The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-06 00:00:00

PHILADELPHIA.

DREADFUL RIOTS-PREJUDICE AGAINST
COLOUR-THE CORN-LAWS.

Extract of a letter from John G. Whittier to
Joseph Sturge, dated Amesbury, 12th, Bth mo. 1842.
_ _

MY DEAR FRIEND,—Since the date of my last
letter, another appalling proof of the correctness of
thy statement, relative to the bad pre-eminence of Phi-
ladelphia, in respect to prejudice against the coloured
man has been offered. The poor coloured citizens who
had enrolled themselves in Temperance Societies un-
dertook to celebrate the Ist of August, the anniversary
of West India emancipation, by a festival, over the
Schuylkill river. Thither they were moving in an
orderly and respectable procession, when they were
assailed by a mob. Some resistance being offered to
this brutal outrage, the assailants called in others to
their aid, and broke up the procession, and hunted its
members to their houses, where they were also as-
sailed; windows broken, furniture to a great amount
destroyed, and several of the unfortunate inmates
dreadfully beaten with clubs, iron rods, and missiles.
For two days no person with a coloured face was
safe from violence in the city. Thousands
left ' their little properties to the mercy of
the mob. and fled into the woods of Jersey.
across the Delaware. A large and beautiful Hall,
nearly finished, erected by a wealthy coloured citizen,
for the use of his brethren, was burned down, as was
also the coloured meeting:house in St. Mary's-street.
The City authorities, as in the mob of 1838, did little
or nothing to suppress the rioters. Some of the news-
papers apologized for the conduct of the ruffians, and
threw the blame upon the poor coloured people, for pre-
suming to celebrate the Ist of August. Is it not
dreadful ?

Our cause is, nevertheless, onward. The wheels
of our great reform move indeed sloWly and heavily,
but, as in the vision of Ezekiel, there is " life within
them." The slavery question now enters into every
debate in Congress. Our indefatigable friend Joshua
Leavitt has presented a voluminous petition to
Congress, praying for something nearly equivalent
to Free Trade with Great Britain in case of the
abolition of the Corn-laws. It gives a history of
of the Anti-Corn-law movement, &c. It was well
received by many of our statesmen, and its
prayer was only rejected by, a party vote of
of the Whigs • all the Democrats in the Senate voting
for it. As the new Tariff Bill, to which Leavitt's
proposition was an amendment, has been set aside by
the veto of President Tyler, the subject will come up
again ; and the next Congress will doubtless carry it
into effect, as that can hardly fail of having a demo-
cratic majority. Great and excellent meetings of the
liberty party have been held in Ohio, Maine, and
Vermont. Our prospects are brightening in this
department of our enterprise.
The subject of Church action is engaging a good
deal of attention. There has been a large convention
of ministers and church members held in Veamont, in
which strong anti-slavery addresses were adopted,
addressed to the slave holders and people of the north.

A letter from Dusseldorf, 28th ult., announces-in.law o,hadthhe
arrival there on the precedinsigafhteorynooindnisopof thesed I.iinvgrianneed
aQtutteeen
station
tio n Prussiaby byth
et haeurt:aiol
jrreiotsaitedys.,,s a
brother-1n
tehyeattendedr were received,
hotel of the Regency, where all the persons of distinc-
tion in the town, including several foreigners, were ad-
mitted to pay their respects to them. A grand fete was
to have been given on the occasion, but was deferred on
Caeiciaorulnest ofof the King
his
sinmaa
also arrived at Dusseldorf.

The Vigie of Saint Dlalo relates that on Tuesday
morning, a large boat, in attempting to enter the port,
was caught by the current from the breach in the bank
of the Quatre Pavilions, and upset, and twelve men who
were in her thrown into the sea. Another boat which
went out to their assistance was unable to reach them.
At length a M. Joly plunged in and saved two of the
men. his example was followed by others, and three
more were rescued from the waves ; but the remaining
seven were drowned, and their bodies were not found till
the ebbing of the tide left them on the shore.
SUNDAY TRAVELLING IW FRANCE.—The railroad
on the right bank of the Seine transported to Versailles
on Sunday week, the fete of St. Louis, 18,000 persons.
There was also a considerable number of travellers on
the St. Germain's road. The public is now satisfied
that railways are safe, and henceforth to use them will
be the custom of the population.—Journal des Chemins
de Fer.

EXECUTION OF FRANCIS
BRADLEY. ,4-)M
Francis Bradley, who was convicted, at' he gc,
assizes held in this town, of having killed his Ty
the administration of poison, was hanged, on Sa OAR SI
last, at twelve o'clock, on a lows erected at the
-north-east corner of Kirkdale Gaol.
After his condemation, the unhappy man was con-
fined in a cell, where two turnkeys were kept con-
tinually with him. Notwithstanding the conclusive
evidence on which his guilt was established, and the
emphatic manner in which the Lord Chief Justice
exhorted him to prepare for death, it appears
he cherished an expectation of a reprieve so long
as there remained the slightest room for hope.-
The convict, who was a Roman Catholic, was re-
sidiously.uttended by the Rev. Peter Wilcock, one of
the priests of St. Anthony's chapel. For some weeks
the daily visits of the Rev. Gentleman were unat-
tended with any good effect, the convict remaining
hardened, impenitent. and deaf, to the exhortations of •
the minister. Mr. Amos, the kind and excellent Go-
vernor of the prison, describes the attention of Mr.
Wilcock to have been of the most untiring and affec-
tionate character, but for a length of time his kind
efforts were unavailing. Though the prisoner was
repeatedly informed by those about him that there was
no hope of any commutation in his favour, he still clung
to the cherished impression. A memorial in his
behalf was forwarded to the Secretary of State.
The answer returned was to the effect, that the case
was of such a nature that, her Majesty could not be
recommended to grant a reprieve. At length, the
impenetrability of the prisoner's character gradually
gave way as his fate became more hopeless, and his
stubbornness vanished before the certainty of ap-
proaching death. Recently he attended closely to the •
religious instructions of his reverend attendant, and
conformed strictly to the discipline which his Church
prescribed.
The execution was, at first, fixed to take place at
eight o'clock on Saturday morning. It was after-
wards determined to alter the hour to twelve
o'clock, front a humane consideration that a re-
prieve night arrive by the early morning train.
It had, however, got abroad that the criminal
was to be hanged at eight o'clock, and those whose
bad taste induces delight in such exhibitions were
early on the alert. Even at six o'clock, we are in-
formed, numerous individuals, of both sexes, were
seen wending their way towards Kirkdale. Long be-
fore eight a considerable multitude of the humbler
classes had assembled in front of the scaffold, and,
though most of them must have had avocations in the
town, by far the &-reater number waited till the sen-
tence was carried into effect. At the approach of
noon the crowd was considerably augmented. Amongst
the spectators were a number of females, several
of very respectable appearance. If the multitude
evinced none of that brutality which we have some-
times seen described as occurring at executions in
other places, they, at least, behaved in many respects
with unseemly indecorum. While waiting for the ap-
pearance of the criminal, they lightened the time by
shouting, throwing cabbage stumps, and other un-
seemly pranks; and one fellow was detected in the act
of picking a pocket. He was immediately secured and
taken within the prison.
The convict retired to rest about twelve o'clock on
Friday night, and slept till fbur on Saturday
morning. The Reverend P. Wilcock entered the
condemned cell at six o'clock, and continued in
close attendance on the prisoner till he ceased to ex-
ist. The Under-Sheriff arrived from Preston at half-
past eleven o'clock, when he joined the Governor of
the prison. At a quarter before twelve the prisoner
was conducted from the cell to the press-room.
His demeanour was firm, and his countenance pale,
but calm. He is a short, stout-built man, about five
feet four inches high. His features are strongly
marked and stern looking, his eyes small and rather
dark, and his forehead low. His head was uncovered,
and he wore a blue coat, with brass buttons, drab
trousers, and boots. His demeanour in the press room
was respectful and devout. About ten minutes to

7

12 o'cloCk the prisoner, attended by his religious in-
structor, the principal turnkey, and- others, was led
from the press-room to the pinioning-room. His self-
possession never for a moment forsook him. As he
pas3ed through the yard he bowed to some of the turnkeys
who stood near. Mr. Wilcock walked on his right
hand and read, in a faltering voice, several passages
from the service proper for the occasion. The unfor-
tunate man walked slowly, but steadily, up the flight
of steps leading to the pinioning-room, and, when
there, he stood for a short time engaged in prayer
with his pastor. He was placed in the chair,
and the work of pinioning was performed by
the executioner, who was brought from York
tor the occasion. The chair upon which he sat
was immediately in front, and commanded a hill
view of the gallows; indeed, there was but a
short platform, erected temporarily for the purpose,
between him and the place of execution. He kept
his eyes intently fixed, for a long time, upon the spot,
during which his lips were continually moving, as
though he was engaged in deep mental prayer. The
Rev. P. Wilcock asked him if he had anything more
to say. He replied, in a loud, unshaken tone, " No;
nothing more." After being pinioned, he extended his
hand to the various officers connected with the esta-
blishment, which they shook, and at twelve precisely
he was led out to his fate, Mr. Wilcock accompanying
him to the scaffold, and reading while the executioner
adjusted the apparatus of death, the lips of the convict
all the time moving as in prayer. A loud buzz ran
through the crowd when he made his appearance, and
the next instant all was silence. At a given
signal the drop fell. A struggle was apparent for
a moment, and it was thought he had instantly
expired, but in a little his sufferings evinced them-
selves by the convulsive movements of the hands and
legs, which continued some two or three minutes.
When he ceased to move, and it was evident life
was extinct, the executioner, in reply to a question
from a gentleman present; said, in a tone of the
most business-like indifference, " Oh, we generally
give them a three feet drop, but hes a light weight.
The unhappy convict made a statement, which
was, at his request, taken down in writing by Mr.
Wilcock. We subjoin a copy, by which, it will be
seen, the culprit acknowledged that he was " satisfied
with his sentence." He signed the document with
his own hand, in bold, but not very elegant characters.

THE CONFESSION.
" I, Francis Bradley, make the following declara-
tion :—I die in the faith of the Holy Catholic Church,
of which I am truly sorry to say) I have been an un-
worthy member. I earnestly beg of all my breihren
to pray, after my departure, for the repose of my soul.
I die in peace with all mankind, forgiving sin-
cerely from my heart all who have ever injured or of-
fended me, and craving forgiveness of all I have in-
jured or offended. I depart this life satisfied with my
sentence, and cheerfully submit to the death which it
is the will of God I should suffer ; hoping, through the
infinite merits of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ, to obtain pardon for my sins and life everlast
ing. I beg to return my poor, but best, thanks to
the Governor of the prison for his humane treatment
of me, and also to the keepers of the gaol and other
official individuals, for the kindness they have shown
me during my confinement. By my order and di-
rection the above declaration has been written.
(Signed) " FRANCIS BRADLEY.
" Kirkdale, Sept. 3, 1342."
The crowd dispersed immediately after the execu-
tion. The body, after having been suspended for an
hour, was taken down and buried within the precincts
of the gaol, in pursuance of the sentence. Bradley is
the fourth criminal who has been hanged at Kirkdale.
The first was Thomas Barlow, for the murder of his
T
wife ; the second Betty owfand,forrappoeisaonna ing her
husband; the third, William llill, for
mur-
der, at. Warrington ; and the fourth Bradley, for the
murder of his wife. The las-named culprit is buried
in the same grave with the other three.

The Duke de Nemours, on his arrival at St. Omer,
on Monday l
was received with particular marks of
ast,
sympathy as well as of respect. His Royal Highness
was met by the Cardinal de la Tour d'Auvergne, several
Generals, the Prefe3ts of the Pas-de-Calais and the
Nord, and all the civil and military authorities. Addresses
were delivered to the Prince, who relied to them with
condescension and feeling. When alluding to the Duke
of Orleans, he spoke with great emotion, saying that his
memory could never be sufficiently regretted or honoured,
and that it should be his constant endeavour to fulfil
his duties with zeal, in order to acquire the esteem and
affection with which his brother was surrounded. On
the morning of Tuesday, having exercised the division
of General d'Hautpoul, the Royal Duke went to visit
the camp of Elfaut. In the front he found a simple
inonument, designed by Lieutenant Pradier, of the 11th
infantry of the line, erected in stone, at the common
expense ethe officers and men of the second division of
infantry, to the memory of the Duke of Orleans. It is
in the form of a pyramid, and with the usual appropriate
inscriptions ; bears the record of the battles in which
the Prince Royal has distinguished himself, viz.
Antwerp, 1832 ; Mascara; 1835 ; the Iron Gates, 1839 ;
Terria de Mouzaya, 1840. On his return from the
camp, the Duke de Nemours gave a grand dinner. In
the evening the Prince received a great many of the
authorities from various parts of the department, some
coming from a great distance.

The Times of yesterday had a complete vindication
of the Anti-Corn-law League against the charge of
having caused or fomented the recent disturbances. Our
Contemporary repudiates the idea that the League or
any ,other political body has occasioned the late out-
break, and admits that it was starvation which induced
the workmen to demand higher wages. " They asked
for bread" to " appease their hunger ;" and in pursuing
the course they have lately adopted, they were obeying
the directions of no other voice than that of their own
necessities.

Dispatches are regularly forwarded by the Poet-
Office mails every evening, from the different public de-
partments, to her Majesty in Scotland. In former years
similar documents used to be conveyed by Government
messengers.

LONDON :

TUESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 6, 1842.

--~- --

We do not now ask the question for the first
time,l" How is England "—how are the masses in
England, who are very generally discontented,
" to be troverned But now, for the first time
lately, a practical answer is given to the ques-
tion. The extensive political changes proposed
by tliie Chartists, their design deliberately formed
and deliberately carried into execution, of putting
an end to an public meetings, of which they did
not approve—a policy very nearly akin to that of
the ultra-Tories at all times, and the late general
insurrection in the north, directed less against the
Government than against the middle classes,
seem, we are afraid, to have thoroughly roused
their apprehensions, and made them resolve, at
whatever cost to themselves, to strengthen the
Government, and enable it to domineer with a
heavy and an iron hand. We note in the provin-
dal papers but one voice on the subject, or the
objections to this course are made in so querulous
and doubtful a tone, that it informs us, even
better than an actual assertion, what is the present
state of public feeling in the provinces. How
long it may last, we cannot pretend to say; but
throughout the middle classes generally there is
now, we are afraid, a practical conviction, giv-
ing birth to active exertions, that the liberties of
the people must be curtailed, and they must be
rigidly and severely governed. In fact, the
conduct of the people, as above alluded to, has
supplied the pretext, if not the justification, of
reviving and restoring ultra-Toryism, which, for
the season, seems in the ascendant.
The Secretary of State has given a warrant to
every police-constable to suppress a public meet-
ing, and on that warrant men have already acted.
Magistrates are preventing meetings of the most
usual, and, for what we know—as we believe talk
dissipates grief—of the most harmless character,
and their conduct is generally approved of. The
conference of the Complete Suffrage As.
sociation at Birmingham, which had been
summoned under Mr. STURCIE'S auspices for
the 7th instant, has been put off sine
die, " in consequence," it is said, " of the sup-
pression of public meetings by the authorities.
A similar meeting has been prevented at Leeds,
and we are told at various other towns, so that
at present constitutional meetings are no more
tolerated by the authorities than they were a few
months ago by the Chartists. On the Ist instant
Mr. VINCENT, who lately received a very large
number of votes at Ipswich, to represent that
borough, had engaged to deliver a lecture at
Derby, " upon the present state of the country, and
the necessity and safety of extending political
political power to all classes of the people," when
the Magistrates, we are told, by an address
issued at Derby, " sent a posse of constables to
the theatre, who, by sheer intimidation, induced
the lessee to authorise them to eject the persons
then in possession, and the theatre was thus fi-
nally closed against them." The middle classes
of the north have seen, or supposed, their pro-
perty to be in danger, and they have cheer-
fully enrolled themselves as special consta-
bles, and have united with the Magistrates
in putting an end to all such meetings. For the
present, therefore, the question is answered; the
numerous and powerful middle classes seem re-
solved to have a strong and a coercive Govern-
ment. It may appear singular to the Tories,
though we are not wholly unprepared for it; but
the fltct is, that they will now find amongst the
commercial and manufacturing capitalists, whom
they have so vehemently abused, some of their
staunchest and most eager supporters.

We aye well aware that reasoning or argu-
nu,nts are thrown away, when urged on persons
milder the influence of alarm. But there are
so, ne facts to which, even now, it may not be
who lly out of place to allude. The sort of co-
ercive. Government which is growing up in
Enfrla
has long been established on the con-
tinent %±* Europe. There no public meetings are
or can h 9 held ; there the Press generally has
neither e% .c$ to see, nor tongue to speak, but as the

authorities command; there everything is regu-
lated,control led, and curbedby a police. We have
no doubt that such a system can be, in the present
temper of the governing classes, established
here ; but it cannot be denied, that if it
give security and peace on the Continent, which
is very doubtful, it stifles enterprise, crushes
energy, and makes man the complete slave of a
very imperfect system of government. Hitherto
it has been the cherished pride of Englishmen to
have had more freedom, giving more energy,
more enterprise, and more happiness, than the
nations of' the Continent, and they must cast
aside and forget this pride of their fathers before
they can be happy under a system imported
from the Continent. In no part of the Conti-
nent are there such great towns, and such masses
of population, as in England ; in no place are
there such heaps of property ; society there is
yet, generally speaking, much more agricultural
and poorer than with us, and the system which
there preserves security, by crushing energy,
will here inflict immense injury without giving
security. We intreat the middle and the upper
classes, who have been made wealthy and
great, almost beyond imagination, by the
present system, and who have enjoyed
for many years a security, both in person
and property, superior to any country in
Europe, not hastily, and in a moment of appre-
hension, to put an end to that general freedom
which is the basis of the general safety. No
persons feel more than they an intense interest
in the reputation and welfare of the country; and
let them, therefore, before they encourage the
arbitrary proceedings of Secretaries of State,
Magistrates, and policemen, bethink them how
surely they will destroy the reputation and wel-
fare of Britain by crushing, with a continental
police system, the energies, though they be
rude, and the enterprise of her people. Let
them continue, like their sires, to "love the
national roughness for the speed it gives."

One of the reproaches cast on the factory sys-
tem, is that of destroying individuality. It
makes man, it is said, the slave of machinery,
and reduces all who are dependent on it to the
same level uniformity. We are inclined to think
that the great masses- which are generally con-
gregated about machinery, are more the cause
of this than the manufacturing system. Indivi-
dual will and individual power gradually dwindle
away and disappear, as population increases. To
European perception, the individuality of the
Chinese, who have little or no machinery, and
no great manufacturing system, is as completely
lost, owing to the influence of the immense mul-
titude on each, as the individuality of our manu-
facturing towns. The squatters, however, in
the United States, the pioneers of civilisation,
who - are left to their own passions and de-
vices, have in general, a strongly-marked
individual character. In our opinion, therefore,
the influence of a mass of population is by far
the most powerful cause of that loss of individual
characteristics which some persons continually
complain of. What they ascribe to the factory
system, is the natural and necessary result of the
increase of population.
There is another cause continually operating,
and intended to operate, in the same directior.•
It is the one object of all national institutions to
lay down for all men the same rules of conduct.
Under the law it is said all are equal, and all are
supposed to have the same rights and privilege-.
The law, then, so far as it can, introduces uni-
formity and destroys individuality, which is
Whet sentimentalists complain of. The powers
the State over individuals in this respect is
well put by Dr. CHANNING in his last pamphlet,
The Duty of Free States," Second Part. He
says—

A man's country is more thought of than his nature.
Isis connexion with a particular community is more re-
spected than his connexion with God. His alliance with
his race is reduced to a nullity by the affiance with the
State. He must be ready to give up his race, to sacrifice
ull its rights and interests, that the little spot where he
was born may triumph or prosper. The history of
nations is very much the history of the immolation of
the individual to the country. His nationality stands
out before all his other attributes. The nation repre-
sented by one or a few individuals has arrogated to
itself the dignity of being the fountain of all his rights.
It has made his religion fur him. Its will, called law, has
taken place of all other laws. It has seized on the in-
dividual as its tool, and doomed him to live or die for its
most; selfish purposes. The sacredness of the indi-
vidual is even vet so little understood that the freest
country on earth is talking of war, because a local law,
enslaving the individual, is not recognised by the whole
earth. But the nation is not everything. The station
is r.ot the fountain of right. Our first duties are not to
our country. Our first allegiance is not due to its laws.
We belong first to God, and next to our race.
We say not whether such a complete mastery
of the State over individuals be right or not, but
we agree with Dr. CHANNING, that it is a fact,
and that one object always kept in view by the
State is to reduce all individual will into submis-
sion to its will. We say further, that this opera-
tion of the State on its subjectsis a very powerful
cause for that loss of individuality against
which Tory writers, when the factory system is
in question, inveigh very bitterly. At the same
time they are the strongest advocates for reducing
every individual to implicit submission to the will
of the State. In these two cases they are, we
think, extremely inconsistent. They labour to
destroy individuality, and they complain that it
is destroyed. If they have nothing worse to
allege against the factory system than that it de-
stroys individuality, the factory system will not
be worse than any other system, and certainly
not worse than the State. There is, in truth, no
great reason to praise the perfect individuality
of a backwoodsman, or the complete dependence
of a cockney or a Manchester weaver on a sys-
tem, for both are obviously the consequences of
the peculiar circumstances of each, and are the
natural and necessary results, in one case of iso-
lation, and in the other, of living with a great
multitude.

THE NEW TARIFF.—Some curiosity has been ex-
cited in Winchester during the past week by an announce-
ment from the public crier that Amercan pork was
selling at 41d. per pound. We have seen some of the
meat selling at that price at Mr. Parmiter's shop, and
from its appearance should pronounce it good and
wholesome food. In colour it is, of course, darker
than the young pork salted here, but it is thin in the
rind, fat, and smells very sweet. If the tariff will pro-
duce plenty of such meat at such a price, it will be
indeed a much greater benefit than we anticipated, and
prove what the farmers assert, that Peel is the greatest
enemy the farmers ever had, and that they were com-
pletely humbugged by the Tories at the last election,
The only drawback upon the American pork, is that it
is coarse and cut up in a most unscientific manner. We
think a little time will remove both these objections, and
we most heartily rejoice that the principles of free trade
have at length so far prevailed that good and wholesome
meat is now placed within the reach of the poor man at a
price which will enable him to occasionally tastet
was before a luxury known to him by name only.—
Hants Independent.

Capel Hanbury Leigh, Esq., Lord-Lieutenant of
the county, accompanied by Colonel Sir M. Creegh, of
the 11th Regiment, visited the Tredegar Iron Works
on Monday last, for the purpose of inquiring as to
the state of the place and neighbourhood, and finding
all quiet, and that the men had returned to their works,
orders were given that the company of soldiers stationed
there should return to Newport. We are happy to find
that the whole of the men around the hills have returned
to their work. About 50 of the leaders have been dis-
charged from Cyfarthfa works ; amongst the number is
Miles, a ringleader of strikers. Things begin to wear a
cheering aspect all round the district, and we are in
hopes of a speedy and favourable turn in the works.—
Mcmmouthshire Merlin.
The Moniteur de la Propriete states, that in conse-
quence of the high price of forage, a vast number of
cattle hive been very lately sent up to the neighbour-
hood of Paris, to be sold to the butchers and slaughtered.
the breeders not being able to afford feeding them any
longer. In July, 1841, the number of oxen arrived at
Paris amounted to 10,008, whilst, during the same
showing
difference
epresentnceoi.
2,608, There
theis numberereh
has
b e1:1125n
01 2d,
dimi-
nution 6,
iithtaleetlncoeoneuinontfrt:tilet
be
tpitrtni
increased
onasfuegbdmugteennialtelairttsiimeet n
cattle s Paris,en tinopcofnrosem-
price may be fea7ed,
palertslotensstwock becomes
hoseneeessittnre
necessities
d
will
notmmore in
pel the
the
them
atnodssenodf
it to market.

The Augsburgh Gazette states that the inquiry
respecting the associations of students at Gottingen, has
terminated. Tha chief offenders have been sentenced to
twelve days' imprisonment, and the rest, amounting to
more than 100, to six.

WA have reason to believe that the Queen and her
Royal Consort, Prince Albert, have most graciously sig-
nified their intention to visit Ireland during the ensuing
summer or autumn.—Dublin Packet,