The Sun. — London, England, 1836-12-15 00:00:00

BRIGHTON-WEDNESDAY. We have the pleasure to announce that the King is now quite well. Yesterday their Majesties took a carriage airing, and in the afternoon the King gave audiences to the Marquis of Sligo, the Marquis Camden, and the Duke of Richmond. This afternoon the King took a carriage airing with the Duchess of Gloucester. Her Majesty has not been out to-day. Neither the Princess Augusta nor the Duchess of Glou-• cester quitted the Palace on Monday, but yesterday their Royal Highnesses took a carriage airing together at noon. The Princess Augusta drove out to-day at twelve o'clock, accompanied by Miss Wynyard. Prince Ernest rode out on horseback both days. Lord de Lisle and Dudley arrived yesterday evening from Penshurst. Prince Polignac and Prince Armand de Polignac have left their names at the Palace. The other calls include the Hon. W. C. Norton, Viscount, Viscountess, and Miss Gage, Lady and Misses Napier, Countess Dowager of Chichester, Sir C. Clark, Major-General Sir S. and Lady Dickens, Captain J. and Mrs. Morgan, R.N., Lieut.-Col. M'Dougall, and Commander Brown. COURT CIRCULAR. Baron de Moncorvo, the Portuguese Minister, visited Viscount Palmerston at the Foreign-office yesterday, and presented to his Lordship the Chevalier Ribeiro, Secretary of the Portuguese Legation, as Charge d'Affaires of her Most Faithful Majesty, the Baron's mission at this Court having ended, he being recalled by the Portuguese this, Mr. J. Bishop and a Deputation of the Metropolitan New Beer Trade had an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday in Downing-street. The Duke of Roxburgh, Col. O'Reilly, and Mr. Flack, had interviews with Viscount Alelbourne yesterday in Down ing-street. Mr. Hart Davis, Mr. Charles Marryat, and Mr. M'Ar thur, had interviews with Lord Glenelg yesterday at the Colonial-office. The Right Hon. Frankland Lewis had an interview with Lord John Russell on Tuesday. Sir Coutts Trotter and a Deputation had an interview yesterday with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Judicial Committee of his Majesty's Privy Council sat yesterday. The Lords present were Lord Brougham, Sir J. B. Bosanquet, Sir J. Parke, and the Hon. T. Erskine. " Welch and Welch v. Phillips," from the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, was resumed, Dr. Addams replying for the appellant. Lord Brougham then gave judgment on a motion in " Rajundernarain Rai v. Bijai Goound Sing," from Bengal. This was an application to amend an Order in Council of the 16th April, 1834, confirming a report of their Lordships. The present applicants were the appel lants on that occasion, and were at the time minors ; their guardian, however, although in possession of funds to carry on the appeal, neglected their interests, and the case was heard in the absence of any party to represent them. The report of their Lordships, which was confirmed by his Ma jesty in Council, affirmed the decree of the Court below. Under the circumstances their Lordships would advise his Majesty to amend the Order in Council, and to re-hear the appeal. Lord Palmerston, Lord Holland, Lord John Rus. sell, Lord Glenelg, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, visited Lord Melbourne yesterday. Lord Minto visited Lord Palmerston yesterday at the Foreign Department. Mr. Poulett Thomson, Lord Duncannon, Sir John C. Hobhouse, and the Accountant-General, transacted business yesterday at the Chancellor of the Exchequer's office, in Downing-street. The Charge d'Affaires from Spain transacted busi ness yesterday at the Admiralty Department. Lord Duncannon and Mr. Poulett Thomson tran sacted business yesterday at the Home Department. GRAHAM'S CLUB.—We understand that Lord De Ros has signified his acceptance of Mr. Cumming's chal lenge, and has accordingly given instructions to his solicitor to commence an action against that gentleman for libel. — Morning Post. Earl Cathcart is entertaining Colonel and Mrs. M. A. Cathcart and a family circle, at Cathcart Castle, N.B. The Earl of Aberdeen, after passing a few days with Sir Robert and Lady Peel, at Drayton Manor, will proceed to Strathfieldsaye, on a visit to the Duke of Wellington. The Earl of Carnarvon's new mansion, in Grosvenor square, has been rebuilt in a style of great taste. His Lord ship and family are at Farringdon, Berks. Lord and Lady Manners have arrived at their seat, The Grove, Voxford, Suffolk. The Hon. T. Manners, the only son of the Noble Lord, has entered the University. Count Pozzo di Borgo will arrive at Ashburnham House on the Ist of January, from Paris. Count Charles And Countess Pozzi di Borgo are not likely to accompany the talented Count. The'Venezuelan Envoys on a special mission to the Court of Madrid are expected in town from Spain on their way to Paris. They are Generals Soublette and O'Leary. Lord Edward Pelham Clinton, son of the Duke of Newcastle, has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. The fashionable winter parties at the Hague promise to be very brilliant this season. The British and French A ; mbassadors will g ive several grand parties. _Lord William Russell arrived at Mivart's Hotel on Moa'day from Florence, where his Lordship stopped some' montilis on a visit to his daughter, the Hon. Mrs. Henry Grey Bennet. The Marquis of Camden d id not go to Bayl iam Abbey as reported, but left The Wilderness for Brighton ; the Noble Marquis arrived last night in Arlington-street, from a visit to his Majesty. The Marquis of Sligo left Brighton early yesterday orning for London, where he arrived at noon. The Marquis of Hertford is considerably better. He derived much benefit from the advice and skill of an en iinent French surgeon. His Lordship and suite are now on their way to Nice, to pass the winter there. The Marquis and Marchioness of Ailsa have re turned to their villa at St. Margaret's, Richmond, where a f a mily party, consisting of Lord and Lady Frederick Gor don, Earl of Cassilis, and the Countess of Newburgh have be, m on a visit. ,T...ord Brougham has taken a residence at Worthing until' the latter end of February. His Lady and the junior brawnies of his family have arrived at Worthing, and are sojouri ling at the Sea House Hotel. Lord Boringdon, who has been sojourning at his seat at _North Molton, has left for Plymouth. The Marquis of Lansdowne has been ten days at Bowond Park with the Marchioness, the Ladies Fitzmau• • rice, and Lord Henry Fitzmaurice. Lady Mary Paget arrived at Dover on Sunday, from Paris. Baron Maltitz arrived at Ashburnham House on "Tuesday from Norwood, and was engaged with business of a .n important nature until late yesterday evening. Lablache's father was a Frenchman, and his mother a . Neapolitan. He himself was born at Naples ; and in r eference to his Colossal size, he has been called " Le veri t able Grus tle Naples." The Duke of Norfolk is now at Arundel Castle, b usily occupied in examining and expediting the settlement or all his tradesman's bills, which, is his Grace's uniform pr active before the close of every year. His Grace the Duke of Wellington gave a grand dint ter on Tuesday evening to his Noble visitants at Strath fiel doay, among whom are the Marquis and Marchioness of Salistbury, Earl and Countess of Wilton, Lord and Lady Ma. hon, and Viscount Strangford. No branches of the family are there ; the Marquis of Douro, has been visiting at li'Dwick and Alnwick Castle, and Lord Charles Wel lesley' is with his regiment, the Northumberland Fu sileers, at Go; port , where he commands the depot. His Grace will pal ;3 the Christmas at Stratfieldsaye, and then de part on .his annual visiting tour. Mr _Duke of Richmond arrived at Goodwood yes terday. His Grace dined with his Majesty on Tuesday. Doddington Castle, the scat of Sir Bethel Codring ton, is empeeted to be the scene of much festivity the second week in January, in honour of the approaching alliance of his son, C. N. Codrington, Esq., M.P., who succeeded the Duke of Beaufort in the representation of ale southern divi sion of the County, to Lady Georgiana Somerset, second .d au ghter of the Noble Duke. We hear with much pleasure that Mr. Monck • Mason has undertaken to publish an account of the inte resting lEronautical Voyage in the Great Vauxhall Bal loon, which carried Mr. R. Holland, Mr. C. Green, and himself, from London to Nassau, in the short space of 14 poi rs. On Thursday morning a dreadful occurrence took place at Caebraich-y-cafu quarry, which terminated in the loss of life to five labouring men , and the severe injury of tw o ann. These ill-fated men bad been employed in do a portion of slate-rock from its bed, preparatory to its beinc operated upon by the quarry men, when the mass •auadeuly - gave way, in consequence of the subsoil having been loosened by the heavy rains which have for some time • ,prevailed , overwhelming those unfortun a t es i n the fragments Ana rubbish.