The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-03-10 00:00:00

question which was uncertain in its
which was productive of the worst consequences to the peo-
le House of Commons

principles of which t

could never sanction.
Mr. P. M. STEWART charged Mr• Colquhoon with apos-
tacy from opinions formerly delivered in a speech addressed
lectors of Kilmarnock, which speech the hon. !nem-
Stewart) nuoted to the great amusement of thr

to tl
ber (M.. ..,,,..,...., .3.-
house. He contended, that there was a marked distinction ,
between the Church of England and that of Scotland. There First Night of the New Drama of
was a distinction in the mode in which the reformation in GRANDFATHER WHIT ma
each country was effected, and that distinction led to one the most popular production of the last season at the Theatre-
which prevailed to this hour. In England the reformation Royal, Haymarket, in which
was effected by the Monarch against the wish of the people, Mr. W. FARREN
while in Scotland the reformation was effected by the people will sustain his original character of " Grandfather White-
n' opposition to the Monarch. The consequence has been head," and
that the Church of England is 'monarchial while the Church
of Scotland is republican. The hon. gentleman then sup-
ported at great length the independent jurisdiction of the
Church of Scotland.
Mr. C. BRUCE moved the adjournment of the debate,

Mr. STUART

his original character of " Langley:"

TERNAN

(late Miss Jarman,) of the Theatre-Royal, Covent-garden.
Mr. BROWNE,
of the Theatre-Royal, Drury-lane, and of the American
Theatres, will also appear in principal characters, and
Miss FANNY TERNAN,
the Juvenile Actress, only seven years of ace, will appear,
for the first time, as " Edward Drayton," in the Drama of
GRANDFATHER WHITEHEAD," and will also perform in the
Farce of THE YOUNG ACTRESS.

:reed to

which was immediately ng.
Sir J. GRAHAM then b10ut,.., in a bill for regulating the
employment of children and young persons in factories, and
for the better education of children in factory districts.
Lord ASHLEY expressed his concurrence to the greater
part of the bill, but hoped some further restrictions on the
heurs of labour would be adopted by the government; if not
he should certainly, when the proper
amendment to that effect.

came, move an

fIN MONDAY next, the 13th instant, will be revived the
kJ favourite Comedy, called
THE WAY TO KEEP HIM.
Sir Bashful Constant .... Mr. W. Farren,
the second character performed by him at the Theatre-
Royal, Covent-garden.
Lovemore .... (first time)._ Mr. Stuart.
Sir Brilliant Fashion Mr. Browne.
The Widow Belmour
Mrs. Lovemore (first time) Mrs. Ternan.
Muslin Mrs. Clarke.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-WEDNESDAY

In reply to a question from Mr. BLACKSTONE,
Mr. GLADSTONE stated, that 1,750 quarters of corn had
come into the Thames from Wohtast last year, of which 150
quarters had paid a duty of 20s per quarter ; the remaining
1,600 quarters were still in the warehouses.
Mr. BUTT moved the second reading of the Naturalisation
of Foreigners Bill, and, referring to the practice of other na-
tions, said that this country was, in the words of a Latin
author, " et panitus toto divisos orbe Britannos," as respected
the liberality of its treatment of foreigners, and he had little
doubt but that even China would, ere long, outstrip us in

After which, the highly successful Drama, as performed
Seventy Nights in succession last season at the Theatre-
Royal, Haymarket, called
GRANDFATHER WHITEHEAD.
Grandfather Whitehead Mr. W. Farren.
Edward Drayton.... (his Grandson) Miss Fanny Ternan.
Langley
Louisa Mrs. Seymour.
To be followed by a Drama, in one Act, adapted from the
" Actress of all work," expressly for Miss Fanny Ternan,
called

this species of liberality. In order to rescue it from this
position, be proposed in the present bill to afford greater fa-
cilities to the naturalization of foreigners, by empowering the

Privy (

3 grant letters patent of natu

Sir JAMES GRAHAM said he Government had decided
upon the propriety of opposing the further progress of the
bill. He denied that the hon. gentleman had pointed out
any great inconveniences occasioned by the present law, and
he was decidedly opposed to the bill before the house, because
it permitted foreigners to obtain seats in the legislature.
After a few observations from Dr. Stock, Mr. Aglionby,
Captain Pechell, _ _

