The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-25 00:00:00

TELE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY _EVENING, MAY 25, 1847

WHITSUN AMUSEMENTS.
COLOSSEUM.—This establishment was open yesterday
fir the reo ption of visitors. A considerable number
attended. They belonged in general to the upper and
middle orders; but, so far as we could perceive, few, if
any, of the working classes were amongst the spectators.
The price, although reduced, still keeps the interesting
'sews of this establishment beyond the reach of the
artizan and humble tradesman.
DionamA.—The Diorama, Regent's Park, was visited
yesterday by several persons. The exhibition consisted
of a representation of the iaterior of St. Mark's, at
Venice, and a view of Tivoli, near Rome. Both repre-
sentat ons are extremely interesting, and well deservieg
of a visit.
THE BRITISH MUSEUM.—In consequence of the fine-
ness of the weather yesterday attracting the holiday-
makers to the out-of-door amusements, the number who
visited this establishment was not so great as at Easter.
The great source of attraction at this place was the new
hall and staircase, which (not yet opened at Easter) ex-
cited the admiration of all. The people were well con-
ducted and orderly, and rendered the attendance of extra
constables to preserve regularity unnecessary.
THE NATIONAL GALLERY.—At this place the heat,
from the number of visitors who pay their annual visit
to this receptacle for the fine arts, was almost insuffer-
able. All the pictures had their admirers, but the
greatest admiration was bestowed upon the recently ac-
quired picture by Raffaelle of the " Knight's Vision."
THE ROYAL ACADEMY, &c.—The Royal Academy
and the other exhibitions devoted to the annual show of
what has been done by our native artists during the past
to elve months, were well attended.
WESTMINSTER ABBEY AND ST. PAUL'S—The first of
these establishments was open yesterday, and in conse-
quence of the reduction in the prices to view the various
chapels a large number of persons, who had been to see
the House of Lords, also availed themselves of the op-
portunity of viewing this noble pile with the ancient
tombs, coronation chair, &c. St. Paul's, in consequence
of the preparation for the anniversary of the charity
children on the 3d of June, was not open for Divine ser
vice.

) Junction ; and Mr. Saunders, secretary to the Eastern
Union and Harwich Junction, had an interview with the
Commissioners of Railways, in Great George-street,
y( aterday.
The Marquis of Normanby transactel busineEs yo -
terday at the Foreign-office.
Mr. Higbam, Secretary and Comptroller-General to
the Commissioners for the Reduction of the Nl..tional
Debt, had an interview yesterday with the Chancellor of
the Exchequer.
Dispatches for the Governors of Hong Kong and
Ceylon were sent off yesterday evening from the Colo-
nial-office.

