The Sun.
London, England, 1834-07-15 00:00:00

ALLEGED MURDER.

On Wednesday afternoon a great sensation was produced
in Chatham and neighbourhood in consequence of a soldier
shooting his sergeant, when on duty. The name of the de-
ceased was Patrick Feeney ; he belonged to the 50th Regi-
ment of Foot, and the soldier, Benjamin Gardner, was a
private in the same regiment.
Sergeant Hewer stated, that on Wednesday afternoon,
between four and five o'clock, as the grenadier company was
at evening parade, the prisoner, Benjamin Gardner, was ob-
served by Sergeant Feeney, the deceased, who was exercis-
ing the company, not to be so steady in the ranks as usual,
upon which he ordered him to advance two paces in front,
with a view to ascertain if he was sober. He gave -the
words " right about face," which the prisoner obeyed, but
staggered in doing so. Not satisfied with this manner, and
wishing to give him an opportunity to correct himself, he
gave the words " left about face ;" the prisoner again stag-
gered, and it was obvious he was in liquor. The sergeant
then called a corporal and told him to take the prisoner to
the guardroom, upon which he instantly brought his Musket
to a priming position and fired. The sergeant fell, and,
upon being raised, was found to have received a musket-
ball in the right side, which had taken an oblique direction
and passed out under the ribs. The sergeant survived only
about two hours.

By the Coroner—lt was evident he intended this mis-
chief for some one, as it was contrary to orders for muskets
to be loaded whilst on parade duty ; and the prisoner ad-
mitted, when on his way to the guardhouse, that he had,
a fortnight ago, loaded his gun to shoot witness, but he had
latterly got better ; but he did not regret what he had then
done, as he had rid the world of a tyrant and a scoundrel.
The fact, however turned out in the course of examination
to be that the deceased was a remarkably mild and hu-
mane man.

A verdict of " Wilful Murder" was returned ; and the
prisoner was committed to Maidstone Gaol to await his
trial. He had been formerly in the Royal Marines, but his
character was so bad that he was drummed out of the corps.

GIBRALTAR, JUNE 19.-4 regret to have to com-
municate the appearance of a few cases of cholera here, which
has occasioned the suspension of clean bills of health. The
complexion of the distemper, up to this moment, is so mild,
however, that some of the doctors contend that it is not cho-
s
cho-
lera. June 26.-1 send you this by the Malabar, and lament
that I cannot contradict the report I sent you on the 19th
re-
specting the cholera ; but I am, nevertheless, happy
that it continues to be of a very mild description
to this;and tame,
I hmopee,
soe
otondly
ta?seceascelesan havbeillsnootf re-istued.ehxecaeltehdedtivoor three : it ha to
beensnY
mortal in fifteen instances, but the individuals were mostly
aged, or reduced to a weak state by intemperance.

From other Parliamentary documents it appears, that from
1783 to 1793, 343 Enclosure Acts were passed, or 31 2-11
annually. This was in a time of profound peace. From
1793 to 1815, both years inclusive, a time of war, 2,073 were
passed, or 90 3-25. From 1792 to 1820, the close of the
reign of George 111., 2,287, or, upon an average of 28 years,
81 19-28 annually. Now, taking the money expended on
the relief of the poor in 1793 to be the same with the average
Of the three years, 1783, 1784, and 1785, which, in the ab
sence of other returns, is the nearest approximation to which
we can arrive, we find its amount at that time to have been
1,912,2411. The Parliamentary returns also afford us the
means of knowing the amount of money expended on the
poor alone in 1803, when I,l2s'additional Enclosure Acts had
been passed. It was 4,077,8911., so that in 20 years it had
been doubled. At the close of the war, after 2,416 additional
Enclosure Acts, it was 6,129,8441., or more than treble of
what it was in 1783. At the close of the reign of George 111.,
in which 3,411 Enclosure Acts were pissed, the money ex-
pended on the poor was 7,329,5941. There is no return of the
poor-rates for 1760 ; but in 1750 they only amounted to
689,9711. Besides the evidence furnished by the Parliamen-
tary returns as to the concurrent increase of the number of
Enclosure Acts, and the amount of the poor-rates for England
and Wales in general, we have, in Sir F. Eden's History of
the Poor Laws, a mass of evidence, showing how the Enclo-
sure Acts operated on the labourers of different parishes in
distant parts of the kingdom.
Nor are these results at all to be wondered at. The
labourers in agriculture were undoubtedly the sufferers by
these alterations, which took from them part of the resources
on which they depended for support, and transferred them to
their employers. Their privations were, in consequence, in-
creased; and thus, as the average price of corn rose from
48s. a quarter in 1776, to 128 s. a quarter in 1813, it was no
wonder that they were obliged to apply to their respective
parishes for relief to a greater extent than they previously
had done.

