The Sun.
London, England, 1826-10-27 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

By a letter contained in this day's Journal, it ap-
pears that Lord Somers has withdrawn his name from
the Pitt Club of Herefordshire, because the members
in a body are opposed to Catholic Emancipation, to
which Mr. Pitt was favourable. We are no great ad-
mirers of chibs of this kind, which, in truth, need the
presence of those whose merits they are meant to com-
memorate, to restrain the members from committing
all kinds of absurdity. Whether Lord Somers was
right or wrong in retiring from the Herefordshire Pitt
Club, will appear by the answer to the following ques-
tion :—Would Mr. Pitt himself have belonged to a'
club which, a 3 a body, was totally opposed to his
views upon one of the most important public questions
that presented itself during his life ? It is unneeessa-
sy to write down the answer to this question ; but it is
said that Mr. Pitt might have changed his opinion re-
specting Catholic Emancipation I Probably he might :
persuaded, we suppose, or overpwered, by the argu-
ments of this Herefordshire Club ! He was, doubt-
less, of a docile and convincible nature ; and the Here-
fbrdsh;re Club consists of very wise and eloquent men !
'Pintos.

Our readers will have seen in yesterday's Paper a
letter addressed to Mr. Peel, and apparently written
by, a lady, upon a subject in which every well-regu-
lated mind must feel the liveliest interest. At a time
when so many reforms have been already made, and
many more are contemplated, in our laws, we won-
der that it does not occur to any of our Legislators to
set about the supplial of a defect, which every day
shows the necessity of, and the omission of which is
scandal to our national character, and to that gal-
lantry we are so fond of laying claim to. What we
anode to is the very little protection which our pre-
sent penal code affords to the weaker sex against the
treacherous arts and seduction, and even, in many in-,
stances, the brutal violence of the other. Scarcely a
day passes in which we do not hear of crimes of this
kind being committed, and the number of them which
from their very nature are never heard of at all, nmm
be still greater. And not only do crimes of this sort
go for the- most part wholly unpunished, but the per-
petiators of them, if of a higher grade, are generally
received into society, not only without any apparent
stigma upon their characters, but as if the title of a
heartless seducer gave them additional claims to distinc-
tion, even in the eyes of that sex toward, which their ca-
reerbf heartless vice has been directed. To-talk of the
seduction of a wife or daughter being only a civil in-
jury—to look upon the despoiler of that innocence
which is above all price, as a subject for coldly calcu-
lated damages—to let the punishment of that which
the law calts criminal depend upon evidence which it
ie an additional cruelty to call for, are surely defects in
our statute book which 4.0 far to falsify its boa recd
equality. We know that it is said that these crime,
originate, as often as not, in the loose principles, the
vicious education, and the artful blandishments of those
whose cause we are espousing. # net there may be
such instances we do not dog, and the law rightly
administered, would readily distinguish them, but we
deny that such cases hear any thing like a proportion
to those in e'hiclt females of the purest minds and of'
the n;ost spotless virtue fall the victims' of designing
villaine', around whom the law and the false usages of
society, throw a privilege and protection, foreign alike
to common sense, right feeling, and decorum. We
trust that the present age will have the. honour of
wiping out this tiograce ; and while we have laws for
the protectimi of wii3 animals, and against cruelty to
tame ones, we shall no longer leave those unprotected,
or subject to this most bear-rending cruelty, to whom
we owe nearly every one of the comforts and blessings
of existence, as well as that of existence itself.—
Morning. Herald.

