The Sun.
London, England, 1827-04-10 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

The Second Report of the Emigration
Com-
mittee contains the full-acknowledgement of that
fact upon which we have before spoken—namely
the application of a sum of Money from the
Manufacturers Relief Committee, for the pur-
pose of emigration. The terms are these—that
the " Relief Committee" shall advance 25,0001.
out of the funds raised for theiradministratian,
on condition that 50,0001. be supplied from some
other quarter- The Emigration Committee, !of
course, recommend a grant to that amount. We
persevere in our opposition to the measure.-1--
What can you do for your manufacturing poor
in Canada and Nova Scotia, that you cannot do
for them here, if you really intend to afford
them relief? Physicians send their patients to
Bath 'and Brighton, and Clifton and Lisbon, when
they want to get them off their hands, for no
other purpose than that they may not see
them die : and the emigration project is one of a si-
milar principle. Let us relieve, by all means, our
manufacturing poor ; but let us relieve them !at
home, by affording them, through public econoniy,
the means of supporting themselves, which, if it be
pretended cannot be done now, might very easily
hare been done some time ago, and may still be
done to a very great extent. The following extract
from the Report of the Emigration Committee pre-
sents a lamentable instance of the manner in which
the rents of farms have been run up in the maim-
facturing districts, and of the methods by which the
landlord has been enabled, even directly, to take the
earnings of the poor weaver and cotton-spinner :---
Recurring to the persons whom it is proposed to make
the immediate objects of this offer of removal, it is neces-
sary to acquaint the House, that in the districts above
alluded to, and snore especially in Lancashire, there app4ar
to be among the Land-loom weavers, two classes almost
wholly distinct from each other : the one, who though We)
take in work in their own houses or cellars, are congre-
gated in the large manufacturing towns ; and the otl4r,
scattered in small hamlets or single houses, in variclth
directions throughout the ;manufacturing country. Itt ii
to the situation of this letter class, though both are ill g
state extremely de'",;:orable, that your Committee tecnild
chiefly wish to direct the attention of the House. !II
aPPetts that pereoni of this description, for many years
past, hale beea occupiers of small farms of a few acrts,
whichthey haie - held at high rents ' • and combining
tte business, of a hand-loom weaver with that of a workijig
farmer, have assisted to raise the rent of their land frdm
the profits of their loom. Upon this class it is, that tine
distresses of the times have fallen with peculiar ha -
/
ship. While the decline of their manufacturing bu i-
I
teas has utterly disabled them from supplying th se
rents which were due from them as agriculturists, they
have found themselves called upon to give eupport, as
liable to the rates, to those of their fellow weavers who
were engaged in manufacture alone: and a remnant of
honest pride and shams has prevented many of those in the
extremest distress from applying for parish relief; while
others, being-from their remote situation less immedia4ly
under the eyes of the regular authorities, have lingered on,
till found accidentally, as has been proved in eviden4e,
in the last stages of misery and disease.
This scene of misery, we must again observe, its
not of our painting—it is from the Report of the
Emigration Committee.—Times.,

Lord King followed up two or three questions
respecting the duration of the present Ministe-
rial interregnum ; which, " seeing half a dozen
of his Majesty's Ministers present, such as they
were, he wished to ask them"—by some very
galling observations on the subject of the com-
osition of an Administration. " Whether the
rilmistri were complete or not," he observed,
wz:s to him a most unimportant matter ; for, of
the animals in the Ministerial Menagerie, the
Prime Minister was the most unnecessary. He
stated this advisedly, and on the highest autho-
rity. In 1800, an experiment had been made,
of what sort of a thing it was possible to make a
Minister ; and by the experiment it had been
ascertained, that you might make a Jack-boots _a
Prim

