The Sun. — London, England, 1836-06-08 00:00:00

FYntan, wh o state d t h at h e h a d b een un j us tly deprived of his v by his Bishop, and that he had not been restored in ‘.Le rescript f rom th e p ro p er authority. The Noble and , i . 4 e.arried Lord had s tated the real ground on which the pe tition was presented. He had stated that it was an appeal to Public opinion through the House, by a petition which he (Viscount Melbourne) would say the House could not en tertain. H e did not know whether he was prepared in all r espects to cond e mn such a mode of proceeding, but he would ° ,eserve that it was a mode which might be carried a great deal further than their Lordships expected; and on the pre- Sent occasion he could not do otherwise than express consi derable doubt as to the p r udence and propriety of the pre sent petition. The Noble and Learned Lord had made ano ther o b servat i on, to wh i c h h e was d es i rous o f a d ver ti ng . The Noble and Learned Lord, from the proceedings of these ec clesiastical authorities, read the titles of Bishop and of Dean, and he stated that the assumption of those titles was in disre gard and in contempt of the Act for removing the disabilities of the Roman Catholics. He (Viscount Melbourne) appre nended that the clause in question only intended to prohibit t he Roman Catholic Clergy from ordinarily styling them selves by those titles. If that were not the meaning of the clause, it would in fact amount to an abolition of the Roman Catholic Church. That Church was an episcopal Church ; it required Bishops—in fact, they were essential to its existence ; and he therefore apprehended that the words in question did not apply to matters relating to discipline, or to the exercise of those powers or functions which were absolutely necessary to and inherent in the Roman Catholic Church. The Duke of WELLINGTON rose and said—My Lords, I have not heard from anybody but the Noble Baron that this Petition ought not to be received. Perhaps the Noble Baron will be so kind as to move, as an amendment to my Noble and Learned Friend's motion, that the petition be rejected ; for that is the course which the Noble Baron ought to take, if he is of opinion that it cannot be received. My Lords, it is true that this House cannot take steps in order to remedy the griev ance stated in this petition. But, my Lords, this is frequently the case. Petitions are often presented in cases in which this House cannot take steps, and still more frequently in cases in Which the House does not take steps, though it has the means to do so. My Lords, Ido not believe that there is any instance on record of the rejection of a petition respectfully worded, only because the House could not take any steps on the sub ject. My Lords, Ido not agree in the argument used by the Noble Viscount opposite, that the Act of Parliament did not refer to these titles when used by these persons in the exercise of their duties : because, forsooth, they are absolutely neces sary to an Episcopal Church, and because it is absolutely ne cessary t o have ecclessiastical titles in that Church. Now, my Lords, I should like to know whether we never heard of Re- Mtn Catholics in England or in other parts of the world ; but deny that the law has forbidden, and that the law has suc ceeded in preventing the use of these titles in England ; but that it has not been as yet successful in preventing the use of them in Ireland. The execution of the law, however, rests With the Noble Viscount opposite; but less us look to other Countries in which these titles have been abolished, and let us look at home, and we shall find that the law has been obeyed here and in those countries as I say the law ought to be obeyed in Ireland.—( Hear. ) The Marquis of LANSDOWNE would ask their Lord ships whether they would be justified in receiving the petition without any inquiry as to the accuracy of the statements ? Did the Noble Lord propose such an inquiry ? Did the Noble Earl ( Wicklow) opposite invite such an inquiry ? And yet they were told that an appeal was to be made to public opinion through the medium of that House, without any in quiry as to the veracity of the facts ; yet, upon those facts the Noble Duke thought he was justified in supporting the extra ordinary terms used by the Noble and Learned Lord with reference to the bulk of the population of that part of the kingdom. If this petition were received he was not certain that in the other House of Parliament petitions would not be presented from parties complaining of acts done by persons over their own property—from stewards, from secretaries, treasurers of societies, and such parties ; and were these per sons, he would ask, to appeal to public opinion, and have a right to make use of that House as a means of appealing to public opinion, for the purpose of obtaining that redress which the laws of the country did not afford them ? He had been Surprised to hear the Noble Duke refer to certain articles pro posed to the Clergy of the Established Church. Was the Roman Catholic Church, he would ask, established? Had Parliament any authority to reform the discipline of a Church which they did not recognize as a Church ? Undoubtedly, Parliament had authority to interfere with respect to the discipline, the emo luments, and the possessions of the Established Church of the country, which Parliament paid and supported; and it was because Parliament paid and supported that Church that their Lordships had a right to inquire into its discipline. But Par liament did not pay the Roman Catholic Church, and conse quently it had no right to interfere with respect to the conduct of that Church. but in the degree in which it might contra vene the established law of the country. In the present case it was not stated that the parties had acted in contravention of any law. If there had been any injustice committed the party had his remedy. The Duke of WELLINGTON said that the case to which be had referred was that of an examination previous to an or dination. If he had to consider the prudence and propriety of inquiring into the subject, he should say that a question of or dination between the Bishop and the person called for the Purpose of being ordained was as improper to enter upon as anything that could be thought of. Lord HOLLAND said that the Noble Duke had said that he thought that he (Lord Holland) was the last man in the world to oppose the reception of any petition, and the Noble Duke then asked could any instance be found in which the House had refused to receive such a petition as this? He (Lord Holland) thought he could charge his memory with a great many such cases ; but he would say, though the Noble uke declared that he was the last man who ought to refuse receiving such a petition, that he had always given it as his opinion that every petition should be received which was !onehed in respectful language. For many years it was 3 1 ought that the House enjoyed de facto, though perhaps not efure, an original jurisdiction between one man and another; and whenever a petition had been presented, asking the House 10 exercise such jurisdiction, he (Lord Holland) had always thought it his duty to oppose it. He did not intend