THE NAVY:—
In resuming our notice of the conditions at present
regulating the armaments and equipments of our steam
fleet, we have to acknowledge the value of some sugges-
tions contained in a letter addressed to the First Lord
of the Admiralty by Captain Robert Spencer Robinson,
of the Royal Navy, a copy of which he was obliging
enough to send us; but as it appeared to be intended
only for private and limited circulation, we did not con-
ceive that we should gratify the author by giving a more
extensive publication to his name than he seemed to
have designed for himself, though we willingly aided in
inuatinonaeonftdimocetnritnaesprsoovieonutsilrye.lyexinpvceosnsecdu.rrenTcoe
withthe m
disOeur own
those, however, who are inclined to pursue still further
the clue which we traced out the other day, we can well
commend the perusal of this able and intelligent
pamphlet. Our remarks on that occasion tended to show
it
how came to pass that for many obvious duties we had
no efficient or appropriate steamers, and, by consequence,
bhuotwtoseoemerttanly, p of
o euvrbap
passt,
prophesied.disaster v
disasters might hle now pa
tbe expl ainses from
explained,
our mishaps to our miscarriages,—from our accidents
to our blunders ; and shall endeavour to throw some
light on the circumstances which preclude even the single
class of steam ships we have adopted from answering
their own prtjector's designs, and which lead to such un-
remitting expenses and exposures. All our steam navy
should nut be frigates; but all our frigates should at least
be good ones—should swim when they are launched, and
take the guns they are pierced fur. We observed some
time ago that the comparison between the steamers
turned out from merchants' yards ano those launched
from the Royal docks, so frequently drawn to the disad-
vantage of the latter, was thus far unfair,—that the
former were exempted from that condition which in-
ducts the greatest difficulty—namely, the necessity of
carrying heavy guns. For, although certain companies
are bound by contract to build vessels capable of mount-
ing powerful metal on emergencies, they have never yet
been tried, and we have reason to fear they would prove
quite incompetent to this contingent part of their
duties. Against this plea, however, we must set off
the fact that, Gov-rnment vessels are almost equally
prone to consider their armament as nominal; for we
believe we are correct in stating, that three or four
only of the steam-frigates have ever been found able
to receive the main-deck guns at which they are rated.
So that both classes are thus far even, except that the
Royal Mail packets do undoubtedly sail, though they
may not be able to fight ; whereas many of the war
steamers, with almost as much uncertainty as to their
abilities in the latter line, are utterly devoid of any
compensatory excellence in the former. It is in the
engines, however, and in the mutual adaptation of these
machines and the hull, that we suspect the serious fault
to lie ; for the discovery of the right principles of ad-
justment on this point would probably bring with it the
means of improvement in all our other deficiencies. In
our paper of the 30th of November last we called atten-
tion to some of the circumstances which were said to
affect the arrangements injuriously in this particular,
and we observe our conclusions confirmed by some of
the illustrations. which Captain Robinson has adduced.
Fifteen years ago the Surveyor started, as Mr. Hume re-
marked in the debate of the 29th alt., with nine
steamers which were done to his hand by way of mo•
dels, and which he was at liberty to use for his deduc-
tions. Two of these were the Comet and the
Lightning—good vessels even to this day, but not good
enough to content the Surveyor. He took his departure
from the Comet, and produced a terrible caricature in
the Gulnare, which, after a second failure under the
anagrammatical apellation of the Gleaner, was finally
condemned, but the Comet lines were not reverted to.
His translation of the Medea was not quite so bad, since
it seems to have suggested the Devastation class, which,
if not an improvement on its original, is yet respectably
spoken of. But it is to the all-pervading and radical
error of these experiments that we wish to direct
especial attention; and this, as Captain Robinson has
stated, is our pertinacity in testing too many points at
once. We never start ccrteris paribus; we are, conse-
quently, never able to establish an improvement or de-
tect a fault, and remain just where we were at first.
In the first place, we never know beforehand for what
purposes
we are building the vessel. Her work is never
cut out for her before her drawings are made. She is
to be " a steam-ship," to carry so many guns ; and
there the instructions end. In the next place, whereas
the hull, the moving power, and the armament have
all a direct relation to each other, the proportions of
which remain to be discovered, we are never content to
ascertain one point at a time, and the result is, that we
ascertain none. Captain Robinson agrees with ourselves
approving
rn the Vesuvius and Stromboli, which were
fitted with Napier's beam engines. The only fault ever
found with these engines was their weight, and it was
justifiable to try an experiment for removing it. The
Driver was accordingly fitted with Seaward's engines ;
hut, unfortunately, a simultaneous experiment was tried
upon her hull, so that it is now quite impossible to draw
any certain conclusion from her recent meritorious ser-
vices. Had either the hull or the engines, only been
changed, we might gain some architectural or mechani-
cal deduction from her creditable circumnavigation of
the globe ; but, as it is, one. experiment vitiates the
other ; and whether the engines or the hull exhibit the
improvement it is hopeless to conjecture. Again, tl,e
Devastation was tried with another new engine—
Maudslay's double cylinder ; but at the same time her
horse-power was increased by 129 over that of her
class, so that whether any improvement or inferiority
arose from her double cylinders or her double
power no human shipwright could say. Once
more, when the Cyclops disappointed us, we were
not content even with two experiments in her suc-
cessors, but we actually tried three, for the improved
specimens of this class were lengthened by ten feet in
hull, were strengtheuad by 100 additional horse power,
and were then equipped by two new kinds of engines,
one from Messrs. Fawcett, and one from Bolton and
Watt. After this, it will not create surprise that our
system of naval architecture contains so very few
axioms. No less than ten different sorts of engines are
now in use in the steam navy, and these of as many
different powers, in vessels of as many different dimes
sions. Well may Captain Robinson consider comparison
and deduction as difficult ! We will conclude with one
more remark. It is obvious that all our late observations
wouldwer be
were appniliacainbllye
nteogapttavdeddleb-
ywhtheeel general
introductionrs only ,
of the screw, which would both diminish the chance of
d
.
damage and leave the broadside entire. We have seen
too by the trial of the Amphion last week, and by the
orders which we reported in our naval intelligence for
the construction of an 80-gun screw ship, that the Ad-
miralty are attentive to this point ; and yet of such a
character are our experimental combinations that, up to
this moment, the exact relation of the power of the
screw to that of the paddle remains unascertained !
Times,

