The Sun. — London, England, 1844-03-04 00:00:00

OTAHEITE, The following are copies of the letters addressed by Queen Pomare to Admiral Dupetit Thouars and to the King of the French : " QUEEN POMARE TO ADMIRAL DUPETIT THOUARS. " Papete, Nov. 5, 1843. " Monsieur l'A m i ra l—l have recei e ved the letter which you have written to me. You suppose that I allow myself to be guided by the counsels of persons who surround me, who are not favourable to the plans of your country, you say, and nho may even draw down great misfor tunes upon myself and my people. You are entirely mistaken—l act upon my own impulse alone. As to the flag which I have adopted, if it has a crown upon it, it is because I desired that it should be, in order that this emblem might call to mind that of my sovereignty ; and such is the motive why I desire to retain it. " I desire to see my flag flying as it has done, without any change being made in it. Nothing to this effect is stipulated in the treaty ; and consequently I have no thing to fear. The only motive which induced me to give my signature on the 9th of September, 1842, was the fear of exposing my people to some evil " Receive, &c., " POMARE." " QUEEN POMARE TO ADMIRAL DUPETIT THOURAS. " Admiral,—l have received the letter you have written to me relative to the flag. M. Carpegna has also told me all that you wished him to say. " I can in no way agree to your demand that I should take down my flag. It bears the emblem of my sovereignty, and shows the motive why I wish to keep it. Moreover, the treaty stipulates nothing with regard to the flag. " Any person that may attack my flag will be most culpable.—Accept, &c., POMARE." " QUEEN POMARE TO ADMIRAL DUPETIT THOURAS. " Papeete, 6th Nov., 1843. " Admiral,—l have not deviated anything from the treaty Which I concluded on the 9th of September, 1842 —a treaty which I subscribed under the influence of fear. Yes, I must repeat it, if I have given my signature, it ♦vas simply owing to fear. " I can assure you that in placing a crown on my flag I had no - intention of breaking the treaty, or of placing myself in opposition to the European Governments. Such is my Royal will. " I do not desire in any way to create the smallest estrangement between myself and the King of France. Far from that, I am full of respect for his person, as well as for the treaty concluded with him. " I haire complied with the wish expressed by you a few days ago in one of your letters, in which you re quest me to apprise the chiefs that you wish them to meet, in order that you might present the Commissioner of the King of France, and communicate the letters of which he is the bearer. " I desire that no disorder may take place in my Go• vernment, and that is the wish which I have caused to be made known to my people. " One of my most ardent wishes is to be the only suf ferer by the circumstances which are at present taking place, but I beg of you not to deprive me of my sove reignty ; leave me all that belongs to me, and do not establish yourself on the little island Hontononta. " I place all my confidence in God, and I beg the protection of your King. Receive my salutations. (Signed) " POMARE, Queen of Otaheite. " To Admiral Dupetit Thouars." " ADMIRAL DUPETIT THOUARS TO 'MADAME' POMARE. " Bay of Papeete, on board the Frigate La Reine Blanche, Nov. 9, 1843. " Madame,—l have the honour to inform you, that I have no longer now the power of holding any official communication with you. All communications that you may desire to lay before his Majesty Louis Philippe, must be addressed to Governor Bruat. " A. DUPETIT THOUARS." " LETTER TO THE RING. " Parfai, Otaheite, Nov. 9, 1843. " Petitient -of Pomare, to Louis Philippe, King of the French. " 0 King ! I have been deprived this day of my Go vernment. my sovereignty has been violated, and your Admiral lutq, with arms in his hands, taken possession of Illy territory, because I was accused of not observing the treaty concluded on the 9th of September, 1842. I never had the intention, in putting the crown in my flag, to condemn the said treaty and to insult you, 0 King ! " I suppose that you do not consider the fact of my - having put the crown in my flag as a crime. Your Ad miral only demanded the change of a small part ; but if I had consented to that, my sovereignty would have been deposed by the great chiefs. I did not know there was any part of the treaty Ts hich fixed the nature of my flag. • I protest formally against the harsh measure taken by your Admiral ; but I have confidence in you, and I expect my deliverance from your compassion, from your justice, and from your goodness, for a Sovereign without power. " My prayer is this—May the Almighty soften your heart, may you recognise the justice of my demand, awl restore me to my sovereignty and the government of ray ancestors. " Be blessed by God, 0 King, and may your reign be long and flourishing ! " Such is my prayer. (Signed) " POMARE." COPY OF A LETTER FROM COMMODORE NICOLAS TO ADMIRAL DU PETIT THOUARS. " Her Britannic Majesty's Ship Vindictive, in Papeete Harbour, Otaheite, June 4, 1843. " Sir,—Having come to this island in the month of February last, expressly with the hope of having the honour of meeting you here, in order to have ex - plained to y ou f u lly th e exact relation in which Great Britain stands with regard to Otaheite, I think it right, now that I am led to expect you daily, thus to convey to you in writing the nature of those- relations. But, first, I must observe to you, Sir, that which your experience in diplomacy will at once make ma nifest to you, that until I receive the commands of my Sovereign, it is impossible for me to acknowledge the validity of the treaty which you have made with the Queen of Otaheite, though I have uniformly shown every courtesy towards it, and am still disposed to do so whilst we are awaiting the decision of our respective Govern ments. "My correspondence with the officer in command of the naval forces of France at this place, as well as that which I have had with the Provisional Government, you will, I trust, do me the honour to read, as I have re quested that the whole of these dociunents may be laid before you. "By this correspondence you will observe, Sir, the measures that I have pursued relative to the Queen Pomare and her Government since my arrival here. Those measures have been guided by the authorities on . international law which I have always kept before me ; and by a reference to those writers, as quoted in my different letters, I hope and believe that you will find that I have not digressed in any shape from the limits they prescribe. " Although, Sir, it may now be too late to offer such observations as I could have desired to have done, as the senior British naval officer in this part of the Pacific Ocean, had I fortunately been at Otaheite at the period of your demanding the treaty in question ; yet, I hope I may still be permitted to call your attention to certain facts bearing upon it, of which I have acquired a know ledge during my long detention here ; and the greater part of these, it is my sincere belief, that you are wholly unacquainted with. Several of these facts I transmitted with my letter of the 28th of May to Captain Vrig nand for your information and that of the French Go vernment, ; and I would particularly request your peru sal of the declarations of the different Chiefs at the meetings that have been held during your absence, as conveying the real feelings of the people of Otaheite towards our respective nations. These papers are marked from No. 1 to 10, and are with Capt. Vrignaml. I am aware, Sir, that it will be represented to you by the French Consul, that I h ave counselled the Queen Pomare to adopt certain measures which he deems an infringement of the rights guaranteed to her Majesty under your treaty. But here, Sir, I am directly at issue with him ; for I contend—and I am prepared to prove my assertion by the authorities to which I have referred in my several letters (and these are, I believe, the most celebrated writers on international law),—that the Queen has not deviated one iota from her prerogative of ii9vereignty which was confirmed to her Majesty by the -treaty which, to use her Majesty's words, she ' was com pelled to sign in the month of September last.' In my letter to Captain Vrignaud, hereinbefore referred to, I stated to him, that immediately upon my arrival here, and even before I had anchored, I re ceived a letter from the Queen, in which she threw her s?' f wholly on the protection of Great Britain, claiming the fulfilment of those solemn assurances which had been l . from time to time, made to her father and herself by the British,Government. " Being in possession of those assurances, I considered it my imperative duty to act up to them, to the extent of my Power, by submitting to the consideration o f t h e Queen omare my best advice whenever her Majesty soli cited it, whereby I know that it has been repre sented, that whilst the flag of France has been her Ma jesty's ostensible protector, that of Great Britain has virtually executed this duty. But, Sir, even allowing this to be the fact, I feel arid know that I have never exceeded the strict limits of my duty as a British officer, fulfilling, to the best of my abilities, the assur ances of my Sovereign ; and, however much her Majesty the Queen of Otaheite may have felt the truth of this statement, and