The Sun.
London, England, 1825-12-28 00:00:00

MT

We present our Reader's with the following
extract of a SPEECH, d, lit red by his Excellency
Major-General Sir HOWARD DOUGLAS, Baronet,
Lieutenant-Governor and Cot-umlautler-in-Chief
of the Province of New Brunswick, to the In-
habitants of. Mirtonichi, on his visit to that place,
in consequence of the late disastrous Fire, c2id
October, 18'.5:
" So soon as the arrangements necessary for the most imme-
diate relief and succour of the destitute sufferers in the late
calamitous conflagration had been completed, I hastened
hither to do all that might further be in my power to relieve
and encourage this afflicted population, and to dispel those
apprehensions with respect to Want during the approaching
long winter, which there was at one time too much reason to

entertain.
The extreme lateness of the season, limiting my stay here
to a very short period, I have caused this meeting to be an-
nounced, to give to the afflicted and distressed an opportunity
of access to their Governor, and to enable me to address to
them a few words of comfort, condolence, and encouragement.
But I feel that I have uttartaken what I shall not be able
properly to perform. For the awful traces of havoc and devas-
tation which I see in this once- flourishing settlement ; that
charred, blackened forest, and scorched' bank, the vast fu-
neral in whose flames great numbers of our fellow crea-
tures havo perished ; the direful, heart-rending tales of woe
which I hear related, of whOle families and whole settlements
annihilated, or the still more afflicting accounts of fragments
saved to mourn in misery. The presence, too, of persons (and
such persons!) whom thiS awful calamity has put in mourning,
or reduced, from affluence, to want and difficulty ;—these al-
together overpower me, and I cannot proceed in speech as I

purposed.
" The impressions made upon me when I visited you in your
prosperity have created feelings, whose impulses on this melan-
choly occasion, I would not, nor. could not resist, to revisit
you in your calamity. How awful is the contrast ! Yoti have
experienced one of the most dreadful visitations that ever fell
upon the earth. If the whole Globe had been in combustion,
not more of terror, and little more in effect could have been
accumulated on that desolated part. Where late I witnessed

prosperity, plenty, comfort, and hilarity, their abodes are
prostrated into ruins. There in the foundation of a Sacred.
Edifice, about to be raised, I recently placed the inscriptions
and the coins which were designed to convey to remote ages
how long that edifice had stood ; and, as I fondly hoped, how
greatly this settlement had flourished ! What a lesson this for
human presumption ; what a subject for reflection and medita-
tion—of thankfulness from those who have escaped, and of
charity and benevolence towards,t,he sufferers.

" I am very sensible that the language which such reflections
have prompted is not that which is calculated to excite exer-
tion. But I came not hither to indulge in despondency. My
tears have already fallen at the recital of your sufferings, and
I have poured the tribute of fresh affliction upon viewing those
nismilice.aes, where the untimely ashes of the dead, and the em-
bers of their late habitations, lie in promiscuous heaps of ghostly
ruins. I came hither to speak thW4anguage of hope, to encourage
exertion and occupation ; to dispel gloom and all despondency,
to assure you that the Government of your Province, the
sympathies and liberality of your fellow men, the succours
which your Sister Province has been prompt to throw in, and
the abundant charity and benevolence which will move the
Mother Countries, have already provided against the possibility
of want, or will pour in more remote succours, to restore and
retrieve in some degree, hereafter, what has been levelled and
ruined. Losses have indeed been sustained, which no human
means can restore. We cannot raise the dead ; but we can re.
lieve and comfort the living. We cannot reproduce the capital
which has been utterly consumed, but we can create wealth again
by active enterprising industry. The Pine stands unhurt in the
vast forests of the country, and the other fields for exertion,
the natural resources of the Cohntry, which I have so often
recommended you to cultivate more industriously, are open to
you. Let no man then, yielding to groundless despondency,
quit the country, but remain in confidence that, with the Bless-
ing of Almighty God, the Country will be carried and sup-
ported through its present difficulties. It is right you should
know on what certainties I pronounce this, ere the approaching
long winter commence. So soon as I received the communica-
tion of these disasters; I assembled His Majesty's Council to
consult on the measures it world be expedient to adopt, when
it was instantly determined to send an Agent to Quebec to
purchase a supply of provisions and clothing to the amount of
between five and six thousand pounds, and Mr. Joplin was re-
quested to take charge of this investment, to proceed to Mira-
michi, where he, too, had suffered considerable loss in the late
fire. Large sums have been raised by the liberality and bene=
volence of our fellow subjects in St. John. Two vessels laden
with supplies are in voyage to this place; a convoy of cloths
and blankets is in progrAs through the country ; considerable
contributions have been made at Fredericton, and these will pro-
bably be remitted in cash, for her share in this calamity admits
not of aid being sent in kind. We are greatly indebted too, tothe
humane and benevolent disposition of the Lieutenant-GoVernor
of our Sister Province, who supported by like sentiments of the
Government and the people, has promptly dispatched eaten-
tensiVe succours, which I have reason to believe have ar-
rived in the river in one of his Majesty's ships, which Admiral
Lake has, with other marks of strong feeling for your cala-
mities, assigned tc this service, and whose Officers undertake
it with zealous good feeling to be forward on the occasion.
These succours will be 'dispensed by the Committee of Ma-
nagement, of whose indefatigable, humane, and active exer-
tions I speak and feel most strongly. It isindeed a matter of
great consolation, and a reflection which will ease my anxiety
when I am gone, that•T have witnessed these .qualities so ge.
nerally, and have observed the fortitude and resignation and
magnanimity which have been so beautifully displayed upon
this calamitous occasion. I cannot conceal from you that great
exertions must be used, and privations endured by yourselves ;
but with industry, resolution, and the succour you are receiv-
ing, you will prevail."

POLICEMAN 3110 T.—A tan • early hour this
morning a policeman was shot, under the following circum-
stances :—A Captain Beggs, who resided in a' small house at
the top of Phibsborough Avenue, has been for some time
apprehensive of an arrest for debt, and he therefore remained
within doors; but at the dawn of this morning a party of the
police proceeded to the house, in order to accomplish his arrest,
if possible, One of them, more daring than the rest, ascended
some steps, for the purpose of getting over the garden wall ;
and, though cautioned by the Captain not to proceed further,
he disregarded the caution, and jumped into the garden, when
the Captain immediately discharged a gun, the contents of
which were lodged in the neck of the policeman, and be died
instantly. Captain Beggs then armed himself with a case of
pistols, proceeded out of the house, and threatened to shoot the
first man that approached him, by which means he escaped._
The body of the dead: policeman remained in the garden until
an inquest-would be held upon it. Such are the particulars
which have reached us of this affair.—(Dublin Correspondent,
Dec. ?A.)