The Sun. — London, England, 1832-02-04 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. While the active benevolence of Englishmen has been exploring distant regions of the earth for ob jects of human oppression and misery, to bring con solation to the sufferer and deliverance to the captive, there has existed in the very heart of this country a cruel and destructive species of bondage, which blights and withers all humanity exposed to its noxious influence. The young are its victims—the unprotected children of the poor are its hopeless slaves. At a tender age they are taken from the care of p:trents—from the opportunities of instruc tion—from the ordinary recreations of youthful life — imprisoned in the Bastiles of modern manufactures —pent up in foul air—worked in cheerless and ex hausting drudgery until the powers of nature give way, and they sink into the grave, or drag on a lin gering existence, the prey of bodily infirmities and moral degradation. This is the system of our fac tories—a system created by that selfish spirit of mammon which makes the misery and debasement of thousands subservient to the sordid interests of one—a I;ystem which our political economists view either with approbation or with cold indifference, but which enlightened benevolence reprobates as no common calamity to a civilised land, and which, we trust, sound legislation will, with as little delay as possible, effectually and for ever remove. Thii is no party question—it is one on which all the friends of humanity, whatever the colours of their political creeds may be, can and ought to cooperate. With the strongest feeling pos sible, on our part, for the prosperity of manu factures, we cannot think that a system of en slavement and torture is necessary to their suc cess, or that they can prosper the more in the sight of God or man by means that create large masses of misery, disease, and immorality, to spread their unwholesome influence over a great country, and be the physical and moral defilement of a Christian land. For his searching inquiries into the condition of the poor children who are slaves of this system, and for his earnest exertions to root out its evils from among us, 3lr. Sadler is entitled to great praise. Without going at present into the details of his Bill fur the regulation of factories, we do not hesitate to say that its principle is of a character no less enlightened than humane—for that is the wisest legislation which makes the prosperity of the rich inseparable from the comfort arid moral welfare of the poor, and which, giving the employers all rea sonable benefit of the industry of the humbler c►asses, protects them from the oppressive abuses with which labour is loaded by intemperate cupidity. Our readers will recollect that Mr. Sadler presented a petition the other evening, upon this subject, from the great manufacturing town of Leeds, signed by nearly 10,000 persons, praying for a legal limitation of the hours of labour of children and adults in facto- ries, which he supported by an eloquent and im pressive appeal, urging the adoption of the prayer of the petition on every ground of religion, mora lity, and sound policy. On that occasion Sir James Mackintosh supported the petition in a most decided manner, and emphatically stated that he would not allow the principles of political economy to be car ried so far as to be the means of inflicting torture upon any class of persons. Sir Edward Sugden justly argued that nothing would more essentially operate to produce a good understanding between the labouring classes in the factories, and their em ployers, than the manifestation, on the part of the upper classes in those districts, of good feeling arid kindness towards the labouring order of people. They, as legislators, were certainly bound to pro vide for the preservation of the health and the pro , - perity of those placed in the several laborious walks of life. iNir. O'Connell observed that the present was an opportunity wherein sound policy and hu• manity were legitimately connected, and happily di rected to the same object. Mr. Hunt bore witness to the demoraliz , ng effects produced by the system upon the youth of both sexes in the great manufacturing districts. Lord Morpeth stated that he had been instructed by his constituents to sup port the prayer of the petition, and said that the - Members of the Legislature were called to the per formance of this great and humane duty, uot only by the petitioners, but by their duty as men and Magistrates. Mr. Croker expressed a hope that the benevolent views of Mr. Sadler would be ex tended to Ireland, adding that it was one of the first dbties of a good Government to take care of those peaceable and industrious classes who were too se• verely occupied in earning their daily bread to have leisure to take care of themselves. In short, Mem bers of every variety and shade of political opinion upon both sides of the House perfectly agreed on the necessity of a legislative remedy being speedily applied to a system so barbarous in its nature—so unchristian in its principle—so cruel to the poor in its operation—so prolific of physical and moral evil in its effects. To this general concurrence with the object and arguments of the mover of the petition, there were two exceptions. The precise and timid Sir Robert Peel expressed his fears of endeavouring to do substantial good, as he al ways does when solid improvement is at tempted; and Colonel Torrens, as is his wont, levelled, without much effect, at the united cause of reason and humanity the heavy dogmas of political economy. There is no people that dread disease more than the English, and yet they allow the most dangerous receptacles of contagion to exist in the midst of them—where little children, of eight or ten years of age, are confined 16 hours out of the 24 without rest or sleep! No people have such severe laws to punish crime ; and yet they permit a system to flourish which, by its demoralizing effects, is an abounding source of crime, and all the vices which afflict human nature. As to Sir J. Hobhouse 51111, relative to cotton factories, its provisions were so inadequate to its object as to render it a failure. But we trust that now a general measure will be adopted, which will take away a great evil out of the }and by giving humane protection to the children of industry.