The Sun.
London, England, 1834-06-10 00:00:00

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TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—The following statement was sent some days
since to the Lord Chancellor to prove to him how
disadvantageous it is to the landed proprietors that
they should have no control over the poor rates to
which their lands are assessed. One or two of the
largest proprietors in this neighbourhood have endea-
voured to find constant employment for the poor by
offering to the vestry marsh land and shingle, for the
purpose of cultivating potatoes, which would better
the condition of the paupers and lower the rates.
rhe farmers have an interest in keeping the paupers
rom work, because they should hire the pauper
abourer cheap during harvest time :
" A magistrate of East Bourne, to relieve the burden of
he poor rates, employed four paupers at spade husbandry,
or growing potatoes, till requested by the great tenants
ta3 ship off the produce that, as they said, the sale of these
potatoes might not lower the price of their own. Dr.
'hately, now Archbishop of Dublin, seeing paupers drag
useless carts on the road, which they called convict work,
proposed their removing marsh soil to the shingle, which
would have drained the marsh refused by the steward and
tenants. A proprietor purchased marsh land, and offered it at
* peppercorn rent, with a remunerating lease of the shingle
to the vestry, which if done, by measure, might, as at Cook-
ham, have reduced the rates three quarter parts, by indu-
Cing fishermen to return to their former crafts, but refused
by the vestry of tenants.
" A proprietor (March 20, 1832) offered to the
vestry, in writing, five sh Rings a rod for all fifty-four
paupers could do in four days and a half.—Refused by the
vestry, composed of tenants, though the pay was double
the value, as an acre has been done at two shillings a rod,
and a pauper offered, in writing, if he might do this work
for twelve months, instead of standing still, at two shil-
lings a day, and then could rent the land he made at twenty
shilling an acre of the vestry, he would thenceforward cease
to be chargeable to the parish with his wife and children.—
Refused by the vestry of tenants, who said, ' If we let that
man maintain himself others will wish it, and then where
shall we pet workmen? The Poor Law Report, the same
year, printed the names of 174 men belonging to this
parish, not infirm, who received 1,978/. 12s. from the ves-
try of tenants.
" The five valuers of the parish this Autumn agreed
there would not be one hand out of employ if the land was
profitably tilled, therefore all the parishioners voted for
the able bodied paupers being paid and employed by the
rate payers, after each farmer had engaged three men per
100/. parish rental, except four of the principal tenants,
who, after refusing their county member, a magistrate, and
son of the proprietor of more than half the parish, consented
on a proprietor engaging to maintain their share of men, and
being told a statement would be transmitted to Govern-
ment tracing to its source the cause of the diminished pro-
duce of England, and the distress of all classes ; and pau-
pers without exception rejoiced when they were allowed to
work for the same sum as for standing still, and the vicar's
letter to the vestry on Dec. 19, also stated their growing
disaffection at being sent back in three weeks to the roads
by tenants, consequently it is not unwillingness of the
poor to work that occasions the high poor rates, but pro-
prietors having been excluded from the vestries by tenants
who dispose of the rates in the payment of workmen who
they formerly kept all the year round on their farms, for
want of whose work labourers prove between seed time
and harvest, in cleaning and draining the land, and stall
feeding cattle, to produce manure. The land of Eng-
land yields, as the Agricultural Report to Parliament
says, less and less ; and at East Bourne, from whence
corn was exported by sea, foreign barley and wheat landed
and ground at Newhaven are sent up the river to Lewes,
and thence by land carriage 15 miles, with ss. tolls per
load to East Bourne, whilst tenants who lose the profit on
growing their grain are behind hand with their rent,
and four principal tradesmen, among whom the farmers'
profits would have circulated, are recently sunk from rate
payers into rate receivers, and the manufacturers who sup-
plied their shops are also losers.
" Can any one point out a single advantage from
tenants being empowered, under the denomination of
' Occupiers,' to levy and dispose of rates which they say it
is evident we do not furnish, as we cannot hire land that
does not leave us a livelihood after all rates have been al-
lowed for before we could agree.
" Tenants, therefore, only pay the rates in the same
sense for the rent as servants pay their masters' bills, and
the profuse disposal of the fund they levy on others is ac-
counted for.

" Why, then, should tenants have more the levying,
paying, or disposing of the rates? It was claimed as the
right of Englishmen to be taxed only by themselves. Why
does law exclude landlords unless also occupiers?
" If the right were transferred to proprietors, landlords need
not attend more than at present, for they might safely
leave the administering relief to the infirm to the smaller
proprietors, who would be interested in encouraging the
able bodied to work, like Mr. G n at East Bourne,
who has given up all relief for his family, on renting one
acre, and having one more acre cost free. Similar proofs
of the effects of tenants voting are ready to be brought
forward ; and if the word occupier was only changed for
one session, it would appear if the burden of the rates did
not lessen, incendiarism cease, paupers become industrious
and contented labourers, and farmers thriving, if they only
paid, as in Scotland, rent, and the wages of labour, with a
sure home market for manufactures.

