The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-28 00:00:00

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LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 1846.

The LoRD-CuANcELtoit took his seat on the Woolsack at
Five o'clock.
Lord BROUGITAX complained of the delay which had
taken place in the passing of the corn-law, and moved fur
some returns On the subject of corn importation.
The Earl of DALTIOUSUP; moved his resolutions on railways,
as a standing order.
Lord MONTEAGLE complained, that by this standing
Order the Government were endeavouring to shift upon
other parties that responsibility which fairly devolved
on
themselves.
The Marquis
of CLANRICARDE complained of the manner
in which the proposed standing order would affect the Irish
Railway Bills.
The Earl of DALHOUSIE having replied,
The resolutions were aimed to, and the House adjourned.

The SPICARER took the chair at Four o'clock.
On the reading of the orders of the day for proceeding
With the adjourned debate on the first reading of the Irish
Life and Property Protection Bill,
Major BERMSFORD tOOk OCCasii)ll to defend his noble re-

lative, the Marquis of WATERFORD from the attacks of the
Honourable Member for Kilkenny, relative to the ejection of
his tenantry. The statements of the Honourable Member
were totally without foundation.

Lord INGESTRE believed that the Marquis of WATER-
FORD was one of the best landlords in Ireland.
Mr. J. O'CortzfELL was sorry for the statements he had
made ; he thought them true or he should not have adverted
to them.

Mr. O'CONNELL admitted that the Marquis of WATER-
FORD was one of the best landlords in Ireland, and that his
amiable Marchioness was continually employed in acts of
charity.
Mr. C. Woon, as the chairman of the Bridport Election
Committee, reported that the Committee had come to the
resolution that Mr. B. CocnR.A.NE had not been duly elected,
but that Mr Rom= had.
The Clerk of the Crown was ordered to attend to-morrow
to amend the return.
A. discussion then took place upon a question put by Mr.
Cl:mgt.-IE, relative to the petition against the return of Mr.
B. COCHRANE, which ended in Mr. GEoaGE BANKS giving
notice of his intention to-morrow to move that the peti-
tion be printed.
Sir J. GRACIA3I,in answer to a question from Mr. POWELE,
said the Government would do all in their power to put a stop
to the evil practices that were going on in Sheffield.
In answer to a question from Sir G. GREY, Sir J. GEAw.i.3l
said it was the intention of the Government to proceed with
the Charitable Trusts Bill.
Mr. BPCARTHY then resumed the adjourned debate on the
Irish Coercion Bill. _ _

Mr. H. BAILLIE defended the course pursued by the Go-
vernment, and supported the first reading of the Bill.
Colonel VERNER supported the Bill.
The House was then addressed by Sir R. PEEL, Mr. WYsE,
Captain CONOLLY, and Mr. Ricer.
The debate was then adjourned till Thursday next.
The orders of the day being then disposed of, the House
adjourned at One o'cicok.

Godfathers and Godmothers, in the naming of chil-
dren, frequently seem to have a prescience of the acts of
their nominees. Odd names foretel odd characters, and
strange prefixture of words to surnames, prepares us
for strange deeds in the individuals associated with them.
That phenomenon, a fighting Attorney-General, rejoiced
in a multitude of names, which procured him the appel-
lation of ALPHABET SMITH ; and the immaculate gen-
tleman, who last week was Member of Parliament for '
the Borough of Bridport, Mr. ALEXANDER DIINDAS
Ross WISBART BAILLIE COCHRANE, might have shared
the alphabetical honours with him. Addition to such a
collection of names waa useless, and the Bridport Elec-
tion Committee, accordingly, deprived him of the M.P.
which encumbered them.

