The Express.
London, England, 1846-12-21 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 21, 1846.

DEATH BY PRUSSIC ACID AT LUTON.-
B X II UM AT lON.
Much excitement has been caused in the town of
Luton, Berlforilshire, by the exhumation of the body of
Miss Rebecca Allen, who died by prussic acid on the 21th
of November; on the following day an inquest was held at
the George Hotel, before Eyre Eagles, Esq., when, after a
very short inquiry, the following verdict was returned:
"That the deceased had died from the effects of prussic acid,
but how and by whom administered there is no evidence to I
show." The body was interred; but shortly afterwards
such a variety of rumours got abroad on the subject, that a
requisition was forwarded to the coroner, demandino a I
further investigation. Accordingly, another inquest was
menced before the same coroner on Thursday, the 17th ion..
The body having been disinterred, and placed in the vestry
of the Baptist Chapel, was there viewed by the jury, and
having been identified, the jury returned to the Goorge ;
and Jane Colson, servant in the family of Mr. Noakes, de-
posed that it was stout a month since Miss Allen died. She
he
appeared very ill on the Sunday preceding her death.
was very sick. She took nothing but gruel and water all
Sunday. Some rned:chte,was sent up to her front the surgery
but she would not take it. Saw the bottle again after her
death, when it was in the same state. Saw the deceased at
half-ast six next morning. She opened the of wit-
ness'sp room% she was undressed. D:.l not ku yowlere she
had been. The two rooms were close together. At ten
minutes past se, en saw deceasi.d again coming down stairs,
undressed. She asked for a candle, which witness gave her,
and she went into tho back parlour. Thin was a room be-
tween the back parlour and surgery, leadint to the latter. I
went into the ki•claen, leaving deceased in the hack notions:.
Returned in about a minute, and found that the deceased
had gone up stairs, leaving the candle in the passage. Abeut
nine went to deceased's room. Miss Woakes went with mc.
The door of the bralroom wasdeceased was in bed,
and apparently lifeless. Judging from her co untenance,
thought she was dead. Went down to Mr. Worker's bed
room ; found him there, andcalled him. Returned with him
to deceased's bedroom. Mr. Winkes then went
downdw to
the surgery. Witness followed him. He took tec
from the shelf, and some brandy, and then Te-
tnrned up stairs. Witness returned with him. Mr.
W. sent witness to call in Mr. Benson, a surgeon. There
were bottles in the room containing hair-oil, &c. ; they
were in a drawer. Mr. Benson came immediately, De-
ceased had no supper on Saturday. She bad a few words
with Mr. Woakes on the Saturday night.
Cron-examined by Coroner : Had thought deceased very
strange at times.—The witness was cross-examined at great
length by the jury, the coroner, and Mr. Day, but nothing
material was elicited from her, except that her statements
varied considerably from those she made at the previous
in quint.
Mr. I'. Benson, surgeon, of Linen, depnsed to having
been sent for to Mr. Woakes's on Monday, about nine, and
that he found deceased quite dead in bed. Mr. W. said that
he had tried various remedies. Judged from the lividness
of her lips that deceased had taken poison. There was no
smell in the room. Observed same bottles on the tables ; ex-
amined their contents; neither of them contained poison.
In canjimetion with Mr. Heals bad made a post neoriem ex-
amination of the body ; found no marks of external injury.
The chest and abdomen were perfectly healthy. As soon as
the stomach was opened, the peculiar odour of bitter almonds
proceeded from it so strongly as to leave no doubt of the
presence of prosaic acid. Deceased was not pregnant, but
witness did not examine the rest of the body ; the presence
of Mr. Woakes prevented him from doing so. Deceased
could not have had time to return to her room if she took
the poison in the surgery. Witness was asked other ques-
tions, but none of importance.
Mr. Beale, surgeon. of Litton, corroborated the above ;
and Mr. Phillips, chemist, of Luton, deposed that he had
analysed the contents of the stomach, and had detected by
three separate tests the presence of pruesic acid in large
quantities. Witness described the experiments.
