The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-10 00:00:00

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FRANCE AND ENGLAND.

STATE OF THE HIGHLAND
DISTRICTS.
(From the Inverness Courier.)
We hear that the representations made to Government
by Sir Edward Coffin and others, of the state of destitu-
tion prevailing. in many parts of the north, parti-
cularly in the islands, have induced Ministers to order
supplies of provisions to be forwarded, as has been the
case in Ireland. The ship Belvidera, it is said, is now
at Deptford, taking in a large supply of provisions for
the coast of Scotland. The views of Government on
this subject may be gathered from the following state-
ment, made by Lord John Russell, in his letter to the
Duke of Leinster—" All that we have undertaken, with
regard to food, is to endeavour to create a provision
trade at fair mercantile prices, where no provision trade
has hitherto existed, and where, without assistance, none
might be willing to undertake a new and unpopular oc-
cupation."
We understand that, on the 14th ultimo, Glengarry
shipped, for the use of his people In Knoydart, 108 bolls
of oatmeal; 100 bolls of Indian corn meal; 48 cwt. of
rice; and 5 cwt. of biscuit.
A Ross-shire correspondent writes to us as follows:
" We are now in the first week of winter, and I fear
much that, notwithstanding the attention of some of our
Highland proprietors to the condition of the small
tenants upon tbeir estates, the increased activity of the
Board of Supervision, and the quiet and patient de-
meanour of the people themselves, many families
and individuals in the north are already, and that
in a very short time many more will be, sub-
jected to the severest privations in regard to the
ordinary necessaries of life. In Caithness, a committee
of gentlemen of the county have been appointed to
ascertain the amount of the destitution, with a view to
the application of a corresponding relief. The Duke of
Sutherland has personally directed and superintended a
similar investigation, and made arrangements, to receive
corn in due time, well calculated to avert suffering from
the poorer classes on his extensive estates. You re-
corded last week the measures adopted by some of the
proprietors of Inverness-shire for the same end ; but
although you lately reported the resolutions of a meet-
ing of the county of Ross, which attracted a good deal
of notice and elicited general approbation, yet I have
not heard that they have been carried out to any con-
siderable extent. There is, on the contrary, reason to
apprehend that the landed proprietors of this county
have, with a few honourable exceptions, made little or
no provision for the impending calamity. It would
afford me pleasure to find that this apprehension is not
well founded. You cannot press the matter too fre-
quently and strongly upon the attention of the labouring
man, the low rate of wages and the high price of
food make it almost impossible for him to procure
the scantiest means of living ; and as to the pau-
pers, who have a legal right to sustenance, the
allowances made to them in this part of Scotland
by the local boards, are so small that it need not
astonish you any day to hear of cases of starvation.
There never was a time when the circumstances of the
people demanded so imperatively the exercise of active
charity, and yet never a time when charity was less
practised. One feels curious to see upon what grounds
the Board of Supervision will attempt, in their forth-
coming report to Parliament, to justify the niggardly
pittances awarded to the claimants upon the poor's funds.
If the masses are permitted to continue in so wretched
a state, the effect must be to deteriorate and degrade the
national character. It is idle to think of educating and
elevating our countrymen while their physical wants
are so inadequately supplied. A mind constantly occu-
pied about the wants of the body is incapable of making
much progress in intellectual or moral improvement ;
but this is a subject which deserves a fuller and more
careful discussion than it can receive in a hurried letter."
Our Skye correspondent supplies additional informa-
tion :—" The people in this quarter are beginning to
grind their corn now, which is much earlier than in
former years, when they had abundance of potatoes ;
but, contrary to the observations in the letter from the
Home-office to Mr. Baillie, M.P., the grain is not it.
general of superior quality, but otherwise, and will not
serve the people long. What will then become of many
who have no person to go south and work for them, a
kind Providence, who ' tempers the wind to the shorn
lamb,' only knows. Already some are putting them
selves upon two meals a-day, and this will, I have tie
doubt, come in time to one meal only. Such of them as
have a little corn crop, will, of course, consume it all
before they suffer much real want ; and how they will
be able to procure seed corn in spring, is a question
which, although somewhat distant, will be a difficulty.
It is not a great many years since Highlanders would
rear pigs or eat pork, having a great preju-
dice against that kind of food ; and when they
had beef and mutton, or gcat flesh, and occa
sionally venison, this was not, perhaps, surprising ;
bat since the country has been let out in large sheer
walks, and the people generally unable to keep stock,
and potatoes becoming so abundant, the feeding of pig>
has been quite general. Pork came to be generally
relished, and many a family who could get neither beet
nor mutton were not a little indebted to grumphy fur
many a savoury meal, during the time of spring labour.
The failure of the potatoes has now, however, for a time,
put an end to this species of domestic purveying, and the
poor people are killing their pigs half-fattened, and to be
eaten long before the spring work can be done through
the help afforded by their means. Although Cobbett
Was no admirer or lover of potatoes, yet I think, on ac-
count of the bacon produced by their means, he might
have wished for their continuance. It is to be hoped
that some substitute will be found here for p'gs also.
seeing that they served an important purpose, especially
to the poor people. Cabbages grow here to a very !erg,
size, and would so far assist as a substitute in the present
case, but lam sorry to say that this vegetable also
affected in several, nay in many instances, in this quarter,
so as to cause it to decay in a rapid and unusual manner.
threatening to deprive us of even this partial aid in our
present emergency."

