The Sun.
London, England, 1842-06-20 00:00:00

PH +' Kik,' LONDON, SioNDA.4/Y ET.EiqiNd-, 3-4UNt 20, 1842.

was in the year 1696, in the reign of William the Third.
On that occasion, the House of Commons consented to
pay all the loss upon the silver coinage. The de-
preciation had been enormous, and the greatest con-
fusion prevailed ; so that the people were willing to
pay thing out of the public purse to get rid of
the inconvenience. He did not think that the
precedent of the re-coinage of William 111. was
to be followed out in all its circumstances; for it was
effected with great loss to the public, and was at-
tended with very great fraud. But did the Govern-
ment on that account throw the whole of the
loss in the next re-coinage upon the holders ?
He then came to the great re-coinage of gold in 1774.
When compensation was given to the holders accord-
ing to a plan for which Lord Liverpool referred them
to the books of the Treasury. Those books might
be printed for the use of Honourable Members
but he apprehended it would be expensive. The plan
the Government then adopted would be best stated
by the resolutions of the House of Commons, to
which he begged to call the attention of the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer.. The House of Com-
mons had a Committee of the whole House on
the subject ; and it was resolved that the gold
currency of guineas, half guineas, and quarter
guineas should be called in by degrees ; that certain
days should be appointed, after which the existing
gold coinage should not be received by any
collector of the public revenue ; and that
certain other days should be appointed after
which they should not be allowed to pass in any
manner whatever, but that they should be called in
and recoined, according to the established weight.
On the plan of calling in and recoining the
gold coinage, the public bore the loss aris-
ing both from the deficiency of weight and the
expense of recovering. He might not be able
to ascertain what the exact amount of the cost
was, but he found it stated, in Macpherson's An-
nals of Commerce, that in 1774, the sum of
46,0001. was the sum charged as the deficiency of
weight, without the charge of re-coining. In 1777,
he found a further sum of 105,0001. was put down,
for the expense, both of coinage and deficiency
of weight. He could not apportion this sum
between the two items, but there was one sum of
151,0001. for both. There was another instance
within their own recollection the great re-
coinage of silver in 1816. There was no gold
recoined in that year, but the silver was
more depreciated than had ever been known, and the
Government determined to call it all in, for the pur-
pose of recoinage. Did they then adopt the views of
the present Government, that it ought to be the
holders that should bear the loss ? No such thing.
They threw the loss on the public, provided
for it from the public fund of the country.
The amount of silver coin then in the realm WaS
2,500,0001., and it was stated in the Report that it
was depreciated no less than 30 per cent. The loss
upon the silver coin was therefore 750,0001., and it
was borne by the public. As he had the
advantage of addressing a Conservative Govern-
ment, who venerated the principles on which former
Tory Ministries, he would read the principles upon
which Lord Liverpool and the Government acted upon
that occasion. He (Lord Liverpool) said that with
regard to indemnity he felt disposed to propose, and
he was sure the House would adopt, the most liberal
principles. Their Lordships were aware that when a
new coin was issued in other countries, and the coin called
in the Government received the coin by weight, not
by tale, so that the public incurred the loss that was
occasioned by its circulation; but it became the Go-
vernment and Legislature of this country to be
more liberal. Such was the language of Lord
Liverpool before the Bill was brought in, by
which it was proposed, that the silver should be
received at its current value, and called in. That was
the principle on which the Government proceeded,
and he found the same principle laid down
in this House, by a great authority, the
then Master of the Mint, Mr. Wellesly Pole, who
said " that when the people had no alternative but to
receive the coin in circulation it would be ahardship to
allow them to suffer from the fault of the Government,
and he should, therefore, propose the exchange of all
the coin." And that proposition was made. when the
coin was depreciated not 21 per cent., but 30 per cent.
—(Hear, hear, hear.) He (Mr. 'Wellesley Pole)
