The Sun.
London, England, 1827-12-20 00:00:00

PENSION TO CAPT. T. BUCHANAN

• The CHAIRMAN (the HOD. HUGII LINDSAY) in-
formed the Court, that it was specially summoned
for the purpose of laying before the Proprietors; for
their approbation, a resolution- of tile Court of Di-
rectors of the sth instant, granting to Captain T.
Buchanan, the present Superintendent of the Bom-
bay Marine, a pension of NM per annum. The
Hon. Chairman concluded by moving, " That this
Court approve of the resolution of the Court of
Directors of the sth inst. subject to the confirma-
tion of another General Court." _ _

The DEPUTY-CHAIRMAN (J. PATTISON, Esq.)
seconded the motion.

Captain MAXFIELD inquired how long Captain
Buchanan had held the situation ?
The CUAIRAIAN answered two years.

Captain MAXFIELD opposed the motion.
Mr. HuilE objected to the grant, not on account
of the amount, but because if such a precedent were
admitted, there were very few gentlemen in India
who might not, at one time or other, come forward
with similar claims.

' The CHAIRMAN said, that was not the case.—
(Hear.)
Mr. GAIIAGAN expressed himself hostile to the
grant. It was taxing their pension list unneces-
sarily and unwarrantably.
General THORNTON opposed the motion, . and
demanded what was the amount of salary received
by Captain Buchanan, and what was his age ?
• The CHAIRMAN answered, that the salary was
3,500 rupees a month ; and, from his personal know-
ledge of Captain Buchanan, he believed he was 54
or 55 years of age. _ • _.

Mr. •WEEDING thought it was but fair, as Cap-
tain Buchanan has been removed to make way for a
change in the system of the Company's Marine, that
he should be remunerated.

Mr. Hunts moved as an amendment, " that this
Court disagrees with the resolution of the Court of
Directors for granting a pension of 8001. a year to
Captain Buchanan, Superintendent of the Bombay
Marine, and recommends him to be appointed to
the first vacant office in India, suitable to his ta-
lents."

Captain MAXFIELD spoke strongly in favour of the
amendment.

Lieut: Col. STANIIOPB was of opinion, that the
original proposition of the Court of Directors could
not be ratified by the Proprietors, who had no legal
right, he conceived, to sanction a grant which might
extend beyond the period at which their charter
would expire. The late Mr. Canning bad on this
ground objected to the annuity proposed some years
ago to be given to the late Marquis of Hastings.
The question was then put from the Chair, when
the show of hands appeared decidedly in favour of
the original motion.
Mr. HUME demanded a division, when there ap-
peared—
For the original motion 3B
Against it l2
Majority in favour of the grant —26
STAMP DUTIES IN CALCUTTA.

Capiain MAXFIELD, before he submitted to the
Court his motion on the above subject, wished to
know whether the executive body had received any
papers connected with it
The CIIAIRIVIAN said, the Court of Directors had
received a few papers, but so short a time since, that
they had not yet come under their consideration.--
They had a notice from the Bengal Government
that the question relative to the registry of the
Stamp Act would be brought before the Supreme
Court on the 6th of July ; but they were totally ig-
norant whether it had been registered or not.
Captain MAXFIELD then; at -very considerable
length, described the impolicy of the new regulation
for the enforcement of a stamp duty in Calcutta,
pointed out the evils and inconveniences which it
mnst produce among the mercantile community, and
particularly called the attention of the Court to the
petition of the European and native inhabitants of
Calcutta-to the Vice-President in Council on the
subject, which appeared in the " SUN" a few days
ago. The Hon. Proprietor then proceeded to
that if the revenues of India .2,Leriorated, if
the expenditUre were greater than the receipt, there
were other modes of making up the deficit, much
letter than the introduction of this odious and un-
p;•nductive tax. He concluded by moving " That
tais Court, with reference to the recent act of the
Legislature abolishing the use of stamps in certai n
legal proceedings in this country, recommend the
Hon. the Court of Directors to take into considera-

tion the effects produced by the levying stamp
duties in India, and to issue such orders on the sub-
ject as may appear best calculated for the attain-
ment of justice, and most congenial to the public
interest."

