The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-28 00:00:00

A-

LON DON, MONDAY IVIORNING SIT N 7 DECEMBER 28, 1846. paicE SD.

No. 16,934.

THE NORTHERN COUNTIES UNIO
RAILWAY COMPANY.
Notice is hereby giVen, that a SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING
of the SHAREHOLDERS of this COMPANY will be held, at the
London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, in the City of London; on WED-
NESDAY, the 20th day of January next, at One o'clock, r.x., for the
puriose of taking into consideration and approving' or otherwise, the
proposed application to Parliament for the partial Deviation of the
line, and the Amendment of the Act constituting this Company.
Al-o, in compliance with the requisition of the shareholders, for
the further purpose of taking into consideration and approving, or
otherwise, certain propositions for an Amalgamation of this Company
with the Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Junction
Ita.lway Company.
Any shareholders who desire proxies in order to vote at the said
Meeting will have the same forwarded to them on applying at the
Company's offices, and by payment of the 2e. 6d. each, the cost of
the stamp. By order of the Board,
CHARLES LOCOCK WEBB, Secretary.
Dated Company's Offices, 1, Peet's-corner, Westminster,
December 18, 1846.

BY ORDER OF THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL.
G corn-
WESTERN RAILWAY.-
On and after WEDNESDAY next, the 30th instant, in co-
.
Nance with the orders of the Postmaster-General, the NIGHT
MAIL from Exeter to Paddington, will start at 9 P.M. instead of
9 35 P.M, as heretofore; it will leave Bristol at 11 50 p.m., Glou-
cester at 11 40 Pat., Oxford at 1 45 A.M., and the other Stations in
like proportion. Particulars of which may be obtained at the Rail-
way ,ttations.
The Train from Teignmonth; in connexion with the Nieit Mail,
will start at 8 10 P.M.

By order of: the Directors.
CHAS. A. SAUNDERS, Secretary.

EWRY, ARMAGH; and LONDONDERRY
1.1 JUNCTION RAILWAY COMPANY,

Notice is.hereby given, that a FIRST DIVIDEND of Ten Shil-
lings per Share will be PAYABLE to the Scripholders in this Corn.
pany, on and after M6NDAT, the 16th day of November instant, be-
tween the hours of Ten and Three o'clock, en application' at"
Messrs. Spooner, Atwood; and Co., Bankers, London.

The Bank of Scotland,
The District Bank • • • •
The Provincial Bank of Ireland

Edinburgh.
Liverpool, and at
Dublin, as heretofore,

The Scrip must be endorsed by the party presenting it, and deli-
vered. up to Bankers, and a receipt signed for the amount of the Di-
vidend ; the Banker in exchange, will give a certificate of the Com-
pany entitling the holder to such ' further Dividend or Dividends as
the Directors may be enabled to make upOn the final s&t.letheht of
the accounts. , ,

This arrangement has been made at, the yectnest of Scriphohiers
residing in England and Scotland, to avoid the risk and expense of
forwarding Scrip to Ireland. '
CITARLEMONT, Chairman.
Newry, No. 8, Trevor-hill, Nov. 4, 1846.

DIRECT BOMBAY and .MADRAS RAIL-
WAY. •
• Notice.—The FIRST HALF YEAR'S INTEREST, at 4 per cent.
per annum, will continue to be PAID till the 31st inst. Scrlpholders
are requested to present their scrip at the offices of the Company
between the hours of Twelve and Three, when it will be stamped and
the interest paid at the same time.
• By order, JAMES WARD, Secretary.
Offices of the Company, SS, Fencherch-street.

BIRKENHEAD DOCK COMMISSIONERS.
LOANS OF MONEY.
The Birkenhead Dock Commissioners are ready to receive Loans
of Money for period: of flve or seven years, wider the authority of
their Acts of Parliament, at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum. The
interest will be paid half-yearly, on the Ist of January and Ist of
July, in London or elsewhere, as the parties Tending may prefer.
Sealed tenders, stating the amount and term of years for which the
money is proposed to be lent, to be addressed to the Commissioners,
endorsed "Tender for Loans."—Birkenhead, Sept. 21, 1846.
By order, RICHARD HIND, Sec.

THE SELF-SUPPORT INSTITUTION,
(aided by Voluntary Contributions.) for the Cure of Stricture
of the Urethra, and all other Diseases of Urinary Organs, Nervous,
Local, and General Debility.
SURGEON—F. E. COURTENAT, 11./LC.S.L., 2, Chandos-street,
Cavendish-square.
To small tradesmen, clerks, mechanics, and the working classes
generally, this Institution offers, in all eases, gratuitous surgical
Assistance, and in others medicine also free of expense.
Apply at the Surgery adjoinng the Surgeon's residence.

