The Sun.
London, England, 1850-11-16 00:00:00

POLIC E INTELLIGENCE.
'ANSION-HOUSE.
A case of considerable public interest was brought
before the Lord I Jay or after the routine business of
the justice-room ti vas concluded. 65 Frenchmen ap-
peared as complahants against Pierre Louis Urbaio,
the reputed owner and captain of the ship Abyssinia,
now lying in the St. Katherine's Docks, and bound
for California, and the ground of complaint was, that
the defendant had not performed his contract with
them, although he had received the several sums
charged for their passage to that land of golden ex-
pectations.
The matter having occasioned some inquiry, as
connected with our emigration laws, Lieutenant
Lean, R.N., the principal emigration-officer for the
port of London, appeared at the request of the Lord
Mayor.
A gentleman who represented the house of Messrs.
Balfour and Co., brokers to the persons connected
with the vessel, attended during the investigation, as
did an emissary from the French Consul.
The following facts have been collected from the
conversation which took place previously to the ex-
amination of evidence :
The complainants having some time ago learned
that the Abyssinia was about to take out emigrants to
California, applied to the defendant, who represented
himself to be the owner and captain, and entered into
arrangements with him for their conveyance to that
country. They agreed to the terms proposed by him,
which were that they should pay down one portion of the
passage money, amounting altogether to about 1,8001.
in France, and the rest in England, where the final
preparations were to be made for the voyage. If the
whole of the money bad been disbursed in the former
country, the authority of the Lord Mayor would have
been of no avail, but his Lordship having ascertained
from the emigration-officer that the city of London's
jurisdiction in the case, under the existing circum-
stances, was unquestionable, most promptly under-
took to decide upon its merits, and sympathised very
much with the crowds who appeared in the justice-
room and the lobby, in evident consternation at the
delay in the time fixed for their departure. The
alarm of the complainants had been increased by the
fact that the captain had, on the preceding day, an-
parently disregarded the summons of the chief magis-
trate, but it in a great measure subsided upon the
entrance of that gentleman, who at once announced
that the vessel would certainly sail on the 21st inst.,
and that the daily expenses incurred by the passen-
gers should be paid down to that period.
The LORD MAYOR—Has the defendant given re-
ceipts for the money of the passengers ?—The emissary
from the French Consul produced several receipts, and
said the captain had stated that he had paid the sum
of 1,045/. to Messrs. Balfour and Co., the brokers, as
part of the purchase-money of the ship Abyssinia, of
which the registered proprietors were in London.
It was stated upon the part of the brokers, that they
had, of course, paid over the money they had received
from the defendant to the registered owners, who had
sold the vessel to him for, as it was understood, be-
tween 2,000/. and 3,0001, and that they had every
reason to suppose that the vessel would sail at the
time just specified by him.
The LORD 3/Moo—Then it is clear that he has
given the money he has received as passage-money in
the ship for the very means of conveying these poor
emigrants. I should be glad to know how the vessel
is now as to provisions ?—Lieut. Lean said he had
sent one of his assistants on board, and learned that no
provisions had as yet arrived.
The defendant, who did not seem to be at all ac-
quainted with the English language, repeated, through
the medium of an interpreter, by whom he was in-
formed of the particulars of the complaint, that he
was most willing to make the necessary allowance for
the support of the passengers, and that the vessel
would be off to California on Thursday, and he added
that no further delay would take place if no interrup-
tion were given to his exertions for commencing the
voyage.
The LORD MAYOR—WiII the brokers be answera-
ble for the appearance of the defendant before me on
Thursday next, if I should require his presence ?
It was stated in reply to his Lordship's question,
that the brokers were willing and desirous to do every-
thing which, as brokers, they thought they ought to
do ; but they considered that such responsibility would
not be consistent with the bounds of their obligation
in such a case.
The LORD MAYOR—It appears that about 2,0001.
remains unpaid in the price of the vessel.
It was here stated that the value of the freight
already on board the Abyssinia amounted to 9001.
The LORD MAYOR—I should be glad to know what
money would be lent upon such a ship going out to
California ?—(A laugh.)
Lieut. Lean believed it would be difficult to answer
that question.
The LORD MAYOR—I am bound to protect these
poor Frenchmen. They are away from their own
country, but not from lair play ; and I must, if the
respectable gentlemen who have acted as brokers to
the defendant decline to be answerable to me for his
appearance on Thursday, hear the evidence and act
upon it. It appears to me, looking at the case as it
now stands, that the most advisable course would be to
re-sell the vessel and let these complainants have as
much of their money as can be got for them. At all
events, I cannot allow the defendant to go, and I shall
therefore hear the witnesses in one of the cases.
