The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-14 00:00:00

THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.

THE INDEPENDENT AND WEST
MIDDLESEX ASSURANCE COMPANY.

The following account of this villanous scheme was
handed to Sir Peter Laurie by a gentleman in whose
veracity that active Magistrate has the most perfect reli-
ance. It is to be laid before the Committee appointed by
the House of Commons to inquire into the stability of In-
surance Offices, and the writer is to give evidence on the
subject :
" The Independent West Middlesex Assurance Com-
pany consisted of the following persons :—William Hole,
secretary and manager, declared a bankrupt on the 30th
April, 1827 ; Knowles, appointed assignee, paid no divi-
dend; George Williams, solicitor and manager, bankrupt
Dec. 25th, 1832, paid no dividend.
" James Devereux Hustler, physician and manager, was
in the King's Bench Prison in January, 1835, in utter des-
titution ; took the benefit of the Insolvent Act.
" Thomas Knowles, manager, bankrupt, 27th May,
1825; paid no dividend.
" George Edward Williams, jun., auditor, and, from
Oct. 1839, secretary
" William Whittaker, manager, brother to Mrs. Hole.
" John Wilson, manager, the porter to the Company.
" The business being started, and the money freely
paid into the office, large sums were paid by Hole on be-
half of Williams, who at this time had various habitations
and several executions in the house he particularly resided
in—this being at the time Hole banked in the Bank of
England—the cheques of which may be seen. It was
now agreed by the four first-named persons, who consti-
tuted the Company, to appropriate a certain number of
shares to each, for what they were pleased to call their
vested rights. This being done, each and all drew money
on account of the same, and thus arose their houses and
carriages and other things. About this time a singular
document was framed by the lawyer or secretary, namely,
that so many shares should be settled on the wives of
the four first-named persons, by way of annuity, to pro-
duco 150/. yearly to each. Hole, as things proceeded,
assumed to himself more command than was
agreeable to Williams, who, having become more closely
connected with Knowles, on account of an expected matri-
monial alliance between their children, took occasion to
accuse Hole of contemplating embezzlement of the money
of the concern. This led to mutual recrimination, and
was finally arranged by a proposal on the part of Williams,
Knowles, and Hustler, that Hole should retire from the
Company, and receive for his shares, situation, lease of
house (which appears to have been his), and other interests,
the sum of 20,0001., with an annuity of 6001. a year.
This proposal being accepted by Hole, he retired at
Michaelmas, 1839, receiving the greater part of the
2),000L, together with a splendid silver cup and cover, as
a testimooial of his valuable services. From this period
the affairs were in the hands of Williams, Knowles, and
Hustler; Williams, jun., acting as secretary, under the
control of the other three persons.
" Within a month or two from this time Williams
set up a carriage and pair of grey horses, Knowles
the same, young Williams his cab and footman, or
groom, Knowles's son, who also had a situation in the
office, bis cab and groom, Hustler, his horse, and, I
believe, carriage. This lasted until August, 1840,
when the first exposure appeared in a publication
in London, and alarmed the managers, who imme-
diately called upon Hole to resume his situation. Hole
refused to return unless they would consent to give him a
statement of the money received and paid since his retire-
ment. They refused to give such a statement, but said
that the amount received was from 38,0001. to 40,0001.,
and that it had been all expended, and when Hole asked
Williams to let him see the books the reply was, " I'd see
you d—d first." Hole in consequence of this refusal
would not interfere, and as it now appeared plain enough
that an exposure would take place, Williams and his son
reported that they bad retired from the company at Mi-
chaelmas last, thus leaving the concern in the hands of
Knowles and Hustler.

SIR CHARLES BELL ON MEDICAL

REFORM.

(From the Medical Gazette.)
In times of civil contention, said the ancients, it be-
hoves every citizen to take his side, and not affect a
neutrality dangerous to the State ; and now that our
medical republic is so sorely distracted by fears and
jealousies, we hail with pleasure each document which
gives the deliberate opinion of some man of note.
Sir C. Bell, whose pamplet is now lying before us,
comments on the two bills which have attempted to ap-
ply a salve to our professional grievances ; and, like all
other persons, he condemns them. When we do agree,
as Sheridan says of stage concord, our unanimity is
wonderful ; and the Bills for improving the medical
profession have reconciled the most violent antagonists,
and, like some great public calamity have made all other
misfortunes appear trifling by comparison.
Sir C. Bell, however, though utterly rejecting the
little medical parliaments, and all the other queer' de-
vices proposed to make us happy, is by no means per-
fectly satisfied with things as they arc. He is .a Re-
former, but then it is after his own fashion ; he does
not come into the field with any well-know uniform on
his back, but fights like a partisan, in plain clothes,
and does not draw up with the regular troops.
The consequence of this is, that he cuts right and
left without mu3h mercy ; old corporations and new
Reformers share his censure, and his motto seems
to be—

"As a proof that the money at this time was nearly
exhausted, Hole, after many importunities on the part of
Knowles, was induced to put his name to two bills for
5001. each, which on coming due were dishonoured, and
Hole was arrested on the ground of his determination to
quit the country. This, I believe, by dint of hard swear-
ing was got over. At this time the office closed, and
Knowles decamped. Hole having been one of the secu-
rities for the payment of the government dudes, his goods
were seized and sold, and, I believe, the rest of the pro-
perty was attached.

