The Sun. — London, England, 1837-02-16 00:00:00

FINSBURY 1 - IE - FORM DINNER. A public dinner was yesterday given to Thomas \Val(ley, Esq., in the groat assembly roord of the White Conduit Ta vern, in - ceiebratton of' the victory gained for the cause of re form by - the retnrifof that gentleman to Parliament as Mem ber for tbe — Metrepolitari• District of Finsbury. The dinner was appointed - to. take place at five o'clock precisely, but con- Sidi:rabic Was oceasicined by the non.arrival of Mr. Wak ley, A CoMMobication was at length received from that gen tleman, statin# thct he was at present confined to his bed very but Ite hoped to be able to make his personal steknowle4- . eats to hi; ftiends lU:the course of the evening. A letter, howeveri,' WaS'ifterwards received from Dr. Arnott, stating that Mr. -11 7 nkley was so seriously indisposed as to be wholly tillable to lcmie his room. Six o'clock having arrived, J. T. Leader, - Eiq.', M. P:, the Chairman, accompanied by D. O'Con- Esq:,'N/1.P., • Colonel Thompson, M.P., Joseph Hume, E'sq., M. P., J. A. Roebuck, Esq., M.P., J. M. O'Connell, tiq., M.P., Christopher Fitsimon, Esq., M. P., D. W. Har vey, Esq., NI.P., James Kennedy, Esq., late Member for Tiverton, then entered the room, when upwards of 500 per sons sat down to a most excellent dinner. On the cloth being removed, The ClimaMex rose and said—The first toast I have to propose is " The King—his rights, and no more."—( Cheers. ) The CIIAIRMA ' N-I have now to propose a toast to which you cannot do too much honour—" The People—their rights, and no less."—(Tremendous cheers. ) The toast having been drunk with applause, The Custiesinethen gave " The health of the Princess Victoria," which was drunk with much enthusiasm. A kw hisses were, however, heard to mingle with the cheers. The CHAIRMAN then informed the company that he had just received a letter from Dr. Arnett, stating that Mr. Wakley was in such a state of fever and inflammation that it would be in the highest degree imprudent, indeed dangerous, for him to leave his house. In his absence, therefore, which he very much regretted, he had to propose to the company the health, and the better health, of Mr. Wakley.—( Cheers.) The toast was drunk with every demonstration of respect. Mr. HUME then passed a high eulog,ium on the talent and political integrity of Mr. Wakley. Dr. Errs proposed not only the health of Mr. Flume, but of all the other Radical Representatives in the House of Com mons. —(Loud cheers.) Drunk-with great enthusiasm. Mr. Hume, in rising to return thanks, was received with much cheering. At no time since he had been in Parliament were greater efforts necessary to overcome the enemies of the people's rights. The struggle was a very simple and intel ligible one—it was, whether the aristocracy or the democracy should prevail in ruling this country.—( Loud cheers.) Too long, indeed, had the few ruled for their own benefit and ad vantage ; and it was now for the people to consider whether, as freemen and Englishmen, they would any longer submit to that domination, or whether they would strive to obtain that influence which the people ought to have in their own House of Commons to conduct the affairs of the nation for the inte rest of the many and not for the few.—(Cheers.) All his efforts had had that object, and that alone, in view, for be had never swerved to the right or to the left to support Whig or Tory, unless he saw that good was to come to the public by that means.—(Cheers.) As to individual interest, he had never to his knowledge allowed a single vote of his to be in fluenced by it. He rejoiced in the progress which, as Refer- Users, they had been able to make ; but, as long as there Were rights to be obtained, or abuses to be corrected, he felt that it was not right that they should relax in their exertions. The parties were, unfortunately, very nearly balanced—the Tory influence, backed as it was said by the Court, supported by a large proportion of the landed and other interests, with the magistracy and a great portion of persons in authority giving it their aid, the crisis was unques tionably one of great moment. The people must, therefore, act for themselves. As a Radical Reformer, he could assure them that this session must be the touch-stone as to what the House of Commons was composed of. The people had been deluded for years past ; they had allowed foreign influence to prevail, and they had allowed themselves to pursue phantoms and support abuses which, if they had properly u nderstood, tney would not for a moment have tolerated. They were 'now better informed, and all that was necessary was union. There were different opinions as to the best mode of obtaining the objects they all desired; but that appeare d to him to be the best which was likely to be the most successful ; and he con ceived that to be the most likely to be successful which would maintain liberal men in power. From them the people might get something, but from the. Tories they never could get any thing. The choice, therefore, which he had made, and the determination to which he had come was, that he would support the present Ministers by every means in his power, as long as they went the right way.—(Cheers.) If they would not support popular measures, then it would become the duty of those Members who were independent both of Whig and Tory to state to the country their real situation, and rely upon the people to support them in the popular, measures which they advocated.—( Cheers.) His friend Mr. O'Connell would inform them of the vast import ance it was to Ireland that a liberal Government should be continued in power. He was aware that among the advocates of Reform there were many who, though not more anxious, were somewhat more ardent to obtain the desired results. He hoped, however, that Reformers of all grades would ever be found. to join together as against the common enemy, and be firmly attached to those principles on which, after all, the in terests of the country mainly depended. The Hon. Gentleman then enumerated the various measures about to be brought befOre the Hotise of Commons by the Radical Reformers dur ing the present Session—such'as the repeal of the rate-paying clauses In the Reform Act, the extension of the suffrage, the vote by ballot, the shortening the duration of Parliaments, and the repeal of the tax on the newspaper press. To all these Measures he would give his most cordial support. There was one other question which he deemed to be of vital im. , portance to the cause of freedom,—he meant the placing of every man, whatever his religious creed might be, on perfect equality with regard to his civil rights; and he hoped that the measure now in progress in the House of Com- Mons would remove from the Dissenter those disabilities Under which he still laboured, so that we might be all brought to an equality as to civil and religious rights, not only in name but in reality.—(Cheers.) Since his introduction into public bad a n opportunity of seeing the impossibility of proceeding BO rapidly as they could wish. The time, however, he hoped was approaching when greater p ro g ress mi g ht be made. He had the utmost confidence in the good sense and perseverance of the people of this country, and he felt that on the success of the cause of freedom hero depended the extension of that cause throughout the civilised world. When he looked back i to 1819, when he proposed the abolition of the Church Estab lishment in Ireland, he was astonished at the progress they bad m a d e in the cause of Reform. At that time he was looked upon as a wild beast—( Laughter)—and he believed that if he had gone to a division he should not have obtained six votes. Ought not the progress that they had made in the course of eighteen years to be of great encouragement to every Reformer to proceed? But it was to men of principle t hey must look, not to the Whig or Tory—to men who were anxious and determined to support the cause of the people— tos such men, in fact, as your honourab le re p resentative, Mr. Wakl e y e _(L o ud cheers.) Mr. D. W. HARVEY rose, and was received with very great c i lleering. He said—Gentlemen, I will not conceal that I nesitated to accept the invitation to be present upon this in teresting occasion ; but I could not suffer my feelings to be m isinterpreted by my absence, because some of you will re member that—when I had the honour to be here on a recent clecasion, in the presence of your valuable Representative, Whose absence no one, and its cause, deplores more than myself—in the exercise of that freedom of opinion, cherished as I found it, and as I thought it would be, when confidently ,rexprested before freemen—there was, I will not say an us- B apliy, but an undesirable difference of opinion ; and I felt t herefore some disinclination, on the one hand, to be present here to-day, in the apprehension that the fearless expression of my sentiments might lead to a similar result ; while on the other hand, it might be open unfairly to the interpretation that I felt what I did not feel, otherwise than the most kindly feelings towards your most valued Representative.