Jean Claude Morrissot was then sworn. He said—
I am a passenger on board the Abyssinia, now 13 ing
in St. Katharine's Docks. The defendant presented
himself as captain, and acted in that capacity. I paid
to him, through his agent in France, 500 f., and I,ooof.
in this country. The vessel was to sail on the 27th of
October, and accordingly I demanded my passage on
that day. I did not succeed in procuring it, and no
other ship of equal accommodation has been provided
for me since that date.
Lieutenant Lean, emigration•officer for the port of
London, said—The Abyssinia comes within my list,
and cannot clear out without my certificate.
The LORD MAYOR then informed the defendant
that he was liable for the 1,500 francs to the witness
just examined, together with a penalty of 10/. for
non-accommodation, and that if that sum were not
immediately paid down the law directed that he
should go to prison for three calendar months.
The defendant—l have taken all the necessary steps
for sailing on Thursday.
The LORD MAYOR—Can you not get somebody to
be security for your appearance here on Thursday, if
I should think your presence necessary ? The de-
fendant—l have no person whom I know but my
brokers.
The gentleman who attended from the office of the
brokers said the transaction was the first they had
ever had with the defendant, and they could not act
so inconsistently as to become security for his appear-
ance. At the same time, they entertained not the
slightest doubt as to his ability and inclination to per-
form his contract if he were allowed to go on with
his preparations.
The Loan MAYOR—I wish to do everything in
the most kindly manner towards the defendant, but the
duty I have to perform here is not capable of modifi-
cation. The Act under which I adjudicate was made
for the protection of poor emigrants, and I must
commit him if he does not pay. All the rest must be
paid also, or the necessary accommodation must be
provided. I shall be glad indeed to hear Lieutenant
Lean, to whose skill and exertions we are so much
indebted, say that the complainants are satisfied with
what may take place between this day and Thursday
next, and shall with great pleasure discharge the de-
fendant, from custody upon that gentleman's as-
surance.
It was here stated that the defendant's partner
would arrive in town next day from France.
The defendant, who appeared to be quite bewil-
dered, said he had no partner, but it was asserted upon
the part of the brokers that they had seen the deed of
partnership.
Lieutenant Lean said he believed the defendant had
paid to the emigrants 3s. a-day each down to a certain
period.
The LORD MAYOR—I have taken into considera-
tion all that I have heard, and the fact that the de-
fendant came here voluntarily to-day, when if he had
any sinister intention he might have d
' disappeared and
I am convinced that I have no other course to pursue.
The defendant was tuhpleLnriDeceoFoAmfLli,teitB3.,
Fleet-street, t
Yesterday Mr. ReesG
ap-
peared before Alderman Challis to answer an infor-
mation charging him with erecting a building at the
rear of his premises and neglecting to conform with
the requirements of the Act for regulating the erec-
tion of buildings in the metropolis.
Mr. John Stevens, surveyor to the western district
of the city of London, stated that he visited the pre-
mises situated No. 183, Fleet-street, on the 7th of
November last, in consequence of a notice he had re-
ceived from defendant of the erection of a small count,•
ing-house at the back of the house. Instead of only a
counting-house, he observed that a building about
forty feet long and twenty-five feet wide W 33 being
constructed of timber and tarpauling alone. The
counting-house was being fitted up as a kind of re-
freshment-stall, and the other building was intended
fora cultic. He gave defendant notice that the
building was not being constructed according to the
terms of the Act, and therefore it must all be cleared
Nawoavy. He
November,
acalled a a
clf n
time
h en
foundte Bth,t 9 th,
h andktn elnl tph of
ro•
soviidthbitnthetbsetr7fctit
he bofuntdhinegebwor
cseteedvienngs t
uilding. Mr. '
with its present irregularities, any pawrtaiess completed
found in
possession after receiving the notice he had given,
would render themselves liable to a penalty of 2001.
per day for every day the premises were occupied by
them. Finding that defendant still persisted that
the building was Mr. Chatterway's, notwithstanding
that gentleman's statement that it was not, and that
he was only engaged as master of the band, he, Mr. '
Stevens, lad thought it advisable to lay the present
information.

