The Sun.
London, England, 1839-01-01 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 1839.

MR. STEPHENS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
- -

MANCHESTER, MONDAY NIGHT, DEC. 31.
I promised in my last to write at least each post. I
have little to say to-night, arising out of the want of time
to put together, in a connected manner, some remarks on
a sermon delivered by Mr. Stephens last evening at Ash-
ton. I will do it in a day or two ; and I may say thus
much, that some parts of it will electrify the public on its
publication. There are 700 special constables sworn in at
Ashton and its vicinity. The excitement is extreme in
that neighbourhood. There were at least 5,000 persons to
hear him. The chapel in Charlestown was stowed more
completely than was the Black Hole at Calcutta ; the only
difference was, that in the chapel we had a free circulation
of air. An adjournment, however, took place, in conse-
quence of numbers besieging the doors ; and eventually the
congregation adjourned to the market-place, where he spoke
with astonishing effect for nearly two hours. All was quiet.
P.S.—He said not a word about the proceedings at the
New Bailey, except this, that he was aware many had
come to hear something on that subject ; but, whilst pend-
ing, he would not say one word about the matter.

THE REV. MR. STEPHENS AND

MR. OASTLER.

(From the Times.)
MANCHESTER, SATURDAY.—The arrest of Stephens conti-
nues to excite the utmest attention, bath in this town and
throughout the whole of the manufacturing districts. The
Radicals are calling meetings at various places to consider
what is to be done under the circumstances, and the military
arc on the alert to prevent any disturbance. Stephens was
aware, three or four days previous to his capture, that a war-
rant had been issued for his apprehension, but he did not at-
tempt to get out of the way. He appears to take the matter
very coolly, and feels convinced that the Government will hot
be enabled to make out a case against him. The fact of the
Ministry prosecuting him, a month after the alleged offence
had been committed, will not add to their popularity in this
part of the country, and the question is pretty generally asked,
Why the English Agitator is to be punished, when O'Con-
nell for years has been spouting sedition and treason with im-
punity ?" Stephens has certainly used very violent and intem-
perate language in opposing the New Poor-law Bill, which
has most likely tended to weaken the opposition to that in-
human act; he, however, thinks the course he has pursued is
the right one.
Mr. Stephens is a little, sharp featured, dark complexioned
man, about thirty-two years of age. Some years ago he was
a Wesleyan minister, but was discarded by that body in con-
sequence of his interference with politics. He is exceedingly
popular among the lower class of people in the manufacturing
districts. He has the gift of eloquence to an extraordina7
and dangerous degree, which has caused the class of persons
alluded to to be devotedly attached to him. It is difficult to
say what are his politics ; he is the intimate friend of Mr.
Oastler, who terms himself an " old fashioned Tory." He
bar been in the habit of attending Radical demonstrations
for a length of time, but more as an opponent of the New
Poor-law Bill than as a Radical. The questions of Universal
Suffrage, Vote by Ballot, and such wild schemes he has in his
addresses invariably avoided, by telling the people that the
question between them and the Government was merely a
" knife and fork question." On his secession from the Wes-
leyan Methodists the people of Ashton, Dukenfield, and
Stayleybridge built him three chapels, in which he alter-
nately preaches. Notwithstanding the intemperance of his
speeches, he is in titivate life a very mild, wood-humoured
man, and has been exceedingly charitable to the poor of the
neighbourhood in which he resides. On Christmas•day 500
working men and their families gave an entertainment to him
and Mr. Oastler, on which occasion the following speeches in
