The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY_ MORNING, MARCH 6, 1847.

NEW NOVEL, BY THE AUTHOR OF "SUSAN HOPLEY.''
Now ready at all the Libraries, in 3 vols.,
THE STORY OF LILLY DAWSON.
By Mrs. CROWE.
Authoress of " Susan Hopley."
" Lilly Dawson is a heroine of quite as interestnag, a character as
Susan Hopley ; and her adventures are not less romantic. Mrs.
Crowe's style possesses a clan in which renders her work irresistible."
—Dispatch.
Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

NEW WORK BY THE AUTHOR OF " THE RANSOM."
Now ready at all the Libraries, in 3 vols., post Svo.,
KIRKIIOLME PRIORY;
or, Modern Heroism.
By the Author of " The Ransom."
Richard Bentley, New Burlington•street.

HENRY RUSSELL AT THE STRAND
THEATRE.

o—
poser of Woodman spare that Treo—lvy Green—The Gam-
bler's wife —The Maniac—Ship on Fire—The Life Boat-I'm Afloat
—Newfoundland Dog—and other Popular Songs, will give his
VOCAL ENTERTAINMENT THIS EVENING, AND EVERY
EVENING. lie will sing the Song of the Shirt—Paupers Drive—
Gambler's Wife—Ship on Fire ; &c. &c.—Songs and incidents of
Negro Life and Character.
Boxes, 3s. ; Stalls, 2s. ; Pit, Is. ; Gallery 6d. ; Private Boxes, 11. Is.
Box-office open from One till Four daily.

TH E WEATHER.--Sum OFFICE, MARCH 5.
THERMOMETER, Lowest, 38; Highest, 42 ; Noon, 40.
BAROMETER, 30 31.—WIND N.E., hazy.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON-BRIDGE THIS DAY.
hforn!ng .. 22 minutes after 4. I Evening .. 36 minutes after 4

would be idle to suppose but that among so numerous
a body of men, constantly augmented in order that
their efficiency may be equal to the exigencies occa-
sioned by a rapidly increasing population, some of
them will be found from time to time to abuse the
authority with which they are invested, and to be
guilty of most opprobrious conduct. The infirmities
of human nature preclude us from harbouring the
conviction, that, do what we may, the rights and
liberties of the subject, and the ends of justice itself,
will be faithfully guarded and sustained in every in-
stance by those upon whom we have the best claim
for protection to property, liberty, and life. We
cannot dispense with a police force, and must there-
fore remain liable to isolated acts of aggression, in-
vasive of the rights of the people, and subversive of
public morals, by the very men who are employed
and paid to preserve and promote both the one and
the other. The only remedy we have against such
treachery under the guise of authority, and which,
from those who occupy the bench in our
different courts, superior and subordinate, we natu-
rally expect to see most rigidly enforced is, that when
the members of a corps, constituted to aid in the
prevention of crime, themselves become criminal,
they should be visited with severe and exemplary
punishment. But whilst we lament the way in which
the police have for some time past loosened the hold
which they had upon the confidence of the public, by
reason of the nefarious practices in which they have
been proved to have engaged themselves, when we con-
sider the case to which we are about to allude,
our wonder is that their crimes have not been
more numerous. In truth this may have
been the case, of which, to its real extent, the public
have been prevented from coming to the knowledge,
in consequence of the opportunities possessed by the
police of shielding their colleagues, and of which, it
is notorious, they have not scrupled to avail them-
selves. By what follows it will be seen that a latent
poison has been suffered to remain in the very system
itself, entirely destructive of all moral energy, and
directly tending to undermine, through the tempta-
tions thrown in their way, and the lures held out to
them by the authorities of a public department, every
qualification desirable for the proper discharge of
their important functions.
In the Central Criminal Court, on the 3d inst.,
before the Chief Baron, a man and a woman were
indicted for feloniously having had in their possession
a mould calculated to make counterfeit coin. When
the case for the prosecution was closed,—which pre-
sented evidence of so inconclusive a character that
the Chief Baron declared it to be insufficient to war-
rant the counsel for the prisoners addressing the
Court,—the subjoined was elicited by Mr. PAYNE
and the Judge :
"Mr. Payne, for the prisoner—How did you come to be
sent to this place ? Brennan said he went in pursuance of
written instructions from the Mint solicitor.

