The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-02 00:00:00

HACKNEY PETTY SESSIONS

TUESDAY.

(From the Brighton Gazette.)
PORTSMOUTH, MARCH 31.--The Asia, 84,'Capt. Fisher
and Pique, 36, Captain Boxer, have arrived at Chatham,
the fsrmer to be paid off, and the latter to be refitted with
all dispatch.

At present, not a single ship is fit-ing out, at Plymouth
or POrtsmouth.

The 'ndus, 84, Captain Sir J. St'r'ing, Vernon, 50,
Captain Walpole, Pelican, 18, Commander Napier, and
.N.iutilus, 10; Lieut. Beaufoy, form the squadron at Spit-
bead ; the two first waiting to complete their crews, and
the latter for orders to proceed.
The transport, Belle Alliance; is fitting out at Deptford,
to convey stores to Singapore, for the use of the squadron
on the coast of China.
ActiVe 'exertions are making to complete the 50 gun
frigates, Warspite and Dublin;or commission. They will
be ready for the pendant in about a month: The Vindic-
tive, 50, is also in a forward state.
The Tweed, 20, Commander Douglas, and Iris, 26,
Captain Nurse, have sailed, the former to the \Volt Indies,
and the latter to the coast of Africa.

The troop ship Apollo may be chilly expected to arrive
from Qac..bec, with the 24th Re..irnent on board, having
recently Linde,' there the 68th R •piment.
The brigs Curlew, 10, and Acorn, 16, were in Simon's
Bay, Cape of Good Hope, all well, on the 22d January,
refitting to procee i to the west coast.

S IPPING INTEL LIGEN CE.
(LLOYD'S.)

Lox noNs, Amur, I.—Wind, Thursday, at noon, W.N.W.,
light breeze and cloudy.
DEAL:, MARCH 31. —Wind W.—Arrived from the river
the Asia, Davidson, for Hobart Town; Marmion, Harrison,
Quebec. Sailed the Wellington, Chadwick, for New York.
PLYMOUTH, MARCH 31.—Wind S.W.—Arrived the Caro-
line, from Shields ; Hibernia, Quin, Quebec.
PORTSMOUTH, MARCH 31. Wind N.W., strong and
squally.—Arrived the Stratheden, from Port Philip; Mary
Ann, Woodwork, Madeira and Calcutta ; Robert Henry Allen,
Norey, Gibraltar.
RAMSGATE, MARCH 31.—Arrived the Margaret, Richard-
son, from Africa, with lOss of anchor and chain. The Orion,
from Flalifax to Loodun, has put in here very leaky, with loss
of anchors and other damage.
FALMOUTH, MARCH 30.—Wind W.S.W., fresh breeze.
Arrived, the Albina, Logie, from Sierra Leone ; Lenard. St.
Michaels. Sailed, the Express, Naylor, Algiers; put, back,
Mina, bound to Lisbon.' -

. •
LIVERPOOL, M RCM 31.—Wind fresh. Arrived, the
WaamTurcar, GonaiVes ; Colonist, from Tobascl ; Alayflower,
Knight, Mobile ; Britania, steamer, Boston and Halifax. The
Grace, from New Orleans to this port, ran aground, six miles
below the former port whilst in tow of a steamer, but got off
after discharging deck load. The Vibelia. from Newcastle to
Aden, put in here leaky, having been off five weeks.
WIVENHOE, MARCH 31. Me Traveller, from Stockton,
was wrecked this morning on the Gunfleet Sand--crew say, d.
SCILLY, MARCH 24.—Arrived the Undaunted, for Cadiz;
Adeona, for Havannah, with six to seven tons of coal thrown
overboard, having experienced very bad weather. The Rapid,
from Newcastle to Algiers, was struck by a heavy sea on the
18th, became leaky, and it is supposed must discharge. The
Selura, which sailed on the lath, for Lisbon, put back on the
20th, and proceeded for Newport on t'e 23d.
CORK, MARCH 29.—Arrived off, the London, Bannerman,
from St. John's. New Brunswick. A large ship of about 1,000
tons supposed from the same rILCC.
SUNDERLAND, 111 A acts 29.—Sailed the Dungannon, for.
Montreal ; Mariners, Hope, Richebucto.,
HULL, MARCH 31.—Wind S. W., strong gales.—Sailed the
Regent, Stephenson, for Quebec. The Titelia and Tiger,
steamers, in going out of the Dock Basin to-day got in contact,
the former had bulwarks and stancheons carried away, and has
lot back; the latter received damage to covering boards, and
remains.