—Canzbrian. , Le.Progres of Arras publishes th e f o ll o wing 4. sad, account of the mental state of health of General ( Count I Sehastiani has been transmitted to Paris by the te legraph.- This diplomatist is said to have had a second attack of the affecon, which threatened his mental facul- Ities last. year. The London climate h as brou g ht on a dan- Verous fit of the spleen.—Commerce. TORY DINNER AT AYLESBURY. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sta—As a lover of truth I cannot allow the late Tory meeting at Aylesbury, which has been trumpeted forth as a gathering of all the wealth, talent, and respectability of the county, to be so foisted on the public without making them acquainted with a few facts within my own knowledge, and then a pretty correct idea may be formed of the rest. First, then, the gentlemen whose names figured in the list took tickets to the value of 51. each, and distributed them to any person who would have them gratis. In a parish not three miles from Buckingham a curate, who, if he showed a tithe of the zeal for the souls of his flock that he does for their electioneering votes, would be an ornament to his cloth, mustered fifteen to go to the dinner, of whom only one was a freeholder, and that one (a most useful person at such a meeting) being Cross, the rat catcher, the coach-hire being paid either by the Reverend Gentleman or his patron. From Stony Stratford, amongst others, went Mr. Atkins, the tailor, ard four of his appren tices ; and were it not taking up too much of your valuable space, I could mention many more instances of the wealth, &c., of the county." As a tribute to the efficacy of the new Poor Law Act, the meeting is invaluable, as denoting the many who have during its operation been rescued from the degradation of paupers, and enabled to meet the Tory gentlemen of Buckinghamshire at dinner on an equal political footing. At least one-third who went from this neigbourhood were of this class.—l am, Sir, your obedient servant, A FREEHOLDER OF BUCKINGHAM. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. BELGIUM. BRUSSELS, DEC. 11.—General Van Halen arrived yes-- terday at Brussels, returning from Spain. The 3d and 4th battalions of the 2d regiment of infantry of the line, which were in garrison at Hasselt, left that place yesterday for the camp at Beverloo, to relieve the Ist and 2d battalion of the same regiment, which are to take their place at Hasselt. DEC. 12.—The Chamber, in its sitting to-day com menced the discussion of the Budget of Ways and Means. The Hon. M. Doignon made a speech which might be said to be out of place, so strange it is now to hear in the Cham ber words such as he uttered. This speech, if it made but little impression on the Camarilla, will excite attention in the country. We rejoice at the manner in which the representative of Tournay has characterised the proceed ings of the Government in many affairs in which it has med dld. This speech of M. Doignon, filling no less than eight columns of the Moniteur Beige, commences with the following observations : " I cannot consent any longer to leave the General So ciety, or rather the Bank of William, in possession of the coffers of the States-General opinion, the remonstrances of the press and even the public clamour, make it our duty immediately to oppose a barrier to the continually increas ing progress of this new power. The coffers of the State in the hands of the General Society place at its disposal in the course of the year an enormous capital paid by the people, and of which it takes all possible advantage to sup port its speculations, and to extend more and more its ope rations in all our provinces. Thus it is with our own money, that this Society carries on its business, and in the end the benefit which results from it is principally for King William, who possesses almost all the shares ; and at the same time for the financial gentlemen connected with the Bank, who all speculate with the money of the tax-payers. But the financial system which induced King William to give to this Bank the coffers of the State, is not compatible with the new order of things. According to the law on the Budget, the produce of the taxes is exclusively destined for payment of the expenses of the State, and the Go vernment cannot be permitted to make, or to suffer others to make, a different use of them. In the sitting of the 13th, M. Gendebien announced his intention to propose the abolition of the stamp duty on fo reign newspapers. BELGIAN 1. UN DS—BRUSSELS, DEC. 13 Actual Debt, 2% per Cent. Rothschild's Loan, 5 per Cent. lOO% Loan of Thirty Millions 94% Loan of City, 183'2, 4 per Cent lOl society of Commerce, 4 Y.per Cent 142 Bank of Belgium, 5 per Cent 131% • —Brussels Papers, Dec. 14. GERMANY. VIENNA, DEC. 3.—Fresh despatches have been re ceived from Naples, from his Majesty the King ; the day for his marriage with the Archduchess Theresa is in conse quence fixed for the 7th of January, and Trieste as the place where the ceremony is to take place. The bride, accom panied by her father and suite, will leave Vienna at the latter end of this month, and the Prince of Salerno pre cedes them only a few days to receive the King at Treiste. In the course of this month there will be several fetes in honour of the bride. The Austrian National Bank has fixed the half-year's dividend (besides a large addition to the reserve fund) at 29 florins per share. This dividend being so very high, it might be expected that the Bank shares should rise in price, and that they do not must be ascribed to the still ex isting scarcity of money. The shares in the Emperor Ferdinand's North Rail-road have fallen again to 106,1 ; the only reason for which, however, is that intelligence has been received from Milan that the Emperor has given his assent to the making of an iron rail-road between Milan and Venice, by which a new scope is given to the spirit of spe culation. (From the Frontiers of Italy.) Nov. 31.—1 t is affirmed that the Government of Turin has discovered by the late arrests things which nobody dreamt of. The vigilance of the authorities was conse quently doubled. It is now known from Genoa, whither many strangers are drawn by commercial connections, that intrigues were carried on, the object of which was the over throw of the monarchical principle in all Italy. The means which the conspirators had at their disposal gave ground for a conjecture that a powerful hand supported them. It is not clear on what ground, or for whose advantage, such a scheme was ventured on, but it seems already to result from the investigations that the fear of losing influence, and the hope of deriving more advantage from the revolution in Spain, if the fire could be communicated to Italy, were at the bottom of these intrigues. What passed in the first French revolution is repeated almost literally, and the re cruits are distributed almost in the same manner. lam not yet at liberty to speak more plainly, but those who do not hesitate to speculate on the general ruin, will understand • what has been said, and will perceive that they are seen through, and their principles understood. AUSTRIAN FUNDS.