The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-11 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—" Call again to-morrow. I know nothing
of your bill delivered. Give me the particulars of your
account. I shan't pay you till I find these particulars
are correct. I shan't have time to look at them for
ua
long time. Your charges are so exorbitant that you
can afford to wait. I neither can nor will pay "
a farthing." That valuable class of men to
intrusted the agreeable task of collecting
familiar with such and similar excusesa whendebt sa
whom is
it are
ers of the
their ill-fortune to wait on the i‘
metropolis, but it is something new to
of oiefind an assem-
bly composed of peers, baronets, and
members
Par-
liament resorting to the shifting tactics of Jeremy
Diddler, and exhausting in theirdifferent pretexts for
non-payment every phase of shabby inconsistency.
The original position taken up by the Earl of Lucan
and his brother guardians was blu. downright, un-
h. ticated Pennsylvanian repudiation:
The money
sop is
had been wasted ; the act was oppressive, and they
would not pay. They were. themeansdthicfough which
not intend
alone the debt could be paid, and
l. they
to give any assistance towards its, 'dation. Some-
what moved, however, by the caeaaind di enified re-
proof of the Prime Minister,the modern Lucanians6 have
determined to repudiate repudiation, with the saving
clause that they have not the slightest intention of
repaying. At a meeting prescified over by Lord
Ballinasloe, Lord
Clancarty, in the Court-house,
Lucan moved, in substance, that, though ready to re-
payp 'olio works had been
advances where value
in
ended in relief as could
received, and such money
fairly be charged against them,exP they would not strike
rates in the absence of particulars of ;the Government
demand. The second resolution, moved by Lord
Crofton, recommended an investigation before Parlia-
ment of the amount which could with justice be de-
manded with due regard to the interests and circum-
stances of the country. The third resolution, moved
by Colonel Knox Gore, objects to the guardians being
made the means of collecting this money at all. If
any one wishes to take a lesson in the art of shuffling
and paltering with a plain and honest obligation they
would find it here. First, the debt is denied altoge-
ther ; then it is admitted that something ought to be
paid, that something being just as much as those
who have already given a specimen of their fairness
by refusing to pay any of it may choose to consider
due. Thirdly, Parliament is asked to consider the
question of repayment, with a view to the circum-
stances and interests of the country—that is, at the
instance of the Irish landowners, to enter into an
inquiry whether they can afford to pay their debts
honestly or no, and to apportion the exact amount of
dishonesty which is essential to their pecuniary well-
being. Lastly, they return to their old position, and,
after professing their readiness to pay, flatly refuse to
put in motion the only machinery provided by law for
enforcing payment. " Procrastination is," as Lord
Lucan truly observes, " the thief of time ;" and it
t
is therefore very requisite that those who are bent
upon thieving something else should be reminded
speedily as possible of their own positiona anduaieus
pros-
pects. The duty cast on the Irish Poor-1
of making rates to repay the Government adwvances
is
'm which they
essentially a ministerial one.
c'ai.sterial into a
now put forth is to convert t'hrahte
levyingmlntihe sums judicial act, and instead
ad-
vanced, to sit in judgment of
the metbod of their ex•
penditure, and only allow so muchn as. they, the debtors,
in the plenitude of their equitable impartiality, shall
consider to have been properly exp
admitting the
expended. This mise-
rable dodge for obtaining delay without
existence of a debt, and avoiding the infamy while
eog the advantages of repudiation, will little
savcatyithem.
An Act of Parliament cannot receive two
constructions for their convenience; it was valid,
peremptory, and immediate, so far as it authorised
the advancement of the money of the United Kingdom
for the subsistence of the miserable peasantry whom
the landlords had ground down to starvation. It was
of indisputable efficacy when it charged on the con-
solidated fund one-half of the money so advanced,
and it is at least equally cogent when it demands from
the Irish unions the repayment of the remainder. It can
no more be allowed to them to suspend the operation
of an Act of Parliament till they are satisfied of its
propriety, than to set aside its provisions altogether.
