The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-23 00:00:00

MAILS.

Arrived. Due. Arrived. Due. Arrived.
0 America 0 0 France 1 0 Lisbon
0 Brazil
0 Buenos Ayres... 0 0 Hamburg........ I 0 Mexico.—
0 Carthagena 0 0 Holland
I Dublin 0 0 Jamaica 0 0 Sweden 0
0 Flanders

Due.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORROW.
Morning 53 minutes after 5. I Evening 25 minutes after 6.

THE SUN IS NOW THE LARGEST DAILY
PAPER IN LONDON.

LONDON,
THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 23, 1334.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

Both Houses met this day for the purpose of further
proroguing Parliament pro forma. The Library of
the House of Lords was fitted up in a beautiful manner,
with seats and a bar in front, to which the Commons
were to be summoned. Among the Peers present we
observed the Marquis CONYNGHAM, Earls of MUN-
STER, WESTMORELAND, MULGRAVE, HARRING-
TON, Lords AUCKLAND, STRANGFORD, HILL,
SEFTON, &c. Some delay took place in consequence
as we understood, of the LORD CHANCELLOR having
lost his way among the ruins. At a few minutes past
two, the Commissioners, the LORD CHANCELLOR,
Earl MULGRAVE, and Lord AUCKLAND, having taken
their seats, Sir AUGUSTUS CLIFFORD, Usher of the
Black Rod, was directed to summon the Commons.
Mr. RICKMAN, the second Clerk, with two or three
Members of the House of Commons who had pre-
viously met in No. 5 Committee-room, and followed
by several strangers, appeared at the Bar, when the
LORD CHANCELLOR announced the further pro-
rogation of Parliament to Tuesday, the 25th of Nov.,
in the usual form. It was observed that the wording
of the Commission did not differ from that heretofore
adopted, as the two Houses were directed to " meet at
Westminster." The Commons then retired. There
were only two Peeresses present, the Countess of
MULGRAVE and Lady BURGHERSII. There were a
great number of strangers present in the Library, as
well as in the passages leading to it.
When the proceedings had terminated, the LORD
CHANCELLOR, and several of the Peers, proceeded
through the Painted Chamber to view the ruins of the
House of Lords.

A very absurd report has been afloat the whole of
this morning that Windsor Castle had been burnt
to the ground. We have made every inquiry on the
subject, and learn that the rumour originated in a house
having caught fire in the Vauxhall-road, adjoining to
the public-house called the 'Windsor Castle.

The Worshipful Company of Merchant Tailors o:

St. John the Baptist, as their charter very modestly

styles them, must find themselves rather awkwardly
situated in consequence of the evidence of Mr. FRANKS,
a liveryman of their fraternity, before the Corporation
Commissioners, the second part of which was given in
The Sun of Tuesday. In commenting upon the first
part of this gentleman's evidence, we had occasion to
state that the conduct of the Company, in being the
first to announce a contumacious opposition to the
power of the Commissioners, had given rise to strange
conjectures in various parts of the country ; and that
by some their resistance was mistaken for an attempt
to protect the liberty of the subject. The public was
completely taken by surprise by the daring nature of the
defiance hurled in the teeth of his Majesty's Commis-
sion. It was not conceived that men who led the
way in braving the Royal authority, could be
other than innocenb of the charges which were be-
ginning to be universally preferred against such
institutions as that to which they belonged ; and
their resistance to the power of the SOVEREIGN, em-
ployed in accordance with the opinions of the great
body of his people, was judged to have arisen from a
chivalrous but mistaken consciousness of their own
immaculate purity, and the most effectual mode of
manifesting the indignation with which they regarded
a questioning of their honour. These were the mo-
tives which even several members of the Govern-
ment thought influenced the Merchant Tailors in pub-
lishing a protest, in which the KING'S Commission
was treated as a mere shred of useless parchment ; and
the gentlemen appointed to act by virtue of it, laughed
at as a company of strolling imposters. But the evi-
dence of Mr. FRANKS has pulled down the walls of
the " whited sepulchre," and the rottenness within is
made visible. The talismanic spell is now known,
and all who please may view the secret recesses of a

