The Sun. — London, England, 1832-02-03 00:00:00

Cabinet—if darkly, he must come down and raise the standard in Yorkshire ;tor that I believe is hi, calf country." He also observes, " If there were a war either at home or abroad, the army woulc expect to see Hardinge as far forward as any body but the Duke." So this " buttoned-up," " fiery-eyed," " solid-jawed" " card" of Black reood was in fine feather last night. " As I am called upon (be said) t; - ; 'name, I may alludt to the fact that Cabinet 'Ministers have, in their corre- spontience with Political Unions and interchange of cour tesies with them, even •untured to designate the discussioi of the House of Lurtls as the whisper of a faction,—(Tre mentions cheering from the Opposition.) I apply again to what was said by the Noble Lord, -anti tvhen I find him resting his chief argument on the opinions of the people oat of doors, I think I am justified in concluding that, in a great degree, his motion is brought forward because out of doors all opposition to the Bill is denounced by certain bodies, and because the fruit of these opinions tr.-evails.— (Cheers.) The Noble Lord tells me, esal he repels with indignation something that has Ellen from me. Ido no' understand him—but if means to say that he repel with indignation anything advanced as a fact or epinion by see, I receive ibis with quite as much indignation as he expresses, and I am perfectly ready to meet it in any way the Noble Lord chooses.—(Tremendons cheering from the Opposition, and cries of Order,' from the Treasury Benches" This will not do, Sir Henry., " I am perfectly ready to meet it in any way the Noble Lord chooses." If we were not certain that Sir Henry was a very brave man, we should have our doubts after this language. Every one knows what a menace in the House of Commons means. In the first place, the tone is not suited to a legisla tive assembly ; in the next place, every man knows that nothing comes of threats in public. We trust that Sir Henry will not allow himself to be led away by writers like those in Rock wood, so far as to think that by stfch ill-timed exhibitions he adds to his reputation. Sir George Murray never forgets himself in thi s way. Let Sir Henry take a lesson from one who, in his own profession, is inferior to no one, and who, never since he entered Parlia- inent, attempted a tone of' menace to any one.— Morning Chronicle, The metropolis, and, as we are well unformed, the whole country, are greatly disturbed at the present prospects of the Ministerial measure of Reform. Twelve months have now nearly elapsed since the first introduction of the English Bill. Its success in the House of Commons was considered a certain passport to its safe journey through the House of Lords Spiritual and Temporal. The astounding and almost unani mous expression of public opinion in all parts of the empire, and the return of representatives of the popular interest in every county, city, and borough where a semblance of freedom of elec. tion existed, impressed the Government and all ranks of the Reformers with the confident expec tation of an early and satisfactory settlement of the great vital question. The woeful disappoint. ment of the hopes of the nation, by the infatuated blindness of the Peers to the " signs of the times," haunts the people, and, with the present critical state of parties, is creating a real revo lution in their minds. From the moment the majority of forty-one of' the hereditary Legis lators recorded their determination to oppose all Reform, it became palpable that the British Constitution afforded but one mode of avoiding the horrors of a civil contest—Mat mode was an early and full creation of Peers, to restore the equilibrium of the three estates of King, Lords, and Commons, and to rescue the refractory branch of the Legislature from suicidal destruc tion. Desperate diseases require desperate re medies, and the Royal Prerogative, in this situation of imminent political danger, was the constitutional practice and the only choice of evils. Moreover, every man of political honesty and common sense discerned in the state of the Upper House the causes of early revolution, unless it could be moulded to some conformity with the enlightened character of the Commons of the empire and an amended popular representation. From such an aristo cratical senate as the Peers, saturated with olden prejudices, and jealously apprehensive of the liberal spirit of the nineteenth century, none of the ends of the Reform Bills could ever be ob tained, if those measures even ultimately passed the present House. That Legislature must be purified from the Pitt and Liverpool leaven by the addition of new blood ; it must either be popularised by a copious addition of new Peers, or its ultimate and total extinc tion as a branch of the Legislature be comes inevitable. " Hobson's choice" is be fore the Lords Spiritual and Temporal. The Commonwealth times, which are always so art fully and falsely cited against the present Re formers, are a type of the certain consequences which would infallibly follow the inability of this Administration to amend the representation. The people of England in the seventeenth cen tury were by no means disaffected to their form of Government before the year 1640. The practical redress of grievances—of the then state of the representation especially—was their origi nal and sincere opposition to the tyranny of the Stuarts and the Tories. The jorni of Govern ment opposed itself to the spirit of the age : disaffection to it and dissolution rapidly fol lowed ; a sweeping and unforeseen torrent de vastated the face of society, and laid waste the institutions of ages ; the thunder of public opi nion suddenly gathered with terrific and unex pected power, and, with the lightning of demo cratic destruction, burst over the heads of the unhappy and devoted