The Sun.
London, England, 1829-09-05 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Among many articles put forth by the Paris
Journals, wherein advantage is one day taken of
the inveterate prejudice against England to as-
sault the Polignac Ministry, on the stupid pre-
tence of its connexion with that of the Duke of
Wellington, and next day a similar use is made
of hatred against the Ministry, to found on it
some tirade against England, we have met with
a performance in the Journal du Commerce,
which approaches more to the true character of
harum-scarum than most other effusions of ab-
surdity since the days when Buonaparte was
wont to avenge his wrongs from British bayonets
and cannon, by invectives upon our subsidies,
frauds, and shopkeepers. The article begins
with abusing confidential interviews, tete-a-
tetes, &c., as the only means by which the new
Administration can manage to get on, and then
contrives to slip into a lecture upon the compa-
rative evils of a war to the respective interests of
Great Britain and France, should there take
place between these Powers a collision, which
the speculating Journalist seems ardently to pray
for, though we cannot flatter him that his wishes
are likely just at present to be realized. His
first paragraph respecting England is a faithful
transcript of some ten thousand others, which
people of a certain age, like ourselves, used to
dwell upon with signal satisfaction, from the
year 1803 to 1815, while the First Consul, af-
terwards his Imperial Majesty, was (irrespon-
sible) editor ofthe whole French press. England,
it appears, is now, what it was the Buonaparte-,
joke to call her, " mistress of the commercial
world, by the fortified points which she has
usurped on all coasts, and in all seas, either by
fraud or violence." There is not " a single na-
tion, whom she does not force to receive her
produce ! or whose industry she does not anni-
hilate by treaties, payment of subsidies ! terror,
smuggling," &c., &c., &c. It looks as if a given.
quantum of rigmarole was required for the di-
gestion of such readers as draw their political
nutriment from the Journal du Commerce.
The industry of other nations destroyed by sub-
sidies, now in the time of peace ! That Eng-
lish industry might indeed be destroyed by such
subsidies, were she fool enough to pay them,
we can understand ; but how the opposite case is
made out, we have yet to learn from the Jour-
nal a'u Commerce. Other countries forced to
receive English produce ! How ? prythee
friend, do indulge us with the recipe forforcing
produce upon a foreign nation ! Teaching ca-
licoes to emigrate instead of weavers, would be
to solve a problem by which Manchester is grie-
vously puzzled. But next in the Paris disserta-
tion comes a war. A war is that blessing for
which France, we are told, ought to sigh—and
England, throughout all her looms, to tremble.
It appears to this statesman that a war between
the two countries (for which, by the way, he
assigns neither cause nor pretext to either
of the belligerents) must be followed by gain
to France, and loss to Great Britain, in all
their most essential interests. That France
would recover her manufactures, carrying on her
trade by neutral ships, is a postulate with the
Journal du Commerce. There is, to be sure,
a principle in the law of nations, for which
England has contended, and sometimes, mayhap,
with success, that enemy's goods are not pro-
tected by the flag under which they travel. But
this maxim, says the article-writer, England
would no longer be permitted by neutral states,
and especially by those of North America, to
enforce against French productions. We shall
follow the Parisian writer no farther than to say,
that lie indites foolish words, and in a spirit
which is worse than foolish. Both countries
would lose dreadfully by a war. By a wanton
war, they would sin beyond forgiveness ; and
what other could arise between France and Eng-
land at this hour ? We do not profess to look
far into futurity, but if there be two powers in
the world, whose solid interests, prevailing
and
ot anyk eon t her sto
friendship prolong
beaitsi:
notoeane
itsiettnatilltiees:mmo
opi-
nions, kindred intelligence, and reciprocal feel-
ings, appear to us better calculated than those
handful and
E i an d
of areictuhreayb. e Itmif:luorFermortaruhdi
rieicsae of a
cl
cupi-
dity of some dozen of sordid projectors--no,
nor the blind madness of a suddenly excited
mob—that will break the international harmony
which reigns between the two most enlightened
nations of the universe. Even the Ministers
who sought to plunge these great communities
into discord, if any such Ministers could be
chosen, would not long retain the office which
they so abused. The nature of things, as well
as happiness of mankind, is against such insane
and atrocious projects. The following is the
article to which we have been adverting :
(From the Journal du Commerce.)

