The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-21 00:00:00

DISTURBANCES IN PORTUGAL.

Mr. HUME wished to ask a question of considerable
importance. It was rumouren that her Majesty
:Government had so fa.t interfered with the
affairs of Portugal as to send out a deputation
there to make certain arrrangements under the
independence of Colonel Wilde. He wished to know
what powers or directions were given to this officer, as
to any interference with the belligerents, and whether
such a course would not cause a danger of this
country being involved in a war. It had been stated
also that the British officers had been treated with in-
sult, and the nation thus subjected to degradation. He
wished to know whether the Noble Lord was prepared
to lay upon the table any papers or instructions given
with reference to this subject.
Lord J. RUSSELL said that at present the Govern-
ment were not prepared to lay upon the table the papers
sought for until the proper time came. They would then
be placed before the House.
Mr. HUME then gave notice that immediately after
the holidays he should bring the subject under the con-
sideration of the House, in order that no uncertainty
might rest upon a matter of so much importance.
POOR-LAW ADMINISTRATION ACT.

On the order of the day for the second reading of this
Bill,

Mr. BORTHWICK rose, and was
(LEFT SPEAKING.)

FIRE AT SEA, AND LOSS OF
ELEVEN LIVES.
(From the Inverness Courier of Tuesday.)
Last night, between nine and ten o'clock, a party of
three seamen and one woman came into the town by the
Beauly Road, from Wick. Two of the former were in a
deplorable state—their arms being very severely burned
—and the other having an arm broken and otherwise
injured. On being taken, temporarily, to the station•
house they gave the following story:—They were part of
the crew of the barque Swan of Baltimore (a vessel of
400 or 500 tuns burden), Captain Williamson, bound
from Valparaiso to Leith with tallow and hides. The
crew, including the officers and stewardess, were fifteen
in number, and there were three single cabin passengers.
Fourteen or fifteen days ago, when off the Western
Islands, the steward went down to the spirit-room
between twelve and one A.M., to draw off some rum for a
portion of the watch below who were sick. While draw-
ing off the liquor, the candle which he carried fell upon
a quantity of dry oakum, which immediately took fire,
and before an alarm could be given the flame had caught
the spirits. So rapid was the progress of the fire that
scarcely an effort could be made to check it before the
whole ship was in a blaze; while the thick smoke was so
powerful that, as is supposed, none of those who were in
bed succeeded in reaching deck. In the meantime the
flames had shot up the shrouds and stays, firing the spars;
and in endeavouring to cut them away the survivors
were dreadfully scorched. The ship had two boats, and
in about a couple of hours after the first alarm,
the long-boat was got over the side. The stewardess
went into it, and the others were preparing to follow,
when the captain and the mate (whose name was
Johnston), made an effort and got into the cabin,
with the intention of saving the ship's papers ; they
had, however, either fallen through the burning floor, or
been suffocated by the smoke, for they were not again
seen. Six seamen and the stewardess succeeded in get-
ting into the bot, and though so much injured as to be
capable of little exertion, they managed to get clear f o
the ship, the sea running at the time very high. The ship
had now burned to the water-edge, and though there was
another boat left, no hope can be entertained that any
were saved by it. The survivors had with them only six
or seven biscuits ; and after drifting about for two days
and nights, they were picked up about forty miles off the
Butt of Lewis, by the Greenock of Port Glasgow, bound
for Wick, at which port they were landed. Their names
are Margaret and William Mackenzie, or Williams
(sister and brother); Zachariah Williams and Alonzo
Macdonald; John Smith; Joseph Ford, and Wm. John-
stone. The three last. mentioned have been left in Wick,
their injuries being so severe as to unfit them for travel.
By this dreadful catastrophe eleven lives have been lost—
the captain, mate, second mate (an Irishman known only
as Timothy), and steward ; the three passengers, and
four of the crew. The seamen who have reached
Inverness have been conveyed to the Northern
Infirmary, where their wounds will be attended to.
They have lost their all, having escaped with
scarcely any clothes upon them. In Wick they
obtained some aid from the authorities, as well
as a certificate, which the rain destroyed. The whole
crew were Americans, though the parents of the Mac-
kenzies were originally from the Isle of Skye, from
which they had emigrated to St. John's, New Brunswick.
Macdonald's father also belonged to this neighbourhood:

