The Sun.
London, England, 1839-03-27 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PA R LUMEN T.

HOUSE OF LORDS, MARCH 26.
Tile LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat upon the
Woolsack at Five o'Clock.
ROYAL COMMISSION.

A Commission was appointed for a quarter before five
this evening to give the Royal Assent to the Duke of
Wellington's Estate Bill, and the Tithes Composition
Arrears Bill (Ireland) but in consequence of there not
being a sufficient number of Members present at four
o'clock to constitute a House of Commons, the Commis-
sion was necessarily postponed until to-morrow, when
the Lords will consequently be obliged to meet.
The Duke of BUCKINGHAM presented. a peti-
tion, signed by 600 inhabitants of the county of Angle-
sea, praying the House to address her Majesty to recall
Viscount Ebrington from the Government of Ireland.
Also a petition, signed by 1,200 Protestant inhabitants
of the county of Sligo, complaining of the persecution
of Protestantism in Ireland. •

The Marquis of WESTMEATH said that Sergeant
Greene had stated at the last Assizes that neither the
lives nor properties of Protestants. were safe in that

country.
The Duke of BUCKINGHAM presented a peti-
tion from some place in the county of Carnarvon, pray-
ing the House to address her Majesty to recall Viscount
Ebrington. Also a petition from some place, the
❑ame of which we could not learn, against any al-
tcration in the Corn-laws. Also a petition from Ed-
monton against the Beer Act. A petition from Here-
ford against the system of Education proposed by the
Government. A petition from some place in Wiltshire,
against any alteration in the Corn-laws ; and a petition
from Yarmouth against the grant to Maynooth College.
Tile Archbishop of YORK presented a petition
against the grant to Maynooth ; and also a petition from
the members of the Temperance Society of York against
the sale of spirits on the Lord's Day.
Lord BANDON presented a petition from the in-
habitants of the Baronies of Beer and Bandon, against
any alteration in the Corn-laws.
A NOBLE LORD presented a petition from Perth,
praying for a repeal of the Corn-laws.
Lord REDESD ALE presented a petition from Here-
ford, against any alteration in the Corn-laws. Also, a
petition against the Beer Act.
Lord MANSFIELD presented petitions from Dam-
fi les, and some other place in Scotland, praying for
Church Extension in that country.
Lord WHARNCLIFFE presented a petition from
the Guardians of the Poor of Luton, praying their
Lordsl,4ls to institute art inquiry into the law of settle-
ment.

Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from
Glasgow in favour of Mr. Rowland Hill's plan of
Postage. The Noble and Learned Lord then put a
question respecting, we believe, the proceedings of some
CRiels in India, but neither the question nor the reply
of Lord Melbourne were audible.
CANADIAN PRISONERS.
The NOBLE and LEARNED LORD, baying understood
from the Marquis of Normanby that there was to be
no opposition to the returns relative to the Canadian
prisoners, said he did not wish to give rise to any dis-
cussion, het only to press upon the attention of her Ma-
jesty's Ministers a regard to justice and humanity in the
treatment of those prisoners. He understood that, al-
though many of them were persons who had moved in
a respectable sphere of life, and were well edu-
cated, that they were associated w ith housebreakers
and thieves, that they wore the priso n dress, had their
hair cut close, and were in all respects treated as com-
mon felons, although they had only been guilty of a
political offence. Surely this was a remnant of the
barbarism of bye.gone ages, when there was no distinc-
tion made between ordinary felonies and political offences.
He did not mean to ha ye it understood that the treat-
ment of the prisoners was the result of any active
interference, but only according to the ordinary course,
end he was sure :.;t needed only to be noticed
to be redressed. The, Noble and, Learned Lord then
went on to say, that he sincerely hopes the powerful
necessity of a war with America would be avoid-
ed. He would not counsel the Government, nor
would their Lordshipo sanction any course contrary
to the public honour ; but, on the other band, no appre-
hension need be entortained in consequence of the high
warlike reputation a 'hick we had acquired all over the
world by the valour of our heroes both by sea and
land ; no apprehension need be entertained that it would
be derogatory to oar honour to concede as much as pos.
sible for the maintenance of the inestimable blessings of
peace. This was the principle upon which the Government
ought to act in every case, and above all in respect to the
unhappy differences be tweeu this country and America.
There was one consol; ition on this . subject, which was
that we were undenial clearly, and manifestly in the
wrong ; and giving up when we were in the wrong never
could lower us.
The Marquis of Ni.ORMANBY said that in refe-
rence to the first part of the Noble and Learned Lord's
observations, he was. perfectly ri.4ht. Those prisoners
were not regularly in los department. They had been
transferred to the convict ships, as all other convicts
coming from that part .of the world were, there having
been no doubt of the le, gality of their trials. He had
received a communication respecting, them to-day, but
he should make further inquiries on the subject. In
reference to the other part of the Noble and Learned
Lord's speech, he had no observ; Won to offer on that.
Lord BROUGHAM wished to know whether
the Noble Marquis hi td any obj ection to state whether
he had heard any thing front the Mauritius or
not. He (the Noble an Learned Lord) understood
the emancipation of the Slaves had been rejected by the
Council there, by a majority of one. His Noble
Friend, who preceded the Noble Marquis in his present
office, bad stated a few months ago, that if tho
emancipation were rejected by the Council an order
had been sent by her Majesty's Government to the
local Government tisere, ordering the slaves to be eman-
cipated.
The Marquis of NORMANBY said no information
had been received at present, but the provisional order
had gone out, and ht. had no doubt the local Govern-
ment would act upon it.
Lord DUNCANNON laid upon the table abstracts
of monies received and expended in the Boroughs of
England and Wales.
The Marquis of NORMANBY laid on the table
copies and extracts of correspondence between the Go-
vernment and the Governor of Upper Canada ; copies
and extracts of answers to Commissioners sent out to
inquire into the affairs of Malta, and other returns.
The Earl of ABERDEEN presented petitions from
different parts of Scotland, in favour of Church Ex-

tension.
Mr. TOMLINE, from the Treasury, presented Papers.
Mr. CANNON, from the Court of Bankruptcy, pre-
sented Papers.
On the motion of the LORD CHANCELLOR an
Address was agreed to be presented to the Crown,
praying for a copy of the Report of the Assistant Hand-
loom Weavers' Commissioners.
The Bills on the table were forwarded a stage, and
the House adjourned at Half-past Five o'Clock.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, MARCH 26.
There being only thirty-one Members present at
Four o'Clock, the House adjourned till to-morrow.

