The Sun.
London, England, 1838-06-14 00:00:00

PIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

We hear that the Earl of Gosford, the late Governor-Ge-
neral of Canada, has been exerting himself to lessen the mag-
nitude of the recent rebellion in that province, and has charac-
terised it as more insignificant than an " Irish county row,
or a foray between two Scottish clans in former times." We
cannot deny his Lordship's intimate, and, for aught we know
to the contrary, personal acquaintance with an Irish county
roe ; but it would be exceedingly unjust to his Lordship to
permit his exposing himself to the charge of being in the
slightest degree acquainted with the extent of the rebellion
which recently broke out in Canada under his administration
of the Provincial Government. His Lordship will remember
the extreme prudence which he exhibited during the whole
period of those disturbances, by remaining securely within the
walls of Quebec, at a distance of 150 miles from the scene of
the contest, and until his auspicious departure, long after the
termination of hostilities, by confining his personal inquiries
into their causes and effects within the :zees cf the for-
tress. His Lordship's early reading has no doubt suggested
to him the equally accurate and precise comparison between
the rebellion of one of the most important and interesting of
the colonial possessions against the majesty of the llritish
empire, and the petty feuds, arising from jealousy or revenge,
in two rival and almost savage Scottish clans centuries ago.
Erudition of this most unquestionable kind may be safely left
to the judgment of those whom his Lordship has amused if
not instructed by its singular extent and correctness. But
setting aside the comparison, it is difficult to conjecture in
what manner his Lordship's ingenuity will enable him to re-
concile this most contemptible provincial scuffle with his re-
ports to the Government, or the language of his public
documents. Taking his despatches in the order of date,
his Lordship would seem to appreciate the increasing im-
portance of the contest going on in the province, as well
as the designs of the agitators ; for after stating the com-
mencement of the agitation meetings, and his impression
that a system of organisation was going on in different
parts of the province, with a view to excite a hostile
feeling against the Government, and that he was
preparing to check it by prompt and vigorous measures,
which, with the arrival of the and regiment from Halifax,
would produce tranquillity and excellent results in the pro.
Vince, he proceeds to inform the Government that seditious
meetings were more extensively held for the purpose of dis-
seminating doctrines of an illegal and seditious tendency, and
that many of the officers commanding regiments of militia Ind
treated with contempt a proclamation which he had issued and
ordered to be read at the head of the regiments, calling upon
the people to " eschew all meetings of a dangerous or equivo-
cal character, because their object was resistance of the lawful
authority of the King and Parliament, and the subversion of
the laws." He soon discovers that no concession short of a
separation from England, a Republican Government in the
province, will satisfy the disaffected, and mentions the excite-
ment kept up in the country by means of local Committees
receiving orders and instructions of an evidently trea-
sonable nature from the Central Committee at Mon.
treal. and at the same time admits that the Government
must either put down M. Papineau, or submit to be put down
by him. At a later period he declares the impossibility of
limiting the extent of mischief which might be created by the
disaffected party, and enumerates about twenty-three sedi-
dotes meetings held in the four districts of the province, and
then adverts to his dismissals of twenty-seven magistrates arid
thirty-rive militia officers from her Majesty's service. Again
he regrets that this system of agitation, ripening into rebel-
lion, preciously reported to the Government, was carried on
with more boldness than ever, that its success was greater tban
he had anticipated, and that the difficulty of conducting the
Government teas seriously augmented. A few days subse-
quently lie states the powers it his disposal to be inadequate
for meeting the difficulties that surround him ; the law had
failed to afford its support, the civil authorities had become
powerless ; the French clergy, though well-disposed and loyal,
were reluctant to come forward; and - that any further ap.