that her having acted in accordance with it may, at times, have been disagreeable to the Provi sional Government, who may have viewed the terms of the treaty differently from the Queen and myself, yet I (confidently trust that I have acted rightly under the cir ammstances in which I have been placed, it hiving been imy most anxious desire to do this ; indeed, so sincerely do I hope that I shall have merited the approbation of ray Government, that were I in a precisely similar posi tion to-morrow, I would closely adhere to the same course, be the consequences whatever they might. " To refer more particularly to the existing treaty, your intimate knowledge of diplomacy must show you, Sir, that as I have just observed, it can have no vali dity in point of fact until it has been ratified by your Sovereign, nor, as regards me, until it has been ac knowledged by mine. Hence, in my counselling the Queen from time to time, agreeably to her Majesty's requests, I have only been duly carrying out, as I have already stated, the views and intentions of my Government, by giving to her Majesty all the protec tion of our good offices in the differences which unhappily exist between her Majesty and yourself as the repre sentative of the King of the French in these seas; but in all my advice to Queen Pomare I have uniformly coun selled her Majesty to confine the exercise of her prero gative, for the present, to the government of her own 4 - vibjects solely, and this right was irrefutably secured te, her Majesty by the treaty against which she so loudly cntoplains, and which, if ratified by your Government, Witt at once take from the Queen all her attributes as regards her foreign relations. "The Queen, however, having most solemnly declared again and again, and which declarations have been trans mitted by her, both to the King of the French as well as the Queen of England, that it was through fear, and fear alone, arising from the menaces th a t overw h e l me d h er , that her Majesty put her name with agonising reluct ance, as she herself states (and this is confirmed by those who were then around her), to the paper that was sent to her to sign, I feel convinced, Sir, that when your Sovereign is made acquainted with this important fact, his Majesty will withhold his ratification until further explanation has been had on this grave question; and I feel equally satisfied, Sir, that had you been fully ac quainted with all the events that occurred at that period near the Queen at Eimeo, you never would have sanc tioned such proceedings being used towards her Majesty, and the more especially so, whilst you had borne in mind the delicate situation in which her Majesty then was ; a situation which has ever claimed from men of every civil lized country in the world protection, and kindness, and favour, and, most of all, from those of a nation which stands pre-eminent in its chivalric gallantry towards that sex whom we all regard it to be our highest honour to guard from insult, and to shield from wrong. " In addition to this painful circumstance, I have further to observe, that I have been credibly assured that, some days subsequent to her Majesty having, after many hours' refusal, at length, through threats on the one side, and urgent importunities on the other, put her name to the first document that was forwarded to her at Eimeo (the treaty), and which act she did, as she then declared, and still declares, solely to save her subjects from the fire of your guns, a second (the proclamation), was laid before her Majesty for her signature, and which at last her Majesty also signed, through the menacing demands of the Consul of France, and these insulting threats were offered, it cannot be forgotten, at a time when the Queen's accouchement was hourly looked for, and, in truth, within one hour of her Majesty's signa ture being so unfeelingly and so harshly obtained, she was actually taken in labour, the pains of which were has tened, as it is universally believed, by the great distress of mind, together with the offensive conduct of the French Consul towards this unhappy defenceless woman! And her Majesty gave birth tb a child, after great suf fering, on the following day. "France, Europe, the world, Sir, will form its opinion of these unexampled proceedings; and which you will, I am assured, alike censure and condemn. " These facts, which you thus become possessed of, and which, I believe, were hitherto unknown to you, will, I feel convinced, cause you sincerely to deplore the events that I now describe, in relation to the Queen of this island, and these events, when brought to the con sideration of your generous Sovereign, will, I am confi dent, at once induce his Majesty to restore to the Queen Pomare all those rights which, it is manifest, she most unwillingly and most reluctantly surrendered. Hence I trust you will, on becoming acquainted with the true state of Her Majesty's case, unite with me, an d w ith a ll who have heard of these facts, in reprobation of the I conduct of the individual* who has been the main in strument of all the evils that have arisen of late in Otaheite, and who, I am credibly informed, has been heard to say, on one or more occasions, ' That it should not be his fault if there was not a war between the two nations ! ' meaning France and England. This feeling he seems indeed to have acted up to in every trans action ; but I sincerely trust and hope that his self interested views will, in this and in every other point, be frustrated and rendered wholly abortive. " I must now remark, Sir, that throughout my cor respondence with the Provisional Government, my ear nest desire has been, that the arguments I have adduced in answer to their various representations, and in sup port of the different measures that I may have adopted, should be submitted to you on your arrival, or earlier, if the opportunities offered of forwarding my several letters to you ; indeed they were written with this sole inten tion, and I gave the copies of two of these letters to Commodore Lavaud with the request that he would transmit them to you on his reaching Valparaiso, as I have been very anxious that you should be informed of the view I have taken of the treaty made by you with Queen Pomare and her Chiefs in September last ; and this anxiety has been increased by my learning the peculiar, and I may add, I believe, the unprecedented circumstances which, as I have just represented, attended the Sovereign's signature being procured to that docu ment. " These circumstances will, I consider, in accordance with the opinions that have been held by the first writers on international law, render this treaty void ab initio, for the following reasons : " Puffendorf (book iii., chap. 6, sec. 9) states, that— "'Promises made under fear, that is, under a vehe ment terror of the mind caused by a threatening of some grievous mischief, are evidently not binding.' " And again, in section 10 of the same book and chap ter, he says:— " ' Aristotle calls those only mixed, that is partly vo luntary and partly involuntary actions, which are under taken for the sake of declining some mischief which we are like to sutler, such as throwing goods overboard in a storm to preserve our lives.' " And in the same section it is expressly said, that— " ' Fear alone invalidates and destroys an obligation.' (3). (See also book i., chap. iv., sec. 9.) " And here I should observe, Sir, that the evident mis chief that the Queen dreaded was your threat to fire on her subjects if her Majesty did not sign this treaty, or pay into your hands the sum of 10,000 hard dollars within a stipulated number of hours; whereas, this de mand of hard dollars was quite as impossible for the Queen to fulfil, as must have been well known to the Consul of France, as if you had stipulated for 10,000 rubies. "Barbeyrac, who, you are aware, was the translator of, and commentator on, the works of Grotius and Puf fendorf, and who, it is said, has been considered to have approached the nearest to the true law of nations, gives in his note (3) to the above extract from Puffendorf the following quotation from Cicero:— " ' Jam illis promissis standum non esse quis non videt, qum coactus quis metu, quse deceptus dolo pro miserit? Qum quidem pleraque jure Prmtorio liberantur nonnulla legibus.' De Onie. 1. 1, c. 10; id est—'As for promises extorted by fear and fraud, who sees not that we are not obliged to keep them? The praetor himself frees us from many of them, and the laws from others.' " Further Barbeyrac says in his note 5 to section x., p. 278 he seeks is to see the Sovereign of the island free and I ndependent, giving the same favour and protection to subjects of every state, without showing undue partiality to either. " I cannot terminate my letter without conveying to you my sense of the amicable disposition that has been generally evinced by the commander of the naval forces here, Captain Vrignaud, for the maintenance of harmony between our respective flags; and, but for his praise worthy measures, I shall always believe that there would have been a rupture between our two nations. " June S.—Having just heard from Captain Gambier, of the Satellite, that you are not likely, in his belief, to come immediately to Otaheite, I will take leave to for ward this letter by Captain Vrignaud; and my best hope is that it may be my good fortune to have the honour of making your acquaintance at no distant period, even though I may not be fated to do so at Otaheite.