The Sun.
London, England, 1824-04-15 00:00:00

TO THE LORI) CHANCELLOR.

My LORD,—Your Lordship is the Guardian
of the unprotected in this country ; and, thank
God, they have a protector so perfectly alive to
all their interests.

There will, probably, soon be brought under
your Lordship's notice, a question on which the
welfare and happiness of thousands depend, and
on which also depend millions of money ; I allude
to the application to Parliament for a New Dock
at St. Catharine's. What is the history of this
New Dock ?—lt is• shortly this : seeing the
numerous schemes Which private interest and the
rage for speculation in this era, so fertile in
bubbles, is daily producing, and the premium
which these subscriptions usually hear, particu-
larly at their commencement, -enabling the pro-
jectors and subscribers to realize large sums by
immediate sales, a few speculatiVe and interested
individuals determined to get up a New Dock
Scheme with a large capital, WhiCh, in the temper
of the times, and under the influence of their
names, they calculated would be quickly sub-
scribed for, and soon be at a premium. In all
this they have calculated" rightly : and thus an
additional field for speculation, or, more proper-
ly, gambling, has been created. The real ulti-
Mate success and utility of the scheme was not
an object of much consideration with most of the
subscribers ; they could sell their shares at a
premium, and slip their necks out of the collar
at any time, putting money in their pockets. They
never allowed themselves to doubt, that under
the plausible tale they could hold out about fad-
ties in trade and free competition, the Parliament
would grant the powers they asked for. The
whole scheme of the Dock was arranged and
Directors appointed. With the most perfect
confidence, the Committee of Management take
their Surveyor down to the ancient and pope.
loos district of St. Catharine's, and taking their
stand at the flue old Collegiate Church, which
has endured the ravages of more than seven cen-
turies, regardless of its antiquity and beauty,
and of the ashes and monuments of Nobility
which it contains, and the reverence with which
it was contemplated by the 'people, they doom
to destruction, and drawing a line round a space
of nearly thirty acres covered with houses, the
whole are condemned: but those houses are tilled
with people who have been borne there, and who
have all those attachments to home which man-
kind in general possess, and seldom part with.
A respectable old inhabitant tells them,—Gen-
tlemen, I was born here ; I succeeded my father
in my business, which he derived from his ancest-
ors : if you destroy my property, and drive me
from it, I and my family must be ruined, for no
compensation can make up to us the loss of our
trade and the good-will of our customers, driven
to seek a habitation among strangers. My
Lord, this is the language of thousands of these
people, but they are laughed to scorn by these
projectors, who, with unfeeling indifference, tell
them of the powers of an Act. of Parliament.
These poor people know and acknowledge the
powers of Parliament ; but they also know, that
Parliament will listen to the humble supplica-
tions of the poorest of them ; and they likewise
know, that they are under tire especial care of
the Chaneellor, who will see that their habita-
tions, their ancient place of worship, their Church-
yard, and the graves of their fathers, shall not
ail be swept away to satiate the pecuniary cupi-
dity of a junta of -spectilative capitalists.
Nothing, I conceive, can authorise the destruc-
tion- of private property. and private rights, but
the making out a clear case of their being wanted
for the public-good. This in the present instance
has not been done. The desire of gain by pri-
vate individuali is, I maintain, the main-spring of
the undertaking. It does not proceed from pa-
triotic feelings, nor from a. wish to give accom-
modation to the shipping and trade of the Port
of Lon there is already ample accommoda-
lion.ido ;
challenge a proof of the contrary. I
maintain that the numerous Docks already exist-
ing on both sides the water, and the numerous
Private Wharfs, are much- more than equal to
the accommodation of all the shipping.and trade
of this Port ; for although there appears to be
an increase of trade of the country at large, it
does not follow that this is the case in the Port
of London. The Dock rates have for some time
past been • gradually getting- lower, and by the
time the London- Dock charter ceases, which has
less than two years to run, they will have expe-
rienced a • reduction' that will put this Port on a
footing with any in the kingdom in respect to
charges .of every description, and this before any
New Dock can come into operation. I shall not
attempt to conceal, however, that this reduction
in the. rates has been, and will continue to be
made at the•expence of the proprietors of the Oid
Docks, whose loss will beenormOus ; . but to them
it would be total ruin to have a NeW Dock
brought into competition with them, the capital
of which' (nearly a million) will - soon be swal.;
lowed up, carrying that of the Old Docks along
with it ; some have already ceased to make any
dividend, and it is to be feared that others will
follow:*