peal to the provincial Parliament would be positively in-
jurious ; that the only practicable course was, to sus-
pend the Constitution—increase the military force—and
strengthen the hands of the Executive, almost impotent for
any good or useful purpose ; that emissaries of disaffection
were busy in the other districts besides Montreal ; that a con-
vention similar to that at Montreal had been established in the
city of Quebec, where he was residing. At a still later period
he informs him (Lord Glenelg) that " by the advice of his
Council, as to the mildest and most efficacious measures for
arresting the agitations that distracted the country and theat-
ened to destroy its established inetitutions„,he should increase
the military force ; and that much more vigorous and decisive
measures than were within the power of the Executive to put
in force were required to arrest the seditious results then pro-
duced, and to put down the progress of anarchy and confusion
that was extensively spreading with great rapidity and success;
that a very large proportion of the rural population in the dis-
trict of Montreal were prepared to go any lengths ; and that
two regiments were required to be sent up immediately
from Nova Scotia." After detailing some other precau-
tionary measures, he states " his conviction that after all
they would not arrest the progress of anarchy and
armed organization, nor prevent its spreading into other
districts, and that the convention at Quebec were recommend-
ing and urginr, the same measures as that at Montreal ;" and
his Lordship adds' in conclusion, " that the machinery of the
local Government was nearly at a stand still, and without im-
mediate extraordinary powers to the Executive, the tide of se-
dition could not be stemmed but by a resort to active military
operations." Now, to a mind guided by common sense, these
demonstrations were sufficiently alarming, but on his Lordship
they produced different results : his sagacity during these
events would not permit him to believe that " any disturbance
or serious interruption of the usual course of events was likely
to arise," or "to doubt the loyalty of the French Canadians
and their favourable disposition to peace and order :"he " could
not himself credit the reports respecting the declaration of in-
dependence intended to be proclaimed at the great meeting
of the Six Counties; actually believed " that the rural po-
pulation, even in the most disaffected parts of the country,
would not adopt the views of the disaffected party ;" and
that the leaders of the party would not succeed in
persuading the mass of their countrymen to follow and ac-
tively support them." On the sth of November, within five
days after the date of this last extract, the revolution com-
menced with the disturbance in Montreal, and went on in-
creasing in violence until suppressed by military power. His
Lordship then intimates to the Government his having autho-
rised the, arming of volunteers in various part of the province,
his offer of high rewards for the apprehension of the chief re-
bels, his declaration of martial law, and the endeavours of the
rebels to enlist American citizens in their favour ; and de-
scribes at length the operations of the military government
under Sir John Colborne. Now, a; to some few facts re-
specting those events. The district of Montreal alone con -
taine nearly two-thirds of the whole provincial population,
while that of St. Francis, containing a sixth of the whole,
is settled almost exclusively by British, who, with the en-
tire British inhabitants of the province, were allowed by
his Lordship to be " firm in their allegiance." Trea-
sonable public meetings had been held in every French
Canadian village of the province, without one loyal one ;
the people almost universally left their churches when
the Te Deum was chanted in honour of her Majesty's acces-
sion ; the assistance of volunteers alone was accepted, and
the militia was not called out, because the former were al-
most to a man British and loyal, and the latter, which would
""necessarily have been composed of a large proportion of
reach Caeadians, could not be trusted with arms in their
ands ; that the loyalty of the entire British population was
arm ; and that though a battle had not been fought in every
Ie
illage, the sympathies of all not actively engaged were, with
w exceptions of no account, in support of the rebel cause ;
that no demonstrations of loyalty, no loyal meetings or ad-
dresses from the French Canadians, were got up for
his Lordship until that population were dismayed and terrified
by the result of the attacks at St. Charles and St. Eustache.
All these facts his Lordship knew. The foregoing details re-
quire no comment : they afford the means of estimating
his Lordship's capacity and fitness for conducting the
government of an important colony under trying circum-
stances, and his competency not merely to inform her Ma-
jesty correctly of the events of his administration, but of the
proper course of measures to, be pursued by his successor.
His Lordship's " mild and conciliatory line of policy," which
produced so singular a result, and his desire to fulfil his in-
structions literally, would seem to have created the delusion
under which he laboured during his residence in the colony.