e Minister.° Noir an eipiiiineritii,as
trq-
iug, if the country could not go on without any
Minister. First it had been proved, that any
person would make a Minister, and now it seem-
ed to be ascertained, that no Minister at all
was wanted." In vain, however, his Lord-
ship applied the spur to the half-dozen of
Ministers present. They were as silent as the
Senators of Venice in the Play. Their business
?s to vote in the Cabinet (to draw their salaries
Ind exercise the patronage of their respective offices
being always implied) and not to render reasons or
to repel attacks in Parliament. Till some one draught-
,,cl from the Commons takes his place among them,
they must bear up with the blows they receive the
best way they can. The prevailing report last night
was, that the arrangements are at length completed.
\Ve know not, however, what credit is due to the
statement current. It was said that the Chancellor
of the Exchequer is to be created a Peer, and to be
made President of the Council, that Lord Ilarrowby
goes to Paris as Ambassador, and Lord Granville
takes the Foreign Office; that Mr. Canning is to
be Chancellor of the Exchequer and First Lord of
the Treasury, with the usual patronage, &c. We
have been led to understand that the King has all
along'refused to interfere in the arrangements, which has
added very much to the embarrassment of Ministers. Se•
veral versions are given of the object of the Duke of Rut-
land's late visit to his Majesty. Whatever may be the ar-
rangements, if the measures of the new Ministry do not
prove acceptable to the nation, it will be difficult for them
to place this to the account of a factions spirit. Faction
may be said to have been for some time extinct in this
country ; and, therefore, we are almost warranted to infer,
from this fairness and candour on the part of the people,
that if justice be done to them, they will not be insensible
to it. In fact, the people have erred on the side of over_
liberality, for they have often given Ministers credit for
goad intentions, when their actions were objectionable.—
.If)rxing Chroxicle.

The Second Reformation is going on apace
in England as well as Ireland. It appears that
we have not yet freed ourselves from some of
the inconvenient restraints on Christian liberty
imposed by the Church of Rome, and more par.;
titularly that a foolish impediment in the way of
the free trade in Church livings still exists in the
laws against simony. We are, however, getting
fast rid of the prejudices in which such laws had
their origin. Even so late as the times of Bishop
Burnet, they were still retained by scrupulous
persons, for that Prelate protests against parents
buying livings for their children, and buying and
selling benefices in general," and calls on Patronsi
not to lay altogether aside the fear of God, anci
not to enter into " that filthy merchandize of the
souls of men ; and reproaches the Church of
England with still labouring under a shameful
profanation of holy things, from which the
Church of Rome has freed herself. Yesterday,
however, a commencement was given to an at-
tempt to perfect the edifice of Christian liberty.
Our readers will see that a case was decided by
appeal in the House of Lords, in which a Clergy-
man, having been presented to the Living of Ket-
tering, in Northamptonshire, by Lord Sondes, on
condition of his resigning it to a son of his Lordship
when ready for it, or paying 10,0001. this bond was
set aside as simoniacal by the existing law. But
both the Lord Chancellor and the Archbishop of
Canterbury seemed to think the law one of great
severity, and that those worthy persons who have
been concerned in the trade of buying and selling
livings ought to be protected from consequences to
which they have rendered themselves liable. The
Archbishop of Canterbury immediately brought in
a bill to tranquillize that numerous class of persona
who had not the fear of the laws relating to simony
before their eyes, which will of course pass through
both Houses without opposition. It was observed
by the Irish Attorney:General, in the course of the
debate on the Catholic Question, that religion itself is, in

these days, dependent en churchproperty.; and it follows,
therefore, that whatever renders church property more va-
luable, must give additional security to religion. Simony,
therefore, as well as pluralities, giving additional value to
church property, ought rather to be cherished than pro-
scribed by all friends to religion ; and we ought to chew
ourselves above the prejudices of Papists, who persist in
condemning both. We may consider, therefore, the bill
of the Archbishop of Canterburi as a legitimate extension
of the principle of free trade to religion, and as a most im-
portant step in the Second Reformation.—Eid.

