The Sun.
London, England, 1833-12-28 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—l enclose an extract from a letter I have just re-
ceived from Boulogne-Sur-bier; I forward it to you, not
for the sake of filling your columns with afflicting details,
but with the hope that the French Government, the
municipal authorities of Boulogne, or the person or per-
sons, whoever they be, on whom this frightful responsibi-
lity rests, may be reminded that the eyes of England are
anxiously turned to watch how long this singular indif-
ference to human life is to last. Every country in Europe
that has a vessel on the seas is interested in the question,
whether France cannot or will not afford so trifling a sum
as the cost of a life-boat, or cannot find men to man one,
to avert some of the calamities which must be continually
occuring on so dangerous a coast.

I am, Sir, yours, &c.,
F. N.

London, Dec. 26.

Extract of a letter from Boulogne.Sur-Mer, Dec. 22 :
—" In my last letter (dated Dec. 9) I told you I feared
it would be impossible for the packet to sail. 11y fears
were verified. The weather became worse than ever. At
8 o'clock A.M. one of the smaller fishing boats was wrecked
within the harbour, between the two buoys. Five men
and two boys were consigned to a watery grave; three of
the men and the two boys were swept away immediately;
the other two clang to the toast, and waved their red caps
for assistance for a quarter of an hour, when an immense
sea broke over the boat, and left not a vestige to mark the
spot. Huret (the pilot who put off to the Amphitrite)
with some difficulty went out in his boat, but without suc-
cess. The pieces of wreck came ashore directly, but the
unfortunate sufferers have not yet been picked up.
" The whole of that day I was in great anxiety. The
fineness of the preceding afternoon having tempted many
fishermen, who are in a state of starvation from the con-
tinued bad weather, to put out to sea, twelve attempted to
enter the port with success, though two were in great
jeopardy. You can ic2agine the scene—the poor anxious
wives ready to rush ihto the sea. When will it please
Heaven to calm this war of winds? Every blast makes
me dread some new disaster.

" This dread was fearfully realized yesterday. At ten
o'clock in the morning two vessels were in sight, one a
brig on the verge of the horizon, the other a three masted
vessel, only just perceptible with the glass. The brig
bore away to the westward ; the other gradually ap-
proached the shore (the wind blowing a hurricane from
the north) until she got in a parallel line with the end of
the pier, when she stranded at three o'clock p.m.

"Conceive only the late dreadful scene of the 4mphi•
trite acted over again, in some respects worse, though the
number of victims was not so great;—conceive the
having before your sight in broad daylight a gallant ship,
and in a short two hours a total wreck, and every soul
on board lost.

" The mast broke away about four o'clock. There
were then 12 men ; seven were clinging to the bowsprit,
the rest were at the stern, the sea breaking over them
every moment, and the poor exhausted creatures dropping
into the sea, till the rising tide completely overwhelmed
the hulk. Two men were seen clinging to the bowsprit
the last time it appeared above water. They must have
been lashed, or they could not have remained so long.
Thus we have again been condemned to see our fellow-
creatures perish in the sight of thousands unable to give
any assistance. It would be some consolation, under this
second great catastrophe, if we could flatter ourselves that
those who have the means, and whose duty it is to provide
a life-boat, would now be urged to do something effective.
Ever since the catastrophe of the 31st of August the ne-
cessity of this measure has been talked of, and money was
actually subscribed with that view, but as yet nothing has
been done.

" All the sufferers in the present case might have been
saved by means of a life-boat. Four pilot_boats put out,
but the surf was too strong, and drove them back. Se-
veral Englishmen went out io these boats. One body
Las been picked up. The vessel was a Norwegian, named
the Habwitz Anker, Captain Brunn. Whence she came,
her cargo, and destination, are unknown."
Times.

