The Sun.
London, England, 1822-07-30 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY PAPER.

An Official Return of the gross and net amount of all the
astessed-taies, payable and paid in Ireland, except the win-
dow and hearth tax, for the last seven years, distinguishing
each year, has been printed pursuant to an order of the House
Of Commons. It presents a melancholy reduction in all the ar-
ticles connected with the superior classes of society, thus evinc-
ing a diminution in their numbers, their means, or both.
The amount of duty paid for carriages within Fe. s. 1.
. • 117,570 7 7
. . 58,363 10 114
ForD ittht osee, YavenaatheiBnreiaBwr:6l2B22 . ' ..,
. . 54,471 0 (P.
Ditto in 1822 . • . . 36,607 17 , 5
04,577 1 2.
56,886 9 5

For es in 1816

Ditto in 1822

For dogs in 1816
Ditto in 1822

Coachmaleers in 1816
Ditto for 1822 .

Total in 1816

104,577 1 2!)

15,1;59 19 8
515 18 01

734 1 24
284 18 4-

293,273 11 9i

Ditto in 182 . . . 160,f150 14 2' -
.
The falling off in the last six years thus appears to be nearly
one half. The decline in the intervening years was uniformly
gradual in'almost every branch.

We are assured that the following is an ac-
curate account of the state of the Wool Trade :—The best flocks
of South-down Ewe and llogget, where there is an equal quan•
tity of each, are selling from 38s. to 425. per tod (owing to
two houses at Bradford, that are now buying in this country,
to see which can make the best yarn for Norwich market), when
they are not worth more than for Southdown ewe 28s. to 30s.
and the Southdown hogget 325. to 355. Norfolk ewe and hog-
get 21s. to 265. for the very best crop by the Southdown ewes
and Leicester tup. The sheailing wether 245. to 275. and Lei-
cester ewe and hogget is not worth more than 24s.—(Bury Paper)
The late heavy rains have done immense da-
mage to the growing crops in this neighbourhood, in many of
which the sprit has already made its appearance. Indeed the
general appearance of the weather very much resembles that of
the autumn of last year.—(Chester le).Chroni,
_

The flannel trade in Montgomeryshire is good.
This trade is considered the greatest means of support among
the small farmers in Wales; it enables them to pay their
rents, which otherwise many of them could not do, under the
heavy demands for tithes and taxed necessaries.--(North
Wales Advertizcr.)

- • in .
Fruit is so plentiful this town and neigh-
bourhood, that fine cherries are selling at -three feelings rer
lb. ; gooseberries the same price per quart ; and apples at from
ls. to ls. 4d. per hundred.—( Plymouth Paper.)

MARRIAGE ACT AMENDMENT BILL.

FOR THE SUN.
TO THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF ELDON,
LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND, &C. &C.

LETTER I.
My LORD-1s a Peer who strenuously op-
posed the recent adoption of what has been
called " The Marriage Act Amendment Bill,"
perhaps your Lordship will allow an humble in-
dividual to address a few remarks to you upon
that most extraordinary measure. I beg to be
understood distinctly, that in commenting upon
the Act, any expressions which I may feel it
'necessary to have recourse to, must not be con-
sidered as in the least applicable to the dignified
assemblies through which it has passed, but as
totally confined to the measure itself, as affecting
the nearest and dearest interests of all classes of
the community. With respect to a measure, my
Lord, of such fearful importance, it is surely ad-
visable that the most extended discussion should
take place, in order to produce that ultimate
benefit and legislation which the exigencies of
the case so loudly demand. In addressing your
'Lordship upon the present occasion, I trust I
shall not be accused of presumption ; as I only
venture to address you, from a desire to call the
attention of the public to a measure which your
Lordship so firmly opposed. I should indeed be
deserving of unqualified ridicule, were I capable
for one moment of harbouring the extravagant
idea that it was possible for your Lordship not
to have felt in tenfold force any valid objection
that can have occurred to a mind like mine.
My Lord, it is not one of the least remarkable
circumstances attending the Act to which I
refer, that it received the'adoption of the Legis-
lature, against the declared opinions of the
--greatest Lawyers the age has produced. Parlia-
ment have usually paid that respect and defe-
rence to those who. have devoted' their lives to
the study of ,the law—to those who have studied
it to understand, and" administered it to satisfy,
which is certainly due ' • but in the recent in-
stance this respect and deference appear, from
some unaccountable cause, to have been with-
drawn, and the public have witnessed the novel
spectacle of a Bill of the highest possibre con-,
sequence to, the Peer and the peasant—to the
comfort of the domestic circle, and the well-