footing, with respect to all rights and advantages
at home and abroad. The seventh article
declares that no article should be more highly
taxed in Ireland than in Great Britain. The eighth
article gives an appeal to the House of Lords—secures
the continuance of the Irish Court of Admiralty—and
repeals all the laws that conflict with the treaty of Union.
Such is the entire of the treaty of Union, which still re-
mains in force. • The soleinn ratification of this treaty
by Great Britain and Ireland iespectively is thus ex-
pressed in the words of the treaty:—" And whereas, the
said articles having, by address of the respective Houses
of Parliament in Great Britain and Ireland, been humbly
laid before his Majesty, his Majeity: has been graciously
pleased to approve the same, and to'recernmend it to his
two Houses of Parliament in Great Britain and Ireland,
to consider of such measures as may be necessary for
giving effect to the said articles. In order therefore to
give full effect and validity to the same, be it enacted by
the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the
advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons in the present Parliament assembled,
and by the authority of the same, that the said
foregoing recited articles, each and every One of them,
according to the true intent and tenor thereof, be
ratified, confirmed, and approved; and be, and they
are hereby declared to be, the articles of the union
of Great Britain and Ireland, and the same shall be
ia force, and have effect for ever from the first day of
January, which Shall be in the year` of our Lord 1801."
No words can be more full—no meaning more unequi-
vocal—no declaration more solemn than those contained
in this ratification. By it the two kingdoms Qf Great
Britain and Ireland solemnly covenanted with' each other
and with every citizen of both countries, that so long as
the union existed, so long should the terms and condi-
tions upon which that union was agreed to, be exactly
and faithfully fulfilled. By this ratification the kingdom
and people -of Great' Britain solemnly covenanted with
the kingdom and people4seland, that, although the
British Members of the :d PVliament outnumbered
'the Irish Members bt five tel;a4l„hhitmikjority, great
:as it is, should be powerless to violate the articles of
union; and that the United Parliament should be conipe-
tent to alter the articles of union only, in the manner
and at the time for that purpose limited and appointed
by the articles themselves. • Competent is the very
'word used for this purpose by the treaty itself. Thus,
in the seventh article, it is covenanted ire these words—
" That if at any future day the separate debt of each
country respectively shall have been liquidated, or if
the values of their respective 'debts shall be to each
other in the same proportion with the respective
contribution of each country respectively, then
it shall be competent to the Parliament of the United
Kingdom to declare that all future expenses thence-
forth to be incurred shall be defrayed indiscriminately
by equal taxes, imposed on the same articles each
country"—that is, that under certain circumstances the
otherwise unalterable nature of this part of the seventh
article shall be changed—that it shall, under such cir-
cumstances, become liable to alteration, and that
.the
United Parliament, before incompetent to alter this part
of the treaty of union, shall, by force and effect of this
special provision, then become competent to alter it. By
force and effect of this treaty, the Parliament of Ireland
ceased to exist, as did also that of Great. Britain. The
Parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland did not, there-
fore, attempt, in the year 1800, to bind' their successors,
for successors, in the legal import of the term, they had
none ; both of these Parliaments were at that time ex-
tinguished, and a new Parliament was constituted, en.
titled the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland. The avowed object of the treaty
of Union was to supersede the old Legislatures of these
kingdoms, and substitute in their place a new form of
government : this, of itself imports legal obligation,
permanence, and uncontrollability by any laws but the
authority empowered by that treaty to alter or abolish
its enactments. By force and effect of the treaty of Union
alone was the United Parliament formed and consti-
tuted. The United Parliament has no prescriptive rights
in Ireland—no ancient prerogatives, which so often loom
larger than the truth amid the gloom of antiquity. It is
the creature of the treaty of Union. That treaty is the
sole fountain of its power, the only legal source of its
anthority in Ireland; and if the treaty of Union be not in
full force in Ireland, the Parliament sitting in London
has no more right to legislate for Ireland than the Con-
gress of America. Within that treaty the extent of the
powers of the united Parliament, taut be sought. By
the letter of that treaty is its: jurisdiction marked out
and limited. Tee two sovereign kingdoms of Great-
Britain and Ireland, by a great international compact,
united themselves together, formed a new legislature,
and for ever bound by a supreme, unalterable, uncon-
trollable law, the legislature which they had themselves
created and constituted. The treaty of Union thus be-
came the written constitution of the empire, and a law
of supreme paramount obligation, revoking all opposing
statute s—a law which the unitel Legislature, its creti•
ture, is altogether incompetent to violate or annul. When
I say this law is unalterable, I, of course, merely speak
as a lawyer. In the same way I should say that the
succession to the Crown was settled by an unalterable
law. r am perfectly_ 4WMP...t1140.6 algsenels caseaAhere
sort-to emend any law, if such a proceeding be necessary,
for the safety of the state. This implied resulting
power in the people, in all cases, to provide for their own
safety, however, is not a legal and regular course, it is an
illegal and violent one. It is the revolutionary remedy,
sometimes necessary and wholesome, but one which until
it has actually occurred, cannot be used as an argument
by counsel, nor as a reason by a judge, Notwithstand-
ing, therefore, the existence of this extreme right, it my
argument be correct, I am justified in saying that the
treaty of union is a law revoking all opposing laws ;
that every Act of the united Parliament is to be read
as if it contained a proviso, that nothing contained in it
should be construed to repeal or alter anything finally
settled by that treaty
; and that all statutes made in
violation of its provisions are, ipco facto, null and void.
My next proposith n is simple in its terms and easy in
its proof—it is, that by the sixth article of the union,
her Majesty's subjects of Great Britain and Ireland are
entitled to the same privileges. The part of the treaty
of union upon which I rely to establish this proposition
is the first section of the sixth article, which is in the
following words :—" That it be the sixth article of
Union that his Majesty's subjects of Great Britain and
Ireland, shall, from and after the first day of January,
1801, be entitled to the same privileges—and be on the
same footing as to encouragements and bounties, on
the like articles being the growth, produce. or manufac-
ture of either country respectively—arid generally in re-
spect of trade and navigation in all ports and places in
the United Kingdom and its dependencies—end that in
all treaties made by
his Majesty, his heirs and succes-
sors, with any foreign Power, his Majesty's subjects of
Ireland shall have the same privileges and be on the
same footing as his Majesty's subjects of Great Britain."
This section recites four covenants entered into between
the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, four of those
terms or conditions, which the kingdom of Ireland sti-
pulated for as the price of its independence; they are, in
tact, four limitations to the power of the united Parlia-
ment, and set out four matters which the united Parlia-
ment shall for ever be incompetent to, enact. The first
of these covenants is, " That from and after the first
day of January, 1801, his Majesty's subjects of Great
Britain and Ireland shall be entitled to the same privi-
leges," that is, . that from the day on which the union
shall take effect, and so long as that union shall exist,
the inhabitants of each island shall have an inalienable,
incontestable, indestructible right and title to every pri-
vilege enjoyed by the inhabitants of the other. This
covenant mutually extended to each country all the pectic
liar privileges at that time enjoyed by the other, and pro-
vided that at no future time should the United Kingdom
be competent to grant to the inhabitants of one island
any privilege which it did not at the same time grant to
the inhabitants of the other—nor, on the other hand, to
take from the inhabitants of one island any privilege
that it did not, at the same time, take from the
inhabitants of the other. The second covenant
is in reference to encouragements and bounties to
the produce and manufactures of the two islands.
This covenant declares that British and Irish
subjects shall, so long as the union exists, " be on the
same footing, as to encouragements and bounties on the
Aire articles, being the growth,,,prodnce, or manufacture
of either country respectively. By this covenant the
united Parliament is limited and rendered incompetent
to grant or take away any bounty or encouragement to
the manufacture or produce of one island, which it does
not, at the same time, grant or take away from that of
the other. The third covenant contained in this section
is in reference to trade and navigation. By this cove-
nant it is stipulated "That the inhabitants of Great
Britain and Ireland shall be on the same footing in re-
spect of trade and navigation, in all ports and places in
the United Kingdom and its dependencies." By this
covenant perfect equality in all matters connected with
trade, in all parts of the United Kingdom, is for ever
established between Great Britain and Ireland, and the
Parliament of the united empire is declared incompetent
to disturb that equality. The fourth covenant assures to
the inhabitants of both islands an equality in all advan-
tages derivable from treaties made between the united
empire and foreign powers. It declares that in all
treaties made by his Majesty, his heirs and successors,
with any foreign power, his Majesty's subjects of Ire-
land shall have the same privileges, and be on the same
footing as his Majesty's subjects of Great Britain. The
first three covenants contained in this section secure to
the inhabitants of Ireland, perfect equality with the in-
habitants of Great Britain, in all rights, privileges, and
advantages at home or in the colonies. The fourth co-
venant, which I have just read, secures to them a similar
equality, in all rights, privileges, and advantages, ac-
quired by treaties with foreign countries. The treaty
of Union does not contain any provision authorising the
slightest alteration in any one of these covenants.
These covenants, therefore, form portions of the written
constitution of the country, and are supreme unalterable
opposing statutes. At home there-
fore,Bri-
tish colonies—in his native land, and in foreign countries
laws,a rnectoakbirnogada—in the British islands, and in the ll
—perfect equality with Englishmen, in all civil rights,
benefits, privileges, and advantages, is the inalienable,
indestructible birthright of every Irishman. This
equality was the great political advantage for ages
sought for by Ireland—the great price, agreed to be
paid for her legislative independence. This equality,
in the largest and most beneficial sense, is for ever
sect' •xl to Ireland by the great international