It clay be said that people may be left at
liberty to squander away their own money in

these wild schemes if they please; this mighti per-
haps, be granted, if the original projectors *ere
alone the sufferers, but they contrive to escape ;
as they see the stortu before it edmes onz-:zWe
see daily that innocent people are ruined, and
women and children reduced 'to Want by takin4
shares in'tliese concerns ; if it is asked, why do
they take such shares ? the answer is ready,
they wished to better their income, and have
been so".111-advised as to try to do so in this Way ;
there it noting intprOper in thit Way ; there it
nothing ithproper. hi the Or that merits so
heavy a penalty, and it'surely is eitremely 'de-
sirable, and Well worthy your Lorilihip's at: en-
tion, to try to cite& the increase of such traps
for the unwary confiding.

But the contemplated.increase of such specu-
late Concerns is, at the present moment, beyond
belief. The St. Cithatine's Pock, although of
.kreat extent and full of mischief, is nothing to
what is in contemplation—indeed, I may say; it
is something beyond contemplation ; for will
be believed there are no less than two large
Docks, on the.sotith side of the river, so fir in
progress that the ground is surveyed, the esti-
mate of expence made, and the whole nearly
subscribed for. As to getting the authority of
Parliament, that is not for a moment doubted,
for they say, if the St. Catherine's Dock Bill
passes, Parliament cannot refuse us. Thus we
see one false step leads to others—it is a wise
" beware of the beginnings of evil."

maxim,

The first Dock on the south side is .proposed to
be at a place called St. Saviour's ; and is to
em-
brace about 25 acres of a district.pretty much re.
sembling that at St.Catherine's,and will beattend.
ed with most of the evils of the other. No sooner
was this arranged than an active surveyor, aid' a
few enterprising individuals, planned and made
arrangeMents for a second Dock at Bermondsey,
in the immediate vicinity of the other. It is to
consist of no less than thirty-five acres ; this too
is subscribed for—such is the extent of this sort
of mania, at the present moment, unexampled
even in the times of the South-sea bubble.—
Surely, my Lord, the evils of that grand financial
delusion are not so entirely forgotten as to induce
Government to shut their eyes to projects of a si-
milar tendency. Are they to give the sanction of
their approbation to plans likely to bring ruin on
thousands ? If such are to he the effects of our
having a liberal Ministry, We shall not, by and
bye, have cause to bless them.

♦Ye hear much of Foreign Despots, and of the
little regard they shew to the happiness of their
subjects. Let me ask what we should say if we
hoard of a Foreign Sovereign driving suddenly
from their homes thousands of people,—we
should be struck with horror, and we should.
thank God we did not live under such despotisth.
But, my Lord, what name am I to give to the
conduct of the British Parliament viho authorize
a few cold calculating and covetous individuals to
act in a way extfemely similar—turning thou-
sands of families adrift at a few weeks notice, and
applying the Capital and energies of the Country-
in such a way- as not only is not called for, but
even extremely destructive in a thousand different
ways. We may be told that property is not
taken without compensation in money being
made ; in some cases the one may be an equiva-
lent for the other, but, gene.rally speaking, it is
not so. I rpeat, my Lord; that nothing but the.
making out a clear case of public benefit can au-
thorize the sacrifice of private property. This
has not been done, nor can be ; but even
if it could, the indecent and violent haste with.
which this measure has been brought forward,
cannot be got over. That a, measure, affecting
most seriously upwards of six millions of Dock
Property, affecting all the Private Wharfs, Suf.:
ferance Wharfs, and Legal Quays ; destroying
a Church and two burial grounds, and more than
1,100 houses and warehouses ; turning 10,00 U
inhabitants out of their homes ; that a measure„
of this immense magnitude andimportance is Made
public only in the month of February, instead of.
the months of August or September previous" in
contempt of, the standing orders of the house of '
Commons, hitherto always enforced in similar
cases of new and opposed schernes, ought to be
alone suff'ic'ient to stop it for the present session;
Lord Thurlow said, 44 Forms are the fences of
Justice," and I trust that your Lordship will see
the weight of this objection, and will (if on thiS
ground alone) refuse to it the sanctions of your
great name.

