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

aminjx 2'l tllt4

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 1844.

A:ler a brief discussion relative t the League and
the Anti-League, Lord CAMPBELL postponed Hs
motion for the :arther consideration of the Libel Bill
till Friday, owing to the absence of Lord DENMAN.
The Earl of DALHOUSIE moved the third reading
of the Sug, - Duties Bill. He thought a differential
duty of 10s. in favour of the West India interest was
quite sufficient, and trusted the House would accede
to the measure. After some discussion the Bill was
read a third time and passed.
In the Commons, Mr. GLADSTON E moved for cer-
tain alterations in the Standing Orders of the House
relative to railways, which were ageeed to.
Mr. WALLACE moved for a Committee to inquire
into the conduct of the Judges who presided at the
as3izes held at Glasgow h the month of May, and
especially into the circumstances connected with
the trial of ALEXANDER WA LK ER, charged with com-
mitting a felonious assault on a girl of tender age.
The LORD ADVOCATE, after stating the pa- ticulers
of the case, and defending the conduct of the Judges,
opposed bhe motion, and on a division, it wrs rejected
by a majority of 119.
Sir ROBERT PEEL then addressed the House, and
said as Mr. DUNCOMBE had an important motion to
bring forward relative to opening letters at the Post-
office, he ti Listed 'Hon. Members who had the pre-
cedence would give way. The proposition of the
Right Hon. Baronet, after some partial resistance,
was agreed to, and Mr. DUNCOMBE moved for the
appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into
the secret department of the Post-office. The
Honourable Member gave a brief description of
the Cabinet noir, and apologised to M. Genoa'
and the French authorities for charging them
with a practice—a base, mean practice—which
it now appeared was confined to England. In Aus-
tria, and some other countries, the authorities opened
letters, but in place of acting like Sir JAMES GRA-
Slam, who tried to conceal the degrading operation,
they sent them to their destination with the Govern:
ment stamp, intimating that the letters bad been
opened. He would not confine the charge to the
Home Secretary, he brought it against the whole
Cabinet, who justified his conduct. Some of the
facts detailed by Mr. DUNCOMBE show the baseness of
the system, and cannot fail to rouse universal in-
dignation.
Mr. ROEBUCK seconded the motion, and was about
to address the House, but gave way to Sir JAMES
GRAM Alf, who seemed at length to think some defe-
rence should be paid to public opinion. In adverting
to the remarks of Mr. DUNCOMBE, he repedted some
of his statements, as Mr. DUNCOMBE thought not
very accurately ; and on the Hon. Member for
Finsbury endeavouring to put himself right, the
Home Secretary twice appealed to the House for pro-
teetion, and begged to be permitted to make his de-
fence on such a grave charge without interruption.
pliker-Ofitigfito the attacks made upon him by the
est.a_tbe e•eches of
Mr. MACAULAY, Lord J.
• <l.lx-ssoLT4I,O4 .•wicK, and several other Members,
'belli,ja hevertl''', 4 $ ced that from that moment the
• • ~

maintenance of such a power, without inquiry, was
impossible; and he would be a party, a willing party,
to such an inquiry. This was received with loud
cheers. Mr. DUNCOMBE had carried his point, and
the Right Hon. Baronet, who at first would give no
explanation, showed himself willing to give every ex-
planation in a Committee. He proposed, therefore, to
move as an amendment that the inquiry should take
place before a Secret, not a Select, Committee,
and that it should be composed of four Members,
generally supporting the Government—Lord SANDON,
Mr. H. DRUMMOND, Mr. T. BARING, and Sir W.
HEATHCOTE ; and five Members of the Opposition,
namely, Sir C. LEMON, Mr. WARBURTON, Mr•
STRUTT, the O'Coson DON, and Mr. ORD. No
lawyer was to be on the Committee, and Mr. T.
DUNCOMBE, the principal mover in this great and
stirring question was to be excluded.
After some remarks from Mr. SHEIL against this
omission, and also from Sir GEORGE GREY, Mr.
ROEBUCK, and others, Mr. JAMES moved that Mr.
T. DUNCOMBE be appointed on the Committee.
This was opposed by Sir ROBERT PEEL; and on a
division, there were, for the motion 52, and against
it 128.