compact and treaty of the Union, and so long
as that union exists, never can that equality be taken
from Ireland except by arbitrary power, and lawless
usurpation. By virtue of that right thus secured by in-
ternational compact and solemn treaty—by virtue of
that supreme, unalterable law, I now demand that my
client shall be admitted to the enjoyment of the pri-
vileges of the elective franchise. I have proved that he
is the owner in fee of land in this county, of the clear
yearly value of forty shillings. I have proved that a
similar owner in England is entitled to the elective
franchise. I now call upon you, Sir, in obedience to the
sixth article of the Union, to place him upon the registry
of this county. I admit that the Parliament of the
United Kingdom has attempted to raise the lowest
qualification for the elective franchise in Ireland to 101.;
that is to makejt five times greater than the lowest qua-
lification in England. I acknowledge that Parliament
has attempted to deprive the Irish forty-shilling free-
holders in fee of their elective franchise ; and thus to
take from her Majesty's Irish subjects a privilege
which still belongs to her Majesty's En.tlish
subjects. But that is the very act the sixth article
of Union renders the Parliament incompetent to do.
The Act of Parliament attempting thus to violate the
articles of union is ipso facto null and void. My client's
right to the elective franchise stands precisely on the
same grounds on which the rights of the Parliament it-
self stand. The same treaty that gives to the United
Parliament each and every one of its rights over Ireland
gives also, uno flatu, to my client his right to the elective
franchise. The Parliament can co more legally deprive
my client of his right to the elective franchise so long
as a similar right exists in England, than my client can
legally deprive the Parliament of its own peculiar rights.
I now demand that any client shall be placed in respect
of the elective franchise upon an equality with his Eng-
lish fellow-subjects, and be put'in possession of his con-
stitutional right. -For if the treaty of the Unionte still
in force—if the pledge so solemnly given be not broken—
if the terms and, conditions granted to Ireland as the
price of the union be not. withheld—if the supreme un-
alterable law benot violitOkand the conatituttotinf the
country trampled under foot—then is my client's right-
to the elective franchise as perfect as that of the Sove-
reign to the throne.
_ _

'the Assistant-Barrister, in giving his decision, com-
plimented Mr. Ellis upon the able manner in which he
brought forward the claim: the arguments were quite
new, and in rejecting the application, he took a note of
the case—Mr. Ellis being afforded the right to "ap-
peal."

