '0 Ditto 31 - 6 Ditto Hilda Ditto Hotspur 32 0 Ditto Northumberland 31 6 Ditto Peareth 2y 0 Ditto Perkins and Co.—, SI b Ditto 33 6 Ditto Russell's . Ditto Walker._ , 33 6 Walls End Hetton 35 Walls End Lambton..... 35 8 Walls End Stewart'e 35 0 Walls End Stobarts— 29 0 Russell's Hetton's W.E. 35 0 Cannel (per 40 0 23 0 Hartley 29 0 PembertonLlangennech 34 ° Stone Coal Drim . 40 Milford Coal 48 0 Walls End Selby 28 Cramlington Trader—. Ed 0 Beamish S. Moor small 18 6 Old Etherley small .... . 18 0 Wall's End small 18 ti Woodside ...... 0 ipa sold, sN—Unsold. 30* BIRTHS. On the 19th inst. at Richmond, the Lady Jane Lag' renee Peel, of a 800. . On the 18th inst. at Mei ton College, the Lady C a rroi" ehael Anstruther, of a daughter. On the 18th inst. in Upper Portland-place, the 101 Y of G. A. Young, Eeq. of a son. On the 14th December, at Bombay, the lady of th e Hon. Sir W. Seymour, of a son and heir. On the 19th inst. in Serjeant'e-inn, Fleet-street, th e lady of T. B. Bishop, Esq., of a son. On the 18th inst, the lady of T. Wing, Esq. of Thor" uey Abbey, Cambridgeshire, of a daughter. MARRIED. On the 19th inst. at St. George's, Hanover-square, 1 1 the Rev. Frederick Baring, Lord Henry Thynne, sewn, son of the Marquis of Bath, t o H arr i e t, d aug hter 0 ' Alexander Baring, Esq., M.P., of the Grange, in O . county of Hants. Ou the 17th inst. at All Souls, Marylebone, Mr. C' Kirkman, of Mortimer-street, Cavendish-square, to Jae , daughter of the late J. Barnsley, Esq. of Twickenhath. On the 17th inst. Major G. A. Rigby, of the ,Hoff' East India Company's Service, to Emily Ann, daughte r of Mr. G. Andrews, adio.square. On the 17tk inst. at High O ngar , V. S. L ew i s , gsq" o f Sussex-place, Regent's, -park, to Charlotte Anne, th se cond daughter of the l a t e D r . Ed r id ge , R ec t or o f Ship" - ham, Norfolk. Ou the 15th inst. at Perth N.R., F. 11. Ritnisbetban i ; of New Broad-st reet , L on d on, to Mary, el4tg of Perth. • daughter of H. Lindsay, Esq., On the 1 8 th inst. Silyester L ow d e n, Esq . . DIED, Of Lowe Marsh, Edmonton, aged 86. On the 18th inst. at B a r ne t, J ohn Catt l ey , E sq . in tlie 71st year of his age. On the 19th inst. Mr. P. London, aged 83, of NicholAr lane, Lombard-street. Co the 17th inst. the Rev. J. Vachell, Vicar of Little' port, in the 131 e of Ely, aged 65. On the ISth hint. Frederick William, youngest sou of Mr. R. G. Smith, of Lambeth-road. On the 16th inst. at Oxford, John Rusher Eaton, Esq.'? aged 46. On the 1:3;11 inst. Frederic, youngest can of W. GOP Esq. of Southgate-grove. Prati.abm AbiD PUISLISHXD BY MURDO YOUNG, b . Um Sew 0 kg, 11/204241 1 4 tgi ( VI( T as Tuna neire Tem fallowing tualling OnoThott to weigt Five Th oL Rive The TROW One Hun DUCK, Tett Thou One Thou One Thou Ten Thou Five Hi &WK . ! rirnirun, THOW One Thou re n COATS .wo Thu t DR AVV One Thou %nip!, tendering above-me ditione of Each 1 .14:th, a aPilciubei Game Pe for TH E Sailers, or been I Indigent Parnehia The F spoctfull) VERSA bo held a TIJESDAI Hi. lIS H. R. H. Te Righ Sir John Najor-Ge Grant, Robert Eh • David Rai Gilbert St Robert Dc George D Arthur D Di, Ticket Secretary the Tarei AP PI SURE I or in MA The Adv Press an; Addy* TH I J Religion, tare at t 1 City 0 ..._ Freem fields. King's Tli3tel Mean And A . N By TH In Of PORE WAT WAT; CON( INCL CONE NEW 'V In a - up / , I The E Henry for-stree T FAMII Henry ton-stree Just rea H By Publi Henry Win -stree I " GI WARM Shies, FI FEND') DISHE URNS, PATEN • and Cali The STOVE new line sive and kinAdom dawn tit liaraent. TLe ( price att FISH R 1 si eminence for s ome ( t P a PY Proper a r.eet it w a id bow• the biliai relief t o , !tit*, gid The graced is at N o. 4 IZO,' o j Ottitlirt • FF E Di/ dram of tions of a Darin Met w i t h terfe •ffered r, The 0 , panio e he nab] stamp of Sold 1 yard; .1 aired ; Tottenbi rapectit) sir .4 i L