The Sun.
London, England, 1834-02-08 00:00:00

GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.

The following are notes of a paper, recently read
before this Society, on the present state of the
Pitcairn islanders. As the public have not ceased
to take a great interest in the little colony of Pit-
cairn's Island, though no account of its proceedings
has been published since that given in the narrative
of Captain Beechey's voyage, the following extracts,
from official documents regarding it, will probably
be found interesting : they are from a private journal,
k€pt by the Hon. Capt. Waldegrave, who visited
the island in his Majesty's ship Seringapatanz, in
1830, shortly before its inhabitants were induced to
emigrate to Otaheite; and also from a despatch
addressed to the Lieutenant-Governor of New South
Wales by Captain Sandilands, of his Majesty's
sloop Comet, who was employed to remove them.
"Pitcairn's Island, March, 1830.
" We arrived here," says Captain Waldegrave,
" on Monday, the 15th of March, 1830, about seven
o'clock; soon after eight o'clock, Edward Young,
a native, came alongside in a small canoe, guided by
one paddle ; he wore an European waistcoat and
trousers, and breakfasted with me, saying grace be-
fore and after. About nine o'clock several others

came on board in a jolly-boat ; the senior native,
Thursday October Fletcher Christian, was one of
them. After breakfast many of them accompanied us
to the shore; we landed about noon. At the top of

the first level, seated in a grove of cocoa-nut-trees,
were assembled many of the wives and mothers. `I
have brought you a clergyman.'—' God bless you ;
God bless you ;' was the universal answer. To
stay with us ?" No !' You bad man, why
not ?" I cannot spare him ? he is the clergyman
of the ship. I have brought you clothes, which
King George sends you.' We rather want food
for our souls,' &c., formed the conversation which
passed at the beginning. The welcome was most
affecting; the wives met their husbands, and greeted
them with joy, as if they had been long absent.
They received us most cordially, but more particu-
larly the chaplain, Mr. Watson. The men springing
up to the trees, throwing down cocoa-nuts, and,
tearing off the husks with their teeth, offered us the
milk. When we had rested they took us to their
cottages, where we dined and slept. In the evening
we went to see Christian's and Adams's graves; they
are at some distance from each other; the grave of
the former, near the spot where he fell murdered,
about one-third of the summit of the island ; the
latter:is buried by the side of his Otaheitan wife, at the
end of his cottage garden. An hour after sunset we
supped, and at nine o'clock retired to bed." After de-
scribing minutely the situatio❑ of the island, its pro-
ductions, the houses, furniture, &c , of the islanders,
Captain Waldegrave thus proceeds :—He says " it
was with very great satisfaction that we observed
the Christian simplicity of the natives—they ap-
peared to have no guile—their cottages were open
to all, and all were welcome to their food. The pig,
the fowl, was killed, and dressed instantly. The
beds were ready, each was willing to show any and
every part of the island; and to any question put
by myself, or Mr. Watson, as to the character
or conduct of any individual, the answer was,
if it could do any good to answer you I
would, but as I cannot, it is wrong to tell
tales.' They repeatedly told me that there were
eighty-one souls on the island ; but after frequent
counting we only reckoned 79. One quietly gave
the Christian names of two others, but de-
clined saying who the parents were, as it would be
wrong to tell my neighbours' shame.' Before they
began a meal, all joined hands in the attitude of
prayer, with eyes raised to Heaven, and one recited
a simple grace, grateful for the present food, but be-
seeching spirit and nourishment. Each answered
Amen; and alter a pause the breakfast or supper
began. Water and the milk of cocoa-nuts was the
only beverage. At the conclusion another grace
was offered up. Should any one arrive during the
repast, all ceased to eat,—the new guest said
grace, to which each repeated Amen, and then
the meal continued. The children were fond
and obedient, the parents affectionate and kind
to their children. After the English were re-
tired to rest, the natives assembled in a cottage
and the evening service was read by Mr. Wat-
son. The Church service was performed; they all
made the responses with regularity, and it was a
most striking scene. The place chosen for the set•

vice was the bed-room of a cottage, the ascent was
by a broad ladder from the lower floor, through a
trap-door. The clergyman stood between two bed,,
and at his back the only lamp was placed. On
his right, on the bed, three infants were soundly
sleeping; on his left, three men sat at the foot of
the bed. On each side and in front, were kneeling
the native men, some in simple mare, displaying
their gigantic figures; others partly clothed in trou-
sers and jacket, their neck and feet bare. Behind
were the women in their modest cloth dresses,
entirely concealing the form, leaving the head and
feet bare. The girls wore, in addition, a sheet,
knotted as a Roman senator's toga, thrown over
the right shoulder and under the left arm.
When the general confession was commenced,
each knelt, facing the clergyman, with hands
raised to the breast in the attitude of prayer, slowly