INTERESTING DECISION—THE
METROPOLITAN POLICE.
During the past week Mr. G. Clive, the sitting magis-
trate at the Hammersmith Police-court, decided a case
of considerable importance to the public at large. The
case was brought before the magistrate for investigation
by the especial order of the Commissioners of Police,-
having arisen under the provisions of the Police Act
(2d and 3d Victoria, cap. 47, sec. 67), which enacts,
" That it shall be lawful for any constable to stop and
detain, until due inquiry can be made, all carts and car-
riages which he shell find,.employed in removing the
furniture of any house or lodging, between the hours of
eight in the evening and six in the following morning,
or whenever the constable shall have good grounds for
believing that such removal is made for the purpose of
evading the payment of rent."
Police constable, William Ravening, T 113, was
charged on a special sheet, with having illegally stopped,
goods from being removed.
Major John Bartleman deposed that he was an officer in
the Honourable East India Company's service, residing
at 31, Addison-road North, Notting-hill. On the 2d
inst., between three and four o'clock in the afternoon, Mr.
Coulson was removing some furniture from witness's
house by witness's direction, when the defendant came
up and seized the property right in front of witness's
house, saying that he should not release it until a receipt
was shown. Witness asked the defendant what re-
ceipt he meant, but he would give witness no direct
answer until witness pressed him very hard, stating
that there must be a mistake somewhere, as witness had
been only three or four days in the house. Defendant
said the receipt he wanted was the landlord's, for rent;
whereon Mr. Coulson suggested to the defendant that
the receipt he wanted was tor the furniture then being
removed. Witness also told the defendant that there
was no rent due, and that he should go and inform the
landlord; but the defendant refused to release the goods
until Mr. Richardson's (the landlord) nephew came and
said there was no rent due. The defendant then said he
had never asserted there was rent due, and that he had
required no receipt for landlord's rent. Defendant also
said he acted under the orders of Sergeant Blun-
dell, T 9.
The defendant, in answer to the charge, pleaded that
he had acted under the orders he had received from
superiors, and called for his defence
Charles Amos, T 151, who deposed that one day
the latter end of November last, Mr. Coulson, upholder,
of High-street, Nutting-hill, asked witness if he was on
duty in Addison road, North, as he wanted the police to
pee Lela there innll.--oe awn guotis rt-moven-trom there,
and that if he saw anything removed they were to stop
them and let him know, as the gentleman had had some
goods o' him (Mr. Coulson) to the amount of 314. or
321, and he had- heard a very queer account of him.
Witness told Mr. Coulson he did not go so far as Addi-
son-road North, but he would report it to his sergeant,
on which Mr. Coulson thanked witness, who reported
what Mr. Coulson had told him to his sergeant when he.
came round. Witness afterwards told Mr.-Coulson that
he had reported it to his sergeant, when Mr. Coulson
said he was very sorry that he had told witness as he
was likely to lose a hundred pounds customer through
the things having been stopped, and that if the gentle-
man came to witness, he (witness) was to say that Mr.
Parker had been to witness.
George Dunbar, T 91, deposed that he received in-
formation from the last witness about the goods likely to
be removed from No. 31, Addison-road North. Knowing
Mr. Coulson to be a house agent, he thought it was for
rent the goods were to be stopped. Nothing was said by
Amos to witness about rent. Witness told inspector
Havell that he thought it was for rent. Witness also
told Sergeant Hogan the same.
Inspector Havell, Sergeant Hogan, and others corro-
borated the evidence of the preceding witnesses.
Mr. Cmvx asked Inspectors Morgan and Havell, who
were present, if private constables were expected to obey
the orders of their superiors, without any inquiry or
exercising any discretion themselves ?
The inspectors replied that the private constables
were expected to do so.
That being the whole of the evidence in the case,
Mr. CLIVE, after some consideration, declared it to be
his opinion that there had been great negligence on the
part of the police in taking and giving instructions on
the subject of the removal of goods, without having
previously satisfied themselves that the case was one in
which they were by law entitled to interfere. That
they were deceived by Mr. Coulson appeared very evi-
dent, but great blame must still be imputed to them for
allowing themselves to be so easily deceived, especially
when the slightest enquiry would have at once set the
matter right, or at all events have thrown the responsi-
bility on Mr. Coulson, who was the proper party
to bear it. He might also observe that the common
precaution of obtaining a written instruction from Mr.
Coulson was neglected. In the case before him,
although the orders emanated from authority, yet
the whole proceeded from the report of a private
constable, itself caused by mere word of mouth
information from an interested creditor, never sifted or
inquired into at all. It therefore appeared to him that
all the ceremony of transmitting orders from superior
authority might be avoided, if, after all, one private
constable acted at last upon the information of another.
At the same time, the effect was to render the private
constable less responsible and more indifferent than if he
acted on his own authority in this case. It was clear
that to fine the defendant Ravening would be to punish
a man for obeying lawful authority, and therefore the
effect of the system was that no person is punishable at
all. He however felt that he should not be performing
his duty to the public if he did not fine the defendant,
but he would defer his final decision as to that point
until a future day.
On the case being again called on, Superintendent
Williamson and Inspectors Morgan and Havell were
again in attendance to watch the case on the part of the
police commissioners, when
Mr. CLIVE, addressing the defendant, said, that what
he bad stated to be his opinion on the case, on
the previous occasion, he had only to repeat
again. He had in the interim well considered
all the points in the matter, and was of the
same opinion still, that the defendant was placed in
an unfortunate situation, but that he (Mr. Clive) must
fine him in the full penalty of 101., or a month's impri-
sonment, and leave him and all other constables to get
out of it the best way they can. In doing so he felt him-
self bound to look to the hand that does the illegal act,
and to punish that individual.
The defendant was then removed by the gaoler to the
lock-up, but the money was shortly afterwards paid by a
relative.
Mr. Clive afterwards entered the following remarks
upon the charge sheet, with a view to their being laid
before the Police Commissioners :
" It is with great regret that I have passed this sen-
tence. It is a case in which the present responsibility of
the constable is found unfortunately conflicting with his
duty, as a member of the police force, to his superiors.
On the part of the public, however, I must look only to
the individual guilty of the illegal act, and cannot allow
him to escape from his responsibility by pleading the
commands of his superiors. The inconvenience result-
ing from a constable occasionally refusing to obey an
order on account of his belief that it is mistaken or illegal,
is less than the evil to the public arising from the abso-
lute irresponsibility of an officer who may at any time
shield himself behind the orders of his superiors."
We understand that the Commissioners of Police have
since suspended the constable from both duty and pay,
without any limit being stated to the suspension.

