The Sun.
London, England, 1839-12-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1839.

wide, wild scene of blood and desolation ?—( Hear, hear.)
And in England, too, in all the large towns, there is a
powerful body of active Irishmen. But even at Cardiff,
how did they retaliate on the brutal bigotry (for what
else was it ?) of the most noble the Marquis of Bute ?
( Hear, hear.) Why, by sending one hundred of the
most active and able amongst them, as special consta-
' bles for the protection of his property—(Loud cheers.)
On a previous occasion, I have stated that New-
castle was the only place at which the Irish allowed
themselves to be seduced by the Chartist mania from
their duty and allegiance. But I find I was mis-
taken, as it now appears that not a single Irishman
was engaged in the riots that occurred in that town.—
(Hear.) There were a few individuals—not Irishmen,
but with Irish names, who just met in a room, and,
of course, abused your humble servant, and then, in com-
pany with the others, proceeded to the acts of violence.
The Catholic priest of the place has written to me an
account of the whole transaction, and informs me that
agreeably to his earnest injunctions, and acting as Irish-
men always have acted, in accordance with the eound
and virtuous advice of their pastors, our countrymen, in
that town, too, refused to ally themselves with treason
and rebellion.—(Cheers.) There is, then, no one ex-
ception to the good conduct of Irishmen in this business,
out of the 300,000 scattered throughout Great Britain,
straitened and suffering, too, as the majority of them
are.---(Hear.) But what suffering and what privation
drove the Chartists to their mad and wicked rebellion ?
Why, it appears that the average earnings of those en-
gaged in the Newport outrage were about 275. per
week. What distress !—what destitution ! Were the
working classes in Ireland earning even half that sum,
what a deal we houid hear of rebellion—of distress—
forsooth.—(Hear, hear.) lam inclined to imagine that
even my favourite (for I so acknowledge it) agitation
would soon be at a discount.--(Laughter.) This is a
home truth, and a telling one, with regard to the Irish
character, which I cannot too often repeat. I shall
therefore continue again and again to reiterate.—(Hear,
hear.) I have been handling cold iron, but I shall
cease not from hammering till the metal gets hot.—
(Cheers.) Look, then, at Ireland, majestic Ireland,
refusing to avail herself of the crime of others, even
where such a course appeared likely to forward her own
interests, and then consider England—her people
distracted and divided—her clergy foaming with
hate and frantic fanaticism ; her " Liberals" apa-
thetic and careless—exposing the liberties of the
people to be preyed on by the rapacity of the Aris-
tocracy.—(Hear, hear, hear.) I have spoken to you
of the Chartist treason, in England of the dreadful,
abominations of the so-called Saints ; of those who
professing themselves ministers of Christ, disclaim the
laws, and mock the ordinances of the God of mercy
and charity. You have read at their meetings the
holy horror simulated at the fabricated stories of crimes
in this country—their accusations against as, of the
prevalence of Whiteboyism, Ribbonism, and of other
combinations of a wicked and illegal description.—
(Hear.) Now, I will put the question in a fair and
open light, and I here defy them to show me any one
city, any one village, any one parish or district in which
the existence of such criminal associations can be found.
—(Prolonged applause.) Not one ! Then give me one
loud huzza for Old Ireland.—(Tremendous cheering.)
I am, as I have long since declared myself, Counsel for
Ireland ; I have had a large and extended practice ; but
I confess to you that in the course of my career I never
prosecuted so great a scoundrel as certain of the Tory
gentry, who are now admitted to the society and con-
verse of persons calling themselves honest men.—
(Cheers.) I would on this question fearlessly appeal
even to his Grace of Wellington, a nobleman, by the
way, of whom I have never entertained such high-flown
notions as some persons hold regarding him. Of
his abilities as a general I shall here say nothing ;
but as a statesman I never saw that he was dis-
tinguished for any great talent. In the choice of the
persons whom he appointed to offices of trust and
emolument, his estimation of competency and inte-
grity has always appeared to me to be governed
principally by the capabilities of flattery and adu-
lation at the command of the party. These in-
dications of the men: divinior, which in some way
or other, break out even in the daily bearing of truly
great men, I have looked for in vain in his words or his
actions. And then there is Sir Robert Peel, who, at one
time, ranged himself with the Anti-Emancipation party,
and then turned round to the penal-repealing party, and
who now leads that which is virtually, if not nominally,
the penal lawsre-enactment party.--(Hear and laughter.)