The creatures of the raew Administration are
every where at the search for popularity for their
idols. The press is not their favourite arm to com-
bat the too just prejudices of public opinion ; it is
in confidential interviews and tete-a-tetes that they
endeavour to captivate approbation. Open enemies
to the general interest of the country, they hope to
rally to their cause some local or personal interest,—
some old prejudices that they think are still alive
amongst certain classes of society. They extol to
commercial men the advantages they may expect
from a Ministry in harmony with the English Go-
vernment, and which may preserve from the dangers
of a collision with a Power capable of ruining our
establishments and exportations.

One of our most celebrated and important manu-
facturers answered lately similar insinuations by the
following reflections, which he has communicated to
us in writing :
Mistress of the commercial world, by the for-
tified points which she has usurped on all coasts and
in all seas, either by fraud or violence, England has
made the universe a colony of her industry. There
is not a single nation whom she does not force to
receive her produce, or whose industry she does not
annihilate by treaties, payment of subsidies, terror,
or by a system of smuggling boldly and resolutely
carried on.

" But let us investigate what would become of
this prosperity in case of a serious war with France,
supported by the latter, not under the inspiration
of a conqueror more biassed by motives of personal
ambition than the prosperity of France, but with
that energy which denotes a free people. What
have we to suffer, what compensations can the two
nations hope for ?
" In regard to France, at the very worst, she
would be deprived of almost the totality of a very
weak and unprosperous share in commerce; she
would be obliged to sell her merchantmen to neutral
powers,—to borrow their flags. Nantes, Marseilles,
Bordeaux, Havre, might certainly suffer from the
war, though, after all, their losses might be com-
pensated by the advantage of commerciug with tl:e
neutral states, and of prosecuting a system of
making prizes, which, with the help of the new
inventions now in use, might prove very fatal to
England. And, indeed, we are modest enough to
mention nothing of our military navy, which ap-
pears to be on a very respectable footing, and caN
pable of annoying the British navy on all seas, or at
least to oppose it in the Mediterranean, where our.
forces would be concentrated—a circumstance which

ould necessitate enormous expenses on the part of
England, in order to combat such numerous fleets at
so great a distance.

t7We allow, also, that in the supposition of war,
France might lose the colonies of Bourbon and Pon=
dicherry; but the former, without Mauritius, is a
very insignificant possession; and in regard to Mar-
tinique and Guadaloupe, it is a well-known fact that
the delivering our finances of such a burden would
be far from being a matter of regret.
" However, what numerous compensations f✓r
such losses, if even they deserve the name, in the
prizes made on the English commerce, the richest
of the world ! Certainly all the chances of war are
in our favour, for on sea we cannot be worse, and
in a more circumscribed position, than at present ;
and on land our coast and national guards would se-
cure our own territory against all enterprises. But,
in fact, we should really be the gainers ; the restora-
tion of our manufactures and industry, oppressed as
well as those of other countries by the rivalry of the
English,—our fabrics of cotton, wool, silk, and cloth,
liberated from the state of distress in which they now
languish,—►the prosperity of our indigenous sugar-
manufactories,—and, finally, the neutral powers af-
fording us materials at the same price we pay now.
Let no one be frightened by the pretended blockades
of England,—by her maxim that the flag does not
protect the goods, and that the sea is her sovereign
domain,--for she would be unable to enforce the
execution of such maxims without going to war with
all nations, and especially with North America, more
interested and therefore more ardent than any others
to repulse such haughty pretensions.
" Now let us turn to England. Obliged to pro-
tect by armed convoys each kind of merchandise
that she may import to maintain her industry, and
all the produce of her manufactories labouring under
insurance fees and shackles of every species, she
would never support the rivalry of the neutral power
disengaged from all such embarrassments,—she
would see her commerce failing, her industry lan-
guishing, and her enormous debt increasing daily.—
Such a state of general disquietude probing her in-
terior wounds would make still more terrible the
permanent apprehension of an invasion; and by
finding new chances of success in the irritation of
Ireland, which, from one moment to another, might
see another Hoche instead of Humbert enter Ban-
try-bay.
" Let, then, the English nation reflect well ! If
she be arrived at the zenith of power and glory, it
ie that before all others she recovered the charter of
her rights and enjoyed the fruits of wise liberty,
whilst Europe was fettered by ignorance and servi-
tude : it is that her government, though often making
use of means contrary to justice and humanity, has
constantly had in view the national weal, and not
the paltry consideration of coteries and private inte-
rest. But let her tremble to endanger such advan-
tages by a blind obstinacy, to monopolize liberty to
herself, and by endeavouring to repress the efforts
of the noble nations who aspire at the imitation of
her exam p I e."— Times.

