The Sun. — London, England, 1832-03-15 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE 'PLBLIC JOURNALS. Tii the admitted want of capacity in our legis lature to invent, or in the absolute impossibility of discovering with certainty, and realising with suc cess, any compreheesive plan for the relf of the rural poor, or the profitable employment of egricul . tural labourers, numberless palliatives,' or topical ap plications have from time to time been proposed for evils which are universally allowed, and which ex cite universal regret or alarm. Every Hon. Mem ber of the home of Commons, or Noble Peer in the other House, who turns his mind to the subject, has his own nostrum, which he thinks calculated exactly to cure the malady falling under his own observation, but never reflects on its consequences to the general health of the patient, and never con , skiers that it may creates greater evils than it cures. Hence our legislation on the subject of the poor for the last 50 years has only been - productive of mischief or mice y, and hence probably a greater . benefit could not he con ferred on the country than by the erasure of all the late nets on poor rates and pauperism from the Statute Book. While laws are thus almost an nually enacted which would disgvaee the most igno rant or unphilosophical assembly in the world, the Magistrates and parish authorities who administer - them, contrive to ingraft their separate mischief on the stock of their legislature. Herr-c, at the time when the iabourere were too numerous for them to • be put to profiable employment, and therefore re ,sorted to the parish for assistance, they compelled new marriages, in cases of bastardy, untie menaces . of imprisonment, or encouraged them by offer of eaid, even buying the marriage-ring for the needy • labourers. Hence, by way of relieving the parish from the burden of etepporting in idleness sae set of- labourers with large families, they paid part of the wages of their labour out of the poor rates ; and thus, by rendering independent• labour impossible in competition with labour partly remunerated out of a charitable fund, compelled all labourers to become paupers, and, 'by way, pf having their proper share of the • fund, induced these paupers to early marriages to iercrease its claimants. Hence, in most of the pa tithes of the South, they have been obliged to fix ohe rate -of allowance just a little above the starving pOint—a measure which, in the circumstances, must determine the rate of wages ; and thes have con verted many fair portions of England into a West •Itulia plantation, with their gang of slaves and -their parish drivers, sometimes hired out by the day - to farmers, and at others sent to the sand-pits or the :hisr,hwaye,under task -masters. The confessed evils of this system—though the produce of legislative sblundersit is now difficult for the most skilful le egisletion to reach, to arrest, or to eradicate. The • overseers or vestries of almost every parish in Eng land experience an impossibility of finding profitable employment for all its poorer inhabitant s, and have often to answer greater demands made on their -funds by able-bodied labourers out of work, than - : by the young, the aged, and infirm, who cannot be 'expected in any circumstances to toil for their bread. ',Whatever employment might be found for them funder a different system of laws, or however much 'the population of the country may still fall short of :the number of inhabitants whom it could maintain 'in happiness and comfort under a different manage ,ment of its resources, it is quite certain that at pre sent, and in our existing social organization, no ex ertion of parochial or magisterial ingenuity has die •oovered the means of making all able-bodied labour ers provide for themselves, or of setting them to 'profitable occupation. The consequence is, that a ,greater revenue is levied and expended for the sup tport of the poor of England, than for half of our na tional establishments, civil, naval, and military— :that upwards of 1,000,000, or 1,200,000 of persons :conic upon the parish, who ought to be main tained out of the fruits of their own labour— ;that in some places the poor-rates amount to a ,sum nearly equal to the rent of the land- •and :that nearly the whole of our agricultural labourers are reduced to a state of degradation and destitution ;unheard of in former times or in other countries, — . struggling against poverty and misery, —running a We of fraud and falsehood against what they con -eeive to be injustice and oppression, —trying to en list the alarms of their superiors in their cause, or to attract attention to their complaints by acts of in subordination and incendiarism,—boldly incurring the penalties of imprisonment for transgressions of the game laws, and increasing, by their darker crimes, the victims of the scaffold, or the population of our penal colonies. In the accounts of many pa rishes which we have seen, the sums expended for the relielbf 'the young, the aged, the sick, and the infirm,—the tejosi s eif not the only, legitimate objects of relief,—betirs'Uo proportion to the amount of the fund raised for the support of able-bodied labourers :who cannot e -gas e d employment. Th e l a t ter , to b e ‘"-• _sure, are not allowed to enjoy their pittance in 'idleness, but they are sent to work on roads which require no repair, to toil in sand-pits where their labour is equally unprofitable, and even, in some cases mentioned be the Bishop of Bath and 'Wells, to drag carts, which horses would have done better. In toasty instances, they might as well have been -setst.4o- Lord Castlereagh's operation of " digging bales in the earth, and then filling them u? again." 'To remove or mitigate so monstrous an evil, taint ing or about to corrupt the whole agricultural pope- Jetion of England, we have seen several attempts at legislation, both in the last Session and in this. The most recent essay of this kind which has come under our notice is the Bill of Lord Kenyon, about which a short conversation took place in the House of Lords on Tuesday. We hare looked into his - tordship'S Bill, which bears the tempting title of " An Act for encouraging and facilitating the, em _ployment of labourers in agriculture," and can -scarcely guess why it lays claim to so high and :patriotic a destination. Its more appropriate name would have. appeared to us to be, " A ge neral Inclostire Act, with a reservation of a por tion Of' - the„ - Land for the Parson and the Poor." it, i ngett as well be called a " Tithe Act," because it Allots the 10th part of the proposed en closures to the Church, as an " agricultural la ehourere exi;pltsyment act," becau-e it allots the 10th part of the said enclosures to the overseers of the `poor. Is it not a measure of questionable policy to -'enrich the proprietere of 'land bordering on. com mons, under colour of adding gardens to the