The Sun.
London, England, 1833-12-21 00:00:00

E2.IIBRACINCI

69
24V,
tiN
17,

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LONDON,
SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 21, 1833.

Owing to the prevalence of stormy weather,
we are again without a supply of Paris Papers.
It is not probable, however, that the papers of
Thursday, which should have arrived this morn-
ing, contain any news of importance from Spain,
at present the only point of interest. The con-
test in that country between the QUEEN'S Go-
vernment and the Carlists has taken such a turn
in favour of the former as to leave little pro-
spect that the settlement of the question will be
long retarded.

We have received a file of the Lisbon
Chronica to the Bth instant, the date only of
the accounts which we gave on Thursday.
They contain the decree of the Regency, ap-
pointing a commission to investigate the claims
of foreigners in the Constitutional service, and
an official account of the number of persons
imprisoned in the tower of St. Julian by order
of Don I\l lcuEL, from the 17th of April,
1829, to tie 10th of July, 1833. The list
mentions only 52, but it is supposed that the
number was much greater. A part of the
Register had been destroyed, and, consequently,
the names of many visitors are unrecorded.

The Times of this morning contains an ar-
ticle on the abuses of the Post-office, to which
we particularly invite attention. More than
three years ago The Sun first exposed the
abuses of which the Times complains so forcibly
as regards the injury inflicted upon a large and
industrious class of tradesmen—the dealers in
newspapers ; and within the last three months
we noticed the defect alluded to by the
Times., as to the mode of communicating

I with Prance from Dover. It is not from any
. silly pride in having been the first to denounce
►he abuses which our able contemporary has
this day exposed that we notice these facts, but
in order that we may have credit for consistency
in seconding the efforts of the Times towards
the removal of the evil complained of. As far as
the Duke of RICHMOND is concerned, we have
to award to him the credit of good intentions, but
his Grace appears to have been influenced
by the counsel of persons who are interested
in the maintenance of the monopoly. He
would not otherwise have stated, in an-
swer to the repeated applications which have
been addressed to him, that he did not consider
the monopoly in question to be a public evil.
The Post-office is the only public department
in which the emplo.gs of the Government are
allowed to add to their remuneration by fees
arising from a monopoly injurious to the public,
and particularly to a large body of tradesmen. No
argument can be adduced in support of this
monopoly. If the clerks of the Post-office are
not sufficiently paid by salaries, let their salaries
be increased. We entreat the Duke, for his
own honour and the public service, to wipe off
an abuse of which, whilst others reap the profit,
all the odium falls on him.

We have before us accounts of two dinners,
at which different Ministers have been making
what may, in some sort, be considered as de-
clarations of the kind of course the Government
at present think of pursuing in the next Session
of Parliament. One is a dinner given to Lord
JOHN RUSSELL and Lord EBRINGTON, at
Plymouth, on the occasion of their being ad-
mitted to the freedom of that. borough ; and the
other a dinner at IVlancliester, on Thursday last,
to Mr. POULETT THoMSON and Mr. PHILIPS,
Members for that place. The account of the
second is too imperfect to justify us in giving it
to our readers, particularly as the portions which
have not reached town appear to be the most
important. From the statement which is
made, it appears that Mr. POTTER and
Mr. BROTHERTON, the Representatives of
Wigan and of Salford, and Mr. PHILIPS,
the colleague of Mr. POULETT THoMsON,
in the representation of Manchester, made an
attack upon the over-caution with which Minis-
ters have proceeded, which compelled Mr. P.
THOMSoN to enter upon their defence. We
shall be curious to see the charges, and the
answer the Right lion. Gentleman made to
them. In the mean time one or two observa-
tions were made by him at an earlier hour of the
meeting which are worthy of note. He is re-
ported to have said—
"ls there any one who will say, after having adminis-
tered reform to the Church of Ireland, that reform is not
needed in the Church of England ?—(Loud and reiterated
cheers.) We have set on font the means of searching into
the abuses of the system of Corporations in this country;
let us take advantage of the fruits which will thus be
gathered, and administer correction there. The Dissenters
call aloud for relief from practical grievances—from the
necessity of contributing to an establishment to which they
do not belong.—(Hear, hear, hear.) That appears a just
and fair demand.—(Loud applause.) The state of public
education calls for the at.ention of Parliament more, I was
almost going to say, than any other subject.—(Applause.)"