THE YOUNG ACTRESS;
OR, THE MANAGER PERPLEXED.
In which Miss Fanny Ternan will sustain Six Characters

ABM:THERE said

could not support the bill be

but at the same time he was far from saying
..te alteration of the law was not required.
.d.r. SMYTHE supported the bill, upon the principle that
trade was benefited by the immigration of foreigners. He
hailed the bill as another link in the happily lengthened chain

Tickets to be had of Mrs. CLARKE, 1, Houghton-street,
Williamson-square, and of Mr. COOKE, at the Box-office of
the Theatre, of whom places may be taken from Ten until
Three o'clock : no Places can be secured unless Tickets are
taken,

that so

of universal toleration.
Mr. EWART supported the bill ; which was, however, un-

Doors to be opened at Half-past Six, and the Perform-
ances to commence at Seven o'clock precisely.
Lower Boxes, 4s. ; Upper Boxes, 3s. Gd. ; Pit, 2s. 6d. ;
Gallery, Is.

fortunately negatived without a division.
The adjourned debate on Mr. Fox Maule's motion re-
specting the Church of Scotland was then resumed, by
Mr. C. BRUCE. who opposed the motion, because the
Church of Scotland not only claimed• jurisdiction in ecclesi-
astical matters, but it also claimed the power of deciding
what were ecclesiastical matters. lie believed that the whole
of the upper classes of society in Scotland, and the majority
of the middle classes, were opposed to the clqirns of the
dominant party in the church of that country. He con-
demned the course taken by some ministers in Scotland, one
of whom told his congregation that they had to choose be-
tween Heaven and Satan, and those who signed the paper he
had prepared was deciding in favour of Heaven. Another
told his congregation that the King of the French was in
correspondence with Queen Victoria for the purpose of
bringing back the Pope. In this way were the lower classes
in Scotland deluded by many-of their pastors, who ought to
be ashamed of resorting to such means to carry out their
views. He had no doubt but that the government were
anxious to settle this question favourably to the Church of
Scotland, but it was impossible that they could settle it by
•scion of everything that was claimed by that church.
He hoped a better spirit, a spirit of peace and unity, would
yet, ere long, influence the Church of Scotland, and that it
would be once more a blessing to the people of that country.
Sir G. GREY hoped crimination and recrimination would
not be indulged in at a moment when the Church of Scotland
was in actual peril, but that no effort would be left untried to
restore that Church to peace, to harmony, and efficiency.
He agreed in a great measure, though not altogether, with
his right hon. friend (Mr. F. Motile); and he would, there-
fore support his motion for going into committee ; for in com-
mittee some means-might he devised to settle the differences
which prevailed. He believed this might have been accomp-
lished if Parliament had interfered at an earlier period, and
given effect to the Veto Act passed in 1834. The practical
working of that act proved that it conferred benefit on the
people of Scotland without producing any of the evils which
it was predicted would result from its adoption. He entirely
concurred with Sir J. Graham in the jealousy which he ap-
peared to entertain of the aggressions of ecclesiastical
courts; and he was not prepared to set them free from the
-upervision of the civil courts of judicature. He would not
iect to giving ecclesiastical courts a current jurisdiction
with the civil courts, in deciding as to what matters were
civil and what ecclesiastical ; but there were many difficulties
'n the way in endeavouring to give a_ definition upon that

Second Price at Nine o'clock :—Lower Boxes, 2s. Gd. ;
Upper Boxes, 2s. ; Pit, Is. 6d. ; Gallery, 6d.

IMMOINEIMNIii=nza- zsirirnin.

