The Sun.
London, England, 1842-08-04 00:00:00

T.HE S'CA'N, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST 4, 1841

OPPRESSION OF THE POOR.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
herewith send you the cases of two of
those paupers to whith that admirable article, which
appeared in your paper on the 29th of July, reerre...d.
The first is the

CASE OF WILLIAM HOLDING.
" I am a hand-loom weaver. I have a wife and
four children, and I have received two shillings per
week from the parish for the last nine months. I
owed elevenpence for poor-rates, and was summoned
before the Magistrates for non-payment of the same.
I told them my earnings ; that I had four days' work
at weaving per week, and two shillings per week
from the parish, which the Magistrate's clerk con-
sidered to amount to one shilling a week per head for
us to live on. He then said to the Magistrates, You
see, gentlemen, he is not able to pay. He then
turned to me, and said, We have done with you. I
then thought it was settled; but, in a short time after,
a person came with a notice and said if my poor-rate
was not paid, a warrant of distress would come. My
wife said, Well, we can't help it, for we are not able
to pay. Next came two constables, who opened the
door, saying Where he is ? and, although I was laid
on the bed close by their left hand as they stood
at the door they were not able to see me, in conse-
quence of the darkness of the cellar in which I lived,
but my wife, pointing to the bed, said, He is there.
They said, Come, thou must go with us ; so I got
up, and begged that they would not handcuff me, as
such a thing had never happened to me before. So,
they took me away, and when we got to the dungeon,
they forcibly pushed me in, and locked me up. The
following morning they handcuffed me to a cart, and
the other three were chained by the legs.. Thus we
started for Lancaster, the rain pouring down so rapid
that we were soon wet to the skin. When we got
to Blackburn we begged they would allow us to go
to a fire. The policeman laughed, saying, We will
take you to a fire, you'll see. Thus saying, they
thrust us into a dark cold hole, in which there was a
privy, which stank so very bad as almost to suffocate us,
We were forced to remain there for about forty mi-
nutes, and were then brought out again, wet and
shivering with cold, the rain still falling in torrents.
In this state we were hurried through Preston, to
Lancaster Castle. The turnkey cried. shame on the
policemen, for using us in the manner they had
done. 'When we had got within the prison-walls, we
soon found we had got among the friends of humanity.
We could not muster one penny among us all, but
the kind strangers, when they heard what we were,
very kindly invited us to the fire, and gave us some-
thing to eat. There was one man in particular, if
ever I see him again I will do all in my power to
serve him. A subscription was immediately entered
into, which paid our rates, and left us eightpence-
halfpe nny each to come with to Burnley. I had been
out of work for some time, but had got work under
the Manufacturers' Relief Committee, and had worked
three days when they took me off to prison. I expected
my wife to be in labour hourly, and was
delivered of a child in three days afterwards ; she was
left without any attendant for two nights, and had
she been seized with the pains of labour in the night,
she must have perished before any assistance could
have reached her."
CASE OF EMANUEL BEAUMONT.
" I am a power-loom weaver, and I have only
worked three weeks since last Christmas, and those
three weeks were in February last. I have lived
upon charity, and what I could get from the parish,
until June, when my goods were sold for rent, and,
at the same time, a warrant of distress was taken out
against me for non-payment of my poor-rate ; I was
thus turned out into the street, and the week follow-
ing I got work under the Manufacturers' Relief Com-
mittee, and worked about six weeks, when they
took me off to prison. My poor-rate was ls. 11d.,
and I have a wife and two small children, and my
wife was delivered of a third child just before my
goods were sold, but the child died in consequence of
my being too poor to procure a doctor to attend her,
therefore I consider my child murdered by the system
which makes me poor. I was chained by the leg,
and my treatment on the way to prison was similar to
that of William Holding."
I visited William Holding at his dwelling,
and *he above statement was made to me, and
a respectable person in the Methodist connexion,
whose name I am at liberty to publish. The
cellar contained one poor bed, in which lay the wife
and her new-born babe, and three other small chil-
dren, which was very annoying to the mother and her
infant; and how this English labourer could find a
place to rest his head in that nest of human beings,
surpasses my comprehension ; but so it is, that six
persons must sleep in this miserable bed. There was
also one old chair, which is not worth 2d., one three-
legged stool, one mug, one tin cup, and one old tea-
chest, which is used as a table. These are all the
goods, in the shape of furniture and utensils, which
this miserable cell contains; and as regards the cha-
Aacter of the men, let it suffice that Holding has been
a member of the Methodist Society, and a Sunday
School teacher, for many years, and at this time he
is a class leader in that body. The other, namely,
Beaumont, is now, and for the last four years has
been, a steady and consistent member of the Total
Abstinence Society, and when he appeared before the
Magistrates, he was told that his case had been dis-
posed of along with several others which led him to
think that no further proceedings would come
against him.
By inserting the foregoing in your valuable Jour-
nal, you will much oblige yours, the inhabitants of
14bergham Eaves, in public meeting assembled.
THOMAS MARQUIS,

