The Sun.
London, England, 1838-09-06 00:00:00

TESTIMONIALS.

These hooks can be safely recommended, as well for the moral truths
they contain a for the extensive and successful result of the author's ex-
perience.—L ndon Morning Journal.
We agree with the Editor of the London Morning Journal, and recom-
mend Mr. Goss's publications for general perusal. —Edinburgh Weekly
Paper.
The precepts contained in this work are interesting and useful.—Edin-
burgh Paper
Tnis publication, while it neither spares the aged voluptuary nor the
youthful prodigal, offers to both the most important advantages. Glas-
gow Paper.
This work (Hygeiana), is properly called an ana'ysis of some female
complaints: it is written in a very peculiar style of moral admoaition.—
Dublin Morning Journal.
These works have passed through twenty-two editions ; they combine
utility with simplicity, and we recommend them accordingly. —Dublin
Weekly Journal.
The above may be had of Sheerwood and Co., Paternoster-row, London;
and of all Booksellers. —Price Ss. each.
MESSRS. GOSS, M.R.c. Surgeons, may he consulted, every day, at
their house ; and Patients in the remotest parts of the country, can be
treated successfully on their describing minutely the case, and enclosing
a remittance for Advice and Medicine, which can be forwarded to any
part of the world. No difficulty can occur, as the Medicines will be se-
curely packed, sad carefully protested fi om elseervation.
7, Lancaster Place, Strand, London.

GLASS CLOTII.—A new and curious fabric has
been manufactured by Mr. Richard Baker, of Ossett, near
Dewsbury : it is a web of glass cloth, which has a very splendid
appearance. The ingenious manufacturer has so far succeeded
in annealing this very brittle substance as to admit of its being
wove like cloth. It is deposited for inspection in the North of
England Society of Arts, together with a slipper made of the
Saill9 material.

(From the Brighton Patriot.)
It is pretty generally known that the absurd custom of duel-
ling is a thing of modern introduction. A Greek or a Roman,
who were in the ancient world what a Frenchman and an Eng-
lishman are in the modern, would have been ashamed to run
his neighbour through the body because he differed from hitn
in opinion over a bottle of wine, or had been insulted by him
in the utterance of some coarse expressions. When Pisistratus
heard a young man had saluted his daughter, and he was advised
by a person to take vengeance on him for the insult, he replied,
" If we punish those who love us, what shall we do to those who
hate us ?" This was noble. The modern method is very diffe-
rent ; for a few years ago, when a young man of rank and
family, stung by the conduct of a lady who had jilted him
and married another, having written a few satirical verses, re..
minding ber of their ancient and mutual attachment, the father
of the young lady called the young man out, and took his aim
so skilfully that it was only by a fortunate obstruction, inter-
posed by a rib, that he escaped with his life.
We should be almost warranted in asserting that duelling
is confined to the young, to the profligate, and the ignorant ;
and, did not a few duels recur to our recollection, such as the
duel of Mr. Pitt and Mr. Tierney, the duel between the-late
Duke of Richmond and the Duke of York, and some others,
the general character of the parties who usually engage in con-
tests of this kind would bear us out in the opinion. The duel
between Macnamara and Montgomery, which was so much
talked of and created so great a sensation about thirty years
ago, originated in the quarrel of two dogs. A dog belonging
to Montgomery attacked a dog of Macnamara ; the masters
interfered; words ensued, and the consequence was a duel, in
which the former was shot dead, and the latter grievously
wounded. Upon that occasion, a surgeon, Mr. Heaviside,
whose presence was required to yield his assistance if neces-
sary, was arrested and committed to Newgate, because he had
obeyed the solicitation of the parties. This was a very stupid
kind of legislation, Mr. Heaviside being in reality praiseworthy,
`and his conduct deserving of reward instead of punishment, he
being on the spot not to destroy life but to save it.
Another notorious duel, which created a great sensation,
was that between Best and Camelford, which terminated in
the death of the latter. The cause of this unfortunate duel
was a notorious strumpet, ladies of this kind being the very
common and natural excitements to duels. There was a cir-
cumstance connected with this duel which may be mentioned.
The two pistols that were to be used in this duel were well
known to Best and Camelford. They had often used them
together. One of the pistols was considered to be the best in
England ; the other somewhat inferior. A toss was decided