The Law Officers of the Crown have, it is
said, received instructions to prepare and bring
in a Bill, on the meeting of Parliament, " for
the better trial of prisoners at-Justice Hall, in
the Old Bailey, and for the better regulation of
the gaol deliveries ikthe county of Middlesex."
What the exact proviSions of the proposed Bill
will be we have not heard ; butree main object
we presume, will be to do away with the ano-
maly of the Grand Jury at Clerkenwell having
anything to do with the finding or rejecting bills
against persons committed for trial at the Old
Bailey ; and to obviate which the Sheriffs will
be empowered and required to empannel a Grand
Jury for that express purpose at the Old Bailey,
to be taken, as in other counties, exclusively
from the list of Special Jurors, and to
whom, as in other counties also, one of the
Judges on the rota will be required to deliver
his charge. Various other topics and regulations
will probably be introduced into it, and we
should not be surprised to hear of the Middle-
sex Magistrates (at least such of them as are fa-
vourable to the projects) endeavouring to en-
graft upon it the contemplated salary to their
Chairman, but which, probably, as calculated to
hazard the fate of the Bill, will not be permitted
by its authors. As far as its object, as above
defined, goes, it will meet, we have little doubt,
with the approbation of all who have given their
attention to the subject ; indeed, some such
measure becomes imperatively necessary, were
it only to put an end to the delays, the
interruptions, and unseemly broils which the
present defective practice has given rise
to. For ourselves, we cannot help saying that
consistently with the more enlarged view which
we have always taken of the subject, we should
be better pleased were Government to bring in
a Bill to regulate the trial of prisoners in all the
counties and local jurisdictions in the kingdom,
by placing the judicial office in more competent
hands than many of those can possibly be who
at present exercise it. Any person accustomed
to attend the assizes and quarter sessions in a
county town must have been struck with the
marktcl difference Which exists in the mode of
administering criminal justice upon those occa-
sions, and particularly with the slovenly unsatis-
factory manner in which grievous crimes are dis-
posed of at the latter, as compared with the calm
and dignified manner in which the law is expounded
and dispensed at the former. We regret to have
heard that many of the objects of this eulo_
gium are not very friendly to an increas?. of
their own labours. This, however, is really not
the question, though, if it were, it is one which
the country is much fitter to decide upon than
themselves. The real question is, ought the
labours of those learned persons to be diminished
as they have been by the transfer of those cases

to the sessions which till lately were always tried
at the assizes ? We are aware that a speedy
trial is, on many accounts, desirable, as well as
frequently essential to the ends of justice; and,
surely, this object might be attained without
handing over the highest functions of the law to
incompetent administrators. 'We set the highest
value upon the services which country gentlemen
can and do bestow upon their neighbourhoods;
but as neither their value nor respectability would
be enhanced by their occupying the pulpits of
the clergy, neither can we wish to see them
displacing the ermine of the Judge.—Morning
Herald.

The circulars of Lord Althorp will produce
a mass of valuable information with respect to
the property of the church. We have always
been of the opinion that that property is in
general greatly under estimated ; and as the
clergy cannot now be gainers by returns exhibit-
ing their incomes below the reality, we shall
have a statement on which considerable reliance
may be placed. On all former occasions, when
information has been required, the clergy have
either proved refractory, or have made incorrect
returns, in order to mislead the public. But as
the returns are now wanted for information to
guide the Legislature with regard to a commu-
tation, it will not be for the interest of the
clergy to cause their incomes to be exhibited
below the actual amount. Lord John Russell
stated the other day, that the revenues of the
church are not too great, and that a better dis-
tribution of them is all that is wanted. We re-
ceive all that falls from the Aristocracy in both
Houses on this subject with very great distrust.
They have always been a good deal too eager to
impress on the public the notion that the clergy
are not overpaid. Church property may be said
to constitute the chief means by which the Aris-
tocracy maintain their consequence in the coun-
try ; for the portion of that property which falls
to the share of the working clergy is hardly worth
taking into account. We yesterday noticed the
attempts of the landowners in Devonshire to
have the tithe fixed at a tenth of the rental,
instead of a tenth of the gross produce ; and
we observed, that we were sure the holders of

tithe would strenuously oppose all attempts at
commutation on such a principle. In fact, in
many parts of England, the value of the tithe
falls little short of the rent ; in some cases it

greatly exceeds the rent. iVe observe in the
Sussex Advertiser of Monday last a commu-
nication to that paper of a return made in one
of the parishes of Sussex, with a view to guide
other Churchwardens ; and if we were to apply
to that return the Devonshire principle of com-
mutation, the difference would be as 2001. to
1,8001. But we will let the statement speak for
itself:—

" Parish of in the county of Sussex.
8,023 acres of titheable land, at 7e. per acre
rack rent
Deduct for repairs, at 151. per cent. £420 0
Unredeemed Land Tax

715 8

Landlord's net rental
The Rector has a good house, with upwards
of 100 acres of glebe, value £loo 0
Paid in clear cash, in lieu of tithe
All rates on tithe paid in addition to the
1,400/. by the occupiers.
Church fees

