The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-10 00:00:00

adding to its moral influence, and enlisting hosts 1
of recruits under its banners. As if these signs
of the times were not significant enough to con-
vince Ministers of, the necessity of pi-lying a
decided part ; many of their own partisans, on
whom they have been in the habit of relying for
support, have become lukewarm and distrustful ;
and others have flatly refused to "march through
Coventry" with them any longer. Turn to what
quarter of the compass we may, we see clouds
blackening over. the political horizon. Under
such circumstances, what is the course of conduct"
that an enlightened statesman would naturally
be expected to pursue? Clearly a bold and libe-
ral course, grounded on principle, fashioned so
as to meet the wants of the age, and carried out
with vigour and alacrity. The country has had
enough of professions; the delusions of 1841 are
dispelled; and action, not speechifying, is now
what is demanded from Ministers. And will the
Premier, for the first time in his life, undertake
to satisfy this reasonable demand; or will he
still pursue his old favourite shilly-shally
system, coquetting with this party to-day,
with that to-morrow—now throwing a sop
to the monopolists, and now to the free

traders—and hesitating between two courses
of action, like a certain animal between
two bundles of hay ? It is impossible to answer
this question, and equally impossible is it to
doubt—after the significant hints that have more
than once escaped hint in Parliament—that Sir
ROBERT PERI. 15 quite aware of the right course
to be pursued. Other Tory statesmen may have
sinned from ignorance, and the desperate ob-
stinacy which ignorance engenders; but that is
certainly not his case. He is not so confirmed
an Ignoramus as to mistake the wishes of
a party for the convictions of a people. A
Parliamentary majority does not blind him

to the true state of things, even though it
moulds his conduct; for he is well aware of the
gross delusion under which that majority was
gained, and sees that it is fast giving way to the
steady day-light influence of common sanse. If

then the Premier's failings are not those of ignor-
ance, in what do they have their origin ? In an
inherent want of decision of character—in a nerv-

ous apprehension of compromising a reputation
for prudence and sagacity by too great a display
of boldness. Sir R. PEEL is not the man

to take the initiative on any great
public question. He has nothing of the
fearlessness and energy of PITT in his constitu-
tion. He stands aghast at the idea of heading
a movement, but must be dragged into resolute
action by the uncontrollable force of events. No
man, we think, can doubt what will be the ulti-

mate policy be will adopt as regards the corn-
laws ; hut he will not appear prominently on the
stage himself, until, by the strenuous exertions
of the Anti-Corn-law League, all is in readiness
for the performance of the drama of Repeal.

We have never concurred in that sort of unrea-
soning outcry which has been so universally
excited against the new poor-law by a large
class of individuals, whose humanity—for which
we are willing to give them full credit—has, in
that outcry, prompted them to a course of in-
justice,—which they themselves can have had
no intention of committing. This injustice
has consisted in denouncing, on account of
partial defects of application, the whole prin.
ciple of the measure—because of occasional
delinquencies in the official subordinates charged
with duties of supervision and superintendence,
the whole system of its economy and manage-
ment—and, by reason of a few examples of care-
lessness on the part of boards of guardians,
and of more inexcusable harshness on that
of relieving officers, the whole body of
official functionaries in any way connected
with pauper management and parochial relief.
At the same time, it is evident, from the most
cursory consideration of its multifarious enact-
ments and provisions, that there is not, on the
statute, book one Act of Parliament more open
to abuse, to evasion, to overstrained construction
against the candidates for, or actual recipients of,
poor-law relief. On this account we hold that
they who have excited so general a jealousy and
vigilance in the public mind, touching its prac-
tical working, have done, and continue to do,
good service to the public cause.
In the Times we read, under the heading of
" Last Days ofan English Peasant," one of those
very cases of " official delinquency" in su•
bordinate functionaries, of " carelessness in the
board of guardians," and of " inexcusable harsh-
ness" in the party who should have been the "re-
lieving officer," which too fatally—excepted cases
although they be—confirm the prejudice of that
large community we speak of against the "rule"
under which they occur. If we may assume the
facts to be true, this is one of those instances of
the maladministration of a law, necessarily
more or less stringent and painful in its ap-
plication, that are calculated to elevate a
local and individual wrong into an element
of fearful and hostile operation against the
best interests of society. It is a case apt
to incite every better feeling of our nature
.0 an indiscriminating and passionate resent
lent, among the labouring poor, and within t'

