The Sun.
London, England, 1833-04-15 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

By New fork Opera to, the, 22d tilt., which
we have received, we learm the happy termina-
tion of the differences between the State of
South Carolina and the . General Government,
which 'at one time threatened such fatal conse-
quences to the federal union of North America.
The last act of Congress for reducing gradually
the present scale of duties, and for limiting in
the course of a few years custom-house taxation
to the wants of the Treasury, had given general
satisfaction to the malcontents of the southern
States. They consider this act as an abandon-
ment of the existing system, and an engagement
that industry shall henceforward be released from
all fiscal regulations. They therefore rejoice in
the triumph ishich they have gained over their
manufacturing fellow citizens of the north, and
look forward to the time in which they shall be
able to exchange the produce of their soil and
labour, in the most profitable motkets ot
the world, without having to divide their
gains with those States, whose less perfect
or more exeensive manufactured commodi-
ties, required the protection of high duties.
This result was to be expected from the warm
assent given by the members of the sour hero
states to Mr. Clay's new Tariff Bill. Both
parties were anxious to escape with honour from
the dangerous position into which the injustice
ot one section of the Union, and the precipita-
tion of the other, had thrown them. The Caro-
linians could not yield without disgrace, after
so much angry bluster, and the General Govern-
ment could not see the laws of the confederation
violated with impunity, after so many menacing
denunciations, without a total abandonment of
its dignity. It was necessary, therefore, to dis-
cover a middle term, or compromise, in which
both might appear to have gained their point,
and neither to have suffered a defeat. This was
found in the gradual reduction, and promised abo-
lition, of the protective duties ; the Carolinians
yielding, in the mean time, the necessary obedience
to the law which exists, and the Congress agree-
ing to change the principle of the law as soon as
vested interests will permit. The distinction
between null!fiers and tartes is thus for the
present abolished ; the storm which threatened
a dissolution of the union has blown harmlessly
over, and all the apparatus of warlike expedi-
tions and coercion bills is rendered useless. The
South Carolina Convention, for organizing re-
sistance to the enforcement of the tariff, has, in
consequence, resigned its office, and by an ordi-
nance has nullified its own nullification acts.
In these papers we find a rumour of a change
of Cabinet at "Washington. The report seems
too vague to deserve much attention; but though
it were true, the change which it describes would
have no influence on the internal or external po-
licy of the Government. It is not at all un-
likely that President Jackson, on entering on
his renewed term of office, may wish to make a
more permanent settlement of his administration
than he could do while his own re-election was
uncertain ! but this to foreigners is matter of
very inferior importance.—Times.

