The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-22 00:00:00

frail -
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LONDON, FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 1844.

'Lord CAMPBELL called the attention of the House
of Lords.to what he considered an unjustifiable delay
-in giving the Royal Assent to the Bill for reducing
the Three-and-a-Half per Cents. By a clause iq that
the dissentients were required to express their
dissent on or before the 23d of this month. The Bill
- now could not become law before four o'clock on Fri-
• day, so that only a few hours would be given to the
many thousands who resided at a distance, to give
• their dissent. He objected to this course, as it might
be taken as a precedent.
' ' The LORD CHANCELLOR said he had received inti-
mation from the House of Commons that it would be
more convenient to have the Commission on Friday,
There had, however, been only three notices of dis-
`sent, and he believed no more would be given.
Lord MONTEAGLE concurred in the remarks of
Lord CAMPBELL, but he did not think the delay
would produce any inconvenience, and he was sur-
prised that there had been even one notice of dissent,
as the measure -was so advantageous.
The LORD CHANCELLOR moved the second reading
of the Ecclesiastical Courts Bill, and detailed at some
. length the alterations proposed. The Bill, as far as
we can judge from the statement of Lord L'IND.•
BURST, made no change of material importance ; it
left all the diocesan courts in full vigour; and, though
some of the minor courts would be abolished, all the
old causes of complaint would still remain.
"Lord COTTENHAM opposed the Bill, and stated his
objections at some length in an excellent speech. He
thought the measure was fraught with much mischief,
and therefore moved that the Bill be read that day
six months. .
The Bishop of LONDON supported the measure, and
defended himself in the best way he could for sup-
porting this Bill, which, in many respects, was amilar
to others which he had opposed. He supported the
Bill on the ground that it was the only one likely to
receive the assent of Parliament.
Lord BROUGHAM supported the Bill chiefly on the
ground that. it did away with the Courts of Pecu-,
liars and Exempts, but reserved to himself the right of
proposing in Committee such amendments ash- he might
see fit, .

Lord CAMPBELL was opposed to the Bill, and•
pointed out the inconsistency of leading Members of
the Government who supported the Bill of last session,
yet gave it up at the wish of the section of a party.
There was some mystery about that transaction which
required explanation.

The Loan CHANCELLOR, in reply, said the Bill
could be read a second time, and an amendment
might be moved for the purpose of carrying into
effect the measure of last session, but he would not
give his assent to any•such amendment, and on that

point every Member of the Government concurred.

The Bill was then read a second time, and the
House adjourned at Nine o'Clock.

On the motion of Sir THOMAS FREMANTLE, a
new writ was ordered for the borough of Christ-
church, in the room of Sir G. H. ROSE.
Mr. G. CRAIG moved that the order issued on the
15th, relative to the Edinburgh and Glasgow, and
several other Railway Bills for Scotland, be dis-
charged. Mr. GLADSTONE and several other Mem-
bers opposed the motion, and, on a division, it was
lost by a majority of I.

Mr. IVicsn presented a petition from the members
.. of the Repeal Association in Ireland, praying for in.
quiry into the late State prosecutions. The petition
was signed by 821,334 persons, and had been got up
in three weeks. The petition was of an enormous
size, and, on being carried up to the table by six
Members, one of the bearers being Mr. O'CONNELL,
excited much laughter. The petition was read at
length by the Clerk, when Mr. WTYSE moved that it
be painted. The SPEAKER, however, informed him
that he must give a specific notice to that effect,
when Mr. Wysz said he would move the question
on Monday..

Mr. E WART brought forward a motion for a reduc-
tion of the import duties ; but after he had spoken
for only a short time, a motion was made to count
the House, and, there being only thirty-eight Mem-
Ws.,preSeht, it adjourned at Seven o'Clock.

