The Sun.
London, England, 1837-05-19 00:00:00

leave the religious instruction of the people to
chance, to Spectrlation, or to faction ; that true
liberality in the conducting of pttblic affairs con-
sists in havieg no r.diglOns opinions whatever, or in
acting as though one had none. Mr. Monteith is
the Christian and Protestant candidate fot OlitsgatV.
This is the distinction between hinitelf anti any pro-
bable competitor upon whitth ha mainly relies in his
appeal to the Snfiefages of the community of Glasgow,
although other and highly honourable tO their
confidence and approbation tnight txinildently be ad-
vanced. Who )s to be the candidate, or whether
there will be any, on the Radical and Papist interests
is still doubtful. Many have been named, but there
is little courage left. it seems, among the aspirants to
the favours of Republicanism. Westminster has
frightened the brawlers for the Ballot, for the aboli-
tion of the House of Lords, for the Voluntary or no-
Church principle. Whoever may be the " Leader"
of Glasgow, we have no fears for the result. 'line
merchants of Glasgow have no more to gain by revo-
lution than the shopkeepers of Westminster.—Monr-
ing Post.

One word mole—probably it will be the last—on
the subject of the Westminster election. The Tory
prints continue to magnify the so-called victory of their
party. They could scarcely talk more bigly about it
had it at once upset the Ministry, and paved the way
for the immediate advent of the faction to office. The
pompous nonsense with which the provincial jour-
nals which wear the Tory badge abound on the sub-
ject, is assiduously collected, and duly paraded day
after thy, in the shape of a string of paragraphs, in the
columns of the metropolitan Conservative papers. The
Reformers can well afford to laugh at this illustration of
" Much ado about nothing." Some people are sur-
prised that the Tories should proclaim themselves such
simpletons as they do by their swagger about the result
of the recent election. We can see no ground for
marvel in the matter. They are so unaccustomed to
victories of any sort, that there can be no room for sur-
prise that they should make the most of one—no mat-
ter of what kind--when it chances to fall in their way.
They care not about the means, so that their object be
but attained. What the Reformers would scorn to ac-
cept, they greedily snatch at, and when they have ob-
tained it, throw themselves into ecstacies of exultation at
their good fortune. What signifies it to them that in-
timidation, bribery, and all the other foul influ-
ences, were pressed into the service of the apostate
Sir Francis. He was returned by a small majority,
and that is enough for them. A return by the use of
such base appliances, the Reformers would not only
have disdained to accept, but the leaders of the party
would be ashamed of their supporters could they but
believe them capable of resorting to such unworthy
expedients. To the Tories it would have mattered
nothing had every vassal who voted for the renegade
received the price of his independence before proceed-
ing to the poll, provided the return of the old dotard
was secured. A few such victories as that of West-
minster will sink the Tories to the very lowest depths
of degradation—if, indeed, they have not found their
way thither already. On the first blush of the matter
we shared in the general disappointment and regret at
the return of the apostate Baronet. On maturer con-
sideration we are not sure that we ought not rather to
rejoice at the event. The single fact of Sir Francis
being returned by the base and unconstitutional means
to which we have referred, is of itself an argument
worthy a whole volume of the most masterly reason-
ings in favour of the Vote by Ballot. Until that mode
of taking the suffrages of the electors be adopted, we
shall never have a fair manifestation of public opinion
on the great political questions of the day.--Morning
Advertiser.
The discussion upon Lord John Russell's Bills for
the amendment of the criminal law stands for this
evening, when it is understood that Mr. Ewart will
move as an amendment that,, in accordance with the
general feeling of the public, the punishment of death
shall be limited to the single case of wilful murder.
On the second reading of the Bills our readers may
recollect that Sir Robert Peel inquired of his Lordship,
whether he was prepared to lay before the House any
official information to show the beneficial working of
the Acts recently passed, and particularly as regarded
the law of forgery ? With the view of furnishing those
