The Sun.
London, England, 1839-04-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 1839

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT

(THIS DAY )

OLD COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice CQI.TDIAN.)
GrGeorge
of John e ilaynn llai
eswasicianndt.icted for stealing a sheep, the
property
It was proved that the -Sheep was safe in the apple or
chard of the prosecutor, one night in the month of March
last, and that the following morning ii was missed. The
skin of the sheep was found, as well as the entrails, in en
adjoining field ; .and on seat ching the prisoner's house,
which was situated near the premises of the prosecutor,
several pounds of. mutton were found in salt, and some of
the pieces in salt corresponded with certain portions of
meat which wet() left in the skin. The animal had not
been slaughtered in a butcher.like manner.
The prisoner was found guilty, and the record of a
former conviction for horse-stealing having been produced
again.lt.him, he was sentenced to transportation for life.
There were two other indictments against the prisoner
for larceny, but they were not proceeded with.
77rancis John NichoPs. was then placed at the bar,
charged with the commission of an unnatural eirencie.
The trial had. not finished when we went to press, and
the details are, of course., wholly unfit for publication.

METROPOLITAN

POLITICAL

SUMMARY.

The Times of this morning comments as follows, on
some leading articles that have recently appearvd in the
Chronicle, advocating the expediency of further reforms :
—" It is alleged that the demolition of our Constitutional
safeguards must be progressing because the demands of
the people are progressive. The reason assigned is a
falsehood. The people have nothing to do with the
demands which are making in their name. It is said that
the political rights of the people cannot stay where they
are, when thousands more have qualified themsdrcs fur
admission within the pale of the Constitution.' It is once
more a falsehood ; • the lower order of the people are fur-
nishing uo such proof of advanced qualific.tions fur power.
It is said that, thousands and tens of thousands more
evince their aptitude and assert their cl&m for the attri-
butes of citizenship' than a few years back. 'We answer
that the assertion of a claim is the sole perceptible demon-
stration of an aptitude. Those,' we are told, who would
arrest the onward march of Reform should first arrest the
power of corruption, the cupidity of faction, the spread of
knowledge, and the course of crime.' Superfine phrase-
ology, but somewhat strongly collocated he power of
corruption and the cupidity of faction are reasons for re-
fusing, not for consenting, to place the mechanism of
power in the hands of those who by the nature of their po-
sition, and tho scantiness of their attainments, are more
exposed than any other class in the community to be
tainted by corruption, and converted to the vicious ends of
faction."

The Morning Chronicle remarks, in allusion to a political
pamphlet just published r—" A thousand quibbles may be
easily raised about Household Suffrage ; but they come
with an ill grace from those who defend the present suff-
rage with all, its anomalies, irregularities, and capricious-
ness. Difficulties of this description never impede people
who are in earnest. It is assumed in the pamphlet before
us, that the Ministry is justified in arresting the onward
march of Reform. Is this then the state of things which
they intended by that measure to realise? Did they con-
template the growing dissatisfaction of the masses, irritated
to desperation by being told that they were under the final
law of exclusion from political existence ? In their com-
pact of finality, was there included the sale of the county
representation to.a bread-taxing Aristocracy ? If so, then
arc they the most atrocious deceivers that ever paltered
with the hopes they excited, and with the enthusiasm of a
confiding people—and, all for what ? a few fleeting years of
office, baffled measures, damaged characters, and inglori.
ous defeat."

The;lllorning Herald contains a leading article on the
subject of Mr. Jervis's letter to Mr, Under Secretary Stan-
ley, inserted in The , Sun of yesterday, in the course of
which, our Contemporary says :—" The opinions expressed
by Mr. Jervis arc, -we will, venture to - nllege, the opinions
of nine-tenths of the Parliamentary Radicals ; although,
beyond doubt, nearly the whole of these gentlemen will,
on the lath belie their convictions, and support the present
Administration. The Parliamentary Radicals whose voca-
tion is plain speaking or nothing, haw contrived to place
themselves in a position in which they, less than any other
party in the House of Commons, can afford to speak the
truth. But the contempt which they all feel for the pre-
sent occupants of office will not prevent them from joining
in the required vote of confidence."
The Morning Advertiser says, " The information with
which we furnished our readers yesterday, that Lord J.
Russell had never used the words ' final,' or finality,' as
applied to the Reform Act, has been productive of the
greatest satisfaction. His Lordship, in fact, in conse-
quence of the statement alluded to, has, to a great extent,
redeemed his character as a Reformer with the country ;
and we doubt not, as time and occasions occur, he will
prove to the people of England, that if he be slow and
cautious in effecting political improvements, he is one of
their best and most efficient supporters in the attainment
of popular rights."