The Pdrson'd net income
It appears, then, that in this parish, which may
be taken as a fair sample of the heavy clay lands,
the net tithe nearly equals the amount of the net
rent. The 1,4001. is only the net tithe ; for,
according to an explanatory remark, the rates on
tithe amount to 4001. In addition, it is said, to
the 8,023 acres, there are in the parish, 110 of
glebe, 4,000 of wood, 600 of common, not pro-
ducing tithe, and 2,667 acres for which a modus
of 301. only is paid, but not to the rector ; and
as there is upwards of 4001. for rates on tithe,
this must be considered as tithes indirectly paid,
in addition to the money payment of 1,4001. to
the incumbent. We do not wish to prejudge
the question ; but this we will say, that it will
surprise us very much if the nation long con-
tinue inclined to allow so large an amount of
public property to be applied merely to maintain
gentlemen in black coats throughout the coun-
try. Where it can be shown that efficient ser-
vice is performed, there will be no reluctance on
the part of the people to reward it properly ;
but the most efficient service rendered by
the clergy (we except the working clergy)
is, perhaps, the administering justice. We
are quite satisfied that without the aid of
Parsons, the unpaid system must have broken
down in many places long ago ; but it would
be much cheaper to pay directly for the admi-
nistration of justice, than to pay indirectly for
it in the shape of ecclesiastical sinecures. Be this,
however, as it may, it is a great source of gra-
tification to know that there remains to the
people of this country so large an amount of
property applicable to public purposes as that
which the Church still possesses. Making every
allowance for moduses and for irnpropriations,
the value of the tithes in the possession of the
clergy must still be enormous, to say nothing
of the glebe lands held by them. In Switzer-
land, before the revolution, the tithes were not
only equal to the maintenance of the clergy (a
working clergy) and schools, but sufficed also
for the charges of the different Governments.
The Canton of Berne, from this source, not
only defrayed the expense of civil and ecclesi-
astical services, but contrived, besides, to
save some millions sterling, as a fund for extra-
ordinary occasions. These sentiments may not
be fashionable in the present, or in the next Par-
liament ; but many years will not elapse till the
principle of paying public men, not for the value
of their services, but their rank, will be generally
scouted. We would not, however, have the
people to manifest impatience because this
change does not take place so soon as they
could wish. Every reduction paves the way
for further reductions, and weakens the power
of resistance of the body having an interest op-
posed to that of the nation. While we perse-
vere, we should bear in mind that the power of
enforcing our wishes is placed in our hands.
We ought to hazard nothing by precipitating
what ultimately we are sure of obtaining. The
Church is the greatest mass of corruption with
which we have to struggle, but let us not attempt
too much at first.—Morning Chronicle.

CHURCII REFORM.—There are in the county
of Suffolk five contiguous parishes, the aggregate tithes
of which amount to nearly 2,5001. per annum, in not one
of which is there a resident clergyman; the income des-
tined arid adequate to provide for five resident incumbents,
at 5001. per annum each, being entirely absorbed by
one of the colleges at Cambridge, who employ two non-
resident curates at 1001. per annum each to perform
divineservice!

LIVERPOOL COTTON-MARKET, DEC. 26.
—A very animated demand has been experienced to-day.
The salt•% are estimated at from 8,000 to 10,000 bags,
about 1,000 of which have been taken on speculation.
Prices may be quoted id. to id, higher than at the clue
of the irurket on Tuesday,

COURT OP BANKRUPTCY, DEC. 27

BURST AND ROBINSON'S BANKRUPTCY.

The bankrupts in this case were the e;tensive
booksellers, publishers, &c., of Pall-mall, and the
commission against them was issued in 1824. The
amount of debts proved against the joint and sepa-
rate estates is very large. The meeting to-day was
called to audit the accounts, and to declare a divi-
dend on the separate estate of Mr. Thomas Hurst.
A report was read by Mr. Commissioner Wm-
Luau from the official assignee (Mr. Lackington),
who was absent from indisposition, relative to the pro-
perty of the separate estate of Mr. T. Hurst. The
report stated that on his (the assignee's) appoint-
ment an unemployed sum of 11,0001. came into his
possession, but without any means being afforded
him of ascertaining in what proportions this sum
ought to be applied to the several estates. The
money was invested in Exchequer bills, where it
still remained. The absence of the accountant
who was before employed, but who had sailed to
America for the benefit of his health, increased the
difficulties in making out the accounts. The sale of
property at Highgate which had been mortgaged,
and upon which the Bank of England had liens, had
been sold for 5,1001., the Court of Directors having,
on being memorialized, given up a claim for interest,
and the other difficulties in the way of a sale of the
property having been removed. This money had,
as well as the proceeds of the sale of shares in Joint-
stock Companies, which but for the investigation
would have been passed over, also been invested in
Exchequer bills.

