The Sun. — London, England, 1821-04-07 00:00:00

a year was doted to the same purpose., and rA7f-,:ed upon the people to be . divided among those who were to vote against the people's interests; it Was 'impossible that such distribution of the Public money should not have a bias on the minds of those who enjoyed it. He would not detain The House any longer; lie did not make these °h . servations with a view of throWing any 'Lupe ',_l'nent in th e way o f t h e b us i ness before them, u'"ut to . r en aind the House of what their duti e s w re, and what the country expected from them. --(near, hear !) Ihe Gallery was then cleared for a division,' but in a few minutes strangers were admitted ; we found that no division had taken place ; and Mr. CA.r.CRAFT was on hi s l egs , a ll u di ng t o t h e a t aternent made in the House by Lord Fife, with re spect to his removal from office. lie contended t hat Lord Fife stated the ground of his dismissal was the vote which he gave for the Repeal of the Malt Tax.—(No, no ! from the Ministerial Sorry the wor d s h a d not b een ta k en d own. — '" then proceeded to say, that lie agreed with most parts of the Resolution of his Ho ntbuttrable F r i en d: I t cou ld not b e d oubted t—at' etit in . the present Session of P ar li amen t, th e ions of the people had been totally disre- P, rd ed.-(Hear !)-ft was equa lly true th a t no thi ng "e economy had been attended to in the Esti rn.ates. It could not be denied either that esta blishments were kept up much larger than cir 44tristances could justify. He likewise agreed ' at the influence of the C rown i n th a t H ouse -a s to o m i g h ty an d too powerful, to allow any Z wa l effect to the representatio n o f th e p eo pl e . 1- 1 1t !ie could .no t agree w ith th a t par t o f t h e pro- Drst'lon whi c h wen t i n a sweeping way to de -A.,,ec'te the representation of the executive of -0:;'i of Government-in that House. Ile was of th ey that th ose offices ought to be represented i, j et t e,and he did not think the public officers too paid.—(Hear, hear! from - the Ministerial ~n ch es.)—llowever, although-711e could not I',.ee with that part of the progSition which at 10,'d in so sweeping a way the public officers sat in th a t H ouse , h e cou ld not w i t hh o ld h: 4s sent to the propositi on i n genera l, an d h e . .,,Ped the Noble Lord opposite would give some T'llanation relative to the statement made by al i rd Fif e w i t h respect to his removal. CASTLEREAGII said, that n o t w ith s t an di ng that h a d f allen from Hon. Members, h e wa s 1 . I , l:t ,g°ing to be led into d e b a t e u p on every top i c 'eh had transpired, not only during the pre p:nt seSsion, b u t i n a grea t part o f t h e hi story of ar liament. he knew not by what right the t c '''• Member d e si gna t e d hi m a manag i ng trus oe, but h e cou ld te ll t h at H on. Member that his a nl Y busi ness i n t h at H ouse appeared to be such 1 1 3 he had then undertaken. Upon all occasions I :, w as ready with this sort of opposition, but c;titiii the House were really at business, and de m 'LIR upon what ought to be done, the Min. obkernber then never favoured them with a single 3t‘'ervation, whether a sum was too large or too g r 4141 1.7 Pr whether it was improper or fit to be t ed• Re (Lord Castlereagh) believed, that ,a I t , one occasion had the Hon. Member open lips, during the S e ssi on , w h en a di scuss i on t e z' i going forward. He contented himself with er n .,! the Protester-general and libeller-general ar liament—(loud cheers); and with speak /10%ra Prologue to the performance of his H 0,4 , 4 a ble Friend, the Memb er f or Ab er d een . •kti.l • . Ito really h is prologue to-night h a d b een '') (I l of the comic and of the burlesque, that h e It h a r d , , Castler eag h) did no t won d er at t h e ef f ect 4) 4 ,C upon th e H ouse . N ow i t was rat h er re d o ab le that th e H on . G en tl eman somet i me SPIT $4ll ed au office in the Board of Controul him fr4att.d at that ti me no t a wor d h a d b een h ear d ; - --II„ .1 , 1 . 141 against pla ces an d p a t ronage. —(Ch eers. ) 43 soon as he retired from that office, and AiPdtne elevated to the seat which he now occu leti,' a nd whi c h h e (L or d C . ) hoped lie would 4 i); c°4 tillue to occupy, th e Hon. Member fell Rr'f , a t t he discovery, that to hold a plac e was a L en ormity, and one which he could no t suf iellstlY reprobate.