members of the Aris tocracy. Thus it is that the interested and born-blind members of privileged classes rush down the precipices of political de struction. Thus the enlightened and intel ligent friends of good Government long pre dicted the results of refusing all Reform of the Irish Church ; the consequences are upon the heads of those who were interested (as they thought) in opposing the semblance of Refor mation. By insane endeavours to preserve tithes untouched, the Hierarchs will lose all, and play the game of their bitterest enemies. When Turbot was sacrificed bythe French Aristocracy how little did his base persecutors dream that, they were erecting he guillotine, and concerting the confiscations of the future awful revolution ! Thus are the Tory nobility harked on by a gang of desperate and dependent ex-placemen, and a long train of servile f o ll o w ers an d s l aves, hurry ing to the brink of destruction. If they suc ceeded in upsetting the present Ministry who could safely usurp their places ? Is there one public man among the Lltra-Tories, or in the moderate or juste-milieu parties of this country, who could form or maintain a decent At:minis tration for six consecutive months ? Could they, in the present House of Commons, or by means of a desperate dissolution of Parliament, carry on the Government ? Could they agree, or carry a quarter, a half, or two-third Reform measure ? And if they could , would i t be hu manly possible for any Minister or set of men, or coalition of parties, to juggle the people from immediately acquiring more than the present measure of Reform ? Any Member of this Cabinet, who attempted to sacrifice the na tion would tias With infamy to his grave. We Low that very emmingly - -devised view have been entertained; hut Maehiavel himsel could not snti;estlully realise them. The last hope of the country is in the union, stability, and success of Lord Grey's Cabinet. Lord Gre\ represents the flower of the British Aristocracy ; Lord Althorp possesses the confidence of the popular party_ anti out of the House of Com mons. The country owed them a large debt of gratitude, and repaid them with a noble and de voted support. These two Noblemen are awfull responsible to the British nation. Anarchy in this country ivould be the dissolution of the bod' politic ; the,7 well know it and the country demand wisdom and energy in their councils. If they have the means of dissipating the cruel and fruitful expense of the nation, it is their solemn duty to state those means. If they have not those means, let them look to their characters, and at least allow the people the mournful hope they may again be called to the possession of power in time to avert the impending storm. N'Ve make all due allowance for their difficulties and the character of the Cabinet, but they are the responsible directors of the councils of the King. Power not exerted in action ever attracts suspicion, mistrust ; and contempt. Peers must be made, and when made will terminate the contest of the few against the many. In the meanwhile the Government has a right to the unflinching support of the real representatives of the people ; the oppo sition of the horoughmogers is natural. We see no real cause or instability in the Cabinet provided it is supported heartily by the House of Commons, and where Reform ought to be the sole question. Ministers may justly demand great forbearance. They have been left in extraordinary diplomatic and financial difficulties by their predecessors. They have to contend against official persons everywhere opposed to their Government. The party strife of the Reform question necessarily absorbs attention, which will be hereafter given to the national interests. Two hundred oppo sition Members are arrayed against them, dis ciplined and old tacticians, fighting for their very political existence, and ready to vote any way so that it is to vote out the Ministry, and, with the Ministry, Reform. if the Reformers say true of the present constitution of the House of Commons, its imbecile and inferior character should be credited to the difficulties of Lord Althorp. Party management is dissolved, the cement of patronage is nobly disdained, the present House of Commons is particularly raw Surely at such a time men like Mr. Hume , hou1:1 uphold Ministers to the utmost. If the Cabinet can and will create Peers, and manfully declare the fact to the country, the opposition will be blasted, the Government will be extri cated from all its difficulties, the nation will be saved. If Peers are not created, and will not be —in the dying words of Mr. Fox, " What, will Reform be torn from you in blood and revolu tion !"—Morning Chronicle. The tragic termination of the political excite ment at Nottingham has followed close upon that of Bristol. At the latter place four, at the former three, misguided individuals have atoned with their blood for the offences which, there can be no doubt, the violent appeals to popular passions that were poured forth incessantly some time ago, from the more intemperate portion of the Mini- sterial Press, mainly instigated them to commit. Here the people may read a useful as well as an " awful lesson," of the sort of reliance which ought to be placed upon the sincerity of fierce and truculent advisers. No doubt our own en deavours to moderate the passionate excitement upon Reform into the sobriety of reason, and the judicious energy of constitutional exertion, was regarded by many as the result of a less de termined devotion and attachment to the cause than that which actuated the Reform writers, who daily thundered forth the argument of in timidation, and saved themselves the trouble of reasoning by placing the ultima ratio of Reform in the resistless fury of revolutionary force. Now the people have cause to see and understand who were their sincere and honest advisers, and