The Sun.
London, England, 1831-06-10 00:00:00

MEETING OF SHIPPING INTEREST.

A very numerous meeting of ship-owners, merchants,
and others connected with the trade of the country, way
held yesterday, at the city of London Tavern, for the
purpose of considering the propriety of forming an associa-
tion of the ship-owners of the United Kingdom, for pro-
tecting their interests.

Mr. BUCKLE, in moving that Mr. Geo. Palmer do talc
the chair, regretted the absence of Mr. Alderman Thumq
son, who was to have presided.
Mr. PALMEH. having been elected to fill the chair, rt.-
ferred to resolutions passe in April, 1828, at a general
meeting of ship-owners, which stated the necessity that
then existed for the adoption of a code of regulations for
the fortnatiron of an extended Ship.owners' Society. He
considered that the formation of such a Suciety was of the
highest importance.

The SECRETARY then read the report of the Provisional
Committee. It stated that, since the meeting in 1828,
the Committee had had correspondence with the ship_
owners of the out-ports, and after much deliberation had
formed the outline of a plan fora General Association of
Ship.owners—that a strong feeling in favour of such
Society prevailed , but that the failure of the attempts
which have been made to maintain in the Legislature the
principles, asul to protect the interests of the British navi-
gation, and the continued depression of shipping property,
had produced a general despondency, with the dissolu-
tion of the former Society. The Committee now hoped
that the time had arrived when it was necessary, by
the interposition of a well-brganized association, to
prevent the infliction of further evils on the shipping in-
terest, if even the removal of present difficulties he unat-
tainable. The attempt recently made to alter the scale of
duties on foreign and colonial timber, which, had it suc-
ceeded, must have annihilated the carrying trade, and have
aggravated the distress of the remainder of the shipping
interest, aroused the ship-owners, anti the defeat of the mea-
sure proved the necessity of the formation of a Society.
The subscriptions necessary to support an association would
be trifling when s,,t against the enormous depreciation and
loss which the ship-owner has so frequently suffered from
legislative enactments and other regulations affecting his
property. The outline of the plan for forming the Society
was also read.

The CHAIRMAN wished to call attention to two points.
The shipping interest had been attacked declaredly to pro -
mote other great interests ; but he could not see that agri-
culture, the colonies, or the manufactures, had derived ad-
vantage by the measures adopted. The other point was,
that the political economists, when they instanced the re-
turns made respecting shipping, and stated that persons
in the trade were fattening, mide no mention of the in-
crease in the population, which bad augmented of late
years one-tenth, whilst the tonnage of the country had de-
creased. He hoped the time was come when the people
would return to common sense, and not be led away by
theories.—(hear.)

Mr. A. CIIAFMAN moved the first resolution, to the
effect that the resolutions passed in April, 1828, be adopted,
and that it was considered more than ever essential that a
society of ship-owners should be formed to support their
interestq.

Mr. F. S. YOUNG, in seconding the motion, said it was
highly necessary to form an association, and by such means
to endeavour to protect the trade, which, from many
causes, had been much depressed.
After a few remarks from Mr. URQUHART, in which
he deprecated the abolition of the slave trade as tending to
injure the shipping interest, the resolution seas carried.
Mr. J. D. POWLES felt happy the old Society of ship-
owners was about to be re-organized. It had done much
good. Experience had shown that circumstances were
constantly occurring to render a society necessary in order
that the interests of the trade might be protected. lie con-
("hided by moving a resolution to the effect that the report
read be acted upon.
Mr. GoeLn seconded the resolution. The distresses of
the ship-owners were increasing ; since 1814 the tonnage
of the country had decreased 400,000 tons. It was nut
yet so poor as to be neglected, the tonnage now employed
being 1,800,000 tons, and employing 90,000 peaceable
men. He alluded to the policy of the late Mr. Huskisson,
which had caused so much distress; but that Hon. Gen-
. .

tleman before his death, be bad reason to believe, had al.
tered some of his opinions.
The resolution was carried.
Mr. 11. BLANSHARD moved that a Committee be ap-
pointed to carry into effect the objects of the meeting.
The resolution was seconded and carried unanimously,
as well as another for raising subscriptions.
Mr. Buss exhorted the shipping interest to be firm,
otherwise their property would be destroyed, as well as
the colonial interests.
Thankstrd.ne m were returned to the Chaimui, and the ineeti..-
ad
joi

It is supposed that the son of the Knight ►of
Kitanr trill offer himself for the representation of Lid
native county the next vacancy...4)olin Paper.

I

t

'.w.'

