The Sun.
London, England, 1839-08-21 00:00:00

'THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

BIRMINGHAM, TUESDAY.
The nrrangements of the meetings of the Associa-
tion, so far pt least as the scientific department is con-
cerned, are two, complete ; and this morning pro-
grammes, containing the particulars of the various gene-
rid and sectional meetings, were freely distributed. In
these it is stated, that the lard room in King Edward's
School will be opened on Thursday, the 22d instant, for
the reception and election of Members, and .for other
purposes connected with the business of the Associa-
tion. The General Committee will hold its first Meet-
ing on Saturday, the 24th instant, at one o'clock, in the
Library of King Edward's School, and will afterw•aru
meet according to adjournment.

On Tuesday evening and Friday evening, res Pee:
tively, a conversazione will be held in the Tosvn-hall,
an edifice sufficiently large to accommodate five thou-
sand persons. An excursion to Dudley is plannet; for
Friday, the 30tIr of August, for the purpose of a1t0..."
tn.- the nod-resident members an opportunity of visiting
the Iron works, the Sedgele.y and R0w1ey..,1n1159
the Lime-stone caverns, and other interesting objects.
Birmingham being a manufacturing town, or, in the
emphatic language of Burke, " the toy-shop of EuroPe,
it has been suggested by some of the influential,members
of the Association at a distance, that an exhibition of
the different articles of manufacture for which the town
is famous, in the various stages of their progress, front
the crude ore, or the raw material, to the polished -or
embossed and ornamented surface, would in all prohabi"
lity be highly interesting, if not instructive, to their
,cientitie brethren. With this suggestion the local
members of the Association have complied, and frtrn
the horn button up to the highly polished and expan-
sively wrought metals, specimens have been sent in.
Among those rho are mentioned_ as likely to attend
the AssoCiation at its present meetings,,,are,the- R&•
Dr. Buckland; the Rev. Dr. Peacock, Mr.Lyelt, M.
Agapin, the celebrated Ictltylogist ; M. Schonbein, of
Bask, well known by his researches in electric magne-
tism ; M. Dumas, the eminent French chemist ; the
Rev. Professors Whewell, Powell, Phillips, and Owen
the Rev. Dr. Danbeney, Col. Sykes, Major Sabine, Mr,
Hopkins, Mr. Delebeehe, Mr. Lubbock, and .many
others, whose names have long been honorably connected
with science, and whose talents and exertions httre con-
tributed so much to its advance.

MONUMENT TO SIR WALTER

SCOTT.

SELKIRK, AUG. 16.—1 t had for some time been a
subject of occasional discussion in this burgh, on the,.
propriety of erecting some testimonial to the memory 01
Sir Walter Scott, latc,• and for thirty-two years, Sheriff
of the county, whose public and private character, 21,0
living so long in the immediate neighbourhood, havi.ig
endeared him to every individual in the place, not en 4"
as a great literary character, by which he had: so
highly benefited his country, but in a very particnlai
manner thrown a lustre-Over this particular district, with
which he was more immediately connected, by the many
picturesque and beautiful allusions to its history, scenery
and romantic achievements. In the prosecution of this,4o7
sign, several months ago a Committee was formed of the
Magistrates and other influential inhabitants of the
• place to correspond with Mr. Alexander H. Ritchie,
sculptor in Alusselhurgh, as to the provable expen,se of
erecting in the Square or Market place, a statue °t
Sir Walter Scott, of a larger size than life, on a pedestal
suitable to the height of the surrounding buildings.
A subscription was also begun ; circulars were sent 1°
the Duke of Buccleuch and the gentlemen of the
county and neighbourhood, who were supposed to be
favourable to the undertaking. His Grace returned a
very handsome subscription ; and, with the except
tom of two or three, almost every person applied to
subscribed, many very handsomely, and some sent
in their donations Iv ho were not applied to. In a
short time the Committee were enabled to get from Mr.
Ritchie plans and estimates, and ultimately to agree
with him for the whole to be finished by the 15th of
August, Sir Walter's birth-day, and the statue yvas
actually placed on the top of the pedestal yesterday
about noon. The pedestal is very handsome, being
light and tapering, and well adapted to the size of the
statue (itself 7A feet high), and a striking likeness of
the poet. Sir Walter is in the costume of the Sheriff,
in his gown, with a roll of papers in his left band, his
right hand resting on his trusty staff. The following_ is
the inscription under the statue :

" Erected in August, 1839, in proud and affectionate
remembrance of S:r Walter Scott, Bart., Sheriff of this
county from 1800 to 1832.

'• By Yarrow's stream still let me stray,
'I hough none should guide my weary way ;
Still feel the breeze down Ettrick breaks,
Though it should chill my withered cheeks.'

a r Os—ntti
armsseveralof the burgh—on
sidesof the pedestal
other m
are
compartments
it;rtmt
Walter'sn
ms
are emblematical allusions to the character of the poet
and novelista winged harp, with the word " Waver-
Icy" under it, and a finely cut Scotch thistle on another
panne' ; the whole most beautifully done. In short, it
is only doing justice to Mr. Ritchie to say that the foul
ensemble does him infinite credit, and that the whole
erection, for beauty and correct proportions, is not
equaled, certainly not surpassed, in Britain. It is the
subject of surprise and delight of every beholder, and a
great ornament to Selkirk.

MARRIED.-- At Theydon Mount Church,
Essex, on Thursday, the 20th inst., by the Very Reverend
the Dean of Carlisle, Gordon Willoughby Gill, Esq., son
of the late William Gill, Esq., and Lady Harriet Gill, of
Wraysbury, Bucks, to Anne Elizabeth, second daughter
of Sir Edward Bowyer Smyth, Bart., of Hill Hall, in the
county of Essex.

WAntiunsT.—Reaping has commenced in this
parish : the crop in some fields is good, while others that
lost plant are looking very thin. Mr. Playsted, jun., of
High Town, began on Friday, the 9th inst., in a field of
ten acres of the Whittington white sheaf, a sheaf of which
was exhibited at our market on Tuesday, which exci ed
the admiration of the farmErs present, the straw being 511
feet high, with remarkably fine ears, varying from 60 to 80
corns and upwards in an ear.

TItIBUTE TO A FAVOURITE POINTER.-01.1
a conspicuous point of that part of the Mynydd Maen
Niountiiin, near Newport, which is in the Manor of Magna
Porta, and parish of Llantarnam, there has been erected,
within these few days, at the expense of Thomas Hooper,
Esq., late of Cderlcon, and of Hardington Park, Somer•
setshire, an elegant little monument to the memory of a
favourite pointer, which had the misfortune to fall by the
same shot that killed the bird he was in pursuit of. A
black tablet, on one side of the monument, bears the
following appropriate inscription, written by the Member
for our boroughs :
Weep, passenger ! but o'er no Christian bier—
A sportsman's treasure lies interred here.
From his own master's hand the bullet sped,
That laid poor Dandy.....prin.ce pointero—dead.
. O'er his corpse this stone- is -raised, to prove
His master's sorrow; and his master's love.