The Sun.
London, England, 1837-05-27 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The House was again counted out on Thursday, on
the occasion of Lord Dudley Stuart's motion on Cra-
cow. It appears to us not a little singular that mo-
tions of this complexion, which have again and again
been pressed upon the House, are so often renewed,
notwithstanding the obvious indifference of the Mem-
bers to the subject. If forty Members cannot be in-
duced to give their attendance, it is clear that there
can be no fair prospect of winning the acquiescence
of a majority of the whole body. It is true there
may be occasions when it may be necessary to bring
forward a measure which has not obtained the concur-
rence of any number of Members, but such a mea-
sure ought to be of the most important and urgent
nature, in order to justify the reiterated production of
it, in spite of the evident reluctance of the House to
enter upon it. It has never yet happened with large
assemblies of a regular nature, whatever may now
and then have been the case with mobs, that the
sudden outbreak of a man's eloquence has worked
a general concurrence of sentiment, and a general
co-operation in action, particularly in questions that
are not of an " aye and no" kind, but complicated
with considerations such as are the questions which
usually occupy the attention of the British Parlia-
ment. But it may be said, if an individual Member
cannot of his own free motion bring forward a ques-
tion, many subjects which are of interest may be ex-
cluded. We would not restrict the freedom of any
Member, but we suggest the propriety of his con-
ferring with other Members out of the House, and
enlisting among his supporters all those who agree
with him ; aad when he can command some forty
or fifty, then to bring it forward in the House.
The concurrence of that number is surely not too
much to ask when the nation is to be moved to act ;
and nobody has a right to be offended that the House
refuses to listen, if he cannot command the active
and unfailing support of forty persons. If he can se-
cure this number he may be sure that his opponents
if they can, bring an equal number to the field,
a:id a good battle may be fought. We are aware that
is has been customary of late on the part of some
organs of the Radicals to attribute to the Government
as a fault that there have been " no Houses ;" and
tins has been further attributed to the general indif-
I.Tence of the public, so that every body has been
suffered to do as he pleased, and nobody has attended
hut the Radicals. if this be so, they are lucky fellows,
for they have the whole 'field before them, and may
bring in what measures and make what speeches they
please, without check or hindrance. But unfortunately
this is not the case—the Radicals are pretty nearly as
laK as Whigs or Tories, which may be seen by the
party-coloured character of the lists of Members who
iiave been in attendance when the House has been
counted out. We observe that this complaint comes
from the Radicals alone. The Tories do not make it,
for they are in the habit of mustering as strongly as
tney CAn When they have anything to carry, and the
-ti`'liigs do the like ; but the Radicals have not learnt
. . .

first principle of party strength—how to bring
the:r forces into the field. They certainly have no
r..ason to complain that those objects which they hold
as peculiarly their own are not protected and fostered
b. those who have no such predilection for them ; but
it nosy be said that the objection does not apply to the
;notions of Radicals, but to those of independent
,leinbers, or who for the occasion wear :hat cha-
rit•ter with respect to specific propositions. But we
hold that in such a case it is the duty of the inde-
pendent Member to make up his own party for the
.•ccasion, and what he cannot do by himself and his
0,-,n personal friends, or the friends of his measure, he
may do with the aid of those who have busbies on hand
foc tlie same night. If the twenty or thirty Members
win are thus placed on the same ground cannot
ea.:h of them secure the attendance of a sun!,
.batch of friends, and out of the entire group make
up the required number of forty, it is fair to
pr:!sume that the measures are " black-balled" ones,
about which the House feels little interest, and the
"Members who espouse them not much more. And it
\,-ould be a good thing to make dropped measures, or
at least that one on which the House is counted out,
a recected measure for that session. The Courts of
Lav; :lave been compelled to adopt this course, and it
lias been productive of somewhat greater alacrity
among all parties concerned. There is nothing so
as complaint and recrimination. We do not,
therefole, desire to fix on any party the imputation of
neglect of duty (indeed we believe that it fairly belongs
to all) ; but we would counsel that each party should,
on all occasions in which it has its own objects to fur-
ther, look first to its own resources, and aid itself; and
this certain consequence will follow—that its own mus-
ter will bring into the field a counter-muster sufficiently
large to make a good fight. But as no soldiers, how-
ever good, like to be brought into the field without
prospect of encountering the enemy, so we would re-
commend that the forces be not summoned unless the
occasion be adequate.—Morning Chronicle.
A mare's nest of the most extraordinary character
was brought before the House of Commons last night,
by the Cumberland curioso, Sir James Graham, who,
on the strength of a letter from Glasgow—of which
he seemed ashamed to communicate to the House