'&•

5131.111 T OF IHE PUBLIC SOURNILS.

Ties abdication of the Emperor Don Pedro, and
Ns abandonment of Brazil, is far from being an ure
'foreseen or unexpected event. Since the separation
-of that extensive colony from Portugal, by treaty in
1825, the Brazilians have been jtealous of any re-
newed connexion with Europe calculated to involve
them in European quarrels. Their chief motive
adopting the son of their late King fel- their Empe-
'ror, and in agreeing to the articles of a convention
by which he renounced all his claims upon the old
world, was to have a domestic Government, and to
prevent the resources of their country from being
squandered in the maintenance of distant interests.
Yet no sooner had the treaty been agreed to, than
the old King of Portugal diet, and the Emperor en-
gaged in negociations for the support of his family
seswer in Portugal. The Braziliittt conceived that
their interests were neglected, and that the narrow
views of the Braganza Princes had got complete
dominion over the first European dynasty in the
western world. They saw envoys arriving from
the Courts of the Holy Alliance, and missions
despatched to Kings and Emperors in the eld world,
not to settle great political questions'--not to nego-
tiate commercial treaties, or to promote political im-
provements—but to determine the etiquette of
Courts, to look out for fit subjects to share the
imper'al honours, to arrange marriage settlements,
and to secure the infant daeghter of their Sove-
reign in the possession of the ancient crown of
his family, even at• the disgrace of sharing
it with such a " monster" as his brother.
This is • not all. A civil war arose between the
partisans of his daughter and the supporters of his
brother,—a war in which we heartily desired suc-
cess to the former, because she hoisted the standard,
not of Braganza despotism, but of constitut;onal
freedom. In this war " the righteous cause," has
been defeated, and the whole expenses of the con-
test have been thrown on the Emperor, or, in other
words, upon Brazil, which had engaged the Emperor
to separate himself for ever from family alliances or
private politics, The funds which the Brazilian
Government had set apart for the payment of the
dividends on its acknowledged debt, were appros
priated by the envoys of the Emperor for the sup-
port of his daughter's rights ; and the country which
supplies us in such abundance with precious metals
and precious stones—where the gold washings of
the mountain-streams make the fabled Pactolus
joke—became bankrupt on the Exchange of Lon-
don, because the Emperor's daughter was obliged
to send au expedition to Oporto, and to support a Re-
gency at Terceira. his was not the only expenditure
to which the unfortunate issue of his affairs in
Europe compelled the Emperor. His daughter was
recal ed from Europe, and established as Queen
of Portugal in a palace at Rio Janeiro, with
a Court and Court pageantry of her own, out
of the Braz;lian budget. Those faithful Portuguese
who had suffered the loss of all their property and
consideration in the unsucressful attempt to place her
on the throne, flocked to Brazil in quest of mainte-
nance or employment. The Emperor could not
withhold his favour from such meritorious servants;
and every smile—much more every pittance of pecu-
niary relief which he bestowed upon them—was
considered, pro tanto, as a robbery of his Brazilian
subjects. These old family partialities, which were
sufficient to alienate the affections of even reasonable
Brazilian patriots from the Emperor, were aggravated
in the eyes of the leading politicians at Rio by a
dislike to his Majesty on other grounds, and by a
predilection for a system of policy to which any
Emperor void have been an obstacle. Don Pedro,
in order to maintain his independent Sovereignty in
Brazil, while Portugal was subject to the Cortes, or
to his father, was obliged to throw himself into the
arms of the republican or liberal party. Ho even
became the head of all the mason lodges in Brazil (a
policy abhorred by the old church party), in order
that he might evince a sympathy with their repub-
licem principles, or continue master of their political
schemes. Since that time, he has given offence to the
Liberal party by his desertion of their cause, by his
peremptory disposition, his arbitrary conduct,
his sudden dismissals of Legislative Chambers, and
his self-willed direction of his European affairs.—
The party or faction, too, which have lately gained
the ascendancy in Brazil, having their own theories
to realize—their own views to gratify—and having
adopted as a system, that as they saw only republics
in the whole of the Western hemisphere, with the
exception of Brazil, the republican form of govern-
ment would best suit that country likewise, have
been desirous of getting rid of the Emperor, of his
Court, and of his newly-created nobility. Though,
therefore, he has appointed his son, an infant of five
years of age, as Regent, it is not likely that the
maintained
form of government can be matained
in the person of a minor, which was unable to stand
its ground under a ruler of considerable talent, ex-
perience, and energy. If our suspicions in this re-
spect be well founded, probably a few packets
hence we shall have to record the deposition of the
Regency, and the declaration of a republic in Bra-
cll.— Times.

As the meeting 'of Parliament approaches, the
interest respecting the important measure incteaces.
Now that the majority in the Commons is secure, a
" longing, lingering' affection for the old abuses
would suggest the flattering hope that the Lords
may throw out the Bill. There is no assembly in
which there are riot some few rash and inconsiderate
men, but we are convinced that the calm good sense
of the House of Peers will too well weigh public
wants and wishes to offer a wanton opposition to
them. We do not say that the House of Lords
would have originated the Bill : exclusive of the
interest which too many of them possess in the
rotten boroughs, the House is naturally given to
repose in tranquil dignity, and to resist any change,
and very properly so,—for many changes do not pay
for the trouble of effecting them ;—but tranquillity
is now all on the other side, and the trouble would
spring from resisting the Bill, for opposition to it is
opposition to King, Commons, and people. Now,
though honourable men cannot entirely change their
opinion, even should all the world be against them,
yet who is not induced to doubt his own opinion
when he sees that it finds no support ? The Lords
will, therefore, we have no doubt, pass the Bill :
indeed, the sober-minded would net like such leaders
as passion and prejudice would undoubtedly place at
their bead.--Tinos.