--WiCl the highest consideration, I have the honour to be, Sir your very obedient, very humble servant, " J. TOUP NICOLAS, Commodore." " We must then conclude that, by natural right, all force, and every kind of violence, direct or indirect, all menaces, and in gen era l all unlawful influences which oblige men, contrary to their inclination, to give their consent, which otherwise they would not, takes away that liberty which is necessary to make an engagement valid, and consequently renders all promises and agree ments in such cases null and void.' " Further, in section xi. of the same book and chap ter (1. 2, book iii., chap. vi.) it is stated— - " Those promises, then, or pacts, we take to be in valid which a man is compelled to be engaged in by the unjust force of the party to whom they are made; since he who extorts anything from another by using unjust terrors is, by the law of nations, bound to restore it, and must, consequently, make good what the other person loses by such a forced bargain.' " And again, in the same section, it is stated, that— " That which renders the contract unjust is the hard fortune of the sufferer, not the person of the doer.'—' It would be a foolish and idle way of acting, when we are once got clear of the danger, to pay voluntarily what we promised upon force.' And it is also said in this section that— " A promise made through the compulsion of fear shall not be binding.' "And in section xiii., Puffendorf gives a quotation from Dionys. Halicar, (1. viii., p. 509, in fin. Edit. Lips.), wherein it is maintained that— " Whatever is extorted from private men, or from public states, by force and necessity, holds no longer than the necessity itself continues.' "Grotius also (lib. 2. c. xi. s. 7) says— " That if he to whom the promise was made did ob tain it of the other party, by putting him in a fear, though never so slight, he is obliged to release the pro miser if he desires it.' " Vattel, in book iv. chap. iv. s. 37, likewise maintains the same principle, as he says, of a constrained or forced submission : " If ever the plea of constraint may be alleged, it is against an act which does not deserve the name of a treaty of peace —against a forced submission to conditions which are equally offensive to ju s ti ce an d t o a ll t h e du ties of humanity.' And, further,' If an unjust and ra pacious conqueror subdues a nation and forces her to accept of hard, and ignominious, and unsupportable con ditions, necessity obliges her to submit ; but this appa rent tranquillity is not a peace; it is an oppression which she endures only so long as she wants the means of shaking it off, and against which men of spirit rise on the first favourable opportunity.' " And, again,—' Although the law of nations aims at protecting the safety and peace of nations, by enjoining the faithful observance of provinces, it does not fa% our oppressors.' With these incontrovertible data, it is, I contend, quite impossible to maintain the validity of the treaty in question, even supposing you had been furnished with It he ; h express credentials from y our S overe i gn to conc l u d e if I am rightly informed, you never in 3t,e(nmdaeduteoarheadveoetr it, th e h ar b our of Papeete, when in September last,hadpreteded o for your adopti ng t h e course which at lengtnhdtecenymtioeteli Consul, on hi s v i s i t to you, found some you it right to pursue. HOUSE OF COMMONS. The SPEAKER took the Chair shortly before Four o'Ciock. course, , I may be allowed to say, Sir, appears ; the more extraordinary after the letters that were writ ten to Queen Pomare by Commodore Buglet, your im mediate predecessor in the command of the naval forces ' of France irt•the seas, only six months before your ar rival at Otaheite, and those of Captain du Bouzec of L'Aube,' written but a few weeks antecedent to your coming here, and the copies of these are in my posses sion, in both of which were expressed the mo s t p er f ect satisfaction with all the last measures pursued by the Queen with regard to the subjects of the French nation in Otaheite. " Amidst the variety of reflections, Sr, which the deli cate duties I have had to execute at Otaheite during the last four months will hereafter create in me, that which I shall ever pride myself the most upon will be the temper and forbearance which I feel that I have uniformly evinced, and this every disinterested person here will, I am confident, confirm, in the various difficulties, and I may also add offences (as my letters, to which I have called your attention, will prove), that have been offered towards me by the individual whom I charge with being the sole cause of all those late misunderstandings that have arisen in this island, and which, had I been actuated with the same spirit, must, in my belief, have produced a war between Great Britain and France. That this may be long averted is, lam assured, the best de sire of the Governments of each, and should be that of all who serve under them. DEVIZES ELECTION. The SPEAKER informed the House that he had received a communication from the examiner of the recognisances in the case of the petition against the return for Devizes, who reported that the sureties on that petition were unexceptionable. RAILWAY BILLS. " I consider it right that I should now assure you, Sir, that I am confident England seeks not—desires not —to possess a paramount influence in Otaheite. All * M. Moorenhout, Fench Consul at Otaheite. THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 4; 1844. • the Right Rev. Gentleman who had been made the subject of accusation. The conversation then dropped. SIR AUGUSTUS D'ESTE. - ' Lord BROUGHAM, in presenting a petition from ' Sir Augustus D'Este said, that a former petition of that distinguished individual, respecting his right to the titles of the late Duke of Sussex, had been re ferred to the Committee of Privileges. The Prussian Minister, the Chevalier Bunsen, who was an important witness in the matter was about to proceed on Satur day next to his own country, from which he would riot return for three months, and the prayer of the petition which he now presented was that the Stand ing Order, No. 120, of their Lordships House, might be suspended, and he now gave notice of a motion to that effect for to-morrow, in order that the evidence of that witness, de bene esse, might be taken previous to his leaving this country. After a few words from Lord CAMPBELL and the LORD CHANCELLOR, the petition was ordered to lie on the table. COMMITTEE OP THE PRIVY COUNCIL. Lord BROUGHAM laid on the table a Bill for Improving the Jurisdiction of the Judicial Commit tee of the Privy Council. The Bill was read a first time. SLAVERY IN AMERICA. Lord BROUGHAM said that he had received many applications within the last few weeks upon a very painful subject, and though he had refused the applicants to present any petition upon it, still he could not help saying a few words upon the matter, while he stated briefly the reasons for which he re fused to present any petition. Nothing could he more painful than any interference whatever of either House of Parliament with any matter or thing that was connected with the domestic policy of any foreign country, or belongingtothe adminis tration of the muninicpal law of that country. He thought it was no reason for breaking that rule, that it happened that any law of that coun try was revolting to our feelings, because we had nothing whatever to do except with our selves and our own law, and the administration of our own jurisprudence, and we had no business whatever to interfere with any foreign country in any respect whatsoever, while that foreign country con fined itself to its own law and the adminstration of that law. That .he held to be so sacred a principle, that he had refused to take any step whatever on the question brought before him. But it was a case which greatly interested his feelings. A man had been condemned to death in the Criminal Court of Lousiana, with the sentence passed by the Learned Judge, as if he had committed murder—with the appropriate language of such a sentence, as if such a man had been guilty of the greatest wickedness— with directions to the unfortunate man to improve the interval between the sentence and his dying upon the gallows—with reference to the sacred truths of religion, as if the man had committed impiously an irreligious and cruel and barbarous murder. That was the case to which his attention had been drawn. He was bound to suppose that the Louisianian law had been justly administered, and that the un fortunate person had forfeited his life according to that law, and he was also bound to suppose that that judge was by no means ignorant of the law, or was guilty of maladministration or perversion of it. He believed that the judge had not maladministered the law ; it was the law, and he was condemned to die for aiding the escape of a slave. That was the law of Louisiana; it was not the law of England —God forbid it should be. But he might humbly, and with every respect towards the Government and Legislature of Louisiana, express his fervent hope that advantage would be taken of the long interval between this and the 26th of April, when he was condemned to die, for the sacred purpose of extending mercy to this criminal. He treated him as a criminal, because the laws of