The Sun.
London, England, 1834-09-24 00:00:00

PROJECT OF LAW.

Art. 1. All individuals belonging to any Corporations
whatsoever who, with them, requested the ex-Infante Don
Miguel to declare himself King, or afterwards took the
oath to him in their collegiate capacity, and also all persons
in office who signed the rebellious Act of the so-called
Three Estates of the Kingdom, or continued to serve after
the said ex-Infante declared himself King, or even, not
then serving him, accepted from him any title, decoration.
or employ, shall be considered as having renounced the
titles, decorations, or employments which they held before,
without being able to found on them any right whatever.
Art. 2. All employments hitherto conferred on indivi-
duals circumstanced as in the preceding Article shall be
considered as provisional, and without any permanent effect ;
and if for eminent services, or other weighty reasons, they
were appointed to offices from which they cannot be re-
moved, their seniority shall begin to be reckoned only from
the date of their appointment.
Art. 3. All enactments to the contrary are revoked.

In the Sitting of the Chamber of Peers on the 9th a
Royal letter was read, addressed to the Duke of Palmella,
in which the Duke of Braganza, as Regent, confirms to him
the post of President of the Chamber of Peers, which the
Royal letter of the 14th of August had given him provi-
sionally.
The Duke de Palmella expresses his deep sense of gra-
titude for this nomination, desiring to use it only to fulfil to
the utmost of his power all the duties it imposes on him.

THE YACHT CLUE.—The Dauntless yacht, ac-
counted the pride of the fleet, 91 tons burden, was purchased
by the Hon. Captain Greville last season, at a sum approach-
ing 6,0001. He subsequently added the armoury, and fitted
up the principal cabin in oak. This added another 1,000/.
She is now considered one of the finest and handsomest sea-
boats in the service; and by way of illustrating this fact, it is
only necessary to add, she has beat every thing that has pre-
tended rivalry with her in the yacht fleet, either off, or on a
wind. She is about to change hands a second time, we per-
ceive, and with this intention is now floating like a duck in the
Southampton river, to be seen and admired by the fashionable
folks now congregated there, waiting the arrival of George
Robins on the 4th of October, when he officiates at the Dol-
phin Hotel. It will be a fine opportunity for an amateur of
nautical propensities to make his first essay ; she is sure to win,
and will be a prize to any one ; for, with a good helmsman she
may defy the fastest, and is to be sold at any price that is of-
fered for her at the sale. Captain Goble (the skipper of the
Dauntless) is most anxious for the opportunity of being
matched against any thing in the club, and is constantly to be
seen on board.

LIVERPOOL, MONDAY.—We have had a good
demand for Cotton to-day ; the sales amount to about 6,000
bags, at full prices for American descriptions, and id. to id.
per lb higher for Brazilian ; of the above 1,000 bags were
taken on speculation. •

LONDON,
WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 24, 1 it 34.

The only intelligence from Spain received this
morning has been the accounts furnished by the Cor-
respondents of French Papers, on the Spanish .fron-
tier, and the rumours afloat respecting the despatches
which arrived in Paris from Madrid, by the couriers of
Monday. It is however stated on good authority
that M. DE LA ROSA and his colleagues have
experienced several new modifications since the pas-
sing of the Bill of Rights. During the sitting
of the Procuradores on the 16th inst., it is reported
that TORENO.S motion for taking the report of the
majority of the Finance Committee into consideration
was negatived, and that the priority of discussion was
given to the report of the minority. Now, it will
be remembered that the minority recommended
the recognition of the whole of the debt, and
therefore the defeat of Ministers on this oc-
casion would seem to augur the adoption of
a liberal and just policy by the Chambers. The
debate is said to have been carried on with great heat,
amounting almost to personal recrimination. The
Ministers were denounced as apostates to their prin-
ciples, a charge which they heard not with equanimity.
We expect arrivals every hour from Madrid, stating
the result of the debate, which is reported to have been
resumed again on the 17th.

Since writing the above we have learned that an
express has arrived in the city, stating, that
the Cortes had adopted the report of
the Committee on the Cortes Bonds, and that
on the 17th they had agreed to acknowledge
two-fifths of the French debt. The Guebhard loans
were under consideration.

