The Sun.
London, England, 1839-10-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17 1839.

but anxious, to rally round the British standard, if they
could but see it, even by an individual, fearlessly unfurled
and firmly planted; and we are quite certain that, if our
Conservatives, instead of cautiously feeling their way, step
by step, doubtful about attacking, and doubtful about de-
fending, anything at all likely to involve them in 1-arlia-
rrentary defeat, would, in the sacred cause of truth and
justice, actually seek to place themselves in difficulty and
danger, in order that the British people might clearly see
what is really the case—namely, that nothing but their as-
sistance can save the country—the appeal would be enthu-
siastically responded to ; and the intelligence, wealth, and
property of the country would, en masse, rise in defence."
What sort of a rising en masse is here counselled
does not distinctly appear. As the author expected
that the Chartists would cut a figure in the field,
perhaps he meant to put us between two fires. By the
defeat of the one revolution we are, then, freed from
the other. However, we leave the Tories to settle
their own tactics. Let them by all means " place
themselves in difficulty and in danger," if they deem it
expedient. The policy smacks of plagiarism. In the
continuation of the " Tale of a Tub," Jack hangs him-
self on the strength of Martin's promise to cut him
down in time to save his life. The project was scarcely
more prudent than would be that of the Tories getting
into difficulty and danger on the speculation of a gene-
ral rising for their rescue. These recriminations, and
proposed changes of policy, are no symptoms of heart
or hopefulness. The fatal blunder of Sir Robert Peel,
when he attempted to storm the Court and subjugate
the Queen, cannot be retrieved. Striving at a false
show of favour, he discovered to the world the true
position of his party. The cement of its organization
then began to melt away. And now, it is proclaimed
that his troops will do better without discipline. They
have experimented upon order long enough, and will
commence an experiment upon disorder. We shall pa-
tiently wait to see who or what will be " displaced" by
this " most admired disorder."

This

(From the Morning Herald.)
We rejoice in the multiplication of agricultural assn•
ciations, because we rejoice in the extension of a system
which promises to afford to the great body of English
agriculturists, the means of self-protection against their
formidable enemies. For the very reason, therefore,
that we regard with pleasure, all the movements of the
cultivators of the English soil to add to their power, do
we view with regret such an exhibition as would seem to
have taken place at the recent meeting of the Arundel
and Bramber Agricultural Association. At that meet-
ing, Captain Pechell, M.P., for Brighton, is reported to
have expressed himself in the following most unbecoming
terms:—

" Captain Pechell, in returning thanks, said be congra-
tulated the association on the successful result of its
working, visible in the improvement in the moral con-
dition a the working classes, also on the high character
which the association had maintained, so different
from many of those in Cumberland, Oxfordshire, and
Buckinghamshire, where the farmers appeared to be occupied
in the business of flattering the vanities of their great men,
and lending themselves to party and political purposes.—
( Cheers.) The gentlemen composing this association had
far different objects.—( Cheers.) They did not meet to
flatter the vanity or consult the prejudices of any man,
however great or high ; they entered the association,
not to advance the interests of the higher or middle
classes further than through their means to promote
the interest of the working people.—( Cheering.) He
considered the farmers of Sussex a body of inde-
pendent men who would never tolerate such pro.
ceedings as were reported to have taken place
at Banbury, in Oxfordshire, and in some places in
Buckinghamshire —(Cheers)—which latter county was fore_
most in the field in constantly bawling for protection,
though it was notoriously the lowest in the scale of En-
glish counties in agricultural skill and in the amount of
wages paid to the labouring classes, who were consequently
in a very inferior condition."—( Cheers.)
The farmers of Buckinghamshire are, at least, as
little addicted to the practice of " flattering great men"
as are Captain Pechell and his brother Whigs ; and
as to the imputation that the Buckinghamshire agricul-
turists rank beneath the other agriculturists of England
in point of skill—it happens to be a piece of gratuitous
impertinence ! When Captain Pechell shall understand
his business as a legislator, only half as well as the
farmers of Buckinghamshire understand the business of
agriculture, Brighton may congratulate itself on a very
favourable change in the character of its Whig-Radical
and nautical representative. Let Captain Pechell,
before he shall presume to sneer at the Buckingham-
shire farmers, strive to understand something of the ele-
ments of the art, of which, by his position as a Member
of Parliament, he is presumed to be a professor. At
present he ranks amongst the most ignorant members of
the very ignorant and despicable party to which he
belongs.

