The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-18 00:00:00

EXTENSIVE ROBBERY.

On Friday last, at one o'clock, at the Police Court,
Liverpool, a clerk, named John Denton Holt, was
placed before Mr. Rushton, on a serious charge of
having robbed his employers, highly respectable mer-
chants of that town, in December last, of a large
amount in cash. Mr. Dowling, Commissioner of Po-
lice, stated, as introductory to the examination, that
the prisoner stood charged with having robbed his em-
ployers, Messrs. Hall and Co., of the sum of about
1,5001., in two sums, namely, 1,200/., received by him
from Messrs. George Crossfield and Co., and upwards
of 200/. received from Messrs. Buchanan and Browne,
for which he had not accounted. 'these facts having
been proved, the prisoner was remanded, and was
again brought up at the Police Court, before Mr.
Rushton, on Monday last, when Mr. Buchanan, of the
firm of Hall and Co., stated, that the prisoner had not
accounted to him for various sums
andstete oddoud tohaN:bndse.
n
if the precise balance were
received by him. The balance against the prisoner
on the
prthe?sdonoefr
said,
December,tilat h
was
stated to him, and it agreed with his previous notions,
he would, to save trouble, admit it. Ile stated that
all the cash entries were made in a rough cash-bock,
before they were entered fairly in t
he Rushton was of opinion that that wouldca s h
not-b o oakie—c t Ahis.
culpability ; but as he expressed
an anxiety to know
the balance from the rough book, it was sent for ; and
Mr. Buchanan stated, on looking into it, that the
amount there entered
by the prisoner oi the 3(1, as
received,
was 1,7021. 5
the prisoner's deposit s. 6d., and ISO/. was credited to
account, the same being due to

'=_

IN 1. NO. fol I TON.

The amount found at Huddersfield was 175/. and
the watch ; at Mitcham, 1,440/. 2s. Gd. taking the louis
d'ors at 16s. 2d. each. Altogether, valuing the watch
at 11/., the value recovered was 1,626/. 2s. Gd. It is
proper to state (continued Mr. Dowling), that the pri-
soner said, that amongst the money (the 1750 was
`2 0 / belonging to a niece of his, and 25/. belonging to
himself, both of which sums ha had taken wish him
from Liverpool. The prisoner also F aid, that the sum
he took belonging to Messrs. Hall and Co. was 1,6004
and odd. (11e stated in Court at this part of Mr.
Dowling,'s evidence, that there was probably an error in
the addition made by. Messrs, 11111 and Co. ; and that
the amount was more likely 102/. than as stated by
them 1,702/0 The prisoner (continued Mr. Dowling)
said that there was a deficialey of WV, which he could
not account for. Wc returned on the same night from
London, and arrived here this morning.
Samuel Lloyd, police-otliCer, who had accompanied
Mr. Dowling, corroborated the testimony given. He
found the 10/. note on Mitcham Common, about 100
yards from where the other money was found, about
three y.A.ds from the side of the water, and half a yard
deep. _ _

'lie prisoner here said—l calculated that the Louis d'ors
were worth 300/., and they are jut down at only 2301.
This being all the evidence forthcoming, Mr. Rush-
ton, addressing the prisoner, said, " You are remanded."
The case is sufficiently remarkable, and is not a
little romantic, us here give❑ in evidence ; but we un-
derstand there were circumstances connected with the
recovery of the property, which do not legally bear on
the case, but. may transpire after the prisoner's trial,
which render it still more extraordinary. The two re•
mote spots in which the money was hidden, are, we
learn, upwards of 200 miles apart.—Liverpool Standard.

IVIISCHIEVOUS COLONIAL

LEGISLATION.

• By recent accounts from Jamaica, Jamaica, it appears that
the Legislature of that colony, not content with hin-
dering us from buying sugar from other countries upon
better terms than those on which we can buy it from
them, have lately been making a serious addition to
their own duties on the import of British manufactured
goods. We have now before us a circular, dated King-
ston, Jamaica, December 31, 1840, and signtd by a
considerable number of the principal merchants of the
place, which is to the following effect :
Kingston, Jamaica, Dec. 31, 1840.
We beg to acquaint you that an Act has just passed
this Legislature, continuing the same opprossite duties
on all provisions and other similar articles imported into
this island from Great Britain and her possessions, and
raising the duty upon all British manufactured goods
so imported from one per cent. to five per cent. ;
foreign goods are alone exempted from its operations ;
the duty is payable at the time of importation, and cal-
culated on the invoice cost and charges.
A drawback of this five
per cent. is given upon such
part as may be re-exported within three years ; but the
trade, with buyers so sensitive as our foreign dealers
are, must be injured, as well by disgust at the embar-
rassing Custom-house formalities required for the
drawback, as by the suspicion that a part of the duty
will in some way be thrown upon them ; and without
doubt it must seriously affect tine importer both in loss
of interest upon so high a duty le
goods arrive, and because much time
ed
m theu s
t instanteiep se the
fore the burthen can be thrown upon the consumer ;
for which reason also you will observe that imports
must be seriously affected, as all speculative shipments
must be deterred by so heavy a loss and impost staring
them in the face.
You will observe, also, that British manufactures are
placed on a footing worse than foreign, which pay no
duty
if re-exported, and, if entered for home consump-
tion, do not pay until taken out of bond.
We may add our firm conviction, that the spirit
which has raised this duty, without the least previous
notice, at once from one to five per cent., will, if un-
checked, soon raise it higher, perhaps evea to ten per
cent., especially as the instructions to the Governor,
which prevented his passing such acts without suspend-
ing their immediate operation, appear to have been
withdrawn.

