The Sun.
London, England, 1854-02-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 8, 1854.

mittee to inquire into the revenue and condition of
Ramsgate and the Cinque Ports.

NATIONAL EDUCATION.

Mr. ADDERLEY wished to ask Lord John Russell,
whether the Education Bill of last session will be re-
introduced, or any measure brought forward by the
Government this session, on the subject of national
education generally, or specially for the establishment
of pauper schools.
Lord J. RUSSELL said it was his intention to in-
troduce the bill of last session in the shape it was in
before. It was the intention of the Government rather
to wait to learn the effect of the bill which was to be
introduced by the Lord Advocate for Scotland. With
respect to pauper schools, that question was still under
the consideration of the Government. (Hear, hear.)

table—to complain that the article was a breach of privi-
lege, and to move that a select committee be appointed to
inquire into the allegations contained in such publication,
and report the same to the house. At the dinner in ques-
tion Dr. Gray, a gentleman who, from his (Mr. Butt's)
own knowledge, was a person of some position, made
a statement, in which he said that a member of that
house proposed to obtain for a person the situa-
tion of a paid guardian of the poor in Ireland,
but that the first year's salary, namely 3001.,
was to be given to him (the member) previously to its
being obtained. The individual to whom the proposal was
made thereupon came to him (Dr. Gray), and inquired if
the office of paid guardian of the poor was likely to be con-
tinued, stating to him his reasons for putting the question,
saying that he did not like to pay his money until he was
satisfied as resarded the office in question being continued.
Dr. Gray said he thereupon told his friend that it was for-
tunate he had made the inquiry, as the Government in-
tended to abolish the office in the course of a few months.
Now this was a most scandalous charge to make against a
member of that house. It was repeated in the Times of the
preceding day. It had gone forth to the world as an ima
putation against Irish members. It was an attack upon
the dignity and honour of the house, and it was the duty
of the house to take every possible means to ascertain whe-
ther the charge was true or false. This statement of Dr.
Gray's was followed by another, by a gentleman named,
who, although lie was not acquainted with nim, was, he had
no doubt, a gentleman of station in the locality where
this dinner took place. Mr. Kelly asserted that a mem-
ber of a former Parliament consented to obtain the office
of a stipendiary magistrate for 1,0001. The conditions of
sale were settled in this way :—The sum of 5001. was to be
paid by the proposed magistrate for the promise of the
office when obtained from the Minister, and the further
sum of 5001. was co be paid by the magistrate as soon as
that promise should have been ratified. Mr. Kelly then
said the Minister was hard up for votes upon some par-
ticular division —the promise of the place was made—the
Minister got into difficulty again ; and the promise was
ratified, and his worship the magistrate was duly installed
into all the dignities of his office. It appeared, however,
that no sooner was the magistrate installed than he re-
fused to complete his share of the transaction by the pay-
ment of the remaining 5001. (Laughter.) The solicitor of
the M.P. called upon him (Mr. Kelly), and through his in-
tervention an influence was brought to bear upon the ma-
gistrate. There was not a member of that house who would
say that this was a transaction that ought not to be inquired
into. Hon. members might laugh at the statement, but
they ought to recollect it was a grave charge, made against
one-sixth of the members of that house, and, if passed by
without inquiry, would give a heavy blow and great discou-
ragement to constitutional government. This charge affected
every one of the Irish members of that house. It was
right also that the charge should be repudiated on the part
of the gentry of Ireland. In the article in question it was
arguedas follows:—" We have satisfied the theory of the con-
stitution, as far as the Irish division of the empire is con-
cerned, with no sparing hand, but we have not succeeded
in obtaining a body of representatives which an Irishman
could look upon with satisfaction, or an Englishman with-
out dismay. In the name of a constitutional government
we may be permitted to ask, what does the section of
Irish members represent beyond the embodied wish of
some hundred needy men to obtain place, salary, and posi-
tion." This influential journal thought proper to cast
upon the whole body of the Irish representatives the im-
putation of being " needy men to obtain place, salary, and
position." Now, he felt that these were grave charges,
