The Sun.
London, England, 1847-12-13 00:00:00

MONDA Y E-VENING, DECEMBER 13, 1847.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.
PORTSMOUTH, SUNDAT.—Thp Fairy royal yacht em-
barked the Duchess ofKent yesterday at Trinity Wharf,
on her Royal Highness's return to town. The Ia ry
entered this harbour, under the usual ceremonies, at Live
minutes past twelve, and her RoYal Highness disem-
barked, together with the royal suite, comprising Lady
Fanny Howard, Colonel Grey, and Sir G. Couper, at ten
minutes past twelve. Sir Charles Ogle, Flag-Lieutenant
Cochran, Captain Sir Edward Parry, and the usual staff
and guard of honour, were present to receive the Royal
Duchess, who left by express train, under the superin-
tendence of Mr. R W. Stevens, of the South-Western
Railway, at half past twelve, from the Clarence-yard.
The Blenheim steam guard-ship, Captain Yates, was
docked yesterday after a great deal of labour, a leak
having been discovered in her bread-room, occasioned, it
is supposed, by the working of thescrew propeller. From
her great draught of water, owing to all her heavy
weights being on board, it was upwards of three hours
after the basin was closed before she could be got into
the dock, during which time the steam-engine was kept
incessantly pumping.
The Cockatrice, tender to the Ads, 84, in distress at
Plymouth, is ordered away to join the latter at Ply-
mouth without delay; so urgent is the order for her to
"move on," that she is not to be allowed the customary
embellishment of painting at this port.
The Cormorant steam-sloop, Commander Seymour, is
totally dismantled, and will be paid off to-morrow. One
of her midshipmen (Mr. Farringdon) was perempt,rily
dismissed her Majesty's service by order of the Lords of
the Admiralty on Thursday last.
Wind south, fresh breezes, and fine weather-5 P.M.,
Sunday.
ENGINEERS' PAT.—The King of Naples has given
orders to increase the pay of all the engineers in his
steam fleet. his Majesty has also ordered the engineers
(who are Englishmen) to wear the cocked hats and
swords.—Nautical Standard.
Extract of a letter from the Electra, 14, Commander
F. W. P. Bouverie, dated Gaspi, at the entrance of the
river St. Lawrence, Oct 30:—" All well. The potato
crop here is a total failure, but flour and other provisions
are abundant and cheap; flour, 325. per barrel currency.
An immense number of emigrants have arrived during
the summer, but sickness has prevailed to such an
alarming extent that Government has been compelled to
erect several hospitals."—Nautical Standard.
PROMOTIONS.
Commander—Charles Conrad Grey (1E42), of the
Columbine, to the rank of Captain.
Mates—J. J. Barnard, W. David Lock, and George
Don Murray, to the rank of Lieutenant.
APPuINTMENTS.
Rear-Admiral—Henry Prescott, C. 8., to be Superin-
tendent of Portsmouth Dockyard, vice Shirreff, deceased.
Captains—J. Shepherd, to the Inconstant, vice Bruns-
wick Popham, whose appointment is cancelled ; William
Fanshawe Martin, to the Prince Regent ; Bartholomew
J. Sulivan, additional, to the Victory, for special service;
Charles Eden, to be Flag-Captain to Admiral Sir C.
Ogle, vice Milne (in the event of the latter officer accept-
ing the offered seat at the Admiralty Board, in the room
of Rear-Admiral Prescott).
Commander—John Charles Dalrymple Hay, to the
Columbine, vice Grey, promoted ; W. F. Fead, to the
Prince Regent.
Lieutenants—H. F. M'Kellop, to the Hydra ;J. P.
Branch to the Inconstant ; R. J. J. G. Macdonald, Flag-
Lieutenant to Sir G. Seymour, to the acting command of
the Modeste ; E. E. Morgan, to the Cygnet ; J. C.
Bailey, to study at the Steam Factory ; H. Caldwell,
Frederick A. Egerton, Francis B. Porteous, Alexander
C .mGaosrtdeorsn—,
T. B
and Goewoeg,e Murray,tothe
George to the Prince Regent.
Hydra ; R. Read, addi-
tional, to the Blenheim ; Robert Fulton, to command
the Hercules, 72, on a voyage to Bombay with troops
Bowen,
and stores, and to bring home a cargo of teak from
Moulmein.

