The Sun. — London, England, 1832-04-27 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC .lOURNALS A very stupid answer has been attempted to be given, by two evening papers of 'Opposite po litics, to our yesterday's obseervations on the ex tension of the metrorolitan franchise. One of these worthies hs found out—a notable disco very, to which we yesterday adverted—that the mighty capital of this great empire is already sufficiently represented in Parliament, because, forsooth, all the Members of Parliament must reside within its precincts when they come up to perform their Parliamentary functions. It may, therefore, have 500 or 600 representatives from other parts of the nation, and therefore ought to have no more of its own choice Why had it ever any at all, if this :tegument is good for any thing, as, - with few exceptions, Parlia ment has alwavF, held its sittings in the metro polis ? To say that it has not suffered in conse quence of the insufficiency of its representation, because Regent -street has been formed, or the parish of l‘farylebone has more buildings than fornerly, is incon ce i va bly a b sur d ; as the very ground-for giving its suburbs as well as the great towns of Man c he s t er an d Birmingham members, is their increased prosperity and extended po pulation. To the other worthy we shall make no reply. There are still several inestions con nected with the Reform Bill, which require fur ther elucidation, and several objections that have been made to an interference with the old system, which admit of more satisfactory answers than any which in our opinion have as yet been given them. We shall at,present advert to only two or three of these objections. The aristocratic enemies of the Bill contend that it has not sufficiently provided for the representa tion of the agricultural interest : on the other hand, some of the zealous friends of the new measure declare their opinion that the manufac turing interests of the country will not be suf ficiently attended to in a House of Commons which will include so small a proportion of members sent from the great manufacturing towns. A third party joins the enemies of reform against the Bill, on the ground that our great colonial and commerci a l in t eres t s cannot be represented but by members who buy their seats ; and that neither the West Indies nor the East, neither the Bank nor the breweries, neither the ship-owners nor the coal-owners, can have advocates of their interests in Parliament, unless they are allowed to pass in through Old Sarum or some other rotten borough. Now, in answer to these ob jections, we will—with a bare allusion to the trite and just maxim that all the interests of the country, so far as they are subjects of legislation, must thrive or suffer together, and that none of them can be permanently benefited at the ex pense or by the sacrifice of the rest, allow that there are questions on which different classes of representatives, as returned by different classes of constituents, may oppose each other, and in which the victory, as it falls to one side or the other, may be of infinite consequence to the general welfare ; but happily these questions are but few. We know at present of only one on which the town and the country, the landed interest and the manufacturing interest—or rather the landed pro prietors, accompanied, as of old, by their vassal retainers—and the general body of the nation are at variance, and that is the question of the corn laws. These laws are the great exclusive charter of the country gentlemen, composing the late majority of our legislators, and constitute as real a monopoly in their favour as the East India charter constitutes a monopoly of the tea-trade in the lords of Leadenball-street, or the Batik charter of the London circulation in the Bank of Eng land. When this great question shall have been settled, as we hope that it will be, as we are sure it ought to be, soon after that of the great corporations alluded to, there cannot arise any important difference of interests between any one great class of the constituency of the country and another, or between any one great body of our representatives and another. We shall still have knights of the shire and citizens or bur gesses in Parliament : the formalities of their separate elections may still be observed, though those of the former be of feudal origin. They may be dressed and chaired after the old fashion, but the boots and spurs of the county member will not appear to distinguish him from his civic brethren in St. Stephen's, nor will he have an nually any point of interest to contest with the rest of the nation. Hitherto the landed interest has been too powerful in the Legislature to ad mit of the enactment of impartial laws for the general benefit. By their exclusive possession of the county representation, and their prepon derating influence in the boroughs, they were enabled to dictate laws to the whole of the com munity, and often exercised that power for their own exclusive advantage. Hence their game laws,—their corn laws,—their wool laws,—their enclosure laws,—their rural justice laws, — their pauper laws, and all the hateful enactments of feudal despotism in our statute-book. They will probably be still too powerful in the Legis lature as a distinct body of proprietors inspired with the same prejudices or feelings ; but after the repeal of the corn laws, we shall be able to look upon them with comparative indifference. The addition of 35 Members to the county re presentation of England and Wales, as given by the Bill, is more than sufficient to counterbalance the loss of any legitimate influence which the measure could possibly occasion. With regard to the manufacturing interest, or the manufac turing community as distinguished from the great body of the nation, we do not see