The Sun.
London, England, 1831-12-29 00:00:00

ANATOMY.

COPY OF A LETTER FROM THE COUNCIL OF THE
ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS TO VISCOUNT
MELBOURNE, HIS MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SE.
CRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPART-
MENT, &c.
Royal College of Surgeons in London, Dec. 10.
MY LORD,—The undersigned, members of the
Council of the Royal College of Surgeons in Lon-
don, have the honour of addressing your Lordship on
a subject of painful interest to the whole comm►:-
nity, but especially to the members of the medical
profession.
The Royal College of Surgeons are empowered
by their charter to examine certain individuals as to
their knowledge of surgery, and they are especially
required to institute such examination re.pecting
those who are candidates for the situation of sur-
geon in the army or navy.
It is not possible that any one should be properly
qualified to practise in this department of the healing
art who has not obtained a due knowledge of hu-
man anatomy, and explored with his own hand the
structure of the dead body; proofs of their having
done so have therefore been always required of can.
didates who have presented themselves for exami-
;:ation.

The Council believed they could not property
perform their duty to their Sovereign, from WI, m
the College received its charter, nor to the publ c,
for whose benefit it was granted, without insisting
on the study of anatomy by dissection, as the most
important part of surgical education.
They have, however, been aware that some seri-
ous objections might he urged to the course which
they thus ventured to take.
In the present state of the common law, Eli it
construed by the law authorities, the individual who
dissects a human body, or even has it in his pcs-
Nesh'on for any other purpose than that of burial, is
guilty of a misdemeanour, unless it be the body of
a malefactor hanged for murder.

Bodies used for dissection in the anatomical schools
have necessarily been procured by illegal means, by
the invasion of consecrated ground, and the disturb-
ance of graves, in a way disgusting to society at
large, and especially offensive to the friends and re-
latives of the deceased.
The regulations of the Council have therefore had
a tendency to encourage both teachers and students
to a direct violation of the law, and to establish, in

the procurers of dead bodies, a set of men livinz, by
practices which are revolting to the feelings of so-
ciety, exposed to the hatred and contempt of those
around them, and likely, by the joint operation of
these causes, to become trained and gradually habi-
tuated to the commission of still greater crimes.
The Council felt that they could only do what
was, en the whole, for the best in the dilemma in
which they were placed. The circumstances which
have just been enumerated did not escape their at-
tention, and have continually excited their most
deep regret ; but, on the other hand, they were called
upon to regard the obligations of their charter.—
' They were aware that the wants of properly edu-
cated surgeons would prove a serious evil to the
public. However much they might be inclined to
encourage the use of preserved parts and models as
subsidiary means of teaching anatomy, they were
convinced that these are of themselves quite in-
adequate to afford that minute, complete, and accu-
rate knowledge which is necessary in surgical prac-
tice, and which the student only acquires by dis-