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, APRIL 10.

NATIONAL DEMONSTRATIONS.--The Pilot, in an article
on the subject of the simultaneous meetings, in support of
her Majesty's present Ministers, says :—" The nature' of
the present agitation in Ireland is worthy of the crisis. It
is progressing with tremendous power. So memorable a
meeting as that of Tuesday, the 2d instant, has not occurred
for yearsgreat in its occasion—great in the men whom it
brought together—great in the sentiments to which they
gave utterance—greatin the sympathieswbich it developed.,.

THE BOARD OF ADMIRALTY.

(Fltoll A COI,cItESPONDENT.)

h it intended that the Boat(' of Admiralty
should be , considered as a Civil or a Naval Board
. .
constituted as it now is, it is neither one thing or
the other. Naval officers, over whom a civilian
presides, and who, because he is denominated First
Lord of the Admiralty, jumps at once into his
scat, and the conclusion that he is perfect master of
all naval affairs—Naval Officers, from their habits
and education, look up to the First Lord, and
addresS themselves to him as they Would to the
Admiral on the quarter-deck. His word
is law, and they fancy they have only
to obey and carry that word into effect in the best
and quickest method possible. Although a civilian
presides, the Naval Lords take their scats, and their
weight and
.consequence at the Board according to
their professional rank. If this be correct, the First
Lord should also be a Naval Officer, and the Board
should be strictly Naval. If a civilian is to preside
it should be strictly a civil Board, so far as the pre-
cedence and seats at the Board, are concerned. The
rank in the service, unless strictly a Naval Board,
ought not to be considered; but, as formerly, the
length of service in the office should give the
precedence. It would be for the good of the ser-
vice, constituted as the Board now is, and taking
professional precedence as the Naval Lords now
do, if the two seniors (Admirals), were
not to have seats in Parliament. They
have sufficient to attend to without this addi-
tional burden. It would enable the Minister of the
day to have a greater choice of professional men ;
the Naval administration would not be so thoroughly
disturbed, as it now must be, by every change in the
Government. A Naval Officer, who had proved
himself a man of business, divested of political bias,
would remain (although the Ministry might
change) and the business would be conducted more
ably and systematically. The Board would have
sufficiently a political character, and work for the
interests and welfare of the whole, as the First
Lord, the Secretary, and any of the juniors of the
Board would have, or might have, seats in Par-
liament. .

The system of retaining a second Secretary of
known political opinions, adverse to those of the
existing Government, is too absurd. All that is
said. or done at the Board is at once known to its
politicalEencmies. Nay, more, -official details and
data are furnished as weapons to be turned against
its very existence, and which could otherwise only
be obtained by public request in the House of Com-
mons, and for the refusal of which there might be
many sufficient and cogent reasons.

PRESENT STATE OF WALLACHIA

AND MOLDAVIA.