The Dublin Evening Post of Tuesday last
has a long article on the state of the South of
Ireland, which is deserving of attention. After
some compliments to Major Carter, the Chief
Magistrate of Police appointed for Tipperary,
who, says our Dublin Contemporary, " will not
be under the necessity of making appeals to the
musket on the occurrence of a row at a fair, and
he will not unnecessarily cause blood to flow
because a coarse jest may be played off, or even
an insult may happen to be offered to a Police
Constable," he proceeds to observe—
" As to the mode of conducting the late trials, it
is idle to pretend that there is not amongst high men
too, a strong feeling of surprise. For ourselves we
have never insinuated—for we never entertained the
thought, nor do we at this moment, that the Solici-
tor-General was actuated by any motives but those
of the worthiest kind—nor will all the absurd pane-
gyric which has been heaped upon him by the
Orange papers, remove the favourable impression
which we have received of the honour and integrity
of the man. But with this feeling, thus unequivo-
cally expressed, we are amongst those who think
that, in conducting the prosecutions, he took a very
mistaken course. In the first place, it was inju-
dicious to have all the juries Protestants. The same
result would occur, perhaps, if they were mixed—if
an equal number of each profession were suffered
to be sworn. But in these trials, the Catholics
were universally challenged by the agent for the prose-
cution—by whose duty it was to obtain a conviction,
if the nature of the evidence was such as to justify
twelve honest men in coming to such a conclusion.
What right had Mr. Solicitor-General to suppose
that Catholics would not give a true verdict accord-
ing to the evidence ? He had no right, and no
ground farsuch asupposition; and we are persuaded,
when this matter comes before Parliament, that Mr.
Doherty himself will he one of the first indignantly
to disclaim any intention of doubting the sacredness
of a Catholic's oath. We remember when Lord
Plunkett was Attorney-General, there was a trial
in Green-street of some fellows for administering
unlawful oaths. It was at the time of the Ribbon
system, as it was called, which was spreading from
the County of Kildare into the county and even
into the city of Dublin. There was considerable
agitation and alarm at the time. When the Jury
were called, Mr.. Kemmis, the Crown Solicitor for
the Leinster circuit, objected, as usual, to Catholics.
He was stopped, however, immedia►ely by the At-
torney-General. Catholics were placed upon the
Jury, and the Ribbonmen were convicted. But
the very case we report this day will satisfy any
reasonable man, that it was injudicious in the Crown
to object to Catholics. Mr. Sheil certainly took a
wise course for his clients, for the cause of justice,
and, we will add, for the peace of the country. The
case was as between Protestant and Catholic—the
Jury were composed of Protestants and Catholics.
Mr. Shiel failed in convicting the prisoner—but
whit was the consequence ? that the prosecutors,
the Judge, and the public were perfectly well satis-
fied with what was done."

The following aie strictures on the mode in
which the Solicitor-General conducted the trial,
he having been, as Mr. Justice Moore said from
the Bench, " Counsel for the prosecution and
for the defence at the same time." If, he adds,
" the Solicitor-General acted from instructions,
then we say, and we make this declaration, too,
with equal pain, Government is answerable for
the consequences, whatever they may, likely
to arise
,fronz the conduct which has been pur-
sued. The Evening Mail would insinuate—
indeed it states the proposition very broadly—
that we are the organ of the Government. There
was a time, we confess, in which, for the sake of
the country—to leave personal considerations
out of the question—we should not be sorry for
the imputation. We sustained occasionally, it
is true, but zealously—and we have every rea-
son to believe with considerable success—the
cause of the Government against the faction by
which it was beset. In doing so, we felt we
were sustaining our own cause and that of the
country—that we were advocating, and in the
most practical manner, the cause of Catholic
Emancipation, to which the energies of our life,
and our talents, such as they were, ihad been
pledged, almost since our boyish days.