who were not. Their experience is bitter, but they may derive from it some salutary instruc tion. They now find that the Journals that were the most vehement in creating a Reform phrenzy were the first to leave their misguided victims to perish in it ; nay, the wretched men, who, having been taught to be lieve that physical force would be sanctified by its application to so holy a cause as that of Reform, were ensnared into the meshes of legal vengeance, heard, from the same quarter from which the instigation to violence came, a voice crying aloud for their destruction, and in yoking " upon their necks the sharpest edge of the axe of the law !" Having stood—as we did at all times since this question of Reform was agitated, but more especially when the cry was for revolutionary conventions and armed as sociations—between public order and the vio lence which threatened it—between rational liberty and a devastating licentiousness—we did not think it the less our duty to plead for mercy to those deluded men, who, though they had not followed our advice, by confining their efforts for Reform within the prescribed limits of the Constitution, yet were deserving of commisera tion, from their offences being the effect of po litical delusion rather than of any deliberate ma lignity of heart ; for no men in their condition of life bore better characters than most of the men selected for execution did, up to the time of the sudden excitement into which they were so fatally betrayed. But in the case of the Not tingham rioters we preferred an additional plea for the extension to four of them of the mer ciful consideration of the Crown. That plea rested upon the doubtful and inconclusive na ture of their guilt. Two of them only were re prieved, and now, we believe, there is no reasonable person who doubts that one of the other two suffered innocently—we mean Armstrong—and that the guilt of the other was by no means clearly established. As to the fifth, he had admitted his guilt, but expressed a hope that his youth might be considered an extenuation of the offence. Nothing could surpass, accordiMg to the accounts, the fearless and calm fortitude with which Armstrong and Beck met their dreadful and pitied fate. Who is not touched with the deepest sympathy when he reads the melancholy narrative which states that Hearson, who, not having the resolution of the others, wished the executioner to bandage his eyes, that he might not be appalled at the sight of the instrument of destruction, was dissuaded from it by Arm strong, who " exhorted him to meet his fate with the resignation of a Christian ?" And then, again, how moving are the words of the same sufferer to Hearson, who was wavin g his cap, and indulging in other frantic gesticulations on the scaffold—" None of that, George—it is not sense. I must say that I am innocent be cause I am so, but I'll have none of this." H ow emphatic the manner in which he expressed his own solemn declaration or innocentt know me in Heaeb foi. a ini.irdered man !" If there were no other objection to capital punish ments, there would be this powerful one—that while human judgment is fabible—that while human testimony is liable to the distortions of error, or the falsifications of malice, cupidity, and revenge---human ttibunals are liable to con sign innocence to the doom intended for guilt alone ; and, where the punishment is death, the error is irreparable. Our readers are aware that petition, signed by twenty-five thousand inha bitants of Nottingham and its vicinity, praying, upon cogent arguments, the mercy of the Crown towards the five rioters, was laid before his iNla jesty ; and it now appears his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex presented that petition himself, and made a personal intercession for their lives. This conduct was such as might be expected of the Royal Duke, whose enlight ened anxiety for the substantial amelioration of the Criminal Law was evinced last year by pre senting to the House of Lords the " London Jurors' Petition," praying for the abolition of the punishment of death in all cases of crime for offences against the rights of property. On that occasion, it will he recollected, his Royal High ness delivered a speech in support of the peti tion, which was distinguished for sound and ju dicious views of the principles of criminal jurisprudence. Our readers will also recol lect, that a second petition in favour of the extension of mercy to the Nottingham rioters was presented to the House of Commons a few evenings ago, which petition was signed in twelve hours by 17,000 persons ;—yet mercy was re fused to the three unfortunate men, under the circumstances which we have stated, though we think the guiltiest among them had a stronger claim to prefer for a commutation of punishment than the convicted Burkite whom Lord Mel bourne so recently recommended to the Royal mercy. The humanity of the King's heart is well known, but he was bound to act upon the counsel of his constitutional advisers ; and their counsel was to carry the law of extermination into force. Why were the Ministers of the Crown adverse to the exercise of the prerogative of mercy towards those infatuated victims of the " Reform excitement ?" A writer in a Minis. terial Paper, as devotedly attached to the present Administration as to the one which preceded it, attempts to account for the exorable adherence to the sentence of blood. He says : " All has not been effected that could have been wished (as to mercy), but, more, perhaps, could not have been expected from an Administration which has more than once been taunted in Parliament with not affording due protection to the persons and properties of their political opponents. Let it be recollected that those Tory taunte, which h we been repeated over and over a , 2ain in the Tory Press, may have stood in the way of a mote humane and lenient administration of the law by a Whig Government." Now the fact is the Tory Press itself had joined in the intercessions for mercy to those men ; but, supposing the writer's explanation correct, then it would follow that Whig Minis ters hanged men, not because they considered it l l ight to hang them, but because they were taunted by their political rivals, and so offered human sacrifices upon the altar of political ex pediency ! Surely no censure of an enemy can be more severe than this apology of a devoted friend. We hope a Whig Ministry have some better salve for their consciences than it is pos sible to extract from the morality of such a doc trine as is here laid down ; if not, their con sciences must be easily satisfied, when their de cision involves the awful question of human lie !