The Sun. — London, England, 1840-03-17 00:00:00

I 'ASHIONABLE INTELLIGENCE. ARRIVALS. The Marquis and Marchioness of Anglesea, from Sheer tiesB • Colonol Bulkeley Hughes, M.P., at Long's Hotel, fford-street, from Plascoek, Anglesea; the Hon. and ev • Neville G renv ill e , i n Hill-street ; Lady Barrington, orp, .P.. itT ibthSlarlb orough House ; Lord and Lady Warwick, LordLadY Carnarvon, and Lord Porchester; Colonel at the Burlington Hotel; Rev. Mr. th c e ll ` mb er M g, from Brighton ; Mr. Duncombc, from ditto ; th Hishop of Hereford and the Hon. Mrs. Musgrave, at Nl!ilowager Lady Waterpark's, in Hereford-street *(l.tenant-General the Hon. Sir Robert O'Callaghan, in 4 1 %1,00-place ; Mr. Robertson, at Fenton's Hotel; Mr. :4'...bert Gordon, in Great George -street; F. B. Beamish, M•P , in Jer m y n - s t ree t. from G renv ill e -H ouse , mIl k; Sir George aud Lady Mackenzie and family, at i i'ar*hall Thompson's Hotel, Cavendish-square, from South shrb, 111 °n ;. John Richards, Esq., at ditto; the Lady Oran at ditto. DEPARTURES. 3 h r • and Mrs. Peareth and family, from Marshall Thomp- N ° V .'s Cavendish-square, for Sandgate ; Baron Von erther, with desp ' atches, r Berlin ; Mr. and Mrs. Ro bertenl6g, fro m Fenton's Hotel, for Staffordshire ; Sir t , . ' ll3 d Lady Harland, from Thomas's Hotel, fur Paris ; f ieute nant-Colonel Crawford, for ditto ; Lord Sydney, r°l Kent • Mr. Plumptre, M.P., for K en t ; L or d Giff or d , ' the Continent ; Sir Charles Kni g htl e y, f or N,rthamp °nahire ; Mr. Barneby, M. P., for Hereford ; Mr. Red- Tgton, M. P.,for Galway ; Mr. Martin. M. P., for ditt o ; and;Lady Lucan, from Thomas's Hotel, for Ealeham ' ""se, Staines ; Lord Frederick and Lord Charles Beau clerk, for Lincolnshire. UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE. OXFORD, MARCH 14.—The Professor of Moral Philo. B Phy has given notice that he will resume his lectures in the hall of Exeter College on Monday, the 16th inst., at aqo'clo c k, an d con ti nue t h em on M on d ays, W e d nes d ays, aild Fridays. b ln c onsequence of a scholarship on the found a ti o n o f ;tilt. Clarke being vacant, there will be an election to fill fi. e s ame, d t W orcester C o ll ege, M ay 8; this scholarship Pen to all w h o are b orn o f E ng l i. . h parents, with pre. `- r,evhurch ence to the orph ans o f c l ergymen o f the Established °R Thursday last a Convocation was holden to hear Jesd. th e answers to the addresses presented to her Ma ty the Queen, Prince Albert, and the Duchess of Kent. Girdlestone, patroness of the Rectory of Kelling ,, `al'ncdl-Salthouso, Norfolk, has presented th e R ev. J . G . stone Fellow of New College, to the same. j T he D ean an d Ch arter o f E xeter C athedral having resented the Rev. Marwood Tucker, of B a lli o l C o ll ege, t') thtiled e rectory of St. Martin's, Exeter, he ha s b een insti accordinnly . 'r h Vfaster ar.d Fellows of Balliol College have p re . 3 th n ted the 12,,v. Robert Scott, Fellow of that Society, t o vicarage of Duloe, Cornwall. last Pute r L e Page Renouf, of Guernsey, was on Thursday elecled an exhibitioner on the foundation of the Rev. Oar' in Pembroke College. CA inn , Thu l - " 11111 —, ;MA M.—The Examiners met on in ,.. (1,1 ) last, when it was found that Alexander 131ackall x -4 ' ll ' , of King's, and John Bather, of St. John's, were it Q w: r e r A l Y equal, that the scholarship could not then be re e u• Consequently those two gentlemen arc to to -examined. Lath Peel do es not intend having Until after Ea s t er. any soirees b Tae Sp€aker w ill g i ve fi ve more P ai li amentary th - anquet s in Paton square, w hi c h w ill c l ose t h e ser i es b e f or e e Easte ' ,i. r recess. I he Lord Ch ance ll or and Lady Cottenham en eirtaincd Sir William Pcpvs, the Bishop of Sodnr and Man, r. and Mrs. Wingfield, and a small party at dinner, on Sun 'lay evening at Granvill e Il ov. -,e. The D'owager Lady Cr aven, and Lady Lou i sa Craven are v i s itin g t h e E arl - and Countess Craven at Coombe bbe Ys near Coventry. The Earl and C ountess o f Vcrulam and Lady Mary Grimstone return this week from a visit of several days to the Earl and Countess Craven, who have seers much com pany during the past week at Coombe Abbey. V. Her :\lajest v t h e Queen Dowag er aarty to dinner o n M ar lb or o Saturday la s t, a t Marlborh h !lou d se a . szlect ......_._.______ THFATRE-. COVENT- GARDEN. Romeo and Juliet was perlorirwd at this Theatre la 7,t evening for the first time during the present season. It has seldom been our good fortune to see this exceedingly beautiful tragedy so well cast as on the present occasion. It has hitherto been too often the case with this, as with many of the other masterpieces of Shakspeare, that the two or three so-called principal characters having been given to the leading members of the company, the remainder of the dramatis persona have been en trusted to " Nature's journeymen," who have per sonated humanity so abominably that many of the finest specimens of the Shaksperian poetry are at this moment never heard on the stage, simply be cause they occur in parts for which it has hitherto been the good pleasure of too many managements to cast persons absolutely incom petent to understand or to recite them. Such, however, we are happy to say, was not the case last night. The piece throughout was cast as strongly as the present strength of the company will allow. The costumes were gorgeous and cor rect—the scenery magnificent, more especially the architectural portion of it, and those of our readers who have visited Verona, know well the scope afforded by the rich architectural remains of that fine old city for splendid architecture! illustrations. We would adviqe all the admirers of Shakspeare not to lose this opportunity of seeing Romeo and Juliet. The Juliet of the evening was kiss Jane Mordaunt, who made her debut before a Covent-Garden audience on this occasion. This young lady is the sister of Mrs. Nesbitt, and not unlike her in person and appearance. Her clear dark complexion, her deeply expressive, lustrous black eyes, and her glossy raven hair, render her the very beau ideal of the budding beauty of " the sweet South," just bursting into womanhood. She has evidently been well instructed, and has known how to profit by the instruction she has received. In the scenes with the Num she was arch and playful, and judging from those scenes, we should be inclined to say that comedy was her forte. Some of her tragic bursts, however, were exceedingly fine. In the scene in which the Nurse, after informing her of the death of T)balt, calls down for shame upon the bead of his destroyer Romeo, her manner of giving the passage commencing with— ' " Blistered be thy tongue " For utterance of that wish," completely electrified the audience, and was re warded with loud applause. The scene of taking the poison was also given with considerable effect. She was called for at the conclusion of the tragedy, and led forward . by Anderson, who was the Romeo of the night, and by far the best Romeo at present on the stage. We congratulate this gentleman on the admirable and effective manlier in which he performed this most arduous and difficult part. He should always do as he did last night, trust entirely to himself in the conception and execution of cha racters, and leave imitation to those to whom nature has not vouchsafed the gift of genius. The stage has, at length, once again a Mercutio. We had seen none for many a long day—not since Charles Kemble left the stage--until last evening, when Mr. G. Vandenhoff, on whom, in this character at least, the mantle of Kemble seems to have fallen, made his first appearance before a Metropolitan audience as Mercurio. His is the true Mercutio of Shakspeare—not a buffoon —not a mere fop—but the most witty and finished gentleman of his time. The good taste, sound judgment, and deep, clear voice of Cooper, enabled him to do full justice to the fine poetry with which the part of Friar Lawrence is replete. The Nurse of Mrs. C. Jones, the Peter of Keeley, and the Apothecary of Meadows, are already too well known to every play-goer to stand in need of any extended notice ; but it would be unjust to Mr. Diddear not to mention his Capulet, which was a most efficient and admirable piece of acting. The funeral procession in the fifth act was judiciously omitted, and, instead, between the fourth and fifth acts, the curtain rose, and discovered the interior of a Gothic cathedral, fitted up as for a funeral ceremony, and a solemn dirge was performed by the whole vocal strength of the company ; the effect was sublime. The piece was given out for repetition to-morrow evening, amidst the applause of a fud though not crowded house. Previous to the tra gedy the band performed Steibelt's overture to Romeo et Juliette. We hail this as a symptom of the revival of a taste for the fine compositions of this once celebrated, but now too much neg lected composer. HAYMARKET. This theatre, which opened last night for the season, has been much embellished during the re cess. The boxes have been re-gilt, and a new drop-scene has been added, which is skilfully