allusion to the present state of the manufacturing districts were
made by Mr. Oastler and Mr. Stephens :--
Mr. OASTLER said—Have I told you to kill, burn, destroy ?
No, never, I have recommended you, and you have done it,
to petition the Parliament. You have done so by hundreds
and hundreds of thousands over and over again. Those pe-
titions have been unheeded—nay, on the last occasion when
they were presented, a member of her Majesty's Govern-
ment, Lord Howick, chock-full of insolence, ignorance, and
pride, stood on the floor of the House of Commons and de-
clared, upon the oath which he had sworn to her Majesty,
that these petitions were to be despised and rejected ; why,
think ye ? Because the people had neither burned nor killed.
There was
indeed
for ye ! Talk of incendiaries and as-
sessirs, ! i have never since then heard the name of
Hossick without disgust unutterable. What, then, was I to
do? Was I to take this hint and teach the people of Eng-
land to burn and to assassinate ? Not I, indeed. I told you
next to remonstrate, because the constitution instructed
me that that was the next step to take. Your remonstrances
were rejected. I then told you to demand a hearing a t the
bar of the House of Commons. Against that demand the
&Wm of that House was hermetically closed. Not one Mem-
ber could be found to present it. Still, my friends, you never
heard either Stephens or myself advise you to burn, destroy,
or kill. No, we turned in disgust from man, and opened,
with holy reverence, the Bock of God. We there found the
only safety valve; and, in my letter to the people of England,
I advised you, as Nehemiah advised the Jews when they were
in similar circumstances to yourselves, to humble yourselves
before God; to confess your sins to Him; to fast and pray,
and to implore in this your time of extremity, deliverance, by
his, aid, from the hands of your oppressors. And, oh !my
friends, if my advice had then been taken, your situation
would not now be as fearful as it is. My enemies were
not terrified at that. No; they have not the fear of God be-
fore their eyes; but it is still my belief that you never will ob-
tain your rights until you thus acknowledge God, and throw
yourselves entirely into his hands. Do not mistake me, my
friends. God helps those who are prepared to help then:-
selves ; and I advised you, as Nehemiah advised the
Jews under similar circumstances, to provide yourselves with
arms. I still advise the same. Arm, arm, my friends—
arm in defence of your domestic rights—the only sure foun-
dation of the rights of kings. For having given this scriptural,
this constitutionel advice, I have been charged with being a
traitor by those profess to be your friends. Is there a man
amongst you so foolish as to believe that an Englishman has
no right to arm himself? Let that man, if there be such a
one, come up here, and I will calmly argue the question with
him ; and I will prove to him, out of the Book of God, and
from the principles of the Constitution of England, that the
base wretch who dares to assert that a freeman has not a right
to have arms, is either a deceiving scoundrel or himself a slave.
The truth is, my friends, that no man deserves liberty who is
not at all times both willing and able to defend his liberty to
the death. Think not that I would advise you, or that Ste-
phens would advise you, to turn out and fight the British
troops. No, no, my friends, they are as loyal as we are.
They are deadly foes to that tyranny and oppression which
grinds you down to dust as we are. They hate the
damnable, accursed Poor-law, as much as we do; and
well they may, for of all the subjects of her Majesty they and
their relations are the most likely to be oppressed and pu-
nished by it. Whenever you meet the troops shake hands
with them, explain the truth to them, and soon you will
find that they are friends, ready to fight in the same cause—
for the Queen, and for yourselves, against the tyrants of both.
No, no. It is not the scantily-paid brave troops that you will