HERUING TRADI.-Mr. J. Robinson, of Banff,
and others interested in the herring trade, having me-
morialised Government on the subject of the Belgic
duties on British cured herrings, the reply was, that
this country not having a treaty of commerce with Bel-
gium, Government could not remedy the matter com-
plained of. It was added, however, that the at-
tention of Government would be directed to the subject.

DREADFUL ACClDENT.—Yesterday a report was
very generally circulated through the town that several
persons had been killed at the coalpits belonging to the
Messrs. Kenworthy and Brothers, Mossley-road, Ashton.
This rumour following that of the late boiler explosion,
appeared to create much sensation in the neighbourhood.
On making inquiry on the spot we found that there were
two men, named William Charlesworth, aged 40 years,
and Francis Charlesworth, his brother, aged 43, who
had mat with an almost instantaneous death early in the
morning whilst working in the shaft of one of the pits,
which is 240 yards deep. So far as we have been able
to ascertain, the unfortunate men, who are both car-
penters, and have been on the works for some years,
were employed in repairing one of the " chairs," in
which the waggons ascend and descend the pit, when a
link of the chain which supported the other chair on
which the men stood to work broke, and they were pre-
cipitated several yards to the bottom of the pit, the rope
above, which was about 1,700 cwt., falling upon them.
Several of the men who were at work at the time hearing
a crash, immediately ran to the month of the pit, when
they saw the heavy rope descending and taking with it
everything that was in its way. The men sent for Mr.
S. Ashton, the head book-keeper, and he was speedily
upon the spot, together with a number of the police,
giving directions for the recovery of the poor fellows
who were down below. Several persons at once de-
scended, and on arriving at the bottom found them 13 ing
in a pool of blood. The body of William Charlesworth
was most shockingly mangled, his legs and arms being
broken, and his head dreadfully mutilated. The body
Of Francis was not so much injured as that of his brother,
but' the wounds which he received on the head with the
rope were quite sufficient to account for
.death. The
chain that was attached to the rope which supported the
" chair," on which the men stood, was supposed to be
capable of bearing six or seven tons; and it appears to
the workmen most extraordinary that it should have
broken with so small a weight. Francis has left a wife
and four small children, and William, his brother, has
left a wife and five children, only one of which is ca-
pable of working. The distress occasioned to these poor
families may be better felt than described.—Manchester
Guardian of Friday.
Wpm CELLaas.—lnstead of being placed so as to
insure a regular and somewhat warm temperature
throughout the year, the coldest part of the houses
seems to be set apart for wine. On expressing my ob•
jection to a builder, and a very intelligent one, he seemed
quite astonished, having an opinion that the cellar was
a nice cool place. Now, any one who knows anything
about wines knows that a temperature never below 55
degrees is essential to their preservation and improve-
ment. The best vaults in the docks are those which
preserve this temperature throughout the year. Some
wines are despatched to the East and West Indies for
improvement under higher temperature, but carefully
guarded against a lower than above stated. As the
cellars are asually on the same floor as the kitchens,
they should be placed so as to admit of a ready commu-
nication with the boiler of the kitchen-range, by means
of a small pipe, so that by the circulation of hot water
night and day, the needful temperature might not only
be secured, but increased to any amount that might be
desired for special wines. This advantage might be ob-
tained at a very trifling cost, if the wine cellar were con-
tiguous to the kitchen..range.—Builder.
MARRIAGE IN HIGH LIPS.—On Saturday last his
Excellency the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, Governor-
General of Canada, led to the altar Lady Louisa Lamb-
lon, eldest daughter of the late Earl of Durham, and
sister of the present Peer. The ceremony took place at
St. Peter's Church, Pimlico, the Hon. and Rev. John
Ore- le