painted, and produces a pleasing effect. The play selected for the occasion was Hamlet, and the principal character was, of course, performed by Macready. If anything co old reconcile us to the representation of this extraordinary drama—the beauty of which can only be fully appreciated in the quiet seclusion of the closet—it would be the excel lence of this gentleman's acting. His conception of the part is evidently the result of long and dili gent meditation, and his execution is as bold as it is successful in its effect. He repudiates, we see, Goethe's ingenious idea that the madness of Hamlet was the natural—indeed inevitable—consequence of a burden being laid upon shoulders too weak to bear it; and takes for granted that it was a mere feint throughout. The text, in the majority of in stances, would certainly seem to warrant this hy pothesis; but then how is the Prince's brutality— for brutal it unquestionably is—to Ophelia, to be accounted for? He loves her., he more than once assures us, dearer than his own life; and his nature, which is kindly, thoughtful, and we may add, lethargic, addicted rather to speculation than to action, shrinks from anything like positive inhu l i - manity. If we agree with Macready, that he is throughout in the full, unclouded possession of his wits, then there is a want of keeping—a flat contra diction in his idiosyncrasy which we cannot recon cile to any known principles of humanity, mote particularly as his conduct to Ophelia in no wise assists his project, for he might have affected madness without exhibiting brutality. Our im pression is that Hamlet's intellect, if not posi tively overthrown, was at least shattered ; and if we err in this opinion, we have at least the conso lation of er:ing in good company, with Goethe, and, it we remember rightly, with Shelley. We have said that Macready's conception istheresultof long study. Not a scene but evinces proofs of this. His first soliloquy, " Oh, that this too solid fleA would melt,'" was declaimed with infinite care ; but we cannot say that we thought it proportioeately suc cessful. It was too much broken up—too full of tedious pauses—instead of flowing on in a stream of deep, continuous, heartfelt thought. The aid of the white pocket-handkerchief, too, was too often put into requisition—an expedient which, however sentimental, rather mars than assists the effect in tended to be introduced. The scene with the Ghost was admirably played. Surprise—awe—horror—in dignation—were never before more strikingly por trayed, or the shades of difference between them more nicely discriminated. But the sentiment of this im posing scene was too soon lost sight of, for, imme diately on the disappearance of the spectre, the actor assumed his most familiar manner, and an nounced his intention of henceforth wiping all " trivial fond reccads from the t a bl e t s o f his brain," with as touch ease and composure as if he were a careful merchant about to enter a bad debt in his ledger. This is one of those clap-trap mannerisms which Macready will do well to get rid of. His advice to the players was chastely and judiciously given ; nor must we omit to notice the unaffected simplicity and tenderness with which he exclaimed, in allusion to his father— .. He was a mean, v4ke him for all in all, We ne'cr shall look upon his like again," But decidedly Macready's most felicitous effort was the play-scene, where he probes his uncle and mo ther to the quick. Here, art achieved a full and per fect triumph._ His moody impatience for the moment of discovery ; his scarcely subdued air of transport while the plot is ripening ; and his irrepressible burst of exultation when he finds that time project has suc ceeded, developed skill and power of the highest order. Mis 3 P. Horton made the best Ophelia that the stage has known since the retirement of Miss Kelly. The pathos of her songs went straight I to the heart ; and the hopeless look of anguish which sh 9 cast on the flowers, as a gleam of half-extin j guished recollection shot across her brain, showed how completely she had entered into the spirit of the part. We must see more of this young lady, for, if we mistake not, she bids fair to compensate 'us for the loss of Miss Kelly. Mr. - Phelps was:but an indiff:rent appari!ion, evincing too much of the leaven of humanity. Strickland made an excellent Polonius. By the bye, how happily the peculiarities of Toryism are shadowed forth in this old fashioned character ! Here,mirrored as in a glass,wc see all its solemn plausibilities, its rigid attention to Court etiquette, its shallow cunning, and, above all, its sycophantic adulation of that Royalty which maintains it in place and pay. The heir-apparent, for instance, tells Polonius that the clouds look like a camel ; and the old fox of a courtier is, of course, infinitely struck with the respmblance. He is then told that they bear a closer affinity to a whale ; and what is his answer ? " Very like a whale, indeed !" Precisely the same answer that Eldon or Sid mouth would 'lave made,had the Prince Regent put to them the same perplexing question ! Lct those who doubt this, read Lord Brougham's account of the sacrifices made by the Tories to place—of their cringing surrender of all manly independence of thought and action—during the critical period which immediately preceded the trial of Queen Caroline. To conclude our parallel, old Polonius falls a victim to his own shallow cunning, just as the Tories did the other day, when they hoped to circumvent the Queen, and re establish themselves in office. The theatre was well attended, and at half-price crowded in every part. I EVENINO EDITION. COURT CIRCULAR. The Queen had a dinner party yesterday at Bucking ham P a l ace. The company consisted of her Royal High ness the Duchess of Kent, his Serene Highness the Here ditary Prince of Saxe Cobourg Gatha, Baron 13ulow, the Prussier, Minister ; Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, Lady Augusta Somerset, Marquis of Normanby, Earl and Countess of Errol, Lady Ida Hay, Earl of Uxbridge, Earl of Surrey, Viscount and Viscountess Beresford, Vis. count Melbourne, Lord Hill, Lord and Lady Seymour, Lord Foley, Lord Robert Grosvenor, Lord George Len- II " , Hon. Colonel Cavendish, Hon. Miss Cavendish, Mr. George Edward Anson, Lady Barham, Hon. Louisa Noel, Lady Fanny Howard, Hon. Miss Murray, Hon. Miss Lester, Baroness Lehzen, Lord Lilford, Colonel Armstrong, Colonel Wemyss, Colonel Wylde, Baron de Lovvenfels, and Baron de Gruben. The Coldstream Band attended during dinner. Her Majesty had afterwards an evening party. Among the company were Baron de Nieumann, the Austrian Minis ter, on a Special Mission, and Baron de Lebzeltern, Baron Brunow, on a Special Mission from Russia, and Count Nesselrode, Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, and the Ladies Gower, the Lord Chancellor, Lady Cottenhan, and the Hon. Miss Pepys, Marquis and Marchioness of Aylesbury, Marquis of Anglesey and Lady,M. Paget, Countess Stanhope and Lady W. Stanhope, Earl and Lady W. Stanhope, Earl and Countess of Minto and the Ladies Elliot, Countess of Cawdor and the Ladies Camp bell, Countess of Uxbridge and the Ladies Eleanore and Constance Paget, Countess of Surrey, and Lady Howard, Earl and Countess of Verulam and Lady M. Grimston, Viscount and Viscountess Palmerston, Lady Frances Cowper, Viscount Morpeth, Viscountess Forbes, Mr. Vaughan, Lord and Lady Worsley, Lord Leveson, Lord G eorge P aget , L ar d Alf re d P ag et, L o rd D ' irn enh Hon. Mrs. George Anson, Hon. William C owper, Mr. B er k e l ey P aget , H on . Mi ss P aget , H on . Charles Howard, and Mr. Methuen. Weiepeit's Royal Quadrille Band, and her Majesty's Chamber Band, were in attendance during the night:. The Princess Augusta visited the Queen yesterday. • Her Royal Highness also visited the Duchess o:' Glouces ter yesterday. Viscount Melbourne had an audience of her Majesty yesterday. , Her Majesty was graciously pleased to sit to Mr. Hayter yesterday, in the full costume worn at the Royal Mar riage.. His Serene Highness the Hereditary Prince of Saxe Cobourg Gotha also sat for the same picture. Addresses of Congratulation to his Royal Highness Prince Albert, were presented to his Royal Highness at Buckingham Palace: yesterday afternoon, by the following gentlemen : Mr. Greene, M.P., and Mr. Marton, M.P.—from the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of Lancaster. The Duke of Somerset—from the Royal Institution. The M ayor ' o f A n d over , accom p an i e d b y t h e T own C 1 The Andover. Messrs. Thomas Fisher, George Borrett, C. W. D. Moore, J. Piper, Samuel Carpenter, Samuel Abraham, and Edward W. James, Vestry Clerk, a deputation of the Inhabitants of the Parish and Royal Manor Town of Greenwich—from Greenwich. Mr. Loch, M.P.—from the Royal Burgh of Dingwall. Sir Walter James, Bart. M.P.