The Sun.
London, England, 1839-11-12 00:00:00

HAMBURG MAIL.

ST. PETERSBURG, OCT. 29.—His Imperial High-
ness the Grand Duke Alexander is expected to arrive
,tts.ddy. from Moholeef, at .ZArskojeselo, where.the Im-
perial Family now is. His Royal Highness Prince
Albert or Prussia, 'who went from Moscow to Nischner
Ncrvogorod, arrived at Zarskojeselo a few days ago.
For some weeks past we have had a continuance of
fine mild weather, so that many plants are beginning
to flower again.
MUNICH, OCT. 31.—Though the King has been able
to go out since last Sunday, the physicians will not allow
any long or fatiguing exercise in the open air. The in-
tended hunting parties are consequently put off.
DARMSTADT, OCT. 9.—Baron Von Brunow, Russian
Ambassador Extraordinary at the Court of the Grand
Duke, delivered his credentials to-day to his Royal
Highness in a special audience.
HANOVER, Nov. 4.—His Majesty the King went
yesterday to Gohrae to a hunting party, where the
Duke of Brunswick is to join him by invitation. His
Majesty is expected to return to Hanover on Sunday
next.

HAMBURG BORSEN HALLE, Nov. 9.
Bills. Money.
Austrian 5 per Cents.
Bank Shares
An 10-Russian Loan .. Ictii, 106%
Russian 5 per Cent. Ist series, Certificate
Inscription, Ist Series
Russian 5 per Cent. Hop, and Co. 3d and 4th
Se .i, s
Ditto in Certificates
Dutch ctual Debt, 2 pe Cent. 5O 50%
Ditto
Polish Bond
New ieket
Anglo- ,:aiiish Loan, 3 per Cent 7l 70%
Norwegian Lean, 19:14, 4 per Cent... lOl 4
Spanish, New 3 per Cents. 24
' . EXCHANGES Os: LONDON.
HAMBURG, Nov. t 3.-13. 0--Two months, 13. 3%.
PE'TFIRSBURGEI, OCT. 29. ....Two months, 39%.
tirrocittiot.m, Niv. I.—Seventy-five days, 11 31.
CHRISTIANIA, OCT. 30.—three months, 4 100.
BELGIAN k V NDS—filltiasiELs, Nov. 9.
Actual Dcbz, 2!.4 per Cent.
Rothschild's Loan, 5 per Ccnt F 1
Loan of Thirty Millions, 4 per'Cent.
_......—. 3 per Cent. 7l
Loan of City, 1932, 4 per Cent 95
Society of Commerce, 4' ;per Cent ll4
Bank of Belgium, 5 per Cent 7l
National Society . —
Exchange on London (short)
—Brussels Papers, Nov. 9.

Three young men sent to the University of St.
Petersburg. have i ust been brought back under an es-
cort of the armed police. The arrest is said to have
some connection with the late occurrences in the camp
of General Geismar. The regiment bearing the name
of the Prince of Warsaw has been entirely cut up by
the mountaineers of the Caucasus. The native chief
Schamil, who has succeeded Kasim 011 a, is daily be-
coming more formidable, and has managed to unite
all the tribes under his domination. He has adopted
the use of the Arabic language as the surest means of
enabling the different races of people to understand one
another, and act in concert."
The well-known Prince of the Peace, who once
disposed of the treasures of Spain and the Indies, has
been lately sued at Rome for a debt of sixty Roman
dollars.

REMOVAL OF THE BODIES OF SUICIDES.—
At an inquest recently held before Mr. Higgs, on the
body of a person who shot himself in a public-house, the
landlord, Mr. Bishop, asked the Coroner whether the
e by keeping
landlord of any tavern or public-house, or the proprie-
tor of any private house, in wnich any party had com-
mitted suicide, had died suddenly, at been killed by ac-
cit'ent, could on his own responsibility remove the body ?
Mr. Higgs replied certainly. Mr. Bishop conotnilnyuevd:y
The reason for his asking the question was, that
tthehe frequentlylandlords
bodies
put
ouft, o fpt
eupr
su
obgnlrisec
a- htwohui
whose
sce
co deathssnv weree nienc not
might have
been occasioned as above-men ioned, but also were
severe losers in a pecuniary point of view, as many
of their par:mr customers had a decided objection to
spend their evenings in a house containing
M the corpse
of a suicide. r. Higgs said the landlord might apply
to the beadle, or consult the parochial authorities as to
removal of a body. Mr. nisbnP said he was aware of
tthat,ion. but
Could that h waso re ntnoovtehoi s
bodyobject o inn
hisputtingw
o
pot sibi-
lity ? Mr. H ggs answered—Yes, to any Place of safety,
say an undertaker's ; but the landlord of the house
where the suicide was committed was liable for its cus-
tody. Mr. Bishop concluded by remarking that this was
a very important question, and on which a decision had
iI
a coroner
never in hisrg general opinion
eceoole'et ionbeoen
thatgive nonbyanY Coroner. It
had been the
corpse,
except in
cases
juryo of naturalsat doena ti,h,i
e,
wcooufl could
thebe
body,rem ov removed
The
conversationt
here terminated.
Very early symptoms of winter have shown them-
selves in several parts of Europe. In Warsaw, the
streets and roofs of the houses had, on the 29th ult.,
been completely covered with snow for two days previ-
ously. In Dresden. on the 30th, the snow lay a foot deep
No judge has yet been appointed under the Ha-
ifix, liudeerstield, and Bradford Small Debt : A ct, and
the business of the Courts is entirely at a stand.--lla-
/Az. Express. .