" In answer to further questions from the Learned Counsel,
the sergeant said that officers who were witnesses for the
Mint were not paid according to the usual scale, but received
as much as ss. and 7s. a day for their attendance.
"The Chief Baron asked the witness whether he received
7s. a day for his attendance at the Court ? lie replied that
he did.

"The Chief Baron then inquired whether he received that
7s. in addition to his pay as sergeant of police, and he replied
in the affirmative.
"The Chief Baron asked him the amount of his pay? The
sergeant replied 255. per week.
"The Chief Baron—And the Mint pay you nearly double
when you are employed by them."

Comment upon the above is rendered superfluous.
The summing up of the Chief Baron and the verdict
speak volumes. We cannot do better than extract
them from the report of this singular trial :

His Lordship then addressed the jury, and in the course
of his observations said he could not understand how such
a mode of payment of witnesses by the Mint had originated,
but he must express his opinion that it was highly improper.
He could not see why a person who was in tits service of the
public as a police-officer should receive double the amount
of his pay i❑ that capacity when engaged ss a witness for the
Mint, and although ke would not go the length of saying
that it would induce men to commit the horrible crime of
getting up cases against innocent parties for the sake of ob-
taining that additional allowance, yet so far as his experience
trent as a criminal judge, he must say that he did not think it safe
for persons in that capacity to be so paid by the Mint, and he
said this in the hearing of the authorities of that establish-
ment, because he thought it was a practice that should be
discontinued.

" The jury immediately returned a verdict of Not Guilty.
and the foreman said that the jury entirely concurred in the
observations of his Lordship with regard to the mode adopted
by the Mint of p crying the witnesses, and trusted it would not
be acted upon in future."

We have purposely abstained from going into the
merits of the case, as affecting the guilt or innocence
of the parties tried, because we are satisfied that no
English jury would convict persons, were the evi-
dence ever so clear, so long as the system, which hap-
pily has been herein exposed, shall be suffered to con-
tinue. 'We have no doubt of its being immediately
abandoned. Our surprise is, that it should ever have
been sanctioned.

The Chief Baron and the jury deserve the warmest
commendation fur the unqualified reprehension which
they respectively cast upon the authorities of the
Mint.

inasmuch as he did not give the orders to the plain-
tiffs to do the work, and therefore they must look to
the parties who gave them the orders. The secretary
and solicitor are then to be attacked, and
made responsible for all the debts, men who
were what ?—the " servants " of the committee ! !
You might just as well turn round upon your baker,
and those who have supplied you with the necessa-
ries you required, and say, I shan't pay ; I didn't
order the bread; look to the party who ordered it—
" the servant." Is that servant to pay for what you re-
quired, and for what-you did, or expected to, derive
benefit from? The thought is preposterous. The judges,
then, rule that the committeeman is not liable, unless
he gives the orders himself. Well, to illustrate this
phase of the affair, let us suppose a company where
there were 150 provisionals-100 out of them happen
to live perhaps CO or 100 miles away from the
offices of the company. Were all these men
to walk to the tradesmen and request them
to do such and such things necessary to bring
the affairs of the company to a successful issue?
They would have laughed at the idea. They left
those things to the secretary and other appointed
officers, their servants ; and are they, because they
were not the parties actually ordering everything, to
be let off?

Again, the judges rule that where there is a ma-
naging committee the provisional committee are not
liable ! What was the managing committee ? The
servants of the provisional. By whom appointed ?
By the provisional committee. And then we are
told, forsooth, that they (the managing committee)
are the parties liable for all the debts of the company!
—men acting for others to pay their employers' debts !
The secretaries, solicitors, and managing commit-
teemen were the employ6es of the provisional com-
mittee; and for their acts, in the fair construction of
the common law of master and servant, principal and
agent, the provisional committee, and every in-
dividual member thereof, is liable. And yet we find
judges stating to juries for their guidance, "that pro-
visional committees were composed of persons who
merely registered their approval of the schemes."
Would they have been contented with merely regis-
tering their approval if any profit had accrued ?
Would they not have gone in for their
share? Would they have been satisfied
by the company s4ying, "We only had
your names as sanctions to our scheme ?" No; they
would have claimed (as they would have been en-
titled to do) their dividends, and demanded as a right
further large allotments of the reserved shares.