From such motives must have proceeded his remarkable dis-
play of courtesy and civility to Lord and Lady Aylmer upon
their departure, because Lord Aylmer was at variance with
M. Papineau's House of Assembly. From these motives
proceeded his appointment to the Bench of Justice of the man
who, under the protection of Parliamentary usage, alone
of all the traitors in that Assembly, had the bold.
ness to father the ninety-two resolutions containing a de-
claration of treason and rebellion ; his recommendation
of Mr. Morris, the real and known author of those
resolutions, to her Majesty's Government for the Com-
missionership of Crown lands; his nomination as exe-
cutive councillor of the most ultra-political partisan and
enemy to the British Government, not excepting the chief
leader himself; and his constant and intimate association, until
his departure from the province, with the supporters of the re-
volutionary party. Such influence might have rendered his
view of events somewhat limited, and led him to express " the
lively satisfaction which he experienced at receiving the assu-
rtmee of the inviolable fidelity and attachment of the Canadians
to the Government of our most gracious Sovereign," con-
tained in their loyal addresses from every part of the country
after the suppression of the rebellion, and induced him to
believe that none among them had been disloyal, with
the exception of the 20 or 25 of their chief leaders;
and that even the people of St. Charles itself had been
'devoted in their attachment to the Queen's person and
Government at the very time they were engaged
hand to hand with her Mejestv'e troops. Such an
episode to the history of his Lordship's administration is rather
too gross for any but his Lordship himself, whose obliquity of
judgment may still be under the dominion of similar or mere
powerful influence in this country. But to conclude, it is re-
spectfully asked, how his Lordship will relieve himself from
tthe charge of having induced her Majesty's Government to
sec,' out so imposing an armament to Canada, and to expend
so much treasure in the civil and military government of the
province, if the provincial disturbance really were, as his Lord-
ship now asserts, of so small importance ? It will be gratify-
ing to hear his Lordship smooth away so much contradiction,
:and free himself from the imputation of having deceived the
tGovernment and Parliament of England by exaggerated
ta:arrns and representations. With him rests the contradiction,
and it is for him to explain it ; but enough has been laid before
the public to stamp its proper value upon his Lordship's re-
presentations of the extent and importance of the late Canadian
_rebellion. —Morning Chronicle.

Notwithstanding the sourness displayed in the course of

o the nom= ot sus', e:

111 :11.14/

iAnow.

these late discussions on the Irish Bills, and kept up, rather
unbecomingly, as it appears to us, on the part of the Down-
ing-street press, we cannot help entertaining- an expectation
that means may be employed, legitimate means, without
any compromise discreditable to either party; of solving the
difficulty which seemed on Monday last to involve the question
of the municipal franchise, and to produce a fair concordance
between the professions at least of Lord John Russell and
the known purposes and objects of the Conservative leader,
although we cannot be called upon to pledge ourselves for
a complete uniformity between the Noble Lord's ostensible
declarations and his real views. The main argument
rested on by the Ministers and their allies was, that uraler
an assessment of 101. a higher qualification than that of
10/. bona fide value might be exacted from the occupant
of a house, inasmuch as certain charges were borne by
the Irish tenant, from which the tenant in this country
was exempt, and which charges, in addition to the rent
payable to the landlord, would constitute a total out-
going from the tenant's pocket unquestionably greater
than 101. per annum. Now, Sir W. Follett made it self-
evident, that the only charge which ought to be allowed fur in
the estimate of expenses incurred by the tenant would be the
amount of the insurance, a sum varying on a 101. house from
2s. 6d. to 5s per annum ! Nothing could be more candid or
equitable, as we remarked in yesterday's Times, than the as:
surance of Sir W. Follett, that the great party with which he
acted would willingly assent to any regulation or adjustment
of the principle of rating to be established by the Poor-law,
which should secure to the occupant of a house worth 101. per
annum—to a tenant standing in the same relation to his land-
lord as an English tenant does—the full enjoyment of the mu-
nicipal franchise. \%e trust, that if the House of Commons
prove intractable on this subject, the House of Lords will
yet employ the fitting remedy, and so model (or re-
model, if ❑ecessary) the rating clauses of the Poor-law as
to meet effectually the above objection, though we are
far from sure that they who have tendered the objec-
tion will not, on its removal, betake themselves to the
prompt fabrication of others, to be persevered in with the
same sinister pertinacity as the former one, at the risk of
throwing back the Bills for the remainder of the Session. It

is perfectly obvious why Mr. Daniel O'Connell has given
notice of a motion on the bringing up cf the report to assimi-
late the Irish municipal franchise to that of Scotland. There
is no rate in Scotland—there is no indisputable test of value—
there is a power of unpunished perjury—there is a power of
committing fraud with impunity—there is a facility for palm-
ing fictitious votes upon the returning officer—there is an
open path whereby to follow the illustrious example of the
Cork swindlers, who swore one day, in the hope of being re-
gistered, that their house was worth 10/., and the next day,
under the dread of being rated, that their house was not worth
5/ ; thus degrading all sense of truth into a heavy incum-
brance, and all affectation of conscience into a sorry jest, aril
perverting the most jealous and scrupulous precautions of the
law of England into means for levelling the most important
outworks of the monarchy. Sure we are that Parliament,
even the existing House of Commons, will not countenance
projects like this.— Times.

