The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-17 00:00:00

THE PENINsULAI? MAIL.

SOUTHAMPTON, THURSDAY MoRNING.—The Penin-
sular and Oriental Company's steam-ship Queen, Capt.
Russell, arrived this morning at half-past ten o'clock,
from the Peninsular, bringing all the usual mails.
Her dates of departure are as follow :—Gibraltar,
April 6th; Cadiz, 7th; Lisbon, 10th; Corunna, 13th.
Specie, cargo, &c., on board—Six packages of specie,
a full cargo of oranges, dates, potatoes, &c.
Ships cf war lying at Gibraltar—Her Majesty's brig
Fantome. At Cadiz—Two French war steamers. At
Lisbon—The usual Portuguese fleet. At Corunna—
War steamer Isabella 11.

The Queen steamship brings confirmatory intelli-
gence of the di,turbed state of Spain. although up to the
moment when she left uo actual collision had taken
place, and consequently no blood has been shed. The
worst, however, is anticipated.
A pronunciamiento had bi- en declared at Vigo, on the
10th, by the whole of the officers and soldiers, in favour
of Prince Don Enrique. It was generally responded to.
The Governor of Vigo and Military Co,,mandant
were furnished with passports for Cadiz, and were to
leave by the next packet. No blood had been shed.
Her Britannic Majesty's Consul had been officially in-
formed by the Political Chief of Corunna, by order of
his Excellency the Captain-Ganeral of Galicia, that in
consequence of martial law having been pronounced, the
British mail steamers would not be allowed to land the
mails and passengers at Corunna except during the day
time. They would not be allowed either to touch at Vigo.
Martial law had been declared at Corunna. The Go-
vernor is determined to fire on the town, in the event of
a movement in favour of the young Prince.
Other parts of Galicia were in a very distracted state.
Nearly all the troops had marched from Corunna to Vigo
to suppress the revolt, if possible.
LISBON, APRIL 10.--The Bill conferring the Regency
upon the King Consort, in the event of the Queen's
death during the infancy of the heir apparent, has pass, d
the Chamber of Peers by a very large majority, there
having been only 10 dissentient voices. The Duke of
Palmella, after arguing against it, voted for it. As the
Revolucao remarks, his motives must be respected, but
they cannot be misunderstood. No other business of
any interest is going on in the Cortes at present.
The session, however. has ben prolonged to the
30th instant, and will probabl., be still further extended
in order to give time for the discussion of the budget,
which has yet to commence. as well as of the report of the
Commissioners recently appointed to revise the tariff of
import duties. The Commissioners, it is expected, will
be enable I to lay their report before the Chambers in a
fortnight or three weekb. Meanwhile their proceedings to
a certain extent are no secret ; and it is already pub-
licly known that, except as regards some few articles of
trifling importation and consumption, the duties are to
be rased instead of being lowered, and that on the ground
that Sir Robert Peel's free-trade measure will enable
England to manufacture cheaper, it behoves Portugal to
afford additional protection tc her own native industry.
I learn froth a sure source that it is proposed to raise the
duty on calicoes from 60 to 90 reis per pound weight, and
on most other cotton goods in the same proportion, and
that the duty on fine woollens is to be raised consider-
ably ; as for coarse woollens they are completely shut
out as it is. The articles the duties on which it is pro-
posed to reduce are malt liquor, some kinds of hardware,
and a few other odds and ends, the total importation of
which would not amount to 5,0001. a year, were they
even admitted free. It is evidently not to this country
that Sir Robert Peel must look for anything like free-
trade reciprocity. The Portuguese are determined to
take whatever advantage they can get, and give as little
in return for it as they can; or according to one of their
own proverbs, " to eat the bait, and - upon the
hook."

There is a gentleman at present in this city commis-
missioned by the house of Laffitte, of Paris, to make
proposals to this Government for lighting the streets
with gas, and conveying water into the houses by means
of pipes. The latter oz these improvements is certainly
a great desideratum, but the form, r is, I fear, imprac-
ticable with any prospect of success, owing to a variety
of local circumstances, amongst which are to be reckoned
the earthquakes which now and then take place, and
the first of which would probably snnp all the gaspip,zs,
and cause explosions in every direction.
Several highway robberies have recently been com-
mitted on the road between this city anti St. Übes, a
town only 24 miles distant. Amongst others an Eng-
lish gentleman, of the name of Trevelyan, was plundered
about six weeks ago. Three of the robbers have since
been captured.—Herald.