Is it not worth trying, before a costly machinery of
Commissioners is introduced, without the individual in-
terest the owners of houses of even 51. a year would have
in preventing the waste of rates they themselves contri-
bute to ?

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
East Bourne, June 7, 1834. A Landed Proprietor.

MEMOIRS OF MARSHAL SUCHET, DUKE
D'ALBUFERA. WRITTEN Dl' HIMSELF.—Asa pendant to
the narrative of our English military historian, Colonel
Napier, these memoirs are invaluable. Marshal Su-
chet's career in Spain, his position as commander-in-
chief of the army of Arragon, and his active concern
in the direction of local administrative measures,
opened to him the most extensive view of Spanish
affairs, and must constitute him one of the most im-
portant chroniclers of the stirring and memorable in-
cidents which marked the struggle in Spain.

- : -
FATAL ACCIDENT. ;4\
. -
OVERTURNING OF THE "CRITERION" BR 11414150.,
TON COACH.
INQUEST ON SIR W. COSWAY, BART. 3411"•ila
Yesterday afternoon a jury assembled at the resi-
dence of Mr. Lines, the surgeon, Bridge House-
place, St. George's, for the purpose of holding an
inquest on the body of Sir Wm. Cosway, Bart., who
was killed on Saturday last, in consequence of the
overturning of the Criterion Brighton coach.
The jury haA ing been sworn, proceeded into the
surgery to view the body, which was laid out there.
The deceased appeared to be a very fine, stout, portly
man.
William Jones, a paper stainer, of Spencer-place,
on Saturday last, about four o'clook, was passing
Stone's-end, in the Borough, when he observed a
stage-coach coming along at a rapid rate from the
direction of London-bridge, the coachman on the box
with the reins in his hands, and he was endeavouring
by all means in his power to check the speed of his
horses. At that time there was a gentleman sitting
on the box by the coachman, two other gentlemen be-
hind them, and a lady on the dickey. Shortly after-
wards witness observed the pole of the coach was broken,
and that some portion of it was striking against the
hind legs of the off-wheel horse, which made him kick
tremendously. At this moment so:ne persons rail
,
towards the heads of the horses, with the v;:w..t° 11.611
them, but the coachman desired them, for God ; sake,
to keep off ; adding. at the same time, that they won::
stop of themselves before they reached the Elephant
and Castle, if they were left alone. The fie,f§titis
luded to, notwithstanding the entreaty of Oh!? Eoieti-:
man, still endeavoured to seize the reins, and, 04
this, frightened the horses the more, and the veMAI•e"
had not proceeded much farther when the witness sa!V
it overturn, and the passengers and coachman thrown
off. The witness added that, upon seeing the acci-
dent, he immediately ran to the assistance of Mr.
Tadhunter, who was lying on the road with his thigh
broken, while other persons hastened to the a;gleflitice,
of Sir W. Cosway, who was carried into the house'
Mr. Lines, nearly opposite to that part of the roan
where the accident happened.
By a Juror—l think the horses, when I first saw
them, were going at the rate of ten or twelve miles ;
perhaps, however, I might be mistaken as to the exact
speed.
Mr. James Stringer, surgeon, of Kennington, was
passing up the borough, when he saw the Criterion
coach, and the broken part of the pole striking against
the horses, which were exceedingly restive. Saw a
man, dressed like an hostler, lay hold of the off-wheel
horse by the reins, which he held on by until he was
at length compelled to let go to save himself, and im-
mediately afterwards the coach overturned and the
outside passengers were thrown off. 'Witness had
Sir William Cosway conveyed into the house of
Mr. Lines, who being absent at the time, he (witness)
remained with the deceased until he expired,which event
took place in about an hour and a half afterwairdt. The
deceased was insensible from the time he firsf Met
with the accident, and when brought into the hoittO
the blood issued in torrents from his nose and ears,
and they were compelled to place him in nearly an
upright position to preserve him from suffocation.
The witness here described the nature of the injuries
the unfortunate gentleman received, which were chiefly
confined to the head, the skull at the base having been
fractured to such an extent that the brains protruded
from both ears.

In reply to questions by the jury, Mr. Stringer said
that the coachman appeared to him to have done every-
thing in his power to avert the accident. He did ob-
serve the deceased in the act of getting over the roof
of the coach.

