The Sun.
London, England, 1825-11-12 00:00:00

FIRE AT MIRAMICiii.

Yesterday a public meeting took place at the
London Tavern, for the purpose of taking into consideration
the propriety of raising a subscription for .the relief of the un-
fortunate sufferers by the recent fire at Miramichi, in the pro-
vince of New Brunswick.

Mr. Joint BAINBRIDGE (the Agent for the Colony) took
the Chair. He infornied the meeting that they were assembled
for the purpose of providing means for alleviating the suffer-
ings of a large number of their fellow beings, who had been
subjected to one of the most dreadful visitations of Providence.
He then read the accounts of the calamity which have already
appeared in our Journal, and also a letter which he had that
day received, in which the writer expressed his hopes that a
subscription would be raised in England to purchase seeds and
farming implements to be used next spring in the colony. Ile
(the Chairman) was happy to find that a subscriptiOn to the
extent of 2,0001. had already been raised in Halifax, for thepur-
pose of affording temporary relief to the sufferers, and he trust-
ed that this example would be followed up by the British public
in a manner worthy of their character for charity and benevo-
lence. Several resolutions had been prepared, which would be
submitted to the meeting.—(Hear!)
Mr. SIIEDDEN moved the first resolution (see advertisement)
expressing the, regret of the meeting at the melancholy occur.
rence which had called them together.
Mr. BLISS, in seconding the resolution, said, that as a native
of the province, and on that account peculiarly interested on
the subject, he might, perhaps, he excused if he occupied their
attention for a few minutes.—(Hear !)--Appeals to the charity
of the British nation were, it was well known; not unfrequent,
but never was there a more pitiable ground for an appeal ofsuch
a nature than that which had lately come to the public know-
ledge. A large portion of a province had been visited by one of
the greatest calamities to which a community could possibly be
subject. A country had, as it were, been swept away before
the eyes of its inhabitants. He might not inaptly apply
to the dreadful occurrence the language which the Roman
historian had applied to a similar occurrence in his time—inter
maxirnam, et nullam, provinciam, tuna nox interfuit. On the
present occasion, a hundred miles of territory had been com-
pletely destroyed by fire. It appeared that the fire had existed
in the forests in the neighbourhood of the settlement before it
reached the settlement itself. It must not be supposed that the
conflagration was the result of negligence or of malice,. con.
flagrations were frequently produced in the province from na-
tural Causes, and they were frequently resorted to.by the inha-
bitants, not only as the least expensive but the only means of
clearing the ground. The belief, therefore, of the existence
of a fire in the neighbourhood of the settlement created no un.
easiness. The inhabitants had no suspicion that destruction
was so near them until the day previous to the fatal night,
when, from the unusual darkness of the sky, they began to
apprehend some danger. On the night of the 7th of October
they retired to their beds, when the wind suddenly shifting to
the north-west, and blowing with a fury of which those who
had not been in the country could scarcely form any idea,
involved them all in instant destruction. The fire was so
powerful, and so suddenly urged forward, that many of the
inhabitants made no attempt to escape, but perished unre.
sistingly in the flames. With the exception of a small num.
ber of buildings on the shore, which were protected by their
It
peculiar situation, none escaped. The fire made clean work—
, it ate up every thing ; even .the ships off land were burnt to
the water's edge. In one moment, the gains of whole years
spent in industrious commerce were destroyed. Those who
possessed property lost it all ; those who depended on their
daily labour for their subsistence lost even that support, for
there was no longer any occupation for them.—( Hear, hear
The loss of property must be immense for that country,
and even compared with the vast riches of this country, it
could not be considered inconsiderable. It appeared from-
the accounts which had been received, that in the town of
Miramichi 250 houses had been destroyed, and in Fredericein,
39. He was sure he was not estimating the value of those
houses too highly when he said that they were worth about
1,000/. each. From that fact some estimate might be formed
of the destruction of property occasioned by the calamity. But
the destruction of property, great as it was, was as nothing
compared with the destruction of human life. It was already
estimated that upwards of "290 persons had perished in the
flames ; but it was much to be feared that many parties, em-
ployed in cutting timber in the woods, had been destroyed en
muse. Fugitives were daily coming in, lamenting the fate of
their companions, and seeking food and shelter, which could
not be afforded them. Surely such a scene as that which he
deplored could not fail to excite the sympathy of the people of
England. It could be compared to nothing but a hurricane of
fire, eating up in its progress houses, beasts, men, ships, and