After all this trumpeting, the Church reform
intended for this country ought to be something
worthy of the name ; but there is, we believe,
reason to fear that it will, after all, only
herald in a mouse, of which even the most
desperate Tories will have much ado to pretend

to be afraid. The relief of Dissenters from some
of the grievances under which they labour, and
the commencement of a system of national edu-
cation, may, however, it appears, be looked
forward to with certainty. If the intended reform

in the Church were made subservient to the
latter object, Ministers would do the country
one of the greatest of services. Many clergymen
keep school for emolument, not only without the
reprehension, but with the approbation of
stanch Churchmen. Now, as a proper edu-
cation is, of all things, most calculated
to make a moral society, it would seem
a natural part of a clergyman's duty at least to
superintend the education of his parish. There
are few large parishes which have not charities
for education, which might be rendered much
more extensively beneficial than they are at pre-

sent ; but wheresoever such facilities do no'

exist, or wherever they fall short of the object
to be accomplished, we can conceive the possi.

bility of making it part of the duty of a reformed
clergyman to devote a part of each day to the
instruction of the youth of his parish at a fixed
price, low enough to put the instruction to be
afforded within reach of the poorest.
But the most important portion of Mr.
THOMSON'S speech which has reached us is
following :

" I am aware," said the Right Hon. Gentleman, "that
there are many other, perhaps not less important, topics
than those which I have already named ; but still I pass
over them. There is one, however, with which Ido not
meddle—not because I do not consider it important, but be-
cause I consider it, perhaps, the most important of all. I
think there is scarcely one gentleman present who does
not already imagine that I allude to the Corn Law.—

(Hear.) That question stands under peculiar circum-
stances ; upon it the people of England are entirely dis-
agreed. Ignorance—fur, in my opinion, it is ignorance—
makes those who ought to be the beet friends opposed to
every alteration in the present Corn Law. It is a ques-
tion upon which we should feel—as all here do deeply
feel—its importance, and ought to strain every nerve to
carry some change."

This is precisely the language held by Mr.
MACAULAY at Leeds. The Ministry is in•

clined, as what Ministry of average intelligence
must not be, to alter the corn laws, but they
fear they have not the power. The ignorance
of the country gentlemen has to be overcome,

and any one who is aware of the profundity of
that ignorance, will acknowledge that the ob-

stacle is not a slight one, but will require every

man " to strain every nerve" to overcome it.

The dinner at Plymouth passed off without
any such interruption to its harmony as appears
to have occurred at that of Manchester, and
in the account of it which will be found

elsewhere will be seen some additional de-
clarations as to the intentions of Mini-
A more equal distribution of the
revenues of the Church we may infer is to
take place ; the repeal of the house tax is pro-
mised, and a reduction in the numbers of the

sters.

army is certain, recruiting having already ceased.
The two last are important announcements. The

~~

expediency of reducing of increasing the arma-
ments of a country is a question peculiarly for
the decision of the executive, and if the execu-
tive be watched as that of England is at present,
there is not much fear of a greater forte
being maintained than the poBition of af-
fairs renders prudent. But the expediency of
repealing or retaining a particular tax is one
which is fairly open to public discossin. As
long as a general tax on property is abstained
from, justice requires that both the house and
window taxes should be repealed, because they
are taxes pressing upon a particular destriptiOn
of property—taxes which had as fair a claim to
be repealed at the dose of the war, as the in-
come tax itself. But it being a matter of
choice which tax shall be repealed, the house
or the window tax, we must say we think
Lord A LTHORP has chosen ill in preferring
to repeal the house tax. That is a tax which
has the advantage of not (if the valuation be
fairly made) barefacedly and openly favouring
the richer at the expense of the middling classes.
All houses of 404 a year and upwards pay
2s. 10d. in the pound on every pound above
that value, let it amount to 1,0001. But look
at the window-tax :no sooner does it begin to
touch the exceedingly rich than a graduated
scale, reducing the duty, comes into operation.
Putting the health of the people aside, (and no
one can doubt that it is greatly concerned in
the proper ventilation of houses) we think that
the reason we have given above ought to be
alone sufficient to induce Lord ALTHORP to
abolish the window instead of the house tax.
At any rate, if the window tax be retained, we
trust that we shall see the present unjust
graduated scale done away with.