THEATRE-ROYAL, DUBLIN.
That most beautiful of the plays of our gifted
countryman, Knowles, The Hunchback, was per-
formed on Saturday evening, and never was the vola-
tile and wayward, but true-hearted Julia, represented
with more consummate grace or more exquisite feel-
ing. It is a character in which all Mrs. Kean's best
powers can be most effectively displayed, and as a
perfect piece of acting it cannot be surpassed. In the
earlier scenes, when the petted and wilful country
girl is transformed into the dashing and sprightly
city belle, her voice, her air, her carriage, her every
gesture, told of the proud and triumphant beauty
enjoying to their utmost those scenes so full to her of
novel excitement and varied attraction. And then
when, even in the midst of her anticipations of new
conquests in the race of fashion, the truths intended
to chasten and correct are poured into her unwilling
ear by her betrothed, her sudden anger and impe-
tuous pride spurning at all restraint—scornfully
rejecting the smallest curb, were admirably deli-
neated. Her acceptance of the Earl of Rochdale,
while this passion, overwhelming all reflection,
yet had sway, and then her after-remorse and agony,
awakened by the sight of Clifford, stripped of his
lands and title, the poor secretary of the Noble Earl
she was about to wed, were true to life—her ex-
pression of the latter feeling being indeed painfully
real. In the interview with her lover, reduced from
a lofty to a lowly state, the struggles between pride
and passion were finely rendered. It is evident that
a lofty feeling of duty and a fine sense of honour
joined to haughtiness not yet subdued, impel her to
observe the contract into which she has entered. But
the love, the first awakened love of a young, warm
heart, irresistible in its impulses, pleads for the poor
and humbled Clifford; and her half-frantic exclama-
tion of Clifford, " Why don't you speak to me ?" and
the thrilling tones of blended hope and joy in which
she asks if " these hated nuptials" can be shunned
" with honour ?" were rife with the most impas-
sioned tenderness. In this scene, too, the acting of
Mr. Kean was worthy of all praise. We are aware
that he undertook the comparatively insignificant
part of Sir Thomas Clifford, as Charles Kemble did
when his daughter first appeared, in order to give
the public an opportunity of beholding the character
of Julia developed in all its beauty; as other actors,
in their endeavour to draw down applause for themselves,
mar the completeness of her representation. He, there-
fore, while he threw enough of feeling and earnest.-
ness into the part to render it sufficiently effective,
never attempted to divide the attention of the
audience, or to turn their view for a single instant
from the vivid picture presented to them by Mrs.
Kean. During the entire of this trying scene, there-
fore, the interest was centered in Julia; and thus one
of the finest portions of the finest of Knowles's dramas
was given as it rarely is, but ever should be.
In the after-interview with Master 'Walter, when
love has trampled pride beneath her feet, Mrs. Kean's
acting was superb; and the following grand passage,
so trying to the powers of the actress, was delivered
with a passionate emphasis, positively sublime :
" Beware how you abandon me
To myself ! I'm young, rash, inexperienced, tempted
By most insufferable misery !
Bold, desperate, and reckless ! Thou hast age,
Experience, wisdom, and collectedness ;
Power, freedom, everything that I have not,
Yet want, as none e'er wanted ! Thou canst save me
Thou oughtst !—thou must I I tell thee at his feet
I'll fall a corse, e'er mount his bridal bed
So, choose betwixt my rescue and my grave—
A...d quickly, too ! The hour of sacrifice
Is near! Anon the immolating priest
Will summon me I Devise some speedy means
To cheat the altar of its victim. Do it,
Nor leave the task to me'!"

Chaplains—R. Thompson, to the Victory ; W. M.
Dyne, to the Inconstant.

Na;,al Instructors—R. M. Inskip, to the Victory ; A
Turmine, to the Inconstant.

Paymasters and Pursers—T. S. Heywood, to the
Hydra ; J. Goldsmith and J. Williamson have been
placed on the retired list ; Charles E. Cottrell, to the
Prince Regent.
Surgeons—Thomas H. Keown, to be superintendent
Hof the Mountetewart Elphinstone convict ship; D. G.
Miller, to the Blenheim; T. M. Jewell, to the Victory;
J. W:Bowler, superintendent to the John Calvin con-
vict ship; H. Morris, superintendent to the Bangalore
convict ship; W. F. Carter, to the Inconstant; W. H.
Brent, to the Pantaloon, vice Dr. Graham, deceased.:
Acting Masters—G. Allen and J. Scarlett, to the
Victory; Erancis Lee, to the Plover.
Clerks—E. J. Forster, in charge, to the Firefly ;
Arthur A. Davis, to the Prince Regent; J. E. Stiles, to
the Acheron.
Second Master—H. B. Akaster, to the Inconstant.
Acting Second-Master—J. Walker to the Victory.
Assistant-Surgeons—J. Simpson (b), to the Plover;
W. Smith, M.D., to the Meander; H. W. Horsell, to the
Bonetta • W. M. Ogilvie, to the Inconstant.
Midshipmen—T. J. Young, to the Stromboli; R. H.
Burton, to the Excellent; S. W. H. Thompson, to the
Cygnet.
Naval Cadets—A. Wigney, H. C. Mayne, and H.
Parke, to the Inconstant; J. Page and William R.
Shine, to the Hydra; Philip Brock, to the Mutine; G.
D. Panter, to the Acorn; Thomas B. Pratt, to the St.
Vincent.

Masters' Assistants—J. H. Harvey, to the Cockatrice;
E. Spry, S. Libby, and P. C. Moss, to the San Josef ;
D. Spear, to the Seagull.
PLYMOUTH, DEC. 10.—In addition to the damage
received in the late gale, her Majesty's ship Asia, 84,
sprung her mainmast, and will be some time detained
here under repairs. Admiral Phipps Hornby and
family have landed from her.