cot tages of the poor Is it a boon " to steal the com mon from the poor man's goose," in order to give him an eventual chance of getting back an acre of it by paying a rent to the overseer ? Whatever may be his Lordship's motives, such appears the ten dency of the Bill, if we were to judge of the very small portion of it which gives the title to the measure. The Bill is neither more nor less than an act tceauthorize the enclosure and division of all commons-in England and Wales, upon the consent of the owners of two-thirds of the property entitled to the right of common. From this a reserve is made of sue tenth for the Church,and another for the poor,the whole being consequently exempted from the pay ment of tithe. It is to be regretted that these latter provisions did not form part - of every private Enclo sure Bill which has passed for the last century, but we are not so sure that they ought to be considered as a passport to a general measure otherwise objec tionable. With the general policy of the measure we shall not at present occupy ourselves, but hasten to an observation or two respecting its vaunted power " of encouraging and f ac ili tat i ng agricultural labour." The relief which it gives to the poor is net, we think, equal to the benefit of' which it de prives them. In the first place, this " encourage ment and facility" to labour must be very partial and limited—confined to districts where unenclosed commons still exist. In the second place, the Bill unjustly restricts the allotme nt for the poor to 200 acres, whatever be the size of the common, and to whatever extent of area its tenth part would reach. In the third place, the pauper portion of the com mon being placed • at the disposal of the over seers, r- seers, and laid out by then, in plots at or below t w a acres, would merely relieve the poor-rate by the amount of the rent of this laud, and would become a source of jobbing and partiality in the management of the parish funds. It is wisely provided that no new cottages shall be built on these experimental pauper farms, etherw•i-c the Bill would be posi tively pernicious, as it would increase the pariah poor-list by the 100 additional cottagers, whom the overseers might introduce into the new allotments. It is also wisely arranged that the overseers may ex change the 16.nt: of the common for other ground contiguous to the cottage of the labourer. With these two exceptions, we see nothing in Lord Ken yon's misnamed attempt " to encourage and factli 'ate the emplo:rm,nt of labourers in agriculture" which warrants its ambitious title, or can command our approbation. —Times. There were some notions of foreign policy ad vanced by M. Gui,ot, in his recent speech in the Chamber cf 1 - .)eputiea, which are truly worthy the intellec'ual capacity of a doctrinaire—one who, like our " free traders," moulds facts to his own pre conceived theories, miscalled " science," and who cannot permit experience to correct the errors of speculative folly. He stated that " the commercial and internal interests of Austria and Prussia were diametrically opposed to a war, and that therefore the bonds which united the Holy Alliance were be coming weaker every day, and a new system of policy was modifying the views of the Cabinets." Leaving out of question that this appears to lae in direct contradiction to a previous proposition of his, and just as pompously laid down—namely, that what France had most to dread and guard against was the existence of an European coalition against her—let us examine the statement on its own merits, and see how it is borne out by the facts. Tire statement of M. Gu'zot, that the commercial and internal interests of Austria and Prussia being directly opposed to war we do not quarrel with. We believe it to be the inte rest of every nation to abstain from war, as long as peaCe is not disgraceful by the compromise of na tional honour, or dangerous by the encouragement of foreign agression. This part of the orator's dis course we consequently regard as a particular appli cation of a general truism. When, however, he proceeds to deduce from it the important inferences that the bonds of the Holy Alliance were becoming weaker every day, and that a new system of policy was modifying the views of the Cabinets, we deny that the events which have occurred in Europe since the French Rsoiolutiou support his deduction. On the contrary, we have the evidence of facts to show that the bonds of the Holy Alliance have been strengthened, arid that the old policy of the despo tic Cabinets has been revived in all its most malig nant vigour against the independence of nations, and that great political right—the rigid observance of which is the only guarantee of the peace of the e world—the right of every people to choose their own Government, and to manage their own internal affairs as they please. Did the cir cumstances attending the Polish invasion show that the bonds of the Holy Alliance were weakened Did Austria then evince any symptoms of jealousy at the strides which she saw Russia making' towards power and conquest in 'Western Europe? As to Prussia, did she not give every assistance possible to Russia in the work of crushing Polish independence, except pouring her armies into the field ? while England and France, who had guaran teed the independence of that,JOngdom by the treaty of Vienna, did not venture even to express the least displeasure at the conduct of the autocrat, or to re monstrate on behalf of Poland and humanity ? Did . this look as if the bonds of the Holy Alliance had become weaker, and the terror of its power had been mitigated? Did it not, on the contrary, prove,. beyond all dispute, that vice the memorable crisis when Mr. Canning severed the policy of this coun try from that of the Holy Alliance, the latter power has resumed a dangerous ascendancy over the Coun cils of England and Fiance ? Then look at the conduct of the three great despots in the Belgic negotiations, leading on the Ministers of England and France, by the acts of their Plenipoten tiaries, until nothing remained to be done for the consolidation of- peace, as far as Belgium was , concerned, unless to ratify the articles of pacification between Belgium and Holland, all of which bad emanated from themselves. Did they not, after the British Minister for Foreign Affairs had been in duced to deceive Parliament by their promises, all act in concert in declining to finish their own work Does this look as if the bonds of the Holy Alliance were weakened d Look, again, at the two invasions of Italy by Austria, with the full approbation of the other Powers, to preserve the tottering dominion of that despotism which has reduced to the last de gree of moral and political degradation the beautiful conntry of ancient civilization and freedom. Behold Greece, and see the ravages which Russian ambition is allowed to make in that still more ancient seat of liberty and intelligence. Do these things show that the bonds of the Holy Alliance are weakened, and that a new system of policy modifies the views of the despotic Cabinets ? Credat Judceus?