The Sun. — London, England, 1832-02-24 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. Tithes in Ireland may be expected to occupy more and more every day the attention of the wo Houses of Parliament. Last night, in the Upper House, Lord King, on presenting peti tions from several parishes in_ the county of Louth, made a declaration which horrified seve ral Peers. He contended, that " it was utterly impossible any longer to maint a i n th e system o f tithes in Ireland. He hoped most sincerely that n o coercion would be resorted to by his Ma jesty's Government on the subject. He hoped most sincerely that they would not enter into any contest about the matter. lie was quite sure that the people of England would not give a pound in furtherance of such an object. The question was, in feet, eetirely settled ; for the whole people of Ireland were determined that the tithes they would not pay." The Earl of Limerick " wished to ask the Noble Lord if he was prepared to add the weight of his character to the doctrine, that the property which had been possessed by the English Church in Ire land was to be done away with because the people of Ireland were desirous that it should be so ? Was the Noble Lord aware of the extent to which that doctrine al:gilt be eirried And yet such was the doctrine upheld by individuals who ought to be the ministers of peace and good will amongst men, and who had sworn to do no thing injurious to the Protestant Establishment hi Church and State ?" And why may not tithes be done away with, my good Lord Limerick, if the people of Ireland are desirous that it should be so ? Is not the property of the Church of Ireland national property ? Are not the tithes a portion of the revenue of the nation, assigned to a class of indivi duals who either perform, or are supposed to perform, certain services to the nation ? And who ought to determine whether that share of the na tional revenue ought to receive other destinations if the nation cannot ? We would refer Lord Limerick for a correction of his notions regarding tithes to a very zealous Churchman, who has published a pamphlet under the title of " What is to be done with Tithes in Ireland ?" The author of this pamphlet, Edward Hincks, D.D. Rector of Killvleagh, has no very exalted opi nion of Dr. Doyle, whom he even calls honzo triunz literarum, protests against giving up tithes to the landholders, hopes no part of them will ever be assigned to the Romish Clergy, has a high idea of the excellence of the Protestant Church, and no very favourable opinion of the Catholic Church ; but with his partiality to his own Church, he seems to unite a fearless dispo sition to speak the truth, however unpopular it may be. " The ground of the nation's claim (says Dr. Hincks) on the landholder for tithe is in England rather complicated ; but, from the peculiar nature of Irish tenures, it is in Ireland a very plain one. The nation was possessed of the tithes of every acre of Irish land at a period anterior to that from which the oldest title to land dates. The titles are all grants from the nation to individuals, and in those grants the tithes are either granted with the land, or reserved out of the grant. In the former case, the lands are held tithe : free ; and there is a large extent of such land in Ireland. in the latter case, the lands are clearly liable to the payment of tithe to the nation or its assignees. Of the latter class of lands, much of the tithes has been granted away altogether. Such grants are the origin of what are called inzpropriatc tithes, belonging to laymen. The remainder has been granted from time to time, to clergymen of different ranks, for their lives, or what has been called their incumbencies ; and of these clergymen, again, some have been granted the tithes gratuitously, without their being asked to make any return for them, as the clerical holders of rectorial tithes, where there is a Vicar endowed, and the Bishop in .the diocese of Clonfert, where he retains his quarta pars, Others of the clergy have been granted the entire tithes, or the half or third, or fourth part of the tithes of a parish, or a union of parishes, the nation stipulating with them that they shall perform certain clerical duties, either absolutely, or in case of their being called on by any parishioner. The stipula tion be it observed, is bete een two parties only—the nation and the clergyman. The nation certainly has conceived that the stipulation is for the benefit of the parishioners, and it gives liberty to all who choose it to avail themselves of that benefit. If they do not choose to do so, it is then our loss; but that is all. It is not they who pay the clergyman ; it is the nation which pays him by assigning to him those glebe lands, or those tithes which are its property." This information with respect to the tithes to lay pro perty in Ireland, must be new to most English readers, who do not reflect that Ireland is a recent conquest. We are well pleased to find a logical opponent ; and Dr. Highs is eminently so. As a proof; we have unle to quote the following pas sage, in which he refutes, in a masterly manner, Mr. Stanley and all those who contend that we are not entitled to withdraw property from the Church though we may alter the distribu tion of it. " The advocates of the inalienable right of the Established Church of Ireland (he says) to her tithes and other revenues, admit, generally speaking, that the distri bution of them among the-Ministers of that Church may be justly altered. - : They are 'Wil ling to increase the income of the poor clergy man, at the expense of his wealthier brother ; and some have even recosrmatended the doing this immediately—to a certattVextent, at least—in regard of the vesteriael - ests that now subsist. (Lord Mounteashel,. in his correspondence with the Bistfr" - of Ferns.) Did it never Occur to thosapersons, that the admission of the right to alteetke distribution of Church