The Sun.
London, England, 1842-12-02 00:00:00

fittontiVitittion

SUN OFFICE Three o'clock.

_We have described the system of summary
punishment and prison discipline, as one of slow
torture, and we are glad to see that description
fully confirmed by the observations of a Contempo-
rary. A writer in the Times yesterday stated :
In the year 1840, the total number of persons
sentenced by Courts of Justice to be whipped in
England and Wales, was 1,049, and to be placed in
solitary confinement, was 3,370. In the same year
the total number of punishments for offences within
the prison, and, therefore, inflicted almost at the dis-
cretion of the gaoler was :
Whipping
Handcuffs and irons
Stoppage of diet
Solitary cells . 11,139
Dark cells
Other punishments ..... 3,935

Here we have 'a total of 75,170 punishments,
arbitrarily inflicted on the gaol population
by the officers of the gaols. The public are
never called in to witness the infliction, or to see
justice done. All that mass of torture takes
place in secret; the prison walls shrouding it
in darkness, and taking away all possibility of
redress. Now, when it is remembered that
many of these additional punishments fiall on
persons who are summarily convicted, that they
are in the first instance sentenced without a
verdict of Guilty being pronounced by a Jury—
' that they are afterwards liable to these inflictions
at the good pleasure of the gaoler or the Visiting
Magistrates, no very gentle personages, it will
at once be seen that the lower classes in Eng-
land are exposed to a great system of arbitrary
and cruel punishments which constitute a ter-
rible torture. That odious practice, after we have
plumed ourselves for centuries that it is extinct
in England, still prevails in our gaols and still
gives to our lower classes that characteristic of
hard brutality of which civilization and the in-
crease of the people, the source of civilization,
cannot deprive them.

But then it is said there must be some punish-
ment for crimes. It remains, however, to be
proved that many of the actions punished are in
any other sense crimes than that it has pleased
the Legislature to ordain punishment for them.
For example, all the offences connected with the
Game-laws are not naturally crimes; they are
made so by the legislator, and he is justly
chargeable with all those crimes, and all the
cruel punishments he ordains on account of them.
In like manner numberless venial transgressions
of moral duty, such as drunkenness, neglecting
to provide for a family, are not crimes to be pu-
nished like theft or murder. The same remark
will apply to trespasses on land, and many of
the minor violations of the right of property,
which are things to be reprehended—checked, if
you will, by public censure, but they ought not
to be classed as crimes, and ought not to subject
the offender to torture in a gaol.

We will not go through the long catalogue of
actions for which it has pleased the legislator to
ordain punishment; enough has been said to
show that he very frequently transmutes inno-
cent actions, or actions to be only slightly repre-
hended, into grave offences, and he is the true
author of these crimes. Of course he is the
author of all the cruelty which is employed in
the vain attempt to repress them. We know
that in matters of trade he has been much too
busy, and we see reason to suspect, in matters of
criminal jurisprudence, that he has done a
great deal more than he ought, and inflicted, by
bad criminal laws, almost as much injury on
public morals, as by bad trade laws he has
caused to national wealth.

