The Sun.
London, England, 1839-09-25 00:00:00

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EVENWG EDlr6-iN.

CITY REGISTRATION.

Mr. MYLNE yesterday morning finished the revision of
the lists for the City of London, bat no case of inte-
rest occurred. The following may be stated as the re-
mit of the revision :—The Tories alone made the ob-
jections, amounting together to 315 ; they failed in 106
and expunged 209 names of persons, many of whom
were dead or had left the City. Some were expunged
for non-payment of the poors'-rates or window-tax ;
others for having occupied their premises a little short of
a year, and many as being aliens. The total amount of
claims is 221, to 150 of vvh;ch the Tories lay claim ;
only 75 were allowed, and the remaining 146 were dis-
allowed.
The Tories have thus succeeded in °B4 cases, viz.-
209 objections and 75 claims, and failed in 252 cases,
viz.-106 objections and 146 claims. The Reformers
admit that they made no objections ; they, however, say
that their partizans made a few of the claims which
were allowed.

CAPTURE OF THE SPANISH
SCHOONER L'AMISTEAD.

FURTHER INTERESTING PARTICULARS.

(From the New York Morning Herald of the 2d inst. )

THE CAPTURED SLAVES-TOME CURIOUS POSITION.
The probable fate of the unfortunate and miserable
negroes recently taken on board the Spanish slaver,
L'Amistead, is beginning to excite great attention, and
considerable discussion. They have been taken and im-
prisoned as pirates and murderers, on the charge of killing
the crew and passengers, and seizing the schooner and
cargo, and money on board of her. There are thirty-
eight of these blacks now alive, and in confinement at
New Haven, besides the leader, Jose Cingues. The
greater part of them are in a miserable condition, almost
as thin as Calvin Edson was, with swollen feet, and bands,
and heads. An indictment has been framed against them,
and they are to be tried thereon at the next Court at
Hartford, the 17th of this month.
Before discussing the right to try and execute these
unfortunate wretches for piracy and warder, let us briefly
trace their short eventful history. About the 14th of May
all these slaves, with several others, were stolen between
Nova Redonda and old Benguela, on the coast of Africa.
They were shipped in a Baltimore built clipper, said to
have been furnished with American cut registers, through
some connivance on the part of the American Consulate
at Havana.

They reached Havana in about four weeks from the
time of leaving Africa ; and in about ten days afterwards,
49 of them were purchased by Don Jose Ruiz, at Havana,
who intended to take them to his plantation, near Guanaja,
Puerte Principe, Island of Cuba, about 300 miles from
Havana. About the same time, Don Pedro Montea
bought four slaves (children, 3 girls and a boy) from
the same lot. All these blacks, with their owners,
were shipped on board the L'Amistead, at Havana, on the
26th of June last, to be taken to Guanaja. The only per-
sons on board the vessel, besides these, were Capt. Remen
Flues, two white sailors, and two mulattoes, one a cook
(murdered), one a cabin boy, now in the schooner, who
speaks African and Spanish. Such were the passengers;
the cargo was of a mixed nature, including a large stock of
choice provisions. On the fifth day, when about seven
leagues out, the negroes rose on the captain and crew, and
got possession of the vessel ; they killed the Captain and
his mulatto cook ; the cabin boy was saved; the two white
sailors escaped in the schooner's boat; the lives of Ruiz
and Montez, the two passengers and owners of the slaves,
were also saved; but in the scuffle and fight, Moines got
two or three severe cuts. The blacks then told Montez to
steer for the coast of Africa. He contrived, however,
to run the vessel on to this coast, and the slaves have thus
been taken and imprisoned. Such are the facts of the
whole affair, plain and simple ; and upon these, their fate is
to be determined.