and were calculated to mar the feeling, that he for one
was anxious to promote, namely, to cement a good feeling
between Ireland and this country. He did not desire
that any pains or penalties should be inflicted upon
the editor of the Times newspaper for this attack upon
the whole body of the Irish representatives. He
thought that the best course which they could pursue
was to inquire into the matter, and fix the guilt—if really
guilt existed—on the person liable to the imputation.
The Clerk read at length the article complained of from
the Times, and
Mr. BUTT concluded by moving that the matter of the
complaint be referred to a committee of privilege to in-
quire and report thereon.
Mr. J. O'CONNELL, in seconding the motion, said that
he differed from the mover only upon one point, and that
was his complaint of the Times newspaper. He did not
think the Irish members were justified in complaining of
the Times, when their own newspapers set the example of
maligning the whole Irish representation. Their indigna-
tion should first be directed against the Irish papers, and
there was no reason why they should wonder at the matter
having been taken up by an English journal. There was
unhappily a most miserable spirit of recrimination, bitter-
ness, and dissension extant in Ireland, which rendered its
people the laughing-stock of the world. (Hear.) With
regard to the special charges which formed the subject of
the present discussion, he would say that although not hav-
ing had the honour of a seat in Parliament during the period
to which they referred, he had had one for many years be-
fore, and had never heard similar charges brought forward
with anything like the shadow of proof. He sincerely be-
lieved from what he knew of his brother members, that
the present charge would turn out to be utterly baseless, and
a mere empty calumny'. At the same time he heartily con-
curred in the proposed inquiry, and trusted that it would
be one of the most searching character, and pushed to the
uttermost length of investigation. He, however, censured
Dr. Gray for having concealed the matter so long as that
gentleman admitted he had done. It ought not to have
been left to Mr. Butt to bring it forward, inasmuch as
some of those who were present at the dinner at which the
charges were originally made ought to have taken the sub-
ject up.
Lord J. RUSSELL—I think the house cannot help at
once acceding to the motion. (Loud cheers.) It is due to
the honour of Parliament, to the character of Government,
and to the character of those Irish members who are in-
cluded in the sweeping denunciation which has just been
read at the table. Ido not, however, wish to follow the
hon. and learned mover in his remarks respecting the com-
ments of the Times, or those of the gentleman who followed
him, on the conduct of Dr. Gray or Mr. Kelly. I can only
say, that we have the names of both these gentlemen as
the persons who made the charges complained of, and there-
fore, having thus the means of investigation, I trust that
the matter will be probed to the bottom. (Hear, hear.) It
will then be seen whether there is any,truth in those state-
ments, and we shall every detail of the transactions in
question. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. J. BALL likewise hoped that the subject would be
sifted in the most searching manner.
Mr. LUCAS said he had heard the case mentioned by
Dr. Gray at the Tuam banquet stated by him before, and
believed it to be true. He had brought similar accusa-
tions, in a general way, himself ; he believed them to be
true, and it was, he said, utterly impossible for any gen-
tleman to take a part in political conversations in Ireland
without hearing very frequently cases of this kind men-
tioned, on evidence which it was impossible to disbelieve.
(Expressions of dissent.) The difficulty in dealing with
cases of this kind was simply that there were cases men-
tioned to you in private as matters of conversation by
persons well acquainted with the facts, whose evidence
could not be disbelieved, but you were not at liberty to
mention their names, and could not break the seal of con-
fidence under which the facts had been revealed. The
hon. and learned gentleman who had brought forward the
motion had commented upon an article in the Times—and
indeed some words of that article bore out that mode of
treating it—as an accusation of corruption brought against
Irish members, mainly based upon the statements of Dr.
Gray and Mr. Kelly, as though no such accusation had
been made before, and as though the Times had made the
accusation alone upon the information which these two
after-dinner speeches conveyed. Nothing, however, could
be farther from the truth than this. He had with him a
statement made in the Times in September last, months
before the statements of Dr. Gray and Mr. Kelly were
made, very much stronger than the accusation just read.