TO MERCHANTS, BROKERS, &c,

The largely increased and most respectable circulation
which the Tuesday's Edition of the LiyEßpooL
STANDARD has now obtained amongst the mercantile
body in Manchester affords its proprietors the gratify-
ing power of urging this, amongst the other undeniable
claims which it possesses, upon the favor of that portion
of the mercantile community of Liverpool who desire to
bring their advertisements before the notice of buyers in
the neighbouring manufacturing districts. In most of
the surrounding towns of Lancashire the circulation of
the STANDARD is steadily increasing. In Manchester,
however, the centre of the manufacturing district, our
publication of Tuesday—occurring upon the most im-
portant market day of the Cotton Trade, when its
Exchange and Hotels are thronged with country manu-
facturers, spinners, and calico printers—is firmly es-
tablished in circulation, and is perused with increased
and increasing interest.

the conc

Under these encouraging circumstances, we trust to
receive an increased measure of support from the mer-
chants and brokers of the town generally ; and it affords
us great pleasure to assure those of our friends amongst
those classes, who have hitherto bestowed their adver-
tising favours liberally upon us, of our increased ability
to do justice to the interests committed to their care.l

Ziberpool Attanbart.

head.
Mr. J. WORTLEY supported the view taken by Sir James
Graham of the subject, and opposed the motion of Mr. F.
Maule. It was impossible that the system of patronage
which had produced such beneficial effects in Scotland could,
if calmly considered, be viewed as an injury and a detriment
to the Church of Scotland, which had allowed its exercise to
go on unmolested for upwards of a hundred years.
.Sir A. L. HAY, in supporting the motion, said that he
might not have been so zealous on this question if the majo-
rity of the clergy only were about to secede from the Church,
but, knowing that the people would follow their ministers,
he called upon the house to avert so terrible a calamity.
Mr. B. COCHRANE said, that no one could desire a more
at form of Church government than that which now
tt.na Ile maintained that the only ground
hority in the people was to he found in the
'dine, and that had never been sanctioned
It was his. opinion, that all the
hypocrisy eof thep n Kirk.h
...,a-Intrusion was for the purpose of gather-
-1 a great
power into the hands ot. the Church. if they
spiritual power predominant, he would prefer
given t.he strongest proofs of their
Lord J.
was pending over a large portion of the people (10
jg.a nßcuesosfut ucioetoi
his empire, in the secession of the clergy of the Church of
;lree tchri
sincerity in the conscientious feelings they entertained. He
confessed, however, he did not see any advantage to be de-
rived from the adoption of any resolution which dealt in
kotland. The clergy had
mere abstractions. He could not assent to the claims now
put forth by the Church of Scotland, nor could he permit
it by an act of 1834 to change a state of things which had
reached up to that time, and had never until then been ob-
jected to by the Church.
Mr. A. CAMPBELL supported the motion which asserted
principle essential to the very existence of the Church of

FRIDAY MORNING, MARCH 10, 1843

The result of the trial of the unfortunate man—
W.Naughten—is one which is calculated to give rise to
serious reflection, as to the state of the law which can
permit crimes, such as the murder of Mr. Drummond,
to be committed with impunity. With the correctness
of the verdict returned we can find no complaint.
With the evidence adduced before them, we cannot
sec indeed how au intelligent jury could have given
any other decision than that the prisoner was absolved,
by virtue of the monomania which possessed him,
from the consequences of what was only, in fact, the
working of a paroxysm, or, as the medical witnesses
termed it, "the climax" of his disease. M`Naughten
was a perfectly sane trir n, for all the ordinary purposes
of life, and upon every other subject than the delusion
with which he was afflicted; but, that delusion once
brought into activity, every sense of right and wrong
was at once extinguished in a sense of fear or of hatred
towards his imagined persecutors. It is quite possible,
too, from the evidence adduced, and the discredit,
justly we think, thrown upon that of the inspector of
police who deposed to the confession of the prisoner,
that Sir Robert Peel was the party whose life he ima-
gined he had taken, that the offence may have been
the mere work of a momentary frenzy, and not the
premeditated deed which the circumstance of his hav-
ing waited for weeks about the neighbourhood of
Downing-street at first appeared to constitute it. The
workings of an ill-directed mind are hard to trace.
There may have been floating in his thoughts some
wild notion of protection to be acquired by communi-
cating his fears to some member of the government,
similar to that for which he had applied to the autho-
rities of Glasgow in vain ; and whilst in pursuit of this
object, the criminal deed may have been accelerated
by circumstances, or by a distorted imagination, as
described by himself to Dr. Munroe when he said that
" the person at whom he fired gave him a scowling look,
and that all his previous feelings rushed to his mind."
A medical gentleman, it must be remembered, accus-
tomed to the treatment of persons insane or afflicted
with morbid delusions, was much more likely to elicit
truth from the unfortunate prisoner, than a police in-
spector.

