The Sun.
London, England, 1834-03-27 00:00:00

SOCIETY OF MUTUALTSTg."--44‘'7

That honcnirable i),,;;lelie, the
Mayor of Lyons, who proceeded from Paris to
Lyons during the late strike, seems to have ac-
gaired an extensive knowledge of the objects
and designs of the onion of workmen by which
that strike was directed. I-Ic stated that the
Society of Mutualists, or the association for
mutual aid, consisted of 3,000 members, and
that through its intervention the Lyons work-
men had lately stood out for a rise of wages.
This association disclaimed all connexion with
politics ; but their papers and orders of the
day showed that political societies had pro-
posed a junction with them and with the
disaffected operatives. One of these orders of
the day recommended " to the brethren, to he
their guard against attempts made to intro-
lace the printed papers of the Society of the
Rights of Man into their lodges," and made •
the chiefs of these lodges responsible for the
yxecution of this command. The lion. deputy
inferred from this and other facts, that the poli-
tical clubs of Paris had endeavoured to take
advantage of the social discontents of Lyons to
convert a dispute about wages into an insurrec-
tion against the Government. The lrades'
Union had expelled some of these political
agitators from their lodges, declaring that they
were desirous to avoid politics, but the very fact
that, upon so insufficient grounds, they had
interrupted the labours of 60,000 people, for
ten Or fifteen days, showed that they had been
excited by political theories, or encouraged by
political agitators. Tile hon. member ascribed
both their opinions on state politics, and their
notions on the unlimited powers of their masterF;
to increase their wages, to their ignorance; hut
thought that they would not have behaved as
they did, unless their heads had been filled with
republican or Saint Simonian doctrines. The
society of Mutualists is said to be very formi-
dable. It is composed, like the trades' unions of
this country, of a certain number of lodges; 12 of
these lodges correspond with a central lodge, and
these central lodges again are connected wit h a com-
mon centre, which is called the executive council.
The authority of this executive council governed
for more than ten days more than 50,000
workmen in and about Lyons with absolute
sway. It is further stated by the same hon.
deputy, that, though about 4,000 of the fore-
men of the differeat 'workshops were opposed to
this tyranny of the executive council, they could
not at first overcome ii, or resist its interdiction
of labour. They even denounced 33 of its
ingleaders to the King's procureur, but no legal
proceedings were taken against them. This
inaction appeared to M. Prunelle to be inju-
dicious, but both the local law officers of the
crown and the general government seemed un-
willing to interfere. This last observation called
op the Minister of Trade, who justified the
conduct of the government by saying that
judicial proceedings against the council of
the Mutualists would have brought oti
a collision between the people and the
military force, which would certainly have
been useless, and might have been san-
guinary. All that the authorities, therefore,
thought themselves justified in doing was to
watch over the public peace—to refrain from
active interference in settling the question of
wages—to collect a sufficient force to restrain
every attempt at plunder or violence—to assure
the masters, that, whatever course they should
pursue, they might rely on finding protecion,
and therefore to request them to wait the result,
if they chose to hold out against the demands of
their workmen, without terror or alarm. The
effect of this forbearance was the return of the
men to their work, after a fortnight's strike,
without any disturbance of public order or any
promise or expectation of increased wages. From
this statement of facts, of which we can entertain
no doubt, two important inferences may be
drawn by the foolish and unthinking members
of our trades' unions, and by the abettors of the
existing Derby strike. The first is, that they
are as likely to be the dupes of mischievous poli-
tical plotters as the clubs or lodges of the
silk weavers of Lyons ; and the second,
that they are as certain to meet with
signal losses and final discomfiture. The
working population of Lyons, it will be remem-
bered, rose against their masters on a demand
for higher wages in November, 1831. Their
unanimity was then so great, their discipline so
perfect, and their numbers so overwhelming,
that they conquered and disarmed the National
Guard, composed of the shopkeepers and ma-
nufacturers—that they drove out the large gar-
rison force from the city, and stood out against
large reinforcements of troops sent from the
neighbouring departments—and that they usurp-
ed the civil and military authority of the place,
holding unequivocal dominion in the second
chief manufacturing town of France for more
than a week. Much blood was shed on the
occasion, and great alarm was felt for the result
over all the kingdom. But what was the fruit
of this bloodshed and of these apprehensions ?
Nothing but loss to the workmen, who were
obliged, after suffering great privations, to return
to their work on the old terms. Within these
last six weeks other combinations have been
formed in the same city ; and without the
commission of the same violence, a cessa-
lion of all labour has been successfully en-
forced by the executive council of the trades'
unions. What again, in this second instance, has
been the result? Why, after the loss of ten
days or a fortnight's wages, the 50,000 work-
men of Lyons, commanded to desist from
their work till their masters should raise their
.vages, are compelled by want and threatened
starvation to come back, and to solicit employ-
ment from their masters at the old terms. In
both cases they have had an overwhelming
physical force in their favour,—in both cases
they entered into a competition with the capital
of their employers in circumstances which must
have intimidated the latter into a compliance
with their terms, if, as they supposed, the
aarmboittrianrty e
orgu
fwage is was dependent alone on their
—and in both cases after
i
onexhausting the amount of their funds and the
resources of 'their ingenuity, and after enduring
at
the greatest hardshipsthat their masters were as necessary to them as
trecrousanm.n dstacapnrgacitrvleaasnt,adtohbets erlys,actfahnolyerely,nfi'odoraubid
trades'lilne
experiment
:livtoi'uerbiarebletmriaecsdi
uttlioei ryoen st in this country ? Let those who would
counsel a great strike, or who have ruined the
poor men at Derby by their pernicious aid,
answer the question.— Times.

