The Sun. — London, England, 1832-09-03 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. One of our friends at Birmingham was so kind as to send us, on Friday evening, along with a.similar favour to our morning contempo raries, a prodigiously long report of the great battle which took place at Birmingham on Wed nesday and Thursday last, on the subject of the currency, between a celebrated banker of that town and the man of the Gridiron, or the person whom we used formerly to denominate " the butcher of Kensington.' It is not for us to find fault with our contemporaries for what they insert or for what they omit. We leave that matter to be settled between them and their readers, and if the latter are satisfied, so are we ; but we owe it to our Birmingham correspondent to explain in this public manner, as we haVe not his private address, why we declined a well-meant offering, which others accepted, lest we should he passed over when our correspondent has something better to communicate. We need not plead on this occasion that we are enemies of the ring—that we never report pugilistic con tests, though " the Champion of England" be engaged in the fight,—that nobody takes our paper for " Life in London," or for a sporting magazine,—that even the great battle which took place at Leamington or Stafford, some years ago, between a celebrated bear whose name (so short-lived is fame!) we have forgotten, and two as celebrated mastiffs, whose memory has likewise perished, occupied but a very few lines in our columns,—that we have a kind of instinctive horror at recording the feats of all animals, whether bipeds or quadrupeds, who tear each other for money,—and that we do not reckon our Kensington butcher, who handed his bat round to receive the shil lings, though matched with a more ho nourable opponent, as any exception to to our general rule. We regard the challenge and the battle about Bank-notes and currency in Birmingham as not more useful, and certainly not mote amusing, than the scenes in the West minster bear-garden, which some years age' fur nished illustrations to the Hon. Member for Galway in introducing his Bill for the protection of the brute creation. But this, though it appear a sufficient excuse, is not our sole or even our chief reason for reft!ising the report of our Birmingham correspon dent. Upon reading it over, we found the speech of Mr. Attwood—though an able defence of paper money—so long, that it Would have cost us a great deal of labour to abridge it, and, moreover, so perfect a repetition of : his former speeches, that an abridgment would have been useless ; while the disjointed trash of the other gladiator—his coarse and ig norant anti-paper antagonist—was a Mere hash of the Register, only fit for putting below his own " gridiron." Of Mr. Jones we shall say nothing, as his learned dissertation upon money, copper, iron - , cowries, and gold, though formed of good materials, and polished with much care, was scarcely a weapon fit for brandishing in such a contest. This gentle and harmless corn batant could not even act like one of those handilleros, who at a Spanish bull-fight engage the attention of the bull and the spectators dur ing the inaction of the picadores and the 'ma tador. His interlude was entirely thrown away. And what do our readers, who are not ypt in the secret, think that all this hubbub was about, which amused some of the curious people of Birmingham—which called some of them from their workshops and others from their counting houses—which excited their interest nearly as much as a meeting of their Political Union, and which procured some hundred shillings folii the man of the gridiron ? 'Why, it was nothing else than a question of robbery ! It was nothing else than to decide by a show of hands,' in a Mr. Beardsworth's Repository at Birmingham, whether the national creditor, and all the Other creditors on long contracts, should be plundered by unlimited issues of 1/. Bank-notes, or e‘ by equitable adjustment." But, lest we be accused of not being a fair bottle-holder between the parties, we shall give the subject of diS"pute, as settled by their respective friends. The question in dispute was as follows :—whether it is 'best for the safety and welfare of the nation, to at tempt to relieve existing distress by an action on the currency, or by an equitable adjustment of the taxes, rents, contracts, and obligations which now strangle the industry of the country ?" 4 By an action on the currency," answers Mr. Att wood ; " by equitable adjustment," repliei the man of the gridiron—and the lists are foamed accordingly. The word " strangle" is not; properly introduced into such a question of plunder, but it ought to be applied to some thing else than the " industry of the country," i.vhich can never be relieved by any act of injus tice and spoliation. By " an action on thecur . rency," Mr. Attwood means a return to small note circulation, and an issue of paper money similar in amount or effect to that which existed before the repeal of the Bank restriction act in 1819—an issue which raised so high the nominal prices of all commodities, and depreciated so much the exchangeable value of our existing circulation. Such an "action on the currency' might be properly represented by that " action" which would beat a sovereign into gold-leaf; and insist on paying in surface instead of weight. By "equitable adjustment" the man of the gridiron means a forcible reduction of the dividends of the national debt to less than half their present amount, and a consequent entire destruction of public credit,—an abolition of all existing con tracts between man and man, or between corpo rations and individuals—and a new arbitrary settlement of all the money obligations of society' which had been formed a week previous