Mr. HumE, in seconding the motion, did so on
grounds very different from those laid down by his
gallant friend. In his opinion it was a matter of
great importance, both in this country and India, to
get rid of stamp duties which bore so heavily in va
rious ways on the people. It was on this broad
principle that he wished the stamp system to cease.
But he must say, that the petitioners alluded to had
no right to expect that Calcutta should be especially
exempted from a burden which prevailed all over
India. The persons who now complained never once
opened their mouths in favour of the rights of the na-
tives of Indiageneraily. They didnot act upon princi-
ple. They looked only to their own interest. They
were dormant until their pockets were touched, and
then they started into life. When individuals were
banished without trial—when the liberty of the
press was overturned, they were silent; but they
considered that their own petty, paltry interest,
when once assailed, was sufficient to rouse and dis-
turb the whole community. The "lon. Gentleman
eulogised the present Lord Goderich for haring, when
Chancellor of the Exchequer, removed stamp duties to
the amount of 300,0001,, because he felt that it would
be highly beneficial to the people; and he (Mr.
Hume) wished that the inhabitants of Calcutta had
taken the same strong and imistoveable ground, in-
' stead of the paltry one which they had selected. In
conclusion, the Hon. Proprietor hoped that a report
which he had heard would prove correct,—na►nely,
that the Judges at Calcutta had refused to sanction
those stamp regulations, which were so obnoxious
to the feelings of the people of India.
Mr. S. Dixos thought that, in the absence of
official information, the Court of Directors ought
not to have been called on to entertain this question

to-day.
The CHAIRMAN said, the Court of Directors had
advices from Calcutta, dated no later than the 21st
Of June, and the question of registration was to have
been entertained in the Supreme Court on the 6th
of July. Of the result of that proceeding they
knew nothing: This debate was, therefore, rather
premature; and he felt it to be his' duty to move the
previous question.
After a few words from Colonel STANHOPE and
Captain MAXFIELD, who was anxious to let the mo-
tion stand over to the next Quarterly General Court,
the previous question was carried.
IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT IN INDIA.
Colonel L. STANHOPE, after adverting to the ex-
tremely defective state of the law in India with re-
spect to the relief of persons boprisoned for debt,
and pointing out the hOrrible oppression to Ivhich
they were at present exposed, moved the following
resolutions, in which are embodied the principal fea-
tures of his speech
1. That a petition' dated February, 1827, from tin
debtors in the great gaol iu Calcutta, presented by Mr. John
Palmer, and recommended by the magistrates, merchants,
agents, and shopkeepers of that city, to the Vice-President
in Council, is entitled to the attention of the Court of
2. That it appears by the petition, that in 1812, 100

debtors were liberated from Calcutta gaol, uncler the opera-
tion of the Insolvent Act, one of whom had been in that
hot gaol for 18 years ; hut that when, in 1813, this Act was
made permanent in England, it was not extended to Driti4h
India.

3. That 14 years had since elapsed, and though. ting
Court of Directors had extended the spirit of the Insolvent
Act to the provinces of British India, still debt Ors in the
metropolis of the three Presidencies (under the laws of
England) are yet doomed to perpetual imprisonment. Thus
one prisoner has been fourteen years, two have been twelve,
and one has been eleven years, in the sultry and offensive
dungeons of Calcutta.
4. That this Court (loth, therefore, humbly recommend.
to the Court of Directors, to use all their influence in order
to extend the Insolvent and Bankruptcy Laws to British
India, and to aid in establishing there, as in London, a so-
ciety for the relief of unfortunate debtors, the operation of
benevolent exertion being, in truth, the only palliative ap-
plicable to the present system of English procedure.
Mr. Hums observed, that in the last Session of
Parliament the attention of the President of. the
Board of Control had been called to the situfttien of
unfortunate debtors is India; and he had promised
to bring in a^bill on the subject: He (Mr. Hume)
wished that; by the interference of the Court of
Directors, Indian debtors should he placed in the
same situation as the debtors of Canada and other
Colonies.
The CHAIRMAN hoped, under these circum-
stances, that the gallant officer would withdraw his
motion.
•

Colonel L. STANHOPE agreed to the suggestion.
SUSPENSION FROM OFFICE OF AN INDIAN

JUDGE.

