The Sun. — London, England, 1832-03-01 00:00:00

'* SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS'. On looking back at the debate which took place in the House of Lords on Monday night, respecting Irish tithes, or rather Irish politics in genera!, we are amused at some of its .peculia rities. Being ourselves neither Whigs nor Tories, nor of any other organised party or fac tion in the State, we can observe the war of words between the champions of either force with more temper, if not with more accuracy, than those whose eyes are bloodshot in the anger and anxiety of party zeal. Not but that we find it sometimes hard enough to keep our temper at the palpable selfishness and arrogant assumption of some men, who, Fetending to great skill in the science of Government, deny the necessity of tempering power with discretion, and who find in the word energy not only an excuse, but a panegyric in favour of the heartless blunders which power is often capable of committing. " Brute force" is a very favourite expression, as applied to the mass ; but there may be such, a thing as " brute force" in the hands and in the heart of an Ad- ministration, and we cannot help thinking that we sometimes see indications of a tendency to that mode of Government on the part of those who charge Ministers with modera tion as if -they were guilty of a crime. With this class of politicians power is every thing, opinion nothing, and humanity worse than nothing. But it is possible either that they may not foresee the consequences of their own coun cil, or that they may not be sincere in urging it upon their opponents as a course which they ought to pursue. The speech of the Duke of Wellington was a most extraordinary display. His Grace attributed the disturbed state of Ire land, and the resistance to the payment of tithe, not to the gradual increase of a long-cherished discontent—not to the deep-rooted antipathy of the people to a hostile and obnoxious faith—not to the exactions of proctors, nor to any of the obvious causes which grow out of the evils of the system itself, but tothe encouragement which Ministers had given to agitation. This encou ragement they had given in various ways, which he enumerates, but especially in the patent of precedence which they conferred upon Mr. O'Connell at a time when he had ceased to be an agitator. But who was it, my Lord Due, that put Mr. O'Connell into Par liament ? Was there no encouragement to agi tation in that step ? And when was it that he was put into Parliament ? Not when he had ceased to agitate, but while he was triumphing as an agitator. And why was he put into Parlia ment Because he had succeeded in agitating the whole country from north to south. It is well to talk of giving encouragement to agitation by the grant of a mere professional privilege, when the privilege of sitting in Parliament and exercising the functions of a Legislator was granted to him before, upon the express ground that the Government was unable to put down the agitation which he had called into action. It is not in the spirit rf Whiggism that we re tort this charge upon the Noble Duke—for we repeat that we care not one farthing for either party, except so far as the measure or conduct of the moment may recommend them to the consideration of honest men. But surely it is too had that one set of politicians should de nounce another set for having done what their accusers had anticipated by example. We will not follow the Doke of Wellington through the other points of his speech, which were ably an swered on the spot by different speakers, though the allusion to his broken windows, as one of the high crimes and misdemeanours for which Ministers ought to be impeached, will show to what an extent he was disposed to make them accountable. Another remarkable feature in the same discussion was the speech of Lord Eldon on the same side. If our readers have not already perused it with attention, we would advise them to read it over again. Its chief cha racteristic is the vehemence of its tone—a vehe mence not confined to mere sentiment, or com mon-place apostrophe, but rising repeatedly into adjuration. We would not say of so venerable a Peer that he did anything hie a trooper—but Demosthenes himself never made so liberal a use of the strongest of all rhetorical figures, and everybody knows how he could swear. His Lordship, however, deposed to an imaginative fact, which must have astonished all who either heard or read it ; he deposed that if the Reform Bill should pass, there would not be a Member of the House of Hanover on the throne in ten years ! If his Lordship were as good a politician as he is a lawyer, this announcement would have a tearful effect ; but it is well known that in the former capacity there are few minds more enslaved by narrow and inveterate preju dices upon all subjects connected with the pro gress and improvement of society. If his Lord ship's political opinions had the force of law in this country, improvement would have come to a dead stop many years ago ; but the same advance which has consigned many of his favourite abuses to extinction; renders harmless those ve hement predictions whose very strength is absur dity. It is not at this time of day, nor in this stage of the Reform Bill, that the King and people of England are likely to look doubtfully upon one another because au individual educated in high Tory principles is beset with extravagant and unreasonable fears, and chooses to identify with the ruin of his own party the fate of insti tutions which existed before that party had a name.- As .the violence of the. debate was con fined to the Lords in Opposition we do not think it necessary to refer to the speeches of Ministers. They genii* afford.,.no-sucl: examples of &b." , surdity and illusion as their opponents have, left upon record.