to press the House to a division ; but he should content himself with merely expressing his dissatisfaction. The Marquis of WESTMEATH could not understand the principle on which Noble Lords opposite acted. The into lerance and inquisitorial spirit of the Church of Rome was well known, and if their Lordships should decide upon rejecting this petition it would in effect prevent the future acts of that church from ever being brought before the Houso. He was acquainted with a case which no doubt the Noble Baron opposite (Hol land) well knew. He alluded to the case of the Rev. Mr. Charles O'Connell, a gentleman who had written a work on the subject of Catholic Emancipation. That gentleman, he could assure the House, was brought to an untimely end by the op pressive tyranny of the Bishop of his diocese. For having stat ed alis opinions on that subject he was placed under interdict. It V ias subsequently raised, but it was too late. He totally dis sented from what had fallen from the Noble Baron opposite (Holland). Viscount DUNCANNON said that in this case the gentle 'Pan had obtained redress by the laws of his country, and why Jae now applied to this House appeared to him most extraordi tarY• The petitioner was chaplain to the titular Archbishop who being of opinion that he had behaved improperly thought proper to remove him from his living. It was very true that upon an application to him by this gentleman the Lord Lieutenant of the county had given him a character. The Lord Lieutenant now was anxious that it should not be conceived that he had expressed with the character any opinion as to the alleged 'oppression of Dr. Kelly. The Earl of WICKLOW said that the Lord Lieutenant bad given this character after he had heard the facts of the ease, and consequently he might be supposed to have given a tacit approval of the conduct of Mr. Mulholland. Viscount DUNCANNON said that, so far from thinking that the Lord Lieutenant approved of the petitioner's conduct, the Lord Lieutenant was of opinion that he had been properly removed by Dr. Kelly. Viscount MELBOURNE said that, as he had been fur tished with a letter from Dr. Croly, he thought it only fair to read it to the House. That letter, in the first place, stated that Mr. Mulholland had never been a parish priest, but only an administrator : that he had dragged a worthy clergyman into Court on a matter with respect to which a jury gave him a verdict of one farthing damages, and left him to pay his own costs ; that his conduct had been disapproved of, and that his removal from the office of administrator had been confirmed by the proper authority; that he had been offered three cu racie, all of which he had contemptuously refused; and lastly, at the conference at Dundalk he had refused to accept a cu racy, being as unwilling to become a curate as the priests were to hav e him associated with them. This, therefore, was the ease of Dr. Croly. Lord LYNDHURST said that a Noble Lord had been P l eased to allude to a certain expression made use of by him, er alleged to have been made use of by him. Th e Marquis of LANSDOWNE was not the first. Lord LYNDHURST said the Noble Baron had been so Food as t o c o mmence the attack, and t ha t he had been fol. 4 °Wed i n it by the Noble Marquis. He ( Lord Lyndhurst) I° ° ll ld assure their Lordships that w hether he had made use , f the expressions with the qualifications which he had in tended t o use, he should never shrink from them, and he neve r felt less inclined to do so than on the p resent occasion. What he would ask the House, was the conduct which he Way bound to pursue with respect to this petition? A gentle tan came to him and stated that he had been unjustly treated T Y Persons having a considerable power in Ireland. He (Lord ''Yndhurst) very naturally wished to know who this person /43 , and the gentleman then produced the very highest testi taonials as to his character—one even from the individual from W hom he had received the alleged wrong. He was described Dr. Croly as " insignem zealo, doctrina, pietate," &c., 'e• It was said that the case was merely a statement in it Petition. Was any case e v er brought before the ir Lord ships hi th e s hape of a petition anything but a statement on r e tition ? Was he, lie would ask, responsible for the statement , Hear, hear) —when lie found it based on the statement of Croly ? The Noble Visco unt had ob jected to the mo de n which the question was brought under consideration. He (Lord Lyndhurst) abstained from giving the petition any false e°l "ring, and he would say t hat in p resentin g it he had onl y W llO his duty. The Noble Viscount had asked whether he a s Prepared to enter into an enq uir y on the sub j ect. He (Lord Lyndhurst) could inform the Noble Viscount that the Pra yer w as directed towards an inquiry, and if the Noble Vis e°llnt thought proper to yield that inquiry, he should be pre 4f/red to to enter into it, with respect both to the conduct of Mr, ulholland and of Dr. Croly. 13 Lord HOLLAND asked whether he was to understand if de t;: e - d C ? rol y presented a petition that it would also be consi- Lord LYNDHURST said that if it were signed by the 'rehbishop of Armagh, he certainly should object to receiv- ing it. If Dr. Croly came to him (Lord Lyndhurst), and asked him to present a petition, he should consider it his duty to present it. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE said if Dr. Croly came and complained of injustice done him in a statement which might not be correct? The Duke of WELLINGTON rose to order. Was not the Noble Marquis out of order in asking what course a No.. ble Lord would pursue in a hypothetical case ? Viscount MELBOURNE was bound to admit the argu ment of the Noble and Learned Lord, with respect to the Act of Parliament ; but he thought that the Noble and Learned Lord had not, at first, so stated it. Lord LYNDHURST said that he had stated in the outset that a document was signed by the Archbishop of Armagh, and that the person who authenticated it signed himself as the Dean of Armagh. The petition was ordered to lie on the table. Their Lordships then adjourned at a few minutes to seven o'clock. SPAIN. The following table is not without interest, as it is an official document relative to the population of Spain, and supplies at the same time the names of the provinces. It was drawn up in consequence of a Royal decree of the 21st of April, 1834. The number of deputies is apportioned according to the new law or decree, which declares that one deputy shall be chosen for every 50,000 inhabitants, allowing an extra deputy when there exists a population of 75,000 and upwards. The population of the provinces marked with an aste risk, and which was not comprised in the returns of, 1834, are determined according to the Royal instructions of Jan. 1, 1810. The population of Madrid includes that of the capital of 221,800 souls, according to returns made by the police since 1831. Popu- Depu- Provinces. lation. ties. Alava* Albacete 190,326 4 Alicante .368,961 7 Almeria ..234,789 5 Avila. 