—(Loud "eel's.) The Honourable Member continued to say that he Would not deny, however, that the speech which he had just beard from his Honourable Friend had stirred up some thing of those recollections and feelings in spite of him. self which had burst forth on the former occasion. He was well aware that there was not to be found in any part o f his Majesty's dominions a gentleman better disposed to pur sue that course of policy which he honestly believed best cal culated to advan c e the great object and principle of Reform. But in one respect, and it was an important one, hesdiffered llorn that Hon. Gentleman. He seemed to think that the di sturbance' of the present Government, and the pursuit of , th ose measure s which it was the interest of that Government t 0 promote, would be of all events the greatest possible c ala- Lay. He (M r . H arve y) should think so too, if they deserved , re their measures, to b e i n power .—( Hear, hear.) But the al question which the people had to determine was , not, as the • "on.• Member had said, whether the Whig or the Tory ass the object of their preference or the object of their con tr__l4, but wh e th er th e p r inciples which either preferred were , o "__se calculat e d t o p romo te the speedy attainment of good 4.ltlvie"nment. or whether they were such as would require an _ Were r g enerat i on to carry i nto effect ; whether, in fact, they , to live in hopes that what their great-grandfathers had not en joyed th e i r great-grandch ild ren m i g h t ? I t h a d ever been the effort of party to inculcate the mystery of government, and under the general impression, ton prevalent with the people, that it v .: mystery, the latter had been more inclined to listen to tyetVons and receive concessions from the Government, pro posed act as they ought to do. What was the course for Reformers to take? The apparent plan was (for, Personally, he was ignorant of it), th e y had heard, indeed, t hat e som e ' interior, mysterious, quietly, secr etly-moving party, ta r 1 4e y respectable for its selections, h a d arrang ed —that a cer .‘,,:ser t ries of m easures were t o b e b roug h t f orwar d o ne night and he othe r , and that there were to be some one hundred fifty sincerity, or some one h un d re d M em b ers present to s h ow th e ir Y. and to give an opportunity to some of them to speak, 3 to pe s a o t tn . e to vote, a n d some to remain away, n e ith er to; vote nor the and then what was to be the finale of all this? Take veluablejee of all night. That was the first of a series of H to Is'ar°Positions—a no-qualification proposition—and he Hon., Membery th that there was no person more surprised than the , eon 4 izia the n in the chair, who, in an eloquent speech, Iseeasion. speech equally eloquent, at the minority on that lot. He should n the next question was to be the vote by bal lot' other the be at ad surprised that by some little Si, or 2 00. Then, e minority of /04 might be augmented to 189 of the duration anotherof Parliaments, experiment IT 343 to be the shortening session., in supp ort of it, and on which the diiSsisieft might be _ass _ssio.n., and eongratulat so they ! would go on throaigi? .t4e ammiettung ; f or he r seesuse.ves that they were doiu could speak of 4 LOtig Parliamentary life as well as his Honourable Friend, and he remembered how the Catholic question was bandied about between the twi , great factions for thirty years, the parties being sometimes in a considerable minority and sometimes in a small majority ; but the game was kept up for thirty years, until the people of Ireland did that which the people of England ought to clo now.—(Loud cheers.) Now, said the Hon. Gentleman, I tell you what I think ought to have been done, because it is not to be denied that though, as my Hon. Friend says, the two parties are very nearly balanced, yet the two factions are not nearly balanced. The Conservatives are 300 strong, and they move with the malignant energy of one man—( Loud Cheers)—but the Whigs are not 300 strong—( Cries of " No, no")—they are the weakest of all the parties. The Radi cals of all shades, every man meaning well, but doubting how best to express his meaning, amount to something like 150. Is it riot, then, palpable, that the merely Whigs depend upon the Radicals? The Government hangs on the hands of the Radicals. We can command what we like; but there is a certain timid class, and they are becoming more so as they grow older—( Cheers, laughter, and hisses)—who think that if the course which I am about to imitate were pursued, it would lead to the overthrow of the Whig party, to which my answer is, that if they do not adopt the views 'of the Radical party, they being the organ of this party, the" sooner they are over thrown the better.—( Loud cries of " No, no " and " Yes, yes.") The people want more power in the House of Commons, and to obtain that they must get an extensive change in the machinery of the representation. In what way, then, are the people to be strengthened, and to have that pre dominant influence in the House of Commons as would not make it any longer a question what the House of Lords will do, but upon all occasions make it do, what it is that the people will. The Lords were really not an object for their conside ration.—( Laughter and cheers.) What, then, continued the lion. Member, ought they to do ? What was required to be done was, to have one measure brought forward by the free and efficient representatives of the people, which should, in one Bill, embody the vote by ballot, the shortening of Par liament, and the extension of the suffrage. That would be an extended measure ; and then let the 150 Radicals go up to his Majesty's Ministers and say—" In degree we confide in ou, because we believe that you are anxious to advance the national prosperity. But we sympathire with your incompe tency to carry these measures unless you have a more efficient House of Commons; and We now come to point out to you the only mode in which you can obtain it, and we tender this Bill to you as a proof of our hearty, zealous, and constant co ' operation." If they accepted the Bill, the people would have it. If they rejected the Bill, they would be worth nothing to the people. It might be said by the Ministers, " We don't differ with you on this subject ; we concur with you in all you propose; but look at the mighty power op posed to such a scheme of reform : the Court is against us, and the more strongly because the people are with us; while the , Peerage and pretty nearly all the privileged orders of the State are against us." The answer of the peo ple would be, that these were only formidable by their desig nations. They were feeble in numbers, and powerless before a combined Parliament. The same energy by which the people were able to carry the Reform Bill, and which was a more eflicient measure, and more likely to affect the condi tion of their opponents, would be able to carry this Bill. But they never could stir the people of this country up to those gigantic exertions by which that great measure was accomplished, unless they appealed to their feelings and in terests, and gave them confidence that the measure was really identified with their well-being. He would make one remark only as to the mode of dealing with the House of Lords. No man in his senses dreamt of any legislative measure to reform the Lords ; for, in the first place, they never could get it carried through the House of Commons, unless the changes he had spoken of were adopted, because a great part of the members of that House either bore titles or were connected with the aris tocracy. What was wanted was, let the House of Com mons pass a resolution that, after a Bill should have been sent up to the Lords, and rejected by them, it should be taken into consideration by the Commons, and if the Commons, esti mated, not numerically, but according to the number of the constituents they represent, should, to the amount of two-thirds of the many millions thus represented, be in favour of the mea sure, then it should no longer be tendered to the Lords, but should he presented to his Majesty to receive his royal fiat ; and if his Majesty, in the exercise of his superior wisdom, should withhold his assent, then the Speaker of the House of Commons should place upon that Bill the fiat and impression of the sovereign mind.—(Laughter and cheers.) That would become a legislative act worthy the representatives of a free people. He was aware that this measure might have an effect upon some minds similar to what the proposition of the Hon. Member for Middlesex had on the minds of people in 1819, when he proposed that Church property should be declared to be public property. But they were not to be afraid of the truth, and when the truth was made known it would soon be discovered that to govern intelligent men the mode was simple, and only required that the public mind should be appealed to, which would always exercise a sound discrimination, so that, to whatever changes it might lead, they might he assured it would be to none from which any holiest and intelligent man ought to revolt.