Trinidad Papers have been received this morning to
the Bth of August, the contents of which, we regret
to say, are of rather an unfavourable character.
It appears that sometime previous to the Ist of August the
slaves had declared that they had not the slightest intention of
working after that day for their masters, and declared that the
King had freed them ; but that the Governor, in conjunction
with their masters, had imposed the term of apprenticeship.
In consequence of these demonstrations four companies of the
Local Militia were ordered to hold themselves ready. The morn-
ing of the Ist of August had scarcely dawned when the appren-
tices were found moving into the town in numerous groupes
towards the Government-house, having come to inform his
Excellency of their determination not to work. His Excel-
lency first, and subsequently Captains Hay and Mac Kayne,
two of the new Justices from England, explained to them
the conditions and the penalty of disobedience, but these were
not only disregarded, but these functionaries most grossly in-
sulted and set at defiance. The mob becoming more turbulent
the militia was ordered to muster, and the whole corps was
soon under arms. A company of the 19th Regiment
was also sent for. Thus matters continued until evening, when
the Governor, on quitting the Government-house, was again
most grossly insulted. Accounts were also received from
the districts in the neighbourhood of Port of Spain, by
which it appeared that the gangs of negroes there had
also ceased to work, but had exhibited no symptoms
of violence. At night the Negroes dispersed, but pickets and
patrols were placed round
.the town. On the following
morning there was a repetition of the scene of the
preceding day, and seventeen of the most violent were
arrested and condemned to stripes and hard labour. Finding
this state of things continue, Captain Hay at length read
the clause in the Royal Orders declaring the assemblage
of three or more Negroes a mob ; but this being unheeded,
a body of cavalry, with two pickets of infantry, were ordered
to clear the streets, which was done without accident. During
the whole of the day parties of negroes kept advancing into
town, but as they formed but a small part of those missing
from the Estates, it was supposed that they were meet-
ing in some unknown spot. On Sunday all passed off
tranquilly ; but on Monday, the 4th, the mob returned as be-
fore, and the authorities began to act with vigour, sixty being
arrested, of which thirty-three were condemned to hard labour
and to be flogged. The sentence was executed on the sth,
but the criminals evinced no contrition, and were encouraged
to endure their punishment by the negroes assembled round.
When the accounts left, the negroes were still scattered about,
but the advices from Naparima and the most populous quar-

tern had become very favourable. The negroes do not appear
to have been armed.

We have received by express the Paris Papers of
Monday, together with the Gazette de France of yes-
terday. There is no domestic' intelligencg in these
journals, and the only report from Spain is the arrival
of three couriers from Madrid, who reached Paris on
Monday, but the contents of their despatches have
not yet been made public. The Carlist Committee,
at present sitting in Paris, is reported to have
sent an AustriLi officer to Don CARLOS, pray-
ing him to despatch letters to the Three Great
Northern Powers, soliciting their active interfe-
rence in his favour, of which letters the said officer
would be the bearer. The Committee also recom-
mended the removal of Don CARLOS'S family from
England to Nassau, where the sister of Prince PAUL
of Wurtemburg had offered her residence for their
reception ; or, in case the family would not accept the
invitation of the Princess, the King of PRUSSIA
would accommodate them with one of his MAJESTY'S
palaces.
For the reports in circulation in Paris respecting
the progress of the civil war in Spain, we refer to our
extracts from the French papers.

Wherever the new Poor Law Amendment Bill has
been brought into operation the results have been such
as to realize the best anticipations of the advocates of
its principles. Already has it effected a reduction of
one shilling and two pence in the pound, in the parish
rate of St. Luke's Chelsea—an immense saving
when it is considered that the Act has only come into
operation a few weeks. This is the opinion of the
overseers, who anticipate a much larger reduction when
the whole of the provisions of the Bill are acted upon,
without, in the slightest degree, trenching upon the
comforts of the real and legitimate objects of parochial
relief.

