The Sun. — London, England, 1837-09-11 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. It is a very convenient sort of Code Veridique which the Tory journals seem to have established amongst themselves. If a mis-statement appears in any one of them, all the rest are at liberty to give it currency, and accompany it by remarks accordant to their particular views, without incurring any portion of the responsibility which attaches to the authors and disseminators of a falsehood. They are a sect of lite rary smashers. The moral culpability begins and ends with the coiner. To utter with a guilty knowledge is not considered a crime in their community. All that is wanted for the purpose of keeping up a continued currency of lies is a single reckless organ, bold and clever enough to provide a constant succession ; and from his repository the whole land may be over run with every kind of abomination, through the purest and mast honourable of all possible chan nels. Thus the Times, under its soubriquet of W.," has afforded the Standard, and several caller cleanly journals, an opportunity of bely ing a number of Irish Members of Parliament with a good conscience. "M. W." alleges that these gentlemen are " Papists." The Standard knows that they were a few weeks ago, at least, " nominal Pro testants" (which means, in the peculiar phraseology of the Standard, such Protestants as Archbishop Whatley, Bishop Sandes, Lord Charlemont, and Sir Richard Musgrave) ; but not having seen them in church since the dissolution of Parliament, it is " not sure that they remain in their first faith ;" and upon that satisfactory warranty it gives utterance to the lie of " M. W." without a single syllable of doubt or qualification. Yet all the while the Standard is free from the last design to mislead or deceive the public. This is a very " simple plrn" of turning the Devil's doings to a godly purpose. With respect to Irish oc curences, our London journals have yet a readier me thod ; for import all their fabrications in print from the Sister Isle, and have nothing to strain their con science withal, unless when they choose to adorn the stories which they cull from the provincial journals of that country with some rhetorical flourishes of their own. Leland abounds with vehicles of intelligence in whose columns a Tory imagination may well delight to revel. There are Constitutions, and Sentinels, and Standards; durum et venerabile nomen !—(not forgetting the Ulster Times), whose principal business it is to am plify and bemonster trivial occurrences for the London market ; for such prophets have little honour in their own country. No respectable Tory conversant with the leal state of Ireland would attach implicit credit to a single statement resting upon their sole authority ; but our metropolitan organs are less nice. They gieeddy seize upon the grossest and most extravagant st itements put forth from those quarters, and argue upon them, as if they were literal and ascertained oths. A short time since a statement appeared in the Mayo Constitution, and was transferred with so le nn and awful significance into the columns of the Standard, under the imposing title of •' The Ribbon Conspiracv," which represented that an army of Rib bonmen, twenty thousand strong, Infly armed and disciplined, had assembled by night at a place called and held inilitaiy possession of ,s certain field until 8 o'clock on the folloe:ing morning. This appeared passing strange, and we waited with some curiosity ustil the DuLlin Gazette, which notices occurrences ( I much inferior import, should throw a li&it ueon so fo.mitlable a inneter. But we waited in vain. Th‘..! Gazette eschewed all mention of it ; nor vet could we gather from tire Limerick Chronicle that any extra ordinary movement of troops had been made upon that pair of Ireland, in consequence cf sa dangerous a de monstration of the Ribbon forces. Being disappointed f gleaning anything from the pu)lic sources of intel ii,.ruce, we sought informc.tion in another quarLr, and are now enabled to state, and pledge ourselves to the correctness of the statement, that time twenty thousand 17;61onmen—those " gentlemen of the shade' —were, is the language of the eloquent ex-Member for Wigan, " mere moonshine." The total number of persons assembled did not exceed one thousand, and their meeting at those unseasonable hours was occasioned by an arrangement made between two gentlemen, one of them a political friend of Colonel Perceval, and there fore an Orangeman, or at least a Tory, to violate the laws of God and nazi by fighting a duel. No person who is even slightly acquainted with the practice of duel ling as it is maintained in Ireland, can be ignorant of the extreme anxiety of the peasantry to witness such en cc unters. It is a sight for which they would overcome any possible obstacle of distance, or endure any sacri fice of ease, of comfort, or of profit. In Cor;naught particularly their eagerness to behold gentlemen shooting at one another is a perfectly irresistible pas sion. When Dick Martin of tender memory, went nut to kill his man before breakfast, or George Ro bert Fitzgerald proceeded, according to the Bobadil system, to annihilate the whole race of Brownes and Binghams in the order of their course, they could not, by the most secret management, contrive to transact those delicate affairs in peace and quietness; but the hills were covered with gaping spectators, and the field itself so crowded, that the combatants were often obliged to fight in a lane of human bodies. On this late occasion (which was a political duel), a report had been circulated by some malicious person, that the Tory champion, Mr. Griffith, was to be accom panied to the field by an escort of Sligo Orangemen ; and in consequence of this statement a number of the country people came to defend their neighbour, Mr. Kelly, some armed with pitchforks and. such other weapons as they could obtain. But not many of them were armed, nor was the least violence attempted. Mr. Griffith appeared on the ground adjoining Doo Castle attended by two or three friends ; the second of his antagonist proposed that they should get into their carriages, and drive away from the presence of the populace to some sequestered place. They did so. without experiencing any interruption from the people, who, being satisfied that their favourite would have play, dispersed in peace ; and the gentlemen who had come thither to violate the law, repaired to a more convenient spot in the adjoining county of Sligo, where they mutually cleared their honour, by endeavouring to spill each other's blood. This is the simple truth of the chant in the Standard, about The Ribbon King and twenty thousand men, Who marched to Doo, and then marched home again." Our readers will allow that this affair, with the ac counts which the Tory journals have given of it, is but a new edition of Much Ado about Nothing. We come now to a more serious subject, that of the mur der of two men, Protestants, who, on their way to the Sligo election, were waylaid and beaten, then tied together, and left in a secluded part of a mountainous district to perish. They were not