property necessarilyStivolves the admission of the right to take it % away ? The Bishop of Derry for the time being, is a Corporation sole, as distinct in the eye of the law from any other churchman, as the Duke of Northumberland, or the Earl of Mountcashel is from ally other Peer. Who would argue that a portion of the wealth of one of those Noblemen might be taken from him, in order to render the situation of some pauper Member of the hereditary Legislature more comfortable than it is ? Who would talk of this as an equitable distribution of the wealth of the Peerage? Who would consider it as at all different in its nature from a direct confiscation of the property diverted from its present owner? If then it be admitted, as it generally is, that the property of that wealthy Corporation sole, the Bishop of Derry, may now, or at some be justly taken from that future period , Corporation, and distributed among some other Corporations, the difference of tne tenure of property by a Corporation and by an individual is virtually admitted ; and surely the admission of the right of the nation to deprive a Corpora tion of its property, in order to give it to ano-_ ther, involves the admission of her right to take it away, in order to keep it for herself." Ileac are unanswerable argument., and we trust they will produce the proper impression on Lord Limerick and Lord Eldon. " From the property of the Church (exclaime , d Lord Eldon), the next and easy step would be to lay property. He had lived long—some might think too long —but God forbid that he should live long enough to see their Lordships pass a Bill be cause a portion of the people declared they should do so !" If the property held by the Church is national property, his Lordship is not more justified in saying that the resumption of that property by the nation would lead to the confiscation of lay property, than he would be in saying that because an army is reduced, and the money assigned for its support is applied to other purposes, therefore no man could count on retaining the house he has purchased when any person wishes to take it from him. But then the groun I, the odious ground, of legislating, because the people declare that they should do so! Is it not odious to legislate, because the privileged few wish that they should do so ; it only odious to legislate for the people. Dr. Hhicks contends, that the shire of national property called Church property, should only (always respecting vested rights) be assigned to the Pi otestant Church of Ireland so long as the nation deems the services of that Church usenl. This is placing a Church on the only foundation on which it can legitimately be placed. Ttiere is certainly great truth in what he says with regard to the property of tithes being in the nation, and not in the owner of the land as such. And the injustice of giving the tithes to the owner of the soil, as a matter of course, is apparent from this, that of two owners of estates of 500 acres, of equal goodness, the one tithe free, and the other subject to tithe, who pur chased a year ago—the one gave for the tithe-free estate an additional price, corresponding to the value of the tithes. An abolition of tithes would put nothing into the pocket of the one, but would put a sum equal to the additional price paid by him, into the pocket of the other. The difficulty in all these cases is to rouse such a force as is equal to the compelling the complaints to be just, without going beyond justice. The complainants laughed at reason and justice, and the owners of the soil say to themselves, the power that is equal to the effecting any alteration in tithes is equal to their abolition ; for to no alteration would consent be given, if it were not seen that opposition would be unavailing. We have heard this language in tile mouths of some landlords. We there fore say that great skill is necessary to rescue this public property for national purposes. That it should continue to be given to the Church of Ireland long, we hold to be impossible.—Morn. ing Chronicle. Notwithstanding the unquestionable talents as a debater which Lord Plunkett once possessed, it' he do not possess them still, he has proved a singularly unprofitable associate to the political parties with which he has been connected, which parties we may remark, by-the-bye, have not been distinguished by any singular congruity of sentiment ; remembering that his first political connection was with Lords Grenville and Grey; his second with Lord Liverpool, Sir Robert Peel, and Mr. Goulburn, and his last, and most prosperous (to himself), with Lord Grey's Re form Cabinet. Never, surely, was a Statesman of less practical discretion. Witness the attempt to vamp up a charge of treason against a drunken ruffian for hurling a bottle at Lord Wellesley's head, and the filing an ex-9 - flicio in formation against the rioters in that case, after a ' bill for the same offence had been ignored by a Grand Jury, even though that were a Dublin Grand Jury. To absolve him from this sin against the Constitution proved a sufficiently troublesome affair to the Government of that day ; by the Government of this, his accession to their counsels has been bought at a price, 4 - leaven knows, sufficiently dear. In the first place, they had to defend or excuse the removal (to make room for Lord Plunke:t) of a confes sedly upright" and impartial Judge, every way acceptable to men of ail parties ; next they had to defend a paltry affair of fees claimed, with or without a proper legal sanction (we don't know which) from the Irish Magistrates, by his secre taries ; lastly, they are embroiled in his squabble with the Master of the Rolls, about a small matter of patronage, of the merits of which, after the debate of Wednesday night, we have nothing to say ; and, meanwhile, the only coon sel dearly attributable to Lord Plunkett, is the evil suggestion by which Lord,Grey was betrayed into his threat of enforcing