The merchant ship Chapman, C:iptairi Brooks, be-
longing to Messrs. James King and Co., arrived here
yesterday, with timber, from Quebec, for her Majesty's
dockyard. On the 6th inst. she encountered a heavy
gale from W.N.W., which drove her towards the coast
of France, when a sea struck her, broke her bulwarks,
swept her decks, and bruised her cook, John Williams,
of Devonport, who died from his injuries the same
evening.
This morning came in the American ship Lady Eli-
sabeth, Captain Hasty, from Liverpool, for Philadelphia,
out sixteen days, bore up from long. 12 W., with loss
of boats, roundhouse, &c., and the chief officer's leg
broken. Also the Danish schooner Maria, of Apen-
nade, Captain Ipland, from Rio Janeiro, for Christi-
ania, in Norway, leaky, with lossof bulwarks, rails,
stanchions, &c., and will have to discharge her cargo
of hides and coffee.

Mr. Kean's Sir Thomas Clifford, subdued as it
was, was a perfectly gentlemanly and most correct
portraiture; and though one of our morning contem-
poraries has stated that he appeared to him " to be
too self-collected—too much a master of his own
feelings," we are of opinion that if he were not self-
possessed, he would not have truly interpreted the
meaning of his author. Why, in the scene where
he appears as secretary, the bitterest reproach of
Julia's yet unconquered pride is, that he is " all
himself,' while she cannot but betray the deepest
emotion. In conjunction with Master Walter, he,
in fact, throughout all the latter scenes is but acting
a part, to the perfect performance of which, a com-
plete control over his own feelings is necessary. Our
critical contemporary further observes—" To judge
from the cheers of the house, his interpretation would
seem to have been regarded as the truest to the text
of his author." And in the judgment so pronounced
we altogether agree.
The Master Walter of Mr. Calcraft was marked
by his usual ability. Mrs. Ternan was a pleasing
and animated Helen, and was very deservedly ap-
plauded in the wooing scene with -Modus, well sus-
tained by Mr. King. The other parts were effectively
cast, and on the falling of the curtain Mc. and Mrs.
Kean were enthusiastically called for.
The entertainments concluded with a new farce,
called the Follies of a Night, in the annexed notice of
which, from the Saunders of yesterday, we entirely
concur :

THE SUBMERGED PROPELLERS.
On Saturday last, an additional series of experiments
were made on board the Albion steamer, in the presence
of Captain Smith, R.N., commander of her Majesty's
ship the Rattler steam-frigate; Captain Chappel, RN of the West India Mail Packet Company; Professor
Rowcroft, of the London University, and several other
scientific gentlemen, in order more fully to test the
powers of the submerged propellers with which the
vessel is furnished, and to hear the explanations of his
inventions and patents given by Mr. Simpson, the
patentee. The propellers, as it has been before stated,
consist of wheels acting horizontally or verdeally in-
closed in cases affixed to the sides of the vessel, and
placed beneath the water, so as to be invisible. A
column of water is ejected in a line parallel with the
vessel's motion, which column acts against the water
outside the vessel. There is no swell occasioned by the
operation of these propellers, and there is none of that
vibration by which the screw propeller is accompanied,
which must occasion Very great wear and tear. The
diameter of the submerged propeller wheels, fitted to the
Albion, are only two feet, indeed the whole apparatus
i
s so small in comparison with the cumbrous machinery
of common paddle wheels and propellers hitherto used,
that the speed and aptitude of the Albion appears
almost a miracle. The :party on board the Albion left
Blackwell about twelve o'clock, and steamed down the
river several miles against a strong tide and a contrary
wind. She however made way at a
great speed, and
satisfied those
on board of her capabilities. Mr. Simp-
son explained, by the aid of models and diagrams, the
principle of his invention. The vessel, after her per-
formances, returned to Greenwich, whore the gentlemen
on board left her at her moorings.

" The afterpiece of Follies of a Night proved quite
a gem in miniature. The Duke de Chartres of Mr.
Kean was a gay, easy, and most successful perform-
ance; and the Duchess found in Mrs. Kean a truly
charming representative. This vaudeville is one
which never grows dull for an instant; it has been
adapted to the stage in a kindred spirit, and bears a
person back to the days of a brilliant period, when
the most serious part of life was a comedy, and the
business of existence to learn to be amused. The
mistakes at the masquerade—the innocent accident by
which the Duchess finds herself in the sixth pair back
room of the rustic Pierre Palliot—the entry of the
Duke, who makes love to his own wife, unconscious
of who the lady in the pink domino is—the difficulties
of Pierre—all these are very happily treated, and the
afterpiece passed off admirably. Mr. Smythson did
justice to his part, and was humorous without appa-
rent effort. There was some excellent dancing during
the evening, and the performances were such as to
eminently merit what they received, the plaudits of a
crowded and fashionable house."—Dublin Evening
Packet, Dec. 7.