We observe that Lord Somers has withdrawn him-
self from a Pitt Club to which he belonged, and that
he assigns his opinions on, Catholic Emancipation as
the grounds of his secession. He admits, at the same
time, the Catholic Question to he one of a very ar-
duous kind, and we cannot help thinking that, if his
Lordship had considered deliberately the nature of the
difficulties in which that political problem is involved,
he would not have regarded any conclusions which he
might conic with respect to it, as a sufficient ground
of political separation from those with whom lie agreed
in general political opinions. Among those who
really understand that question, the difference lies not
in principle, but in the conjectures which 'they 11)1.1»
concerning the consequences which may be anticipated
from a given change of policy. Some tell 113, that the
fruit of concesaion will be to unite all parts and all
classes of the empire in permanent harmony,, and gra-
dually to weaken and destroy the Catholic religion,
Others (and among them are many of large experience
in human life) are convinced that further concession
will lead only to more furious and inveterate warfare ;
that the very essence of the Catholic religion takes
away from its votaries the right of private
,fudges, and
impoaes the obligation ofdepriving others of that sacred
right, and of claiming exclusive supremacy for their,
own creed—that the Catholics, under die influence of
their faith, and of their priests and demagogues, will
not remain satisfied with the utmost that their warm-
est advocates have ventured hitherto to demand—that
the Protestant Church of Ireland must he surrendered
to them, before they can he lured into even a tempo-
rary truce—and that the only effect of yielding what
they now ask, will be to lead to a more, bitter and
intequal contest hereafter, unless we are prepared to
divorce our monarchy from our faith, and
.to declare
that the Protestant religion has ceased to sanc-
tify our Constitutioe, and to he one of its
component parts. Whieh of these two sets of con-
jectures, with respect to the consequences of
a given line of policy, will he verified by the result is
a point of most difficult solution--and it is one on
which past experience affieds no direct aid ; for the
history of the world furnishes no instance which can
show us the effects of the posaessic4l of unmodified
political power by a large body of Catholics in an in
tegral part of an empire enjoying a free Constitutirm
of which a Protestant Church, and a Protestent ,
mach, are essential parts. Difference on such a
question is a difference not so much in political prin.
ciple as in political
,prophecy. The wisest and best
men, though agreeing perfectly in their maxims; and
objects, may vary in their conclusions as to the pro-
bable practical results of certain measures. Derr.; it
not savour of a somewhat presumptuous confident:e
in one's own sagacity to say, So sure am lof the
correctness of my conjectures
m e with re:spect to the con-
sequences of_a hitherto untried sche, that I will hold
no communion with those who diffisr from me on that
point, though I agree with them in every other lead-
nig political doctrine ?"—New Times.

LORD SOMERS AND THE PITT CLUB.

Lord Somers has addressed the following letter to
James Eyre, Esq., Honorary Secretary of the Here-
fordshire Pitt Club :

-,« Eastnor Castle, Oct., 9.3.
cs ,
recent event imperatively calls upon me to
retire: from the Iferefordshire, Pitt. Club; although I um,
and shall ever continue, firm ,in my attachment to those
principles of the Club which support the Monarchy against
republican find levelling s.ystems. I cannot, consistently
~ritli my known and avowed` opinions, continue the member
of n Society, wbo, from their late proceedings, appear to
be a body his Majeuy'S Ministers are not) opposed
to Catholic Emancipation, a great andarduous measure I
acknowledge, but which I judge essential to the good of
the State, in order to cement the happy union of Great
Britain and Ireland into one consolidated Kingdom and
one great public interest. I, therefore, thus publicly desire
you, as Honorary Secretary to the Pitt Club, to cause my
name to be erased from the documents and records thereof,
and to notify to the members of the same at their next
meeting such my retirement from among them.
" I am, Sir, your obedient Servant,
WATERS."
" Tb James Eyre; Esq., Honorary Secretary
•to the Herefordshire Pitt Club."

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

TATTERSAINS.-Orr. 26.

The betting yesterday afternoon was rather general than heavy,
it writhed respectively on the Derby, Oaks, and St. Leiter. Web
and Elfrid maintain their places ; Tatler is likely, to risi—he has
won three Two-yr-olil Stakes this season in good style, and was
entered to run in' the Holywell Hunt Meeting, but did not start,
owing, as some said, to having a had leg, which we do not be-
lieve is the case.—The present odds are thus—

DER fIY.

IS to 1 agat Web (taken)
15 to 1 sgat Elfritl
17 to 1 apt Catherine (taken)
IS to 1 apt Tattler (taken)

22 to 1 apt Cressida (taken)
23 to 1 agst Trumpeter
25 to 1 apt Dahlia
'2B to I agst I.d Aylesbury's c.

OARS.
12 to I agst Belvoirina I. IS to 1 agst Schelierazatle
14 to I agst Translation

ST. LEpElt.
I SO to 1 agst Nivalis
I 35 to 1 agst Matilda
35 to I apt Moonslikne.

14 to 1 eget Reviewer
20 to 1 eget Polley

POLICE INTELLIGENC E.

MARYLEBONE.—Yesterday, Wheeler, late inspector to the
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, applied to the
Miigistrates-foradviceliow to proceed againit Mr. Martin, M.P.
and. the above Society, of • which the lion. Member is a well-
known supporter, for certain &Nadu° to•him. ' He made a long
statement about travelling round the country for Mr. Martin,
aud.performing other offices, for which he was promised payment,
but neither he nor the Soeiety would. pay him,', although be had
made 'repeated application. Wheeler made other, statements about
the Society; n licit la:Mg exparle, we avoid mentioning.
i%ir. Gem told him, that from his experience at Police
Offices, he !oust be well aware that it was not the province of a
Magistrate to interfere with such debts, lint that a civil action was
his only remedy. •

",Where the h—," exclaimed Wheeler at the outside of the
office, .4' am Ito get money to bring a civil action." •

REMARKABLE EXECUTION AND WAKE.

