The Sun.
London, England, 1839-04-12 00:00:00

BEER HOUSES.

Mr. EASTHOPE presented a petition, signed by
all the Clergy, and many of the inhabitants of Leicester,
praying for an alteration in the present system of
licensing hoer houses. Under the present system they
had been the cause of much crime and other evils.

Sir E. WILMOT presented a petition from the
Justices of Warwickshire, to the same effect.

Sir G. STRICKLAND presented a petition from
the Beer sellers of II ilifax, denying that their trade had
been the cause of crime, and praying that the Beer
Trade might be put on the same footing as were the
Licensed Victuallers. Also one to the same effect
lrmn the Beer sellers of the town of Horncastle,
an.l another with the same prayer from the inhabi-
tants of Horncastle and its neighbourhood.
POSTAGE.

Tile HON. BARONET then presented a petition from
an individual, who stated himself to be the Editor of
the " Naturalists Magazine," in favour of Mr. Row-
land Hill's plan of postage. He had a large corre-
spondence which did not benefit the revenue. If the
commendation of the Committee on Postage were
card out, all that correspondence would be brought
into the Exchequer.
CONFIDENCE IN THE GOVERNMENT.
The O'CONOR DON presented two petitions, nu-
merously signed, from different places in Ireland, in
favour of the policy pursued by the Government in
that country.
Mr. ASHTON YATES presented two petitions to
the same effect from two places in the county of Tip-
perary.

Mr. B. SMITH presented the following petition from
Norwich :

" To the Honourable the Commons of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parlia-
ment assembled,
" The Humble Petition of the undersigned
Bankers, Merchants, Traders, and others, re-
siding in the City of Norwich,
SHEWETH,
" That your petitioners are desirous of calling the
attention of your Honourable House to the present
state of the Law of Debtor and Creditor, developed as
it is in actions for Debt, and in the management of
Bankruptcies and Insolvencies.
" That your petitioners assure your Honourable
House that the existing law operates very prejudicially
to the mercantile classes ; its expensive and tedious pro-
ceedings often obliging them to forego their just claims,
rather than risk the increased amount to which they
would be swelled by the costs of an action at law, and
thus oftentimes enabling a dishonest debtor to effect his
evil purposes with impunity and without exposure.
" That your petitioners are strongly of an opinion,
that the evils complained of would be effectually remedied
by the establishment of competent local courts, having
jurisdiction in all cases of debt, insolvency, and bank-
ruptcy, and unfettered by the present costly and unne-
cessary requirements.
" Your petitioners therefore humbly pray your Ho-
nourable House to revise the existing law, and to adopt
such amendments as shall effectually remedy the griev-
ances of which they complain.
" And your petitioners will every pray, &c."
Mr. A. WHITE presented a petition signed by
16 Dissenting Ministers in the county of Durham, in
favour of Mr. Rowland Hill's plan of Penny Postage.
Lord STANLEY presented a petition from some
place in Lancashire, against any plan of Education, not
in connection with the Established Church.

Mr. TRELAW N EY presented apetition in favourof
education in connection with the Established Church.
Admiral ADAM presented a petition from some
place in Scotland, praying for Church Extension.
Sir H. PARNELL presented a petition from
Dundee in;favour of Mr. R. Hill's plan of Penny Postage.
Mr. F. FRENCH presented a petition from
the Members of the Royal College of Surgeons in
Ireland, expressing their regret that the Medical
Charities Bill, had not passed into a law, and praying
that the evidence taken then before the Committee on

that subject might be published ; also a petition from
the same parties in favour of Mr. R. Hill's plan of a
penny postage ; also a petition from the parish of
Boyle, in the county of Roscommon, praying for an Ex-
tension of the elective Franchise, and for Vote by
Ballot.

Mr. BAINES presented a petition from Leeds, in
Favour of Mr. Rowland Hill's plan of a uniform Penny

Postage.
Mr. CRAWFORD presented a petition from the
'rower Hamlets, in favour of the Bill for Metropolitan
Improvements.
Lord ASHLEY presented petitions from three places

in Lancashire, praying for a system of national education
founded on the Scriptures ; also a petition from St.
David's, Glasgow, in favour of Church Extension in
Scotland.