—Morning Herald. The motion made by Lord Chandos on Tues day last would no longer be of any importance as a subject of discussion, were it not certain that the same attempt which has in the present instance received so signal . a defeat from the House of Commons will be defeated elsewhere. The true objection to an enlargement of the re presentative privileges of the metropolis, is that in which has originated the resistance to all the more valuable portions of the Bill ; namely, the accession to popular power, and corresponding decline of that of the oligarchy, which must re sult from any real and essential Reform. When Lord Chandos talked of his own desire for " an extension of the elective _franchise," some laughter was excited on the ministerial benches by what appeared so strange a declaration. But in this the opponents of the Noble Marquis were un just. There was nothing monstrous in the wish of Lord Chandos to have a more extended franchise, provided only, that his Lordship might be allowed to dictate the sort of per sons whom he would invest with it. The Noble Lord, we take for granted, would not care how many tenants-at-Will, for example, upon his own estates, or those of other large lauded proprietors, were to be enrolled as voters for their respective counties, nor how Jibe __sal an admixture of dependence and servility were to be introduced into the system of our representation. To any proposal that the elec tive body should be extended on such principles as this, neither Lord Chandos, nor the constitu tional personage, his father, would make, we pre sume, the slightest shadow of objection. But it is a different thing when we come to argue about the creation of constituencies which arc likely to have wills of their own. To intrust people who have no fear of arbitrary landlords, — who have money, or houses, or property, from which they cannot be separated by an agent's or attorney's notice,—men who have no extraordi nary reverence for the overgrown signors of innu merable acres, but who have studied commercial and constitutional questions in books of their own free choice, and have felt the obstructions raised on. every path of human industry, and the clogs imposed upon all fair enjoyment, by the grasping cupidity and teeming arrogance of that class of Legislators to which Lord Chandos and his fellows belong,—to give such intractable plebeians as these a right of sending Members to Parliament,—of fishing through their delegates, in poor laws, and tithe laws, and corn laws, and game laws, that pro found and multitudinous ocean of feudal luxury, wherein our Leviathans have hitherto rolled and sported ;—no, no, that was a sort of " extension of the elective franchise" of which Lord Chandos never dreamed. Look at any one fear or dissuasive suggested by the Tories against this and every other free characteristic of the Reform Bill ; one only sentiment is at the bottom of all their argu ment:llion—a rooted repugnance to let in the people, or, in other words, public opinion, to the slightest controul upon the proceedings in Par liament. The scheme of heaping up one part of the constituency of the metropolis upon another, and multiplying voters for each section almost without end, at the same time not increasing the number of representatives, is worthy of Tory penetration. As no complaint was made that the elective franchise had not been sufficiently extended in London by the Bill, and as the enlarged number of votes could not be got rid of, the question was, how to render it of the least possible advantage to the people. So the manoeuvre was hit upon of confining the influence of the new elec tors to the mere preference of one represen tative over another at the hustings, but leaving these great bodies, within the walls of Parlia ment, destitute of all means of successful struggle where their immediate interests were concerned. It was asserted by more than one advocate for the motion of Lord Chandos, that London was already well enough represented by the 150 Members of Parliament who resided in the capital, and were ever alive to questions which involved its welfare. If the mere fact of residence be motive sufficient to engage a Mem ber of Parliament in the regular service of the metropolis, the argument proves a little too much, for in that case London needs no specific representatives whatever, the eight Members who are septennially chosen by the Livery, and the electors of Westminster and Southwark, being no better than so many superfluities, and proper subjects for another motion by Lord Chandos, to the effect that they ought to be taken from London and turned over to places more in want of them. And what is the alarm entertained about the eight additional representatives ? That they will conspire together to overawe the Parliament ! That four new and eight old Members (for the Members for Southwark and Lainbeth do not represent either the metro polis or the metropolitan county) —or, throw ing those for Middlesex into the bargain, 14 Members altogether,--out of 658, are to browbeat the House of Commons ! A proportion of rather less than lin4B ! One of the strongest grounds of rational approbation of the measure is, in our judgment, the prospect that gentlemen representing various local divi sions of a numerous, affluent, highly-intelligent, and respectable community, having an immense and common stake in the general prosperity of the realm, will stand by each other, and form a strong phalanx in support of whatever policy may be approved by the predominant sense of this great and spirited capital. But we are to have a reverend " fear of mobs," it is said, " in ceusequence of these additional Members." It does not appear from the debate of Tuesday, that any propagator of this doctrine has con descended to bring a solitary reason in its justi• fication. What connection there is in nature between tumults and representatives no philo sopher that ever we heard of has explained. Mr. Macauley said well, that the most frightful and most fatal excesses arc found where no such thing as representation ever existed. Whether is it most likely that men will resort to violence when they are muzzled, and have none to speak for them, or when they are provided with agents of their own choice, whose ac knowledged right and bounden duty it is to de clare their grievances, and to enforce redress ? In stead of complaining that London was too strong in the House of Commons, our feeling is, that it can scarcely be made too powerful. The Exe cutive Government—the patronage of the Crown —the mass of