section.
The Council further submit that they have la-
boured under much embarrassment from the incon-
sistencies and contradictions of the law itself, which
at the same time that it declares the student to be
guilty of a misdemeanour if he attempt to obtain
anatomical knowledge, renders him also, when af-
terwards engaged in practice, liable to a civil ac-
tion on account of any mistake which his ignorance
of anatomy may lead him to commit.
But whatever may have been the extent of the
difficulties which have heretofore obstructed the
Council in the execution of their duty, they may
well be regarded as insignificant when compared
with those which they have to encounter at the
present moment.
The large prices which have of late been given
for anatomical subjects have operated as a premium
examinationtfo orm requireirdei r murder.
astlhfh .
thosetl
shall
eh
aCo v e uwisihct
oui of d
iperder
she epnr
atcttCollege,h ee4mi saenicontinuevateo
for
y,
who can venture to say that crimes similar to those
which have just now filled the public with dismay
will not be again committed ? More criminals will
undoubtedly arise ; new victims will be is 'tied to
the list ; and the medical profession will he neces-
sarily degraded from the high situation which it
aught to hold as having in its relations to soc ety
no object but that of conferring bent fit on others.
The Council have no expectation while the law
emains as it is at present, and surgical at udents
,iontinue to cultivate the science of anatomy, that
any means can be contrived which will prevent a
epitition of the horrible offence to which they have
just alluded. Attention and constant suspicion on
the part of the teachers may effect much, but not all
that is requisite.
It is vain to imagine it always possible to dis-
tinguish the body of a person who has been m*
tiered from that of one who has died a natural daatl).
The very individuals who have lately suffered on
ihe scaffold would probably have escaped detection
if they had been more circumspect and wary in their
conduct : nor can all the precautions with which it
is desirable the study of anatomy should be con-
ducted, be adapted under the existing laws.
In the other countries of Europe, anatomy is
taught only under a license, and in certain places
appointed by the Government; arid an exact regis-
ter is preserved of all the bodies consigned for dis-
section. But it is a contradiction to suppose that
any such license can be granted, or such register
preserved in this country, where the study of ana-
tomy is barely tolerated, and where not only the
procurers of dead bodies, but the anatomical
teachers and students, are alike engaged in illegal
pursuits.
In offering this representation to his Majesty's
Government, the Council are not without hopes
that some plan may be devised by the Legislature
calculated to remove the serious evil of which they
now complain. At the same they beg leave to de-
clare on their own part, and on that of all the other
members of their profession, who are now in pw-
Lice, with the exception of the very few who devote
themselves to the laborious and often unprofitable
'ask of teaching anatomy, that the question is one
in which they have no direct or personal intereas,
Whether anatomy be taught legally or illegally, or
riot at all, does not concern the existing race of prac-
titioners in medicine or surgery, who have com-
pleted the period of their education ; but it d. eply
concerns the public : and it is under a strong sense
of the evils which society may ultimately experience,
and from a desire conscientiously to perform their
duties, that the Council of the College have ventured
to make this demand on your Lordship's patience
and attention, at a moment which, on an occasion of
less importance, they should have deemed un-
seasonable.

GEO. J. GUTHRIE, I
(Signed) ROB. KEATE, President,
JOHN P VINCENT
Vice-Presidents,
W. BLIZARD, T. COPELAND,
ASTLEY COOPER, JOHN HOWSHIP,:
W. LYNN, JAMES BRIGGS,
J. A. HAWKINS, W. LAWRENCE,
A. CARLISLE, B. C. BROI)IE,
HON. L. THOMAS, BENJ. TRAVERS,
A. WHITE, 11. EARLE,
J. G. ANDREWS, CHARLES BELL,
S. COOPER, JOSEPH SWAN.

EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE.--These are
fearfully illustrated in a report of the American Tempe-
rance Society lately published. It is calculated that be-
tween 20,000 and 30,000 persons annually die from ex-
essive drinking, and that more than 200,000 aie thereby
afflicted with disease and plunged into misery. The num-
tr,.r. of paupers, almost all reduced to penury by thinking,
who were admitted into the infirmaries at Phil idelphia,
amounted iu 1823 to 4908; in 1824, to 8,231: in
1825, to 4,393 ;in 1826, to 4,272. Tee hospitals and
penitentiary at New York contain abaut 2,000 reduced
to disease or wont by intemperance.--London Mtdical
Gazette.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Even now, Wore the enactment of the Re-
form Bill into a law, and in the mere hope of
such a bles,ed consummation in our home policy,
its good consequences upon the constitutional
energy of the country are visible in many respects
throughout England. Everywhere the true re-
presentative principle begins to make head against
a clegradint* prescription, the laws of vicious
habit to sink under the power of reasoning and
the new-born sense of right. Looking at the
question of Reform only, it is very disinterested
in the friends of that great measure to urge upon
Ministers the necessity of passing it without de-
lay through Parliament, inasmuch as every man
must see that each hour's postponement brings
in a fresh accession of numbers and enthusiasm
to the cause. But there are other interests to be
cared for, besides those of the Reform Bill.
Englishmen must be considered, not merely in
their character of constituents and representa-
tives, but as composing their several and re-
spective classes of professional men, merchants,
manufacturers, agriculturists, artisans, labourers
—all ranks of British subjects engaged, each in
his peculiar walk of intellectual or manual in-
dustry, with worldly distress to ward off, in-
dependence to achieve or to preserve, and fa-
milies to feed and provide for. The social wel-
fare of the citizen must be guarded by means
direct and immediate, no less than circuitous and
final. Whatever produces distrust, ill temper,
and agitation, and therefore tends to interrupt
the enjoyment of peace and the pursuits and
profits of domestic industry, ought to be depre-
cated by every honest man, and prevented, if pos-
sible, by statesmen in possession of office. How-
ever pressing and irresistible, therefore, may be
the motives for getting rid of the horrid old
mockery of free Government, which we have hi-
therto been enduring, they are motives connected
with the order of society, and with the comfort of
every household circle throughout Great Britain,
which command us to speed the essential work,
and not lose an hour in its accomplishment. If
some of the Political Unions in this country be
composed of respectable bodies, and be directed by
discreet and conscientious leaders, it is just con-
ceivable that others may be less happily guided
and constituted. They have now the single pur-
pose of Reform before them, and profess to have
no other : the executive Government ought, there-
fore, to beware of furnishing these demo-
cratic brotherhoods with excuses for a pro-
longation of their activity beyond its ori-
ginal and avowed intent, thus corrupting
a transient, perhaps wholesome, stimulus, into
a perpetual alterative. We have once be-
fore alluded to the condition of Europe,
which is probably such as to require that the
infinence exercised by England should be as un-
impaired and preponderant as at any former
period of her history, and doubtless a protracted
state of angry division amongst ourselves, a state
of distrust or of half reliance on the part of the
nation towards its Government, can be no other-
wise Than fatal to the hope of any thing like
British ascendancy in the councils of foreign
Cabinets at a distracted crisis. But if an unset-
tled question of Reform at home, conspiring
with an uneasy posture of affairs upon the Con-
tinent, afford just cause of anxiety to an English
patriot, what shall we say when Ireland is
thrown in, to agitate still more the boiling and
bubbling cauldron ? What Mr. O'Connell's
ultimate objects may be, are probably not deve-
loped even to himself: he declares that they are
not limited to even the most unexceptionable
Reform. The sooner, therefore that the Bill
does pass, the less time will be allowed to that
restless and dangerous agitator for shaping his
evil designs, if he entertains any, and for ma-
turisg his preparations to fulfil them. A speedy
collision between Protestant and Catholic is, we
are aware, foretold by experienced observers of
Irish troubles ; and assuredly, should such
a dreadful day be at hand, O'Connell will
have no small share of the blood 4nd guilt