I have the honour to be, my Lord,
Your Lordship's very humble Servant,
7th April, 1821.

CORONER'S Esi..—Yesterday an Inquest
was held at the sign of the Grapes, in the rules
of the King's Bench prison, before PETErt LT:
PIPRE, Esq., of the Crown-office, on the body of
Mr. John Mills Evans.--Mary Ann Case, widow,
was first examined, who deposed that she had
known the deceased about threenioUths, she hav-
ing washed foriiim during that period ; but that
during the latter part of his illnesS, she acted hi
the capacity of nurse, and that it appeared to her
his mind was affected, which she attributed to his
of Newingtori-butts, surgeon. The
embarrassed circumstances. lie was attended
'then desired that the surgeon migl,q be;
vho gave the following evidence :—That
called in to attend the deceased on the
ell)ri I last, when he found him excessively
ed with a disordered action of the liver,
M7dhsCeteeontrbir.wtoi
01f:tiro)
debilitated
with whiCh the bo‘itelS.seemedlosyrnpathize very.
much. Remedies, to the best'of his (deponent's)
judgment, ware had recourse 'to, but proved in
effectual: The Jury returned
by the visitation .off

FOREIGN INT ELLIG ENCE.

FRENCH PAPERS-
From.the I.'toUe of Monday.)
MADRID, A vitt 2.—Thr• Decrre of Amnesty
again-deierred., in srite of 11 hat was lately de-
cited in the Council of 'Alittisters; on the other,
hand, one hos been sent to the Council of Cas-
tillo. which has for its object to regulate defini-
lively the forms to he followed for the epuration
(investigatiou of CLaraittery of official persons
-who, being in place beitire Marc-b, 18'20, pre-
served their places under qte Constitutional Go-
Nernment, or obtained others. A Junia, corn-
Vo‘ed of „persons of high rank, will make the in-
quiries in this capital, and the towns under its
jurisdiction ; in the provinces, the Authorities,
-lvith an Ecclesiastic, will 'perform the task. The
procedttre will be founded on.secret informatiOn
ollected by.the Judges.
( From the Journal des Dards.).

MADRrn,.MARCII 27.—The tranquillity which
Lis been hitherto maintained in most of_the pro-
vinces bai just been interrupted is the cities of
Cordova, Valencia, and Seville.
At Cordova the Exaltados had formed the
,project of assassinating all the persons known for
their attachment to the Constitutional system,
.and the 19th of this &omit, the feast of St.
Joseph, wns Chosen for this horrible massacre.—
This plot succeeded tut in part ; about ten per-
sons only suffored from the murderous steel. A
request has been made to the French Com-
outander4n4Thief to send a garrison to Cordova,
t-vvitich' his Excellency appears to have taken into
,consideration.