On Tuesday, the 2d instant, Mr. Bernal,
Chairman of the Hertford Election Committee,
reported to the House of Commons that the two
(Tory) Lords " Ingestrie and Mahon were not
duly elected for Hertford, and ought not to have
been returned :" and " that the election for the
said borough was void." The Hon. Member
further reported, that " bribery and treating
had prevailed in the borough previously to and
during the late election." On the following day
Mr. Bernal resumed the subject; and moved,
first, that the above " special" report be read ;
secondly, that the issue of a new writ be sus-
pended until the 22d of April: and this last
motion the Hon. Gentleman founded on the
precedent of the late Liverpool election, where,
for the same cause,—viz., gross bribery and cor-
ruption,—the issue of a new writ has been sus
penden. Now why, in such cases, suspend a
writ ? Manifestly that the House of Commons
may have time to examine at leisure into the facts
reported by its Committee, and to resolve, after
full deliberation, what shall be the fate of the con-
stituency proved to be delinquent. With regard
to Liverpool, though it was a town of immense
population and commercial importance, serious
thoughts were entertained in respectable quarters
of either suspending for a long period the repre-
sentation of that venal and profligate community,
and thus punishing the whole body of electors,
or of effecting such a change in the constituency
as should cut off that cla s of voters who hate
been most guilty of corrupt practices from the
means of a similar abuse of their trust hereafter.
An ah,olute disfranchisement of so vast a place
as Liverpool, with local interests so complicated
and extensive, requiring the assiduous efforts of
an able mass of business to look alter them every
day in the year, would be obviously out of the
question, and at the same time another mode of
punishment ur prevention, namely, that of en-
larging the constituency by an admixture of
electors from some neighbouring places, or from
the surrounding country, would not be the species
of remedy which the occasion called fur, seeing
that, in point of numbers, if that were all,
and if 110 regard were had to quality, there
arc votes enough in Liverpool between the old
tools of the corporation and the new household
electors to satisfy the wants of even a consider-
able county, and to set at defiance the purse
of the wealthiest candidate. Now, conceiniog
Hertford, save in the one particular of suspend-
ing the writ for gross bribery, arid thus laying
the groundwork of a severe investigation, there
is no analogy between the case of Liverpool and
of that paltry borough in respect to the treat-
ment whim ought to be observeu towards each,
Raiford is a town insignificant in point of trade,
wealth, and intelligence, and might be disfran-
chised to-morrow, with no loss whatever to the
country, and with infinite advantage to the poor,
dependent, and oppressed population. The
Members for the county could, without the
least inconvenience, execute all the business of
the county..town, were it five times more pressing
that it ever has been, At present the town of Hert •
ford has gained nothing by the Reform Bill ; it has,
probably, been a loser by the enfranchisement
of the 101. householders, a great bull; of whom
are no better than Lord Salisbury's vassals. In
truth, from the mass of revolting wickedness and
corruption on the part of a certain great man's
agents, which has been disclosed to the Hertford
election committee, it is plain that neither Grafton
nor Old Sarum itself was a more complete pocket
borough in the hands of Lord Monson or the
Alexanders than is Hertford at this moment in
the hands of a Cecil. if the Reform Biel was
meant to be anything but a name, the class of
abuses for which it was proposed as an effieieet
remedy ought- still to be reformed by sonic sup-
plemental measures, if they have riot been so by
the Bill. If Lord Salisbury be really, while we
are writing, in possession of means which enable
him, as landlord, or through any other fixed
gelation between men, to command a majority of

votes in [Tedford, then it is unquestionable that,
quoad Hertford,the Reform Bill has had no good
effect whatever, and that some furtherapplication of
the principle ofreform must be enforced with a view
toits political release and independence. There
is no doubt that Ministers ought at once to in-
troduce some remedial measure upon this sub-
ject. The country calls for it, and Parliament—
one House, at least, of Parliament—would pass
by acclamation a Bill for the total disfranchise-
ment of the Salisbury sty. There never was
anything in the annals of petty tyranny more
base or disgusting, than the conduct of the
Hatfield agents in this war upon Mr. Duncombe
and his band of free electors. It would he per-
fectly shameful, if such crimes pass unrebuked.
If Ministers do not come forward manfully, and
propose to the House of Commons either the
total disfranchisement of this prostrate and de-
eraded borouLh, or an infusion of better blood
in; o it, by adding to its constituency the quali-
fied portion of the inhabitants of Wate, for in-
stance, or of some other place independent of
Lord Salisbury, they (the Ministers) will
countenance, in its whole extent, the current
feeling among their friends, that they truckle in
every instance to their bitterest and most over-
bearing enemies.— Times.

Whatever may be the ultimate issue of the
present movements in Germany, they are im-
portant as indications of a dis'atisfaction which,
we believe, prevails, more or less, through the
greater part of the Continent. Germany and
Italy are so divided and subdivided, that
we despair of seeing any effective movements,
of an insurrectionary character, so long as
the Great Powers remain at peace; but it is
sufficiently obvious that a war would now be a
war of principle, and that from one end of the
Continent to the other, the state of things would
verify Mr. Canning's prediction. It would be
difficult to point out, at present, a district in
Europe, however remote, in which there is not
disaffection. It appears, from the very inte-
resting account of the Tyrol, just published by
Mr. Inglis, that even in the remotest moutrain
valleys of that interesting country, the inhabitants
are ready to avail themselves of the first favour-
able opportunity to free themselves of the Aus-
trian domination. The following extract will
serve to show the nature of the Austrian tenure :

