The Sun.
London, England, 1839-03-11 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

STR,—In the columns of your independent Journal I
wish you to give publicity to the following fact, and which
is well knOwn to the Bishop of London, notwithstandirg
his disapproving in the
.House of Lords of the workif g of
the new Marriage Act.
The highly respectable clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Trot-
ter, holding the appointment of Minister of the Engli,h
Church in the city of Bruges (Belgium), and I believe
with the consent of the Bishop of London, in whose dio-
cese he is considered, married a daughter of Stainforth,

Esq., cf Ycrkshire ; and, on her decease, again married,
in the course of a few months, her sister.

I wish to know how the Bishop reconciles this with the
Canon Law, as it happened previously to any ehar,g,t iu
the Marriage Act.-1 remain, Sir, yours respectfully,
AN ENGLISHMAN.
_ _

Devonport, March 8, 1839.

THE NAVY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE Sti,V,

Stu,—Since that celebrated declaration eiyours,
which appeared in one of your publications a short time
since, that you were determined to support the cause of
the Navy, it not being a political question, but a
national one—on the faith of this I take the liberty of
sending you a few remarks, in justice to the parties
concerned.

I have read your Reporters' account of the debate
on the state of the Navy, brought forward by Lord
Colchester, and supported by,the Earl of 'Ho.dwicke.
Perhaps Lord Colchester did the thing very well ; hox-
ever, of that I will not attempt to judge—it was a long
yarn.
The Earl of Hardwicke visited Plymotith Dock-yard
a very short time since, and expressed his admir.ttion of
every thing he saw ; yet his Lordship is reported to
have said_ in the House of Lords that there was not
topsail in the yard save a mizen one. Verily I thought the
late Sir .1. Yorke had stepped out of his grave and taken
his place in the House of Lords. You may recollect, Sir,'
at least 1 do, box the Gallant Admiral used to convulse
both sides of the Hnuse of Commons ; he was a good One. Now, Sir, I should hardly think this could have
been said seriously by Lord Llirdwicke, if reported cor-
rectly. I h lye the honour to know one of the Lords of
the Admiralty. I wish the Gallant Admiral had 11
in the House of Lords that evening, the spir

Joseph Yorke would have broke out tvith all th,,; Ad-
miral's quarter-deck punctuality. No Topsail. WLen
hi! Lordship was here, :he Malabar was being paid e

—her stures returned ; she had been but a sli(irt tine
in commission, and had three sets of these topsails ;
two sets must have been new—pray, where wer: these
sails ?—in the dock-yard certainly. I fear the Earl of
Hardsvickc did not go into the corners of the yard, splendid
corners ; the sight of sails there are a delight to a sailor's
*Ye: I aim creditably informed there are at this moment in
the Dock-yard ten complete sets of sails for line-of-battle
shipi. Ido not think at this moment there can ho a
more efficient Dock-yard than this at Plymouth the
Gallant Admiral at its head devotes all his time for the
public good. As for stores, Ido not think there is a
deficiency in any article ; the sail stores at Sheerness
tremble to their foundation from the weight of sails
above. The Russell—l recollect being on board of her
in Plymouth Smind ; she had just returned from Malta:
having left all her spare stores behind, consisting of
spars, sails, and cordage, perhaps as much as a large
transport could take on board ; that ship's time had
nearly expired, which ste was to finish at Lisbon ; yet 1
this very Dock-yard, Plymouth, obliged her to take
all on board again. Ships of this day have nearly
one-third sails, spars, and stores of all sorts more
than they had in the war. So much for defici-
encies. A remark was made that the Revenge's
foremast had been taken out for another ship.
Surely, it cannot be expected that spare masts should
be kept for each vessel in the service. I recollect the
Bellerophon, about two years ago, Sir Charles Paget's
flag-ship, springing her fore-mast outside this port ; a
mast from the Fondroyant was taken out and put into
her ; she was again at sea in some four hours, without
detriment to the service.
The writer of this statement has been for the last ten
years constantly employed. You will allow he ought to
know something of what he here puts forth.
I have to apologise for thus troubling you, which I
would not have done had it not been for squads of
croakers, which I meet at every turn, since Lord
Hard wicke's statement appeared ; their faces are
uncommonly long, evidently suffering under that sad
disease ; and I fear, Mr. Editor, that you have
got a touch of the same-complaint : in your remarks
on Captain Napier's last letter of Wednesday evening,
you finish by saying that the Navy is in a wretched
state. Now, Sir, Ido assure you the Navy is not in
a wretched state, anything but that ; there may not be
ships enough, or men enough employed ; the men may
not be sufficiently paid. Captain Napier's plan is the
best 1 have seen, at least I think so. The senior offi-
cers are getting old and disappointed, the juniors are
sad and helpless. Jack is a good fellow still—take car,
of him. Of all this I have nothing to :say ;it is in
better hands. I must beg, Sir, again to state, with
due deference, that the Navy is not in a wretched state.
The gunnery practice in our ships is beautiful ; there is
none so good, or anything like it, in any other service
in the world. Thanks to the Excellent's establishment,
there is not a ship afloat at this moment, nor has been
for a length of time, but is a British man-of-war ,in
every sense of tile word.
01 one thing 1 am certain, we shall never want a
top-sail ; and 1 fear we shall never see the Russians out
of the Baltic.
I urn, Sir, your obedient bumble servant,
FAIR PLAY (Captain R.N.).
Plymouth, March 2, 1839.