At the German Universities a warm contro-.
versy is carried on by rival Professors of Juris-
prudence with respect to the object of punish-
ment. All allow that certain acts should
subject the actors to death, imprisonment, forced
labour, fines, &c., so that the differences do not
extend beyond the region of Metaphysics. But
a theory was started last night in the House of
Lords, which would seem to involve a most
important, departure from the practice of nations
hitherto in the awarding of punishment. We
are not fond of pronouncing decidedly on any
theory on its first announcement, and therefore,
we merely call attention to that started by Lord
Ellenborough last night. " The object of set-
ting spring guns (said his Lordship) was not
personal injury to any one, but to deter from the
commission of theft ; and that object was as
completely obtained by hitting an innocent man
as a guilty one." When we give his Lordship credit
for originality, we are not sure that we may not
be doing injustice to the Turks ; for we have a
sort of vague recollection, that it is stated
by some travellers in Turkey, that the Turks
have adopted his Lordship's theory, and when a
robbery has been committed, for instance, seize the
first men they can catch, and hang them, by way of
deterring from the commission of it in future. They
think, as his Lordship, no doubt, does, that the end
being to deter, the more certain the punishment the
more efficacious the example. Now, it is sot al-
ways possible to discover guilt, though it is always
possible to punish, if the distinction between guilt
and innocence is disregarded; and, therefore, as
punishment must be more certain if it may be made
to fall on innocence as well as guilt, to limit punish-
ment to individuals against whom guilt is proved is
to diminish the certainty of it, and consequently to
defeat the end which punishment is intended to answer.
The new theory (new at least in this part of Europe) of his
Lordship is pregnant with the most important conse-
quences. It may lead, for one thing, to a most material
diminution of the County Rates, which have been pro-
digiously increased of late years, by an attempt to make the
discovery of guilt precede the punishment. Perhaps his
Lordship would have, no objection, by way of demonstrat-
ing the efficacy of his theory, to allow himself to be dis-
posed of by that important personage who gives to the
Law its chief efficacy, without the formality of a proof of
guilt, in order to reconcile the country to the indiscrimi-
nate slaughter of innocence and guilt. The Laws have
always been distinguished for originality ; and we see his
Lordship is determined that the family characteristic shall
not be obliterated in him..-- Ibid.
If Mr. Canning possesses, as we have no
doubt he does, the high and honourable mind,
which the author of " De Vere" is supposed to
'attribute to him, he 'must readily see through
and despise the fulsome, interested adulation to
which a part of the Press is just now subjecting
him. To suppose him to be a party to, or even
so much as sanctioning the sort of advocacy
which he is thus receiving, would be to admit
at once that he is unworthy of the honour and
distinction which these very friends are contend-
ing for. The truth, however, is, that such praise
as some part of the Press is loading Mr. Can-
ning with, 'is, in fact, no better than " satire in
disguise ;" and we do not know of any stronger
argument that could be used against the eleva-
tion of Mr. Canning to the office of Prime Mi-
nister, than the possibility of its affording him
the means,, if he was_waakexmi:posaeas
Wei inclination, of rewarding the hungry and un-
worthy sycophants and hangers-on, for their ser-
vile flattery, with the extensive patronage the
first Lordship' of the Treasury would confer.
Powerful as the Press is, it cannot be denied
that by far too great a share of its influence is
in the hands of some of Mr. Canning's coun-
trymen, who, without either his talent or inte-
grity, would, if they could, convert him into an
liish Bute, conferring upon mere nationality that
influence and patronage which, to a mind such
as Mr. Canning must possess, we need not say
would be a species of prostitution to which such
a mind can never descend. It is to put the
public 'on its guard that we throw out these
observations—to Mr. Canning himself no such
caution can be necessary. He must know,
.
"as we do, that his influence has only to kick
the beam, and away goes to his successor
and competitor, be he who he may, all the
very same applause which is now so liberally and
'disinterestedly showered upon him. The most ra-
tional idea which we have seen thrown out upon the
subject of Mr. Canning's situation in the new Mi-
nistry is one which appeared in our;City article a few
days since. Why, it was there asked, should not
Mr. Canning's ambition be satisfied with that which
satisfied Mr. Fox, who was virtually at the head of
the Administration of 1806, but who himself held
the situation of Foreign Secretary, which Mr. Can..
ning now holds ? There is a very trite and true
saying, which speaks of " letting well alone ;" and
is, we think, peculiarly applicable to Mr. Canning's')
present situation. In the office of Foreign Secretary
he appears to be precisely where he ought to be;
while in the joint offices of First Lord of the Trea-
sury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, which re 7
port assigns him, he will not only not have the same
chance of distinguishing himself, and serving hie
country, but in the latter office he will displace one
who is on all hands allowed to have shown more

clearness, temper, and integrity than have, for many
years, if ever, been exhibited in a Finance Minister.
What pretensions, we would ask, has Mr. Can-
ning► to displace Mr. Robinson ? What knowledge
of figures has he ever shown ? Or what is there in

his previous habits to lead the world to suppose that
at this, the eleventh hour of his natural life, as it may
be called, he is likely to equal, still less to excel,
the man who, we will venture to say, has done more to-
wards simplifying the intricate subject of the public ac-
counte than all his predecessors ? We trust that our read-
ors will perceive that we are not penning a single line in
any unkind feeling towards Mr. Canning. We acknow-

