The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-08 00:00:00

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LONDON, MONDAY, JULY 8, 1844.

„ We are utterly at a loss to understand why these
Hong speeches are made in the House of Lords on the
Irish State Trials. It was known to Sir THOMAS
ILDEr and Mr. KELLY, and the other counsel for
Mr. O'CoNNELL and his friends, that the Judges
mast leave on a certain day, we believe:Wednesday,
Ito open the assizes at their 'respective circuits,,aud
that the house of Lords, represented by the Law
.Lords, amounting to half-a-dozen, or thereabouts,
'would not pronounce judgment but in presence of
the Judges, yet three days have already been spent in
-winded arguments, which might have been corn-
/pressed into half the compass. Every argument of im-
lportance, all the facts, all the points of law, all the
references to authorities, might have been adduced at
the:close of the sitting on Friday; the ATTORNST-
'GEEER) T. could have replied on Saturday, the Judges
could have given their opinion on Monday, and the
_Law Peers might have delivered their final judgment
.on Tuesday. Mr. O'CoNNELL would thtis have
-known his fate ; but, as it is, possibly he may not
,know it till the month of March, 1845, when
-all his colleagues shall have been set at
liberty, and he shall have only a month, or
%two months at most, to complete the period
60f-expiation for the great crime of making an attempt
tfefree his country from slavery. We make no allu-
rstion to the repeal gnestion. We have ever been hos-
tile to' it, because it is impossible without a civil war,
And that all along Mr. O:CONN ELL has repudiated in
ifshe strongest language that he could use, and his uni-
form policy hitherto • has proved that his deeds are, in
Peifect accordance with his words. There never was
?such a preposterous mode of conducting a great (pies-
frP' any . y in the administration of
justic;:oca,st*e-SZt),2-7rials have exhibited from the
kegihurnig:_ t0.t14-o...6e4ttime, for the end is not yet
- by punish, if the law
ilba.ws an appeal *Well stay end in a complete ac-
qukk.al? Why send Mr.' 010)NN ELL and his friends
to gaol while: the court of Appeal may pronounce

them innocent, and at the same time declare that
they have been illegally imprisoned ? But, above
all, why do his counsel waste time in long
speeches while the very object which they pro-
fess to have in view nay be defeated by the
multitude of words ? The counsel for the traversers,
taking this day into the account, have now had four
days; they were warned that the time was limited.
If the ATTORNEY-GENERAL chooses to occupy two
days more they cannot complain; and thus the
great object for which they receive fees—
large fees, too —will be defeated, and the
whole scene will exhibit only a flourish of words.
Does Sir T. 'Mum or Mr. KELLY not know that
the Law Peers and the Judges have watched with
intense interest the whole procedings in the Queen's
Bench in Dublin, that they were masters of the case
before it came before them, and that if the counsel
were to speak for ten years, they could not make
a stronger impression than they could in ten hours ?
Many parts of these• harangues, and one entire
speech, in particular, were not listened to
at all—they were regarded as mere verba irrita ;
and thus the most valuable time—the time, if pro-
perly employed, which might have saved Mr.
O'CONNELL—has been wasted in pure legal display.
The whole affair is involved in mystery, and should
it end by an adjournment, it will appear to English-
men, and to foreigners too, as the most perfect bur-
lesque of justice, and afford to Mr. O'CONNELL a
better argument than any he has yet found for a
total reform in the institutions of his country.

An extraordinary case was heard on Saturday at
the Bow-street police-office, on which it may be worth
while to make a few comments. The facts of the
case are these :—On the day just mentioned, a young
man, afterwards ascertained to be the brother cf
Lord AUDLET, entered the shop of Mr. SMITH, gun-
maker, of High Holborn, who keeps a shooting-gal-
lery there, and inquired whether he could have a shot
or two with pistols. The reply being in the affirma-
tive, the prisoner took the loaded pistols which were
handed to him, and fired them at the target, observing,
nis he did so, that the trigger of the second pulled rather
hard. Upon this Mr. SMITH handed him a third pis-
tol, and while he was preparing to load another, the
young man turned the muzzle of the one which he
held in his hand towards that gentleman, and fired,
wounding him severely, if not fatally, in the back.
Having perpetrated the deed, he evinced not the
slightest anxiety to make his escape, " but stood still
and smiled"—says the report ; and when taken to
Bow-street, and asked by the magistrate why he had
committed such an atrocity, he replied with infinite
sang froid, " I have no explanation to give, except
that I had no ill-feeling towards the man, but I did
it on purpose, as I wish to be hanged." Throughout
the examination he conducted himself, it appears,
in the most cool and quiet manner possible, ansls er-
ing every question put to him just as if he
were perfectly contented with the predicament
in which he was placed. From an account
in the Post of this morning, it seems that the
prisoner had for some weeks resided with.his brother,
Lord Aurmr, in Weymouth-street; but that nothing
had occurred to lead his Lordship to believe that his
mind was affected until within the last few days,
when his manner, which was invariably reserved,
became more so, to such an extent indeed, that it was
exceedingly difficult to obtain an answer to any
question put to him. "On Saturday morning," adds