If I employ a servant, I am answerable in law and
justice for all his acts as my servant. Hence, if my
carter runs over a man, and breaks his leg, the in-
jured man has a right of action against me for
damages. How absurd, then, appears the ruling of
our judges, who de facto assert that the act of the ser-
vant is not binding on the master.
The provisional committeemen area coparcenary
with others, carrying on business, that business,
being railway making; and if the business fail, each
man's estate ought to be liable, as it would be in a
common bankruptcy.
Now let us look at the opinions held by those very
judges. In the beginning of 1846 we find Baron
PARKE, in a case tried at Maidstone, thus reported:—
" Mr. Baron PARKE told the jury that by consent-
ing to act as a provisional committeeman the defend-
ant gave authority to the secretary to give all orders
for matters which were necessary for the promotion
of the company, and that therefore the defendant was
answerable for orders so given ; and left it to the jury
(as the only question) to say whether those orders
were so given."
The Lord Chief Baron, in another case in his own
Court, June 25, 1846, said—" If a person gave his
consent to have his name placed before the world,
that Act would authorise his being held out as a
person who would be answerable for the payment of
all necessary expenses. If that were done there
could be no doubt of the liability of the defendant."
Again, on July 4,—" Tke Lord Chief Baron, in
leaving a similar case to the jury, said that if there
had been any doubt of the defendant having been a
member of the committee, his own letter, which had
been produced, would at once have satisfied them of
the fact. Now, no man, having once been put forth
to the world as a member of a committee, which
committee was put forward as the responsible portion
of a concern, could withdraw his name, and so get rid
of his liability, unless that withdrawal were brought
under the regular notice of the public at large, and
the persons having claims on the company informed
thereof. That did not appear to have been done in
the present case. If, therefore, they were of opinion that,
by giving his consent to become a member of the
committee, he had authorised the officers of the com-
pany to hold him forth amongst others as one who
had consented to become liable for the preliminary
expenses, it would be their duty to give a verdict for
the plaintiff."
These are only a few of the cases where the judges
have laid down the law as in a partnership. In these
cases verdicts were returned for the plaintiffs.
Lord DENMAN, in charging the jury in a case in
December last, said, after the case of Wirral, v. Hop-
KENS had been quoted, " That he certainly would not
nonsuit the plaintiff. Tie had read the judgment re-
ferred to, and did not think that it dictated to him
the course that had been suggested. The Court
might not understand the meaning of the term pro-
visional committeeman as a matter of law, but it
must mean something. If two men put their names
over the door of a house of business as partners they
held themselves out to the world in that character,
and took upon themselves its liabilities."
Again, on December 22, after a few prefatory re-
marks, he said, "If a man, for instance, authorised
another to build a house for him, the necessary impli-
cation was that he also gave him authority to procure
the materials necessary for the construction ; and so,
if a man authorised another to act in the constitution
of the company, it would be inferred that he extended
the authority to all such operations as were indis-
pensable to the constitution of the company, although
to nothing which was beyond that necessity."
In a case tried a few weeks since the judge told the
jury that the provisional committeeman was nut
liable, and they returned a verdict that he was not
legally, but that he was morally liable. Also, in a
case recently tried at Drogheda, in Ireland, the judge
said that the Court of Exchequer ruled that a pro-
visional committeeman was not liable, unless he gave
the orders, and therefore they must nonsuit the plaintiff.
The jury could not, however, agree to this, retired,
and on returning in a quarter of an hour, asked the
judge whether it was justice or law they were to
consider. If they were to consider the honesty of
the case, they could not agree to a verdict for the
defendant.
We find, then, in these matters, the lave opposed
to justice. Is it to remain so ? Are men still to be
shielded from the consequences of their own acts ?
It is to be hoped that this state of things will not
continue, and that our judges may deal out justice
simultaneously with law ; otherwise who can foresee
the end of these contradictions, which in reality con-
stitute a judge, however unwittingly, a defender of
those seeking to evade the payment of their just and
honest liabilities ?

The Vorort of Switzerland has addressed to the Go-
vernment of Lucerne a remonstrance against the as-
sumption of independence of that body manifested by
the military organization at Lucerne, and has also ad-
dressed a circular to the cantons generally, in which
the Vorort declares that it is contrary to the constitu-
tion of the federation for any one canton to call for mili-
tary aid from another canton, or to send its troops
into another canton, even when applied to for that pur-
pose, without first obtaining the assent of the Federal
Directory.