SHERIFFS-SUBSTITUTE.
COUNTY OF RENFREW.

(From the Scots Times.)
At the meeting of the Commissioners of Supply at

Renfrew, on Tuesday, the rogue money assessment
or the year was fixed at 355. in the hundred pounds.

Last year is was 255. ; in the previous year, 10s. ; and
in 1836, Bs. The advance is in consequence of a debt
of 1,4001. lying upon the county.
Some conversation took place relative to the esta-
blishment of an improved police force in the county, and
a Committee was eventually appointed to take the mat-
ter into consideration. _ _

At meeting of the Quarter Sessions, afterwards held,
Mr. WALLACE rose to introduce the resolutions of
which he had given notice, for raising the salaries of
the Sheriffs'_ Substitutes throughout Scotland, and
especially that of Mr. Campbell, Sheriff-Substitute at
Paisley, and Mr. Marshall, residing at Greenock,
which latter gentleman had the miserable income of
only 2001. a-year. Mr. Wallace spoke nearly as fol-
lows :—I hope this large and respectable meeting
will kindly indulge me with a patient hearing on
this important subject, for sure am I that not one
man now present will deny that the Judges of the
land ought to be adequately paid, and that the salaries
of Sheriff-Substitutes come far short of a fair remunera-
tion for their arduous, continual, and most laborious
duties. These duties had been frequently increased
ever since the establishment of Sheriff Courts on the
present system in 1727. In the last twenty years, an
enormous increase has taken place in the duties imposed
upon Sheriffs, and a high responsibility has very lately
been added to the office of Sheriff-Substitute, in conse-
quence of the change in the law respecting the resi-
dence of the Sheriffs-Principal. I wish particularly
(said Mr. Wallace) to impress upon this meeting and

:he public these two important points—namely, the
continual laborious duties of Sheriff Substitutes, and
the great additional responsibility thrown upon them,
in consequence of the late Act of Parliament relieving
Sheriffs-Principal from their required residence of four
months in each county. No one present will dispute
its being absolutely requisite that our resident Judges
should be at least as highly educated, upright in charac-
ter, and learned in law, as the Sheriff-Principal, whose
chief residence is now in Edinburgh. Let me now reca-
pitulate the extent of jurisdiction and the nature of the
duties incumbent on our resident Judges. In their
Courts the nice and difficult questions arising out of
Commissary and Consistorial cases, Admiralty cases,
Bankruptcies, Sequestrations, and Cessio Bonorum
trials are now added to their former labours. Cases of
nuisance, scrutinies, and removing of tenants now be-
long to these Courts. Diligence on certain bills of ex-
change and personal diligence are among their duties.
Summary trials conected with the police of the county,
likewise with criminal cases requiring a jury—are
among the weekly and daily duties of Sheriff-Substi-
tutes, involving great personal labour and responsibility,
for they must take full notes with their own hands in
both instances. Sheriffs in Scotland perform the duties
of Coroners in England, and, as I now think, this diffi-
cult task is better performed, upon the whole, under
our Sheriffs than in England under the expensive and
often very objectionable duties belonging to Coro-
ners. I make this statement to my friend the She-
riff, principally in order to show that I am at all
times ready to admit an error in judgment, for I have
formerly contended in this Court in favour of a Coro-

ner's Inquest with the aid of a jury. Our Sheriffs are
the chief conservators of the public peace, they are
Justices of Peace, Commissioners of Supply, and the
highest police officer in each county. They are bound
to attend to the Weights and Measures Act, in which,
I grieve to say, they get neither support nor enoou-

ragement in this county. They must regularly inspect
the jails, and the asylums of unhappy maniacs, friendly
societies, savings' banks, appeals under the as-
tessed Tax Acts, commutation of Tithes, and re-
ports on the public registers, to the Court of Jus-
ticiary, compose part of their duties. The licensing
of persons for the sale of liquors, and taking cog-
nisance of any combinations injurious to the peace
of society, the execution of Crown, Parliamentary, and
Exchequer writs, adjusting the lists of jurymen, at-
tending the circuit criminal courts, the election of

