The Sun.
London, England, 1836-05-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, MAY 12, 1836.

' turning against the people that power which the people
themselves; the fountain of all power, have put into
their hands ; men whose days are devoted to grovelling
intrigue, and whose nights are wasted in revelry and
dissipation—who prostitute their intellect to the basest
sycophancy and the most ignominious ends, and who,
!laving by turns joined and' betrayed all parties in the
State—despised and cut off bv those in power—dis-
trus!eil, yet as Wiant instruments used by those
who aim at office—with -mili!ushing front push
themselves prominently forward on all great occa-
sions ; and from beneath their robes strike dag-
gers at public liberty, and claiming the while
that they are true friends of freedom and the British
Constitution ? Is it in these polluted hands the des-
tiny of .the nation is to lie ? Are these the men to
whose guardianship the interests of the State are to be
committed ? Will religion be secure, %rill liberty be
safe in such keeping ? Are the feelings, the hopes,
the rights of an important member of the empire to be
insulted and trampled under foot, that such characters
as we have feebly pourtraycd may riot in the mischief
their turpitude and malignity have caused ? We shall
not insult our countrymen by supposing the possibi-
lity of an affirmative reply to these questions. The
.national character is a pledge that the people will not
submit to be ridden rough-shod over by a rapacious
faction, whose plunderings have not appeased their
appetite, but rather stimulated their voracity. The pe-
riod of compromise has rolled over. Further conces-
sion on the part of the representatives of the empire
would be ruinous to their own character. If the
Tory Peers will have a crisis, the Commons cannot,
must not shrink, from the collision. They must
be now thoroughly convinced that past concession has
but emboldened the corruptionists, and that if they are
to be an independent legislative assembly, they must at
once take a decisive stand against the arrogant en-
croachments of the other House. It is manifest that
the " lofty Lords" seek a triumph. An ovation which
the Commons have already unwisely granted . them,
will not satisfy the patrician vanity. Being no longer
able to rule the Commons, by means of their liveried
lacqueys, their L9rdships propose to reduce that House
to a state of vassalage. Let the nefarious "amend-
ments" which the paltry Irish Representative Peers
being utter imbeciles themselves—allowed Baron Lynd-
hurst to frame for the purpose of stopping a measure
of justice towards their country—let these iniquitous
" amendments " be accepted by the Commons, and
then the triumph of the Tory Lords will be complete ;
then will a handfull of hereditary corruptionists have
succeeded in degradind to the lowest level of disgrace
the representatives of the twenty-three millions of
people who inhabrt these islands. Will the House of
Commons permit, or will the people of Great Britain
and Ireland submit, to such a result ? It cannot, it
shall not be.—Morning Chronicle.
The graver business of the House of Commons has
been lately varied by several public topics of an un-
usual charcater, in point of political legislation, which
have been brought before it. Of these some have
been carried contrary to anticipation ; some have failed
at a critical period of their progress, through.the con-
venient or inconvenient accident of the House being
counted out ; and some remain on the notice-book for
the ensuing week. The class of Bills to which we
refer are distinguished by being devoted to the regula-
tion of the amusements, the moral habits, and the
manners of the people. We may at once name four
of these Bills, all of which may be said to be speci-
mens of the extraordinary class to which we refer.
First, there is Sir Andrew Agnew's Bill, for regulat-
ing Sunday trading ; next, Mr. drantley Berkeley's
measure, carried by an unexpected majority in the
House of Commons, last week, in spite of- the resist-
ance of Lord John Russell and some of his Ministerial
colleagues, for the admission of ladies to hear the
debates in the House of Commons ; next, there is
the Public Walks Bill, prepared by Messrs. Brother-
ton, Potter, and Company, which failed last Thurs-
day through the House being counted out, and which
is expected to be brought forward again by Mr. Buck-
ingham this week ; lastly, there is a Bill prepared by
the same Gentleman, in conjunction with Messrs.
Wyse and Tulk, which deeply interests the intellectual
and literary class of society. It is a Bill "to facilitate
the formation and establishment of public institutions
for the diffusion of scientific and literary information,
including libraries and museums, with commodious
halls, or places of meeting for business or entertain-
ment, within such cities, boroughs, or towns, as may
require them for the use and accommodation of their