—from the Trinity House of Kingston-upon-Hull. Major-General Sir Frederick Trench, jointly with Sir Charles Style—from the Mayor and Town Council of Scarborough. Major-General Sir Frederick Trench—from the Con servative Association of Scarborough. Mr. Isaac L. Goldsmid, and Mr. Robert Lyon—from the Members of the Jewish Congregation, in Maiden lane, Strand. Mr. C . B . Wilkins, Mayor of Saffron Walden, Mr. Alderman Player, J. P., and Mr. Councillor Thurgood, from the Town Council of Saffron Walden. Colonel Sibthorp, M.P., from the inhabitants of Lincoln. The Hon. Henry Ashley, M.P., and Mr. Robert Wil liams, from Dorchester. His Royal Highness Prince Albert was attended by the following officers of his Household :—Lord Robert Gros venor, Groom of the State, Mr. George Edward Anson, Treasurer, General Sir George Anson, Groom of the Bedchamber, and Colonel Wylde, Equerry. Addresses of C ongratu l at i on to h er R oya l Hi g h ness the IJuches s of Kent were presented yesterday at Buckingham Palac e to her Royal Highness from the following places and public bodies. From the. Mayor, Magistrates, Aldermen, Burgesses, and Inhabitants of the borough of Dorchester, in the county of Dorset, presented by the Hon. H. Ashley, M.P., and Mr. R. Williams. _ From the P rovost, M ag i strates, an d C ounc il o f t h e R oya l Burgh of Dingwall, presented by Mr. Loch, M. P. I. PFrom the Wardens, Elders, and Members of the Jewish origregaticin of M a id en -l ane , St ra nd—presented by Mr. Goldsmiel and Mr. R. Lyon. From the Members of the Scarborough Conservative Asso • ci atiors_...presented by Major-General Sir F. Trench, M. p. From the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of the bo rough of Scarborough—presented by Sir T. Charles Style and Sir Fred. Trench. „. From the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of the bo of Lanca s t er —presented by Messrs. Greene and erten, the Members for Lancaster. From ma the inhabitants and parishioners of the town and Royal nor : of Greenwich—presented by Messrs. Thos. Fish er , G ear ge Borrctt, C. W. D. Moore, J. Piper, Simnel Ca..pen ter, Samuel Abraham, and E. W. James, vestry clerk. _ From t h e Members of the Royal Institution of Great Britain —presented by the Duke of Somerset, K. G. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent was attended, on receiving the Addresses, by Lady Fanny Howard, Lady in 'Waiting, and Colonel Couper, C. 8., First Equerry and Comptroller of her Royal Highness's House hold. His Royal Highness Prince Albert honoured Mr. Ross, A. R. A., by sitting yesterday for a second portrait in profile. _ Her Majesty the Queen Dowager attended by the Hon. Miss Mitchell, Hon. Miss Hudson, and several Gentlemen of her Suite, rode out on horseback in the Parks yesterday. The Bishop of London, Mr. Lynch, and Mr. Eden, had interviews with Viscount Melbourne yesterday in Downing street. The Rev. Dr. Spry and Captain 14. V. Huntley had in. t!rvitiews with Lord John Russell yesterday at the Colo nial Office. A lb° Commander of the Forces, Lord Barrington, and —".• R. Clive, had interviews with the Marquis of Nor lbanby yesterday at the Home Office. ',Despatche s f ro m Si r William Nicolay, Governor of the Tauritius, and from Lieut.-Colonel Reid, Governor of ermucla were received yesterday at the Colonial Office. THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 1840. CORN-LAWS AND POOR-LAWS. We lately noticed that a petition had been agreed to by the Board of Guardians of the Bol ton Union for the Abolition of the Corn-laws. We have since seen a similar petition from the Board of Guardians of the Bath Union, from which we give the following extract : " That whilst endeavouring to guard from imposition the funds placed at their disposal, and to defend the rate-payer from the unreasonable demands of able bodied persons who ought to earn their own living, your petitioners are not unfrequently compelled to wit ness cases which involve them in considerable perplexity, and to listen to statements of industrious persons, who, in consequence of their large families, and of the high price qf bread, find it difficult to provide for their daily wants, even when in health and full employment. That the long-continued dearness of provisions having rendered it impossible to lay by for future contingen cies, they ar e , i n t h e time of sickness or scarcity of employment, absolutely reduced to dest;tution. Tha: it appears to your petitioners, that the evil is not with out remedy ; inasmuch as the present high price of food may be di s ti nc tl y trace d to the ex i st i ng l aws , which prevent the importation of the wheat which is now so plentiful in foreign parts, but which may not be purchased by our sufferin g p oor unt il i t h as r i sen to an enormou s price in the home market. That whilst the industrious classes, by the instrumentality of the guardians, are thrown upon their resources, the Corn-I.lws unjustly diminish those resources ; the labourers' wages being the same when bread is 10d. a loaf as when it was 6d. a loaf ; so that a man who requires a loaf a day for his family has now to pay six shillings for the same quantity f bread for which he formerly paid three shillings. That leaving out of consideration the effect of a scarcity of corn upon other articles of food, the Corn-laws, by taking three shillings a-week from the labourer, who, in agricultural districts, earns only nine shillings a-week, do, in fact, take from him the wages of two days, and oblige him to work for one-third of his time without any remuneration whatever. That the Corn .laws having been enacted as a means of protecting the landed interest, and not for purposes of public revenue, it follows that during two days of the week the labourer works without wages for that protected class which receives the sole profit of his unrequited toil ; and that, for one-third of his time, the labourer is under circumstances very similar to those of the slave, with this disadvantage, that whilst the slave has food and lodging in return for his services, the Eng lish labourer works two days out of every six without re ceiving any return at all." _ _ By the attention of the Editor of the Stqffordshire Examiner we have received the copy of a similar petition, which the Board of Guardians of the Wolverhampton Union have agreed to, and which we here insert " To the Honourable the Commons of Great Britain . and Ireland'in Parliament assembled. " The Humble. Petition of the Board of Guar dians of the Wolverhampton Union, " Show•eth,-- " That your petitioners, in the execution of their duty as Guardians of the Poor of a very extensive and populous district, have found great distress to exist, which does not appear to owe its origin either to habits of indolence, improvidence, or intemperance, or to any one of those causes which the Poor-law Amendment Act was especially designed and adapted to remove. " That your petitioners find the number of cases of this descrip! ion to be greatly on the increase ; and that they also find great difficulty in meeting them either to their own satisfaction, or to the satisfaction of the public. ‘ That it appears to your petitioners that the origin of this class of destitution is to be traced to the high price of the necessaries of life, which price is enhanced by the law restricting the importation of foreign grain, and to the continual fluctuations and present deficiency in the demand for labour, occasioned by our inabiiity under that law to exchange the products of our industry for that of other nations. " That, such being the case, it appears to your peti tioners that the Poor-law Amendment Act, which your petitioners are engaged in working out, embodies princi ples which, however excellent in themselves, are neutra lized in their operation by the restricted supply of food and the limited demand for labour. " That, with respect to its very first object—the limi tation of pauperism—the statute is comparatively inef fectual ; inasmuch as a law which is equally imperative multiplies pauperism much more rapidly and much more surely than the Poor-law can limit it. " That, with respect to its first principle—that of making the poor feel that to be in the receipt of paro chial relief is to be in a state of dependency rather than to be reciprocating a right—the law your petitioners are working out is made to act unjustly to the people. It is not justice to limit the supply of food, the demand for labour, and the market for the result of industry, and at the same time to declare that the inability to obtain that which the law denies ought to be visited with degrada tion almost amounting to punishment. " That your petitioners, taking this view, also deem the non-allowance of out-door relief to the able-bodied under the Poor-law to press with undue hardships on the poor. They find it very difficult to refuse to alleviate the stringency of a law, which, however inherently just, is rendered unnecessarily oppressiv e and consequently obnoxious by the operation of another statute. " That, descending to considerations of detail, your petitioners find it very difficult to carry out the principle of the Poor-law to which they h ave a l rea d y re f erre d, i inasmuch as it is mpossible to reduce the condition of the pauper, in diet and otherwise, below that of the la bourer out of doors. " That your - petitioners, therefore, deem it right to represent to your Honourable