The Statesman. — London, England, 1821-12-26 00:00:00

IRISH 4DMINI The talkers at the Meeting at the West of Eng land and Bath Agricultural Society last week, ap peared fully as wise and well-informed as the Wiseacres at Lewes. The prohibition, of the importation of fo reigh corn into our ports, was as usual the only subject thought worth notice., Not a word on the necessity of repealing duties which bow down the farmer, the la bourer, or the artisan ; not a word about smearing articles of the first necessity. No, no! The fanners oust learn some new method of raising the wind besides raising crops of corn. No relief from the first Lord of the Treasury, although he was present at the dinner aid made a speech ; or if a farrago of unmeaning flum mery may be called a speech, we assure his Lordship all the speeches either he or the Noble Chairman ever made, will not do the farmer one farthing's-worth of goo d ; nor will any measure whatsoever but a fall in the rents, and an abolition of taxes. A gold currency is not to be played with. Fulsome jargon answered when the guinea al as worth Vs. 6d. ; but now that good me at is at 3d. a poun d, and good wat 421. a quarter, their Lordships must be either very ignorant or very stupid, if they think they'll find ten men of com mon sense and of independence in England to hear them out. It is mere nonsense to attempt to amuse the people with what they know to be founded in error. It is therefore 'giving a further proof of how little the people of England have to ex pect from those quabks, or their speechifying medi cines. The Noble Chairman. the Marquess of LANs- DOWN, has immense estates in the COUNTY or Keane: On the expiration of his leases he never renews, except when they have been let at rack-rents; and at the present moment the IRISH NEWSPAPERS tell us that auction sales of his tenants cattle, corn and sheep were held weekly, until at last they found so few perehasers that the Noble Marquess had them bought in for his own special use. Indeed, we have known the system adopted by his Lordship's father oo his Irish estates little better, and we regret to say it is not singular in that unfortunate country. — We don't hesitate to tell this Noble Chairman and his Noble visitor, that, until the tax on leather, soap, candles, malt, and every other tax, direct or indirect, that bears upon the Agricultural Interests are repealed, they CANNOT GET TIIEIR RENTS. nor Tim FAIRER ins LIVING. We know they'll attempt another year's trial : so much the better. The sooner will that re• form be effected which seems so much to be dreaded ; but, in spite of all the speeches, and meetings and so. cieties, the thing is coming. They are hurrying te me a s ure as fast as they can ; the more the people are oppressed, the more likely they are to be relieved, or, according to the OLn PHRASE, " when times are at the wo. st, they must mend." In another column of our paper 'will be found the proceedings at a Literary Meeting in the city of Here ford, on 'fuestlay* the I Sth inst., forming so strong a contrast to the Public Meeting in honour of Mr. Matz, held but a few days ago in the same city, that we realty are at a loss to accoun t for so amazing a differ ence in the same people. The one meeting. evincing the hest and most honourable feeling of our nature, gratitude for public services,—the other, a blind, per smu.ting spirit of bigotry, quite unworthy of the times in which we live. We strongly suspect that these Literary Worthies are, many of them, of the Hole and Corner genus — whose deeds of darkness seldom get public notoriety but by stealth. How they came to be so forward on this occasion, we know not,—but we most heartily rejoice that, now-a-days. books onig can be burned to ashes with impunity. Had these gentlemen the same power which existed a few centuries ago, the authors the».selves, as well as their works, would probably have been committed to the flames. Thanks to the knowledge and spirit of the times, and the gigantic powers of the press,—such things are now `‘ Tales of the olden World,"—to be read and wondered at. The Mail from Dublin due to day had not arrived when our paper w ent to press. In our other columns we have extractea • from the journals previously re ccived, some articles of interest which our want of room bad compelled us to postpone. The Allgemeine Zietung of Dec. 13, contains the following article, dated Vienna, Dec. 10 : —The Rus sian and Turkish outposts on the Prth have had souse skirmishes, but w hich have not led to any thing bellow'. The troops of the two nations merely observe each other. ' • P"' (FROM Tit DUBLIN *MUMS POST, tn. 224 We ban had to battle with several of oar contem poraries on the amens causes, and extent of the dis turbances in the South of Ireland. We have had to bear the fire of that part of the Dublin press which is under the infinite of the Castle; we have had to encounter the exaggerations dour Provincial brethren —the abuse of some, and the scepticism of more. In stead of having a political•object