the aristocracy—the Bank—the India Company—the whole jobbing world—all have their citadels here : so ought the teople. The popular force ought to be strong at the centre. London never can have an interest op posite to that of the empire itself: but if you give .the inhabitants of London no adequate organ for the constitutional expression of their sentiments, you krce them upon expedients for making themselves heard and felt, such as are not recognized by the Constitution. In con clusion, wd have only to obserVe; that before the discussion on Tuesday night, we were utterly unable to conceive on what ground Lord Chan dos could resist an increase to the representation of the metropolis, which would not equally ap ply to the extension of the county representation, or to the enfranchisement of the great provincial towns. We have since read carefully the speeches of the Noble Lord's party, and our difficulty is not in the least removed or diminished. In cracking the nut, with considerable labour, we have nut found a kernel—but only a worm. What, then, could have induced the twenty and odd Members who have hitherto sup ported the Reform Bill to join its ad versaries, and to oppose it in this essential provision ? The wretched arguments brouglt forward in support of an absurd proposition could not have constituted the real reasons for their vote. How could they affect to dread a mob-constituency, while they actually proposed to increase the tumult by adding the " mob" of the Tower Hamlets and of Finsbury to that of the City, and the " mob" of Marvlebone to that of Westminster ? How could they assert that the suburbs of no other great town are to be re presented, while they remember the relation of Gateshead to Newcastle, and the situation of the se.eral of the new constituencies in Lancashire? how could they pretend that the interests of the eastern districts of London were sufficiently at tended to by the —embers who accidentally in- habit Grosvenor-square and its neighbourhood, without likewise contending that neither London nor Westminaer arc entitled to their present number of Members If the Press is to be considered so much the representative of the metropolis as to render unnecessary an additional number of Members in St. Stephen's, is it not likewise as powerful in supporting the general in terests of the nation, and therefore the best sub stitute for Members from Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, and the other great towns hitherto unrepresented ? And lastly, if the new Members proposed for the metro polis would be only the slavish delegates of the popular will, instead of being the free repre sentatives of the public interests, what is to pro tect the old Members for the metropolis, or the new Members for all the populous districts, from such dictation ? A London or suburban mob may surround the House of Commons on the present system, as we have seen during the agi tation of the silk question and the corn laws, but assuredly neither its turbulence nor its dan ger would be increased by removing one of the causes of its dissatisfaction, or by having an as surance that its rights would be supported by eight additional representatives in an assembly of 658. Of the superior claims of the metropo litan county to an additional number of repre sentatives, whether these claims are founded on its immense population, its unbounded wealth, the ample portion which it sustains of the public burdens, or the incalculable contributions which its enterprise and industry bring to the resources of the nation, the enlightened intelligence of its citizens, or their vigilant attention to the mea sures of Government,—of its superior claims, we say, to an additional number of Members on whatever basis the qualification is founded, as compared with those of any other county, there can be no doubt. It ought indeed (as we before stated) to receive an accession of fbrty instead of six Members. With a million and a half of inhabitants, it will only, under the new Bill, be represented by fourteen Members, while Cornwall is to return as many from a population of only 257,000. Its population exceeds that of Lan cashire, which is to return 23 Members, and esen that of Yorkshire, which is to be repre presented by 36 or 37. In wealth and contri butions to the State, it so far exceeds them all, that the assessed house property in the metro polis amounts to upwards of 5,000,0001., while the whole house property of the kingdom is only assessed at about 11,000,000/.! ! Yet to such incontestible rights did the minority of Tuesday propose to refuse an extension of the elective franchise, granted in certain proportions to every populous district in the kingdom. Those Mem bers, therefore, who have hitherto supported the Bill, hut who have opposed this essential clause, are either guilty of treachery to Reform, or are unable to comprehend the most common argu ments in its favour. We allow them to make their election within this alternative, and on ly desire Reformers to be on their guard against the inconsistency of those allies who voted for the division of counties into districts, because the counties were too large to be joined ; and for the union of the districts of the metropolis to the cities of London and Westminster, because they were too large to he—separated ! Can the constituents of such Members ever trust them again ? While on the subject, we cannot help quoting, in support of the Reform Bill and of the existing Administration, the opinion of a celebrated writer more than a century ago, on whose judgment we place greater reliance than on that of the whole minority of Tuesday " London returns four Members to Parliament, West minster two ; and these six, with two fot the county of Middlesex, make eight, which is all that this exceeding populous county returns, although every single ward in London is far superior to most of the boroughs in Eng land, and really to many of the greater towns, that are represented by two Members, and contributes infinitely more to the public charge ; and, indeed, one may ask, what are the greatest part of the boroughs in the county of Cornwall, and many in that of Devon, which two counties alone return 70 