—VIENNA, DEC. 5. Five per Cents. Metalliques Four per Cents. Three per Cents. s a nk Shares 1362% —Allgemeine Zeitung, Dcc. 10. GERARD'S HALL TAVERN, BASING-LANE Yesterday evening, about 180 gentleman, friends to Mr, You nghusband, the landlord of this very excellent tavern, held their annual dinner, Mr. Alderman Thomas Wood in the Chair. The meeting was one of conviviality, but the manner in which the health of his Majesty's Ministers was received, after the usual toasts had been given, proved that although the party had not met, for political purposes, the citizens of London were prepared to support the present administration in the coming struggle. The dinner and wines were of first-rate quality, and every thing passed off with the greatest harmony, to which the professional gentle man present c ontributed by some excellent glees and songs. Amon; the viands was a Cumberland pie, made for the occasion, weighing 187 lbs., containing 2 fat geese, 1 leveret, 2 capons, 2 brace of grouse, 2 brace of pheasants, 2 brace of partridges, 3 brace of snipes, 3 woodcocks, and 2 tongues. It is but justice to the landlord to say that Ge rard's Hall, from its central situation and superior arrange ments, affords the very best accommodation to those whose business brings them to the city. The Courrier du Pas de Calais gives a letter of the Bth inst. from Boulogne, containing the following list of disasters from the continued tempestuous gales which suc ceeded the hurricane of the 29th ult. :—" On Saturday, the 3d, the English three-masted vessel Alfred and Thomas, Captain Sergeant, was wrecked on the coast at Ningle, and out of her crew of 16, the captain, the mate, and seven men only were saved. The greater part of the cargo is lost ; but a chest, containing 25,000 francs in silvei, has been recovered. On Monday the English schooner Mary, in ballast, went ashore at St. Frieux ; crew saved. On Tuesday, an English three-masted vessel, which for two days had been beating on and off the coast, was brought into Wissant Bay by the fishing-boats of Calais and Bou logne, she having been abandoned by her captain and crew. All her masts were gone clean by the board. She was yesterday towed into Calais harbour by the steam packet Britannia. This morning the Naiade brig, of Dun kirk, of 180 tons, in coming from Havre with coffee and skins, was wrecked near Dannes. Seven of the crew and two passengers were drowned; two only made the shore. We have great pleasure in being able to state that none of our boats have been lost, although several have sustained great damage." RAIN IN OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER. —We have heard many persons express an opinion that the present sea son has been the wettest ever remembered ; but this opinion is not quite correct, as appears from the following account of the quantity of rain which fell at Manchester in the months of October and November, for three different years, for which we are indebted to the kindness of Dr. Dalton : _ .....__ INCHES. In 1824, October and November yielded 12.4 In 1825 11.6 In 1836 These are the three wettest seasons that Dr. Dalton has ever observed at Manchester ; so that the present, though not the worst, has only been exceeded by two others during a period of, we believe more than forty years.—Manchester Guardian. THE StTN, LONDON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1836. MEETING of the COUNTY of CLARE, solution, although he was opposed to the principle of volun tary aid for such a purpose. lie hoped this would be the last time they would be called together for such purpose ; but a system of poor-laws would shortly be introduced by the Legislature, which would entitle the poor to be fed by assessment on the rich.—(Loud cheers.) On the motion of W. R. MAHON, Esq., seconded by CHARLES O'CONNELL, Esq., a Committee was appointed to apply to persons connected with the county for con tributions. Dean O'SHAUGHNESSY and HEWITT BRIDGMAN, Esq., M.P., having addressed the meeting, Mr. STEELE was called for, and moved the next resolu- IN FAVOUR OF POOR LAWS. (From the Clare Journal.) On Saturday, pursuant to requisition to the High Sheriff, a meeting took place in the Court-house, the High Sheriff, John O'Brien, Esq., in the chair. The HIGH SHERIFF said they were assembled on an oc casion affecting the well-being, he might add the existence, of a numerous portion of the community. The distress that prevailed was of a most painful character, and prospects, unless alleviated by timely aid. were still more alarming. On the question of some Legislative provision for the poor of Ireland, which now occupied the contemplation of the Government, there existed much undue and indefinite ap prehension, and on examination they would find that the arguments against poor-rates were derived more from the incidental and available abuses which had attended their administration in England, than from any inherent defect in that great principle which declared that the protec tion of life, no matter how assailed, whether by violence or by famine, was the great basis of human institu tions, and the first duty of a civilised community. Re specting that part of the poor-laws which provided for the infirm and aged, he believed there now existed but one sentiment, and public opinion was divided but on that department which provided employment for the able-bodied labourer. Yet, if they analyzed the principles which sustained the one they would find them identified with those which recommended the other. The protection of pro perty, next to that of life, was among the paramount du ties of society. Was it not our duty to give effect to this principle not alone in favour of the more affluent classes, but also to protect the value of that which constituted the sole wealth of the poor, the power of productive industry ? It was apprehended that they would be inundated by a list of applicants for employment, but let the public, as it had been briefly put to the lowest paymaster and the hardest task-master, let its wages be under the average customary rate in the respective districts, and they would have few if any collusive or indolent applications. A great portion of the land of the country was in the hands of an absentee proprietary, who generally were forgetful of those interests from which they were removed, and indifferent to the well being of a population with whose character or condition they were entirely unacquainted. The absentee, by the fact of his position, forgot the duties which attached to property, and was reckless of misery which he had not seen ; he was removed from the sympathies which should con trol him ; he was not identified with his tenantry, with their feelings, or prejudices ; his pride was not involved in their condition—it was not gratified by their prosperity—it was not mortified by their impoverishments ; he was obnoxious to public opinion. This condition was calculated to coun teract, in his relations with the country, the tendencies of his nature, and it not unfrequently happened that the mu nificent English landlord, whose liberality was the theme of merited panegyric, derived the very sources of his munifi cence from the sufferings and privations of an Irish tenantry. " Gentlemen," continued he, " you will say whether this picture is drawn from imagination or from fact. An absen tee tax has been suggested. I am not aware if such, in the present intimate relations of the empire, be either prac ticable or advisable, but it is clear that a well-regulated poor-rate would in a degree have the effect of an ab sentee tax, from which the resident landed proprietors would derive important advantages. We should be re lieved from the painful sense of living in the midst of a fa mishing population. We should enjoy that security which results from the habits of a people taught to respect the laws as the fountain of their well-being ; the physi cal and moral condition of the country would progres sively improve, and the higher or more affluent ranks, whe ther resident or absentee, would be compelled, by the urgent sense of self-interest, to superintend the wants and ameliorate the condition of the humbler classes of the coun tion, which was—" That this country can never enjoy peace, nor progress in civilization, till every man is made to know that he has a right to support from the soil on which he stands a freeman." He said, when I state to you the subject on which a resolution has been put into my hands, a subject of such deep, and solemn, and awful importance to Ireland, you may be very probably disposed to believe that I intend making a very long speech, but I shall not. The subject of the resolution is the recognition of the necessity of a poor-law for Ireland.