Things .ha-ve not -been rurried'quite so far in
The Exaßados tave coptented them-
solves -with iinprisoning a number of persons dis-
-lingrii3hed by their riches and rank in society.
The-snort utiiicting disorder prevails at Seville.
'•Certaht„persons, not content with the excesses
which they commit by day, renew them during
the night, so• that continual alarms prevail. A
-score of persons, detained in prison fur political
cpittions, have lost their lives there.
The day •before yesterday the King and the
. Royal Family left the capital. The Court will
lie absent many months.; it will visit A ranjeuz,
-Toledo, La Grange, the Escurial, and the waters
44f Sacedon. ,Gen. Count Bourmont will attend
it, and-almost all the -French •troops will quit the
,capital to follow its peregrination, as also the
•Narious departments of Administration. Ouvrard's
establishment will return to France. Aleawres
"have been taken at Aranjuez forthe approaching
residence of the Court. All persons whose opi-
nions are suspected are obliged to depart, and no
foreigner can remain there beyond-24 hours with-
out superior official authority.

m ti oil 31.

ORDER O THE DAY of HIS EXCELLENCY THE CAt-

TAIN-GENERAS CARBASBAL.

" Frerotthe date of yesterday, the Spanish garrison of this
pare is charged with tite duty of it. Precision is the first duty
,of the soldier, since, from the exact performance of orders, re-
sults the honour of him who gives them, and the consideration
,of /dm who obeys them. The harmony of a family makes it
respected. We are observed from various: quarters; let us fulfil
our duty,-and despise speeches, which will not be worth repeat-
ing when they are uttered without foundation- Let every one
-attend to his respective personal duties, aad I will answer fur
-the result.
Yiadrid, March 31

CA Il BASA I.

. APRIL I. Ins .(14y the Afferent pests of the capital, which
were occupied since yesterday by the .tipanish troops, were re-
placed in. the occupation of the troops of France.
There arrived,yesterday at Madrid from Balafoz, strong de-
lachmonts of the 15th of the line, and many waggons.
FRENCH Fui4Ds.—P.Anrs, APRIL 12.—Fire per Clmtl:.
opened at 101.75. ; tlosed at 102. 15. for money ; Bank Shares,
1190. ; 1,900. ; Spanish 16, 17, 16a ; Neapolitan, in ducats,
96; in francs, 100, 50.—(Coors ihrthentitier.)
After the xehange, at five O'Clock, the Renter were at 103. ,
25. 30. for the account.

BAYONNE, APRIL 6.
Our accounts from Madrid of the Ist say, that news had
' been received there from Catalonia of a serious affair at Puy-
eerda, between the French and the Spanish Royalists, who
would not give upl the place ; a good number-werelilled and
a great many wounded.
At Cadiz, the .Spanish.gunners have received orders to quit
(he place. By a Decree.of the 2d, dated Aranjuez, his Ma-
. jeAty has created a Junta to examine into the validity of the
claims of the Spanish subjects in:France. To this Junta an-
other is added, which may be considered as a Court of Appeal
for those who think their interest has been injured. Its- deci-
sions are to be final. His Majesty has appointed Santos La-
dron, Governor of Pampeluna, but Colonel Vicendiez Sarabria
. and Licut.-Colonel Miguel Lopez, accused of having refused
to recognize the Regency, are tobe tried by a Court Martial,
of which Quesada is to be President. A great-many missions
are going .to take place to all parts of Spain. The departure of
the IFrencn troops has given rise to the most extraordinary re-
pqrts, such as, that the French were going to take the King to
France, and that alluded to by a. journal some time.ago,
Which said, diet an August Personage, who bad never been
at any Congress, was to :Item(' that which would soon tell,"
place.
A great number of the inhabitants of Madrid -intend to fol-
_law the troops to the places of their cantonments. It seems
that by new orders the French arc to remain at Madrid till the
litlt. It was said ‘that.this delay-had been grunted at the earliest
sAicitation of Mr. Ouvrard, who haviag capital and much
paper, was taken by surprise. It is impossible to form an °pi.
Mott on this event; all is obscurity, even to .the most clear-
sighted -; it is certain that front the unsteady course of affitirs,
and the multiplicity of orders, which contr;dict each other, it
,ahould seem that there is a want of chiefs, or that there are
several who do not agree together.
Itis affirmed that the French Ambassador is igmorant of the
causes of all these' changes, and .consequently that he has no
hand in them. General Carbasal's address to the Spanish
- troops, informing them that they were henceforth to form the
Riti;ison.of Madrid, was made public at the same time with
t notlier to the French troops, informing them that they
were to remain. This news spread like lightning through
the capital, -and diffused general joy. Thus the hopes of
certain persons have been destroyed. Alarm-has been taken
.at the consequences of an event too lightly decided upon. It is
rffirmed that it is at the formal desire of King Ferdinand, that
French troops remain at Madrid. The garrison is composed
of the 23d and 28th of the line, the 9th of chasseurs, and some
artillery. This is sufficient to maintain tranquillity. The
;ades du corps go to do duty about the King's person. Gen.
.Bournionte who is almost always with his Majesty, will occupy
the. apartments, of Don Carlos. On the Ist of April, in con..
lequence of the counter order, the Spanish posts were relieved
dry the French.