Nothing, we hope and trust, will now impede the
course of public charity on behalf of the poor of Ire-
land. The accounts of their distress become every
hour more dreadful. Two hundred thousand human ,
beings are solemnly declared, by gentlemen who
offer to attest the fact by a cloud of sworn witnesses,
to be actually without food or the means of procur-
ing it, in the two counties of Mayo and Galway
only. The Lord Lieutenant, it appears, has sub-
scribed 1001. Had Lord A nglesea been proprietor
of an estate, the tenantry of which were in a starving
condition, or had that kind-hearted nobleman been
in any manner
misery just described t him by the local committee
as prevalent throughout the western counties, we
arc sure that he would have confined his assist-
ance to any moderate sum of money from his purse.
His Excellency would have proceeded to the spot
in person,—he would have
made an
every cottage
%extensive and
on his lands,—he would have rnamadi‘
whenwtis payable
very strict inquiry into the rent whlic
by each poor tenant, and reduced it,exorbi-
tant, within humane and civilized limits
would be the conduct not merely of a generOusThis
land-
lord, but of every man, no matter what his rank,
with the least pretensions to honesty. It is true the
existing hunger must be relieved, but it is also
manifest that nothing is gained for the poor, be-
yond preparing the materials of future and inter-
minable famines, if a practice be not established
of less disproportioned rents; leaving the humble
occupier some average surplus for himself,
above the sum to be exacted by his landlord, instead
of charging him more than double the price of any
produce which can, by any skill or toil, be raised
from his tnistrable Age, and thus plunging him inV

Isterstatic and incurable insolvency. it is certaitk
,o the people of England a revolting circumstance,
that landlords of Ireland should from age to age in.-
dulge in the most heartless neglect of the most ob-
vious duties to their native poor; and that whenever,
and so often as, the effects of this their cruelty be-
come visible in the spread efwretchedness and dis--
ease, we Englishmen are to come "forward and sa-
crifice our own means that the enornecus exactions
of the Irish taskmasters me; lie untouched within
their pockets. With the exception of Lord Sligo,
who has r.tpported many hundreds of the poor, and
of a charitable lady, who has contributed in one
splendid gift 4,000 f. from her own purse, it does
not appear that the charity of the Irish proprietors
throughout the famine counties has p::oeiuced more
than 2,000/. or 3,000/ 'more than probably
about two per vent. 'Of their rentals. The people of
England are thus placed in a cruel preditament. If
see give our money, we encourage and help to per-
petuate the crime of these unfeeling men : if we
refuse it, vra behold their helpless victims perish.
It does not signify what coinmittee-3 may report, or
what schemes may be ttretertaken by bustling pro-
jectors, but the Legislature must instantly enforce a
code of rradical regulations, for entitling the poor
of Ireland to subsistence from the soil, when they
cannot obtain it, from any other source. The land-
lords may G:11 us, the fault is not ours, and why
should we be punished ? Neither, ‘ll2 reply, are the
people in fault,—the surfeee o the earth is yours.
You invited these poor creatures to occupy and
work it far your profit—you wished them to in-
crease and multiply for your own ‘..ggrandizement,
not theirs. Which is it, better that they should die
by torture, or that should divide the wealth of
the soil with them, even though you should be put
to tire inconvenience of disgorging a part of it ?
There is
.not in Europe a rttce of human beings so
ground down by vi•l'vations as the Irish,—there is
not in Ec.:-ope, or out of it, a body of men more
distitiCtly chargeable with the creation of the mise-
ries which surround them, than the landlords of Ire-
land. The people of this bountry cannot suffer them-
selves and their poor Irish neighbours to be thus
wickedky unposed upon much longer.—Tinzes.
We call the attention of our readers to a well
written communication, in another column, on Law
Reform, under the signatureof " A Traveller," which
alludes delicately to the circumstances which render
professional lawyers in England less fit, in some
respects, than the lawyers of other countries to
effect improvements in the law. But the main object
of the communication is to show, that what is merely
talked about in England as being desirable, has in
reality been long since realized in America. Our
correspondent gives an account of the mode in
which Commissioners, appointed by the rich and
populous State of New York, proceeded in the re-
vision of the immense mass of Statute law of that
commonwealth, which was completed for a sum not
exceeding three thousand pounds. What has thus
been accomplished in a country of kindred laws,
language, and manner, is eminently deserving of the
attention of those who are at the head of our own
institutions.—Morning Chronicle.
We have been furnished by a Correspondent, with
No. 44 of the Preacher, containing a report of
Mr. M'Neile's sermon, which, the writer affirms,
was authorised and corrected by Mr. INl`Neile him-
self. He complains that we have imputed words
to Mr. M'Neile, which were never uttered in the
form in which we have represented them. As we
have no wish to misrepresent Mr. M‘Neile, we shall
transcribe the passage to which we principally ob-
jected, from this authorised version :
" My dear brethren, the licentiousness of the women of
a nation is the sure forerunner of the most deadly calami-
ties. It stupifies all the remaining kind and generous
feelings which makes a people stand for true principle of
any sort. Even our profane writers could see this--even
our profane poets could show that this sin, the licentious-
ness of a nation, stupifies all that is valuable, and all that is
right, and ail that is generous, and all that is kind and tender.
Do you not remember one of them says concerning it :
I wave the quantum of the sin.'
(The ungodly man! to wave the quantum of the sin, but
he did)—