Sir J. GRAHAM presented a petition from the
West. Port of Edinburgh to the same effect.
The LORD-ADVOCATE presented a petition from
the Merchants, Bankers, and Shipowners of Leith, in
favour of a system of Penny Postage.
THE QUEEN'S PRINTER (SCOTLAND).
Sir G. CLERK begged to ask the Learned Lord
Advocate a question, which, at the present moment,
excited great interest in Scotland. The patent of the
Queen's printer expired on the 17th of July, and under
that he enjoyed the exclusive privilege of printing the
Bible. He wished to know whether her Majesty's Go-
vernment were prepared with any measure to regulate
the printing of the Scriptures in Scotland after the ex-
piration of the patent, or whether it was intended to
renew that patent?
The LORD ADVOCATE said her Majesty's Go-
vernment had no intention to renew the patent. It was
their intention to bring in a Bill with a view to securing
the accurate and cheap publication of the Scriptures in
Scotland.
Sir GEORGE CLERK—If the Bill be not passed
into a law before the 17th July, any person may print
the Bible in Scotland.

The Lord ADVOCATE said the Bill had already
received the consideration of the Government, and he
hoped to have it carried through the House before the
period in question.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL presented a peti:

Lion from certain proprietors of newspapers, in favour o

the Bill of which the Learned Gentleman had given
notice to introduce to amend the Imprisonment for Debt
Act, passed last Session, as far as it related to proprie-
tors of newspapers being obliged to insert advertise-
ments in their newspapers for 3s. each. The Hon. and
Learned Gentleman also presented petitions from the
Chamber of Commerce of Edinburgh, and the Artisans'
Club, praying for a uniform Penny Postage.
CANADA.

Mr. LABOUC HERE presented papers relative to
Canada.
Mr. THORNELY, in the absence of the Hon.
Member for Kilkenny, postponed the motions of which
notice had been given until the 18th inst.
Mr. GIBSON gave notice that he should on this
day fortnight move for the return of any despatches or
correspondence between the British Minister at Co-
penhagen and the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, relative to certain duties imposed by Denmark
on the trade with this country.
Mr. WALLACE gave notice that he should, to-
morrow, move for an inquiry into the salaries of the
Judges of the Court of Session.
The dropped orders were then disposed of.
Mr. Sergeant TALTOURD'S Copyright Bill was fixed
for Wednesday the 24th inst.
On the motion of Lord JOHN RUSSELL the Mu-
tiny Bill, and the Marine Mutiny Bill, were read a
third time and passed.

REGISTRATIONS (SCOTLAND.)
The LORD ADVOCATE then rose to move for

cave to bring in " A Bill to ascertain and define the
right of Voting for Members of Parliament in Scot-
land," and also " A Bit for the better Registration
of Parliamentary Electors in Scotland." In doing
so it would not be necessary for him to detain
the House at any length, as all who were at all ac-
quainted with the subject, must be perfectly aware, that
the present system of registration in Scotland gave rise
to much abuse, and he trusted that he would have the
assent of all parties, so that a measure might be
perfected which would place the franchise in such
a state as would be generally satisfactory. One
of the greatest evils existing in the system, was colour-
able votes. Under the former constitution they pre-
vailed to a very great extent, and during the last three
or four years the practice had again become pre-
valent. Whether it were possible to devise any
measure which would put an entire stop to the
practice, was very doubtful, but at all events it was
the duty of that House to remedy the evil to such
extent as might be in its power. Four years
ago he had the honour of stating to that House
that the practice of making fictitious votes had recom-
menced, and in June of the Session 1835, he introduced
a Bill, with the view to remedy the evil—at first it was
Is ell received, but eventually it met with much opposi-
tion. On the one hand, it was said that it would much
narrow the constituency ; while, on the other hand, it
was said that the Bill would be a gross interference with
the natural influence of property, and ultimately it was
lost.—( Hear, hear.) Since that period the practice
had much increased, and there was no doubt that
it had excited very general dissatisfaction ; and unless
the House were to devise some means for stopping
it, the evil would go on increasing to a greater
extent than any one could be aware of. One
great cause of this evil was the limited extent of
the county voters in Scotland ; the counties were mucb
more limited in extent than they were in England, and
consequently a greater motive was held out for creating
a constituency for the purpose of giving the victory to
one party. Thus the evil went on, and it
was impossible to point out how far it might
extend. So great had this evil become that two Ses-
sions ago a Committee had been appointed for the pur-
pose of ascertaining how far the provisions of the Re-
form Act had been trenched upon by the creation of
fictitious votes in Scotland. lie would call the atten-
tion of the House to the Report of that Committee. The
evidence was of considerable extent, but the Report
was not a long one. He would draw the attention of the
House to the manner in which that Report had divided
fictitious votes under three heads, first, life renters ;
secondly, joint proprietors ; and thirdly, joint te-
nants. As a proof of the extent of this evil he
would mention that the county of Selkirk in the year
1832 had a constituency of 180, of whom very
few were life renters, and all were residents.
In 1836 the constituency had increased to 552, of whom
a great part were life-renters, and five only were resident.
The county of Renfrew in 1832 had a 'constituency of
301, of whom only 8 were life-renters, who were all
resident. In 1836 it had a constituency of
572, of whom 100 were life renters, and only 28 were
resident. These were the consequences of the induce-
ments held out to persons engaged in political
contests to increase the number of the consti-
tuency, and this increase took place to a greater
extent where parties were more nearly balanced.
The first point to which their attention was directed was
the increase of the constituency, and it was ascertained
that that chiefly arose from the increase of life renters.
There was no reason to doubt that that species of pro-
perty was extremely rare in Scotland precious to the
passing of the Reform Bill. For instance, in Sel-
kirk, where there had previously been very few
life renters and none non-resident, there were at
present one hundred and twelve, and of these only five
were resident. The same observation held good with
respect to the other small county of Renfrew, to which
he had alluded, for of 100 life-renters 82 were non-
resident. It was admitted by gentlemen of all parties
with whom he had conversed on the subject
that the evils of the system were manifold, and

