The Sun. — London, England, 1832-01-24 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. Some of the Sunday Papers are at their old game. One of them assured the public that the Duke of Portland, at the head of 40 other Peers, stood pledged to vote against the Reform Bill which he had hitherto supported, if the King and his Ministers should dare to take the only means in their power to render the support of the Bill forit a majority in the Pirectual, by obtaining House of Lords. Perhaps they thought that 40 was the number of Peers about to be created, aid so they resolved to quash the matter at once and bring the account to an exact balance by a set-oft of just 40 renegadoes, neither more nor less. We need not say that the whole story is a 6 .- ctlon, and a clumsy one moreover; for, long as the same fabricators of weekly fables have been at work, they do not seem to have yet learned, that to lie usefully, it ought to be done season ably. Sir R. Walpole had no objection to tell lies, nor did he care bow soon they were detected after they had done their business ; but as it does no sort of good to fib where the opportu nity is over, so, to fib a day, much more a week, too soon, does nothing but downright mis chief, just as a shell which explodes prema turely very often damages our own works, and destroys our own people. Now what is the con sequence of telling the country, and besides that of telling Lord Grey and his colleagues, that they are to be deserted, and even opposed, by forty Peers who had hitherto been their allies? Why, this statement is either true or false. If true, then, instead of forty or fifty Peers, no less than eighty or a hundred will be required, and if required eighty or a hundred will be made. If, on the other hand, the assertion be a brazen falsehood, why the falsehood becomes so much the sooner manifested, and with it the real weak ness and desperate circumstances of the Anti- Reformers. A pretty picture of the Lords to he held out to the British nation !—that be cause some few of them may not quite relish a particular exercise of the King's prerogative, whereby certain new members are, in the year 1832, introduced into their House of the Le- gislature, they, the objectors, are resolved that the people of England shall never obtain, a Reform of the other House of Parliament ! Taking it for granted that a sufficient number of Peers will be created, we must repeat a hint formerly given, with regard to the persons so to be created or summoned by the Crown. There are valid reasons against a numerous creation of Peers,—first, from among commoners repre senting counties ; secondly, from among such heirs apparent, or heirs presumptive, of Peers, as may now possess, or may speedily acquire, a place among the representatives of the people. But there is no reason against calling into the House of Lords several Scotch and Irish Peers, provided men of respectable character and known liberality of principle can be found sufficiently numerous for the purpose. There is reason to believe that nothing would so contribute to crush in its cradle the wild project of a separation be tween Great Britain and Ireland as this very measure of reinforcing the union interest, by a large proportion of Irish noblemen with proper ties in their own country, all of whom at this moment are naturally discontented with a state of things which has degraded them from the rank of hereditary legislators, which they and their children must of necessity enjoy in the House of Lords of Ireland, were the Union once repealed. We have understood that no proposition has ever filled the party of Irish agitators with more fury or dismay, than that of granting Ireland a permanent and substantial representation in the Imperial Parliament through the persons of her native Peerage. Shaped as the Reform Bill is at present, and precluding every chance of an addition to the representatives of Irish population in the House of Commons, yet a substitute may be found by adopting what we have suggested,—viz., the re presentation in one House of the Legislature of a considerable mass of Irish property and in fluence, to which the other House, namely, the House of Commons, affords no probable access. We would likewise, before we close this subject for the present, recommend that the Peers about to he made 'hall not be created nor gazetted by driblets. If it be true that somehow or other an impression has got abroad—a foolish one we know it is—that King or Ministers have felt any hesitation upon the policy and necessity of quel hog at a Now all troublesome opposition to this great mea+re of Reform, Lord Grey ought to bring out and array his force, like an energetic chieftain, in such a manner as t o convince .man kind that no shadow of hope remains to the public enemy. Were it but to smother the daily and weekly slanders, which now all go to the one main point,—viz., the forfeiture of the Royal confidence by Lord Grey, and his Lord ship's consequent hesit a ti on to un d erta k e the few efforts necessary towards securing the nation's confidence and his own, were there no stronger motive than this, Lord Grey cannot create Peers too largely or too soon, or promulgate the crea tion with too much diligence and spirit.— Times. Other Papers having published statements on the claims of the Duke of Sussex's children by Lady Augusta Murray, we were bound at least to afford our readers a specimen of what was " going on" in this respect ; and, accord ingly, though with regret, extracted the article which will have been seen, from the Observer of Sunday last ; and in order to make the case clearer, we to-day copy at length the original paragraph of the Chronicle. Since that puhli cat;on, a collection of " Papers (not generally published)" has been put into our hands, " elu cidating the claims and explaining the proceed ings in Chancery of Sir Augustus D'Este." It is Impossible to go into all this matter here. We will observe, however, that the opinion of Dr. Lushington and Mr. Richards, the son of the late Chief Baron, is produced, with the sig nature of those gentlemen, in the work above cited, as apparently favourable to the validity of the Duke of Sussex's marriage ; we say " appa rently favourable," for in truth it. is but an opinion given upon certain questions carefully selected, and leaves the main subject in agreat degree untouched. Ex. gr.