House the difficulties to which they are subjected, the great and continuous in crease of pauperism, and the grievous oppressions to the people caused by the Act restricting the supply of food ; and believing, as they do, that the Poor-law cannot operate justly, and that the full benefits to the public designed byit cannot possibly accrue to them while corn taxes exist, they humbly pray that your Honourable House will immediately and totally repeal all duties on foreign grain, so that the labourer, who is more especially the subject of the Poor-law's stringent clauses, having a fair market for his labour, and an unrestricted supply of the necessaries of life, may not be reduced BY LAW to that condition which necessitates his application for relief under its provisions. " And your petitioners will aver pray?' This sets in a strong light the incompatibility of the new Poor-law and the Corn-law, and if other Boards of Guardians follow those laudable examples the landlords will be compelled to give up either the Poor-laws or the Corn-laws. There is now a Bill going through Parliament to exempt work houses from the King's and county taxes. If that be founded on a good principle, surely the food of the pauper ought to he exempted from the landlord's tax as well as the workhouse from the King's tax. That the opulent and noble gentlemen of England should add the smallest fraction of the smallest coin of the realm to their revenue- by taxing the food of the paupers, degrades them below the level of the worst extortioners that ever cursed a degraded and suffering people. What an outcry, a virtuous outcry, was made against Clive and others, who, by buying up rice in India, levied a tax on the . miserable inhab►tants, and caused the death of many ; but their conduct was absolutely virtuous compared to that of our landlords, who levy a tax on the paupers' food, and who starve nundreds and thousands of their countrymen annually to death. Were such conduct to escape unpunished, the justice of Heaven would be called in question, and no man would be entitled to believe in the moral government of the universe. HOUSEBREA K 1 NG.—(From a Correspondent.) —On Sunday evening last, during the absence of Mr. Cook, stonemason, of Greenwich, Kent, his house was broken into and robbed of his cash-box, which was locked, but which con tained between nine and ten pounds in cash, together with all the plate they could lay their hands on, amounting to the value of 401. The thieves left a knife and a large piece of wood in Mr. Cook's bed-room, and also a knife in every other room of the house. No doubt they meant to do mischief to any one that had been in the house. No traces of the thieves have yet been discovered. THE COUNTESS.—We are requested to state that the new novel entitled " The Countess," by Theodore F. Fay, Esq., author of " Norman Leslie," &c. kin 3 vols. post Svo. ), is published this day, by Mr. Bentley, New Burlington ton-street, and can now be had at all the libraries. Mr. Bent ley has also just published the following new works of fiction : 1. " The Pathfinder," by J. Fennimore Cooper, Esq. 2. " Cousin Geoffrey , " Edited b y Theodore Hook, E sq . 3 . " One Fault," by Mrs. Trollope. 4. " Fitzw iggi ns ," b y the Author of " Sydenham . DESPERATE ENCOUNTER.—On Saturday night, or Sunday morning, the watch-dog belonging to Mr. Carmichael, Hares' one, Dighty Water, was dreadfully mangled by some miscreant—his skull being laid bare, a piece cut out of his back, and a part of his tail cut off, apparently , wi t h an axe or some such weapon. From the marks in the snow in the morning, a fierce struggle must have taken place, after which the dog, as was supposed from traces of blood, had gone to a well near by to drink, and was found in a hay stack nearly dead. No property was carried off, although the time was well chosen, as the greater part of the men employed on the place go to their respective homes on Saturday night. The credit of this preservation of property is no doubt entirely ow ing to the bold resistance of the dog, which, we are happy to say, is get ting better.—Dundee Advertiser. THE FROME FORGERY CASE.—On Monday last, at Chandos House, William Canday, brother to the pa r ti es of the same name, some time since committed for trial on a charge of forging deeds and other documents, in the name of the Marquis of Bath, &c., was brought before the Magistrates on the suspicion of being implicated in the transaction. No evidence w as h e ard against him, but he made a Vo l untary statement that he saw part of the money paid by Mr. Whi t ti n ton, and was induced by his brother Thomas to affix hi signa tureg- to the f org e r y. Under these circumstances h e was com mitted for trial at the ensuing Somerset Assizes.—Bath Chronicle. THEWLA THER..--011 Sunday we had rain : ye.terday the Nxind bas got roarglagazn to tbee;d quartr, norzh cast. In the country the weather has been matt favourable for the operations of the farmer. CHINA. We extract from the papers on China just pub lished by order of the House of Commons, the two latest of Captain Elliot's despatches, which they contain. Before stating their contents, we think it right to observe that on the 31st of -August Lin had strictly prohibited the natives to supply the English with provisions of any kind. Notwith standing this we are inclined to think that the attack on the junks, of which we do not recollect to have before heard, narrated in 157, was quite unwar ranted, and that Captain Elliot widely departed from the dignity of his station in going on such a business. No. 159 states the circumstance which led immediately to instituting the blockade of Can ton, which appears to have been the supposition that the Chinese had taken possession of an Eng lish boat and her crew, which supposition was totally unfounded. The two communications give us a most unfavout able impression of Captain Elliot's prudence and sagacity. (No. 157.) CAPTAIN ELLIOT TO VISCOUNT PALMERSTON. (Received February 1, 1840.) Ship Fort William, Hong Kong, September 5, 1839. My Lord,—l yesterday proceeded to how Lune, in the cutter Louisa, distant about four miles from this anchorage, where there were three large men-of war junks, whose presence, I collected from the natives about u►, prevented the regular supplies of food. I was accompanied by the Pearl, a small armed vessel, and Captain Smith of the Volage was so good as to lend me the pinnace of his ship, and to go with me him self. But 1 can assure your Lordship, that though I am responsible for causing the first shot to be fired, I did not anticipate any conflict when we left, and went accompanied solely for purposes of sufficient defence against insult or attack. The violent and vexatious measures heaped upon her Majesty's officer and subjects will, I trust, serve to ex cuse those feelings of irritation which have betrayed me into a measure that I am sensible, under less trying cir cumstances, would be difficult indeed of vindication. But I proceed to state the circumstances as they took place, leaving their most favourable construction to your Lordship's unvarying kindness, and to that considera tion for my harassing situation which I am sure will be extended to me by her Majesty's Government. Upon our arrival at the station of the junks, which I found anchored in a line a-head and close order, under rather a formidable and well-manned battery, I brought up abreast of them at about pistol-shot distance, and despatched Mr. Gutzlaff in a small boat with two men (perfectly unarmed) to the centre junk, taking her, from her size and superior equipment, to be the vessel of the commanding mandarin. He carried in his hand the papers marked No. I and No. 2, and the paper marked No. 3 are his notes of what took place. After five or six hours of delay and irritating evasion, I sent a boat on shore to a distant part of the bay with money to purchase supplies, which the people suc ceeded in doing, and were on the point of bringing away, when some mandarin runners approached, and obliged the natives to take back their provisions. They returned to me with this intelligence, and greatly provoked, 1 opened fire from the pinnace, the cutter, and the other vessel, upon the three junks. It was answered both from them and the battery, with a spirit not at all unexpected by me, for I have already had experience that the Chinese are much under-rated in that respect. After a fire of almost half an hour against this vastly superior force, we hauled off from the failure of our ammunition ; for I have already said, anticipating no serious results, we had not come in prepared for them. It was evident, however, that the junks had suffered considerably ; and, after a delay of about three-quarters of an hour, they weighed and made sail from under the protection of the battery, with the obvious purpose of making their escape through an adjacent outlet. By this time we had made cartridges, and were in a state to renew the action, and, as Captain Smith bad proceeded out to bring in her Ma jesty's ship, and wished the vessels to be prevented from escaping, I bore up and engaged them again, and suc ceeded in