The Coroner here said that from the evidence given by
the medical gentlemen he had no alternative but to order a
re-examination of the body, and he requested that Dr.
Hawkins, of Hitchin, would c. operate with the Luton
medical men ; and he adjourned the inquest till Saturday.
On Friday the medical gentlemen made another pest mor-
tetn examination ; and on Saturday the jury re-assembled at
tan o'clock at the George, whenaDrr. Dr. Ilawkins deposed that
he had made a post warless examination of the body in con-
junction with Messrs. Benson and Heale. There was no eon-
elusive evidence as to the deceased having been enceinte.—
Messrs. Neale and Benson coincided with the evidence of
Dr. Hawkins.
Superintendent Blogdon, of tho Bedford Rural Police, II
knew the deceased slightly. Was sent for on Monday morn-
ing, the 2nd or 3rd of November. lie went to Mr. Woake's
with Mr. Benson, the surgeon. Saw the
corpse on
the deceased on the bed. The head was lying of
one side, and the mouth perfectly open. Smelt
at the mouth of the deceased, and could distinguish the
smell of aromatic spirits of ammonia. Had been a chemist.
Took oft the counterpane, and in conjunction with Mr.
Benson carefully searched the feather bed and mattress,
but found no bottle or vessel of any kind. Observed
to have a letter
I
on the pillow ; Mr. Benson took it up ; it appeared
been opened ; he looked at it, and said it was of no impor-
tance. It was given to Mr. Woakes, who said it came from a
Miss Cant. Witness had since conversed with Mr. Woakes
as to the prussic acid, when Mr. W. said that he did not use
it ; lie had some in a bottle, but so weak that he considered
it could not cause death. He said he had used some a lam
time ago. Mr. Woakes did insanity whether he had
ever observed any signs of or derangement I
of the mind in deceased. Witness here produced a letter
from Messrs. Lester, Evans. and Evans, chemists, in London.
Mr. Day objected to it, and it was not then admitted. Sub-
sequently, however, it was, and it was then shown that Mr.
Woakes bad had prussic acid from them a short time
Woakes,
back.
G. Noakes, the nephew and apprentice of Mr.
was then examined, but his evidence was sucpast issue of
contradictions, that nothing worth anything elicited
from him. At one time he stated that on missing the prussut
ic
acid bottle from the surgery, it was found by his ue, b
that be did not know where. lie then said he would swear
that his uncle did not find it. In answer to other questions,
witness stated that on one occasion not being able to find the
laudanum bottle, when he wanted to make up some medi-
cine he left it out altogether. (Laughter.) Witness was
cautioned several times by the coroner, when he refused to
answer the questions put to him.
Mr. J. Jordan, chemist, of Luton, had never sold prussic
acid to Miss Allen. Ile kept minutes of drugs sold upon
credit. Mr. Woakes had purchased drugs from witness.
Had sold him prussic acid on the 3rd Sept. last : it was two
drams of the London pharmaceutical strength. The bottle
in which it was supplied was, he believed, furnished by Mr.
Noakes. Mr. Woakes had had prussic acid of witness mere
than once. Oa the 2nd of August he supplied him with two
drams; that was the last time. It was fetched by Mr.
Alfred Rolfe.
G. Woakes re-examined : Had seen the bottles produced,
a long while ago in the surgery.
Mrs. Williams was then celled : She stated that she was
a married woman residing at Luton. Was intimate with
Miss Rebecca Allen. After the first inquiry, Mr. Weaker;
called upon her. Witness said to him that it was very sad,
and that she felt bound to be honest with him ; that the in-
timacy between hlm and Miss Allen was anything but,
what she could have wished. The witness was proceeding
to detail conversations which she had had with Mr. Woakes
when that gentleman's solicitor, Mr. Day, interposed. Ile
objected to such evidence as being illegal, and the coroner
co:nciding in the illegality of the evidence, the witness was
not further examined.