td the appointment of his said commission, or the esta blishment of his " committee of public safety." Both the combatants proceed on the undeniable_ fact—a fact not discovered by either of them, and for the announcement of which neither of them has any merit—that our currency suffered an enormous depreciation during the state of things which succeeded the Bank restriction act of 1797 (and which operated nearly as an entire establishment of a paper currency for 20 or 30 years), and that' - it acquired a proportionable rise in value from the restoration of a 'metallic standard in 1819. Mr. Attwood, who is really a man of strong intellect, and of extensive financial knowledge, traces the progress of the deprecia tion, and of the recent rise, with great truth and correctness, and we are willing to allow the jus tice of nearly all that he states against the Con duct of the Bank, and the ignorance of the Ad ministration at successive periods of the operas tion. His citation of an opinion of ours, _ex pressed in some recent remarks on Mr. Mundell's pamphlet, is perfectly allowable for the extent of the depreciation,—but we pro test against any allegation of having changed any of our opinions, or having hinted at the possibility of concurring with him in his practical conclusion, though we ad mitted that the act of 1819 raised the value of the existing currency much more than 4,4ser cent., or, in other words, than the difference then existing between the market and the Mint price of gold. We never have allowed for a mo ment the justice of returning upon that decision at a4'Subsequent . period, - so, - as again 10 un settle the value of the currency, in favour of the parties who were then alleged to suffer by the change. Things have now adjusted themselves to each other—the distress of the transition has been severe, but its very severity is a sufficient reason 'against its renewal in the eternal cycle which Mr. Attwood and his partisans would form. -If we have variations in the supply of the precious metals from the mines—if one year we have 48,000,000 of dollars, (or 10,000,0001.) sterling, and the next, by political convulsions,we are reduced to a fourth of that quantity—we become aware of the fact, that the labour of pro curing the precious metals has become less pro ductive, and we adapt ourselves to a change of circumstances in which the whole of the com mercial and civilized world are equally interested as ourselves. But if the Bank of England can raise its issue to 30,000,0001. one year, and in three or four years reduce them to 16,000,0001. —if country banks one year have 20,000,0001. of paper afloat, and the next only 7,000,0001. or B,ooo,oool.—what vigilance canguardagainst this " pestilence walking in darkness,"—what fortune can withstand its fury ? Yet this is the pestilence which Mr. Attwood wishes to let loose upon us. Because the value of money was raised thirteen years ago, and all debt ors were sufferers to the amount of the rise, he now proposes to reduce the value of the currency, that all the former sufferers may gain equally by the fall, In other words, because the debtors in all fixed money contracts were robbed in 1819, he proposes that the creditors in all fixed money contracts shall be robbed in 1832, without considering that debts and credits have changed hands so often, and to so great an extent in the interval, as to leave little chance of compensation for the right parties. ttdmitting, therefore, that the experi ment of 1819 was rash (which we admit only for the sake of argument, because we have as yet seen no better remedy for a crying evil), still we think that Mr. Attwood's proposal in 1832 would be more rash, with the experience of 13 years to guide us. In the abstract proposition that, independently of the public burdens created, and the private contracts made in one kind of currency to be discharged in another, there is a positive necessity of having a different kind of money than that of the precious metals to enable us to conduct or to measure the immense com merce of this country—a proposition which Mr. Attwood broadly asserts—we can by no means agree. The very reason which fie gives for his opinion of the necessity of such enlarged circu lation—namely, the almost inconceivable extent of business, amounting to more than 10,000,0001. a day, transacted by bankers' cheques and other paper credits in London—would appear to us a proof that the circulation might be diminished without any great inconvenience. No actual money, or at least a very small floating ba lance, is sufficient to adjust an amount of business greater than that which ever took place in the most extensive empires of former eras. The effect of these abridged modes of business, is itself equivalent to the action of an immense mass of currency ; and, therefore, in stead of requiring its extension, may be regarded as supplying its place. Of the man of the gridiron and his" equitable adjustment" scheme, we need say nothing more than what we have already stated. He is totally incapable of un derstanding correctly, or of explaining systemati cally, any general question ; and though he has been writing about currency for the last 20 or 30 years, there is probably not a man in Eng land, of ordinary capacity, who is less acquainted with the principles or the details of the subject than himself. He could not even conceive the possibility of a gold circulation, which we have had for the last 11 or 12 years, being restored to England. He even wrote several Registers, to show that the thing was chimerical and ab surd—end we dare say that he is at this moment in as great ignorance of the manner in which gold got into the circulation, as a certain royal personage is represented maliciously to have been of how the apples got into an apple dumpling. Then to talk about " equitable adjustment" of . the transactions of 30 years in a great nation, in the metropolis of which, as Mr. Attwood states, more than 4,000,000,0001. of balances are settled every year—where property so frequently changes hands—where funds and capital every day alter in value—where—but we are ashamed to argue with such an antagonist, or against such exploded absurdities.