The Sun. — London, England, 1830-03-27 00:00:00

he was acquainted, said, that he never saw in this f are the objects of it, the moral sanction; popular country anything that looked like tea—to him it 1 opinion being a phrase which expresses the praise appeared to be nothing but sloe leaves. He should lor blame which the people bestow ; and the sane be the last in the world to interfere with the home tion being the good or evil consequences which men manufacture—(A laugh)—but he thought that a are accustomed to associate with that praise or blame. duty which led to adulteration and fraud was at "In the present state of education, the praise least a fit subject for inquiry before a Commit- and blame of most men are very erroneously be tee."—lt is certainly not a little singular, that stowed, with great precipitation, commonly in ex though almost every person drinks tea in this cess upon small occasions, with little regard to its country,notwithstanding the great increase in the po- justice; blame being very often inflicted where pulation (and making every allowance for coffee), the applause is due, and applause lavished where blame consumption of tea, which pays duty, that is genuine ought to be bestowed. When education is good, tea, is not greater than it was when the heavy duty no point of morality will be reckoned of more im was imposed many years ago. Ministers sometimes portance than the distribution o'f4raise and blame; declare that a Committee is of great use to them, no act will be considered more.immoral than the by the countenance it gives them when they wish misapplication of them. They are the great instru to baulk the hungry Aristocracy of a meal. But ments we possess for ensuring moral acts on the last night the the Chancellor of the Exchequer stood part of our fellow-creatures; and, when we squan upon his punctilios. "I am anxious (he said) not der away or prostitute those great causes of virtue, to have the House for a moment to entertain a and thereby deprive them of a great part of their doubt that the Government had considered it to be useful tendency, we do what in us lies to lessen its imperative duly to consider this subject, and to the quantity of virtue, and thence of felicity, in the exercise that office which is peculiarly its own, but world." It has always been a miracle to us how which the Hon. Gentleman appears to be desirous to the English people, with the examples constantly impose upon a Committee of the House. I shall present to them of corruption in every shape, are therefore altogether resist his motion, because I be- not worse than they are.—Morning Chronicle. iieve that it must prove inconvenient to the public The Chancellor of the Exchequer, last night, interests to have all those topics to which the Hon. brought forward his plan respecting th e convers i on Gentleman h as a ll u d e d th rown i n t o a C o mmitt ee - ' of the Four per Cent. Annuities. The whole of it and because to call on them to pronounce on a large mass of taxation, must prove injurious to the best has, in reality, appeared in the communication to the Stock Exchange. The saving to b e e ff ecte d b y interests of the country. There is no doubt that Committees of the House in such cases are dis- this measure he calculated would amount to charging the functions of Government; and we are glad to find that the Duke of Wellington finds he has sufficiency of courage to discharge this duty without backing. We trust, however, that Members will hold his Grace and colleagues to their promise, to investigate the various branches of taxation, as we have a sort of suspicion that part of the grounds for opposing the motion was the wish to escape the labour of effecting extensive changes in the revenue system. Ministers had a majority of 167 to 78. The sense of the country is loudly expressed for the reduction of our establishments. The majority of the Duke is not such as to allow him to forget, if he would, the demands of the country. There is no use in disguising the truth, that extensive reduc tions must yet be made.—Morning Chronicle. In the account of the Adjourned Inquest on the body of the late Standish Stainer O'Grady, Esq., in the Dublin Morning Register of Tuesday last, the Rev. William Nicholas Manly gives tile following evidence : " I am a Clergyman of the Established Church ; I am Curate of St. Peter's ; I did not know Standish Stainer O'Grady till I was called to attend him in my professional capacity on Thursday evening; he was then lying in his bed wounded; I had a conversation with Mr. O'Grady touching his death ; on my speaking to him of the nature cf the offence of which he had been guilty against God, he said that from the nature of the insult he had received from Captain Smyth, he considered that according to the accus tomed laws of society he tsuld hardly do otherwise than what he had done ; he said that he went out in compliance with such usage, but that he bad no intention whatever in injuring Captain Smyth; after some other conversation on the subject of religion, I asked him did he perfectly 'and freely forgive Captain Smyth for having injured him?" This is one of many instances afforded every day of the strength of the love of approbation in man. There is not the slightest reason for supposing that by far the greater part of those who obey the laws of honour, as they are called, do not go to the field fully impressed with the idea that the act which may doge their 'mortal life, and which, of courre, may preclude repentance, is a violation of the principles of their religion. Yet, as society has chosen to as sociate infamy, or at least contempt, with a refusal to obey these laws of honour, an individual, rather than expose himself to the contempt of the class to which lie belongs, sets what he deems the prin ciples of religion at defiance, and hazards his eternal sa lvation. These instances are exceedingly instruc tive. They show of what importance it is that the opinions of society, which are so powerful in their influence, should be correct. An individual may even despise the principle which carries him to the field, as a relic of a barbarous age; but he will, nevertheless, from an inability to support contempt and contumely, yield as ready an obedience to it as those who bold it in the highest regard. There is no country in Europe, perhaps in which the opinions of the people, in matters of morals, have been so much misdirected as in England. The love of pelf, which all our institutions generate and foster, has made sad havoc in the principles of the people of England. Public opinion in this country is never directed against wealth, no matter how it has been acquired. The desire of enjoying the comforts of life, and providing against accidents and old age, is always in an old country, where subsistence is difficult, sufficiently powerful, without stimulating it by laws and institutsens. The consequence of the corruption encouraged so etvdiously by the Govern ment. of England was seen in the bubble year, as it was called, when many Members of the Houses a Lords and Commons, some of them in the en joyment of high reputation, lent their names un blushingly to schemes whieh they were too wise not to know were delusive and bottomed in fraud, merely for the sake of putting money in their pockets. 