The Duke of Wellington does not receive any
company this Christmas at Strathfieldsaye, owing to the
indisposition of his friend the Right Honourable Charles
Arbuthnot, who continues confined to his room, from a
severe attack of gout. Lord and Lady. Charles Welles-
ley are staying with the Noble and Gallant Duke.

THE CHRISTMAS CAROL.
" Then came the merry maskers in,
And carols roared with blithesome din;
If unmelodious was the song,
It was a hearty note and strong."
SIR WALTER SCOTT.
The word "carol" is said• to be derived from the
Latin cantare, to sing, and rola, an into* ction Of joy.
By some writers, however, it is supposed to be of Ita-
lian, and by others of French. extraction; its meaning
is, generally, a song of mirth and exultation, especially
of religious joy. The " Christmas Carol," in particular,
is a song in celebration of our blessed Lord's nativity.
This kind of pious ballad is undoubtedly of very remote
origin. Bishop Jeremy Taylor, in his "Great Exem-
plar," fancifully remarks that the first Christmas carol
was the hymn of the angels to the shepherds in the
plains of Bethlehem:—" Glory to God in the highest, on
earth peace, good will to men." Milton, also, in Para-
dise Los', thus mentions the same anthem:—
" His place of birth a solemn angel tells
To simple shepherds keeping watch by night;
They gladly thither haste. and by a choir
Of squadron'd angels hear His carol sung."

This hymn was introduced at an early period into
the services of the Church, being sung either at Morn-
ing Prayer, or in the Communion Office, or before the
Lessons on Christmas Day. In process of time, other
hymns of the same kind appear to hate been formed
after its example ; and it is stated by the celebrato,d
ritualist .Durandus, that anciently bishops were accus-
tomed . on the above festival, to " sing carols among
their clergy" in the cathedrals. •
In a Latin poem, written about the middle of the
fifteenth century,- and soon after translated into Eng-
lish, the following allusion,to the practice of carolling in
church at Christmas occurs :

" A wooden child is on the altar set,
About the which both boys and girls do dance and trimly jet ;
And carols sing in-praise of Christ, and for to help them here,
The organs-answer every verse with sweet and solemn cheer."
The " Chriatmas Carol," hOwever, was not oontinod 0)
tale Church offices-in medieval times.
," It has been the
_custom,* says a modernwriter;4-‘ for tlyls.common people
of England for many centuries= to-go about in bands, at
an early hour on Christmas morn, serenading, their
neighbours with what are called ' carols.' " Such also
was the usage in other parts of Christendom. "During
the season of Advent," remarks Mr. Digby, " the waits,
while other men took their rest, wandered, singing
hymns in the streets ; and on the blessed night every
one kept watch like the shepherds, while minstrels
chanted Christmas carols." In these ancient poems the
inhabitants of each town and village used to be repre-
sented making the offering of whatever best object they
possessed to the infant Saviour and the blessed Mother.
These ditties even gladdened the festivals of royalty.
Henry VII., in the third year of his reign, kept his
Christmas at Greenwich ; on the twelfth night, after
high mass, the king went to the hall, and kept his estate
,at the table; in the middle sat the dean and those of the
king's chapel, who, immediately after his Majesty's firs;
course, " sang a carall." The earliest collection of
Christmas carols supposed to have been published, is
only known from the last leaf of a volume, printed by
Wynkin de Worde in 1521. " These," says Brand,
" were festal chansons fir enlivening the merriments of
the Christmas celebrity; and not such religious songs as
are current at this day with the common people, under
the same title, and which were substituted by those
enemies of innocent and useful mirth, the Puritans."
We differ from the above antiquary in reference to the
puritanical origin of the "religious" Christmas carols
"current at this day." Many of them appear to be even
of earlier date than the Reformation; and, since the
Precision's, as is well known, hated Christmas Day as
Popish and aati-Christian, and abolished its observance
wherever their influence extended, it is most improbable
that they should have composed songs for its celebra-
tion. Be this as it may, the majority of the medieval
Christmas carols were "religious." Some of these, in
a more or less interpolated and modernised state, have
been handed down to us, and though, perhaps, wanting
in interest to a refined mind, are sometimes admirable
for their simplicity and tenderness. Take for example
the ensuing stanzas from that quaint old ditty, begin-
ning—