BUSINESS OF THE SESSION.
(From the Times.)
We have now arrived at that period of the sessiOn
from which custom and opinion have hitherto dated the
commencement of real business. Up to this time of the
year it was formerly usual to indulge Hon. Members
with the prescriptive license of legislative idleness.
After Easter came the tussle and contest of the session.
Before this the light skirmishings of awkward questions,
and the showy feints of threatened motions, amused the
public and animated the House ; but the real conflict
did not begin till after the holidays. This practice has
been modified within the last few years. Last year, in-
deed, the principal measures of Government were as
good as settled before Easter. This year the most im-
portant commercial scheme of modern times has been
already twice fully and stoutly contested in the Lower
House; and another proposition of great moment has
received the sanction of the Lords. But here we stick.
Parliament re-assembles, and finds itself in the predi-
cament of the family coach in the Journey to London.
It is just passing the corner of Cut-throat-lane,
which typifies the Assassinatien Bill ; the more
generous steeds, emblematical of the Whigs, who
have been yoked with the heavier cattle, begin to turn
restiff ; the insides feel an unusual oscillation ; the par.
rot screams, the monkey scratches, and the flunkie
faint. How to get out and how to get on become qut s-
cions of equal gravity. The leaders will shy at that
lane ; the wheelers can't drag the carriage without them.
It the coachman lashes the Flemish horses, the thorough-
breds rear • if he coaxes the thoroughbreds, the heavy
cattle stand still. Meanwhile, night is 'coming on, and
the footman tells the coachman in confidence that there
is a fatality about that place, that the last man that got
fast there was stripped and turned loose, and that unless
they can get off before nightfal, they will be lost men.
Lash goes the whip, up rear the horses, dawn tumbles
the coach, and out fly monkey, parrot, and maid,
all jabbering, scratching, and screaming together. We
do not wish to institute a comparison between the
fate of the coach and that of the Ministry. At
the same time it will be within the recollection of
the world that less formidable matters than an Irish
Bill have upset a Cabinet before this. But unquestion-
ably there is a fatality about all Irish Bills, especially
those savouring of coercion. Our wonder is that any
Ministry has the courage to meddle with them. Where
a Government cannot import food without the imputa-
tion of importing poison, it seems unaccountable how it
should venture on the introduction of martial law ; but
perhaps it originally presumed upon the illogical cha-
racter of the people with whom it had to deal. But
whatever its designs or its notions may have been, the
consequences of them are serious enough. We are in for
a long debate on a Coercion Bill. Anybody who re-
members the debate on the Arms Bill knows what this
means. It means that, if it so please Messrs. O'Connell
and nothing whatever shall be done, spoken, or
thought of, O'Brien,rom this time to the end of the session, ex-
cept the Coercion Bill—that corn, tariffs, church, edu-
cation, law, Oregon, India, shall all be in abeyance till
the end of August, if the Irish [ld! is pressed by Minis-
ters. Now this is no joke. It is a serious calamity.
It affects every class, every interest, evcry trade,
every business. It condemns the life of the country
to a temporary paralysis. It disjoints and dis-
organises the whole mechanism of commerce ; it