to answer for. We are convince
Ministers have fcr some time been

several sources of uneasiness which we
merate. It is a further satisfaction
that they are not only as determined
warmest friends would wish to carry the
vatire measure thrLaigh all obstacles, brf
and complete it without a minute's di
can be avoided with due regard to the
Parliamentary proceeding. The Anti
Lords need not flatter themselves with

victory. But if the King's Ministers
whit are the people?• Have they "
resolution ?" Why the very rotten
h: b •*i to -k ti • AC

save begun to work their own purgatro,
think you of Buckingham ?—the duke-
the heavily-laden—the broken-backed
of Buckingham l—that exaggeration of
whose half-dozen wholesale voters, if b

lb that
twake to

'ere enu-
to learn
as their
conser-

to carry
!lay that
laws of
-Reform
another

ie fixed,
lulled iu
oroughs
? What

ridden—
borough
' Gatton,
roken tip

by the Macadam process into fragments, would
form just such a constituency of multiplied, but
hitherto in no degree ameliorated, slaves, as the
Buckingham voters have always proved them-
selves, when the word of their masters dictated
to them who should be their Members. At
present some better symptoms have begun to
show themselves in the reviving borough. A
party of the inhabitants have invited Sir Harry
Verney and Mr. Morgan to stand on liberal
principles against Sir Thomas Fremantle, who is
consiiLred by the independent interest to hold
such a relation to a (Titan; grandee, as ought to
preclude him from ever representing men that
:will not sell their votes. Sir Thomas, too, for
the first time, shows himself in the humble cha-
racter of a canvasser. This, we suppose, will
he termed "re-action" by Lord Chandos. The
liberal candidates have made an active canvass of
Buckingham, with a view to the election which
must take place after the Reform, and they have
met with the most flattering success.— Times.

The recent proceedings at meetings.through-
ont the country appear to demonstrate that the
suffrages of farmers, whether they hold their
possessions by lease or at will, are merely the
suffrages of their landlords. It is supposed that
tenants on lease are more independent than
tenants at will. Well, then, we will take te-
nants on lease. The tenants in Scotland all hold
by lease. They have at the recent meetings
been regularly Reformers or Anti-Reformers,
as their landlords happen to be Reformers or
Anti. Reformers. The county of Perth is the
Yorkshire of 4cotland. Till lately it was a Tory
comity, under the sway of the Duke of Athol.
But the death of the Duke of Athol, a staunch
Tory, has given the controul of his estates to
the Earl of Ornielie, a Reformer, and the lead-
ing landholders are Reformers. At a public
meeting of noblemen, gentlemen, freeholders,
Justices of the Peace, Commissioners of Sup-
ply, heritors, tenants, and' others, held at Perth,
on the 16th inst., an address, to the King and
petitions to the Houses of Lords and Commons

