The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-03 00:00:00

THE SPY SYSTEM.

(From the Wen Towns' Messenger.)
iotWe do not at all wonder at the interest, as well as jea-
,:sY, with which all parties in and out of Parlia-
ee.nt, have regarded theletter-opening question,. which
;was the subject of a Rebate and division in the
:A1„°115.,9 of Commons on- Sionday night. In the debate,
'allies Graham, who tried to wrap himself still
closer round in the mantle of dignified reserve, State
.13°11eY, and Governmeitt prerogative, was rather
l'sh°llogrthl3l3: off handled, and ii the division he came very
m, 44 being the whole majority he could
Guster in a House of nearly 400 ! That Sir James
raham is an unpopular \Home Secretary, there never
has much doubt; the resentA division shows with
ow much diArest and !suspicion he is regarded.
There is no point on which an Englishman is so
psensitive as a letter. To read another's letter, or open
other's lean-, is regarded, and very justly, as a moral
el°llY. There is, however, no use in disguising,
and it was not attempted to be disguised, that such
a license must of necessity, for the safety and pro
tection of the State, be vested in the Government,
and such a license must not be interfered with or
nestioned. This right, however, which no one in
Willes senses would interfere with or question, if it
of were only acted upon in very rare instances, and those
discrxigelleY and importance, and with the greatest
rather
tion and delicacy, all of which extenuating or
ionag'se,circumstances seem to be wanting
in tali4pirueltii.ifyt
which is brought before the House
anytl • very
fair subect of complaint. We do not know
Who kang the ore complaint.
in question. M. Mazzini,
s had 7poerlef tete; stare
detainedb and opened, and with
Petty cuilain
declares are
was a necessity or not
g carefully re-sealed—all of which he
gfuoill.eolepsesntiegbuht
iswhleetttheersr,
there
7was no necessity for the want of straightforwardness
8%1
ohonest.y in the way of dealing with him : and there
ecessity, in spite of all Sir James Graham or his
friends Public may urge there is a necessity for that which
Plan fn?
an aith and public decency require, namely, an ex-
r.ation of the affair--a partial, if not a full explana-
tion,) Which is now altogether so doggedly, so diseourt e-
'4sl.Yi so disdainfully withheld.
(From the Liverpool Times
Probably no discussion that has yet.)
taken place in
Parliament has damaged the Government so much
as the debates on Monday and Tuesday nights, on
the
subject, of the alleged Post-office espionage ; and
°deservedly so ; fur
Ministers have degraded not
tAly their own, but the national character, by prac-
ilees abhorrent to the feelings of Englishmen, and
.11sPIrt'd by motives of the most humiliating kind. W
case
the public opinion was altogether against the Governal-
raeut- We believe that they have committed. moral
s that after this deplorable act of Sir James
`Eratlam, they can never face their countrymen on the
hustings a A
second time with any chance of success.
hundred party defeats would not have ruined their
A
so utterly as their unblushing avowal
of a systematic
dence, breach of public honour and confi-
and their hardened unconsciousness that they
were doing anything wrong in committing an act
hick, in private life, would
send a man to 'Coventry
hlfor the rest of his days. The Home Secretary and
Sunseohelengues stood upon their right to exercise this
nu and delicate power, forgetful of the maxim,
j us, summa injuria, and that, although they
itight be shielded by the strict letter of the law from
Personal responsibility, they were not the less guilty of
Perpetrating a consummate wrong, and most despicable
Meanness.
_.For what could be more infamous than that a
dictatorial enpower, paramount to all law, and only in -
tended to be exercised in extremities_ne quit quid
tta truuesti I espublica capiat —should, in ordinary times,
inofirlese4 as an engine to crush an unfortunate and
of this co exile, not plotting against the social order
0_
account 8 contry, but obnoxious to foreign despotisms
eitt)ls.e,,,uthioefilhis efforts in favour of the ~ good old
Englishmen, since the days of the
R..Fious revolution, have been accustomed to honour ?
Still more intolerable is it that this power should
expanded into a systematic abuse of the con-
fidence
reposed in the Post-office by private in-
hereafter i
dtviduals i
nnchigi:u?ral, and that no Englishman can
letterst he spY
e in the boast that, unlike other countries,
s t 6.
. ?Ts eln is unknown here—that the privacy of his
is sacred from all eyes except those for whom
they intended. Sir J. Graham has dispelled that proud
ill mon for faVer. The Englishman's house may be his
Castle, but his letters are not his own secrets. We
mustwe hang our heads and confess that, in this respect,
__ are no better than our neighbours so long as a Tory
our continues in office. ior, differing from
_air contemporaries, we believe that the whole
U.. hinet share the dis
itlie for this mean andg
I.,r,ostance Toryism only ea,rbaiturdaryarepreceqtuiaeell.y
In
nsptohnis-
betrays the old sympathy for
f'1213; Alliance princiles, the slavish subserviency to
orZ.Tali doespots, ands the remorseless persecution of
palm S f all countries which characterised it in the
Y days of Sichnouth and Castlereagh.
""..+,!........--

