The Sun.
London, England, 1847-12-14 00:00:00

N, DECEMBER 14, 1847.

Tin Plates are nominally quoted at dolls. 7 to 8
per box.

Woollens—These goods have been in more favour
during the last ten days than for some months, which
has enabled holders to move off about 2,700 pieces at
dolls. 1.10 for ordinary qualities, to dolls. 1.27 for the
finer descriptions per yard. At Shanghae and Amoy
they are very little sought after.

[PRICE SD.

CHARCOAL AND THE DIAMOND•
(From the Weekly Dispatch.)
WORDS.—" What's in a name?" says the great dra-
matist. " Something—much—every thing." The world
is governed by names, men have been led by names to
destroy one another for centuries; torrents of blood
have flowed because some could not or would not say
Shibboleth just as others were used to do. " A rose by
any other name would smell as sweet." Yes, it would
smell, but would it sound as sweet? The familiar word
instantly recalls to memory the charming colour, the
delicious perfume, and the graceful form of the queen of
flowers. Such is the effect of association. No wonder,
then, that words are such mighty things, in spite of the
proverbs that teach us that " fine words butter no
parsnips," and that "hard words break no bones." But
proverbs are two-edged swords. Hard words do
break bones, since they impel men to do so. " Give a
dog a bad name," call him mad, and you will hang the
quietest spaniel that ever liked beating. Words are
but air, mere breath; but one such as cost many a man
his life, many a king his throne, many a nation its
liberties.
"Charcoal and the Diamond are precisely the same
in chemical formation. Some secret process of crystal-
lization alone constitutes the difference between them,
and when passed through a furnace the gem is imme-
diately reduced to mere carbon."—Philosophical Notes.
The green-wood paths were thick and long,
The sunny noontide shed its glow;
The lark was lazy in its song,
The brook was languid in its flow:
And so I sat me down to rest,
Where grass and trees were densely green,
And found dear Nature's honest breast
The same that it had ever been.
It nurtured, as it did of old,
With Love and Hope and Faith and Prayer;
And if the truth must needs be told,
I've had my best of nursing there.
I sat me down—l pull'd a flower—
I caught a moth—then let it fly;
And thus a very happy hour,
Perchance it might be two, went by.
A fragment from a fuel stack
Brushed by a hasty Zephyr's wing,
Fell, in its joyless garb of black,
Beside my one dear jewell'd ring.
I snatched no more the censor bell ;
I held no dappled moth again ;
I felt the dreamer's dreamy spell,
And thus it bound my busy brain.
C * • * C * *
There lies the charcoal, dull and dark,
With noxious breath and staining touch ;
Here shines the gem whose flashing spark
The world can never praise too much.
How worthless that—how precious this,
How meanly poor—how nobly rich :
Dust that a peasant would not miss,
Crystal that claims a golden niche.
There lies the charcoal, dim and low—
Here gleams the diamond high in fame ;
While well the sons of Science know
Their atom'grains are both the same.
Strange Alchemy of secret skill !
What varied workings from one cause
How great the Power and the Will
That prompts such ends and guides such laws.
Do we not trace in human form
The same eccentric, wonderous mould?
The lustre spirit, purely warm,
The beamless being, darkly cold?
Do we not find the heart that keeps
A true immortal fire within?
Do we not see the mind that leaps
O'er all the pit-falls dug by Sin?
Do we not meet the wise, the kind,
The good, the excellent of earth,
The rare ones that appear designed
To warrant Man's first Eden birth?
Oh, many a fair and priceless gem
Is fashioned by the hidden hand,
To stud Creation's diadem,
And fling God's light upon the land.
And do we not look round and see
The sordid, soulless things of clay,
Sterile and stark as heart can be
Without one scintillating ray?
Bosoms that never yield a sigh,
Save when some anguish falls on self—
Hand, that but seeks to sell and buy,
Grow thin and hard in counting pelf?
Brains, pent in such a narrow space
That Spirit has no room to stir;
Wills, that where'er may be their place
Seem only fit to act and err!
We boast the demi-god sublime,
We spurn the wretch of baneful mood—
One, linked divinely with " all time,"
The other, stamped with " reign of blood."
Strange Alchemy of secret skill:
That thus sends forth in mortal frame,
The gem of Good—the dross of 111,
Yet both in elements the same.
An angel's glory lights this eye,
A demon's poison fills that breath;
Yet undistinguished they shall lie
Passed through the crucible of Death.
What is the inspiration held?
Where is the essence that refines?
How is the carbon gloom dispelled?
Whence is the jewel light that shines?
4.
The dream was o'er—l started up,
I saw a spreading oak above;
I tried to snatch an acorn cup—
I strove to mock a cooing dove.
I had been weaving idle thought
In cobwebs, o'er my foolish brain,
And so I snapt the warp, and sought
The common thread of life again.
But still methinks this wonder theme
Of Mind debased and Soul divine—
This diamond and charcoal dream,
Might haunt a wiser head than mine.
ELIZA COOK.

