The Sun.
London, England, 1813-12-02 00:00:00

JIOUSE OF COMMONS.

.Lord STANLEY brought up a Petition from seve-
ire; inhabitants of Liverpool, against the propored
Bill for repealing the sth Elizabeth, respecting'
apprentices.
Mr. Sergeant ONSLOW said, he by no means rose'
to object to the Petition being brought up, but
merely to observe, that he thought much misap-
prehension had gone abroad respectin& the Bill
Iwhich he bad .giVen notice it was hitt'lntention
to bring in on this subject. If he" should receive
permission of the House.to bring in his Bill, he
could assure the House and the public, that. it
had never been within his contemplation, to in-
terfere in the smallest degree with chattered
rights, nor would it affect those'descriptions of
persons who appearedlo have taken alarm on the
subject. His only aint in bringing in a Bill on
the subject, if he should be permitted to do so,
was to remove a great number of difficulties and
inconvenieneies to whicit many trades were liable
from the provisions of that Act. •
Mr. Rost said there might be a doubt, whether
attornies were within the Act of Elizabeth ; but
he thought apothecaries certainly were.; for no
man could act us an apothecary, without having
Served an apprenticeship of seven! years.
The Petition was then ordered to lie on the
; as was also one frOm Preston, in Lanca-
shire, on the same suhject.• .
The Watch and Ward 11111 went thrmigh a Committee; the
TV port to-morrow.
Jhr ticelminer Aillc DM, and the Scotch Salt Dill, were
read a third time and prism'.
The Kvport of the Brandy Duties was brought up, the
iti.giolotion agreed to, and a Mil Ordered to •be brought in
thereon. • _ .

A bill was also ordered to he brouzlit in, to inerease the
salaries of the Pollee-office' s in itlislillityrx end Surrey.
The Report on the Stigar Drawtrick Bill was broof,lit up,
and agreed to; and the Bill ordered to be .read third time
tomorrow.
Sir ,I„ SIIAW presented a Petition from the Debtors in
Newgete. Ordered to he on thelablet
`f tie Committees of Supply and Ways and Means, were
rustrontd to Friday.
EAST INDIA TRADE.

. On the Order of the Day being read for the se-
cond reading of the East-India Circuitous Trade
Bill,
FINLAY Said, it was not his intention to
oppose the progress of the Bill, but merely to
inaise a few observations on it. It was his wish,
that the Noble Lord who had brought• forward
the gnestiou of the trade to India in the last Ses-
sion, anti to whom they were all so much indebted
for his exertions, would, iii sane future stake,
make make this Bill more consonant to the principles
he hail then laid down.

Lord",CAsTLattenGn said, he agreed will) the
not). Gentleman ‘vtio had just sat down, that in
opening the trade.. to India in the way that had
been. done last session, the British merchants
ought to•'he put on such a. footing as to enable
them to compete with foreigners, both In America
l►t:d on the Continent of Lurope; and, lucked,

every where, .except with our aravri colonies, who
had particular 4-egplations'a their own.
he firSt introduced the .preSent Bill, he had parti-
cularly inentioned, that ..it:was only one briinch.
of a plan, for the regulation of the trade .to India ;,
and that, by obliging the merchant ships to conic
to the ports io 'lioThgland, it was. thought there
would be apt advantage accrue therefrgin, by
making it a more regithir. and iMportant sys-
tent; but if it shoUld aprw,.r hereafter, that
any •considerable IdisadVantage or inconveni-
encies should be found to 'arise So"'-as to
affect the interests of those to whom the' trade to
India Was thrown open, then it. Nyould he neces
sary and right that they should have a flee and Un-
restricted trade to all foreign Markets, whether
in America or Europe, without touching at this
country. The secimd..branekoC this business was
the most extensivoand ippo: twit ; and he was
therefore, of opinion; the discussion should not
he brought forward till after the recess. When
that should come'on, hObclicvcd the Honourable
Member would, find that. care would he taken. to
secure the interests of the British merchants, and
to place them in at state of advantagoparamount
to those of all foreigners whatever.
_ -

Mr. PArnEr,OE-said,- that his sentiments had
been the same with tin Ise of the Hon. Member,
and it Was his intention to. have said a few words
on the subject ; but be was happy to confess, that
he was highly.gratified and satisfied with the ex-
planation of the Noble Lord.: he did not think it
necessary to detain the House any Joug4.
The DM' was OM a second time, and ordered
to bocommitted to-morrow.- ,
. A Nlessege from the Lords infermed the Hooke, their Lord-
ship% had agreed to the Irish Sugar Draw-haA Bill, and two
other Bilk,

The Militia Volunteer Amendment Bill was read a second
time, and ordered to be committed to-morrow.

