The Sun.
London, England, 1823-05-15 00:00:00

MERCANTILE SHIPPING.

DEAL, MAY 14.--Wind W.---Arrived and sailed for the
River the George the Fourth, Jones, from Madeira; Ann- and
Elizabeth, Caultin, from the South Seas; Ganges, Biden, from
Calcutta; also arrived the Arethusa, Clark, from Hull for Rio
Janeiro; and Britannia, Rigmaden,for Jamaica. Came doin
front the River the James, Deighton, for Quebec ; and Maria,
Williamson, for ditto; Posthumus, 31`lver, for Madeira and
Jamaica; Minerva Richers,for the Mediterranean ; and Bar.
mony, Norris, St. Andrew's, N.B.
PORTSMO writ, MAY 14,—Wind W.—.. Passed by the Globe,
Curzena, from Bangal.
PLantrouTtt, MAY 13.—Wind W.S.W.—Arrived the Ver.
tumnus, Lash, 51 days from Joaza. Oif the port the Harring-
ton, Harvey, for Bermuda.
FAL:MOE/11i, 111.4.Y.13.—Wind W.—Arrived his Majesty's
ship Trinculo, from Plymouth for Cadiz; and Princess Eliza..
bath packet, front New York.

SOUTHAMPTON, MAY 14.—Arrived the Jane pilot-boat,
with passengers taken out of the Ganges, from Calcutta.
u WrrEirAvEN, MIDI- 12 —The schooner Supply; a cen.
stant trader from hence to Liverpool, sailed on Saturday with
valuable cargo, and about 30 passengers; all day yesterday we
experienced a heavy gale from S.W., with thick hazy weather.
An express reached here this morning, which states that the
Supply came on shore about 9 P.x., at a place called Drigg
Scar, about 3 leagues South of St. Bees Head ; that after strik-
ing some time she filled with water. The crew and men pas..
sengers were all saved, but, I am sorry to add, the women and
children, about 13 in number, with the exception of one, were
all drowned ; the bodies have been all found. , The cargo will
be got out in a damaged state.
DOVEU, MAY 14.—Passed by the Lotus, Doveton, from
Bengal,

ORIGIN OP THE COLLEGE
_OR CORPORATION

OF .11 E A LDS.
The origin of the office of Herald is, by writers on the sub-
ject, traced back to times of the remotes antiquity, every nation
being said to have had their particular institutions of Kings,
Heralds, and Pursuivants, who were all considered of one com-
mon fraternity, and as such executed their ofliees, and enjoyed
the same privileges in all kingdoms. An injury offered to them
was considered an infraction of the law of nations. They wore
no swords, or swords without points, because their persons were
sacred, and in time of battle were to be placed with the priests;
and though they were not a religious order, like the Roman
Feciales, they have been compared to the different orders of
the Church, for none could be a King till he had been a Herald,
nor a Hadd till he had been a PursuiVant.

The mention of Heralds frequently occurs in English history,
beginning as early as the reign of henry 111., though no regu-
lar establishment for them seems to have been provided until
ages afterwards. In the warlike times of our Henries and our
}Awards, the Heralds were in full employs and often sent upon
most dangerous services—to hurl defiance into the teeth of irri..
Wed enemies, or to bring to their duty profligate rebels, in
doing which, notwithstanding the sacredness their character was
generally held, they sometimes lost their nose and ears, and
sometimes their heads. Henry, King of Castile, sent his Herald
to Edward the Black Prince, to know why he invaded his
kingdom. Montjoy.t the French King-of-Arms, was sent from
Rouen, by his sovereign, and thirty-five of his Council, to assure
our Henry V. he should have battle given him, and received a
gallant answer from that Monarch, as well as a liberal reward :
and a second Herald was sent in a scoffing way to the same
King before the battle of Agincourt, with certain tinnis-balls, to
indicate his being better adapted for play than wars, as noticed
by Shakspeare in his play of Henry V.—,Great Noblemen also,
at these times, us well as Kings, retained Heralds among their
tollowers.