particular district of the vicinity i❑ which it hap.
pened. Now we have not only the aecouni
published on the responsibility of the correspon-
dent by whom it has been communicated to the
Timex, but we have before us, also, a succinct
summary of the evidence given before the Coro-
ner's inquest, on the collapsed and exhausted
frame of the unhappy deceased.
We know not how to condense the state-
ment for our present purpose, and render it,
at the same time, sufficiently intelligible to
enable the reader to form his judgment upon it.
But we will endeavour to do so, thus :—On the
afternoon of the 20th of December last, " a raw,
damp, and foggy day," an open cart arrived at the
gate of the Billericay poor-law union house,
accompanied by the assistant overseer of South
Weald. On the porter of the union attempting
to remove from the cart its pauper passenger, he
found the venerable man in his last mortal
agony. The assistant surgeon of the establish-
ment immediately attempted to administer some
hot brandy and water, but the dying man was
unable to swallow it; so he was removed to a bed
in the infirmary, where at eight o'clock the same
evening he expired. The medical officer, who
said at once that l►is removal would prove the
immediate precursor of his death, deposed be-
fore the Coroner that, on the pauper being taken
out of the cart, he was quite stiff, insensible, and
in a state cf collapse, his extremities cold, and
no chance of his revival after rejecting the prof-
fered stimulant :

He was suffering from old age and general debility; but
witness was of opinion that his removal on a damp, foggy day,
and the time he was on the road, hastened his death. He
might not have lived many days, but an old person in his con-
dition could not bear removing."

The poor sufferer proved to be one JONATHAN
WIIITE, who had passed a long life of ninety
years (!) as a labourer in the same parish in
which he had been born—South Weald, Essex ;
and this industrious, hoary-headed, time-ho-
noured representative of that race, whom GOLD-
SMITH, in his ingenuous simplicity, described as
"A bold peasantry, their country's pride," (!)
had been, on that inclement morning, forcibly
removed from his sick bed to the union house of

Billericay, through such weather as we have
described—the journey occupying four hours,
and the conveyance in which was stretched this
ancient husbandman being an open cart ! So
much for the respect paid to a class that may
have formed " its country's pride"—precisely at
the commencement of his mortal pilgrimage,
but who are fast sinking, in our days,
into the same forgotten gulf as the
hundred years he had so nearly numbered ! On
the inquest, two benevolent women of his own
class, we believe, whose recollection and know-
ledge of the deceased extended to the utmost
period 'which their memories could recur to, de-
posed to the sad incidents which marked his
declining years ; his long sickness, his decay, his
Gradual utter helplessness; their own generous
humanity in tending and nursing him being
rather elicited from, than deposed to, by