FINE ARTS.
SCOTLAND DELINEATED, Part 111.
Accustomed as we are to the gorgeous productions of
the combined arts of printing and engraving, we are
certainly amazed at the beauty and dimensions of this
very remarkable serial. Each number is a portfolio of
historical or topographical drawings from the pencils of
some of our most eminent draughtsmen. Clarkson
Stanfield is among these illustrators, Thomas Creswick
is among them, George Cattermole is among them, and
so also is David Roberts. Besides these distinguished
artists there are others of acknowledged excellence,
and the whole are boldly and exquisitely litho-
graphed by J. D. Harding. It is impossible to give any
adequate conception of the work by the most minute
description of a single number, or even of half a dozen
numbers. The brilliant and capacious type must be
seen, the large and massive pictorial leaves must be
id
ea
of over and contemplated, to convey a proper
of the general character of the undertaking. A finer
or more diversified subject could not have been selected
than that of the natural and artificial scenery of Scotland,
" the land of brown heath and hanging wood,' a land in
the delineation of which the artistic mind of Roberts
revels.

The improvement in the appearance of all the
growing crops, and especially the wheat in this neighbour-
hood, and we may say county, is very great within the last
ten days; and we are assured by an old farmer that in forty
years' experience he never saw the prospect of a good crop,
in the present early stage, more promising than it is at pre-
sent. The abundance of blossoms on all fruit trees this year
is something extraordinary ; the apple and pear trees, we
believe, were never so promising, and the currant trees are
unusually so.—Brighton Gauge.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
The enthusiasm produced by Jenny Lind increages
every night of her appearance. Last night, at the con-
clusion of the opera Roberto it Diavolo, the whole house
rose en masse and showers d bouquets upon her. A very
elegant compliment was paid to the queen of s-.ng by
a noble and beautiful countrywoman of her own, the
lady of a distinguished member of the corps diplomat que.
The lady in question threw her a laurel wreath of green
and yellow leaves, the colours of Sweden. Her persona-
tion of Alice was last night even more exquisitely beautiful
more instinct, it possible, with purity, than on the first
night of her appearance. Frasehini was in excellent
voice, and did full justice to the trying music of the
part. He is the best Roberto that has ever appeared.
Castellan sang the " Oh, Robert, oh 1 toi que ainze"
with great beauty, and Staudigl and Gardoni were ex-
cellent. Her Majesty and Prince Albert, who honoured
the theatre with their presence, joined warmly in the
applause bestowed on Mdlle. Jenny Lind.
As usual the house was crammed to suffocation, and as
usual many hundreds went away from the dogs, unable
to obtain admission.

THAMES.-(THIS DAY.)
Edward Llian, a sergeant in the Ro`•al Marine Corps, was
charged with having assaulted James How, manager of the
Brunswick Pier Tavern, near the terminus of the Blackwall
Railway.
The prosecutor stated that the prisoner, accompanied by
some females, came into the Brunswick Pier Tavern yester-
day morning and called for some liquor, which the sergeant
paid for, and the women sat down on some stone steps
oy the door drinking it. After a little while they began
romping together, and between them the glass out of
which they had been drinking was broken, and when
witness asked the sergeant to pay for it, he agreed to do
so, and told the women to go, saying he would settle for the
glass, but as some time elapsed and he did not do so, witness
again quietly asked him for the money, when he struck him
a violent blow in the mouth, making the blood flow.
This evidence was corroborated by the waiter, John Erle,
who said Mr. How asked for the money in a quiet manner.

Mr. Pelham, who appeared on behalf of the prisoner, cross-
examined the witnesses at some length, but without shaking
their testimony.
Mr. BALLANTINI fined the prisoner 205., or ten days' im •
prisonment.—The fine was immediately paid.