HOUSE OF COMMONS LIBRARY.

Report of the Standing Com]
of February last to assist N
Library, to whom were ref(
The Right H,
Sir Robert Harry Inglis.
Mr. Spring Rice.
Sir Robert Peel.
Mr. Littleton.
Sir Henry Hardinge.
Dr. Lushmgton.
Mr. Goulburn.
Mr. Frederick Shaw.
Your Committee feel great satisfaction in commencing their
report by stating to the House the arrival of a large and valu-
able accession of books to their collection, as a present from
the French Government. The House will recollect that, in
furtherance of a recommendation of the select committee of
1832, the journals and a set of papers printed by order of this
House were transmitted to France, as the commencement of
an interchange which it was considered desirable to establish
and to maintain with the Government of that country, with
respect to the papers and journals ordered to be printed by the
administrative and legislative bodies of the two kingdoms.
The volumes, the receipt of which is now announced to the
House, form the first return which has been made to England.
Your Committee congratulate the House on the advantages
derived by the enlargement of the space allotted to the library
subsequently to the report of 1832 ; by which report, indeed,
a still more considerable enlargement has been recommended.
The library is now so much more frequented than at any
former period, that the original room would probably have been
crowded to a degree which would have rendered it compara-
tively useless.
The catalogue has been re-arranged—a measure rendered
necessary by the great iperease of books purchased in conse-
quence of the recommendation of the Select Committee of
1832, and is now ready for publication.
A general index to the bills, reports, and accounts and papers
which have severally been ordered to be printed by the House
of Commons from 1801 to 1832 has been printed, pursuant to
the recommendation of the same Committee. The general
utility of such index, indeed its absolute necessity, has been
felt by almost every member who takes part in the business of
the House. Your Committee recommend that Messrs.
Hansard be directed to pursue the same plan for the formation
of a general index to the sessional papers printed by order of
the House, as that followed by the librarian in regard to the
general index to the journals ; so that, at any period, when the
papers ordered to be printed by the House shall have assumed
such a bulk as to be difficult of reference by annual indexes, a
similar publication may be ready for printing ; and thus, when
such convenience may be deemed expedient, the delay other-
wise incident to the completion of a general index may be
found to have been avoided.
Considerable progress has been made in the index to the
local and personal acts, the completion of which index was
also recommended by the committee of 1832. It is probable
that by the close of next session it may be in such a forward
state as to be ready for the press.
The value of the arranged series of reports from 1801 to
1826 has been so generally appreciated, that your committee
have directed that this series should be completed to the end
of the present session. As in these reports (to quote the
words of the committee of 1832) " there is much valuable
information rendered unavailable, from the absence of any
means of reference to the appendixes" thereto, " your com-
mittee recommend that an index to such materials from 1800
to the close of the present session be compiled, similar to that
subjoined by Messrs. Hansard to the collection of reports
dated prior to 1800, and printed in 15 vols. folio." This in-
dex, extended to the present session, might be accompanied by
such notices of the reports themselves as would form a general
means of reference to the whole series, comprehending not less
than 200 vols.
Your committee are induced to state, that by a recent ar-
rangement all papers presented in pursuance of orders or of
addresses of the House, are deposited in the library during
the current session, in order to facilitate access to such as are
not at once ordered to be printed. This regulation is
_parti-
cularly offered to the attention of the House, as the ready in-
Spection afforded by this arrangement may frequently either
prevent the printing papers which do not contain the infor-
mation sought—or may present the opportunity of abstracting
from bulky Returns, all which may be necessary for the use
of the House. This plan, it is hoped, has already had some
effect in diminishing the quantity of printing.
Your Committee have come to the following resolutions in
respect to the future management of the library, and of the
rooms appropriated to it :-
Ist. That no other Committee, except the Committee of
Privileges, be, under any circumstances, permitted to sit in
the library.
2d. That no strangers be, under any circumstances, per-
mitted to be in the library from the time when Mr. Speaker
takes the chair to the rising of the House; Peers not being
included in this restriction, nor strangers under special per-
mission in writing from Mr. Speaker.
3d. That memoranda of works which Members may think
desirable for the House to possess be entered in a book to be
kept for that purpose by the librarian ; and that no book be
received into the library, except such as may be presented by
or through his Majesty's Government, or through the Library
Committee.
The reasons against the present almost indiscriminate ad-
mission of strangers are obvious : the library, instead of being
restricted to its legitimate purposes, has sometimes been used
for the assembling of deputations ; and with respect even to
individual strangers, it is difficult to enforce the existing rule
(which directs that parties introduced by one Member into the
library shall leave the rooms with him), since they have often
addressed themselves to other Members, with whom they were
unacquainted, for the purpose of requesting permission to con-
tinue in the rooms under their sanction ; and there is reason to
believe that the conversations incident to the admission or the
presence of strangers is itself an inconvenience to the majo-
rity of Members, since, without reference to any other consi-
deration, the rooms, notwithstanding the enlarged accommo-
dation lately given, are sometimes scarcely'sufficient for Mem-
bers themselves. Your Committee have directed that a copy
of these rules be left with the messenger of the library, and
that he be directed to enforce the same.
The Select Committee of 1825, which recommended the
building of the existing library, determined also, in the plan
on which they decided, that the librarian should have some
accommodation in part of the proposed building. This
.nar-
rangement was not adopted be
, a different plan altogether -being
preferred on other grounds eni.irelY texpe-
diency or inexpediency of grai:ting this accommodation
the librarian. irrespective yof the
In consequence of the necessary atf, 'lance of the librarian