and distinctly repeating the confession. Each was
absorbed in the solemnity of the service. The text
was most happily choserj)—" Fear not, little flock,
for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom." At the conclusion of the service they
requested permission to sing their parting h) mn,
when all the congregation, in good time, sang—
" Depart in peace." Their voices were all tenors,
and of the same key. The women are clothed in the
paper mulberry ,%hite cloth, extending in folds from
the shonlders to the feet, and so loose as entirely to
conceal the figure. We did not see one cripple or
defective person, except one boy, whom, after much
laughing, they, in the most good-humoured way,
brought to me, saying, " You ought to be brothers
—you have each lost the right eye." I acknow-
ledged the connection, and for the future he will
be called Captain. Unhappily, the scene is not
without alloy. Three Englishmen have arrived,
and bad wives given to them—their names are
G. H. Nobbs, John Buffett, and John Evans ; the
first has married a daughter of Charles Christian,
and calls himself pastor, registrar, and schoolmaster
—he has sixteen scholars. Two of these titles,
however, are claimed by Buffett—hence a source of
division, and since their arrival dissension—here-
tofore an unknown evil, has appeared. Buffett,
a native of Bristol a shipwright and joiner—
a very useful mechanic, arrived first, and has
eight scholars, and to him land has been al-
lotted. Evans enjoys land through his wife, a
daughter of John Adams, an heiress. The two
last maintain themselves, but Nobbs claims ex-
emption from labour as pastor. By law he is
to be maintained by the community. His informa-
tion is superior to the natives, therefore he wishes
to become the chief, in which he will be disap-
pointed; they do not like a superior. As education
inci eases, also their minds will expand, when native
talent will appear, which will claim and obtain su-
periority. Had the family of Christian possessed
but a moderate share of sense one of its members
would have been chief by general consent ; but
Thursday and Charles Christian, the sons of the mu-
tineer, are ignorant and uneducated persons, unable
to maintain supetioi ity. In time Edw. Quintal, who
has the best understanding in the island, wi.l be
chief. He possesses no book but the Bible; but
such knowledge has he drawn from ir, that lie
argus from facts sated therein, and thence ac-
tives at conclusions which will in time place him
much above his fellows. One of the remark•
able circumstances is the correctness of their lan-
guage and pronunciation. The general language is
English, their divine service al-o is in Etiglisit, but
they frequently converse in Otaheitan, the langaage
of the mothers. Since the death of John Adams
he patriarch, laws have been established against
murder, theft, adultery, and removing a land-mark.
j The penalty of the first is death ; to the second
threefold restitution ; to the third, for the- first
offence, whipping to both parties, and marriage

within three months; for t' c second offence, if the
parties refuse to marry, tile penalties are forfeiture
of land and property, and bankhment from the
i.land. Offenders are to ti trit,,l before three elders
who pronounce sent( nee."

MADOX'S TRAVELS IN THE HOLY LAND,
SYRIA, EGYPT, NUBIA, &C. —The aprarazw Of this im-
portant and valuable work has been delayed by the prepa-
ration of the numerous plates (no less thin twenty. eizht)

with which it is to be illustrated. These consist chiefly of

representations of the costume of the, different nations in
which the enterprising author travelled, and of views of
romarkable places and ancient ruins mentioned in Holy
Writ. Among these will be found sketches of many of the
remains of the temples and tombs on the bulks of the Nile,

and of Nazareth and other sacred places in Syria and Pa-
lestine. His Alrjesty has been graciously pleased to allow
Lbe work (the fruits of thirteen years' wanderings in the

Eist) to be dedicated to him.

An alteration has been made in the hats of
:he police for their protection from violence, when on

duty. The crown of the hat is covered with leather, un-
der which slips of cane are placed in a reticu:ated position,
with a pad to ward off a blow, and to contribute to
their personal safety.

That bees may be tamed so as not to hurt
persons to whom they are accustomed I have by miny
instances heard exemplified, but most remarkably in the
following account :.—A gentleman residing at Bury St.

Edmond's could do with impunity anything he liked with
his bees ; he knew every one of them, could distinguish
etch bee from its fellow, as a shepherd is said to indi-
vidualiza his sheep by the physiognomy of each ; and if
he wanted to show a particular bee to a friend he would
have the hive to which it belonged turned out into a
cloth, roll the insects about with his hands like so many
pease, and, unharmed, select from them the one re-
quired ! This feat he has often been seen to perform.—
Mirror.