137,903 3 Badajoz 306,092 6 Barcelona 442,273 9 Burgos 224,407 4 Caceres ...241,328 5 Cadiz... ..... ......324,703 6 Castellan de la Popu- Depu- Provinces lation. ties. Murcia 283,540 6 Navarra 221,728 4 Orense 319,038 6 Oviedo 434,635 9 Palencia Pontevedra 360,002 7 Salamanca 210,314 4 Santander 166,730 3 Segovia 134,854 3 Sevilla Soria 115,619 2 Plana 199,220 4 Ciudad Real 277,788 6 Cordoba 315,459 6 Coruna 435,670 9 Cuenca 234,582 5 Gerona 214,150 4 Granada 370,974 7 Guadalajara 159,044 3 G uipuzcoa* 104,491 2 Huelva 133,470 3 Huesca 9 14,874 4 Jaen 9 66,919 5 Leon 267,438 5 Lerida 151,322 3 Logrono 147,718 3 Lugo 357,272 7 Madrid 363,881 7 Malaga 338,442 7 Total number of Deputil Tarragona 233,477 5 Teruel 214,988 4 1 Toledo ....281,197 6 Valencia .388,759 8 Valladolid .184,647 4 Biscay* .111,430 2 Zamora 159,425 3 Zaragoza 304,823 6 Adjacent Islands Baleares 229,197 5 Canarias 199,950 4 Colonies. Havannah 4 Puerto Principe... Santiago de Cuba - • Puerto Rico . Manilla !s CHINA. CANTON, JAN. 26.—Another fire has taken place here, not of the unprecedented extent of the former one, but still very formidable and embarrassing to foreigners as being nearer to their factories. The last great fire was inside the city wall, this one occurred in the suburb adjoining the fc reign factories, but entirely without the city wall. It broke out about four a.m., on the morning of the 24th, and before any steps were resorted to, it had assumed a fierce and dangerous head, burning before a strong north wind through Carpenter 7 square right down on the foreign factories. At about five o'clock a flake of fire, carried by the wind, fell on the shingle roof of a small Hoppe house, just on the cast bank of the creek, and it was instantly in a bright flame, and burning down, which it d:d in half an hour, it commu nicated fire across the creek to No. 2, a foreign factory. Thus cut off from boats on the river by fire to the south, and a broad fierce volume of fire quickly coming up from the north-cast, a portion of the foreigners and their pro perty were for a period placed in the utmost peril. Great exertions were made by the neighbours to get the fire quenched in No. 2. and to open the com munication with the river. About six o'clock vast num bers of Chinese could be seen tearing down and stripping off the roofs from the houses not on fire, ju diciously resigning those they were not able to save. At the same time sheets of water from twenty well supplied fire engines were pouring on the flames, and drenching all in the dangerous vicinity. This skill, coolness, and acti vity, met with its reward in the extinction of the fire, after all hope of rescuing their property had left many a foreign breast. It was universally noticed how much the Chinese had learned from us barbarians these few last years, in their mode of resisting and extinguishing conflagrations. Prac tice (on a large scale) they certainly have had within the time. The Governor sent down three well-manned fire engines to aid the foreigners. The chief loss falls on an industrious class of working carpenters, scale makers, and one or two large Chunchen Hongs, where the Fokien traders used to congregate.—Canton, China, Jan. 26. MR. BURKE'S GENEALOGICAL AND LDIC ilisToaT OF THE LANDED GENTRY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. _The 12th Part of this highly interesting history has just ap peared, embellished with a fine portrait of T. W. Coke, Esq., of Holkham, and we understand that it will be completed during the present year. This publication may be truly called a national work, for it will not only contain accounts of all the eminent families in the United Kingdom, but of an immense number of persons connected with them. We have before spoken of this undertaking in terms of unqualified . approbation. In the present case , therefore , we have onl y to sa y that it con tinues to maintain the character which elicited that approba tion, and to exhibit all those qualities which, at the very outset recommended it so strongly to public favour. A WOMAN KILLED BY HER HUSBAND.—On Thursday week, a man named Pollitt went to the races, first desiring his wife, who was of intemperate habits, to keep sober. Between twelve and one o'clock in the night of that day, a woman named Ann Collins, who lives in the same te nement, was awakened by cries of murder. On opening the door of her room she saw Pollitt standing on the landing place, and asked him what was the matter. He replied, " Mrs. Collins, come to my assistance—l have killed my mistress." Collins immediately hastened with her husband to Pollitt's apartment ; they were taken by Pollitt to the bed, whereon his wife was lying bleeding profusely, and the bowels protruding from a large wound in the abdomen. He was committed under the coroner's warrant to Kirkdale house of correction, for trial at the next assizes on this charge.— Manchester Guardian. The persecution which Sir Nathaniel William Wraxall underwent in consequence of his resolution to tell the truth in the " Memoirs of his Own Time," determined him not to allow that portion of his work which treated of the lat ter part of George the Third's reign and of the Regency to be published during his own life and that of George the Fourth. Sir Nathaniel's " Posthumous Memoirs" have accordingly only just been permitted to see the light, and the anecdotes they contain are beyond comparison curious and important. In reviewing this most amusing work, the Literary Gazette says, " The author's foreign travel and intimacy with leading persons at home, enabled him to pick up much intelligence, and his talents were peculiarly adapted to the task of commu nicating in an easy and entertaining manner the information he acquired." EXPORTS FROM ABERDEEN--TO strangers who pay us a visit by sea, and have no opportunity of judging of the fertility and productiveness of this district, but from the bleak and barren rocks that meet their view on the voyage north ward, the quantity of provisions shipped at this port will appear almost incredible. In one week 661 cattle have been shipped at Aberdeen for London, and it is confidently anticipated that the numbers will increase rather than diminish. The ex ports for one week, not including manufactures, the value of which we have not at present the means of ascertaining, amount to 14,9711. 13s.—Aberdeen Herald. THE FIRST EARL OF SHAFTESBURY.