why it should be separately consulted any more than the land ed. We are not aware that the interests of the manufacturers have been neglected or resisted under the existing system, except as amalgamated with those of the rest of the community under the pressure of the landed oligarchy. The members from Manchester, Leeds, and Birming ham, though these great towns had possessed the elective franchise, could probably have done little or demanded little, exclusively, for their own constituents, as representing the cotton, the woollen, or the hardware trade : but they would have swelled the ranks of the independent party against a corrupt oligarchy, and would have as sisted in removing many of the evils under which we now complain. It is needless to extend the illustration on this point farther. On the third objection to which we have adverted, we deny that hese interests, so far as they deserve the support of the nation, will sufler by Reform. Great commercial wealth, and a high reputation for business talents, will command an easier ad mission into a Reformed Parliament than into the present ; and though our colonial interests should have fewer hired agents or professed ad vocates in future than at this moment, they will always be more efficiently represented. Minis terial responsibility will be increased respecting these points, in proportion as mere interested talkers, or motion• makers, are withdrawn. Just now, in the case of the West Indies, Ministers only act as umpires between one party, called " the saints," and another called " the planters ; and the House of Commons annually witnesses oratorical tilts between them which ofte►► lead to no result. Under a reformed Parliament, these exhibitions will be less frequent, or will be con ducted by a different set of actors, and the ad ministration of our colonial government will be left in the hands of those who are responsible to a vigilant public for the acts which they per form or the measures which they recommend.— Times. Our Anti-Reformers, who desire with all their heart a war against .France, that they may have an opportunity, amid the general turmoil, to crush triumphant Reform in England, will be quite delighted with an article which we have extracted from the Consli!.'utionnel of Tuesday, and which will be found under the head of French Papers. They will there see that Met ternich is again in the field with his cunning and his legions,—that he is to be joined by the num berless hosts and legitimate principles of the Russian autocrat,—that Prussia has acceded to the armed alliance, and that Holland is to lead the van in a crusade which is about to envelop the French territory with glittering bayonets, and to bury tho. hydra of revolution under the usurped throne of Louis-Philippe. These three or four Powers have at their disposal, and will introduce into France, on their baggage-wag gons, two or three exiled Princes, that the Parisians may have their choice between two minors and an abdicated Dauphin. It is sup posed, however, that Louis XIX. (alias the Duke of Angouleme) will ultimately unite all suffravet;, as we are solemnly a s s ured th a t • he has retracted the deed by which he renounced his claim to the French throne, at Rambouillet and Holyrood. We are con cerned for this arrangement, because we are afraid that that dear infant Henry V. must postpone his reign for some years longer, and must abdicate in favour of his uncle, as his uncle formerly did in his. The dear child, "the infant of miracles," will then be obliged to de scend into the less dignified station of the Duke de Bordeaux. His interesting mother, too, whose " widow's mite" to the choleric patients in Paris has lately been so unfeelingly rejected, is by the same stroke of fate to be deprived of the French Regency, ard may unhappily see her son come of age before he comes to the throne. There must, ,ve suspect, be some intrigue in this unjust exclusion ; and though it may be difficult to discover the views of such a wily po litician as Metternich, we think it more than probable that he means, as occasion may arise, to place the French crown on a milt ale cocagne, to be scrambled for by young Bordeaux and young Napoleon, at the death of Louis XIX. This intelligence must have come upon the French people as it has come upon us—quite unexpectedly : it must have created what they call a " sensation," and really appears as sur prising as it is ',important. Indeed, we are in formed by the credible correspondent by whom it was communicated to the French journal, that Marshal Maison and the French embassy at Vienna knew nothing of the matter, and, there fore, very naturally, kept their own Govern ment in the dark. It is surprising, how ever, that there should have been such con centration of armies, and such movement of troops, without attracting observation or exciting inquiry. This appears to us nearly as puzzling as the question put to Voltaire's ignorant astro nomer, and we fancy that we must explain it in the same way. When asked; how the sun got back to the east in the morning, if' the earth was really a plane and he could not get under it, the simple-minded man sagaciously replied, " that he stole back in the night, when nobody saw him." And we are persuaded that these troops of Metternich must likewise have marched in the night, when Marshal Maison and his mi litary spies were asleep. With what the article says of England our patriots and political eco nomists must be highly satisfied, though it is not very flattering to our feeling of national import ance. We are, it would appear, to be left out of the arrangement altogether, and shall, God be praised, have no subsidies to pay ; but, alas! we shall have no opportunity of adding to our laurels, or procuring for the Prince of Waterloo the title of Prince of Paris. Really we are ashamed to prolong irony on such a subject, or gravely to expose such absurdities. The poor editor of the Constitutioniiel, who really is too credulous for the 19th century, must have bee❑ hoaxed by some Carlist, or some humorous clerk in the office of Prince Metternich.