The Sun.
London, England, 1849-11-07 00:00:00

LONDON WEDNESDAY EVENING NOVEMBER 7 1849

THE SUNS

which the characters of an alien and a British subject WESTMINSTER FREEHOLD LAND
were united. If the effect of naturalization generally SOCIETY.
was to make the party to all intents and purposes a A public meeting was held last evening at the Gun
British subject, as would be found in the authorities Tavern, Pimlico, for the purpose of explaining the
to which he had referred, and also in the very principles and the objects of this society. The meet-
learned argument gone into on the whole subject by log was well attended.
Sir Matthew Hale, was there anything in this Act The prospectus states that—
of Parliament which at all qualifies that Act of Par-
" By joining this society parties may, by small fort-
liament which said that " the party should be taken nightly contributions, become the proprietor in their
and deemed to be naturalized ?" What was the ordi- own right of a piece of freehold land, upon which they
nary effect of every naturalization Bill ? It was to may erect a cottage, and cultivate a garden, either to let
give, not to take away. The argument that had or occupy; and thus acquire a stake' in the country,
been urged in the present case might and a voice in the election of Members of Parliament.
be urged in every 'case of naturalization, The mode of proceeding is this—the land is purchased
because in none of those cases was it said that it for the members in large quantities by the acre. It is
was intended to operate on the trial by jury, but that
othrecnosdtivid.ed and. laptpoarttilonetd toortthhem4s,
sat threawnhnoulmesacloe
it was intended to give certain specified rights. Not
as to givpericae; oltne fool. s
the county.w The 455. per
difference
at all ; but rather that by the naturalization the party between the wholesale and retail prices of freehold
be and should be taken and deemed to be a British land' is such, that land selling at 3s. 4d. and 3s. 6d. per
subject. What did it give ? It gave all yard retail, has been purchased by these societies at
that belonged to the character of a Brie is. Id. wholesale. The enrolment of this society gives
tish subject ? What did it take away ? legal security, and affords important savings in law ex-
it took away all that did not belong to a British sub- penses. The necessary deeds are prepared by the soli-
ject, ter it made the naturalized party a British citor of this society at 30s. each, exclusive of stamps, a
subject to all intents and purposes. If a woman sum considerably below the usual charges."
married a husband naturalized in a particular way JAMES WYID, Esq., having been unanimously
she might, by the construction contended for elected to take the chair, said—Gentlemen, as one of
on the part of the Crown, acquire a dif-
the Vice-Presidents of the association, it is only my
ferent status and be entitled to different
duty to take the chair this evening in the absence of
rights beyond those which her husband your President; but Ido so with very much pleasure
was entitled to. Very likely, if the husband had
because I heartilyl concur Land Society, the objects of the West-
been naturalized, subject to certain disqualifications minister Freeho
ld
applied to him by the legislative authority, he was
not less a British subject, because he was under these only one of very great political importance, but is
forl think it is not
also one of very great social importance.
disqualifications ; but that could not be taken to issued by the secretary, Ifind has t In the bill
two objects;
apply to a husband without any disqualification
first, of enabling the industrious classes to acquire
at all. The general intention of the Legislature
freehold residences; and, secondly, through the means
appeared to him to make the woman a British sub-
of those freeholds, of enabling them to secure the
ject, and he found no words from the beginning to the elective franchise for counties. Now, in these me-
end of this Act of Parliament which would at all
dern times, it will be admitted, that those are two
alter any conclusion that it was intended to operate at most important objects ; the first, I hold, if fairly and
all by enlarging or limiting all that belonged to the properly carried
status of a British subject. It no more referred economical
habits out, will infuse industrious and
into the great mass of the people ;
to the Jury Act than the Naturalization Bill and the other also, if fairly and properly carried out,
referred to the Jury Act. With respect, therefore, will enable them to acquire that right which I submit
to the prisoner, they could discover no intention
they are entitled to, but which the political constitu-
whatever in this Act of Parliament, more or less,
tion of the country at the present moment unfortu-
than to make her a British subject ; and if that was nately deprives them of.— (Cheers.) Gentlemen, the
so, the whole question was at an end, and she was not society which we meet here this evening to inaugurate,
an alien at the time she was tried. The Court were as it were, constitutes one, out of I believe 29 similar
therefore, unanimously of opinion that she was not societies, which are scattered throughout the different
entitled to a jury such as she claimed, and, there- parts of the country, and comprise altogether nearly
fore, that there was no ground for this application. 10,000 members. The first society of the kind, I
believe, originated at Birmingham, and there it has
been very successful, for at the present moment it
has nearly 826 freeholds; and I have no doubt,
through the influence of the society, a most
important result will be achieved at the next election
of an M.P., whenever it does take place, not only for
South Staffordshire, but also for North Warwick-
shire.—(Cheers.) Gentlemen, the object of this
society is to enable the industrious classes first of all
to acquire some spot of land of a not less yearly
value than 455., upon which they may hereafter erect
a cottage or a house; and next to work out a great
and important change in the representation of our
counties. Now, our county representation at the
present moment exhibits a very peculiar feature.
England has forty counties, which at present return
144 Members to Parliament; the population of these
forty counties is 8,336,263, and out of that population
there are only 475,036 electors.—(Hear, hear.) In
Wales there are twelve counties, with a population of
609,1371, which only - return fifteen Members ;
and out of those nearly 700,000 people there are
only 37,340 electors.—(Hear.) In Scotland there
are thirty counties, which return 30 Members; the
population is 1,800,000, but the number of electors is
only 48,958. Taking England, Wales, Scotland, and
