The Sun. — London, England, 1821-05-25 00:00:00

TILE LONDON JOURNALS. DAILY EXTRACTS FROM THE MORNING PAPERS, May 25. [BRITISH 'PRESS.] The late events upon the continent of Europe ..certainly excited a very general alarm among the proprietors of Foreign Stock, and some millions of - British pounds have in consequence been trans ferred from the French and other stocks into our Government securities. This operation is, in our opinion, the principal cause of , the recent rise in 'oar funds. We are not aware that the events on the'Continent exercised any influence upon our funds, either by causing an actual depression, or by preventing their improvement; 'but if they did so, something may now be attributed to the re storation of confidence. The return of the Bank to cash payments, considering the extent to which -the paper issues had recently been reduced, will 'certainly increase the quantity of the circulating medium, and therefore in some degree diminish 'its intrinsic value, though it will only restore it 'to its sound and wholesome state ; but whatever may be 'the extent of this Operation, time has not yet been allowed for it; therefore nothing can he deduced from the state of the currency with re spect to the subject now before us. In the pre sent state of the finances of the country, a rise in. the price of the funds is certainly not to be de sired, 'for limited as our sinking fund now is, it becomes a matter of deep interest that the pro duce of it should be renderied as effective as possible. [ Ew 'mules.] We were happy to observe the candid manner in which Mr. Brougham brought under the con sideration of Parliament the proceedings of the Constitutional Association. Differing, as we cer tainly do, from the Leaflied Gentleman, in his doubts on the expediency of such an Association, we admit that those doubts were fairly stated, and deserve to be explicitly answered. Let us see what Mr. Brougham admits. He admits the high respectability of the Associators ; he *ouches for the sound constitutional principles of some of them ; he designates others as godly and pioui; and he observes that the published list contains the names of no less than forty Peers of the realm ! The Society directs its exertions to tyro great objects, the encouragement of moral and constitutional publications, and the discou ragement, or iu flagrant cases, the prosecution of seditious and disloyal works. Against the cir culation of loyal and moral writings not a sy liable is uttered ; and Mr. Brougham himself would doubtless allow it to be a praiseworthy measure. As to the prosecutions; he distinctly admits them to be legal ; he admits them, in point of law, to stand on the same footing as those in stituted by numerous other Associations through out the country, and particularly by that very laudable and beneficial institution the Society for the Suppression of Vice. The legal principle is undisputed that any person or number of per sons may prefer a Bill of Indictment against others for any crime or offence cognizable by law. Such is the position o► Mr. Brougham himself, and it is, we apprehend, perfectly incontrover tible.—liere, then, we have a legal Association pursuing a legal object by legal means. Upon what ground are their proceedings impeached ? In the first place, it is said that ether Associa tions prosecute other Offences. True : and it is because they do so that a distinct association is instituted for the prosecution of these offences. Some individuals combine to enforce the laws against felonies, others against misdemeanors. One body of men direct their 'attention exclu sively to the suppression of obscene and blas phemous publications ; but with regard to sedi tious publications, and to them alone, the ground has hitherto been unoccupied ; and in occupying it- the Constitutional Association has supplied a most essential safeguard to public morals and the public peace. [MORNING POst.] The important and salutary measure which has reylved, and in some degree realizedithe fable of the Phoenix, by making the corruption of Gram pound serve to create a new and healthy branch in our Nationallßepresentation, received last night the final sanction of the Muse of Peers. After a short discussion, the House divided,, and the third reading was carried by a majority of 39 to The Bill was then paised and returned to the Commons, who, it is expected, will agree to the amendments made by their Lordships, rather than stand out in behalf of Leeds, and reject a Bill which establishes for the first time the highly important principle, that the Elective Franchise may be transferred from those by whom it. has been justly forfeited, to any places which may seem proper to the wisdoM of Parliament. In the first instance the new Members are given to the County of York ; but it is understood that inonld any other case. of . corruption be proved, the forfeited franchise will be bestowed on those populous and opulent