The Sun.
London, England, 1837-12-04 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1837.

tion of the cultivators of the soil in Ireland. No Irish cot-
tier, however poor, closes his door while partaking of his hum-
ble meal. The mendicant has free access, and is never re-
fused a share, even although the mess provided be insufficient
for the cottier's family. There is a superstitious dread of
bringing down the beggar's curse, and no one dares reject the
application ; and thus mendicancy is sustained in the midst of
extreme poverty, perpetuating itself amongst its victims.
Much of the feeling out of which this state of things has arisen,
may I think be traced to the absence of any provision for reliev-
ing the destitute. A mendicant applies for aid on the plea of
destitution. His plea must be admitted, for it cannot be dis-
proved ; and, if not relieved, he may possibly perish for want
of sustenance. To refuse relief, therefore, mey occasion the
death of a fellow creature, which would, of course, be regarded
as a crime of great magnitude, both in a religious and moral
sense. Hence the tacit admission of the mendicant's claim,
which is now regarded by the Irish peasantry as a kind of
right, having priority over every other. To make provision
for reliving such mendicants at the public charge, without at
the same time preventing the practice of begging, would leave
the Irish cottier exposed to much of the pressure which he
now sustains from this source; for the mendicant classes ge-
nerally, if permitted, would probably prefer the vagrant life
to which they are accustomed, to the order, cleanliness, and
restraint of a workhouse. To suppress mendicancy, therefore,
not only constitutes an essential part of the proposed system
of Poor Laws, but it is moreover necessary for the protection
of the Irish cottier, and the labouring classes generally."
We cannot quit this part of the subjeet without no-
ticing the opinions expressed in the report of a Com-
mittee appointed at Aberdeen to inquire into the means
of suppressing mendicity ; it exhibits a striking and
valuable coincidence of opinion between persons pur-
suing the inquiry under very different circumstances.
The Committee report that—
" The great evil of begging is its tendency to idleness and
irreligion. Every person who can work, commits an injustice
when his fellow-citizens are taxed for his support ; and the
chance is, or rather it is a certainty, that he will do mischief
rather than leave his mind and bands entirely unemployed. In
a poor's-house, the question whether parties are willing and
able to work can best be tried. Begging habits may thus be
justly controlled. The large class of persons who so often are
found in the streets pleading inability and want, will not, un-
less in real need, be bold enough to incur the risk of such a
trial. Of this class may be reckoned the young persons who
parade the streets, many Of whom can work to some extent,
and all of whom may at least be learning something useful, in
place of following that most evil of professions, vagrancy, with
all its mischiefs. Another benefit to be derived from a poor's-
house is, that there, if a proper management and superintend-
ence be adopted, nothing can be misapplied; and, while there
is every reason to believe that, in many cases, out-door pen-
sions are made the means of temporary dissipation, and, in
some cases, grabbed at by petty usurers, while the recipients
for whom they are destined are left in misery,—by the poor's-
house system these evils will be prevented. And, if begging
be suppressed, the inhabitants of Aberdeen will be able to af-
ford a large sum, which is now often unprofitably employed on
vagrants."
In Mr. NICHOLLS' report various objections to the
Bill of last year, and which differed in no respect from
the Bill read a first time in the House Friday night, are
examined and answered. One objection was that it
was inapplicable to the manufacturing districts of Ire-
land: it is shown that it is adapted to the whole
country. This objection was raised to the introduction
of the Poor Law Amendment Act in England : its
answer is afforded by the beneficial effects of the Act
in those districts comprising a manufacturing popula-
tion, in which it has been fairly brought into opera-
tion. Several collateral measures calculated to pro-
mote the well-working of the new system are treated of,
and the Irish landlords are strenuously urged to use
their endeavours to improve the condition of the
country. The evidence adduced by Mr. NICHOLLS,
and the conclusions formed by him upon this further
investigation of the country, are in every particular
corroborative of those contained in his first Report, and
bear testimony to the soundness of the views which
were embodied in the Bill of last Session. The con-
cluding paragraph of the Report is very remarkable, as
well as important :
" In the limited survey which I have been able to take of
the state of Ireland, and of the condition of the Irish people, it
has appersed to me that quiet, and the absence of exciting and
disturbing causes, is one of the objects chiefly to be desired.
With repose would come security, and with security the in-
vestment of capital, and thence would arise employment, and
the diffusion of wealth, and the development of the latent ener-
gies of the country. The proposed Poor Law will not of itself
accomplish these objects, but it will be found a valuable acces-
sory ; and with the progress of education, and that orderly sub-
mission to lawful authority which is at once the cause and the
consequence of peace and prosperity, all those other objects
will be eventually secured for Ireland."