It is not solely to the names borne by Mr. COCHRANE,
it is to the Parliamentary entrance and exit of that
gentleman, and to the loss which the Legislature of the
country has sustained, that we would direct attention.
In the year 1841 a compromise, which will be found de-
tailed in the report of the Select Committee on Election
Proceedings, gave him introduction into the House of
Commons. His own conduct at the election, out of
which that compromise arose, may be judged of from the
following questions and answers, printed in that re-
port :

"2418. During the general election of June, 1841, were you
personally cognizant (I have put this question to every wit-
ness and begged them not to be offended at it) of any act of
bribery committed by yourself or your agents for the purpose
of obtaining votes for you ?--I object to answer that.
"2419. Were you personally cognizant of any treating at
the election ?—I equally object to answer that question.
" 2420. Were you personally cognizant of any illegal prac-
tices at that election ?—That also rests on the same principle
I object to answer it,

" 2422. Have you any objection to state the sum of money
spent by you in the election ?—I decidedly refuse to state it.
" 2423. From that, I am to conclude that you decidedly
refuse to state to the Committee the mode in which that
money was expended ?—Most assuiedly."
These are the answers of Mr. ALEXANDER DUNDAS
Ross WISHART BAILLIE COCHRANE, as printed in
the report; and it is further stated, that " Mr. TEMPLER,
the agent of Mr. COCHRANE, elaimed his privilege as
the attorney of Mr. COCHRANE, and refused his evidence
because not released by his client from the necessity of
claiming his privilege."
Such were the circumstances attendant upon Mr.
COCHRANE'S entry into the House of Commons. Purity
itself must have hailed the advent of such an addition to
the pure occupants of St. Stephen's, where bribery is put
down by statute, treating is suppressed by Acts of Par-
liament, illegal practices are punished by positive enact-
ments, and where Committees are sworn well and truly
to try the matter of the petition referred to them—where,
in short, no precaution is omitted to make the House of
Commons appear to be an assembly of the representa-
tives of the people, freely, impartially, and honestly
chosen.

The high principle which prevented Mr. COCHRANE
from answering any questions relative to bribery, or
money expended, followed him throughout his Parlia-
mentary career—and, having come into the House of
Commons a protectionist, he felt bound to resign his
seat when, having changed his opinions, he became a
free-trader. That he changed his opinions conscien-
tiously, no doubt can exist, and although a peerage in
abeyance, and at the disposal of the Premier, gave res.-
' sons strong enough to warrant any alteration in Mr.
COCHRANE'S views, we believe that nothing but a chi-
valrous sense of honour and a patriotic desire to sup-
port Sir R. PEEL'S measures, induced him to return
the trust which had been confided to him, and to
seek re-election. For, although he had made assurance
of no opposition to his return, and had secured the
ground before hand, a journey to Bridport and back,
the making of divers election speeches, and the compli-
mentary fatigues of an uncontested return, had all to be
undergone, and were, in themselves, no easy tssk to a
gentleman of Mr. Coennarm's habits. But Mr. COCH-
RANE was deceived in his powers of management ; he
forced an opposition upon the truly liberal party in Brid-
port, by an uncalled-for attack upon their principles, and
on the day of polling a majority of ONE was all that Mr.
COCHRANE could show. A petition against that ma-
jority, alleging bribery, treating, and illegal practice•,
came on for trial last Saturday, and the result has been
to deprive the country of his services in Parliament.
We think further inquiry ought to be made into this
matter. We trust the House of Commons, which on
Friday night last was appealed to by Mr. COCHRANE
himself for protection, will not allow that appeal to pass
unheeded by. In little more than twelve hours after-
wards Mr. COCHRANE was no longer in Parliament.
Let inquiry be made, how and why that happened. It is
rumoured that arrangements were made to prevent ex-
posures, and that the fear of bribery, treating, and other
illegal practices coming to light, drove Mr. COCHRANE
out of the field. The House of Commons is bound in
justice to him to pursue this inquiry--the imputation
must be removed; for if it could be conceived that a
Member who got into Parliament by a compromise,
crept out of it without conviction of bribery, by compro-
mise, the entrance and the exit ought alike to be re-
corded, and Mr. COCHRANE'SParliamentary dying speech
ought to be accompanied by his confession.