A BRUMMAGENI SARDANAPALUS.--One
night last week a man named Bike, ell, who lives at
Birmingham, vexed by the bad conduct of his wile, col-
I,Tted all bis household goods in a lower room, and set
fire to it, after which he composedly retired to bed!
where be would no doubt have been burnt, had not the
fire been discovered by the watchman, and extinguished

An immense progren i)as been made in econo-
mical reductions ~Vithin the last few years, and yet
we are not aware of any instance in which the spirit
of retrenchment has been carried so far as either to
impair the efficiency of the public service, or to affect
the just claims of individual merit. During tl'e
Castlereagh administration, it began with the dis-
missal of clerks, and the abolition of smaller places.
As the demands for economy became more urgent
in the legislature, and were enforced by more ener-
getic declarations of public opinion without, it reached
higher sinecures and more aristocratic pretensions.
Under the present administration, it has be vine the
the prevailing, pervading genius of the government.
It has inspected every office, civil, fiscal, and military,
for subjects on which 16) exercise its power. It has
swept away whole boards, and abolished at once
- hundreds of places declared to be useless. While it
has pried into every secret corner for a minor saving,
it has riot spared even the salaries of the ministers
of the crown. Whole tribunals, with their comple-
nient of ermined judges, as in the case of the Ex-
chequer Court of Scotland, have fallen a sacrifice
to its irresistible influence. The pension list is
threatened with its scrutinizing revision, to curtail
the income of some of its aristocratic paup'e'rs. And
even the venerable Exchequer itself, bequeathed to
us by the Conqueror, with all its gorgeous provision
of noble tellers, noble auditors, and clerks of the pipe,
or the pells—with its notched stick or parchment
tallies, its Roman numerals, and its Norman latin—has
fallen beneath its inexorable decree, and instead of
luxuriating in its 50,000/. or 00,000!. a year, is to
give place to a modest establishment vvhith will be
administered for less than 5,0001.1 These are cer-
tainly great triumphs of the genius of economy ;
but the great wonder is that they should not have
been achieved earlier. We speak not of useless
boards,—of sinecure courts,—of supernumerary
establishments, or of superfluous places these
ought not to have been allowed to odst for a day
after their total inutility or inefficiency was disco-
vered and acknowledged ,; but we speak of exces-
sive salaries for efficient offices, or of e essive
superannuation allowances, when these safari can
no longer be enjoyed. It is our wish, and it m st
be the wish of every man who is desirous of seeing
public duties performed with the requisite energy
and zeal, that all the servants of the public should
be paid in such a manner as to attract the
best talents to the service of their country,
and to reward their utmost exertion while in
office ; but this might be done without sup-
plying those incentives to fashionable extra-
vagance or profusion, which must often be inconsist-
ent with the steady discharge of official labour, or
which must bring into competition with the most
efficient unpatronized candidates for public employ-
ments, those who are tempted by the emoluments of
place alone to solicit them, and who depend on their
patron for their reputation of a capacity to fill them.
In America no man is too highly paid, no retiring
allowances are given, and yet we hear of no com-
plaints that public offices are either absolutely de-
clined or inefficiently discharged. We have no inten-
tion to cite the example of our American brethren
as a perfect model ; but we advert to it as an evi-
dence that we ourselves may have gone beyond the
proper medium in our scale of remuneration for
public services. These remarks have been suggested
to us by observing on the votes of the House of
Commons, that Sir James Graham has given notice
of a motion to bring in a bill " to alter and amend
the laws for regulating the pensions, compensations,
and allowances to be made to persons in respect
of their having held civil offices in his Majesty's
service." We know nothing of the provisions
of the announced measure, but we take it for
granted that, while it consults economy in the public
expenditure, it will protect and fulfil the just rights
and fair expectations of the different classes of
persons whose offices it may ultimately affect. Un-
less it did so, it would be exposed to all the objec-
tions of an ex post facto law. There are a large body
of men in public offices denominated the working
clerks, who entered on their present employments
under acts of parliament, distinctly recognizing
t eir title to certain superannuation allowances at
the public charge, after undergoing certain terms of
service. The increase of their salaries, we believe,
ceases at the end of fifteen years ; but by the last
Superannuation Act, their`retiring allowances begin
to increase by one-twelfth of the salary, for every
five years of active service up to fifty. To this the
deserving clerk looked as a provision in old age or
infirmity ; and it would be unjust to break the tacit
contract implied in this arrangement, whatever rule
may be adopted with respect to those who may in
future occupy such situations. By an account
lately laid before the House of Commons it ap-
pears that the total amount of the charge of su-
perannuations for worn-out public servants was, in
the year 1832, 290,000/. This sum is large, because
it includes, not only the allowances made to those
officers who have retired from age and infirmity, but
to those whose offices have been abolished in com-
pliance with the economical reforms of the Govern-
ment. It is needless to say, that though the Legis-
lature had a perfect right to consult the public inte-
rest by the immediate reduction of these places, yet
that, in doing so, the present occupants of the infe-
rior stations of public service, who would naturally
have succeeded to the higher emoluments, are thus
placed in a worse situation than their predecessors
Their condition would be still further deteriorateC
were they now called upon to supply the means o
discharging their own superannuation allowances b,