cities, which having grown up since the Crown has resigned- the. power of franchising - Boroughs, could not otherwise enjoy the benefit of a share in ,the National Represen tation. Gross abuse of the Constitutional Association Is now all the rage among the advocates of the licentious and seditious Press ; and severe com plaint is naturally enough made against those means which, are, likely to bring the guilty to justice. It would indeed be difficult to punish men in any way that shall be agreeable and sa tisfactory to themselves,; and therefore the Con stitutional Association, in their exertions to put down a detestable traffic, must expect to be daily more and more honoured with the hatred of all who seek to promote the moral pestilence by which the land is at present cursed.—( Ibid.) [MORNING lI,ERALD.] Mr. Scarlett moved in the House of Commons, last night, the second reading of his Bill relative to the support of the Poor, in a speech of re markable ability and clearness of statement. It - will be remembered, that'the two. main objects are the abolition of the System of parish settle ments, and the fixing a specific limitation of the amount of the Poor Rate,. In some cases ) how- ever, where the sudden abolition of settlements would press hard, he proposes to continue the• present system for "a time, and upon the contin gency of a famine or epidemy, he proposes a clause, providing that a larger amount may be raised in a mode especially provided 'in the Bill. This might appear an abandonment of the principle upon which the Bill is founded. But where error has prevailed long, much must be conceded to it, and by a sort of compromise, the return to sounder views must be gradual, in order to avoid a revulsion which might shock huma nity. The relation between subsistence and po pulation has of late years been much canvassed, and, in spite of, the clamour which false humanity and the passions of that class, where they are most impetuous and blind, the doctrine upon which this Bill is founded has, we believe, at length subdued to its sway the reasoning part of the community. An enlightened humanity would interfere only to prevent a too rigid and vio lent correction of error and abuse. The practical evils and absurdities of the present system have been developed by Mr. Scarlett and other Lion. Members, on various occasions in the House, anti the- Bill meets general concurrence. It was read a second time, and ordered to be committed on Monday, when the minuter provisions, which are numerous, will be canvassed and decided. Sir R. Wilson opposed it, but upon aNiew utterly unscientific, and indeed destructive of the very notion of property, as defined by the law of na ture and the law of the land. [THE TIMES.] One step has been taken in the humanizing of our penal laws, by the House of Commons going into a Committee on the Bill for mitigating the punishment of forgery in certain cases. Whether that step may be recalled we know not. It is im possible to argue the subject farther, or to produce more facts in support of the princi ples advocated by Mr. Buxton, than was done by that gentleman himself, in his powerful speech on Wednesday evening; and to his reasoning, and to that of the able members who acted with him, we may leave the question. It is, however, fair to remark upon the issue of the business, that should the philanthropic per sons who are now so warmly engaged in mode rating the severity of our penal code fail in their endeavours, the evils of which they complain will not be stationary,, but will, we fear, increase in consequence of their frustrated exertions. It is stated, and with truth, that judges, juries, and prosecutors are all unwilling to convict, on ac count of the severity of the punishment which awaits the verdict of guilty ; but now that this aversion has been blazoned, palliated, and even commended, it will of course spread more widely, and operate more strongly.— It has obiained a kind of legal sanction, by the publicity which is given to it, and the terms in which it is spoken of ; so that from henceforth a man will not only have occasion to dread the cor rodings of his own conscience, but even the re proaches of his, neighbours, if he shows a ready disposition to prosecute, and refuses to partici pate in those feelings by which every benevolent man is acknowledged to be actuated. It seems necessary, therefore, that something should be done, not only from the experience of the evils connected with the existing system, but alsci from an apprehension of their aggravation. '.---.1145w..-. [MORNING CHRONICLE.] We believe there are few of our well informed readers, who do not think with Sir James Mack intosh, that the speech of Mr. Buxton on our Criminal• Legislation contained a very clear and extended view of that great question, and was one of the most powerful appeals ever made to the House. His reasoning, indeed, was so triumphantly conclusive, that it must carry con viction to every unprejudiced mind.