I Alderman CitaLids said it appeared that the corn-
! plainant had net i:ny proof that defen ?ant was the
• owner of the building as well as the ground, and he
would thgrefore 4isiniss the summons at present Wire
him. If-the counting-house, of which the djendant
had given due notice, was being erected irregularly,
then Mr. Stevens might take out a fresh information,
as the ownership of that did not appear to be dis-
puted by defendant. With regard to the purpose the
building was intended fer all he could say was that
if defendant acted in such a way as to annoy the in-
habitants, ha would only subject himself to an indict-
ment for a nuisance.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The same intemperate and aggressive
spirit which has been recently manifested by the
Court of Rome, in its pretended relations with this
country, may be traced in the proceedings of the
Pope towards other states more habitually and im-
mediately subjected to his spiritual influence ; and
we are not without hope that the same spirit of re-
sistance to Papal authority which has been so effec-
tually revived by the piety and the patriotism of the
people of England will be felt even in Italy as the
Italian States acquire a greater degree of constitu-
tional freedom and national independence. For this
reason we revert at this time, with peculiar interest,
to the allocution recently addressed to the Consistory
of Rome by the Pope, on the disputes of the Romish
Church with the Piedmontese Government, and we
shall be able to show that the effect of the Papal pre-
tensions upon the subjects of the King of Sardinia
has been the reverse of that which the Ecclesiastical
authorities had anticipated. The Pope claims in the
Sardinian dominions a degree of authority which
was, indeed, conceded to Rome in former
years by the bigotry of the Court of Charles
Albert, but which the Papal See has hardly
retained in any other Catholic country. In Pied-
mont itself, during the period that the continental
dominions of the House of Savoy were annexed to
the French Empire, they were included in the pro-
visions of the French Concordat ; and it was only
upon the restoration of the Royal family that the
clergy and the nation relapsed under the direct and
almost uncontrolled ecclesiastical power of Rome.
1 This state of things was naturally terminated by the
revolution of 1848. When such extensive concessions
had been made by the Crown to the civil liberties of
1 the nation, it was preposterous to suppose that the ex-
ceptional ecclesiastical tribunals of the Church, the
judicature of a foreign and irresponsible authority,
and the exclusive control of the Romish clergy over
the education of the people, could be endured. These
immoderate privileges of the Church were abolished
by the celebrated Siccardi laws, and the constitutional
authorities of the nation took upon themselves to settle
these matters without waiting for the assent of the
Romish Curia., It may be that this national deter-
mination was inconsistent with the canons of the
Church and the claims of the Roman See, as the Pope
alleges ; but the time was come when the Piedmon-
tese Government thought more of the independent
laws of the realm and the national rights which
were intrusted to its charge, than of the remonstrances
of the Vatican or the anathemas of Archbishop Fran-
zoni. The spiritual authority of Rome is, after all, a
bondage which exists not for an instant after a nation
has ceased to obey it. A single act of independence
is of more force and weight than all the bulls of all
the Pontiffs ; and, in our age, Rome forges no chains
which a state cannot break in the strength of its own
political authority, or which a Christian cannot throw
off in the recesses of his own conscience. The Church
retaliated by a refusal of the last sacraments to one
of the ministers on his deathbed ; the Government
proceeded to act with a degree of severity towards the
refractory prelates, which seemed to be of doubtful
propriety and justice, but which was unanimously ap-
proved by the natton. A negotiation with Rome
was, however, set on foot, in which the Pope refused
to entertain the proposal of any concession, and de-
manded the absolute submission of the Court of Turin
to his own terms. This fresh indication of the un-
bending and arrogant spirit of the Church, which is
abundantly evinced by the tone of the last Papal
allocution, has only rendered the Piedmon-
tese Government and people more united ; and
they are learning every day that the interven-
tion of Romish authority is not essential to the per-
formance of the sacred offices of the clergy or to
the religious faith of the people. The bishops of Pied-
mont, to the number of ten or twelve, perceiving the
irresistible force of this national conviction—which
threatens to annul entirely and for ever the authority
of Rome in that portion of Italy, and which has
carried along with it no inconsiderable portion of the
clergy—have remonstrated with the Pope on the
fatal consequences of the course he has adopted. But
Pius IX. seems to have risen to the Papal Throne to
be the ruin of every cause which be has espoused,
and, after having placed himself and his own domi-
nions under French protection, he has found means to
be burnt in effigy in the market-places of England,
and to detach from his communion a large portion of
the most religious and honest people in Italy. It is a
remarkable circumstance that the religious zeal of the
