The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-08 00:00:00

THE REV. W. G. PENNY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sna,—lf you deem the annexed impromptu worthy of
a nook in your paper, it is at your service.
Athenaeum, Manchester, Nov. 5.

R. P.

" The Rev. Wm. Goodenough Penny, M.A., Student
of Christ Church, and Perpetual Curat© of Ashendon,
Bucks, has resigned his studentship, on conforming to
the Roman Catholic faith."—Sun, Nov. 4, 1844.

IMPROMPTU ON THE ABOVE.
Our English Church is wealthy yet I
As rich, indeed, as any ;
And therefore need not feel regret

At parting with a " Penny."
The Church of Rome, perhaps, is poor,
And won't the boon reject,
Though 'twill not much increase their store,
Nor add to their respect.

They'll find, moreover, by-and-bye,
This " Penny " no great treat,
For when his sterling worth they try,
Hell prove a counterfeit.
Too bad for Oxford ! let him go
And seek some other home ;
Ile need not wander to and fro,
He's " Goodenough " for Rome.

EARLY CLOSING OF SHOPS.—Wednesday a public
meeting of the assistants of London employed in various
trades, was held at the Percy Hotel, Rathbone-place Ox-
ford-street, Mr. Lancaster in the chair, for the purpose
of forming a new London Association of all trades, on
the principles of the Linendrapers' Association, to pro-
cure, if possible, an earlier closing of their respective
warehouses and shops. Resolutions of a mere formal
nature were agreed to, the society was formed, a com-
mittee appointed, and several members enrolled. The
chair was not taken until ten o'clock, and the parties, in
consequence of the present system, were not able to ex-
emplify the principle of early closing.
WINTER ASSIZES.—It having been finally decided
to hold an additional gaol delivery at the following places,
the Judges met on Tuesday, and made the following ar-
rangement. The days for holding the assizes have not
been appointed :—Mr. Baron Alderson will preside at
Winchester, Exeter, and Wells; Mr. Justice Patteson,
at Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, and Warwick; Mr.
Baron Gurney, at Liverpool and Chester; Mr. Justice
Williams, at Norwich, Bury, Chelmsford, and Maidstone;
Mr. Justice Coleridge, at York and Durham; Mr. Jus-
tice Coltman, at Stafford, Shrewsbury, Worcester, and
Gloucester.

THE TRACEY PEERAGE.—NOVEL INQUIRY.-011
Monday last an inquiry was held at Castlebrack church-
yard, before Captains Tibeaudo and Warburton, George
Newcombe, J. W. Tarleton, and Samuel Sheane, Esqs.,
magistrates, relative to the genuineness of the tomb-
stone, by which James Tracey, Esq., proves his title to
this long-disputed Peerage ; and which the House of
Lords decided in his favour, subject to their proving of
this stone. A great number of respectable people at-
tended to give evidence, as well as to hear such a novel
inquiry. Mr. John Rafter, a stone-cutter and builder,
proved that the four pieces of stone produced must have
originally been in one—they all corresponding with the
grain, breaks, and letters, when laid together closely to
form one stone ; and it was his opinion that the said
stone was the original one belonging to the family, placed
there as a tombstone ; in which other witnesses also con-
curred, and signed dt clarations to that effect.—Leinster
Express. _ _ _