MURDER.—On Sunday morning this town
(Falkirk) was thrown into great excitement in consequence
of the rapidly spread report that a woman had been mur-
dered, under circumstances of much unprovoked cruelty.
The facts are briefly these : The deceased, whose name is
Peggy Baird, of middle age, lived in East Bridge-street,
and was a washerwoman. She was the previous night in
the house of a neighbour woman, along with others • among
whom, unfortunately, happened to be a fellow named Thos.
Inglis, a shoemaker. He has been long notorious here
from his connexion with the melancholy murder of Boyd,
for which he was indicted along with Armstrong, a confe-
derate, who was tried and acquitted. Previous to the trial
Inglis abscoaded and was outlawed. He has, since his re-
turn to Falkirk, been subject to outrageous conduct when
under the influence of liquor. On the present occasion,
the whole had been drinking together till about three
o'clock on Sabbath morning. The daughter of the de-
ceased was then sent out for more spirits, leaving her mo-
ther alone with Inglis. On her return, the alarming ap-
pearance of the unhappy woman told what had occurred,
and attar a slight movement of the head, she was a corpse.
Inglis has fled, and a post mortem examination has clearly
proved that she must have been strangled, or rather throt-
th cl, from the marks on her neck and mouth. Her body
was otherwise shockinrrly disfigured, as if by the pressure
of a person's knees.—Edinburgh Journal.
At the Hull Police-office, on Wednesday, Henry
Thompson, the son of Mr. F. Thompson, a very wealthy
manufacturer at Leeds, was charged with forging the name
of his father to various cheques on the Leeds Bank, and
with fraudulently uttering the same, knowing them to have
been forged. Mr. Dixon, a corn-factor and flour-dealer,
was called on by the prisoner, who asked him if his father
had not an account with him, and being answered in the
affirmative, he produced a cheque signed " Francis Thomp-
son," stating that he was requested to pay the debt, and ob.
tain change far it. The change was given, and on pre-
senting the cheque at the bank, it was there pronounced a
forgery, Mr. Thompson also denying having signed or au-
thorised its signature. The bankers had paid one forgery
to a large amount before they detected it to be so. The
prisoner, who had absconded, and taken refuge in Hull,
acknowledged the crime, and said he had passed several
forged bills and cheques bearing his father's name. He
was committed to the gaol at Leeds.—Hull Times.
STUTTGARD, MARCH 10.—The Budget pre-
sented to the Estates for the last financial year, estimated
the Levenue at 27,606,457 florins, and the expenditure at
27,599,748 florins ; leaving a surplus of 6,709 florins.
The actual amount, however, proved to be as follows :--
Receipts 32 590,669 florins ; Expenditure 27,859,686 ;
surplus 4,730,985 florins.
SINGULAR SUlClDE.—Yesterday morning, as
a man, named Payne, was passing near the Surrey Canal,
be observed a coat, waistcoat, and hat on the bank,
close to the water. He gave information of the eircum-
tuice at the station-house and the drags having been
Procured, the body of a mar:, named Willis, a gardener,
in the employa of ilep acey, of Peckham Rye, was taken
deceased's legs were tied together
with a piece of tape, in such
uin amanner as to prevent the
possibility of his extricating after he had thrown
himself into the water, and w
there is no doubt that the act
was committed by himself.

NATIONAL CONVENTION.
(YESTERDAY.)

Mr. DEEGAN, Delegate from Staley Bridge, in the
Chair.

The SECRETARY read letters from Manchester, Colne,
Wellingborough, Ledbury, and other places, giving ac-
count of meetings held for the purpose of passing votes
of confidence, in the Convention.
A long discussion ensued on a motion for the purpose
of appointing a Committee to prepare an Address to
the Citizens of London on the state of the working
classes in the manufacturing districts. A Committee
was appointed.
MR. FROST, LATE J.P.
Mr. CARPENTER said it was not necessary for him
to state to the meeting all the circumstances regarding
the dismissal of Mr. Frost from the Commission of the
Peace, as he was confident there was no gentleman
there but was acquainted with those circumstances
through the able letters addressed to the Lord
Chancellor through the public Press last week
by Mr. Frost. Those circumstances called on them
to adopt the extraordinary measure of petitioning the
House of Commons, calling on that body to address the
Queen to have him restored to that station, where his
usefulness was acknowledged by all classes in his own
neighbourhood, the people's Magistrate, Mr. Frost. He,
therefore, would not say anythinf, more at present on
the subject, reserving to himself the right to enter more
fully into the subject in the Committee to which his
motion referred. He therefore moved that a Commit-
tee should be appointed to draw up a petition to the
House of Commons for the above purpose.—(Hear.)
Mr. PITKEITHLEY seconded the motion.

