The Sun.
London, England, 1850-11-27 00:00:00

ITALY.

The Giornale di Roma, of the 156, has a leader on
the present agitation in England. It tells its readers
that the Government has not given ear to the " furious
tempest" raised by the papers against the Papal brief
which restores the Catholic hierarchy in England ; that
it has remained calm in the midst of meetings, circu-
lars, and addresses, and that it will not yield to peti
tions and questions in Parliament. It asserts that the
law of the land has been respected, and denies the as-
sertion of the Bishop of London, that the brief is a
negation of the spiritual power of the Queen. " The
English Catholic subjects," it adds, " have never ac-
knowledged that power, and those who daily embrace
Catholicism deny it formally. And yet these sub-
jects, who are now depicted as rebel•, are, on the con-
trary, excellent citizens in the eyes of the Govern-
ment itself. If it be so, and if the English Catholics
are to enjoy the same lights as their countrymen, it is
clear that the brief ITa3 not attacked the spiritual
authority of the chief of the state, since the Catholics
do not acknowledge it." It further contends that the
new territorial division, established by the brief, is
not contrary to the Emancipation Act, and that the
Catholics are protected by that Act, while Metho-
dists and other Dissenters are merely tolerated. It
concludes with a hope that Parliiment will take no
serious notice of the matter, and look upon it as an
affair of etiquette.
The Risergimento of Turin of the 20th, the chief
Ministerial organ, contains the following paragraph :
" For some time past the Turin journals have been
talking of a Ministerial crisis, or at least of various
changes in the Cabinet. We recommend our contem-
poraries to be rather more cautious in crediting and
spreading rumours of this kind. As fai as we are
informed, we can declare that there never was, nor is
now, the least foundation for their suppositions, and
that there is not the slightest danger nor probability
of a Ministerial modification."

The Royal decree for the prorogation of the
Piedmontese Chambers was read in the Cham-
ber of Deputies on the 19th by Signor Galvagno,
the Minister of the Interior. The decree fixes the
opening of the new session for the 23d instant.
The Piedmontese Gazetle contains a paragraph in its
non-official part, stating that the persons entrusted
by the Minister with the care of publishing the de-
cree immediately after the reading of it in the two
Chambers had published it before the reading, in con-
aNuence of which. they had been severely repri-
manded.

The Ferrara Gazette dates that, a few incendiary

placards having been posted up at Vogbera and Cop-
paro, in the province of Ferrara, denouncing the new
law establish!: g a tax o❑ trades and professions, the
police has discovered the culprit, who is a mere child,
that had been induced to commit the act by some
enemies of order, to whom a severe bas:inado has been
administered by order of the authorities.

• GREECE.
The Greek Chambers were opened by the Queen
at Athens on the 12th. The country was tranquil.

GOLD AND SILVER.

A singular rise which has been going on for some
time in the price of silver has created much inquiry.
The idea that it may be owing to the influx of Cali-
fornian gold naturally occurs to every one, and gives
the subject its chief interest. In ordinary times the
question might be easily settled, but, from the peculiar
state of the continent, together with the change re-
cently made in the Dutch currency, a definite con-
clusion at present is rendered impossible.
The three causes now in operation, namely, the
Californian influx, the requirements for the pay and
maintenance of the German armies, and the subsitution
of silver for gold in Holland, have come into active
operation almost simultaneously. They all have the
some tendency, and the task therefore simply is to
discover the proportionate influence of each. For
this, however, the materials are wanting. We do not
know with certainty the total increase which has
taken place in the supply of gold, or, as regards
silver, the quantity absorbed in Germany, or on the
continent generally, either by the armies or from
hoarding, or other causes, and, even if this information
were before us, we should still be ignorant of the
total stock of bullion in the world, upon the amount
of which alone could any accurate calculations be
founded.