—ilforning Herald. In the debate on Tuesday night on the question of Irish tithes, Mr. Stanley observed— " In speaking of intimidation in Ireland, he it remem bered that it is a very different thing from England. Boglish gentlemen who are used to that habitual security which they derive flom the law, who know that the feel ing of the whole population of the country is embarked on the side of the law—for there is scarcely any man in this country who does not think it rather creditable than other wise to forward the end+ of justice—English gentlemen, I say, can have no idea of the extent to which threats and anonymous notices, which in England would be looked on with contempt, have power and influence over the minds, not of the lowest and most degraded, but of persons in a comparatively high and respectable situatio❑ in Ireland ; nor can they understand how much more easy it is for this system of intimidation to gain strength i❑ Ireland, where there is a poor and scattered population residing in miserable and easily destroyed boumes.—(Hear, hear.) Let Hon. Gentlemen, too, remember, that the population of Ireland is a population short of work, and therefore always ready for violence; all of which circumstances render it the most easy for these threats to be carried into effect in spite of the best police, and the most vigilant con duct of any Government that ever existed." The population " is short of work, and therefore, always ready for violence." It is short of work and short of subsistence. We have here the key to the ease with which the tranquillity of Ireland can be at any time disturbed. Sir Robert Peel took credit for a great knowledge of the causes of the disturbed state of Ireland, but - he only made a very plain mat ter obscurer by his affectation of research : .‘ Having (said the Right Hon. Baronet) been formerly officially connected with Ireland, he would confess that he took a sort of melancholy interest in tracing the progress of those disturbances that for the last ninety years had de faced the fair prospects of that country ; and he thought that he had clearly traced this one feature in the whole of those disturbances—that the object in view was not single; but that whether in the first instance it had refer ence to tithes, to Roman Catholic dues, to road -rates, or to rent, it speedily ramified in every direction, and gave evi dence that it arose front that restlessness and discontent which would never be satisfied until everything was brought into discord and disunion. In support of this opinion, he might cite the testimony of Mr. Plowden, from whose work it appeared that the White Boys, the Oak Boys, the Steel Boys, or by whatever name the rioters might be called, were all unanimous in gradually ext , mding their demands, and in never remaining station ary to the principle from which they set out. This was the case in 1786, when the three pastoral letters of Mr. O'Leary were published ; and it was in a similar way pointed out by Mr. Bushe, in 1811, when sent by the Government to prosecute at the Special Commission then appointed. The phrase then made use of by him was, ' Out of the apathy and indolence of the gentry has grown the dominion of the mob'—(hear, hear.) That phrase contained an explanation of the whole ;—(Cheers,)—and in the present day it might in like manner be said, Out of our apathy, and indolence, and connivance, has grown the dominion of the mob.' It was his entire conviction that it was absolutely necessary that some precautions should be taken to prevent' this groWing disposition to resist those payments which were established by the law." M,. Stanley in three words did more to throw light on the matter than Sir Robert by all his eh-. cumlocution, The Irish are without work, and poor, and oppressed—they are hostile to the law, because they owe nothing to it, and only know it in the shape of an instrument in the hands of their !La 7-_-7.HT`. fir'* oppressors. The . people must have an interest iti the observance of the law before they can respect it. It is pure twaddle to talk of the disposition-of the Irish to resist the law as something peculiar to them. Every.peophe so circumstanced will act precisely as they act. The question a Statesman ought to put to himself is, why are the Irish without work, and why does so large a portion of the population come under the description of mob ? Sir Roln-irt begins at the wrong end. He would make bricks without mortar—he would have law receive the same obe dience from a population without work, and mise rably poor, as from an industrious and thriving people. Remove the causes which prevent the Irish from being employed—allow them to become in. dustrious, and to acquire property, and then th e law will be readily and cheerfully obeyed. Sir Robert appeatse„ to Plowden. But Plowden in noticing the disturbances caused by the threshers and others, traces them to their true causes— the exce , sive poverty and unprotected state of the people. "When (he observes) unexpected demands were made upon them from road-jobbing present. ments of corrupt Grand Juries, and surcharged claims of tithe-proctors were heaped on them (no matter whether legal or illegal), can it be a wonder that the original soreness from difficulty should have arisen into despair from incompetency, and thence have proceeded from individual to combined re sistance ?" Sir Robert, however, altogether leaves out of consideration the condition of the peasantry in his zeal for law and order ; as if that condition were not the corner-stone of the social edifice. We wish no class of the community to be robbed, and deem it but just that the Protestant clergymen, however unnecessary they may he to Ireland, should receive during their lives the incomes on which they had a right to calculate. Bur, surely, all our sym pathies are not to be exhausted on between one and two thousand clergymen, whose labours are of little, if any benefit to the country. The first considera tion is that which is last with Sir Robert—the wel fare of the people. Let us once have the useful in a country, and we shall soon have the ornamental— the spending classes, as Captain Basil Hall signi ficantly termed them. We cannot have a thriving peasantry in a day; but we can, at a moment's warn ing, have the place of every Protestant Bishop, every Dean and Chapter, every Protestant Rector,as well supplied as ever they were. What a satire this haste to legislate on Irish tithes is on British legislation ! Between rack-rents, road presentments, and t the exactions, the peasantry have been kept in a state of penury and helplessness of which there is no ex ample in Europe. Year after year has passed—and things have been suffered to rub on. But a combi nation of the people in six counties withholds 86,0004 fram the Irish Protestant parsons, and the Legislature instantly perceives the evils inherent in tithes, and proceeds to secure to the clergy a sub stitute less injurious to cultivation, and less offen sive to the Catholic population. We have thus another added to the numerous instances already af forded, that successful resistance to the law is the only mode of _opening the eyes of the Legislature and ensuring its amelioration. No good is to be ex pected voluntarily. Everything must be extorted. The evil must be continued in all cases till the im potent sufferers, in their throes, threaten to bury their oppressors and themselves in common ruin ; and then a reluctant consent is given to a change of the law. Every benefit is, as it were, the result of a-battle extorted from an enemy; and the Legisla ture itself,. even in its benefits, lays the foundation `for future disobedience to the law.