—Morning Herald. The administration of justice, as it is dispensed in the police-offices, has often been a subject of com plaint. Why the evil has been permitted to exist so lona' we are at a loss to conjecture. It certainly is not because Reform is impracticable ; for if the evil be the incompetency of Magistrates, the cure must be the removal of such Magistrates, arid the appointment of others more competent to till their places. Neither is it because the evil is not of suffi cient importance to deserve the attention of Mi pisters ; for what can be more important than that character and liberty should have something like a guarantee against wanton or stupid violation in the early stages of the judicial process—an object which can only be accomplished by selecting persons duly qualified to superintend them ? So far, however, from this course being adopted, all our Administra tions Lave persevered in the old system—appointing Magistrates without regard to knowledge of any kind, as if the office carried its own qualification along with it, or as if t h ere were no distinction, so f ar as po li ce justice is concerned, between the decisions of a blockhead and a man of sense. Our Paper of to day contains no fewer than two cases which reflect additional light; if such were required, upon the wisdom of the Learned Functionaries, to whom we have been alluding. One of them an indictment in the Court of King's Bench against Sir It chard Bir nie and his coadjutors for the false imprisonment of Mr. Carmichael Smyth ; the other a rehearing of the extraordinary fraud made against Messrs. Fordham and Tatham, on Wednesday last. It, the first case the defendants—that is, the bench of Magistrates, were all found guilty. Their conduct, as described by the witnesses was ridiculous in the extreme. It is impossible to read the account without laughing; but the thing becomes more serious when we reflect that it was in the very act of administering what they call justice that they committed an offence against the lavuot which they now stand convicted b y the verdict* a Jury. We have no wish to bear hard upon men Owed : in jfie'liredicament in which they have placediberns'elbut our duty to the public compels Us totrielarethat theignorance—to say no worte:of it, the ignorance watch (hots , Magistrates have ren- 'VIZ '7i '1 dered more conspicuous by clubbing their wits to gether to produce it, is a clear proof upon record that the system under which such appointments have been made requires to be altered. The second case is quite as ridiculous as the first ; but one is startled to think how easily a man's character may be lost for want of a little common sense in the Ma gistrate before whom he is accused in malice or in error. It is not every man who may meet with the same misfortune that Mr. Tatham and his friend ex perienced, who can bring such a host of witnesses to wipe off every imputation. A poor or a humble • individual, though the circumstances were as strong in his favour, could not be expected to produce such evidence as determined the Magistrate in this case to alter his first opinion. We do not ask for the appointment of deep-read luwyers to the bench as a security against such occurrences; but surely we are justified in requiring that an ordinary portion of judgment shall not be wanting on the part of these who are often called upon to decide between conflicting evidence and disputed facts.—Morning Herald. The doctrine held by Viscount Milton, Lord John Russell, and Sir Robert Peel, on the exclu sion of strangers from the House of Commons,—that is, the exclusion of those who are not Members of the House, from the possibility of seeing the per sons or hearing the speeches of those who are Mem bers,—has created considerable indignation abroad, and produced us a variety of remonstrances. With respect to Sir Robert Peel, that Right Hon. Gentle man's opinion on this subject is consistent with his general principles, and the uniform course of his public life, and needs therefore now create no sur prise; but it seems a desertion of the cause of the people by the friends of the people to find the two Noble Lords contending for debates with closed doors, at the will of any individual Member whom pride, caprice, conceit, petulance, or a thousand other evil motives, may incite to move " the stand ing order." If any one asks what the practice has been, there can be no doubt upon that point,—the nation will concede at once,—that the House has immemorially been in possession of the privilege, if it be a privilege, which is now the subject of dis cussion, and has often exercised it very scanda lously. But let it be observed, that it is to reform the practice of the House of Commons, as well as purify the materialsof which it is composed, that the whole nation is now in a ferment, and it can never tend to the preservation of the useful and rational rights of the House to strive for an usage that is at once pernicious and absurd. The House would undoubtedly have the right to exclude the public from its debates as often as it pleased, or when any Member pleased, if those de bates related only to the private concerns of the Members themselves, or of any individual Mem ber, if the subject-matter of them were that in which the people of England had no concern : but the business of the House being the business of the people, transmitted thither for discussion and de spatch by the people to its representatives, it is dif ficult to conceive upon what principle of common sense the people should be excluded from all possi bility of knowing how it is handled, except surrepti tiously, by connivance, and under the liability of punishment. Further also, as we stated in our last observations, the representatives are chosen for a limited period, under a responsibility for their con duct to their constituents at the close of that period. This, we presume, will be acknowledged to be a fundamental principle of the Constitution ; but what responsibility can there be, when the elector is ex cluded from all knowledge of the proceedings of the elected ? People may talk wl at they please about the ballot, but the dark and insidious se- crecy claimed by the House of Commons for its pro ceeding•, if the practice were according to the theory, (and no practice ought to deviate much from theory) is infinitely more detestable than its worst enemies have ever been able, by the grossest exag geration, to represent the ballot. If the principle be that the House transacts the affairs of the public in secret, that its proceedings cannot in any case be known but by connivance, and that an individual Member may at any time irrevocably close even this outlet, then in God's name let the practice coincide with the theory. Let the doors be shut altogether arid the galleries taken away, and let not a loop-hole be left open to entrap individuals and cheat the public of its due information at intervals, not on a question like that of poor Mr. Perceval, but perhaps on one of the greatest national import. Let it be observed that we are not, in these reasonings, which to us appear unanswerable, and which we know point to a hat will from henceforth be the practice, attempting to deny that occasions may occur in which it may be advisable " to exclude strangers," according to the common interpretation of those words ; but when that is done, let it be by the sense of the House, not by the nonsense of a single indi vidual in it,—by the will of the majority, as in other cases, not the caprice of one man. Some gentle men have spoken of official reporters appointed by the House, and amenable to it. We have no interest in the matter, and should have no personal, or, if we may use the word, professional objection to the course; but still we think the present system, with some slight improvement of better accommodation, preferable. If the reporters were appointed by the House, their reports would be liable to its inspection before their publication; and the country would be but moderately instructed by such cold, castrated, formal productions. The rivalry of conflicting talent, and the competition for superiority in the leading Journals, have rendered the art of reporting, we believe, human errors excepted, almost perfect.