This is bad policy on the part of the Goveinment.
They profess to be anxious to make the most search-
ing inquiry, yet reject the services of the very man
best acquainted with the malversations which have
excited such general obloquy. However something
is gained, and though the Committee is to be held
with closed doors, and the public, of course, will
regard its labours with less interest, yet we may
confidently trust that Mr. WARBURTON and the
other Liberal Members appointed on it, will not ne-
glect their duty. There must be something very
bad in the whole system, when the Government are
afraid to let in the light, and appoint a Secret Com-
mittee to examine into facts of the first importance,
and affecting the interests of any individual of the
public community.
No further business of importance was transacted,
and the House adjourned at Twelve o'Clock.

At the great public meeting, which was held yes-
terday in Covent-garden, on the important subject of
"Justice to Ireland," the kindliest and most earnest
feelings of sympathy were manifested in behalf of
Mr. O'CoxxEr.s. and the other " conspirators " now
imprisoned in Richmond Penitentiary. " What,"
asked Mr. DUNCOMBE, who took an active part in
the day's proceedings, " what was the question they
were met to discuss ? They had met to consider the
treatment which Ireland had experienced for many
years, which had nearly driven the people of that coun •
try to desperation, and the result of which would un-
doubtedly before this have shown itself in acts of vio-
lence, and the destruction of property, if it had not
been for the energy exerted in the cause of pacifica-
tion by that individual, whom a contemptible
Government had thought proper to incarce-
rate." This apt allusion to the imprison-
ment of Mr. O'CONNELL, for no worse crime
than having exerted all his energies " in the cause of
pacification," and laboured to repress rather than to
stimulate the passions of his countrymen, while he
encouraged constitutional agitation, was received
with loud cheers by the meeting, who could not but
feel that, by the imprisonment of the Hon. and
Learned Member for Cork, a direct blow was struck
at the right of free discussion. Upon precisely the
same principle that Mr. O'Coansma. was tried and
found guilty of conspiracy, might Messrs. COBDEN,
BRIGHT, WILSON, and the other Members of the
Anti-Corn-law League be put upon their trial, though
the result, we suspect, would be very different here
to what it was in Ireland, for we doubt much whether
any English jury would be found so far forgetful of
what they owed to themselves and their country, as to
record a verdict of guilty against the League
agitators. As yet, the right of free discussion is still
respected among us, though how long this may be
the case, if Sir J. GRAHAM is still permitted to con-
tinue in office, and the Conservative Government re-
tain their present majority in the House of Commons,
it is impossible to say. If we do not keep the strictest
and most jealous watch on the proceedings of Minis-
ters—and Heaven knows they are such as to
require all our vigilance—the case of Mr
O'CONNELL to-day, may be that of Mr. DUNCOMBE,
Mr. COBDEN, or any other popular leader to-
morrow. An arbitrary Government seldom stops
when once it has commenced a system of
encroachment on the rights of the people ; but having
made a first false move, perseveres in its wrong and
tortuous course with extraordinary inflexibility of
purpose. Colonel RAWDON puts this matter on its
right footing when he observed—" He did not know
but that by the new construction of the law of con-
spiracy, the Hon. Member for Finsbury might be
proved as great a conspirator as DANIEL O'CON-
NELL; for if Government took the present meet-
ing, and put to ,that the dinner which Mr.
DUNCOIABE attended the other day not far from
Covent-garden on the same subject ; and if they
were to put this meeting and that speech, and one
dinner and another speech together, they might, under
this new law, get up a very good case of conspiracy,
and the Member for Finsbury might be indicted,
found guilty, and imprisoned." However absurd and
ludicrous, this is precisely the manner in which Go-
vernment acted towards Mr. O'CONNELL. Finding
that they could not hope to convict him on the strength
of one speech or one meeting, as was the custom in
the olden days of Toryism, the bright —not to say
original—idea struck them of lumping all his oratorical
iniquities together, so that that might appear illegal
in the mass, which, singly considered, was perfectly
in accordance with the constitutional law. Ac-
cordingly he was found guilty, not of having
preached sedition at Mallow, at Cork, at Gal-
way, at Tara, or at Mullaghmast; but at all these
meetings collectively ; his crime consisted, not so
much in the quality, as the quantity, of his Repeal
speeches ; and he is now suffering imprisonment in
Richmond Penitentiary for having attended up-
wards of a score of monster-meetings, when, if he
had attended, say but half-a-dozen, the law would
have held him perfectly harmless ! Such is the
spirit in which the Constitution—or what is called
the Constitution—is vindicated in the sister-coun-
try ! But this is nothing new, for whenever
the Tories have been at the head of affairs, their
system of Irish legislation has invariably proved that
there is one law for England and another for Ire-
land ; and what dare not even be attempted here, may
be practised with impunity there !