Ireland together, there are 104 counties, returning
253 Members, which have only 561,329 electors, out
of a population of 14,773,750 of people.—(Hear,
hear.) Now, the object of this, and similar societies,
would enable the people of this country, not only to
have a good and sufficient residence for themselves,
but also, as I before said, to exercise, through the
means of their freeholds, such an influence upon the
different county constituencies of this kingdom as
will allow them to be fairly and properly represented.
—(Cheers.) This society applies peculiarly to the
industrious classes, and it does so because it
proposes to take very small payments, viz., 3s. a
fortnight, or is. 6d. aeweek ; and, from the report
which has been circulated, it appears that a subscrip-
tion of is. 6d. a week for five years is quite suffi-
cient to qualify a member to become a county elec-
tor.—(Cheers.) The purchases of similar societies in
the provinces cost on an average about 19/. for each
lot of land, and that sum can be repaid in less than
five years by a subscription of is. 6d. a week ; and,
recollect, the subscribing of that sum will not only i
produce an annual income of 40s. or 455., thereby
giving you a very good interest for your money, but
will also give you a most important stake in the
country—the right of voting to send a Member to
the Commons House of Parliament.—(Cheers.) The
principles of the society have been tried in and about the
neighbourhood of Birmingham ; and there I find not only
great political but also great social good has in con-
sequence resulted, for very many members of the
society to which I allude, who before were not frugal
nor possessed of economical and sober habits, have by
joining it not only become good members of society,
but have exercised to some extent those saving
qualities which conduce so much to their own com-
fort and that of their families. Therefore I come to
this conclusion, that in carrying out the objects of this
society, we effect great social as well as political
good.—(Cheers) It is a peculiar fact in the history
of our country that the great mass of the people have
less interest in the soil than the people
of any other constitutional state either in Europe
or America. Taking the Western States of
Europe, France for instance, in which the population
in round numbers is thirty-two millions, there are.
ten millions of landed proprietors, or one in every
three persons has some interest in the land. In the
United States, out of a population of twenty millions,
there are five millions of landed proprietors, or one in
every four; in Holland, a great shipping and com-
mercial country, whose operations are carried on to
a great extent all over the world, and in which one
would not expect a large proportion of the people to
have any interest in the soil, I find even in Hol-
land, out of a population of 3,500,000, there are
400,000 landed proprietors, or one in every nine.
(Cheers.) In Belgium, the population is five
millions, and the number of holders of land is
950 723, or one in every five; and in Sweden,
there are three millions of population and 300,000
landed proprietors, or one in every twelve of the
people.—(Hear, hear.) Now, in the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, supposed to be the
richest and most intelligent in the world, out of a
population of twenty-seven millions, there is,only one
person in forty, and this includes copyholders as well
as freeholders, who have any direct interest in the
soil.—(Hear, hear.) Now, gentlemen, knowing as
you do, not only during the last few years, but for
centuries past, what the course of our legislation has
been, you cannot be surprised that the large mass of
the labouring population have not had their interests
properly guarded; but while I say this, I cannot but
remark, that they themselves, have not taken care of
their own interests by availing themselves of the
power which the constitution gives them of obtaining
an interest in the land, and of obtaining a voice in the
British House of Commons.—(Cheers.) Now it is
said, that the dominant representation of the country
ought to be land; we concede that, and upon that
ground do we intend to meet our antagonists--
(Hear, hear)—and we say we intend, through the
purchase of land, to secure freeholds in the country,
and that right and status which our position, educa-
tion, and our intelligence qualify us to have.—
(Cheers.) That, then, is the purpose for which we
meet here this evening ; and seeing the great and
good results which have attended institutions of a
similar kind in the other parts of the country,
I do hope that Westminster, which has hitherto been
foremost in every great political movement, will not
be backward in carrying out that which will conduce
so much to the benefit and advantage of the
people.—(Cheers.) We all know that at this moment
we have a gentleman, who I may say, without enter-
ing into the arena of? political discussion, fairly and
honestly represents us in the House of Commons—
Mr. Bernal Osborne—(Cheers)--has on all occa-
sions and at all times shown himself to be a supporter
of what conduces to the best interests of the people.
—(Cheers.) We know that at the next election, after
the able and impartial manner in which he has
acquitted himself in the House of Commons, we
must again battle for him, or for some individual
possessing similar principles; and we say if' the
principles of the Westminster Freehold Land Society,
be adopted, we shall be enabled to return him, and if
not him, some one who approves of, and will carry out
those great principles which he has advocated on your
half.—(Cheers.) I will not take up your time longer
by going at greater length into the subject before the
meeting, leaving that for those who will follow me ;
but I may be permitted to state, looking at the state
of Europe during the last two or three years—know-
ing what the state of our country has been ever since
tt
uh
hat, t
ei nl
y thees
et
si mp
eeds i ;11.07
nh iac
lhi
the commencement of the present century—seeing
heons
eo wr
eavroel,ustvieo
hhaarvye,
evils
which have passed over, distracted, nay, more,
almost destroyed many states of Europe—when I see
these things and analyse the reason, t find our fortu-_
nate position, as far as re,;ards those movements on
the Continent, does not arse from any direct interest
which the mass of the people have in the soil, but
from their innate love of order and regularity, and
their dislike to any internal commotion.—(Hear.)
But that revolutionary period, that state of excitement,
has only subsided; it has not altogether passed away ;
it must recur again ; and I do hope
that the formation of societies like this,
which will at once give an interest in the soil and a
voice in the House of Commons—will prevent any