THE TOWER OF LONDON.—This national exhibition,
with its jewel room and armoury, was well patronised by
the holiday folks yesterday, the reduction in the price of
admission being the cause of so many people visi,ing it.
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, REGENT'S PARK.—During
yesterday the public were admitted to these gardens
without obtaining fellows' orders, merely by paying the
customary price of admission. The consequence was,
that a greater number of parties paid than would have
been the case had they to seek first for members' orders
and pay afterwards. We understsnd that the same pri-
vilege will be extended to the public during the holidays.
ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.—An immense
number of adults and juveniles paid a visit to this in-
structive and amusing exhibition. Not the least interest-
ing portion of the performance was the lecture on
Natural Philosophy, by Dr. Bachhoffner, and the ex-
planations to the working models and machinery, which
are calculated to incite the rising generation to become
acquainted with this very useful department of science.
MADAME TUSSAIID.—SeveraI hundred persons visited
this talented lady's exhition during the day, indeed from
the time the doors were opened until late in the after
noon the large room was densely crowded. Several ad-
iitions have recently been made to the collection,
amongst the figures are Pope Pius IX., in full costume,
Henry VII., James I. in the splendid costume of the
period. The new magnificent ventilating dome, which
has been erected at a cost of 700/., was greatly admired
by the company.
BRUNETTI'S MODEL OF JERUSALEM.—During yes-
terday a gentleman attended every hour to explain this
exquisite work of art, and from the time the doors were
opened a great many persons availed themselves of the
opportunity presented by inspecting this great model of
the holy city.
THE WHITSON FAlRS,—Yesterday the fair annually
held in Greenwich at this season commenced. Rich-
ardson's theatre and iAlgar'a Crown and Anchor booth,
as usual, were the principal objects of attraction.
A host of minor entertainments were also on
the ground. The town and fair was crowded
throughout the day with visitors from the metro.
polls, who arrived by railway and steam boat, the
former bringing its living freight every twelve, and the
latter every ten minutes. A large fair was also held on
Stepney-green, the principal features at which were
Wombwell's menagerie, Clark's equestrian circus, and
three theatres (Johnson's, Paterson's, and Frazer's).
This fair also had its Crown and Anchor booth. upwards
of 400 feet long. Upwards of two hundred thousand
persons visited this fair during the day. Fairs were
also held at Wandsworth, Chalk-farm, and the Chalk,
road, Islington, all of which received a fair share o
public patronage. The whole were under the contro
of the police, who caused all amusement to cease at
P.N

WRESTLING AT THE BRECRNOCK ARMS.—Yesterday
the grounds at the Brecknock Arms, Camden town,
were thrown open for the display of wrestling in the
Devonshire style, and the wrestling at this season, al-
ways good, has this year as well as last been attended
with novel and extraordinary interest. This is owing.
to many noblemen and gentlemen, ardent admirers of
the manly art, having subscribed liberally to raise
such a sum as will insure handsome prizes to the
best men. Tbis induced many Cornish celebrities last
year to come up to London and display their prowess,
victory attending their efforts ; and the committee
having this year announced their intention of giving the
Devon men a fair chance of success by arranging the
three first days' play in the Devonshire, and the last three
days in the Cornish style, a large number of their crack
men have come up from Devon, who, with the "stars"
from Cornwall and tho " luminaries" of the London ring,
formed a combination of wrestling talent never before
collected in any ring. It was decided, the better to test
the me
gsrtiltteos
towhfeeti
gshehectomnaedned, t
ittheeartfotrthmheeaycnascnehsdo,iudlaadntedbesthrohoaautticidah et
orderhdraoc
ct
rwd irne
his opponent two back falls. Those so successful were
•
Water (C) who threw Eyers (D) twice and quickly;
Flynn (Ireland), a stunted Ajax, who twice grasped R.
Dyer (C); and Oliver (0) the Roper, a little pheno-
menon, who first tripped and then heaved Kemp (D)
Gundry. the Cornish champion (winner of these prizes
last year), now faced the celebrated Chapple, champion
of Devon, and their movements were watched with
breathless interest, when, after strength and science had
both been almost exhausted, Gundry threw his powerful
opponent a single fall. They will meet again to-morrow
as will Lemon (D) and Tresise (C), who each won a fall.
Snell, Eilicombe, Hodge, Goodman, &c., have yet to
wrestle.

FRENCH PLAYS, ST. JAMES'S FHEATRE.—His Im-
perial Highness the Grand Duke Constantine of Russia,
attended by the Hon. Colonel Grey, the Baron Brun-
now, Admiral Lutke, Monsieur de Berg, Monsieur
Koudiraffsky, and the Baron Friedriks, honoured the
French plays with his presence last evening. His Im-
perial Highness occupied her Majesty's box. Her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, attended
by the Baroness Hamerstein and Mr. Edmund St. John
Mildmay, also honoured the theatre with ber presence.
We observed also the Duke de Palmella, the Baroness
Brunnow and Mademoiselle Olga de Lechner, Lord
Clitden, Lord Somerton, Lady and Miss Macdonald,
Lady Jodrell, Sir W. and Lady Martens, Lady Meux
Monsieur and Madame Mrs. Mountjoy Martyn,'
Sir Henry Mildruay. the Count Irtelmansegge the Baron
and Sirs. hfilaer.Gibson.
Tux Jisurr' AT Oallanatboa..A new work of an
extraordinary character from the pen of Sir George
Stephen, has just -appeared under the title of " The
Jesuit at Cambridge." It is a narrative of events sup
posed to have occurred at the university, thrown into
the form of a novel ; the principle personages both
Catholic and Protestant, having been drawn, it is said,
from existing originals, and the whole movement to-
wards Popery displayed and illustrated in a manner as
entertaining as it is truth-like. We are, indeed, very
much inclined to discredit the author's statement that
the work is but partially founded on fact ; for extra-
ordinary as some of the incidents would be in real life,
there is so much probability in the narrative, that they
seem introduced to preclude any recognition of personal
identity. This clever work will doubtless be perused
with deep interest even by the ordinary novel reader,
and at our universities it will not only be read but
studied.