details the Noble Lord agreed to postpone the further
consideration of his Bills till the 19th of May (this
day.) As we have never opposed sanguinary punish-
ments on the ground of mere expediency, but have
always denied the right of men, in the collective capa-
city of a Legislature, to deal with human life as a thing
placed at their absolute disposal, we might pro-
test against such details as Sir Robert Peel has
called for being admissible evidence, to determine the
question whether life is to be sacrificed or not for certain
offences against the rights of property (the mitigation of
our law having yet gone no further); but in truth the Par-
liamentary returns come in aid of the grea principle for
which we contend against the barbarous system of legis•
lotion which in this country has poured out blood like
water only to assist the propagation of crime. Of all the
crimes against property committed in this country,
forgery is the one for which the punishment of death
used to be most inexorably inflicted, and yet forgery
rapidly increased. So long as the law was capital,
the number of prosecutions was not a true criterion of
the number of offences, or anything like it, because
that law prevented prosecutions in a great number of
instances ; thus endangering the property it was meant
to protect, as stated in the petition signed by upwards
of 1,000 bankers in the year 1830, praying for the
abolition of the capital punishment. Of the multi-
tudes of such unprosecuted forgeries, there is no exact
record to be obtained ; but Sir Robert Peel cannot be
ignorant of the fact, that under the capital law a con-
siderable proportion of forgeries were compromised and
Pushed up. Why then does he desire to institute so
unfair a comparison between the two periods of for-
gery ? Why should the Right Hon. Gentleman en-
deavour to revive the recollection of his own abortive
attempts to preserve, the punishment which so re-
volted the feelings of jurors, that it at length be-
came almost wholly incapable of execution ? Can
he ever expect the country would return to that
state of things ? It would be as reasonable to be-
lieve that the Thames may be rolled back upon its
source. The legislation which reason has recommended
which we also believe to be consonant with Chris-
tianity, experience strongly confirms. Forgeries have
diminished materially since the penalty of death
ceased to be inflicted; nay, more, during the three
years just ended, when no forgers were permitted to
escape unprosecuted, even the prosecutions were, ewer
than during the last three years of executions, as the
following numbers show. In the three years ending
with 1829, there were executed 10 ; prosecuted 213
(not to mention the forgeries hushed up). In the
three years ending with 1836, there were executed
none ; prosecuted 179 ; being a diminution in the
three years of 34. We may add that, although it was
in 1829 the penalty of death ceased to be inflicted for
forgery, it was not until 1832 that the law itself was
altered. No sooner, however, was that salutary change
effected than the offences, which used to be compro-
mised, in order to save the delinquent from an ignomi-
nious fate, which reflected the last disgrace upon the
innocent members of many a respectable family, were
unsparingly prosecuted. The number of prosecutions,
consequently, rose to an extent which showed that ban-
kers and others were no longer reluctant to bring offen-
ders to the liar of justice. This was an effect of the change
in the law always calculated on by its advocates. That is.
they anticipated that the immediate consequence of the
change in the law would be to increase the number of
commitments in the first instance - •' .
of the certain __, mien the knowledge
• '
: -..,y ur punishment would have its natural
. "
...rmenee in diminishing the cases of crime. So much
for forgery—now as to other offences from
which the
capital punishment has been removed, we may refer to
the statements on criminal law recently prepared by
the direction of the Home Secretary, In those state-
ments is a table of the commitments for three years
preceding, and of those for three years following, the
repeal of capital punishment. By a strange omission,
however, two columns of the table are not brought into
totals. Had this been done it would have shown the
commitments for the former period to be 4,156, while
period were only 2,729, showing a
those for the latter
diminution of 427, or more than ten percent. So much
for the " frightful increase of crime," as falsely alleoed
by one or two ignorant or Malevolent persons, in :no-