HEARTLESS ROBBERY.—On Tuesday night :a cottage
in the Moat-road, occupied by widow Barter, was entered
by means of a pane of glass being taken out of the win-
dow, and robbed of a quantity of pork amounting to
401 b., a silk shawl, two dishes, bread, cheese, butter—in
fact everything the thieves could lay their hands on, so
that on getting up in the morning the poor woman found
herself completely stripped and pennyless. Some salt
was amongst the booty, droppings of which were traced
some distance, and it is suspected the thieves lived not
far off. The circumstances of the poor woman make the
occurrence still more distressing to her. Her husband,
who was employed at the brewhouse of Messrs. Brench-
ley and Co., as a carpenter, recently died prematurely
from the effects of a splinter which ran into his hand and
rapidly produced mortification, since which bereavement
the poor woman has been confined, the expenses attend.
ing which completely absorbed all the little resources she
had by her. To complete her destitution her cottage
was stripped, as we have stated, of its winter's store of
provisions, not leaving her even a crust of bread. The
case is one well deserving the attention of the benevo-
lent, and we trust that the subscription set on foot for
the purpose of providing the bereaved widow with a
mangle to enable her to earn an honest, however humble,
maintenance for her family will be liberally supported.—
Maidstone Journal.
THE STEAM HORSE.--A correspondent of an
American paper gives the following quaint description
of the locomotive :—" I love to see one of those huge
creatures, with sinews of brass and muscles of iron,
strut forth from his smoky stable; and saluting the long
train of cars with a dozen sonorous puffs from his iron
nostrils, fall gently back into his harness. There he
stands, champing and foaming upon the iron track, his
great heart a furnace of glowing coals, his lymphatic
blood is boiling in his veins ; the strength of a thousand
horses is nerving his sinews ; he pants to be gone. He
would ' snake' St. Peter's across the Desert of Sahara if
he could be fairly hitched to it ; but there is a little so-
briety, tobacco-chewing man in the saddle, who holds
him in with one finger, and can take away. his breath in
a moment, should he grow restive and vicious. I am
always deeply interested in this man, for begrimed as he
may be with coal diluted in oil and steam, I regard him
as the genius of the whole machinery, as the physical
mind of that huge steam horse."
" Some days since," says the Gazelle des Tribu-
naux, "a clerk in the employment of M. Delessert, the
banker of Paris, lost a sealed parcel containing 37,000 f.
in securities, payable to bearer. The unfortunate loser
made every search to recover the parcel, but in vain.
After a lapse of some days, when M. Delessert had
abandoned all hopes of recovering his property, an
aged man, clad in rags, and having the appearance of
suffering complete destitution, called at his bank, and
addressed him in the following terms I have heard,
Sir, that you have lost some valuable papers, and I have
found a parcel which perhaps is your's ; but as I have
not mentioned my discovery to any person, I cannot be
certain to whom it belongs. There is the parcel, and if
it be yours I am delighted that it has fallen into my
hands,' M. Delessert took the parcel, and found to his
astonishment that the seal had not been broken, which
he remarked, It is quite plain,' said the poor man,
he who would break a seal would break open a door,
and I am not that man. He was about to withdraw,
when M. Delessert observed to him, that he did not
appear to have been favoured by fortune. Alas !' said
the poor man, it is but too true.' You have a right
to a reward,' said M. Delessert ; what do you wish
for ?' lam old, as you see, Sir,' replied the man,
and unable to work ; and if you would use your in-
fluence to obtain admission for me into the charitable
institution of the well-conducted poor, I would be truly
grateful.' AL Delessert, profoundly affected at so much
probity joined with so much misery, gave him sufficient
money to supply his present necessities, and
finally esta-
blished him, with his wife, in a comfortable lodging, and
placed his children as apprentices."
In the court a Bankruptcy on Tuesday Mr.
Commissioner Banc decided that the bringing of an ac-
tion, without any reasonable prospect of being able to
pay the costs, is a fraudulent contracting of a debt.
Ihs Honour, in consequence, adjourned the final order
sins die, This decision will operate as a warning to a
numerous class of pennyless speculators in actions at law,
who, having nothing to lose in the event of failure, com-
mence actions against respectable parties, in the expec.
tation of being able to extort money from their fears of
being saddled with their own costs, even though they
obtain a verdict. -bet it be generally known that the
Court of Bankruptg holds such groundless actions as a
fraudulent contract of debt, and the fear of imprison-
ment will give a powerful check to such dishonest expo'
riments,
RAILWAY AROIDENT.—On Saturday afternoon, a
young man, whose name we have not learned, was killed
on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, in the imme-
diate vicinity of Linlithgow station. It appeared that
he was an occupant of one of the third-class carriages
by the tbrpp o'clock train from Edinburgh, and that after
being more than onaii watered by the guard, he persisted
in sitting on the top of the front pant of the carriage.
While doing so, the unfortnnate man lost his balance,
an 4 fell over, when the train passed over him, crushing
his head in a ruiner so dreadful as to cause instant
death. He was accompanied by his father, who had to
perform the melancholy duty of returning by another
train with the dead body of his son.—Glasgow antler.