The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-09 00:00:00

SLAVERY IN THE FRENCH

COLONIES.

We informed our readers in a former number, •f
the frightful crime committed by a manager of an
establishment in Guadeloupe on some unfortunate
slaves. We now present the trial of this case, which
was adjudged in November last, by the Correctional
Police.

The Court being opened, the registrar read the de-
positions of the surgeons and the arrest of the chamber
of accusation • from which it appeared that Jean Laf-
franque, aged twenty-six years, born at Bagneres,
department of the Hautes Pyrenees, is accused—First
of having inhumanly treated the slave Dalphont, who
was afflicted with a serious disease—of having in-
flicted on him several blows with the whip, and
kicked him, only a few seconds, before his death :
Second of having tied the slaves Jacob and Six-
Ponces to a tree, and thus exposing them many hours
to a burning sun—of having then caused them to be
tied face to face, and, whilst in that position, forcing
them to swallow human excrement, flogging them,
and finally burning their posteriors with a hot iron—
offences punishable by the ancient ordinances, and by
articles 5 and 311 of the penal code.
After the reading of these documents, the Usher
introduced the witness Jacob. The substance of his
.evidence was as follows :

" MY first master resided at St. Martin, he brought
me to Pointe-a-Pitre, where I was sold to M. Boisau-
bin, and attached to the establishment under the
management of the accused. I was marrooning with
the negro Six-Pouces, employed in the same esta-
blishment, when we were arrested by M. Laffranque.
We were in the first instance bound together face to
face with cords, which were then fastened over our
heads to the branches of a tamarind tree, our feet
rested on the ground : in this position we remained
from eight in the morning until noon : M. Laffianque
then ordered them to bring a vessel containing the
iiccal matter, which he introduced into our mouths,
and with the nostle of a watering-pot, which served
him as a funnel, he poured water into our mouths to
force us to swallow it.

Were you ill ?—No, because I vomited immedi-
ately. After that, we were untied from the tree and
laid on the ground. M. Laffranque made Aurelie
heat a piece of iron which he applied to the skin ; my
posteriors and thighs were burnt; he did the same to
Six-Pouces.

Tell us what you know of Dalphont ? Dalphont
was ill, he had a swelled leg. M. Laffranque had
made many incisions, in order to Cure it. For some
time it improved ; but the disease returned when they
forced him to work. One day he fell into a rut, arel
NE. Laffranque caused him to be covered with earth.
Some days afterwards they desired him to draw the
carcass of a bullock, with the other negroes of the es-
tablishment (a large slaughter-house), he fell from ex-
haustion. M. Latfranque made the driver beat him,
and then beat him himself. He died under the blows.

It appeared from the written deposition of Aurelie,
that Jacob and Six-Pouces, being tied together in
the manner described, complained of being burnt by
the sun; that Laffranque said to them, " Ah ! ah
I will show you something immediately, I will burn
you directly with a hot iron :" that it was she
(Aurelie) who, by his orders, put the iron in the fire,
from which he withdrew it himself, in order to
make use of it; that, at the cries of the two unfortu-
nate men, he said, "this burns you so much the bet-
ter! What have you done with that which you have
stolen ?" During this operation, relates the witness,
Jacob and Six-Pouces rolled one over another, im-
ploring forgiveness. After this, Laffranque caused
them to be unbound, and, tying their hands and legs
together, he forced them to walk by beating them with
a supple jack ; these cruelties of Laffranque, and the
cords together, caused all the wounds of Six-Pouces
and Jacob. He made them eat excrement by means
of a funnel: he has employed the same means to
make her (Aurelie) eat it.

Aurelie further corroborated the evidence of the
other witnesses relative to Dalphont.
Suzanne, a slave from St. Martin, at present at-
tached to the establishment of M. Boisaubin, stated,
that, she was present during all that passed, and en-
tered into the most minute details. the day of the
death of Dilphont she saw Laffranque dance on his
body.

Charles, the overseer, corroborated the former
statements, as did also Benedictine, who further
added that Laffranque had made her son, a child six
years of age, eat excrement.

The Attorney-General, in an animated discourse,
summed up the evidence against the prisoner. He
laid particular stress on the statements respecting
Dalphont, and sought to establish the fact that Laf-
franque had forced to work and beaten a dying man.
lie finished by inquiring how it was that the crimes
against slaves are frequently of a character which are
unheard of against free people. It is, said he, that, in
the bieasts of some men, religious sentiment is
counted for nothing in the relations between master
and slave; they do not believe in their frater-
nity before God. When they exhaust on him
whom circumstances has placed in their hands,
all the contempt, all the outrages, all the tor-
tures which a devilish imagination can invent,
they do not blush with shame ; they do not experience
that compunction which rarely fails a man when he
is ahout to injure something made in his own image.
It is your sentence, Gentlemen, that will restore the
slave to his dignity as a man ; and if they still repu-
diate the dogma of his equality before God, they will,
at least, be forced to believe in his equality before the
law which protects him.
After the reply of the Advocate, the Court retired
into the Council-Chamber to deliberate, and, at the
close of an hour they returned with a sentence which
condemned Laffranque to one year's imprisonment !
Anti-Slavery Reporter.

