The Sun.
London, England, 1840-12-23 00:00:00

SWITZERLAND.

The Cuurrier de Lyons of the 17th inst., represents
Switz, rland as on the eve of to
Lion. The Catholic population of Argau declared, that
if the principle of an equal representation
new political cumin°.
representation in the statei.,
.nd of a distinct administration fur religious affairs were
not introduced into the new constitution, they would scp.t.
rate from their Protestant brethren, to whom they wet e
little inferior in numbers, and constitute themselves into a
loudly called
Lucerne, encouraged
called for the total subversion of
Lind, r-
tdhlaii'ell
t(:iLo'cbtitystctiale
tiutittiocollire:rogTtyle 831. The canton of St. Gall was
prey to serious dissensions, occasioned by administrative
and local interests, and the Government of Zurich was
struggling against the efroits of the Radical party, 1,0,„„
numbers had greatly increased since its defeat in Septem.
ber, 1839. Popular mee'ings were held in almost every
canton, and there was little doubt that the removal of Os,
scat of the federal Government from Zurich to Berne, and
the exercise of the ;u.irerne authority by il. Neuhaus,
"whose political pr(judiees and doctrir,es were little re-22-
suring for the Conservative party," would add to the
chances of success of its Radical opponents.

Tli Hextra allowance to the
WORKousr—
s,
_.•-.T.__--_-,.-_-_—___-__...._.._
It Ci s i
gratifying!it s T A
tos D
learnA I IN
that
the
poor will not be much less on this than on former oe„_
sions, and in some instances increased. In St. George's
W.akhouse. Hanover-square, - the fare is to be roast beet
end vegetables, and twopence for each person; and on
New Year's-day roast beef and plum pudding, with two.
ponce for each person; total number of inmates, 386. In
St. Marylebone each adult is to have six ounces of tont.
In'ef, a pound of plum-pudding, and a pint of porter
children, one-half the quantity ; and on Christmas-eve, an
ounce of tea and a quarter of a pound or sugar for e4ch
adult ; total number of inmates, 1,750• In St. Marti 's
-in-
the-Fields the fare is to be roast beef, plum.puddino., and
a pint of beer; total number of inmates, 470. In the
Strand Union, roast beef and Plum pudding; men,
women, and children, 650. la Clerkenvvell, each adult
is to have six ounces of roast beef, plum pudding, and a
pint of porter ; children, ono half the quantity. Mr.
Whitelock, one of the overseers, kw
3 generously
supplied the children with Christmas pieces to write
for prizes, to be given by himself and other gentlemen.
on which occasion they are to have an entertainment;
total number of inmates, 540. In the City IT i
...n.on
the fare is to be roast beef and plum-pudding, with
tea and sugar for the aged; and on New Year's-day
and Midsummer-day, the same ; the number of mon,
wm n, and children is 1,200.
In Whitechapel
the f re w 11 be roast beef and plum-pudding ; total num-
ber of inmates, 721. In St. George's-it-the-Last, the
inmates will have roast beef and mutton, with vegetables ;
no plum-pudding will be allowed, on account of an order
from the Poor-law Commissioners and the poverty of the
r.te-payers; the men, we men, and children are 630. In
St. Mary's, Lambeth, each adult will have one pound
of plum-pudding, five ounces of roast beet, and a pint of
porter ; children, half the quantity ; total number of in-
mates, 833. In Christchurch, Blackfriars, Christtnag_eve
is to be kept by the adults having a ,
pint of strong ale,
half-a-pint each.
and the children On Christmas-day
the are is to be—adults each a pint of -.1 .
e , e, six ounces
of roast beef, and half a pound of Ptum_pudding ; chil-
dren half the quantity : total number of inmates, 490. In
St. Olive's, Southwark, the fare is to be 5
ounces of roas:
beef, and 14 ounces of plum-pudding ; men,
women, and
children, '230. In Bermondsey workhouse each adult is
to have 6 ounce. of boiled pork, half a pound of plum-
pudding, and a pint of porter ; children half the quantity ;
total number i of inmates, 450. In most of the above in
stances the plum-pudding, having been objected to by
the Poor-law Co nrnissioners, is to be paid for by a sub-
scription amongst the Guardians and benevolent rate-
payers; but in the City Union it is stipulated for in the
farming contract.
Baron Nlounier has returned to the Brunswick
Hotel, Jermyn-strcet, from Ilcytesbury House, Wilts, the
seat of Lord Heytesbury.