" Richard 111. first granted and made all his Kings, IferalOs.
and Pursuivanta of Arms a body corporate, and gave unto them
for their College, a house called Cold Harbour," they finding
Chaplain every der to celebrate lIlaSB there, or elsewhere, for
the health of that leing, Anne, his Queen, and Edward Prince
of Wales, his progenitor; whilst the former lived, and their
souls, when they died.
King Edward VI. confirmed the charter of Richard; and
besides other privileges, exempted the whole College from all
tolls, subsidies, anti payments whatsoever, and also treed them
front serving any offices of trouble. Phillip and Mary granted
to the Officers of arms, and their successors for ever, to be a
body corporate, with a common seal, and to keep their office in
a certain house or mansion, described in thepatent, as " Derby.
place, at Paulo's wharf, in the parish of St. Berinettes in. the
city f London." ,
The Corporation of Heralds, as at present established, ton-
sists of thirteen members—namely, three King's of Arms, six
Heralds, and four Pursuivants at Arms, who are all nominated
by the Earl Marshal of England, as Ministers subordinate to
him in the execution of their offices, and hold their places by
patent during their good behavour. They are all the King's
servants in ordinary, and therefore in vacancies of the office of
Earl Marshal, have been sworn into their offices by the Lord
Chamberlain. Their meetings are called Chapters, which they
hold the first Thursday in every month, or oftener if necessary ;
wherein all matters are determined by a majority of voices of
the Kings and Heralds, each Herald having two voices. The
names of the Kings of Arms are, Garter, Clarencieux, and
Norroy; of the Heralds, 'Windsor, Richmond, Chester, Somer.
set, York, and Lancaster; and of the Pursuivants, Rogge.
Croix, Rouge Dragon, Portcullis, and Bluemantle.
Garter, who is styled " principal King of Arms," was in-
stituted by King Henry V. His business is to attend at se-
lemnities of the Knights of the Garter, from whence he de-
rives his name; to see to the disposal of their arms over their
seats or stalls after instalments ; to carry the Garter and other
decorations of the Order to Kings or Princes abroad, who
happen to be elected Knights, and to marshal ceremonies at
funerals. Clarencieux is so called from Lionel Duke of Cla..
rence, son of Edward 111., to whom he first belonged. fibs
office, and that of Norroy, the other King of Arms, is to mai.
shill ceremonies at funerals, (where public ceremonies are used)
of all gentry under the degree of Barons • to keep visitations
within their limits, for registering of families, taking accounts
of coats of arms, &c. These two are called Provincial Iltraids,
from the kingdom being divided into two provinces between'
them ; and both the and Garter were anciently crowned by
the Kings of England themselves, but it has since been done
by commission by the Earl Marshal. They had yearly salaries,
Garter's being double in argount to the rest. John Wrythe; or
Wriotheeley, Garter, had 401. a year salary assigned him by
Edward VI., " according to other Garter Kings had usually
received." They had besides various fees ; and when our an.
cient Monarchs were in their progress, they generally attended,
and had their daily allowances. On occasion of taking. the
Order of the Garter to Foreign Princes, as alluded to, their re-
wards were generally most liberal, and frequently proportioned
to the richness of the decoration sent.
By the constitution of the Heralds' College, none were to be
admitted of the society who were not Well educated,and studious
of heraldry, able to trick coats of arms, and to paint. And so
honourable was the office of Herald held anciently, that some
of them have given origin to the greatest families.
There are few institutions which have undergone a greater
change than the College of Heralds. 'I he ceremonials attend-
ant on the King, and the several superior orders of Knighthood,
are at present the principal employment of the officers; to which
may be added the enrolment of the pedigrees of the Nobility
and Baronets ; the occasional grant of Arms to new-made
Knights, and helping people to supply lsgrd claims to estatee 4
ourand ethhiledyreanreofoffoterntuon2nbyfinitte,urtnisiseh,
inasg Ftle,ininnanwit
toibi
siitficit of good blood, and enabling them to shut in the motley
procession of gentility."
of original visitations,. and records of the pedigrees and areal of
eegt;ets
cocontainnsi a s t
jn
gvoasitnumbera
iar g
joefetiimo
1.1
fpoanrllt'ilahnieetsaa:rncfthluinvvaeetaiioafbeelthrettiteloCcactoitilcs
of
lie ceremonials and other branches of Heraldry and antiquity
besides all the finest published works relating to the history and
antiquity of this kingdom. ' the nobility and gentry ;
The present College is in Doctors' Commons, but viii;ch is
shortly to be demolished, and a new one erected in the neigh-
bourhood of Charing Cross.

