The Sun.
London, England, 1842-10-18 00:00:00

c'bit .--'-*Atn4

LONDON
TUESI) 117 MORNING. OCTOBER 18, 1842.

Some of our Tory Contemporaries have sought
to extenuate the defalcation of the revenue by
pointing to the. late Turn-out, and such events,
they think, will not happen every; quarter; and,
by referring to the general election as having
swelled the Excise revenue in the last year. A
little reflection on the mode in which Excise du-
ties are levied, will, we think, dissipate the delu-
sions they have built on these circumstances.

There is no longer any duty on beer, and all
the falling off caused by- a diminution of the
consumption of that article will shoW itself; nut
immediately, but hereafter, in the diminished
consumption of malt, which yields more than a
third of the Excise revenue. The Excise duty on
spirits is not levied on the publican's stock, but
at the distillery, and unless the Turn-out stopped
distillation it is not likely to have had much
eflect on the Excise revenue this quarter. It
began, be it remembered, when the quarter was
half over. The Excise dutieS are levied on
auctions ; they were not much suspended by the
Turn-out. Neither did it much interfere with
making bricks, or glass, or paper, or soap, nor
with the post-horse duty, nor the manufacture
of vinegar. If for a short season the con •
sumption of various articles was checked,
the effect will be more perceptible, we
believe, in future - quarters than in the
quarter just expired. This statement will serve
also to refute the deductions drawn by the Tory
journals from the last general election, the ad-
vantages of which to the revenue were less
shown in the quarter in which it fell, than in.
subsequent quarters, when more malt was made,
and more spirits distilled. We are still inclined
to think, therefore, that the condition of our
revenue, so fir as that is derived from other
sources than the Income-tax, is most deplorable,
while it is a lamentable proof of the sufferings
Of the people, and the want of national prosperity.
We feel not, on this account, the least
despair for the country. The source of its great-
ness and its wealth is the mind of its inhabitants.•
This shows no sign of decay, but is as active as
ever, and is now particularly busy in tracing
out the causes of the national suffering. The
energies of our people are yet, we believe, un-
diminished. All the physical sources of their
power—the fertility of the soil, the productive-
ness of their mines, the teeming abundance
of their seas, are as full as ever. --The hand of
the artisan has not lost its cunning, nor
is his surprising industry lessened. Pestilence
has not thinned the people, nor has the
sea devasted a single acre of our soil.
The cause of the national distress is plainly of
our own imposing; it is not any curse inflicted
by the hand of nature, except that it follows our
transgressions of her laws, and our hope that
this cause will speedily be exposed and re.
moved, is derived from the vast mental energy
that is now en2-aged in scrutinising the public
c(niflitiou. The inquiry will show, we believe,
that freedom of industr.os the orie thiug needful,
but whate-verit shall demonstrate tube required,
that, we are sure, the good sense of the (multi.)
will speedily secure.

An inquest has been held at Cheltenham on
the body of CrriaLEs BEALE, a person recently
confined in the Northleach House of Correction,
whose death is said to have been caused by the
• severe discipline of the prison. After examining
some witnessev, the Coroner adjourned the in-
quiry to Friday, that he might communicate with
the authorities. We are not yet, therefore, en-
titled to say anything positive of the cause of the
man's death. The'aiithorities may place the sub-
ject in a different light, and induce us to come to
the opposite conclusion from that which the
evidence hitherto given seems to justify. go

