The Sun.
London, England, 1839-12-23 00:00:00

ROYAL SOCIETY.

At the last meeting the President (the Marquis of
Northampton) delivered the annual address, and read
biographical notices of the Fellows deceased since the
last anniversary. These were the Rev. Martin Davy,
Dr. Marsh, Bishop of Peterborough, Professor Rigaud,
Mr. Wilkins, Professor of Architecture to the Royal
Academy, the Rev. Archibald Alson, Mr. E. L. Lush-
ington, Mr. George Saunders, the Baron de Prong, of
France, and M. Prevost, of Geneva. We have only
room for the following brief and accurate sketch of that
beautiful writer and excellent preacher, so well known
to the literary world—the author of the celebrated essay
on " Taste :"

The Rev. Archibald Alison, senior Minister of St.
Paul's Chapel, Edinburgh, was born in 1757, be-
came a Member of the University of Glasgow in
1772, and of Baliol College, Oxford, in 1775, and
took the degree of B.C.L. in 1784: he soon after-
wards took holy orders in the English Church, and
was presented to several ecclesiastical preferments
by Sir William Pulteney, Lord Chancellor Lough-
borough, and Bishop Douglas of Salisbury. In 1784
he married the daughter of the celebrated Dr. John
Gregory of Edinburgh, with whom he lived in unin-
terrupted happiness for forty years of his life. His
celebrated essay on the " Nature and Principles of
Taste," was first published in 1790, and speedily be-
came incorporated into the standard literature of
Great Britain. Towards the close of the last century,
he became a permanent resident in his native city, as
minister of the Episcopal chapel, Cowgate, and after-
wards of St. Paul's, where be was connected by con-
genial tastes and pursuits with Dugald Stewast, Play-
fair, Mr. Henry Mackenzie, Dr. Gregory, and the
many other distinguished men who, during so many
years, made that beautiful and picturesque city the
metropolis of British literature. In 1814 he published
two volumes of sermon! ; and at a later period, a very
interesting memoir of his accomplished friend the Hon.
Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee. Mr. Alison was
a man of very pleasing and refined manners, of great
cheerfulness and equanimity of temper, of a clear and
temperate judgment, and possessing a very extensive
knowledge of mankind. He was habitually pious and
humble-minded, exhibiting, in the whole tenor of his
life, the blessed influence of that Gospel of which he was
the ordained minister. Ail his writings are characterised
by that pure and correct taste, the principles of which
he had illustrated with so much elegance and beauty.

BRUSSELS, DEC. 21.—The Chamber of Re-
presentatives, in the sitting yesterday, agreed to the
Budget of the Foreign Department. The Chamber
then, by a majority of 66 to 2, agreed to the project of
law authorizing the Government to issue Treasury
Bonds to the amount of 12 millions.
THE CORN-LAWS.—The campaign against the
abominable Corn-laws is proceeding most satisfactorily
in Leeds. During the present week :wo meetings have
t
been held, one in the South Ward, and the other at
Holbeck, each of which was attended by about 500
persons, of whom it was gratifying to find the gr ''''
ma-
jority were operatives. Mr. Greig, agent ftheo
the mis-
Anti-Corn-law Association, ably demonstratedatien
law,
and
chievous and ruinous effects of the Leeds
st.;„rvously adopted,
at the close, resolutions were un
agitators, and are convinced
town are
us pleasure
calling for their immediate repeal.
are awake to the
to find that the operatives of thitset
place before
d to be practised upon
delusion which has been attempted
them by certain designing abt:vs
emnst
inatake
1 nroved.-Leeds
their condition can be permanently
that a change in the Corn-laws
Mercury.
,--. ~N-LAW DINNER I THE ANTI-vO.- - 11 demand f) • .
con-
sequence of the extensive
the_ ,r. tickets for the
January, Council of the League
dinner of the 13th
have determined not toissue any more until they shall
have secured proper accommodation for guests and dele-
gates
from a distancc • El .e.v en Members of Parliament
have already accepted the invitation of the Council to
be present. Of these we gave the names of six gentle-
men on Wednesday last, and the other five are—Ed-
ward Baines, Esq. (Leeds) ; John Easthope,. Esq.
(Leicester); Thomas S. Duncombe, Esq. (Finsbury) ;
the Hon. C. P. Villiers (Wolverhampton) ; and Peter
Ainsworth, Esq. (Bolton). Amongst other gentle-
men who have accepted the invitation are the Rev.
Thomas Spencer, Rector of Hinton, near Bath, whose
able letter on the Corn-laws is in everybody's mind, and
Mr. Sharman Crawford. We understand also that
amongst the towns from which intirontions have hPeri
i„15.,;,;,.... 1. 41'i 1., a,....+, IJ lt; Ltim,ei. are
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, and a number of smeller
places, as Kendal, Burnley, &c.—Manchester Guardian.

E v Le-kr e 14‘
1.4 1 •

A CHRISTMAS-BOX FOR THE

WHIGS

BY THE DUKE OP BUCKINGHAM.

" I boldly state that her Majesty's Advisers are traitors to
their country. "—Vide the Duke of Buckingham's speech
at the Winehtster Conservative dinner.