I wave the quantum of the sin,
The hazird of concealing;
But, oh, it hardens all within,
And petrifies the feeling.'
The condition of this country in this respect is truly very
fearful. And here, under the righteous canopy of the ex-
planation I have already made, I must not hold my tongue
against one of the most flagrant, one of the most sinful
affronts that has, since the reign of the profligate Charles,
been put upon a country, or upon the morals of a Chris-
tian nation. My dear brethren, must I not say it ? Can
I answer for myself before God if I say it not, in applying
such a portion of Scripture as this ? What do I mean ?
I allude to what a righteous nation ought to rise in indig-
nation against—l allude to what the Church in this na-
tion, if it was worth its standing, should protest against
—I allude to what every Bishop and every pastor in our
National Church should exclaim against—l allude to
bringing before the public, into public notice, and putting
into the Gazette, putting into honour, and dignity, and
station—what shall I say ?—children that are the fruit of
fornication, that are the fruit of ungodliness in the land.
Oh! my brethren, if the Ministers of Ged will not tell of
these things, who can we expect to stand up for the Lord ?
Whence shall the righteous feelings of a nation rise up,
but from the faithfulness of God's witnesses? And if
from fear of men they shall not witness, what can be ex-
pected ? If the salt shall lose its savour, wherewith shall
the country be salted ?"
Other variations are noticed between the version
in the Pulpit, and the one from which we have made
the above quotation. Thus, for instance, in the
passage animadverting on Parliament, in the former
he is represented as saying " We behold the one
burning incense to education," while the word really
used was " emigration ;" and as using the words,
" so they say in the midst of theirdrerings," instead
of " so they say in their madness, their affectation
of wisdom." But these are comparatively immate-
rial points. The authorised version is even more
offensive towards his Majesty than the other. " I
must not hold my tongue," says the Reverend
Libeller, " against one of the most sinful affronts
that has, since the reign of the profligate Charles,
been put upon a country, or upon the morals of a
Christian nation." The profligate Charles ! What
a comparison ! And how infamously unjust towards
a man of the simple and domestic habits for which
his Majesty has always been remarkable. Well
may we exclaim with Young—
" For, oh! the curs'd ungodliness of zeal !
While sinful flesh relented, spirit nurs'd
In blind infallibility's embrace,
The sainted spirit petrified the breast."
This Reverend Inquisitor, who can make no allow-
ance for the unnatural restraint to which his Md•
jesty was subjected by an Anti-Christian law, and
would visit the unpardonable sin of the father on
the children, would have no objection to see honours
heaped on men enriched by mercantile gambling, and
the various tricks by which fortunes are so often
made in England. How many of the Peers created
since the commencement of the reign of George the
Third have owed their elevation to Pluto !
Would that this were the most discreditable
of the means ! But how many of the Peerages,
both before and since the accession of George
the Third, have been obtained by treason to the
best interests of their country ! If elevation to
the peerage, titles, and honours, were to be confined
to acknowledged and distinguished public services,
then an objection might perhaps be started in the i
case of the Earl of Munster (who, however, ▪ s a
highly-esteemed officer); but there is no such limi-
tation, and there ought to be no such limitati▪
on.
Property alone gives consequence to the House of
Peers, and property may be said to be the only con-
sideration which determines the creation of a Peer.
The chief objection to the creation of the Earl of
Munster is, that he is not sufficiently rich; and to
obviate that objection by enriching him at the ex-
pence of the nation, might reasonably give rise to
dissatisfaction. But of all the objections that could
possibly be stated, the most absurd is that of his
descent. With respect to his Majesty, as has been
well observed by a contemporary (the Globe), " Is
the parent to blame, who, not persevering in a
course of immorality, but giving an example of a
blameless life, enamours to repair the injury which