—Tones We refer our readers to our Queen-square police report for an account of the issue in the case of Messrs. Fordham and Tatham, and Esther Tompkins the fruiterer, of Charing Cross. On reading the account of the case, o❑ Thursday morning, the nu merous friends of the gentlemen were thunder struck. Mr. Gurney, the barrister, who had known Mr. Fordham for thirty years, having prevailed on Mr. Marriott to have the case re-heard, the accused had yesterday an opportunity of producing a host of respectable witrosses to their respectability, and the committing Magistrate had also an opportunity of endeavouring to account for the strange sort of hallucination under which he seems to have laboured. We never supposed the committing Magistrate was actuated by any corrupt motive ; but he shared the surprise of all who read the report of the proceedings, that there could be a man so strangely constituted in mind as to believe for one moment that Mr. Ford ham could have any intention to defraud the woman. There are acts which leave no doubt as to inten tion. If a man is found at night in the house of another breaking open a bureau, the intention to rob is evident. If a man is seen applying a torch to a stack, the intention tocommit arson is equally evident. But where two persons come before a Magistrate, the one saying she had given change for a sovereign without receiving the sovereign, and the other main taining that he had paid the sovereign, there is here a dispute about the fact, but nothing from which inten tion cart be discovered. Circumstances indicative of an intention to defraud ought to have been received in evidence, before the Magistrate, in such a case, was warranted in inferring fraud. But not only were no such circumstances proved, but the age and ap pearance of Mr. Fordham, the circumstance of his being accompanied by the son of a respectable trades ' man living opposite to the fruiterer, the appearance of that tradesman himself, bearing testimony to the re spectability of Mr. Furdham ; the readiness with which Colonel Howell gave him a letter to Mr. Mayne, his colleague, and Mr. Mayne a letter to the Inspector of the A division; the liberation by the Inspector in consequence of the respectability of the party—all formed a body of evidence indicative of the utter improbability of such tin intention. But, not content with supposin g Mr. Fordham capable of the fraud, he entertained the monstrous idea that a conspiracy was formed by these two gentlemen to defraud the fruiterer of this paltry sum. We ac quit `L•. Marriott of any corrupt intention, because it is impossible to suppose that he could have any corrupt motive for what he did ; but, without env reference to proceedings of yesterday, when the high character of Mr. Fordham and Mr. Tatham was established by a host of witnesses of the first respectability, and Mrs. Esther Tompkins did not appear to have in:proved upon a closer in spection into her history—we hold that on Wednesday the inferiority of judgment displayed by that Magistrate was beyond what we have ever witnessed. It is stated in the report, that he con suited with the Bench (Messrs. White and Gre gorie, we presume). Indeed ! And this strange commitment received the sanction of the whole Bench ! The speech of Mr. Marriott yesterday made the matter worse for himself than it was. In endeavouring to extricate himself, he charged Mr. Tatham, sen. with having refused to be sworn to the character of his son. His logic was in substance this :—I could only know the character of the par ties from evidence. When I found that Mr. Ta- tham, sen. refused to bear testimony to the charac ter of his son, what could I infer but that the son was capable of committing a fraud ? and Mr. Ford ham having been in company with a man, to whose character his own father refuses to bear testimony, he must be judged of by the adage, noseitur a sociis, and he is just the man to have committed the fraud with which he is charged. But, unfortunately, Mr. Tatham, sen. had been sworn as to the character of his son on the first examination, and Mr. Phillips stated that both Mr. Tatham, sen. and his son were ready to swear to that fact. But this was a tender point. Mr. Marriott said, "he could not allow Messrs. Tatham to be examined on oath as to Mr. Tatham, sen. having given evidence to the character of his son on his first examination." In another re port we have seen Mr. Marriott is made to say that-- " He was willing to allow witnesses to be called as to the characters of the parties concerned ; but he certainly would not allow witnesses to be called, as Mr. Phillip, desired, to disprove any thing he said in his magisterial capacity. He was positive Mr. Tatham, sen. had refused to be sworn, or on oath to attest the character of his son or suppo.ed friend ; and that all in the office formally present well knew. He could ❑ot, consistently with his authority and dignity, assent to such a proposal." Whether Mr. Tatham, sen., was or was not sworn is a fact that could easily have been ascertained. lie might not have been sworn (though we have no doubt he was sworn) ; but is there a man in the metropolis who would believe that a father would refuse to be sworn to the character of a son, whose respectability was placed beyond doubt by the evi dence of several gentleman to whom he had been known since his childhood ? Mr. Marriott seems to be held in high respect by those who know him. and we repeat that we impute to him only the want of sagacity and discrimination. We have heard, w•e confess with some astonishment, that he is the destined successor of Mr. Const, as Chairman of the Middlesex Magistrates.—Alforning Chronicle. At the National Political Union, on Thursday night, Sir Francis Burdett seemed to consider some of the statements in the report read that night as aspersions cast on the Aristocracy. 