The Sun.
London, England, 1839-08-22 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TWURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 1839.

of the country, and whatever expense might be incurred in
obtaining them, the benefit would far surpass that expense.
Mr. FRE SHFIELD was glad the Hon. Member for
Kilkenny had brought the subject before the House, and

he was most anxious to see the contract or quasi contract
laid before Parliament. He doubted much whether the

strong feeling that was stated to exist on the subject of
increased facilities to communication by steam, had
ever found its way to a Government office, except
through the medium of some great names appear-
ing in a prospectus, and suggesting the wide field
of enterprize, and enormous advantages that would
accrue to the public from the adoption of their plans.
Was it part of the contract that the Company was to have
a charter—were they to have that which was generally
thought in old times to be a clog upon trade—did that
form part of the contract? It must; for the contract
could not be carried into effect without it. He was most
anxious to see the quasi contract, in order to know whe-
ther proper arrangements had been made with respect to
the ports of departure. It was not a question of Falmouth.
except so far as the interests of that port were
connected with the interests of the public. But every
presumption was in favour of Falmouth. It was in pos-
session of the trade and had been for a century, and he
challenged a public inquiry into the capabilities of
Falmouth as compared with any other port. If there
was to be an alteration in the port of departure,
it ought to be after a full investigation of the subject, and
hearing evidence pro and con. Every information ought
to be given on the subject; and it ought not to be made to
depend on the activity of any Honourable Member in
getting official information. He did not know what in-
formation the Honourable Member for Kilkenny
might have on the subject, but in the Falmouth Packet
there was a report of a meeting of merchants at Bristol, at
which it was resolved that an offer should be made to the
Government to convey the mails to and from the
West Indies for 100,000/. less than had been offered
by the London Company, which was understood to be
240,000/. It appeared to have created great astonishment
that so precipitate a step should have been taken by the
Government, and that the country at large should not
have been informed of their intention. He was surprised
that a contract should have taken place without the public
being placed in a situation to bid against each other.
Formerly the packet service was in private hands, and the
Government transferred it to the Admiralty, and he saw
no reason why it should not be retained by the Govern.
ment, who ought certainly to be able to perform the duties
as cheaply as any company. If any alteration was to be
made in the port of departure, an opportunity ought to be
given for examining into the reasons for such charges.
Lord ELIOT was ready to concede that the public
interests ought to be the object which the Government
had in view, but the value of Falmouth had never been
underrated, and if the establishment there should be de-
stroyed, we might, in the event of a war, find ourselves in
a situation of great difficulty.—( Hear, hear.) He
thought the substitution of steam for sailing vessels
was a great advantage, and the question was
whether the Government had secured this in the most
efficient and economical manner. It appeared that a
Company of merchants at Bristol were ready to undertake
the arrangement on more economical terms ; and he also
understood that a sum had been offered for the bargain,
which had been struck with the Government. It was
proposed that the packets should take their departure twice
a month. That was at the same period as the sailing
packets, 'and therefore the transmission of letters would
not be oftener than at present. But this Company was to
have a monopoly for ten years, at 240,0001. a year;
so that, whatever improvement might be made, the
expense to the country would be exactly the same.
There was also another consideration, great inconvenience
would accrue to merchants desirous of shipping specie to
this country, because it was well known that merchants
preferred shipping specie on board a man-of-war to en-
trusting it to private individuals; therefore the merchants
would be entirely in the hands of this Company, or would
be obliged to wait for the accidental arrival of a man-of-
war. The services of a very great number of officers and sea-
men would be dispensed with, and that was a matter worthy
of serious consideration, more especially as to the expense,
because all these officers would have to be placed upon
half-pay, or provided for by home other method. It was
also a matter of the utmost consequence, that they should
consider whether they would not by this plan be destroy.
ing the nursery for the navy. He agreed with the Hon.
Member for Falmouth in opinion that the Government
had by no means established a case.
Mr. AGL lONBY was anxious to know whether the
Secretary to the Admiralty intended to grant these returns
or not.