found for six days after the outrage, when one of them had expired, and the other was so much exhausted that he died shortly after. It was a most abominable and atrocious crime ; but we must protest against the Standard ' s attempt to implicate all the inhabitants of a populous district in , the commission of it, and against an assertion which he makes without the slightest foundation, that " the state of the murdered during six days was as well known to all for ten miles round, as to those who beat and tied them,"---and that " the whole district were ac cessaries in the atr oc i ous v ill a i n y." Ev e n the Ma yo Constitution—th e author of the twenty thou sand armed Ribbonmen at Ballindoo, which is the Standard's sole aut h or i ty , d oes not dare to state any such thing. It distinctly says that the unhappy suf ferers were left far from the haunts of men, or the reach of assistance :" and what right,' then, has the Standard to assume that all within ten miles of the place were cognizant of their situation, and accessary to their slow and miserable death ? What right has it to say that this is a national crime, or to appeal to it as an illustration of the " social state of the Roman Catholic part of Ireland, and the all•p erva di ng power of the Ribbon conspiracy ?' When, not three months since, on Mullyash mountain (within a few miles of the Diamond, that Irish Glenco, which Colonel Verner and his constituents have lately commemorated in " potations pottle-deep"), the Orange prowlers stol e in the shades of night upon a group of joyous children laughing round a bonfire, and shot two of them dead, wounding two others, did we seek to in culpate the Protestants of Ireland in the guilt of that fiendish assassination ? Did any portion of the Liberal Press point to it as showing the social state of' time Tory part of Ireland, or was it even made a topic of declamation by the popular can- THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1837. being isroLn and crushed by the oppressive weight of the unnatural and monstrous coalition between the Protestant Government and the Popish agitators, ap pears to be roused into more energetic exertion by the efforts made to press it to the earth. The following announcement in the Dublin Evening Mail conveys very gratifying intelligence, as showing that the Irish Protestants of the present day inherit the bold and dauntless hearts of their heroic forefathers„ who, by their successful resistance to the popish faction in the reign of James 11., when England was struggling for its liberties, saved Ireland to the British Crown. The Dublin Mail says—" There is not a parish in Dublin that is not organized in preparation for the next elec tion, and for the rectification of the last. A truly Pro testant spirit has been roused, and its zeal is testified in the arduous personal exertious the citizens are content to encounter, and the liberal sacrifices of money they are anxious to make. A similar spirit is pervading the provinces. We have already announced generous sub scriptions from several parts of the country." Such conduct indeed evinces " a truly Protestant spirit." Such a spirit, with a good cause at its back, is sure to prosper. Neither the bullying of O'Connell, nor the undue influence of his vice-regal vassal,Lord Mulgrave, nor the anathemas of the Popish priests, nor the fran tic violence of their ferocious rabble, will be able to subdue the Protestant spirit of Ireland, now really awakened by the sense of impending danger, to the defence of the altars which Popish intolerance labours to overthrow, and the liberties upon which Popish des potism would trample. At a time when Protestant electors, proceeding peaceably to exercise their elective franchise, are way-laid and deliberately murdered with circumstances of cold-blooded brutality that would dis grace the rudest savages of the wilderness, it is surely not too soon for the whole Protestant community to unite, and, by a common defence, repel the common danger. Nor ought the Protestants of England be slow to assist in whatever way they legally can the cause of their Protestant brethren, for it is their own cause. The empire is now in a political sense divided into two great categories—the Conservatives and De structives. All shades of political opinion are merged in these two ; and to the latter the Irish Roman Ca tholics generally belong, their anxiety to destroy the Protestant Church being stronger than any other mo tive of action. To resist the designs of the Popish agitators is the first great duty of the Conservatives, and they best perform that duty by assisting and sup porting their Protestant bruthren in the arduous itruggle in which they are 110 W engaged for the defence of the altar and the Constitution.—Morning Herald. went carrying the destreict:ee le..!:asures it has hitherto advocated, in the face of such an Opposition as it has now to encounter in the House of Commons. Even if the Government were not in a hopeless minority in the Lords it could not venture to attempt the appropria tion clause, or the Church-rates Confiscation Bill, or anything like "organic change" in the present House of Commons. It must either pare down its measures so as to suit Conservative views, or - be beaten, or contrive to suspend party measures altogether. It is per fectly ridiculous for its stupid advocates to bluster as if it were resolved to be boldly Radical in the Minis terial propositions to Parliament. The Ministry has not the strength for that. It durst not attempt any such thing, and every one possessed of even the smallest powers of common sense, and the smallest stock of information, must see this. We go upon the supposition (which we think we may very safely go upon) that Ministers neither intend to resign, nor willingly to place themselves in such a situation that, if they do not resign, they must be dismissed. We know that some of them are still so drunk with vanity as to think that if they were driven out, and free to use their own abilities and eloquence on the side of po pular excitement and revolutionary change, they would soon be able to get back to power on the shoulders of the mob ; but who is there that thinks that besides themselves ? No one. We do not make light of the democratic tendencies at work in this country, nor do we expect that anything short of an almost miraculous change in the moral feeling of the na tion can counteract them ; but we know that none of the present Ministers have either the talent, or the self-denial, or the integrity, to struggle for the de mocracy, and win for it. They would try to use it in order to win for themselves, but they would soon be found out, and crushed. This would be the re sult if the democracy were really powerful ; and if it were not, then they who depended upon it could not succeed. We would have the speculators in revolu tion to remember that a rabble is not a democracy, more than an aristocracy is an oligarchy. It might be well for them also to bear in mind that many of those who profess themselves ardent democrats are only so while in pursuit of things utterly inconsistent with de mocracy. These are men who, as soon as the first practical effects of a democratic system began to be felt, would drop it with quite as much precipitancy as the Ministerialists have dropped the Ministerial pamphlet which, for five whole days, was the theme of their ardent admiration.