The former is a refusal to obey the law, and the latter
is no more. We can imagine no subterfuge more
degrading than this bill of particulars trick. What
is the principle on which it rests ? That Ireland is
bound to pay no more than she has had value re•
ceived for in public works. Was it then primarily or
mainly for the purpose of making public works in
Ireland that this money was advanced, or were not
the public works entirely secondary and subsidiary to
the main object—the saving, to use Mr. Gregory's
words, the Eves of the people ? Of course, it was
well known when the money was voted, that it was
impossible to expend it to the best advantage. Long
preparation, minute surveys, careful consideration of
local circumstances, would have been necessary
for this, but inexorable famine would not wait,
and the only choice was between giving away bread
for nothing, and requiring labour in exchange for it.
Thus it unavoidably happened that the labours which
ought to have occupied years were crowded into a
few months, and that the care and consideration which,
under any other circumstances, would have been im-
perative, were rendered impossible. One resource, in-
deed, Government believed itself to have in the local
know ledge and high:l:hided integrity of the Irish land-
lords, in %hose hands the relief of their starving coun-
trymen was at first reposed. It was because experi-
ence showed that this class could not be trusted
with the distribution of public money—because the re-
lief so humanely voted found its way to their children,
their tenants, their servants, and their pigs, instead of
the starving peasantry—because they recognised every
claim, except that of hunger and misfortune, and, true
to their vocation, withheld charity contributed by
others from men whom they would barely permit to
exist by the labour of their hands, that Government
was forced to adopt that plan of relief by public
works, of whose defects the Irish landlords, whose
misconduct called it into action, do well to remind
us. We assert deliberately, that if Government were
to furnish the bill of particulars, and if that bill should
show that the sums claimed had been expended in
digging holes in the sea-shore and filling them up
again, the claim of the Government against the
unions would he as valid in morality as it is in law.
We have fed the people, and for the whole of that
payment, in strict justice, the land which ought to
maintain them is liable. We are not bound to find
for Ireland what we suppose Mr. Disraeli would call
" the raw material" ofmani.a Bute those who are
only asked to pay half what
to revise the whole. Do theyd from them claim
expect to strike off
more than half ?
concee
them so much, and slt. not,maet offagainst the half whicdh
has been unprofitably spent the half which has
been gratuitously paid. We only ask for the re-
maining half. Let the contribution of the public
be considered to have supported the children, the
Yent-paving tenante and the pigs,
ac-
cording to Lord Lucan's principle,acab
t:LfedllrPtah7e ums'oneypeoyl sufferedL to
which the Irish landlords haveu
find its way into the pockets of the
adroit, for the sake of argument, that people, Lt
theus
advance has been thrown away because we did
not,
amid starving millions, pay sufficient attention to
engineering. Is that any reason why the other half
should be refused ? But it is idle to argue with
men who repudiate their debts in the same breath
they
admit them • who profess to the the moment when the are openly disobeying it, and
who deny the benefitsY
same speeches to which they have received in the very
them. Uh they are compelled to admit
nless, tow museiLerd JAI] Russell's words,
tv.
they can prove that
are,hshoumfasr thrown oa•An'yri
sataAt'
four millions, theyetsytneenxtcseeodf
iniia,itio,lrr.their. own showing,
their own can bind
bound to disburse the rec;Ning,

`p T 1 OISONI
11PTED PNG.
BA.TU, CT TE.
9.--The Mayor, P. Dewdine., Es(
were
together with F. Allan and W. Hunt, Esqs.
yesterday engaged iu investigating an
extraordinary
case case of attempted poisoning. The prisoner, who gave
her name as Elie ihth Slater, was a very respectable-
looking, lady-like woman, and she was charged with ad-
ministering poison to her child, with intent, &c. Upon
Ulf! application of Mr. Oakley, the chief of police, who
stated that a public examination would probably frus-
trate the ends ofjustic e, the proceedings were strictly
private. We are enabled, however, to give the fol-
lowing particulars :—About two months since the
Pri'°%er took furnished lodgings at the house of Mr.