The interrogatory system of which Sir PETER

LAURIE, the late Lord Mayor, was so ena-
moured, is becoming very unpopular in France.
We perceive by the Paris papers that the spi-
rited refusal of RASPAIL and some of the other
defendants of the Society of the Rights of Man,
now on their trial in Paris, to criminate them•
selves, and thus gratify their prosecutors, is
much approved of, and we hope the example
will be generally followed. When desired to reply
to the interrogatories of the President, RAS-
PAIL said, " You are our accusers; prove your
charge. We are not here to furnish proofs
against ourselves." This is the principle of
English law, from which Sir PETER LAURIE
thought proper to dissent, supposing it much
more important that a rogue should be convicted
by the interrogatories of the Judge, than that an
innocent man should be protected against the
contrivances which a judge or a magistrate, who
takes credit for skill in the number of convic-
tions, might use to entrap him. The firmness
of the accused parties on the trial to which we
have referred, seems to have ruffled the Presi-
dent of the Court of Assizes, and to have
produced frequent altercations between him, and

the accused, and their advocates. We subjoin
a scene which occurred during the proceedings
on Friday last. One of the advocates, M.
PINARD, had branded with the title of forger
(faussaire) the person who had prepared the
act of accusation, and who, in doing so, had
wilfully misstated an important fact.

President—Forger is a strange word. The Court
orders that it shall be recorded against the advocate.
M. Pinard—l will substantiate my expressions.
Raspail, one of the accused-._M. Pinard was not chosen
by me. He was named for me by the Court. I bring ill
luck to my counsel. My first advocate was suspended for
two years, for saying that the Court did sot act with
impartiality.

M. Pinard-1 persist in my expression.
[Here M. Michel, M. Bethmont, and all the Counsel for
the prisoners rose and demanded that their names might be
recorded as agreeing with M. Pinard in the use of the ob-
noxious term forger.

Shortly afterwards M. DUPONT, one of the
prisoners' Counsel, charged the Government
with having falsified a document found on one
of the prisoners.

The Advocate-General—l demand that the words of M.
Dupont he recorded.
M. Dupont—." I persist in the accusation"—to which
all the prisoners' Counsel adhered.

Raspail—lf the Court persists in persecuting our counsel
with these chicaneries, I declare in the mine of all the
accused, that we will dispense with their assistance.
M. Dupont—And I declare in the name of the advocates
engaged for the prisoners that we will persist in our duty
towards our clients, in spite of the chicaneries of the Court
awl the advocates of the Ministers.

[Here all the counsel fur the prisoners ruse and made the
same declaration.]

This is the way in which the prosecutions of
the juste milieu Government are conducted.
With all possible respect for Sir PETER
LAURIE, we hope it will not be adopted in
this country.

The local papers have of necessity been
unable to go at anv very great length into many
important particulars connected with the in-
quiries of the Municipal Corporation Commis-
sion. We are rejoiced, therefore, to find that
public spirited individuals are publishing reports
of the proceedings of the Commissioners in
their respective towns. These reports will, we
fancy, prove a sufficient answer to the ravings of
our conservative contemporaries about " moun-
tebank commissioners," " unconstitutional in-
quisitors," &c. &c. We have now before us a
digested report of the evidence taken before the
Commissioners at Cambridge, and a more ef-
ficient exposure of barefaced robbery could not
be desired. Some of the details are so curious
that we cannot forbear extracting them for the
amusement, no less than the instruction, of our
readers. It appears that, although the town con-
tains a population of 20,917 souls, of whom
nearly 1,400 are 101. householders, qualified
to vote for Members of Parliament, the corpo-
ration consists of 162 persons only. The go-
verning power, however, resides in the Mayor,
twelve Aldermen, and twenty-four Common
Councilmen, who are elected by a process quite
effectual for the purpose of excluding from the
chief offices of the Corporation any person un-
friendly to the domination of the Duke of
RUTLAND, long the patron of the borough.
Neither the Mayor, Aldermen, or Common
Councilmen, appear to have acknowledged the
slightest responsibility either to the freemen or '
to the town at large. The consequences of this
are but too visible in their management, or rather
mismanagement, of the town charities, in their