being of the public in general—carried through
both Houses against the decided and strongly ex-
pressed opinions of the highest legal characters
in the country, and notwithstanding the open and
fervent opposition of a Lord Chancellor, and
that Chancellor, LORD ELDON !—Doubtless, my
Lord, Parliament are not bound to be guided by
legal opinions, nor would it be right to affirm
that they did not consider them when given. In
saying what I have, I only allude to what has
been the usual practice, and in observing upon its
'having been laid aside in the late case, I do not
intend to impute to our Legislators either im-
proper motives or irregular conduct. Every good
subject is bound to believe that Parliament had
some valid reason for the course it thought
proper to adopt; and I sincerely join in that
belief. In a case, however, where it is under-
: stoo.d, on all hands, that an Act is not a final one,
'but to he •explained and amended by subsequent
enactments, I apprehend that no irregularity will
be committed in commenting rather freely upon
;t. The recent Act begins with repealing that
part of the ACt of the 26 Geo. 11. which re-
guired the consent of parents and guardians to
the marriages of minors by licence. It is to be
remarked that this repeal extends from Monday
last (22d inst.) on which day the Bill received
the Royai assent. Now, my Lord, I should
wish to be infortned, under these circumstances,
what is the law at this moment in England, with

respect to the Marriages of Minors by Licence
I should like to know, my Lord, what is the
law to be acted on until the Ist of September
next ? The Act of the 23 Geo. 11. is repealed—
nothing, as I see, is substituted in its stead—and,
unless the ancient Canon Law can be again
=Drought into operation, there is no law whatever
applicable to the cac.n. What! is there no ex-
Dress Legislative Enactment remaining on the
Statute book of England to meet so important a
case, and one of such frequent occurrence ? I
believe, my Lord, there is none regulating the
Marriages of Minors by Licence, and fortunate
indeed it is for the public that the 26 Geo.ll. did
not expressly repeal the Canon Law, or at this
moment the country would probably have been
left without directions on the point. I do not
believe that the framers of the recent Act in-
-tended to revive the Canons of 1603—they surely
could never intend to leave the country exposed
to the operation of provisions so confused and
difficult of apprehension. I ask, too, whether it
was their intention to render the consent of both
the father and mother of a minor necessary be-
fore a licence for marriage could be obtained ?
This, however, is now the law of the land—is at
least the law obligatory on the authorities who
have the power of granting licences ; and what
is more, until the Ist September next, any de-
parture from the forms laid dawn by the Canons
for the granting of licences, will (as far as the
Canons are concerned) render those instruments
void. I ask again, was this contemplated by
the Act, and is it not directly at variance
with its professed principle ? If any one, my
Lord, had affirmed, six months since, that we
should have' travelled back to the age of
JAMES I. for Legislation, or rather for di-
rections, on so highly important a subject, I
fancy much attention would not halite been paid
to his assertion. The Act was professedly passed
to obviate litigation and promote certainty ; but
there is only occasion to refer to the second arid
'five following clauses to shew how completely it
is likely to fail in these objects. The number of
questions which may be raised upon the second
clause as to the cohabitation of parties whose
marriages are intended to be validated by the
Act are by no means few ; and with respect to
the third section, it is involved in considerable
obscurity. It is as follows—" Provided always,
and be it enacted, that nothing in this Act con-
tained shall extend or he construed to extend
to render valid any marriage declared invalid
by au Court of competent jurisdiction be-