PASSION AND PRINCIPLE ; A NOVEL, EDITED DT
Cam FREDERICK CIIAMIER.—This excellent and most
amusing novel so entirely differs, both in its general character
and in its varied details, from all the productions hitherto ac-
knowledged by its editor, Capt. Chamier, that although it is at
least equal in literarrtalent as well as in acquaintance with
life, and with the human heart, to any of that popular writer's
avowed works, no one will fall into the mistake of attributing
more than the editorship to him. The contrasted characters
of the two heroines of this novel—both almost equally gifted by
nature, but 'education and circumstance having left the one
wholly at the mercy of " Passion," while they have led the
other to regulate her conduct, and even her feelings, by " Prin-
ciple" alone, give at once a charm -and a moral value to this
work, which place it very far above the ordinary novels of
the slay.

AUSTRALIND.—The following is an extract from a
letter recently received from a young gentleman who accom-
panied the expedition to Australind, in Western Australia,
with the first body of settlers dispatched by the Western Aus-
tralian Company in 1840. It is written from the Vague Inlet,
where, as the writer states, he had been to acquaint himself
with that district ;6be had previously been to Perth for a simi-
lar purpose, and returned with the same preference for Le-
schenault :—" Vasse Inlet, Dec. 9, 1841.—You will see by
the upper line of this short epistle, that I am thirty miles south
of our settlement. I gave myself a holiday this week, and
rode my pony down here to see this district, with which I am
much pleased, but I most certainly prefer Leschenault to it.
The country is very fiat, and the vegetation down to the
beach. The wheat looks very well. I rode over the am of
Mr. Layman yesterday, with Mr. Chapman, with whom I am

