The Sun.
London, England, 1824-05-27 00:00:00

rmortNINQ CHRONICLE.]

Mr. Kennedy obtained last night the oppor.
tunity, for . which he has been for some time
anxiously longing, of explaining how he and Dr.
Chalmers alone are in the right with respect to
the Poor Laws of Scotland, and all the rest of

he people of that country are in the wrong.—

We do not believe a measure was ever submitted
to a Legislature, which met with such unquanfi.ed
condemnation by all ranks and classes of. the
people for whom it was destined, as this'bn.
fortunate offspring of the Hon. Gentleman,--.
However, nothing daunted by this reception, he
declared
.« that in withdrawing his Bill, he .did

not wish it to be understood that he was to be
prevented by any clamour that might be raised
from prosecuting his object." Clamour to 'he
sure--Nul n'a raison gut nous et nor amis. It was
rather, cruel in the- Hon. Gentleman to keep
back from us .his reasons till he had withdraWn
his Bill, just as it were, to shew us the extent of
the -,loss we had sustained. However, let us exa-
mine a little the reasons of the Hon. Gentleman :
Assessments were . either good or had''
if good, :they should be general ; if bad,
they should be abolished ; and seeing that
in the greater part of Scotland no assess-
ments existed, he wished to abolish them

in the remaining Parishes, and to produce
that uniformity
of system which was so de-
sirable in every country." reasoning
The
here, when reduced to a strictly logical form,
seems to be : assessments are either good or bad,
&c. ; in the greater part of Scotland there are no
assessments, therefore assessments are bad, and
ought to be abolished. But some other argu-
ment is necessary to prove that they are bad
than the mere fact of their not existing in' the
greater part of Scotland. When Mr. Dawson,
who died only the other year, introduced the
two-horse plough from Norfolk into Scotland
(for improvement in that country is but of yes-
terday's growth), it might have been urged that
the old Scotch plough, which required a number
of horses or oxen, and one person to hold it and
another,to drive it, was used throughout the

greatest part of Scotland, and it was therefore
the best. When Mr. Kennedy's proposition is
fairly examined it is little less than prepos-
terous. In the first and best cultivated, and
most thriving parts of Scotland, he finds as-
sessments, and in the Highland and Moor-
land parts, which form the greatest portion
of the country, he finds none, and for the
sake of uniformity, he wishes to assimilate the
practice of the best to that of the worst parts
of the country.—" It was asserted by some
that assessments were necessary in every civilised
country. His answer to this was the fact he had
stated, that in the greater part of Scotland there
were no assessments." We are to infer from
this—first, that the greater part of Scotland
is all in the highest state of civilization ; and
in the second place, that no inconvenience is felt
from the want of assessments. We suspect we
know a good deal more of Scotland, and the pro-
gress of its civilization, than the Hon. Gentleman.
No country in Europe has advanced more rapidly
in civilization than Scotland ; but the population
of a very great portion of the country are still
strangers to nearly all the arts of life. As far
as the peasantry are concerned, except in
the assessed districts, namely, in the Lothians
and the Merse and Tivotsdale, comfort was not
to be found in their dwellings till of late years.
Within two miles of the town of Perth, in one
of the most beautiful districts in Europe,.Strath-
earn, a plate or a piece of stone ware was not to
be found in a single cottage.

SOCIETY OF ARTS.