—Morning Post. The more closely and the more carefully O'Con neli'a letter to the '' people of Ireland" is considered, the more selfish, sordid, and ireacherous will the cha racter of the writer appear—the more manifest will become the nature of the league and covenant which lie and our Whig Ministers have certainly entered into, although they, with a degree of impudence and falsehood which lie could hardly surpass, deny the existence of any compact between them. That O'Connell resolved to acquire the means of sub sistence for himself and Ins family by some dis graceful and dishonest course was apparent from the naoment in which he abandoned the profession to which he was bred, and took to leading the beggar's life he still pursues, and by which he thrives so well. It will he remembered that until the Lichfield house compact was struck between those most high minded persons and most constitutional politicians, the Whigs, on the one hand—and the Irish Rebels and the British Radicals'and Republicans on the other— O'Connell was in the constant habit of urging the immediate introduction and speedy progress of certain measures relative to Ireland—sometimes with tears and prayers, but oftener with bullying and threats— invariably declaring that the next Session would he too late—that the " wrongs of Ireland" had become intolerable—that the redress lie craved and demanded by turns must be applied without delay. It will be recollected, too, that on one memorable occasion he pretended that his patience, and the patience of " all Ireland," were exhausted, and that he actually moved for the repeal of the Union, or what was equivalent thereto. Yet immediately after the Lichfield•house compact, this bi g b u lly and beggarman aggravated his voice, and roared as gently as any sucking dove : his tone became lower and lower month by month : and when at last he was admitted by the Whigs to a participation in the profits of office, the won drous change that his last letter confesses came over him. He sends round the begging-box still, be cause the " tint" is too good a thing to give up : he still talks of the " wrongs of Ireland,' because that is necessary for the extortion of the penny from the ragged, and the halfpenny from the s tarving, of his " beloved countrymen :" and as he can no more live • without somebody to vilify and slander than a bear can get through the day without a poll to climb, he bur nishes up the old blackguardism he used to vent upon the Whigs, and bestows it at second hand upon the Conservatives. But though he tall-s of the " wrongs of Ireland," and pockets all that the priests can wring for him f rom the most needy peasantry in the world, though he exhibits a programme of what he calls " Jus tice to Ireland," and threatens " repeal" ultimately— yet he is content to leave these " intolerable wrongs" precisely where they are, and to postpone all justice to Ireland sine die, so long as the Whigs—" the bloody and brutal Whigs," as he but lately called them—re main in office, and he, by sharing in the patronage of a Government which is daily increasing its pa tronage, is enabled to place or pension his adherents, and the friends and relatives of all who have the means of giving him in an equivalent, either by pro curing subscriptions to the " tint," or furnishing election funds, or otherwise,—in meal or in malt, — for Dan is no more scrupulous than the rest of the firm in which he has been admitted a part ner. " The Ministers," he says, " will not be able, perhaps, to achieve all they desire for Ireland, or may be totally prevented by the House of Lords from doing us ANY justice; yet as there can be no doubt that they will do all they possibly can to serve Ire land, we must not blame them for any failure which may be caused by the power of their enemies as well as ours." Never did an unprincipled demagogue act a more treacherous part towards his wretched dupes, than O'Connell is acting towards " the people of Ire land," whom he sells as he slavers them with the slime of panegyric fulsome enough to turn the stomach of a Chinese sycophant ; never was a baser or a meaner wretch than O'Connell gibbetted in the an nals of political profligacy. It is impossible for the dullest, or the most charitable of mankind, to doubt any longer that O'Connell . has agitated for his own personal advantage alone ; that the ardent love lie professes for his country, and the deep sense of the wrongs of his fellow-countrymen which he affects, are mere blarney ; that the bloody murders, the savage outrages, the burnings, the laying waste, the discords and the dangers with which Ireland has so long been disgraced and ' cursed, are attributable, not to public wrongs, whether real or imaginary, but to the detes table avarice and the fiendlike disposition of an indi vidual traitor. But let this unprincipled imposter take heed. We know him to be as vain as he is vicious, but we warn him that lie is far less clever than he flat ters himself he is. He has declared too much of his game,—so much of it, that there is not the remotest possibility of his being able to play it out successfully. The game he has declared is this :—While the Whigs remain in, he means to continue the profitable trea chery he is now practising ; but when they are kicked out, and his pickings share the fate of theirs, he proposes to return to his old turbulent courses, and raise a hullabaloo louder than before about justice to Ireland." Yes, he has not calculated upon what he will nevertheless find to be the fact— namely, the Parliament and the country will meet him only with shouts of scorn and derision, when he comes forward to demand of the Conservatives the passage of those measures which lie is content to put in abeyance, not only now, but for as much longer as the Whigs keep in office and pay him for keeping quiet. Hs has shown the cloven foot, and a fig f or his tail—were it twice as long as it is. Ireland can go on very well without any such measures, by O'Connell's own con fession—only they are to be clamoured for, if he is unbribed, while a Ministry that gives him hush-money is not to be blamed for not, passing them ! The hum bug of " justice to Ireland" is at an end. Lord Erin m ar shift his peas from thimble to thimble, and gull the Irish still as he has gulled them heretofore ; but in England there can .no longer be any doubt either as to his character or his game. He can deceive us no , Our readers are aware that within the last ten days an attempt has been made by the Ministerial press to sound the public as to their disposition to bear with the present Administration for its own sake, and with out requiring, from it any active aid towards the de struction of British institutions in Church and State. The experiment has been made, and the result has been, like the elections, which preceded it, unfavour able to the hopes of the Administration. It it no torious that, though the Whig-Radical