Tim works within the inclosure of Trafalgar-
square, says a Morning Contemporary, are proceeding
rapidly towards completion, Mr. BARRY, the archi-

tect, having devoted much of his time, of late, to per-

fecting his,arrangements, so that he may be enabled to
throw the wliole open to the public during the summer
months. The artesian well is likewise fast advancing,
the bore having been already sunk a considerable

dela. The basins of the fountains will he eighty-

- three feet in diameter, and are to be covered with
. MAunes, patent Portland cement. Such is the
brisk, active spirit, in which improvements are
carried-bn at the West-end of the metropolis.
• There is no dilatoriness or indifference evinced—no
' .vexatious opposition offered or permitted; the im-
gheirients once decided on Late completed with the

utmost zeal and rapidity. It is not more than four
years, if so much, since the idea was first started of
erecting a statue to NELSON, and adorning with
suitable 'embellishments the interior of Trafalgar-
square ; and 10, the statue is already finished and set
up on its column ; and the well, and the basins, and
the fountains also are all to be completed and
thrown open to the fashionable public this sum-
mer ! How different is the spirit in which im-
provements are conducted at the East-end of Lon-
don ! In that remote, uncivilised, plebeian region, all
is neglect—torpor—cool, easy indifference. About
the same time that it was proposed to embellish the
interior of Trafalgar-square, it was proposed also to
form a Victoria Park for the accommodation of the
inhabitants of Bethnal-green, Spitalfields, White-
chapel, &c. The Square is to be finished this sum-
mer, the Park is not even to be commenced till this
autumn ! The cause of the activity in the one case,
and of the dilatoriness in the other, is easily
accounted for. Those who live at the West-
end are all respectable folks—members of the
thriving family of the Somebodies, consequently
their wishes and interests must be treated
with respect; those, on the contrary, who vegetate at
the East-end are poor, helpless, vulgar operatives and
tradesmen—mere Nobodies—consequently, they can
afford to wait—indeed it is their duty to wait,
patiently, submissively, and thankfully, until it suits
the leisure and inclination of the official authorities to
pay attention to their wants. We allude to these cir-
cumstances in no invidious or carping spirit, but sim-
ply because we feel it our duty to take every opportunity
of urging the claims of the poor, i}nd defenceless,
which we cannot but know are never too diligently
attended to even at the best of times; and because
also we feel, in the present case, that the formation
of a " Victoria Park" is an absolute necessity in the
close, pent-up, neighbourhood of the East-end of
London, while the embellishment of Trafalgar-square
is a mere matter of taste and luxury, whose only
recommendation is, that it is pleating in the eyes of
thow who reside at the West-end.

An interesting and affecting case was heard at the
Queen-square Police-office, yesterday. A Misi
ELIZABETH BURTON, seventy-nine years of age,
was charged with, begging, when it appeared, to quote
the language of the Reporter, " that in the exercise
of their vocation as mendicants, she and her sister
were frequently apprehended; but whether in the
streets of the metropolis, or within the walls
of a prison, they had always been insepa-
rable, until yesterday morning, when for
the first time the prisoner was found begging
alone." The Magistrate having asked her what had
become of her sister, the following was her simple
and touching answer—" Oh, Sir, she's lying very ill
at home, dying ! I was really obliged to go out and
beg this time to get the poor creature something. I
am sure I shall never live after she is gone." Greatly
to the credit of hig good sense and humanity, the Ma-
gistrate,•on hearing this artless., statement, not only
dismissed the prisoner, but gave her some money; ob-
-serving that "he could not think of separating the
sisters under such circumstances." We have alluded
to this circumstance, because it affords another
striking illustration of that inherent kindliness and
generosity of nature which is found not merely
among the poor, but the hopelessly destitute,
far oftener than. your wealthy and respectable
folks imagine. It is easy to talk of the recklessness
and depravity of spirit which poverty engenders, by
way of justifying the indifference of the rich
towards the poor; but here we find—and we
have read lately of many similar cases -- the
warmest, purest, and noblest feelings of the human
heart surviving even in the midst of hopeless, squalid
destitution ; and this, too, at an advanced period J
life, when callous selfishness, egotism, and indiffer-
ence too often gain the ascendant in the breasts both
of men and women, to the utter exclusion of every
healthy and generous emotion.