MARKET N E WS.-(THIS DAY.)

CORN-EXCHANGE-WEDNESDAY
The total arrivals of English Wheat for ourlmarket
coastwise, since Saturday, have been confined to 880
quarters. By land carriage the receipts fresh up to-day
were small, and the stands exhibited a very limited num-
ber of sampler. All kinds moved off sluwly, at about
Monday's quotations. The imports of Foreign Wheat
are only 2,500 quarters. Selected qualities of both red
and white sold at full rates of currencies; but all other
kinds were dull in the extreme, at almost nominal cur-
rencies. We were scantily supplied with Barley, malt-
ing and distilling sorts were in some instances held for
more money. The sale for Malt was heavy, at barely
last week's quotations. There was rather more doing
in good sound Oats, the value of which had an upward
tendency. Other kinds were quite as dear. Beans,
Peas, Indian Corn and Meal as on Monday.

ARRIVALS THIS WEEK.

Wheat,

Barley.

Oats.

Malt. I Flour.

Qrs. Qrs. Qrs. Qrs. Sacks.
880 1,070 1,(,50 2,180 1,930

English • .....
Scotch • ... • ...

Irish ••.••• • • I I 150 I
Foreign .. .. .. i 2,600 1,050 4,120 l
110ItOUG11 /LOP MARILET.
Fine parcels of new Hops continue in good request, at
full prices; otherwise the demand is heavy.
WIIITECHILPML.
Our market was steady to-day at very full prices.
Beef from 2s 8d to 3s 6d; Mutton, 3s to 43; Veal, 33 4d
to 3s 10d; and Pork, 3s 4d to 4s 2d per Slbs.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR,—We are living at a period that has no parallel
in the history of the world. Thrones, principalities,
powers, built, apparently, on the rock of ages, and
which promised to endure through all time, have
been shaken to their foundations, and all this within
the short period of a few years. Changes so great
must have had causes adequate to their production.
" Si le hazard dune bataille," says Montesquieu,
"c' est a dire, une cause particuere a ruing une Etat,
it y avoit une cause generale, qui faisoit que set Etat
devoit perir par un bataille." What philosophy has
laid down as a maxim history acts upon as a principle ;
and I will venture to assert that there is not one of
those revolutions which have so recently desolated
Europe that an acute and clear-sighted historian may
not only trace back through a long series of years and
events, but develope their gradual progress from the
first so wing of the seed to the reaping of the harvest.
Causes have been in progress for some time past
which seem to threaten this country among the rest,
at no distant period, with a crisis in its affairs. It is
not from misgovernment that any convulsive result
is to be apprehended. The Whigs, imbued as they
are with all the worst tendencies of Toryism, are too
strongly kept in check by public opinion. The
Commissioners of the Treasury cannot take up:a
newspaper, on any day of the week, that does not
announce the meeting of some reform association in
some one or other of the great manufacturing districts
throughout the kingdom—meetings not assembled
for a display of democratical ascendancy, but
called together by persons of known weight and
influence, strong in argument and stedfast in purpose
—the first and strongest links in the chain which
binds the middling and the working classes, whose
interests acknowledged by both to be one and indi-
visible. It is these popular and effective meetings
that assemble the best, the most independent, and the
most patriotic of our public men. It is in these
meetings that an opportunity is afforded of discussing
every great public question in which the interests of
all classes are involved. It is here that honest truth
finds utterance, and comes with a weight that silently,
but strongly, influences the measures of Government.
It is the Reform Associations, and the meetings con-
sequent upon them, that increase the number and