—Mornin g Herald. In the Times of Wednesday last we explained the manoeuvres of the Charles street party, as exhibited in both Houses on Thursday, the 26th ult. The concealment of their strength in the Peers, and their demonstration of it in the Commons, had the same identical object, viz.— to dissuade the Sovereign from the creation of Peers, by showing his Majesty Ministers were strong enough in the Upper House to dis pense with such an exercise of the prerogative, and so weak in the Lower House, that should there be a change of Administration there was no risk of the Anti-Reform faction being unable to carry on the Government. This we described to be the double tactique of the night in question ; and, with regard to the minority in the Peers, our view of the subject receives a confirmation from a quarter whence we had hardly expected,—we mean the Dublin Even ing Mail, the organ of Orangemen in Ire land, and of those Irish Lords and Commoners who may be considered the most extreme ultras among the Anti-Reformers of the Impe rial Parliament. The words of the Mail evi dently caught as they fell from the lips of its patrons, are these :—After stating the numbers of Opposition Peers to be ninety-nine in support of the motion of Lord Aberdeen, the candid partisan goes on to say, that " the Opposition which voted in the majority against the Reform Bill amounted to 199 ; therefore Mt friends omitted to vote against Government the other night, which we may venture to say was inten tional and pre-arranged, inasmuch as it was an object not to give Lord Grey an excuse with the King for the creation of new Peers, and also because it would be unwise to acquaint Govern ment with the exact strength of the Opposition !" Yea, these are the very words,—for which, we doubt not, the vain simpleton who indicted them will get a rap over the knuckles from his masters. But now let us put one plain ques tion to Ministers. If it be the avowed and never-changing purpose of the Opposition to pre vent the creation of Peers, as a measure fatal to their prospects of quashing Reform and expelling Lord Grey's Cabinet from office, what, in the name of common sense, can be so clear as that, on the admission of the Anti-Reformers them selves, the most effectual way to preserve the Cabinet, and to pass the Bill, is through that same exercise of the prerogative so furiously railed against, or cunningly resisted by the Op salon It can never be too often repeated, that the close run in the House of Commons has altered in a great degree the character of the whole question. So long as the people out of doors were satisfied with the overwhelming ma jority with which Ministers had hitherto met the attempts of the Anti-Reform junta, there always existed a strong reserve of public confidence and animation to fall back upon, and Ministers might feel themselves at liberty to tune their m easures for counteracting the toe, as they thought fit. That is the case no longer. The Anti-Reform faction have raised a hue and cry by which they hope to overwhelm the Government at once, through the effect upon the popular mind of posi tive and impudent, but pertinacious and reiterated, falsehoods. They have asserted, they do assert, that the King will not sanction the means which his Ministers have urgently recommended to him for securing the success of the Bill. No matter whether this be true or false, the want of con tradiction gives it the force of truth ; the Mi nisters are hourly weakene d by it, and the mis chief may, by further delay, become irreparable. Then ‘i:e sav ; that the language of tho.se who wish well to Ministers, and the policy of Mi nisters themselves, must be changed. They can not let the delusion spread, without risking their own destruction and that of the public tranquil- lity. Instead of waiting, and deliberating further, " Forward" must be their cry. How do they know what tricks and intrigues may be in opera tion ? How do they know that the Royal au thority, although given, may not be withdrawn upon artful representations made to an illustrious personage, that his servants are afraid to act upon his gracious permission ? And does Lord Grey not suspect that such suggestions have been pre sented to a Royal mind ? We, individually, are quite convinced that Lord Grey, with his high sense of reputation, must be as eagerly anxious as the most zealous of the people to adorn the close of his political life with the " crowning glory" of a grand Parliamentary Re form ; but though we want no sign, the people do. Let him at once demonstrate his boldness as well as his zeal, and faction will immediately hide its head.