We have just received the portly " Blue Book"
containing the Report (and depositions of witnesses
therein referred to) of the Commissioners appointed
by Royal Commission under the sign manual, dated
Windsor, Oct. 7, 1843, " for the purpose of making a
full and diligent inquiry into the present state of the
laws as administered in SOUTH WALES, which regu-
late the maintenance and rePair of turnpike roads,
highways, and bridges ; and also into the circum-
stances which have led to recent acts of violence and
outrage in certain districts of that country." The
well-known disturbances which " REBECCA'S" orga-
nised and daring demonstrations of physical force
occasioned in many parts of the Principality, and, in
some cases, almost simultaneously ; the ;offences and
crimes in which those disturbances resulted, and the
special tribunal constituted for the trial of some of the
offenders who had been engaged in them, must be
still fresh in the minds of our readers. Some persons
are, still, of opinion that the character and amount of
the " troubles in Wales" were a good deal exaggerated
for the " meridian of London ;" but we never heard a -
doubt expressed touching the expediency of this Com-
mission of Inquiry into the latent causes .of such
alarming discontents among a people remarkable, at
all times, for their loyalty and their general submis-
sion to the laws: We will endeavour to give a suc-
cinct statement of the contents of the Report.
The Commissioners (the Right Hon. FRANKLAND
riEWIS, and R. H. CLIVE and Wm. CarPrs, Esqs.)
have divided this document into the following sec-
tions :—lntroductory Report, a sort of historical re-
sunlit of facts; statements respecting particular trnsts ;
general ditto as to Pembrokeshire, Cardiganshire,
Radnorshire, Breconshire, Glamorganshire ; con-,
elusions and suggestions derived frOm the above de-
tails ; of tithe in South Wales ; poor-law,- of its ad-
Ministration ; "magistrates'clerks' fees; eounty rate;
" minutes of evidence".. of nearly 200 -witnesses.
These are preceded by 'a good lithographed map,
showing, by coloured lilies; the. difeetion and extent
of the said trusts. The Report bears date only the-
6th inst., and occupies 579 folio pages. The expe--
dition with which these have been printed, and the
technical execution and accuracy of the work being
alike honourable to the establishment of Messrs.
CLOWES and Soils, the eminent printers of Stamford-
street.

The Commission was publicly opened at Carmarthen
on the 25th of October, 1843 ; and. after three weeks
occupied in taking evidence and receiving informa-
tion (which it had solicited from all quarters); it re-
moved to Haverfordwest. From hence, after dill—

gently examining into the state of Pembrokeshire,
and the transactions which had occurred therein, it

successively. visited Cardigan and Radnor, and in
these counties instituted similar inquiries. Its next
sittings were held in Breconshire, and " the wealthy
and populous county of Glamorgan." After " visiting
in succession the principal towns" therein, it ter-
minated its " inquiries at Merthyr-Tydvil on the
13th December last." The Commissioners express
their belief that the disturbances in South Wales
had not originated in any political causes :
" The chief grbunds of complaint were the mis-
management of the funds applicable to turnpike-roads, the
frequency and the amount of the payments of tolls, and,
in some cases, the vexatious conduct of toll collectors,
and the illegal demands made by them: the increase in
the amount payable for tithe under the Tithe Conn:Mita-
tion Act, the unequal distribution of the rent charges,
and the variable payments, fluctuating with the average
price of corn: the operation of the Poor-law Amend-
ment Act, principally (though not exclusively) on ac—
count of the high salaries of the officers, and the opera-
tion of the bastardy clauses: the administration of jus-
tice by the local magistrates, and especially the amount
of the fees paid to their clerks, and the progressive in-
crease of the county rate. The cost and difficulty of
recovering small debts, with some minor points of griev-
ance and complaint, were pressed on our attention,
some of which it will be our duty to notice before we
close our report."
A formidable catalogue this, it must be confessed,•
of local grievances, the grievances themselves
being precisely those most calculated to excite the
resentment of a people at once poor and simple-
minded, choleric, and impatient of oppression. There
is abundant testimony, in these pages, to show that
they have long had to endure some of the most in-
tolerable vexations of " district board mismanage-
ment," and parochial and county jobbing. The
Commissioners thus report upon some of the more
prominent, perhaps more unavoidable, but certainly
very disheartening, discouragemements,Funder which
the "small farmers" have long been declining :
" All persons acquainted with the condition of the
country concurred in stating that a succession of wet
and unproductive harvests had very much reduced the
capital of the farmers. They had been forced, during
successive years, to buy the bread consumed in their
families; and the money they obtained by the sale of
stock, and the other produce of their farms, scarcely en.

