The Sun.
London, England, 1839-09-23 00:00:00

THE POOR MAN'S CHURCH.

The Magistrates having come to the determination of
stopping the Chartists from going to the church and
taking possession of the pews of the regular visitors
there, active measures were taken on Sunday morning
last for the accomplishment of this object. Eight or
nine policemen, with their cutlasses, were stationed at
each of the church gates, and every precaution used
to prevent any person suspected of not being one of the
congregation from entering the church-yard. The pro-
ceedings had the desired effect, anc, the pewhoiders were
left in undisturbed possession of their seats. By 10 o'clock
several thousand persons had collected round the
Church-yard, but the numbers gradually diminished as
the forenoon advanced. The dragoons were in readi-
ness, at the Tontine, to quell any tumult that might
arise, but happily their services were not needed. A
meeting of the Chartists took place in the afternoon, at
a place called " Sky-edge," at the top of the Park-hill,
and after having sung two hymns, they quietly dis-
persed. Another meeting was called for the same place
at half-past six o'clock, which also passed off without
any disturbance.—Shejfield Iris.
A correspondent of the Iris says, " A Papist is re-
ceived with open arms in the Church--the conversion,
or seeming conversion--the hypocritical cant of a cun-
ning man of the world who discovers that he cannot
succeed as a Unitarian or Jew, is deemed worthy of a
holy feast. "To the poor the Gospel is preached."
" Whatever ye do unto one of the least, my brethren,
ye do it unto me," said the holy Jesus during his sojourn
upon earth, and the Church professes to follow his
maxims up by dubbing itself " the Poor Man's
Church." Yet no straight gate or narrow way,
but a band of armed policemen, and a host of
special constables, backed by a troop of dra-
goons, in readiness if wanted, shut up the entrance to
the Church. and the garb of poverty was a sufficient
reason for exclusion. It was an extraordinary exhibi-
tion, in England, to see a dozen policemen armed with
cutlasses surrounding the church-yard gates on the
outside ; a posse of constables inside, and special con-
stables stationed about live or six yards apart round the
inside of the railings, admitting only those who had good
coats on their backs, and whose respectable external
appearance would warrant the conclusion that they
were not Chartists. The " Poor Man's Church" now
calls in the aid of the civil power and the military to
prevent the poor from contaminating with their pre-
sence the cushioned pews and velvet hassocks of her
more wealthy and aristocratic sons."

AWFUL DISCLOSURES. The lovers of the
marvellous have been at once tantalized and gratified by a
rumour which has been current in our city and neighbour-
hood for some days past, that a man, who died last week
at the Printfield, had, on his death-bed, sent for his parish
minister, and unfolded a tale to him of so terrific a nature
as almost deprived him of the power of returning to his
own manse. The most moderate statement of this man's
case was, that he had murdered two men in his time; the
more fully-informed part of the community said that it was
three men and two children ; while the best and most
admired account made the slaughter amount to that of
six human lives. The real truth is that, when the minister
called on the flying man, he confessed to him, as any man
might, that he bad led a sinful life ; and farther than this
general declaration, there is not one word of truth in the
whole story.—Aberdeen Herald.

About a fortnight ago, a poor fellow, dreadfully
scorched and injured, was brought to the Infirmary from
the railroad. It appeared that he had left eight pounds of
powder in his hat, after the charging of the mine,
and fixing the fusee. With that unaccountable want
of precaution which is the source of so many dreadful
accidents, he held in his hand, close to it, a lighted
match ; unhappily a spark fell into the hat, and the
powder instantly exploded ; almost at the same mo-
ment the train to the mine took fire, and a tremen-
dous blast took place. A detached piece of stone struck
him in the face, and fractured his upper jaw, beat
in the bones of his face, and actually fractured also the
back part of his head. In this state, burnt, mutilated, and
in great agony as he was, the poor fellow retained his fa-
culties perfectly tor more than a week; he then dropped
into a state of insensibility, in which he remained till heath
put an end to his sufferings. —Bath Chronicle.
DREADFUL ACCIDENT IN THE TOWER.—
About twelve o'clock on Friday an accident happened in
the Tower to a coachman, in the employ of Mr. Bryant, a
job-master, in Bell-yard. which nearly proved fatal. It
appears the unfortunate man drove three persons into the
Tower, and set them down near the Gold-chain public-
house. Directly after the parties had alighted, he drew
up the horses in order to allow the guard to pass, when
they became restive, and started off in the direction of the
Old Mint, approaching which it is necessary to pass under
a small arch. The coachman ran to the head of the horses
and used every endeavour to save the carriage from being
injured, in doing which he was dragged against the corner
of the arch, and his face frightfully cut ; the whole of one
check being literally torn from the bone. He afterwards
fell, and the wheels passed over both his legs, breaking
them short in two. The blood flowed copiously from the
wounds on his head, in which state he was taken into the
house of Mr. Button, the Gold-chain, where every as-
sistance was rendered him. A carriage having been pro-
cured, he was conveyed to Guy's Hospital, where he now
lies without hope of recovery. The persons whom the
poor fellow had brought in the coach to the Tower walked
off to inspect the armoury, leaving him to his fate, although
aware of the lamentable accident which had befallen him.