THE NEW NOVELS.—Among the many works of
distinguished novelists for which this season has been
remarkable, the following may be regarded as among
the most popular :—Mrs. Trollope's " Three Cousins,"
and "Father Eustace," Mrs. Gascoigne's" Evelyn Har-
court," Mrs. Gore's " Temptation and Atonement,"
Mrs. Crowe's "Story of Lilly Dawson," and the author
of " Whitefriars' " historical romance of " Caesar
Borgia-"
ARRIVAL OF THE GRAND DUKE AND DUCHESS OF
SAXE WEIMAR.—WOOLWICH, MAY 24.—Intelligence
was received at an early hour this morning, that the
Grand Duke and Duchess of Saxe Weimar would ar-
rive in the Cyclops, a war steamer of the King of the
Netherlands, and at nine o'clock A.M. a guard of honour,
under the command of Captain Elliott, proceeded to the
dockyard in honour of the royal visitors. Lord Den-
bigh, Master of the Horse in the Queen Dowager's
household, and Sir Andrew Barnard, with three royal
carriages, arrived in the course of the forenoon, and at
twenty minutes before two o'clock P.M. the signal was
given that the Cyclops was in sight, with the standard
of the Grand Duke at the mizen. At ten minutes past
two o'clock the Cyclops arrived opposite the dockyard,
and Commodore Sir J. Gordon Bremer having hoisted
his broad pendant on the barge of the William and Mary
yacht, proceeded with Lord Denbigh, Sir Andrew Bar-
nard, and several members of the Queen Dowager's
household to the Cyclops, and escorted the Grand
Duchess on shore, and conducted her Royal Highness to
one of the royal carriages ; Captain Hall attended on
the gentlemen and members of their Royal Highnesses'
suite. Their Royal Highnesses left Woolwich dockyard
at half-past two o'clock for Marlborough House, on a
visit to her Majesty the Queen Dowager.
A letter from Dresden says that forty students of
the University have been severely punished for having
been present at the meetings dangerous to the State and
public tack*:

