The Sun.
London, England, 1837-03-23 00:00:00

SHERIFFS' COURTS BILL.

Captain PECHELL postponed moving the farther
stage of the Sheriffs' Courts Bill till Wednesday, April 12.

EAST INDIA OFFICERS' BILL.

Mr. ROBINSON, in moving the second reading
of the East India Officers' Bill, said that all the members
of the late and present Board of Controul agreed to a report
which stated that some officers, who deserved compensa-
tion had been excluded frotn it by the rule of the Direc-
tors ; the facts of the case were so plain that he would not
believe that any Hon. Members of the House would
vote against him when they were laid before them. In
putting an end to the privileges of the East India Company,
care should, in his opinion, have been taken not to, have
deprived its officers of that compensation to which they
were justly entitled. In saying that these officers had been
unjustly dealt with, he did not mean to blame the
respectable body of Directors of the East India Com-
pany, but he charged the Board of Controul and
the East India Directors with the strict• adhe-
rence to a rule by which they were excluded
from those compensations which the Act of Parliament
clearly intended they should have. Till he had been con-
vinced by the vote of the House, he would not believe that.
a British Parliament would consent to such a proceeding.
On the 16th December, 1836, the Court of Proprietors
came to an unanimous determination that all the maritime
officers were entitled to compensation. The Court of Di-
rectors afterwards limited the rule to a certain period of
service, and refused to relax it in special cases, or, in fact,
to hear any case on special grounds. They came to the de-
cision that no officer whose period of service commenced
since the 28th of August, 1828, should receive compensa-
tion. Now, Lord Glenelg, in his evidence before a Com-
mittee of the House of Commons, distinctly stated it to be
his opinion that the East India Directors and Board of Con-
troul were competent, nothwithstaading this rule, to deter-
mine each case on its own merits. Why, then should they
adhere to the rule which confined compensation to the
August of 1S28? Suppose a man who had been paid off
in July, but who had not voluntarily left, applied, and with
good grounds, for remuneration after August, was he to be
cut off? It was, perhaps, the magnitude of the claims,
amounting to about 150, which prevented the Board of Direc-
tors from opening up all the cases ; but it was no matter what
the number, the question was one of duty, and they were
bound to investigate all claims, and to see whether they were
justly founded. It was because no attention was paid to
those claims that he was bound to come forward, and press
the second reading of this Bill. It was a question on which
Parliament had not only a right to interfere, but it was their
bounden duty to do so. The last East Indian Act had
proved of much service to great Great Britain, and Parlia-
ment was by that Act itself empowered and required to do
justice to all who might be affected by it. The estimate
made by the Board of Directors themselves as to the requi-
site compensation was 1,324,0001. By limiting the com-
pensation to a rule of time, the amount given was no more
750,0001. Then 574,000/., according to their own esti-
mate, remained in the coffers of the East India Company,.
which ought to go for purposes of compensation in cases
where the claimants proved they had a just title to remu-
neration. This was the case he had to make out, and he
hoped the Right Hon. Gentleman, the President of the
Board of Controul, would not oppose the second reading of
the• Bill ; nor through a false pride, allow himself to be a
party to an injustice which, ill advisedly, he might have at
first countenanced.

Sir J. HOI3HOUSE had not been a party to the ar-

rangement alluded to. It had taken place long before he
became President of the Board of Controul. When it was
determined to give compensation to the maritime officers
the determination must have been made on one of two
grounds, either that all should get conwensation upon their
peculiar and separate claims, or that some general rule and
limitation of compensation should be adopted.
An HON. MEMBER here observed that he was sorry to
say there were not forty Members present.
Upon counting the fact was found to be so, and the House
adjourned at Seven o'Clock.

MAUNDY THURSDAY.—III ancient times on
Mundy Thursday the Kings and Queens of England washed
and kissed the feet of as many poor men and women as they
were years old, besides bestowing their " maundy" on each.
This was in imitation of our Saviour washing his disciples'
feet. Queen Elizabeth performed this at Greenwich, on
which occasion the feet of the same number of poor persons
were first washed by the yeomen of the laundry with warm
water and sweet herbs, afterwards by the sub-almoncr, and
lastly by the Queen herself ; the person who washed making
each time a cross on the pauper's foot above the toes and kiss-
ing it. Clothes, victuals, and money were then distributed
among the poor. James 11. is said to have been the last of
our monarchs who performed this ceremeny in person. It was
afterwards performed by the almoner.