his country had so dealt with him ; but he hoped and trusted that the humane and merciful consideration of the Louisanian Govern ment would be extended to this unfortunate individual. CORN LAWS. SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY BILL. Mr. C. RUSSELL moved the second reading of this Bill. Mr. S. HERBERT rose for the purpose of stating that very grave objections had been made to this Bill. The Board of Admiralty had received several memo ials from persons interested in the neighbourhood of Exeter. In consecidenee of their representations, the Board of Admiralty had sent down Mr. Walker to examine into the matter. He should, therefore, make no objection to the se con d rea di ng o f thi s Bill, pro vided a distinct assurance were given . by the pro moters of the Bill that the Committee would not b., appointed until after Mr. Walker's report should be received. Mr. C. RUSSELL was ready to accede to so rea sonable a proposition. Lord SEYMOUR wished to know at what ti me Mr. Walker's report mi g ht be'expected. Mr. S. HERBERT said he expected it in about a fortnight. The Bill was then read a second time. On the motion of Mr. AINSWORTH, the Bolton Railway Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed. RAILWAY BILLS. Mr. GL A DSTONE:, in rising to propose the re solutions of which he had given notice, respecting Railway Bills, said, he would take that opportunity of making a few observations upon the subject of those resolutions. A question had been raised before the Committee on Railways with re spect to competing lines. It was intended on Thurs day next to move the appointment of the Committee on the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, and he should on that occasion propose that the Committee on that Bill should be deferred for a reasonable time, as the question of referring the Bills for competing lines to the same Committee affected this Bill. The principle hitherto adopted by that House with respect to pri vate Bills, had been to appoint the Committees upon these Bills from Members connected with the local interest to which the particular Bill might apply. The Committee, after mature consideration, had come,to the determination of recommending the House to de part from that principle in respect to Railway Bills to be introduced during the present session. It was felt by the Committee that, where two Railway Bills were proposed, the lines to run from the same or nearly the same termini, and to be established for the accommodation of the same district, that such Bills ought to be referred to the same Committee of that House. In considering this subject, however, the Committee had had to contend with several diffi culties. One was with respect to the rail way 'from the town of Ashton to Staleybridge, There were two lines proposed, and both were for the accommodation of the same town. One of those railways joined the Manchester and Sheffield Rail way; and the other, the Manchester and Leeds Rail way. The two termini of these railways were in two counties, for it appeared thaikthe town stood on the borders of different counties. Now, this was a case of some difficulty. In former years an experi ment was tried, with respect to such a case as this, which was, that the Committee should be appointed from Members connected with different counties. This experiment, h owever , h e believed, had worked in a most unsatisfactory manner. and had not been repeated. Although a railway Bill was in itself a private Bill, yet no one could doubt that the public had a great interest in such Bills. The Committee had, therefore, determined to recom mend the House to depart from the general rule with respect to the appointment of the Committees on railway Bills. They f e lt i n cases o f compe ti ng lines that the number of Members on the Committee who were connected with or represented the local interests, should be materially restricted. He did not mean to say that this reiohition had been come to without any difference of opinion in the Committee, of which he was Chairman. But after mature deliberation this was the conclusion at which they had arrived. They pro posed that there should be a limited representation of local interests, in the Committee, but they considered that the local interests ought to be made subservient to the public interests. The Committee, therefore, recommended this resolution to the consideration of the House, bearing in mind that the experi ment was only recommended for the present session. He should propose that this Committee should be composed of five gentlemen totally unconnected with the local interests of the particular places in which the line lay. The number of Bills which were con stantly under the consideration of the House, and the vast expenses which were occasioned to parties under the present system, and the time occupied in the in vestigation, rendered it a most important element for the consideration of the House. He was not aware that there was any other important point to which it was necessary for him to further allude, and he should therefore conclude , by moving a resolution to the effect that, when any Bills were brought in to authorise the establishment of two lines of railway to one point, that matter should be referred to one Com mittee. Mr. LABOUCIIERE said the Right Hon. Gen tlemen who had just sat down had involved some most important points in his resolution. He thought it was a question to see whether the House would try the experiment of carrying on the private matters of the country—in fact, whether a tribunal could not be appointed to try private Bills, in the manner suggested by the Right Hon. Gentleman, and which might be also more largely and more effectively adopted by investing those Committees with a judicial character--(Hear, hear)—and by purging them of all personal interest, and also by diminishing their numbers so much as to fasten upon each of those in dividual Members a particular responsibility, obtain the result which they sought, and which was so much desired by the public. This would tend to di minish the fearful expenses to which appli cants were subjected, and insure to those Com mittees that weight which impartiality alone could give them, and_ which Committees on private Bills did not possess now. He was not insensible to the difficulties by which this matter was surrounded, but still he should say that he was glad the experi ment was about to be made, and an opportunity afforded of trying how far it would be safe to carry the experiment. There was another point of so much importance that he could not help alluding to it. He said he believed the number would amount to ten Committees, which would require the services of about fifty Members. The main difficulty would be to find Members who would devote their time to private Bills in which neither themselves nor their constituents had any interest. The working of the plan depended entirely on gentlemen devoting their time to private Bills, and consent to investigate those that might be referred to them. He hoped there might be no difficulty in finding fifty gentlemen to undertake the duty. He could only say that he gave his hearty support in the main to those resolutions. In some points he did not agree with them, but they were not points of essential importance; in the main spirit and tenour of these resolutions he entirely con curred. They were a great experiment, and a novelty that he had always desired to see applied. He hoped they would have a fair trial, and he should not despair of this being the first step towards putting the private business of the House on a sounder foundation. If the House could effect this they would effect a very salutary change, and do that which would tend to raise the character of the House in the eyes ,of the public. The Earl of DEVON presented two petitions from to county of Somerset in favour of the corn-laws. - _,ANDLORD AND TENANT COMMISSION. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE gave notice that he should put a question to the Noble Earl opposite (the Earl of Devon), as to the Landlord and Tenant Commission. Some contradictory reports had been in circulation, and the objest of his question would he to elicit from the Noble Earl, the real scope, aim, and object of the Commission. NATIONAL EDUCATION. The Marquis of NORMANB Y rose for the pur pose of presenting the petition of which he had given notice, from John and Elizabeth Ryan, the keepers of the parochial school of Ballysack, in the diocese of Kildare, complaining that the interest of 2001., the legacy of a former rector of the parish, had been unjustly stopped for the last seventeen months by the Board of Charitable Bequests in Ireland, in consequence of the introduc tion of the national system of education into the school. The petition prayed for a Committee of enquiry into the constitution of this board. In the year 1794 a Committee of the House of Lords took upon themselves the examination and control of charitable bequests and donations in Ireland, and they. instituted prosecutions with a view to the resto ration of sums which had been misappropriated. Just previous to the Union it occurred to the Irish Parliament that something s h ou l d 1 e done with refe renceat the judges was of to h t becom posed to these trusts, and one of the last Acts of that Parliament was to establi s h a b oard of charitable es e Pre rogative Court, of all