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS! wearing out his powers. There had been to solemn
FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY. ' . judgment o
:' cast off by the mass of his adherents—he had not lest
' public opinion upon him. He had not been
!
CHRONICLE.—IreIand may well deem this a caia-
mitous year. Worn down by famine and pestilence, the affections of his people or his church. There had
been no event, no revoltition, no turn of the tide that
she has now to follow to the grave the remains of her
greatest man. The stroke will not be less severe be-
cc u'd account fur this remarkable vicissitude. The only
cause it was anticipated. The death of a man like Ia( collet of it is this—that Mr. O'Connell had outlived his
O'Connell is one of those events which are scarcely be- I e:ed t and his power. There is a strangeness about the
lieved to be possible until the stern reality is before us. ; reek:lents and coincidences of his departure that seems to
Nor will Englishmen view with indifference the loss of indicate a mystery of which time only will tell all the
the great Irish leader. They will differ in their esti- import. That he has died at the acme of an unparal-
,
mates of the good and evil of his career; but they will 1 leled disaster is no accident ; his death attests far more
`than any act of his life the warmth if not the unalloyed
recognise it as the career of a giant. If his sphere of ac-
tivity were remote from their knowledge and sympathies, simplicity, of his patriotism. It is the famine, seen and
they would still hear with sorrow that that mighty soul I felt though it be through an earthly and selfish medium
had passed away; but the event is one to call forth in j that has smitten down his soul. But there are other cir-
in this country a deeper feeling than that of passive sym- l cumstances of his death not so naturally associated.
pathy. Mr. O'Connell, intensely national as he was, I While the great Irish agitator was dying on the shores
belonged to the empire. In spite of his repeal doctrines, of the Mediterranean, death also was visiting the abode
against which and its occupants he had maintained a
the union between the two countries was embodied in
his mind and character. English law, the elaborate life long antagonism. A thousand miles and a still
creation of English ideas and habits, bad as large wider gulf of antipathies separated the representatives
a share in him as Irish leadership. He was of Irish nationality and British royalty, both sharing
no alien. His life was identified with an epoch the calamity of the people to whom they were
in English history. England as well as Ireland has so differently related. But twenty-four hours di-
lost a great man. But the work which will make the vided the demagogue and the Viceroy, equally
name of O'Connell memorable was done in Ireland, sinking under their intolerable burdens. It
What a work it was will perhaps be better understood seems, too, an instructive chance that has brought
hereafter. He dies in the midst of social and political to the foreign obsequies of the Irish leader the eec-
disorder, and impatience may cry out that he lived in cesiful chief of that great English league, founded
vain. Such men never live in vain. He found a people for-better objects than the disunion of these realms. He,
of serfs, so debased by oppression as to be scarcely con-
too, may see in our present misfortunes how little
scions of their own degradation. He awakened in them
nations can do towards rectifying the errors of the past,
a sense of their own wants. He created a public opi-
and how a good cause may achieve a present victory,
nion, and evoked the sentiment of a national life, which,
and yet see the actual fruition of its objects indefinitely
wild and wayward as their first workings may be, are Postponed. A powerful aristocracy has been beaten, and
the only means by which nations attain the happiness a monopoly carried by assault; but there ends the
and the dignity of good government and self-respect. triumph hitherto barren of result. Cheapness and plenty
It was a stupendous task to break down the ancient bar-
are beyond the reach of political agitation. The whole
riers of legal inequality which divided the Irish people. civilised world is so thoroughly and so unanimously per-
But it seemed harder still to shake the superstructure suaded of a fundamental justice in Mr. O'Connell's
cause, and an essential heroism in his character, that
which custom had reared upon the basis of law. When
m the legal disabilities of Roman Catholics were gone, the modesty as well as generosity compel us to deal tenderly
social inequality of caste still remained firm and intact, with this belief', Whatever we may think of Mr. O'Con-
like an arch of solid masonry from which the scaffolding nell, our respect for human nature will hardly allow us
is removed. But that solid arch already lies in crumbling to believe all the world in the wrong. At the same
fragments. The great task of social equalisation is all time, fidelity to our own honest impressions, and to that
but accomplished. We see old distinctions and exclu- national instinct which has so often proved right, re-
sions almost obliterated. Signs of union multiply. The quires us to state how every true hearted Englishman
descendants of those who won at the Boyne will pro-
regards the career of this extraordinary man. It is
bably be seen following the hearse of him who raised up possible that foreigners may be dazzled by the brilliancy
the vanquished people. Mr O'Connell's labour was not and power of an eloquence of which they can only read
confined to the destruction of laws and usages which the language and learn the impression on the multitude
to whom it is addressed. We are able to compare words
were pernicious. In destroying he also created and
—oidneontee in
of the
co nddietaiothn
ofto
organized. Irregular and perilous as his method might
be, he taught a people, who were almost destitute of
withllEfaßc
ourAtsL. readers
p
.Tli
withugh legalwe are
evidence
legal institutions, habits of united action and of obedience Present
to authorities in which they could confide. When his Mr. O'Connell, still there seems to be little doubt enter-
agitation was most formidable, it was still a proof that tained in the best informed quarters that the great
the Irish are eminently a goveinable people when the Agitator is no more, and that all that was mortal of
governors are skilful in their business. Clare election him perished at Genoa on the 15th instant. When pa
c assemblages and monster meetings were not mobs, but consider the mode and manner of his reported death,
arrayed masses, almost as restrained and as manageable and reflect, that notwithstanding all his efforts—notas armies. Such manifestations imply not only the withstanding all the struggles of a mind at one period
vigorous and vivacious, and of a body which, long after
falling in with them when they are suite
want of new social arrangements, but an aptitude for d
to the
he had passed the grand climacteric, still presented a genius of the people. Mr. O'Connell supplied the
robust and hide conformation—that he failed in achiev-
ing his darling purpose of reaching the seat of the Pa •
place of a government in Ireland. The confi-
deuce which the law and institutions of the country pecy, and witnessing the splendours of that maxima
never called forth was given to him and his various rerum Roma, far dearer to him as a Roman Catholic,
societies. He was, in fact, the first in modern than as a classic city—we are tempted to muse on the
times who ruled the people with their own consent. vinity of human hopes and wishes, and to
To accomplish so much required that extraordi- draw from the event which we painfully record
nary combination of powers which the world has recog- a mournful and a moral lesson. The tomb
nised in Mr. O'Connell. His intellect, shrewd and pe- has now closed over the greatest and the most
netratiog rather than comprehensive, and his tact in successful agitator of modern times; he has died, not in
dealing with men, would of themselves have made him the Rome of the Popes, but in Genoa the Superb, well
eminent in his profession, but tot the leader of a-nation. called the Rome of the ocean, and he sleeps his last
It was the passionate irrepressible energy impelling sleep far from the land in which he was born, and from
that intelligence which gave it a power so commanding, that ocean beside which his childhood was cradled. By
Most of his writings and speeches, if viewed sepa-
foreign hands his eyes were closed and his dying limbs
rately, may excite wonder that an apparent meagreness
adjusted, and if we are to believe the account of the last
