The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-06 00:00:00

THURSDAY

FEBRUARY 6, 1851.

the body to Pa7is. Inquiries having been made as to
when and by whom the box w,is 6eir from Paris, it
was ascertained that on the 13in three trunk-. had been
taken to the station by two commiesionnaires; that one
resembling a lady's trevellin: trunk, cover, i with oil-
cloth, and weighing 190 kilogrammes, had been sent
'wpm. ately to Chatesuroux, whilst the other two, which
were more solid, larger, and heavier, had been taken by
the owner to thurges, and he had paid extra for
them, as they exceeded the weight of luggage
allowed for each passenger. The trunk ar-
rived in Paris yesterday morning by the five
o'clock train; and it so happened that the two commis-
sioners who had conveyed it to the station arrived at the
same time with the luggage of a person about to leave.
They and the trunk were sent to the Prefecture of Police,
and a judicial investigation was forthwith commenced.
The trunk, or rather box, was fastened with a bad lock,
and bound round with cords. The judicial authorities of the
Indre had placed their seals on these cords. The address
M. Moreau, watchmaker at Chateauroux" was written in
bad hand, on a common piece of paper, and stuck on
the box with wafers. As the box was rather small,
the murderer had cut the body into pieces, and had de-
posited first the trunk, then the legs, and then the
arms and head. M. Desfontaines was a strong and
courageous man, and the murderer must have
killed him as he was asleep. It is supposed that
after the commission of the crime, the murderer pos-
sessed himself of everything of value in the shop and
apartment, and packed the property in two trunks. The
apartment and shop have not yet been entered by the
authorities. Yesterday telegraphic dispatches were sent
to the frontiers to arrest the domestic, but from the
length of time he has been away—seventeen days—there
is every reason to believe that he has already got out of
the conutry. It is supposed, from the direction he took,
that ho has gone into Spain.

himself to another point in her Majesty's Speech—he meant
the Papal aggression. He was as firmly attached to the
Protestant Church as any man in that House, and was as
little likely to go over to the Roma❑ Church, or to give his
assent to its peculiar doctrines, as any man in England ; but,
nevertheless, he must say that he WCII d not sanction any-
thing that would interfere with the most full, free, and com-
plete toleration. He did not wish to interfere with the in-
ternal ecclesiastical arrangements of that or any other
Church ; but at the same time he must say that the manner
and the extent of the recent proceedings of the Pope in
that great country were insolent and uncalled for ; that
there was little either of courtesy or good sense
in the conduct of the Pope—a weak and powerless
prince—towards that great country in the recent aggression
which he had made upon them. He, however, fully agreed
with the Hon. and Learned Member for Sheffield last night
—that the alarm and outcry were entirely uncalled for—that
the time would come, and that very shortly, when the people
of England would be ashamed of their conduct.—( Hear,
hear.) He objected to any retrogression or curtailment of
the great principles of civil and religious liberty. But what
power did the recent proceedings give to these new bishops?
Nothing whatever. They could neither call out the military
or police, or fo:ce their ritual on the people, or put their
hands in the public purse; and it was clear, therefore, that
the people were frightened at a mere name or a shadow.
Could it be said that there was any danger to the Protestant
religion of the country by the appointment of a few bishops?
They had at present the great hulk of the population,
revenues, political power, tithes, and everything; and yet
they appeared to be afraid that all would be overturned by
the appointment of these few bishops. He had no such
tears; he believed the Protestant religion was true, and
would ever prevail. The question was one with which that
House ought to have nothing whatever to do. The matter
was one entirely of ecclesiastical arrangement, and no one
was compelled to acknowledge their authority that did not
choose to do so. Under these circumstances, really to bring
in a Bill to enact that certain persons should not call them-
selves by certain titles, was too absurd and too puerile. Why
the Noble Lord himself had in that House stated that he
saw no objection to Roman Catholic bishops taking the
titles of Protestant bishops. That was in 1845, and he
thought he was now bound to tell the House why he viewed
this matter so differently now, and lay same better ground
than he had hitherto done for the introduction of this mea-
sure. He did not agree with the Hon. and Learned Member
for Sheffield in imputing any improper or unworthy motives
to the Noble Lord. He was too confident in the good sense
and the discretion of the Noble Lord to believe that was the
case. Any popularity he could acquire by such a line of
conduct would be fleeting and valueless; but if he wished to
become really popular, he would recommend him to grant
to the people some reform in the representation, as he had
promised last year. He hoped that the Noble Lord had not
changed his opinion upon the subject of the emancipation of
the Jews, in respect of which ha appeared so sanguine last
year. He thought it would have been very satisfactory
if some statement had been made to the House upon the
subject.
Mr. P. BENNETT wished to take the present opportunity
of drawing the attention of the Noble Lord to the distress of
the agricultural labourers, which was almost beyond belief.
—(Hear, hear.) He could only state that into the town of
Eye about 300 or 400 labourers had marched lately armed,
and took possession of the union house. They turned the
master out, broke the windows of the place, and remained in
possession until the respectable inhabitants of the town and
the shopkeepers assembled and reduced them to a proper
state of subjection, and secured some of the ringleaders, who
were now in gaol. The labourers have been out of work,
and the farmers were utterly unable to find employment for
them. The crops had been ruined by a visitation of Provi-
dence, which occasioned the greatest distress amongst the
farmers. The crops promised to be of the fullest description.
The produce calculated upon was five quarters to the acre.
The result, however, proved the yield to be only one and a
half quarter and two quarters per acre. The ruinously low
prices that even this small produce sold at had placed the
farmers in a condition that disabled them from giving em-
ployment.—( Hear, hear.)

iclr. HUAIE said his Noble Friend (Lord D. Stuart) had
put a question to the Government upon a matter of the
greatest interest. Last year the position of the Hungarians
occupied the public mind just as much as the Papal aggres-
sion did this year. The Noble Lord asked why the para-
graph alluded to in the Queen's Speech of last year was not
followed up in this by a statement as to whether the Govern-
ment had made any efforts to obtain the release of those un-
fortunate captives taken against all law. It appeared to
him that the Government ought to have used its influence in
favour of this unfortunate people, and to have ascertained
how many captives there were, where they were confined,
and whether there was any hope of their being liberated. It
was said that there was a certain number to be liberated,
and it would be satisfactory to know that some progress had
been made in relieving these unfortunate men. He thought
that these men had been called illustrious and respectable—
honourable men we all knew they were, and the idols of the
people in their own country. It did appear to him (Mr.
Hume) that the sympathy manifested last year in favour of
the Hungarian captives should not be forgotten now. He
trusted that the Noble Lord would give some satisfactory
information upon this subject.
Lord PALMERSTON said he was not inattentive to the
subject alluded to by the Noble Lord. Communications had
been carried on with her Majesty's Ambassador at Turkey
and the Government of that country with a view to the re-
lease of these prisoners. These efforts, he was sorry to say,
had not yet been attended with that success which they so
much desired.

Mr. HUT wished to ask the Noble Lord whether all
those Hungarians that had been originally made captives
were still in confinement?

Lord PALMERS MN said there was a large number of
prisoners in Kutayah. There were also several hundreds of
them in Shumla. He understood that these had been lately
removed to Constantinople, whether with a view of keeping
them there, or of being sent elsewhere, he could not say.
The report on the Address was then read and agreed to.
The House adjourned at Half-past Seven o'clock.