The Sun. — London, England, 1830-06-07 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. We have inserted a letter on certain facts and modes of action; exhibited by the gentry of Ireland, which appears to deserve consideration. It is true, undoubtedly, that the population of Ireland, taken man for man with that' of England, cannot af ford to pay the same proportion of taxes. If, therefore, it were to become a question whether a poll-tax should be imposed in both islands, and to what extent, most reasonable persons would allow that the pressure ought to be far lighter across the Channel than with us. Nor are we disposed to say that in all cases the Exchequer should bear with the same weight on articles of consumption in the two countries, judging merely by fiscal rules; and still more ought we to discriminate between them if one great political want of Ireland be regarded,—we mean that of gentlemen resident on their property. If the same imposts be laid on articles of luxury consumed in Ireland and here, it is pretty obvious that the choice of habitation will be determined in favour of that country which offers, cateris paribus, the greatest number of comforts and enjoyments, that which is the most civilized, the most intelligent, the most abounding in all that contributes to sooth in dolence or to furnish excitement ; and to serve most largely the demands of pleasure, or ambition, or fas tidious mediocrity, in whatever form. The Irish gentry must be bribed into the discharge of their most obvious duties; we may say further, into the guardianship of their own most serious interests— the moral education of their tenantry, and the scien tific improvement of their estates. Unfortunately, they are well aware that the Government attaches too high a value to the mere condition of residence in Ireland not to purchase it from the landed gentle nun at any price, and they are more willing to ac cept the bribe than to perform the condition. We find accordingly, that house and window-tax, with all the others which come under the denomination of assessed taxes, and constitute so large a portion of the yearly expence of the upper and middle classes in Great Britain, have been abolished in Ireland ; so that me►► of comparatively trifling fortune can keep great establishments, and enjoy many descriptions of luxury unmolested, which, in England, are denied by the tax-gatherer to individuals of nominally far more extensive means. Yet this does not suffice. In Scotland, parts of which are more remote from London than any Irish county, there is no want of resident proprietors, great or small, and they keep up the proper relation between gentry and peasantry. The Irish proprietors, with all their exemptions and privileges, reside in very scanty numbers; and of those who are resident, the absence would too often be acknowledged by their inferiors as a boon. Still, whenever the slight addition to the scale or denomination of Irish imposts is known to be contemplated, no matter how trifling in comparison with the burdens borne by the remaining portions of the United Kingdom, the gentlemen of Ireland band themselves to gether, protest their inability to bear another shilling of taxation, make a common enemy of the Government, which had hitherto been their shield against the ancient common enemy, the people,—and expect that the aristocracy of Ireland is to have a per petual release from the lot of all political communi ties,—that of paying for protection from the state. Why, if our correspondent's letter be conselted, it will be found that the defence of these Irish gentry from those who ought to be their natural and only defenders, viz., their own poorer neighbours, is to be achieved no otherwise than by military force,—a shameful reflection upon the spirit in which they have acted habitually towards the poor of Ireland, and an equally frightful illustration of the spirit which they have engendered in return. If, however, one Irish county requires more protection from the state than half the realm of Great Britain, it is too much for those who have reduced their country to a situ ation so deplorable to get up round-robins against every measure which goes to reduce the disproportion between English and Irish imposts. The tax on the press we are sorry for, because we doubt whether it will produce an additional shilling to the revenue, and because even the semblance of an hos tility to the expression of public opinion ought always, if possible, to be avoided. Of many, in deed, of the Irish newspapers, it may be said that their readers are heavily enough taxed already ; and to those readers, at least, the new impost may operate as a relief; but if the gentlemen of Ireland are to be brought to their senses, it must be by a strong and unshrinking policy. The state has a right to some more effective support than arty which it now derives from landed property in Ireland ; and the property of England, as well as Irish poverty, have claims upon the land of the sister country which have not yet been discharged. We believe that a property-tax on Ireland would be an effectual and salutary method of sending her gentlemen back from their travels; and we are sure that some scheme for supporting the poor of Ireland who are industriously disposed, out of the produce of the soil, would mitigate at once the sufferings of both con tri es.— Times. The discussion on the third reading of the For gery Bill is expected to take place to-night in the House of Commons. It will then be decided whether this portion of penal law, like the great mass of our criminal code, is to remain for some time longer the reproach and scandal of the country and of the age, or whether it is to come forth from the Legislature purified from barbarism, and ren dered conformable to the principles of enlightened jus tice. To those who look on such reform as an inno vation upon our ancient laws we say, antiquity may render good principles the more venerable,but ought not to consecrate the errors of Legislators and the abuses of power. Yet the argument of antiquity does not avail this branch of our criminal code. Every statute by which death is inflicted for that species of circum vention known by the name of forgery is compara tively of recent date. The common or ancient law of England punished the offence by fine or imprison ment ; and by those penalties or some other mode of punishment short of death, we maintain that every invasion of the right of property in which human