of intellectual resources should be connected with a re- sad scene of his life, published in the Galignani, he
putation so great; but the greatest single effort of Mr, was neither conscious of the place in which he lay in his
O'Connell was but au atom in the mass of his prodigious o
death-struggle, tat of the persons by whom he was stir-
activity. He was not an utterer of novel or brilliant rounded. The image of death should at any time dis-
apothegms, but he said a few things, all of which had arm resentment ; but how much more eloquently and
probably been said before, with such tremendous force powerfully does death appeal to us when invested with
of iteration as to drive them home to the convictions attributes so sad and so mournful—so taming in every
and to weld them into the political creed of seven mil-
way to human pride, and so contrasted to a renown not
lions of people. Yet that Titanic energy might have merely European, but stretching from pole to pole—
worn out the powerful frame in which it was embodied world-wide, in truth, in its immense extent.
with but little result, if it had been coupled with an aus-
tere and unsocial disposition. But Mr. O'Connell's nature
was genial, and full of deep affections. His attachments
to family and friends were warm to intensity. He loved
his children, not like a father, but like a mother. There
can scarcely be a better proof of the fervour of his per-
sonal feelings than the passionate devotedness which he
inspired in others. He did not, indeed, brook rivals near
the throne; but long before his political consequence had
either provoked rivalry or invited adulation, he was
famed for the number and the tenacity of his friendships.
All such connexions became elements of strength in the
position of the popular leader; but perhaps the single
characteristic which contributed most to make him the
darling of his countrymen, was the rich and gushing hu-
mour which burst up constantly, as from an inexhaustible
fountain, and blended itself with the whole stream of life
and business, at one time adding poignancy to scorn, at
another heightening, by contrast, the tenderness of pity.
Few, we think, who have seen a popular meeting in this
country under the spell of Mr. O'Connell's humour, will
doubt that in that faculty lay one main source of his
power with a people so susceptible as the Irish to the
ludicrous emotions. It seemed the natural mood into
which he relapsed after every suspension of effort. His
indignation was often histrionic, his pathos sometimes arti-
ficial; but his humour appeared to be the unforced and
joyous play of the mind in relaxation. He laughed
throughout his whole frame, and the contagion of his
mirth was too potent to be resisted. Mr. O'Connell had
his faults, and they were like his character—great. But
this is ni. t the time to speak of them. In his failings, as
in his powers and nobler qualities, there are some
curious resemblances to another and a greater leader—
a leader of agitation—who, with similar weapons, broke
the fetters, not of one people, but of the human mind.
A rugged force of character, the keenest sensibility to
humour and pathos, a
hard legal intellect, passions often
uncontrollable, fervent attachments and fervent hatreds,
the most arrogant and off • enstve assumption and the
, were all
most foul-mouthed abusivenese!in
united the
great reformer of the '
sixteenth
century. But time, and
the veneration which sees that the good done b such
y men long outlasts the evil, has softened all the harsher
lineaments •in the portrait of Martin Luther. Whatever
nobleness and truth and earnest pose were in him
whatever can enlighten, inspire anriumr te does no '
decay,
age, anbecomes but brightens from age to ' ad
't
an
im-
perishable possession of the race. Time will in like
manner separate the dross from the gold in the
character
ofainielO'Connell. His
work will remain open, and vindi-
cate its author. Other leaders, less open to accusation,
will enter into his labours, and probably demonstrate
that freedom from his faults is not the chief requisite for
accomplishing similar results. We may possibly see
more I d; en.argee views, more strict consistency, more
scrupulous propriety, but the mighty heart which
moved the people will scarcely be felt again. In the
government of Ireland Mr. O'Connell's death opens a
new era. It creates difficulties and presents opportuni-
ties, which, if not skilfully dealt with, may lead to very
disastrous issues. The labours of half a century had
united in Mr. O'Connell's person an unparalleled combi-
nation of influences. To move him was to move Ireland.
For Irish Governments that resource is now at an end.
The tie which held together so many jarring elements
is broken, and his political despotism seems likely to be
succeeded in the first instance by anarchy. While men
are still looking undecided into a doubtful future, a
vigorous policy and some regard to popular prejudices
might win the confidence of the nation. The object, in
fact, for an Irish Executive to aim at should be nothing
less than to step into Mr. O'Connell's vacant place. But
time is precious, and there are political passions now at
work in Ireland which, if not counteracted, will soon
transfer the public mind of that country to new and more
dangerous leaders. The materials for agitation were
never more abundant, and the flame, if kindled at the
present time, will catch in quarters which it never reached
before. Government should look welt to its poAition and
resources. Patronage is not an instrument to' be effect-.
Wel at suoh a time. If it be relied upon fur the supprei=
sion of agitation, the Executive may find its followers
reduced to a band of placemen and expectants. One
word upon a point to which we allude with reluctance,
though it is not impossible it may have already suggested
itself to the generous feeling of her Majesty's Govern-
ment. The remains of Mr. O'Connell will naturally be
brought home to be laid in his native soil. Under
existing circumstances, it would, we think, be a mark of
respect at once becoming and just, and which certainly
would be fully appreciated by the Irish people, to permit
those who are charged with this sad office to avail them-
selves of the services of one of her Majesty's ships.
TlMES.—There was a time when the thought of Mr.
O'Connell's disappearance from • the scene suggested
many interesting and anxious speculations. Would he
transmit his sceptre and crown, or would they be buried
in his grave ? Would his honours remain in his family,
or, like the Macedonian conqueror, would he leave then;
t 3 be fought for or divided by his chiefs ? Would it
indeed be found that so turbulent a career only disguised
a mission of peace, and that the prince of demagogues
mediated between the conqueror and the conquered,
between the unbending Norman and the revengetul
Celt? When the imposing phalanx of a national confe-
deracy was removed, would a thousand sanguinary quar-
rels occupy its place? Ireland had so loeg beets identi-
fied with Daniel O'Connell that it was scarcely possible
to conceive the one without the other. The People were
committed to a mighty enterprise, of which only one
man had the key. The Argonauts without Jason, the
followers of Ulysses deprived of their leader, could not
be more helpless than the Irish repealers, should they
suddenly find their Liberator no more. Such were the
reflections that for more than thirty years, and up to a
day, were familiar to the mind of
very recent ( very
thoughtful Englishman. Mr. O'Connell is dead. Where
are now the questions with which peace-loving people
were wont to torment the future, and endeavour to ex-
tract an oracle fro:n every sign of the times ? All is
silence. All is calm. The sudden close of half a cen-
tury's agitation almost passes in the crowd of events.
The death of that formidable tribune who was supposed
to keep the whole tyranny of the old world at bay, and
whose name had long been in either hemisphere the
watchword of revolt, falls on this changeful and melan-
choly hour with no more force than a faint recollection
of the past. No one asks what will Ireland do? The
event has no bearings on the future. O'Connell is gone,
and his mission expires. Yet how is this? Most cer-
tainly it is no human hand that has wrought so O'Connell had
mar-
vellous a change. Mr. not been detected
at last in the subtleties of litigation, or overwhelmed by
the majesty of the law. He had not been eni,bed by
the triumph of his political adversaries. He was taut
under the ban of a victorious party, the frowns of indignant
royalty, or the killing vigilance of energetic statesmen.
No coercion was taming his spirit, no prosecution was