were unanimously agreeeto. In the petition
to the House of Lords the, petitioners declare—
" That, deeply sensible of the inestimable blessing of a full
:tol fair representation of the p-ople, and aware of the in-
tense anxiety of the nation on this vital question, it bath
aupeared to our petitioner., their paramount duty to ex-
pros their conviction, that no measure of Reform less
effective than that which was rejected by your Lordships
last session will afford satiefection and correntment to the
people of Scotland ; thJ, in common with the nation at
large, we received the rej-ctien of the late Reform Bill
with sorrow and alarm—with sorrow, because your peti-
tioners are constitutionally attached to the hereditary
peerage of the country, and were concerned to sec it plac-
ing itself in dangerous opposition to the just wisher and
constitutional rights of the people—with alarm, because
we are of unchangeable opinion, that an efficient Pallia-
mentary Reform is now, in the present crisis of affairs,
absolutely called for, in order to allay the present excite-
ment, and to inture peace and prosperity to the United
Kingdom."
So much for the county of Perth. The
county of East Lothian and the county of Ber-
wick adjoin each other. They are the two
counties of Scotland in which the cultivation is
most perfect and the farmers are most intelligent.
They are both without trade and manufactures,
and purely agricultural. The farmers of East
Lothian have more than once met of late
to declare their approbation of the Reform
Bill. There :was not long since a meet-
ing of the landholders and tenantry, at
which the most liberal resolutions were passed.
It might naturally be supposed that the tenantry
of the neighbouring county of Berwick would
be as strenuous Reformers as their brethren of
East Lothian. And so they no doubt would if
their landlords were Reformers. But the Ber-
wickshire landholders happen to be all Anti-
Reformers, and the tenantry are also of course
Anti-Reformers. A requisition for a meeting
on the 20th of December instant, of such of
the freeholders, Justices of the Peace, Com-
missioners of Supply, and tenants of the county
of Berwick, as were disposed to concur in pre-
paring and subscribing a loyal and dutiful ad•
dress, embodying certain sentiments, was sub-
scribed by the leading landholders, and by what,
in common parlance, would be called a most re-
spectable body of tenantry ; that is, rich and
substantial men. The meeting was accordingly
held ; and with the same unanimity with which,
at Perth, strong Reform petitions were agreed
to, an Anti-Reform address, embodying the fol-
lowing sentiments, was adopted :
" Ist. To express tour unabated attachment to his Ma-
jesty's person, and to that form of Government under
which the country has su long and so greatly prospered.
"2d. To express our most grateful thanks to his Ma-
jesty, that at a time when both Houses of Parliament are
called upon to exercise a free and unbiassed judgment on
the momentous question of a R form in the representation,
some steps bare at length been adopted for suppressing those
dangerous Political Associations, the objects of which have
been to overawe the deliberations of the Legislature, as well
as to usurp its functions aLd authority.
" 3d. To express our regret that the rejection of the
late Reform Bill by the House of Lords, in tke exercise of
its ondeubted constitutional right, has been usrd by design-
ing men as a pretext for inciting the unwary to flagrant
acts of violence anti outrage.
" 4th. To express our gratitude that his Majesty has
not yielded to the suggestions, made from various quarters,
for a creation of additional Peers, to carry a particular
object, and which, if followed, would have led to the anni-
hilation of the independence and usefulness of the Hou.e
of Lords.
" .sth. To declare that, while we recognise the expe-
dieney of extending the scale of the elective franchise, and
of introducing tench a correction of any practical defects in
the repreeentation which the present state of society suggests,
we deprecate many of the provisions of the Bills recently
under the consideration of Parliament, as partial, unjust,
and subversive of the fundamental principles of the Con-
stitution.
" Lastly. To express our most ardent hope, ,that no
treasures may be introduced into Parliament which will
have the effect of unduly lessening the influence of the
landed interest in the representation, or of injuring, in any
way, the agricultural prosperity of the country."
We could take nemerous other instances, but
we content ourselves with these distinguished
cases. When the tenantry of two adjoining
counties, attending the same markets, pursuing
the same system of agriculture, and in constant
communication with each other, are seen to be
Reformers or Anti-Reformers, just as their land-
lords happen to be Reformers or Anti-Reformers,
the inference is obvious—that the opinion is that
of the landholders, and not of the tenants them-
selves. These contrasts are only to be found
among the tenantry. Throughout Scotland, the
inhabitants of towns are, almost to a man, de-
termined Reformers. We do not find the inha-
bitants of one town Reformers, and those of
another Anti-Reformers. The man who culti-
vates the earth is, and always was, a slave. His
limbs may be large and hisshoulders broad, and
his complexion that of ruddy health, but he
wants resolution. It is only where a man is
surrounded by others that he feels him-
self secure and confident. In towns, the for
tune of a man seldom depends so much
on any other man, as to make it neces-
sary that he should take his opinion from him.
In towns, therefore, men dare to profess their own
opinions. But a tenant knows well that his
landlord has a hundred ways of harrassing him ;
and where all the landlords of a county are of a
party, the tenant who should not be of the party
would literally be an outlaw. We should, there-
fore, suppose that the servants who feed every
day in a nobleman's hall are just as likely to
oppose that nobleman at an election as his te-
nants, except under very extraordinary circum-
stances. Where the nobleman happens to be a
hard landlord, and the tenantry are held rigor-
ously to a rent its their leases which they are
unable to pay front their profits, they may vote
against hint from spite. But if a nobleman do
not prove altogether a monster, he may count
with certainty on the vote of his tenants. We
are glad that these instances have occurred before
the Bill goes through a Committee, because
the mass of mankind are more affected by ex-
amples than by reasoning. Without the ballot,
or some means of protecting farmers, the giving
votes to them will be unquestionably mischievous.
It would be better at once to confine the suf-
frage to the landholders, titan to give votes to
men who are necessarily their creatures.—Morn-
ing Chronicle.
When laws are radically vicious, the Legis-
lator who has not the wisdom to perceive the
necessity of a thorough Reform, and the courage
to execute it, had better not meddle with them.
His superficial attempts at improvement will
produce snore evil than good. The commence-
ment of his design will inspire hope, but the con-
clusion of Isis work will create nothing but dis-
appointment. The failure of a.professed attempt
to ameliorate bad laws will snake such laws ap-
pear inure grievous than they were before, and
the discos eat of those who are affected by them
will be thereby aggravated. That the Game
Laws are radically vicious we have on former
occasions shown. But the vice of their principle
is hardly worth considering, when England pre-
sents everywhere so many melancholy Itroats of
the mischief of their practice. As a badge of
the Norman Conquest, which grafted one oldie
worst forms of feudal tyranny upon the mutilated
stock of Anglo-Saxon freedom, their, existence
at the present day is disgraceful to an enligh-
toned age ; but, as being a nest powerful engine