—" Does the Royal Marriage Act extend to marriages by any descendants of George II r Answer—" No; it does not extend to any marriages by any descendants of George II., " for it does not extend to prohibit or invalidate the marriage of Sir Augustus D'Este and his sister Mademoiselle Augusta, with whomsoever they please, though they claim to be the de scendants of George 11. But it would impeach the marriage of certain descendants of George 11. (unless under express formalities), his grand children, and great grandchildren, for example, in direct legitimate descent; for it was with that express view that the Act was passed. It is ab surd to suppose that the Duke o fSussex, as an Irish Peer, can violate a law which he is bound to observe as an English Prince of the Blood. We say thi s i n no h ost ili t y t o the parties claim • ing, but in great tenderness for the nation, and accustomed are they to unprincipled conduct in the national purse ; and we wish our remarks to their superiors, that nothing is so difficult as to extend much further than to the personages to persuade an Irishman in any case that there is whom they seem at first to relate. About empty not a concealed purpose under the avowed one. honours we care not, nor on the application of Being generally distrustful, they are more parti private funds shall we say a word, if private 1 1- - distrustfulofthe declarations of such cu ar 3 funds abound, and there is no delicacy at eentlemen as Mr. John Weyland, when they snatching at them. But, mark ! Ther e mus t - profess their readiness to modify bad laws, pro be no public grants ! The nation is not in a vided they will only obey bad laws till they are condition to bear those. It has them not to give. modified. But in this matter of the Irish —limes. Church, even the English are full of suspicions. A discussion took place last night in the In an article in the Leeds Mercury of Saturday House of Commons—on the presentation by last, the Editor of that influential journal ob of the Lord Morpeth of a petition f ro m th e inh a bit a nts serves, with much shrewdness, speaking of Leeds, in borough meeting assembled, pray- Leeds petition : ing for a permanent provision for the poor of "We the more earnewly urge this subject on the people Ireland—which strikingly illustrates the danger of England, b e cau s e Ministe t s a n d P ar liament will na g revolt from touching the tithes, and they will never of a want of sympathy between the people of a of themselves give to the poor their rightful portion. The country and their Legislature. The petitioners het is, that these tithes are a comfortable append . n sget s o the (6,000 signed the petition in the course of' two arii,teeracyf Noble —as families-_a snug pension fundrk.i host of sinecures for those who i foryou°g and days) prayed that no provision might be adopted brothers have neither industry nor brains to gain their until there was a previous enactment assigning a livelihood by an honest profession. N e v e r was an abuse certain portion of the tithes and Church lands to more monstrous than the temporalities of the Irish church the purposes for which they were originally in- establishment. And the best Ministers, when themselves _ a,uges tended—namely, to feed the hungry and clothe ( ! fhi gF h in f it families, are to,)pronelstohisseres sacrifices. of abuses. the naked. The statement by his Lordship of Even Mini sterial unparalleled p ' atronade ' have been, has Yielded to the temptation the purport of the petition led naturally enough to the consideration of' the v er y ti c klish question of showering ecclesiastical and other preferments on his own relations, and thus has brought upon a lofty and of Irish tithes. Mr. Strickland observed, that noble character the only stain it bears. and T s h t e ru p g e g ( then, Te ;gainst " the tithe system in Ireland must undergo many fight diff c u ;thisbattle tiem ll forthe they have nearly themselves, won the victory, some alteration ; and there was little doubt that and y then crowds of aristocrats will change sides, and par alteration too must soon reach England." M - -r- take the triumph." Hume said, "as to tithes, there was an end These are the sentiments of ninety-nine out to them in Ireland. The House of Commons of every hundred disinterested individuals in this might meet, and mi g ht vo t e , b u t th e p eop l e o f I re - country. The people say to themselves, here land had settled the question of tithes." This is a set of men who have obtained the power of plain way of putting the case excited the indigna- making laws for us, but who have, in many tion of Mr. John Weyland, who " protested things, an interest of their own quite opposed against the notion of taking the tithes from the to our interest. We must manage matters as Church of Ireland. The Hon. Member for well as we can under such circumstances, obey- Middlesex said the people of Ireland had settled ing where we must, and evading where there is the question of tithes by refusing to pay them. ,an opening; but, whatever we do, let us us not It was a disgrace to that House not to enforce commit the unspeakable folly of supposing that the laws ; and it was the duty of that House to they, who profit by abuses, will ever voluntarily compel obedience. It was disgraceful to any remove them. We lay it down as a broad posi- Member of the House to support or sanction tion, that there cannot be a better criterion of people who were disobedient to the law.— the quality of a Legislature than the disposition (Hear.) He would modify the laws if they of a people to obey or disobey the laws. were bad ; but he never would support those Disorder is the child of injustice. Let who rebelled against the law. It was not worthy Mr. John Weyland bear, then, in mind, that of the character of English gentlemen to say there is nothing miraculous in Ireland. Ye that the law was to be made to conform to shall know the tree by its fruits; and from the wishes of those who opposed the law.