- • • • • • • • •
If the Government choose to pursue what has
been called the stern path of duty, by maintain-
ing tlt9 Protestant Ascendancy, after the Relief
Bill wa4-YOsed, we really think that it would do
a,wiii-tbink by making an organ of such influ-
-1444
4.t4, vecial medium of its commu-
;iititti6hs.- t-,„! , the world. If it have gone
,'-r4uri'4,tcY'i;the Even* Mail, as one would
-,.. led: .:to_ believq iby perusing the recent
it
licks --, 14'. tho jcourpal; let the thin be known

~'

and avowed. We shall then know precisely the
ground. For ourselves, our path is plain. We
have never been such Utopians as to expect un-
mixed good from any Government. But this
we say, that it would be better to have a Govern-
ment with a distinctive character, than one that
vacillates with every wind of doctrine.' " Be-
fore offering any observations on these state-
ments, we quote the following from a corres-
pondent of the Standard of yesterday ;—" And
that Government organ (the Dublin Evening
Post) goes on to account for the restoration of
confidence, by stating as the reason, that they
know he (Major Carter) never ordered the po-
lice to murder the people. The confidence of
the peasantry of Tipperary,' indeed ! As well
might the Government of Sydney expect con-
fidence from the bush-rangers, or the native
aborigines, as the Irish Administration, or any
who have to administer law or justice, that of the
more savage, because half-civilized, barbarians of
Tipperary. Munster has always been remark-
able for the savage atrocities there perpetrated by
the most Popish (for in this, after all, will the
only true cause of the difference be found) por-
tion of the Irish people. It is there only, and
in the counties appertaining to the other pro-
vinces which have the geographical misfor-
tune to be contiguous to it, that the peasants
meet at their fairs, patrons, and other places of
business, and convert scenes of traffic into battle-
fields. It is there only that Captain Rock, or
the insurgent principle under some other equally
absurd denomination, has ruled for ages. It is
there only that a combination against the land-
lord's right to dispose of his land as he pleases,
becomes part of a general system in which all
classes join." The case which has given rise to
these comments on both sides, has nothing to
do with Protestant Ascendancy. But the
Landholders of Tipperary are, generally speak-
ing, we suppose, as in most parts of Ireland,
Protestants. A system of intimidation has noto-
riously been acted on in Tipperary, and that sys-
tem, if inquired into, will be found to have its
origin in a very natural cause—a desire on the
part of the peasantry to exist. " The general
cause of outrages (said Mr. Barrington, solici-
tor for the Munster Circuit) was the changing
the possession of lands, one tenant being put in,
and another tenant being put out." Now as we
observed in commenting on this evidence, " the
putting a tenant out in Ireland, is putting him
out of existence." The police are unpopular in
Ireland, because the police execute the law ; and
the law is unpopular in Ireland, because it is an
engine in the hands of the rich to destroy the
poor. The " landlord's right to dispose of his
land as he pleases," is resisted by a combina-
tion, who have a common interest of the
strongest kind—no less than their lives—in pre-
venting him from disposing of his land as he
pleases. If the landlords were Mahometans or
Jews, and the tenants Catholics, there would be
a Mahomedan or Jewish ascendancy ; for it is
natural that landlords, hostilely opposed to the
tenants, will select policemen (for in this coun-
try landlords and magistrates are synonirnous
and the police must, ex necessitate, be creatures
of the Magistrates), who sympathise with the
tenants as little as possible. But it is an abuse
of terms to call this a Protestant Ascendancy in
a religious sense ; it is a landholder ascendancy,
accidentally Protestant, as it might have been
Catholic or Jewish. Now, with respect to the
trials of the policemen, we have no hesitation in
saying, that Government dared not commit the
policemen to the chance of a conviction. The
police officers either did or did not misconduct

,hemselves. It was the business of Government

to institute an inquiry with a view to ascertain
how the facts stood. If the result of such
inquiry proved that the officers misconducted
themselves, they ought at once to have been
abandoned by Government to theirfate. But if the
result showed that they were innocent, then it
was the duty of Government to protect them,
and not to join in proceedings against them
which, if conducted as in England, would, in all
probability, end in their condemnation. The