ledge his talents ; -we admire many, if not most, of his
principles; but why the melancholy accident which has
befallen Lord Liverpool should also deprive us of an ex-
cellent Foreign Secretary we do not understand, and still
less (lo we comprehend why it should drive from the Chan-
celloralaip of the Exchequer a man so eminently qualified
for that situation as Mr. Robinson has proved himself to

be. If it be only that Mr. Canning may haye the power

of nominating to bishoprics, and appointing Custom-house
Officers—that he may have the whole tribe of borough-

patrons and independent County Members, constantly
suing to him for the price of their own subserviency; tr if
it be that he may be better able to bring about a measure to
which the sense of the country is opposed—all that we
can say is, that not one of these reasons ought to weigh a

•
feather in the scale ; or if they are entitled to have any
weight at all, it should he in the opposite scale to that

which they are intend to occupy.—Morning Herald.

The country has now, for some weeks, been
daily amused, or perplexed, with one of the

silliest clamours that was ever raised. " Give

us," say our quidnuncs., " a united Administra-
tion ; our Ministers, of late years, have been
distracted by opposition of sentiments, and con-
trariety of political views ; their energy is thus
destroyed, respect abroad is lost, and confidence
at home weakened : give us, therefore," they
continue, " an Administration, composed of men
who shall be zealous in mutual co-operation, in-
stead of checking, thwarting, and counteracting

each other." The demand would be reasonable,
were it not that we have all along had, that for
which they call upon us to pray. The founda-
tion of the complaint is laid on circumstances,
which never had any reality—in an alleged evil,
which never existed—in the supposed want of
an advantage, of which we have all along had the
full enjoyment. When was there ever an 'admi-,
nistration more free ifrom internal disunion or
distrust, than that of which Lord Liverpool
was the head ? When was there ever an
administration, which, in all its great and
leading measures, and in its general course
of policy, exhibited more unity and consistency
of purpose, or a spirit of more complete har-
mony ? Few periods in the history of any
Government, have been more replete with
combinations of political circumstances, preg-
nant with the most important results, and
requiring both decision and caution than the
last four years of our own history.—Tke affairs
which were to be managed—the " manures
which were to be adopted, were such, that
very opposite views of them might be taken ; and
the interests at stake were so great, that each man
would naturally cling, with no small pertinacity, to
that course which appeared to him the wisest and
the best. But where, in the vast variety of impor-
tant measures which the Cabinet has adopted or re-
jected, could the least trace of dissension, the
slightest symptom of disunion be found ? Were they
not united m their abstinence from interference
when France invaded Spain ? Were they not
equally harmonious in resolving to put the strength
of the country into action when Spain presumed to
foment rebellion in Portugal ? During the last four
years, numerous changes and improvements have
been made in our internal legislation, and in the re-
gulation and administration of our finances. The
system of our Navigation Laws has been entirely
altered, and the whole course of our commercial
policy placed upon a sounder footing. Which
of all these measures is it that has not been
supported with the full strength of the Cabinet ?
To agree in walking in the old road, is, for the
most part, as far as the harmony of Statesmen ex-
tends to : but to agree in quitting the old road, and
choosing a new path, is the most complete proof of
political concord that could be desired. New com-
mercial treaties have been concluded with divers
European States; a prudent and firm course has
been followed in our relations with the United
States. In none of these proceedings does any thing
but the most perfect union among our Ministers ap-
pear. We take the lead in recognizing certain new
States in South America; and this recognition is not
promiscuous and undistinguishing, but is guided by
a regard to the specific circumstances of each coun-
try. We recognize Mexico, Colombia, and the
Republic of the Rio de la Plata, because in these
we find an independent political organization, with
which' another State may form engagements, with a
reasonable probability for their permanence. We
do not formally recognize Peru, Guatemala, or Chile,
because they are either dependent on their neigh-
bours, or in a condition of such constant political
instability, that it would be a farce to attempt to
enter into treaties with the things which, in these
countries, may happen, on this day or that, to call
themselves a Government. Thus, there has been,
in our Cabinet, the most perfect union, both
in 'what 'it has done, and -in what it has not
done. " But," say our wiseacres, who imagine that it is
only when the Ministers agree with themselves, that they
agree with, one another—" but, see how long it was, be-
fore we recognised the. South American States; recogni-
tion was called for many years before it took pace; but
Mr. Canning was resisted in his liberal views, and it was
only at the eleventh hour, that he was enabled to do what
he wished to have done long before." Unluckily, we can-
not believe these men, unless we disbelieve Mr. Canning
himself. Mr. Canning, and, we think, with great good
reason, has always placed the merit of the system he has
followed towards South America, not so much in the thing
done, as in the choice of the time in which such thing was
done; and the selection of the time was his own. Nu