— Times. It is well observed by a northern contemporary (the (aledonictn Mercury) that " Don Pedro may repulse an attempt to carry Oporto by storm, and his brave band may cover themselves with glory ; indeed, we feel confident that this will be the case. But he cannot remain long cooped up within the walls of a single town. His means will in time become exhausted, and his soldiers are not immortal. There is no in stance in history of an open town being held for any considerable period against the force of a whole kingdom. A number of circumstances must unite to render this impossible. A perma nent state of siege is intolerable even a pro tracted investment might drive the inhabitants to despair. Upon what grounds, then, can Don Pedro build any hopes of ultimate success ? We answer, on foreign assistance alone. And is it probable that this will be afforded to him ? We fear not. England is pledged to neutrality, and France, situated as she now is, will scarcely stir in a matter, which, in all probability, would lead to a war with Spain, without the concurrence and approbation of England," A meeting to recommend the interposition of the Go vernment of this country in behalf of the Constitutional Portuguese has been an nounced ; but we do not anticipate much from such a meeting. We wish all success to the cause of Don Pedro ; but beyond good wishes we would not go even in his case ; and we are much mistaken if this be not the general feeling of the people of this country.—Mornin g ; Chron. It happens rather unfortunately for our con. temporary (the Standard) that he has to advo cate the cause of West Indians, who will allow no Bible reading to their slaves, and Irish Orangemen, who, till lately, were almost against ail Bible reading, but who now insist that there not only shall be no education without Bible reading, but that the whole Bible shall be put into the hands not only of Protestants, but also of Catholics, in order to do violence to their consciences. No reflecting person ever doubted that the object of the Orangemen in forcing .the whole Bible on the Catholics was the same; as that of the West India planters—to prevent edu cation. Indeed our Contemporary has a theory to justify the opposition to education—" We are persuaded (he says) that mere literary edu cation—that is, education without religion,—is education against religion, and that where such prevails, the best educated will be the least reli gious. "Let our Contemporary suppose the case of an individual, whose principles are unsettled, and whose mind has not received from educa tion any bias, one way or the other. Does he believe that such an individual, thrown upon a promiscuous library of knowledge, as a matter of necessity would reject the evil and choose the good ?" If a man possess a sound mind, he must naturally be anxious to inquire into that which is of so much importance to him as future happiness or misery ; and why we are to take it for granted he must choose the evil, we cannot understand. The presumption is that the truth will prevail. Our Contemporary may as well assume, that if a man is free to use his legs, he will run into a ditch, as that he will neces sarily reject the truth, because his powers of discernment have been improved by education. " The best educated classes, as far as mere li terary education goes, are not the most reli gious," says our Contemporary. The best edu cated classes, he will tell us, are those who have been educated at Oxford and Cambridge. Does he mean to say that they had not a reli gious as well as a literary education ? If he says they had a religious as well as literary education, how happens it that they are not the most religious as well as the most literary ? With all de ference to our Contemporary, the whole of his argument is pure quibble. There may be oral instruction, and instruction by means of leetters. The latter must be, in many respects, better than the former. Having a better instrument for acquiring instruction, religion will of course gain by the improved instrument. The man who can read has great advantages, in prosecuting any mental inquiry, over the man who cannot read. Indeed, we should say distinctly, that the man who can not read must take his religion on trust from another; and that he iwmerely Catholic, Pro testant, Hindoo, or Mussulman, because he has been thrown among Catholics, Prote,tants, Hin doos, cr Mussultnans. The Archbishop of Can terbury, when Bishop of London, in a charge to his clergy, termed religion a countervailing power to education, assuming, like our contem porary, that education, without religion, was worse than no education at all. This doctrine of the Right Reverend Father smells very like infi delity. At all events, it betrays no great confi dence in the superiority of religion over infidelity. Morning Chronicle. It really seems as if Louis Philip was most anxious to prove to all the world that the hosti lity with which Charles X. regarded the freedom of the press was not more malevolent than his own ; yet Charles X. reigned by " divine right," and Louis Philip has no title to a Crown, but what he derives from a revolution—a revo lution, too, which the press chiefly brought about, by the devoted and heroic resistance which a few Opposition papers made to the illegal ordinance by which liberty of opinion was to have been suppressed for ever in France. But among the