— the fruits of legislation in Ireland you can (Hear)" When there is a sympathy between be at no loss to pronounce the character of the people and those who make their laws, the the legislation. The compelling obedience to laws will harmonise with the inclinations and the law is an idle phrase in the case of Ireland. opinions of the people as a matter of course ; You may make laws for Ireland much more and, in such a case, the people will be attached easily than compel obedience to them. The to the laws, and will yield a ready obedience to proverb says, one man may lead a horse to the them ; for it would be a contradiction in terms water, but twelve cannot make him drink. But to say that men who can obtain laws to their the difficulty with Ireland is, that the peopl e in liking, would, when the easy mode of alteration the case of tithes really violate no law. The presents itself, think of opposing or resisting the law' is suffered to take its course, but its course laws. If Mr. John Weyland were capable of is inoperative. reflection, he would see that it is because the Mt. O'Connell " denied thai the people violated any law in Ireland has been the enemy of the people, law by refusing to pay tithes. The law said that those and that those who made the laws were not the who did not pay tithes should have their property dis friends of the people, that the people are ene- trained. Well, l 1, 0 t i their e law p s r o , per , t r y he w e a n s. distrained. thenati ori al '''\ ‘ ' v a i s l 1 that was mien of the law. Mr. John W e yl an d would disobedience against tithes. When English gentlemen said they were modify the laws if they were had. This is determined to enforce the law, he would ask, would gen very kind and very considerate in Mr. John tlemen enforce any law which the universal will resi s ted ? Weyland. But one swallow does not make Why, then, do that to the people t of Ireland? sending f d they der a summer. Would the Legislature modify th e i n i ( o )t rs e e nf l" fo t o b t e t p h a a y t m neinustt of tithes, the case.e except pt by them e ng t o l ut y laws because they are bad, and precisely because the military:" they are had ? for that is the question. Now, 'When the law and the universal will are at Mr. John Weyland ought to know, that if there variance, the law can have no hold. It is as if is one lesson which experience has taught the a summons were sent to the lifeless figures on people of Ireland more than another, it is, that the deck of the plague ship, which, in one of resistance to bad law is the only mode by which Mr. Galt's novels, floats up the Thames to the they can obtain an alteration of them. Was not terror of the London citizens. So long as the the Catholic question, for instance, conceded at Irish people will not pay tithes, and not buy last, not because the C a th o li cs h a d justice on property distrained for tithes, the more the law their side, but because it was dangerous any is appealed to, the more its impotence becomes longer to resist them ? Had not the Catholics manifest. Sir R. Peel " thought his Majesty's been hacking about their sores, knocking at the Government was bound to protest against the door of every great man with humb4 petitions ; doctrines of the Hon. Member for Middlesex. and were they not spurned and neglected till they The Hon. Gentleman said that the tithe ques became furious agitators and carried alarm into tion was settled in Ireland. Without entering the camp of their enemies ? Will this lesson i nto the discussion whether the State could meddle ever be forgotten ? Let Mr. John Weyland be with the property of the Church as a corpora assured that the evils of injustice cannot be tion, which was quite a distinct question, it was confined to one side—that obedience and reta- undoubtedly true that the individual clergymen liation follow naturally and ne c ess a rily in tne now in existence had as good a legal right to train of laws made not to pr o t ec t but to op- their tithes as any man had to his estate." The press. Why is it that we are now seeking an distinction taken by the Right Hon. Baronet alteration in the Constitution of the Legislature, between the property of the corporation and but that the conviction has become general that the life interest of the individual members of it, the interests of those who make the laws are not is quite correct. Whatever change be adopted, identical with the interests of the people, and, let the rights of individuals be respected. It consequently, that the laws must be partial and is, howet b -er, one of the mischiefs attendant on unjust • the pushing claims on one side too far, that Mr Blackney stated, that " in six counties of Ireland_ Kilkenny, Wexford, Tipperary, Carlow, Queen's County, the other side is disposed not to go far enough. and Kildare—the system of tithes was actually at an end. Our opinion is, that the longer this struggle The people would not pay them, and they hal come to continues, the worse it will be for the clergy. the resolution not to pay this unjust and oppressive tax. They ought to have their incomes secured to They were united to evade the payment of tithes, but they did not hreik the lavv. The system could not last. . them, without reference to the original distinc- The goods taken on distraint court not be sold. There tioit of ,. . times, because they entered on the that a rule—quite were eight or ten law processes by which the payment of livings with an understanding tubes could be enforced, but they were all evaded. The different from the ancient—was in force : , Let opposition was given by the p-asantry. He knew one the Reform be parish in Kildare, in which the people had consented to prospective. But, as we have pay 4d. an acre to resist the payment of tithes, and they said, it is one of the mischief's of that sort of declared that they would rather subscribe 2s. or 59. an le g islation,. vicious which rouses against it the acre than not resist the payment." feelings o fwhole a nation, that the remedy is A very striking illustration of the feelings of often in turn a departure from justice. The