MIL WILLIAM TOOKE.

rrhiz get 'lmarl ,fated in a letter which appeared is
sore = f the papersr.:, cstcrday, that, '6 occupied as be was:
with inure ialportaut claims and duties, be WCAIId t:).:e
,furtin:r notice of any Aservations on his conduct. as to the
matter bi questiou"_namely, using his inflict:cc as Trea-
surer o the Society for thu D:ffusion of Useful Knowled;:e.
o tt.q,plant Mr. Duncombe in Finsbury. Ile furth r Aded
" 6') my state,nent of facts I s:and or fail ; they are made,
on.hoho r,aud no one who knows me would require the addi-
tional sanction of au oath." It appears, however, that sours
incredulous persons will neither take his word of honour,
nor test his ve:acity by an oath ; and, among others, a
Com spondent of a Morning Contemporary, who writes
mirkr the signature of " Anti-Pharisee." That writer
gives what the Treasurer and the Secretary of the So-
, jet for good reasons, no doubt, declined, the resolution
.if the Sub- Committee on the pious gentleman's conduct
towards Mr. Dunearnhe; and with such a resolution staring
hiM and Mr. Coates in the face every time the books
are nii-eued, we cannot conceive how, as men of honour
uTid spirit, they can-for—a day longer retain their situations.
Tnty have already damaged the Society to an enormous
extent, and if the Committee pass over such conduct, and
allow them, as in this instance, to manage its affairs for
their own selfish purposes, the fate of an Institutian that
once s.ood so high in public estimation, is sealed. The
tollowin4 extracts from the letter referred to will throw
some additional light on this dark subject:—
" Although the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge does not diffuse at a railroad pace, yet nu one
can deny that much useful information oozes out whenever

its immaculate Treasurer attempts an explanation or pal-
liation of his late disgusting conduct. It appears that.
when Mr. Duncombe in July last asked the Secretary
whether, upon the ceeasion of his charges being communi-
cated to the Treasurer, that candid individual admitted
or denied their truth ? Mr. Coates replied " that ho was
not at liberty to state what passed at any meeting of the
Committee unless directed to do so by the Committee."
fellow-servant, Mr. Tooke, seems to be under no such
iestrictiun; he appears to be at liberty to divulge just so
much and no Imre as suits his own dirty ends—if not, why
has he not furnished the public with the names of all the
16 gt ntlemen who divided upon the "previous question,"
moved by Sir G. Staunton, to his shame, and voted against,
to Iris honour, by Lord Nugent? We also see to-day
three official documents paraded by " the well-beloved
'Tooke." Why have we not also the resolution or report
of the Sub-Committee, Messrs. Duckworth, G. C. Lewis,
and Wrottesley ? than whom three mere honourable men
do not exist. But as the members of the Committee are
now absolved from secrecy by the garbled disclosures of
Mr. Tooke, I beg to supply the deficiency, and to inform
)ou that the Sub-Committee, after hearing Mr. Dun-
combo, and exarninicg his honest and straightforward wit-
nesses (among whom I include Mr. Coates), they came,
as far as my recollection serves me, to the following reso-
lution :—" We are of opinion that Mr. William Tooke has
used the influence he possesses as Treasurer to induce the
tradesmen of the Society to promise in writing their active
• and zealous support at the next election for the borough of
Finsbury, and that he has used the agency of the Secretary
for that purpose." This was the report made to the
General Committee by the three honourable gentlemen
qpointed by Lotd Brougham, and would of itself justify
Lord Nugent, or any other honourable man, who did not
wish to screen a delinquent, to conic to the resolution of
what the well-beloved 'Tooke calls his " supposed undue
influence." Mr. -Tooke, in his flounderings and attempts
at explanation, seems to think, by throwing dirt at others
(as unmerited as it is contemptible), that he can extricate
himself from the filth in which he is immured. No, every
move he makes,. - the deeper he plunges. But what
amuses me the most is, that the immaculate attorney states