Several other witnesses were examined, who corro-
borated the statements above detailed.

The Coroner here briefly addressed the jury, showing
that no evidence had been adduced to prove where, or
how the pole had been broken, which appeared to be
the chief cause of the accident, and the inquest was
adjourned until next Friday, for the purpose of making
inquiry as to who was the driver of the dray which
first caused the startling of the coach-horses, and of in-
suring his attendance.

General Mina, we are glad to learn, has
completely recovered from his late dangerous illness,
and is about to return to his native country, as soon
as he has acquired sufficient strength to endure the
fatigues of travelling. The permission to return
home, which was too long delayed by the presence of
some of his enemies in the Cabinet of Madrid, was
lately notified to him in the most handsome manner by
the Spanish Ambassador at this Court, but, from his
known character and eminent services, we might have
expected, not only a permission to terminate his exile,
but an invitation to resume his honours and emolu-
ments, under the Queen's government.

There is so much gossip afloat at present in
Oxford, that it is a very difficult matter for a stranger
to distinguish between what is true and what is false.
Of this, however, I have no doubt, from every thing I
hear, that the Duke of Cumberland, notwithstanding
his having taken the Church under his special protec-
tion, is not the greatest favourite in the world at Ox-
ford. I have been told—and from the quarter from
which I received the 'information I believe it—that
after the Duke of Cumberland had written to the au-
thorities of the University, stating his determination to
decline an honour which it had not declared its readi-
ness to confer upon him, a letter was sent to him, in-
forming him, that if he came to Oxford the University
needs must confer a doctorship upon him. This was
conceived to be a hint which the noble feelings of
Royalty could not misunderstand. But his Royal
Highness of Cumberland practises as well as preaches
the duties of Christian charity, and forgives those who
are not inclined to be so indulgent towards him. His
reply again was that he must decline the honour that
was intended him ; but that such was his regard for
his illustrious friend the Duke of Wellington, he must
be present at the signal honour with which his life of
glory was now to be crowned by the University of
Oxford. His Royal Highness arrived in Oxford this
afternoon about 3 o'clock, and from the distinguished
place which he holds in the affection of Englishmen,
it is unnecessary for me to say how many hats were
thrown up in his honour, how many voices cried, " God
bless him." His Royal Highness takes up his abode
with the tutor of his son, the Rev. Mr. Jelf, canon of
Christ Church.— Times.

A STOP TO EPSOM RACES.—We under-
stand that an action has been commenced by John
Ivatt Briscoe, Esq., M.P., as lord of the manor, for
trespass committed in running races, and erecting
booths on the Epsom Downs—the lord contending that
there is no prescriptive, or other sufficient title to do
so. Messrs. Everest and Harding, solicitors, of Epsom,
are engaged for the defence, and no pains or expense
will be_spared in resisting the claim thus made.—
Essex Mercury.

COUNT JOSEPH MAZZINGHI.—The ac-
knowledgment by the Pope and the Grand Duke of
Tuscany of the " hereditary" claim to nobility by Mr.
Mazzinghi, the eminent composer, and the grant of
his bearing the title (long in abeyance), has been fol-
lowed by the investiture of the " Order of Christ,"
which his Holiness Pope Gregory X VI. has been
graciously pleased to confer on the Count, accom-
panied by many flattering expressions of satisfaction
and approval.
TA STE.—A gentleman from the city, having
visited the British Museum during the holyday week,
asserted that there was anything but an agreeable
odour in the cabinet of Egyptian mummies. Alder-
man —, who was with him (having also determined
to give his science an airing), observed, " It was only
another instance of the extravagant waste of the public
money in laying it out in the purchase of mummies
which was not fresh."
DR. DOYLE.—A letter from Dublin, dated
May 31, has gone the round of the London papers, in
which it is positively announced that Dr. Doyle died
at Carlow on the day previous. The Carlow Morn-
ing Post of to-day remarks, in reference to that an-
nouncement, 66 We are sorry to say, that though the
above statement is premature, there are little hopes
entertained of the right rev. prelate's recovery."
Last week a servant girl in this city at-
tempted to poison herself, which was happily frus-
trated by the very commendable conduct of the as-
sistant in a druggist's shop, where the infatuated
female applied to purchase a quantity of laudanum
under a pretext which led him to suppose her real
object ; fearful she would procure the fatal drug else-
where if he refused to supply it, he gave her some tinc-
ture of bark, which the foolish girl swallowed as soon
as she reached her master's house, observing to her
fellow-servant she had taken that which would very
shortly put her out of this world ; the family were in-
stantly apprised of the circumstance, and skilful medi-
cal assistance immediately procured, when an inquiry
was very properly made at the druggist's, and the poor
girl soon learned the obligations she was under to the
young man, whose discretion had probably saved her
life..—Hereford Journal.

