The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-29 00:00:00

ebta Ellition

THE FUNDS-(CLOSING PRICES.)
BRITISH FUNDS.
Bank Stock . ......„ ....... .... 119 Indian Stock 281%
3 per Cent. Red ...... ........ 99% Ditto Bonds ..... ----- 95 pm.
314A.er Cent. Cons.
per Cent. Red lOl% (Ditto New Annuities ...
ew Sji per Cent. lOl Lx. Bills, 1,000/. 134(1... 74 pm.
New S per Cent — Ditto 5001.
Long Annuities to expire Ditto Small 77 pm.
Jan. 'lB6O l2 7.16 Bank Stock fbr Acct.... 199
Oct. 1859 Consols for " Act.... ... 98%
Jan. 1860 — India Stock for Acct..., —,

, •
FOREIGN FUNDS.
Austrian, 5 per Cent ...... ... iPortugueSe, 5 per Cent —
Belgian, 5 per Cent........... 10214 'Ditto, New Ditto —
Brazilian Bonds — Prussian,' 5 per Cent ... .....
Buenos Ayres, 6 per Cent — 'Russian, 5 per Cent.. ... ......
Milian, 6 per Cent ••........• 'Ditto, Metallic ...........».»..
Colombian, 6 per Cent
Ditto, 1824.....„. - Ditto, 3 per Cent 33%
Cuba Bonds, 6 per Cent — Ditto, Deferred —
Danish, 3 per Cent — French, 5 per Cent.... —t. —c.
Greek, 18-..5, 5 per Cent — Exchange ..... ........ .... —f. —C.
Mexican, 5 per Cent ....
Ditto, 6 per Cent., 1837 — ,Dutch, 23(, per Cent.... 61
Peruvian, 1825, 6 per Cent — Ditto, 5 per Cent .........100%
SHARES.
Bristol and Exeter (70 paid) Bl
Chester and Holyhead ( 5 paid)
Eastern Counties (23 paid)
Great North of England, 100 paid
London and Birmingham (Stock)
London and Blackwall (16/, 13s. 4d.) 7
Lonion and Brighton (50 paid)
London and Greenwich (Va. 15s. 4d. paid) B%
Manchester and Leeds (70 paid.
Midland Counties (100 paid) lO4
Northern and Eastern (45 paid)
South Eastern and Dover (33 2s 4d paid) .....
York and Scarborough Branch (‘42 paid)
Orleans, Tours, and Bourdeaux, 1 paid
Paris and Orleans (20 paid)
Paris and Rouen. 20 paid