—Times. We refer our readers to a Letter in another column, from Mr. Parkes, of Birmingham, on the subject of Mr. Cobbett's circular address to the people of Birmingham, which we in serted in the Chronicle of Tuesday last. We expected from Mr. Parkes such a clear straightforward statement as that which he has made. We were sure that he never could have represented the people as in different as to the extent of Reform ; and we were too well aware of his zeal for the good cause, to suppose that he would ever be a party to any attempt to defeat the Bill, by furnishing its enemies with motives for increasing their ex ertions. No man has laboured harder than Mr. Parkes to promote the success of Reform ; and at the very time the author of the " Prerogative of creating Peers" is accused of misrepresenting the sentiments of the people, in order to pave the way to a compromise with the Tories, he is, it seems, engaged on another pamphlet, urging the people to increased exertions to obtain their just rights. We can see that Mr. Cobbett has his apprehensions with regard to Earl Grey, and the doubts which he has expressed will be useful both to Lord Grey and the Reformers. It is pos sible that injustice is done to Earl Grey by these doubts ; but there can be no harm in letting his Lordship see that there is much more danger in disappointing the people than in combating the Tories ; and the Reformers must see that it is incumbent on them to make such a demonstration on t his subject as cannot be mistaken. We may observe, however, that as Mr. Cobbett was agree ably disappointed in December by Lord Grey's re-introducing " an efficient Bill," he may possi bly be equally gratified by his sticking to the essentials of the Bill.—Morning Chronicle. We refer our readers to a report of some cu rious tithe proceedings yesterday, at Guildhall. It would appear from these proceedings that the clergy are the especial favourites of the law—so much so indeed, that it is difficult to see how a clergyman should ever lose any part of his dues. Whether he be diligent or lazy, harsh or indul gent, in the assertion of his claims, it is all one —no sooner does he choose to appear upon the scene than he succeeds to his heart's content. No wonder that Mr. Alderman Lucas was stag gered at the recital of the extraordinary privileges of the clergy There were three cases in all before the Alderman, from St. Mary, Alderman bury, of which parish the Rev. Mr. Sainsbury is Rector. A person named Fisher was sum ' moned for :3/., who urged that h e h a d j ust b een released under the Insolvent Act from gaol, where he had been confined a considerable time for debt ; that he had a w itc and family to main tain ; and that he had put the tithes, with his other debts, in his schedule. The facts were not disputed, but the collector contended that tithes could not be wiped off by the operation of the Insolvent Act, not being a personal as sessment, like poor-rate, or church-rate, but a charge on the estate, which the tenant might de duct from this landlord when paving his rent. The rector could not follow the landlord, but was bound to levy on the premises. The clergyman, according to this reading of the law, is much better off than the landlord,' because the land lord's rent can be wiped off by the operation of the Insolvent Act. The landlord has a priority of claim for a certain amount of rent (not for arrears) on the goods on the premises, but be yond this he has no advantage over other credi tors. The next case was that of a tenant sum- moned for five quarters' tithe, he having occupied the house only two quarters, and the previous tenant having taken the benefit of the Insolvent Debtors' Act, and put the three quarters in his schedule. The tenant in possession tendered the tithe for the two quarters, but the collector refused to accept it. A third case was still more striking. A landlord was summoned for tithes for ten quarters, on premises for which he had not received rent for two Nears past, in conse quence of their having been empty, &c. The collector said, if the house had been burnt down, and lying in ruins, the rector would have had the same right to tithes as if it had been oc cupied. We certainly think the collector has been amusing himself at the expense of the worthy Alderman. If a citizen of London were to be so unfortunate as to have his house burnt down, under this reading of the law it would be im possible for him ever to rebuild it, if unable to do it without delay. In a few years the arrears of tithes would amount to the value of the house before it was burnt down ; and it would be but a poor speculation to pay first a sum equal to the value of the house to the parson, and next for the rebuilding, the arrears of tithes adding n 0... thing to the value, which would consist only of the ground and the expense of rebuilding. A rule like this would be one of two things—it would either transfer, in the course of time, all the houses of the city to the clergy, or it would prevent the occupation or rebuilding of a house which has for any length of time been unoccupied or in ruins. It would be better at once to give to the clergy a power to bring houses, or the ruins of houses, to sale for arrears of tithes. In that case au arrear of tithe would not accu mulate on premises from which no profit was de rived. We were informed by a gentleman that six houses were given to him some time ago in payment of a debt, situated in one of the streets behind the new Post-office ; but such was the amount of burdens from tithes, &c., on them, that