The Sun. — London, England, 1831-06-16 00:00:00

OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. We redeem our promise of commenting on the 'etets relative to the Church Establishment in Ire land, which appear e d in th e a b s tract of the Parlia mentary document published in yesterday's Paper. The Tories make it a reproach to the Reform Bill, that from it will speedily follow a systematic war fare upon the Church of Ireland, and eventually . on that of England. Those who make such probabilities a topic of complaint have pretty notions of what is is that constitutes the real merit of Reform, and of that in which consists the danger of the . Church Esta blishment. We are sure, and the Tories may take the full benefit of the confession, that if it had not been for hopes entertained of effecting a Reform in the administration of the Established Church, many thousands of wise and virtuous men would have looked at every other Reform with snitch comp arat i ve indifference. • A strict but well -tempered inquiry into the condition of that establishment, is likely to spring —first, from the manifest preponderancy of public f ee li ng in favour of such a course, and 2dly, from the sympathy which will henceforth exist be• tween the people and their representatives. That Parliament will begin with the Church of Ireland, is Probable, for reasons which need not here be enu merated. If indeed there be one interest more than another which demands a speedy revision of the temporal affairs of the Church of Irlatid, it is the interest of that very church, both temporal and as being instrumental to the cause of true religion. The Church of Ireland not having, like that of England, any root in the affections or prepossessions of the people, amongst whom, though not/cr whom, it is established,—of those by whom it is maintained, though it renders them no service in return,—ought to feel itself doubly bound, by policy as well as gene rosity, to cultivate those mild and unessuming.graces, which might attract the esteem of a nation dissen tient from its doctrines. The Irish Church ought, above all others, to exhibit its members as upright and disinterested men. There ought to be there a studious and even, so to speak, a morbid, avoidance of every thing like cupidity, or rapacity, or taint of worldly-minded selfishness,—no squeezing of the poor,—no jobbing,—no nepotine,--no combination for higher wages and diminished work,—no pre suming upon the state preference afforded it, as an encouragement to insolence in its treatment of the flocks of other churches, or their pastors ;—no, if the higher clergy of the Church of Ireland had known in what their own welfare and the stability of their vast institution consisted, we should have found them, by this time, so strong in the consciousness of purity, and in the enjoyment of popularity, and in the desire to fortify that favourable opinion in the sunshine of which they flourished, as one and all to vie in zeal with the most strenuous ad vocates of Parliamentary Reform, for the sake of the fresh light which every added opportunity of public investigation into the state of the Church would throw upon the virtues of its Ministers; or, if the desire of proselytism should animate them, for the sake of that flattering contrast in which the sa cred edifice of their reformed religion, as represented by their persons, would appear when placed by the side of envious and hostile hierarchies. Now what is the conduct of the Irish Church—proad politi es ? It is inveterately adverse to Reform ; and what is its conduct in relation to other matters—natnely, to the fulfilment of its own adminiitrative duties, in the management of patronage, for example ? The do cument which we published yesterday supplies the answer; and proh! pudor! what an answer '—Times. The execution of the patriot Menotti has cut off one of the firmest friends to the independence of his country which degenerate Italy possessed; but his martyrdom to the cause of liberty will be among the recollections that will yet add strength to the cause for which he died. The tyrant of Moderns, who provoked the people to resistance—who fled from their just demands for a reformed Government, and returned under the protection of Austrian arms to celebrate his cowardly triumph with sanguinary rites, cannot efface with the blood of Menotti the remembrance of the virtue which sustained him in his dying hour. That remem brance will one day have for his countrymen all the force of an inspiring example. The tyrant can crush life, but he cannot by the axe and gibbet extinguish the high and holy sentiment under the influence of which brave men lay down existence at the sacred call of country. That sentiment increases in strength with the sacrifices made to it. Its moral power grows, in whatever soil it once takes root, only the more vigorously for every effort made to extirpate it by savage force. Poland is a memorable instance, where all the blood which Muscovite tyrants had shed from the first partition, nearly 60 years ago, up to last November, instead of strengthening their domi nion by connecting it with examples of terror, has only excited a deeper resentment for wrongs endured— made the fearless sacrifice of life familiar—and ren dered a heroic resistance to the oppressor the uni versal virtue of the people. How truly and how touchingly did Menotti say in his last moments, when he viewed the apparatus of a death with that undismayed serenity which disappoints a tyrant of the sweetest portion of his revenge—" The cause of tyranny has no other support than that afforded by executioners and gibbets. The cause of freedom has on its side the force of opinion and the union of sentiments--the success of the latter does not de pend on the fate of individuals. I have done my duty, and free from remorse I descend into the grave." This man was worthy a nobler people than the Italian race of the present day, who crawl the slaves of foreign dominion, amid the magnificent ruins of the glory of their land, and burrow in the grave of the Empire which their ancestors created. His sentiments showed that he, at least, had not looked around among his contemporaries for the maxims of life. He had imbibed the spirit of the ancient school of Roman virtue. The vindictive exercise of power gave him the opportunity to dis play it. Had his enemy been less of a tyrant, Menotti might have appeared less of a patriot. The spirit of vengeance that destroyed his life has im mortalized his