that this is the first time that his moral or political inte-
giity has been questioned ; if so, the public arc wrong
in supposing that the Treasurer for the diffusion of Useful
Know ledge was once Member for Truro, and, to the ho-
nour of that borough, was cast off and succeeded at the
last election by as independent and honourable a man as
sirs in the House of Commons, Mr. Turner, and who in
1b37, I flitd, concludes an address to his constituents, de.
cling all Wither communication with Mr. Tooke, "on
account of his having evinced so total a want of moral
chat acler and Cla istian conduct."

To the grave attention of the Society for the Diffusion
of Uieful Knowledge I beg to recommend the above pas-
. Age, extracted from Mr. Turner's excellent address ; and
if that institution is desirous of possessing the slightest par-
ticle of public confidence or respect, they will follow Mr.
Turner's example."

THE METROPOLITAN PRISONS FOlt DEBT
—All the prisoners confined for debt in the metropolitan
prisons on Christmas-day will have donations of beef,
bread, &c., with the exception of the inmates of Horse-
monger-lane Gaol,t Southwark, who this year, in ad-
dition to their incarceration, will have no allowance to
rejuice at this season. Those who possess the luxuries of
this life, and look upon " imprisonment for debt before
hearing" as a hard measure of justice, might exercise
their charity "to set the heart of the prisoners
free." In Whitecross-street prison there arc now about
360, who will have given them 11b. of beef, Ilb. of bread,
and a pint of beer, by the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs,
and the same allowance will be made on New Year's
Day. There are other donations, especially to; citizens,
and every prisoner, including the officers, will have
31b. or 41b. of beef. In Horsemonger-lane are up.
wards of 100 persons fur debt, who this year will
receive " nothing.' an allowance being made only once
in two years. There are 120 in the King's Bench, and
upwards of that number in the Fleet Prison, who will
have given them beef, bread, &c. In the Marshalsea are
seventy prisoners, and the Lord High Steward's annual
donation of 201. will be spent among them, by which
means each man will have about 31b of beef, two half-
quartern loaves, and three pints of beer. There arc nearly
Sqo persons in the ortotropolitan prisons for debt, of which
the greater portion have not been heard by the Insolvent
DgAitors' Court. and they will probably, after stopping
some time in prison, be discharged without any complaint
on the part of their creditors.
At an ordination held by the Lord Bishop of
Gloeester and Bristol in the Cathedral of Bristol, on
Sunday, the 20th of December, the following gentlemen
were admitted into Holy Orders :—Deacons--ileary
Bate, B. A., Emmanuel College, Cambridge ; William
Henry Biederman, B. A., Pembroke College, Oxford ;
Henry Bubb, M. A., Pembroke College, Oxford ; Richard
Trist Budd, B. A.. Magdalene College, Cambridge ; John
Bath Gabriel, B. A., St. Edmund Hall, Oxford ; Charles
Ross de Haviland, B. A., Oriel College, Oxford ; Edgar
Lloyd, B. A., Morton College, Oxford ; Octavius Freire
Owen, B. A., Christ Church, Oxford. Priests.—John
Southgate Austin, B. A., Trinity College, Oxford ;
Edward John Everard, B. A., St. John's College, Cam-
bridge ; EdvilirclA',_ G arrow, B. A., Brasenose College,
Oxford ; Robert Hobson, B A., Queen's College, Ox-
ford ; Mey rick Ilolme, M. A., Brasenose College, Oxford.
FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE LONDON AND
CuovoaN RAILWAY.-On Tuesday evening an inquest
was held before Mr. Payne, at Guy's Hospital, on the
body of William Galt, aged twenty-four, a labourer em-
ployed on the above line. It appeared in evidence that
on Monday week last deceased first came into the em
ploy of the Company, and that he then received the
usual precautionary instructions, and was of course told
that the whistle of the engine was a signal that a train
was approaching; and that all persons should keep clear
of the line. On Tuesday week morning, the day after de-