abled them to make good various payments to which
,hey were liable. Concurrently with these difficulties,
the price of sheep, cattle, and butter, had fallen much
below the average of preceding years, though, at the
same time (as it is said), all rates, tithes, and taxes, had
increased, the rent of land still remaining, generally,
undiminished. The Welsh farmers are, at all times, a
frugal, cautious race, but by the pressure of the circum-
stances we have described, they were rendered more
than usually anxious to release themselves from even the
smallest payments."

The multiplication of turnpike gates, the employ-
ment of "professional toll collectors," and the sub-
stitution of a rigorous exaction of the dues, in place
of the lax and somewhat considerate management
ander which the tolls had formerly been taken, occa-
sioned that wide-spread dissatisfaction and disgust, and
that determination to tear up the gates, which first
exploded in the destruction of the New Whitland
Trust Gates " on the confines of the counties of Pem-
broke and Carmarthen" in the yeai 1839. Mr.
BAUGH ALLEN, the magistrate, a very intelligent
witness, and whose, evidence appears to go deeply into
the real causes of the discontent, thus alludes to this
first scene of the remarkable drama which was after-
wards to be played with more diversified machinery
in other parts of South Wales. Some parties from
England having intimated that if certain new gates
were erected on roads where there was a considerable
traffic in culm and coal, they might be induced to
farm the tolls at a higher rate than that previously
attained ; and the tolls having been let, accordingly,
to a Mr. BULLIN, an extensive toll-contractor; four
new gates were erected. Thereupon, the country
people assembled in the midst of summer, at about six
o'clock in the afternoon, and those gates were pulled
down amidst all sorts of noise and disturbance and
great jollity, and were destroyed without
.the inter-
ference of anybody." I
,do not think (says Mr. W.
EvApis, the clerk of this trust) they were a week
standing." After enumerating similar destructions
of turnpike-gates in other districtS of Wales, the Re-
port gives us this significant intimation of the shame-
ful carelessness with which " Turnpike Bill " legisla-
tion is sometimes managed in Parliament
" There are twelve different trusts in the county of
"Carmarthen. In each of these trusts the amount of the
toll to be taken at each gate is limited by Act of Parlia-
ment, but there is no limit as to the frequency of the gates.
We know no reason why the trustees should not, if they
thought fit, in virtue of the large and lavish powers
committed to them, establish a gate, and demand a toll,
at intervals of 100 yards each throughout the county of
Carmarthen. In the creation of each of these trusts,
Parliament has paid no apparent regard to the existence
of any other trust, and though thel trustees have been
somewhat unwilling to establish too frequent tolls with-
in the limits of their respective districts, they have had
no scruple in placing a gate or bar at the confines of
their own trust, however near it might be to the gate of
an adjoining one."