Much alarm has been created bk- the supposed
intligues of Russia in A ffghanistan, and the con-
sequent danger to our Inclion possessions, from the
success of that power in al,enating from England
the pCpcipal states and principalities on the north-
. west frontier of Ilindestan. Fiom the corres-
pondence laid before Parliament by the President
of the Board of Control, there is but too much
reason for believing that Russia has her agents at
work there, as sire has all along her Eastern
bootudry, for Ole porpose of sow '7g dissensions
a-none 4 the (I:Tercnt states, or pick,i,s, quarrels with
one or other of [Him the Lole object of which
is to increase her terr:tory at the expense of her
neighbours. Such has been the result of her'
qua!ezls w:th Persia and Turkey. With the
lat.ter power in particular these quarrels are by no
means settled, and in all probability they will
speedily-be renewed on the ground of her claims
to the sovereignty of the two provinces which we
have placed at the head of this article, claims which
neither Austria, England, Turkey, nor the in-
habitants themselves will submit to, without a
contest. The signal for a renewed encroach-
ment, will be the first shot fired between
the Grand Seignor and his vassal, the present
ruler of Egypt. All late accounts concur
in stating that the efforts of neutral Powers
will be unable to prevent a fresh outbreak, and that
Russia is inciting them to the contest, in order that
she may come in for a share of the spoil. Austria
evidently dreads such a result, and is making pre-
parations to secure herself against any further en-
croachments of that Power on her eastern frontier.
This is one of the main objects of the commercial
and political Meaty lately formed with England. As
the independence of these provinces, and the com-
mand they have of the mouth of the Danube, a
circumstance of the first importance to Austria, will
be of the utmost moment in case of hostilities, it
will not be uninteresting to our readers to learn
their actual relations with Turkey, Russia, and
Austria at the present moment. In a review of
two works on the subject, in the British and
Foreign Review—one entitled " Latest Intrigues
of Russia in Wallachia and Moldavia," published
at Paris in 1838, and the other a Report made to
Count Woronzow on the Commerce of the Ports of
these Provinces and in New Russia in 1835, there
is much information ; and though written with a
strong bias against Russia, there are facts adduced
which speak for themselves, and fully warrant both
the bias and the conclusions of the writer. The