Pieclmontese has been considerably increased since
they have been called upon to rally round their inde-
pendent Church, and since they have ceased to regard
their clergy as the mere tools of Romish authority ;
the churches are thronged, and all the rites of public
worship devoutly attended. For some time past the
Pled montese Vaudois, who form one of the most
faithful Protestant communities in Europe, have
begun to enjoy complete toleration ; and though
this question is one which has not assumed I a
doctrinal character, and is unconnected with dif-
ferences of theological opinion, there is reason to
believe that the renunciation of Papal authority
would lead of necessity to the introduction of a
purer creed. The safety of such a change and
the benefits it may confer on Italy consist in the
maintenance of positive religious institutions and
belief, no less opposed to the visionary opinions and
revolutionary objects of Mazzini and his associates
than to the arbitrary and corrupt authority of the Pa-
pacy ; but Piedmont, which is already connected with
our own country by so many ties, may learn from
England that a pure branch of the Catholic Church,
with an episcopal hierarchy and the entire tradition
0f the earliest Christian ages, is perfectly compatible
with the renunciation of Romish authority. The
next step to be taken by the Sardinian Government
will probably be to determine by law the real title of
the Church to its extensive temporal possessions. It
is to be hoped that those possessions will be strictly
appropriated by the Legislature to the sacred pur-
poses to which they belong, and that no spoliation of
the Church will disgrace its reform. But as the
Romish See has widened this breach, which it
might have healed, this conjuncture would enable
the Government permanently to place the Church
and its property on a national basis, and
to establish such a connexion with the
State as may secure it for ever from foreign interfe-
rence ' • and we have no doubt that such a measure
would have the greatest effect on the welfare of Italy.
Severe as it might be termed by the Court of Rome,
such an enactment would fall far short of the sweep-
ing appropriations of Church property which Rome
herself has been compelled to recognise in France, in
Spain, and even in Germany, and we have little doubt
that the influence of religion would be more benefici-
ally acknowledged by the Italian people when the
ecclesiastical institutions and authorities of the
country are more dissevered from the caducity and
the abuses of Rome. In Italy, where the Papal au-
thority is most nearly seen and known, it is most de-
spised, for it is identified with all that is most odious
to the nation ; and the short-lived attempt of Pio
Nono to place himself at the head of an Italian move-
ment has been equally injurious to the cause of inde-
pendence and the influence of the Church. But the
follies of this Pontifical agitator seem destined to pro-
duce results of which his philosophy had never dreamt;
and it cannot be altogether indifferent to the pro-
gress of the principles of the Reformation throughout
the world that England has been roused by fresh
Papal aggressions to sympathize more strongly with all
those who are contending against the usurped autho-
rity
of the See of Rome. But these indications of an
incipient change in the religious sentiments of Nor-
thern Italy have not escaped the bitter hostility of the
ultra-Romanists of France, who habitually make their
political conduct subservient to their religious zeal.
The same party which incited the Government of
Louis Napoleon to the Roman expedition is animated
by the fiercest hostility to the Court of Turin and the
Constitutional Government of Piedmont ; and the
journey of M. de Montalembert to Rome at this
period of the year is supposed to be not unconnected
with the desire of some advisers of the President of
the French Republic to thwart or crush the policy
and independentepirit of a people at variance with the
Papal authority, of which France has oddly enough
become the warmest supporter since she has found
means to direct or instigate its application to other
parts of Europe.

SUICIDE OF A SERGEANT IN THE ARMY —On
Tuesday an inquest was held by J. Butler, Esq., on the body
of James Mitchell, sergeant in the 73d depot, lying in Naas
Barracks, who committed suicide on Monday morning. It
appeared in evidence that the d, ceased had been placed under
arrest on Friday night, on the report of a brother sergeant
named O'Neill. whom he had struck in a quarrel. lie con-
tinued under arrest until Monday, during which tiate he had
become greatly depressed from the fear of being reduced to
the ranks, to which the circumstance of his having previ-
ously forfeited service by self-mutilation (for the purpose of
obtaining his discharge) added considerably. On that day,
in a moment of desperation, he loaded his own fusee, and
then placing the muzzle to I;i3 breast the ball passed through,
coming out at the left shoulder, and caused instant death.—
King's County Chronicle.
ECCLErIAVTICAL APPOINTMENTS.---The Rev. J. W.
S. Powell, A.M., to the rectory of Abinffer, Surrey, vacant
by the decease of the Rev. J. Massy eawson, A.M. Pa-
tron, W. J. Evelyn, Esq., M.P. The Venerable Robert liol-
berton, A.M., late Archdeacon of Antigua, to the perpetual
curacy of Norbiton, Surrey, vacant by the resignation of
the Rev. J. W. S. Powell. Patron, the Rev. S. W. Gaudy,
A.M., vicar of liiogston-cum-Richmond.