—( Hear.) No, I shall not make a very long speech at this late hour of the evening ; but when you call to memory the nature of the purpose for which we have been convened on our requisition, and the deeply afflicting circumstances of the peasantry of our country in conse quence of the incessant deluges of rain which have fallen for the last two months, you will, I am quite sure, not re fuse me your attention for a few minutes.—(Hear.) Our Chairman the High Sheriff has, with that depth of public wisdom and private discretion and delicacy for which he is so remarkable, expressed his hope that no topic would be introduced by any of the speakers which could interrupt the harmony which ought to characterise this meeting. I am a man of innate power, of icy ethical calculation, and of a stern and gloomy energy of nature in pursuing my pur poses, which fit me for the very fiercest turmoil and conflict of the business of the world ; and I have a kind of rude power, generated by habit, in addressing public assemblies ; that rude power is not eloquence but even if it were elo quence, and " though I spake with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am only as a piece of sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal," and I should be an outcast traitor to the cause of charity and humanity if I were this day to make any allusion, either political or pri vate, which could congeal those streams of balmy sympa thy which, I can perceive with delight, are in dulcet flow from the fountains of your souls.—(Great cheering.) It is not at all my intention to enter on this occasion into any details on the subject of a poor-law for Ireland ; and this for a twofold cause. In the first place, the resolu tion which has been put into my hand by my Reverend Friend and Pastor, Mr. Adamson, only goes to the recog nition of the abstract principle of a poor law, without at all committing this meeting to any opinion or theory on practi cal details ; a subject intervolving in it stupendous dcul ties to one so minutely acquainted as I am with the moral organization of Ireland.—(Hear, hear.) And, secondly, even if this were my duty, as the mover of the resolution, it would be quite unnecessrry, after the luminous exposition of the general subject which was given in the speech with which John O'Brien, of Elmvale, has opened this meeting ; and now I come directly to the performance of my duty— and with respect to the abstract principle of a poor law for Ireland, founded on the immutable instinct of human nature that, under all ordinary cases, self-preservation is nature's primal law ; I say that lam very much disposed to be lieve that I have given evidence, written with my own hand, to the Commissioners of Inquiry into the state of the poor of Ireland, more powerfnl than any other person whose tes timony was taken down, for I have had snore familiar in tercourse with the perpetrators of agrarian outrage in Ireland than any other living man, for I was among the Terry Alts of Clare, and the Whitefeet in Kilkenny, at mid-day and at midnight during the times of both insurrec tions.—( Hear, hear, and cheers.) The Whitefeet leaders were some of the most diabolical miscreants who ever infected the world with their pestiferous existence ; but I wrate with my own hand for Mr. Spencer and his col league—for Mr. Spencer, that most amiable English gentle man, whose every sentiment was, and is, a sentiment of bene volence towards Ireland, I wrote for them, I say, with my own hand, that the " outbreak of the Terry Alt insurrection in the county—an outbreak which originated in destitution and despair—was the very poor-law of nature, and that the first Terry Alts were not only justified and sanctified, but that they would not be justified before earth or before heaven, unless they had done it." I of course only speak of the out break which was the immediate, natural, inevitable, and sanctified result of their utter destitution, without any shadow of sympathy on the part of the landlords. I assuredly do not speak of those frightful and revolting atrocities, the rob beries, and cold-blooded murders, and dancing reels in female costume, and with painted faces, and their guns in their hands around dying victims, which subsequently disgraced our country, and froze the blood with horror at the recital. I knew, and told at the time, that things would inevitably go on from bad to worse, unless measures were taken for the relief of the destitute, for the example of the violation of the law of society by the destitute was followed by those who were not in destitution ; and that which was justifiable and sanctified in one case was deeply criminal in the other. By rebelling against the law of society in Ireland, which afforded him no succour, the truly destitute human being proved his allegiance to the paramount law of nature. Was he calmly to see his wife and children perishing around him with hunger, and to perish himself; in a country where there not only was no scarcity, but where there was a profusion and supera bundance of food, as fine in quality as any in Europe ? I recollect I wrote in my evidence, for my friend Mr. Spencer, and often alluded to it afterwards when I passed evenings with him at his house in Dublin, the question so powerfully put, and with such pathetic power, by some of the first Tery Alts in this county when they could not get as much ground as even a quarter of an acre to sow potatoes—" Are we to see our wives and children starving around us ? are we to look on at this quietly, and to starve ourselves, in the neigh bourhood of great tracts of land and districts where bullocks are splitting with fat, to be exported to England to pay the rents of absentees, who are utterly regardless of what be comes of us, from whom their incomes and luxuries are derived. Remember again and again, I only speak in justcation of the outbreak ; for under the auspices of a great and mighty leader, I have done in my time, by personal ex ertion to put down agrarian insubordination, when it became outrage, and to get up arms, and keep Ireland quite, more than any other man who was ever born in Ireland. In my evidence before the Poor-Law Inquiry Commissioners I also quoted a passage from Crabbe's Poem, " The Hall of Justice," which I am of opinion contains in it more of the pure essence o f the universal and eternal principle of a poor-law, than anything I ever met in the course of my existence. A gipsy is brought by a beadle before a magistrate in his " Hall of Justice" (from which the poem takes its name), with a sick child in her arms—she is charged with having seized without sanction some food which she gave the child. The magistrate presiding in his hall of justice, when this unhappy woman is brought before him, is described by the reverend poet as being a gentleman of most humane and benignant spirit and feeling, a man like Mr. Malony, of Kiltannon, who sits opposite to me, and who, although ve hemently opposed to me in political sentiment, I know to be, as a man and a magistrate, most upright, honourable, and practically benevolent.