intelligence of those whose sentiments compose
public opinion, and which generate that energy and
perseverance which forms so great a portion of its
power.
But for this excitement and diffusion of public
spirit, the popular mind would sink into apathy ;
the whole machinery of freedom would stand still
for want of a moving power. Most heartily do
Ministers wish that this moving power was not to
be found. Associations for retrenchment and econo-
mical reform never find countenance in high places.
Within that circle no right is more distasteful than
the beholding an M.P. like Cobden, the advocate of
such a cause, never losing sight of his great purpose,
but bringing together the vast mass of his materials
and employing them with triumphant effect.
How far Ministers will be able in the forthcoming-
session to ward off or evade those measures of
a financial reformation, upon the obtainment of which
the country is so strongly bent, remains to be seen.
That the nation will not be satisfied with half
measures is certain, and the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer has a tangled path before him. How few
Ministers has England ever had—l am not sure that
I can name even one—that, placed as they have been
on the highest political eminence, have enabled us to
benefit by their survey. Though dwelling amid
great things one day to be realised, they gather no
profit from history or from experience. Instead of
being in sympathy with the age, they are in opposi-
tion to it. They never put their footsteps in the path
that is straight before them; but the time has come
when this must be done. They must come pre-
pared with some well digested plan of retrenchment
for the next session. Our hope that they will do so
is certainly stronger than our expectation. But let
us wait events ; they are, perhaps, at this moment,
contemplating measures introductory to a wider ex-
tension of the suffrage, a sweeping reduction of expen-
diture, and other substantial improvements that we
dream not of. I frankly confess, Sir, that my
faith in all this is as a grain of mustard seed ; but
yours may, perhaps, be stronger; if so, I will take a
leaf out of your book, and let patience have its perfect
work, albeit that, like that of the public, it is well
nigh worked out.
I am, Sir, yours, &c.,
TIMON (but not of Athens).

THE EI)I?'OR OF THE
7O S
return of Sir J. Ross, afterN
SlB,—The. his unpa-
ralleled exertions
to accom
companions,
coupled
oshuopflheidss
r jitohhn Fa
mission,the withoutrnklin
results
or
rrf mishnigisiinglgaarlalannyt tidings
whatever
but much weaker efforts,wouldshnipastumraullsyt
lead to the conclusion that the discovery
have foundered in a heavy tempest before arriving
within the Arctic circle. God forbid that such
should have been the case ; but as hope is now almost
wholly extinct, I should like to see the opinions of
some of your meteorologistic communicants founded,
on their registers of the weather at the time of Sir
John Franklin's departure, and for nine or ten weeks
afterwards.—Yours respectfully,

11T. P. S.

Her Majesty's ship Excellent,
Portsmouth, Nov. 67 1849.

The bright sputs of a man's life are few enough
without blotting any out; and since, for a moment of
mirth, we have an hour of sr.durzs it were a sorry
policy to diminish the few rays that illumine our
ch« quered existence. Life is r-i April day—sunshine
and showers. The heart, like the earth, would cease to
yield good trait, were it not sometimes watered with the
tears of sensibility; and the fruit would be worthless,
but for the sunshine of smiles.—Eliza Cook's Journal.
The Earl and Countess of Jersey and Lady Cle-
mentina Villiers leave town early in the ensuing week
for Middleton Park, near Bicester, where shortly after
their arrival a distinguished circle will assemble,