FIIMALAYA MOUNTAINS.--Frolll the con-
fluence of the Tillung with the Seilege (twelve thousand
feet high), the Ribe or Ridging has a charming appear.
ance, yellow fields, extensive vineyards, groves of apricot
and large well built stone houses contrast with the neiA-
'touring gigantic mountains. Zamsiri (fifteen thousand
six hundred feet high) a halting place for travellers from
Kewbrang pass, on the banks of the Shelti, is surrounded
by gently sloping hills and tranquil rivulets, with banks of
turf and pebbly beds, flocks of pigeons and herds of deer;
nature thus adapting vegetation to this extraordinary coun-
try, for did it extend no higher than on the southern face
of the Himalaya mountains, Tartary would be uninhabit-
able by either man or boast. On the southern slope of
the range, the extreme height of cultivation is ten thousand
feet, and even there green crops are frequently cut ; the
highest habitation is nine thousand five hundred feet;
eleven thousand eight hundred may be reckoned the upper
limit of forest, and twelve thousand that of bushes, and in
some sheltered ravines dwarf hushes are found at thirteen
thousand feet high. Mark the contrast on the northern
side;—in the valley of the Baspa river, the highest
village is eleven thousand four hundred feet, cultiva-
tion reaches the same level ; forests extend to at
least thirteen thousand, but advancing yet further
villages are found at thirteen thousand feet ! Cultivation
at thirteen thousand six hundred, fine birch trees at four-
teen thousanel, and tama bushes (which furnish excellent
fire-wood) at seventeen thousand feet above the level of
the sea! To the eastward toward Lake Manassarowar,
according to Tartar accounts, crops, forests and bushes
thrive at a still greater height. At Zinchin (sixteen
thousand one hundred and thirty-six feet above the sea,
where our travellers were i•topped by the Chinese guard.).
about two hundred wild horses were seen galloping about
and feeding on the very tops -of the heights ; kites and
ogles were soaring into the deep blue nether, large flocks
of small birds like linnets flying about and beautiful locusts
jumping among the hushes. At times the sun shone like
an orb of fire without the least haze, the stars and planets
with a brilliancy only to be seen from such an elevation,
and the pat of the horizon where the moon was expected to
rise, could scarcely be distinguished before the limb touched
it ; the atmosphere sometimes exhibited that dark rap-

pearance witnessed by Captain Ross in Polar latitudes.
With a transit telescope of thirty inches and a power of
thirty, stars of the fifth magnitude were distinct in broad
day. Thermometer 60 degrees in tne shade, at sunset 42
degrees, and before sunrise 30 degrees in July.
Yesterday an inquest was held at the White
Hart, Tottenham-court-road, on the body of Joseph
Here, aged 25. The deceased, who was a gay y.ung
man, and lodged in the Collegiate Coffee-house, No. 203,
Tottenham-court-road, was found en Wednesday morning
in his room, with his tt roar cut. Sir. Horte, master-
tailor, of Duke•street, Grosvenor square, said the de-
ceased was distantly related to him, and occasionally
assisted him in his business. A few months ago be had
a party at his house, at which a oitung lady of respectable
family attended. The deceased accompanied her home,
and this led to many subsequent interviews. The de-
ceased paid his addresses to the young lady ; and, on
being questioned respecting his prospects in life, he
represented himself to be witness's partner, and to
be in much better circumstances than he really
was. His visits and addresses were sanctioned,
until the father of the young lady consulted with
witness ; and felt himself bound in honour to state,
that the deceased was only his assistant in trade. Oil the
deceased discovering that his misrepresentations were un-
masked, he withdrew himself ; and although the lather of
the young lady solicited an interview with him, and wit-
ness had frequently sent for him, he remained away, and
the affair seemed to make a deep impression on his mind ;
he afterwards lived in a wandering way at the coffee-
house. Mr. Butler, proprietor of the coffee-house, pro-
duced a letter, requesting his friends to pay a trifling debt
which he hail contracted, while living at Mr. Butler's and
at the end the following expressions —" Give my love to
my dear mother, sisters, and brothers. I shall be back
from the continent shortly. The hour of my departure is
come. I hear the voice that calls me home.
" 0 Lord, let trouble cease,
And let thy creature die in peace."
Verdict—Temporary Insanity.
FORT WILLIAM- —This stupendous fortifi-
cation was commenced by Lord Clive after the battle of
Plassey, and has cost the East India Company 2,000,000/.
sterling. Situated on the margin of the Hooghly (about
one-fourth of a mile below Calcutta), and on a level with
the surrounding country, which is a perfect flat for many
miles, it does not make an imposing appearance, indeed
its strength is scarcely perceptible; never heless it is su-
perior in strength and regularity to any fortress in India,
and requires from 10,000 to 15,000 men to man the works.
The form is cctagon, five sides being regular and three
next the river according to circumstances. The river
flows up to the gl xis, the citadel towarris which has a
large salient angle, the faces of which enfilade the whole
sweep of the water : indeed the guns of the faces bear upon
the city until crossed by the fire of the batteries parallel
to the river. This salient anele is defended by several
adjoining bastions and a counrerscarp, that covers them.
The bastions on the five regular land sides have all many
salient:orillons, behind which are retired circular flanks
extremely spacious, and an immense double flank at the
height of the berme ; the double flank would enable the
besieged to retard the passage of the ditch, as from its
form it cannot be enfiladed ; the orillon is effective against
ricochet shot, and is not to be seen from any parallel : the
berme opposite the curtain serves as a road, and contri-
butes to the defence of the ditch like a fausse-braye.
The ditch is very wide and dry, with a cunette in the
middle which receives the water of the ditch by means of
two sluices that are commanded by the fort. The coun-
t terscarp and covered way are excellent ; every cur-
tain is covered by a large half-moon without flanks, bonnet
or redoubt, but the faces each mount thirteen pieces of
heavy ordnance, thus giving a defence of twenty-six
guns to these raveling. The derni-bastions which termi-
nate the five regular fronts on each side are covered by a
counterguard, of which the faces, like the half. moons,
ire pierced with thirteen embrasures. These counter
guards are connected with two redoubts constructed in
tile place of arms of the adjacent re-entering angles, the
whole faced, and palisaded with great attention to neat-
ness as well as strength. The advanced works are ex-
ecuted on an extensive scale, and the angles of the hal-
in tons being extremely acute project a great way so as to
be in view of each other beyond the fl inked angle of the
polygon, and capable of taking the trenches in the rear at
an early period of the approach. The interior of this ad-
mirable fortress is truly beautiful,—large grass plots sur-
rounded by rows of shady trees, beneath which are well
gray, Del prom nades,—with here and there piles of balls,
bombshells and packs 'of artillery. Tne barracks are
sp 6itis and will contain twenty thousand men. Toe
wells are numerous, and there is an immense reservoir for
rain water. Tne church is of an elegant Saxon style or
archi.ecture with enameled glass, and the residences if
the coinmanhants of corps and the principal st..ff officer,
on an extensive scale. For a quarter of a mile round the
fort no tree or house is permitted, and the ship. pass s
close to the fort that they may be hailed from the glacis.