We have, therefore, been appointed a Committee,
to prepare a memorial to her Majesty'g Government,
and to communicate with the Chambers of Commerce
in the several mauufacturing districts, to prevent, if
possible, this!Act receiving the Royal Assent ; and we
earnestly request your assistance to the utmost extent
of your influence.

The undermentioned gentlemen, of London, viz.
Levis Lucas, A!exander Stewart, Sigismund Stiebel,
A. G. Da Costs, James Hozier, D. Q. Henriques,
and I. I. Leon, Esqs., have been named a Committee
to present the memorial to the Secretary of State for
the Colonies ; and w•e trust you will b. good enough to
communicate with and assist them in this object.

lIEALTII OF THE LORD CHANCELLOR,-
We arc glad to learn that the aniwcr to the numerous in-
quiries after the health of the Lord Chancellor, made yes-
terday at his residence inßcuton-street is, that his Lordship
is much better, and is going on favourably. Tho attacks
of inflammation from which the Noble Lord suffered were
of so serious ar.d alarming a character, that it was found
necessary to bled him very frealy ; the consequence of
which has been that in arresting the progress of the synip.
toms the Noble Patient has been considerably reduced. It
is gratifying, however, to gate, that notwitlndanding the
recurrence cf these attacks, his L:rdsbip is now out of all
danger, and, it is hoped, speedily advancing towards a
state of convalescence.

him u Wage,,.—Mt. Dowling, being aworoasid oo
Friday last I saw Mr. Frodsham, attorney/. t rad from
r t
information which he gave toe, I went to office, '"
in King-street. I Ciere saw the prisoner. Mr.
Frodsham sa'd, " This is Mr. Holt, who wishes to sur-
render Itinself." I took en officer with roe. and the
prisoner walked up with me as far as the Bridewell.
On the way, he told me he had buried part of the
money he had taken from his employers at a lame near
Huddersfield, in Yorkshire. That, however, he added,
was hut a small part of it. He said, the great
bulk of it. I have buried in Mitcham Common, on the
other side of London. He was shortly aftewarda brought
to? before you (Mr. Rushton), and alter the examina-
tion remanded. 1 have since gone to the places named,
with the prisoner and the police °flitter Samuel Loyd.
On Saturday night we reached a lane about three mires
and a half or four miles from Huddersfield, on the road
to Elland (as we understood the witness), We there
searched a particular spot, at some distance from the
lane, pointed out by the prisoner, end searched for the
portion of the property said to have been there deposited,
but all in vain, owing to the darkness of the night. On
the following morning, at daybreak, we returned
to the spot ; and, after searching some time, the offi-
cer, Lloyd, pulled from a hole in the bank, pointed
out by the prisoner, a silk handkerchief. I took the
handkerchief out of his hand, and in his and the pri-
soner's presence proceeded to examine the contents.
I found it in two parcels, which I numbered fifteen and
sixteen. One of them contained twenty-six louis d'ors,
and the other one hundred and four sovereigns ; and
451. in Bank of England notes, and a gold watch. The
prisoner told me he had changed the English money for
French coin, and that the louis d'ors cost him about
163. 3d. each. He also said that he had bought the
watch out of the money, and that lie had paid 11/. for it.
He appeared to be much gratified when the money was
found. Lloyd, the prisoner, and I, afterwards pro-
ceeded to Wakefield, and thence to London, where
we arrived about half-past nine on Saturday night.
On Sunday morning we left London for Mitcham
Common, a distance of about nice miles. The pri-
soner took us over by a mill, and thence to a spot
which was indicated only by a few shreds of a woman's
bonnet. They saw the white handles of two knives,
which Lloyd took up, and began to dig, by the pri-
soner's direction. In a short time lie found a piece of
a newspaper, which was found to contain 100/. in
sovereigns and half-sovere:groa The prisen,r then
pointed to a risiag, piece of ground a short distance off,
and requested Lloyd to dig there also, which he did.
After turning up the ground about a !oat deep, they
found a cash-box, locked, and carefully wrapped in
two pieces of canvas. (Tne box, &c. were produced.)
The prisoner raid, there was still some further pro-
perty, and Lloyd continued to dig under his direction,
and found this piece of linen (or diaper), produced,
which contained four canvas bags and some gold
beside:, in two small papers. In one of the papers
there were thirty louis d'ors and five half-sovereigns.
In another there were one hundred sovereigns.
In one of the bags there were twenty-two sovereigns
and a gold ring, which last prisoner said was his own ; is
another bag, eighty-six louis d'ors ; in the third, sixty
louis d'ors ; and in the fourth, forty louis d'ors. The
prisoner several times told me that he had one night
gone to the cash box to take a ten-pound note out of
it ; that he had taken one out, had put it into his hat,
in which there were some pieces of brown paper ; but
in his agitation had somehow lost it on the Common.
This, he said, happened six weeks back on Saturday
night, and that he could never find it. We looked for
it on the Common, over the track which he thought he
had taken wi.on he lost it, but with little or no hope
of success, when, to toy great astoni:donent, Lloyd saw
the 10/. note at the root of some rushes, add about half
a yard under sa me clear water. When we got to
London we dried it, and it was now perfectly passable.
The prisoner stated that he buried the money on the
moor forty-eight hours after taking it from Liverpool,
and ten weeks from the time it ft as found. Ile said
he had gone on the folloaing day to the Common, and
frequently afterwards, in hopes of finding the 10/. note,
but could not. He also informed them that he
lived at a small cottage at. Oval Kennington ; and
we went to it, and found at his lodgings the key of
the cash-box. On opening it in his presence, they
found in it several neatly packed paper parcels. In
one there were twenty-eight 51. Bank of England
notes, in another, one twenty-pound note, 16 ten-pound
notes, and 10 five-pound ditto. In a paper parcel were
100 sovereigns, in another 100 ditto, in another 100
ditto, in another 96 sovereigns and four louis d'ors, in
another 100 sovereigns, in another 100 sovereigns, all
of which I consecutively numbered, as now produced.
The watch found near Huddersfield (also produced)
was not quite new ; but he must have bought it cheap,
as I have since had it valued at 18/.