them. When the little means which themselves
and others of his friends and neighbours
could spare for his nourishment and
sustentation had become exhausted, his land-
lady sent to the officers of the union, residing at
Ilgrave, to come and see the old man. The mes-
senger returned with an order for the union sur-
geon of the district to attend him. The medical
officer, on visiting him, observed—" Medicine is
of no use,—he must have all the nourish-
ment he can get :" but he gave no or-
der for any ! On a Friday, four days be-
fore poor WHITE was removed, the landlady,
a Mrs. GATES, sent to the same surgeon for an
order for nourishment; but—obtained none. The
" relieving officer" (ALEXANDER), who called
also, on that day, declared that he had received
no such order. The assistant overseer told Mrs.
GATES that WHITE ought to be removed to the
union house; but that unless he himselfconsented,
he must not be removed. In answer to an applica-
tion made by both of them at his bedside, the sick
man declared "he would rather stop another
week ;" and so strong was his aversion to go thi-
ther that one of the two benevolent neighbours
we allude to, and who sate up with him, deposed
that she forbore further to mention the subject,
because of the mental distress it occasioned to
him. On the Monday (the day' preceding his
removal), the assistant overseer, BERNARD, told
the landlady (GATES), that if WHITE was still
unwilling to be removed to the union, all his
allowance would be taken off.
(This was-25., and one quartern and a-half of
bread per week :—and he was ninety years old !)
When this communication was made to the old
man, he wept bitterly, and despondingly ex-
claimed, "If I must, I must." GATES told the
assistant overseer, that if they attempted to
remove him, she was sure he would die on the
road; but he said he should come for the man
at eleven next morning. That night WHITE was
alternately sensible and delirious; but he put
up his last prayers—doubtless feeling that he
should not survive to repeat them in the union.
The clergyman of the parish, who had visited
him, offered half a sovereign for his relief, "if
he might be allowed to remain in his lodging
another fortnight." How was this Christian-like
charity responded to by the official functionary ?
The assistant overseer said, " If that were done,
the parish would have nothing further to do
with the case." Hereupon the clergyman ad-
vised GATES to interfere no further; but the
overseer, on hearing this from her, on the day of
the removal, asked, " Why had she not taken
the money I—the man could not live many days."
(Doubtless this tenacity of life, in a chargeable
pauper of ninety years, must appear an
amazing spirit of contumacy to a parochial
" relieving officer !") Had the parish pro-
vided a proper nurse, GATES declared she
would have kept the poor man to the last.
The district surgeon never saw him after
his first visit, till the morning he was re-
moved, when, according to the evidence of the
assistant surgeon at the union, he was in a
condition altogether unfit for so barbarous an
experiment. On the certificate of the former,
however, dated four days previously, and signed
" CORNELIUS BULLER, surgeon," importing
"that JONATHAN WHITE could be safely re-
moved," the removal took place on the 26th."
From the evidence, at the inquest, of
RACHEL BRADFORD, it is clear that WHITE
was in articulo mortis when carried into
the cart. He could swallow but a drop of the
cordial administered to him ; his eyes were
closed, his teeth clenched, and he was speech.
less. The man who drove the cart deposed to
the same extinction of all active functions and
perception, and " did not think him in a state fit
to be removed." The relieving officer deposed,
in opposition to RACHEL BRADFORD, that he
had never received any order " or application"
for nourishment. He admitted, however, that
he inquired of the two women whether the doctor
had ordered him any—that they replied in the
negative ; and that he observed, " should the
doctor order it, the sick man shOuld have it."
Mrs. GATES pressed for a nurse, and he (ALEX-
ANDER) suggested that the man " should go into
the house, but was informed that he objected to
do so. On the 26th of December witness re-
ported the case to the board, and applied for a
nurse. The board made an order to remove
WHITE into the house. Witness at the same
time reported that he had seen the doctor, and
that the man was capable of being removed."
We have no hesitation in declaring it to be
our strong conviction, notwithstanding the ver-
dict of wholesale acquittal of all parties con-
cerned, involved in the finding of the Coroner's
inquest, that the gravest blame attaches to the
union surgeon of the district, the assistant over-
seer, the relieving officer, and the board itself.
Under the new poor-law, the board may freely
dispense out-door relief to parties in the condition
of JONATHAN WHITE. There was, in this case,
an evident reluctance, even in the last hopeless
extremity of his disease, to exceed, in appor-
tioning relief to this dying man of ninety years,
the miserable pittance of two shillings and a
quartern loaf and a half per week ! The very
medical officer who declared him to be in that
state that medicine could do nothing, that
nourishment was what he wanted, orders no
nourishment, and certifies that his removal, in
that inclement season, may be effected with
safety. The proffered bounty of the clergyman
is averted by the menace that its extension shall
be followed by the withdrawal of the starving
pittance of the union ; the dying man's terror
of being taken off to the union house is shame-
fully worked upon by the threat that the only
alternative will be the cutting off from him of
the bounty of his parish. He weeps, he raves,
he remonstrates, he prays, he supplicates! The
grey hairs of a century are moistened with the
tears of his last anguish. The surgeon, the
officials, are alike inexorable. He is borne, in a
dying state, from the home of his long remote
infancy and the fields of his ancient labours, to
the dreaded portals, which be is carried
through—unresisting, unconscious, helpless—
only to turn upon his face—and die !
A more barbarous and heartless proceeding, as
it seems to us, could not disgrace a Christian
land ! Is it supposed that the poor will long
submit—ought they to submit to the con-
temptuous, hard-handed, begrudging, revolting
administration of charity decreed by the law,
and provided by the nation, but dishonoured
and poisoned, as it were, in this mode of throw-
ing it to, or forcing it upon, human beings, as if
they were dogs?
Why could not the village labourer of ninety
years have been permitted some little "nourish-
ment," in addition to the disgraceful pittance
assigned for his weekly wants, in the last hours
of his misery, in the pangs of his last illness ?
Why was he not allowed to die in peace, and
with the consolation—(dear, at all times, to the
hope of rustic age)—of knowing that his bones
should be gathered to the dust of his fathers in
the same churchyard, among whose green knolls
—two centuries before—they, like him, had gam-
bolled in childhood, or meditated in age ? We
have heard Sir ROBERT PEEL eloquent on the
subject of permitting this hope, in all possible
circumstances, to the rural poor—and in his pic-
ture of the pleasure with which they descry the
tower of their village church rearing itself
amidst its clump of ancient trees. Did he ever
look on the church of South Weald, or of
the neighbouring Braintree, answering and ex-
ceeding, in all the beauties of its locality and
accompaniments,—this description built on
a fine eminence, and belted with bold oaks and
towering beeches? If he has once remarked

that interesting object, he may appreciate the
additional affliction which brolce the heart of this
old pauper, in• the last moments of his con-
sciousness, at the thought of finding a grave be-
tween the dreary walls of a poor-law union-
house, instead of in the churchyard of his native
parish.