SOUTHWARK.-(THIS DAY.)
John Bishop was charged with stealing upwards of eight
tons of iron, the property of the South-Western Railway
Company.
Mr. Strap, assistant to the resident engineer, stated that
the prisoner was employed by the company to form points on
the railway, and for that purpose was supplied from time to
time with bars of iron. Of late, however, it was ascertained
that, instead of the prisoner returning to the company the
iron left after making the points, he converted the same to his
own purposes, upwards of eight tons having been discovered,
and which he sold as old iron. _

The prisoner, a smith by trade, said that he considered the
pieces of iron left after making the points as his own per-
quisites.
The secretary said that the company never intended that
the prisoner should have the iron, and that it was his duty
to have returned it to the company's store.
A witness named Smith, a general dealer, proved that lie
purchased of the prisoner a large quantity of iron alleged
to have been stolen under the circumstances above men-
tioned, and which he afterwards sold to Mr. Lumby, an iron
merchant at Bankside.

The iron having been identified, the prisoner was remanded.

TILE EPSOM TERMINUS ON THE OAKS DAT.—
This morning a vast number of persons availed themselves of
the direct line to Epsom, but the majority of them were of a
more respectable class of persons than those who travelled on
the line on the Derby day. Among those who travelled by
the first-class carriages we perceived several of the aristocracy.
The directors have considerably improved the entrance, by
which much facility is afforded to the passengers, preventing,
in a great measure, the frightful pressure that was experienced
on the Derby day. By the twelve o'clock train upwards of
three thousand persons were conveyed, and a vast number
were left for the next train.
UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION.—At a special
meeting of the Council, held on Monday last, Sir Harry
Smith was elected a vice-patron, and Lady Smith an
honorary member of this growing and important institution.
The Chairman of the Council, Major Shadwell Clerke, had
the honour of waiting upon Sir Harry and his lady, to deli-
ver to them the official notification of their election.
A grand mass is to be solemnized at Brussels for
the fortunate escape of the Queen of the Belgians in the late
accident on the railway.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT
ROUSE OF LORDS, May 20.
CLERGY OFFENCES BILL.
The Bishop of LONDON, who was but indistinctly
heard in the gallery, moved the second reading of
this Bill. He said that alteration in the existing
law was allowed on all hands to be absolutely necessary.
He himself submitted a Bill last session to persons who
were well acquainted with the state of the law eccle-
siastical and common which was intended to effect some
of these alterations. The Bill of this year referred
those cases of offences in the doctrines and opinions of
the clergy to the usual, the ancient court, where
those sat on the bench who were acquainted with the eccle-
siastical and the common law. It proposed likewise an
alteration in the trial of a clergyman before the bishop.
Hitherto that had been conducted without the intervention
of a jury. Now, however, there was a constituted and
organized body in the Church, the canons, and canons
residentary, including the archdeacons; and in case there
should be no canons residentiary, the rural deans, who
should be a jury, with power to the accused
of challenging two of the jury, and likewise the next
two that should be appointed in room of these by the
bishop. The Bill, likewise, provided against the
suspension of accusations over a clergyman's head
for a length of time,—it provided that no
person should have power to prefer a charge against
a clergyman after five years subsequent to the
alleged occurrence, except the bishop. Ho had
stated to their Lordships his views with regard
to this Bill. It was not so arbitrary as the measure
under which the clergy now laid, for, under the old law
they might be brought to the bar of the court without any
assistance from either their brethren or counsel. They
might be now brought before the court assisted by their
brethren, who would naturally be inclined to protect them,
and by experienced lawyers. He would attend as far as
was consistent with the main principle of the Bill to any
suggestion for its alteration. There was nothing in the
Bill contrary to the spirit or constitution of the Church
or clergy, or to the principles of justice, either civil or
ecclesiastical. He only desired to give to the clergy