— Times. We publish this day the treaty between the Five Great Powers and Belgium, communicated to both Houses of Parliament last night. Al though this important and very extraordinary State paper has already been made known to the world through the medium of the tbreign journals, we should have much to say upon the contents of it, as well as upon the singular and fearful circumstances under which it is now promul- gated by the British Government, if the late hour at which we have received it did not pre- elude us from doing so. We shall hereafter have full opportunity of amply discussing it. In the mean time we call the attention of our readers to the strange and we believe unprece dented fact of a document being published i n the name of the King, purporting to he a treaty between his Majesty and Five other Powers, when it has been declared by one of the King's Ministers in Parliament that three of those Powers had not ratified it. We have always understood that the mere signing of a treaty by Plenipotentiaries was not sufficient to give to it validity as such, and that it could only become an effective and binding compact when ratified by the Sovereigns who were parties to it. This is is therefore no treaty, in the pro per sense of the word, on the part of Russia, Austria, or Prussia, and yet it is published as such. Again, let us ask, if it be no treaty with respect to those three Powers, is it a treaty of any validity with respect to the other Powers ? For it is of the very essence of this treaty that its pro visions are agreed upon and guaranteed by the six (supposed) contracting parties ; but three of them are not at present contracting parties ! our excellent Government, however, publishes the treaty as if they were. But let our readers look at the 6th article. It is there declared that " each of the two parties renounces, reciprocally and for ever, all pretension to the territories, towns, fortresses, Scc." Each of the two parties here means Holland and Belgium ; while Holland not only agrees to no such thing, but posi tively refuses to agree to it ! We doubt if the power of arbitrary interference could be carried farther, even by a non-interfering Government. The article not only describes what each party shall renounce, but it undertakes to declare that each party does renounce, reciprocally and for ever, the territories which are to be taken from it ! And this, be it observed, with the declara- tion in its possession that the Dutch Government does not and will not make any such renuncia tion. There is bungling in this scarcely less than injustice. This despotic intervention is as absurd iu its form and execution as it is impolitic and unjust in its conception. We have no hesi tation in declaring that this unratified treaty is the forerunner of disunion between the Great Powers of Europe. It is the dissolution of that harmonious combination by which alone the peace of the world has been maintained since the year 1815.—Morning Post. While we cordially sympathise with Colonel Davies and those other Members who supported his motion, in lamenting the distressed state of the glove-manufacturers, we can by no means agree with them in thinking that a concession to the prayer of the petitioners would have been a remedy for the evil, or that any good would result from the proposed inquiry into the condi tion of their trade. It is quite evident from offi cialti accounts—which, notwithstanding Mr. Attwood's suspicions, we cannot imagine that any official agent would forge or falsity—that ie quantity of skins imported, and the quantity of gloves manufactured in this country, since the prohibition of receiving French gloves was removed, has increased much beyond the ratio of some previous years. It is evident, likewise, that the proportion of foreign gloves now paying duty, on being introduced for British consumption, is extremely small, as compared with our own ma nufacture of this article, and that in an otherwise flourishing period of business the competition would not be felt. But, say the advocates for inquiry, 44 Government can give us returns of the quantities entered at the Custom-house, but where can we find an account of those smug gled ?" Smuggling to any great extent is de nied by the advocates of the existing system : but suppose we were to admit it, what is the remedy ? Higher duties, of course, or ab solute prohibition, say the friends of the glove. manufacturers. But were high duties or prohi bitions ever found in any other trade a remedy for contraband transactions ? Or rather, do they not form the very temptation to their commission ? If then, the old prohibition were reimposed, or the present duties raised to a prohibitory character, the Government would lose the small revenue which it now derives from the article, -a new temptation to fraud and robbery would be held out,—the smuggler would step in to supply the market shut against the lawful trader, —and the Worcester manufacturer would not sell one dozen pair of gloves more than he does at present ; while he would be obliged to run a race of competition with foreigners on as bad terms as before. The glove-manufacturers, whose situation we commisserate, are led to be lieve that they suffer from foreign competition, not because they have any official assurance or any certain information that the quantity of French gloves imported is sufficient to forestall the sale of their own, but because they find that the price has fallen, and that they can with dif ficulty find a market. Now, ought it not to have struck them that the competition of their own countrymen would lead to the same result, —that the trade may be overstocked with the domestic article as well as with a foreign, and that their greatest enemies may not be on the other side of the Channel ? The affirmative is quite demonstrable from the statements of the Vice-President of the Board of Trade, who mentioned that in the five years before the re moval of the prohibition in 1826, the number • of skins imported annually for the glove , manufacture was 2,632,000 ; and in the five sub:;equent years 3,679,000, being an increase I of more than a million, Could any trade bear I such an increase, in times like these, without creating a ruinous competition, and lowering prices beyond the