The Sun.
London, England, 1835-08-10 00:00:00

PARISH OF ST. PANCRAS.

On Saturday afternoon a meeting of the vestrymen of St.
Pancras was held, to take into 'consideration the most expe-
dient course to be adopted, in consequence of the manifest
intention of the House of Lords to throw out, or render
nugatory, the Corporation Reform Bill. Mr. Cooke having
been called to the chair, the meeting was addressed by Messrs.
Houghton, Carpue, Stockton, O'Neill, Morris, Kightley,
Perry, and others, after which it was resolved that a public
meeting of the inhabitants of St. Pancras should be convened
on Wednesday next, for the purpose of petitioning the House
of Lords to pass, without diminishing, but rather extending
the principle of the Bill, and alSo to petition the Moe. of
Commons not to pass the Appropriation Act, until the above
and the Irish Church Bill have respectively received the Royal
assent.

On Saturday requisitions for cr.lling public meetings within
the Metropolis upon the same subject were in the course of
signature in the borough of Southwark, and the parishes of
Clerkenwell, Chelsea, St. George-in-the-East, St. Andrew,
Holborn, St. Giles-in-the-Fields, and other of the metropo-
litan parishes.

EXETER, AUGUST 8.
A numerous and highly respectable meeting of the inhabit- '
ants of Exeter was held at the Royal Subscription Rooms, this
day. The audience consisted of all the leading reformers,of
the city, and the meeting was one of the most enthusiastic that
has been witnessed for a long time.
- Mr. KENxAWAV, on taking the • Chair, read the resolution
by which the meeting' was convened. _
Mr. J. D. OSBORN proposed. the. first resolution, and in do-
inv.; explained the leading. principles of the Bill, which abo-
lished the close, self-elected bodies. He then proceeded to
notice the insidious attempts made by the Lords and others
to excite the freemen against it. He exposed, in a happy style
of ridicule, the examination of witnesses before the Lords ; the
town-clerks—parties interested in thwarting. the Bill, and in
keeping up the present abuses, by which they had so long pro-
fited, were the last persons who ought to have been consulted.
With regard to the freemen, generally, he maintained that this
Bill would secure their rights; that the Corporations had been
in the habit of making freemen of favourites and sycophants,
and swamping them on all occasions, by admitting, at their
own caprice, those whom they thought would best suit their
purpose. He concluded by
.moving a petition to the House of
Lords, begging that their Lordships would pass the Corpora-
tion Reform Bill during the present session, without any in-
fringement of its great leading principles.
Mr. JAMES GOLSWORTHY supported the motion.
As there had been some clamour during Mr. Osborne's
speech by a knot of Tories in the lower part of the room,
The CHAIRMAN requested that if any gentlemen had any
objections to make to the petition, they would now state them.
Captain COOKE, a well-known local character, who holds
his title as leader of the javelie men who attend executions,
expressed a wish to protest against the petition. A way was
cleared for him to the head of the room. The Captain then
spoke as follows :—" I protest against your petition upon the
ground that you are taking great liberties with your superiors :
for what would any Englishman say if tke House of Lords
was dictated to -and goaded by a rabble ? Therefore I protest
against it."
The Tories having exhausted their opposition in this protest,
the Chairman put 'the petition to the meeting, and it was car-
ried by a la-ge and overwhelming majority.
Mr. WILLIAM SHELL next rose to address the meeting. He
stood forward upon this simple question—whether the system
by which the people of England were now governed was a good
or bad system? After some observations, he proceeded to
'notice the Corporation of Exeter, which had been reported b)
the Commissioners to have conducted its accounts of late years
in a very excellent manner. It was clear that the present
body was free from any charge of peculation ; but it was equally
clear that they had not administered the public fends with
anythines like discretion. Mr. Snell then entered into some
particulars respecting the Exeter Corporation, by which it
appeared that the Charity Commissioners had discovered that
they had borrowed 27,0001. from the charitable funds intrusted
to their guardianship. Of this they returned 10,0001., and
still owed 17,000/. They
.might call it borrowing; but lie
would call it misappropriation. He concluded by moving- the
appointment of a committee to obtain signatures to the petition.
Mr. Raern BARNES, a gentleman who had on a former
occasion signalized himself by his strenuous opposition to the
Reform Bill, and who, beside being registrar of the diocese
and chapter-clerk, labours under the suspicion of beinra
friend of • Bishop Phillpotte, now rose for the purpose of op-
posing-the Bill. He. entered into a long statement. of the
etterroitice of tho Li.ll, Which happened to be those-points with

