The Sun.
London, England, 1837-05-25 00:00:00

on the question, Ministers would have been left In
pretty considerable minority ;—but, as the thing stands,
they must abandon their Church-plundering project, or
be prepared for a speedy ejectment from their snug
4tiattefs tti Whitdgili:---Mornin4
Cto to feik2,F;
offend those of our readers, if we permitted the mani-
festations of national joy which took place yesterday,
and which it is this day our chief business to record,
to reach, through our columns, the general eye of the
obeli min of the tillited fllld 8c tlfe ro4ople
of eVefy European *ithOtit expressing Our stn;
'6o'e aid cdrdimil pOticipatiOd id all the sentiments
kich slicli an dpcial is 6111CtilziiM fd iOlife: *Tester;
day the Princess Victoria attained the age at
by the well -considered and prudent determination of
the Legislature, she is qualified to wield, with her own
hands, the British sceptre: The epoch ig an, important
one in the annals of Great Britain. And there is ►riiifiEi
of loyal and of manly sentiment associated with it,
which vindicates and claims a louder and more general
burst of acclamation than its mere political importance
would either warrant or sugo‘test. The sex of our futdrd
80'ereign endears her to the nation, and would do so
although Elizabeth had never lived ; yet the people
of England cannot forget that the reign in which digit
country made the greatest advances in prosperity and
_!ory was that of a female. The tender age of her
Royal Highness is another cirennistattect which makes
her an object of peculiar interest to the country. The
Princess Victoria is still a minor, but a minor liable to
the misfortune—for such she and all the truly loyal
and devoted of her friends would consider it—of being
called to duties and responsibilities which masculine
maturity might dread to encounter. But upon this
occasion of festivity we gladly exchange these more se-
rious topics for others which inspire unqualified feel-
ings of gratitude and joy. Her Royal Highness the
Heiress Presumptive has attained to the present im-
portant and interesting stage of her existence, under the
guidance and protection of a watchful, affectionate, and
judicious parent, who has laboured, and laboured not in
vain, to fit her for the duties of the exalted station which
(we hope at a period still distant) she is destined to fill,
without having once occasioned to the country or to
the Royal Family a feeling of apprehension or anxiety
as to her disposition or her conduct. Whatever alarm
has at any time been felt on her account has related
solely to her health, and it is a source of great and
general satisfaction to the country to know that in this
respect there is no longer the slightest ground for ap-
prehension. All who have had the opportunity of
seeing her Royal Highness must have perceived that
within the last year the fervent wishes of a loyal na-
tion have, in this respect, been fully realised, and that
whatever apprehensions may, at any period, have been
entertained have been entirely dissipated. These are
topics of congratulation in which the whole people of
England, without distinction of creed or party, have a
common interest and a common right. Whatever dif-
ferences may exist among us upon other subjects, in
our feelings of loyal attachment to the Princess Vic-
toria, and of respect and gratitude to her illustrious
mother, we are an unanimous nation.—Morning Post.

It affords us much gratification to learn that Mr.
Brown, the treasurer of the Booksellers' Provident Institution,
paid 5,000/. into the Bank of England on Friday last, to be
invested with the Commissioners for Managing the National
Debt.

A TRAGEDY IN TIIE WILDEMIPss.—On the
21st Bonneville and his party encamped amidst high and beet-
ling cliffs of indurated clay and sandstone, bearing the sent.
blance of towers, castles, ehUreher,, and fortified cities. At a
distance, it was scarcely possible to persitatic niteself, that the
works of art were not mingled with these fantastic frtat's of
nature. They have received the name of Scott's bluffs, frodi
a melancholy circumstance. A murnher of years since, a party
were descending the upper part of the river in canoes, when
their frail barks were overturned and all their powder *p' led.
Their rifles being thus rendered useless, they were unable W
procure food by hunting, and had to depend upon roots and
wild fruits for subsistence. After suffering extremely from
hunger, they arrived at Larimie's Fork, a small tributary of
of the north branch of the Nebraska, about sixty miles above
the cliffs just mentioned. Here one of the party, by the name
of Scott, was taken ill ; and his companions came to a halt,
until he should recover health and Strength sufficient to pro-
ceed. While they were searching round in quest of edible
roots, they discovered a fresh trail of white men, who had
evidently btit recently preceded them. What was to be done ?
By a foreed march they might overtake this party, and thus
be able to reach the settlements in safety, Should they linger,
they might all perish of famine and exhaustion. Scott, how-
ever, was incapable of moving; they were too feeble to aid
him forward, and dreaded that such a clog would prevent their
coming up with the advance party. They determined, there-
fore, to abandon him to his fate, Accordingly, under pretence
of seeking food, and such simples as might be efficacious in his
malady, they deserted him, arid hastened forward upon the
trail. They succeeded in overtaking the party of which they
were in quest, but concealed their faithless desertion of Scott;
alleging that he had died of disease. On the ensuing summer,
these very individuals visiting these parts in company with others,
came suddenly upon the bleached bones and grinning skull of a
human skeleton, which, by certain signs, they recognised for
the remains of Scott. This was sixty long miles from the
place where they had abandoned him ; and it appeared that the
wretched man had crawled that immense distance before death
put an end to his miseries. The wild and picturesque bluffs
in the neighbourhood of his lonely grave have ever since borne
his name.—Washington Irving's New Work, " Adventures of
Captain Bonneville."