'We have had an opportunity of perusing that document, and we do not think it states more with regard to the body in question than is borne out by fact. In the ac count of the circumstances leading to the formation of the Union, the writer mentions— " 1. The determination with which the Aristocracy clung to the power which they possess, and which they have so shamefully abused ; the powerlessness of Ministers single-handed against this obstinate body, originally called the National Political Union into existence. It was clear, after the rejection of the Reform Bill by the Lords, that the Aristocracy would not spontaneously renounce their power : it was equally clear that the Ministers, who felt themselves so weak as to be obliged to conciliate and bow down before a portion of that body, were not strong enough, unaided, to support the claims of the people. In order to afford them the assistance they needed—in order to give a definite form to the public opinion—to create an organ through which that opinion could be efficiently transmitted, the plan of a National Political Union was entertained. The object was to put the wishes of the people at large in organized array ; to give them by union so imposing an appearance, that denial of their demands should be hopeless, and direct oppression dangerous. " At this time also, there was yet another circumstance inducing the necessity for a means by which the people might express their wishes. The cry of a re-action in the popular opinion was raised by the enemies of Reform. These infatuated opponents of good Government had mis taken, or pretended to mistake, the silent and dangerous dissatisfaction of the people for an apathy towards Reform. The gloom that was gradually settling upon the public mind, preparing men for the worst, making them to ex pect, and fitting them to encounter all the perils of a vio lent struggle for good Government—this gloomy despair was believed, or pretended to be believed, a quiet acquies cence in the will of the Aristocracy ; and the most danger ous crisis which has occurred for many years in the history of this country, was treated with careless contempt by the headlong and reckless enemies of the people. In order to correct this dangerous mistake on the part of the Aristo cracy, in order to quiet the alarms and strengthen the pur poses of the well-meaning, but timid friends of Reform, in order efficiently to direct the energies of the ardent and de termined, some means for the immediate e xpression of the popular wishes, in a calm, legal, yet effective manner, was absolutely requisite. To this purpose, a union of all classes interested in good government was proposed, and immediate measures taken to carry this proposal into effect. " DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING THE FORMATION OF THE NATIONAL POLITICAL lisuoN.--Great and manifold dif ficulties had to be encountered before the object desired could be obtained. It is of the utmost importance that these difficulties should be fairly stated—should be thoroughly understood. These very obstacles being among the most pernicious of the evils created by a mischievous Government. " Unfortunately, the classes which bad to be united, viz. the middle and working classes, stood opposed to one another in a distressing and dangerous hostility. Large numbers of the middle classes had hitherto, from various causes, been either the tame follower s, or active sup porters of the Aristocracy. By the Aristocracy them selves, and the writers whom the Aristocracy bad won by favour, or hired by money for the purpose, the middle classes Lad been too generally taught to believe the working classes lovers of riot, confusion, and spoliation ; they were led to fancy them men rendered desperate by poverty, seeking for change in order to grow rich by plunder ; they were thus, on the one Land, set against the working classes, while, on the other, they were impelled towards the Aristocracy by those habits of crawling subservience to all above, and arrogant assumption to all whom they deemed below, which all Aristocracies have too success fully inculcated. Thus, fear of evil from the working classes, hope of distinction, favour, and reward from the Aristocracy, had hitherto rendered the middle classes averse to any union with that part of the people whose interests in fact were and are identical with their own." Sir Francis said— " He dissented from the aspersions cast on the Aristo cracy, and considered it as essentially necessary to have such a body of men in society as it was to have the Ca thedral of St. Paul complete in a 1 its parts. Degrees were necessary to society. He certainly did not wish to confound the la . glier or Aristocratical orders of society with the Olgarchy of the country, or the boroughmon gering faction that holds in tyrant chains the liberty of the Pe' Vt . ." Aristocracy literally means the power or government of the best. But it is not in this sense that the word is received in Europe. By Aristocracy is un derstood a body of men possessed of an influence not derived from the suffrages of the people, of which they avail themselves to the advantage of their own order, and the detriment of society. It is very true, as Sir Francis observes, there must be de grees in society. Were all the property of a nation equally divided among the individuals of that na tion, and a free scope left to industry, inequalities would soon arise. There must, therefore, be de grees in society, if the fruits of industry are to be se cured, and property is to be respected. But as we have said, Aristocracy, in common parlance, means a body having influence independent of the people, of which they avail themselves to plunder the people. That the body possessed of that influence in this country have availed themselves of it in a way detrimental to the people, few will be hardy enough to deny. It is in the nature of things that a body possessed of influence independent of the people should abuse it to their own advantage, and be as it were instinctively led to seek to perpe tuate their the people, and throwi n g obsta cles in the way of power by fomenting divisions mong the removal of ignorance. We do not, therefore, see how the report can be said to cast aspersions on the Aristocracy. The object of the Reform Bill is to confine the controul over the public purse to those who are deputed for that purpose by the people. Such a Reform will not destroy inequalities of pro perty, but it will prevent a body of men from ap propriating to themselves the properties of others at discretion. They who wish to possess the controul over the public purse can only hope to attain that end through the favourable opinion of them enter tained by the people. To evince a disposition to plunder the people will not be the best means of obtaining their favour. But though we admit that there will always be inequalities of property, it does not follow that there will be such inequalities of property as now exist among us, or that such ine qualities are beneficial. When once the public Re venue is economically expended, the means now possessed by the Aristocracy of quartering their chil dren on the public purse . will be materially abridged. As