labyrinth, the entrance to which was sealed by the
signet of EDWARD the Confessor. The disclosures
are certainly not such as we were prepared for. We
knew that the Merchant tailors were a very rich,
powerful, and politically influential body. We knew
that they held immense property in Ireland, having
shared largely in the grants made over to the Corpora-
tion of London by King JAMES, when that monarch
was engaged in carrying on a project for colonizing the
province of Ulster, and more particularly the city of
Londonderry, and the adjacent country along the north
western coast of the island. We were besides in full
possession of the fact, that the .Merchant Tailors were
the trustees for several public charities ; that they were
the guardians of many establishments endowed for the
education of poor children, and that moreover they
were bound by their charter to devote a large portion
of their revenue to the support of their poorer brethren.
Knowing all this, we expected, should a discovery of
their affairs ever take place, to learn how much the
country was indebted to them for the incalculable
extent of their charity, and the boundlessness of
their benefactions. We imagined the pleasure with
which we should announce, the enormous sum,
the poor-rates in England were lessened, in conse-
quence of the munificent donations annually bestowed
on the children of penury, and the heirs to house-
less wretchedness by the Wardens and Assistants
of the Tailors' Company, Judge then our surprise on
learning, on the public testimony of a most respectable
member of the fraternity, that the whole power, wealth,
and influence of a body—including within it upwards of
a thousand persons—has been seized upon by thirty or
thirty-five irresponsible individuals, who feast, and
make merry, and otherwise dispose of the power and
property of the Company as suits their own pleasure.
He tells us that this junta act as suits their own con-
venience—that whom they will they enrich, and whom
they will they impoverish—that whom they will they
exalt, and whom they will they humble. In their
• practices, in their appointments, in their feasts, in their
language, they hold themselves everyway irresponsible,
and act in everything with the same sense of arbitrary
power. They call dinners public, but refuse ad-
mittance to all who have not the good fortune to share
their friendship ; they announce public audits of ac-
counts, at which all are excluded but ;hose who are to
share the spoils. In a word, the whole conduct
of this junta is one of the most eltravagant farces
ever acted in a public capacity ; the system they carry
on is one which in private life would subject the parties
assisting in it to a prosecution for swindling ; and
under the shelter of an old, musty, and forfeited charter,
a knot of irresponsible individuals are enabled to levy
taxes, grant freedoms, and exercise some of the mos
important functions of the Government.

The evidence of Mr. FRANKS is extremely valuable
at this particular time, as it completely upsets the
schemes of this refractory body. The tailors may now
come forward or not, just as they please, for in point of
fact, their appearance is a matter of the most perfect
indifference. The evidence of Mr. FRANKS places the
Master and Wardens in this awkward dilemma—if

;hey come forward, they must produce the whole a

their documents to disprove Mr. FRANKS' statements ;
and if they come not forward, Parliament will legislate
on the evidence before it, without regard to their peti-

tions or protests, well knowing the motives which in-
duced the governing body to keep back the required

evidence.

We reserve our arguments in favour of a total reform
of the Municipal Corporations of England and Wales,
till a bill for that purpose is before Parliament. Those
who are honestly in favour of such a measure, may not
be all aware that one of the strongest pledges which
the LORD CHANCELLOR gave to the inhabitantS of
Aberdeen, on the occasion of his Lordship's late visit
to the north, was that the bill for eradicating Corpora-
tion abuses would come forward early in the next
Session of Parliament. The worst evils of an heredi-

tary Aristocracy are nothing to the evils attendant on
granting municipal privileges to those who have the
good fortune to be born in a certain locality. The
first are definite because the number of claimants are
known ; the second are endless, as the persons who
have been, are being, or will be born in this or that
district, are innumerable. Their name is Legion,
their physical consequences ruin, their moral ones an
insiduous poison creeping through and destroying every
vein of the social system.

Advices from Rio de Janeiro of the 12th of August
have been received, together with a copy of the follow-
ing speech of the President of the deputation of the

Chamber of Deputies to the Emperor DON PEDRO

11., on presenting the Law of Reforms on the 9th o;
August. The answer of the Regency is likewise an•

nexed. The sentiments contained in these documents
do great honour to the Brazilian Deputies, and to the
Government

