The Sun.
London, England, 1848-06-22 00:00:00

" WESTMINSTER ELECTION.
" To the Editor of the Sun.
" Sir,-A correspondent in your excellently con
ducted journal asks ' Who is Mr. Cochrane, the pre-
sent candidate for the representation of Westminster?
Is he the same Mr. Cochrane who, some, years since,
travelled throughout the country as a Spanish min•
strel? Is he the party who published a descriptive
account of his w nude& .Ligb Ltirougt. Kent, unit Liussext
These questions require a straightforward answer,
since it must not be borne, it must not be tolerated
that the large and influential city of Westminster shall
be represented by a person who, in the disguise of a
travelling musician, succeeded, in many in-
stances, alas ! too many instances, in in-
sinuating himself into private families, and
afterwards exposed the flirtation of sundry misses, some
in their teens, arid others approaching that questionable
age when ladies begin to think they are forgotten by the
sterner portion of the sex. I do nut state that Mr.
Cochrane is the man who thus acted. Ido not aver that
he is the individual who published sundry amours in his
book, which he pretended took place at Canterbury,
Dover, Hastings, and Brighton. I can scarcely believe
that a man who could betray the confidence of any
female, after having been fad and pampered to satiety
by her friends, and supplied with money, believing the
said individual to be in the condition of an unfortunate
political exile, would dare to affront a highly respectable
and honourable constituency with his presence. But,
sir, you say, ' Perhaps Mr. Cochrane will inform the
electors whether he is the person I have thus hastily
alluded to ?' My reply is, do not take Mr. Cochrane 'a
word for his innocence. I knew the wandering minstrel,
the poor amiable young man, who had been driven from
friends and home owing to political disturbances in his
own country. I have seen him often, but not since he
gathered silver and gold from those who pitied his pre-
tended misfortune—from those who fostered the viper—
who felt for and sympathised with him in his assumed
r i
ats rest,
distressed condition, and I might be able to identify him;
yet there is a probability of clearing up the point beyond
nioffieu m
the possibility of doubt. The minstrel's work was
printed by Mr. Brettel, of Rupert-street, Haymarket,
eaannltthiearveeforree,aswoint:ht dkw thatltythat
, set
the gentlemanatte
per-
fectly acquainted with the person of Mr. Cochrane, and
and thus ease the minds of many parties who have pro-
mised Mr. Cochrane their support, but who would at
once withdraw it if Mr. Cochrane can be identified as the
wandering minstrel. Allow me to add that
Brettel has taken a very prominent part in the
Westminster election;
he is a Liberal, too, and would no
doubt, not only fur the credit of the House of Commons,
but for the honour and reputation of Westminster,orauaons, set
'he matter at rest.
" I am, Sir, faithfully yours,

"Fleet-street." It J...
Now here were the same questions, and he must repeat
that he thought Mr. Cochrane ought to have answered
them. The third libel was this:—
"MR. COCHRANE AND THE ELECTORS OF WESTMINSTER.

" To the Editor of the Sun.
"Sir,—ls Mr. Cochrane the same person as Don
Juan du Vega,' or is he not? If he be the same person,
then the violated hospitality and outraged kindness
shown to him at Brighton, Canterbury, Dover, and other
places, will rise up in judgment against him, and serve
as a warning to the electors of Westminster not to con-
fide in any such wandering personator. If he be not
Juan de Vega, then why not disown it ? Let Mr.
Cochrane beware, if he be the fraudulent Spaniuh re-
fugee that Juan de Vega pretended to be, that he does
not meet such an exposé as he well deserves, if identical
with that vagabond.—Yours, an Elector,
Feb. 16, 1847." " J. C.
This letter was followed by the one which was chiefly
complained of.—(His Lordship then read the fourth
libel, which will be found printed in the speech of Sir
Frederick Thesiger.) Tho plaintiff had brought his
action for the publication of these libels, but ho had
not said whether he was the author of this book or
not, or whether he was the wandering minstrel, whose
adventures were described in it. He had left the de-
fendant to justify himself as well as he could. The de-
fendant had pleaded a number of pleas, and the plaintiff
had demurred to them, as being too general. T"
defendant had liberty granted to him to amend ; bui
instead of doing so, he left no plea but that of " Not
Guilty " on the record. He much regretted the course
taken on both sides. It seemed to him to be a sort of
ingenious contrivance to keep the jury in perfect igno-
rance of the truth of the case they had to try. The
plaintiff said he came to vindicate his character, but ho
would not acknowledge whether he published the book
or not ; and the defendant would not plead that the
plaintiff published it. It was quite plain that in pursu-
ing this course the defendant had nut done himself jus-
tice. He (Lord Denman) could not conceive why it was
that, in a court of justice, the truth was thus always lust
amidst forms and technicalities ; so, however, it was at
present. Under these circumstances, they had to say
whether the plaintiff was entitled to more than nominal
damages.
courtlhe jury i a
verdictretired for so
for the
thempeiaite, and
nimtiff_Damraegteusr,n4ed os.into