Leave was then given to bring in the Bill.
RAILWAYS.

that the sooner they were remedied the better.
There were peculiar abuses pointed out by the Report,
such as acquiring property burthened with debt, and as
a remedy for that the Committee had reported, that
rent charges granted should be limited, and that in all
cases of proprietors, whether in fee or life-rent, the
possessor of the property should be proved free
of incumbrance, and that a clear beneficial interest
of 101. a year over all burthens and charges should be
proved, and that any parties claiming as joint tenants
must prove that such joint tenantcy was unincumbered.
One of the greatest evils felt in Scotland was that re-
ported by the Committee, namely, the great expense, de-
lay, and vexation of the proceedings in the Registration
Courts ; and the Committee expressed a hop• that the law
would be better regulated. There certainly could not
be a greater evil than the want of uniformity of
decision, and of the interpretation of the law ; for if in
our country the matter was conducted in a dif-
ferent way to what it was in another, no person
could know what course ought to be pursued,
and there must arise general dissatisfaction with re-
gard to the administration of the law in respect
of this most important subject.—(Hear, hear.)
He saw no cure whatever for that evil but an Appeal
Court, which would produce uniformity of decision in
every part of the country. He proposed that it should
consist of three Judges, to •meet at Edinburgh, and he
considered it would be extremely imprudent to mix this
with any of the established tribunals. Let it be established
on any footing which Parliament might think proper,
and let it be either permanently or gar a limited period.
He was convinced that it would give satisfaction to the
country, if the Judges were not too numerous. He now
I came to another, that of residence. The Committee
said they were not prepared to recommend an altera-
tion in the franchise in so important a step, as
doing away with out-voters.—(Hear, hear, hear.) He
admitted that it was liable to that charge, but the
reason for that was, that the evil did not exist in either
of those countries. It did exist in Scotland. Was she,
then, to have the remedy withheld, because that evil
did not exist in England or Ireland ? The Committee
were in hopes that the number of non-resident voters
would not increase. He frankly admitted that had
he the slightest hope that such would be the case, he
would have been most unwilling to introduce the provi-
sion in question, which would undoubtedly create divi-
sion, which he much wished to avoid. But he saw no
other remedy for tne evil and therefore he felt bound
to propose it. The evil must increase ; the mo-
ment there was a necessity for more voters
there would be an increase of out-voters. He did not
blame any party in particular, bat he would state one case
which came before the Committee. A gentleman was pos-
sessed of an estate which gave five votes. Four of these were
from a distance, from Ireland he believed—the fifth was
his gamekeeper. It was in the nature of things that
voters being wanted in such a manner, would be taken
from a distance—it might probably be difficult to
to get them in the country. (Hear, hear.)
Would it be imagined that he would have gone hun
dreds of miles away for these votes, and subjected him-
self to travelling expenses if he could have got them
nearer to serve his purpose ? But in this instance it had
honestly been stated why these voters had been chosen.
No doubt this measure would be unpopular, but
he would put it to the House, if these means
were suffered to exist, whether the real constituency
would not eventually be overwhelmed by fictitious voters?
On that ground he should propose to make residence
necessary to the exercise of the franchise as a remedy for
this evil.—( Hear.) He did not say that this was neces-
sary or advisable, either in England or Ireland, but he
would say, Scotland, where this evil existed, was not to
be regulated by England or Ireland, where it was not
complained of. Some regulations were necessary with
respect to polling ; but to these points he would merely
refer. The first Bill was intended to ascertain the
right of voting for Members of Parliament,and to confine
it to residents in the county. In this respect it would
follow the regulations of the Joint-Tenantcy Bill.
The Learned Lord then proceeded to detail the various
provisions of the Bill ; but, from the low tone in which
he spoke across the table, was totally inaudible in the
gallery. He concluded by hoping the House would
assist him in providing a remedy for an evil which was
loudly and generally complained of in all parts of Scot-
land.—( Hear, hear.)
Lord STANLEY must confess that had the present
Bill been brought forward from any other quarter he
should have felt disposed, after hearing the state-
ments of the Learned Lord, to resist its introduction,
because so far from its being what it purported
to be a Bill to define the Rights of Electors in Scotland,
it was in fact a Bill totally to alter the elective franchise
in Scotland, and to act in direct opposition to the rccom-
dation of the Committee. He was not certain whether he
had rightly understood the statements of the Learned Lord
as to life-rents, whether they were to be restricted or
not. The course suggested by the Committee was to
take such steps as were necessary, to ascertain
whether persons were in possession of a Peal or
colourable title. He could not, for one, agree
to restrict the franchise in Scotland, as it was given by the
Reform Act, which was the intention of the present Bill.
It would be impossible for the Learned Lord to persuade
the House to acquiesce in making so broad adistinctionas
to the principles on which property was to dealt with. He
thought permission might be given to bring in the Bill,
in order that they might see in what mode the Govern-
ment intended to meet the exigency of the case, wire-,
ther those abuses might not be remedied without ri-