have to fight against ; but it is the over-paid, cowardly, assas-
sin-like police, whom O'Connell is now preparing for the use
of the tyrannical Government, to establish their despotic sway
in every rural and in every manufacturing district. The mon-
ster talks of heading them himself. It is against theca you
will have to contend. If once they are established, then your
chains are rivetted. The Tories will most likely be fools
enough to join the Whigs and Radicals in O'Connell's base,
brutal, and bloody attempt thus to deliver England over into
the hands of her deadliest enemies. If they do, they may take
my word for it, they will be the first victims. If they don't
know what O'Connell is after, I do. I have warned them oft,
and they have laughed at me; I now warn them again. You
remember, I suppose, that a cotton factory was burnt down in
Ashton last Saturday fortnight. I happened to be in Man-
chester at the time. I was there on Sunday, Monday, and
Tuesday. I was in many companies, and the fire at Ashton
was talked about by everybody. But during the whole of
those three days I never heard Mr. Stephens's name men-
tioned, or that of any of his friends, in connection with
this fire. Don't misunderstand me. Nobody seemed to think
it was an accidental fire—l grant that. As I have said be-
fore, it was a Godsend to the Magistrates, O'Connell and the
Government; and we all know that an old mill, with old ma-
chinery, being well insured, in these times is worth quite as
much dead as alive. One thing,
.however, is certain, that on
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, in
.Manchester, nobody sus-
pected that Stephens, or any of his friends, had any connexion
with that fire ; and it is very well-known that the occupier
has positively declared that, in his opinion, it was occasioned
Onbvvy
eadcncei ds
de na
yt . m
oßr
itn
gowm
rf. nor
.t hEe
.g
Tr, aanydl
osrc, einne
ai nl tnhgi s
leaf aardcien.g
arti-
cle (in a Manchester paper), charged your Minister with
being the author of that fire. H. ischarge was instantly ex-
pressed to London, and the Ministerial press, both metropoli-
tan and provincial, have since then been ringing the changes on
the incendiary Stephens and the blazing cotton factory at
Ashton. But this is not all. Manchester, they say, has been
visited by Phillips, Under Secretary of State for the Home
Department, Roe, the chief officer of the metropolitan police,
Maule, the Solicitor to the Treasury, and last, not least,
Edwin Chadwick, of Poor-law notoriety. The retinue of
these worthies consists of shoals of spies, reporters, run-
ners, and I know not what ; and they have at last, they tell
me, found out a mare's nest. They have discovered that a
plot had been laid to burn down to the ground every building
in the town of Manchester ! The green bags are all full of
depositions, and I am told the principal link in the evidence
is, that I, Richard Oastler, have recently taken up my abode
in the neighbourhood of Manchester 1 So you see what trouble
Daniel o'Connell has given the Ministry, by making them be-
lieve that lam the Prince of Incendiaries. I was at Hudders-
field a few days ago, when a friend of mine showed me a letter
from a very large mill-owner in Manchester, in which I was
charged with burning Jowett's mill. I desired my friend to
write to the millowner that I was too good a judge either to burn
cotton mills or recommend them to be burnt, and that I would
not burn his mill down if he would give me 5,0001.; that I was
very well awarejust now any cotton mill owner, who was well in-
sured would give 20 per cent. to have his mill burnt down ; and I
begged him to assure his friend that I was not so fond of cotton-
mill-owners as thus to enrich them by burning down their mills.
I told him, also, that I had no fondness for fires, but that if I
ever were to begin, I would begin in right good earnest ; and
that, until there were a hundred burnt down every night, I
begged he would not suspect me of having any hand in it.
But I tell you what, my friends, if the millowners do not wish