, atovvcohniNtlTeyEscsoulirtryvp.a—rwTic_hkis,
agedlady
D EATH OF THE VI
ElllBeci 'sec° second Viscount Hood,
died on the sth inst.
93. Her Ladyship was the
Whitley Court, and was
iisn Wl7l77e,letro, f only. daughter and heiress
who
died in 1836. Her ladyship was mother of the late Lord
Bridport. •
omfarr married,
THE LATE RAILWAY ACCIDENT TO :THE COEN.-
TESS OF ZETLAND.—A gentleman who was seated in a
carriage at a short distance from the Countess of Zet-
land in the same train, states that his _ attention was at-
tracted by the screams of the Countess and her atten-
dant, and by the smell of something burning. He en-
deavoured in vain to convey an alarm to the guard or
engine driver. He then opened the door of his carriage,
and succeeded in reaching the truck on which her Lady-
ship's carriage was placed, and found her clinging to
the wheel in a terrible state of alarm. The lady's maid
had fallen off. On the train arriving at Rugby an en-
gine was sent along the line to look for her; she had
tallen in a state of insensibility, with
her hands across
the rails, and before the engine-driver discovered her,
the wheels of the engine cut off her hands. She has
been conveyed to the Leicester Infirmary, but fears of
lockjaw are entertained.
DEATH OF LIEUTENANT-GENEIRAL CARNCROss.—
' It is our painful duty to announce the death of Lieute-
nant-General Sir Joseph Hugh Carncross, K.C.8., of
the Rayal Artillery, which .sad event occurred at his
seat, Rosclawn, Celbridge, at five o'clock 4..a5. on Tues
day last. The Gallant General was in the 78th year of
his age, the 55th year of his service, and was the oldest
Colonel-Commandant of the Royal Artillery but one.
He served in the West Indies from 1797 to 1801. at
Walcheren in 1809, and in the Peninsula and France
from 1811 to 1814, during which time he was engaged
in the battles of Salamanca, Siege of Burgos, Nive, Vittoria,
T Pyrenees, Nivelle, Orthes , and „louse. For
the last named victory he received a pension of 2001. a
" for Salamanca medal
year " for good services,
and cross,
and for other actions two cl asps. By his death Colonel
F. Campbell succeeds to the vacant Bth battalion of
Artillery.
MA.DLLE. DELUZY.—We read in the Droit :
" Madlle. Deluzy-DesPortes has just presented a demand
against Marshal Sebastiani for the delivery of the
legacy of 3,000 f. in Rentea which the Duke de Praslin
made her, as governess of his daughters, by his will of
1843. Madlle. Deluzy further demands that different
objects which were given
to her by her pupils, and
which are at present under seal, shall be restored
to her ; and finally, she demands the restitution of a
sum
of money which, she says, She confided to M. de
,j
Frllsllll $0 invest,"

ABOLITION OF CHRISTMAS GRATVITIES.—OB Satur-
day afternoon, a meeting of several tradesmen was held
at Mr. Nevill's, baker, Sidmouth-street, Gray's-inn-road,
for the purpose of promoting the movement for the
abolition of Christmas-boxes. The chair was taken by
the proprietor of the establishment, and several resolu-
tions were unanimously passed, urging upon the body of
tradesmen the necessity of meeting at once for the pur-
pose of doing away with the system. Preliminary
arrangements were entered into for the purpose of form-
ing district committees throughout the north and north-
west parts of the metropolis in aid of the object, after
which the meeting separated. On Friday afternoon
proceedings to the above effect took place in the Sub-
scription room, Mark-lane, amongst several of the large
factors and mealtnen. A subscription in aid of the steps
now being taken for the abolition of the Christmas-
boxing impost was entered into, and arrangements were
made for a future meeting on a larger scale for the same
purpose. The proposition was very cordially received
by all present.
THE SMITHFIELD CLUB CATTLE Strow.—This
exhibition closed on Saturday evening. No less than
60,000 persons, including some of the noblest in the land,
visited it during the four days it was open. The sales
of the cattle and other stock exhibited at the sho;v have
exceeded in number those of any preceding year since
the establishment of the club, and the animals have
generally obtained unusually good prices.
Another unfortunate fracas has recently taken
place at the Royal Military College, Woolwich. The
Master-General of the Ordnance, the moment the intel-
ligence reached him, proceeded to Woolwich, and insti-
tuted an investigation into the affair, which has termi- 4
nated in the dismissal of one of the students and the
suspension of three others. The offence of the young
men was their extreme ill-usage of another of their body.
—United Service Gazette.