he threw them up as an uprofitable concern. He had, however, some difficulty in getting rid of them, on the condition of a total loss, the ground landlords (one of the City Companies) being unwilling to relinquish him as a tenant. Fortunately, however, the leases of the houses had not been assigned to him, so that he could not be held in law to be tenant. From this it may be seen that a man should sometimes pause before he consents to receive city property. — Morning Chronicle. The Common Council, as will appear from the report of their proceedings in another column, have come forward again in support of the Re form Bill. They have agreed to a petition to the House of Lords, and have voted the freedom of the City to Lords Grey and Althorp in a manner which reflects credit on the city of Lon don, and will, no doubt, afford great satisfaction and encouragement to the two Noble champions of the measure, whose merits have been so highly and so justly extolled. The battle, as was observed by one of the speakers, is as yet but half won ;" the advantage obtained by the second reading did not amount to a com plete and final victory, but it gave the advocates of Reform a new position, which, under skilful management, cannot fail to decide the fate of the struggle. At this crisis the city of London have come forward again to strengthen the hands of Ministers ; they have repeated their confi• dence in Lord Grey and his colleagues, and, by the unanimity of their proceedings, have given a triumphant answer, in conjunction with other popular bodies who have bestirred themselves on the occasion, to those who would still represent the people as being indifferent to Reform. This imputed " indifference" is, if possible, more absurd than the " reaction," which the boroughmongers have become ashamed ofat last. It is more absurd, because it is easier to suppose that men are in fluenced by passion to their own prejudice, than that they arc absorbed in apathy when every thing dear to them is at stake. Even upon the supposition of the boroughmongers themselves, that the measure is nothing short of revolution, it is impossible to suppose that the people can be indifferent to the issue. We should as soon expect to meet indifference in the population of a burning town. But if the measure be, as we maintain it is, a boon of the greatest magnitude, what dolts, what stocks and stones, must this people of England be, if they can look upon the struggle which is to decide its success or failure with a feeling of besotted indifference ! No, they are not such fools ; they know well enough that it is one thing to be represented by men chosen by themselves, and another thing to be represented (as they are told they have been) by men chosen by others. But let the Corporations speak for them, let the public meetings held in different quarters of the empire say what is the feeling of the people at this moment. If they are peaceable—as, thank God, they are peace able—it is not because they are indifferent, but because they are full of hope and determination. The cause of Reform, let its enemies say what they will, has gained an important accession of strength from late events ; and nothing can con duce more to its fin a l accomp li s h ment t h an an imitation of the firm but temperate tone adopted by the Common Council of London at the meet ing to which we have referred.—Morn. Herald. We have lately dwelt much and tediously on the catalogue of Whig blunders which Earl Grey's Government so liberally supplies to us, and we revert to them more frequently than our inclinations alone would prompt, in order that wavering Peers may never for an instant forget that in tolerating one bad measure they sanction twenty others, and pave the way for as many more. Qui .facit per alios, facit per se, and those who spare a malefactor become accomplices of crime. Lords Harrowby and Wharncliffe are well aware of this. They know how great have been the errors of Government, they have marked its decline in public estimation, and they have acknowledged in writing that its manifest weakness has much strengthened the hands of the Anti-Reformers since the rejection of the Bill last veor. If other reasons prevented them from acting upon this conviction on a late occasion, they have no excuse whatever now for sp ar i ng i n Com mittee the men whose measures they condemn. The sword must be sharpened, the scabbard thrown away. "No quarter, no surrender," the word. To save our own lives we must take those of the enemy, and the same hand which strikes to mutilate the Bill must cut down its wretched authors. The proverb says, " Give a Whig rope and he will hang himself." Our Ministers have verified it. Who now reposes confidence in them ? The Unions ? No. The Irish ? No. Cobbett himself gives them up. Why then should the Peers not give them at once the coup de grike? To spare them now is to justify their policy and perpetuate their misrule. Earl Grey feels deeply, and he has expressed with becoming earnestness, his sense of ministerial responsibility. We do not wish to lighten his load, but light it is, and lighter still will it appear in the eyes of all his country men, compared with that which the Noble Lords already named will incur if they lengthen, aye by a single hour, the political existence of their enemy. He acts for the best accord ing to the measure of light vouchsafed to him. He thinks a democracy and monarchy compatible. He fears not ten-pound house holders ; no, not he ; they are the best of legis lators ; nor Political Unions, they are the best of counsellors; nor mobs and Rotundas, they are safety-valves to popular ebullitions. He anticipates no danger to Protestant interests from one hundred Popish Parliamentary delegates. They must swear not to injure the Church, and Papists never quibble about an oath, not