papers which offered that heroic resistance to the despotic ukase of the Polignac Administra tion, none was more distinguished than the Na tional—the very paper which the Government of Louis Philip has just now selected to try the experiment of silencing the press, by holding over it the terrors of a " law of blood." The system of State prosecution for opinion, which was one of the principal wheels of the machi nery of Casimir Perier 's Government, has been worked almost as actively as ever, since that charlatan-statesman and slave of the Holy Alli ance has been called to his account. It was the principal editor of the National, M. Carrel, who threw down a gauntlet to Casimir Perier, which the latter had not, with all his boasting, the courage to take up. By so doing, that gentleman, at great personal risk, rendered an essential service to all the independent Editors in France—yet bad as Casimir Perier was, he had never dared to have an editor prosecuted for any political opinion circulated through his paper upon a ca pital charge. No— Louis Philip himself—the King of the barricades, gives the first. example of this sort, and perhaps the last. The worst construction that we should have thought the most astute Crown-lawyer could have put upon the paragraphs in the National, which have been capitally prosecuted, would have been one of sedition. Not satisfied with that, Louis Philip demands the life of the Editor and Printer, He calls in, as his auxiliary, against the too-free opinions of the Press, the extermi nating terrors of the guillotine. Charles X. was more humane, for it was more merciful to put down the Press altogether, than to make the lives of those who conduct_ it answerable for its opinions. When we speak of Louis Philip as the author of the prosecution of M. Paulin, the responsible Editor, and M. Hingray, the Printer of the National, on a capital charge, we do so because Louis Philip takes upon himself to act as Minister of State, and is in fact the Pre sident of his own Cabinet Council. We would not make the King of England accountable for any act of state, because he is obliged to act ac cording to the advice of his Ministers—the Constitution not allowing him any power of con trolling their deliberations. If, indeed, he does not like the advice which his Ministers give him he can dismiss them and take others ; but this only shifts the responsibility from one set of men fo another. He cannot act for himself. He must have advisers accountable to the law, as his own person is inviolable; and it is in this sense the maxim is to be understood, that " the King can do no wrong." One of our Govern ment Evening Papers, very recently, in advert ing to the leading part which the Citizen King of the French takes in the deliberations of the Cabinet Council, spoke with admiration of the ability which he showed in out-arguing his Mi nisters. It was a silly commendation. If Louis Philip had common sense he would not, through mere vanity, play a part which may involve him in the most awkward responsibility. The part which Louis Philip took at the time of the treason of Dumourier is matter of history —no penal prosecution can erase the memo rial of it from an imperishable record. The prosecution of M. Paulin and M, Hingray only more decidedly revives it, and their ac quittal heaps upon the " Citizen-King" and his Government new disappointment and mortifi cation. If this capital prosecution had suc ceeded, every Editor of a newspaper who wrote or published such sentences as some of those charged against the defendants should understand the " liberty of the Press," as granted by the " Citizen-King," with the guillotine in the per spective. Two of the sentences prosecuted were, it appears, " care must be taken not to make moderate men violent by laughing at modera tion," " in the present order of thi ngs t h ere are two andwointerests, two principles to conciliate, if possible ; and in favour of one of which events may render it one day necessary to decide." Only think, English reader, of the sort of freedom of the Press which the " Liberal" —the revolu tionary Government of France allows, when the blood of the Editor and the Printer of a news paper are demanded for such sentences as these ! If Louis Philip really desires to set the Press at defiance, we can tell him how to do it without penal prosecutions. Let him observe the promises which he gave at the time of the revolution, and which he has most shamefully falsified— let him cease to be the enemy of constitutional freedom, and the slave of the Holy Alliance, and he may smile at the censures of the Press—if the Press should still be censorious.—Morning Herald. After the decisive evidence that we gave on Saturday respecting the opinions of Mr. Jones .Lloyd and Mr. Thomas Tooke, as we believe it to have been given before the Committee of the House of Commons on the affairs of the Bank, it is scarcely necessary to strengthen it by further opinions; but these Gentlemen, we understand, were so strongly supported by Mr. Glynn, Mr. Rothschild, Mr. Grote, and Mr. Gurney, as to the inconvenience of more than one bank of issue. in London, that it would scarcely be doing justice to the case to omit what we believe will be found to have been their evidence. Is is under stood that Mr. Grote had the question directly put to him as to what he thought of the policy of having more than one joint-stock bank of issue in the metropolis. We believe the answer of that well-informed individual to have been that he should considerit decidedly mischievous.Helcould see no benefit to he derived from the multipli cation of banks of issue, and a considerable chance of evil. Upon being asked what were the advantages of having only one joint-stock bank of issue in London, and what he thought would be the