Already many meetings have been held of scrip-
holders in several of the railway companies, in which it
is manifest either that a Bill cannot be obtained during
the present session, or that, if obtained, it would inflict
a severe injury on the parties whose shares, on a new
call being made, would become either wholly valueless,
or, perhaps, in some instances, still worse, requiring a
=urther sacrifice to have their owners relieved from fur-
ther responsibility, in order that the affairs may be
wound up, and the balance, if any, distributed
amongst the parties entitled thereto. When we consider
I the large amount, of capital now deposited in the hands
offsot
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existing on
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tnootf wthonosdeerinatterea
anted to obtain an immediate
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ee
, return thereof, and we only
an anxiety may be so great as to induce many parties to
. overlook the good points of several of the undertakings,
and the fair prospects of ultimate success, with an ample
'
equivalent in the way of profit for the inconveniences,
expenses, and annoyances, to which the shareholders may
now be subjected. The Government
appearropositiends,ef-
al-
though excellent so far as they go,
still
tive in one respect ; for while, on the hand,otie e:
, the resolutions which are about to become
y
ses-
sional orders, no Bill can be obtained until there
has been the clearly expressed opinion of a majority
consisting of three-fifths of the scripholders, assembled
at a meeting duly convened, with full notice to all par-
ties interested, and a reasonable time to enable them to
avail themselves of that notice, so that it must be through
sheer negligence that any person should remain unrepre-
isented thereat ; and at which meeting there must be
present the holders of one-third of the entire stock, and
thus no further liability can be incurred without the
express assent of the parties to be charged therewith—
yet, in the event of no such meeting taking place, or
leven if the further progress of the Bill for the
present session should be negatived thereat, there would
be no means, in consequence thereof, of a return of a
portion of the deposits being obtained; the resolutions
are therefore merely protective in their nature, but no
active step can be taken under them. On the other
hand, the Bill proposed affords no alternative but the j
total abandonment of the project, or its continuance
under the present system; there is no intermediatecourse.
The one, the only question which can be entertained at
the meeting, is the dissolution of the company; if that be
carried the concern is, ipso facto, dissolved; if not carried
it remains, with all its objectionable features, as at
Present, money being retained, for which there cannot
be the slightest use. It is quite clear that directors,
who have now in their hands a large sum of money,
will not be willing to surrender the possession of it, and I
IVA :le chance of the general body again paying up

their deposits; they will prefer retaining the control of
the funds, although their so doing, in many cases,
may have the effect of destroying the project they
are anxious to have carried into effect—many
shareholders who, feeling the utmost degree of confi-
dence in the soundness and eventual success of the pro-
ject would be rejoiced if it could be suspended for a
given time, and an opportunity then afforded them of
deciding whether the scheme should be abandoned or
carried into execution, and in the meantime the amount
of money which could not possibly be required in the
interval be placed at their disposal, but who
from having no such option afforded to them
will now vote for the dissolution of the company
in order to get back a sum, important to them at the
present crisis. With this feeling, on the first statement
; of the intended legislative enactments, we suggested, in
• The Sun of the 9th April, " that it would be desirable
if a similar number of shareholders were given the
power 'of suspending for the present the operations
of the company, and getting back at once a portion
of the deposits, leaving a sufficient sum to meet
all the liabilities of the company, and a small sum in
hand for the trivial expenses which might be necessary
between the present time and the next session of Par-
liament." There is little doubt that such an opportunity
would be hailed with the greatest delight in the cases of
many of the projected lines. A large sum would be at
once released, brought into circulation, and ren-
dered applicable to the general purposes of
the country. In the event of a reaction in
the money-market, the schemes which have already
stood the test of Parliamentary inquiry will probably be
revived. Vast expenses have already been incurred in
the engineering and other departments, which, in the
event of a dissolution, will be wholly lost, or which may
be made use of by parties who have already derived a
considerable profit, without the shareholders, by whom
they were sustained, reaping any benefit therefrom-
This would not be just or equitable. Was
there any prospect of ultimate success, the
advantage should be retained to those who
at present are heavy pecuniary sufferers, and
who would, by the keeping alive of the company,
have a chance, however slight it might be, of obtaining
some return hereafter. We trust that some of our legis-
lators who have interested themselves in railway affairs
will turn their attention to this subject, and that when
the Government Bill comes before the House such an
addition will be engrafted thereon as to give the scrip-
holders such a power of suspension as we have here
advocated.