- - -----
DEATH. FROM DRINKING BOILING COFFEE.
—On Saturday last an inquest was held on the body of
Ellen Baron, five years of age. It appeared that the
kettle contained coffee, which the elder sister ha
d d just pre.
pared, and lifted boiling off the fire, when, uring her
temporary absence, the deceased drank out of the kettle
spout.—Preston Observer.
The Irish agriculturists continue. to afford testi-
mony in favour of a community of interests and objects
with England ! Their Papers teem with reports of public
meetings for the purpose of perpetuating tile iniquitous
tax on bread.
SWINDLING AT ST. OMER.—An immense
piece of swindling, carried on by the means of a multitude
of forgeries, has just thrown this town into consternation.
M. de- Fscica has taken his departure, leaving behind him
debts to the amount of 60,000 ecus. Several families of
workmen lose by this occurrence considerable sums, and will
not easily recover from the blow dealt them by the floigfflittioief
their debtor. M. de Facica, who has retired to London to
embark for America, is now beyond the reach of justice._..
St Omer Journal. i
' The General Steam Navigation Company',
Packet, the Attwood, from Rotterdam,
aaabirilrteisv,etpod
rt.akciettilhto:
CI stox-house at 8 o'clock, A. m. , this day.
THE DUKE OF LEEDS.—We regret to learn
that this Nobleman has been obliged to postpone leaving
Ithe Clarendon Hotel for HGo rr na 1
medicaley
wai
ltit Castle,eb ne
din Coll3Cqu ora
.eanwN, tsjilYfirerrd".Doi :gleD,vlll,7 .I'Nreo:anG9's nr-edn."Pahiesrth. that
oi
fshhisis written,
of his beine. suddenly indisposed; but we are happy ce
f
INGS.—MARCH OF INTELLECT. i
shop on Ludgate-hill a bill is exhibited in I,
at this
jastAohtnautedtW,
g-rings
shop made out of lucky old guineas."

--v --.

EVEN ING EDITION.

I DELICATE INVESTIGATION IN

THE QUEEN'S PALACE.

(From Bell's Neu;teehly Messenger.)
A strange story has been in circulation during the
week, which The Age of to-day relates in the following
terms. We are happy to state that the character of
the lady, whose name is prominently mentioned, is far
above suspicion :
It we have recently abstained from denouncing
I the pernicious influence which rules in the Palace,
and which has drawn even the Sovereign into the
toils ;--if we have not lately set forth the painful
position of the Duchess of Kent, insulted and
slighted by those who ought to honour and love
her ; it has not been because we were unaware of what
was going on, but because we felt convinced that the
practices of the Camarilla would soon become so noto-
rious, as that we should no longer have to battle it
alone, as we have hitherto done, against their odious
continuance. Lady Flora Hastings is, as our readers
know, in attendance as one of her Ladies in Waiting
upon H. R. H. the Duchess of Kent, and is a pure-
) hearted, pure-souled, and worthy daughter of
'.hat sincere friend and true Patriot, the late