Susannah Horne deposed to having been in the surgery of
Mr. Woakes on the Monday morning, when the apprentice
said that he had und he bott which he could not fin
before. It containfoed at dark fluid not a whiten t
Mr. d
I,V oaken came into the shop, but witness did not see him
tle from the shelf. This concluded the evidence
ake any bott
on the part of the inquiry.
iembi ns ed. r
knw3asw tmh eins,
Allencalled
sbix Morr.selty, : y hrse
sm
rt. aFet ena dtn t rtyo s sci
Deceased wrote very singular letters. Had perceived that
00l with her. Had corresponded with her.

the assessed was wiry shrew{. for 1101114 time. The deceased
sent for witness in Aug. last, when she was suffering from a
bad throat. Witness went and nursed her; slept with her.
Deceased frequently got up in the night and went about the
house. She said she was very wretched, for everybody hated
her; she should like to take poison. She always spoke of
prussic acid. Witness remonstrated with her. Deceased di-
rected witness's attention to adrawer in the room, end pointed
out a bottle. Deceased took it out of the bottom drawer;
she said, There it is, will you believe it now ? It is prussic
acid. Witness asked to look at it, and endeavoured to take
it front her, but did not succeed, and the deceased put it in
her pocket. That was in August. While visiting at the'
house of witness's father some time previously deceased com-
plained of head-ache and took laudanum ; she sa;tl that she
often took laudanum. The bottle was a lettered bottle, and
it was the same bottle which witness subsequently saw con-
taining the prussic acid. She had not the slightest doubt
that the bottle which was produe-d was the one in question,
which she had seen in Mr. Jordan's possession. The
colour of the fluid in the bottle was white, like
water. Witness received a letter from deceased in
August, and destroyed it, temuse on showing it to a
Mts. Pledge, that person said it was the fitter of a mad girl.
In that letter deceased said that she would commit suicide in
a more modern and refined mode—by prosaic acid. The
letter was very strange and unconnected.—Mrs. Pledge
corroborated the above testimony, with some slight addition
as to deceased's strangeness.
Miss Jordan deposed that deceased had said, in her pre-
sence, that she would take pruss:.:. aeit Thought her con-
dutt very /orange. Had never seen, though a const nit
visitor et Mr. Woakes's, the slightest approach to any undue
familiarity towards deceased iu his conduct.
Martha Nash and MI s. R. H. Taylar gave similar evi-
dence, the latter adding that two members of the deecaced'a
family had been insane, and that one had committed suicide.
The coroner briefly summed up, and the jury, after a
short retirement, returned a similar verdict to their former
one, viz., " That the deceased died from the edits of prussic
acid, but how and by whom administered there was no. evi-
dence to show." The inquiry terminated at half-put lime.
The mode of conducting the business at this inquest may
he judged of, when we mention that r,vour/e wets frequently
had to our reporter's notes to correct the depositions.

IRELAND.
DUBLIN, DEC. 19.
TREASURY MINUTE, DEC. 1.
My lords have before them Mr. Redington's letter, dated
11th ultimo, icquiring, by desire of the Lord Lieutenant, to
what extent, and upon what terms as to interest, and the
period of repayment, their lordships will sanction advances
to parties who may apply under the several enactments
authorising Maas for the drainage and improvement of
estates in Ireland, with the exception of the act 9 and 10
Vice., c. 101, in giving effect to which difficulties had been
experienced. Their lordships also have Were tar to a letter
from the Board of Works, dated 11th oust., transmitting a copy
of a letter which had been addressed to their chairman, by Mr.
It. More O'Ferrall, M.P., containing suggestion as to the
operation of the drainage acts, and inquiring whether ad-
vances will be made from "the million voted far drainao
in Ireland, on the terms specified in the 9 & 10 Viet., c. 101,
although the application f w it be m ide under the provi-
sions of the 9 Vict., e. 4." My Lords proceed to consider
the enactments referred to in the above-mentioned letters;
first, the acts for drainage in Ireland, 5 & 6 Viet., c. 89,
amended by 8 & 9 Viet., c. 69, and 9 Viet., c. 4 ; and, ac-
condly, the provisions far the gene rat improvement of
estates in Ireland, contaLed in the "'2nd section of the
act 1 & 2 \i el. IV., c. 33, amended by 9 Viet., c. I, s. G.