life is not attempted ought to be restrained and punished. Forgery is a species of fraud-- higher in degree, but identified in principles, with what is vulgarly called swindling—an offence more frequently successful from the culpable negligence and folly of the persons defrauded than the dis honest ingenuity of the culprit ; for, in roost in stances, the exercise of ordinary caution would baffle the contrivances of those Ishmaelites of civilized life who prey upon the easy credulity of mankind. No statute has ever been enacted to punish swindling with death, and, if there had, should we have fewer swindlers? No, the very severity of the law would, as in the case of for g ery, counteract its own object. In most instances those who were defrauded would rather quietly put up with the loss than make them selves instrumental to the destruction of human life. Some persons would, no doubt, have less compunc tion in availing themselves of the exterminating se verity of the law, and thus occasionally a swindler would terminate his career on the scaffold, while the great majority of equally criminal depredators would enjoy a perfect impunity. Is there any person, at present, who feels any remorse at prosecuting a swindler, knowing, as he does, that life is not at stake, but that the law must be satis fied with the imprisonment or transportation of the convicted delinquent? We venture to say there is not one. Can the same be said of forgery ? There it is the very reverse. In the great proportion of forgeries there is no prosecution. Most of those who suffer a loss of property in this way do not like to inflict on themselves the greater suffering which springs from the consciousness of shedding, without adequate cause, the blood of it fellow-creature. Does any body pity the fate of a convicted swindler ?—No. It is known that he will suffer no more than his offences deserve. But never does a forger depart from the dock, to prepare for death, without the recollection of his crime bein g merged in the universal sympathy of the public. Never will it be reconciled to the feelings of the people of a civilised country that fraud and murder should be visited with equal punishment. The re formation of our criminal law has long been the ob ject of the enlightened solic'tude of the greatest and best of our Lawyers, our Jurists, and Legis lators. In this field, where so rich a harvest of moral glory is to be reaped, such men as Romilly and Mackintosh laboured in vain ; not, indeed, for their own reputation—the laurels of humanity, unlike those of war, have a charm independent of the lustre of success—but they laboured in vain as to any immediate prac tical purpose which genius and public virtue ought to achieve. Sir Robert Peel came forward as a re former of the law under different circumstances.— With moderate abilities—with limited views—with an intellect rather artificially trained than richly en dowed, added to a love of fame more personal than generous, this gentleman, in possession of a high office and great political power, appeared in the cha racter of a legal reformer. He had no up-hill work to undertake—no adverse majorities to struggle against—no venal resistance, intrenched- behind the barriers of office, to overcome. The announcement of his design was hailed by the acclamations of those to whom the opinion of a Minister is the fiat of in fallibility, and who had uniformly opposed every plan of improvement not recommended by the per suasive logic of official authority. He was cheered in every step of his progress. The amended law came forth—it was praised by his flatterers in Par liament and the Press, and, between interested praise and ignorant admiration, obtained for him a considerable share of popularity. A journal devoted to the present Ministry, and whose habit it is rather to dogmatize than to reason, de clared, not long ago, that when Mr. Peel's Forgery Bill should be added to his other productions of reformed criminal law, we should, without the pretension of a code, have a better digested criminal code than existed in any other country: We thought it necessary that the public should be undeceived, not from any hostility to Mr. Peel, but from a regard to the best interests of society. We saw that the public, because they were continually told so, acqu►esced in the notion that the criminal law was thoroughly reformed. We felt that this im pression, founded in misrepresentation and perpetu ated by ignorance, was calculated to do great mis chief, and to substitute the shadow of reform for the substance of improvement. We, therefore, took the trouble of showing loth what Mr. Peel had done, and what he had left undone. We showed that he, or those who were the pioneers of his re putation, had only performed the mechanical work of consolidating a number of statutes into a few— cutting off a portion, and but a portion, of the bar barous technicalities prejudicial to justice, and to some extent relieving the law from a redundancy of its peculiar verbiage. As to what constituted the spirit and the life of improvement we shewed that the law remained untouched; we declared it to be vindictive to a degree of which no other country afforded an example, and that Mr. Peel, with all the credit he had obtained for its sup posed amendment, had allowed it to go out of his heads more barbarous in its spirit and character than any other in the civilized world. It was not long after this that Mr. Peel, with singular candour ' or strange inadvertence, admitted, in his place in the House of Commons, that the criminal law of Eng land was " more sanguinary than that of any other country in Europe?' We cannot give him the credit of equal frankness in another respect. He stated, on introducing his Forgery Bill, that, in repealing the punishment of death in those cases in which it was never carried into execution, lie went as far as lie thought public opinion would at present allow him, and he pretty plainly intimated that if public opinion would manifest itself in favour of further al terations he would abandon the present. We pre tend not to quote his words, but we well recollect this was the substance of his declaration. How has his pledge been redeemed ? We are not astonished at instances of political trickery in the present day. We are not, therefore, surprised at the conduct of Sir Robert Peel, who still persists in forcing this Bill, with all its sanguinary provisions relative to negotiable securities for money, &c., on the