•,'t• • so

at present. Mr. Layman has about twenty-five acres of whet t 1
lin this year. Travelling here is very difrerent to what it is la
England ; we do not look for inns, but make ourselves at home-
wherever we go, and are sure of a welcome. I stayed two dap
with the IBussels, and dine to-day with Captain and Mrs..
Molloy. He is in the Rifles, on half-pay, and holds the office'
of Government Resident for the Vasse. You must excuse the.
shortness of this letter, for I shall write you another soon in ,
answer to your own • but an American whaler, being home- S. 11
ward-bound, full (3,000 barrels of oil), and touching at St.
Helena, I thought it as well to send a feW lines. I shall return
to Lcschenault on Friday or Saturday. All's well in our set-
tlement. We expect to hear this week of the arrival of the
Don or Lucretia at Swan River. The water is very smooth
in Geographe Bay, but no shelter. The anchorage good..
Three whalers are in the bay, and we expect twenty or thirty
in a day or two. They will take all the potatoes they can ob-
tain, and the lowest price, 201. per ton." •
THE LIFE or ADMIRAL KEPPEL.—We are re-
quested to state that Mr. Colburn, of Great Marlborough-
street, has this day published " The Life of Admiral Viscount
Keppel, First Lord of the Admiralty in, 1782-3," by the Hon.
and Rev. Thomas Keppel, in 2 vols., Bvo., with portrait, which
can now be had of all booksellers. Mr. Colburn has also
nearly ready " The Journal of a Tour to Constantinople, by
the Danube, in 1840-41," by C. W. Vane, Marquis of London-
derry, G.C.8., &c. ; to which is annexed the author's cor-
respondence with Prince Metternich. Lords Pensonby, Pal-
merston, &c., in 2 vols., Bvo., with illustrations ; and " Tra-
vels in Kashniere, the Himalaya of the Punjaub, including the
Mountain Course of the Indus, through the Valleys of Great ,
and Little Thibet or Iskardo," by G. T. Vigne, Esq., 2 vols.,
Bva., with numerous illustrations. -
" Jactir BLAYLocK."—Poor Jacky Blaylock is
dead ! For more than fifty years no election has taken place in
Carlisle, without bringing Jacky prominently on the stage ;
nor is there an old inhabitant of the merry city but can repeat
some of Jacky's odd sayings, and recount some of his prac-
tical jokes. He was a " freeman" by birth, a brick-layer and
" slap-dasher" by profession, and a droll and humourist to the
last. When the old Corporation became too saintly to pa-
tronize the King-moor sports on " Hollow Thursday," Jacky
Blaylock assumed the office of mayor .for the day, and for
many years enacted the " Lord of Misrule," with most " ex-
cellent fooling." tie completed his 710 year on Sunday last,
and died on Ascension Day, the anniversary of all his glories !
His latter days were passed in great poverty ; but to the last
he refused all parochial assistance, lest he should be deprived of
his vote at the next election ! Carisle Journal.
Mr. Buckland, it appears, is the solicitor employed
to get up the evidence in Good's defence, and frequently 'lei t
him in his cell. A sum of 20/. has been received by him for
carrying on the defence, and it is supposed the money has been
supplied by the Sheriffs. Good still continues to be very com-
municative with the turnkeys, two of whom are constantly
with him. This renders their duty very laborious, since there
are but fourteen employed, including the principal turnkey. On
Friday last, when Good was informed there bad been another
murder committed, he replied, " God bless me, it will make
weir work very hard ; you must certainly have more hands.
No person but his legal adviser, and those persons connected
with the gaol, are allowed to have any communication with
him. Molly Good has become very silent during these last few
days. Observer.
DARING ROMIERT.—About eight o'clock Thursday
evening a man, shabbily dressed, made his appearance at the
front kitchen window of the house of Mr. Edward Simpson,
in West-square Lambeth, for the purpose, as it seemed, of so-
liciting charity. The man's wretched appearance inducing the
servant to go to the pantry for the purpose of supplying him
with some food, he took advantage of her absence by abstract-
ing a quantity of plate that had been left .on the dresser with
the dinner service, and contrived to get clear off with his booty.
A letter from Stuttgardt, 21st ult., states—" Within
the last fortnight our capital has been the rendezvous of a
great number of persons of high rank, curious in fire-arms
—not only Germans, but foreigners, particularly English.
The cause of this influx of company is the sale of the late
Duke Henri de Wirtemberg's valuable collection of Runs and
pistols. In it is feund a complete series of the various sorts
that have existed since 1650 to the present day, from the
workshops of the most celebrated makers in all the countries in
Europe. There are also several articles which present an his-
torical interest from having belonged to celebrated personages,
such as Louis XIV., Charles XII., Turenne, the Duke d'Albe,
Prince Eugene (de Savoie), Napoleon, &c. Other objects are
remarkable by curious carvings, and incrustations of gold, silver,
ivory, and mother of pearl, and by their ornaments in precious
stones. The whole collection is valued at 400,000 florins (a
million of francs).
THE COLONIAL DUTIES AND THE COTTON-TAX.
We are glad to find that an effort has been made in this town
to call the attention of Government to the injurious operation
of the cotton-tax upon certain descriptions of our manufactures,
end more particularly to point out the incompatibility of the
proposed colonial duties with the continuance of this most im-
politic duty. Taking into account the' proximity of the
United States to our North American and West Indian ado-
riles, and the d•sadvantage to which the British manufacturers
are subjected by the the tax. the discriminating duty of
seven per cent. on American cottons hardly seems sufficient
to -enable our manufacturers to sustain a competition in do-
mestici, and all those cheap and heavy fabrics, in which the
Americans peculiarly excel. The proper remedy, however, is
not to increase the colonial duties, but to remove the cotton-
tax.—Manchester Guardian.

SCOTT AT FAULT ON A " NOV EL" QUESTION !
Walter Scott was at London when the gas light was first
spoken of. On his return to Edinburgh, being in com-
pany with some very intelligent gentlemen, members of
the legal and other learned professions he told them of
the novelty of pretending to light London with coal
smoke. He, and the intelligent company, broke out into
a hearty laughter at this piece of novelty. " Gentlemen,"
Walter Scott observed, " I must confess such fools as this man
with his coal-smoke light, are worse then other fools—they are
the most stubborn fools, and cannot be dipsuaded in any manner
from their monomania." Some twenty years thereafter,
Walter Scott was appointed Director of the °Edinburgh Gas
Light Company !
A WOMAN KILLED BY A Cow.--An inquest was
held on Tuesday before P. F. Curry, Esq., Coroner, to in-
quire touching the etre =stances which led to the death of
Charlotte Robinson. The deceased was the wife of Henry
Robinson, a landing waiter, belonging to the Customs
of this port, and residing at Salisbury-terrace, Old Swan.
She was 65'years old. Her death was occasioned by an attack
from a cow, which rushed upon her as she was passing along
London-road, on Saturday afternoon last. The cow tossed
her in the air, and caused concussion of the brain,
wherelf she died on Sunday evening. The deceased, it ap-
peared from the evidence, was a short distance in advance of
the cow, which rushed forward, put down its head, and threw
her tip. She fell head foremost on the foot-walk. The cow
did not appear to be a wild one. The height from which she
fell was six or seven feet. The man who drove the cow did
not appear to be blameable. The jrity found a verdict ac-
cordant with the evidence ; that the deceased had, by misfor-
tune, been tossed by a cow, which caused a mortal concussion
of the brain, of which she died.— Liverpool Chronicle.
The Constitutionne4 in a Tanjiers letter of the
13th ult., has the subjoined singular account of the treatment
received by the American Consul-General from the Emperor
of Morocco :—" An affair has occurred 'here, which, although
not very important in itself, may lead to serious results. The
Consul-General of the United States, having been recalled by
his Government, made public preparatihns for his departure ;
but, just as he was going to embark, the Governor informed
him that he could not be allowed to leave without permission
from the Emperor. This having been obtained, Mr. Carr
engaged a passage in a steamer for Gibraltar, but was again
detained, and, on attempting to go on board, was violently
laid hold of by a soldier. Mr. Carr, indignant at this con-
duct, would have forced his way, armed with a sword-cane ;
but the Consuls who accompanied him interposed, and he was
induced to yield. The Consuls then met in deliberation, and it
was resolved that he should lay his complaint before the Em-
peror, and demand the dismissal of the under-governor, and the
putishment of the soldier who had laid hands upon him. The
Emperor replied—' My servants did their duty, for you know
that no Consul can leave the country without my order, ant
this I had forgotten to give them. I give it now, and you may
leave, carrying with you all the good and evil you have re-
ceived.' The American Consul communicated this to the e ther
Consuls, declaring that he would strike his flag, and not hoist
it again until full reparation should have been offered to his
Government. The American flag was immediately rem red
from the Consulate, according to his announcement. On the
7th, Mr. Carr embarked without meeting with any further
obstacle ; he was accompanied to the vessel by all the other
Consuls."