With the permission of the house he would read the accu-
sation. When hon. members talked about an article in the
Times, they were not, of course, to pry into the mystery of
newspapers—that was a very deilcate subject —(a laugh);
but they knew that it " was'nt nobody" that wrote the ar-
ticles complained of, and they sometimes heard very exalted
names mentioned in connection with London newspapers.
He did not know—perhaps nobody knew—whether the ar-
ticle in question might not have been written by a Secre-
tary of State, or perhaps, at all events, it might have been
written by a Secretary to a Board. (Laughter.) At any
rate, what was matter of public notoriety was, that one
of the proprietors of the Times was a member of the housef
a supporter, and not the least efficient supporter, of the
present Government—perfectly cognizant of all the ru-
mours and talk of the Treasury bench, and one who did
insult his fellow-suPPerts of the present Government by
making allegations which that Government itself believed
to be false. (Hear, hear.) The accusation brought against
the whole body of Fish member- he believed in general to
be unfounded. He had never brought al'egations of so
sweepingualnlyevaecrteidn.ten to
laugh). He
a character against Irish members.
ilielßdehandimbrsoeilifghint
laugh)—or those honourable gentlemen
ntgwßhoeieegeneral
suchharead'
whomaclaccusation—(a
naccusation against Irish members upon the side of
house on which he sat, His accusations had been directed
against
for a long course of years, had been
ctannectetdhoinsethwho
eco'ramerce of corruption with successive
and
fdt
i course,
heon
_u s(a
Whig Governments—(laughter) of which transactions the
editor of the Times was a very proper and suitable wit-
ness. (Renewed laughter.) Before he read the article to
which he had referred, he was anxious to recall to the
memory of the house what took place in the course of the
last session, when an accusation of corruption was brought
against the present Government, in connection with certain
Irish members not named, by the hon. member for New
Ross (Mr. Duffy). No one who was in the house on that
occasion could forget the frenzy of indignation which
that charge of corruption excited upon the benches
opposite. It was ' almost impossible to stand against
the torrent of indignation 'Which that charge
evoked—even the right honourable member for Bucking-
hamshire (Mr. Disraeli) was almost borne down with it,
and the weaker and less practised members of the house
were fairly overwhelmed by it. (A laugh.) He (Mr.
Lucas) declared that such was the impression which that
burst of indignation produced on his mind, that for a mo-
ment he believed the opposite side of the house to be pure.
(Laughter.) The house would recollect how that affair
ended. (Hear, hear.) When it was found that the accu-
sation did not mean that money was exactly put down by
the hon. member for Wells in the lobby of the house, but
that merely political corruption and a prostitution of pub-
he principle through the ordinary agencies of the Govern-
city of London,. declared that late thought there was no ment had taken place, the noble lord the member for the
ac-
cusation to answer. (Hear, hear.) The session came to an
end, honourable members went to their homes, with that
scene fresh in their recollection, and with that burst of in-
dignation never to be erased from their memory. The
house had not been up a month when they saw a leading
article in the Times, written, perhaps by some member of
the Government opposite, which stated.—The hon. mem-
ber then read the article in question, marking it with
bitter emphasis and interspersing sarcastic comment ; and
he expressed a hope that the willingness to grant this in-
vestigation did not originate in a desire to cloak the cor-
ruption which had so long existed between the Whigs and
the Irish members, by means of which the Whigs had,
notoriously, been able to retain power. He was pre-
pared for any amount of denial, but no denial would
shake any sane man's conviction as to the general
fact. Ho then offered to advance some new facts,
au-
thority, murmurs arose on the Liberal benches be-
but, mentioning that he could not give up his
low the gangway, on which Mr. Lucas tauntingly said,
"Oh, then, you don't want to hear the facts ?" (No, no,)
" And you think, with the Times, that the corruption of
Irish members is a desirable part of the British Constitu-
tion ?" He then related some cases of corruption, and
alluded to a statement said to have been made by Mr.
Shell, to the effect that Lord J. Russell hold the Irish Bri-
an explanation, Mr. Shell said that on an approaching
hard reseed
gade in the hollow of his hand, and on being pressed for
division, when Ministers were p , they wrote to
each member intibaatima that a certain place was at his
disposal, which place, however, WU not given until geter

