The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-03 00:00:00

inti Milt /111`14

LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 1844.

In the House of Lords the new " Knackers' Bill"
was read a second time, and ordered to be committed
on Monday. This was done on the motion of Lord
BeAumorrr, and he was followed by the Bishop of
LoNnoig, who presented petitions from Sir HAR-
COURT LEZs and others against the repeal of the penal
laws relating to Catholics. What misery mad

Orangemen and Jesuitical Bishops cause in this
country !
Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from Lord
DuNnoNALD, stating that he possessed a secret for a
destructive engine, surpassing any of the implements
of war known, and prayed to be admitted into compe-
tition with other inventors.

The Metropolitan Buildings Bill was passed.
In answer to a question from Lord BEAUMONT,
relative to the execution of a Maltese at Tunis, Lord
ABERDEEN said that person had been guilty of two
murders. On reference being made to him by the
Tunisian Government, he said he could not interfere;
and if it had been left to him to say whether the law
should have its course, he would have answered in
the affirmative.

On the order of the day being read for the third
reading of the Rajiv; ays Bill, the Bishop of LONDON
moved an amendment on the sixth clause, in order to
prevent third-class trains travelling on Sundays,
Good Fridays, and Christmas-days. This horrible
motion was justly condemned by Lord BROUGHAM,
Lord MONTEAGLE, and the Marquis of CLANRICARDE;
and the Duke of WELLINGTON, seeing the state of
affairs, made a retreat, and moved that the debate be
adjourned till Monday. It was accordingly ad-
journed.
Lord IVIIARNCLIFFE moved the third reading of
the Unlawful Oaths (Ireland) Bill. This led to
some discussion, in the course of which Lord
CAMPBELL made this just remark :—" The Catholics
and Protestants of Ireland should be put on an equality,
and until they were so, there would be no lasting
peace or tranquillity in Ireland."
The Bill was then read a third time, and the House
adjourned at Half-past Ten o'clock.
The Commons met at Twelve o'clock, when several
Bills were passed.
A new writ was moved for Dudley in the room of
Mr. IlAwKss, who had accepted the Chiltern
Hundreds.
The House went into Committee on the Insolvent
Debtors Bill. Several Members previously had
objected to the Bill being brought forward at such a
late period of the session, but the opinion of the
House was against them. Nearly all the clauses were
agreed to, the report was received, and the Bill was
ordered to be reprinted and recommitted on Mon-
day, to enable the Government to make alterations in
accordance with the suggestions of some Members.

The Art-Unions Bill was read a third time and
passed. After some other business of little import-
ance, the House adjourned at Half-past Seven.