NATIONAL CON YEN TION.
(THURSDAY.)

Mr. SMART, Delegate from Leicestershire, in the
Chair.

RENT.

From the Kinross Rsdical Association.. £1 0 0
From Tradesmen in the neighbourhood of Be!-

- grave and Bedford•squares 2 6 6
From Chelmsford 3 0 0
From the neighbourhood of Bethnal Green,
penny a week subscriptions 2 10 0
From Dumfries
Fr3m Salisbury
From Aberdeen Working-men's Association
From Wooton-under-Edge, Working Do 5 0 0
From the " Globe" Bethnal Green Association 0 10 0

violation of principle, and whether fictitious votes
might not be done away with, while the bona fide
franchise intended to be conferred on the people of
Scotland might be protected. The Learned Lord had
not stated in what way the difficulties of establishing a
Court of Appeal were to be met. The Committee had
felt the difficulty of appointing the Judges of the land,
and that it would be injudicious to mix up their ju-
dicial functions with the political functions that would
be created by the establishment of such a Court. The
Learned Lord proposed that three barristers of six
years' standing should be appointed to sit in the
Court of Appeal, and he (Lord Stanley) sup-
posed the Crown was to have the appointment of
those three Barristers ; but here again he thought the
House, when it came to consider the question, would
be prepared to reject that proposition.—(Hear, hear.)
He did not intend to offer any opposition to the bring-
ing in of the Bill, as it might be better that Scotch
Gentlemen and their constituents should have an oppor-
tunity of seeing what its details were ; but on the whole
he was far from thinking the Bill was such a one as
would remedy the grievances complained of and he wxs
certain it was one that could not remedy them, with-
out the grossest violation of the principles of the Reform
Bill.

Mr. P. THOMSON rose to move for the appoint-
of a Select Committee to inquire into the state of
Railways, and to report their opinion thereupon, in
doing which, he did not feel it would be necessary to
occupy the attention of the House for any time, inasmuch
as he did not expect any opposition would be offered to
his motion. There were a great number of railway
proceedings respecting which it must be necessary some
inquiry should take place. It was unnecessary for him
to refer to particular cases to show that there should be
some inquiry. It would be advisable, as far as possible,
to have uniform regulations upon the different railways,
and while it could not be denied that Railway Compa•
nies conferred great benefits on the public, yet the
public ought to have the advantage of uniform
regulations in the management of the proceedings of
those Companies. Very probably some recommendation
might emanate from a Committee, which would be found
acceptable and useful to all parties. The Hon. Gentle-
man, therefore, moved for the appointment of a Select
Committee, which was agreed to without opposition.
NEWSPAPERS.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved for leave
to bring in a Bill to amend the Imprisonment for Debt
Act, passed last Session of Parliament, in as far as re-
lates to proprietors of newspapers being obliged to in-
sert advertisements in their newspapers for the sum
of three shillings. The Imprisonment for Debt
Act compelled the pr•prietors of newspapers to in-
sert an advertisement of a certain notice, and the
schedule of an insolvent, in their newspapers for
three shillings, and no more. He was not aware,
at the time that Act passed, that any inconveni-
ence or injustice would arise from such an enact-
ment ; but he had found that it was productive of
extreme injustice towards newspaper proprietors. The
Act required that before an insolvent could be dis-
charged such notice and schedule should be advertised ;
but those were frequently found to be sa long as to
make it quite unreasonable to call upon a proprietor of a
newspaper to publish them for three shillings. What
therefore he now proposed was, that instead of requiring
them to insert this at the fixed sum of 3s. they should
be required to insert it at a reasonable sum.
Leave granted to bring in the Bill.
SCOTCH BILLS.