the "lame of the writer—charged the Government with
liaiing forwarded the new writ of election to that city
by express ; and moved, " that the Messenger from
tile Crown-office who delivered the writ at the
P'ost-office, bringing with him the receipt of the said
writ from the Post-office Master or his Deputy,
and also the Deputy of the Post-master-General who
received the writ and signed the receipt on Wed-
nesday last, do attend at the bar of the House." Mr.
E. J. Stanley explained that the instructions to the
Post-office were to forward the writ with the utmost
expedition, and, therefore, that that establishment only
was responsible for any irregularity in the mcde of its
transmission. Lord John Russell did not object to
the. motion, at the same time believing his friend Mr.
Stanley to have acted in strict conformity with the
Act, though, as Mr. Hume justly observed, agreeing
to the motion made it appear a case of strong suspi-
cion, and accordingly the Member for Middlesex ob-
jected to the motion being made on an anonymous au-
thority, and without the usual notice. To which ob-
servation the reply of Sir James Graham, that " he
had not given notice of his motion because lie did not
believe the statements he had received from Glasgow,"
afforded a striking illustration of the Right Hon. Ba-
ronet's respect for the House, when he could thus in-
trude upon and occupy its attention with a matter for
which he had not any authority in the truth of which he
believed. Mr. Wakley placed the question in its true
light; by denying that the House had a right to exer-
cise any jurisdiction in the matter, and observing that
" if the Right Hon. Baronet would read the 6th clause,
he would acknowledge such to be the case. The 6th
clause provided, that if any person neglected or de-
layed to deliver the writs, they might be proceeded
against by indictment in his Majesty's Court of King's
Bench. Now, he begged to ask, whether the House
meant to summon the parties before it, and compel
them to confess that they had been guilty of this
offence ? If so, he for one would most decidedly
oppose such a proceeding." Nov, from this it ap-
pears that the Act especially provides against delay,
hut .with an oversight lamentably adverse to Tory ma-
chinations, omits to make any provision against too
much celerity, of which it would seem, for want of
graver accusation, the ponderous Sir James now makes
so lugubrious a complaint. It was ultimately ordered
that. the Clerk of the Crown attend at the Bar of the
House on Tuesday next, when we may expect another
similarly contemptible exhibition of baffled Tory ma-
lign ity.—Morninff Advertiser.
_ _

His Majesty's Ministers are going to propose the
appointment of a Select Committee to consider and
report whether, by an improvement in the management
of Bishops' lands, a profit may not be realised appli-
cable to the repair of the fabrics of the Church with-
out injustice to the interests either of the Church or
its lessees I Is not this admirable ? Twice has the
proposition been demonstrated by Mr. Spring Rice.
Twice has the proposition been affirmed by the House
of Commons. If it has not the certainty of truth
it has the vote of a majority on its side. Twice
has the House of Commons decided that the Bishops
may- advantageously be robbed—that the lessees may
quits bly be defrauded. And now, after two debates
and Iwo divisions, the question is to go to a Select

