The Sun.
London, England, 1842-06-30 00:00:00

THE lONIAN ISLANDS,
CORFU, MAY 31.—This day, when his Excellency e
Right Honourable the Lord High Commissioner took his s e at

on the throne in the Chamber of the Legislative Assembly, to
deliver his speech at the closing of the session, the Most il-
lustrious the President, agreeably to the decision of the , La.
sembly in its last sitting, addressed his Excellency in the I ill.
lowing words :
" Permit me, my Lord, before you deliver the speech tb tat
closes the third session of the seventh Parliament, to have t ite
satisfaction of obeying the commands of the House, dictated 1 ity
a feeling of just gratitude. • .
" In the relations which the Legislative Assembly has ht f
with your Excellency during the
.present session' it has. o' b..
served with infinite pleasure the earnest zeal and desire of pr ar
Excellency to co-operate with it, in the principal of its labou pas
this year, viz., the improving the new legislation of these State sl.
as far as possible, from the test of experience.
".The Legislative Assembly feels persuaded that the roodia -
cations made hitherto will be found .tery useful to the lonia n
people, and that longer experince will afford the mamas a i
bringing to perfection'the new codes passed by the Parliament,
and of thus obtaining the Sovereign sanction to render them
permanent.
" The House, however, anxious not to be wanting in grail-.
tude towards your Excellency for your effective co-operation in
its labours, has unanimously come to the following resolution,
which I am directed to read to your Excellency tar the present
occasion :

" RESOLUTION OF THE MOST NOBLE THE LEGISL ETITE
ASSEMBLY.
" CORFU, MAY 30.—. From motives of gratitude justly due«
it is resolved, That the Assembly shall, through its Presides*.
express to his Excellency the Right Honourable James Alex-
ander Stewart Mackenzie, Lord High Commissioner of her
Majesty the protecting Sovereign, its feelings of gratitude to-
wards him for his beneficial co.nperation in effecting such im-
provements as have been possible, as yet, in the codes of legis-
lation."
SPEECH OF HIS EXCELLENCY THE RICHT NCO °DRABLY THE
LORD MOH COMMISSIONER OF HER MAJESTY THE PRO-
TECTING SOVEREIGN OF THE UNITED STATES OF THE
lONIAN. ISLANDS.

Mr. President and Gentlemen,—l congratulate you on the
termination of your arduous labours.
I trust that the measures introduced by you, and which have
occupied your attention, will prove useful and beneficial to
these States.. I refrain from any detailed observati( ns or exa-
mination of them.

By the permission of my gracious Sovereign, the protecting
Sovereign of these States, sent. to me after the meeting of the
Assembly, I have been authorised to add s; new chapter to the
Constitutional Ciarter, and to introduce ether important
changei on the 6th chapter, which remove the obstacles that•
have heretofore impeded legislation. While this concession
proves-at once.:the continued anxiety of her Majesty for the
eradual advancement of a more perfect system of legislation in
"future, as well as for the most competent and uniform admi.•
nistratien of the laws, in these States, it evinces, no less, the
confidence reposed by.our gracious Sovereign in the lonian
Parliament ; while, at the same time, increased caution in its
future measures of legislation is by this very concession, im-
posed, as nsacred duty, on the lonian Legislature; for, with-
out stability in the principles off which laws are founded, un-
certainty and distraht will be engendered,. to the uetriment of
the national interests.

I have, therefore, endeavoured, as I felt it to be my duty, to
discourage a hasty departure from those fundamental principles
of law recently adopted, in order that such amendments only
should be adm►tted, as have been proved to he necessary ; and
such parts only of the codes should be either modified or re-
pealed, as have been found to be either injurious or inefficient
in their operation in the short interval since their adoption.
Time and caution can alone perfect the work of legislation.
The Civil List, which has been unanimously adopted by the
Most Noble the Assembly, will prove to the country that you
hare felt the necessity of economy. The reductions sanctioned,
it it true, do not amount to the sum declared to be necessary to
square your expenses with your means, in accordance with the
information laid before the Executive Government last autumn.
But the Executive Government ought to watch and will watch
the other expenses of the State, and will continue to examin e
with care, into what departments further economy may be in-
troduced, consistent with efficiency and regard to long services
—adopting as far as possible a scale of salary commensurate
with responsibility and work performed—perhais diminishing
their number, but always selecting fur employment, without
favour, the most efficient and meritorious among the public
servants.

The completion of such a work will require time, patience,
and impartiality. But without such a revision, unless the
financial resources and revenues improve, your good faith with
the protecting Sovereign will he with difficulty kept ; nor can
you maintain, in their full extent, your present establishments •
whilethe 'want of surplus funds must. continue to arrest all
public works, and paralyse exertions for the improvement of
the States.