In his speech at the Edinburgh dinner to Earl
GREY, Sir JOHN CAMPBELL, when alluding to some
projected improvements in the law, said " it is ex-
ceedingly gratifying to me, that in the toast which has
been given, my name should be coupled with legal re-
form. To this cause have I devoted the chief labors
of my life, and to this chiefly, I trust for a reputation,
if I ever shall achieve one, in which my children may
take a pride." There is no spur like ambition—well-
directed ambition we mean, for otherwise, it is a
source of weakness rather than of strength—to carry
a man gallantly over every obstacle ; and we are glad
therefore, to find the Attorney General here avowing,
in the most explicit and forcible terms, that the one
great object of his ambition ever has been, and ever
will be, to hold a foremost place among the legal Re-
formers of the day. Where there is a will, there is a
way, says the old adage ; and Sir JOHN CAMPBELL
having the " will," will be at no loss to find out the
" way." He has acuteness—industry—skill—prac-
tice ;—every requisite, in short, to enable him to suc-
ceed in the cause to which he has so earnestly
devoted himself. He is no maudlin sentimentalist to
sit down and weep, because the chances may run for a
time against him ; no, he is fully aware, from past
experience, that no prize worth having, was ever yet
gained without a world of anxiety and lab Our. "It
may be thought," says he, " by the inexperienced,
.that legal reform is an easy task ; but they little know,
who never tried, what it is to encounter the opposition
of individuals, and of classes of men, who have an in-
terest in the perpetuation of abuses, or the honest pre-
judices of the ignorant and the bigotted." The hos-
tility of such men is, indeed, to be dreaded ; never-
theless, fore-warned is fore-armed, and Sir JOHN
CAMPBELL being already acquainted with the
exact nature and stubbornness of the opposition
that he is likely to encounter; knowing well that the
mean and the selfish will strive to way-lay and deal
him a knock-down blow in the dark ; while hosts of
the more honest but obtuser bigots will meet him face
to face, and dispute every inch of his road, is by this
very knowledge of his:enemies' tactics furnished, with
the best means of circumventing them. It is a worthy
cause to which he has wedded himself ; for what can be
worthier or nobler,what more suited to the character of an
enlightened statesman, than to bring help to the op-
pressed, and visit the oppressor with retribution ; to make
the poor man's heart leap with j oy, to feel that he too, when
wronged, can obtain as speedy and as full a measure of
justice as the proudest noble in the land ; to humanize
the mind, and improve the morals of the people ; and
bind 'the whole social system together with
,a firm and
indissoluble cement? Of late years, our laws have been
remarkable only for being at variance with the spirit of
the age. While the latter has kept slowly moving
forward, the former have stood stock-still, encumbering
and thwarting social improvement at every step of its
progress. True, some few legal amendments have been
made within the last ten years, but much yet remains to
be done ; and to no better hands can a full and efficient
legal reform be entrusted, than to those of the LORD
CHANCELLOR and the ATTORNEY-GENERAL.

The Report of the Select Committee appointed by
the House of Commons in February last, to inquire
into the various sinecure offices under the controul of
the Crown, with a view to their gradual and total abo-
lition, has been printed. It is an important document
as exhibiting how much the present Administration has
done, during its tenure of office, to relieve the country
from the charge of supporting persons in affluence who
render no equivalent to the community ; whilst the
really useful members are, in many instances, suffering
from extreme destitution. The Government has cer-
tainly not been idle, and it is but just to say, that the
example was set it by previous Administrations °Since
the year 1810. At that period the number of sine-
cure offices in the United Kingdom and the Colonies,
including those appertaining to the Royal Household,
was two hundred and forty-two ; now the total number
existing is one hundred and eight, of which eight can-
not properly be called sinecures, as they have duties
attached to them which are executed by the holders
in person. The whole number is therefore reduced,
within the last twenty-four years, to one hundred
offices, all in a fair way to total extinction, which will
be effected by the death of the present patentees ; or
where the offices are not held by patents, as soon as
the Government can compensate the holders of the con-
demned offices for their private interest in them. Nor
has the diminution in the number of offices been made,
without effecting a still larger proportionate reduction
in the national expenditure under this head. In 1810
the amount received by sinecurists was 297,0951.,
which is now reduced to 97,8031., or thereabouts.
_

This is much in the great march of economical
improvement! and we believe the Government are pre-
pared to hazard every thing to complete what has
been thus begun. All that is wanted is time, and the
continued confidence of the country. Many of the

sinecure offices, now in the course of extinction are a
disgrace to the country, and will not be continued an
hour longer than they can be safely abolished. It is
high time that those whose names are synonimous with
feudal bondage were banished the nomenclature of Bri-
tish functionaries ; nor will any consideration other than
that of effecting the public good at the least possible
sacrifice of individual interests, be allowed to delay this
most desirable event.