to have their mills burnt down, they are very foolish to make
so much noise and talk about these ,matters. Their property,
if it be valuable, is very precarious ; end, if they value their
own property, I would advise them to talk less about fires,
for nothing is so easy as to burn one of them down. For
their own sakes then let me conjure them to say little about
these matters, unless they do really wish to have their mills
burnt down. And even then, I can assure you, Stephens is not
the man to apply to. So much for the burning of the mill at
Ashton. And now for a prophecy. If the insurance-offices
won't pay for the fire--mark well, friends—it is my opinion
the Government will, Oh, it was a lucky star I-1 green bsg,
a Coercion Bill, and a rural police for so small a sum as
5 0001 ! It will be a cheap bargain for these traitors.
Ali 1 ah !—a rural police, did I say?—let that be once esta-
blished, and your liberties are gone. Yes, my friends, I
tell you seriously, that when once you are subject to a rural
police your pubic voice will be smothered—the character
of Englishmen will be changed—we shall copy the Sici-
lians—a rich man's life will then be purchased for 101..
and a peer man's for ss. Is there nut then reason that ye
should arm and defend your liberties? Is it not time that you
should awake out of sleep, and prevent the traitors and asses.
sips, who would lord it over you with a hand of iron, from
destroying your constitution and your national institutions?
Is it not, I say, time that you should awake out of sleep,
and in the attitude and equipment of freeman, declare, with
a voice of thunder, " Britons never shall be slaves ?" My
friends. you have now listened to me with great attention
whilst I have deliberately stated to you my views on those all-
important subjects which are now agitating this mighty
miire, and which have absolutely driven our governors toad.
I now ask you, have I changed my tone since last you heard
me ? Was I ever wont, or have I now talked treason in
your hearing ? I am, they say, the dagger and torch man.
Have I now excited you, or did I ever, on former occasions,
excite cu to kill or to burn ? No truly, friends ; my object
is, as you all well know, to secure life and property, by
restoring to our laws the Christian principles of truth
end justice. I leave it to the " base" Whigs, to the Fitz-
williams, the Broughams, and the Baineses, to produce anarchy
and civil war by " refusing to pay any more taxes,"
by " threatening to decapitate the Monarch," and "by
groaning at the Queen." I leave it to the bloody" Whig
Hoeiek to untie the knot which binds society together, by ex-
citing the insulted people, before he will deign to listen to
their petitions, "to kill and to burn." I leave it to the
" brutal" death's-head-and-cross-bones-Whig O'Connell to
unnationalize the subjects of her Majesty, by heading a horde
of Irishmen, landing them in England, and, as he had
threatened to do, at their head, " cry havoc, and let slip the
dogs of war." My friends, lam for " peace, law, and order,"
but I am not for leaving you at the mercy of your "
bloody, and brutal" foes. I urge you, men, by the love which
you bear for these your wives. and these your little ones—l
urge you, as you love your domestic peace, and as you
honour the memory of your forefathers—by your loyalty to
the throne, by your veneration for the altar, by your love
of constitutional liberty, I once more urge you to arm and
r be ready—not to attack, but to defend those rights and
privileges which God, and nature, and law, have all in-
trusted to your keeping. Let your arms be your next
pride to your wives and children ; and, ye wives and
daughters, prove your loyalty to your Qcen, your lords and
sires, by keeping those arms bright and ready. Re-
member always, that life without liberty is more to be
dreaded than a freeman's death. If it be treason to say so,
then am I a traitor. 0 1 my friends, I would that the great
men and the rich men would deserve and secure their own
titles and estates, by taking care not to plunder the poor. I
would that the independent press could really understand the
questions between the Government and the people at the pre-
sent moment. They think that lam mad—that lam leading
the people to destroy the institutions of the country—or that
lam a base traitor to my liege lady the Queen. The truth
is, our traducers are the very men who live by treason, and
delight in fire and blood ! Did I ever teach you to rob your
neighbours of their property? Not I, indeed. I leave it to
the " base, bloody, and brutal Whig" Morning Chronicle to
teach you that trade. Read the following atrocious para-
graph, which appeared there in a leading article of last
Tuesday
The labourers have nothing to do with making the laws,
the laws are made by the landlords; but they have something
to do with obeying the laws, and they will consider their
alelity to be subsisted by their labour as the condition on
which they are to give their obedience. It is dangerous to
drive men to extremities. The landowners may rest assured
that they may fo:ce up the price of corn by monopoly, but
when the price exceeds the measure of the ability of the
people to pay, the corn will be taken without payment. There
is no reasoning with hunger; and this is the mischief in driving
the people to violate the laws, that the habit remains when
the necessity ceases."