SUFFERIN'GS FROM THIRST.-Some twelve miles
from Oran we passed the spot where, a year and a half ago,
there had been hard fighting between the French and the na-
tives. The French soldiers, though an over-match for the
Arabs, suffered dreadfully from heat and thirst. Their store
of water was exhausted ; the breath of the simoom set in ; the
cavalr:, stood its shock, and by their elevation from the ground
were able to respire, but, the foot soldiers fell by companies,
gasping for breath. A captain of dragoons, who was in the
scene, told me that there was more than one instance of the
infantry soldier, driven to madness by thirst and agony, putting
his head to the mouth of the musket and his foot to the trigger,
and committing suicide. One infantry officer alone gave waY
to despair ; and though it is probable that he was, in these
circumstances, no more a responsible agent than a man in the
delirium of fever, yet it was better, perhaps, that he did not
survive the occurrence. He pulled his purse from his pocket :
he said to his men, " I have led you into battle with courage.
and I have always been a kind officer to you : the horror of MY
sufferings is now insupportable ; let the man among you who
Is my best friend shoot me dead, and here are 30 louts d'ors for
his legacy." No man would comply with the request ; but be
had hardly uttered it when he fell down and expired.--Camp-
bell's Letters from .the South.

PLATED CORNER DISHES,
with Strong Silver Edges and Handles.—A Set of Four Plated
Corner Dishes and Covers are offered, complete, for Eight Guineas
or a set with richly ornamented Edges, Handles, &c., for Ten Gui-
neas. The Handles take off the Covers the set thus form, Eight
Dishes when requited. T. COX SAVORY'S, Working Golds-
mith, Silversmith, and Watchmaker, 47, Cornhill, London.
N.B. A variety of Secondhand Watches may be selected firs
all price Two Guineas each. Warranted.

BIRTHS.
On the 18th inst., at Horton-hall, Staffordshire, the lady of the
Rev. G. G. Harvey, of a daughter.
On the 19th inst., in Hereford-street, Grosvenor-square, the
lady of John Ellis, Esq., of a daughter.

MARRIED.
On the 21st inst., at St. John's, Lambeth, Mr. Charles Sher.
herd, of Tenterden, Kent, to Sophia Matilda, eldest daughter of
the late Mr. R. Dendy, of Monument-yard.
On the 20th inst., at St. Pancras, Nathaniel Wetherell, Esq.,
of Highgate, to Miss Casson, of the same place.

DIED.
On the 18th inst., in her 73d year, Mrs. Davis, the widow of the
late Mr. Gann, formerly one of the much respected proprietors
of
the Piazza Coffee-house, Covent-garden.
On the Ist inst at Hackney, Mr. Geo. Binckes, aged 45.
On the 20th inst., Mrs. C. B. Taylor, of Charles-street, Marl"
lebone, aged 77.
On the 20th inst., at Cadogan-place, Michael Edwin Fell, FIT
On the 20th inst., Mr. Robert Baker, of Hatfield-wick, Esse"'
aged 71.
On the 15th inst., at Bridgenorth, Salop, Mackworth Gusts/65
Yonge, Esq., late of London, aged 60.
'On the 18th inst., at Newington-place, Mary, relict of Air- It'
Boyson,
On the 15th inst , at Montrieul-sur-Mer, France, Miss Selina
P. Bryant, daughter of the late Rev. Edward Bryant, of Nov1'1"
Essex. 'tfielel'
On the 21st inst., at St. Thomas's Hospital, Richard Win
Esq., aged 68. SWeine'
On the 20th inst., at Sible Hedingham, aged 81, Mrs.
widow of the Rev. Jon Swaine. viri%
On the 19th inst.,h Mary Elizabeth Augusta, eldest stirli
daughter of homas Vaner, of Guildford, aed 21. of
On the 18Th inst., atn Hornsey, Frederickg John, youngest son
Mr. Eady, of Red Lion-street, Clerkenwell, aged 9. f Bishops"
On the 16th inst., Martha, wife of Mr. C. Gibson, o
gate-street Within.
On the 18th inst., at Hampstead, Julia Mary Ellen, the infant
daughter of Compton Reade, Esq., aged nine days. George
On the 15th inst., at Clare, Elizabeth, wife of the Rey•
Wightman, Vim? of Clare, Suffolk. j Bowe. n'
On the 19th inst., at Bridgewater, Jana, wife of Mr. J.
On the 18th inst., Jane, wife of George Joseph Graham,
of Loraine-place, Holloway. f Jobe
ChOrinstotphheerl9stehhiiind, Aofccrer-leaenke.
Ve°ll'
On the 18th inst., at Delville, Reigate, aged 22, Eliza
beth
istrßeeritx,
youngest daughter of the late P. Guillemard, Esq.
Brixton,
ahgaerdlot6t7e., wife 0.

INTO.
London: Printed and Published by AIURDO
rand YO"
the 004
112, Strand, at The Sun Office, No. 11",
of Middlesex.--Thursday, March 23, 1837.
St, in