The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-09 00:00:00

OCTOBER 9, 1846.

such dangerous destinies—that they are the persons who,
(by themselves, furnish by their daily toi no inconsider-
able portion of the stupendous processe of our English
manufactures—that they must be th wives and com-
panions of the great mass of the Engl. workmen—that
they must be the mothers of the con ng generations of
those who are to succeed their father in the vrst inhe-
ritance of English labour—that they, by a law the ne-
cessity of which they cannot escape, must stamp the
character and habits of the rising race of our country's
artisans and labourers ; when they are invested
with such mighty responsibility, both for sood and
for evil, I trust that you, my friend 4, will mot al-
together refuse your assent, your exertions, your
contributions to this unostentatious and vvellionsidered
plan to evert as much as possible of the evil which is ac-
tually impending, and to secure as much as possible of
the good which, if you fail us not, may be attained. (At
the conclusion of his Lordship's eloquent address he was
greeted pith hearty applause )
W. BUSFETLD, .E.q., M.P., in a few remarks expres-
sive of his decided sympathy in the cause of the meeting,
seconded the resolution, which was put and adopted
unanimously.
The Rev. WALTER SCOTT, President of the Airedaile
College, then moved a resolution 'embracing the plans
suggested by the committee for carrying out the objects
of the meeting. These were-1. The provision of
boarding-houses in different parts of the town, conducted
under economical arrangements. "2. By the register of
other lodging-houses kept by private parties and certi-
fied as clean and, well-conducted places of abode. , 3.
'The establishment of evening schools for instruction in
general. 4. The organisation of a general sick society
on sound financial principles, and the encouragement
and facilitation of depositing money in savings' banks.
Subsequently a committee was formed to carry out
these various objects, consisting of the clergy, dissenting
ministers, and the leading gentry of the district. Other
resolution& were paAezt- ettirrng ftpnit all clasSes-in the
district to co-operate in the movement. These resolu-
tions were proposed and seconded by Alfred Harris,
Esq , J. E. Foster, Esq., the Rev. H. Dowson, William
-Rand, Esq , the Rev. J. Glytle, the Rev. R. Ingham, the
Rey, me. Ryland, William Lythall, Esq., and Robert
Baker, Esq. ''The last-named gentleman, who is the fac-
tory-inspector of. the district, pourtrayed in feeling
terms the apparently uncared-for condition of our female
factory, operatives, and expressed his cordial approval of
a movement at once so necessary and philanthropic as
that which they had now originated.
All the resolutions were passed unanimously, and the
proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks given by
acclamation to the Rev. Dr. Scoresby.