nymonS CointitUnizilionS in a daily journal. It may not
be Unimportant to observe, that the greatest diminution
has been in the case of an offence of the most formidable
character of any in the whole catalogue—that'of house-
breaking. Before quitting this SUbied We can hardly
aVoidd nutiting another effort at 'Opposing the reform Of
sanguinary legislation on the part of a county), gentletrian
—Mr. Handley, the Member for Botith~iiicolti~ It
appears antious to preserve the capital pe-
-I,alty for rick-burning, as if it had ever been effective,
and as if, from its i,vcr Severity,
_it did not continually
lead to the elf:ape of Offenders who,
.tinder a la* that
dertianded not the blood of Wthild 114Ve
been convicted tilid pitnihed ETo distingush, in arson,
bt,:tween the different degrees of the offence, is what
reason teaches and justice approves : and the efforts of
Mr. Handley will not prevent so nee,?,ssars a reform;
Does that gentleman kuoW that Mit of 211 commit-
ments for desOn, in three years, there were but 28
t.',onvictions—a result which was mainly attributable to
the existence of that punishment which Mr. Handley
wishes to preserve, and which, instead of protecting
property, serves, in a multitude of instances, to afford
impunity to crime. It is worth remarking that during
the three years in which the aggregate of crimes from
which the capital penalty was removed, has diminished,
the aggregate of crimes to which the capital penalty is
still attached has increased. In conclusion, we have
only to remind Hon. Members who take an interest in
the reform of the " must bloaly and barbarous code"
in Europe, to use the words of the present Attorney-
General, of the necessity of being at their post to
give effect to the opinions which they profess, by
supporting the amendment of Mr. Ewart, restricting
the penalty of death to cases of actual murder.—
Morning Herald.