on for the choice. Best gained it, and Camelford fell. Such
things may serve to show the coolness of the parties, and their
indifference about life. Camelford was a desperate and a dan-
gerous man. He had fought many duels and killed more than
one adversary. If duelling gives scope to the overbearing in-
solence of such men, it also gives to mankind the occasion of
checking them. Shall we say that society was fortunately
relieved from a nuisance by his death ?
Although we recollect some persons to have been tried for
murder in consequence of killing an adversary in a duel, we
never remember but one person to have been convicted and
executed, and that was an officer in Ireland under the admi-
nistration of the late Duke of Richmond, who was convicted
of a so flagrant and horrid a perpetration of a duel, that he was
considered a proper object of capital punishment.
Duels are attempted to be justified by the defenders of them,
who say that they render society more polished, and keep in
check the insolent and overbearing. It is evident that Govern-
ment considers them rather as beneficial to society than inju-
rious, for no open and direct efforts have ever been made to
put a stop to them, and this, perhaps, is the severest censure
that can be placed upon them, for it as much as saying—" 0 I
duels are good things; the wise and virtuous never engage in
them, and they only check the importunate, and carry off the
k insolent, profligate, and useless." This, we think, must be
inferred to be the opinion of our Government, and that it con-
siders the lives which fall in duels as being not worth preserv-
ing by any severe and salutary enactments. With respect to
the opinion that duels render society more polished, we doubt
very much if such be the case. If the reluctant duellist be
fearful of giving offence, the professed duellist is commonly an
insolent blackguard, who bullies people because he feels that
his reputation fur courage commands a certain respect and at-
tention. In America, where duelling has something feroci-
ous and sanguinary in it, which exceeds what is known else-
where, society is by no means in that polished state and har-
mony, which, if duelling could improve people, ought to
have been the case. In Ireland, again, where the tone and
temper of society assumes an acerbity which is unknOwn in
the more quiet and polished counties of England, the practice
of duelling is very common; whereas in Scotland, where the
passions are more under the control of reason, and the tongue
more under the guidance of thought, duelling has never been
prevalent, and we would infer from this that the best corrector
of duelling is an improved intellect.
Admitting that duelling only carries off annually a few idle,
rain, quarrelsome, and useless men ; admitting that duellists
are not to be found among the virtuous and studious; admit-
ting that duelling is a proof of an inferior understanding, is
avoided by the intellectual and pursued only by those who want '
some useful avocation; admitting that duelling, if not sanc-
tioned by Government, is at all events winked at, it ought to
be the endeavour of sorre active and intelligent Member of
Parliament to introduce a Bill for the proper and effectual
method of putting a stop to such practic. s. This might effec-
tually be done if a determined and philosophic method were
resorted to. Frederick 11., King of Prussia, finding that
duelling raged to a great excess among the officers of his
army, Fut an effectual stop to it by ordering that no duel should
take place but in the presence of a company of soldiers, to see
fair play, who were enjoined, the instant one of the duellists
fell, to shoot the other. There can be little doubt, that if the
Parliament of England were to pass a law, ordering that the
duellist who killed his adversary should be branded on the right
check with the word Duellist, that such a conspicuous indica-
tion of notoriety and disgrace would effectually put an end to
the custom.

Another circumstance in duels, to which it may be proper
to direct attention, is the great fear which the surviving par.
ties, principal as well as seconds, display relatively to the legal
consequences of the affair. In the late duel between Captain
Eliot and Mr. Mirfin, when the latter fell, nobody appears to
have waited for a moment to see if the wounded party were
dying or dead. Captain Elliot did not run up to him to ex-
press any feelings of pity, or to receive his farewell and forgive-
ness, but they all scampered away, as if scared by the appre-
hens'on of the legal consequences of the deed. It is thi3 which
convinces us that if a law were passed, containing such enact-
ments as would affix a public stigma on the surviving duellist,
the custom might be entirely quashed. To kill a person in a
duel is considered as no disgrace, but rather as an honour,
which lifts up the perpetrator of the deed in the estimation of
the world; but the laws are feared, and therefore the parties
escape until the decision of the Coroner's jury be known. Let
Parliament, therefore, only have the courage to look with a
just and equal eye upon the offence, and affix a public stigma,
such as marking the criminal on the face, and duelling will
soon become an exploded custom, as disgraceful as it is now
honourable. Duelling is the vice of the rich and not of the
poor, it is therefore partially approved of and not punished
as a disgraceful transaction ; yet how immense is the dif-
ference between the crime of stealing a loaf to appease
hunger, and that of killing an adversary upon a point of
honour. Until legislators can properly appreciate this differ-
emie, and direct their efforts to find out the means of abridg-
ing crimes, which are favoured by the opinions of the rich and
high society, they will never arrive at any just method of equi-
tible legislation.

Yesterday morning, about eleven o'clock, as the 2d
Regiment of Life Guards were returning to the barracks at
Knightsbridge from exercising in Hyde-park, one of the led
hones got away, and, gallopping off at full speed, leaped the
iron railing. At that moment the nursery servant of Thomas
Bush, Esq., Sloane-street, entered the park through the
Knightsbridge foot entrance with two children under her care,
when the animal, being then within a few feet of them, sud-
denly leaped to a considerable height, clearing them all with-
out doing any injury.

- - -
Au inquest was held yesterday in the Borough, on
the body of a woman who kept a house of ill-fame in St. Mar-
garet's-court, High-street. The investigation caused some
excitement, in consequence of a report that deceased had been
brutally treated by her husband; but although evidence to
that effect was given, it was proved by a medical gentleman
that death had resulted from the effects of excessive drinking.
Verdict, " Natural death."