BENJAMIN SOUTHWORTII,
JAMES METCALFE,
The Committee appointed by the rate-payers, at a pub-
lic meeting duly called by the constable of the parish
Burnley, August 1.

MESSRS. HANSARD AND THE

TIMES." •
The Messrs. Hansard, the printers of the House of
Commons, have addressed a very curious letter to
the Times, which we have copied for the amusement,
as well as the information of our readers.. It is ne-
cessary, however, that we should state the occasion of
this letter, and add one or two particulars of colla-
teral information, in order that the public may fully
enjoy the joke. For the last eight or ten years we
have been continually applying to the Messrs. Han-
sard to let us know how it was that the Times hap-
pened so frequently to be successful in obtaining
sooner than any body else, not excepting Members of
the 'Rouse, copies of Reports of Committees, and
other interesting documents placed by order of the
House of Commons, in the hands of this firm, in
order to their being printed for the use of Members.
We could never obtain the least light from the
Messrs. Hansard into the nature of this mystery, and
all that we could do, therefore, was to take care that
so many intimations of what was going on should be
given to these tradesmen, that they should not have
the slightest pretext for denying, whenever the
matter might attract the attention of their em-
ployers, that they had all along been cognizant of
its existence. Well, the matter has at length/attracted
the notice of the employers of the Messrs. Hansard,
or, to speak more correctly, has been forced upon
their attention by the ungrateful, or treacherous, or
at the least very blundering conduct of the journal
which has for years been enjoying, to the detriment
of all its competitors, whatever priority in the publi-
cation of Parliamentary documents the run of Messrs.
Hansard's printing-office could afford it. By long
possession, the Times, it seems, had begun to regard
so much as a matter of right the exclusive privilege
of publishing whatever was sent to the printing-office
of the Messrs. Hansard, that our Contemporary
actually apologised, on Saturday last, to his readers
for his inability to give more than a part of the Elec-
tion Compromises Report several hours prior to its
being placed ini the hands of Members of Parliament,
upon the express ground that this Report had not
been sent so soon as it ought to have been sent to the
office of the Parliamentary printer. The words of the
Times were these, and they certainly have the merit
of revealing the whole affair with a degree of clearness
that does not admit of misapprehension:—
" We are at last enabled to lay before our readers the
greater and more important portion of the Report from
Mr. Roebuck's Committee, which will probably be issued
for the use of Members in the course of to-day.
" Unfortunately, in consequence of the late hour at
which the grand inquisitor confided the precious docu-
ment to the printer's hands, that portion of the Report
which relates to the case of Penryn and Falmouth did
not reach uein time for our impression."
This was so explicit that the Speaker of the House
was startled by it, and, as in duty bound, the Messrs.
Hansard, the servants of the House of Commons,
were startled *too. The latter, accordingly, betook

themselves to the inditing of eloquent epistles to mys-
tify the matter if possible, by pretending that the
whole affair is a matter of bribery, that the present
is a peculiar instance, and that the copy must have
been procured "by the vile means of a base bribe,"
given and received of course by the mere subs, or
the subs of subs, in the several offices of the Messrs.
Hansard and of our Contemporary. The Times in-
serts the letter, upon the principle, we suppose, that
it ought not to keep back from its readers any thing
that is calculated to make them laugh ; but stoutly
refuses to lend itself to the Hansard mystification, pre-
ferring, as wethink very judiciously., a better and
bolder mystification of its own. IV hat chance was
there, indeed, that anybody would give credit to the
tale of a system of " base bribes" between the subs of
two such establishments, without the knowledge of
the principal persons, although continued for years,
and presenting indications of its existence and effi-
ciency, which no man who did not wilfully shut his
eyes could fail to perceive ? The story, eloquently
as the Messrs. Hansard have put it forward, contra-
dicts itself so completely, that it does not require the •
further contradiction we are enabled to give it, by the
assertion that Messrs. Hansard were warned. not
once or twice, but repeatedly, that the Times was
constantly obtaining Parliamentary documents earlier
than any body else could get them, and in circum-
stances which left little doubt that they were obtained
at the office of Messrs. Hansard. The Times' mysti-
fication is better, as we have said, than that of the
Messrs. Hansard, because it is bolder. It consists
in the cool assertion that there has been no bribery
and no breach of confidence whatever. The Messrs.
Hansard know better than this. They know there
has been bribery, and boldly come forward to say so.
But, then, it was the vile and base bribery of servants.
This, however, the Times can by no means swallow.
There was no bribery at all; but if there were any,
it was all arranged by such good fellows that the
Times cannot think of doing anything tending to
their exposure or punishment. What we respectfully
recommend to the Speaker of the Hon.% of Com-
mons (to whom this disclosure by the rinzes has, we
, have reason to know, been the source of some trouble
and anxiety) is to give an order to Messrs. Hansard
to send proof sheets of all important Parliamentary
documents to each of the morning papers simultane-
ously, and as soon as they can be got from the press.
This, we believe, is the only way to put an end to
bribery and jobbing.—Morning Post.