SPIRIT 'of the PUBLIC JOURNAL'
FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
TIMES.-The position of the Minister whom
progress of . events, the struggles of party, the worki
of public opinion, and even the vicissitudes' of the st
have conspired to place at the head of this realm, is o
which a moralist might select to cure the most insatial
and most daring ambition. In the approaches of a
mine, aggraVated by, a social disorder which centur
have been-nursing, it is
-his tremendous responsibility
hOld the key of the national store. A few years—l
most a few months—since, it was pointed, out to the a
miration of England that the manufacturing masses'
Lancashire, deprived pf employment, sat down to die'
the sight of warehouses
,f4ll to overflowing with foc
That was a noble spectacle, and it has told. Resign
tion has wrought a miracle such as the boldest agitatc
• did , not 'venture, :to expect. Would. .that eith
the case were us simple, the remedy as obvious, the pe
ple as resigned, in 'the present. instance. An. island,: a
social state, n" rice' is to be changed. The surface of
!the land, its diVisions,"its culture, :its proprietors, its on-
cupiera, its habitations, its manners, its law, its lab-
guage, and the,heart of
,a people who for two thous*
years have remained unalterable within the compass pf
those mighty change's which have given us Europe n
civilisation are all, to be created anew. That is on y
part of the task which a destiny that seems to mo k:
4 alike the aspirations of benevolence and of ambition, i -
poses on the Minister of this State. 'He has not only o
feed the people out of an insufficient store, but change
their very nature meantime. Should: he fail both to
meet the crisis and improve the opportunity, he will be
reproached not only with the horrors of instant famine,
but with helping to perpetuate a national degradation.
There is a. melancholy , concurrence in the -opinions degradation
most Irishmen that five years at least must elapse bet
in any part of Ireland. the peasantry will be able to raise
a new species of- food. - And even this hypothesis is
made on.groands more favourable than a minute con-
templation of the case warrants Ant in assuming. Five
years must elapse before even the more docile and trac-
table portion of the peasantry will be able to cultivate a
new and different species of food.' , But how long a
period must intervene before the More intractable,' the
more imputient, and the more despondent part of
them habituate themselves to the idea—much more
to the study—of a novel and unwonted agriculturee
A length of time—greater than we like to re-
volve in our minds—must pass over ere the tillage be
changed and the subsistence of the people created afresh.
What is to be done in the interval? Already the com-
plaint is that the baronies' have overtaxed themselves;
that they are assessed to the labour-fund far above their
actual value. This by itself would be found to be a se-
rious inconvenience, were the calamity which , it is pro?.
posed to obviate of a temporary nature. But this is not
so. The most sanguine dare not hope that one year will
bound the sweep and severity of our affliction. The re-
medy, therefore, which applied to the first year's evil
would be inconvenient is, when proposed for the second,
impossible or ruinous. - To repeat the process of super-
taxation—to renew the.great promissory note to Go-
vernment7-would be simply to beggar the landowners
without conferring. a permanent benefit on the people,
or— what is equally important—a permanent improve-
ment on the land. The landlords would fly from—
whilst their tenants , would perish on a soil ex-
hausted by mortgages and crowded with a famished,
and reckless population. Frightful as such a
state of things would be, it is no vague picture
of the imagination. It is just the very state to
which Ireland must inevitably be reduced, if the sums
now collected, and about to be collected, are flung
away on works which will add nothing to the national
wealth, and supply nothing to the national want. The
first object of Government, after doing the best, as we
admit Lord Besborough seems to be doing, for the im•
mediate exigency, should be to provide against its cer •
tain recurrence ; to devise means for making the famine
of the next fear less oppressive than that of the present,