TIIE LONDON JOURNALS.

DAILY
Extracts from the Morning Papers, May 15.

['ruE TIMES.]
The distresses of what is termed the West
India interest have made themselves hard of late.
The sugar-growers have, like the English agri-
culturists, been calling loudly for remunerating
prices, and, like our English agriculturists also,
are in no ways unwilling to shift the loss from
their own shoulders to those of customers. If it
should turn out, on a fair discussion of the actual
state of the West India islands, that the system
of slavery there predominant, is not more hostile
to the rights of the negro than it is to the in.
terests and immediate prosperity of his master,
not only will an additional and powerful argu-
ment be furnished against the policy now recom-
mended by the planters, of continuing to favour
them at the expense of British India, and thus
inflicting commercial slavery upon the rest of the
Empire, because personal slavery in a particular
spot of it has ceased to be a source of wealth ;
but the strongest possible motive will be pro-
vided for examining anew the whole question of
slavery, not with reference to the Abolition of
the' African Slave Trade, for that, thank Heaven,
is now at rest; but in relation to the effects of
the system, modified as it has been by the Legis-
lature of this country, on the native black popu-
lation, and on the direct welfare of the whites
themselves. We do not mean to alarm prudent
men, by starting the experiment of an immediate
emancipation of the negroes. Without arguing
the point how far such a measure might or might
not be equitable towards the planters, we cannot
be blind to the infinite mischiefs which might
spring from it to unfortunate and untutored
slaves : but there is an inquiry, to the benefits of
which the latter are well entitled, and for the
consequences of which the West India planters
must learn betimes to prepare their feelings—we
mean by what steps the ultimate emancipation of
the negro can be most safely and advantageously
secured. To those who exclaim against the
frightful project of giving freedom to half a million
of our fellow-creatures, we put the question—is
their bondage to be perpetual ? Is the vile stain
of domestic tyranny to be affixed for ever to. the
British name? If you refuse to mediate on tly
subject now, what period will you select as more
fitting ? But it is not enough that negro slavery
should be everlasting in its present form, and to
its actual extent : we find that the present
amount of human bondage is insufficient to pre-
serve the dispensers of, it from ruin. The planter
cries out that he is 44 a ruined man ;" and yet
lie has all that the present amount of slaves
and slave laws can effect 'to shield him from
destruction : then it follows, that the system
must be enforced still further—that the abo-
mination must be aggravated, for the rescue
of these West Indian insolvents-4111a the
slave traffic must be renewed, and the Bri-
tish flag once more degraded into a partner-
ship in the execrable traffic. If this consequence
be not allowed, we say then that the contrary
conclusion must—viz. that the Parliament of
England must consult upon the means of still
further alleviating that condition of the negro
which humanity revolts from making worse, and
which the planter himself feels to be, as already
constituted, unfit for the ends to which it was
destined.g If there are those who assert that in
no circumstances can it be safe to emancipate the
slaves of the \Vest Indies, they are in a grievous
error.