in view (regariing the word political in its popular 'acceptation,) we have contended that the causes were local ; that the griev ances of the tenantry, and the' exactions of tithes, operating upon great .distress, upon a great popula tion, and upon the immoral habits generated by these I were amply sufficient to account for the disturtances.l We maintained, that these disturban ces would long 11 since have been crushed, if , the gentry performed a two-fold duty : First, by associating, and by activity; and in the next place, by removing several causes of oppression to which the poor, particularly of Lime rick, have justly reason to complain. But it is on the subject of the Insurrection Aet that we have had the fiercest struggle. The Press in Dublin, the Gently in the Country, have raised al most a deafening clamour on this subject. Force ! force '. The power of transporting without a Jury ! The power of domiciliary visits; racketings; deivings ; nocturnal inclusions ; taking up, with or without in formation; this is what the Gentry sought, and, we regret to see, are still seeking; and this is what we constantly opposed, and shall continue so to do. The result of the Special Commission, as far as it has proceeded, justifies our " fore-gone conclusion." Nothing has been elicited from any of the culprits, who have been tried, that goes, in the remotest degree, to prove the existence of a treasonable association. — Ten persons have already been tried. The result of the tritili [and of this the reader may easily satisfy I himself by a perusal of our paper) demonstrates the justice of most of the observations which we have I felt it our duty to offer on this subject. We are Batts ' fled that these trials make out our case completely ; but as in matters of this kind, the argument ad very eutediam, will have greater weight with many persons than the most rigid deduction from facts, we beg leave to subjoin the opinion of Mr. Justice Moore; it is taken from his charge to the Grand Jury of the City of Limerick, delivered on this day se'nnight : " He (Judge Moore) knew it was the opinion of many that the laws were not sufficiently strong; but be would say to such persons, " try the means in your bands at present, and see what effect will arise from them." Again, "Others may cry out for strong measures; but if the present laws are enforced with vigour, no insurgents can stand before its (Government's) power. The law is sufficiently strong to reach the root of the evil." Now, our Readers will do us the justice to acknow ledge, that this is the tone we have constantly held — that these are the topics with which we have almost wearied the public ; and yet, in the face of this autho rity, in the face of reason and common sense, the Gen tlemen of the South are still invoking the protection of the Insurrection Act. At a Meeting of Magis trates and Landowners at Skibberna, in the Condi of Cork, Lord Bantry recommended a reduction of Rents, as one of the most effectual means of tran quillising the country. There was no answer to his Lordship's Speech ; but the Meeting, it should seem, t hought the most summary m ode of suppressing the disturbances would be, the re•enacting of the !weer rection Act. We hope and trust that the Gentlemen of Skibbereen will be disappointed. It is with great pleasure we revert to a Meeting in another part of the same county, in which Lord B . endoo proposes, in our opinion, another and a better method of main taining the peace of the country—namely, associate and " to exert their energies " to preserve the tran quillity of their _ _ All the gentlemen to whom application was mak by the Corporation of Kendal to accept the office c) Capital Burgesses have declined the invitation. — (Westmorland Gazette.) hianalo, Dec. 10.—You will doubtless have been informed ere this reaches you, that Mina has yielden obedience to the orders of Government, and that af fairs have been satisfactorily settled in Galicia : thanks to the firmness and good conduct of the Political Chief. You will read in The Universal the excellent report to the Cortes, and the discussions is that As sembly respecting the recent troubles at Cadis and Seville ; nothing can be more satisfactory and censti tutional than the principle which they recognise and enforce. The general result of the election of the members of the new Cortes has now been ascertained, and is very constitut ional: the only province from which the returns are yet incomplete is Catalonia. where there is no doubt of their being excellent. h- To the general surprise , the returns from Seville (notwit standin the late proceedings) have proved good : but those fro g m Cadis are, as might at this time be expected, not so satisfactory. A Bordeaux paper mentions the intended establish meat of a lozarette at Pauillic, to preserve the inha bitants of that department from the attacks of the yellow fever. The Correctional Tribunal of Marseilles, on the 11th of December, tried Capt. Quoniam. accused by the public prosecutor of having trafficked in negroes. He was condemned to the confiscation of his ship and cargo, and to the forfeiture of his occupation. Dr. Kees, Counsellor of the Supreme Tribunal o inf Leipsic, who died th er e lately, was the richest - dividual in that city. His property is valued at three million Saxon crowns. The zodiac of Denderah left Marseilles for Paris on the 13th instant. It was placed on a chariot with four wheels, constructed expressly for the purpose. The Egyptian granite columns presented by his Majesty to the British Mumma, are now removing from the Court-yard in the front of the building, to, m ake room for the pedestal on which the status of tile late Sir Joseph Banks is to be placed. Coale-Excaarson, Dec. 26.