The spirit which animates the Bishop of LONDON
will be the death of his order. There is no redemp-
tion for the bigoted and selfish race which he repre-
sents. At the crisis of the Reform Bill, the Episcopal
Bench was all but overturned, the men with lawn
sleeves and black aprons scarcely dared to appear in
the streets, and were hooted even in sacred temples by
the religious people of England. They succumbed
for the time, but when the storm was over they ap-
peared in their true colours. Whenever any benefit
was to be conferred on the working-classes, when
education for the million was proposed and measures
for the relief of Dissenters were introduced
into Parliament, the Sacred Bench was
crowded to excess to advocate bigotry, and trample
upon the rights of one half of the nation.
They are the most selfish and intolerant class in the
whole community. Merchants and traders, and men
of experience in every other rank of life, listen to
reason, and submit patiently to the plans of Go-
vernment, however injurious to their individual in-
terests, because they know everything would be
thrown into confusion if they rebelled against the
decisions of Parliament. The Bishops, however,
take higher ground. They set Parliament at defi-
ance, and rest on what they call their divine autho-
rity. The Railways Bill affords a remarkable instance
of the presumption and despotic character of the
Church. A clause allowing trains with third class
carriages to travel on Sunday, was carried
in the Commons by a large majority ; the
Bill was sent up to the House of Lords,
with that clause, and the Bishops without a moment's
delay put their heads together to oppress the poor
man. The Bishop of LONDON last night moved the
reiection of that with to prevent.
railway companies from carrying third class passen-
gers;; all heawanted was to release:the Government of
this Christian country from the necessity of enforcing
travelling on the Lord's-day. The conduct of this
man is beyond endurance. If it is a sin for the poor
man to travel on a Sunday by railway, is it not a
still greater sin to allow the rich to go by
what the Bishop, we suppose, would call a sa-
cred train ? The first and second class carriages may
be filled to overflowing, they are to be allowed to
pass; but the third class is prohibited because it is
the Lord's-day. The nobles, the wealthy mer-
chants, the squires of England, and the whole bench
of Bishops, may travel by railway on Sunday ; but
the poor man must remain at home; he must not
enter a third class carriage, because he would bring
down upon the land Divine judgment by such an
outrageous profanation of the Sabbath. Though he
is pent up all the week in some noxious cell ; though
ho is anxious to see his friends on the only day that
he can spare from his heavy toil ; though he
has no other means (wit.h the exception
of steam-boats, and these the Bishop would also
forbid) for inhaling the fresh country breeze, he is
to be debarred from this harmless and healthful re-
creation, on the plea that the Sabbath would be pro-
faned. We say, Down with these hypocrites—these
oppressors of the poor—these men who, in the words
of our Saviour, " Strain at a gnat and swallow a
camel." The rich have all the seven days of the
week for travelling or amusement ; the poor man has
only one ; and, though he should be as pious as the
Bishop of LONDON, and go to church in the forenoon,
like a good Christian, he must be chained to his
house for the rest of the day, and look forward in
gloomy anticipation to the renewal of his labours
on Monday. His family too are to be chained
with him. His wife and his children, who we
know, if the Bishop does not, submit to
many deprivations during the week for one day of re-
laxation, must be confined to the smoke of London,
while the Archbishop of CANTERBURY and the Bishop
of LONDON are travelling in their chariots, or regaling
themselves and their friends at country seats, provided
for them by the very people whom they would crush
to the dust. The public cannot submit to this glaring
tyranny, this mockery of religion. The Duke of
WELLINGTON, as will be seen from the Parliamentary
report, took time to consider. 'Why did he not show
his usual decision ? Why did the Hero, who fought
the battle of Waterloo on a Sunday, not act in accor-
dance with his own unbiassed opinions, and set his
face, like a good and a great man, against the en-
croachments of the Church and the oppressor of the
poor ?

We have devoted a considerable space to our report
of the proceedings yesterday at the Westminster
Court of Sewers, which we think will amply repay
our readers for the time it may occupy in its perusal.
The subject, it will be seen, relates to the large
sum of 41,6491., the amount of work done by the
contractors for the Eastern and Western divisions of
the Westminster Sewers since Michaelmas, 1841.
Mr. LESLIE, one of the Commissioners, declared that
a gross fraud had been committed on the public,
and that Mr. BENNETT, whose tender was ac-
cepted by the Court of Sewers in July, 1841,
as the lowest tender, was not so in reality. lie
made the surveyors read over various items from
the rejected tender of Messrs. BIRDS, comparing each
item with BENNETIS', in which it was shown in every
case cited, that the public has by the manoeuvre been
compelled to pay an increase of price, varying from
five to ten, twenty, fifty, sixty, and even one hundred
per cent. more than they should have done ! The con-
clusion of the scene was probably unparalleled in any
Court in this country, for after such documentary evi-
dence, which cannot err, had been read, the Court re-
solved that Mr. LESLIE had not proved his case!
We may safely affirm, that not a single reader will
coincide with the Court--the case is made out beyond
the shadow of a doubt, and we who are rate-payers
in the districts think and feel that a Court so exhibit-
ing itself ought to be buried in one of its own
sewers.

The bueiness of dog-stealing, as carried on in this
mighty metropolis of ours, where talent of every
sort abounds in profusion, is, if we may believe the
Report of the Parliamentary Committee on the sub-
ject—not so much a trade s science—and a science,