the Irish is to be found in a letter published in abomination of a sinecure church for the the Irish Papers, from Mr. R. Cassidy to the aristocracy has been clung to with so much per- Dean of Kildare, and the Rev. Rawdon Green, tinacity, that at length the hatred of the institu in answer to an application to him for tithes : tion is . extended to the individuals belonging to side' Mr. Rob-rt Cassidy takes leave to submit for the con- i r . Sir Robert Peel endeavoured to frighten ration of the Dean of Kildare, a copy of a petition from the landlords by holding up to them the en the parish of Lea, complaining of very gross abuses in the rnent which success in evading tithes appointment and application of tithes and charitable dons- coura ge tions in the parish. would give to the peasants to attempt to evade " The circumstances stated in the annexed petition, and the recent conduct of the Spiritual' Peers, in the divi sion in the House of Lords, on the Reform Bill, have sa tisfied Mr. R. Cassidy, that voluntary payments to the clergy of the Established Church would sanction a system iif profligate immorality, and tend to retard the Legisla tive Reform so imperatively necessary to relieve the people of England and of Ireland from their oppressive burdens. " Mr. R. Cassidy, under such a conviction, does not consider himself justified to support, by voluntary contri butions, a system of plunder and corruption, at varance with the doctrines inculcated by the meek and charitable Founder of the Christian religion. "Mr. Robert Cassidy, at the same time, takes leave to assure the Dean of Kildare and the Rev. Rawdon Green, that he does not withhold his tithes from any wish to be relieved from a tax to which the land he holds is subjected ; and when the tithes and other church property are allo cated to the purposes for which such property was origi nally set apart by the pious founders of the Christian reli gion, viz.—the support of the sick, the ag , d, and the poor—the erection of churches, hospitals, and schools— and the decent maintenance of the c'ergy who minister to the spiritual wants of the parishioners committed to their care—Mr. R. C. will then not only pay with cheerful ness the present amount of tithes chargeable on his lands, hut any further sum deemed necessary to attain these itn portant and long-neglected objects." Now why, we ask, do the people of Ireland adopt this course with regard to tithes ? It is precisely because they are firmly persuaded this is the only way in which they can obtain a mo dification or repeal of bad laws. Does Mr. John Weyland doubt the existence of such a persuasion ? Does he think its existence re flects disgrace only OH those who seriously en tertain it ? The people of Ireland have all the di s t rus t which oppression usually engenders. S,) payment of rents by similar means. " The land lords (he said) might depend upon it, that two years would not pass before a similar step would be taken to defeat the payment of rent." The landlords are too old birds to be caught with chaff. Th ere i s suc h a t hi ng , Si r Robert, as history. We hav e now th e history of a num b er of attempts in different counties successfully made to resist the payment of tithes; b ut i n no one instance was any such attempt followed by a resistance to the payment of rent. It requires no conjuror to explain why men may be very anxious to rid themselves of a tax without wish ing to put an end to property. When you say that no rent will be paid, y ou suppose the mon strous state of things, th a t any man m a y s i eze on what property he pleases—a state of thi n g s which would not last one w ee k. If a man pay ing rent for 500 acres were to ,say he would pay no more, what is there to prevent some sturdy Milesian, who possesses no land, from taking a fancy for the whole or part of these 500 acres, or another for detruding him in turn ? No, no ; the Alilesians may not be the most pru dent people in the world, but their instinct will soon teach them that the very existence of a people is bound with a respect for property. TheScotchw up ere as staunch in their refusal to pay tithes as the Irish, and compelled a perma nent settlement, by which that country h as b een greatly benefited ; but in the bitter est per i od o f their warfare against tithes, they never refused to pay rent. Mr. Sheil touched with keen sarcasm the sore place in the Right Hon. Gentleman with respect to Ireland : • " The Irish landlords (he said) thanked the Right Hon. Gentleman for entertaining fears for them they did not entertain for themselves, The fact at present was, that the whole Irish people were revolted by tithes; that was indubitable—and what could the legislator do? Would he take the tithe pig? What could he do when the whole nation was conspiring against the laws ? That was the cse in Ireland. Whit vas the case with respect to Ca tholic emancipation in Ireland ? Th it it was withheld until it could lie no longer denied. It was not conceded until it was felt by those who conceded it to be what they conceived a dire necessity. It was not until that last mo ment that the Ri2,ht Hon. Baronet oppositediel himself the immortal honour of proposing Catholic emancipation." No, no : it is not for the Right Hon. Gen tleman, after the lesson which he taught the Irish people, to turn round on them and exclaim, " For God's sake, do not agitate, pay the tithe pig in peace, keep up the abomination of a Church without a people, consuming not only I the part of the Church but the part of the people. You may gain greatly by obedience to the laws, but you can gain nothing by agitation. All the good which the people of Ireland have ever obtained from their superiors has been a vo luntary emanation from their benevolence." We rejoice with exceeding great joy that there is at last a fair prospect that the Irish will be relieved from the burden of a sinecure Church, and the British empire from the reproach of seeking to degrade the Irish people by upholding this badge of their slavery.