The Sun.
London, England, 1829-05-18 00:00:00

to the effect of the former laws, or in that which
they had been constantly pronouncing, by their con-
duct and complaints, during the whole of their antes
ceder!! !Via. We own that We do hot eiperletti'.e
•,
ltiiich
anxiety upon the subject; nor do we pirceiVe
any .symptOrn s;.+A;:,h reeling in society, which
either in kind or degree:from these
which usually precede the
.race for the Derby pr
Leger Stakes. What the I-Wes* ist C'e:i'aorts nas to
do is to deeid's ;....!(111Mly upon the construction of one
4:."...ffiore Acts o(Parliameet,in reference to a case which
is morally certain to be the last as it is the first of its
kind. It is of importance no doubt to the character of
the House itself, that it should decide this or any ether
question of a nature purely judiriftl, upon strittlyjudi-
cial prineiplcfis without adverting at all to any eitra=
neon's citcUmstances or incidental consequences, and
that its decision, when prohounced, ieliOuld be found
to concur with the bpiniois or the highest legal au-
thorities; bis't bey and this simple and obvious con-
sideration, we cannot see that the matter is of any
considerable importance. If, as we anticipate, the
House ultimately decide in conformity with the sen-
timents so well expressed by the Speaker, that Mr.
O'Connell cannot sit in virtue of the present returns
unless he take the oaths to which he objecis, it
cannot with any degree Of justice or even plausibi-
lity be accused Of sacrificing principle to conveni-
entT, becauae nothing can be more obvious than
that this would be the least convenient decision.—
Had the House of Commons a right to exercise its
discretion upon the question whether there should be
a new election for the county of Clare, almost imme'
diately, we have no doubt that a great majority of its
Members would vote against the proposition, even
although the alternative were to give something like a
triumph to Mr. O'Connell. This gentleman has filled
so large a space in the eyes of his countrymen, and
his public conduct (reprehensible as it was) has been
so successful, for the purpose to which it was directed,
that he is sure to have a place in the Representation
of Ireland ; and although we hope that a county
' election might now take place in Ireland without
much tumult, outrage, or effervescence, it must
strike every one that it would be quite as well not
to expose the recent Act of Parliament to so early
and severe a trial. it the House could do any thing
more than pronounce what the law is, and act upon
it as it is, we believe there would be very little dis-
position in arty party to adopt a course which must
lead to a new election for the county of Clare, a
proceeding which, with whatever tranquillity and
good order it might be conducted (and as to this
even there are probably few persons who feel entire
confidence), could not, in the present state of the
constituency of Ireland, lead to a satisfactory result.
The constituency of Ireland is at the present moment
in a kind of abeyance. The forty-shilling franchise
is abolished. And in every county of Ireland there
13 a number of ten-pound freeholders more than suf-
ficient to vary the issue of a contested election, who
hare applied in consequence of that Act, or will
apply, for registration, and who can give no vote for
six months to come. If, as is most probable, Mr.
O'Connell should be rejected, it will be highly ex-
pedient so far to deviate from the usual practice of
the House as to defer the issue of a new writ until
the next Session of Parliament. We feel confident
that no temptation will be sufficient to induce the
House of Commons to strain and pervert the law ;
but as some of the more eager partizans of Mr.
O'Connell talk of quibbles and special pleading, and
more than insinuate that the law is likely to be
strained for the purpose of resisting his claim, we
could not more effectually expose the groundlessness
of their suspicion, than by showing that, if motives
of convenience could be allowed to operate at all,
they would operate very powerfully in his favour.
(FROM THE MORNING ADVERTISER.)