Caionel L. STANHOPE gave notice, that he would
at the next Quarterly Court move the following re-

0 and as,,
solutions :
Chief Judge of the Supreme
Native Court in Bengal,
I. That this Coi:rt of Proprietors has heard with regret,
that Mr. Courtenay gu:l
bas been suspended from his
office for having expressed the folloliing opinion,-..namely,
that " as suits appealed to the antboritieg in England are
decided by them after many years, and a. the: period. of the
Honourable Company's charter will shortly exp).-T ,
after the expiration of the.term of the present charter; it is
uncertain whether it will be renewed, or the governnient of
the country will beassumed by-his Majesty, in my "opinion
the security of the Government is such as cannot be ac-
cepted. But as this is an uncommon circumstance, it re-
quires the concurrence of another Judge."
2. That Mr. Canning, When President of the Board of
Control, acted upon the same principle as that for which
Mr. C. Smith has been condemned,—the former having
refused to sanction a pension which extended the grant !)c-
-yond the period of their charter.
3. That the conduct of the Government in suspending
this most upright Judge for expressing his honest opinion,
is calculated to corrupt the fountain of justice in British
India ;• and that Mr. C. Smith, in laying down the rule of
equity, and protecting the weak from the strong, has done
his duty, and deserves the approbation of this Court.

It is said that the Supreme Court at Calcutta had
decided, on registering the celebrated stamp regula-
tion. The Judges delivered their opinion on the
subject on the 12th of July. The proceedings oc-
cupied the Court between four and five days.

THE LATE STORMS AND FLOODS.

The gale of Friday week, which occurred at mid-
nveigryhta,
hurch, and
casualties of
minor angry
onrile continuedhsifpcoihrr
eahmoofiiidt7ite succession of
did so much damage to the brick chimneis.of the
Cumberland Hotel, that they yielded and fel; with
a fearful crash—was nothing to that which fellotstd
on Thursday last. The wind, as Burns says, lite-
rally blew as it would have blown its last, while the
rain battered with such fury against the casements,
that very few persons could rest in their beds. The
garrets of many houses were flooded from the
rain that entered the narrowest vents ; and if we
may judge from the Nith, the Cairn, the Annan,
the Locher, and other streams, so great a quantity
has very rarely, if ever, fallen in the same brief time.
At six o'clock on Friday morning the town-mills
were whisking about with their usual rapidity ; but
by eleven the-wheels-were-not-only stayed, but almoas
buried in back-water. At nine the river we,; obser-
ved swelling rapidly, and continued rising till very near
two. At that time the scene was truly magnificent,par.-
ticularly when viewed from the neighbourhood of Caa
it.oleadrynklges,
t.uAmsbflainrags, the eye could reach wat in the santg
ers,
rection nothing was seen but one
wrong, as if enraged at
the inmedies-
allo• tinti and brae, acute angles, and
-:
—rentine turnings, that hampered its course to the
ocean. The Troqueer embankments were speedily
overleapt, and the fields flooded a good way beyond;
the caul rendered so level, that boats and barges, as
well as salmon, might have swam with ease of r the
top of it; while the Dock, in place of a plea,%ant
promenade, or the favourite gang of the town kine,
actually bore, from the comparative stillness of the
eddying water, all the appearance of a peaceful.
lake, adorned with trees at its upper extremity.—
Above the town, where nature as well as art has
thrown up bulwarks round the bed of the river, the
Current careered with dizzying rapidity ; and at Lin-
eluden College, where the Clouden meets and
mingles with the Nith, as near as may be at a right
angle, the former, if we may be permitted to run
into metaphor, poured such a broadside into the latter
stream, that its waters succumbed under the shock..
By 11 o'clock the lower part of the town was
floodedoo the depth of three feet. In Brewery-
street, you might have paddled a boat along, and the
same remark applies to the White Sands, Waterloo-
street, and a considerable part of Nith-place. In
the Kirkgate, carts passed with difficulty, and we
observed several families as completely cut off from
all communication with the world around them, as
if they had been perched on a rock in the ocean.—
Though attempts were made to keep the water out,
it deluged many low houses to thedepth of two and
a half feet ; some families had to retreat to the sipper
stories of their dwellings; and although the Mod
speedily subsided, it has left effects behind which it
would require more fuel to expel, than the poor can
at any time command. In Nith-place, we observed
one poor woman whose house could only be entered
by means of planks, and who yet contentedly took
advantage of the spate which reached her door, to
finish a /cashing which she appeared to have begun
palling,v
enearr s MI
deaduxetlnvieyl,l totvt:
copse-wood,,
y
e:NEvisiqil.e, before
on the previous day.
ob-
served on Friday a good deal of wreck flonaitidin
aittrilodercetdi
:riPes, vet: ehd.os racn,
andats
rsucherr.lrheael:enyswi
.lames Smith,
n:
st,itgeri *iniarri
away
in,triahro),
witnessedsso,
floating
restingof
feeding
,d lnogs t
on
score of excellent sheep, which were suddenly sur-
rounded
a fertile holm. The Rev. Mr. Brown, Minister of
Gleneairn, hail nearly lost the whole of his cattle,
and the peor animals were almost breast-deep in
water before they were piloted to a place of safety.
,Various other rumours of accidents have reached us,
but these we forbear repeating at present. There
can be no doubt, however, that a considerable num-
ber of sheep have been drowned.
At the dock-head the damage done by the flood
is much less than might have been expected. At
the town-mills the workmen, got " day about" with
the rats that annoy them sadly at other times.—
Hundreds, if not thousands, of these vermin were
ejected by the flood from their hiding-places, and
attempted to move off in something like marching-
order—the young in front and the old in the rear.
Large grey-headed rascals, who had licked in their
time a full sackful of meal, were seen acting the part
of Generals. and encouraging their comrades to make
a stout resistance. But it would not do. The
millers with their cleats found able allies in the
Maxwelltown curs, and at every onset made a fear-
ful breach in the ranks of the enemy.—Dumfries
Courier.