--( Cheers. ) Mr. ROEBUCK felt himself in a somewhat peculiar situation. lie had heard a speech to-night which it would have pleased him much better to have heard a fortnight ago. Surrounded as he was by about six hundred of men who called themselves the representatives of the people, he had raised his voice, and stated what he thought was requisite for the 'good government of the country; and the eloquent voice which they had heard this evening, telling its tale of truth out of doors, was silent within those walls.--( Cheers.) He wanted to know the rea son why he was not supported then by that powerful advocacy and that sarcastic tongue which they had heard to-night.— ( Cheers.) He on that occasion believed that it was the time for expressing a distinct opinion on the people's behalf. Some of his friends thought by doing so he was going too far; but he determined to try the experiment, and what peculiarly galled him at the present moment was, that finding an Hon. Member of the House of Commons agreeing with him, he did not get up and support him on that occasion, backed as he was by a numerous and liberal constituency. —(Cheers.) It was re markable that among all the liberal Members of the metropoli tan constituency there was not one who should have had the cou rage to stand up in the House of Commons and state that which they were ready to say before a willing assembly.—( Hear, hear.) The real democratic principle having been stated by him, it was essential that it should have been shown that there were intelligent constituencies in England, and more particu larly in London, who sympathized with him. There was an eloquent Member who could have supported him, and he could not get it out of his mind that he did not on that occasion.— ( Laughter, and cheers.) lie was one of those who did not state out of doors what ho was afraid to state in, or in doors what lie would not state out. He stated in the House of Commons what he would state to the people. He treated the aristo cratic principle in that House with the same contemptuous in difference as he did there, and lie would say that he ought to have been supported in that manly expression of his opinions, but he was not.—(Cheers.) He would say that it was hard for him to come out of that House, where he had been watched and baited by a large body of the aristocracy, and to find cowering democrats at one side.—( Loud cheers.) He would not give a farthing for that courage which was not ready for a proper occasion. He was the courageous man who did not talk of meeting difficulties and beating them, but who, when he met them, beat them.—(Loud cheering.) It appeared to him that there had been somewhat of unfair dealing with a very reverenced friend of his then sitting on his right hand ( Mr. flume.) It had been stated by insi nuation that he grew more timid as lie grew more old. Now he had often differed with his reverenced friend, but he never thought himself justified in calling him a coward—(Loud cheers)—ho who for twenty years had stood up in the house of Commons, and stood alone in opposition to Tory power, and when, as he had told them, lie was baited as if he had been a wild beast.—Ay, no one knew what an atmosphere the House of Commons was, but he who had been in it. They had had a powerful illustration of its influence in its silencing Members very recently afforded them.—( Laughter and cheers. ) Well, then, if this powerful tongue, if this strong patriotism, if this vehement eloquence, could have been so silenced a fortnight since in a Reformed House of Commons, wherein were to be found, according to the Hon. Member's own state ment, a hundred and fifty Radicals, what ought they to think of the potency of that House where, in the place of a hundred and fifty Radicals, there was not to be found one beyond my Hon. Friend ? What ought they to think of the potency of that Aristocracy which he then withstood, while battling the people's cause, when no other man dared lift his puny voice in their favour ?—The Hon. Gentleman then proceeded to jus tify the course which the Reformers had determined on pur suing, by introducing the several measures which they advo cated in separate Bills, and ridiculed the idea of bringing them forward altogether in one measure. He contended that that was the proper plan to bring Members of Parliament to the test on each particular measure. He had already told the House of Commons that which he had not found any of those burning patriots bold enough to tell them, that he did not behave the House represented the wishes of the people. He bad told them that the fault was in the House of Commons, and not in the House of Lords. It was mighty easy to tell such an au dience as he was then addressing these things. They were willing listeners, and he saw a sort of feverish feeling displayed in their countenances while men were talking to them of libe ral principles ; but he could assure them that the feelings were very different which prevailed in the House of Commons. Instead of eager listeners, be found feelings of contempt and disgust towards every man who dared to advance liberal opi nions. It was that which put down timid Reformers. It was that which kept them like a sort of bottled elixir, which burst forth when brought into another atmosphere.—(Loud laughter and cheers.) He would have them bear in mind that the real friend of the people was he who bearded the House of Commons, and lie would have them always to re member that his Hon. Friend the Member for Middlesex had bearded them in days when no other man had courage to lift up his voice. It was on this ground that he had spoken warmly. He had differed often from his Hon. Friend, but that difference had never led him to express anything but the highest veneration for his character.—(Loud cheers.) Mr. HARVEY rose to explain, amid conflicting cries of " Chair," and " Hear, bear." The CHAIRMAN wished to know whether it were the desire of the meeting that they should enter on a discussion which might, perhaps, become too warm ?—( Cries of " No, no.") They had met to do honour to Mr. Wakley, and they were not Otero to state what might be their private feelings one way or the other. A sort of difference of opinion having been mani fested by the two last speakers, he wished them to say whe ther that discussion should be prolonged or not.-4 Cries of 5 ' .N. 9, Po.") Mr. Harvey then left his seat and was about to retire, but the company having t4agifp,ltpd to hint their desire that he should not leave the room, he Pefiirme4 to his place amidst 944 ay long-continued cheering. 'the C;;a454,q,....4s it seems to me to be your desire dot THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 137 Mr. Harvey should explain, I noes call upon you to hear that Gentleman's explanation.—( Cheers. ) Mr. HARVEY expressed his unfeigned regret that any thing should have fallen from him calculated in the slightest degree to impair the harmony of the meeting. At the same time, however much gentlemen might have differed from him, Cloy could not, after listening to the speech of the Hon. Member for Bath, help saying that there was much in that speech which ought to be noticed. Out of respect, however, to the company he would not reply to that Hon. Gentleman's observations. But while, on the one hand, he dictated to no one, so, on the other, he would be dictated to by no one.— (Cheers.) He had been a Member of Parliament ever since 1818, when the Hon. Member was in his teens—(Cheers and hisses)—but the Hon. Mcmher had chosen to talk of things of which he must be ignorant, for he said that when the Hon. Member for Middlesex, during the last twenty years, brought forward measure s , there was not a man to speak or to vote with him Now he would challenge the Hon. Mem ber for Bath to look over the divisions of the House since 1818, and point out any division or any measure supported or originated by the Hon. Member for Middlesex in which his name was not to he found.--( Loud cheers.) The Hon. Member complained that on the first day of the Session he (Mr. Harvey) had not come forward to support him. He was not aware that because an Hon. Member chose to get up on the first night of the Session and make a truly out-and-out democratical speech, that therefore it was his (Mr. Harvey's) bounden duty to get up and support him, and that if he did not do so he was deserting his duty.—( Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member made no motion on that occasion, and was it necessary for him to get up and say to the Speaker—" Sir, ditto, ditto, to all that the Hon. Gentleman has said."