VESSELS SPOKEN WITI-L—The Hector, of Dundee, for
Pernambuco, March 28, off Cork, by the William Turcan, ar-
rived at Liverpool. Columbia, Liverpool to New Orleans, Feb.
18, lat. 19. lon. 67; Sarah, from Newcastle, 22d, lat. 43,
lon. 10 ; Lima, from Liverpool, 27th, lat. 50, lon. 8 ; Elva,
Bell, London to Pernambuco, 25th, lat. 46, lon. 14, by the
Renard, arrived at Falmouth. Zodiac, Surinam to Rotter-
dam, 14th ult., in lat. 44 N., lon. 26 W., by the Concordia,
arrived in the Texel. The Acadia steamer, to Halifax, on the
27th, lat. 43, lon. 27. The Alice, Brooks, New York for
Buenos Ayres, in lat. 48, lon. 10.

CONTESTS OF WATER COMPANIES.--A case
has just occurred, which is brought to our notice by a
Correspondent, to prove what reckless injury is sometimes
inflicted on innocent parties and the public, under tha at-
tempts of rival Water Companies to maintain their posi-
tion, and to establish a monopoly of the article they supply.
The facts are these :—On the removal i;f the old London-
briOge Company's engine about 20 years ago, they disposed
of their conee-n to the Borough Company, thus placing iat
the power of the litter the supply f water for nearly the
whole district of Southwark. Th consequence was, arise
of about 15 or 25 per cent. in the rate, t ) which the inha-
bitants were obliged to submit, as they had no means of re-
sistance. Some persons, however, denounced thiS increase
of rate as an extortion, and exprrs.ed their determination
to get a supply from another source, if such a source pre-
sented itself, the monopoly alone keeping the power in the
hands of the Borough Company. The desired opportunity
was at length afforded by the establishment of another, the
Vauxhall Campany, which not only destroyed the mono-
poly, but offered to supply water on such terms as
would have put the inhabitants nearly in the same po-
sition as several years ago. The Southwark establish-
ment. perceiving that the inhabitants were about to desert
them, and embrace the advantages offered by the Vauxhall
Company, at once cut cff the supply cf nearly 20 tenants,
the Vauxhall Company not having yet laid th it pipes in
the neighbourhood. These tenants were chiefly engaged
in purstets which rendered a constant supply of water in-
dispensable, and the consequence might have been that
they would all have left immediately, to the great detri-
ment of the landlord's property. Fortunately the Vaux-
hall Company prevented the mischief by a seasonable sup-
ply with their water-carts. The merits of the case between
the two companies it is not requisite to consider here, but
it seems very dangerous that such arbitrary power should
be in the hands of any company over one of the chief ne-
cessaries of life, when what they consider to be their
in-
crest may off.,r continual temptations to abuse it.— Times
BODY FOUND IN THE RIVER.-Mr. Baker
held al inquest on Wednesday at the Green Man. I-Fg!,-
Peplar, on the body of a once fine young man, epoa-
rently ::god 20, and name net positively known. Cornelius
Ryan preyed finding the body on Monday morning floating
on the Thames cif Messrs. Napier and Co.'s factory,
Mill-wall. Deceased was well dressed, and in a pocket
eas found a letter addressed " James George, care of
Mr. John George, 22, Lower Shadwell, London, Eng-
land," and dated " Graten, Feb. 4, 1841," and signed
" Crisal Morison." There being no evidence to prove
the identity of deceased, or to show bow he came into the
Thames, the verdict of the Jury was an open one, viz.,
Found dead."