beating them back to their former position. In this affair, as in the preceding, I was very gallantly supported by Mr. Reddie, the commander of the Pearl ; but the superior sailing of the cutter cast the task of sending back these three vessels upon that ves sel ; and I can have no doubt that the impression, that such a force was more than enough to cope with three of their war-junks will indispose the Commissioner to revert to his menaced measures of attack against this fleet. By this time the evening was closing in, and we returned to join the Volage and the boats from the fleet, then entering the bay for our support. During the night I conferred with Captain Smith, and he ac ceded to my recommendation not to proceed in the morning, and destroy the three junks ; and, above all, not to land men for the purpose of attack upon the bat tery, a measure that would probably lead to the de struction of the neighbouring village, and great injury and irritation of the .inhabitants. If her services had been required for our support against a state of actual attack, such considerations could not have prevailed ; but it did not appear to me to be judicious, or indeed becoming, to recommend the employment of her Ma jesty's ship in the destruction of three junks, already most effectually checked by my own small vessel, with the assistance of another scarcely larger. There had been no act of aggression against her Majesty's ship, and her active interference was unnecessary for the support of the honour of the flag. The impression that this heavy force was not to be lightly used, and that there was no disposition to pro tract hostile measures, would be salutary : indeed, in every respect it seemed to me to be our duty to confine her services to defence against attack, agreeably to the Commander-in-Chief's orders to himself, and despatch to me. Concurring in this reasoning, he has returned this morning to his former anchorage at Hong-Kong, for the purpose of continuing our organization of de fence against the attacks of the Commissioner, so long threatened, hut which I trust and believe the presence of her Majesty's ship will avert. The only casualty I have to report on this occasion, is a flesh wound in the arm to Captain Douglas, of the ship Cambridge, in a gallant attempt to carry one of the junks at the close of the day ; and two of his boat's crew also wounded rather more severely. I am greatly indebted to this gentleman for his public spirit in purchasing, at his own charge, at Singapore, on his way up, twenty-two 1811). guns, (hearing of our desperate condition at Can ton). And I have no doubt that the sight of this imposing vessel, manned with a strong crew of Euro peans, has discouraged attempts upon this fleet for the last two months. I should hope that her Majesty's Government will be pleased to pay the expenses of this ship during the time he has performed these very saleable services in the absence of any ship of war, and reimburse him for the expense of the guns, and otherwise reward him as may seem right to your Lordship. Meritorious public impulses and pecuniary risks of this description will not be lost upon the Queen's Government. And the ship is still perform ing the useful service of guarding one of the entrances into this harbour, against the fire rafts, and war junks, with which we are menaced. The inclosure. No. 4, is a paper I have circulated on shore since the affair of yesterday. I have, &c., - (Signed) CHARLES ELLIOT, Chief Superintendent. (No. 159.) CAPTAIN ELLIOT TO VISCOUNT PALMERSTON. (Received Feb. 1., 1840.) Ship Fort William, Hong Kong, Sept. 23, 1839. My Lord—On the evening of the day that I closed my last despatch (Eith inst.), Mr. blacdonald, master of the British armed schooner Pysche, at present taken up for the service of her Majesty's Government, very imprudently {eft the harbour without orders, in a boat belonging to the ship Myram Dirom, taking with him fifteen people to reconnoitre a passage in the immediate vicinity of this anchorage, said to be occupied by a force of war junks. The absence of the boat was unaccountably and culpably never reported to Captain Smith or myself, and we neither of us knew she had left the fleet till the evening of the next day (the 9th). Casting attention upon the actual state of affairs, your Lordship will conceive the intense anxiety this circumstance occasioned us. No time was lost in des patching vessels in the direction in which the boat had proceeded, under the command of the officers of the Volage, with an interpreter ; rewards were offered to the natives for information, and every effort was made to ascertain her fate. The search, however, was attended with no other than a variety of reports, leading to the conclusion that she had been cut off, and that the Europeans were either killed, or taken up to the Bocca Tigris. This state of excessive disquietude and uncertainty harrasscd us till the evening of the 10th iastanr, and then in the full persuasion that she had been cut off, I felt it be. came me to recommend the most urgent measure in m. power, calculated to convince this Government that the further detention or injury of her Majesty's subjects under such circumstances was an act of war against her Majesty. I therefore addressed the accompanying letter to Cap. a tain Smith, of the Volage, an d the Inclosures 4 a n d o are that officer's reply, and his notice of blockade. On the 18th we proceeded to Macao in her Ma jesty's ship, person all y to communicate with the Go vernor co ncerning the situatio n o f h er Majesty's subjects Bocce Tigris. W e had scarcel y left the harbour when on board this flee t, and to proceed, if needful, to the we fell in ,with an English ship coming over from Ma cao. communicating the unexpected and welcome infer t tation that Mr. Macdonald and all his people sa fe on sa e on board. It appeared that a strong adverse tide had caught. him in the narrow passage. He proposed to explore, and having observed a considerable force in his rear, he i judged it prudent to push on through the other outlet, and fortunately succeeded in making his way to Macao without molestation. There were no sails or provisions in the boat ; and the exhausted condition of the people accounts for the length of a passage, that had left us ' without hope that he could have proceeded to Macao. I need hardly say. my Lord, that the measure of a blockade never could have presented itself either to Captnin Smith or myself, except under a conviction that certain of her Majesty's subjects were actually in the hands of the Government. The other circumstances ad -1 verted to in the notice were indeed in a strong degree itrstificatory of it, but it was occasioned entirely by the fact of Mr. Macdonald's disappearance, and the infor mation and belief that he and the other Europeans had fallen into the hands of the Chinese authorities. I am perfectly sensible your Lordship could never countenance measures of such a nature upon the ground of any concluded event, but with the firm belief that the lives of her Majesty's subjects were at stake, I hope it will be thought that I was justified in recommending th e only strong measure of a public and national cha racter in our power. And certainly, looking at the general aspect of circumstances, it can be no matter of surprise that I could not venture to pause beyond the time that had already been spent in anxious teach, fruitful of nothing but alarming report. Perhaps I may remark here that it was intended to act upon the Go vernment by the suspension of all foreign trade ; without which it is plain to me that the peace of this province cannot be preserved, or the public emergencies met. In the altered state of circumstances of these people's safety, however, Captain Smith concurred with me, that we were called upon to refrain from any measures of an active nature, and with this impression, he issued the accompanying notice. I avail myself of this occasion to aff - ;rd your Lord ship the satisfactory information that the earnestness of my dispositions concerning the regular supply of provi sions, manifested by the affair at Kow Lime, has had the effect of relaxing all rigour on that important point. The natives a-c no longer impeded in the abundant sup-, ply of the ships, at little above the usual rates, and the ❑otices with respect to the poisoning of the water have been removed. But, my Lord, that, and an event to - be reported in another despatch, have, I cannot! doubt, mainly contri buted to induce the sober train of reflection in the mind of the Commissioner, which enables me to hold out to her Majesty's Government the hope, that we are upon the eve of soma satisfactory temporary solution of actual difficulties. I have, &c. (Signed) CHARLES ELLIOT, Chief Superintendent. THE ATMOSPHERE OF CITIES. In the First Annual Report of the Registrar- General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, an ap pendix appears, containing accurate statements of the mortality of great towns. when compared with that of country districts. Mr. Farr, the able pre parer of these statements, drew his calculations from thirty-two metropolitan unions, and twenty four of the largest towns in England, including Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, &c. ; while on the other side he placed the counties of Corn wall, Devon, and others, containing nearly an equal amount of population. The deaths in six months from twelve principal classes of diseases, are con trasted in the foilowing.table In London and 24 In rural districts, other towns, con- ccntaining a po taining a popula- pulation of tion of 3,553,000. 