—" The Life of the First Earl of Shaftesbury" (which has just ap peared), observes the Atlas, " was originally undertaken by Mr. B. Martin, under the immediate auspices of the grand son of Lord Shaftesbury ; but its publication was abandoned upon the death of its projector. The design was subsequently resumed b . y the late Earl of Shafte s b u ry, and consigned to Dr. Kipp's, who completed it. An edition was soon after printed ofthe impression w was s t h d t e h s t e r exception oyed. One nefthese two copiesis in the library of the present Earl, and from the other the present edition was printed. Mr. Cooke's labours, as final editor of the Memoirs, have not been light. He has supplied many im portant omissions, and added a great variety of notes, which elucidate the text on many leading points." We formerly mentioned that it was expected that the Earl of Errol would succeed the Duke of Gordon as Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire ; and we are now glad to learn that the appointment, which will be highly popular in the county, has taken place. Lord Errol is one of the most an cient of the Scottish nobility, and his countrymen will be de lighted to see those scenes of hospitality for which Staines Castle, the residence of the Errol family, on the coast of Aberdeenshire, was long remarkable, renewed in modern times. Dr. Johnson, in his journey to the Western Islands, sixty or seventy years ago, gives the following interesting account of his visit to Slaines Castle :—" By a lady who saw us at the chapel at Aberdeen, the Earl of Errol was informed of our arrival, and we had the honour of an invitation to his seat, Slaines Castle, built upon the margin of the sea, so that the walls of one of the towers seem only a continuation of a perpendicular rock, the foot of which is beaten by the waves. To walk round the house seemed impracticable. From the windows the eye wanders over the sea that separates Scotland from Norway; and when the winds beat with violence must enjoy all the terrific grandeur of the tempestuous ocean. I would not for my amusement wish for a storm ; but as storms, will whether wished or not,sometimes happen, I may say, without violation of humani t y , that I should willingly look out upon them from Slaines Castle. Next morning we continued our journey, pleased with ou r reception at Slaines Castle, of which we now had leisure to recount the grandeur and the elegance,,, L2 - TERATURE. TALES OF THEE WOODS AND FIELDS. Three Vols. Saunders an d Otley : London, 1836. We remember rea, ling some time ago, with great delight, a collection or fictions, entitled, " The Two Old Men's Tales," wliich exhibited lively powers of iescription, and no little 'dramatic incident. The work before us is a second Seiies, or continuation of those tales, and is marked by the same striking peculiarities. It consists of two stories, one entitled the " Country Vicarage," and the other " Love and Duty." Of these, the last is the 1 )est, as a work of art ; though there are pathetic touches in the former—such as where a young mother h angs lamenting over her dying child—to which the lat ter makes no approach. The plot of "Love and Duty" may be summed up in a few words. A young girl, educated in the strictest retire ment of the country, at an old chateau belonging to her father, the Marquis of Montalembert, accidentally meets, and as accidentallly falls in love with a youth_. of course handsome, chi' Talrous, and all that—the heir of the noble family of D e Vermont. Both are desirous to plunge into instantanttous matrimony, but upon the Marquis being appealed: to for his consent, he indig nantly refuses it ; for his; daughter, it seems, had been betrothed from her birth, to a French Radical, by nam e Guibert, who had, in hi s earlier days, been a fellow roue with the Marquis, a nd having detected him play_ ing falsely at the gaming table, had taxed him with it, and threatened exposttre, unless he promised to give him his only child, when she should have reached a marriagable age. These circumstances the Marquis himself makes known to Therese, in the course of an interview between them, which is detailed with fearful energy ; and she . seeing that there is no other way left to preserve her father's honor than by sacrificing herself to Guibert, does so unhesitatingly. Accordingly, the Radical—who is by this time on the shady side of forty—makes his ap pearance at the chateau, and is at once recognised as the affianced husband of Therese, though not without a profusion of tears, on her part, sufficient to fill a bucket. This " untoward " courtship goes on for some weeks, when Guibert, finding that he has won only a hand—not a heart ; and pitying the condition of his helpless victim, who, he cannot but see, is fast hastening to her grave ; struck also with remorse for the frightful alternative to which he has reduced the Marquis, who, next to himself, loves his child dearer than any thing on earth, determines on adopting a generous line of conduct, and restoring Therese to the arms of De Vermont. On this the whole chateau rings with rejoicing ; the Marquis capers about like mad ; his daughter's pretty face plumps out again ; the villagers are all on the qui vine ; the bells ring ; the fiddles are set to work ; an ox is roasted whole ; and the amiable couple are married on a delicious summer morning ; and of course, as novels invariably tell us, " live very happy afterwards," though real life is apt at times to tell us a different story. There are many fine scenes in this tale, and some few, not unsuccessful, attempts at pourtraying the sterner pas sions of our nature. The stern, melancholy, reserved old Marquis, stands frowningly out on the:canvas, like one of Rembrandt's most impressive heads ; and his daughter, with her slim, buoyant figure, and Dryad like tread, resembles nothing so much as Leslie's young " May Queen." As for De Vermont, he shows too much lackadaisical, honey-suckle sensibility, to please us. He is all tears, like a weeping willow. And then he is so fond of sun-sets and moon-lights—things which, in novels, are our special-abomination I How ever, despite this draw-back, the tale is an able one, and its language flowing and graceful throughout. SCOTT'S PROSE WORKS. Vol. XXVI. Cadell : Edinburgh, 1836. This Volume which completes the " Tales of a Grandfather," completes also Sir Walter Scott's Prose Works. It is embellished with two engravings, both of which are from designs by Turner, and in his most characteristic manner. One of them, a view Of Fort Augustus, is quite outre in its perspective, the remote distance being more strongly defined than even the nearest foreground. The view of Inverness, however, has a very picturesque air about it. THE MAGICIAN. 3 Vols. Macrons : London, 1836. " The Magician" is a romance of the fifteenth cen tury ; and the author is Mr. Leitch Ritchie, the editor of one of our most successful Albums. We cannot, however, speak very highly of his efforts on the present occasion ; for though his volumes are by no means de ficient in incident, and contain lots of wonders, together with a very fair sprinkling of melodramatic horrors, yet the matter is wire-drawn, and the characters, for the most part, such as never had a prototype in nature. In spinning descriptions Mr. Ritchie is a perfect silk worm ; his details, for instance, of the French King's triumphant entry into Paris, occupy nearly forty pages, when ten should have been the utmost limit allotted to them. As a whole, we are more struck with the tact, than the genius displayed in " The Magician." It is the work of a practised, but certainly not of an original or imaginative, writer. Hence its perusal does not " physick pain," by being a " labour we delight in." With respect to the language, it is, like the in cidents, that of one versed in the craft of authorship— now sparkling in epigram, and now flowing away in periphrasis. LORD ROLDAN ; A ROMANCE. Br ALLAN CUNNINGHAM. In 3 vols. London : Macrone, 1836. There is no lack of stirring incident in these vo lumes. The story never flags, and the dramatis per sonce act as well as talk. Still we cannot say that we greatly admire it. The incidents, taken