(From the Dunifries Courier, Oct. 24.)

. .
The 'unfortunate M‘Manus, who was convicted and con-
demned at our September Circuit, for assaulting and
robbing Mr.
,Smnil, on the high read leading to Lockerbv,
closed his earthly career On Wednesday last. At 12
o'clock, a considerable number of persons were seen stand-
ing on both sides of the gaol, and by half-past two the
whole of %Menai and a great part. of St. David's-street
was 'one dense mass of people. The crowd behaved very.
peaceably : pity for the fate of a fellow,creature, who
could not be much above 20 years of. age, appeared .to
pervade every mind ; though we were sorry to see so many
deeently-dressed females present, Mid could not help re-
gretting that (-otiosity should haVe triumphed over, their
bettor feelings. The magistrates assemblod in the Provost's
house, and entered the gaol at or about two o'clock. At
half-past two' the Rev. Dr. '..-icott ascended the scaffold,
accompanied by the magistrates and some other gentlemen
and a portion of :the 27th Paraphrase was read and sung,
and after praying very fervently for die space of ten
minutes, the reverend gentleman retired, apparently quite
overcome by hiss feelings. At this moment M'Manus was
brought up, closely followed by his spiritual adviser, who
been unceasing in his efforts to guide him aright;
an w;thout pausing or looking round, both, ascended
the fatal platform. .We Should • 'OW, however that
M'Mantia was ready to leave his cell before the tievo-
dons bad been
,coualusloti .o,n the scaffold, and that on
finding his exit '.opposest .by the temporary absenee of
the gaoler, he knocked violently against the under
door. His feelings at this time appear to have been
wound up to the highest pitch ; he was anxious,
if we may GO express it, to die, and ran rather th4;i
walked across the court-Nertl. The prisoner's face was a
little flushed, and his frame, at times, slightly convulsed ;
but his step was firm notwithstanding, and altogether he
displayed a high degree of forthude. '"hough his aims
were pinioned, the motions of his head and hands indi-
cated what was passing within. Yet the prayers put up,
and the responses made were uttered in so low a tone of
voice, that neitha,lt may be said, were heard on earth,
although both, we trust, were recorded and accepted in
heaven. After a brief space thus spent, the prisoner knelt
Clown, while the Rev. Mr. Lee continued standing and pray-
ing over This part of the ceremony WO very affect-
ing., and still more so the scene which followed, Every
thing being ready, the tap and rope were finally adjusted?
the signal given, the prop which supports the drop with.
drawn, and the prisoner launched into eternity. Alniest
simultaneously, the Rev. Mr. Lee tiroOppl on his knees,
in which position he remained for five or six minutes, his
hands uplifted, and his eyes dosed, and so near the now,
suspended criminal, that he could, , And ,we believe, did,
touch the body, by extending' his min: An exhibition so
unusual, under circumstances so trying, , was not without
its effect upon the crowd. To ;AU appearance, APManue's
sufferings were lOng and Severe.' Being of a sleotier make,
no dislocation of
:the peek rook place; the noose shifted
as the drop fell, and cited, we understand, on the lower
part of his bend ; tile rope, in this way, was imperfectly
tightened, and his frame was very violently ainvulsed for
six or seven minutes.

Before retiring from the prism), tha Rev. Mr. Lee
thanked the Provost for the humanity anti khuhiess shown
to M'Manint, and,
,as a last fUvour, requested that his
friends and relations might have the use of the old J"11"
room, where they intended to lay out Dud wake the body.
This request was readily grunted, and it is but fair to odd,
that the Provost, and Magistrates wail deserved the.com.
Aliment paid to them. -The jailer, too, and his wife, were
unwearieti in their, attentions to the unhappy youth, and
of this he was so sensible that he took every opportunity
Of expressing his gratittl. Our readers are-aware, that
when a Protestant is executed, thu,,officiatiog chegYinan
peep with and for hint on the scaffold. Such devotions
might no deubt be conducted priVately, but as criminals
are eXVelltell for the Nike, of example, it is certainly wise
j,"l6lol,,lnhiZU as fat us passible, the awftd warning.whieh
out to others. The Catholic priests, however, ob-
ject. to 041 practice in so far as their people are concerned.
Itf:y".irthin,'!"st ,i!ters ut .eitoose to .go through the usual forms,
:143:0:t:ithiati
1044111%e ,tfibi,odusglldn-ob
leafowreextliusetseroiTitnhale
'hie' tier 1"gal atabo'rities' recoMmend, we understand,
~l.atvrc+rise to in this
particular.
T 4 perilLs ,
%vat') attended the waking ceremony were
Ililak4i any unnecessary noise, and, from
till a can het►rtl,
deee t
ncy, Th„ „An, _. "t?t°9(leeted With every regard to
11 the body, was placed on chairs