far as that goes, it appears that the man was
healthy when he was sent to the House of Cor-
rection in February, and having been sentenced
to hard labour, was there placed on the tread-
wheel. His work in that situation was very
fatiguing, and the prison diet insufficient nourish-
ment. When not on the wheel, lie was confined
to a cold damp cell, with nothing but a stone or
an iron bedstead to sit on. Into these cold cells
the prisoners were often removed from the wheel,
with their shirts so wet with perspiration, that
they could wring them. To these causes, and
being made to work when he was unwell, his
death is ascribed. Other persons complain of
the treatment in the prison, and accuse it of
great hardships and death.
We are not disposed to aggravate these
charges, or defend the system. As far as we
know, our prison discipline, in spite of the many
efforts which have been made to reconcile con-
finement and severe punishment with humanity
—to gratify at once the kindly feelings of some,
and the desire of vengeance in others—remains,
and ever will remain, a sore trial for those who
have not been educated, as it were, to live in a
gaol. We doubt whether it be possible to re-
concile imprisonment and forced labour, in con-
junction with scanty fare and the privation of
society, with the enjoyment of health. Man
was not intended to be entombed till death, and
a prison, with its clammy stone walls and stone
floors; is little better than a tomb for the living.
We shall be slow, therefore, to aggravate charges
against those who have to administer the system,
whatever the system itself may deserve. In-
carceration for a length of time, in conjunction
with hard and forced labour, and insufficient diet,
must, we believe, except in rare instances,
be productive of feebleness, disease, and prema-
ture death.
We are much afraid that none of the fine de-
vices adopted in model and other prisons are
likely to get over the inherent qualities of the
system. Men of acute feelings must, therefore,
snake up their minds to submit to much pain
front sympathy, or give up the idea of severely
punishing a great multitude of offences. We
know no means of reconciling severe punishment
with notions of great humanity ; and putting
men to death, transporting them, and imprison-
ing them, have accordingly, each in its turn,
been condenined,by those who chiefly consult their
own feelings. Nor must those persons who make
the effort to reconcile these opposites throw the
blame, as they are generally wont, on the
gaolers, or on medical men who have to look
after the prisoners. It is the very nature of the
trust confided to them to make them either
severe or careless. The persons placed under
their charge have no means of helping them-
selves. They are degraded, and almost at their
mercy. It is impossible that the prisoners
should inspire them with respect; and though
gaolers, magistrates, and workhouse-masters
may sometimes pity individuals, it seems almost
impossible that they should treat paupers or
prisoners with strict justice. The system, then,
appears to exert a baneful influence on those who
administer it, and we can rarely expect them to
keep to the strict line of their duty.
Such characteristics of the system, and
the great extent to which it is now car-
' ried out, require that the Press should watch
its operations and results attentively. Atno►.gst
the persons confined at Northleach, and who
" perished," as the Times said, " nude
a slow and torturing death," was a man named
WILSON, whose offence was "deserting his fa-
mily," and leaving them chargeable to the pa-
rish. A great multitude of persons get. a month
or two months at the tread-mill, which is at pre-
sent the favourite punishment, for many minor
offences. The snore frequently the punishment
is inflicted, the more careless or severe will be
men in authority, and all its bad consequences
will be exasperated. Already it is attenued with
the fatal consequences ascribed to it in the cases
of BEALE and WILSON, and, being applied to a
great many offences, it requires to be most assi-
duously watched. Nothing occurs more readily
to the majority of mankind, including legislators,
than the idea that punishment is sure to prevent
any given offence, and uncles this hasty conclu-
sion punishments have been amazingly increased.
If first impression.—at least on such subjects—
should be regarded with distrust, the present
condition of our country (in which punishment
seems to have lost its efficacy, and crimes to in-
crease even faster than gaols) should incline us
very much to doubt the prevalent notion, and
should rather make us check the enactment of
so many penal laws than hope to obviate the
physical and mural evils of imprisonment by
some ingenious devices.

hensive enough, in his views at least to undertake to
present this case before the American people, and thus
do something to restore the public character for
morals and honesty? The doctrine of repudiation
has inflicted upon us a stain which we ought to feel
worse than a wound, and the time has come when
every man ought to address himself soberly and
seriously to the suppression of this great existing evil.

