The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-09 00:00:00

season, cause merchants to be willing sellers, and they have I
submitted to further reduced rates. There are sellers of Town
Tallow at 49s to 49s Gd for nett cash.

STATE OF IRELAND.
We really cannot gratify the most sanguine part o;
the public with the faintest intimation of an improve-
ment in the prospects of Ireland. That country still
shows what Falstaff calls a sort of alacrity at sinking.
The most consolatory reflection that one can possibly
entertain is, that in this instance one is pretty sure to
know the worst. No class in that island ever hides its
grief. A whole cluster of western isles might be depo-
pulated without the British public being aware of the
casualty. In Ireland, on the contrary, we are sure to
have ample, not to say redundant, notice of the danger.
Could all classes only agree in their story, we might be
thankful for the warning. Unhappily, however, every
class is proclaiming its own grievances, and endeavour-
ing to save itself in a general calamity. Such a cala-
mity there is, and common sense, as well as common
feeling, suggests that all should divide the burden, and
everybody make up his mind to be somewhat the worse,
for it. England-is doing its part nobly, and is likely to
suffer, nay, it already suffers, in consequence.
Would that the exertions and sacrifices of
the State met with a like return. For the in-
struction of Ireland herself, and of all the nations
of the earth, it may be as well just to men-
tion what the Imperial Government is doing. At a few
weeks' notice, it is employing and feeding, according to
the last published account, 273;000 men, with the daily
addition of thousat.ds to the list. The puynn nt of a
quarter of a million a month from the Treasury is found
insufficient. That, of course, is not to he wondered at.
The must moderate computation of 273,000, whether
lounging about at ls. a day, or doing task-work to bring
in something more, together with the expense of sur-
veying, measuring, overlooking, pajing, implements,
carts, wheelbarrows, &c., runs up to a sum we are afraid
to mention. All this is done from the ordinary resources
of the Treasury, and the ordinary Government staff.
The public works, the relief labourers—all the persons,
places, and things relating to the operation, are to be
selected at once. It is no exaggeration to say, that a
more gigantic task was never undertaken. exulr
thought himself a very fine fellow because in three or
four wetks he made a dyke and a wall sixteen feet
high and nineteen miles long to keep the Hel-
-1 vetians from molesting the province; and Napo-
leon had probably some misgivings that he was
trenching upon the superhuman when he attempted to
march half a million men across Europe and establish
them in the midst of a Muscovite winter. But for a
work of peace to be done with the exactest regard not
merely to justice but to equity, and even more delicate
considerations, we think the task thrown upon the Go-
vernment in Ireland may safely challenge comparison
with any human achievement. Here was an act of
charity, a social reform, a thousand local improvements
aad engineering undertakings to be done out of hand,
while the people declared themselves dying for hunger.
That a work like this should really be well done, it is
absolutely insane to expect, and impudent to demand.
It would be just as unreasonable as to dream that Na-
poleon's half million, on the above occasion, should
march from Paris to Moscow, and back again, with no
more inconvenience to their persons and their wardrobes
than if they were performing a few dusty evolutions
in the plain of St, Denis or the Champ de Mars.
What our Government has had to do in a hurry
is a work that would exceed the most deliberate fore-
thought and the best prepared means. It is a work of
salvage. Human millions are to be saved any how. It
must be done roughly. But who are we really to thank
for all this? They who have set their faces like a flint
for these many years against a good poor-law—they
who have constantly and expressly declared that it was
better the people should certainly perish, than that
there should be the least risk of the rent being swal-
lowed up in rates—they who have always maintained
that the right of mendicancy was a sufficient poor-law
for Ireland—they who have seen with complacency
myriads of poor destitute creatures, aged, widowed,
orphaned, fed by precarious collections made up of
handfuls of meal and single potatoes from the doors of
those who were almost as poor as themselves—they who
even now, with a millstone of debt being actually tied to
their necks, with a population arming itself almost en
masse, and manipulated in bands by the only, though
desperate, remedy attempted, still, true to their instinct,
struggle and protest against a good poor-law.
Yet we are told that there is a want of sympathy
on this side of the Channel, as well as a want of intel-
ligence, a want of discrimination, and so forth. The true
want is the wretched deficiency of local agents, local in
stitutions, local aid of every kind to the Government