" Joseph was an old man, an old man was he,
And he married Mary, Queen of Galilee,"
which was sung by companies of little children at Christ-
mas, and which " brings fairly before us the paintings of
the old masters, where Joseph is always represented as
so old a man, and Mary sits in the oxen's stall with her
crown on her head."
" As Joseph was a walking, he heard an angel sing—
Tbis night shall be born our heavenly king;
He n-itber shall be born in houses nor in hall,
Nor in the place of Paradise, but in an ox's stall;
He neither shall, be clothed in purple nor in pall,
But all in fine linen, as were babies ail;
He neither shall be rock'd in silver nor in gold,
But in a wooden cradle that rocks on the twand ;
He neither shall be christened in white wine or in red,
But with the spring water with which we were christened.'"
...11.4samtaira .11 LllitiG U 731 11 " -
"0 fair, 0 fair Jerusalem ! when shall I come to thee,
When shall our griefs be at an end? Thy joys %%hen sha 1
we see?
• . The fields were green as green might be, when, from ll's
glorious s, at,
The Lord our God lie watered us with His heavenly dt.w
so sweet."

These words could only have been written by ore
fully conversant with the ritual of the Western Chun+.
They are adapted from her Advent service. Very
melodious to our ears is the rhythm of the carol te-
ginning with " I saw three ships come sailing on," gnd
containing the verses which follow :
, "And all the bells on earth shall ring,
On Christmas-day, on Christmas-day;
And all the bells on earth shall ring,
On Christmas- day in the morning.
And all the angels in heaven shall sing,
On Christmas-day, on Christmas-day,
And all the angels in heaven shall sing,
On Christmas-day in the morning.
And all the souls on earth shall sing,
On Christmas-day, on Christmas-day;
And all the souls on earth shall sing,
On Christmas-day in the morning."
'Our space will not admit of our giving to our readers
any more specimens of the simple -Christmas carols
which animated the devotion of our pious ancestors. We
will row offer a few remaila on those early " feste-chan-
sons" which were merely intended to be incitements
to Christmas revelry. Perhaps the most interest-
ing of those extant is an Anglo-Norman carol of the
thirteenth century. It is too long for insertion here, but
it gives a very interesting picture of the gaiety and kindly
feeling which the festival of the Nativity appears to
have excited among all classes, and dwells with much
satisfaction on the long list of Christmas dainties, and
the profusion of rich wines. Another of these secular
carols was discovered in a MS. of the times of Henry
VI. The song itself, however, from the style and
spelling, may be assigned to a century earlier. "It
seems," says Miss Lawrence, " to be sung in the week
before Christmas, when the household maidens all
busied themselves with dressing up the halls and chana.
bers with evergreens. The great hostility expressed to-
wards ivy may be accounted for by the circumstance of
its being used at funerals." A few lines of this carol in
modern orthography may not be uninteresting here:—
" Nay, Ivy ! nay, it shall not be, I wis ;
Let Holly have the mastery, as the manner is.
Let Holly stand within the ball, fair to behold;
Let Ivy stand without the door; she is full sore a-cold.
Nay, Ivy ! &c.

Holly and his merry men deftly dance and sing;
Ivy and her maidens are always sorrowing.
Nay, Ivy !

Holly hath berries, is red as any rose,
Gay-looking to the hunter, as through the wood he goes;
Ivy. too, hath berries, but black as any sloe;
Thither come the owls, and eat them as they go.
Nay, Ivy i" &c.
The Reformation did not impair the popularity of the
Christmas carol in England. A writer in 1631, in his
description of a good and hospitable housekeeper, has
left the following picture of Christmas festivities : "Sup-
pose," he says, "Christmas now approaching ; the ever
green ivy trimming and adorning the portals and part-
c.tres of so frequented a building ; the usual carols to
observe antiquity, cheerfully sounding ; and that which
is the complement of his inferior comforts, his neigh-
bours, whom he tenders as members of his own family,
join with him in this consort of mirth and melody." At
the end of a " Miscellany of Epigrams, &c." published
about the same period, is a " Christmas carol," which
contains a recital of the pastimes in vogue at that season.
This, and similar compositions of the seventeenth cen-
tury, make, however, no pretension to any religious cha-
racter ; but, in the mean time, others also, of a devo-
tional strain, were in general use. Wharton mentions a
license, granted to one Tysdale in 1562, for printing cer-
tain goodly carols to be sung to the glory of God ;'
ard again, " Christmas carols authorised by my Lord of
London." Bishop Andrewes, in one of his sermons on
the Nativity, preached on the twentieth-fifth of Decem-
ber, 1619, celebrates the day as " glorious in all place, as
well at home with carols as in the church with anthems "
From the time of the famous prelate just mentioned to
our own, the practice of singing Christmas carols in this
kingdom has been preserved; " varying probably in
circumstances and degrees, but dispersed, more or lass,
over the different parts of the country." In Heath's
" Account of the Scilly Islands," he says that, it is usual
there to sing carols on Christmas day at church. Dr.
Goldsmith, in his " Vicar of Wakefield," writing about
1763, and " laying the scene of his narrative at a small
cure in the north of England," relates that, among other
customs which they retained, the inhabitants "keep up
the Christmas carol." Brand, in 1795, remarks that little
troops of boys and girls, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and
other places in the north of England, " go from house
to house, knocking at the doors, singing their Christmas
carols, and wishing a happy new-year " A wrier in
1811, describing the manner in which the inhabitants of
the North Riding of Yorkshire celebrate Christmas, ob-
serves, " About six o'clock on Christmas day I was
awakened by a sweet singing under my window; sur-
prised at a visit so early and unexpected, I arose; and
looking out of the window, I beheld six young women
and four men, welcoming with sweet music the blessed
morn." "Carols," writes Mr. Hone, in 1825, " begin
to be spoken of u not belonging to thiscentury, and few