. ..
a tax upon their salaries, to form a superannua-
tion fund, not only for themselves, but for those
to whose places they can never aspire. We

are in most respects advocates for the system of
America with respect to public servants. We should
give them a fair remuneration for their services ; and
if we provided a superannuation fund, we should de-
.

duct it from their salaries. That was the principle
of the law of 1829, and every officer appointed since
that time contributes a per tentage on his official in-

come to form a fund for his retiring pension. In this

respect parliament would appear to have done

enough ; and to interfere now With such an arrange-
ment, in order to relieve the public of an eventual
charge at the expense of a retrospective law, would
seem to be purchasing a little economy at too dear
a rate. The limited number of persons whom the
act of 1829 left undisturbed in their title to retiring
allowances will gradually drop off, and it will be suf-
ficient that all who have since entered or may enter
in future into government employment, should know
that they provide for their own superannuation pen-
sions at their own charge.—Tinzes.
The petition from Cambridge has been the sub-
ject of discussion during two forenoon sittings of
the House of Commons. An attempt has been
made to lower the value of this petition, by com-

paring the number of signatures to it with the whole
number of members of the university. Mr. Pryme

pointed out the unfairness of this comparison. The
petition was from resident members only, it being
deemed difficult to obtain the signatures of non-
resident members, who were scattered over the
kingdom. Professor Babbage was the solitary ex-
ception with respect to residence, and he even might
be considered a resident member, inasmuch as he

attended throughout the mathematical examination.
It is mere cavilling to consider the petition as only
that of the individuals subscribing it, classing the

members who do not subscribe it, resident and non-

resident, as hostile to its object. We are quite
certain that the petitioners, putting justice out of
the question, have taken more correct views of the
interests of the universities than those who would
exclude the dissenters from degrees. To give to''
an university a sectarian cast, which would draw
down on it the hostility of a majority of the
nation, is wretched policy indeed. We have no

doubt that some ten years hence the prevailing
feeling of both Oxford and Cambridge will be,
that the greatest enemies of these universities at
this crisis, were the Duke of Wellington and Mr.
Goulburn. To admit the Dissenters to the benefits

of education, is to convert one-half of the popula-
tion, at least, from active enemies to warm friends.

more
ciple
Glas!