and that of the following easier than that of the next ;
so that the weight of suffering may be diminished season
by season, until Providence has blessed the industry of
the people and the energy of their advisers by new
modes and new fruits of husbandry. This can only be
effected by taking such measures as shall insure the cul-
tivation—the renewed, the general, and the indefatigable
cultivation—either of such grain as may itself feed
the people, or be exported as the medium of procuring
for them a proper food. To this object the
attention both of Government and of landed
proprietors should be directed. In this, as in every
other emergency which demands vigour of design and
promptness of execution, the plans of the landlord will
be thwarted and his directions contravened by the inex-
tricable perplexities which beset the Irish question.
That we must expect. There will be difficulty beyond
what Englishmen find it easy to conceive in inducing the
Irish peasant to till acres for the reception of other crops
than the potato. Will the difficulty be too great for the
landlord to overcome f Will it be great enough to shift
upon the Government ? This problem must sooner or
later be solved. Government has become a large
money-lender. It may have to become so again even on
a more comprehensive scale But it hardly appears as
yet that Government has succeeded in getting that
which ordinary money-lenders never fail to obtain—
security. Suppose the landowners find themselves un-
able to repay what has been advanced them by Par-
liament—and this is no extravagant supposition—what
then ? What remedy will the Government have ?
None that we can see ; at least, none that would be
worth a moment's effort, or a farthing's outlay. But,
if the money now advanced by the Treasury be sacri-
ficed to projects of lavish but useless expenditure—to
the consstuction of trafficless roads and shipless harbours
—or to the mere equipment of private luxury and com-
fort—then indeed will the stewards of the Imperial
purse have complicated a great temerity with a great in-
justice, by lavishing away loans without a guarantee
either for their discharge, or their safe and profitable in-
vestment. It has, therefore, been suggested that the
Government should constitute itself a mortgagee on a
large scale, and should itself enter on the lands which it
has relieved by its advances, leaving, of course, to the
proprietor his equity of redemption. That such a
scheme should have been thought of for one moment only
proves the desperate character of the emergency. • No-
thing, in fact,
•c mild be more contrary to the
genius of a constitutional Government, which aims
to be an impartial arbiter between all classes,
and never descends from the council-room to occupy
the place of any subordinate vocation. A British
Premier will probably feel as great a scruple to play
the part of a national landlord as to intrude into
the office of judge. Such a scheme would, in fact, only
be adding new elements of disorder to a chaos which
already confesses the presence of too many. Henceforth
the nationallandlord, the national tenant, the national
agent, national leases, national processes of distress,
would be added to the dramatis persona that already so
uncomfortably crowd the stage. If so much is now ex-
pected from the worth, the ability,
,and forbearance of
the private landowner, what extravagant expectations
would usher in the reign of the national proprietor! But
it is easier to raise objections to such a scheme than to
refute them. The Scriptural character of the precedent
, claims for it at least a decorous reception. But it would
be difficult to establish a parallel between the patient
children of Ham, the Pharaohs, and the Delta of the
Nile, on the one hand, and the Celt, the British Govern-
ment, and the Emerald Isle on the other. We can only
class the scheme with those dreamy projects which,
impracticable as they may be in themselves, like the
mysterious gleams of morning twilight, do at least pre-
pare for great changes. And he must indeed be blind
who does not see that the present relation of rich and
poor 4n Ireland must precede some great revolution in
the tenure of landed property.
CHRONICLE.—The fate of Sir Robert Peel's ever-
memorable purpose of the Ist of November is really one
of the oddest and most anomalous mishaps on record in