, •
The Mutiny 11111 wai ret,,,ondtt,l; the report repeived ;
and the Gill ordered to he read a tisixd time to-morrow.—.l4-

CO2.ONER'S INQUES'r.

Yesterday an .Inquisitiou was taken at the.-Axe,
in Aldermanbury, on the body i)f• S. Prestowe,
beadle of that parish, who was shot by 'l'.
Rhodes, at.the 'house of Messrs. Haigh and Co. -
on Tuesday last.
G. Metcalf'e,.porter in the house of Haigh and
Co. stated,.. that Rhodes,
.who bad been a clerk'
in, the' .house, rushed into • the warehouse, • soon
after seven o'clock on Tuesday mornitig,.aud said
he wanted -money and :Clothes, , Witness was.
alarmed, knowing him, to have .been guilty of
strange tricks,lest he should get his brains knock-.
e'd out. He- inquired for 'Bottondey, the ware,
houseman,,and • soon after left the premises: 'At
twelve o'clock'. he returned, and witness fetched
Prestowe, by direction of Mr. Haigh.' 'He was '
sitting at Mr;Haigh's desk,
,in ..the counting,
house, when the beadle,..artivetl,.having a.pistol in
his right hand) which he tield:.,out. in .a menacing
way, and in-answer to a question' from the officer,
1! What ! have you. got a.piitol P.' said "...Yes ;
anti I have. another." Prestowe desired witness
to step back -a pace or two, and observed, that
he would get round him presiatiy. Prestowe also
uetired a yard or two, and, then. struck him a
smart blow on' the legs' as he ascended, the steps to
secure him, when the prisoner discharged a pis-
tol, and killed him. on the spot. One of the
keepers of St; Luke's- and witness rushed upon
Rhodes, and' secured him with a pistol in his
hand. Witness never/knew of the prisoner being
derarged. He was confined first a twelvemonth
ago, or more, in the -Poultry Compter, for send-
ing threatening letters to-Mr; Haigh. He wits six
or seven years collecting clerk in the house, and,
was nephew-to Mr. Haigh. •
J.. Charles, clerk and warehouseman to the
house of Haigh- and Co. having heard that Rhodes
had got out of-St. Luke's Hospital, went to fetch
two keepers from thence. at eight in the morning.
He imderstdod he. had nbt been .very well,- and
was put into another. -menu, from whence he
escaped. Rhodes Was gone on the arrival of the
men; Witness tioderStood he was confined first at
Miles's, at Hoxton, ,about two months, and.next
at St. Luke's, because he should dot do any one ,
mischief, he having sent threatening letters to Mr.
Haigh. Ile returned again at twelve o'clock, and,
although witness was Ida-ruled, he eonvegsed with
him. Rhodes Wild perfectly
.clear and collected,
and looked at sonic prints in. the wareroom, which
he recognized as sonic of the Old stock when he •.
went away. His ctinVersation was perfectly ye-
gular, and he observed it was a year, on that day
since he was confined, Mr. Haigh would nut see
and
.he walked up the steps. .The two men
from' 'St. Luke's were-there,fantl The constable ar-
rived 30011 after. Witness left them, hut. he heard,
the discharge of
,a'pistol, and saw fate corpse of
Prestowe. Rhodes-had. kept the St.-Luke's niert-
at defiance before Prestowe arrived. Rhodes was
a desperate sort of character, but hernever thought'.
hint insane. He was, to use: the words of witness,
rather a Bellingham; character. He had demanded,
money of Mr. Haigh • when none was due. He
wrote him several threatening letters, and in one-
instance desired hin to make his will. • He never
thought his violent conduct proceeded from any
affection of the mind, but rather from a sullen had
temper. He never heard of -any certificate of
mental derangement from a surgeon, but a doctor
had said he must be mad to write such letters.. •

About 13 mouths ago, he made a demand of 40
or 50,000/. of :.Jr. Haigh, by which, he said, he
could give peace to all the world, and ire had bills
printed to that effect, with a quotation from Isaiah,
and his name signed thereto. These threatening
letters followed this demand.

Mr. Sam. Haigh, clerk in the. house, never
_honk Rhodes insane. Ile called on him. at 8
o'clock on 'Tuesday morning ;• said he was going
to Yorkshire ; talked of his usage, &c. in St. Luke's
in the Most rational manner.
It. was the opinion of the apothecary of St.
Luke's, and the two keepers, that Rhodes was in-
sane. The former stated him to be a man of de-
spondency in general, althotigh he talked much at
intervals about the good, he -could do in bringing
abbot a peace. At other times, he was a gloomy
and silent sort of man.' The Jury returned a ver-
dict of Atone at the time the pist9l was fireiL—
The Verdict was not returned till past twelve at
night.