Reviewer thus commences :
Of the various considerations bearing upon, or rather
constituting the great eastern question which now en-
grosses the attention of Europe, those connected with the
present state of the principalities of Wallachia and Mol-
davia are amongst the most prominent and the most urgent.
IMportant by their geographical position, their large popu-
lation, and fertile soil, these provinces acquire a still
greater interest from the political relations in which they
stand to Turkey, Russia, and even to Austria. Their un-
fixed, temporary, and, if we may use the term, transition-
state, is clearly evidenced in the nominal sovereignty pos-
sesed over them by the Porte, and their real subjection
to the Czar, who, by the treaty of Adrianople,
assumed the title of their Protector. And when we re-
member that on the first breaking out of hostilities be-
tween the two powers, Moldavia and Wallachia must from
their position become the theatre of the war ; and that on
its result will depend, not simply their final destiny, but
the decision of numerous political and commercial ques-
tions cf vital moment to Europe—that of the navigation of
the Danube, on the importance of which there can be no
dissentient voice, being one of them—we do not, we con-
ceive, over-estimate the subject, by inferring that it calls
for prompt attention; and that a brief inquiry into the pre
sent political condition of these provinces, and their future
prospects, will be of interest to those of cur readers who
are concerned in forming a complete and correct siew of
the great eastern question.
Without going further back than 1621, after
many contes!s between Turkey and Poland for the
sovereignty of these provinces, they were finally
ceded in that year by Poland to her old antagonist,
Turkey. On this the Turki fixed their camp on
the Dniester, and the plains- of Moldavia became
the prey of ravages similar to those which had long
devastated Wallachia and Moldavia. Poland thus
constrained to oppose, on)icr own soil, the irruptions
of the Turks into the heart of Europe, was obliged
to turn ja. deaf ear to the appeals of the Hospodars,
who frequently rose in arms against the Sultan.
A strong feeling of discontent long continued to
exist against the Turkish Government, which
I,ussia in time took advantage of, and made subs
scrvient to her own designs, in the same manner as
she turned to her own profit the abuses of liberty
and the vices of the constitution in Poland. To
the foregoint,a-stateinent the Reviewer adds :
If during the disfistroua.:einopaigit ref Peter the Great,
on the Pruth, the Christian pepuintipn,bf Turkey looked
towards -Russia merely with feelings of sympathy and
timid hope, in the reign of Catherine 11., they often
assisted the imperial troops with the powerful di-
version of a systematic and organised rebellion.
Extending and improving the advantages thus gained
Greece, Servia, Wallachia, Moldavia, the country
of Montenegro, various parts of Bosnia and Al
banjo, became the theatre of Russian intrigue and Russian
influence. From henceforward we read ofno war between
Russia and the Ottoman Porte which is not accompanied
with therrbellion of one or more of these provinces.
The last proofs of this influence were the erec-
tion of Greece into a kingdom, and the new con-
stitution of these states created by the treaty of
Adrianople. By that treaty they were to have
" the free exercise of their religion, an entire and
perfect security, a national and independent admi-
nistration, and an entire freedom of commerce."
Russia however, paid little regard to these condi-
tions ; but under the title of Protector proceeded
to carry her real views into effect, and assume at
once the whole government of the principalities ;
she has thus called forth opposition on the part of
the people. The struggle has been going on for
three years, and still continues, and in all proba-
bility will continue till, on some pretext, if Austria
permit, she takes military possession of the country.
The Emperor treats them already, not as a Protector,
but as a supreme Sovereign. He has not only im-
posed on theM a Hospodar in contravention of the
treaty by which this functionary was to be elected
by the general assembly, but has also appointed
to the chief officer of the quarantine establishment
(a most important appointment as regards Austria),
a foreigner with powers totally independent of the
Hospodar; in other points, Russia is endeavour-
to make the most important changes. By one of
the articles, the Assembly had the right to introduce,
with the concurrence of the Hospodar, any reforms
in the statute which time and necessity might re-
quire, but Russia now refuses her assent
to this, and insists upon an additional article, by
which the right and the most precious privilege of and ameliorating the institutions of the
country would be annihilated. The General As-
sembly fully understanding the o',ject of Russia,
refused its assent both to the proposed changes and
to the additional clause, and the efforts of the
Hospodar and the intimidations of the Russian
Consul were all employed in vain to dissuade the
Assembly from adopting a resolution in accordance
with the express articles of the original treaty. The
debates became more and more animated, and at
length the Russian Consul, alarmed at this mani-
festation of hostility to the views of his Court, thought
proper to enter a protest, to which the Assembly
published a reply in the shape of an address to the
Hospodar in which are these words :
Is it not a severe blow aimed at this innc.cent Assembly,
to consider its labours, its conscientious principles, its love,
and its confidence in the rights guaranteed to their country.
as an infraction of the laws, or a conduct worthy of blame?
When the Assembly performs religiously the sacred object
for which it is canvoked, does it deserve to incur a protest
against the legality of its proceedings, and consequently a
charge—for which its members were far from being pre-
pared, a charge wholly incompatahle with their ardent
love for the rights of their country ?
The consequence of which was, that the Hos-
podar was obliged to yield to the intimidation of a
foreign Ambassador, and dissolve the Assembly.
The object of Russia, according to the Reviewer, in
this proceeding, is to exchange her title of a Protec-
tor for that of a Sovereign Power, and it remains for
the diplomacy of Europe to decide whether these prin-
cipalities " so important by their geographical posi-
tion, their numerous population (a million and a half)
and, the fertility of their soil, shall be allowed to
augment the resources of that great empire, already
too powerful and too alarming for the peace and
even for the independence of Europe. And whether
by such a consummation Russia shall be permitted
to control the navigation of the Danube to the ex-
tent of nearly two hundred miles, to check the
whole commerce of Southern Germany, and of all
the Austrian possessions extended along 'that noble
river ; to exclude us from tradin g wfinitlatii, to as-
sumeHyungary,
Scr Servia, anda;bat p
position
the t
nn which wouldprincipalities; and,
enable her to excite
among the Sclavonic populations of Austria and
Turkey, and in the very heart of those empires,
those constant troubles for which her common
, origin and religion
gives her so great a facility, and

which she can turn with so much art to the ad-
vantage of her favourite idea of founding Me Sda-
voni an Empire." •
The treaty with Austria, and pafticularly that
part of it which concerns the ports and commerce
of Wallachia and Moldavia, is directly framed to
avert such a result, and the momentous question
which it involves, is well expressed in the following
words:—

By virtue of these two prtieles, all the ports of the Da-
nube in Wallachia and Moldavia are assimilated to the
Austrian ports; and thus the commercial interests of
these two provinces pass now under the protection of Eng-
land and Austria. One moment's reflection will point out
the impo; tance of this measure for the principalities; but
as regal ds ourselves, we see, in addition to it, in this step,
not merely the deter mination on the part of the cabinets of
London and Vienna to resist the Russian encroachments
in that quarter, but also an offensive attitude of those ca-
binets against Russia, end the foundation of a claim on the
part of Austria to the possession of Wallachia and Molda-
ra, and to the extension of her territory to the Black Sea.