Mr. COLQUHOUN moved for the return of the
number of Scotch Bills introduced into Parliament by
the Law Officers of the Crown in various years.
The LORD ADVOCATE was understood to ob-
ject to some of the returns, relative to the expense in-
curred in the preparation.
Adjourned.

DEATH AND EITRAVAGANCE.—Wednesday
afternoon an inquiry was entered into before Mr. Payne,
City Coroner, in the board-room of Whitecross-street
prison, on the body of Mrs. Mary White, aged 45, a
debtor. It appeared from the evidence that the deceased
became an inmate of the prison ca the 27th of September,
1535, her debts amounting to between 3001. and 4001.,
the greater part of which was for medic.l attendance and
a bill of acceptance. Several offers had been made to
compound her debts by the creditors, which she refused to
accede to. She had formerly been in very affluent circum-
stances, and of extravagant habits, spending from 40/. to
501. per day. During the last six months she had been
suffering slightly from a spasmodic affection of the heart.
On Tuesday morning last she was seized with a violent
pain at the chest; some sal volatile mixed with warm water
was given to her, and the surgeon to the prison sent for,
who on his arrival proclaimed her dead. Verdict—
" Natural death."

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 1839.

examination.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MARLBOROUGH- STREET.

Cuthbert Lawton, valet to the Rev. Mr. Bayntun,
who stands charged with bigamy under very singular
circumstances, was brought before Mr. DYER for final

Before entering upon the case Mr. Bowditch, the
attorney for the prosecution, said he wished to make
a remark respecting an imputation which had fallen
from Mr. Adolphus, and which had been extensively
circulated through the medium of the press, that the
charge against the prisoner had been brought forward
by Mr. Montagu Bayntun from revengeful motives.
Mr. Adolphus—There is no prosecutor in this case
but Mr. Montagu Bayntun, and there could be no
motive but the worst of motives in bringing it forward.
Mr. Bowditch said he had a duty to perform towards
his client, Mr. M. Bayntun, who had no motive beyond
the ends of justice in prosecuting the prisoner. On
the former occasion, when Mr. Montagu Bayntun ap-
peared as defendant at the office, Lawton did not givc"
evidence ; in fact, Mr. Bayntun was in a situation at
the time to prove that Lawton had threatened his life if
he came again to ask for his annuity.
Mr. Adolphus observed that the Magistrate, Mr.
Chambers, was of opinion that no assault had been
committed, but he bound Mr. M. Bayntun in sureties
to keep the peace.
Mr. Bowditch then said he would state the line he
intended to adopt in support of the prosecution. He
perhaps should not be able to bring forward direct evi-
dence that the first wife was alive when the prisoner
married the second woman, but he should prove suffi-
cient to warrant the Magistrate in sending the case to a
jury. The reason why the case had not been brought
forward before was because the parties had eluded pro-
secution by travelling about from place to place, and
even changing their names. On one occasion when the
defendant and his second wife " bolted," the Reverend
Gentleman, his master, followed the next morning in a
post chaise. He hoped Mr. Adolphus was now satisfied
on that point.

Mr. Adolphus—Quite the contrary. however, I
wish to make this remark. Where a maWgnant mind
is visible in a prosecution, it is the office of a lawyer
to mitigate rather than to inflame the evidence. What
has the Rev. Gentleman following in a postchaise to
do with the case ? It shows the feeling which ani-
mates those who are parties to the prosecution.
Mr. DYER—In cases of bigamy the proceeding is
very simple. The prosecuting party has cnly to show
that the accused was married to an individual, during
whose life time he went through the marriage ceremony
with another woman.
Mr. Bowditch then proceeded to call witnesses in
support of the charge.
Mr. Adolphus, in reply, said the case had no busi-
ness at a police•oflice. The prosecutor ought to have
taken it at once to the Old Bailey. He admitted there
was circumstantial evidence enough to warrant the
Magistrate in sending the case to another court, and he
should abstain from making any remark upon what had
been said by the witnesses.
Mr. DYER agreed to take the same recognisances for
the prisoner's appearance to take his trial as he had
already produced, and then ordered the witnesses to be
bound over.
The requisite proceedings having been gone through
the prisoner was liberated, to appear at the proper time
to take his trial.