DEATH OF MAJOR-GENERAL SIR FULLERTON
DuNDAs, BART.—This Baronet, for many years, a dis•
tinguished officer in the East India Company's service,
died on the 16th inst., at Richmond, Surrey, iu the 63d
year of his age. He is succeeded in the baronetcy by
his brother, Captain John Burnet, It. N.
Lord and Lady Strathmore, Sir Hervey and Lady
Bruce, and many fashionables, left Blackwall Pier yes-
terday morning, by the General Steam Navigation Corn•
pany's Mail steamship, Rainbow, for Rotterdam, en
route to the Loo, where the Great Falcon Hunt will
commence at the end of the present week.

Your Committee see no reason to doubt that these
causes have in different degrees, in different parts of
the country, produced the effect thus ascribed to
them.
For the further development of the views enter-
tained on these various point: by the gentlemen whom
they have examined, they must refer to the evidence.
With regard to some of the circumstances above re-
ferred to, prevision has already been made by Parlia-
ment, and it must be obvious that others are beyond the
control of legislative enactment.
Many of the witnesses, including the Governor and
Deputy-Governor of the Bank of England, have ex-
pressed their belief that earlier steps iu the autumn of.
1846, and the spring of 1847, on the part of the Bank of
England, might have obviated the necessity for the more
stringent measures which circumstances compelled the
directors to adopt in April, and might thus have pre-
vested the alarm which was caused by those measures.
The grounds on which that belief is entertained, toge-
ther with the considerations which influenced the pro-
ceedings of the bank, are explained iu the evidence of
those witnesses who were examined on this branch of
the subject. It is one in respect to which a wide discre-
tion must necessarily be left with those who are charged
with the management of the business of the Bank, and
your committee trust that this discretion will be exer-
cised with due prudence, if similar circumstances should
again occur.
An opinion appears to have been entertained by
some persons, though not by the Governor and Deputy-
Governor of the Bank of Engl .nd, that the Bank is
released by the Act of 1844 from any obligation, ex-
cept that of consulting 'the pecuniary interests of its
proprietors.
It is true that there are no restrictions imposed by
law upon the discretion of the Bank, in respect to the
conduct of the b inking as distineuishe 1 from the issue
department.. But the Bank is a public institution, pos-
sessed of special and exclusive privileges, standing in
a peculiar relation to the Gov( rnment, anti exercising,
from the magnitude of its resource,, great influence over
the general mercantile and monetary transactions of the
country.
Tiwee eirr urn trtnens impose upon the Bank the duty
of a consideration of the public int,rest, not indeed
en-
ucted or defined by law, but which Parliament, in its
various transactions with the Bank, has always recog-
nized, and which the Bank has never disclaimed.
It is unnecessary to impose such duty by law, as
there can be little doubt that the permanent interests
of the Bank aro identified with those of the public at
large.
That identity of interest gives both to the public and
to the proprietors of Bank stock a deep interest in every
measure calculated to ensure an enlightened administra-
tion of the affairs of the Bank.
change
bodyn been e e
deputy-
governor, e
of
made
uatdy
the
Your Committee have learnt, therefore, with satisfac-
tionssetetthat a that the attention of the court of directors has been
en
rt o h
governor, calculated, in the opinion of your Committee,
to yi
vaetsttihsoetschuoebnj selection
en andttito constitution
nnof of the the
governing governor
them,given
i
Bank.
They feel confident that the effect of this change, and
the experienced which has been acquired during the
events. of the last two years, will ensure to the public in
the future management of the Bank of England greater
benefits from this national establishment than it has
hitherto been the means of conferring upon the country.
Your Committee have received with deep regret
from many witnesses evidence of the extent of loss iu-
curred by. commercial houses in the course of last
autumn, from an unprecedented combination of the cir-
cumstances above referred to, and seriously aggravated
by the want of confidence which prevailed in conse-
quence of the numerous failures, and which induced
bankers and others to retain a reserve both of gold and
of bank notes to a very great extent. It is to be ob-
served that this took place with a very large amount of
notes in the hands of the public, exceeding, in the
opinion of a witness most competent to form an
opinion, by no less than 4,000,000/., " the actual re-
quirements of the public at the time."
The feeling of alarm which prevailed appears to have
been immediately removed by the issue of the letter
addressed to the Bank of England, on the 25th of Oc-
tober, by the First Lord of the Treasury and the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer.
The issue of that letter was, no doubt, an extraordi-
nary exercise of power on the part of the Government;
but the House has decided that, in the peculiar circum-
stances of the period, they were justified in taking that
step. It will be seen, from the evidence of Mr. Cotton,
the
.Governor of the Bank in 1844, that the possibility
of circumstances arising in which scme extraordinary
measures might be called for in consequence of a state
of monetary crisis, was not unforeseen by the Govern-
ment at the time when the Act of 1844 was passed.
The evidence which has been given as to the effects of
the Act of 1844 has been contradictory. Its beneficial
effects, as regards the issue of the country banks, have
been admitted by many of the witnesses, and although
some have suggested an alteration of its provisions, very
few have contested the general principles on which it is
founded.
Your Committee have had under their consideration,
whether it is advisable that powers should be conf, rred
by law upon the Government, to enable them to meet
the occurrence of any circumstance which may call for
extraordinary interference; but they have come to the
couclusion that, looking to the impossibility of' foreseeing
what the precise character of the circumstances may be,
and also what may be the measure best calculated to
meet them, it is more expedient to leave to those with
whom the responsibility of the Government may rest at
the time, to adopt such measures as may appear to them
best suited for the emergency.
Your committee, thererore, after a careful review of
all the evidence, are of opinion that it is not expedient
to make any alteration in the Bank Act of 1844.
June 8, 1848.
'he