--More.Chronic/c. The Repoli of the Reform Bill was brought up yesterday e when Mr. Croker moved a series of Re solutions embodying - ttre objections of the Consti-: tntional Party to the ,principle and detaikuf - the measure. We hope to-morrow to be . able to, is these Resolutions before -our Readers.. On schedule ; F being read Lord John Russell announced tbati the Ministers had at length become convinced oft,itie gross injustice practised towards Merthyr Tydvill and that they were prepared to make dile-reparation by giving- it a Member. This sounded well; but what followed ? - That the proposed' alma- T to be accomplished by taking a Member -froin.-the County, of ,Minimouth! Any project so insaltinfoo common sense, or so degrading to the majority who' were bound to support it, has not, we think, been before imagined by the Whig Ministers, ,during the whole progress of their Bill. Would any of those Members who advOcated the prd priety of giving a Member to Merthyr Tydvil have desired or consented to do so at the expense of the county of Monmouth ? Lord John Russell well knows that they would not. This pretended con cession, therefore, to the force of reason is nothing 'more than a pretext for another act of injustice to.- wards the agricultural interest. Otherwise, why Hot have the candour and honesty to take the re- : quired Member from Gateshead; or, as Sir C. Wetherell observed, from Tervistock or Caine ?, To suit, however, the designs of Ministers, the House, which had decided that Monmouth should have three Members, is called upon, literally at a moment's notice, to enact that it shall have only two, and thus to unsettle the balance, so called, which it had previously established between the agricultural and manufacturing interest. The House does so by a majority of 45.—Morning Post. On the resolutions moved by -Mr. Stanley, on Tuesday night, respecting the Irish tithes, there are but a few observations which we have to offer, in addition to the many which we have already made, from time to time, on the subject. The real state of the ca.e, as regards the owners and payers of tithes, was very ably explained by the Right Hon. Gentleman, and the necessity of legislative inter ference in something like the mode proposed by him for the consideration of the House, most ably vindi cated ; but although we are prepared to admit, in their amplest extent, the principles of the resolutions moved by him, we cannot bestow the same praise upon the manner in which it is proposed to carry them into effect. These resolutions, to adopt the brief statement of a cotempo rary, were to the effect—Tirst, that relief be afforded to the distressed Irish Protestant clergymen out of the Consolidated Fund ; secondly, that such relief be proportionate to the . . ncomes of the incumbents of benefices wherein the tithes may have been withheld, aocording to a scale diminishing as the incomes of such incumbents in crease; thirdly, that his Majesty be empowered to levy, by way of security for the payment of the sums advanced, the amount of arrears for the tithes of 1831, without prejudice to the claims of the clergy for any arrears which may be due for a longer period; and fourthly, that •in order to secure the welfare both of Ireland and its Protestant Church a perma nent change of system is required, and that such change, to be efficient, must involve a complete extinction of tithes, including those belonging to lay impropriators, by commuting them fora charge upon, or exchange for, or investment in, land. That the question embraced by these resolutions is one of the most difficult with which his. Majesty's Government could possibly have undertaken to deal, no one can deny. So beset is it indeed with diffi culties of all kinds, that the wonder rather is that his Majesty's Government should have dealt with it so successfully as they have done, than that they should have failed in only one instance. That they have failed, however, we do not deny ; and they have, failed, or rather are likely to fail, in the at tempt—not to remunerate the now untithed Pro testant clergy, for the losses which they have sus tained, and the starvation to which many of them have been exposed, in consequence of the general resistance to the payment of tithes—for to full re muneration they are entitled—but in the attempt to take upon themselves t" , task of reimbursing the Consolidated Fond such remuneration, by levying the tithes themselves. This is a most injudicious step, and by ne means to be justified generally, either by the character of the par- ties who have refused to pay tithes ; or by the loss which it would cost the country to remunerate the destitute clergy, without any appeal to the means kvhich must necessarily be resorted to in order to reituburse the country for it. Relieve th e c l ergy by all means, and aid the clergy, if it be in vont . - power, we 'say, to aid them, in the recovery of what is due to, and has been refused to, them ; but if you cannot effect these objects without recourse to mea sures of force and violence, abstain, we say, from their employment, as infinitely more costly, not to .peak of being more dangerous, to the country than a grant of the whole sum that is due to the clergy. We are confident that the country would not grudge it for once; and as the present system is confessedly vicious, is it not better to establish a better, and prevent the law from being again brought into con tempt, than to run the risk of a general disunion, devastation, and bloodshed, by attempting to vin dicate it ?