The Sun.
London, England, 1833-10-01 00:00:00

of the agriculture of the United Kingdom we re
referred, it will be found that the report com-
mences by stating that the complaints of the
petitioners are founded in fact, in so far as they
represent that, at the present price of corn,
the returns to the occupier of an arable
farm, after allowing for the interest of his
investment, are by no means adequate to the
charges and outgoings, of which a considerable
proportion can be paid only out of the capitals,
and not from the profits of the tenantry.' The
average price of wheat for the year 1821 was
545. 5d per quarter. The average price of the
present year is 535. ld. ; and although some of
the charges connected with general taxation have
been reduced since 1821, yet the local burdens,
such as poor-rate and county-rate, have, in most
parts of England, been grievously augmented.
The Committee of 1821 arrived at the conclu-
sion, that the returns of the farming capital were
at that time considerably below the ordinary rate
of profit ;' and no evidence adduced before your
Committee of diminished outgoings, contrasted
with the change of prices in the interval, would
warrant, at this moment, a different conclusion."
Now, it is quite evident that this must be a gross
exaggeration, if applied to any large number of
farmers, or to any extensive district of coun-
try. Few farmers could afford to pay their rent
out of their capital for ten or twelve years, as
their capital before that time would either have
been exhausted, or their patience worn out, with
so ruinous a speculation. Besides, what should
we say in such a case of the whole tribe of knavish
landlords who could pocket the capital of their
farmers, advanced to them in annual instalments,
till after the last instalment theirruined tenants were
obliged to take refuge in the workhouse ? Nor
do we place much more reliance on some of the
very nice calculations with respect to the dimi-
nution of the stock of wheat on hand, the exact
measurement of the supply for the year, and the
danger of falling short by a month's provisions,
and consequently of being exposed to a month
of famine by a mere change in the time of
reaping, or a delay in the maturity of the corn.
Then, all the superstructure of alarm built on
this foundation, the impossibility of getting a
month's supply in case of a deficient crop, joined
with a late harvest, from all the markets in the
world, appears to us to be about as much
" fudge." If, however, this danger were even
greater than it is represented to be, the inference
to be drawn from it appears to us to be at com-
plete variance with the conclusion of the Com-
mittee. Open your ports, we say, to the corn
of all the world : let us have part of our supplies
from the Black Sea—part from the Baltic—
part from the countries washed by the Mediter-
ranean and the German Ocean—and part from
the Atlantic line of the North Americanconti-

vent. Let us encourage the people in all these
quarters to grow wheat to exchange for our
manufactures, and with such a variety of climate,
and over such an extent of surface, we shall
always enjoy a security against the apprehended
scarcity. Nor would our own agriculture suffer
in the slightest degree from this extension of
the market for the fruits of our industry, and
this provision of a contingent foreign re-
serve against the chances of domestic famine—
a point which, if our space now permitted,
we could satisfactorily prove. With regard
to the remedies proposed in the report, they
are soon told, and the sooner the better. The
Committee remark with great justice, that " al-
though it is in the power of the Legislature to
do much evil, yet it can do little positive good
by frequent interference with agricultural in-
dustry." The report afterwards observes—" The
outgoings, which the law does not impose, are
placed beyond the control of the Legislature, are
private bargains, open frcm time to time, and
regulated by competition ; and where Parliament
cannot interfere, any recommendation or opinion
pronounced by your Committee would certainly
be inefficacious for good, perhaps even produc-
tive of evil. Who are to judge what profit, rent,
and wages ought to be ? Certainly no legislative
authority ; for these are matters of convention,
dictated by the reciprocal convenience of the
parties, and silently indeed, but surely, adjusted
by their reciprocal necessities." The only real
remedies for the distress of the agricultural in-
terest are to be found in a reduction of the rates
and taxes which press upon the occupier of land
—the strict maintenance of our present standard
of value—the modification or abolition of the
Corn Laws, so as to allow the introduction of
that cheap corn which is said to be " best for the
farmers,"—an improvement in the administration
of the Poor Laws,—and the permanent commu-
!ation of tithes—a measure promised for next
session. The effect of this latter change will be
meter than has yet been anticipated. It will
give a stimulus to the agricultural enterprise of
the country, which will insure us ten or twenty
years of comparative prosperity, and enable us
to reduce our prices of corn to nearly the level
of foreign markets, while it will afford great
additional means of employing all our rural la-
bourers.— Times.
The good effects that were expected by the
well-informed classes of the nation, from the