fore the passing of this Act, nor any mar-'
riage where either of the parties shall at
any time afterwards, daring the life of the
other party, have lawfully intermarried with
any other person." As far as the clause goes to
the principle of non-interference with marriages
which had been declared invalid, previous to the
passing of it, nothing can be said ; but the con-
eluding part of the clause it is not very easy to
understand. The difficulty arises upon the word
" afterwards." At first sight, it does not appear
very consonant with common sense, for an Act of
Parliament to declare that it is not to " render
valid" a marriage lawfully solemnized before the
passing of it. The question naturally arises, if
the marriage had been lawfully solemnized, why
need the Act have alluded to' it at all ? As I
said before, the difficulty arises upon the word
" afterwards." If the clause is to be understood
as confined to the cases of those whose first mar-
riages have been declared void by a competent
Court, then undoubtedly the word " afterwards"
will be understood as applying to the period
which intervened between the pagsing of the
sentence, and the second marriage of both or
either of the parties whose prior marriage had
been declared void. The clause, however, will
bear another construction ; the word " after-
wards" may refer to any period after the solem-
nisation of a marriage de facto clearly illegal,
and where both or either of the parties marry
again. The latter part of the clause is not so
exclusively connected with the former part as to
limit its operation to the first case I have men-
tioned ; and therefore I conceive that a wide
door for litigation is opened, in cases where par-
ties, presuming on the ipso facto illegality of a
first marriage, have ventured on a second con-
nection.

I shall resume the consideration of the subject
to-morrow, and in the interim beg to subscribe
myself, my Lord, your Lordship's obedient and
humble servant,
July 29, 1822. BRITANNICUS.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

VINDICATION OF CIIARACTER.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.—:Messrs. ADOLPIIUS and AL-
LEY having done with a case of felony in which they were en-
gaged yesterday, the latter drew a Sunday newspaper from
his.pOcket, which contained an obnoxious paragraph, copied
from an Evening Paper of Saturday, as it avowed, as follows :

" In the meanwhile look at the Bishop's bail, which, accord-
ing to an account published-in our Paper of yesterday by Ex.
Sheriff Parkins, and signed with his name, is even less than
that which we had before read. Mr. Parkins states this bail to
have been only 5001. for the Bishop himself, and two suretiesin 2501. each ; but why have we not, as in other cases, the
names of the two tradesmen?' Were they tradesmen ? We do
not believe it. We have heard to , the contrary. We have
heard that one of the bail belonged to a profession not usually
very fond of becoming bail. However, all must come out at
last."
Mr. ALLEY addressed Mr. Dyer on the flagrant attack made
on himself, or a respectable Attorney by whom he was employ-
ed, by the insinuation contained in the above paragraph, which
it was impossible any man could read without supposing that
one or the other had been bail on the occasion alluded to,
by the words marked in italics. The Learned Cour sel re-
quested of Mr. Dyer, the Clerk, and Officers who were pre-
sent, to state whether there was any foundation for such re-
port, or whether such had originated with them ? The answer
to which was—" Certainly not." Mr. Alley took leave dis-
tinctly to say, that the person with whom the report originated,
be he whom he may, was a liar, a slanderer, and a coward, a base,
infamous coward, who had asserted a falsehood behind his back,
which dared not attempt in his presence. Mr. Alley observed,
that it was a most cruel thing, that being called upon in the
usual way by a most respectable Attorney to attend profes-
sionally for a bad man, that he should become an object of
malignant slander. He was not conscious of having deviated
from his usual practice; that it was against the etiquette
of the profession to become bail for a client; and he de-
dared upon his honour that he had never bailed a man in
his life; and, on the occasion alluded to, had any one asked
such a thing, he ahould have been tempted to spit in his face.
On the char'e having been established for the misdemeanor,
he submitted- that the defendant was entitled to bail, without
any allusion to the amount. He believed that Mr. Parkins
had no participation in the declaration stated, although the
writer spoke in the plural throughout. Mr. Cobbett, he was
informed, is as the avowed Editor of the Evening Paper. He
was not aware he had ever done an unkindness to Cobbett • nor
could he even have incurred his displeasure as a political op-
ponent, as he never interfered in politics ; and he was sur-
prised that he should have lent himself to so unjust and un-
warrantable an attack.
Mr. DYE it observed. that Mr. Alley conducted himself upon
the occasion with that delicacy and propriety he had ever ob-
served of him; .7.nd he was sorry so many observations, un-
founded in truth, should have found their way into the news-
papers. The Magistrate observed, that he had no apology to
make, and he considered the many observations that had been
made as having originated in ignorance or malice, in those
whose disposition it was to attack the public institutions and
constituted authorities of the country.