'the Abbe de Mably has an =client badinage on the mischief produced by fostering in a country a spirit of rapine.--" Redouble (lie says in his work on Legislation}--redouble your attention, end never admit of any of those establishments which give to a citizen the pretext of 31e4irig another citizen. When society is infected with the spirit of pillage, which is given by stock-jobbing and aibi trary impositions, abandon all hope of ever finding again in it any remains of justice and probity. Trickery, fraud, violence, artifice, chicanery—this will form its character. The citizens will lay traps for each other, knaves will find dupes every day, end all will be hopeless, whet) the dupes alone will be dishonoured. From all these viees will spring a still more dangerous vice; people wi4l pillage with one hand to dissipate with the other. This prodigal avarice, of which the wants are continually recurring And always *same, will stick at no attempt; it 1 residers the souls amen atrocious Why are ~ Sava enamoured with riches ? Because the laws hav e attached honours And consideration tol wealth; because they allow opulence to exhibit itself with as pomp which diathesis ; which deceives us, which serWes at first as a veil to our views, and which ends by muting them to be respected, po you wish that I should not be desirous of the property! of another of whom Isms jealous ? Arrange your laws, so that I may be content with a moderate for tune. happy natural character, who are satisfied with me- diocrity ; but the number is small. Hardly js t,4cre at ma an to be found who has the courage to ,be happy in his own way; people wish to be happy in the manner of the world, because they wish their happiness to be reesesked and perhaps envied. A man will believe is.:spself poor in London with a thousand guineas, beeanze be has heard it constantly dinned its his ears, that he pyi slot be rich without a hundred thousand." No man has analysed with so much success the subject to which we have been alluding, as Mr. Mill, who, jn the second volureet of his Analysis of the Phenoe mane of the Human Mind, endeavours to draw attention to the immense benefit in education which may be derived. from giving a propee aireetion to the desire of approbation. " Of these motives," he says (that is the feelings generated by the associa tion of certain acts of oura, es cause, with the vir tuous acts of other men as their effects), " that which involves the acts of praising and blaming is in constant and strong operation. It is from the great use made of these acts in the education of children, and even in the rude management of them in the nursery, that praise and blame acquire the in fluence in most cases, the ascendancy in some, which hey are seen to exercise over us. It is this sen sibility to praise and blame—in other words, the associations we have with them—which gives its effect to what is called popular opinion, or the po pular sanction; and when the acts of justice, beneficence, fortitude, and prudence of other men such was the waste and prodigality with which they were collected. At the commencement of the French war, the whole taxation of this country did not ex ceed 1 7 ,000,000/. Before the war was ended, it exceeded 70,000,0001. Mr.Vansittart had dispensed with the experience of former periods; he had but one rule—" Double the taxes and you are sure to double the revenue." But that gentleman was less to blame than the Parliament, which gravely voted that a pound note and a shilling were worth a gui nea; and that there was a real Sinking Fund ! He said he would not go through the whole of the 207 articles of raw produce upon which the duty might be lowered with advantage to the revenue, but would direct attention at once to the three principal articles—glass, paper, and printed calicoes. He had been assured, by most intelligent travellers, that, but for the high duty, our manufacturers would be able to undersell all foreigners, even in their own markets. The whole of the taxes which he would reduce would be about 2,626,0001., but they would be felt as a relief to the amount of 3,500,0001. Many ways had been proposed to make up the defi ciency; one was to do away with the bounties of fisheries, another to tax the transfer of landed pro perty similar to that on personal property; the plan be proposed was to take off the taxes to a large amount on a variety of articles, and to find a substi tute in the increased demand that would certainly arise from this circumstance. In calling upon Minis ters to concur in the object of his motion, he quite disclaimed all hostility to them." The Chancellor of the Exchequer said that, although a great portion . . 778,0001. next year. To inquiries how he prop ose d of the general principles laid down by Mr. Thom. to deal with those who should refuse to accept son met with his entire concurrence, yet he either the Three-and-a-half or Five per Cent. Stock, was compelled, by an imperative sense of duty, to he said he must decline giving any answer, on the oppose the motion, and be did so without any feel ground that it would be a premature disclosure; but ing of disrespect to the Hon. Gentleman. He said adding that, should the essential part ;of the plan that they were bound to remember that they had be adopted, he was sure the details would give been driven by necessity to oppose taxes, which in ordi satisfaction. He has, however, long since a d- nary times would have been uncalled for; that the mitted that they were to be dealt with as revenue had not only to meet the expenditure of the might suit the convenience of Government. State, but that it had been mortgaged to the public The House then resolved itself into a Committee creditor : he should first be convinced of the supe of Supply on the Navy Estimates, in which nothing rior advantages of a Committee before he would particular occurred except the amendment of Sir consent to the appointment of one, to endanger Robert Heron respecting the