My lords arc of opinion that the moat advantageous
mode of applying the provisions of the first series of acts,
viz the drainage acts, is that the Board of 1V arks should
undertake the executioa of such works as are necessary- for
deepening, or removing ohstructions in rivers, their tri-
butary streams, or the largtr watercourses of the country,
by means of which great improvement mar be effected to
the meat outfalls for the drainage of considerable tracts of
land. Such works can seldom be accomplished by any
single proprietor, as these streams and watercourses, form-
ing the main drains, generally pass through the estates
of many ditferetit proprietors. The difficulty which arises
from this cause, is chviated by the power which the Board
of Works possesses of proceeding with the consent of a cer-
tain number of proprietors, and of charging the repayment
upon the lands drained, even of dissenting proprietors, in
proportion to the benefit conferred upon them. My lords
do not think that the agency of the Brawl of Works can, as
a general title, he advantageously applied to draining in de.
tail—to Lying down draining tiles, or pipes or stone-draia-
in; in each tild. This description of work, they are of nal-
nion, can, unless when particular circumstances call for spe-
cial eaception' he far more advantageously done by each
proprietor forhimself on his own estate, the improved outfall
for his drainage haviag been afforded, if necessary, by the
, more general operations of the Board of Works above stated.
Mr. M. O'Ferrall, expressing the opinion of the magi-
" @testes, ratepayers, and principal inhabitants of the barony
of Carbury, county Kildare, states in his letter, a copy
of which has been communicated to the Board of Works,
that the barony is bounded by two rivers, one of which has
already been opened, and works on the other are in progress
for the same purpose, under the existing Drainage Act; nod
then proceed, to suggest that the most advantageous mode
of employing labour, at present in the barony, would be for
the Commissioners of Public Works to open the smaller
tributary streams running into these two rivers, and thus to
improve the outfall for drainage throughout the barony—by
this means affording to each proprietor the opportunity of
more effectually draining his own fields for hiindilf. This
view of the magistrates, ratepayers, &c., of the barony of
Carbury, is in perfect accordance with the measures contem-
plated by this board, as above stated. My lords are pre-
pared, therefore, to sauctiou advances for such purposes, and
will consider applications, each to be dealt with ca its own
merits, for rorks for drainage under this series oi acts, the
last of which, conferring more summary power of proceed-
lugs, is more particularly applicable to the present
state of things in Ireland. Proceeding to the cm-
sideration of the second class of enactments, i. e.,
1 and 2 Wm. IV., c. 33, a. 32, and 9 Vict., c. 1,
s. 6, under which loans may made to individuals,
to enable them to effect the improvement of their estates
ether
fur
themselves, by drainage, rceliaming waste lands, or
works of substantial improvement, my lards arc prepared
to make advances to proprietors who comply with the con-
ditions of the 1 and 2 Wm. IV., c. 33, amended by 9 Viet.
c. 1, a 6, as to the nature of the works; and who can obtain
from a competent person, approved by the Board of Works,
the certificate of increased value to he given to the land im-
proved, as prescribed by that net. This latter condition is
necessary iu order to protect the interests of those who are
to succeed the person In actual posseraion, from having their
future property subjected to a charge for unsubstantial and
improvident improvements. Their lordships, however,
desire that it may be uuderstood that parties applying far
loans under any of the enactments above adverted to Milt
undertake to submit to such terms in respect to the period
of repayment, and such other provisions, as
min parli
uteament
Mr.
may
hereafter enact. Transmit a copy of thito
Redington for tho information of the Lord Lieutenant and
the Board of Works.
MR. TREVELTAN TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF PUBLIC
WORE.S.
Dec. 15.—1 am commanded by the Lords Commission
ceeto
rs
of her Majesty's Treasury to inform you, with referen
the minute of this board, dated the Ist instant, that their
lordships think it advisable to furnish the following addi-
tional explanations on the subject of the arrangements
contemplated by the above-mentioned minute fur making
advances both to individual proprietors of estates, and also
to the Board of Works, from national funds, for the drainage
and general improvement of private estates in Ireland.