in the corner of the Jury-room, and those who wished it
were indulged with a view of the face of the corpse. The
practice of howling, though common in some parts of Ire-
land, was altogether dispensed with here; and M'Manus's
mother, at the command of the Priest, restrained her feel-
ings in,a wonderful .degree. Up to nine -o'clock, many of
the Irish residing in Dumfries :visited the gaol for a short
time ; but a that hour all were excluded, excepting 20
persons, who wished to sit up all night. The two Catho-
lics wholiad previously assisted the Rev: M. Lei, occa-
sionally prayed for a few minutes; spirits of some kind
were then handed round, and this, as we understand the
matter, constituts-Al the whole ceremony of waking. The
funeral; which took place at three o'clocic on Thursday,
was attended by about 40 Irishmen, all dressed in their
Sunday's clothes, and followed by a large concourse ul
children.

On the day of his execution, M'Manus was decently
dressed in a-suit of black clothes, given him for the occa-
sion, and, on the Tuesday night preceding, he had a most
affecting interview with his mother, brothers, cousin, and
a young woman from Glasgow, to: whom he was either
married or attached. The scene was of a most trying and
harrowing nature. The prisoner himself never shed a tear,
but all the other parties were violently agitated, not ex-
cepting the Rev: Mr. Lee, who, we believe, did all for
M'Manus that it is possible for one man to do for another.

OLD BAILEY; TIIURSPAY, OCT. '26.

HIGHWAY ROBBERY.

Francis,Rd.eson, aged 20, was-. indicted for assaulting
Ann Saunders on the . highway, putting her in
bodily fear, and stealing from her person 3s. in.money, and
some lace and net, her *perry,
Proiecutrix stated, that on the 26th of last month, she
Was returning at half-past eight ut the evening, from Hol-
born to Kentish-town, by the roiid at the back of Camden,
town. She was met by the Wisoner, , who said, "Your
money or your life." She said. the had no money. He
replied the had, and must give it: He then snatched a
bundle from her hand. He then said she had money, and
she must give it, or he would.kill, her, and saying this, he
threw out a large knife, like a butcher's. Ho then forced
open her hand, and Fot 34. which she held in it. He
caught hold of her with both hands, blit. then let her go,
and. did her no harm, She saw the prisoner in the lock-
up-house two days after, and immediately knew him among
several • other prisoners. Ile had on when she first saw
him a sailor's jacket and trousers and a top coat. He had
dark hair coming over hie forehead and face, and it looked
like whiskers. His hair was now cut Abort. • She was
positive the prisoner was the man who robbed her. •

A fellow-servant of last witness, who met her on that
evening, and whom she told of the robbery, corroborated
her account as to the description given of the prisoner.

Two officers, to whom the prosecutrix had given a de-
scription of the man that robbed her, stated, that having
heard that a man was in custody answering the description
she had given, they took her to where the prisoner WM,
and she immediately pointed him out as the man.
Prisoner, in his defence, denied that he \vas the man,
and asserted that the officer had first pointed him out to
the prosecutrix, who then said she would swear to him.

A mastership-carpenter, residing at Blackwell, had known
the prisoner 18 months. He made a voyage to and from
India with him as a caulker's mate, in which capacity he
conducted himself to his own great credit, and the satis-
faction of all who knew him. Ile always wore his hair as
it now appeared (cut short), and never wore whiskers since
witness knew him.

Another witness who sailed in the Bitekinghanuthire,
along with prisoner, also gave him a good character.
William Francis Harding, the prisoner's brother-in-law,
stated that prisoner came to his house at Hoxton, on the
26th of September (the day, of the robbery) ; prisoner
came about three o'clock ; he remained there till tea at
six, after which hour witness left. He returned at ten.
Prisoner was gone when witness came back. His wife
told him told him that he had gone out at nine.