THE 'LAST MOMENTS OF MR.
O'CONNELL.
We have received the following letter from a gentle-
man, to whom it was addressed from Genoa, with per-
mission to publish it :

milvtsiihiflight,na,
It
nrtift "Intent" Genoa, May 18, 1847.
paying his homage, as a Catholic, to Pius IL, O'Connell
on visiting the tombs of the apostles, and
was interrupted at this stage of, his pilgrimage by fatal
illness, and expired at the Hotel Feder, in this city,
about an hour and a halt after sunset on Saturday, the
15th instant.
" His life is for history, which will take care of it, but
this memorandum of what occurred since his last illness
seized him will be received, perhaps, with some interest,
were it only for its complete exactness. It has been
read for the approval of Mr. O'Connell's friends and
the physicians who attended him ; they sanction it as
correct.
" For two days after his arrival here from Mar-
seilles by the Lombardo steamer, the friends of the
illustrious pilgrim observed with joy that the im-
provement in his health, which they began to date
from Avignon, went on increasing ; but on Satur-
day, the Bth, it became necessary to have recourse to
the same aperient remedies which had been for some
time past adopted to relieve him, and always with com-
plete success. Diarrhoea, however, set in some time
after the remedies applied on Saturday night had pro-
duced the desired result, and as it still continued on
Monday morning: (after a partial cessation on Sunday)
it was deemed expedient to call in additional medical
aid. The English physician resident here, Dr. Duff;
and Dr. Berretta, of this city, met in consultation with
Dr. Lacour, the physician who had accompanied O'Con-
nell from Lyons. The diarrhcea was regarded as rather
fortunate than otherwise, as helping to relieve the head,
where they were of opinion the chief danger was to be
apprehended.
" With this view (which coincided exactly with that
taken of O'Connell's case from first to last by the most
eminent physicians of France), their remedies were
mainly directed to check the congestion, which they
judged to have been gaining ground in the brain from a
period considerably distant. The success with which
their efforts were attended was not lasting. However,
even after a fourth physician, Dr. Voiiani, was called
in on Friday, there still were hopes. Nevertheless, it
was judged prudent to be prepared for the worst ; and
on Friday night the last rites of the church were re-
ceived by the illustrious sufferer with a serenity and
a fervour of piety which produced upon the members of
mthoesctlperrgoyeouanndd hanisdferdieinfxdisngwhimopsruersrsoiounnsd.ed his bed the
" Towards three P.M. on Saturday he called his own
man, and, taking him warmly by both hands to acknow- 1
ledge the rare fidelity with which he had served hi,n, he
said, ' As yet I am not dying ;' but two hours later he
called for the Rev. Dr. Miley (his chaplain), to whom he
said, when he had bent down over him, the better to
hear his fast sinking voice—' I am dying, my dear friend !'
" The physicians were still in attendance ; but from
that moment the prayers and other offices of religion,
which had not been interrupted from the preceding
night, were pursued with redoubled earnestness by his
friends and the chief members of the clergy. At first
his voice was united in the prayers and responses ; but
as it became less and less distinct, his hands clasped in
fervour—his eyes, his countenance revealed hoot his soul
responded to the litanies for the dying, which they were
mingling with their tears around his bed.
" Occasionally, during this, his last illness, as the
brain became more and more invaded, there was a
momentary wandering of the mind, from which, how-
ever, the slightest word recalled him. He never mur-
mured, though his internal sufferings, at times at least,
must have been great. Every one was struck with
his serenity, his recollection, and fervour in receiv-
ing the last rites of religion. The adorable name of
Jesus. and , the. prayer of St. Bernard to our Blessed
Lady. mingled from time to time with verses from the
Psalms, and the most earnest and contrite aspirations,
were almost perpetually upon his lips. Upglste:ndtsottooaef
nfgepdlwcirimyn pre-
pared long, long La-
ments before he expired he continued to recognise his
for its advent.
our being, took
a "Far
d t
o confessor,
fshotwosehewrdfi that
his
tottiy"mbhsos
with
pdpetetfhehirsrtarreeuieofterritehna, r,pwesedes:
atssblsi
iyospsrnia,oengnmunag:adsdi
tempests
ngtthmdthi
which
contemplationyrah:li hisalmost
whichreos
hsauhteigacoegdehf
agitateae
bogss)
A eert
eager
eergosnmni
struggle than when the babe in smiling sinks to slumber
h family,g h stillthat ano sorrowfulresource c consola-
tion, sol
skilla-
upon
i Po
' on'
or climate calculated to prolong the existence of this ex-
traordinary man has been left untried. The professional
advice obtained for him was always the best that could
be procured.