devil in demoralising the rural population of
England, they must be viewed with still more
abhorrence than that with which the eye of
patriotism regards any badge of political d..
pendence or speculative degradation. When Lord
Althorp undertook to reform the game laws he
promised great things. "He kept the word of
promise to the ear, but broke it to the hope."
We cannot say of the performance of a magnifi-
cent promise, in this instance, nascitur ridtculus
mus—for not a small benefit but a great evil
crept forth. We explained and exposed the mis-
chievous operation which the new Game Act
would have, in various ways, soon after it had
passed into a law. One or two writers, with
flippant ignorance, praised the law as a great
amelioration of the preexisting system, and a
boon to the country. A case which has recently
been decided before the Magistrates proves
what sort of amelioration of a tyrannical system
that law has effected ; and it proves, also, that
we did not inconsiderately or unjustly condemn
an effort of legislation by anticipating its failure
as a measure of improvement before that failure
was proved by the test of experience. The case
to which we refer, and which has been given at
some length in a country paper, may be briefly
compressed into the statement that a gentleman
named Simpson was summoned before the Ma-
gistrates at Wentbridge, upon an information of
trespass, for having entered upon land to shoot
game, which land was the property of a Mr.
Beckett, under whom it was occupied by a
yearly tenant, who had given Mr. Simp-
son leave to shoot upon his ground, the
latter having also a game certificate. But
neither the certificate nor the consent of the
occupier of the land availed the defendant. He
was fined by the Magistrates as a trespasser,
upon the section of the Act on which he made
some strong observations on a former occasion,
and which states in substance that the game
belongs to the landlord, and t hat in fact, the
game in all cases of tenancies by parol, or leases
not exceeding twenty-one years and without fine,
is the property of the lord of the soil, except
where lie may have expressly granted it to the
tenant or some other person. In point of law
we consider the Magistrate wrong in having con-
victed without the landlord having been present
to prove that he did not give his consent but
this is only a point of practice, and does not
alter the correctness of their interpretation of
the Act itself. Well might the country Paper
say, which reports this case, " Surely, if this
decision be according to law, a more unjust Act
of Parliament, or one that has a greater ten-
dency t 9 the restoration of the tyranny of feudal
times, was never passed by the British Legislature."
We quite agree with our contemporary, whom ex-
perience has taught to repeat the sentiment which
we placed upon record before the practical
effects of the law were known.—Morn. Herald.