The Ascot Races, which are now proceeding with full eclat,
prompt us to say a few words on these periodical and exciting
assemblages of the English people. We are glad to witness
the increase of these exhibitions ; we consider the races in all
parts of the country to be of the highest service. The influ-
ential gentry of the provincial towns and local districts are
beneficially brought together; kind services, and the mutual
interchange of opinions for the public benefit, are thereby pro-
duced; civilization in the remote districts is increased ; circu-
lation of money is promoted, and the breed of English horses
maintained at its present high grade of useful value. It is
true that objections have beer, made to these assemblages, on
the same grounds that objections have been made to prize-'
fights, viz., that they are infected with a spirit of gambling ;
but the cases are widely different. In the cases of prize-
fighting, gambling is on essential component. In the instance
of races, it is only an incidental excrescence, which does not
exist in all cases, and which may be readily mitigated or re.
moved where it does exist. cnfortunately the spirit of gambling
mixes too much with every thing in this country, whether it
be amusement or utility. let we should be sorry to see races
lose their estimation with the public in consequence of this abuse.
That gamblers pervert them, as they do every thing else, by
the vices of their associations, is no argument against the
sports themselves. We have briefly enumerated sonic of their
advantages, nor can we avoid associating the superior breed
of British horses with the superior breed of British freedom.
England has been famous for its breed of horses ever since
the time of Athelstan, who imported, enacted laws, and gave
prizes for their improvement. The freedom of the Arabian
son of the desert, and the superior breed of his horses, appear
to have been from time immemorial proverbially united. To
them Egypt chiefly owed her early conquests, wealth, and
power. What gave to Greece the physical and. moral energy
which distinguished her children, but the periodical horse-
races of the Olympic stadium. The association of the breed
of these useful animals with the spirit of freedom in its most
" high and palmy state," is recorded for ever in the magnificent
procession which adorns the sculptured walls of the Parthenon.
It was by her perildical horse-races that Greece, while she in-
vigorated
her spirit of liberty and prnmotcd intelligent union
and beneficial competition among the citizens of her
various provincial towns, became remarkable for two acqui-
sitions which have also distinguished England—in the superior
breed of her horses and the superior beauty of her women. '
The association was never more brilliantly and er.hiliratingly
conspicuous than at the present Ascot Raves. Let et also be
recollected that the Muses, and especially the Muse of Pindar,
sprang to life amongst the exciting competition of the Olym-
pic race-ground. The same compliment—in this respect also
—may equally apply to the British isles as to the " isles of
Greece":—

" The Muses still with freedom crown'd,
Still to thy happy shores repair,
Blcss'd isle, with matchless beauty crcwn'd,
And manly hearts to guard the fair."