" His body is to be embalmed and conveyed to Ire-
land. His heart he bequeathed to Rome. The autopsy
demonstrated singularly the correctness of the view
taken of his case, and how wonderfully successful had
been the remedies recommended in postponing the fatal

event.

" His obsequies commenced from the moment of his
decease, and are still continued with princely pomp in
the church of our Blessed Lady dells Vigne. They
are to close to-morrow with a grand requiem mass, at
which his Excellency the Governor• General, the fo-
reign Consuls, and Mr. R. Cobden, are invited to be
present.

THE LINNEAN SOClETY.—Yesterday, the 24th of
May, being the anniversary of the birth of J. Linnaeus,
the celebrated naturalist, the annual general meeting of
the members of this society, was held at their apart-
ments, Soho-square. The Bishop of Norwich, the Pre-
sident, in the chair. The report of the auditors, read by
R. H. Solly, Esq., stated the receipts to have amounted
to 1,097/., and the expenditure to a sum less by 1671.
The debt on the society amounted to 9051. Since the
last meeting the society had lost, by death, sixteen fel-
lows, two foreign members, and one foreign associate.
After the reception of the report, the secretary read me-
moirs of the most distinguished members the society bad
b_queobden,
lost. The officers were then balloted for and elected.
The Bishop of Norwich was re-elected president • J. S.
Bowerbank, Esq., W. J. Burchell, Esq., F. H.
janson,
Esq., Daniel Sharpe, Esq., and N. Wallich, Esq., were
appointed
members of the society. The meeting then
atnhnaotun cityc announces
n that
of M. C
a splendid an
dissolved, and in the evening the members dined tc.
gether at the Freemasons' Tavern.
MR. COBDEN IN ITALY.---A letter from Livorno,
honour
M.P.--La Bilancia (Italian paper). r
theidsabteedingp d
re pi' ba
aced tilt