The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-20 00:00:00

SUNDAY TRADING 1N SOMERS-TOW.

Yesterday, at the weekly meeting of the Repre-
sentative Vestry of St. Pancras, held at the Vestry
Hall, Camden-town, Mr. Churchwarden Cameron
in the chair, the subject of the disgraceful proceed-
ings at the Sunday market in Somers•town was
again brought under consideration by the receipt
of the following communication from the Police
Commissioners:—

"Metropolitan. Police-office, Whitehall-place,
Oct. 18, 1859.
" have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter
of the 17th inst., stating that the nuisance caused by coater-
mongers and others trading- on Sundays with barrows,
trucks, &c., in Chapel-street, and other streets in Somers-
town, has once more been brought under the notice of the
vestry of St. Pancras, and they reiterate their request that
instructions may be given to the police to remove all trucks
and barrows, and to prevent the loitering and congregating
of persons, and the obstructions of the roadways and pave-
ments in Somers-town on Sundays. I have to acquaint
you, in reply, that the Brill market having been held for
many years in Somers-town, the police cannot interfere to
suppress it unless they do so altogether. The parochial au-
thorities, however, have full power to summon for any in-
fringement of the law; they can, therefore, if they think
proper, take the initiative in the mater, and summon the
parti,,s causing obstruction on Sundays, in which case the
police will render them such assistance as is in their power.
—I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
" Wm. C. HARRIS, Assistant-Commissioner.

"F. Flaw, Esq., Vestry-clerk, St. Pancras."
Mr. DOUGLAS said this was an evasion on the
part of the Police Commissioners to shift the respon-
sibility from themselves. (Hear, hear.) What
were the police for unless to remove nuisances
which were a public disgrace and scandal, and in-
terfered with the comfort of the public ? The state-
ment as to the Brill market was a subterfuge.
Mr. Ross thought the best plan, was for that
Board to see what they could do themselves to stop
this crying evil, although he believed the magis-
trates were leagued with the police to support these
disgraceful Sunday desecrations. He was much
struck, a few days ago, in reading the proceedings
taken in Bermondsey to put down Sunday trading,
where the magistrate appeared to exercise all the
ingenuity he possessed to defeat the information.
If the. Police Commissioners would not, however,
do their duty, they must see what they could do
themselves.

Mr. BRE7INGHAM designated the communica-
tion as a shffi ung letter, and aaid if these. infamies
took place in St. James's, or aristocratic plrts, the
polite would soon interfere to put them down.
(Hear, hear.)
The CHAIRMAN qu Aed the parish solicitor's (Mr.
Cooper's) opinion, that under the police act the
police have express powers to remove all trucks
and barrows, and this power they constantly exer-
cise in other streets. His advice was that they
should apply again to the commissioners to exer-
cise the powers vested by law in the police, and if
they refuse to act, to memorialise the Secretary of
State.

After some discussion it was resolved to refer the
subject to the Works Committee to remove the
stalls on Sundays, under the advice of the solicitor
to the parish.

OUR REPULSE AT TILE P_EIIIO.

(From the Chinese Telegraph.)
We now proceed to notice the diplomatic part of
this lamentable affair, which was in charge of Mr.
Brnce, on the part of the British Goxernment, and
Mons. Bourboulon, on the part of the French ; we
connot, however, detach any responsibility or blame
from the former, in consequence of the presence of
the latter, seeing that Mons. Bourboulon could not,
with the small force at his command, do otherwise
than follow Mr. Bruce's steps. his conduct, however,
does net seem to have satisfied the French Govern-
ment, as they are superseding him.
It appears that on their arrival at the mouth of
the Peiho they found the river as we have described,
and[no commissioner or mandarin appointed to ex-
plain the reason. The inference to be drawn from
this being pretty evident, viz., that it was not in•
tended to allow the fleet to pass them, until instruc-
tions to that effect wete received, and the officer

deputed by the admiral to request the removal of the
stakes was distinctly informed that no mandarins
were in that locality, and none nearer than Tientsin,
distant 63 miles ; this was intended to imply that a
reply must be ob:ained from there before anything
could be done. Mr. Bruce, however, would not wait,
and on June 21, barely three days after his arrival,
he handed the matter over to the admiral, instructed
him to clear the way, and to convey him to Tientsin,
and by this premature act, of course, committed
himself to a state of war, at the very critical
moment it was above all desirable not to do so.