Here, then, is Ireland ; there are her enemies. I have
placed them fairly before you, and heaven decide between
us according to the right! We are placed in a situation
of extreme peculiarity ; we are, in short, in a crisis, which
must be productive of much good or of much evil ; or, as
the Americans say, it must eventuate in one way or the
other. Let me again impress on you that every-
thing is in our own power—everything abides our deci-
sion. We can obtain the good, and avert the evil, but
this must be effected by zealous and practical exertions
on our part.----(Hear, hear.) All you who are present
know me—my origin—whence I am—what I am. Why
am I thus influential and conspicuous at present ? Sim-
ply, because I determined, from the first hour of my
political life, never to let tyranny approach me without
giving it a blow.—[A voice—" Not a physical force
one."]—(A laugh.) No, not a Chartist blow, but a
blow with the weapons of truth, reason, and argu-
ment.—(Loud cheers.) And if I have deviated from
the rules of strict propriety, it is that, in designating
scoundrelism, I cannot help sometimes calling it
scoundrelism, and rascality.—(Hear, hear.) If, then,
I, an humble individual, by persevering constitutional
opposition to tyranny, have, in the generous considera-
tion of my countrymen, done something towards the
amelioration of their condition, what may not be accom-
plished by the union, energy, and concord, and organised
exertions of millions of honest and patriotic men ?
( Long continued applause.) I call, then, on you all,
relatives, friends, and countrymen, to re-echo the trum-
pet of freedom that shall sound in Dublin. We must
guard against the machinations of the wretched,
bigoted—l was going to say, but it is a party
word—the shoneen aristocracy of the country, who,
destitute alike of talent, of fair influence, and even in
many cases of wealth, would seek to prolong the
h: teful existence of the monster tyranny—like some
foul and loathsome reptile that feeds on the fetidity
and unwholesome vapours of corruption.—( Hear.)
They are even now plotting to destroy us. Let us be
alive ; let us be watchful ; but once again I conjure you
let us, above all things, be prudent.—(Loud cheers.)
The morality and education of the people, continually
progressing as they are, are mighty auxiliaries to
the accomplishment of our righteous objects. We
have truth with us—reason with us—we have right
with us—and having all these, who shall say that
might is not with us also ?—(Hear, hear, hear,
and loud cheers.) Yes, Irishmen, the favour of heaven
will, sooner or later, be shed on the cause of justice ;
and come it soon or come it late, the struggle we are
engaged in, in behalf of Ireland, shall, by me at least,
be never relinquished until the sun shines on the glo-
rious day that shall bring freedom and peace, and
smiling prosperity to our loved and beautiful island.—
(Tremendous cheering.) Convinced am I that no earthly
power can prevent the ultimate arrival of that day ; but
we must ever bear in mind that patriotic exertion can
as greatly accelerate, as active tyranny, or hardly less
criminal apathy can retard it. (The Honourable and
Learned Gentleman sat down amid most enthusiastic and
long-continued cheering, the band striking up that
spirit-stirring national tune, " The Sprig of Shillelah.")
A number of other toasts were given. At half-past
eleve❑ o'clock, Mr. O'Connell and the major part of
the company retired, and the proceedings of the even-
ing concluded in a manner most gratifying to all con-
cerned.

THE ART OF WRITING,
DISTINCT FROM ITS EDUCATIONAL USES,

The Smith-and-Dolier System Copy Books, New Series.