land,

The period of education at an university is the pe-
riod of ardour and buoyancy of spirit, and few men
in after life look back with indi&tehee 'oh their
alma mater,. To admit Dissenter's to degrees, in-
stead of driVirkg theiO by tests from the universities,
is to attach to the ibrtunes of the universities the
elite of the most active and influential part of the
population. The universities oeishi to hail the de-
sire evinced by the Distenters to be on friendly
terms with them, as an event, of all others, the
most desirable for them. The Dissenters entertain
a grateful sense of the.liberality of the distinguished
men who
.have co+titii forward, unsolicited, to peti-
tion •Ire legislature in their favour. Mr. Wilks,
who is connected with the Dissenters, and may be
supposed to speak their sentiments, stated yester-
day, that the kindness and liberality of the Cam-
bridge petitioners will be most gratefully acknow-
ledged by tilt Dissenting body :
" if (said Mr. W.) their wealth; information, industry, and
political power did not entitle them to the attention of the
house, even still the petition would be just, and the principle
upon which the petition was founded was such as every reflect-
ing statesman must hail with satisfaction, and eVerY liberal
heart must approve. The principle was die of intallectual
liberty and liberty of conscience, and he trusted that the house
would be inclined kd adMit that principle.—(Hear, hear, hear.)
If that ptineiple held good, on the supposition that dissenters
were few in number, how much more so must it be, when it
appeared that they constituted one-third of the population, and
in some places seven, and in Wales nine tenths of the popula-
tion. When it appeared that, in the manufacturing and agri-
cultural districts, the great majority of the population were
dissenters—(An hon. member asked, " Could he prove that ?")
He would not how enter Into the details, but he was prepared
to prove that hot Only in the manufacturing and mining, but
even in the floricultural districts, the great bulk of the land
was occupied, not by those connected with the established
church, but by the dissenters.—(Hear, hear, hear.) If there
was no positive advantage connected with the introduction of
the dissenters to their rights, still they should not submit to be
continued in a state of political and civil degradation.—(Hear,
hear, hear.)"
A sort of excuse has been made for the Duke of
Wellington, in classifying atheists with dissenters ;
as, though dissenters are not all atheists, all atheists
are dissenters. We are not aware of any class of
men who admit themselves .to be atheists ; and if
there are atheists, they must hang out false colours.
Now, we cannot for the life of us, see why atheists
should wish to pass for dissenters, when, by " join-
ing for the whole hog," as the Americans term it—
by joining the whole establishment—they can turn
their opinions to worldly account. We will answer
for it, that, for one atheist among the dissenters,
there are hundreds in the Church of England. A
dissenting atheist would be insincerity without a
motive. An atheistical churchman can, however, be
conceived without much difficulty. The atheist sub-
scribes all articles, 39 or 49, without hesitation. This
even the Spanish inquisition at length found ; for it
is observed, that the inquisition could find no ene-
mies, being surrounded by orthodoxy, at the very
time when infidelity was universal. The Church of
England has some experience that set professions
are not always to be relied on, its own members
having changed from Popery to Protestantism,
and from Protestantism back to Popery, and
from Popery again to Protestantism, in the short
course of about a dozen years. The Duke of Wel-
lington—good simple man—may be assured that the
greatest number of atheists will always be found in
the church which has the richest. livings ; for
atheists say, as we have nothing for it but this
world, we should be fools indeed to let all theSe good
things go past us if we can have them for a few ar-
ticles. The dissenters are decidedly the best part
of the English people. The spending class, as Cap-
tain Basil Hall terms the aristocracy, are, of course,
for the most part, of whatever religion happens to
be fashionable. The people of that class are seldom
much troubled with rigidity of principle. They are,
in general, -more anxious to pass their time agree-
ably, than to concern themselves with serious seT

examinations. The aristocracy are agreeable to all
those who minister to their pleasure or amusement,
but they are capricious, and by no means to be relied
on. The establishment of England numbers among
its followers the aristocracy and all those who ape
the aristocracy, and the mobocracy. The very
lowest of the people are too low and sensual to pay
for their religion. The dissenters form the great
body between the higher ranks and those who ape
them and the mob. They give one proof at leapt
of their being in earnest—they not only gain
nothing by their creeds, but they pay for the
support of their own clergy and their own
churches. Such a body are the very marrow of a
country. Hence, great as their numbers are,

their power and influence are still greater. In this
way are we to account for their contributing so
much more to all pious and philanthropic objects than
the Episcopalians—to their liberality in support of
education, &c. The speech of Mr. Stanley, whose
zeal for the established church is undoubted, pro-
duced a great sensation in the house. " As a mem-
ber of the Government, anxious to uphold the inte-
rests of the established church, he expressed, he
said, his full, entire, unequivocal, and hearty con-
currence in the prayer of the petition." In express-
ing himself in this way, Mr. Stanley proved himself

a true friend of the, established church, as well as
a true politician. It is not always that we can be-
stow this unqualified praise on the opinions of the
Colonial Secretary ; but we are happy to perceive
him in the right course, and his opinions will go far
to satisfy the most scrupulous Episcopalians, that

the wisest course is to hold out the right hand o.
fellowship to our dissenting brethren. To attempt

to act towards the dissenters on any other than libe-

ral principles, is only hastening the downfall of the

church. Truly these are not times to provoke un-
necessary hostility to the church. Nothing in this

country is more striking than the rapid growth of
dissent. In Scotland, where the church is much

popular than in England, the voluntary pin-
seems also to make great progress. Thus, in
lgow, according to the accurate tables of Dr. Cle-

there were, in 1780, seats in the establishment

for 14,780, and in the dissenting places of worship
8,101 ; but in 1831, the seats in the establishment

were 30,928, and in the dissenting places 42,497.
kappears that the petition from Glasgow, for dis-

solving the connexion between Church and State,

was signed, a few days ago, by 49,000 persons
These are not times for subjecting dissenters to tem-

poral disadvantages on account of their religious ()pi-

nions.—illornini Chronicle.
A very important bill was brought in last night
by the Lord Chancellor. The whole metropolis,
including Southwark, Lambeth, and parts of Kent
and Essex, having a population, by the last enume-
ration, of nearly seventeen hundred thousand per-
sons, is to be placed under one criminal jurisdiction,
the Old Bailey, of which the sessions are to be in-

creased from eight to twelve in the year. The with-
drawal of the populous parts of the home circuit to
the Old Bailey will, according to his lordship, make
the winter assizes of that circuit unnecessary. One

great reason for the introduction of this measure was

the anomalous state of the jurisdiction of the Middle-
sex magistracy and the commissioners of oyer and
terminer of the Old Bailey. The bill transfers from