the com mon law judges in Ire land, bequests of the and Lord Chancellor, donations. Th land, of all Bishops, and of the nineteen rectors of the different parishes in Dublin. I n t h e year 1829 a Committee was appointed to consi der this subject, and very important evidence was given before that Committee by Mr. O'Connell. Mr. O'Connell said, that many persons had consulted him on the subject of this Board. They complained of its composition. Mr. O'Connell stated, that owing to the Protestant character of that Board, large sums of money had been lost to the charities of Ireland. lie, therefore, recom mended an alteration and revision. From that time to the year 1838 nothing farther was done in the matter. In that year, however, the Hon. Mem ber for Waterford introduced a Bill on the sub ject in the other House of Parliament, but that Bill never reached thei r L ordships' House. The Noble Marquis then read the will of Mr. Few, the former rector of the parish, of which he left the interest of 2001. towards the support of the school. Fie would now s ay one word upon the state of the parish of Ballysack, of which he knew something, having had a residence there, to 'which he some times retired when his avocations would permit him to do so. That parish was supposed to contain about 3,000, inhabitants, butit had since been ascertained that the number of inhabitants was only 1,300, and of that number only 40 were Protestants. The present rector of the parish, Mr. Burmann, had exerted himself in a praiseworthy manner to make the school what it was at present. The former state of the parish was this, there was a schoolmaster, who received the interest of the gift, but there was no school or scholars. At present there were 78 Roman Catholic scholars, boys and girls, who were educated under the regulation of a National Board ; there were, however, only four Protestant children went there, their parents making no objection Such was the state" of the parish of Bally sack. Now, with respect to the Reverend Mr. Burman, he was originally curate of St. Bride's. That gentleman had been appointed chaplain to the Lord Lieutenant by the Marquis Wellesley, he had been continued as chaplain by his Noble Friend op posite and by himself. Under the present Ministry the appointment to the chaplaincy had been, he was bound to say, of a more exclusively political cha •racter, and Mr. Burman had been no longer con tinued chaplain. Mr. Burmann had been appointed to the rectory of Ballysack. The system which had been pursued there had continued without interrup tion up to last year, when the Board of Charitable Bequests had thought proper to interfere. (LEFT SPEARING.) Mr. H. HINDE said there was no information before the House to induce it to come to a contrary conclusion from that of former sessions. Before he was called on to give his vote, he thought he was entitled to see the evidence that had influenced the Committee in coming to this decision. No tice was only given of these resolutions on Friday, and between that day and the present is the time when Members have the least chance of considering these things. Alterations had lately been made with regard to the Standing Orders affecting Railway Bills, but they had not turned out to be of the most felicitous character. The Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Gladstone) ought to give them some days for consideration. If he did not grant this, he must at all events request him to afford the House s little more information on the subject of the fifth reso lution. What, however, he (Mr. Ilinde) should most prefer would be a Committee of five gentlemen who were for excluding all local interest whatsoever. A system such as this would he far preferable to any yet proposed, and would give greater confidence to the country, and enhance the character of the House. Mr. MART said he h ear d, w i t h t h e greatest satisfaction, the proposition of the Right Hon. Gen tleman, and he believed the House and the country would join with him in that satisfaction. He agreed with the Hon. Gentleman who spoke last in the opinion that when a new principle was intro duced it ought to be worked out. He hoped that the principle which the Right Hon. Gentleman now in- troduced with regard to railways would be applied to all private Bills, for it was equally applicable to all private Bills. He was sorry the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite and the Right Hon. Gentleman, the late President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Labou chere), did not give him a more ardent support than they had done, when two sessions ago he brought for ward a proposition on the subject. The principle now in troduced would remove all local and personal interest. He thought it was better that the number of the Committee should be diminished to five. The prin ciple had been most satisfactorily introduced into the House of Lords. There was not a Member of the House of Lords who was not satisfied with the mode in which the principle had worked. The Parliamentary agents agreed that the systeip had worked well. In 1839 they said that this principle ought to be applied to all private Bills. In Committees on private Bills with regard to rates, and a variety of other things, circum stances, not only of a l oca l , b ut of a political elyy ' racter were introduced. If he wilted the highest authority as to the utility of the principle, he need only appeal to the opinion of the Right Honourable - I Cifitrb Mlittton SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Cloch CENTRAL CRI VIINAL COURT. OLD COURT. (Continued from our Afternoon Edition.) PAGET V. HOLT. Mr. WORDSWORTH then addressed the jury for the defendant and said, the question they had to consider was, whether a paragraph which appeared in the Age, a newspaper published by Holt, was libellous or not. The Learned Counsel for the plaintiff had stated that Lord William Paget was a most un fortunate man. He was truly an unfortunate man to have been placed in the position in which he had lately appeared before the public. He was compelled to come into a court of justice for the purpose of instituting an inquiry into the circumstances which imputed infidelity to Lady William Paget, his wife, and the mother of several children. He (Mr. Wordsworth) had no doubt but the late trial between Lord William Paget and the Earl of Cardigan would be fresh in the memory of the jury. The alleged libel went to state that the placing of the witness Winter under the sofa was "a plant," a defi nition which was liable to various constructions, and did not appear to him (Mr. Wordsworth) to be libellous. It also stated that it was the Earl of Cardigan's intention to indict the whole party for conspiracy." The alleged libel was nothing more than a series of remarks on a mere topic of the day, it mentioned no name; the words might apply to a great number of respectable individuals. The paragraph contained nothing more than an account of certain topics current at the time of their publication, a mere inuend o , and could not, therefore, be cons id ere dlibellous. He denied that the paragraph was intended to convey to the public the idea that an action then pending against the Earl of Cardigan, was to extort money from that nobleman. He was instructed to say that no such' intention existed in the mind of the writer of the paragraph. The Learned JUDGE then summed up the evidence. He commented at considerable length on the law of libel, and the various constructions which might be put upon the para graph published by the defendant. The question the jury had to consider was, whether it was a wicked and malicious libel, tending to affix improper and unworthy motives on Lord William Paget, or of a different tendency. The jury returned a verdict of Guilty in all respects.— Sentence deferred. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT (THIS EVENING.) H OUSE OF LORDS. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool sack shortly after Five o'Clock. Earl PO WIS presented several petitions from dif ferent parts of Wales against the union of the sees of Bangor and St. Asaph. IRELAND.. The Marquis of WESTMEATH trusted that their Lordships would excuse him for a few minutes while he adverted to the letter which the other evening, had been produced by the Noble Marquis opposite, deny ing the statement which he (the Marquis of Westmeath) had made. Upon that occasion, he had stated that in the county of Westmeath, the Roman Catholic Bishop had suspended a Roman Catholic clergyman for having refused to assist in the collection of money for the re peal of the Union. At the time le (the Marquis of ‘Vestmeath) made that statement, he thought it was true, but when the Noble Marquis read the letter purporting to correct it, he (the Marquis of Westmeath) hesitated as to its truth, and in order to ascertain the fact he had written to Ireland upon the subject, and the answer to that letter proved that what he had stated was substantially the fact. What he had said was, that the Roman Catholic clergyman had been suspended from his living. Perhaps he would have been more correct if he had stated that he had been superseded. It was intended to hold one of those monster meetings at Mullingar. This clergy man had exerted all his influence to prevent the col lection of money, and also to prevent his parishioner:, from attending this meeting. Previous to the