The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-04 00:00:00

RIGHT OF SEARCH QUESTION.

The Debuts, which had been taunted by the Op-
position journals for not inserting the Report of the
Captain of the Deux Sceurs, relative to the outrage
which he says he received from the Madagascar fri-
gate, explains as follows the motives which induced it
to abstain from taking the same course as the Journals
of the Opposition.
" We have been asked, in that tone of insult which
has become habitual to the Opposition organs, why
we have not spoken of the new outrage which
the English navy has offered to our flag. We
shall give our reasons categorically, premising that
there are two things which we do not in the
slightest degree question, viz.: the good faith of Capt.
Seignac, whose report will undoubtedly be taken into
consideration by the Government, and the exces-
sively bad faith of the Opposition journals in every-
thing relating to the right of search. This is our
starting point, and we pray the Opposition journals to
mark it down. Capt. Seignac, of the Deux Sceurs,
complained of having been searched on the 21st
January, on the coast of Africa by English naval
officers, who had not even taken the tror.,-,;1,
of slipping on their uniforms and providirg them-
selves with their authority. He adds. *ld the sailors
who accompanied the officers, took away, tobacco,
some bottles of liquor, and twenty eases of preserved
meats. On the other hand, however, it appears from
the same report of Captain Seignac, that the
officers who visited his vessel, having remarked
that one of his men was ill, sent of their own ac-
cord on board the surgeon of the English vessel. M.
Seignac having complained of the pilfering which had
been committed to his prejudice by the Englishsailors,
one of the officers is said to have replied, What woulti
you have us do ? our best sailors are the greatest
thieves." We repeat that, however strange may ap-
pear all this narration, and more particularly this last
circumstance, attributed to an officer of the English
navy—so proud, more so, perhaps, of its rigorous dis-
cipline that of its force—we do not question the truth
of Captain Seignac. What ought, then, the Go-
vernment to do ? Why, to pay, the greatest attention to
the report, to acquire information on the subject from
Captain Bouet, chief of the French station, to ask for
explanations, and, if necessary, reparation from the
English Government ; in a word, the matter ought to
be inquired into. There are rules of justice in Inter-
national relations, as there are in thi!, difficulties
which may arise between the citi7:ens of the same
State. What information have we up to the pre-
sent time ? The report billy
of the party who con-
siders himself inju7at. This
person is a French-
man, and
,his testimony has great importance in
our eye% out justice has much more. The cus-
tom of the English journals is mentioned to us,
wiflch at the first grievance, whether well or ill-
founded, against our navy, raise an outcry and insult
grossly. Supposing this to be true, a nice example
it would be for us to followl No, we shall never imitate this brawling patriotism. For the honour of j
France we shall not imitate it; and we may
add, that such matters are badly discussed in
journals, for party spirit disfigures them. It
is between Government and Government, be-
tween Admiralty and Admiralty, that these questions
should be treated. The more important facts are in-
trinsically, and from the consequences to which they
may lead, the more justice demands that, before ac-
cepting them as certain, they should be verified by a
scrupulous inquiry. What, then, should we do ?
Complain, or at once draw the sword against England ?
In the first case let us follow the custom established
amongst civilised nations, and not take for proved what
is only established by the testimony of the complaining
party, no matter what weight that testimony may have.
We will not discuss the second hypothesis, for it is
too absurd ; but even with this hypothesis should we
not be a hundred times right, and have justice as
clear as the sun on our side, before shedding the
blood of nations ? So much for Captain Seignac's
report, and the affair itself. As for the Op-
position journals, we have nothing to say to
them ; they execute their orders, and cry out
against the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The
affair of the Deux Sceurs is nothing more than
an electoral affair for them. They laugh at the
public, and hope with grand words to make it
serve as the instrument of their passions, not against
England, but against the Ministry. They object to
delay, for they do not want to clear up facts, and to be
guided by the rules of justice. Captain SeignaVs
report came aunt apropos; they seized on it as a
piece goad luck, and of course try to make the
uloso of it.

SALT-WATER FisurNG.--(From a Hampshire Cor-
respondent.) During the past month the whole
of the lakes communicating with the river Solent,
(Ar Southampton-water, have literally swarmed with
such varieties of salt-water fish as are peculiar to the
western coasts of England at this season of the
year. The crews of the whiting-boats have been
most successful, :whilst amateur anglers have, in the
course of one flood tide, realized more sport than has
been the case for many years previous. Smelts
have been so abundant this season in the Lymington
river, that a gentleman oIL Monday last, whilst
tiff the bridge, t no less than eight
(404:P11 and three of the above delicate little fish with a
single rod and line in two hours,
besides a respectable
show of whiting-coal, flounders, and base.
The salmon
pink, or peel, have been netted in larger quantities in
the fresh-water streams in the above neighbourhood this
year than has been the case for some years past.