existed in Soo,-

,t bookof

,y any act of parliament

to have

Scotland.
this important question. He regretted
Sir W, FOLLETT concurred entirely in the view taken by
Scotland had not adopted the opinions of
Leith, in which case there would have
..wreldlictillehapdainsinocfe
baeriinsgenc,alainedd
ttLhhoaert
hdtoiJlneo.lcitnnhelßimrucbshesreolfflo orsfcLoet
pinlepiorfe t. hewcohnesntitthuetiliono,uws•ehicohf rLeocordgs-
tbiemetn
hsopuasreedwould
h he
. claims, which it could not listen to without
upon to sanction .
b of the law over every institution, civil
nised the supremacy
should have at Tice repealed the Veto
' of Queen Anne was the law of the land,
decided that the act
oorveeretculrensiianswtiecvaelryinptrhneicie
Act of 1834, which was in
.contravention of the act of Anne.
• that it could be the law of Scotland
Ile could not believe
the General assembly
that there could have been concurrent jurisdictions. Sup-
pose the Church declared certain matters to be within. ec-
clesiastical jurisdiction,
.while the civil court." insisted that
these same matters were within the jurisdiction of the civil
courts, who was to decide between them ? It was quite im-
possible that anything so absurd could have prevailed as law
in Scotland. A power of decision must rest somewhere;
and if the civil courts exercised a jurisdiction that did not
belong to them, or if they improperly interefered with the
jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts, there was an appelate
jurisdiction which would decide between them—the House
of Lords. Ile could not give his sanction to the claims and
pretensions of the Church of Scotland, and therefore, with
all respect for that Church, he should oppose the motion of
the right hon. gentleman.
Sir R. PEEL said it was unnecessary for him to detain the
house at any length after his opinions had been so exactly
stated by Sir William
Follett, Sir James Graham, and Lord
John Russell also. Still his position demanded that he
should not give a silent vote upon such an important occa-
sion. A state of things existed in Scotland not contemplated
by law, and, of course, not provided for by law, and the re-
sult was that there was great danger that the courts in Scot-
land would become paralysed. if it had been proposed to
bring in a bill to settle uch a state of things, and to settle
also the question of patronage—provided it did not interfere
with the privileges of the crown—it might be that ministers
would not object to going into committee upon such a mea-
sure; but to go into committee with no definite object to be
submitted for their consideration, would be to countenance a
mere delusion. It was a paltry argument to ask the house
to go into committee as a compliment to the Church of Scot-
land, taking the chance of some remedy suggesting itself in
that committee. The real question' was whether the claims
of the Church of Scotland were such at parliament ought to
agree to, and looking at it in this point of view he was pre-
pared to vote against the motion of the right hon. gentleman.
He dissented altogether from the position taken by the Church
of Scotland upon the question of the abolition of patronage. The
law never recognised the abolition of patronage as necessary to
the welfare Of the Church of Scotland. In fact, the maintenance
of patronage was recotnised in statutes passed with the con-
currence of the Church itself—which had only contended for
the right of examination of the persons presented. lie
could not assent even to the policy of abolishing the right of
patronage, for there were grave objections to making the
presentation of ministers depend upon popular election. It
wasimpossible for parliament to define the jurisdiction of
the ecclesiastical and civil courts. They could not foresee
circumstances, and any attempt at drawing a line of demar-
cation would be entirely frustrated by some occurrence im-
possible to be contemplated beforehand. The only safe
course to be pursued, was to pay obedience to the highest
civil tribunals in the country. The Church of Rome before
the reformation never laid claim to greater or more dange-
rous power than that which was involved in the claims made
by the Church of Scotland at the present moment. The
Church of Scotland should at once have repealed the Veto
Act as soon as it had been solemnly pronounced to be illegal
by the House of Lords. The Strathbogie case proved the
absurdity of concurrent jurisdictions. The civil courts gave
the stipend, while the ecclesiastical courts interdicted the
performance of the duties. Who in such a case was to
decide? Certainly the courts which were empowered to
.administer the law of the land, subject to the appellate juris-
diction of the House of Lords. Such was his reasons for
opposing the claims of the Church of Scotland, although he
fully admitted its right to ascertain the opinion of parliament
upon a subject so important.
Mr. F. MAULE replied, after which the house divided, and
his motion was defeated by a majority of 211 to 76.