PROPERTIES OF GLOWWORMS.—The glowworm
possesses the curious property of causing its light to cease at
will. Dr. Burmeister mentions the curious fact, that while
catching some of the flying species in his hat, they have so
suddenly and entirely ceased to shine that he has fancied they
must have escaped. When disturbed these insects emit a
bright but frequently interrupted light; and when laid upon.
their backs they shine without intermission, in consequence
the continual motion in the endeavours of the insect to regain
its position.— Westwood's Classification of Insects.
SHOOTING EXTRAORDINARY.—Saturday last, as
our readers are aware, was the commencement of the shooting
season, and gentlemen were to be seen sporting in all direc-
tions. A Lincoln cit on his journey from Lincoln to Saxilby
on the above day, was much alarmed by bearing a voice cry
aloud, lam shot, lam shot, lam dead, dead, dead,
d-d-dead 1" On approaching a little nearer to the field from
whence these awful exclamations were heard, to his suprise
he found that a worthy divine, who lives within 50 miles of
Broxholme, had sallied out bent upon destruction, bagging
every thing that came in his way ; but by mistake seeing some-
thing which, it is supposed, he either took for a Hare or an
Otter, he let fly with a double Manton bang-bang, and, awful
to relate, hit the landlord of the Monson's Arms Inn, Lincoln,
on the stern quarter l Fortunately the parties were a pretty
good distance asunder, otherwise the accident might have been
serious ; but we are happy to say, that on inquiry it is reported
that medical assistance was called in in time, and most of the
shot extracted, and that " mine host" bore the operation with
admirable fortitude, and is doing well.—Lincoln Gazette.

room meeting
theof
Queen's Head, Great Titchfield-street, for the purpose of
yi
nr etshpee c
larget ab le
g heldh l
the Yeelset
electors
sy
ofa i‘ numerousarehen
ea and
sh i
taking into consideration the propriety of petitioning the Le-
gislature for a total repeal of the Corn-laws.
Mr. COPE was unanimously called to the Chair; and having
briefly introduced the object for which the meeting had been
convened,
Mr. RODWELL rose to move the first resolution. He ob-
served that it was a lamentable state of things, that the great
mass of the population of this commercial country (more par-
ticularly what was called the respectable class of society)
should be reduced to a comparative state of poverty by a class
of individuals making laws to benefit themselves, and not the
community at large. It was a notorious fact that the price of
corn in England was 75 per cent. above that which was paid
in France. The population of this country consisted of about
13,091,000 souls upon a surface of 35,247,680 statute acres,
the average land produce of which amounted to 132,500,000/. ;
that was—in crops, 73,900,0001. ; cattle, 14,300,0001. ;
calves, 600,000/. ; sheep, 10,200,000/. ; wool, 4,056,0001. ;
pigs, 1,000,0001. ; poultry and eggs, 1,344,000/. ; horses,
3,000,000/ ; dairy produce, 12,000,000/ ; and grass,
13,000,000/. Mr. Rodwell then proceeded at great length to
compare the numbers of the various classes of the community,
from the landlords and aristocracy down to the agricultural
labourers, contending that the body of the former was a mere
speck out of the gross population of the country, and that in
consequence of the high price of bread, not only labourers,
but persons following professional pursuits, were obliged to do
twice as much work as was requisite before the passing of the
Corn-law Bill. He also maintained that instead of there
being a sufficient produce of wheat in this country for exporta-
tion there was not enough for home consumption, and com-
plained of the fact of the duty on corn being so great that
many thousand quarters were thrown into the river, which
would have saved many thousand families from utter starvation.
Ile concluded by moving a resolution to the effect that a peti-
tion be presented to Parliament from the electors of Maryle-
bone, praying for a total abolition of the Corn-laws, now so
oppressive to the country.
Mr. WEeis seconded the motion. He was glad to find that
this important question was at last likely to be taken up in the
proper way. It was well known that what was termed bonded
corn had been sold as high as sixty shillings per quarter, and
appeared really worth the price at the top, but on taking about
a bushel off it would probably be in such a state (from the
time it had been kept) that it was not worth thirty shillings;
and from this very cause alone, viz., the keeping corn in
bond, no less than 15,000 quarters had been thrown into
the river in one day, whilst many thousands of the poorer
classes of the people of England were starving for want of
bread.—( Hear, hear.)
Mr. BAR ros said there was no doubt that the poverty
which prevailed in the country was mainly attributable to
the Curn-laws ; but the Government and the Legislature
had been reduced to a state of inactivity upon the sub-
ject because the complaints of the people had in some
measure ceased ; but he ( Mr. Barton) would ask why was
that the case ? Because a vast majority of those who for-
merly obtained a living by agricultural pursuits were at present
employed on the numerous railways now in progres, and who,
when those undertakings were completed, would be 0- vc-n out
of employ, and compelled to do that which they would not
think of doing, or be subject to utter starvation unless some
important alteration were made in the Corn-laws...—( Hear.)
Mr. HARTLEY said the effect of the Corn-laws upon the
working classes of the community had been that a man was
obliged to produce 12 or 15 times more than he consumed, by
which means capital was overpaid, and labour not sufficiently
psid.—( Hear.) In France, a loaf three times as large as that
charged eleven pence for in England might be bought for a
" franc ;" this was the cause of the Corn-laws and national debt
with which this country was burdened. It mattered not how in-
genious and industrious the agriculturists of England might be,
foreign nations had greater facilities for a better produce from '
the nature of their soil. Although this country was fertile,
yet it required three times the labour to produce corn that it
did in any other country, and the produce yielded was not even
sufficient for home consumption ; yet the wise rulers of the
nation suffered exportation to be carried on to a large extent,
and au import from foreign countries, which, owing to the high
duty imposed on it, was sold at such a price that it placed it
out of the power of the poorer classes to get sufficient to sup-
port their families. He (Mr. Hartley) had been brought up
in the manufacturing districts, and could speak to the dread-
ful state of misery and starvation to which thousands of fami-
lies were reduced through the oppressive system,of the Corn-
laws. —( Hear, hear.)