RvENINTo EnrrioN

The co„.00,/,s is }loth eloquent and pathetic about
Lord Normanby's Drainage Bill, which, according
to that profound lawgiver, and some of his fellow la-
Ionisers in the Lords, is not only to cure all the physical
coils that flesh is heir to, but morally and religiously to
promote the social improvement of the people. It is
insisted that, if cellar lodgings be done away with,
loti!ders as a necessary comequence will construct a
tter class of small houses for the poor and la-
' using classes, and, what is better, charge for them
'e same amount of rent only. The loaic cf this
.Deduction from the premises is much on a par with
the arithmetical skill displayed in the same ars
t:cic of our Contemporary, according to which Is.
Gd. per week is worked out at the rate of 101. sot. per
on:um. The Times objected with great reason to the
dense for condemning at once and by wholesale all pro-
:•erty now existing and long created in the shape of
cellar tenements. " To apply," says the writer, " the
orrahibition of cellar-lodgings to the case of cellars al-
ready constructed, and their present inmates would be
l:oth oppressive and impracticable." " It is impos-
e !fie. to pass a law for turning 50,000 persons, at a
moment's notice, into the street s." In answer to
this protest on behalf of the owners of property so
summarily proposed to be dealt with, the Ministerial
Paper denies that the Drainage Bill is intended for
" turning any body into the streets." From the for-
mality and positivencsss of such an assertion people would
ho led to infer that some- stringent clause was to be found
in the Bill for the safeguard of existing interests ; but no
such thing. Here we have the very loose and consoling
construction of the real intent of the measure. " His
Bill does not provide for turning anybody into the
stfeets. It simply enacts that a time (yet unfixed)
shall come, after which unwholesome cellars shall
not be, what they never ought to have been, human
habitations. This is the extent of the prohibition
against which the Times protests as oppressive.' If
even the cellar will admit a window and a fire-
place, and have a back and front outlet, it
may continue to be inhabited, for the owner's
profit, and the accommodation of those who
wild not or cannot locate themselves better. Where,
then, and what is the oppression ? Is nuisance a civil
right ? Is there a vested interest in filth and pesti-
lential miasma ? The Times must be hard driven for
a grievance, and be most morbidly alive to the sense of
oppression, when it adopts the incorrigible owners of
these loathsome stink-holes as its sordid clients." The
rights of property are to be reserved, it seems, for a
definite period, yet to be fixed, and this is what is
called preserving vested interests we suppose. The
owners of this sort of property will have a year's notice
to prepare for being ruined, and the cellarage tenants
must be ready to quit, whether small and more decent
houses or lodgings have been in the meanwhile run up
far them by benevolent builders or not.
(From the Globe.)
The public has been mulcted in a sum of 3,000/. or
000/. for its apathy, in having tolerated the restora-
nn the Earl of Cardigan to a position where to in-
.olt, and be insulted, has bean his vocation. We think
sae penalty lenient, rather than otherwise for the
otrence. Of course no one was wild enough to suppose
'.'.tat the nominal culprit would be punished. There
would have been no poetical, still less aristocratical, jus-
tice in that. Duelling is a nobiliary privilege, and a mili-
tary duty. ‘Vhen the Duke of Wellington gave the sanc-
tion of his great name and illustrious character to the
practice, in his meeting with Lord Winchilsea in 1829
—when a High Church Lord, more lately, bearded
a Bishop in its apology—it must have been tolerably
evident that the nuisance would not be abated from
above. It was not to be expected it should. It is
much when a privileged class permits traditions,
which have become irrational, to be slowly corrected
from below. The successive infusions of common sense
always spring from the middling ranks upwards. The
reason is obvious. The latter have no exclusive dis-
tinctions to vindicate. They have not the notions of
Norman conquerors to deliver down unimpaired.
They have not the high preservation of professional
courage to prove in time of peace. The public,
however, will be too much at last for noble and
military views on this subject. That which linen-
diapers are laughed at for, Lords will not long
practise without ridicule. In France and America, the
tradition of barbarism has descended amongst plebeians.
In England, its abandonment must be followed amongst
aristocrats. Gentlemen only tight, after all, pour avoir
nfe la consideration. When public opinion has once set
against it, the thing must drop, like pig-tails and hair
powder. The popular voice controls all fashions at las'
to its own convenience.