disadvantages of having more than one established there, Mr. Grote's an swer, we believe, was, that if there be only one bank of issue, the circulation is considered as a whole, which would be impossible if it were distributed among several banks. With one bank of issue only, if that bank be placed under the control of publicity, there is a much better secu rity for the circulation being administered upon fixed principles, and enlarged or contracted with a constant reference to the foreign exchanges, than there would be if there were several banks. No one among the competing banks would be either able or willing to measure its own sepa rate issues with reference to that total of circulating medium which might be proper for the country at the moment. Each bank would study principally the means of increasing its own part of the circulation, and would be tempted to extend its issues, not at the time when it might be desirable for the circulation generally that they should be extended, but at any time when there was a prospect of unusual profit or of acquiring new connections, taking the chance of being able to supplant the notes of other banks. This we believe to have been the opinion of Mr. Grote, delivered before the Committee, this Gentle man, as well as Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Tooke, being favourable to changes in the internal ar rangements of the Bank, and, consequently, free from any biassed opinion in favour of that establishment. Mr. Samuel Gurney, the bill broker, is understood to have given an opinion equally decided. Upon being asked what was his opinion as to the policy of allowing other banks in the metropolis besides the Bank of England to issue notes without any re striction as to the number of their partners, he has stated that he did not think it would be beneficial' to the public, his opinion being that the notes of the Bank of England, founded as they were, were the best circulating medium the country could have. He did not think such an admixture would tend to any advantage, but the contrary. Upon being asked, as it is under. stood, whether the competition would be pro ductive of inconvenience, Mr. Gurney said that he could not point out the practical inconveni ence. The present system worked exceedingly well, and he should be sorry to see it endan gered by putting a variety of notes in competi tion with each other in the city of London. No additional advantage could possibly accrue from such a measure. Mr. George Carr Glynn is supposed to have said that the existence of more than one bank of issue in London would expose the commercial world to very great fluctuations, and the bankers in particular to very great incon venience in their details of business ; because if there were three or four banks of issue in existence at the same time carrying on business in London, it would be necessary for n the private banker to retain in reserve notes belonging to each of those banks, to meet the wishes of parties presenting cheques ; for an individual presenting a cheque might de mand payment in a particular note, and either that note or gold must be given to him ; and therefore the private banker must retain three or four times as much as he does at present, or a very large amount in gold. The further mis chief would be, that it would produce such great inconvenience to the private banker, and would so much diminish his deposits, that he would be in a great measure deprived of supplying a por tion of the trade in London, which at present entirely depends upon him for the necessary ac commodation, and which is given through the medium of his deposits. The opinion of exten sively informed practical men ofbusiness, however they may differ in details of minor management, is so decided in objecting to more than one bank of issue in London that it is almost a work of su pererogation to add what we believe was the testi mony of Nlr. Rothschild upon this point, and he is supposed to have said that he thought it must be left to one bank in London the issue of paper, because if this operation were left to se veral banks every one would be jealous of the other, and if the Bank of England had 4,000,0001. of gold, another would have 4,200,000/. ; but if the strings were all in one hand, and if one bank hold the specie, it can be useful to the Government, to the country, and to every body. If there were several banks, one of them might act in an imprudent manner, and cause a run upon itself, which would materially prejudice the others, and shake confidence to a great ex tent ; and there was more steadiness insured to the circulation by having one bank of issue in the metropolis than by having several. We will now proceed to the evidence upon one other head of the inquiry, viz., the propriety of giving periodical statements generally of the affairs of the Bank, but more particularly the amount of bullion held against the issues of paper. Upon this point there appears to be a considerable diversity of opinion among practical me n. We shall first call attention to the opi nions of thOse who consider publicity to be attended with pernicious consequences. Of the witnesses examined upon this head of the in quiry we understand that Messrs. Rothschild, Gurney, Glynn, and Sir Coutts Trotter, were a gainst publicity, and Messrs. Grote, Tooke, and Lloyd, were in favour of it. Mr. Roths child was asked whether there would be any dis advantage in the Bank of England being re quired to publish, from time to time, an exact i s t i c i c o o n u l d n t includeof the whole t e o m f e i n t s t n t rfa allns a i c t t s i p ons, u s , b i w e hi n c Id) private securities, the amount of deposits, the amount of bank-notes issued, and the amount of bullion held by the Bank. To these various in terrogatories Mr. Rothschild