On Saturday afternoon an inquest was held at the
Old King's Arms (or Halfway-house), Kensington-road, on
view of the body of Mrs. Hannah Shipton, who committed
suicide by drowning herself in the Serpentine River, Hyde-
park, under circumstances of a very afflicting nature. After
the jury had viewed the body, the following evidence was
brought forward :—Mrs. Georgina Dollin, of No. 3, Old
Boswell-court, Lincoln's Inn-fields, a respectable looking
woman, who was much affected, deposed that the deceased
was her mother, and aged 64 years. The deceased was the
widow of a serjeant in the army, who was killed in the memo-
rable action of Waterloo in 1815. She had for some months
before her melancholy death lodged at No. 3, York-street,
Westminster. Witness was in the habit of visiting her un-
fortunate parent, and had observed that she was very low-
spirited and dejected, which witness attributed to her mean;
being very scanty. Witness saw her last alive on Tuesday,
the day before her death, when she was in an unusually de-
sponding state of mind, and said she was sure she should
come to want, and that she could not bear to take from witness
and her young family. Witness had occasionally been in the
habit of assisting the deceased to the extent of her means.
She heard of her poor mother's death on the afternoon of the
previous day. Several witnesses spoke to the deceased's de-
pressed state of mind for several months before committing
the rash act. Charles Griffiths, belonging to the Royal Hu-
mane Society's House, Hyde-park, stated, that about five
o'clock on the morning of the previous day, he discovered the
body of the deceased floating in the Serpentine River. Wit-
ness got the body out : it appeared to have been in the water
several hours. The thighs were tied together with a piece
of black crape. Witness found nothing on her person.
There were no marks of violence on the body. The Jury
considered that the poor woman was in a distracted state of
mind, and returned a verdict of " Temporary Derangement."
In refutation of the calumnious and absurd asser-
tion that Mr. Hume and Mr. Leader were both, at one period
of their lives, Tories, the Aberdeen Herald well observes :
" Firsts in regard to Mr. Leader. This gentleman, at one
time thought at standing for the Aberdeen burghs; but so far
was he from courting the favour of the Tories, that he pub-
lished, in the Montrose Review, an address to the electors,
containing sentiments as radically liberal as those he now pro-
fesses. Secondly, Mr. Hume took his scat in the House of
Corrimlnt after the general election of 1818. Hansard says
he was not hi thg previous Parliament, which lasted six years,
and we know that he wns not in the one before that. His
political life ever since is well known. He spoke, according
to Hansard, thirty-three times during the session of 1819 ;
and, in all his speeches, he displays the same love of public
retrenchment and economy—the same attachment to unre-
stricted c.otnrnereial regulations—and the same devotion to
reform which he exhibits now. He supported a motion by
Lord A. Hamilton for burgh reform, more especially as re-
ferring to Aberdeen, and another by Sir F. Burdett for Par-
liamentary reform. In the latter instance he was one of a
minority of 58 to 153 ; and at all times we find his vote re-
corded on the liberal side. Joseph Hume is one of the most
consistent and deserving politicians of the day ; and it will
require something more than the fabrications of two provincial
journals to destroy his popularity."

CHARD.---CHuRcH-RATE BlLL.—Many persons
here who were at first opposed to, and petitioned against, the
Government measure for the abolition of this grievous impost,
are now, after candidly and honestly examining its merits, be-
come its zealous supporters. The lace trade of this town is
declining rapidly. The time for work in future is to be re-
duced to six hours per day.—Somerset Gazette.

The annual decorations of the taps took place on
Wednesday. Although the season for flowore is bad, we be-
lieve the taps were as well adorned as in former years. The
town was thronged with people and vehicles of all descriptions
during the day. The Friendly Societies, with their bands, vi-
sited the different taps after divine service, and then proceeded
to dinner; and cheerfulness, animation, and pleasure, reigned
throughout the town. The style of one tap is a gothic arch,
which rests upon two excellent worked columns upon an ele-
vated basement, surmounted by a beautiful Crown, with the
letters W. R., on each side. In the interior of the arch is the
following inscription in red letters upon yellow ground—" With
joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." The
design of this tap displays great taste, and the manner in which
it is decorated reflects great credit on the conductors. The
front is laid out with evergreens, with a fountain in the centre.
—Derbyshire Chronicle.