'TILE BRAZILS.

An Edict of the 7th of February commands all persons who
have arrived from Europe, or any of the provinces cf the Em-
pire, since the Ist of January, to appear at the Police Office
within three days, and give an-account of their names, ages,
InitiVe country, professions, &c. This order extends to all
persons who shall arrive in future.; and those who neglect
to comply with it are to be proceeded against as suspicious
-tharacters.
16.—Many Officers of the National and Imperial army
anti continuing to serve with commissions signed by the King
of Portugal, they are ordered t►i deliver them up, and receive
gratuitously commissions signed by the Emperor, on pain of
Wig dismissed the service and banished front the empire.—
The French Consul-General, Conde de (fiestas, has address-
ed a note to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, stating that the
King of France, being informed that many families of distinc-
tion in Brazil intended to send their sons to l'aris to finish their
education, his Majesty had ordered htm to afford the parents
all possible assistance, not only in procuring a passage for the
ifoulig people even in-French ships of war, but also in. facili-
tatsfig the means of correspondensc. The Minister is ordered
by his Majesty to signify to the Consul how 'much he is grati-
:bed by the wise and generous proceeding of his Most Christian
,Aftilesty.

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS,- ',trim, 14.

Mr. BILOGDEN and others from the €ommons brought up
the Innkeepers' Allowance Bill, the Insolvent Debtors'
Amendment Bill, the Irish County Treasurers' Bill, and
several Private Bills, which were read a first time.

The Iri,ll Proctors' Costs Bill was read a second time.—
A djourned. •

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Colonel DAVIES presented a Petition from the Inhabitants
of Worcester against the Bristol Town Dues Bill.

COM HINAT lON LAWS.

Lord STANLEY presented a Petition from the Manufac-
turers of Bolton, Lancashire, against the repeal of the Combi-
nation Laws.

