The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-02 00:00:00

Az:glie.n, 251., L

E. and L. and 25
erten] ..... 20
1)o., New Prcf.recce,
6 eer Cent..
Eivt, Lincolnthire, guar.
6 per Cent.
,freat Northern - . .....
Treat South. and West.
(Ireland) ...
Ditto, Eighths .. -
3reat Western 100
Lanealhirt & Yorkshire 100
Os. Fifth.:. ..
FO. (W. Riding Union) 11. 2 4
Leedi and Bradford
London & Black wa11...11/. 6s. 3d...
Loudon, Brighton, and.
South Coast— .... 103 ...... 833
Do., New, guaranteed
6 per Cent ........103 .137
Loalon and N. WeAern 100 1081/1
Ditto. New Quarters 12 ...... 1214 ..
London Is 6.l.Voitirn ..IC') .. 57 55 .....
Midland .........100 ..333a 34 33%1,4 33 33
Do., 50/. Sharee
:t>-tolk .. • . lOO
Do. Ext. Guar. 5 p. et. 20
North British 25 ...... 6 53,4
Ditto Preference
STortli Staffordshire ... 171,1 6141A
Scottish Cutral
EaLlt,srri
Do., No. 3 ....... ......
Nfraeastlo, and
Berwick. 25
Do. Newcastle Exton. 20
D-. G.N.E. Preference 9 ••• -
York and North Midland 50
DitL-• P eferenaa 10
FOREIGN RAILWAYS.
Boulogne and Amiens... 20
Dutch Rhenish ..... .... 8 ..... 21-4, 2
F,..sst Indian 7
Northern of France.-- 16 ...... ...
MINES.
Brazilian Imperial ...... 241 — -
P.razilianCouaes&Cuiaba 30
Cobre Copper

11:%

291 A
9%

2914
fig
(8
3414
214

EVA

18 tA,
53/

J33a
14

61,i1

1 4 ?,14
9 i‘;
4 1,4
15

Gl4
2
7%
13%

MARKET NEWS.-(THIS DAY.)

COLONIAL.

Siloam—The market for British Plantation is firm ;
sales, 650 hhds, including 272 hhds Barbadoes, at
auction, from 35; Gd to 41s 61, being rather
higher prices. 5,600 bags and 25 casks Mauritius
mostly sold with spirit at very full prices ; yellow
35s to 38s 63, grey 34s to 34s 61, and very low to
fine brown 22s to 23i 61. Bengal sold briskly at
rather stiffer rates, low to good white Benares 37s Gd to
40s 6,1. The quantity of British Plantation landed last
week at the East and West India Docks was 635 hhds,
62 tierca, 120 barrels; there were taken for home con-
sumption 1,086 hhds, 184 tierces, 288 barrels. The
stock in the same places is 1,971 hhds, 1,603 tierces,
3,747 barrels.
COFFEE.—The market is firm, and 300 bags Planta-
tion Ceylon, 50 bales of Mocha, and 160 half-bales
Malabar sold welt, the former at 52s 6d to 53s for f fine
ord; Mocha at 57s 61 to 60s 61 for clean garbled of
mid quality, and Malabar at 42s to 46s for good to fine
ord. Privately 3,000 bags of good ord Native Ceylon
sold at 43s per cwt.
RU3l.—The quantity landed last week at the East and
West India Docks was 238 puns. There were taken fur
home ccasumption 206 puss, and exported 151 puns
239 hhds. The stock in the same places is 15,171 puns
1,378 hhds.
TaLLow.—Thera is not much doing.
RlCE.—Fine white Bengal realised 12s, being rather
dearer.
SPlCES.—Sumatra Pepper sold steadily at 2id to 21d
per lb.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF COMZIIONS, July 1.
MR. W. S. O'BRIEN.