Any intelligent person, therefore, can judge for him-
self, how far these blacks have offended against the laws
of nations generally, and our Government in particular.
Calling the transaction by its most harsh appellation, they
murdered a Spanish captain and the mulatto cook of a
Spanish vessel, bound from one port of Cuba to another.
No branch of our Government can try them for this
offence. Again—they seized a Spanish vessel with money
and a cargo on board; for this they are accountable to the
Spanish Government. Twist it as much as possible, it will
be difficult for the most astute lawyer, under all the cir-
cumstances, to make this out to be a special act of piracy
in violation of the laws of civilized nations. Again—it is
said they were cruising about the high seas, hoisting a red
flag when approached, and therefore were actually pirates.
This is not a correct inference. They were beating about
off our coast at the mercy of the winds and waves; be-
cause they were unable to reach the home whence they had
been so recently stolen. They molested no vessel,
nor any individual ; they paid for water ; and had they not
been captured, would have sailed that night for the coast
of Africa. Who will say that in all these movements
they were not justifiable? We despise the humbug doc-
trines of the abolitionists and the miserable fanatics who
propagate them, but if men will traffic in human flesh',
steal men from their homes on the coast of Africa, and sell
them like cattle at Cuba, they must not murmur if
some of the men stealers get murdered by the; unfortu-
nate wretches whom they have wronged and stolen. We
will suppose that this same schooner, after the murder,
had, in crossing the Atlantic, fallen in with a British yes- '
sel of war, cruizing to intercept the slave trade; there la
no doubt but that, under the circumstances, the black
would all have been taken to the coast of Africa and set
free. It is certain that the Spanish Government, at Ha..
vans, recognizing the right to,steal, buy, and sell blacks,
will instantly demand the slaves of this Government ;
is also possible that this Government will give up the men,
and sell the vessel and cargo for salvage; in that case it
is also certain that every one of the male blacks who me
on the captain will be eecuted.
The various questions that will arise will be most thri-
ous ; and the great difficulty will be that the vessel they
seized was not a slaver ; that they had been sold as. mer-
chandise in Cuba, and seized a merchant vessel, and filled
a merchant captain. This alone will constitute tlysm
rates in the fullest sense of the word. Had they meee',),
seized the vessel, without murdering any one, an' d tried to
take her to Africa, our Government would have, been
tiaed in sending them back to their native horn es. Or had
they rose on the captain of the slaver that 'brought them
from Africa, and murdered the captainland. all the crew,
by the laws of God and man, the laws of nature and of
nations, they would have been perfectly justified. But
their having been landed at Havana front a slave ship, sold
there, and re-shipped, although this only occupied ten.
days, will totally alter the aspect of their position, and be:
the main ground of all the arguments for delivering ther a
up and treating them as pirates. It is a hard case, ler
had they rose on their captain and his crew two weeks. be-
fore, or been driven into Halifax or Bermuda, the,; would
now have been free as the winds of Heaven. As is, is, they
will probably be hung.
Let the case be decided as it may, they, in -all probabi-
lity, will have to suffer. It is a lamentable sty to of things.
It is not improbable that these blacks are sorer ; of the slaves
that have been stolen from Africa by the con' aivance or im-
becility of our Consul first; for it is saj d that all these
Spanish slavers have American cut registers. There is a
treaty between England and Spain for "dee suppression of
the slave trade on the high seas ; her-. Viten is a case for
the interference of the British Goverre.resnt. There is no
treaty on that head between this country and Great Bri-
tain, but there is a law of this country which declares all
those slavers that carry blacks hem, Africa to the West
Indies to be pirates, and decrees the punishment accord-
ingly. Again, these slaves were taken and sold contrary
to the laws of all those countries of Europe, which have
international treaties and mixed commissions for trying the
captains and crews of slavers, and liberating their cargoes.
Under all these circumstances, their case is a very curious
one ; and the ultimate disposition of those unfortunate
wretches will be looked for with the utmost an xiety by all
classes of society. In the mean time, the Abolitionists
are moving heaven and earth to effect their release;
several members of the society have left 'town for Con-
necticut to see them, to employ the most able Counsel
in their behalf, and to contest every print inch by inch ;
and, judging from appearances, seas should say that
there are general preparations malting in all quarters
for a grand explosion in this matters of slavery and the
slave trade.

LONDON :
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1839.

, . The stupid and mischievous fallacy, that the
abolition of the Corn-laws would not raise wages,
to Which we yesterday adverted, deserves to be fur-
ther exposed. On what are wages expended ?
Food, principally food. What does the labourer
require ? Food ! food ! food ! If he have plenty
of that, everything else comfortable follows as a
matter of course. On what is the principal part
of his wages expended ? Food. For him it is es-
-1 sential that food should be cheap and abundant.
'. . What are the Corn-laws ? A prohibition for
all other countries to grow food for our people. A
limitation of our labourers, under a penalty varying
from 255. a quarter to Is., to our own soil for food.
They must buy their grub of our own agriculturists.
. The torn-laws make them pay for it a monopoly
price. The abolition of the Corn-laws would alio-
lish the monopoly. It would let in competition.
It would make the German, and time Polish, and
the American agriculturists rival our agriculturists
in offering food to the people at a cheap rate. To
suppose that such competition would not be bene-
ficial to the labourer-, the great buyers of food, is
! a contradiction to all experience. If London were
Iconfined to Middlesex for its corn ; if the Strand
could obtain bread from only one bat er ; if Mr.
CUBITT'S workmen could only huy at one shop,
Can any man doubt that London, the inhabitants
of the Strand, and the workmer, would he obliged
to pay more than at present, when London can
draw its suppli_s from the whole empire, and when
the inhabitants of the Strand and Mr. CUBITT'S
wO:kmen may buy bread wherever they please
within her MAJESTY'S dominions ? And why
should not the rule be as applicable to the supply
of corn for the whole people as to the supply of
London, the Strand, or this one body of workmen?
g9mpetition amongst sellers is the soul of cheap-
ness ; and while there is a free competition amongst
the labourers in offering their services, not to de-
' lliettch free competition amongst those who own
ot%, I
li*
•._ •..! voluntarily to surrender themselves dis-
a•Tin:•anio the hands of their enemies.
What-the effect would be of competition betwixt
the lamer% of
England, and those of Poland or
Austria, to supply the labourers with food, may
be conjectured by what has taken place by admit-
ting competition in silks. Before 1824, French
silks were wholly excluded from our markets ; since
then, French silks have
been admitted and the
i effect of the competition has been to improve' the
article, and lower the price from 50 to 100 per
cent. If our farmers had to compete with those of
Austria and Poland, they would be driven, like the
silk manufacturers, to task their ingenuity to make
improvements, and they would grow more corn, and
at a cheaper rate. If it be alleged that the wanes
of the silk-weavers have been lowered by the com-
petition, we reply, that they are not consumers
lof silk, but all labourers are consumers of food;
and whereas in the case of silk only the rich who
use that splendid fabric are benefited by the cow-
petitition, the whole of the labourers would be
benefited by the competition to supply food at a
cheap rate.. The working classes may, as we are
afraid they will, refuse to assist in the agitation for
the repeal of the Corn-laws, but they will then re-
fuse to make food cheap and plentiful, and will
then be the authors of their own poverty, misery,
• and destitution, which now are justly lad at the
... door 01 the
,landlords.