Dublin Evening Post talks of Catholic and
Protestant Jurors. 'Would it be safe, in a case
of such extent as that at Borris-o'kane, in Ca-

tholic Jurors to acquit the Police men ? Where
there intimidation it of course extends to all who
can be intimidated ; and we should suppose
the feeling of the peasantry against a Catholic
Juror or witness against them would be stronger
than against a Protestant Juror or witness, be-
cause he would be looked on as an apostate or
traitor. Jury trials in a county like Tipperary
are a farce, and a cruel farce—laying, as they do,
a foundation for endless vengeance. Mr. Do-
herty, in his evidence on the Irish Estimates,
says—" In that same case which I allude to,
after a vast deal of trouble to bring the prosecu-
tion to bear, in the course of the preliminary
examination it became necessary to send to the
borders of the Queen's County and the County
of Tipperary, to get a witness who was referred
to by the evidence of one of the approvers, as
to an apparently immaterial fact, which would be
very valuable in corroborating the approver. A
Police Officer was sent at night and brought
him to my room ; the man came into the
room and utterly denied every thing upon
the subject ; he refused to give evidence ;
he was a very respectable-looking man, ap-
parently of the better class of farmers ; and when
he was urged very strongly to give evidence, he
burst out crying, and said, If the book is put
to me, I will not perjure myself, I will speak
the truth ; but I must make up my soul, for I
shall be murdered when I return.' He was one
of thoSe who was told he should be provided for,
he was obliged to give up his farm in the county,
and I never saw a man suffer more in giving evi-
dence, under the idea of being obliged to give
up his farm." Such being the state of things, a
fair jury trial is of course quite impossible. The
Legislature ought to interfere to give the people
protection by law ; but, till that is done, those
who execute the law must be hated by the
people. In the mean time, Government are
bound to execute the law ; and were they to
abandon men, whom they know to be innocent,
to the chance of a jury trial under such circum-
stances, they will commit felo-de-se. What we
like the worst in this business is Mr. Doherty's
joining in the farce of prosecuting the policemen,
after he knew they were innocent. No doubt
precautions were taken to guard against convic-
tion. But it is this trickery, which runs through
all the proceedings of this country, that w e dis-
like.—Morning Chronicle.
We recently took the liberty of making a few
remarks upon the method adopted by the Irish
Chief Baron of disposing of prisoners accused of
violating females. His Lordship's plan appears
to be to marry the delinquent to the prosecutor,
thereby saving the trouble of a trial, and, in case
of a verdict of guilty, the expence and disagree-
ableness of an execution. This may be, for
aught we know, all very well in Popish coun-
tries) but a Protestant Judge ought to know

that such proceedings could not take place in a
Protestant nation, and that they are, in short,
contrary to the doctrines of his own religion, and
to the laws which it is his duty to administer.
The idea of permitting a man to marry a woman
on whom lie had inflicted one of the most atro-
cious injuries, and for which he ought to be
ha►►ged, is monstrous. Nor is the injustice of
the case less towards the man, on the supposi-
tion of his being wrongfully accused. In such
marriages the man must be a criminal deserving
of death, or the woman a perjurer deserving of
the pillory. Truly these unions are little ac-
cordant with the Divine precept—" Those whom
God has joined together let no man put asun-
der ;" for the joining is brought about by wrong
and violence, and the work of the Spirit of
Goodness is superseded by the Spirit of Evil.
These marriages, as they are begun in folly, are
conducted with levity; but levity is a circum-
stance of too frequent occurrence in Irish Courts,
nor is the indecorum always irradiated by any
flashes of wit or humour. Let the reader take
the following instance :
In the case of Jones v. Gustavus Meredith War-
ner, in the County Record Court, on Friday, the
following dialogue took place between the Court,
Dr. Harris, of Dunmanway, a witness, and Mr.
O'Connell :

Mr. O'CoNNELL—WeII, my fine old buck, you
have got married lately ?
Dr. HARRIS—If I have, what is that to you ?
(Laughter.)—When you come to my age you will
not be able to marry; and if I had you in a room I
would floor you.—(Loud laughter, whilst the old
gentleman went through some boxing attitudes.)