—( A burst of applause through the court which lasted for some minutes.) Well, Mr. High Sheriff, reverend gentlemen, and gentlemen, the gipsey tells her story, a story of the humblest life, but of appalling horror—accursed force and incest, the midnight murder of I a father by his son in the forest of Blaekburne, a direful imprecation, and many other circumstances of terror. But I am not going to give you a poetical recitation of any part of it beyond that which I wrote for the Poor-law Commis sioners, as in my opinion containing the sublimated and con centrated essence of the poor-law principle. I said she was accused of the crime of seizing, without sanction of the owner, the food which she had given to her child. In an guish and bitterness of soul, she ironically and scarcastically rolls back the term—" crime." "My crime 1 ! this sickening child to feed, I seized the food your witness saw ; I knew your laws forbade the deed, But yielded to a stronger law. " Know'st thou not to Nature's great command, All human laws are frail and weak ? Nay, frown not—stay his eager hand, And hear me, or my heart will break ! " es, Mr. High Sheriff, and other men of Clare, " Nature's great command" for self preservation, and still more power fully for the preservation of those whose existence is de pendent on ours, is paramount to all the laws and institu tions of artificial society ; and if any human being in the midst of a social system, whether in the metropolis of an em pire, . or a remote part of the country, unable by disease or infirmity to labour, or being able and willing to work, without being able to obtain employment to maintain his fa mily and himself, be left to starve, he is, I say, bound by no tie to that society ; as far forth as he is concerned, he is to that so ciety, in a state of nature, as it has given proof that it has no sympathy with him, and will give him no succour in his ghastly extremity. I affirm that in this case there arc no reciprocal rights and duties between them, and that he is warranted by " Nature's great command," in comparison with which " all human laws are frail and weak,' in tak ing by violence from any one who refuses him succour in that extr e mity, what may be necessary for immediate self-preservation or immediate preservation of those beings utterly dependent on him, just, this much, but no more. —(Hear, hear.) Remember, Ido not speak of idlers who are able and are unwilling to labour. If a man will not work, being able to do it, why what is he fit for but to starve? and let him starve and manure the ground with his carrion. Why should he be supported by the sweat and labour of others, without his giving to society any reciprocal benefit by throwing something into the common stock of that society by his exertions ?—( Hear, hear.) In discussing the subject on which I have moved the resolution given me by the coin- try. It is apprehended that a poor-rate may encroach upon rental ; but whatever part is so applied will produce an abundant equivalent ; and I know no more appropriate application of national rental than in protecting the great body of the people from periodical starvation ; nor let it be feared that such will supersede the exercise of pri vate charity, for let legislation do its best, enough of human misery will survive to call into action the bene volent sympathies of our nature. Look to England, and notwithstanding the oppressive expenditure of an abused poor-rate, where has the tide of charity flowed in a nobler course, where have charitable institutions been more muni ficently endowed, and when has human wretchedness in its infinite varieties been more abundantly provided for ? It is a mistake to suppose that the habitual contemplation of unre lieved misery is promotive of the humaner tendencies of our nature ; the contrary is the fact ; we feel that the mass of suf ferings transcends all our exertions to remove, we are dis heartened by the incomparative inutility of our efforts, we abandon ourselves to a criminal but natural indifference, and those feelings which were at first harrassed becomes ultimately the too familiar spectacle of human wretchedness. The immediate object of the meeting is to provide for a numerous portion of the distressed who are entirely de pendent upon public aid for support. The poor of our county town are swollen by an influx from the country, who from various causes, whether compulsory or other wise, seek relief within its more accessible charities, and I am persuaded that the landed proprietary of the county will feel that it becomes their duty equally with more im mediate residents of the town to contribute to the alle viation of the existing distress. In concluding, allow me to express my earnest hope that no topic may be intro duced tending to alienate the feelings of any class of the country, for whatever has the effect to disturb our unanimity will essentially impair the efficacy of our proceedings." CORNELIUS O'BRIEN, Esq., M.P., in moving the first resolution, made some general observations as to the objects of the late Act of Parliament, and stated as his conviction that it was passed in contemplation of other Acts following, such as district or baronial fever hospitals, and likely a gene ral system of poor-laws. He objected to any thing like a censure being passed upon the Bill, as it might be supposed to reflect blame upon the individual who brought it in, than whom, he felt convinced, there was not a purer or higher minded man ever held office, the Hon. Baron O'Loghlen. So far as the Hon. Baron was concerned, he knew that he had been opposed in Committee almost upon every clause of the Bill, and it was as much as he possibly could do to have it passed. He concluded by moving, " That thi s meeting finds with regret that the funds of the House of In dustry are exhausted, while poverty, from the inclemency of the season, the dearness of provisions, and the scarcity o f fuel, is fearfully on the increase." Mr. KNox observed, in reply to Mr. O'Brien, that there had been no intention whatever of passing censure upon any person, and least of all upon Baron O'Loghlen, for he was not aware that it was the Baron who had brought in the Bill. ANDREW FINUCANE, Esq., seconded the resolution. J. MALONY, Esq., moved, " That while the rate of expenditure for the current year, for the support of the institution which shelters aged, infirm, and destitute per sons from all parts of the county, exceeds 1,5001. per an num, the ability of the Grand Jury, by the late Act of Parliament to meet this expenditure, is limited to 1,0001. per annum." Lucius O'BRIEN, Esq., seconded the resolution. Previous to moving the adoption of the petition, it was read by Mr. KNOX. The following is a copy : " To the Right Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom in Parliament assembled, The Petition of the undersigned inhabitants of "the County of Clare, " Humbly showeth—That we, the undersigned inhabitants of the county of Clare, humbly approach your Honourable House, entreating your attention to the following statement respecting the county houses of industry and mendicity for the past year, and of their present situation. " That for some years past there have been supported, in both houses, numbers varying from fifty to two hundred per sons ; that from the increasing poverty of the people the num bers have been increased in the present year to three hundred and ninety-two, being the utmost that could be accommodated within its walls, and that this number could be still greatly in creased had the building afforded room, or the funds been suffi ciently large. " That the sum necessary to support this number now in the house, at the present rate of provisions, would amount to about fifteen hundred pounds