-ey, tine
rite.

.e of the fair bride, officiating at the nuptial

TWELVEMONTH LAMP.—Take a stick of phospho-
rus and put it in a large dry phial, not corked, and it
will afford sufficient light to discern any object placed
near it. The phial should be kept in a cold place, where
there is no great current of air, and it will continue its
luminous appearance for inure than a year.
FRAUD IN TOE SALE OF LEECHES.—For SOW. time
past a very extensive fraud has been perpetrated in Paris
by the sale of leeches in a gorged state. An official
inspection has been lately made by order of the Govern-
ment, and the result is, that no less than forty thousand
leeches have been seized and condemned by the com-
missioners appointed to visit the different stores where
leeches are kept for sale. The cause of this fraud ap-
pears to be the strange system which exists in Paris of
selling leeches by weight; hence they are allowed t( I
me themselves with the blood of dead animals. /s,
fa id of this kind easily detected by very gently
press
in the body of the leech from the tail to the mouth,
when a; smallL rinE of blood appears. This is not ()b-
-rad rt a ieeco which is in a proper condition fur medical
unser Gaz# tte.

-----
The Allgemeine Preussische Zeitung (the organ of the
Court of Berlin), has the following article in the file ,
which we have just received from Germany :
"Nothing can more strongly characterise the triviality ,
and the ignorance with which the French are wont to
handle the affairs of their neighbours, ti an the opinion
seriously expressed by the press, and (it is said) enter-
tained in higher circles, that the overthrow which Eng-
lish diplomacy has recently received in Spain will lead
to a change of Ministry in England. Never was public
opinion in England, amongst all parties, more unani-
mous upon a matter than upon this, viz.—that for the
cessation of the entente cordiale, the French Government
is solely responsible. M. Guizot, it is said, plumes upon
his being able to prove that Lord Palmerston is the
true cause of the misunderstanding in reference to the
Spanish marriages ; and the French Minister here relies
(perhaps too strongly) on the general opinion which
prevails in Europe respecting the antithesis of his own
character to that of his English rival. But in this case
we believe that it will soon be seen that M. Guizot has
availed himself of his assurances of peace and the credit
of his name for the purpose of concealing views which
even a more' warlike and more inconsiderate Minister
would hardly have professed. And this takes place
whilst Viscount Palmerston, striving to regain for his
policy the character of moderation, and to maintain the
friendly relations with France which his excellent prede-
cessor in office has bequeathed him, displays somewhat
less of his accustomed watchfulness and resolution.
" The pretext of a change of the English Ministry,
and the actual presence of so peculiar a Minister in the
Foreign-office, form but a lame excuse for the resump-
tion of a policy which tends to nothing less than the
annihilation of British influence in the Peninsula, and
the full dependence of Spain upon France. We have
even heard that an influential French statesman, who
stands high in the confidence of the prevailing possessors
of power, has declared that the Spanish Crown shall be
as closely united to the Crown of France as the ancient
kingdom of Scotland now is to that of England ; and
although it is well known that a direct union is impos-
sible, still the Court of Madrid is already looked upon ,
in certain circles as a sort of vassal to the Tuile-
ries. The present weakness of Spain has, in reality, ren-
dered the union of the two Powers far less formidable
than it was last century • but on that very account
the dependence of the weaker on the stronger power has
only become still more complete. In Spain such a state
of things cannot be of long duration, and England will
never recognise any claims of this kind on the part of
France. Perhaps the late coup d'etat in Portugal is
calculated to make this breach still wider, for even in that
country French influence has been busily occupied in
overthrowing the Liberal party, and even there England
is bound by existing treaties to defend the independence
of the Government. The relations of England to Por-
tugal have become unusually cool during the last year.
The Methuen treaty is abolished on both sides, and no
other commercial connexions have since been formed be-
tween these two old allies. The slave-trade treaties have
excited the of Portugal, and their evasion the ill-
humour of England. The latter Power now feels less
interest in Portugal than at any former period. But
now, as before, Portugal is the door through which'
British influence maintains its position in the Peninsula.
The route of Torres Vedras has its political and his-
torical importance, as well as its military renown.
France will probably seek to insure her preponderance
in the Peninsula by threatening the ind pendence of
Portugal, and even leading the military power of Spain
against her neighbour ; but if any such plan of politics
, should be pursued, the breach with England could easily
break out into open hostilities. The Parisian journalists
are in the wrong when they imagine that the pros-
pect of a war would lead, in England, to the fall
, of a Cabinet or the dissolution of a party. By
means of her political unity and her resources, England
, is at present as well prepared for war as any other ;
Eu-
ropean power. For the last three years the Govern-
ment has been very ze aously occupied in providing' for
the defence of the coasts, and increasing the strength of
the navy. The finances of the state are in a brilliant
condition, the relations to other powers peaceful and
secure, and, in a just cause, the English nation would
rather go to war at once than submit to the slightest in..
fringement of her rights, or, at least, the most remote
attempt upon her honour. In 1840 France threatened
Europe with a war, when that power was unprepared
for it. In the year 1846 England has not threatened
a war, but she is morally and phy ically prepared to
strike out the path which coming events or her own
policy will prescribe for her adoption."

