The Sun.
London, England, 1840-01-29 00:00:00

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

The letter of " A Constant Reader, and Moral Force Chartist,"
stating " that he had understood the pike had conveyed
arms to the public meeting at Abbey-street, which they pre-
tended afterwards to find," was not inserted, because the in-

format ion given rested only on hearsay, and because we had
nut even fur the hearsay, the guarantee of the writer's name.
potttoo to the Queen, from the Women of Finsbury, in
taVIIIIT of Frost and his companions, lies for signature at the
l'estalozzi Academy.

lip:if-1 Elt AT LONDoN BRIDGE TO-I,IOIIIIOIV.
000, 47 minutesaftcr 10 i Evening 21 minuteg alter ll

home for the discontent, which is the result of the same
laws causing hunger and poverty.
Mr. GISBORNE followed Mr. COLQUHOUN, and made a
good bit or two at the commencement, but was not, on the
whole, successful. We have known Mr. GISBORNE much
wittier and more argumentative.
Mr. DISRAELI made as poor a speech, though
a much louder and more declaratory one, than Mr.
GISBORNE. Both gentlemen tried to cut jokes, and both
failed, as if the subject were of too earnest and stubborn a
nature to tolerate levity unless, indeed, it were recommended
by commanding talent.
Sir H. VERNET, Mr. EWART, and Mr. WRITE (Of Sun-
derland), all speaking from the Ministerial side, drove
away the Members, and brought the debate to a close be-
fore midnight in a thin House. We cannot wonder at tno
spiritless nature of the Ministerial speeches after Sir G.
GaEv's, for their opponents had given them no excitement.
They had stated little or nothing that was worth replying t o.
It may be wise and discreet in the Hotise of Commons to
play with such a great subject—for, though nominally it
was a contest of parties, it really concerns the well.
being of the empire—but we thought we never witnessed a
night in the House of Commons, when such a theme bad
stirred the expectations of the whole country, so miserably
wasted. For the last two hours a succession of poor
speakers, while the Members were talking or retiring,
made every person, we believe, wish, for the credit of the
House, that the debate should close. Why Sir JAMES
GRAHAM, Sir ROBERT PEEL, and other great orators, who
were present, and who were taking not( s, came not to the
rescue of their party we know not, unless it be that
some negociations are going forward to form a new and
broad-bottomed Administration under the auspices of
Colonel SIBTHORP. If the Ministers be no more da-
maged by the remainder of the debate than they were last
night. they will not even need to reply, and will conic off
with fl) ing colours. At a Quarter before Twelve the de-
bate was adjourned.

Mr. R. PALMER obtained leave to bring in, and brought
in, a Bill to facilitate the removal of Irish and Scotch
paupers It was read a first time, and ordered to be read a
seem d time on Wednesday fortnight.
Mr. WALLACE obtained several returns connected with
the Law Courts of Scotland.

The Report on the resolution concerning Prince ALBERT
wag brought up and read, and a Bill ordered to be brought
in to carry it into effect.
The House adjourned at a Quarter after Twelve.

The question which the Committee of Supply
divided on was, that her MAJESTY be enabled to
grant 30,0001. a-year out of the Consolidated
Fund to Prince ALBERT. For this question Mr.
AGLIONBY, Mr. BROTIIERTON, Mr. HUME,
Mr. WARD, Mr.WAKLEY, and aconsiderable num-
ber of other Reformers voted, who had only a few
hours before voted to grant only 21,000/., they de-
claring and believing,at nine o'clock, that 21,0001.
was quite enough for his Royal Highness. Now,
with all deference to them, we cannot comprehend
the consistency which induced them at eleven
o'clock to vote 30,0001. The clear course for them
to have pursued, in our humble judgment, was to
have negatived Colonel Si BTIIORP s propositio❑
on the same pound as they strove to substitute
21,0001. for 50,000/., namely, because it was
more than the sum they thought sufficient.
Mr. VILLIERS expressed with great clearness
at the close of the debate the reasons which
ought to have determined the Reformers, and
we only regret that he did not follow out
his principle by voting " No" on the grant
of 30,000/., instead of giving no vote at all. Had
the Radical and Liberal Members so voted, they
would have stood clear before the country as having
discountenanced extravagance to the utmost of their
Power. _ . .