LITERATURE.
ALISON'S HISTORY OF EUROPE. Vol.
VIII. illustrated Edition.
Deepening in its profound interest as it unfolds the
narrative of the almost miraculous achievements of
the Emperor Napoleon, the present division of
Alison's celebrated and popular history possesses very
peculiar attractions for every Englishman, seeing that
it recounts the appearance of Sir Arthur Wellesley
upon the political and martial scenes of Europe, and
describes the commencement of our memorable suc-
cesses in the Peninsula. The volume is, therefore, ap-
propriately embellished with a portrait of the Duke of
Wellington, copied from the well-known original by
Sir Thomas Lawrence. Mr. Alexander Keith John-
ston's illustrative Atlas is in due form continued, with
maps relating to the battles and campaigns described
in this portion of the narrative. It is impossible not
to see that in detailing the advance of the imperial
sway of the great Napoleon, Mr. Alison is dazzled
by the pomps and splendours of that majestic spec-
tacle. It is in this spirit of marvel that he
records the fact, that on the occasion of her
marriage with the hero of the age, the train of the
Empress Maria Louisa was held by four queens !
In the same mood he observes, that it was not an un-
frequent occurrence to see seven kings waiting in the
ante-chambers of the Emperor Napoleon. While
penning the account of his warlike achievements, the
historian asserts in so many words, in the volume
under consideration, that after the campaign of
Eckmuhl, Napoleon, more truly than any other man
who ever existed, could say with Caesar, Veni, vidi,
vici ! While enumerating the peaceful deeds of the
great Emperor—his construction of public roads, of
harbours, of canals, of manufactories, of schools, of
hospitals, of triumphal arches, of columns, statues,
and fountains, with all the other gorgeous monu-
ments with which he particularly adorned the
g first city of his empire, and at that time
the first city in the world—Paris, Mr. Alison
is compelled to acknowledge that the modern Sesos-
tris was an Augustus as well as a Hannibal. Like
Sesostris, the car of his imperial fortunes was drawn
by kings ; like Augustus, he embellished his capital
and scattered the evidences of his grandeur through-
out the departments • like Hannibal, he overleaped
the Alps and triumphed in many pitched battles ;
like Lycurgus, the took the sting from anarchy by
drawing his immortal code from the ruins of a revo-
lution ; like Theodosius the Great, he gave religion
to his country, not by a senatorial decree, but
, through the instrumentality of his Concordat. Such
is the hero, the mere recital of whose fortunes has
, -
imparted to Alison and so many other annalists i
celebrity.

of those commotions which, unless there is some
kind of safety-valve of this nature, may, 1 fear, have
a very calamitous effect in this country.—(hear.)
I trust that these societies will make the voice of the
people heard in the house of Commons, and will at
the same time give them such a direct interest in the
soil, so tint whatever changes do take place in this
country, they will be for the welfare of our political
and our social state.—(llear.)
The meeting was afterwards addressed by several
working men and others, and resolutions were adopt-
ed, approving of the principles and objects of the
society.
Mr. BEALE, in the course of his address, speaking
of the risk there was of insurrection when the la-
bouring classes were depressed, directed the attention
of those in the meeting to the harrowing details in
the papers of the degraded social condition of the
labouring classes in the metropolitan, agricultural,
and manufacturing districts. Such as were not be-
fore acquainted with the condition of these classes
would understand, from the letters to which he had
referred, the strong Treasons which induced them to
form societies of this kind, with a view to bettering
their own condition socially and politically, and to
securing the peace and prosperity of the country.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
BETTING AT MANCHESTER, TUESDAY.
CIIESTER CILTP.-1,000 to 10 agst Stultz (t); 1,000 to
10 agst Melody (r); 1,000 to 10 agst Baby (t).
DElar.-550 to 50 agst Bolingbroke (t); 300 to 25
agst Ghillie Callum (t); 12 to 1 agst Knight of Avenel;
20 to 1 agst Sweetheart; 20 to I agst Italian; 23 to 1
agst Clincher; 25 to 1 agst Voltigeur; 33 to 1 agst The
Nigger; 1,000 to 20 agst The Swede (t).

THE HISTORY OF THE REIGN OF
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. 3 Toils.
By TV. H. Prescott.