limits which afford reasonable wages to the labourer, and profits to the capi talist ? The dozens of pairs of gloves manu factured agreed with this statement of foreign skins imported, being in the former period 598,000 dozens, and in the latter 792,000 dozens, thus presenting an excess of 194,000, or more than a fourth of the largest amount. Is it necessary to seek for any other cause of the depression of this branch of business ? It scarcely is necessary ; but without going abroad we could easily find several which were well stated by Mr. Morrison, professionally ac quainted with every part of the French and the home trade. In looking at every branch of manufacturing industry—at every exertion of the skill and labour of the country, we find that their products have increased while their marketable value has diminished, except corn. We have shown that the country has gained, and could not possibly have lost, by the free trade in other articles ; and we now dem a id that this giant monopoly shall cease, that the most essential of all commodities shall not form an exception to our system of freedom,—that the manufacturer of the food of the people shall not enjoy a protection from foreign competition to which every other manufacturer is liable, —that he shall not have the whole supply of an increasing population, while he cannot afford the article except at double the price for which it could be obtained abroad with the fruits of our manufacturing industry. This is one of the great causes, if not the chief cause, of our pre ' sent sufferings. Let the silk-weavers and the glove-manufacturers petition for an abolition of the corn-laws, and they will attain more surely their wished-for relief, than by asking for com mittees of inquiry into their own sufferings, or protection against the competition of foreign in ' dustry. We have only one remark more to make on Tuesday's debate, and it relates rather to per sons than to things. We say, then, that it is difficult to account for the crotchetty and capricious con duct which has been lately observable in divi ' sions in the House of Commons on all questions except Reform. Mr. Hume voted for the Com mittee on the glove trade, notwithstanding his decided opinion that no alteration in the present regulations could be productive of the least good. Mr. Alexander Baring made a long speech in favour of the Committee, and voted against it, being, it is said, saisfiel with the grounds ably stated by Mr. Morrison in opposition to it ; and Mr. Morrison, after having converted his anta gonist, voted himself for it ! Will these gentle men merely explain to the country what they mean by such strange inconsistency ? Times. At GARRICK'S " SHAKSPEARE Jubilee," FOOTE recovered from his accident, and, i,s buoyant as a cork-leg could keep him, sallied forth in all the temptation of cheerfulness and humour to find metal more attractive than declamation. He was immediately recognised, and a tall corpulent gentleman, splendidly dressed and ex tretnely important, advanced from the circle to enjoy a person d intercourse with the wit. FOOTE knew how to throw a vain man off his guatd by a compliment, and said to him, " Pray, Sir, has the county of Warwick the honour of giving birth to you as well as SHA K*PEA RE ? " No," said the uncouth gentleman, " I come out of Essex." " Out of Essex !" exclaimed FOOTE, " and who drove you ?" Roars of laughter immediately drove the overfed and unwieldy animal out of the field he had s o rashly pfiLstumed to occupy. FOOTE afterwards charac terised the whole festival thus :—" A jubilee is a public invitation circulated by puffing, to go post without horses to a borough without representatives—governed by a Mayer and Aldermen, who are not magistrates, to cele brate a great poet, whose own works have made him im mortal, by an ode without poetry—music without melody —dinners without victuals—and lodgings without beds—a masquerade where half the people are barefaced—a horse race up to the knees is water—fire-works extinguished as soon as they are lighted, and a gingerbread amphitheatre, which, like a house of cards, tumbles to pieces as soon as it is finished."—Memoirs and Correspondence of David Garrick. ASMODEUS AT LARGE.—The amusing se ries of papers, after the fashion of LE SAGE, com menced under the above title, in the New Monthly Ma gazine, is continued in the present month's number with increased effect, The following are the topics :—The Warning of Asmodeus against Love—the Fate of Authors below—the Art of Hatching Plots—a View of " Les Antis rlu People"—a "Comite Doctrinaire"—Lou Is PI-Hurry and his Dispositions—the Devil's Remarks on the Loan CHANCELLOR—Apostrophe to Novelty—Chit Chat upon Literature—Morals, &c.—the Devil's admiration of Buck. ingham Palace—the Duke of WELLlNGTON—Considera tions on his probable estimate of mankind, &c. &c. A SPANISH LAWSUIT.—A certain wealthy Spaniard, by his will, not long since, left money to the church sufficient to purchase 12,000 masses for his soul ; but after a few of these had been said the masses were discontinued, and process was brought by the heir to re cover the sum left for the masses, the church having failed to fulfil the condition upon which the money was be queathed. The defence set up was sufficiently singular. Those upon whom the duty of these masses devolved, willing to he excused from the labour, interceded with the Bishop, who interceded with his Holiness the Pope. The defence against the claim was the production of the Pope's letter, which declared, by his Sovereign authority, that the celebration of 12 masses should have the same effect, and be as beneficial to the soul of the deceased as the cele bration of 12,000 masses. The argument of the Counsel in support of the claim was merely non-fulfilment of the stipulated duty ; while the argument for the church was that the deeea‘ed had intended to benefit his soul to a certain extent, for which he left a certain sum of money, and that since his soul was bmefitted to the same extent by the performance of 12, as of 12,000 masses, the inten tion of the deceased was equally fulfilled, and the money, therefore, equally the property of those who fulfilled it. TRAVELS IN ITHACA.