ARTs.—Our readers will, no
iouTtit,HbEe FINE
gratified, as we ourselves have been, to hear that
it is in contemplation to try the effect of exhibition of
paiuting
aud improyand sculpturei in this town, for the purpose of,
ng
the taste ort the Fine Arts, and
' rwomoting the interests of its profesors. Dunii""
Courier.
,p

■

1111

SPIRIT or Vat PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Wis.tlave nothing of moment to add to the news,

eit:ner foreign or domestic, which we yesterday im-
parted. ,We should say respecting both of them, if
we might for a moment be allowed to speak enig-
matically, that the best authority is not always de-
cisive upon any question. Mr. Stratfoid Canning,
in his despatch of the 24th, seems to consider war
as certain, and thinks it not improbable that his
next despatches may be dated on board ship, that is,
if the Sultan shall suffer him to depart. This,
therefore, must be taken as the official view of the
subjeer,—tliat we, the Allies, are inevitably at war
with the Turks. We have no objection to the pre-
valence of this opinion; and we are sure that, in
any case, we ought to have long ago prepared our
minds for such a result. We have only to oppose
to this high state of probability the old proverb,
which is yet more expressive in the Greek hexa-
meter from whence it is derived than in English,—
' There are many things between the 'cup and the
tip of the lip." Next, with respect to the Ministry
Lord Goderich has consented to act for a while;
but the King, we say, has his resignation. We
have observed above, that the public should have
prepared their minds for one issue : those members
or friends of the Administration, between whom and,
Lord Goderich certain shades of difference are
known to exist, would be wanting to themselves
not to prepare their minds for another : they will not
go on iri thoughtless security, as if his Lordship
were to be their comrade and co'.adjutor for ever :
if they do, they may at last be taken by surprise in
stumbling house, whin every one else but them-
selves has quitted it. Let them, thaefore, lose no
time in preparing a substitute fez the swerving co-
in= : cramps and props N:.:111 not hold ft.—Times.

The late trial of Mr. Maguire, the selected cham-
pion of the Catholic Church in Ireland, developed
some rather curious circumstances and although
the verd:;et may have been-such as the evidence war-
rante.ii, where the defendant ivas eharged with " Se-
duction," nobody can say that the intimacy of the
R.ev. Gentleman with a woman of Miss Magarra-
Aan's character, speaks well for the purity of his mo-
ral habits. The man called Captain Dillon, also, the
sworn debaucher of his own female relative, a girl of
tender years, was not a companion in the highest
degree creditable to the Parish Priest of Dunkerrin.
If the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin had
put his chapels in mourning for the detected frailties
of his Rev. Brother, it would have been a more
suitable commentary on the result of the trial than
were the triumphant howlings of the populace, and
the factious illuminations of a whole city, for the ex-
posure of gross licentiousness in a professed teacher
of the word of God.—lbid.

