The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-17 00:00:00

THE SOIREE,

In the evening a soiree of the members and friends of
the Conference was held in the Waterloo Rooths, which
was crowded on the occasion. John Dunlop, Ego.,
presided as Chairman. William Ewart, Esq.,' M.P.,
addressed the meeting on the injustice and im-
policy of laws made for the advantage of the few at
he expense of the many ; the best means of accom-
plishing the removal of the grievances created by class
legislation ; and of obtaining equal laws for, and the re
cognition of the just rights of, all classes.—The Reverend
William Lindsay Alexander, on the testimony of reason,
scripture, and history, against laws tending to heighten
the price of food in a nation.—The Rev. krancis Muir,
on the influence of free trade in extending and perpe-
tuating the blessings of peace among the nations of the
world.—Mr. Wallace, M.P., urged the ladies to unite in
agitating on this question.—The Rev. Robert Wilson, of
Greenock, addressed the meeting on the influence of
free trade in extending the lights of science, and in dif-
fusing the principles of civil and religious liberty all over
the world ; and George Thompson, Esq. on its influ-
ence in disseminating the blessings, and in accelerating
the triumphs, of Uhristianity over the earth., The meet-
ing
did not separate till near midnight.

FRANCE. '
CHAMBER OF PEERS.
CONTINUATION OF THE DISCUSSION ON THE ADDRESS.
M. Cousin, former colleague of M. 'niers, then rose
o -:av a few words in vindication of the policy which
he Cabinet of the Ist of March had followed with re-
;ard to Eastern affairs, and appealed to inexorable his-
....
-ory to do justice to that Cabinet.
The following paragraph was then put to the vote:—
" Your Majesty has ordained important diminutions in
:he public burdens. These diminutions, however, have
lot sufficed to establish the equilibrium in the receipts
and expenditure of the State, which is as necessary as
it is universally desired. We will endeavour to obtain
this equilibrium without reducing our military, and naval
strength beneath what is requisite for the dignity
.of
France, and without postponing the public works which
are called for by the country."
M. Cousin proposed, that after the words, " we will
endeavour to obtain this equilibrium," there should be
added "without weakening our military organization,'' &c.
,Marshal Soult was of opinion that the address went
even ftirther than the speech from the throne in its illu-
sion to the question under consideration, and then pro-.
ceeded to give the following explanation of the Ordinance
relative to the army, dated the Bth of September :—He •
said, " The intent of this Ordinance is not a new organi-
zation of the army, as has been said, but a fixation of the
cadres. In propdsing it to the King I had not the
slightest idea of infringing the rights of the Chambers :
I acknowledge, as has been observed by M. Dupin, and:
as is my duty, that the Chambers must necessarily be
called upon in voting the required credits to give its de-
cision upon the effective force of the army. But the
question of cadres is distinct from that of the effective
force, and by no means operates upon it. In fact, the
cadres, as defined by the Ordinance of September 8, bear_
a proportion of no more than one-fourth to the effective
army. Hence it ensues, that when the Government
demands a credit for the maintenance of a certain
force, it belongs to the Chamber to grant or refuse
it ; but it is only upon the effective force it has
to decide, and not upon the organization of the cadres.
The Marshal concluded by saying, that before the end
of the year 1842 all the officers would be replaced, and
that at the present moment 309 had been already placed
on the list .of active service7-that was to say, of the