FRENCH PAPERS.

CHAMBER OF PEERS, DEC. 26.

The debate on the Peerage question was re=umed.
M. le Comte St. Simon supported the project of
the Ministers.

The Duke de Montebello admitted that his nobility
was one of the revolution, and had no connexion with
feudality, but those of more ancient names were now
no more so than himself, since they renounced their
titles to the Constituent Assembly—the Duke de
Noailles being one of the first. He opposed the
law. The partisans of the abolition had asserted
that the monarchy would not fall if an hereditary
Peerage were abolished, but they had neglected to
prove it. The Ministers say, " You tell us that the
monarchy cannot exist without the heredite, yet the
ancient monarchy was powerful enough without an
hereditary peerage." Well I then the misfortune of
that ancient monarchy, and the source of all the
evils o hick called forth and disgraced our revolu-
tion, were that France had a noblesse without an
aristocracy, and that now we shall have an aristo-
cracy without aristocrats. The United States,
which have been referred to, is quite a distinct case
—there is no monarchy there at all. The Senate is
a Chamber of Controul, because there is no complete
centralizaiion in the country; the House of Repre•
sentati ves represent local, and the Senate federal, in.
terests. As for our being told that we had better
yield to-day, lest we should be forced to yield to-
morrow, this might apply, if the Peerage was the
only thing attacked ; but look at the opposition
organs, and you will find the royal prerogative, elec-
toral right, rights of eligibility, all debated. Yield
the Peerage, and these privileges will next be at..
tacked. Public opinion ought not to be the sole
guide of statesmen. The Carbonari and conspirators,
after the restoration, pretended that they led it;
they were mistaken, because the Government was
firm.

Baron Moonier said, he did not think it worth
while to ascend the tribune, because, in fact, all the
arguments were exhausted : and, as he saw no more
defenders of the project inserted, he thought its op-
ponents might save themselves the trouble of adding
to what had been already said from his side.—(There
was some di,cussion on a point of order, which ter-
minated in the Baron ascending the tribune.) He
said that he had intended not to have said anything
in favour of a principle condemned, as he thought,
by a Chamber, the votes of which were already
canvassed; but since he had learned that the new
Peers came in unfettered, he would veature to say
a few words. In spite of this law, he said the Peer-
age will be hereditary, because the principle of here-
ditary descent was accordant with the manners of
the country, and the hen:dire of fact will exist in
the place of the heredite of right ; but then, being
an object of suspicion for complaisance and servility,
it will be without any power to interpose between
the elective chamber and the throne. All mo-
narchical Governments must depend upon hereditary
castes or classes ; the absolute despotisms of the
Eitst are the only exceptions. Poland fell, not from
want of mountains. or fortresses, but because, while
all other monarchies around were strengthening
themselves, she preferred remaining a republic, sur-
mounted by an elective crown. He voted against
the law.

The President of the Council said that he would
have wished, as a Minister, not to have taken any
further part in this discussion, but there are some
duties paramount to delicacies. It was impossible
to keep silent when Noble Peers, departing from
theoretical and constitutional discussions, transported
themselves to attack the very principles of the
existing Government, the revolution of July, and
the 'noway which %s as founded on that revolu-
tion. Some persons have made the principle of
heredite only a pretence for attacking persons, and
aimed only at an anti-ministerial triumph. Others
(the Duke of Fitzjames was alluded to) say that
the hereditary principle is incompatible with the
events of July, for the purpose of compromising
that revolution, and pushing it to extremities, by
which the auti•revolutionary party might profit.
These Peers will not have a hereditary Peerage
under constitutional forms, and they declaim
against a Peerage for life. Whet, then, would
they have ? We cinnot have two Kings and
two Charters at the same time, and therefore
it would seem as if they celled for the abolition
of the Peerage altogether. This may not be their
intention, but it is the fair deduction from their
arguments. They can look to nothing but a new
revolution; they propose nothing which has any
other tendency ; for that they would sacrifice the
Peerage itself. The champions of privilege have
united with tire ultra-revolutionists. And yet what
do those gentlemen mean by taunting us with being
the authors of the revolution ? The party of the