A; a companion series of volumes to the sixteen-
volumed edition of Alison's " History of Europe,"
Mr. Bentley, the Publisher in Ordinary to her Ma-
jesty, has just commenced a very valuable and beau-
tiful republication of the noble historical composition
of William H. Prescott, the celebrated American.
Familiar as the mass of the reading public have by this
time become with these eloquent and erudite produc-
tions, it would be idle, if not even impertinent, to
offer any analysis of their character. Their re-issue in
their present excellent form commences with the
" History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella,"
and this work will be followed successively by the
History of the Conquest of Mexico" and the " His-
tory of the Conquest of Peru." Destined to be
ranged upon the bookshelves with the his-
torical writings of Lingard, Gibbon, and
Robertson, the volumes of Prescott cannot but be
regarded as inestimable additions to English Classical
Literature. The present narrative, namely, the
history of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic, must,
to our thinking, be regarded as most unquestionably
his masterpiece. It has fallen to the lot of two great
American authors to relate, in language not soon
destined to perish, the discovery of the vast continent
of their birth, America, by the illustrious Columbus.
Those authors are of course Washington Irving and
William Prescott; but the touching and brilliant
narrative of Prescott is only a single episode in his
splendid narrative. From the singular beauty of the
episode, however, it may well be conjectured how
admirable must be the whole composition, a work
recounting the wars against the Moorish invaders,
the battle of Granada, and the other heroic incidents
of the age when Isabella wielded her golden sceptre
over the united kingdoms of Castile and Arragon.

I THE BRITISH QUARTERLY REVIEW.

No. XX.

1 A brilliant biographical notice of the celebrated
Savonarola, the Italian Dominican, is the opening ar-
ticle for the current number of the British Quarterly.
Another contribution relates to the life and genius of
another renowned monk, the witty but rather disre-
putable Rabelais. In an otherwise clever and inge-
nious paper on the " Ethics of Art," we meet with a
foolish denial that Byron was a great poet, with an
acknowledgment on the part of the writer that he
does not think highly of Keats and Shelley—Keats,
who wrote the sublime fragment of the Hyperion
before most men have forgotten college mannerisms,
and Shelley, who is called in our English encyclo-
pwdias the " Poet of Poets." The writer of the
article should unquestionably be bottled up in spirits
of wine, and preserved among the curiosities of
literature. One of the most charming and intelligent
articles in the Review, however, is yet unmentioned—
the one devoted to the consideration of the " Chemis-
try of the Stars." The gist of the contribution may
be comprehended from the following quotation :
" The oft-quoted ' Oriental proverb, which teaches,
that since the 'mountain will not come to Mahomet,
Mahomet must go to the mountain,' has in this case, for
once, been reversed; for when the chemist could find no
way of travelling to the spheres, behold! certain bright
particular stars have come to him and submitted to ana-
lysis; we refer to the aerolites, meteorites, or meteoric
stones, which, according to the most generally adopted
of many theories, at one time were thought to have
been projected from volcanoes in the moon. They are
now almost universally acknowledged to have been true
stars before they reached our earth. For a statement of
the reasons which have led astronomers to this conclu-
sion, we must refer our readers to Humboldt's Cosmos,
where the whole subject is discussed at great length. It
may suffice to say, that many considerations justify the
conclusion, that multitudes of asteroids, starlets, or, as
Sir John Herschel calls them, ' meteor-planets,' revolve
in definite orbits round the sun, and some also as invi-
sible, or momentarily visible, minute moons round the
earth. The orbits of some of the former are believed to
resemble that of the earth, but to be in a different plane,
so that in the course of their revolutions round the sun,
these tiny planets come, at certain periods, within the
sphere of the earth's attraction, and are precipitated as
meteoric stones upon its surface, as weary and forlorn
birds of passage, far out at sea, are entangled in the rig.
ging of vessels, and fall helpless on deck.
" This modern theory of meteorites reads like a bald
rendering of the poetical myth of the augels, whom
earthly loves induced to forfeit for ever their places in
the heavens, but it has invested the strange fallen stars,
to which it refers, with a new interest. The largest of
them is but a microscopic grain of the star-dust scat-
tered over the sky, but it is none the less of celestial
origin, and may be submitted to analysis."
What renders these aerolites, meteorites, asteroids,
starlets, meteor planets, or atoms of nebulosity, yet
more remarkable is the consideration of the singular
fact mentioned by the author of the " Vestiges of
Creation."

" W hat," says he, "is exceedingly remarkable, and
particularly worthy of notice as strengthening the argu-
ment that all the members of the solar system, and per-
haps of other systems, have a similar constitution, no
new elements are found in these b,clies [meteorites];
they contain the ordinary materials of the earth, but asso•
ciated in a manner altogether new, and unlike anything
known in terrestrial mineralogy."
Other contributions of various merit relating to Lon-
don, to Hungary, to our Colonies, to Ethnology, &c.,
complete a very able and varied number of the British
Quarterly.