The German Universal Gazette publishes the following
letter from Warsaw:—
" The Russian Government, fearing, no doubt, that the
passage in the speech of the King of the French and that of
the Queen of Great Britain, relative to the suppression of
Cracow, might produce too great a sensation in this city, has
commanded the censors to suppress that passage ni the
national journals, and to cut the paragraph out of all foreign
journals previous to their delivery to their address. The
passage in the speech of the King of the French relative to
the treaty of commerce and navigation concluded with
.Russia, has likewise been suppressed, the Emperor not wi,h-
ing that his subjects should be acquainted with his relations
with foreign countries."
A letter from Berlin, dated 22d ult., says—
"It has been this day decided that Prince Solms-Holien-
solms-Lich is to be president of the General Diet, which
opens on the I I th April. It is said that in all communica-
tions and official documents the nobles will be designated as
the First Assembly,' and the members of the three other
states as the ' Second Assembly.' fhe last will have for
president M. de Bochow de Stulpe, Marshal of the Court.

It was stated at one time by the newspapers, that Count
d'Arnim de Boitzenburg, late Minister of the Interior, would
be Marshal of the Diet. He was, in fact, nominated to that
post by the King, but positively refused to undertake the
duties."

Madrid papers of the 26th ult. have arrived.

The President of the Council declared in the Chamber
of Deputies on the 25th that the Government had no in-
tention of superseding General BRETON in Catatonia.
He further pledged the Cabinet not to contract the loan
unless the measure should be of absolute necessity.

General SANZ is tO be appointed Captain-General of
Grenada, General MANSO, of Valencia, and General
PAVIA is to have the Government of Castile.

The Gaveta publishes the royal decree sanctioning
the union of the banks of Sun Fernando and Isabel.
The eapital of the new bank was fixed at 400,000,000
reals (4,000,000/. sterling), and its duration at twenty-
flve years.

The quarrels between the QUEEN and her husband,
Don FRANCISCO, have attainfd to such a height that
concealment any longer is imp )ssible. The QUEEN her-
self expresses her abhorrence of her husband, and
scruples not to speak openly with disgust of his infirmi-
ties, physical and moral. CHRISTINA interferes and
supports her daughter ; Don FRANCISCO DE PAULO
supports his son, and these respective parties vent their
exasperation in language of the coarsest character,
and, according to the last accounts, CHRISTINA
is about to retire to France. In the mean-
while a Carlist outbreak on a large scale is in pre-
paration. Several towns in Biscay, Catalonia, and Na-
varre have been already gained. These are the first
fruits of the Montpensier marriage.
MADRID BoLsA, FEB. 26.—The Three per Cents. were
done at 291/2 for cash ; the Five per Cents , at 19%; the
Debt without Interest, at 6 ; and the Coupons, at 19.

We have received the Paris papers of Wednesday.

The Courrier Francais says:—" To celebrate their
reconciliation, M. GUIZOT will in a few days give to
Lord NORMANDY a grand dinner, to which the whole of
the corps diplomatique will bo invited."