.~

LONDON,
TUESDAY EVENINQ, JUNE 10, 1834.

It gives us great pleasure to announce that
Mr. ABERCRONIBIE is appointed Master cf
the Mint, with a seat in the Cabinet.

This appointment is satisfactory for more
than one reason. First, it is a proof that Mi-
nisters are really in earnest in their endeavours
to promote the cause of a safe and judicious
reform, by procuring for that cause the ablest
advocates ; secondly, it gives the lie direct to
those among our morning contemporaries who
have been anxiously speculating during the
past week on the downfall of the GREY Ca-
binet, by reason of its vacillation and time-
serving. IVIr. ABERCROMBIE'S appointment
neutralizes a world of such mischievous specu-
lations. A fitter man could not have been
selected. He is shrewd, practical, quick-
witted,—in a word, a man of the age.
His accession to office, is singularly unfortu-
nate for the Times, seeing that our clever but
somewhat capricious contemporary has only
this morning discovered that the Cabinet is just
everything but what a Cabinet should be. In
its most direct and caustic manner it asks,
" Can Lord GREY bona-fide believe that a
certain high personage does in his heart desire
the continuance of the present Ministry (we
were gOing to say in power, but that is absurd),
in office ?" Our reply is, Mr. ABERCROMBIE,
the chief favourite of the Tinges,—if we except
Lord DURHAM, is appointed, not merely to
office, but to a seat in the Cabinet ! And this
gentleman, be it remembered, is a man of the
movement, though not of the ultra-radical one.
Surely then, if his Majesty, as the Times would
insinuate, objects to the present Cabinet that it
is too liberal—at least as far as church reform is
concerned,—he would never allow its liberal
principles to receive additional impetus in the
person of Mr. ABERCROMBIE ! How much
ingenious speculation, how much caustic ar-
gument is annihilated by this one fact !
Our contemporary abuses Lord GREY for his
late confession of weakness in the House of
Lords. Can he not see the motives of such a
confession ? Can he not see that it was a plain,
straight-forward appeal to the country ; a
manly reply to all those who accused the Govern-
ment of being unwilling. per se to move
forward? In a word, that it was the expres-
sion of a natural wish that the blame of a re-
sistance to liberal measures should be laid
on the rightful shoulders—on Tory, not on Whig.
But, after all, what did the confession amount
to ? Why, simply and exclusively to this,
that Lord GREY was not quite so strong in
the House of Lords as he could desire to be.
And to whom is this a matter of news ?
Yet on such a confession, our contemporary
grounds its declaration that Lord GREY is un-
worthy to retain office ! Why, if this be the
case, his Lordship must have been unworthy
to hold it ever since the passing of the Reform
Bill, seeing that he was just as weak in the
House of Peers then as he is now; yet the
Times, who must have known this all along,
was, up to within the last few days, the
staunchest among his staunch supporters I
Whatever praise we may accord him, we cer-
tainly cannot, in this instance, accord our con-
temporary that of consistency. He is anxious,
nay, nervously solicitous, for the resignation
of Ministers, yet he eschews the Ra-
dicals, and will have nothing to say to
the Conservatives. Thus disliking equally
the two extremes, and having a very in-
different opinion of the juste milieu, how,
and in what spirit, would he have the Admi-
nistration remodelled ? Possibly he would de-
sire to see Lord DURHAM at the helm. Well,
even so, his lordship could not work without
a great portion of the present Cabinet to help
him ; and the appointment of Mr. ABER-
CROMBIE is a proof that the Durham system
of policy is not lost sight of.
For our own parts, we have nothing to say to
either one faction or the other. We are not Whig,
we are not Radical, we are not Conservative.
Our party is that of the people. Over their

interests we watch. To them we look for ap-
proval. Influenced by this spirit, we should
view with dismay the retirement of Earl GREY
from office. Such an event, occurring at such
a period as the present, would, we are con-
vinced, be the immediate signal for a des-
perate struggle between the two extremes
of Radicalism on the one hand, and Conserva-
tism on the other. Iletween these two, the
country would become wholly unsettled and
disoiganized; and peace would be restored only
by the appointment of just such another Minis-
try as the Times is now so anxious to displace.

The House Tax Repeal Bill was read a
third time in the House of Lords last night
and passed. In the Commons, the Poor
Laws' Amendment Bill was proceeded with as
far as the 45th clause.