" In the Post-office Directory for 1841, page 1412,
you will find among the managers J. D. Hustler, Esq.,
George Williams, Esq., Thomas Knowles, Esq., and the
Secretary, George E. Williams. Add to which, the
notices for premiums, due at Chiiitmas last, ar© signed
G. E. Williams, Secretary.
" From the foregoing there can be but little doubt that
the object in ridding themselves of Hole on the part of
Williams, Knowles, and Hustler, was to get the funds
into their bands for their own disposal. It only now re-
mains to be stated, that Williams bought houses in Park-
street, Camden-town, also a property at Norwood called
-- Cottage, with several acres of land attached, and
upon which large sums of money have been expended.
That Knowles and Hustler must have secured their share
no one who has heard of the company will question ; but
Hole and Williams appear the only persons in the firm
of the Independent and West Middlesex Life and Fire
Assurance Company who have purchased property."

BANKS OF FRANCE AND

ENGLAND.

The quarterly periodical returns of the Bank of
France, just published, afford a' striking illustration
of the superior advantages and safety which that
establishment confers upon the trading and commer-
cial interests when contrasted with the Bank of
England. We have frequently adduced the system
of management pursued by the Bank of France as
a proof of the benefits which would be enjoyed by the
people of this country, if the Bank of England were so
assimilated to it as to be placed under Government
coatrol, thereby insuring to the public perfect publicity,
and a consequent steadiness of prices by a more uniform
and prudent course of management.
Taking► a few of the average results of the Bank of
France during the last quarter, we find, Francs.
The average amount of bullion on hand was 230,182,500
The average amount of Bank Notes in circu-
lation

Difference 3,045,000
So that the bullion on hand was within 120,000/. of
the notes in circulation. We do not argue that
such a perfect state of " convertibility" could be
supported by the Bank of England, but, if the Di-
rectors were compelled to furnish actual bona fide
quarterly returns of the real state of their affairs, it
is plain enough that they would be more prudent than
hitherto, and that the mercantile interests would be
exempted from these " ups and downs" in the value of
money, which, in past times, have exposed them to such
frequent vicissitudes.

The average returns of the Bank of England, pub-
lished in the Gazelle, appears to have been framed
with the greatest mystery that the ingenuity of the
accountant's department could produce to conceal
from the public a knowledge of the real position
of the affairs of the establishment. The returns
of the Bank of France, on the contrary, arc made clear
and intelligible to every one. The amount of bills dis-
counted is given ; the securities held are separated and
classed, and stated so as to be understood. In the case of
the Bank of England, again, the returns are purposely
prepared so as to make it impossible for them to be
understood All that can be gathered from them is
the general result of an increase or decrease of liabili-
ties, of the circulation, and securities in proportion
to the bullion. Thus far the public may go—but no
further. We entertain a confident expectation
that the Committee on banks of issue will apply
themselves to a redress of this grievance, by com-
pelling the Bank to make periodical intelligible ex-
hibitions of its actual position, framed upon true
commercial principles, as a balance sheet, so that the
merchants of London may know what bullion is
really in the coffers of the Bank, with the same
precision that they can tell the time on the clock.
But perfect publicity is not the only reform which the
public will look for in regard to tho currency on the
expiry of the Bank Charter. The Bank of France
must be adopted as a model to a much greater extent.
The question cannot be slurred over nor blinked.
There must he a full and searching inquiry, and a free,
unfettered Parliamentary discussion.
We have, however, inculcated this doctrine so fully
and frequently on former occasions, that we forbear from
dwelling upon it at present. We shall only repeat apart of
what we said on the 18th of January last, that" the affairs
of the Bank of France show the working of a national
bank, conducted under the immediate superintendenceand
control of officers chosen by the Crown, subjected to
periodical publicity, in contrast with the Bank of
England, managed without any such right of inter-
ference by the Crown, and affording no account to
the public of its actual position. Difference of
opinion in and out of Parliament will, no doubt,
he entertained as to the extent to which the prin-
ciple of Crown interference ought to be carried in
renewing the charter of the Bank of England, but
we are confident it will not long be anything more than
a difference of degree. The expediency of having the
tbvn
haya
et Crown,nt i
ohone a
sl
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eed
nui
nwr,
grt e cne believe will ysn s
oou fub
raj el
cc subjected to the control of Parlia-
ment through the supervision of officers appointed by
plol
an
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snn.
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singenerallhy
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enautdrmoa
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this opimon.--Moriling Chronicle.