By the Clyde Royal Steam Packet ship, we
have received files of Jamaica Pap ers to the 9th
of December. The proceedings in ;the House of

Assembly chiefly occupied public attention, but
from all accounts they were as long and tedious
as those in the British Parliament. The Bill for
granting a perpetual annuity to the Crown had
been withdrawn, at the instance, it was said, of
the Council, in order not to disturb the Act of
17'28. An opposition had been offered to the
granting of any moneys tor Church purposes dur-
Mg the present sitting: Application having been
made for succour to their establishment, by certain
Presbyterians, the question of " Non-Intrusion"
had been raised,and will possibly become a subject
of discussion before the Assembly. The Railway
Bill had passed the Lower House; agricultural
societies are increasing throughout the island,
" performing (says the Jamaica Times) an incal-
culable deal of service." All parties seemed to
join in one common desire to encourage emula-
Lion among the agricultural population. The
island was generally healthy, and the military
and naval forces on the station were in excellent
condition. From Barbadoes, Trinidad, Dominica,
and most of the other islands the accounts of
the weather and the growing crops are very
favourable.

We direct the particular attention of our
readers to the report of the important discussion
in the Westminster Court of Sewers, on the
twenty-seven resolutions of Mr. LESLIE, which
embody his plan for the improvement of the ad.

ministration of the affairs of that Commission

A few startling facts appear on the day's pro-
ceedings. Mr. LESLIE proposed a daily check,
by an improvement on the present system of
daily returns from the contractors, who, it ap-
pears, receive 75 percent. of the whole expendi-
ture of the Westminster Commission, and some
of which is paid Wore the accounts are even
presented to the Court ! The chief surveyor
having stated that there would be no difficulty in
having such returns, the Court, by supporting
the amendment of the late Chairman, refused to
have such an important document as a monied
out bill for each day's work !
W commend to the notice of our commercial

friends the admirable system of double entry
book-keeping, which commences its records
after the accounts to be therein recorded are paid!
We should be glad to know from
.what class of
men these Commissioners of Sewers for West-
minster are selected, or do they select themselves?
Such a graphic picture of incompetence to the
management of public business it has rarely been
our duty to meet with. These men possess the
uncontrolled power of taxing the inhabitants of
the City of Westminster to an enormous extent.

Clow long shall they be suffered to continue?
It is said that the four Kings of the subterra-
nean ways of this great metropolis are the
Chairman of the Westfniuster Commission, the
Chairman of the Holborn and Finsbury Commis-
sion, the Chairman of the Tower Hamlets Com-
mission, and the fourth, that wonderful ac-
countant Mr. Alderman Churchwarden GIBBS,
who is Chairman of the City Commission ! !

The accounts from Madrid are to the 2d inst.
Mr. BULIVER had been presented to the Pre-
sident of the Council, CONZ.I LES BRAVO, and
the first interview, the friends of the Ministry
say, was very satisfactory. The capital con-

tinned tranquil, and the accounts from the pro.
vinces were also favourable. We learn from tin

Phare des Pyrenees of the sth inst. that the fort
of Figueras had capitulated. The terms were
agreed to on the 30th ult., between the Baron
DE MEEit and General AMETLER, and would be
carried into effect on receiving the QUEEN'S
sanction.

The Three per Cents. were done on the 2d inst
at 231 cash, 231 at (30 days, with the curren
coupon. The Fives at 181, at 51 days.