they. To him O'Connell's late explanation of its meaning in the Irish Political Union was doubt less satisfactory, an augury of the blessed re pose which we shall enjoy from Popish aggres sion in a reformed Parliament. To him the visits of Mr. Place, the tailor, are a pleasing diversity, and pledge of popular favour. To him the persecution of ancient Allies and the support of mushroom revolutionary Governments is a policy both peaceful and honourable. To him, in short, a Whig Administration is a " twice blessed." "It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes"—the country and the family. But you, my Lords, think none of these things ! you see not with his eyes, nor hear with his ears ; nor will you be judged by his conscience, but by your own. Wide as the • Poles asunder are your views, your feelings, hopes, and interests ; and his friendship is yet more dangerous than his hatred. There is death in the cup which he has mixed. Without your support his Government must fall. To us, the people, as contradistinguished from the mob, you are responsible for all the mischief which its continuance may occasion. That mischief you estimate as clearly as ourselves ; you de plore it, you deprecate it, you can avert it, and dare you hesitate ? No, my Lords ; they slander you who impugn your courage, your wisdom, or your zeal. To all such base detrac tors you will give the lie by actions as honour able as your motives ; tamper no more with the enemy who mocks you, but pursue him to the death.—Morning Post. " Save me from my friends," is a prayer which Ireland ought to put up every day and hour of her existence ; for whether she suffers most from her open enemies, or her pretended friends, is a question which it is not easy to solve. The injuries inflicted by the former are indeed the most apparent ; but those which the killing kindness of' the latter bring upon her, though more disguised, are not the less real. Thus, for example, there are few national bene fits of which Ireland stands more in need, than a more extensive and improved system of edu cation than that which she enjoys at present ; yet now that Government has proposed a plan which is evidently a great improvement upon the present defective system, or rather no sys tem—which does not trench upon the freedom of the Catholic's conscience, any more than it is any part of its object to convert the Protest ant into a Catholic—a species of ballot ad in terneeionenz is proclaimed against it, as if it had not only both these objects in view, but also that of unchristianizing the whole community ! To defend Government against such a charge would be needless ; for only the veriest helots in religion and politics would give credence to it; but we cannot help expressing a regret, in which all the sincere friends of Ireland will join, that to the unnatural evils under which she labours should be added that of every plan for their re moval being thwarted by party prejudice, or de feated by a iiertinacious bigotry not less repre hensible.—Atorning Advertiser. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. IILANSION-HOUSE. A decision of considerable importance respecting the construction of the Act of Parliament relating to unstamped publications, was given yesterday by the sitting magistrate, Alderman S:r CHAPMAN MARSHALL. Two persons, named Thurgood and BarneB, were charged with obstructing the foot-pavement by offer ing for sale certain unstamped publications. They had been remanded by the Lord Mayor for the purpose of having the City Solicitor's opinion, whe ther a magistrate had power to punish under the 60th Geo. 111. for selling such publications. Mr. David Wire, on the part of the defendants, stated to Sir Chapman, that at Bow-street the ma gistrates had decided, after hearing the arguments of Mr. Adolphus., that they had no jurisdiction over the offence, unless preferred by the solicitor for stamps, and also that Mr. Broughton, of Worship-street, feeling the force of this objection, had dismissed a case similar to those now present. Mr. Newman, the City Solicitor, said his opinion of the construction of the act was in favour of the jurisdiction of the magistrate, where punishment for the offence was what was sought. He admitted that an information would be necessary to be laid by the Attorney-General or the Solicitor for the Stamp office where fine or forfeiture was contemplated ; but the Magistrate had still the power to deal summarily with it as a punishable offence. Mr. Wire said there was a forfeiture in this case of an extensive nature,—the forfeiture of the liberty of the person. Sir CHAPMAN MARSHALL said he felt it to be his duty to act upon the opinion expressed by the law• officers of the corporation; and therefore, as the offence had been clearly proved, and the men still persisted in declaring their determination to continue their conduct, he should direct that they be impri soned for the space of one month each. GUILDHALL. Some inhabitants of St. Mary Aldermanbury attended before Mr. Alderman LUCAS, on summons, for refusing to pay certain arrears of tithes due to the Rev. Mr. Sainsbury, the Rector. A person named Fisher, who was summoned for 3/., pleaded that he was in distress. He had just been released from gaol, where he hail been confined a considerable time for debt. lie had a wife and family to maintain. He had put this debt of tithes on his schedule. The collector did not dispute this statement, but observed that it was a mistake to suppose that the Tithes could be wiped off by the operation of the Insolvent Act. It was not a personal assessment iikc the poor-rate, or the church.rate, to which the Insolvent Act might be applied, but one upo►► the e3tate. If the tenant paid it, he would have a right to deduct it when he paid his landlord, but ►he rector could not follow the ;landlord, and wa, bound to levy on the piemi:ses, lie must therefore ask for a warrant if the defendant refused to pay. ' Mr. Alderman LUCAS said, be should grant a warrant with great reluctance. He would much rather subscribe something towards making up the amount. A man just released by the Insolven. Court was necessarily put to great shifts to sustain iHnself at all—probably depended on the kindness of his relations and friends; and surely the rector would not " skin him" at such a moment. The collector replied, the rector's income from this parish was limited to 250/. a-year only ; and he should not press for a warrant if the law did not point out that he must look to the premises. He had no authority to allow his feelings to govern his conduct as the collector. Then, said the Alderman, I shall decline sinning any war ant till this poor man's case has been spe cially represented to the rector, with my recom mesidation that he will take it into con-ideration. To this delay the collector assented. In the next case, a Mr. Dixon was summoned for five quarters' tithes. He had occupied the house only two quarters, and the previous tenant had taken the benefit of the Insolvent Act, and had put the other three quarters' tithes in his schedule. The collector again urged that the assessment, though liable to he paid by the tenant, was not a personal one, and therefore was not affected by li!s insolvency. _ _ Mr. Alderman Luc-is was not disposed to de prive the clergy of their dues; but if it were hard to expect the rector to lose the three quarters in dispute, it was much harder to make 31r. Dixon pay them. He asked whether the rector resided in the parish. The collector answered he did not. He lived at St. Peter's, Isle of Thanet. Mc. Dixon tendered payment for two quarters, but the collector refused it, and said if the Alder man did not compel payment of the whole, he should apply to the Lord Chancellor. The Alderman declined deciding at that moment what he should do. In the next case a landlord was summoned for tithes for ten quarters, on premises for which he had not received rent for two years past, from being empty and other causes. The collector said if the house had been burnt down, and lying in ruins for two years, the rector would still have had the same right to tithes as if they were occupied. Mr. Alderman LL - cAs would go no further till he had obtained legal advice. All the cases must stand over for the present. BOTV-STREET. A young woman, named Catherine Phillips, was brought before Mr. HALLs, by a police constable of the F division, charged with having attempted to drown herself in the river, at the end of Strand-lane. The unfortunate woman, in reply to questions put to her by the magistrate, had been six months mar ried, and had suffered such cruel treatment from her husband that she was anxious to get rid of her life. Her husband had not only deserted her without any cause, but had, during her absence to procure some needle work, called in a broker and sold off the bed on which she had lain, and every article of furniture in the room. The landlord claimed an arrear of rent, and would not allow her to return to the apart ment, in Tash-street, Gray's-inn-lane, and the con sequence wa , , that she had been obliged to wander about without food or shelter. She went to her husband's relatives, who endeavoured to soothe her, and told her to call again on the following day. She did so, but found that they had removed from the place, and no one could tell her where they had gone to. Having no friends of her own to whom she could apply for assistance, and having pawned every article she had, even to her wedding ring, despair took possession of her mind; and had it not been for the constable who rescued her from the water, she would have put an end to her miseries at once.— She here produced a quantity of duplicates ; and, to add to her misfortunes, said that she was in a state of pregnancy. Mr. HALLS having represented to her the sin and folly of her conduct, ordered the constable to take her to the workhouse of St. Andrew's Holborn, to which parish it appeal ed her husband belonged, with an order for her admission, and a request that her case might be immediately attended to. MARLB OR O UGH STREET. Yesterday, an elderly man, named Thomas Wright, underwent a re-examination before Mr. ROE, the sitting magistrate, on a charge of stealing 341 b. weight of wax candles, the property of the Earl of Belfast. After a long investigation, the prisoner was remanded. QUEEN- S QUARE. Yesterday, the Right Bev. the Lord Bishop of Rochester was summoned by Byers, the informer, before Mr. GREGORIE, for not having his Christian and surname painted on one of his carts according to the new Hackney-coach Act, whereby he had in curred a penalty of any sum not exceeding 5 1. It appeared that the words on the cart were, " The Bishop of Rochester, Bromley, Kent," instead of George Murray, his Christian and surname. A gentleman attended on behalf of the Bishop of Rochester, and pleaded guilty. Mr. GREGORIE then fined the defendant in the mitigated penalty of 205., and 12s. costs. LAMBETH-STREET. Yesterday, the officer who apprehended the four men and a woman who were examined at this office on Tuesday last, on a charge of forging the will of a person named George Friend, who had lately died, with a view of obtaining nearly 500/. which the de ceased died possessed of, laid before the sitting Ma gistrate a great number of books and papers which he found at the house of Dalton, one of the pri soners. From these documents, it appears that the gang have carried on a most extensive and profit able system of forgery. One parr of their plan was to keep a regular register of all the vessels leaving this country on long voyages, such as the whale fishery or the West Indies, with the names of