Tros Tyriusve fuat, nullo discrimine agetur.
Sir Charles warns the members to whom his pamphlet
is addressed against the bias arising from local prejudices,
and so far he does well ; but when he begs to reflect
that in London they arc " exposed to the influence of
men who form their judgment on very limited expe-
rienee," and " who have not hitherto taken an enlarged
view of this matter," we think that, in phrenological
language, his organ of caution is too strongly deve-
loped. Far from London being under the influence of
local prejudices, it seems rather to approach the unde
fined line where impartiality borders on indifference ;
so that metropolitln sluggishness occasionally forms
a curious contrast with provincial vivacity. In
fact, London, instead of being the heart of
the empire, as it is often called, has sometimes seemed
to us more analogous to the brain—the source of sci.
sat ion to every other part, but itself almost destitute of
feeling.

Did we find, for instance, that Mr. Warburton's
Bill, that bundle of whims and oddities, was discussed
in the capital with heat and agitation, as a thing likely
to annoy the profession extremely ? or, was it talked ot,
like the fortifications of Paris, as a strange freak that
nobody need mind? Does Mr: Hawes's Bill, again,
fill us all with perplexity and terror ? We can assure Sir
Charles that every one waits for its extinction with the
most philosophic composure, and that scarcely an epi-
gram will be written on the occasion.
Sir Charles tells the story of Walter Scott find-
ing Mungo Park throwing stones into the pools of the
Yarrow, that be might learn to judge of the depth of
the rivers in Africa by the time the bubbles took to
rise from the bottom. Park was at this time a country
surgeon, with a practice.of 1501. a year, and "rather
than sutler the privations of his condition, he was con-
templating a perilous aelventure." Mungo Park's ta-
lents clearly did not lie in the country practice line ;
" to sit by the side of a groaning woman till dawn," as
Sir Charles phrases it, was not his forte, and he did
well to give up the Yarrow for the Niger. This anec-
dote scarcely proves, as it is intended to do, that the
income of country surgeons is so small that the Legis-
lature must, at all events, refrain from increasing the
expense of their education. The case is clearly an ex-
ception ; and we have no doubt that Mungo Park's
successors have made larger incomes on the same
ground ! but 71072 omnia possumus omnes ; and the man
who was destined to immortality as a traveller, was
unable to grow popular amongst the farmers' wives on
the Yarrow.
The Legislature, complains Sir Charles, when
they wanted to pass a Medical Act, sent the in-
quiry to a Committee, " and then there is a farce of
taking evidence and receiving the statements of corporate
bodies, all tainted with the imperfections of a rude age."
But surely the Professor would not have rejected all
evidence save that of the malcontents ; and after the
Committee had heard the statements of frail contented
creatures, they must have hastened with a higher zest
to evidence untainted by imperfection ; for none was ex-
cluded—good was allowed admission as well as bad.
Perhaps the following sentence contains a nearer ap-
proach to the marrow of. the question :—.‘ The radical
defect being the attempt to legislate for a profession,
to reconcile the interests of medical men, instead of
looking steadily to the interests of society."
In rude ages, or even now in some continental coun-
tries, it may be advisable for the supreme power in the
State to meddle with the details of ordinary life.
Catharine of Russia issued regulations for the conduct
of evening parties ; but though it might be easy to
prove to the satisfaction of a Committee that for want
of an ukase, ices melt, and lemonade grows lukewarm,
no one has yet advised us to copy the Muscovite model.
In Malta, again, our Government has fixed a tariff
for medical and surgical advice, and while venesection
is recompensed by six taxis, or lOid., the reduction of
hernia claims six times as much.

In this country, however, we leave the settling of
the tariff to doctor and patient, with probably less
dissatisfaction in the main, than on the straightlaced
system intended to prevent all disputes.
Some few and obvious improvements might be safe!y
attainpted. First, sweep away the minor examinini
bodies. Secondly, let each remaining Board qualify
the successful candidate for practice throughout the Bri-
tish empire. Thirdly, on all occasions where the State
comes in contact with our profession, let a more liberal
scale of remuneration be adopted : it is degrading to the
profession, and therefore irjurious to the public, that
the services of an assistant surgeon in the army, or of
the medical officer of a Union, should be rated at less
than those of a tolerable clerk in a house of business.
These are points with which the State may advantage-
ously interfere. But we would warn legislators and re•
formers that the customs of a nation cannot be sud-
denly changed by Act of Parliament.
A very delicate point touched upon by Sir Charles is
the inciifference of the College of Surgeons to the moral
influence of the profession. lie complains of their re-
ceiving certificates from anatomists of irregular habits,
and observes that during his thirty years' experience of
teaching in London, hundreds of young men entered the
profession with the worst examples before them. But
what would have been said of the College, had it at-
tempted an inquisition into the morals of lecturers, or
refused a certificate from a teacher, because, though a
good anatomist, he was a free liver ?
One more point,
and we must have done—at least
for the present. Sir Charles Lill complains of the
small rewards bestowed on the exertions of practitioners
of physic, compared with those lavished on other
learned professions. So far he is right : no medical
practitioner occupies in English society the station of
a Bishop or a Judge. But when he goes on to. say
that there is no worthy tribunal to judge the merits of
our profession, and that all success depends upon igno-

