The Sun. — London, England, 1839-08-19 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION. CHARTIST TRIALS. CHESTER ASSIZES. CROWN COURT. (Before Mr. Baron GURNEY.) Peter ..liztrray APlionall, surgeon, of Ramsbottom near Bury ,and John Bradley, clog-maker, of Hyde, were indicted for having, on the 22d April last, at Hyde, attended an unlawful assembly, which was cal culated to excite to a breach of the peace. Mr. HILL, Attorney-General for the Palatine, Mr. JEttvis, and Mr. WELLSBY appeared for the prosecution. Mr. COTTINGHAM appeared on behalf of the de fendant Bradley. Mr. Nl`Douill defended himself. Mr. HILL stated the case on behalf of the Crown, d etailing generally the proceedings and meetings which had been held in the town of Hyde and its neighbour hood, Bono then the circumstances connected with the meeting on the 0 2d of April, and detailed the evidence which would be laid before them to substantiate the charg e laid in the indictment. The following witnesses were then called : John Gattley, constable of Hyde, examined by Mr. ' 4 avls.—On the I°d April I observed a number of Persons at the Working Man's Institution at Hyde. It la a place where public meetings are generally held. It ,Was the n a b out h a lf. past seven i n t h e even i ng —th e y nad a band of music and banners. On one of the ban ners was " Equal laws and equal rights ;" on another, No property qualification ;" a third had " Universal Suffrage." The crowd, which amounted to about 1,500, Proceeded towards Newton. I afterwards saw another procession coming to the 'Working Man's Institution about nine o'clock. There were about 3,000 in it. M'Douall was among the crowd. They were coming f rom Newton by way of Flowery-field. They had two band s of music. Some of the people went into the In stitution, and some remained outside. The defendant Bradley introduced M'Douall to the meeting at the Window. M'Douall then appeared at the window. There was groaning when the meeting was opposite the M agistrates' office. Heard M'Douall say, " A blood thirsty set of Whigs for prosecuting Stephens. I ad rise all men, women, and children to arm, and to do as they are d o i ng i n ot h er parts o f t h e country. I h ave 1 Peen in other parts of the co u n t r y t o en li g ht e n the r I P s e oPle, as I have done in this part of the co untry. 1 i "ae been t o Sh eerness , Ch a th am , an d o th er p l aces . 1 That the London Chartists could easily take possession of the Tower and its 200,000 stand of arms ; that fifty determined men could arm all London ; that there were plenty of gunsmiths' shops where they could get arms by a Man kicking his foot through the door ; that the London Chartists would be ready to meet them on three days no tice.* There was then a shout and a cry of" we arc ready," an d some one fired a pistol. He said they dare not try Stephens, but Stephens would shortly try them. He advised th em not to go to the soldiers in few num b ers, out in a body, an d th en th e so ldi ers wou ld not fire on tethe mThat five out of seven of the officers of the l,"army and navy were signing petitions in favour of the Charter. He said fifty stout farmers' men would do more execution with axes than three times the number of a amPing fellow s i n r e d coats, hired at 10d. a day, and should say the meeting was calculated to excite terror and alarm in the neighbourhood. They remained until !levels o'clock. There was a light inside the window, nut no li g h t outside where the people were. There were of speakers at the meeting. Bn Cross-examined .by Mr. Cottingham, on behalf of radley —I went to the meeting about half-past seven B°.hm"Ck. I f o ll owed it, b ut did not walk in the proces . They marched in pretty regular order. Cross-exa m i ne d b y M r. M•D oua ll — l have b een al -4)11 a consta bl e. I attended the meeting on my own ggestion because I though it my duty. There was a nother consta bl e with me. I took notes of what I beard next morning, and then I gave information to the N • ta glstrates. On the following Friday the warrant w as Made ou t. I saw ot h er b anners b ut coul d not read the inscriptions. About three thousand was the num beri th a t returned about nine o ' clock. I did not state t ...illy dep os i t i ons that there was groaning opposite the Wo men, o ffi ce. I h ear d you adv i se the men, v l "len, and children also, to have guns, pistols, swords, and pikes. I noted down all I have stated the next rooming. M'Douall then read a passage, and asked the wit ness to re p eat t h e words afterwards, which he said he ' w as,_ unabl e t o d o . Th e speech lasted better than an Qom., Isaac Bradshaw, examined by Mr. WELLSBY—I am a special constable at Hyde. I saw the meeting of Monday evening, the 22d of April, about half-past seven. There were 1,000 or 1,500 present. On one banner, carried by a 3roung girl, was " Hyde Female Radical Association." There were other banners with the inscriptions stated by the last witness. The meet ulg Went in procession towards Newton. I saw a pro cession of about 3,000 returning with two bands of m usic- There was a loud groan when they passel the I\lagistrates' office. I saw Bradley standing at an open t w , l adow. He advised the people to be quiet, so that ,neY might hear 111`Douall, who would next address tn ent ..•, • al Douall was loudly and generally cheered. I heard him say that the Government was a'bloody Whig Government for prosecuting Stephens—that they dare not try Stephens, but he would try them. That they had got themselves into the frying-pan, and next they Would get into the fire. Witness then corroborated the evidence of the other constable in very nearly the same viords, an d added that M'Douall said he would meet t hem in the great day of struggle, and fight with them ° l ,„ ti l last. There was great cheering during the oldie. There were three pistols fired during the give of the meeting. A vote of thanks was then "'yen to hl'Douall. It was half-past ten or eleven 9 : el c'ek when the meeting broke up, I think the meet ing was calculated to excite terror and alarm in the neighbourhood. 3 Cra gs - examined by Mr. COTTINGHAM—There were h"le hund re d s o f f ema l e c hild ren — t h ere were a num er of li ttle boys—there was a majority of children. I heard Bradl ey te ll the people to b e qu i et. I heard h i m 1 nothing ab out mora l f orce. Th e f actor i es c l ose at , ti -past seven, an d they loose no time then in getting 3 these meetings. . Cross- exam i ned by Nl'Donall--I was a watchman I t Staleybridg e , an d l e f t t h e s i tuat i on of my own accord. . was at a foot race at Kersal Moor after leaving that situation. I was accused of stealing a coat there by Some of your pupils. There was a majority of boys and girls at the meeting. I heard you say you had been advocating the cause of Stephens. I was often pre vented by noise from catching the whole of any sentence. I got the evidence written down the next morning. It Was written by Mr. Gattley for me. We were both at the meeting together. The shops were nearly all shut When the procession returned. M`Douall then read a passage from a' speech, and asked the witness to repeat it. He said he could not "Peat it all, but tried to repeat the first line, which he did not succeed in. Re-ex am i ne d b y Mr. IVELLsav-1 was accused by Jos eph, Dun n , one o f M'Douall's f o ll owers , o f s t ea li ng th e coat. Dunn is a great fighter, and one of the greatest blackguards in the kingdom. enna-r—You must not use that—it is a very inde eent expression. Witness—lt is true, my Lord. COURT —But you must not use indecent expressions. William Tinker, examined by Mr. HILL—I am a a t t h 'r geon, residing at Hyde. I remember the evening of e 22d Ap r il l ast . I saw t h e process i on, in which there were between one and two thousand persons. It Was then moving towards the Working Man's Institu toa. I h ear d t h e b an d s o f mus i c . an d I saw some , a nners. Wh en t h e meet i ng passe d t h e M ag i strates ' Clerk's o ffi ce there was a loud groan. I saw a man fr om t the wi n d ow a dd ress i ng th e people. He said some thing about about the Tower of London, with its 200,000 sta nd of arms, and that 50 stout men could easily take Possession of it. I was a long way off, and was not fiery easy, I was more afraid of insults than of any ° u'lY injury. In my o pinion it was a meeting calcu lated to excite alarm. Cross-examined by Mr. COTTINGHAM—I went there out of curiosity, as I heard Nl'Douall was to address the topple. It i s p retty we ll k nown t h at my pr i nc i p l es are e Pposed t o t h e i rs. I have been taunted with being a Whig. Cross-examined by Nl'Douall—l attended some of these meetings. I am brother-in-law to Mr. Thomas Ashton, one of the Magistrates of Hyde. I heard noises, shouts, and a groan from the procession. Was Cot personally alarmed about the meeting. I am in the habit of going among the people daily. lam factory s urgeon in that district. The people were assembled in the thoroughfare, but no complaints were made of that. No shop s were closed on the occasion of the meeting. Joseph hlottrim—My father is propr i etor of the Waterworks at Hyde. I saw the meetin g on the night of th e 22d of April, and heard M‘Douall speak. He said something of Stephens's persecution by t h e Go. l'ernment that the Judges dare not try Stephens, but that Step hens would try the Judges. 