memory. Though he failed to achieve the freedom of his country, he has left a name, which, along with that of his dis tinguished friend Borelli, who perished along with him, will be inscribed in those records of the illustrious dead which exercise the most vir tuous influence on the hearts of the living. Nor should his last advice be neglected by his countrymen :—" I expected France would have in terfered—perhaps it is better that she did not ; my death will teach the Italians to detest foreign inter vention ; they must place their sole confidence in the strength of their own arms." There is no doubt that the Italian patriots relied too much upon the pompous declaration of the French Government that they would not allow any foreign intervention in the internal affairs of other States. They were cruelly undeceived by the pusillanimous conduct of that Government when the Austrian armies put its sin cerity to the test. Let them now learn that a e ntry that w ou ld b e f ree mus t b e h er own de tiverer.--Morning Herald. We have more than once called the attention of our readers to the important truth for which the world is indebted t t h o political economy—that nations arc interested in osperity of each other; that whatever impoverisher neighbouring fi nation, re-acts on ourselves Just as weaben The generealt d b i t ru whatever adds to its resources. we trust, of this im portant truth will, in time, ari , se e n o far to ut all end to wars. Most wars have of the .h caprice of Kings, or the ignorance of nat ? to u t t i respect to their true interests. The sears nations with the last century were either wars of the Oligarchy, or wars to gain commercial advantages. The know ledge that commercial advantages never can be gained by war becomes more and more general ; and it is a great consolation to think, that the people themselves will soon be no longer open to the seductions of those who would persuade them that they can benefit by war. Where a is governed by men responsible for thei r conduct to the nation itself —i. e. where there is a national go vernment there can be no desire of war for any ether object than self-defence, or sympathy witl. oations exposed to danger from unjust aggression. But Governments, as we well know, are not national Governments. Where the nation contrommls the Govern ment the real or supposed interest of the nation will influencethe 7,sGi power, e; r, e e rriment. Where a particular order on the Government will be con ducted for the real or sopposed benefit of that order The people of Russia would, for instance, be much happier if the empire was less extensive. Their resources are wasted in the support of armies em ployed in defending boundless frontiers, An army generally carves out work for itself, and every con quest only leads to further conquests. If the army is not employed in foreign war, it will employ itself at home. In the mean time, all domestic improve ment is rendered nearly impossible by the incom illj patibility of combining the virtues by which corn• munities flourish with military supremacy. The Government of England has hitherto been anti national in another way. It has been conducted, not for the benefit of the people, but of a com paratively small number of individuals, who have commanded a majority in the two Houses of Parlia ment. These individuals, the Oligarchy, have an interest diametrically opposed to that of the nation. It is for the interest of the nation that the public expenditure should be as low as possible. It is for the interest of the Oligarchy that it should be as high as possible. It is for the interest of the nation that there - Mould be no war for any other than purely national objects. It is for the interest of the Oligarchy that we should be frequently at war, that profitable occupation may be found for their chil dren and dependents. It is for the interest of the nation that its resources should not be expended on foreign possessions. It is for the interest of the Oligarchy, that wherever there is a rock in the ocean it shruld be garrisoned by British soldiers— wherever there is a wilderness it should be seized, in order that Governorships may be found for Lord Charleses, &c. It is for the interest of the nation that no more should be expended on the instruction of the people, than a fair remuneration for the exer dons of the teachers. It is for the interest of the Oligarchy that the instruction of the people should serve as a pretext for dividing among themselves a large share of the produce of the land and labour of the community, of which a small share only is really expended on the instruction. The time, we trust, is fast approaching, when the people throughout Europe will be enabled to compel those who con duct their respective Governments to consult the interest of the people, instead of viewing the people merely as instruments for furthering the views of the Governors. Those nations which possess, or are on the eve of possessing national Governments,have a strong interest in the universal prevalence of similar Governments. The Oligarchy of this country have always been instinctively led to support anti-national Governments, and to up hold vicious institutions. The Oligarchy and clergy looked always with an evil eye on the state of things in the New England colonies, and were bent on their ruin. From the moment of the breaking out of the French revolution the same bodies were hos tilely disposed to it. And while they were persecut ing the Catholics in Ireland, to guard against any danger to the possession of tithes and church lands, they were exerting themselves to build up Popery in Italy, and to prevent the emancipation of the people from the priests. The principle by which They are guided is obvious. Every acquisition to the cause of good government diminishes the strength of the Governments opposed to the im provement, and pro hullo, their ability to ensure each other. But what is for the benefit of the ene mies of the people cannot be for the benefit of the people. It is for the interest of the nations that national Governments should be everywhere esta blished, because, as the nations have an interest in the prosperity of each other, every accession to the number of good governments diminishes the chances of wars, and all those calamities by which the im provement of mankind is retarded. It does not fol low that nations, any more than individuals, may not mistake their interests ; and therefore a na tional Government may not pursue the best