COURT—Doctor, Mr. O'Connell is not aware
that a few days ago I tried a man of seventy years
of age for a rape.
Mr. O'CoNNELL—Ah, ah, my old buck, do you
hear that ? I suppose we will have you peeping
over the rails some time or another.

Dr. HARRIS—Don't be badgering me any longer.
Good bye, gentlemen.
Mr. O'CONNELL—Oh, good bye, my old buck.
Nothing can be more frolicsome, and at the
same time more dull, than all this. We see
here the manners of the bear-garden without the
vivacity or humour which may enliven, though
it cannot excuse, coarse deviations from pro-
priety. In another part of our Paper it will
be found that Mr. O'Connell stated, at a dinner
at Cork the other day, that " he saw, while a
human being was on trial for a capital felony, the
Judge asleep, an attorney examining three wit-
nesses at once, the Jury cheapening plums and
' apples with a fruit-woman, and one of them
reading a newspaper." This is a Dutch pic-
ture which we should like to see from the pencil
of some modern Jan Stein. But nobody who
wears a wig is more apt to introduce levity into a
Court of Law than the Learned Gentleman who
has thus set up for the office of arbiter elegan-
tiarurn of the Cork Assizes. Judges, who take
a comfortable nap upon the judgment-seat while
a poor wretch stands upon his deliverance of ,
life or death, cannot be defended upon any prin-
ciple of humanity or law—but Barristers who '
abuse their privilege to make dull jokes upon
witnesses, are no less deserving of censure.
Surely Government ought to be able to fill ju-
dicial situations with members of the profession
who are capable of preserving the dignity of the
Bench, and who have energy enough to prevent
Barristers from conducting themselves in a man-
ner not at all in keeping with the decorum of a
Court of Justice.—Morning Herald.
At the Westminster Sessions yesterday, a
woman was tried for stealing a quart pot. A
watchman proved that he saw the prisoner take
it and conceal it under her apron, and accord-
ingly took her, very properly, into custody. In
this stage of the business the Chairman stopped
the case, observing, " that if people left pots
in the public streets and left no one to look
after them, it was too much if they were stolen
to call upon the Court to treat such an offence
as a felony." With great deference to the
Chairman, we cannot consider it any thing
else than a felony to all intents and pur-
poses. The owner of the article did not leave
it in the street, and we cannot conceive either
on what grounds he should be deprived
of his property, or the thief not only escape,
but having been acquitted, have a right to claim
the article as her own. We apprehend that the
precedent will prove a very dangerous one, and
lead to many other thefts not so easily and sum-
marily dealt with ; for shopkeepers, brokers, and
others, whu expose their goods at their doors
for sale, have, on the principle advanced by the
Chairman, no remedy in case of their property
being stolen. If, for instance, the Chairman or
any other gentleman, left his horse in the street
while he stepped into a house for a moment to
speak to a friend, and the animal was stolen,
would it not be considered a theft ? This is a
parallel case, and if not a felony, we know not
what is.—Morning Advertiser.

RARA AvlS.—Mr. WILMA N 1 BROOKES, of
Tattershall, has new in his possession a bird of the black-
bird species, which has been till lately quite of a salmon
colour. Within the last few days its feathers have fallen
off, and the new ones are perfectly white. It was taken
from a nest last June, with three others, which were, as
usual, black.—Drakard's Stamford News.