'That th ey h ad dropped from the frying - pan i nto the fire—th at the business of the Convention had b een left in able, Wealthy, sad intelligent hands, and that th e y were g oin g about the country to address the people. That there were ClO,OOO stand of arms in the Tower, and that 30 able bodied men might get possession of them. That there We re plenty o f stores of arms in London which could be easily procured. At the conclusion of his address he s aid, "To your tents 0 Israel," and that the people !blast bear in mind the three glorious days of Paris. . I heard one or two pistol shots, but the peop l e were orderly, listening to what was said. Cross- exam i ne d b y Mr. COTTINGHAM— I wen t o ut of r4riosity to see and h ear h ow th ese me etings were con , i t e ted. I felt n o a l arm — t h e meet i ng was p e aceable — ' Was neith er r i otous nor tumultuous. I have ta k en no notes of the proceedings. _ . Mr. Corrisnßam then addressed the Jury on behalf t.lt,the defendant Bradley. The defendants were not _ t r. ! ted for using seditious language, but for attending i t l riotous and tumultuous and unlawful meeting, and t(! n . ) t must be satisfied that it was of a charac r o excite terror and alarm in the minds f. ul'her M ... -ajesty s subjects, They we r e not, there e, to inquire whether the language was of a sedi -- - I tious character, for that was not charged against the defendants, but whether the meeting was unlawful arid calculated to excite immediate terror and alarm. His Learned Friend had stated that there had been nume rous public meetings in the neighbourhood, the tendency of the language used at which was calculated to deluge the country with blood. There had been nothing of the kind stated in evidence before them, and they were to confine themselves strictly to the evidence which had been given by the witnesses. It appeared that the meet ing was composed in the greater part of young girls and boys, and that there were banners and bands of music. Why there was nothing illegal either in ban ners or bands of music, and the inscriptions were cer tainly in no sense of the word illegal. He appealed ' to the Jury whether any one of them could for a moment consider such a meeting illegal or unlawful. There had been no noise, no tumult, and the witnesses had told them they were not in the least alarmed—that the people were orderly and quiet, and under these cir cumstances he was satisfied that the Jury would, with out hesitation, return a verdict of acquittal on behalf of his client. The defendant, M'Douall, then addressed the Jury. In appearing- before them to advocate his own cause, he well recollected the old and trite adage, that he who was his own counsel had a fool for his client. If he had employed Counsel it might perhaps have added something more of dignity and importance to his cause ; but he rested with perfect confidence upon the verdict of the Jury, notwithstanding the prejudices which had been so unjustly excited against him by the state ments of the Attorney-General. He objected to the manner in which the case had been opened to them by the Learned Counsel, and to the motives that had been imputed to him without any evidence upon which to ground it. Further, it was alleged that he had attended public meetings in other parts of the country, the object of which was to bring the Government into contempt. He contended that he had never ad vocated such doctrines, hut on the contrary he heartily spurned and despised them. His only object in attending these meetings was to endeavour by constitu tional means to obtain for the people their just rights. Mr. M'Douall then entered into a lengthened disserta tion on the ancient Constitution and usages of England and other countries, for the purpose of showing that in every age and country, and in every stage of civilization, the people had a right to, and had always taken a share in the councils and the government of the country. He then pointed out what he conceived to be the social and pol t condition of the great mass of the people in England at the present moment, and contended that they had not their fair share in the representation, and were not in that position of comfort and happiness which they were entitled to enjoy under the institutions of a free country. Mr. M'Douall proceeded in a speech of ex traordinary power and talent to detail what were his principles, and those of the advocates of the People's Charter, and the absurdity of supposing that the meet- 1 ing of the 22d April was an unlawful one, [We shall give the defence at full length in our next publication.] Mr. HILL replied,and . the Learned Judge summed up, stating his opinion that there could be no doubt that the meeting in question was an illegal one. The Jury immediately returned a verdict of Guilty. In the course of the day the Grand Jury came into Court and returned true bills against Scar, Duke, Ri chardson, M'Douall, Livesey, Benbow, and several others for conspiracy, sedition, attending unlawful meetings, &c. The Grand Jury was then discharged. SATURDAY. At the sitting of: the Court this morning, the pri soners convicted during the Assizes were brought up to receive the sentence of the Coutt. Peter Murray M‘Douall, twelve months' imprison ment, and securties to keep the peace for five years, him self in 500/., and two in 2001. each. John Bradley, to be imprisoned eight months, like rule of bail. Thompson, Mitchell, Davis, and Higgins, to be im prisoned eighteen months each, and give the like se curities to keep the peace. The other indi, tment found against M'Douall, on Friday, for a conspiracy, it was intimated by the At torney-General, would be abandoned. The following persons, against whom bills for sediti ous conspiracy and attending unlawful meetings had been found, traversed till next Assizes :—Jas W. Leah, Richard Pilling, Rev. W. Essler, Isaac Armitage, s e nior, and Isaac Armitage, junior, John Wright, James Burton, George Wareham, Thomas Howarth, John Broadbent, James Duke, and Benbow. All the traversers were ordered to enter into their own recognizanees in 500/. each. and three in 100/. each. Mr. Coppock, of Stockport, acted as agent on behalf of the Crown. The Court then adjourned. SCOTTISH CHARTIST CONVEN. TION. (From the Glasgow Argus of Thursday.) The Convention of Delegates from the various towns and districts of Scotland commenced its sittings here yesterday in the Universalist Chapel, Dovehill, Gallow gate. The number of Delegates was 57. Mr. Feargus O'Connor was present ; as was also Mr. Moir, in the character of a listener. Mr. Duncan, Delegate from Edinburgh, was chosen Chairman, and Mr. Gillespie, Secretary. On the motion of one of the Delegates, the meeting was opened by prayer. As the avowed ob ject of the Convention is to concoct measures for the better organization of Scotland in the cause of the Charter, it was agreed, before proceeding to any busi ness, to hear from the Delegates the state of matters in their respective localities. We heard upwards of forty of them accordingly give in their reports to the Conven tion, and were certainly highly pleased with the appear ance of truthfulness which generally characterised their statements. They confined themselves to brief details of matters of fact, and seemed anxious to lay before each other an account of things as they really stood, without exaggeration, or any attempt at useless oratory. The result of the various reports was far from being satisfactory to the Chartist. cause. There was an almost universal complaint of want of organization, of want of lecturers and agitators, and even of a want of know ledge of the Chartist principles among the people at large, in extensive districts of the country. But, in order that the reader may be able to judge for himself as to the actual state of the organization in the various districts, we subjoin the substance of the brief reports given in by the Delegates from the following places. The language given is that used by the Delegates. AYR. —The Chartists here are described as being " precious few," and a great want of organization. Lec turers and better organization recommended. BARRHEAD.—The Chartists here are determined to work out Univ ersa l S u ff rage, b ut cannot agree to the ulterior measures of the General Convention ; they are so poor as to hav e no money to take out of the Banks ; they will not give up exciseable articles ; and are not prepared for a sacred month. COATERIDGE.—Chartists determined and resolute, but disapprove of the sacred month. About twenty have given up tobacco, whi s k y , & c. A loud call for more agitation._ DUNDEE.—The Chartists not so strong- here as might be ant,cipated, and they are inclined to the moral force view of tbequestion. No preparation whatever made for a sacred month. A run had been made on the Banks, and change can scarcely be got for a note in Dundee. The same Delegate reported from Forfar, that the people there were prepared for the sacred month, but, in consequence of information from Glas gow, the resolution was rescinded. DUNFERMLINE.—Determined to carry out the sa cred month. EAGLESIIAM.—The members are few—some cry for a sacred month, but they are so few as scarcely to re quire being mentioned. Moral force is the general wish, and some are determined to abstain from excise able articles. EDINBURGH.—The active Chartists are opposed to discussing the question of moral or physical force—as there is little difference between them ; a number of them are, however, armed, and determined to have Uni versal Suffrage at all risks. If smitten on one cheek, the Chartists of Edinburgh will not turn up the other also. The organization is good—one man being placed over every ten to collect their subscriptions. In one night, after the police had broken the peace at Birmingham, a hundred and thirty-six members joined the Association. Not prepared for ulterior measures. GREENOCK.