TheCommtssrosEß was glad the report had been
presented, as it afforded the creditors a reason why
a dividend had not been declared earlier. He wished
to know what the property in Leeds belonging to
the joint estate would fetch ?

Mr. Hopkinson, the solicitor to the estate, said
the property would be sold isa the spring, and
would probably fetch 8,0001.
The question of a dividend on the separate
estate of Mr. Thomas Hurst was then gone into.
The total debts proved up to this day are 188,8371.
14s. Among the proofs in the proceedings is one
on behalf of the bank of England for 45,788/. and
one on behalf of the Bank of Scotland for 2,138/,
Messrs. Glynn, the bankers, also proved for
10,000/. The dividend first declared on this estate
was twopence in the pound, and it was agreed to-
day to declare a further dividend of eightpence
in the pound, which will require nearly the whole
of the available assets at present in hand.
The debts proved on the joint estate of Hurst,
Robinson, and Hurst amounted to about 340,0001.,
upon which a dividend of twenty shillings in the
pound has been paid with interest. On the joint
estate of J. Hurst and Robinson dividends have up
to the present time been declared of one shilling
and tenpence in the pound.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-HOUSE.

Considerable interest was excited by the follow-
ing case, the publication of which will no doubt put
extensive dealers in wine a little more on their
guard than some of them have hitherto been,

Mr. James Hoskins appeared before the LORD
MAYOR end Alderman KELLY, to answer to an in-
formation founded upon the 6th of George IV.,
cap. 107, sec. 85, which states " that no drawback
shall be allowed upon any goods which by reason of
damage or decay, shall have become of less value
for home use than the amount of such drawback, and
all goods so damaged which shall be cleared for any
drawback shall be forfeited, and the person who caused
such goods to be so cleared shall forfeit the sum of
2001., or treble the amount of the drawback, in
such case, at the election of the Commissioners of
the Customs."

Mr. Walford, the solicitor to the Customs, stated
that, the object of the Commissioners being to put
a speedy termination to a practice which existed to a
very serious and pernicious extent, they had directed
the case to be brought before the Magistracy, in
preference to the more dilatory and expensive process
of the Exchequer. The defendant was charged
with having entered for exportation to Rotterdam
in the ship Saxe Coburg thirty-nine gallons of what
he called Portugal red wine, for the drawback of
the duty, which amounted to 101. 14s. G. The

liquid thus designated was, it would be proved,
vile trash, which no person in his senses could
mistake for wine. Fortunately it underwent an
examination by persons well qualified to judge, and
a representation of its qaality was made to the
Board, who caused it to be seized. Mr. Walford
was about to call witnesses, but
Mr. Hoskins at once admitted that he had en-
tered the article, and made other admissions, for
the purpose of accelerating the decision.
Mr. Walford then produced samples of the
alleged wine in its turbid condition on being jolted
down to the Custom-house, and in its clear and
quiet state.
Mr. Richard Chase, an officer of the Customs
and a searcher of the port of London, had tasted the
article, and was of opinion that it was no wine at
all. He did not know what it was, but if it was
wine it was the most worthless wine he ever tasted;
certainly not worth a shilling a gallon.
Mr. Hoskins's solicitor submitted that it was un-
fair to produce a sample taken when the wine was
disturbed with finings. His client had paid the
duty on the article, which had by age become of
inferior quality, and therefore he sold it to Captain
Ladd, who purchased it for a friend, who intended
it for retail trade at Rotterdam. He represented
the extreme hardship of the case, which was brought
forward not only as a ground of inflicting a penalty,
but as a means of injuring the reputation of Mr.
Hoskins.

Mr. Walford disclaimed any notion of preju-
dicing the character of the defendant. tie was
only doing his duty in going for the penalty for the
very palpable violation of the Act of Parliament.

The LORD MAYOR—Was the defendant's stock
found to be correct ? Defendant—Yes. Everything is
correct. This wine was the remains of three pipes
which had been in my cellar for a long time. I'll
take my oath, that I paid the duty on every drop
of it.