recent changes that have been effected in our
criminal code, are now beginning to develop
themselves in a manner that must be extremely
gratifying, not only to the enlightened societies
and members of the Legislature by whose united
exertions those great and useful improvements
were achieved, but also to the vast majority of
the public, who are quite glad to be relieved ,
from the national odium to which, as a people,
we were exposed, by the late inefficient but
sanguinary laws—laws which, as has often been
stated, though vindictive and revengeful in an
extreme degree, were utterly powerless to afford
adequate protection to life and property, and in
fact were held in derision by the very malefactors
for whose destruction they were intended. We
feel ourselves called upon to make these obser-
vations, in consequence of the examination
that took place on Thursday at the Mansion-
House, in the case of Philip Hervey, charged
with forging bills, &c. It would appear that this
prisoner is an old offender—that is, one of the
old school, which flourished to an alarming ex-
tent under the auspices of the " capital punish-
ment" system, and, in fact, derided its fangless
and impotent rage. Long did this class of dan-
gerous miscreants shelter themselves under the
undue severity of the law, and the respect
for human life that, to the great credit of our
country, still guides the feelings and con-
sciences of the great majority of the nation.
Knowing well that their friends and relatives
would not prosecute them to death, those wicked
beings continued their nefarious practices ; and
robberies to the amount of very many thousands
I of pounds were securely effected annually by
this species of fraud ; and these were chiefly
. effected by persons who, it is known' were in the
habit of going about town in gigs and curricles,
with grooms, &c., and, with a hardened profligacy,.
were in the habit of attending the executions of

the inferior members of their fraternity whom
the Bank of England uselessly caused to be
arranged on the gibbet by dozens for the forgery
of 1/. notes. It is true that some of these
barouche driving felons did occasionally venture
too far, and, after plundering to a great extent,
got somehow or other exhibited on the gallows
with their poverty-stricken brethren, and both as
objects more of idle curiosity than usefulness ;
but whilst the small fry of forgers was strung up
in scores to no useful purpose, the robber of
thousands felt a degree of impunity, because he
was a respectable man, and was very respectably
connected ; his respectable friends and relatives
could not endure the entailed disgrace of having
their relative hanged, and consequently theynot
only endured the frauds he practised on them
in silence, but often aided the escape of their
felon relative from the hands of justice. Another
class on whom these odious criminals sometimes
successfully practised their frauds were those
whom no offence, solely against property, can
induce to prosecute the offender to death ; this
class, in fact, forms a large portion of the
wealthier classes amongst the bankers, merchants,
&c. Here then we have the two principal
causes why, out of the enormous number
of forgeries committed on the banking and
mercantile communities, so very few were
made public, or became the subject of
judicial proceedings. It is a well known
and most important fact that not one-tenth of
the forgeries actually committed were ever
brought before the public tribunals of justice ;
but as the law now stands, this will be exactly
reversed, for not one-tenth of the miscreants
who may still be wicked enough to practise this
species of fraud are likely to escape being
brought to the bar of criminal justice—not
indeed to be hanged up, as used to be the case
formerly, but to be placed under the closest
restrictions of solitary confinement, with hard
labour, for a certain number of years, and then
the culprit to be sent to the penal colonies for
the remainder of his life, to expiate his crimes
by painful toils and privations, far from all the
animal gratifications which those idle and profli-
gate characters most value, and to obtain which
they had abandoned all the advantages of honour-
able and useful industry. In the course of the
examination alluded to, we were much struck
with the full and judicious reply which Mr.
Gurney (of the banking firm of Gurney, Over-
end, and Co.) made to the observations of the
Lord Mayor. His Lordship stated that this
very respectable house, and others of the Society
of Friends, must be aware to what the increase
of forgeries was attributable. Mr. Gurney said
he was not aware that such was the fact, but
that, as the law now stands, the house to which
he belonged, though formerly not in the habit
of prosecuting the perpetrators of this crime
when the offence was capital, would feel no hesita-
tion at prosecuting cases of this description ;
adding, " we will certainly look at both sides of
a bill, and our assistance shall not be wanting to
prevent the prisoner from escaping." Here is
an illustration of our arguments to show the
superior efficacy of rational laws, when adminis-
tered with impartiality and firmness, over those
weak, yet sanguinary enactments, which make
the chances of escape ten times greater than
those of conviction. We are sorry to perceive
that the Lord Mayor does not appear to be
quite convinced that the recent improvements in
those laws will lessen the number of forgeries ;
but we have been able to convince more obsti-
nate advocates for the old system than Sir Peter
Laurie of the benefits these laws will confer on
society when they are brought fully into action.
They are now only beginning to operate, and
must be allowed fair play, and not rashly con-
demned before trial. With the expressions of
honest indignation which his Lordship tittered
on that occasion in reference to that vile species
of fraud we entirely agree. We hope his exam-
ple will not be lost upon his successors, but that
they will manfully stand up to the task of root-
ing out, or, if possible, totally eradicating, this
foul crime, which is commonly generated at the
gambling table.—Morning Herald.
In another part of our columns we have pub-
lished from some of our Provincial Contempo-
raries certain additional and cogent specimens of