Mr. C. WOOD—Certainly not.
Mr. AGLIONBY understood as much, and therefore
the ground-work of the argument of the Hon. Member was
cut away. It was said to be impossible to grant these
returns. He should like to know in what the impossibility
consisted. If any contract was in existence it could be pro-
duced, and if no such contract existed it was easy to state so.
If no offers had been made, where was the difficulty of
stating so ? It had been stated by the Hon. Member for
Penryn, that an offer had been made to carry the mails
for 100,0004 a year less than the sum agreed to be given by
the Government. Now this would be a saving of one mil-
lion in the ten years, which was worthy of consideration.
There had been ro public notification either by advertise-
ment or otherwise to the mercantile interest, until the
matter accidentally transpired—( Mr. F. Baring—" It was
in the Newspapers")—but a very short time ago—(Mr.
F. Baring—. Two months.") Well, it did not appear then
that there had been any effectual public notice which there
ought to have been before the country was committed
to a ten years' bargain, and to a sum of money much less
than Which, he believed, even for a shorter period, would
have been sufficient.
Lord ELIOT said the Falmouth Deputation, who had
waited on the Treasury, not only were previously ignorant
of any such contract being in c ,ntempktion, but left the
Chancellor of the Exchequer equally in the dark.
Mr. C. WOOD thought his lion. Friend the Member
for Cockermouth could not have listened to what he had

stated, which was distinctly, first, that the contract was
just as he had represented it to the House; next,
that it was a private, and not a public, tender ; and,
thirdly, that no other offer had been made. With respect
to the question of the Honourable ?lernber opposite (Mr.
Freshfield), all he had to say was that the Government
had reEerved to themselves the right of naming the port
from which the vessels were to start.—( Hear, hear.) With
respect to the complaint that the arrangement had been
effected by private contract, he would observe that in every
instance where public tenders had been inviteu by the
Government they had generally failed, and had always suc-
ceeded in making much better terms by private contract.
As an instance of that, when it was proposed to carry the
mail to Rotterdam, public tenders were asked for, and only
one was received, and that of such a character that the
Government felt bound to decline it- So with respect to
Cadiz, Livcrpool,Dublin, and Halifax—.in all ot which cases
the Government had made much better terms by private
contract. He believed that the present bargain was an
extremely good one for the Government and the public.
It remained for the House to say whether, under all the
circumstances, the bargain was a fanr one or not.
After a few words from I. ELLIS,
Captain PE CHELL said the lion. Gentleman had
objected to giving a copy of the contract for the convey-
ance of the West India Mails, on the ground of its being
incomplete, but no such objection could apply to
the contract with Halifax, because in a Nova Scotia
paper he had seen a vote of thanks to the agent,
Mr. Kinnaird, on the ground of his having made
so good a bargain with the English Government.
He thought that great caution should be used with respect
to the doing away with the establishment at Falmouth, as
it had always been a most excellent nursery for our seamen.
He begged to ask, too, how the mail was to be carried from
Halifax to Boston.
Mr. C. WOOD--Bv steam.
Captain PECHEL L—That was so far satisfactory ;
but it was very important to know what the means of com-
munication were to be between England and our frontier
Colony of Bermuda. He trusted these questions would be
answered to the satisfaction of the House and the country.
Mr. J. PALMER thought the Government could not
be too open in their dealings with respect to all matters of
contract, and deprecated the encouragement of steam
vessels, which he considered destroyed nurseries for sea-
men.

Admiral ADAM said that the steamers would carry as
many seamen as the packets used to do. But he would ask,
was it nothing for this country to have an immnnse force
of steam-vessels, so that if a war were tb break out to-
morrow we could at once arm and ma❑ them for the pur-
pose of protecting our commerce, not only in the Channel
but all over the world ?—( Hear.) He knew there were
at present a great many objections to steam-vessels, but
time and experience would overcome them.
Mr. HUME wished, before the question was disposed
of, to make one or two observations. He admitted that
he had been ignorant of the facts stated by the Hon. Gen-
tleman ( Mr. Wood), but be did not think the Admiralty
or the Government had the power of binding this eountry
to contracts for ten years. Hitherto there had always
been an annual vote for the expenses of the packets.
H e would venture to say that never had there been
2,400,0001. disposed of by one branch of the Government
without the knowledge of Parliament. This appeared to
bim to be a most monstrous proposition. He trusted the
Government would pause before they placed themselves in
a situation from which they could not retire, for ho was
quite sure Parliament would not sanction a thing of this
sort being done privately. If they had power to dispose
of this sum, why should they not have the power to
dispose of 20,000,0001. ?—( Hear, hear.) If they were
able to make a contract of this nature for ten years,
why not for fifty? In fact the) might bind down the whole
expenditure of the country.—( Hear, hear.) If there
was any objection to the form of the motion he would alter
it in any way which might be pointed out.
Mr. F. BARING said the returns would not answer the
purpose of the Hon. Member ; he had better move for the
whole of the correspondence. The Government had been
repeatedly urged by parties in that House to perform this
service by contract, and the moment they did so their powers
were doubted. This struck him as most extraordinary ; it
was of great importance that this question should be settled,
both out of fairness to the Government and to the parties
interested. The Hon. Gentleman had better give notice
of a motion for suspending the contracts at once.
Mr. HUME said that would be hardly fair towards
him—he bad always been friendly to a plan for executing
these duties by contract, and as to the question of power,
the Attorney-General was the proper person to apply to ;
he had no wish to move for thn correspondence, but he
would advise the Government to pause.
Mr. C. WOOD said it would be impossible to give the
Hon. Gentleman more information on the subject than he
had already given him. If next Session he chose to move
for every scrap of paper connected with the subject he
should have no objection to furnish him with them.
Mr. HUME said that his only object was that the in •
formation relating to this subject should be in possession of
the country.
Mr. FR ESHFIELD was anxious to see the correspon-
dence, more especially any complaints from the colonies
relating to the existing system.
The motion was then Withdrawn.
EXCHEQUER BILLS,