• We stated, en Tuesday, that Lord Goderich had
tendered his resignation, and that his resignation
had been accepted by his Majesty. We have been
bOrne out in that statement by the Tinier of yester-
day, which asserts, that in'tendering his resignation;
Lord Goderich was not influebced solely by domes-
tic occurrences, but also by hi:, having proposed to
his Majesty, in conjunction with Mr. Huskisson and
Lord Dudley and Ward,, that Lord Holland should
be received into thg Cabinet. In this latter asser-
iion of the Tinges we take leave to concur entirely.
We have hesitation in now stating, that Lord
Goderich did recommend Lord Holland to his Ma-
jesty; That Lord Goderich's resignation Was ac-.
'epied we again affirm ; and we presume every one
who will .admit that his resignation was accepted,
will concur with us in our opinion, that. his Ma-
jesty
resignation would not have been accepted. . If his
mesignation was accepted on the ground of ill
health or domestic circumstances perhaps his Lord-
ship himself Will offer to the public an explanation of
the changes which have so suddenly taken place in
both, as to render them no longer an obstacle o his re-
maining in place. But we are -bound, in justice to our-
• selves, to state, that we do riot believe that, any altera-
sPln nuts Taßen ;mace either in his Lordship's health or
•
.his domestic affairs, that can enable,hirn to.continue in
office, if they forced him to tender his resignation.
However, as the Courier affirms he yet remains in
office, as Premier, notwithstanding his Majesty's re-
fusal of Lord Holland, we will not presume to con-
, tradies.ium.agree with the Courier, that
'as Lordship does retulit office of Premier_
The only difference now between a-- Ifourier and
ourselves, is that involved in the following state-
ment in that paper of Monday evening :—that
." no
tender of resignation has taken place, nor is any con-
. templated ;" whereas we stated that his resignation
had taken place, and had been accepted---..7and this
we again repeat; and we now state, in confirmation
of what has appeared in, the Thies, that the real
cause of his resignation was the rejection of his re-
commendation of Lord Holland, and not the state
of his health; because we-know that his Lordship's
health is neither better nor worse than it was when
he tendered his resignation. 'We should not have
thought ourselves called on to say so much, had not
the Courier taken upon himself so dogmatically to
contradict the statement with respect to. the resig-
nation. Time, we are assured, will prove to our
readers the truth of what we have stated, and we
shall, therefore, content ourselves, for the present,
with the above explanation.—Morning Chronicle.
- Some of thepapers have attributed the cause of
Lord Goderich's resignation to the ill-state of his
• Lordship's health, and also to the ill-state of his
Lady's health, both of which statements are incor-
rect. The Noble Viscount is in the enjoyment of
most excellent health. The only indisposition which
her Ladyship has experienced has arisen from her
late accouchement, from the effects of which she re-
covered upwards of a fortnight past, since which
time the Viscountess has been riding out, and has
been in the habit of receiving numerous visitors.
The courier despatched by Mr. Huskisson to king
theTarl of Harrowby to London from Staffordshire
is supposed to have been sent by the King's com-
mand. The courier reached the. Noble Earl at 'a very
critical time, arriving within two hours after the Noble
Earl's daughter, Mrs. Stuart Wortley, had been 'put
to bed of her'rst child; The' Noble Earl left his
seat in Staffordshire on -Sunday evening at eight
o'clock, travelled all night, and arrived at the
residence of Mr. Huskisson, on Monday morning, at
eleven o'clock, when the' Noble Earl, finding him-
self much fatigued from having travelled all night,
did not accompany Mr. Huskisson to Windsor, hut
proceeded to his -residence in Grosvenor-square,
where•his Lordship having refreshed himself, set off
on his way to the Royal Lodge in Windsor Park,
having travelled with four ,horses, and Mr. Husk's-
son . with only two.. On the Right Hon. Gentle-
man's return to London, on Monday evening, from
attending the Kin?' at the Royal Lodge, he sent an
express to Lord 'Viscount Goderich, at the resi-
dence of his aunt, Lady de Grey, at Silsoe, in Bed-
fordshire, which brought the Noble Viscount to
London on Tuesday evening, i natead of -yesterday,
as had been previously arranged, and a Cabinet
Counsel . was summoned, which assembled last
evening. Yesterday was big with rumours as to
future arrangements—such as the formation of a
new Administration being intrusted to Mr. Huakis-
son, and that he is to be First Lord of the Treasury.
Another report is, that although Mr. Huskisson is
intrusted with the formation of a new .A.deninistra-
tion, he has declined being Premier,-and that the
• Marquis of Wellesley is to be First Lord of the
Treasury. Report also says, the Lord Chancellor
and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, are going out
of office, The latter is to be .succeded by Mr.
Grant.—Morning Herald.

In another part of our Paper we give an article
We have received from a Correspondent, with re-
spect to the rumours of the change of Ministry.
'l'ol.lld Lord Goderich and the whole of the pre-
sent Ministry remain in power, it appears to us
likely that at the ensuing Sessions of Parliament,
they Will be hard run by the present Opposition on
the Navari" affair.the Catholic question—the Corn
: and on •
quesbon, that of re • eetving
fore• n COulitries •
from foreig , viol little or no tax attached.
so many goods
For instance, cottons WhiCla only pays about id. It