THE MIRROR.
The political article with which the Mirror for the
present month opens is a continuation of that terrific
onslaught against the hereditary aristocracy which
was commenced in this periodical some three months
since. The writer in this month's Mirror reviews
the conduct of the aristocracy during the recent
prevalence of cholera, and he thus discourses on the
subject:—

"It has been indubitably proved that with proper
caution the plague of cholera might have been made to
fall as a mild visitation instead of a terrible scourge.
Money, however, was wanting to ensure safety from its
ravages. All the ingenuity of fiscal extortion can only
raise a certain sum from the people. Certain things
must be done; certain classes must be enriched. The
revenue is spent; if nothing remains, nothing more
can be done. The choice was, therefore, between cut-
ting off the immense rivers of gold which flow into aris-
tocratic coffers, and allowing the pestilence to do its
work among the people. The decision was natural.
The rivers flowed on. and the people were left to perish.
" Our nobles breathed the balmy air of their rural
estates, and lavished their resources on the continental
purveyors of pleasure. They lolled in the lap of paee,
what, therefore, bad the pestilence to do with them?
What had they to do with the industrious classes? They
were not in London, London might, therefore, be depo-
pulated. That the people support them in their luxury
is nothing; the glory which their ancient names—if not
their modern reputations—shed on the country is ample
payment. They could moralise very philosophically
under the influence of a balmy sea breeze. They tell
the poor, Drain your metropolis, get better food,
don't live in holes end cellars, acquire clean habits,
breathe proper air, widen your streets, purify your
water !'

" Perhaps those humane sympathisers with distress—
who, doubtless, have been sworn at Highgate—would
recommend the residents in Field•lane and the degraded
tribe of Jacob's Island to move in a body to some healthy
watering-place for a few mouths. Perhaps, also, they
would suggest to those who dwell in the back alleys of
the Lambeth marsh to take villas in St. John's-wood—
very kind of them, indeed. Their sympathy brings to

our recollection tho anecdote of a French princess,
who entertained truly royal opinions with respect to the
poor:—

" Why are the people making this disturbance?'
" &cause, madam, they have no bread.'
" ' No bread!'
" None for them to buy. There is a famine in the
country, and wealthy men hold the core back.'
" The fools!' exclaimed the innocent Princess, no
bread! Well, who's to help it? If they can't get bread
let them el-et pastry.'
" Precisely of the same character is oligarchical sym•
pathy with plebeian distress."
Mr. Percy St. John continues the "Adventures of a
French Republican," and gives us a stirring de-
scription of the closing scenes of the emeute
in the cloisters of St. Alery in 1832. Mr. John
Tomlinson commences a series of notices of "Our
Household Poets" with Burns, and he nobly and
successfully vindicates the character of this great
poet, and greater man, from the ill-natured and envious i
slanders by which "decent mediocrity" has sought to
blacken the character of the most " manly" poet that
perhaps the world has ever produced. Honour to
Mr. Tomlinson for the homage he has:paid to Burns.
The " Biography of the Kings of England" and the
" History of Music" are continued.

THE ALIIIANACKS.
THE FINAACIAL REFORM ALMANACK

for 1850.
An extraordinary mass of information—informa•
tion of the utmost importance to the inhabitants o.
the British islands—has been here condensed into a
compass singularly compact and portable. Some of
its simple calculations are more cogent than the most
elaborate arguments in demonstrating the necessity
for some sweeping measures of financial innovation.
The circumstance that the national expenditure has
increased by the enormous sum of 10,000,0001. since
a period so recent as the year 1835, is of itself elo-
quently persuasive. The fact that our revenue is
greater by 5,000,0001. in this time of peace than it
was during the period of our bloodiest wars with
Napoleon the national income being little
more than 54,000,0001. under George 111.,
whereas it is upwards of 59,000,000/. under Victoria
—is a matter of yet more serious consideration. The
circumstance that while the revenue now-a-days ap-
proximates to 60,000,0001. annually, it was just
64,000/. under Henry VI., is, moreover, not unde-
serving reflexion—seeing that upon the department
of the Master of the Horse alone there is now ex-
pended yearly no less than 67,0001. Some of the:literary
chapters interspersed among the tables of figures
are of peculiar excellence, forjinstance the one on
" The History of Taxation," or again the one on " The
Civil List." The Civil Service, moreover, the Woods
and Forests, the Executive, and the Colonial Expen-
diture, afford inexhaustible reasons for heartburning
to patriotism. Altogether the Financial Reformer's
Alntanack does vast credit to the industry, the
earnestness, and the intelligence of its editor, Mr.
John Cassell. It cannot fail to advance the cause in
which he manifestly feels such deep and active in-
terest—circulating as it must inevitably do among a
very large portion of the community.