(From the Standard.)
We were able to give a report of the whole of the
trial of the Earl of Cardigan in our later edition of last
night ; but such of our readers as had not an opportunity
of perusing that edition, have now beforo them the con-
clusion of the proceedings. They will zee that the Noble
Ear! has been acquitted by the unanimous vote of the as-
sembled Peers, but acquitted solely pn the ground of a
failure of proof as to the identity of gentleman fired
at and wounded at Wimbledon boin n, with the per-
son named in the indictment. 'Fiji --- tal defect was
promptly seized upon by Sir William Fo tt and the de-
.j
fendant's other counsel, and pressed by S r William with
his characteristic acuteness, and with irresistible force.
The trial, therefore, terminated somewhat abruptly
in the verdict of acquittal, which we have stated.
This result, though unexpected perhaps as to its cir-
cumstances, cannot in our opinion be thought unsatis-
factory. It reflects no discredit upon the high tribunal
concerned, that sufficient evidence was not brought be-
fore it. Granting that such evidence might have been
procured by the use of due diligence on the part of
the prosecution, or that the indictment might have
been so framed • (as easily it might have been) to
render any additional evidence unnecessary, it is
plain that the lat:ii omission did not rest with the
House of Lords, inasmuch as their Lordships had no-
thing to do with cumin ingand mar3hallin4 the evidence,
or with preparing the indictment. Their Lordships' sole
duty was to decide whether the body of evidence adduced,

supported the indictment before them, and though the
one presented too little for full proof, and the other ex-
cted proof than it ought to have done, they were not
blame. The fault rests with the prosecution, who, by
production of a clerk from the War Oleo could
e shown that there was but one Captlin Harvey
Tuchett in the Eleventh Hussars—and thus settled

the question of identity (1:; to namc, or, 1)y adding
another count or two to the indictment (sty shootin-.7
at "a person unknown"), could have dispensed with
any other proof of identiry than proof of the identity of
person. Whether the blunder wa3, or was not, inten•
tianal on the part of the Attorney-General, we, of
course, cannot say ; though seeing to whom Sir John
Campbell knew himself to be oppose3, we can hardly
imagine that he fall into his error from defect of
Bate—few would place a hasty. ill-considered piece
nf work at the mercy of Sir NV. Follett. But whether
the blunder was, or .was not, intentional, we think tha
it ought not to be regretted.

ing were omitted yesterday for want of room
(From the Times.)
One of the most remarkable features of the present age
ie Lite utter want of consistency displayed in the financial
;egulations of this country. It would appear little short of
inadness to us, had we not been so long accustomed to
t:railar exhibitions of folly, that the same hands which had
so unscrupulously expended 20,000,004. sterling on a
scheme where success was at best uncertain, and where the
stilt has been an increase of misery and barbarity, that
these very hands, like those of a cruel stepmother, should
begrudge to their own ofLpring and citizens what they h
levished away upon strangers and alicria. So perverse, in-
deed, has been the policy cf Government in all matters re-
!vine- to works of charity and henevolenee, and so insult'_
cent the means it has hitherto employed for these objects,
taat by far the greater part of the charitable Institutions of
ti e present day have been establi7hed by individuals or so-
c'eties. The establishment of " sailors'hornes" at our sea-
ports must bo reckoned among the most praiseworthy of
these efforts. But, while we admit this, we cannot help
expressing our conviction that the evil endeavoured to be
counteracted by them is too extensive and deep-seated to
he overcome by individual or voluntary efforts. These
only point at a duty which the Government ought to re-
cognize, and indicate a mischief which only a Government
• can effectually remove. And if it be the duty of a Go-
vernment to provide effectually for the reward of past ser-
vices, it is surely not less 30 to secure an ample provision
foe the present. Two cr three letters which have lately
appeared in our columns, from the pen of one of the most
experienced officers in the service, Admiral Carden, have
brought before the public so fearful a view of the existing
evils of our navy, as, in fact, almost to depress the mind, from
a sense of the amount of reform required—an amount so great
as to appear almost hopeless of realization. Still, it must be
remembered that the present moment is all ; it
is, perhaps, the last that may remain to us, ()Jere the
hurry of mortal strife comes on ; and the issue of that eon-
tl4iet may mainly depend upon the nature of the prepara-
tion now made, and the amount of justice now done. :For
Admiral Carden unhesitatingly contends—and he is not the
first competent judge by hundreds, who has so argue.d—
that justice is not now done to the British seaman. In-
deed. the notorious fact, that in the last American war
the United States' navy was chiefly manned by British
scenic!' seems of itself to establish a certainty that some
unwholesome system must exist among us, thus to drive
the chief elements of our maritime strength and safety
into a strange and unnatural alliance with their country's
enemies. One leading feature of the injustice thus corn-
plaircd of is described by Admiral Carden, and by
others who have written on the same subject, to con.
gist in this—that we persist in paying► able seamen
in the British navy lower wages, considerably lower wages,
than they could obtain in the merchant service, or in the
American navy. And, to make the wrong inflicted still
heavier, we compel our seamen, in time of war, to man our
navy, and put in jeopardy their lives, while we refuse them
the wages which they can elsewhere obtain. No wrong
sa palpable, so naked, so utterly tyrannical, is inflicted by
tee Government of England on any other class. 'rhe in-