i\larquis of Hastings. Her Ladyship's attachment to
her Royal Mistress, was one grievance ; the continm
mice cf friendly intercourse• with the Conroy family
‘7.-:s another offence in the eyes of the Camarilla ; arid
Flora Hastings has been destined to experience the
effects of their horror at such crimes. We know not
r. )eeler the medical toady was the immediate informant
of her Majesty,orwhether theßaroness Lehzen took upon
'lerself thzA delicate task, but this we know, that, upon
receiving the poisonous insinuation against the Lir
f ,me :;f a young and Noble Lady, the Queen sent a
certain person to Lady Flora to intimate to her that
hor future attendance at the royal table would be

emen,ed. Wherefore ?' was the immediate questi )n
put by the astonished lady. Because you are be-
lieved to be enceinte,' was the brusque and venomed
reply We will not pause to paint the Noble maiden's
ind-gnation. It is sufficient to state that Lady Flora
I took instant and decisive steps for at once putting down
the irrult and the lie. She immediately sent to Sir
Charles Mansfield Clarke, told him the case, and at once
cieminded that his professional certificate should be given
that the accusation made against her was absolutely and
itensely false. Sir Charles Clarke became the witness
truth, and wrote the voucher of the Noble Lady's
. This she sent off to her brother, the Mar-
of Hastings, with an account of the whole
Hii Lordship posted instantly to town, waited
pAi the Premier, and demanded an immediate inter-

purity

with the Sovereign. As a matter of course, Lord
Melbourne attempted to treat the matter with his usual
levity—' it was a mistake,' forsooth ! But Lo7d
Hastings is not the brother to be careless of a sister's
honour. He required that the mistake' should be
forthwith rectified by the Royal lips, and persisted
:n demanding the audience. As a Peer of the realm
this could not be refused to him ; and accordingly his
I Lordship was admitted to the Royal closet. Lord
Melbourne taking ESPECIAL CARE TO BE PRESENT
ALL THE TIME. The remonstrance addressed to
her Majesty, was made with all the spirit and
energy of one who, whilst he felt he was a bro-
ther, did not forget he was a subject. His Lord-
; siiip spoke most respectfully but firmly, and de-
' nounced the slabderer in terms which my Lord
Melbourne might think strong far a mere mis-
take,' but which her Majesty admitted to be
Ifittingly applied, for she, without hesitation, offered
all the reparation due to the wounded feelings of
Lady Flora and her family. Lady Flora Hastings
continues in the Palace. Does the medical toady ?
We have reason to believe that he does not,—and
that he is relieved from any immediate attendance

at Court. But is the —-- to remain ? As
we said before, we do not allege any participation on
her side in this most fiendish attempt to ruin an
emiable and pure girl ;—but we do state that the
epiniol is gaining ground, and indeed has reached a
roost painful height, that the persons by whom the
Sovereign is surrounded are most distasteful to the
moral discrimination of the people of England."
Another Paper to-day says :—" We do not believe a
yllable of •what is stated in regard to the titled at-
tendant on an illustrious lady." It is a " Tory lie, set
on foot for purposes of annoyance to Lord Melbourne
and his Royal Mistress. The Carlton slanderers ought
really to be ashamed of themselves."

A Tory Paper of to-day gives another acc,unt of
this delicate investigation :
" It would appear that there has, for some tin o past,
existed a desire among some of the attendant upon
Royalty to separate the Duchess of Kent from daily
communion with her illustrious daughter. li )w, or
for what purpose, this intrigue has been foment ,d may
deser:e a separate inquiry ; it is enough for us to state
that we hear the amiable mother of our Queen lik 3 been,
on more than one occasion, treated by °facia' ; with
great disrespect, while residing under the roof of her
daughter's palace. Finding that noble lady immove-
able, or impregnable, to their attacks, the int:iguing
1 party had recourse to another means of annoyance,
1 hy assailing the reputation of an attached female
friend, expecting, perhaps, by that course, to attain
their disreputable end. With this view, they fixed
i upon Lady Flora Hastings (a noble maiden of uni:n-
-' peachable character attached to the household of the
illustrious Duchess) an imputation of an odious descrip-
tion, a slander of the most degrading and offensive nature,
cllnrging her with profligate intercourse, and accompany-
in,; that charge against her honour with the corroborative
opinion of a member of the faculty. The indigna-
tion of the Duchess of Kent, when she heard of this
haic invention, was worthy of the mother of our
Queen ; she hastened to the Royal closet, and requested
to kno,,v the authors of this foul charge, and, having
learned who they were, insisted upon an immediate inves-
Ligation into the truth or falsehood of their malicious
report. Matters having thus assumed a very serious as-
pect, her Majesty, as we hear, was constrained to send for
the Premier and the Lord Chancellor, while the Duchess