It will be seen by the Court Circular that her Majesty at-
:ended the opening of the Ascot Races in State, accompanied
by a large and brilliant cortege of the Court. It is satisfactory
to perceive that the Royal countenance and patronage bestowed
upon these periodical meetings, and which has been a kind of
traditional occurrence in the Royal family during the last four
reigns, has not been withdrawn or suffered to fall into disuse
during the first year of the reign of our present youthful
Sovereign.—!Morning Advertiser. .
About three months ago a petition for the emancipation of
the apprenticed slaves was presented to our maiden Queen by
a deputation of the Anti-Slavery Society. That petition,
which prayed the royal clemency to interpose in favour of the
abolition of a system disgraceful to a Christian nation--de-
grading to human nature—and more especially cruel and
afflicting as regards the treatment of the female sex, was
signed by abeut 600,000 British ladies. In no cause could
the humanising influence of woman be more nobly exerted.
Here were more than half a million of fair suppliants appeal-
ing on behalf of the outraged rights of humanity to her whom
a beneficent Providence has called at so early an age to reign
over the first Christian nation of the world. Can the cause of
justice, mercy, and freedom, so advocated, be preferred at the
foot of England's throne, and find no response in the heart of
her who sits on thereon ? The constitution has, indeed, pre-
scribed its limits to the Sovereign power ; but still we
know that the authority of the Throne is great upon any
question of imperial policy in which the Monarch takes
much interest. In exercising her legitimate influence towards
giving effect to the prayers of her people, who, from all parts
of her dominions, call for the deliverance of the oppressed
negro, we arc sure that Victoria would give a moral splen-
dour to the commencement of her reign, which would make it
hallowed in history to all future time. What nobler opportu-
nity cell she ever have to indulge the amiable feelings of the
woman, while she consults for the glory of the Queen ? It is
now upon the eve of her Majesty's coronation, and this even-
ing the House of Commons, which, in defiance of the prayers
of the people, lately reversed a former decision in favour of the
West Indian he:ots, is to be moved to extend, at least to the
female inmates of the "house of bondage," the merciful de-
liverance which was refused to the whole body of slaves the
other day. To set free the female victims of so odious a
tyranny; at such a time, would be an act of grace worthy the
national jubilee, and an auspicious omen of our maiden Mo-
narch's reign. What Roman triumph, with its long line of
captives, could be compared to a Christian triumph like
this—mingling the thanksgivings cf liberated slaves with the
1 acclamations of a free people? Will her Whig Ministers also
deprive the Queen's coronation of the moral magnificence
which such a triumph of humanity would invest it with ? To-
ight will tell. In the mean time let us call public attention
to the actual condition of females under the apprenticeship
ystem, which is much worse than it was before the people of
England paid twenty millions to obtain for them the " bless-
tags" of the Emancipation Act. We pass by the horrors of
lavery in Jamaica, the conduct of whose legislature in refer-
nce to the slaves, since the passing of the " Emancipation
et," even Sir Robert Peel describes as being nothing short
f infatuation. Let us look to British Guiana, which, until
ery recently, was less noticed at home than the other slave
colonies. We have before us a report of a speech delivered
by John Scoble, Esq. at Exeter-Hall, in which that gentle-
man gives, from his own personal observation, a picture of
lavery, as it now exists in that colony, which it is heart-sicken-
ing to contemplate. Those who wish to see an answer to Mr.
Gladstone, and a dissection of Sir James C. Smyth's de-
spatches, will find both in that speech. The detail of atrocities
practised under the " Emancipation Act" would occupy far
more space than at present we can devote to the subject. Let
us, however, give one example. Three men and three women are
brought before a special justice, charged with an unlawful con-
spiracy; the case is proved,and his worship sentences them all to a
month's hard labour on the treadmill. But what was this un-
lawful conspiracy ? Was it to injure life and property, cr to
resist the master's orders, or to leave or spoil the work, or in-
fluence others to do so ? Nothing of the sort. It was an
unlawful conspiracy to get up a petition of their grievances to
the Governor ! Yes, for the offence oi "conspiring" to gi t
up a petition to make known their grievances to the represen-
tative of British power and justice, were these male and female
apprentices sent to the hard labour of the treadmill—a punish-
ment besides, which, as applied to females, is both injurious
and indecent. But as to the condition of the females in this
favoured colony, let us hear what Mr. Scoble says of it. We
give his own words--.., There is one point of very great im-
portance, which, indeed, has affected my mind more than any
other—that is, the miserable and degraded condition ,I the
wonien. They are great sufferers under the apprenticeship
laws. Their sorrows have been multiplied, their labour in-
creased, and their priviliges abridged by the Abolition Act.