Legisla ture, although public opinion has declared itself against ►t in the most unequivocal terms, and the tables of Parliament have been loaded with petitions, praying that it may not pass into a law. Nay more ; on the discussion in the Committee, on the clause for the abolition of the penalty of death, moved by Sir James Mackintosh, in conformity with the prayer of those petitions, the Right Hon. Secretary exercised all the influence, not merely of his arguments, but of his office, to negative the proposition I So far was lie from allowing public opinion to hold the scales by which the merits of this question was to be weighed, that, like a political measure, on which the very ex istence of the Ministry depended, it was made a Government question. The retainers of the Trea sury were required to be in attendance, and the au thority of office was opposed to the disinterested ar guments of reason, and the almost universal ex pression of the public sentiment. With all these efforts to ensure the defeat of a sound and rational principle of justice, without which Sir Robert Peel's plan of reform was but a mockery of improvement, the majority for Ministers amounted only to sixteen. Only the number of Representatives that eight Government boroughs could furnish to uphold the barbarous system which triumphant reason would others% ise have swept away for ever I Such is a specimen of the honest tactics of the enlightened policy of the Secretary for the Home Department, whom his flatterers so very lately dignified with the honourable misnomer of the English Justinian. The honours of such a fame are reserved to flourish on more capacious brows. We see nothing in these pro ceedings of Sir Robert Peel of the generous cha racteristics of a great, and noble, and disinterested ambition—the ambition of being distinguished for making the opportunities which the possession of power affords conducive to the triumphs of wisdom and humanity. The Home Secretary has never ventured to defend the law of forgery on principle, his arguments were all founded in that favourite plea of N% eak and narrow-minded statesmen—expe diency. His best argument drawn from that source is now removed. If we believe that the great majority of that considerate and calculating class of mankind know their own interests, it is no longer expedient that the crime of forgery should be pu nished with death. Setting every consideration drawn from reason, humanity, arid religion aside, their petitions to the Legislature prove that expe rience has convinced them of the inefficacy of the law which was said to be especially meant for their protection. We ask Sir Robert Peel whether he can reconcile it to his conscience or his feelings to per petuate the revolting scenes of human sacrifice which it was once thought the idol Mammon imperatively required, ashen he is informed, on the best possible evidence, that the oblations of blood are not ac ceptable. Let him, when l►e strives for victory on a question in which human life is at stake, only re flect for an instant on the ensanguined laurels which a triumph in such a cause can produce. Let him figure to himself the apparatus of death ; the dread ful solemnities which precede the judicial extermi nation of a fellow-creature, and the pale criminal brought forth to meet his fate amid the deep mur murs of the spectators—the object of the com miseration and sympathy of the multitude ! Let him then think of the mourning widow, and the children made fatherless—no place, no opportunity, left to him who has injured .his fellow-creature by written fraud for repentance, amendment, or re stitution Let him reflect on how many have fallen in this way, without any advantage accruing to so ciety from the sanguinary spectacles resulting from a law which violates reason, and, in defiance of Christian sentiment and judicial morality, inflicts upon the fraudulent imitator of a promissory-note the death of the murderer ! Let him also imagine to himself the numbers that may yet perish in this way should his Bill, at present before Par liament, pass into a law. Let hint think on the doom of those future victims to an unjust law; a law which is " part and parcel" of what he has himself called the " most sanguinary code in Europe." Let him think of these victims, we say, whom his law may exterminate in his life-time, and when his ashes are reposing in the grave; and if he ever again makes this a Government ques tion, let him ask his heart if he is prepared to say " their blood be upon me and my children " We now leave this subject. We have enforced the sen timents for which we now contend in times and seasons when the prospect of success was more remote than it appears to be at present. We have abided by them through evil report and through good report. We have had the sa tisfaction of seeing the impulse given to pub lic opinion, which will yet clear away every ob stacle opposed to the establishment of an enlight ened system of justice; and, in retiring from this respo‘nsible situation, as we do this day, we quit a post from which the influence of opinion is carried to the utmost limits of the empire, with the confi dent anticipation of the eventual triumph of the principles which we invariably advocated, having had no object but what was identified with the public cause, and conducive to the interests of morality and civilization.—Morning Herald. When the late Lord Londonderry was obliged to set off, with all imaginable speed, to the Congress atVerona, to repair the alleged blunders of the then diplomatic agent of Great Britain, it was generally understood that the latter would not again be called upon to exercise his apparently very mediocre ta lents in the public service. Events, however, have falsified this expectation, and the Duke of Welling ton is contented, or, perhaps, for want of a better, constrained, to call to the office of Foreign Affairs the very personage whom his predecessors had tacitly consigned to oblivion. Indeed it seems to be either the policy or the misfortune of his Grace to have nearly every office in his Government filled by men of the most moderate calibre; and, were the talents of the British nation to be judged of by those of most of the men who for the last two years have held high political appointments, our boasted " march of intellect" must be deemed to have made a retrograde movement from the neighbourhood of Downing-street and Whitehall. But in no de partment of the public service has such mani fest