ISHEEr.—Every part of the globe, from the regions
of the torrid zone to the cold frigid climate of Iceland,
is inhabited by the sheep ; and the varieties of form and
clothing necessary to fit it for such variety of climate
are of course numerous.— The Plough.
HONOUR TO THE FAIR SEX !—At the risk of vei-
ing some who would not have their good deeds brought
too prominently forward, we cannot avoid making
honourable mention of the remarkable perseverance and
devotion of the daughters of General Simcoe, who dis-
tinguished himself in the American war. These ladies,
on the ruins of the old abbey of Dunkswell, near Honi-
ton, have erected a church, for which they worked all
the stone with their own hands. A large drawing-
room, commenced by the General, and not finished,
served for the atelier. We have a worthy companion
for these ladies, whose names we mention with all due
respect, in Miss Rickards, of Stow Langtoft, Bury, who
has, with her own hands, as we hear, glazed all the
windows in her father's church with stained glass,
painted and burnt by herself !—The Builder.
FALL IN THE PRICE Or POTATOES.—Many of our
readers will, we have no doubt, rejoice to hear that in
our market, on Wednesday last, there was a considerable
reduction in the price of this now costly esculent. A
week or two ago, in our market, potatoes were selling as
high as 2s. per peck. On Wednesday morning last they
were selling at Is. Bd. per peck ; but, in the afternoon,
they were freely offered at Is. 4d. per peck, which in-
deed was the general selling price. We have heard that,
in some parts of' the country, potatoes turn out better
than was generally expected. We trust that this cause
may have produced the decline of price in the Hereford
market on Wednesday, and that it may be lasting ; for
the high price of this useful vegetable makes a most ma-
terial difference in the household expenditure of the poor
man who has a large family to support. Hereford
Times.
Art AGED BEGGAR.—There wanders about the
northern counties a venerable gaberlunzie, an old soldier
whose grey hairs are worthy of shelter. This veteran,
Robert Scarlett, is a native of Caithness, being born at
Bower, on the 12th February, 1750. He went to sea on
board a merchant vessel at 11 years of age, was pressed
in Leith Roads early in the year 1794 ; was sent
aboard the Ajax, 74, Captain Cochran, and fought
under Admiral Howe, on Ist June, 1794 ; was removed
to the Meditar, 74, Captain Keith, and fought under
Admiral Duncan at Camperdown, and under Lord Nel-
son at the battle of the Nile ; was one of 800 sailors
and marines who were landed from the Meditar in
Aboukir Bay, to assist the land forces commanded by
Sir Ralph Abercromby. lie was present under that
commander in three different engagements, fought on
the Bth, 13th, and 21st March, 1801. After his return
from Egypt he was discharged from the naval service, and
immediately thereafter he enlisted in the 23d regiment ;
was sent to America, then to the West Indies, and was
present at the taking of Martinique. He was sent to
Spain in 1810, was with Wellington at the taking of
Guided Rodrigo and Badajos, and fought at Albuera,
Salamanca, and Toulouse, and was discharged at the end
of the war in 1814. When he came to Scotland, he
states that he found himself a lone man, not knowing a
single individual in the world with whom he could claim
kindred. He had married at 17 years of age, and his
wife brought him two sons and a daughter. The mother
and daughter died when he was abroad, and his two
sons, who had enlisted in the 79th regiment, both fell