Yes, all are traitors ! A viler set
Never dubbed themselves a Cabinet ;
They seem to think it their greatest glory,
To keep in the shade a shivering Tory;
Tho' they see us divested of all our pride,
And from stern necessity allied
To the bleak, cold Opposition side,
Freezing in that unwholesome slot,
Like Esquirnaux in their wintry cot,
And casting many a longing eye
To the sunny clime of the Treasury ;
Tho' they see us thus, not a Whig will stir ;
Not a single Cabinet Minister
Has sufliaient politeness—woe betide him !
To beckon us over to sit beside him 11

Yes, all are traitors l They starve our Church,
And leave its Hierarchs in the lurch,
Giving the poor dear Bishops no more
Than suffices just for a coach-and-four;
They uphold the doctrine, worst of any,
That the Few should aye succumb to the Many ;
To Dissenter and Papist they just behave
As if either had got a soul to save ;
They teach the benighted mob their letters,
Tho' knowledge was only meant fortheir betters;
In short, without either rhyme or reason,
They go the whole hog in Reform and Treason,
For every one knows—at least all of us.—
That these terms are quite synonimous.

But happier times, thank God, are coming,
For the Tory war-drums all are drumming,
And brave Sir Bobby is marching along,
Leonidas-like, three hundred strong,
To crush the invading Whigs, dy'e see,
And " make a new Thermopylae I"—*
Meantime, I offer each doomed Whig fox
These rhymes, by way of a Christmas-box,
And bid him remember, with awe and fear,
That the ominous Ides of March are near.

" Of the three hundred, grant but three
To make a new The:mot-41m."
BYRON'S Don Juan.

COURT CIRCULAR.

WINDSOR, SUNDAY.—This morning, the Queen
attended by the Duchess of Sutherland, the Mar-
chioness of Normanby, Hon. Miss Paget, Hon. Miss
Anson, Viscountess Forbes, Viscount Melbourne, Earl
of Fingal!, Sir Robert Otway, and the Hon. Colonel
Grey, attended Divine Service at the Chapel RoYal,
St. George. The Sermon was preached by the Rev
Mr. Musgrave (Canon in residence), who took his text
from St. Matthew, chap. vi., and part of the 10th verse,
" Thy will be done." The Rev. Mr. Kny vett chaunted
the service. The Rev. Mr. Musgrave read the first
lesson, and the Rev. Mr. Canning the seeond4
and officiated at the altar. The "Te Deign
and " Jubilate" was Dr. Boyce's in A, the
Communion Service Rogers in D, and the Anthem
Christ being raised from the dead" (Elvey), the
Quartett being sung by Master Foster, Messrs. Harris,
French, and Turner. Mr. Elvey, presided at
the organ.
Her Majesty, attended by the Ladies of her suite,
walked yesterday for some time both on the Eastern
Terrace, from the York and Lancaster Towers, to the
entrance gate and back, and likewise along the path
towards Frogmore, returning by the Little Park to the
Castle.
The Duchess of Sutherland, Lord Alfred Paget, and
the Hon. Charles Howard, arrived yesterday after-
noon at the Castle on a visit to her Majesty.
The band of the Rifles attended at the Castle on
Friday evening, and played the following pieces :--
March—Overture, Zampa, (Herold) ; Duette., Elisir
d'Amore (Donizetti) ; Risa Walzer (Strauss) ; Quad-
rille (Blanche) ; Galop, Le Pre aux Clercs ; Mazurka,
Quick step.

The Princess Augusta, the Duchess of Cambridge,
and the Princess Augusta of Cambridge, visited her
Majesty the Queen Dowager at Mariborough House
on Saturday.
The Princess Augusta attended Divine Service yea-
teiday morning in the Chapel Royal, St. James's. 111
Sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Dodd, from
Malachi. chap. iv., verse 5. The Lessons were read
by the Rev. Mr. Dakins, the Prayer by the Rev. Dr'
Wesley, and the Communion Service by the Rev. Mr.
Dakins and the Rev. Dr. Wesley. The Anthem was
" Prepare ye the way of the Lord" (Boyce). Sir
George Smart presided at the organ. The Earl of
Sheffield and other Noblemen attended the -service.
Miss Vyse was in waiting on the Princess Augusta.
The Duchess of Cambridge, Priace George and tbe
Princess Augusta of Cambridge, returned to Kew 011
Saturday evening.
The Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Cam
bridge visited the Princess Augusta on Saturday.
The Duke of Cambridge visited the Duchess of
Gloucester at Gloucester House on Saturday. Ills
Royal Highness returned to his residence at Kew yes-
terday.
Mr. Bosanquet, the Chairman, and a Deputation- of
the Directors of the Eastern Counties Railway, consist-
ing of Messrs. Rathbone, Hodgson, Crosbie, Mather,
and Cropper, had an interview witn the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, on Saturday, in Downing-street.
The Military Secretary to the Commander of the
Forces, Lieutenant-Colonel Oakes, and Mr. Warbur-
ton, had interviews with the Marquis of Normanby on
Saturday, at the Home Office.
The Duchess of Sunderland left town on Saturday,
on a visit to her Majesty at Windsor.
Mr. J. Bishop the Secretary, and a Deputation of
the Metropolitan Beer-sellers, had an interview on
Saturday with the Chancellor of the Exchequor in
Downing-street.
Despatches were received yesterday at the Colonial
Office from Sir Howard Douglas, the Lord High
Commissioner of the lonian Islands. Despatches were
received on Saturday from Sir William Nicolay, Go-
vernor of the Mauritius, and from Captain Prescott,
Governor of Newfoundland.