—.ll - orning Advertiser. DORSET ELECTION PETITION, MARCH 14, The Committee were engaged a part of the day in de ciding on the objected votes in the Blandford division, of which very few now remain to he discussed. Two votes who were waiting for the decision of the assessor, at the close of the election, having been objected to on the ground of being paid agents, were gone into this morning, and put on the poll as good votes for Lord Ashley. An arrangement was entered into, that the Bridport division of votes should next undergo the revision of the Committee; and no less than 150 votes, including the squatters at Mortcombe-lake, which are objected to by the petitioners on the ground .of non-assessment. Objections are also made to a large number of other voters. The Committee having adjudicated on all the votes in the division of Blandford, a long discussion took place as to the order of taking those in Bridport. It was proposed by the petitioners to discuss the point on the assessment of the Mortcombe-lake voters, as a decision in their favour would put Mr. Ponsonby at the head of the pull ; but when the first voter of this class was objected to, Mr. Follett declared to the Committee that he was not prepared with evidence to prove their votes on the land-tax assessment, and that he must pray for time to send for his witnesses. He said no list hail been given which could lead the parties defending the peti tion to suppose that the Mortcombe-lake voters would he discussed to-day. On the other side, it was contended that on Saturday last, a list of objections had been made out to the amount of 144, a copy of which was taken by a Mr. Phillips, one of Lord Ashley's agents. It was urged that this was sufficient notice to the other party, and that they ought to be prepared to discuss any vote which appeared on that list. It was idle to come before the committee after eleven days had expired, and to say they were not prepared to argue the validity of a class of votes to which their attention must have been attracted on the day the assessor returned Lord Ashley upon a majority procured by these very votes. ► The Committee, finding Mr. Follett was not prepared, ordered the room to be cleared, and when the patties were called in, the committee informed them that they had come to a determination that for the future each party should every night furnish the other with a list of such votes as would he objected to on the following days ; and that they had come to a further resolution, that the whole of the objections relating to votes in the Bridport division should be discussed before the voters in any other division should be brought before them. In order that this ar rangement might be effectually acted upon, the committee adjourned till to-morrow, when they will meet pro forma at three o'clock, in order to adjourn till Friday, at eleven o'clock. It was intimated by the committee, that after that they expected no further obstacles would arise from circumstances like the present. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. Q UEE.N- S Q UARE. Yesterday Mary Anne Pearce, better known by the cognomen of Lady Barryntore, again made her appear ance at this office, for riotous and disorderly conduct. Her Ladyship had only come out of prison last week, and bad passed many of her nights since at different station-houses. William Heath, an eating-house-keeper, was on Wednes day honoured by the prisoner's company. She first par took of ham, then beef, then returned to ham, then soup and puddliig'. and on his refusing to serve her any more, she flew into a violent rage, and threatened to knock his wife's.eyes out. He gave her into custody, as he had sonic time since a proof of her keeping her word, in smash ing eleven panes of glass at his house. After a suitable admoniton from the Magistrate, Mary And was committed to Tothill-fields in default of bail. The MagiStrate observed that her conduct was so good and orderly while in prison, that he could scarcely believe she was the same creature when released. Her Ladyship - attributed the whole to " that curse of her soul-- - .gin." ---- MARLBOROUGH- S TR.HE T. 'Ye;sterday a dozen ancient damsels, amongst whom might be seen the halt, the lame, and the blind, were brought before F. A. ROE, Esti , charged with uproarious conduct in the workhouse of St. Giles's. It appeared from the evidence of one of the Overseers, who, by the bye, saw very little of the matter, that a few days since a pauper was admitted to the workhouse, but not feeling well satisfied with her quarters, she was, on Tuesday last, about to take her departure, when she was reminded that she must leave behind lier the workehouse costume, with which, at the time of her admission, ■he had been equipped. 'Ale pauper said that her own clothes were a mere bundle of rags, and it was a most unreasona ble thing to expect her to to take them in exchange for the things she then had on. The master of the workhouse insisted, and the pauper remained obdurate. At length she was conducted into a room where the prisoners were employed, and they were peremptorily ordered to strip her. They, however, so far from obeying orders, began to giggle at the strange command, and would not only not disrobe the lady, but actual!y formed a ring round her in order to protect her from the hands of the parish autho rities, and it was fur this heinous offence that the priso ners were given into custody. Mr. Roe said that he had no power to interfere in the case, and he was of opinion that it would have been inure prudent not to have brought it before the Magistrates. The old women were then discharged, and waddled out of the office rubbing their hands and patting each other's shoulders with delight. HATT ON-GARDEN. Ou Tuesday John Druitt, a young man of decent appear mice, Jane Druitt his wife, and Jane Reeves, were placed at the bar before Mr. Serjeant SELLON. About 8 o'clock on Monday night, information was re ceived at the police station in Rosoman-street, Clerken well, that a crowd of persons had collected round a house in Grove-place, City-road, in consequence of a report having been circulated that the inhabitants were " Burkites," and that two bodies had been seen in an empty room from some adjacent premises; also that two men of a suspicious character had been observed carrying into such house two sacks, containing something of a weighty description. Immediately the information was given, Mr. Busain, an inspector of the G division, accom panied by two police-constables, Ashton, 119 G, West, 100 G, and several others, repa red to Grove-place, where they found a crowd of persons assembled in front of No. 7, as above described. Ashton got first up to the door, and having knocked, was answered by the prisoner Reeves, who opened the door the length only of the bolt-chain, and on discovering who was there, and that other police officers were then making up to the house, endeavoured with all her might to close the door again, but was pre vented from so doing by the officers, who succeeded in forcing the chain and gaining admittance. The prisoner Reeves was then secured, nod Mr. Busain and Ashton went up stairs, where they discovered, instead of dead bo dies, a quantity of property answering the description of some stolen from four or five different houses which had been broken open during the last month, consisting of plate, silks, wearing apparel, watches, gloves, braces, to crow-bare, a dark bacco l ' an c t i e g r a u r , s' t two p ; h o a s ls p o h o f r B u s 8 1 k m e x le e t s o , n an k d e o y t s her instruments used by burglars. Oa questioni n g Reeves, she stated that her son and his wife were occupiers of the house, nod she expected them home every minute, at;the same time giving a deem iption of their per. Mr. Busain and police con stable West then left the hou se under the p rotect ion of Aslit t while they went out into the road to watch the comingo , of the other prisoners , and whilst they were absent Ashton found 5/. 