all the men on board, and on their return to ascertain if any of their crews had died during their absence, and if so, what wages were due to them, or what property they possessed at the time of their demise. The moment they ascertained these particulars, they at once drew up a fictitious will, forged to it the names of one or two attesting witnesses, and by this means soon got possession of the property. This system had been carried on with great success by them for many years past, and they continued it with perfect impunity, as it rarely occurred that the relations of the deceased persons ascertained the fact as to the disposition of their property, and whenever they gave themselves the trouble to do so, they were generally satisfied that the wills were genuine, and therefore took no further notice of the matter. Among the documents are nearly 200 copies of the wills of seamen and others, and at least treble the number of blank printed forms, so that from this some estimate may be formed as to the extent of their nefarious operations. CHESTER, APRIL 23.—The sudden death of Mr. Cu fiurFE OFFLEY, after only twenty-four hours' illness, has caused a vacancy in the representation of this city, and the freemen are already busily engaged in casting about them for a suitable successor to the Hon. Gentle man, than whom no man in the House of Commons more faithfully discharged his duty to his constituents. Mr. lEnwAan Davis DAVENPORT, formerly Member for Shaftesbury, is confidently spoken of by a numerous party in the city, and it .is said that the Hon. Gentleman is nothing loth to represent our ancient city in Parliament, provided always that it cost him neither trouble nor ex pense to obtain his seat. If any further proof were want ing of the falsehood and folly of the cuckoo cry of " re action," and that " the people are indifferent about Re form," it is to be found in the fact, that upon the mere strength of his known character as a reformer, meetings have already hen held, and placards issued, recommending Mr. PONSONBY to the choice of the freemen ; and it is, I believe, determined to send him an invitation to allow himself to be put in nomination, and returned free of ex pense. This, it should be remembered, is by a body of electors (freemen) of whom nineteen•twentieths are of the working classes—men who have obtained the franchise by birth or servitude. This much is certain, that none but a reformer will have the slightest chance, SALE OF A WIFE BY HER HUSBAND AT CARLISLE. I From the Lancaster Herald. On ; Saturday, the 7th instant, the inhabitants of Carlisle witnessed the sale of a wife by her husband, Joseph Thompson, who resides in a small village ,bout three miles from this city. He rents a farm of about forty-two or forty-four acres, and was mar ried at Hexham, in the year 1829, to his present wife. She is a spruce, lively, buxom damsel, appa rently not exceeding twenty-tw o years of age, and appeared to feel a pleasure at the exchange she was about to make. They had no children during their union, and that, together with some family disputes, caused them by mutual agreement to come to the resolution of finally parting. Accordingly the bell man was sent round to give notice of the sale, which was to take place at twelve o'clock. This announce ment attracted the attention of thousand s . She ap peared above the crowd, standing on a large oak chair, surrounded by many of her friends, with a rope or halter made of straw round her neck. She was dressed in rather a fashionable country style, and appeared to some advantage. The husband, who was also standing in an elevated position near her prc ceeded to put her up for sale, and spoke nearly as follows : " Gentlemen—l have to oiler to your notice my wife, Mary Anne Thompson, otherwise Williamson, whom I mean to sell to the highest and fairest bidder. Gentlemen, it is her wish as well as mine to part for ever. She has been to me only a bosom serpent. I took her for my com fort and the good of my house, but she has become my tormentor, a domestic curse, a night invasion, and a daily devil.—(Great laughter.) Gentlemen, I speak truth from my heart when I say, may God deliver us from trou blesome wives and frolicsome widows.—(Laughter.) Avoid them the same as you would a mad dog, a roaring lion, a loaded pistol, choera morbus, Mount Etna, or any other pestilential phenomena in nature. Now I have shown you the dark side of my wife, and told you her faults and her failing -9, I will now introduce the bright and sunny side of her, and explain her qualifications and goodness. She cin read nolb Is, and milk cows ; she can laugh and weep the same ease that I can take a glass of ale when thirsty indeed, Gentlemen, she reminds me of what the Poet says of women in ge neral:— ' Heaven gave to woman the peculiar grace To laugh, to weep, and cheat the human race.' She can make butter and scold the maid ; she can sing 'Moore's Melodies,' and plait her frills and caps; she can not make rum, gin, or whisky, hut she is a good judge of the quality from long experience in tasting them. I there fore offer her, with all her perfections and imperfections, for the sum of fifty shillings." After an hour or twe she was purchased by Henry Mears, a pensioner, for the sum of 20s. and a Newfoundland dog. The happy people immedi ately left town together, amidst the shouts and huzzas of the multitude, in which they were joined by Thompson, who, with the greatest good humour imaginable, proceeded to put the halter, which his wife had taken off, round the neck of his Newfound land dog, and then proceeded to the first public house, where he spent the remainder of the day. DARING ATTEMPT AT DIAMOND STEALING. We yesterday adopted, in common with our contemporaries, an account which was furnished to us of an alleged robbery which had been committed