course for promoting the national interest. But, as we have said, the presumption is that truth will in the end prevail, and Europe must have a better prospect of tranquillity from Governments hav ing the same interest with the nations, than from Governments having interests opposed to those of the nations. Wherever, therefore, the people have any controul over their Go vernment, they ought to insist that the great object should always be kept in view, of favouring as much as possible the growth of free institutions. We may be sure that the anti-national Governments will lose no opportunity of throwing their influence into the opposite scale, anti that if they remain in active, it is purely from fear of their own subjects. Thank God, throughout the greatest part of Eu rope, the intelligence of time people is such as to compel the Governments to respect them more than they did formerly. Without meaning to contend that a people should on all occasions be ready to go to war in support of a nation struggling for its inde pendence, we may go so far as to say, that wherever an opportunity of befriending an oppressed nation presents itself, it should be seized. In the case of the struggle, for instance, between the Russians and Poles, all opportunity now presents itself for ma terially aiding the latter, without any danger to our selves. All free nations have a common interest in wresting Poland from Russia. The Russians have no means of injuring this country or France. If the present opportunity is lost, we may never have another; and Russia will not, when the time favours her, fail to avail herself of it. These things certainly deserve consideration. We are not for rashly incurring the dangers of war, or for incurring expence unnecessarily ; but we apprehend that great good may be done now, without risk, and at little cost.—Morning Chronkle. We have inserted in another column a communi cation from a good source in Copenhagen, giving 'an account of the Constitution lat Ely granted by the Sovereign of Denmark. Oar correspondent assigns the reason why it has been thought advisable rather to take a preliminary step towards the esta blishment of a Constitutional Monarchy, than to confer on the people at once a Constitution in the proper sense of the word. But Prince Christian, the heir apparent, is liberally inclined, and he was the founder of the Constitutional Charter of Norway, under which the people now enjoy as great a degree of freedom as the people of any country in Europe, and which he established before he was compelled to leave that country in 1814. While we are or, this subject, we may also mention the fact, that every man in Denmark can read and write, schools of mutual instruction being established throughout the country. In that respect how superior to England! —Alorning Chronicle. If the argument of " virtual representation" yet required either logic or practice to assert its validity, both would be sufficiently manifest in the present Parliament. The feelings of counties are repre sented, not by their actual Members, but by the Members of the smaller boroughs ; and the man who sits for Gatton or Old Sarum upon conservative principles, represents in his person more mind, more wealth, more integrity, than all the Members for Essex, Cumberland, and Dorsetshire thrown toge ther into a lump. This statement will easily admit of proof. In the first place we may quote an exceedingly Ingenious table lately published in a periodical Magazine; this table presents a summary of four teen contested elections for counties•—it shows that the gross amount of freeholders that polled was something more than thirty-four thousand, and that the majority " for the Bill" upon this large number , h o t kfonwdliyll denistpicoispeatoefd , t v . as n. tnerely one thousand six hundred ! This, we p ra i se d and mis-stated t b hat enthusiasticb Government, Unanimity b e. b t e doubt. that t t h: e t if all the Tory the Revolutionary Press, but in fact exhibiteyd by the rabble. There cannot be much f p ur o t ll t:er thl n sr . nall candidates had tried the issue of A nob u le . majority would have undergone a tion in favour of the aggregate party.- effort would have _b_cen_Jiladt in Kent, principle would have been heard in Northumberland, and wealth and intelligence would have spoken in York shire. We will not tarry here to investigate the causes which have shackled for a while the exertions patriotism ; it is enough to point out that the Honourable Members for the fourteen counties re present 17,868 freeholders, while the equal! ) Honourable Members for the smaller boroughs, in addition to their own constituency, represent the opinions of no less titan 16,250. Now, when we aro told that the " County Members are all against us," we shall refer to this calculation and the sum total, sixteen hundred, which is in fact the amottio represented, if the pros and cons on either side pan off, and which is about equal to one-half of the con stituency of the Right Hon. John Calcraft, by whose apostacy the Bill was carried to its second read ing. And so in the old parliament the majority of Members in favour of the Bill was " one ;" and in the new Parliament, the majority return ing Members pledged to the Bill, with all its amiable errors, amounts nearly to the average constituency of "one"—awful preponderance! Now this majority, such as it is, was not composed of rural voters; its elements were drawn from cities and large towns, the hot-beds of sedition and the orbits of the Radical Press. These electors, having given their suffrages for the town to some clamorous demagogue, went off in clouds to do the same fa vour by the counties they inhabited; and thus it happens that many of the double-pledged Bill swallowing delegates, though sitting apparently for different places, do in fact represent the same majo rity of constituents, who have frequently been " like Cerberus, three gentlemen at once." But the vir tual representation. effected by these boroughs is not s;mply that of the prodigious minority, which could not in any other way (mark this !) have made known its sentiments within the walls of Parliament ; (and is this no argument for the maintenance of close boroughs ?) but it is the virtual representation of seven-eighths of the country gentlemen throughout England ;—it is the representation of all the gentry in Northamptonshire who supported Mr. Cartwright, save six who dined with Lord Althorp;—it is the representation of all the gentry iii Hampshire, for