dignitf, the insult, and the downright robbery, is reserved
to the exclusive use of British seama,n—to be first under-
valued, trod offered far le €s for their labour than the cur.
rent market price; aad then, if hands are not obtained
--is how should they be obtained in time of war on
such terms ?—to seize upon them by force; to mars cu-
ships, arid shed their blood, in defence of our enacts.
Admiral Carden does not ask Uo to run the risk
at once, which would be involved in resigning the
right of pressing seamen, without which it might
happen that the very existence s.f the nation might
be hazarded by the non-equipment of a fleet in time of
peril ; but he does ask us to do what is far wiser and bet-
:er—to render the ri,.;.ht of press unnecessary by rendering
'he service popular with seamen. This requires various
amendments of the present system ; but three of these evi-
dently take the lead. These are-1. The raising the
pay of " able seamen" to a level with the wages given by
our merchants, and in the American service. Consider-
, ing the number of " able seamen" employed (and it is of
these only that we speak), the total addition to our annual
expenditure would be unworthy the consideration c f a na-
tion like Great Britain ; especially when it is remembered,
that the thing at stake is our naval a7-..cendaney, and that the
loss of this involves nothing less than the dissolution of the
British empire. 2. The addition of premiums or rewards for
good behaviour, to be provided by arrangements made in our
dockyards. ports, and coast service, by which a certain
class of offices should be reserved for meritorious seamen,
having completed a certain lengih of service. 3. The
establishment of naval barracks at all our parts, wherein
sailors whose ships were refitting., &c., might find a home,
at a low rate of expense ; instead of being handed over,
as at present to the crimps and land-sharks, who not only
rob ti.ern of their hard-earned savings, but ruin alike both
their health and their morals. These three instalments of
" justice to our seamen" are fully due. flow much longer
the payment may be postponed without ruinous conse-
quences, we cannot pretend to say; but sure we are, that
there is fearful hazard in the delay, and that the moment
may come when we may wildly rush to repair the injury,
and may fled that repentance comes too late.
(From the Morning Chronicle.)
It is with great pleasure that we recognise, on the part
of the intelligent men of all parties, a growing disposition
to approach the great questions of commercial and financial
reform, which are forcing themselves every day more and
more imperatively upon the consideration of the country,.
in a fair and candid spirit, undisturbed by the heat of party
conflict, and bent only upon a determined effort to do the
greatest amount of practical good to the greatest number
of the community. If the article which appeared in the
Times of yesterday may be taken as a fair indication of
the sentiments of the leading men of the Conservative
party, we may congratulate the country upon the prospect
which is now opening up, of seeing the great principles
which have so long been established to the satisfaction of
all thinking men, reduced into practice, and made the basis
of the financial and commercial system of the country.
The Times urges Mr. Baring, as the addition to
the assessed taxes last Session has been but indiffer-
ently successful, to try the effect of lowering duties
on those great articles of general consumption, which will
generally improve the condition of the working classes,
improve trade, improve manufactures, and improve the re-
venue, The excessive timber duties, it observes, force us
to take an inferior article at a high rate, are a loss to the
revenue, and a burden to the country ; and their reduction
would at once furnish us with additional facilities for im-