Members, compared to 20 populous vil lages one might name in the ❑eighbourhood of London ? Some of which, no doubt, would be considered, were a new repartition of this kind practicable, and many of those petty boroughs be obliged to give up to them ; a scheme that must be set on loot under a very undesigning and honourable administration, for reasons too obvious to need particularizing.' " A Scheme of the Proportions the several Counties in England paid to the Three Shillings Aid, 1699, com pared with the number of Members they send to Par- liarnent. " In this scheme the proportions are thus c onsidered—viz., that as the whole kingdom sends 513 Members to Par liament, so the whole tax is divided into 513 equal parts. I. Shows the name of the County. " Column/ 2. How many parts of the M 3 each County paid. 3. How many Members of the 513 each County send. I P. I M. COUNTIES. Bedford Berk* Bucks Cambridge Chester C,,rnwall •Cumberland Derby • Devon ..... . ...... Dorset *Durham sex Gloucester Hereford Hertford' Huntingam. Kent * Lancaster Leicester Lincoln Middlesex All Eng Notc.—That the proportion of the six northern, and five r. M. western, Counties marked thus*, are lO3 216 And that Middlesex and Essex arc lO4 16 Cities are included in their respective Counties. Thfoe's Tour through Great Britain. [Times We alluded on Monday to the evidence given by Bishop Doyle before the Committee of the Commons, on the subject of tithes. In the Dublin Morning Register of Monday last, au abstract is given of that evidence, with an inti mation that he is to be cross-examined by Sir Robert Peel on Friday next (to-morrow). Dr. Doyle is said to have set out with maintaining the original division of tithes into four parts, and proving the position by a host of legal and ecclesiastical authorities—that tithes and all other Church property were held as a trust, and that that trust had been abused. Here we may observe that the clergy play fast and loose with the word Church in a very edifying manner. There is published this day, for instance, the first number of a Magazine, under the title of the British Magazine, the object of which is support the interests, real or supposed, of the clergy. In the introductory address, the editor calls especially on those laymen who are accus tomed to take an active interest in the power of the Church, " to assist in one good work—that of inspiring other laymen with their own feel ings, and in extirpating from their minds one great error—that of believing that the Church means the clergy only, while, in fact, every true member of the Church has just as deep an inte rest in its welfare and safety as the clergy them selves. The Church (say s 11. Le Ba s , i n his a d m i ra bl e /4ft of Wiclife), comprehends the lay members as well as the spiritual or ders.' The error of supposing that the Church designates the Ministers of religion only, ex hibits the clergy as an order, in whose preser vation the rest of society have but a slight and amhiguous interest, and places them in a most injurious disunion from the rest of the social body, with which, in truth, they should be in discolubly bound up. It should never be for gotten, that the Ecclesiastical Establishment alone does not constitute the Church, and that both the privileges and the responsibilities of churchmanship belong to the laity as well as the clergy, according to the several opportunities and stations." If the privileges and the respon sibilities of churchmanship belong to the laity as well as the clergy, how does it happen, that whenever the property of the Church is men tioned, the clergy are so anxious to sink the laity ? It is Mr. Cobbett who observes that the army, the navy, and everything desirable is called the King's ; the debt alone is the nation's. The clergy will have no objection to throw the re sponsibilities of churchmanship on the laity ; but as to the privileges, we are somewhat sceptical ; at all events, we are pretty sure that the privi lege of participating in the Church property will not be of the number allowed to the laity. The clergy, then, are only part of the Church, and the property of the Church was never intended to be exclu'sively theirs. The Scotch Reformers, who were really honest men, in that splendid monument of their grand and comprehensive views, the first Book of Discipline, (1560), under the sixth head " Of the Rents and Patri mony of the Church," began by stating, "'lwo sorts of men—that is, the Preachers of the Word and the Poor—besides the Schools, must be sustained upon the rents of the Church." Under the fifth head, after dechring in what way the pastors shall be provided for, they proceed to say " rest two sorts of people who must be provided for of that which is called the patrimony of the Church ; to wit, the poor and the teachers of the youth. The poor must be provided for in every parish. . . . . Not that we are patrons to stubborn and idle beggars, who, running from place to place, make a craft of begging—for these, we think, must be compelled to work, or then punished by the Civil Magi strate. But the poor widows, the fatherless, the impotent married persons, the aged, and every one that may not work, and such persons as are fallen by occasion into decay, ought to be pro vided, and have their necessities supplied by the parish where they were born, or have remained for any long space." The Scotch Reformers distinctly recognised the principle, that the pro perty of the Church was applicable to all pious and charitable purposes ; and the idea that that property belongs exclusively to one part of the Church, namely, the ecclesiastical persons, is an abuse of comparatively modern origin. The Scotch Reformers merely declared what had always been the understanding of the Church. Every tyro in Church history knows that the clergy were long merely collectors and distributors of the funds of the Church, and the poor alone at first received the whole. In the account of Dr. Doyle's evidence, he is said to have stated— That after the Reformation the detestation to tithes continued to operate ; and showed that, from the reign of James the First, down to that of Queen Anne, the Pro testants of Ireland, and more