too, that requires, on the part of its professors, the
utmost tact, readiness, self-possession, and knowledge
of character. A man may be a very excellent
lawyer, who would make a very indifferent dog-
stealer ; but the latter, if he be an adroit prac-
titioner, is already in possession of many of the re-
quisites that tend to establish the reputation of the
former. The legal system of " refreshers" seems to
be thoroughly understood and appreciated by the
honourable and ancient fraternity of dog-stealers.
An experienced professor purloins one of those inoffen-
sive quadrupeds ; straightway negotiations are opened
for its recovery, but the sum being deemed insufficient,
its abductor makes a point of forgetting to return it—
in the hurry and multiplicity of business, how could
he be expected to remember such a trifle ?—and it is
not until his memory is jogged by a " refresher" in
the shape of an increased offer, that he recall the
whole circumstances of the case, and returns the kid-
napped animal to its legitimate owner. The negotia-
tions respecting these " refreshers" are sometimes very
edifying, and if they do not come up to the just ex-
pectations of the professor, he pockets the affront, but,
as a matter of course, the dog is stolen again. Cap-
tain ALEXANDER, as appears by the Report,
has paid at various times not less than twenty-two
pounds—his Royal Highness the Duke of CAM-
BRIDGE, not less than thirty pounds—and Miss
BETHBLL not less than ten pounds, for the recovery
of their canine property ! Mr. BISHOP, an intern-
gent man, whose evidence is well worth reading, has
given the Committee some curious particulars eluci-
datory of the science of dog-stealing, and mentions,
in particular, the case of a lady whose dog was twice
stolen, restored, and re-stolen, which so alarmed her
sensitive nature, " that she has since then left Eng-
land"—adds the deponent—" and I really do believe
for the sake of keeping the dog. She has left the
country because she could make more of a certainty
of keeping the animal in foreign parts than in Eng-
land, if that was not the sole cause of her leaving.
She prayed for the time to come when she
might leave this country, which she has
done, and taken the dog with her !" This excess of
sensibility is really very touching, and we can
imagine the holy fervour with which the fair peti-
tioner offered up her prayers to Providence for the
preservation of her four-footed favourite. But con-
ceive a lady self-exiled from her native home on ac-
count of a pet lap-dog ! Separated by seas and con-
tinents from her friends, her relations, her acquaint-
ances—and all by reason of her nervous apprehensions
for the safety of "Beauty," "Chloe," "Fanny," or
whatever else may be the dog's patronymic ! This
solicitude may possibly appear to many of our readers
exceedingly amiable and virtuous, but to our thinking, it
savours not a little of the maudlin. We would far
rather see a tear drop from a fair lady's eye for the
sufferings of the poor and the friendless—and more
especially for the helpless, over-tasked, under-paid,
and under-fed milliners apprentices, than for a mere
lap-dog, however exemplary the qualities possessed
by this darling quadruped. And here, while on the
subject of dog-stealing, we cannot but express our
astonishment that the, professors of this science have
yet been pted to vatiy their practice,
and turn.`is their''' attention ) man-stealing.
•s Much might be,,vdone in t.. 'ts line, and a
very handsome colilpetency achieved by it, if
carried on with dtKskill and spitit. Imagine, for
oft._ 1
instance, Sir J. GRA44.t kidnap from Downing..
street by a_partY,' , ingeniouar,, ractitioners, and
safe locked IR a scil shed, till eward was adver-
tised for his 'recoveVi! Can anytne doubt the im-
mense sums., that *Old be immolately offered by,
. ••
his anguishodcolleagues• for his ra/som ? Why, the
very pauper, in the 4nkip workhouses throughout
the kingdom would, in. the iexcess of their
gratitude, subscribe each his mite ; and the
remainder of the demand would no doubt be cheer-
fully made up by Messrs. DUNCOMBE and MAZZINI !
We throw out this suggestion—having no immediate
intention of acting on it ourselves—for the benefit of
expert practitioners in dog-stealing ; for they
may rely on it that were they to enlarge the
sphere of their operations, and experimentalise on
the Home Secretary instead of on ladies'
lap-dogs, not twenty-four hours would elapse
from the period of the Right Honourable Baronet's
"a,n'rti_ction, but the following advertisement would
newspapers :—" Lost, - stolen, —Or striFel, "0 AO
middle-aged gentleman, answering to the name of
GRAHAM. Whoever will restore him to his discon-
late owner, Sir ROBERT PEEL, shall receive a reward
of ten thousand pounds, payable out of the Income-
tax. N.B. The last time the missing individual was
seen in public, he was peeping into a private letter
at the General Post-office." Verbum sap.