The LORD MAYOR-It appears to me that it is
an act of severity and injustice to push for a penalty
except there is evidence of an intended fraud, a very
improbable thing in this case, the quantity being so
trifling. If a man pays the duty on wine which
turas out to be bad, it seems to me to be hard to
prevent him from sending it back.
Mr. Walford said that a case of this description
had never been brought before a magistrate before,
and he trusted that the event would supersede the
necessity of repeating the experiment to stop prac-
tices which might be resorted to for purposes of
fraud.

The LORD MAYOR—WllO is to prove to me that
this wine is not worth the duty ? Mr. Hoskins's
solicitor—My client was in Sir John Lubbock's
house for twenty-one years, and is an excellent judge,
and he states that the wine of which this is a part
was sold by him.
Mr. Robert Cox, a searcher of the port of Lon-
don, seized the cask of wine entered by Mr. Hos-
kins. It was so bad that inquiries were made about

it in the trade. He considered it to be nothing but
the tops and bottoms of washings of casks.—
(Liughter.) It was certainly damaged, and not
worth the duty.
Mr. Hoskins—Do you consider that a man can
judge impartially of wine when it is in a disturbed
state ? Mr. Cox—You can judge whether wine is
good or not, however disturbed it may be.
Mr. Hoskins—You may as well say that of wa-
ter in its muddy and filtered state.
The LORD MAYOR--I know that wine is every
day sold for considerably less than the duty. I
have seen some nice samples of wine which has been
adverti.ed as the stock of a gentleman of large for-
tune going abroad, or just dead.—(A laugh.) I
presume the Customs would not refuse to take duty
upon such trash,
Mr. Walford—The commissioners gave the de-

fendant every opportunity of accounting for the pos-
session of the article, but he could give no satisfac-
tory explanation.
Mr. Chafy, a landing surveyor of the Custom-
house, said that when it was represented to him that
the entry had been made, he tasted the wine, and
found it to be such trash that he ordered it to be
detained, and the case to be laid before the board.
The LORD MAYOR—What do you believe to be
the value of it ? Mr. Chafy—lt would not pay the
freight. It is horrible trash, and no doubt would be
thrown overboard five minutes after the vessel should
sail.

Mr. Hoskins complained that the conjecture of the
last witness cast a most groundless, and at the came
time, a most uncharitable imputation upon him.
Mr. Walford admitted that the surveyor was not
justified.

Mr. Lockman, who is engaged as a taker of sam-
ples, stated that the stuff produced was a complete
mixture.

Mr. Hoskins—Everybody knows that for brandy
not worth 2s. a gallon, his Majesty wants 225. duty.
This wine was bonded in 1829, and age has injured
its quality.
A gentleman had been obliged to send back to
his wine-merchant, who had supplied him well for
many years, a quantity of wine which was unfit to
be drunk. Upon inquiry as to the cause, he was
informed that a Nobleman had purchased the greater
part of the same wine, but had taken the precaution
to mix brandy with it, the want of which occasioned
the mischief.
The LORD MAYOR (to Mr. Hoskins)—Have you
received the money from Captain Ladd for this
wine ? Defendant—No. But if your Lordship will
postpone the case till the Captain arrives I shall
bring him forward to swear that he purchased the
wine. I have another proposition to make. Let
the wine be sold at the next sale, and it will then
be seen whether it will not fetch si. 6d.
Mr. Walford—lt is impossible that such trash
should be disposed of at a sale.
The LORD MAYOR—What will be done with it ?
_ _

Mr. Walford—lt will be thrown into the Thames
most decidedly.
The LORD MAYOR—Where the fishery is quite
bad enough already.—(A laugh.) My brother
Alderman and I are of opinion that Mr. Hoskins
ought to have time to bring forward evidence to
prove the actual value of the article.
Mr. Hoskins submitted that the sooner this else
was decided the better, and he hoped the Magis-
trates would take it upon its present merits.
The LORD MAYOR—Have you an entry in your
books of the sale of this wine to Captain Ladd?
Mr. Hoskins—l have.

The LORD MAYoß—Then produce your books,
and I dare say the Solicitor for the Customs will be
satisfied.

Mr. Walford—l will.

Mr. Hoskins here hesitated, and then asked for
the decision of the Magistrates without the pro-
duction of the books.
The LORD MAYOR then said he was convinced
there was no fraudulent intention upon the part of
the defendant, but he certainly had violated the Act,
for which offence he was convicted in the lowest
penalty, a fourth of the third of the amount of the
drawback.—The sum was immediately paid.