the quarter sessions of the Middlesex magistrates to
the Old Bailey all offences beyond a certain extent
of criminality, the jurisdiction of the magistracy
being confined to misdemeanors, and to other
offences not punishable by more than seven
years' transportation. Persons arraigned before
the quarter sessions of Middlesex are to be en-
abled to remove their causes by certiorari to the
Court at the Old Bailey. His lordship went into
a number of details to show that what he proposed

would be quite practicable. The anomaly of the
Grand Jury finding bills at Clerkenwell for both the
Magistrates of the County and the Old Bailey is to
be done away with. The Old Bailey jurisdiction is
to be complete within itself. One reason urged
by his lordship is entitled to serious attention.
The great increase of criminal business of late has
placed magistrates in situations for which they are
not fitted. The Lord Chancellor observed, that,

without uttering one word in disparagement of the
worthy individuals who composed the magisterial
bench, " he was, nevertheless, not one of those who
were satisfied, in all particulars, to see so vast a
mass of the criminal business of the country trans-
acted by magistrates, appointed as 'magistrates wen,

known to be: the more especially when they were not as-
sisted ih the dischatgryd of th6ir duties by a professional

man."

" It was of the utmost inaportanCe," he afterwards added,
" that the administration of criminal justice should be uni-
form; it was with a view to such an object, that it had fre..
quently been said that there should be a centre ftom which,
and a point to which, all that was connected with the admini.
stration of justice should issue and be referred. Without re-
ferring to any circumstance of an ibliividual nature, or without
alluding to any Unpleasant Collisioß which alight have taken
place, he liould state at once, that after much consideration he
had come to the resolution that the best mode of dealing with
the criminal jurisdiction to which he had adverted, was to con-
centrate it under the judges at the Old Bailey; convinced as
he was that that was the best course which could be adopted
with reference to the interests either of the prisoners or the
prosecutors, or of the juriei;, Or of the witnesses; or of the great
cause of all—the cause of justice itself. It was upon that view
of the case, and with these principles, that he had eonceivedthe
idea of extending the jurisdiction of the Old Bailey."
The bill will be a great relief to Kent, Essex, and
Surrey, but to the county of Kent more particu-
larly, relieving it from the heavy charges caused by
the long imprisonments before trial, from the popu-
lous parishes adjoining the metropolis. The ar-
rangement will, of course, prove very acceptable to
the bar of the Old Bailey.—Morning Chronicle.
The short debate or conversation (reported in our
paper of yesterday) which took place on the presenta-
tion, by Colonel Evans-, of the petition in favour of
the distressed Poles in this country, will have 'been
read with more than common interest by every friend
of freedom and every admirer of national gallantry.
It was not forgotten on the occasion, nor could
it be forgotten in any argument for succouring the
Polish exiles in distress, that England had been
originally a party to a treaty which secured their
national rights, and that the violation of that treaty
alone had converted them into claimants for her
bounty. It could not be forgotten that we had,
at Vienna, in 1815, guaranteed the free constitu-
tion of Poland ; and that on the terms of such a
constitution alone, Russia had gained undisputed
possession of her new kingdom. All these facts had
been recalled to our minds, and had produced a pow-

erful effect on our national feelings .in the late strug-
gle on the Vistula. We all hailed with hope and
joy the insurrection at Warsaw, in November, 1830,
against Russian' despotism,—we all applauded the
justice of its cause as well as the prodigies of pa-
triotic courage with which it was accompanied,--we
all gloried in the victories gained by the Polish
arms, as if they had been English exploits,---we de-
liberated for months whether it was not our bounden
duty as well as our interest to take part in the con-
test ; and when at last success deserted the flag of
Poland, and took the sideof overvvhelmingbarbarism,
we still cherished the hope that through our inter-
ference and that of France the nationality of Poland
would be maintained, that the vanquished would be
treated with liberality, and that banishments and
confiscations would not be directed against a whole
people who rose to assert their privileges and their
rights. In this just expectation we, as well as the
rest of Europe, were disappointed. Russian mili-

tary vengeance followed in the track of victory.
Every thing noble and independent in the conquered
kingdom instantly fell a sacrifice to violence and bad
faith, and the countries bordering on Poland
were soon covered with Polish exiles, for
whom, although they had the sympathies of
the people, neighbouring governments could tes-
tify no interest. The French Government,
probably not more committed than our own to the
support of the Polish cause, has with the consent, or
rather at the demand, of the nation, been more

liberal. With a munificence which will probably find
few parallels in history, it has devoted nearly 2,500,000
francs (or 100,0001. sterling) to the maintenance of
the Polish exiles, giving the officers of the exiled
troops nearly the same pay as would have been
given to French officers when not on active service.
At the same time we are aware, that our Govern-
ment could not have taken the same course as that of
our _ neighbours, had the stream of Polish emi-