Of the 170,000 weavers in Lancashire, there are
only 48,000 employed,

FRENCH PLAYS.
ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.
Le Chef d'CEuvre Inconnu is the title of an inte-
resting drama of art which was produced here on
Friday last, and which afforded M. Pechter an op-
portunity of completely establishing himself in the
favour of the audience of the St. James's. Rolla, the
hero of the piece (M. Pechter) is a young Genoese
sculptor, who is deeply enamoured of the daughter of
a senator. A reward is offered by the Grand Duke
of Florence for the best statue of St. Cecilia; and the
young sculptor, taking his lady love as the ideal
of beauty, produces a statue which, in the opinion
of Michael Angelo, far surpasses any of the
works offered for competition. The hand of his lady
lore has, however, been promised by her father to a
a Florentine noble as the price of his pardon, and
the father, in an agony, beseeches Rolla to hide the
statue. The likeness is unmistakeable, and the ho-
nour of the lady would be compromised by its dis-
covery. The nobleman to whom his mistress has
been promised comes to Rolla to award to him the
prize, and to demand the statue in the name of the
Duke. The young artist seizes his mallet and de-
stroys the statue, and then, overcome by his feelings,
falls dead, and a lifeless corpse is all that is left to be
adorned by the golden laurel. The acting of M.
Pechter was most pathetic. He was a
true child of the " sunny south " in his
enthusiasm for art and in his intensely
impassioned emotions. His Rolla is indeed a
chef d'a'uvre, but which will riot be long in-
connu. The new vaudeville Le Reviel du Lion, which
is well known to the English public from the trans-
lation of it (The Roused Lion), now performing at
the Haymarket, was likewise produced here on
Friday, Castigny sustaining the part sustained by
Webster, and Madame Valmy that sustained by Mrs.
Keeley. They were both admirable, as was also M.
Montaland, who made a most amusing character o
the fop.