perhaps are aware of the number of these now printed.'
He adds that he possesses "upwards of ninety, all at this
time published annually." Mr.-Howitt, in 1838, remarks,
that the Christmas carols which were sung about from
door to door, for a week at least, not twenty years ago,
are rarely heard now in the midland counties. More
northward, from the hills of Derbyshire, and the bor-
dering ones of Staffordshire, up through Lancashire,
Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Durham, you may fre-
quently meet with them. The custom of Christmas
carolling prevails in Ireland to the present time. In
Scotland it is unknown. in Wales it is still preserved,
to a greater extent, perhaps, than in England. After
the turn of midnight on Christmas•eve, Divine service is
celebrated, followed by the singing of cal oh to the harp;
and they are similarly sung in the hot aes du ing the
continuance of the Christmas holidays.—. Sharpe's London
Magazine.

HIGHLANJ) GAMES-CHRISTMAS-

DAY.
A numerous and well-appointed meeting of the hardy
men of the north assembled, "shinty" on shoulder, to
revive their recollections of " the land of mountain and
of flood," and in generous rivalship to test their activity
of bait) and strength of sinew, in the athletic games of
their country. The gathering place was Blackheath;
and nowhere in the vicinity of the metropolis could better
ground be selected. The weather too was in the highest
degree propitious ; a keen and cl ar atmosphere braced,
.withotit chilling, the nerves, and to this cause may
partly be attributed the abandon with which each
[IIJ-dander gave himself to the sport, and the uniform
good humour that prevailed among those assemhled.
Mr. Gibson and Alt. Buchanan, having been appointed a
committee of selection, they proceeded to divide the
fi hi, and thirty players having been mustered on either
side, the hall was thrown up between the " two hails,"
and the game of " shinty " commenced in right earnest.
One side sported red and the other green, but in this
instance the greens were the wider awake, and, after a
tough contest,., in which clubs and shins were equally
roughly treeted, the greens came of the victors. Two
more games were played, which were divided, the reds
having achieved one triumph in the course of the day.:
The party then returned to town, ,yriel each
" Took aff his s,?veral e ay,
Resolved to meet anithur day."

DEATH OF THE SARDINIAN
MINI;) I ER.

It is with feelings of deep r• gret that we record the
decease of the Count tie Poilhn, Minister from his
Majesty the King of Sardmta to the Court of St.
James. The melancholy event, which took place on the.
21st instant, at the town residence of the deceased, in
Lower -Grosvenor-street, did not transpire publicly until
Thuriday evening. His Eic,•ilency was first attacked :•
with the complaint, the fatal termination of which we
now-record, about a month since, he being at the titre
on a marine excursion with Sir W. Middleton, of
Shubbard Park, Suffolk. On an examination by some
local surgeons, it was found that a severe pain in the
side, by which he had been somewhat suddenly seized,
arose from the formation of an abscess. He was subse-
quently attended by Drs. Ferguson and Bright; and
after remaining for about three weeks at the seat of Sir
W. Middleton, he returned to town in a weak, though
apparently not in a dangerous state. On Friday, the
18th, however, a most decided change for the worst took
place, and he rapidly sunk, expiring on the following
Monday. at the age of 49.
Tire Count was a member of an old Sardinian family
of great respectability, and was the hereditary holder of
an ancient title. At a very early age he entered the
service of his country, and we are informed served with
considerable distinction in the war against Napoleon.
He subsequently directed his attention to diplomatic
affairs, and when hut of very tender age came to this
eountry as secretary to the Due d'Agile. He was sub-
sequently advanced to the office of Charg 6 d'Affaires. He
afterwards proceeded as Sardinian Minister to the
Hague, from which he returned about ten years since to
this Court as chief Minister, and in such capacity he has
terminated his earthly career.
He was a member of the Roman Catholic religion, and
WAS attended in his last moments by the Rev. Mr.
O'Connor, of the Sardinian Chapel, Lincoln's Inn-fields.
He never was married, and the Marquis Pallavieino, one
of the legation, was the only one of his friends present
when he died. His mortal remains will be interred thig
day next in Kensal-green Cemetery, and the ceremony
will be a private one.

RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS.
_ EDINBURGH, DECEMBER 23.

STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Caledonian, New,
59s.—Direct Northern, 465. 6d.—Dundee and Perth, 29
Ditto, New, 15—East of Fife, 545. —East Lothian Central,
45s.—Edinburgh and Glasgow, Halves, 20 Edinburgh
and Northern, Newport, 6% ex new—Ditto, New, 745.
Edinburgh and Perth, 355. 6d.—Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and
Ardrossan, 4%—Great North of Scotland, 55s.—North Bri-
tish, Thirds, 78s.—Ditto, Quarters, 72s.—Ditto, New Quar-
ters (scrip) 31s. —Stirling and Dunfermline, 70s.—Stirling
and Midland, 50s —Strathern Junction, 82s. 6d.—East Indian
Railway, lls. 9d.

GLASGOW, DECEMBER 24

STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Aberdeen, 251.—Cale-
(Ionian, New, 495. 6d.—Caledonian and Dumbartonshire, 425.
6d.—Direct Bombay and Madras, ss. 3d.—Direct Northern,
47s.—Dundee and Perth, 29—Eastern Counties, York Ex-
tension, 725. 6d. —East of Fife, 595. 6d.—East Indian Rail-
way, 12s. 6d.—East. Lothian Central, 475. 6d.—Edinburgh
and Nor; barn, 15!2—Ditto, New, 745. Edinburgh and Perth,
Ed.—Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ayr, 383, Di t to, Halves,
9%—Glasgow, Dumfries. and Carlisle, 61 9s.—Glasgow and
Greenock, Preference, W. 7s. —G lasgow' Kilmarnock, and
Ardrossan, Si. 7s.—Glasgow, and MonklandJur,c-
__

tioc, 6.ls.—Great North- of Scothincl, 50s.—Great Indian
51s,—Manchester and Southampton. 32s.—Midland, lialves.
614—Newcastle and Berwick, 35th—Scottish Midland Junc-
tion, 143/—South-Eastern and Dover, No. 4, 575. W.—Stir-
ling and Dunfermline, 66s.—York and Newcastle, Pre-
ference, 7%.

FRIDAY NIGHTS GAZETTE.
DIVIDENDS.
At the Court, Basinghall-street.
F. Jones, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, apothecary, Jan. 15, at
half-past one—R. A. F. Kingscote, Sandgate, Kent, mer-
chant, Jan. 18, at half-past one—E. Leman, Church-row,
Old Swan Pier, Upper Thames-street, Jan, 18, at half-past
eleven.

In the Country.
S. Shute, Crediton, Devonshire, woollen-manufacturer, Jan
21, at one, at the Court, Exeter—W. Tweddle, Liverpool, soap-
manufacturer, Jan. 19, at eleven, at the Court, Liverpool—
W. Barker, Tottington Higher-end, Lancashire, cotton-
spinner, Jan. 22, at twelve, at the Court, Manchester—W.
Taylor, Springhead, Yorkshire, wool and oil-merchant, Jan.
-22, at twelve, at the Court, Manchester—J. Potter, Man-
chester, and W. Maude, Darwen, calico-printers, Jan. 20, at
twelve, at the Court, Manchester—R. Compt, n, M. Price,
and T. Crompton, Shriglev, Cf shire, brickm: kers, Jan. 19,
at eleven, at the Court, Mancti ster—''. H. How, North
Shields, ship and insurance-brokt,, Jan. 19, at twelve, at the
Court, New cast le-upon-Tyne—W. "to, son and J. Mellis,
Newcastle- upon-Tyne, Buenos Ayres, and Monte Video, mer-
chants, Jan. 21, at twelve, at the Court, Newcastle-upon-
Tyne—J. Rawlinson, Spalding, Lincolnshire, tailor, Jan. 15,
at twelve, at the Court, Nottingham.

CERTIFIbAI ES.
At the Court, Basinghait-street.

C. Starks, jun., Southampton, builder, Jan. 15, at one--.
W. Aldred, George-street, New Kent-road, builder, Jan. 18,
at half-past twelve—R. Walton, Church-road. Battersea, li-
censed victualler, Jan. 19, at half-past tweh e—T. Thomp-
son, Brighton, grocer, Jan. 19, at twelve—G. Jaques, Tot-
hill-street, Westminster, plumber, Jan. 22, at one.
, In the Country.
J. Garsed, sen., and J. Garsed, jun., Leeds, Yorkshire,
cloth- manufacturers, Jan. 19, at eleven. at the Court, Leeds
—J. Nortcliffe, 'Thornhill Briggs, Halifax, Yorkshire, dyer,
Jan. 19, at twelve, at the Court, Leeds—J. Birley, Eccles,
Lancashire, card manufacturer, Jan. 18, at eleven, at the
Court, Manchester—G. B. Franklin, Shrewsbury, printer,
Jan. 19, at twelve, at the Court, Birmil zham—J. Knight,
Birmingham, timber-merchant, Jan. 19, at twelve, at the
I Court, Birmingham.
At the Court of Review, Jan. 15.
J. Bradshaw, Marylebone-street, Piccadilly, woollen-
draper—J. Beaton, Upper-street, Islington, tailor—S. Joyce,
London-wall, stove and range-manufacturer—J. Gibson,
Manchester, veterinary:surgeon—H. Hutchinson, Liverpool,
merchant—J. Wheelwright, Stoke Saint Melborough, Shrop-
shire, farmer and timber-dealer—J. Southern, Kiddermin-
ster, victualler—A. T. Edwards, Idol-lane, Tower-street,
bricklayer.