A weekly paper states that " at a meeting of
the Marylebone Vestry on Saturday, a proposi-
thm was made to grant a site for the erection of
a monument to the memory of the Scotch Re-
formers of 1793, which occasioned some argument
and questioning, but on which the Vestry came
-to no decision." This proposition ought at once
to have been -decided in the affirmative, with-
out the slightest " argument or question-
ing," for it was one which it was no more
than an act of common justice to acccde
to, and which it was ungracious—and we may
add, ungrateful—to refuse. Who have stronger
claims on the respect and gratitude of all con-
scientious Reformers, than those who braved
every difficulty and danger in the cause of Re-
form ? Beset by obloquy, subjected to the bit-
terest contempt and ridicule, dogged by spies
wherever they went, while the kalous, restless,
ever-vigilant eye of Government was fixed on
their slightest movements, and its legal emis-
saries were prepared to misinterpret their
slightest and most inoffensive expressions ;
the Scottish Reformers yet nobly perse-
vered in their attempts to ameliorate the
political condition of their countrymen ; they
were the great pioneers of Reform ; and if we
have at length, after a world of difficulty, suc-
ceeded in obtaining this boon; if the voice of the
people be now heard in the House of Commons,
where, fifty years ago, it was scarcely permitted
even to whisper—it is to the disinterested, pa-
triotic martyrs of 1793, that this vast im-
provement in our political system is mainly
owing. The Marylebone Vestry ought not
to have forgotten this fact ; and they
should have borne in mind also, that had it
not been for the strong impetus given to Reform
by the indefatigable exertions, and ting-rudg,ed per-
sonal sacrifices of MUIR, PALMER, GERRALD, and
their colleagues, .Marylebone might, at this mo-
ment, like the other Metropolitan boroughs, have
been without a Representative in Parliament. It
tells but indifferently for public spirit when pro.
posals to honour the memory of the patriotic
dead, are received by public bodies with coldness
and apathy. _

The accounts from Constantinople of the 28th
ult. possess considerable interest. The media-
tion of England and Russia had been accepted
by the Porte in the Persian affair; and the
SULTAN had communicated to the Ambassadors
of the Great Powers his determination respecting
the Syrian question. He consents to remove
EMMER Pacha, and to replace him, as regards
Mount Lebanon, by Esn AD Pacha, who is to ap-
point Maronite and Druse Princes to rule over
their respective tribes under the Paella's in-
spection.

The affairs of Servia still cause anxiety, and
this has not at all been lessened by the arrival of
M. DE BOUTINIEF at Constantinople, from which
some persons conclude that Russia has a new
intrigue in preparation. It was totally unex-
pected, even by the Russian Charge d'Affaires,
M. DE TITOF. - It is supposed that Austria,
Fiance, and Prussia will follow the example of
Russia, and forthwhich dispatch ministers and
ambassadors to discuss and watch over this ques-
tion, which cannot henceforth be left at the
mercy of Russia.
M. DE BOUTINIEF, on his arrival, was waited
upon by the first Dragoman of the Porte, with
whom he at once entered upon the objects of his
mission. His Excellency at the same time made
communications to the representatives of the fimr
Great Powers upon the same subject, with a
view to tranquillise both them and the Porte as to
the intentions of the Russian Cabinet in regard
to Servia.

The dates of the Smyrna papers just received
come down to the 30th ult. inclusive. M. LE-
LEI:, the Superior of the Lazarists in the Levant,
arrived at Smyrna on the 2Gth from Constanti-
nople. lie was to proceed thence to the Grecian
Archipelago, on an inspection of the religious
establishments placed under his jurisdiction. Mr.
BANKHEAD, First Secretary or the British Em-
bassy at Constantinople, and Commander QUAG-
LIA, the Tuscan Charge d'Affaires, passed through
Smyrna on the 29th, on their way to Europe.
On the 25th the British corvette Beacon sailed
for -Vourla, whence she was to repair to Gandhi.,
to complete the survey of the coast of that island.

The letters from Malta, of the sth inst., are
destitute of interest. The squadron was still
cruising between that island and Sicily. The
Portafoglio Maltese states that it was again re-
ported that the present Governor of Malta would
shortly be superseded in that post, and it avails
itself of that opportunity to call on the English
Government to appoint in his place a civil, not a
military Governor.
The Mediterraneo of Malta has a letter from
Alexandria, 26th ult., stating that Mehemet Ali
had at length paid a sum of money on account of
the seamen of his fleet, and, in order to recruit
his finances, bad issued a eircular calling on all
persons who were indebted to him to pay up im-
mediately, or find themselves excluded from all
future contracts. This circular appears to have
created great astonishment and dissatisfaction, as
it was understood when the last sales of corn
were effected by the Government that the pur-
chasers were to be allowed a certain time for the
payment of a portion of the money.