—A traveller who has recently visited a part of Greece, gives some interesting details respecting the isle of Ithaca, formerly the kingdom of ULYSSES. Varhe, the capital, is situated in the most picturesque spot, surrounded by an amphitheatre of rocks, which form a small bay sheltered on all sides. The en trance to the bay is so narrow, and the rocks so close toge ther, that it might be taken fora circular lake. The town follows the curve of the foot of the rocks, and extends to the sea, which washes the foundations of the houses, or is kept off by a stone parapet, erected to hinder it from flowing into the principal streets. The very curious anti quities with which the island abounds are the objects which chiefly attract the notice of the traveller. The principal are the palace of ULYSSES, near the bay of Alto; the gardens of LAEKTES, still admired for their fertility ; the rock of llomElt, near the village of Exorii; the fouls tain of Aarratusa, &c.— Literary Gazette. --- During the American revolution, a lady hav ing witnessed the activity of an officer who had ordered the plundering of her poultry-houses, finding an old Allis envy drake, which had escaped the general search, stray ing about the premises, had him caught, and, mounting a servant on horseback, ordered him to follow and deliver the bird to the officer with her compliments, as she con cluded that, in the hurry of departure, it had been left altogether by accident. _ PUNCH AND TODDY.—When people sit down to drink punch they are not so apt, owing to the great length of time which elapses ere such a weak fluid produces intoxication, to be betrayed into excess as when indulging in toddy. In this point of view it may be said to be less injurious ; but let the same quantity of spirits be taken in the form of punch as in that of grog or toddy, and there can be no doubt that in the long run the conse quence will be far more fatal to the constitution. if we commit a debauch on punch, the bad consequences cling much longer to the system than those proceeding from a similar debauch upon any other combination of ardent spirits. In my opinion, the safest way of using those liquids is in the shape of grog. Cold toddy, or a mixture of spirits, cold water, and sugar, ranks next in the scale of safety ; then warm toddy ; then cold punch ; and raw spirit is the most pernicious of all.—Macnisit's Anatomy of Drunkenness. BRAZIL-SLAVE TRADE. Papers received from Rio de Janeiro contain a decree against the slave trade, which the im portations into Brazil have too long and too effectually supported. The law, if faithfully exe cuted, seems well calculated to put an end to the nefarious traffic, for the suppression of which it is enacted. This important document ap pears in the Diario do Governo of the 23d of Nov. last, and is to the following effect : " The Regency, in the name of the Emperor Don Pedro 11., makes known to all the subjects of the empire, that the Ger.eral Assemb'y has decreed and sanctioned the following Lim. " Article I. All slaves who may enter the territory or p erts of Brazil, from abroad, are free. " Are excepted— " 1. Slaves registered in the service of ships hi-longing to a country in which slavery is permitted to exist, while employed in the service of the said vessels. "2. Those who fly from a foreign territory or foreign vessels, who shall be delivered to the masters who claim them, and re-exported from Brazil. " With respect to the ca-es of exception ; first, the list of the number of slaves shall be produced on entering inwards, with the declarations necessary for verifying the same, and proving the identity of the individuals; and on clearing out it shall he ascertained whether the vessel has the lime slaves on board as she had on her arrival. Such of the slaves as may be found after the sailitig of a vessd shall be apprehended, and detained until removed front the country. " 11. rite importers of slaves into Brazil shall be liable to the corporal penalty inflicted by Article 179 of the Criminal Code, on those who reduce free persons to slavery, and to the fine of 200,000 rein per head for each slave imported; besides to the payment of the expense of re-exportation to any part of Africa. This re-exportation the Government shall cause to be cirried into effect with the least possible delay, after treating with authorities in Africa for an asylum to the slaves. Violators of the law shall be conjointly and severally responsible. " 111. Importers are— " 1. Commanders, masters, and mates of vessels. " 2. Whoever knowingly gives or receives th, freight, or pays under any denomination a ship destined for the slave trade. " All persons interested in the transac►ion, and all who knowingly supply funds, er for any motive give aid or favour the same, by assisting the landing, or permitting it on their estates. " 4. Those who purchase as slaves individuals declared free by Article 1. These, however, stand only bound secondarily to make good the expense of re-exportation; nevertheless they remain subject to the other penalties. ‘• IV. It any vessels trading in slaves he taken without the ports of Brazil, by national ships, the same shall be proceeded with, according to the provisions of Articles 1 and 2, as if the seizure had been made within the ports of the empire. " V. Those who give notice of, and supply the means of discovering any number of persons imported as slaves— or who, without having lodged any previous declaration, or obtained any judicial order, shall make any such seizure, —or