ACCOUNT OF A MAN WHO WAS
BURIED ALIVE FOR A MONTH,

I have just witnessed a singular circumstance, of which
had heard during our stay at this place, but said nothing
about it before, the time for its accomplishment not be-
ing completed; this morning, however, the full month was
over, and a man who had been buried all that time, on
the bank of a tank near our camp, was dug out alive, in
the presence of Esur Lal, one of the Ministers of the Mu-
harawul of Jaisulmer, on whose account this singular indi-
vidual was voluntarily interred a month ago. He is a
youngish man, about 30 years of age, and his native village
is within five kos of Kurnaul ; but he generally travels
about the country to Ajmeer, Kotah, Endor, &c., and al-
lows himself to be buried for weeks or months, by any
person who will pay him handsomely for the same. In the
present instance the Rawul put this singular body in re-
quisition, under the hope of obtaining an heir to his throne,
and whether the remedy is efficacious or not, it certainly
deserves to be known.
The man is said, by long practice, to have acquired the
art of holding his breath by shutting the mouth, and stop-
ping the interior opening of the nostrils with the tongue ;
he also abstains from solid food for some days previous
to his interment, so that he may not be inconvenienced
by the contents of his stomach, while pent up in his
narrow grave ; and, moreover, he is sewn up in a bag
of cloth, and the cell is lined with masonry, and floored
with cloth, that the white ants and other insects may
not be easily able to molest him. The place in which
he was buried at Jaisulmer is a small building, about
12 feet by 8 feet, built of stone ; and in the floor was
a hole about three feet long, and two and a-half feet
wide, and the same depth, or perhaps a yard deep, in
which he was placed in a sitting posture, sewed up in his
shroud, with his feet turned inwards towards the stomach,
and his hands also pointed inwards towards the chest. Two
heavy slabs of stone, five or six feet long, several inches
thick, and broad enough to cover the mouth of the grave, so
that he could not escape, were then placed over him, and I
believe a little earth was plastered over the whole, so as to
make the surface of the grave smooth and compact. The
door of the house was also built up, and people placed out-
side, that no tricks might be played nor deception practised.
At the expiration of a full month, that is 'to say, this morn-
ing, the walling up of the door was broken, and the buried
man dug out of the grave, Trevlyan's moonshee only run-
ning there in time to see the ripping open of the bag in
which the man had been enclosed. He was taken out in a
perfectly senseless state,shis eyes closed, his hands cramped
and powerless ; his stomach shrunk very much ; and his
teeth jammed so fast together, that they were forced to
open his mouth with an iron instrument to pour a little
water down his throat. He gradually recovered his senses,
and the use of his limbs, and when he went to see him was
sitting up, supported by two men, and conversed with us in
a low, gentle tone of voice, saying, " that we might bury
him again for a twelvemonth if we pleased." He told
Major Spiers, at Ajmeer, of his powers, and was laughed
at as an impostor ; but Cornet Macnaughten put his
abstinence to the test at Pokhur, by suspending hini
for thirteen days, shut up in wooden chest, which he
says, is better than being buried under ground, because the
box, when hung from the ceiling, is open to inspection on
all sides, and the white ants, &c., can be easier prevented
from getting at his body while he thus remains in a state of
insensibility. His powers of abstinence must be wonderful
to enable him to do without food for so long a time, nor does
his hair grow during the time he remains buried.
I really believe that there is no imposture in the case,
and that the whole proceeding is actually conducted in the
way mentioned above.
This letter was written by Lieut. A. H. Boileau, of the
Engineers, First Assistant of the Great Trigonometrical
Survey, who at that time was employed in the Survey of
that part of the country, The gentlemen whose names are
mentioned in the letter are Captain Trevelyan, of the Bom-
bay Artillery, and Cornet (now Lieutenant) Macnagliten,
of the sth Regiment Light Cavalry, Assistant to the agent
to the Governor-General in Rajpootanah.
Some other information I obtained in the course of con-
versation with Lieutenant Boileau, and which 1 noted down.
Lieutenant Boileau was unacquainted with the man's name
or caste ; he believed that he had taken up the life of a
fukeer ; he understood that the man had been buried six
or seven times, but whether for any period longer than a
month he knew not ; he did not hear how the man disco-
vered his powers, or when lie commenced to practise them.
Lieutenant Boileau arrived at Jaisulmer, after the inter-
ment, and saw the place, described in his letter, in which
the man was buried. There was a guard of four or five
Chuprasces, in the employ of the muharawul, as he under-
stood, who were on the watch, to prevent any interference
or imposition. The process of burying and of disinterring
was c,ndueted in the presence of Esur Lal, one of the mi-
nisters of the muharawul. The day fixed for the disinter-
ment was known to Lieutenant Boileau, but not the exact
hour. Captain Trevelyan's moonshee, who had set forth
to give intelligence when operations were to be commenced,
arrived only in time to see the people ripping open the
cloth or shroud, in which he had been enclosed. The,
moonshee immediately started a man to inform his mas-
ter and Lieutenant Boileau, who were in their tents, at a
distance of about three furlongs.
They waited a few seconds to apprise Lieutenant Macke-
son of the 14th Regiment of Native Infantry, British agent
for the navigation of the Indus (who was disinclined to ac-
company them), and repaired to the spot as quickly as
possible. Perhaps a quarter of an hour had elapsed since
the opening of the grave before they arrived. The people
had thrown a clean cloth over the man, two of them sup-
ported him ; he presented an appearance of extreme ema-
ciation and debility ; but weak as he was his spirit was good,
and his confidence in his powers unabated, as in answer to
Lieutenant Boileau's and Captain Trevelyan's inquiries, he
said " that we might bury him again for a twelvemonth if
we pleased." Lieutenant Boileau examined, and mea-
sured -with his walking-stick, the grave in the floor of the
chamber in which the man had been buried, and also the
two slabs of stone which had been used to cover the mouth
of the grave. For seven or eight days preceding the
burial the man lived entirely upon milk, regulating the
quantity so as to sustain life, whilst nothing remained to
give employment to the excretory organs. In that state he
was buried. He confesses to have great dread of the white
ants. Several folds of cloth were spread on the bottom of
the grave, to protect him from their attacks. Oa taking
nourishment after his release, he is said to be in a state of
anxiety, until he has ascertained that the powers of his
stomach and intestines are not impaired. Lieutenant
Boileau saw nothing more of the man ; he understood that
he regained his strength, and was for some time in atten-
dance at the durbar of the muharawul, in the hope of re-1
ceiving his promised reward, and that, tired of waiting until
sa:purse-s decamped.—il purse-strings
oflleid._
the patron
Gazelle.wicereloosened, he had stolen
aatnel and