altogether, are more improbable than even those of the same author's well-known romance of " Paul Jones." The hero and the heroine think and act too much after the fashion of such out-of-the-way folks. We have had the proto types of Lord Roldan and Mary Morrison an hundred times served up to us in fictitious narratives, now only to be met with in old circulating libraries. The scenes in France during the first Revolution are sketched with considerable power. We have not space for an analysis of the Tale ; but we have no doubt that it will become a great favourite with the more youthful portion of our readers. THE CABINET CY CLORIEDIA. A History of Russia. Vol. I. London: Longman and Co. England is deeply indebted to Dr. Lardner for the great ability with which he has hitherto conducted this truly national work. The historical portion of his " Cyclopxdia" is of inestimable value. The Seventy ninth Volume, just published, contains a history of Russia, from the earliest period at which it assumed the form of a separate State, down to the accession of Peter the Great, in 1689. The record is a dark, but a faithful one. The style is vigorous ; and the author's mode of relating facts, clear, succinct, and sometimes even eloquent. But there is surely in the portion of the work yet to be written, materials for more than one volume—the space within which the author purposes to compress the history of Russia, from the accession of Peter the Great till the present time ! The work may be reasonably extended to three or even four volumes. Robert Owen, Esq., is lecturing in the Social In stitution at Salford. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. At least two hundred and fifty Liberal Members of the House of Commons attended the meeting at the Foreign-office yesterday, a circumstance which clearly shows 'that the representatives of the people of Eng land, Ireland, and Scotland feel deeply interested in the issue of the question upon which the two Houses of Parliament arc at present in collision. Lord John Russell addressed the assembly in a speech remark able for its firmness, and yet for the moderation of its tone. He stated explicitly, on his own behalf and on the part of his colleagues, that they were resolved not to abate one jot of the principle upon which the Bill for the extension to Ireland of the benefit of Muni cipal Reform was founded. Ministers deprecated a collision with the Hereditary Chamber, so long as a prospect was open of inducing the Peers to co operate with the reformed House of Commons in the enactment of those laws which were required by the interests of the empire and the spirit of the age ; but they equally deprecated any compromise of a great constitutional and salutary principle. For a time it was hoped that such concession would have been made by the House of Peers to what was palpably the fixed resolution of the House of Commons and the will of the majority of the nation, as would have removed all cause of quarrel from the Lower House, and produced that harmony between the two estates which is so es sential to the calm and easy progress of legislation, as well as to the well-being of the United King dom. In this hope his Majesty's Ministers and the friends of safe reform were grievously disap pointed. The Irish Municipal Reform Bill was so mutilated in every member—its principle was so fatally altered—its provisions were so perverted, in order to effect a purpose the very reverse of the ob ject contemplated by its framers, and by the branch of the Legislature in which its originated—that , : it was returned from the House of. Lords in a sliape which it was impossible for Ministers to approve, consis tently with their duty to Ireland, and to the constitu tion itself. Still it was the earnest wish of Govern ment to prevent a collision between the two Houses ; and with this view it became his (Lord J. Russell's) duty to submit to the meeting a series of propositions, which, he trusted, would meet the sanction of the House of Commons, and win the approval of the other House of Parliament. We do not pretend, of course, to give anything like a report of the Noble Lord's admirable address, but we think we have pre served its spirit. We may, however, state with confi dence that the Noble Lord gave great satisfaction to all his hearers ; and that many Hon. Members who felt extremely indignant at the insult offered to Ireland, and to the Reformers of Great Britain, by Lord Lynd hurst's nefarious " amendments," and who went to the Foreign-office determined to spurn all thoughts of a compromise, were won over to a more moderate line of conduct by his Lordship's speech ; at the con clusion of which the following propositions were un folded :—First, All the provisions in the original Bill, which were cut out by Lord Lyndhurst, are to be re instated. Recond, Municipal government, regulated by these provisions, is to be preserved to the cities and towns included i❑ schedules A and B, appended to the original measure. These places are Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny, Galway, Lon donderry, Drogheda, Clonmel, and Sligo. Third, the seventeen towns in schedule C, which return Members to Parliament, are to be brought imperatively under the operation of the 9th Geo. IV., commonly called the Paving and Lighting Act. It will thus be obligatory on the 5/. householders in these boroughs to elect Commissioners for the purposes of that Act. When these Commissioners are once elected, the corpo rations in those towns shall become extinct ; and all the municipal properties, privileges, and inn: munities (with the exception of so much as ap pertains to the administration of justice, all of which will be transferred to the Lord Lieutenant) are to devolve upon the Commissioners. Thus the ad vantages of the Corporate system, without its attendant expense, will be still preserved to the towns in ques tion—which may, perhaps, be too small to require the use of Corporations—and that gross and scandalous outrage upon law and justice, which would transfer to the Viceroy the properties and the privileges of the people, will be avoided. Fourth, it will be left discre tionary with the remaining 22 towns enumerated in section 2 of schedule C, which do not return Members .to Parliament, to take _advantage of the provisions of the 9th Geo. IV. Whenever any of these towns shall, however, adopt that statute, then the Corporate rights, Jnoperties, ke„ shall become vested in the chosen Commissioners. By this plan the appointment—of Commissioners, conferred by the Copley scheme upon the Chief Governor of Ireland for the time being, will be obviated ; Government will merely possess the right of nominating the Local Magistrates and the other functionaries whose office will be connected with the administration of justice. Such is the mode of doing justice to Ireland, and at the same time harmonising the two clashing Chambers, which has been suggested by Lord John Russell. Will the Tory Peers spurn the pottered attempt at conciliation ? If they will, the people of England must then look to their own interests, and to the salvation of the liberties of the State, no matter what or how ancient the privileges or the order which must suffer