The Sun.
London, England, 1845-04-01 00:00:00

Allt4

LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 1845.

The House of Commons met yesterday afternoon at
four o'clock, for the first time since the Easter recess.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL gave notice that he should,
on Friday, draw the attention of the House to the
passage in the Message of the American President,
which related to the Oregon Treaty.
In answer to Lord DUNCAN, Sir J. GRAHAM stated
that he did not intend to propose any alteration in
the law of last s,ssioa, on the subject of imprisonment
for debt. The Right Hon. Baronet further stated,
in answer to Colonel RAWDON, that he did not in-
tend to extend the measure to Ireland until the re-
sult of the experiment in England should have been
ascertained.
The House then resolved itself into a Committee of
Supply, and Mr. CORBY brought forward the Navy
Estimates.
Mr. WTAKLEY, who had a motion on the paper on
the subject of the opening of Mr. T. DUNCOMDK'S

letters, was absent when the motion was put; he
sho:•tly after entered the House, ani made an ineffec-
tual attempt to induce the House to resume, in order
to enable him to bring forward his motion.
The Navy Estimates occupied the House the re-
mainder of the evening.

There is no subject on which we have felt for some
time past a more painful anxiety than the alarming
increase of criminal atrocities. We concur with an
able Contemporary in the strong opinion he has ex-
pressed that this increase must be mainly attributable
to the comparative impunity with which—owing to
the inexplicable charges of judges, and the astound-
ing verdicts of juries, in some very remarkable cases
of modern date,—evil-disposed men have been led to
conclude that they might perpetrate their most raalig-
nant purposes. A large proportion of our readers
may recollect the case of a ruffian (resident in White-
chapel), who, some 15 years ago, deliberately exe-
cuted a threat he had uttered, of cutting off the head
of his own illegitimate and infant child with a carv-
ing-knife. The brutal murder was perpetrated in
the presence, if we rightly remember, of the infant's
own mother. It was distinctly proved in every par-
ticular ; but, after the evidence had been gone
through, an objection that had been taken by the
wretch's counsel to the indictment, which charged
the murder as having been committed on an infant
named " JOHN," whereas it was proved that, though
the deceased might have been known by that name
to the witnesses, it had been christened by another, as
appeared from the parish register produced, this ob-
jection was held to be fatal. The jury, in that case,
returned a verdict of "Not Guilty." The fellow was
borne about the neighbourhood of the locality in
triumph by some of his brutal companions, and then
openly threatened the lives of the unfortunate mother
and of the other witnesses against him.
The neighbourhood was kept for two or three days
in a condition of alarm and excitement, and the con-
stabulary seemed to be paralised, until the undoubted,
though acquitted murderer, having, in the intempe-
rance of his conduct, after so unlooked-for an escape,
committed scme other, but less sanguinary outrage,
was again apprehended, tried, and sent to prison
under his sentence. Now that case was the imme-
diate precursor of a continued series of murders and
attempts at murder, accompanied with maiming and
violence, such as had been of very rare occurrence,
prior to the monstrous acquittal of that delinquent.
For many months past, by a similar imitative tend-
ency in crime, the notoriety attaching to some equally
remarkable trials for murder, in which the delin-
quents arraigned have escaped conviction, contrary to
all public expectation, and to the universal construction
put, beyond the walls of the Court, upon the evidence
delivered within it at such trials. We shall never
feel any delicacy about reiterating the expression of
astonishment, and something more, with which the ver-
dict of the jury who tried, not long ago, a man charged
with the murder of his wife by administering to her
prussic acid, was received by the universal British public.
There is not a Court of law in this kingdom or in
Europe in which that detested person could recover
a verdict of damages against any one who should de-
nounce him, by name, as an escaped but not the less a
guilty, cowardly, ungrateful, and inexcusable mur-
derer. His guilt was so transparent that even in this
country, where more than in any other of the civilized
world the majesty of the law is upheld, and its deci-
sions are implicitly respected, the community of all
ranks expressed their amazement and indignation at
his escape. And this feeling has continued, subse-
quently, so intense, that wherever this undoomed
criminal, after having the effrontery to show himself
in open day-light, is recognized, in whatever part of
the kingdom, neither his person nor his property is
respected. He seems destined from time to time to
pass through narrow escapes from a retributive but
still more terrible fate, under that ban of so-
ciety which is yet more fearful than the
ban of the law. But the material fact of his legal
acquittal remains, in the meanwhile, unaltered ; its
moral influence has frightfully developed itself in the
otherwise unaccountable number of crimes, in which
the modus operandi is more or less borrowed from
the prototype afforded by the acquitted delinquent.
To an extent unknown before in England, the crime
of murder has lately prevailed ; the visibly greater
proportion of these murders has been effected by
poison ; and of the victims the larger number have
been females. It is really impossible, as it seems to
us, to disconnect this growing propensity to the com-
mission of a particular crime—in a particular man-
ner—after the specific precedent of a given example
—with the fatal impunity which attached to the me-
morable case we have above adverted to.