Although, however, we must thus wait until some
of the perplexing elements of the question shall have
been removed—tbr if the war mania were to termL
nate, and the effect of the Dutch legislation had
passed away, we should then have no difficulty in
looking to California for its solution—there are many
considerations that may, even now, throw some light
upon the matter, and which may be usefully borne in
mind in watching the future.
We have remarked that all the influences now
existing operate in one way. The only direct mode in
which any effect from the Californian gold could first
he observed would be by looking at the relative price
of silver. 'We must measure the state of the
market for gold by the purchasing power of
that metal, and silver is the best commodity where-
with to test this purchasing power, as it is less
liable to fluctuation than any other. In proportion,
therefore, as the supply of gold increases, sib'er will
steadily become dearer—that is to say, a 51. note re-
presenting a certain weight of gold will buy less
silver than previously. At the same time the pur-
chases of silver by Germany and Holland must of
course have a similar effect. They are made by
means either of gold coin transmitted to us direct, or
of gold due from us for credits allowed or shipments
received, our merchants, in the latter case, being in-
structed, instead of sending the gold that is owing, to
send as much silver as it will procure.
In the combined action thus going forward enough
is consequently presented to remove all surprise that
remarkable results should already have been observed.
There are, however, some minor circumstances to be
noticed which modify these general operations, al-
though, as it is impossible to estimate their aggregate
bearing, it cannot be ascertained whether on the
whole they have tended to mitigate or to increase the
change that has been in progress. Among these, on
the one band, is the demand for silver in California,
and on the other, the alleged increase of production in
the silver mines of South America, the extensive issue
of small paper currency, by which silver has been dis-
placed in Austria, and finally, a gradual displacement
of silver by gold, which is observable in the United
States.

Supposing it to be a question, whether the effect of
the demand for silver in Germany has not been coun-
teracted to a very great extent by the issue of Aus-
trian paper, and also if the supplies of silver required
at San Francisco have not been met by the more
abundant yield of the mouth American mines, we
should then be driven to attribute the late rise in this
country mainly to the Dutch operations or to Cali-
fornia, or to both. The step adopted by Holland, of
calling in her 5 and 10 guilder pieces, took place on
the 22d of June, and the amount of gold disengaged
by it has been about four millions sterling. As yet,
however, not more than about 500,0001. is believed to
have been replaced by silver, the remainder being re-
presented by notes, which will continue in circula-
tion until the requisite amount of silver can be ob-
tained. Whether this or the possible fact that
10,000,0001. of gold (being nearly double the total
estimated annual yield of all the South-American
mines in 1840) has been suddenly added to the stock
of bullion in the world, which some have conjectured
not to exceed 330,000,0001. in all, and of which gold
constitutes by far the smallest proportion, may have
had the greatest force, is a point which must be left
for speculation. _ _ _

But, whatever view may be adopted by each indi-
vidual as to the influence which has been predomi-
nant in producing the effect that has occurred, there
can be no question that that effect has been of a most
decided and important character. At this period last
year the price of silver was 4s. Hid. per ounce, and
it is now ss. lii , the rise being within a fraction of
3 per cent. ; a difference wnich (apart from other
considerations) is considerable, as affecting the seig-
norage on our own silver coinage. This coinage
based on the forming of 66 shillings out of every
pound weight of standard silver, leaving a gross
profit to the Government, when silver was at its
usual price of 4s. 110. per ounce, of nearly 11 per
cent., and which profit is now reduced to about
71 per cent. In France the premium on gold
has fallen within thl same period from 13k per
male to 3i per male ; so that it is now re-
duced to only about k per cent. Should any
further important decline take place, the silver
coins of that country will then gradually be dis•
placed by gold; for they will intrinsically be worth
more than their nominal value. Again, in the United
States the same effect is observable. Last year the
half-dollar silver coinage was at par. It is now
quoted 24 premium. This will cause silver to be
exported, and its place to be supplied by an increased
coinage of gold dollars, half-eagles, sad eagles.
At the same time it is to be remarked, that in pro-
portion as silver thus comes to be displaced by gold in
countries where it has hitherto been in extensive cir-
culation. its further relative rise will be checked, be-
cause its uses, and the consequent demand for it, will
be diminished. A decrease in the intrinsic value of
each metal may then be looked for, although not in
equal proportions; and the only way.in which it will I
be possible that this fall can be traced thereafter will
be by ascertaining from time to time the general ex-
changeable
relation between them and other commo-
dities, so as to compare the purchasing power of both
with what it was at former periods.