which the meeting seemed the best pleased. lie was most
ably answered by Mr. Snell.
Mr. JOHN D.7IIIOND, jun., seconded the motion, which was
carried unanimously.
Mr. BASTARD the!, moved that the petition be presented to
the Lords by Lord Poltimore.
Captain SHORTT seconded the motion, which was carried
by acclamation.
Thanks were then voted to the Chairm'an, with most. en.
thuslastic plaudits, and the meeting quietly dispersed. .

• AMERICAN AFFAIRS.

PHILADELPHIA, JULY 7.—By the packet which brings you
this letter, you will also receive copies of the last despatches of
Mr. Livingston, which cover his expl ►natory letter to the Duke
de Broglie, dated the 25111 of April. If no further communi-
cation is made on the part of France, matters will rest in their
present state until Congress conucne in December, when the
President will express himself in his annual message in strong
terms. But if the pending bill passes the House of Peers,
and any explanation or concession is required of General Jack-
son as a condition precedent to the payment of the money due
to i:t.e United States, such demand will be indignantly rc-

jectefl, -
The later Mr. Livingston of the 25th of April is univer-
sally approved by the people of this country, and the Adminis-
tration will be sustahu:d by them in adhering literally to the
ground thus assumed. :herefore continue to entertain the
opinion already expressed, that' the • best prospect of adjusting
the present difficulties will be prop..,' ,by. the French Cham-
bers adjourning without coming to any ,L-cisien on the bill now
pending before the Peers. It will afford the. Chambers an op-
portunity of retracing their steps without any sacrifice of na-
tional honour or dignity, although it may annoy some of the
Hotspurs opposed to the Ministry.
Already rumours are creeping into circulation, that tbe Pre-
sident has it in contemplation to order the whole naval force
of the United States placed forthwith in a state of prepara-
tion for active service. It is not improbable that these rumours
will be exaggerated, but they are without foundation, and aro
the offspring of selfish individuals for speculative purposes, as
they emanate from those who are totally ignorant of the Pre-
sident's powers. A certain portion of the navy is constantly
kept employed. The necessary appropriation for their repairs
and maintenance are annually made by Congress, on estimates
furnished by the Navy Department. These estimates, as a
matter of course, are sometimes short of the actual expendi-
ture required for effecting the contemplated object. Sometimes
the appropriation exceeds the amount required. In all such
cases, the President is considered authorized to carry into effect
the contemplated object, and when more money is required than
was originally anticipated, the appropriation is uniformly made
at the next session for the payment of such surplus demand, but
even in this case the power of the President extends no futher
than to run the Government in debt, the amount of the surplus
leaving it with Congress to decide whether they will or will not,
pa; the debt thus contracted. Not one cent. of the money
can be drawn from the Treasury for its payment until a law
has been p,„;_sed by Congress authorizing such payment. Nor
can the Governu:ent or its officers be sued for the debt ; or
process be issued to enforce the payment. It depends entirely
upon the opinion of the national Legislature whether the ex.
penditure was necessary and expedient.
Seeing, then, that the 'owers of the President arc thus
limited, it is ridiculous to suppo.se that he would authorize or
direct the arming or fitting out of any vessels of war, other
than those contemplated in the appropiiations made during
the last session of Congress; and, consequenily, that whatever
movements may have been, or may be, made in the navy-
yards of this country this summer, such movements are to-
tally unconnected with the relations now existing between
France and the United States. An effort, however, will
probably be attempted to excite a war spirit; and t think it
will be successful, if the French persist in the demand of an
explanation.