the collection of tithes against the will of the pe6ple, which had nearly cost the Administration the support of the great body of the Irish Members. Nor is the turmoil which Lard Plunkett has occasioned the only price which the - Government has paid for his sup port. As if the Irish Seals, with eight thousand a year and the patronage attached to that office, were not sufficient, one of his sons, the Hon. Thomas Plunkett, has got the Deanery of Devon with 2,5001. a year ; a second, the Hon. David 1 Plunkett, is Prothonotary of the Court of Com mon Pleas, with a salary of 1.500/. a year, and also First-Examiner of the same Court, emolu ments unknown ; a third, the Hon. Patrick Plunkett, is Counsel . to the Office of the. Chief Remembrancer of the Equity side of the Ex chequer, and also Purse-bearer in the ( ourt of Chancery ; a fourth, the Hon. John Plunkett, is Assistant-Barrister of the county of Meath ; and a fifth (if ‘se: mistake not) is a beneficed Clergy man in the Diocese of Dublin ! It is to be ob served, that the juvenile- Secretary for Ireland was the only Cabinet Minister • in the House during the debate on the Master of the Rolls' affair.—Morning Chronicle. A short, but not insignificant, conversation upon Irish tithes took place in the House of Lords last night, on the representation of seve• ral petitions from the county of Wicklow, pray ' ing for the abolition of the tithe system. Lord King, who presented the petitions,.expressed his j concurrence in many of the sentiments which they contained, and declared his belief " that the question must be settled, because the whole people of Ireland had declared against the tithe system as it was now established." This decla ration was met—as ail declarations which imply respect for public opinion are met by a certain party—with lofty disdain. The Earl of Lime rick scouted the idea of legislating upon ' Church property, or, as his Lordship thought proper to phrase it, " of destroying and making away with the revenue of the Chureh, because the people of Ireland,. or any portion of them, thought proper to say that they should." Lords Eldon and Wynford echoed the same sentiments in different words. But the latter Nobleman went further than either of his predecessors, when he asserted that " the Church of England and Ireland had the same foundation " and that the monarchy itself was identified with the preservation of a .systern which has already ceased to exist in ,some counties, to any practical purpose. These `assertions may be safely . left to themselves. A Protestant Church among a Protestant people is a very different thing from a Protestant Church amongst a Catholic people, and stands upon a very different foundation—and, as for the at tempt to involve the existence of Monarchy with the payment of Irish tithes, he might as well pretend to connect it with the flowing of the tide, or the changing of the moon. The fact is that Monarchy is popular in this country, though tithes are not ; and it is not by getting rid of obnoxious appendages that any of our institutions are likely to be injured. If people will fight with shadows we cannot help them; but it will be time enough to resist spoliation of the Church when an effort is made to despoil it. The attempt of Ministers, so far as it has been yet developed, appears to us to be for the pre servation, not the destruction, of Church property. It is for the preservation of Church property that the obnoxious tithe system is to be given up, and all the clamour and all the hard names that can be brought to bear upon the undertaking cannot deprive it of that conservative charac ter which the compromise at once establishes. From what has been said, however, it is evi dent that the Ministers must not expect to carry their Tithe Bill without some struggle.— Norning Herald. We take for granted that the exclusively loyal and conservative corporation of the city of Dub lin have by this time got quite enough of libel ling their Sovereign to his face, and the House of Commons in his presence. No rebuke so severe, because none so cool and so contemp tuous, was ever within memory administered by wisdom, power, and public virtue, to a gang of busy and malicious blockheads. Perhaps, the sentence of his Majesty's answer, for which these great personages were least prepared, was that wherein the Sovereign was pleased to ex press such unbounded confidence " in his con stitutional advisers." It seems to have been a pill not more easily digestible by those who re mained behind the curtain, than by the puppets who came forth in scarlet gowns to grimace and chatter about affairs of Government. His Majesty's confidence, we trust, will never be betrayed through the weakness ur credulity of his advisers,—by want of honesty, in the present case, we know it will not. But as a foolish boast has been made, that the second reading of the Bill is sure of being carried, it is right to inform the public, that no rational apprehensions have, for some time past, been directed to the second reading of the Bill. We have little doubt that, so far, it will pass the House of Lords by a large majority. The real danger is, what may be done in the Committee, where the metropolitan Members, the qualifications, and other essential parts of the Bill, are liable to be fiercely attacked. The Tories have no object so much at heart as the leading Ministers, by an exhibition of support on the second reading, into a belief that all the questions raised upon successive clauses in Committee will be carried equally in favour of the Bill am• it stands. If this plan succeeds, Ministers will, it is expected, put off the creation of Peers until too late, and so the Tory triumph will be accomplished. Let the people he on the watch, and the Bill and Ministers may both be preserved from ruin. HIS MAJESTY'S ANSWER TO THE ADDRESS FROM THE I CORPORATION OF DUBLIN, PRESENTED AT THE LEVEE, BY THE LORD N.LAYOR AND OTHERS, FEB. 22, 1,332• " I