incapacity been displayed as in that of our foreign affairs, which (if such topics can be matter of ridicule) place the Government, and, with it, the country, in a situation alike ludicrous and mortifying. We need scarcely again advert to the state of our relations with Portugal and Greece in proof of this. Those who would wish to see those two topics handled in a concise and mas terly way, have only to refer to the present number of " Blackwood's Magazine," where, under the head of an article entitled " The Silent Member," they will find the whole of our foreign policy, but especially as it regards the two countries in question, treated of in a way which we leave the Duke of Wellington and the President of the Society of Anti quaries to digest. At the same time it is impossible to conceal the mortification which such a state of things must produce in the mind of every man who has the honour of his country at heart, tend who carries within him the proud, and, happily, yet un extinguished, recollections of her former greatness. At the same time it is amusing to see our volatile neighbours, the French, imputing to the Duke of Wellington's foreign department the honour of con trolling the acts of their Government as well as our own. Mercy on us ! Why the fly on the coach wheel might as well boast of the dust it made, as Lord Aberdeen lay claim to swaying or, in the re motest degree, influencing the destinies of France. No, to influence foreign nations, a Government must possess respect at home ; and what respect our present foreign department possesses in the eyes of Englishmen, we may learn in every circle not under the degrading influence of the slaves and sycophants of power.—Morning Herald. Sir James Scarlett, on Friday night, did not, certainly, appear to any great advantage, when put on his defence by Mr. R. Gordon. His inability to defend himself (for all that he said was foreign to the question) did not excite the sympathy of any members capable of atoning for his deficiency. We confess we were delighted to see the Attorney- General left in this state of abandonment, amidst the attacks of men of all parties and principles. It is proper that he who sins against the age so sig nally, should be signally chastised, that his example may not be lost on the world.—Morning Chronicle. A good deal of anxiety is manifested with regard to the sort of defence which Lord Aberdeen will set up for crippling Greece. To the English alone belongs the disgrace of this pitiful proceeding; for even a Polignac Administration, dependent on the Duke of Wellington for its existence, would not, without considerable reluctance, lend itself to what is calculated to produce such an untoward impres sion on a gallant people like the French. We long to hear the pupil of Metternich on the nice points connected with this piece of diplomacy. There does not seem to be any particular eagerness for the sovereignty of Greece, though it has been some time hawked about. There is no lack of cadets of princely houses; but they must have their misgiv ings as to the duration of their reign. Even a man of the right kingly ore may well be allowed to fight shy of the honour intended for him, when it is to he purchased at the expence of having as many enemies as subjects. After all, however, it is pos sible that sonic man with a noble indifference to the affections of the Greeks, may consent to become the instrument for punishing them under the name of their Sovereign. In such a case, however, it would be well for him to have his residence on the waters of Greece, where he might be protected by the guns of an English man-of-war.---elforn. Citron. We have more than once alluded to the attempt of the Governors of the Free Grammar School of Birmingham to smuggle a Bill through Parliament, containing several most objectionable clauses. We had understood that there was at length a probabi lity of a compromise between the Governors and the principal inhabitants, and that the Bill in an altered shape would be allowed to proceed ; but we perceive by the proceedings of a public meeting at Birmingham, on Wednesday last, reported in the Birmingham Journal of Saturday last (the resolu tions passed at which will be found among our adver tisements), that this result is not likely to take place. The inhabitants wish that time should be allowed for the full and mature consideration of all the clauses of the Bill, and think that it is expedient the Bill should be withdrawn for the present Session. We are glad to see that all parties at the meeting seemed to be agreed that the funds at the disposal of the Governors should be applied in providing for the inhabitants a liberal and comprehensive education.— We trust that with these sentiments, in the course of the interval between this and another Session, the Governors and people of Birmingham will be able to come to a good understanding. The Governors have experienced that they cannot succeed in their narrow Sectarian policy of excluding all but Church of England men from the management. As no party can hope to exclude others, it is to be hoped that all will agree in what all have an interest in— the communicating to the School the improvements necessary to adapt it to the wants of the present ddy.—Morning Chronicle. Some very judicious and well-timed observations fell from the Earl of Darnley and Lord Wharncliffe on Friday night, in the House of Lords, on the pre sent state of Parliamentary business. The fact is undeniable that, at the present moment, there are several Bills of very great public importance, in pro gress through the House of Commons, which, from the advanced period of the Session, cannot this year become laws, unless the Upper House of Parlia ment should so far relinquish its privilege and abandon its duty as to pass them without that cau tions inquiry and independent deliberation which its character and proper constitutional function require, and the nature of many of the measures yet to be submitted for its concurrence unquestionably demand. There are obviously only two ways of accounting for this state of things. The one is that which supposes the quantity of labour thrown upon the House of Commons to have been too great—the other that which imputes to the House of Commons, as at present constituted, some deficiency of dili gence, energy, or skill in the discharge of its neces sary and ordinary duties. To the first of these causes Of embarrassment and obstruction Lord Wharncliffe has suggested what