nhabitants." To all these Bills, which belong rather
o social economy than to politics, there is one prima
fiicie objection. They interfere unnecessarily in some
cases, prejudicially in others, with matters which are
beyond the proper province of the Legislature.
There would be no end to the multiplication of legis-
lative interference-4 the well-meaning design of
every philosophical speculator were to be al-
lowed to stretch or lop away the frame of society
on the Procrustes bed of his visionary beau ideal
of what it ought to be. The same objection as would
be made to a sumptuary law would apply to each of
these measures. Laissezfaire is as good an axiom to
be adopted with regard to public amusements and
social manners as with regard to trade. With
regard to the first of these measures—Sir Andrew
Agnew's Bill—we have ourselves said sufficient, and
we believe the English public are inclined to dismiss
it with a good-natured smile of pitying contempt.
People are not disposed in this country to make re-
ligious feeling, which is essentially full of kindness
and of charity, a means of morose and carping hostility
between man and man. Sir Andrew will find him-
self addressed like Malvolio by the British public :
" Dost thou think because thou art virtuous there shall
he no more cakes and ale ? Aye, by my troth there
shall be, and ginger shall be hot in the mouth too."
As for the regulation for admitting the ladies, we
should be sorry to see the English frame of society,
which depends essentially upon the domestic and re-
tiring habits of its female portion, broken up by
any visionary or petit-maitre plan 'for its improvement.
However, if the ladies have a desire, as we rather ex-
pect they will not have, by availing themselves of Mr.
Grantley Berkeley's gallantry, to be stifled with bad
speeches. and a hot atmosphere at the same time, we
can have no possible objection. To the Bill for Pub-
lic Walks, creditable as it is to the intentions of the
mover, there is, we think, a strong objection. It would
subject every town in the country to a tax of sixpence
in the pound whenever fifty persons chose to petition
for the creation of public walks. There is the stilt more
fatal objection to it, and which gives it the character
of a sumptuary law. In order to catch the votes of the
Temperance Society, people are to drink nothing but
tea and coffee in these plantations. The statement of
this clause is sufficient to show the prevailing vice
which runs through the whole Bill. With regard to the
Bill for the formation of public institutions,
170 persons
primaryc an b e more willing tocoincide than
objectofthe propounders t
of
theourselves
ni
e asu
measure.
diffusion as widely as possible of sound scientific in-
formation, by philosophical societies and literary
institutions, is an object to which we may proudly
say that no journal has contributed with greater perti-
nacity and zeal than the Morning Advertiser. But
the supply of those institutions should be left to public
demand, and their formation to public spirit. The
Legislature have nothing to do with them except to
encourage, by charter or otherwise, such as have
proved their necessity and merit by their establish-
ment. We object to public
institutions being placed
under the " centralizing control of a Parliamentary
Committee. Leave us, at least,T as Buonaparte said,
"la Republique des Lettres. All tyrannies are abo-
minable—whether of science or the kirk—of title or
money. We object to be made wise by Acts of Par-
liament, as well as to be made sanctimonious. The
independent spirit of science revolts at being invested
in the uniform, muffin-cap, and badge of an endowed
educational institution. The schoolmaster is a very
useful and desirable personage ; but grown men may
like his book, while they object to his muster-roll and
his ferrule. As Falstaff objected to be made honest
on compulsion, we object to be made literati and phi-
losophers on compulsion. " Not on compulsion, Hal
—an' ye love me."—Morning Advertiser.

Last week, in the neighbourhood of Toulon, the
the mountains were covered with snow. This tad not been
witnessed in the month of May, within the memory of man;
and great fears were entertained for the olive trees, vines, and
fruit trees, which may perhaps be destroyed.

DUBLIN ELECTION •COMMITTEE

The Committee met yesterday at 11 o'clock.
Mr. HUTTON proceeded to object to the vote of James
Baldwin, on the ground of bribery.
The evidence in this case was read at length, and after
some deliberation the Committee came to the following reso.
lution

" That from a careful review and comparison of the evidence,
notwithstanding the unprincipled character of some of the
witnesses, and the suspicion thrown on the case by the sup-
pression of the voluntary affidavits so reprehensibly made, and
the fact of Payne and Murray having been summoned, but
not examined by the agent for the sitting Members, the
Committee are still of opinion that it is sufficiently estab-
lished that James Baldwin voted under an expectation of re-
ceiving money, and that money was subsequently paid, and his
vote must therefore be struck off the poll."
• This restored Mr. O'Connell's majority, and Counsel on
behalf of the petitioners proceeded to object to one of the
voters for the sitting Member for arrear of Wide-street tax.