the gentlemanly temper and the high patriotic
feelings of the Earl of Durham. At Cherbourg,
upon a visit to Louis Philip, it was all very
well for Lord Durham to lower the flag of
his country and hoist above it the paltry rag
which bore his own ill-gotten arms. It was no
doubt a suitable and an acceptable offering at the
shrine for which it was intended. But when
this atra-bilious Earl condescends to return to

the ports and the homes of Britons we recom-
mend him to reflect that there are tempers besides
his own which may be tried beyond their capacity
of endurance. The flag of their natural enemy
may be floated once too often in the faces of
our British tars, and the private demesnes of
an English Gentleman are not always to be
violated with impunity even by the "crew of
the Louisa."—Morning Post.

PHENOMENON.—In making the excavation
for the Leeds and Selby railway, at Milford-hill, a large
told has been found imbedded in a layer of clay, with a
kind of angular stone roof close to its head, at a distance
of 40 feet from the surface, and beneath several thick
beds of stone, which seem never to have been disturbed
since the original organization of the earth ! The reptile,
which is preserved in spirits, has a shrivelled appearance,
but nothing certainly that indicates antediluvian age. It
is to be regretted that the workmen amused themselves by
span-whuiny this inhabitant of the nether regions soon
after it was found, and in that way deprived it of a life
which had been preserved through bow many generations
of men it is impossible to say.—Leeds Mercury.
DETERMINED ATTEMPT AT SUICIDE.—
On Friday morning last, at about two o'clock, as inspec-
tor Bicknell, of the V division, was riding over Wimble-
don-common, he discovered a young gentleman named
Sams, who about five minutes previously had attempted
to commit a most horrible and determined act of suicide,
by cutting his throat with a small piece of broken china,
which was found lying by the road side near the spot on
which he was found. It was subsequently discovered the
unfortunate man, from finding a difficulty in effecting his
purpose with so blunt an instrument, had actually thrust
his fingers into the orifice produced by the wound, and
endeavoured to render the attempt effectual by tearing
open the wound. The inspector with the utmost promp-
titude took him to Tooting, where he procured a convey-
ance and immediately accompanied him to Guy's hospital,
where he now lies in a very dangerous condition. It ap-
pears that Mr. Same is respectably connected, and will, on
the decease of a very aged relative, residing in the
neighbourhood, become possessed of a fortune ex-
exceeding 30,000/. A long and recent course of dissipa-
tion, it appears had reduced Mr. S. to a very destitute
condition, and his distress was augmented by the refusal
of a barmaid at an inn in the neighbourhood (to whom he
had recently become most ardently attached, and had paid
his addresses) to marry him until he should discontinue
his bad habits, or should make it appear that he was in a
condition, independent of his expectancy from his uncle,
to render their home comfortable. This so preyed upon
his mind as to drive him to all sorts of excesses, and on
Tuesday last he discovered the individual, on whom be bad
placed his affections, had for a time placed herself out of
his reach, by going to her relatives at a distance in the
country. This operated on his mind so powerfully as to
drive him to madness, and is the only reason that can be
assigned for the attempt on his life.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-HO USE.