When they were in their former state of slavery their
masters had a particular interest in protecting them—
they were the mothers of the young brood o? hu-
man cattle on their estates, or were expected to be-
come such, and for the sake of the offspring, to the women
were secured, either by law or by usage, certain pri-
vileges and immunities." Having stated what these were, i.e
he goes on to say, " But the interest which I have before

spoken of has been withdrawn by the Abolition Act. The
children are now free ; the master's interest is cent ered solely
in the women—and he exacts from them, whether they be an-
ticipating confinement, whether they be mothers of lagre
families, or whether they be aged and infirm, the greatest
amount of labour that can be extorted by a rigid interpretation
and application of the law." Hu then adduces the evidence
of planters themselves on these points. A planter named
Hine deposes—" I make no difference respecting the hours
of labour for apprenticed labourers, whether under the age of
14, or above 60. 1 send women to cut the canes, the heaviest
work on a plantation, who have young children at the breast.
No allowance is made in their favour with regard to work,
or the hours of work. I snake no difference with regard to
the hours of labour for pregnant women. I have heard it ru.
moused that women in that state were only to work six hours,
but I did not believe it. My reason for not believing it sta=g that
the act of manumission did away with all former acts with re-
gard to women encierte." " I pray you mark this," adds
Mr. Scoble, " the Slavery Abolition Act did away with
ail the humane provisions of the slave code." Another planter,
a Mr. Mackay, confirms this evidence. Let us give one
anecdote illustrative of the system of female slavery, the aboli-
tion of which is to be moved in the Reformed Parliament of
this Christian country this evening. Mr. Scoble speaks of
having visited a fine estate on the west side of the Demerara
river in company with the Special Justice of the district,
where, having obtained admission to the sick house, he de-
scribes what a scene of misery and sorrow he saw in the men's
war. We pass that over, and extract the following pathetic
account of one of the patients in the women's ward :—" There
was one woman who particularly engaged my attention. I
shall never forget the spectacle she presented. ,She was
standing with her back against the raised boards. On her
right arm rested a young child, and in her left hand was a cala-
bash with a small quantity of cold boiled rice. She was worn
out by disease—emaciated—reduced to a mere skeleton. The
fountain of nourishment was dried up; but not so the spring of
motherly affection. She appealed to the Special Magistrate,
but not for herself ; she said, pointing to her withered bosom,
You see, massa, me not able to give pickaninny anyting from
myself; and when me come to sick house three days axone me
bring plaintain powder with me to make pap for pickaninny,
but overseer take it away from me, and pickaninny not able to
eat cold boiled rice.' Did this scene occur on some poor
estate,whose proprietor had been impoverished by extravagance
and mortgagees? No, my Lord, it occurred on Plantation
Wales, the property of John Gladstone, Esq., of Liverpool,
the father of the Hon. Member fur Newark—it happened on
the property of a man who has received nearly 80,0e0/. in Bri-
tish money in the shape of compensation." No matter who
the particular owner may be, or how irreproachable in other
respects his character and conduct; the system is so essentially
bad that, like pitch, its touch is defilement. Overseers and
agents will act up to that system, and think nothing prang
that is not prohibited by positive law. We wish to s m
such a system at once and for ever rooted out of every
part of the British dominions—in mercy both to slave
and planter. As to Mr. O'Connell't motion for this
evening, a Goverment Paper having plainly intimated
that the Hon. and Learned Member only makes a pretence
of moving the abolition of the female apprenticeship, we think
the test of his sincerity may be found in the circumstance of
his being supported or not by those Members whose votes, it
is understood, he can always, when he pleases, command. If,
of " the 40," many should vole with Ministers or absent
themse'ves, the general opinion will be that which the Courier
has expressed. Mr. O'Connell's speech and vote will not be
enough—his " vote and interest" must go together, if he
would convince the sincere advocates of humanity that his
heart is in the cause. We understated in the beginning of
this article the number of females who have petitioned the
Queen in favour of the abolition of the apprenticeship sys•
tern. The number of signatures of females to the addresses
from England, Ireland, and Scotland was upwards of 700,000.