3,500,000. Epidemic, endemic, and contagious diseases 12,766 6,045 Sporadic Diseases 25,393 14,230 Of uncertain seat ...... 4,396 3,730 Age 2,924 3,102 Violent deaths 1,370 929 Not specified Total 47,953 29,693 This table completely, establishes the general fact of the increased mortality in large communi ties, and when the matter is still more closely in quired into, the immense share which the at mosphere has in causing this augmentation appears with equal clearness. The classes of disease upon which the difference between the mortality of towns and country districts chiefly hinges, are precisely those in which the air is most influential. In the first three classes of disease, for example, marked in the preceding table, the mortality is shown to have been doubled by the concentration of the po pulation in cities, and the increase is not much less as respects the diseases of the lungs. The deaths from consumption and typhus, diseases that appear to have a peculiar dependence on atmospheric in fluences, are stated by Mr. Farr to have hecn in creased in towns in the respective ratios of 39 and 221 per cent. On the whole, the results of his observations haie led Mr. Farr broadly to assert that the "source of the higher mortality is in the insalubrity of the atmosphere." Other causes certainly aid, how ever, in no inconsiderable degree, in bringing about this general result. But if we think for a moment of the usual effects produced by a dense population on the . atmosphere, we shall find strong cause to coincide with the opinion above expressed. Every human being expires about 666 cubic.feet of air daily, and the gas so expired, if it were collected in a reservoir, would destroy any animal compelled to inhale it, man himself among the number. Every one will remember the horrible illustration of this truth, afforded by the Black Hole catas trophe at Calcutta, where, out of one hundred and forty-six human beings shut up at night in a single dose room, only twenty three came out next morning alive. These persons perished front being made to breathe the same air over and over again. This single cause, then, it is obvious, is in itself capable of producing the most deleterious results. When we add to this the efflu via arising from putrifying substances, animal and vegetable ; the emanations from streets, stanks, and sewers ; the products of combustion, and the smoke of fires, both of which are in themselves poison ous; with all the thousand noxious exhalations which man's habits and occupations assemble around him ; we shall find city air, in its unmiti gated impurity, to be a thing which people might well fly from with terror and dismay. In the open country, ail exhalations of this destructive nature speedily nilx with the currents of the atmosphere, and are diffused so as to be perfectly harmless. But instead of one inhabitant to the square mile, which is about the demity of the population in the plains of Asia, " locate (says the Report already quoted) 200,000 individuals upon a square mile, as soldiers in a camp, and the poison will be con centrated 200,000 fold ; intersect the space in every direction by 10,000 high walls, which ov'er hang the narrow streets, shut out the sunlight, and intercept the movements of the atmosphere ; let the rejected vegetables, the offal of slaughtered animals, the filth produced in every way, decay in time houses and courts, or stagnate in the wet streets ; bury the dead in the midst of the living ; and the atmosphere will be an active poison, which wiil destroy, as it did in London formerly, and as it does in Constan tinople now, 5 (and a fractional part) per cent. of the inhabitants annually, and generate, when the temperature is high, recurring plagues, in which a fourth part of the entire population will perish. But notwithstanding all this formidable am ray of anti-salubrious agencies, to which a city atmosphere is exposed, observation and experience give us the comforting assurance that health will be little more impaired upon one than upon a hundred square miles, if proper means (and those means are at command) be employed for supplying the two limn dred thousand dwellers thereon with pure air, and f Ol removing the principal sources of poisonou s exhala tions. To a certain e xtent, this is done in almost every great city. Those parts of them, at lea st , w hi c h are of m odern construction, enjoy many provisions, pointed out by experience, which ob v i ate t h e ten dency to insalubrity in the atmosphere ; an d t h e beneficial consequences of these provisions appear most strikingly, when the. state of health in these quarters is compared with that in the old districts, where the wide streets, the free household ventila tion, the plenteous supply of water, and the well constructed sewers, that form the essential sources of advantage in the modern divisions, unfortu nately, do not exist. The mean annual mortality, in a variety of the districts of London, is stated as follows : ANNUAL MAVIS AMONG 1,000 FEMALES IN Whitechipel 39 K en? i t sgton 22 Shoreditch 32 St. P anc ras 20 <- B , :rmondser I 8 Holborn 29 Camberwell St. George, Southwark 27 Hackney................. 18 Strand Stepney 24 square .................. 17 it is to be observed here, that some of the new suburban districts are not less unhealthy than the closest old ones. This has been dearly traced to the undrained marshes and other similar nuisances to which the comparative paucity of inhabitant exposes the suburbs. But in every case, it ra av safely be averred, the mortality is in exact Drcopoz+ tion to the condition of the district as regards vGn tilation and cleanliness.—Chambers' VENING EDITION. THE NO '-INTRUSION QUESTION; (From the Abel-deal Herald.) HUMBUCi DEFEATED IN PERTISIIIRE.—Three-fo.ftlik, nay, we believe, nine -tenths, of the Liberals of this City are heartily rejoiced at the reQult of the-contest in Peelle shirc—not that they have cooled in their attachment to Reform—not that they admire the cheracter of Mr. Dalai, rnond, the Tory candidate, er have ear dislike to the merely politi ca l cree d o f hi s opponent, M r. Stewere—but simply because they would much rather be Tory-ridden then Priest -ridden—mu c h rather submit to the gentsnly tyranny of Conservatism, than to the base, cruel, 4 lWl de grading despotism of a pharisaical, judaising clergy. The Non-intrusionists have been beaten, soundly beaten, on the field of their own choosing, too, and under cir cumstances mere favourable to them than they can ever expect to see realized again. Perthshire has been the head-quarter s of their agitation for years hack—it was there the rebellious elergv struck the first blow, and there it was that they received the countenance and vented the influence of th e few leading. men who belong to th e ir faction. In Perthshi re t h ey are stronger than in any other county in Scotland; and yet, in Perthshire, their i; - tterript to return a Whig candidate—because he f avoure d i l e r views—ended in the return of the Tory candidate by a majority son* hundreds greater than the majority of his Tory predecessor I What does Mr. Fox llaWle reciek ,:ow of the Non-intrusionists' influence—what, after ail their big-mouthed boasting, do the poor, diseoinfited, dun doen rebels think of themselves ? Their " forte.eareo e , power" of bellowing had, no doubt, persuad e d the'er;seive s that they were a great party, and, indeed, the see-e they made had almost frightened others into the betief that there existed ignorance, folly, and bigotry eeet,e.e, is Scotland, to yield them some support; but Perthsleie Lae dissipated any delusion that prevailed . on the subj ect , atr,d the hypocritical praters about a principle which they ee :bee understand nor practise, are seen to be as weak in irCue ence as they are deficient in honesty. CONSEQUENCE OF A NON-INTRUSION ACT.