he hes done to his children,—who must be, even in
Mr. McNeile's opinion, innocent, and, so far as they
are affected by the circumstances of their birthob:-
jeers of compassion ?" As this insult to his Ma-
jesty has naturally excited much attention, we have
been overwhelmed with communications on the sub:
ject. One of our correspondents 'contends that we
were not warranted in inferring from the sermon any
hostility to the Reform Bill on the part of Mr.
M'Neile, nr in making the Reformation Society an-
swerable for Mr. M`Neile. As a proof that repro-
bation of the elevation of Colonel Fitzclarence is
not necessarily connected with hostility to the Res
form Bill) he has sent to us a still more objection-
able passage from the Christian Observer, which
supports the Reform Bill, and which, he says, is
under the controul of the father of the junior Mem-
ber for Caine. Cotitroul is a vague word; how-
ever, we shall allow our correspondent to speak for
himself :
" To the EDITOR of the MORNING CHRONICLE.
" Sra, -...Agreeing with your general views of the ques-
tion 'concerning the Fitzclarence family, I yet regret that
your correspondent and yourself should have done injustice
both to Mr. M'Neile and the Reformation Society (which
Society, however, is in no way answerable for Mr. M'Neile'a
language), by endeavouring to connect this isolated cir-
cumstance with their views of the Reform Bill. Ido not
keow that Mr. M'Neile has ever publicly stated his views
of the latter question. lam sure that the Society has not.
" But it may easily be shown that a strong reprobation
of the elevation of Colonel Fitzclarence does not neces-
sarily prove the writer to be inimical to the Reform Bill.
The Christian Observer is well known to be under the
controul of Mr. M—, the father of the junior Member
for Caine. This periodical has constantly supported Lord
John Russell's plan, as might, from this connection, have
been reasonably expected. But the following is the language
used by it, in the last number published, concerning the
Peerage conferred on Colonel Fitzclarence
" ' Among the notices of the month, it is with much
grief we record that an illegitimate son of a pro-
fligate actress has been made a Peer of the Realm—a
proceeding which revives some of the most disgraceful re-
collections of English history in the corrupt days of
Charles 11. As Englishmen, and as Christians, we can-
not speak too strongly upon such a subject ; and our la-
mentations are the more keen from the recent remem-
brance of the Court of George 111., in which, whatever
else were its faults, there was ever the most sacred regard
to the national morality. An example like the present is
an ominous public evil. We should have respected the King
for whatever private kindness and liberal provision he might
think proper for a family so unhappily circumstanced ;
but to obtrude them upon the nation, and to exalt them
to elevated rank is, to say the least, an instance of mis-
judgment, which we most seriously regret. If one of
Mrs. Jordan's eons is to be made an Earl, what is to
prevent another, who is in holy orders, being made a
Dean, or a Bishop, without any other claim than that
which accrues from his mother's profligate connection ?'
" Thus, you will see that a different opinion to your
own may be entertained, and even strongly expressed by
one who is earnest in his advocacy of the great Mini-
sterial measure.
" I remain, Sir, your's most respectfully,
" A LOVER OF JUSTICE."
And why should not the Rev. Augustus Fitz-
clarence be made a Dean or a Bishop, if his conduct
in his sacred calling point him out as fit for the dig-
nity ? We have always understood that it was the
boast of the Church of England, that every Curate
might be a Bishop, and that he who was not fit to
be a Bishop was not fit to be a Curate. We are
sure that the respected individual, under whose con-
troul this publication is said to be, must have read
this illiberal passage with the greatest regret. It is
a disgrace to the Press. The praise ascribed to
George the Third, on account of " his sacred re-
gard to :the national morality," is peculiarly ill-
t;med. George the Third was the cause of the ir-
regularity, of the consequences of which the
writer complains. It was to the pride, the piti-
ful German pride, of George the Third and
Queen Caroline, that we owe this, and the un-
happiness of George the Fourth. " Sir E. Coke,
Sir M. Hale, and Sir John fink (says Mr. Nicholls),
have all laid down this doctrine in the most ex-
plicit terms, that an Act of Parliament repugnant
to the law of God is void. # * The
law of God has not commanded marriage, but it has
pointed it out as the means by which man may con-
tinue his race, and live in his posterity. What right
could Parliament have to say The children of the
Dukes of Gloucester and Cumberland shall die
without issue ?' I hesitate to speak of the mischiefs
which have been already produced by this Act.
I fear still more to point out the greater mischiefs
which may hereafter flow from it. 'What tyranny
has not been practised over his present Majesty
(George IV.) ? ' What cruelty has not been exer-
cised towards the Duke of Sussex and his children ?
It was well said by some persons, while the Bill was
depending in Parliament, that the title of the Bill
should be, An Act to encourage Fornication and
Adultery in the Descendants of George ll.' But
the subject is too painful ; I will say no more on
it." The authors of the Bill which necessarily led
to what is now animadverted on with so much want
of charity, showed a sacred regard to the national
morality, the unfortunate victims of the Bill are to
be compared with Charles the Second. But this is
of a piece with the whole conduct of this mean,
canting school. Crime by wholesale affects them
not ; but any deviation from strict propriety
in the means rather than the end, is a high and un-
pardonable offence. As Duke of Clarence, he in-
vaded no man's domestic sanctuary, he seduced no
man's daughter. He sought the solace of female
society, and the comforts of domestic life in the only
mode which was open to him. To his parents, to
the unchristian Parliament that passed the un-
christian law, the blame is due. We deny that the
terms fornication or adultery are at all applicable to
the life which he led. No man of any generosity of
feeling, or any delicacy, would think of reviving this
subject. The writers are below contempt.—
Morning Chronicle.
We think it right to call the special attention of
Government to the case of James Carroll, who has
been capitally convicted, and ordered for execution
at Ennis, for having, with other persons, on the Bth
of April, feloniously taken some fire-arms from the
house of a 111 r. Blood, of Castlefergus. It appeared
on the trial that the men who took the fire-arms
came to the house when Mr. Blood was from home.
There were two policemen on the premises, one of
whom they laid hold of and placed on his knees,
while they took possession of certain guns, pistols,
&c. which lay in the parlour; they threatened a
maid-servant and the other policeman, but inflicted
no actual violence on any person; nor did they
meddle with any other property than the fire-arms,
which partly belonged to Mr. Bloed and partly to
the police. It is, therefore, not a case in which the
sentence of the law ought to be carried into execu-
tion, even if the guilt had been brought home,
beyond the shadow of a doubt, to the prisoner at
the bar; still less should the sanguinary law be en-
forced when it is shown to be a case of considerable
doubt upon the evidence, as we think an attentive
perusal of the report of the trial will convince every
unprejudiced person. The offence charged in the
indictment having been proved to be committed
by some persons, the question which the Jury
had to determine was the identity of the prisoner.
The two policemen swore to his person. One of them
only saw the men who took the arms from a window.
but immediately drew back his head, because he said
a gun was pointed at him. It is not likely that
with a hasty glance, and under circumstances of so
much alarm, he could have made very accurate ob-
servation. The other policeman had been placed, as
we stated, on his knees, while some of the party
took the arms ; hut the report does not inform us
whether his face was towards them or away from
them—most likely the latter. He swore, at all
events, positively to the prisoner's person ; but it
came out on cross-examination by Mr. O'Connell,
that this very policeman had been, for some reason
or other, dismissed from the police, and restored
again, and that the other had been suspended for a
month. Now, in contradiction to the two police-
men, whose interest was, beyond all doubt, on the
side of their evidence against the prisoner, and who,
without any intentional false swearing, would have
a natural bias to convict, a perfectly disinterested