at first sight ap pears to be a very unobjectionable and effectual counteraction. The initiative of all measures which directly or indirectly take money out of the pockets of the people, whether with a view to replenish the Exchequer, to effect local improvethents, to inflict punishment upon offenders, or with whatever other view, is held to be the peculiar and exclusive privilege of the House of Commons. Hence it follows of necessity that almost all legislative measures are first introduced and discussed in that Assembly, and by this means any thing like a division of legislative labour between the two Houses of Parliament rendered impossible. All the tedious and elaborate, and too often frivolous discussions which arise out of a subject yet imperfectly understood, fall to the lot of the House of Commons, while the short and easy task of the Upper House of Parliament is merely to confirm or reject the determination of the Lower after the question at issue has already been abundantly discussed—after it has been disencum bered of all extraneous arid irrelevant matter—after the errors and prejudices which perplexed and obscured it have been in a great degree cleared away. The mode which Lord Wharncliffe suggests for the relief of the House of Commons from the excessive and overwhelming load of business, is, that it should enable the House of Lords to take a larger share of it, by surrendering so much of its exclusive privilege with respect to Bills containing money clauses as is not founded upon constitutional principle or reason. To take the lead in determining the amount of supply to be granted to the Crown, and the manner in which it shall be raised and appro priated, is the constitutional privilege of the House of Commons, which no friend of the country would wish it to abandon or compromise ; but it seems difficult to connect this privilege with the exclusive right of fixing, in the first instance, the manner in which money shall be provided for a new road or bridge, or the amount of fine which shall be paid for killing a hare, or breaking through a fence. The backward state of the business of the Session is not, however, we apprehend, to be ascribed altogether to the mul tiplicity of subjects which have been brought before the House of Commons. It arises quite as much from the manner in which they have been treated, and the habit which has sensibly gained ground, of indulging in desultory discussions, without any de finite Parliamentary object. We long ago pointed out the necessary consequences of this habit, and it cannot be denied that the state of business at the present moment more than justifies our anticipa tions. The remedy for the evil is only to be sought, where we believe it is sure to be found, in the good sense of the country. Those Members of Parlia ment who are anxious for popularity must be taught that to interrupt and retard the useful and necessary labours of the Legislature, upon frivolous grounds or pretences, is not the way to acquire or retain it. The progress and results of the present Session of Parliament will, we believe, show the people of England how much it is their interest to inculcate a lesson which they alone can inculcate effectually. —Morning Post. We have hitherto refrained from making any ob servations on the late, or rather the extremely early hour, at which the business of the House of Commons has been concluded, in the hope that the Hon. Members themselves would see the mischief which must result from the practice, and put an end to it, as equally injurious to themselves, and to the important. interests committed to their trust; but, instead of having recourse to the ancient prac tice of the House, the departure from it has become greater and greater every day, and instead of de , bates being uniformly closed soon after twelve at night, the House has lately proceeded to open up fresh subjects, and these of the greatest importance, and to debate them at as great length as if they had been brought under discussion several hours previously I Now there are three great evils resulting from this prac tice, which we think must strike every one who pays the slightest attention to the subject as justify ing, or rather calling loudly for, its immediate discontinuance—first, the incapability of the Mem bers at two, three, four, or five o'clock in the morn ing, to legislate wisely on any given subject, in con sequence of the fatigue arid weariness consequent on the previous discussions of the evening—secondly, the chance of measures being passed against the will and conviction of a majority of the Members, owing to numbers having left at earlier and more proper hours—and, thirdly, the almost total suppres sion of the debates which take place at such late hours, owing to the utter impossibility, on the part of the Morning Papers, to give even a twentieth part of the discussions which take place, and the conse quent ignorance, on the part of the public,of the side taken, and the opinions expressed, by its represen tatives. We do not throw our own grievances, and those who labour with us, into the scale, though they are neither few or small; but we can not help denouncing, on the part of the public, a system so prejudicial, in every respect, to its inte rests, and so calculated both to defeat and to pro mote measures, which, if discussed at an earlier hour, would share a very different fate. In illustra tion of these observations we beg to point the at tention of our readers to the debates which have taken place on the Beer Bill—a measure which, if it pass, will strip thousands of their property, and consign many respectable arid industrious indivi duals to poverty and want. These debates have, with one exception, been brought on after eleven at night, and sometimes after one o'clock in the morning, arid been continued until half -past three and half-past four o'clock in the morning; and the consequence has been not only an almost total sup pression of an important debate, but that many Members who wished to oppose the Bill have left the House in consequence of an expectation that it would not be brought under discussion. Now, we protest against this conduct as most unfair, both . to the public and to the Licensed Victual lers ; and we do call upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer to give the measure at least a fair chance of discussion. If a serious nuisance is to be in. flicted on the public, let it know at least the nature and the extent of it; and if a great injury is to be done to the Licensed Victualler, let him, at all events, have a fair and impartial hearing—let him be put upon his trial, arid let his defence at least be recorded. We know that the feeling of almost every class in the community is decidedly opposed to the wholesale ruin which the present Bill is cal culated to inflict, and we are confident that if a fair discussion be allow e d t o ta k e p l ace , t h e Chancel lor's project, if not wholly defeated, will at least be so modified as to render it less destructive to the Licensed Victualler, and less injurious to the pub iis.