The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-31 00:00:00

THE SITN, LONDON, WrDNESDAY MORNING, 31/,_1844.

THE WEATHER AND THE CROPS.

DORSETSHIRE.—The past week has been one of
genuine summer weather, and the rapidity with which
all kinds of grain have proceeded to maturation, has
been as striking as it has been gratifying. The fields
can be almost seen to change colour daily. We are now
fairly engaged in harvesting, and few can recollect finer
crops of wheat or better weather for saving them than
it is our pleasure to record on the present occasion.
On Thursday the operations of the field were retarded
by some heavy rains, but they were but showers ; and
we are again favoured with the most genial sunshine
that the husbandman could desire. The crops of barley
and oats are, as has been frequently stated, deficient on
the whole, but we believe that the yield arid quality will
be much better than was a short time since anticipated.
The great deficiencies of the year will be hay and straw.
—Western Flying Post.
Ev agsnmE.—SOUTH HAMS.—Since our last the
weather has been delightful, and the corn has ripened
rapidly. Harvest has commenced in all the early parts
of the district, and new corn has been sold in various
markets. The price of corn has declined. There are
some failures in the crop of potatoes.
NORTH BERWICK.—It is now obvious that harvest
will be at least three weeks later than was at one time
anticipated. The late dropping showers have been so
favourable for vegetation, that the crops are rather grow-
ing in length than filling. There is reason to fear that
much of the wheat around here is too luxuriant, and will
be lodged. Hay is now nearly all stored, and is below
an average crop ; the after growth promises to be very
heavy. The only complaint we have heard regarding
turnips is that they are growing faster than they can be
thinned out.—Berwick W arder.

LANCASHIRE.—We had several considerable falls of
rain during the past week. Some of the showers were
very heavy. The intervals have been bright and sunny,
with warm airs and o:Tressive heat. On Saturday the
temperature was somewhat reduced, a pleasant breeze
imparting to the air a refreshing coolness. Yesterday
was cloudy, and a little rain fell. The grain crops in
this vicinity look very promising.—Liverpool Albion.
MID-LOTHIAN.—The weather, since Tuesday night,
has been pretty variable; but the heat still continues. A
good deal of rain fell in the early part of Wednesday—
the afternoon, however, was comparatively fair, with
scarcely a breath of wind. The morning of Thursday
was rather foggy, but as the day advanced the atmos-
phere cleated up, although we had several passing
showers. It rained, but very gently, up till about
twelve o'clock yesterday forenoon, after which the sky
became somewhat clear, with a light breeze. It con-
tinues so as we prepare for press.—Edinburgh Evening
Post.

- - -
LANARKSHIRE.—The weather during the last few days
has been marked by intermitting heavy showers, and in-
tense sultryness. In the immediate neighbourhood
we have not been visited with the thunder storm,
though we have had the rains which often accompany
or follow it. The weather, however, although uncom-
fortable to the person, has been most beneficial to the
country. It has literally forced on vegetation ; and on
the early soils all around the wheats and barleys are
losing the summer green, and assuming the golden
lane of autumn. The pastures, turnips, and aftermaths
have improved amazingly ; and the potatoes, where
not affected by taint, give promise of an abundant re-
turn. A good number of patches of both wheat and oats
have been cut in the south of England and Ireland, and
samples of superior new oats shown in the Wakefield
and other markets. During last week there were heavy
thunder storms in various parts of England, particularly
that of Saturday last, which broke over the towns of
Rochesteeand Chatham. Damage has been sustained,
but only of a partial kind.—Glasgow Chronicle.
WILTSHIRE.—In some parts of this county the wheat
harvest has already commenced, under the most favour-
able auspices, the corn being well ripened, and the crops
good. We may say of wheat, that throughout the
county there will be found but very few failures, and the
harvest will be general in the beginning of the ensuing
week, should the fine weather continue, of which there
is every prospect. Barley, in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of Dorchester, where it is sown early, in
good land, turns out excellent • but to speak
of many parts of the county where, the continu-
ance of wet, the sowing was late, on inferior land, the
crop is a total failure, being hardly worth the expense
of gathering in; in other places there is a partial failure,
the instances of good crops being but " few and far be-
tween." We make nearly the same observation in res-
pect of oats, the farmers of this neighbourhood being also
more fortunate than others in this description of grain.
—Salisbury Herald. _ _ -

KENT.—The late weather, with the little exception of
laying some corn, has been highly favourable to the
growing crops. The barley, which but a few weeks
since was very unpromising, has greatly recovered,
and advanced to sufficient ripeness to be cut
in some places, with small quantities of oats.
The late showers have had a great effect in filling the
wheat ears, and the hot sunshine of this week has con-
siderably promoted the ripeness. General reports are
increasingly favourable, and a full average is expected.
Many farmers intend commencing harvest next week.
The recent storms have been particularly serviceable
to the pasturage, which now presents the liveliest green
and luxuriance ; and affords good feeding.—Canter-
bury Journal.

MR. GEORGE STEVENSON.

- This eminent engineer, at a recent entertainment
at Newcastle, gave the following account of himself :
—" The first locomotive that I made was at Killing-
worth colliery, and with Lord Ravensworth's money.
Yes ! Lord Ravensworth and Co. were the first
parties that would entrust me with money to make a
locomotive engine. That engine was made thirty-
two years ago, and we called it My Lord.' I said
to my friends that there was no limit to the
speed of such an engine, provided the works
could be made to stand. In this, respect
great perfection has been reached; and in conse-
quence a very high velocity has been attained. In
what has been done under my management, the merit
is only in part my own., I have been most ably
seconded and assisted by. my son. In the earlier
period of my career, and'when he was a little boy, I
saw how deficient I was'in sducation, and made up
my mind that lie should not labour under the same
defect, but that I would put him to a good school, and
give him a liberal training. I was, however, a poor
man, and how do you think I managed ? I betook
myself to mending my neighbours' clocks and watches
at night, after my daily labour %s as done ; and thus
I procured the means of educating my son.
He became my assistant and my companion. He
got an appointment as under-reviewer, and at nights
we worked together at our engineering. I got leave
to go from Killingworth to lay down a railway at
Hetton, and next to Darlington; and after that I
went to Liverpool, to plan a line to Manchester. -I
there pledged myself to attain a speed of ten miles an
hour. I said I had no doubt the locomotive might be
made to go much faster, but we had better he mode-
rate at the beginning. The Directors said I was
quite right ; fbr if, when they went to Parliament,
I talked of going at a greater rate than ten miles
an hour, I would put a cross on the concern.
It was not an easy task for me to keep the engine
down to ten miles an hour, but it must be done, and I
did my best. I had to place myself in that most un-
pleasant of all positions—the witness-box of a Par-
liamentary Committee. I was not long in it, I assure
you, before I began to wish for a hole to" creep
out at. I could not find words to satisfy
either the Committee or myself. Some one in-
quired if I were a foreigner, and another hinted
that I was mad. But I put up with every rebuff,
and went on with my plans, determined not to be put
down. Assistance gradually increased—improve-
ments were made every day—and to day, a train,
which started from London in the morning, has
brought me in the afternoon to my native soil, and
enabled me to take my place in this room, anti see
around me many faces which I have great pleasure
in looking upon.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS, July 30.
Their Lordships met at Five o'clock.
The Three-and-a-Half per Cent. Dissentients Bill
was read a third time and passed.
The Church Endowment Bill, the Ecclesiastical Juris-
diction Bill, and the Clerks of the Crown and Chancery
Bill, severally passed through Committee, and were re-
ported.
The Metropolitan Buildings Bill also passed through
Committee, and was reported.
The Privy Council Bill was read a third time and
passed.
LAW COURTS (IRELAND) BILL.
Lord WHARNCLIFFE, with some preliminary ob-
servations which were inaudible in the gallery, moved
the order of the day for the Committee on the Bill for
regulating the certain usages and practice of the courts
of law in Ireland.