—lsOoking at the character of the men who now folio the mejerity o f the General Assembly—their puritanical noti'ons, and the:re oft-repeated attempts to take cognizance of matters . purely . secular—it is not u nc ha r it a bl e t o presume that their neat step, deer they had put down the patron, would be to alter the standard of qualific at i o d f or Ch ur ch membership. As it is, the constituency crea t e d by the Veto Act is a constituency that depends for its very existence on the clergy and elders. But that dependence will be greatly increased so soon as the self-styled Evangelicals acquire complete domination. The clergy and elders emamme and admit—the clergy and elders revise and may ex clude—the clergy and elders stand, in fact, in the position at' once of registration courts and purgers of the roll, with this immeasurable advantage in their La your, that they claim also the power of the Legisla ture, and raise the suffrage at will. For the election of Members of Parliament, we have a fixed ten posed qualification ; but for dissenting against a Clergyman, the qualification may be as varied as the discipline that has prevailed at different times in the Scottish Kirk. If a men displease his clergyman, he may be cut off from the com municants' roll for walking on Sunday, for going to the theatre, for attending a concert, for keeping colupany with Papists, for being proprietor of a news-room that is open on Sunday. or being a member of a steam-boat company whose vessels sail en Saturday—for not saying a long enough grace before meat, or for not having family wor ship with due regularity—for speaking ill of the Church courts, or siding with the Court of Session. If the wild party were all to turn tee-totallers—ewhich, however, is not very likely, tippling being rather a favourite vice with " the unco guid"--no man would be allowed to go to the Lord's table who did not pledge himself to total abslinerece except when there. Or, should they—which is not one likely—adopt the notions of the Friends as to dress, all the wearers of blue coats and clear buttons would be excom municated. But it is needless to multiply illustrations. The reader must perceive that the wild clergy would noon have power of making the Veto constituency just such a constituency as would suit their purpose—just such a constituency as would choose men ready and willing to encroach on the secular power, and lay the liberties, the peace, the prosperity, the happiness of the people under the black hoof of priestly intolerance. Will the people help them to do this ? or will the Go vernment stultify itself by asking the Legislature te• sanction such a piece of clerical humbug and tesiekery as the Veto Act? (From the Scottish Pilot.) TUE MINISTRY AND NON-INTRITSION.—II is now said that the Cabinet feel their diflicukies so great in legis lating for the Veto Act, and have so little prospect of gratifying parties whom they wish to please, that they will defer any measure for this Session. We hope their former friends, the Dissenters, whom they so cavalier!y cast off, will yet come to their assistance by opening tide eyes as to principles, and enlightening them as to facts. We assure our country friends that we do not speck w:th eut warrant, when we proclaim to all interested in this subject that the Governarent- F that is, the chiefv—:.rc not only unpledged, but wait to see what is bhe f;'l gir t . of tile people. They are not ignorant of the worth of their cler'e%l antagonists. However much they may seem to wait for the dicta of right reverend fathers, the rustling of a Geneva. cloak, or the fervid and brain-sick extravagances Kirk presbyter, who has no savour of apostolic iii,.e t it)n, cause them no great alarm. Lord Grey once what they all feel, " That is only the Kirk." Let th rople of Scotland speak out, and send forth peiiti( scribed by scores of thousands, for separation, de nouncingthe hurnhug and injustice of mere noti-rtl>ion..., THE VOLUNTARY VERSION OF NON-INTEUSI , N Wednesday next the Dissenters of Edinburgh mom to ir dicate distinctly, and declare in a manner not to he taisn,l prebended, what they think of the present demamis of tin spiritual establishment of the Scotch kirk. We trust they will forcibly, and with an emphasis that will prove re. sistless, denounce the " relation of connectiat and dendenee " between the Church and the Tivil power, which cannot fail to produce a domination of the Church over the State most hazardous to the liberties of the te, jccts. There is no need to lisp opinions here, since the Church and her revenue are State property,—the creaturc of national legislation ; and since success, in the presets: demands of clerical bigotry and arrogance, would entail innumerable grievances on society, unhesitating. opposition should be declared to those demands; while the only cure for all such maladies as the present anomalous and ;ken tious rebellion of State-fed hirelings should be precisely specified, in separation and religious equality. We hope the bpeak cr s in Edinburgh will give tone and energy to the subsequent provincial discussions which are sure to follow. Members of Parliament, conductors of the and the Government, require plain speakin and faithrul dealing at this crisis of our liberties. (From the Berwick Adveriiser.) If Lord Melbourne is actually consuming with a holy zeal in favour of •‘ spiritual independence"and the " rights of the Christian people," and is prepared to lay down his official existence in the cause, there is, of course, no more to be said ; but if, by any chalice, the very slightest cal. culation has been suffered to sway his eccision that by turn ing Vetoist he will gain a single vote, or conciliate big Noes. intrusion opponents (and nine in ten of them are the rrczt bitter and active of his cncmks), no man was ever mora wretchedly duped and deluded. i From the Edinburgh Weekly Chronicle.) A pretty job Mr. Dunlop has made of it—and instead. of strengthening the theory put forth, that the people— the electors—are all with these men of the pulpit act: platform in their vagaries, the result has proved, with the force of demonstration, that it is all the other way. Wo hope the lesson will neither be lest nor forgotten, and mon of all parties should scrupulously eschew any alliance with these reverend charlatans. We know full well that At every Scotch election that shall take ,place until the V%-.. toists get their quietus, these folks intend to intrude them selves with their ecclesiastical pretensions as a test prin ciple I SURREY THEATRE. A new piece, under the title of the Pocket-book, or, The Two Families, adapted from the French, was produced at this house last night. Its name is not very felicitous, but the play-bill, as is usual in these cases, supplied a lung and fearful catalogue of the catastrophes to be expected, wherein this piece falls by no means behind its predecessors, or rather its contemporaries. The mysterious death of a young man is attributed to his rival in a love affair, who, though innocent of the crime, is, never theless, condemned to suffer fur it ; but his life is spared by the interference of the brother of the lady. He is resolved, however, to redeem his honour from the imputation of crime cast upon it, by endeavour ing to trace out the real perpetrator of the murder. His earnestness is unhappily rewarded by the dis covery of the murderer in the person of his friend, the lady's brother, who, it seems, had received in the conflict a mortal wound in his breast, which he manages to staunch until the proper time arrives for proving the innocence of his sister's lover, and dying himself. Out of these materials the author has constructed the piece with sufficient palpable appeals to the sympathies of his audience to call forth their decided approval. L 1 TERATU RE, ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. VoL. XX. PART I. Blach, Edinburgh, 1840. In the present number of the " Encyclopaedia Bri tannica," there is a sensible biographical and critical essay on Shakspeare, in which the author comments with becoming severity on the absurd calumny that our great dramatist " fled to London in the character of a criminal, from the persecution of Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecot." In a similar spirit he treats the old story that Shakspeare gained his livelihood for some time after coming to the metropolis, by holding the horses of those who rode to the play, which he insists is a mere " idle legend," appropriately adding, in allusion to the long period during which this clumsy fabrication has been received as a Gospel truth, that " the stream of history is centuries in working itself clear of any calumny with which it has once been polluted." Of the female characters of Shakspeare, our author speaks justly, if not eloquently ; but why does he go out of his way to disparage those of the Greek dramatists ? " The An tigone and the Electra of the tragic poets," he says, "arc the two leading female characters that clas sical antiquity offers to our respect, but assuredly not to our impassioned love, as disciplined and exalted in the school of Shakspeare." Indeed ! What does he think of the Alcestis? Has he forgotten this exquisite feminine creation of Euripides—this im personation of all that is pure, gentle, disinterested, and high-minded;? Again, is there no nice, subtle discrimination of character—no deep touches of sentiment and passion in the Medea of the same dramatist ? Her closing address to her children where she bestows on them her last kiss, and calls on them to " smile their last smile," are, in Ju r humble opinion, quite as true to the heart as any thing that Shakspeare has ever written. The subjoined remarks are correct in thought and forcible in expres• sion :—" A third fund of Shakspeare's peculiar power lies in his teeming fertility of fine ideas and sentiments. From his works alone might be gathered a golden bead roll of thoughts, the deepest, subtlest, most