On the motion for going into Committee of Supply,
Mr. ANSTEY rose to bring forward the motion of
which be gave notice, respecting the opening of Mr. W.
Smith O'Brien's letters from Van Diemen's Land. He
said he felt a delicacy in bringing under the considera-
tion of the House the case of Mr. W. S. O'Brien after
what had already taken place in respect to him. But he
knew that there was a strange feeling out of doors upon
the subject, and much dissati.fection was experienced re-
specting his treatment in Van Diemen's Land. The
question he bad brought before the House was simply
this—was a person in this country entitled to receive
from a convict in a penal settlement in Van Diemen's
Land a letter that might be addressed to him in his offi-
cial clpecity? He limited the question to that. He did
not put it on the barren ground of the privileges of Par-
liament. Mr. Smith O'Brien refused a ticket of leave,
and was transferred to Maria Island, where he consi•
dered he was treated with great hardship, and thereupon
addressed a letter to him (Mr. Anstey) complaining of
his treatment. The letter was addressed to him in
the House of Commons. In cases of letters from
Van Diemen's Land, the bond and free were placed
on terms of equality, and it was alike illegal to detain
or open the letters of either. Tho case was different
from that of England, where letters might be opened by
the gaoler. It was absolutely necessary that there should
be unrestricted communication between convicts and
persons in this country, for if such wore not permitted
the most horrible abuses might be committed with im-
punity, without the chance of exposure or of ameliora-
tion. There was the power of opening letters at the
Post-office, but it must be only upon oath. But to jus-
tify that there must be the oath that he (Mr. Anstey)
was a suspected person. If such were the case he called
for inquiry. Now, he found the letter was opened by
the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir W. Denison, who fairly
admitted that he had opened it for the purpose of seeing
what complaints or misrepresentations Mr. S. O'Brien
might have made as to his treatment. He received the
letter subsequently at the Colonial-office, and he ad-
mitted that nothing could be more fair than the conduct
of the Colonial. office here. What he complained of was
the conduct of the Lieutenant• Governor. Such com-
duct was neither politic nor honourable, even if it were
lawful. He bad resided in Van Diemen's Land himself,
and he never knew an instance of a letter being
opened except upon information on oatb. That hal
been the practice since 1829. The Right Honour-
able Baronet the Member for Ripen (Sir James
Graham) might have pleaded as his excuse for open-
ing letters on one occasion at the Post-office,
that it was the general practice to , open let-
ters here, as to say it was the practice so to do in Van
Diemen's Land. He concluded by moving for an in-
quiry into the circumstances under which a letter ad•
dressed by Mr. W. S. O'Brien to a Member of the House,
complaining of his having been placed in solitary con-
finement by the present Lieutenant-Governor of Van
Diemen's Land, was intercepted and opened in that co-
lony by the local authorities.

Mr. DICKSON- ;;;;1Q the motion. He pressed
strongly for relaxation of the punishment inflicted upon
Mr. Smith O'Brien.

Upon the question being put,
Sir G. GREY said that he did not conceive that any
grounds had been hid for a Parliamentary inquiry in
this case. Ho could assure the Hon. Member that the
opening of the letter of Mr. S. O'Brien addressed to him
arose from no suspicion that ho would countenance any-
thing improper, but it was the universal practice to
open all letters of convicts who had not tickets of leave,
and who were in that class in which Mr. Smith O'Brien
of his own free choice had thought proper to remain.
Mr. Smith O'Brien and his associates had forfeited their
lives. By the mercy of the Crown their lives had been
spared, and, under the circumstances, indulgences were
granted to them which were not granted to others.
Tickets of leavo were granted to three of them. Mr.
Smith O'Brien refused a ticket of leave, and it was
by his own act only he was now in that class whose
letters were opened; and, being in that class, he sought
special exemption from it. They might deplore that
ono who had been a member of that House had placed
himself in the position that Mr. O'Brien was now re-
duced ti'; but then it was not because he had been a
member of that llouse that he had a right, to claim treat-
ment which would be different frein that inflicted upon
him if he were a poor man, and had been convicted of
the asoao crime.--(Hear.) Re (Sir G. Grey) hoped he

had sufficiently- explained the eircnrn3tances under which
these lettera had been opened. He could assure the
Howe that they were op•thed without the :slightest sus-
picion that anythirg improper hr.d passel, and simply on
neer:mit of the 1)o:it:on in which the convict was placed
by his uwn act, and which position naturally led to the
enforoement of certain regulations.
Mr. B. COCHRANE agreed with Sir G. Grey that