LAUNCH of the GREAT NORTHERN.
This immense new steamer, lately built by Captain
Coppin, was launched on Saturday morning last, in
the presence of at least 20,000 spectators from all
parts of the country, and of many from England and
Scotland. Even so anxious were the Donegal Grand
Jury, assembled at Litford, to be present, that they
obtained leave, on a special application to the Judge,
for that purpose. The weather was in the highest
degree favourable to the full enjoyment of the magni-
ficent sight. Every available spot of ground from
which a glimpse of the beautiful vessel could be
had was occupied, as well as all the house-roofs
and vessels in the river. We counted between 60
and 80 boats lying to, at safe distances from the ves-
sel, filled with ladies and their companions. Flags
and streamers floated in all directions, and bands of
military music greatly enlivened the scene. At eight
o'clock the workmen's hammers were first heard, the
wedges were driven, and the last obstruction was re-
moved at a quarter to nine, when Miss Reid, eldest
daughter of the late Rev. Edward Reid, of Ramelton,
and niece to Mr. Joseph Kelso, broke the bottle at
her bow, the flag with the vessel's name, " Great
. Northern," was hoisted, and the mountain of wood
majestically glided into the water. Immediately a
salvo was fired from various pieces of cannon sta-
tioned on the wharfs, and the utmost excitement and
congratulation succeeded. No accident of any kind
occurred. The Great Northern is the largest vessel
ever built in this country. her dimensions are 220
feet in length, 37 feet beam, and 26 feet deep in the
hold ;. burden 1,750 tons, 8.M., she is to be fully
rigged as a 50-gun frigate, the length of mainmast to
be 90 feet, and 33 inches diameter, mainyard 79
feet, and 221 inches diameter in the slings, foremast
83 feet, and mizenmast 76 feet ; she will be able to
spread 6,400 yards of canvass. There are three decks,
the upper one to be left entirely clear for action, and
to be pierced for 44 guns ; the windlass and capstan
gear will be placed betwixt decks. She is to be pro-
pelled by Smith's Archimidean screw, which will be
12 feet diameter, and 14 feet pitch, but the length
will be only 7 feet; it is to make 88 revolutions per
minute ; the gearing consists of a cog-wheel 20 feet
diameter, working into a smaller wheel of 5 feet dia-
meter, upon whose axis is the shaft of the screw. The
engine power consists of two cylinders, 68 inches in
diameter, 4 feet 6 inches stroke, and to make 22
strokes per minute ; nominal power about 370 horses;
there are to be 4 air-pumps, 19 inches diameter, and
4 feet 6 inches stroke, and cylindrical boilers. The
engines are to be placed close abaft the vessel, leaving
the midships clear for passengers.—Derry Standard.

IED).

•
MAG4AZINES—(CONCLUD
COLONIAL
This Magazine, may be imagined from its title,
is chiefly occupie as MAGAZINE.
with the consideration of Colonial
affairs. Among the articles, we find a copy of the
uew Ministerial tariff, unabridged, and printed, as
the editor observes, " with more than common care,
from the third or amended Act." This is a useful
document, and its insertion here is very appropriate.

LONDON UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE.
A well digested number, containing a variety of
articles in prose and verse, some of which—such as
the translaticn from Boccacio's poem of the " Falcon"
—are written with much spirit. We have no space
for extracts.

