The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-02 00:00:00

CHILDREN IN ESSEX.

Dr. BOWRING wished to draw the attention of
the Right Honourable Baronet the Secretary of State
for the Home Department to the following state-
ment, which had appeared in the Times : —On the
2d of January two children, the son and daughter
of a poor man named Lee, who, for the last
three years, had occupied a cottage in the parish of
Chingford, in Essex, for which he paid 2s. 6d. a week,
were detected by tke foreman of a person named Green
picking up turnips. They were taken by the man to
Chingford, for the purpose of being given into
the charge of a police-constable, and to Waltham
for the purpose of getting a magistrate to hear the case.
Mr. Preston, a magistrate, heard the case, and before
him the foreman swore that the turnips were worth 3d.
The children were convicted in the penalty and costs,
amounting to 11. Os. Gd. In default of payment
they were to be imprisoned for fourteen days
in fiord gaol. They were taken there iu the
course of a day on which a severe frost prevailed,
fifteen or sixteed miles. On the following day they
were liberated, in consequence of their father having
borrowed the money and paid the fine and expenses.
He (Dr. Bowring) had been informed by the father and
mother of the children, that they were ready to
swear that from the Saturday to the Sunday
the children were released, they had nothing to
eat save a two-pound loaf. He was also informcd that
on the following day, the 4th of January, a man and his
daughter were convicted by the same magistrate of steal-
ing a few coals, which were valued at one penny. They
were released from custody, however, as the grand jury
ignored the bill. Now, he wished to know whether the
conduct of this magistrate had excited the attention of
the Right Hon. Baronet ?

Sir GEORGE GREY said, in consequence of the
notice of the Hon. and Learned Member, he had caused
au inquiry into the circumstances as detailed, which
were similar to those which had appeared in the news-
papers.—(Hear. hear.) In the Times of to-day,
however, the Honourable Gentleman would find a
letter from the Rev. Mr. Reed, the Rector of Ching-
ford, which gave a very different version of the matter.
The only information he had been able to obtain, in ad-
dition to that furnished by the Rev. Mr. Reed, was derived
from the Commissioners of Police, within whose limits
the case had occurred. These statements went to show
that the gentleman who first directed attention to the
subject was mistaken, and that therefore the occur-
rence bad been greatly exaggerated. It appeared
that the ages of the children were ten and thirteen—
that they were convicted of stealing turnips, and were
sentenced and fined in the way mentioned. There
were statements in the report of the Com•
missioners n ith respect to the conduct of the
parents which he did not wish to read ; it appeared
however that they were gipsies, and that the father was
the owner of a pony, so that they were not in the state
of helpless distress alluded to. He should feel happy to
place the report in the hands of the Hon. Member ; and
on reading it he could not fail to be of opinion that the
statement was highly coloured, and consequently far
from correct.

IRISH DISTRESS.
Sir ROBERT PEEL presented; petitions from so•
veral places in the county of Longford, setting forth
that the population of the county amounted to' 27,950,
three-fourths of whom were upon the verge of starva-
tion, and that 8,150 of them were employed upon the
public works, that the land in all the baronies
of the county was divided into very small
divisions, great numbers of which remained until the
present time, and the petitioners prayed that the im-
mediate attention of the Government should be called
to their condition, and such measures adopted as should
prevent the disastrous results of such a state of things.
ANNEXATION OF CRACOW.
Sir DE LACY EVANS wished to ask the Hon.
Member for Montrose (Mr. Hume) whether it was his
intention again to postpone the motion of which he had
given notice, upon the subject of the annexation of
Cracow?
Mr. HUME was very desirous of bringing forward
his motion, but as the Government had not yet laid the
papers promised by them upon the table of the House,
he hardly knew what course to adopt with reference to
the subject. He did not wish to enter into the conside-
ration of the subject until the documents were laid before
the House.

BEQUESTS ACT (IRELAND).
Mr. D. O'CONNELL presented a petition, signed by
two archbishops, and several other prelates of the
Catholic Church, praying for an alteration in the
Bequests Act.

TEN HOURS' BILL.
Lord GEORGE BEN TINCK presented several peti-
tions from Chorley and other places, in favour of the
Ten Hours' Bill (as we understood).

MINISTERIAL MEASURES.
Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN wished to ask the Chancellor
of the Exchequer when the whole of the Bills embody-
ing the measures of her Majesty's Government, in re-
spect to Ireland, would be laid upon the table of the
House.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
that three Bills were already before the House calcu-
lated to affect the present distress in Ireland. The Bill
for carrying out the Treasury minutes would shortly be
ready. The Bill for the consolidation of the Drainage
Acts would Lot be brought in at present; the existing
Drainage Act being already very well understood in
Ireland, and operations were still going on
under the provisions of that Act. The Bill
for the Reclamation of the Waste Lands was in a
state of forwardness, and would shortly be brought under
the consideration of the House ; and the Bill for the
Sale of Estates, which was also in a forward state, would
shortly be ready to be introduced.
ACCIDENT ON THE GREAT WESTERN RAIL-