party retureed to the House of Commons in 1835 was able, by its infamous coalition with Mr. O'Connell and his subor dinates, to obstruct the cour,e of Sir Robert Peel's Administration, and to cause its resignation, it was not able to do anything more than take possession of the executive. The Melbourne Administration never was able to carry the most important measures which it in troduced, and even that upon the implied necessity of which it regained office, in 18:35, instead of prospering in its hands, grew grathially more hopeless, and in the last session was all but abandoned. Both in Parliament and out of it the weakness of the Govern ment—meaning thereby its inability to carry the mea sures which it considered, or pretended to consider, necessary to the welfare of the country—was some times expressed, and always understood. This was no doub:, mortifying to the Administration, but the grati fication of office was more seductive than the mortifi cation of defeat was disgusting. Moreover, they had the excuse that their Parliament had been dissolved by the advice of Sir R. Peel, and an intractable one re-elected under his Administration. During the life thne of the late King Lord Melbourne did not dare to ask for a new Parliament, partly because he had some reason to fear a refusal from the King, and partly be cause he had no reason to be confident that a new Par liament would give him any additional strength. But when, upon the death of his late Majesty, a new Sovereign ascended the Throne, whose name and authority the Ministers felt they might use in the elections, and which no sense of political decency or honourable delicacy prevented them from using, it is unquestionable that they indulged in the highest hopes that the day of their absolute power was at hand. One or two there may have been—one we believe there certainly was—in the Administration who doubted that even the Queen's name and all the Go vernment influence they could use along with it, would give them a more favourable House of Commons than that with which they had for three Sessions ineffectu ally struggled. But the prevailing sentiment was very different. Even the Government journals were per mitted to speak of the Parliamentary weakness of the Government ; but then it was in allusion to the past, and by way of contrast to the bright future which was anticipated. The Globe, with characteristic sapience, dwelt joyfully upon the new elections; and alluded to " the few Tory Members who would still continue to creep into the House l" This dream of power was, however, utterly dispelled by the elections when they actually took place. Never was such a struggle made by a Ministry to acquire a majority by unconstitutional means, and never did the Conservative body, from the highest to the lowest, make so spirited an exertion to meet the insidious enemies of the Constitution at every point, and to resist the threatened domination of vulgar conceit, and voracious rapacity. Feeble as the Government is in all public matters where a contest is to be openly maintained by open means, they were not feeble in the use of the worst sort of influence at the elections. That kind of un derhand work is just suited to their abilities, and they exacted everything from their friends and employed everything against their adversaries which it was pos sible for them to exact or to employ. But, notwith standing all this, they were defeated in the battle of the general election. Instead of obtaining a powerful majority, as they expected, they found themselves at its close considerably weaker in numbers than they were before, and entirely dependent upon the Irish majority. When they recovered from their first con sternation at this unexpected result, the conclusion which struck them was, that, as parties stood balanced in the House of Commons, nothing could be done. Either they must effect a coalition with the Con servatives, throw over the Radicals, and proceed upon new principles altogether, or they must re main a mere Executive, m or e incapable th an b e f or e of carrying any of the measures to which they had found it convenient to pledge themselves in 1835. The idea of a coalition was almost immediately abandoned. It certainly was among the things con sidered, and we should not be surprised if the events of last week have brought it under consideration again ; but we hold it to be utterly impossible, and we feel very confident that whenever it is considered that will be the conclusion to which the consideration must come. The other alternative, of continuing to hold the Executive although powerless in Parliament, alone remained, for as to giving up the Government that is a thing not to be thought of by Whig-Radicals. But the difficulty then arose attendant upon a Government continuing Session after Session to try to carry measures without succeeding. There ap peared to be but one way of escape from this diffi culty, and that way was, not to try. It wan deter mined not only that it was impracticable to carry the measures to which Government stood pledged, but that it was unsafe to attempt to do so, and that nothing remained but for the Government to stand merely upon its merits as an Executive. Legislation it was decreed should stand still, at least upon all party questions, and Legislative improvements must wait for a more convenient season. This, we have eood reason to know, was the design of the Govern ment, and though they have found it expedient to beat a somewhat precipitate retreat from the somewhat pre cipitate avowal of this policy in die pamphlet " sup posed to proceed from high authority" we believe that up to this hour no other way has been thought upon of escaping discomfiture and disgrace. N o thi ng can be more clear than theimpossibility of the Govern niter.' ; 16 7 ,- L e !:as co ,: i f ess pd himscif to he impostor, and the next time he puts on the "patriot" in the House of Commons, he ought to be dealt with as the police deal with those small beggars who endeavour to cheat humane people out of alms by shamming fits in the streets.— Times. didates at auv of the recent elections ? We fearlessly ask these questions, for we know that the Standard cannot justify its own reckless conduct by an example taken, in this parallel case, from its opponents. The conduct of the Irish Government has been impeached with regard to this dreadful outrage, and insinuations are basely thrown out that Lord Mulgrave, by offering so small a reward as fifty pounds for the detection of the murderers, testifies a disinclination to bring them to the light. If that were the only step which he had taken to secure their apprehension, there might be some grounds of surprise, though still none what ever to harbour so infamous a charge against a no bleman who, from the day of his arrival in Ireland, has exerted himself, with more effect than any of his predecessors, to make every dender against the laws and the peace of society amenable to justice. The mere sum of money which may be pub licly offered for the apprehension of an offender is no test of the opinion entertained by the Go vernment as to the nature of his crime. The amount is regulated