• 7.'2.7"
'.!!;) tists were much complained of for re-
ystem of exclusive dealing. They
tier, the first to begin that practice,
- - he last to carry it on. Its authors
tTory clergy and the country gen-
ignified to the tradesmen in a great

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number of the provincial towns that they would deal
with none but Tory tradesmen. Now after the re-
commendation of the Chartists has been much and
deservedly censured, if we are correctly informel
it
is acted on by the Tories.
At Worcester, some months since, a motion was
brought forward in the Town Council relative to
the Corn-laws, which resulted in a petition being
agreed to, from the Mayor and Corporation, for a
total repeal of these imposts. Three members of
the Town Council, of the name of HALL, who are
large ironmongers, and supply most of the country
blacksmiths with bar iron, Szc., voted in the ma•
jority upon that occasion. In consequence of this
vote the Tories have concocted a Joint-stock Iron
Company, the principal shareholders in which are
Tory fume's, and they are now about to commence
a wholesale and retail immongery establishment at
Worcester, in oppositch, to the Messrs. HALL,
with the avowed determination of never employing
a wheelwright or blacksmith who deals with the
HALLS, or who does not confine himself
to their joint-stock shop. It would be im-
possible for the Chartists to do anything of
this kind more blameable. It converts political
differences into contests for life or death. If under
such a system discord and bloody civil war slIon!d
spread through the land, when none of the charities
of neighbour, friend, and brother shall be regarded,
the Tory parsons and Tory gentlemen who began
this unsocial system will be the authors of the
mischief.

They aim, we are aware, at obtaining political
power by such means, and if they should succeed,
it will in practice be worthy of its origin. Founded
on such a basis, it can only be carried up and con-
tinued by tyranny. A part of the Worcester Tories'
plan is to strengthen their influence at the elections
for the city. The premises they have taken will
convert the shareholders into voters, and will con-
tribute to swamp the independent burgesses. They
are not, too, without allies amongst the citizens.
The influence of the Cathedral has converted some
of those who ought to defend the independence of
the town into traitors, who serve the cause of its
enemies.

It is observed in the Examiner of Sunday, in an
article on the bigotry of the Protestant Association,
and the remark accords too well with an observa-
tion of our own to allow us to pass it by, that
Sir ROBERT PEEL is placed " in a dilemma be-
tween his measures and his friends." Our Con-
temporary says—
Welt may Sir Robert Peel avow that Ireland is the grand
impediment to his return to power. The Minister who
passed the Emancipation Bill can only hold office by the sup-
port of those who would practically repeal it. His posi-
tion is a dilemma between his measures and his friends.
He must renounce his own works, or his party will renounce
him. The men who are cheering him on t re-take
Downing-street, distinctly tell him that they Ucsire his
services expressly for the purpose of strangling his own
Relief Bill. The Minister who opened the door to the
Catholics is to slap it in their faces. Sir Robert Peel can
appoint no Catholic Lord of the Treasury ; be can place
no son of Rome at the Board of Trade ; above all, he can
make no Papist a Privy Councillor.
The principles avowed by the Protestant Asso-
ciation, and the other ultra supporters of the Tory.
party, are the best guarantees of the stability of
Lord MELBOURNE'S power. How is it pussible
for any Minister to govern this country on the
principle of avowed hostility to the faith of one-
third of the nation ? Loid MELBOURNE nei-
ther entertains nor professes the least hosti-
lity to any great body of the people. The
ultra Protestants have endeavoured in vain to
make him out an enemy of the Church to which
lie belongs and of the creed which he avows. But
neither he nor any of his supporters think of hold-
ing office on the principle of excluding from public
situations, or from the Privy Council, either Pres-
byterians, Independents, Catholics, or Members
of the Anglican Church. By that enlarged
system, embracing all sects, he holds the Go-
vernment ; by a system which would exclude
one-third of the nation from all the benefits
of the State Sir ROBERT PEEL is justly excluded
from office. What a frightful thing would it be to
have a Government formed on the principle of the
Protestant Association. But on that principle,
which has been countenanced by Sir ROBERT
PEEL, the Tories seek office, and could they obtain
it, would be compelled by the bigotry of their sup-
porters to declare an open war against one-third of
the nation.