—The Legis lature of this. Country has hitherto trusted entirely to severity of punishment; and what is the consequence?—that " crime has increased in England,' as compared with every other country, and as compared with itself in former' times." The increase has indeed been fearfully great. Nothing has been attempted in the way of prevention of crime—no discrimination in the allotment of punishment ; for,as Mr. Buxton ob served, "to kill your father, or to catch► a rabbit the penalty was the same ; to destroy the three Kingdoms, or to,, destroy a "hop bine, the penalty was the same ; to kill a gypsey, or to keep company with the said gypsey, the penalty according to law was the same." Capital punishments have been lavishly dealt out, and no other mode of punishment, effec tive for its object, has been thought of.—Tran sportation is rather regarded by criminals as a favour than a punishment, and our Penitentiary system is' so injudicious and expensive, that no One would wish to see it more extensively intro duced. It is certainly high time that an end should he pat to this system, that something should be done in the way of attempting the prevention of crime, that punishments should be proportioned to the nature of offences, and that criminals should not be treated in the manner, which of all others is most agreeable to persons of their habits and dispositions. LECTION' FOlt QUEENHITIIE.-ThiS election was continued to so late an hour on Wednes day night, that the Lord Mayor did not offi cially declare the numbers on the poll ; indeed, his Lordship could not properly do so, as a scru tiny was demanded by Mr. Capel's. friends, and which, we understand, the Lord Mayor was willing to have - gone into yesterday morning at ten o'clock, and for that purpose took his seat in St. Nicholas Cole Abbey Church. The scru tiny was not, however; called for on the part of Mr. Capel, and the Lord Mayor declared Mr Venables duly elected, he having 50 votes ; Mr. Capel, 31. Mr. Goss then resigned the office of Deputy, leaving the new Alderman to re-ap point him, or any other, if he thought proper.— Mr. Capel, it is said, would have relinquished the contest on Tuesday, but for the persuasion of his friends ; some of whom, at the Stock Ex change, had laid considerable bets upon the re sult of the election. FOR THE SUN. ON PRISONS.—(No. V.) Ma EDITOR.—There is so much diversity of opinion on the labour adapted to prisons, and the description of persons who ought to be set to work during the time they may be in custody, that I shall venture s however hazardous the course, to enter upon the subject, )vith 'a view of skewing the necessity of a total revision of the . Law as at present established on this heath I will suppose Prisons to be the first, Classifi tion and - Inspection the second, Police the third, and Labour the fourth cause which must inevi tably effect reform in the morals of the lower or ders, and consequently the diminution of crime ; the Law, as at present, inflicts hard labour in very few instances, and does in no case ordain moderate work, so that an idle individual may have his passion gratified to the fullest extent by committing a trilling offence, and by becoming the inmate of a Gaol, he will either acquire from or impart to his fellow-prisoners, instruction which may lead him or them to vicious habits, and, per haps, an ignominious death. Practice convinces us of this, and so it must continue unless the Le gislature will crush this school of depravity by compelling every person in the common wards qf a gaol to labour. The prisons of this country are generally crowded during "the winter ; this arises from va rious causes, among which long nights suit the daring thief, and the needy cannot always obtain employ, or the spendthrift his portion of gain ; but the idle man looks to the Gaol as a sort of winter quarters, where he can be supplied with every necessary without work ; hence it is com mon to see numbers of poachers and others in confinement, not because they have destroyed game, &c., but by throwing a wire under the feet of the gamekeeper, they obtain a winter impri sonment, and the wife and children are thrown upon the parish, as there is scarcely an instance of the penalty being paid ; yet these men cannot be set to hard labour on summary process. 