witaess—namely, the butler of Mr. Blood, at present
residing with him—positively swore that the prisoner
was not one of the party who took the arms.
Another witness also swore that the prisoner was
at work with hitn at a place seven miles from Mr.
Blood's house mi the day in question. The Jury,
however, returned a verdict of guilty, on which the
report contains the following observation ;—" This
verdict was most unexpected, as every one about
the Court thought that the butler, who lived in the
house, and swore so positively, would have saved
the prisoner." Evidence of personal identity is
often fallacious, particularly from a hasty view, under
circumstances of alarm—fatal mistakes have thereby
occurred under our sanguinary laws. It is the
maxim of the law to give the prisoner the benefit of
a reasonable doubt, arid was not this a case of rea-
sonable doubt ? We do entreat the Government
not to take the life of a fellow creature upon such
evidence, lest they may commit an irreparable error.
—Morning Herald.
It is painful to be so frequently under the neces-
sity of calling the attention of the public to the
distress of our fellow-subjects in Ireland; but called
upon as we have been, and convinced as we are,
that dreadful distress does prevail in that part of the
United Kingdom, we cannot, in justice to our own
feelings on the subject, refrain from endeavouring to
impress upon the public, the necessity of giving im-
mediate and extensive relief, to save the poor
people in more than one district in Ireland, from dying
of hunger ! Yes, dying of hunger ! for we have
evidence before us sufficient to convince any one,
that such will be the fate, not only of hundreds,
but of thousands, of our fellow-creatures, if timely
relief be not afforded them. In what light this
fact exhibits the miserable aristocracy of
the sister kingdom, who, living as they do,
upon the fruits of the industry of their country, leave
their working population thus to perish of hunger,
and render it necessary for others to afford them
relief, we shall not for a moment stop to inquire.
Their character is now graven on the tablets of
lasting heartlessness and infamy ; and we trust
that as they will riot succour their distressed
countrymen of their own accord, the Legislature
will lose no time after its meeting in compelling
them to do so. We dislike all compulsory sys-
tems of charity; but compulsion is evidently the
only mode of dealing with such gentry as those of
whom we are making mention, and in justice to
England, to Scotland, and to Ireland, we trust that
compulsion will be resorted to. In the mean time,
let no chilling indifference, in consequence of the
mismanagement of a former fund raised for the sup-
port of the Irish, blight the universally charitable
feelings of our countrymen. Hunger and disease—
nay, the possibility of a pestilence from the exten-
sion of the former—must cause every prudent as
well as benevolent mind to exert itself to the utmost
to save our fellow men ; and we feel confident that
those who have so frequently and so generously come
forward in behalf of distressed foreigners, will not,
now that a much stronger claim on their compassion
is presented, refrain from succouring those " of their
own household."—illorning Advertiser.
The British public will be at once amused and
instructed by the intelligence from Brazil, mentioned
in another part of our Paper. The notion we be-
lieve was exceedingly prevalent among many classes
of our countrymen, and in truth it had been most
artfully and industriously propagated, that for a mo-
narch to be a constitutionmonger and a Liberal is all
that is required in order to give stability to his
throne, and to impart the highest measure of satis-
fac:ion and happiness to his subjects. This notion
will now have received a pretty considerable shake,
and we shall be much mistaken if the British nation
do not indulge itself in a hearty laugh at the ab-
surdity of which a large proportion of it have for
some time been the dupes. The truth, at least, can
no longer be disputed—whether the present evi-
dence be received with laughter or with tears—that
a sovereign may be a Liberal and a constitution-
monger, and may yet fail to afford satisfaction to his
people, or to ensure the stability of his throne.
Don Pedro, the dethroned and fugitive Emperor
of Brazil, was a consummate Liberal, and a most
zealous and industrious manufacturer of constitu-
tions—liberal to the exalted point of becoming, in
the cause of liberalism, a rebel to his sovereign
and father—so eager in the fabrication and promul-
gation of free Constitutions, that he must needs
construct a free Constitution, and attempt to force
it upon a country which he had previously re-
nounced, and upon a people, the large majority of
whorii cherished, perhaps with mistaken, but cer-
tainly with sincere affection, the national institutions
it was designed to supersede. Yet this same Don
Pedro, who ought, upon all received principles, to
have been the most popular and the most secure of
all earthly Monarchs, is now, alas ! we find, driven
from his throne by the hatred and jealousy of his
subjects—a hatred and jealousy so intense and uni-
versal, that no more than four individuals of his
army are said to have escaped the general contagion
of disaffection. We are trot yet in possession of
the circumstances which preceded or accompanied
the Brazilian revolution in sufficient detail to enable
us to form any judgment as to the merits of the
chief actors in the scene, or as to the provoca-
tions furnished to his late subjects by the
Ex-Emperor. We refrain, therefore, from offer-
ingrpeasrst
ofof E
utrhoep
es uwbe-
the opinion of its conductors, the presumptions in
doee t notanom indeedlltnhi aeo nnr tei cvuioppl au° ttnei o natal r'
similar abstinence. In iys
all cases of this nature are in favour of the people.
We hope they will not upon the present occasion
sacrifice the general cause of insurrection, so sacred
with them, to that special partiality for Don Pedro,
which has been so manifest while that Prince was
presented to them only in the light of a dictator of
political regeration to Portugal, and was thus in
some degree identified with the cause of European
revolution. This we beg to remind them is now all
over. Yesterday the patron, to-day Don Pedro is
the victim of revolution ; and all consistent and
zealous revolutionists must accordingly hasten to
form an entirely new estimate of his character, both
as a monarch and a man. The case is, it must be
admitted, a perplexing one to the systematic advo-
cates of revolution, since there is a strong ground
for the belief that Don Pedro is the victim of revo-
lution in Brazil, chiefly because he " loved not
wisely, but too well," the cause of revolution in
Portugal. The predominance of Portuguese influ-
ence in the Court at Rio—the tenacity with which
the Emperor cleaved to the idle and hopeless
claim set up on behalf of his daughter to the
Portuguese throne, inseparably connected as it
was with the Constitution which he had taken
the pains and manifested the presumption to ma-
nufacture for that country—and most hateful
for this, among many other reasons, that claim was
to the whole Portuguese nation—the dishonest ap-
plication of the resources of Brazil—the mean and
base tampering with the public credit of that nation
to which he and his confederates in the cause of
Portuguese revolution permitted themselves to be
seduced by their zeal in that desperate and worth-
less cause—the intense anxiety manifested by the
onsi sten
causes,
au wseist,h
wthhiech spirit
have
av e if
been not
Emperor to provide for his family, and by implica-
tion for himself, a Royal refuge in Europe, an
anxiety
with the letter of his compact with his Brazilian
subjects,—these wholly inconsistent
variousine
for years in constant operation, have produced their
natural effect, .
have engendered sentiments of jea-
lousy and ill-will the nation, whose pride was
wounded, whose interests were sacrificed, whose
new-bornindependence was endangered. The re-
sult is that the Emperor Don Pedro has abdicated
the throne of Brazil, finding that in his occupancy
its whole effective defence consisted of four rank and
file—that he is succeeded by his son, Don Pedro,
an infant of the age of five years, who will of course
have such Brazilians for tutors and ministers as will
be rather disposed to pay the debts of Brazil than
maintain a mock regency of Portuguese adventurers
at Terceira ; and finally, that the late Emperor is on
his voyage to England, where he probably ex-
pecte he may meet with some encouragement to