said he thought it would be a danger ous pl an , ar i s i ng f rom th e impossibility of preventing a run being made upon the Bank whenever it was ascertained that the specie they held on hand was not sufficient to meet the demand which either internal or ex ternal circumstances might create when their other assets could not be rendered available. To this general proposition Mr. Rothschild adhered by a great variety of illustrations, which we have not time to-day to enter upun ; to-morrow we shall return to this subject, and in the meantime we must observe that if publicity is to be given to the affairs of the Bank, it is not easy to urge with justice concealment for joint-stock banks and private bankers ; but, as our first object to morrow will be this head of evidence, we close our remarks with the practical reason for non publicity given by Mr. Rothschild.—Morning Post. SUMMER ASSIZES. NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—Yonr, Aua. 31. Luke Jackson was charged with feloniously cut ting and stabbing George Eastwood, with intent to kill or do him some grievous bodily harm. The prosecutor and the prisoner are both glaziers and painters, residing at Brandsburton, near Bever ley, and on the night of the 2d of June last they were together at a public-house at that place kept by a person of the name of Whiting. Some angry words there passed between them. At the request of a man of the name of Hall, prisoner was induced to get up and go away; but on leaving the house, he said he would fix the prosecutor. In about a quar ter of an hour afterwards a woman of the name of Wallis went to the public-house and communicated to the prosecutor, in the presence of several other persons, that the prisoner had been knocking at the ►window of prosecutor's house, and had said to his wife, " Thou must get up, I am going to murder thy hwband." In consequence of this he rose up to go home. The company not thinking it safe for him to go alone, volunteered to accompany him. The prisoner came up to them as they were goit.g, but nothing at that time took place. However, when they had got between 30 and 40 yards from the door, the prisoner ran after them, sprung upon the prosecutor's neck, and cut or stabbed him upon the back of the head, under the left jaw, and also upon the forehead, and under the right eye. A surgeon proved that the injury received by the pro secutor was severe and dangerous. The prisoner was apprehended, and, upon searching him, a razor was found in his coat pocket. The prisoner, when called upon for his defence, said he was intoxicated at the time.—The Jury found the prisoner Guilty. Sentence not passed, Elizabeth Jobbling was convicted of concealing the birth of her illegitimate child, and was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and hard labour in the Howe of Correction. GOODBURNE, ESQ., V. BOWMAN AND ANOTHER. This was an action to recover damages for the publication of a libel. The defendant pleaded the general issue and a justification. The alleged libel was contained in a letter to the inhabitants of Richmond, which was published in the shape of a pamphlet by the defendants. It ap peared that for a great length of time it has been the practice of the corporation of Richmond, to purchase a large quantity of coals in the summer season, and to sell them in the winter to the poor inhabitants at a low price. The Mayor has the dis tribution of these coals, and the difference between the price paid by him for the coals, and that at which they are sold, is defrayed out of the corpo rate funds. The Mayor is elected on the 11th of January in each year, and the distribution of coals by him takes place a few days after he goes out of office. Some time ago a Mr. George Croft was elected a Common Councilman of the borough, and he directed his attention to the remedy of what he conceived to be an abuse in the management of the funds, and particularly to the mode of paying the mayor for the coals sold in the manner above•men tioned to the poor. This lead to a controversy be tween an attorney of the name of Hunter and Mr. Croft, and it was in a letter written by the latter in the course of the dispute that the libel appeared. The Jury found for the plaintiff, Damages, One Farthing. SATURDAY, SEPT. 1. SIMPSON V. RENTON. This was an action to recover a penalty of .501., for taking the defendant to prison within 24 hours after his arrest. The action was founded upon 32 Geo. 11., cap. 28, section 2, by which it is enacted, " That no sheriff's officer, bailiff, &c., shall carry any person so arrested by them to prison within 24 hours from the time of the arrest, unless the party arrested shall refuse to be carried to some conve nient dwelling-house within three miles from the place where such arrest shall be made;" and the same Act of Paihment, in a subsequent section, gives a penalty of 501. to the party aggrieved against any party so offending. The plaintiff, in the present case, was arrested by the defendant on the 2d of May at Harrowgate. After waiting three or four hours, and no bail being procured, the defendant and his assistant conveyed the plaintiff to Knaresborough Castle, which is a public gaol. The defendant's house formed part of the building, and the plaintiff was taken there, and there treated as the other prisoners for debt. It was objected that the gaoler's house, though it made part of the prison, did not, within the meaning of the Act of Parliament, mean a goal. The Learned Judge reserved this point, and directed a verdict for the plaintiff for one penalty of 50/., sub ject to the opinion of the Court above. INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT, SEPT. 1. Tryall Hall was opposed by two creditors, Mr. David Law and Mr. Hodgson, in person; he was supported by Mr. COOKE. The insolvent had been formerly a bankrupt; he had taken the benefit of the Insolvent Act in 1830, and he now again appeared upon his petition to be discharged. Mr. David Law himself had also taken the benefit of the Insolvent Act. The debt due to Law from the insolvent was 3431., for goods, &e. The debt due to Hodgson was 181. 