that protection which the law as it now stood did nut
give.
Lord BROUGHAM (who was nearly inaudible) was
not prepared to deny that some such measure as the
one proposed by the Right Rev. Prelate was necessary.
Cases of the most scandalous description had come
before him in the Court of Queen's Bench which
would have come completely under the operation of this
law. He was, however, far from saying that the whole of
this measure ought to be carried into effect,and he wished
shortly to state two objectionable points to which he wished
to direct the attention of their Lordships. The deputies
might be chosen by the Crown, and indeed there was
nothing to limit the choice of them ; but, in the first
place, such a court was not a regular, constant,
or permanent court, and it could only meet as a
distinct court every time any offence was committed.
There were some provisions to which he could not give
his adhesion. He would be anxious that the Bill should
go into Committee, and they would then be able to see
what beneficial alterations they could make. He cer-
tainly was, however, of opinion that the clause giving a
right of challenge was also defective.
The Bishop of EXETER said that when the ecclesi-
astical court was originally constituted, it was in-
tended to be strictly and purely a court of appeal in
ecclesiastical matters. It was not a matter of
blame to those that sat in the other law courts that
they should be incompetent to adjudicate upon ecclesi-
astical matters when they had not received the
necessary education upon ecclesiastical subjects. The
Act of Henry the Eighth, giving power to
the law courts to deal with ecclesiastical ques-
tions, was oppo6ed to the spirit of the Constitution.
He rejoiced in the hope of his Noble and Learned
Friend applying his strong and powerful mind to
amending the Bill. But he thought that to leave the
doctrines of the Church of England to the decision of a
single mind was injudicious and impracticable, and was
of opinion that a court of divines should be appointed
to try cases of this sort, and decide what
the doctrines of the Church of England were
Any measure to be passed ought to be an effective mea-
sure. The Bishops were under a strict law of discipline.
They were tried by the Archbishop, with six Bishops
as assessors.
The LORD CHANCELLOR said he could not feelad
very confident of the result of the measure which had
just been
just been brought in. A meattshure
theh
consent of
brought in by
one of the Righhtimeelf;
Reverenditas thrown out because
front bench (London), butwith
Prelates on the
Prelate
parties who
now
wd
of the opposition of the
however,
with them, to com-
agreed, and that Right Rev.
spoken last. It seemed,
would the existence of a
Rightw Revtha that el
p aNte beneficially upon individuals, but
tsewa.lhyich that measure was in_
tendedain o ft
o t hr
court of app
those bad effeoct
holesome effect upon those who ad-
minister justice. op
aew—rThese who know the matter were
it would exerecailseo
fact thatcourt could be so
as not to make the judges of the
efficiently constituted
by the
well acquainted with the no
jurisdiction of another court.
The perform their duties better knowledge that
they were under the
The conclusion of the LNordsaCidhahnecelwloar:spsrpepeeacrhedwatos
quite inaudible in the _ gallery.()
The Bishop of LONDON
adopt any system that would work beneficially.
After a few words in explanation from Lord
BROUGHAM,
Lord CAMPBELL replied. He said there was al-
ways a degree of suspicion about the fairness in clerical
trials, and the common law judges and doctors of civil
law. The Bill before the House left it very much in the
' same state as it was.
The Bishop of OXFORD said there was great
necessity of interposing by a stringent law not to
convict the innocent but to protect the inno-
cent by convicting those who were really guilty.
--(Hear.) Clergymen felt often a great reproach
layh upon
He wished,
rwis
body,hoe d them,ewshpee i
ar
no
oy
,tlhatewor eap
er was a
press
ssn then i
conviction
snrumi
pepu
toinernet
hemember
ualtdt
erne
at
attention
of the Noble and Learned Lord on the Woolsack, and
wwaswroeradds farosmeeeLeodrdtißmße,OaUnGd
his colleagues.
AThfteerßaillfe
RoArdMered to be
committed this day fortnight,
Earl FITZWILLIAM then moved fur
an account
from each rateable district (whether union, electorald
division, or otherwise) of the rates struck
in arrear, under the provisions of the l‘etfe,rlevethied,an tem-
porary relief of destitute persons in Ireland ; also
accounts of the number of persons, distinguishing males
and females, adults, and children, to be relieved in each