said, that while he was anxious to preserve the
public from such loss, he was desirous that in-
dividuals should suffer as little as possible. It
was, however, impossible to prevent many persons
from sustaining loss by withdrawing the coin from
circulation, but it was the duty of Government to
make the loss as little as possible. Persons were ap-
pointed to give money of the full weight to those
who held the depreciated coin, but perhaps
the Government would say that the precedent of
Lord Liverpool in 1816 was against him, and
one that should deter the Tory Government of
this time from following it, but it must
be recollected that the case of the Go-
vernment of that time was fifteen times
stronger than it is now, and the depreciation was
30 per cent., and not 2 per cent. as at present.
He had heard it stated in defence that that course was
not pursued with regard to the gold coinage. Now
the coinage of gold at that time could not be drawn
into a precedent, because it was a new coinage. He
had stated, that while he condemned the course adopted
dy the Government, he would point out S the course
he thought they ought to pursue ; they ought to
have adopted the course as near as possible
that was adopted on a former recoinage. It
had been said on behalf of the Government, that
if they gave a full-weight sovereign for a light one,
it would in effect be a premium upon clipping
the coin. He granted that the depreciation of the
coin was an evil ; but it was an evil that
did not require to be put a stop to in a
moment. What had alarmed everybody was the
Government, declaring that the coin was light. '
If the Government had, when it found the
sovereign light one-half per cent., called it
in, and issued a full weight sovereign for
it, it would not have cost the country more than
90,0001.. At that depreciation they might have
stopped, and then the public would have known
what course to pursue. He believed if the Go-
vernment had taken proper precautions they
might have prevented the depreciation of the coin.
He thought that the loss of 9,0001. in ten or twenty
years would have been an infinitely smaller evil than
the discrediting the whole gold coin of this
country. He now came to the manner in
which the Government had acted, and the circum-
stances under which the proclamation had been issued.
The Government seemed to have issued its proclamation
as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
Not a word of previous explanation had been given
to the public ; without any notice the whole gold
coinage was discredited ; men were sent away with
their sovereigns, parties refusing to take them, and no
explanation was oftered by the Government until the
questien was mooted on that side of the House. He
knew it might be said that conduct of that kind would
tend to make the public cautious about taking
money. Why, there could not be a greater evil,
than that of exciting suspicion with respect to the
coinage.—(Hear.) To set every one upon weighing
sovereigns and half-sovereigns, would cause the
greatest confusion in commercial transactions, and
cause a great waste of time and labour to the
public.—(Hear, hear.) The system of the middle
ages would be revived, and every man would
be compelled to take with him a Jew with a pair of
scales for the purpose of weighing what he had to
receive, for the purpose of ascertaining that it
was of the proper value. The country had for
some time been free from this monstrous
evil that no complaint had been heard, and all sus-
picion had in fact been lulled to sleep. The
recent events had led some to exclaim that
the only way to remedy the evil was to re-
store the good old one-pound notes. He
confessed he should be very unwilling to have recourse
to such an extreme remedy. In 1816 the gold coin
was called in, but the public mind was then prepared
for it, and a good silver coinage was substituted.
Notice was then given all over the country that the
coin should be brought in on a certain day,
when the old coin would be changed for new.
The whole was done in a very short time, and
without loss. There was no new 'coinage now
to supply the place of the old, and no precautions
whatever had been taken to enable the public to change
the old coin for new, which ought to have
been done even if the holders had had to
incur the loss of the depreciation, which
he thought they ought not to do. Now what
had the Government done towards providing new
coin in substitution for the old ? Why they had
issued a proclamation for a new coinage for half.
farthings.—(A laugh.)
[LEFT SPEAKING.]