Pricfi

Price

18'7

The reality of sympathy, we should think, is sufficiently
shown by the readiness with which the British public
acquiesces in a drain upon the Treasury which, besides
that it will for some years offer a serious impediment to
any of those fiscal reductions which the commerce of
England requires, and the industry of England deserves,
operates at this moment most seriously, not to say dis-
astrously, on the money-market of England. Every
tradesman who finds that he is obliged to limit his
operations, to reduce his orders, to dismiss his workmen,
to turn his investments into cash, because he cannot get
assistance on the usual terms, has partly to thank that
long train of Irish misgovernment, which has ended in
throwing three or four millions at once on the Imperial
Treasury. So much for the proof of our sympathy—a
proof of a very substantial character. As for the want
of perfect success in the application of our relief, it is
enough to say, as we have said, that it is above the power
of man. It is impossible to find a commissariat fut
8,000;000 at a moment's notice.—Times.

NEWPORT.—The death of the veneraMe Baronet,
Sir Charles Morgan, of Tredegar, who expired on
Sa-
turday last, after a few days'illness, has cast an univer-
sal gloom over the southern part of the principality,
where he was not only respected, and looked up to as
the representative of a long line of Welsh princes and
chieftains, but as the friend, protector, or benefactor of
all these who came within the sphere of his influence.
He expired at Tredegar, surrounded by all the members
of his family, and we believe there can scarcely be found
in the retort's of this and the last century, a similar in-
stance of a private individual who, while living, was
honoured like a prince, and beloved by all ranks, and
who, to the age of eighty-seven years was permitted the
enjoyment of all his mental and bodily powers.
CAMBORNE, DEC. I.•—(FROM A CORRESPONENT.)
—A very great discovery has been made in the Wheal
Curtis Copper•mine. On sinking a shaft fifty-five
fathoms below Adit, a rich vein of copper has been dis-
covered, seventeen inches thick, which will prove a great
source of wealth to the partners, and make it one of the
most valuable mines in this county.
A BOY KILLED BY A HORSE.—On Monday Mr.
W. Carter held an inquest at the New ington Arms,
King-street, Walworth, respecting the death of Richard
Jepp, aged twelve years, lately residing at No. 23,
James-street, East-lane. From the evidence it appeared
that the deceased was the son of poor and industrious
parents, and on Wedaesday, the 2d instant, he was in a
neighbour's stable, and whilst leading a young horse
into the yard he slipped, and before he could get out of
the way the horse trod upon the deceased's foot and left
temple, whereby he was most seriously injured. He
was removed home, and placed under the care of Mr.
Otway, but lockjaw and inflammation ensued, from which
he died on Friday last. The jury returned a verdict of
" Accidental death."

WHITTINGTON CLUB AND METROPOLITAN ATHE-
NZEIJ3L—On Monday a meeting of the members of this
institution was held at the Crown and Anchor, Strand.
Mr. Jones in the chair. The secretary read the report,
which stated that the object of the institution was to
promote the literary and scientific education of the
people, to meet their physical wants by providing club-
houses for the less wealthy classes, and to improve the
moral and intellectual character cf its members. Various
rules, regarding the age, qualification, and subscription
of candidates, were discussed and approved of, after
which the meeting separated.
WESTMINSTER-BRIDGE.--On Monday all that part of
the footway situate on the eastern side was re-opened to
the public ; on Thursday the carriage-way will be
opened for vehicles of light draught, when, should the
structure stand this test, the bridge will be thrown open
as formerly.
THE SMITHFIELD CATTLE NUISANCE.—ACCIDENT
ON BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE.-On Monday afternoon, a
drove of very fine oxen were ?roceeding over Blackfriars
Bridge, shortly after three o clock, and when near the
Surrey side, the carriage way was partially blocked up
by an omnibus and some waggons. Three of the oxen,
more infuriated than the rest, rushed among the foot
passengers, knocking down an old lady with a child in
her arms, fortunately without injuring either. In their
furious progress, however, a little girl named Trinder,
residing in Uppet Ground-street, was knocked down
near the iron railings opposite the British Plate Glass
Company's office, and was trampled upon, and severely
injured. .