We have, on all occasions, consistently advocated
mercy in the administration of the law, and are
strongly disposed to uphold the expediency of miti-
gating, in many cases, still further the severity of
our criminal code. But our sympathies do not ex-
tend either to such a case as we have been painfully
compelled to dwell upon, or even to the recent con-
viction under which TAWELL has expiated his guilt
by an ignominious end. Whilst the law for the
repression of such dangerous crimes, so facile of per-
petration, so fatal to the unsuspecting confidence of
affection and social intercourse remains what it is,—
what we are still disposed to think it ought to be,—
the true mercy in judges in charging juries,—the
true and conscientious discharge by jurors of their sa-
cred duty—will consist in a fair unbiassed statement
of the law of the case on the one part, and an honest
appreciation of the evidence on the other—will do
more than the usual and salutary merciful qualifica-
tion of giving the accused the benefit of any reason-
able doubt. But we could name half-a-dozen cases at
least, within less than three times as many month;, in
which, under some strange and morbid excitement,
and w e will say against the weight of evidence,
against all rules of fair construction, against all legal
presumption,—culprits at the bar have been acquitted
of charges of poisoning, on whose behalf neither the
most acute legal subtilty, nor the most extreme be-
nevolence, could have suggested their innocence of the
delinquencies imputed to them. It is high time that
this unwholesome laxity in some judicial charges, to
which we will not more particularly allude, and in
many verdicts given under them, should be reformed•
Otherwise we may expect that the torrent of crimes
that has lately set in upon us, will overwhelm the
character of the people with disgrace. We hope and
believe that the last recorded verdict and its conse-
quences will not be without their beneficial results to
the security of society.

The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer
Royal Tar, has arrived with the Peninsular Mails
with intelligence to Gibraltar to the 22d of March,
Lisbon the 25th, and Oporto the 26th. Political af-
fairs at Lisbon presented little variety. Viscount
BANDEIRA had again come forward as a public cha-
racter, and with Count DE MELLO and some others,
was organising a strong opposition to the CA-
BRAL Ministry. The Chamber of Deputies had re-
sumed its sittings, and the Committee appointed to
examine the financial plans of the Government had
made a favourable report. The discussion on the
Budget was fixed for the 26th.

Madrid journals of the 23d and 24th have been re-
ceived, but they are destitute of news.
The Bourse opened on Saturday, the 22d,
and the following are the quotations of Spanish
Stock :—The Three per Cents. left off at 34i for
cash, and 35 at 60 days ; the Five per Cents. at 25
1 cash, and 26 1-16 at 60 days ; the Coupons at 28}
fur the 28th inst.

The proceedings which took place in the Chamber
of Deputies last week on the Customs' Bill shows that
any improvement. in the commercial system of France
amtayprseasyenatilLsofuttitieerly
representatives The
thne people, Kith
exceptions that hardly deserve notice, are a century
behind the age, and adhere with the most impertur-
bable pertinacity to high duties and prohitlition as the
perfection of commercial legislation. The duties on
oleaginous seeds furnished an excellent subject for the
display of this bigoted spirit. The present duty on
sesame is 2,i francs the 100 killogrammes. A Member
from the north proposed to raise the duty to 5 francs.
The Minister of Commerce reluctantly consented, but
that was only one-half of what other Members wanted.
M. GARNIER PAGES proposed Bf. M. D'ARBLA.Y
outbid him, and proposed 10f., which the Chamber
almost unanimously adopted, thus raising the
duty on an article from Egypt four hundred per cent.
This is a melancholy exhibition, and will not at all
tend to raise the character of French legislators in