• -
We find it stated in the same journal, that an attaché I
from the French Foreign-office had been dispatched to
Tunis on a special mission. lie is said to be the
bearer of the reply of the French Government to the
application of the BEY for support against the SULTAN,
The French policy in Greece is beginning to produce
its fruit. COLETTI, the Franco-Greek Minister, acting
under the orders of M. PISCATORY, the French Am-
bassador, has refused to give satisfaction to the Turkish
Ambassador for a gross insult which had been offered
to him by OTHO, and the Ambassador has very properly
withdrawn from Athens. "We announced yesterday,',
says the Journal des Debats, " that a serious complica-
tion had arisen in the relations of Greece with the Porte
in consequence of the refusal of the representative of
the SULTAN at Athens, M. MASSURAS, to sign the pass-
port for Constantinople of M. TZAMI CanaTusso, the
aide- de-camp of King OTHO,' because that officer had taken
part in thA expedition against the Turkish provinces in
1841.' The KING had addressed on the occasion angry ex-
pressions and reproaches to the Ottoman Minister, who
having complained to the Divan, the latter dispatched a
steamer to the Piraeus, which was to bring back the re-
presentative of Turkey to Constantinople, should he not
obtain a reparation within a delay of three days. We
learn to-day that the President of the Greek Ministry,
M. COLETTI, having refused to give the satisfaction
demanded by the Porte', the Turkish Minister at Athens
embarked at the Piraeus on the 14th of February, and
reached Constantinople on the 17th. That event had
excited a lively sensation in the Turkish capital. We
also learn that the Ambassador of France, Baron DE
BOURQUENET, had obtained full satisfaction for the
insult offered to M. SABATIER, our Consul at Janina."
The French authorities in the neighbeurhood of
Bayonne have managed to get into a squabble with the
Spanish authorities on the sulject of the boundary be-
tween the two countries, and the French have backed
up their pretensions by marching a squadron of cavalry,
two companies of infantry, and a battery of field pieces
to Behobia. The cause of these military movements is
the seizure, by the authorities of Fuentarabia, of a
French merchant vessel, stranded at the mouth of the
Bidassoa, which river, it appears, is claimed from bank to
bank by the Spaniards,—an assumption the French
will not recognise, and have, therefore, refused to
pay certain duties which the above parties exact, on
the plea that the wreck is in Spain, whereas it lies
nearer to the French than the Spanish shore of the
river. General thistisrE, the Commander-in-Chief of
this district, has in consequence been ordered by his Go-
vernment to obtain possession of the vessel by force, if
she be not restored forthwith. This demonstration has
created a great sensation on the Spanish side of the
frontier, and universal indignation is expressed against
the French Government for trying to bully the authori-
ties of Fuentarabia into submission with cannon and
bayonets. The Spanish flag has been hoisted on board
the wreck.

We find the following in the Gazette de France, on
the alleged attempts of the French Government to get
possession of the Balearic isles :
"The English journals talk of a pretended notification,
sent from Parris to London, of a resolution come to by the
French Government, to occupy the Balearic islands. We
think we can state, in a positive manner, that this news is
unfounded. We are even assured, that the Cabinet of the
Tuileries, wishing to destroy the effect which the news may
have produced in England, and to take away all pretext for
repeating it, immediately gave orders that no French vessel
of war shall for some time to come station in the waters of
the Balearic islands. Instructions have besides been sent to
the Count de Ste. Anlaire, to remove in the most absolute
terms the fears which the English Government may have
conceived on this subject."
The price of corn still continues to rise in all the
towns of France, and money is becoming scarce, as the
precious metals are being gradually drained out of the
country in payment of the supply of provisions. The
foreign ships refuse to receive merchandise, and insist
on being paid in bullion. " Ic," says the ilefornie," all
foreign shipping continue to refuse to receive merchan-
dise in return for wheat, and insist on bullion, a financial
crisis may be created which would serve admirably the
views of the coalesced Powers against France. An as-
sertion which at first sight may appear absurd, may sub-
sequently be justified by events."
The Three per Cents. closed on the Paris Bourse on Wed-
nesday at 78f. 50c. ; the Five per Cents. 118 f. ; the
Orleans Railway Shares, 1,272 f. 50c.; Rouen, 868 E 75c. ;
Havre, 687 f. 50c. ; Great Northern, 628 E 75c. ; Avignon, 833 f.
75c. ; Vierzon, 582 E 50c. ; Bordeaux, 535 f. ; Boulogne,
4001. ; Troyes and Montereau, 305 f. ; Basle, 2101. ; Dieppe
3451. ; Paris and Strasburg, 465 f. ; Tours and Nantes, 467 i
50c. ; Paris and Lyons, 492 f. 50c. ; Lyons and Avignon,
480 f. ; Bordeaux and Cette, 4521. 50c. ; Spanish Actives, 33 ;
Spanish Three per Cents., 35. Spanish Domestic Debt, 281,x.
PROMISES OF SHARES.

LYONS, MAACII I.—Paris and Rouen, 867 f. 50c. ; Avignon,
and Marseilles, 832 f. 50c. ; Vierzon, 581 f. 25c. ; Northern,
627 - 50c.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, Mattcu 4.
Boulogne and Amiens, 14 —Dutch Rhenish, 4% —East Indian,
—Great Western Bengal, sB—Louvain a la Sambre, 1% —Luxem-
bourg, 2l—Northern of France, 13—Paris and Lyons, 7% —Paris
and Rosen, 35—Rouen and Havre, 27 tAi —West Flanders, 3.

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