-LORD DUNDONALD'S WAR PLAN.--The Scientific
Commission appointed to examine and decide or the
merit of his Lordship's discovery, is occupied with the
investigation of its principle, which neither trenches on
that of Captain Warner nor on the ingenious invention
termed gun-cotton, but is, in regard to the latter, of a
totally different nature. Cotton explodes instaneously,
like the galvanic spark, whereas his Lordship's disco-
very effects a continuous evolution of intensely powerful
elastic products—like the unremitting generation of
steam from boiling water, the effect of which has been
rendered familiar to the public by the steam-gun (or
tube) of the ingenious Mr. Perkins, from which a stream
of shot, following each other in close succession, pass
through the atmosphere with less opposition, and conse-
quently transport their overwhelming effect to a greater
distance, than shells or shot propelled singly from artil-
lery.—Hampshire Telegraph.
SALE OF AN ALLEGED AUTOGRAPH OF SEARS-
PERE.—On Monday, a sale by auction of a curious collec-
tion of old plays, &c., took place at Messrs. Puttick and
Simpson's rooms, in Piccadilly, and amongst them some
manuscript notes and a signature presumed to be the
autograph of William Shakspere. These were inserted
in an odd volume of " Hollinshed's Chronicles," first
edition, 1577, imperfect. The auctioneer stated that he
would not guarantee the signature to be genuine, but
that, as well as the manuscript notes, were presumed to
be in the autograph of the "immortal bard." There was
but one offer for the volume, viz., 51., at which sum it
was knocked down to a gentleman named Holding. In
addition to the autograph, a copy of the folio edition
(second) of Shakspere's histories, tragedies, and come-
dies, published in 1632, sold for 71. 10s., whilst a copy of
the third edition, date 1664, sold for 91. 10s. The fourth
edition, published in 1685, sold for 31. 12s. 6d. A copy
of Spenser's "Fairie Queene," in two volumes, black
letter, imperfect, printed by William Ponsonby in 1590,
sold for 44 2s. 6d.

We are requested by Mr. Bunn to state that there
is no truth in the report of his having entered into an
engagement at; he Surrey Theatre as announced by us
on Monday.

M. GUIZOT'S FETE.
The political and elegant world crowded, on Friday
evening, tne drawing-rooms of the Foreign-office. The
two sons of the King, now at Paris, the Dukes de Ne-
mours and de Moutpensier, honoured with their presence
this splendid fete, given by M. Guizot, and which the
Bey of Tunis attended. Among the crowd were the
Ministers, a large number of Members of both Cham-
bers, the most eminent members of the great Courts of
Law, the Council of State, the Administration and Army,
and the Ambassadresses and the members of the corps
diplomatique. (The Ambassadors were absent, owing,
it is said, to a question of precedence founded upon
their relations with the Ottoman Porte). About two
thousand invitations had been sent out. Many foreigners
of distinction had hastened to this reunion d'elite.
Among those present were Lord and Lady William
Hervey, Lord and Lady Cowley and Miss Wellesley,
Countess Rostopchin, Prince Trubetskoi and Madame
Oustinoff, nee Trubetskoi, M. Martinez de la
Rosa, the Spanish Ambassador ; and, lastly, that
host of celebrites in the arts, sciences, politics, and lite-
rature of who: Fiance is proud, and who are connected
by so lively a sympathy with a Minister who is not
solely great as a statesman. The I3ey of Tunis arrived
at nine, accompanied by his Minister of War, his
Minister of Finances, Chevalier Rutfo, and followed by
a brilliant cortege. His Royal Highness the Duke de
Nemours arrived at a quarter to ten. The moment, he
took his scat, the concert, executed by the " Cons(.r-
Tatoire," commenced. The programme, which aas
worthy of the performers, had been drawn up by M.
Anber with the tact and intelligence of a great master.
It was, we are assured, at the request of M. Guizot in
person, that the chorus of the Ilfuette de Pt.rilei
formed part of it, and that brilliant inspiration re-
tained all its power and éclat by the side of the airs of
Weber, the fine chorus of Semiramide, and Beethoven's
gigantic symphonies. The concert ended st half-past
eleven. ills Royal Highness the Duke de Mont pensier
had arrived at about eleven. The Prince had been de-
tained at Vincennes owing to a banquet he ha d given to
the artillery officers on the ncoasion of the Sainte Barbe
fete. His arrival created considerable sensation. M.
Guizot's fete concluded at one, after a rich collation.
During more than four hours, an elegant crowd (about
800 persons were present) had not ceased to circulate
through nine great drawing-rooms, resplendent with
light and th.-onged with flowers. All that our gardens
can yield was accumulated in profusion, and the Bey of
Tunis must have been astonished at such marvellous
Oriental splendour. The utmost order was maintained,
both without and within. A curious multitude stood on
the Boulevard near the Foreign-office, and despite the
immense line of carriages, the circulation was kept free
the whole night.