Surely it is an augury that we have fallen upon
evil days, when it is impossible, in our opulent and
magnificent metropolis—to say nothing of the empire
at large—to raise a subscription fund of sufficient
extent to defray the expenses of a monument to the
memory of NELSON. The whole range of our heroic
history does not present one name, perhaps, asso-
ciated with more chivalrous daring, more tran-
scendent success, or more signal achievements in
the service of his country, than that of
our "great Admiral." At a time when our
military pretensions were humble, indeed, by the
side of those of continental Powers, whose armies,
under the chief command, as it may be said, of a
single captain, occupied the entire Continent in mili-
tary possession ; when the moral impression and phy-
sical efficiency of our soldiery abroad were, as yet, in
an inverse ratio to the enthusiasm and energy of the
warlike spirit excited by the common danger in all
ranks of our people at home; NELSON was the greatest
among the great commanders who vied in elevating
our naval renown to a point of unapproached
supremacy. In 1798 he dealt, on the Bay
of Aboukir, a mortal blow to the naval power
of Republican France. In 1801 his consum-
mate conduct and impetuous bravery annihilated
the navy of the most formidable competitor we
could have grappled with for maritime empire,—
namely, Denmark. In 1805 he closed his mortal
career, a career of daring intrepidity and
successive triumphs—by extinguishing, in a single
action, the combined fleets of Imperial France and of
Spain. We select these three epochs of the brilliant
story of his eventful life, (crowded as that is with
a hundred episodes of stirring interest, not less glo-
rious to the dauntless bravery of this wonderful man,)
because they mark the periods at which the British

nation are most indebted, under Providence, to his
genius and his valour, for its escape from the
degraded state of all the other kingdoms of
Europe. If NAPOLEON could have wielded,
with the military resources, the naval armaments,
also, of the great Powers of the north and south, whom
he successively conquered, and rendered subservient
to his own policy of aggrandising France at the ex-
pense of all her allies; Great Britain must have
become a mere tributary—a province—a dependency
of the new empire which he founded in defiance of
every obstacle. At this time of day it can scarcely
be necessary to expatiate on the irretrievable calami-
ties—social, moral, and political—the ineffaceable
disgrace—theies—ocal
irreparable injury to an ancient
si
Power of the first rank, and force, and
dignity, if it fall into the rear of Euro-
pean nations, and be blotted out from the

list of independent and permanent sovereignties•
And if this be true of any State, with how much
force does the reflection apply to the case of Great
Britain, which, even forty or fifty years ago, had a
larger inheritance of renown and strength, of wealth
and power, of sacred recollections and brilliant des-
tinies to forfeit, than any other independent Power in
existence ?

Associating these considerations with the name of
NELSON, we have, from time to time, expressed our
sorrow and astonishment at the apathy—not to
say the ingratitude—of the public in permitting
the progress of such a memorial as that
which has been erected to his honour in
Trafalgar-square to languish for the want of
pecuniary aid. We have lived to see the funds
raised for so sacred a purpose indebted mainly for
even their present amount to the munificence of a
FOREIGN Potentate ! We have lived to see the hand—
and we will not shrink from doing it all honour for its

liberality on this occasion, of the Autocrat of Russia
opened heartily and generously in the work of con-
tributing to an imperishable record of the great hero
and the saviour of this country. We have
lived to blush for the unpatriotic parsimony of
those in high station—the royal and the noble favour-
ites of fortune, who, from their abundance, could not