UNION TIALL.—ROBBERY BY A SERVANT.—Yester-
day a young female of interesting appearance, named Cathe-
rine Slee , was brought up in thecustody of Rice, the offi-
cer, charged with stealing from a letter, a banker's cheque j
for the amount of 26/. 12s. 6d. the property of her master,
Mr. William Ford, a maltster, at Nine Elms, Battersea.—
The prisoner in her defence said, that as she was carrying
the letter to the Post-office, the child that she took with her
cried to have it, and in order to pacify it, she gave the child
the letter, who broke the seal and the cheque tumbled out.—
She was fearful if she made it known to her master he would
discharge her, therefore she tore the letter in pieces and kept
the cheque by her. She declared she never had any notion of
procuring the money for it.—The Magistrate said the charge
was sufficiently made out against her, to authorize his sending
her to take her trial for the robbery ; and she was committed
accordingly.
ILITToix-GARDEN.—Yesterday Thomas Maxwell, other-
wise Redman, Thomas Owen, otherwise Stayer, Williani Picker-
ing, otherv:is?, Skinner, and Peter Hand, better known by, the
name of Pcter the Bold, and six more of the bargemen who were
charged with being concerned in the riot and combination to
raise their wages or last Thursday morning, when the 3d regi-
ment of Guards were to embark at Paddington on board 26 of
Messrs. Pickford and Co.'s boats for Liverpool, were brought
up for examination. The prisoners in defence stated, that they
were compelled, under a threat of being thrown into the water,
to join in the riot by the rest of the bargemen, particularly by
Owen, Chester, SVorssel, and little George, (nicknames) their
real names they did not know, none of whom are yet in cus-
tody. The Magistrates being satisfied with the proof against
the prisoners, committed them to prison to abide their trials at
the ensuing Session.

YORK, JULY 27.—SENTENCES OF ALL THE PRISONERS.
At three o'clock Baron WOOD passed sentence on the pri-
soners which had been convicted, as follows :
Death.—Robcrt Moseley, Robert Ibbetson, Isaac Jessop,
Robert Craggs, Robert Wright, and Robert Moore, for bur-
glary; Robert Welford, for stealing from a dwelling house to
the amount of 401.; James Brown and George Colley for sa-
crilege ; Henry Thompson, William Brammer, and Roger
Dobson, fOr highway robbery ; James Hewson, for horse-
stealing ; and Marroaduke Mennison, for sheap-stealing.—
Mercy would, his Worship intimated, be extended to all ex-
cept to Dobson, for robbing the mail.
Transportation for Steen Ycars.—Jane Hardy, for con-
veying files and saws into the Castle, to aid the escape of her
husband. . .

Judgment Arrested.—Thomas Wood, for receiving stolen
goods, knowing them to be so, of the value of tenpence.

The Liverpool Sessions commenced on Mon-
day last : among other bills presented by the Grand Jury was
one against T. B. Johnson for a libel on Mrs. M'Gibbon. The
libel charged that Lady and several other performers at the
theatre with having entered into a conspiracy to compel Mr.
Vandenhoff to quit the stage by unfair and harassing behaviour
towards him.

Extract of a Letter from the Agents to Lloyd's

at Genoa; dated 18th inst.

" Mr. Ctiocr, Master of the Sardinia brig La
Pace, arrived in this port yesterday from Con-
stantinople, which he left on the 15th ult., re-
ports, that the Grecian fleet, on the night of the
18th, burnt and destroyed the greater part of
the Turkish fleet off Cisme, by means of fire-
ships.—We learn that this statement has been
also given by Mr. BALDINI, Master of the Aus-
trian brig 11 Comnzercio de Triest, who arrived
yesterday from Odessa. Should the intelligence
be correct, it will no doubt be soon confirmed
by other channels."