19s. in copper , in packets of 3 s. each. In on n about an hour and a half, Druitt and his wife carne in s , ght, and were taken into custod y , an d being questioned by Mr. Busain, the male prisoner which h e p erm it te d them they to were leaveafraidstated that two men brought the property to his days, they should behind them for geat intofew trouble about it. saying that They were then conveyed t o the station-house. On th e person of the male prisoner was found'lo/. 17s. 6d. ; an d on the two other prisoners were found a great quantity of duplicates. Immediately they were safely lodged, Mr. Busain went to several persons who had given socormation of burglaries, and discovered two persons who could iden tify a great quantity of property found. Mr. George Fitch, glover, of 192, - Pitleadilly, deposed, that on the night of the 2251 ult., his house was broken open, and gloves, braces, and other property, was stolen, to the amount of 601. The five dozen of gloves, braces, one c l o ak, two coats, and three shawls, produced by police c onstable . Ashton, were part of the property stolen from his premises on the night in question. Alm Elizabeth Kemp, of 55, Broad.street, Bloomsbury; deposed that her house was broken open on the night of the sth instant, and one bundled weight of cut tobacco, a quantity of pigtail ditto, 201 h of cigars, and 10/. worth of coppers stolen therefrom. The tobacco found on the premises occupied by the prisoners was part of that stolen from her house on the night in question, as also the 5/. I ss. in 5•. packets. Mr. BusAin had likewise discovered that the plite and watches belonging to a lady residing in the neighbourhood of Paddington, whose house was broken open about three weeks ago. She had met with an accident, or would have been in attendance.—The prisoners were remanded. SPRING ASSIZES. NOTTINGHAM, MA Rut 14. The Commission for the town and county of Notting loin was opened late on Saturday evening, and the busi ness of the Assizes commenced this morning. On the Crown side, in the county, the calendar is very light, owing to the gaol having been so recently delivered under the Special Commission. It contained altogether only seven cases. The town calendar contained the names of . 23 prisoners; hut they mete for the most part, charged with thefts of an ordinary description. On the civil side, 12 causes were entered for trial in the county, and one in the town : of these several were undefended, some were referred, and all were disposed of to-day, except the only two cases of public interest among them—namely, the actions brought by Mr. Lowe and others against the hundred of Broxtowa, to recover com pensation for property dtstroyed by the fluters in October last, which are both Special Jury cases, and are fixed for to-morrow. A similar action, at the suit of the Duke of Newcastle, is postponed to next Assizes, and will, it is sail, be removed in the mean time to London ; and ano ther, at the suit of Mr. Musters, is removed for trial to the county of Leicester. STAFFORD, MARCH 13. Somerfield, aged 32; George Welch, aged 26 ; and James ;Markle, aged 29; were indicted for assaulting Charles Shenton, on the Hth of February, at Walsall, in this county, avd putting him in bodily fear of his life, and taking from his person against his will, seven sovereigns and divers other articles, his property. The Jury, after about ten minutes' consultatiou, Ac— quitted the prisoners. The trial lasted eight hours. None of the property al leged to be lost was ever found, and the case seemed to savour much of the late mock robbery at Barnet, IRELAND. (From the Times.) KILKENNY ASSIZES.-STATE OF THE COUNTY. DUBLIN, MARCH 11. _ _ I have just returned from Kilkenny, where the Assizes ended on Saturday, and I now present you with a sum mary of the business transacted since the acquittal of John Kennedy, in the Carrickshaugh affair. Patrick Grennan and Patrick Brophy, apprehended at the opening of the Assizes on suspicion of being concerned in the battle, were liberated on Saturday, no bills of indictment having been found against them. They danced through the streets like madman, shouting " Who cares for the Peelers now?" while numbers of their countrywomen hugged, and kissed, and danced for joy along with them. Kennedy is also to be set free, without bail, as soon as he can he tried pro forma on the second indictment, for the murder of Chief Constable Gibbons, but all his companions are to he held over for trial in the Court of King's Bench, Dublin, whither the law officers contemplate removing them by writ of certiorari, hopeless of attaining a conviction from a county Kilkenny jury. Thomas Read, who was on the first day convicted of an outrage in Smettzer's house, with intent to rob it of fire-arms, was on Saturday sentenced to transportation for life. Smettzer, who is a Palatine by de scent, and whose house is in a lonely part of the country, has determined on going with his daughters to the north, to escape the vengeance of Read's relatives. Five men were found guilty of the horrible outrage on Manning (the fanner whose legs and feet were burned at his own hearth a few weeks since, on his refusal to surren der a pair of pistols that his Whitefeet visitors knew lie possessed.) Three of them, brothers, (Mick, Pat, and John Summers) elderly men, are sentenced to be hanged next Saturday at the county gaol outside the town; the fourth is their nephew, Martin Whelan, who on account of his youth, and having acted under intimidation of his uncles, has had his sentence of death commuted to trans portation for life. The fifth, Laurance Dolan, servant of the Summers' family, and the most depraved of the gang, was the man who had - dragged old Manning to the hearth, and raked down the fire on his feet. He was tried sepa rately on Friday, and convicted, but a point of law was saved in his favour by Counsellor Hamilton, as the chief witness, Manning, fainted during his cross-examination in consequence of accumulated suffering from his wounds, and a painful disease that he has been labouring under for some years. The judge was evidently displeased at the unnecessary production of the unfortunate old man in Court, who appeared to suffer much while giving his testimony, and died