_6
SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC. ,J6ift4li)
, .

►to
0

The proceedings upon the question's3l:';W 044 esT , r 1;
traitor ?" were suspended in the Houss‘dr-C;tain t)ii:s'N - ;
on Thursday, in consequence of annetC*-;1,,?'
mendation from M. Secretary Stataisi: -,)esk> ("-
O'Connell to postpone for some little tsetet.t..)S-60,1,
tion of which he had given notice, and in 'Zi] pora
which the Learned Gentleman opened the business
of the day by a speech, Mr. Stanley's suggestion
being grounded upon the necessity of extreme deli-
beration in a matter of such unprecedented diffi-
culty, and on that of bringing perfect calmness and
temper to the investigation of a subject which at the
present moment produced feelings of extreme unea-
siness and warmth. Mr. O'Connell in the course
of his second speech made shat appears to its, and
what, though not so designated by Mr. Stanley,
was manifestly regarded by that Right Hon. Gentle-
man, as a somewhat strange demand,—viz., that the
charge or charges against the Hon.and Learned Mem-
. her for Tipperary and others implicated should be spe-
cifically defined and limited, so as to give the sus-
pected individuals means of effectually answering.
Now this, as we have said, does appear more than
curious. Mr. Stanley's reply was, in one word,
" We are not public accusers, we have brought no
charge." And so it is undoubtedly. Lord Althorp
had never stirred the question at all. Mr. Hill bad
made a statement to his constituents, which in-
volved, as was said, the characters of certain Irish
Members. 'What had the Government to do with
them or with their characters? True it is that when
Mr. O'Connell (in the name of, he at first said,
" all the Irish Members," but this sort of delega-
tion he speedily abandoned) had directly put the
question whether Mr. Hill's statement was true or
not, Lord Althorp, being compelled thereto by the
interrogator and his own sense of honour, did give
en answer which implied his belief in a material part
of the statement, and in its relation to a particular
Member. There, then, so far as Ministers were
concerned, the whole affair was at an end—not a
single step further were Lord Althorp and his
colleagues required or inclined to take. They hail
answered a question, which they had never instigated
On a subject with which they had nothing to do.
The next measure accord ngly was instituted by
Mr. O'Connell. The Learned Gentleman declared
that he would move for an inquiry; with which, for
aught we can imagine until Mr. Sheil's declaration,
the House of Commons had no more to do than the
Chamber of Deputies or. the Spanish Cortes. Mr.
Stanley very properly warned the Leareed Gentle-
man and others, that the inquiry once begun must
be carried on severely and unflinchingly,—that the
precedent might be dangerous, and the immediate
results incalculably painful. Mr. Stanley was most
impressive in characterising the awfulness of the
risk incurred by a Member of Parliament, who, in
the House of Commons, and in the presence of his
country, avers or denies any fact of importance to
his own reputation. Let it therefore be well
understood, that the inquiry to be moved for
on Monday is not one originally demanded by
his Majesty's Ministers, who, we must once more
repeat, have been altogether passive throughout the
whole proceeding—but one which will have been
forced by Mr. O'Connell for the alleged purpose of
clearing the characters of some of his own friends,
touchagainstasw‘hvohmi
sp
enroetd aw i
tstilni
grilethesyslal-aabillseofhPadarlbn
iaeme%sto;
and that if the result should be, as we hope and
trust it will not be, evil or suffering to any friends
of the Learned Gentleman, he, he alone, and not the
King's Ministers, is, as the prime mover of the sub-
jeer, to blame for it. Why the question should
have been so eagerly pushed and insisted on by Mr.
O'Connell, it is for hine to settle with his anti-
coercion Bill brethren. However, to the inquiry the
House now stands pledged; and we wish that as-
setnbly a successful extrication from what we are
sure must appear to every Member of it a most em-
barrassing and dangerous predicament. That the
whole business might have been stopped in limine is
as clear as that afterwards it could not be suffered
to drop without a complete investigation.—Times.
We remember that when a total, instead of a
partial repeal of the property tax was contended, tor,
one argument which was powerfully urged io favour
of the former was that it would enable the country
to get rid of every trace even of the machinery
used in raising the then odious impost. The same
argument may, with equal force, be applied to the
repeal of bath the house and window taxes, in pre-
ference to the rumoured design of Ministers to aban-
don the one and retain the other. We believe thsse
by far the majority even of the payers of these taxes
are not aware either of the expanse of their collec-
tion, or of the army of persons in the shape of
clerks, commissioners, inspectors, and collectors,
which they maintain and provide for. It would not
be too much to affirm that there are upwards of
1.000 such persons in the metropolis alone con-
nected in some way or another with these heads
of revenue. Of these, even the Commissioners,
apparently the most disinterested of the whole,
are, in a great degree, composed of persons
who get themselves appointed for the sake of the
imaginary importance it gives them, and the oppor-
tunity it affords them of favouring themselves and
their connections. It is true that this opportunity
for partiality principally presents itself in the case
of the house tax, the doom of which appears to be
irrevocably fixed. The very exemptions, however,
which have been recently made in the window tax
open a door to similar abuse, which, in addition to
its manifest partiality and injustice, is a stung rea-
son for urging its repeal with that of the other.
But what can be urged in favour of the justice of..
retaining either of these heads of taxation, whets we
are told that the metropolis alone pays fiveeeighthe
of the amount of one and upwards of a third of the
other ? Nor would even Lord Castlereagh himself
have accused the inhabitants of a part of the empire
groaning under so unequal a burden of "an igno
i ant impatience of taxation," had they ie his time"
united to throw off a yoke so partial and intolerable is
its pressure. But Ministers ate guilty of um as lme
able folly in not listening betimes to the vole . a
reason and justice; in not being in advet cc in-
stead of in the rear of public opinion; in short, in
not averting the coming storm when they can do so
with grace and safety. It requires no great skill in
political augury to foresee that, sooner or later, they
must yield, provided those who are contending for
this fair and legitimate object take care to do so
only through legitimate means. As sincere and
warm advocates of that object, we have uniformly
opposed that resort to violence which evil coon
sellors have urged upon a portion of the people.
We know how ready Ministers are to avail them-
selves of any excuse to retain this obnoxious tax
and how ready an excuse the not yielding to clamour
and violence furnishes them with. With ;milt,
justice, and unanimity on its side, backed I,y steady
unflinching perseverance, its abolition, we entertain
not the least doubt, must arid will be atteined, pro-
vided, as we have now and so frequently before
declared, its attainment be not marred by its WIN
into hands which, if they repeat their pact violence,
will incur a not unreasonable suspicion of being its
enemies in disguise.—Morning Herald.
It is now pretty generally understood, among
people who pay attention to such subjects, the:
tiansportatton is one of the worst conceivable modes
of punishment, and riot less objectionable as a means
of colonization. Transportatton, however, has ne-
cessarily a number of advocates. In all the penal
settlemeres, the sums expended by Government be-
come a source of wealth to the farmers; they are
thereby supplied with cheap labourers, and
at the
same time with a market for their produce. The
Archbishop of Dublin, whose zeal for the public
good never slumbers nor sleeps, has published a
small volu,ne on this very impor,ant subject, under
(lie title of " Remick. on Transportation, awl on
4 _Recent Defence of the Syso in ; in a Secteet
Letter to E oil eirey." Pamphlets, rec.-ived by cos
Grace from Van Diernett's Land, ptinb-hed by C 0),
Arthur arid others, containing sic conies on his lei-
tens on secondary punishments, have induced hies