—The cause behind, in consequence of the want of speakers ; agitation necessary. The work men generally have too good wages to join the move ment. PAISLEY.—Rev. Mr. Brewster declared to have done much harm to the cause ; have adopted the whole of the ulterior measures of the Convention ; there has been a run en the Savings' Banks ; one Friendly Society having lifted 200/., another 700/., and another 50/. ; a great number of the people of Paisley have resolved to exercise the right of arming themselves ; a Society ex ists which is collecting money ; they do not say to what purpose they mean to devote that money, but . it is for an arti c l e t h at costs 15s. 6d.—(Laughter.) The De legate stated that he is not a member of that Society, being already prepared in that way. The above is a fair sample of the reports given in by the Delegates. TIIE PROPOSED MODEL PRISON.--It is re poi ted that negotiations are on foot for the purchase of a piece of ground at Barnsbury Park, Islington, on which is to be erected the new Government model prison. The site is near Copenhagen House, with a cold bleak atmos phere and a deep clay soil, which renders the ground gene effectual dlly damp,rainage.standing upon a hill, it is capable of It appears from the Report of the Directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, that the aggregate receipts for the six months ending on the 30th of June have been very nearly the same as those of the correspond jig period of last year. The receipts have been 1`)3,814.!. 6s. M., and the expendit ure 73,69 V. 7s. c 1 - iwing a net profit for the half year ending th e 30th June of on/ 1.95. 7d. The Directors have declared a divi dend of 4/. Ws. per share. THE REV. SIDNEY SMITH AND THE BALLOT. The flippant, witty, burlesque, and specious at tack of Sidney Smith on the Ballot has just re• ceived from a " Working Man," an answer remark ' j able for sound reasoning, apt inference and a thorough knowledge of the subject. Want of space alone prevents us from giving the whole of the letter, but as the next resource, we shall give our readers a few specimens in order that they may judge of the whole, or rather that they may be in duced to read the whole ; because we consider it one of the best productions that has come under our no tice on this much agitated question. The intro duction will at once give an idea of the humour and power of the writer. He begins thus am a Radical—one of those upon whom, in your Pamphlet on the Ballot, which now lies before me, you have lavished a number of opprobrious epithets. I see in the first sentence these words—" the rabid and foaming Radical :" many such and still stronger terms are inter spersed throughout the work. It is true, you make in one place a parenthetical reservation, a kind of crotchetty com pliment ; but your dislike, your loathing abhorrence of " the carnivorous animal," as you elsewhere so mildly designate the Radical, oozes from you in a manner, let me tell you, altogether unbecoming of a gentleman and a scholar. You are a parson : but never fear I I shall not retort, and bespatter you and your order with indiscriminate abuse. I know not, neither shall I inquire, whether you are a pluralist, or whether you hold any office in the Church in consistent with the simplicity of the Gospel. Personal abuse is a sorry substitute for argument. The cause of truth and jnstice needs not the aid of weapons borrowed from so foul an arsenal. But though I disclaim the use of personalities, I claim for myself the right of expressing candidly and freely my opinions of you and your pamphlet in the plain homely phrase of an unlettered man. I have heard and read much about your ballot pamphlet, but in its first form it was too dear a purchase for a poor man like me. When the cheaper edition came out I eagerly obtained a copy, and as eagerly read it. I had no sooner done so, than the desire entered my mind to answer it—that desire quickly merged into resolve, and the resolve into action. So here I am, an uneducated man, scribbling away in hours stolen from sleep, against you a college-educated divine—blest with literary ease —not, be assured, from any contempt of your powers—still less from any overweening conceit of my own ; my reliance is on the reasonableness and rec titude of my cause." He adds, further on— " How far your mountebank Merry. Andrewism harmo nises with the clerical character, I leave you and your ad mirers to determine. You would no doubt have done ad mirably well as a disputant, in the good old times of religio-metaphysical speculation, when folio upon folio was written to solve the knotty question, how many thousands of angels could dance on the point of a needle without jostling each other.'" Passing over the Reverend writer's jejune attempts at humour, in describing the ballot-boxes, &c., he comes to the adjuncts, and thus answers, the " standing reason" against the frequency of dis missal of tenants for voting against their landlords:— Your standing reason argument is stark nonsense: you might as well urge your standing reason against the keeping a dog-kennel, or indulging in any other gentle. manly sport, that it is injurious to his pecuniary interests. There arc many things for which men recklessly squander their money, and for nothing more readily than revenge to a baffled will. Besides, from the fierce competition for farms now-a-day, caused by the disproportion in the num ber of farms to the number of those seeking them, the dis charge of a tenant does not involve the landlord in much risk of pecuniary loss, from the almost certainty there is of the farm being instantly refilled. Your next argument is of still less worth :—" To part with tenants for political reasons always makes a landlord unpopular." Unpopular with whom ? not with the party whose opi nion he fears. What cares the titled grandee, wallowing in wealth, who is capable of meanly ejecting a tenant, for having a will of his own, and for exercising it like a free born Briton—what cares he for the opinion of the hewers of wood and drawers of water, the tillers of the ground, the serfs of the soil ? Does it make him unpopular with his own clique ? And is not the opinion of that clique the at mosphere in which he breathes and lives? Do not then talk of public opinion alLcting the Newcastleite Squire. The Rev. Sidney Smith, like most men ad vanced in years, imitates old Nestor, and talks only about things which were when he was young. He sees now, as he did in the tenth floor of some house in Edinburgh, when lie began the " Blue and Yellow Review," only two great parties in the political community—namely, Tory and Whig, and thus reasons— " Interference with the freedom of voting, bad as it is, produces no political deliberation; it does not make the Tories stronger than the Whigs, nor the Whigs than the Tories, for both are equally guilty of this species of t)ranny.". o this the Working Man (and it is no assumed title, for lie adds his name) gives the following cutting reply, and the reply is the more pungent, because the Reverend Whig of 1802 is now a Whig, and something less : Why, Mr. Sydney Smith, are you dozing, or is your mental vision obscured ? Cast your glance, I pray you, around the political horizon : see you nothing else than Whig and Tory ? Where is the great mass of the people, who care as little for either party as I do for you, or, less still, as you do for me, and who every day are caring less and less ? These are they who would reap the benefit ; these are they who desire the change. Whe says or thinks anything about Wbigs or Tories benefiting by the Ballot? Does not every body know—do Whigs and Tories not know—do you not know—come now, I put the question plumply—do you not know that both these poli tical parties would lose by the Ballot, and that their loss would be the people's gain ? The Whig as well as the Tory squirearchy march up their serfs of the soil, rank and file, to vote for their man. Now what I, a Radical, one of the carnivorous varieties of the animal' (how pat your words come in) want is that every man—be he Tory, Whig, or Radical—shall vote for whomsoever be pleases—unmolested, unbribed : and this the Ballot, and the Ballot only, will effect." After answering other objections urged by the Reverend writer against the Ballot, he concludes the pamphlet with a few observations on one topic which Sidney Smith had no doubt, for very good reasons, passed over, but which, nevertheless, is still in the mouth of almost every man opposed to the Ballot—namely, that it is un-English : This is an objection much heard from the lips of genteel folks, yet it is nothing more than the cant of a low-minded nationality. Un- English, indeed—pooh ! suppose it were so, what then ? Are we to be deprived of every thing of foreign growth or extraction? Must we aboli-h printing, break to pieces our clocks and watches, and expel the Royal family ( 0 ye disloyal wretches I) because they are of German origin ? And pray, what are we English our selves? Listen to Daniel Defoe on this subject ( I quote from memory) : ' A true-born Englishman's a contradiction, A figurative fib, in fact a fiction ; A something meant t' express in verse A man akin to all the uni%erse From Pict, Scot, Saxon, Norman, Dane, began That heterogeneous thing—an Englishman." And who are they who mostly make the charge ? The Nobility and Gentry, who quaff the wines of France and Italy and Germany, and I know not of what other coun