gration been directed on England instead of France.
As our Government insists that we were not
bound to interfere in the Polish war, though
parties to the treaty of Vienna, and that the
Polish patriots did not commence their revolu-
tion by any encouragement from this country,
or by any relianee upon it .a .;(1, though they, per-
haps, revolted through the instigation of the French
patriots after the revolution of July, it is fairly
alleged that we have formed with them neither any
tacit compact, nor any obligatory understanding to
grant them a national contribution. A Government
is not like an individual. Even in charity it must

act on general rules, or understood principles ; and
what it‘grants to one body of emigrants or refugees,

it could not refuse to another in similar circum•
stances. As we cannot maintain all these refugees,
and as Government cannot exercise a discretion, it

is contended that we must leave each case to indi

sidual beneficence. The aid granted to the Spaniards
with whom we had fought, and who had been exiled
for the cause which we supported, cannot be drawn
into a precedent to authorize a charitable subsidy
to persons for whom the national policy has been
less committed. We regret that our Govern-

ment has not taken occasion to make some striking
demonstration of-its abhorrence of the cruel treat-
ment of the Poles. Such a demonstration might have
counterbalanced much of the injury inflicted by
hostile governments. Prussia and Austria have en-
deavoured to transport them from their shores to the
coasts of the New World. Notes have been sent

by the King of Sardinia, the court of Austria, the
Grand Duke of Baden, the King of Bavaria, and
the German Confederation, remonstrating with the
Swiss Directory, and desiring the expulsion of a
hundred Poles with as much earnestness as if the
peace of Europe had depended on their removal or
extinction. How gratifying would it have been to
the friends of freedom in this country (had no valid
and just impediment opposed the grant) to have been
able to contrast the liberality and munificence of the
King of England with the suspicious and persecuting
spirit of continental depots. But their cause is not
hopeless, though their petition is necessarily rejected.
Their friends, as we see by a public advertisement,
intend to convene a public Meeting, when we trust
their claims will meet with open hearts and open
purses, without any of those drawbacks and hesita-
. .

ions which official responsibility or reserve imposes.
—Times.

MADRID, MARCH J 6.

From the Times.)
The enlistment of volunteers to serve in the
Urban Militia has been going on in the capital for
the last eight days, but as if the Government had
been studying the art of making their measure as
unpopular as possible, it appears that the men wil-
ling to serve are in general not qualified, and those
qualified are still more generally unwilling. The
regulations promulgated for the organization of the
civic force are admitted on all hands to have been
extremely ill-digested, but in place of abandoning
the whole system, and placing the new structure on
a wider and more solid basis, they have been trying
to prop up their crazy edifice, and have only made
it a subject of universal complaint. The modifica-
tions superinduced on the original decree are so
perfectly unintelligible, that even the ayuntamiento,
or municipal council of Madrid, have been unable
to apply them. They were willing, it appears, to
admit the numerous dais of merchants' clerks and
shopkeepers' apprentices, as far down as those who
receive a salary of .5,000 reals, or 501. sterling per
annum. On being applied to, however, by the
secretary of the ayuntainiento, in the name of the
Corregidor, for an explanation rather than an exten-
sion of the views of the Government, the Minister
of the Interior, Don Xavier de Burgos, has re-
turned for answer, that it is the duty of the Corre-
gidor to execute the orders which had previously
been transmitted to him, the meaning of which seems
to be, that the most active class of volunteers are
to be excluded from the ranks of the militia, as not
fit to be intrusted with arms. On the other hand,
the wealthier classes, on whom the government is
desirous of leaning for support,, are disposed to ex-
cuse themselves from the burden of military duty, so
that a population of more than 200,000 will scarcely
be able to furnish a respectable battalion of militia-

rt is Burgos who, during the Zea adminis-
tration, enjoyed a certain degree of popularity, that
is blamed for all this imbroglio ; and it will be well if,
during the present excitement, he does not expose him-
self to any act of popular violence. There has already
this morning been a crowd collected near his hotel
shouting loudly for his head, and had he ventured
to appear in public he would probably have paid the
forfeit of his temerity. The fault would have been
his own in more ways than one, as, to judge from
what passes before our eyes, it seems to be part of
the present system to instil the most brutal senti-
ments into the popular mind. It was but yesterday
that a most horrible and disgusting spectacle was
exhibited to the public gaze under the eyes of the
civil authorities. On the Plazuela de. Santa Cruz,
one of the public squares of the capital, a platform
was raised and a canopy suspended, adorned with
hangings of mortuary black, under which five human
heads were laid out as a spectacle to the multitude,
with silver salvers at either end ; the heads to serve
as the stimulants, the salvers as the recipients of
public charity.