in the conflict. When Lord John Russell resumed his seat, Mr. O'Connell addressed the meet- ing at some length. He conceived that after all the wanton mischief perpetrated by the House of Lords, the House of Commons ought not to be satisfied with the preservation of Municipal Government in eleven cities and towns. The schedules ought to be so en larged, as at all events to include Wexford, Youghal, Tralee, Ennis, Carrickfergus, and Kinsale. These were populous and thriving towns, and ought not to be shut out from the advantages of corporate institutions. To these observations Lord John Russell replied that the matter might be discussed hereafter in the House of Commons. Other Members, including Lord Cle ments and Mr. Hume, took an active part in the con ference, and, with the exception of Mr. Sharman Crawford, who protested against a compromise, all appeared disposed to support the view of the case taken by Ministers. It was gratifying to observe the feeling which animated the entire assemblage, consist ing as it did of nearly one half the representatives of the United Kingdom i❑ the imperial Legislature, and embodying all shades of liberal opinion. When Lord John Russell declared that justice should be done to Ireland, and that the benefit of the constitution and laws of England should be extended to that portion of the empire which is physically connected with us by the channel and morally by the bond of legislative union, the patriotic and statesmanlike declaration was echoed by a burst of universal applause. Several English Members of the Lower House, who usually pursue the moderate line of policy, declared that they received such advices from their constituencies since the Bill came down from the Lords, as would utterly preclude them from supporting Ministers had the Home Secretary evinced any symptoms of vacillation or truckling on the question now in issue. To-morrow evening the subject will be brought on in the House of Commons, and it is supposed that the battle will be fought there, should the Tories adhere to Lord Lynd hurst's amendments, upon the motion to re-introduce the fourth clause of the original Bill.—Morning Chronicle. There was yesterday a meeting in Downing-street, at which Lord John Russell laid before his confe derates the course which Mr. O'Connell and himself propose to adopt in the very disagreeable dilemma in which they now find themselves. After all the bluster we Minis terialhave h ear d w i t hi n d oors an d w i t h ou t, the atte mp t t o arrange thi s mat t er i s of a somewhat Insignificant nature. However, as it involves the con cession of the principle which the Lords have success fully resisted, it is impossible that it can be entertained. Lord John Russell proposes to give Corporations to eleven Irish towns : Mr. OConnell stated that he would have preferred fifteen though why either of these two particular numbers should have been fixed on does not appear. However, neithe, the fifteen nor the eleven can be granted by the Lords with any consistency, even were their Lordships so disposed, since they have already refused the Duke of Richmond the smaller number of seven Corpora tions. The Upper House of Parliament is well aware that this is no question of any given number of Corpo rations ; the question is, whether political power is to be blindly conferred on the Popish priesthood and their tools, in a country where the Protestant Church is already the subject of avowed and ruthless persecution. The Lords resist this transfer of power, and in so do ing, they evince that steadfast attachment to the Pro testant constitution with which their own existence, as a branch of the Legislature, is of necessity bound up, and to which the people of England, as well as the Peers themselves, are"attached by what we believe to be indissoluble ties. Whether 'Mr. O'Connell's 15, Lord John Russell's 11, or the Duke of Richmond's 7, Irish Corporations be submitted to the working of the priestly and demagogue power, the great point at issue would be alike conceded by the passing of any one of the three propositions ; and they who now, by a system of terror and superstition, usurp and extend so large a portion of unconstitutional influence, would find that system strengthened, and their insolent ambi- tion further stimulated, by so cowardly a concession. The Lords will not, cannot consent to this ; nor will England ever do so.• This is well-known to the Whig-Radical faction. Were it otherwise, would they, who so lately threatened that any " mutilation,"as they called it, of their corporate reform would be re sisted by the " millions " to the very overthrow of the House of Peers—would they, now that the House of Lords, with the calm dignity becoming their high cha racter as a deliberative body, strip the Ministerial mea sure of its powers of working mischief, come before Parliament with so trembling a request as that, instead of 60 Popish corporations they should be allowed to establish 11 ? . This is a rich specimen of Whig-Ra dical bluster and its natural results. For our own parts, we are inclined to believe that the Whigs are marvellously well please4with the failure of a mea sure which nothina. but 'their own love of place and power inildcetl them to submit to the Legislature. So that they remain snug in their seats for another `session, the great object of their state policy is attained. So also the agitator himself—it can be no source of rearet to him that a measure of which he. strongly dis approves in his place in Parliament should remain a subject of seditious controversy throughout the coun try. But we think that what little moral influence he ever possessed, at least in England, can hardly survive the ridiculous failure of his no-Peerage outcry, and the now manifest nonsense of the threatened " collision." Even in Dublin the agitation-power seems to be on the wane, for by a letter from our own correspondent in Dublin, published in yesterday's Times, we per ceive that a motion was brought forward the other day in the Petition Committee at the Corn Exchange, to the effect that the public should be admitted free of expense to the meetings of the Committee. The motion was passed unanimously. Its object was to increase the attendance at these meetings. Before the passing of this motion one shilling:was charged for ad mission to all but Members of the Petition Com mittee. Any one who knows the nature of Dublin patriotism will be sensible of the exclusive effect of such a charge as regards Mr. Sheil's magnanimous " millions." Now, however, that they can attend and shout treason without paying for it at the rate of a shilling a-head, there can be no doubt that they will come in aid of the failing agitation, and we shall be favoured with numerical returns descriptive of the crowded state of the Corn-Exchange conclave. But it will not do ; the humbug ,of this agitation has failed as effectually, though not as palpably, in Ireland as in England ; and how complete has been the failure in the latter country our readers are well aware. We understand that it was stated at the meeting in Down ing-street by Lord John Russell, that it would be ex pedient to render the act 9 George IV. compulsory. The act, as it now