have heard with deep regret the sentiments ex pressed in the address which has now been presented to me. " I shall always be ready to listen to representations of such grievances as may appear to any of my subjects to give them ju , t cause of complaint, and to afford redress to the utmost of my power. In this wish lam firmly per suaded that I only share the benevolent feelings which pie vail in my Parliament. On their wisdom and equity, and on the integrity of my constitutional advisers, I rely with a confidence which forbids me to susret that th, y can ever be induced to expose any portion of my subjects to injury and injustice. " Neither was it necessary to claim from me a vig - rout and imp irtial admini-tration of the laws, and equ mI protection for all classes of my subjects.' These have been, from the period of my accession to tl:c Throne, and ever will he, the constant and unceasing objects of toy G•wern nierit."'— Times. The affair of the cholera goes on, exciting little apprehension or terror in the minds of his Mijesty's liege subjects. We verily believe, also, that ere now it would even have ceased to attract notice, had it not been for three potent causes :-1. The vast activity of the BoArd of Health in searching for cases. No sportsman was ever so eager after game as these gentry for a case of cholera. 2. The medical opposition which has sprung up to their reports. 3. And above all, the prejudicial consequences which have resulted to our trade and commerce from the declaration that this furiou s and conta g ious disease existed in and abo ut London. We shall bestow a word or two on each of these topics. It is justly complained that the Board abstain from publishing the names of the persons affected, in the cases which they bring forward ; so that all endeavours to examine the accuracy of their reports are baffled. Indeed, much search is nLide, and it appears in vain, to find out who may have been the patients upon whom the Board have reported. Surgeons and others who must live in the immediate vicinity, have heard nothing of the facts published, and are unable to direct inquirers to the spot. Above all, the Medical Board is charged with refusing all communications from those who do not hold the doctrine of contagion in this disease ;—a most monstrous act of injustice and partiality. Medical practitioners, not hired as inquisitors, hare patients suffering under spas- modic complaints ; but, as they assert, neither Capable of communicating disease, nor having imported it from contact with sufferers else where : and further, they maintain that there is not more of the cholera which does exist than • they have often known at other times, without creating any particular sensation. The sufferers in their commercial enterprises are of all men least likely to be silent or tame u n d er t h e dimi nution of their gains ; and probably would be the last to be convinced that real Asiatic cholera was committing ravages, except it should catch themselves : and the distresses of the humbler labourer must oppress his parish, burden the rates, and give perplexity to the overseers. But still, if the malady were really in our houses, these and all other concomitant evils must be borne. We ought to be excluded from the pale of Christian nations if we concealed the fact from our neighbours : but the public is as yet far from being convinced that there has been any just cause for sounding the trumpet of alarm, and still more from perpetuating the note throughout Europe.—Times. Lord Plunkett has been an enormously dear bargain to the present Administration, and, we might add, to the country ; but the latter of . course, in to theseinwiich i • reforming t times, is a consi derationun- fashionable to advert. The evils which have been i would be altog e th er inflicted upon the community on account of the Noble and Learned Lord we therefore postpone in deference to the spirit of the hour, or regard them only in their inseparable econnexion with the loss of character, popularity, and power which Earl Grey and his colleagues have been so in fatuated as to undergo, in order to obtain and preserve the assistance of such a judicial Mi nister and political agent in Ireland, and such an advocate in the British House of Lords, as Lord Plunkett has proved himself. His Ma jesty's Ministers purchased the services of Lord Plunkett at the outset by an act which proved to the satisfaction of all mankind the utter hollowness and insincerity of those professions of economy to which they had been mainly indebted for the acqui sition of power. By displacing Sir Anthony Hart to make room for the present holder of the Seals, a man of tried and proved integrity, sound learn ing, exemplary moderation, indefatigable dili gence, possessing the unbounded respect of the Bar and the full confidence of the community, to place his high office in the hands of Lord Plunkett, whose integrity, learning, moderation, diligence, and disinterestedness were all of a character different from those of his venerable predecessor, and all precisely such, to adopt the explanation of Earl Grey, as eminently qualified him for the confidence of his Majesty's present Government—by effecting this change, at an ex pense to the country of several thousands a year, the Administration was self-convicted of the most wanton, unprincipled, and revolting disre gard of the pledges of rigid economy in the ex penditure of the public money, by means of which they had forced themselves into place. This single act would have been enough to sink any Administration, and would have destroyed the present had they not resorted to the desperate expedient of saving themselves for a tune by exciting and flattering the political passions of the lowest order.of the community, and, in de fiance of all consequences, placing themselves at the head of a revolutionary movement. By this sacrifice of consistency, respectability, and reputation his Majesty's