Mr. WHITTLE opposed the motion for a Committee,
from the impression he was under, that Mr. Frost was
more honoured by being dismissed by the base Whigs
than if retained by them in a situation which his honesty
and independence had adorned.
Dr. WADE said that the overbearing tyranny of Little
Lord John Russell, in the instance of Mr. Frost, was
the more to be detested inasmuch as it wa'' known, or
ought to be known to him, who prided himself on his
great constitutional knowledge, that by the 2d of Ed-
ward the Third, the Magistracy was elective. This little
wasp did now, by this tyrannic act, show his willing-
ness to throw overboard all those constitutional maxims

which he spent his life in elucidating. Perhaps the
great, little fellow, was only in this instance giving vent
to a wish to be thought another Caesar, where that
personage overthrows the powers of the tribune of the
people.—(Hear, hear.) If so, he (Dr. Wade) must
say that Lis little mind could never attempt to do the
same things which that magnificent tyrant had done.
And he would also express a wish that the little
magnificent wasp, or toad, would not come to
the same end as that distinguished individual
had. But this he might not fear, as the creeping qua-
lities of that little viper would enable him to steal out of
existence in a manner that would scarcely claim the
notice of his own supporters when that much desired
time came.—(Cheers.) He (Dr. Wade) could not
express himself in terms sufficiently strong in praise of
Mr. Frost, whose conduct would endear 'his memory to
the people of this country as long as the name of Eng-
lishmen was to be found in the page of history.—

(Hear and cheers.) _
Mr. SANKEY could not refrain from according to Mr.
Frost his sympathy on being thought worthy of the hate
of the IVhigs. If Magistrates were to be elected as the
Constitution anciently allowed, he thought that Lord
John Russell should not be so insignificantly fool-
hardy in taking the name of Mr. Frost from the
Commission. Why did not the Whigs do the
same thing with regard to Bailie Craig, who is
similarly situated. The reason was simply this, that.
they could not do so, that gentleman having been elected
by his own neighbours. In this question the name of
Russell, which had once been renowned in the person
of one of Lord John's ancestors, would be rendered as
contemptible as the name of Frost would in future be
considered glorious, as being linked with persecution for
havir, done his duty fearlessly and impartially for the
people's interest.—(H car, and cheers.)
Mr. HARNEY supported the motion, not on the
ground of petitioning the House of Commons, which
was useless, for Mr. Frost's restoration, but in order to
give his humble testimony to that gentleman which
all had accorded to him.

Mr. LOVETT also supported the motion, as did also
Mr. HETHERINGTON.
Dr. TAYLOR pointed out the inutility of petitioning

the present House of Commons on this subject, which,
if ever so willing, had not the power of legislatir, on
this subject. He thought the best mode would be to
address. the Queen in person,—(Hear, hear.), They
would have as much chance •of succeeding with the
Lords as with the Commons, both Honses being equally
inclined to hear the just complaints of the people.
Mr. MOORE said that they should petition Lords and
Commons, as well as the Throne, in order that it might
give rise to a discussion which would eventually serve
their cause.
Mr. ItICHARDSON aISO said the more the subject was
discussed the more it would tend to dishonour those who
had occasioned the discussion.
Mr. CLEAVE said, that with regard to the statement,
of Mr. Richardson of the honesty of the Houses of Par-
liament, " the least that was said was the soonest
mended." They must take individual Members as they
found them ; and particularly with regard to the Lords
in that House, the persOn who was most accustomed
to gab away the time of the House, was perhaps the
least honest—he supported the motion.
Mr. CARPENTER replied.
Motion carried and Committee appointed.

After disposing of a motion which tended to cen.
tralise the different Radical Associations of the metro•
polis in the negative, the Meeting dissolved.