Fftieth Thousand. In Six Nos. By JOHN SMITH,
Lecturer on Education.—Simpkin ; Phelps ; Sherwood.
We have not before had an opportunity of taking
due notice of these old friends with new and im-
proved faces. Some years ago we were among the
first to welcome their public appearance in their
earliest and least effective form, and it affords us
pleasure to find that the promise of increased use-
fulness they then held forth, and the success which
we anticipated in their behalf, have been amply
realised. Now that the three more expensive num-
bers have been converted into six, of half the bulk
and at half the charge, we cannot doubt of their
being still more extensively adopted. The issue of
the fiftieth thousand is substantial evidence of in-
creasing approbation.
In the New Series of the Books, there appears
a completeness, and an enlarged range of assist-
ance to a learner, well entitled to our best atten-
tion, connected as the art of writing is with the
progress of improved education. The uses of
the pen in recording the ideas of a pupil, in
practising composition, in copying valuable and
instructive lessons in morals, religion, science,
art, history, biography, and other important mat-
ters, are much more in requisition than they were,
even a few years ago. The pen is a never-failing
friend to a young person's studies, in almost
every department of knowledge, and therefore the
mere power of using it—the mere ability to write—
ought to be among the early means possessed by
a pupil to assist his teachers in educating him.
In almost all his lessons, " the pen in hand,"
and especially " the pen of a ready writer," will
not only facilitate acquirement, but will
embody and impress the matter acquired. What
then is writing, of itself, that the learning of the art
alone should occupy a portion of school time daily,
for months or years ? Why, unless properly taught,
it is an artificial stumbling block, or rather a bar-
rier, a hindrance, detaining the mind from moral
and intellectual culture, and making education te-
dious, because, as far as writing copies goes, it is
monotonous and uninteresting. The mechanical
power to write ought by all means to be obtained,
as it may be, in a few weeks, and then the great
variety of human knowledge, the great pleasures of
mental enlightenment, may be offered to youth,
who with a ready instrument in hand can follow up
instruction at one moment, and lay by materials
for study at another. As the books before us are
calculated most effectually to promote these advan-
tages, we will briefly describe them for the infor-
mation of those who have not seen them at all, or
who may not have met with them in their present
form, in which there are some intermediate lessons,
not to be found in former editions, rendering the
whole extremely valuable.
The distinguishing features of the System Copy
Books, are—the presence of a copyhead, or of
several copy examples, in each page, there being, in
all, about 175 engravings ; and the insertion in
alternate lessons of a printed pattern called a reed,
by which are indicated the proper slope, distance,
and curves of the elementary forms of letters. An
exercise under discipline is presented in one page ;
an exercise in freedom is offered on the other. A
learner is, by these means, prevented from ever
falling into erroneous habits, as regards the inclina-
tion and proportions of letters. Always aiming at
the right, assisted by unerring standards, every step
he gains may be kept, and his steady advance be
secured. Of the gradual, certain, and yet rapid
nature of that advance, a careful reference to the
books will enable any one to judge.
In the First Book the earliest lessons are given
(with engraved copy-heads of course) consisting of
the straight strokes, the characters called pot-hooks
and hangers, and that compound of these two,
called the link. Arranged as these lessons are, a
pupil cannot fail to master them in a very few days,
the judicious hints, in letter-press, scattered through-
out the pages, serving much to sustain his efforts.
The sapient objection which was once made
against assisting the young penman in this way,
namely, that it would render his future attempts
dependent on the like help, might just as well be
applied against lending a finger to an infant in his
first trials at walking, for fear he would never walk
without support. In the books before us, the
learner is mechanically assisted in 33 pages out of
96. He must help himself in the interspersed 63
pages, having, however, the advantage of being
guided by judicious directions addressed to his own
common sense.