the higher ranks will continue to have families, these families must be maintained, and the increased expenditure from their own private resources will tend to curtail overgrown fortunes. But this will be no evil ; on the contrary, it will be a positive good. The great incomes of the Aristocracy cause the sa laries of public men to be fixed, according to a scale not determined by what is necessary, but by what is expended by those with whom they associate. A Lord keeps twenty servants in livery.' This becomes the standard, to which all are looking con stantly up. What harm would there be if the in comes at the top were not so high, and those at the bottom not so low ? The excessive luxury of the high does not add to their happiness ; and the extravagant expenditure of all public functionaries, who take their notions from the high, is oppres sively felt by ►hose at the bottom of the scale. The constant straining of the middle classes to have the appearance of wealth in their style of living, deprives them of many sources of liberal en joyment, and is anything but conducive to happi ness. But whatever changes may take place must be founded in justice. If, without robbing others, the Aristocracy can preserve their overgrown estates undiminished, so be it. But, should it be otherwise, we really do not see that it would be a heavy na tional calamity, if where twenty horses are kept by an individual, six were to be kept, and where twenty servants, five. John de 'Witt, when he ruled Hof land, kept but one servant, and did not keep a coach. But at that time the Fine Arts flourished more among the frugal Dutch than they have ever flourished among the extravagant English. With all our supposed wealth, there are several countries in Europe which publish a greater number of expen sive works, in all departments of science, literature, and art, than can be published here. But the in habitants spend less in idle show, and in imitation of the wasteful habits of an overgrown Aristocracy.- 21forhing Chron.'ee. The scene in the House of Commons on Thurs day evening cannot fail to have excited the disgust of every person who knows what is due from an in dividual to the deliberative assembly of which he forms a part—from an English gentleman to the society in which he moves—or from a Member of Parliament to the people. We allude distinctly to Sir Henry Hardinge, whose demeanour on that evening has been compared (and, indeed, it re sembles nothing else on record) to that of a certain class of professional fire-eaters in the old Parliament of Ireland—men who were brought forward by the Government of that well-ruled country to put down, when practicable, any independent representative of the people, whose propositions, while speaking the language of his constituents, admitted of no answer but from the pistol's mouth. Lord Ebrington, a courteous, but manly and high-spirited Nobleman, representing the great county of Devon, most properly urged it as an argument in favour of expediting the progress of the Reform Bill, that the nation out of doors were disappointed and impatient, and ex claimed against further delay. Was there any thing unparliamentary in this ?—any thing unconstitu tional ?—any thing unaccustomed, or not perfectly familiar, to the ears of those who call them selves our representatives? What do Members of Parliament profess to represent ? Is it not the " people out of doors ?" What is the right of petition, but the right to make the wishes of the people " out of doors" known to the Members within, and the further right to have those wishes weighed by them and treated with respectful atten tion ? Lord Ebrington did literally nothing more than adduce the evidence of " public opinion," in support of his remonstrance against continued pro crastination,—that public opinion to which the Sovereign himself has so often appealed, against the selfish wickedness of a corrupt and borough ridden portion of the House of Commons. And how was he met by Sir Henry Hardinge ? He was assailed by violent reproof. He ixas called the organ of a section of the London mob. Ministers were charged with a conscious intention of carrying the Reform Bill through the mob alone ! although three-fourths of the property and education of Great Britain had addressed the Crown and Parliament in its favour. Now it is quite intelligible how an inveterate enemy to all Reform should get furious when he hears the least allusion to a power out of doors, which lies beyond the pale of borough patrons, or of civil or ecclesiastical corporations; but it is not sufferable that his rage should render him insensible to the re straints imposed by a community far removed from the savage state upon the passions of its least civi heed members. It is, we say, not endurable that when a gentleman like Lord Ebrington repels indig nantly a flagrant public attack on his character, the wrong should be repeated in terms which aggravate its original coarseness, the aggressor declaring that he would not retract an iota of his offensive words, and that, as an atonement for his fierce invective, he, forsooth, is ready to fight the man whom he has so deeply offended ! Sir Henry Hardinge has the reputation, no doubt well deserved, of being a reso lute soldier, but others are every whit as brave as he. Sir George Murray's courage, for example, is "as keen, but it is also as polished, as his sword." The Duke of Wellington, we suppose, will be allowed to be brave, and knows how to protect himself from insult ; but did any auditor of a debate in Parliament ever hear a syllable from either of those distinguished warriors, which could be quoted as lowering to the majesty of the Legislature, as personally disrespectful to him against whom it was pointed, or unbecoming the dignity of him who uttered it ? The age of duellists in the House of Commons has gone by. We ac knowledge that a gallant man and a gentleman may once, and for a moment, be betrayed by heat of temper, into unworthy language, and on this ground the House may and did forgive the intemperate ebullition, but the forfeiture of both these titles to esteem would soon follow the habit of so offend ing. Sir Henry Ilardinge's e xperience ought also, by this time, to have made him sensible, that an outrage to common courtesy, in either House of Parliament, is universally looked upon as a sort of from o n p forrnc proceeding i a n n t y e r f f e a r r e t n h c e e r o a n p d r , e t v i e i e n r t e fn r mat e; whom it ought to be excused. How can a brave supplication for official interference to prevent mat ters from procee ding any farther ; and, therefore, t F ha s t ') l a f i soldier by profession is the last man livin g in and high-spirited man suffer himself to appear totally destitute of self-controul.