every one refused to grace Sir J.Nlacdonald's ovation, and they were in consequence visited with that Baro net's displeasure, though the possessor of a property in that county, as small as it was new ;—it is the representation of all the gentry of Dorsetshire except three ;—it is the representation of those noble, wealthy, and respectable names which were attached to declarations previously to the dissolution, arid which have lately been gloriously increased by the addition of thecounties of Warwick and Stafford. We confess that it tries our patience to hear such language about the County Members, whether it proceed from boldness or despondency; doubtless to the words" County Members" there belonga certain dignity and weight, derived from the ancient and sarong connection that used to subsist between a representative and all that was great and good in the county he sat for. It is so no longer ; and we must therefore recollect, that, in opposing a measure backed and led by some scores of such gentlemen, we are riot opposing the great mass of those who by education, by habit, by interest in the soil, and sub stantial influence (however it may be momentarily shaken), have the real power and confidence of the country. If this be so, we have firm foundations, though our superstructure may be tottering under so great violence of assault ; our business must be to prop and strengthen, in the full hope that the madness of- the people will not endure for ever. The Commons first, and then the Lords, should the Bill reach them, will firmly and discreetly analyse the various ingredients of this Circean compound; they will shew where it is perilous, where unjust ; nor will they omit to set forth the points in which it is at once both ridiculous and wicked. Clause after clause will be temperately debated, that the country may have time to consider its progress, and receive instruction upon it as a whole, and as taken in its details. Should this be done with judgment, but still with resolution, we do not hesitate to express our opinion that the Ministers and their radical Press will be foiled in their attempts to maintain excite ment arid error; and that wealth and intelligence, and ancient services, and honest character, will, by the blessing of God, reassume their station, and lead a willing people to a right understanding of its own happiness.—Morning Post. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. 110 TV- S TREE T. Yesterday John Regan, formerly a police con. stable, was brought before Mr. Mristmt., charged with bigamy. The prisoner had been charged at this office with having deserted his first wife, with whom he has had four children, and the parish officers of St. Mar tin-in-the-Fields, to whom his family became charge able, applied to have them passed to Ireland, the prisoner and his wife being natives of that country. The prisoner consented to he passed with his family, but having proceeded some distance on the road, he returned to London to renew a connection he had formed with a widow, who keeps a brothel in La zenby-court, Strand, and to whom it appeared he had previously been married, having represented himself to her as a single man. Some months after, the first wife returned to London to claim support from her husband for herself and her two surviving children, the other two having died on the journey" from Ireland, owing to the hardships they endured on the road. She again became chargeable to St. Martin's parish, and an arrangement was finally agreed upon, that the prisoner should allow her 7s. a week. The subsequent apprehension of the pi i- Goner on the charge of bigamy was resolved upon by the p,rish, with the full consent of the second wife, whom it appeared lie had beaten and other wise ill-treated. The certificate of the last marriage, which it ap peared was celebrated in February last, at St. Ann's church, Soho, was put in as evidence, and also the deposition of the prisoner, which was taken before Sir R. Birnie, when the order of removal was made, and in which he acknowledged his first wife by the name of Mary. The prisoner denied that he had ever been mar ried in Ireland, and said he signed the deposition for the purpose of having his children passed home. A solicitor who attended for the prosecution, pro duced a certificate in Latin, according to the custom of the Catholic church, from which it appeared that the prisoner had been married at Adair, near Lime rick, in Ireland, by the parish priest of that place, whose name was Flynn. The solicitor added, that as this certificate would be required to be authenti cated, a person had been sent to Ireland for the pur pose of bringing over the priest whose name was attached to the document, who would prove its authenticity, and ide n tify th e p ar ti e s w h om h e bad so married. The prisoner said that Father Flynn was a dis carded priest, and that consequently he could_ not have legally performed the functions of a priest. It was finally arranged that the case should be adjourned for a fortnight, to give time for the pro duction of witnesses to establish the first marriage. ELOPEMENT.—On Sunday last the daughte of a highly respectable Clergyman, not 50 miles from Carmarthen, eloped with an embryo divine, and before their friends had concluded their morning devotions the fair fugitive bad tied the indissoluble knot. Her father and the rest of the family were on their route to church, when the young lady suddenly pretended to have forgotten something, and returned home to procure it. The party proceeded unsuspectingly to church, whilst our heroine, having got out of sight, bounded along with lightsome heart, undeterred by hedges and ditches, to an appointed place, where she found her expectant lover with a chaise, ready to convey her to a neighbouring parish church, where they were duly married. On their way to the altar they actually passed the lady's family going to church, hut they had adopted the necessary precaution of pulling lip the blinds, to screen themselves from observation. They had chosen Sunday, it is supposed, from the per suasion that " the better the day the better the deed. "-- Carmarthen Jacarrial. EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF WHEAT- LEY, THE SWINDLER. About six months ago Mr. Harrison, the pawn broker, in Wardour-street, Soho, was defrauded of watches and jewellery to the amount of nearly 200/. by a person who called himself the Rev. William Wheatley, then staying at Walker's Hotel, in Dean street; and