Yesterday the Annual Meeting'of the Society
for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers, and Commerce,
took place at the King's Theatre; when the prizes were dis-
tributed for proficiency in the several,departments of Science
- -
and Art.
The Theatre was lighted in the usual manner, and crowded
in every part. His Royal Highness the Duke of SussEx ar-
rived atone o'clock; and took the Chair. Near his Royal High-
ness, General Mina, the Greek Deputies, and several personages
of distinction, were seated.
The ROYAL CHAIRMAN congratulated the Society upon
the numerous and elegant assemblage which he had the honour
of witnessing on the present occasion, and called upon the Se-
cretary (Mr. Aikin) to read the Report.
Mr. ALK IN then read the Annual Report, which conveyed
a -very favourable account of the progress and extension of the
objects of the Society, and enumerated the meritorious individuals
upon whom the prizes-had been conferred.
The Duke of SUSSEX, ix distributing the rewards, paid se-
veral compliments to the individuals who received them. In
presenting the silver Isis medal to Mr. Johnson, for a portrait,
he remarked upon the palpable value of this Society, which de-
veloped merit in so forcible a manner ; the individual who now
received the reward being deaf and dumb, and having had his
talents cultivated by their patronage.
In presenting the large gold medal to, Henry Blyth, Esq.,
Burnham, Norfolk, for embanking 253 acres of marsh land from
the sea, he complimented that gentleman on his valuable efforts
in the promotion of rural and agricultural economy. He also
spoke in the highest terms of Mr. Hurd's services, in raising
oaks for timber, for which the Society had rewarded him with
a large gold medal.. -
In presenting a youth 10 years age, Master Passmore, with
the silver palette, for an historical subject in pencil, his Royal
Highness held out to the successful candidate the prospects
which the Society had opened for him, and which he trusted he
would realize to the utmost.of his sanguine expectations in fu- I
ture years.
The presentation of the prizes occupied the Chairman until
past four o'clock ; and many of the candidates, particularly the
Ladies, were loudly applauded.
In agriculture and rural economy, there were 3 prizes; in
chemistry, 4 ; for original oil -paintings, 14 ; for copies in oil
(hporary class),' 5 ; for paintings in water colours, and copies,.
15'; for chalk drawings, 13 ; for drawings from statues and
busts, 10 ; for plaster models, 4 ; and copies from the antique,
4 ; for architecture, 11 ; for drawings of machines, 2; fOr en-
graviugsl.6 ;, for manufactures, 18 ; for mechanics, 20 ; and
for colonial improvements, 4.
The•Dilke of SussEx, in conclusion, congratulated' the So-
ciety on the benefits which they had conferred upon the public,
and the encouragement which they held out to t deserving.in
every department of art.
The4society celebrated their anniversary by a dinner in the
evening, at . Freemasons'-hall.

The Trustees of the late Earl of STRATHM.ORE
have appointed the Rev. ROBERT GREEN, A.M., of New-
castle-upon-Tyne, to the donative of Gibside Chapel (in the
.county of Durham), Nice the ReyeTend JAIIES BLACKBURN,
' de:Ceased.
`The'' remains of the late Dr. STRAHAN, the
friend and exeCutor. of Dr. S. Joi!NsoN, were in-
terred' on Monday in Islington church, of which
parish he had been vicar 50 years. The inhabit-
ants, to testify their respect, shut up their houses,
and assembled in greater numbers than were
ever witnessed in that parish. Amongst the. nu-
merous" cirriages which followed were those 'of
the Lord Chancellor, and many other persons of
distinction.

FATAL BOXlNG.—Tuesday evening a fight
took place under Pile-hill, near Bristol, between
two of the workmen at a coppersmith's, who had
previously quarrelled. After the contest had
been continued for some. time, one of the. men
fell, and was conveyed. home to his house in a
state of insensibility. Surgical aid was procured,
but in vain, for this unfortunate victim of the
brutal practice of boxing died in a few hours
afterwards. Verdict of the Inquest—" Man-
slaughter."
Au Inquest was -held last week at Lichfield,
on the body of William Proffitt,, aged 14. Being.
at work at Messrs. Leach and Corbett's mill, he
became-entangled.in a strap connected with the
machinery ; was dashed with great violence
'against the ceiling
.several
.times, and before he
could be liberated was mutilated in a dreadful
manner. He died almost instantaneously.—
Verdict—" Accidental' Death, with a deodand-
of fie'e shillings on ,the.machine."

COA-L-MARKET, MAY 26.
Ships at Market. ships sold Prim
' 8 Newcastle , - - els Od to 37s Od
2i Sunderland - -2/ - 303 9d to 42, ed

BIRTHS.
On the 21st inst., at Hythe, • Kent, the lady of the Rev.
Henry Thompson, of a 'still-horn daughter.
On Tuesday, at her residence in the Regent's Quadrant,
Madame Caradori Allan, of a son.