—We bad scarcely any. Willie's doing at oar market this morning, hav ing had no arrivals since Monday, and the priers of all grain may be considered the same as on that day. for all the corissiners bold off purchasing, until the arrival of the eipeeted fleet from the Nor folk and Suffolk coasts, which will be very Mid. derable when the wind chops. It having bees pretty generally Insinuated, that the siosirelval of the fsarrection Act, which expired Orli; Mr. Grant's Secretaryship. contributed mainly to his recall ; we are happy to have good authority for believing, that that Act was permitted to expire with the full concurrence of the Ministry, and even at the suggestion of Mr . Grant's Predecessor in Office. From the same source we are strongly induced to believe, that the circumstances connected with Alderman James's dinner, may be confidently referred to as the master cause of the present changes of Administration in Ire land. The list of twists intended to be given on that occasion, are reported to have been submitted to the head of the Irish Government, for his approval, when he excused himself from entering upon the politico con vivial cridclsm,by saying, that he was the Lord Mayor's guest ; and, therefore, left all such arrangements to his entertainer. It is further added, that on the list having been shown to Mr. Grant, he expressed his surprise at a toad introduced therein, that had been omitted at the civic dinner, which had been honoured with the pre sence of the Sovereign ; and further stated, that he must, is consequence, decline accepting of alderman James's invitation.—lt is also understood, that Lord Sidinotals, in a communication on the subject of the ob noxious teut, intimated, that its revival was looked up on by him, as a direct contravention of the parting in junction of the King ; and such a one as would, per haps, produce as explicit expression of the displeasure of his Majesty. FALSE REPORTS.—" A great number of Country people; we learn, assembled - a day or two since, tumul tuously, on the Glebe-land of bunshauglin, County Meath, at MW-day, and were dispersed by Lord rin gall and a strong party of Military."—(Pitriot So :medal last.) There is not one word of truth in this " tumultuous thing." There was no assemblage—no Military. and Lord Fingall remained quietly at Killeen Castle.—(9l/1 , - /in Evening Post.) BOARD or AGRICULTCRS.--A correspondent wishes to be informed, why this society gave up the noble mansion in Sackville-street, and removed, at Mid summer last, into lodgings, over a shop in B end s•reet ? Whether there is any, or how much, truth in the re• port, that soon after that bustling and stirring gen tleman, Mr. George Webb Hall, of Bristol, became Secretary, Government withheld the 3,000!. a-wear which bad been allowed the society during the long secretaryship of the late Mr. Arthur Young? And whether the motive to which the loss of the Govern ment patronage and support has been ascribed, is the true reason of that serious blow to the Board -(.l(fred) The agricultural dinner at the White Bart, Bath, was attended by a more than usually numerous body of members and visitors. The Marquess of Lansdown fulfilled the duties of the Chair with his accustomed urbanity and politeness. On giving the toast of 1. The Visitors who have honoured the meeting with their presence." the Noble Marquess expressed a hope that he should not be considered as transgressing . the excellent rule of the Society, which prohibited the introduction of politics, by proposing the athii doe of " the Earl of Liverpool," a nobleman whose pri vate mirth secured. Mm universal estimation. In ex presslog his acktitiertedgentiints. for the honour thus conferred, the noble Earl took occasion to speak of the pre-eminent importance of agriculture, and of the great benefits derived by the nation from the exertions of the Bath and West of England Society. MI1.1)14115 or THE Szason.