'of
in
od.

PKICF, SD.

, the obituary of good intentions. Never was there a
more extraordinary instance of the unfortunate casual-
ties to which even a strong man's strongest purposes are
liable on coming in collision with the world of action.
That Sir Robert Peel was right when he proposed to his
Cabinet to open the ports to the duty-free admission of
foreign grain has long since been acknowledged, both by
the Legislature and by public opinion, with as near an
approach to absolute unanimity as can ever be expected
in a free country, whose constitutional liberties include
the privilege of individual indulgence in all kinds and
degrees of mental Eccentricity. He was right in his
data of fact and probability; right in his practical con-
clusion; right according to precedent; right according to
reason; right according to the free-traders ; right accord-
ing to the protectionists ; right in every conceivable
way in which a man can be right ; and now more than
ever shown to have been right by recent events. Even I
the one solitary diffiCulty which stood in his way—the
reluctince of some of his colleagues, or the presume'4
reluctance of Parliament, to accept the avowed ulterior
consequences' of the proposed move—has been subse-
quently obviated, by the Legislature's formal renunci-
ation of the whole scheme of policy which " open ports"
threatened to be put in peril. Yet somehow, by a fata-
lity which will look very strange in history, this so pal-
pably right and wise purpose has never, to this hour,
been carried into effect. Everything else that Sir Robert
Peel recommended for. the emergency has been done—
but not this, which was the first, simplest, and most
easily-executable of his recommendations. Everybody
heartily approved it—and nearly everybody acquiesced
in a "settlement" that was understood as a three years'
adjournment of its execution. The Ist of Novem-
ber is now Coming round again—bringing with it an
emergency immeasurably more frightful than that
of last year ; yet last year's universally ap
proved resolution still stands over unperformed.
Aa we are a " practical people," and make no
piatensluns to justify our acts or omissions at the bar of
pure reason, this singular self. contradiction has hitherto
sat very lightly on the national conscience. Without a
new emergency to recal our attention to the old coun-
sels, we should, one and all, have resented, as a piece of
fantastic crotchettiness, any troublesome inquiry as to
what has become of the only part of the Peel policy
which everybody approved, but which everybody has
allowed to drop into oblivion. The.return, however, in
a fearfully aggravated form, of the calamity which, last
year, imposed on a reluctant Premier the decision to un-
tax the people's food, has at once given a practical cha-
racter 'to a question that would else have-been too ab-
stract for our-national tastes. Judging from the promp-
titude with which our first mention of this subject, a few
days.since, has been responded to by several of our Con
temporaries, and from what we.believe.to be the feeling,
of the public, we do not believe that the approaching
14 Of NOvember will find us still waiting, for the reali-
sation of the late Premier's long-dated and almost for-
gotten intent. That interesting anniversary will, we
quite hope and expect, be signalised, or anticipated, by
the adoption of the counsels that have given its prede-
cessor a name in. history.
HERALD.—If safety were to be found in a :number
of organs and a multitude of counsellors, the present
Government would certainly 'be beyond the reach of
danger. But in, Cabinets; as in culinary concerns; it is
sometimes found that too many cooks spoil the broth,
.and that a multitude of counsellors sometimes darken.
knowledge. It was announced yesterday, in the afro-,
hick, Daily News, and Tintes,, in precisely the sense.
words, or nearly so, " that Mr. Justice Erie will go to
the Queen's Bench, and Mr. Vaughan Williams to the-
Common Pleas," though the appointment pf the latter
has slot yet been. gazetted,
,and though many well in-
formed persons in the profession still think that Mr.
DaVid Dundas will. be the new puisne judge orthe
Queen's Bench. But, notwithstanding the strong inte-
rest Of the Duke of Sutherland, and the general and de-
served popularity of Mr. Dundas as an amiable and ac-
complished gentleman, we believe Lord Cottenham will
insist on the appointnient of Mr. Vaughan Williams;
certainly . one of the safest and most learned
lawyers in Westminster Hall, and the greatest legal
writer living, with the exception of Sir Edward Sugden.
Mr. Sergeant Stephen, and Mr. Starkie. We could
ourselves wish to see the latter gentleman placed in
a position commensurate with his abilities and attain-
ments as. a scientific lawyer; and if he were not above 62
years of age, we should gladly have 'seen him elevated
to the judicial bench. ' But 'at that •advanced period of
life to tax the faculties, of man with laborious and onerous
duties is neither wise nor politic in reference to the in-
terests of the state, nor is it quite fair to the honest
fame or professional renown of the individual on wh.'m
honours, his earlier due, are too late conferred. That it
was the intention of Lord *ought= to have made Mr.
Starkie the very next judge, previously to his resignation
of the Great Seal on-the 21st November, 1834, is pretty
well known, and was applauded by the profession. But
Mr. Starkie had then, scarcely passed his fiftieth year,
and twelve years after the passing of the grand climac-
teric make it strange change in the constitution of
a man whose hopes have been so sorely and severely
crossed. The promise of Lord Brougham, indicativ,
of his discrimination and perception of merit,
Lord Lyndhurst—for the honour of the Uni-
versity to which ho belonged, and of which
the ex-Chancellor and the present Downing Pro-
fessor,
.Mr. Starkie, were both such distinguished
alumni—ought to have fulfilled : but the laissez-
alter, lassiez-faire habits of that uncontrollably slothful
and heartless, but eminently and able gifted man, have
ever prevented him from doing what he ought to have
done for others, or even for himself. We trust, how-
ever, that model of judges, Lord Cottenham, will see fit,
on the first vacancy, to remove Mr. Sergeant Stephen,
who has not passed his fifty-seventh year, from Bristol
to a seat on the judicial bench of .the metropolis, and
confer the vacant commissionerahip of bankrupts on Mr.
Starkie, one of the greatest of our legal authors, as cer-
tainly one of the most scientific of our lawyers. In
America suclint man had taken the rank and .been ho-
noured and rewarded as the Kents, the Storys, and the
Marshalls; and as it is, his name is as well known and
more appreciated in America than in England. Mr.
Starkie has ever avowed himself a constitutional Whig,
and this ought to be no impediment in his way with so
strong a politician as Lord Cottenham. But we firmly
believe, apart from fitness, political opinions will weigh
not—nor ought they to weigh—a feather in the scale.
To return, however, to the actual vacancy. This night's
Gazette will probably dispel all illusions, and prove, to
the credit of Lord Cottenham, the judicious selection of
Mr. Vaughan Williams.