Members of Parliament, and directing returns called for
by the Secretaries of State, and by Parliament, all
belong to the duties of Sheriff. Substitute. They hold
courts for ascertaining and fixing the prices of grain,
from which the fiars are struck which now regulate the
yearly value of land on many extensive estates, and
also the stipends to be paid to the clergy of the Esta-
blished Church. When population censes are required,
the ever-at-hand Sheriff,Substitute is called upon for
them,. and the new county constabulary, which evi-
dently will get a fair trial throughout Scotland, must
as a matter ofCourie, loosk io our resident judges
as the head of this rural police, and though last
not least in the long, though imperfect enumeration
of duties now made, Sheriffs have from time imme-
morial had the honour of conducting civil jury cases,
and assessing damages created by the forming of
canals, railways, roads, and other public works, so that
they are constantly called upon to preside, with the aid
of a jury, where the liberties and properties of the sub-
ject are in dispute. It has already been stated that the

duties of Sheriff-Substitute have increased greatly
within twenty years, but in truth they have been in-
creased enormously since the passing of the Reform
Bill, and have been increasing yearly. The reduction
of Courts in Edinburgh has added greatly to the duties
of Sheriffs' Courts, and it is quite just to say that, in
proportion as their labours have been increased, those
of the Court of Session have been diminished. The
salaries of Sheriff-Substitutes have remained stationary
during this accumulation of labour, whilst emoluments
formerly within their reach have been entirely taken
away, and this without any acknowledgment or com-
pensation whatever, The extent of duty now per-
formed in the Small Debt Courts, and it was daily in-
creasing, has added immensely to the labours of
the Sheriff-Substitutes, and has been no less a boon and
a blessing to the people. The Parliamentary returns
now in my hand are ample proof of the well working of
the Small Debt system, both in the stationary and Cir-
cuit Courts. These Courts alone have been of service
to the public, and I am no less grieved than ashamed to
s Av, the pecuniary allowance for travelling charges is
unjustifiably low, and derogatory of the character of the
country and the Judge. Five pounds is the most al-
lowed for a Judge going the Circuit ; and such is the
mean shabby way in which their accounts are audited,
that I verily believe they have been cut down by the
value of a bottle of beer, and a gratuity to the boots
of an inn for his services. Some of these Sheriff-Substi-
tutes bold many Circuit Courts in the year. For
instance, in Aberdeenshire there are 26 Circuit Courts,
in Argyleshire 16, in Ayrshire no less than 32 held in
large and populous towns, the whole of which is per-
formed by one Sheriff-substitute, whose whole income,
as resident Judge of that important county, being a
county nearly eighty miles in length, is only 350/.
a-year. This is enough to show the nature of
the labour required of gentlemen having at their
disposal only the miserable pittance of 5/. for the
whole expenses of their circuit—a sum utterly
inadequate for the larger counties and Highland
districts—such as Ayr, Argyle, Aberdeen, Perth,
Sutherland, &c., &c., in which, as well as in
the other counties, I have reason to believe
the Sheriffs are left considerably out of pocket upon
the five pound allowance, without taking into account
the absolute tear and wear and waste of clothes in
making their journies in open carriages, and frequently
in open boats. Very differently and very properly are
the Judges of the Supreme Court treated when they
are on circuit, as are also the Sheriffe-Principal when
attending these Judges and their own courts of re-
gistration. These more favoured, but not half so
usuful public functionaries, have ample allowances
to cover all their expense% of every kind, without
minute and degrading scrutiny. This is a matter
which must be altered, and our oldest and most
useful Judges must be treated as they well
deserve. To prove the discreditable and dis-
honourable manner in which our county Judges
are treated—it may fairly be maintained that all
around them in their courts are in a far better pecu-
niary position than they are. The returns before
Parliament will show the large and increasing
incomes of the Clerks of Court, whose incomes may
be found from 3,000/. down to 500/. a-year, while
the Judges on the Bench have not more than 3001.
to 400/. at the very most. Another officer of Sheriff
Courts may be also cited in proof of this—that is,
Procurators-Fiscal, whose emoluments are also in-
creasing, and many draw from 1,000/. doivn to 2001.
or 300/. a-year from the pockets of the people.
Next come the procurators for practising before
these courts, who now-a-days are a very numerous
and respectable body, well educated, well dressed, and
in ease and affluence, as compared with the Judge ; for
I have reason to believe, that, in our cities and larger
towns and counties, practitioners before Sheriff Courts
have professional incomes as high as 2,000/. a-year, and
varying downwards to 5004.—a sum beyond the salary
of
any
sheriff_nay, more, it will not be wrong to say
some clerks employed by gentlemen of the provincial
bar have salaries of one and two hundred a-year, which
latter sum is equal to that of no fewer than sixteen
county judges in Scotland. This, said the Honour-
able Gentleman, is absolutely shanacfel ; it is too
; it can no longer be sollaitted to —(Cheers.)
Now let us see what claims are made on this most
respectable class of Judges. The routine of their
Courts is too well known to require to be entered on.
Taese are held once or twice a week for ordinary busi-