especially the Scotch settlers (retaining the feelings of their country,) exhibited to wards the tithe system an uniform and stedfast opposition. Ile proved, by a citation from Swift, that the Protestant gentry of Ireland were, in the reign of Queen Anne, combined against the clergy, who were reduced at that period to extreme indigence. He stated that a great con federacy was formed by the whole of the Protestant pro prietors against tithes; proved its continuance and success ful operation down to the reign of George II.; and then referred to the celebrated Resolution of the Irish House of Commons, in the year 1735, against the tithe of agist ment. He then proceeded to show that the Whitehoys, and all other kind of boys, derived their political and perpetually renovated existence from the tithe system ; and quoted Lord Clare's description of the condition of the peasantry, in which (being then Attorney-General) he stated they were ground to powder.' Is the object - of the' establishment of a Church to keep a country in a state of constant agitation ? Surely no one will maintain such a proposition. And yet the connection between tithes and disorder is, in Ireland, somewhat more obvious than that between Tenterden Steeple and Goodwin Sands. Would the extinction of tithes in Ireland add to the disorders of the country? Would it render the people more lawless ? This even the greatest amateur of tithes will hardly maintain. If the patrimony of the Church in Ireland had, however, been not abused, by transferring it wholly from the poor to the aristocracy—if the liberal views of the Scotch Reformers had instead been imitated, by making the funds of the Church available not merely for the clergy, but the poor and the teachers of youth—would there at this day have been a determination of a whole nation to cease to pay tithes ? The clergy of Ireland, instead of being a light to guide the people to all truth, set them the constant example of fraud and per• jury. They evaded a positive law regarding their First Fruits in a shameful manner. They were bound by oaths to maintain schools—that oath they violated. They showed that religion was to them only a pretext for obtai s ni c ri r g ipt p u e re lf s , They have now their reward. Their hypocrisy now will deceive no one. The same men who are bawling about withholding the from the Protestants, because on certain (lays of the week selections from the Scriptures are used in the schools common to both Catholics and Protestants (neither Protestants nor Catholics being prohibited from having separate schools of their own), are ready to applaud the hanging of all who give the Scriptures to the poor blacks of our colonies. All these turnings and double ings are understood ; and they will fail of their intended effect. Bishop Doyle does not claim the honour of having provoked the resistance to tithes, for he deems it an honour. He stated— " That to him had been ascribed the merit (for HQ he c , e3ed it) of having excited the existing resistance to this im post. To that honour he did not consider himself entitled, although he should not hesitate in declaring, that, to the last moment of his life, he should persevere in employing all the means which, with a due regard to the law, could be used, in order to produce the abolition of a tax against which the feelings of the people had revolted, and which was incompatihle with the interests of the country. fie, however, ascribed the manifestation on the part of the people of their batted to tithes to a variety of circum stances, which hid concurred in producing a strong and incurable sentiment throughout the entire country." The evidence on the subject of tithes will do much good. We trust the clergy will not be backward in vindicating these claims ; for we have always found their labours (however in tended) highly conducive to the cause of truth. The more they stir, the better it will be for the • people. So long as they were obstinately silent r egarding their property, the public were at a stand ; but now that they furnish statements, things wear a better aspect.—Morn. Chronicle. BEAUTIES OF THE COURT OF CHARLES 11. It is not generally known, we believe, that the engra vings which form this brilliant and tasteful collection of portraits, are executed from copies made by Mr. Mart rip-, from the original pictures, expressly for her Royal Highness, the !ate Ilmented Princess CHARLOTTE. The last published part of this work (which oue more part will shortly render complete) contains the Portraits of Lady BELLASYS, Mrs. NorT, the Countess of SuNnitaLiNn, and Mrs. MtnnLETorr ; and among others the Memoirs of Miss LAwsoN, the Countess of CHESTERFIELD, the Coun tess of ROCIIF.STER, :Miss BAGOT (afterwards Lady FAL MOUTH), and the Countess of COURT OF CHANCERY, FEB. 29. SMITH V. NETHERSOLE. His Loßoststr gave judgment in this case, in which a motion had been made to discharge a writ of ne eseat regno, which had issued against the de fendant, smirked with the sum of 6,000/. The plaintiff, in his affidavit, had described himself as of Sittingbourne, Kent, merchant ; whereas it was proved that he only went these for a few days at the time of swearing the affidavit ; that he was not, nor ever had been a merchant; and that he had been residing at Boulogne for the last five years. With reference to the amount of the plaintiff's claim upon the defendant, which arose upon long unsettled ac counts, it was stated in the answer that the plain tiff had offered to accept 2,00(11. as a compromise of his demands. An objection arose on the ground of the plaintiff's non-residence in this country, and of his not being, as he alleged, a merchant. In the case of " Hyde v. Whitfield" (19 Vesey),LordiEl don had refused to grant the writ, because the plsin tiff, notwithstanding he had correctly stated hia re sidence, was not domiciled within the jurisdiction of the Court. But the circumstances of the present case were not confined to the point of foreign re sidence. If all the facts now before the Court had been known when the writ was granted, it would never have been marked with the sum of 6,000/. It was not in the power of the Court to make terms, or to direct security for costs, as was the practice of the Courts of Common Law. Under all the cir cumstances of this case, the writ must be discharged with costs. In arriving at this conclusion, his Lot d ship did not wish to be understood as deciding that a writ of ne eveat regno should, in no case, be granted on the application of a party residing beyond the jurisdiction. COUNTIES. 