ALLEGED ROBBERY AND AT
TEMPTED MURDER IN HYDE-PARE.

On Tuesday evening last about half-past six o'clock,
Knight, one of the boatmen belonging to the Royal
Humane Society, was standing on the bank of the Ser-
pentine, near the boathouse, when he heard a faint cry
of " Boat, boat !" coming apparently from the bridge.
In a moment or two the cry was repeated in a louder
key. He then got into one of the boats and immediately
pushed off in the direction of the bridge, and when he
had got near the second arch on the south side he with
some difficulty discerned (the evening being very dark)
the head of a man bobbing up and down in the water.
Knight then threw out his grapnel!, and had dragged
the body to the boat-side when he was joined by Super-
intendent Williams, and they together got him into the
boat.

(From the Morning Advertiser.)
The calm which at present prevails in the political
world is, we fear, of an ominous character. We are
apprehensive it portends no good to the cause of Liberal
principles and good government. The lethargy with
which the minds of the Movement party seem to have
been recently seized is not only calculated to inspire
alarm, but is altogether unaccountahle at such a moment
as the present. It is clear that we are on the verge of
a great political crisis—one not merely involving the
destinies of this country, but of the civilized world itself.
See the position of the two great parties into which
the Legislature and the people of England are divided.
Is not the strength of the friends and foes of those
principles, on the ascendancy or overthrow of which
the greatness, and glory, and well-being of England
manifestly bang, so nicely balanced in the House of
Commons, the arena in which the battle is to be fought,
that it is difficult to say which party shall have to boast
of a majority when the first great trial of strength shall
take place ? At this moment the Liberal party are
understood to have a majority of from eight to ten.
But who shall say what the chapter of accidents and
the allurements of Tory corruption may bring about
before the month of February—the period, it is un-
derstood, when the sessional campaign shall commence ?
A few favourable single elections—and the Tories are
usually successful in isolated struggles—will suffice to
turn the scale against the Liberals ; or, if that should
not occur, have we not reason to apprehend that there
are at least some half-dozen professedly Liberal
M.P.'s whose virtue—if the term be not a misnomer—
is purchasable by Carlton gold ? At all events
there can scarcely be a doubt that if the Reform
party continue much longer in their present cul-
pably supine state, the powers of corruption will
in some way or other triumph when the trial of
strength takes place between the antagonist parties.
And let the Tories only once succeed in obtain-
ing a majority in the representative branch of
the Legislature, and then farewell to a Liberal Govern-
ment for an indefinite period. With a friendly House
of Lords, a dispirited people, and a manacled helpless
Sovereign, a Tory House of Commons, instigated by a
Tory Ministry, would be all-powerful for any amount
of mischief; and might protract their despotic ascend-
ancy in the Councils of the country for a long series of
years. These, we are well aware, will prove unpa-
latable observations to many of the friends of freedom.
We cannot help that : the question is, are they true ?
Unhappily they are too true ; and though the truth
is not always to be told, it is wholesome to tell
it in the present instance. They who would give
a different representation of matters in the present
case are either very injudicious friends of the Li-
beral cause, or its bitter enemies, however loud and
reiterated may be their protestations of attachment to it.
But it will he asked, what is to be done to avert the
destruction with which the interests of Liberalism are
menaced? There can only be one answer to the ques- SINGULAR CASE OF STRANGULATION.—
tion : let the Reformers shake off the lethargy which On Tuesday evening an inquest was held before Mr.
now presses on them with all the paralysing pressure of Rogerson, the Borough Coroner, at the Saracen's Head
an incubus, and commence a course of vigorous agita- public house, Wigan-lane, in Wigan, on the body of
tion, which shall be persevered in without intermission an elderly woman named Margaret Horrocks, the wife
till the meeting of Parliament, in favour of the great of a man who had for some time been in the service of
principles of freedom which are now in such imminent Thomas Woodcock, Esq., of Bank House, as coach-
jeopardy. Public meetings ought to be forthwith held man. The fatal occurrence which led to this proceed.
in all parts of the country, for the purpose of passing ing took place on Monday night. Horrocks, in com-
resolutions embodying and asserting the views of the.. pay with his wife (the deceased) and another woman,