consulted, in the first instance, the Speaker of the House
of Con-miens, who recommended an application to the
Duka of Wellington. In the interim, the noble bro-
or the accused lady, the Marquis of Hastings,
:Irri7ed to vindicate the injured honour of his sister.
Aftr some communications with Lord Melbourne, in
v.hich the Noble Marquis is said to have expressed his
ioli..;,,nation at the base conspiracy in terms not to he

misunderstood, the Premier granted him an audience of
her Majesty, when the Marquis again repelled the foul
charge, in firm but respectful language, and fully V:lP.ii-
c.lted the character of his noble sister from the slightest
sa,,picion of dishonour, To appease the injured feelings
of the lady and her brother, and convince the world
of the malevolence of the falsehood, it was graciously
proposed to receive Lady Flora immediately, and
edso that she should accompany her Majesty in the
Royal pew, at Chapel on the following Sunday (as
it will be perceived by the Court Circular that she
did). But whence did all this infamous accusation
spring? Rumour points to one who ought to be
the list to stigmatise her own sex. True, she never
enters a palace ; but her poisoned tongued might have
found some credulous persons to convey the slander.
At any rate, we hope the Noble Marquis wi l not
rest satisfied until he has traced the gross invention
to the original propagator. With this hope the only
:ti-.riettient that the persons can make who first cir-
culated the report in Buckinghatn Palace, we shall
t. r the present suppress their names. It haz be .n
a-serted that Lady Flora Hastings had rendered
' more obnoxious to the slanderers by her
intercourse, of long standing, with the
f one who, since her Majesty's accession to
ne, has lost his influence. But surely this
)e true, as it would prove the conspiracy
-:sore of a private than a political tendency.
lharles Clarke is known to have been consulted
is very extraordinary affair, and to have completely
crated the much-injured lady from all suspicion, it
le to that eminent practitioner to say that lie is not

A 5 S:r C

t:;e person alluded to in the following paragraph, whiA
w 2, quote from The Morning Post :—" It. is understood
th t li- rashness of the member of the faculty above al
I.fdel to has been visited with such marks of serious (Hs-
p;t:-
uro as willrelieve him of future trouble and attend-
anee at the Royal Palace."

NEW POOR-LAW LlTlGATlON.—Huddersfield
is likely to furnish some work for the gentlemen of the
long robe at the approaching Assizes, there being no fewer
than three causes arisinc, out of matters connected with the
New Poor-lam. One ofs them is the prosecution of Bond
and others, Poor-law Guardians, for the riot which took
place at a meeting of the Board in the Court-house in
May last. It is a Crown prosecution, and will be tried by
a special jury. Mr. Cresswell and other eminent counsel
are, we understand, retained for the prosecution. Another
case is the trial of the parties charged with being engaged
in the riot at the Philosophical Hall, on the evening of
Mr. Acland's lecture. The third case, Beaumont
against Redfearn and Taylor, is an action for libel. The
plaintiff, it will be recollected, was appointed one of the
Relieving Officers of the Huddersfield Union ; and after
the Poor-law Comrnissionera had confirmed his appoint-
ment, the two defendants addressed to the Commis.
sioners a letter, impugning Beaumont's character. The
Commissioners directed the Board of Guardians to invei-
ti.atc the charge thus made against Beaumont; and the
Board decided in his favour. He has brought an action
against them, for the alleged libel contained in the letter
to the Commissioners, and the damages are laid at 7001.
The leading counsel on the Northern Circuit are retained,
and the case will excite considerable interest. One of
the defendants (Redfearn) is well known as " Jen) o' t'
Pan," and is a character of no little originality. Ho will
now have an opportunity of seeing " Cother boile," to his
heart's content.—Halifax Express.
_ AN OLD PRISONER.—At the rising of the
.Insolvent Debtors' Court last week an application for
11„,°_ eto file his schedule was made on the part of a person
r d been someears confined in Whitecross-street
prisms. He had filed a petition three years ago ; but had then
had declined to proceed. He, as well as his wife,
waited on his fellow-prisoners, and had made 701.
is-year. The recent alteration, however, had affected his
profits, and
hei was now anxious to get out of prison as
fast as he co
been his own d. Mr. Commissioner Law said he had
prisoner, and all he could do for him was
to grant a rule Nisi to file a petition. The rule was
ranted accordingly.