tries ; who amuse themselves with Italian operas and French fashions and plays ; these are the persons who cry out against the Ballot as being un-English. They have recourse to it themselves at their clubs, to protect them from a challenge ; yet they term it sneaking cowardice when required by the farmer and shopkeeper, to ward from them the savage vengeance of these self-same gents. This is on a par with their code of honour, which compels them to pay their black-leg debts, but allows them to cheat the honest, industrious trader with impunity. Such Aristocratic one-sided reasoning will not do for us. As we scorn the rotten morality of their laws of honour, and hate their interference with our honest votes, so we despise their cry of the Ballot being un- English, an assertion as false as it is silly ; for if there is one thing more than an other incorporated with our social institutions it is the Bal lot. It is in use from the thrifty poor man's sick club and the Mechanics' Institute, upwards to Brookes's and the Carlton Club. It is thoroughly English— " In short, it is our custom national, And, more that that, it's just and rational." There is this consolatory reflection, that all the blindly bigoted and interested opposition to the Ballot is unavail ing. It progresses rapidly in public estimation. Almost every day gives us some illustrious convert to add strength to our ranks. As sure as day succeeds night—as sure as truth will conquer falsehood—so sure is the Ballot's ulti mate triumph. The Lords of the Treasury have awarded to Mr. J. Carter, the late Town Clerk of Coventry, the annual sum of 2901. during his life, for the loss of the appointmen! and of the Clerkship to the Magistrates. Mr. Carter's claims for arrears are nearly 1,0001. --Coventry Standard. GAS-WATER A GOOD MANURE.—A cor respondent of the Mark-lane Express, from Penzance, communicates the results of an experiment with gas -water —the water in which the street gas has been cleansed. lie says he was induced to try it on a piece of barley land. A quarter of an acre was taken in the middle of a field, or rather a close soil, in a granite district. The land was of average quality. The gas-water was distributed over the quarter acre by a contriv ance resembling a common watering cart, and at the rate of 400 gallons to the acre, about a week before seed time. The rest of the field was manured in the usual way. The difference, both in colour and vigour, of the barley plant, was so striking in favour of the part manured by gas-water, that persons passing within view of the field almost invariably came to inquire the cause. The yield also was superior, as well as the after pasture, the field having been laid down with the barley. It might be poured on manure heaps, where it would probably destroy grubs, &c., in addition to its fertile properties. A considerable quantity of wheat has been stacked and housed in very good order during the last few days ; and though we hear complaints of there being less straw than the farmers expected before they began to cut, yet we believe the cars never were finer or heavier in yield. Ge nerally speaking there is rather a scarcity of hands ; but a more than usual activity seems to prevail in carting the corn the moment it is fit to house, for the weather has not the appearance of being settled. A great quantity of oats have ripened earlier than usual, and have been secured in excellent order. liar,.ey is ripening fast..—..6righton 1 Gazette. THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 1839 ABUSES IN THE EXCISE. TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL MAIL. Sir—With your permission, I wish to call the atten tion of the public and the Lords of the Treasury to the recent frauds practised upon the Excise department, and in doing so, I shall endeavour to be as concise as possible. It is alleged by the Hon. the Customs' Commissioners, that the frauds in question, amounting to nearly 70,0001., overpaid as drawback, to a glass manufacturer of this town, have been facilitated in consequence of the searchers not having acted up strictly to their instruc tions, as issued by a surveyor of searchers, in the year 1880, but, in my opinion, these extensive frauds may be traced to other and distinct causes :- Ist. To London mismanagement. 2d. To the paucity of officers. As regards London mismanagement, it will be only necessary to mention that the searchers' department, during the whole time the fraud s in question have been committed, has been under the entire care and super visiono f and London in o s i p e ector- e gen i eral, aided by London surveyors, Li verpool (ricers; and y e t most strain'agve°,utrilbaets'thensoet ver; clever London officers should have allowed such frauds to be carried on for so many years, and not make the discovery themselves. y et suc h i s the fact. Now, it will be naturally asked, what is the duty of an inspector-general ? Hear what the Commissioners say on the subject. "It is the duty of the inspector general," say they, " to see the searchers' duty pro perly and efficiently executed, and to take care the supervision over the outward department be properly attended to by the surveyors," That both Inspectors and surveyors have culpably neglected their respective duties in this respect may be inferred by the following statements from the Commissioners : " They (the Commissioners) consider the superintend ing officers have been guilty of most culpable r emissness in having permitted shipments of this fraudulent nature to take place for so long a period, in the absence of all supervision, check, or control on their parts." Here are Commissioners, with salaries to the amount of about 12,000/., besides their extensive patronage, havingthe sole management of the Customs, making the sad and humiliating confession that the aforesaid " super intendingofficers" whom they have promoted, and "whom their hearts delighteth to honour," have been guilty of "culpable remissness" to the amount of about 70,0001. This is bad, but worse remains behind. Will it be believed that. the inspector -general and the surveyor, who are here censured by the Honourable Board, actually are now promoted to London—one a surveyor -o.eneral, and the other to an increased pay, as a I:ion , don surveyor, whilst the Liverpool officers who acted under them have been degraded and dismissed. I trace these frauds to the door of the Commissioners. It was they who did away with the really useful office of surveyor of searchers, and instituted that police-like office of inspector-general ; soon after which these frauds commenced. As respects the paucity of officers and clerks, com pared with London, it will be merely necessary to state that London has more than double the number of searchers and six times the number of clerks, all with higher salaries, of course, whilst the outward depart mentem work here is veiy pleasedto inform t considerablybeati ie ier. public l Lon o n sear c h ers an d c l e rks have less worka ‘ il more thhy Cm pay It was prophetically said by you, when editor of the Standard,* " that the conduct of the late inspector general at this port (now s urveyongeneral!!!), whe ther acting from his own will, or in obedience to the Commissioners of Customs, was calculated to sow the seeds of dissension and discontent among the operative officers, and must be detrimental both to the interests of the public revenue and to the merchants," and that " a feeling of b e i ng d epr i ve d o f t h e re wards due to services long, steadily, and promptly performed, must engender a sense of degradation on the part of the Liverpool officers, and that those feelings must be productive of the worst consequences to the service generally." The Treasury must now look fully into this disgrace ful business, and probe it to the bottom, if the revenue is to be guarded against similar frauds. The ambitious projects and insidious proceedings of the Commissioners must be put an end to ; for it needs no lengthened ar guments to prove that inefficient public servants will always be found when the patronage is used for the promotion of private or political objects. The Treasury must not be blind to the faults of the system, nor refuse to rectify them. They will find, on inquiry, that the Chairman of the Board of Customs, if not. the Commissioners generally, hate Liverpool for her rebellious spirit and her rising greatness. Hence every inspector here has been their willing tool ; and the Liverpool officers are like an apple in a cider-press, while each inspector turns the screw ; and, when he has squeezed it to the extent of his power, makes over the handle to another ; and he to a third ; and so on ; for each inspector knows that his prospects depend upon his keeping the establishment here within certain de fined limits, and that any recommendation for an in crease of clerks would only be considered by the Ho nourable Board in the light of a register of his own un fitness for promotion. However, whatever notions may have been enter tained by the Treasury, through false statements, late Excise frauds, and also Customs 'rands, both here and in London, must bring to light the truth—the great paucity of hands in every department, and the ignorance and mismanagement of the superintending officers ; and, moreover, however unpalatable to the self-love of the Honourable the Commissioners such a conclusion may be, it is now self-evident and conclusive, that they hold pos session of their offices, not from any fitness thereto, but by their own misrepresentation s palmed upon the Treasury. In future, appointments to the office of Commissioner must depend upon fitness for and knowledge of the laws of the Customs ; at present, through their igno rance of their duty (the Chairman, perhaps, excepted), they are either dictated to or influenced by the sur veyors-general, who are all London men, with London interests and London prejudices constantly before them ; our inspectors must be as fixed stars, and not comet-like in their visits, terrifying the officers by their long tails ; all deep intrigues and predetermination to ruin or degrade men of unimpeachable character must be done away with ; and, above all, talent must be encouraged and patronised, which will never be the case so long as that unconstitu tional office of inspector -general, or police-court, is allowed to exist under its present form and government. July 18, 1839. JusTus. * Vide paper, 21st August, 1834. EGLINTON TOURNAMENT.