Lord CAMPBELL objected to the appointment of
prothonotary and other officers by the Lord Lieutenant
or his secretaries, instead of their being appointed by
the judges of the respective courts. He would, at
another time, move an amendment for the purpose of
removing that objection.
The LORD CHANCELLOR defended that part of
the Bill, which he said was not a new enactment, as the
appointment of the prothonotaries had been vested in
the Lord Lieutenant.
The Bill then passed through Committee.
CATHOLIC PENAL LAWS REPEAL BILL.
The LORD CHANCELLOR said that he had been
requested by his Noble Friend near him (Lord Beau-
mont) to move the report of the Committee on the Bill
for repealing certain Acts imposing penalties on
Roman Catholics. He (the Lord Chancellor) had
carefully examined the Bill, and it did nct pro-
pose to repeal any • measure for the retention of
which there could bo the least reason shown. The
motion was that the report be received. That motion
was made with a view to another—namely, that the
Bill be recommitted ; and in Committee it would be
competent to any Noble Lord, or Reverend Pre-
late, to state his objections to any part of it.
It was a strange objection, under the circumstances,
that the Bill was brought up at so late a period of the
session ; the fact being, that the Bill had been before the
House for two months, to enable every Noble Lord and
Rev. Prelate to examine its details. He defied any Member
of, that House to lay his hand upon any Act named
in this Bill which ought not to be repealed. The first
Act was the Act of Edward VI., the Uniformity Act,
which required every person attending a place of wor-
ship to use the Book of Common Prayer, and impos-
ing upon any person attending worship where the
service was not performed according to that book, a
heavy fine for the first offence ; for the second, impri-
sonment for one year ; and for the third, imprisonment
for life. He did not propose to repeal the Act, but
only that it should not be obligatory on Catholics.
Could any one doubt the propriety of that ? The next was
the Act of Elizabeth, the Supremacy Act, which enacted
that if any one assumed that any person had ecclesias-
tical, spiritual, or temporal authority in these realms
except the Queen, should for the first offence be punished
by the forfeiture of all goods and chattels ; for the
second, by imprisonment for life; and for the third by all
the penalties of high treason. The third Act imposed penal-
ties for not attending the parish church at least once a week.
Now, how could that law be retained after the Catholics
had been emancipated ? The sth of Elizabeth subjected
every one who denied the supremacy of the Sovereign at
once to a prantunire. How could any one say that this
Act should be retained in the present times ? The next
Act was, that any person who should be reconciled to
the Church of Rome should be guilty of high treason.
Another imposed the heaviest penalties upon any Ca-
tholic who should cause his children to be educated
abroad. Was it reasonable, that at this time,
such a law should be retained ?—(Bear, hear.)
Another of those Acts prohibited any Roman Catholic
from departing more than twelve miles from his own
home, or approaching nearer than tin miles to the me-
tropolis.—(A laugh.) Would any one say that that
Act should not be repealed ? The 35th of Charles IL
disqualified all persons who became converts to the
Roman Catholic religion to bold office ; another Act
prevented Roman Catholics from having arms in their
houses, or possessing a horse of the value of more than
51.—(Laughter.) If a Roman Catholic was found to
possess a horse of greater value than that, the horse could
be seized and sold for that price.—(Hear, hear.) Who
would say that he did wrong in repealing that Act ?
(Hear, hear.) Now, if his Right Rev. Friend, who ex-
pressed on another evening some alarm for the security
of the Church on account of the proposed repeal of
these Acts, would state to the House the reasons which
convinced him (the Bishop of London) that any one of
those Acts should be continued, he (the Lord Chan-
cellor) would give up his opposition to it.—(Hear,
hear.) He had recommended to his Noble Friend
to allow his Bill, after passing through the Committee,
to stand over till the next session, in order
that it might be seen what the Government would do in
the meantime. But if his Noble Friend was not willing
to do so, he (the Lord Chancellor) would feel it his duty
to support the Bill.
The Bishop of LONDON did not wish it to be sup-
posed that he was opposed to the repeal of those penal
laws, which pressed, not practically, but in theory only,
upon the Roman Catholics. Apprehensive as he was of
being supposed to be a supporter of those obnoxious
laws, he was thankful to his Noble and Learned Friend