__ (Laughter and cheers.) He was a practical man ; and when ever the Hon. Member for Bath should embody his speech iu a motion, he would endeavour to do justice to himself and his constituents. Ile did not think it was a fit occasion to make such a speech without moving an amendment, but he did not censure it. He did not talk of the Hon. Member's sarcastic tongue--he had not got one.—( Laughter.) He was talking of the mild poetry with which he spoke, and the generous sympathy which he displayed.—( Cheers and laughter.) But this he would say, without running loose like the Hon. ' Member, that he should not! suffer any Member to get up before an enlightened constituency like this, and denounce him for not having stated the principles which regulated his conduct in Parliament, although he was ready to escape them out of Parliament.—(Cheers.) In conclusion, he begged to say that he never intended to give offence to any one, but thinking that they met there in the spirit of freedom, he con ceived that he was at liberty to speak freely what he felt, be lieving that he should be met in the same liberal spirit that guided his own conduct.—(Cheers.) Colonel THOMPSON then rose, amidst great applause, and returned thanks. If he might be permitted to throw in the oil to mix with the acid that had mingled with their present feast, he should try to do it by dilatin g b e f ore th e - meeting upon the exceeding merits of the two individuals concerned, and their claims upon the public affection.—(Cheers.) . They might compare him perhaps to that shepherd in Virgil who gave the prize to ;each of the contending parties, but lie thought none of them could prove that he had not in this case followed a good example.—(Cheers.) The Hon. and ,Glit lant Gentleman then passed some very flattering compliments on Mr. Harvey and Mr. Roebuck, which were well received by the company. Mr. O'CONNELL rose, and was received by the company standing and cheering for several minutes. He expressed his deep gratitude for every proof that he received of that English interest in the happiness of his wretched country.—(Cheers.) He believed that the English would assist them; at all events, they would assist themselves.—(Cheers.) It was the deepest thought of his heart and the first aspiration of his mind to ob tain the co-operation of Englishmen in the cause of justice to Ireland. They had formidable enemies to oppose, and trea cherous friends who interfered in their path. The greatest gratification he had derives from his Parliamentary life was that it had enabled him to call Mr. Wakley his personal friend. Ho never knew a mor e t rue -h earte d Englishman. --(Cheers.) He never knew him flinch from one single prin ciple of a true Radical Reformer.—( Cheers.) Last night, when Mr. Maclean talked of the canaille, Mr. Wakley told him that the House of Commons would never be what it ought to be until the intelligent working classes found a place there—(Cheers) —and until the most precious of all property, the property of human labour, was represented.—(Hear.) Mr. Wakley was a man of discretion ; he was not a man who when building a house began with the roof. Ho would so berly and quietly go down to the foundation first, and proceed gradually till the building became the fit habitation for man. To be sure it had been said, he believed by the ancient philo. sopher iEsop, that there was once a grave consultation how to subdue the feline tribe--vulgarly called cats.—(Loud laughter.) These animals kept such racketting about some rats, that they held a convention, when there rose up amongst them an ancient staid rat, grave and grey, and partly bald— ( Laughter)—by age, and with very distinct enunciation said— (Laughter)—`• I will tell you what to - do with these cats ; we will bell the fellows, and whenever they come we shall be able to hear them." So there was a general shout to bell the cats.— ( Laughter.) The only difficulty was how they were to do it. —(Loud laughter and cheers.) " Ay, bell me the cat, to be sure; I would be glad for you to do it. Stuff twenty-four things into one Act of •Parliament : bell the Conservative cat, Why, I think I have heard something of that kind proposed to night."—(Laughter.) It was said that to proceed gradually was not the way the IrisleCatholics obtained their emancipa tion. Certainly it was not : but did they adopt the practice suggested to-night? Did they turn upon any section of their friends and say, " Oh 1 you vote occasionally with the Minis ters. The Ministers are against us upon this point, and there fore we will not allow you to vote for emancipation." If they had followed that course, they would not have been emanci pated to the present day, nor have deserved to have been so. He would not quarrel with the Whigs as long as they were willing to carry on the war against the domination of the Tories.—(Cheers.) Above all, he would never throw the apple of discord into any meeting whatsoever.—(Tremendous cheers.) If he had differed in opinion with his friend Mr. Wakley, and had intended to pay him a compliment—while upon political points he thought his friend to be grossly wrong —he would have paid him the compliment to-morrow, when he met his friend in the street, and would have stayed at home to-day.—( Cheers.) That was his blundering way of doin g business.—(Cries of " Hear, hear," and cheers.) He was not an advocate of the Whigs beyond what lie thought them to, deserve. They were the allies of the Reformers, and went with them to a certain extent. They kept out the Tories. By-the-bye, the Hon. Member for Southwark, when he talked of the measures before the House, had forgot that there was such a country as Ireland at all. Suppose the Ministers re fused this triangular Bill which he propOsed, would lie have the Reformers to oppose the Whigs ?—( Hear, hear.) Were they to vote against the Ministers when the Ministers were right? No man would say that. And when did the Refor mers ever vote with them when they were wrong ?—( Hear and cheers.) Never : but as long as the Reformers think they are right they will continue to vote for them.—(Cheers.) The Hon. and Learned Member concluded a very long and rloquent speech, of which we regret neither time nor space will per mit us to give even an outline, by declaring that he had come to the meeting in the hope that they would cheer the sentiment of justice to Ireland—( Loud cheers)—and in the expectation that that cheer would not die away upon the idle . ear of night, but that they would embody it in a wise and permanent shape, in the form of petitions, to-morrow. He came to caution them against allowing the 'Tories to come into power, in the vain hope of better things; for if they gave them power, what would become of justice to Ireland ? Let that faction come into power, and the bench of justice, for one generation more, would be . contaminated by partisanship; and the hope of justice as to life and property, and political advantages, would be lost for ever to Ireland.—( Cheers.) Several other toasts were drunk,. and the conviviality of the evening was continued to a late hour ; depressed, however, in some degree by the lamented absence of the gentleman to whose honour the festivities of the day were . dedicated. The Marquis of Bath has been indisposed at Mivart's Hotel, but his Lordship is note much better. The Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch are expected to - pay their annual visit to _ the Marquis, in the course of the spring, at Loughlaat, Wilts. - M. BURKE'S 1-11 - STCMY' O OV THE LANDED GENray.—Three volumes or•thls very - interesting and valua ble work are now published ; and °the concluding one will ap..; pear in a short time, forming a most copious genealogical and biographical' account of all the eminent families in the king dom, and upwards of 100,000 individuals connected with them. This work will be found a valuable companion to the Peerage, and an indispensable appendage to the library of every gentle. man. We heartily . congratulate the author on the prospect of the termination of his arduous undertaking. THE LONDON FIRE BRIGADE—TiIe servants of the insurance companies have always used, and ever must use, their own discretion, as to %‘ hether they will give their attend. ance at any particular fire, or not. Instances of their refusal have occurred, and they cannot be compelled to attend, or to give any reason or explanation to the public for refusing; they are amenable only to their employers, who are responsible to no one. Fortunately, however, for the public safety, the in surance companies are as willing, as they are able, to render every assistance in case of accident ; and it is important that all persons, and especially the resilents in the towns and vil lages within twelve miles of London, should know, that in any emergency from fire, the London Fire Establishment, as now constituted, is not only ready, but even anxious to afford the assistance of its powerful engines and experienced firemen, to any extent which the nature of the danger may require. Nay, further, a messenger arriving