—As the period approaches for the commencement of the magnificent sports at Eglinton the interest excited is enhanced. On a visit to the grounds the other d a y we perce i ve d t h at prepara ti ons on an extensive scale were going forward with great acti vity, and that there was a de!ermination to overlook nothing that could be rendered available to contribute to the splen dour and magnificence of the entertainment. The place chosen for the lists lies about a quarter of a mile to the east of the Castle, amidst scenery of the most enchanting and picturesque description, and among which it would be a perplexing task to select one spot more beautiful than another. The arena extends to about four square acres, around which is already erected a fence, engrossing 12,000 square feet of hoarding. The barrier in the centre of the ground, up to which the knights are to ride, measures 300 feet. There are fifty men at present engaged in erecting a gallery for the " Queen of Beauty," and fair ladies and " peerless" damsels of the tournament. This grand pavi lion is 200 feet in length, and capable of accommodating 1,000 people. The decorations of the pavilion and lists have not arrived, but are said to be of the most costly and gorgeous description. Within the lists space is allotted for the marquees of the knights; the number of these spoken of at present is thirty-one, and there is a prospect of a large augmenta tion. A place has been prepared for a banquetting hall and a ball. room, attached to the Castle, in which the en tertainments of the day will be finished; and there are numerous galleries and stands planned for the accommo. dation of the Nobility and Gentry, to the number of many thousands, expected to be present. The Knights are to ride in procession with their ladies from the Castle in a circuitous direction through the deer parks to the tilt yard, crossing the Lugton, which runs by the Castle walk, by a splendidly ornamented bridge. The . tournam en t i s an engrossing subject of interest in the districts around. In Irvine houses were let for three days, commencing on the 28th, at from to 201., and the Manse, we are told has been let to a family at 301. There are a great n um b er o f houses taken also in Arran for the occasion, and th e ra il. way to Ayr has came most opportunely, as those w h o h sve taken up their quarters in the " Gude Auld Town" w ill b e brought to the scene of festivity in nineteen or twenty minutes. The rich and the great look forward to the tournament as a period of gay and lively pastime, but the artisans in the districts of Kyle and Cunninghame arc, in the meantime, reaping the advantag es of well paid emp l oy . ment. Besides the out-door erec tions there is a vast deal of ornamental work going on in the Castle, giving emp l oy _ ment to a large number of workmen. There are two saw mills kept going in the cutting of wood, , and . carters and Empire by joiners are in much request.—Glalo w Courzer. the young We understand that a most important preliminary of his em step has been taken respecting the Tnrkish the five great European Powers. It said,. and with truth, we believe, that these Powers, in assuring em pire, Sultan requested uf etheirhim perfect not accord ord conclude upon tbhye himselfb j .ee t a n y settle. ment of the differences between the Sublime Porte and the Pacha of Egypt, but to leave that question to th e i r consideration an d decision. To that p ro position the Sultan has given his perfect acquiescence. Doubtless a similar communication has been address ed to Mehemet Ali, but we are as y e t w ithout his answer. — Ob s erver. On Sat ur d a y, at the Eltham Petty Sessio ns , George S m ith, alias Jones, a fe rocio us - looking fello w , was charged by Mr. George Smit h, a f armer of Eltham, with high wa y ro bbery. The prosecutor stated that, on Wednesday- night, he was seeing a lady home, when three men attacked him, one jumping on his ba c k, which made him fall to th e ground, when they robbed hi m o f h i s purse ; and, i n a tt e mpting to take his watch, broke o ff t h e chain from it ; he seized the prisoner Jones, who h a d on a white frock, w hi c h h e tore down the front in the struggle, and managed to break from him. A man named Foster, hearing a cr y f or h e lp, ran to and took the spot, and seeing the prisoner r un away , f o llowed him, him as he was r pulling off his frock under a . bush ; one o f t h e Eltham I police coming up, he gave him into custody. Th e prose. cuter swore positively to the prisoner's identity, an d t h e Magistrates f u lly committed him for trial. LITERATURE. AMERICAN PERIODICALS. THE NEW YORKEIt--NEW YORK MONTHLY MA GA GINE. Greeley, New York, 1 539. Notwithstanding the variety of new works, periodical and otherwise, that are almost in daily course of publi cation at New York, Washington, Boston, and the other great cities and towns of the Union, the day, we fear, is yet distant when America will have a literature of her own, perfectly indigenous, cast in a fresh, original mould, and reflecting, as in a mirror, the lights and shades of the veritable national character. At present, though she produces many books, and some of sterling merit, yet she cannot point to any one single publica tion, and say, " this is genuine home growth ; here you see the true impress of the American mind, uninfluenced by European associations, and owing nothing to the mother country's habits of thought, or sentiment." America, we repeat, cannot yet venture to make this boast. And why ? Because she lacks a manly confidence in her own intellectual resources ; is fettered by precedent ; and takes fright at the bare mention of the word, originality. Her literary am bition is moderate, and on a petty scale. She is satis fied with the praise of being a clever imitator ; and deems herself successful or otherwise, as she approaches to, or recedes from, her great English models. In poetry, she is content with closely copying the manner— frequently the very thoughts—of Wordsworth, He mans, and Byron ; in the short essay and sentimental tule, as in the instance of the " Sketch Book," she imitates Addison, Sterne, and Mackenzie ; and in the novel, she is a docile pupil in the school of Walter Scott. Doubtless, these are good models to draw from ; but why should not America—as France, Germany, and even Poland, if we may credit Dr. Bowring, have done—found a school of her own, set up in business for herself? She has abundant materials to work from ; is quick, active, intelligent, and closely observant of cha racter ; and may be strictly original, even though using the mother country's tongue. At the present moment, we can call to mind but one transatlantic wok th it possesses the slightest claim to originality. We allud to " Sam Slick," the indigenous character of which there canbeno possibility of mistaking ; but then, it should be borne in mind that the author of this amusing trifle is a Nova Scotia Judge, and can, therefore, be scarcely claimed by Jonathan as a countryman. It is nothing to the purpose to say—as some periodicals have recently said—that America is yet in her infancy; that national literature is a plant of slow growth ; and, consequently, that she must be allowed time for the ripening and full development of her faculties. She is far more en lightened than England was at the time when Chaucer wrote those works which are still the admiration of his countrymen ; and in the myriad shades and varieties of her national character, she possesses a wider and more pro lific field for the exercise of original powers, than our dramatists ever possessed, even in the days of Elizabeth. Let America, then, take heart ; turn her own abundant resources to account ; and dare to write from her own impressions of things, careless what English critics may say of her, who, after all, will never condemn her for laying aside her old models, but rather praise her for the judicious boldness that prompted such a step. To have a fresh, original literature of her own, she has but to will it. We were led to these reflections by a collection of New York Periodicals which have just reached us ; and which—as might have been expected—have nothing but the publisher's name to distinguish them from si milar English publications. They a!! possess talent, though by no means of a high or rare order ; but this talent has little or nothing of an American cha racter about it. Slight, essays, still slighter tales and sketches, drawn, not from observation, but from fancy, aided by recollections of the works of some of our modern writers ;—such is the starle of these transatlantic periodicals which, though dated " New York," might, with just as much propriety, be