Not finding the exhibition sufficiently attractive,
it was afterwards resolved to place the apparatus on
a car and have it dragged through the streets, to
the unspeakable disgust of the more sensitive part
of the community. The heads had belonged, it
seems, to as many murderers, who had been denied
the advantages of Christian burial, until a sufficient
sum could be collected to satisfy the demands of the
officiatiiTg priests. If _it were the object of the
authorities to bring the priesthood into utter con-
tempt among the more reflecting members of the
community, such an exhibition as this must have
been tolerably successful ; but it must have been at
least equally effectual in brutifying the minds of the
uneducated, and preparing them for the ordeal of a
reign of terror, through which it is thought by many
that this country must pass before it can be brought
within the pale of civilization and enjoy the benefits
of good government.
The Ministers for Foreign Affairs and for the
Department of Grace and Justice, Martinez de la
Rosa and Garelly, have accompanied the Queen to
Aranjuez, and it is said are to remain there until the
return of the Court to Madrid. During the ab-
sence of the Court, the other ministers will proceed
every Saturday to Aranjuez, for the. purpose of as-
sisting at a Cabinet Council. The royal residence
will thus become the seat of government, the scene
of diplomatic negotiation, and, in some sense, the
temporary capital of the mqnarchy.
The Duke de Gor has been gazetted as the chief
magistrate, or sub-delegado del Fomento, of the
metropolitan province of Madrid, under the new
territorial division of the kingdom. The popularity
which the Duke has obtained by his administration
of the province of Granada since the commence..
ment of the new system is likely to make his ap-
pointment exceedingly acceptable to the inhabitants
of the capital. As a grandee of Spain, he was the
first to lay down the exclusive habits of his order,
and apply himself with diligence and activity to the
arduous duties of his office. Not content with
abandoning his salary in favour of the charitable
institutions of his province, he made a direct appeal,
when the cholera was raging in Granada, through
the public press, by letters bearing his signature, to
the sympathies of the people of Madrid, calling on
them to assist their suffering countrymen in the
hour of their distress. His friend the Conde de
Teba is the treasurer of the fund, the lists of which
are graced with the names of several of the English
residents, and among the rest with that of Mr.
Villiers, who, strange to say, is the only foreign mi-
nister who has opened his purse on the occasion.
Don Juan Jose Fonseca has been appointed as the
successor of the Duke de Gor in Granada.

In the kingdom of Murcia there has again been
some commotion, particularly in the town of Lorca
and its neighbourhood, but the energy and activity
of the local authorities have been sufficient to put
down the rising insurrection before it had time to
make much head. In the north the most distress-
ing feature which the civil war has yet assumed, is
the practice adopted by the Carlists of setting fire
to the houses of such individuals as are not suffi-
ciently prompt in supplying all their wants, and espe-
cially in providing them with forage and provisions.
It is to be hoped that Quesada, the new comman-
der-in-chief of the army of operations, will succeed
in deterring the insurgent chiefs from indulging for
the future in these inhuman practices.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

WESTERN CIRCUIT.—Exima, MARCH 25.

William Bray was indicted for the wilful murder
of John Westlake, at Crediton, on the 31st of De-
cember last.

Martha Westlake, widow of the deceased, kept a
lodging-house at Crediton, in which the prisoner,
who is a tinker, and his wife, lodged. On the 31st
of December last he came in, and wanted to take
his wife away with him. She at first refused to go,
but at last she went, and returned in a short time,
saying that he was going to murder her. She ran
up stairs, and the prisoner followed her with two
large stones in his hand. I stopt him, and he dropt
the stones. He then went up stairs, and I heard
his wife cry " Murder" three times. I told her to
come down that she might not be murdered. She
came down. He followed her ; and when he came
down he knocked me down, thinking, I believe, that

it was her. My poor husband said to him, " Don't
kill my wife." "If I don't kill her I'll kill you,"
said the prisoner. He then struck my poor hus-
band on the side of the head, and knocked him
down, and kicked him twice on each side in the
bowels while he was on the ground. My husband
then got up, and told me to go for the constable,
saying, " I have got my last !" I ran out to call the
constable, and when I returned my poor old hus-
band was dead.

Cross-examin ed—l have known the prisoner
since he was a boy. - I never quarrelled with him
before. He was drunk then.
Sarah Williams came to lodge at the house of the
last witness on the 30th December last. Between
nine and ten o'clock in the morning I saw the pri-
soner come in with his box on his hack, and two
large stones in his hands. I knew some of the par-
ties before. The prisoner was very tipsy. He was
out all night. The deceased was an old man, but
he appeared to be in good health.
The jury found him Guilty of manslaughter, and
he was sentenced to be transported for life.
Jane Skinner, aged sixteen, was indicted for un-
lawfully and maliciously setting fire to the house of
Daniel Norrish, her master.

Daniel Norrish—l am a farmer at Sanford. The
prisoner lived with me six years as a parish appren-
tice. On Friday last, at two o'clock, she told me
that she smelt fire. I searched the premises round
with some of my servants, and we could neither
smell nor see any sign of fire. About five o'clock
she ran out and cried out " Fire !" I ran backwards
and found the linney over the pig-house on fire,
which extended all round, and my dwelling-house,
and all my but-houses, were consumed. Suspectine,
her, I taxed her with it on Saturday, and she
denied it.
His LORDSHIP asked the prisoner if she wished
to ask the witness any question ?
" Yes, my Lord," said she, crying, " I wish to ask
him to forgive me."
Giles Wellsford, a constable, took the prisoner
into custody on Saturday last. On the way towards
Crediton I questioned her about the fire. She
burst out into tears, and said that she had done it.
Mr. HODGES, as anticus curia, suggested to the
Court that a pig-sty, or a linney, was not within the
meaning of the statute, which rendered arson a ca-
pital offence. It should be left as a question to the
Jury whether the prisoner, in setting fire to the
linney, intended to burn the house, for if she did
not so intend, it was not a capital offence.
Mr. Baron WILLIAMS thanked the Learned
Counsel for the suggestion, and left the question in
the above terms to the Jury, who found.the prisoner
guilty "of setting fire to the linney, but not intending
to burn the house.