In the Second Book the letters of the common
alphabet are given, not, however, in their usual order,
but in a much better one for the learner, namely, in
that of their comparative simplicity of formation,
taking into account the lessons gone through in the
first book. The principle adopted is certainly a
correct one ; namely, that each lesson to be learnt
should be the nearest to the last, but of course in
advance. He who can make a hanger can make
the letters i and u with very little instruction. These
are therefore, the first letters of the writing alpha-
bet, and all the others follow in the closest order of
apology to preceding lessons. 4.4 fit
The Third Book is precisely what is-Anted
after the formation of letters, that is, a -serfs of
directions and examples how to combine any two
letters, it being one thing to make letters sepa-
rately, and another to join them in a proper
manner. And herein good service is rendered
to the student in writing, on whatever system he is
taught. It is obvious that as the letter a may be
followed in the same word by another a, or by b,
or by any other letter down to z—and as the letter
b may also be followed by any one of the twenty-
six letters—and so on with the rest : it is obvious,
we say, that there are 26-times-26 possible combi-
nations in our language. But it is here shown that,
among all the 676 junctions, there are actually
only 36 kinds or modes of junction. Examples
of these are given in the book, and
the pupil who works through them is told,
as he proceeds with each instance, what other
instance is analogous to it, so that, in becoming
familiar with these, he is ready for all that will
ever occur in writing. We have not met with so
complete and simple an arrangement before. And
these lessons are followed by the capital letters, in
a progressive and classical order, as to angularity
or curvature of form.
Having in the preceding books been led through
all the elements of written language, the pupil
passes to the Fourth Book, in which the copy-heads
consist of complete words, the capitals and junc-
tions, before learnt, coming into practical use in a
frill large hand. Here the reeds again assist the
learner, and we would remark that the assistance
they afford is not lessened in its value by any ten-
dency to induce uniformity of handwriting amongst
pupils. The tracing of copies might indeed effect
this, but not so the mere observance of the
reeds : they indicate only the direction to be pur-
sued if error is to be avoided ; but all the variances
within the bounds of right, the sharper or more
obtuse angles, the more elevated or depressed
curves, the firmer or more delicate strokes, all these
characteristics of the individual penman, may be
indulged in, as taste or the wishes of the instructor
may dictate.
[There is, we perceive, a fault in the letter M
in the fourth page of this Book. It would be
much better as given in the tenth page of No. 3.]
In the Fifth Book, lessons are arranged in words
and sentences, as in the preceding, only that they are
all in what is termed round-hand, a size of writing
which still admits of the precision and guidance of
the reeded system, and which is particularly suitable
in the pupil's progress towards the most used
and most useful kind of penmanship. In this ease
there is more scope for judicious advice in the lan-
guage to be transcribed, and the hand will be
gradually acquiring minuteness of action, still regu-
lated by the discipline to be observed in the forma-
tion of each character in writing. In this book the
learner will begin to feel that he has already passed,
and with ease, the greater difficulties of the art, if
such they can now be called.
The Sixth Book gives exercises in regular small
hand, without reeds or other aids, the only pecu-
liarity being the continual presence of very sensible
and instructive copy-heads from the pen of some
clever writing-master. Practice is also afforded in
the neat formation of points, with a letter-press
description of their uses and powers.
Altogether these are very valuable helps to
education. With instruction as to the right po-
sition of the body, and the correct mode of holding
the pen, any person may by these books learn
writing in a very few weeks, and then the active pen
will be an auxiliary in almost every branch of study.
Time may not only be saved, but by being devoted
to a greater variety of subjects it may render edu-

cation far more pleasing to the young, to whom
there are given, on the cover of the hooks, some
excellent suggestions on position in writing well
worthy of their consideration.

The publication has our best wishes for its
entire success. It appears to be rapidly rising in
public estimation (especially, we should t hink, since
the present form of the books was determined
upon), and we shall be glad to report, hereafter,
proofs of a still more general adoption, towards
which it will give us pleasure if our own efforts have
at all contributed.