restoration—l should rather say- the party which
lost—had formidable means of. force and action—
the dogmas of legitimacy were all in its favour—
European alliances, founded on political sympathies
of all kinds—the fruits of fifteen years of peace and
stability—a Press checked by severe lases, and by
tribunais not slow in the application of these laws
—nay, this very principle of the heredhe
And when this party, so far ftom employing their
means to save the Monarchy, could find nothing on
the fatal day to supß).l the Throne of which it
had constituted itself the sole stay, is it becoming
in it to call them revolutionists who threw thew-
selves forward to preserve at least that social
order which this party had compromised by over.-
turning all political order ?
The Duke of Fitz-James— Does this apply to me ?
M. Casimir Perier—To no one personally—least
of all to you, Sir ; for though we were nut in the
same ranks I am not ignorant of your efforts for ten
years in the cause of liberty.
The Marquis des Dreux Breze said, that though
he had not had ten years of combatting for the same
opinions as his Noble Friend, yet his intentions
were equally pure. Ile proceeded to defend his con-
duct generally, amid much noise and interruption.
The President of the Council again disclaimed
any personal allusion, and spoke at seine length
concerning the unnatural coalition against his Mi-
nstry. lie admitted that he was obl ged to make a
sacrifice, but appealed, " with his hand on his
heart," to the Chamber, if the two days' discussion
just passed, was riot a full justification, when in all
that time no one had offered a single suggestion for
reconciling the political institution they have been
examining, with the social necessity, the evidence
of which appeared to all.
Some oi her Peers offered a few obeervationa.
The close of the discussion was moved and rejected.
The discussion was adjourned until the next day,
when it was supposed it would be concluded.

(From the Messaper des Chartres of Tuesday.)

The general discussion of the 23,1 article of the
charter again occupied the Chamber of Peers through
the whole of yesterday. The discussion has ad-
vanced too far, and has been too uniform in its cha-
racter, to offer a very lively interest. The interest
was, however, powerfully re-animated when the
President of tie Council proceeded to address the
Chairman. The powerful and energetic language of
M. Casimir Perier could not fail to recall the minds
of his audience to the true state of the question, to
overturn all false impressions, check all exclusive
theories, and determine the vote of the noble as-
sembly. The list of orators inscribed to speak in
behalf of the 1 «v is exhausted : already many of the
opponents of the measure have renounced their in-
tendon of speaking ; the Chamber will doubtless
vote to-morrow.

If we can credit the Aviso, of the 21st of De-
cember, a report was current at Toulon thar the
mail-boat, the Var, arrived at Ajaccio on the 19th,
had been taken up by the Prefect of Corsica to bring
despatches to our Government. It is asserted that
this hasty communication had for its purpose to an-
nounce the explosion of a violent insurrection at
Rome. The populace had risen in rebellion, be-
sieged the Pope and five Cardinals in the Vatican,
and finaily possessed themselves of that Palace, as
well as of the castle of St. Angelo. This move-
ment took place on the 4th, at Rome, and on the
.s'll the insurrection had extended to Faenza and
Rimini.

In the National Guard (Marseilles newspaper)
we read the following :
" TOULON, DEC. 19.—The steam-boat has just
arrived from Bastia ; it has been expedited by the
General, upon the demand of our Ambassador at
Rome, and bears some most urgent despatch for the
Minister of Foreign Affairs. It is said that this
despatch contains the news of an insurrection at
Rome, that the Papal Government is overthrown,
and that it is impossible to foresee the ends or tl:e
results of this revolution."

We read also in the Semaphore—" The rumour
runs to-day that a steam-boat arrived at Toulon,
brings the news that serious disturbances have
broken out at Rome." This news was speedily pro-
pagated at the Bourse in Paris.
We have before our eyes a letter from Rome of a
very recent dare, according to which the most perfect
tranquillity remained at the Holy See. This news,
circulated at Marseilles five days ago, may therefore
be considered as who:ly unfounded.
(From the Courrier des Eleetturs of Tuesday.)