Mr. HUM E said, that the Committee now sitting to con-
sider.the effeet of the Combination Laws ought to be favoured
with some of the infhtmation of which, according to this and
one or two other petitions, the subject was susceptible. The
Committee had been already sitting one month ; their evidence
principally tended to show the necessity for the repeal of these
laws, and there was very little evidence on the other side.
lie hoped, therethre, that those who possessed such evidence
would see the necessity of submitting it to the Committee.
Mr. ST.A NI:EY said, that he had presented Petitions from
several of the Manufacturers of Lancashire against the repeal
of the Combination laws, as well as against the exportation
of machinery. The manufacturers felt the necessity of taking
such a step, from the alarming' extent 'and secrecy 'with which
the combinations by which they had suffered had, been carried
on ; and he could easily irnagme there were "tifivions reasons
why the mannfacturera,were not publicly desirous to come for_
ward, as they were now called upon to do by the Honoufable
Member, possibly at great personal risk ultimately to them-
selves.
Mr. MANSFIELD said, he could not hear the assertion of
the Hon. Member who spoke last, as to the masters being in.
timidated by their workmen, and therefore being prevented
from giving any opinion as to the Combination Laws, without
much regret. Ile begged to state, that he believed no such
motives prevailed, nor that any hostile feeling existed between
the masters and their workmen in the place he had the honour
to represent. On the contrary, he had heard some very re-
spectable masters concurring in opinion with the workmen,
that the Combination Laws should be repealed, and that they
led only to produce animosity between both parties interested
in them.
Mr. PHILIPS must say, that when. he heard of the fero-
cious character of these combinations in Lancashire attributed
to the circumstance of the existence of the laws framed fOr put-
ting them down, he entirely differed from the Hon. Member
Pin Mansfield). Although he might agree that those laws
had not produced the beneficial effect expected flom them, still
he was far from thinking they had been productive of the mis-
chief of creating or supporting these combinations. In look-
ing at the general question, it was important to remark that
the actual operation of those mischievous combinations was
not to protest against the reduction of wages when they were
low, but when wages were high to attempt to make them still
higher.. This fact was observable both in Lancashire and
Glasgow, where combinations were carried on at a time when
the rate of wages was particularly high.
Lord STANLEY said, that in presenting this petition, he
meant to give no opinion upon the combination- laws : still he
thought the subject ought to be approached with prudence and
caution. . _ _

Mr. G. PELHAM was anxious to hear more evidence on
the subject in the Committee.
The petition was laid on the table.
Lord I,OW Tll R presented a petition from Mildenh all,
against Negro Slavery.
Mr. LA.3IIITON presented a petition from the Tanners of

Darlington, agltinst the Hides and Skins Bill.
.51r. Wm. DU NDAS presented a petition from several of
the incorporated Trades of Edinburgh, against the Window
Tax.

Mr. LEADER presented a petition from Winclielsea in
fa‘loir of the County Courts. Bill.

Mr. SPRING RICE presented a petition from several Mer-
chants and Traders in Galway And the vicinity, praying for
the entire Repeal 43f the Salt Duties, to which the faith of
Parliament stood pledged.
Mr. PEEL presented a petition from the Cotton Spinners of
Belfast against the Exportation of Machinery.
Mr. LEA Eli gave notice, that he would, immediately after
the holydays, move for leave to bring in a Bill fbr the better
examination of witnesses in the Courts of Equity at Westmin-
ster, and for empowering the Courts of Law and Equity at
l'Ves:minster to grant commissions for taking affidavits in all
parts of Scotland and Ireland.
Petitions were presented against the house and window tax
from the inhabitants of the followin'., places :---of
by Mr. Ilyng ; of St. Peter's, WestCileap, by Mr. Maberly ;
of Woodstock, by Mr. Langston ; of Widcombeftnear Bath,
by Sir T. Lethbridge.
SIERRA LEONE.

Mr. GROSSET moved for a return of the exports and
ports from that colony ; as also for an amount of the slaves cap-
tured and condemned there; and the amount of head-money
paid to the captors.—Motion granted. • -
Mr. SIABERI4Y postponed his motion relative to the as-
sessed taxes till the sth of May.
HUME presented a petition from the Boot and Shoe-
makcrs of Inverness against the Combination Laws.—Referred
to the Committee on artisans;

Mr. CU RTEIS presented a petition, respecting the wool du-
ties, from the wool-growers in the neighbourhood of Hadley.
The sOLICITOR-GENERAL presented a petition from
certain persons in the Palace-court, praying that some vompen-
sation may be given to them in case the County Courts' Bill
should pass into a law.
-Sir T. ACL ND presented petitions from the towns of Kings-
bridge, Biddeford, and Illfracombe, in the .county of Devon ;
and Mr. P. PI CE a petition from AberystWith, praying for
the gradual abolition of negro slavery.
-Mr. LUSHINGTON gove•notice, that he should to-morrow
move that the House, on its rising, do adjourn to the 3d May.