by other and totally distinct considerations. The promise of a very large reward has frequently been known to defeat its own purpose, by terrifying sus pected individuals and driving them beyond the reach of pursuit. In the present case, as in most others where the accomplices are supposed to be numerous, it would most probably have that effect ; and, therefore, Lord Mulgrave has prudently forborne to hold out such a notice to the guilty parties. But in all cases of flagrant and atrocious crime the police authorities have the power of paying most liberally for secret information ; and if the Standard will venture to say that such power has been inhibited as against the murderers of Allen and M'Kenzie, it will state that which is not true. If the villains are to be come at, it will be through such means and by the employment of a considerable reinforcement of police, whom Lord Mulgrave sent into that district long before the Government reward or the melancholy oc casion of it became a matter of angry com ment in the candid columns of our Contempo rary. But that it would not answer the ends of these upright journalists, we would strongly recom mend to them a precept out of holy writ, "-Blame not before thou hest examined the truth." But they will not even revoke their censure and ribaldry after the truth has been made manifest to the whole world ; that would strip a " picturesque murder," such as the Standard designates this to be, of the colour with which their ingenious industry loves to overlay it. Mr. Cooper, the Tory Member for Sligo, is at present, we believe, in town. We presume he knows what steps the Government has taken for the apprehension of the wretches who perpetrated that horrid crime ; and let the Stndard assert, if it dares, that he is dissa tisfied with Lord 'Mulgrave, or believes that his Ex cellency wants the disposition to bring them to con dign punishment. We challenge—we defy—the Standard to bring its spiteful and groundless allea tions to this test.—Morning Chronicle. Li looking at the present state of parties, it must b:.A evident that before any satisfactory progress can be made in the improvement of our laws, some additional power must be called into action to overcome the re sistance which the Lords, the Tories, and corruptionists of every grade and character oppose to all just and li beral legislation. The superiority of the Reformers in the present array of the antagonistic forces, though for tunately sufficient to ward off all danger of a Tory inroad upon the government, is not, without some fresh i:npulse, adequate to give legislative effect to the wishes of the people. It is sufficient for defensive, hut not for effec tive offensive operations ; it is sufficient to secure the stability of a liberal Ministry—ao object of the first importance to the state, involving as it does, perhaps, the peace of the whole and the preservation of a lar g e division of ,lie United Kingdom—hut it requires n increase either of power or stimulus to enable it to drive dospotism, bigotry, and corruption front their for tresses. Even the powerful reinforcement which Re lerm has received in the auspicious accession of our young, liberal, and enlightened Sovereign, serves rather to guarantee the nation in the continuance of a just and patrio:ic executive, than to warrant the expecta tion that the laws and institutions of the country will be adapted to the exigencies of the times without still further assistance. smother power must yet be evoked. It is not enough that the Queen, the Minis ters, and a majority of the House of Commons should be willing to advance towards the consummation of civil and religious liberty—the effort to give effect to this wish must be made by the people. A polished and profound writer observes, " It is only the calm energy of reason, constantly bearing up against the encroachment of power, that can with certainty per petuate the freedom or promote the happiness of the human race :" and never was the exercise of this " calm energy of reason" more imperatively required than at the present moment. As it is, from the people must come the demonstration necessary to work out the principles of Reform and good Government ; the first duty of every citizen is to endeavour to develope this essential power in the most effective manner, and direct it to the accomplishment of objects embracing not only present success, but permanent security. In Mr. O'Connell's recent letter to the people of Ireland, it is observed— " It is a species of melancholy consolation to know that the same obstacle which prevents justice to Ireland' equally prevents that justice to England' which consists in the extension of the suffrage, in the shortening of Parlia ment, and the voting freely by Ballot—l mean the House of Lords. There is to be found the impassable impediment to every political improvement in England and Scotland,as well as in Ireland. Once terrified into granting the Re form Bill, it has recovered from its fright; and now the Lords, in the insolence of security, and backed by a large and formidable minority in the House of Commons, laugh the people to scorn, and set them at defiance. In their sel fish rashness they anticipate the moment of regaining the power of plundering the nation, and reprepressing just discontent by military execution." Here " the impassable impediment to every poli tical improvement" is specifically defined ; and pursuing the question which naturally suggests itself, Mr. O'Connell continues— " What is to be done to overcome this obstacle to the peaceable amelioration of our Institutions ? What is to be done with the House of Lords ? That is a question which the British people must answer sooner or later. I heartily wish that the solution of it may be peaceable and bloodless. But with or without violence it must be answered, or the British nation must consent to have engraved on their front let a word that was never there before—Slavery—for, dis guise it as you may, submission to despotic power—and the power of the Lords is despotic—is Slavery." This is a truth, and as such, however unpalatable its expression to the opponents of organic changes, is wholesome pabulum for the digestion of those who are sincerely and earnestly desirous to give full effect to the representative, the only just principle of Government. While hereditary legislation forms part of the British Constitution, the question, " Irrhat is to be done with the Lords?" will be of perpetual recurrence ; and most sincerely do we participate in Mr. O'Connell's wish, that wh en peremptor i ly put, as it must ultimate l y be, it will meet with a peaceable and bloodless solu tion. In the mean time the great desideratum is to excite, combine, and judiciously direct the exertions of the people. By these means, and by these only, need we expect to effect any efficient Reform. To this sub ject the following paragraph from Mr. O'Connell's letter is remarkably apposite : " If British Reformers of all classes will but unite—if they would in every county, town, and city, form a Reform Club or Society—if they clamoured, by their public meet ings and petitions, for further reform—if they attended to the registry, and to the correction of erroneous opinions, and the refutation of false statements—if, in short, the Re formers were up and stirring against the common enemy— the plundering, peculating, bigoted Tory faction—if, ani mated by the spirit, not of paltry discontent or querulous resentment against the Whigs, but of genuine and high minded love of constitutional freedom—the Reformers of all classes would unite in energy, exertion, and combined strength—the proposed advantages of the Reform Bill would be realised—the necessary ameliorations in cur insti tutions would be secured, and the traffickers in corruption, bribery, and bigotry, be banished for ever from power and authority." This is an excellent plan of operations, and one well worthy of the universal adoption of Reformers ; it is the best, in fact the only mode, to break down the outworks of faction, and clear the way for the effec tual bombardment of the Lords—that citadel of cor ruption, biptry, .prejudi ce , an d d espotic power.