cadres of 300 companies,: 103 had bee? replaced. The
real force of the army, he said, was intact, for there
would be 504,000 disposable men on the reserve, but un-
paid, who would be reviewed twice a year, and always
ready for service.
M. Cousin then withdrew his amendment, and the
paragraph was carried without further-opposition.
The following paragraph was then read:—
" The extension of the commercial relations of France
is the object of your Majesty's solicitude. Negotiations
are proceeding by your order. Your profound wisdom
does not lose sight of the necessity of maintaining the
protection secured to national labour by a legislation
which, by guaranteeing the security of our agricultural
and manufacturing interests, has so powerfully contri=
buted to the wealth and prosperity of France."
The Marquis de Boissy asked the Minister for Foreign
Affairs if the proposed commercial treaty with Belgium
had been abandoned ? lie entreated him to put an end
to the alarm which the announcement of this treaty had,
said the Noble Peer, created in the country.
Count d'Argout said, the first principle of the ccifin;ry,
connected with industry, was protection—not permanent
and exaggerated protection, but such as would be suffi- ]
cient to preserve it from ruin by foreign competition..
The Noble Peer then took a review of the position of
Belgiuni, which had, he said, been brought to a financial
crisis by false speculation, and added, that althoUgh
from what he had said it was not to be laid down as a
principle 'that France could enter into no commercial
treaty with. Belgium,,still it would be well not to allow,
that country to indemnify itself for its recent losses at
the expense of the French nation. He concluded by
saying that it was impossible to make any new conces-
sions to Belgium without injury to the commercial inte-
rests of this country.
Baron Daunant now said, from his place, that he had
a proposition to submit to the Chamber, foUnded on Art.
15 of the law of March 25, 1822, in virtue of which he re-
quested the Chamber to call to its bar the responsible
Editor of a journal, who had that day inserted an insult-
ing article upon the Chamber. The Noble Peer having
ascended the tribune at the request of several Peers, then
said,—The Chamber, in the performance of its duties, is
habituated to calumny, but if it has frequently disdained
to punish, it has sometimes thought fit to repress insult
when too outrageous against one of the powers of the
State. - To-day, Gentlemen, I have to direct your atten-
tion to an article which attacks, in the highest degree,
the respect due to the Chamber. It is in the Siecle, and
is as follows :—" The public does not require to be in-
formed that the Chamber of Peers, although embellished
by the moderation of M. Merilhou, the gravity of M.
Viennet, and the profound wisdom of M. d'Alton Shee, has
been long absorbed in the importance of the Court ofPeers,
This reflection dispenses us from enlarging on the sort
of political' conversation which has taken place in the
Salon du LuxeMbourg on the occasion, on a piracy of
the speech from the throne, called the Address of. the
Chamber of Peers. We have, upon all that has been
said, only one regret to express; it is, that men who,
like the Prince de la Moskowa, show themselves to be •
animated by truly patriotic feelings, cannot make them-
selves heard at another tribune. We have also only one
remark to make; it is, that a certain Monsieur Boissy,
who has been created a Peer solely because he is rich, has
stated that amongst the enemies of the Government
figure in.the first line those who do not possess property.
It is a great crime, it seems, in the eyes of this person-
age and many others, not to possess vast domains and
rents like him. In fact, is it conceivable that people who
have nothisq, should be so audacious as to think that the