nation as to the principles on which the Government of named Rigby, went to Warrington on Monday in a gig,
the country ought to be conducted. If the people con- and before they returned they got intoxicated, espe-
tinue inactive until the Legislature meet, a Tory ad- cially the deceased, who it appears was insensibly
vent to office in the course of the Session may be re- drunk, to which is to be attributed the melancholy ter-
garded as not beyond the bounds of probability. The mination of their journey. It appears that she fell out
Liberals, therefore, ought to be up and awake, if they of the gig, near a place called Smith Brook, and her
mean to maintain their principles, or to support a Go- husband and Rigby- being unable to assist her, remained
vernment whose members are now in great part pledged suspended with her head downwards, and her feet
to promote them.
(From the Morning Post.) caught by some part of the splash-board. Some persons
Every Ministerial tirade that meets our eyes upon
hearing their cries came to them and tied the deceased
t
the subject of Ministerial education assumes, point to the gig between her husband and Rigby. Her cloak
was so fast about her neck that she died from strangu-
blank, that the Government scheme is not only a good lation before they got to Wigan. After a number of
one, but so exceedingly good that her Majesty's Minis. witnesses had been examined, the Jury returned a ver-
ters are deserving of unutterable praise for the courage dict of " Accidentally strangled while in a state of
with whviceh persevered (in spite
of
in their plan. This is, no doubt, " such formidable opposition") "/ drunkenness." The Jury expressed a desire that the
they have
Coroner should severely censure Horrocks and Rigby,
a very compendious way of settling the case in favour as they considered them highly culpable.—Wigan
of Ministers. It is highly convenient to assume that Gazette.
what Ministers have resolved upon is the sovereignest
wise, en- At the Hedingham agricahural meeting, Mr. J.
Wa stated that he had tried the experiment of sowing
lightened, and so forth. It is also very consistent with
thing on earth for rendering the people •
proficiency
eocoyf thine tole-seed with his beans, hoeing it in with the second
the usual turn that Whig modesty takes in matters
might be profitably
hoeing, which he seemed to think
of controversy. And yet, after all, we must take leave
r oSfiocmi ]lowed.
Ashort time since, one of the unfortunate men
Ministerial to doubt.
lthawtriittersis,
who, by
shaytisftahcetiorry.p
blarney as well as in abusiveness, show their apti- residing near Boughton, who. underwent a year's
.impri-
part in the Courtenay affair, at-
under the following rapture at the conduct of her tempted to commit suicide
Majestytude for wearing the livery of the O'Connell Govern- sonment for taking
.
ment, profess the utmost
wife in that condition
in having been graciously_pleased to apply one stances :—Shortly after his return from Maidstone gaol,
plan. We which " ladies," ought not be whose "lords" have been
hundred pounds out of her Majesty's income towards the he
.found, to his great surprise, his
formation of a "normal school" on the new
so long absent. This preyed upon his mind, and about
ought to
himself from a beam in an outhouse.
a fortnight ago he attempted suicide, by suspending
aretol d
consequentth autpotnh the delighte
h an
act and
af
"munificence"
gratitudeal a ai
fieenoefe,, the public
He was
that one ately cut down, and life not being extinct, he was in a
know no bounds. Pity that one cannot be grateful, or
immedi-
delighted, upon merely Ministerial suggestion
joy short short time recovered.—Kentish Times.
and to be so. Surely it is but reasonable that the joy
The Animals' Friend Society last week caused
and thankfulness in this case should be propor-
tioned to the probable benefit to be derived from the Charles Purfet and David Richards, to be fined by Mr.
donation in aid of the new education scheme. If Jeremy, for great cruelty to two truck dogs drawing
that acherise be a mischief, why should the English hearth stones, and let out from Lock's-fields, for Sd.
public be grateful or delighted because the Queen has per day each dog ; out of which sum the poor animal
given part of her Majesty's allowance in its support ? receives its whole allowance of food. Also, Lavender
Now, it so happens that the English public has used to be fined for having cruelly kicked a horse in the
all the means which the Constitution allows to demon. I stomach. It is a pity, however, they were only fined
strate to her Majesty's Government, and to her Ma. 68, each, as it is trifling with the offences, and causes
jsa,MS ty herseif, that they do look upon the new education 1 them oftener to be. committed, and the offenders oftener
SCU
414 q, mischief, and not as a benefit. Was there I punished, than by inflicting a more suitable fine.