The Convocation of the Scotch clergy at Edin-
burgh has led to one important result. Vague
threats had from time to time been made, that if
the Veto Act was not recognised by Par-
liament, a vast number of the clergy would
secede from the Church, and, shaking off the
dust of their feet against the Erastians,
trust to the people for support. This threat
is now put in a distinct form. Three hundred
and fifty-four have solemnly declared that they
cannot in conscience submit to what they term the
unconstitutional decisions of the Supreme Civil
Courts, and in particular the decision of the Lord
Ordinary, in the case of the deposition of the mi-
nistersofStrathbogie, and thatif no measure, such
as they have declared indispensable, be granted,
it is the determination of the brethren assembled
at Edinburgh, "to tender the resignation of
those civil advantages which they can no longer
hold in consistency with the free and full exer-
cise of their spiritual functions, and to cast them-
selves on such provision as GOD in Hisprovidence
may afford." Now, the measure which they have
declared indispensable, is a law ratifying the Act
of Assembly, called the " Veto Act," and em-
powering them to depose all clergymen who
conscientiously differ from them on that head.
Betore this modest request can be complied
with, a radical change must take place in the
two Houses of Parliament. The Bishops must
be expelled from the House of Lords; all the
patrons of English livings, and most of the
patrons of Scotch livings, must follow in their train,
and a majority of the House of Commons must
profess theldoctrines of Non-Intrusion. Can any
rational being expect such a result in the present
day? And knowing, as these clergymen do, the
inexpressible indignation which not only the
political party in power, but many also of
their old staunch friends the Whigs, felt
on reading the cold-blooded sentences
passed on so many venerable clergymen,
do they imagine for one moment that the Legis-
lature will confer on them more power to do evil?
They know pretty well the sentiments of Sir
ROBERT PEEL and Sir JAMES GRAHAM; they
know that the Bishop of LONDON, who represents
his order, distinctly stated in writing, to Sir G.
SINCLAIR, that such a measure never could be
carried in the House ofLords, and that the secession
of a large body of the clergy was infinitely
preferable, and that no earthly consideration
could induce the QuEEN's advisers to sanction an
Act which would expose five hundred clergymen
to the tender mercies of the Non-Intrusionists.
After the solemn declaration, therefore, made at a
Convocation constituted and concluded by prayer,
no alternative is left but secession, and they must
make up their minds to this painful result. It
will be a heavy blow and a great discourage-
ment to one section of the Kirk, and be pro-
ductive of some evil ; but any change will be
better than the present system, which is injurious
to religion, keeps up constant animosity in the
Church, and subjects hundreds of excellent mi-
nisters to unmerited punishment.

The accounts from Spain leave little doubt tha

the rash and wicked insurrection at Barcelona
would speedily be put down. ESPARTERO was
rapidly approaching the city with an army of
15,000 men, which, with that under General VAN
HALEN, would amount to about 30,000 troops—.a
force to which the insurgents could oppose no
adequate resistance. The port of Barcelona and
the river Belos was declared in a state of
blockade by a decree of the REGENT, issued at
Saragossa on the 26th. The insurgents were dis-
posed to yield, and would probably give up the
ringleaders as some atonement for the slaughter
of so many soldiers. No place of the slightest
importance in Catalonia, or indeed in any part of
Spain, appears to sympathise with the people of
Barcelona, and the affair altogether may be pro-
nounced the most hopeless attempt at revolution
ever made even in Spain. The following is an extract
from a telegraphic dispatch which appeared in
the Paris Moniteur of Wednesday.—

"BARCELONA Nov. 26.—Llinas, having lost the
confidence of the people, has been superseded in the
command of the armed force. He hag taken refuge
on board the Meleagre. Brigadier Durando, a Pied-
montese officer of merit, has assumed the command.

" The Captain-General Pedro Chacon returned to
Valencia on.that day.

" Brigadier Durando, who has taken the command
of the Barcelonese insurgents is," says these papers,
" a brave Piedmontese officer, who fought under the
orders of his countryman, General Borso di Carminati.
The latter was shot last year at Saragossa, for parti-
cipation in the Christino conspiracy of October, 1841."
The Emancipation de Toulouse of the 27th announces
the arrival of the Gemappe ship of the line and
several French steamers at Barcelona.

Accounts from Madrid state that tranquillity
prevailed.
The Three per Cents. were done on the 23d at
21i, at 60 days ; the Four per Cents. at 191, with
4 coupons; and the Five per Cents. at 26k 9-16
5-16 I at 60 days.

The Government of LOUIS PHILIPPE has
gained a great triumph by the election of
General JACQUEMINOT as Deputy for the first
arrondissement of Paris. The contest was de-
cided on Wednesday, when the Ministerial
candidate had a majority of 147 over his oppo-
nent, the numbers being 842 for the General,
and 695 for M. PORTALIS. This district is con-
sidered very liberal, and possibly would have
preferred a candidate more opposed to the
politics of the Government; but Court interest,
and the patronage possessed by the Commandant
of the National Guards, prevailed.
Official dispatches appear in the Moniteur,
addressed to Marshal SOULT by the Governor-
General of Algeria, in which General BUGEAUD
gives an account of a successful razzia on the
29th ult., by Lieutenant-Colonel ST. AnrtAun,
on the tribes which support SIDI-EMBARREK,
and states that the enemy was driven into the
desert. LAMORICIERE'S column had been sent
in pursuit of ABD-EL-KADER, who for the twen-
tieth time was said to be abandoned by his fol-
lowers, but unfortunately the enterprising Chief
again made his escape.