On the motion of Mr. HUME there was ordered a

" Return of the several Funding of Exchequer Bills since
the year 1797, stating the amount of Exchequer Bills
funded at each time, the terms on which the same were
converted into Stock ; stating also the price or premium at
which the Exchequer Bills were in the market on the day
on which the notice was issued by the Chancellor of the
Exchequer ; stating also the amount of Exchequer Bills
then outstaning at the time of the notices hem.- given,
and the rates of Interest which the Exchequer Bills' bore."
CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

Mr. HUMS said he had been requested by his Hon.
Friend, the Member for Greenock, to move for-
1. Copy of the Veto Act of the General Assembly of
Scotland ; or the document which commonly is so called.
2. Copy of the roll of persons in each parish of Scot-
land, entitled, under that Act, to exercise the veto ; or a
return, showing the number of persons in each parish of
Scotland, entitled, under that Act, to exercise the veto.
3. Return of the names of parishes in Scotland, which
since the introduction of, and under that Act, have success-
fully resisted the plantation of ministers therein by lay-
patrons; with the names of the ministers so rejected.
4. Return of the names of parishes in Scotland which
have attempted, unsuccessfully, under that Act, to resist
the plantation of ministers therein by lay-patrons ; with
the names of the ministers thus intruded into these parishes.
5. Copy of the Rules under which the Government
Church patronage in Scotland has been bestowed since the
passing of, or under, the aforesaid Veto Act ; especially
the mode in which intimation is given to the parishkners,
that they shall be at liberty to reject the Government no-
minee, should such, appointment be contrary to their
wishes ; the time allowed for expressing their dissent, the
form prescribed or customary for expressing it, the party to
whom it must be expressed or delivered ; also the rule of
proceeding by Government after such dissent has been
expressed, and a new appointment has become necessary."
The Hon. Gentleman said that not being able to give the
reasons which his Hon. Friend doubtless would be able to
urge for these returns, if the Government objected he would
not persist.
The LORD ADVOCATE said he must object to the
whole of them.
Mr. HUME then withdrew the motion.
Mr. AG L lONS Y gave notice that he should to-mor-
row call the attention of the House to the Second Report
of the Committee on Private Business, and move resolu-
tions founded on that Report. It was his intention also to
move that certain returns relative to the Six Clerks and
the Master's office, which bad been ordered on the 18th of
July, should be laid on the table.
THE DUKE OF SUSSEX.
Captain BRYAN gave notice of his intention in the
next Session to move for an increased grant to the Duke
of Sussex.—(Hear, hear.)
The House adjourned at Five o'Clock till to-morrow.

THE CHARTISTS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

BIRMINGHAM, WEDNESDAY.

For some months past the Chartists have.bcen in the
habit of meeting on Holloway Head on Sunday morn-
ings, for the purpose of hearing newspapers read
They have, however, been lately all but discon-
tinued. Some few, however, were still accustomed
to meet, and in order to put a final stop to their pro-
ceedings, the Magistrates ordered thirty or forty o
the London Police to take possession of the groun.fr
on Sunday morning last. About eleven o'clock
some twenty or thirty men met in groups upon th.
ground, upon which the policemen began to dis-
perse them, and severely beat some of them t‘ it h then
staffs. A young man, named George Jones, who, wit!,
another person was passing at the time, was knocked
down and severely beaten. In consequence, sum-
monses were applied for on Monday against
sergeant Charter and private Newman of the A division.
To day was appointed for investigating the case, and at
11 o'clock, Mr. Charles Shaw, and Mr. Thomas Clarke
took their seats. Th 3 room was crowded by many
respectable persons. Mr. George Edmonds attended
for Jones.