per annum, and which sum your petitioners have no doubt would be cheerfully afforded by the Grand Jury and rate-payers, had not the 88th section of a Bill passed in your Honourable House during the last session of Parliament, called the New Grand Jury Bill, prohibited any larger sums being granted for the support of such institution than the sum of one thousand pounds per annum. " That at the time when public feeling is so unequivocally expressed in favour of a provision not alone for the aged and infirm, but for the unemployed, your petitioners deplore the seeming want of sympathy for public distress which such a clause evinces, and your petitioners feel called upon to pro test against such legislation as takes from the people at large the power of taxing themselves for the support of their dis tressed poor. " That your petitioners therefore pray your Honourable House to alter, or altogether repeal, such clause, and give the people the power of levying, by county cess, such sum as they may think necessary for the maintenance of their poor. And your petitioners will ever pray." JOHN SINGLETON, Esq., proposed the adoption of the petition. He thought every day showed the necessity more and more for a system of poor-laws. He considered the people had now a duty to perform—that of instructing their Members as to what their opinions were, and it was a sub ject which ought to be fully discussed. He understood from the best authority that the Act would be amended early next session, particularly in relation to the medical chari ties, and that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was most anxious it should be done. PIERSE CARRICK, Esq., seconded the resolution, and pledged himself to use his best exertions to alleviate the public distress. Upon the resolution to apply for subscriptions to the landed and monied interest in favour of the poor, JOHN MACNAMARA, Esq., said he readily moved the re mittee, it is, in my opinion, of paramount necessity that the term property should be most distinctly defined ; and in my opinion that which is the private " property" of any in dividual in society, is only the residue which remains after all those outgoings are paid from it which place it under the general protection of the society in which that indivi dual has his existence, and it cannot by possibility be, in my opinion, under the general protection of the society if there be a numerous body of individuals existing in it, but virtually not members of it ; viz., being unbound by any social compact, as being left to perish for want without sympathy of those who are its members. Those mem bers, therefore, by refusing sympathy to those individuals in their extremity, place their society in the, state of na ture to those individuals, and consequentlirry, inevitable reciprocation, those individuals in a state:of nature to them, and the next step, resulting by inevitable moral neces sity, will be that the state of nature will change itself into a state of warfare, of justifiable, sanctified war fare. I give utterance to these sentiments after years of deliberation. There are persons who think, in con sequence of the fervour of my delivery in public speaking when I speak on heart-stirring subjects, that I speak under the influence of sudden impulses. I never act or speak under sudden impulses when I find that the sub ject is one which requires calm deliberation. A pretty fool I should be, with my desperate knowledge of human life and human nature, in so many varieties, if I could be that contemptible, intellectual whirligig, eulogised by the maudlin writers of bad novels as " a creature of impulse."— (Cheers.) And now, Mr. High Sheriff, my Reverend Friends of both creeds, and my lay friends and brethren, Protestant and Catholic, I am quite sure that you will ac knowledge that the subject of poor laws for Ireland cannot by possibility be alluded to as a matter of practical cha rity, by any practical person such as I am, without making allusion to the opinions of a certain great and mighty man, whom, however, I forbear to name, but who exercises a stupendous influence in the affairs of the empire, and par ticularly of Ireland, and whose opinions on this momentous subject must be allowed by his political foes, as well as his political friends, to carry with them a stupendous weight of importance.—[The High Sheriff here called " Order !" and Mr. Steele proceeded as follows :]—Mr. High Sheriff, I bea of you to call most distinctly to your recollection that at the very commencement of the observations with which I have been endeavouring to support the resolution I have moved, I highly eulogised your most wise admonition, that no subject should be introduced or alluded to, either poli tical or personal, which could tend to the production of discord or disorder of any kind in this meeting for cha rity. My very first coming forward in public life, as will be remembered by many who hear me now, was on an occa sion like the present, at a time of public distress in this my native county, and I would sooner fling myself upon that witness' table, and allow my limbs to be hewn one by one from my body with a hatchet, than be guilty of a moral crime so portentous, so heinous, and so accursed, as on the present occasion to introduce allusion to that mighty man in any manner whatever, except as connected with the cause of holy charity. And, Sir, there are two kinds of charity recognised and inculcated in the sanctified code of Christianity ; first, the charity which consists in acts'of bene ficence by sharing one's property, or one's labour, if he have not property, with the desolate and forlorn—the charity which consists in allaying the agonies and drying up the bloody' sweat of a breaking heart—the charity which con sists in giving benign counsel to our fellow.being to prevent him from going wrong, and a thousand other modifications which I could enumerate of its divine nature and essence. • But, Sir, there is another kind of charity inculcated, not • only by the law of nature, but by the code of our religion, whether we be Protestants, Catholics, or other Dissenters from the Church of England ; and it is that ethereal meaning of the term charity, that sentiment of our moral • nature, " Bright effluence of bright essence increate," emanating directly from the Holy of Holies, the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, which whispers in the voice of sera• phim to our souls to take care that the character of a fel• low-being shall not unjustly suffer.—(Cheering.) The HIGH SHERIFF, in terms of the most refined con! , esy, here assured Mr. Steele, that so far was he from al• aiding to him, or anything he had said, when he called or• der, that he called order for the express purpose of getting him heard more distinctly. Mr. STEELE expressed his obligation to Mr. O'Brien, and proceeded—That great and mighty personage to whom I have alluded has views on the subject different from mine. He has been thoughtlessly assailed by the thoughtless ; ig norantly by those who wallow in the enjoyment of their ig norance, and will not learn ; basely by the base ; and noi somely by noisomely renegades from his own party, as one who, for sinister and selfish purposes, was opposed to a .