the eyes of their friend MEHEMET ALI. The same
feeling prevailed in reference to duties on foreign
machinery, which were raised on several articles.
The Member for Rouen moved an amendment to
raise the amount of duty paid on foreign linen and
cotton threads, and that, probably, would have been
carried but for the interposition of the Minister of
Commerce, who requested the Chamber to postpone
their decision till the tulle manufacturers were con-
sulted. The tax on Swedish iron amounts nearly to
prohibition, and it was proposed to modify the duties,
as French iron is badly fitted for machinery, but the
patriotic motion was rejected, and France, therefore,
must rest satisfied with machinery for her steam-
vessels and carrying on her manufactures inferior to
those used in every part of the world, solely for the
advantage of a small portion of the population. This
is actual suicide, and precisely what the enemies of
France wish. England may well be proud of the
vast step towards free trade and the total abolition of
useless restriction, which has been almost unani-
mously sanctioned by her representatives this session.
In the Chamber of Peers the discussion on Count
DARE'S motion, relative to jobbing in railway com-
panies, was renewed on Friday, and ultimately re-
jected. Ministers have been more lucky than usual
in the appointment of Committees for the month of
April, having obtained eight members out of the nine.
This result is considered of vast importance, as these
Committees have to report on the vote of 17,500,000 f.
for arming the fortifications of Paris. The Opposi-
tion journals are highly incensed against the vote, and
openly assert that the " Chateau" is the sole cause of
this inroad upon liberty. The Reforme thus writes
on the subject :
" The fortifications of Paris have been erected against
the liberties of France, and not against foreigners. This
is a fact so obvious, that it would be losing one's time to
attempt to demonstrate it to those who still affect to doubt
it. The fortifications of Paris are menacing Paris, but
once armed, Paris is enslaved, In proposing to arm the
forts our rulers call on France to declare if she is tired of
the representative government, and ready to bow to an
ignominious despotism. The Ministry, we are told, has
lost its senses, and the Chamber has only to pronounce
its interdiction. The Ministry, we maintain, is fully
conscious of its acts—it is the system that is pre-
paring to pronounce the interdiction of its adversaries.
Ministers obey the dictates of him who fostered them,
and directed their entire conduct during the last four
years. Supported by a doubtful majority, placed in pre-
sence of an assembly in which there is no majority cer-
tain for anybody, the Cabinet wishes to obtain from a
Chamber whose fate was sealed by the vote on the Ad-
dress, an act of extreme weakness ; they think they may
expect anything from those who granted an indemnity
to Mr. Pritchard. It is their last obsession at the bed-
side of a dying power, it is a will extorted in extremis.
We are told that the Ministry hesitated a long time
before embarking in an undertaking so difficult ; after
sustaining so many defeats on secondary questions, to
raise one that may prove their destruction, is, it is
alleged, the height of imprudence. We say that they
are obeying an imperious necessity."

Some of the other journals use the same strong
language. The Courrier Francais thus describes
the extent of the fortifications, and the enormous
number of guns required to mount them :

" The continuous line of the fortifications contains
94 fronts and the detached forts 93, in all 178 fronts.
Each front, consisting of two half curtains and a bastion,
requires for its defence twenty pieces of artillery, or for
the 187 fronts 3,640 guns. As each gun is to be sup-
plied with ammunition for 600 rounds, the war depart-
ment will have to provide 2,184,000 cannon balls and up-
wards of 25,000,000 killogrammes (25,000 tons) of gun •
powder. The 17,000,000 f. demanded by Marshal Soult
will consequently comprise but a portion of the expense
necessary for the complete armament of the fortifications
of Paris."

The following telegraphic dispatch had been re-
ceived by the French Government :

"PERPIGNAN, MARCH 25, 9 P.M.
" LIEUTENANT-GENERAL LAMORICIERE TO THE MINISTER

OF WAR.

" BIVOUAC OF SIDI-I3E L-ABBES, 20TH.
" The Convention for fixing the frontiers between Al-
geria and Morocco was signed the day before yesterday.
All the conditions stipulated by General Delarue have
been acceded to by the Morocco Commissioner. The
interview was attended with great solemnity. The
numerous escort of Si llamida showed the most ami-
cable dispositions. The news of this happy solution has
already produced a good effect in the country. Si
Ilamida has announced that, by order of the Emperor,
he is about to march against the Emir, and that his
movements will be combined with those of a body of troops
arriving by the Rif."
The accounts from Switzerland are still unsatisfac-
tory. The following intelligence to the 26th appears
in the Constitutionnel

" The intelligence which we received yesterday from
Switzerland announces that the invasion projected by the
refugees of Lucerne to overturn the Government was to
take place on the night of March 26. For this purpose,
continual envoys of fresh refugees were arriving on the
territory of Argau, where the insurrectional committee
furnished them with arms and ammunition, which ap-
peared to be in abundance. It was said that they had
been able to procure several pieces of artillery.
Numerous defections were reckoned on amongst
the troops which the Government would oppose
to them. This prospect had even acquired
in the eyes of the commander-in-chief of
these troops such a degree of importance, that at Zurich,
Berne, and Argau his resignation was expected. This
officer (General Sonneberg) is the only military man of
real ability which the Government of Lucerne can op-
pose to the insurrectionary troops. On the other side, a
report was current that the refugees were to be com-
manded by the head of the federal staff, an officer who
had made the last campaign of the empire, and who be-
fore deciding on taking this command, had, it is said,
sent in his resignation as colonel-federal, a grade
corresponding in Switzerland to that of general
of division, or general of brigade, according to the
length of service. If this intelligence should be con-
firmed, all the chances would be in favour of the
army of invasion, looking at the ardour and hope with
which it is animated, ..nd its confidence in the incon-
testable capacity of the leader commanding it. The re-
fugees intend occupying a secondary town in the canton
of Lucerne, in order from thence to proceed on the
capital, of which the greater part of the population is
hostile to the present regime. The co-operation of some
free corps appeared to be altogether secondary, in pre-
sence of the support which is found in the numerous de-
sertions that had just reinforced the insurrectionary
troops. It was stated at Zurich on the 25th that M.
Siegwart, deputy of Lucerne, had come to solicit the as-
sistance of the directory ; but that this authority had
decided to place only a battalion on foot, leaving to the
Grand Council, which is going to meet, the care of pro-
nouncing on the ulterior destination of this force."