Committee, that the case may be proved by evidence,
which, without evidence, the supporters of the Mi-
ministers have been forced to maintain. Every young
algebraist is told by his tutor, in the course of his early
studies, that there are many things which he must
be content to believe before he can be competent to
understand—many ascertained results upon which he
must learn to rely before he can comprehend the labo-
rious processes by which others have before arrived at
them. Thus is it with Mr. Spring Rice and his three
hundred students. He enunciates the proposition ;he
will not yet plague them with the proof of it—he
protests that wise men have tested every step of
the analysis ; he vows that none but bigots and cor-
ruptionists dispute a syllable of the argument ; he
exacts an entire profession of faith in the doctrines
he lays down. All murmur applause. Mr. Roe-
buck is quite convinced ; Mr. Buxton is delight-
fully converted. The lecturer is charmed with the
rapid progress of his pupils ; and, seeing that they
have the formula perfectly by heart, begins to think
they are clever enough to go back to the demon-
stration. We suppose that the object of this ex post
facto investigation is the accomplishment of a quiet
retreat from an untenable position, The Church-rate
scheme has thus far been adopted by the House of
Commons. Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer and
others are directed to prepare and bring in a Bill.
If Ministers abandon their measure they confess a de-
feat—if they persevere in it they incur one. They.
propose, therefore, the appointment of a Select Com-
mittee, whose labours will be protracted comfortably
till so late a period that further progress towards the
abolition of Church-rates will be manifestly impos-
sible, and whose report will present us so many fig-
ments and figures, such a quantity of calculations and
combinations, so much of Mr. Finlayson and Lieu-
tenant Drummond, that it will be as hard to see the
truth through it all as to see the sun through a No-
vember fog, or the little Chancellor of the Exchequer
through the stout Governor of the Bank.—Morning
Post.

Although the detestable project of Ministers with
respect to the abolition of Church-rates has been de-
feated,
we are still disposed to bestow a few farewell
remarks upon it, lest any scheme of a similar kind
should spring up in its place. The sum to be raised
annually for the repair of Churches was, in the first
instance. only 250,000/., and for this apparently tri-
vial sum they were to have unsettled and alienated
from its lawful owners a mass of property upon which
an incalculable number of families of almost every
rank and grade in society, and totally unconnected with
the Church, had obtained legal settlement, as lessees,
sub-lessees, tenants, and in fact under every species of
legal title which the most venerable institutions of the
country sanction. But this was not all. The late
proposition of Ministers will be found to aggravate the.
evil which it professes to remedy ; for the whole
sum to be raised annually being, as we have said
above, for the repair and upholding of the Churches,
250,00 W., this sum the:• would have had to raise by
loan the first year, and nearly as much the second ;
and so on through the whole of the one-and-twenty
years, or the continuance of three lives, they would
have had to borrow till the Chapter leases had a:1
fallen in : by that time there would have been an ac-
cumulation of some millions of debt. To this must
have been added the salaries of their Commissioners,
Deputy-commissioners, with all
_their lawyers,. and
surveyors, and countless train of agents, for the ma-
nagement and letting of the Chapter lands as they
fell in. The whole could, we apprehend, have
amounted to no less than 5,000,0001. ; the interest of
which, at 5 per cent., would have just doubled the ori-
ginal 250,0001., without a possibility of paying off the
principal. And how was this sum of half a million an-
nually to have been paid? Or, even, how was it intended
to pay the sum of only 250,0001., the present expense
of Church repairs ? By screwing and racking it out of
the poor tenants. They were to have been torn from
their natural landlords, the deans and chapters ; the
lands let at rack-rent, most likely by public roup ; and
callous Commissioners sent down by Government,
would have seized the last farthing of the then needy
tenants. Other landlords, particularly those in needy
circumstances, would have imitated this extortionate
conduct, and the once happy plains of England
would have been overwhelmed with misery. And
this is the plan for which T. F. Buxton had the con-
fidence to stand up in his place in the new House of
Commons and say, " he thanked Ministers for it !"
Surely the respectable and truly good portion of the
Methodists of Weymouth will spurn from them such
a man as this. Let them recollect their pious founder,
the excellent John Wesley, the steady friend of
the established Church ; the truly religious and
heavenly-minded Wilberforce ; and think how the
memory of each of those great men is insulted by mo-
dern and malignant pretenders to their principles and
place. But to return to our more immediate subject.
How are Churches repaired at present ? By a rate
undoubtedly ; but let it be recollected that if the Money
be raised in the parish, it is spent in the parish also ;
if it be derived from the several landlords (as in fact
it is), who let their lands and houses subject to such
rate, it goes into the pockets of the industrious trades-
men and mechanics of the place where the Church is
repaired—the plumbers and glaziers, and stone-masons.
and carpenters, and painters; but, under the proposed
horriblelaw, the Government Commissioners would have
managed all the repairs of every Church inEngland; they
would hare sent down their own surveyors, ay, and they
would have had their own workmen too, if they could not
have agreed with those on the spot ;and they would have
had an interest in beating down all the estimates to the
lowest possible sum ; because their own salaries would
have come out of the funds lo be saved by this new
scheme of oppression and extortion. The result would
inevitably have been, as we could show by as strict a
computation as such a matter admits, that the Com-
missioners, with all their hardness—and we see of what
hardness Commissioners are capable in the case of
another unhappy class of our fellow-subjects now sub-
mitted to their gripe—namely, the parochial poor—
the Commissioners, with all their hardness, would have
been able to screw little more from the oppressed
tenantry of what were once chapter lands, than their
own numerous and exorbitant salaries. The Churches,
for the maintenance of which all these awful changes
were projected, would have fallen into decay, and with
them religious instruction in its fairest form would have
declined likewise : the children's bread would have
been taken froin them and given to dogs ; yes, the
bread of life would have been taken from the children
and cast to the dogs—the Commissioners.—Times.