BOURSE—PARIS, WPDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30.
First Highest Lowest Last
Price. Price. Price. Price.
French Five per Cents. 119 10... 119 15... 119 5... 119 5
Four per Cents 101 50... 101 50 .. 101 50... 101 50
3 per Cents 89 50... 80 50... 80 35... 80 35
Bank of France 3305 —.3305 —.3305 .. 3205
Laffitte Bank 5,000 f 50:.i2 50...5082 50...5080 ..5080
Belgian Bank
Belgian Fives.
1840 lO4l, ... 104 ... 104 i ... 104 i
Spanish Active. . 23* ... 23* ... 2 I ... 23*
Neapolitan... lOB 60... 108 80... 108 60... 108 80

Roman,
RAILWAY SHARES,

St. Germain' B3O ... 830 ... 830 ... 830
Versailles, L.B B7 50... 87 50... 86 25... 86 25
Rouen
Orleans. 5BB 75... 560 588 75... 595
Strasburg to Bale 2Ol 50... 201 25... 201 25... 201 25

THE POST-OFFICE LONDON DIRECTORY FOR 1843.
—We have had frequent occasion to call public at-
tention to the comprehensive plan, and excellent ar-
rangements of this useful work, and in these respects
have little new to add. It is satisfactory, however,
to state, that Mr. Kelly, the proprietor, not ungrateful
for the extensive patronage it has justly acquired, has
adopted many new improvements, and by simplifying
some of itle details, and making numerous additions,
has this year rendered it the most complete Directory
ever published. Of these we select the following :
The full names of each partner in every firm appear
at his proper alphabetical position with a reference
to the firm, which likewise appears as before. This
will remady an inconvenience complained of, that
unless the leading partner's name was remembered,
a firm could not he referred to. A list of the prin-
&pal hotels, taverns, and commercial inns throughout
England and Wales has been compiled, the land-
lord's name being in each case added. In the
" Trades' Directory," some new lists have been added,
the longest of which is " Travellers," (Commercial).
The Street Directory has been much enlarged, and
now embraces a much wider extent. The Court
Directory also takes a much wider range than in the
last edition, and includes some thousands of names
not contained in any other book. The Proprietor,
from his access to official documents, and the assist-
ance liberally afforded by the Post-office authorities,
has great advantages, and consequently has been
enabled to furnish a vast amount of information, all
of which has been collected within the last seventy
days, by responsible agents, possessing local know-
ledge. It is accompanied by an excellent map of
London, by Wyld, it extends to 1,5.58 pages, 112
more than in the edition of last year, and forms
altogether a most valuable book of reference.
We have reason to believe that Lieut.-General Sir
Hugh Gough, G-.C.8., with the greater part of the
troons at nresent wilt
return to India ; and that the command-in-chief will
be entrusted to Major. General Lord Saltoun, G.C.H.,
C. 8., at least until the payment of the twenty-one
millions of dollars stipulated in the late treaty. The
force under his Lordship's orders will consist of a
brigade at Chusan, a small garrison at Amoy, and
two battalions (British), with artillery, at Hong-
Kong, where, it is expected that the head-quarters
will be established.—Post.