T. W. Beaumont, Esq., M.P., has ordered a bridge
to be built across the river Tyne, at By well, which is to be of
stone, and will be free for all kinds of passage.—Sunderland
Herald.
SELF ACCUSATION OF MURDER.—Some ex-
citement has prevailed in the southern part of this county, in
conseqiuence of a rumour that an old man at Plumtree, who
was dangerously ill, had confessed to a rape and murder com-
mitted more than thirty years ago. The report is not alto-
gether void of foundation, as in the afternoon of yesterday
(Thursday) an elderly man was committed to the county
gaol by Sir Robert Clifton, Bart., for further examination,
charged on bis own confession with the murder. The man's name
is Henry Rober, aged 61 years, for some time living as a la-
bourer at Plumtree. He says that about 30 years ago he lived
as servant to a lady at Kegworth, in Leicestershire, and that
having first violated, he afterdwards murdered her. Whether
the whole is the invention of a disordered mind, whether such
an occurrence did take place, and in his delirium he has ac-
cused himself, or whether he is really guilty, there is nothing
known as yet to lead to any opinion. On being committed to
prison he said he should not have been there but for his ill-
ness, and expressed a wish to be hanged on Saturday after-
noon.—Nottingham Review.
On Saturday an inquest was held on the body of
Mary Ann, the wife of Mr. Samuel Carse, an engraver, re-
residing at 3, Chapman-street, Islington. The deceased was
23 years of age, very accomplished, and of great personal at-
tractions. Mrs. Elizabeth Wise stated that the deceased came
to her house on Monday, and appeared very uneasy. Witness
asked what ailed her, when she burst into tears, and said that
she had had a few words with her husband about his brother,
who was apprenticed to him. The deceased added, that she
told hur husband his brother had said he would spoil some
work, but he would not give credit to her statement. When
speaking of this matter she was almost choked with rage, and
observed that she should feel a pleasure in murdering the lad,
and poisoning herself. The nett day witness was sent for by
Mr. Carse, and found the deceased retching violently. For
half an hour deceased made no ether reply to questions put to
her than—" I am dying," " Don't interfere with me," " Let
me lie still." At length she admitted having taken arsenic,
and a surgeon was sent for, but she died the next day. An
apprentice to Mr. Carse stated that his mistress had sent him
for twepennyworth of arsenic, desiring him to tell the chemist
it was to destroy rats. Verdict—lnsanity.
Two WELL-DRESSED THIEVES.--The respectable
lodging-house-keepers in almost every part of the metropolis,
but principally in the vicinity of the west end squares, have
within the last two months sustained losses altogether amount-
ing to 6001. or 7001. through the artful and nefarious practices
of a couple of stylishly dressed young men, who, notwithstand-
ing the active exertions of nearly every division of the police
to effect their capture, are still continuing to reap a rich har-
vest by their depredations ; to a few of the robberies of plate,
jewellery, &c., committed by these adventurers, publicity has
already been given, and it will be remembered that one of the
thieves was described as being 5 feet 10 inches high, of fair
complexion, and attired in a black coat, buff waistcoat, and
light trowsers, diagonally striped ; the other two inches shorter,
having a remarkable squint, and usually wearing a handsome
black surtout ; they enter houses in the windows of which an
intimation that apartments, ready furnished, are to be let ; and
while the squinting " gentleman" is in due form ushered into
the rooms, his confederate, whose practice it is to feign lame-
ness, prefers a seat in the parlour until the ceremony of view-
ing has been gone through by his friend. Reference having
been given, they both quit, with valuable property in their
possession, which the parlour customer had found time and
opportunity to secrete in his pockets. On Friday information
was received at the various station-houses that Mrs. Newbury,
No. 15, Durham-street, Vauxhall, had been robbed by the
same party of a valuable ebony concert flute, with eight silver
keys ; and, in fact, scarcely a day passes without communica-
tions being made to the same quarter of the ingenious thieves'
success in every direction, and in many instances to a large
amount. It is more than probable that the obliquity of vision
alluded to is not natural, but merely employed on certain occa-
sions by the thief, otherwise he and his companion would long
ere this have been taken into custody by some of the consta-
bles, who, agreeably to instructions given them, have for many
weeks past kept a sharp look out.
A LONG SLEEPER.—There is living at Mosnil-
sous-Juriegcs, in the Seine Inferieure, in France, an eccentric
being, now in his seventy-second year, who has sequestered
himself from the world ever since he was eighteen. At that
age he transferred the whole of his property to a relation, on
the sole condition of being supplied with board, lodging, and
linen. The bargain concluded, he went into bed, and has
never since moved out of it, except to perform the most indis-
pensable functions of life. He has remained perfectly mute,
refusing even to see a single person, except those who wait
upon him, and with whom he communicates entirely by signs.
He has a good appetite, and is in perfect health. He makes
his own bed ; when clean linen is necessary, it is placed in his
room, and he in return deposits that which has been used.
He is sometimes heard to mutter a few-words, supposed to be
prayers ; and the strange resolution he bas taken, is attributed
to exalted notions of piety. Yet it has been proposed to him
to be visited by a priest, and he has by significant signs re-
fused. The deaths of several of his near relations have been
announced to him, but he has never on any one of these occa-
sions suffered himself to display the slightest token of grief or
regret; not even that of the person to whom he had transferred
his property.
CHARLEMAGNE'S BIBLE.—Last week the manus-
cripts, books, prints, paintings, and carvings, the property of
Mr. de Speyr Passavant, of Basle, were submitted to sale by
auction by Mr. Evans, of Pall-mall. The lots were in num-
ber only 37, and, with the exception of the celebrated Bible of
Charlemagne, were neither very curious nor very costly. This
extraordinary volume, perhaps the most extraordinary in the
world, is entitled in the catalogue " Biblia Sacra Latina ex
versione Latina Sancti Hieronymi. Codex membranaceus
swculi VIII., scriptus mane celeberrimi Alcuini et Carolo
Magno donatus, die quo coronatus fuit." (This last account
was set right by Mr. Evans in a preliminary address to his au-
ditors, by which it appeared the volume was presented, not on
the coronation of the Emperor, but on Christmas-dad, 601.)
In the catalogue the genuineness of this volume is vouched by
authorities which it would be affectation to doubt; amongst
them is the testimony of Cardinal Lambruschini, formerly
keeper of the Vatican, Van Praet, the Messrs. Debure, Du-
mersan, St. Martin, illenave, Brunet, the Duke of Hamilton,
Messrs. Payne and Foss, the Rev. Drs. Bandinell and Bliss,
the Rev. Mr. Forshall (who was present at the sale), Sir
Frederick Madden, and other living and dead authorities. Mr.
Evans, before the lot comprehending this caligraphical treasure
was put up, addressed the company at some length on its very
great importance. The volume itself is a magnificent folio
bound in velvet, the leaves are of vellum, and the writing is in
double columns. It contains 449 leaves. Prefixed is a richly
ornamented frontispiece in gold and colours. It is enriched
with four large paintings exhibiting the state of the art at that
early period : there are moreover 34 large initial letters,
painted in gold and colours, and containing seals, historical
allusions, and emblematic devices, besides some smaller painted
capitals. This rare book is in fine preservation : it is under-
stood not to contain the disputed passage at the commence-
ment of the Gospel of St. John, and not to contain the pas-
sage in St. Luke " Get thee behind me, Satan." It was
put up by Mr. Evans for 7001., after which the biddings pro-
ceeded as follows :-750/., 800/., 1,000/., 1,0501., 1,100/.,
1,200 L, 1,4701., 1,500/., at which last sum it was knocked
down to Mr. Siordet, of St. Helen's-place, who was under-
stood to have bought it in for the owner. It was .confidently
expected that this book would have fetched 2,500/., and great
astonishment prevailed in the room that no bidder from the
British Museum was present to secure for that great national
establishment a volume which cannot be matched in any col-
lection in Europe.