TATTERSALL'S-THIS EVENING.
IX O'CLOCK.

NORTHUMBERLAND PLATE.

5 to 1 agst Shadow
6 to 1 agst Beeswing.
GOoDWOOD PLATE.
9 to 1 agst Welfare
10 to 1 agst Daddy Longlegs.
GOoDWOOD CUP.
7 to 1 agst Middleham—taken
10 to 1 agst Nautilus—taken.

An accident from phosphoric matches occurred a
t
few days since near Versailles. Two persons were travelling
in an open cart, when the suddenly
bottom, and communicating to suddenly were alarmed by furious
flames bursting through
their pantaloons.. They instantly sprung in haste to the ground,
and had scarcely
the vehicle, even to the wheels, was involved in the fire, and
time to get the horse out of the shafts before
the whole were consumed before any endeavours could be made
to stop it. The matches, the ignition of which had caused
the accident, were in a basket, Atte er things, at the bottom
of the cart.

MOVEMENTS OF THE ORDNANCE
CORPS IN CANADA.

A private letter, dated Montreal, May 28, has been received
at Woolwich, and contains the following account of the changes
about to take place in Canada —Major Furneaux's company of
the Royal Artillery was to march on the 31st of May from
Montreal to Chambly, when Captain Cater's company, sta-
tioned there, would immediately proceed to Kingston. Major
Armstrong's company will arrive at Montreal on the 31st May,
and he assumes the command of the Artillery in that district
on the Ist June, vice Lieutenant-Colonel Macbean, who pro-
ceeds to England with his family, about the 4th or sth of June,
in the Douglas, for London. Major-General Sir James A.
Hope, K. C. 8., having arrived at Quebec, by the Acadia, to
take the command of the district, Lieut.-General Sir James
Macdonnell, K. C. 8., and K. C.H., who lately held the com-
mand, will embark in the ship Douglas on her arrival at
Quebec, for a passage to England. The Governor-General, Sir
C. Bagot, G.G.8., arrived at Montreal on the 21st May, and
was received by the inhabitants in the most enthusiastic man-
ner, arches having been erected in the streets, with other de-
monstrations of loyalty and approbation.
Captain Hill, and a detachment of Major Harrison's company,
left Montreal for Amherstberg, to relieve Capt. Sheppard and
a detachment of Major Otway's company, on the '29th May.
Major Otway's company will proceed to Quebec on the arrival
of Captain Cater's company at Kingston.
Major Harrison goes to Kingston, and Captain Glasgow,
with Lieutenant-Colonel Colquhoun's company to Montreal,
to await the arrival of the companies from England, when he
goes to Quebec, as there will be one of the new companies
stationed at Montreal with Major Armstrong's company, and
the ether at Quebec, with Lieetenant•Colonel Colquhoun's
company.

Colonel Campbell and Lieutenant Townsend are at Kingston.
The Colonel is on the Board still sitting respecting the fuel sup-
plied to the troops, and it is expected the members of the Board
will have to go over all our military stations in Canada before
their labours are concluded. Captain Wodehouse and Lieut.
Wright will immediately proceed to England. Lieutenant
Fitzgerald remains at Chambly for three months, and does
duly with Major Furneaux's company at that station.
From other private sources it is understood the whole of the
officers of the Royal Engineers and the Sappers and Miners
under their command, will be withdrawn from Canada. It was
at first intended that these troops should have been removed
direct to Gibraltar, but in consequence of the Admiralty
having represented that a passage for them would be attended
with greater inconvenience than to England, it has been re-
solved to send a company from this country to Gibraltar, and
that the others in Canada return home to occupy the vacant
station, which will be at Chatham, in the event of the 11th
company being selected for foreign service.

MAJOR-GENERAL ELPHIN-
STONE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—I shall feel very much obliged by your inserting the
accompanying letter, addressed to the Morning Advertiser,
in your valuable paper ; and remain, Sir, your most obedient
servant, COLIN HALKETT, Lieut.-General.
United Service Club, June 16.
Copy of a Letter from Lieut.-General Sir Cohn Halkett,

G.C.8., to the editor of the Morning Advertiser.
" United Service Club, June 16.
" Sir,—My attention has only just been called to a letter
signed T. M.,' which appeared in your paper of Thursday
last, reflecting on the conduct of Major-General Elphinstone
at Waterloo. My name having been alluded to in the above
statement, I feel myself bound to state that as I did not leave
the field, in consequence of my wound, until the close of the
battle, I had an opportunity of observing the conduct of the
whole division, the command of which had devolved upon me
earlier in the day in consequence of the wound of Lieut.-
General Count Alten, and that I am warranted in stating
that there is no ground at all for the assertions made against
the conduct of Major-General Elphinstone—on the contrary,
his behaviour was in every respect that of a gallant officer.
" I did not accompany the division on its march to Paris ;
but in consequence of the Major of Brigade having been killed,
and there being no staff-officer with the sth Brigade, I ordered
my senior aide-de. camp, Capt. Marshall, to accompany Major-
General Elphinstone, on whom the command had devolved;
and on the Captain's return to me at Brussels his report was
entirely favourable to Major-General Elphinstone.
" I beg. therefore, distinctly to state that the allegations in
the letter of T. M.' as to what occurred during the battle are
false and ungrounded; and of what is stated to have taken
place during the march to Paris I never heard one word until
the publication in your paper of Thursday last was brought to
my notice. The enclosed letter from Lieutenant-General Sir
Peregrine Maitland, who commanded the brigade of Guards,
sets that part of the subject at rest.
" Requesting you will be pleased to give these letters an
early insertion in your paper,
" I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
" COLIN HALKETT, Lieutenant-General.
" P. S. The accompanying letter from Lieutenant-Colonel
Harty, commanding the 33d Regiment, has also been trans-
mitted to me.