pensions to the two public credit. Mr. Baring opposed the motion; sons of two Cabinet Ministers. To the result of but his arguments were chiefly directed against the this motion we beg leave to invite the attention of Property Tax. Lord Althorp argued against the our readers, the numbers being inconsistency of Ministers,who, if they had acceded to For the Amendment Against it Majority against Ministers-18 systematic manner. The same argument was en (Morning Herald.) forced by several other gentlemen who spoke in We are glad to observe that Sir C. Wetherell has favour of the motion ; but, from the lateness of the given notice of his intention to bring in a Bill, after hour, we can on ly re f er t o t h e speec h es o f M r . P ee l, the recess, to limit arid restrain the Attorney-Gene- Lord Palmerston, a nd to th e re ply o f M r . Th omson , rat in exercising the power of filing e x . o fti c i o i n f er - who justly complained that his argument had not mations. We are glad of this, n o t b ecause we an been fairly met. At a quar t er b e f ore t h ree o ' c l oc k the House divid e d, w h en it w ill b e seen t h e Mi n i stry ticipate the success of the mea s u re i n t h e present House of Commons, but becau se we thi n k t h at the had again the adva n tage in v o te s , th e major i ty being discussion of this somewh a t quest i ona bl e power may 89 against the motio n , tho ug h we thi n k th ey were have the effect of putting s ome c h ec k upon the worsted in argument.—Mo rn i n g H era ld. rampant zeal of those official personages who, in Any advice which we might offer to the Chan their studied atonement for the past delinquency of cellor of the Exchequer, would, no doubt, be set liberal principles,are apt to " overstep the modesty" down as both officious and presumptuous; but even of the prerogative. It may, indeed, be said that at the risk of incurring the charge of ill-breeding, some writers on text law have laid it down that the and self-opinionativerress, we will make bold to re power of filing ex-rfficio informations by the King's commend to him the perusal of a pamphlet entitled, Attorney-General is as old as the Constitution of " A few Words on the Licensing System, and the the land itself. Yes; but under what limitations ? proposed unlimited Increase of Public-houses"— Let us see. " The objects of the King's own a pamphlet indeed in which no arguments are prosecutions, filed ex-qfficio by his own Attorney- brought forward against the throwing open of the General, are, properly, such enormous misdeniess- trade in beer, beyond those which have been again nors, as peculiarly tend to disturb or endanger his and again stated in this Paper, and which must have Government, or to molest or affront him in th e occurred again and again to every reflecting mind regular discharge of his Royal functions; for —but a pamphlet, nevertheless, which is written offences so high and dangerous in the punish.. with good intentions, and which, from presenting meat or prevention of which a moment's delay would what may be termed the " accumulated evidence' he fatal, the law has given to the Crown the power in favour of the Licensed Victuallers, deserves not of an immediate prosecution, without waiting for any only the patronage of that body, but the serious previous application to any other tribunal." Nov, consideration of every one who either wishes well we ask, were any of the misdemessnors of the to the public morals, or is interested in the preserve- Press, which were lately visited by a lavish exercise don of his property from deterioration.—On the ef of the power of filing ex-officio informations--we fects of the present system the author remarks, that ask, were any of them of that high and dangerous "To those who purchase beer for the purpose of con character that a moment's delay in making an appli- sliming at home, no alteration of the present system cation to any other tribunal would have proved can make any difference. They have the option of pur fatal? Will the Attorney-General himself venture chasing at the public-house, or the retail brewery, or if table-beer will suffice even in the chandler's shop. But 'to assert it ? 'We think not. We do not believe when it is contended ' that every p e rson, without distinc he is prepared to state any thing so wild and mon- tion, should be at liberty to convert his home iota a tsp_ strous as that he preserved the Crown from some room, for the sale of beer, to be consumed on the premises, signal calamity, and averted the immedi a te ruin of with all deference to those who support such a measure, the Constitution, by putting aside the ordinary tri- and with every wish in favour of free trade, we must pre ' bunals of the land, and filing his ex-qfficio informa- sume, in this instance, to doubt the propriety of it. tions ! If he had done this he might well be en- "It will, we believe, be admitted by all, that a public_ titled to substitute for the motto in his family arms house is always an evil, in many cases a perfect nuisance. the line of Cicero, equally modest and poetic, with the W i r Who is there that lives next door to a public-house, and snch alteration as his classical taste may suggest— does not find his quiet and comfort materially decreased 0 ! fortunatam ! natam me Consule Romam ! by it ? What owner of such a house is there, that does There is one point connected with the management not find that he must be content with a less rent, tha n if of those prosecutions to which we particularly call his h house stood in another part of t h h i e a sane .r s a tree an t d ? ' the Parliamentary attention of Sir Charles Wetherell ministrationtt is tail aocflu t a h i e nt dwi l t a h w p s aro w c ill 'lffi attempt to deny that —it is the extraordinary power which the Attorney- t h e greater and the poor most unfailing a pplicants for parish General exercised, in first applying for a criminal in- relief, are to be found amongst the most constant fre formation, in the case of the Lord Chancellor, and quenters of the public-house ? What police officer is there when, by these means, he had ascertained, upon the that will not inform you, even if you require the informa oath of the defendant, the nature of his defence, then tion, that the public-house is the receptacle of thieves and turning round, abandoning the first proceeding, and every description of abandoned persons ? Where, in the catching him in the drag-net of an ex-eicio informa- country, will you find the idle, the profligate, the po ac h er , tion. We do not say this is Star-chamber practice and the thief? In the public-house." On supposed monopoly