On animation being restored, he became exceedingly
violent and delirious, so much so, that two soldiers were
procured from the Magazine station to assist in prevent-
ing him from doing some mischief. The surgeon bled
him copiously, when he became weak, and was conveyed
home in a coach. His name is Richard Goodman, a
coachman to a private gentleman, who broke up his es-
tablishment three weeks ago, and according to his state-
ment, he was on his way to Hammersmith to pay some
money, when he was robbed and tossed over the bridge.
During the whole day of Saturday he continued
alternately in a state of delirium and sleep, but about
eight o'clock in the evening he became collected, and
then made the following extraordinary statement !
He said that about half-past six o'clock, he was en-
tering upon the bridge from the Kensington side, when
two men came suddenly upon him, one was in the un-
dress of a private soldier of a foot regiment, the other
wore a black frock coat and hat. The (presumed)
soldier then thrust his hands into his trousers, and,
catching hold of the fob, in which there was 51., tore it
out. Goodman caught hold of him by the collar with
the intention of holding him until assistance came up,
when the other said, " Throw the over the
bridge." They then, before he could even utter an
exclamation, threw him over. He held on for a moment
by the parapet, but a blow from one of the men made
him loose his hold. He then remembers trying, though
he could not swim, to save himself, and caught by the
arch of the bridge, and while in that situation he saw
two women approach, to whom he called, and imme-
diately that they saw him he sunk and remembered
nothing after.

Upon this statement being made his friends imme-
diately gave information to the police, and Inspector
Partridge, of the D division, immediately proceeded to
Goodmau's residence and made him recapitulate the
story, which be put down in writing. He then asked
the man why, when he was attacked, he did not call
out ? The man's reply was he was so surprised that he
could not call out. He also said that all he had taken
to drink since he left home was a bottle of ginger beer.
On Sunday night the man again relapsed into a state
of stupor, and though he has been constantly attended
upon by a surgeon he was still lying in a most precarious
state.

Inspector Partridge has, since receiving the above
statement, been actively engaged in endeavouring to
gain intelligence that may confirm the statement given
by Goodman.

1 ever, then, more impudent blarney than that which pre-
tends that the people should be happy and grateful for
the Royal " munificence" in aid of that mischief? We
grant that the Ladies of the Bedchamber may have
told her Majesty that it would be a very spirited
thing to give a hundred pounds in support of that
against which the Archbishop of Canterbury and an
immense majority of the House of Peers had solemnly
warned her Majesty. It is very possible that Lord
Melbourne may somehowor another have given to such
a proceeding the air of a practical joke, worth at least
a hundred pounds, and so have determined her Majesty
in its favour. We do not deny, therefore—if it so
please the Ministerialists—that it is an act for which
the Court circle (little dogs and all) should bark and
jump with every noise and gesture of applause ; but it
really does seem rather much to require that the people
should be delighted for aid given to what the people
gravely suspect and greatly dislike.
(From the Times.)
We have stated of Admiral Fleming not a word or
syllable which affects his private character as a gentle.
man. We dare say he is on that score unassailable.
We have not insinuated one iota in disparagement of
his courage as an officer ; but we said that in the whole
course of a service of near fifty years, and during a war
of twenty-three years' continuance, when British men-
of-war traversed every ocean, and cut out work for our
enemies all over the surface of the globe, Admiral Fle-
ming's name is not to be found in any one tecord of our
maritime achievements as having at any moment of that
long and multifarious conflict exchanged shots with a hos-
tile vessel. For years Captain Fleming was captain of the
Egyptienne, a 24-pounder frigate, one of the finest in
the service. It did so happen, that if Captain Fleming
had no opportunity of meeting an enemy in this fine
frigate, the frigate did find the opportunity without him,
inasmuch as when he was on shore, attending Sir R.
Calder's Court-martial, his First Lieutenant, Hand-
field, then commanding the ship, chased, fought, and,
in company with the Loire, succeeded in capturing
the Libre, a French frigate, after a smart action.
We are far from affirming that Captain Fleming would
not have done as much ; but the fact is, that neither
then, nor at other times, did he effect the capture
of an enemy's vessel of any force, nor encounter
one in action. But had Captain Fleming no op-
portunity of meeting and engaging an enemy ?
In 1805, while commanding the Egyptienne, he was
attached to Sir R. Caluer's squadron of fifteen
sail of the line, when that gallant and much injured
officer fell in with, fought, and defeated, a combined
fleet of twenty French and Spaniards, taking two of
their ships ; had Captain Fleming his twenty-four
pounder frigate in that engagement, when an addition
of half her number of guns might have afforded useful
aid to his overmatched commander? Where was Cap-
tain Fleming? We do not know ; we have looked at
the despatches, where his name is not mentioned ; we
have looked in "James's history," where the other
British frigate of the squadron, the Sirius, a much
weaker ship, contrived to exchange broadsides
with the " Hero," a French ship of the line, and to
lose some men killed and wounded. But of any
share taken by Captain Fleming in the engagement
not one word is on record. Then, all that we allege is,
that when the Admiralty advocates dwell on the praises
(what cruel irony !) of Captain Fleming as a candidate
for high rewards and honours, they ought to tell us,
what they never have told us, about the things that he
has done. It is rather cool to pick a man out of obscu-
rity, and, in loading him with rewards due only to ac-
knowledged eminence, attempt to justify his promotion
by boasting that there is " nothing against him." The
onus is not on us to prove his disqualification, but on his
patrons to give evidence of his claims. E-tates are not
assigned by law to the first person who asserts that he
has never been in Newgate. But we believe that the
public mind is pretty well made up as to wherabouts the
charge of " impudence" ought to be affixed in " the case
of Admiral Fleming." It is no joke to disgust the navy
of England—it is no light offence to make even the
civil Government contemptible in the eyes of foreigners,
and odious in Great Britain.

