The Sun.
London, England, 1851-05-13 00:00:00

KENSINGTON GARDENS.

ATTEMPTED SALE OF A WIFE.
About ten o'clock On Friday morning a large concourse
of people assemblcd‘opposite the Angel Inn. Stockport,
composed principally of parties from Droylesden, to
witness the disgraceful exhibition of a man selling his
•%ife by public auction to the, highest bidder. The in-
dividuals immediately concerned were Joseph Orme
end his wile, Rachel, both factory operative,e
They had been married about three years; bur, in con-
sequence of his intemperate habits and violent con-
duct, they agreed to separate, he retiring to Stock-
port, and she continuing to work at a mill at Droyles-
den. Since then the man had contracted an illicit
acquaintance with a woman, who was then living with
him as his wife. This increased the dislike of the wife,
and she meditated how she could most effectually relieve
herself of a faithless, worthless husband. It appears
that her brother resided in Stockport, and as the mill et
Droylesden has ceased work, she accepted an invitation
to spend the fair at his house. It was here that her
husband propcsed to neutralise the marriage con-
tract by offering his wife for public sale in the
market, a process "chicle it is vulgarly believed, has
all the legal efficacy, without the cost, of a divorce
The wife at once cceisented ; and the brother
•as readily acquiesced. ,"Accordingly the disguetiig
xhibition took place in the pretence of an immense
crowd. She was neatly attired, and was a mode-
rately good-looking-young woman. The husband, on
the conirary, had ail the appearance of being a dis-
,ipated fellow; and was not a favourite with those
feinales who ventured to express an opinion on the
subject. The first bidder was a man named Hill, who
was employed at the same mill at Droylesden. He
commenced with 7d. ; and the bidding.; went quietly up
to 109. At this moment Mr. Superintendent Sadler
and Mr. laspector Walker, of the borough police,
were seen making their „ay through the throng, and
the sale was fortunately suppressed. A regu-
lar rush succeeded,
alaitist which the husband,
wife, and her friends,
retreated into the public-
house; whence they 'were
.distodged by the authorities.
The husband suddenly disappeared in the me/ie, whilst
the wife, accompanied by
her brother, after a hot pursuit
by the curious 'broil-VI the streets, took refuge in the
Warren Bulkely Arms. 144,y of th'c, women, who really
believed that the sale of a Wile was strictly legal, com-
plained of the interfereeenef the police, and the hardship
of a wife being prereutld relieving herself from a
worthless husband. Some time elapsed before the wife
durst emerge from the ins, the crowd being increased
outside. At length, having luckily provided herself with
a change of dress, ebe_. contrived to escape by the back
door, and reaching the railtay station, succeeded with-
out molestation in reachingbroylesden. Orme, the de-
praved husband, has 1403 since been seeu in public.—
Manchester Courier.

THE DUKE OYRUTLAND AND
HIS TE.if ANTS.
(From thee...Slurs/ord Mercury.)
WALTIIA3I.—The sensattsu caused ia mill place and
the district around by a general enhancement of the rents
on all the Duke of Rutlauti's farms in the lordship, is such
as has nut been fek fur some years; and, coming upon
the unhappy tenants at a time when it is impossible to
make both ends nicer;"„ sou- when the members of his
Grace'. family are freqiieetlk declaring in Parliament
arid elsewhere that the tamers cannot live even if they
had no rent tit all to pay 4 tht proposed t xactiuli is con-
sidered yet more extraerdioiry • How the assertions
of the Marquis of GrautTlaud Lurd John Manner:
eau be recoeteled with the Circular from the Duke's
steward announcing - tll6 ie a puzz'e
which the sufferErs bireeHin vain attempted to
solve. What would be theleffect of another agricultural
meeting at Waltham just tine, is of course matter of un-
certainty; but the irate abciprivate Louses have for the last
week or two rung with gru4l4fings both audible and deep,
and even the Conservative preite of the adjohii„geou, Ey has
been induced to aid in the oht*y. The affair is the wore
remarkable, inasmuch as in 141, when the price of wheat
was 635. a quarter, the Dukelot Rutland (who has ever
been ueservedly beloved throughout the locality) re-
cluved the rentals in MOO* lordship to the extent
of 1,000/., whereas now thet Abe price of wheat grown
in the district averages , Oly 365., and met,y of
the farmers had last yearfipisrfully blighted crops,
the rents have been real se4 as much as 1,20 u/.,
or just 33 per cent. in Walther° lordship alone. Aria
the worst of the affair is, sa)' :die occupiers, that though
a return will be made wheii,Cora is below. a certain
price, the rent is to be propOitionately increased when
wheat rises beyond 545. per quOjter. The following is a
copy of. tbe eta:wanes circular:,
"Steward's Office, Beivdir Castle, April, 1851.
" Sir,—l beg to inform yoti;tY-at -the annual rent of
your farm, under his Grace tt‘' 'Duke of Rutland, is
fixed at the sum of fitin Lady -day last. A
return will be made to you .ofip/. per annum, so long
as the price of wheat. temaire' under 46.., on con-
dition that you prodUce' qshow that. you have
purchased manures .to that tinie'tint. An increase of
the like amount will be' Maaiieiin the event of the
price of wheat rising beyond 54ier quarter. The re-
turns and increase to bngoverned, by tee average price
of wheat for the previous year.--4:e, Sir, yournbedient
servant, " 4oliie_ GFIKEN."