" The conversation which I had with the innkeeper (as
Prunecken). at breakfast (he observes), was not the onir
one that passes betwixt us ; he partook of a bottle of the
red wine of &dun, with me after dinner ; and spoke
without any hesitation of the irritation created among his
countrymen, by the increasing severiti,s and oppressions
of the Austrian Government. He told me, among oilier
things, that a few mouths before a travelling merchant bad
arrived at Pruneeken, who, after resioing a few weeks at
one of the inns, opened a small shop for general merehan-
dize. He was a good-natured jovi ri fellow, and not over
hard in driving a bargain; and business increased upon
tim. Meanwhile the month of February, and with it the
anniversary of Hofer's death arrived : and the stranger,
who had by this time become intimate with many of the
townspeople, invited seven of them to a snug feast, which
he meant to give on the anniversary of Hofer's martyr-
dom—as it is often called. 'the company assembled, and
the feast was excellent ; there was better wine there than
even the red wine of Botzen; and tongues began to get
loose. ' I was one of the guests,' said the innkeeper, but
I had all along my suspicions. The host proposed the me-
mory of Hofer; and this toast soon led to talking of the
cause he supported. Zu grunde mit Oesterreich (Down
with the Austrians!), cri-d out one; Freyheit zur Ty-
rol (Independence to the Tyro!,), roared another; by this
time my suspicions of an entertainer were confirmed by
Ins expression and his manner. Let this (said be, standing
up with a full glass in his outstretched arm) be sacred to a
glorious cause ; let all who are willing to unite themselves
in a bond to deliver their country from foreign oppression,
drain to the dregs !' No (said I), my friends, refuse to
drink ; even supposing air cause were just, what could we
do? Trust me, Joseph Schenk, who have lived among you
my life, harm is meant you!' Some laid down their
glasses; but three drank, and again cried out, Zu grunde
mil Oesterreich ! Freyheit zur Tyrol!' I left the
table; and the three who had hearkened to my advice
followed nte. A few days afterwards our host, who
called himself KALB, made a pretence of a journey to
Trent; he never returned ; and about ten days after.
wards, the three individuals whom I left at table
were arrested, and sent to Inspruek ; and I have
since beard they were removed from thence to Salszbure,
and are now imprisoned at Leintz, no doubt on the testi-
mony rif KALB.'

" TLis is a pretty illustration of Metternich's policy.
The innkeeper told me, that these men did not diff:r in
s nth:lents from the rest of their townsmen ; hut they
were all three persons of some consideration, and, with
the exception of himself, the wealthiest in the town.—
Ever since the French Revolution of 1830, espionage has
been carried to a dreadful extent in the Tyr..l, and con-
sequences have resulted from it most fatal to iudividua!
ty."
_ _

The pains taken by Austria to prevent the
circulation of intelligence would hardly be be-
lieved.

" In the summer of 1831," says Mr. 'lulls, " the inn-
keeper of Pt unecken, one of the most respectable persons
in the town, knew scarcely anything of the French, and
nothing at all of the Belgian Revolution of 1830. Fle
iiad heir,' that there was a new King of France; but who
had pl.ce l him on the throne, and of the why and the
wherefore, he kn-w nothing ; he had never read any ac-
count of the strt.g,le, and remembered that about th ,t
time no Austrian papers were received. It is also a sin
Kolar f•ct, that (h• Liiore of Mina's attempt on Spain watt
well kniwn to the innkeeper : he remembered very full
accounts to the afftir bei g not only published in the Aus-
!titan pipers received in the Tyrol, hut circulated, on se
prate sheets, from Inspruck or Trent, he did not recollect
which. Such are the means resorted to by a tyrannical
Government to quell the hopes which love of freedom in-
spires: and here, on the Tyrol, in the very heart of civi-
lized Europe, the people were ignorant of the triumphs
which htd been achieved by the oppressed, but fully in-
formed of the successful resistance of absolute Goveintnents
to revolutionary movements—ignorant of all that had
proved the strergth of a people when united in the cause
.if freedom—but uninstructed re•epec•ing all those events
from which any cunclu•ion could he drawn favourable to
the strength of crowned heads."