A COMPOSER'S ADVICE TO A
RISING SINGER.

M. Masset, a young tenor, made his debut some days
ago, at the Opera Comique at Paris. After stating
that it was a most successful one, and that the de-
butant's voice is one of the finest and most extensive
Paris can boast of, M. Berlios bestows on him the fol
lowing advice, after the fashion of that which Pon
Quixote gave Sancho when the worthy squire was about
to take possession of the government of Barataria :
" Masset, you have now made your way. In some
weeks you will be celebrated. Your voice will soon
be 'polished, and your talent finished ; you will
have abundant applause, and endless emolu-
ments. Authors will court you, managers will
no longer make you wait in their anti-chambers,
and if you write to them they will answer you. Women
unknown to you, and whom you never will know, will
speak of you as of t protege or intimate friend. Books
in prose and verse will be dedicated to you. Instead
of five francs you will be obliged to give your door-
keeper a hundred on New Year's Day. You will be
exempted from doing duty in the National Guard. You
will get leave of absence now and then, and cities will
then quarrel for your performances. Your feet will be
covered with flowers and sonnets. You will sing in the
Prefect's drawing-rooms, and the Mayor's wife will send
you apricots. In short, }ou are on the threshold of
Olympus ; for, if the Italians call the cantatrice dive
(goddesses), it is clear enough that great male singers
are gods. NVell, then, since you are a god, be a good
devil, nevertheless, and do not tco much despise folks
that may give you wholesome advice.
" Remember that a voice is a fragile instrument,
which declines or breaks down in an instant, often with-
out any known cause ; remember that such an accident
suffices to precipitate the greatest of gods from the
highest throne, to reduce him to the condition of a man,
and sometimes to something less.
" Be not too harsh with the poor composers.
" When from the height of your elegant cabriolet
you perceive in the street Meyerbeer, Spontini, Halery,
or Auber on foot, do not salute them with a little nod
of patronage, at which they would laugh in pity.
Forget not that many of their works will be admired
and full of life when the recollection of your highest
note has vanished for ever.

If you take a trip to Italy, do not get enthusi-
astic about some second-rate weaver of cavatinas ; do
not, when you return, pronounce him a classic composer,
and tell us with an impartial look that Beethoven had
also some talent ; for there is no god that can escape
ridicule.

" When you accept new parts, do not permit your-
self to change anything in them at the representation
without the author's consent. You know that a single
note added, retrenched, or transposed, may flatten a
melody and change its expression. Besides, it is a right
which can in no case be yours. To modify the music one
sings, or the book one translates, without saying one
word about it to him who wrote it only after a vast deal
of reflection, is an outrageous breach of good faith.
People who borrow without warning are called thieves,
faithless interpreters are calumniators and assassins.
" If peradventure you have a rival whose voice has
more vigour than yours, don't, in a duet, play at
lungs with him, for rest assured that we must not
struggle against the iron pot, even when we happen
to be a china vase. In your provincial tours beware,
when you speak of the Opera Comique and its
choral and instrumental company, to say my theatre,
my choruses, my orchestra. The provincial folks do not
like, more than the Parisians, to be taken for silly
people ; they know full well that you belong to the
theatre, and that the theatre does not belong to you,
and they would think your conceited language perfectly
grotesque.