—There liire now in Mrs. Turner's garden, Park Hall, Chrysantheinntnao Carnations, Pinks, a great variety of Roses, and many other flowers in full blossom in the open air ; a sin gular proof of the extraordinary mildness of the season. The weather for some time past has Leen nuentu monly boisterous, even for this usually unsettled sea son, In the early part of the day it has been generally quiet and mild—sometimes with a slight appearance of frost—but in the evening, and towards morning, the wind has set in with occasional showers, so furiously that, even in this sheltered situation, serious damage has been done to the houses. On Tuesday night the wind blew for some hours a perfect hurricane, accom panied with a tremendous storm of thunder, lightning and rain. Several houses in Canal-street had the win dows blown in, and considerable damage was done to roofs in various parts of the town.—(Perth Courier.) DUNGENESS LIGHT.HGCSE.-- Ex , ract of a letter from the Agents to Lloyd's, dated Deal, Dec. 2.l:—‘ , Wind S.E. blows hard. Captain M'Cullock, of his Maj est y 's ship Severn, communicates to us this day information that Dungeness Light House was struck with lightning on the night of the 22 d. The lightning passed through the room in which the family w e re sitting, without in juring any person. The building has a rent from the top to the bottom, visible from No. 2 battery, a distance of two miles : the lantern and reflections are damaged, of which we have given notice to the principal out- ports." Extract of soother letter on the same subject, dated Dover, 24th Dec.—" We have receives' informition from Dungeness; during yesterday the ligth-house received considerable injury, being split from the top to the bottom; and that the persons residing there have left it, being unsafe ; but they will continue to lightly, as usual, although attended with some risk. CHRISTMAS DAY IN ST. GrLes's.—Yesterday a he nevolent friend to the Irish poor, most plentifully supplied the children of the u St. Oiles's Irish Free Schools," between two and three hundred in number, with a dinner of good old En g lish fare, (roast beef and plum pudding), at their school house, 25, 4Jeorge street, St. Oiles's. It was pleasing to sPe the joy and gratitude expressed in tie countenances of these happy little . ones, whilst, partaking of their welcome meal, on witnessing the attention paid to them by 1 their kind friends and Aupporters, who laying aside their distinguished mirk in society, even themselves esjoyed " the luxury o f doin g good," by personally risdang on these helpless and hitherto friendless chil -1 ies's of the natives of our sister country. We sin cerely wish the example may be followed by the afflu. rent, particularly at a season of the year whan much r,isthed want generally prevails among the numerous classes et the Irish poor in that quarter, and in whose behalf lib striae. to find that the Governors of the above aimed institution are particularly interesting them 7 Mites. • The Duke of York Inn, Wattages', in York, was kurglatiously broken into one ms s. The wee thieves k, end of three or impairer Mts. 'The gamin to take say dirtiitotty, 'leaned the boots in the kitchen previous to taking them away. .w~`. 1 7 $0 , The thunder has been heard afar, but D O Its sound approaches. No doubt the s oldiers vs i f he called out, to put down complaint, but if the ro saiss one month In arrear, then let Englishmen tw ee den army—a standing army! but where are thorOODSN WALLS ? where are the brave fellows? soo t adrift to man and rig fleets of other states. wh e re are the conquerors of the world? answer that los thinking people. While your dandies at home aro bedizened with gold, silver, and tinsel, furbelows, fisthirs, and hairy helmets, the brave seamen are beg keted and starving. How will all this operate n on the Grand Council of the Nation next February? so w o g as the people are bought and / sold at the will o f Baronghmongers and dealers in, seats, so long will t h e y be misrepresented, and until a healthful system w i dopted, the property of the country must be under the controul of the lawyers, the aristocrats, and the t i or gy. If we take a view of St. Stephen's chapel we shall find that no man is mad enough to give a large ow of money for a seat therein, unless he has a pro v a bility of ample remuneration. I, STATE OF IRELAND. fON. ~• . •!,, 14211 V Auro MANTA The Annual Oeneral Meeting of the Satheetibots to the Hereford Permanent Library, took place on Toes day last, December 16, when " Burden's Materials for Thinking;' two vols. (fifth edit.), and the Apocryphal New Testament, published by Hone, were, by a large majority, condensued to Me Ames duld,immediatelj burnt to ashes ! ! • The celebrated' works of 'kyle, 'Ritter, and Gibbon were also ordered to be apstroyed, as containing see- timents of an irreligious and immoral tendency. These valuable ornaments of every public andriliate library in the civilised world, would inevitably have shared the same fate, had nat the Honorary Librarian of ills Institution (a gentleman of acknowledged talent and liberality.) signified his intention of instantly resign ing his official situation. This notification, and the spirited observati3ns of a few individuals present, (who felt justly indignant at such a disgraceful act of Gothic barbarism and bigotted intolerance,) saved the devoted books from immediate destruction ; but the order on the library minutes still remains unrescindel , and will, in all probability, be carried into effect at the first convenient opportunity. Several of the subscribers openly avowed to the meetirg, their wishes that the shelves of the library should be thoroughly purged from every book in which the established religion, or religion generally, was called in question, and hailed the proceedings of the day as a triumphant beginning of a glorious work ! ! For the literary credit of the city of Hereford, it should be noticed, that the most active agents in these enlightened deeds, were strangers to the place, and only lately become residents there. .