The Sun.
London, England, 1837-08-15 00:00:00

PRUSSIA.

BERLIN, AUG. 9.—A1l the Members of our Royal Fa-
mily, dispersed as they were during the last month through
several parts within and without the empire, were re-united
last Thursday, on Peacock Island, near Potsdam, around
their venerable head, whose birth-day it was. His Ma-
jesty, now fast approaching seventy, and reigning already
forty, looks fair to arrive at the jubilee of his reign, and
this in the full vigour of all his powers, and without any need
of saddling on the country the additional expenses of a co-
regency : so we shall have a pretty old Crown Prince. I
can assure you the country is well satisfied with this pros-
pect, the old King really becomes more popular every
year—this may be discerned in the love and respect which
every sensible person you may meet with bears him. He
is loved and respected more for what he does not, than for
what he does ; for his good actions are generally of a pri-
vate nature, and do not easily reach the ears of the public
at large ; but every body is capable of judging of the im-
mense weight he could throw into the balance in favour of
Ultraism ; and his refraining from doing so, is as much as
if he loudly pronounced to the world that he follows with
regard to the march of liberal ideas the principle of laissez
faire ; and this is certainly the wisest course a King of Prus-
sia, situated as Frederic Wm. 111. is, can pursue. He cannot
stand up the avowed friend and promoter olconstitutionalism
withous raising a hubbub in the northern alliance destructive
a multitude of useful improvements partly accomplished,
partly in being so. But he can and he does put on a cer-
tain degree of distancing reserve against the avowed ene-
mies to constitutionalism, and this binds their hands and
paralyses their measures by the mere withholding of his
countenance. General Flalkett, of Hanover, who was
sent here by his master to sound or to feel the political
pulse of our Sovereign, will be able to appreciate what

I mean, should he chance to read this at St. Pc-
tersburgh, where he has proceeded from hence, in the well-
founded hopes of meeting there with better success. Ivlean-
while that which I told you at first, that King Ernest
would stumble on moral difficulties, with little chance
to get over them, already begins to be accomplished. The
commission appointed to examine whether a total or par-
tial change of the Constitution was advisable, though the
countersigner of the famous patent, M. de Schele, was one
of them, have been penetrated by the wholesome fear of
the people, and advised the King to keep his hands off the
matter lest he might burn them. Rest assured he will keep
them off, and all he will have effected for the remainder of
his reign is to have proved that he is the reluctant head
of a Constitution he cannot get rid of.

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, AUG. 13.

The information received to-day relative to the progress
of the elections, now nearly over, is of the same gratifying
character as that which we had the pleasure of communi-
cating yesterday. The only place which can be considered
at all doubtful appears to be Kerry. On the third day
the Tory had, it appears, a majority; but as his votes are
reported to have been nearly exhausted by the effort to
make a demonstration on Thursday, we may still hope to
see Blennerhassett's name at the bottom of the poll—in its
proper place.
On Thursday the numbers stood thus :
O'Connell
Mullins
It is said that there has been much mismanagement
either on the part of Mr. Mullins himself, or on that of his
committee. But supposing a gain for the Tories in this
particular place, and even admitting that Tralee will
not, as we firmly believe it will be, regained, and
that the cause of the Queen's Ministers and good
Government shall not prevail in Sligo and Longford,
still there will be a large majority of Irish Reformers returned
to Parliament to support the Government, and to obtain
justice for the country of the " hereditary bondsmen."
Irishmen of every class and degree arc now looking on with
intense interest at every indication of the future course of
legislation, and awaiting the result of that experiment to
which their patriotic leader so frequently and emphatically
alludes in his eloquent public addresses to his fellow-
countrymen. There will, be repeat, be an overwhelming
majority of Irish patriots. Out of the 105 Members, 72
at least will go to Parliament to insist on equal laws, equal
privileges, and equal rights, for the long oppressed and
generous sons of Erin—for that country of which it has
been tritely bnt truly said, God has done so much and man
so little. We indulge a well-grounded belief that the
gains to the Liberal cause in Ireland will balance
the losses sustained in England, and that there will be
a difference of twenty-eight votes to support Lord Mel-
bourne in his propositions for ameliorating the condition,
and purifying the institutions, of the country. As to the
Standard's fabulous statement, setting forth that the
Premier has declared that he will not meet a House of
Commons of which the majority is made up of " O'Con-
nell's nominees," it is so flagrant a fabrication, that even
the Herald, its own ally, has felt called upon to deny it.
We said yesterday that Queen's County was secure.
Our assertion, it will be seen by the following communi-
cation, is fully borne out. The Orange faction is pros-
trate here.
" QUEEN'S COUNTY.---FRIDAY NIGHT, NINE O'CLOCK.
—Maryborough to-day presented a much more peaceable
and orderly appearance than on the preceding days of this
election. Much of the excitement that prevailed has died
away, and the people have more the appearance of men
discharging a civil duty than of men meeting together to
break one another's heads. A few breaches of the peace
there were, but not of a more important character than
those which generally occur upon such an occasion. The
High Sheriff is exceedingly active ; and the police, n:ira-
bile are acting with the greatest impartiality, with the
exception of those belonging to the town. Mr. Lalor is, I
am sorry to say, very much hurt. Ho will pot be able to
go out, it is thought, for some time. He has two very
long and deep cuts upon his head. As well as I could
ascertain, he first was knocked down by a blow of a stone i
from some of the people against whom he was defending
some Conservatives, and then, when down, he was struck I
with a crow-bar by one of the very men whom he had res-