TROTTING MATCH AGAINST TIME.—A trotting
match against time came off on Tuesday, at Cheltenham,
and excited an unusual interest in the sporting circles.
The affair has been looked forward to anxiously in cer-
tain quarters for some time past, partly owing to the
known capabilities of the horse which was matched, and
partly owing to the prowess of the backer, Mr. Alexan
der Burke, of trotting notoriety. The following is the
agreement entered into between Mr. Alexander Burke
tend Mr. W. P. Hurlstone (of the King's Head Inn):—
" Mr. Burke backs Mr. Lovehy's black horse (purchased
of Mr. Harris) to trot twelve and three-quarters in 45
minutes, for 501. aside, the match to come off within six
weeks, on the road leading from Cheltenham to Tewkes-
bury. The horse to trot under saddle or in harness; the
winner to pay for two dozen of wine." Finally the day
was fixed for Tuesday, October 6, between the hours of
eleven and three. Accordingly, at two o'clock, yester
day, Mr. Burke, attended by numerous friends, re-
paired to the Worcester Arms, Tewkesbury-road, the
place fixed for the start; and shortly after that hour he
set off, having chosen to drive the horse in harness in
his light gig. Nuinerous bets were made pro et con, some
choosing the horse, and others backing time. Tne road
was not in a very good condition, a great quantity of
rain having fallen during the morning. The horse
seemed, however, in excellent condition, and went ali
the distance at a " slashing" pace, several of those who
rode along on first-rate horses having been put to their
mettle to keep up (at a gallop) with the trotter. Mr.
Burke went half the distance out, then turned and came
in again, winning the match easily in 42 minutes. The
horse seemed not in the least distressed at the close of
this splendid performance. Of course there was a large
concourse of spectators to witness the exciting scene.—
Cheltenham Chronicle,

THE WHITTINGTON CLUB. —A very large and
respectable meeting was held last evening, in the Hall of
Commerce, Tfireadneedle-street, of those interested in
getting up a club under the above title, the objects of
which were to make up a literary and scientific club,
somewhat upon the plan of the Manchester Athenaeum
and Birmingham Athenic Institute. Mr. Traice having
been called to the chair, the report of the committee was
read. The proposed terms of subscription were 10
guineas to constitute a life member persons; living within
seven miles of the General Post Office to pay 10s. 6d.
entrance fee, and an annual subscription of 1/. Is.;
ladies, 10s. 6d. annually, without any entrance fee; and
persons living beyond the distance of seven miles to pay
half of the above. The Chairman then addressed the
meeting at considerable length, upon the nature and
objects of this institution, upon the usefulness of which
he dwelt for some time, and pointed out how much such
an institution was wanted for the use of not only the
vast class of persons in the employment of the gigantic.
merchants of the City, but also for the admission of
ladies, whose society in such places they had hitherto,
by absurd conventionalisms, been deprived of. Some
resolutions were proposed, founded 'upon the report, and
which were spoken to at some length by the proposers
and seconders. The committee and treasurer were then
appointed, the customary votes of thanks passed, and the
meeting separated.
THE IRON TRADE.—BIRMINGHAM, THURSDAY
EVENING.—The quarterly meeting of the iron and coal,
masters of South Staffordshire, held today at the Town
Hall, was very numerously attended. There were pre!.
sent the principals or representatives of nearly all the
large houses in the district, and many large buyers. The
general announcement on all sides was that trade was
good, an abundance of orders on the books, and a pro
pect of daily increase. Under such circumstances -a
s.re-
duction was out of the question, and the only consider-
ation was whether there might not be a little advance.
Some were disposed for a rise, but it was eventually
settled that no advance upon the prices of the past
quarter should take place. The masters will meet to-
morrow at Stourbridge, and on Saturday at Dudley,
There was not much business done to-day.