,
No further comment is neces ; but it is ;air to
add that there has been a genera! 'nation of the estate,
and that in some parishes there Ii been a reduction.
si
Knipton is reduced something like 41. an acre; there is
also a reduction iu Braustuu and Eaton; but in Croxton
and Saltby there is a material increase.

ROYAL MENDICII'r:SOCIETY.
The anniversary meeting of the it.i4orters ut this so-
ciety was held Lai Saturday afternoon at the premises in
Red Lion-square, the Marquis of Westminster presid-
ing. The eclair man, in his obaervations to the metA-
ing, drew attention to s pinion of the report which
was about to be laid before them, and observed that
there could be nu donut- that the inciisetiniinate relief
given by soup kitchens in the metropolis evil the
consequeace. of which would 'setae time or other be
se-
verely felt by the public.- Tbe report stateceshat during
the year there had been, as the cornmitte anticipated,
a fulling off in the receipts from aubecriptiOns and do-
nations in consequence ot the altered policy .. of the so-
ciety. The society, however, wished to guard them-
selves against opening their doors to thr; IPsh
destitute who arrived in this country, as Such a
system would obviously induce the parish authbraties in
that country to send over as many as they ono' id. It
had been stated in the daily papers that 10,000.4estitute
poor had been sent over from lurk and the vicinity
within a fortnight, each one reeeiving ball-a-crown on
leaving and paying Is. for the passage. 44eh •
system as this, it encouraged by charitable socittaeS. in
England, would soon overwhelm them with nearly
the whole •of the destitute population of Retried.
The increase of vagrancy was evident from the returns
of the society's officers. In Deuember, 1849. the nuts-
ber of applicants was 664, or 20 per diem. IA January-,
1850, it w:8 1,667, or 54 daily, and the propertione of
English and Irish were nearly eq'iel. In January of
the present year the number of applicants .was 1,484,
or 49 daily ; in February it „ was 1,908, or 68
daily; and in March 1,643, or 53 daily, and the propor-
tion of Irish to English was about •two to one:. During
the 'year 147 office cases had been investigated, and
several destitute girls bud been saved from ruin and
were now in comfortable situations. The number of
begging liters referred to the office during the year was
4,017, being a decrease of more than 500 on •the pre-
ceding year's -return, and this the society attributed to
the activity of their officers in detecting begging letter
impostors, 37 of whom were convicted during.the Sear
on their evidence. No less than 865.vagrants..had been
apprehended by the society's constables, and .570 were
convicted. The receipts tor the year amounted to
6,0471. 6a. 5d., and there was upwards of 6,000/, in the
runds, besides 1,5001 in Exchequer-bills. The expeudi-
lure bad fallen short of the receipts • by 621/ 11s. bd.,
which sum remained as a balance. The report was
agreed to on the motion of Lord liadstock, and the, meet-
ing separated after thanking the chairman.

BRISTOL, MAY 12.—Wind N.E.—Arrd. Adolphus, Yates,
Pernambuco; Dagger, Jamaica.
CARDIFF, May. 12.—Wind N. E .—Sld. James, Orr,
Wilmington.
SWANSEA, MAY 12.—Wind Alderruan
Thompson, Cuba. . .
WlLlTWATravaPialid. Eviannoy- An tip& • ••

We have been requested to give insertion to the fol-
lowing:—The committee appointed by the inhabitants
of Kensington, Paddington, Notting-hill, and Bays-
water, to obtain petitions and memorials against
the , formation of the proposed ride in Kensing-
ton Gardens, request the attention of the pub-
lic to the follow' brief statement:—Kensington
Gardens include an of above 350 acres, and have
long been open to th Will° by, the gracious permis-
sion of her Majesty and her Royal predecessors. The
,gardens form the , most extensive And delightful
pleasure grounds of the same rural description at-
!itched to any city in Europe. Under the
-present regulations they are reaorted to with a de-
gree of security from' molestation which ladies and
children can nowhere else enjoy, not even in the neigh-
bouring parks. The gardens are not only a source
of health and gratification to the inhabitants of the
neighbourhood, but to visitors, especially to invalids
from all parts of the metropolis. The proposed ride
commencing at Kensington barracks. near the south-
west corner of the gardens, and proceeding first -
in an easterly, and then in a northerly direction,
as far as Bayswater, will throw nearly the whole area
ripen to equestrians, will supersede all the judicious
regulations under which admission is now greeted, and
will destroy in a great measure, the secluded rural
aspect which dow constitutes the most attractive
characteristic of. these delightful grounds. The
reason assigned • ' for "thus defacing one of the
most - admired features of the chief city' in this great
empire, is, that equestrians not enjoying, this year,
the gull advantage of their usual ride in Rotten-row,
are entitled to compensation; and that the must con-
venient compensation is at the expense of the pedes-
trians in this royal domain. In answer to this
plea, it may be fairly.'urged that the ride in Rotten-
row is now frequented by equestrians as in former
seasons; and that the necessity of a new ride for their
accommodation not yet apparent. That the pe-
destrians in the gardens are as
,much entitled to consi-
deration as the equestrians in Hyde-park. That
„yen a partial and temporary interference with the
ride in Rotten-row is no adequate reaaou fur the de-
Jecration of Kensington-gardens. That the equestrians
once admitted ieto the gardens, will be sure to
maintain their advantage, and procure a permanent, in-
stead of a temporary order for that purpose. That, in
proportion as buildingS are created on all sides in the
suburban parishes, this beautiful rug in urbe must be-
come more precious to .the inhabitants of the metopolia,
and ought to be more resolutely protected and handed
down unimpaired to future generations.