the next morning. Previous to pass ing sentence he addressed a solemn discourse of considerable length to the prisoners, who seemed rather impatient. Whim the last words of the sentence were yet upon his lips—" Hanged till you are dead, and may the Lord have mercy on your souls," Laurence Dolan exclaimed in the most reckless and hardened manner, " May my soul be in hell two hours after !" "Yes !" said one of the three brothers, " if we're guilty !" No one except their imme diate relatives, who had attempted to establish an alibi, seemed to feel the least regret for them. Whilst Dolan's Jury were considering their verdict, the crowd left the Court, and at the time they handed it in there was only the Judge to receive it, the Clerk of the Court to record it, the High Sheriff, the gaol governor, the policemen, and their prisoner ! In fact, no popular feeling ever existed through out this county in favour of Whitefeet atrocities, and from the exertions of the Magisirates, farmers, and the Catholic clergy, that party is now nearly extinguished.— The anti-tithe feeling is quite a different thing. It is strengthening and extending every day. Not only the peasantry around Knocktopher, Hugginstown, and Car rickshaugh, cheerfully paid the " rent for the prisoners" of Id. per acre, but various people of property subsetibed largely to the fund, some anonymously, but the majority openly. Among the latter were two Protestant graziers, who had lost the best part of their property in defending tithe suits in the Ecclesiastical Courts. There is still a surplus of 1001. remaining to defray the legal expences of the defence of Kennedy's companions, and subscriptions are about to continence in Dublin for the same purpose, where no doubt they will raise ample funds, Those gen tlemen who have taken an active part in the late prosecu tions do not feel at ease in returning to their country seats. Morris Read, Esq. (a gentleman of property, and formerly a a c c t a iv n e d ly id e at n e ga f g o e r d th i e n re h p is res u e l h ig ta is t t i e o r n ial o c f ap t a li c e ity a , ty i ) n , s wo e a h r h w i n a g s for and apprehending his neighbours, the peasantry about Carrickshaugh, prefers residing in the city of Waterford at present. He was fortunately not at home on two occ casions, when armed parties of the peasantry (estimated at between 200 and 300) called to inquire for him at night. Since the unfortunate occurrence great pains have been taken in the better training of the police through the se veral counties. The county Westmeath are the most ad vanced in discipline, and are dead shots at the bull's-eye. Those who best know the feelings of the police and the peasantry towards each other, anticipate considerable mis chief from the continued employment of this species of force in country affairs, especially after the effect produced on their minds by the late verdict. BIRDS' EGGS. An egg is one of the most surprising productions in the world. Suppose an egg were put into the hand of a person who had never known or heard of such a thing, and the question were put to h:m to what good purposes could it be applied ? He would, of course, ascertain what were its contents ; and what would he find them to be ? A glairy, co lourless liquid, surrounding another liquid of an orange or yellow colour. You might let him make thousands of conjectures; but could it ever enter into his mind that such a substance would produce a sparrow, a thrush, a swan, or an eagle ? But give him a hint on the subject; give him an egg, and let him know that it will bring forth a dove. After this advance in a knowledge of the thing, put him in possession of another egg. He may see, of course, that its colour and size are different from the one that produced the dove ; but the contents are exactly similar, so far, at least, as human perception can ascertain ; and what would then be his conjec ture? Could his imagination ever conjure up, even in the brightest moments of inspired genius, the idea of a peacock ? Yet the peacock, in all its glory of dazzling colours, is the product of a little glairy fluid contained in a capsule of chalk, and in nowise different, so far as we can perceive, from a barn-door fowl. Has not the hand of Divinity here written, almost without a metaphor, in letter, of gold, the wonders of its creative power? Look at a single feather of the peacock; consider that its shining metallic barbs, its superlatively beautiful eye, and all the wonders it exhibits of iri descent, rich, and changeable hues, according to the angle in which it lies to the light ; that its form, its flexibility, its strength, its lightness, and all its wonders (for in the eve of in telligence every part of it ailtil(l7o7.orindoenrs)idheard, whe ther,thehorigin in inlo a o l k it i t n l g e m ot tl i ci s la u g e e h ; an object, we should be content with thinking no more about it than, simply, that it is a peacock's feather. Yet this is too much the practice; above us arid below, on the right side arid on the lett, in every element, in every situation, the works of Almighty Power are present, arid all abounding in instruction of the highest kind ; and that they make not the impressions that they should do upon us, is chiefly owing to the extraordinary anomaly, that natural history forms no necessary part of the education of young or old. But, if a single feather be so wonderful a production, what are we to think of the entire bird ? Those who are unacquainted with the animal economy have little idea of the mysterious operations which are con stantly in action in a being possessed of life. Thg circulation of the blood, the processes of respiration, digestion, ehyllilication, absorption, nutrition ; the contraction of muscles to perform motion ; the dis tribution of nerves for conveying sensation ; the organs of the senses, the brain, and all its inscrut able connection with intelligence, instinct, and per ception ; these, and many other things in the animal economy, are so wonderful, that, could they be at tend to, they must excite astonishment in the coldest bosoms, and yet all these are the produce of an egg.—Drynintoitti Letters too Young Naturalict. THE MARKETS. C "JAL MARI Per Ton. kdair's 1 s.Od. Beatinitint l6 6 Benshain Main 16 6 East l'ercy... l7 6 iinlywell- - 19 0 Kenton West —.... 17 0 Ord's Hedhugh 16 6 St. Lawrence Main..,.., 19 6 Townie} l7 6 West Hartley . 19 0 Walls End Boundary- 18 6 Ditto liell,Robson,&Co. 18 6 Ditto Bewicke and Co. 21 6 Walls End Brown's— 18 0 Wall• End Callerton 16 0 Walls End Carr and Co. 18 3 Walls End Gosforth —2l 0 Ships arrive,' since .ET.—March 14 Per Ton. Walls End Hotspur...—. 198.04, Ditto Killingworth ...... 20 0 Walls End Newmarcn— 20 3 Ditto Northumberland 19 6 Ditto Perkin■ and Co..- 20 0 Walls End RiddelPs--. 20 6 Walls mid Hetton 2~ 3 Walls End Ly0n5,,,.,... 20 0 Walls End Lambton....... 22 11 Wag End Stowart's 22 6 Walls End Adelaide.