in th e but certainly some people think it would not have the subject of the done discredit to the astuteness and ingenuity of sale of beer, he says— some of the lawyers of that time. It may be per. w the fact is, that in London very few of the Public houses belong' to brewers. The only controul feed) , legal for what we know, but certainly it ought i tliey have over the publicans is, by advancing them money not to continue so. The Attorney-General may en- on mortgage of their leases. This is done every day, and ' deavour to explain it away if he pleases, but he of course the publican takes his beer from the person ad ougb ought not to have the power to do it under any vancing him the money. But he does this no longer than circumstances whatever. Let it also be recollected, he pleases, and if the beer supplied is not good, he has that one of the greatest Judges that ever pre- only to go to another brewer, and ask him to pay off the sided in the King's Bench, we mean the learned former mortgage, and take one himself. And this he can Sir Matthew Hale, doubted the right of filing do as often as he likes. Meux or Barclay may advance , ex-officio informations at till--and his doubts money, but Reid or Coombe, or any other brewers, are ought to have great weight in discussions relative s read y and glad o pay off the money, and it t lend hem to any disputed point of constitutional law. When el yes. So t that ti le controul really exercised by the brewers , amounts to just nothing. Crown lawyers talk of the antiquity of ex-officio ~ In the vicinity of London, it must be admitted, free informatioiii they ., ought to be remind e d th a t houses are more scarce; the greater proportion belonging ' the Master of theurown Office had as ancient and to various brewers, and being occupied by their tenants, ' full an authority for adopting the game sort of pro- who of course must take their beer from them. But we ceedings, and dispensing with the iea, - we of the submit this is no monopoly. Were all the houses in one • King's Bend?, and the intervention of a Grand town in one hand it would be so, but as the brewer, al- 1 Jury, as the Attorney-General. Bat into such though hp ,can compel the publican to receive, cannot corn- , flagrant abuses did the exercise of this power dege- pel the public to drink his beer, the consumers, of course, 1 nerate—siO harsh and oppressive did it become to twinedwillfrequaenndt t a h s o t s b e e h s ou l s e es of w b here . the Ts, beer is to b be - 614 , - 8 , the subject—that, after the gev.olution, it was foundo eus e t o e u m rse, ne e t h r y eLe m r ,_ i bject, ; he will take care to ensu i re necessary for the Legislature to ioterpos,e and restrain pelling, but by persuading the public to drink, by-sup- it, as the same power exercised by the attorney- plying a gdod and wholesome article. If he does not do General ought to be restrained, for the limitation this, his competitors will; and where there is a choice of under which it exists at Common Law is, as we houses to go to, those that hp,.ve the fast will be themost , have s ‘ eeu, 4ttt too easily evaded. It is true, the frequented. In the town where the writer of this dwells, 1 Master of the Orowri 91liee could only exert this containing about 6500 inhabitants, there are between 30 1 dangerous power at the suit of priyate persons, while and forty public-houses, not above three of which are free. The rest are . divided . among nine brewers ; and if this is 1 the Attorney-General cooly (.14) so .qt tke spit cf the -King. But in proportion to the power of the pro- 8 11 . 1:11 e c o O r rae r t 1 t l b o u n t enough, w beh o t f l there is a m re n t s a t i lnbott•obveerTi drank the on secirtor is the danger to the subject ; and, therefore, ' the preMi;es,' 'l‘Ton, finless it is to be supposed that ! as the Act ,of the 4th and sth of William and Mary brewers carry on their tiadeWon'priti6ples different frcfn ' aw ay 7 t:rona the Mast!r of the Crown has taken other tradesmen, and had rather sell a small proportioned i Office the power of thing iktfork,4,tions without per a bad article than a large one of good; that they will ruin i mission of the Court of Ki neiger,i-pli, s . !? we Mould themselves for the sake of cheating the public, there is an I have a statute either taken ttwav, in a hie manner, I cod tc the :.-ry of monopoly." or greatly restraining, the more dangerous pewee of ~ ' cri l tu'Obsequen . ces of the proposed change in the 4i.ttorney-General.—:horning Herald. thg law ; w:e 'tin& fhd . fdlrowilig observations in the . . • , ... •. Thom- pamphlet t- , •-• .• f , In the . kiptifia of Commons, Mr. Poulett " Under the present system, he ar Lek brew ed ' . ig princte gyp ? in proposing t r liel t 4estion of which he had g iv en ____%. ee tt in the large breweries, the task of the excise is cora not)ae, ipJtive to the enortneo; taxation of the . -- eas y. The officers Lave a right of ingress at i paratively country, Apoke g t great length, and in a ,cky,qe ,47(4 4: h ew of the day or night ; they are not bound to give argumentative t iyi v a reg..,2lii,ng, 01"pwlng that It notice of t h,i,. y;1 1 . ;:a •, nay, in some brewhouses, 'they are was the imperative duty of Pi44INPRr , ,t. 9 ,t f l ,k the ...: ev-tsupp,lie'cl Willi keys . t) Ot ►t:l;,;;!;7, l yvs in whenever they zubject into its own hand, and by . gfpgwveig I think proper. - tan irbe' suppor4 'o . ,at 5t4134 r ., h -- ; ; :: Coil:mil:tee, either to rectify reputed ii..`s" 4 'e OF iP M. $ 4j, ,,,, e.0. f Ot oc ti ? n, the large brewers It;oard Alire 16 Cic . „.,„ v but th . eleol Nre:h4 s? 13ut under th e nenewregn prove that DO - such existed. He said th a t " what- -.hoe evoy petty PoPtnei: may tarziai;can; and ever difference of opinion might exist on other sub- iations, .. .- . -.. i •-• t , ,!'