A public meeting of the Health of Towns Associa-
tion was held on Saturday, in the Hanover-square
Rooms. There was a numerous attendance. The
Marquis of Normanby, President of the Association,
was in the chair, supported by Lord Ashley, M.l'. ;
Lord Ingestre, M.P. ; Earl Fortescue ; the Earl of
Mulgrave ; Lord Ebrington, M.P.; Mr. W. Mackin-
non, M.P. • Mr. Ewart, M.P. ; Mr. R. Adair, M.P.;
Mr. E. Ellice, M.P. ; Mr. Cardwell, M.P.; Mr. R.
A. Slaney, M.P.; Mr. H. Tufnell, M.P.; General
Turner; Mr. J. Heywood, M.P; Mr. W. S. Craig,
M.P. ; Mr. W. Baines, M.P.; Mr. C. Fortescue,
AI P. ; Mr. H. Suffield ; the Hon. E. P. Bouverie,
M.P. ; Mr. R. Palmer, M.P. ; Dr. Bowring, M.P. ;
Mr. Parker, M.P.; Mr. C. P. Grenfell, M.P.; Sir
J. Birch, M.P. ; the Hon. F. Byng; Mr. R. D.
Granger, F.R.S. ; Mr. C. W. Grenfell ; Sir I. L.
Goldsmid, Bart.; Dr. Southwood Smith, Dr. Guy,
Dr. Aldis, Dr. Hall, Dr. Moseley, Rev. Dr. Warren,
Rev. Mr. Lusignan, Mr. Tottie, Mr. F. L. Goldsmid,
Mr. C. Cochrane, Mr. D. Salmons, &c. Deputa-
tions attended from Bradford, Derby, Notting-
ham, Sheffield, Halifax, Wolverhampton, Stafford,
East Retford, Liverpool, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and
other places. Apologies for non-attendance were
received from Lord J. Russell, M.P. ; the Duke of
Buccleuch, the Earl of Shelburne, the Bishop of
Norwich, Lord Morpeth, M.P.; Sir B. Hall, M.P. ;
Sir W. Clay, M.P. ; Mr. H. G. Ward, M.P. ; Mr.
John Walter, M.P. ; Mr. C. Lushington, M.P. ;
Mr. John Bright, M.P. ; Mr. J. L. Bramstone.
M.P. ; Mr. R. W. Grey, M.P. ; Mr. J. Greene,
M.P.; Mr. G. Thompson, M.P. • Hon. W. F.
Cowper, M.P. ; Mr. H. Currie, M.P. ; Mr. W.
Brown, M.P.; Mr. W. Marshall, M.P. ; Mr. H.
Broadley, M.P., &c.
The Marquis of NORMANBY, on taking the chair,
was received with great cheering. He had been
summoned to this country at the commencement of a
new Parliament, and it gave him great pleasure to
have an opportunity, before he returned to his usual
duties, of attending a meeting of the association over
whom he had the honour to preside, acting in con-
cert with other advocates of sanitary reform. He
had therefore readily agreed to take the chair on the
present occasion.--(Cheers.) It had so often been
his lot to address detailed statements showing the
paramount importance of the subject which had
brought the meeting together to public assemblages, as
well as to that branch of the Legislature of which be
was a member, that he might well forbear from entering
upon it, and leave it to its own merits. But at this
moment there were certainly some peculiar circum-
stances. A not unnatural alarm for the future which
certain indications connected with public health had
presented could not, he was afraid, be entirely un-
mingled with some feeling of self .reproach for past
neglect.—(Cheers.) But, at the same time, the pre-
sent afforded hopes of a more substantial character
than the past. Within the last few days a report had
been presented of a Commission appointed since he
had last had the honour of addressing the Health of
Towns Association. That report embodied a precise
and definite recommendation, to which the Executive
had promptly and vigorously responded ; and, in re-
ference to the sewerage of the metropolis, it contained
information of a scientific and practical character
which could not fail to be of the greatest advantage.
Connected with this subject there was another of very
painful interest. At this moment, when they were
threatened with a more than possible visitation of the
great pestilential scourge of the age, it came upon
them as utterly unprepared as when fifteen years
ago it burst upon Europe with all its unknown
terrors.—(Loud cheers.) Information had been col-
lected only to be thrown aside. The most obvious
precautions bad been entirely neglected. Wherever
endemic disease was found prevalent the recur-
rence of cases was most to be dreaded. Filling a
public situation at the time, he had felt that no time
should be lost in directing the attention of the Go-
vernment and the Legislature to the subject. Though
he had to address a Parliament which was not friendly,
in a political sense, he was able in the last days of
Lord Melbourne's Administration to pass a measure
which obtained support on all sides, including that
of the Duke of Wellington, who then commanded the
suffrages of a large and influential party. In dealing
with this question different persons bad pronounced
different modes by which they hoped to arrive at a
satisfactory conclusion. He had objected at the time
to the appointment of a commission, which delayed any
practical measure ; but it was impossible to overstate
the amount and value of the information collected.
But how came it that, on a question that appealed to
every man's home and family, there had been no po-
pular agitation ? Agitation had gone on for years,
shocking many prejudices, and advancing many in-
terests which conflicted with those prejudices. But
never during all that time had popular agitation
mingled its cries with the feeble moans that issued
from the fever wards of the crowded hospitals.—
(Hear, hear, and cheers.) The Health of Towns Asso-
ciation had pursued its own career, independent of po-
litical parties, during the past, as he trusted it would
be for the future. But he recollected that when the