THE REFORMER'S ALMANACK for 1850.
An ephemeris of a very similar character has
simultaneously appeared with the Financial Reform
Almanack. As its title will sufficiently indicate,
however, its purpose is wider—extending to all
descriptions of reform, financial, Parliamentary,
social, &c. The almanack is contrived altogether in a
different fashion from the foregoing, partaking less of
the character of calculations than of logical arguments.
Among its more attractive features must be men.•
tioned the able digest of the last session, detailing all
its errors and virtues, both of commission and omission.
Electors may obtain some inestimable advice from
paragraphs devoted to the subjects of the forty-shilling
freehold movement, and to the Courts of Registration.
Another of the most felicitous sections of the Reformer's
Almanack is the one relating to the taxes imposed
upon knowledge.

TIIE COMIC ALMANACK for 1850. Illustrated
by George Cruikshank.
Of a very different description, in truth, is the
Comic Almanack and Diary for 1850, edited by
Henry Mayhew, and embellished by the pencil of
George Cruikshank. In Yankee parlance the book
is a very screamer, and is decidedly equal, if it be
not even superior, to any one out of the many
comic almanacks already produced by the inimi-
table and immortal Cruikshank—beyond all ques-
tion the most delightfully extravagant caricaturist
that ever existed. What can be more effectively
grotesque than the large-coloured frontispiece, pour
traying " A New Court of Queen's Bench, as it ought
to be, on the Ladies trying a contemptible scoundrel
for a Breach of Promise "—the pretty young barris-
ters in their pink "gowns" and beribboned wigs,
reminding one of the " sweet girl graduates with
their golden hair" mentioned by Tennyson in his
" Princess." The " contemptible scoundrel" is a
figure such as only the; hand of Cruikshank could
have delineated—as also are the goalers and the
judges. The Lord Chief Justice is a magnificent
old frow—sardonic and inexorable. Do you want a
good guffaw ?—glance at the sketch of the " Fearful,
but Probable ultimate Effects of Feieding John
Bull on Foreign Produce "—a Rabelais-like illustra-
tion of Mr. Fox's celebrated apostrophe. See again
the preposterous etching of " What it must come to at
last if the Ladies go o❑ blowing themselves out as
they do !" " The Happiest Moment of My Life "is
perhaps one of the very drollest things George Cruik-
shank has yet done—he who has conceived the image
of the little dog whose tail curled so tight that it
lifted him off his hind legs, and the famous drummer-
boy whose pig tail was tied so tight that he couldn't
shut his eyes ! " A Magnificent Spread," again, is
another Cruikshankian joke at the ladies. Among
the minor embellishments in the shape of woodcuts
(especially those ridiculous little black caricatures),
we fancy we can detect the hand of the inexhaustible
and facetious Hine. Ex. gr. the double series
" Before and after Marriage." I\re can conscientiously
commend the Comic Almanack to our readers as a
certain means of provoking their laughter.

THE PROTESTANT DISSENTERS" AL-

MANACK for 1850.
The Nonconformists may be proud of the manner
in which this their annual organ is now got up. It
is a most valuable collection of the statistics of Dissent,
and the writers boldly stand up for their principles,
which are those of religious liberty in the most
extensive sense of the term.

THE EMIGRANT'S ALMA2V ACK for 1850.
The Etigrants' Almanack is greatly improved in
this the second year of its existence. A new
arrangement has been made in the Almanack, so as to
bring all the desirable information under distinct and
separate heads, and to present at one view all that
relates to each colony. Instead, therefore, of the
reader having to look in two or three different places
fur the information relating to the point of destination
he may have selected, he will find it under one head.
If, for example, he wishes to obtain knowledge as to
the Cape of Good Hope, he will simply have to refer
to the index, and will be directed to every particular
in relation to it at once. This almanack contains
every information which a person doubtful as to the
propriety of emigrating can require in order to enable
him to determine whether he should emigrate at all,
and if so, to what part of the world.

PUNCH'S POCKET BOOK for 1850.
Punch and his artists fully maintain their character
in the Pocket Book for 1850. His frontispiece, "A
Social Sketch, or everything in common," is an ad-
mirable pictorial commentary on the dcctrines of
MM. Louis Blanc and Proudhon, while, unlike the
majority of laughing philosophers, Mr. Punch is no
sceptic, no sneerer at what some pseudo philosophers
deem it wise to denounce as superstitious; on the
contrary, Mr. Punch is of opinion, and most rightly
of opinion, that there are certain superstitions which
are positively wholesome, and accordingly we find the
following list of