14s. The debts of the insolvent were altogether 2,1041.; his cre dits, good, bad, and indifferent, amounted to 1,8201. It appeared that the insolvent was a draper, and dealer in Manchester goods; his son had been em ployed by him in his business, but had robbed bim of goods and money to the amount of several hun dred pounds, and to this he attributed his present insolvency; he had traced his son to " Friendly place," where he found him spending his plunder with several prostitutes, &c., but he got none of his money back. The CHIEF COMMISSIONEIt observed, that this . case must for the present be adjourned, until the consent of three-fourths of the creditors should be obtained to the discharge of the insolvent. Thomas Collier, formerly landlord of the Royal Oak, Back-hill, Hatton-garden, was opposed by Mr. i WOODROFFE for the creditors; and su pp orted by Mr. CooKE. The opposing creditors were princi epxailalytabd taakerstL e deposited in the h ands of Collier 701.; the societ y had not been e nrolled according to Act of Parlia ment ; in conseque nce of which, Walter Rattly, one o i f nso w lv h e o r m it's a house. FriendTlyhe Society bakers i hadad of m etnhcee su bscribers e t t i o o n t h i e n fund, the P W a 'a la s e o e bl c ig e ed arttofecrotm he reco very of part of the money. The action was referred, and he took out execution for 231., but ob tained nothing, as the insolvent in the meantime sold his house and business, &e. to a M r . Under wood, who succeeded him, for 1601. Of the , Mr. Inglis, a baker at Hampste a d, to w h om h e owed 761., got 201. as a compositi on f or hi s d e b t. Mr. Inglis had been security for him, a n d was a con- Aberdeen ... Berwick-- Coldstream Cupar ..—....—, Dundee Elgin 50 58 47 ,49 46 '5O 68 71 60 72 60 62 57 60 40 55 40 45 51 61 of the ml 4 23 27 29 29 30 25 28 23 24 23 • 25 30 34 34 35 28 30 30 32 20 24 27 39 28 33 as ure vai 1 1 17 21 15 18 16 18 22 25 21 22 18 21 20 24 16 18 25 32 21 25 ies throuj - - 22 24 22 23 IllatmeaL 30 3 1 34 31 Inverness.—. Kelso .«...«... Kirkaldy,««. Perth .....w.w o , k. The size EDINBUFI We had a good the sales in general Wheat. First Bos Od Second 74s Od Third 72s Od iGH CORN MARK supply of all kinds were rather heavy. Barley. Oats. 36s Od 26s 84 34s Od 24s Od 25s Od 22s Od ..... ea.., a... 23 30 ••••• 23 30 46 ••••• 23 25 45 48 43 44 26 30 bout the countrf. ?:T.—Aug. 29. of Grain today, an 4 Pease. 34s Od 23s Od 32s Od Beans. 34s Od als Od 32s 04X PRICES OF PROVISIONS, RC. Beef, per lb. ..., Os. 3id.toOs.6d. Freshßutter,lb.s.lod. to Is. ( kl• Mutton------ 0 4 0 6 Salt 0 9 /) 10 0 5 0 8 Ditto, per est. 0 0 74 0 Pork 0 4 0 6 Eggs, per doz. 0 8 0 0 Lamb, per. qr. 0 9 3 0 OatStrawckpl.)lo 6 II 0 Tallow, cwt.... 31 0 35 0 Wheat Ditto...lo 6 ji 0 Quartern Loaf 0 9 010 Barley Ditto 0 0 9 6 Potatoes, 1711 b . 0 4 0 0 Hay,per 0 7 1 0 EDINBURGH MEAL The supply of Oatmeal at 01 and sold readily, at last week's ] Per Sack of 280Ib. Imp. First Oatmeal £l 17 0 Second ditto 1 15 0 Barleymeal 1 12 0 Peas era eal 1 6 0 Pot Barley—No. 1, per cwt. 13 GLASGOW CORN Our Grain market continues du Wheat, per 2101 b. s. d. s. d. British, old 250t030 0 MA RKET.--Aug. 24. is day's market was rather large. prices. Per Stone of 141 b. Imp. A First Oatmeal .... . £0 2 ‘: Second ditto Barleymeal 0 1 1 0 Peasemeal 0 1 7 .-2d. 15.4.-3(1.20s --Peall 24g._ new 30 0 33 0 Canada, free 27 0 29 0 Irish Barley, per 3201 b. English 0 0 Scottish 2B 0 30 0 Irish MARKEL—Aug. 29. 1, with little alteration in prices, Oats, per 2641 b. s . o. s. c'; Irish l4 0 to 17 v„ British 0 " Beans, per 2601 b. English ....... 18 0 IS 6 Scottish Pease, Scottish 16 0 1 9 "a Oatmeal, per 1401 b. 15 0 )6% Flour, per 2801 b 4B 0 50 v CORNWALL MARKETS. Talmo—Wheat (average) 244. 9d.—Barley, 13s.—Oats, 9s. 6d Sr.A lISTELL—Mh eat, to 25a.—Barley,-a. to 125.--Oat" Os. to 9s. 3d. PENZANCE—Wheat, 265. to 28s.—Barley, —a. to 138.—s Oath Os. to 9s. Od.—Beef and Mutton, 2 5 d.. 0d t0 .... 6d. 8 — ari P e 0 y r , k 11 , 8 0d.. 3a t0_ 02 44 1 : Butter, 10d. per lb. LAuNcEsToN—Wheat (average) is 7s. Od.—Beef, sd.—Mutton, 6d. LmEEARD—Wheat, —s. to 245. 6d.—Barley, 13s. 6d...-Oats, to Bs. Od. BoostlN—Wheat (average) 245. Od.—Barley, 12s. 6d.—Oats, HELSTON—Wheat, 255. 64.—Barley, 14s Od. Sr. COLUM B—Wheat, 245. to 25s.—Barley, 12s, to 136.A 3 g ek and Mutton, sd. to 6d.—Veal, Od.—Lamb, Od. MINING INTELLIGENCE. Tons, C wt. Quantity of Copper Ore sold at Ftedruth laat Thunlay 9,494 2 Quantity of fine 236 v Average Produce ••••••••••••••• .~ 1 . 0 •••••..••••.•••••••••••............. • 9% to. Amount of Sale, 17,5931. 9s. 6d.—A verage S tandard. 1044 19s. Sir THOMAS MORE at the most solemn mop ments of his life was disposed to indulge his eustomad humour. When in the Tower denied pen and ink, 11° wrote a letter to his beloved MARGARET, and tells ke r that " this letter is written with a ceal, but that to er, press my love a peck of coals would not suffice."--ae" Entertaining Press. A TOUCH OF THE MARVELLOUS.