— Athdveser. The spirit of the Protestants of Ireland, instead of NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. _.._ . (From the Hampsh i re Telegraph.) PORTSMOUTH, SEPT. 9.—The Pearl, 18, Corn. Lord Clarence Paget, sailed on Sunday last for the West India station. Captain Drake superseded Captain Brace in the com mand of the Donegal, 78, at Plymouth, on Thursday. Rear-Admiral Sir John Ommanney will hoist his flag in her to-day, but will strike it again on leave till the ship is ready for sea : she will come to Spithead previous to her depar ture for Lisbon. The Favorite, 18, Commander Walter Croker, was corn missiond at Plymouth on Monday. The Thunder, surveying vessel, was commissioned to-day to complete the survey in the West Indies, on which she was employed prior to her being paid off at this port, about four months since. The Prince Rogent transport sailed yesterday for Cork, to carry troops thence to the Mediterranean. The Gipsy cutter sailed on Monday to Plynsouth, whi ther the Pluto steam-vessel from Woolwich proceeded yes terday. The Rattlesnake, 28, was at Sydney on the Bth of April. The Victor, 18, was at Sydney on the 7th of May ; the Blonde, 46, was at Valparaiso on the Ist of June, at which time neither the Stag nor Rover had arrived there, but were hourly expected. The Lynx brig, and Pincher schooner, were paid off at Sheerness on the Ist inst. The freetraders Lady Flora, Ford, for Madras, and Triumph, Green, for Bombay, sailed on Thursday. At Spithead—Wellesley. In Harbour—Britannia, Victory, Melville, Edinburgh, Excellent, President, Pique, Royal George, Alligator, Hyacinth, Raven cutter, Parmelia and Arab transports. The reserve companies of the 59th Regiment doing duty in this garrison will be relieved on Thursday next by the depot of the 89th Regiment, from Londonderry. The savings arising from abolishing the situations of Ge nerals and Colonels of the Royal Marines, hitherto held by naval men, is to be distributed two-thirds of it among old officers as rewards for good and meritorious services. Rear- Admiral Sir J. A. Gordon has bee❑ awarded 3001. per an num, and Captains John Ascough, S. H. Inglefield, Charles Napier, and Francis Mason, each 1501. per annum. APPOINTMENTS.—Commander Henry Puget and Lieut. Kenney, of the Edinburgh to the Hercules ; Lieut. B. Allen (to command) and Lieut. B. Jeffery to the Thun derer, surveying vessel ; Mr. Thomas Kerigan, Purser, to the Pique, vice Mr. Mr Wm. Brown, to the Melville ; Mr. O'Maley, to the Excellent, in the room of Mr. Maddock, appointed Secretary to Rear-Admiral Ross; Lieut. W. T. Eyre and J. Sankey ; M. J. Tucker, Acting Master and Pilot, and Mr. J. Russell, Purser to the Tyne ; Mr. Gli don, Purser ; Messrs. H. L. Purdon, Parkhurst, and C. F. Hellyer, Mates ; and Mr. Maddock, Midshipman to the President ; Mr. Charles Carter, Mate, and' Mr. F. C. Her bert, Midshipman, to the Britannia ; Mr. John Branch, Mate, Wellesley ; Mr. Nelson Budd, volunteer first class, and Mr. J. W. Hall, Second Master, Pique ; Mr. J. R. Reid, Surgeon, Hyacinth ; Mr. T. Wilson, Mate, Excel lent , Mr. W. King, Second Master, from the Pique, to the Melville ; Mr. Richard Pinnix, Second Master, to the Raven ; Mr. G. C. Tycrs, Schoolmaster, to the Edin burgh ; Mr. George Samuel Singer, to be Clerk of the Py hides ; Mr. John Compton is confirmed to the rank of Gunner of the Thunderer ; Mr. E. Back, Clerk of the Blonde, has exchanged to the Basilisk ; Mr. R. B. Cundy, Boatswain, to Devonport Ordinary ; Mr. William Huit, Boatswain, and Mr. Wm. Ellis, Carpenter, to Tyne ; Mr. Robert Roberts. Carpenter, to Melville, as a fourth rate, vice Mr. Geo. Chirgwin, to Devonport Ordinary ; Mr. S. Hoare, Carpenter, to President ; Mr. J. Sutton, Carpenter, to Pique, vice Hoar, to President. In High -street, Marylebone, is an old public-house, considerably lower than the rest, which exhibits a beauti fully painted, but ill-used, sign of the " Rose and Crown." It is one of the " old school," and has an ornamented frame attached to it. Publicans formerly went to great prices for a good painting as a sign, and the first artists were employed to execute them. Mr. Cotton, Mr. Lamb (well known in the last century), and even Mr. Fane, one of the founders of the Royal Academy, and first professor of perspective in that institution, were sign-painters. Attempts are now making to extend the cultivation of the cranberry, so as to furnish a certain and regular sup ply to the London markets. It is said that 20/. or 801. worth of the berries are sold by the poor people each mar ket-day, for five or six weeks together, in the town of Longtown, on the borders of Cumberland. There is one strong argument in . favour of their cultivation, which is that they will grow with little trouble in places and on soils where few other useful plants will thrive. They also pos sess the advantage of withstanding carriage to a distance from the spot where they are reared. The American cran berry is more productive than the English, but has not so good a flavour. Broadstairs now boasts of the presence of two emi nent literary characters, Wordsworth and Rogers. The Dover Cattle steamer, of Dover, Captain Luckhurst, was compelled, on Wednesday last, to land her passengers at Margate, the machinery having become de fective. We are happy to add that no lives were lost, al though the company on board were very much alarmed. MR. SPENCER'S TRAVELS IN CIRCASSIA, Came TARTARY, &c.--The Miles, speaking of this inte resting work, says, " Mr. Spencer has penetrated into a country quite unknown even to English travellers, described only by Dr. Clarke on hearsay, and by Pallas and Klap roth, envoys of the Russian Government, with evident in justice and party spirit. Mr. Spencer's journey com menced at Vienna, from which city he went direct down the Danube to Pest, and thence to Constantinople. After a stay in that capital, a steamer carried him to Odessa ; where he found the Russian Gcvernor-General, Count Alorrongon, with whom he made the circuit of the Russian settlements and forts on the coasts of Cherson, the Crimea, and Cir cassia. The author then proceeded to Simpheropol, and across the Crimean Steppes northward to Perecop ; from Perecop back to Odessa, and thence through Bessarabia and Moldavia, to Galatz on the Danube, where he found a steam-boat, which carried him to Varna. From Varna the Crescent, English steamer, carried him across the Black Sea South-east to Trebizond, where, in a Turkish smuggling or pirate vessel, carrying forbidden salt and gunpowder to the rebels, he escaped the Russian cruisers, which gave chase to the vessel, and landed at Pchad , in C i rc a s sia. " NEW TRAVELS IN AFRICA : A STEAM VOY- Afit or THE NlGER.