Every
E expedient should have been resorted to
to avoid a collision, and waiting a reply from Tien-
tsin was about the least he should have done. Sup-
posing he had gained Pekin by force of arms, could
it be reasonably expected that the Emperor would
in au amicable manner ratify a treaty, after such
proceedings. Why, a moment's consideration would
dictate that such a state of anarchy and fright would
prevail at Pekin, that the Emperor would certainly
take flight, and quit the capital for his summer re-
sidence, 120 miles farther north, leaving Mr. Bruce
to his own reflections that such a possibility did not
cccur to him while at Taku: Who ever Leard of s
plenipotentiary, bearing a treaty of amity and peace,
advancing on a capital for its ratification at the
point of the bayonet ? Had the fleet succeeded in
passing the barriers, it would not, in all probability,
have reached Pekin, judging from the capabilities
of the Taku Forts. It may, in this light, be consi-
dered providential that the vessels did not advance"
farther than they did, or not a soul might have been-
left to tell the tale. We do not mean to say that an
attack would not ultimately have been found neces-
sary and justifiable, we only condemn the precipi-
tate manner in which the attack under notice was
I determined on ; and on that point there can hardly
be two opinions.
The American Minister is reported to have reached
Pekin on June 24, but no positive confirmation of this
had reached either Shanghai or Hong Kong at the
latest dates, nor of the true manner in which he was
conveyed there, and received by the Court. So long
as he gets there, and procures a ratification of his
treaty, he will satisfy his Government and American
vanity, that he has.proved a smarter Minister than
the French and English ambassadors.
The despatches of Mr. Bruce demonstrate most
clearly his leading error to be, the assumption of a
policy analogous to that followed by his brother,
Lord Elgin ; the one arriving in China at a time
when the British forces had already been in colli-
sion with the Chinese—in fact, in a state of war ;
the other, th.a bearer of a treaty of amity and peace,
which he should have. used every effort to have ob-
tained the ratification of, and failing which he
should have applied to the Home Government for
instructions. We deny that his first instructions
left no other course but to commit us again to a war
with China in the precipitate manner he did. Trade
must now be paralysed, and the indemnity to our
merchants for the last war, now standing nearly
there years, thrown hopelessly out of reach by ano-
ther war. Had he waited instructions from home,
the Chinese would probably have been induced to
avoid the calamities of another war, and we should
have escaped the irretrievable damage to our pres-
tige by the defeat at Taku, and the hard fate of the
" 464 killed and wounded." On the subsequent acts
of Mr. Bruce we commented in our last number,
and quite certain are we that each succeeding mail
from China will show fresh evidence of his grog
error.

A SHERIFF-OFFICER BEATEN AND
MADE TO BURN HIS WARRANT.

The John 0' Groat .Tournal reports that a sheriff-
officer from Wick, Sinclair Millar, was lately out-
rageously assaulted and compelled, in order to escape
with his life, to burn a warrant which he had gone
to the west of Sutherlandshire to serve. The party
against whom these aggressive measures were taken
was a George Morrison, who had been committed
for trial for an assault at the inn of Dunn, while on
his way home from the Wick fishing, but liberated
Fderindeacy,Lloacsitl,ina
,iltloarsuhmadmopnro:ieoerdreisdontb to haipspreeasri:
on bail. The trial was to take place at Wick on
snhaa r-(11
On arriving, he saw the purport of his visit was
suspected by Morrison and his neighbours, and that
parties of whom he sought information as to where
Morrison stayed were endeavouring to mislead him
by denying that le resided where he (the officer)
had suspected he did. Millar popped into the
house, however, and found three young men there,
one with a club and another with an old scythe. He
left hi'l missive, however, and returned to the inn
where he had lodged the previous night at Rhico-
nich, but had been there only a short time when,
looking out at the window, he espied several per-
sons close by, and cnong them one whom he recog-
nised as having been among those in Morrison's
house. Anticipating a row, he went out along with
his w itnesses to remonstrate with the people, and
in order to save breakage of furniture, if any dis-
turbance was to take place. One immediately laid
hands on Mr. Millar, threatening to kill him, and
struck him with a stone on the head, inflicting a
severe injury, while next, the officer was knocked
down, dragged along, and kicked, he crying out
not to kill him outright. They then offered !eying,
i u y
proposing he should get off withoi t furth( r j
the
if he would return to Lochinshard. and
burn
could do
warrant. There being no alternative he
ent was accord-
nothing but agree, and the docunoin
Mr. Millar's
ingly committed to theflanies.
made into the
return to Wick an inquiry was a
s reported to
cir-
cumstances, the case being
af,t'ellissi Mare to deal with
the sheriff at Dornoch, who Is i la
it, the outrage having been committed in Suther-
landshire.