The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-14 00:00:00

LONDON PEACE SOCIETY.

The following is a copy of a petition of this Society
lately presented to the House of Commons :
To the honourable the Commons of Great Britain and

Ireland, in Parliament assembled :--7

The Humble Petition of the Committee of the London
Peace Society,
Sheweth
" That your petitioners are fully of opinion that war,
upon whatever pretext it is engaged in, is inconsistent
with the spirit of Christianity, and the true interests of
mankind ; and that the practice of having recourse to
arms for the purpose of settling disputes, cannot but be
displeasing to Almighty God ; whilst it is fraught with
unnumbered evils to all parties connected with it, and is
altogether unavailing fur the equitable adjustment of
such disputes ;
" That your petitioners do consequently regard the
existence of large military establishments as an evil on
all accounts to be deprecated by every lover of peace
and good government ; and as repugnant to the free
spirit of the British Constitution :
" Your petitioners do therefore pray your Honourable
House, that there may be no increase whatever made to
the existing military establishments of the empire ; and
that your Honourable House will take into their most
serious consideration, the propriety of immediately
adopting such measures as may, by your Honourable
House, be deemed most suitable and effective for remov-
ing the fearful temptation to war which such establish-
ments present ; and
" Your petitioners are the more encouraged to urge
this upon the attention of your Honourable House, be-
cause, in common with their fellow-subjects at large,
they have received with unfeigned satisfaction the confi-
dent announcement made from the Throne at the opening
of the present session of Parliament, that " the general
peace, so necessary for the happiness and prosperity of
all nations," is expected to "continue uninterrupted."
" And your petitioners will ever pray, &c."

IGNORANCE AND CRIME.—Of the seven prisoners
charged wig{ aison at the Essex assizes, three only were
convicted;' ana of these parties appears to have been of weak
intellect, so as hardly to have been aware of the enormity
and the danger of the crime he was committing ; and
a singular circumstance connected with these trials
is the impossibility of tracing in any case the
slightest motive for the perpetration of the offence.
It did not appear that there had been any quarrel, any
disagreement, any existing between the pri-
soners and the parties whose property was destroyed ; as
far as we could learn, the otienders were in comfortable
circumstances for labourers, being single men and in em-
ploy ; and we are therefore inclined to attribute
these crimes in a great degree to sheer reckless igno-
rance. Lord Denman, in his charge to the grand jury,
forcibly pointed to general education as the best anti-
dote to the progress of crime ; and a review of the calen-
dar strongly confirms the principle which his Lordship
advocated. Of the forty-eight prisoners only two could
read and write well, one of these being charged with
burglary, and the other with uttering a forged bill ; 13
could read and write imperfectly ; 11 could read im-
perfectly ;, and 22 could neither read nor write. Of
the prisoners charged with arson two could read and write
imperfectly, two read imperfectly, and three could neither
read nor write. It is a striking fact that in this boasted age
of knowledge, out of 48 accused persons nearly one-half had
been lert in total ignorance, and only two had received any-
thing like adequate instruction.—Essex Herald.
GIGANTIC SHED.—Messrs. Ainsworth and Co., are
now erecting a new power-loom shed, and, as we are informed
it is the largest in the world, it will not be uninteresting to
give a few of the particulars respecting it. The shed is 350
feet in length, by 187 in breadth, divided into 36 bays. The
roof is supported by 352 columns. It is calulated to contain
1,650 looms, and when complete the number of hands
actually employed in the room will be 855. The production
of the looms Avill average per week 13,200 pieces, 20 yards
each, or 3 1-5 pieces per minute. This applies to the
weaving shed alone, independent of the spinning and other
departments.— Preston Guardian.
DEPARTURE OE EMIGRANTS FOR NEW SOUTH
WALES.—The Royal Saxon, 510 tons, Captain W. Charls-
worth, the first ship chartered this season by Government,
has sailed from the London Docks for the colony of New
South Wales, touching at Cork, with a complement of 212
emigrants, consisting of agricultural labourers and me-
chanics, with their wives and families. The Dale Park,
401 tons, Captain Snell, will leave the London Docks
this week with a second portion of emigrants, for Port
Philip, calling at Cork on the 31st instant. The. St. Vincent,
600 tons, Captain J. Young, is fitting out in the London
Docks for emigrants, and isentered to sail on the 27th instant
for New South \Vales, calling, at Cork on the 16th of April.
The Lord William Bentinck, 444 tons, Captain Sainthill, is
expected to sail from the London Docks on the 9th of April,
with emigrants for Port Philip, touching at Cork on the 28th
of April, or as near as possible about that period.
BRIGHTON, MARcu 13.—The Duke and Duchess
of Somerset will take their departure to-morrow morning for
London, after a stay of nearly six months. His Grace's
health has improved so much during his residence here that
it is his intention to pass the ensuing winter in Brighton.
The Duke and Duchess of Sutherland are expected in
Eastern-tarrace in the course of the day. Their Graces will
shortly visit the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk at Arundel.
Sir Adolphus and Lady Dalrymple will leave Brighton next
Saturdry for London.