with this booty, and a vast quantity of other portable property obtained from different other tradespeople, the Rev, swindler decamped to the continent, leaving a bill unpaid at Walker's Hotel of above 70/.; but so thoroughly did he ingratiate himself into the good opinion of Mr. Walker, to whom he represented that he was the Rector of Farringdon, in Berkshire, that even still Mr. Weikel entertains hopes of being ultimately paid. Ever since the flight of Wheatley from the country Mr. Harrison has been indefatigable in his exertions to have him apprehended on the continent, yet it ha been found impracticable hitherto to have this long practised swindler brought to punishment. Owing to the publicity given at the time to the fraud practised by this soi-disant clergyman, Mr. Harrison has received communications respecting him, not only from various places in England and Scotland, but also from different parts of the conti nent, detailing the most extraordinary histories of his swindling exploits; and an innkeeper at Sheer ness has given up to Mr. Harrison a trunk full of papers left there by Wheatley about four years ago in hen of an unsettled account, amongst which are some very remarkable correspondences of Wheat ley's with many persons of rank, and a systematic set of memoranda kept by him of his own villanies, with the names of his victims appended. It appears by documents, that would seem of some importance, amongst these papers too, that Wheatley made a joint sale with others of a considerable estate that reverted to them in Nottinghamshire to the present Duke of Norfolk, and that he has since been endea vouring to extort more money from the Duke on the plea that he withheld some necessary title deeds. The principal sufferer by the rogueries of this per son is a Dr. Bowles, the proprietor of an extensive school at Farringdon Hall, in Berkshire, who, through an advertisement, engaged Wheatley for two years as an assistant at the school, where the latter con ducted himself so well as to become the favourite of the whole establishment, and so gained on the un suspecting good nature of Dr. Bowles as to obtain from him advances of money to the amount of above 2,0001. to establish his claim, which he persuaded Dr. Bowles was indispensable, to the dropped title of Duke of Ancaster, and to all the estates that be longed to tha' dormant peerage ; and he actually so completely hoodwinked Dr. Bowles upon this sub ject, as to induce him to promise that he would give up his school and come and reside with him (Wheat ley), when Duke of Ancaster, as his companion and friend, and Dr. Bowles in fact sent circulars to the parents of his pupils that after a certain time he was to relinquish his establishment. Sir George Naylor, who, it seems, knew some thing of Wheatley a great many years ago, was the person represented by Wheatley as having made out the claim to the Ancaster Dukedom through Sir George's connection with the Herald's College; and to give a colour to this representation he ma naged to renew his acquaintance with Sir George, and to open a correspondence with him ; but it was on a very different subject, for he was all the while representing to Sir George Naylor that Dr. Bowles was about taking him into partnership in the school, so exeful did he find him ; and he persuaded Sir George to introduce him to his solicitor, and actually had a deed of partnership, on his representation, drawn up as between himself and Dr. Bowles, in which he induced Sir George to allow himself to be named as his trustee, and this deed he has carried with him, leaving Sir George to pay for drawing it up; and, it is said, has found it as useful to exhibit in his continental speculations as he did here before he quitted. Wheatley never was a graduate of any College, although he has generally passed himself off as a cler gyman of the Church of England, and that he had leiter) a degree at Oxford ; but be was only a very short time at that University, when he was obliged to quit it for his malpractices; and in truth he is as great an impostor in literature as in other matters, for although he has in some instances imposed him self as a profound classical scholar, it would appear from several classical books found in his trunks, with the original on one side and a clo , e translation on the other, and the painstaking that appears by a multiplicity of marks in both, to acquire a knowledge of the corresponding meaning of the words, that the fellow's acquirements must in this way have been of the most superficial kind. It is an undoubted fact that at one time this swindler, when he had not a shilling, agreed on terms for the purchase of the extensive estates of Hadley Hall, in Essex, and Hayford, in Wales, and to the mansion on the latter estate he sent down, to prepare for his own arrival there, a retinue of ser vants, horses, carriages, &c., from London, all en gaged, hired, or purchased on the faith of the deeds for conveying him to the estate, in preparation in the hands of a solicitor, to whom he referred all the parties for the truth of his being the purchaser. Wheatley having, on one occasion that he carried on an extensive system of swindling in Yorkshire, where he occupied a splendid mansion, and of which county he is a native, his father having been a curate of the established church there, when hard pressed by creditors, suddenly feigned madness, by pretending to imagine that his head was made of glass, and nothing could persuade him to lie down in bed, or put on a hat, until his arrangements were complete for making his final bow to the Yorkshire people, and then he put on his hat and walked off. His exploits on the Continent are as varied and ex tensive as in England. At Lausanne, in Switzer land, he was allowed to preach and officiate in the Protestant English Church there, and was a great favourite, as a pious devout man, until one day he departed, having swindled almost every one in the place, native as well as Engiish, and amongst them at Mr. Verey, the confectioner , in Rege n t -street, then Lausanne, and took with him, at his departure , a valuable carriage that he had on hire. At Vienna he not only preached and performed divine service in the English chapel, but was appointed treasurer to its funds, with the whole of which he ran away.