ROYAL ADELAIDE GALLERY.

E LIBEL LAW-F,XIECIAL JURY
JUSTICE IN IRELAND.

One of the most extraordinary of the very many
extraordinary verdicts we have had to record, as ema-
nating from Dublin Special Juries, was given in the
case of Creighton v. Finlay. The facts of the case
are simply as follow :—At the last meeting of the.
General Assembly of the Presbyterians of Ireland,
a discussion arose respecting the conduct of the Rev.: Mr. Creighton, of Bray, on which some very seve'.e
remarks were made by the members of the body. In
reporting the proceedings for the Northern Whig, the
reporter made a mistake, substituting one 'word for
another. The word "suspended" was sr:ostituted in
the latter part of the report for the vvces,a "demitted ;"
but, in the previous part, the wo:11 " demitted" had
twice occurred. The day on which the report was
published in the Whig, the Moderator of the Assem-
bly, the7Rev. Dr. Cooke, wrote a note to the editor,
calling his attention to the mistake ; and the editor,
consequently, in the very next publication, inserted
a correction. This took place in the early part
of July ; and it never was supposed that the
Rev. Mr. Creighton felt himself aggrieved by the
mistake which had thus been corrected, until the
proprietor of the Northern Whig (Mr.. F. D.
Finlay), received a letter, dated the 7th of August,
from one Hitchcock, of Anglesea-street, an attorney,
stating that he had been instructed to take proceed-
ings against him, and enclosing a copy of a writ ! On
the receipt of this letter, Mr. Finlay immediately
caused a public correction of the mistake his reporter
had made, to be published in the Evening Mail, Even-
ing Packet, and Evening Post. Still, the Rev. Mr.
Creighton, or his advisers, were not satisfied, and the
case came on for trial on Wednesday last, before the
Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, and a Special
Jury—the damages being laid at 5001. 'Well, the plaintiff's case was proved in evidence, as we have
stated it. It was proved that the word " suspended"
did not describe the position of the Rev. Mr.
Creighton, while the word " &mated" did. For the
defence it was proved that, as soon as the editor's at-
tention was called to the mistake, he had it rectified in
his next publicatkin ; and it was also proved, that, on
the receipt of the attorney's letter, Mr. Finlay had
the correction inserted in the, three Dublin papers
above mentioned. Doctor Cooke was examined for
the defence, and swore that the report was " substan.
tially correct"—that, in fact, it was far too lenient, us
the Rev. Mr. Creighton's cenduct was animadverted on
in infinitely more severe terms than those revolted in
the IVhig; and that, with the exception of tne
"suspended" having been substituted ermneously forwod
the word " demittedr the report was more favourable
to the Rev. Mr. Creighton than othelswise. Yet, not-
withstandinp: this evidence—notwithstanding the tri.
viality of the mistake committed—notwithstanding
the alacrity with which the editor of the Whig cor-
rected the error when it was pointed out to him,
and the ample manner in which Mr. Finlay had
that correction made public, through the medium of
three Dublin papers notwithstanding the " substan-
tial correctness" of the entire report, and its favour.
ableness to the Rev. Mr. Creighton—notwithstand all these things, the Special Jury,
'without a tittle'
malice having been proved as actuating Mr. Fin' ay
against the Rev. Plaintiff, returned a verdict
1;f one
hundred pounds damages, and sixpence oasis! Such
are the facts of this astounding :Ilse-- a ease, we
boldly aver, that is without a parali:el in the whole
history of our libel jurispruderu-b ! By this verdict
Mr. linlay will have to pay, Including costs, fully
APO hunflred pounds, became his reporter erroneously
WrPite the word " suspended" for " demitted," though,
when the mistake was pointed out, everything that
could be done was done, to correct and atone for the
error ! Now, we ask any sane man in the community,
is it not monstrous that such a mistake should be pu-
nished by such excessive damages ? The twelve jurors
were on their oaths, and with them we have nothing
to do—no doubt they discharged their duty satisfac-
torily to their own consciences, and in strict accord-
ance
with the law. What a blessed law, then, must
this libel layter be to warrant such a verdict ? We
shall only further observe, that the Presbyterians of
the orth ought not to allow Mr. Finlay to bear the
whole weight of this most monstrous verdict.—Monitor,