Several other gentlemen having subsequently addressed the
meeting, the resolution was put from the chair and carried
unanimously, and a petition founded upon it to both Houses of
Parliament having been agreed to, a vote of thanks was passed
to the Chairman, and the meeting separated.

METROPOLITAN STAGE-COACH
AND OMNIBUS PROPRIETORS.

'co an Ass carriediurol
Mr.
A respectable meeting of the metropolitan stage-coach and
omnibus proprietors took place yesterday at the Woolpack Ta-
vern, in Peter's-alley, Cornhill, for the purpose of carrying out
the resolutions passed at a previous meeting, which had for
their object the establishment of a Benevolent Society, as well
as to discuss some matters of general importance to the trade,
in reference to the Bill passed last session of Parliament.
Mr. Joss WHEATLEY, of Greenwich, having been called
to the Chair, explained the object for which which they were
assembled.
After some discussion whether they should have a Protec-
tion or Benevolent Society, it was decided in favour of tho
otwop
ofo
fsßet
thdehgeetios
Society,t
Hbraeorr:t.hwe GentlemanTi
which
lhe iacbshuer eswrata,iodsa
latter.
veeffyeAEv.c,rq.y.:lAibie.orpna.l,tsitiuhebespcnarreiption was then entered into, and a
Committee formed to carry the objects of the meeting into
Mr. HAYDON next rose, and read to the meeting the follow-
ing letter, which he had received from Daniel Whittle Har-
a Hardennidst
mucht e wreatgarpyr
considerable importance to the trade, inasmuch as it showed
The Chairmsaanc
he might say, not heretofore extended to them :—.
their general convenience, without thwarting them in any way,
' Hereford, August,
21, 1838.
4, Sic_--HRYing accepted the office of ' Registrar' under
a disposition cheering.
tahedisAP;tsiftoi:nt'he better Regulation of Metropolitan Carriages,
I am desirous of consulting the convenience, so far as is con-
sistent with the objects of the Act, of the proprietors of metro-
politan stage carriages, especially as to the affixing of the plates
and the numbers authorised to be carried, as prescribed by the
third section. This you have doubtless read, and before I
suggest
'th 'our
that two or three proprietors, wi ) self, should meet me
appoint finally the mode of it s execution, I have to -
at the office in Adam-street, Adelpbi, some day early in
September. If my suggestion meets your concurrence, I will
name a time after my return to town, which will be on the
first of that month.

" I am, sir, your obedient servant,
" D. W. HARVEY.

" To Thos. T. Haydon, Esq."
The reading of this letter appeared to give much satisfac-
tion, and it was resolved that Mr. Haydon and a deputation
of three of the proprietors should wait on the Honourable
Registrar whenever it would suit his conveuience.
Thanks were then voted to the Chairman, and the meeting
separated.

There is, we are happy to announce, a prospect of
our approaching winter season excelling in brilliancy the most
brilliant Brighton ever saw.—Brighton Guardian.
It is not generally known that a Miss Fanshaw
(we believe), and not Lord Byron, was the author of tho
celebrated and universally admired enigma on the letter H,
beginning
" 'Twas whispered in Heaven, and muttered in Hell,
" And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell," &c.
although in the editions of the complete works of Byron, this
beautiful effusion has invariably been introduced as the produc-
tion of that celebrated poet. We always suspected his right
of parentage to the enigma ; and accident alone, a few
days ago, made us acquainted with the above fact, and
convinced us that our doubts were well founded. The
enigma first appeared, With Miss Fanshaw's name appended
to it, in a volume of poetry compiled and published for some
charitable purposes many years ago.—Shersvood's Monthly
Miscellany.
PREBENDS.—What harm does a Prebend do in a
politico- economical point of view ? The alienation of the pro.
perty for three lives, or 21 years, and the almost certainty that
the tenant has of renewing, give him sufficient interest in the
soil for all purposes of cultivation, and a long series of elected
clergymen is rather more likely to produce valuable members
of the community than a long series of begotten squites. Take,
for instance, the Cathedral of Bristol, the whole estates of
which are"about equal to keeping- a pack of fox-hounds. If this
had been in the hands of a country gentleman instead of a precen-
tor, succentor, dean, and canons, and sexton, you would have
had huntsman, whipper-in, dog feeders, and stoppers of earths ;
the old squire, full of foolish opinions and fermented liqours,
and young gentlemen of gloves, waistcoats, and pantaloons ;
and how many generations might it be before the fortuitous
concourse of noodles would produce such a man as Professor
Lee, one of the Prebendaries of Bristol, and by far the most
eminent Oriental scholar in Europe ? The same argument
might be applied to every cathedral in England. How many
hundred coveys of squires would it take to supply as much
knowledge as is
condensed in the heads of Dr. Copplestone,
or Mr. Taite, of St. Paul's.—Sydney Smith.
" What do )ou think of your pretty little country
now ?" says an Irishman the other day to a Scottish friend of
his, who had procured a supply of excellent murphies and ve-
getables newly arrived from Belfast. " Sure if it was not for
us devil a potato or a cabbage ye'd have to put in your mouth.
Isn't Paddy your friend now when he's throwing the potateos
into your door."