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY MORNING, AUGUSN 8, 044

spare so much to this offering in honour of British
heroism as probably the cost of the jewelled souvenirs
lavished by them on some ridiculous freak of nature
like an American dwarf. Nay, while the palaces of
royalty and the saloons of our ducal aristocracy
have been freely opened to receptions of unbounded
hospitality and gracious courtesy to the Yankee mi-
crocosm, her MAJESTY'S Ministers deny even the use
of the mere area of Trafalgar-square to the truly na-
tional purpose of giving a banquet—not at the public
expense, not at any charge to the Crown, or to
the Government—to the few gallant veterans,
the surviving comrades of the great NELSON, who
fought and bled with him in the estuary of the Nile,
at the entrance of the Baltic, on the rocky shores of
Teneriffe, or in the tempestuous sea that breaks upon
the Cape of Trafalgar ! We can scarcely believe the
evidence of our own eyes, or suppress the expression
of our indignation, when we read the statements de-
livered at a meeting of the " subscribers to the fund
for the dinner which was to have taken place in
Trafalgar-square," held on Thursday, at Willis's
Rooms, Sir EDWARD CODRINGTON in the chair.
The whole affair of the column which is, and the
banquet which is not, has been throughout an insult
to the illustrious dead ; a disgrace to the nation ; an
insufferable slight upon the veteran pensioners who
were to have paid, in the manner proposed, their
last public homage to the immortal commander whom
they served ; which will associate mingled
emotions of anger and contempt with the
name of the present Government in the bosom of
future generations, to whom the glory of NELsoN will
be as a sacred relic of an age of heroes. In the first
place the beautiful shaft of the Corinthian column
was actually robbed of twenty feet of its length, in
order to dissipate the fears of Lord MONTEAGLE, and
other abettors of Mr. WILKINs's monstrosity—the
National Gallery—that it would give an effect of in-
significance to the elevation of that edifice. As if
anything could elaborate the meanness, or exaggerate
the ugliness of that disgraceful enormity. In the
second Sir ROBERT PEEL, the other night, stood
sponsor for this inconceivable violence on the beautiful
design supplied for the shaft (by Mr. REPTON
we believe), by quoting the sagacious opinion of
some professional authorities whom Government had
consulted, "that if the pillar was built of the intended
height, it would be dangerous." How exalted an
idea this ex-officio arbiter of art—this presiding
genius of all Committees for building, decorating, and
painting all kinds of public works—must have of the
the masonic skill of our builders—of the experience
of our contractors—of the strength of stone, and
the endurance of bricks and mortar—to be coaxed
into a fear, that in a city which has boasted for 170
years of such a column as the Monument, 160 feet
above its pedestal of 42 feet—a column so much
lighter and shorter than the NELSON pillar, as ori-
ginally designed, could not be erected with safety to
the vicinity ! Apprehensions, these, consistent
enough in the patrons of Sir JOHN SOANE'S uphol-
stery-like architecture, or Sir ROBERT SMIRKE'S end-
less and monotonous copies of the most tame and in-
sipid Greek examples yet extant.
But to the business of Thursday. The ancient
friend and comrade of NELSON, Sir E. CODRINGTON,
apprised " a very thin meeting" that the permission
originally accorded by the Woods and Forests to
employ the area of Trafalgar-square for the projected
dinner having been withdrawn, all that remained for
the Committee to do was to explain the reasons of
their failure to carry out the design of their appoint-
ment, and to dispose of the subscriptions. In the
outset of the arrangements, Sir ROBERT STOPFORD,
Governor of Greenwich Hospital, had given per-
mission for the attendance of the Trafalgar men; and
Lord LINCOLN, on the part of the Woods and Forests,
had granted the use of the square. This last had
since been, after various postponements to the anni-
versaries of the battles of the Nile, Copenhagen, &c.
withdrawn by Lord LINCOLN, who apprised the
Chairman that his reason was the fear of the walks,
terraces, &c. sustaining injury. But the contractor
for the walks himself offered to make good any
damage they might sustain; (trumpery specimens
of unsightly asphalte as they are after all.) Then
followed the usual, well-understood, official trick of
bandying the Committee from one department to
another, between the Earl of IIADDIRGTON and the
Earl of LiNcoLN i the former, at least
.% Whig gia
TAPA !Wry. ta • tO AAAAAA ugau L
to interfere." (Why should they—in relation to so
insignificant a dead servant of his country,
as NELsoN ?) Lord LINCOLN, at last, reite-
rated his refusal, not thinking " Trafalgar-square
a suitable place for such an entertainment—on account
of being situated in such a densely populated part of
the metropolis, where some disturbances might be
likely to ensue." " Trafalgar-square not suited,"
indeed, for a commemoration of NELSON ! What are
this egregious young Lord's notions of suitableness
and appropriate adaptation ? And the vicinity is too
" densely peopled," is it ? Would this profound Com-
missioner have the companions of NELSON regaled
in holes and corners, as if it were some paltry, petty,
shuffling affair of managing a sham election for a ducal
pocket borough ? Densely peopled ! "In GOD'S name,"
we say, " would that such a banquet could be given
in the presence of ten millions of his and our fellow-
countrymen, that they might impress their children and
their connexions with the honour rendered to one of
the most devoted and disinterested champions of their
country's greatness! And, finally, this Lord of a
peaceful bureau in Whitehall-place is afraid of " dis-
turbances ensuing" among the people, should these
gallant tars be assembled at a banquet to toast tho
memory of NELSON. Well there might be popular
manifestations of scorn, and displeasure, and disgust,
at the unaccountable possession of power by a Go-
vernment which can be thus oblivious of the undying
claims of NELSON'a renown upon his country's grati-
tude, and thus impertinently offensive in disparaging,
by anticipation, the conduct of those whom he had so
often led to victory and honour. But if they had
arisen, they might have been changed to merriment
by the mere mention of these freaks of Sir ROBERT
PEEL'S cautious Government, and poor Lord
LIN-
COLN's cautious Commissionership. We have only
patience to add that, of the 4081. subscribed for the
dinner, the balance in hand, after deducting expenses,
cost of medals, &c. (a balance of 3471.) was ordered
to be divided among the Pensioners, their widows,
&c., to whom the dinner was to have been given.