the law roust be carried out, and that there was no rea-
son to show favour to ono class cf convicts in preference
to another. In his opinion the law should b" executed
fairly and conscientiouoly, without regard to the posi-
tion in society which the person convicted of a crime
might fill.
Mr. O'FLAHERTY, in supporting the motion, ex-
pressed a hope that as opportunity would occur when
her Majesty's Government might feel themselves justi-
fied in extending the Royal clemency to Mr. O'Brien,
an act which, he could assure them, would be most
grateful tl the people of Ireland.
Mr. HUME was of opinion that Government had done
as much us, under the circumstances, could have been
expected from them. At the same time he thought, that
letters addressed by convicts to Members of Parliament
should be allowed to pass unopened.
The O'GORMON MAHON.—The proposal of the
Hon. Member for Youghal had originated in the circum-
stance that the seal or a letter addressed to himself had
been violated by the governor. lie (the O'Gorman Mahon)
did not believe that the governor would have ventured to
open that letter if it had been addressed t 3 the Lord
Criancoltor, the Speaker of the House of Commons, or
any one of the law dignitaries of the country, and he
could not see, therefore, why he should be allowed to
open it when tyldresied to u private Member of Par-
liament. He protested agaiust the doctrine laid
down by Mr. Cochrane, that there was no distinc-
tion between the case of Mr. Smith O'Brien and that
of any other convict. Mr. O'Brien's case was not
analogous to that cf other convicts. It was true
that he bad been subjected to condemnation after cer-

tain formularies had been gone through; but he (the
O'Gorman Mahon) would candidly tell the House that,
having been present at the trial at Clonmel, and having
come from France to volunteer his evidence in favour or
his lion. Friend Mr. Smith O'Brien, he had watched
with attention the proceedings at she trial, and that it
the House would appoint a Committee, and ho were ex-
amined before it, he would explain his reasons for the
declaration that he was by no means satisfied with the
course pursued at that trial, and the mode by which the
conviction of the Hon. Gentleman was obtained. It
was not his object, however, to rip that qtvs!ion up now;
he merely volunteered his evidence if tne House would
appoint a Committee. He maintained that Mr. O'Brien
was not in the same category as other convicts. True,
by the construction which was put upon the law he was
found guilty of treason; but let the House mark what
species of treason. It was treason unattended by the
shedding of one single drop of blood. To be sure a
child or as old woman was shot by accident; but there was
no collision, and no destruction of property; and
it was a notorious fact that but fur his friend
William Smith O'Brien blood would have been shed,
lives would have been lost, and property would have
been destroyed to an enormous amount. He having
then, at the risk of his own life, prevented the spoliation
of property and put a stop to the nefarious projects of
others who sought to band themselves together, and
urged him on to deeds which his soul disdained, and he
himself having been the victim, would the Hon. Member
again assert that there was no distinction to be drawn
between the man who had thus acted, sacrificing him-
self that he might save others, and those convicts who
had been thrust out from civilized society as a curse, and
whose conduct justified the punishment they endured ?
—(Hear, hear,) It was with extreme gratitude that
he had listened to the observations which had dropped
from Sir G. Grey; and he trusted that when the ap-
propriate time arrived the Government would have the
satisfaction of advising her Majesty to an act of mercy
which would ensure to her an addition—if addition were
possible—to the attachment which already existed in the
Irish bosom, and to Ministers themselves a participation
in the gratitude of the nation.
Mr. MONSELL said that, in all the communications

he' had had with the Government and the Secretary for
the Colonies upon this subject, he felt htmselt bound to
state that they had shown every disposit'on in thPir
power to meet the reasonab'e suggestions which he had
taken the liberty to offer them. At the same time he
must Fay that be was not so c,)nvinced that the colonial
authorities had dealt with Mr. O'Brien in the same
spirit.—(Hear.) The Hon. Gentleman then referred to
a letter which had been received by a gentleman in
Clare from a person in Van Diemen's Land, which was
da'ed November 26th, and which stated that Mr. O'Brien
lied arrived in the colony about three weeks before; that
having refused to accept his ticket of leave, ho was
treated by the Government in every respect as one of
the worst convicts, except that he was not forced to
labour or wear the convict's dress ; that he was not al-
lov:cd to have intercourse with any one, and that he was
restricted to the same food as the other convicts, and
prevented from purchasing anything whatever. He (Mr.
Monsell) admitted that there might have been changes
made since that period.—(Hear, I esr.) But if his Right
Hon. Friend would take care that Mr. O'Brien should
not be subjected to such restrictions, it would give great
satisfaction to him (Mr. Mensal) and the other friends
of Mr. O'Brien.
Sir L. O'BRIEN said that, as some discredit had