Ministers, however, ac quired the desired ally ; and a valuable and most congenial ally in truth he has proved. He set himself to work at once, not to support the interests, but to imitate the example, of his friends. They had removed Sir Anthony Hart to make a good place for him, and he forthwith removed a Lord Chancellor's Secretary worthy of Sir Anthony Hart, to make room for a Lord Chancellor's Secretary worthy of, and nearly re lated to, Lord Plunkett. The imitation did not, however, end here. They had saddled the country with ~an expense of 4,0001. a year for the sake of committing the property and rights of all the Chancery suitors in Ireland to the hands of a congenial partisan of their own. He attempted to extort front the unpaid Magistracy of Ireland illegal and unjust fees, in order to swell the emoluments of his Secretary and relation, and to enable the latter the better to p a y the pittance of 5001. a year to his deputy, upon whom, in the acknowledged unfitness of the princpal, the entire duty.of the office has de volved. The effects of this faithful imitation of Earl Grey, on the part of Lord Plunkett, have been to deprive, for a considerable period, a large part of Ireland of any Magistracy whatever, to acce lerate the progress of turbulence and insurrection in that country, and finally to force Lord Plunkett himself, and the Irish Government which sup ported his claims, or, which every body knows to be the same thing, the claims of his Secre tary, to confess that these claims were illegal and unjust—that the demand of the disputed fees, by which they suspended many and alienated the whole body of the Magistracy of Ireland, was an unjustifiable attempt at extortion. This, it might be thought, was plunging as deeply into the mire of venality and corruption as could reasonably be expected of any Government, even although it be a Government professing to be, par excellence, o fdoerteeg, any thing a(,gkssl an economical and reforming one. Another, and . He if possible still deeper, disgrace was in reserve for the Administration of Earl Grey in conse quence of its connection with Lord Plunkett. By a notion of justice, and expediency and law, which may be called distinctively Irish, a dispute had arisen whether that high judicial officer, the Master of the Rolls, was fit to be, and was in fact by law, entrusted with the appointment of the Registrar of his own Court, or whether this valuable and important office should go to en hance tile otherwise pretty extensive patronage of the Lord Chancellor. Of course it was not . to be expected that a man of the character of Lord Plunkett, and with the impulses which the man ner and circumstances of his ea,vn appointment must have imparted to any man, would easily awl by virtue of his judicial power deprives the the a tfl c , u i counterclaimant, p t ort o u f Iv o u t t l e i l l a s e t t i s t n o t l l o l i s e ' s fi a i ° r y e: i t i o be e r ,on a t sole Judge jitere,sted in a .AfitcauseJudge, in whichhic tob l he is ei sure, to pronounce up on suc h a quest i on , as we think we have already seen I Then the Master of the Rolls, deprived of all other means of asserting what he believes to be his right and tile right of his office, applies to Parliament for an Act, not to decide the question, but to enable him to put it in a train for legal decision. And what is the result ? Every man in the House of Commons of whatever party, who opens his mouth upon the subject, does so to proclaim the justice and reasonableness of the proposition, with the exception only of the merest ames per dus of the Ministry, and to scout the impudent offer of Lord Plunkett, that he will give free course to the law upon the condition that he and his nominee shall not be personally affected by its decision—that what the law may pronounce to be illegal and unjust shall be perpetuated so long as it can be advantageous-to him, as a re ward, we suppose, to the virtue and magnanimity of a Lord Chancellor who has condescended to permit the law to be heard. The English Attorney and Solicitor-General supported the Ministerial iniquity. The Irish Attorney and Solicitor- General were absent or dumb. Mr. O'Connell said that the conduct of Ministers was unjust ; that the opposition to the Bill was monstrous ; that the Judge whO, the moment his own pecta niary interest was affected shut the door of . justice, aeas . not likely to obtain the confidence of suitors, on whose pecuniary interests it was his province to decide ; and that the Ministers who could s upport such manifest iniquity were not fit t o b e trust ed upon the question of Reform or upon an y o t her. Mr. Hume, who said the oth er n i g h t that the cause of Re form w ould justify him in supporting thing, h owever nlio iN t l mostin guy hed—to withh o ld hi s gross, found it necessary to his con sc i ence and cha racter--a c onscience not the most tender, a re p support upon. this occasion. From the tone of t he House of Common s u p on the subject, i t i s scar cely too much to inf er t h at i n d e libl e i n f amy t i s stamped upon the brow of every inan who in this instance voted with Ministers. They are in number 88, and of the Members present they co nstituted a majority of four. In effect, Mini sters were disgracefully defeated. It is inapos 6ible, after the debate and thin vote, that Lord Plunkett should, without a legal decision, keep his nominee in the office. It is next to impos sible that the country should longer endure an Administration which has placed itself in so ig nominious a position. And why has Earl Grey's Administration thus sacrificed itself for sake of what at first view appears to be the pecu liar and personal iniquity of Lord Plunkett ? This is really the mysterious and appalling que tion ? What secrets are among them which place a whole Cabinet thus in base and abject and desperate servitude to the selti-Jh and unprin cipled objects of one man ? And such a man ! A superanuated driveller, who was once clever— a man who could speak with power while he thought himself entitled to be listened to with respect—a person who now speaks but to apo logise and shuffle, and never apologises and shuf fles but to show that he cannot do either even with ordinary dexterity.