The Half-yearly Meeting, of this Company was held at the
office in Moorgate, on Friday.
Mr. WILSON, the Deputy Chairman, on taking the Chair,
observed, that the Directors had thought it their duty to call
the present meeting, pursuant to Act of Parliament, although
it did not appear to them that there was much business to
transact. The Report of the Irish Railway Commission, so
deeply affecting their interests, had been so short a time in
their hands, that they were unprepared to do more than state
the tendency of its recommendations. The opinion of the
Company's Engineers upon it had been applied for, but not
yet received. A memorial to Government bad been pre-
pared, which uould be read, and the Directors proposed that
the meeting should adjourn until the Engineer's Report, and
other information they expected, bad been received.
Mr. P. J. Hartra, the Secretary, then read the
REPORT.

This meeting has been convened in order to comply with
the provisions of the Act of Incorporation ; so short a time
hag elapsed since the first General Meeting of the Company,
that the Directors have little additional information to impart
to the Proprietors.
The expenditure from the Ist May to the let of July, and
the state of the Company's funds to that date, are now sub-
mitted, from which it will be perceived that to that time, a
balance of 2,150/. 17s. 11d. remained of the first deposit of
2/. 10s. per share.
The Directors regret that the call due on the Ist of March
last has not been paid to the extent, nor with that prompti-
tude, which they had reason to expect.
The Directors attribute the tardiness that has taken place
in payment of the call, to the apprehension in the minds of
the Proprietors, that " the Report of the Railway Commis-
sioners for Ireland," might contain any thing prejudicial to
the interests of this Company. That Report has recently
been presented to Parliament, and is now before the public,
and the Proprietors have full opportunity to:canvass its merits.
The Commissioners object to the Kilkenny line upon the
ground that it interferes with the system which they have laid
down for the extension of railways from the metropolis to the
cities in the south and south-west of Ireland; and for this
remarkable reason, " that if best and most productive portions
are taken possession of unconditionally, there can be no rea-
sonable hope that the remainder will ever be carried into
effect." The Commissioners further state—" that the first
thirty miles leading out of Dublin, hold out special prospects
of advantage, over which all the traffic with other places, near
as well as remote, must necessarily pass"— the Proprietors will
not fail to observe that these thirty miles are occupied by the
Kilkenny line. The Commissioners admit that the system
which they have laid down and recommended holds forth no
greater inducement to the capitalist for investment than a re-
turn of from to 4 per cent., which kas led to a' erroneous
impression that the Report asserted that " no railway in Ire-
land would yield any greater income"—which result applies
to the system of the Commissioners and not to any particular
line. On the contrary, the Directors having attentively exa-
mined the Report of the Commissioners, have the gratification
to state that the favourable impressions which they had been
induced to form of the Kilkenny line remain unchanged.
The Directors deemed it of importance to the Proprietors
to ascertain what course the Government intended to pursue
with reference to the objections of the Commissioners, and having
had an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, have
addressed a memorial to the Government on the subject.
The Directors suggest the propriety of adjourning this
meeting to the earliest convenient period. But although the
Directors considered it due to her Majesty's Government to
submit their case in form of a memorial, in order to demon-
strate the sufficiency and superiority of the line by Kilkenny,
yet it is but proper to inform you that the Report of the Com-
missioners cannot invalidate your Act of Parliament, and re-
lying on the corroborative evidence afforded by the Report of
the Commissioners of the value of your line, your Directors
consider it will be for the interest of the Proprietors to proceed
vigorously with the undertaking, availing yourselves of the
great facilities and advantages in possession of your Company,
and confident that an ample return will accrue from the invest-
ment.

