The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-07 00:00:00

THE OLD YEAR AND THE NEW.

(From Punch.)
1846 speaks :
I faint upon December's lap of snow,
I watch my lees of life drop one by ore;
Young forty-seven is on the watch below,
To fill my shoes, almost ere breath be gone.
But listen, greedy heir, though faint and old,
My heart is big with work, not worked in vain ;
This hand, now palsied, forced Protection's hold,
And loosed the giant Commerce from his chain.
And all this night, the last night of my life,
Ere I go hence to join the ghosts of Time,
I have bad glorious visions.—War and Strife
Lay dead, and by them Hunger, Hate, and Crime.
And Peace and Plenty, Knowledge, Hope, and Love,
Shone round my bed like angels, and bowed down
To my dim eyes; and then there came a dove,
That placed on my frore hair au olive crown.
Who will crown thee, young upstart? What remains
Of glory such as mine beneath the stars?
The year, that shook from industry her chains,
The year that spoke the doom of human wars!
1847 answers:—

Scowl not in death, old sire, nor think my hand
Would break •ne leaf from off thy crown :—in thee
I bow to a great year ; but through the land
Achievement large enough is left for me.
Thy boon is incomplete ; what thou hast given,
Material blessing to material man,—
Who waits what I must do, ere he have striven
Up to the compass of his human span.
Thou gayest wealth—l'll teach him how to use it;
Thou gayest peace—its arts I must bestow;
War, thanks to thee, is such, that they who choose it
Choose isolation, beggary, and woe.
But ignorance is left, and where that is,
Is war 'twixt light and darkness; be it mine
To chase that darkness back to the abyss,
To lift that light, wide as age, sex, or clime.
What schools must I not build? What prisons purge?
What self-contented foulness clear away?
Oh. there is work for me—and in my dirge
Deeds may be told great as in thine to-day!

PRICE or WHISKY.— Yesterday, in consequence of
the additional rate now chauged by distillers on the
price of whisky, a meeting of wine and spirit mer-
chants was held at Alexander Paxton's, Royal Ex-
change, to take into consideration the propriety of
making a proportionate rise in the wholesale and re-
tail prices of that commodity. Resolutions were ac-
cordingly adopted by the meeting, to the effect that,
so long as distillers maintained their present high
prices, the retail price of malt whisky should, ou
after Monday, 11th January, not be less than 4d.
per gill, and grain whisky 3id. An efficient com-
mittee, representing all the branches of the trade,
was nominated to see that the trade carry their re-
solution into effect, and generally to watch over the
interests of the wine and spirit dealers of Edinburgh.—
Edinburgh Weekly Register.
THE NEW DISCOVERY IN SURGERY.—The public
will have seen with considerable interest that means
have been discovered for performing the most difficult
operations without giving pain to the party upon whom
it is necessary to operate. A man may, it seems, have
his legs cut from under him without his knowing it, by
the new process, while the drawing out of his teeth be-
comes an agreeable excitement, which is so delightful
that a boy having been mulcted of a molar, clamoured
loudly to have another extracted, and only held his jaw
when the dentist consented to oblige him. However
desirable this invention may be in a surgical point of
view, we have every hope that it will soon be applied to
the more delicate operations of politics. How useful
would it have been during the last session, when the
Conservative body had to undergo the painful process of
the cutting off of so many of its members I Had the
new process been known, the political amputations might
have taken place without any of that pain, amounting in
some cases to direct mortification, which ensued in
several instances. Considering the frequent severings
that Sir Robert Peel has been obliged to undergo, and
the numerous occasions upon which he will again most
probably feel it necessary to submit to amputations, the
new process must be almost invaluable to the Right
Hon. Baronet. As the plan is calculated to prevent
pain in all cases of removal, we should recommend its
being tried on the next occasion of a removal from office
by her Majesty's Ministers. This has always been a
most distressing operation, from the suffering it has in-
flicted on the parties concerned ; and all the friends of
humanity- must be delighted at the prospect there is of
its becoming an entirely painless proceeding.—Punch.
MANCHESTER BOROUGH ELECTION.—We are now
in a condition to announce that the Earl of Lincoln will
speedily be amongst us. We understand that a letter
was received yesterday from his Lordship, by Mr.
Alderman Neils,, intimating his compliance with the
request of the committee to attend a meeting of his
supporters. We believe the Noble Earl will arrive here
on Monday, and the meeting will in all probability take
place en Tuesday evening next. We understand that
his Lordship, during his stay here, will be the guest
of Mr. John Peel, of Swinton Park.—Manchester
Guardian.

ther t
C tre deivt
s
MELANCHOLY DEATH or A COLLECTOR.---abOUt
neighbourhood o cer
of of
Port-street,
a quarter past eleven o'clock on Thursday last, as No.
2 police
sai orne,s
pwe
catsa
bolny
ddruetsys
eidn
manth e
accosted him, stating that he had been robbed of 571. by
a female, and requesting that he (the officer) would go
with him in search of her. Platt went with him to the
extent of his beat, and then told him that he could not
proceed further without the consent of his inspector,
telling him alse to go to the station and report his loss
there. About twelve o'clock he saw him again in Pic-
cadilly, and asked whether he (Platt) could do anything
else for him, to which the person replied in the negative,
.
and said something about making away with himself
They then parted, and the officer saw no more of him
that night. The next morning, about half-past eight
o'clock, as a boatman, named Samnel Lamb, in the em-
ploy of Messrs. Vt evers, carriers, was passing along the
Rochdale Canal in his boat, he saw the body of a man
in the canal, at the bottom of Minshull-street. It was
immediately taken out, and a clue was at once obtained
as to his identity, by the discovery of some cards, found
in a card case in his pocket, bearing the address,
" Thomas Fothergill, hop and vinegar merchant, and
dealer in foreign cigars. Upon further inquiry, it was
ascertained that his name was James Billington, and
that he was a collector in the employ of Mr. Fother-
gill. The officer Platt, on viewing the body, identified
it as being that of the person who had addressed him,
as above stated, on the previous evening.—Manchester
Guardian. _ _