Sir ROBERT PEEL iS justly kept out of office
by the exuberant zeal of his friends. He ought to
have checked it long ago. He ought to have de-
nounced the AP GHEE persecution of the Catholics
as completely opposed to the law, to pass which
he sacrificed his party. He ought to have repro-
bated in the House of Commons the bitterness of
PHILLPOTTS, and discountenanced in the Jour-
nals the Exeter-Hall crusades. He did neither,
and he has become identified with those who
cry for Protestantism and PEEL. He must now
bear the odium and feel the weakness of being the
chief of a party which, by its bigotry, makes its
accession to office an impracticability. His ac-
quiescence in all the rabidness of his friends, brands
him with their vices and their incapacities.

Some of our Contemporaries have amused their
readers by their comments on the case of a youth
who was fined by the Magistrates of Loughborough
40s. for disobeying the orders of his master. He
had cleaned his shoes of a Sunday, while he had
been ordered to clean al! the shoes and knives for
the family on Saturday. We have not particularly
noticed this circumstance, for we see nothing in which
it differs from a multitude of other convictions
equally absurd for offences equally trifling. His
was a double offence, he both broke the Sabbath
and disobeyed his master's orders. His master
could appropriate his time, and he was less ex-
cusable than many of the persons who are daily
fined under the New Police Act. We are not
displeased, however, to see our minute legislation,
against which The Sun has always protested,
become an object of ridicule when conscientious
individuals, and Magistrates who walk by the
letter of the law, act on it.

The lad who was punished thought it a greater
offesice to go to church with dirty boots than to
clean them on the Sabbath, and for that respect to
the religious opinions of others he was puui'hed
partly in deference to other religious opinions, which
require the Sabbath to be unprofaned by labour.
This is a knot for the Sabbath casuists to untie.
They will probably reconcile the contradictions, and
prove which is the greater impropriety, to wash our
faces and brush our clothes on the Sabbath, or to
go abroad with them dirty. There is a large num-
ber of persons in the metropolis who keep the Sab-
bath holy according to the precepts of Mr. BR YA N,
the master of the lad, and walk abroad on that day
wholly unpurified from the rags and dirt of the week.
The freaks of the Magistrates are the necessary
consequence of the meddling disposition of the mid-
dle classes, who seem at present inclined to regulate
every part of conduct with Chinese accuracy, and
prohibit every act which may offend their fastidious
taste, with the strictness of the master of a work-
house, converting society into a similar agreeable
assemblage of human beings. There would be
much less reason to complain, were their desire to
realise a superfine species of finical order, never
the parent of gross wrong. A Correspondent,
writing from Sheffield, however, mentions an in-
stance which deserves notice here. A man was
arrested in the streets, who was on his way home
from a club, to which he had gone to procure the
means of burying his dead child. He was locked
up a whole night, and until five o'clock the next
day, and then liberated on bail. He was subse-
quently obliged to wait two days before, he was
examined, and after losing three days wages,
nothing being even charged against him, he
was dismissed with an insult. He was not
told, " Eat your pudding, slave, and hold
Your tongue," for he received no pudding ;
he received only injury, and still the slave was told
to hold his tongue. Well may our Correspondent
say that it could excite no wonder if men so trel.ted
"should take the firstopportunity of joining a riotous
party, that they may have the pleasure of cracking
the heads of a- few
policemen. As we read, day
after day, of the numerous devices that are now
fallen on, under the name of police regulations, and
laws for the preservation of the Sabbath, of
the public peace, and of decency, to har-
rass and annoy the people—embittering
their daigspaoinssittiothe ns,jw, and
a exasperating their en-
uiities the Magistrates, and the
upper classes—we look forward with app,rehension
and trembling to the results. Law is recommended
to our respect as a protector ; the instant it becomes
an invader and a scourge it is the duty of men to
overthrow it. At present it is for the multitude
more a scourge than a protector, anti it becomes a