1 could name many cases where idleness and depravity in Gaol is preferred to honest ex ertion, whereby individuals might maintain their families ; but judicious labour is desirablel from other considerations ; every inhabitant of the common wards of a prison must, or ought, to have worked previous to his confinement ; then why should we prevent the industrious from fol lowing the bias of his mind, or indulge the sloth ful, by suffering him to be idle ? Many of my prisoners, Sir, prefer work, others the contrary, and surely it would be very improper for me to check industry in the one, or encourage negli gence in the other; indeed it cannot be reason able that the country should maintain culprits in idleness, when by their own exertion they may support themselves ; without work modern prisons may be a curse to society, but with judi cious well regulated labour, they are the bases on which the county and parish taxes are to be reduced, on which the lower orders are to be morally improved, and on which gaols will be come a terror to those whom the law would terri fy, and abodes of humanity to those with whom the law would z•ympathize. If it he adiiiitteti that labour is desirable in our prisons, let us sP4 how the matter stands : there are at present ,'")fi gaols, houses of correction, and bridewells in Great Britain, 117 of which only afford labour to their inhabitants ; out of the latter I find 31 county and city gaols, and the remaining 86 houses of correction and bride wells, so that in 9,41 prisons there is no employ ment; from the last may be deducted 96 gaols where the number of prisoners are so limited that no regular system of work is applicable to the ; but if the plan of prison association, as formerly suggested, be put into practice, every peison in custody may be kept to proportionate labour ; but even here the matter does not rest, for not only are many county gaols without the means of employing their prisoners, but a con siderable number of houses of correction and I brides ells are in the same defective state, so that the sentence of the law, as at present, is not complied with, and idleness, with all her defor mity, is suffered to stalk 'through those places which ought to correct her influence ; in addition to which I assure you that a prison defective in I building is much more secure under regulated labour than the strongest gaol in the kingdom without it. I am not an advocate for hard and indiscrimi nate work, hut on the contrary, would reduce it to four classes, viz, solitary, hard, moderate, and labour exercise ; it is not difficult to make these distinctions, there is nothing of perplexity in them, as will be shewn in the sequel. In a late publication no less than 58 trades are men tioned for male, and 10 for female prisoners' employment, near the whole of which appear to me exceptionable. I cannot think that jail werk ought to interfere with the occupation of the honest mechanic, who pays his quota of rent and taxes, and malutaits his family. -I- cannot think that the tools and implements required for many of those trades -ought to be introduced into a prison, except with abundant caution ; they may provide weapons for offence or defence, both of which ought to he avoided. I cannot think that spinning woollen or cotton is employment for men, neither do I think that sedentary. habits ought to be encouraged in our jails, yet a substi tute may be provided, so as to avoid all these objections, and supply every deficiency. I would ruggest the first moving power of a piece of ma chinery, by means of the tread wheel, which has been considerably improved by Mr. Cubitt, of Ipswich, and which may be brought to perfec tion under judicious management. The motion of the machinery is so well known, that a de scription would be superfluous, but it may be well to give you some extracts from that Gen tleman's Report on the subject."----lie says, that. " he was desired to take into consideration the best means of employing persons confined for hard labour, particularly as to making use of the joint efforts of many at one time, and in such manner that, although unwilling agents, each should be obliged to do his proper share of work without the power of• throwing any portion on his fellows; the object of the plan was to form a system of hard labour, which every one could per form without previous instruction, and is found- 4 ed on the above principle as a first 'moving power to some branch of manufacture suited to the local circumstances of the county in which the prison is situated : the operations of the prisoners would be precisely the same as those which are now ef fected by the ordinary powers of wind, water, stearry 3 or horses, and they need bare no more concern with the object of the machinery or ma nufacture than any of. the above-named agents ; and there would be no difficulty in establishing a mill or manufactory near the boundary wall of a prison through which only a single shaft or axle would have to pass to communicate the power or motion." Mr. Cubitt then proceeds to state a . description of the machinery, which is nothing more titan a broad undershoot water-wheel of small diameter, moved by the gravity of the men instead of water; the labourers arc supported by a hand rail in an erect position, for the purpose of ,regulating the step, so that no other muscles are called into play than those commonly used in walking up stairs ; the, improvement on this ma chinery is merely to erect skreens at, intervals, so as to divide classes or individuals when either so litary or social labour may be required ; the jailer ought to regulate the number of rotations each class is to make previou s s to rest, for instance ten rounds for hard labour, which will occupy five minutes, six for moderate labour, and four for labour exercise; but the two latter classes should have the same rest as the first, so that the work may be graduated to the situation of the prisoner, those for trial being put to labour exercise ; those sentenced to imprisonment, to moderate work ; and those where the law ordains hard labour would in course' be enabled to comply with their sen tence ; some persons; actuated by the purest mo tives of humanity, have objected to this machine from an idea that it is prejudicial to the prisoners' health ; happily instances of the contrary can be proved ; the mill at Bury Jail has been at work 18 months, (I rew ' ret without wheel classification) yet there is no detriment to the prisoners' health;. the inside tread wheel has been long known in this country, and does not possess any prejudicial quality; the wheel at Dover Castle has not caused illness; and if , we look abroad, the Chinese have used the exterior tread wheel for many centuries without perceiving any of those sad results ; the advantages of this machine over every species of labour are many ;- it consists in the feasibility of moderating the work, it does not require instruc tion, it does not interfere with the honest me chanic, it affords no weapon for offence or de fence, it is applicable to any manufacture requir ing rotatory motion, it may be reduced to common exercise, a prisoner cannot do more or less than his share of work, for if the time of each class be notified, the task-master cannot put the men be yond their strength, neither can he favour one in dividual more than another ; it has the advant age of the winch mill, because in one instance the gravity of the person is the agent of action, in the other, it is done by muscular power ; I haVe seen a winch mill turned by sixteen prisoners, many of whom went round merely mechanically, without the least exertion, eleven were taken off, and the remaining five performed the task of the original number; I do not wish to be personal. ; but feel it due to the public to expose such du plicity when it is extolled as hard labour. The earnings of prisoners' come next under consideration; here I am aware that I am on ten der ground, but should be deficient in candour were I not to state the result of practice upon this as well as every other subject connected with that line of life which I have selected (not from necessity), in preference to all others ; would pay tk unconvicted prisoner one half his earnings weekly, until be be acquitted, or found guilty by a Jury; if the former, he should receive the remaining moiety, and an increased sum, if necessary, to take him home on being dis charged ; if found guilty, the remaining half of the earnings should be added to the Gaol Fund, because until-now he is only at labour exercise ; other prisoners' earnings ought to be credited to the fund, and, on their discharge, they should receive a sufficient sum to enable them to return to their homes honestly ; but in addition some thing may be remitted to the parish of each indi vidual to support him a few days after he is home, previous to his obtaining work. .If the fund be properly managed it will afford 'this and much more, if necessary. Such a regulation will enable discharged prisoners to return to their friends cre ditably, and without stealing on the road for want; but there are candidates for giving pri soners indiscriminately all their earnings, so that the man who .commits a heavy crime, and is im prisoned two years, literally receives a bounty twenty-three to one more than the petty of fender who is confined in gaol only one month ! Can this be reasonable ? Is it just ? On the con trary, if Magistrates will apportion the earnings' fund according to circumstances, they will find that the juvenile offender will seldom return to gaol, and if he does, as it cannot be from neces sity, he merits much more coercive treatment. Notwithstanding I am a strenuous advocate for the tread wheel labour, I think that tailors and shoemakers ought to be employed in our gaols, but only so far as the prisoners require clothing ; let them make their own clothes ; but trading gaolers arc Oci things ; and I must fur her state, that the system I suggest is in no way applicable to PENITENTIARIES, which, I presume, are intended as places of confinement for those young in years, who, by labour, reflection, and example, after five or more years custody, may acquire - industrious habits, and learn trades, which, on their discharge, will enable them to maintain themselves, and become useful members of society. _ _ _ It becomes me, Sir, to apologize for the length of this letter; but, with your permission, I shall trouble you once more, ►►nd that with Reflections on the Government of Gaols, and the Impolicy of appointing inefficient Persons to their superin tendance. I am, &c. &c. CLAVIGER. The Musical Festival of the three Choirs of Gloucester,Worcester, and Hereford, takes place the ensuing autumn in the former city. This tri ennial meeting is the oldest musical one in the kingdom. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF CHANCERY, MAY N. THE EARL OF WESTMEATH V. THE COUNTESS OF WEST MEATH. Mr. HouE said he was requested to ask his Lords!iip for his judginent in this case.. The Lon' Cu ANC LI,DR—" Let it be put in the paper for Tuesday nest. 'fliis is one of that class of cases in v.itrii I had hoped it would not be necessary to ask for judgment:" Mr. BLAKE, Counsel for the Countess of 11 7 estmeath., stated, _ _ that the Earl of WestMeath had in i stituted 'a suit in the Eccic: siastieal Court for the restitution of conjugal rights. Mr. HORNE said, that the statement of his - 14earned - Friend was correct ; it was a fact whichh, he did not wish to kekp baek from his Lordship. The Loitn CHANCELLOR- 44 This will create a new dif ficulty, if the deed of separation between the NOble Parties does not go far enough to enjoin such a suit in the Ecclesiastical court. lam a; - rare there was a case in which Lord Bathurst went the length of granting an injunction to restrain such a, suit in the Ecclesiastical Court. I will give you my judgment on Tuesday next." CLAIIKT V. LORD ORMOI4II. This was a motion to restrain, by Injunction, Messrs. Do/- biggin and Co., from putting in an execution into the estate of Lord Ormond, to recover the amount of their claims under a verdict obtained by them against the Trustees, and also und6r one against the personal property of the late Lord Ormond.— The Executors were stated to have in their hands a sum of 15,0001. - but this was dented on the part of these Gentlemen, by Mr. florne, who stated, that they had not one shilling. The claim made by A.lessrs. Dolbiggin and Co. was.' for furniture supplied to the late Lord Ormond, and for the expellees of his funeral ; and, as Stated by their Counsel, the recovery of which was their only object. The, present motion not having been made by the Trustees, Mr. Butler Clarke was under the neces sity of stepping forward to prevent any violatiou of the orders of the Court, as he' had a beneficial. interest in the• pro-. perty to secure his own rights. The Motion also prayed, that the Trustees might be ordered to pay into Wart the balance in their hands. After hearing Counsel, —viz. Mr. Mall, Mr. Roupcll, Mr. ;orne, and Agar, The LORD CHANCELLOR directed a short affidavit be made as to the funds in their hands, until which he postpaued giving final-judgment. COURT . OF KING'S BENCH, Mar 24. Tut KING V. T. J. EVA;CS.-(MOUE PAVTICULAIIS.). t Thin was an indictment against the proprietor of the 31414- CIISTER OBSERVER, fOr libel. The offensive matter was contained in a paragraph published . on the 29th of April, 1872 Q, headed " Military outrage at Oldham "and purporting todes cribe'an affray which took place on the 25th of April, betweon some inhabitants of that town and a party of the 85th regiment : it was charged to be written with intont to excite the stibiecza of the realm to hatred and contempt of the . King's troops ; .and . also to be with intent, seditiously, &e., to reflect upon 'the-con duct of the government of the country. The cause was tried before Mr. Justice Best, at Las caSter.. The Jury fbund t 4 4 .. defendant guilty. The AI:I'OdNEY GENERAL now prayed the judgment of le Court. Mr. J.WILLIA MS rose in arrest of judgment, and took seve ral objections to the indictment, which were overrulled by the Court. Affidavits were then put in in mitigation: one fry - lithe de fendant himself, declaring that the statement published was from information. collected by himself immediately after the riot. in the town of Oldham- another from several artisans of that place, deposing to such information haVing really been given to the defendant. Mr.,WILL TAMS rose to discharge his last duty to his client. The moving, though riot very novel, topic of a wife and small family, was (the Learned - Counsel said) wanting to him on the present occasion : for the defendant, though ruined, had only his own ruin to.lay before the Court. That fact he stated' merely as a fact ; he meant not to affect any contrition which he did not really feel ; and Were the. thing to be done again, he could not pledge himself`that, under • feeling and similar belief, he should not write in a similar manner.— One observation, however, 5,4 to the extent of punish ment, Mr. IVilliams would sUbmit. Looking back to thd annals of English history, he found prosecutions for libel Most frequent, and punishments most severe, at that period when the reigning dynasty was falling fast in pubic estimation of that dynasty he did believe those very severe punishments to have accelerated the fall. That prosecutions would cease to be . frequent, especially since a self-constituted junta had taken up' the business of instituting them,. the Learned Counsel could not very confidently hope ; but he did trust, that under the for.. bearance and rood sense of the Court which he was addressing, vindictive sen tences were no longer to be apprehended. The AT T ORNEYZE 'SERA!. thought, that after the avowal which had just been made by the defendant, observations in aggravation became altogether unnecessary. The COURT was about to deliberate upon the case, when • Mr. SCAILLE TT prayed judgment for a private libel, of which the defendant had also been convicted at thelast Lancas ter Assizes. The libel was upon a Gentleman of the name of Cunliffe : it imputed to him gross misconduct in his ownsta mily, to wit—an adulterous intercourse with his maid -servants, and also the utterance of most infamous aspersions upon the .character of her Majesty . the queen. Mr. J. NV mi.' Am s, In mitigation, ascribed the libel to that inflamed fling which had agitated the public mind during the discussion of the Queen's conduct. 3lr. EVans had been a 'partisan of the illustrious defendant: Heaven knew, libelS suf ficiently cross bad been plentifully promulgated by persons on the other side the question. Mr. Justice 13E8'r thought that publications, whatever they. were, upon that question, had nothing-to do with the matter be fore the Court. The. Loitn . Crirur .JUSTICE.—No doubt the country wag inundated with libels or. both sides. 31r. SCAILLET r spoke in aggravation. Mr. Justice BArLEY, after commenting on the conduct . of the defendant, sentencal him for the tirSt libel to twelvemonths', and for the second to six months', imprisonment in LancaStof Jail :at the expiration of that period-to enter into sureties fu' his good behaviour during a term of three yearrs, himself in ilia sum of 4001., and two other persons in 3001. each. The number of passengers who havepassed to and from Lon don to Margate, by steam and other packets, from the Stl2 April, 1820, to the satne date this year, was 46,037, which was 4,602 more than the preceding year. A :ROBBER. WOUNDED.—On Tuesday_evening , as Mr. Penlowe, of Poulteney-etreet, was travelling Fran; Bracknel, Berks, to Eghatn, in his chaise, accompanied by friend, they were attacked by two foot-pads with crape over their faces, upon the forest near Ascot Heath Course. -One stood at the horse's head with a pistol in his hand, and the Pew!' was in the act of rifling the pocket of Mr. P.'s fiiend, whert Mr. Penlowe discharged his pistol at the one at the horse head, and at the same' moment the horse started, thr.w the ether robber off the step, and went off' at full -Speed. It aver about nine o'clock, and the 'Gentlemen returned to the spot u itiv. assistance, and found that the robber shot at had been wourrleil4 as there was a quantity of blood on the ground. Other rebbeii. o have been committed about this Hart of the country. SUDDEN DEATii.—Yesterday, as Mr. Surry.r, a respectable Oilman, - zesiding at Battle-bridge, in appareat goodlealth, was standing behind the counter in his shop serv ing a customer, without uttering the smallest complaint, he felt dawn, and e:cpired on the spot. Surgical assistance was imme diately procured, but to no purpose. BIRTHS. On the 21st inst., at Clifton, near Bristol, the Lady. of A. Harford Pattersby, Esq. thr a daughter. On the 21st inst., at his house, Beech , hill, Berkshire, tilo Lady of Whinfield S. Round, Esq„ Barristcr-at.law ' o f a soak _ Yesterday, at St. John's, I.laAney, Alexander 11c11, Esq. or the Hon. East India Company's naval service, to lire Esther Cowper, daughter of the 1:.. e John Cowper, Esq., of St. Alban Yesterday, at St. Mary's, Newington, Surrey, Thomas BurA , Esq., of .Southampton-lace, Caniberwell, to Mrs. Franca Maria Jenkins, relict of the late Rev. Dr. Jenkins, of W:lwore4.• DIED. On Wednesday, the 23d inst., in Crimscott-street, Berrnook aey, Mrs. Iselin, wifo. of Mr. J. J. Iselin, and- daughter- of t.t l P late Mr. John Pohlman. On the '23d inst., at his house, Clifton-place, - Hackney aft an illness of avery few days, Mr. Thos. 31eynnott,Iate of ?fi-oui fields, in the nth year of his age. On Saturday, the 19th inst., Mrs. Sarah Dobey, 16, .S1 0 0 e " sqtiare, Slone-street. On Sunday, the 20th inst., at Thorpe, in the county off folk, after only three days' illness, James Nosworthy, of the city of Norwich, aged . 50. On Monday morning, in the 54th year of her age, Lucy', ' w +f , c ., Of Thomas 1). Wighlwick, Esq. of Byshbury II ell, in County of Stafford, the last co-heiress of the ancient Stubbs, of Water Eaton, in the.sarne County. _ LONDON : Printed byJ. B. CARSTAIRS, of No. 29, ere. 3t Ormond -street, Queen-square ; and pni)ii , ilted brAfi r • SCRIPPS, of No. 7, South .'Bolton-street, zt 'Pity Frs'' OFFICE, No 112, Strand; where ADVEltTiOrriE bv• ORDERS, LETTIRB, &,C..(pobt-paid) must be adaraacii,