How many lay impropriators of tithes are
there both in England and Ireland ? All such
impropriations (anglice improper applications)
were originally a robbery and a spoliation of the
church. But without prejudice to such rights,
which time has sanctioned, and without pre-
judice to existing interests, which ought never
to be touched, when we are cutting down the
salaries of all other public functionaries, are
churchmen to prove an exception ? If they
are not, and, if after making due provision for
every future clergyman of the established church
in Ireland, there shall be a surplus of revenue
or of property, is that surplus to remain unap-
plied ? We have allowed advowsons to be-
come matters of private property. Such advow-
sons, or their fruits, cannot be invaded ; but
may not they be regulated as all private pro-
perty may be regulated for a public purpose ?
and is not all other church property a trust in
the state, and is not the state bound to see to
its proper uses ? One result of the Commis-
sion that has been issued will be to ascertain
the precise amount and situation and uses of all
church property in Ireland, as well as the wants
of the people for whose spiritual well-being
that property is held.
Without the information which the report of
this Commission is to impart, the House of
Commons cannot be in a situation to come to
any resolution upon the subject. The four Ex-
Ministers may thus come to find they have been
precipitate. But what is of more importance,
the public may come to see that they have been
premature. The public, however, has at all
events gained by the manifestation of their
principles. We do not want conservatives of
abuses ; we want conservatives of our institu-
tions, who will free them of abuses. We do
not want institutions attendant with evil ; we
want institutions attendant with good.

Upon recurring to the poor returns, we find
the total amount of rates levied in England and
Wales in the year ending in March, 1816, was
6,886,4081., of which there were expended for
the relief of the poor 5,673,4901., and for other
purposes 1,214,0701. In the year ending
March, 1833, the total rates levied amounted to
8,606,5011., of which there were expended for
the relief of the poor 6,790,7991., to which
adding 254,4121. for suits at law, the sum was
7,045,2111., and for other purposes 1,694,6691..
The increase of the sums expended for other
purposes thus appear to have been 479,4991.,
while the increase of the sums expended in the
relief of the poor since 1815, is no less than
1,371,7211.

The proportion of increase in different coun-
ties is very different from the proportion of the ,
total increase. In Middlesex, in 1815-16, the
total rates levied were 651,6141., of which there
were expended for the relief of the poor 519,0871.,
and for other purposes 132,618. But in
1832-33 the total rates levied were 968,7241.,
of which there were expended in the relief of
the poor, including suits at law, 666,928/., and
for other purposes. 336,9591. In Surrey, in
1815-16, the total rates levied were 246,8781.,
of which there were expended for the relief of
the poor 213,153/., and for other purposes
32,948/., while in 1832-33 the total rates
levied were 378,1511., of which there were ex-
pended in suits, and for the relief of the poor,
287,0421., and for other purposes 98,4031. In
Lancashire, in 1815-16, the total rates levied
were 349,0481., of which there were expended
for the relief of the poor 217,2841., and for
other purposes 132,1041., but in 1832-33 the
total rates levied were only 430,429/. of which
there were expended in suits, and for the relief
of the poor, 291,996/., and for other pur-
poses 149,5781. In Kent, in 1815-16, the
total rates levied were 362,810/., of which
there were expended for the relief of the poor
308,6611., and for other purposes 57,096/.,
while in 1832-33 the total sums levied were
1439,5671., of which there were expended in
suits and the relief of the poor 385,5481., and
for other purposes 64,752/. In Sussex, in
1815-16, the total rates levied were 258,2931.,
of which there were expended in the relief of
the poor 235,3801., and for other purposes
22,776/., while in 1832-33, the total sums
levied were 319,7521., of which there were ex-
pended in suits, and for the relief of the poor,
272,0831., and for other purposes, 51,7661.
In Berkshire, in 1815-16, the total sums
levied were 119,6741., of which there were ex-
pended for the relief of the poor 105,8141.,
and for other purposes, 13,685/., while in
1832-33, the total sums levied were only
136,4001., of which there were expended in
suits and for the relief of the poor, 114,7181.,
and for other purposes 18,459/. In Notting-
ham, in 1815-16, the total rates rates levied
were 105,580/., of which there were expended
for the relief of the poor, 77,335/., and for
other purposes 28,229/., while in 1832-33 the
total sums levied were only 116,3801., of which
there were expended in suits and for the relief
of the poor, 78,4671., and for other purposes
39,4461. In Northumberland, in 1815-16
the total sums levied were 90,889/., of which
there were expended in the relief of the poor,
77,994/, and for other purposes 10,974/,

while in 1832-33, the total sums levied reached
only 99,7471., of which there were ex-
pended in law suits, and for the relief of the
poor, 77,0491., and for other purposes 22,4611.
In Westmoreland, in 1815-16 the total rates
levied were 25,5851., of which there were ex-
pended for the, relief of the poor 21,2051., and
for other purposes 4,381/., while in 1832-33,
the total sums levied were 29,2691., of which
there were expended in suits and for the relief
of the poor 25,3461., and for other purposes
4,7991.