The Paris Papers of Saturday and Sunday have
arrived. They contai❑ little intelligence of any
interest, except the following article respecting
Spain, from the Drapeau Blanc, the most violent
of the Ultra Journals, to which no credit is to
be attached ; for not the slightest effect had been
produced at Paris by this news on the Spanish
Stock, nor is there any allusion to the counter.
revolution at Madrid, mentioned by the Drapeau
Blanc, in the Spanish Papers of the 18th, which
have arrived in town, and which, on the contrary,
assert that all was quiet and orderly in Madrid.

PAnis, JULY 28.—News which reached us to-day from the
Spanish frontier announce that Madrid is in the power of the
Royalists, and that the King is rescued from the hands of the
Jacobins.

A private letter states that General Morillo put himself at
the head of the Royalist party, and completely defeated that of
the Liberals. Every-where the emblems called Constitutional
are destroyed, and nothing is heard hut the cry of " Viva el
Rey veto !""

What gives great consistency to this news is, the reserve
with which the liberal papers announce that a courier, coming
from the south, arrived yesterday at ten o'clock in the morn-
ing, at the house of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. •

The question was agitated some days before, to know whe-
ther the King could be forced to. quit his palace, and whether
the Municipality would not require, that, under the pfetext of
safety, he should be shut up in the Palace of Buen-Itetiro,
formerly a royal habitation, but transformed into a fortress
since the occupation of Madrid by the French.
The news from Andalusia, very alarming for the Jacobin
party, made them alter their resolution, which had it been car-

ried into execution, would have renewed the frightful captivity
of the Temple. The Spaniards, then, will have the sole ho-
nour of having with their own hands strangled the monster of
the revolution, without foreign aid, and then they will in truth
deserve the epithet of of heroic.

The French Chamber of Deputies is still
occupied in discussing the various articles of
the Budget. On the resolution that 50,000
francs be voted for the encouragement of
primary instruction, M. DE LA BORDE proposed
that the vote should be doubled in favour of the
plan of mutual instruction. This was opposed by
the Minister of the Interior, and the amendment
was rejected. It would appear that the present
Government of France is hostile to the Bell and
Lancaster System, because it is best calculated
to diffuse instruction among the mass of the
people ; an object which they have evidently
no disposition to promote, by their recent no-
mination of the Abbe de Fraysinous to super-
intend the Establishments of Public Instroction,
who had declared that the people ought not to
be taught to read or write.
On the proposal of the sum of 190,000 francs,
for the encouragement of sciences, letters, the
fine arts, and the dramatic art, and 220,000
francs for subscribing to national works, M. B.
CONSTANT objected to the grants, and moved
their suppression, on the ground that the promo-

Lion of letters, sciences, and the arts was best
consulted by a total independence of Govern-
ment protection. M. RoDET, continuing the dis-
cussion, objected to the sums destinued for the
re-establishment of the Statues of Louis XIII.,
Louis XIV., and Louis XV.,on whose charac-
ters he animadverted in such strong language as
to call forth the violent disapprobation of the
right side, which ultimately reduced him to
silence. On the resolution being proposed, that
575,000 francs be set apart for defraying the ex-
pences of the Protestant worship, M. CHAUBAUD
LATOUR complained of its insufficiency, and of its
disproportion to the Protestant population, which
exceeded 1,200,000, to the amount of the contri-
butions paid by Protestants to the general sup-
port of religion, and added that it would ❑ot equal
the twentieth part of their necessities, with regard

o places of worship. Ife therefore proposed that

it should be raised to 700,000, admitting, at the
same time, the gratifying fact that there were
more Protestant places of worship•and more Pro-
testant pastors appointed since theßestoration,than
under the preceding Government. The Minister
of the Interior, in opposing the amendment, stated
that the funds destined for the building and re-
pairs of Protestant Churches was in proportion
to those granted for the same purposes to the
Catholics. The amendment was rejected.
The following are further extracts :