THE SHANNON IRISH STEAM PACKET.—PLY..
MOUTH, DEC. 6.—Last night, on the fall of the tide, the
scuttle holes in the ship's sides were plugged and caulked,
and the vessel made sufficiently tight, under the direction
of Mr. Hill, shipbuilder, to allow of her being hauled off
from the beuch. She is not much strained, and now lies
on a mud bottom, having a list to starboard, with her bow
pointing more eastward than yesterday. It is hoped next
tide that she may be placed alongside Mr. Bill's wharf,
which is near. Several beams between her engine-room
and stern are destroyed. and her saloon presents, by its
charred, brk,ken, and desolate appearance, a sad contrast
to that which it bore when with its numerous and con-
tented occupants it left Southampton. The fire seems to
have commenced right under the spiral cabin staircase,
where two of her crew narrowly escaped destruction
when removing the plate and other valuables from
the steward's pantry, as the cabin deck in this place,
gave way under their feet, and they with difficulty saved
their lives. Most of the cabin bertha were occupied.
Two young ladies, named Fagan, who were going to
Ireland, escaped in their night-dresses. Mrs. Jarrett,
an elderly lady, was carried into the hulk alongside.
Her husband, a captain in the army, incurred great
risk ; being advanced in life, and rather deaf, he lay in
his berth, unconscious of his perilous position, and was
rescued by the intrepidity of Captain Gennys, R.N.,
who rushed through the danger and brought him on
deck. The wife of the assistant-surgeon of her Majesty's
brig Recruit escaped from one danger to encounter
another. The only ladder in use, that on the starboard
side, was deficient one step in the middle, and this
lady in the hurry fell through the aperture, but was
speedily taken out of the water and conveyed to Cattle-
down. Another lady walked right off the gangway at
the head of the ladder. Two other ladies are said to
have fallen overboard, and these casualtiees have given
rise to reports that some lives were lost, which, we
are happy to say, is not the case. The stewardess had
all her spare clothing, &c., destroyed. A woman named
Miner, who expected her confinement i❑ January,
became the mother of a boy on board the Shannon prior
to the ship's arrival at Southampton—an event for which
she was totally unprepared. Her wants were, however,
well supplied by other female passengers, and she is now
with her friends at Plymouth. Her husband left her,
with two other children, before the discovery of the tiro
on Saturday morning, but fortunately was not far from,
the ship when the alarm was given, and returning im-
mediately conveyed them ashore. The origin of the fire
remains unknown. Some of the passengers affirm that.
it first smelt like burning cotton. The contents of the
cargo are various, comprising bales and boxes of all de-
scriptions, cotton, crape, shawls, silks, books, stationery,
clothing, hops, spirits, wine, &c. It is surmised that
some of the ca"go ignited spontaneously shortly after
leaving Southampton on Friday, and continued smeul-
dering until the ship's arrival at Catwater on Saturday
morning.

EARLY SHOP-SHUTTING.—We are glad to learn
that the most respectable booksellers and publishers in
town have agreed to continue the shutting of their places
of business on Saturday afternoons at five o'clock
throughout the winter months ; thus affording time to
those in their employment for self improvement in one
season of the year, as %ell as for physical recreation in
the other.—Edinburgh Evening Post.
DEATH OF LIEUTENANT-GENERAL DICKINSON, OF
THE ROYAL ARTILLERY.—We have this day to record
the decease of the oldest surviving general officer con-
nected with the Royal Artillery—Lieutenant-General
Richard Colleton Dickenson, who expired on the sth
instant, at his residence near Notting-hill, at the ad-
vanced age of eighty-four, after a military service of
sixty-five years. He entered the royal regiment as
second lieutenant, Juno 29. 1781, his subsequent com-
missions being thus dated :—First lieutenant, May 17,
1790 ; captain, March 6, 1795 ; major, September 15,
1506 ; regimental lieutenant-colonel, June 4, 1814 ;
regimental colonel, July 29, 1820 ; major-general, May
25, 1827 ; lieutenant-general, June 28, 1828 ; colonel
commandant of the second battalion of the Royal Artil-
lery, April 28, 1836.
MURDER OF A CHILD DT HER FATHER; BRISTOL,
TUESDAY.—Last night a man, named Cann, a butcher,
residing in the district of Baptist Mills, murdered hi;
infant daughter, during a quarrel with his wife. Mr. J.
B. Grindon, coroner of Bristol, held an inquest to-day
upon the body, and received the following evidence :
Police Constable, No. 200, said he was alarmed by a
noise on Monday night, and going to the place whence
the sound proceeded, he saw John Cann knock his wife
down with his fist ; he then kicked with his foot, upon
which the wife screamed "murder, the child is dead."
Witness ran towards her, and saw the mother lifting the
child from the ground. He took the child up, and told
Cann the child wes dying. The woman said he had
kicked it in the head, and before that he had flung it
across the street three times. Cann made no answer.
Witness then took him into custody. The infant was
sent to the hospital. John Mason, house-surgeon of the
hospital, said that about half-past two o'clock this morn-
ing the deceased infant was brought in. It was treated
for concussion of the brain, but died soon after five
o'clock. He had made a post mortem examination, and
found that the death had been occasioned by fracture of
the skull and concussion of the brain, produced by some
violent injuries received. The inquest was finally ad-
j ourned.