After reading these quotations can any one
fail to become sensible that to put down a
system working so differently in different
counties, a strong power is not only ne-
cessary, but that the exercise of
We
it should
be uniform and universal ?
de-
precate any interference on the part of magis-
trates, because it has been the interference of
magistrates which has been a leading cause of
the increase of the evil. We deprecate also the
interposition of difficulties which will prevent
the Commissioners from taking responsibility
upon them under the mistaken notion of making
them responsible. The functions they are
called upon to discharge are in the nature of the
functions of the ministers of the government
and of the judges of the land, and if they are
made responsible otherwise than as ministers of
the government or as judges of the land, the
object of their appointment will fail, and the
evil will accumulate until it produces disruption
as it must do if its progress is not arrested. The
sums now levied for the mistaken purpose of
the relief of the poor amount to nearly one-
sixth of the sums levied for the service of the
state. The money amount, large as it is, is the
least part of the evil. Worse than this is the
effect upon industry, an able bodied man
through the abuses of the system not giving a
fourth part of his labour for the parish pay he
receives, and the worst of all is the demoraliza-
tion of the poor, and the destruction of moral
and religious influence among them. In spite
of every obstacle, we therefore trust the CHAN-
CELLOR of the EXCHEQUER will not be di-
verted from his purpose.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT,

THIS DAY, TUESDAY, JUNE 10.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

The SPEAKEL took the chair at a quarter past twelve
o'clock.

Upon the motion of Mr. OLIPHANT, the Perth Har-
bour Navigation Bill was read a third time and passed.
Upon the motion of Mr. P END A RVE S, the report upon
the Hale Railway Bill was brought up and laid on the table.
Upon the motion of Mr. Alderman WOOD, the General
Steam Navigation Company Bill was read a second time.
Upon the motion of Mr. BERNAL the Banbridge and
Belfast Roads Bill was read a third time.
POOR LAWS.
Lord ALTHORP moved the order of the day for the
house to resolve itself into a committee upon the Poor
Laws' Amendment Bill. The house accordingly resolved
itself into committee, Mr. Bernal in the chair.

Upon the 45th clause being read,
111 r. P. SCROPE rose to move an amendment to the
effect that nothing in the clause should be understood to
authorise the commissioners to issue any rule or regulation
to the guardians of any parish, to prohibit them from giving
relief to the poor out of workhouses. The hon. member
said that it would be a false species of economy to force fa-
' milies into the workhouse, as it would be much cheaper to
relieve them at their own habitations, and they ran great
risk of being demoralised. The effect of this clause, if not
amended, would be to raise a frightful number of
prisons and workhouses. The honourable member for
Oldham had last night stated truly that the
proportion of the poor rates to the population had not
materially increased for the last two centuries. The hon.
member then referred to the statistical tables of Mr.
Nimmo, to show that the proportion of paupers relieved,
compared with the population, had not increased since the
year 1665, and that the proportion which the poor rates
bore to the taxation and revenue of the country was one-
third less now than in 1688. _ .

Lord ALTHORP requested hon. members should con-
fine themselves to the clause, and not make long speeches.
Mr. P. SCROPE said that as this clause contemplated
an extension of the workhouse system, he thought he was
justified in referring to ascertained facts, to show that such
an extension was not justifiable. They showed that an
increased severity in the administration of the poor laws
was not justifiable. It was not enough that the noble lord
pledged himself that there should not be any extraordi-
nary rigour in the administration of the poor laws. The
noble lord's possession of office was not certain, the
commissioners were removable, and future governments
might not be anxious to temper the severity of these laws.
He therefore hoped that the noble lord would not object to
the amendment.

Amendment read by the CHAIRMAN.
Lord ALTHORP said if the object of this bill was not
to improve the condition of the working classes, he should
be the last man to be anxious about its success. ( Hear,
hear.) If no relief whatever was to be extended to those
not inmates of workhouses, it would go too far ; but
the bill did no such thing; on the contrary, it gave them
the power to relieve in all cases of emergency, and sick-
ness was certainly a case of emergency. As to classifica-
tion, if the hon. member alluded to the present state of
workhouses, he could understand the objection, but with
the proposed classification of objects he thought there was
no necessity for the amendment. The powers to be vested
in the commissioners would be more beneficial to the poor
than otherwise.
Mr. COBBETT said the bill gave all manner of power
to the commissioners without limitation : the house would
give them power to do that which no hon. member would
do. The hope was to make the landlords what the he-
ritors were in Scotland, by means of three commissioners,
who were to be stuck up here in London to bear all the
blame. The object of the bill was not to reduce the poor
rates.