At present they stand in this position : they
have voted for art extravagance, and they have voted
with the Tories. They have sided with those cant-
ing hypocrites, and have stamped as genuine
their pretended love of economy. The Tories only
proposed the grant of 30,0001. to embarass and
thwart the Ministers. into this snare such
Radicals as Mr. LEADER, and such old hands as
Mr. HUME, have unfortunately tumbled. We say
not one word against their intentions--their judg-
ment was in fault.

It will be urged, howerer, that had the Radicals
so voted, the larger grant might have been carried.
Possibly ; but not by their means. On the original
question being put, they might have said .‘ No,' and
might have protested against voting one farthing
more than they thought necessary. Then the
Whigs and the Tories, who arc supposed to be
bidding, at the people's cost, for Royal favour,
would have had between them all time glory
or the shame of the grant, and the
Radicals would have adhered to principle.
Now the) have given up principle, and they
will hereafter be reproached with having voted
9,0001. more to Prince ALBEnT than sufficient.
We admit that the 20,0001. a year, the difference
between the sum actually voted and 50,000/., is a
great saving, which the Radicals have, we also
admit, effected, by voting with the Tories ; but
principle is of some value, and for them to be en-
abled hereafter to say, "We voted against both
sums," would have given weight to their future
economical suggestions.

It may be consistent and proper in the Whigs,
being now Ministers of the Crown, to propose
50,000/. ; it may be consistent and proper in die
Tories, canting about economy, as they have always
canted, to propose 30,0001. to catch Radical sup-
port, but it would have beeii, in our opinion, con-
sistent and honourable in the Radicals, instead of
saying AYE to the Tory proposition, to have said
distinctly No, to the proposition of both the Whigs
and the Toiies.

Sir R. PEEL said in the debate that his vote
was not influenced by the present distress of the
country. No grants are ever influenced by any
considerations of what is due to the people, other-
wise all public salaries, from the Civil List down
to the weekly wages of a Treasury porter, would
vary, like the corn averages, with the seasons, and
during 1839 would have been cut down at least
one-third. What is due to the dignity of the Crown,
to the ease of Royalty, to keeping in splendour the
aristocracy and their friends, to the opulence of
the priesthood, are the considerations which weigh
with the Parliament in making grants of the public
money. Had the Radicals followed the course we
have indicated, supposine,,, that the result would
have been to give 50,0001. to Prince ALBERT,
the principle on which statesmen act in voting
away the public money would have been made
clearly apparent. When the public at large know
what Royalty and Nobility cost, it will be able, and
not till then, to ascertain exactly whether or not it
does pay too much for its whistle.

Our report of another great Anti-Corn-law
meeting at Manchester, held by the Operatives, is
deserving of public a! tention. The clearness with
which Mr. FILLYAN demonstrated that the Corn-
laws have lowered the wages of the operatives is
complete. But the language used at the meeting,
and the resolutions adopted, subsidia►y to those for
repealing the Corn-laws, to tax property exclu-
sively, and make an equitable adjustment of the
" Miscalled National Debt," especially deserve the
public attention. It is plain that the continuance
of unjust laws is driving the people to desperation,
which threatens the whole community with some
awful calamity. To the disgrace of the Legisla-
ture, like NERO, it is fiddling—for its paltry pursuits
deserve no better name—while the empire is shaking
to its foundations.

In another part of our Paper will be found two
I‘...tters on Portuguese Bonds, which will be read
with interest by those who have had the misfortune
to lend their money on the faith of foreigners. In
the speech of the Queen of PORTUGAL, no allu-
sion was made to Foreign Bondholders, and an in-
ference was naturally drawn from this circumstance,
that there was a design on the part of the Govern-
ment to treat them as they have been treated by
bankrupt Spain, and all the Spanish States in the
New World. The reply of the Finance Minister,
however, holds out some better hopes. His pro-
mises are plausible, and, we hope, sincere. What-
ever be the result, however, the Bondholders must
feel that they are under great obligations to Mr.
THORNTON, for the zeal and perseverance with
which he has prosecuted their claims.