CHEAP NEWSPAPERS.
(From the Glasgow Saturday Post.)
A good deal of speculation has been excited in this
city, during the week, by the failure of Mr. Alexander
Alison, jun., the managing partner of the Ayrshire
Iron Company, who was also the principal or only pro-
prietor of some extensive newspaper concerns. We do
not, as yet, conceive ourselves in a condition to state
particulars regarding the affairs of these literary spe-
culations; but if one-half that is reported be correct,
they must have been conducted under a heedless course
of engagements that has not been surpassed in modern
times, and which has seldom been conceived even in the
overdrawn pictures of extravagance that have been
painted by authors of fiction.
The following particulars regarding these concerns
are condescended on by two contemporary publications
of this morning:—
(From the Railway and Shipping Journal.)
On Wednesday last, Mr. Alexander Alison, jun., the
manager of the Ayrshire Iron Company, called a meet-
ing of his private creditors. It appears he is indebted
to the company about 15,000/., sixteen hundred pounds
of which ho drew out on Friday, the 3d instant. On
an explanation being demanded as to how he had dis-
posed of this sum, he stated that he had given 3001. to
his servants, 1501. to his jeweller, 6001. to a relative,
and that he had 2001. in his pocket. What he had done
with the remaining 3501. he could not tell, but he would
try and remember. It appears that he is the proprietor
of Tait's Magazine, the National Adthrtiser, and a new
daily paper, set agoing about eight months ago, called
the North British Mail. The National is behind 3,0001.
to 4,0001., and the Mail 11,700—that is to say
the loss upon these are the sums stated, with the excep-
tion of about 2,7001. of assets due to them by parties. The
Mail, we observe, states that it is to be carried on by
some gentlemen, who have come forward voluntarily to
support it ; but it does not give the names of the fools.
A daily paper to be maintained in Glasgow at a loss of
fifteen thousand per annum, is an " area in our existence,"
as a Glasgow bailie used to say !
(From the Constitutional.)
A most deplorable example of bubble-bursting has
just happened in this city, in which we grieve to see
the character of our profession is concerned. It appears
e
that a Mr. Alison (whose transactions with the Ayrani_ru.
Iron Company have given rise to
a TieartycoPnaicernt )1
state of affairs among the partners4of
rt
B itish Mail, a
some time ago established the N
lately become insolvent, and submitted daily paper, of which he was soe pearetteneter.ment Havingefhie
editors, on Wednesday
affairs to a meeting of
announcedoool.,
allthat
w i
tthhiins
paper has incurred aloss last, the astounding
the eight t sets down a sum of
state of affairs fachtisowf aasbout
showing this result months of its existence. It seems the
6,0001. odds as owing to. a concern called the City Print-
ing Company, for printing the paper; and it turns out
on inquiry that the editor of the paper, who is not a
Ipartner in the pap i
er, s the only partner, excepting the
owner of the paper, of the City Printing Company.
This is very curious.

LIBERAL ANONYMOUS DONATION TO KING'S
COLLEGE lIOsPITAL.—At a meeting of the committee
of the above excellent charity, it was stated that the
liberal anonymous contribution of one hundred sove-
reigns bad been received in aid of the funds of the hos-
pital—the benevolent donor merely giving the signature
of " A Friend." It was added by the committee that
it was chiefly by such charitable gifts that they were
enabled to distribute the blessings of the hospital
amongst the poor of the densely-populated neighbour-
hood, their annual income, from subscriptions and divi-
dends, being under 1,800/., while the expenditure
exceeded 4,0001. The average number of patients
received during the year is nearly 21,500 of which up-
wards of 1,200 receive the benefit of the indoor treatment.

IRELAND.
DEATH OF MR. JUSTICE BURTON.