Lord ALTHORP—It is one of its objects.
Mr. COBBETT—WeII, then, it was one of the
objects of the bill; but the fact was, that all the
gentlemen in the country had declared that such a bill
was not wanted, and could not have such an effect.
What was to be done according to the recommend-
dation of the report ? No relief was to be given to able-
bodied men out of the workhouse ; and if placed in it, hus-
bands were to be separated from wives, and parents from
children, and no communication was to be allowed between
relation or friend ; besides this, they were to wear a badge;
in short, the object was to render the attainment of relief
so irksome that they might be deterred from seeking it.
Was that legislating for the protection and benefit of the
poor ? He should like to know what power the house had
to pass such a law, and before the discussion was
closed he would put that power to the test. The noble
lord said a great deal about the Scotch poor laws, and
said there were no paupers in Scotland. But there were
not a few Scotch vagrants who flocked into this country,
and put it to immense expense in sending them back again.
But where would the English vagrants go for relief when
the cruel Scotch heritor system was adopted here? In
Scotland the poor starved, and he could prove it on veri-
table evidence ; and he had a letter before him that
where there prevailed a disposition to relieve the
poor, it could not be done without having recourse
to the provisions of the Cholera Act. There were Scotch
members in that house who could contradict him if he had
stated what was untrue. He trusted his hon. friend would
divide the house on the amendment, and after that he
( Mr. Cobbett) would propose and divide on another
I amendment.

Mr. W. WHITMORE begged to tell the hon. member
that these laws equally pressed upon the middle classes as
upon the rich; and he believed that the passing of the
law would not do so much good to any class as to the supe-
rior and well-behaved workman himself. The honour-
able gentleman denied that the poor rates were not in-
creasing and had not increased for some time, but
he must say from his own knowledge that they had in-
creased, and were increasing, and unless some stop was
Put to the evil, the poor themselves would in a very few
years be the greatest sufferers.
Mr. PHILLIPS cited some cases of the hardship of living
and working in workhouses that had come under his own
cognizance, which made him decidedly opposed to that
part of the bill which would send all pauper families into
the workhouse, for they would in his opinion never be able
to raise themselves again to their former level.
Lord ALTHORP said the observations of the hon. gen-
tleman applied to the next clause, in which he would find
that an amendment would be made to meet his views.
Mr. GROTE hoped the noble lord would not give way

to the amendment of his hon. friend, for he considered that
the clause then under discussion was the most important of
the whole, and that the power and discretion of sending
into the workhouse should remain with the commissioners,
so that the same system might prevail over the whole
kingdom.
Mr. HALCOMB was not at all an enemy of the work-
house system, but he was afraid the commissioners might
be selected from the former ones, and that they would carry
into effect those regulations which they recommended in
their report. That he considered would be too severe. He
must oppose that part of the bill which denied relief to
any one who was in other employment. He supposed
the case of a workman who might be able to earn three-
fourths of what might support his family ; but under the
bill, as it stood, he would be entitled to no relief.

Lord DARLINGTON supported the amendment.
It was opposed by Mr. BENETT, Mr. HAWES, and ➢lr.
SLANEY.

After some observations from Lord Althorp, Mr. Daven-
port, Mr. Briscoe, Col. Torrens, Mr. Lennard, Mr. Robin-
son, Sir M. Ridley, Mr. Towers, Mr. Cayley, Sir H.Wil-
loughby, Mr. Scholefield, Mr. Hardy, Lord Sandon, Mr.
Barnard, and Col. Wood, the house divided, when there
appeared—

For the Amendment 4O
For the Original Clause
Majority
The amendment was consequently lost.
The clause, as amended, was then ordered to stand part
of the bill.

It being three o'clock the CHAIRMAN repeated progress,
and obtained leave to sit again.

DREADFUL HURRICANE.

(Extract of a private letter received in town yesterday. )
" Mauritius, Feb. 11, 1834.