Tile feelings here described Mr. Inglis found
general in Tyrol ; and it nay easily be conceived
that M. Metternich, notwi hstanding all his pre--
cautions, feels him•elf ill at ease. But still we
do not believe that this discontent, however ge-
neral, can admit of any successful effort, unaided
by foreign intervention. The materials, how-
ever, are everywhere ready. The torch once ap-
plied, Europe is in a blaze.-,,-Morn. Chronicle.

A course of proceeding has been adopted by
the present Chief Magistrate of the City of
London, in the exercise of his criminal jurisdic-
tien, which it becomes necessary to inform him
is not in accordance with the principles or prac-
gating prisoners brought before him on charges of
rice of the Jaw of England. It is that of interro-
felony, and endeavouring to extort from their
own mouths admissions that may aubstatiate, or
appear to substantiate, the case for the prosecu,
tion, contrary to that established and well-known
maxim of EnFlish law, " nemo tenetur prodere
seipsum." T he Lord Mayor may think that he
facilitates the course of justice 4y endeavouring
to extort evidence from the prisoner's own
mouth ; but, in reality, he impedes it, for no
confession of a prisoner will be received upon
his trial which is not proved to be strictly volun-
tary. It is, therefore, magistrates who know
their business always caution the prisoner, be-
fore he says any thing, that he is not bound to
make any statement, unless he pleases, and that
his words will be taken down and used in evi-
dence against him. Inquiries to ascertain
whether a prisoner's statement was perfectly
voluntary are, as a matter of course, made
at the trial before it is allowed
..to be