A clergyman who officiates in the diocese of
Winchester, was lately complained of by some of his pa-
r;shioners, that he the said vicar preached sermons no
exceeding 15 minutes in length. The Bishop admonished
the clergyman to preach sermons of a greater length. The
obedient vicar, on the next Sunday, preached a sermon
two hours long, which set all the congregation gaping.—
On the ensuing Sunday, after reading the lessons, he re-
tired and placed the keys in his pocket, and ascending the
pulpit, informed his audience of the fact, that he should
preach to them for three hours. This he did, and his
hearers afterwards besought him to return to his pristine
mode of preaching.— Cheltenlaam Chronicle.
EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY OF STOLEN
FAULT. —A goat, the property of a miller in Durham, and
remarkable for its playful vivacity, was observed one day
last week to be more than usually sportive, and on being
watched was seen to leap up several times at one particu-
lar part of a haystack, as though a more savoury mouth-
ful was there to he obtained than in any other portion of
the stack. At length the instinctive animal succeeded,
and drawing out the hay he aimed at it, its removal was
followed by so heavy a shower of apples (supposed to have
been stolen and concealed there), that the poor goat scam-
pered off in dismay. Some pigs, not so easily intimidated,
soon afterwards approached the stack, and sans ceremonie,
commenced a most determined attack upon the apples,
which, under the activity of their masticators, soon disap-
peared ! York Chronicle.
EXTRAORDINARY VORACITY OF A SHARK.
—When the present Rear-Admiral Sir HENRY HEATH-
COTE commanded the Galatea frigate on the West India
station he happened to have on board, as his own cook, a
black man, who had in the same capacity served Lord
NELSON. Poor Sambo sickened and died, and was, with
the usual honours of sepulture, committed to the bosom of
the deep, encased in his hammock. In a day two the
theelmn remainspany' who, on
ripping of poor
Galatea sailed on a cruise, and after an absence of three
months returned to Jamaica, and let go her anchor about
the same spot she had before occupied. Soon after a large
shark wuasp takentiie mboyn
monster, discovered
of th e slt ip's
Sambo, the cook, enclosed in his maw, whose identity was
proved beyond a doubt by the number of his hammock and
a pair of silver shirt buttons which he was known to have
worn. These shirt buttons were presented by Sir H.
HZATHCOTE to the hero of Acre, Sir SIDNEY SMITH.--
The whole of it was recorded in the log-book of the
Galatea.

THE BANK CHARTER.

The following has been circulated in a printed
form :

TO THE GOVERNOR, DEPUTY GOVERNOR, AND DI-
RECTORS OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND.
GENTLEMEN,—On reference to a copy of the
Charter and By-laws of the Corporation, it is or-
dered that a General Court shall be called and held
in the month of September, in the following words,
" for considering the general state and condition of
this Corporation, and for making of dividends out
of all and singular the produce and profit of the
capital and fund of this Corporation, and the trade
thereof, amongst the several owners and proprietors
therein, according to their several shares and pro-
portions," and I do hereby require that your public
notice to the proprietors of such meeting shall be a
true copy of the said by-law, and not as heretofore
omit the word " for considering the general state
and condition of the Corporation," and that you
there produce a balance sheet containing an account
of the profits and of the charges of management for
the preceding half year, the sum of 13,089,740/.
having been paid by the Bank to Government for
the purchase of military and naval pensions, begin-
ning in April, 1823, and ending July, 1828; for
an annuity of .585,740/. for the term of forty-four
yews, which sum for six years to April, 1829,
amounts to 3,514,4401., and the interest thereon at
five per cent. per annum 175,7221., making together
the sum of 3,690,162/., which should now be ap-
plied either as a dividend or a bonus to the proprie-
tors. I intend to put the following questions at the
next meeting, and expect a candid answer, there-
fore do not hurry yourselves im moving an adjourn-
ment. Printed copies of the eleventh by-law
should be printed and posted up in the Rotunda and
the Banking-offices, to prevent impositions, which
I and others have been subject to " by persons rais-
ing their crests far above their coat of arms."
QUESTIONS.
Amount of debt due by Government to the Bank
at Midsummer day, 1829.
Ditto of the defalcations of Mr. Aslett.
Ditto by Mr. Fauntleroy.
Ditto by other persons.
Ditto amount of notes, bills, bonds, mortgages,
and other securities unpaid, and any other items
omitted in this statement.
Amount received and receivable on Bills, Notes,
Loans, Pawns, &c.
Ditto of Gold and Silver in Coin and Bullion.
Ditto of Bank Notes and Post Bills now in cir-
culation.
The number of Branch Banks, and where situ-
ated, the profits received from them to Midsummer-
day, 1829.
Note—The usual answer, of their " working
well," will not be satisfactory. Should I not suc-
ceed in obtaining an explicit reply to the above
questions, it is my intention to petition both Houses
of Parliament on the subject in the ensuing Session.
Requesting the favour that you will cause the con-
tents of this letter to be read at the next General
Court of Proprietors,
I remain yours, respectfully,
WM. HARRIS, a Proprietor.

CORONER'S INQUEST AT PLYMOUTH

An inquest was held on Saturday last by JOHN
ROBINS, Esq. at the Queen's Head, on the body of
Elizabeth Hamlyn Pike, a remarkably fine young
woman, aged twenty-three, who died at half-past
three that morning, in consequence of having taken
an the preceding evening an ounce of arsenic. The
first witness examined was Caroline Pike, sister of
the deceased, who deposed as follows :—I am sister
of the deceased, who is twenty-three years of age,
and resides with me in Vauxhall-street. My father
and mother reside in Catherine-street ; my mother is
matron of the Green School. The deceased was a
person of a great flow of spirits, and I never ob-
served her to be either dejected, or at any time dis-
ordered or affected in mind or intellect, although she
had frequently said she would destroy herself if I
would do so likewise, but without assigning any
reason for so doing. About nine o'clock yesterday
morning, deceased and I went, as we usually did, to
our father's to breakfast. She was very cheerful,
and in good health and spirits. About ten o'clock
we returned, and my sister immediately sat down to
her piano-forte, and played several tunes, all of a
lively character, with the exception of one, which
she played at my particular request. Whilst playing
she turned round and said—" Caroline you'll soon
have my clothes, and every time you put them
on you'll thi►►k of me, my dear sister; and likewise
the piano-forte will be yours, and the waltzes :
when you come to play them you'll always think
of me !" I replied, if such were the case, I would
never play them afterwards. She went out at three
o'clock, and remained about an hour. I watched

her going out, and saw her enter my cousin's, in
Looe-street, where I have since learned she bor-
rowed a shilling. When she returned, she was
very cheerful and lively, and again went to the piano,
and played several times. About seven she went
out to see an acquaintance, but returned in a quar-
ter of an hour after. The witness then proceeded
to state that her sister was visited in the course of
the evening by two acquaintances, one a lady, and
the other a young gentleman named Boulter, who
had been with her several times in the course of the
day—that she was equally cheerful and collected till
the time of her illness, which happened about nine,
soon after which her mother was sent for, and the
deceased was taxed with having taken something :
she denied it so strenuously that they did not send
for a medical man till eleven, who, in conjunction
with deceased's mother and sister, urged her to tell
►hem if she had taken any thing to cause her illness.
She replied, " No, I have not," although she had
been complaining, previously to the arrival of Mr.
Tripe, the medical gentleman, of a great pain in her
side, and a burning sensation in the stomach. She
expired at half-past three on the following (Satur-
day) morning. The witness then concluded by
stat►ng that she was with her the whole of the day,
with the exception of the two intervals above men-
tioned, and deceased neither ate nor drank any thing
after dinner, which was between one and two
o'clock, till the time of her sickness—although, on
recollection, she stated that deceased had taken two
apples; the witness then concluded her evidence
with these words—" My sister was perfectly sane,
and has never shown any symptoms or indications of
aberration of mind."

Mrs. Jane Reed, in whose house deceased resided,
was the next witness examined, and her evidence
confirmed most fully the testimony of the sister, as
to the perfect sanity of deceased.
J. H. Boulter, son of the parish-clerk of St. An-
drew's, was the next witness examined ; he knew
the deceased well, and was in the habit of visiting
her; was with her yesterday (Friday) afternoon,
when, in the course of conversation, deceased said,
r, I am going away, Master Boulter;" " Where to ?"
he asked ; she replied, " To Heaven, I hope."—
Being, however, in good health and spirits, he took
no notice of it; and at his request she played seve-
ral tunes on the piano. The evidence of this wit-
ness was detailed at great length, but nothing was
elicited to shew that the deceased was of unsound
mind.

Mr. T. Tripe, surgeon, detailed the symptoms of
her illness, and the energy with which she denied
having taken any thing to prodace her illness. He
had no doubt, since her death, that she had taken
poison.
The Coroner, in summing up the evidence, com-
mented at great length on the total absence of any
proof of insanity, when, to his surprise, the jury re-
turned the verdict—." Died from having taken
arsenic whilst labouring under temporary derange-
ment." Plymouth Journal.

Contracts have been entered into for the erec-
tion of a Suspension Bridge at Craiglug ; and the work is
to be begun forthwith. Captain SAMUEL BROWN, R.N.
the patentee, is the contracter...Scotsman.