Mr. HARRIS having moved the adoption of the Report,
A PROPRIETOR inquired how the calls had been paid up ?
and was informed by
The CHAIRMAN that of the first call of 21. 103. per share
nearly the whole had been paid ; and the second call of 21.
103. had been paid on 1,700 shares.
Mr. Law's Suvrn said the history of public works in Ire-
land was a history of Government interference with private
enterprise, and of complete consequent failure. The Grand and
Royal Canals were proofs of the truth of this observation. The
Report of the Irish Railway Commissioners, in accounting for
the inadequate return obtained from the capital invested in
them, stated that the Canals failed, because for a length of
way the two were parallel together. That they ran parallel
was certain, but that the running pantile' prevented them
from being remunerative speculations he utterly denied. The
true cause of their failure, though not given in the body of the
Report, in the Appendix was explained by the immense sums
of money squandered upon their construction. They ought
to have cost 4,000/. a mile, and they actually cost 18,0001., so
that if the profits now realised had to be divided upon an
expenditure of 4,0001. a mile, the dividend would be eight
per cent. That was the evidence of the Report contra-
distinguished from the dictum of the Commissioners; and ho
alluded to it to impress upon the minds of the shareholders
that the profligate expenditure of money was occasioned by the
conduct of Government. The first promoters were interfered
with, checked, and controlled; and when wearied out of the
management of their own affairs, the work was taken up as a
Government one. Placcmen and jobbers then rushed in, each
carving out something for himself, and while the strings of the
public purse were open, grasping hands were always within it.
The results had been stated. But Ireland was not singular in
such things. Scotland had her Caledonian Caledonial Canal,
which was begun some thirty years ago, which had far exceeded
all the estimates of its cost, had consumed more than a million
of money, was unfinished to this day, and in so ruinous a state,
that the question now was whether it would not be cheaper to
let the water flow off than to keep up the banks in repair. In
Canada again, there was the Rideaux Canal, which had co,t
more than two millions of money, and was still unfinished.
He begged particularly to invite the attention of the meet-
ing to the reception which the proposed system of railway ma-
nagement in Ireland had met from the public Press. In Ire-
land, the country papers—each the best criterion of what
would suit the interests and wants of its own locality—had
unanimously declared against it. The question, in the coun-
try parts of Ireland, had been very properly discussed without
reference to polities, and the public verdict had been, as just
stated, decidedly adverse to the conclusions of the Commis-
sioners. But in Dublin s few Government papers, and in
London a still greeter number, had so strongly adopted the
views of the Commissioners, that we seemed to be on the
verge of being called on to treat this as a party question. He
sincerely hoped, nevertheless, that they should be saved from
that infliction. If the venom of politics was to be infused into
simple discussions upon the merits of two matter-of-fact plans
for improving the means of travelling and trading in Ireland, it
would indeed be time for men of moderation to despair of the coun-
try. He anticipated no opposition, and should therefore move,
without further rernart, that " the Shareholders feel it their duty
to protest, in the strongest manner, against the coercive inter-
ference with private enterprise recommended by the Commis-
sioners of Irish Railways; and to express the confidence they
entertain that the sanction of her Majesty's Ministers will not
be given to any such interference, which would prevent the
extension of British capital to Ireland, and paralyse the in-
dustry of the people of that country."
Mr. E. HORSEMAN having seconded the resolution,
Mr. E. STRWART, a Director, objected to the word " co-
ercive" in the resolution as too strong. Government had not
adopted the report—the recommendations of the Commis-
sioners were as yet on their own merits. As a Director
be thought it the interest of the Proprietors to induce good
understanding with Government without sacrificing principle.
Strong language might therefore be objectionable.
Mr. DWTIIR., a Director, thought " coercive interference"
very applicable words, for a very coercive interference with
chartered Companies had been attempted. If her Majesty's
Government did follow the advice of the Commissioners, and
interfere with vested rights, they should, in common justice,
as in other cases, pay full compensation. Yes, the Proprie-
tors of the Leinster and Munster Railway, as of the other
Railways affected by this Report, should get full and fair com-
pensation.—( Cheers.) In speaking- of the Commissioners
he wished to be distinctly understood as nut impugning the pu-
rity of their motives, or meaning them any disrespect. Their
Report contained much valuable matter, most interesting
to Ireland, and although not directly referred to them, yet it
was valuable to have that great volume of statistics—to have
an essay upon its geology—its population—its banking—its
steam-communication, and facilities of improvement of every
kind. He did not regret the Report except for the false
principles it laid down as to railways as sanctioned by the
Crown and Parliament. The Commissioners doubtless were
men of talent, but they had not sufficient time to consider yid
take evidence to guide their Report. He felt great confidence
that her Majesty's Government would not sanction it, but
would see the justice of aiding the Great Leinster and Munster
Railways, and the others which had been sanctioned by Par-
liament.—( Hear.)
The resolution having been modified by the substitution of
the word " undue" for coercive, some discussion took place as
to whether the Report had or had not been in any way adopted
by Government, when Mr. Lewis Smyth observed, that cer-
tainly Ministers, as yet, had said or done nothing to show that
they meant to adopt or act upon it.
It was next moved by CHARLES H. LATOUCIIE, Esq. ; seconded
by BENJAMIN SHAW, Esq.
That this meeting do now adjourn, as recommended in the
Report of the Directors, for the purpose of receiving the re-
port of the engineers, and for such other matters as may be
submitted by the Board at said adjourned meeting.
Thanks were then voted to the Directors, and the meeting
adjourned.
V. )f a new

iscount Combermere laid the first stone o
Church last week, at Dakenfield.