-- 19 3 Norwood's Hett0n........ 19 Walls End 22 0 ICovvpen 20 0 Silkstone Field and Co. 18 6 TantieldTrader—.......... 20 6 ast market-day, 21. • C4)UN I ItY CORN 51ARKM.IN DURING IHE WEEK. Wheat. Barley. Oats. Per Quarter. Abingdon Andover S. to s. 31 43 37 41 90 44 32 39 al 38 36 40 23 32 30 33 44 48 32. 42 32, 46 Mridport S. to S. 22 30 Cireixester ari ngdon- Guildford 21 32 26 30 21 25 26 38 26 35 20 30 Hereftird Highworth Maidenhead Moinouth-.. Reading Salisbury Southampton --,. Stroud Tewkesbury ---- Uxbridge Wantage 31 47 3•! 37 37 40 34 38 40 42 27 40 30 43 30 43 Wannfilster Worcester--. 65 66 44 31 28 34 22 30. 21 21 • 27 213 32 22 32 30 38 23 33 21 30 21 30 21 22 31 32 r. to e. •••-• J 2. 54 46 - 43 - 40 40 - 56 - 37 42 - 34 - 46 - 48 - 44 42 - .50 LEWES MARKEL...March 13. White Wheat (per quarter)...--X3 0 0 to £3 6 0 Red ditto Barley 1 0 0 1 6 0 '.l 2 t 1 4 0 114 0 . 1 17 0 12 . 0 0 per thousand. Oil Cake. New. HULL MARKET—March 13. • Wheat, Old -a. 565. 58s --New - —s. 54a. ;As. - Foreign —s. 50s. 545. lnbond... —l. —s. —s. Oats, Poland .... ...... —5. 20s. 225. 01d.....„.. —s. —5..245. --Small or Feed.... —s. 16s. 20s —5. —6. ...e. Foreign —s. 16s: 185 —s. -.4. ...4. Barley, Norf. & Sat ... —5 344. 3Ss. Line. & Wold —s. 348 365. Foreign Beans 3os. 325. ifs. Foreign —5. Ws. 385. Pease, White...... ....... —s. 385. 40s. Grey ... ....... —.l.. --a. —s. Taros —s. —s. —s. Foreign ...... ... —s. 30s. 363. Rapeseed, in bond none. CHELTENHAM MARKET.—March 13. Per Bushel s. d. to s. d. Per lb. d, to d. Wheat Barley 4 0 5 6 Mutton Oats 4O 43 Veal Beans Pease 5 0 7 0 Lamb 0 0 Hay 3l. 106 to 31. 156. Oct. per ton. :S.—March 7. DUMFRIEs MA:I, s.d. s.d. s.d. Ld, Wheat, hop. Bush... 6 9 to 7 0 Butter, 16oz Barley ......... ........... 3 8 4 0 Eggs, dozen ..... Oats... 24 28 Beef, per lb. O4 05 2 2 3 Mutton Flour, 141 b. Oatmeal Potatoes, cwt. LIVERPOOL, MARCH 13.—The cotton mar ket continues very firm ; to-day's transactions are estimated at 2,000 bales, 1,500 of them American descriptions,, from, 6d. to Bd.; and 300 Brazils, at 7d. . LIVERPOOL, TUESDAY EVENING.--Arrived the MononEakela, from Philadelphia, sailed on the :.'oth ult.; the Melantho, from Palermo ; the Charles, from Ostend ; and Emma, from London. Off the port the Prince Regent, from Savannah. During the night of Thursday last another desperate affray took place at Dymchurch, between, the snug. lers and the Water Guard. The smugglers, being armed with huge bats, overpowered the men on duty, and succeeded in working upwards of 100 tubs. Oue of the smugglers was.shot in the affl'ay, and is since dead. On Saturday afternoon an explosion took piace in a house occupied by a married couple, of the name of Platts, in the vicinity of Sheffield Moor. The woman was badly bruised, the husband had a knee fractured, and the calf of one of his legs nearly torn off, and an infant their child, about twelve months of age was so dreadfully scalded that it after wards died. The explosion was caused by the bursting of a stone bottle, containing a gallon of liqour, which had been in cautiously placed in an oven. , MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT.—OnMonday an inquest was held at Rochford Hundred, upon the bodie s o f George Bourdon, and Ann, his wife, who were found dead i n their cart, about half a mile from Prittlewell, on the road to Iladleigh, when the Jury, after hearing evidence, and havi ng viewed the bodies and the cart, found that they came to th e i r death accidentally, upona ccide i n h t en all i y:, by the cart tilting up and heavy we i g ht s _ _ SUSPECTED AI URJUR(r . 7 -A circumstance transpired at Boston yesterday, which has excited much atten. tion in the town. A person, who formerly kept a small public. house, resorted to by infamous characters in this town, and who was at Lincoln (luring the assizes, gave some offence to a female now living there, with whom he had formerly cohabited. The girl has declared positively that the man, some years ago, murdered a person, and buried the body in the yard of the public-house. It has transpired that Mr. Samuel Mowbray was here at the time, and suddenly disappeared, , and his friends have not heard of him since. He had a considerable sum of money at the time in his pos, session. It is remarkable that on Saturday evening, after the Lincoln packet arrived, the man to whom we have alluded, went to the public-house in question, which he has left some time, and told the landlord that there were some rumouv afloat; and that some men would come and dig the yardover. A female connected with him went to .the binste, yesterday , morning, and asked what s t e p s were - taken ;:this w as berae' any thing was done. Some men were employed yesterday in digging, but no remains were found. Some gentlemen have over T to he L m in a c t o i l s n us t p o e b e r t i w ng le t i h t eßosfetmorai lyeestotertystaoftn,ertndooshnßo: azette. gone the e t s o p n ot G. BIRTHS. On the 13th inst. of a son, Mrs. Elgood, of Wimpole.streeh Cavendish-square. On the 13th inst. at Dorset-place North, Clapham-road, Mrs. George Aston, of a son. On the 13th inst. in Artillery-place, the lady of Dease Barne. wall, Esq., of a son. On the 13th inst. at Willenhall House, East Barnet, Hells, the lady of Thos. Wyatt, Esq., of a son, still-born. On the 13th inst. at Camberwell, the lady ofJ. A. Geary, Esq., of a daughter. At Government House, Frederickton, New Brunswick, the lady of Lieutenant-Colonel J. J. Snodgrass, of a son. On the 12th inst. at Chatham, the lady of Henry Sandham, Esq., Royal Engineers, of a son. MARRIED. On the 13th inst. at Woodbridge, Suffolk, the Rev. G. W. Kershaw, of Woodbridge, to Charlotte, eldest daughter of W. Woods Page, Esq., of the same Oace. On the al ult. at the British Embassy, in Paris, John Charles Campbell, Esq., of the 45th Regiment, to Lisetta, eldest daughter of Richard Daunt, Esq., county of Cork. DIED. On the 13th inst. at Great Malvern, alter a long and severe ill ness, Sarah, the wife of Sir Harford Jones Brydges, Bart., of Boultibrooke. On the 14th inst. at Dartford, respected by all who knew him, Mr. Joseph . Jardine, sen., aged 74. On the 12th inst. at Crofton House, near Titchfield, Thomas , Naghten, Esq. Elizabeth, widow of the On the 13th inst. at the residence of her eldest son, Elizabeth Newbold, re:ict of the late Rev. Wm. Babington, Rector of Cos latOeij sington, Leicestershire. House, Bucks. On the 13th Inst. at Portland-brace, 1 , 6 c. Elizabeth Mortimer, relict of the late Chas. Kortimer, Rag;, of s Ackworth Villa, Yorkihire., • a t ni he e l3 s t e h n i i n or st ;Eti at q. Dr o a f )t ß o r n o -g tig r ii ee to n n , On the 12th inst. at the Vicarage, Great Baddito‘ie; Thomas Abercrombie Trent, Captain in his M_ajesty'a 2Elth.Regirnents only son of Major:General' Sir Nicholas Trant, agedrileah. • PRINTED AND PUBLISHED II MURDO YOUNO, ter Tut SUN OPTICS, 112, ftitaND s LONDON