Mr. WALLACE hating succeeded, in conjunc-
tion with Mr. ROWLAND HILL, in obtaining for
the United Kingdom cheap postage, is now, we
are glad to see, exer:ing his energies to obtain for
the pecple of Scotland a cheaper and more expe-
ditious administration of civil and criminal justice.
No question of more importance to Scotland could
occupy the attention of the Hon. Gentleman than
that of Scotch Law Reform. The cumbrous ma-
chinery of the Scotch Courts; their clumsy, tedious,
and expensive forms of procedure ; and the uncon-
stitutional powers vested in the executive authori-
ties would, if generally known, excite astonish-
ment throughout the length and breadth of the land.
We have heard several Scotch lawyers adduce in
favour of their Courts their great antiquity. We
never thought much of such proofs, by whomsoever
advanced, in support of any institution. Law is
but one limb of the great system of existing civili-

zation, and must change as the others change, if
we would preserve the symmetry and iust propor-
tions of the whole. Our Knights no longer ap-
pear in coats of mail, nor their retainers in leathern
doublets. Instead of crossbows and :mrquehusses,
which it took an hour to load and dis-
charge, we have now air-guns and steam-guns,
rating their discharges at so many a minute.
The Scotch Law Courts of the present day belong
to the by-gone period of cross-bows and leather
jerkins. They are more than a couple of centuries
behind the other institutions of the country. A
pennyless urchin of persevering and industrious
habits, might honestly earn an estate before the
Court of Session, with its interminable pleas and
long printed Rapers would be able, as at present
constituted, to decide upon the just title to one, if
.well contested by a representative of that non-de-
script personage, " the man in the moon " But.
all abuses are profitable to some persons, and by
those who profit by them it is natural to expect
that such abuses should be defended. Mr. WAL-
LACE must therefore prepare himself to encounter
the fierce hostility of nine•tenths at least of all who
live by the technicalities of the Scotch Las Courts.
From the Lord Advocate and the Judges of the
Court of Session, down to the printers' devils who
distribute the printed papers of that Court, there
will hardly be found a functionary who will not
attack him, tooth and nail, the moment they find
him determined upon introducing a new and better
state of things for the public. But the Post-office
affair must have convinced him that the success of
reform in any department depends more upon the
zeal, the patience, and the untiring enerf. y of its
advocates that upon their numbers. What he
proposes to do is not more difficult than what he
has accomplished. With these prefatory observa-
tions we take leave to introduce certain returns,
moved for by Mr.WALLACE in the House of Com-
mons, last night, which are, no doubt, intended
as the ground-work of other and more extensive
inquiries. _ _ _

Return, showing; in c plumns, the age. sex, and dates of
commitment ar.d trial, and the alleged offence, " including
what is technically called " Habit and Repute," of each
person brought before or tried by the High Court of Juqi-
ciary in Edinburgh, or on circuit throughout Scotland, in
the year 1839, with the name of the place where tried,
and the sentence of the Court; also the whole period of
confinement between the commitment and trial ; whe-
ther the confinement was that of felons, or simply solitary,
or if along with others ; and whether the confinement wk,s
passed in idleness or in labour of some kind; the period
of confinement to be stated in months and days in each
case.

Return, showing, in columns, •as follows: The
names and alleged crimes of eight prisoners who were left
untried by the Lori Justice Clerk and Lord Moncrieff,
at the Circuit Court of Assize held by them in Glasgow,
in September, 1839, for the trial of criminal offenders from
the Counties of Lanark, Renfrew, and Dumbarton, with
the causes or reasons why these prisoners were left un-
tried, and the authority therefore ; also the dates of com-
mitment and imprisonment of each offender, and the whole
time each was in prison previous to the day the Judges left
them untried in the gaol of Glasgow ; also, the number and
expense of the witnesses summoned for the trial of each of
the above offenders, the number of days each witness was
in attendance, with the total number and whole expense of
the witnesses summoned for the trial of the above eight
prisoners, stating the fund from which their expenses were
paid, and the authority for payment of the same.
Return, as above, showing the dates of trial, the name
and locality of the Courts, and the status of the Judges
the above eight prisoners were eventually tried before ;
also the crimes they were tried for, stating if tried by a
jury, with the sentences pronounced; also the additional
time each prisoner lay in jail after the Circuit Court
broke up at Glasgow, and previous to being brought to
trial before another tribunal, with the total period of impri-
sonment, in months and days, suffered by each previous to
trial, and whether they were confined in separate cells or
along with (Alters, and whether they were idle or employed
in crime sort of labour previous to trial ; also, the number
and costs of witnesses summoned a second time for the
trial of the above offenders, specifying the fund or funds
from which their expenses were paid, and the authority
under which they were paid, wi.h the total amount of the
aliments and cepenses of all kinds incurred for the trial of
the above eight offenders, and the authority under which
these were incurred, and the fund or funds from Whence
paid.