side by side at Salamanca. He was 64 years of age when
he was discharged from the army, and supported himself
while his strength continued, by working as a labourer.
But when his strength failed he could no longer find em-
ployment, and then, as he himself expressed it, he was
obliged to travel (that is, to beg), and although now up-
wards of 96 years of age, he states that he would not yet
like to travel if he could get work.—lnverness Courier.
ELIHU Buitturr's BOYHOOD.—Being the youngest
of the five sons, it was the privilege of our Elihu to
remain at home with his parents, and contribute to the
support and comfort of their old age. Among the
pleasantest reminiscences of his early life are the exer-
tions he made for this purpose. At sixteen he had
arrived at the full stature and strength of a man. He
now united himself with the Congregational church in
New Britain, under the pastoral charge of the Rev.
Henry Jones; and is at the present time a member in
regular standing of the same church, whose articles of
faith are the same as those of the Independents in Eng-
land. At this time his father's first and last illness
commenced, which lasted for almost a year. During
the whole of this time, this excellent son laboured
through the day in the field or the forest, and then
watched through half the night at the bedside of his
father, that his mother might be enabled to take neces-
sary rest. After his father's death he apprenticed him-
self to a blacksmith of the town, the only school educa-
tion he had as yet received being three months at a
district-school during the winter, before he was fifteen.
Of far greater importance, however, than the scanty
tuition was the keen appetite for reading which kept his
mind awake, and which was, doubtless, stimulated by
the difficulty he had in procuring books. This intense
passion for reading he attributes in the first place, less
to the innate force of his own mind than to a mere
adventitious circumstance in his early youth. At that
time the old revolutionary soldiers abounded in every
neighbourhood of New England. It was a pleasure to
them, and they deemed it a duty of the first magnitude
also, to gather round such hearths as were open to their
reception, and to rehearTe to the rising generation all
their strange stories about the wars. A knot of these
garrulous old pensioners were regular visitors at his
father's house ; and it fell to Elihu's share to draw the
cider for them, from which they derived a certain degree
of inspiration. The graphic manner in which these
earnest old men related, embellished, and exaggerated,
perhaps, the fictions or facts of their revolutionary ex-
perience, excited the mind of the boy to the highest
degree. Ile had the keenest relish for their stories, or
for any such as resembled them. It was not long, there-
fore, before he made the delightful discovery that tales
of a similar character might be found them, as interest-
ing as those told by the old grandfathers of the village.
It was this love of narrative which made the bible such
a fascinating book to him : it had all the charms to him
Inthtnewdseaspr
which the novel-reader finds in the last new romance.
spelling-book,
gafir-rmbsot
obkao;oldkandwdehvic..hcuehr hu:stesrde awtdoonafter
af
wonderful
le thtiinsg through
awayhistories
rwi
eist with
and it
its personal narratives with with a zest which his good mother
fondly mistook for religious impressions. Often has he
of tObo
her neighbours with pride of this cha-
racteristicheard her telling
or his becoming
a ,an how she. built upon it a hope
People's Journal. useful and eminent Christian.— The