—Morning Advertiser. It is not very:decent and becoming, but it is never theless very true, that a potent Opposition is now mustering against the existing Administration, and that great hopes are entertained, in case of a certain event, that a great modification, if not a total change of it will ensue. We will not enter into any discus sion of the probability of such a change, though we know much on the subject ; but we will add, that, excepting the mustering of the Opposition, the fact of a change is by no means certain. Prince Leopold, we understand, has declined connecting himself with the party of the Whig Lords until " future events have cast their shadows before ;" and he is as wise i❑ his resolution as the Whig Lords would have been in even declining his aid, had he been inclined to afford it. His name, under a ny circumstances, can add no weight to any party, ministerialist or opposition.—Morning z.dvertiser. At a recent ordination by the Bishop of BRISTOL, his Lordship, in addressing the newly ordsintd Ministers, drew their particular attention to the impro priety of the Clergy attending balls, and expressed a hope that the Clergy of his diocese would abstain from all such public amusemeots....Bristol Mirror. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, .111 N It: 5. WRIGHT V. HANSARD. Mr. BARNEWELL opened the pleadings. The decla ration was for work and labour, to which the de fendant had pleaded the general issue. Mr. BROUGHAM said that the plaintiff, Mr. John Wright, was probably known to many of the Jury, as he had long been an inhabitant of Westminster. He had been engaged in preparing for publication two well-known works—the " State Trials" and " Hansard's Parliamentary Debates"—particularly the latter. He had been the editor of that voluminous and valuable work for upwards of a quarter of a cen tury. The property had changed hands of late years, and had come into the possession of the defendant, Mr. Thomas Curson Hansard, the son of a gentle man who was well known as the printer to the House of Commons, and he believed to the other House of Parliament. The plaintiff, Mr. Wright, had been employed by the defendant, who succeeded to his father's share in the " Parliamentary Debates," to superintend the publication of that work; and in February, 1820, a contract was entered into, by which the plaintiff undertook to edite and prepare for publication the Debates of both Houses of Par liament for the Session of 1826—a Session of un exampled length and importance, and of course re quiring a proportionate degree of labour on the part of the person who undertook to prepare the work in ques tion for the press. That work was to consist of two volumes, and the plaintiff for superintending them was to receive 2401. in two sums of 1201. each, 1201. being allowed for each volume. The plaintiff, Mr.W., did the work. He carried it through in a most satisfac tory manner, and it was admitted on all hands that for fulness and accuracy the Parliamentary debates had never been equalled. Mr. Wright was peculiarly qualified for the undertaking from his talents, expe rience, and personal knowledge of most of the Mem bers of Parliament, and from the confidence that was generally reposed in him. Many of the Mem bers, it was well known, had personal intercourse with him, and were in the habit of correcting their own speeches before they went to press; and they were, , no doubt, the more anxious to do so from their knowledge of Mr. Wright, and the reputation of the Debates which lie had so long edited. It was very seldom that those who took the most pro minent part in Parliamentary discussion had leisure to revise their own speeches- He (Mr. Brougham) and his Learned Friend (the Attol:iey-General) had not time to do so; but it very often happened, that those who at the time were not considered as the most distinguished shareholders in the debates, bad time to put their speeches in the best possible shape for publication, and there could be no doubt that many of them would go down to posterity in Mr. Hansard's work, as the speeches of persons who had borne a very conspicuous part in Parliamentary dis cussions.—(Laughter.)—Their speeches appeared in this work with greater grammatical accuracy and more fulness, and in short they appeared to be much more excellent and valuable speeches, than those of other Honourable Members who had not the opportunity of revising and correcting what they delivered in Parliament. Mr. Wright when he had completed his work, drew two bills on Mr. Hansard, at three months each, according to the written contract; but Mr. Hansard refused to accept them, or to pay for the work done; and the reason of his refusal was, that, the volumes had not been brought out to the day, according to the precise terms of the contract. The contract certainly con tained a stipulation, that in case the copy was not supplied by Mr. Wright at the appointed time, a deduction of 50s. a day, for each whole day's debate, should be made from his allowance, and that deduc tion was now, it seemed, to be set up as a counter claim against the present demand ; but he (Mr. Brougham) could hardly think that such a defence would be seriously made. The written contract was then put in and read, after which, Lord TENTERDEN suggested that the matter would be better settled out of Court. Mr. BROUGHAM had no objection. Mr. GURNEY said, that Mr. Hansard would yield to his Lordship's suggestion of a reference; but he was anxious that it should not be supposed that he was seeking to take any money out of Mr. Wright's pocket. He felt that he had suffered a very serious loss by Mr. Wright's delays, which had given rise, in some degree, to the prosperity of a rival publication. Lord TENTERDEN thought Mr. Hansard had acted properly, and even liberally, in yielding to his sug gestion; and he hoped that no reporter present would be so inaccurate as to represent that there was any imputation on Mr. Hansard from any thing that had taken place to-day. Mr. BROUGIIASI disclaimed all imputation of im proper motives to Mr. Hansard. Mr. GURNEY—And I do not mean to impute to Mr. Wright that he ever invented any of the speeches.