CAUTION TO COACHMEN.—On Monday evening
an accident, which had been nearly attended with fatal con-
sequences owing to the culpable negligence of leaving horses
without some one to take care of them, took place at Kensing-
ton turnpike. Two spirited horses, which were in a barouche,
had started off under the above circumstances, and were pro-
ceedint, at a tremendous rate towards Kensington turnpike
from the London side. A cabriolet was stopping at the gate.
I The animals, seeing their passage thus impeded, turned to the
of which was brokie:ill
' ' • and cleared the post on the foot-path. The traces
f
leased, they mutual!)
oft" snit,
on!) was severely iture‘.., ..
stopped, and
behind, the splinter bar
snapped in two, „. - - the horses found themselves re-
other wound was received • • instantly taken hold
hut no
of. The hind near 'le
only a little lacerated. y either of them. The post was
Fortunately, no
There were ,person was hurt.
some on the footpath who received timely notice
geodPopbfed, and weit,
.s,

11111: SUN, LON DON, ritIDA_V; MAY- 103 1837.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS, MAr 18.

The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the
Wnolsaelt at Five
Mr. JERviS and other Members of the I-louse of Com-
mons brOnght lip the Birkenhead and Chester Itailwai
Bill; andannilthr.isij'il7tite
Lord ItAbNOll
...., presented a petition against thtireii=
rates from parishes in Wilts.

The £uke of 13tJecLEUGH presented a petition in
favonr of Phurch-roteaj from a parish in Northampton.
Ldrd Asi-IBUit'rON presented petition fruit (lid

Guardians of the Union of Colchester; praying that the
fates on tenements not *OA thole than 81: u rear should
be paid by the landlords.
CANADA.

Mr, PULMAN then announced that the Managers of
the Conimnns *ere teady td fleet the Managers of their
Lordships' House, on the subject of the Resolution in re=
ference to Canada.

On the motion of the Marquis of LANSDO WNE,
the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Earl
of Cattiperdown, the &shop of Ely, Lord Rosebery, Lord
Strafford, and Lord Rosslyn, were appointed Managers,
and retired to meet those of the Commons.
On their return, the Duke of RICHMOND announced
that the Managers of the Lords had met the Managers of
the Commons in a Conference, which was conducted by
Lord John Russell and others ; and the Managers of the
Lords announced that their Lordships had concurred in
certain resolutions in refereuce to the Government of
Lower Canada agreed to by the Commons.
The Earl of RIPON said, that on Monday he would
move for a letter, addressed by the Secretary of State to
Colonel Arthur in Van Diemen's Land.

The Earl of H ADDINGTON said, that to-morrow
he would ask the Noble Viscount opposite, what were the
intentions of Ministers in reference to the report of the
Commissioners of Public Instruction (Scotland)?
The Bishop of WINCHESTER presented petitions in
favour of Church-rates from places in South Hants and

Surrey,
The 13ishop of LONDON presented similar petitions
from Whitehaven, and from parishes in London.
Lord BROUGHAM presented petitions against Church
Rates from parishes in Oxford, Gloucester, Somerset, Corn-
wall, Durham, Devon, and London.

Lord ROLLS said that the majority of the inhabitants
of Devon were adverse to the measure.
PUBLIC BUSINESS.

Lord BROUGHAM begged the Noble Lord's pardon
—the petition was from Oxford.—( A. laugh.) He had mis-
taken the name. The Noble Lord then presented several
petitions from Annan, and other places, in favour of the
Scotch Corporation Bill. The Noble Lord then gave no-
tice that he would call the attention of their Lordship's to
the state of public business, with a view, if possible, either
in the present or some future Session to provide some re-
medy for the great grievance from the delay which took
place in bringing on the public business till a late period of
the Session.—(Cheers.) They were now very far ad-
vanced in the Session, and it would be impossible to say
what had been done—except agreeing to the Resolu-
tions with respect to Canada, which he (Lord B.) con-
sidered rather as a mischief than otherwise.—(Hear,
hear.) The House had now been sitting four months,
and nothing had actually been done. He thought it might
be so arranged that any measure might be introduced in
one House, and another in the other, by which considerable
delay would be saved. The only reason why he did not at
once call the attention of their Lordships to this important
subject was, that he found great difficulty in treating with
it properly without infringing the rules of the House.
The Duke of RICHMOND presented a petition from
the Synod of Moray and other places against the abolition
of Church-rates.