(From the Rey'rewshire Reformer.)
The rno3t important local news in this sheet are the pro-
ceedings at the Registration Courts, and it is certainly with
very great pleasure we perceive that, the character of the pre-
sent constituency, the proceedings in the Registration Courts.
and the election law itself, are all of such a nature as to ;ire-
vent the possibility of a much more widely extended qualified,
tion for electors being long withhold, though the people were
even to refrain from demanding it. From the first we regaeded
the restrictive qualifications, and the legal formalities wia+
which the Reform Acts of 1832 are clogged, as an incongru-
' ous jumble of absurdity and injustice, which would not long bo
submitted to, and we now most heartily rejoice that each suc-
ceeding year's Registration Court proceedings fully bears out
our anticipations, and proves that the present system will at an
early period place the elector's roll and the elector's qualifica-
tion on a footing equally unjust with the old close burgh or pa-
per qualification practices ; and the proceedings at the Regis-
tration Courts may be expected to present nothing but an in-
terminable mass of confusion, :heaped up by the quirks and
quibbles of the law-agents of the different parties, regardless
of the fair claims of those entitled to vote, or anything like the
right representation of the people.
The intention of the framers of the present laws was pos-
sibly to conjoin the representation of property and the repre.
sentation of the people ; but they allow the representation of
neither. Earl Grey's cabinet seemed terrified with the very
shadow of the reform he professed to grant, and the conse-
quence was, that while they avowedly shut out four-fifths of the
male population from the enjoyment of the elective franchise,
they so clogged the qualification of the remaining fifth with
legal forms and legal phraseology, that the most experienced
lawyers are frequently baffled in attempting to write out a
claim for enrolment, and the most wealthy men in the country
are liable to be placed amongst the uninfranchised masses by
informalities which it is almost impossible to foresee.
The reader will find an excellent example of the incongruous
legislation of the Acts of 1832, from the address of Mr. Barr
to the electors of Paisley, elsewhere inserted. Besides Fer-
guslie estate—which would afford thirty or forty qualifications
—we believe that gentleman possesses more property in the
town otherwise, than would afford thirty or forty votes in ad-
dition ; yet here, on a word, or a piece of meie legal form,
with all his wealth, one of the most extensive proprietors in the
burgh is struck from the electors' roll, and disallowed for a
year at least, from having his just share of representation, or
from interfering in either the burgh orparliamentary elections,
let them be ever so important.
We approve highly of the conduct of Mr. Barr in not at-
tempting to get his name placed on the roll by an appeal to a
Court of Law, and of his rather appealing to his countrymen,
and showing them the necessity of claiming an alteration of
the law and a more rational system of representation. It
was the absurdity of the parchment and rotten borough sys-
tem of voting, in conjunction with the misgovernment arising
therefrom, that induced the nation to demand the Reforms of
1832. The system of misgovernment then in full force is still
as rampant as ever, while the absurdity of what grants and
enforces disqualification is as little amended as the Govern-
ment. Under such circumstances, then, will the people not
again demand further reform ? And we would ail( how can
any individual who considered a reform in our representative
system necessary previous to 1832, now keep consistently aloof
from aiding those who consider it yet now as necessary as ever.

ADDRESS TO THE LIBERAL ELECTORS OF

PAISLEY.

GENTLEMEN—In political warfare there is a point, beyond
which all honourable-minded parties despise to transgress.
This week I have bet.n struck off the Roll of Electors for
the Burgh of Paisley, at the instance of Mr. William Sharp,
manufacturer in Paisley, under circumstances which appear to
me not only worthy of being reported, but, as I humbly con-
ceive, clearly transgressing beyond the I;ne of honourable poli-
tical warfare, in any well-regulated community,
The annexed correspondence fully explains the matter. It
requires no comment. The effect to sae, personally, is of
little moment. One year's triumph to my honourable oppo-
nent is all that he could reasonably expect. What, then, is
the object ? In this point of view the annexed correspondence
speaks volume; in showing you what a plight the leaders of
the Tory faction are in to obtain ascendancy over you. You
could not desire a stronger proof of the necessity of firmly
uniting, in all your strength, in order to defeat their struggle
to regain political power, even by the most unscrupulous means.
Here you find a truculent Tory, who is known to have
been publicly held up by authority as the most fit and proper
person, prospectively, to fill the civic chair, seeking, for a
temporary purpose, to expunge a Voter who must he held and
considered, by all parties, as possessed of the most indubitable
title to stand on the Roll.

The Sheriff's judgment, complying with his request, I do
not mean to arraign ; neither do I mean to appeal against it.
My reasons are, Ist, That I am fully satisfied Mr. Ilsrt, my
agent in the matter, has already done every justice to my
case ; and I am bound to consider it has been decided by the
Sherd conscientiously ; indeed I can have in doubt whatever
on this part of the subject. 2dly, That P,Jliament would
still find my vote and franchise to be as good as any in the
burgh of Paisley in case of necessity. Silly, By allowing it
to stand as a precedent, it will denote that paltry spleen of
party which is most desirable to be avoided in political war-
fare, and at the same time serve to show the sort of justice
which the public might reasonlbly expect from •‘ such chief
magistrates." Lisily, it will, I trust, servo the invaluable
i.urpose of showing the necessity. of improving the Law o.
Election, so as to check the like chicanery in future.
In conclusion, I have no hesitation in saying that such an
objection far surpasses, in meanness, any objection I ever saw
taken in the keenest period of political strife, even in Rcn-
frewshire, where it used to be the keenest in Scotland.