MURDER OF AN AUSTRIAN NOBLE.—A Vienna
letter of July 18, says :—" An atrocious crime has just
deprived the Finance department of one of its oldest
functionaries, Baron Philibert de Stramitski, Director of
the Accounts of the Austrian Public Debt, a man
nearly eighty years of age, 55 of which he had passed in
office. M. de Stramitski had a few days ago taken under
his protection a young Venetian named Pupella, and
given him a lucrative place in his office. In the evening
of the 12th, the Baron, who was a bachelor, and
had only two servants, was alone in his apartment.
when Papella called upon him, and asked him to lend
him a hundred florins. The old gentleman consented to
do so, and went with Pupella to his chest to take out
the money. He had scarcely applied the key to the lock
when Pupella struck him several blows on the head with
a stone tied up in a silk handkerchief, and his victim
having fallen to the ground insensible, he was filling his
pockets with notes and gold from the chest, when he
was disturbed by the valet de chambre of the Baron, who
collared him, and, :ailing to his aid the other servants,
kept him in good custody. Assistance was instantly
given to the victim, but it was too late, for he was
already dead. The murderer, who only a year ago in-
herited 80,000 florins (200,00 f.) from a relative, all of
which he had lost in gambling, instantly confessed his
crime, which indeed could not be denied, and added, that
his only motive was to obtain the means of paying what
he called some debts of honour.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE THIS DAY.
Morning 45 minutes after 11 I Evening 0 minutes after 0.

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SUN OFFICE Three o'Clock.

CHINA AND INDIA.

By the arrival of the Overland Mail from India,
we have received Bombay papers of the 18th of June,
with late and important intelligence from the Indian
Presidencies, A ffghanistan, and China, of which am-
ple details will be found in another part of The Sun.
The intelligence from China is to the 12th of April
inclusive. The last Overland Mail brought an ac-
count of an attack by the Chinese upon Ningpo, which
was repelled with great spirit by the English troops.
The Celestials then set themselves to cut off the sup-
plies, which obliged the British troops, under the
guidance of the gallant General Sir HUGH GOUGH,
to march against a strong camp of 6,000 min, which
they had formed at Tsee-Kee, about ten miles from
Ningpo. The force was composed of detachments of
the 18th, 26th, and 49th regiments, and a naval
brigade, in all 1,100 strong. The Chinese fought
well, but they could not resist the overwhelming
influence of British discipline. They fled,