The date of holding the Circuit Court in Glasgow,
which followed that which was held in September, 1839.

Three o'Clock r.m —The French mail of Mon-
day has not yet an ivcd.

Joan FuosT AND HI; ComPANtoNs.—We have re-
ceived a copy of the Salford petition signed by several
thousands in favour of these unhappy men, but it is
quite impossible to find room for it. From the length of
the debates, the protracted pleadings in two Courts of
Law, and the consequent accumulation of the news of
the day, our readers must be aware that we can insert
only communications which are most urgent ; on that
account we have made room for the excellent letter of
Colonel Thompson.

ROBBERY ON LADY STERLING IN PARIS.-
, Some time since Lady Sterling lost, on the Boulevard de la
Madeline, a purse. containing a French bank-note for 500 f.,
20 Napoleons, an English sovereign, and other articles. It
was almost immediately picked up by an honest woman, who,
holding it up, exclaimed, " Who has lost a purse 2" " I have,"
answered a sturdy fellow en blouse, and he immediately
snatched it from her hand and made off. Soon after handbills
were posted up by Lady Sterling's order, ar.d offering a re-
ward of 200 f. for its recovery. After a lapse of several days,
;wo men went to Mr. Malachy Daly, banker, in the Place
Vendome, who was referred to by the handbills, and informed
him that it was in the hands of a man named Pescaire, who
was gone to Marseilles with [the intent of going to sea. The
proper authorities were applied to, and a warrant despatched
for his arrest. Pescaire was taken with the purse upon him,
but its contents had dwindled down to 300 f. ; he was after-
wards brought to Paris, and two days ago indicted. The fact
being fully proved, lie was sentenced to six months' imprison-
ment.

HIGHWAY ROBBERY AND CAPTURE OF THE
TIIIKF.—On Thursday evening last, as Mr. Warren, a miller
residing at Ardleigh, was returning home from Manningtree
market on horseback, he was attacked by a footpad, who de-
manded his money or his life. The villain, on stopping his
horse, struck him a violent blow across the bridge of his nose
with a large bludgeon which felled him to the ground and for
a short time rendered him insensible ' • but as the thief was in
the act of extracting the contents of his pockets, Mr. Warren
recovered his senses, and a regular battle ensued between them,
in which Mr. Warren floured the thief several times and
punished him very severely. It being about eleven o'clock the
night was very dark, but Mr. Warren contrived to get a suf-
ficient glimpse at the villain to recognise his features, and
knew him instantly to be a most notorious and desperate thief
named William Everett, upwards of sixty years of age, from
the parish of Ardleigh, and who has twice been transported.
Mr Warren called out, "It is you Everett, is it ?
know you well." Upon which the villain took to his heels,
and leaving his hat in the road, made a jump at the hedge
and ran down a field. Mr. Warren's horse had not left the
spot, and he instantly mounted and soon procured the assist-
ance of the parish constable, when the) returned to the spot
where the attack was made, and discovered the prisoner in the
road looking for his hat, and they succeeded in taking him into
custody. He was taken before the Magistrates on Friday, and
was fully committed to take his trial at the next Assizes at
' Chelmsford. Mr. Warren is very seriously injured—the bridge of
his nose is broken, one side of his face much lacerated from the
blow of the bludgeon, and he is now confined to his room.—
Essex Herald.