Mr. O'CONNELL has addressed a long letter to the
Rev. Mr. THACKARAY, Rector of the rich livings of
Louth and Dundalk in Ireland, in answer to that
churchman's approval of the Hon. and Learned Gen-
tleman's recently developed plan for the settlement of
the Irish Tithe question. As the plan appeared in
our columns, our readers will remember that in sub-
stance it amounted to this :—.•The Irish clergy were to
give up all claims to tithes in whatever shape, for
which they were to receive seventy per cent. of the in-
come now legally demanded by them, payable by the
Government out of the Consolidated Fund. The
Rector of Louth and Dundalk cries " content—your
plan is a good and reasonable one," but he adds, with
characteristic ecclesiastical wariness, " May not this
adjustment' afford a precedent for further deduc-
tions ? What security have we that the seventy per
cent. will continue to be paid ?" Mr. O'CONNELL re-
plies--An Act of Parliament—a legislative pact, which
though not immutable, is more secure than any right
you at present enjoy with the Catholics, the Presbyte-
rians, and many of the Protestants of Ireland against
you. The Hon. and Learned Member for Dublin en-
tirely overlooks the question of a regard to the con-
scientious scruples of the Dissenters of this country.
He objects to the payment of tithes by Catholics ; but
he appears indifferent to the saddling this country
with an impost intolerable to the people of Ireland.
We confess we can neither understand the justice nor
the religious toleration of such an arrangement. To
tax English Dissenters to support a Protestant Church
in Ireland, is a proposal which we never expected to
see seriously made by Mr. O'CONNELL ; and we are
very confident it is one which the British Parliament
would not entertain for an instant. If Mr. O'CONNELL
would obtain for his plan the support of the
liberal population of this country, let him pro-
pose to charge upon Irish estates, payable by land-
lords only, the amount of composition required for the
support of the Clergy out of the Consolidated Fund ;
or let him propose any other plan which will take from
Irish landlords an equal sum, to be annually placed
under the controul of Parliament. Any adjustment
of tithes is better and less unjust, than to hand them
over to the Irish landlords ; and we shall strenuously
oppose any plan which gives them a right of pocket•
ing a sixpence of the tithe fund for which the nation
has not received, or is not to receive, a suitable equi-
valent. Tithes, as we stated on a former occasion,
when discussing the merits of this very plan, are *ei-
ther the property of the landlords nor the tenants—
they belong solely to the nation which allows the usu-
fruct of them to the Church. If their present appro-
priation be bad, that is a sufficient ground for change,
but none whatever for total abolition. There are funds
wanted for the education of the people, for the main-
tenance of the poor in Ireland, and for a number of
other purposes to which the tithes of districts in which
there are no Protestants, might be usefully and wisely
appropriated. The nation- would thus benefit by the ap-
plication of its own resources, without any diminution
of the original fund whence it derived them, and with-
out impairing the contingent rights of posterity. We
cannot concede a boon to the Irish landlord which
we are called upon to refuse to the Irish parson ; for
bad as they are, of the two the landlord is the worst.

By express from Falmouth, letters and papers from
Lisbon to the 29th ult. have been received this morning.
The debates on the new Constitution have at last been
brought to a conclusion ; and it was expected, when the
Iberia steamer left the Tagus, that the amended funda-
mental Law of the Kingdom would be published in a
complete form the instant the Royal signature could be
affixed to it. The capital was tranquil, and the news from the
South was more favourable after the departure ofthe Viscount
das Antes for the seat of the MIGUELITE conspiracy. Vice-
Admiral Sir WM. GAGE has returned to England, after
receiving the thanks of their Most Faithful MAJESTIES,
for the services rendered by the British Navy to the Por-
tuguese Government. In the Finance Department the
scarcity of money is still complained of. Nevertheless, the
condition of Portugal is greatly improved, and if the Consti-
tution be!allowed to work fairly—if no intrigues belagain set on
foot to fill the country with bloodsh2d, aqd th, pe,,pie with
distrust—we anticipate a rapid developement of the prin-
ciples of social and moral improvement in that country.
It was reported that the brig Fortitude, of Newcastle,

laden with coals for Lisbon, was unfortunately wrecked off
the coast of Aveiro, and the master, mate, and a cabin
boy drowned. We sincerely trust that this report will
prove unfounded.