My lords are aware that difficulties have been experienced
,giving practical effect to the act 9 and 10 Vic., cap. 101,
and that in some parts oft he country works of improvement
other than drainage be more beneficially undertaken.
Their lordships are, however, of opinion that the general
COWS!! of proceeding prescribed by that act (according to'
which the improvements on each private estate are to be I
executed by the proprietor, and the Interference of the offi-
cers of the goverement is confined to ascertaining, in the first
instance, that the proposed improvements are likely to be of
such a permanent and productive character as would justif
with
y
the cost of them being made a charge upon the estate
priority over other incumbrances, and afterwards to inspect-
ing the works from time to time so as to secure the proper
application of the sums advanced to the purpose,
for which
they were intended) is the mode in which the intervention
of the state can be most extensively and effectually directed
to the improvement of the land of the country ;
and her Ma-
jesty's Government propose to submit a bill to parliament
founded on these principles, embracing and extending the
objects of the 32ad section of the act 1 and 2 Will. IV.. cap.
33, amended by the 9 Viet. cap. 1, sect. 6, and of the 9 and
10 Vict., cap. 101.
It is proposed by her Majesty's Government that the mil-
lion sterling appropriated by. the Act 9 and 10 Vic. cap. 101,
to be batted in loana for drainage in Ireland, should be ICU-
dered available for the purposes of general, improvement of
lands, including drainage, under the provisions of the act
proposed to be passed in the next session of Parliament, as
above explained ; and their lordships are prepared to adopt
the principle of the 9 and 10 Vie., cap. 101, as to
qua re-
-1
payment, and to authorise its being made by e
half-yearly instalments of 31. ss. each, distrtbuted over a
period 0f.'22 years, with a power of redemption as provided
la the act, unless the borrowers should themselves desire
that a shorter period should be fixed, in which case the
number and amount of instalments :will be determined
in each particular case, as shall be desired by the pro-
prietors, and sanctioned by the Treasury, the rate of
interest being calculated, in all cases, at 31 per cent.
There being reason to
edhelive that considerable difficulty
is sometimes experienc by Irish proprietors in effecting
desirable improvements on their estates, owing to the pe-
culiarities in the tenure of land in Ireland, and the rights
of per sons havng different interests in it, t hir Lordships
are of opinioni that it may be desirable to iaseert in the bill
to be submitted to parliament on this subject, provisions
somewhat similar to those contained in the
this obstacle,
and aportioning. on the various parties who will derive
benefit from the imp a proportionate contribution
towards the repayment of tbe loan, the whole principal and
interest being payable to the government by the person
who shall be deemed proprietor of the land drthe ained
occur
improved, and the contribution on the part
pier, being in the shape of increased
submit rent to the proparietosepa-
r.
Uer Majesty's government also propose to
rate bill to parliament, in which the provisions of the 5 and
6 Vic , cap. SI), 8 and 9 Vic., esp. 69, and the 9 Vic., cap. 4.
which have for their object the execution by the Boar of
Works of drainage works of a more extended description,d in
most cases involving the interest of several proprietors, will
be consolidated and simplified, and such o
amendments will be
made in them as the occasion may appear t require.
The loans which have hitherto been made from the Pub-
lic Works Loan Fund for this object, have been made at the

usual rate of interest of 5 per cent. ; but adverting to the
great public importance at the present period of encouraging
every description of agricultural improvement in Ireland, their
lordships arc prepared to reduce the interest on future losnsto
4 per cent. In order thatefforts now being made for the drain-
age and improvement of land may not experience any dis-
couragement, their lordships will authorise the terms of re-
payment above described to take effect from the let inst.; that
is to say, loans for the drainage, or general improvement of
estates, to be executed by the proprietors under the inspec-
tion of the Board of Works. according to the provisions of
the 32nd section of the act 1 aid 2 Will. IV., cap. 33, the
9th Vic., cap. 1, sec. 6, and the 0 and 10 Vic., cap, 101, will
be repayable according to the terms above stated in respect
of advances to individuals, with interest at 31 percent.,
while lo:nis made to the Board of Works for drainage to be
executed by them under the provisions of the 5 and 6 Vie.,
cap. 89, 8 and 9 Vic. cap. 69, and the 9 Vic., cap. 4, will be
repayable by half-yearly instalments, according to an award
of the commissioners, with interest at the rate of 4 per cent.