on Mr. Isaacs, the respectable diamond-merchant, in Sr. Clement's Church-yard, which, on inquiry, we find to be incorrect in the main particulars. The real facts of the case are these :-011 Thursday last, about three o'clock, Mr. Isaacs, who was sitting in a parlour behind his shop, was called forward to his counter by a man of gentlemanly appearance, who said he wanted six brilliants to match two which he produced. M. Isaacs, unsuspicious of any sinister intention, returned to the parlour and brought out a packet of diamonds of the value of about 2001., unluckily closing the parlour door as he returned. On opening the paper to make the selection, his customer suddenly flung a paper of snuff in his face, a great portion of which entered one of his eyes; but the other was luckily preserved by his spectacles. The ruffian then seized the packet of diamonds and attempted to escape. Mr. Isaacs, although an aged and infirm man, and smarting from the effects of the snuff, however, rushed round the counter and succeeded in reaching the door in time to prevent the miscreant from opening it. He then seized him, and in the scuffle broke a pane of glass and cut his hand. An accomplice outside, who was watching the issue of the attempt, at once saw what was occurring, and, opening the door, suffered his comrade to escape. The ruffian rushed towards Wych.street, where he was caught by a gentleman; but two fellows, no doubt part of the gang, knocked the gentleman down, and the fellow reached in safety a small passage, leading into New Inn, called New Inn-passage. Here there was a gate, which another accomplice closed, and thus enabeld the fellows to get clear off by reaching the street and alleys on the other side of the Inn, and communi cating with Clare-market. While the pursuit was going on, in which Mr. Isaacs and part of his fa mily joined, Mr. Isaac's youngest daughter, who had been up stairs, arid was attracted by the noise, came down, and on entering the shop, the door of wh'cli was left open, most providentially found the whole of the packet of diamonds, which the rob ber in his fright had dropped, lying on the mar, and on the counter lay the two brilliants, which he had brought, under the pretence of getting t hem matched: Thus - Mr. Isaacs escaped the deep-laid scheme of plunder of which he was to have been the victim. About three years back he was not so fortunate, for he was then robbed of 300/. worth of brilliants, he believed, and the police believed, by the same robber. Then the fellow went into the shop under pretence of purchasing a diamond for a shirt pin, and after a li!tle shuffling, seeing .Alr. Isaacs touch a bell to call for the presence of some of his family, he snatched up a packet of brilliants of the value described , rushed out of the shop, shutting'the door after biro) and got clear off. As the person of the daring de' predator is known, unless he takes a country excu!' sion, which it is more than probabls he will do, in all likelihood he will find his way to the " strong house" in the Old Bailey. Nothing but the courage and presence of mind of Mr. Isaacs in the present. l nstance saved his property. In future he take especial care not again to expose his valuables . ‘... ads h such e a rtise fire, risk. The old adage says, "a burnt child In Kilmarnoch the carpet trade is in a pretty active state at present. The weaver's wages may, on on average, be stated at from 104. to Iss. weekly. In the shawl trade many hands are out of employm , nr, and those employed at present, at middles, ig,t only one piece in five or six weeks, for which they are paid 275. or 285., ad, from this they have to pay I s , wee kl y f or tear and wear o' loom and other impl e m en t s . Th e b onnet tra d e i s very (I°l'f at present, both here and in S , ewarton ; sales can scarce l y be effected at any prices. The shoe trade, which used to and still does, empl..y a considerable number of our pope, lation, is also flat. The leather trade, which is pretty e % _ tensive, has also been condu c t e d more on specu latio; through the past winter than in any winter for many Ye a: previous.—lfilmarnoch Chronicle.' MARRIED. t u f g n h t t l e i r e 2 0 .:) . t l c i 7h ii a i srtl., atCharles : i ti e t , . , i P tt a , n t er s a q s ., N o e f w m C a ti b t i t e r d c , h m , xfsP - I p 4e la o c r e g , e "31.'4 On the 22d inst. Samuel Houslev, Esq., of Curzon-street, ~ id. fair, to Mary Anne, daughter of T. Housley, F,sq. of Waken e w s Fletcher, Esq., of Wandsworth, to Charlotte Elizabeth sec °,„, (la 'Burt .- crescent. On the 25th inst. at St. lawrenceJewry, Mr. George Burbidge' of Watling-street, to Miss Crosby, of King.street, Cheapsidc , D. - I D i ' On the 2.1 d December las DIE t, at Lima, South America, it , 4I st year, Thomas Templeman, jun. Esq., of the firm of Templ e . ! man and Bergm an n, of that city, and e ld es t son of Th IP' Templeman, Esq., Conyngham House, 11 , 1msgate: of be lt age, the 13th inst. at Clapham-common, in the SRI year . ~,, Gosse, Esq., of that place. • ti , On the `2sth inst. suddenly, of convulsions, Fanny ElizabC e d Amy, daughter of R. Bright, , l,sq. South Audley-street, a age, Elizabeth, only surviving daughter of the late Joseph sots' live months. On the _nth inst. at Wallington , in the t.. ) Sth year of her ag e' Frances Sophia, wife of Thomas Forbes Reynolds, Esq. 0 1 On the 10th ult. at Camberwell, the Rev. Benjamin Wills, his 23d year. On the 23d inst., aged 32, Ann, wife of Thomas Francis Ban e' Esq., of the City-road, surgeon. On the 11th inst. at Buecleugh Brown, late of London. -place, Edinburgh, Mr. Thoth''' Brown, On the `29th of February, a t D emerara, John Dennistoun, 1-7 ,- , :on of the late Robert Dennistoun, Esq. of Glasgow. _....4 PRINTED AND PUBLISIILD BY MURDO YOUN— n , AT SUN OrFlee, 112, STRAND, LONDON,