THE EARL OF COVENTRY.—After the Con-
servative dinner at Worcester the Earl of Coventry received a
very abusive anonymous letter, signed " Conservative," calling
him an " outcast of society," and a " disgrace to his coronet,"
&c. His Lordship traced this letter to be in the handwriting
of a Mr. J. M. Allcroft, a person in the employ of Messrs.
Dent, the glovers, of Worcester; and the Hon. W. Coventry,
the Earl's brother, took- it to him, calling on Allcroft to admit
himself the author. The latter asked for permission to see the
paper, and, upon receiving it into his hands. he putt into the
tire. Mr. Coventry says that Allcroft ga:o his word to return
the paper, which the other denies. Allcroft has now acknow-
ledged himself the authoi of the abusive epistle, and the Earl
of Coventr; has written a letter, in which he states that he has
endeavoured to horsewhip his antagonist, but that he always
escapes from him ; and that his Lordship will still use his en-
deavours to meet him, and inflict punishment upon him for the
vile letter he has written to him.—Abridgedfrom the Worcester
Journal.

SUICIDE OF A JEwISII MERCHANT.--MOll-
- evening an inquest was held before Mr. Payne, at the Wool-
sack, :finieries, on the body of Mr. Elliott Lewis Aarons, aged
26, an oil-merchant, of Dock-street, London Docks. It ap-
peared from the evidence of deceased's housemaid that at nine
o'clock yesterday morning a report of tire-arms was heard pro-
ceeding from his bedroom. His sister ran up stairs, and, re-
turning immediately, a surgeon was sent for, who found de-
ceased quite dead in bed, grasping in his right hand a pistol,
which had evidently been recently discharged into his mouth.
The ball, having traversed the lower part of the head, lodged in
the base of the skull. It was stated that, in consequence of
severe losses in business experienced two years ago, deceased
was no longer able to move in his accustomed sphere, and in
consequence had become extremely dejected. Verdict—Tem-
porary insanity.
It appears that on the marriage of George the
Third to Queen Charlotte there were ten bridemaids, daugh-
ters of Dukes and Earls. We believe it is not decided how
many are to enjoy that honour on the approaching grand oc-
casion. There is little doubt that those fair ones, who are yet
unmarried, who were her Majesty's train-bearers at the Coro-
nation will be among the number--they are Lady Mary Grim-
ston, Lady Adelaide Paget, Lady Wilhelmina Stanho;,e, Lady
Fanny Cowper, and Lady Caroline Lennox. Those since
married are Lady Louisa Jenkinson, Lady Mary Talbot, and
Lady Anne Fitzwilliam.
AUSTRIA'S GOVERNMENT.—Connected with
this subject, I may mention one of those minute traits of cha-
racter, which so much endear the Austrian Princes to the
people. At the time when the cholera was raging at Vienna,
the Emperor, with an Aide-de-Camp, was strolling about in
the streets of the city and suburbs, when a corpse was dragged
past on a litter unaccompanied by a sity,le mourner. The un-
usual circumstance attracted his attention, and he learnt, on
inquiry, that the deceased was a poor person who had died of
cholera, and that the relatives had not ventured on what was
then considered the very dangerous office of attending the body
to the grave. " Then," said Francis, "we will supply their
place, for none of my poor people should go to their grave with-
out that last mark of respect • " and he followed the body to the
distant place of interment, and, bare-heade(l, stood to see every
rite and observance respectfully performed. By some sove-
reigns, past and present, such an act might have been performed
for purposes of effect and eclat: but with Francis the public
believed, and in my mind justly believed. that it was the mere
result of genuine feeling.— Turnbull's "Austria."

FROST, WILLIAMS, AND'

JONES.

DECISION of the FIFTEEN JUDGES.

We understand the Judges have delivered in
their decision to the Secretary of State for the
Home Department, but as that decision is riot
final, owing to a contrariety of opinion, the ultimate
result devolves on the Government.
We have heard it stated that there were Nine
Judges against the prisoners, and Six in their favour.
Another report stated that there were only Three
Judges in their favour, and Twelve against them.
In either alternative, we hope and trust that such
aff difference ofopiniottw:ill have the effect of saving
the its of the convicts

As this momentous question now depends on
the justice and humanity of the Government,
we cannot doubt that the mercy of the Crown
.will speedily be made known, and thus allay the
g reit. public anxiety evinced in behalf of these
unfortunate men.

THE MARKETS.-(THIS DAY )

CORN EXCEIANGE.

In consequence of the continuance of boisterous weather, the
supplies were exceedingly small, and very little business was
done, at no alteration in any article from Monday's prices.
The flour trade dull.