Mr. Baron WILLIAMS reserved for the consi-
leration of the fifteen Judges the point whether a

linney or a pig-sty of the description given by the
prosecutor was within the meaning of the statute.

HOME CIRCUIT—KINGSTON, MARCH 26.
(Before Mr. Justice GASELEC.)

Henry Hughes, aged 23, labourer, was indicted
for violating the person of Emma Cock, a little child
of eight years of age.
Mr. ALOLPHUS prosecuted ; Mr. CLARKSON de-
fended.

The prosecutrix, a pretty, intelligent child, gave
her evidence in a very clear manner ; but, of course,
the details are of such a nature as to preclude their
appearing in a report. On the 3d of this month,
at two o'clock in the afternoon, she, in company of
her little sister and an infant, went out to gather
flowers. The prisoner, who was at work in the
neighbourhood, met her, and carried her to Penge-
wood, under pretence of gathering some. While
in an obscure part of the wood he committed the
offence.

The little girl was confirmed in her story by a boy,
who heard her cries, and saw the prisoner with her,
On the part of the prisoner an alibi was attempted
to be proved. _

The Learned JUDGE having summed up the ev
dente,

The Jury begged to retire, and, after being absent
about half an hour, returned with a verdict of Guilty.
Sentence of death was then passed in the usual way.
The prisoner, on hearing the verdict, changed co-
lour, and was. removed from the dock fainting.
This trial occupied the attention of the Court
nearly the whole day.
No case of interest occurred in the Nisi Prius
Court.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT—Yorm, MARCH 24

The learned Judges arrived in this town on Satur-
day, and opened the commission of Assize. Yes-
terday about noon the Judges proceeded to the
Castle, where Mr. Justice TAUNTON presided on the
civil side, and Mr. Justice ALDERSON in the CroWn-
court. There are 72 prisoners for trial, three of
whom are charged with the crime of murder, and
several others with capital offences. , There are
also several prisoners on bail whose names do not
appear in the calendar.

(Before Mr. Justice ALDERSON.)

George Hazukkead, George Bulnzer, and Be!ija-
min Bulnzer were indicted for having, on the night
of the 9th of November last, at the parish of Roth-
well, in the West Riding, unlawfully entered the
grounds of John Blayde, Esq., armed with guns and
bludgeons for the purpose of destroying and taking
game.

They were all found Guilty.
The JUDGE would not pass sentence on the pri
soners until he knew more of the calendar.

NORFOLK CIRCUIT.—NORWICH, MARCH 25,
(Before Mr. Baron VAUGHAN.)

Elizabeth Turner, aged 22, was charged with
having stolen a large sum of money, chiefly in so-
vereigns, the property of JameS Woodrow, of North
Halsham.

The prosecutor deposed to the prisoner having
taken the money out of a box in which he kept it,
in his lodgings. On cross-examination he admitted
that the prisoner lived with him as his wife, though
he was not married to her, but had only promis d
her marriage. When pressed upon this point he
admitted that he had seduced her.

Mr. Baron VAUGHAN interposed, and said this
should be matter of representation to the Secretary
of State, and he should take care to make a note of
it. He desired that the prosecutor should not be
permitted to leave the court.

A female prisoner swore that the prosecutor
allowed the prisoner to take money when she liked,
saying, he would rather she should have it than take
money of any body else. She olsa swore to seeing
him behave to her with personal violence, to make
her submit to his caprices.
The
,prisoner had made a confession under the
inducement of a promise held out to her by the
prosecutor, which, when offered in evidence for the
prosecution, the learned judge refused to receive.
The fact, however, of the money having been found
in consequence of what she admitted, was allowed
to be proved.

The jury found her Guilty of the simple larceny.
In passing judgment, Mr. Baron VAUGHAN se-
verely commented upon the conduct of the prose-
cutor, and wished the law had any provision whereby
he could be made to exchange situations with the
prisoner in the dock. It was true her, offence was
a serious one, but his was still more serious. If he
had a spark of feeling he would never cease to feel
shame and sorrow for the situation in which he had
placed himself, and to which he had reduced the
unfortunate victim, whose innocence he had de-
spoiled before he delivered her up to the arm of jus-
tice. The sentence upon the prisoner was impri-
sonment for a year to hard labour ; but the learned
judge humanely intimated that he should recom-
mend her being sent to the Female Penitentiary.