MEETING AT OLDBURY FOR THE .RELIEF OF THE
SUFFERERS BY THE LATE COLLIERY EXPLOSION.—A
numerous and highly influential meeting was held at
Oldbury yesterday, for the purpose of adopting mea-
sures for raising funds to relieve the wants of the widows
and orphans whose relations perished in the late coal-
mine accident there. Captain Bennett was in the chair.
Several gentlemen addressed the meeting, and the sub-
scriptions at the close amounted to 6401., including 10/.
from her Majesty the Queen Dowager, 201. from the Earl
of Dartmouth, and 2/. from his lady. It was suggested
that a memorial should be addressed to Government
praying for inquity into the circumstances of the
acci-
dent; but it appeared from an answer from Sir George
Grey to a memorial to this effect from Dudley, that Go-
vernment is already in communication with Mr. Hinch-
cliff, the coroner, on the subject.
An unsuccessful attempt was made at North Shields
on Monday, to blow up the wreck of the Lady Fever-
Oam, which has obstructed the navigation of the river
Tyne for the last twelve months. Only two out of ten
canisters of gunpowder exploded when the galvanic cir-
cuit was completed, and the effect on the wreck was con-
sequently very trifling. Another attempt will be made
in a few days.
THE MEMBERS FOR THE CITY OF LONDON.--The
Liberal candidates for the representation of the City of
London at the next general election will, it is now under-
stood, be Lord John Russell, Mr. Patteson, Sir G. Lar-
pent, and Mr. Rothschild.
In Paris, music is ascending into
.high places, is in-
fusing itself into politics, bringing musical harmony (and
it is high time) into that sphere where no other sort of
harmony at present exists.
.Every Tuesday Louis
Philippe has music executed; thirty poor devils, under
the direction of Auber, sing from the scores of Mozart
or Meyerbeer. The King in the meanwhile reads the
dispatches of the day; makes notes on the margin, with
an occasional reverie, with eyes fixed on the ceiling,
during which, no dcubt, he ponders how he may be
avenged upon his old enemy, Palmerston, for mistaking
Montemolin for Christina's door, and for snubbing his
young god-child, Jarnac. The Royal Family, in the
meanwhile, remain is the adjacent room; the ladies at
their tapestry or their parfilage ; whilst the Princes, I
am sorry to say, too often are seen trying in vain to
suppress yawns at their better halves, not excepting by
any means the Duke de Montpensier, who appears to
appeal from his sallow little bride to the musicians for
assistance to
Or hsino—
is flame, saying, in a very different spirit
f Duke

~ If music be the food of love, play on!"

--Post.
LEITH.—EXTENSIVE IMPORTATION.---POreign pro-
duce continues to flow into our port; timber, tallow,
and grain in great abundance. During the last
four days upwards of 10,000 quarters of grain have
entered for landing. A vessel from Dantzig has
among other commodities, no fewer than 1,700 kegs of
black beer. The advanced period of the season shuts
out the hope of many more cargoes arriving from ports
influenced by the frosts. No year has been marked by
such an influx of foreign stores as the present. Bonded
vaults, warehouses, and timber-yards are full to over-
flow,—Edinburgh Weikly Express.