" The Chamber of Deputies having completed the reforms
of the constitution of the empire, sends us a solemn deputation,
to present to your Imperial Majesty the fruit of their medita-
tions and labours. This benefit, long demanded by the pro-
gressive increase of civilization and knowledge for the grJw-
ing wants of the provinces—this benefit, is now placed with
confidence in the august hands of your Imperial Majesty.
Invested by the free suffrage of the electors with special autho-
rity to conclude the work of Reform, the Chamber of Deputies,
conscious of the whole extent of their duties, of all the respon-
sibility that they contracted towards the nation, could never
be more faithful to the law of the 12th of October, 1832,
which traced the circle of their constituent power, nor more
solicitous to obtain from the provinces all the aid necessary to
their new political existence. The national capacity prevails
here above all pitiful local considerations; provincial objects
have been carefully described and separated, in order to avoid,
in this way, interminable conflicts and struggles, which might
be fatal to the interests of the people, by compromising their
peace and security ; the unity and energy of action, with-
out which the body social languishes and decays, are pre-
served in the general government, in order that it may
discharge, to the advantage of the State, the various
and difficult obligations with which it is entrusted ; the
federal principle, fully developed, renews with difficulty
in its applications those modifications which are the fruit of
meditation, and the experience of the most cultivated na-
tions ; they respected, in short, religiously, the form of
government adopted by the nation, and which has contri-
buted in the most difficult conjunctures to effect its salvation
in spite of factions and parties, and the prerogatives of thelm-
perial Crown acquire new splendour and brightness. This
work, Sire, truly that of a nation organized through its repre-
sentatives to whom it delegated this important task, offers the
structure of a government which appears to have hitherto been
in Europe the dream of a few politicians, but which is about to
be realised in America-_a monarchy supported by popular
institutions. These, however, are the most solid elements
of the security of monarchies. They request, Sire, that
your Imperial Majesty may deign to order the promul-
gation of this law of Reform, the pledge of the union of the
provinces, the object of the wishes and hopes of the nation
over which you preside, in order that its execution may prove
how much it conduces to the general prosperity which it pro-
mises to secure. This act, Sire, in which the ideas of a sacred
duty are interwoven with the desires and inclinations of the
Constitutional Prince, who, under the most felicitous auspices,
ascended the throne of this vast empire on the memorable 7th
of April, will erect to the august name of your Imperial Majesty a
monument of eternal glory, propitious to Brazilians who adore
you, and to the liberty of all nations.
" ANTONIA PAULINO LIMPID DE ABREU."
ANSWER OF THE REGENCY.
" The Regency, in the name of the Emperor, &c. &c.,
Don Pedro the Second, persuaded that the Reforms of the
Constitution, concluded by the Chamber of Deputies, compe-
tently authorized, will answer the expectations of the great
Brazilian family, greatly praises the decided zeal, patriotism,
and wisdom, with which the Chamber has conducted itself in
a mission, of so much importance and difficulty ; and partici
pating in the sentiments of the worthy Representatives, pro

ceeds to order the promulgation of the law, from which, un-
doubtedly, depends the union, the felicity, and the future gran-
deur of the empire.

FRANCISCO DE LIMA E SILVA,
" JOAO BRAULIO MONIZ."

There is no foreign news of any importance. The
following from a Morning Contemporary is dated the
16th inst. from Bayonne :,--
" The garrison of Elisondo continues to be blockaded by
the Carlists.

" Colonel St. Yon, the French Commissary at the head-
quarters of Rodil, is now laid up with the cholera in Pampeluna.
" A letter from St. Jean Pied de Port, dated yesterday,
states that considerable alarm had prevailed for the last three
days along the frontier, in consequence of a report of the
breaking out of the cholera in the vicinity of that place. It
was said that two persons, a man and his wife, had died sud-
denly at Valcarlos, no doubt of cholera, and that this disease
had carried off seven persons at Banco, and manifested itself
among the soldiers of the battalion in garrison at Baigorry.
" General Oraa being informed that Zumalacarreguy had
ordered gunpowder and ball to be manufactured at Lodosa,
marched in the direction of that town from Pampeluna, on the
7th, with a corps of 5,000 men and 500 horse. Generals Lo-
renzo and Cordova proceeded on the 11th to Tafalla. The
former has published a Bando, or proclamation, offering a
bounty of six duros to each Carlist who should submit, and six
reals a day to those who would enlist in the Queen's ranks.

. _
" The severe measures prescribed by Rodil relative to the
Carlists have been considerably mitigated, no doubt by the
orders of General Mina.

" After the finest autumn ever remembered the bad weather
has set in, and it is to be feared that, in a few days, the com-
munications with the capital of Spain, via Oleron, will be often
impeded, if not altogether interrupted.
" The cholera is making dreadful ravages among the troops
of General Cordova's division.

" The Carlists have arrested a number of women in Navarre,
Whose husbands are absent from their homes, or suspected of
attachment to the liberal cause.