the division. He had telegraphed to Dr. Gray the motion,
notice of which was given on Monday night, and he had
just had a telegraphic reply stating that he was ready to
appear at the bar of the house. (Hear.)
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE observed that, when this inquiry-
took place, it could not be confined to Ireland, and he re-
ferred to the statement on oath of a member of the house,
in Chancery, in the case of " the York and North Mid-
land Railway Company, v. Hudson," that a sum of money
had been expended in shares given to persons of influence
connected with Parliament to secure their good offices in
connexion with the operations of the company. A trans-
action had been mentioned in the judgment of the Master
of the Rolls, who had severely remarked upon it. Could
Government pass over such a case as that, with a bill
against poor men who might be corrupted coming on upon
Friday next ? He called on Lord John Russell to investi-
gate the subject, and let them know who were the cor-
rupted parties—they knew the corruptor.
The motion was then agreed to.

The Assessed Taxes Amendment Bill went through com-
mittee.

The other business hating been disposed of, the house
adjourned at a quartr to 8 o'clock.

THE LONDON GAZETTE OF LAST NIGHT.

WHITEHALL, FEB. 4.

The Queen has been pleased to appoint Alexander
Stuart Logan, Esq., Advocate, to be Sheriff of the Shire
or Sheriffdom of Forfar.

WHITEHALL, FEB. 4.

The Queen has been pleased to present the Reverend
William Anderson to the Church and parish of Denny. in
the presbytery and county of Stirling, vacant by the trans-
portation of the Reverend Colin McCulloch, late Minister
thereof, to the cha!ge and office of First Minister of the
church and parish of Montrose.
BOARD OF TRADE, WHITEHALL, FEB. 4.

The Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of
Privy Council for Trade and Plantations have received,
through the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, a copy of a de-
spatch from her Majesty's Minister at Copenhagen, report-
ing the promulgation of a law, by which the Customs'
Duty on all materials and tools imported for the purpose
of being employed in works for bringing water into towns,
lighting them by gas, and improving their drainage, will
be reduced to 5 per cent. ad valorem, whenever the duties
levied on such materials by the tariff shall exceed that rate.
CROWN-OFFICE, FEB. 7.
MEMBER RETURNED TO SERVE IN THE PRESENT
PARLIAMENT.

Borough of Brecknock—John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins,
of Pennoyre, in the county of Brecknock, Esquire, in the
room of Charles Rodney Morgan, Esq., deceased.

WAR-OFFICE, FEB. 7.