—Messrs. Laird and Oldfield's nar rative of the last expedition into Central Africa, observes the Glasgow Constitutional, will be perused with deep in terest by all who have considered the subject of our com merce with Africa, or who desire to ameliorate the condi tion of their fellow-creatures. It is also full of instruction to such as may wish to follow in the same field of enter prise, who will doubtless profit by the experience of their predecessors, and avoid the errors—many and palpable— committed by them. The mere desultory reader, satiated with " Voyages on the Rhine," " Excursions up the Da nubs," or " Men and Manners in America," will find some thing here more highly seasoned, even if it be only with " Malagetta" or " Guinea Pepper," to awaken his languid appetite. The merchant, desirous of a new field of enterprise and profit, will learn the importance of our trade with Africa, and ohserve how it may be carried on with advantage. Independent of the picture of Negro man ners, life, and character presented by the general narrative, we have in Mr. Laird's portion of the work, the remarks of by far the shrewdest and most informed mind that has yet surveyed the interior of Africa. M. MENDELLSOHN BARTHOLDY.—The presence of this celebrated musician in the metropolis has excited much interest i n th e mus i ca l c i rc l es ; a nd it having been understood that he would perform on the organ at the ca thedral of St. Paul after the conclusion of the evening ser vice yesterday, a great number of the profession attended. By a new arrangement between the dean and chapter and the subordinate members of the college, the barriers placed to prevent the public from viewing the monuments have been removed, and the whole of the interior is now acces sible during the hours of service. This alteration has given an impulse to the attendance on the services ; and yester day afternoon the nave, transepts, choir, and aisles were crowded. M. Mendelssohn extemporised with great ability, and afterwards performed some difficult compositions by Sebastian Bach. Mr. Smith's system at Southam, Warwic kshire, for the tuition of bovs in agriculture, cannot be termed a school, beiig merely four roods of land divided into 12 gardens, occupied by boys from 10 to 16 years of age, in the culti vation of garden vegetables—peas, carrots, parsnips, cab bages, kidney beans, celery, &c., only one•fourth is allowed to be cultivated for potatoes. The boys pay all prices, from 6d. to Is. per month according to the size. The rent of the whole amounts to 41. 17s. per annum ; the 17s. is ex pended in a rent-dinner monthly, when the boss bring the rent, which his little tenants have hitherto done to an hour. "If I were rich enough," says Mr. Smith, " I should be happier in having 500 such tenants than as many renting "200 acres each. It is a glorious sight to see all the little gardens so clean and full of stuff. I would challenge the land for cleanliness and produce against any acre of ground in the country. The moral advantages too have been very great ; and if it could be copied and extended, all tenden cies to idleness, drunkenness, theft, and dissipation, might be greatly lessened." BOTANIC SOCIETY OF LONDON. THE “ VICTORIA REGINA." At the ordinary meeting of the Society ,held Friday even" ing at 11, John-street, Adelphi, J. E. Gray, Esq., F.R.S. , the President, in the Chair, after the donations of books' and many hundred specimens of plants had been announced, the Secretary read a communication from Mr. Robert Schomburgk, Cor. Mem. of the Geographical Soc. Lend' , &c., dated New Amsterdam, Berbice, May 11, 1837, en a new genus, allied to the water lily, named " Victoria Re gina," by permission of her Majesty. The communication was accompanied by magnificent drawings of the plant, one half the natural size, which m a y b e seen a t the rooms of the society at any of the nights of meeting. The following account is extracted from Mr. &hold burgk's paper :—" It was on the Ist of January, this year , while contending with the difficulties nature opposed id different forms to our progress up the river Berbice (in British Guiana), that we arrived at a point where the river expanded and formed a currentless basin. Some object on the southern extremity of this basin attracted my attention ; it was impossible to form am idea what it could be, and, animating the crew to in crease the rate of paddling, shortly afterwards we were or posite the object which had raised my curiosity. A vege table wonder! All calamities were forgotten. I felt as a botanist, and felt myself rewarded. A gigantic leaf, fr om five to six feet in diamet e r, sa l ver - s h a p e d, with a broad rim of a light green above, and a vivid crimson below, resting, upon the water. Quite i n c h arac t er w ith the wonderf ul leaf was the luxuriant flower, consisting of many hundred petals, passing in alternate tints from pure white to rose and pink. The smooth water was covered with them, an d I rowed from one to another, and observed always swim' thing new to admire. The leaf on its surface is of a bright green, in form almost orbiculate, with this exception, oppo site its axis, where it is slightly bent in : its diameter measured from five to six feet. Around the margin el" tended a rim, about three to five inches high ; on the inside light green, like the surface of the leaf ; on the outside like the leaf's lower part, of a bright crimson. The stem of the flower is an inch thick near the calyx, and is studded with sharp elastic prickles about thre,e quarters of an inch in length. The calyx is four-leaved, ea ch upwards of seven inches in length, and three in breadth at the base ; they are thick, white inside, reddish-brown a n ",, prickly outside. Th e di ame t er o f th e ca lyx is 12 to 1 ° inches : on it rests the magnificent flower, which, when ful l ); developed, covers completely the calyx, with its hundred petals. When it first opens it is white, with pink in the middle, which spreads over the whole flower the more it ad vances in age, and it is generally found the next day of pink colour. As if to enhance its beauty, it is swe' i t. scented. Like others of it s t r ib e , it p ossesses a fleshy dis k ' and petals and stamens p ass gra d ua ll y i n t o eac h other, a nd many petaloid leaves may be observed, which have vestiges of an anther. We met them hereafter frequently, and the higher we advanced the more g i gan ti c th ey b ec ame. W e mea,ured a leaf which was six feet five inches in diameter its rim five and a half inches high, and the flower across 15 inches. The flower is much injured by