A strong feeling has been excited at Boulogne by
the resolution of the French Government to deprive the British
residents of the assistance of English medical gentlemen.
The prohibition is to extend against any English physician
whatever going there to practice. If this resolution is per-
sisted in the effects must be very injurious to Boulogne, which
has hitherto been the resort of so many English families, and
where they have spent large sums of money, who will very soon
quit the place if they are deprived of English medical at-
tendance.

CAPTAIN' MARRYAT.—The most graphic and
skilful delineator of the varied adventures of a sailor's life,
since the author of " Roderick Random," and " Peregrine
Pickle," has a new work just ready for publication. We have,
of late, had rather a superabundance of naval novels, generally
depicting the seamen of the present age, and we are, therefore,
glad to hear that the plot of the forthcoming book is laid above
a century back, so that the gallant author will have the ad-
vantage, among modern naval writers at least, of illustrating a
new and attractive period in the annals of the service.
Mr. Cooper, the celebrated author of " The Pilot,"
has at last produced his long expected work on England.
This distinguished man resided for some time in London, and
as his literary fame had preceded him, he found a ready invi-
tation to the highest and most exclusive circles. Nothing in-
deed can be more curious than the impressions produced on
the mind of the republican by the manners of the aristocrati-
cal society amidst which he was admitted. Thus we have the
most remarkable sketches and anecdotes of English Courtiers,
Nobility, nvm about town, artists, authors, and titled beauties,
which given by a democratical pen have all the charm of no-
velty.
CAPT. AL•EXANDER'S NARRATIVE Of a Voyage
of Observation aciong the Colonies of Western Africa, and
of a campaign in Kaffirland, in 1836, is just published. The
first volume treats chiefly of the voyage of the Thalia, and the
results of its touching ,tt Madeira, Teneriffe, the Gambia, Sierra
Leone, Cape Coast, g.ccra, the Bight of Biafra, St. Helena,
and Ascension ; whilst the second is dedicated to the Kaffir
War of 1835, when Sir B. D'Urban reduced these unruly sa-
vages, liberated the Fin -o nation, and secured a new and more
extended frontier to the Hottentots and Colonists. This ac-
count of the Kaffirs and their country is, perhaps, the most
ample which has yet been laid before the public. Altogether,
Captaiu Alexander's -work pill sustain his literary repute.—
Literary Gazette.

ENCLOSURE OF PRIMROSE-HILL

AND HAMPSTEAD-HEATH.

In consequence of a public notice, conveninc, a vestry
meeting, to take into consideration the effect of the Portland
Cemetery Bill (now before Parliament), upon the rights
and privileges of the copyholders and inhabitants of Hamp-
stead, a very numerous meeting of the parishioners assembled
at the vestry room on Thurstity morning.
The Rev. Dr. WHITE, Incumbent, took the chair, and
briefly stated that the objects of the meeting was to consider
the nature of the Portland Cemetery Bill.
Mr. STANDISH MOTTE should feel great pleasure in stat-
ing to the vestry the objectionable clauses that would affect
their parish. The first objectionable clause was that of
empowering the Company to enclose the Chalcot estate. or
Primrose-hill, or any land within ten miles of London. The
second was power to stop up highways and footpaths on the
same. The Learned Counsel then went on to state fully
all the clauses in the Bill affecting the public rights of the
parishioners of Hampstead, which comments occupied more
than hour.