meeting at Mullingar taking place, the clergyman, whose name was Murray, and who had since died, was informed that a curate would be sent to his congregation for three Sundays. That was done, and the result was, that Mr: Murray was superseded in his own parish. Such were the real facts of the case, and in his opinion the titular bishop had made the denial ad verted to by the Noble Marquis in order to prevent the odium that would attach to him for the course he had pursued. Now, in order to show that what he (the Marquis of Westmeath) had stated was no exaggeration, he would read to their Lordships' some of the expressions used by this titular Bishop at Mullingar. At that meeting, fifty-one Roman Ca tholic clergyman attended. It took place on Sunday the 14th May. The Roman Catholic Bishop was in the Chair at the dinner which took place after the meeting, and during the course of his speech on that occasion he stated that the Irish deserved and should have self Government. He then expressed the great plea sure that he felt at the glorious demonstration that had taken place that day, and he expressed the de termination on the part of the Irish people to follow the course they were adopting till they wiped off the stigma that rested upon Ireland, and until they again made her what she ought always to have been—a nation. Another peron of the name of O'Higgins also made a speech of the same tendency, and in language equally violent.—(The Noble Marquis then read an extract of some length from a speech of the Roman Catholic Bishop Dr. O'Higgins, in which th a t re verend person d ec l are d himself a zealous repealer, and denounced the malignity of the Government, which he said would be ineffectual towards put ting down the demands of the Irish people to legislate for themselves.) In bringing this matter before their Lordships, he had only been im pelled by a sense of duty. It would be much more agreeable to him if he could speak well of the Roman Catholic bishops and clergy, but he thought it was his duty as a resident magistrate to bring before the House any facts of importance which came under his cognizance in the discharge of his duties as a landlord and magistrate, The Marquis of NORMANBY thought he would best meet the substantial justice of the case, by denying on the part of the right reverend person who had confided his defence to him (the Marquis of N.) On the former occasion he had con fined himself to a specific denial of the charge. The Noble Marquis seemed to have a strange mode of making out his case. The Noble Marquis had made a speoific charge, which was met by a specific denial, upon which the Noble Marquis retorted, by reading not only a speech of the Right Rev. Person, but the speech of another titular Bishop also. Certainly that was carrying the doctrine of conspiracy rather farther than it had been carried even of late yearp.— (Hear, hear, and a laugh.) He (the M arqu i s o f Nor manby) had received by this day's post a letter from the Right Reverend person, Dr. Cantwell, who assured him that he had never either spoken or written a word to the late Dr. Murray, parish priest of Clannellin (four miles from the residence of the Marquis of Westmeath), and that for the 14 years that he had been bishop of that diocese in which Dr. Murray had been 35 years the incumbent of a parish, he had lived with that Rev. Gentleman on terms of the- closest friendship, and had always regarded him with respect, esteem, and af fection. He (Dr. Cantwell) attended at the funeral of the deceased gentleman, assisted by 30 clergymen, and nearly 3,000 persons, attended at the funeral ceremony.—(Hear, hear.) Was not that a complete answe.i to the charge that Dr. Cantwell had passed an ecclesiastical censure upon his subordinate. On what then did the Noble Marquis rest his charge of suspension ? That the aged and rev. gentleman, after having performed the duties of parish priest for nearly forty years, left his duty to be performed by his curate, for three successive Sundays, shortly before his death. He (the Marquis of N ormanby) would leave statement of the Right Rev. Gentleman Cant well in the hands of the House, and he thought it so complete an 'answer that he would not add one word to it.—(Hear.) The Marquis of WESTMEATH said, that their Lordships would decide between them, but he would not on any account state who the person was from whom he had received his information, for if he did he would expose that person to imminent danger. He had heard the matter at the time, and he still firmly believed notwithstanding the contradiction which had been read to their Lordships, who would give it its full value when they recollected the language which he had just read as having been used by the Right Rev. Person. Their Lordships would also judge whether he would make a personal attack upon an individual with whom he nad no intimacy whatever. There was another circumstance which was, perhaps, of some importance. The Noble Mar quis had spoken of the parish of Clonmellon, but the affhir to which he (the Marquis of Westmeath) re ferred took place in the chapel of Kilallen. Did the Noble Marquis deny that the curate had presented them three separate Sundays ? The Marquis of NORMANBY said that he had made no mention of any matter of the kind to which the Noble Marquis now referred. He had confined himself to the specific charge made by the Noble Marquis, and there was a distinct denial on the part of On the motion of Lord RINDLESHAM, the Beccles Navigation Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed. Mr. G. DUNCAN presented a petition from Dundee, in favour of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Bill. Sir F. TRENCII presented a petition from Scar borough, in favour of the Scarborough Railway Bill. On the motion of Mr. WILSON PATTEN, the Manchester and Birmingham (Macclesfield and Poyn ton branches) Railway Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed. • Mr. GREENALL presented a petition against the Norwich and Grantham Railway Bill. Mr. EICOTT presented a petition from Exeter against the South Devon Railway Bill. Mr. PATTISON presented a petition from various Western of Londo n against the 41st clause i n th e Great 1; Western Railway E x t ens i on Bill . Mr. RUSSELL said the Company had decided upon withdrawing this clause. They were also ready to submit to a n y prov i s i ons wh i ch t h e C omm itt ee might recommend, or Parliament might think proper to adopt. 1 Gentleman in the chair and Mr. Greene, the chairman of Committees,- who, many years ago, proposed to diminish the number of Members on Cominitties, to increase their responsibili ties, and to remove all local and personal influence. The principle of the present proposal was sound, and would receive the approbation, not only of that House but of the country. He was convinced that the time was not far ,distant when the same principle would be extended to all private Bills. Colonel SIBTHORP said it was very well known to that House, and very well known to the country, that he had a great, an unchanged, and, he rather thought, an unchangeable suspicion, in reference to railways.—(Hear.) In his opinion, private pro perty ought to be treated with as much deli cacy as any public department of the Government. He was surprised that the late Vice-Pre sident of the Board of Trade a Liberal, forsooth—should wish to limit these inquiries to five permanent members, selecting each other for the office which they undertook to perform. He did not mean to impugn the character of these five persons, but he thought it was hardly fair to submit great local interests to the control of so small a body. The Hon. and Gallant Member concluded by moving that the further consideration of the Report be post poned till this day week. Mr. WALLACE had always contended for the adoption of a different principle in the appointment of these Committees, and he was glad to find that his opinions were gaining ground in high quarters. He thought that no difficulty ought to be thrown in the way of the formation of competing lines. It was the only way of mitigating the existing monopoly. He thought that the further consideration of these resolu tions ought to be postponed. In the infancy of railways he had endeavoured to prevent the establishment of these monopolies by permitting competing lines, but Mr; Spring Rice, the then Chancellor of the Exche quer, had overborne him, and persuaded the House that it was in the power of the Minister of the Crown at any time to prevent the establishment of monopoly by imposing taxes on the railways. The railway interest, had, however, proved too strong for the Ministry. He wished in every in stance in which capital sufficient could be subscribed to see a competing line of railway established. He could not 'see why railways should be defended against competition any more than turnpike-roads. He should vote for the amendment, and if the Hon. Member would not press it to a division, he (Mr. Wallace) would take the sense of the House on the subject. Sir JOHN HANMER said that considerable in terest had been excited among the proprietors of steam-packets in consequence of a report that it was the intention of several Railway Companies to devote their surplus capital to the establishment of steam packets in connexion with their several lines. He was aware that that subject was fitter for the con sideration of the Committee than of the House, but if such a cours e o f procee di ng were permitted, it would tend- to aggravate the evil of the existing monopoly. Mr. BSTCOURT would support the resolution, because a similar resolution had been agreed to by the Committee of Selection, and as a Member of that Committee he felt bound to support it. At the same time he could not but admit that the adoption of that resolution was an abandonment of the principle upon which they had hitherto acted. Mr. JAMES STUART WORTLEY wished it to be understood, if they were to come to a vote upon the resolutions at once, his vote would be given on the grounds laid down by the Right Hon. Gentle! man (Mr. Gladstone) in the opening of his speech, and not on the grounds laid down by the Hon. Gen tleman, the Member. far Newcastle.