Several witnesses proved that a violent and totally
uncalled-for attack had been made on Jones, who was
also proved to be a good character. The Magistrates,
after hearing what the police had to say in their defence,
and after having retired for half an hour, were
of opinion, that the assault was proved against
Newman, a policeman, and they regretted that in
the discharge of his duty, he should have com-
mitted himself in the way in which he
had. There was some doubt about Charter's (one of
the policemen's guilt, and they should not convict him.
They ordered Newman to pay 40s. and costs. They
were certainly called upon to keep the peace, but not use
unnecessary violence, and they were bound as far as pos-
sible to discriminate between offenders and innocent per-
sons. His intention was that 30 or 40 policemen should
be on the ground, but he told Mr. May, the Superin-
tendent, who was a man of well-known humanity, that
no violence was to be used. The Magistrates wished
it to be known that they were determined not to
sanction undue violence either on the part of the
London or any other police force that might be in the
town. These observations of Mr. Shaw, who is a
Conservative, afforded great satisfaction, and tended in
no small degree to allay the feeling which prevailed in
the room.

Mr. May said he would pay the fine, and the parties
[eft the office.
The case occupied upwards of three hours.

CORONER'S INQUEST.

THE LATE FATAL STEAMBOAT ACCIDENT NEAR
WATERLOO BRIDGE.—Last night an adjourned in-
quest was held at the Savoy Palace, Savoy-street,
Strand, before Mr. HIGGS, Coroner for the Duchy of
Lancaster, and a Jury of fourteen gentlemen resident
within the Precinct of the Savoy, to further prosecute
an inquiry into the circumstances attendant upon the
death of Henry John Hay, aged 18, an apprentice in
the New Bell's Messenger office, who, together with
another youth named John Rogers, also an apprentice
in the same office, was unfortunately drowned by being
run down by the Starlight steamer on the evening o:
the 14th instant.

After a lengthened inquiry, several of the jurymen re-
quested to be allowed to leave for a few minutes to pro-
cure refreshment, whieh being acceded to by the Coro
ncr, a scene of disorder ensued that 'almost beggars de-
scription. Many cried out, " Give it the steamers,"
" Blow 'cm up," " Commit them for Manslaughter," &c.
The CORONER said it was impossible to proceed under
such disadvantages, and moved an adjournment, which
was ultimately agreed to.

Mr. CATTARNS, Solicitor to the Steam-boat Com-
pany, said that throwing aside all remarks that had been
made both for and against the Company he had the
honour to represent, he offered, on their part, to pay the
funeral expenses of the two deceased. This was agreed
to by the parents.
Adjourned to Tuesday next.

In consequence of the unsettled state of the weather
no progress has been made in the hay harvest during the
past week. Many crops are yet even uncut. The heavy
rains that have fallen within the last few days have excited
the most serious apprehensions for the corn harvest, which.
under the most favourable circumstances that can arise,
must now be very late —Durham Chronicle.

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.--The receipts:
for the last week were 2,9191. 23. 11d. ; number of pas-
sengers, 17,358.—Railway Times.
Although there can now be no doubt that a long.
period will cot elapse before a vacancy occurs in the represen-
tation of this borough by the elevation of Mr. Spring Rice
so the Peerage, yet we believe the Liberal party have not
yet agreed upon the gentleman who will be proposed as
his successor. The general feeling, however, appears to
us to be decidedly in favour of Mr. Gibson, the late Member
for Ipsivieb.—Cambridge Advertiser.
OPENING OF THE VERSAILLES RAILWAY.—

This railway branches off from that of Paris to St. Ger-
main, and passes through a rocky and troublesome country.
Oa the 27th of April, 1837, the law was passed authorizing
Messrs. Rothschild to execute it;
,and on the 4th inst. it