. ' •• • 1 .. - 1 .36. sire pf to qg opene - f n 'ever' t - jects, people were all agreed that taxation ought to . when we may expe,.l. _ ~ - . . , - , . w will it De . "`" 4l4 i far th? eXetEg t.) he reduced, and that it ought to be proved :het the rection around us, lio e , -ided. country had the same means of paying the taxes as check upon a,lulterat'o ', • • 4 keen the necessary i n . In hug, cries every thing is conducted upon a regular system, and before. It was impossible to look at the decline and fall o f var i ous nations without being convinced the brewing days are always well known. But when that thei • r fall was precipitated by the pressure of every house is to brew its own liquor, the publican can brew just when he pleases, knowing, perhaps, that the i taxation. France, revithe R evolution suf- - exciseman is engaged in a distant part ; or, if he should ; feted much much more fr o e us tohemode _ , s ofcollecting chance to come, that the small quantity f of adulterating the public duties than fr m om t the taxes themselves. material necessary for his petty stock beer can be easily Sully calculated, that to raise a sum ' I f r . • francs, It cost thepeople of 30,000,000 concealed until Ilia departure. But, says the Chancellor, 1o f ) 120,000,000 of francs; ' Let the man who drugs his beer beware of the competi- • i tion which will soon rob him of all his customers' !! To ensure the loss of his customers, however, it is not only necessary to drug his beer, but that he should be detected in so doing. How this is to happen the Chancellor does not inform us. It is well known, that beer that pleases the palate will find consumers, whatever it may chance to be composed of. Now the publican must be a simple fool who will not take care, that whatever be chooses to brew with, shall be agreeable to the taste of his customers. And he will find no lack of customers if his beer is agreeable in flavour, whatever drugs he may choose to put in." Our limits will not permit us to extend our no- tice of the pamphlet farther at present ; but we shall return to the subject again and again. In the mean time we beg leave to remark that the advo cacy of the free-trade system by some of the brewers is in every respect as selfish as it is assuredly unde served by the licensed victuallers. The former cal culate upon securing, by the throwing open of the trade in beer, the greater part of the trade in the vicinity of town, and in this object they will no doubt succeed ; but what will be consequence ? Why, that the small beer brewers who supply it will be ruined, and that the trade of those who rent their houses being divided with the new corners, they also will be ruined. Now why this change of property—why this spoliation of one set of indivi duals in order to enrich another ? What benefit will the public derive from such an effect of the pro posed measure ?—Morning Advertiser. The speech of Mr. Poulett Thomson, for any good it has done or is likely to do, might as well have been recited to the sea-gulls from the cliffs of Dover. There is no use in Honourable Members striving to induce the Government to reduce the taxes. The Duke of Wellington has told them plainly that he can't, which means he won't do it. Therefore there is an end to the matter. It is in vain to talk while the Minister does not care three straws for all the debates and dull harangues of the House of Commons. That Minister is the Minister, and there are not fifty Members in the Lower House of Parliament who have the courage to declare the open truth concerning his measures. He is as indifferent to their divisions and opinions as he is to what point the wind blows from. Do we complain of this? No. It ought to make Englishmen ashamed of themselves; but, while it will hasten the ruin and degradation of many of them, it will work good in the end. This obstinacy to the wishes of the nation—this neg lect of the sufferings of the people—this total reck lessness as to consequences will the sooner pro duce that re-action which will put a period to the Wellington Administration. What is passing in France will hasten the catastrophe. So far from murmuring at the supremacy of the noble Premier, or the folly and infatuation of his policy, we rejoice at it beyond measure. He is doing that which we wish to see done. He is creating universal disgust out of doors; he is increasing the mass of dissatisfation ; and he is, therefore, the best radical reformer who ever aspired to power since the accession of the house of Brunswick. The people have lost all confi dence in their Representatives—the late conduct of the Bishops has inspired feelings towards the Lords spiritual which we cannot describe—and events are ripening which will make the next Parliament a very different assembly from the present. Mean while we are doomed to suffer. We have not yet suffered enough, but before next spring the struggle will be nearly over. It is sometimes a blessing to have Ministers who neither feel for the calamities they create, nor have the faculty to understand what they are doing. This is the case with the Duke of Wellington, and we bid him God speed I We in tend hereafter to cheer him on, trusting to the old adage that when a certain person is on horseback, he will ride to the devil !—.Morning Journal. The retailers of beer in the metropolis and else where have evinced some alarm at the contemplated deprivation of their chartered rights. Monopolists naturally have no great taste for these changes; and if they of the beer business be likely to sustain any material injury, we are bound to pity their fate and sympathise in their misfortunes. With these feel ings we take their case into consideration, and proffer them our humble advice. We take for granted that there is not a man in the country who does not rejoice at the intended opening of the beer trade. It will do far more to reduce the price of the beer than the reduction of duty. It will also tend to improve the quality of the article, and put an end to many monstrous abuses, some of which we shall notice anon. It is, therefore, most desirable that the beer trade should be opened. But will the people called publicans or licensed victuallers suffer from the improvement ? Decidedly they shall, unless they adopt that line of defence which is quite practicable. When the trade is opened it is more than probable that beer will be sold by the green grocer, the cheeseman, the oilman, anti various other sorts of tradesmen. This will draw a good deal of the small change from the public house to the bene fit of the unprofessional rivals. In these circum stances what should the orthodox beerman do ? Why, cannot he sell butter and cheese, and hams, and every article of green-grocery ? He already sells tobacco, why, therefore, not tea and sugar and pickles ? This is called the age of improvement; but it is no such thing; it is the age of retrogres sion, and we are fast retracing our steps and adopt ing the rules and practices of our ancestors. We are rapidly approaching the age of barter, and it is only necessary for the complaining parties who dread the loss of their retail trade in beer to carry the war into their rivals' quarters, and undersell them in their own prescriptive commodities. This might easily be done, and we have no doubt will be done, in case of any unfair interference with their trade. The publican, by setting apart a room for the purpose, might ruin all the cheesemen and bacon retailers