proving our relations with the north of Germany. Our
Contemporary very justly observes that every imme-
diate duty on the grand necessaries of life is a griev-
ance, inasmuch as it limits the consumption at home,
checks foreign trade, and impairs the revenue of the
State ; and, by way of making a beginning, calls for
the reduction of the duties on colonial produce, in.
eluding sugar, coffee, and tobacco, from the East as
well as the West Indies, and a reduction of the; high du-
ties now levied on some of the chief articles of food, as
butter, butchers' meat, and bacon, which would be a cons
siderable boon to the working classes. It gives us un-
feigned pleasure to have the co-operation of our Con-
temporary in the great battle against monopoly, especially
the monopoly of food. We agree with the writer in the
Times, " that the political influence and the social condi-
tion of the nation depend upon the care and wisdom with
which the general prosperity of the community shall be
provided for, the multiplied and injudicious restrictions
of our commercial tariff gradually removed, and the basis
upon which the charges of the State must rest, enlarged
by a prudent Extension of the capital and commercial:wealth
of the country ;" and that " these arc the chief end and
aim of good legislation, to which Rsform Bills and Regis-
tration Bills are at beat but means." We will even go
further, and say that we consider it the bounden duty of
every Government to consider everything subservient to
the one great object of promoting the general prosperity,
protecting the ,,rcat mass of consumers, and more
especially the labouring classes, who are unable to
protect themselves, against the exactions of powerful mo-
nopolies, and the encroachments of class interests; favour.
ing by every means the free development of capital and
industry, and, in a word, applying, with vigorous and con-
scientious impartiality, the rules of right and reason to
every tax, every item of the tariff, and every provision in
the statute book, which affect the great practical every-
day interests of the mass of the community. Such aro
the views of which we have been for years the con-
scientious advocates. flow near we may be to their
realisation we do not pretend to say. What measures
the Government may intend to bring forward we are un-
able to tell. This only we know, that if there is faith in
past conduct and professions, the present Ministry must
be anxious to embrace the first opportunity of carrying
into practical effect the liberal and enlightened princi-
ples which they have repeatedly declared to be essential
for the welfare of the country. It is mainly because they
have espoused these principles, and acted upon them, al-
though to a very limited extent, yet still, perhaps, as far
as circumstances would admit, and certainly further than
their political opponents were prepared to go, that we
and the liberal public generally have supported the Whig
party for the last ten years. Their reduction of the coal, I
candle, soap, window, and other taxes pressing with a
grievous and unequal burden upon the humbler classes of
the community—their attempt, abortive though it proved,
to modify the enormous and unjust protecting duty upon
timber—the advocacy, by the majority of the Cabinet,
of the leading principles of free trade, and of a
moderate fixed duty instead of ;.he present absurd
and oppressive taxes upon food and, finally, the
symptoms shown of a wish to adopt fair and reason.
able principles of colonial policy by the equalization
of the duties on East and West India sugar, and,
more recently, on rum —these, we repeat, are the mea-
sures which have secured for the Whigs such a large share
of the support of the manufacturing and commercial inte-
rests, and of the intelligent middle classes—a support
which is still continued, mainly upon the expectation that
these measures may be looked upon as earnests of the far
greater, and more important practical reforms which the
Whig Government is prepared to effect if it can find an
opportunity. The reception given the other evening by
the II )use of Commons to the last measure of this nature
introduced by the Government, viz. the equalization
of the duties on East India and West India rum in-
duces us to hope that this opportunity may not be far
distant. Although the tone of Sir Robert Peel's re-
marks, and the somewhat ill-timed hesitation which led
him to propose delay in a case of obvious justice and int-
parlance, do not look as if he was prepared to take the
lead in introducing any measures of commercial reform,
yet his uequalified adherence to the great principle
urged by Mr. Labouehcre, of " Justice to the colonies
and consumer in place of protection to class interests,"
induces us to hope that if further and more important
applications of this principle are brought forward, he will
be prepared to sink tile party leader in the patriot, and
give the measures which in his conscience he believes to
be right and necessary the benefit of his powerful advo-
cacy. This much we feel assured of, that whatever Go-
vernment may be in power, an extens:ve reform of
our tariff and system of taxation, based upon the
principle of fairness to the consumer and productiveness to
the revenue, cannot long be delayed, if England is to re-
tain her place in the scale of cations. Our relations with
foreign countries—the enormous development of our ma-
nufactures and export trade, combined with the rapidly-
increasing competition of foreign manufactures—the pri
vations and discontent of a large portion of our labouring
population—the political necessity for increased expendi-
ture, at a time when the country will not tolerate taxation
imposed for the purpose of protecting particular interests
—arc all circumstances which concur to press upon the
men at the head of affairs the imperative necessity of
doing something speedily and effectually to riscuc the
country from the embarrassments in which a too-long a..t.
herence to erroneous principles of commercial and finan.
cial policy has involved it.
TILE

CURN-EAWs AND THI:
CLERGY.

---,,---_____
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sin,—The Committee of the Anti-Corn-law Asioeia-
tion desire to express their apprcbation of your unre-
mitting labours in the great and good work of exposing
the injustice and cruelty of the monopoly of bread.
That a law so monstrous should ever have been sanc-
tioned by our lawgivers can only be accounted for by
the junction in conspiracy of those who, both in tempo-
!rd and spiritual matters, lord it over all in their power.
The former have defied the rule of right," 1)0 as you
would be done unto." The latter have chosen another
another guide than Him, who put it to his hearers,
If any of you fathers he asked by your child for bread,
will ye give him a stone ; if for a fish, will ye give him
a serpent ?” _ .
Even in cur less corrupt establishment in the north
we have a standing committee, ready at a moment's no-
tice to sound the alarm when a hungry nation would at-
tack that systcn: which fills their (the CICrgy's) larders
out of the poor man's scanty pittance, while the coffers
of the rich mus4t net be so much as looked at. Wit-
ness the motion for inquiry ! Their conduct is second
only to the wickedness of Him who spared to take of
h's flock, and sen., for the solitary lamb of his neigh-
bour. The kingdoms of the world and the glory of
them have proved the Statc.paid clergy unworthy of
that Ma,ter who would make no sacrifice to obtain them.