MALT.—A return has been laid before the
House of Commons of the quantity of malt used in the dis-
tilleries during the years 1839 and 1840 in the united
kingdom, The total arnmunt in 1839 was 4,223,342
bushels; and in 1840, 4,037,122 bushels. The quantities
used in the three countries for the last year were as fol-
lovis :—Englarid, 238,263 ; Irehnd, 486,240; and Scot-
land, 3,312,619 bushels, being nearly five times as much
as that used in England and Ireland together,

CHURCH-RATE'S.
13. fol- Mr. Br.-- S.:ltdeid, Mr. Wilson, ael
Mr. But!er.
Several hundred defaulters were summoned beLro the
Magistrates to answer for non-payment of Church-rates,
amongst whom were several of the most wealthy and re-
spectable inhabitants of the parish. For some time after
the commencement of the proceedings it was found almost
impossible to maintain order, owing to the anxiety of the
recusants to gain admittance to the justice-room, but the
Bench had given orders previously that a small number of
appellants should appear before them at a time. The cla-
mour at length became so great that the Magistrates were
apprehensive of the doors being forced, and eventually they
were obliged to call in the assistance of the police fur the
purpose of preserving order.
The first defaulter who appeared was George Offer,
Esq. (a Magistrate). His objection to the rate, he said,
was, that as he never attended the church, he ought not to
be burdened with a portion of the expense for conducting
divine worship there, the more especially ns those who did
atteid were suffi ,iently wealthy to provide for their own
spir;tusl instruction.
The BENCH inquired whether he meant to deny the va-
lidity of the rate.
Mr. Offer said he had no wish whatever to appear in
the Ecclesiastical Court, and therefore he would rather
that the Magistrates decided the queAtion whether the ob-
jections he had stated aff,cted the validity.
After a short consultation, the Bench decided that the•o
was no force in the objection, and ordered payment on Mr.
Offer and several of his tenants.

The next appellant was Mr. Charles Green, who said
he would object to the purposes for which the rate was
made. Even a Church-rate, to be valid, must be made
for purposes which the law recognised. The repair of ti.e
church was the principal object —in legal discussions was
generally assumed to be the s:tle object. FL! held in his
hand a copy 'of the estimate for this rate, which amounted
to 6981 4i., and the item of repairs amounted only to 75/.
The rest was swallowed up in salaries to all sorts of church
officers ; playing and repairing the organ above 1501. ;
uniform and gold lace for beadles, and other matters of
that kind. These things, he submitted, were not neces-
sary to the decent performance of divine worship. The
Iltshops of Norwich and Exeter, in the House of Lcrds
last session, cried shame upon Churchmen who forced
such payments from Dissenters, and declare i that a Dis
seater was not bound to pay for the luxu•ies and contin-
ge sci s comprised under the head of " Church-rates."
Mr. Pulley said that: as a majority in vestry had allowed
the rate, it had thereby become legalised.
Several Magistrates expressed themselves of that opi-
nion also.

After urging some further objections, in answer to a
question from the Bench, Mr. Green said he felt some
diffidence in deciding what did and what did not invaloiste
a Church-rate. The most eminent legal authori,ies dif-
fered en that point. The Attorney-General was at issue
with Sir Frederick Pollock, and one Lord Chief Justice
with another. He would rather that the Bench deter-
mined whether the irregularity which he had pointed out
was sufficient to inva!idate the rate. •
The Bench declined doing anything of the sort. The
appellant must; decide for himself, ay or no, whether he
meant to dispute the validity of the rate.
Mr. Green said, although he would much rather have
avoided the responsibility of making a direct avowal; yet,
as it was insisted op by the bench, he begged to state em-
phatically that he would dispute the validity.
Mr. Varty (Churchwarden)—Then I now declare that,
after that avowal, we shall to-morrow commence proceed•
inff's to bring the matter before the Ecclesiastical Court.
At the close of this case a large ',umber of appellants
were admitted, many of whom denied the legality of ti.e
rate, and others plea ed poverty. A few ciders for pay-
ment were made by the Magistrate?.
. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.