W. BARR.

COPY LETTER. —MR. HART TO MR. BARR.
Paisley, Aug. 28, 1838.
Dear Sir,—The Sheriff yesterday sustained the ohjectiox
to. your continuance upon the Roll as a Voter for the Burgh
of Paisley, upon the ground that your taxes, as occupant of
part of Ferguslie, were not paid—a decision which I hold to
be altogether erroneous, and at variance with the Act of Par-
liament. In the first place, you stand on the Roll as Proprie-
tor, and as such no taxes are exigible;—in the 2d place,
you are enrolled as " Proprietor, Property, Ferguslie ;"
and the Sheriff was not entitled to travel beyond the Re-
gister Book, by entering upon an inquiry, whether or not
you were now occupant of part of the property upon which
you stand enrolled as proprietor ;—in the 3d place, con-
ceding that he had such a right, the objecting party were
bound to show (but which they utterly failed in doing)
that you stood in the actual occupancy of part of the pro-
perty upon which you stand enrolled ;—in the 4th place,
I proved that besides the dwelling-houses occupied by your-
self at Ferguslie, there were other houses not occupied by
yourself upon the estate (belonging to you) which, coupled
with the value of the land, could afford thirty or forty qua-
lifications; and, therefore, maintained that the Sheriff could
not identify your own dwelling house with the whole estate,
so as to: deprive you of your qualification. The Sheriff, how-
ever, has sustained the objection, and you must either submit
or try an appeal. I understand my friends intend to appeal a
ew of the Sheriff's judgments, and I should think you ought
:o follow their example.
I am, dear Sir, yours truly,
(Signed) JOHN HART.

Wm. Barr, Writer.

COPY LETTER.-MR. BARR TO JOHN HART, ESQ. WATER

IN PAISLEY.
Paisley, 29th August, 1838.
Dear sir—ln your esteemed Letter of yesterday you omit
the material/ fact—even although I had been enrolled as a
Tenant, which I am not, or although my claim had been
restricted to the premises possessed by me, which it is not—
namely, that I had been surcharged in my Assessed Taxes,
which arc under appeal ; therefore no Ta3ces are duo by me
according to Law, until the appeal be ('isposed of. I hold
my voto to be as good as any on the Roll, tendered under
protest, if need be, and that the Sheriff's judgment will do
more good than harm in expounding the Law I
Dear Sir, yours truly,
W. BARR.

AVERAGE OF LIFE.—A familiar acquaintance with
the political and domestic history of these times (the 14th and
15th centuries) forces the mind to reflect on the very low average
of human life at that period of the English monarchy. Few
reached what is now called old age ; and persons are spoken
of as old who would now be scarcely considered to have passel
the meridian of life. It would form a subject of an interesting
inquiry were a philosophical antiquary to trace the existenc_!•
and operation and extent of those causes, physical and moral,
which exercise, doubtless, important influences over human
life, and under Providence contract or lengthen the number of
our days here. Such an investigator would unquestionably
find many chancres adopted in the present day conducive to
longevity, in the structure of our habitations, the nature of
our clothing, our habits of Wanliness, our food, comparative
moderation in the use of intoxicating liquors, with many other
causes of health now believed to exist among us. To two causes
of the average shortness of life in operation through that range
of years to which these Memoirs of Henry V. refer, the
author's mind has been especially drawn in the course of his
researches, one of a political character, in itself far more ob-
vious and chiefly affecting men ; the other arising from habits
of domestic life with regard to one of our institutions of all the
n,
most unversally comprehensive—a muse chiefly, but far
cause,
awful affecting the life of females. The first
_cuman,
awful and apalling, is seen in the precarious tenure of human
life during the violence of those political strugglesf s seem to
de-
luged the whole land with blood. Those Ann .
member forfeited his
have been rare exceptions of which no
es were few which
lie on the scaffold or in the field; those h wich
e overs without leaving
the scourge of civil or foreign wars
traced to the very early age
one dead. The second cause
: • °nehad gained strength for the
trial came before the constitution
rot niz ed. The day of nature's
at which marriages were then s
of females was thus pre.
struggle, and an awful proportion
whilst the offspring also shared
Comparatively a small minority
-I decay ;in the case of very few could
sank by gradual
of
d
Job's reprover be applied with truth, Thou
the comparison o
inm maturely y. e
ahkunr
er
si es do
fnt ooteehaepmare. grave,
shalt come ,to therave in full age, as a shock of corn cometh
y ler's Henry of Monmouth.
greatest works of art now tobe seen in
•
the new chain suspension bridge 4 Frey burg.
grand organ in the cathedral of that town. The
and the
former, flying over from rock to rock at an immense height
above the river, and of a very wide expansion, nearly equals in
deur, though not in massive solidity, or the almost super-
fluousgran ,
iSnwhTi tizswcsroel aaosnofdnia.;ll:e,
luxury of_ construction, its great prototype over the
Menai Straits, in Caernarvonshire. The second is, in many
respects, hardly inferior to the organ at Haarlem, and the
vox humane stop is said to be superior.

THE

"DOUBLE SUN,"

CONTAINING BEAUTIFUL
MEDALLION PORTRAITS

OF

MARSHAL SOULT

AND THE
DUKE OF WELLINGTON,
IN THE SAME STYLE AS THAT OF
HER MAJESTY IN THE

" GOLDEN CORONATION SUN,"
IS NOW PUBLISHING, AND MAY BE HAD OF
ALL NEWSMEN BOTH IN TOWN AND
COUNTRY.

*** EACH PORTRAIT IS WORTH AT
LEAST ONE GUINEA. BESIDES THE
PORTRAITS AND WREATHS, THERE
ARE CHARACTERISTIC MEMOIRS,
WITH ORIGINAL ANECDOTES, OF
BOTH HEROES.

" THE SUN,"
GOLD ALL OVER