— At Paris he persuaded the then King, Louis XVIII., in a correspondence by which he imposed on his Majesty, that he had been brought up in a Roman Catholic convent, was a zealous adherent of that faith, but being disgusted with the world he had determined to become a hermit, and begged of his Majesty to allow him a spot in one of the Royal forests to have a cell excavated, in which to pass the remainder of his days. To this the good-natured King assented, and gave orders to have the cell prepared, but Wheatley, before it was half dug out, having got a HIM of money from his 'Majesty's bounty to buy religious books, &c. left the cell for his Majesty's own occupation. Mr. Harrison, although he could not lay hold of this notorious swindler since his last trip to the continent, has made the place very hot for him, for he has pursued him by agents, arid with the English newspapers giving an account of his robberies through his whole route, from Calais to Bruges, where he had the impudence to take a house, and get into the best society for a few days, then ce to Brussels, Tourney, Coblentz, &c., and last t o E umes, in the Duchy of Nassau, where he at p resent i s a detenue" for 1.501. he owes for good living, car riages, &c. at the hotel there wh ere h e i s stopp i ng; and he has within a few days sent to England, at the expense of the hotel-keeper, and had very nearly sent the hotel-keeper himself, a youth, the son of a poor w i woman Hogsden, whom h e i nve i g l e d away with hiin n his flight, and passed off as his nephew, with a large sealed parcel, a dd resse d to Si r G eorge Naylor; and has it seems told t h e E umes i nn k eeper that his nephew is to return very soon with a sum of money from Sir George, as an advance on the title deeds of his estates contained in this parcel. The boy on his arriv a l i n L on d on, took the parce l to Sir George Naylor, who on opening it found only some folds of brown paper, and a number -if old ballads, with: a--letter from Wheatley, strongly recommending Sir George to quit England altogether, and give up the Herald's College, and zo over to live with him (W.) at Eumes, where the climate and scenery was so delightful that he %vas ;ure it would be beneficial to his health. He also addressed a letter to Dr. Bowles, advising him to relinquish Farringdon Hall, and go over and set up a school at Eumes, where there was a good opening, and that he (Wheatley) would assist him. The yonth who was the bearer of the package Mr. Har rison, on hearing of his arrival, had taken before a Nlagistrate as an accomplice in the fraud practised on him ; for this lad was with Wheatley at the time in Mr. Harrison's shop, and called Wheatley (as no doubt instructed) " uncle ;" but the lad has pro mised to give a great deal of curious information respecting Wheatley, and Mr. Harrison has, there fore, for the present suspended proceedings against him. Although Mr. Harrison has received a great deal of advice, a vast number of letters, and been put to a large expense of postage, &c. from the mune. rous ether victims to Wheatley's frauds, he seems to be the only one who has had the public spirit, the perseverance, and the cost of hunting up this great delinquent. In fart Mr. Harrison has traced him from his commencement in crime, when at the age of fourteen he robbed a schoolfellow of his watch, through all his villainies, including a forgery of the name of Mr. C. W. Wynn to a document, as a security he gave for money he borrowed of a lady, and for which he was committed to Dorchester gaol, but the I idy being 1111. willing to prosecute he escaped. It has been also ascertained that Wheatley was tried and convicted at the Old Bailey, on the prosecution of the pro prietor of Marshal Thompson's Hotel, in Berkeley square, where he gave a fictitious cheque on a bank ing -house, for a large .bill he incurred in the name of Sir G. Hewit, by which title he pissed there, and for this offence he was sentenced to a term of impri sonment in Giltspur-street Compter. In 1827 Wheatley took the benefit of the Insolvent Debtors' Act, the debts on his schedule amounting to eighty three thousand pounds, and not one shilling of assets; arid, after his discharge on this occasion, an adver tisement appeared in the newspapers, giving a full description of his person and character, and caution ing the public against his frauds, and the alarm of this 'advertisement it was that drove him for con cealment, for a time, into the service of Dr. Bowles. Wheatley's mother died a pauper in St. Pancras workhouse, at an advanced age, and some time be fore her death her hopeful son went to pay a filial visit, and stole from her her only cloak, and pawnedl it for six shillings, the duplicate for which Mr. rlarrison has found amongst his papers, and a vast number of other duplicates for a variety of property pawned for years back; many of the articles pledged at Mr. Harrison's own shop, so that he would seem to have been an old customer there. - - - - - - - LAW INTELLIGENCE. COUR T OF EXCHEQUER, an' E ASSAULT.—WILLIAMS V. !TALL. The plaintiff in this case is a bookseller, carrying on business in Paternoster-row, and the defendant is a plumber, living in Charter-house -street, Charter house-square. On the 23d of November last, the parties in the action, who had been before that time unknown to each other, met by accident at a pub lic-house in Smithfield. Some conversation having been commenced upon the subject of duelling, the plaintiff expressed his disapprobation of the practice, and regretted much that whe❑ he was in the army, he had been engaged in a duel with a brother officer, who he shot dead. He afterwards, however, s,tid that it was fortunate for himself that he had not half a dozen sisters, as they would probably be the cause of his fighting so many duels, for if any man were to insult either of them, he (the plaintiff) would certainly challenge him. The defendant, upon this, put a case, and supposing that the plaintiff had a sister, and that the defendant had seduced her, be asked the plaintiff how he should behave. To this the plaintiff answered that he would blow out the defendant's brains, and knock off his head. After a little more wrangling of the same sort, the plain till; after having repeatedly applied a disgusting epithet to the defendant, provoked him so much that the latter, who has a wooden hand screwed into a plate of iron at the end of the stump of his arm, proceeded to unscrew the wooden part of the limb, and assaulted the plaintiff with the remainder. The parties fought for a considerable time, and the plaintiff was at length carried home. Mr. CHARLES PHILLIPS had proceeded some way in his address to the Jury for the defence, when the foreman, at the suggestion of his brethren, stood up, and addressing the Court, said, well, we have heard enough of the case to convince us that the plaintiff ought not to get more than a farthing damages. Here a dry old gentleman who sat in the Jury box, and wore a pair of very large spectacles, very quietly observed, " I beg your pardon, Mr. Fore man, you have not got my consent to that verdict." After this announcement, it became necessary to proceed with the case. When the reply had been concluded, The LORD CHIEF BARON said that the plaintiff was entitled to a verdict, but that it was for the Jury to say what damages ought to be given in such a case. The Jury, without observing any secrecy or re serve, instantly exclaimed altogether, and in a loud voice, " A farthing ! a farthing !" So extraordinary a method of delivering a verdict excited a loud burst of laughter in the Court. The case continued until half-past five o'clock. The Lord Chief Baron will sit here again on Monday next, and at Westminster to-morrow. RACING OF STEAM VESSELS. On Tuesday the Lord Mayor, accompanied by several of the Aldermen and members of the Court of Common Council, went to hold Courts of Con servancy for the counties of Kent and Essex. The Town Clerk (Ilenry Woodthorpe, Esq.), after ha ving sworn in the jury at the Crown and Sceptre Tavern, in Greenwich, addressed them, by the Lord Mayor's direction, upon the subject of the mischievous practice of racing steam-vessels against each other in the Thames. It was most particularly incumbent upon the jury, which consisted ,of a num ber of intelligent men so situated as to be enabled to observe what was passing on the river, to make presentiments of such dangerous nuisances. Those who had the controul of the steam-vessels had not the excuse to plead that the mischief they did re sulted from accident, for their management was an in stance of the perfection at which the application of the vast capabilities of steam had arrived. The river was, like the public street, his Majesty's highway, and the same caution ought to be used in it which was required of persons pissing in the public streets. The law required that due care should be taken ; and if death was the consequence of the scandalous practice now in operation, the person convicted would have to answer for the crime of man slaughter, and, no doubt, would be adjudged to pay the very heaviest penalty inflicted by law—trans portation for life. The LORD MAYOR and Aldermen present stated their determination to prosecute most rigorously every violator of a hew which common humanity required slemytdry onedbe of them mostscrubeei puiloiuntrmyatett iii e i nde teir attended to. They private capacities, as well as in their capacity as ma gistrates, of the flagrant disregard of human life ex hibited by the conductors of steam-vessels. The jury were then sworn, and the court was dis solved. They will make their presentiments on the next day his Lordship holds a court in the county. At Stratford, the Essex jury were addressed to the same effect, and with similar earnestness, on the subject of the steam-vessels. We undel:stand that the City Solicitor has already been instructed to prosecute in some instances. After the business of the conservancy was over, the Lord Mayor gave a very elegant entertainment to the members -of.-the corporation, and severs visiters, at the Crown and Sceptre. The LORD MAYOR said they were assembled after the business of the day to commemorate one of the ancient and respectable usages of the city of London —that of eating and drinking together and wishing each other well.--(A laugh.) Alderman ANSLEY, the senior Alderman present, complimented the Lord Mayor for the manner kr which he had more than half gone through mayoralty. No doubt his Lordship would continue to show h ow sincere he was in the cause up to the last hour of his mayoralty.—(A laugh.) Amongst the other toasts given by the Lott!' MAYOR was the health of the Chairman of the London-bridge Committee. Mr. JONES felt highly honoured by the unanimous feeling expressed upon the occasion. GENERAL MEETING OF MERCHANTS INTERESTED IN THE WINE TRADE. (FROM A CORRESPONDENT.) In pursuance of a resolution of the Committee of the Association of Wine and Spirit Merchants, held on the 10th of June, a general meeting of merchanto interested in the wine trade took place yesterday, al the Commercial Sale-rooms, Mincing-lane, for the purpose of considering whether any, and what step should be taken relative to the proposed alteration ill the wine duties. At about two o'clock Mr. BOND took the. chair , He read a report, just published, of the proceedings of the above association,and a letter to Lord Abhor'', which had some time since been forwarded by it, The purport of these was to show the impolicy, its general bearing, of the measure brought forward during the late Parliament. He said it was a well known fact, that the French wine trade was in the hands of but few individuals ; that the consumption of that wine, in comparison with that of Spain and Portugal, was very small ; that the alteration of the duties would not effect any alteration of consequence in the sale of French wine, and would materially decrease that of the other wines; that, in conse quence, the revenue which it was the object of Government to increase, would meet with a contrary result, whilst the trade itself would be materially injured. Mr. Blum) should at once express his opinion, that the measure, as in the former case, had beet) brought forward by Government, would be &sad vantageous to the trade, and useles to the revenue; and, although Government seemed resolute, yet an appeal from the whole body of merchants connected with al's trade he felt convinced would have its due weight. Mr. MooRE said, if an equalization of the duty on wine had taken place, he had no doubt the re:ye' nue would have been considerably benetitted but the great error of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was, in allowing an extension of two years to the Cape wine merchots. To them it would have been better to have allowed compen salon. Finding he (the Chancellor of the Excite pier) had done wrong in this particular, he did n ot proceed, lie (Mr. Moore) was of opinion, that Government should go on in this plan, including wines from the Cape, but. riot without. . - The CHAIRMAN said if compensation were given to the Cape wine -merchants, it was equally due to the merchants generally. He thought with this they