At the conclusion the parishioners expressed their thanks
for the information afforded to them.

Mr. A. GARRATT said, as a lawyer, he saw great mis-
chief in the clauses of the Bill, as affecting the public and
private interests of the inhabitants of Hampstead. The Bill
gave power to enclose Primrose-hill or Hampstead-heath,
giving power to the Lord of the Manor of Hampstead, and
the Provost of Eton College, to sell their interest in those
lands, which power they do not now possess, and to stop up
the public footpaths, and deprive the public of their accus-
tomed right over Hampstead-heath. He concluded his
observations by moving " That as the Bill interferes with
the rights of the parishioners and the public in general, by
the power given to the Company of stopping up or divert-
ing footpaths, and affects the copyholders and inhabitants of
this parish, by giving the Company power to purchase and
enclose Primrose-hill or Hampstead-heath, that a petition,
embodying the above objections be presented to the House
of Commons against the Bill."
It being seconded, was unanimously carried.
Mr. JAMES rose and stated, since giving notice to the
parish officer of the Bill they had been discussing, he found
that a second Bill was in Parliament, with similar clauses ;
and begged to hand them the Necropolis and National
Cemetery Company's Bill. It would be found that this
Bill should also have their serious attention.

Mr. GAURATT said, I see the same objectionable clauses
are in this Bill. I move that a committee be appointed to
watch the progress of the Necropolis and National Ceme-
tery Company's Bill, and, if necessary, to petition Parlia•
ment, and oppose the same.
This having been carried, the gentlemen named on the
committee adjourned to preptre the petitions.
Thanks having been voted to Mr. Matte and the Chair-
man, the meeting adjourned.

CLAIMANT to the BRITISH THRONE

CURIOUS CASE.—At the evening sitting of the Ma-
gistrates at the Kensington Petty Sessons.on We lnesday
a person about forty years of age, of most gentltmAnly ap-
pearance and address, was charged before Mr. B,.rlovr, the
sitting Magistrate, under the following singular circum-
stances : _ . _

William Sherlock, police constable of the A division,.
stated that between four and five o'clock that afternoon,
while on dtity in Kensington Gardens, near the Palace, he
saw a person, who turned out to be the defendant, seated
on one of the seats on the terrace at the eastern front of
the Palace, on which the Duchess of Kent usually break-
fasts. Knowing the defendant had no right to he there,
and that he must have gotten over two high fences to have
reached the place, witness proceeded towards him and re-
quested him to withdraw. Defendant civilly refused to do
so, saying be bad a right to be there. Witness then asked
him his name, when defendant said he was " the real and
rightful King of England ;" there was a person living in
Windsor Castle who was called King, but he was only
Duke of Clarence. The defendant also added that "the
Princess Victoria was his wife," and that "he intended to
take possession of the Palace before night." Witness again
requested defendant to withdraw, and continued doing so
for full twenty minutes, during which time a large con-
course of persons collected on the adjacent walks, some of
whom attempting to get over the enclosure, witness at-
tempted to remove the defendant by force, in doing which
defendant's coat was slightly torn. Defendant was then
conveyed to the station-house.
Mr. BARLow—Did the defendant appear to 1 e sobe'r ?
Sherlock—Perfectly so, and not in the slightest degree
excited.