nittee appointed on the 26th day
Er. Speaker in the direction of, the
;rred all matters relating thereto.
m. The Speaker.
The Lord Advocate.
Mr., Williams Wynn.
Mr. Warburton.
Lord Viscount Clive.
Mr. Stewart Mackenzie.
Mr. William Ewart Gladstone.
Mr. Tooke.
Colonel Fox.

The year 1830 forms an epoch in the history of Switz-
erland, as it was the commencement of its political reform.
The Constitutions of several of the Cantons are already
changed, and thus the way is prepared for the revision of
the general Constitution of the whole of Switzerland by
legal means. Such a revision was imperiously called for
by the spirit of the age, and it will be accompanied by a
reform in the Church, equally necessary under present
C;vurnstances. When we consider that the Governments
of the majority of the Cantons are deeply impressed with
the idea, that a moral and enlightened people are alone
worthy of liberty, and can alone be confided in as its
defenders, we infer that the result will not disappoint the,
friends of liberal principles. That we are not attributing
too much to the Swiss Reformers, is evident from.-
several facts. Zurich began first to lay the foundation of
a solid system of public instruction, by giving a reception
to some of the most celebrated Professors of Germany,
who, disgusted with the unhappy state of things in their
country, in which all intellectual improvement is severely
proscribed, sought an asylum in Switzerland. Berne, far
from being behind the other cantons, has very recently
founded an University under equally favourable auspices.
The government of that important Canton, composed of
the most honourable men, entirely devoted to the cause of
liberty and national independence, are at present devoting
themselves with the utmost zeal to the preparation of a
law for the improvement of public instruction, and more
especially the organization of good primary or village schools
(ort-sehulen), the basis of every system of education.
The example which the two leading cantons of Zurich
and Berne have thus set will soon, we doubt not, be ex-
tensively followed; and already there is everywhere the
greatest activity in pursuing all sorts of liberal inquiries,
with a view to improvement in civil and criminal legislation,
and the other objects to which public opinion has been
directed. The army of the confederation has been put on
a respectable footing, and, in short, we everywhere see pro-
gress made in whatever tends to internal improvement, and
defence against external aggression.
The state of things which we have described is well de-
serving of the attention of all Europe. Yet cheering as
the prospect is, it is not to be supposed that the objects of
the Swiss patriots have not been misrepresented. Swit-
zerland is an aggregate of cantons differing materially
from each other. Party spirit in the interior, has always
but too zealously seconded the journalists of the countries
of the Holy Alliance, in exhibiting in a false light the ends
and measures of those-men who are actuated by a sincere
desire to produce the good of their country. The cele-
brated Dr. Siebenpfeiffer, who has lately found an asylum
in Switzerland from the persecution of the Holly Alliance,
and is one of the chief ornaments of the newly-feunded uni-
versity of Berne, has, we see, announced the publication of
a periodical review, calculated to give a correct view of the
present endeavours in Switzerland, and to furnish means for
justly appreciating the proceedings in that country. In his
prospectus, which we have now before us, he states that his
Review will be an organ for enabling the several governments
and cantons, the people and their governments, and Switzer-
land and Europe, to communicatewith and understand each
other. With this view he promises to insert all the new
constitutions aud,laws, either at length, or in an...akidged
form, with such criticisms on them, and hints for improve-
ments, as may occur to him. He promises to lay before
his readers a full account of all that relates to religion,
schools, the arts and sciences, and, in short, to give as com-
plete a picture as he can of the proceedings in Switzerland,
and the occupations and manners of the people. The pub-
lication will appear once a month, and much is expected
from it.—Morning Paper.