You have, I think, Noble Legislators, wisely riven your
sanction to the principles of the three Acts of Government re-
lative. to public instruction ; and by passing temporary Acts
for their provisional operation, you hays .ettabled the commis-
sion to give a fair trial to these details, which necessarily re-
quire time and experience to mature; while the Inspector's
report, now in preparation, the result of long and careful in-
gun y on the spot into the actual state of the schools in each of
the islands, will supply authentic information indispensable to
aid the commission in its future measures,. •

My announce;47,7t-iie oTeningorlhe Assembly, of
several important measures for the future improvement of the
country has not been followed by their immediate introduction.
But I do not regret this ; for, in all cases of amelioration by
change or reform, to any great extent, of existing systems,
mature deliberation before their adoption presents the only
certain means to insure success. When the country is per-
sua:led that those measures, to which I alluded in my address

at the opening of the Assembly, are suitable to the wants of
the community, and that they will be beneficial in their opera-
tion, of which I entertain little doubt; when they shall have
impartially weighed them and discussed them, without preju-
dice or personal considerations, truth will so far prevail, that
what those measures contain of good will then be adopted,
what of bad or doubtful will be rejected. I feel no ground for
altering my opinions—being convinced that the influence of
sound principles, adopted by the other civilized nations of
Europe, will not long be excluded from these States—though
with a caution and a more perfect knowledge than I yet pos-
sess, of the habits and feelings of the people of these islands,
would I alone wish to enter on any extensive changes or reforms.
Your unanimous resolution, just now announced to me by
your President, imposes -On me the grateful task of returning
you my best and most. sincere acknowledgments for the senti-
ments expressed by you.in .a manner so flattering to me. This
valuable proof of your approbation and confidence w ill encourage
me in my arduous .and. difficult career.; for now perceive
that my views for. the good of the country are fully understood
and appreciated by you.
• It will always form my highest pleasure, as it is my duty,
with your aid and co-operation, to dedicate myself with zeal
and assiduity lo the advancement of the moral and material in-

terests of the lonian.people.
Yeur useful and. honourable labours beim! ,now closed, it will
be gratifying for you to return into the bosom of your families.
My best and--most cordial good wishes attend you ; and my
most heartfelt desire, that Providence sill grant you the enjoy-
ment of that repose which you seek, in the midst of the abun -
dance of a rich harvest, as the year advances, and in nninter-
rupted health and happiness.
By authority, J. FRASER.
Secretary to the Lord High. Commissioner.

TRIAL FOR MURDER IN FRANCE.
A man, named Seconds, and a female named Julie
Phalipon, were tried for murder by the Court of As-
sizes of the Aveyron, on the 13th, 14th, and 15th inst.,
under the following circumstances :--On the 20th
May, 1839, Jean Antoine Gauthier, a miller at Mau-
zet, died suddenly and in great agony, with all the
symptoms of having been poisoned. ,As there was
reason to believe that a criminal intercourse had ex-
isted between his wife and Seconds and as the wife
had been heard to menace her husband with death,
suspicion naturally fell upon them. The body was
disinterred, by order of the Mayor, a few days after
the death, and submitted to the examination of three
medical men, who declared that the death vo.s na-
tural; consequently no proceedings were instituted
against the widow and her paramour, and in January
following the widow, who had succeeded to the
property of her husband, was married to Seconds.
A year passed over, and the crime seemed
to be covered with impunity, when the pub-
licity given to a trial for murder by poisoning, in
which the existence of poison had been discovered by
analysis, when there were no external indications
of its presence, led to a supposition that a similar re-
sult might take place in the case of Gauthier. The
authorities, acting under this impression, had the re-
mains of the victim disinterred, and the stomach and
intestines being removed, were sent to Montpellier
to be analysed by three chemists of that place, and
these gentlemen, after operating with the apparatus
of Marsh, having in their report declared that they
had discovered arsenic, Seconds and his wife were
taken into custody. On the trial the evidence as to
the criminal intimacy between Julie Phalipon and
Seconds, during the life-time of Gauthier, was not
doubtful, and it was proved that she had .nore than
once mixed a white powder in his drink; -mid had en-
treated the Cure of the parish to use his influence
with Gauthier to make a will in her favour, observing
to the Cure, that she was convinced Gauthier would
not recover from his illness. The evidence against
Seconds was circumstantial. It was proved that
he had exhibited great alarm when he was apprised
of the intention of exhuming the body of Gau-
thier a second time, and had been heard to reproach
his wife with having poisoned her first husband. The
answer of the wife to this reproach was that she had
only acted under his advice. The manner in which
the poison had been obtained was not clearly esta
blished. It was sworn by a witness that he had
been induced by a bribe some months before the death
of Gauthier to purchase some arsenic- for a female
whom he believed to be Julie Phalipon, and on the
other hand it was shown that the father or the male
prisoner had arsenic in his house, to which he had
access. One witness swore that he had purchased
arsenic for the brother of Second§, but this was de-
nied by the druggist, of whom it was said to have
been obtained, and no entry of the sale was to
be found in his books. Another witness deposed
that whilst Gauthier was ill, he heard one night
near the mill a man and woman conversing
together in an under tone, and the woman, say, 44
he
for has
am resolvedvomitu vomited ands
he Shall
hive f ailed escaped,
bait I will this time taimgaein;
die." It was not proved that Seconds and Julie
Phalipon were the parties, although little doubt Was
entertained of the fact. A witness deposed that
Seconds, after the exhumation of the body, had called
npcul a medical man and asked him whether it was
le to discover traces of poison so long after
arrtgehewim;houidulideehsetrolsyvashairiaspeplc; that before his
ip41,301711
death, and Leing answered in the affirmative, he said,
man,-*
ask his now he
'
was wretched and despised; that he, would
wife if' she had anything to reproach herself with,
and if she was guilty they would sell their property,
and quit the country." ''his was before they were
arrested. The jury, after a sitting of three days, de-
liberated for two hours, and then returned a verdict
of guilty against the female, and acquitted Seconds.
Sentence of death was pronounced upon the wife.

Why is Father Mathew like the flesh' and. the devil ?
Because he is perpetually working against Aluinittence of the
/OM. -

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