My lords are farther of opinion, that with the view both
of providing security for the repayment of the advances fieni
the public purse, and of relieving entailed estates from the
evil of accumulated charges, two powers should be conferred
by the measures which it is proposed to submit to parlia-
ment. 1. A power to the proprietors of an entailed estate
to sell for the purpose of repapng the advances for improve-
ments made by the Board of Weeks, or if made by himself,
with the aid of government money, under the inspec-
tion of the Board of Works, any part of the estate
so improved, or of other estates settled to the same
uses, in the same manner as a poster exists in this
country of selliag for the redemption of the land tax.
2. A power to the government of selling, in default of
payment of two consecutive instalments, so much of the
land improved or of other estates settled to the same uses,
which the proprietor mip.lat prefer, as would repay capital,
interest, and expenses of sale. My lords desire it to be
clearly understood, that in thus laying down the canditions
on whie.a they are prepared to make advances on any appli-
cations mode subsequently to the Ist instant, they have no
intention of interfering with any works or trrangement fur
works, now in progress, under any existing act, or with
such as have been undertak-n, or as may ba nrdertaken,
until parliament shall otherwise provide under the poor
emplo:onent act as extended by Mr. Labouchtre's letter of
Octeilior 5.

Mr. O'Connell and the Young Ireland party are moving
with the wariness of old chess-placer. Both atm at giving
cheeemate, but as yet the victory is undetermined. Public
opinion must decide the triumpli or the discoutiture. Since
my last communication, events have grown more com-
plicated, and the hopes of unanimity snore distant. Mr.
O'Connell is quite distatitfied with the report of the inter-
view between himself and the seceders. lied he known of
their intention to " protocolise," he would have guarded
against errors, by summoning to the cause of truth the
reporters of the Freeman. In his explanatory letter of
yesterday he alines that the report suppressed some of his
most powerful arguments er illuetratione, and restatee the
terms on which alone there could be a chance of concord.
They vary very slightly from all we knew before. There
ie, however, a discrepancy in a material point between the
report and Mr. O'Connell's statement. The report afirms
that Mr. O'Connell refused any submission to the commis-
sioners, except the simple question of the legality. of the
physical force doctrine. Mr. O'Connell denies the
restriction, and declares that his offer was—in the event of
the question being determined in their favour—to eeree
in submitting any " reasonable " terms to the judg-
ment of the commissioners. The Reverend lit. Miley
Iso, on his own behalf, and in support of Mr. O'Connell,
impugns the correctness of the report. The seceders
affirmed that the rev. gentleman, deputed by Mr. O'Connell
to Mr. Smith O'Brien, offered to submit to the award "all
points of difference" between both parties. Dr. Miley, in
his letter to the Freeman, charges them with being less
trnthful than hypercritical. By " paints of difference," he
meant, generally, a mieunderstanding on the question of the
"two forces." Ilia authority was special—exclusively limited
to the solution of that difficulty, and in his interview with
Mr. Smith O'Brien he offer: d ne more through the com-
mission than the settlement of that " fountain of all ill."
The publicatien of Mr. O'Brien's letter calls forth another
from Mr. O'Connell, in which he clings still more closely to
the phveited force views, and carts on Mr. O'Brien the re-
sponsibility of shunning an amicable adjustment. "Till
the point of legality is settled, no further arrangement is
possible." So stands the matter between the leedere.
The papers teem with letters. Among the most elaborate
is one from the pen of Archbitieop M'llule, in this morning's
Freemen, addressed to Lord John Rueeell. Ili Grace lives
in a very wretched and acutely-suit:ring district, anti the
condition of society in which he necessarily moves has
pointed his pen with excessive severity. file Grace traverses
the history of Ireland since the Union, and draws the usual
lesion of misgovernment, neglect, and consequential famine.