We have received the Paris Journals of Friday and Sa-
turday. Their contents, domestic and foreign, are unim-
portant. The news from Africa is rather unfavourable.
There was likely to be a famine in Constantine ; the gar-
rison was suffering from dysentery ; and the Arabs were
roaming about the city in large numbers, cutting off the
heads of such Frenchmen as had the misfortune to fall into
their hands. The new Bey of Tunis had violated the
sanctity of the French Consulate, by attempting to seize
an Arab who had concealed himself in the Consul's house ;
whereupon the COnsul went on board a French ship of
war, followed by two officers of the BETS household who
proffered any apology from their master which France
would demand. Upon receiving this assurance, the Con-
sul disembarked, and returned to his residence.
The much talked-of trial between the two Physicians
and the Earl and Countess of LINCOLN came on in Paris
on Friday. At the request of one of the Counsel em-
ployed, it was postponed for eight days longer.
We have no news of interest from Spain. There are
symptoms of a rupture between France and Russia. The
plague has appeared at Odessa and along the Russian coast
of the Black Sea. Letters from Constantinople of the Bth
ult. state that the Circassians have recently defeated the
Russians in several engagements. The influence of Lord
PONSONBT with the Porte is likewise increasing in a very
marked manner. _

...___.
The letters from Madrid of the 23d November do not con-
firm the change of the Ministry, of which two journals hays
spoken. •
The Government has not only declined the offer of his ser-
vices made by General Romarino, but it seems that he has
even been ordered to quit Spain. This is another symptom
of the spirit which prevails in the Councils of the Crown.—
Le Commerce.

FRENCH FUNDS.-PARIS, DEC.?.
Five per Cents., 107 f. 45c. 50c. 35c. 25c.
Four and a Half per Cents., 104 f. 50c.
Three per Cents., 80f. 55e. 41c. 50c.
Bank Actions, 2,54°f. 2,545 f.
Bente de Naples, 99f. 95c. 85c.
Roman Five per Cents., 1003,4 101.
Spanish Actives, 20%3%.
Brussels Society, 1,085 f.
Belgian Bank, 1,530 f. 1,527 f. 50c. 1,530 f.
Portuguese Three per Cents., 18%.
EXCHANGE ON LONDON.
One month, paper, 25f. 42 ;,c. • money, 9.5 f. 40c.
Three months, paper, '2sf. money, 25f. '27%c.
-Court Authentique
LAST PRICES.
Five per Cents. 107 f. 50e.
Three per Cents. 50c.
Bank Actions, 2,5451.
Romans, 101.
Belgian Bank, 1,520 f.
Brussels Society, 1,685 f.
Portuguese Thiee per Cents., 18%.
Spanish Actives, 20
BELGIAN UNDS-Bnusens, DEC. 2.
Actual Debt, 2V, per Cent.
Rothschild's Loan, 5 per Cent. lOl%
Lean of Thirty Millions 9414
Loan if City, 1832, 4 per Cent lOl
Society of Commerce, 4C, per Cent 144
Bank of Belgium, 5 per Cent 143%
National Society .
-Rrussels Papers, Dec. 2.
AUSTRIAN FUNDS.-VIENNA, Nov. 24.
Five per Cents. Metalliques
Fonr per Cents.
Three per Cents.
Bank Shares l4ll
-411genzeins Zeitung, Nov 29.