in his neighbourhood. His house would thus be converted into an American store, out of which all the wants of the labourer might be supplied at a cheap rate. There would be no high shop rent to pay—no attractive windows—no show —no delusion, for the articles would be bought wholesale and retailed at the lowest possible profit. In this way the profits, no matter how inconsider able, would compensate for any decrease in the sale of beer, anti the grocers and oilmen would be met on their own terms. This is a hint.worth a Thames of porter, and we expect the publicans will express their gratitude and vote us their thanks for it at their next general meeting. _Morning Journal. The position in whiph the collision between the Throne and the Chamber of Deputies has placed the French government and people is, it must be admitted, both ezotraor4inary And alarming. It has been observed with some plausibility, that had the King not proceeded at once to disperse the Cham ber, lint waited to see whether, after censuring the Royal choice of Ministers, it would proceed to the last extre►nity of obstructing the progress of public business in the Legislature, in order to compel obe tiiente to its.dictates, he might have strengthened the cause Of the Thrime, an 4 in the same proportion have weakened, in the opinioriof the 'nation, that Or the party whose object it evidently is to pervert the Charter of France into the basis of a government essentially republican. That the Chamber which vichtte4 the respect due to the Sovereign in the ex (cialse a a - fan4;o!?, in the c?nstitn.tional sense most peculiarly his Own; that tiat iely of'selecting his nisters, would have adopted in succession all the other means necessary to the success of their inci pient usurpation, could not be doubted, however, unless upon such a calculation of the weakness and Yo King, j o i j o riti n o.h" o esi o at n ihpm e re t oi i ntvesge.v.:;:is.ai has' G dangerous tly then in peomptittide ar.d: thnness, 'that he . will rerriail King of Frtmee, in — liar'moiiy if it be poslsit.,..le " with Such Represen;:;:!!'` portion 9f the peopie to whom the_Charter has entrusted the povVei' rif elec tion may appoint ; but that at all events he will be and that he will not so far abandon the spirit and essence and intention of the Charter as to be a King only in name, but in reality the off.cer merely and servant of the Deputies of Depai:tments. the present Chamber of Deputies should not re- cede from its pretensions, and if the result of a new election should be the return of another Cham ber equally intractable and encroaching, these circumstances, alarming and afflicting as they will be to all who are anxious for the peace and welfare of France ' • will prove, not that the King or his Ministers have been in the wrong, but that the machinery established by the Charter has failed to accomplish the objects intended by the Charter, one of the most important of which unquestionably was the security and independence of the Bourbon throne ; and it will thus lead to the inevitable prac tical conclusion, that the letter of the Charter must be so far modified as to be no longer contradictory to its spirit. That the present posture of affairs in France evidently tends to this practical issue it is impossible to deny, and would be weakness and folly to conceal. The issue is awful to contemplate. It would be no less than a struggle among the French people upon the elementary principles of Civil Go vernment—a struggle which can no where take place without convulsing society in every grade and department, and which in France, as at present go verned, would be a calamity not more grievous on account of the evil it would produce, than of the existing and progressive good which it would de stroy or prevent. In this last consideration there is, however, much to console and re-assure us. The gloom which seemed to hang over the destiny of France is in a great degree dispelled, when we re collect that her people now enjoy all the solid advantages of good Government—that they possess the unspeakable blessings of equal law, and of full security to person and property under its just and pure administration—thatwhatevea is essential to individual happiness and national prosperity is conferred upon them by their existing insti tutions. We do not believe that any nation would, upon light grounds, expose to hazard ad vantages of which the value is inestimable, and of which, if once lost, the recovery might be difficult; and still less can we believe this in the case of France, where the election of the national represen tatives, being placed as it is by the Charter chiefly in the hands of the middle classes of society, these classes, less exposed than any other to the allurements of ambition or the stimulants of faction, have alone the constitutional right to speak or act in the name and on the behalf of the whole people. The elec toral body in France must be sensible, however, that all the advantages the Constitution confers upon the nation would be endangered, if, when the Sovereign appeals to them for the vindication and support of his constitutional prerogatives, they were to disre gard the appeal. The consequences of such a re fusal are, we think, much too obvious and much too terrible to admit of the supposition that the great body of any happy and prosperous nation, and more especially that the middle and upper ranks of such a nation, will willingly and needlessly encounter them. It follows from this that on an appeal to the electors of France against the attempted encroachment of the Chamber of Deputies upon the constitutional rights of the Sovereign, the cause of the Throne, which is the cause of national tranquillity, order, and happiness, will be sure to prevail. If on su c h an appeal the cause of the Throne should not prevail, however, the conclusion, disheartening and mor tifying as it might be, would be inevitable, that there is some peculiarity in the character of the French people which renders them unfit for the Go vernment of a constitutional and limited Monarch, and reduces them to the alternative of subjection to a fierce democracy or to an absolute Prince.