" Southwick-crescent, June 14.
" Dear Sir Colin,—An anonymous publication has been sub-
mitted to me, in which an officer commanding a regiment in
your brigade at Waterloo is stated to have quitted his corps
, when they were compelled to retire, and, instead of endeavour-
ing to rally them, to have made the best of his way to the
nearest square of Guards ; and, further, that he was then repri-
manded by the officer commanding the Guards, and desired to
go back to his regiment. In justice to Lieutenant-Colonel,
now Major General Elphinstone, the officer respecting whom
the statement is made, I feel myself called upon to assure you
that I was so situated in respect to the square in question during
the whole day, that had an officer from another corps had any
communication with it, I could scarcely fail to have been aware
of it ; but neither I, nor, as far as I can find, any other officer
of the Guards present in the battle, either witnessed or heard
of the circumstance related by the anonymous writer until the
paragraphs in his letter were submitted to them.
" I remain, dear Sir Colin, yours faithfully,
"P. M A ITL AND.
" To Lieutenant-General Sir C. Halkett, G.C.8."
" 11, Promenade-villas, Cheltenham, June 14.
"My dear Parkinson,—l am grieved to find that the Morn-
ing Advertiser, of the 9th, has made a malicious and false
attack on our old and good commanding officer, General
Elphinstone, and hope you intend to write to the Editor, con-
tradicting the whole statement. I can state positively that I
had the honour of serving under him as Captain on the 16th,
17th, and 18th of June, and while the regiment remained in
France, and never saw a soldier more cool and possessed of
more courage than he exhibited on all occasions while in com-
mand of the regiment, and that part of the paragraph which
states that the men on the line of march up to Paris called
him a coward, is equally untrue. It never came to my know-
ledge that such a scandalous assertion had ever been made re-
specting him till it appeared in this newspaper. There is not a
shadow of a ground for any of these charges again3t our old
commanding officer, and therefore 1 hope you will not allow such
falsehoods to remain uncontradicted. Ever truly yours,
" J. M. HARTY, Lieutenant-Colonel,
" Commanding 33d Regiment.
" To Colonel Parkinson, C. 8."

THE KIRK.
(From the London Correspondent of the Scotsman.)
Two of the great apostles of the agitation—Doctors Candlish
and Buchanan—were deputed to London, to proselytise Members
of Parliament. They arrived in the metropolis, per steamer
from Leith, with a cargo of the pamphlets and publications of
the General Assembly. These active and zealous missionaries,
to do them justice, disseminated far and wide their paper and
print. " The Claim, Declaration, and Protest of the General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland," in a goodly quarto type,
and" the Church of Scotland's Claim of Right; to which are
prefixed the speeches of Dr. Chalmers, Dr. Gordon, and Mr.
Dunlop, in the General Assembly, in support of the same,
May 24, 1842," were duly on the breakfast-table of every
Member of the House of Commons this morning—whether
Tory, 'Whig, or Radical. Nor did they confine their la-
bours to this dissemination of tracts. They got Mr. Fox
Maule to sign a circular to two hundred Members of Par-
liament, inviting the Representatives of the people to hear their
" sweet voices" this afternoon on the grievances of the Kirk,
at the British Coffee-house, Cockspur-street, Westminster.
But, with the usual fatality attending the agitators, the hour
named was unfortunately two o'clock—affording only two hours
for the "explanations," as the House of Commons meets at
four o'clock. Clergymen are apt to be long in their discourses;
and the two hours, as might have been imagined, did not suffice
for a patient hearing of Drs. Candlish and Buchanan ! The
meeting, thus ill-advisedly convened, was an utter failure. Not
more than two dozen Members of the House of Commons at-
tended this funeral service of the Kirk. The paucity of at-
tendance evidently much abashed and discomfited the agitators.
Their select vestry was composed of equal parts of Tory, Whig,
and Radical, English, Scotch, and Irish M.P.'s; of Scotch
Non-Intrusionists, English Saints, and Irish Presbyterian Pro-
testants—a motley jury to hold an inquest on the suicide of the
Kirk ! I must, however, do Dr. Candlish the justice to say,,
that after he had recovered his breath from the panic of this
miserably thin audience, he earnestly and eloquently descanted
on the text of his mission for an hour and a quarter. The
reverend improvisatore ably and fervently handled the Non-
Intrasion history, from its commencement in 1834 to theprcsent
hour. Dr. Candlish was to have been followed and backed up by
his fellow-apostle Buchanan ; but Mr. T. Id. G. Escourt (the
Member for Oxford University, arid a Doctor of Civil Law),
j putting some hard questions on the sentiments of the Kirkites
in regard to civil and ecclesiastical law, an interlocutory dis-
cussion followed Dr. Candlish's long sermon, which occupied so
much of the only remaining half-hour, that the meeting broke
up on an intimation from Hon. Members that in all probability
there would he " no house" unless all the M.P.'s present im-
mediately departed to attend in their places in the House of
Commons! This notable assembly, therefore, was prema-
turely dissolved, and adjourned sine die to St. Stephens. The
scene then resembled the drawing up of the curtain for a new
opera, where the manager comes on the stage and announces
—" Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to say that the prima donna
is so seriously indisposed, that she cannot possibly appear
before you this evening but at the risk of her life." A snore
ludicrous juggle never took plaee. The actors in this mum-
mery had been cautioned that the trick would be played, hut,
like the sceptics, could not be induced to believe. Thus are
the Non-Intrusionists fairly floored by the wily Premier and
by false friends, and thus is all legislation cushioned !