Now, I ask you, friends, did I ever authorise you to take
coin without payment ? You know that I never did. Ile
tells you that " there is no reasoning- with hunger," whilst I
have been endeavouring to reason with hunger for many
years. I have been striving to obtain better laws, and teach-
ing you to hope that at last the Government will relent ;
whilst this wretch, who now teaches you to steal corn, if you
have net the money to buy it with, has been supporting those
very laws which deprive you of the means, and now, instead of
" reasoning with you," be is urging the Government to
fill your empty stomachs with bullets, swords, and bayonets;
and to havg those friends who fain would teach the Govern-
ment to feed you by the fruit of your own honest labour.
This wretch says, that " the labourers have nothing to do
with making the laws." I am backed by the Constitution of
England when I say, that they ought to havesomething to do
with making theni ; and I ens borne out by fact when I de-
clare, that before the delusive Reform Bill they hod something
to do with making:the laws. He would lead you to believe
that the " landlords" are altogether to be blamed for the bad
laws which ore made. You will believe me to be sincere
when I tell you that I have no reason to speak favourably of
" landlords ;" but I beg to remind you, that the capitalists and
millowners, who have got into Parliament since the Reform
Bill, have instructed the " landlords" to be more cruel than
they knew how to be before. But what an acknowledgment
for this Whig scribe ! After eight years of pure Whig rule,
this Ministerial organ is absolutely obliged to confess that the
labourers of England are so pour that they cannot buy corn,
and yet so hungry that they will take it without payment I If
the Devil himself were Prime Minister, he could not make
matters much worse. The sapient ass concludes his remarks
by whining out, " And there is this mischief in driving the
people to violate the laws, that the habit remains when the
necessity ceases." Yes, Mr. Government hack ; you are
quite right there, and you may tell your masters from me, if
you choose, that there is this mischief in reasoning with
hunger by bullets and swords, that the habit of arming and '
resisting may remain when the necessity ceases. So much,
Mr. Morning Chronicle, upon your encouraging the people " to
take corn without paying for it." Mr. Oastler concluded by
hoping the time would shortly arrive when he should have the
pleasure of meeting them to celebrate the triumph of the
truths of religion over every species of unrighteousness and
lie which had waged war against them. The foundation was
the Rock of Ages, and ere long the top stone would be put on
amid the thankful songs of the myriads who would find shelter
beneath its spreading roof, shouting " grace, grace unto it."
Mr. STEPHENS, after a few introductory observations in
which he eulogised the character and public conduct of Mr.
Oastler, said--A few more months or weeks—nay, even now,
you may bid defiance to the rebels who are waging war
against the Queen's subjects in the Queen's name ; to the
traitors, who are using the Queen's authority to enslave the
Queen's trusty and right loyal liegemen, to the atheist usur-
pers of God's most holy prerogative, who have dared, in other
parts of the kingdom, unlawfully to put asunder those whom
God himself has joined together. The Poor-law Amendment
Act of Parliament is not the law of Ashton, and never can
be —never shall be, so help us God, and the right arms of
Christian men. Let them try it when they please. I know
what must follow if they dare to make that trial. I thank
God the whole of Ashton parish does not contain five men
who are so dead to self-interest, if to no other motive, as to
come forward and proclaim themselves the willing tools of
the three traitor devil kings at Somerset-house. There may
be, as I know there are, more than five, or three times five,
who by night, and under a promise of secresy and conceal-
ment, have done what they could to swear my life away—
spies, informers, and assassins. At this very moment this
secret commission is at work with closed doors, magistrates
and Government emissaries conducting it, sending for the
vilest of the vile to appear before them, with all the formality
of a legal summons, as a covering, thin and flimsy enough, for
their' conspiracy, but in secret, and with a pledge that their
names should not be divulged. But they are known. I know
them, and you shall know them by and by, not now. I must
first settle with the prime movers of this dark plot. Little does
England dream of what has been going on in Ashton the last
few weeks. Base ,brutal, and bloody as I knew the Whigs to be,
I did not think them capable of this. But I bide my time. That
time cannot now be far away. When it does come, I shall be ready
for it. Will the assassins who have sought my life,who havepanted
after my blood, be ready for it I We shall see. But these
assassins are well aware that as Poor-law Guardians they
cannot wear the mask of secresy ; they cannot imprison, sepa-
rate, starve, and murder the poor by ballot. They must be
nominated, consent to be elected, and stand forth without
disguise as the wilful slayers of their poor townsmen and
neighbours. The men of Ashton are up to the trick of libe-
ral guardians, humane and charitable guardians. Neither
Mott, nor his master, the Devil, can catch them in this trap,
or take them with the guile of dispensations and indulgences,
relaxations and adaptations of the law—its matchless elasti-
city—that poison of asps which is under the lips of these
sons of Satan, whose feet are swift to shed the blood of their
unwary victims. No wonder Ashton has been held up as the
hot-bed of agitation, sedition, privacy, conspiracy, and rebel-
lion. No wonder I have been hunted, and a price put upon
my head. No wonder a factory has been fired—you guess by
whom and for what. No wonder your Magistrates, at the
bidding of Chadwick and Phillipps, and Maule and Roe, the
staff of Somerset-house, Downing-street, the Treasury, and
Scotland-yard,t should have toiled so diligently to get up a
case, aided by a " lying varlet," a " drunken barber," and a
" strolling jack-pudding." No wonder there should be, with-
in two miles of my humble cottage, not fewer than 1,000
special constables. No wonder gangs of runners should
speed from Manchester to Ashton, and from Ashton to Man-
chester, at all hours of the night as well as the day. The
murder will out by and by, my friends. I am not afraid :
time will tell it all. You, however, can say whether, at any
former period, for the space of any seven years together, the
people of this district have ever been so peaceably, so orderly,
so virtuous, so moral, as they have been during the seven
years of my residence amongst you; whether there ever was
as much respect shown to the persons of the rich, as much
security to their property, as there is at this very moment.
All is peace and goodwill towards all ; but, by the God who
made us, and gave us our wives and children, we will fear him,