Although the Committee in their Report, appear to
have given much attention to the subject of their en-
quiries, still we must object to the vague manner in
which some of the recommendations are put. Take
as an example the following extract from the body of
the Report :

" No. 18. Chief Proclamator of the Court of Common
Pleas.
25. Receiver-General of the Seal Office.
27. Hereditary Chief Usher of the Exchequer.
55. Grand Falconer of England.
65. Principal Usher and Doorkeeper of the Ex-
chequer.
87. Constable of Hillsborough.
" Your committee have not considered it as falling within the
limits of their inquiry to sift the legal validity of the separate
patents under which these offices are held. They have treated
the patents as constituting in themselves a full apparent title
to the holders of the various offices, to the extent and on the
conditions specified in each several grant ; but without intend-
ing to add any sanction or confirmation to such patents as
might prove disputable, or to pronounce any opinion on the
legal and constitutional principles by which their validity
ought to be determined. But, inasmuch as doubts have been
started before the committee, as to the validity of patents
granted to extend beyond the life of the granting Sovereign,
your committee recommend that measures should be taken for
ascertaining whether those doubts are well founded."

We confess we cannot discover the grounds of this
great delicacy in the expression of the opinion of the
Committee. We do not .understand in what consists
the authority of the House of Commons, if it can only
depute powers to trouble the surface of the stream, at
the same time it professes to sound its depths and
shallows. We maintain that the Committee was as
much called upon to pronounce an opinion of what it
considered a breach of the Constitution, as the highest
legal functionary of the State, were the same question
officially propounded to him. Moreover, why take
any part of the duty out of the hands of the Govern-
ment, if the inquiry was to be left in any respect
imperfect ? The Committee was invested with full
powers to call for whatever assistance it might think
proper. Persons, papers, patents, appointments, were all
at its disposal, and why therefore leave any thing to be
done? But this is one of the greatest evils attendant on
sitting Committees. Half the business is only done, the
members get tired and will not attend, and the conse-
quence naturally is, that the whole is to be done over
again the next or second session.
The report, however, with a few trifling drawbacks,
is extremely satisfactory, and reflects great credit on the
government. As we before observed there is no party
in the state, no matter by what name they may be
called, more truly anxious to effect the total abolition
of every sinecure office under the crown than the pre-
sent ministers. The people are beyond the extreme
point in civilization and moral improvement, at which
such proceedings could be tolerated, as the continuing
to be taxed for the support of titled and patent-
privileged idlers, who have nothing to give the com-
munity from whom they receive everything, but the
example of their conduct, and even that is more
frequently calculated to corrupt the public morals
than to improve them. We are, however, very
far from saying, that compensation ought not
to be made to the holders of sinecure offices,
whenever their abolition takes place. We would not
be guilty of a breach of public faith to any individual,
whatever might be the nature of his appointment.
The State is able to act justly by itself, without in-
flicting the slighest suffering on any of its members,
farther than may be occasioned by the prevention

of positive injury.
We consider it useless to publish the Report
of the Committee at full length, as it has all ap-
peared before in The Sun, in the reports of the debates
on the Pension List. Much of it, besides, would not
be read, as there is nothing in it either new, interest-
ing, or instructive. The only really important matter
contained in it will be found in the following table ex-
tracted from the Report :
Your Committee have prepared the following table, which
will show the progress which has been made in the abolition of
sinecures :

1810. t
i 1834.
Amount of Amount of Amount of Amount of
Prospective Emolument Prospective Say.
Emolument
ir.g by Aboli_Say.
of existing tog by Aboli. of existing t' &
Sinecures tion, &c. pro- Sinecures. I°n'clecf.do-
r.r
vided for. vi
------ ----- England --.--
X 178,051 £11,93.5 X 6 I,' 69 £';6,6 i 8
Scotland 2-t,t 01 14,9'22 14,303
Ireland 743,433 16,3 2 19,002 10,968
—____. ---- ------- --
Total .... .C 279496 , 89,347 I x ,v 4-13 i X 81,994

The House will perceive, from this table, that the amount
of sinecures, for the ultimate abolition of which no Parlia-
mentary enactment has provided, is already reduced from
nearly 200,0001. per annum, as it stood in 1810, to less than
17,0001. per annum.

We have every reason to believe that the country
will be well satisfied with the earnest they have re-
ceived of the determination of the Ministry to do all
that can be done to effect a reduction of the public
burthens, to improve and extend our commercial rela-
tions, and to reform all abuses arising from a misap-
propriation of the national finances. But it is both
unreasonable and ungenerous to expect that all this
can be done in a moment. Evil ought to be removed
without unnecessary delay ; but some care is necessary
to prevent the infliction of still greater evil.