dated " London." Thus much for those articles which profess to be original ; as regards the others, we have merely to say. that they are selections from our own weekly and monthly miscellanies ; and among them, we perceive re-prints of the series of tales entitled " The Picture Gallery" in Blackwood's Magazine ; and of several amusing prose sketches in Fraser, Bentley, and the Athenaeum. TWELVE SERIIIOiVS, delivered in the New Temple of the Israelites at Hamburg, by Dr. GOTTHOLD SALO MON. Translated from the German by ANNA MARIA GOLDSMID. London, Murray, 1839. In a modest, well written preface to this volume, the translator informs us that she has two objects in offer ing it to the public.:—the hope of promoting practical piety among such of the Hebrew community as do not understand German, by adding from that lan guage to their sources of religious instru2tion ; and the expectation of removing the prejudices of ignorant but well-meaning Christians, by enabling them to obtain an extended and accurate knowledge of the actuating faith of Israelites. We have rarely met with any work better calculated to realise these truly laudable objects than the volume of sermons now before us. Dr. Salomon is not a cold expounder of obsolete mysteries ; an enunciator of tedious essa3s filled with trifling details of ceremonial observances, and common-place morality. The decent debility which is the main cha racteristic of most English sermons is equally abhorent to his taste, his temperament, and the liveliness of his religious zeal. His piety is practical, his hope sanguine, and his tolerance universal. His rule of faith is the law as delivered to Moses, and as manifested throughout the Mosaic dispensation ; and that this law teaches charity, love, long-suffering in patience, and the most generous benevolence, is warmly inculcated in every one of his discourses. We quote, as an example, the following passage from his sermon on " the Spirit of the Mosaic Religion" : " What light is to the mind, love is to the heart ; and as our spirits yearn for light, so do our hearts thirst after affection. A religion that should leave this thirst un slaked, might well be suspected, for it would be ill adapted to man (who possesses a feeling heart as well as a think ing mind,) in whom not only a thinking mind, but like wise a feeling heart is constantly demanding nourishment. But blessed are we, my brethren. The very life-breath of our religion is love, and the image of the Creator, which we bear in ourselves, can never manifest itself more worthily or more completely than in acts of lore; for it is only by love that we can become like him who loveth all. Our religion tells us that one God has created us, our text tells us that God is near, is closely related to us. Can there exist any closer rela tionship? He is our father, and the father of all living. One and the same dwelling-place is appointed for us and them here, one and the same is destined for us hereafter ; the beginning and end of all are alike I Shall that por tion alone which lies between--that span of time which we call life, be unwarned by the bright beams of love ? Mankind are the companions of your journey ; love them as you love yourselves. But you pause to reflect. Is it because, perchance, another town, another country, another continent, lies between you and your fel .man ? Ought a foreign city or a strange land, or an unknown region, then, he deemed an impas sible barrier between hearts formed alike ? Are not both they and you still the creatures of God ? Are ye not still brethren? Is not God the God of the whole earth ? Is not his name to be praised, from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same? Love the stranger also, as thou lovest thyself! Do you again hesitate ? There lies between you, perhaps, something more than a conti nent—a different creed. But say, ye that have feeling hearts, suppose that of two born of the same parents, the elder is tali enough to embrace their father, while the younger can only Clasp his knees, must not the elder and the stronger assist him, who is yet too little and too weak to climb to the parental bosom ? Should difference in strength cause difference in fraternal love ? The heart answers, No ! and so speaks religion also. This love will assume every conceivable form that can serve to bless ; it will be meek and ready to assist enemies and offenders ; tender and compassionate to the wretched and unfortunate; forbearing and indulgent to the weak and infirm; gentle and kind to those of lowly condition, who have the more need of love from their fellow-men, the more they appear to be without the love of their father, in this their earthly life." " Love God and thy neighbour, and thou halt ful filled the law," is the sacred language of the Gospel ; and to the thousands of Christians who have ignorantly believed that the religion of the Hebrew in culcated a less amiable morality, the passage which we have quoted from the eighth sermon of, Dr. Salomon will bring indeed tidings of great joy, though unhappily not unmixed with self-humiliat ing reflections. The unmerited obloquy which has been heaped by ignorance, by prejudice, by avarice, and by blind zeal upon the moral and religious character of the Jew for more than a thousand years, will visit the con science of the sincere Christian with a degree of self reproach equal to the satisfaction with which he will learn to eschew errors so fatal to the civil liberty and social well-being of so numerous a class of his fellow creatures. But there are among us a race of worldly men with Christianity in their mouths and Mammon in their hearts, who affect to exclude the Jews from a par ticipation in civil rights, under the plea that their re ligion forbids them to discharge the duties of citizenship in Christian States. This plea is very specious, and would be unanswerable were it not wholly without any foundation. Hear the testimony of Doctor Salomon, who thus addresses his co-religionists upon the subject : " There is no law in the religion of Moses to hinder you from devoting your powers to the State to which you belong, to the Fatherland which protects you, at whatever hour, or on whatever day your services may be indispen sably necessary. Parents ! there is no law in the religion of Moses to prevent your labouring unwearicdly for the welfare of your children. Women ! aged and young—there is no law in the religion of Moses to prevent your cultivating the noble capabilities of your sex, _promoting the happiness of, and thus embellishing your homes. The professor of the religion of Moses is admo nished to encourage all that can contribute to social har mony, and to prevent whatever tends to its destruction." It is well and beautifully remarked by the trans ' slator, that, " if, in religious discussion, men of all creeds would seek, not points of dif ference, , but points of agreement, how much of the strife and bitterness that deform God's earth would disappear—mutual ignorance it is that but too often produces mutual alienation." We believe that the brief quotations we made have from this volume will attest ' this most important fact, too long overlooked by the re ligious world ; and to Miss Goldsmid the Christian public is deeply indebted for the practical inculcation of so morally sublime a doctrine. What she has ad vanced is not new, but she has proved it to he more than a theory. We may also observe thet there is something very touching in the spectacle of a Hebrew Maiden thus endeavouring to remove the prejudices and errors which have for centuries impeded the moral and intellectual improvement of her race ; and we feel con fident that the exertions of one so worthy of success will not prove unavailing. She has put her hand to the plough—let her not look back. In conclusion we re commend this Volume not less to the attention of the Christian than the Israelite ; as affording to all much in struction and assistance in the prosecution of a life of piety and benevolence. IGNOMINIOUS AND ILLEGAL TREATMENT OF MR. O'BRIEN. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SlR,—The Newspapers of Tuesday announced the arrest of 'Jr. James Bronterre O'Brien on Monday night, on a charge of " sedition ," but the public have not yet been informed of the treatment experienced by him. It is necessary that this, and all similar things, be noted, and treasured up in the minds of the people. In the first place, if mere paltry vindictiveness had not been the motive, the " ends of justice" might have been satisfied by arresting Mr. O'Brien at a proper hour in the day time, but he was taken at 11 o'clock, P.m., purposely to make him pass the night in a foul, unwholesome dungeon. Mr. O'Brien had not, at any time, attempted to ab scond ; therefore, he might have been apprehended at a suitable and decent hour, when the police-office was open, and bail could be procured with facility and with out delay. But it was, undoubtedly, considered a glorious triumph for the persons in power to " cage" one of their most influential political opponents. Mr. O'Brien was shut up at 11 o'clock, in a cell (at the Bow-street station), usually allotted to persons accused of murder, assassi nation, and unmanageable and obstreperous drunkards ; and was not allowed to communicate with any of his friends till 10 o'clock of the afternoon of Tuesday, when Messrs. Rogers and Hartwell were received as his bail. If the Aristocrat-ridden English have not a Bastile and lettrcs de cachet in name, they have them in sub stance, at the present interesting time of liberticide. Now, setting