RADICAL REFORM IN THE LAW.
LIGHT FROM THE WEST.
(From the Weekly News.)
While we have been grumbling at law abuses, and
nibbling here and there at some of their more pro-
minent evils, our relatives over the water have gone
quietly and manfully to work, and out of the old
chaos of English common law and equity, they have
created for themselves a rational, simple, intelligible,
and uniform judicial system, by means of which any
man, who has a claim against another, may obtain
substantial justice, quickly, cheaply, and securely.
This sounds like Utopia, but it may be found at
New York. The citizens of that state used to have
their law courts, with all their paraphernalia of diver-
sity of actions, intricacy of special pleading, demurrer,
error, &c., &c., just like our own. They had inhe-
rited these things while English subjects, and they
had long retained them. So, too, they had their
Courts of Chancery, like the English, totally, distinct
from the common law tribunals, with their tedious and
costly procedures and unsatisfactory mode of taking
testimony on depositions composed in private, and not
from the lips of witnesses and in public. In New
York, as in England, the people groaned under the
costliness, the tardiness, and the uncertainty of
the law. But the New Yorkers went to
work more boldly and more wisely than we
do.' They did not wait for the lawyers to reform
the law—for the spiders to clear away the webs :
—they met in convention as their Constitution au-
thorises them to meet, and they ordered that their
law should be thoroughly reformed • that their
Courts of Chancery should be abolished ; and that
a simple uniform mode for obtaining redress for civil
wrongs should be provided, throughout which sub-
stantial justice should be the paramount object, and
that all forms and technicalities which could stand in
its way should be exterminated. Three commis-
sioners were appointed to draw up a code in that
spirit ; and a code so prepared was ratified by the
Houses of Legislature, and became the law of that
state early in 1848.
We consider this subject so important, and we find
in that code so admirable a model for our own guid-
ance, that we intend to lay the principal portions of
it before our readers ; we mean those portions by
which the distinction between law and equity is
abolished, which give a single form of action, which
abolish special pleading, and which provide for the
trials of issues in fact and of issues of law. There
are also very valuable provisions respecting costs, and
the right of examining the hostile parties in the case,
which we shall also extract in extenso.
We earnestly beg the attention of our readers to
this code, because it shows us exactly what we want.
There we have it, not in vague suggestions or crude
fancies, but in definite black and white, and in full
arid careful detail. It comes also to us recommended
by the test of actual experience. .orlkt,haansd•nho:
worked
for nearly two Years in

to the thorough satisfaction of all parties there, ex-
cept some of the bench and bar, who there, as every-
where else, diilike all charge, are incapable of all
philosophical comprehension, and cling like rust to
the old-fashioned institutions in which they were born
and bred.

- We are convinced that nothing has occurred
for a very long time so sure to give an impetus to the
c:.use of law reform in this country, as the meeting
of the Law Amendment Society in Regent-street, on
Monday last, at which Mr. Field, one of the com-
missioners who prepared the New York Code, was
present, and answered the numerous inquiries respec-
ting its nature and its operation, which were put to
him by the numerous English lawyers who assembled
to receive him. A report of it appears in another
part of our columns. It was not a little amusing to
witness the sparring between our equity and our
common law men, each class being keenly appreciative
of the absurdities of the other's system, and as com-
placently blind to those of its own. Thus, Mr.
Bethel wound up a long eulogy on equity, and a
long invective against common law, by saying that
the true merit of the New York Code was that, by
it, "law was swallowed up in equity." To which
Mr. Creasy retorted that it would work the still
greater miracle of " transforming equity into justice."

THE INCOME TAX.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—Tte income-tax, so far as it arises from pro-
fessions and trades, it is hoped will be repealed the next
session of Parlimm,nt. I was therefore much grieved at
reading the following placard, posted about last Sunday
morning -.

" LEGACY TO LAMBETH.

" A gentleman, well known in the Commercial and
Belvidere-roads, and who is recognised by the cognomen
of Paul Pry,' from his pinking and prying propensities,
has just been elected a Commissioner of the Income•tax
for the nest year. This is understood to have hien a le-
gacy from an ex- M. P."
The income-tix is bad enough, in all conscience, with-
out selecting such men as commissioners.

I am, Sir, &c.,

AN INHABITANT OF LAUBETH.
Hercules-buildings, Nov. 26, 1850.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—We read of ships going to appointed places
to have their compasses adjusted—what the compas.,
is to a ship the Bible is to a Christian, ought not both
to be as correct as possible ? Is it not time that a
new translation should be ordered ? Would not such
a step deprive the Roman Catholic or Papal authority
of some of their holds upon men's minds, enable the
laity to read more easily, and forward true Protes-
tant objects ?
(See Archbishop of Canterbury's Address.)
I am, Sir, &c.,

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, Nov 26

(Sittings in Nisi Prius, at Westminster, before Mr. Jus
tics WIGHTMAN, and a Common Jury,)
AMISS V. CIINNINGTON.

(Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.)
A witness named Chapman proved, on the part of the
defence, that he met the defendant on the 6th of March,
the day when the assault was committed, on his way
home from the plaintiff's shop, in a state of great excite
merit and half stupor. On the Monday following witness
visited the defendant at his house, and found him still
very unwell.
Isabella Mills, a servant of the defendant's, remem-
bered him leaving his house on the 6th of March. He was
then in his usual health. When he returned in the
afternoon he appeared very unwell, and his mouth was
very much swollen. Afterwards his mouth broke out all
round in sores; there was a running at his eyes and
nose, and be was otherwise unwell.

James Pettit proved that he had heard the plaintiff
say that if the defendant again came to his shop for
money he would kick him out, and serve him in such a
manner that he would not dome back.

Mr. Sandys, a surgeon, in Ken,ish-town, deposed
that he attended the defendant during his illness, and
that the application to the face of an irritating sub-
stance or strong acid would produce the effects com-
plained of by the defendant. He admitted, however,
that he knew of no chemical preparation which would
have the odour of putrid meat and affect any person in
the manner described by the defendant.
The Learned JUDGE, in summing up the case, left it
to the jury to say whether the plaintiff was justified in
the assault which he committed, or whether violent and
improper means had been used by him in turning the
defendant out of his shop. The jury would also have to
say whether the defendant preferred the charge against
the plaintiff really believing it to be true, or whether
he had done so from a malicious motive.

The jury, after some consid. ration, found a verdict for
the plaintiff—Damages 15/.

EXCHEQUER CHAMBER, N0v.26.
CROWN CASES RESERVED.

(Before the Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench,
Justices Patteson, Coleridge, Erle, Maul; Cresswell,
Williams, Talfourd, and Barons Parke, Alderson,
Platt, and Martin.)
THE QUEEN V. AILEY.

In this case the defendant Wiley was convicted at the
Northumberland Quarter Sessions, for receiving a quan-
tity of fowls knowing them to be stolen; and it now
came before this Court on a point reserved by the jus-
tices before whom the case was tried.

It appeared that two men stole the fowls, put them
into a sack, and brought them into the house of
'Wiley's father, for the purpo:e of selling them
to Wiley. He saw Wiley, the defendant, and after
a short conversation the three parties went into a
stable, one of the men who stole the fowls carrying the
sack on his Lack, cud Wiley holding a light to show
him the way. The sack was placed on the floor, the
parties standing around it as if they were in the act of
bargaining, but no words were heard to pass between
them, and while in that position they were discovered
and taken into custody. The question the❑ arose al to
whether there was sufficient proof, on these facts, of
Wiley being in possession of the goods, to render him
liable to an indictment as a receiver of stolen goods
within the meaning of the statute.
Mr. OTTER was heard at considerable length against
the conviction, and contended that the goods had never
passed from the possession of the two persons who had
stolen them.

Mr. LIDDLE was heard in support of the conviction.

Their Lordships retired to consider their judgment,
and after being absent an hour. returned into court, when
they delivered their judgments seriatim.
The Learned Judges who were of opinion that the con-
viction was wrong were Mr. Baron Parke, Mr. Baron
Alderson, Mr. Justice Patteson, Mr. Justice Coleridge,Mt.
Justice Maule, Mr. Baron Platt, Mr. Justice Talfourd,
and Mr. Baron Martin.
The Learned Judges who thought the conviction was
right were the Lord Chief Justice Campbell, Mr. Justice
Cresswell, Mr. Justice Erle, and Mr. Justice Williams.
The majority being against the conviction, the .judg-
ment of the court below was reversed, and the defendant
ordered to be discharged from custody.

COURT OF EXCHEQUER, Nov. 26.
(Sittings at Nisi Prius, before Sir F. Poi,LocK, C.B.
at Westminster.)

This was the first day of the sittings. The cause

list contains 61 remaneis and but 51 new causes, or
112 in all. Of these 44 are for trial by special juries,
but the printed list shows that 17 special jury and 16
common jury causes have been withdrawn or settled
out of court.