So in Carmarthenshire, the Kidwelly and Three
Commotts Trusts, and some others, "interlace each
other in a sort of net-work ; and the frequency of
payments which has been so violently complained of
and resisted, has chiefly arisen from that circum-
stance." (p. 4.) How much it is to be regretted that
that vicinity is not blessed with the neighbouring
presence of Royal Establishments. The privilege of
Royal 'equipages to pass to arid fro, without liability
to toll, would prove to the greedy renters of such
"trusts ". as these, a source of perpetual sulkiness and
ill humour which we can picture to ourselves but
cannot describe. The luxury of pouncing down on
the half-starved team, dilapidated cart, slight load,
and drawling, reluctant waggoner of a wretched
Welsh farmer, in all the conscious authority of a
"Local Act," and with the awful table of tolls legibly
painted on the side of the toll-house to appeal to--
the impotent despair of being compelled to allow, a
dozen times in a day, perhaps, 'a bowling carriage-
team of four in hand, with. two or three carriages of
the suite, equally well horsed, and Royal coachmen,
sleek and -smiling as the bouquets in their button-
holes, to drive through these sacred " bars " in cool
defiance of clerks of the peace, surveyors of the
roads, and chairman of trusts ; the agonizing desire
of TANTALUS for a draught of cold water
must be a mere slight feverish excitement
compared with the hopeless intensity of a
Welsh toll-collector,' to clutch the " road dues"
which, if needy small farmers must pay, he finds
that exempted Royalty will not. We have no room
to enter into other particulars and details connected
with the subjects of the various sections in which
this Report is arranged, and as to which the Com-
missioners in general terms recommend the landed
proprietors, and other parties interested, to adopt
without loss of time the necessary remedial measures,
in a spirit of conciliation and good will towards the _
people. Their rapidly increasing separation from
the Church of England, in the districts which have
been the scenes of greatest disturbance, is a fact em-
phatically pressed upon her MAJESTY'S attention at
the conclusion of the Commissioners' Report. Lest
the multiplication of turnpike trusts, however,
should be merged in the enumeration of other
grievances of a more striking character—as, the in-
crease of county-rate, and of tithe, and the large
diversion of great tithes into lay hands, in the
greater portion of South Wales—we subjoin a
few instances, the mere enunciation of which
must be allowed, we think, to go far to-
wards supplying a case of justification for those
who—violently and illegally, it is true—put down
nuisances, but nuisances not' the more tolerable be-
cause of their being sanctioned by enactments which
had been suffered to creep, unmarked, into those
furtive statutes, significantly enough denominated
" Private Bills" :

On the " Three Commotts Trust," extending over
50 miles of road, there were 21 gates or bars ; average,
one gate for every 2 miles and 1-Bth.

On the Kidwelly Trust, 74 miles of road, 30 gates ;
average, one gate fOr every 2 miles and 1-sth.

On the Llangadock Trust, 41 miles of road, 13
gates ; average, one gate for every 3 miles and 90
yards.

On the Llandovery and Llampeter Trust, 40 miles
of road, 13 gates; average, one gate for every 3 miles,
wanting 40 yards.

We could readily multiply examples of this kind
from the volume before us; but surely these are suf-
ficient to establish the intolerable nature of the
nuisance to which we have alluded, as it has affectel
the poor and agricultural communities of South
Wales.

Madrid papers of the 14th have been received, but
they furnish no fresh intelligence, or any later
accounts from Carthagena, than those published
yesterday.

The Three per Cents. were done at 32 11-16 for
cash, and at 33f at 60 days; and the Five per Cents.
at 23 5-16 at 60 days.

The division in the French Chamber of Deputies
on the Secret Service Money Bill, which took place
on Tuesday, is much more favourable to the Ministry
than was anticipated. Towards the close of the
debate M. DE LASTEYRIE moved an amendment to
reduce the grant to 950,000 f., which was put to the
vote-and immediately rejected. The main question
was then put that the sum of 1,000,000 f. be voted for
the Secret Service, when, on a scrutiny being taken,
there were—

For the grant
Against it

Majority for Ministers

-56

This is the most decisive vote of the session, be-
cause the amendment was brought forward by the
Opposition as a " vote of want of confidence" and ac-
cepted in these terms by the Ministry. The result has
excited much rejoicing among the friends of the Ca-
binet. The Opposition journals deplore the event,

and evidently regard it as the last trial of
strength for the session. This debate, which lasted
two days, possesses considerable interest from the al-.
most unanimous feeling displayed by the Chamber
against the encroaching and rebellious spirit of the
Bishops and clergy. None but the Carlists had
a word to say for them, and a very general opinion
therefore, prevails that the pilgrimage to London and
the attack on the University were concocted by these
advocates of bigotry and despotism. M. D unN fortu-
nately was in a good humour on the occasion, and made
an excellent speech against the rebellious ecclesiastics.
It was received with shouts of approbation by the
Chamber. We rejoice in such a demonstration, be-
cause it shows that the French people take a rational
view of the subject, and are determined to support
the Government and the legal institutions of the
country against encroachments of the Jesuits. The
following is a brief outline of M. Durni's speech
He would assert that a factious, nay almost, insurrec-
tional movement had of late been manifested in the clergy.
-
The public mind was, he would not say alarmed, but cer-
tainlydisquieted by the conduct of that body. Thie move