stands, is thus entitled—" An act to make provision for the lighting, cleansing, and watching of cities, towns corporate, and market towns in Ireland, in certain cases." By this act it is' pro vided that, on the application of 21 householders to the mayor or to two magistrates of the town, commu nication must be made to the Lord Lieutenant, and that it is lawful for the Lord-Lieutenant to convene a board to carry it into effect. The alteration proposed by Lord John Russell would render it imperative on the Lord-Lieutenant to appoint such a board, whether application were made or not. In point of fact, the prin ciple of self-government on which the 9th of George IV. proceeds is not sufficiently active for the purposes of the Noble Lord, and while the householders of towns by that Bill are empowered to establish a board for the local management.of their affairs, should they vvigh-it,' Lord John Russell says, ":The Government will take your affairs into their own 'hands," and con struct a board for you, whether yog,.wish if or not." The object of this it requires no treat- penetration to discover. Baffled in their wholesale attempt at legis lation, the faction are determined to nibble a little here and there, and to carry on a system of bit-by-bit re volution. The design is a very small one, and there fore not unsuited to Lord John Russell's capacity. That it will do anything towards satisfying Mr. O'Connell and the priests is not probable. But then we must remember that these last worthies- are insa- tiable by any concession short of the. entire possession of Ireland.— Times. It will be seen by the following article, that the surmises which we hazarded yesterday respecting the proposed meeting at the Foreign Office, were in every respect correct. Ministers will stand firm to the cause of popular government, and from the result of the meeting, there can be no doubt that if the Lords per severe in their wild and insensate opposition, though " justice to Ireland" may be deferred, yet it will be only for the purpose of founding a purer and more ra tional system of legislation on the ruins of the Here ditary Chamber. Upwards of two hundred Members of the House of Commons assembled to hear the intentions of the Government, and to consider the course which should be adopted in reference to the Irish Corporation-Abolition Bill returned by the Lords. Lord John Russell, in a firm and temperate address, announced that Ministers were resolved to insist on the entire re-construction of the Bill, the restoration of its title, and the assertion of the same principles in regard to the Irish Corporations as have been admitted with respect to those of Eland and Scotland. The Lyndhurst interpolations, with a few unimportant exceptions, are to be utterly repudiated. The principal towns of Ireland are to be included in three schedules. The first, or schedule A, is to con- tain the towns which are to have regularly constituted Corporations. The second, B, is Co embrace a num ber of smaller corporate towns, which are to come under the operation of the 9th of Geo. IV., by which rate payers of 5/. and upwards shall be enabled to choose Commissioners every three years, who are to have such additional powers as will give them the con trol and management of corporate property, and ren der the administration almost as perfect and popular as that of the towns in schedule A. The towns in schedule C are to have the power of obtaining admis sion to the same privileges as those in schedule B, on petitioning the Lord Lieutenant, and showing cause why they should come under the operation of the 9th of George IV. In this mode the Govern ment is to have no control in the appointment of Commissioners, as was most despotically intended by the Lords, but merely the nomination of Magistrates, as in the English Bill. The announcement was received with great satisfaction. Mr. O'Connell suggested that a greater number of towns than twelve, as pro posed by the Government, should be in c l u d e d i n sche dule A, and mentioned Wexford, Carrickfergus, You , ip hal Kinsale, Ennis, and Tral ee , as en ti t l e d to incor poration. To this Lord John Russell replied, that the chief object was to maintain the principle of the ori ginal Bill, reserving the details for subsequent consi deration. Lord John Russell expressed his inability to state what course the Lords would pursue, but stated his conviction that his propositions were those best calculated to place the House of Commons in its proper position with the country. We feel with his Lordship the impossibility of coming to any positive conclusion. lvith regard to the reception which the Lords will give the Bill—their conduct never having been guided by any fixed principle except that of sel fish intolerance—we may except concession only when necessity compels it—and though; as a Minister of the Crown, we consider his Lordship's anxiety to avoid a collision between the two Houses highly com mendable, yet too great a concession, as was the case with the English Municipal and other Bills, by en couraging their Lordships' insolence and opposition , will be certain to accelerate the event which it is in tended to avoid. Besides, it is of little consequence whether the progress of improvement, and the_ reform of abuses, be delayed by the tyranny of the Lords or the subservi enc y o f the Commons, the effect is the same. The Lords exercise their privileges to the utmost—they Stand by their order ;--let the Commons follow their example in this respect — why should they compromise the wrongs of the people to conciliate the depraved and despotic feelings of the oligarchy ? It is like compounding a felony to do so ? If the Commons but stand by their order and the Tights confirmed to them by the Constitution, what power or powers in the State can oppose them ? Let not concession be made a pretext for perpetuating a worn-out system, which has survived the necessity which originated it. It is dastardly, base, and traitorous to do so. What is the advantage of vesting the supplies under controul of the Commons, if by a disgraceful for bearance they omit to exercise the power entrusted to them as a protection against unjust authority, and sa crifice the interests of the nation to the usurpation of a titled and privileged faction ? There are times when the boldest measures are the best and safest—such are the present. Were the Commons but half so sincere and steadfast in the maintenance of the rights and interests . of the people, as the Lords are in theiradherence to their usurped privileges, the question would speedily be set at rest in such a manner as would effectually prevent the recurrence of dangerous crises, and facilitate the pro gress of human liberty and happiness. As Hamlet says, " If it be not now, it will be to come ; if it be now, it will not be to come hereafter—the readi ness is all." Palliatives may be proposed—the Com mons may succumb to the Peers—the Peers may for tie nonce be brought to reason by a new creation ; but the country will never be secure until hereditary legislation give place to an elective and representative Senate. A creation of Peers would, in fact, aggra vate the evil, by increasing the number and influence of the dominant party. Those who might now be in troduced to carry a particular Bill, would to a cer tainty become as corrupt, from the possession of undue powers, as they whom they would be called upon to control. The proposition.of a new creation of Peers is mere quackery, which, instead of removing the disease, would still further impair the Constitution. The knife must be applied to hereditary excrecences. In feudal times, when the people were in a state of darkness and slavery, it was plausible to point to the Peers as the pillars of the State ; but to do so in the present day is a fallacy, as well as an insult to the in telligence of all rational men. In this country, at the present time, the first want of the State is . the free operation of the elective and representative principles. Give us these, and all other ameliorations in our poli tical system will follow, as a matter of course.