The
,wife. of last witness,stated, that her brother carn►•
on the 26th to her house, at Hoxton ; her husband and
and a Mrs. Prummond.were ►resent when he came. lie
remained till nine o'clock. Her husband-went nut at six,
after ten, and came home at ten., .140,hionter wore on that
dey the *an.: clreeK that be i►ae Ott flow; but witness never
heard of his having worn a shag great coat.
Harding, having been recalled, gave the same account
of the prisoner's dress on that day.

Mrs. Drummond, at whose house the last witness and
his wife lived, remembered the day when prisoner came.
She could not say whether the witness (Mr. Harding)
was present when he came. She believed he was, but
went out soon after. She was positive he did Tlot remain
for tea. (The last witness and his wife said quite the
contrary.) They had tea at five.

Mr. Justice Nita. summed up tivo evidence with great
Minuteness commenting on. the inconsistency in the'evi.
dance for the defence, and .

The Jury, after deliberating some time, having part of
the evidence for the defence repeated to Nem, and having
had Mrs.. Drummond recalled, who stated, that on recol.
leetion she thought Mr. Harding had taken tea with them
on the 26th, remitted a verdict of Guilty.

The prosecutrix begged to recommend the prisoner to
mercy on the ground that he had not ill-used her.
The Jury also concurred in this recommendation on the
same ground, and likewise on that of the prisoner's good
character. _ _

The itIDGESItid that certainly the recommendation should
be laid before his Majesty.
John Brown, a boy 13 years of age, was convicted of
picking pockets, and the Court in consideration of his
being a known thief, sentenced him to be transported for
years.

No other case deny interest occurred during the evening.

NEW COURT.

John traterm, agitd 55 was indicted fur stealing a gold
ring from the•person of, if/L:1. Chalk, silversmith, in the
Strand, on the 16th of Octoher.'

The prosecutor stated, that tht prisoner came Phis shop
in the evening to purchase a wedding ring. Witness pro.
duced severe:l,l)m the prisong declined purchasing, and was
going away, when the witness nsia4ed a ring, seized the
prisoner, kook him into the parlour, and called 11Y) officer,
who found t 4 vipa on the ground beneath the prisoneec
legs, which had fallen Wilihit the officer was searching him.
The ring was produced end id.rit:nled,,-
The ofncer,stated, that the prisoner had only a (ew
pence about him

The prisoner, in his defence, said it was a melanch44-
business; that WO all he couldsay—Verdict—anAy.
Mums South was indicted for stealing, on the 40th of
September, a clock, the property of W:0? Johns"'
The prositcutor, formerly a baker, now a publican, proved
that the clock was safe in his house on the night of the 30th
of September. The prisoner had been- a servant of
On in the clock next day, he went to the prisoner's
lodgings, anspecting- bitn, and there found it. the
saner was absent ; but afterwards he told the witness that
ho did not take the elotli, though he knew t4ke Person whQ
took it.

Charieb rtOsst sitAttd, that
dot prisoner Came to 'him on
the bit elOgtober, area aetiusinted hint that he had taken
the ticker, „ ,

AU officer produced the clock, which was identified.
The prisoner said that a man" 'mimed may took the clock,
for Wages due to hint from the proseeutor, and gave it to
him ient character. thd prisoner) to keep
exce l. The prisoner received . an
Verdict--:dniity, but recommended
to mercy.
Win. Arorlon the younger, aged 22, was indicted for
stealing a saw from 'William Norton the eider,. ilis father,
on the 28th of September, last. . -
The prosecutor is a poor chair-maker, and proved that
big pond iybo had übsfnted himself for three years, was on,

his
premises on the 28th of September, on which day ha
lost a saw. A pawnbroker produced a saw, pawned-
the prisoner, which was identified. Verdict—Guilty.

John Tiskett was indicted for stealing some articles out
of his ready-furnished lodgings in Jeffery'S-btiildings, West-1
minster, on the 60th of Sept, .Jonathan Leyten,, stated,
that he had let the lodgings, to the pri-SOner's'wife ; and
that he did not see the prisoner till a few day afterwards.
The Learned SERGEANT stopeo ibe prosecution' as the
case could not; he said, be sustaniee Pe wished for the
public's sake to give the prosecutOr a caution. Whenever
a female came to take furnished lodgings, he should ascer-
tain whether she was married or not; if the latter, he
mightlet them to her without further inquiry, .but if she
was a married p6rson, he should before he let them see the
husband; otherwise, as in this instance, no prosecution
could be maintained should any of the furniture be stolen.
The prisoner was acquitted.