—Morn. ing Post. In the discussion on the Navy Estimates last night, Sir R. Heron introduced the Resolution, of which he had given notice, for omitting the Pensions to the Hon. R. Dundas, and the Hon. W. Bathnrst, who, after four years of service, had obtained Super annuation allowances (amounting together to 9004) in consequence of the reductions effected in their re spective offices, the Navy and Victualling Boards. After some debate the House divided, when there appeared in favour of the Resolution 139, against it 121, being a majority of 18 against continuing the pensions, a result as honourable to the Douse of Commons as it must prove gratifying to the poli- tical friends of the Government, since it is a direct condemnation of those factious declaimers who pre tend to ascribe the signal defeats which their party is almost daily doomgd to sustain to an undue in• fluence exercised by Ministers; a calumny equally flagrant as affecting the integrity of the Government or the dignity of Parliament. Without looking to the nature of the subject under debate, which is immaterial, it was one in which Ministers took a de cided part, and the issue is sufficient to spew that they desire only to have a question argued on its own merits, and settled according to the indepen dent sense of the House. It is therefore no slavish subservience to Ministers which has so repeatedly and triumphantly pronounced in favour of their policy ; their majorities have not been composed of mere servile adherents, but of those whose judg ments, independently exercised, have come to the opinion that they are worthy of public confidence and of the support of Parliament.—. Morn. Post. On Wednesday evening, as REEVES, the Bo rough Marshal, was passing a house of a certain description, kept by a wotnan named COLE, in King-street, Borough road, she ran out and implored him to enter, one of her visiters having suddenly dropped down dead. On hia com plying with her request, be perceived the lifeless body of a gentleman far advanced in years, resting on a chair, and immediately took possession of the property about him, consisting of a 101. note. two sovereigns, his watch, spec tacles, &c. Mr. NicHoLs, surgeon, Borough-road, had been sent for, but the unhappy man was past human aid. REEVES afterwards found out the residence of his friends, in West-square, whither he had the body conveyed. The deceased was 70 years of age, and respectably connected. —Morning Paper. EXTRAORDINARY ATTEMPT AT SUICIDE. —On Wednesday afternoon, at about half-past four o'clock,a young lady, most elegantly dressed, while walking with two gentlemen in . the inclosure in St. James's Park, on the north side of the Canal, nearly opposite Stafford house, engaged in deep conversation, on a sudden rushed from them, and threw herself into the Canal ; the youngest of the gentlemen instantly plunged in after her, and with some difficulty caught part of her dress. damn BAKER, one of the Park-keepers, who was near the spot, and saw the occurrence, immediately ran to assist, and, with several other persons who came up at the time, succeeded in rescuing both out of the Canal. It was soon discovered that the gentleman who had plunged into the Canal was the lady's,lover, and that the other gentlemen was her father. The cause of her attempting the rash act was not o m k e i nt g i e o n n t e i d e , n :, w fr a o s from the conversation which ensued, it was evident that her father had strenuously opposed some paiticular wish of her heart relative to her union. The almost frantic with joy, when his daughter, who did not appear to be more than 18 years of age, was brought safelon shore, nor did her deliverer ap pear less happy. The lady was conveyed tb the coach stand, at Buckingham-gate,and they all got into a hackney coach, giving directions to the coachman to drive to the to of DANGEROUS STATE of WESTMINSTER Bainut.-For iome time past, the Condition Of Westininster Bridge has been under the consideration of the Commis sioners, and various repairs have, within the last two years, been made ; yet still it remains in a dilapidated and extremely dangerous state. A few days since part of the road way was discovered to have sunk upwards of four inches on the western side of the bridge. On inquiry, it Was diacOverget -that the piers ci the bri4gg are not built upon piles, but a sort of platform of planks, which are laid on the bed of the river. It was also discovered thr.t the ground under that platform had sunk upwards of fourteen feet, and the result would have been, if this dis covery had not been made, that the whole foundation would have been carried away, and the bridge destroyed. The increase of the depth of the river is attributed tq the innneuae influx of water 'caused by the . 11.rge Lr'elles of Y.ondun Bridge. - 011' Monday; the small ardgt which sop- 1 ports the road-way on the western side of the bridge, was Old'ol6 ,'TOi s y..ll and the tiinbers noßnected' with it were found to he in the roost ruinous and dangerous condi, tion. The large stones with which the arch is constructed, had left their positions, and large apertures were seen be tween them, and the timbers were so rotten, that they crumbled to pieces when touched. Workmen were imme diatOy get to labour, and a new arch will be speedily erected. 'kite bridge was erected about eighty years ago. Morninp Chronicle. CONVERSION OF THE HON. AND REl' GEORGE SPENCER. The Wexford Evening Post states that, in" con' sequence of " many persons affecting to discredit the truth of this Clergyman's conversion to the Itir man Catholic religion, a gentleman of this co ll o' wrote to the Rev. Mr. Caestryck, Leicester, ands letter, containing the particulars, received in answer, has been kindly handed to us." The same journal publishes the letter, from which we make the fol' lowing extracts : " The Hon. and Rev. G. Spencer, son of Lord Spencer, and brother to L or d Al t h orp , was a F e l' low of Trinity College, Cambridge, Rector of Bring• ton, in Northamptonshire, and Chaplain to the Bishop of London, a gentleman of good abilities, and universally esteemed for his affability and bene volence. About twelvemonths before the death of the late Rev. Mr. Vaughan (who was a rigid Cal• vinist, and Vicar of St. Martin's, in Leicester), the Hon. and Rev. Gentleman expressed to the Refs Mr. Vaughan some doubts or dissatisfaction respect' ing the ceremonies used by the Church of England, at the same time observing, that he could not find sufficient authority for them in Scripture to satisfy his mind ; to which the Rev. Mr. Vaughan frankly replied, Ceremonies are not to be defended by Scripture, but the discipline of the Church, which, by tradition, is the expositor of the Scriptures; and, indeed, if you do not admit tradition, the Scripture' will be of very little use to you.' The Hon. and Rev. Gentleman, satisfied with the necessity of a living and infallible expositor to determine the true sense of Scripture, sought on all sides with earnestness to discover which was this expositor, but ignorant of the Catholic Church, except the character given by its