stood by the,Morning Chronicle and the Times than by
Mr. Canning: but there would he no great modesty in ad-
mitting, that Mr. Canning is better acquainted than they
are with what he himself has done, and with what has
passed between himself and his colleagues ; and be tells us,
that he has always met with the most encouraging co-
operation. We have had, of late years, as united a Mi-
nistry as ever governed any country; and we are sure that
England desires nothing more earnestly, than that the la-
mented removal of Lord Liverpool from public life may
produce no change in our foreign or domestic policy.—
New Times.

Spain, if any faith is to be placed in the con-
curring testimony of the latest communications
from that country, is at the very threshold of a
great change. The Government has all the
worst qualities, without any of the redeeming
energies of a despotism : and as its tyranny is
more of a speculative than an active character, it
is at once an object of hatred and contempt.—
Whilst from its vexatious proceedings it has pro-
voked the intense abhorrence of one portion of
its subjects, its weakness and indecision have in-
spired the other with incurable distrust ; and in-
stead of riding on the highest wave, it is tossed
in all directions by the violence of the troubled
waters. A more able tyrant would make use of
one :faction in order to crush the other, and as
long as it stood in need of its services, would
load it with caresses, and treat it, at least in ap-
pearance, with unlimited confidence. When it
had served the purpose for which it was wanted,
it would be afterwards humbled in its turn ; and
the nation might thus find repose, which after so
many convulsions would be of itself an inesti-
mable blessing, under the wing of a firm and
powerful despotism ; whereas the present Go-
vernment can only be compared to a nightmare,
squatted on the bosom of the country, disturbing
her rest by frightful visions, and rendering the
glare of day and the gloom of night alike hideous
and hateful. No one, therefore, will be surprized
at her readiness to adopt any remedy, however des-
perate, which promises to relieve her from so un-
sufferable a state of feverish anxiety. In this
respect, all parties agree; whilst upon every other
point they arc as remote from one another as the
poles, arid irreconcilable as the most jarring elements.
The "Apostolicals" want a change, because they
are anxious to make their triumph complete, which,
from the feeble and vacillating character of the Go-
vernment, they have hitherto been unable to effect.
They are also afraid, that, from the same cause,
victory may pass over again to the ranks of their
opponents ; and thus fear, revenge, and ambition,
unite their maddening influence to work up their
minds to the highest state of irritation ; whilst
Fanaticism, in the cowl and habit of a Monk, bran-
dishes her flaming torch, in order Co excite their
fury. All that is revolting in bigotry, and all that
is insupportable in a spirit of exclusive domination,
are found combined in the Catholic Clergy of Spain
as a body; and though individually many of them
are distinguished by their piety and learning, they
constitute collectively the most narrow-minded, in-
tolerant, and domineering order of men, that is
to be met with in any civilized country. To them
may likewise be ascribed nearly all the woes and
distractions to which that country has been so long
a prey; and she will probably owe her deliverance
also to the insatiable spirit of exaction and domi-
nation which distinguishes their body. The Con-
stitutional Faction is neither inert nor desponding at this
moment; but, on the contrary, stands erect in hope, and
is preparing with incredible activity, and even boldness,
for another trial of strength with its opponents. It is an
incontestible fact, that notwithstanding the purifying sys-
tem, it has numerous partizans in the new army, and,
what may appear more astonishing, in the inferior ranks of
the provincial Magistracy. The weakness of the Govern
went, and particularly its indecision, have probably con-
verted many to the principles of the Constitutionalists,
who, under other circumstances, would have adhered to the
opposite party. These new converts, looking upon a poli-