ALLEGED ABSTRACTION OF
DEAD BODIES.
On Friday a Special General Meeting of the Directors
and Guardians of the poor of the parish of St. Maryle-
bone, took place in the board-room of the - workhouse,
New-road, for the purpose of considering the Report of
a Committee appointed in November last, with respect to
the cases of the dead bodies of paupers sent, under the
.-10ers of the inspector-General appointed under the
Ai:se:aunty Act, to various Medical Schools, for anato-
mica.‘
.examination. •
Mr. \THRONE having been appointed to the Chair,
a letter rods read from the solicitor of Mr. Foster, a.
medical gelit,:r.unan and a vestryman of St. Marylebone,
who was in attOdance to support the application, pray-
ing to be furnishii.l !
with all the documents in the passes-
!
sion of the Board, as .7lso permission to have the evidence
of some of its officers in .the matter, in support of charges
made by him-the subject ::aving been taken up by the
Secretary of State for the blpme Department, and a.
Commission appointed to investigate it, before whom he
would have to appear by Counsel.
Mr. THORNE, the Secretary, proceeded to read the
Report of the Committee, which referred to the various
regulations adopted by the Board with respect to the
disposal of bodies of paupers under the Anatomy Act.
Amongst them were the following :—" That a pauper
dying in the workhouse, having no relation, should be
delivered up for the purposes of. anatomy. That no
officer be permitted to send a body for such purpose
without the Board, or at the least two membms;
of the Board, shall have ascertained that such enoo
c:-ime under the provisions of the 7th, ,Sth, and 9th sec-
dorm of the Anatomy Act ' and that bodies, after under-
going. examination, should be returned for the purposes
of Christia,n bdrial." The Committee, on instituting in-
quirieS; found that the resolution of the Board had been
adopted up to the 28th November, 1839, forty-sik
being removed. Since that period eight bodies had bevia
removed for the purpose of anatomy, from - that work-
house, none' of which the Committee regret to state had'.
been returned, and they, moreover, find that the !last-
mentioned eight bodies, viz.: Wm. Adamson, age4732 ;
Jas. Wormall, 72 ; Ann Jackson, 18 ; Eliz. Cansey, 64 ;
Eliz. Stevens, 56; Ann Groves, 50; Ann Stevens, 68;
and Sarah Cams, 52, have been interred in Globe-fields,
in the parish of Stepney, as appears by certificates pro-
duced to them. On the 24th of November last the
Committee had been attended by Mr. Foster, a Vestry-
Man, who stated he had charges to make against the me-
dical officers and master of the workhouse; as well as Dr..
Somerville, the Inspector of Anatomy, and particularly
with respect to the body of Elizabeth Stevens, her body
being sent out for dissection within twenty-four hour&
after death, to the Xinnerton-street School, in defiance
of the Anatomy Act, which prescribed forty-eight hours.
The c orn,,nittee found, with respect to this case, that the
subject died Pn the 22d of December, at one, -A.m., and was
removed on the 23d, at nine, P.M., forty-four hours after
death, and four lass than the Act required. Mr. roster
farther stated, that the body of Wm. Adamson was sent
out minus of head, thorax, and abdomen. The Committee
find that a Coroner's
.Inquest had been held on. this
body, its head. hating been examined, the anatomical
meaning of the terms "no head, thorax, and abdomen,"
being that these parts already examined, were anatomi-
cally :peaking of no further use to a teacher. The Re-
port, in conclusion, expressed the regret of the Com-
mittee that they were compelled to state that the nuts-•
ters of the workhouse have not been sufficiently careful
in carrying out the regulations of the Board, particalorly,
in allowing tWenty-eight bodies to be returned, without
provision being made for the remainder of the expense:
.of !the funerals, and also allowing the last eight-men--
Hones' bodies to be interred at tilobe-fields in unconse-
crated ground. Although such irregularities had taken.
:place, the Ccmmittee congratulated the,Board that they
could not again occur,,an order having
.been made
_pro-.
hibitine• any more bodies being given, up , for '.the pur-
poses of anatomy. Signed George Spencer. Smith,
Chairman, Nisbett Walpole Eyre, W. Artantlf and
Thomas .Langliam,..
Mr. FoTruit being called on to make any olEervations.;
he wished, said, in consequence. of the chargres lie
,(Mr,.
Foster) had made with respect to a Subject. Which was of.
such .vast importance to the public and to science, the
Secretary •of State had thought proper to appoint a com-
mission to investigate it, and Dr. Somerville, the Inspec-
tor of Anatomy, had employed Counsel, and thereforeit
was imperatiie on him to do'the same, as the question
• was to be conducted upon _the. dry spirit of the law. He
-had conic foravard from no private or party motives,
!but
upon strictly public grounds, for the benefit of science,.
the benefit of the poor, and the people at large. His.
object in appearing befbre them was to call upom them
as a public Board to assist him in so important an inquiry.
Ile had no doubt in the world of the truth of his allega-
tion, but he was called upon for proof; and he therefore
applied to the -Board for permission to use certificates
and documents in their possession, in order that ho
might be enabled to substantiate his case Wore the
Commissioners of the Secretary of State. He a;zain re-
peated he bad no sinister or personal motive in tire mat-
ter ; it was purely on public grounds. He thei•efore
hoped the. Board would not stand in the way of public
investigation. --
The report of the Committee having been adopted,.
The• Rev. E. SCODELL said the subject was one of the
greatest importance, in his opinion, that had ever come
under,public notice, and that Board, however 'it Might
be implicated, ought not to stand in the way of public.
inquiry. With regard to the disposal of the bodies in
.the ground at Globe-fields, he should like to know! in
what position the Board were to stand; whether or no
they were, as it were, to be put upon their trial betive
the Ecclesiastical Conimissioners.
Mr. FOSTER said-the Board could not possibly be im-
plicated in the question, as the disposal of the bodies had
taken place contrary to their regulations. It, however,
embraced the conduct of the Guardians of the Kensing-
ton Union, of the parishes of Shoreditch, St. Mary,
.Lambeth, and others, under the Poor-law, as well as the,
Administrator of the Anatomy Act. There was a slight;
error in the Report of the Committee, but which would
be very material before the Commissioners. In the case
of Elizabeth Stevens, the Report made the delivery of
the body on the 23d of December, whereas the certifi-
cate of the Kinnerton-street School he had seen, showed
that it was not received there till the 24th. The fact
was, that instead of being sent direct to the Kinnerton-