" We are still in the dark respecting the affair of Bilboa.
Nevertheless, it is not to be supposed that our authorities did
not receive ere now positive information on the subject.
" It is reported that El Pastor has been appointed Field
Marshal, and that his brigade is to be reinforced by a corps of
1,500 men."

There was no truth in the statement circulated by
some papers of Earl SPENCER'S illness. The state-
ment that Lord ALTIIORP was sent for was equally
unfounded.

The accounts received to-day from Northamptonshire
represent the Noble Earl to be in very good health.

We subjoin a letter addressed by Mr. LITTLETON
o the Rev. Nfr. JOSEPH GABBETT, of Kilmallock,

in reply to that Gentleman's question, as to whether it
was the intention of Government to require the repay-
ment of the money advanced under the Tithe Million
Act ? Mr. LITTLETON states that it is, and most judi-
ciously so, for we know of no claim beyond that of any
other embarrassed class of the community, that the Irish
clergy have on the pockets of the nation. They have
been accommodated at the public expense, and it is
their duty now to pay back the obligation they have
incurred. The following is the letter in question :---
THE IRISH TITHE QUESTION.

The following letter from Mr. Secretary Littleton, at Dub-
lin Castle, was yesterday received by the Rev. Joseph Gab_
belt, of Kilmallock, and will be read with vital interest by the
clergy in general.—Limerick Chronicle : _ _

" Dublin Castle, Oct. 14
" Sir,--I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of
your letter of the 10th inst., requesting to be informed whether
it is the intention of Government to require the repayment of
the money advanced under the Tithe Million Act ; and, if it
is, whether you are to be furnished with returns of the money
advanced, and also whether you can recover the first fifth from
the landlords whose grounds are held by tenants at will ?
In reply, I have to acquaint you, with regard to the re-
payment of the money advanced, that the Act of Parliament
is imperative and must be complied with; and with respect
to your being furnished with the returns of the sums so ad-
vanced, it is presumed those who have received such advance
must be aware of the amount, one-fifth of which amount must
be paid to the person appointed to receive it on the Ist of
November next, which fifth is to be recovered from the person
liable to the composition.
" I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient humble
servant, " E. J. LITTLETON."

We observe in the Athencrum of last Saturday that
the_ gentlemen of the county of Norfolk " have sen-
tenced Norwich Castle to be faced I" This castle is
described by the reviewer as the " finest Norman castle,
perhaps, in existence—larger, and every way grander,
than its rival of Falaise—and of an architecture wholly
different from the numerous feudal remains along the
Rhine." The Vandal propensities of a large portion of

the country gentlemen of England is no new topic.
Having modernized themselves, Frenchified their
daughters, and Russianized their sons, they begin to
look around them, and find the appearance of the coun-
try excessively vulgar, and old-fashioned. It is well
known that we are not of the number of those who abhor
all change, neither are we admirers of the times in which a
few feudal Barons possessed the whole power of the people
of England—but we advocate no change for change's
sake—neither would we destroy aught which is
not positively injurious to society, much less would
we raise an unhallowed hand against the uncon-
scious evidences of our historical records. It is there-
fore with feelings of disgust and indignation that we

learn there are men, holding high rank in this
country, who would deface every monument of
past times--destroy every trace of the progress of
civilization and the arts- among us. Our brave an-
cestors burst the bonds of baronial slavery, snapped
the fetters with which the proud priest encircled their
giant limbs, and they left us the old castle, and the
deserted convent as memorials of the power of the
mind—the energy of truth—over brute force on the one
hand, and dishonest craft on the other. We would
preserve these relics of the past—these memorials of

the greatness of England, during the middle ages.
The talk of modern improvement becomes idle and
disgusting cant when applied to the renovation, by
"facing," of such venerable edifices as Norwich
Castle. We know there are persons whose minds
never rise above the - contemplation of themselves,
and the respectability of stucco, and plaster of
Paris. These gentry would convert Westminster
Abbey into a large bazaar, reserving Poets' Corner
for a receptacle for WOMBWELL'S menagerie. The
Elgin marbles they would convert into chimney-tops ;
and the collection of minerals, shells, and fossils,
which enrich the British Museum, into materials for
macadamizing the road between Paddington and the
Bank. However the patriotic and enlightened isimbit-
ants of Norwich have no community of sentiment cotaste
with this class of Utilitarians. The same authority on
which we state the contemplation of such a specimen
of Vandalism by the " county gentlemen," enables us
to announce that a public meeting of the citizens
has been convened for the purpose of staying the dis-
c.
graceful proceeding. We trust, for the honour of the
country, that they will be successful.

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