and love him, and love them, though called upon to shed our
blood in their defence, and lay down our lives for His name's
sake. We will not have the New Poor-law. We have sworn
it, and God has written down the vow, and will vouchsafe us
strength to keep it. Until the instincts of our being be de-
Aroyed. the laws of our nature be reversed, the word of the
1 God burnt to ashes, and blown away by black winds
from hell—until the goodness and power and awful oath of
the dread Jehovah be annihilated from the universe he created,
and hitherto has governed, that law of devils cannot be' the
law for men made in his image, and renewed after his
lovely likeness. This is the whole mystery of the outlawry of
Ashton, constables, magistrates, military, neighbouring spies,
informers, runners, all emanating from, all concentrating in,
the focus fire of hell's hottest seat—Somerset-house, the 'Parr
demonium of Great Britain. Mr. Oastler has given you a
rapid sketch of the doctrines we have taught, the principles
we have acted upon, the successive steps we have taken, and.
the course we have found it right, and hare deemed it most
fitting at times to pursue, and to recommend to you. We
have advised you to arm, because we found it to have been
always your right, and now above all things your bounden
duty, so to do. Our arguments, reasons, and authorities,
from the law books, and from God's book, have been laid
before you, fellow-countryman, fellow-Christians. Who
has refuted those arguments ? who has set aside those rea-
sons ? who has contradicted those authorities? who has de-
nied the right ? who has dissuaded from the patriotic and
most religious duty ? None but designing knaves, or abject,
crouching, willing slaves. Can you trust the former ? Will
you confederate with the latter? No, for you are men,
brethren, and fellow-subjects ; conscious of your own in-
herent dignity, convinced of the value of your rights and
privileges, and determined to die asserting and defending
them, rather than live degraded by the surrender or the
sale of r; hat ought, to a man, to be dearer, far dearer, than
life itself. I have nothing new to say to you to night, nor
at any other time, until I find our recommendation generally
adopted. On the adoption of that recommendation depends
the freedom or the bondage of my fellow-countrymen. If
you slumber, or sleep, or dream, but for a short time now,
all will be over with you, it may be for ever. The plot
thickens ; all is prepared for your complete and perpetual
slavery, if you submit to that damnable New Poor-law, an&
refuse or neglect to arm, as men and as Britons, for "your
wives, your children, and your houses." The revolution in
England has long since begun. The Constitution has been
violated ; is not that revolution ? The great charter has been
broken ; is not that revolution ? The laws have been violated ;
is not that revolution ? The social 'system has been de-
ranged ; is not that revolution ? The principles of the law, the
instincts of all nature, the precepts of all religion have
been subverted I is not that revolution? What greater
revolution can there be than this? We have no govern-
ment, no legislation, no execution ; all is strife, mis-
trust, hatred, discord, chaos, and confusion. And who
can tell where it is to end ? We do not know whence it has
arisen. Frem the forgetfulness and abandonment of that
holy law, which bids us " do unto others as we would others
should do unto us ;" which bids us give unto all their due;"
and which, above all, bids us "be merciful after our,
power, even as our Father in heaven is merciful to all;" the
weak have been borne down, the poor have been robbed, the
workman has not had his wages, the widow and fatherless
have been forsaken, and left to pine and perish ; and our very
laws have been made to uphold and carry on this system of
plunder, oppression, and blood. Yet a little while, and all
will go back to moral chaos. If not checked now, it will
most likely be impossible to check it afterwards. Who, then,
are the real incendiaries—those who, like Oastler and myself,
arc doing al: we can to awake the sleepers who dream of a
Poor-law paradise, with policemen keeping guard at its gates,
or those who themselves have prepared the ;poison, and given
it an unsuspecting nation to swallow? Well, then, what is to
be done? The Rev. Gentleman again adverted to the state of
Ashton, and the necessity the Magistrates were under in
swearing special constables, to select what are called " Ste-
phen's boys," being the only persons they could trust. After
denouncing the oppressors of the poor in the emphatic
anguage of holy writ, he observed that, although they
might bind Oastler and Stephens, they could not bind the
word of God. He then proceeded—" Brethren, betake your-
selves more than ever to that word. It is the only people's
charter in the world. Read it, understand it, have it written
on your mind, graven on the fleshly tablets of your heart,—
love it—live it—set it forth, and the God of Jacob will lead
you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage_
the God of Nehemiah will bring you in solemn assembly, as
lie brought the Jews at that time, and set you free. But I
must not detain you longer in this crowded hall. God bless
you, dear friends all—a merry Christmas to you, and a happy
new year to England. May she date the restoration of her
ancient liberties—the restoration of her ancient institutions—
the establishment of her ancient altar—the religion of her
pious Christian forefathers, who loved the poor and one
another, f• ven as Christ loved them all, and gave himself for
wis.em. Then shall her sons be free, her daughters gay, her
tomcn happy ; then shall her vallies ring and her hills re-echo
with the sweet scmg,i, of peace—peace under the shadow of the
law— plenty on the ample table which the bountiful God of
peace provides for all his thoughtful children. May Godsend
it so, and send it soon."