even fish, for their element was no protection to them, but they
were seen dead, floating in thousands on the surface of the
water. Nature herself almost seemed to have bees in danger.
The effects of the conflagration was felt in the neighbouring
provinces, and the smoke spread over them like a fog. At Ha-
lifax, Farenheit's thermometer stood at 84, a most unusual cir-
cumstance for the season of the year. Great, however, as was
the mischief which had been occasioned, the calamity was not
yet at an end. Unless they received timely succour, what
could the survivors expect but to die in the approaching winter
of famine and disease. Ile much feared that the number of
those who still had property left in the colony would hardly
be sufficient to protect it from the attacks of the sufferers, ren-
dered desperate by hunger and privarion.—( Hear, bear !)
There was a pass in human suffering beyond which men would
not respect the laws of God or man, when they seemed to be
abandoned by hoth.—( Hear !)—The calamity had happened at
a most unfortunate time, for the winter which was about to set
in, bound land and water for five months, and even pre-
vented free communication with the colony by sea. He as-
sured the meeting that he was not exaggerating the picture
of suffering. He was merely stating facts, anti upon
those facts he founded an appeal to the benevolence of the
British people. On behalf of his brother colonists, he would
say, that if assistance should be rendered them, it would be re-
ceived with gratitude, and treasured in recollection.—(Hear !)
An appeal to British charity wastiever made in vain, in favour
of any country, however distant or unconnected with her; but
in the present instance she was called upon to extend her aid
to one of her own colonies, consisting of chiefly of emigrants
from her own soil, or . their descendants. This was not appeal
to the English
.people to afford the means of education or re-
ligious instruction to her colony (both most meritorious objects,
however), but it was to relieve their fellow subjects in the last
extremity of misery. The unfortunate event would not fail
to excite commiseration in the United States. He really felt
jealous of the liberality of that country to a, British colony.
On a former occasion of a similar nature is a British province.
the United States immediately raised 10,000/., and sent it to the
relief of the sufferers.—(Hear !)—lt was a maxim of religion,
that those who did charitable deeds, found favour in the sight of
the Lord. He trusted that lie should not be suspected of
speaking with levity when he said, that an opportunity was now
afforded to those who possessed large capitals of making profit-
able investment, which would not be affected by fluctuations
of markets, and which would return a large interest hereafter.
—(Hear, hear !)—The Honourable Gentleman concluded by
expressing his thanks for the kind sympathy which had been
exhibited in behalf of his brother colonists, and for the indul-
gent hearing which had been granted to him.—(Much applause.)
The resolution was:carried uuanimously.
N; r. YOWLER moved a resolution declaring the propriety of
opening a subscription, which was agreed to.
The CHAIRMAN then stated that he had received communi.
cations from several of his Majesty's Ministers, enclosing sub-
scriptions, and stating that though no official information , of
the calamity had reached Government, it would neglect no
means of rendering to the sufferers such assistance as was in its
power to afford.—(Hear!)—He then read a list of subscriptions
received, amongst which were the following :—The Earl of
Liverpool, 100/. ; Earl Bathurst, 100/. ; the Right Hon. Wm.
Huskisson, 25/. • the , Hon. Wilmot Horton, 30/. ; James
Butler, Esq., 1081. ; Henry Bliss, Esq. 50. ; Robert Shcdden,
Esq., 50/., &c.
Mr. Yousei moved the third resolution, which was carried.
It was announced that books would be opened for subscription
at Lloyd's, at the North and South American Coffee-houses,
and at several Banker's in the City.
Thanks having been voted to the Chairman, the meeting
broke up.

ARCHDEACON LILLY.—The following just tribute to the
memory of the late Archdeacon Lilly, from one eminently qua-
lified to estimate his character, has been communicated to us,
and we insert it with pleasure :—We cannot think it sufficient
to mingle our regret with the concern which all must feel who
knew the late Archdeacon Lilly : we add the result of our ob-
servation on the activity and zeal with which he discharged his
archidioconal duties. It was in his contemplation to inspect all
the churches in his archdeaconry. Consideration of distance
and expence was absorbed by his anxious desire to see that all
places set apart for divine worship, within his jurisdiction, should
be sound in structureand decent in appearance. Many churches
he did visit, and left directions for their improvement, which
were generally followed—because conceived with judgment,
and delivererd with kindness. The promptitude with which
his suggestions were carried into effect exceedingly gratified
him ; and he was accustomed to speak with particular pleasure
of the attention which he experienced from the incumbents and
churchwardens of every parish where he had given what seemed
more like advice than official command, with such urbanity
was it tempered.—(Hereford Journal.)