—We ar e informed that one day last week, at Warleigh, the - thatc ll of a haystack was suddenly lifted off by a whirlwind, 0 3 carried entire to the opposite bank of the river. A 10 9 who was near was obliged to clasp his hands round a trge to prevent his being carried into the water;'and a be who was also on the spot, was obliged to throw himself! : the ground and cling firmly to the long grass , t o avoi d being whirled along by the fury of the tvind......8 0 ' Chronicle. On Saturday morning Bath was visited by terrific thunder storm, which lasted for about a quarter . ° I an hour; and in the afternoon about half past three, D P :, and rain fell in to rren t s . At D un k erton, three 11P137 were stripped of th e i r roo f s b y t h e v i o l ence o f t h e s t o r „ r„ and a large tree was s hi vere d near R a d stoc k b y t h e lig' At the same time, Warleigh was visited by a tor nado, which tore off the half of a hay-rick belonging?, farmer KING, and scattered it to the distance of half ; mi'e. The water of the can a l was , a t th e same reorney; drawn up in the form of a t a ll py ram id, an d p ass eog e to were obliged to cling to trees to prevent being swept n' the water.—Bath Herald. SIR W. SCOTT.—JAMES HOGG, in a ple il ; sant Paper on the statistics of Selkirkshire, in the o, number of The Quarterly Journal of .AgricatOu r s l having occasion to make mention of Sir WALTuii, among the eminent persons born in that county, write follows :—" To speak of Sir W. ScoTT as a literary 3 ' would be the height of .absurdity in a statistical writer' In that light he is known and duly appreciated a ll ell the world, wherever letters have found tluir way. I shall say, that those who know him only by tb few hundreds of volumes that he has published, know ow" the one half of the man, and that not th e b est h a lf neithe A r , As a friend he is steady, ca ndid, a nd s i ncere , expre sst his sentiments freely, whether favourable or the reve r a He is no man's enemy, though he may be to his princir d l,, and I believe that he never in his life tried to do an i° 0 vidual hurt. His impartiality as a judge is so well koo$ 1 ;, that no man, either rich or poor, ever attempts to 0 0 1 him from the right onward path. If he have a feeling_i partiality in his whole disposition, it is for poacheri fishers ; at least I know that they all think he has a felO i feeling with them—that he has a little of the old 00 0 0 1 blood in him, and, if he had been able, would have' be e p a desperate poacher and black-fisher. Indeed, it bat' h eed reported that when he was yhoeunwga,dhheaTembeeteinmeas: ulenites,,y a kipper, and made a shift to shoot a rnoorfowl drift.' He was uncommonly well made. I never ii - co a li m b, loins, and shoulders so framed for ientncol er6 o strength. And, as Tout PURDIE observed, he had na' been crippled, "--Athenaum. BIRTHS. On the ht Inst. the lady of s: F. T. Wilde, Esq., of W .- Inn, Fleet-street, of a son. rc49. At On the Ist inst. the lady of Captain F. E. Vernon I - la R.N., of a son. Al 0 1 e n n h E s e 3 1 1: t ult. B a al i ß g u d l o m7, t, 0 MARRIED . b yt i h itr e y Rev. Er,s John aet h G o a n S l o y i e i t p h tef r i of Thomas Yung, Esq of Bulmer sex. ( s.s 0 On the Ist inst. at ig/inchester Jonathan Pereira, ter g li e od on i , tig o t f o lld s e a r l sg op a . te.street, to Louisa Ann, eldest datns 0 , the late John Lucas, Esq., of Winchester. 14; On the 30th ult. at Tanfield, Yorkshire, by the Re:;... a t- 0 of Butcher, Edward Hughes Chamberlain, Esq., barrist to Emma, second daughter of the late John Knights " siderable loser. His rent and taxes were paid, the rest of his creditors got nothing. He had formerly been a hackney-coachman. There was no impute' tion on Mr. Underwood. The Court was crowded with bakers. The debts of the insolvent were about 400/. The Learned COMMISSIONERS adjudged that the case must stand over t ill certa i n d e f ect i ve serv i ces o f notice to creditors should be amended. COUNTRY CORN MARKETS DURING LAST WEEK. Wheat. Barley. Beane. Per Quarter. Carlisle. . Hexham, „ Illorpeth Penrith , Sheffield Winchester Per Bushel. Carmarthen Coventry Newcastle (Staff.) Northallerton Swansea Warwick s. to s. s. to s. S. to S. 22 21 29 21 25 20 s. s. 41, -•" 72 76 65 '7l - 60 41 44 34 36 - 33 u -97 56 62 s. d. s. d. 66 73 70 90 70 96 70 93 98 99 76 79 90 100 32 35 s. d. a. d. 39 46 48 54 64 66 36 46 56 60 38 39 46 50 22 24 s. d. s. d. 16 19 36 40 36 39 33 40 38 47 20 24 22 26 42 46 s. d. 00 0 0 56 60 56 5 9 56 6 0 62 6 0 00 0 0 73 '76 Per Roll. Barnardcastle Durham. - , Richmond Stockton '29 6 21 0 15 0 18 6 17 3 21 0 16 6 18 0 90 100 90 106 94 100 96 100 66 74 56 76 58 90 54 70 00 110 106 12 0 86 9 0 00 00 WAKEFIELD CORN MARKET.-Aug. 31. Wheat, Red, Norfolk and Suffblk -s. 535. to 595. fine 625. Lin. and Cam. -s. 535. to 595. fine 625. Yorkshire -s. 545. to 595. fine 625. - White -s. 575. to 625. fine 655. ---. Foreign, Red -s. 48s. to 545. fine 590. White -s. -s. to -s. fine 635. Barley, Norfolk and Suffolk 325. to 345. tine 375. -- Lincolnshire 3ss. to 335. fine 40$. -.. Yorkshire Wold 365. to 395, fine 40ti. Foreign --s. to --s. fine -s. Beans, Small - Tick als. to 355. fine 36s Oats, Potato 213. to 235. fine 245. - Poland -s. 20s. to 225.• fine 2.15. -- Friezland and Small -s. 17s. to 21s. fine f, - 24. -- Mealing lod. to 11 %11. per Stone. Shelling 245. to 275. Od. per Load. Malt 34s. ,435. fine 465. per Load. Rapeseed. 22 /. Os. 211. Os. 26'. Os. per Last. SCOTCH MARKETS. Wheat. I Barley I Oats. I Beans. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY MURDO YOUNG,- SUN OFFICE, 112, STRAND, LONDON, Oats. 0 I. ' On the 29th ult. at Cossey D Hal E l, D the infant son of the riP Edward Stafford Jerntngham. late On the Ist inst. aged 39, William, second son of the ( J Sowden, of Forest-gate, Essex. sec ond On the 31st ult. of cholera, at Canonbury, Nathani el l SIT,' ~ son of Robert Campion, Esq., of Whitby, Yorkshire, l ic haru" On the Ist inst. at Epsom, the Rev. Edward Bridges sl , aged 28. f Wil l Pet On the 26th ult. Miss Elinor Churchill, only child 0- . m oth Churchill, Esq., of Trinity-row, Islington ; surviving her e only 32 days. e s 61. On the 2(ith ult. at Shepperton, in his 70th year, C ha t ville, Esq., of George-street, Hanover square.