blights speculation, cramps industry, destroys the hopes
and occupation of thousands. And all for what ? Who
are to blame for a threatened delay which, to our sor-
row and disgust, may be realised to-morrow ? The
Minister has, it is said, acted only according to prece-
dent in introducing the obnoxious measure. Whether
according to precedent or not, there are many who
affirm that the condition of Ireland left him no option
but that of taking the sense of the House on this ques-
tion. He could nor, it is argued in justice to his oa'n
character and the feelings of the country, have refused
or delayed to consult the House of Commons. If this
be so, the biame does not rest with the Cabinet or its
chief. But, if' not there, where then ? There is but one
other party to the question—that is the Repeal party
in the House. Are its members answerable for the
perplexity and dismay which the postponement of the
commercial questions has produced and is producing ?
Clearly they are, if their oppthiti as is irregula", un-
usual, and unnecessary. We do not of course call in
question the constitutional right to resist to the utter-
m ist any Bill on its first reading. But Eh exercise of a
constitutional privilege may degt,nerate into a most un-
constitational tyranny. And the fact of its doing so
must be determined by the custom and law of Perlia•
menta•-y discussion. N av, we believe that it hae always
been the adwittesl and undoubted rule to allow every
Bill of importance to pass through its first reading. This
stage is considered merely a formal introduction to the
debate on the merits, which is reserved for the second
and third readings. This has been the case with, we
believe, every Bill of any consequence which has been
hr, ught forward within the last ten years. Occa.ion-
ally, indeed, individual Members have carried their ad-
hesion to a principle so far as to oppose a first reading ;
but there has not been an example of a party—except,
indeed, an Irish party—carrying their resistance so far.
And when we recollect how long debates on second and
third readings have been, and how obstinately clauses
mariettgeeen, eirtalsleyeamnsd with
but preearsfeocntapbrloeptrhieattyncopotnlitmeasnetdesdhvoiignuoCfub:.
unnecessarily wasted on proceedings purely preliminary. Moreover, every inducement to prom
action is now ten times
hoiernictl
30r:s.. at suAendl
Already
behyau
dmeyvietunhdetss ,duiwfs
thtrhieceshsmounset
pertinaciouswou d
the hardly
m
be-
gins to be more severely felt, and the crimes which we
prophesied would accompany distress are committed.
Every day which is now frittered on the mere stubborn.
,ess of discontent is not only retarding the settlement of
this Irish question, but that still more momentous ques-
tion which affects the future supply of food to both
countries. As long as trade remains in an uneasy state,
and the admission of gran is only proportioned to
temporary emergency, so long will the towns and dis-
tricts of Ireland be disgraced by the scenes which have
occurred in Tipperary and Clonmel. Whatever
good and solid objections Irish Members may bring
forward against the Coercion Bill, they may rest
assured of this, that they will not carry the
sympathy of this country with them, if their
opposition assume a character of factious fretfulness,
the English people and the English Legislature will be
alike disposed to give their most serious and attentive
reflection to any proposal which so intimately affects
the interests of their Irish 1911ow-subjeies.. A Coercion
Bill even for six counties only, as this is:intended to be,
will, in their pvinds, inyolre all the priuciples which