Searle, chemist and druggist, Claverton-street, Bath,
17 "enting herself to be the wife of Mr. Slater, of
_std. A few day. after she entered the lodgings she
was taken ill, and Se'r, Lawrence, surgeon, having been
sent for, she sour, after. bieth
gave
About this time
himself to be the an
to a female child.
elderly gentleman, representing
at Mr. s,arie,s, butand of the prisoner, visited her
again left. After
re after remaining a short time
Mr.+. Sister made anco,vering
rerhaini(Firement with
from her confinement,
for tlee nursing of her Mrs. Searle
and took her departure,
hut continued to visit it o'c ' once a week. On eeveral co°4ll3l'
tchceas ions she expressed a
generally about
wish to be alone with
times after she had lefc child, and
at these
remarked
cea and vomiting.
that the infant suffered from di ' .
etethe sur-
Mr. St arle's suspicions were inaerorn
and he communicated with Mr. LsiaTeeenneee "el",
geon, who ultimately informed the authori eve., which by them was transferred to the of
tir
Police-inspector Norris. From inquiries maccllereb;f
him, and circumstances which came to his knowled he on Tuesday apprehended the supposed Mrs. Slate'''.
and on the following morningstated' she was brought, asabove, before the magistrates, and remanded
for further inquiries. It has been ascertained that
the prizoner is a single female of a respectable family,
arid that au analysis of an artificial teat with which
the infaut has usually been suckled has resulted in the
discovery of some CryStOS.

[The following appeared in our Third Edition of
last night :—]
THE GREAT EXHIBITION.
Placards are posted all over the building to-day *an-
nouncing that to-morrow the Groat Exhibition will
finally close to the public. Those, therefore, who have
not interest with the Executive Committee, or who are
unacquainted with an exhibitor, must make the most of
to-morrow, or they will miss one of the most magnificent
spectacles that the world has ever produced. It seems a
pity that the Exhibition should close before the end of
the month, when it would have been opened exactly six
months, but there is now no chance of the present
resolution being changed, and many exhibitors
have already begun to make preparations for
removing their property. Wednesday next is
looked forward to with some amount of anxiety
by several gentlemen who have contributed largely to
the English department. It is anticipated that on that
eventful day the Royal Commissioners will deliver a full
report of their stewardship, and perhaps let out some-
thing as to the future fate of the edifice itself, but
it is not probable that there will be anything in the
shape of pageantry got up on this interesting occasion,
such as was witnessed at the opening. It will no doubt
be simply a mere leave-taking between the Commis-
sioners and the exhibitors, and documents which are
then to be forthcoming will doubtless form the most attrac-
tive feature of the meeting. The visitors of to-day were
composed chiefly of the middle class; but although
the price of admission was half-a-crown, there
were, nevertheless, large batches of the agricultual
interest, and a Brest number of people having
the appearance of German emigrants present. There
was a good sprinkling, too, of persons attired in the
military uniform of various continental states, and these,
added to the variety of colours worn by the ladies, gave the
tout ensemble of the interior a very brilliant aspect- It
was said that two or three members of the Belgian Go-
vernment were amongst the visitors ; if that really were
so, they must hare been as much struck with the absence
of anything like a guard over the priceless objects ex-
hibited as with the splendid scene itself; for at the re•
cent exhibition of the painting of all nations collected
in Brussels, each department or chamber was closely
watched by detachments from the army when the show
was thrown open to the general public. Notwithstand-
ing that the weather to-day has been mild and congenial,
the numbers returned by the police have fallen consider-
ably short of those of the last four days. They are as
follow:
Eleven o'clock •••
Twelve ...
One
Two
Three

... 16,890
... 26,501
... 35,019
... 39,100
„.. 43,526

Four ... ... ... ... 46,244
There was, consequently, no crushing or crowding,
and every part of this ninth wonder of the world was seen
to-day with the utmost ease and comfort imaginable.
The following is the official report of the re-
ceipts ••• ••• ••• ... ... 4,914 10. 6d.
Police numbers ... ... ... 46,913