The allotments of the starving poor have blen
brought as low as will Lep in life by the same grinding
company. An inquiry is about to be instituted into
the provision for the poor of Scotland. We trust you
will give the sul,j:..ct timely notice.
We would not allow this opportunity to pass without
expressing our satisfaction in your views of civil and re-
ligious liberty. Go on, Sir ; promote the happiness of
the greatest number, and it will promote your own the
rnore.—Your's respectfully,
Peterhead, Feb. 10.
STAFF°

WM. SOUTTAIt.

R1) AND RUGBY RAILWAY.--WC
are informed that a petition for leave to bring in a Bill
for the purpose of constructing a line of railway from
StIlford to Rugby, with a branch to Alrewas, was pre-
sented to the House of Commons on the evening of Friday
last ; and that the 10 per cent, deposit on the estimated
cast of the line was paid oil Thursday, and now awaits the
Speak r Guardian.

REFORIL-ADULTERA-

TION OF DRUGS.

TO THE EDITOR OF TIIE SUN.

Sta,—A few 'necks ago there appeared in the columns
of The Sun, taken from a pamphlet, addressed to Mr.
Warburton, some notices of the mal-practices of drug-
gists in the adulteration of drugs, (rem which it would
appear that the well-directed efforts of the medical prac-
tioncr are often rcnrli•red unavailing, and the public art,
both directly and indirectly robbed of their money aid
their lives. I have read that pamphlet, and from fact,
which have come within my own knowledge, as well as
respectable testimony, am convinced that its statements
are founded in truth ; the chief defect being that it has
not stated all the adulterations practised in the more
efficient remedied that are employed.
A few days ago, Mr. Hawes introduced into his Bill
for Medical Reform, which is to be read a second time
on Friday next, certain clauses in this Bill, providing
for the better education of chemists and druggists, and
for their registration ; the Bill also makes it compul-
sory on them to undergo an examination on certain sub-
jects of study, in which they are now (with some few
exceptions) notoriously ignorant ; and it indirectly pro •
vides a remedy for the extinction of quackery ; but its
introduction has preceded inquiry ; it is therefore looked
upon with suspicion by some, and with aversion by others
of the druggists, and hence, doubtless, has arisen the de-
termination in a portion of that class—it remains to be
seen how large a portion—to organise an opposition to
it, in which neither exertions ncr expense will be spared,
to render the Bill, with regard to themselves and their
practices, perfectly nugatory.
Mr. Hawes's Bill, certain chemists and druggists de-
clare, is calculated materially to affect their interests,
and they are determined to oppose it. It unfortunately
happens that the 'Members of the Legislature arc not
well versed in the subjects of trade, still less in the de-
tails of one that differs so much from all others. The
medical professio❑ labours under the same disadvantages,
and hence it isnot unusual to find the whole burden of
inquiry and of legislation in such eases, to rest on two or
three individuals, whose particular attention has been de-
voted to such subjects, or who themselves have been, or
are practically acquainted with them. The Bill is in
good hands now, and if Mr. Hawes is firm in maintain-
ing his position, without being diverted from it by the
clamours with which he will be assailed, he will deserve,
and receive, not only the thanks of the medical profes-
sion, but of every respectable chemist and druggist, and
be hailed as a public benefactor.
There seem to be two things imperatively necessary
to qualify the chemist and druggist for his office, as the
coadjutor of the medical practitioner ; the first is an
education suitable to his station and office, and the next
to provide some check upon the facilities which he has
to be dishonest. For the first, Mr. Hawes's Bill in some
measure provides, the rest must be left to time ; for the
second, in his 13111 there is no provision, and I therefore
offer a few remarks on its utility and necessity.
The druggists originally belonged to, and formed,
with the apothecaries, a part of the Grocer's Company,
the Wardens of which Company visited, at certain pe-
riods, the shops of its members, to inspect their weights
and measures, and the articles which they sold, and
were empowered to fine and imprison all offenders. Not
content with this, an officer, called a garbler, was ap-
pointed by the Company, whose duty it was to inspect,
and if necessary, to garble all drugs and spices which
were imported, before they could be offered for sale ; the
penalty for selling ungarbled goods being, on conviction,
attended by forfeiture of the whole, and not unfre-
quently the offence was punished by a fine in addition.
The garbling consisted in cleansing the different sub-
stances from extraneous matter, such as dust, stones, fo-
reign substances, and of any portion, which, in the trans-
mission, had become damaged, or by fraud had been
intermixed.

The origin of the custom appears to be coeval with
the origin of the trade itself. Previous to the nip of
James the First, garbling existed, and was practised as
one of the customs of the City of London, but in 1604
it passed into a law, and for many years was found to
be of great advantage in protecting the public from
imposition and fraud. Another effect resulted from
the existence of the law, which was, that drugs and
spices were imported in a much purer state, the de-
mand for articles of inferior qualities being thus kept
down. Unfortunately the garbler's fees remained the
same, and thus an office calculated to prove a protec-
tion to the honest trader, became, in time, a source of
oppression ; for although the labour of garbling had
almost become nominal, the simple act of inspection in
most cases being sufficient, there was no reduction in
the fees, and therefore persons of every description en-
gaged in trade affected by its provisions, united in en-
deavouring to obtain its repeal.