ABDUCTION OF THE YOUNG COUN-
TESS DONA MARIA DE POVOA E SAMPAYO,
BY THE DUCHESS DE PALMELLA.

We have already spoken of an event which has caused a
great sensation in Paris, and are now enabled to lay before
our readers some further particulars.
One of the richest and most eminent persons of the Court
of John the Sixth, last King of Portugal, some years ago died,
and left a young child, Dona Maria Luisa Noronha e Sam-
payo, sole heiress to his immense fortune. A guardian was
appointed in the person of M. Esteves, an ancient Judge at
Lisbon. At this period the Duke of Palmella was Minister,
and was intimate with the family of the youngheiress, and con-
trived to get a marriage celebrated between his son, the Mar-
quis de Fayal, aged 19 years, and the young Countess Povoa,
just entering her ninth year.
The family were ignorant of this marriage : they knew that
a union was intended, but it was with the greatest surprise
they learnt that a marriage had been celebrated in defiance of
canonical institutions and the civil laws. The Duke and
Duchess had the young Countess with them at Paris, but on
this marriage becoming known the guardian applied to the ec-
clesiastical tribunal at Lisbon, which decided that the marriage
was not valid, and ordered a separation.
The judgment was sent to Paris, and at once supported by
the civil and ecclesiastical tribunals; but, as soon as it was no-
tified to the Duke and Duchess of Palmella, the latter quitted
Paris, taking with ber the young Countess, and leaving no in-
dication of their route.