17th Light Dragoons—Major-General Sir James Max-
well Wallace to be Colonel, vice Major-General Thomas
William Taylor, C. 8., deceased, Jan. 28.
16th Regiment of Foot.—Major-General Thomas Erskine
Napier, C. 8., to be Colonel, vice General William Carr,
Viscount Bereford. deceased, Jan. 28.
60th Regiment of Foot.—Lieutenant-General Viscount
Gough, G.C.B , to be Colonel in Chief, vice General Vis-
count Beresford, deceased, Jan. 28.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-HOUSE.--!Ceir/ Otto, a German, was
charged before Alderman Sammons.
Foulger, of the detective police, said•—l apprehended
the prisoner in a court in White9hapel for having robbed
a merchant's office, into which he went with a letter,
soliciting charity. He contrived, being a strong and
vigorous man, to get away through Petticoat-larie. I
I again took him, and again he broke away from me,
and escaped at the corner of Mark-lane. I pursued,
and contrived to get him to the ground, and after a
hard struggle I succeeded in taking him to the office of
Messrs. Schafe and Brown, in Fenchurch-street, where
he was identified as being a person who called there
yesterday for relief, and was charged by one of the
clerks with having stolen a:coat. Underneath his upper
coat I found he was wearing the coat I produce, and in
the pocket I found a silk handkerchief. The prisoner
gave me a card-case out of his pocket.
Mr. Lee, clerk to Messrs. Schafe and Brown, iden-
tified the coat, handkerchief, and cardcase as his, and
stated that they had been stolen from the office on the
day before, between one and two o'clock, and that the
prisoner had visited the office twice during the day.
The prisoner, who is believed to have been mixing
up the characters of thief and beggar for a considerable
time, was then committed for trial.

BOW-STREET.—George Brooks was charged with
stealing a volume of the I ancet, the propdrty of Edward
Truelove, bookseller, of the Strand.
A police-constable of the F divisi >n having stated that
he stopped the young man with the book in his posses.'
sion, and that the prisoner admitted having stolen it
" from distress,"
The prosecutor was calle'l upon to identify the pro-
perty, and the chief usher was about to administer the
oath to him in the usual manner, when he requested per-
mission to make an affirmation instead.
Mr. Jardine inquired upon what grounds ?
The Prosecutor—because I olject to take an oath.
Mr. Burnaby, chief clerk—What religion do you pro-
fess, then ?

Prosecutor— I profoss no religion. I claim exemption
on conscientious grounds.
Mr. Jardine--I can only exempt you on religiOus
grounds.

Prosecutor--By a recent act of Parliament any man
who conscientiously objects to take an oath is permitted
to make an affirmation.

Mr. Jardine--There is an act which enables Quakers,
Moravians, and some other religious sects to make affir-
mations, because they object to the oath on religious
grounds. Your objection is based on irreligious grounds,
and I am not aware of there being any law, recent or
otherwise, that recognises such an objection as that.
The prosecutor adhered to. his opinion that there had
been some recent legislation which placed the consci-
entious non-believer on the same footing as the consci-
entious Quaker or Moravian, and consequently some
little time was spent by the magistrate and chief clerk
in overhauling acts ofParliament, law reports, &c., with
a view to enlighten him on the point ; after which
Mr. Jardine again informed the prosecutor that he
must be mistaken. According to the law of this coun-
try, there must be a religious sanction given to the
evidence received in courts of justice. The Quaker was
exempted, not because he had no religious belief, but
because he had religious scruples which the law deemed
it right to respect. No such consideration was shown
to the non-believer, and, consequently, if be refused to
take the oath, his evidence must be rejected. In doing
what the law required him to do, he (Kr. Jardine) did
not mean to cast any reproach upon the prosecutor,
wbo, no doubt, was at full liberty to enjoy his own
opinions in common with other men.
The Prosecutor—Then I am to unierstand that the
abandoned prostitute who was examised on oath just
now is entitled to the protection which was refused to
me, because I conscientiously objet: to the solemn
appeal which she had no scruple in making ?
Mr. Jardine—Yes, certainly. The wom.tn, although
a prostitute, may have somo religious belief.
Prosecutor—Then I can have no redress, and no pro-
tection for my property ?
Mr. Jardine—That happens to be so in this case, be-
cause you have no one else who can speak as to the
identity of the property. It is the legal consequence of
the course you have taken.
Prosecutor—Forgive me, Sir, for urging you, as a
magistrate, to use your influence to effect an amend-
ment of this most unjust law.
Mr. Jardine—That is not my province, and, if it were
so, I could not say that the frequency of such cases ren-
dered an aiteration necessary, for during all my expe-
rience as a magistrate I do not remember a similar oc-
currence, with one exception. At all events the matter
is at an end now, and the prisoner is discharged.
A question then arose as to which was entitled the
possession of the property, the prosecutor or the pri-
soner.