• some what startling to him (Mr. J. S. Wortley) to hear that Hon. Gentlemen maintain that all local influence and local action should be excluded from these Committees. It was impossible for any one who had watched for a few years past the progress of private Bills in that House, not to say that the influence of parties locally interested had been materially diminished. Such a portion as now remained could hardly be looked upon as other than legitimate. In giving his vote in favour of the reso lutions it must be understood that he did so merely as an experiment. Lord SANDON said he totally differed from those Honourable Members who desired the exclu sion of all local influence and local mediation in the course of private Bills through that House. He was not prepared to give his support to any such proposi tion. They must consult the local interests of their constituents either in that House or in the Committees to which p r i vate Bills were re ferred. If they were precluded from considering and attending to those interests in Committee, it was only in that House they could endeavour to do so, and this, he thought, ought, if possible, to be avoided. It would not be worthy of so large and -important an assembly to do so in it—it was not the best place for it, nor the best way to effect that which they might feel it their duty to their constituents to attempt. It would be better such business should be done quietly in Committee, than scrambled for in that House. The question was, would they be able to find a suffi cient number of independent Members who, having no local interest or connexion with the Bill, would give sufficient attention and time to its consideration. So long as they confined themselves to five or ten Committees, they might be success f u l, b ut w h at would they do if they had forty or fifty Committees ? He did not think that an experiment with five or ten Committees would be sufficient. For these reasons he would give rather a reluctant consent to the mo tion before the House. Mr. GREENE said, the great and practical ob jection tc the old system was, that the int eres t e d parties were in re a lity the judges with respect to railway matters. Even the existence of suspicion would form a sufficient ground for appointing some other tribunal than that which was regarded as partial. After some years' experience of private Bills in that House, he still adhered most firmly to the opinion, which he had long entertained, that it was desirable to render these committees as nearly judicial as pos sible ; and he believed that the present motion was a step towards securing that object. — Dr. BO WRING was aware that independent of anything like political interests, there was a deal of local influence actuating some of the decisions of those Committees. He could say that, from observa tion, those Committees had not been improved, so far either as local or the public interests were con cerned. He agreed with the Hon. Member for Lancashire, that by doing away with any imputation that could be attached to a member of the Committee, of being actuated by motives arising from local in terests, would tend most materially to elevate the character of that Committee. The measure would tend to give the Committee a judicial character, and also to enforce the attendance of the Members and the more efficient discharge of their duties. Mr. STRUTT said, he believed the feeling of the House was, that, in many cases injustice had been done in consequence of the influence of local interests. Such was his opinion, because he had frequently observed that a particular question had been carried by a majority of the Committee, although all those who were quite unconnected with local interests quite dissented.from the resolution of the Committee. By the fact of those tribunals being known to be impartial, all appeals against their de cisions would be lessened. As a Member on the committee of selectiOn he must say, in answer to the Hon. Members for Taunton and Oxford that he found no difficulty in getting the attendance of Members. Although many Honourable Members had ob jected to this resolution, yet they had not themselves proposed any one in substitution of them. He per fectly agreed in the principle of this resolution. 111 r. DENISTOUN expressed his opinion that his constituents would be much better satisfied with a public Committee. After a few words from Mr. JAMES, The House divided, when there appeared— For the resolutions Against them Majority for the resolutions —l97 The resolutions were then read seriatim. In answer to a recommendation from Mr. Labou• chere that the House should be put in possession as quickly as possible of the names of Hon. Memb ers th e Government proposed for the Committee. Mr. GLADSTONE said the list should be laid on the table of the House that evening and he would propose it to-morrow.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. S. CRAWFORD presehted a petition from Rochdale against the Gas Bill. MESSAGE FROM THE LORDS. Messengers from the Lords reported that their Lordships had agreed to the amendments made by the Commons, in (we believe) the Racing Penalties Bill. POOR -LAW BILL. Mr. J. S. WORTLEY gave notice that in Com mittee on the Poor-law Amendment Bill, he should move, in the second clause, to substitute one year for the six months therein named. THE WIDOW OF COLONEL FAWCETT. Captain BERNAL gave notice that on bringing up the Report of the Army Estimates, he should move for a copy of the letter from the Secre tary-at-War to the widow of Colonel Fawcett, which conveyed the information, that a pension would not be accorded to her on account of the way in which her husband met his death. Mary Brooke, 1,884; Jane- Geldart, 1,728; Newnam 1,688. TATTERSALL'S.-THIS EV EN ING QUARTER TO SIX CHESTER CUP. 13 to 1 agst Sir Robert 14 to 1 agst Pagan 16 to 1 agst The Prior 16 to 1 agst Cattonite 20 to 1 agst Tacita 27 to 1 agst Greenfinch 30 to 1 agst Alice Hawthorn TWO THOUSAND GULNEAS STAKES. 7 to 4 on the field—take 2 to 1 COVENTRY TRIAL STAKES. Even between two and the field. DERBY. - _ _ 6 to 1 agst Ugly Buck 13 to 2 agst Rattan 15 to 1 agst Orlando 20 to 1 agst Leander 25 to 1 agst T'Auld 'Squire 30 to 1 agst Running Rein 30 to 1 agst Voltri 40 to 1 agst Loadstone 40 to 1 agst Campunero 40 to 1 agst Vat colt 40 to 1 agst Apprentice , S , SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURP`" AL FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF THIS DAI. reed GLOBE.—The Repeal of the Union ag itation sP oe through three out of th e f our prov i nces o f Ireland• l o population of th e s e p rov i nces is, almost wholly, ~° on Roman Catholic com mun i on ; an d those who 10 / thr on the surface of thi ngs , se t t l e d, i n t h e i r ow n Lein r i e stsf cause of this agitation ; they attributed it to the Aort'l r whose hostility ,to the Protestant religion and its ` - ' O , was thus gratified. The fourth province is oirib theatre ofagitation. Presbyterian Ulster is prodaisto its grievances and charges upon the English Pri 3te , c ir Establishment, and th e c l a i ms o f i ts c l erg y to tln t - s , oo sive possession of th ose p owers w hi c h con f e r vs'ttel religious ordinances, th e i n j ury w hi c h h as been v oi on the Presbyterians of Ireland. Th e oc casion oft commotion will be at once br oug ht t o t h e recollee tl iv i s l) our readers. A man was charged at one of the Thet Assizes, held about two years since, with bigarei"„ o o he had contracted t wo marr i ages was p l ace d bey doubt by the evidence ; and he was found guiltP ro oS counsel moved an arr es t o f j u d gment, on the g by that one of the marriages had been celebrateu, to Presbyterian c l erg y man , an d t h at one o f t h e pare irr the marriage being an Episcopalian, the ceremony valid. The question was referred to the Irish i ti ta ke° who disagreed ; b u t a ma j or i ty h e ld t h e objection tardy to be valid. It was then sent to the House of ; r oil where the opi n i ons o f th e E ng li s h j u d ges wa s req and a majority of th ese a l so a ffi rme d the objec.,i, The judgment of th e P eers on t h e appea l vies ;Je poned—partly to give th e i r L or d s hi ps t i me for co s tio, ration; but principally to afford time for the preP hr osi of a Bill to legalise a ll marr i ages prev i ous ly i3l l under such circumstances, and to pass s uch Ot through Parliament with all possible rapiditkdor course was imperati ve ly necessary. U nt il this tory Act was announced, the consternation an i$ of the families who had contracted such marriage ok conformity with a custom, the legality of wh ie ot birf never been questioned, was extreme. To say „ n of the personal feeling s o f d e li cacy an d propriety esow this new state of thi ngs h a d a l arme d, the su ce rc wila, to property, and oth er results, which the W O B OO _„t ' of offspring w ou ld occas i on, pro d uce d an 1111 e scarcely admitting of d escr i pt i on . Th e ex Cl use law stayed this f ermen t. The decision of the D ° Lords was hung up for a time. A few doi s .