would soon arrive from England, and burn the French ships
at the islands. Proclamations announcing these fine things
were placarded; And, as soon as they appeared, the inhabi-
tants of the peninsula of Taisraba, either more credulous or
more courageous than the rest, took tip eztris. I:he go •
vernor himself got on horseback, and endeavoured to pi
down this revolt at its commencement, but the insurgents
marched on Papeiti, and were constantly increased by mal-
contents from the neighbouring islands. The chiefs who
were most devoted to us then declared that their wives
and children would not be safe, if they remained longer
near us. Whilst the Governor was endeavouring to put
down the insurrection which was extending round the
island, and approaching towards the centre of our establish-
ments, news was brought that 3,000 armed men were at
about three hours' march from Papeiti, which they proposed
to take and burn. The rain fell in torrents, which circum-
stance would tend to baffle part of their plans, but it would
also render it difficult for our troops to use their fire-arms.
The Commandant of the Society Island, M. d'Aubigny, was
informed of this intended attack, and at once declared the
bay in a state of siege; the other energetic measures taken
under the circumstance, and executed with vigour, proved
to the insurgents, and to those who incited them, that they
had no mercy to expect from us in case of a sanguinary
struggle. In the afternoon of the 3d of March we expected
to be attacked ; all our measures of defence had been
taken, the plain of Papeiti had been cleared of all the
trees which might impede the firing of the soldiers and the
marines who had been landed ; at five o'clock in the evening
Mr. Pritchard was at the landing-place ready to escape
in an English boat to the Cormorant steam-vessel, when the,
chief of the police arrested him as the instigator of the disor-
ders. He was immediately placed in confinement in a
blockhouse, and the Commandant d'Aubigny, in an order
of the day, declared that his head and his property
should be guarantees for what might take place. On the
19th of March, the day on which I write, we are still on
the defensive, but tranquillity appears assured. The Go-
vernor has returned from Calaraba ; Pritchard is exiled, and
the English steamer has been requested to keep at a dis-
tance. Queen Pornare is still here on board an English cut-
ter, and must at length despair of ever returning with her
perfidious advisers to this land which she has so foolishly
abandoned."

We apprehend that not much reliance can be
placed on these assertions. Sir ROBERT PEEL would
not have denounced the conduct of the French autho-
rities, in regard to the English Consul, as " a gross
outrage, accompanied by a gross indignity," without
information on which he could implicitly trust.

Most of the papers refer to the unfortunate acci-
dents which occurred on Monday. Those of the
Opposition blame the police for allowing such vast
crowds to assemble in one spot, and assert that the
numbers killed and wounded are far more numerous
than the authorities are willing to admit.