Informers have ever been the Pariahs of society
They are tolerated, and barely tolerated, as a sort of
moral nightmen—disgusting, but occasionally useful.
An amateur thief-taker is a very extraordinary cha-
racter, but an amateur informer may be considered
almost unique. There is, however, one specimen at least
extant in the person of Mr. HENRY fIAa!SAY FosTER
alias THORNE, who calls himself the fashionable reporter
for the Morning Post, and who, moreover, practises not
unfrequently as a penny-a-liner, in which capacity he
has sent occasional communications to The Sun, which
for reasons, into which it boots not now to enter, have of
late been uniformly rejected. On the summons of this
gentleman, one of The Sun messengers was brought up
yesterday morning at the Guildhall, to answer a charge of
cruelty to a horse; and Mr. FOSTER, alias THORNE, swore
that he saw the horse proceed at a rapid rate
up Fleet-street upon three legs for more than 200 yards!!!
Well might the magistrate's clerk ask how he could
proceed on three legs. "I could not believe that the
animal could so proceed unless I had seen it myself," re-
plied Mr. FosTER. It is not the first time that Mr. FOSTER
bas reported himself as having seen strange things.
He saw strange things, doubtless, and underwent strange
adventures, too, when he accompanied, or rather at-
tempted to accompany an illustrious personage,
on a certain memorable occasion, to the Isle of Wight.
However, we will not go into the antecedents of Mr-
FOSTER, alias THORNE. The magistrate dismissed the case,
and the gentleman who rejoices in an alias, we beg his
pardon, a nom de guerre (he styles it so himself,
and it is certainly more Jenkinsian), was left to pay the
expenses, which we hope will be a warning to all rejected
penny-a-liners not to assume the character of
humanity-mongers, and intrude upon that province
which has hitherto been sacred to STOWELL
and his associates—or, if they should do so,
let them take care to conduct their proceedings in a less
slovenly manner than the " fashionable reporter " to
the Morning Post. Slip-slop may be supposed to be
natural to one who rejoices in such an office, and in
such a slip-slop slovenly way was the summonsdrawn up,
that bad we chosen to refuse to appear to it, the
.‘ fashionable reporter" could never have com pelled our ap-
pearance. We however, determined to meethim on the me-
rits, and on the merits we beat him. That excellent magis-
trate, Sir GEORGE CARROLL, who was on the bench, took
infinite pains to ascertain the true state of facts, and,
having done so, he, without hesitation, dismissed the
summons.

It is announced from Rome that the Empress of RUSSIA
will not visit that capital, in consequence of the prevalence
•f the measles there.

According to the German papers, the insurrection in
Austrian Galicia is nearly at end. The diugsburgh Gazette
of the 21st says that perfect tranquillity has been restored in
that province, and that ZALA, the leader of the insurgent
peasants, has fled, with only ten or twelve followers, to the
forest of Neopoloniree. Austria, it would appear, intends to
adopt measures to relieve the peasants of Galicia from many
of their burdens. The Rhenish Observer of the 22d says—
" The conferences at Vienna on the measures to be adopted
in Galicia have come to a close. The aulic chancellor, Baron
de Pillersdorf, was reporter. The resolutions come to have
been adopted by the Emperor. The con* of carts and
vehicles has been suppressed, with the promise of abolishing
the other corvEes by redemption money. The imperial pro-
clamations were issued or. the 15th April, and sent off at once,
so as to be published in the different districts by the 19th
April, the anniversary of the birth of the Emperor."
According to the Swabian Mercury, the authorities at
Jassy had surrendered two refugee Polish noblemen to the
Austrian Government.