In the House of Commons, this evening, there
are three points which will come under the conside-
ration of its Members—first, whether Mr. O'Con-
nell shall be heard in support of his right to sit and
vote in the House of Commons—secondly, whether
he shall be heard at the bar, or at the table of the
House—and thirdly, whether he shall be allowed to
sit as Member for the county of Clare, or his elec-
tion declared void, in consequence of its having taken
place prior to, instead of after, the commencement of
the new Act. With regard to being heard before
the House, either at the bar or at the table, the
right of Mr. O'Connell, both on general and particu-
lar grounds, is indisputable. The house of Com-
mons, in deciding upon his individual case, is act-
ing, not in its legislative, but in its judicial ca-
pacity; and besides the precedents which exist
for such a proceeding, it cannot be imagined for
a moment, that it would resolve on deciding the
question at issue without having recourse to the
common place justice of hearing what the soi-disant
Member has to allege in his behalf. The debate
on this point is not therefore likely to last long;
and as little time, we trust, will be consumed in
discussing whether the Honourable Representa-
tive of the county of Clare shall be heard
within twenty, or only fiftezn, feet of the Speaker
—the point being one of mere form, and as
little essential to the proper construction of the
Act of Parliament, as whether the aspirant to
a seat shall appear in top or in Wellington boots.
Tie great point, in fact, to be determined is whe-
ther Mr. O'Connell has or has not a right to
sit ; and with regard to this matter we entertain
precisely the same opinion which we expressed on
Saturday. The new Act, it appears, has been so
constructed that in one part it appears to have been
made with the express view of excluding Mr.
O'Connell, and, in another, to open a door for his
admission. The Act, therefore, may be said to
throw no positive light on the subject ; and the
proper mode of deciding the question at issue, would,
therefore, undoubtedly be, to treat Mr. O'Con-
nell as one who had been returned under the old
law, which excluded him, and not as one who had
been returned under the new Act, which admits
him. Had Mr. O'Connell been elected since the
passing of the new Act, there could have existed no
doubt of his right to take his seat ; for in that case
he would have fairly come within its provisions; but
lie was, on the contrary, elected at a time when the
law virtually declared his election void, and unless
it be alleged, which, we think, it will not, that it
was made expressly for the purpose of admitting
him, we see no valid reason for not considering him
as coming expressly within its provisions.
td

A meeting of the merchants, bankers, and
other inhabitants of Greenock, was held on Tuesday, in the
Town-hall, Greenock, when resolutions were adopted for
petitioning both Houses of Parliament against the mono-
poly of the East India Company.
THE MURDER AT KENSINGTON.—During
the whole of yesterday, Addison's-road, Kensington, was
thronged by hundreds of persons from London, as well as
the different places adjacent, where the unfortunate female,
SARAH War rE, was murdered. The place where the
diabolical deed was perpetrated, is about one hundred
yards beyond a new chapel, called St. Mary Abbott's
Chapel, on the left-hand foot-path leading to the Uxbridge-
road. The blood of this ill-fated female is still perceptible
at the edge of the road-side, close to the footpath, and dur-
ing the who'e of yesterday it was surrounded by numbers
of persons completely forming a ring, so great was the
anxiety to see the spot. Every exertion has been used by
the resident Magistrates to bring the perpetrators of this
horrid murder to light, and on Saturday they had a long
consultation on the subject. No other persons are in cus-
tody but THOMAS BIA3IINGHAM
MURDER AT DISS, IN NORFOLIC.—The in-
habitants of the above town were thrown into a state of
alarm on Thursday morning, on discovering the body of a
woman named GOODERIIAM, better known by that of
BRY♦NT, in a lane called Broome-lane, opposite Mr. Con-
NELL'S mill, on the way to Roydon• The deceased was
seen by a little boy walking in company with a man in that
ditectiou. about nine o'clock, and about twelve the same
night a woman, named BARKER, heard a violent scream-
ing, apparently proceeding from the same spot. On exa-
mining ths body, several wounds were found to have been
inflicted, a•td of such a nature as to leave no doubt but that
the intentians of the perpetrator bad been too fully accom-
plished. As yet nothing has transpired which can lead to
any discovery of the murderer or murderers. A Coroner's
inquest was held in the afternoon, and adjourned until
Wstisesday next.—Norfolk Chronic-la.