4 , Monmouth 9 ; Norfolk 14 ;,Northampton 6 j*Northumberland 4 !Nottingham 44 110xon 6 :' Rutland 4 Salop !'Somerset26 20 , '*Southampton ...... 4 Stafford S ,Suffolk S Surrey 8 Sussex 6 ';Warwick 4 :..Westmoreland 18 • Wilts 14 1 Worcester 4 Hi , York 1i :Wales id NV:des WINCHESTER, Fran. 28. The interest excited relative to this trial was very ' great, and the Court was exceedingly crowded. Eliza Harding, stated in the calendar to be but fourteen years of age, though she appeared to be much older, was put to the bar, charged with having, on the sth day of August last, administered, or caused to be administered, a poisonous nut called nux vomica to Edward Boyland and his family, at the parish of All Saints, in the borough of Southamp ton, with intent to kill and murder them. John Randall ,‘ as art assistant to Randall and Sons, druggists, of Southampton; a young woman, whom he should not know again, came to the shop, asked for some poison to poison mice with ; witness sold her some nux vomica, which is a nut resembling a bean, covered with a soft velvet exterior coat, very hard internilly, having a horny appearance, semi transparent, and ititernally bitter, concave on one side and convex on the other, its properties poisonous ; sold the person half an ounce. Cross-examined by Mr. E. SAUNDERS—They do not serve persons with poison without putting ques tions to them; always put on the packet the name of the article, and generally the word " Poison ;" is sure he wrote the name of the article in this instance, and thinks he wrote the word " Poison." James Miller lodged with the prosecutor, whose family consisted of himself, wife, child, and witness ; the prisoner was servant to prosecutor; witness took his meals at the same table with Boyland arid his wife; they used the same tea-kettle, but had different tea pots ; on the sth of August, Boyland made the breakfast ; witness remarked that the tea tasted very unpleasant ; it was very bitter; the prisoner afterwards came into the room; Boy land asked her where she got the water; she replied, from the pitcher; Mrs. Boyland took the kettle out of the room; when she returned she showed me a bean, which I afterwards ascertained to be nux vomica ; Mrs. Boyland said, " Good Gad, here's toad's meat in the kettle." Cross-examined—Prisoner had lived there about seven weeks. James Boyland, a tailor, of Southampton--It was the prisoner's duty to prepare the breakfast; before breakfast, on the sth of August, the prisoner brought up a cup into the room, which she put on the fire; witness asked her what she had there; she said it was something she was going to take herself; looked into the cup, and saw it contained five beans; left her there and went up stairs, and heard the pri soner say, " I'll be curst if I don't ;" when he went down again the tin cup was put outside the fender; made the tea in both pots from water taken out of the same kettle; did not at first take any parti cular notice of the taste of the tea, until his at tention was called to it by Miller; the prisoner at first denied all knowledge of it, but at last said that it must have fallen it,, as she had some in her hands; witness went to a physician, as he found himself unwell. Other witnesses gave similar testimony; but there being some confusion in tracing the " nux vomits," and in some other circumstances, The Learned JUDGE said that, probably, under the circumstances, the Jury would think it right at once to acquit the prisoner. His Lordship then se verely admonished her, and she was removed from the bar. As the period for the contest in Portugal draws mote near, the stronger interest respecting it is na turally created on our Exchange, and this has been in creased by some transactions now in progress which deafly evince that both the brothers of the house of Braganza are possessed of more extensive resources than the world gives either of them credit for, the origin of which, too, is enve loped in much mystery. It has been noticed for several foreign post days preceding, that a large demand existed for bills on Portugal, for which a price higher than the current rate of exchange was readily paid. These have since been traced to one of the moat active and zealous of MiGuEl.'s agents in this country, and are no doubt in tended in aid of the means of the despot. There has been further some inquiry in the same quarter respecting the mode of conveying warlike stores to the Tagus, and assur ances given that special exemption would be obtained from as quarantine regulations in favour of such cargoes. In the same market and on the same sort of errand, the agents of Don PEDRO have encountered those of his brother; but apparently on a greater scale as to resources. Con tracts have been proposed, fur example, among others, for three or four vessels of 400 tons each, to send out to Ter ceira. The contest, therefore, whenever it shall com mence, will be on a scale Worthy of the prize which is con tended for. How funds have been raised fur such extensive purchases, remains, in regard to both parties, a subject of considerable mystery. At home MIGUEL'S resources would appear to be at. the last ebb, and there is not consequently any other obvious solution of the difficulty than that some of the European Powers, favourable to arbitrary forms of government, are secretly giving their assistance to one of the greatest ornaments of the system. With respect to Don Panßo, there can be little doubt that his supplies are chiefly obtained from France. It has been stated in some of the late letters from Paris, that the whole of the loan, of which only a portion has been raised here, would shortly be brought forward in that market. These distant indi cations of the interest taken by other European Powers in the quarrel, alter very much the view of it taken by our merchants, and confer on it the highest degree of impo:t ance.