Mr. BARLOW—WiII you favour us with your name and
address, Sir ? Defendant—My proper name is John
Guelph, although I pass as Captain John Wood., of the
10th Regiment of Foot. I reside at 118, Oxford-street.
Mr. BARLOW—What was your object in acting as you
are represented to have done ? Defendant—l intended to
be taken into custody, that the matter might be brought to
an issue. I am a son of his late Majesty King George the
Fourth and Queen Caroline, and was born at Blackheath.
The Royal Family are aware of it, and it will soon be proved
whether my statement is true or not.
Mr. BAnLow—You are evidently labauring under some
delusion, and I should not be doing my duty as a magis-
trate if I did not detain you until some inquiries can be
made respecting you.
On Thursday he was again brought before Messrs. Codd
Barlow, and Pilkington, the sitting magistrates, when
Sherlock stated that he had inquired at No. 118, Ox-
ford-street, that morning, and found from the statement of
Miss Blanchard, the landlady, that the defendant, whom she
called Captain Wood, had resided there about three months,
during which time he had conducted himself in a very gen-
tlemanly manner. He had been recommended to her by
Messrs. Atkinson and Crooke, tailors, of Regent-street.
Witness accordingly proceeded there, but Mr. Atkinson re-
siding in the Regent's Park he was unable to see him.
The foreman bad, however, sent to him immediately, and
witness expected he would soon be at the office.
Mr. BARLOW.—I have looked into the Army List, and
find there are two officers of the name of Wood in the re-
giment, one of whom is paymaster. Defendant—There
has been but one of that name in the regiment, since
1834. I was the paymaster of the regiment.
Mr. BARLOW.—Then you still say you are brother to
the late Princess Charlotte? Defendant—Yes, Sir, I am.
Mr. BARLOW—What was your object in so improperly
getting within the enclosures, directly under the Princess's
windows ? Defendant—To pay my addresses to the
Princess Victoria.
Mr. BARLOW—Have you ever been there be ? De-
fendant—Oh, yes ; several times.
Mr. BARLOW—Not within the enclosure? Defendant
—Oh, no ; never.
Mr. BARLOW—WiII you promise not to act s) again ?
Defendant—l will promise not to offend the Princess Vic-
toria again if my going there is unpleasant to her.
Mr. CODD then questioned the defendant as to how
long he had been in the regiment, and who was the
agent ? Defendant, in reply, stated he had belonged to it
several years, a portion of which time he had served in the
lonian Islands.

Mr. CODD—On your word, as an officer and a gentle-
man, have you never been placed under restraint, or sub-
jected to medical treatment ? Defendant—On my honour,
I can assure you I have not.
Mr. BARLow—Have you any brothers or sisters living?
Defendant—l have ; but they are on the Continent. I
however, apprehend that can have nothing to do with tilia,caitl.
The Bench then consulted together for a few minutes,
after which—

Mr. CODD said—You appear to us to be perfectly sane ;
and although your conduct and assertions are most extraor-
dinary, still we should not be justified in 1 onger detaining
you. You are discharged.
The defendant then bowed to the bench, and quitted
the office, but he had not been gone above a couple of
minutes before Mr. Atkinson arrived, when the bench stated
to him the circumstance under which Captain Wood had
been taken into cnstody.
Mr. Atkinson said he had known him some years, having
been recommended to him in the highest manner by the
other officers of the regiment. He was the last unattached
captain, and from all that he had seen of him his mind
was not at all affected.
The Bench then recommended Mr. Atkinson to inquire
further respecting him, which he promised to do.

A singular funeral took place last week in a com-
mune near Boulogne-sur-Mer. The dead was, agreeably to
his own directions in his testament, carried to the grave by
four of his cup companions. A bottle and a glass were placed
on the coffin, and the procession was preceded by two minstrels
playing lively airs.—French Paper.
On Saturday morning, as Joseph Webster was re-
turning from Thorpe Hesley, through a wood called Oakin-
greane-wood, he found a man suspended by a silk handkerchief
to a bough of one of the trees. Information was immediately
given to Isaac Ashforth, the constable of Scholes, and every
possible inquiry made to ascertain who the man was, when it
was discovered that his name was James Smedley, a sail-
maker, residing at Clarborough, near Redford. The deceased
hung himself, being at the tittle of unsound mind.—Sheffield
Mercury. _ .

On Wednesday morning a lady of the name of Wil-
son, residing in Lisson-grove, went into the city for the pur-
pose of receiving a quarter's annuity (said to be 2501. per an-
num). On receiving the money, she placed herself in an
omnibus to return home. She got out at the Yorkshire Stingo,
but on arriving at home, she discovered that she had left be-
hind her the bag containing the money. She did not know
the name or number of the omnibus, but, on inquiry, she dis-
covered it, and on the return of the conductor from the city,
she was fortunate enough to procure the bag and its contents
safe. Delighted at the discovery, she, after a multitude of
• thanks, generously presented the conductor with—sixpence !