enemies, he did not think of examining her claims to that office ; but happening, at the house of a friend, to meet with a young gentleman, a convert to the Catholic Church, about 20 years of age, and nephew to the Protestant Bishop of.Liclifield• I the object of his inquiry became the subject of con versation, and this young gentleman, a minor, and only a few years a Catholic, undertook to defend the infallibility of t h e Catholic Church against the Bishop of Lichfield, in presence of the Hon. and Rev. G. Spencer, the Hon. and Rev. H. D. Erskine (Mr. Vaughan's successor), and another Minister of the Established Church. The time appointed being Monday, the 24th of January, most of that week was spent at the house of the young gentleman's father (who is still a Protestant), where the con troversy was held. The Hon. and Rev:G. Spencer saw the weakness of the Bishop's arguments cow' pared with his young friend, and the Bishop made this acknowledgment—' You, by following your religion, are sure of salvation; but I also hope to be saved by following mine,'—which made the Hon. and Rev. G. Spencer observe, that is giving a pre ference to the Catholic, as he is sure of salvation, while you have but an uncertain hope of it; and after the conversation was over the Bishop tea,' acknowledged the evidence of truth, by calling his nephew aside, and begging of him not to press the Hon. and Rev. G. Spencer to become a Catholic, saying, what will his father say, and his friends say, and what will become of his congregation To which the Hon. and Rev. Gentleman, when informed of it, nobly replied, that is all flesh and blood, I have nothing to do with it;' and coming to Leicester with the young champion of truth, he accepted an invitation to dine with the Rev. 13 . Caestryck, when his few remaining objections being removed, and his doubts resolved, he declared hi' determination to become a Catholic, since that Church was proved to be the one established by Christ, and consequently the only true, spotless, and infallible spouse of Christ. He immediately in' formed his father and the Bishops of Peterborough , and London of his determination, and resigned hiss livings in the Church of England. I was present and edified by his profession of the Catholic Faith I in Holy Cross Chapel on - January the 21st, and ' shall sol reb a r i u ty ar o y f I h 4 ie t h, fir b; s communiono long remember confirmation,and d the joyf ul on the Right Rev. Dr. Walsh, assisted by the Rev. Dr. Weedal, the Rev. Mr. Morgan, of St. Mary's Col lege, Oscort, and the Rev. B. Caestryck, at which time upwards of twenty other converts were also confirmed. Two days after this confirmation, the honourable convert went to visit his father, who, as well as his other relations, received him most kindly. His father has allowed him a very handsome main- tenance, though, no doubt, nominally much less than the livings he resigned, which are said to be worth 3,0001. per annum .The Hen. Gentleman is now on a visit to the Right Rev. Dr. Walsh, at Wolverhampton ; he intends to be a Priest—his father and the Bishop wish him to go to Rome for a course of Divinity. Mr. Spencer has now twenty seven under instruction, who have all commence d since the 14th ult., and at Hinkley, a small town in this county, ten converts made their first communion on the 21st ult." A rather awkward circumstance happened at the King's Theatre on Tuesday night. The child of William Tell, in the first act of the ballet, instead of hitting the bull's-eye, discharged his arrow into the eyp of an unlucky officer who stood behind the scenes. Some blood was shed, but we have not heard whether any eon ■iderable damage was done. MR. WM. MARSHALL.—This person, who was tried and acquitted the week before last, at theAssizel at Lancaster, on a charge of stabbing Mr. JESSE, surgeon* is now in custody at the New Bailey, Living been appre' hended on Tuesday last, by Mr. SCOTT, the deputy con ' stable of Chorlton-row, on a Bench warrant, for the as.. sault upon GAsiaLL, the watchman.—Manchester Mere. On Saturday evening the body of a female infant was found in the river Wye, at Putson, near Here' ford, sewed in a flannel envelope, lined with coloured woollen. The body, which was nearly in a state of de composition, was examined by a surgeon, and it Ivo found that a quantity of c:nders had been forced into the mouth and throat of the infant. An inquest held on the body on Monday and Tuesday, was adjourned to Friday. At present the cruel and unnatural parent remains undisco vered.— Cheltenham Chrdnicle. There was a meeting of the London Literary Union Club on Wednesday week, at which TnoazA' CAMPBELL, Esq. presided. In the names already entered on the list are to be found—CAminam., Scan, ALLA"' CUNNINGHAM, and CHOLT, amongst poets; MARTIN► NEWTON, Pwxsason.i., and Wayricaccrrr, 'mongol artists ; and the authors of Pelham, Sydenham, Tee" maine, The Roue, O'Hara Tales, Annals of thl Parish, Anastasius, amongst novelists; nor ill thi 00' meration of members should thn names of O'Conwitail SNEIL, Ownzi of Lanark, Drs. LARDNIE, HlxnaasoK► and 111Enticii, Roscom, D'lszAzu, THOMAS HooP► LOCKHART, BARNES, MATINNON, DE CATEL BROOKS, BASIL MONTAGU, Prince de CIMITILLI, Sir Gitoaas STAUNTON, Sir GORE °MIELE', Sir F. FREELING " man of letters"), Sir RonisaT WILSON, and (a net candidate) the Hero of Navarin, be passed by. Theo are already nearly eight hundred members. BIRTHS. /*--- f On the Esq., 'of &daughter.' i On the lady of W. Lynch( : ' reet, Chelsea, the l a dy ° Dr. Alexander the Surgeonsnete to the F orces , o f . daughter. On the 22d of January, at Ri o J ane i ro, M rs. Sk e irett, 2 20t h i i n n i s t i . . a Stewart, int H Sloane-street, the lady of Col. Skerret, Chief Commissioner of ilieim pet ial Brazil Mining Associati on , o f a d aughter . MARRED. qu 6; 2541 inst. .atL'EpsoM, 'Mr. William Field, ° ft Clapham-rise, to Charl ot t e , d aughter of Mr. Butahe i , o f Epsom, Surrey. • , On the 25th inst. at Lamb e th, t h e R ev . G . R..Kens it t, of Rode, Somerzetshire, t o G eorg i ana Mary, dirt' daughter of George Mordaunt, Esq., of the Lawn, South Lambeth, , DIED. On dim 23(.1 inst. in W e l' c lo se - s pare,. relict ° f Le late Mr. O. Wilkins. On the 21st inst. Wm. Robert, Vie infant eon of 11 / 1 .1. ' Win. 4: Bruce, of Edgware-road, On the 24th inst. at Broom-hall, Bedfordshire, Elio' beth, widow of the late J. Barber, Esq. aged 66. On the 24th inst. at Stamford-street, James Williator eldest son of Major Richardson, of Mount Radford park, near Exeter, aged 18. I 2 PAINTED AN D PUBLISH/ID BY PelUaDO YOUNG! THS SUN 01,11C* 1 IZI, STAAIII4 UNDO* P i