— Times. M.R. GRATTAN AND LORD GREY.—The palm of eloquence on this great occasion was borne by two speakers, now opposed to each other for the first time— Mr. GRATTAN and Lord GREY. The speech of Mr. GRATTAN was gratuitous, antithetical, and passionate; that of Lord GREY logical, deliberative, and wise. Fortune and the event decided in favour of the rhetorician, with a capricious disregard of the informed and informing spirit of the statesman. It may be collected from the general tenour and solve particular passages of this speech, that Mr. GRATTAN'S views were disturbed, and his imagination fired, by the dominant vanity of making against NAPO LEON a rival oration to one of the most celebrated of DEMOSTHENES against Pulur. His speech, however, only proves the caducity of his faculties, and growing de pravation of his taste. The following, may be cited as an example of jingling imtirlitsis and perverted fact :—" The government of France is war. It is a stratocracy ; elec tive, aggressive, and predatory. Her armies live to fight, and fight to live. He (NAPOLEON) reviewed the troops, and nothing could equal the shouts of the army—except the silence of the people. It was a case in which the army deposed the civil government. It was the march of a military chief over a conquered people, &e."—Dr. Lard ner's Cabinet Library. Life and Reign of George IL VOl, 111. CANTERBU RI, Feb. 25. Wheat, white.-- 559. to 655. -- Old—. —s. to —e. —50 s. to Ms. to Barley, Malting 3.15. to 38s. Grinding.. 28s. to 324. Oats . 255. to 28s. —s. to Beans Pease 345. to 38s. ....., Old---.... 40s. to 445. 435. to 455...,_. Grey ---.. 355. to 38s. MANCHESTER, Feb. 25. Wheat, per 701 b. 9s. 3d. to 9s. 6d. Red 9s. 04. to 9s. 3d. Barley, per 601 b 5 0 5 3 Oats 3 9 4 0 Beans, per Imperial quarter Pease, White, per Imperial bushel 5 0 6 6 Malt, per 6 Imperial bushels 42 0 4 0 Flour, per Sack a 2801 b EXETER MAR Beef (score) B s , ed. 9.i. 6d. Mutton 5i 0 6 Veal and t .amb—...o 6 0 7 Pork .0 4 0 6 Geese (each) 0 5 6 (lucks 'couo!e 0 5 0 Fowls 0 4 0 KETS.—Feb. 24. Wheat (bushel) ..Bs. od. 82.11. Barley 6 4 9 Oats 9 2 6 Beans 5 6 6 0 Butter (Ib.)--.1 0 1 3 Eggs (12) 0 1 (1 Potatoes (peck) 6 0 7 FEMALE SOVEREIGNS.-It has fallen to the lot of Mrs. JAstrsoN to write the Memoirs, public and privat e , o f th ose f ew o f h er sex who have wielded the sceptre. None but a w oman , per h aps, was competent to estimate the effect which such p ower wou ld h ave on t h e female character; and yet s carce l y any o f t h e gentler sex would have sufficient courage for the invrtigation, inas much as it necessarily involves the necessity for researches lying altogether out of the class of female acquirements. The present authoress has, however, added to the laurels she has already won in literature by bo!dly encountering the subject ; and the result is one of the most original and curious works in the circle of biography. NAPOLEON AND HIS Two WIVES.---The conduct of a wife whose hand has been bartered for consi derations in which she has no part, should be indulgently judged. NAP3LEON, however, shared with the Austrian Archduchess glory and a throne; he tteated her with the utmost personal kindness, an d, i t was sa id , ga i ne d h er affection. She got credit f or so li c i t i ng perm i ss i on f rom the Congress to join hi m i n Elb a , an d f or entering eager l y into this plot for her escape to France. Toe world was grossly deceiv e d, or , more proper l y , in other instances where the ruling caste 1 9 concerned, gross l y deceived itself. A l e tt e r f ro m V ienna , written by a Frenchman in the service of the Emp ress, was delivered this st a t e as in by a courier to LAVALETTY. The letter bore no address; but the courier stated, from verbal instructions, wh o h,d written it, and for whom it was intended. LAVALETPE placed it unopened in the hands of NAPOLEON. The con , and pronounced by him tents disclosed to him that he must no longer count on the Empress; that she spoke of him in terms of fear and hi r a e e ti d 'red to his private cabinet ; the hatred ; and that she had utterly abandoned herself to the m in who was appointed her chief jailer. The letter was without either address . or. signature, and doubts were sug gested of its authenticity by NaPoLEoS. It was sub mitted tO CAULINCOURT, who was well acquainted with wrongs of JOSEPHINE were avenged by th e pangs which lie must, at that rnoment, have endured. He had the social and softer feelings. Without theta he could not athuethea n i t l i e c g . ed - N w Ap ri o te L r E 's ON possess the boundle,devotiou of his first wife, and the affection of her family and of his own. Without the sen timents of friendship he could not possess and prove so many friends. He must . have felt, in this recoil, with the utmost bitterness ofdisappointment and remorse,' that there are . human obligations . too sacred, and human feelings too precious, to be sacrificed at the shrine of politics and power ; and that ambiti on i tself may be best promoted, as it is best enjoyed, by a p ar t ners hi p of the heart. Had the Emperor never discarded her who linked her fortune and her fate with the young officer of artillery who had' nothing but his sword," he would probably have died on the throne of France, and not upon the rock of St. Helena —Dr• George IV. V Lardner's Cabinet 111. Library. Life and 11 i of egn 01. BIRTHS. On the 10th of August, at Bombay, the lady of Captain Sir Charles Malcolm, R.N., and Superintendant of the Bombay Ma. rine, of a son. On the 27th ult, at Ne wington-green, the lady of Wm, Hick man, Esq. of a daughter. MARRIED. On the 28th ult. at St. James's, Westminster, A. P. Reeve, eldest son of the late J. I'. Reeve, Esq., of Whitley-cottage, Berks, to Frances Ann, daughter of the late C. Bailey, Esq., of Speenhamland, Berks, On the 28th ult. at Homey, William Hill, Esq. of the Leigh, county of Gloucester, to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of J Junes, Esq. of Highgate. On the 2zith ult. at St. George the Martyr, P. Worsley, Esq., of Great Ormond.strect, to Anne, eldest daughter o f J . Taylor, Esq., of B e df or d -row. On the ' 4 7th ult. at All