A poor man named Edwards waited upon the
LORD MAYOR yesterday, in great affliction for the
loss of his two children, whom, he said, he appre-
hended some infamous wretches had got hold of.
He stated that on Friday last, between one and
two o'clock, the two children, John and Isabella
Edwards, the boy nine years, and the girl eleven
years of age, were sent from home in Star-court,
Chancery-lane, to a respectable person's house in
Chancery-lane, for linen to take to the mangle, which
their mother worked. A considerable period having
elapsed, the parents called at the house, and were
shocked at hearing that the children had not been
there. The neighbourhood was scoured, but in
vain, and neither boy nor girl was to be found.
There were several houses of bad repute in the
immediate neighbourhood.
The LORD MAYOR should give directions to his
officers, which he accordingly did.
William Sharp, a boy who has been a long time
acquainted with the interior of Newgate, was
brought up, charged with having deliberately walked
into a shoemaker's shop in Hotindsditch, and stolen
a pair of boots. The master of the house saw the
robbery was committed, although it was done with
a peculiar grace, and was evidently by the hand of
a master, and he apprehended the prisoner, who
was carrying off the boots with the air of an appren-
tice about to fit a customer.

The LORD MAYOR—The last time you were
here, I told you we'd meet again, and now we meet
probably for the last time, for you can't be left on
the town, you are too clever. Prisoner—l don't
remember that I ever saw your Lordship's face
afore. I'm sure I never seed it in sich a place as
this here.

The LORD MAYOR—Yes, we met on this very
spot, and I have a black mark on the list against
your name. Prisoner—Please you, my Lord, it
couldn't be me; props it's some fellow as took my
name, cause his own was too bad to use.—(A laugh.)

The LORD MAYOR—WeII, how do you mean
to get out of this scrape ? Prisoner—lt's no felony,
please you, my Lord. It's all a mistake. You see
I was passing by this here gentleman's shop a
whistling of Jack Cullen's " Polly, love," and up
comes a pack of evil-minded wagabonds, and they
does nothing but gives me a shove into this here
shop, so down I falls among the boots, and so I gets
up and takes this here pair as laid close to my hand,
for to ding at their heads, I was so wild—
(Great laughter)—but jist as I was going to let fly,
this here gentleman cotches me, and says he to me,
" Vhy, my young 'un, you're a thieving;" and so
he cases me of this here robbery.—(Laughter.)
The LORD MAYOR—That's ingenious, certainly.

I suppose you wish me to ask the bootmaker
whether he saw all this ? Prisoner—No, please
you, my Lord, I don't want him to be axed any
thing at all about it. It's no use, for his mind's
made up to say it's all a lie.—(Laughter.)
Prosecutor—So it is.

Prisoner—There, I told you so, your Lordship.
You see, as I'm in this here dock, people won't be-
lieve me no more nor if I was at the Old Bailey.
But I arn't guilty of no crime, for I'd have brought
the boots back arter I used them.

The LORD MAYOR remanded the prisoner.

Two poor young Irishmen, who looked as if they
had very little acquaintance with the baker's shop,
were brought up charged by themselves with having
committed a robbery in a haberdasher's shop.
They had come over to England because they
could get no work at home, and being equally un-
lucky here, they wandered about until hunger
spurred them into the haberdasher's shop, where
they contrived to get hold of some stockings, which
they immediately pledged to stop the speed of star-
vation. After the profit of this depredation was all
expended they went straight up to a patrol, told
him they had robbed a gentleman, and in proof of it
handed him the duplicate of the stockings. The
officer thought the evidence quite sufficient,and took
them to the Compter, where they ate as if they had
never eaten before and never were to eat again. _

The LORD MAYOR—And have you ascertained
whether their statement is correct ? The officer
replied in the affirmative, The haberdasher had
been at the pawnbroker's shop and identified the
stockings.
The LORD MAYOR.-.--I cannot punish these poor
creatures as thieves. Let them be kept at the
Compter for a few days, and I shall see what is best
to be done.