• poor-law for Ireland. Now, Sir, although I do, and always did, acknowledge the stupendous power of his arguments against the possibility of a poor-law working practically in Ireland, according to the intention of those who are eager For its introduction, those arguments have not brought con. viction to my mind. But the matter of conviction is one thing, the matter of moral charity is another ; and I here lift up my voice, and give testimony before earth and before heaven, that nothing in nature can be more benign, or, in my opinion, more in unison with the spirit of a man who aspires to be the father of his country, than the sympathy of that mighty personage for the afflicted poor of Ireland, to whom, without talking of politics, but only talking of charity, I have obtained your permission to allude. Men of Clare ! political foe-men as well as political friends, I know you will agree with me that, above all other living human beings, I am bound by sanctified duty to do moral justice to him to whom I have alluded, on a subject connected with charity, on which his character has been unjustly assailed, and for this reason, because although there was a miscon- ception between us, that misconception was voluntarily re moved by him in London, and as if to make his mode of doing it the more nobly gratifying to my feelings, made through my friend and benefactor Cornelius O'Brien. What the cause of the misconception between us was is a matter of no public interest, and one in which no created being except myself has, or ever had, the shadow of any interest ; but be it what it may, I tell you, men of Clare, that when he is unjustly assailed, I, above all other living men, am bound to stand up to give the testimony of justice ; for he removed the misunderstanding which had arisen be tween us in a manner worthy even of the cause of it, for he did it in the gorgeous spirit of the Newton of political science, of the man transcendently in moral power and in fluence the foremost man of the world.—(Applause.) As I want to evolve and stabilitate a principle of practical charity from a comparison between two incidents which I am about to allude to, I rejoice to observe that there are so many of my friends of the medical profession from many parts of our country present on this occasion, as they, above all others, are the most capable of confirming it ; if I am right in the position with regard to human woe which I am about to lay down, and with respect to the general sympathies and feelings of human nature. The first fact which I state with respect to the position which I will presently explain is the following :—When cholera revelled in Limerick in its most appalling character, the hospital of St. Mary's parish in the school-room of the Nuns of St. Clare, among the ruins and gardens of an antique gothic abbey, presented a scene of ghastly horror and agony. On a particular day of which I speak, there might have been in the lone school-room of the nuns about sixty patients suffering under the disease in all the complication of its awful forms—incipient collapse, consecutive fever, some in progress of recovery, some dying ; some were blue, and were, with eyes encircled with black and distorted by tortures, writhing in direful cramps, spasms, and convulsions, and groaning and shrieking, the protracted Ah ! oh ! the baleful cry of the riving agony of cholera. Others were blue living corpses, not actually without vi tality, but virtually dead, utterly beyond the possibility, except by miracle, of recovery. Daughters, exhausted by fatigue and watching, were sleeping on the beds of their mothers ; mothers, exhausted in the same manner, were sleeping on the beds of their children. A Catholic clergy man with a candle lighted near him was administering the rites of religion to a patient to prepare him for eternity— a young woman was in another part of the room hang ing over a patient, most probably her father, with a prayer-book in her hands, which she read to him while he held a crucifix before his deep-sunken eyes. A poor inno cent little being, almost an infant, blue with cholera, and who astounded us all by the tenacity with which, for m any days, it clung to life, was convulsed in spasms, at the end of the room on a little bed on the floor. The gloomy room under this was also filled up as an hospital ; and there were many dead in the dead-house, and one of the bodies had been just given to the friends. As they bore it from under the porch of the convent, recollecting nothing but their own feelings, the wild and . piercing wail of the Irish funeral cry, bursting suddenly from their souls under the windows of the hospital which I have attempted to de scribe. For one moment the cries and groans of agony were stilled—stilled by the effect of the well-known death cry ; and then, on the o ther hand, just as if the trum pet of the Archangel were sounding in the day of the wrath of God, and of his judgment, the blue living c orses made a feeble and shuddering movement. All this was o f course but an evanishing incident ; it endured but for a mo ment and pessed away for ever. But it was a moment never to be forgotten for deep and appalling solemnity ; often have I spoken of it to a deeply-lamented fris, a native o f this country, a young physician of r*t amiable feel ings, and high promise in his profession, who was in at tendance in the hospital at the appalling moment, doing everything that a benignant nature could devise for the al leviation of the disease to which he soon after, alas ! him self became a victim in his attendance at the hospital of this, his native town. Is the scene I have described an affecting one ? Show nie the man who could look unmoved upon such a scene, and I would as soon bold communion with Burke or Hare, if they were to arise from the dead, or with a fiend out of hell, as with the horrific villain,— i -- ( Hear, hear, and cheers.) But it did not, I solemnly 'effirrn"' even that scene of almost mystical horror in the hosp.itak4 the nuns of St. Clare, in a city which I love, and wli i - have a right to love, did not make one half of the dint up --- my heart which was often made bv witneasing the scenes o sl " dreary desolation, and poverty, and nakedness, and hunger, and disease, and despair, in the forlorn habitations in the old town, before we could have them brought into the hos pital. Take an example—and it was not a remarkable one, but most simple. and one of every day's and night's occurrence during the baleful time. A wretched mother discovered by the officers of health, in the dead of night, in a little room high up in one of the old and almost tumbling ruins called houses, in one of the dismal alleys near St. John's-gate and the ancient citadel. The wretched mother, lying on the floor in cholera and collapse ; no bed or any article of food or furniture, not even straw, in the filthy room ; two wretched and half-starved and half-naked children sitting crying near their mother on the floor. This, I say, was a mere common place example of human misery, and is, by the mere substitution of other diseases, a common place everyday example of human misery ; but I select it above all others, because it was after viewing it that I first made the remark which I now repeat here, and repeat :it for the express purpose, if my medical friends who listen to me do not dissent from me, of laying down as a general principle of human feeling. I made the remark to my friend Doctor Franklin, after we had her brought into the ward of St. John's Hospital, where in some days she died. Her wretched orphans, of course, were not left to perish at home. I said to him as we sat with Doctor William Geary by the fire, in the ward of the cholera hospital, after we returned, and after everything was done which skill and humanity could achieve for her recovery, that" it was quite a matter of repose of the heart's feelings to sit in the hospital even among a crowd of patients under agonizing suffering, in comparison with the scene of dreary anguish from which we had returned and scenes of the same character ; because no Matter how in tense the sufferings of the unfortunate patients, or however great their number, they were under human care, and obtain ing the benefit of human sympathy, and of the medical science which had been accumulating through the progress of long ages of investigation." Dr. Franklin and Dr. W. Geary, my fellow-citizens and friends, both agreed with me to the last .extremity in the position I laid down ; and I am confident that there is no dissent from my position among the medi cal men of Clare.