DUBLIN, DEC. 10.—The venerable Charles Burton,
the senior Puisne Judge of the Court of Queen's Bench,
breathed his last, without a struggle or pain, this after-
noon, at his residence in St. Stephen's-green. He had
been but a few days ailing, and no later than last week
was in sufficiently robust health to take walling exer-
cise. He was called to the Irish bar in 1792, and must
have been fast verging on his 90th year.
The vacant seat on the bench will, of course, be
offered to the Attorney-General; but it is generally sup-
posed that Mr. Richard Moore will decline the appoint-
ment, in which case Mr. Monahan (the Solicitor-Gene-
ral) will be the new judge, and Mr. Hatchell Solicitor-
General.
The Irish Chancellor continues seriously indisposed;
bulletins are issued daily, the one of this day stating that
the Right Hon. Gentleman is no better. Inflammation of
the lungs is apprehended to have set in. His. rough is
extremely troublesome, and he is much weakened from
want of sleep.
THE LATE JUDGE BURTON..
The Freeman's Journal (the daily organ of Repeal
and Romanism) has the following truthful and interest-
ing obituary notice of the lamented Judge Burton:—
" We record, with regret, the death of thin eminent
judge. He died yesterday, after a brief illness, for he
had been a sedulous attendant in court up to the close of
term. The decay of his faculties had been for a long
period manifest to all, and his demise followed in the

regular course of nature, for he survived by many years
the ordinary age of man, having been, we believe, very
close on his 90th year.
" The career of Judge Burton is a remarkable instance
of the powers of mind over circumstances. An English-
man and a stranger, without family ties or connexions,
or any of those artificial aids which contribute to modern
success at the bar, he worked himself to that fortune,
fame, and honour which accompany laborious industry
and a fine intellect. If he was indebted to any patron-
age for any portion of the distinction which he after-
wards acquired, that source of his success is attributable
to his connexion with Curran. Mr. Burton, in early
life, being in charge of the business of •an eminent
London firm, was sent over to this country to look after
the purchase of property. He had frequent interviews
with Curran on the subject, who was in turn quit. cap-
tivated with the shrewdness and good sense of the
modest Englishman, and, on the settlement of the ques-
tion, Curran offered him his friendship, with a promise
to further his objects if he should prefer to reside in
Ireland. The offer was accepted, and Mr. Burton was
called to the Irish bar in 1792.

" His career was one of the most signal success.
He fell at once into business, and maintained a distin-
guished lead, though he had as his competitors some of
the ablest men that ever adorned the bar of Ireland. In
1806 he obtained a silk gown—in 1817 the rank of
second, and in the following year that of first sergeant.
In 1820, on the resignation of Judge Mayne, his great
abilities recommended him to the vacant seat in the
Queen's Bench, which he occupied since that period
with the highest honour to himself and benefit to the
public.
"Judge Burton filled the very highest place as a
lawyer. He reminds one of the old fountains of the law
in his extensive familarity with the great principles of
jurisprudence and his acquaintance with their founda-
tions. His knowledge was sound, and eminently
practical, and while he could apply himself with remark-
able skill to that technical system which forms three-
fourths of the duties of the practising lawyer, he
often ascended the higher regions of the law, which
are visited by the pure light of reason, and from
which alone it is reflected in strength and purity. His
famous argument in the quo warrant° case of the
Crown s. O'Grady,' is a masterpiece of learning and
argument, worthy of the best and brightest days of the
law.

" As a judge he fully sustained the high character he
acquired at the bar. In times when the country was
convulsed by party, and an oblique spirit found its way
even to the administration of justice, none ever accused
Judge Burton of tampering with his high trust. No
man's reason was less swayed by party feeling, and sa
the many political questions, or cases involving political
considerations, which came before him, none could truly
say that he contemplated any in the light of a partizan.
Calm, dignified, and impartial, he turned neither to the
right nor left in dealing out rigid justice.
" Like all great minds he was simple, natural, and
amiable—full of humane and kindly affections—in whom
the tenderest feelings were blended with that firmness of
purpose and sincerity of principle which are often found
associated with gentleness and simplicity. He had ever the
strongest reluctance to pass sentence of death, and when
ever duty compelled the stern discharge he has been seen
to shed tears, and often to sob aloud in open court. Many
will remember his sentence on O'Connell at the close of the
state trials, and the deep emotion he displayed on that
occasion. Mr. O'Connell always regarded him as the
most constitutional judge on the Irish bench. In the
language of Addison, on another great lawyer, Ma
life was in every part set off with that graceful modesty
and reserve which made his virtues more apparent the
more they were cast in such agreeable shades. His great
humanity appeared in the minutest circumstances. You
found it in the benevolence of his aspect, the compla-
cency of his behaviour, and the tone of his voice. Ms
character was uniform and consistent with itself, and his
whole conduct was of a piece. His principles were
founded on reason, and his notions were no less steady
and unshaken than just and upright; and that unwearied
diligence which followed him through all the stages of
life gave him such a profound insight into the laws of the
land, that oven from his first appearance in it he passed
for one of its greatest masters.' We may add, as an
illustration of the esteem and confidence reposed in
Judge Burton by his friend and patron Curran, that he
named him one of his executors."