to add' ess another let er to Er.rl Grey on the sub-
ject. It is happily observed by Dr. Whately, that
" a colony stocked with worthless vagabonds, is
in itself bad as a colony; a penitentiary, again, in
a young settlement as the Antipodes, is, for many
reasons, likely to be in itself a bad penitentiary;
but each of them becomes incomparably worse when
they are combined ; because, in the most important
points, two, not only different but even opposite
systems of management will be dictated by a regard
f r the promotion of this object or of that. And
thus, besides other eviis inevitably consequent on
the pursuit of incompatible advantages, we might
also have anticipated (and experience shows with
how much reason) the evil of a course of perpetual
vacillation and reiterated changes of measures under
different governors, according as each may be in-
clined to look more to the welfare of the colony, or
to the efficiency of transportation." It is some-
times said of us, as a nation, that we are carried
away with every novelty. In the case of penal set-
tlements the nation cannot be charged with having
displayed any great fondness for innovation. Forty
li
years ago Jeremy Bentham demonstrated the ab-
surdity and the mischief of penal settlements. Sir
Samuel Romilly more than once availed himself of
Mi. Bentham's ideas in the House of Commons, and
showed that, while New South Wales was a great
burden to the mother country, no benefit could be de-
rived from it as a penal settlement. In the Supple-
ment to to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Mr. James
Mill, in a masterly article, demonstrated the incom-
patibility of penal settlements with every just notion
of crim,nal jurisprudence. Mr. Edward Gibbon
Wakefield has had recourse to argument and satire,
and, in his evidence before a Committee of the
House of Commons, his letters to Mr. Justice Al-
derson, and his England and America, exposed the
monstrous absurdity of supposing that the ends of
penal justice could be obtained by placing a convict
under the control of a master whose interest it is to
treat him with kindness. And now we have Arch-
bishop Whately protesting against the absurdity of
the whole scheme, and proving, even from the
statements of the advocates of transportation, that
the interests of the colonists and of the British na-
tion are utterly iireconcileable with each other, as
far as transportation has reference to punishment;
and emphatically declaring that, " among all the
extravagancies that are recorded of capricious
and half insane despots, in times of ancient bar-
barism, I do not remember any instance men-
tioned of any one of these having thought of
SO mischievously absurd a project as that of
forming a new nation, consisting of criminals
and executioners." Yet transportation still goes
on—the nation is still burdened with large sums
every year for penal settlements—and Judges,
not deficient in shrewdness, and well informed with
respect to matters beyond their own profession, are
not ashamed to declare their belief in the efficacy of
the discipline of such settlements. We would fain
hope that this last publication of Dr. Whately will
render all further publication on the subject of penal
colonies unnecessary—that Government will at
once put an end to the system—that New South
Wales and Van Diemen's Land will be considered
purely as colonies—and that some other means for
the punishment and reformation of offendeis will be
devised. There is not an argument worth a mo-
ment's consideration to be advanced in favour of
transportation as a mode of punishment ; and it
may be safely said, that they who are not convinced
by Dr. Whately's volume are beyond the reach of
argument. The Commissioners sent out by the
French Government to inspect the American system
of secondary punishments, have made some admirable
remarks on transportation as a means of punish-
ment, which the Archbishop of Dublin has given in
an Appendix :
" From what they say (he observes), and from other con-
siderations, it may, I think, be anticipated, that if we persevere
much longer in adhering to a system which has of late been so
fully exposed, our Legislature will become, not undeservedly,
the scorn of the civilized world.