aside the malignity of thus acting to wards a political adversary, I contend that it was not merely base, it was also enormously " ILLEGAL." The " Law" (boroughmonger-made, judge-made, and unmerciful, sanguinary, and disgusting though it be,) supposes an accused individual to be innocent until he is actually convicted by a jury ; and, as such, that he ought not to be subject to any unnecessary and unavoid able annoyance or restriction. " Safe custody" is all that is required by the " Law ;" and Coke, Blackstone, and other law-notables, have expressed this opinion. But the fact is, that at the present moment of con vulsion, the " law of the land" is PHYSICAL FORCE— the LAW OF THE STRONGEST ; and the Government, having at its beck, soldiery, police, and Bens-d'arnies ; special constables, armed with cutlasses ; yeomanry, and all sorts of Congreve, Shrapnell, and other " infernal machines," can make the Law" assume any shape it chooses, as the ruling few do in Russia and Turkey, To remonstrate with such a Government is useless ; scarcely has it. left " free-born Britons" their ancient privilege of grumbling in public ; but it may not be amiss to hint to it that the more Chartists are persecuted, the more rapidly will the principles of the Charter be diffused throughout England, Ireland, and even Canada. It may imprison, and crop the Jiair . of fifty Chartists ; but it cannot imprison and cut the hair of the three millions who will never cease to agitate until the Charter is effectuated. It may thrust the Democratic Chiefs into Bastiles ; but it has not the power to confine the growing princi ples of the Charter and the Republic. It may treat Chartist prisoners with ignominy and inhumanity—it will only increase exasperation ; and if it goad the people into a state of ptirenzy, it will be answerable for the excesses of madmen. I am, Sir, your very obedient servant, JAS..H. LORYMER. August 16, 1839. IYDUSTRY WITHOUT REWARD.-The sad dest aspect the decay of civic society can exhibit, has al ways appeared to me to be this, when honourable, honour loving, conscientious diligence cannot, by the utmost efforts of toil, obtain the necessaries of life ; or when the work ing man cannot even find work, but must stand with fol ded arms, lamenting his forced idleness, through which himself and his family are verging to starvation, or, it may he, actually suffering the pains of huuger.—Thomas Car lyle's new work. GRATITUDE TO PARENTS.-When we are aware that those to whom we owe existence have devoted long years, during our infancy and youth, to protect, to nourish, and to guide us ;--when they have thought of us rather than themselves, sacrificed pleasure and amusement and tastes and feelings for our benefit ; — when they have spent the weary hours of watchfulness over the bed of infancy and of sickness ;—.when they have rejoiced in our joys and mourned for our sorrows; —when they have made efforts for us that they would not have made for themselves, and even corrected us with more pain to themselves than to us, for our benefit ;—when they have felt it a pang, and yet a duty, to deny us what we sought, and when they have given up, in short, time, thought, pleasure, exertion, energy, hope, comfort, selfish. ness, for our after-welfare,—when they have done all this, and we know it, there is nothing on earth can equal, or should equal, the love and gratitude of a child for his parents.-- Charles Tyrrell, by G. P. R. James. THE NATIONAL HOLIDAY.—We copy the following paragraph from the Chester Gazette, less for the sake of the intelligence it contains than for the specimen it affords of the spirit of the provincial press. Er uno omnes disces—Whig as well as Tory :—" The humbug of the sacred month,' as Stephens very appositely terms this wicked project, has, as anticipated, ' fallen to the ground.' It has proved the Rev. Gentleman to be a pro phet as well as an agitator. The reports from the manu facturing districts have been very alarming, but the facts have turned out amusing, if levity can be indulged on so serious a subject as riot and confusion. At Man chester the Chartists have been frustrated in their foolish attempts at mischief—at Salford they fled before the police like chaff before the wind,—at Oldham a meeting took place, where "resolutions" only were passed! ...at Rochdale the women were the most uproarious, and the mob that had assembled found safety in flight ; at this place the streets were cleared by ten o'clock at night,--at Middleton the Chartists appeared ashamed of themselves, and in many instances returned to their work, while some went to Rochdale and Manchester, to " assist" their bre thren in those towns,—at Bolton an attempt at a row took place, but by nightfall all was quiet,—at Neweastle.on- Tyne there was a complete failure of the national holiday, —and at Birmingham not the least excitement appeared." Miss LOUISA DRUNK 1.----Among the nume rous charges of " drunk and disorderly" which were brought before the Magistrates on Wednesday at Lambeth street, was one against Miss Louisa A--, a young lady of first-rate accomplishments, but who, unfortunately spoils all by a most inordinate thirst for gin. The extra ordinary propensity to drink and intoxication on the port of the young lady, has been a source of considerable annoyance to her respectable friends and family, and led to her appearance at this office on four or five previous occasions. At one time, after a desperate debauch she expressed a most fervent determination to refrain from all intoxicating liquors, and to abide in the strictest manner by the wishes of her friends. The latter, on this promise being made, suggested the best means of insuring its ful filment, made arrangements with the proprietress of a highly respectable convent in France for her maintenance, for which a handsome sum was given. Miss A., agreeably to her promise, proceeded thither, and for some time con ducted herself with the strictest propriety and decorum. At length, however, her thirst for drink returned, she marched of to a tavern in the town adjoining, where she got gloriously drunk, and on her return to the con vent created a sensation among its inmates, to which they were, up to that moment, utter strangers. She struck right and left at all who came within her reach, and even the mother abbess did not escape her vengeance. So.extraordinary and violent was her conduct, that an application was actually made to the authorities of the town to have her at once removed to England, which was done. After her return she had been ire quently picked up from the kennel in so beastly a state of intoxication as not to be able to articulate ; and her clothes, which were of a costly description, covered with filth and rendered useless. Some months ago her mother died, and left her 4.0001. ; but aware of her habits, she can only receive the interest in certain weekly sums A policeman stated he had found Miss A. on the preceding night in Stepney-green rolling drunk, and incapable of taking care of herself, and he in consequence took her to the station house. Miss A. admitted that what was stet% d by the policem a n w a s t r u e ; but said she had not been such a state for six months. She was discharged with severe admonition. of this MYSTERIOUS CI RC UMSTA NCE.-0 last, the inhabitants of Marygate, in suburbst a h l e arm from the city, were thrown into a state of gre h a o r n Saturday w orkhouse, which re port that several of the inmates of containing poison. dinner, caused by partaking of out to be too; rue, and is situated in that street, had beensotautkpen suddenly ill after The startling announcementi turneds_ soup At noon on tne above was served out to the dayt e f t a h c o t s customary'appear o allowanceb be as follows.—Awns o ofw Shortly afterwards seven through the workhouse master. paupers, and two poor neibhbours also obtained some of it. paupersned andbl.ae black the two otherexhibited p o e t r h s e o r n s al a were rm osi and g woman, named tion a youn g orNv seized h e i i t g fi h eu t i. hs t a h ey e riiio. g us tu in r disP A boy in the workhouse was also in a alarm ing symptoms. dangerous state , and be was not ex p ect ed to survive. INle_ dical aid, howeve r, was promptly obtained, they are all in a fair way of recover y , thou g h it w as currently reported that four of the p ersons had died. There cannot be m uc h doubt that poison has been placed in the soup by some person with a murderous intent, by which an awful amount of human life has narrowly escaped being sacrificed. As the whole affair, however, is shrouded in mystery, we would not be too premature in hazarding an opinion, as we have no doubt the matter will undergo strict investiga tion. The remainder of the soup was committed to the care of Mr. White, chemist, &c., Goodramgate, to analyse. previous to the adoption of other measures. York Courant. EVENING EDITION ENGLISH OPERA HOUSE. After Balfe's light and amusing opera of Diadesli, a new one act farce, nnder the title of the Lilac Back Parlour, was produced at this Theatre on Saturel,:y evening last. It is a very agreeable trifle, and turns upon the jealousies of a Mr. and Mrs. Simon Tubbs (F. Mathews and Mrs. Garrick), and the loves of Mr. T i‘ E t e h r e , w t s h , ew who o ho s l u e s ta w in et e g d h t to ftriumphantly announced for repetition with very few dissentients. It is full of bustle and incident, in the manage ment of which, the author displays considerable knowledge of stage effect. It requires a little judicious pruning, more particularly in the mono logues which, in some instances