The people of Boston, in the United States,
have been highly favoured lately. Some weeks
ago they had a visit from a Noble Lord, a rai e
personage in that democratic republic, who sur-
prised and delighted them by his modest de-
tneanour,by the intimate knowledge he displayed
of their domestic affairs, and by his hearty and
sincere expressions in favour of a lasting friend-
ship between the two countries. Next to which
was the grand entertainment given to theitewn
countryman, Mr. WEBSTER, who made an
able speech ou the occasion, and began it by
repeating the same sentiments, " My object,"
said he, " was to disperse the clouds which have
been hovering over England and the United
States, to determine questions which had existed
for several years. and which, though not always
threatening war, yet never assured us of per-
manent peace." That object he has in a great
Measure accomplished, and every friend of both
countries will readily bestow upon him a tribute
of praise for the skill with which he conducted
negotiations of no ordinary difficulty, requiring
an the one hand a show of firmness to suit the
tastes of his countrymen, and on the
other, good sense and judgment to con-
cede points which were absolutely essential
in bringingaffairs to asuccessful issue. His speech
is characterised throughout by sound views,
and by a degree of independence, and a bold
expression of his own opinions, however unwel-
come to his hearers, which we rarely see ex-
hibited in statesmen. The IVPLEon affair, the
immoral doctrine of repudiation, and the wild
outcry raised by the inhabitants of Boston
against his own party, form important features
in his speech, and are all treated in a plain
straightforward manner. Without justifying the
attack on the Caroline, he reproaches the Ame-
rican citizens for the conduct they displayed on
the arrest of M‘LEou, and still more for ap ro -
ceeditig, contrary to the well settled doctrines
of public law, in trying an Englishman
for an act which was avowed, by the- British
Government, as a public act. Any elevated
Government, where a citizen was accused by
another, in consequence of obeying its orders,
be said, would have acted as England had done,
and take upon itself all the responsibility. These
remarks, however, affect others besides the
riotous, headstrong mob, and will not be very
acceptable to the Judge and lawyers who showed,
by their proceedings, not only such ignorance
of international law, but of the very principles
on which their own Government bad acted.
There are a number of other questions treated
at length, and especially the tariff ques- We have received the Paris Papers, but they con-
tion, and the state of the currency, which tain no news of interest. In several of them
our readers will find worthy of perusal.
comments are made on the returns of the guar-
ter's revenue, and regard the unexpected de-
The last topic on which he touches is one of
ficiencies as a proof that the prosperity and trade
some importance to the people of this country,
of' (lie country are fast declining. The Presse
and rather a sore point for the repudiating States.
The following extract will afford a fair specimen makes the following remarks on the measures in-
or the honest view which he took of the question, traduced by Sir R. PEEL last session
and of the plain manner in which he told these • " When Sir Robert Peel presented his financial
States that they were little better than public plan he aimed at two things—to procure a more easy
rob
cannot bers :
existence to the people, and aid the branches of that trade
help thinking that if the statesmen of a
suffered. The increase of the revenue was but an ac-
- farmer age were among us, if Washinaton were here, eessary of his design. Noss, it appears that not one
if John Adams, and Hamilton, and ° Madison were of the three results has been attained. The Exche-
here, they would be deeply concerned and soberly quer has not gained since. the quarter's revenue has
thoughtful about the present state of the public credit of fallen off, notwithstanding the causes of increase
the country. Why, at this very time we have a loan in which have influenced the movement of commercial
the market, which, at the present rate of money and affairs and home consumption. One of the principal
credit, ought to command in Europe one hundred and
we sell a dollar ofit? And branches of trade in England=-the corn trade—is at
twenty-five per cent. Can
present loud in exclamations against the new Corn-
how is it with the credit of our own.
Does it not find itself affected in its credit by g
Commonwealth ? laws ;
.and lastly, the working classes have not expe-
the ene
rienced an
ral state of the credit of the country- ? y relief,. _for they have,...been furled to de-
I 8 there nobody prise themaelves more and more of the common
ready to make a movement in this matter—is there
cessaries of life, and to revolt against their employers.
not a man in our councils large enough, eompre. Therefore, up to the present time, Sir reel's

Madrid papers, of the Bth have been rece!ved.
A Te Deum was sung in the Chapel Royal, on
the 7th, in commemoration of the triumph which
was gained last year over the movement, headed
by General DIEGO LEON. The QUEEN, the
REGENT, and all the civil and military autho-
rities were present. There was no particular
ceremony ordered to be observed on the present
occasion. The Halberdiers who so distinguished
themselves on the night of the stii. October, 1841,
are to be regaled with a dinner.