a beetle, Thrincids species, which destroys compl e t e ly th e i nner part. \‘' e have counted from 20 to 30 in one flower." Another paper on a new species of Loranthus, also d companied by a highly-fini s h e d d raw i ng , name d by M c r ' Schomburgk, Lorantisus Smythii, in honour of Lady Jal l ' efl Carmichael Smith, a great admirer of botany, was also read, and created much interest. The thanks of the Society having been ordered to be re turned to Mr. Schomburgk for his kind assistance, he was unanimously elected a foreign member. The President, previous to adjourning the meeting, beggt d d . to impress upon the m em b ers t h e necess i ty o f speedily stile ing in such duplicates of plants to the Herbarium as o could spare in order th a t th e genera l distribution f the society's duplicates might take place in the months of Pc" cember and January next. The meeting was th en a dj ourne d unt il Th urs day, the 7 t h of October next. EAST INDIA SHIPPING. Arrivals—The S evern , Wak vow e, from Bombay in the Do wn s ' sailed on the 23d of April, arid Simon's Bay on the Ist of July ; William Bryan, Roman, from New South, Wales, on Dover, sailed on the 6th of April, and Bahia on the 13111 °t July. Ha- Arrivals in Table Bay (Cape of Good Hope). _The milton, Solomon, on the 23d of June, from London ; Gray, on the 26th of June, from London ; Olivia, Rovane , o n the 26th of June, from Calcutta ; Permee, on the 27th J° l3 " from Ceylon. Arrival in Si mon ' s B a y—Th e L otus, G ore, on t h e 25t- of June, for Madras. Departures from Table Bay—The Perfect, Snell, on th° f 23d of June, for Calcutt a ; L even t, C a ld we ll , on the 24th ° June, for Boston ; Courier, Proudfoot, on the 25th of -W e i for Algoa Bay ; Duke of Sussex, Norman, on the 25tb ° June, for Madras and China. Arrival in the Straits of Sunda—The Sarah Barray, Evan 6 ' on the 2lst of April, from London, for China. Passengers per Euetes.—Captain Smith, from Bombay; Captain Dance Robertson, late of the Scaleby Castle ; CaPc' Good, Bengal Cavalry; Lieut. J. R. Geils, 4th Light Dra goons ; Ensign A. Geils, Mr. J. Jobson. VESSELS SPOKEN WITH. The Industry, from Belfast to North America, 16th ult'' lat. 48., long. 34., by the Ann, Arrived at Cork ; the Ch i , rokee, from the Clyde to Montreal, out 22 days, by the ; bion, arrived at Limerick ; the Ann and Eliza, from Quebe to London, 11th ult., lat. 46., lon 57, by t h e Albion , ar " rived at Falmouth ; Maasvan, from g. Batavia to RotterdaM, 26th ult., lat. 41., long. 22. ; the Rothschild, of Liv er r °/ : 3d ult., lat. 49., long. 12, by the Albion, arrived at Guernw sey ; the Arabian, Cain, from London to Launcefiron, Se South Wales, 29th ult., lat. 47., N., long. 12., W. FIRE AT CROCKFORD ' S.—ShortIy before seven o'clock on Saturday evening, the neighbourhood of Pie ca ; dilly was thrown into a state of considerable excite by the discovery of a fire having broken out in the house, of Mr. Crockford, in St. James's-street. Information;e! the occurrence was immediately forwarded to the d : s rent engine -stations, and within ten minutes afterwal 0 those belonging to St. James's parish and the C o unty Fi r Office were in attendance, closely followed by seve ral eth % when, fortunately, there being a plentiful supply of water the fire was, by the great exertions of the firemen , 6° extinguished. It was occasioned by a foul flue, and tb° - o. er t : , damage done is trifling. The Admiralty have ordered a detachment of rives to embark for the Island of Ascension, to construe a house in that island for the new Commander-in-Ch ief Te i that station, the Hon. R ear -Ad m i ra l G. Elliot, vl () 1; command will include th e C ape o f G oo d H o pe, nra ll and coast of Afri ca . The party consists exclusively °t mechanics and artificers. The Gallant Admiral's presen residence in the Ad m i ra l ty w ill b e g i ven up to hi s s ucceo °r ' Captain Berkeley. T. COX SAVORY, Goldsmith, &c., 47, G ° e r t n i "1 11; London, informs the Public that he has fitte up THREE "'" ° o r ROOMS expressly for the display of a large assortment of super' 0 SILVER-EDGED PLATED GOODS. He offers thein at tho l l , low but fixed prices, which have been so successful in drawing Plo attention to the WATCH, JEWELLERY, SILV ER SPO lot and FORK and Silver branches of hi s t r ad e . N.B. A Pa nl P h containing a Detailed List of the P r ic es o f Plate, Plead (3°° ist Watches, Clocks, &c., may be had gratis, or will be forw arded answer to a post-paid application. IRTH. On the 6th inst., at Monk to n Farleigh House, Wilts, the lady of Wade Brown, Esq., of a MARRIED. On the 9th inst., at St. Mary's, Lambeth, George Melton, Esq.. to Miss Surr. On the 6th inst., at Hamp stead Church, the Rev. James Hamil ton, Curate of Great Beddow, to Mary, eldest daughter of John Miles, Esq., of West-end, Hampstead. On the 7th inst., at Walcot Church, Bath, William Trevor Tay lor, Esq., of the Bengal Civil Service, son of the late J. Taylor , Esq., of Wimpole-street, Cavendish-square, to Eliza, daughter of the late Rear-Admiral Western, of Tattingstou Place, Suffo On the sth inst., at St. Andrew Auckland, Durham, R. Dal!' Vera Ward, Esq., of North-bank, Regent's-park, to Annie, only daughter of the late R. Bowser, Esq., of Bishop Auckland. On the sth inst., at St. Ge or g e's, Rams g ate, Mr. R. C. Wessel, to Mary, daughter of the late Mr. W. Stapleton, of Camber On the sth inst., at Aust , in Gloucestershire, Mr. George D bourg, to Miss Susannah Jones. DIED.cf At Duppas-hill, Croydon , on the 9 th ins t., Mr. .Macrone, 3, OSt. square, London. n the ames sth inst., at Gelligron, near Neath, Glamorganibir ' e' Owen Rees, Eq., late of the firm of Messrs. Longman and Paternos-ter-row, in the 68th Year of his age. On the Bth inst., Mercy, the wife of Mr. W. H. Jones, of 1 11°- sell-place, Bermondsey. ,9. On the 6th inst., Priscilla, wife of Mr. Geo. Erck, of Reg ent street. On he 4t inst., Mr. Anne eale, o path aged 91. On t he 7th h inst., in s Brudenel ß l-place, f New , North-road, Sinten Luckett, Esq., solicitor, aged 74. stree t ' On the 7th inst., aged 71, Mr. Thomas Massett , of Queen. Cheapside. On the 7th inst., aged 18 months, William Raymond, son of E 3 to, Michael's- grove, Broinpt on. On n the 21st inst.., Fanny Julia, eldest daughter of the late o'l°l°l Johnson, of Walbury, Essex, aged 15. Thoma s On the 7th inst., at Northfieet, Kent, in his 93d y ear, Pitcher, Esq. \lr. J°11" On the Bth inst., at G reenwich, Mrs. Freese, relict of Henry Freese, of London. Little On the Bth inst. , in Bartholomew-close, Mr. Wilton, of Britain, aged 54. Ou the' Bth inst., Fanny, wife of Mr. John Sharp, o f the Alpha Cottages. hernia 13°9- On the 7th inst., in Groat Portland - stre et, Miss E u p her 0 , well, the daughter of Jame s Boswell, E sq ., the biograp Johnson. ed 4 ' On the sth ult., at Dieppe, Anne Amelia, Lady Anster , egm ar ia On the 26th ult., at Stanwick, Northamptonshire, An t " Nand Bleinnan, daughter of Jonathan Bleuman, Esq. , late of he of l3arbadoet London: Printed and Published by MIIRDO YOU.N.I;of aptoy. 112, Strand, at The Sur; Office, No. 112, Strand , 'n of Aliddlesex.—Monday, September 11, 037. -A