The great defect in this law consisted in the method
of payment, making it to depend on self•imposed fees
instead of on a regular stated salary. The pecuniary
value of the office may be estimated, when it is stated
that, in 1686, the right of admission to, and lease of,
the office for sixty-nine years was purchased for about a
thousand pounds, subject, in addition, to the annual
payment of 1.300/. Attempts were made as early as
1693 by the several Companies of merchants and
traders affected by it, to be relieved from a part of the
heavy fees to which they were liable, but without
success. Another attempt was made in 1707, when,
after a protracted inquiry, the office W1.13 found to be a
grievance that could no longer be borne, and the Act of
;fames 1. was repealed.

Since that period no check has existed to the im-
portation of drugs in any state, and as great competition
exists in the wholesale trade, it is met, as such compe-
titions are usually met, by a depreciation in quality.
Those who have had the opportunity of examining the
state in which drugs are now imported, and whose
judgment is not biassed by interest, must be convinced
that the re-enactment of some law of this kind is ne-
cessary ; that a system of rigid inspection of every
drug is necessary, and that the analysis or testing of
the various chemicals used in medicine is imperatively
called for. But as the facts connected with the use of
damaged drugs in an impure state, of foreign and
home-manufactured chemicals in the like state, and the
various ways and means of wholesale and petty corruption
cannot be known without evidence or testimony, a Par
liamentary inquiry into the present state and practices
of the drug trade is necessary previous to any legisla-
tion. There is, however, a strong feeling of dislike to
this inquiry on the part of many, which it is not diffi-
cult to understand ; but as the " greatest happiness
principle" is unquestionably concerned in the matter, I
trust, Mr. Editor, your exertions will be used in the
advocacy of this righteous cause.

There is another thing too, which appears essential to
a thorough reformation, that is the extinction, the total
and absolute extinction, of quackery. To this sub-
ject I regret to find that Mr. Warburton has de-
clared his determined opposition. It is, perhaps, ell
this very point that the corruptionists amongst the
druggists will rally around him ; for many of them have
their little venture in this unhallowed traffic, in the
shape of some dinner, stomachic, or antibilious pill, or
favourite cough drop, or essence, for which they will
clamour and fight as though it were the sheet anchor of
their existence. The no-legislation would in this case
shield them, and the opposition to Mr. flawes's
" calculated so materially to injure their intet ests," will,
it is to be hoped, be estimated at its just value.
I have proceeded on the supposition that no man's
icterest can consist in doing wrong. There may be,
and doubtless are, various motives which influence men
in their opinions and in their actions ; but when, in the
latter case, they interfere with the well-being of society,
the limit of non-interference is passed, and tiny should
be called in to put down what nothing else can put
Le Nil.

Should some few additional facts to those which you
before gave on the adulteration of drugs be of sufficient
interest to your readers, •I may be induced to address
you again on this subject, and in the hope that the cause
will receive your hearty support and advocacy,
I remain, Mr. Editor, your humble sorvant,
London, February 13, 1841.

A DRUGGIST.

THE POPE ON NATIONAL ECU-
CATION IN IRELAND.

The follow in;; is an authorised translation of -a letter
from his Holiness the Pope to each of the four Roman
Catholic Archbishops of Ireland :—
" My Lord—Your Grace is sa fully aware of the
grave importance of the questions involved in th e con-
troversy which has been raised in Ireland on the sub-
ject of the new system of national education, as it i3
called, that you should not be surprised that the- answer
of the Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda thereon
has been so long delayed.
" For your Grace is fully in possession of Vac whole
matter, and intimately acquainted with all the: weighty
tuherissueb
jtc,)ettheahtouciodntbreov ‘zrxsayr,nizt•ireicdi ti :131 iscl sd
et hmaatn e have
that
with the utmost deliberation.
" Because the protection of the Catholic: 'religion—
the facility afforded for the instruction of yr mth—the
gratitude due to the British Parliament !l.or having
granted a large sum of money for the support. of schools
for the people of Ireland—the necessity of preserving
concord among Catholic bishops—the duty o.f fostering
the public tranquillity, the apprehension, in fine, lest
the entire funds, together with the autho-rity, should be
transferred to masters, not being Catholicsr could net
but have filled the Sacred Congregation with the great-
est solicitude, during the long and earnest col tuideration
which, in accordance with the duties of its oil cc, it gave
to the question submitted to it.
Having therefore accurately weighed all. the dan-
gers and all the advantages of the syster 3—having
heard the reasoning of the contending parties , and hav-
ing, above all, received the gratifying intellig epee that
for ten years since tho introduction of this ;system of
education, the Catholic religion does not appeal.to have
sustained any injury, the Sacred Congregat ion has,
with the approbation of our Most Holy Path. er Pope
Gregory G • XVI resolved that' no judgment slit mid be
definitely pronounced in this matter; and that th is kind
of education should be left to the prudent disizetion