—Morning Chronicle. Our opinions upon Political Unions arrogat ing to themselves the functions of Government ' are well known. There are still societies in ex istence with that name, but none that assume the powers or pretend to the character which can render them, like those combinations which the Government Press most intemperately advocated, and the Government Proclamation subsequently denounced, liable to the charge of being dan gerous, illegal, and revolutionary. It matters little what the name of a voluntary association for political purposes is, so long as its objects are legal, and its exertions to attain those objects are confined within constitutional limits. The " Birmingham Political Union," for instance, dissolved itself as to all purposes of illegal or ganization ; but an association continues to exist under the same name—and as long as it confines itself to the temperate advocacy of political and social improvements and ameliorations, without intruding upon the functions of either the legis lative or executive authority, there can be no reasonable, still less can there be any legal, ob jection to its existence or proceedings. On the contrary, if the principles put forward ' by such a society, at any tame, be entitled to public atten tion on account of justness of view and force of easoning, Government ought to attend to them as the collective opinions of a number of individuals who unite together to give advice to the ruling power, and do not pretend to be invested with any of the authority of' a political body recognised by the Mite. It is in this way we understand the petition of the Birmingham Union, praying the extension of mercy to the rioters condemned to death under the Special Commissions. That petition is drawn up with temperance, judgment, and ability ;—its arguments are sensible and cogent, whether as applied to the case of the individuals under sentence of death, or to the system by whose spirit of indiscriminate slaughter they are doomed to suffer. We have laid down the broad rule for a more just and rational system of criminal jurisprudence than we at present pos sess—that crimes affecting the rights of property only should not incur the forfeiture of life. It is our firm conviction that this rule will be eventually recognized by the law of England ; and, as far as the repeated declaration of our own sentiments on the subject can have any in fluence, we have endeavoured to accelerate the coming of that day when the life of man shall no longer be sacrificed for a sheep or a horse, or a five-pound note,—when, in tact, we shall no longer see justice weighing perishable worldly possessions in one scale, and that human life upon which immortal destinies depend in the other ! We know there are many who advo cate the abolition of' capital punishments on the ground of expediency, because they are proved by experience to be less efficient in repressing crime than punishments less revolt ing to our nature, and that do not shed blood. Some of the abolitionists in Parliament rely solely upon expediency. We take up the sub ject upon principle. We urge the repeal of capital punishments in relation to all c,ffences affecting the rights of property only ; not merely because they are inefficient, but because being opposed to that morality which was ante cedent to all human Governments, and to the spirit and doctrines of the Christian dispensa tion, they cannot be inflicted without violating higher rules of action than the wisdom of human legislatures ever established. The cases of the victims of the " Reform excitement" are pecu liarly distressing ones. 'lhese men were carried very unjustifiable lengths by the agitation of the crisis, which excited even cold temperaments, and drove many sober men into passionate ex tremes. It was no small labour to us to mode rate the tone of the Government Press on this question to something like a reasoning propriety. Can we wonder that, in some places, the ignorant multitude were led away by their zeal for the Bill into acts of astonishing rashness, when certain " public instructors" of the Ministerial Press appealed to the argument of physical force, day after day, with unmeasured intemperance, and threw fire-brands among the people ? Will Go vernment take upon itself to sacrifice the lives of ten ignorant men, who, probably, were insti gated, not indeed to the specific acts of outrage which they committed, but to general violence, by taking in too literal a sense the inflammatory metaphors of political writers, and reducing their startling figures into fact ? It is melan• choly to think that, although the Reform Bill is, as yet, very far from being passed, the blood of ten deluded Reformers should be offered up upon the altars of legal vengeance—we will not say as a propitiation to the enemies of Reform, because they disclaim the sacrifice, but as the first fruits of that policy from which the country only a year ago anticipated the unmingled good of national blessings. It should be borne in mind that the guilt of four of the Nottingham rioters rests upon very doubtful evidence ; and the fifth might well plead his youth in exte nuation ; but, supposing the criminality of the whole of the condemned men, both there and at Bristol, to be quite clear, we ask if blood enough has not been shed already in consequence of the outrages in which they took a part, and which entirely arose out of the political excite ment of the Reform Bill ? There are other punishments, severe enough, without taking life—a species of' punishment from which, it is well known, the heart of our humane king re volts. But, let partisans 014 either side of a great political question say what they will, the unprejudiced and reflecting portion of society admit that Government was, in the first instance, to blame, as far as the Bristol riots are con cerned, for not having provided such a powerful military force as would be sure, by its very ap pearance, to overawe a mob, and impress theni at once with the hopelessness of attempting re sistance. One of the most zealous of the Mi nisterial Papers justly made it part of the de fence of Colonel Brereton that his force was in stAcient to protect the public peace, without a dreadful effusion of blood. A deputation from Bristol had waited upon Lord 'Melbourne, in