ceased was first employed on the line, he was occupied in
vamping the snow off the rails of the up-line to London,
about a quarter of a mile on this side of the New-cross sta-
tion, Another labourer on the line heard the whistle of
the approaching engine and hallooed to deceased, who
scorned to take no notice of the warning ; and although the
whistle continued, and the driver of the engine hallooed and
beckoned to deceased, he did get out of the way. When
w :Oita about thirty yards of him tilt seam was shut off, but,
not A ithstanding
the engine did not stop until it passed de-
ceased, the buffer striking him on the forehead and throw-
ing him three yards ictl the line on to the embankment.
He was taken up bleeding from the forehead and insensible,
ai d placed on the teader of the engine, which had stopped,
and conveyed without delay to the above hospital, in which
be Expired on Saturday last of concussion, produced by
laceration of the brain, the result of the accident. It hav-
ing le.en fully proved that the accident was the consequence
of deceased's non-attention to the ordinary signals, and
not to negligence on the part of the Engine-driver, the jury
returned a verdict of " Accidental death."
ACADEMIE ROYALE. A novel sight was
a itnessed at this theatre on Sunday night, by the at-
tendance of three hundred and sixty sailors of the Belle
Poole arid Favorite, who occupied the greater portion
of the pit, their places having been defrayed by the
privy purse. The performances were Auber's ballet
e., rj D' et /a Bayadere, and the last new
aeacrii O. ,e lea
ballet of the Diable Atnoureux. The jolly tars appeared
highly deliehted with the treat provided for them. The
Duke and Duchess of Nemours, the Duke d' Aumale, and
the Princess Clementine, and last, though not least, the
li n of the evening, the Prince de Joinville, in habit
bourgeois, were present in the Duke of Orlean's box.
Ihe house was crowded in every part.
A GOOD EXAMPLE.—Mr. W. Drouet, of
Grove douse, Brixton-hill, has provided at his sole ex-
pense, an entertainment of roast beef and plum-pudding,
&c., so that the pauper children of the above-named
house may participate in the nearly universal festivities o
Christmas day.
CANTERBURY.—Bread to the amount of 10/.
was given on Thursday to the poor of the parish of Ash-
ford. The fund from which it is given is a fine paid by
consent by certain disciples of the Marquis of Waterford,
who some time since dissurbed the repose of the peaceable
inhabitants by mounting the town pump and leap-frogging,
putting out the lamps, and a great deal else of what they
considered harmless amusement. In their more sober
moments they consented to pay 101. to be given to the
oeor in bread, which the poor have thankfully received.
Mat !stow' Ga;otte.
NEW CITY POLICE.—At the election for
members of the Common Council, held on Monday at
several of the wards, the chief subject of discussion was on
the additional rate imposed for the support of the new po-
lice. Tire real expenses have much exceeded the esti-
mate; and, in order to obtain sufficient funds, a re-assess.
merit has been made at a rack rent, or the letting value
of the property, which is estimated as an excess of one-
third above the assessment for the old watch-rate. In ad-
dition to the above, an additional rate of Id. in the pound
has generally been
.adopted for the purpose of el:frayirg
i icidental ward expenses, including the remuneration f r
ward clerks and ward beadles, the salaries of whom have
been assigned by the Court of Common Council.
SIIIYWRECKs.—We understand from a gentle-
man who was on board the Orwell, that en Saturday there
we a no less than four vessels which, in the snow-storm of
Thursday night, were driven on the Maplin and other
sands. When the tide was at ebb they were almost dry.
Off the Nore was seen, just above the water, the topmast
of a wherry, which went down on Thursday night, when
four hands perished. The upper parts of two masts, evi-
dently belongii g to a schooner, were also seen a little fur-
fur to the east :, this vessel is supposed to have foundered
and gone down on the same night. —lpswich Express.