Souls, Langham.place, Mr. W. Carp marl, of Clifford's-inn, to Sarah, eldest daughter of Mr. G. Pitt, of Great Portland -street. On the2sth ult. at St. James's, Mr. Arthur Wellesley Kinnear, of Stonehaven, North Britain, to Louisa, widow of the late John Sp ar k , Esq., surgeon in the Hon. East l India Company's service. DIED. 78 th On the 27th ult. at Peckham -ry e , J o h n Seagood, Esq. in the yeaof ageisOn the 27th ult. at Rugby, Wa rwickshire, Howard, fourtl' son of Captain Lak e , l ate 3d Foot Guards. On the 26th ult. in Seymour-street, Euston-square,Major J• M'Lean, late 3d W es t I n di a Regiment. PRINTED AND P(71111,111E1) BY MURDO YOUNG, AT 31 0 , SUN OFF ICE , 112, STRANDs LONDON. • . LONDON MARKETS. (Front the London New Price Current of yesterday.) SUGAR—The demand for Mu.scovades last week was general and rather considerable for the season of the sear, and the small supply at Market ; the estimated sales were 2,700 hhds. and trs. ; the advance stated in our publication of Tuesday last was full) supported, and the strong qualities were again higher. There are few Sugars on show to-day,. owing to a general opinion that to morrow night something will transpire, favourable to the Sugar trade, and also that the stock here is so much reduced (only about 16,000 hhds. and trs.), that higher prices will be realised as the trade are without stock, and few Mauritius have yet arrived; the holders are getting higher prices this forenoon, we think the ad vance is Is. since this day week. The estimated sales are Soo fluids, and trs. The stock of West India Sugar is now 15,931 hhds. and trs., which is 5,555 less than last year. The stock of Mauritius 33,788 bags, being 7,756 less than last year. The de. livery of West India Sugar last week 2,618 hhds. and trs. ' being 375 less than last year. The delivery of Mauritius 5,479 bags, being 242 more than the corresponding week of 1831. In the Re fined Market the reduction of the prices, and the probability o f the revival of our export trade, induce d several purchasers to come forward, and buy at the late lowest quoted prices; in goods suitable for melting, 635. a 675. considerable purchases were also reported ; 30s. was the highest price offered for good crushed. The Market this forenoon is completely nominal; all the holders have withdrawn their refined goods from sale s in the anticipation of a higher bounty; lumps are nominally 61s. which is Is. higher. EAST INDIA SUGARS.—The only sales of East India were small parcels of Bengal, yellow and white at former prices, and considerable parcels of Siam yesterday 225. a 255. areFOlimßiEteldGtN. s S m U a G il A pa ß r S c . e — ls T s h ol e d a tr t a t z h ls e ac p t r i e o v n i s ou i s n ci F irr or e e n ir y. Si A ig , a e rs . rage price of Sugar 1/. 4s. 7d. per cwt. COFFEE—There was some request for Foreign Coffee last week, and above 2,000 bags St. Domingo sold 545. a 575., sery good quality. The British Plantation descriptions were unsa ried last week. There appeared snore inquiry after East India Coffee yesterday and this forenoon • the Mocha has fallen 7s. a 10s., good quality, worth at the highest point of the Market Sts. and 855., sells at 525. and 735. There were no sales of Coffee this day. RUM, BRANDY, and HOLLANDS.—There is a great provement in the demand for Rum, particularly for export ; the purchases reported are very considerable, but there is not the y e o p ort in gaa2atoonsr hnain,„ sl ight es t I:9tlieltddkl:Rhoreofti4inobohBBl,Bngabsiresgi:nrsat wrga:B.rami shsii alteration puiihwe.,Bateßgrrtsst.sail.:la.,.poeresi;rfriralnereii.,icce eiAs3abs:::oB i gooaisl n iraaaayn,oleinsi rocdgd p , ns:ddav,be r i ces, i neßsr‘,: e Nks,aeve.ax e u.s....",: s as:46tahta . titiTotaemil efrrri oy l .frre, fa n fleaeu:rooidrqi,rr,dreci ß iedviusdsBkmi ne r diha,s,, ,rn a 4le.oi yrikatdB y,d e alie.tb r ,tue.ugroir,lrti i ialac94x ki s ol:s.nneags.t a iisdsd.ien l .ttoa s igai;t o , much more doing, and the first marks have sold in several insta n ce s iwr,elii.aNdreowxee:oaekwafdea l iwkiB d elyi,y . aaiaasac s 2 : e onns:nodd r : d ity, a 784. acon is e 7s. HEMP, FLAX, and T ALLO W.—Tallow continues very dull, quoted at a small reduction. ob tained, except from necessitous buyers; say for Co v r i k ediso.d a 4 eds n . rßdelanded a 475. s 465. a 50s. landed. Irish Hams, as to size and quality, 60s. and 70s. ; and Bladder Lard 58s. a 635. landed. Fo r B ee f an d P ork our last quotations are fully supported. COTTON.- -The public sales of Friday, 1,750 bags, sold at full prices, 4)0. a 474 d. a few 5d., ord. to good fair. The purchases by private contract are quite inconsiderable. ASHES.—Ashes realise quotations for small lots only. TEA.—There is no alteration in the Market since our last ; the prompt is on Tuesday next. SILK.—The Market is very flat since the sale; prices are no minal, and but very little doing. TOBACCO.—The inquiries after Tobacco are continued, but the question of quarantine prevents export orders. The home consumption is brisk on account of the cholera morbus; To bacco is taken freely, both as a preventive, and also used for the purposes of fumigation. HOPS.—The Market is firm, and rather higher. COUNTRY CORN MARKETS DURING THE WEEK. Wheat. Barley. Oats. Beans. Per Quarter. Abingdon--. Andoi , er Bridport Cirencester Faringdon Guildford H HerefOrd Highworth Maidenhead ,--. Monmouth----. Reading Salisbury. Southampton Stroud Tewkesbury Uxbridge Wantage---«.. Warminster --.. Windsor.—......."—. Worcester 65 66 8. to 8. 31 43 37 41 40 44 32 30 26 36 36 40 23 32 30 3,5 44 48 32 42 32 46 s. to s. 22 30 P. to I. 38 24 32 26 20 21 25 26 38 = l 6 35 20 30 - 52 - 54 - 46 - 43 - 40 28 34 22 30 31 47 3t 37 37 40 3-1 38 40 42 27 40 30 43 30 43 21 32 21 27 28 32 22 32 30 38 23 33 21 30 20 2 8 21 22 31 3.2, 44 51 LEWES MARKET.—Feb. 28. White Wheat (per quarter).......— £2 18 0 to £3 Red ditto 2 16 0 3 Barley. 1 0 0 1 Oats, New Oil Cake. New, - 56 - 37 - 54 - 48 -50 - 50 3 0 0 0 _6 6 3 0 1 14 0 i li Zi H 2 0 0 per thousand. NORWICH, Feb. 25. Wheat (per qr.) .... 525. 58s. 625. I Beans (per qr.) 225. 42a. Barley 62.2 s . 348. 355. Pease, Greyw. 33a. 37, Oats —...--..... 20s. 245. 265. Flour, fine (per sack) 455. 475.