„ tbi the question was argue d by the Law Lords • sr House of Peers ; and th e balance of opinions r e , t io con. on this import an t c i v il an d ecc i esias tial q u il # indicates not me re ly the difficulties which s or t uo the subject, but th e i m p o li cy o f l eg i s l at i n g uP l3 'i s irk' great question—involving, as this question I r v i e l.o does, civil rights and reli g i ous freedom—on. p.artjapoil; and with relation to o n ly one part o f t h e United , st io Had:the law which. confers on the different dencan st iad of religionists in this country. the. p o w e r. of .eel e r b i n gl` ) marriages in their ow n pl aces o f worship, aeeLpu their own forms, and by their own ministers, tended to Ireland, this new source of vexation . s ioP have been avoided. A s t r iki ng diff erence Of lee 0; was avowed by the great law luminaries in the vol e, Lords Campbell, B roug h am , an d D enma n, d e se .ve,, their opinions in favour of the validity of the iIaP I X marriage—Lord Abinger against its validitP, e liyei Lyndhurst and Cottenham subsequently n t tP ,j their judgment, at considerable length, ag tu ,, ll ll 51, legality of such marriages. Lords CateP"' - „wiele, Brougham requested time for perusing the e rjbeft, and considering the arguments of Lords lir oil, and Cottenham ; and thus the whole question re /0 4. still in suspense. This postponement is, we hend, the pr ecursor o f concurrence in the v iew" , ; latter Peers. Th e marr i age on w hi ch t h e q uest! j e l raised will, we have no d ou b t , b e pronounce: This result is, we perceive, anticipated by Presbyterians ; who are indignant at the posi', which their mini s t ers are p l ace d . Th ey are P ren i;jeri fi °, to get up an agitati on o f t h e i r own ; w hi c h, consl o! the vested interests in the celebration of marriagf_ t : sessed by the clergy o f th e I r i s h E s tablishu Je n likely to invol ve th e G overnment i n a ne w a VI The heavy expenses of the appeal are reported. t° Is o , been paid by a f un d, to which one of the Irish pc lo te t o r* several of the higher orders of clergy were coll o% 0 i! STANDARD.—The late di v i s i on i n the Freneh,,'b: to her is a great tri um ph ; b ut of all who have a 1 1 5 0 , share in that tri um ph, th e part of England— if she et e any part—is sur e ly th e sma ll est. Much as the ti.--041 of this country was mixed up in the debate, wf really had nothing whatever to do in the affa i r in t 1 led to it ; and thi s , i n d ee d , i s our on ly d al e. praise —the only ground upon which w e bs .. / pretend to any part i n th e so s i gna l v i ctor y wonwonFrench Govern men t. H a d t h e B r i t i s h G ov ernele e con the British officer s on th e spot, ta k en any parte ▪ o ict` easily see what use would, have been made °' ri jse' actual interference by th e arts resorte d to W. 0 6 a constructive int er p os iti on on t h e part government of thi s country. Th e triuniPaL it• 0 however, a glorious and salutary t r iune. , wh icti the triumph of pe ace an d of justice--one , 01 1 all Europe will re jo i ce , an d of Which France rtl o ctr be proud, and of w hi c h anot h er generat i on of xi i t P men will be proud, if all do not now exult i° iii much as they ought. The injustice of the der" o .,,e; of Queen Pomare seems to be disputed by n ° tOr i and from thi s ac k now l e d gment i t follow,„ o f Admiral Dupetit Th ouars h a d v i o l ate d the "'' 14 an honest man, a man o f h onour, an d a getwi e pi 0 3 it was certain th a t h e h a d transgresse d his ~tit an officer of Fran ce . B ut , say the opposition the proceeding must be supported, in order not t° i courage our brave marine. What is this, but , that the French fl ag i s h ence f ort h to b fly 'l,l' pirates ; that, no ma tt er w h at it t justice i f ( et ' rages may be comm i tte d under it hY ° t 11; ; who spurn the a u th or it y o f t h e i r instructiatne', injustice or o u t rage must b e defended and the contumacious officers applauded and re wa r w roef; order not to disco urage future perpetrators of or t'' Again, say they, nothing but English influen ce b oi fear of En g l an d, cou ld suggest the co rrection ° k justice committed inadvertently or perversely dou lk French officer ;—a high compliment, ll° , ta ti3 ol* to England, which is thus raised to the " c oke p o i f nn thenettnwhich,universal protector nu, e or f theec ptorarotifcuthlaeronpapsrer Englased, but I se , 01 claim, and whi c h we re j ect with scorn, f ro m t ioc i libel upon the gallant and high-spirited peoPlet a ss ei; involved in it. F or t h e plain inference from ,i tion of English influence in the affair is, that Fran incapable of actin g w ith generosity or j us tice exce pt pelled. Th e F renc h Government has shown that It ; ;re• ' no prompter to b e generous and to b e j us t ; and joice to see that a considerable majority o f the Chsa.ifil concur in feeling with the Government. The out!, 04 in appearance a small one, we may say without a 115 that prima facie " Pugna est de p an p er e regno," but the principle involved i n the debate is a 1„,1 importanc e , f or i t comes to th i s—are nations tetlki l Jr, eluded by f ears o f m i sconstruct i on an d o f j ea lousT iza d acts of spontaneo os j ust i ce ? Th e F renc h Gover and the maj or ity o f t h e F renc h Ch am b er , have dern i,, 4 strated—that no taunt s , no suspicions shall caus e 0 to persevere in a ma n if es t wrong; and have tha s L ' oj may so speak, thrown another fortress ar be the shrine of public law. It is thus tha , t r io Ol future histo r i an o f F rance w ill presen t this 'trot/ page in her annals. We rejoice that no act or word', the vthinedipcaarttinonf o E f ng nu la r nd ne h ig as hb d n i n s r tu s r ; bed the honour api . e itY and as members of os great European commonwealth, we rejoice als ° op l e 8 0 assertion of a high principle of justice, by a P e b e powerful and so sensitive, and hence so likely t° oer,' tated where it sets an example of calmness and tu tion, as the people of France. # BIRTHS. On the 24th u lt., at Pan, the lady of Lieutenant -C 'O jej Percy Douglas, of a son. On the 25th ult., at Gwm Avon, Glamorganshire, the of William Gilbertson, Esq., of a daughter. ~t 1 of On the R the2 o 9 s t e h , of a son. inTorrington-square, London, the William W' /11 On the 27th u lt., a t P r i nce ' s - p l ace , Kennin gton-cree s ' Teevan, of a son. li, On the 27th ult., in the Close, Winchester, Mrs. Vaux, of twins, sons. h i, re, On the 28th ult., at Weston-s u pe r -Mare, Somerie' s Mrs. Henry Davies, of a son. le Jo On the 28th ult., at Avely, Essex, Mrs. Charle s gang of a daughter. DIED. d e °l j ' On the 23d ult., at the Vicarage House, Cornwoo p , _ Ars the Rev. William Oxenharn, Prebendary of Exeter Cat7i:rAs On the 25th ult.. a t th e Abb e y Cottage, near L ee* Cruso, youngest daughter of Mr. C. Coupland, solicitor. ,iii f. H u O t nc hthe s o2n7,t o h f h u e lt., 3f a a t je A e l t b y l e n3 c r- os ro t a o t e. Bent-road, 3.ir.pJoiolic. lid On the 28th ult , at Norwood, Surrey, Tho m— Symes, Esq. aged 38. le• 0 0 nn theth e 28t 29thh u u l t i t , „W. at H. G i g y h d h e o , IT E s q . p . a t , of the p On the 29th ult., at Park-road, Regent Esq., aged 77. erg , o ' l4 Bompas, aged 53. of the irm4 On the 29th ult., at Highgate, Sarah, the wife E. Over, late Curate of that parish. ... . utt.- , On the Ist inst., in Margaret-street, Cavendish -8g „ore- Rey. James Stovin Lister, Vicar of Luddington, Lin"otb, On the Ist inst., in Bridge-street, Blackfriars, Eliza relict of the late Henry Do wner,Esq. .4- i . Thoe lss On the 24th ult., Anne, the only daughter of su • Seamer, of Milk-street, Cheapside, aged 19. „ ga d Dr On the 25th ult., at Guildford, James George uMer—S fant son of the Hon. Peter M‘Gill, of Montreal. d so nor ,s_paral:vii:dddlileitlcheracorlA' F On the 26th ult., at Cliefden, F. W. Banked, sece.n the late C. Ba n k es , E sq. , o f t h e Paragon, Blackbeat?..olage On the 27th u lt., B en j am i n Mill s , Esq., of Par iK East, Regent's -park r 0,0 - 0 London : Pri n t e d an d P u bli s h e d by MURDO 'N u . n No 112, Strand, at 77 1 e S ue Office, N 0.112, St rand, County of Middlesex, Monday, March 4, 1844 (LEFT SITTING.) PRINTERS' PENSION SOCIETY.—The Sixteenth Annual General Meeting of this Society was held this after noon, at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-stfeet, to receive a Report of the proceedings for the past year, to appoint officers for the year ensuing, and to elect six pensioners to till up the vacancies occasioned by death. After the reading of the Report, and the re-election of R. Taylor, Esq., Mr. J. Hodson, and Mr. T. Billing, to the offices of Treasurer, Secretary, and Collector, the numbers polled for the successful candi dates were declared to be as follow Walker, 2,256; William Davis, 2,156; Robert Sizeland, 2,113; So( - • • . 134 kitti , T ., sot L trodup,ii, theoi n kr n an 4 ktd r t ' 3,l le'r a l'" it,3-n'