THE RESIGNATION OF TIIE REV. SIR H. R. DIJKIN-
FIELD.-0a Tuesday a meeting of the inhabitants of
the parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields was held in the
vestry-room adjoining the church, for the purpose of
taking into consideration the propriety of presenting an
address to the Rev. Sir H. R. Dukinfield, Bart., the
vicar, on his resignation. Mr. P. Palmer, the senior
churchwarden, having taken the chair, Dr. Gold-
ing, of Charing-cross Hospital ; Mr. Dalton, late
churchwarden; the Duke of Leinster; Mr. Cobbett,
chairman of the board of guardians; the Rev. J. G. Gif-
ford, incoumbent of St. Matthew, Spring-gardens; the
Hon. E. P. Bouverie, and other gentl,,men, addressed the
meeting expressive of their regret at the resignatiuu
of the Rev. Gentleman, who, during the thirteen years
lie had been vicar of the parish, had done so
much good, especially among the poor, by the
establishment of institutions of the most valu-
able description for their benefit. Mr. Wilson, on
the part of the Dissenters of the parish, begged to ex-
press their regret at the loss the perish had sustained
by the retirement of Sir Henry Dukinfield, whose con-
duct in presiding over the meetings held in that room
when party spirit ran high had endeared him to all.—
( Hear, hear.) An address to the reverend gentleman,
written by the: Hon. W,
E. Gladstone, M.P., was then
unanimously adopted, and the meeting separated.

The Duke of Leeds sent two horses, Magnet and
Conceit, and with two of Lord Strathmore's, left Lon-
don for Holland yesterday morning, by the Rainbow
steamer, to run at the races which commence at the Loo
on Tuesday next.