" But the present system has sometimes, I am inclined to
think, been even the more readily tolerated in the minds of
some persons, from the very enormity and the palpable charac-
ter of the mischiefs and absurdities which it involves ; which
must, it is thought, be counterbalanced by some very great
advantages; and those advantages are taken for granted as
existing, even by many who would be at a loss to describe and
ettimate them ; but who conclude that it is impossible a
scheme would have been persevered in for near half a century,
in spite of so many and such monstrous attendant evils, were
it not found to produce some important benefits as a com-
pensation."
Mr. Daniel Wakefield, in his volume on Expendi-
ture, which we recently noticed, does not hesitate
to attribute the perseverance which his Grace is a'
toss to account fnr, to the love of patronage of the
Government. The offices of Governor of a_Colony,
Deputy Governor, Surveyor-General, &c. &c., sound
much better and are much more profitable than the
offices of gaoler and turnkey. But however this
may he, it is quite clear that penal settlements can-
not be kept up much longer; and it is we believe
equally clear that the whole subject of penal law
must speedily become the subject of serious inquiry.
There is literally no secondary punishment in this
country at the present moment. Dr. Whately sug-
gests the appointment of a Commission for Inquiry.
Something must he done, and that soon. Trans-
portation is an incentive to crime, and not viewed as
a punishment by the mass of the people. Our pri-
sons are crowded, and even from that the spread of
crime is greatly promoted hy 'he knowledge acquired
in these receptacles of criminals.—Morning Chron.
We know not how far an Evening Contemporary
(77e Sun) speaks from authority or from conjecture
in the f.u.llowing observations on the subject of the
inquiry about to be instituted into the conduct of
Mr. Shed. The hypothesis is so circumstantial,
that we are inclined to believe it derived from

authority
The House now has the question before them in their
iitclicial capacity, and we are confident they will exercise their
high functions with the most impartial justice. If, after all,
it shotita turn out that some strong expression was uttered, in
A hasty moment, at a Club-house, when the gentleman in ques.
'ion was excited by accounts of an attack made on his own
property, but which, on reflection, he did not consider a suffi-
cient reason for assenting to so severe a measure as the Coercion
Bill, we only wish the relator joy of his communication. Is it
pot possible to suppose that same peevish expression may have
been used, without impugning the sincerity of the person who
made it ?"
Matters have now, probably, proceeded too far
to admit of the refusal of an inquiry. We suspect,
however, that a few days' reflection will have the
effect of greatly cooling the ardour of Members to
sanction a proceeding which will form a most ob-
jectionable precedent. The inquiry can have no
result. Whether Mr. Sheil, in a fit of ir►itation on
learning that the Whitefeet committed the unpar-
donable blunder of making no distinction between
the property of Orangemen and Repealers, gave
cent to a little declamation which might admit of
heing construed into a wish, on his part, that those
who were so stupid as to ►,e unable to make the
distinction in question ought to be coerced—or whe-
ther he absolutely recommended Members to per-
severe with the Coercion Bill—or whether Mr.
Sheil never uttered a sentence which could,
by the utmost ingenuity, be turned into an
approbation of the Coepion Bill, either in whole
or in part—or whatever the case may be, the
House can adopt no proceeding. The inquiry will
merely furnish the House and the country with ma-
erials for forming an estimate of the sincerity cf
A.. Shed. All those who are particularly inte-
rested in appreciating with accuracy the character
of Mr. Shed might have conducted the inquiry in
a more satisfactory manner than through the House
of Commons. As for the House itself, it can
. neither expel Mr. Sheil nor subject him to any
penalty. And although it might not have occurred
to English or Scotch Members that the whole na-
tion was interested in the establishment of their
character for unimpeachable sincerity, yet, now that
the precedent has been set, they will wish not to be
behind the Irish. Whenever it is insinuated that
their language in private has not always accorded
with their language in the Senate, we may lay our
accounts with an application for a formal inquiry.
This will, of course, add greatly to the despatch
of business in a House of between six and seven