Madrid journals of the 24th ult. have been received,
but they bring no fresh intelligence. Advices from
Barcelona of the 25th state that the four Ministers
arrived at that place on the previous day, and that a
Cabinet Council had been immediately held, but the
result was not known.
The Madrid Bourse was closed on the 24th.

We find, in the Paris 3fonileur of Sunday, a long
and rather curious article, setting forth the impover-
ished state of the KING'S private finances, and urging
the necessity imposed upon the State, by an Act
passed in 1832, to make provision for the younger
branches of the Royal Family. It appears from this,
that on Louis PI iurpE's accession to the throne, his
family estates, by virtue of a Royal Ordinance issued
by Louis XIV., became annexed to the domain of
the Crown. The appanage of the ORLEANS family
was thus alienated, and the younger Princes became
deprived of their claim on the eventual succession ;
and this opened to them, at the same time, a claim
for compensation, inasmuch as, in 1832, when the
civil list was settled, there was a special article by
which provision should be made for the younger sons
and daughters of the KING, in case the private domain
should be inadequate for that purpose. The article
then shows that the whole amount which the KING
received in 1825
(5,000,0001.), as an indemnity, in
virture of the law passed in that year, had been ab-
sorbed by the completion and embellishment of the
Palais Royal ;
times been, thaantd hseo
hadv have his
beencompelled
mfinancespell
e d
to
accept pecuniary aid from his sister Madame ADE-
LAIDE, yet to supply the charges imposed upon him as
KING has
a King and a father, the Kbeen and is forced
to contract debts which, from
day to day, increase,
which encroach upon his private domain, hitherto the
sole patrimony of the Princes his younger sons, and
the Princesses his daughters. The article thus con-
cludes :—" In order that this grave question may be
suitably submitted to the examination of the Cham-
bers, good citizens and all just and sensible men must
be enlightened as to the truth of the case, and assist
themselves in clearing that cloud of gross errors and
perfidious falsehoods so carefully raised to deceive the

country with regard to rights and facts. It was often
said in France, 'lf the KING knew it.' The KING'S
Government says now, ' Let the country know it
France will not permit that the Royal Family should
not preserve, under our constitutional monarchy, the
rights and station legally guaranteed to the family of
the Duke of ORLEANS."

The discussion on Railway Bills still continued in
the Chamber of Deputies. On Saturday the lines
from Orleans to Vierzon and Chateauroux were voted,
and on Monday the discussion was to commence on
the Strasburgh line.
The trial of the murderers of M. CADOT, the banker,
at Pointoise, was again adjourned on Saturday till
next day.

MONE Y" AND COMMERCIAL NEWS.
TUESDAY EVENING.
The Consol market leaves off somewhat firmer, at 98f
to f. Bank Stock was 1981, and India Stock 283 k.
Spanish Bonds improved also, being 22i to 23, and
32i to 33,-i• fur the Five and Three per Cents.
respectively, or 4 por cent. better than in the
morning. Chilien were supported at 105 ' • Brazilian
touched 82f to 824 ; and Greek Bonds were done at 13.
The Birmingham, Great Western, Birmingham and
Gloucester, and French Shares rallied this afternoon.
The Sou'} -Western and Soutt.-Fastern c mtinued heavy.
The following is the official return of the exports of
the precious metals from the port of London for the week
ending Thursday last :
Gold Bars to liamburgh
Silver Coin to Rotterdam 1,200 oz.
Mauritius .... £2,000
If
Bullion to Rotterdam
Copper Coin to Mauritius £3oo
There was some flatness in the foreign exchanges
and the rates were lower on most of the continental
cities.