read in evidence. Su scrupulous is the
law that no compulsion shall be upon the
mind of the prisoner, that if the Magistrate, with-
out using threat or promise of any sort, only
puts him upon his oath, and he makes a full
confession of the charge, such confession can-
not be received against him in evidence. A
remarkable instance of this occurred at the
assizes for Buckinghamshire, two or three years
ago, where one of two men charged with a mur-
der of an atrocious description having made a
full confession before a Magistrate, which was
committed to writing, it was rejected by the
Court, because it turned out upon inquiry that
it had been obtained from the prisoner under
the obligation of an oath. To interrogate pri-
soners by Magistrates is the practice of the
French law, but not that of the law of England.
So to admit hearsay evidence against the pri-
soner is the practice of the French law, but we
need hardly say that from the Criminal Courts
of this country hearsay is excluded. We' observe,
however, that the Lord Mayor, not content in
departing from the established practice by inter-
rogating the prisoner, sometimes admits hearsay
statements as evidence against him. It is good
to have an honest zeal for the public service in
the administration of the laws, but zeal, unless
tempered with discretion and disciplined ny know-
ledge, works mote harm than good. The Lord
Mayor will find that his departure from the settled
practice of the law will obtain no favour in the
eyes of the Judges of the land. Committing,
prisoners upon statements which are not evi-
dence, or extorting admissions contrary to law,
will rather facilitate the escape of prisoners,
when the regular trial takes place, than promote
their conviction. The Lot d Mayor has pro-
bably been led into the mistake into which he
has fallen by ohs,rving that the Act of the 7th
Geo. IV. cap. 64, sect. 2, says, that " the Jus-
tice or Justices, before he or they shall commit
to prison any person arrested for felony, or on
suspicion of felony, shall take the examination
of such person, and the information of such
persons who shall know the facts and the cir-
cum-tanees of the case, and shall put the same,
or as much as shall be material thereof, into
writing." The word '' examination " must be
taken in the sense in which it is explained by
the practice of the law. It means, in legal
interpretation, a voluntary statement on the
part of the prisoner, after being cautioned—
not interrogated—by the Magistrate. And
when the Statute says that the Magistrate shall
take such examination and put it into writing,
it is only directory to the Magistrate to take
down such a statement in writing if the prisoner
chooses to make it, but not compulsory on
the prisoner to make any statement at all. If
this practice be wrong, it is not for the Magis-
trate filling the civic chair to alter it; that can be
done only by the King, Lords, and Commons of
the Realm in Parliament assembled. Formerly
prisoners used in France and England to be put
to the rack to force them to make disclosure.
The French nation has abolished that physical
torture, the invention of barbarous times. The
law of England allows neither physical nor
mental torture of a prisoner; therefore allows no
person who has him in duress to interrogate
him. If the French system is to be introduced
here, let us, at least, have an Act of the Legis-
la.ure for it, instead of the civic ordinance of the
Lord Mayor of London.—Morn. Herald.
The speech of Mr. Stanley at Lancaster, of
which a full report appears in our paper this
day, will be read with that degree of attention to
which it has so unquestionable a claim, not from
the circumstance that the speaker fills a high sta-
tion in his Majesty's Councils—for there are,
unfortunately, among those who at present share
this honour with Mr. Stanley not a few who
might speak until they were tired upon any sub-
ject without commanding or deserving the atten-
tion of any human being—but on account of
certain qualities, in the first place, which dis-
tinguish the Right Hon. Secretary for the Co-
lonies from several of his colleagues, and still
more, certainly, on account of the great and im-
mediate importance of one of the questions to
which he was called upon to advert, and of the
influence which his personal opinions and feel-
ings may be expected to exercise in the set-
tlement of a question in which so many and
such valuable national interests are involved. It
will at once be perceived that we allude to the sub-
ject of slavery in the West Indies, and it is
gratifying to remark the energy and distinctness
with which Mr. Stanley expounded the mean-
ing which'he attaches to the pledge of his noble
frlend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that
his Majesty's Government will propose to Par-
liament a measure upon this subject at once safe
and satisfactory. " And to the words safe and
satisfactory," says Mr. Stanley, " I may take the
liberty of adding as my comment this, that no
measure can be sate and satisfactory which is
not founded, in the first place, upon the prin-
ciples of equity and justice, and which does
not carry with it something of that decisive
and positive character which should not make it a
matter of probability but a matter of certainty, to
the people of England, that, be it sooner or be
it later, they shall see throughout the British
dominions a termination of negro slavery." The
comment is, as it strikes us, worth more, beyond
all comparison, than the text. Mr. Stanley,
we incline to think, is not a man who will
shuffle or prevaricate upon such a subject. The
West I •dian planters, therefore, and mortgagees,
and creditors, have no longer any ground for the
apprehension that their property is to he either
confiscated or injured ; on the contrary, they
may reasonably expect that it will be res-
cued fro ti the deep and almost fatal injury
it has suffered from the prevalent anticipation
that it was doomed to confiscation by political
jobbers and humanity-mongers, who possess no
quality, and can of course be patties to Ho
project, in common with Mr. Stanley. We do
not quite like, we confess, the combination of
" the something of a deci-ive and positive cha-
racter' with the ambiguous phrase of "he it
sooner or be it later." There is a little of the
Althorp in this. It must, however, be recollected
that Mr. Stanley has been educated in a ba
school, the vices of which, we say it to his
honour, he ha', since he emerged into public life,
been shaking off with a rapidity almost greater
than cold reasonably have been expected.—
Morning Post.

An inquest was lately held at the Red Lion
Inn, at Ltiton, before EzitA EAGLES, E•q., the coroner
for Bedfordshire, on the body of JOSEPH ADAMS, who
was stopped on the highway at half-past nine o'clock, on
Sunday morning last, within sight of th • town, robbed,
and barbarously treated, and who died on Tuesday morn-
ing last. The jury proceeded to view the body, which lay
at his brother's boas in Church-streer, and presented a
dreadful spectacle. The inquest then adjourned to the Red
Lion, when atter the examination of twenty witnesse°,
among %dawn was the prisoner's own son, a boy of 12
years of age, and an investigation which lasted seven
hours, the jury I eturned a verdict of " Wilful murder"
against THOMAS CRAWLET, senior, who was committed
last Monday to Bedford gaol, to take his trial for the
ofroce,