The verdict of the jury, therefore, we conceive to be
perfectly in accordance with evidence, and with a
humane interpretation of the law as applied to the
case; and we rejoice therefore that we are spared the
pain of witnessing the terrible spectacle, which would
have been the execution of a man notoriously, as the
prisoner was, of, at the least, imperfect sanity. But,
may we not ask, are there not many cases in the cri-
minal records of this country which, did ali the cir-
cumstances attending them receive the same strict
investigation as this case of M'Naughten, might re-
solve themselves into the result of mental delusions
more or less strongly displayed ? Is the boundary
between mental and moral disease so accurately de-
fined that any man can declare where the evidences of
one shall not be taken as evidences of the other ? Can
the murderer, whose deed of blood is committed under
the overpowering influence of jealousy, be esteemed a
perfectly sane man ? Or is the drunkard, labouring
under the influence of delirium, which is a disease,
quite as much as any of the countless forms in which
insanity presents itself—a man capable of controlling
his actions ? We suspect that all great criminals are
more or less afflicted with disease of mind; and that
strict application, in a number of cases, of the same
lavishness of expense displayed in the defence of
M`Naughten, would he successful in developing facts,
bearing upon the mental condition of the accused,
which would startle at least, if they did not entirely
convince a humane jury, who had before them only
the alternatives of acquittal and the doom of death by
the executioner.

At this moment there can be no doubt that there
are hundreds of monomaniacs roaming at large upon
the highways of the world—men of perverted intellect,
exciteable to the wildest and most dangerous passions,
and in whom the distinctions between right and wrong
are so faintly traced that a momentary influence may
extinguish them altogether. Apply to the crimes
which may be committed by such men, the same mer-
ciful consideration which has been applied to those of
Oxford and 11,1‘Naughten ; and society will become
almost divested of protection. On the other hand,
compel a resort to a preventive system. Shut up such
men in lunatic hospitals—as M`Naughten ought to
have been shut up, if the authorities of Glasgow had
done their duty; and those establishments must be
augmented to the size and number of our union work-

The United States papers contain the particulars of
another atrocious attemp at murder and piracy on the high
seas. In this instance the attempt was on board a merchant
vessel. The first and second mate of the brig Poultney of
Baltimore bound to Pernambuco, for cause unknown con-
spired to misder the captain. After going on deck late at
night to see that the watch and look-out was properly kept,
the captain retired to his birth: Awaking after a short time
he was surprised to find the cabin lights extinguished, upon
which he rose to ascertain the cause, when he was felled with
a blow with a marline ,:nikp he the second mate; the chief

mate who was standing by then walked off. Fortunately the
crew were not in the plot, at least so far as appears, although
they had been invited, and he was rescued by his steward.
On arming at Pernambuco the affair was investigated by the
United States consul, and the second mate taken into custody,
but the first mate was carried on to Rio Janeiro, to be dealt
with there, as his place could not be supplied at Pernambuco,
and Captain Monatt required assistance to navigate the ves-
sel.

houses

Two things are clearly deducible from the result of
ilia case before us. If we are to give that wide exten-

sion to the plea of lunacy, as a bar to the execution 0
the law upon criminals, which is now coat ended f
by medical men ; if we are to treat " hallucination,'
" morbid delusions," and other partial disorders of th
mind, as sufficient to absolve from the cow equene::,
of crime ; and, more than this, if these are sufficient—