Loss OF THE SMACK " FELICITY " OF
SWANSEA.—We regret to state, that the fears entertained
for the safety of this vessel have been confirmed. She
sailed from Swansea on the evening of Thursday, the 7th
inst., for Aberthaw, and it is supposed she must have
struck on the Tuscar rock, and immediately went down.
The body of the master, Mr. Thos. Thomas, was found on
Newton sand ; but those of his mate and a passenger
(which, with the master, were the whole on board) have
not yet been discovered. The master has left seven orphan
children, the eldest under fourteen, and the mate, a widow
and two children, to deplore their loss.—Cambrian.
HAMBURG, MARCH 21.—Hamburg has lost
one of its most worthy citizens. Baron Caspar von Voght
died yesterday at noon, after a short and lingering indispo-
ition,js in the 57th year of his age. Full of youthful
iardour, even at his advanced age, for every thing
good and excellent, cheerful and amiable in conver-
sation, in the full enjoyment of the brightest mental
faculties, his end seemed still distant, when yes-
terday after taking his breakfast as usual, he leant back in
his chair, and expired without a sigh. It must be left to
his biographer to describe the active life which was so
gently ended, which was so devoted for half a cen-
tury to philanthropical objects, and on which the
blessing of thousands rested ; his name is known
in Germany and Europe, and the Hamburgh general in-
stitutions for the poor will remain as the noblest memorial
of his future generations.—Hamburgh Papers, March 22.
TRANSIT OF GOODS BY THE LONDON AND
BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.—The spirited and resolute oppo-
sition made before the Parliamentary Committee, by
Messrs Robins and Co., to the monopolising system
adopted by the London and Birmingham Railway Company,
in the conveyance of goods, has terminated successfully.
Whatever advantages may be attached to this mode of
transit, they have hitherto been rendered nearly nugatory
by its confinement to the house of Pickford and Co.. who
were, through the medium of some secret compact
with
the Company, alone admitted to the use of the rail. It is
now, however, as it ought from the first to have been,
thrown open, thus securing to the public all the benefits
which may arise from the legitimate exercise of fair and
honourable competition.
TANKS SENT OUT TO CANADA.—A Corre-
spondent, who subscribes himself a Master of the Navy,
writes to state that the tanks sent out to the ships in the
fresh-water Lakes in Canada, lately adverted to by Mr. G.
Berkeley in the House of Commons, were not for the pur-
pose of supplying the crews with water, but to contain
water to serve as ballast, a moving fluid having been found
by experience much better ballast than a mass of gravel or
iron occupying a similar space, and being of similar weight.
Never having heard the explanation of the matter before,
though the i
Admiralty of the day were often and publicly
reproached with t, we suppose our Correspondent
has supplied it with a more ingenious than well.
founded defence. We believe that the solution of
the piece of folly to be this :—At the public
Boards lists are kept of all the things requisite
for ships of particular ratings. The Admiralty orders
ships of a certain class to be got ready, or stores for them
to be provided. Without further consideration the subal-
terns to whom such orders are given proceed to execute
them according to the list provided for ships of that class.
On ordinary occasions, of course, such a list includes water
casks or iron tanks, and following the general rule they
were provided for the ships on the fresh water lakes, as they
would be provided for ships sailing on the ocean. We do
not think much of the blunder which arises from blindly
following a routine, which, however, in such large esta-
blishments as that of our Navy, is in most cases both neces-
sary and useful.
ILFRACOMBE.—The number of voters polled
here was greater in proportion to the number registered
than in any other district, the management was excellent
—out of 543, 481 were polled. On the first day Buck's
majority was eight, on the second day it was reduced to
five, and had it not been for the most reckless bribery Mr.
Buller would have had a majority. Many who voted for
Buck were required to take the bribery oath. It rarely
happens that a man who is base enough to take a bribe is
not prepared to take also an oath, but an instance occurred
here of one man, who though he struggled long with his
conscience, and was urged by his " friends !"—who cried
out " take it ! swear like a man !" at last untied the blue
ribbon from his button-hole, threw it on the ground, and
said, " I cannot take the oath, I would not for a thosuand
pounds."— Western Times.
FIRE ESCAPES.—Yesterday afternoon a large
concourse of persons collected round the Sun Tavern, No.
66, Long-acre, to witness an :experiment with a newly-
constructed fire-escape from the attic-window of the above
tavern.
.The person to be lowered had a rope (which was
made fast in a noose) slung round his body, the other part
of the rope being. attached to the machine, which was
placed inside the window, and no sooner did the person
make his appearance than, as if by magic, he was landed
safely upon the pavement below,