The following letter, dated Berlin, April 16, appears in the
7Veser Gazette:—

" It is certain that the Governments of Austria and of
Prussia have addressed notes to the Cabinets of the Tuileries
relative to the intrigues of the Polish propaganda in Paris,
and respecting the conduct of the Journal des Debate. It is
known that the Journal des Debats receives its inspirations
from a higher personage than M. Guizot."
The Bremen Gazette publishes a letter from Berlin, which
states that the officers of the Austrian Guard have taken
such offence at the subscriptions entered into in France for
the insurgent Poles, that, in revenge, they have broached a
proposition for entering into a subscription to purchase a
handsome sabre as a present for Ann-EL• KADER:'

The Cologne Gazette states, "that a meeting will be held
at Mayence on the 28th of Apnl, relative to the duties on
the Rhine." It is said that all the States, without except-
ing Holland, are favourable to a diminution of the existing
duties.

It is stated, in the Correspondent of Nuremburg, under the
date of Berlin, April 15, that " the constitution of the
States-General of Prussia will be shortly published, the Council
of Ministers and the State Council having terminated
their deliberations."

Letters from Constantinople of the Bth and 9th announce
the arrest of Kmrmoup PACHA, the Paymaster-General of
the army. He is charged with having embezzled 160,0001.
HASSAN EFFENDI, a lieutenant of Schamyl, who had been
taken by the Russians, had been given up to the Turkish au-
thorities at Erzeroum, to be sent to Constantinople for trial.
He has, however, escaped, and the Russian Minister had ad-
dressed a note to the Porte on the subject.
" The marriage of Mehemet Bey, eldest son of Reschid
Pacha, with the sister of Mahemet-Ali-Pacha, Minister of
Marine, and brother-in-law of the Sultan, was fixed for the
7th.

" The departure of the Sultan for Romelia has been fixed
for the Ist of May definitively. The Sultan is to embark for
Varna on board a ship of the line, which will be taken in tow
by two steamere."

Madrid journals of the 18th and 19th have arrived. The
Gazette of the 18th describes the insurrection in Galicia as
nearly at an end, General CoricnA having arrived before
Lugo on the 14th. But the Gazette of the next day pub-
lishes a dispatch from this very General CONCHA, dated Be-
cerra, the 15th instant, announcing that, " being convinced
the insurgents of Lugo only intended to gain time by making
unacceptable propositions ; that being, moreover, unprovided
with artillery, and considering the trifling importance of the
place, which must of necessity surrender in consequence of
the operations he was about to undertake against the insur-
gents of the province of Pontevedra, he had ordered the bat-
talion of Malaga to march to Corunna, and had himself pro-
ceeded to Becerra to place himself at the head of the division
of troops concentrated there, and advanced, on the 16th,
upon Sarria and Chantada."

The fact appears to be that General CONCHA cannot trust
his troops. He arrived before Lugo on the afternoon of the
14th, and summoned the insurgents to surrender, promising
a free pardon to all the private soldiers, but, finding they
were determined to hold out, and that there was a tendency
on the part of a portion of his troops, particularly the bat-
talion of Malaga, to fraternise with them, he suddenly
ordered that corps to march for Corunna, and himself pre-
pared with the rest of his division to retire from before Lugo
upon Vigo, the garrison of that place having pronounced on
the 10th.

The insurgent garrison of Santiago, which was occupied
on the 11th by General PUIG-SAMPER, evacuated the town
on the night of the 10th, and retired, in good order, under the
command of Brigadier Rom DE Carus, to Vigo and Pon-
tevedra.
With regard to the insurgents taken prisoners at Astorga
it has been determined that none but the commissioned and
non-commissioned officers shall be put upon trial, and that
none shall be punished capitally without the express sanc-
tion of the Government.
EGANA assumed his functions of Intendiente of the Palace
on the 18th.
General SANz has taken the oaths of office m Mini§ter of