• DRURY-LANE THEATRE*. 't
Madame Anna Bishop made her debilt here last
evening, in the character of Isoline in I3alfe's opera
of The-Maid of Artois, which was revived for the
occasion. This opera was composed expressly for
Madame Malibran, who created, in the character of
Isoline, a sensation which is now a matter of history
in the records of the English musical drama. 'The
voice of.Malibran was, perhaps, the finest corth4la/to
that:has ever been heardthat of Madame Bishop is
a pure, high soprano, consequently, the whole of' the
music had to be altered to suit the voice of the! W..
butante. Our readers, no doubt, remember Madame
Bishop as Miss Riviere, the most promising pupal of
the Royal Academy of Music. She has moro.4han
fulfilled the promise of her pupillage—Russia, Ger-
many, and Italy, have borne willing- witness
to the genius and science of the gifted _Eng,
lish songstress—and the prima donna of the
San Carlo has returned from Naples to Eng-
land to assume that position which is her bitth-
right. Madame Bishop (we wish she would sink the
- Madame) is, at this moment, the prima donna assuluta
of England. Her grand scena dentree in the first
act was a 'triumph, and at once assured her her posi-
tion. Clear, flutelike, powerful, sweet, and exquisitely
expressive,: her voice was recognised at once as 'that
of one of the greatest artistes of the day. With- the
freshness cif-Castellan, she combines the fiexibiliVland
science. of• Persiani, without that deficiency of ihto-
nation which was always perceptible, but which,
during hei last two seasons was painfully manifegt in
the vocal...efforts (for latterly they were efforts) of
that otherwise Queen of Song—Madame Bislaop
never sings out of tune. In this trying scena shwas
encored, and then folowed the duet with the Mltirluis,
in which she was admirably supported by Borrani
(who.is a musician), and then came the long and
trying finale, to the first act, in which both
vocally and histrionically her triumph was complete.
At the conclusion of the first act she was called for,
and was led on by Harrison (the Jules of the opera),
and was rewarded by the enthusiastic plaudits of a
delighted audience, while bouquets•were showered on
her a foison. In the second act, at the commencement,
Weiss, as the slave driver Synnelet, made great play.
His buffet aria "Was there ever known such a Set".
was given with more spirit than we have ever before
heard Weiss exhibit, and was much and deservedly

applauded. An exquisitely beautiful ballad " 0-h
what a charm it is to dwell," delightfully sung by
Madame Bishop, followed ; and then came the grew
duet of the opera, between Isoline and Jules, in which
Madame Bishop was well supported by Harrison. In
this act we were introduced to a debutante of some

promise, Miss Isaacs, who appeared as Nynka, and
who as a seconda donna will add greatly to the
efficiency of the Drury-lane corps. At the conclu-
sion of this act, the far-famed air, " The Light of
other days" was given with great pathos and expres-
sion, by Borrani. We have never heard this air more
beautifully given; and we say this with a vivid re-
collection of Henry Phillipps, in this delightful me-
lody, on the night when the opera was first produeed.
Borrani was rapturously and most deservedly en-
cored, hut, with a modesty rather uncommon in vo-
caliats, he only repeated the first verse. The whole
burden of the third act falls up-on Isoline ; and ad-
mirably, did Madame Bishop sustain it.. Her acting
and her vocalisation were perfect ; exquisitely did
-she-giit the -opening recitative, and the pathetic aria
which immediately follows it, " Oh beautiful night."
llarriton was, on the whole, good in this scebe,
but he marred it sadly at the conclusion, by
vociferating in the voice of a boatswain, "I could
not share thy life, I will thy death." He shouted
this at the top of his voice. Now, considering that
he has only just partially recovered from a fainting
fit of exhaustion, and considering also that she whOm
he loves better than life, is at that moment stretched,
as he thinks, dead before him, it is morally end
physically impossible that Jules should have uttered
those words in such a tone, and consequently it is
artistically a great fault. The audience felt it was
such, for a feeble attempt at applause in the gallery
was instantly suppressed by an universal and ener-
getic bush ! The far-famed finale "_The rapture
dwelling," was exquisitely given by Madame Bishop,
Her fioriture in the finale was beautiful exceedingly ;
her voice sounded like a beautiful flute, perfectly
under
.the command of the most accomplished per-
former. The expression was all that could be desired,
but more than all, there was a truth to nature, which
entitles Madame Bishop to take high rank as a dra-
matic artist of the highest order. It was given,
musically speaking, most delightfully, most correctly,
most artistically; but with a degree of exhaustion
which one would naturally expect from the situation,
that of a person just recovered from the jaws of death
in the desert. Madame Bishop exhibited throughout
the opera a fine appreciation of the various phases of the
character, and nowhere was that more finely or more
correctly exhibited than in the finale, where a less
accomplished artist would have sought rather to exhi-
bit her.own powers of vocal execution than to have
been true to nature. The audience, we were glad to
see, properly appreciated the artistical conception of
Nl:dame-Bishop. She was called for at the conclu-
sion, and led on by Harrison, and bouquets in profu-
sion were again showered upon her. When she had
withdrawn, there were loud calls for Borrani ; in
obedience to which he at length appeared, and was
greeted with loud applause, and never was applause
more richly deserved'. The house was crowded to
excess in every part long before the rising of the cur-
tain. Places even in the slips were at a premium.