ness, and about as often for small debt business ; and
this during the whole year ; for the vacations in the larger
counties, having larger towns are much more nominal
than real now-a-days. In fact, the duties of resident
Judges in such counties may be called continual, with
a slight relaxation during the vacation. Their resi-
dence is required by law to be constant. It may he
said they are continually before the public, officiating
either hi their ordinary small debt, civil jury, sum-
mary offence, or small debt Circuit Court. They must
and do reside in our largest towns, where they are sub-
ject to all the expenses incident to these—such as
house rent, public and town taxes, and the mainte-
nance of themselves. and families. Where can any set
of men be found having such wretched incomes, and
such an accumulated load of daily business to perform,
under the immediate eye of an active band of able
lawyers, and a watchful and intelligent community ?
I have now imperfectly gone through, more briefly
than I had intended, the difficult task I had under-
taken. For many years past, both in and out of
Parliament, my endeavours have been continually
exerted in favour of an improved system in our
Sheriff Courts. I have humbly but zealously assisted
the Lord Advocates of the day in furthering the
bills through Parliament, the working of which has
thrown such a load of duty into Sheriff Courts.
I was accessary to and supported on principle
that Act which debarred Sheriff-Substitutes from
deriving any emolument, and confining them strictly
to their salaries. It was no neglect or fault of
mine that these were not properly increased, when
the Act was passed taking away all ether sources
of income. I found it in vain then to persist in
the attempt, but having resolved on not losing sight
of what I conceived to be an imperative duty, I
framed the resolutions which I will now submit to
this crowded court, in the confident hope of unani-
mous support, in a case so well worthy of the sym-
pathy and justice of this most respectable meeting—
if I obtain which I shall have no doubt of the suc-
cessful result of a measure which clearly involves the
dignity and station of our resident county Judges. Mr.
Wallace concluded by proposing that the resolutions
should be adopted by the meeting, and transmitted to
Lord Normanby, her Majesty's principal Secretary of
State. Copies likewise to be sent to all the Conveners
of counties in Scotland.
Provost FERRIE of Greenock said be bad great plea.-
sure in seconding the resolutions, and he trusted 'they
would be received with the unanimous approval of
the meeting. He likewise trusted that the other
counties would follow their example, and that the
result would be au immediate increase in the remu-
neration of these hard-wrought, ill-paid, gentlemen.
Sheriff DUNLOP said he sometimes differed from Mr.
Wallace on legal points, but upon the present occasion
he was extremely happy to agree with him in every
word he advanced. He then referred at some length
to the greatly increased duties of the Sheriff-Substitutes,
and the total inadequacy of their salaries to support
them in the station in which their legal situations ne-
cessarily placed them.
The CHAIRMAN cordially concurred in the object of
the resolutions.
Sheriff CAMPBELL said if this had referred to himself
alone, and not to his colleagues in the same situation,
he would have felt it to be a point of delicacy to have said
nothing till the result of their application was known.
He felt that he was not so much personally interested
in this matter as others, and he could declare that he
felt more for the benefit it would confer upon gentlemen
as deserving, and not so well situated otherwise as he
was, than for himself. He had been already thirty-
seven years Sheriff-Substitute for the county of Renfrew,
and, from the course of nature and from the increasing
duties of his situation, he could not be expected to
iserve muchpay o
fl o
Sri gt
Stipendiary
n dar Mr. C.
3r,
Magistratesto the
in
England difference
com-
pared with the Sheriffs in Scotland. A Magistrate had
lately been appointed in Staffordshire, with a salary of
8001., and the twenty-seven Police Magistrates in the
metropolis, had each a salary of 1,2001. a-year, and none
of them required to bring to the exercise of their duties
such varied and extensive acquirements, or were in-
trusted with matters of great responsibility as the She-
riff-Substitutes of the counties in Scotland. The Sheriff-
Substitutes had already prepared a memorial to Go-
vernment upon the subject, and he thought such a meet-
in.- would have the very best effect upon the minds of the
Members of her Majesty's Government in their be-
half. Mr. C. concluded by thanking them sincerely for
the manner in which Mr. Wallace's motion had been
received by the meeting. For the long time he had been
amongst them he had enjoyed their- almost Uninterrupted
favour, and if a few drops of bitterness had ever been
infused in his cup, he had no reason to complain, as it
was the fate of human nature, and at the present time
he begged leave to be understood to entertain none but
sentiments of the deepest gratitude for the kind manner
in which he had always been treated.—(Cheers.)
The resolutions were put from the chair, and carried
unanimously.