the first instance, to apprize him of the appre hended disturbances. It appears from the de bates in Parliament that it was with his Lord ship's approval Sir CharlesWetherell went down to preside at the Sessions ; and yet the paltry force which was placed at the disposal of Colonel Brereton was only sufficient to irritate an excited populace, by placing before their eyes the armed array, without the effective power, of a military force. But, if the Government were to blame in the first instance, the civil authorities have yet to answer charges which have been loudly made, and which have not yet led to any legal inquiry. We said before, and we say again, that the charges against the civil authorities, to whom Government were to look for the preserva ion o! . the public peace, ought to have been regularly in vestigated, before either Colonel Brereton, or the poor and ignorant rioters, were placed at the bar of criminal justice. But it is easier to hang the humble and ignorant delinquents, whom Mr. Justice Littledale called " deluded and mis guided men," than to inquire judicially into the truth or falsehood of the must serious charges made against men in higher station—although upon the truth or falsehood of those charges principally turns the question of the chief cri minal responsibility connected with the Bristol riots.—Morning Herald. TRADE with FRANCE and GREAT BRITAIN (From the Times.) The pamphlet entitled " Observations on the Trade be tween France and Great Britain," which we yesterday al luded to, has evidently been written by an English S•ates wan, or diplomatist, and translated into French, to facilitate a liberal change in the commercial intercourse between the two nation., by enliehtening public opinion, and removing popular prejudice, in the quarter least intormed on great questions of commercial policy. It hears, indeed, evident marks of being written under the dictation of the English Board of Trad-, in order to procure front France that relaxation of her prohibitory system, of which we have our , elves shown the first and most meritorious example. Viewed in this light, these unambitious, unaffected " ob servation," acquire all the importance of a commercial State paper._ And we may add, that no paper which has been made the ba.is of changes iu the commercial relations of two great c , untries, was ever drawn up in a more liberal spirit, or indicated a better acquaintance with the principles con ducive to the interests of both. Most of our readers are, perhaps, aware, that by cue. tom-house prohibitions or restrictions on the part b .th of France and this country. the interchange of commodities between them is extremely limited, and that two great na tions, whose immediate proximity and mutual wants have fitted them for an extensive trading intercourse, have had fewer commercial relations than if they were situated if) different hemispheres. Sin-•e the establishment of the ge neral pe,ce, when alf political obstacles to renewe3 inter course c aced, the anneal value of the exports and imports between Fra ce and England has not es ceedel3,ooo 0001. sterling. Thus, th • •wo most powerful kingdoms in the world, with an eat, naive population—in the one of 30 000 000 fso and in the other of more than 26 000,000,—bot of them rich, cultivated, and luxuri ou., and iheref re alt un sing in the means of mutually gratifying tl e dtiricial wants which civilization creates,— wi h n view of each other's shores, and therefore affording the readiest facilities to an expeditious communic,tion, and cleap freightage,_possessing the greatest variety of na tural produci ins, or manufacturing industry, and there fore naturally rather customers than rivals,—the one with extensive colonies, immense capital, and unrivalled manu facturing ingenuity,—the other entitled to boast of the prodigal riches of its soil and the inventive ingenuity of its inl,aliitanta,—thes e two most powerful States, we repeat, o ti . ted to be commercially ben ficial to each other, have hewer transactons with each other than with the empire of Brazil, or the exhausted dominions of the Grand S ignor. Much of tlis commercial alienation and this forfeiture of mutual advantage has, of course, aris , n from political jealoul, which was rather apt to be aggravated than al layed by immediate vicinity and equal pretension; but much of it lik.•wise has been occasioned by ignorant jea lousy or selfi.h prejudice. To the latter the pamphlet be fore us applies the proper remedy. It does not propose a commercial ire ity, in the formation of which the two parties would be running a race of useless chicanery, and in the operation of which both might always find subjects of complaint or recrimination ; it merely suggests that each of them should teview its own custom-house laws for the purpo e of improving them so as to attain the objects most conducive to its own i n t erests , an d proves that by so doing it will promote the interests of both. " The two nations," says the pamphlet, " should begin by entirely abolishing their tariff of customs. In esta blishing new tariffs they ought only to keep in view their own interests, without su jetting the details of these tariffs either to diplomatic negotiations, or t o pr i vate arrange ments. T his first step is of the highest importance, both because it is conformable to the rules of true legislation, and because it would destroy the suspicious that the parties were directed by selfishness or prejudice." Such seems to be the sensible coarse which every Go vernment ought hereafter to pursue, in determining its commercial relations. Commercial treaties, be they ad justed as liberally as they may, or be they ever so great an improvement on a system of general exclusion, can never give perfect satisfaction to both parties. A lurking sus picion will always exist, that the one has overreached the other—that the advantage of the transaction is not per• fectly reciprocal—and that something would be gained by the establishment of new conditions. Besides, third parties, who are excluded from the common arrangement, are always dissatisfied with their treatment, and endea vour either to retaliate on