been thrown upon the statement which be had made on
a former occasion in that House, he begged to say that
what he then stated was perfectly the truth. his au-
thority was a letter which had been addressed by his
brother to Mr. Butt, Queen's Counsel;' and any Hon.
Gentleman who desired to read that letter was quite
welcoms to do so. He asked no more than Lila; his
brother should be treated with consideration in the un-
fortunate position in whi h he was placed; to alt for his
release would, ho knew, under the circumstances, be un-
rea,onahle.—(Hear, hear))
Mr. HAWES could say, from his own knowledge of
what had taken place, that the Governor of Vau
Diemen's Land had been actuated only by one feeling,
and that was a sense of duty both
to the Crown and to
the convicts.—(Hear, hear.) Since the letter which his
Hon. Friend (Mr. Mansell) referred to was written, there
had bsen certain modifications in the regulations affect-
ing Mr. Smith O'Brien. ,With regard to his being con-
fined alone, that was the act of Mr. O'Brien himself,
because unless he had been subjected to contaminating
associations, he must necessarily be confined in some
place by himself. With regard to his dietary and place
of confinement, in some degree favour had been shown
to him which was not shown to other convicts, and to
that extent the Governor might be open even to some
censure.

After a few observations from Mr. Ewarl, Mr. S,
Crawford, Colonel Dunne, and Colonel Thompson,
The House divided, and there appeared—
For Mr. Anstefs motion
Against it •• ••• ..
3514jJrity against the motion ... —2B
SUPPLY.—CIVIL SERVICE ESTINIATES.

..: 45

The House haying gone into Committee of Supply,
On the vote of 125,0001. for education in Great Britain
being proposed,
Mr. EWAR I' rose and moved, "That a statement be
made on the part of the Government, on going into edu-
cation estimates (as is done on going into the estimates
for the army, navy, and ordnance), of the 91.11:13 appro-
priated each year to the purposes of education; the at-
tribution of those sums; the relative increase of common
schools of all sorts receiving grants from Guyer:latent;
the number and progress of schools of design; and of all
educational institutions (including public libraries, and
museums or galleries of art and science), for which
money is voted by Parliament." With respect to the
schools of design. it was an error to make the central
school a place of' instruction for pupils ; it should
only be for the training of teachers, The instruction
of females, too, was a matter that should be more at-
tended to. As to the general condition of all public
educational establishments, especially the Museum, in its
various departments, the National Gallery, and the
Museum of Practical Geology, the public ought to know
what was going on in them—what additions e ere nude
in these branches, and all other matters pertaining to
their progress, and all those might'bo embodied in an
explanatory statement of the Minister every year to the
House.

Sir G. GREY admitted the importance of the subject,
but considered it would be extremely difficult for any
Minister to make such a general statement as the Hon.
Gentleman required, and which would be analogous to a
general statement on the estimates of the army, navy,
ttnd ordnance by one Minister, instead of having each of
those separate departments treated by the three separate
Ministers to whose functions they belonged. With re-
speet to the vote before the House he was ready to give
any information that was required, all the details con-
nected with which would be sound in the minutes of the
Committee of Council on Education which were an-
nually presented to the House, and which were in a very
readable form, and not of the formidable dimensions
of blue books generally. With respect to the
schools of design the subject fell rather within the
department of the President of the Board of Trade,
who would afford all the requisite information on
the subject. With respect to the schools in connexion
with the Committee of Council, the various items of the
grants made from the Ist of January, 1848, to the 31st
of December, 1849, would be fousid given with detailed
accounts in the estimates, which were in the hands of
Members. It would be there seen that 627 schools, con-
taining no less than 97,307 pupils, had received grants,
and that the total sum awarded was 106 8031. The re-
sult had been most satisfactory in enabling trustees to
build schools in proper places. The second item was
that of grants to the amount of 5,544/. for the fitting up
of 1,047 schools. The Right Hon. Baronet read some
other items from the estimates in the hands of Members,
and observed that a large portion of the educational
grant made by Parliament had been applied to increas-
ing the standard of education in the schools.
Mr. HUME suggested that, as in France, a statement
of the progress of public education should appear in
the newspapers. He considered that more ought to be
done than had yet been effected fur promoting national
education, the deficiency of which vies plainly indicated
ay the official reports on the subject. He sug-
gested that the national schools should be furnished
with maps, having statistical statements attached to
them, of the British empire, like the maps used in the
Prussian schools.
Mr. SLANEY concurred in thinking that it would
be satisfactory if there was a❑ annual statement laid
before Parliament of the condition and prospects of the
public educational establishments. The progress of
education did not correspond with the wants of the•
country, or with the inert ase of the population, espe-
cially amongst the humbler classes. He thought that a
Bill should be introduced to snots'() parishes to assess
themselves for the purposes of education.
Mr. W. J. FOX inquired how it was that in the last
published criminal tables the usual statement of ,he
number of criminals oho could read, .write, were
educated, or otherwise, was omitted?
Sir G. GREY was not aware of the omission, ' He
would inquire into the matter.