The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-30 00:00:00

We insert in another column, a report copied from
the Midland Counties Herald, of the proceedings at
the annual meeting of the subscribers to the Birming-
ham Institution for the relief of Deafness. Birming-
ham is, we believe, the first provincial town in which
an institution of this nature has been established, and
it is highly gratifying to find that it has been the
means of benefiting so many deaf persons, who, but
for the benefits conferred upon them by this institu-
tion, must have been totally disqualified for those duties,
by the due performance of which,they are alone enabled
to earn " day by day their daily bread." It must be
a proud and a gratifying reflection to Mr. DurroN,
the talented surgeon of this institution, and to whom
Birmingham is indebted for its existence, that he
has been the means, under Providence, of saving so
many of his fellow-creatures from poverty and utter
destitution. Few provincial towns are so fortunate as
to command the services of a DUFTON, but in every
provincial town of any size, surely some surgeon is to
be found capable of undertaking the management of an
institution for the cure of deafness. Let every pro-
vincial town therefore follow the example of Birming-
ham and establish such an institution. The expense
of establishing and maintaining it will not be great,
while the benefits to_be derived from it will be incal-
culable.

Intelligence has been received from Lisbon to the
20th, and from Oporto to the 21st, by the Royal Tar
steamer, which arrived yesterday afternoon at South-
ampton. Baron CASAL, at the head of 2,000 men,
was at Matosinhas, three miles from Oporto. It was
doubtful, however, whether he would venture to
attack the city. SA DA BANDBIRA had 600 regu-
lars and 3,000 citizens under arms, and had
completed the fortifications of the city, so that
he is perfectly prepared to give CASAL a warm
reception. A number of arrests had taken place in
Oporto in consequence of the discovery of a Chartist
conspiracy. Six hundred stand of arms and a quan-
tity of gunpowder were seized, and martial law was
proclaimed. The Oporto Junta have seized all the
gold and silver coin in the bank, amounting to 12,0001.
The citizens are full of enthusiasm, and seem
determined to support SA DA. BANDZIRA. to the
utmost. SCHWALBACK, with 600 men, was dispatched
to regain possession of Setubal, which was occupied
by the guerillas under the command of Senor Josh
ESTEVAO. True to the guerilla tactics, which are to
harass and not to fight, they retreated on the ap-
proach of SCHWALBACH, to re-appear most probably
in some other district. The report of the defeat of
LAPA. is confirmed. He has been compelled by
Bowl:NI to fall back upon the main body of SAL-
DANHA'S army. The armies of DAS ANTAS and SAL-
DANIIA. still occupy the same positions. Bank notes
are at a discount of 25 per cent.

The Bordeaux mail arrived in Paris on Sunday
morning, but it brought neither letters nor journals
from Madrid.

We have received the Paris papers of Sunday.
The Press t devotes no less than five columns to
abuse of England and the English alliance.
The Prince DE JOINVILLE left Paris on Christmas-
day for Havre, and embarked the next morning for
Cherbourg. He was, however, obliged to put back,
in consequence of the roughness of the weather. The
Prince then proceeded to Honfleur, and from thence to
Cherbourg, to inspect the experiments to be made
with the new machinery of the Pomone.
The Mooiteur publishes an account of the imports
for the first eleven months of the year. The articles
cleared at the Custom-house have given a sum of
141,643,385 f., being an advance on the corresponding
period of the year before, which amounted to
139,311,73Gf. There has been an increase on almost
every kind of article.

A royal ordinance h published in the ilfoniteur,
whereby the " bureau" of Eu is opened for the im-
portation and exportation of grain and flour.
The Prefect of the Seine delivered his annual
speech on Saturday, on the re-election of the Chamber
of Commerce of Paris, when he stated that, according
to the census just obtained, the population of the
capital, which was 935,261 in 1841, now amounted to
1,053,907.

The Constitutionnel has the following on Spanish
affairs—

" The Spanish Ministry has already met to draw up
the Queen's speech at the opening of the session. It has
also been occupied with the choioe of Ministerial candi-

t hose which are enjoined and enforced by the modus
perandi of the British Constitution. Still, notwith-
! tunding the extent to which the principle of
til+erty, vital to any nation ambitious of com-
bining happiness with greatness, is practically
enjoyed in this country, and far beyond what
runs been realised by any other, the serious infringe-
ment which is constantly being made upon this highly-
prized and popular prerogative is matter of astonish-
ment. This must, no doubt, be in a great measure
Attributed, not to any feeling of public indifference,
ibut to the general ignorance which frequently pre-
'veils as to the vicious or defective administration of
zany particular branch of our laws affecting the liberty
,of the subject. This ignorance, again, arises from
-the fact, that those who, for the most part,
suffer from unjustifiable or unreasonable restraints
on their personal freedom, belong to a class who, by
reason of their poverty and their want of informa-
tion as to the means of redress, are the most exposed
to imposition and oppression.

Our system of police, in its operation, affords very
grave and repeated instances of the truth of the fore-
going observations. The protection secured to the
public with respect to property, liberty, and life, by a
well-regulated police force, cannot be too highly ap-
preciated. For these purposes great powers are neces-
sarily conferred upon the police authorities ; but, at the
same time, it behoves the public to be excessively
vigilant that these powers be not abused. We have
been much struck by considering the excessive punish-
ment which, by the present system of police ad-
ministration, is entailed upon a man who happens to
get inebriated on a Saturday night, and placed in
the custody of the police. It may be that, for the
first time in his life, he has suffered himself to be so
far overcome with liquor as to have become incapable
of taking care of himself. lie may be a man of good
reputation, though poor, of honest, indus-
trious, and hard working habits. He may be
married, having a wife and large family.
If such a man should be taken into custody, owing to
his being under the influence of intoxication, on a
Friday night, he would be released by the magis-
trate early the following morning, after receiving a
proper admonition (provided it be his first delin-
quency), or paying a fine of five shillings; but if the
same individual should chance, for the same reason,
to fall into the hands of the police on a Saturday
night, he may be kept in confinement, in a narrow
and comfortless cell, till the magistrate takes his seat
on Monday morning, his incarceration having been
extended over a period of time, varying, according to
the hour when he was taken, from 36 to 40 hours.
This is not as it should be. The remedy is simple
and obvious, and should be promptly adopted, from
a regard to the liberty of the subject, and the harsh-
ness and injustice of excessive and disproportionate
punishment. For the above and similar light offences,
the magistrate should be directed to attend his office on
the Sunday mornings. lie might sit early, say from
half-past eight or nine o'clock till half-past ten, so as
not to be himself disabled from attending divine ser-
vice. If it be said that this would be breaking in
upon the Sabbath, we answer, first, that many of those
who officially serve the ends of Government, which is
alone constituted for the public advantage, have to
continue the discharge of their functions on the
seventh as well as the preceding days; and, secondly,
that the duties they would be called upon to perform,
would be all on the side of morality, benevolence,
mercy, and religion. The magistrate would have the
satisfaction and delight—for such it ought to be es-
teemed—of releasing from a tedious and painful im-
prisonment many a poor and worthy man, who, for
the first time, perhaps, during a protracted life, had
been unguardedly led into temptation. Ile would
restore him to the bosom of a distressed family,
whom the discharged prisoner might be disposed to
accompany the same day to a place of worship, and
thereby afford the best evidence of his repentant
sense of the error he might have thoughtlessly com-
mitted. We hope this subject will meet with the at-
tention of the Secretary of State for the Home De-
partment, and the above, or some other equally effi-
cient system, be speedily embraced for remedying
the serious grievance to which we have adverted,