—Times. Sir James Graham postponed last night till Tues day the motion of which he had before given no tice; for the introduction of " a Bill to amend the Laws relating to the Business of the Civil Depart ments of the Navy, and to make other Regulations for more effectually carrying on the Duties of the same." The postponement of this measure was understood to be in consequence of Sir James hav ing received an intimation that his Bill would meet with decided opposition from all those Members of the House who had at different periods held high appointments in the Naval Departments, and who front long experience are better qualified than the present First Lord of the Admiralty can be to judge of the pernicious consequences of the main object of the intended Bill, namely, to abolish the Navy, Navy Pay, and Victualling Offices, and transfer their duties to the Admiralty. The desire to over throw, one by one, the ancient institutions of the country has been the ruling passion under which this dangerous measure has been conceived. For it is understood that Sir .Tames Graham's intended Bill goes little beyond investing the Government with power to swamp these great departments of the public service when they choose to exert it, without restricting the mode of doing it to any specific plan. It is evident that the measure has been de cided upon without any necessity being shown to exist for such an important change, and without any arrangements made for its execution. All this is to be left to chance, or to the wisdom of those who pull the secret wires by which the astute statesman at the head of the Admiralty is moved. Parliament is not to adapt its powers to the measures to be adopted, but a wide license for the speculative theoretical plans not yet concocted is to he required. This is like a medical practitioner bleeding his patient before he is informed of his complaint, and giving the nurse power to administer any physic or other remedies which she may suppose to be necessary. But is it possible that the House of Commons will lend itself to such a dan gerous course ? 'Will it trust an ignorant and unskilful pilot to unmoor the vessel which is freighted with the means of the naval glory of Great Britain and the comfort of her gallant sons, and to put to sea without chart or compass, to navigate an unknown coast amidst a thousand diffi culties, incurring the risk of being dashed to atoms while in search of objects not defined and scarcely imagined ? Is Parliament so eager for reductions of establishments as to stultify its judgment and wil• fully blind its eyes to the consequences which must ensue if that object is recklessly pursued without due security to the public that the business trans acted in these large departments, involving an annual check and controul over the expenditure of six or seven millions sterling, should be systematically, correctly, and deliberately executed ? Can that hr the case if the details of these departments are an nexed to the Admiralty ? Will not the effect be to clog the wheels of that important arm of the public service with respect to its own more important duties, while the detailed business to be united with it will be imperfectly, unsatisfactorily, and ineffec tually performed ? The contemplated course ap• pears to us, from all we can learn of it, to be founded upon a complete misapprehension of the duties of the controlling and subordinate departments, and can never work well. It is an attempt to unite the duties of master and servant, and it may happen that, though the wages of the groom may be saved, the corn may be stolen, when the master is otherwise occupied, and the horse may fall a sacrifice to mis taken economy.—Morning Post. Although we understood, many weeks ago, that the number of Peers necessary for carrying the Re form Bill successfully through the House of Lords would not be created until the Bill itself had passed the Commons, we, nevertheless, took the liberty, and were very severely handled by a correspondent fur taking it, of urging upon his Majesty's Ministers the propriety not only of declaring such to be the fact, but ulso of Gazetting the Peers, with all possible dis patch, as the best means of relieving public anxiety— of doing away with the envenomed opposition of the Tories—of retrieving the commerce and industry of the country—of adding to the amount of the revenue, and of enforcing our influence in all the foreign relations of the country. We may have been " unwise," as a correspondent assured us, in a few days afterwards, as well as unjust towards his Majesty's Ministers, in urging the adoption of such a line of policy ; but how does the fact staid now ? Is the Opposition less mild because it has been mildly dealt with ? Has less opposition been offered to the Reform Bill ? Have his Majesty's Ministers been less free from attack on any question of foreign or domestic policy ? The very contrary is the fact. The Opposition has been more busy in opposition than it was ever known to be—it has not been satisfied with either opposing the Reform Bill in its various stages, or with attacking the Ministry on all questions on which a point in dispute could be raised—but it has actually improved the time given it for repentance, to persuade the country that the King will not create the necessary number of Peers—that Lord Grey does not enjoy his Majesty's confidence—and that the Bill is now precisely in the same, or rather in a worse situation than it was before the late prorogation ! We have said per suade the country, because assuredly there are many who, if they do not believe both the Bill and the Ministers to be lost, are at least inclined to give that half-and-half sort of credit to the Tory false hood, which is quite as injurious to the interests of the country; and if this statement be correct, it fol lows, as a necessary consequence, that the advice which we took the liberty of giving was the very contrary of " unwise"—that it was sound and judi cious, and that had it been adopted, the country would have been spared of much anxiety—its trade much of its depression—and Lords Althorp and Rus sell much of the annoyance to which they are now subjected by a persevering and trickery oppo. sition. With regard to the main point—namely, ' the creation of the number of Peers necessary to carry the Reform Bill successfully through the Lords—it is not for a moment to be believed, with out a greater belief in unprincipled conduct than we are possessed of, that the King is not willing to complete that great measure to which he gave his consent months ago—for the sake of which he ac cepted the resignation of one Cabinet and in stalled another, dissolved one Parliament and summoned another—and when the Peers refused their sanction to what were considered to be his anxious wishes, sent them to their country seats to ruminate on what they had done, and what they ought to do. We are not, perhaps, so conversant with the Machiavelian politics of Courts, and of the influence of foreigners on the British Court, as some others who pretend to