retract his former surrender of the Portuguese
Crown, and thus add still another element of strife
and confusion to the politics of Europe.—A/orn-
ing Post.

DISTRESS MAYO AND GALWAY.

(From the Freeman's Journal of Tuesday.)
Yesterday a highly-respectable meeting was held
in Morrison's Great Room, Nassau-street, for the
relief of the poor in the counties of Mayo and Gal-
way: The meeting was numerously attended.
There were present, amongst others—the Right Hon.
the Lord Mayor, the Right Rev. Dr. Machule, John
Browne, Esq., M.P., G. V. Jackson, Esq., J. E.
Strickland, Esq., Major Kirwan, of Castle-Hackett,
the Messrs. Palmer, Admiral Oliver, Andrew
Browne, of Mount-hazle, Esq., John David La-
touche, Esq., Arthur Guinness, Esq., N. P. Leader,
Esq., M.P., A. Lambert, Esq., Hugh O'Connor,
Esq., J. D. Jackson, Esq., K.C., the Rev. Sir
Francis Lynch Blosse, Bart., Rev. B. Burke, C.R.,
Walter Bourke, Esq., Captain Stuart, Rev. J.
Lyons, C.R., Rev. Mr. Stock, John J. Bodkin,
Esq., M.P., Wm. M'llermott, Esq., &C. &C.
At four o'clock the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor
was unanimou•ly called to the chair.
Mr. A. BLAKE—The total amount of subscrip-
tions is 2,2571. 19s. Of that money several sums
have been applied, and sent to the central commit-
tee of Galway, and Oughterard 9181, and to Mayo,
1,2864, 1% hich leaves in bank, abalance of 1531.75. 2d.
With this reduced fund, with this miserable sum in
our hands, we had to meet a deputation from Mayo,
who laid before us a statement the most appalling in

all its circumstances--a statement such, 1 will ven-
ture to say, as never yet came before men, who
had hearts to feel, and which would have wrung
those hearts with pity for the wretched condition
to which so many fellow creatures have fallen.
From the most authenticated returns from sources