The great
GREAT FOOT RACE.
the " Ame-
rican D
which
foot race between William Jackson,
~,,_
cr Deer, and Thomas Maxfield, the " North Star," .
.a 43 eated much a
came off on mond Peculation o
ry Branch
Tar ain th grounds of the Rosema
upon
ern, Peckham, and i e.
of late in the pedestrian circles,
ed some disappointment
contest between men Yrhonsees pretensions to fame were se great,
th°Be
eungregated to witness it. Instead of the bustling close
ttli_ho had been backed for 50/, a side, the assemblage,
sguerent race, in
~,. pen was very numero were doomed to view a very in-
nt
which "'the winner never gave his opponehe
Much more than a shadow of a chance. We have not t
slightest doubt that the loser did his best, but his opponent's
aPeed was SO good, that he was not disposed to complete the
distance. The match, as we have before stated, was for 501.
aside; the ground selected to try the speed of the men, three
Miles. , Betting was 5 to 4 on the " American Deer," odds
'vvhich increased as the time of starting drew near. The men
were prepared for the race, when " the pelting of the pitiless
storm" induced them to defer it until the rain somewhat
abated. The Star went away with the lead at a rattling pace,
and kept it for the first mile and a quarter or so, when the
beer came up, dashed by him, was nevvertaken, and waS
declared a winner in a few seconds over sixteen minutes. The
Star, after trying very hard to keep pace with his opponent,
SAFE up on comp___„......___..tt.__......__leting two miles and a quarter.
NVEYXOI3TIT, JULY 21.--141; Majesty
Saxony and suite arrived here unexpectedly last evening, in
*lvo chariots and four, fro hero
Oxford, on their way to Ports-
'tenth. The inhabitants of the town were much pleased at
kis Majesty's visit, fully expecting that he would remain here
a day or two, for the purpose of visiting the Isle of Portland
a other interesting places in our neighbourhood, especially'
andhis Majesty was known to take so much interest in geolo-
teal pursuits ; but we were greatly disappointed, for he left
the following morning. The clear profit of the late ball given for the bene-
fit of the Polish refugees, after payment of all expenses, ex-
ceeded 1,0001. Last year this ball at Willis's, for thes,
same
purpose, produced about 620/. only.
this Mg. JAMES CociutunN BELANEY.---The parties in
lamentable affair are well-known in the neighbourhood
ot 13elford and Alnwick, and the following particulars will
correct some of the mis-statements in the London papers.
r. Belaney is a Scotchrnan, and is either a native of, or has
lived several years in Berwickshire. His father was in humble
circumstance; but by care and industry contrived to
raise resources to enable his son to attend to the medical
class at Edinburgh. For about four years he practised as
a surgeon at North Sunderland, in this county. Here he
amused himself in training hawks, and wrote a treatise on
file°ritY• About a year and a half ago he married Rachel,
the only child of the late Mr. John Skelly, of North Sunder-
land, and formerly of Deuwick Lane Erld. Mr. Skelly was
the Proprietor of extensive lime-works at North Sunderland.
The mother of the unfortunate lady was a Miss Wood, of
Coaster West Fenn. The wife of Belaney was respectably
connected on both sides, and was possessed of considerable
Property ; she was an only child, lived a retired Rrivate life,
!lid did not, of course, obtain notoriety as " the. Rose. of the
arth" for, her beauty, and had no connection with the
count af Westmoreland, as it has been stated in the London
vaDer4.--21retvcastie 'Journal.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
HOUSE OF LORDS, July 2.
Their Lordships assembled at Five o'clock.
CORN LAWS.

The Earl of RADNOR presented a petition against
agricultural protection from Lyneham, in Wilts. The
petitioners stated that to the petitions which had been
presented in favour of protection to agriculture, many
agricultural Lbourers had been compelled to attach their
signatures.
Lord METHUEN denied that such was the fact.

The Duke of RICHMOND also denied this, and said
that the Anti-Corn-law 'League had roused the
agricultural body in this country, and the con •
sequence was, that protection societies had been
established, by which the falsehoods indulged
in by the Anti-Corn-law League. had been exposed
and laid bare to the public. He hoped his Noble
Friend, the Noble Earl, when he next addressed the la-
bourers in his district, would tell them that free trade
only meant low wages. The Noble Earl, on a former
occasion, had alluded to a F:raphlet.which hail been pub-
lished on this subject by Mr. Caley. He (he Duke of
Richmond) was glad the Noble Earl had alluded to it,
because the result had been that the pamphlet of Mr.
Caley, little' known before, was now eagerly sought
after, and largely circu!ated.
The Earl of RADNOR repeated that this pamphlet
contained the grossest exaggerations and untruths.
The Duke of CLEVELAND defended the agricul-
tural protection societies from the imputations which
had been cast upon them. He did not wish to enter
into a discussion on so extensive a subject on the presen-
tation of a petition. He should, however, be always
ready to enter into a fair fight, and fully discuss the
subject.
The Earl of STRADBROKE argued that the rates of
wages were always reduced when prices of corn were
low, and ware raised as the price-of corn increased._

After a few words from the Duke of BEAUFORT,
The Earl of RADNOR said, it was idle to attempt

to disprove that wages depended upon the price of corn,
because everybody knew that they did not.—(Laughter
on the Ministerial Benches.)

Lord ASHBURTON contended that cheap bread
and high wages could not exi6t together.
After a short conversation, the subject dropped.
The Duke of B EAUFORT presented petitions against
any alteration in the corn-laws.
The Marquis of CLA.NRICARDE gave notice that
he should, on Thursday, put a question to the Govern-
ment on the subject of the removal of Mr. C. O'Brien
from the magistracy of Ireland.
Earl St. VINCENT presented several petitions from
Bristol and other places against
_the Sugar Duties Bill.