At the meeting to-day of the Colonial Bank Pro-
prietors, it was again found expedient to defer the divi-
dend for the present, in order to increase the reserve
fund, and wipe off the losses incurred.
(From The Sun of Last Night.)
A large business was done in Cotton at Liverpool yester-
day at very firm rates. Speculators took 1,000 bales Ame-
rican, and the total sales were 8,000 bales,- 150 Egyptian cold
at 7d to Bd, 300 Surat at 3d to 31d, 80 Maranham at 51cl to
6d, and the rest, American, at 4d to 64d per lb.—Shares were
heavy, except Birmingham, Dover, and Grand Junction.
Birmingham and Gloucester, 931; Caledonian, 31; Chester
and Birkenhead, 30k ; Dublin and Drogheda, 77 Edinburgh
and Glasgow, 631; Grand Junction, 221; Ditto Half, 1101;
Liverpool and Manchester, Quarter, 54.3 ; London and Bir-
mingham 321. Shares, 351 ; Ditto Quarter Shares, 241;
London and Brighton, 461 f Midland Counties, Quarter, 23a;
Preston and Wyre, 161: South-Eastern, 35 ; York and North
Midland, 126 k ; Lyons and Avignon, 11. 195..
More than usual anxiety is shown among the mercantile
classes of the City as to the result of the debate on the mo-
tion of Mr. Duncombe on the letter-prying business of the
Home Secretary; and it is said, that if Ministers are defeated
their resignation will follow. Politicians as well as others
are on the qui vice. There are many who believe
a dissolution of Parliament will be the dernier re-
sort of the Premier, should he have either a small
majority, or meet with a majority against him. That there
is much importance attached to th forthcoming debate is
evident from the length of time the Cabinet Council sat yes-
terday afternoon. It would Le much regretted if a dissolution
of Parliament took place, as the general business of the
country would thereby receive a check, just at a time when
it is acknowledged to be improving in the United Kingdom.
The commercial advices received from the East Indies and
China markets are not so favourable as could have been
wished, but still British goods were moving offsteadily. The
American merchants were most persevering in their efforts to
dispose of manufactures received from the United States. and
" American Domestics" had, for the first time we believe,
been inserted in more than one of the Trade Prices Current;
not much is reported to have been done in them.
The accounts by the Overland Mail have not, particularly
influenced the English Stock Market. Consols are 981 to
94 for the Opening ; Bank Stock realises 198 to 198 k ;
Reduced Three-and-a-Half per Cents. are 102 to 102};
and the Three per Cents. 99 to 994 ; Exchequer Bills obtain
735. to 755. premium.
The market for Spanish Bonds is rather better. The
Actives realise 221 to 221; and the Three per Cents. 321
to 1. Portuguese Converted Stock has been at 451 ex div.
The accounts from Lisbon announce reductions in the Go-
vernment expenditure, but the Treasury was very low.
Mexican are 351 for the Actives, and 15* for the Deferred.
Dutch Two-and-a-Half per Cents. realise 61 to 601.
For Railway Shares rather lower rates have been obtained.

MANCHESTEN STOCK EXCHANGE, JULY 1.-Our market
continues quiet, with a moderate amount of business doing,
at about previous rates. Manchester and Birmingham, 56
cum. quarters ; Manchester and Leeds Half-Shares, 14-i ;
Ditto, Quarters, 84; Huddersfield and Manchester Canal
Railway, 375. 6d. ; Manchester and Buxton, 20s. prem.;
lluddersfield Canal, 211.

CLOSING PRICES.
BRITISH FUNDS.
Bask Stock llB% Indian 5t0ck............
S per Cent. Red 99% Ditto Bonds — pm.
3 per Cent. Cons.
3% per Cent. Red ... 102% Ditto New Annuities ...
New 3% per Cent. — Ex. Bills, 1,0001. INd... 75 pm.
New 5 per Cent. Ditto 5001. ........ ..... 75 pal.
Long Annuities to expire Ditto Small 75 pm.
Jan ISM l2 7 -16 Bank Stock for Acct....

Oct. 1859 —
Jan. 1860.........

Consols for Opg. --
P 8
India Stock for Acct.... 253%