TO THE ELECTORS OF NORTH

WILTS.

UNITUD LAW CLERKS' SOCIETY.

EDWARD WARD SCADDING, Esq., took the chair, and
was supported by several of the most eminent solicitors in
London, among whom we noticed Mr. Sweet, Mr. Bigg,
Mr. Hobson, Mr. Lee, Mr. Bolton, Mr. Kinderley, Mr.
Mellard, and several others.

After the usual loyal toasts had been drunk, and several
excellentlglees sung by Messrs. Ransford, Morgan, Ashton,
and Jones, the Secretary read the Report for the last year,
from which it appeared that the funds of the Society were
in a highly flourishim condition, and had bee. augmented by
subscriptions from some of the first legal characters of the
day. _ _

After " Prosperity to the United Law Clerks' Society"
had been most enthusiastically drunk, the Chairman an-
nounced the additional subscriptions and donations to the
Society, which amounted to nearly 2001. ; among the donors
and subscribers were the Attorney and Solicitor-Generals,
5/. ss. each ; Messrs. Martineau, 5/. ss. ; E. A. Wilde,
Esq., 51.55. ; Mr. Nicol (Procter), 51.55. ; Hamilton and
Few, 101. 10s. ; D. W. Harvey, Esq., M.P., Si. ss. ; Mr.
Hobson, 71. 7s.

Several excellent toasts were drunk in the course of the
evening, among which was her Majesty's Attorney-General,
together with Sir William Follett and the independence of
the English Bar. The hilarity of the meeting was kept up
to a late hour, and the company departed highly delighted
with the entertainment of the evening, and the bright pros-
pect which had been held out to the Society of its increasing
usefulness.

His Royal Highness the Duke de Nemours, and a
party of French Noblemen who landed at Brighton on
Friday last, received great attention from the Duke of Beau-
fort, the Earl of Jersey, Earl of Chesterfield, and Lord
Bentinck. After dining, the Duke and party went to
Battle Abbey, whence they proceeded to Hastings, and
there embarked for Dieppe, on board their yacht.
We copy the following letter from the Morning
Advertiser, for the purpose of showing to what expedients
the opponents of the New Poor-law resort to excite a
prejudice against it :
" Sir—Every man has a right to express his opinion on
any subject, and to prove the correctness of it by every fair
means, but not at the expense of veracity. In the Weekly
Dispatch of yesterday a statement is given of an inquest
held on Saturday, in Shadwell, on a child found in a privy,
and concludes by stating that several of the Jurors ex-
pressed themselves strongly in this case in reference to the
Poor-law ; also that they met in the afternoon, and sat till
a late hour. This morning I see the report inserted in
your Paper, copied, as I suppose, and beinc, considered a
correct statement. As one of the Jurors there' assembled,
for the Foreman, and several of the Jurors, I declare it an
erroneous statement. I was first in the room, and one of
the last to quit. We met at one, and were discharged
soon after three ; so much for late hours ; and as for the
discussion of the Poor-law, for myself and those gentlemen,
I distinctly deny that any took place on the question. How
the report became so garbled I know not. I cannot readily
believe the Reporter who attended could have made such a
statement, or have been deceived by others to do so. But
whether it be friend or foe who endeavours to uphold any
system by misrepresentation, when I am really in a situation
to confute it, I always will. I believe the New Poor-law in
the whole to be a most excellent measure, though, like all
measures, capable of improvement. Let those who are
opposed to it avail themselves of facts for their opposition.
In the case reported there was nothing mentioned even to
excite a discussion on the Poor-law: Yours,
VIGILARIUS.
Tower Hamlets, Aug. 14, 1637.