who shall give, before a justice of the peace, or any local authority, such information of the landing of free pei sons as slaves as may lead to their apprehension, shall receive from the public treasury 30,000 rein for each in dividual so seized. _ _ " VI. The coananders, officers, and sailors of vessels which make seizures of the kind mentioned in Article 4, are entitled to the produce of the fine, which shall be shared by them according to the naval regulation for the division of prize-money. " VII. No freed man, who is not a Brazilian, shall be permitted to land in the ports of Br,ail under any pretext whatever. If such disembark, they shall be immediately re- exported. VIII. The commanders, masters, and mates of the vessels who bring any of the individuals described in the preceding article, shall incur the fine of 100,000 reis for each person so landed, and shall, besides, pay the expences of re-exportation. The informer shall receive from the polbc treasury :30,000 reis for each person. " IX. The produce of the fines imposed by this law, after deducting the rewards granted by Articles 5 and 8, and such expences as may be incurred by the public Treasury, shill he applied to the support of houses for the reception of foundlings, in the respective provinces, or if there be none such, to the hospitals. " The authorities to whom the knowledge and execu tion of the said decree appeetsins, are hereby ordered to execute and cause to be executed the same, and to observe and fulfil all that is herein contained. " The Secretary of State for the Affairs of Justice has ordered it to be printed, promulgated, and circulated. " Given in the Palace of Rio de Janeiro, Nov. 7, 1831, and the 10th year of Brazilian Independence and of the Empire. " FRANCISCO DE LIMA E SILVA. " JOSE DA COSTA CARVALHO. " JOAO BRANLIo MONIZ. " DIEGO ANTONIO FEIGO." THE MARKETS. LEWES M A RKET.—Jan. 31. Beet 3s. (kl. to 4s. tki. Veal 4s. Gd to 56.0 d. Mutton 310 410 I Pork 3 0 4 0 Supply moderately good, and trade dull. COUNTRY CORN MARKETS DURING THE WEEK. Wheat. Barley. Oats. 1 Beans. Per Quarter. 8. to s. 8. s. s. to s. s. to s. Blandford 63 36 25 43 Brigg . 52 58 30 35 16 22 31 35 Cambridge--. 63 34 17 30 Chard 56 62 32 38 18 22 33 38 Huntingdon 58 67 28 39 16 22 29 38 Long Sutton...—. 48 61 16 22 30 40 Louth 56 58 28 33 18 23 30 34 50 62 28 36 16 24 30 34 Newark 56 62 34 41 17 27 33 42 . Nottingham 60 64 36 40 22 26 37 45 Peterborough ...... 50 62 34 as 15 24 28 35 Plymouth 58 64 31 35 19 22 67 43 37 43 Sleaford 65 70 36 39 22 28 41 43 Uppingham 52 (32 30 38 16 24 30 38 Wisbech* 52 62 20 23 30 34 LEEDS CORN 31A RKET.—Jan. 31. Wheat Norfolk and Suffolk, (301 b. , York. and Lincoln. 601 b. Vnrfnlk and Suftblk l'2s. to 318. s to 355. LEEDS CORN MA IL KET.—Jan. 3 54 1. Wheat Norfolk and Suffolk, 6011). , York. and Lincoln. 601 b. Barley, Norfolk and Suffolk l2s. to 31s. Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Grinding Beans Oats, Potatoe —Mealing, For. 12d. tol&t. Eng. 11X01. to 13d. per st. Shelling Rapeseed, English, 16/. to Al Foreign, —l. to —/. per last. LIVERPOOL CORN EXCHANGE.—Jan. 31. WHEAT, English, White, per 701 b. ----- Red 8 9 9 0 ----- Scotch, Welch, and Manx Irish, White 8 4 8 6 ------- Red 8 3 8 5 Foreign 9 0 9 4 OATS, English, Welsh, and Scotch, per 451 b 3 1 3 3 Irish .1 Foreign BARLEY, English, Malting, per Imp. quarter 36 0 38 0 Scotch and Irish, per 601bs. ----- Feeding 4 0 4 4 BEANS, English, per Imperial quarter 4O 0 42 0 Irish, Se . c• Foreign PEASE, English, per Imperial quarter 4O 0 44 0 Foreign FLOUR, English, per 2801 h. Irish OATMEAL., English and Irish, per 2401b5.... INDIAN CORN, per 4401 b. RYE, per Imperial quarter MALT, per Imperial quarter li4roßT Or GRAIN for the Week ending Jan. 30. Wheal Oats. Barley Flour. Oatm eal Qrs. Qrs. Qrs. Foreign, Brls.llrish,&c. Scks.l Loads. 9,x+023,101 587 497 1 3,269 3,750 BIRTHS. On the 10 inst. the wife of F. Gunning, Esq., barrister-at. law, of a son. On the 31st ult. Mrs. D. Barber, of the New-road, Brighton, of a daughter, On the 27th ult. the lady of P. H. Turner, jun. Esq., of a son and heir, at Wonham, near Godstone, Surrey. MARRIED. On the 2d inst. at St. Mary's, Dover, by the Rev. John Maule, John Templeman Manic, Esq., of Madras, to Ellen, second daughter of John Ward, Esq., Collector of his Majesty's Customs. On the 26th ult. at Cold Higham, Northamptonshire, Mr. J. Pinkard, of that place, to Miss M. E. Archbold, third daughter of Mr. W. Archbold, of Brentwood, Essex. On the 2d inst. at St. Pancras Church, C. Dalton, Esq. Captain in the Royal Artillery, son of J. Dalton, Esq., of sleningford Hall, Yorkshire, and Fillingham Castle, Lincolnshire, to Mary, second daughter of the late John Duncan, Esq., Member of the Medical Board, Madras. On the Ist inst at Alhallows, Bread-street, Mr. Franks, of Casterton, to Henrietta, youngest daughter of the late R. Flint. ham, Esq , of Ingthorpe, near Stamford. - - DIED. On the 31st ult. at Roydon, Norfolk, the Right Hon. Lady Margaret Cameron, widow of the late Governor Cameron, and daughter of James 14th Earl of Errol, aged 62. On the 2d inst at Shooter's-hill, Jane, wife of Lieut.-Gcncra 1 Cuppage, of the Royal Artillery. On the Ist inst. at Brook-green-house, Hammersmith, J. C. Esq., eldest son of Kinchant, Esq., of Park-hall, and Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, in his 84th year. Lewisham, (formerly of Edmund On the 31st ult. Caroline, slaughter of Mr. C. Stevens, of Kensington-gore. ed . Brookes, 3B, the 0 Oniii t e t t 11 1,,, e e J 2 2(. s jt t L l h i ult.l3ietB. Bennett, Margaret Orleans, aorfetl ,Ah on % p. L e.d . pa ß i auecgleihs:teestrtta,oi of ell Dl r. r . a ~,,, of Euston-square. Hall, O n the Oxford)3lst ult. s. at sca Lee-lace, e i c e t - t l , a i t i e ls , q . , aged 80. PRINTED AND PURLISIIED BY MURDO YOUNG, AT TIM SUN OFFICE, 112, STRAND, LONDON. i i.