(and we shall not pretend to dispute the correctness of
the lights which improved science has thrown upon
our criminal jurisprudence, as applied to this subject)
—then, most assuredly, the juryman in a criminal case
is placed in a position of awful responsibility. Nothing,
but the notoriety of his crime, the rank of the victim,
the quasi-political circumstances of the case, and the
array of talent and influence brought to bear upon the
defence, could have saved the life of M`Naughten ;
and how many cases similar may come before our
judicial tribunals, in which honest and humane men
may have to incur the risk of dooming to an igno

nious death fellow-beings, to whom their Creator has
denied those protections from the violence of their pas-
sions, which belong to other men, and whose inherent

imperfections a deficient or perverted education, or in-

cendiary agitation, have guided on to crime ?
Another, and a strong conviction, grows out of the

circumstances attending this case, and the evidences
given by the medical witnesses. There are hundreds,
we repeat, of 2nonomaniacs—men of distorted minds—
men labouring under delusions different in descrip-
tion, but equal in degree, to those of Daniel
M'Naughten—delusions, too, which may equally he
driven to result in the commission of crime—in this
and every community. Turn for a moment to the
state of society and feeling developed in the trial now
taking place at Lancaster. Are the deluded men, we
ask, who crowd the manufacturing districts of Lanca-
shire and Cheshire, and look up from the midst of
their misery, to the realisation of the wild theories of
the Charter, or the equally wild promises of the Anti-
Corn-law League, as to the coming of a social and po-
litical mill9nium, beings amongst whom the firebrands
. of agitation ought to be wantonly thrown ? Are these

men burning with savage passion, and smarting from
the lash of poverty, the parties amongst whom incen-
diary placards ought to be circulated, imputing, in let-
ters that he who runs may read, " MURDER,
MURDER, MURDER," to any individuals or class
of their fellow-sribjects ? Undoubtedly they are not ;
and here at least a system of prevention of possible
evil results may well be applied. The authors of such
incendiary appeals may be restrained far more easily
than their possible results can be arrested or even
imagined!

eudo liberals of t

nu-b:av

themselves, as of late t

_y have done, in the work of
slander, misrepresentation, and mockery of the suffer-
ings of their fellow-countrymen in the West Indies,
may run to wallow in the abomination of slavery—
may run to smear themselves in the sweets which have
dropt with the blood of the suffering negro : we shall
not follow them. The flimsy reasoning with which
avarice strives to hide its past hypocrisy from mankind
shall not blind us. We ask, for " our bond," for
national consistency, and, above all, honesty, with
respect to this question

Our "Liberal" contemporaries have seized upon
the fact of another insubordination at the Workhouse
having been brought before the police magistrate, to
insinuate against the Select Vestry the same charges of
criminal indifference, and neglect in the performance
of their arduous duties, with which, some weeks ago,
the public was dosed, usque ad nauseam. Notwith-
standing the promptitude with which those gentlemen
have set about the alterations of discipline and classifi-

cation, recommended by the poor-law authorities, the
circumstance that the additional means adopted for the
purpose of repressing disorder have proved still below
the requirements of the case, is attempted, by the
Journal of Saturday, to he perverted into evidence that
they have wantonly and wickedly neglected to take any
precautions whatever to abate irregularities, which none
can regret should exist more deeply than the Select
Vestrymen themselves. We do not, however, think it
worth our while to comment upon attacks, which every
candid man in the community knows to be unjustifi-

We know the animus with which. they are
made, and the purpose which they are intended to
serve; and, what is more, the public mind has arrived
at the same perceptions. Let the Journal and the
Times therefore bray their loudest. The identity of
their " sweet voices" will not be mistaken

There is something, however, in these continual
disturbances, and especially in that which was the
subject of examination on Friday, which, if our brother
journalists would divest their minds of the mists of
political partizanship, and unworthy personal spite, is
well calculated to excite their serious attention to the
working of the law itself, under which scenes so dis-
graceful to a civilised state of society can occur. The
she-ruffians brought before Mr. Rushton were shewn
to have displayed a ferocity which few, even of the
brute creation, could have equalled. Girls, from 18 to
20, were proved to have scaled walls two and twenty
feet high !—crept through the most disgusting localities,
and when attempted to be restrained, shewn evidence
of a disposition the most savage and brutal,—and this
in the pursuit of crime, and in the open light of day
Former examinations into the state of things amongst
the inmates of our Workhouse, have brought to light
the fact that many of these wretched beings—these un-
sexed girls and women—have passed their whole lives
within its walls, and shew no disposition for any other
kind of existence than that of the virtual slavery in
which they were held. And yet this is the boasted