— Morning Advertiser. r ! The celebrated maxim, which has been so tauntingly thrown in the teeth of a Noble Conservative Peer— that every man may do what he will with his own— ought, perhaps, to stifle all objection to the O'Connell fund. Certainly the old adage, which speaks of "fools and their money," has seldom been more strikingly ex emplified than upon this occasion ; and if folly were the only quality exhibited, and it affected only those who indulged in it, we should certainly be inclined to leave them to enjoy, or rather to lose, the fruits of their own dupery. But here the cases were widely different. We have a number of persons attempting to raise money under false pretences, and holding up to indem-, nification, as a martyr, a political adventurer who, we contend, has no shadow of claim upon the bounty of any human being in this country for a single shilling, and least of all under the colour or pretence put forward by the movers of this most contemptible of all public impostures. For what is the pretence, the sole pretence, for setting on foot this subscription, but to indemnify Mr. O'C onnell against the expense he has been put to in defending his seat for Dublin against the petition of Messrs. West and Hamilton, his opponents ? Now, had the Report of the Committee seated Mr. O'Connell ; and had it, in addition, declared the petition to be frivolous and vexatious, we can well un derstand the feeling of sympathy which such an appear ance of persecution might have given rise to, and that it might not have appeared unreasonable to indemnify Messrs. O'Connell and Ruthven against such of the costs as this decision might not have thrown upon their opponents. But here the facts, the consequences, and the inferences, are exactly the reverse. Every one at all acquainted with the matter knew that Messrs. O'Connell and Ruthven were not duly returned, that if justice were done Messrs. -West and Hamilton were and ought to be the Members, and that the ex pense which the latter were put to in maintaining, and at last establishing, their right, was a cruel and ruinous injustice. And what turns out to be the fact, but that these anticipations were true to the letter ? Mr. O'Connell is removed from the seat he had been unjustly placed in, and his opponents are placed there in his stead. And who then are the injured parties ? Can there be a question about it in any honourable or impartial man's judgment ? Yet there are to be found a number of Englishmen, like an Eng lish mob, openly taking the wrong side, and sympa thising with the wrong doer in preference to those whom be has injured. It has been truly said that there is no thing too absurd and preposterous for wrong-headed people to adopt. Political faction is only another species of wrong-headedness ; of which the measure we are al luding to furnishes a striking example. We are curious to see to what a length this specimen of folly and faction will extend. It has at starting, we freely confess, far outstripped our conjecture, alive as we are to the gulli bility of so many of our countrymen. We wish that gullibility were all that we could attribute to some of the performers in this farce. The " decoy ducks" know what they are about, though many of their dupes may not. We regret, however, to see so many who are anonymous. Surely they are not ashamed of what they are about.. Besides, their martyr is in the ascendant ; and what, therefore, can they have to fear in letting the world know who they are ?—Morning Herald. It will be seen from our report of the proceedings at Chelmsford yesterday that the Whig -Radical faction has sustained another defeat in So u th Essex, the elec tors having returned Mr. Palmer, the Conservative candidate, by a majority of 576 votes over those of his opponent, Mr. Branfill, the avowed supporter of the Melbourne-O'Connell interests. The most active exertions had been used by the "liberal" party to ob tain a triumph in the county of Essex, but their en deavours have signally failed. No expense had been spared ; and intimidatithi had been, as usual, resorted to, to effect their end; but the good sense and firmness of the electors have defeated the machinations of the revolutionary adherents of the agitator. As is usual on all these occasions, and following in the wake of Lord John Russell after his memorable and ignominious ejection from South Devonshire, Mr. Branfill prated about the absolute - necessity of " vote by ballot" to insure his return. He also had the good taste to tell the electors that " South Essex must continue for the present, as it had been, no bet ter than a rotten borough." The insolence of these soi-disant Reformers is inch Gable. The force of falsehood and impertinence could no further go than than this notable assertion of Mr. Branfill. He, at all events, has sealed his doom in South Essex, for the agriculturists, under any circumstances—even on his extravagant supposition, that there should be a re action—will never choose the man who thus insults the opinions, so often recorded, of the great body of the electors. Of course the Ministerial organs will lay immense stress upon the majority on this con test being less than on the previous struggle. The shout of victory for a defeat is, however, manifestly ab surd, as it is well known that it was a matter of indif ference to the constitutional band what was the nume rical amount of the voters to be polled. It was quite sufficient that Mr. Braila never had, never could have, or will have, the most remote prospect of success. The " Reform Club" has commenced its career very inauspiciously. The members may have a chance of influencing a constituency which has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, from Radical changes ; but they must not try experiments with the reflecting in habitants of counties, who have a substantial interest in the preservation of the Throne, the Church, and the State.—Morning Post. r'""~ SUNDAY.—The activity of Sir Andrew Agnew's disciples is testified by the multitude of petitions which the scribes and hypocrites pour forth. According to the 14th report of the Select Committee on public petitions, 646 have been presented, and the number of persons who join in prayer for Sir Andrew's observance of the Sabbath, is exactly 95,773. ~' : f ,~ ,SDAY, JUNE 8, 1836.