hundred orators. Perhaps it is not yet too late to
give the business the go-by.—Morning Chronicle.
The proceedings in the two Houses of Parliament
last night were almost entirely preparatory to the
real business of the session, and nothing took place
which calls for an observation from us, if we except
the presentation to the House of Peers by Lord
Dacre of the petition of the Protestant Dissenters,
of the Presbyterian, Independent, and Baptist per-
suasions, resident within twelve miles of London,
praying for relief. This petition presents us with
in authentic record of the practical grievances of
which these by far the most numerous and im-
portant classes of Dissenters complain, and we refer
to its contents with considerable confidence as an
illustration, not of the hardships or oppressions to
which the Dissenters of Great Britain are at this
moment subjected, but of the mild, gentle, and
benignant character of that Constitution which,
consisting of the union of Church and State, has
yet left to those who have conscientiously diss
rented from the doctrines or repudiated the forms
and services of the Church, so little against which,
even in their own judgment, they are entitled to
utter a remonstrance. The petitioners pray to be
placed on the same footing as the members of the
Established Church with respect to the registration
of their births, marriages, and deaths, and that at
the same time the rites of baptism, marriage, and
sepulture shall be allowed to be performed by their
own Ministers, and according to their own forms.
They further pray that they may no longer be ex-
cluded from the Universities of Oxford and Cam-
bridge. And, what is probably in the estimation of
the petitioners the most important part of their pe-
tition, they pray also to be relieved from the liability
to pay church rates. With respect to the rites of
baptism and sepulture it is in the first place
proper to remark that there is now no interdic-
tion or impediment to the performance of those
ites by dissenting ministers, who do in fact
perform them whenever they are applied to for
the purpose. As to the religious ceremony
which the law has made essential to the validity
of the marriage contract, the same answer to the
petition of the Dissenters cannot be given. If
they consider this a grievance they have a right
to complain of it and to seek its redress. The
question, however, ought not to be regarded as one
between them and the Church of England, so much
as a question, for the State to decide, with reference
exclusively to the effect which any proposed altera-
tion in the long-established and universal mode of
celebrating marriage may be thought likely to pro-
duce, upon public morals and the domestic habits
and feelings of the community. It is obvious that
nothing can be done to relieve the Dissenters from
this particular grievance without introducing an in-
finite diversity of forms, or abolishing religious forms
altogether, in connection with the nuptial contract.
The injustice of attempting either to add any thing
or to take any thing away, from the forms and ob-
servances with which the members of She Church
of England are fully satisfied in their own case,
or of forcing upon them, for the accommodation
of the consciences of the Dissenters, a change
of which they do not perceive the neces-
sity, is too manifest, we imagine, to be in
the contemplation of any party. Uniformity
is evidently more conducive than variety of
forms to that general reverence in which it is
so desirable for the welfare of society that the
obligation of marriage should be held. It is for the
Legislature, then, to determine whether, to gratify
the Dissenters, this important advantage to society
at large shall be sacrificed. And in the determina-
tion of the question it will not, we hope, be forgotten
that the anxiety of the Dissenters upon this subject
is by no means general, that it is of modern growth,
and that during a long period, in which the Dis-
senters displayed quite as much of the zeal of piety,
and somewhat less of the zeal of politics, than they
now exhibit, their anxiety upon this subject was
never heard of. It is at least probable that but few
of those Dissenters, whose separation from the
Church of England is the result of conscientious
conviction, care much for the disadvantage under
which the members of their body are placed at
Oxford and Cambridge. But be this as it may,
it is infinitely beyond the power of the Legislature
to place Dissenters upon an equal footing,
at those establishments for education, with the
members of the Church of England, unless
by measures which would amount in effect to the
abolition of the two existing Universities, and the
creation of new ones in their place. Each of the
Universities consists of a congeries of independent
corporations, possessing property, patronage, endow-
ments, privileges, and rights, legally acquired, and
employing the powers and advantages they possess
in obedience to an impulse coeval with their founda-
tion, essent;al to their existence, and beyond the reach
of any power which the Legislature has to exercise,
short of the power of direct confiscation. The
remaining grievances alleged by the Dissenters in
their petition are the liability to church rates, and
the want of a satisfactory registration of births,
marriages, and deaths. We shall, for the present,
confine ourselves to a single observation upon each
of these topics. Those only of the Dissenters
who desire the total abolition of religious
worship and the cessation of religious instruc-
tion of any kind in many extensive districts
of this country can consistently desire that the
State should withhold its assistance from the
Church ; for, whatever might take place in towns
or in densely peopled districts of the country, it is
evident and notorious that the aid of the State is
absolutely required to the maintenance of religious
worship and instruction in districts where the popu-
lation is thinly scattered. But those who are actu-
aed by such a desire are plainly persons to whose
opinions or wishes no attention whatever ought to
be paid. Church rates are an indispensable part of
the aid which the State lends to the Church. They
cannot be abolished without providing some ade-
quate substitute, unless it be intended that the
Church shall be extinguished precisely where it is
the most useful and necessary, where but for a na-
tional religious establishment, there would be no
means or opportunity whatever of religious wor-
ship and instruction. But from contributing to a
great and general good, no portion of the people in
any State can upon the grounds of their
peculiar faith, justly claim an exemption. It may,
perhaps, be expedient to substitute a charge upoo
the aggregate income of the State, in lieu of the
parochial rates which are now collected for the
building and maintenance of churches. But in any
change of this nature the Dissenters have no pecu-
liar interest. The principle upon which some of
the Dissenters so much insist, that men should not
be obliged to pay for that from which they derive
no benefit, is not applicable to the subject of church
rates, inasmuch as church rates are necessary to the
general maintenance of religious worship and in-
struction throughout the kingdom, and from these
the whole community derive great benefit, direct or
indirect. But this principle strictly applies to the
new system of registration which the Dissenters re-
quire, inasmuch as there is already a systern of re-
gistration, which costs the country nothing, and
with which the country, excepting the Dissenters,
is fully content. Let the Dissenters, then (if they
will), have a new system of registration for them-
selves, of which they are no doubt quite willing to
bear the whole expense, while the members of the
Church of England continue to avail themselves,
undisturbed, of the present uncostly mode of re-
gistering births, marriages, and deaths, to which they
are accustomed, and with which they see good rea-
o be satisfied.—ltiorning Post.