association was established they were told that the
public asked for bread, and they offered them a stone.
The taunt was not very just, as the figure of speech
was not very correct. What they did desire was to
save a struggling population from being entirely
crushed under a shapeless aggregation of stone and
brick, which had grown up over the length and
breadth of the land.—(Cheers.) They wished the
population not to suffer an entire deprivation of ac-
cess to that first universal gift of a bounteous Provi-
dence—the pure air of heaven. When masses of men
were congregated together for the purposes of labour
some sacrifice must be made ; all they asked was that
the same care should be taken in preserving the living
machinery as was taken in upholding the inanimate
machinery.—(Cheers.) The question had made great
progress. Within the last few days, since it had been
announced that he would be able to take the chair,
he had received letters, not only from individuals,
but from local bodies, in reference to inquiries
which they had instituted. From the mass of
information before him he wished to draw forth
one or two particulars which seemed to merit consi-
deration. A few days ago he had received a report
published under the authority of the town of Sheffield.
It was; in many respects, a very valuable report.
Putting sentiment and sympathy aside for the mo-
ment, it was interesting to see how men of business,
such as had drawn up that report, looked at the sub-
ject in a pecuniary point of view. The annual loss
by preventible disease in the West Riding of York-
shire, from death, sickness, and loss of productive
labour, skilled and unskilled, was estimated in round
numbers at 1,500,0001. sterling, in a population of
less than 1,000,000, being at the rate of from 275. to
28s. per head yearly. This was the report of men
of business.—(Cheers.) It was published under the
authority of the Health Committee of the Town-
council of the borough of Sheffield. One word on
burial clubs. He had received a letter on the subject
from Mr. Clay, of Preston, in which that gentleman,
well known to the advocates of sanitary reform, ex-
pressed his regret at not being able to attend that
meeting, and stated some interesting facts which
he (the Marquis of Normanby) wished to com-
municate to the meeting. A Bill had been passed
during his absence from the country which was
intended to diminish the great evils arising from the
insurance of infantile life. It provided that in-
surance should not be legally effected on the lives of
children under six years of age. Mr. Clay stated
that in the quarter with which he was connected the
Act was entirely inoperative. Frightful examples
were well known to have occurred of the evils to
which the custom had given rise.—(Hear, hear.) At
the last assizes at York a father was tried for the
murder of his child, on whose death the father ex-
pected to receive 50s. from a burial club. It was
proved that the father had said he had another child
who would bring him 505., and two others who would
bring him Si. a piece. At Lincoln a woman had been
tried for the murder of three of her children ; and it
was impossible to assign any other motive for the
crime than the desire to appropriate the money for
burial. At Warrington a coroner's jury brought in
a verdict of " wilful murder" against a woman whose
husband was the victim, and for whose burial she re-
ceived 201. from the burial societies. In Preston,
with a population of 60,000, there were no fewer than
49,000 insurances effected in such clubs. Mr. Clay
also stated that while the deaths under five years of
age in Preston were 59 per cent., the medical at-
tendance on children under that age was only
13 per cent. So long had the subject of sanitary im-
provement been discussed, that certain truisms were
established, one of which was that a town population as
compared with a country populationthe w
unfavour-
ably situated, the average deaths in the
laies s
countryB. The
average being
e
lin 25, while those in towns were:46. In Rutland-
shire life was twice the
average for all England was I
l of life in Manchester.
Regiments raised in agriculturaldistrictswns 0
large lasted
recruits
coming as long as those raised in to
coming from manufacturing districts twice as many
were rejected as of those coming from agricultural
districts. These facts had been long impressed on his
memory ; but others h adrecently come to his know-
ledge which further illustrated the subject. In St.
Saviour's, Southwark (the most unhealthy of all
parts of the metropolis), the average duration of life
among the.gentry was 47, tradesmen 25, artizans 22,
whilst amongst the lowest class it did not exceed 15.
lie would not, however, enlarge. He could, for
example, have said much upon the water monopolies
—(Greatcheering)—upon the necessity of considering
water at least as great a necessary of life as bread or
any other article of food.—(Cheers.) Referring again
to the report from Sheffield to which he had alluded,
he found it stated that great as was the improvement
in that town, compared with the time when people had
to carry water into their houses with the hand, yet even
now the difference between the price of water as fur-
nished by the company and what it might be, was as 6d.