_,INGULAR PHENOMENON.—Wednesday forenoon a
phenomenon of most rare and extraordinary character
was observed in the immediate neighbourhood of Cupar.
About half-past twelve o'clock, whilst the sky was clear,
and the air, as it had been throughout the morning, per-
fectly calm, a girl employed in tramping clothes in a
tub, on the piece of ground above the town, called the
Common, heard a loud and sharp report over head, suc-
ceeded by a gust of wind of most extraordinary vehe-
mence, and of only a few moments' duration. On look-
in7, round she observed the whole of the clothes, sheets,
Se-c., lying within a line of a certain breadth, stretching
across the green, driven almost perpendicularly into the air.. Some heavy wet sheets, blankets, and other articles of a
like nature, after being carried to a great height, fell,
some in the adjoining gardens, and some on the high
road, at several hundred yards' distance ; another portion
of the articles, however, consisting of a quantity of
curtains, and a number of smaller articles, were carried
upwards to an immense height, so as to be almost lost to
the eye, and gradually disappeared altogether from sight
in a south-eastern direction, and have not yet been
heard of. At the moment of the report which preceded
the wind, the cattle in the neighbouring meadow were
observed running about in an affrighted state, and for
some time afterwards they continued cowering together
in evident terror. The ;violence of the wind was such
that a woman, who at the time was holding a blanket,
found herself unable to retain her hold, and relinquished
it in the fear of being carried up along with it ! It is
remarkable that, while even the heaviest articles were
stripped off a belt, as it were, running across the green,
and while the loops of several sheets which were pinned
down were snapped, light articles lying loose on both.
sides of the belt were never moved from their position.
—Fife Herald.
BRISTOL SUGAR MARKET, JULY I.—We have had
a quiet market this week, demand moderate; prices, in
some instances, in favour of the buyer.—Arrived since
our last, the Barbara, Jamaica, 460 hhds.; the Eliza-
beth, Jamaica, 670 hhds.; the Ann, Trinidad, 151
,• hhds.;
the Lucy, Antigua, 350 hhds. the Mary Marsden,
Mauritius, 3,461 mitts.—Bristol Mercury.
DEATH OF THE RIGHT lION. SIR WILLIAM ALEN... ANDER.—Sir William's demise took place at his mansion, in
Grosvenor-square, on Wednesday afternoon, in his 88th year.
Be was called to the bar in 1762, appointed a Kin's Counsel
in 1800, and a Master in Chancery in 1809 ; was Lord Chief
Baron of the Exchequer from 1824 to 1831, when he was suc-
ceeded by the present Lord Chancellor Lyndhurst; became a
Privy Counsellor on his elevation to the bench, and Knighted
in 1824. Sir William is the second retired Judge whose pen-
sion, 3,500/. per annum, has reverted to the public treasury
during the week.
Keink- IpTi eol
wd of,B i;barley,
hto
has
b belongingeen cutthis to
week,llr
l.
andHallett,l
t of
is
good condition,
tu‘nreectinonthe
Coirritive AeAluiensbt,
mentions a report
vials'll,fasiiaayssctohnesinicreeiantbetcre
cost of the State. The same journal
u rb
eg I railroad will,
Bavarian and Austrian Governments of
railways.
that negotiations have been entered intofor abe.
city on his way to Germany
The Independent of Brussels a. nnou nces the arrival
of Marshal Sebastiani in that
The Gazette du Midi announces the arrival at Leg-
horn of the Count de Montenuovo, son of the ex-Empress
Maria Louisa. After partaking of the fetes in prepara-
tion there, he intends, it is said, to visit France.
The crops in this part of the country suffer much
from the want of rain. The oats and barleys on many
lands are nearly ruined, and the wheat, though better,
is thin, and short in the straw. Some refreshing
, accompanied by thunder and
showers fell on Thursday
lightning, but the weather soon cleared up, and promises
a continuance of dry weather.—Brighton Herald.
The Egyptian Aluseum of the Vatican has just
been enriched by son e new
mummies, large sarcophagi
alabaster urns, several stones covered ..with hieroglyphics.
idols, and bronzes, in all ').l objects, which Mehemet Ail.
has presented to the Pope.
AIR. PENTON SCOTT.--We are sorry to hear of the
serious indisposition of Wm. L. F. Scott, Esq., thf3
Registrar of the West RidHg of Yorkshire, and one.ra
the Magistrates of the Riding:—.Leeds Illencury.