HORRID MURDER. —.LIVERPOOL, MAY 7.
This morning, about twelve o'clock, a horrid tragedy was per-
petrated in Rodney-street. The particulars are these :—lt
appears that a cook and house-maid were in service together,
in a family at Nottinham. The house-maid's father, al-
though a married man with a family, and between forty and
fifty years of age, fell in love with the cook, and annoyed her
with his criminal importunities. To avoid these, the cook and
the daughter removed to Manchester, where they again got
into one family. Thither the father followed them, and to
avoid him they again removed and came to Liverpool, where
they once more obtained joint employment, in their respective
capacities; in the family of Mr. Jones, of Rodney-street.
The father again followed them to Liverpool, where he arrived
during the present week. He went repeatedly to the house,
but was refused admission, and attracted the attention of the
police, who several times drove him away. This forenoon,
about ten minutes to twelve o'clock, having watched his op.
portunity, and found the door open, he went into the kitchen,
where the two females were employed together. He placed
on the table a large purse or rather bag, took from his pocket
a bottle of laudanum, drank the contents at one draught, drew
forth a pistol, and instantly shot the cook-maid through the
head. She died instantaneously. He then rushed out of the
house by the back door, and escaped by a lane in the direction
of Hope-street, and kot into Falkland-street neighbourhood,
where he fell, overpowered by the effects of the poison. He
was taken to the Infirmary, where the usual means were adopted
to remove the poison from his stomach, and administer, ,anti-
dotes, but at the moment we write not the slightest chance
exists of his recovery. In the bag left by him on the table
were ten sovereigns and four shillings and sixpence, a silver
watch, and a slip of paper written in a good hand, and ad-
dressed to his daughter, whose name is Sarah. It directs her
to go to his lodgings (which are unknown and are not de-
scribed) to take possession of his clothes and moveables, and
send them to her mother, as he was insane, and was deter-
mined not to live. Such are the particulars, so far as yet
known, of this mysterious and horrid affair.