dealings with the town property, and in their ne-
glect of its bridges, its roads, &c. In order to show
the efficiency of the system pursued at the elec-
tion of corporate officers, it will be sufficient to
state that for the last fifty years the Mayoralty
has been confined to one farnily, its connections,
and dependants. It appears from a document,
produced by one of the witnesses, that that office
was held as follows :—From 1788 to 1795, in-
clusive, SAMUEL FRANCIS and JOHN MORT-
LOCK were alternateiV Mayor ; from 1796 to
1801, inclusive, JOHN FARLOW, jun., and
JOHN MORTLOCK, were alternately Mayor;
from 1802 to 1809, inclusive, JOHN CHEET-
IIAM MORTLOCK and JOHN MORTLOCK were
alternately Mayor ; and from 1810 to 1816,
FREDERICK CHEETHAM MORTLOCK and
JOHN CHEETHAM MORTLOCK were alternately
Mayor. Mr. Commissioner LONG might well
ask whether the MORTLOCKS came into the
world with the sign of the mace upon them !
The "MonmocKs and other lions of the Corpo-
ration came in for auditorships of Excise, corn-
missionerships of Excise, receiverships of the
Post-office, livings, &c., all through the most
Noble and most Conservative Duke of RUT-
LAND'S interest. The understrappers, who did
the details of the dirty work, were rewarded
partly from the public purse, and partly from
the corporate funds. The mode in which the
last were made available is worth detailing. We
cannot do it in fewer words than it is done to
our hands in the report before us :

" REAL PROPERTY OF THE CORPORATION.
"From the statements of Mr. Cbevell and Mr. Spencer,
it appeared that within the last forty years a considerable
part of the real property belonging to the Corporation had
been sold. That all the remaining estates had been leased
for various term.. That from sixty to seventy leases and
sales had been made to members of the Corporation. That
at Michaelmas, 1832, the following was a correct account
of the number of leases with the terms for which they are
granted :

62 for 999 years.
I 500
3 99
69 40
2 21 —•

Total number of leases 137

" Since 1832 one of the forty years leases has expired
and the property has been re.let on a fourteen years lease.

THE THREE SALES TO MR. ALDERMAN BOND.
" In October, 1809, the Corporation sold to Thomas
Bond, Alderman, a piece of waste ground situate on
the south side of Maid's-causeway, cont4ining 567
feet in length and 40 feet 6 inches in breadth.--Pur-
chase money two guineas.
" Mr. Freeman Coe stated that this ground is now
garden ground, in front of some of the most respectable
houses in Cambridge, which are also partly built on it.
" Mr. Elliot Smith said that in 1809 the above pro-
perty was worth from 100/. to 120/.
" 2d. On the 16th August, 1810, the Corporation sold
to Alderman Bond (subject to a rent of ten shillings)
a piece of waste land near Parker's Piece, varying in
length from 252 to 225 feet, and in breadth from 24
to 20 feet.—Purchase money one guinea.
" Mr. Elliot Smith said that in 1810 the above piece
of land was worth nearly 150/.
" 3d. On the 26th of April, 1814, the Corporation, in
consideration of the surrender of a previous lease of
the premises, conveyed to Alderman Bond the Three
Fishes in Regent-street, in St. Benedict's parish, con-
taining by admeasurement 74 feet by 47, subject to a
rent of ten shillings.
" THE TWO SALES TO MR. ALDERMAN BUTCHER.
" Ist. On the 16th August, 1791, the Corporation sold
to Stephen Robinson, of Horseheath, two pieces of
waste land in the parishes of St. Benedict and St.
Andrew the Great.—Purchase money 211.
" Mr. Foster stated that the above property was on the
following day conveyed by Stephen Robinson to Joseph
Butcher, Alderman, for 301. That Robinson was a friend
and client of Butcher's. That the land in question is
now built on, and comprises nearly the whole of Regent-
street, on both sides of the way, being a total frontage of
1,386 feet. That in 1791 he barely knew the property,
but that from his knowledge of it a few years afterwards,
and from his having heard at the time that it was a
very scandalous transaction, he had no doubt that if put
up by auction it would have produced at least ten times
as much as Butcher gave for it. That, in 1810, Butcher
sold some at twenty-four shillings a foot. That some
fetched twenty-six shillings, some thirty shillings, and
some two and three guineas a foot, and that none was
sold for less than twenty shillings. That the land was
divided from the road by a ditch, and that in 1791 there
were buildings at each extremity of it. That in 1810,
18 feet of it produced Butcher more money than the sum
paid to the Corporation for the whole 1,386 feet.
" Mr. Hovel! said that he knew this property in 1791.
That it was the general opinion that it was given away. .
That he has no doubt it would have made 500/. That
Butcher's bargain was considered so good a one, that it
was the signal for a general scramble for waste land
amongst the corporators."
A scramble accordingly did take place, each
corporator doing the best he could for himself.