The treaty with England, however, is not the
first proof of the jealousy entertained by Austria of
•

Russian encroachments in this quarter, for in a
treaty concluded with Greece in 1835, she protested
against any control on the part of Russia of the
mouth of the Danube. In tLe commercial treaty
with England she now not only protests against the
stipulations of the treaty of Adrianople, granting to
Russia an exclusive influence to the principalities,
but assumes also an attitude of a rival power for a
claim to the possession of these provinces. So long,
howeva, as RuSsia occupies the Delta of the Da.
rube, some of the most important articles of that
treaty must remain a dead letter. The writer thus
concludes :

Whatever may be the result of the contest of which
the said treaty gives an official announcement, it must be
declared that the destiny of the principalities is intimately
connected with its fate ; and that from the very moment
of its ratification Wallachia and Moldavia will become the
theatre of diplomatic contest between Austria and Russia,
ere the sword shall ultimately decide which of the two
ponTrs is to possess those rich and important provinces.
The sympathies of Europe must be on the side of
Austria; the more so as the political and commercial in-
terests of Austria are in this case identical with those of

Europe.
The intrigues of Russia in the principalities, which
we have before described, and her brutal violation of the
existing treaties and the laws of the country, have pro-
voked too much resistance on the part of the Wallachians
and Moldavians, and in its turn, too much violence on the
part of the Russian Consul. General, not to prove suffi-
ciently that Russia is looked upon by the people of thos4
provinces as their enemy, and her influence in the local
Governments as a despotic usurpation. It is not to be
doubted, therefore, that the inhabitants of the princi-
palities—aware, as they are, of their being too feeble to
maintain their own independence, and to form a distinct
State between such powerful neighbours--would feel them-
selves essentially benefited by being placed under the sway
of Austria; whose Government, on the whole, is friendly
to the labouring classes, and promotes the physical com-
forts of the people. Such a combination would be the
most advantageous for Turkey itself, especially as there
arc as yet wide tracts in the East, in which she may re-
ceive a compensation for any loss in Europe. The cradle
of the Ottoman power may be the source of new strength
and regeneration, and the eastern shores of the Black Sea
are not yet Russian. In losing the mere nominal sove-
reignty which she indeed still enjoys over the principalities
—distinct in their laws, their religion, and their language
—whose trans-Danubian position renders them difficult for
the Porte to defend against Russian arms and Russian in-
trigues, Turkey, acquiescinc, in the occupation of these
provinces by Austria, arid the' extension of her sway to the
Black Sea, will experience the real, and to herself, most
important, advantage of seeing interposed between herself
and Russia an antagonist fully able to eontroul her deadly
enemy on land, and, with time, probably on the Black
Sea also.

CONSTABULARY FORCE for the
COUNTIES OF ENGLAND AND WALES.

A Commission was appointed by the late King,
for the purpose of inquiring as to the best means
of establishing an efficient Constabulary Force in
the Counties of England and \Vales, especially
with a view to the prevention of offences, and also
with regard to any proceedings before trial, by
which the detection and apprehension of criminals
may be rendered more certain ; and also for inquir-
inc as to any public services which may be obtained
from such a force, either in the preservation of the
peace or the due protection of property, &c. &c. Th.
Commission was renewed.on the accession of her
Majesty, and consists of three members—the Chief
Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, one of
the Poor-law Commissioners, and the Secretary
of the Board. On a former occasion we stated
that their First Report had just been laid be-
fore both Houses of Parliament, and at the
same time published the plan, consisting of seven
propositions, which they recommend to her MO-
ty's Government for carrying their views into effect.
Before noticing the details of the Inquiry, which
.are full of interest, we will give their chief reasons
for recommending the establishment of a general
Constabulary Force for Bnglai:d and Wales. These
are also seven in number, and are as follows
1. That it is essential for the efficiency and attainment
of all compatible services from a constabulary foree,—first,
that the constables should be trained, or appointed. from a
trained force ; secondly, that neither by appointment nor
otherwise should they be privately connected with the dis-
trict
in which they act; thirdly, that they should at periods
be changed from district to district ; fourthly, that whilst
they should act under local direction for the performance
of various local and administrative duties, for the repression
of the practices of migratory depredators, vagrancy, and of-
fences which concern the community at large more than the
particular locality, they must act under general rules and
principles, and in subordination to general directions from
one general and responsible executive authority.
2. That such a trained and.moveabla force, under ge-
neral and responsible direction, will produce greater ad-
vantages than at least doable the number of untrained,
irremoveable constables, acting more expensively under
separate, independent, and voluntary, or untrained and
irresponsible direction.