The language is more bold than the arguments are profound,
or the emelte.ions correct. The following is the conclusion
of his Grace's letter:—
]oar lordship has now a great destiny to fulfil—the rescuing an
entire m aide from the jaws of famine ; for nothing l wi 0: to inithons
from the imperial exchequer can avert the doom that hang orer the
Irish nation. Be prepared, then, to ads mate such an en! trued mea-
sure; or, since your humanity would shrink (ran the rprietacle of
a nation perishing Ly iiimine, you will doubtless rinse from
the helm which you may lint yourself unable to guide. stuba
measure of relief ifulTl the inqi.irial exchequer will be indispensable
notwithstanding all the aid may be lent by the Irish landiords.
Their apathy and listlessness, their want of counsel and concert at a
moment which requires, their united energies, are not among the
least meancloily of ties misamlings cur our aerial condition forces on
every retLcung mind. it would autos 15 if there wen arist y
acrac
in the country, or as if the confusion of " the great ones
and of Tunis
were c^me upon th^m. They seem altogether manta ants.'
of those national attributes with which Mlle of their ances-
tors were endued. Their proiwrtY is shifting awaT frOM
under their feet. and they 11,•111 seized wits en utter in-
ability to arrest the ruin. They are eiallltlrOWl 101. ICKatilletiVe
works, In order to be relieved of the labour rate. They the notch of
remunerative larviir, but litth of rear int votive totem, ilt"erly ferect-
tut that it was the tenant's want of permanent security to enjoy in
subst .ntial food the iruit of their improvements, that consigned our
pormlatMa, as if they were wandering tribe., to such a prveariowa root
as the potato, and that without a tenere which will wake labour
reproductive to Loth Wants and Lindliads, no agricultural improve-
mmts, such as the cris's demands ver he achieved. Let the se-
entity of tenure, the n. and a fair remuneration for improvement.
form on essential part of any amendment of the labour act, and it will
be seen what a magical etfect it will have in thawing imay the
pop* to the seasor.able cidtivaLon of thilr own tittle Isms.•sp snow is at this moment coverbig the earth, and even the mise-
rable day's hit., wt.r.eli could not afford half meal in the 24 hours to
all the memb- rs of a ungehed family, is, in Mil, instincos, with-
drawn. I shudder at the consegnences. It is ton Painful to eontem-
plate. theme you adept more enlarged 111^aftlret, than throwing the
relief of the people mi the landlord..., w co, whdever be their sins,
sLonld be corrected and reformed rather than ennihilated, your
ministry will be memorable In !rand.
Private charity is becoming more active with the growth
of destitution. l'arochial meetings arc about to be consisted
on the requisitions of the most eminent and opulent indi-
viduals sin Dublin to provide the poor with fuel and food in
this calamitous season. Soup shops, in which excellent soup
is distributed at one penny a quart, are at work in many of
the provincial towns, and the gentry throughout the country
are engaged in the same distribution, of course gratuitously.
A suggestion, signed by twelve of the most distinguished
medical men in Dublin, has hems addressed to the Relief
Committees, strongly recommending meat-soul), wherever
procurable, as strengthening the poor for labour, and
enabling them to resist better the attacks of disease, as well
as constituting an excellent restorative during the period of
convalescence. In this work of charity the Society of Friends
have made the initiative. Their time and money ere
Water-
at the
service of destitution. This is especially the case in

ford.
At a meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society on Thurs-
day, Lord Clancarty stated that he had recently a conversa-
tion with the Lord Lieutenant, in which the latter expressed
a strong desire that the council should compile and distribute
practical:directions for the small farmers of Ireland, in refe-
rence to the future cultivation of their farms. A letter to the
same effect was read from the Duke of Leinstcr, in which he
says that if the funds of the society should prove insufficue of
ient
the government would undertake the printing and iss
such a document for general cliKribution. It is probable
Lord John Russell has communicated with his grace on the
subject, and that the duke and viceroy only reflect the opi-
nions of the premier.
The C;azette of last night orders presentment sessions for
thirteen baronies. Four hundred and twentye-ei Labour-rate
ght se•sions
have been already held in Ireland under th
Act.