—(Hear !)—He trusted the ver was not much surprised by the Hon. "r 4 y p er's exhibiti on , b ecause t hi s was t h e t hi r d I, of • h Its representing the same scen e . I n d ee d f r:atioal Performed his part with suc h t r ifli ng va ne t's) that it was hardly possible for it to pass oflaugh.)—Th e H on . M em b er f or th:oste r had certainly come to the assist a n ce il eo• Gentleman, and thus they had some ''('r',,,in.°.velty produced. But that Hon. Hem (liffqeit'ws and his (Lord C.) were so entirely em- So Ot) that lie could not hope to obtain any 41 U, I / e ntering the field of argument with him. 41r43,if Qnouiable Member frequently silenced Ovl a 'a iii that H ouse with considerable talent le gre at deal o f c i v ili ty ; b ut for the reason liised I)) e ore as s i gne d, h e did not feel dis h to enter into what had fallen from erg Therefore, the two Honourable Mem -I.l4;'ui,st still have their prologue to them -IT, 'f° they certainly would not induce him 11A 1414`-castlreagh) to appear upon their stage._ ,Poa tgn.)—He did not at all feel himself called l'tc t i° answer what had been put to him re ;otlouj.the removal of Lord Fife. It was the . 1 , t to .1-ed prerogative of the Crown to appoint ,„" 0 45 04 remove all its officers at will. For this ' he neither owed it to one Hon. Member j ‘l ti ll°t her to makeexplanations u p on thi s h ea d . " s a to e time he was riot so i gnoran t o f th e 0 f rnthe country as not to know that only a ! i fe s ?., a rs ago Honourable Gentlemen opposite Ihd ET7Anto enter into office, at a time of difficulty _tieting,esriNvithout having the appointment of feeti,_sg ousehold.—(Loud cries of" Hear !") l° e lion. Gentle men would not accept ~e~y ,without having the nomination of the Offi- Rze iniotediatelY about the King's person, even IC a lai . , li lt is wisnes and feelings, he was cu .- 1 1p otl Y 1,1,0 et called upon to answer their inquiries it th p r esent ip test i on. He allowed- that ab o 'ls quite iiecesai y that those immediately i)l'olessllaitt.iTecoCrnrznoveontt should have common princi 1, mot e to views. —(Hear !)—lt was im g9B e° if they were all pulling different ail • • ut h e h it thi tu , to _ ad not heard the Noble Lord say 04e s .e t a,t ; whehahtadhad been attributed to him. been dismissed from his ) - and it wa S kO9Wit that he voted against the Malt Tax ; but it Is as not said by him that one was the consequence of the other. But he had no hesitation in saying, that after the Go vernn►ent had put its existence upo❑ the resolu tion of which the Malt Tax was a leading fea ture, to oppose that Tax was acting upon a prin ciple as broadly different from that on which the Government acted, as any two principles could be. A vote against that tax, was, in fact, a vote for the dismissal of Ministers. It was quite com petent for the Crown to dismiss any of its offi cers, and no less so for Ministers to advise that dismissal. Mr. CALCRAFT explained. lie did not com plain of the removal of Lord Fife, but of the cause assigned for the Noble Earl's having been removed. Mr. TIERNEY professed he was never more surprized than by the production this night of the Resolution which had just been submitted by the Honourable Member for Appleby. There had never been more ample preparation made for a debate on the Army Estimates than had been made on this occasion by the Hon. Member be hind him, who had with laudable industry col lected and laid on the table a variety of intelli gence upon the subject. Instead of entering upon this question, he was astonished to find a Resolution proposed of an extraordinary length and going to inculpate Ministers upon various different points, each of which would in his mind furnish ample subject of debate of itself. He was he confessed not prepared to go into the sub ject 9f this Resolution without requiring some previous information to guide him in forming his decision, especially as the resolution embraced so many different topics. So far he thought the Noble Lord had a right to complain of the mode of proceeding adopted this evening. At the same time he would say, that no Administra tion ought to be trusted that would not go a great way and make very great concession as to the relief of the public burdens. He could not help observing that the case of Lord Fife's dismissal was very inopportunely introduced on this oc casion. If what had been urged were true, it would be fitter to make it a serious ground of impeachment of Ministers.—(Hear, hear !)—He thought it more prudent and becoming at the present to refrain from any allusion to any pos sible existing cause of discord in the Councils of his Majesty, for obvious reasons.—(Hear !) After defending, shortly, the conduct of the Ad ministration, of which he formed a part in 1807, relative to the appointments in the Household, he said, he, without pledging himself one way or the other to the subjects detailed in the Resolu tion, thought the House ought at once to go into the consideration of the Army Estimates. Mr. G. BE` NETT said that he considered the three propositions contained in his Hon. Friend's resolution to be fully made out and supported by facts. He hoped the Resolution would be pressed, for he should be unhappy if his name did not go forth to the public as supporting it. If there were only two who voted for it, he would be one of them. Lord A. HAMILTON could not support the Re solution in its present state. With respect to Lord Fife, he was evidently impressed with the conviction that his office had been forfeited in consequence of his vote ; yet he (Lord A. H.) did not conceive that the Noble Earl had any means of proving that such was the case. The Noble Lord condemned Ministers for the part which he believed they had taken in his Lord ship's removal. Mr. CREEVEY in explanation said, that in the Resolution he had merely- stated the fact, that Lord Fife had declared in his place, that he was dismissed from his office for the vote he had given. The House then divided— For Mr. Creevey's motion - 36 Against it _ - 120 Majority _ -94 Ott our re-admission to the Gallery, we found Mr. HumE on his legs ; he was determined, he said, to move in the same orbit as his lion. Friend (Mr. Creevey), while his efforts were directed, as they had hitherto been, to a reduc tion of the public expenditure. lie regretted the result of the division that had just then taken place, and the manner in which some Hon. Mem bers on his side of the House excused themselves for voting against the Resolution. The motion he now meant to propose was such as no Member could refuse his assent to with a fair conscience, or in justice to the country. Ile should make no_allusion to the amount of military force, but confine himself strictly to the civil departments connected with that branch of public expendi ture. In the year 1792, the whole expence of these departments was 45,9001. a year ; at pre sent it was no less than 133,0001., making an increase of 87,0001. This was a monstrous ex penditure in the seventh year of peace, and when the country was labouring under so much distress. He should consider it his duty, day after day, to submit to the House mo- tions similar - to those he had so frequently brought forward, until such time as they agreed to a revisal of the existing establishments. He would now read an extract from the Sixth Report of the Finance Committee in 1817, and move that it should be an instruction to the Committee to take into consideration the recommendations contained in it. Up to the present moment, the Reports of the Finance Committee remained a dead letter; he was therefore warranted in re ferring the recommendations contained in this Sixth Report to their serious attention.--(Mr. Hume then read the extract. It recommended that the Treasury should call for a return of all civil offices, the salaries of which had been in creased within 15 years, that the same should be revised, and such reductions made as appeared reasonable. The Report went on to state, that the progressive increase of salaries for length of service was liable to great abuse; that the whole arrangement grew to its present extent without any fixed plan, and was applied to messengers, barrack masters, and others who were not en titled to the benefit of it. It recommended that the increase of salaries for length of service should cease, except with respect to clerks who had served seven years, who within the said seven years had received no promotion, and whose increase of salary after that period should not extend beyond 20 per ceut.)—By voting that this should be an in struction to the Committee, the House would not pledge itself to any amount of reduction, but merely show a disposition to act upon a pi inciple of economy where it could be properly intro duced. Hitherto Ministers had acted in total disregard of the recommendations contained in this Report. He would not trouble the House further, but move, that .!..; extract now read be an instruction to the Committee. Lord A. Hamilton seconded the motion. His Hon. Friend (Mr. Hume) seemed to direct a hos tile observation to him, when he remarked that some who opposed the last motion were search ing fol. motives to justify their votes. He (Lord A. II.) searched for no motives. his reason for opposing it was, that he did not consider the mo tion consistent with the fact, that Lord Fife did not state in his place what the Resolution contained. With respect to the present question, he should be better pleased if the instruction to the Committee was somewhat shorter. Perhaps, however, it would be better to leave it as it stood. He saw no disposition on the other side of the House to discuss any proposition for a re duction of expenditure. , The Noble Lord con cluded by referring to some instances, which he condemned, of superannuations granted, before the persons to whom they . were so granted had been disqualified for service. The question being put from the Chair, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, that if the Hon. Gentleman or the Noble Lord sup posed that nothing had been done by Ministers upon the Report in question, the' must have examined the papers on the table with very slight attention. Those papers sheaved that a conside rable reduction of offices had taken place, and he could assure the house that other reductions were under consideration. The Treasury had given a general direction that every new vacan cy in an office. shoUld be duly returned ; and if upon inquiry it had been found that the office could be dispensed with, consistently with the public service, it has always been suppressed.— (llear, hear, hear!)—Any sudden and premature reduction would be not only an injustice to individuals but a danger to the public service; and he begged the House to consider the ob vious distinction.,between the grant of new allow ances and the disturbance of those which were already possessed by , individuals, and which con stituted a part of their income. Allowances of this description could not be considered by any sweeping rule ; and he was sure that a desire of economy would not induce the House to sacrifice the public service by substituting in official situa tion; persons of an inferior class to those of edu cation and respectability who at .present filled those situations. It should be borne in mind that those were situations of great confidence, that they exposed the holders of them to much temp tation ; and the House would think mal-practice in office but ill repaid by an injudicious saving. The augmentations were proportioned to the in crease of labour. The return of peace had undoubtedly reduced the labour of many situations, and it was wished by the Govern ment that labour and allowance should be as proportioned as possible. To enter into in dividual cases would be a waste of the time of the House, especially as they could be discussed to more advantage in the Committee. With re spect, however, to the case of Mr. Harrison, he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) could himself bear testimony to the meritorious services of that Gentleman, wha at present was suffering under a severe affliction ; a circumstanc e w hi c h he was sure would, if known to the Noble Lord, have induced him to refrain from unnecessarily intro ducing his name. At present he should not go into individual details, but he could assure the House, generally, that there was no desire on the part of Government to avoid an examination into every case in the regular way. Sweeping attempts at "reduction, however, would, he re peated, affect the public service, and be an injus tice to individuals. There was every disposition on the part of Government gradually to give effect to the Report of the Committ ee o f Fi, nance. Sir. J. NEWPORT, adverting to the office of Barrack-Master-General of Ireland, observed, that it appeared from a Report of the Commit tee of 1810 or 1811, that there was a considera ble deficiency in the accounts of that public officer (Lord Tyrawly.) Mr. D. BROIVNE defended the character of Lord Tyrawly, than whom there was not a more meritorious officer in the service. The Noble Lord had fully cleared himself from the charge which had been made against him. Sir J. NEWPORT, in explanation, observed, that he meant to cast no imputation upon the charac ter of Lord Tyrawly ; he had only stated a fact which appeared from the Report of the Com mittee. Mr. W. POLE said, that the circumstance al luded to respecting Lord Tyrawly occurred while he (Mr. Pole) was in office in Ireland. It was found, that not that Noble Lord, but some per sons under him, were unwilling to return in their accounts. He was, however, happy to state, that Lord Tyrawly had, since that period, made up his accounts much to his honour, and that there was a balance in his favour---(Hear, hear !) Mr. ELLICE expressed a hope that some m,,a sure would be introduced to amend the Bill of the Honourable Member for Corfe Castle (we believe Superaunuations Bill). The provisions of that Bill were annually a most enormous charge to the country. The Honourable Member was of opinion, that it would he wiser and more ex pedient to postpone entering into a discussion of the Estimates in detail, until the House went into a Committee. Mr. IlusrussoN suggested to the Hon. Mover of the Resolution whether it would not be more convenient to withdraw the motion, and to move that the whole of the Finance Report, from which he had taken his extract, should be refer red to the Committee? Mr.lltlmE said he would gladly accede to any thing which suited the convenience of the House, but tl►e lion. Member would recollect that the Report in question was upon the Navy, and therefore he did hot wish to refer it to a Com mittee upon the Army Estimates. After a few words from Mr. liusKissoN and Mr. W. SMITH, Mr..llt,NtE withdrew his motion, and it was ordered that the Sixth Finance Report be le ferred to a Committee. COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY. The Speaker having left the Chair, the House resolved itself into a Committee of Supply. Lord PALm ERSTON proposed that a sum not ex ceeding 50,4181. 16s. Bd. be. granted for the charge and allowances of th e o ffi ce o f S ecre t ary o f War for this year. • Colonel DAN - us, after complimentino- Lord Pahnerston upon the manner in which he con ducted the official duties of his office, objected to the grant ; the expence of this office was At pre sent one-third more, and in some instances double what it was in 1806, when the.duties of it were tenfold more than they now are. The whole sum voted for this office in 1806, was 25,0001. and now that sum was more than doubled, though the country was in a state of profound peace. The lion. Member proceeded to detail the various branches in which an increase of expenditure had taken place since 1806, and amongst others alluded to the sala ries of clerks. The salary of the senior clerk had been raised from 12001. to 14001. a year. The next clerk had been raised from 10001. to 12001.; two others, who had before a salary of 11001. between them, had been raised to 16001. A General Officer in the Army was allowed 4001. a year, and a Clerk in a Public Office was allowed 1400/. a year. He would ask the Committee whether this was to be borne After some further observations to the same effect, the lion. Member concluded with moving, "as an Amendment, that the sum of 45,0001. should be substituted in the room of b 0,4181. 16s. Bd. Lord PALMERSTON maintained, that even taking the year 1806 as the standard, the pre sent estimate could not be objected to on the ground of extravagance ; for in 1806 the ex pence of the office amounted to 50,832/. 3s. 11d. whereas it was now 50,4181. Besides, there was no office established at that time for the bringing up of arrear accounts, as there was at present. It was clear, then, that there was a reduction amounting to more than the whole charge of the arrear accounts department, as compared with 1806. Colonel DAVIES said he would stake his cred on the assertion that the charge for this depart ment in 1806, did not exceed 25,000/. Mr.' HUME thought he 'could shew that the Noble Lord had increased the expence of his office in every way ; and that even if he had 20,0001. more allowed to him, he would find employment for it according to his present sys tem. The Hon. Member then entered into a statement, to shew that-the establishment of the War Office had, increased progressively from 1814 down to the.present period ; and complain ed that the , whole of the accounts of the office were audited .by the Noble Lord (Palmerston) himself. lie was of opinion that the ex pence of the office might safely be reduced one-half; but,' as half a loaf was better than no bread, he would' support the Amendment of his Hon. Friend. Lord PALmr.aszoN defended the existing ar rangements of his office, and maintained that every possible reduction had been made, con sistently with the public interests. Sir H. PARNELL complained of the amount of the superannuation list, and also of the amount of the Paymaster's establishment. He complained of the number of officers connected with the mili tary establishments, which he considered by far too expensive. The Hon. Baronet particularly referred to the establishment of Commissioners of Military Accounts in Dublin. It seemed to him there was a determination on the part of those persons connected with the whole of the military system to resist every species of reformation, and every plan that might be likely to promote eco nomy. If the whole matter were examined, with a view to get rid of the present system, many offices might be consolidated, others got rid of altogether, and much expence saved to the public. Lord PALMERSTON Said, that the Irish Bot - erd for examining military accounts was established by Act of Parliament. After a few words from Mr. WM. Sivurn and Colonel DAVIES, Mr. GREY BENNET said, that no answer what ever was made by the Noble Lord upon the in crease of compensations. The compensations in 1807 amounted to 67711. They now amount to upwards of 13,000/. Capt. 111.inr.at,y said, that he would under take to prove, that if the Government took into their own hands the payment of the troops, a sum of 15,0001. half the stun charged, would be saved to the public. Lord PALMERSTON contended that Agents, particularly to regiments abroad, were of great service and accommodation, particularly to infe rior officers. Capt. MABERLY said that the answer of the Noble Lord seemed to him extremely weak. The public were not to be put to great expence for the accommodation of a few officers. Mr. 'l'. WILSON said, that so strongly did he feel the necessity of economy, that he would vote with the Hon. Gentleman opposite. Mr. CREEVEY was of opinion that the Committee were bound to go more, fully into detail.—(A laugh)—lle saw by the Estimates that the Dc- puty Secretary of War had a salary of 2,500/. The salary of the First Clerk, 1,4001. The Principal Clerk 1,200/. lie had a great curiosity to see a Clerk with a salary of 1,4001. a year.—(A laugh.)--He would wish to know at what hours these Clerks attended at their offices, and whe ther they went there in curricles or in tilburies --(A laugh ?)—The most distinguished and suc cessful men in the army—men who were made Peers, had not more than 2000/. a year. Gene rals who had been a long time in the service, had about 7001. a year. Major-Generals had but 5001., whilst clerks had some 1400/., and some 1200/. a year.—(Hear, hear!)—He did not know whether he could just at that time have these clerks brought before the House, but have them they must.—(Hear, hear !) Mr. O'GRADY approved of the system of su perannuation, though he thought some abuses . . had crept into it. As to the Equitation.Schoo4 he thought it required revision. ,He observed itt that department one individual, with an extraor dinary salary for the nature of the service--- 18 00 1 . a vear. Lord I .3 .A.ListnitsTON" said, the Gentleman who had been alluded to was the nearest relative of a _ distinguished hero who had fallen in battle, Sir J. Moore, and in fixing his allowance, whichwas ; " done about the time of Sir .L Moore's death * , Some regard was had to that circumstance, .as be was almost the only individual to whom therewas an opportunity of &hewing national gratitude...—. (Haar l) Mr. O'GRADY explained.—Colonel DiviE3 thought it extraordinary that at the end of. - the war it should have been found out that our ca , valry could not ride. . . Sir R. WILSON observed, that the Equitation: ": School should be merely. temporary,..as •there* were riding-masters and rough-riders attached each regiment, who when once instructed could teach the recruits.--After a - few words the House divided— For the Amendment - - 67 Against it - - - 106 Majority 39 • The original motion was then agreed to. I'Vhen strangers were re-admitted into...ttie.. Gallery, the House had resumed. The other. Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and the house adjourned at Two o'CLocK. to Monday... TIMBER DUTIES. MINORITY • ON' LORD ALTHORP'S MOTION FOR THE FURTHER F.N. COURAGENENT TO THE NORWAI"FIMEER TRADE.—. APRIL 5. 'Browne, Dom. Grant, J. P. 'Burrell, Sir W. Hobhouse, J. C. Bennet, Hon. H. G. Kurile, J. Claughton, T. Harbord, Hon. E. Duncannon, Visct. Lawlcy, F. Denison, W. Lewis, F. Folkestone Visct. I%lonck, J. B. Gordon, let. Ord, W. TELLER—Viscount Althorp. Palmer, C. F. Parnell, Sir H. Ricardo, D. Robertson, A. Townshend,LordC: Wells, John . MINORITY ON SIR 11. PARNELL'S MOTION FOR A TREE TRADE IN . 7 TIMBER.—APItIL 5. Astell, AVm. Clauobton 'l'. Hume, J. Bennet, Hon. H. G. Denison, W. Ilobhouse, J. C. Browne, Dom. Duncannon, Visct. Monck, J. B. Burrell, Walter Folkestone, Visct. Ricardo, 1). Buxton, T. - Gordon, R. Wyvill, N. TELLER—Sir H. Parnell. SINGULAR AND INTERESTING OCCURRENCE. A Judge of the name of lIELTZMANOTZ, in the Department of Zips, sent a young female pea, sant with a sum of money to Goelnitz, a small town situated among the mountains : not far from the village a countryman joined her, and de manded where she was going ; the girl replied, that she was journeying with a sum of '2OO florins to Goelnitz. The countryman told her that he was going there also, and proposed that they should travel together. At the wood the coun tryman pursued a path which he told the girl would shorten their journey at least two leagues. At length they arrived at the mouth of an excava: tion, which had once been Worked as a mine ; the countryman stopped short, and in a loud voice said to the girl, 44 Behold your grave ; deliver me ihe money instantly." The girl, trembling with fear, complied with his demand, and then entreated him to spare her life : the villain was inflexible, and he commanded his victim to undress herself_; the unfortunate girl was soon stripped to her che mise; the monster commanded her to deliver tb him even this last article of her dress. The poor girl fell on her knees and supplicated, with up lifted hands, to have her chemise returned to preserve her modesty ; the villain then turning round, tine girl sprung upon him, preci tated him into the cavity, and then ran and an nounced to the village what had happened to her. Several of the inhabitants, provided with ladders, returned with her to the spot, They descended into the hole, and found the countryman dead, with the clothes and money which he had taken from the girl in his possession. Near him lay, three dead female bodies in a state of putrefac tion. It is probable that these were victims to the rapacity of the same villain. In a girdle which he had round his body, was discovered a sum of 600 florins in gold.—(Humburgil Corres pondenten.) SURREY ASSIZES. KINGSTON, APRIL s.—The following unhappy persons received sentence of death for uttering forged notes, viz. :—.Thomas Mayers, James Stevens, William Jarvis, and Henry Edds. MURDER AT PETERSHAM. Richard Wigley, a watchman, of Petersham, was indicted for the wilful murder of Robert Knight, on the 2Sth of March, by shooting him with a gun loaded with shot. The case excited a great deal of interest. Mr. TtinroN conducted the prosecution, and called the witnesses, who stated the transaction nearly in the same manner in which it has been already represented so recently to the public. The prisoner was a man of respectable appear ance, was deeply affected, and received a most unexceptionable character. The case went to the Jury under the Learned Judge's directions, and they immediately found the prisoner Guilty of Manslaughter. He was sentenced to six mouths' imprisonment in the County gaol. COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE.-ThiS Com mittee are pursuing their labours still more close ly. They have met every day this week, and the meetings have been fully attended. The examination of Mr. G. Webb Hall, which lasted two days, having been concluded, the Committee proceeded to examine several witnesses sum moned by themselves, independent farmers, land surveyors, &c. They have examined several of the latter class, amongst them Mr. Chapman, Mr. Custance of Cambridge, &c. on Wednesday. On Thursday the whole day was occupied in the examination of Mr. Edward Wakefield, a Gen tleman well known *to the House, from having been repeatedly examined by Committees, on sub jects connected with the interests of agriculture.