—(Laughter.) Lord TENTERDEN—Oh no. A verdict was then entered for the plaintiff, sub ject to a reference to Mr. Selwyn. Lord TENTERDEN—The work is still going on, I suppose? Mr. BROUGHAM—Yes, my Lord ; but the volume will not be so large this year.—(Laughter.) Lord TENTERDEN—There has been as much said this year : I don't know whether there bus been so much done. COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. LIVERPOOL, JUNE 5.--The demand for • British Plantation Sugar remains very languid, and barely 400 hhds. have been disposed of; nothing done in Mauritius Sugar, and only 110 bags of fine white Bengal sold at 70s. per cwt. Of Molasses, 100 puncheons of St. Vincent, selected, sold at 225., and 140 hhds. of St. Lucia at 18s. 6d. to 19s. 6d. per cwt. About 250 casks of Coffee have been disposed of at some trifling reduction on former rates. The sales of Rum have consisted of 200 puncheons of Demerara, good and strong, at 2s. Bd. to 25. 11d., and common at Is. Bd. to Is. 10d. per gallon. As the new import of Ashes from Canada may be soon expected, the holders are more desirous of meeting the buyers in the market ; 120 brls. of Montreal Pot Ashes sold at 345., and 150 brls. of Pearl at 38s. 6d., and 30 brls. of New York Pearl at 375. 6d. to 38s. per cwt. Dyewoods are steady, and 200 tons of Campeachy Logwood sold at 81. 58., 10 tons of Honduras at 61. 155., and 15 tons of St. Lucia at Si. 10s. per ton. No sales of Fustie. Thirty tons of Lima Nicaragua Wood sold at 211. 10s. per ton. 4,300 salted Buenos Ayres Ox and Cow Hides sold at 41d. to sid. 800 North American ditto at 41d. to and 700 West India ditto at 4-id. for damaged, and at 54d. to 64d. per lb. for good ; 800 Buenos Ayres Horse Hides brought 9s. 6d. each. Olive Oil dull and rather lower. 1,700 bags of Bengal Rice sold at 12s. to 14s. per cwt. '2 0 0 bags of Saltpetre at 235. to 375. 6d. 300 bags of Verona Shumac sold at 9s. 6d., and 30 bags of Sicily at 14s. per cwt. 400 brls. of American Tar sold at 12s. 641., and 50 brls. of Archangel at 14s. 6d. per brl. 1,000 brls. of Turpentine at 1 ls. 3d. to Its. 6d. per cwt. The demand for Cotton this week has generally been rather languid, and the prices are barely supported, al. though the holders of American Cotton have shown much firmness ; Maranbam and Pernambuco Cotton are neatly P. per lb. lower. The sales have consisted of 4,60 U bags of Upland Georgia at 6d. to 7P. ; 1,450 New Orleans at 6111. to 7 d. ; 2,950 Alabama at 6d. to 6P. ; 150 Sea Island at I3d. to 151 d. ; 80 stained Sea Island at 7d. to 9p. ; 1,500 Pernambuco at 70. to 8f d. ; 100 Bahia, at 7111 ; 450 Maranham at 71d. to 7id. ; 570 Egyptian at Sid. to 9d. ; 10 W(st India at 6d. ; and 140 Surat at 44d. to 51-d. ; making together about 12,000 bags. About 1,400 bags of Sea Island Cotton ale declared for auction next Friday. Imported into Liverpool this week, by 1 vessel from Sierra Leone, 2 Demerara, 5 West Indies, 1 Baltic, 4 Mediterranean, 1 La Guayra, 1 Cuba, 2 Brazil, 5 New Orleans, 16 United States :—Cotton, 19,3121 bags; Sugar, 925 casks ; Molasses, 903 ditto; Rum, 228 ditto ; Coffee, 420 bags, 656 casks; Pimento, 16 bags, 27 casks ; Indigo, 495 serons ; Fustic, 269 tons; Cawood, 25 ditto; Gum Senegal, 314 casks; Olive Oil, 690 ditto ; Sumach, 1,621 bags ; Tallow, 622 casks ; Hides, 1,126 ; Turpentine, 880 brls. ; Tobacco, 97 'dub, (ANOTHER ACCOUNT.) Some fresh imports of rough Turpentine having been . eceived, 970 barrels have been taken by the trade at I ls. 3d. to l ls. Gil, for fine quality. A parcel of 430 Beans. Aberdeen Berwick...—. Coldstream Cupar Dundee Inverness.,,_, Kelso ---.. Perth The size 52 70 23 29 40 42 21 22 42 44 20 22 50 70 30 33 ! 55 75 33 50 60 20 25 ' 53 56 26 28 42 47 21 24 60 76 33 38 52 70 19 23 of the measure vari 21 25 17 19124 28 17 20 23 28 22 23 24 27 26 28 32 20 23 19 21 19 23 24 23 18 21 24 27 26 32 30 34 16 2U 28 3 2 ies throughout the o .;ountry. EDINBURGH CORN MARKWI'.--June 2. Our supply of all kinds of Grain was small to-day. Wheat Is. up on the top. Oats a shade higher, sales ready. Beans the same as last day. Barley sales heavy, current prices lower; one parcel brought 365. 6d. Wheat. Barley. Oats. i Pease. Beaus. Od First 73536. 6d 30s Od 40 s Od 40s Od Second 72s Od 35s Od 29s 4d 39s 6 139 s 6d Third • - PRICES OF PROVISIONS, &C. Beef, per lb. Os. 4d. to Os. 6d. Fresh Butter, lb.s. 10,1. to Is. fkl. Mutton 0 4 0 7 Salt 010 0 0 Veal 0 4 0 8 Ditto, per cut. 88 0 0 0 Pork 0 4 0 6 Eggs, per doz. 0 6 0 0 Lamb, per qr. 2 0 3 6 OatStraw(kpl.) 8 6 0 0 Tallow, cwt....a; 0 28 0 Wheat Ditto-,, 9 0 11 0 Quartern Loaf 0 9 010 Barley Ditto 0 0 8 6 Potatoes, 1711 b. 0 5 0 0 Hay, per st.-- 0 6 0 8 L MARKET.—June 1. of Oatmeal at to-day's mar sale at an advance of Is. on Per Stone of 141 b. Imp. First Oatmeal £0 2 2 Second ditto Barleymeal 0 1 10 Peasemeal .-2 , 1. 145.-3,1, 18i.—Peal 1225. MA RKET.—June good American Tar in store, has brought lea. 6d. The fresh imports of Stockholm Tar, may now be shortly es " pected ; they will come to a bare market, as very little of last year's import remains on hand. Rosin 'continuos t ° meet a steady sale. There has been more inquiry for Ashes, notwithstanding which prices have experienced a further decline ;* the sales of Montreal Pot are about 140 barrels at 84, an d 150, barrels Montreal Pearl at 38s. to 38s. 6d. with a fev( at 391. ; abo 28 barrels States'Pearl at 375. 6d..t0 38a. per cwt. Small sales of Philadelphia Quercitron Birk continue to he effected at 14s. per cwt. Rough Brimstone is in good request, and the stock small ; good Sicily brings 5/. per ton. The transactions in Dyewoods have been principallY confined to Logwood ; the sales are 180 tons Campeachy, at 8/. ss. per ton from the quay, and some weathered at 71. 7s. 6d. per ton, with 25 tons Jamaica, at 61. 6e. ten tons Honduras, at 61. 15s. ; and 15 tons St. Lucia, at Si. 10s. per ton. In Fustic nothing done. Nicaragua Wood continues very dull of sale, except Lima, of which 30 tons have been taken at 21/. 10s. per ton. Small sales of Barwood are effected. Sicily and Malaga Shumac are dull of sale at 14s. ; the fresh imports of Verona are more inquired for, and some further sales effected at 9s. 61 to 10s. per cwt.