3. That the expense of a general and uniform force,
which we believe would be adequate to the attainment of
these objects, would be under half a million sterling per

annum.

4. That the saving from the services of such a force
would be considerable ; that, independently of the saving
to individuals of the greater proportion of the money or
produce now taken by habitual depredators, there would
be much saving effected on upwards of two millions of
money, now expended chiefly in the cost of repression and
of punishment in various ways, amongst others in the
maintenance of delinquents in gaols, in transports, and in
the penal colonies, as well as in the prevention of frauds
upon the revenue.
5. That much time, which we cannot accurately deter-
mine, would be required to obtain proper persons and fit
them by training for the proper discharge of their duties,
and to organise an efficient trained force.
6. That the only available district or trained force that
can at present be obtained is the new Metropolitan Police

force.
7. That in the great majority of instances, or nearly all,
of the successful trial of a paid constabulary force, have
been instances where trained men have beef' obtained from
the Metropolitan Police Farce, comprehending about 900
instances in towns and rural districts.

The first point the Commissioners endeavoured
to ascertain was the extent of depredation to be
guarded against, and at' the beginningiof the in-
quiry it became evident that the returns hitherto
made of the number of persons prosecuted or con-
victed cannot be relied on as correct indications of
crime in any given district. In proof of this they
state :

In two instances where crime was remarkably fre-
quent, where the only real security of the subject con-
sisted in his own power of self-defence, and where, as we
have good reason to believe, from the defective state of
the constabulary
.force, there was no pursuit or apprehen-
sion, the gaols being empty, the Judges were, according to
custom, presented at the 'Assizei with white gloves as em-
blems of the purity .of the districts. In other instances
where, from the increased efficiency of the constables, or
from increased facilities of prosecution, there has been an
increased number of cages on the Calendar, it is common
to bear this increase of prosecutions seriously treated as an,
increase of crime, and as the ground of alarm. The an-
swers to the questions put by us to ascertain the state of
the information possessed, as well as the state of the fact,
show that there is in general no recorded information upon
the subject on which any reliance for exactitude can be
placed.
In order, however, to form the most correct esti.
mate of the amount of one specks of crime, and to
show how very few are convicted, as compared with
the number of offenders, they formed a comparison
of the number 2f forged notes presented to the Bank
of England, with the number of prosecutions and
convictions, and the result was, that for a period of
18 years, ending with the year 1823, the number of
forged notes presented to the Bank of England was
263,990 ; the convictions 1,574 or one in 167,
and
the proportion of executions to crimes com-
mitted was as 1 to 1,003, or more than a thousand
chances of escape (or minor punishment) to one of
suffering, the last penalty of the law ; and that 166
acts of forgery, or uttering, cut of 167, were com-
mitted with impunity. The greatest number of
forged notes presented to the Bank of England was
in the year 1817, being
..not less than 3,180, and
the proportion of convictions was lin 243. After
the Act for restoring cash payments, and small notes
were abolished, the decrease of this species • of crime
was most remarkable, the number of forged notes
presented being only 1,648 in 1823, and the con-
victions 6 ; in • •civ 267
1837 they were, respectively,
and 3.

Tha Commissioners found equal difficulty in as-
,:ertaining the number of habitual depredators with