for giving him an opportunity of stating his reason for
opposing this motion. His Noble and Learned Friend
expressed an, opinion that this was a subject
which it would be more fitting for the Govern •
ment to take up and consider in the course of
the approaching recess. As that was the fittest course,
and as their ,Lordships had almost an assurance from
the Lord Chancellor that it would be adopted, he would
protest against the measure being now taken up by her
Majesty's Government, at the end of the session,
without notice, and without consulting any of those
Members of their Lordships' House who were the
rulers and guardians of the Established Church, and
who ought to be consulted upon matters affecting'
so much the interests of that Church. Risking
whatever imputations might be cast upon his charity,
he would protest against the repealing of those statutes,
without giving the House time to examine how
far that repeal would affect other laws. It was to be
remembered that since the Reformation the constitution
of this country had been not only essentially Protestant,
but anti-Popish. The first time the bulwarks which the
Reformation had set up around the Church were broken,
was in passing the Catholic Emancipation Act. Their
Lordships should beware how far they went in breaking
down other barriers. In removing those which it was
now proposed to remove, they should be careful to as-
certain that none more essential to the interests of the
Church should be endangered by their removal. He
believed that in these observations he only expressed the
sentiments of 19-20ths of the Protestant people of this
country. There was an Act—the 10th of Geo. IV.—
which provided that a Roman Catholic taking an oath
therein prescribed should not be liable to penalties under
the Acts referred to in the present Bill. No incon-
venience could be suffered from the delay of this Bill.
The Rev. Prelate concluded by moving as an amendment,
that the report be received that day three months.
Lord BROUGHAM entirely concurred in the ob-
servations of his Noble and Learned Friend on the
woolsack, and he believed that the repeal of these Acts
would add to the security of the Church. Those laws
were only retained on the statute-book—were only
tolerated for an hour—on this condition, that they
should never by any accident be put in force. One of
these penal acts—the safeguards of the Established
Church—imposed a penalty of 200 marks upon any
priest saying mass, and 100 marks upon every one who
attended mass ; yet mass was said in every part of
London every week, every day, perhaps, and Catholic
churches, some of them of great architectural beauty,
were erected in all parts, at the expense of the pious in
that persuasion.—(Hear, hear.) Would any one attempt
to enforce that cruel and absurd statute?—(Hear.) He
had only one objection to the present Bill which was, that
it did not go far enough ; and he hoped that in the next
session, the Government would bring in a much larger
and more comprehensive measure. A Noble Friend of
his who was now high in the diplomatic service of the
Crown, had recommended to Mr. Canning that the first
step towards emancipation should be to do away with all
those Acts of promunire, which prevented all commu-
nication with the See of Rome, and to establish such
diplomatic relations with that court as were maintained
by Prussia and other Protestant countries, on behalf of
their Roman Catholic subjects.
The Earl of WICKLOW believed from the turn the
discussion had taken that it remained with his Noble
Friend (Lord Beaumont) whether or not this Bill should
pass or not.—(Hear, hear.) The Right Rev. Prelate
had alleged no argument against the Bill, but wished it
to be postponed, to make way for a larger Bill to which
there would be larger objections.—(Hear, hear.) It was
admitted on all hands, and not denied by the Right Rev.
Prelate, that those Acts were both useless and unjust.
He would support the Bill, with the hope that at a future
time a more comprehensive measure would be passed.
• Lord CAMPBELL would recommend his Noble
Friend to persist in the Bill as it stood.—(Hear, hear.)
He had listened with great pleasure to the precise and
accurate speech of. his Noble Friend on the woolsack,
who had clearly and forcibly demonstrated that those
twenty-four Acts ought to be at once repealed.
Lord BEAUMONT said that very little remained for
him to do in respect to the Bill. After the lucid
speech of his Noble and Learned Friend on the Wool-
sack, it would be supererogatory for him to add one
word in support of the Bill. He would not have brought
forward the measure if he had seen her Majesty's Go-
vernment taking any steps towards the repeal of those
laws. But he had found support in her Majesty's Go-
vernment, especially in the Noble and Learned Lord on
the Woolsack, who was not deterred by the gross at-
tacks which were made on him by a public print, sup-
posed to be a friend to the Established Church.—(Hear,
hear.) But could it be doubted that his Noble and
Learned Friend was attached to the Established Church,
or that he was thoroughly convinced that the retention
of those odious laws in the statute book was useless to
the Church ? The Right Rev Prelate told the House that
there was provided by the 10th of George IV., an oath
which would protect Roman Catholics from those
acts of pramunire. But did the Right Reverend
Prelate know that there was not one Catholic in one
hundred who was " qualified," as it was called—that is,
who had taken the oath of the 10th Geo. IV. ? Indeed
no Roman Catholic ever thought of going to the courts
of quarter sessions to take that oath, which they would
consider an insult to their neighbours, as if they sus-
-1 againsted. themThe
great those
pperect:ndunsoirme eAinctfsoirfnitehr would
were
majority of the Roman Catholics in England
and Wales
were at this moment liable to qui tam actions, and the
laws which he sought to repeal held out ample pecuniary
.
inducements to the informers(lleq? hear.) One Act
odenn
gave a reward of lOU to any'person who should convict
foot'. e
qe u a i
a " Popish priest of saying mass."--(llear, hear, and

laugh.) That Act was still in existence, and no one
could say when an attempt would be made to enforce it.
Ile would proceed with the Bill, and trusted that their
Lordships would support him.—(Cheers.)
The Bishop of LONDON explained.
The question was then put, the amendment was nega-
tived, and the report received.

The Bishop of LONDON, in reply to the Lord Chan-
cellor, said that he would not interfere in the Bill any
further, as he knew, from the way in which it was taken
up, that any interference on his part would be fruitless. But
he felt fortified in the course he had taken by the coun-
tenance and approbation of such of his Right Reverend
and Most Reverend Brethren, who had attended to sup-
port tim.
The Bill was ordered to be committed on Thur-sdiy
next.