[MORNING CURONICLE.]
Our readers will see in the Report of the
proceedings of the House of Commons last night,
the reason why, to u'se the technical language, no
House was made on the preceding evening. An
agent of Ministers interfered to prevent Members
from attending, with a view to get rid of the
discussion of Lord Archibald Hamilton's motion
on the State of the. County Representation
of Scotland. The Noble Lord had postponed his

motion from an early part of the Session to
- Tuesday, merely to accommodate Ministers, and
this is the return he receives for his courtesy.—
By similar conduct lust year he had also been
prevented from bringing the subject before the
House. The way to put a stop to all unworthy
manceuvres of this kind, is to bring forward mo.
tions without notice ;—those who shew no cour-
tesy, are themselves entitled to none. What a
satire on the Government of this country is
the statement by Mr. Hume of the manner in
which justice is administered in Newfoundland.
A Colony of great importance, with a popula-
tion of about one hundred thousand,has been left
to this day, with respect to its laws, in a state
for vv Lich there is no parallel in any civilized
country. Ministers, no doubt, promise to re-
medy the abuses, and say they are now occupied
with framing a measure for that purpose ; but
their attention ought to have been directed to
the evil long ago. It is their business to make
themselves acquainted with the condition of the
different parts of the Empire, and not to shut
their ears to the complaints olf the sufferers, and
wait till the subject is forced on their attention
by some of the few Members of Parliament, who
will charge themselves with any business which
requires a little application.

EURITISII PRESS.)
We stated yesterday, from unquestionable au-
thority, that Lord Archibald Hamilton's motion
was put off* by Ministerial management, and that
the Agents of the Treasury Benches had inter-
fered to prevent a House being formed, and to
keep Members away. We find that the Noble
Lard rose in his place last night, to complain of
the unjustifiable interference. On the last day
for bringing forward his motion, he had, he said,
consented to postpone it, in consequence of a re-
quest from a Right lion. Gentleman opposite
(Mr. Goulburn). lie acquiesced in the delay,
and fixed on Tuesday for the certain discussion
of the subject, in the Emile:standing that no-
thing shonid interpose to prevent it. Lord
Archibald tfamilton stated, he was ready to prove
that a Gentleman, generally considered as the
agent of. Government in such matters, bad used

his endeavours to prevent Members coming to
the. House. Mr. Canning, Mr. Peel, and Mr.
Goulburn, severally disclaimed an interference
with the Noble Lord's motion, but they could
not deny the acts of the Treasury agent, the
manager of the Ministerial influence and numbers
in that House. This is a practice which cannot
be reprobated too strongly; it is most unconsti-
tutional and corrupt, and must, while it continues,
be productive of the most serious mischiefs to the
independence of that House, and the progress of
the public business of tke country.

[NEW TIMES.]
An advance took place yesterday rather unex-
pectedly in most of the different Funds. Consols
for Account advanced from 781 to 79i4, at which
they closed; and Spanish Bonds, which opened at
35, closed at 3644. It may be difficult to assign
any very distinct reason for this advance ; but it
may probably be owing to the idea of negociations
between France and the Spanish Government,
which begins to gain ground. We need not re-
mind our readers that we have for some time
past asserted our belief that negociations were
going forward. The Courier treated the idea
with ridicule; but this did not at all shake our
opinion ; and we now find other Journals gra-
dually adopting the same belief. Let us only
consider how the different parties stand. The
French Government is carrying on a very expen-
ive contest, which it must naturally wish to ter-
minate as soon as possible. The revolutionary Spa-
niards have no resources whatever ; they have
no finances•, no army, no support in public opi-
nion ; if they do not soon make terms, they will
most assuredly (and that they know very well)
be given up and hanged. Again, the French ,
have no sort of interest in imposing on-Spain a
despotic Government ; their own Government
is not, despotic ; they have no inquisition, no
absolute Monarch, and none of those institu-
tions, which it is so absurdly supposed they
wish to establish in an adjoining country ;
on the other hand, the wildest visionaries must
now see that a democracy cannot be adopted
in Spain ; that the present Constitution is a
mere democracy ; and that to render it practi-
cable, it must be submitted to alteration. When
the obvious interests of two adverse parties so
clearly coincide in a middle point, we may be
sure that they will come near it at last; and it
is nonsense to talk about technical formalities
standing in the way of negociations. If one set
of men will not negotiate, another will; if San
Miguel will not accede to the proposals of the
French Agents, they will apply to Calatrava, to
Arguelles, or to some other influential person ;
and they assuredly will not apply in vain.