TRADE,, ON THE INDUS.—The navigation of the
Sutjedge and the Indus appears to have increased in an extra-
ordinary proportion within the last few years. A statement
prepared, and which has been published in the Bimthay Times,
gives the number of boats which traversed the rivers from Loo-
(liana to the sea in 1838 at 5, with an aggregate burden of
1,900 maunds, while in 1841 the number had increased to 69,
with an aggregate burden of 37,050 maunds. The number of
" chuppoes" navigating the Sutledge down to Gourgeara was
in 1840, 18, with an average burden of 5,550 maunds; and in
1841, 31, with an average burden of 9,300 maunds.
KANDAIIAR.—We have been favoured with a copy
of the following letter, dated Kandahar, Feb. 14, 1842 NiPe
are, thank God, all safe at this place, although in daily expecta-
tion of the people in the town rising against us, and the enemy,
only 25 miles off, are threatening to attack us. Our commu-
nication with Caubul and the provinces is cut off; and report
says that Sir W. 111.1Sitighten, the Envoy and Illinister, is
murdered; with several other officers. It is to he hoped, in the
spring, troops will be pushed up from India, for we can do
nothing at this season, when, plea,e God, we will give them a
lesson they little think of. General Nott, with a large force,
went against the rebels collected only eight miles from Kan-
pahar, and killed and wounded about 700 or SOO of them ;
but they are increasing in numbers every day, and one of
shah Soojah's sons (Sufter Jung) at their head. It is said
they dined in their shrouds the other day+, and swore upon the
Koran that they would either murder us all or be killed in the
attempt.

• SINGULAR Cuirr RENTs.—Statue curiosity !mg
been excited respecting an advertisement in this paper last
week for a sale of property in Over Alderley, inter alia, of " two
annual chief rents belonging to the demesne; the one of a pair
of gloves and Bd. payable by Lord Stanley, of Alderley, for a
tenement or farm called Shaw Cross; the other of a red rose,
payable by Thomas Brocklehurst, E.g. of the Fence, for a
tenement or farm called Fitton Tow n." A correspondent has
furnished us with the following particulars :-.—On the 19th of
August, 1642, Francis Fitton, of Over Alderley, yeoman, came
to the house of Francis Acton, in Over Alderley aforesaid, and
then and there paid and delivered auto Thonias Acton, son and
heir of said Francis, one red rose, for the use and behoof of said
Francis, in lien of a chief rent which the ,SXid Francis Fitton
should have paid at Midsummer then last, for his lands in Over
Alderley, which he confessed he held of the said Francis Acton.
And, again, on the 25th June, 1688, Robert Norbury, of Over •
Alderley, yeoman, came to the capital meesuage of Samuel
Acton, in Over Alderley, and there delivered unto George
Massey one red rose, for the use of the said Samuel, in lieu of
a chiet rent payable yearly on Midsummer-day, for his lands in
Over Alderley, which were late the inheritance of Francis
Fitton, being always acknowledged to be holden of the said
Samuel Acton and his ancestors. On the 14th August, 32
Charles 11. a fine was levied between parties therein named, of
(inter alia)" One pair of white gloves and eightpenc ...relit, in
Over Alderley."—Afacclesfield Courier.

We find the following statistical table of the Uni-
vs rsities of Europe in a German Journal :
Countries.' Inhabilantp. Universities. Stude. h.
Russia 55.000,000 11 6.570
Great Britain ..••.•••• 27,000,M0 9 17,750
France '35,000,000 14 12,180
Austria...... 37,000,000 9 15,100 it
Pru55ia............ 15,000,000 7 5,220
The rest of Germany 17,000,000 -12 7,960 ':4
Denmark 2,250,090 2 1,430 '::
Sweden and Norway 4,300.000 3 2,810
Spain
Italy l9 8,800
1 1,960
P5w0rittuzegra11an.d....................:::
Belgium ... 1248:,27 g i "OWOOO° 5 1,100 ,
.....
The Netherlands__ 3,000,000
3 1,400
1,420
Greece ..... ...... '1,000,000 1 .200
lonian Islands ...... 00,000 1300 . .

. , • • , \.'" t .

r

PIPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
(FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF SATURDAY.)

GLOBE.—The conversation in the Lords, re-
specting the employment of children in collieries and
factories, is so far satisfactory as indicating concern
for the welfare of a numerous, and, under the present
circumstances, helpless portion of the population. What
is not satisfactory, however, is the superficial treatment
of evils whose source is deeper, and is not ascribable
to particular important branches of employment.
What could be more superficial than the remark
of the Bishop of London—" All the statistical re-
turns connected with this subject wcnt to show that
the mortality was greater among those employed in
manufactures than among those employed in agricul-
ture. Whatever evils might exist among the labour-
ing classes engaged in agriculture, those evils were
fearfully aggravated among the manufacturing popu-
lation." 'Here is not only fact—but theory as to the
causes of fact—a theory assuming it as self-evident
and incontestible that manufactures, and the manu-
facturing system, which he Right Rev. Prelate also
says is " eating into the very vitals of the country,"
are the cause of mortality in towns. We hold that it is
something very different which is eating into the vitals
of the country; and that it is not the manufacturing
system that is the cause of mortality in towns. In
order to settle this point, might it not be as well to
inquire whether towns destitute of manufactures are
exempted from this increased mortality—whether, on
the contrary, towns, asthe towns of Ireland, which are
thus destitute, are not the seats of tenfold misery, and
tenfold mortality, and whether the wretched inhabit-
ants of those towns do not eagerly resort for refuge
to the great seats of industry, stigmatised with ,so
little reflection by the Bishop of London ? Those who
can find no footing on the soil—those whose labour
is in no demand there—those to whom the Bishop of
London can assign no place there but an Union
Workhouse—where does the Right Rev. Prelate
mean them to live ? Whom does the Right Rev. Pre-
late mean to employ and feed them ? What indivi-
dual or collective industry does he mean them to
exercise ? Is it not something idle, and something ex-
cessively dangerous, to sentimentalise about the in-
herent evils of town life—when town life is alone left
open to so many industrious and commercial citizens?
Is it not something idle, and something excessively
unjust, to fix the stigma of town mortality on the
great employers of town labour ? The decay of com-
merce, the closing of factories, the blowing out of
furnaces, demonstrate too clearly whether labour has
much to thank those lawmakers for, who declaim
against the mortality of towns,—having stinted their
food,—and protect children from over-work, while crip-
pling the commerce which provides parent employment.
It is with feelings of deep and unaffected dread for
the future, that we mark this minute attention to the
symptoms of evil in town life and labour, and con-
trast it with the interested indifference to the causes
which govern the condition of all labour. We be-
lieve that, speaking generally, Lord Fitzwilliam is
perfectly right in saying that there is not the
slightest superiority in the agricultural population.
But be this so or not, the great departments of town
labour are necessaryand it is not to them, but
to the injustice which is done them, that are due
their worst evils. Employers and labourers suffer
under a bad enough system certainly—but that sys-
tem is not of their own making or maintaining—its
authors are the lords of the soil. Whatever mitiga-
tion of its worst effects the towns have enjoyed, has
been owing to those manufacturing capitals which so
long upheld the value of town labour. When those
capitals have fled or perished, we shall see if town and
country are better without them. All this is no de-
fence of infant ill-treatment in collieries ; but is, we
think, not an uncalled-for answer to superficial treat-
ment. (even by a Bishop) of the question whether
manufactures or numopoly be " eating into our vitals."
STANDARD.—The case of women and children
labouring in coal pits has been forced upon public
attention, by the publication of three books of Reports
of Commissioners appointed to inquire into the sub-
ject. Two of these books are exceedingly large, and
all of them appear to be the work of men earnestly
and honestly resolved to bring the truth to
light, neither _exaggerating nor extenuating any
part of it. The disclosures made are extremely
painful, exhibiting the condition of many of
our fellow-creatures as so miserable and de-
graded that the representation could not be
credited, if we were not prepared for it by what is
known of some of the factories, and by the sad
conviction which the experience of these factories
must fasten upon every mind, the conviction,
namely, that none are to be safely trusted with
the care of their fellows where gain is the object,
and human beings are the instruments. The
volumes of the Colliery Commissioners are illus-
trated by well-executed engravings, and these en-
gravings speak much more sensibly to the mind
than words can : it is, therefore, a vain hope to
expect to communicate in words anything like the
impression produced by the perusal of the Report,
aided by the sketches in question. Every one has a
rude notion of coal-pits, though few are aware of the
shape they take in the interior, as they branch off
in pursuit of the capricious ramifications of the
veins, or, as they are called, " seams" of coal.
These seams, however, are -found of all sizes—some
very large, which permit men to work, in raising
and removing the coal, in an erect attitude, and
to avail themselves of the service of horses arid
asses for the purposes of carriage ; but some
of the seams are small, though still thought
worth the working ; and from these the coal
must be extracted in a stooping, crouching, and
even grovelling posture, continued through many
hundreds of yards. It is in these smaller seams that j
women and children, down to the tender ages of
seven, six, and even five years are employed. The
nature-of the employment may be understood, from
considering that the smaller seams in their whole
width exceed very little, if at all, the width
of an .ordinary chimney flue, and that they in-
cline •or ascend in every variety of angle.
The poor workers in these channels are therefore in
a , great measure employed as the climbing boys
who used to sweep chimneys before the humanity
of the Legislature imposed restrictions upon that
trade ; but the condition of the " seam-gropers" in
collieries is much worse than that of chimney sweeps
in many respects; first, the seams are always wet and
muddy; secondly, the seams almost always dip, so as
tb render it necessary for the wretched creatures to
work most commonly with their heads downward ;
14stly, they have to drag a heavy load of from one to
two hundred pounds weight, on a truck without
wheels, and through mud, for the whole length
of the seam, which frequently exceeds many
hundred yards ; add to this a perfect dark-
ness,
add the close unwholesome air of a mine,
it may be 500 or 1,000 feet below the surface—and
here is a picture of physical suffering which it is
impossible to exaggerate, even by the painful and de-
grading harness in which the sufferers are equipped
—a chain passing round the waist between the thighs,
and attached to the slide truck. It may be easily
supposed that where so little account is made of phy-
sical suffering, much care is not bestowed upon the
protection of morals ; and in fact the most ordinary
guard of decency, clothing, itself is dispensed with.
The men in some mines work altogether; and the
women and girls nearly, naked. The necessary re-
sult is what it is painful to contemplate, what it would
be, if possible, more painful to describe.

NORWICH UONSJSTORIAL
COURT.
CHURCH RATES, BUNGAY ST. MARY.
MANN AND GOWER V. CHILDS.

The hearing of this case took place on the 7th of
March and the llth Of April ; after which the defendant
said he felt entitled to be dismissed, and was proceeding
to-argue-that his costs should be decreed him, by showing
that he had come out of the ease with clean hands, while
the plaintiffs had greatly misconducted themselves, when '
he was stopped by
The COURT, remarking that although costs did not
necessarily follow the sentence, yet they would do so un-
less misconduct were proved against the party in whose
favour judgment was given. He, therefore, called on
the plaintiffs' proctor to show cause why the ordinary
course should not be followed if judgment were given for
the defendant.
Mr. RACKHAPI replied that he had no charge whatever
to make against Mr. Childs.
The (CURT said it need not then trouble Mr. Childs on
the point.
The Learned JUDGE added that he was accus-
tomed to make such remarks, but he felt bound to say
the plaintiffs had, in the
i conduct of this case, thrown
much obstruction and difficulty' n the way of the de-
fendant ; and he spoke thus because he had himself
been called upon to interpose oh suveral occasions when
this ought not to have been required.
Mr. RACKHAM said he was sure Mr. Childs would not
charge him personally with any want of courtesy or of
deference to the wishes of the Court ; and lie could not
be answerable for the acts of kis clients.
Mr. Cum.ns replied that he was bound to testify to the
politeness which he had uniformly received from 311..
nockharn and the Officers of the Court.
On Tuesday, May 3d, judgment was delivered by the
Judge—CHAamEsEvaNs, Esq., who said:—This was a
suit instituted by the Churchwardens of Bungay St.
Mary, against Ms., Charles Childs, for the recovery of a
Church-rate made September 6, 1839, in which the de-
fendant was assessed for a house and lands, at the sum of
3s. 4d. It appeared that Mr. Childs had been summoned
before the Justices for the non-payment or this sum, Dee.
12th, 1839, when he took several objections to the
validity of the rate, and shortly afterwards the pre-
sent suit was commenced. As the whole case had
been argued before him on two -several occasions, it
was only necessary for him to give his opinion on the
various points which had been raised. The Learned
Judge then disposed of five different grounds of defence,
which the defendant had taken—that the notice of the
vestry at which the question had been made was in-
sufficient—that the property. assessed was not duly
described--that after the rate had been made, and
was in cuurse of collection, additions had been made
to the desc:iption of the property, by the person ern_
14Q.Y01 ;ate aad C0116'044,"'1411t G43.tiga Plalltatiohlanti

had been omitted from the rate—and that the defendant
was over-assessed in comparison with two other pa-
rishioners ; and the Court did not deem any of these
sufficient to render the rate invalid. The next point al-
leged by the defendant was, that the rate was in part re-
trospective. It appeared the rate was made on the 6th
of September, 1839, and the whole sum raised by it was
37L; that prior to that time the churchwardens
had expended eleven or twelve pounds beyond
the amount of certain rents, from parish lands
available for the repairs of the church. The Court was
not aware of any case in which it had been decided, that
a rate made for some portion of the expenses of the
current year had on that account been held invalid ; but
in all the cases, the rate had been made by church-
wardens, to reimburse their predecessors in office. Dr.
Lushington had stated in Chesterton and Hutchins
v. Farlar (1 Curt.) that the legal, safe, and conve-
nient way was for churchwardens to make an esti-
mate of needful expenses, and obtain a rate soon
after they came into office, and before they effected any
repairs. There was no doubt it would, in all cases, be
better to do so ; but it would be going further than any
of the Courts had hitherto gone, if on this ground the
rate were held to be bad, and he was very glad he was
not called upon to give an opinion on this point, as there
were other grounds on which he was clearly of opinion
the rate could not be enforced. The next al-
legation was, that certain inhabitants of Bungay
St. Mary, were not rated for the right of de-
pasturage attached to their houses. It appeared
that a certain tract of land called Outney Com-
mon, in Bungay, was within the limits, or abutting upoe
the parish of St. Mary, and the right of commonage
was in some cases attached to certain houses within the
parish, and in others separated from the houses. It
was not clear what was the whole value of the
commonages so attached, but it appeared to be some-
where about 150/. per annum. Now it was de-
cided in the well. known case of Veley v. Burder,
that the occupiers of all lands and tenements within a
parish are liable to the payment of Church-rate—he had
no doubt a commonage was a tenement, as it had been
held that a sheep-walk was assessable—and therefore if
the common in question, or any part of it, were in the
parish of Bungay St. Mary, it would be a just ground
of complaint, that the right of pasture was not assessed.
The evidence, however, adduced to prove that the com-
mon was locally within the parish, ought to be so strong
as to place the matter beyond a doubt, because it was
proved that it had not been rated for forty years at
least, and all the witnesses except one agreed that the
reason for such exemption was a belief that a common
was extra-parochial. The Court did not feel the evi-
dence to be strong enough to remove all doubt as to the
local position of the common, nor on this ground to vi-
tiate the rate. It was next urged that this was a con-
current rate, made at a time when another rate, uncol-
lected, and for the same purposes, was still in existence.
It was in evidence, and even admitted by the plaintiffs,
that a rate had been made on the 19th of June, 1839, of
the same amount, and for the same purposes—that one
party had been summoned for it, and submitted to dis-
tress—that certain other parishioners, being afterwards
summoned, took an objection to the notice o the vestry
at which the rate was made—that the churchwardens
were advised by the Justices' clerk that that rate was in-
valid—and they had thereupon abandoned it, and sub-
sequently made the rate now in dispute. It had been
ruled in the Queen's Bench, that a concurrent poor-rate
was invalid, and the same principle had, by Dr. Lush-
ington, in a recent case not yet regularly reported, been
applied to Church-rates. It was clear, therefore, that
churchwardens had no power to make a second Church-
rate, while a previous one remained uncollected, unless
this were altogether void and inoperative. Now it was
not alleged by the plaintiffs that the rate of June 19 was
invalid—their proctor had indeed argued that it was of
no importance whether a rate were valid or not, so long
as churchwardens might be advised it was bad, and they
were at liberty to make a new one, without ascertaining
the soundness of this advice. But the Court could not
assent to such a doctrine ; the rate now in question was
therefore void, and could not be enforced. The remain-
ing point related to the assessment of tithes in the parish.
It appeared that a certain number of inhabitants were
assessed in respect of tithes at the sum of 1001. Their
rateable value was estimated by a witness in the case at
1601. whilst by the vestry book it was shown that the
annual value of the great tithes had, for the purposes of
assessment, been reduced 50 per cent. and the smaller
tithes 30 per cent. He had called on the plaintiffs' proc-
tor to explain this, but he was unable to offer any expla-
nation. It was further in evidence that the plaintiffs
themselves bad, in the year 1840, considerably raised
the assessment of these tithes, and this was stated by
their proctor to have been done in consequence of the
judgment by the Queen's Bench in Reg. v. Capel, re-
versing Rex v. Joddrell. Now, in the latter case, it had
been decided that farmers were rateable for the profits
arising upon their occupations, in addition to the amount
of their rents, which the former case reverses. If, there-
fore, Reg. v. Capel availed as a reason for raising the
assessment of the tithes, it would have equally appli‘d
to the houses in the parish. The Court did not think,
this decision had furnished the reason for the course
taken in 1840; fur it further appeared that at the very
time the Churchwardens raised the assessment of the
tithes, they lowered the assessments of the lands held by
the same occupiers to precisely the same amount, so
that each person should pay the same gross sum as
before, but differently apportioned ; and that whereas all
other alterations of the parish assessment had been made
with the sanction of the vestry, the churchwardens had
not consulted the vestry on this alteration of the lands,
but had taken upon themselves to make it of their own
authority. The Court could not but hold the conclusion
that it was made for the purpose of taking away from
Mr. Childs the value ofthe evidence for this suit afforded
by themselves in raising the assessment of the tithe. The
evidence of the defendant's witnesses was thus very
strongly supported by the churchwardens themselves; the
rate must on this ground be held invalid, and the
defendant must on this and the preceding plea be dis-
missed. The Judge went on to say the only remaining
question related to the costs ; and after stating the ge-
neral principle, said there was nothing whatever in the
conduct of Mr. Childs to deprive him of the benefit of it.
It was proved that before the making of the rate he had
objected to the assessment, on the ground of the tithes
and Common ; and one of the Churchwardens them-
selves bad assented to a resolution to summon a vestry
on the subject, but had neglected or refused to do so.
It was further admitted that Mr. Childs had, when sum-
moned before the Justices, alleged the concurrency of the
rate. Having urged these objections unsuccessfully, he
had no other course open to him. and was perfectly jus-
tified in defending the proceedings in this Court. He
must therefore be decreed his costs.