They write from Toulon of the date of the 20th—
`Yesterday evening nothing was spoken of at Toulon
but a great revolution which had broken out at
Rome, in which it is said his Holiness the Pope had
lost his life. It was added that the people had pro-
ceeded to all sorts of excesses—that they had taken
possession of the fort of St. Angelo, and had pillaged
many of the palaces belonging to the Cardinals.
This news had been brought to us by the Corsican
steam-boat, which had been sent by the Prefect,
with orders to set out instantly for Toulon. Imme-
diately upon the arrival of the steam-boat, the de-
spatches, of which she was the bearer, were for-
warded to Paris by express. This news, arriving
simultaneously with that which we have received
from Paris, has caused some anxiety. We wait with
impatience the arrival of ano.her steam-boar, which
will bring us the details of an insurrection, that, it is
now slid, has extended through all the Papal states."

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NATIONAL.

Paris, Dec. 25.

Stn,—l have just read in your Paper the ordinances on
the subject of the pensions. It is said that, independently
of the 21 pensions, they might have rejected those of the
Marquis de Larochejacquelin, mhich is 10,000 E—Viscount
de Chateauhriand, 12,000 E—the Count d'Uzes, 12,000 f. ;
but that the withdrawment of the pensions was effected
after the renunciation made by the incumbents in conse-
quence of their refusing to take the oath of allegiance.
This, Sir, demands a short explanation on my part. My
refusal to take the oath arises front the 7th of Au4ust, the
day I voted in the Chambers of Peers against the declara-
tion of the Chamber of Deputies. On the 10th of the
same month I had the honour to write to Boron Pasquier,
to announce to him that I had renounced my pension as a
Peer. The President returned for answer that he must
refer me to the Minister of Finance, whom I then ad-
dressed, sending him a copy of my two letters to the Mar-
quis of Semonville. Thus I have ceased to derive any
emolument from the state ever since I withdrew my ser-
vices. At the period of the revolution I enjoyed no other
pen,ion, neither as Minister of State, nor as a former
Minisire a Portefellille, nor as late ambassador, even
though I was absolutely without fortune. In fact, every
time that I have been deprived of my place in the cause
of public liberty, my works alone have supported me. I
should also have wished to have got rid of 900 and odd
francs attached to my academical chair, but I was assured
that no dismission to the members of the academy were
given, and that if I never touched the above sum, it would
still remain in my name, and on my account, in the budget
of the Institute. I entreated the Ministers to assist me in
withdrawing this money, which w.is so disagreeable to me.
It is the oily favour which I beg, and which I would ac-
cept from Government.
I have the honour to be, Sir, with the highest considera-
tion, your very humb!e and very obedient servant,
CHATEAUBRIAND.
FRENCH FUNDS, PARIS, Dec. 23. -Five per Cents., 96f. 90e.
Sc.: 75c, 8.5:t. SOc. 75c. 70c. 60c. 50c. 40c. 30c. 40c..50c ; Three per
Cents., 6Sf. SOc. 85c. 65c. 69c. 55c. 50c. 40c 30c. 25c. 35c. 30c. 25c.
•,20, 15e. 30c. .10e. 45c. Rente de Naples, 7Sf. SOc. 70c. 50c. 70c. ;
Royal Spanish Loan, 77V, 77 ; Rente Perpetuelle d'Espagne,
!i•

r. BULWER'S new novel, entitled " Eugene
Aram," is now before the public. It has the reputation,
of being the best of his works, and of including in its pages
two exquisitely delineated female characters, whose fate
i, blended with that of the hero. The seems between
Len ENE and his guilty confederate irresistibly fix the
mind of the reader.

COURT MARTIAL ON COLONEL BRERE-
,,,,N.—We understand that this prosecution will be opened
pro forma on Saturday, the 7th of January next, at Mer-
chants' Hall, and the proceedings commence on the fol:ow-
ing Monday. General DALBIAC 14 the prosecutor. The
c.rnmission will include General Sir IL FANS (President),
General Lord BuIeGIIERSH, six Major-Generals, and other
iffteys. Colonel BKERETON has been furnished with a
copy of the evidence taken on the preliminary Commission
of Inquiry, to enable him to prepare his defonce.