was opened, having taken not more than two years and
three quarters for its completion. It was originally in-
tended to have had an independent entrance into Paris,
hut by an agreemeat with the St. Germain Railway,
the two lines have been united, so as to have a com-
mon depot. The line seems efficiently constructed, and
the rails well laid, and the locomotives perform their duty
satisfactorily. They are of English make, and were manu-
factured by Messrs. Sharpus, of Manchester ; the working
engineers are also English. At an early hour in the
morning the office was beset with a great crowd, awaiting
the opening of the doors, and in the course of tho day it
was calculated that fifteen thousand persons were carried,
realizing above forty thousand francs, or about sixteen hun-
dred pounds. Being on Sunday, a great crowd was at-
tracted, not only from Paris, Out from the neighbouring
towns, to witness the ceremony of the inauguration.
AN ESCAPE.—On the passage of the ship
Alexander from New Orleans to New York, a young lad
of about 14 years, from a naturally frolicsome and mischiev-
ous disposition, became so troublesome in his pranks, that
he was threatened by the captain, if they were continued,
that he would confine him in a water-cask. Our youngster
took no heed, however, and at his next offence was put
into the cask, which was headed up, leaving a large
hung-hole for the admission of air. That night the ship
encountered a violent storm, and, in a sudden lurch
the cask containing the hoy rolled over into the .sea.
The circumstance was not noticed by those on board.
Fortunately the cask struck bung up, and floated about
thirty hours, when it was thrown upon the beach at
Cape St. Bias, Here the boy made desperate efforts to
ext; icate himself from his prison without success, and in
despair gave up to die. Seine cows, however, strolling on
the beach, were attracted to the cask, and in walking
around it, one of the number, it being fly time, switched
her tail into the bung-hole, which the boy grasped with a
desperate resolution. The cow bellowed, and set off for
life ; and, alter running some 200 yards with the cask,
struck it against a log on the beach, and knocked it, as we
may say, into a cocked hat. The boy, thus providentially
released, was discovered by some fishermen cn the point,
and taken into Apalachicola, where a small collection being
made for him, he was enabled to proceed North by the way
of Columbus.—St. Joseph's Times.
ACCIDENT BY FIRE ARMS.—This morning
between eight and nine o'clock, a dreadful accident oc
currcd to Mary Holdeness, housemaid Of Captain Balfour,
Gloucester place, Portman-square, It appears that the
footman was ordered to pack up a brace of pistols, with
some fowling-pieces, preparatory is the family leaving town,
when be imprudently ran with the pistols in his hands into
the kitchen, where the housemaid was sitting at breakfast
with the cook, exclaiming " I will:shoot you ;" and, at the
moment pulling the trigger, part of the contents (swan
shet) entered her right side. Surgical aid was procured,
and the shots were extracted, but she lies in an alarming
state.

It is a singular circumstance, that all the Equity
Judges, and eleven out of the fifteen Common Law
Judges (including all the Chief Justices), rec,.ived their
education at this University, as will appear by the following
list :—Lord Chancellor, Lord Cottenham, Trinity. Mas-
ter of Rolls, Lord Langdale, Caius. Vice Chancellor,
Sir Lancelot Shadwell, St. John's. King's Bench, Lord
Denman, Chief Justice, St. John's : Sir Joseph Little-
dale, St, John's; Sir John Pattescn, King's; Sir John
Williams, Trinity. Common Pleas, Sir Nicholas C. Tin-
dal, Chief Justice, Trinity ; Sir Thomas Coltman,
Trinity : Sir Thomas Erskine, Trinity. Exchequer, Lord
Abinger, Chief Baron, Trinity ; Sir James Parke, Trinity ;
Sir Edward Hall Alderson, Caius ; Sir William Henry
Maule, Trinity. Of the four remaining Common Law
Judges, Mr. Justice Coleridge and Mr. Justice Bosanquet
received their education at Oxford. We believe Mr.
Justice Vaughan and Mr. Baron Gurney were not of either
University.—Cambridge Advertiser.

Our readers will perceive with pleasure, by the
Report, the prosperous state of the North Union Railway.
Their traffic already is competent to make a dividend of
7 per cent. per annum, and there is no doubt it will in-
crease much more as soon as all the :machinery can be
brought into play. We are happy to see the arrangement
that is come to with the Grand Junction and Birmingham
Companies, to run the carriages right out from Preston to
London, meeting the Liverpool and Manchester line at
Parkside, and running about a mile on it to where the
Grand Junction joins. By this arrangement passengers,
without changing their carriage, or their seat, if they
please, are comfortably transported from Preston to Lon-
don, or vice versa, 230 miles, in about ten hours, by
the quick trains. This most desirable arrangement
for the public has been accomplished by the unani-
mity which subsists between the Boards of the N arth
Union, Liverpool and Manchester, Grand Junction,
and Birmingham lines. Our Railway Boards in the North
are generally distinguished for this ireerchange of friendly
feeling, and hence one great secret why the public is so sa-
tisfied, and their lines pay so well. When a gentleman of
ability and of business habits becomes a Director on any
one Board, he is quickly elected into the Boards of all the
connecting lines; and thus, like atoms of one great parti-
cle, the boards cohere and work together, and one mind
and one system pervades the whole. A similar feeling, we
hope to see here in the south. When the branches of this
line, now in progress, are opened, connecting it with all the
principal towns in this manufacturing district, and immense
coal-fields and valuable mineral property, it will doubtless
rival the Liverpool and Manchester and Grand Junction
lines in its profits.— Railway Magazine( Quarto S s) or
&tut doy.