a sounder judgment of the real state of affairs—but looking, we say, at these cir cumstances, on the one hand, we cannot for a mo ment give credit to the rumour that the King is un willing to create Peers, and looking, on the other, to the truly high and venerable character of Earl Grey —the invariable and consistent supporter of Reform —to the pledges which he has given to the country — and to the danger either of any great compromise of the pi inciples of the Bill, or of its utter rejection— we say, looking at all these things, how is it possible for a reasonable being to imagine, far less to set it down as a settled matter, that there is the slightest chance of the rejection of the Reform Bill on the ground alleged—of Lord Grey demeaning himself so far as to continue in office for even one hour without the certainty of implementing the engage ments into which he entered with the country at the time of the rejection of the last Bill ? Look, on the other hand, at the consequences of any possible misconduct on the part of the great sup ' porters of Reform, and at the dangers that would result from the rejection of the Bill. What are they ? Disgrace on the one hand, revolution and anarchy on the other—a Tory Cabinet and national opposition—a struggle on the part of the few to maintain their unjust dominion, and a determination on the part of the many, to act, as the many have always acted when their patience has been worn out, and they have been goaded into the use of the only means of redress which nature and misgovernment had left at their disposal ! —.Morning Advertiser. We understand that Sir WALTER SCOTT, who is now at Naples, intends to make a considerable stay in Italy, and to return by the Tyrol through Germany, where he will visit Hungary, Vienna, Prague, Toplitz, Carlsbad, Munich, Dresden, Leipsic, Stutgard, and other principal towns and cities in that empire. The accom plish( d Baronet is attended by his eldest son, Major WAL• TER SCOTT, Of the 15th Hussars, and Miss ANN SCOTT, his unmarried daughter. Mr. CHARLES SCOTT, the youngest son of Sir WALTER, is, we believe, a❑ attachi, to the Legation at the Court of the King of the Two SicruEs ; so that, with the exception of Mrs. JOHN Lcc HART, Sir WALTER is at present enjoying the society of his nearest connections • Sir WALTER had the affliction to lose his Lady, who was the daughter of a French gen tleman of Lyons, in the spring of 1826. MARKET INTELLIGENCE. LONDON MARKETS. (Front the ,London New Price Current of yesterday.) SUGAR.—The Market for Muscovades has been quiet all the week. The estimated sales for the week arc 2,b00 hogsheads and tierces; the prices are fully supported ; it there is any alteration in the Market it is rather higher, particularly for fine and for strong working Sugar. In the Refined Market there has been an increasing disposition to purchase the low goods this week, particularly Lumps. Although there does not appear to have been quite so much animation in the demand for low goods this afternoon, a good deal of business has been done quietly at a small reduction in prices : in the middling descriptions for melting there has been more doing, and prices are fully maintained. Of crashed very few sales of any description have been made this week. EAST INDIA SUGARS.-Since last Thursday there have been no public sales of Mauritius, but some few small parcels have changed hands by private contract at former prices. Nine thousand bags Bengal are advertised for next Wednesday by the East India Company. This day's public sale 1,735 bags Mauritius Sugars in bond sold a shade lower, 16s. a 225. FOREIGN SUGARS.-1,321 chests yellow, 68 chests white Havannah, and 230 chests 74 brls. Brazil, have been offered at public sale ; the yellow Havannah was a good parcel as to colour, but generally of soft quality ; the whole, however, found buyers, and at an advance of about Is., brown selling from OIL 6d. a 226. 6d , mid. to good yellow from 235. a 241. 6cl , and fine yellow from 255. a 265. ; the white Havannah was of mid. colour and quality, and brought from 31s. 6d. a 325. ; the greater part of the Brazils found buyers, the strong lots sold higher, but soft quali ties went rather cheaper; the following arc the prices-Rio good greyish white, very strong and dry 255., mid. to good yellow 18s. a 225. 6d. ; Bahia, mid. to good white 235. 6d. a 255., good brown 18s., good yellow 215., damaged low white 20s ; Pernambuco, good white soft 245. 6d., mid. white 225. 6d., low yellowish white 20s. 6d. a 21s. 6d. brown 13s. tad. a 15s. 6d., yellow 16s. 6d. a 18s., damaged brown 14s. 6d., damaged white 18s. 6d. By private con. tract about 120 chests and 80 brls. soft low to mid. white Pernams have been disposed of from 19s. to :Xis. 64.-2,816 boxes have been reported since last Thursday. This day's public sales 299 chests 113 brim. Pernams sold at previous prices, white 20s. 6d. a 235. 6d., brown 15s. 6d. a 16s. 6d. COFFEE.-At a large public sale of Coffee 3,854 bags Ceylon sold at full market prices 525. a 525. 6d., and went off with brisk ness ; 403 bags fine coloury Brazil sold 565. a 575. 6d., which was Is. a Os. higher than previous prices ; the quality was, however, uncommonly fine. By private contract, a parcel of St. Domingo sold at 545. In British Plantation Coffee there were few pur chases and no variation in prices. This day's public sales 678 bags gut India ; yellow Cheribon, a little mixed, sold 53a. a 535. 6d. ;which is rather lower, but it is, not suitable for home con sumption at the 9d. duty ; Ceylon sold 51s. a 51s. 6d., former prices.-201 bags pale Havannah all taken in at 535.-The British Plantation, Jamaica sold Os. a 3s. lower, good mid. fiiBs. a 935., good ord. Sis. 6d. RUM, BRANDY, AND HOLL ANDS.-The purchases of Rum were more extensive this week ; Leewards, three over, have beets sold at Is. 4%d., and 30 over about Os. ; Jamaica 30 over 2s. 2d., There is not so much doing in Brandy ; the priees are main. tained. Some sales of pale Geneva 2.5. Bd. a 2s 9d., which are former prices. HEMP, FLAX, AND TALLOW.-The Tallow Market, which was very brisk last week at 455. 6d. a 455. 9d., has fallen to 455., and the Market is dull at the reduction. This afternoon by public sale 147 casks Odessa Yellow Candle Tallow, all bought in 445. 9d. ; 21 casks Cape ditto, 435. 9d. a 445. COTTON.-The demand for Cotton for export has been ge neral : the prices are rattier higher. Sales this week are 1,600 Surat, ord. mid., 4d. a 4%d. ; 110 Bengal, good fair, 4%d. a 4%d. ; 440 Bowed, ord. to fine, 5%d. a 6%d.; 1,210 Egyptian, fair to good fair, 6%d. a 6%c1.; 900 Surats, public sale, mid. to good, 4%d. a 4%d ; 60 Bengal, ditto, ord.. 4d. a 4 1 4 d. SALTPETRE-Saltpetre is very dull, rough about 375. INDIGO.-The Indigo Market has become heavy, on account of the large public sales advertised. JUTE-This afternoon by public sale 205 bales East India Jute, 18/. ss. a 1151. 