On Saturday evening Mr. Jones, the spirited and
talented proprietor of this institution, entertained a
fashionable party, consisting of nearly l'2oo ladies and
gentlemen, at a conversazione and re-union, 'upon a
very splendid scale. The musical entertainments were
varied and of a high order, and were conducted with
much skill and judgment by Mr. Louis Emanuel, who
presides over that department. The band was ex-
ceedingly effective, and the opening piece (the over-
ture to Fra Diavolo) elicited rapturous and well-
merited applause, as did also the «Echo Song" of
Sir H. R. Bishop, by Madame Sestini, with an'obli-
gato accompaniment on the concertina by M. Julien
Adams. The lady was, in a subsequent part of tile
`evening, accompanied in a duet by Mr. Benson, wh.)
was generally pronounced to be one of the best tenors;
in England. The duet was encored with very
great applause. Besides the incomparable display
of our greatest favourite, Louisa Finning, we had
two other juvenile performers of surprising merit,
Master Simmons on the violin, and Master Laland on
the harp—to whom we must add a youth from the
band of the Grenadier Guards, whose accompaniment
on the drum was too remarkable for precision, tone,
and judgment, to be passed over without notice. The
Rhenish singers richly merited the enthusiastic
applause with which their performance was attended,
We understand that on the evenings of the next
will be opened to the
ments, for the benefit o f
public
Sma,tiuthrdsaiinrsilartheengatelrltaier3n-
the distressed manufacturers.
In the course of the afternoon the Prince anti
Princess of Capua had their portraits taken by M.
Claudet's Dauguerreotype, and expressed their admiza.
tion of the very curious pictures which he has pro-
duced of groups of opera dancers, taken in every possi-
ble variety of attitude as they flitted before the diagram
of the camera, and caught in those difficult positiovs
which not Cerito nor Des Places could possibly r:Aai ,
et to n
i"
for a second. Those beautiful works are, h
selves worth a visit to M. Claud beln' em-
id. h t
TH

HAMBURGH.

PROPOSITION OF THE SENATE OF HAM-
BURGH, FOR SUBMISSION TO THE BUR-

GUERSHAFT.
The meeting of the Bnrghershaft is at length decidedly
appointed for Thursday, the 16th. Of the propositions
that will be then submitted to them by the Senate there
are some which are of immediate, and others which must
prove of ultimate interest to s the English mercantile
world. The following summary, drawn up from the
notes I have made from these documents, will be found
to contain every point of any consequence.
The propositions of the Senate are contained in live
sever al printed parts, and these are supported by detailed
explanations, and a statement of the grounds upon
which their adoption is recommended.
PART I.

By the constitution of this free city, the Senate and
burghers may conjointly appoint a deputation to sit for
any given purpose, or any given time, to adjust any de-
bateable ques'Lion on which they cannot come to an
agreement, CV: which it
,may be conceived desirable by
each of therii should be constituted for any special pur
pose benear:ial to the State.

The S'r.ate propose, under this head (I.), that this de-
putation. -should consist of five of their own body, and
tourteea of the Burghershaft.
It 51!47 cities the functions and extent of the competency
of the; .deputation..
17 I
1. o prepare reports to be presented by them to the
Sen-af.e as propositions for the' Burghershaft, then to be
subigJitted to them, if approved of by the Senate.
A. On a plan for the reconstruction, of the town,
the raising money, and the simplifying the expro-
priation law for that purpose.
B. Fora general police law for architectural, Rre
and sanatory regulations, respecting buildings, ware-
houses, and magazines of combustible articles.
C. For the revision and improvement of the laws
" and regulations for the extinction of fires.
-2. Definitive resolutions on the following affairs :
• - A. The raising money for the payment of the
damage by the fire, by means of one or more loans:
How to relieve the Mutual House Insurance against
fire sisc.)diations.
B. Authorisation to the deputation to allow im-
mediately the reconstruction of Certain streets,
without prejudice to the projected plan.
C. To make further dispositions, and urgent ad-
ditional modificatiiins, as may have been omitted in
respect to the building and fire regulations.
D. Delibersation with the Senate in reference to
some principles to be followed by the relief coin,
committee.

3. They (the Senate) wit, as soon as possible, bring
the propositions of the deputation, if approved of by them,
to the College of the One hundred and Eighty, and the
Burghershaft.