There have been, besides, more than 3,000 petitions presented
to the House of Commons, containing upaards of 1,000,000
of signatures. To the Glasgow petition alone there were
100.000 names.—Morning Herald.
The Bill which has just been passed by the House of Lords
to abolish imprisonment fur debt upon mesne
proses, unless
when the debtor can be shown to the satisfaction of one of the
.fudges of the superior Courts of law to be about to quit the
country, effects, or rather commences in a very guarded man-
ner, an important alteration of the law. The expediency of
the measure adopted by their Lordships, or of a tneasnre still
more extensive in its operation, has been long and strenuously
urged, not by theorists only, but by the most intelligent and
reflecting portion of the trading and commercial world ; and
the Bill sent down to the House of Commons, if it faii to
satisfy the more rash and sanguine enemies of imprisonment
unconnected with crime, will, we imagine, receive the unqua-
lified approbation of all who perceive that tire shortest road
to an end, however desirable, is not always the safest or the
best, and that even the dictates of humanity are most effec-,
tually obeyed when they are reconciled with the suggestions
of prudence. The strongest if not the only repugnance to -
mitigation of the present harsh and injurious law of debtor
and creditor visible among any class of society in this country
exists among the inferior ranks of tradesmen and shopkeepers,
who constitute a large proportion of the constituency of our
cities and boroughs. Nobody can doubt that the slow pro-
gress—or, to speak mere correctly, no progress—made in
the Abolition of Imprisonment for Debt Bill, during the seven
or eight years that this measure slumbered in the House
of Commons, cradled and rocked by the Attorney-General,
is mainly to be ascribed to the fact we have just mentioned.
The past treatment of the subject in the House of Com-
mons, afforded an indication which the Upper nous& of
Parliament could not disregard in taking it out of the hands
of the Lower, for the House of Lords is not an assembly,
the members of which indulge themselves in - the luxury
of talking about wise and humane measures merely to
make parade of their wisdom and humanity', or in order
that nothing may be done. When occupied in the duty of
legislation they sincerely' intend that the measures they sane.
lion should eventually become law, and they are not so far
above the influence of common sense as to refuse to adapt in
some degree their determinations to this final purpose. The
Lords have accordingleematured a measure which the Corn.
mons ought to confirm, and, what is practically a great deal
more to the purpose, which the Commons may reasonably be
expected to confirm. We sincerely wish that the Lower
House of Parliament may learn something from this example.
It would prevent a great deal of fruitless altercation, and the
'waste of much valuable time. We are by no means confi-
dent, however, that the Bill, as passed by the House of
.Lords, does not mitigate the austerity of the law of debtor
nd creditor too much to propitiate the favour of the city
nd borough constituencies, and to neutralize the opposii
ion of their representatives in the House of Commons,
`The delays, the postponements, the multitudinous motions,
.f men eager for any opportunity of making a speech_,l,
'erovided it be a useless one—the everlasting subterfuge of the;
. tate of public business, and all the thousand other forms and
modes ia which the wet blanket can be applied, arise it, fearful.,
rray to our imagination, while the in auspicious omen of Sir'
ohn Campbell's seven years' nursing of the measure haunts our '
emory. The truth is that in preserving to creditors the
'ewer of taking the persons of their debtors in execution, and
in affording them more effectual means than they nosy
sossess of rendering the property of their debtors availa.