tical re-action as unavoidable, merely want to obtain favour
with the party they expect to see triumphant. If the
Spanish Monarch had the spirit of some of his prede-
cessors, or if lie loved the name and glitter less, and
the substance of tyranny more, he would not see his
adherents fall off from him in this manner, to swell
the ranks of his most bitter and uncompromising enemies.
However a feeble • Sovereign is a perfect solecism, and
wherever there is sovereign rule there -should be vigour
and decision, as indispensable accompaniments. Without
these attributes the possessor becomes the football of fac-
tion and frequently its victim ; whilst the people, despis-
ing the weak and unskilful hands that hold the reins of
Government, become unmanageable, and plunge headlong
into every species of excess. The situation o Spain at
this moment strikingly illustrates our remark ; and, what
with the poverty of her treasury, the rage of her conflict-
ing ketions, the bad spirit of her army, the fanaticism of
her clergy, and the utter incapacity of her Government to
contend against these evils, it may be said that a miracle
alone can save her from the imminent dangers with which
she is menaced.—Morning Post.

LENT ASSIZES.

OXFORD CIRCUIT, MONMOUTH, Aram 7,

CROWN SIDE.

Charles Daniel and George Long, both young men
under 20, were indicted for assaulting William Lewis, on
the 6th of March, at Llanfoist, with intent to rob him.
The Jury returned a verdict of Guilty against Daniel,
and acquitted Long.
The prosecutor, Mr. Lewis, who is a very respectable-
looking man, beyond the middle age, stepped forward, and
recommended Daniel to mercy.
Mr. BosAnQueT—Prisoner, the sentence is, that you
be imprisoned two years, and kept to hard labour.
Charles Webb and Richard Mayo were indicted for
highway robbery upon Matthew Davis, on the night of the
10th of August, in St. Aryan's, near Chepstow, and steal-
ing from him a pocket-book containing three 1/. notes,
and a purse containing a quantity of silver.
The Jury, after a short deliberation, acquitted the pri-
soners.
Mr. Baron VAUGHAN having disposed of the civil bu-
siness, tried prisoners in the Nisi Prius Court.
William Watkins, Thomas Jenkins, Henry Evans,
and John Prosser, were indicted for a riot, and for com-
mitting an assault upon. Mary Nicholas, an old woman, at
Abergavenny.
Mr. MAULS.—The defendants are charged with an
offence which does not appear on the indictment to be of
a very unusual description, bat it was committed under
circumstances very rare, and I hope of late years quite
unprecedented. They are charged with assembling in a
riotous manner, and with assaulting the prosecutrix.
She is a poor decrepit old woman, upwards of ninety
years of age, and she has been most inhumanly treated, un-
der the absurd notion that she was a witch. She
lives with her daughter, Mary Phillips, in Abergavenny, and
receives relief from the parish. Watkins is a farmer at
Llanfoist, in good circumstances, Jenkins is his servant,
Evans is a blacksmith, and Prosser a shoemaker. On the
10th of March last Watkins and Jenkins seized this poor
old woman, and dragged her away; she contrived to escape
into a house; they pursued her, and, to the disgrace of
the bystanders, were 'allowed to take her away. They
seized her, a mob gathered, and they pulled her the dis-
tance of a mile to the farm and fold-yard of the defen-
dant Watson, and then she was obliged to kneel
down at the heels of a colt, with the tail in her hands,
and compelled to speak some prayers. In her terror
she made a mistake in the words ; this exasperated
them ; they beat her about, tore her clothes, and dragged
the branch of a wild briar plucked from a hedge, and
full of prickly thorns, over her arm, and covered it
with blood. This they did several times. You may
have heard of an old, and I had hoped, a worn-out super-
stition respecting old women as witches enchanting cattle,'
and disenchanting them by certain prayers—a subject
of pity, if the superstition had been shown in an innocent
manner, but when Superstition is theught an excuse for
barbarity, it aggravates the offence, because there is no se.
curity against the ill-conduct of people -.•':o suffer them-