The family then made a fresh demand on the authorities,
stating that a convention existed between the relatives of the
young laiy and the Palmella family, by which it was agreed
that no obstacle should be thrown in the way of her inter-
course with the members of her family, and that she should be
sent once a week to pass the day with them, in addition ex-
pressly promising that the Countess should not be taken from
Paris before having attained the age of fifteen years.
The family represented that in violation of these sacred
obligations the minor had been carried off by the Duchess De
Palmella, and they prayed that the tribunal would designate
some convenient establishment in Paris for her residence, as
a measure of precaution, &e.
•

On this request the president, M. Debelleyme, issued the
Following ordonnance

At the request, &c. We order that at the request of the
Sicur Esteves, or at the Sicur Antonio Sampayo, acting for
him at Paris, that the minor, Dona Maria Luisa de Noronha
Sampayo, shall be placed in the convent of the Augustine
ladies at Paris, as a provisionary and protecting measure, until
i: shall be otherwise decided.

In consequence, we authorise the Sieur Esteves, or his
proxy, to require, in case of need, any juge-de-paix of the
arrondissement or canton, when they may find the said minor,
accompanied or not by the Duchess De Palmella, to effect by
proper and reasonable measures the translation of the said
minor to the above-named convent, to assist the competent
authorities in the execution of the law.

We authorise the said parties, in the execution of this or-
donnance, to search any place or residence of the Duke and
Duchess of Palmella, and the Marquis de Fayal, their son, &c.
Provided with this ordonnance, the family of the young
Maria Luisa, with a diligence but too necessary, solicited of
the authorities all the means of insuring its prompt execu-
tion. An order by telegraph enjoined the frontier authorities
to prevent the Duchess and the young Countess quitting the
kingdom. It was too late : the Duchess had taken the road
for England by Boulogne, and, at the very moment when the
arms of the telegraph announced the order, was on board the
steam-boat, of which the steam was forced to its greatest
power ;—a few seconds, and she would not have escaped.
In vain signals were made to the steamer. Whether the
fog or the Duchess's gold prevented their being seen, the boat
continued its course, and was soon lost to view.

The Duke of Palmella, and the Marquis de Fayal, his son,
have not quitted Paris.

FlRES.—Several fires broke out in different parts of
the metropolis yesterday morning. Carelessness appears in
most of these calamitous occurrences to be the main cause.

LLANPYLLIN.—This neighbourhood has lately
been infested with a set of daring offenders, who have com-
mitted many depredations upon the inhabitants. Last
week, three fellows robbed a farm-house, though but to a
trifling amount, yet in so impudent a manner, that it be-
hoves the authorities to be on the alert for these marauders.
One of them, under the pretence of lighting his pipe, gained
admittance, and two others immediately followed, and
locked the door. When they had effected their object
they retired, and fastened the door on the outside.

An inquest was held last night in Tothill-fields,
Westminster, on the body of William Bunn, late in the
service of Mr. Marlow, of Tothill-street, who dropped
dead on Saturday, while in the act of delivering some
goods to a customer. The deceased bad lived is Marlow's
service upwards of forty years. Verdict—Died by the
visitation of God.

On Saturday afternoon a man, name unknown, was
caught in the London Docks drinking brandy from a cask
on one of the quays by means of a tube introduced through
the bung-hole, in the manner denominated " sucking the
monkey." lie was too drunk to effect his escape, and was
taken to the watch-house, where he died shortly after. I
is believed that he had drunk nearly a quart of the spirit.
A man, who was with the deceased at the time of his cap-
ture, profeses to know nothing about him, and states tha t
they had accidentally met and agreed to abstract the brandy
in the manner referred to