our Contemporary's report, " the prisoner received a
letter, which added to the gloom under which he
previously appeared to labour, and for a considerable
period he became quite abstracted. At eleven
o'clock he left home to take a walk, having
then rallied a little," and was permitted to
pursue his walk alone ; and it was during this
stroll that he perpetrated the act for which he is now
committed to Clerkenwell gaol. "It is said," ob-

serves the Post, " that letters written by the young _ _ _

man evince decided proofs of aberration of mind, but
the members of his family had hoped it was but a
temporary affliction, which had long since passed

away." Under these circumstances, we cannot but
think that the prisoner's family, and more especially

Lord A ULILEY, have acted with exceeding indiscretion
—to use the most lenient term—in keeping so negli
gent a watch on his proceedings, and allowing him such
unrestrained liberty of action, when it must have been
evident to them that he was by no means in a fil

state to be trusted out alone. Entertaining
as they appear to have done, strong doubts of hi:
sanity, it was their duty to have taken the requisite
precautionary steps without an instant's loss of time,
and nit have left him entirely at large, in the hope
that some amendment might shortly take place in the
state of his mind. They owed this duty not less tc
themselves and to the prisoner, than to the public
and their neglect of this evident duty has led to an
act which may possibly result in the death of an inno
cent individual, in no way whatsoever connected witl
any of the parties. The catastrophe that has befallen
Mr. SMITH might have befallen any other gentleman ;
it might have occurred at the West-end or the East-
end; the victim might, or might not, have been a mai
of rank and celebrity ; for who shall say when, or
where, or against whom a lunatic's blow may be
struck, when he is permitted to walk the street:
without the slightest watch being kept on his move-
ments ? Whenever any individual exhibits symptom:
of mental hallucination such as Mr. TUCUET seem;
to have exhibited for some time previously to hi:
deadly attack on Mr. SMITH, it becomes the obviou'
bounden duty of the members of his family, or hi:
guardians, instantly to keep a wary eye on his ever)
motion, and, above all, to take care that he is no;
allowed to roam the streets, except under their own
personal charge, or the charge of some one whom they
may commission to look after him. A sense of public
duty, to say nothing of other considerations, demand:
that this should be the case. From the neglect of
such timely precautions, her MAJESTI'S life was
twice attempted in public, and Mr. DRUMMOND

fell a sacrifice to a maniac's blow aimed at Sii
ROBERT PEEL. By the bye, the LORD CHANCELLOR
mentioned some time ago that he intended to bring
in a Bill on the subject of Monomania or Insanity.
What has become of this Bill ? We hope it is not to
be postponed, like many other Ministerial Bills, ad
Grams Calendas, for incidents are of frequent oc-
currence which show how much it is wanted.

The vacancy created in the Parliamentary repre-
sentation of Birmingham by the death of the late Mr.
SCHOLEFIBLD, has already called three competitors
for this important seat into the field. We have so
recently offered our tribute of respect for the unsul-
lied private character of the deceased Member, and
of high regard for the consistent integrity of his
public life and political opinions, that we are not
called upon on this occasion to preface the few re-
marks we have to offer on the choice of can-
didates by any eulogy, however well deserved,
on the merits of the gentleman whose honourable po-
sition in the House of Commons it is their common
desire to occupy. By the Birmingham Journal of
Saturday last, we perceive that Mr. JOSEPH STURGE
President of the Complete Suffrage Association, Mr.
H. SPOOIISR, a connection of the eminent banking
house of Armor. and Co., and Mr. W. SCHOLE-
FIELD, son of the late Member, are each of them pre-
sented to the constituency of Birmingham by his
respective friends, as peculiarly, if not exclusively,
qualified to solicit the honour of their support.