almost amount to soliloquies—when this is done we think we may pro phecy such a run for the Lillie Back Parlour, as will prove satisfactory both to author and manager. This was followed by Donizetti's delightful opera of the Love Spell, in which Balfe, decidedly the first, we had almost said the only, English Buffo, was admirably sup ported by Miss Itainforth, Leffler, and Frazer. We congratulate the latter gentleman particularly on his acting and singingin Nentorino ; he has taken great pairs with the part, and we have never heard him with more pleasure than we • did on Saturday evening. He need net shrink from a comparison with any of his predecessors. The whole getting up of this Opera reflects great cre dit on actors and manager. Balfe seems determined to do for English Opera that which Macready has done for the English Drama, and we were happy to see that his efforts were properly appreciated by a very crowded audience. MUTILATION OF THE INSCRIP- TIONS OF TOMBSTONES. On Saturday at the meeting of the St. Marylebone Vestry, Mr. Joseph in the Chair, a deputation, con sisting of Messrs. Christie, Proctor, Drew, and other gentlemen, waited upon the Vestry as the representa tives of nearly 100 proprietors and occupiers of property situate on an estate in Bermondsey, called the Fendall Estate, for the purpose of soliciting them to appoint a committee of inquiry to investigate into an alleged sur reptitious alteration of the burial register of the parish of Marylebone, and of the effacing of an inscription on a tombstone, by which the claim to the above property was sought to be effected. Mr. DREW, one of the deputation, stated that the estate called Fendalls, situate in the parish of Bermond sey, was occupied by himself and others, under leases and various other ways, from a Mrs. Elizabeth Chapel whose title was proved to the property 100 years since. A person named George Fendall, residing in Woodstock street, St. Marylebone, had lately laid claim to the above estate, and sought to dispossess the whole of the present occupiers of their property, alleging that he was the only heir, and that it had no right to have gone into any other hands. A trial had been commenced, and they (the occupiers) had searched all the burial grounds and burial registers in and around the metropolis to dis cover the right line of the Fendall family. On examin ing the burial ground of St. Marylebone, they found a newly-erected grave-stone belonging to the family in question, from the inscriptions on which they were at first led to believe that the claim which had been set up by Mr. George Fendall was correct, but on search ing the regi s t er i t was t h ere di scovere d t h at in terlineations had been made, exactly correspond ing with the inscriptions on the new stone in the church-y ar d. O n pursu i ng t h e i r i nqu i r i es con cerning the original grave-stone, they succeeded in discovering it in the stone repository of the church yard, with the whole of the inscriptions it had borne completely effaced. On further search being made the foot-stone to the same grave was ultimately dis covered standing against the wall, and on examina tion it was found to hear inscriptions totally at va riance with those on the new head-stone. This dis covery, and the omission on the part of the persons who had obliterated the inscriptions on the ori ginal head-stone also to obliterate them on the foot stone, had been fatal to the cause of the claimant. In con gnence, all endeavours to bring the case to trial at the Surrey Assizes had been useless, as the claimant refused to appear. The occupiers of the property in question now applied to that Vestry to appoint a Committee to inquire into all the circumstances attendant upon this very important case, and to order that the grave-stones that had been meddled with should he left in safe cus tody, so that they might be produced at a future pe riod, since it was the intention of the present occupiers of the property to prosecute the parties implicated in obliterating an inscription so sacred as that on a tomb stone, and in effecting a falsified interlineation in the burial register. The occupiers of the property, not wishing to put the parish to any expense, would them selves offer a reward for persons who had committed what might be deemed a sacriligious forgery. Mr. WiLsoN—Can you tell, Sir, the exact time when the new grave-stone was substituted for the old one ? Mr. DREW—The new stone has been in the ground since the month of May, 1838. Mr. WILSON wished to know who was empowered on application to permit old grave-stones to be removed, and new ones placed in their lieu i Mr. noon, the Vestry-clerk, said no person could either remove or erect a new tomb-stone in the church yard without application to, and the consent of, the agent of the Vestry, Mr. Pace. Mr. Soma observed that removals similar to the present one must have been made with the cognizance of the sexton ; and he wished to know in what way it could be proved that the stone which had been found so completely defaced belonged to the Fendall family ? Mr. DREW—The sexton was subpoenaed to attend the trial, having pointed out the grave-stone in question as the original one of the Fendall Mr. PROCTOR, one of the deputation—The way in which we have discovered the foot-stone is thus :—the sexton expressed his ignorance of what had become of it ; but, as the deputation were about to leave the bu rial ground, he asked the grave-digger if he knew any thing about the stone, when the latter answered, " Oh, yes, here it is," pointing to a stone placed against the wall. _ _ - Mr. HARBUTT—Was the appearance of the oblite ration such as would result from natural decay, or not ? Alr. PROCTOR-The stone had been evidently rubbed down on each side, as marks of friction were observed on the surface. The sexton could not account for those marks. The CHAIRMAN—This application involves a matter of considerable importance with respect to the right of property, since obliterations and alterations of the in scriptions on tomb -stones, unless they were closely watched, might affect extensively the claims of indi viduals and families. Such an application, therefore, must meet with the most serious consideration of the vestry, and accordingly they would attend to it. On the withdrawal of the deputation, On the motion of Mr. FOSTER, seconded by Mr. llooD, a Committee was appointed in accordance with the wishes of the deputation ; and after some routine business the Vestry separated. A CASE FOR LORD BROUGHAM. A most remarkable case occurred at the recent Fer managh Assizes. A woman of bad character, named Mary Crawford, was charged with stealing 12s. Gd. float a person natuel James Gallagher, whilst the parties were drinking in a public-house. The case of robbery was clearly proved, and the waiter, Daniel Carroll, proved that he searched the prisoner, and found the money upon her person. We shall now quote the words of the re port, commencing with the prisoner's appeal to the Jury : Prisoner—Come, Carroll, tell the gtntlernen of the Jury what I said, and I am sure justice will be done me. lam not to be transported by such a villain. Witness —She said, my Lord and gentlemen of the Ju y, that the money was her own ; that Gallagher wa .te i to rob her ; and she called on me, gentlemen of the Jury, not to allow her to be robbed by a Papist (here the witness stood up and slapped his hands in the most vehement manner) ; and she said, my Lord, that the prisoner was bringing the charge against her for fear she would speak of Baxter's murder, as she knew all about it. Chief Justice—But you found the money in her stockings? were y.o threefound three half-crowns half-crowns i n it. Wi tness —l did my Lord. Chief Justice—Did Galla g her d escribe the money to you before it was found ? Wit ness — He did, my so conc ealed ? Witness — l did. Lo c rc h h ief e One of the Jury to Gallagher—C ou ld 11 Ju e st s i a c i e d — ti A r n e d you swear to the money when you saw it found on her : Gallagher —No man could swear to silver ; but I swear that it corresponded with the money I lost, and that I saw her found s tooping down just b e f ore i t was in her stocking. Chief Justice to the Jurymen —If you lose money in a room whilst in company with another person, and that money corre • sponding with it is found on that pre son, it is no violent pres • umption to say that it is the sam e. The case is perfectly clear. Chief Justice to Carroll—What did you do with the money found ? Carroll—l gave it to the police to keep till the trial, and Mr. Irwin, the Magistrate, said I was right in doing so. Chief Justice—l say the same. nen turning to the Jury—"-The case is perfectly plain against the pri soner ; you can have no doubt about it." The Jury, without leaving the box, brought in a verdict of Not guilty. The Chief Justice looked up at them with arpirent amazement. He said nothing to them, but to d the clerk of the Crown to desire them to stand aside, and to have another Jury A BOY FOUND IN THE RIVER.—Un Saturday morning, between five and six o'clock, a Waterman, named Edward Logan, at Lambeth stairs, observed i a floating Gave fallenb een off t s mass drifting with th e tide, and on rowi ng to ist found it to be the body of a boy. lie brought it ash ore an d con _ ve)cd it to the b one-house of the parish, where i t was dis covered to be the bod y of the son o f Mr. Coombs, of Lambeth-deceased, b place, Sooth Lambeth. The who mliilfasri since Tuesday wasnine la ) s e t a , r a s nd is ofy s e u a p rs po o s f ed ag to he age, while at play there.