We have only room for one specimen of the
kind of jobbing that followed; but certainly out
of Cambridge it would be difficult, we should

imagine, to find its parallel. It is in the shape
of four leases to one THOMAS ROBINSON,
which are thus described :,
" Ist. The Corporation, in consideration of the surrender
of a term of thirty.three years, and a fine of 1501,,
demised Clement Hostel, and the waste ground ad-
joining, to Thomas Robinson for 999 years, from
Michaelmas, 1791, at the rent of 201.
" 2d. The Corporation, in consideration of a fine of fifty
guineas, leased to Mr. Robinson other parts of the
Clement Hostel estate for 999 years, from Michael-
mas, 1794, at the rent of 21.
" 3d. The Corporation in 1808, in consideration of a
fine of one guinea, leased to Mr. Robinson a piece of
void ground near the King's Ditch for 999 years, at
the rent of one guinea.
"4th. The Corporation in 1811 leased to Mr. Robinson
a piece of waste ground, adjoining the above pro-
perty, for 999 years, at the rent of two shillings
and sixpence.
_ _

" Mr. Foster stated that Thomas Robinson was the
brother-in-law of Richard Comings, sen., a member of
the Corporation. That be (Mr. Foster) in 1824, pur-
chased the above property of Mr. Robinson for 3,7501.
That be afterwards resold it in lots, and realized a very
considerable sum by so doing. That the property pos-
sessed an extensive frontage in Bridge_street, one of the
best streets in the town, and comprised a public-house, a
liquor-shop, an excellent Baffler's shop, a mansion house,
six or eight other dwelling houses, livery stables, a yard,
and a very large garden. That most of the buildings
were ancient. That Robinson (besides temporary repairs)
had done nothing for the property, except building asmall
summer-house.

" Commi.eioner Long said he could hardly believe that
the property mentioned by Mr. Foster, could be the same
that was leased to Robinson by the Corporation.
" Mr. Foster, Mr. Beaks, and other gentlemen, how-
ever, clearly identified it."

Among the witnesses examined was a common
councilman named STARMER, who had himself
bought land of the Corporation for half its
value, and was frequently one of the referees who
fixed its price, gives the following account of the
principles upon which he acted. It is at least can-
did. He said that as

" It was only Corporation property, he should not
make the same calculation for a stranger as for a friend.
That be should make a little difference, and sometimes a
great difference, in favour of a friend, because it is only
Corporation property. That relations of persons applying
for leases have occasionally been on the references, but that
in his opinion that was not fair.

" Co;nmissioner Long—Do you think it fair, and con-
sistent with integrity and conscience, and the duty you
owe the Corporation, that in letting estates a difference
should be made between friends and strangers ?
" Mr. Starmer._Yea.
" Commissioner Long—Then you think that the pro-