It is well observed by the Morning Chronicle that
" the Liberals can defeat the Conservatives in no
election contest unless united." To run the pre-
tensions, then, of one Liberal candidate against
those of another, would be a manifest element and
indication of disunion in the ranks of that party
with which the town of Birmingham has so signally
and so successfully identified itself. We should be
inclined to hold that even the vindication of some great
abstract principle in the political creed of that party
would be dearly purchased just now, by a practical
demonstration of divided counsels and conflicting pre-
tensions among its members. This demonstration would
be assuredly exhibited by such an internecine election-
eering contest as Birmingham must become the theatre
of, if there is to be war, not only on the part of the
Liberals against the attempts of Mr. SPOONER, a Tory
candidate, but also by one of their own men against
the other. Whether in such an unseemly contest, the
event of which can return but one competitor, Mr.
JOSEPH STURGE should triumph over Mr. IVILLIAM
SCHOLEFIELD7 or Mr. WILLIAM ►SCHOLEFIELD over
Mr. JOSEPH STURGE ; the result would be a Pyrrhus-
like victory, the repetition of which would be
tantamount to a fatal defeat of the great
cause, which both antagonists are solemnly

pledged to uphold. But since the probabilities are
much greater, that for that cause to enter two com-
petitors of its own party in a race against one com-
petitor representing its opponent, would be to make
the latter the favourite and the winner, the policy of
the Liberals withdrawing one of their nominees seems
,to us clear and indisputable. This brings us home to
the preliminary question of pretensions. It is an in-
vidious, but an indispensable duty, to look these fully
and fairly in the face.
Mr. WILLIAM SCHOLEFIELD (whose address to
the electors of Birmingham we have perused with
great pleasure, from the manly and succinct sim-
plicity of its expositions) has been called on by a
large and influential body of his townsmen to become
a candidate for the responsible trust so ably and
honourably discharged by his respected father. He
is stated to possess great capacity, extensive commer-
cial experience, and to have highly improved his oppor-
tunities of acquiring an accurate knowledge of those
enlightened principles, on which the system of our
general trade should be established ; and of all matters
immediately connected with the local and municipal
interests of his native town. He has responded to
the call made upon him in a manner fully to justify
the favourable views predicated of his qualifications
for a post to which he brings the hereditary prestige
of his late father's tried services and known convic-
tions. 'We cannot imagine a better title to the confi-
dence of the constituency, or more reasonable grounds
for their extending it to him, than have been submitted
on the part of Mr. WILLIAM SCIIOLEFIELD.

Mr. JOSEPIt STURGE has been the consistent
advocate, undoubtedly, of very important principles,
in relation to a re-organization of the scheme on
which the elective suffrage is at present limited to
certain classes of the community, the vast majority of
which possess it in right of their contributing'indi-
vidually, in some proportion, to the expenses of the
State, as inferred from their paying, at least,
a given amount of annual rent, or a rental
to any excess above that amount. This may
be called an organic electoral or franchise
question, on which serious differences of opinion
prevail, both within the town of Birmingham
and in most other parts of the empire. Mr. STURGE'S
claims, if not rested upon, would be mainly referred
to, his advocacy of the " complete suffrage" plan : and
this being a vexata questio, even among the town con-
stituency themselves—and still more between the
constituency and those townsmen who are not
on the register at all, it is evident there
would he a most serious division of opinion
in the Liberal camp as to which of the two banners
the voters would range themselves under, The com-
mon standard of Liberal opinions, the advance of
which alone it is at this time all-essential to secure,
would be either deserted or left in jeopardy by the in-
terest attaching to the conflicting colours of two com-
petitors, at a time when union only can enable the
Liberal cause to make successful head against
the Conservative forces. Mr. STURGE we are persuaded,
is too disinterested and consistent an advocate of the
liberal views he has always espoused to consent to
put to hazard, in this struggle, in detail as it were,
the general fortunes of a campaign to the ultimate
success of which the aspect of affairs is becoming,
though slowly, yet visibly, more favourable.

On the Conservative side Mr. RICHARD SPOONER
is a formidable opponent. It is of no use for the Li-
berals of Birmingham to shut their eyes to this fact.
His private character and commercial reputation stand
justly high among people of all parties; and for our own
parts, did we not feel the paramount necessity of
securing a clear triumph to the Liberal party on this
momentous occasion—a triumph to which no means
are so calculated to contribute as an united rally
of their forces round Mr. WlLLiartt SCHOLEELELD ;
we might have desired to see Mr. SPOONER returned,
from our respect for his clear and masterly de-
tection of the fallacies, the wickedness, and the
fatal tendencies of Sir ROBERT REEL'S currency mea-
sures, and monetary blunders, as supplied in the
evidence this gentleman has publicly given on those
subjects. But our conviction is, that it is requisite
for the character and influence of Birmingham, and
the successful march of that great cause of improved,
liberal, and enlightened institutions with which she
is so r.obly identified to all posterity, that she should,
of the present candidates for her reputation, return
with honour the son of her deceased, upright, and
faithful servant.