at the stations, with information of the outbreak of an alarming fire, within the above dis tance round London, would be liberally rewarded, provided he gave the alarm in sufficient time, to enable the engine to arrive, so as to be of real service in checking the spread of the conflagration. As much as half-a-guinea is frequently paid by Mr. Braidwood, for an early call to a large and dangerous fire, under such circumstances. The application would re ceive immediate attention, if made at any of the engine sta tions in the metropolis, but it is preferable that the call should be carried forward to the principal station in Watling-street, City. The engines, when so called, always carry an extra supply of leather hose, and travel with four post-horses at their utmost speed, and not a moment's time is suffered to be lost. Relays of horses, sent out to meet the engines on such occa sions, afford a most valuable aid. This notice of the readiness of the establishment to forward its men and engines appears necessary, as some instances have occurred of large fires within a few miles of the metropolis, of which no information was given till too late to be of any real service. Thus, for instance, upon the occasion of the recent fire at Belle-vue House,Wood ford-bridge, no intelligence reached the fire-offices till late in the afternoon, when the building had been some hours a ruin, and the fire had subsided from the complete exhaustion of all poF f ikiiitgc materials.—Kr. Baddleis Fire Report.-111e. 001010:# gagailiqf SPIRIT OF kr II E PUBLIC JOURNALS The motion of Sir W. Moleworth, for leave to introduce a Bill for abolishing the property qualification for Members of Parliament, was lost in the House of Commons ; the numbers on the division being— 133 104 Against the motion For • - Majority 29 Another instance of the perniciou3 tenacity with which the prkileged classes cling to every vestige of the rotten system which tends to entrench them against a fair competition with the growine• intelligence of general society. The speeches of Sir W. Molcsworth, Mr. Leader, who seconded, and Mr. Etvart, who supported the motion, will be found to contain an array of facts, authorities, and arguments which must strike irresistible conviction to the minds of all not previously resolved to admit neither justice, truth, nor rea son into their consideration. It is a notorious fact that many of the ablest statesmen who ever sat in the House of Commons—Fox, Pitt, Burke, Sheridan, for example —were admitted there on fictitious qualifications. Equally noto rious is it that one-half the Members of the House of Com mons, as Sir W. Molesworth stated, arc there in virtue of fictitious qualifications. Of the numerous evasions of the law, and the mode in which fictitious qualifications are ma nufactured, Sir William spoke as follows .-- " The law has been nearly inoperative as an exclusion. Some few " conscientious" men have refused to enter the House of Commons on a fraudulent qualification ; perhaps a few men of considerable talent have been unable to obtain a fictitious qualification ' • of the latter, th er e is kno w n on ly one instance ; but he would, if qualified, have repreSented one of the largest towns in England. Of the number of the House of Commons not legally qualified (the English borough and city members) I have heard many persons and agents versed in the election system variously speculate. It is generally be lieved that one-third at the least have no bona fide qualifica tion. On the eve of a dissolution of Parliament, dozens of sham qualifications are made by solicitors, often drawn and settled by counsel. One solicitor in London is known, in " fashionable circles," as a gentleman who will " qua lify " any candidate "respectably" introduced to him, for 1001., including the stamps. But solicitors of the highest station and unquestionable integrity do not scruple to manufacture qualifications. It is generally a rent-charge on land or freehold houses. Mr. —, a successful can didate for a county in 1831, when his qualification was demanded on the hustings,. is said boldly to have pulled out of his pocket a rent charge on his noble brother's estate, exe cuted immediately before. I have prepared many of the same waste paper and valueless documents. In 1830 a friend of mine (worth 600,000/. in funded and personal property) was negotiating for a western borough, in which a contest was cer -lam. Two days before. his leaving London, to see his consti tuents, or rather the burgage slaves of the borough-monger he was negotiating with, he bethought himself that he had qualification. I and' his solicitor forthwith in twelve hours gave him one on a lot of old freehold houses. He did not pass his check for the consideration; it was fictitious in that respect. Probably in .this case the want of a qualification wonld never have been suspected. Candidates on the hust ings notoriously swear to, and state ambiguously described qualifications, and have shifted them . when lodged in the House. • One well-known case of this species occurred in a cinque port, since the passing of the Reform Bill. Many sham qualifications are made after the returns, and before Members take their seats, their consciences being tender as to declaring themselves qualified on the latter occasion. More of these interregum qualifications were made previous to the vote for the present Speaker, than at any other time. Many posthumous qualifications are, it is well known, antedated ; but no honourable attorney will lend himself to make an additional fraud, The usual mode is, for safety, to pay in cash before two witnesses, the lender contriving to re turn the purchase-money immediately, and which is commonly borrowed of a banker for two or three days. Also the parties provide themselves with an actuary's valuation on the pur chaser's life, as giving a more actual chara c ter to the transac tion. Friends oten give promissory notes, for the qualifica tion, instead of the money. Usually the vendor holds pos session of the deed. In many cases the witnesses are sent abroad, if a petition be presented. To be brief, and being at the end of my paper, the law is a disgrace to the statute book, and ought to be burned by the common hangman." Again, as the Hon. Mover, evincing at the same time the ability of a statesman and philosopher, most truly and co gently urged— " With regard to the qualification of property, it is certainly no test of the intelligence or knowledge of an individual ; on the contrary, the possession of considerable property is apt to tempt an individual, by the pleasures and luxuries which it confers, away from those laborious pursuits by which alone knowledge can be obtained ; the ease with which most of the desires of a rich man can be gratified' generally prevents his intelligence being sharpened in .the same manner as it would be if he• could not satisfy his wishes :with so little labour, to himself, but were obliged'artrefulfy to search for the means of attain ing his ends. Thus the possession of considerable property is, on the whole, unfavourable to the development of the mental energies, and if property be taken as a test at all, it should, when in considerable amount, rather be considered as a test of .disqualification instead of the contrary. The qualification of property is generally advocated on Abe grounds that a person possessing a certain amount of property is said to havea greater stake in the country, and that lie is less liable to be biased by motives arising from his own pecuniary interests. As for the greater stake in the country, the poorest men are more inter ested in good laws and good government than the richest—a law which destroys the former merely injures the latter. The poor are easily oppressed—the rich generally can take care of themselves. It is intelligence which teaches the real value of preserving the security of property, and of aiding the accu mulation of capital.