Mr. CHILDS prayed to be heard at next Court on the
taxation of costs.

PARLIAMENTARY DIVISION.
(From the Votes and Proceedings of the Howe of Commons.)
FRIDAY, MAY 6.
THE PROPERTY TAX BILL.

MINORITY in the Committee who voted that the computa-
tion of duty on trade upon amount of balance of the profits
or gains should be taken upon one year in place of three
years as proposed bp Government.
Aghonby, H. A. Crawford, W. S.
Attwood, M. Ellis, Wynn
Bailey, J. Heiden, J.
Barnard, E. G. Gibson, T. M.
Bodkin, J. J. Granger, T. C.
Bowring, Dr. Humphery, J.
Brodie, W. B. Mitchell, 'l'. A.
Busfeild, W. Morris, David
Cnristie, W. D. Murphy, F. S.
Cobden, Richard O'Brien, W. Smith

Scrope, C. P.
Thornely, Thomas
Tufnell, Henry
Turner, E.
Wakley, Thomas
Wawn, John T,
Wood, Benjamin

TELLERS.
Hume, Joseph
Rundle, John

MINORITY who voted that the Tax s:

year only, in place of three
Aglionby, H. A. Hawes, B.
A 'dam, William ' Heneage. E.
Bell, John Hutt, W.
Bowring, Dr. James, William
Brothertou, J. Layard, Captain
Christie, W. D. Marjoribanks, S.
Colebrookc, Sir T. Marshall, W.
Crawford, W S. Morris, David
Curteis, H. B. Mostyn, E. M. L.
Dalrymple, Captain Munts, G. F.
Dawson, T. V. Murphy, F. S.

hall continue for one
years.
PuWord, Robert
Redington, T. N.
Rice, E. B.
Rundle, J.
Scholetleld, J.
Scrope, G. P.
Somerville, Sir W.
Strutt, Edward
Tancred, H. W.
Turner, Edmund
Villiers, Charles
Wakley, Thomas
Wawn, J. T.
Williams, W.
Wood, B.

Ebring6n, Viscount
Ellis, Wynn
Lvans, W.
Fielden, 3.
French,
Uill, Thomas
Gore, Robert
Gianger, T. C.

Murray. A.
Norreys, Sir D. J.
O'Connell, M. J.
O'Connell, J.
Ogle, S. C. H.
Pechell, Captain
Plumridge, Captain

TRLLERY,
Hume, Joseph
Humphe,y, J.

ELECTION COMMITTEES.
LYME REGIS.

The Committee met on Saturday at the usual hour. The
examination of witnesses in support of the allegations in the
petition was resumed. A witness named Pasey was examined
at great length as to the occupation of certain premises, and
was under examination when our Reporter left.

NEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYNE.
Four witnesses were examined on Saturday ; they all proved
acts of bribery, having received sums of 31. and 41. each from
a person named Collier, on behalf of the sitting Member. The
ev►dence of each witness was a repetition of that given by the
others, and was quite destitute of general interest.