the most unquestionable, information has bee
received that several have died of hunger.—(A
thrill of horror pervaded the entire assembly.)
And here I would beg to quote the words of the
inspired writer—" 'Tis better to die by the sword
than by hunger." Along the shores of Galway and
Cunnemara their only food are the fortuitous shell-
fish that come in their way, and the wretched sea•
weed that is flung on the coast by the departing
tide. And yet no hope—no prospect of relief. I
have been accustomed to examine cases judicially,
and I can safely assert that no case ever was sent
to a Jury in which more caution, more care, more
solicitude as to a correct decision was adopted than
in the preparing and framing of these resolutions
which I hold in my hand. My Lord, from the
different documents laid before us, and the different
statements made, I am pledged before my God,
that 200,000 are at this moment suffering under
deep distress, and that unless timely aid be afforded,
thousands will die of famine. Eye-witnesses of the
fact, men cautious in the statement of numbers, have
declared that there are 150,000 in Mayo, and
100,000 in Galway, the greater part of whom are
in danger of literally dying of starvation. But I
will refer your Lordship to one circumstance that
gives those dying creatures a peculiar claim on our
commiseration and relief—l mean their obedience to
the laws, their peaceable demeanour, and their for-
bearance tinder the most crying distress.—(Loud
cries of" hear, hear.") We call upon the Government
to conic forward generously on this occasion ; we
will give liberally and honestly; let the Govern-
ment act in like manner. It is but policy inde-
pendent of charity.—(Loud cries of " hear, hear.")
Here is a vast district in a state of starvation, de-
prived of all their property, for to its people the
destruction of the potatoe crop is the loss of all pro-
perty. Local relief is not sufficient. Is it because
our eyes are not shocked, is it because our ears are
not pierced with their groans, is it because they fall
not before us, we must not relieve ?—(Hear, bear.)
Mr. Blake next passed a well-merited eulogium on
the conduct of Sir F. Lynch Blosse as a resident
proprietor, and expressed a wish that every landlord
had done his duty as be (Sir Francis) had done.
The Learned Gentleman concluded by moving that
the resolutions he read be adopted us a resolution of
the meeting.
Sir FRANCIS LYNCH BLOSSE then said, I am pre-
pared to enter into the appalling details. We, the
Commissioners, were appointed in England to
manage affairs, and we appointed Deputy Commis-
sioners who have gone from house to house in the
country, and not being satisfied with the representa-
tions of the persons inhabiting the houses, they ex-
amined, and found in them scarcely any food.
Whether starvation be in the city or the country,
the agonies are equally great; and I hope the
people of Dublin will not forget them. The first
inquiry naturally is, what have the landlords done?
Now there has been a sum of above 8,000/. col-
lected amongst the landowners and shopkeepers in
Mayo, and in addition to that, the other charity
given to these unfortunate people amounted to
8,0001. more, which makes 16,0001. My friend
Mr. Blake has spoken of the peaceable state of the
country. I can state a fact with regard to this. It
is necessary for me to make an alteration in my
house, in the course of which I have thrown down
one side of it, and though I have neither bolt or bar
to secure it, I have come to Dublin, and shall go to
England, leaving my wife and family there, without
the slightest apprehension, either with regard to
person or property. I shall mention another cir-
cumstance. During the late disturbances, emissaries
were sent from the adjoining counties to that part of
the country, and it being understood they were to
come to the parish in which I live, countrymen
waited for three nights watching to prevent them.
--(Hear, hear.) We have been exporting grain'
from Ballina arid Westport until lately ; but this
corn was not the produce of the parts of the country
which is now so much distressed. Some districts
have had average crops last year, but these have
all been sold, and of course the inhabitants of the dis-
tricts in which the .distress is, have no claims on the
owners of that corn, other than the claims of charity.
Seeing distress increasing, and our means of alle-
viating it decreasing, we were obliged to come to
Dublin, and we have been received most kindly.
Numbers of individuals have assured me that they
are determined to use every exertion in their power
to assist us in our endeavours to procure a fund.
iaoydr°lvue'ntrit to the An advertisement advertisement having appeared, stating that 70
tons of meal were wanted, the price of the meal in-
creased two shillings per hundred. The Lord
Lieutenant has directed us to put his name down for
100/., and Mr. Stanley for 501. They have 2,0001,
if I may call it, as the sweepings Of the treasury,
which they will advance, upon condition that two
thousand pounds he advanced to their thousand.
We have not the authority of Government to pro-
ceed to London, but the time is arrived when some-
thing must be done. It is shocking to see a nation,
as Burke said, stretching their hands for food, and
none for them. The death of Mr. Hughes was
caused by the masses of beings tainted with fever
who thronged around him to crave his assistance.
Mr. Lyons will tell you that he saw a mother feed-
ing her grown-up children with her own milk. IN e
are afraid to return, gentlemen, without help.
Mr. HOWELL observed that Sir Francis alluded
to a subscription of Lord Anglesea of 10C/. If he
(Mr. Howell) was not mistaken, Lord Anglesea had
the county Mayo, and this he thought the meeting
and the public ought to know.
also remitted 300/. to the Central Conttiahmkeiettsette.ahtoae-tf
Sir FRANCIS assented.
Mr. HOWELL continueaddnrionliiiirosts
ompepnotr toufnAi tir.olf3isaukpep,
whoyin g
The letters which he and
counts from Cunnemara.
Mr. Corballis received from that district were fully
as bad as those detailed with such direful accuracy
from Mayo. Not only were the seed potatoes dug
out of the ground in a state of vegetation, but it was
too true that the wretched people had supplicated
for permission to bleed the sheep and cattle under
the care of tne herds, as one means of enabling
them to support life. He (Mr. Howell) declared
to God, he could not go on with the horrible details.
Mr. LEADgR, M, P. next rose and spoke a.