Intelligence from Lisbon, to the 2d inst., has been
received. It is of the same gloomy character. Thr
estimates for the year had been published, showing a
deficit of 232 contos ; and, from a financial exposition
which accompanies them, it appears the Government
are compelled to resort to a loan of 4,000 contos to
provide for pressing payments. This loan is to be
redeemed within twenty-three years, and the interest
is to be 5 per cent. A general disposition prevailed
against the payment of taxes, as they could not be
legally collected without a decree of the Cortes.

The Madrid journals, especially those under the in-
fluence of Government, still abound with rumours of
conspiracies, which are said to be in active pre-
paration at Sarragossa, Barcelona, and the capital.
ft is suspected, however, that reports are raised for
political purposes, with a view of terrifying the
timid, and strengthening the supporters of the Go-
vernment in case of a general election, or some fresh
inroad upon the Constitution.
It was generally believed at Barcelona that the
Ministers had resolved to dissolve the Cortes forth
with. The Madrid Gazette of the 30th ult. con-
tains a royal decree, dated Barcelona, June 26, an-
nouncing that the claims aaising from contracts for
advancing money to the Government shall be con-
verted into tithes of the consolidated public debts in
Three per Cents., at the rate of 35 per cent., or at
1,000 reals of nominal value for every 350 reals that
the Treasury shall have received on the said claim.
The interest granted upon some of the said claims
shall be reckoned to the present month of June,
and that interest shall be added to their respective
capitals.

With the exception of the speech made by M.

GUIZOT, in the Chamber of Deputies on Friday, re-
lative to the disputes between France and Morocco,
the intelligence in the Paris papers possesses very

tittle interest. Previous to the arrival of the Minister
ror Foreign Affairs, M. MAUGUIN put some questions

to Marshal SOULT, relative to the late occurrences on
the Morocco frontier, the line of policy which the
Government intended to pursue, and at the same
time warned them against trusting to the mediation
of England, which supported the pretensions both of
ABD-BL-KADER and the Emperor of Morocco. M.
SOULT replied in very general terms, announcing that
France did not require the mediation of England.
On M. GUIZOT taking his seat, the Marquis DE LA-
ROCIIEJACQUELIN referred 4to the statements of Sir
ROBERT PEEL and Lord Jona RUSSELL relative to
Morocco, and asked for some explanations on a sub-
ject so intimately connected with the honour and in-
terests of France. The answers of M. Guizor were
very satisfactory; and as they explain the intentions
of the French Government, both towards the Empe-
ror of Moaocco and ADD..EL-KADER, we subjoin
here the main points of his speech :--
"There was nothing in the conduct or intentions of the
Government that he was not quite ready to explain. No
national cause of war existed between France and Morocco.
A stranger—Abd-el-Bader—had come and thrown himself
between the two countries, and, when driven from the ter-
ritory of Algeria, bad established himself on the frontiers of
Morocco, where he recruited his adherents from the popula-
tion of that country, persuading them by his influence to
take part with him. As soon as this fact was apparent,
France had demanded the expulsion of Abd-el-Kader ; but
the Emperor had been resisted in his endeavours by national
and religious fanaticism, and be found himself unable to give
France satisfaction. A new circumstance presented itself—
Abd- el-Kader raised a question of territory, and it was as-
serted that the French territory ought to extend only to the
Tafna. This was evidently an error; for, from time imme-
morial, the territory between the Tafna and the frontier of
Morocco had formed pare of Algeria. This was so true, that
all the maps placed there the
,position of the camps of the
Turks, when they came to levy their tribute. In consequence,
the Government had maintained the right ofFrance. Another
fact then took place—under the influence of Abd-el-Kader, an
invasion of his partisans and of the Morocco people took place
into the French territory. This temerity was energetically
repressed by the French Generals, and this repression afforded
them an opportunity to give evident proofs of prudence and
moderation. The lesson was as severe as merited, but Ge-
neral Lamoriciere and General Bedeau not wishing, without
the intervention of the Government, to engage France in a
war with Morocco, stopped on the limits of that country.
The invasion having been repeated, Marshal Bugeaud had
thought it adviseable to enter the Morocco territory, and had
dispersed Abd-el-Kader's partisans, and seized on Ouchda.
In this conjuncture, he gave the same proof of wisdom as the
other generals had exhibited antecedently, and had with-
drawn after two days' occupation. The King's Government
had no design on Morocco—it had not any intention of en-
larging their territory in Africa, being well convinced that
the territory of Algeria was sufficient. The Chamber might
remember that he was one of those who regarded the con-
quest and occupation of Algeria its an immense circumstance