PARIS, JULY 27.—The affair of Messrs. Peugniet, Walther,
and 'Prole, officers of artillery, accused of having attempted to
form secret associations against the Government, was brought
on the 22d before the Second Council of War of the Fifth Mi-

litary Division (Strasburgh). M. Peugniet was defended by
M. Lichtenberger, M. Walther by M. Detroyes, and M. 'Prole
by M. Fargcs-Alericourt ; all three Advocates of the Courts at
Strasburgh. The first sitting was devoted to the reading of do-
cuments ; the interrogatory of the accused and the examination
of witnesses, who are not numerous!, is to take place on the 23d ;
the speeches of Counsel will commence on the 24th.
A Petition was this day presented to the Chamber of Depu-
ties, signed by 130 inhabitants of the town of Malhausen, who
demand an inquiry into the events which took place in the De-
partment of the Upper Rhine, on the 2d and 3d of July, and
into the conduct of superior Authorities on that occasion.—
( Constitutionnel.)
MADRID, JULY 16.—The militia are held in destestation by
the population for their conduct on the 7th. All respectable
people recoil from them, and many demand certificates to prove
that they took no part in the massacre. The hospitals in which
the wounded royal guards are placed, are abundantly provided
Iwith every necessary. The comntuneros take great credit to
themselves for the care they bestow on the wounded ; but every
body knows that this care results from the active liberality and
lbenevolence of the most honourable people in Madrid.—(La
Quotidienne.)
FRENCH FUNDS.-JULY 27.
Five per Cents 9l f. 25 c.
Bank Stock l6OO f. c.
Exchange on London—One Month 25 f. 35 c,
Three Months 25 f. 20 c.
Frankfort Papers to the 22d inst. have also arrived. From
Aix-la-Chapelle we learn that the Turks persevere in their
intentions of 'occupying Moldavia and Wallachia; and that
the disasters experienced by the Ottoman squadron, and the
death of the Capitan Paella, have been confirmed by commer-
cial letters. These events had produced a great sensation at
Constantinople; and the rage of the people and the troops
knew no bounds. The intentions of Russia relative to Turkey
are involved in the same doubt and mystery. It is evident, by
the following extracts, that the question between those two
powers is far from settled.
NUREMBERG, JULY 17.—The Nuremberg Correspondent
of this date contains the following (undated) article :
"RUSSIA.—A report continues to prevail, that the Emperor
will shortly undertake a long journey out of the empire, which
will occupy the whole summer, and even part of the autumn.
It is already determined that the Empress, who is at present
indisposed at Zarkjiselo, will remove, on the Emperor's de-
parture, to Oranienbaum. Count Capo d'lstria and Baron
Strogonoff were indisposed before the Emperor's journey to
Lithuania, and had not appeared for some time at Court, or in
the cabinet council. M. de Tatischeff seems at present to enjoy
in an extraordinary degree the confidence of the Emperor. The
contents of the circular note are now pretty well known, which
was issued by our cabinet on the affairs of Turkey to the great
European Powers shortly after the departure of the Emperor
to Wilna, and the second journey of M. de Tatischeff to
Vienna, and which was sent by couriers from St. Petersburgh
to the Russian Ambassadors at Vienna, Paris, London, and
Berlin, with orders to communicate it officially to the Courts
to which they were accredited. A great part of this Note ap-
pears, as far as the sense is concerned, to agree with the
, document which was lately published by the Constitution-
ad, as having been sent to it from an unknown quarter.—
The expressions and terms are, however, often different.—
That published by the. Constitutionnd is, perhaps, an older
document, which was issued from St. Petersbu at a time
when our Cabinet still hesitated on the decision of the question
of war or peace, in which, perhaps, there has been only a con-
fusion of tile dates. The Circular Note issued by the Russian
Court, in the month of May, is so far of a pacific complexion
as the wish and inclination of the Emperor to maintain peace
with the Porte is expressed in it in a clear and unequivocal
manner; but at the same time it is made a condition of this
maintenance of peace, that the Turkish Government shall scru-
pulously fulfil the written and verbal promises which it has
' made to the Ministers of the Mediating Powers at COnstanti-
nople. When the Circular Note in question was drawn up, in
the office of Count Nesselrode, the last Official Note, addressed
on the 18th April by the Reis Effendi to Viscount Strangford,
in Pera, had already been communicated to our Cabinet by
Baron Lebezeltern, the Austrian Ambassador at St. Peters.