A Toulon letter states that the vessels which are to
proceed to Cherbourg, in order to escort the KING to
England, will be the Ocean, commanded by Admiral
PARSEVAL, and the Inflexible, by Captain GRAEB.
Another letter says that twenty squadrons of ca-
valry, and twelve battalions of infantry, are to be
successively embarked for Algeria.
The Journal des Debate has a long article on the
state of crime in France, in order to show that a great
moral improvement is going on throughout the
country. The following extract will he read with
interest :

"The account of the year 1841 shows a considerable dimi-
nution in the number o crimes compared with the four pre-
ceding years. This decreasing movement has continued
during the year 1842. In 1840, the number of defended
causes tried by the Courts of Assize was 6,004 ; in 1841,
5,528 ; and in 1842, 5,104, showing a reduction of 900, or
nearly a sixth part during the two years. Another progress
not less remarkable•is that, in 1841, the decrease only bore
on attempts against property, the number of crimes against
the person having on the contrary increased. But in 1842
both crimes had decreased in nearly equal proportions. A
third result still more striking is, that the number of pri-
soners comprised in the cases tried in 1842 was but 6,953,
being 509 less than in 1841, and 1,273 less than in 1840. It
will be necessary to go back to 1834 to find so small a num-
ber of persons accused of crimes. The cause of this ameliora-
tion is the power given to the jury, by the law of 1832, to
find extenuating circumstances. Whatever may be the
particular instances of abuse which arise from this system, its
salutary effects must be admitted to be incontestible. It is
this tempering of the law which quiets the consciences of
the jury, at a time when everything is decided and regulated
by a middle course. It is a support given by the law to the
mildness of our manners, to that sentiment of humanity
which inspires us with a feeling of invincible horror for irre-
parable rigours, and tends more and more to substitute tem-
porary inflictions for capital or perpetual punishments.
Thanks to this expedient, justice is less rigorous and less
pitiless, but at the same time more sure and more firm."

THE BOURSE-WEDNESDAY, JULY 31.

According to accounts from Madrid of the 25th
ultimo, an alarming commotion took place in the
capital on the previous night, but the cause of it is
not explained. The whole garrison were suddenly
summoned to arms. The Puerto del Sol and Post-
office were occupied by regiments of cavalry and
infantry, and patrols and picquets watched every part
of the capital, through the streets of which the
authorities, civil and military, had been seen hasten-
ing with great anxiety. Some reports state that all
this display was in consequence of a communication
from NARVAEZ, that a republican plot was about to
break out—a very probable occurrence. Private
letters announce a probable change of Ministry, and
the downfal of the Dictator. One of them thus con-
cludes :—" Be assured that though we have had several
years of civil war, the revolution has not commenced."
The Bourse was closed on the 25th.

First Highest Lowest

Price. Price. Price. Price.
French Five perCznta.• l2l 50 121 60 .. 121 80 121 55
Four per Cents lO6 50 .. 106 50 .. 106 50 106 SO
Three per Cents... 81 85 •• 81 85 .. 81 80 .• 81 85
Bank of France.. ..... 3llO ..3115 .•3105 ..3105
Lafiitte Bank, 1,004. Sharesll2o • • 1120 —lll5 ..1115
B,ooof. BharessoBo —5OBO ..5075 ..5075
Belgian Bank ..• • • • • • 675 .. 675 • • 675 .. 675
Belgian Fives,lß3l
1840 •••••••• 1051 .. 105; .. 1051 .. 1051
1842 .• •••• 1081 108 g .. 1041 ..
Spanish Active 3Ol .. 301 .. 301 .. 301
Neapolitan.— ..... • • • 98 95 .. 98 95 • • 98 95 .. 98 95
Roman ....... ...... ..•• • . 103/ .. 103/ .. 1051 .. 103/

Dispatches and private letters have been received
from Otaheite at Paris, giving numerous details of
the disturbances there, and the expulsion of Mr.
PRITCHARD, the English Consul. The contents of the
dispatches had not transpired, but nearly all the let-
ters throw the blame on the English. The remarks
of the writers, however, and the conclusions to which
they come, must be received with caution. They
betray a strong feeling against this country, and
absurdly assert that our Government attaches great
importance to the occupation of the islands by the
French, and infer that underhand means are adopted
to deprive them of the protectorate. They throw the
entire blame on Mr. PRITCHARD, and assert that he
had formed a plan for a general insurrection against
the French. The following is an extract from one
of the letters, dated March 19th, and in the state-
ments which it contains most of the other writers