The young Queen of SPAIN accomplished her
12th year on the 10th (Monday last), but her
Majesty's guardian resolved that there should be
nu besanrarios or other ceremonial. In the even-
ing the public offices were to be illuminated.
A Committee has been nominated to draw up
a Bill fur regulating the liberty of the public
press, and to incorporate in one law the various
measures which had reference thereto.
Advices from Pampeluna state that Brigadier
TRANETA, the Governor of that place, arid Senor
MaDoz, the political Chief, have been dismissed.
MADRID I3OLSA, SATURDAY, OCT. B.—The busi-
ness done to-day amounted in English money to about
286,5961. The market was tolerably buoyant, and
prices are a shade higher than yesterday. In the
Three per Cents. one transaction was effected for a
million of reels at 21 for the 20th instant, with the
current coupon. In the Five per Cents. 27,800;000
reels were negotiated in 45 bargains, at 27k and for
cash, and at 27k and aat 60 days, with the twelve
expired coupons ; and at 214 for cash and 22 at 30
days, the latter with r prem. with 4 coupons.
.Exchange on London at 90 days, 371.

mous plan has not been so effective as was expected.
'Will it succeed better hereafter ?"

The Ministerial papers are silent on the sub-
ject of the treaty of commercial union with
Belgium. But the Liberals discuss it without
reserve. The National admits the disadvan-
tages consequent on a commercial treaty, but
declares that a political union cannot otherwise
be brought about. The higher commercial
classes in France are, however, so opposed to it,
that their union can never, probably, be carried,
except as the result of a popular clamour similar
to that which forced them to vote the fortifica-
tions of Paris.
The Prince DE JOINVILLE and the Duc VALI..
MALE left Nantes on the morning of the 15th
inst., for Brest, where they were to embark for
Lisbon, from which place the Duc D'AUMALE
will proceed to Algiers.
The official Monitcur publishes the following
comparative table of the indirect revenue for the
first nine months of 1841 and 1842:

1842 1841
Registration dues, &c 150,135,000£ 143,143,000 E
Stamps 26,275,000 24,633,000
Customs, Navigation, &c 76,007,000 68,229,000
French Colonial Sugars 26,487,000 24,585,000
4,349,000 5,836,000
Sugars
Sugars
6,496,000 6,968,000
IndigenoussalForeign )
u e Ss
Potable Liquors ..•.
Public Carriages and other

Indirect Taxes ............ 27,067.000 26,308.000
Tobacco Sales 74,030,000 71,977,000
Gunpowder Sales 4,158,000 3,777,000
Letters and duty on send-
ing money
For Passengers by the
Manes Pus tes
Ditto by Mails and Packets

33,473,000 32,917,000

1,729,000 1,656,030
706,000 664,000

Total 546,813,000 521,441,000
BOURSE-PARIS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15.
First Highest Lowest Last
Price. Price. Price. Price.
French Five per Cents. 118 85... 118 85... 118 75... 118 80
3 per Cents.... 80 5... 80 5... 80 ... 80 5
Bank of France 3275 —.3275 ...3270 .. 3270
Laffitte Bank I,ooof 1050 ..1050 ...1050 ...1050
5,000 f 5060 —5069 ...5060 ...5060
Belgian Fives lO3 ... 103 ... 103 ... 103
1840 103/ ... 104 ... 103/ ... 104
Spanish Active 214 ... 214 ... 214 ... 21i
Passive 3/ ... 3/ ... 3/ ... :3/
Portuguese Fives 3l* ... 31i ... 31* ... 314
Neapolitan
Roman
RAILWAY SHARES
St. Germain 837 50... 840 ... 837 50... 840
Rouen
Orleans. 585 ... 585 ... 583 75... 583 75
Strasburg to Bale 2OB 75... 208 75... 208 75... 208 75