one of these commercial allies, or to embroil him with each other. A third disadvan tage is, that every interruption of commercial intercourse hey war, or new alliances, renders a new arrangement ne cessary, and consequently exposes both parties to all the evils of temporary uncertainty, and all the tricks of diplo matic negotiation. The opposite system labours under no such disadvan vantages. By it every nation is supposed to form its own tariff with a regard only to its own interests, without de manding from its neighbour or ally a dim'nution of duties as an equivalent for any change which it proposes, consi dering it as a demonstrable truth that what is useful to one country cannot be permanently injurious to another. Starting from titis principle, we should say that there ought to tie no duties, at filet imposed, or permanently maintained, either to protect domestic produce and manu factures by the discouragement or prohibition of foreign, whatever duties may be imposed for the purposes of re venue. The pamphlet before us proposes three funda mental rules on the subject. 1. That foreign articles, consisting of the raw materials for manufacturing opera tions, should he free from all duties. 2. That foreign ar ticles, indispensable to life, should likewise be exempted from duty. And 3 That foreign articles of luxury should aw4o b nyf e hd,c a iiotn l : o utg n r‘ii nsr e moe: s n: u :te b eo j rcn e iola, c pin t l)sp e r,e , te l hbras t ee, o nhadtee t . oe a :d : iol a nse t d,bo i , (i w n trgok . anr,x,,,wi I nso n weooeo t rdd h o,s e cl,oop fi rffle r nal m at t xlri,yo c k,fi a , category are, inds, all flour, bread, fresh and salt meat, fish, rice, and salt. In the third are comprehended all articles of foreign luxury on which Government may require a tax, such as cloth, wine, spirits, sugtr, coffee, tea, tobacco, jewellery, plate, or naments of gold or silver, watches, and household furni ture. The rules for the taxation of these articles appear judicious, and are calculated to produce an effect among Our neighbours, being partly recommended by our own example. The author of the " Observations" gives it as his Opinion that the duties on none of the latter articles should exceed JO per cent. on their original value. The pamphlet afterwards proceeds to develop the propositions which we have announced in considerable detail, but we have left ourselves no room for pursuing further the course of its remarks. Whether any portion of the French theoretic exclu sionists, or of the French manufacturers whose interests aie supposed to depend upon exclusion, will be so con vinced by the rea%uning IS this pamphlet, or other *Dollar works, as to permit their Government to relax the gaining system, and to commence a more liberal course of policy, we cannot lay. But we any mention. that the present temper of the Chambers, and the spirit of the commercial and manufacturing body, as manifested during the inquiries into the iron and sugar trade in 1829, do not appear to be very favourable to a liberal change. When we find that France permits the produce of several vintages to remain on the hands of her wine-growers, be. cause ehe will receive nothing from abroad for which bet wine can be exchanged,—when we find that without coals, or with coals in scanty supply, she insists on manufac. turing iron at double the price for which she could pro• cure it from abroad,—when we find that a 15th or 16t1 part of her sugar is made from beet-root ; and that beet. root plantations have extended to nearly 100, because slat has resolved to exclude the produce of foreign colonies,-- we can see no immediate prospect of any importan amelioration in her commercial intercourse with England In 1829 the protecting duty against foreign colonial soot was 25 francs the 50 kilogrammes. Under this mono , poly, the French colonies supplied 60,300,000 kilogram• mes ; and the importation from foreign colonial possessions was reduced from being half the former consumption tc 'ess than 1.000,000 kilogrammes; but as a compensa. lion, the beet-root planters flourished, and sent nearly 5,000,000 kilogrammes of their article to the market. Open the trade, or reduce the duties, and this clasp ul c , pitaiists and manufacturers would be ruined. Thus com mercial error tends to perpetuve itself, and interests crested under an impolitic system may be pleaded si reasons for continuing the impolicy. LONDON MARKETS. PRICE OF BREAD. l'he highest price of Bread in the Metropolis is 1010. fot the 11b. Loaf. There are others who sell from 4d. to I%d. b.loo that price. PRICE OF SEEDS.-Jan. 23 'ew English Red Clover Seed (per Cwt.) -s. 70s. fine -5.1055. Old Ditto Ditto -s. fine -s. -s. 525. 70s fine -s.llos. -s. -s. fine -s. -8. . 40s. 60s fine -s. 70s. -s. 50s. fine -s. 655. - -s. 20s. fine -s. 40s. -s. 15s. fine -8 20s. .-10 s. 2ss. fine 308. 3.55. Seed -8. -s. 535. fine 57i. -s. -s. Ills. fine 68s. -s. -s. fine 345. 38s. .(per -s. 755. fine 608. 828. -s. -s. new 20s. 255. 40s. 455. new -s. -s. -s. 525. fine -s. 58s. 465. 48s. -s. fine -s. Cew Foreign Diti Old Ditto -- Niew White -C-1.(; Old Ditto Dittc 'slew Trefoil Itib English Carraway Foreign Ditto —. (•'oriander St. Foin Rye Gra Linseed for feeding Ditto, for crush 1 ti,, Canary Seed, New, "itto —s. —s. —s. fine White Mustard 5eed..........(per Bushel)-- —s. Bs. 10s, fine.—e. Brown Ditto . —s. 10s. 15s. fine —s. l'uruiti Seeds, Rounds. . —s. —s. —s. fine 14s. Green and Red Ditto Fares, Old Ditto New —s. —s. fine 425, 465. I ;a,,,eSeed, English, fine (per Last) 22/. Foreign —/. etticEs oF HOPS.Ja.n.23. rivet Pockets 4/ 10s. 6/. O. to V. 12s. Sussex Ditto F.?? 09( Ditto 4l 103. 51. 153. to 6'. IN. 1 arrliam Ditto, Fine 9/. Os. 121. Os. to 0/ Os. Seconds 0/ Os. 6', IN to gi 3/ 10s. 5/. IN to 61. 103. 3/ 15s. 4/. 103. to 4/ 163. 15s. s'. Os. to 51. 12s. Kent 13, Sussex Ditto Essex Ditto.. PRICE OF OIL. Ripe Oil, brown ---35'. Os. Itefined 0 ` , inseed Oil 12 11 51 I.insec.d Oil Cake at the Mill, per thousand Rape Cake, per ton PRICES OF LEATHER Per lb. d. to d. Per lb. d. to el. tiotts, English 16 21 English Horse Hides.. 