10s. SILK-There is no new feature in the Silk Market since our last • prices are the same. TEA.—Boheas in large chests are now at 4s. Id., Congou chests Is. 1 d., duty paid; there is no demand for the cheapest Congous. WOOL.—During the past month a great deal of business has been done, and large sales both of German and Spanish Wools have been made; the stock on hand of the right selling kinds is small, and the supplies come in very slowly; on the 22d instant there will be a public sale of 400 bales New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land Wool, 100 German, and 60 Cape of Good Hope Wool. RICE.—In Rice there is no alteration. FRUIT.—The demand continued very limited; in prices there is very little variation. PRICE OF SUGAR. The average price of Brown or Muscovado Sugar, computed from the Returns made in the week ending:Jan. 81, is 255. :114d. per cwt., exclusive of the duties of customs paid orpayable thereon on the importation thereof into Great Britain. PRICES OF HOPS.-Feb. 3. 41 10s. 61. 03. to 7/. 12s. 41 4s. 41. 18s. to 5/. Ss. 4/. IN. 51. 15s. to 6/. 10a. 9/. Os. 121. Os. to 0/ 06. 0/. N. 6!. lOs to 91. Os. 31. 10s. 5/. 12s to 61. 10s. 31. Iss. 41. 10s. to 4/. 163. 31. 155. 5/. Os. to 5/. 12s. PRICE OF OIL. Kent Pockets . Sussex Ditto . Fssex Ditto Fatnliam Ditto. Fine--..—... Seconds .—....... Kent Bug ...- Sussex Ditto Essex Ditto,. Rape Oil, brown ......-341. 05.......... Refined ~.....£36 0 Linseed Oil ____ _ _ _ ..... 22 0 Linseed Oil Cake at the Mill, per thousand ................. 12 0 Rape Cake, per ton ••••••••••••••• 510 PRICES 0 Per lb. Butt, English --........ Ditto, F0reign........--. Dressing Hide 5—.............. Ditto ............... Ditto, light --- Crop Hides, light_ Ditt0......40 to 451 b. Ditto----.....----,--. LEATHER. d. to d. Per lb. d. to d. 16 21 English Horse Hides... 12 15 15 181 Spanish Ditto 17 1i 121 15 Per dozen. 161 18 Calf Skins,. 36 to 4Alb. 15 20 Ditto 50 to 701 b. 21 24 12 13; Ditto 70 to 801 b. 18 21 14 15 Small Seals. Greenland 20 201 15 161 Large ditto — WHITECHAPEL HAY M A RKET.—Feb. 2 . Hay 50s. Od. to 803. Od. I Clover.—.... 65g. I. to 115.. Od. Straw 24g Od. to 3 - ti. Od. RAW HIDES. Per Stone. 1, d. to 6 ..:I• Per Stone. a. ti. to s. d. gest Heifers & Steers 2 6 210 Ordinary .......,.....,... 1 8 110 Middlings —.......... ....-2 0 6 2 4 Market Calf 6 0 ekeh._. Nate,---., - Kidneys Scotch Reds SHEEP SKINS. 4s. Oci. to ss. 9d. LDowns 28 6d. to 4s. Od• O. Od. toOs. Od. PRICE OF POTATOES.—Feb. 3. 21. ss. to 3/. Os. per ton. 01. Os. to 3/. 10s. ditto. 2/. 15s. to 31. Os. ditto. PRICE OF RAW FAT, per stone of Price of Tallow (as stated by the Tallow Me1ter5),...»..,,... PRICE OF TALLOV Town Tallow 535. 6d. Yellow Russia. 47s. Od 465. Od. Soap Ditto 453. 6d. Melted Stuff' 37s. Od. Ditto Rough ......,.255. Od. T, SOAP, &c. per 1121. Yellow 50ap...........--. 62a. 0 ,1 _,' Mottled. ~. 70e. 4, ,1T . White........—.................. 745. to , -, Graves .......—......—.,............... lee. tv, Good Graves ~...........—... se. 0' PRICE OF CA NPLES. The price of Store Candles, in the retail shops, is as follows :- Candles, per doz. 7s. Od. to Ss. Od. J Moulds, per dozen.-13s. 6d SOUTHALL MARKET.—Feb. 1. This day's market exhibited a tolerably fair time of year siT, ply, but was not very numerously attended by buyers, especialu from London. Trade with very prime Beef and Veal was some' what brisk, with other kinds of meat very dull, at the followi o lli prices per stone of Sib. to sink the oflals : Beef 3s. Od. to 4s. t2d. 4s. 44. to ss. d'' I Mutton --. 310 410 Pork ----. 4 0 50 i The foregoing quotations are prime Beef, and each kind °, Mutton 2d. per stone lower than on this day se'imight ,- price; otherwise stationary. A considerable part of the supply left th market unsold. RU MFORD MARKET.—Feb. I. s. d. to s. d. Beef 1 0 4 0 Veal Mutton 3 6 4 6 Pork Suckling Calves from 14s. to his. ; Quarter old Pigsl2s Supply rather limited, and trade dull. a. d. s: d 7 1 0 5 310 5 to 18s. este COUNTRY CORN MARKETS DURING 'I H WEEK, Wheat. I Barley. Oats. Beans., Per Quarter. ----- — Ashburn----- 162 72 34 40 126 34 40 Basingstoke --...1 56 66 30 35 20 25 39 4.! Bath 146 64 32 42 ,24 30 36 Bridgewater 58 72 30 34 !20 25 39 52 52 35 42 18 0 4 34 4 ,7 .1 Chesterfield 64 '7O 26 32 40 5 , 2 Derby 62 65 40 43 i 24 27 42 r, Devizes 66 70 28 40 21 28 39 Doncaster,., 57 68 28 41 18 26 40 " 4 Exeter - ,2 Dorchester—. 54 75 30 38 27 34 ' Gloucester,..,—,.. 468° 44 Hungerford 51 66 27 3 6 20 29 34 I s LO 3 26 1 4 4 2 0 2 . 0 s _ 3 8 _ 4 Leicester 75 44 29 4 6 Newbury —. 40 70 26 37 19 32 54 4 6 liomsey --- 56 62 32 38 24 2ti Shaftesbury 56 37 27 45 Shelton Mallet ... 52 63 34 43 20 26 36 Slierborne— 56 62 36 42 20 28 38 I'aunton ---. 58 72 3.5 20 41 Yeovil 56 64 34 40 20 26 34 "!,,1 Per Bushel. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. Shrewsbury 90 99( 60 69 j 5 0 64 00 " On Saturday last an inquest was held at t llBl George and Dragon inn, Lincoln, before SAMUEL TP C" ,; e, TER, Gent., Coroner, on view of the body of NVILIO' I 1-lALIAN, late of Welbourn, near Lincoln, age d 31 yet i !, who on the preceding day had come to Lincoln market ► a cart, with a young woman to whom he was to hare b e married on Wednesday n ea t, f or th e p ur p ose o f purc o. , ing furniture previous to their nuptials, and on their turn, when going up Cross the young woo' being in the cart, he jumped upon the shafts for the pose of talking to her, when in getting off he fell olt,, back, and comin g i n contact w ith th e wh ee l, be ' el dragged ten or t we l ve yar d s ; b e was t a k en u p by two Ng who saw the accident, and conveyed to the Ge° and Dragon, where he expired the next day b e ttf f e , twelve and one o ' c l oc k. N o e vidence was adduced bc the Coro ner an d J ur y as to kis being in liquor a t t d time.—Verdict, " Accidental Death."—Stamford2f:)i BIRTHS. I On the Ist inst. in John.street, Adelphi, the lady of J Todd, Esq., of a daughter. On the 2d inst. in Upper Woburn-place, the lady of t he Wm. Busfeild, of a daughter, still-born. MARRIED. eA O On the 2.(1 inst. at Newark, Mr. C. Lias, of London, to Elizabeth, daughter of J. Watson, Esq. of the former placer of Belgrave-gate, Leicester. On tha Ist inst. at Salisbury, the Rev. Francis Evans, son of the late J. Evans, Esq. of the 13yletts, In the cout' o , Hereford, to Anna Maria, eldest daughter of the Rev. J. 10 of Salisbury DIED. On the Ist inst. at Wanstead, Emily, eldest daughter of A - Willis Esq. aged '26. 11 On the Ist inst. at LeYtollStolle, Essex, Richard Mount , in his 77th year. r li On the 2,1 inst. aged 90, in the Albany road, Camberwel l, Mary Thompson, widow of the kite Mr. J. l'hompson. On the 2d inst. in the Wandsworth-road, Mr. W. O s moo"' .. , of Bicester, Oxfordshire, aged 82. On the Ist inst. at Peckha m - grove, Jonathan Hewlet t, in his '73d year. IkiiNTED AND PUBLISHED BY MURDO YOUNG,°' SUN OFFICE, 112, STRAND, LONDON. Polled (