—Morning Post. We learn, on what we consider satisfactory authority, that the English Reform Bill will not be transmitted to the House of Lords until the Scotch and Irish Bills have also been passed. The three Bills, we understand, are to make their entrance at the same time into the House of Peers, backed and supported by all the Members of the House of Commons who will naturally become Peers, or who are to be made Peers. We need not mention the reasons which are alleged for the adoption of this line of policy by Lord Grey, for they are self-evident. The strength of the Commons in support of the Reform Bill must be maintained.—Morning Advertiser. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. PLYMOUTH, FEB.. 3.—The Arab Iran-port, Lieutenant Haines, agent, arrived on Monday, at Falmouth, from the Mauritius, in 140 days, with the head-quarters of the 82d regiment. The Tavy sailed on Monday, for Falmouth, with a supply of pr-iv,sions for the Arab. His Majesty's brig Leveret, 10, Lieut. W. Lapidge, sailed for Portsmouth on Wedne,;,lay morning. The Harrier, 18, Commander Vassal', is expected to be ready by the middle of March ; her destina tion being the East Indies; and the Pike schooner, 12, Lieutenant Brooking, is reported for the first week in next month, to proceed again to the Irish station. Iu Hamoaze—San Josef, Harrier, Savage, Nim rod, Pike, Romney, Ceylon, and Echo steam-vessel. In the Sound—Caledonia. Extract of a letter from an officer of the Win chester, dated Barbadoes, Jan. s:—" We sailed from Bermuda on the 22d of December, an :I at-- rived here on the 2d of January. The Pallas and Ranger are lying here, The officers of the Win chester have subscribed one pound each, and the ship's company two days' pay, for the sufferer; in the late hurricane, the account of which has not been in the least exaggerated. The Arachne ar rived at Bermuda the day we sailed. Lieutenant Mosberry, of tho Blossom, and Lieutenant Smith, of the 'Winchester, tire removed to the Ringer ; Lieutenant Abbott to the Winchester, vice Smith. We are to sail from Jamaica on the 15 h January. His Majesty's packet sloop Swallow arrived at Fal mouth, on Thursday, from the Leeward Islands—left St Thomas's 14th January. A serious fire had broken out there on the Ist January, which had destroyed halt the houses and property of the city. It was supposed to have peen the work of incendiaries:. The loss of property has been very great, but happily no lives. A subscription has been commenced for the relief of the sufferers. His Majesty's packet ship /Undue, Lieut. Pawle, ar rived at Falmouth on Friday, from Jamaica and Cartha gena, with the mails and specie, 121,000 doliars ; left Jamaica 7th January. The Sandwich packet, Lieut. Sullivan, arrived at Fal mouth on Monday, fourteen days from Lisbon—nwthing new by her, except a more rigid observance of the quaran tine regulations, which was complained of and severely felt by the merchants, and caused great stagnation to business of ad kinds. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, FEn. 21. GRIM. CON.--ALLAN V. JACOB Sir J. SCARLETT stated the case. The plaintiff was a highly respectable man in society, and is a partner in a rich mercantile house in Calcutta. His wife was a Miss Menne, aid possessed all those charms and qualities which render a woman an amiable and desirable companion for a man' desirous of entering into the married state of life. Having received a liberal education she was sent out to the East Indies, where she had friends; and having become acquainted with the plaintiff, she was selected by him a , an bject who was calculated to render him happy, and they were married in August, 1826. Mrs. Allan at that period was but nineteen years of age, and was as agreeable in her manners as she was beautiful and attractive in her features and person. In twelve months she bore her hus band a child, and up to the period of her separation from the former, which was occasioned through her having got into a bad state of health, she con ducted herself as a most affectionate mother, as well as a moat faithful wife. His client's a ife, after the birth of her first child, got into so bad a state of health, that she had several times miscarried ; and the cli mate of India disagreeing with her constitution, as a last resource, she was recommended to return to Great. Britain fur the benefit of her health. The plaintiff, for some time, found it difficult to procure a ship, but tilti tnately succeeded in getting her a pisstsge in the .Alliance, one of the Hon, East India Company's vessels, commanded by Captain Till - miens, a man of honour, with whom tLe plaintiff was acquainted. The vessel in her course was to touch at Macaio, China, and Singapore, and the plaintiff solicit us about his wife's comfort and situation, had pre cut ed her letters of introduction to persons residing at the various places at which the vessel was to touch. He had also provided her with a female servant to attend to her on her voyage, and apprised his friends in England by letters, of the time when they might expect her to arrive, that th y might be prepared to receive her. His hopes about her, however, as to her future happiness were destroyed, by the conduct of the defendant. That person was first officer of the Alliance, under Captain Timmens ; and it would be proved by the steward and mate of the vessel, and by other corroborative evidence, that he had been guilty of criminal conversation with the plaintiff's wife, on the voyage home. The health of the lady improved considerably on the voyage ; and witnesses would be called who would show that site was lodged in a part