-30 too very fine picked Turkey Valonia brought 17/. 10s. per ton ; ordinary parcels are unsaleable.-29 serons Cochi neal, offered by auction on Monday, sold freely at 9s. to 9s. 4d. for silver, and 9s. 2d. to 9s. 7d. per lb. for black. -Madder Roots continue scarce and wanted. Madders are also in good request.-Five tons good Gum Senegal" have been sold at 801. per ton.-The business in Wig& is trifling.-Safflower is enquired for, particularly the' finer qualities.-The sales of Saltpetre do not exceed .250 bags at 335. to 375. 6d. The public sales: advertised for next week have checked the inquiry. -30 casks new Ame rican red Clover Seed have been sold at 675. 6d. per eg", t ,', -The demand for Olive Oil c o nti n u es very limitediirli'n parcels of Gallipoli are taken at 461. to 461. 10s., Sicily at 481.105. to 44/. and Spanish 44/. t. 44/.los. per tun. In Seed Oils little doing. Another cargo of about 80 tiins new pale Seal Oil has arrived, and the whole sold at 23/.to 241. per tun. In Cod Oil little doing, the price steady. For Palm Oil there is a good demand.-There is a steady.demand for Hides, and any parcels offered met a ready sale at full prices. The transactions this week have been principally in salted, of which 4,000 Buenos Ayres have been sold at 41., and 300 ditto at SP. ; also 760 North American salted at 41d. to 4 d. ; 400 Barbadoes salted at 4P. to sd. ; and 160 St. Lucia ditto, at 6P. per lb. In Horse Hides the only sale is 800 dry Buenos Ayres at 9s. 6d. each.-About 1,700 bags East India Rice have been taken at 12s. to 149. per cwt. Nothing done in Carolina. The business in Hemp continues very trifling.-Tallow more inquired for, and sales of Odessa freely made from the quay at 365. 3d. to 365. 6J. Some parcels of Peter s burgh Yellow Candle have also been taken at these prices. COUNTRY CORN MARKETS. DURING LAST WEEK. Wheat. ; Barley. Oats. Beans. s. to s. 36 -- 50 52 '3B 40 41 42 46 , 4.4 1 . 1 ' 5 - 6 o.ii 5 . 0 56 5V 6 7 2 8.6 00 00 7 3' 7 o 96.126 UI 0 12 0 11 'l2 0 00 00 patmeal. 30 31 33 3; 40 - s. to S. s. to 3. 33 31 3:2 34 73 1_ 56 69 27 34 s. d. s. d. s. tl. E. d. 70 90, 4 8 54 103 10 9' 4 6 56 70 93, 3 6 46 90 94' 5 9 6 2 80 86' 4 4 48 90 10 0, 4 6 50 17 0 20 0 15 6 18 0 16 0 20 0 14 6 17 0 80 90 90 100 90 106 80 90 SCOTCH MARKETS. Wheat. 1 Barley Oats. S. to S. `.15 22 390 23 29 21 25 s.d. s.d. 36 40 39 43 ' 33 40 36 40 24 28 33 401 66 7 61 66 86' 70 88 - 4 8 761 Per Quarter. Catlisle Carmarthen Hex Morpeth Penrith Sheffield . Winchester Per Bushel. Coventry —.— Newcastle (Staff.) Northallerton Stafford . Swansea Warwick Per 8011. Rarnardeastle Durham Richmond Stockton EDINBURGH MEA We had a middling supply ket, which met with a quick the sack. Per Sack of 2801 b. Imp. First Oatmeal £2 2 0 Second ditto 2 0 0 Barleymeal 1 12 0 Peasemeal 1 10 0 Pot Barley—No. I, per cwt. 12s GLASGOW CORN Wheat in fair demand, at rather better prices. Oats have a free sale, at fully the rates of la't week. No al teration in Barley. Beans are more inquired for. Wheat, per 2.401 h. s. d. s. d. Oats, per 2041 b. s. d. s. d I British, old 33 0t035 0 lrish 200t0220 new Canada, free 34 0 Irish Barley, per 3201 b. English 26 0 Scottish 2710 Irish 24 0 31 0 British 22 0 24 0 33 0 Beans, I•er 2601 b. 31 0 'English Scottish 19 0 22 0 28 0 Pease, Scottish 28 6 Oatmeal, per 1401 b lB 0 21 0 26 0 Flour, per 2801 b 5O 0 54 0 CORNWALL MARKETS. Titußo—Wheat (average) 26s.—Barley, 111.0t1.—Oats, 11s. Cd. ST. AUSTELL—Wheat, 9.45. to 265.--Barley, 19.5. to 144.—Oats. 9s. to 10s. Ott. BonatiN—Wheat (average) 255. 6d.—Barley, 13s. Od.—Oath, 12. a. LAuNeesToN—Wheat (average) 19s. Od.—Barley, Os. o,l.—Oats, S. 01.—Beef, 50.—Mutton, sd. HILIATON—Wheat, 255. od.—Barley, 13s. 6d. PENZANCH—Wheat, 21s. to 20s.—Barley, —s. to 13s.—Oats, Os. to 10s. 6d.—Beef and Mutton, 4d. to sd.—Pork, aid. to Od.— Butter, Bd. per lb. _ _ I.l:4lo3ARD—Wheat, 21s. Od. to 248. Od.--Barley,l 4 2s.—Oats. to 10s. 6d. ST. Cotuma—Wheat, 245. to 26s.—Barley, —s. to 14s.—Beef, and Mutton, 4d. to sd.—Veal and Lamb, 4d. to sd. MINING INTELLIGENCE. Tons. Cwt. Quantity of Copper Ore sold at Redruth last Thursday 2,475 0 Average Produce 75 0 Quantity of fine Copper 195 13 Amount of Sale, 13,7991.45. od.—Average Standard 1051. Is. Od. BIRTHS. On the sth inst., Mrs. F. C. Westley, of the Strand, of a daughter. On the sth inst. Mrs. G. A. Aylwin, Lower Thames. street, of a daughter. On the 6th inst. at Bath, the lady of the Rev. John Brownlow, of a son. MARRIED, On the sth inst. at Islington, Mr. W. C. Thughtrey, of Kidderminster, to Miss Eliza A. Cowland, of Canon bury-square. On the sth inst. at St. James's Church, W. Rothery, jun., Esq., of James-street, Buckingham-gate, to Har riett, youngest daughter of R. Hendrie, Esq. of Titch borne-street. On the 3d ;nst. at Tottenham, J. Hat, Esq. of Bawtry, Yorkshire, to Maria, youngest daughter of R. Townend, Esq. of Tottenham. On the sth inst. at St. Pancras, Mr. J. J. Welsh to Elizabeth Kitkley, daughter of the late Capt A. P. Dixon, and niece of Mrs. Lonsdale, of Kentish-town. On the 3d inst. at Sunbury, Edw. Haulage, Eq., to Eliza, eldest daughter of the Rev. /11. Drury. On the I%t inst. at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, Wm. Thotnron, Esq., to Amelia, youngest daughter of the late M. Thackwray, Dig. of Harrowgate. DIED. On the 3d inst. at Walcot, Shropshire, in the 72d year of her age, the Countess of Powis, to the great grief of her family. On the sth inst. in Berkeley-square, Gen. Meyrick. On the 4th inst. at 'Mimi-end, Hayes, Middhser, aged 65, Albertina, relict of Mr. C. Jones, late of that place, and of Jerinyn-street, St. James's. On the 3d inst. Margaret, eldest daughter of the Rev. W. 11. Bewsher, Minister and Proprietor• of Ebury Chapel, St. George's, Hanover-square. On the 2d inst. at Burghtield, near Reading, aged 76, Mrs. Lainson, mother of Messrs. Lainsons, of Bread-street, Cheapside. On the 4th inst. Mrs. Batt, relict of the late T. Batt, E.q. of Dover-street. On the 6th inst. at the residence of George Paterson, Esq. Dorset-square, Elizabeth, the beloved wife of Evan Pugh, Eq. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY MURDO YOUNG, AT. THE SUN OFFICE, 112, STRAND, LONDON.* ./1" / G your Nati' H ton- Co,, raid and; paid Sund: Th for ex count. Court Loi TIOT Fami of thi duals fAQA -his a nxi( inten POE orate front TO nt fortu myse proir inter • self t over to a • aupp liner( mak frail] I cai at H rill) of t terei prin Rau Liri with Prix Late :nal Sei the but