• In this age of intellect and extended knowledge, it is really painful to remark that the Clergy shnuld have lent their powerful aid to such proceedings; but, oniserabile dictu, in the occurrences of the day, they were most conspicuous actors, and zealously supported this work of destruction. Surely they cannot think that bursting a book is ' the most efficacious mode of refitting its contents, anl answering its arguments, or that the destruction of a single ropy will prevent the circulation of the authOr's opinions. If those opinions are founded on the basis of truth, spite of every opposition they will staid their ground ; if they cannot bear examination, and are founded in error, they ought to, and will eventually fall. One circumstance connected with the proceedings at the Hereford Library, deserves especial notice : that the first work presented to the Institution by its , deceased and respected founder, was the very copy of Bayle's Philosophical Dictionary, (a fine set in five , ,volumes, folio,) now condemned to destruction Piton PUDO9. Such was the anxiety displayed by some of these cham pions of toleration, these guardians of literature, th st even the services of the ladies were put in requisition on this memorable occasion, and nearly a dozen votes by proxy were delivered in, from ladies, who confess:: ily had never read the works their votes condemned. At the next Meeting of the Committee, it is ex pected that a regular " Censor Librorung" will be ap pointed ; and an extensive " index expurgatorius" is in a very forward state of preparation. A nGUMFArTI'M an trostinzsr.—James Ferguson, the in wenious mechanic and astronomer, was travelling once in a stage coach in which there happened to be only another passenger, who was a Sectarian. The man being brim foil of zeal, kept the discourse con tinually on the subject nearest his heart, and pointed ' out passages of scripture incessantly, exclaiming, as he uttered every text or disjointed passage, "is not that scripture ?"—Ferguson at last grew quite imps tient, and told his fellow traveller, that upon his prin ciples he would undertake to prove the lawfulness of suicide. " How so ?" vociferated the seripturist. " Why," returned the mathematition, Judas went and hanged himself." Is not that scripture? " (.10 thou and do likewise." —Is not that scripture ? This put an end to the conversation and the parties went on to the end of the stage in silence. During the night of Monday last (17th inst.) the . weather was extremely tempestuous; and again on Tuesday forenoon, the lightning was extremely vivid, attended with tremendous claps of thunder and a very heavy fall of hail. We have heard of an elderly per son who was so much slarmed as to bring on apoplexy, which terminated in death the next day ; we have also been told of another person who was struck hlind by the lightning whilst passingin the street. The storm extended a good way into Hampshire --(Reeding Journal.) Last week, as some labourers were delivering sugars from the warehouse belonging to Messrs. Hartley, in Whitehaven, owing to the breaking of a hook, a hogs head fell from the third story, a height of about forty feet, and broke the cart and shafts in atoms, without doing the least injurpto the horse, or any one in the • street.—(Westosorlaxri Gazette.) The storm on Thursday night last was most severely felt at Appledore and the surrounding coast. A French( vessel pat in, wind-bound ; the Thomas and Eliza, Barrett, is sunk to Ilfracombe ; and the The strm was accompanied with tremendous thunder and COURSE OF BICH ANGll.—Mbstesx. Amsterdant, 12 12 C. F. Bilboa, $0( .BlretiOall, $5l • Ditto, at sight, 12 9 Neville, SR 'Gibraltar, 3U . Rotterdam, 12 IS Neville , 47 Genoa, 4St Antwerp, 12 7 • Malta, 48 Venie*,27 Se Hambu - gh. S 7 0 . , Naples, 40 . Lisbon, 49 Altona, 37 7 Oporto, SO Rio Jattolt‘3ll Paris, 1 skit 01, 15 60 Poloallb4ll9—Boltle§ SO .! Ditto, 51.09 _, . Dobllllo4/ per coot. . • . • Bordep. 25 10 ~ I Cork, ll pqr coot. [pit or. FraotfOrt on the Milne, 13r For. gbldlttbats.3l.l7S. l9 lif Peterebereh, 9'o U. . , .1. Nsla Doubloons, . . Visage. 10 18 Et Flo. :—, 1 .1 %elf 09 1 t1s) l etb let ' Trieste. 10 18 Et. Flo. 'Sliver LK re; rd, Madrid, 30i tadii, 35 • ,1 • 4t:l fit. o li.. . . , ,spierba. "RiT; 4011111 52:4T111:1ms NI rli CENTURY, M r . • ~.; a. I • Lir ~- • ~ . 1, ,~ I ■ I I I I In ~`.~:, I