woHd h.l,ng to an enactment of a more comprehensive
kind; and will, therefore, not be hurried through the
House with any ind,cent precipitation. But if it appear
to bo the object of those who arrogate to themselves
the title of Irish patriots to impede the progress of pub-
lic business and thwart the operations of national com-
merce, then the sympathies of England will be against,
and not with, the opponents of a rigorous policy ; and
men who would otherwise have looked with a lenient eye
on the errors or omissions of Liberal politicians, will
begin to ask one another what is the value of that pa-
triotism which in England is so active in obstructing
legislation, but in Ireland was so cold and sluggish in
rebuking MURDER.?

LAW 11(TELLI(IENCE
ROLL'S CaUUT, April 16.
IN RE SMITH.
Mr. KINDERSLEY presented a petition on the part of
Mr. Smith, praying tor the payment of certain suws of
[none in Court to the cr, dit of this cause.
This ease, which occupied the remainder of the day,
has been before the Court at least a hundred times, and
had reference to the taxation of a bill of costs. The
facts of the case have already appeared at such consider-
able length in The Sun as to render unnecessary' any
detail of its peculiar features.

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, April 16.
THE QUEEN V. PELHAM.
The defendant in this case, Mrs. Harriet Eleanor Pel-
ham, was convicted some time back, before Mr. Justice
Williams, upon the second and third counts of an indict-
ment, which charged her with cruel and wilful neglect,
and close cenfinement of her illegitimate son, Brent
Spencer. The ease again part-heard yesterday must
still be fresh in the recollection of the public from the
disgusting and filthy state in which the young man was
found, and from its many other strange and peculiar
features. The prosecution, it will be recollected,
was instituted by the parish officers of Chelsea,
who discovered that the defendant had her
son confined in her own house in the manner
laid in the indictment and obtained a magistrate's
warrant at. Queen-square Police-court to make search
into the matter. Di, officers of police thus authorised
entered the defendant's house, where they foetid defen-
dant and another son of hers, who were indignant at
efficere entering the house, and questioned their au-
thority. On entering the room where Brent Spencer
w-s confined, they (tilt, officers) were disgusted with
the state in which they fund the young man, repre-
served by his in,oher and brother to be a lunatic. He
w stretcn-d upo.m a litter (.t the most filthy des:,•rip-
a.m.. lie sat up and stared wildly at them when they
entered, his whole app,,arance indicating that of a ne-
glected idiot. His mouth and chin were thickly covered
with beard. Tire bed•c wering was thick with verindi,
and the mattress on which he lay, when taken up by the
offi,2ers, fell to pieces, being thoroughly rotten from soil,
&c. The room in which this scene of misery was exhi-
bited, and which was most offensive in smell, was almost
dark, the window, which was secured on the outside
with iron bars, being so thickly covered with dirt, as to
greatly exclude the light. The floor of the room was
also covered with a caked layer of dirt, defying the
officers to tell what it (the floor) was composed of. In
this melancholy state the young man had been confined
for a space of ten years. There was a night-chair in
the room, but it did not appear that he at ad made use
of it. The officers removed him to the workhouse, where
the necessary care was taken of him.
The testimony of the medical officer of the work-
house was somewhat in favour of the defendant, the
young man, Brent Spencer, appearing to him to be in
good health and plump in flesh ; and it further appeared
that he did not, after the first night, use the night chair
placed in the ward for his accommodation. In the ward,
however, he was occasionally heard to exclaim, as he
stroked his beard, " What a shame that a young man,
such as I am, should be kept in confinement as I have
been." He was understood to be the illegitimate son of
tee late General Spencer, and to be indirectly connected
with a noble family.
Since the conviction of defendant, Mr. Elwin James
(Aid.' whom was Mr. Piiiiiii), obtained a rule nisi, for
arrest of judgment, and for a new trial. In support of
the application for arresiug judgment, it was contended
that the second count of the indictment was bad, be-
cause it did not ailege in terms any duty which obliged
the defendant to take care of her green up illegitimate
son after he had reached the age of 21 years; nor any
facts from which the law would infer the existence of
any such duty; and the third count was bad, because,
though it alleged the duty, it did not allege any special
injury as the result of the neglect of that duty. There
was also no proof that there had been an imprisonment
of Brent Spencer by any restraint cruelly and unneces-
sarily exercised by the defendant.
Mr. WATSON, QC., yesterday showed cause against
the rule, and in support of his arguments cited a num-
ber of authorities. In the course of the Learned Gentle-
man's arguments, it appeared that the defendant received
caanri. per q e
and
maintenance
p n,
anaynna bol
of the through
thelan e a
tino—u tat s's
nobleforfamily the
care and maintenance of the lunatic—a noble family di-
the payment. The Learned Gentleman urged
that if, during the imprisonment, the lunatic (who was
not capable of taking care of himself'), had lost his life
by the exercise of neglect of the duties which the law
imposed, such as not feeding him, or other indirect in-
jury, the case would be one of manslaughter against the
defendant, who had undertaken the proper care of him.
He considered the decision of the jary good ; and,
therefore, hoped the verdict would not be disturbed.
Mr. PHINN was yesterday part heard in support of
the rale for arrest of judgment, and for a new trial, and
this morning resumed and concluded his arguments.
He was followed by Mr. James ; after which their
Lordships looked into the indictment, and conferred
together for some time.
The CHIEF JUSTICE then said it was better to take
time to consider the matter.

Their L-rdships' decision was consequently deferred.