TEE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, AUGL ST 15, 1837.

cued. The polling was carried on during the day with
great spirit. At one time Vesey was 60 or 70 a head upon
the day's poll, but that majority was quite reduced before
evening. At seven o'clock the Sheriff announced the state
of the poll as follows :

Gross Poll.
Coote 1,0601 Vesey
Fitzpatrick 777
Majority for Coote over Vesey
Majority for Fitzpatrick over Vesey
Captain Bryan and Colonel Butler will, it is confidently
anticipated, be elected for the county of Kilkenny.
The ultra Orange faction in Longford have the shame-
less hardihood to declare beforehand that they will harrass
the liberal party by getting up a petition in the event of
the Reformers succeeding in the county. Such an announce-
ment is evidently in the spirit of the, Constitution, about
the support of which these Constitutionalists are wont to
prattle so interminably, professing a disinterested regard
and generous devotion which leave all ordinary professions
of adherence to the Constitution at an unmeasurable dis-
tance. The people, however, have now begun to see that
the Constitution of England, according to the acknowledged
Conservative reading, is a mere convenience for the use of
their own party, and the advancement of their own gro-
velling ambition.

I bow with becoming deference to your decision, but I
shall not pretend indifference to the result of the late elec-
tion. I certainly thought the principles which I have for
so many years endeavoured to uphold were those of the
great majority amongst you ; and, presuming that I must
consider your opiuion on this occasion to have been de-
liberately pronounced, I lament to find that to defend the
cause of civil and religious liberty, aad to advocate an
equality of rights and privileges for all classes of our
fellow-subjects, of whatever creed or country, is no longer
a recommendation in a man who aspires to the honour of
becoming your Representative. lam surprised, I confess,
to perceive that the attempt to re-kindle the flames of reli-
gious discord has partially succeeded, not only in North
Wiltshire, but in other portions of the United Kingdom ;
and that the cries of " Church in Danger," and " Church
and State," should be revived, not only by the sincere,
though timid, friends of our establishment, but by men in
whose mouths such terms are nothing but party watch-
words, and the symbols of political rather than of reli-
gious zeal.
I am no less grieved than astonished that the old lan-
guage of bigotry and intolerance, happily so long in dis-
use amongst us, should have been addressed to my late
constituents without meeting with that reception which
might have been expected from their well-known intelli-
gence and liberality.
For myself, personally, I hope I may say, without pre-
sumption, that I have nothing to regret. The retirement
to which your preference of Sir Francis Burdett to myself
will now at once lead me was already my voluntary choice,
and nothing but your expressed wishes induced me again
to offer you my humble services.
And bete I am at a loss to know what there was either
in that coatemplated resolution, or my abandonment of
it at the request of my late constituents, to which any
reasonable objection could be made ; still less can I un-
derstand how my omission to recommend and provide a
successor in your favour should be made a matter of
charge against me. But that which least of all I am able
to account for, is, that the observation should be made
by a gentleman who at the same time declared
his entire disapproval of my political conduct. For if it
be true that my support of the Queen's Government was not
in accordance with your wishes, then my resignation should
have been a subject rather of congratulation than of re-
proach, and my declining to provide you with another re-
presentative of principles similar to my own, so far from
being a neglect of my obvious duties, ought to have insured
me the commendation of a political opponent.
My absence from the contest, the total impossibility of
my friends who were present replying to a charge which
they did not hear, might, I think, have induced a generous
enemy to have practised a little more forbearance than is
to be found in the reported speeches of Sir Francis Bur-
dett on this occasion. The confession of his new faith
would not have been less acceptable to those with
whom he now associates (many of them high-minded
and honourable men) if, remembering my past fellowship
with him, my long connection with you, and, I must add,
my present misfortunes, he had spared those reproaches
which would have required no ingenuity to retort upon
himself. If I announced my intention to retire from Par-
liament, so did Sir Francis Burdett. If at the request of
a numerous body of your constituency I consented to
forego my resolution, so did Sir Francis Burdett ; and if
I did not follow his example in naming a successor, I
must say, as my excuse, that the manner in which the
Hon. Baronet's legacy was received in Westminster has
shown that there are some political experiments, which, as
they are too perilous even fbr Sir Francis Burdett, would
have been very extravagant and ridiculous in me.

Gentlemen, I repeat I have nothing to regret for myself.
I retire with the consciousness of having done my duty by
you ; and I shall take the liberty to add that I prefer
that retirement, accompanied, I hope, by your esteem
and approbation, to a continuance in pubic life secured
by any sacrifice either of public principles or of private
friends.

With the warmest feelings of gratitude towards that large
body of electors who have so handsomely and zealously sup-
ported me in the face of every difficulty, and with a due
sense of what I must always owe to the county at large for
its long-continued sanction of my pretensions,
I have the honour to remain, Gentlemen.
Your devoted and faithful servant,
Park-street, Aug. 10,1837. PAUL METHUEN.

Yesterday evening nearly 150 members of this Society
dined together at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, to cele-
brate the fifth anniversary of the establishment of this
most excellent Society, the object of which is to provide a
maintenance for decayed members, and upon their death for
their widows, and also to give casual assistance to those
members who may be in need of it.