of the cabin next the quarter-deck, and that the defendant's cabin was so situated, that by getting out at one port-hole, and in by another, he could reach Alm Allan's room. In her room door there was a glass, through which her servant saw the act consummated, which was the ground of the present action. If there could be any doubt about it, that p a,re. doubt would he removed by Captain Timmens, who had been informed of it all ; and to whom the unfortunate lady herself made a voluntary confession of her guilt. ,* l r astn oft i be- James Patrick M'Dougal, Captain of the Hon. Ea s t India Company's service, knew the plaintiff' s w if e , s h e s m n a ip a p i ed age a . t his i‘ii Calcutta , tissou:ieenianeswasthen about I P ye ff where the came acquainted with her. Witnes s was present at their Cross-examined by the A TTORNEV- G ENERAL for the defendant—The plaintiff was then between thirty and forty years of age. The society she had after she was married was not the most polished. Witness heard that plaintiff used to speak in double entendre to his wife, and witness observed plaintiff to say things which he considered rather coarse. Witness thought Mrs. Allan rather vola tile in her manners, but did not notice anything which he could consider it improper for Mrs. M'Dougal to speak to her upon. Examined by Sir JAMES SCARLETT—He had heard from persons that the conversations which sometimes pissed between the plaintiff and his wife were indelicate. Witness's real reason for discontinuing his visits was a dif ference they had about a p ,rrot. Sir JAMES Scananrr—Probably, Sir, that pairot talked a little too much.—(Laughter.) Capt. Charles Tinimens, of the East India Company's service, examined by Mr. FoLLETT—In 1828-9 wasCapta in of the Alliance. The defendant, Mr. Jacob, was chief officer of the ship, and was about forty years of age. Witness was in Calcutta in August, 1828, and used occasionally to visit at the plaintiff's house. Tbere was then no other ship there for Eugland but his. Mrs. Allan became a passenger, and was in very bad health when she came on board. There were other ladies on board, bound for Sin gapore, through the Straits of Malacca. Mrs. Allan went on shore at Singapore ; she had a child and maid-servant with her; she had letters of introduction to pernns there- ...„ Her health improved rather at China, which was the next I place they went to. She used to dine at witness's table, and defend int and four or five other officers used also to dine at it. The vcseel arrived in England iu May. First beard of her misconduct at the Isle of Wight. She quitted the vessel at Gravesend. She slept in a place which they called the " ruddy." There was a quarter-gallery out- ' side, with a window, lint it was impossible for any per see to enter it, unless the persons inside chose to admit them. The defendant slept also in what they called " the ruddy," which was situated in a place immediately below Mrs. Allan's room, and to which also there was a quarter gallery. The dsfendant is not now in witness's vessel, he is in India; and was obliged to leave witness's vessel in consequence of such a breach of trust as that now com plained of. Cornish, servant to Captain Timmens, examined by Sir JA3IF.S SCA KLETT —Wail in the ship during the voyage, but did not observe any thing improper between Mrs. Allan and defendant until they had nearly arrived home. Mrs. Allan's servant slept in a cabin opposite her mistress's room. There was a window which opened from Mrs. Allan's apartment into the servant's. Witness, in conseqeence of soroething he bad heard from Mrs. Allan's servant, took his statism, in the servant's apartment, and saw ilefendant go up the quarter-gallery, and descend by the miz u chains to Mrs. Allan's window, which he saw opened for him by Mts. Allan, on which defendant went into her apu tment. Witness could see what passed by means of a light at the stern. lie saw them together in the cabin, and observed an illicit connection taking place between ti em. This was about the middle of April ; but he saw them together twice before. Cross-examined by the ATToRNEY-GENERAL--What brought t out into the chambermaid's rosin ?—(Laughter.) Witness—By her request, to of , serve what was going on. —(Renewed laughter.) Could see what was passing in Mrs. Allan's cabin, by looking through the Venetian blinds, and the aid of the moonlight. Witness was then servant to Captain Timmene, but is now steward of the vessel. There was a dispute between him and Mrs. Allan on board, in consequence of his not having supplied her, as lie had promised to do, with a sufficiency of water. Charles Warren Loveridee exatnin,d lay Mr. FotArrr —ls second mate of the Alliance; the defendant, on the ship approaching England, asked him to go to Mrs. Allan, and said he would take his duty. Witness went to her, and found her crying. In consequence of what he heard, he communicated with Captain Timmens. The convey- Nation respected the defendant. Crawford Davison Carr, Eeq. resides in London, and on nearing of the arm isal co Mrs. Allan he went to her hotel, wliere he saw Mr. Loveridge. Mrs. Allan was then in very good spirits.—(Laughter.) She showed him some !wets, which he afterwards gave back to her. Her friends reside iu the cuunty of Perth, and he supplied her with money to take her there; and saw her off in a vessel in which he procured her a passage. The ATTORNEY-GENBRAL commented strongly on the case; and directed the attention of the Jury to the evi dence respecting the light double entendre conversation which it was deposed used to lie carried on between the plai i ovr t i l his h C a ac dlcuotutiam; committed also to the manner in malelheerr fascinations, shout which they had heard so much, in a vessel in which, for the greater part of the voyage, there was not one lady but herself, and which had six officers in it, all of them younger than his client, who they had heard was then 40 years of age. He would ask the Jury what brought Cornish into the chambermaid's room.