Mr. Jardine said the.prisoner must have the book if
he Maimed it, but probably he would not.
The prisoner was asked'if he would consent to give
up the book to the prosecutor ?
Prisoner—Yes, he may have it. .
The prisoner was then discharged.

THAMES.—Yesterday morning Mr. Yardley was
waited upon by Mr. Howie, the superintendent of the
K division of police, who 'requested that he would exa-
mine a Mr. Taylor, an alleged lunatic, previous to sign-
ing. an order for his removal to a lunatic asylum. Mr.
Seaborne, one of the relieving officers of the Stepney
Union, and Mr. Llewellyn, a surgeon, were also in
attendance.

The proceedings were taken by order of Lord Palmer-
ston, the Home SeCretary. Mr. Taylor had addressed
several communications to her Majesty and Prince Albert
relating to some grievances and injuries he alleged to
have sustained from the East India Company, from
whom he is in the receipt of a pension. He had also
paid several visits to Buckingham Palace, and doubts of
his sanity having been entertained, a communication
was made to the Horne-office, and Lord Palmerston
called the attention of the Commissioners of Police to
the subject.

Mr. seaborne now attended with the medical gentle-
man, and with the usual certificates, for the purpose of
obtaining an order under the magistrate's signature to
convey Mr. Taylor to the County Lunatic Asylum.
The Magistrate, having been informed of the history
of the alleged lunatic, proceeded to the library of the
station-house, adjoining the court, and had an inter-
view with him, which lasted half an hour. The result
of this interview was that the magistrate was not satisfied
of Mr. Taylor's insanity, and declined to sign the order.
In the afternoon the alleged lunatic was brought to the
court, and Mr. Yardley examined him and also and
some evidence as to his state of mind, but still retained
the opinion he had previously formed, and therefore Mr.
Taylor left with the gentlemen who had accompanied
him to the office.

LAMBETH.—Mr. Richard Houghton, a coal-dealer
in Hill-street, Lambeth-walk, appeared to a summons
taken out against him by Mr. James Rogers, the come-
dian of the Adelphi Thea re, charging him with selling
coals short of the weight for which he charged.
Mr. Rogers deposed that, having beard that the de-
fendant, at a period at whUch coals were at an enormous
price, was in the habit of serving the poor people in his
neighbourhood with coal much short of the proper
weight, he determined to test his honesty, and, with that
object, ordered 2 cwt. to be sent from his shop to his
(Mr. Rogers's) residence, 14, Saville-place. He paid
2s. 3d. a-hundredweight for the coals, and on their
being sent. home, he borrowed scales and weight, and,
with the sack which they were in, found they were deft•
cient 28 pounds. He weighed them in the presence of
the lad the defendant had sent them by, and the same
lad subsequently brought him a lump of coal weighing
18 pounds, and said he neglected to put it in the sack,
but with the addition of this lump the coals were de-
ficient 10 pounds, including the sack.
The defence set up was, that the defendant knew
nothing whatever of the transaction, that the order for
the coals bad been taken by his lad, that his lad served.
them short of weight, and subsequently absconded with
the money.

Mr. Elliott remarked that the defendant was answer-
able for the conduct of his servant, and convicted him
in a penalty of 203., or 14 days' imprison met.
Tile defendant subsequently paid the penalty.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

NOTICE TO MARINERS.

Light on Guvanne Rock, Coast of Istria Adriate.—A
lighthouse is now being constructed on Guvanne Rock,
near Rovigno, in the Adriatic, in 45 deg. 2 min. 32 sec.
N., and 13 deg. 73 min. 6 sec. East of Greenwich. It will
revolve, and successively appear bright red. It will be
first lighted on the Ist of August next. It will stand 73
feet above the level of the sea, and be seen at a distance of
five leagues.