" And now, friend Sancho, receive my blessing ; go
and govern Barataria ; it is a rather low island, but the
most fertile one, perhaps, in terra firma. Thy people
are but indifferently civilized , encourage public instruc-
tion : may, in two years hence, they who know how to
read no longer be distrusted as detestable sorcerers ;
don't be deceived by the praise of such as may sit down
to thy table ; forget thy confounded proverbs ; when in
public thrust no more thy hands in thy pockets like a
muleteer ; never fail to thy word ; let they who may
trust their interests to thee be assured that thou wilt
❑ot betray them, and may thy voice be in tune for
everybody."

POISON IN FRUITS.—The substance which
gives their peculiar flavour to bitter almonds, and to the
kernels of peacees, apricots, &c. as also to the leaves of
all the species of cherry and peach, is the prussic acid.
—Popular Encyclopedia.
A market for Welsh flannels has been established
in Shrewsbury.
There are in Ireland numerous Protestants—men
of rank and property—who, although from early associa-
tions, they might prefer having Tories in office, would,
nevertheless, sacrifice their early prejudices rather than
hazard the peace of their native country and the se-
curity of their own lives and property, by assisting
into power politicians whose Bible would be but an
enlarged and embittered edition of the old penal
code, and whose creed would be relentless persecu-
tion. The result of this feeling on the part of these
rational Protestant-Tories has been, that several of
them demanded to know in plain terms whether the ad-
vent of Toryism was in reality to be the signal for civil
war in Ireland ? The answer given on behalf of' Sir
Robert Peel was to this effect—that it was required for
the sustenance of the Tory party to keep up and enforce
the No-Popery feeling in England, but that there was
no design of pushing the exterminating principle in
Ireland so far as actually to excite rebellion ; and
then it piteously represented to the Irish remon-
strants that the necessities of the party required such
expedients, and that, in fact, the end must be taken
to justify the means of deceit and falsehood by which
it was brought about. We can state, upon the most
positive authority, that such language has been held—
such explanation made—such excuse given by persons
who speak the sentiments of Sir Robert Peel ; and
whilst we abstain from giving to this double-faced policy
the reprobation that is its due, we trust that, without
the use of Billingsgate language, we have proved that
there is no term of abuse sufficiently strong to in.zrk its
infamy.—Observer.
CURIOUS RELIC OF THE COVENANTERS.—
Mr. James Paterson, Tundergarth, has in his possession
a copy of the Geneva translation of the Bible, printed
in 1599, with pretty full marginal and explanatory,
notes by Francis Junius, and with Sternhold and Hop-
kins's version of the Psalms, which bears a deep mark
of some powerful cutting instrument, caused, as we
have been assured, by the stab of a persecutor's sword.
The following singular account is given of it :—The
Bible belonged to William Hannah, in Tundergarth,
one of the persecuted Covenanters, who suffered much
from the violence of persecution, and, with others, was
frequently compelled to seek for shelter in the "caves
and dens of the mountains," or when closely pursued
sometimes found concealment among the straw of his
own barn, for seldom was he permitted to repose in
peace in the bosom of his family ; but his Bible was the
constant companion of his solitude and his sufferings.
On one occasion, being closely pursued by a party
of " Clavers's dragoons," he fled in great precipita-
tion, leaving the Bible among the straw where he had
been concealed. Scarcely had he left the barn when
a party of soldiers rushed in, and commenced search-
ing every corner for the object of their pursuit, and,
among other precautions, stabbed with their swords the
straw where he had been lying. In this process the
Bible received the deep cut which it still exhibits, but
its owner had fortunately escaped to a place of safety.
The following interesting account of William Hannah
end his son, is taken from Crookshank's History (part
ii. chap. x.) :—" On the 26th of October, 1684, Wil-
liam Hannah, in the parish of Tundergarth, in Annan-
dale, having been apprehended in England by Colonel
Daezes, was received by one Sprinkel into his troop.
He lay in irons at Dumfries, and at last was confined
in a dark pit under the Canongate prison. The
soldiers who brought him his small pittance of meat
and drink and said, Seek mercy from heaven for we have
none to give you, with other expressions of blasphemy.
He continued in this place nine days, and then was
brought up to the prison, where he remained till lie was
sent, with others, to Dunnotar. His only crime was
non-conformity, for which he had in the preceding year
,uff ered greatly. His son William, not 16 years old, was,
in 1682, taken by a party of soldiers, though he was
afflicted with ague, and forced to walk afoot for some
days along with them. Coming to the grave of one
who had been shot, and buried in the fields, they set him
down on the grave, and covering his face, threatened
him with immediate death if he would not promise regu-
larity, &c. The boy told them God sent him into the
world, and had appointed his time to go out of it, only
he was determined to swear nothing he reckoned sinful.
He was now in their power, and they might do as they
would. In the year 1683 he was taken to Edinburgh,
and after several examinations was tortured with the
thambkins, and then loaded with irons, which were so
strait that his flesh swelled out above them ; and, after a
year and a halt's imprisonment, he was transported and
sold in Barbadoes. It is said he returned after the
revolution and was a minister in Scarborough. Tra-
dition farther says that when General Dalziel purposed
to banish the father also to Barbadoes, the old man
entreated that he might be allowed to spend the few
short years he had to live in his own country, as he was
too old and infirm to be of any use for manual labour.
If you are too old to work you are not too old to be
hanged, said the dastardly murderer of the unarmed
peasantry,' and by the gold on my hand you shall he
hanged to. morrow. But before to-morrow came Dal-
ziel was in eternity. The old man was afterwards set
at liberty, returned to his home and ended his days in
peace. His son William, after the revolution ,returned
from the West Indies, betook himself to the study of
theology, and was appointed minister of a Presbyterian
church at Scarborough. His father's bible, marked
with the persecutor's sword, he is said always to have
used in the pulpit, and to have brought it back with
him to Tundergarth, where he died in extreme old
age, in the house of one of his relatives."—Dunifries
Courier.

ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION
OF THE FINE ARTS.-(SCOTLAND.)

The " Report" of this Society is a highly satisfactory
document ; and may be accepted as another proof of
the beneficial results that are sure to follow the energy
and activity for which the Scottish people have been
always so distinguished. It commences by an allusion
to the rapid progress the Institution has made from year
to year ; it is astonishing as well as gratifying to find
that, in the course of four years, the fund realised for
the purposes of art rose from 7281. to 8,428/. ; and that
during the year 1838-9, the increase was no less than
1,422/. The committee are, therefore, fully justified in
thus referring to the consequences of their exertions :
"The country is also beginning to reap the reward it
deserves for the exertions it has made. Art has sprung
into an importance hitherto unknown in Scotland; its
professors feel that its value is appreciated ; arid that
they themselves enjoy a certainty of receiving an ade-
quate remuneration for their labours. Within the la,t
five years 11,9881. have been contributed by the Associa-
tion alone for the purposes of art ; about three hundred
works have been purchased, varying in price from 3501.
downwards, and before many months elapse, eight thou-
sand copies of beautifully executed engravings from
paintings by Scottish artists will have been dissemi-
nated. A few years ago the sales effected at the annual
exhibition Isere seldom amounted to 4001. ; this year
they will exceed 4,000/. ; and of all the works offered
far sale, considerably more than one-half have been pur-
chased—a tact well worthy of being mentioned as indi-
cating a much larger proportion of sales than it is be-
lieved was ever effected before in any exhibition in
Great Britain. The receipts likewise, drawn by the
kcademy from visitors, show that a still increasing inte-
rest is taken in their exhibition ; and that, in proportion
to the population, it is considerably more attractive than
even that of the Royal Academy of London,. The suns
collected at the doors of the exhibition was 1,1421.,
being 60/. more than last year. Fourteen hundred arid
eighty-three season-tickets were disposed of, which the
committee understand is the greatest number ever sold
during any one season."

It is, therefore, pardonable to find our excellent neigh-
bours, with their wonted national pride—the fountain of
their greatness—anticipating that Scotland is " resolved
to take the lead in the encouragement of the Fine
Arts." We heartily congratulate the committee on the
great good they have conferred upon their country, their
beneficial influence upon art generally, and, above all,
for the example they have set to othera, which it will
rejoice them, as well as us, to see extensively followed.
As yet, strange to say, London is behind Edinburgh ; it
cannot long remain so. We have little doubt that,
within a year or two, we shall have to draw up a " re-
port" which will leave our neighbours a length, at least,
behind us in the race for pre-eminence. It is a praise-
worthy and honourable rivalry ; and when we have sur-
passed them we shall readily acknowledge that from
them was caught the spirit that animated us.—The
Art Union.