THE LATE EXTRAORDINARY INTREPIDITY or A
Boy.—The extraordinary instance of intrepidity and heroic
conduct of the little boy, Joseph Lague, in saving the life
of another, the particulars relating to which were detailed in
this journal of Thursday last, has been rewarded in a man-
ner which speaks highly for the liberality of the English
public. On Saturday morning Mr. Berkley Westropp, the
Secretary to the Royal Humane Society, waited upon the
authorities of St. Pancras workhouse, to collect the particu•
Lars of the case, with a view to lay it before the Governors
of that Institution, in order that the poor boy may receive
therefrom a suitable reward. The boy and his mother, who
is in the receipt of parochial relief, being a widow with seven
children, was introduced to Mr. Westropp, and he expressed
himself highly pleased with the poor little fellow's appear..
ance. On Thursday evening, in consequence of the para-
graph in the newspapers, two gentlemen in a cab called at the
house of Mrs. Lague, No. 4, Oxford-terrace, King's-road, and
presented her with the sum of 11. 155., 10e. of which was to go
towards buying the boy some clothes, and bs. to be placed in his
name in the savings' bank. They promised to call again, and
on the mother showing them the book, proving that the deposit
had been made, that they would made it up to something hand-
some. On Friday morning an elderly gentleman, in his car-
riage, called at St. Pancras Workhouse, and expressed a great
desire to see the boy. He was sent for by the porter, and on
seeing him, the gentleman took off his glove and shook him
cordially by the hand, and gave him a sovereign, promising to
see him again and do something for him. Another person pre-
sented the mother with 15s. for his use, and in the various
public-houses about Camden-town subscriptions are in course
of being collected.

M. Duptu:z.—This celebrated tenor singer, so long
known at Paris as the premier sr jet of the Grdnd Opera, is
now in London. Whether he comes with a view to any pro-
fessional engagement, or whether his journey hither is merely
for recreation, has not yet positively transpired, but the general
belief is that he has accepted an engagement with Mr. Charles
Kemble, and that he will make his debut as a singer in the
English language at Covent-garden next season. There is a
rumour that he has been already offered an engagement at her
Majesty's Theatre, and that Otello was to be his first character,
Rubini having kindly consented to take the comparatively small
part of Roderigo.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION HOUSE.

THE MinnEnx OF THE 5001. BILL.—We published
lately an account of an application made by Mr. Hum-
phreys, the solicitor, for a warant against a person named
John Alves, who was charged with having stolen a bill
for 5001., the property of two ladies of high respectability-,
who entrusted him with it to discount. The bill, it will
be recollected, got into the hands of a person named
Bowie, who keeps a grocer's shop in Shoe-lane, and
who stated to the ladies that he had advanced 2001. to
Alves upon it, and was to give 2001. more to that indi-
vidual in the course of the day, reserving to himself
100/. for the accommodation ; and subsequently Bowie
offered to restore it to the ladies if they would hand
over to him the- 2001. he declared he had advan-
ced, and the one' hundred pounds interest, to which
he considered himself entitled by virtue of his arrange-
ment with Alves. The ladies, however, who happened
to have clever advisers after they got into the hobble, re-
fused to pay one farthing, and Mr. Humphreys, the soli-
citor, gave notice to Bowie not to negotiate or part with
the bill, under any circumstances, as it had been stolen
by Alves.

On Saturday Mr. Humphreys waited upon the Lord
Mayor, and informed his Lordship that an anonymous let-
ter had been received, enclosing the 5001. bill. The ladies,
Mr. Humphreys said, were most grateful to his Lordship
for the assistance rendered to them on so important an
occasion.

The LORD MAYOR said he was happy that the stolen
bill had been recovered, as no doubt its restitution would
save the ladies a great deal of disagreeable trouble. His
Lordship, however, regretted that the person who had
stolen it had escaped.