—( Hear, hear.) The mere feeling of clinging to property, which results from the possession of property unaccompanied by intelligence, not unfrequently endangers the security both of property and of capital. It is intelligence, therefore, which is required, and of that pro perty is no test, as I have already shown. As for property being a security for the honesty of any person, I most utterly disbelieve it; undoubtedly a needy man is generally a disho nest man ; but neediness does not depend upon the amount of a person's property, but upon the proportion between his de sires and his means•of gratifying them. Of this proportion the possession of a certain amount of property is no test. It is said that a poor man is more apt to sacrifice the interests of the community for his own private interests than a rich man. By no means ; for all men will sacrifice the interests of the community to their own interests if there be a conflict between those interests, and they can do so with impunity. —( Hear, hear.) Now there is as often a conflict between the interests of the rich and the interests of the community as there is between those of the poor man and those of the community. The one may sometimes desire power, and the other money ; but all history proves that both generally de sire both, and that the only security in such cases is strict re sponsibility, enforced in the case of Members of Parliament by the greatest publicity given to all their acts, and by frequent elections." Lord John Russell stated that he would have supported the motion had the Hon. Baronet confined himself to changing the nature of the property qualification, and not aimed altogether at its abolition. But surely it would be better to abolish the law altogether than continue it in a modified form, under which the same trickery and evasion might, and necessarily would, still obtain. The possession of property gives in itself an influence and a power amply sufficient without any addition from' the interference of the law ; and whenever a man niltraiiiiproperty is elected as a Parliamentary Representative, it may be taken as a deci sive proof that in the Minds of his constituents at least he possesses faculties sufficient to counterbalance the defi ciency of such qaalification. The man without property will never be elected in 'preference, to the man with pro perty, unless he possess some far superior claims to public confidence„ .The ,watit preperty..is, in fact, a proof that his other qualifications must be proportionably great, or he wild., have no chance: against the 'Weight which wealth. hears with it. .The Clectdi.§ te, the franchise ought at least be left- to 'the-exercise of their own judg ment, and their free . choice . should constitute the sole qua lification of their. Representative. , If they are to be con sidered incapable of judging, fur themselves, it would be _ . more open and f a i r to deprive them of the franchise at once, than alloW them only a partial exercise of it, and limit their election to a particular cla'sS—a class, too, which certainly does not contain those of the community who are capable of exercising the legislative functions with the most intellectual ability. Even if the Ballot and Universal Suffrage prevailed, there could not be a free exercise of the elective franchise so long as the law recognized the principle of a property qualification. As was clearly shown, the law is at present so easily evaded as to be almost per fectly of ; and we are only surprised, Under the circum stances, that any opposition should have been offered to its removal froin the Statute Book, where it sticks as a nui sance, seemingly for no other purpose than to give Mem hers the trouble ofavoiding it.--Aforning Advertiser. '[lie observations wo have recently taken occasion to make upon the. position and purpose of the three great parties by which political power is now contested are re markably illustrated by the;circumstances of the debate and division upon Sir 'W. Moksworth's motion on TueSday evening. Sir WilliaM Molesworth sought leave to bring in a Bill for the repeal of all statutes which require a pro perty qualification in Members of the House of Commons. The object of Sir William Molesworth was one perfectly in accordance with the general views and intentions of the party to which he belongs. It was proposed to annihilate the very slight security which the existing law confers against the admission into the House of Commons of men whose pecuniary necessities' expoSe them too strongly to the temptations of political corruption. A debate ensued in which many conspicuous individuals took part ; and a division folloWed, in which the numbers were sufficiently nearly . balanced ' to make us examine with much in terest the names on the one side and on the other. Now, in the first place, what part (lid the party of the Government play iu this little drama? Lord John Russell, in his usual tone and temper, shuffled, prevari cated, equivocated. He confessed that the present laws respecting the property qualification of Members required revision ; but he had not the sincerity to explain with what design or in what spirit lie would proceed to revise tlicm, HO 4ociareci that he was pot repaTeci te yuto % lillel diate abolition of the property qualification ; but he had not. I I the courage to avow for what purposes, or to wh It extent, it ought to be maintained. Ile announced that he should oppose the mofon of the Hon. Baronet ; but he had not the manliness to stigmatise it as obviously tending to lower the respectability and impair the independence of tote Lower House of Parliament. The timid and ambiguous expressions of the Noble Lord produced their effect upon the division. On a queition certainly of considerable consequence in itself, and deriving additional importance from the evident design with which it was brought forward by a large and increasing party, it will be found that scarcely twenty of his own political fol lowers attended the leader of the House of Commons into the lobby. We had in all this as strong a confirmation as we could desire Of all we have asserted as to the weakness of the party of the Government in talent and in numbers. The party of the Movement exhibited itself for the first time in full operation of what its organ calls " the self reliance principle." Its orators spoke out. They fearlessly defended doctrines to which none but the Members of the Movement arc yet prepared to accede. They denied broadly the efficacy of property as a test of either intelli Bence or probity. They averred distinctly that, in their be lief, an insolvent debtor is a fit trustee for his country's liberty. These opinions they advocated with little force of rhetoric, but with considerable strength of numbers ; and they supplied us with a convincing proof that upon the first great Constitutional question which has occupied the House in this Session the Ministers are dia metrically opposed to an overwhelming majority of those by favour of whom they retain their offices and emolu ments. We turn with gratitude and pleasure to the eon- duct of the Conservatives. Having found in the Govern ment reluctance to avow the right, in the Movement fear lessness to attempt the wrong, we mark with delight the freedom from all considerations of person or party with which the Conservatives supported the imbecility of Lord John Russell and repelled the temerity of Sir William Molesworth. Their sentiments were honestly expressed ; their suffrages were independently given. They neither desired to encourage revolutionary schemes, with the Movement ; nor trembled to condemn revolutionary schemes, with the Government. We are looking forward to discussions upon other constitutional questions of equal or of greater importance—the abbreviation of the duration of Parliaments ; the extension of the suffrage ; the abolition of the hereditary Peerage ; the ballot. If upon all these questions we shall have debates and divisions such as those we have recorded on Sir William Molesworth's motion, with what face will Lord John Russell, assailed by his pro fessed friends, protected by his avowed opponents, pretend to lead the House of Commons Post. In the day-dreams of the Tories, in the visions of office in which they delight, it is remarkable that the peaceable government of Ireland is never contemplated. Sanguine as they are, and imagining many vain things, they are not so infatuated as to suppose for one moment that Ireland could be ruled upon thew principles by any other means than the sword. Wild and extravagant as their hopes are, the peace of Ireland under Tory rway is beyond their hopes. All else they can fancy. They can fancy them selves in place—they can fancy ,theNselves in a majority of the House of Commons—they can fancy themselves in the possession of every adviintage they desire ; but they cannot fancy Ireland submissive 'to a Government formed upon the principle of denying her justice, and holding her unworthy of the privileges enjoyed by the people of Eng land and Scotland. The peace. of Ireland is beyond the boldest flight of Tory imagination. The threatening aspect of things in that quarter sets grim bounds to the fool's paradise they conjure up on this side of St. George's Channel, and a ehevau:r-de : fi ize of bayonets closes the - prospect in that direction. The ever-industrious builders of castles in the air, the day-dreamers at the Tory Clubs, in laying out their plans of an Administration, have, with a view to the state of things which they know would be produced in Ire land, appointed the Duke of Wellington Lord Lieutenant, and Sir Henry Hardinge Secretary. The schemers feel conscious that their principles of government involve the necessity of the plan of a campaign in Ireland, and that where the pacificatory policy of Lord Mulgrave has been disturbed the military genius of the Great Captain must inevitably be in requisition. As an organ of the party frankly. stated some time ago, " the dust that is to be raised is to be laid in blood." They would govern Ireland by the sword ;abut two difficulties lie in the way of this consumma tion :-first, they have to get the sword ; and next, they have to secure its obedience.