— (Laughter)—and he would direct their attention to that part of his testimony wherein he deposed that they had been in her room together looking at the fun going on.—(Much laughter.) The Jury had heard !coin this witness about the defendant running up the quarter gallery and down the mizen chains, and out at one port-hole and in at another—(Laughter.).. but he would entreat of them to bear in mind that he had admitted that he had hail a dispute with Mrs. Allan on the voyage. He would also request their attention to the testimony of Loveridge, who, for ought he knew, was as thick wiih Mrs. Allan as his client was said to be— ' (Laid laughter)—and to hear in mind that he (Loveridge), after he stated he had been requested by the defendant to ' call on Mrs. Allan (while defendant took his watch), did not inform Captain Tirnmens of the confesssion which he alleged was then made to him (they being then about the Lantre-teitl), until two days after it was made, when they had reached Blackwell. His Loanstitr summed up the evidence, and the Jury, after a short c , neultation, found a verdict for the plaintiff. Damages-5U COMMON PLEAS, FEB. 23. BEVAN AND ANOTHER V. This a w i a m s i a k n r . a p c o t i brought oi try the validity by h e t . an plaintiff's, assi as assig nees g nm en tof certain premises by the bankrupt to his sister, and also to recover back a number of bills of exchange delivered by biro to her. It appeared from the evidence adduced on the part of the plaintiff, that the bankrupt had been engaged in mer cantile speculations of an unprofitable nature for nine years past. His original capital was only b,0001., yet he bad had bill transactions to a very large amount with the • firm of Severn and Co., which stopped payment on the 3 , 1 of October last. In 1824 lie had obtained a loan of 2,000/. from his sisters, for which he had given them his bend. Upon being informed of the failure of Severn and Co., he evinced great distress of mind, observing, he did not know what he was to do, as it was impossible he could then go on with his business. On the 12th of October he assigned the premises in question to his Sister, but had the deed antedated as on the 2d, the day before the failure of Severn and Co., and also de• livered them up four bills of exchange, amounting alto. gether to 2,0001. lie continued to carry on his business until the sth of November, when he stopped payment. It. w la rherefore contended, on behalf of the plaintiffs, that both the assignment and delivery of the bills had taken place in contemplation of bankruptcy and in voluntary pre ference of his other creditors ; and that, consequently, they were invalid in point of law. On the part of the defendant it was insisted that the bankrupt had been guilty of no fraudulent preference, the property in question having been made over to his sisters under the pre: sure of the must urgent importunities. The Jury returned a verdict fur the plaintiffs. - - POLICE INTELLIGENGE. T 0 WN- HALL. John Collins and his wife Catherine, both Hiberniane, were charged before Alderman ANSLEY with having in their possession four gallons of illicit whiskey, the penalty being thrice the value of the spirits, and forfeiture of the same. Wm. Hughes, an officer of excise, proved finding the spirits, in consequence of information, at the house of the prisoners, Well-alley, Bermondsey-street; they were pre paring at the time, to put it from stone bottles into blad ders, for the purposes of sale ; it proved to be whiskey, made in a private still. Alderman ANSLEY asked the prisoners what account they had to give of it ?—Mrs. Collins, who had just ad minitered comfort to her dejected husband, said that all they knew about it was, that an English gentleman, mighty. genteel, brought two stone bottles to their house, and said " Mr. Collins, I hear you are very queer in your intes tinals, and, for fear it should he the cholera, have brought something to cure you, and you must drink hearty."... (Loud laughter). Alderman Atistvir (catching the infection)—What, four gallons ! Enough to settle his business without the aid of cholera. And who was the gentleman? Mrs. Collins (curtsying)—That's what we'd like to know; but his honour didn't please to tell us. Alderman ANSLET—WeII I give you credit for a good story, hut it won't do on this side of the water. Are you prepared to pay the penalty ?_Mrs. Collins said they were not; upon which they were lilt to be proc ee d e d aga i nst under the excise laws, by information; the'Act, singularly enough, which provides three months hard labour in de. ri fault of payment for possession of illicit spirits in transits', being totally silent in the case of simple possession. At a dinner given in St. Saviour's parish this week, one of the toasts proposed from the chair 31ay the beauties of Southwark never smile on the Van dals who opposed the renovation of the Lady Chapel." BIRTHS. On the f.2lst inst. at Stoke Bishop, Gloucestershire, the lady of William Munro, Esq., of a daughter. On the 23d inst. in Montagu street, Portman-square, the lady of James Rust, Esq., of a son. On the tlst inst. at Church-road, Brixton, the Lady of Frank Lusack, Esq., of a son. 3LIRRIED. On the 23d inst. at Hawsted church, Sutthlk, Miss Cullum, the only child of th e R ev. Gery Cullum, Bart. of Hardwick House, to Thom as Gib son, E sq. of Theberton, Sufrolk. On the thM inst. at Camberwell, the Rev. George Perry, of Arsley, Bedfordshire, to Elizabeth. daughter of S. Smith, Esq. DIED. On the ',I'M inst. at Queen's:roV, Pentonville, Mrs. Mortimer, wife of J. Mortimer, Esq. On the 2.2 d inst. at Edward-Street, Portman-square, the Hon. Mrs. B. Bouverie, aged 7EI. Oi , i L th v e .i ck 2 n O n t o hin , ,qskt:.a.t, of GreatCtneliest H er, o a r g , t4 s 90 Mary, relict of the late , Essex. PRRtirgP AND Pt:atm:an st M 1J RDO YOUNG, AT MO t'N ()mu, 112, STRAX.D. LQNVOi.