The Sun.
London, England, 1838-04-16 00:00:00

reaae aun.

WITH WHICH
" THE TRUE SUN" IS NOW
INCORPORATED.

LONDON :
MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 16, 1838.

At a meeting of the Vestry of Marylebone held last
week, the question of imprisonment for debt was
brou ht under discnssion, on the motion of a Vestry-
maA, that the clause in the Local Courts Bill a.utho-
riaill, g th;it barbarous and unconstitutional practice,
ghoul 'd be retained. The motion was carried by a
major it) of one. Had the Vestry been unanimously
in fay( tut of it, we do not think it would have finally
and ah so lutely set the matter at rest, however it might
have 1 cr Nered• in public estimation, a body of men
placed in a respectable situation, and generally pro-
fessing ; to advocate the cause of liberty. We arc happy
to fith. 1, however, that even as regards the parish the
questi oat is not definitively disposed of. Mr. WIL-
SON, an able and intelligent member of the Vestry,
gave notice at the meeting above mentioned, that he
woul id again try the question by Moving, at the proper
time, the n on-confirmation of the minute relating to
this cubjeet.. We trust, for the credit of the Vestry,
that -he wUll be successful.
We hay e so often expressed our sentiments on this
important subject, that it is unnecessary for us to- en-
large upo n it at present. None of the speakers at
this meeting pretended to justisfy the incarceration of
the debtor on principle. Nay, the mover of the ques-
tion expressly stated that he was opposed to theprin-
ciPie of imr2risonment for debt ; and yet, with a de-
gree of:
inconsistency which heats anything that
has Cm ne under our observation for a long time, de-
clared
.rnimself to be in favour of the practice. And
why e Because, forsooth, tradesmen find it necessary.
Ih. At is to say, tradesmen have got into their
ha lids an instrument by which they think they can
e'kt ort payment from their debtors, and they will not
coliinquish the use of it, be it ever so cruel to
tthe individual, or pernicious to society. What a
compliment is here paid to the humanity and patriotism
of the trading community !
It has been proved beyond the possibility of cavil
that the imprisonment law not only violates the funda-
mental principles of that Constitution of which Eng-
lishmen are so proud, but that in almost all the cases
in which it appears to act with effect, it is pro-
ductive of the grossest injustice, by throwing the pay-
ment of the debt upon the friends of the debtor who
not the means of paying it himself ; while in
ir.ultitudes of instances it produces no result but that
of unmitigated misery to its unhappy victim, and those
who depend upon him for support. No man can
Pass through the ordeal of a debtors' prison with-
out being the worse for it ; few, it is foared, es-
ape complete demoralization. By the associations
unto which the inmates of a prison are necessarily led,
the moral principles are undermined, and the Tv hole
.character contaminated, 60 that by the time the debtor
Is restored to liberty, he has undergone a transforma-
tion' 11+.4telt not only unfits him for the discharge of the
social duties, but sinks him into a degraded being,
agair.st whom society must be upon its guard.
Th

le poor Aldermen seem quite broken-hearted a
the idea of the eating and drinking part of the Corona-
140n, ',being done away with. They cannot possibly
antagine how a Queen of England can be constitu•
tioßrally crowned without a dinner. This, in their
tmation,
is the most essential—nay, the most
'which part and sacred—part of the business, and that
hinds them the most stringently to their alle-
gtbranCe.
Alderman COPELAND was quite pathetic on
evr
ee:s
much
ay
last Saturday, and as Aldermen—how-
it
t may be with their cooks—are usually
u ot
given to " the melting mood," we
note the pensive remarks of this soul-stricken
hietzz,
vero serverl
" He could not but express deep concern,"
<< at the seeming determination of Go-
tnbment t , hat the coronation of her MAJESTY should
o
be solemnized on the magnificent scale for which
there were such numerous authorities in former reigns.
The Years and infirmities of the QUEEN'S immediate
predecessor were an adequate excuse for the curtailment
°f part of the ceremonial ; but in her MAJESTY'S
case there was every thing that was calculated to lead
to the 'expectation that all the forms would be
roost strictly observed, and that an entertainment
I3f the most splendid description would be pre-
pared in 'Westminster Hall." This passage is
curious, as giving in a few terse, significant
words, an Alderman's notion of a dinner. It is an
affair of unspeakable importance, requiring infinite phy-
sical exertion on the part of the diner, and is not there-
fore to be undertaken by any one who, like the late
KING, is weighed down " by years and infirmities."
Such a man may eat, but he cannot be expected to
dine, in the civic sense of the term. In her MA-
JESTY'S case, however, no such apologetic plea can
be urged. Her youthful appetite is all that an appe-
tite should be—vigorous—elastic—and capable of un-
dergoing an Aldermanic amount of fatigue ; why then
Should she not have the opportunity of exhibiting
her digestive prowess, to the oblectation of her loyal
and well-fed citizens? Now, it is clear from this
.10Cic, that our City Aldermen—some of them at least
*--estimate her Majesty in proportion to the capa-
tilities of her appetite ; and that consequently if she
,wish to stand well with them, she must fairly .eat her
''ay into their good graces. But is not this, we re-
allectfully ask, rather too great a sacrifice to be,
'xacted from a delicate young lady who has
11°t yet completed her eighteenth year ? How
C4ll she be expected to cope with hearty, vete-
,lfan trencher-men, whose whiskers have grown grey
root the excessive exercise their jaws have had
cthirty years and upwards ? Nothing under a shark
ertn astonish an Alderman in the way of gulosity—
and iS her MAJESTY to be put to a test like this ?
Our worthy citizens, however, seem resolved, so far
as they halve any influence, that the Coronation din-
ter shall not be dispensed with ; and accordingly
'Messrs. COPELAND and PIRIE both announce their
!earliness to subscribe " five hundred pounds" towards
It ; and add, moreover, their conviction that they
could with ease, in one week, raise a hun-
. dred thousand pounds for the momentous occa-
4°n." Mark the exceeding reverence in which
profoun
Lunduir d
leatina and drinking are held in the city of
Here we find that the citizens can, with-
, out theslightestdifficulty, raise an incredibly enormous