- Their statesmanlike project is to keep dowd ode-third of the empire by the other two-thirds ; but have the schemers made themselves quite certain that the supplies would be voted for an army to be employed in the oppression of Ireland ? And if they are quite sure of having the army, are; they equally sure of its subserviency to such purposes ? Is it remembered that though the army is officered in the most part by Tories, its ranks are for the most part filled by " aliens in language, blood, and reli gion?" Is it forgotten that when the Great Captain con ceded the Catholic claims, in 1829, it was admitted, as a reason for giving way, that the troops could not be re lied on, as their sympathies were with their Catholic coun trymen ? Are tl:a people of Ireland weaker now than they were in 1829 ? Are they less united, less practised in orga nization, less forthidable in all the elements of power? On the other hand, have the Tory resources, which would have been available for the government of the sword in 1829, been increased and strengthened within the last seven years ? Is the legacy left to the party by Lord London derry unimpaired? Why its very name has been renounced since that time as too odious to be borne. And where are the rotten boroughs, the close corporations, and the other props of misrule ? But for a moment let us do the people of Great Britain the injustice of assuming that they would give up Ireland to the sword, and suffer the greatest of all calamities—civil war, only that the Tories might hold office. In that most improbable, most incredible case, is it conceivable that " the aliens in language, blood, and reli gion" clothed in his Majesty's uniform, would turn their arms against the people—in all whose degradations they must share—in all whose wrongs they must sym pathise ? The blood that spurts under the cat-o'- nine-tails is the same blood that would follow the thrust of the bayonet. The religion of two-thirds or more of th e so ldi er y, " a li en " as ,it may be, is the same as the religion of the people upon whom execu tion would be ordered. We hear much of the influence of the priests, and, exaggerated as it is in Tory statements, it is unquestionably great ; and is it t o b e imagined that the red coat steels the breast against that influence ? And is it conceivable that the CathOlie soldier would spill Catholic blood, " alien" like his own, for Protestant ascendancy ? What regiment would be called into the field in Ireland a great part of which would not have every feeling in com mon with those against whom they were arrayed ? Tho instruments of violence would, under such circumstances, recoil against their employers, and mutiny would quickly follow the attempts to put down a provoked rebellion. This is not one of the cases in which the Tories can resort to their favourite expedient of exclusive dealing : there can be no shutting the Irish Ca tholics out of the army. The recruiting sergeant must, perforce, look to thews and sinews, and not to creeds. There can be no Protestant ascendancy in the ranks ; and even for the safety of the Church Establishment the musket cannot he taken from the hand of the Catholic. The state of the soldier is not so en% iable that the ranks could be filled without the " aliens in language, blood, and religion." A regiment or two may be sent to an unhealthy colony because it is too Irish to be trusted ; but the '• alien" race must nevertheless be the main component of the army. It may be said that the English soldiers might be drafted off so as to make up complete corps for duty in Ireland ; but if a sufficient force could be mustered in this way (and it could not), is it to be supposed that the re giments of unmixed " aliens" in England would be quiet while their brethren in Ireland were exposed to military execution? The Tories are ready to provoke and to en counter a rebellion ; but we desire them only to look at their instruments for such a work, and to ask themselves whether they are.to be trusted ? Whether they are not certain to be turned against those who should attempt to put them to unnatural uses ? We say nothing of the wicked ness of boiling the party's porridge by the flames of civil war, for any such arguments would be as words addressed to the deaf adder ; we say nothing either of the overwhelm ing indignation that would be excited in England and Scot land by the cruelty and waste of attempting to govern seven millions of people by the sword, for the Tories arc infatuated enough to believe that there is a fund of bigotry here to which blood at the great price of blood would not be unacceptable. But we limit our question to this prac tical point, can any man out of Bedlam believe that the Irish Catholic soldiery would, for Protestant ascendancy, imbrue their hands in the blood of their brother " aliens ?" —Morning Chronicle. Sir William Molesworth's motion on the qualification of Members of Parliament, brought forward on Tuesday even- , ing, was distinguished by three leading features—the spe cious pretence under which it was introduced by the Hon. Radical ; the shuffling indecision in which it was met by Lord John Russell; and the undefinable demeanour (at, least undefinable during the sitting of Parliament) in which certain of the O'Connellite Members thought proper to in dulge. It is really strange that so uncompromising a Ra dical as Sir William Molesworth is understood to be, should not have boldly stated to the House that his motion was just what Lord Francis Egerton designated it--a first step to universal suffrage ; for, as was ,itistly said by the Noble Member for . South Lancashire, if you abolish the qualifica tion of property in the case of the elected, the same rule ought to be applied in the case of the elector, and there wt. have universal suffrage. This was the true dr if t 0 1 Q . Q ,jir W. Molesworth's motion ; and we. pereeive L. significant hints that he h a d a fort,r. d . speech very secon shall, object, a covert kttacli au the inded 11 :. ° ;uence. 410 1 .1 improbable, We perhaps be to for that the Cornish larenet Is him- self a large landed proprietor. To this we reply, that at the Ministerial side of the House of Commons we find the Treasury benches filled with Lords of one sort or other, yet who occupy those seats under favour of a person whose plitical war-cry is " Down with the Fe .rs !" Sir William Molcsworth's character as a country gentleman is merged in his character of a whole-hoFt Radiral, anti, in consistency, he should have &churl his Radicalism with» out the mystification of talent in penury, stupithty jn riches, and integrity among the humblest, clams Oi our ftllow-eountrym e n. Sir William himself stated that;tythe exclusion caused by the qualification was merely nommel, for that t he matter was m a nag e d f or lOW., by what witecolled fictitious qualification ---a qualification in %kite of which h e mentioned that Burke, Pitt, Pox, and Sheridan had nil had seats in the House 'of Commons, under an Act which Mr. Charles Buller called " a very great he indeed." Be it so. We have no Wish to defend fictitious qualification, still less to defend fittitioue motions, If Sir W. MQlesworth's motion is to bet onsl. dered as what the Member for Nord:timberland calls ' • point of honour," why did he not rest it upon that ? B'ut' no ; all he wished for, in the true spirit of Radicalism was to make a stir, and he thus ooencd. out to the RadicalMern. her for Finsbury the path of advocating that artisans should be withdrawn from their industrious pursuits to assist in tinkering the State. We suspect that Sir W. Molesworth himself would hardly look for the return of a Burke, a Pitt, a Fox, or a Sheridan, from such a class of can didates. The motion of the Hon. Baronet went to the objects which we have indicated at the outset, and all the rest of his speech was inexplicable show. And bow did Lord John Russell meet this motion ? He talked learnedly of the j-alousy between the landed and trading interests -in the reign of Queen Anne, and he said that landed qualifications were introduced to check the increase of the trading influence. But what has all this to do with the present state of the House of Commons ? If qualifications were abolished to-morrow, could the commer cial interests be better represented than they are now ? And if they could be so, why did not Lord John Russell accede to the motion at once, instead of the Whig subter fuge of asking for a Bill to amend the law of qualification in the same breath that he stated his opinion that no evil would ensue if that law were entirely abolished ? In truth, he dared neither support the one side nor the other, but, as usual, was between two stools, unable to rest on either. Lord Ebrington was, if possible, still more singularly placed ; he was all for the Home Secretary's