leaving upon the field from 600 to 900 of their
men killed, and many wounded. The British
had but three men killed and forty wounded.
Among the latter were Mr. HAMBLY, of the Marine,
and Captain REYNOLDS, of the 49th, slightly ; and
Lieutenants MONTGOMERY and LANE, of the 49th,
severely. The 18th Regiment did not arrive in the
field till the Chinese had begun to scamper off.
There was a report that the Chinese army was imme-
diately afterwards strongly reinforced, and that they
would again attack the garrison at Ningpo.
A report prevailed in the bazaars at Hong Kong
that YANG, an Imperial Commissioner, was on his
journey from Pekin to Sir H. POTTINGER, charged
to offer the Plenipotentiary forty millions of dollars,
in full compensation for the destruction of the opium,
the expenses of the war, and the evacuation of the
Chinese territory. His Celestial MAJESTY is said to
be terribly alarmed at the deliberate course of con-
quest and settlement adopted by the English, so con-
trary to the sudden overrunning, and as sudden eva-
cuation of invaded territories by Eastern conquerors.
We trust this intelligence may be true, as it is high
time that something were done to bring this very dis-
creditable conflict to a close. Nevertheless, the
Chinese Government has not relaxed the execution of
its edicts against opium smuggling in the Canton
River. Of 100 smugglers seized near Whampoa, 44
were decapitated in Canton in one day, and 16 a few
days subsequently.
The Chinese authorities have issued an edict offer -
ing quarter to such black or red " barbarians" in the
British army as in the day of battle shall demand it,
and declare that they were forced to fight against the
EMPEROR, in opposition to their own inclination.
This certainly indicates a very merciful disposition
on the part of the Government. In the same edict
great rewards are offered for the capture alive
of " Barbarian Eyes" (officers), and of common red
and black devils (soldiers and sailors). At Amoy all
was quiet. The natives had all deserted the island of
Koo-long-soo, garrisoned by the British. The garri-
son was greatly weakened by the withdrawal of 300 of
the Royal Irish, by command of General Sir H.
Gotois, to reinforce the more threatened garrison of
Ningpo. Such is the substance of the latest news
from China, where we regret to say no improvement
lin trade had taken place.
From Affghanistan the news is less satisfactory.
Notwithstanding the frequency with which the Cau-
bul passes had been forced, AKBAR KHAN had not in
the least reduced his demands, His last demand from
General POLLOCK for the release of the prisoners
was a sum of 80,000/. paid down, an annuity of
20,0001., and secure possession of the Affghan
throne. Generals PoLtocx. and SALE were still at
Jellalabad, unable to proceed to Caubul for want of
camels and stores. They had a force of 10,000 men.
On the Bth of May letters were received by General
SALE from FUTTEII JUNG, the favourite son of the
Shah SOOJAII, calling for reinforcements, as AKBAR
had besieged him in the strong fortress of Balla
Hissar. A subsequent letter stated that ARPAR had
got possession of Ballar llissar by a clever strata-
gem. " Ile went to Caubul," says the writer,
" taking POTTINGER with him, and gave out that
General POLLOCK had agreed to place him on the
throne of Caubul, and that Major POTTINGEE had
accompanied him as Envoy, upon which almost all in-
fluential men, except ZEMAN SHAH, deserted poor
FUTTER JUNG, and joined with that most particular
rascal and assassin." The body of Gen. EurfiffisroNE,
for which a ransom of 1,0001. was paid, arrived in
Jellalabad, in a frightful state of decomposition, and
was buried there.
To our astonishment we find it stated, in the India
papers, that our reverses in Affghanistan were the re-
sult of the discovery, by AKBAR KHAN, of a plot
formed by Sir W. APNAGHTEN to carry off the Aff-
ghan Chiefs. The writers state that all the particu-
lars having been officially forwarded to the British
Government, by the last Overland Mail, it is un-
necessary for them to detail events which they pre-
sume, to be now well-known in England. Our
readers, however, are aware, that if such grave facts
have been communicated to the Government the
secret hitherto has been well kept. But justice to
the memory of a highly-prized public servant re-
quires that the whole circumstances should now be
made public. With a view to accelerate a full expo-
sure and investigation of facts, not to cast the
shadow of censure upon the late distinguished Envoy
at the Court of Shah SOOJAH, we quote an extract,
from the letter of the Bombay correspondent of the
Morning Chronicle, dated the 18th of June, the date
of the departure of the India Mail :
" The disclosure of Sir WILLIAM M4NAGHTEN'S
deceitful conduct towards the Affghan Chiefs at Cau-
bul, to which, unhappily, may be attributed in a great
measure, if not entirely, the series of terrible events
commenced by his assassination, and terminated by
the ghastly massacre in the passes of Teezen, came
upon us with startling suddenness, and has rendered
deeper and more permanent the grief with which all
who have at heart the preservation of their country's
honour must look back upon those calamitous occur-
rences. While censuring, with the bitterness of
natural abhorrence, the monstrous perfidy of AK-
BAR KIIAN, and advocating a severe and well-
merited retribution, little was it thought that our
own Envoy had planned an act of treachery so
disgraceful as to form sufficient provocation
for the deed by which he fell! If all that is stated be
true—and the facts rest on evidence which it would
be madness to call in question—Sir WILLIAM
WNAGHTEN'S proceedings have fixed a darker stain
on our honour than the whole of our reverses, and his
name must go down to posterity with a stigma that
nothing can remove. For AKBAR KHAN there was
at least the plea of partial barbarism ; and this may
even be applied in extenuation of the treachery—hor-
rible though it was—by which our army was de-
stroyed ; but for the British Envoy, none whatever
can be urged. The blow which he sought to inflict
recoiled upon himself, and he fell, the victim not more
of the SIRDAR'S treachery than his own.
"General ELPHINSTONE'S diary and statement, and
the different narratives, depositions, and other official
documents relative to the events which preceded and
followed the disastrous retreat from Caubul, were
sent home by the last steamer, though their contents
were not made public here ; and your readers are
therefore no doubt aware of the circumstances which
attended the Envoy's attempted betrayal of the Aff-
ghan Chiefs. On this point, consequently, informa-
tion will be unnecessary ; and it will suffice to con-
fine the present summary to events which have oc-
curred subsequently to the occounts transmitted to
England on the 23d ult."
General ENGLAND arrived at Candahar, and joined
General NOTT on the 9th of May. The force there
consisted of 10,000 fighting men, being the same num-
ber as at Jellalabad ; but they too were prevented
from marching upon Caubul by the want of camels
and stores. The Ghilzies had again attacked Khelat-
i-Ghilzie, in consequence of which Colonel WYmErt,
at the head of 5,000 men, was marching to attack
them.
On the 3d of June Calcutta was visited by a ter-
rific gale, which injured forty vessels in the