On Monday the Duke of BROGLIE presented
to the French Chamber of Peers the draft of the
address in reply to the KING'S speech. It accords
entirely with the sentiments expressed IT his
ATAJEsTv. The name of the Duke of BORDEAUX
is not even alluded to, but a few words are added
at fhe close of the address, which evidently refer
to the exhibition,s in Belgrave-square. These
are—" France promised to be faithful to the
KING. The KING has observed his oath—where
is the Frenchman that could forget or betray
his allegiance ?" This called up the Duke of
RICHELIEU, Who stated, that in going to London
'o pay his respects to an unfortunate Prince he
was fulfilling a duty of honour, while at the same
time he was entirely innocent of any criminal
intention. M. GinzoT, in adverting to the same
subject, said the French Government, when the
Prince visited Vienna, Berlin, and other Conti-
nentalhad remonstrated against his
and their remonstrances were
pi.esen cecaptiiiteallps„
immediately attended to. The same course had
been adopted when the Prince went tOEtigland—a
note was transmitted to the English Government,
which was replied to in the most satisfactory
manner, but in weountry which enjoys liberty of
publicity to such in) extent there were not the
same means of repression. The Queen of Exo-
. LAND, however,
and the Ministers, did every
thing in their power to mark their digapproba-
tion. ller MAJESTY WWII(' not receive the Duke
Of BounEaux at Court, and manifested her dis-
pleasure against those-parties who, presuming on
the liberal institutions of the country, had exhi-
bited " such scandalous scenes." The address
was adopted, with some slight additions, by a
large majority. Most Of the papers give an ac-
count of the reception of M. RATTI MENTON by
the Chinese authorities at Canton, with copies of
two State papers—pne addressed to M. Gum();
by KY-ING, Iligh Imperial Commissioner, and
KY-KONG, Viceroy of the Two Kwangs, and the
other to M. RATTI MENTON, both showing the
most friendly disposition towards the French
nation—no other country, they say, shall be

more favoured.
BOURSE—PARTS, MONDAY, JAN. 8.
First Highest Lowest Last
Price. Price. Price. Price.
French Five per Cents. 124 30... 124 30... 124 25... 124 30
Three> B2 50... 82 55... 82 45.. 82 55
Bank of France 3210 ...3210 ...3210 ...3210
Laffitte Bank I.ooof 1110 —lllO ...1110 ...1110

-----
5,000f...5075 ...5075 ...5075 ..5075
Bolo'lan 8ank.......... 698 75... 698 75 .. 698 75... 698 75
Beliian Fives ....... 105 A 105 A 105 A ... 105 A
1840.... 108 A 108 k ... 108 ... 108
1842.... 109 ... 109 ... 109 ... 109
Spanish Active ,.. 291 ... 291 ... 291 ... 291
Passive 5A ... 5A 5A ... 5A
Old Deferred 5 ... 51 .., 51
Portuguese Fives ..... -45 ... 45 ... 45 ... 45
Neapolitan
Roman ...... ... 1041 .. 1041 ... 1041
RAILWAY SHARES.
Versailles, L. 8... .... 180 180 ... 178 75... 178 75
Rouen
Rouen to Havre 642 50... 648 75... 640.. 647 50
Orleans.
Strasburg to Bale 213 75... 213 75... 212 50... 213 75
Avignon to Marseilles 670 ... 672 50... 670 ... 672 50

RAILWAY SHARES, FOR THE ACCOUNT.
Versailles, L. 13 lBO ... 180 ... 175 ... 175
Rouen
Rouen to Havre... , 645 ... 650 ... 645 ~. 650
Orleans . 835 ... 836 25... 8.30 ... 835
Avignon to Marseilles 670 ... 672 50... 670 .. 672 50

FREE TRADE BANOUET AT GLASGOW.--We learn
from the Glasgow papers, that the arrangements for
the meeting on Wednesday (this day) have been
completed. Nearly all the tickets have been disposed
of. The Trades' Hall is to be thrown open for in-
spection in the forenoon, and also to afford those who
may desire it an apportunity of meeting with Mr.
Cobden and the other members of the deputation from
Manchester.

VOYAGES OF THE NEMESIS.

We understand that the narrative of " The Voyages and
Services of the Nemesis from 1840 to 1843," is preparing for
immediate publication, from the notes of her late commander,
W. H. Hall, R.N. (of the Victoria and Albert yacht), and
from personal observations made in China, and other parts, by
W. D. Bernard, Esq.,ilA.M., &c. The work, besides con-
taining an accurate description of the numerous interesting
localities visited by the Nemesis (the first iron-armed steamer
that crossed the line) during the period above mentioned, will
comprise a complete history of the origin, progress, and ter-
mination of the late events in China, detailing all the operations
of the war, with remarks upon the character of the people, and
the prospects of our future intercourse with them, a full account
of the new colony of Hong Kong, &c. It will also contain
notices of some of the Portuguese slave settlements at Mozam-
bique, &c.
Dalaf togetheroaßy, Sc
withe., with observations on the Comoro
Islands,
some remarks on the peculiarities'
of iron steam vessels, and their advantages upon an enemies'
coast.—Naval and Military Gazette.

CHESTERTON.—On Sunday, at twelve o'clock,
several persons, male and female, were baptised by im-
minister, officiated.mersion opposite hAeenleirra's llnie Mr.
concourse
nse . R obeorftssp, e
cbtaapttoirsst
assembled.