had nothing to do. • Mr. ADORE observed, that certain privileges had been for a time gratued to the Cape wine-merchants, but they ‘vere limited only to a period of five years; so that if they had speculated upon it, they had done so with their eyes open. Mr. DUFF thought this meeting was not called upon to enter on the subject of the Cape wino, but solely to consider whether they should or not en.::eavour to induce the Chancellor of the Exche quer to give up his scheme upon this subject. He was personally of opinion no alteration should take place. Mr. WILD coincided with the last speaker, and observed that the great consumption of the trade was in the Portuguese and Spanish wines, which bore a proportion with those of others of 85 to the 100. This would fully convince them that by in' creasing its price and decreasing its sale, without ill' creasing that of the French, the measure of the Chancellor of the Exchequer would injure rather than benefit the revenue. The CHAIRMAN said the Chancellor of the Exche quer thought the additional proposed duty on Spa nish and Portuguese wines was so very trifling, t hat the public would not feel it. This was a point on which he differed. The present duties were, on French wines, is. 3d. per gallon ; those on Portu guese, &c., 4s. 10d. per gallon; and the proposal was to equalize their) to ss. 6tl. per gallon, adding Sd. to the Portuguese, &c., and taking off Is. 9d• from the French. Mr. SELsoN said, every cask of wine be sold in March last was sold by ihim engaged without the duty; for without this he could make no sales. if France would meet this measure by a reduction of duties on our manufactures, this might, perhaps, give the means of increasing the consumption; but the small reduction proposed would not have this effect. Mr. HAYTHORNE said there was a million in value of British goods now in Portugal in entrepot, liable, under present regulations, to a duty of 15 per cent. Should this measure be carried, they would then be b,eaking the present existing conditional treaty, and b liable to the same duty as other nations who pay :30 per cent. After some further observations, it was moves by Mr. WILD, " That the alteration of wine duties, by the equalization of the duties of French, Spa' nish, and Portuguese wines, would be detrintentll to the trade, and not advantageous to the revenue. The resolution was put, and carried by a majority of three to one. Another resolution was then proposed by Mr.VVILvt and seconded, to the effect, " That this meeting take the necessary steps to induce the Chancellor of the Exchequer not to bring forward this measure in the present Parliament." This was carried unanimously; after which the meeting retired. Among other instances of successful wanting, " Cslonel JOHNES, of Hafod, was offered 100,0001. for woods he had planted for his amusement." In the Court of King's Bench, on Thursday, it was decided to be imperative on Magistrates to par pauper women, born in Ireland, who have not gained settlement in this country, to the place of their nativity; but not so the children to which they may have give° birth in England, who have thus secured a claim to relief here, and who, it seems, are to be dragged from their mothers, and confided to the parental care of the p a rish officers. The separation of the child from the parent has long been regarded as one of the foulest blots in the system , of \Vest India slavery; and yet it seems that the laws of " happy England" recognise a similar course in regard to free whites, inhabiting that part of the British territory de' nominated, par excellence," the land of freedom." BIRTHS. Oil the 14th inst. in Belgrave-square, the lady of J. Drum mond, Esq. jun., of a daughter. On the 14th inst. in Cornwall-terrace, Regent's-park, the lady of W. Paynter, Esq., of a BOIL On the 15th inst. at Nyn-park, Northaw, Herts, Mrs. Pager of a daughter. On the 10th inst. at Chelsea, the lady of Lieutenant C. 6 . Butler, R.N. of a daughter. MARRIED. On the 15th inst. at Trinit y - church,:Marylebone, C. Boileau Elliott, Esq. ' of the Bengal civil service, and of Queen' s College, Cambridge, to Emily Gertrude, daughter of the late J. Doyen:. Esq., one of his Majesty's special Commi ss i oners i n the Welt Indies. A Ell e n Heathcote: ()n t the ra Wm. Wyndham, j un ., E sq . to Miss College, Cambridge, to Mari an, e ld est d aug h ter o f Captain Ltl gard, of the Royal Military A sylum. lliin 11th h,aw inst. Church,,Lt Chelsea, the Rev. J. I'. Robinson, of Jew,' DIED. (hi the lath inst. at Portland, near Weymouth, the Baron Nolcken, son of the late Baron Nolcken, many years the Envoi Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at this Court of his Majesty Gustavus Adolphus, the late King of Sweden; in the 52,1 year of his age. On the 14th inst. at Forest-gate, West Ham, Essex, Elizabeth' wife of Captain Tuit, On the sth inst. on his passage from Antigua, aged 23, Chart& Constable, Esq., second son of J. C. Constable, Esq., of Oak' house, Battersea. PRINTED AND PUBLISRED BY MURDO YOUNG, AT - SUN OPTICS, 11:4Srits*D. LONDON, ‘../. ~= ~~~ H] t: ENGLA hereby g That he appro the REr PER. C' Court wi 1831, to per Cent, ROY,' rrHI 1 . 1( give Not CORPOI Royal Ex from Elel the After vernor, a will he ( same pla Bth of Ju tors. W times as t Reports The c N.B. ] will he re the :.??, ( 1 ii On THE Longma n On in T M CABIN E. Print ---~_._ ► TIMES. With a N In I vo the Presid toryski) ancient bo Printed place, 1),,11 just R. of Countr those who clime; 'wit Ded Cil " Thrut proper mind, for and merits RELL' in FRAN( " This i event."—' The LE This is the able Lean Pu NEW NC lAC By th ways and By the Aut lieu." '.3 Ay the Au B 0 Or, the E Tedd," " The ti from the li th e hnowle A Tt " The 4 spirited pi Spectator. By t Henr`• ( street. WAI. best selects GOODS ii the Society the cottage Parliament Mechanics, articles at Society pro burial, and return sine, trig Royalty the King& bestowed of by their hi the same terion by m Establislan marked at no abateme fault appeal charg e , warded by 71 Leaden CUE grin E eY6 Strictures, Kidneys, II end other performing It contains with the St which ma] Symptoms, front an iuii a perseeera and inerea! delicate fen Prepared chapel, fror (upon enclo and 20a. ea Caution- W. Stirling, Agents— Ingdon-str I_, , - PO); veseing Drz as at the sa liarly adapt s and eountei taken, they Calomel, El eines, whicl the desired, genre in t 1 Much wine, Sold in Cheapside, Pal Druggis BUTLE] This Prepai found witch at 941. N .B, A