POLICE INTELLIGEN CE.
MANSION-HOUSE.
A young man nan named Samuel Lea was charged
with having embezzled various sums of money, the pro-
perty of Messrs. Morley and Co., lace manufacturers,.of
Manchester, and of Friday-street, Cheapside.
Mr. Humphreys attended for the prosecution, Mr.
Wolfe for the prisoner.
William Perry, a person in the employment of Messrs.
Smith and Watkins, stated that on the 11th of June,
he paid to the prisoner a cheque for 451. 9s. for goods
furnished
as atpopteha er
efidr mfrboym Mt ehses rs.
invoiceM orleaynonne
xtehde Clay bt
thee-
cheque.
th?.
Mr. J. R. Smith, one of the firm of Smith and Wat-
kins, stated that on the 11th of June he paid to the pri-
payment of goods re,
fseornreerd atO cihnethueeinfovoric3e2Proteird. On the 24th of June
the firm recived goods by a porter from Messrs. Morley
and Co., and an invoice for 161. 7s. was brought with
the goods, from receiving which witness gave to the
porter a note containing a cheque for that amount. The
three cheques produced for 45/. 95., 321. 135., and for
Gl. 7s. had been duly returned to the firm as paid.
Joseph Stammers. a porter occasionally employed by
Messrs. Morley and Co., was the bearer of the goods to
the amount of 16/. 7s. referred to in the evidence of the
' last witness, and delivered the note containing the
cheque for that sum to the prisoner.
Mr. Edwin Newby, Goldsmith-street, warehouseman,
stated that on the 14th of August, 1844, he purchased
goods of Messrs. Morley and Co. to the amount of
21/. 125., arid he paid to the prisoner on the same day
the cheque produce d for that sum. That cheque had
been duly returned to him by his banker as paid, asul
the prisoner wrote the receipt at the foot of the invoice.
Mr. Samuel Morley, a partner in the house at Man-
chester a..d in Friday-street, stated that the prisoner
conducted the business in Friday-street as salesman to
the firm, and it was his duty to receive moneys on ac-
count of the firm, to furnish a weekly account on paper
of the sales, and to enter in the book at Friday-street
all sums of money received by him. Witness produced
the prisoner's account of the week's sales, comprehend-
ing the 14th of August, 1844, and he stated that he bad
searched the books, bur, found no entry of the sale of the
goods, or the receipt of 211. 12s. from Mr. Newby. He
also produced the weekly accounts, comprehending the
dates mentioned on the other cheques. The receipts
produced at the foot of the invoices were written by the
prisoner.

On his crass-examination the witness said there was
no entry of a payment of 121. 12s. from Mr. Newby that
he could find, hut there was an entry of some of the
same sort of goods to another person, on another date.
Alderman CHALLIS refused the application to accept
bail for the prisoner's appearance to take his trial at the
Central Criminal Court, aid committed him to Newgate.
The prisoner, it was stated, hid maintained an excel.
lent character for many years.
Florence Collins and Albert Collins, his son, was
charged with ha. ieg committed violent assaults upon
William Leedha,n, City-policeman, No. 586.
In this case the tables were turn .d upon the police-
man. The followiog is an outline of the matter, which
was detailed at considerable length ;—The compl inant,
at half-east ten o'clock in the morning Of Wednesday,
was what is called "larking" with another policeman,
who resided next door, and one of them threw a slipper
at the other. The slipper, it was supposed, struck a
child, who was playing in the court, and the mother of
the child, who sefeuel to b:te.! sustained some it jury,
bitterly complained of the conduct of persons from
vrwenhsiotenmioth relining
protectionim against offences ought to be expected.
The indignation of the complainant was strongly roused
adgoaains
ethpelepasaerdry, aanhdo dhaerefdorttoh
wqiutehstiboengahnis
toh
authoritysowhis
tios
sense of the power with which his dress and staff in-
by in most !Dully u
language npseed ra ting.
toward;
tohnenwe ro
woman,
who happened to be his wife, expostulated with the Corp
pl.unav:Titan t
jn.t,Grebuterne,ceived the compliment of a violent knock-
ing abut. and if his son, Albert Collins, had not inter-
W.
fered, would have been compl.tely overpowered. The
complainant received in the conflict what he very well
Ci
blackpollecyeenananNi
oh. be.
was aided in his offen-
sr e
he ward-beadle of Q eenhithe, stated that
was present during the whole of the affair, and he
bore testimony to the highly reprehensible conduct of
the two policemen, The complainant was evidently in-
toxicated, at least he was greatly excited, and he came
down stairs and entered the apartment of the defendants,
pulled out Florence Collins, challenged him to fight,
and punched him most violently.
Inspector Woodroffe, a shrewd and intelligent officer,
wh..) investigated the case at the station-house, did not
hesitate to say that he considered the complainant was
decidedly in error in the transaction. The defendant,
he added, had determined to complain to the Commis-
sioner of Police, before whom. an investigation was to
take plsce.
Alderman CHALLIS said he was happy to find that the
case wai to be brauzht before the Commissioner,
he had no doubt, would do justice upon the occasion.
The Alderman they discharged the defendants.