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
GLOBE.—We resume our notice of Lord Lynd-
hurst's Act for simplifying the transfer of property.
We have already expressed our opinion of its gene-
ral merits, but it has incidental excellences which
demand special acknowledgment. Besides the drastic
purgative which will doubtless work so wholesome an
effect upon indentures generally, Lord Lyndhurst,
with that elephantine dexterity which loves to disport
itself even with the picking up of a stray needle,
has bent himself to the " more private an I particu-
lar" requirements which occasionally befal us. For
instance, it would sometimes happen that a score
brothers and sisters might suddenly find themselves
in common possession of a single patrimonial acre. As
the undivided twentieth part or share of the aforesaid
one acre would not furnish the most perfectly exclusive
and unmolested title or enjoyment, it was not unusual
for some mutual understanding to be, come to upon
the subject, without troubling the already over-worked
profession of the law. But Lord Lyndhurst, well know-
ing that so long as Lord Brougham lives, it is every
man's own fault if he is too much overburthened with
engagements, has provided that for the future, no
partition, exchange, or assignment shall be valid at
law unless by deed. This law has one very great
advantage, which does not always belong to Acts of
Parliament. It is certain to be obeyed. As no con-
veyancer for the last twenty years has effected these
arrangements by any other means, there is no doubt
they will readily obey Lord Lyndhurst's com-
mands that it shall always be so done for the future.
To be sure there would occasionally occur cases—at
least we used to be told so—in which the best drawn
deed could not be fully relied on ; and the old hands
liked to have the further powers of the common law
to fall back upon. But this was very unsatisfactory,
as we can easily show by a precisely parallel case. A
friend of ours wee observed to us the facility with
which the human body could balance itself under al-
most any contingency. He threw himselfinto a variety
of attitudes in proof of his position. We showed him
at once that all this ingenuity was very unnecessary,
by laying him flat on the floor. And Lord Lyn&
burst, having, we have no doubt, male up his own
mind that the old common law principles and appli-
ances will never be wanted, has provided not only
that they shall not be used, but that they shall cease
to exist. There is a decisivenese, a final settlement,
about this kind of legislation, which we relish ex-
ceedingly ; and of which we have seen very little of
late years. We did cur best, as every one knows, to
defend the Whigs ; but we must confess that their
Real Property Acts were very different things
from Lord Lyndhurst's. It took them a
long Act of some ninety odd sections to substitute
other modes of assurance for the old system of
fines and recoveries. To say, as Lord Lyndhurst
does, that you shall not transfer at all, is a far "sim-
pler" way of doing the thing. And they were
wedded to system. They neverlwent out of their way
to leave the thing they were doing. If you took up
an Act, you knew at once what was its object, and
never expected to find stuffed into some odd corner
a section about any other matter. To he sure, they
reaped the field of real property legislation pretty
clean—we are glad to be able to say that ; but
Lord Lyndhurst takes whatever he can come at, and
gleans up even the wild wheat, and a good deal of
it too. .there always used to be a great deal of mys-
tery about contingent interests and reversions, and
all that sort of thing. No one knew what could be
done with them, or who could do it. Nay, some of
our legal Gamaliels say even now, that they cannot
make head or tail of Lord Lyndhurst's measure. But
with submission, this is carrying conveyance croclieti-
ness a little too far. It must be obvious that "any person"
is now competent to convey anything, the only pre-re-
quisite being, that it shall not be quite certain that he has
anything to convey. The disabilities of infancy and
coverture are, of course intentionally, abolished at a
sweep—as to uncertain interests. There seems, in
fact, hut one point on which to hang a doubt. The
interpretation clause informs us that the word ' per-
son' shall extend to a corporation as well as to
an individual." Now, which of these is a cor-
poration sole ? Will his Lordship be so good
as to tell the public. Is the Bishop of London an
individual ? Johnson, we know, says that an indi-
vidual is a fellow. This creates the only difficulty
we feel. For the rest, we are clear, that how-
ever remote the contingency, General Tom Thumb
may, under the Act, convey whatever expectant in-
terest he has in being shown some fine day for a hip-
popotamus. The operation of the Act is to com-
mence under the auspices :of the new year. But
there is one boon for which, as it is no doubt
of great advantage, our hopes must be de-
ferred somewhat longer. We refer to the re-
conveyance of mortgaged estates by the mortgagees
executors. This it seems is not to be allowed " until
no action or suit shall be depending." This really
is an euphuism of which we did not suspect Lord
Lyndhurst could be guilty. Why not Latter Lam-
mas at once ? And besides, even suppose we
could venture so far into the wilderness of con-
jecture as to hint that the " suit" ought to have
something to do with the subject matter
(which, as the Act does not say, no judge could
listen to for a moment), there is still a sad want
of precision. It is not for us to say whether or not a
suit is to be considered as " depending" during the
half-dozen days' interval between his Lordship's pro-
nduncing a decree and the appeal to the House of
Lords. We are sorry for these blemishes. We are
sure the public would have forgiven Lord Lyndhurst,
if the five lines which he has rendered unnecessary in
all future conveyances had been lumped once for all
in the Act itself.
STANDARD.—The person who calls himself
Captain Warner, has, after some weeks' deliberation
published a most impertinent attack on Sir Howard
Douglas, in reference to the remarks he made in the
House of Commons, on the opinions falsely ascribed
to him, in reference to Mr. Warner's invention; in
which he insinuates that Sir Howard endeavoured
to' get possession of his secret, for the
purpose of obtaining for himself the premium
to. which it might be considered entitled !
Had not Mr. Warner already put himself out of court
by boasting of feats during the last war, of which
there not only exists no record, but which every man
of science proclaims to have been physically impos-
sible, we should hardly have insulted Sir H. Douglas
so -far as to have weighed his assertions against the
grave statement of a gentleman of such uimpeachable
veracity and worth as that officer. Mr. Warner's con-
duct has, however, rendered such course unnecessary;
seieral of his statements in support of his inven-
tion having been shown to be unfounded. We all
of US remember the boast of the leafier of Rhodes, and
French
but place Mr. Warner's destruction of the two
French privateers and the performances of his " long
range" during the last " war," of which there are no
rec ords,oraler written, in the same category of achieve-
ments. Mr. Warner has destroyed his own credit with
the'Government by attempting to prove too much,
and he has therefore only hhimseleftohbblme for the want'
of confidence which the
proof he has yet given Or his
.ted. The only
f acquaintance with the
" long range" is to be found in his grandiloquent
accounts of the feats he professes to have performed.
But for his cupidity in requiring a larger sum for
making the proposed experiment than it could or
ought to have cost, the Government would,
it is clear, have afforded him an opportunity of
making good his boast ; but it the destruction, on
his principle, of an empty vessel of two or three hun-
dred tons, can only be effected at the cost at which he
has estimated it, his shell will clearly prove too expensive
an operation for general use. We need say nothing of
the absurdity of supposing, that as it is indispensable
that:a certain number of persons in every fleet should
be made the depositories of his secret, it could long
remain unknown. Nay, it is all but certain that the
very fragments of the missiles themselves would carry
with them evidence sufficient of the nature of the
agent employed. Mr. Warner is angry with the
Standard for not placing faith in the rhodomontade
in which he has indulged on the miraculous nature
of his inventions, but still more for its announcement
afevi days ago, that the Government had declined his
pro/xi-Sal to destroy a ship off the Goodwin Sands
(which he does not deny), and which he affirms they
may hereafter regret. We may add, in conclusion,
that the iiu lent tone adopted by Mr. Warner to-