pathetic, and yet most catholic and universally intelligible ; the most characteristic also, and appropriate to the particular person, the situation, and the case, yet, at the same time, applicable to the circumstances of every human being, under all the accidents of life, and all vicissitudes of for• tune." There are numerous other articles of interest in this Number ; with one, in particular, on " Sculpture" we have been greatly pleased, for it is evidently the pro duction of a gentleman who not only understands, but has a hearty relish for his subject. LADY LYNDHURST'S BALL. Last night her Ladyship gave a very elegant ball at the family mansion in Great George-street, Hanover-square, in celebration of the birth-day of the Hon. Miss Copley, Lord Lyndhurst's eldest daughter, who completed her 19th year. The whole suite of splendid salons was thrown open on this occasion. It is almost needless to state the rooms were brilliantly illuminated by superb candelabra and costly lamps, supplied, as we understood, by Messrs. Perry and Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, with the Princess Augusta, arrived precisely at eleven, attended by Baron Kneesbeek and the Hon. Miss Kerr. His Grace the Duke of Wellington also honoured the ball by his presence. The Noble and Gallant Duke, as we thought, appeared in unusually good spirits. His Grace did net stay long. The company was not numerous, but select, the Queen's party at Buckingham Palace having its influence. The heads of the company included— The Duke of Wellington, the Duke and Duchess of Montrose, Marquis of Londonderry. Marquis of Douglas, Earl and Countess of Charleville, Lord Tullamore, Vis count Grixiston, his Excellency M. Guizot, his Excellency M. Dedel, Earl and Countess of Kinnoul, Earl and Countess of Gleugall, Lady Cowley, Hon. Miss Welles. ley, Lord Cremorne, Viscount Fitzharris, Lord Ossul ston, Hon. C. Gore, Mrs. Villiers, Mr. and Mrs Fitzroy, Mr. Rose, Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Claude Hamilton, Countess of Roseberry, Ladies Primrose (2), Count and Countess Ziclay, Lord Fitzgerald, Hon. H. Cholinondely, Countess Cadogan, Lady Honoria Cadogan, Countess of Jersey, Lady Sarah Villiers, Hon. Captain Villiers, Sir Frederick Trench, Sir C. and Lady Bagot, Misses Bagot, Viscount Villiers, Mr. Hope, his Excellency Baron Gers dorf, Count Pollen, Count Nesselrode, Baron Bourquenay, Baron Lebzeltern, Baron Bertrouche, Countess of Tan kerville, Lord Granville Somerset, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. G. Vernon, Lady Ashburton and Hon. Misses Baring (2), Sir John and Lady Annc Beckett, Lord and Lady Fitzroy Somerset, Hon. Miss Somerset, M. de Kisseleff, Viscount Posverscourr, Hon. Cecil Forester, Mr. Bentinck, Lady Williams, Lady PArk and Misses Park, &c. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge and the Princess Augusta of Cambridge did not arrive until a late hour. POLITICAL sUmnARY OF THE MORNING JOURNALS. The Morning Advertiser of this day, alluding to the Tory tactics on Church matters, says :—" Among the va rious false pretences which the Tories have used for the propagation of their political tenets, none has been more ostentatiously paraded than their claim to exclusive ap plause as the friends and supporters of the Established Church and the Christian religion. Never shrinking from the use of any weqnn, or the practice of any delusion which. may serve their purposes as a selfish and mercenary party, they have always endeavoured to hide their love of patronage, and profit, and abuse, under the cloak of hypo crisy, and to fix the brand of infidelity upon those who would strip them of their disguise."—The Morning Herald thus speaks cf Dr. Bowring's late Anti-Corn-law speech at Kendal :—" The opinions of a person like Dr. Bowring, possess, of course, infinitely little value in themselves ; and were it nut that he is a recognised tool of the present Government—were• it not that he receives, from time to time, considerable sums of public money for imputed ser vices to the cause of English commerce—the most profound contempt would, we believe, be the learned gentleman's portion."—The Times, speaking of a pamphlet recently publshed on the Canada question, remarks as follows : " ,One thing which Chief Justice Robinson seriously complains of, and apparently with good reason, is the unaccountable precipitancy of the Government in acting upon the official reports of functionaries, the shortness of whose residence in Canada, and who,c very superficial acquaintance with the real circurn statiTes of the colony, disqualify them f or g i v i ng an expeticnced and well-digested opinion upon any of its wants or interests."—The Morning Post alludes in the foliowing terms to the China question :—" The Whi g journalists, by way of accounting for what has happe ne d, tell the public with a great affectation of wisdorn that in commencing an open trade with China we bec ame li a bl e to risks of collision and quarrel, which we were not liable to before. This is just saying over again what the Tories foresaw and foretold before the event."—The Morainq Chronicle observes, in the course of a leading article on the Corn-laws:—" The managers of the Metropolitan Anti- Corn-law Association crc, we understand, accumulating from all quarters such proofs of the pestiferous operation of that laW as it will require strong nerves and brazen fronts in its advocates to resist. Every new direction in which i's influence is traceable leads to fresh exhibitions of injustice and privation." Lady Elizabeth Fielding's first ball and supper, in Sacliville-street, is fixed for Friday evening next. The spacious saloons have undergone a complete renovation, Lady Cottenharn will hold atisembhes every Sa turday, in Bruton -street, until the Easter recess. THE KIRK VETO ACT.—WC understand that, at a very numt; trans meeting of the Aberdeen Society of Writers, LOA on the 4th instant, resolutions were passed, with only three dissentient voices, strongly deprecating Ilia prin ciple of the Veto Act, and the presumptuous and y'o lent conduct of the majority of the Commission cf the General Assembly and their party, in endeavouring to enforce their illegal measure.—Aberdecn Hcra!t. • ARBROATIL—ANOTHER CASE OF COLLISIC)N.-.-4 few days ago, a case of encroachment 1)y tie e:vii upon our Ecclesiastical Courts occurred vri:ln the hopnds of the Presbytery of Arbroath. A p frOm one of the country parishes came lately in One of the town parishes.. He applied to tL• Sersion of the parish whence he came for a 4 , :r . 'iti;4:e to admit him to the communion in the el,:•" he presently resides. He has not been refuse, certi ficate, but in all llkelihood it was not a suit ohz.. He has, in the meantime, applied to a lawyer iior the purpose of compellicg the minister and eldcits of tha parish in which he now &veils to admit him to fhe Lord's Supper ; and the lawyer has Iritten to the minister, T.( quiring him t o admit his tto thNt ordi nance. —Montrose Review. [Our English readers—many of them at least—ray not perhaps be aware that i n tn e Kirk there is Lo suet. thing as open communion. The Kirk Session, that is, the minister and elders of a parish, claim and often el ereise the right of admitting to, or excluding from ti's ordinance, wl oa.soc . 4r they please. Whether this be a lawful right or one of those usurpations which ecclesi astics of all sorts and profe,ssions are so prone to win mit, the result of this suit, it the complainant pa severes, will decide.] Addresses to the Queen, to Prince Albert, a n j o to the Duchess of Kent, have been voted b y the count y of i C a ithness, n co ngratulation of her Majesty's marriage. The s p e titioned Parliament to nettle the di sc u ss i on n the subject of what is called '° non- in- trusion. " An amendment praying for the total abolition of same prevailing erity also on patronage negatived by a majority of eight. DR UNKENNESSI I " AND SUICIDE.—O n F r id ay , a n inquest was held at the London Ilds..pital, eveninglll r.liakur, the Coroner, on view of the body of Hallplke, who died in that institution, from the effects of a wound in flicted on his throat by a razor. The liver and lungs of the deceased were desclibed to be in so shocking a state fi em the effects of ardent spirits, that it was impossible the deceased could have survived many days, but the wound inflicted by him was the immediate cause of his death. The Jury returned a verdict of " Temporary derangement." A CALF KILLED BY A RAT.—Last Ftidav week, a lively-looking ealf y five days old, belonging to Reesda,le,. of BoltotiPerey, was left for the night, when in the morning it was found quite dead ; upon examination of the circifmstances a rat was discovered feasting on the body of the calf, which it had succeeded in destroying. ABORTIVE DUEL.—A Correspondent requests -tlst,,, state that a meetin , took place at 'Wimbledon-common, On Friday, between 'Flower and Air. Brown, both of, t:'. I - .;ity of Bath, wi en both parties fired in the - air , and then let the field perfectly satisfied. We thiok this a very harmless '"'tit{ a very rotorraiway-cfsettingit-dispnre: