The Sun.
London, England, 1834-03-08 00:00:00

MYSTERIOUS OCCURRENCE.

(From the Oxford Journal.)
ABINGDON, MARCH 6.—On Thursday the 20th ult. a human
skeleton was exhumed, by a man in the act of ditching, about
a furlong from the public house at Foxcombe-hill. This cir-
cumstance awakened, in the remembrance of many, by-gone
tales that have been related again and again for the last twenty
years by an old man, John Viner, an inhabitant of Sunningwell,
whose character as a reprobate of the highest Satanic eminence
might well have given currency to the blood-stirring tales he
told, had he not also at the same time acquired the unenviable
distinction of being such an inveterate liar that not the least
dependence could be placed in any fact that he uttered. The
substance of these tales was, that when a boy, about ten or
twelve years of age, he lived as servant with a farmer of the
name of Hedges, who resided at Bayworth, which is in the
same parish as is the site of the following tragedy; that he and
his master had been to a certain place to fetch some pigs, but
that the animals were so unmanageable, it was almost dark be-
fore they reached the Fox, which is the public house above
alluded to—that his master made up his mind to leave the pigs
there all night, and that they then went into the house to take
some refreshment—that in the course of the evening the
company was increased by the arrival of a Scotchman, with
a large pack, who expressed a desire to sleep there, but who
was informed by Chapman, the landlord, that he could not
be accommodated—that these two had a quarrel when the
Scotchman was about to"pay his reckoning, and that Chapman
made the poker red hot, and swore that he would run the for-
mer through the heart—that subsequently this misunder-
standing was adjusted, and the Scotchman observed, as he
could not sleep there, he must get on towards Oxford ; but
as he was a stranger, and the road by no means easily to be
discerned, the landlord and his master insisted on accom-
panying him a part of the way ; in fact, Hedges's road lay
in the same direction, and the narrator (Viner) himself ac-
companied them ; that the party having arrived at a certain
point, Hedges directed him (Viner) to stay there, and give
the alarm if he heard or saw any one approaching—that he
did remain there till he was convinced that the Scotchman
had ,been murdered and buried, which occupied about an
hour, when Chapman returned to the Fox, and Hedges and
he went home to Bayworth, when his master gave him a
pocket full of halfpence as " hush money," and that he never
after refused him money when he demanded it, and that he
had also promised him a considerable legacy; of the veracity
of which he had never doubted, but in which, however, lie
was undeceived by the death of this person, whose secret he
had till that moment kept. It may be proper here to remark
that Chapman, as well as hedges, were massy years ago sum.

LONDON,
SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 8, 1834.

The questionof the Corn Laws was last night
disposed of for the session, by a majority in
favour of their continuance of 157 I—an an-

nouncement which was received with loud
cheers; and no wonder, for the case was tried
before a packed, or at any rate, an interested
jury. This verdict will certainly not tend to
strengthen the faith of the people in the virtue
or wisdom of a Reformed Parliament. They
will begin to consider how it may be still fur-
ther reformed, and advocate with more warmth

an ever those two great cardinal questions,

the Ballot, and the Repeal of the Septennial Act.
The principle on which the Corn Laws are
supported, is that they afford legitimate protec-

don to the agricultural interest, which without
them would be utterly ruined. But Mr.
TIMAISON last night triumphantly showed the
fallacy of this assertion. He proved by a series
of straight-forward, unanswerable facts, that the
corn laws were worse than useless as a protec-
tion to the agricultural interest, while they were
positively detrimental to the manufacturing classes;
that they were a species of prohibition, which,
more or less, ranged all the great nations of the
continent against us, and supplied them with
an ample justification for any prohibitory enact-
ments they might bring to bear against us. It
is extraordinary that, in the face of such un-
deniable facts, the agriculturists should still
cling to this, their darling hobby. They confess,

that they are all but ruined with it—indeed they
induce his MAJESTY to acknowledge as much
in his speech from the throne,—and yet they
will not even attempt to better themselves by
throwing it aside, and substituting, instead, some
more rational and equitable experiment. Even
Lord ALTHORP himself acknowledged the
necessity of a change in the corn law system,
but nevertheless opposed the motion, on the
principle, that "it was not a question merely
theoretical." We must confess we cannot
understand these nice logical distinctions.
Does his lordship mean to say, that he
is an opponent of the corn laws in the-
ory, but an advocate for them in practice ?
That he has no objection to make fine
speeches in their favour as a philosopher, pro-
vided he may be allowed to give a vote against
them as a placeman ? If this be his lordship's
meaning—for we suppose he has some meaning
—most assuredly he is not to be complimented
on the possession of any excessive ingenuous-
ness. Far better if, instead of hemming and haw-
ing, and doubtingand equivocating on the subject,
his lordship had boldly risen and said, " True,
I was once an advocate for a change in the corn
laws, but Hon. Members will please to bear in
mind that I was in Opposition then, a silly,
disappointed Whig: I am in office now, and
of course a partaker, in my degree, of all
that adroitness and sagacity which a seat
on the Treasury Bench never fails to give.
At the same time, I think it my duty to
state that I am still an Anti-corn law-man in

theory ; I abjure that character only in practice.
To talk in favour of the motion can do me no
harm—to vote in its favour may be productive
of great personal inconvenience, and I am by
no means willing to risk the loss of my own loaf,
in order to cheapen that of the country." Now,
had his lordship addressed the house in terms of
.L!__ •

this import, such conduct would have been in
perfect keeping with his well-known candour
and manliness ; but, instead of this, he kept
beating about the bush and begging the ques-
tion, till he fairly mystified both himself and his
audience. Considering that Lord ALTHORP
is a plain-spoken, straight-forward man, we look
upon his speech, last night, as a prodigy of
vagueness and ineptitude. With an affectation
of meaning a vast deal—like Lord BURLEIGH'S
expressive shake of the head—it carries the Art
of Saying Nothing to the utmost:perfection of
which that sublime art is capable.

The squabbles: at the tea sales are worth a

thousand speeches in favour of throwing open
the trade. They are the struggles of an expiring
party who had monopolized the market for ages,
and charged what price they pleased to the
community. Independently of the high duty of
100 per cent., the price of tea here was much

higher than in Holland or the United
States, or indeed in any countries which im-
ported teas directly from China. How could

it be otherwise ? The, East L►dia Company
had no rivals, and they would have been great
simpletons indeed, if they had not; like all other
merchants, tried to make the most of their ad-
vantages. They were not to blame, but the
Government, who, for certain advantages, granted
them a monopoly—in other words, allowed

them to levy a tax upon the people, amounting,
probably, to little less than a million sterling a year.
The fact cannot be disputed. The average annual
amount paid for teas has been for some years
above 3,000,000/. ; the duty about the same ;
making together, 6,000,0001., which the people
of this country paid for tea. Taking the sur-
charge at 17 per cent., or one sixth, no great
profit in the estimation of monopolists, we are
under the mark in stating' that we have paid a
million a year for tea more than we should have
paid had the trade been free. Well, the corn
laws still remain—at least for another year, but
we have got a set off in another necessary of life,
and may count on a reduction of one third of
the price within a very short period. The high
price is gone with the exclusive system.

We give the bill for the repeal of the house,
duty in another page. It will be seen that the
duty is to cease and determine from and
after the sth of April next—that is exactly one
month from this day.

The French Papers of Thursday incline to
the opinion, that the report of the resignation
of M. BURGOS is, to say the least of it, pre-
mature. It is said that Don CARLOS, who is
living in retirement in a convent on the Spanish
frontier, has appointed the notorious priest
MERINO to the chief command of. all his
armies. In the Chamber of Deputies, on
Thursday, M. SAL VERTE brought forward the
subject of the police agents' misbehaviour on
Sunday, the 23d ult., on the Place de la
Bourse.

FRENCH FUNDS.—Pests, MARCH 6
Five per Cents., 106 f. 55c. 45c. 55c.
Four and a Half per Cents., 101 f. 70c.
Four per Cents., 94f. 10c.
Three per Cents., 77f. 60c. 75c.
Bank Actions, 1,780 f.
Rente de Naples, 931. 50c.
Roman Five per Cents., 93%.
Rente d'Espagne, Five per Cents., 26%.
Rent° d'Espagne, Three per Cents., 40%.
Royal Spanish L0an,178%. 4
Rente Perpet. d'Espagne, Fire per Cents., 62.
Haytian Loan, 275 f.

EXCHANGE ON LONDON.
One month, paper, 25f. 20e. ; money, —f. —c.
hree months, paper, 25f. 10c.; money, --f. —c.
—Coors Authentique.

1 Brussels and German papers have been re-
ceived. It is stated that the Emperor FRANCIS
had been attacked by the grippe, and that for a
time his life was thought to be in danger, but
he ultimately rallied, and was considered to be
doing well :--
BELGIAN FUNDS.—BRDssEts, MARCH 4.
Actual Debt, 2 % per Cent.
Rothschild's Loan, 5 per Cent 971
- Loan of the City, 1834, 4 per Cent. 94
DUTCH FUNDS—AMSTERDAM, MARCH 3.
Actual Debt, 2% per Cent. 49%13-16
89X
Amort Syndic, 4% per cent

The Royal William steamer, which left Lis-
bon on &inday last, arrived yesterday at Spit-
head in 120 hours. She brings no news of
consequence ; there had been no fighting
since the 18th ult., but the Miguelite3, in
equal strength to the Pedroites, were in position
outside of Santarem.