;~-~

c~.

wards all those gtntlemen who have expressed an un-
favourable opinion of his pretensions (some of them
officers, like- Sir Howard Douglas, possessing most
complete knowledge of the science of their profession),
is little calculated to remove the impression to which
his absurd vaunts, unsupported by a tittle of evidence,
have given rise,

- •
DEATH OF THE CHAMBERLAIN 01' THE CITY OF
LONDON.—We regret to have to announce that Sir
William Heygate, Bart., Chamberlain of the City of
London, died yesterday, at Roecliffe, Leicestershire, in
the 63d year of his age. The deceased Baronet was
only elected to the Chamberlainship about fifteen months
since. Mr. Alderman Brown has offered himself a can-
didate for the vacant office.

SCOTCH POLITICALREFORMERS.

We feel highly gratified in announcing that the
foundation stone for a monument to Muir, Palmer,
Skirving, and Gerald, the political martyrs of 1793,
was laid at Edinburgh on Wednesday, Joseph Hume,
Esq.. M.P., officiating as master of the ceremony, and
deposited the various documents that had been pre-
pared in the foundation-stone.
If ever the country produced patriots who deserved
a monument to their memory, it was these martyrs to
liberty who suffered in Scotland at the period referred
to. The expression of popular opinion, either through
the medium of public meetings or the press, had not
obtained any staple footing in Scotland at that period.
Indeed, so far as newspapers were concerned, it was
nearly twenty years afterwards before Scotland con-
tained any influential journal that would support the
claim for that fair and just possession of the suffrage
contended for by the Reformers of 1793. The question
of popular representation and of popular rights had not
been broached in this division of the kingdom, from
the time it was urged in the Scottish Parliament, by
Fletcher, of Saltoun, till it was taken up by Thomas
Muir and his associates. It was most unfortunate
for the cause, that the excesses and bloodshed which
occurred about the same time in Paris afforded an
excellent pretext for those whose interest or whose
prejudices led them to oppose reform; for, besides
thus exciting alarm at the new doctrines, the novelty
of the proposal had at the same time the mass of the
people, particularly of the business and wealthy
classes, to win over to it. It was amidst these disad-
vantages that the Convention commenced its sittings
in Edinburgh ; and therefore it is impossible for pos-
terity to pay too high a compliment to the bravery
of those who threw themselves into the breach, Buh-
-1 mitting, rather than betray their principles, to be
arraigned before the arbitrary, uncontrolled judges of
the day, who unhesitatingly declared the British con-
stitution to be perfect ; that it required no reform, and
that it was grossly criminal to propose amending it.
After having seen so much of the success of the
principles urged by the early reformers—after having
seen the Legislature and the Crown fully acknow-
ledge the truths they contended for—one would na-
turally suppose that with every class of Liberals, it
would now be a subject of congratulation that so de.
serving a tribute was to be paid to the memory of
the first patriots. In the countenance given by one
Member of the Legislature, and the Lord Provost of
the metropolitan city of Scotland, to the proceedings
of Wednesday, we have certainly proof so far of the
changes in opinion which have occurred, and of the
advantages that have been obtained by the partial re-
form that has been effected;. still it cannot but be a
subject of regret, and it proves how far practice
stands aloof from profession, when out of the majo-
rity of representatives from Scotland, now returned
to Parliament in the Liberal interest, only one came
forward to identify himself with the first deeds of the
champions of the cause on this occasion. It is also a
subject which we think deservedly calls forth both
surprise and sorrow, that while a majority of the
municipal authorities of Edinburgh are decidedly
Liberal—while their Chief Magistrate fully acknow-
ledged the merits of the martyrs of ninety-three, and
the soundness of their principles, the same municipal
authorities who have so much in their power, declined
to grant a suitable site for their monument. It is
certainly somewhat unaccountable, that while the
streets and public places of Edinburgh have been
freely given up for monuments to the memory of Lord
Melville, of George IV., and of Sir Walter Scott,
no proper public site could be obtained for a monu-
ment to these memorable sufferers for freedom, and
the erection has accordingly to take place in such an
obscure quarter as the Calton burying-ground— a
place incapable of accommodating even one half the
people who accompanied the procession on this oc-
casion.

We cannot conclude our notice of this interesting
occurrence without expressing our gratification at ob-
serving the name of Mr. Moffat, the venerable soli-
citor, recorded as having taken part in the proceed-
ings. Mr. Moffat gave his services gratis to Mr.
Muir at the time of his trial, and he has zealously
adhered to the defence of his memory and the cause
for which he suffered from that period to the present.
Wednesday must, therefore, have been a memorable
day to one who has rendered so much good service to
the cause. Mr. Moffat has been a principal means
of obtaining the just national compliment to the me-
mory of the early reformers which is now paid them,
and in his declining years it must be no small subject
of gratification to see the principles he espoused in
his youth so far triumphant, and the fame of the
friend he loved and defended so far venerated and
done justice to as it has been.—Glasgow Saturday
Post.