12 15 F0reign,...,...,,.,,., 15 181 Spanish Ditto 17 19 I)•esstng 12; 14; Per dozen. Ditto i 6 18 Calf Skint., 36 to 411 b. 15 21 Di t,, light Ditto 50 to 701 b. 21 24 up Hides, 1ight,...,. 12 Ditto 70 to 80113. 1:1 21k Ditto 4u to 451 b 13 15 Small Seals, Greenland 20 24 15 161 j Large ditto - WHITECHAPEL HAY Al AIIKKE—Jan. 21 Hay 50i. Od. to SOs. Od. 1 (lover,.„— 70:. od. to 120& Od. Od. to 36.. Od. RAW HIDES. Per Stone. e. d. to 5. d. Per Stone. g, d. to s. d. first Heifers & Stuera2 6 210 Ordinary I 8 2 0 oi, i I inga--.-2 0 2 4 Market Cal f----.. 6 0 each. Polled War Scotch R, SHEEP SKINS. . 4s. Od. to ss. 6d. I Downs 3s. Od. to 4s. Od. t o Os. Od. Plt ICE OF POTATOES —Jan. 23. 21. ss. to 31. Os. per ton. 01. Os. to 31 10s. ditto. 01. Os. to :3/. Os. ditto. PRICE OF RAW FAT, per stone of 81b. Price of Tallow (as stated by the Tallow Melters).—... 2s. Od. PRICE OF TALLOI ['own Tallow ---.. Ms. 6d. Yellow Russia 44s. 6d White , SOAP, &c. per II2IU. Yellow 60s. Od. Mottled 724. Oct. Soap Ditto .435. Od. I Graves ... Melted Stuff 36s. Od. Good Graves Ditto Rough .245. Od. Ilia. Oti. ss. Ocl. PRICE OF CANDLES. The price of Store Candles. in the retail shops, is as follows: Candles, per doz. 7s. Od. to Eis. Od. Moulds, per dozen—. 93. 6d. A married woman lately left Devonport, to join her husband, who was in London, and safely reached his domicile. On the following morning, nothing would do but she must go a-shopping, a vocation most ladies take great pie sure in, little dreaming of the size (the great wen, as CORBETT calls it) of London. She lost her way, after having made sonic great bargains, the joy of which had such an effect on her memory that she actually forgot the name of the street where her husband lived, and was obliged to take up her abode at a public-house, until sh obtained an answer from her friends at Devonport, to her enquiries about his address. In the mean time the husband was suffering the most intense anxiety, being fully persuaded she was Barked.—Falmouth Packet. A story has reached us, which from its at tendant circumstances appears rather romantic and incre dible, but it conies from a quarter which entitles it to some belief. In the night of this day fortnight (January 7), a charcOal burner was employed in attending the fires of Messrs. FULLER'S manufactory in St. Leonard's-forest, ❑ear Horsham. The man above referred to was superin. tending the charcoal fires, when, about midnight, a person, habited like a gentleman, and will mounted, rode up, and, stating that lie had lost his way, begged of the man to show him the road to sortie place which he mentioned on the verge of the forest, promising him a gratuity for his trouble. The burner assented, and after trudging some half dozen miles, conducted the stranger to the road, on the forest border, leading to London. He there found a horse and cart waiting, and was, to his great terror, imme diately seized by two men, who bound him, and, throwing him into the cart, drove rapidly off towards the metropolis. They travelled in this way until they got near Merstham, when day-light appearing, they threw him out of the vehicle with as little ceremony as they had thrown him in, and went on. He lay for some time, until he was re leased by some persons passing by, and then, by slow degrees, suffering from the pressure of the cords with which they had bound him, reached his home. The man expresses his belief that the intention of his assailants was to have carried him into London and to have Burkett him, but day-light coming too soon for their purpose, and fear ing that his calls for help would create an alarm, they threw him out of the cart. —Brighton Herald. TITHES.—There is not, perhaps, in the en tire range of this extensive county, a spot so pauperized, nor a parish where such unassisted destitution generally prevails, as among the unhappy inhabitants of the small and isolated parish of illyross. When the ratio of popula ion exceeds the acreable extent of any district, poverty and privation must necessarily exist in a proportionate , tdegree, particularly w h ere no t ra d e , no manu f actures, no public works, no established institutions ever afford the least employment f or t h e pro d uct i ve l a b our of the working classes, or the res id ence o f a s i ng l e extensive landed pro, prietor ever sh e d s a g l eam o f encouragement on the in-. dustry of th e p eop l e S uc h i s, critically, the actual state' of Alyross. The population exceeds the computed average of acres, allowing 800 of the number to counterbalance the barren rock and valueless waste of the entire parish. From hlyross, thus circumstanced, without trade, without employment for the labour of the poor, without any pub• lie stimulant to industry or enterprise, containing only. 3,000 acres. many of those demanding time, capital, and. toil to become productive ; hurthened with a rack-rent roll of only 2,900/. per annum, and inhabited, according to a census taken in 1824, by 3,517 souls—from Myrtles, thus circumstanced, the parson has contrived to secure to himself, under the blessings of the tithe composition, the mode,t and moderate revenue of 500/. a-year.—Cork Chronicle. MARRIED. On the 21st inst. at St. Mary's Colechurch, Mr. J. Dafforne, o Camberwell, to Eliza, youngest daughter of the late W. Conder, Esq. of Barton-hall, Essex. DIED. On the 19th inst. in the prime of life, after a long and painful illness, Melieent, the wife of Mr. Nathaniel Harris, Parliament. street, Westminster. On the 21st inst. at Croydon, J. Tunstall, Esq. M.D., surgeon in the Royal Navy, aged 51. On the loth inst. at Lewisham, Kent, W. Smallbone, Esq., in his 7tith year. On the 20th inst. Anne, the wife of G. Hodgkinson, Esq., of Kentish-town. _ _ _ On the late Charles Onptt 20,t0n 30 agedt th hi i n n s7 s t4 t . .. t A n n e e k , n w e i y f , e 3, o r f r . relict solni og :ton, Mr. Char Charley, of Earl's-court, rom ßeek, Esq. of Hunt-street, Mile-end New-town, aged 80. On the 19th inst. at Grove-teraace, Lisson-grove, Deputy 7ommissary-General Rodwell. Ir O ee t r i e t s h , e a l g 9 e t t h i 39. inst, in Canonbury-square, n PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY MUHDO YOUN G ThE SUN OFFICE, W., STRAND, LONDON,