Since the above remarks, intended for our Tuesday's
publication, were written, another almost similar case
to that of M‘Naughten has come to light,—a Mr.
John Dillon, who alleges some injustice done to him
by that department of the Government which-is under
Mr. Goulburn, having threatened the life of that gen-
tleman, and a warrant having been issued for his ap-
prehension. Verily, the principle of " individual and
personal responsibility" progresses apace ! It is con-
fidently asserted that Dillon was remarked in the lobby
of the House of Commons on Monday night last,
making eager inquiries for the Right Hon. Gentleman
in question—with what view may almost be surmised
by the violent tone of his letters, which will be found
elsewhere. We know not whether or not he has taken
out the necessary qualification for Bedlam ; but, doubt-
less, he could be proved to possess insanity sufficient
to enable him to commit murder, with immunity from
its ordinary penal consequences !

" Workhouse Test" which was to rid us of pauperism,
and work a moral revolution in the condition of our
labouring poor ! These debased and reckless women
are the fruits of its application
Can any unprejudiced mind affect a doubt that, as
regards such demoralized beings, such a " test" is the
most fallacious possible? These girls and women are
idle, vicious, and disorderly. They are also destitute;
and, as the condition of their receiving relief, we give
them good food, warm clothing, fire, and shelter, whilst,
at the same time, we have the conviction before us
that their minds are of that degraded order, and their
sense of shame so totally gone, that animal comforts

We are of course unacquainted with the precise
terms which are being offered by Sir Robert Peel, in
the negotiation which is going on with the govern-
ment of Mexico. We know not what may be the pro-
posed modifications to which that statesman is willing
to submit in the differential duties levied upon sugar,
the produce of Brazilian cultivators, as compared with
West Indian sugar; but we are afraid, if the most
recent accounts from Brazil can be relied upon, that
the views expressed by our contemporary, the Jamaica
Standard, can scarcely he those contemplated by the
British Government. The Standard claims, on behalf
of the West Indian interests, that " no remission of
the differential duties in question shall be conceded
whilst slavery exists in the Brazilian possessions:'
We are perfectly sanguine that Sir Robert Peel will
make no such remission, unaccompanied with, at the
least, a satisfactory assurance with respect to the early
termination of the system of slavery in the Brazils.
Its termination, at once, we can scarcely hope for, as
we do not know that the machinery exists in the
Brazils which would be necessary to render such a
step one of safety. Again, our contemporary main-
tains that the remission of duty upon the produce of
Brazil shall be no greater than that upon the produce
of British colonies—in other words, that the diffe-
rential duty shall remain as before, the whole duty
upon both being reduced six shillings. Such, at least,
is the interpretation which we put upon the somewhat
obscure language used; and it is plain that, if Brazil
has anything to give in return, she can never be satis-
fied with such terms ;—for how could she be thereby
placed in a much better position in the British
market ?

are all which they require ! We required previously

We repeat, that we cannot tell, except from his past
declarations—and they are confined to his course with
respect to the question of slave cultivation—the terms
which Sir Robert is prepared to grant ; but if the con-
cessions which he requires from Brazil be anything
approaching those which have been communicated to
us by a recent arrival from that country, his offers
must convey to Brazil something well worthy of
acceptance. No minister of such a country, in which
the slaveholding interest is paramount, would venture
to moot the question of the cessation of slavery,
without some worthy equivalent to offer ; still less to
countenance a proposition such as the following, which
is given by a correspondent of the London Times of
Wednesday, who dates from Maranhao, a northern
Brazilian port, on the 21st January :

" The Finance Minister, Viscount d'Abrantes, has
published a pertaria to the president of the commission
charged with the organization of the new tariff, esta-
blishing differential duties by imposing an additional
twenty per cent. upon all goods imported into the
Brazilian territory, with the exception of Great Britain
and its possessions, to whom an exemption was con-
ceded."