,
HEALTH of TOWNS ASSOCIATION to Id. for every thousand gallons.—(Bear-^He felt
all the difficulty that at present existed ha *dealing
. with any question in the least connected orith the
public revenue or taxation ; but he must express the
hope that some arrangement might be made wA'tir
reference to the window-tax—(Loud cheers)—so that
with regard to the lowest class at least, they might
not be deprived of the solace, amid their sad hours,
of a glimmering of light.—(Cheers.) Any one who
; had paid attention to this subject could mark the dif-
-1 ference between the countenances of those who were
habitually huddled together in their dark dens, be-
yond the reach of day, and of those who, even in
comparatively dark courts, still expanded beneath the
influence of the sun.—(Cheers.) He trusted that the
greatly increased public interest in this whole ques-
tion would be further proved by the repetition, if
necessary, of meetings like the present in different
parts of the country, and that they would be able to
give that effective support to a willing Government-
-
(Loud cheering)—in passing a comprehensive legis
lative measure, which might at length overbear all
that opposition which really, in its nature and amount,
was utterly contemptible.---(Cheers.) lf they were suc-
cessful in their efforts, then they would have the great
satisfaction of looking back to an improved state of
things throughout the country ; and, viewing the
question practically and comprehensively, they would
increase that which was the best foundation of a
nation's strength—the vigour of a thriving popula-
tion.— (Cheers.) They would be able to hold out to
the working classes some prospect of that which used
to be the boast of this country—the modest comforts
of an English home.—(Great cheering.) They would.
also, as far as depended on the removal or counter-
action of all those noxious influences that now existed,
secure to the rich and extend to the poor that first of
worldly blessings—a sound condition of body and
I mind, the mens sana in corpore sano, without
which no luxury could be enjoyed, and with
which there was hardly any privation that might not
be endured.—(Cheers.) Apologizing to the meeting
for having been drawn further into the subject by
sense of its overpowering importance than he hadl
intended, the Noble Marquis, amid loud cheering,.
resumed his seat.
Lord ASHLEY (who, on rising, was loudly cheered)
said, it was very gratifying to him, as it must be to
the Noble Lord in the chair, and to all present, to
see the numbers and respectability of those who
thronged the room and the platform on that occasion,
because it showed the great and increasing interest
felt in this mighty question, while it held out a well-
grounded hope of effective support being given to her
Majesty's Government in the excellent course they
hed determined to pursue.— (Cheers.) His gratitude
to them in this matter would be shown by his making
the shortest possible speech, so as not to detain them
more than one minute; and for this reason—because
there were many present who ought to be heard on
this question—many new labourers in the vineyard,
men of " mark and substance," whose sentiments were
worth hearing, and who, if they delivered not their
sentiments, would at least benefit the cause by re-
cording their names in favour of the great and im-
portant movement in which they were embarked:—
The resolution he had to propose would, without
any explanation of his, tell its own story. It was—
" That the vast amount ef disease always prevailing
—greatly augmented during the past and present
years, and likely to be still further increased by the
visitation of the cholera—and proved by successive
Government commissions, as well as by recent local
investigations, to exist in every part of the empire, in
connexion with causes admitting of removal—renders
it imperative that sanitary legislation should he imme-
diate and as universal as the evil it seeks to remedy."
Now, they would observe that their attention was
particularly directed to the apprehended visitation of
cholera. The resolution went on to say, that disease
at all times existed in all parts of the country ; but it
added this, and it was to this point he wished to direct
their most anxious attention—that the evils which ex-
isted were " in connexion with causes admitting of re-
moval."—(Hear, hear.) They might depend upon
it that not one single truth had been more firmly
established of late years in this country than that the
condition of our great towns and of the people in-
habiting those towns was not a natural, necessary,
and inevitable evil.—(Cheers.) It was not in the
order of a merciful Providence that millions on mil-
lions should be left in that dreadful and neglected
condition.— (Cheers.) It was the consequence of our
own neglect, of our own wicked and sinful neglect;.
and, from the bottom of his heart, he thanked God
that He had brought this country to a better sense of
its duty ; and he prayed and believed that He would
bless all the efforts now directed to the tem-
poral, aye, and to the spiritual benefit of so many
millions of His created and responsible beings
(Cheers.) Now, let the meeting bear this in
mind, that the evils complshed of were capable of
removal ; and, if capable of removal, it was clearly
not only our interest, but it was manifestly our duty
to bestir ourselves for the adoption of those measures
that were necessary for their removal.—(llear, hear.)
Perhaps they would permit him very shortly to point
out other benefits that would follow in the train of
those great physical improvements which they hoped
to accomplish. He would read a letter which had
been stint to the association by the Rev. Charles
Girdlestone, a man whose opinions on such a tAihject
could not fail to have the greatest weight with all
present. The Noble Lord here read the letter, which
was to the effect that the writer, "in visiting the
people of his populous pariah (Dudley), saw daily
illustration of the truth and importance of those prin-
ciples which the meeting was summoned to uphold
—that the clergy ought to be the first to come for-
ward in this great cause.—(Cheers.) None knew so
well as they that the state of the dwellings of the
labouring classes—to a great extent beyond their
own control—was not only incompatible with sound
health of body, but also such as to render all but ab-
solutely impracticable some of the most essential
graces of the Christian character."—(Hear, hear.)
If he might be allowed to add his feeble experience
to that of this eminent clergyman, he did not hesitate
to say that their pulpits and their school-rooms, their
daily and their nightly visitations, their exhortation*
and their example, were pretty nearly fruitless so long
as they left the great mass of the people filthy, and
schooled under all those noxious influences which led
to indulgence in those very vices which they were
labouring to uproot.—(Cheers.) Now, let them Set+
themselves to remove those noxious influences, which,
if there were time, he could prove were the cause of
much of the frightful intoxication that was the be-
setting evil of the working people, and a more fruit-
ful cause of poverty, degradation, and the workhouse.:
than any others that he was aware of in the whole.
catalogue of those sins and mischiefs that charac-•
terised the working population of this realm.—
(Cheers.) Let them set themselves to place the
people in such a condition as decency required—to
place them, he would not say in circumstances peen,*
liarly favourable, but in such a condition to it
would be possible for them, which it was not now. So
practice the lessons of virtuewhilfh
theyt w
the teachers
for
ward religion inculcated.—(Cheers.)
ward and did that, then the ministers of religion, of
all denominations ; then the scripture readers, and
that admirable man, the city missionary, might go
forth to their work with fruit and acceptance ; and let
them doubt not that in a short space of time, by the
blessing of God on their endeavours, they would see
a prosperous population gathering around them, and
then would they bless God for the enjoyments they
themselves possessed, and for the good things which
Lie had put into their hearts to perform for others.
Dr. GUY, in seconding the resolution, would lay
before the meeting a very few facts to show that
disease, which was always prevalent, had been increas-
ing among us of late years. Without entering into
minute details, he trusted he would b:on,ba le toand,
in so
doprove
thei
doing
wouldi t ions laid
take dowel
th emostin ,the
moderatere sol u
standardi as the
amount of mortality, namely, 2
per cent., one very
in his reports from week week.by thitle' Registrar-General
s tsryasrteGme ne
Tao
f al
much below that employed by
stak,„2ehad
in his calculations, thbeen in force for nine
e
healthiest of those ye
years, registration
an dof fe deaths,
would
The total number of deaths
ar .
in England
thea and
moderate d Wales
standard he had taken, was
arlaes in the healthiest of those
years, above
25,000; in the whole
bo the
same,U n i
the
e deaths Kingdom,
w e
re supposing43ooo.
the mortality to
Take the average of seven years, of which 1841, the
year of the census, was the middle year, and they
found the total deaths over and above the reason-
able standard he had taken to be 30,000 in Eng-
land and Wales, and in the United Kingdom
51,000.—(Hear, hear.) It had been estimated that
for every necessary death there were twenty-eight
cases of unnecessary sickness ; that might be too,
high an estimate, and he would take it at twenty.
There were, therefore, in England and Wales, during
the healthiest year, 500,000 cases of unnecessary
sickness; and, taking the average of seven years, the
numbers in the United Kingdom exceeded 1,000,000.
—(Hear, hear.) In the case of the metropolis the
annual waste of life was in the healthiest year 8,000,
and 160,000 cases of unnecessary sickness ; taking the
average of seven years the deaths were 11,000, and
the cases of unnecessary sickness 250,000.—(Hear.)
These facts fully justified the first clans 9 of the reso-
lution.—(Hear, hear). The next clauie of the resolu-
tion was to the effect that this disease had been
s
greatly augmented during past years, andor
point he would give the figures of the
England and
Registrar-Ge-
neral. Taking the 117 districts o
year ending September, . 8
Wales included in his reports,
1 4t3heythffoeunddeatthhast in the
;betlwBe4e6u,
178,000; 1847, 210,000; being
161,000 ; 1844, 167,000 , 184a5
1847, of 50,00,3
1845, 171,000
They were beginning to deaths.---(Hear, hear.)
of sickness I and
September, 1843, and September,
decrease; but three weeks, ago,
mortality was on the T
con-
gratulate themselves that this amount
above the: average
seven hundred deal
in consequence of the prevailing ing epidemic, there
were .