In the year 1775, it was found necessary, in
cAisequence of the numerous defalcations in the returns
of plate, to institute a rigorous system of inquiry, and to
compel, under the penalties awarded by the Act, a true
account of the quantity kept by every individual. A
peremptory notice of this kind, but couched iu very re-
spectful terms, was sent to the celebrated John Wesley.
Tue following was his characteristic reply :—" Sir,—l
have two tea spoons at London, and two at Bristol. This
is all the plate 1 have at present, and I shall not buy any
more while so many around me want bread. I am, Sir,
your most obedient servant, Jno. Weeley."

LONDON CORPORATION COMMISSION

INQUIRY; FEB. 7.

Mr. Thomas Rooke, Ward Clerk of Candlewick Ward
for twenty-six years, gave an account to the Commis-
•iioners of the nature of the jurisdiction exercised in the
Ward, which in no important manner differed from the
Wards already inquired into.
THE TENANTRY UNDER THE GRESHAM ESTATE.
Mr. Wilson, publisher under the Royal Exchequer,
appeared before the Commissioners in cutler to inform them
of the peculiar condition in which the tenantry under the
Gresham es•ate were placed.

PRACTICES OF SWORN BROKERS•
Mr. Anthony Henriches, a sworn broker since the year
1824, attended to make communication to the Commis•-
sioners. He had, he slid, had occasion to make a com-
plaint to the Court of Aldermen of the conduct of some
sworn brokers in 1830, at which time he petitioned the
Court. This complaint was that they had done business
on their own account in articles in which they were
brokers.

ORGANIZATION OF THE MUNICIPAL. POLICE.
Mr. Cope, the Governor of Newgate, but lately one of
the City Marshals, and at the head of the police, was
then examined as to the police force of the City. The
Corporation had, he said, made a complete change in the!
police force of the city about two years ago. The new
system began on the Ist of April, 1832, and the force
was very much increased. Under the old system there
were sixty men. This force was wholly independent of
the ward constable, and exclusive of marshals and mar -
shalmen. The old system bad been found very inefficient.
The force was increased by the new system to ninety.nine
men, consisting of one superintendent, three inspectors,
ten sergeants, and eighty-five men. There were also a
few extra police officers to attend the Sessions, a clerk,
and a surgeon. The forcedid not go over the water at all.
The superintendent was usually at Guildhall. His duty
was to go about and see that the men were on duty. The
new plan was founded very much upon the system
adopted on the formation of t! e metropolitan police.
THE OMNIBUS AND STAGECOACH NUISANCES.
Mr. Cope stated that the time of the men was much
taken up by their attendance to put down the omnibus
and cab nuisances, which had increased immensely. There
was no limit. A return had been made out showing the
extent of the nuisance. The number of short stages,
omnibuses, and cabs, passing through the city, Sundays
excepted, was 533, performing 1,836 journeys. On the
28th, 29th, and 30th of January last en account was
taken of the number of empty cabs going up and down
between nine o'clock in the morning and seven in the
evening. It showed that they performed 2,985 journeys,
independently of the journeys performed by hired cabrio-
lets. The city to have a more complete controul over
these carriages, and additional legal powers to regulate the
driving and standing in the streets. The average length
of the omnibuses was twenty-one feet six inches from the
horses' heads to the steps. Some were twenty-four feet
long, and six or seven of them often stood in a row.
Mr. Pearson gave some evidence relative to the charges
in, urred by the city police, and said he considered if there
was a consoli.la.ion great advantages would result from it.
He bad refused to sign or pay a watch-rate.
The inquiry was then adjourned to to-morrow (thisday).