street School of Anatomy, University College had first
the benefit of it, that institution being made a species of
depot for subjects.
Mr. THORNE, the Secretary, said the documents re-
quired by Mr. Foster, as also the certificates, had pre-
viously been handed over to the Inspector of Anatomy,
for the purpose of being placed in the hands of the Se-
cretary of State.
Mr. FOSTER said that was very unfortunate, as those
documents and certificates were the very :things upon:
which his complaint was founded. He could not expect,
Dr. Somenille to use them otherwise than to support
his own case. He was therefor!' bound to 'produce the
best evidence he could, which he consideredwicarld,be a,
copy of the report read that day,. and the evidenee-of the
Secretary of the Board. : •; .

The CHAIRMAN considered the report would he'-a
-com-
plete answer. •

Mr. W. EYRE thought very differently.- It could not
be a complete answer, inasmuch as it showed great tic-
,gleet of duty.
In answer to other questions from members of the
Board,
Mr, FOSTER stated, that the Commission would not re-
ceive his single affirmation or oath, and, therefore, in the
absence of the certificates and other documents, the Re-

port, supported by the evidence of the Secretary, might
be sufficient.- If it was not, be should feel it his duty to
petition Parliament to appoint a Commission to call for
the production of all evidence, as he was determined not
to let the matter rest. If this were granted, he believed,
with the other evidence he possessed, he should be able

to make out his case, that Within a period of 17 months,
no less than 254 bodies of paupers had been deposited in
Globe-fields in defiance of the law, and that bodies had

been removed improperly for the purpose of profit.
The Rev. E. SCOBELL thought the Board were bound
to lend every endeavour in so important an inquiry, to
elucidate the facts, and he would move that the applica-
tion of Mr. Foster be acceded to.

Mr. ARTAND seconded the proposition. It was true
that with regard to the charges against the Inspector of
Anatomy they could have no control ; but he trusted,
with regard to the neglect of their own officers, it would
become a matter of future inquiry.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. W. EYRE was not opposed to giving every facility
to the inquiry; but as the correctness of the Report of
the Committee had been disputed, it ought to be sent
back to them.

Mr. SKINNER trusted such a proposition as the last
would not be contemplated, as it would entirely shackle
investigation on the part of the Board. If bodies were sent
from workhouses for such a purpose, they had no right
to be used improperly for the mere purposes of profit. Messrs. Perry, Eyre, Graves, and others addressed the
Board upon the subject ; and on the question being put,
the resolution was carried by a large majority.
The Board then separated. •

FIRE AT WOBURN Aii-------13Ey.—Con the evening
of the 13th, a fire was discovered in one of the servants'
rooms at Woburn Abbey. The floor was much 'burnt,
but within half an hour the fire was subdued without
izught have been much greitter,
any considerable damage. The activity and Coolness of
the servants essentially
.contributed to the extinction of
the fire, or the injury