LLOYD'S SHIPPING.-(THIS DAY

DEAL, DEC. 2.—Wind N.W. to S.W. DEc 3.—Wind S.E.,
moderate.—Arrived the Francis, Smith, from Calcutta; and In-
dus, M'Farlane, from ditto. The Orontes, Duke of Clarence,
Eclipse, and several others anchored again last night, in a thick
fog, and finally sailed at seven A.m., proceeding on their respec-
tive voyages with a fair wind.
PORTSMOUTH, DEC. 2.—Calm, dense fog. DEC. 3.—Hazy.—
Arrived the Sackville, Pernoult, from Seirra Leone • Duke, Har-
vey, from Smyrna ; and Nymph, Earwicker, from Leone;
Übes. Off
port, the John, Davy, from Valparaiso. Sailed the Hind, Hya-
cinth, for the East Indies, and the outward bound.
DOVER, DEC. 3.—Arrived the General Chasse, from Batavia.
STANGATE CREEK, DEC. 3.—Arrived the Mary, Sterry, Zante.
PLYmouTH, DEC. 3.—Arrived the Fly, Soper, Newfoundland.
FALMOUTH, DEC, I.—Wind W. to W. S.W. DEC. 2.—Wind
S. S.W. to S. S.E., light breezes and fine.—Arrived the Iberia
(steamer) packet—left Gibraltar the 24th ult., Lisbon the 25th,
and Oporto the 25)th.
DARTMOUTH, DEC. 2.—Arrived off, the Breakwater, Pether-
bridge, from Honduras.
SALCOMBE, DEc. 2.—Arrived off the , William Shelleston, from
Asia : and Queen of the South, from St. Michael's.
BRISTOL, DEC. 3.—Arrived the Emulator, Newfoundland.
CLYDE, DEC. I.—Arrived the Mary, Clapperton, from Ja-
maica ; Mary Anne, M'Simon, from St. Vincent; Arabian, Allan,
from Quebec ; Catherine, Mott ; and Moll, Stewart, Oporto.
LEITH, DEc. 2.—Arrived the Pomona, Morrison, from Quebec ;
and Copse, from St. Petersburg.
SWANAGE, DEC. 2.—Arrived the Scourfield, from Bombay.
SHIELDS, DEc. 2.—Arrived the Mary, M'Kenzie, from Lecita ;
Omort, Long, from St. Petersburg ; and Thenis, Toggart, Riga.
HULL, DEe. 2.—Arrived, the Elizabeth, Holderness, from Mira-
michi ; Falcon, Thomas, from St. Petersburgh ; Helen, Al aulius, from
St. Petersburgh ; Ricardo, Munro, from St. Petersburgb ; Edward,
Sutton, from Stockholm ; Sesom, (s) from Hamburgh ; and
Daisy Lack, from Riga.
HUMBER, DEC. 2.—Arrived the Gilmore, from Quebec; Que-
bec, Baxter, from Quebec ; and Harlequin, Shepherd, from St.
Petersburgh.
ALDBRO', DEC. 2.—Arrived the Earl Grey, Webster, from St.
Petersburgh ; Charles William, Hamilton.
YARMOUTH ROADS, DEC. 3,—Arrived the St. Patrick, from
Quebec ; 13ellona, Dawson, from Stettin ; and Unicorn, Mullen,
from St. Petersburgh.
DUBLIN, DEC. 3.—Arrived Mary, Anderson, from Restigouche.
CORK, DEC. 3.—Arrived the Aurora, Fotheringharn from St.
Domingo.
LivritrooL, DEC. 3.—Arrived the Ranger, Jellard, from Cal-
cutta; Rapid, Robertson, from Aricate ; Daniel Grant, Zetto,
from Valparaiso ; Robertson, Neill, from Quebec ; Enterprise,
M'Cardy, from Quebec ; Rothschild, from Quebec ; and Eliza,
from Quebec.

The Orelia, Rowlands, from Quebec to Cork,' struck on a rock
at Berehaven on the 27th ult., and became waterlogged.
The Greenock, White, from Quebec to Hull, was run on shore on
the Island of Innishahull, on the 28th ult.
The James Patteson, from Irvin to Dublin, struck upon a rock
near Drogheda on the 29th ult. and sunk—crew saved.

THE FUNDS.-(THIS DAY.)

CITT, TWELVE O'CLOCK.

Accounts from Bombay of the 2d of August state that the wea-
ther in the Deccan had been very favourable for the cotton crops,
which were expected to be double those of last year. The Govern-
ment had given notice that there should be a monthly communica-
tion with England, via the Red Sea, during the fair season, pro-
vided coals could be obtained.

The-epidemic which had raged at Johdpoor was a plague, and
carried off 16 to 20,000 persons. It had almost entirely disap-
peared there as well as at Marwar. At Madras the cholera was
still prevalent : a few cases had taken place.
Advices from Alexandria of the 27th October, state that it was
known there that the Hugh Lindsay was to leave Bombay for
Suez on the 22d October, and return with the London mail on the
28th, which will be dispatched from Malta on the 17th October.
The London mail of the Ist June arrived at Bombay on the Ist of
August, and that of the Ist July ox the 16th August.