This proposition, it was said, had created a great
sensation on the Exchange at Rio ; and, amongst the
non-Britannic merchants, " a perfect storm of indig-
nation :" whilst an opposition paper says, that " it is
feared that the machinations of England will too soon
follow this up with a lasting convention, which will
establish, in favour of her commerce, a monopoly."
Here, then, is a large measure of favour offered to us
—with what prospects of its being carried into execu-
tion we know not—and it is perfectly clear that a
measure of substantial advantage to the staple trade Of
Brazil is meditated as its equivalent. It is also clear,
from the hostility with which the formation of a
British commercial alliance was regarded by the
slaving interests of the country—and we are told that
the British Envoy had been grossly and personally
insulted by their journals—that the negotiations going
on must contain stipulations, with respect to the
question of slavery, which, if carried out, must lead
to divest the public mind of any objections which it
might entertain on the score of the impetus to be
given to a system against which we are nationally
pledged, by the admission of
,the produce of Brazil to
compete in the British market with the produce of
our own free colonies.

Such is, so far as our present information extends
the state of the question, as between the present go-
vernment and the West Indies. We have stated it
fairly and freely, that our fellow-countrymen in the
West Indies might prepare themselves for the result.
No rash legislation, we trust, will be attempted by Sir
Robert Peel's government; nothing calculated seri-
ously to compromise the interests of those colonies, of
which Whig fraud and incapacity have well nigh made
shipwreck. At the same time, we feel convinced that
the time has approached at which we must extend our
consideration to the important markets of the Brazils ;
and if we can do this without sacrificing the interests
of British subjects in our own colonies, or compro-
mising the interests of humanity, it will be a consum-
mation devoutly to be thankful for. We cannot,
however, consent to receive even this boon to our
suffering commerce, if accompanied by injustice to the
British planter, and the sacrifice of those professions
of humanity and that noble sacrifice in the cause which
we have made in the face of the whole world. The

no test of their destitution—no test of their unwilling-
ness to pursue the paths of industry and honesty for
subsistence. These were perfectly ascertained cir-
cumstances, or are, at the least, fully ascertained nosy.
And yet we persist in applying to them a mode of
treatment which we acknowledge to be perfectly in-
efficacious for the purpose for which it was designed!

And what, we ask, is the evident result of a perse-
verence in such 4 system ? Why to establish in every
workhouse a source or moral pollution by which Ill°
unfortunate and deserving poor must inevitably be
contaminated, or horrified, from the first moment of
their entrance within the walls of a union workhouse.
Admit that this evil can be mitigated, so far as regards
its effects upon the condition and morals of the de"
serving poor, by strict classification; but by how much
will such classification aggravate the depravity of the
vicious inmates, shut out as they will be from the
possible good effect of communication with the desert''
in; and virtuous, and condemned to a species of moral
perdition ? No classification, however strict, can en'
tirely abate the evils which must result from the
ccatnple of such wretched beings upon the young
amongst our unfortunate poor; and the preservation
of a perpetual contact amongst the vicious themselves
—that closing of the door to all improvement in their
condition, which must be the result of a condemnation
of any number of human beings to fester in crime in
one revolting mass—is an alteration which is perfectly
horrible to contemplate.

Is it too much, then, to ask now whether—at least
in such cases as the one before us—the application Of
the workhouse test, as that by which to regulate the
propriety of giving relief from the poor-rate, is net
open to exception ? For what is its operation ? The.
test in question deters the virtuous and worthy amongst;
the poor—drives thousands to perish by famine an
suicide—hurries thousands into the paths of vice it-
self, which is almost preferable to contemplate, 11l
comparison with the sure ultimate contamination °f
,
the workhouse; whilst able-bodied criminals, debased
below the level of the animal world, embrace with
eagerness the animal comforts which the workhcil.s
affords, and, it is notorious, would unwillingly quit to
walls to pursue a life of industry, however certain 1"
rewards.

The questions may indeed be put to us—what rei;
medy would we apply ? Would we turn loose upon
society these demoralised females ? It is not, l'usig,
ever, incumbent upon us to answer. If the work'
house test is a failure, it is for the philosophers whie
uprooted the ancieni. law of the land, and gave us t he
new-fangled thing in its stead, to prescribe for to,
disease which they have created. This much we :ehe
ture to predict for their consolation. If that Os'
indiscriminately applied for much longer, every wurhe
house in the land must be, in the strictest sense 01. t
word and in its regulations, A PRISON. Our humane
forefathers designed such buildings only for ASlriali"is
FOR THE HOUSELESS AND DISTRESSED !