suggestion, yet quite prepared to vote for Sir William Molesworth's proposition —a course which Mr. Wakley distinctly told the Whig Lor,ls could never conciliate enemies, and was greatly cal culated to shake the confidence of friends. On the ques tion of personal demeanour, we shall only say, that Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Charles Buller unintentionally sup ported the proposition in favour of universal ' . in no assembly of which we have ever heard in England, „,' save and except one constitutionally privileged, will stick language as we arc about to quote be tolerated without , - • disgrace. Mr. O'Connell, speaking of Mr. A. Trevor, exclaiined, " What Englishman is, or can be, lower than the. Hon. Member for Durham ?" Yet in reading Mr. Trevor's explanation we can account for Mr. O'Connell's • • wrath. Mr. Trevor said, that one of the evils likely to accrue from the introduction of the present measure was this—that a-mendicant might be sent into the _House to le gislate for those who had millions of property. Mr. Chas. Buller followed up the Irish GeOtleman, by saying that " some of the richest men in Peril orient had been the dirti e st and shabbiest fellows in politics he had ever known." a eta e ment which was honoured by - loud .cries of " - Hear' . from the Ministerial benches. And Mr. Buller continued by giving Lord John Russell's memory a fillip in the shape of declaring himself to be " a poor man." W e must say that the Member for Liskeard is entitled to Ministerial relief' at the hands of the Whig-Radical guardians.—Times. --- On Wednesday a shed and other buildings on the Withers Farm, in the parish of Ledhury, were set on tire by some scoundrel as yet undiscovered, and totally destroyed.— Gloucester Journal. On Monday morning, between five and six o'clock," a shocking accident occurred to James Itichardson,.a young man 19 years of age, footman in the service of Mr. Coxhead, Harley-street : he was unfortunately impaled on the iron spikes of the area railing. He had been out all night, and returned to his master's much inebriated. Not having the key of the street door, in order to gain admission unnoticed, he endea voured to get over the area rails; when on thq top his foot slipped, and two of the spikes entered his abdomen. ' Being unable to move, he was released by some carpenters - going to work. Ha was immediately conveyed to the hospital. Every author must be at first unknown, and every author must write a first work—unless, indeed, he could adopt the course proposed by an Irish gentleman who wished to learn German. "The first halt dozen lessons, Sir," said the mas ter, " are tedious, difficult, and disagreoable ; but, after that, you will begin to appreciate the beauties of the language." " Then, Sir," said Mr. O'Brallaghan, " hadn't we better begirt with the seventh ? "—New Monthly. The Dundee Chronicle having made upon the Rev. James Thomson some s rictures which were disrelished by his family, his son, Mr. J. T. Thomson, merchant, sent a peremp tory message in writing, enjoining the editor, Mr. George Milne, to make an unqualified apology in his paper, on pe nalty, i i case of refusal, of a " whipping not by implication," in other words of a real substantial drubbing. Mr. Milne de tiied that any apology was due, and declined of consequence: to make any. On Wednesday Mr. Thomson followed up his menace. He made no secret of the matter, for towards after noon the High-street was thickly studded with small but anxious groups, waiting for the appearance of Mr. Milne. Mr. Thomson was in readiness, and beguiled the time by walking about on the pavement. Mr. Milne, in the course of the day, bad been seen with the rather unusual appendage of a stick. About three o'clock Mr. Milne appeared on the High-street, and Mr. Thomson made towards him. After a few words had beets uttered, Mr. Thomson made a movement with his hand wards his pocket, which Mr. Milne observing, he laid hold of him by the collar. Mr. Thomson having extricated a ship from his pocket, proceeded to apply it vigorously—Mr. Milne, • on the other hand, inflicting some severe blows with his stick. The police then interfered, and both parties were-conveyed to • the police-office, where next day they were amerced in los. 6d. each for breaking the peace.— Glasgow _Herald. WITCHCRAFT IN THE 19TH CENTURY.— Louis D'Orleans, a native of Carantan, in France, was in dicted before the Royal Court of Guernsey on seven indict ments, charging him with defrauding th e inhabitants of va rious sums of money to a large amount, under pretence of curing them of different diseases by supernatural agency. The prisoner was interrocated by the Court. He said he was a veterinary-surgeon. Had never sought any of his prose cutors, some of whom he denied attending. lie denied all the charges of using spells and charms to unwitch persons said to be bewitched, or that he had ever pretended to raise the Devil. Mr. Richard said his wife was ill. He sent for D'Orleans, who said his wife was bewitched. He called all his family up into one room, and the prisoner put some combus tibles into a dish and lighted them, until they were almost smothered by the smoke. He then pretended to draw a small phial from the flames, and made him drink half the contents, and his wife the other. He then produced two dolls, and, said the persons represented by them had bewitched his wife whom he asked if she recognized them. He obtained 30s. for this mummery. The son of the above witness said that the prisoner had received 71. in all for unwitching his modest. and father. He was told by him that if he was from home, or told anybody of what was done by him, witness would be spell-bound and die. Judith Guildert, the servant, was so frightened at the supposed power of the prisoner, that the Attorney- General could not induce her to say a word for a long time ; at last she reluctantly confirmed the above state ment. Mrs. Rihoy, in addition to a similar statement as to the prisoner's conduct to her husband, said that lie told her she must remove her cow, as it was possessed of an evil spirit, as also.some pigs. On the following morning the cow and the pigs died, which D'Orleans said was by w itchcraft. He obtained 61. from her to unwitch her husband. Peter David, a veterinary-surgeon, examined the cow and pigs, which had been poisoned. Witness proved his having pre tended to raise the Devil, and that some animal of a black colour, dragging chains after it, had been seen to come down the chimney. (This was a confederate of the prisoner's.) Mr. D'Ogier said that the prisoner had raised the ghost of the late Mr. Robin, and had attended his wife, receiving 87. for expelling a devil from her. For the defence, a vast quantity of the prisoner's dupes came forward to speak to the number of devils he had cast out and witches he had dis covered. Several infatuated beings most reverentially and solemnly told the Court that D'Orleans had released them and their cattle from s p e lls cas t on th em by malignant spirits and witches. Mis s J u dith L ane sa id she had been bewitched under a spell of jealousy—( Laughter)—and had beener eau n re d d e by the prisoner ; he assisted to cure her by vie , purgative. A great number of personsofcgtaihineglorrd, ex_ to testify to the supernatural power_s . prisoner, _ hibiting t t io h n e e m v o e s r t b e e x h t e ra ld o . rdin A a d ry ro a e u n d te dev a a n d a m m g a s d e e eT m of os m t o in d g er e n .. superset nious defence for the prisoner, to which the Attorney-General replied, demanding his condemnation. He d e pl ore d t h at, i n ti present, and in a place w h ere e d ucation was universal, es like the rsal,asc scene so painful as the base superstition of the: witnesses should have been shown to the world, to the discre dit of the community, and his regret was heightened by the respectable station of these misguided people. The Bailiff (Chief Judge), in summing up, reprobated the credulity of the inhabitants. The Jurats found the prisoner guilty, and he was sentenced to six years' transportation, and to be exposed for one hour in the cage.— Comet. ST. VALENTINE'S DAY, FEB. 14.—The origins{ this day being so called was in honour of St. Valentiae, a p►'iest in Rome, who assisted the martyrs in the persecution wider Claudius 11. Ile was apprehended and con',ucted to the prefect of. Rome, who, finding all his attempts t;, make him renounce his faith ineffectual, commanded him to be beat with clubs, and aftet - vvards beheaded on the 14th of February, 270. To a!Jol;;; ► the remains of a heathen superstitious custom, by youth, in the time of paganism %ere wont to send a. kind of love letter to their favourites, in honour of their god— dess, Febru.to Juno, on the 15th of this month, several zealous pastors substituted the names of saints in such billets, and hence the origin of valentines. In the church of Romo the devout, on this day, choose their patron saint for the yea; en— , suing. _