" Since I last wrote to you I regret to say that this
island has experienced a most distressing visitation in a
coup de ment, or hurricane. I will endeavour to give you
an idea of its effects :—On Friday, 17th January, the
weather was unpromising ; on Saturday it blew fresh, on
Sunday a gale, on Monday morning a hurricane, and from
three to seven, p.m., a tempest. The destruction that
followed was indeed awful ; houses were blown down,
trees torn up by the roots, and immense large
bridges swept entirely away. The loss of property is
incalculable ; and what is still more to be deplored, the
loss of human life very considerable. One vast ruin is
around us. A great portion of my own property, princi-
pally consisting of rice, is destroyed. The Governor has
called a meeting, and issued a proclamation to condole with
the people on the occasion of the painful disaster. Go-
vernment has subscribed 1,000 sacks of rice and 5,000
dollars (which, with the public subscription, new
amounts to 20,000 dollars) to be distributed among
the poor unfortunate and surviving inhabitants. I
annex you a state of the shipping : —On the morning of
the 21st, after the subsidence of the hurricane, the brig
Solomon was on shore and dismasted. The Jane, full of
sugar, on shore with the loss of masts, bowsprits, &c. The
Royal George broke from her moorings, ran foul of the
ship Courier de Bourbon—both on shore, and the latter
sunk. Thomas and Alfred run foul of the Tyme. Dun-
more, dismasted. Pearce, ditto. Three schooners blown
high and dry on the rocks. A large schooner blown over
and sunk. The schooner Dauphin, ditto. The St.
Pierre on shore and dismasted. Deux Charles on shore
and dismasted. A schooner laden with salt meat totally
lost. What the pecuniary extent of the havoc may be I
can form no notion of at present."

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE (THIS DAT).

(FROM LLOYD'S.)
DEAL, JUNE 9.—Wind W., light.—Arrived, and sailed
for the river, the Elizabeth Taybarson, Saunders, from
Mauritius ; West Indian, Simpson, from Jamaica; Tobago,
from Tobago; Resource, Smith, from Hobart Town;
Maria Cecilia, from the river Gambia; John, Munro, from
Berbice.

PORTSMOUTH, JUNE 9. —Wind W. S. W.—Arrived the
Lotus, Summerson, from Batavia, sailed 21st January, and
passed St. Helena 23d March ; Stentor, from Gibraltar.
His Majesty's ship Revenge is gone out of harbour for
Spithead.
PLYMOUTH, JUNE B.—Wind N.W.

FALMOUTH, Ju NE B.—Wind variable, light breezes and
fine.—Arrived the Creole, Symons, from Pernambuco.
Sailed his Majesty's ship Espoir from Oporto and Lisbon.
HASTINGS, JUNE 9.—Arrived off port the Sophie, Hen-
rickson, from Batavia—sailed Jan. 29, and from the Cape
March 27 ; Eleanor, Hardoch, from the Mauritius ; and
John Pirie, Matthews, from Trinidad.
COWES, JUNE 9.—Arrived the Neva, Lord, from Ma-
tanzas.

Livzitroot, JUNE B.—Arrived the William, Dobie,
from Manilla ; Elizabeth, Morgan, from Buenos Ayres ;
Fanny Ann, Garigues, from Jamaica ; Richard, Blakeley,
from Trinidad ; Chieftain, Nooney, Tacitus, Russell, and
Martha, Robinson, from New Orleans ; Eurietta, Skin-
ner, from Savannah ; Lydia Flanders, Merchant, from
, London; Virginia, Turner, from Charleston ; Grace,
White, from Virginia; Margaret Scott, Dewight ; Cla-
rissa Andrews, Thomson ; and Lalla Rookh, Green, from
Mobile ; Java, Apelachiola, and Splendid, Powell, from
New York ; Sir H. Douglas, M'Pherson, from Africa ;
and Ellen, Jenkinson, from Lisbon. Off port the Cicily,
from Barbadoes ; and Carina, from the Mediterranean.
LEITH, JUNE 7.—Arrived the Jansen, Boyce, from
Grenada.

CLYDE, JUNE 7.—Arrived the Janet, Izat, and Po,
from New Orleans.

SINGAPORE, JAN. B.—Part of the cargo of the New
Jersey, Williams, from Gibraltar to China, wrecked on the
Louisa Shoal, has been saved and brought here, and much
more is expected to be saved.

THE FUNDS.-(THIS DAY.)

CITY, TWELVE O'CLOCK.

Our arrivals this morning are of a very scanty descrip-
tion ; there arc several from the eastward, but of old dates.

Singapore papers to the 7th of February have been re-
ceived at the North and South American Coffee-house,
from which we extract the following :
" The arrivals this week have been scanty, and have
afforded us no intelligence in any way interesting.
" The Hon. S. G. Benham, Esq., acting governor,
embarked on the evening of the 25th ult. in the Zephyr,
to proceed on a visit to Malacca and Penang.