rant rumour, or the /.rejudiee of fashion, we are corn-
pded to (MKT from him. Indeed, we may quote
his own example against his own theory. In any
scientific association, from the Neva to the Tagus,
when the nerves become the subject of discussion, the
name of Bell is quoted as an authority. Is not this
fame ?

,OAIAIITTAL FOR \VILFUL MURDER.—TIic
Francesla Bostock, whose throat
astt,hat a beer-house in Liver.
fdoiuelddeedt Infirmaryc,rndanf
the cnitLAcloonfd\aly,..
scii-iLfactuetiorr thuengBtl7onif aMna'reh
it had lived since the
Thepl - r pool-road, ad ,
perpetrator Blanchester,
of t h
e
d
Hampson, with wllhoams
aptphreehdeenced-te
death of his wife,
will be recollected, -
soon after he committed the act '
, and was k • •
until the fate of the young woman was kno n''
Harripsonisby Insolvent Debtors' Court.
pt in custody Numerous robberies have been committed in the
For some time past hats have
_ his living by disappeared in the twinkling of an eye, whilst the owners
trade a millwright, but latterly had partly
selling green-groceries in the public markeehtg:dtrHe
three years of age, and has five young eis thirty_ have had their elbows at the side of them. It, is canto_
them by his deceased wife, and the other by then'
Frances Rostock, who was about twenty-one years of
four of mar), for persons to place their hats on the reporters' box,
deceased or on the table provided for attorneys, and whilst they
age. Hampson's wife, we understand, died of have listened to an examination or asked a question, the
but hats have been mixed, and in their stead one left not
by whom administered it could nut be ascertained,
, the
eYjouung been committed. Mr. Hutton,
On worth piekliirr up. There is a set of skulking fellows
Thursday last an inquest was held at the infirmary, before , about the Court, and many depredations have recently
Mr. Chapman, over the body of the murdered
news-agent in Catheiiee_
woman, when the evidence having been heard,
s,
Wilfulry, ts.treet, lost a good hat in the manner described a short
after a short consultation, returned a verdict of
back ; and a gentleman last week was similarly
mur.'cr against William Hampson," and the prisoner was robbed,
committed, on the ccroncr's warrant, for trial at the Live:_ tohobsed.
, e who visit the place cannot be put too much on
Other robberies have been committed, and
poo lA6sizes, ‘ their guard.

Texas is larger than France ; its soil is said to be
unsurpassed by any in the world, and its climate admir-
ably adapted to the European constitution. It is ca-
pable of producing more cotton than all the United
States, of a better quality, and at a cheaper rate. Sugar
can also be cultivated to great advantage ; and all the
grains, and fruits, and vegetabl es of Europe can be
raised in great abundance. It is the only country in
America where cotton and sugar can be extensively
cultivated by white labour. Hides, tallow, beef, furs,
peltries, live oak and cedar timber, can also be exported
to almost any extent. The inhabitants are intelligent,
bold, hardy, enterprising, and industrious, of the Anglo-
American race. They have formed a government mo-
delled after that of the United States, except that it is
a single sovereignty of similar interests, instead of
a federative system of different interests, which
gives it prospects of greater permanency, efficiency, and
simplicity, and renders it more acceptable to European
tastes and notions. By the constitution they have de-
clared the African slave-trade piracy ; they have este-
Wished religious toleration, and made all equal before
the law. They have adopted the common law of Eng-
land ; and the laws are promptly and impartially ad-
ministered. Religious and literary institutions are
springing up in all directions, and are liberally endowed
by the Government. Emigration is pouring into the
country, with unprecedented rapidity. Society is im-
proving ; and the English language, literature, and
civilization is spreading, with railroad rapidity, over
scenes which were, five short years ago, a wilderness.
The people of Texas have wisely established a very
cheap government ; the debt of the republic amounts
only to about 600,000/., and she has an unappropriated
public domain of 150,000,000 acres, intrinsically as
valuable as any land in the world ; this source, with the
most reduced scale of taxes, will support the government
for a century.—Colonial Magazine.