MONEY and COMMERCIAL NEWS.
CITY, QUARTER TO TIME E.
The Cotton Market at Liverpool yesterday was
rather brisker, 8,000 bales having been sold, of which
4,000 bales were on speculation : 400 bales Egyptian,
realised 61d. to 63d. ; 150 of Peruvian, 64d. ; 60 of
Bahia, 63d. to 63d.; 400 of Surat, 33d. to 4d.; and
the American sold at 4d. to 60. per lb. But little
was done in the Railway Shares, the markets being
dull except for Paris and Rouen, which were in
request. Grand Junction Half Shares were 914 ;
Great Western Halves, 621 ; Midland Counties Fifths,
'4; and Paris and Rouen, 25.
The notice which appeared at the Bank of Eng-
land yesterday afternoon, and adverted to in the
Morning Edition of The Sun, does not lower the rate
of interest, as stated by the Post and Herald. On the
Ist September last the Bank Directors gave notice
that the rate would be 33 per cent., which was a re-
duction on the previous charge of 3 per cent., but
there has certainly been no increased charge since
then. The demand for capital is decidedly increasing
in the City as trade improves, and we are happy to
state that there are unequivocal symptoms of revival
in various branches of trade ; some articles, such as
dyes, &c., having advanced yesterday 30 per cont. for
shipment to China. Articles likely to be received in
full supply from that quarter are of course lower, and
tea begins to decline.
A statement of the revenue of the province of
Canada for 1841 reached us by the last steamer, and
shows the total Customs to have been 214,4381.
Quebec paying 53,5051.; Montreal, 108,7501.; St.
John's, 23,273/. ; Kingston, 8,179/. ; and Toronto,
6,4031. The Excise duties were 22,5701., and the
payments by the American Land Company amounted
to 22,2221. The total net income was 297,9901.
The timber trade in Canada .is evidently improv-
ing, after all the outcry against the abolition of pro-
tective duties. The following communication from
Aylmer, in the Ottawa district, bears out our asser-
tion :—" We entertain very sanguine hopes that the
timber trade will revive, and the producer meet the
reward of his toil in the ensuing season. We under-
stand, in the confident expectation of this, large quan-
tities of timber will be made this winter, and the low
prices of provisions is greatly in favour of the
operative. All is life and bustle in the lumbering sec-
tions, already in active preparation, and as soon as
winter sets fairly in we trust to see, as heretofore,
strings of lumber sleighs wending their way to the
shanties with requisites for the hardy sons of the
forest. Bytonn and Aylmer then will revive; both
have been sadly suffering from the pressure of the
times."
The operations in Stocks will be restricted for the
next few weeks within a narrower circle, as the trans-
fer books are closed for Consols, &e. For money
there have been transfers at 941 to 94*, being a
shade higher than yesterday forenoon. For
the opening on the 17th of January, without the
dividend, the rates have been 933 to 931. Exchequer
Bills have realised 495. to 51s. premium,'' New Three-
and-a-Half per Cents. 1011 to 1014, and the Three
per Cent. Annuities 941 to 1. A purchase of 5,000/.
has been made in the last-mentioned at 941 for the
Savings Banks Commissioners. Bank of England
Stock remains at 1713 to 1723.
The news from Spain is looked upon as rather more
encouraging, and the Active Stock has touched 183,
while Three per Cents. were 23 to 234. Portuguese
Three per Cents. have been firm at 223. Mexican
Bonds have ruled steady at 303 to 303. Dutch Two-
and-a-Half per Cents. have been at 523 523.
The only business worth noticing in Shares is in
the South Eastern, at 26i- to 273; and in the Scrip
at 21 to 11 discount. Blackwall are 11, and Man-
chester and Leeds, 1 discount. Newcastle and Dar-
lino i
con Junction have been sold at premium.
London and Westminster Bank Shares are 2 prem.
MANCHESTER STOCK EXCHANGE, DEC. I.—We
have had a very flat market to-day, but prices con-
tinue firm. South Eastern Scrip, 18 to 183; Man-
chester and Birmingham, 20 to 20,3 ; Manchester and
Leeds, 69 to 70; Ditto Half Shares, 293 to 30;
Ditty, Quarter Shares, 43 to 41; Eastern Counties,
83 to 93; Ditto New, 103 to 11.

MLIETING OF PARLIAMENT.--It is now generally
supposed that the Legislature will not assemble for
the dispatch of business until the usual period, viz.,
the first week in February, but nothing certain can
be known on the subject until the next Privy Council.
Raupach, the popular German dramatist, and Tieck,
the poet, whose popularity may almost be said to have
been ratified by the verdict of posterity, have lately
been raised by the King of Prussia to the dignity of
Privy Councillors.