ele in satisfaction of their claims, the Bill does little
'wards obviating the repugnance felt towards its leading
'.bject by the class of small shopkeepers and trailers. It does
all that could be done for this purpose, but the all in this
case is next to nothing. A very small proportion of the
persons now arrested for debt would never be sued at all if
they were expected either to defend the cause, or to lay in
prison for the length of time necessary to obtain execution in
an undefended cause. To arrest upon mesne process is a cheap,
summary, and not unfrequently a successful method of en-
forcing payment, or security for payment, of debts of incon-
sidereele amount from tardy, refractory, and even from insol-
vent debtors. Hence the power so to arrest gratifies, its the
tradesman whose credits are chiefly of small amount, this love
of each, while it increases not perhaps his real but his fancied
security. The law which enables a creditor to arrest the per-
son of his debtor upon nzesne process puts into his hands a
power which he can exercise with little trouble or cost. The
law which will enable him to arrest only in execution takes
away this power, or, which to hint is nearly the same thing,
renders its exercise both troublesome and costly. The
love of power—of cheap, easy, and irresponsible power—a
feeling not peculiar to any class of socity, but which certainly
will be found to exist in every class in proportion to its want
of cultivation and refinement—is arrayed in formidable oppo.
sition to the humane and enlightened measure which the
Lords have just sent down to the Lower House ; and we think
the Lords have done wisely and well in not exposing their
measure to thy hostility of any real and _ substantial interests
which they could reasonably or consistently attempt to pro-
pitiate. Should the present measure become law, and be
found beneficial in practice, the next step in the store wise
and humane course of legislation, that of abolishing imprison-
ment for debt altogether when not accompanied by proveable
fraud, will be comparatively a safe and easy one. —Morn. Post.

A few days ago a working man, walking in the fields
rear Monks' Abbey, stooped t 9 collect some plants from a ditch, and saw
a gold ring in the water. It proved to be a relique of very fine gold, of
ancient workmanship and in high preservation.—Lincoln Gazette.
The grand federal rifle match of tile Swiss Cantons
MN: fNor.— the borough of Dun-
will be held this year at St. Gall. The prizes nearly amount 1040,000 f.
R D
ELECTION On Saturday
last KnoxFO
was electedeNG Member
gannon, in the room of his brother, the Viscount Northland, who had
accepted the Chiltern Hundreds. Mr. Knox was proposed and seconded
by Alexander Mackenzie, of Donoughmore, Esq., and George Evans
Stewart, of Northland, Esq. There was no opposition.---Dublin Even.
ing Mail.
A coal brig, of 410 tons burthen, laden with coals,
which sunk in Northfield Hope a few weeks since, was got up without
an explosion of gunpowder, by the old method, weighing her by means
of chain lighters, after three weeks strenuous exertions by the parties
employed. The contract lot raising her was taken, we understand,
at 550/. Had the same means been adopted for raising the Apollo di.
redly after site sunk, she would have been got up, and without sending
the Waterteitch steamer alter her. Both steamers must now be blown
up with a ton or two of gunpowder. The coal brig is in dry dock un.
dergoing repairs.
IRISH ;MAGISTRACY.—The revised lists of the
Magistracy do not, of course, yield any very large measure of satisfac-
tion to the Orangemen and their organs, but they furnish the Mail of
hienday, and will probably long continue to supply that vituperative ve-
hicle of the Irish Tories, with the materiel for the manufacture of the
article in which it daily deals, namely unqualified abuse of his Excel-
lency, the Lord Lieutenant, of Loyd Morpeth, of the Under-Secretary,
who is politely designated as " by many degress the most ignorant and
yet the most mischievous official, with which Ireland was ever cursed."
The Mail, we apprehend, is guilty of much coarseness, and of not a little
scurrility, but the organ of the Orange malcontents is vehemently irate ;
its party has received a check, they are mortified, and well they may ;
there is now weeping, and gnashing of teeth, anti great lamentation
amongst the Orange ex-Magistrates. The Tory would-be Irish Magis.
crates are, of course, the loudest in their wrathful lamentation.