selves to he actuated by such motives. One might have
supposed that the very infirm age and sex of the sufferer
would have protected her, but they kept her kneeling a
great length of time, and fancying a witch was furnished
with an unnatural teat, they stripped her down to the waist
and searched for it. It was not until some humane per-
sons interposed, with considerable risk to themselves, that
her release was obtained, and that was not done until
her white hair was pulled off her head to see whether they
would burn. Hcme she at last was taken by her daughter,
'Hi the most deplorable situation : and wonderful it was
that she survived her ill-treatment. The prisoners may
thank her excellent constitution that they are not capitally
indicted, for it was not their want of malice that saved the
old woman's life, and had she died, they would have been
this day tried for their lives, with which they would pro-
bably have expiated their inhumanity.
Mary Nicholas.—(Witness was accompanied by her
daughter, a respectable-looking old woman, and was exa-
mined through an interpreter.)—l am 91 next August,
and buried my husband 10 years ago. Last Saturday
three weeks saw 'Watkins and his servant Jenkins opposite
the Bull public-house in Abergavenny. They came out
of the public-house and took hold of me under enrl• arm,
and dragged me down the road towards Abergavenny-
bridge, and pushed me with sticks. Watkins kept hold
of me. There was a great many pushing me, but I was
stunned, and could not tell who they were. They pulled
me to Llanfoist, to Watkins's farm, to an outhouse, and
put me on my knees. I saw some part of a colt, but not
the whole, somewhere near a rick of hay. They make me
kneel down close behind the colt ; they requested me to
bless the colt. Watkins held me, but there were three or
four about me. Watkins put his servant to hold my arm,
and he dragged a rough stick with thorns over my arm
several times. They wanted to drag me to a pool. Ido
not know wherefore, excepting to drown me, My arm
was all over blood. They stripped me down to my waist,.
They searched with their hands under• my arms, and all
over. They pulled my cap off, and took my hair from my
head. I felt them cutting it. They pushed me about as
much as they could, and hurt me. Witness, from the heat
of the court and her great age, was here taken ill.
Mr. Baron VA uu RAN inquired if there was any salts,
and directed the windows to be opened.
Cross-examined by Mr. Russar.s.--I never told Davis's
daughter I would make her walk upon her back if she did
not give me some bacon. I never said I would bewitch
her; and if any body said I did, they will go to hell.
Evan saw Mary Nicholas walking with
Watkins and Jenkins towards Llanfoist. There were about
50 people about her then, and snore came afterwards.
They were using her roughly, pushing and dragging her
by the arm. In the lane leading to the fold-yard, Watkins
roughly turned her round by the shoulder, and, pointing to
three dead cattle, said, " look; there's some of your
work, now." They forced her to the fold-yard, and put
her upon her knees to a colt's tail in the rick-yard. Wat-
kins made her say " God bless the colt." There were
from 80 to 100 people present. Evans and Prosser were
there. Evans was cursing and swearing at her. Wat-
kins compelled her to say again, God Almighty, that is in
heaven, pray bless the colt." I saw Watkins take a wild
rose briar out of the hedge, and draw it over her arm. I
saw it done once by Watkins some one held her, but I
did net notice who. The old woman was on her knees
at the tail of the colt. They took her clothes off and
searched her, and said they would find her teat. She said,
if they would he quiet, she would strip herself; they would
not allow her, but took her to the beast-house. They left
her shift, but took all her upper garments off.
_ _ _

Mr. RUSSELL.—There is no— one in this Court who
regrets more sincerely than I do, that the last days of this
very old woman should have been embittered by these
foolish people, but we must not allow our feelings to re-
present the case worse than it is ; and my friend must
have been much excited by hie instructions, when he said
the prisoners might have bad to have answered for their
offence with their lives. I regret that the compensation
offered before their trial was not accepted. There is one
circumstance of mitigation—the prisoners were sincere,
for absurd as it was, the delusien was honest. Wat-
kins having lost three of his cattle, and his colt having
been taken ill, did believe they were bewitched by this old
woman. There is a story that a witch's hair will not
burn, that you cannot draw her blood, and that she will
not drown. All this accounts for the violent behaviour
of the mob. The existence of so absurd a superstition is a
melancholy thing. I had hoped the march of intellect hail
got into the hills of .Monmouthshire, but it should be re-
membered that the time is not far gone by when one of
our most able and learned Judges, Sir Matthew Hale, hung
seven persons as witches at one time. I admit the assault,
but desire to draw the distinction between that and a riot,
and in fairness you will not allow my friend to persuade
you it was a riot.

The Jury found the prisoners all guilty of the assault,
but nut of the riot.

His Lordship postponed giving judgment till Monday.

Mr. Campbell is to be in Glasgow on Non-
day, and will be installed Lord Rector on Thursday at three
o'clock; after which he will dine with the Collegs.
Edinburgh Observer. : • • ;