—(Cheers.) Mr. High Sheriff and other gentlemen who do me the honour of listening to me with so much patience, the cholera and other hospitals, the sea-fights, the bloody battle-fields, the bombardment, the storming, the sacking and burning of towns and cities, are parts of the awful moral machinery by which the great and complex system of human society is carried on by inevitable fatalism in its progression—and we recon cile ourselves to them, however tremendous, 'necause w e find them a part of that great system of society. But we cannot reconcile ourselves, and our souls recoil with vio lence from the ghastly and appalling and heart-freezing spectacle, even of a single fellow-being perishing in want and desolation, and allowed to endure the baleful agony of the death pang, and to give up the ghost, without human sym pathy or human succour. Men of Clare; and men of Ire land possessing property, you must either support the prin ciple of poor-law for your country—l do not speak of de tails, nor do I speak as a precedent of the English poor law superabounding in abuse: ; I only speak of the principlet--or you must make up your minds to endure the retribution which will be wreaked on you by desperate men, flung out of the pale of the social system by your reckless want of sympathy for them—desperate men to whom you will have placed yourselves in the state of nature by your recklessness of what may be their destiny, and who, of course, will be quite justified in considering themselves in a state of nature; and not only in the state of nature, but of war, to you, to your properties and your lives. Mr. Steele concluded amidst long and continued acclamation. The resolution proposed by Mr. STEELE was seconded by the Rev. W. A. ADAMSON ; and all the resolutions were unanimously agreed to. Thanks were then voted to the Chairman, and the meet ing separated. Major Macnamara was prevented attending the meet ing in consequence of a severe cold ; but he wrote to the High Sheriff very warmly in favour of the object of the meeting. LOSS and RECOVERY of a BANKER'S PARCEL. Some accounts were lately published relating to the loss of a parcel belonging to the Northern and Central Bank of England, which were, in many important particulars, erro neous. The following statement will be found to be correct : On Tuesday morning, the Gth inst., Mr. Evans, the ma nager of the head office in Manchester, arrived in town by mail, having with him a parcel containing about 96,0001. in good bills, 5,000/. in Bank of England notes, 400/. in the notes of country bankers, and 10,0001. in American and other securities. The parcel was placed in a crimson bag and locked. The bag Mr. Evans took with him in a cab from the New Post-office, to St. Paul's Coffee-house. The bag, with its contents, was lost, but the loss was fortunately discovered before daylight, and was immediately made known to Mr. Braidley, one of -the directors, who happened at the time to be in London. Immediate steps were taken by Mr. Braidley and Mr. Evans to recover the property ; their first. efforts, however, were unavailing, and Forrester, the officer, was consulted. Mr. Braidley and Mr. Evans thought of of fering a high reward for the recovery of the parcel ; but, b♦ the judicious advice of Forrester, it was determined to offer by band-bill a reward of 10/. only for the delivery of a crim son bag, describing it, and the manner of its being lost, at St. Paul's Coffee-house, no mention of banker's parcel, or banker's office, or any idea of the value of the parcel being given. The bag was found by the horse-keeper in the stable yard, some hours after the cabman had put his horse, and gone to bed, his duty being night-work ; and it was thrown by the finder under some straw in a vacant stall. When the cabman went to take out the horse again, the horse keeper told him of the booty, and they together determined to keep the bag the three days allowed by law, and then, if no reward was offered to take it to Somerset House. Two men then knew of the loss, and it could not be wrongly ap propriated by either without their joint privity. ' The cab man had taken his fare out of his turn, and was complained of by the cabman whose turn he had taken, as he repassed the stand near the Post-office ; and the former, to excuse himself; replied, " Oh, it was no great catch, for I only got a shilling-fare for taking a gentleman to St. Paul's Cof fee-house." It happened that one of the hand-bills fell into the hands of the disappointed cabman, who, putting things together, concluded that it related to his rival of the morn ing, and forthwith went to him with the news, and finally a bargain was struck, that the two cabmen and the horse keeper should share the reward among them, and the par cel was delivered at St. Paul's Coffee-house by the three men, about 8 o'clock in the eyening,being within 13 hours of the time when the parcel was lost. It is right to mention that 10/. was given to each of the .hree men who aided the speedy delivery of the parcel to its owners. In the course of the day, when the loss was made known, rumour magnified the disaster, as far as the result to the Bank was concerned, and on Wednesday its credit became exceedingly shaken in quarters vitally important to its sta bility and efficiency. A consultation upon the affair imme diately took place between the principal London agents and the chief manager in London, when an intimation was conveyed to them to the following effect :—That if they were pressed, the Bank of England was ready to advance them any sum to carry them over their temporary difficul ties. The offer of the Bank of England was finally ac cepted, and the doubts and fears occasioned by the rumour soon subsided. We stated in our last that the Reformers of the county o f mid-Lothian contempl a t e d i nv i t i ng W. Gib son Craig, Esq., to a dinner, and it will be observed that the day is now fixed for the 22d current. Mr. Craig nobly and closely contested for the county with the present Member at the last election ; and, we believe, when he enters the lists again, as he assuredly will in the event of a dissolution of Parliament, he is as sure of a seat in the House of Com mons as he is of one on the right hand of the Chairman at the dinner in the White Hart Inn, Dalkeith, on Thursday week.--Caledonian 'Mercury. AIR. BULWER's NEW DRAMA TIIE DUCHESS DE Lfr. VALLIERE.—We are requested to state that the publication of Mr. Buliver's new Drama the Duchess de la Valliere, is postponed to the 4th of January, on which day it will be issued by Messrs. Saunders and Otley, Con duit-street, to orders addressed to them or their agents in Dublin and Edinburgh, or to the booksellers throughout the kingdom. On Friday last, while the Maid of Morven steamer was lying at Bannavie Locks, two of the crew were engaged • in carrying bags of meal on shore ; owing to the darkness of the night they did not observe the indentation made for the gate when opened, and they unfortunately fell into the lock, in which there was at the time seventeen feet of water. The accident was observed by the rest of the crew, and lights instantly procured ; but all the exertions made to save the men were vain, one of them having gone to the bottom immediately on falling, and the other, though struggling above the water for about three minutes, ere as sistance could reach him, also sunk to rise no more.--4n verzess Courier. DRESS.—In the reign of Henry VI., the ladies forbore their trains, and substituted borders of skins, velvet, or other materials, equally wide, and sometimes wider than a whole breadth of velvet. Their heads were decorated with stuffed rolls in the shape of round bonnets, gradually diminishing, to the height of half or three-fourths of ara ell, with loose kerchiefs or veils at the top, hanging down l ie hind as low as the ground ; they had large girdles of s;.lk with expensive clasps, and round their neck collars or chains o I gold.—Minor.