The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-20 00:00:00

LAW COURTS' COMMISSION.

The Commissioners held their first sitting yesterday
ja the Nisi Prius Chamber; Mr. Sergeant Greene, Chair-
man. It will be necessary, it is reported, according to
the wording of the Commission, that the inquiry should
terminate before the close of the present year. The Mer-
cantile Advertiser says that witnesses will be examined
respecting the duties of the various officers, one of the
oNects being to ascertain the extent of saving that can
be effected in the way of salaries paid out of the law
fund. Patent officers, whose salaries are fixed, cannot
be interfered with.
• PRIEST AGAINST PEER.
The Catholic Archbishop of Tuam has hurled a mis-
sive, four mortal columns and upwards in length, at the
devoted head of, as he styles him, the " Honourable"
Lord Cliilbrd, " his Grace" very properly conceiving
that " right" constitutes " might, the possession of
which the archtitular altogether denies to the rebellious
Peer. Although the letter is addressed to Lprd Clifford,
its contents apply equally to Lord Alvanley, Lord
Shrewsbury, and all the other noble pamphleteers who
have recently broached the subject of pensioning the
Roman Catholic clergy ; but a correspondence between
Lord Clifford and the editor of an Irish provincial paper
seems to have been the chief inciting cause which dic-
tated this last bull from St. Jarlath's. The great va-
riety of topics introduced, and the many questions, po-
litical and religious, which are discused in the space
of four columns, render -the task of abridgment a
hopeless one; it must suffice to say, that " his Grace"
roundly abuses the English Roman Catholic Peers as a
body, whom he taxes with ingratitude to O'Connell ;
and then, with admirable 'consistency, sneers at the
Duke of Wellington for conceding that emancipation
which placed Roman Catholic Peer and Commoner
upon a perfect footing of equality with their Protestant
brethren ; he denies that he was at the celebrated as-
sembly of Rotnkh titulars in the year 1832, where re-
solutions N% ere entered into, and an exhortation pub-
lished to discountenance agitation ; nor did he authorise
any person to attach his name to the said resolutions,
and as for the exhortation recommending the clergy to
banish politics from the altars devoted to the service of
God, he candidly admits that there were passages in it
which never had his sanction. He affirms that perse-
cution was never so rife against his own faith as at the
present moment, and must continue
.to be so as long as a
Protestant Establishment is quartered at an enormous
expense on. a "Catholic population." He gently, touches
on the repeal question, and concludes by observing—
" It is amusing to see with what zeal some Lords of
every shade of creed and politics are coming forward to
denounce the present agitation about repeal, whilst in
reality they are pushing it forward. Restlessness is a
state of which but few are ambitious ; and if the people
of Ireland were to have a prospect of justice, they
would gladly enjoy the blessings of repose. Whatever
may be their destiny, they know that hitherto they have
been but little indebted to the sympathy o 1 the support
of Englishmen .; and whilst they will keep a steady eye
on that duty which shall ever bind them to their beloved
Sovereign, they will take care to discard the officious
counsels of those men who, under the guise of zeal for
us, are labouring to promote their own selfish-purposes.
" t JOHN, ARCHBISHOP OF TUAM.
" St. Jarlath's, Tuam, Feast of St. Lucia, 1841."
_

ABSURD SCALE OF RAILWAY CHARGES.--
Nothing can be more inconsistent than the present mode
of charging for goods by the Great Western Railway—
for instance, a parcel of 831bs, costs more than one of
dealer in Bridgewater received two chests of tea per
851 b. ; 1131 b. is charged the same as 2 cwt. A tea
Great Western and Bristol and Exeter line, the charge
for the two was exactly the same as one he had the week
before, which was only half the weight, namely, 801 b.
The Company are losers by this foolish plan, as it is the
custom of retailers in the country to order their London
dealers to send several small lots to one house, where
they are made into one package.
A vessel was seized a few days ago in the river
under circumstances which do credit to the vigilance of
the officers concerned in it. She had cleared out as a
coasting 'vessel, having at the time goods on board,
which by the Customs' Acts she ought not to have had
without giving bond for their due delivery in a British
port. It was suspected that her destination was far dif-
ferent from what her clearance indicated, and when on
the point of starting, Messrs. Forsyth and Holmes, land-
ing waiters, boarded and seized her. On searching her
she was found to be nearly full of machinery. The
vessel has been condemned, and the machinery is now in
the queen's stores --Observer.

COURT CIRCULAR.

WINDSQR, SUNDAY.—The Queen and Prince
Albert,
.her 11 Highness the Duchess of
Kent, and th - Oyal Suite, attended Divine
Service'thiS morning in the. private Chapel of
the Castle. The. Rev. Lord W. Russell officiated,
assisted by the Hon. and Rev. E: S. Keppel.
At the conclusion of the Service, her Majesty
and the Prince, and part of the Royal Suite, re-
ceived the Holy Sacrament.
Her Majesty and 'Prince Albert enjoyed their
usual walk-in the forenoon, both .yesterday and
to-day.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert shot at
Norfolk farm ,yesterday, attended by the Earl
of Warwick, Sir Edward Bowater, Colonel Ar-
buthnot, and Mr. George Edward Anson.
Count Ravenslow, the Earl of Aberdeen, and
the Spanish Minister took their departure from
the Castle yesterday.
Sir James Clark arrived last night at the Cas-
tle, and returned to London this morning.
Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George and the
Princess Augusta of Cambridge, attended
,by
Lady Augusta Somerset, arrived at their resi-
dence at Kew on Saturday, from honouring the
Earl and Countess Delawarre with a visit, at
their seat, Buckhurst Park, Sussex.
The Danish Minister arrived in town on Sa-
turday from a visit to her Majesty at Windsor
Castle.

Captain Polhill and Mr. B. Disraeli had inter-
views with Lord Stanley at the Colonial-office on
Saturday.
The Turkish Charge d'Affaires, accompanied
by Mr. Salame, her Majesty's Oriental inter-
preter, had an interview w►th S►r Robert Peel on
Saturday at his official residence in Downing-
street.

The Earl of Aberdeen arrived in town ou
Saturday from a visit to her Majesty at Windsor
Castle.

Despatches were received yesterday at the Co
lonial-office from the Governor of Van Diemen's
Land and of the Cape of Good Hope.
The Lords of the Judicial Committee of her
Majesty's Most,Honourable Privy Council, sat on
Saturday in the Council Chamber.
Lord Campbell, on the part of their Lordships
gave judgment on an appeal from the Royal
Court of Jersey " Brouard v. Dumaresq," re-
versing the Judgment appealed against.
Lord Brougham gave judgmen • i,on the part ot
their Lordships, on an appeal fr 67111 the Court of
First Instance of Civil Jurisdiction in the Island
of Trinidad, " Sir George Fitzgerald Hill, Bart.,
v. Rundell and Bigge," affirming the judgment
of the Court below, with costs.
The Queen's Advocate, on the part of the
respondent, made an application to their Lord-
ships to dismiss an appeal from the Prerogative
Court, " Sir Robert Wilmot Horton, Bart., v.
C. F. Wilmot, E. N. Wilmot, and J. Benbow."
The Court granted the application.
The Queen's Advocate then opened an appeal
from the Prerogative Court, " Deare v. Elwyn,"
and had not concluded when the Court rose.