THE MARINE DIVISION OF THE METRO-
POLITAN POLICE FORCE (LATE THE THAMES POLICE. )--
The Commissioners of the metropolitan police force have
issued orders directing all land constables serving under
them, who have at any period of their lives been in the
sea service, or served an apprenticeship on the Thames as
a waterman or fisherman, to furnish forthwith a correct
account of the length of such servitude to their respective
superintendents, with a view of immediately transferring a
sufficient number of those whom they may deem compe-
tent into their marine division of police force, for the pur.
pose of superseding those of the old Thames police con-
stables, who, upon an examination by Mr. Superintendant
Surgeon Fisher, some days since, were considered past
service. Several of the old constables were discovered to
have been upwards of thirty years in the Thames-police
establishment, all of whom are entitled to a pension to
keep them tolerably comfortable for the remainder of
their days.
QUACK MEDICINES.—At the conclusion of an
inquest, held on Tuesday, Mr. Wakley, M.P., said that
last Session he had given notice of a motion for the pur-
pose of suppressing the sale of quack medicines, but had
withdrawn it because it was represented to him that there
were so many Members who were obtusely ignorant of me-
dicine, and because he was told the Government were,
from principle and practice, so wound up in everything that
savoured of charlatani m, that it would be useless to per-
severe. Next Session, however, he should not be deterred
from bringing forward a similar motion. One of the
greatest disgraces to the intelligence of this country was
the encouragement given to quacks, who might be called
legalised murderers, for the Government stamp on
the poisons they sold was a sort of sanction to them.
Supposing the medicines they sold were perfectly harm-
less, still, as they were held forth as an universal remedy
their very inertness did incalculable injury, for they al-
lowed disease to progress to such a height that the remedies
that at first would have been efficacious became in the end,
when :Tidied too late, of no avail. Thus whether quacks
sold deadly poisons or harmless nostrums, they destroyed
life ; in the one case directly and suddenly, in the other
for g e r
wilfully
i f
utlhe
i y
slaying indirectly and slowly. A mason throwing off a house ne-
gligently a stone anodilktyilolifngwtihifeurlemwoitrhdear
;pansoset n
eindividualguilty
passenger, but for his wilful neglect
street would
the
of the lives of mankind in the aggregate. How far more
guilty were the inventors and vendors of patent poisons !
They knowingly and wilfully administered them to indivi-
dual purchasers. and by a system of extensive public puffing,
and forged and fictitious recommendatory documents, their
deadly compounds were widely disseminated among all
classes of the community.
COURT OF EXCISE.—On Saturday Mr. John
Morgan Machin, the proprietor of the baths in Holborn,
appeared to answer an information at the instance of
M.Key, and other Excise officers, for selling beer and
spirits on his premises without a licence, by which he had
incurred penalties to the amount of 2201. The informers
proved having drunk beer and spirits without being asked
for the money before the drink was brought to them. Mr.
Machin,' in his defence. proved that the whole of the
spirits and beer was obtained from a licensed publican ad-
joining his house, and that he derived no profit from the
circumstance. The Commissioners decided that the case
was proved against him, and fined him in the mitigated
penalty of 261.

EVENING EDITION.