The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-24 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOU

SERIOUS ACCIDENTS DURING THE HIGH WIND,
During the night of Wednesday several very serious acci-
dents occurred in various parts of the metropolis during the
storm, which raged with great violence for several hours.
Shortly after nine o'clock, in Ewer-street, Gravel-lane, South-
wark, a stack of chimneys fell on the roof of a small cottage
occupied by a family of poor Irish persons, and a large por-
tion of brickwork fell upon the head of the eldest child, caus-
ing a fracture of the skull and lacerating the scalp, whereby
his life is placed in imminent danger. A second accident
took place the same night to a female named Jane Tomlin-
son, of New-street, Walworth-common. While passing
through Panyer-street, East. lane, a large piece of boarding
fell from the roof of a pigeon-house, and struck her with
great violence across the shoulders and head. Anton
por-
tion of a house, situated in White's-place, Newington
-c er
as:
way, was thrown down, but fortunately no one 'yvas injnredat
Several large trees were torn up by the roots.. Tli iwihndthat
one period of the night, became so exeeeduT y ii g
several large vessels below London-bridge u ere torn from
their moorings, and some considerable time elapsed before
th could be made fast.
SrmEnNEss, FRIDAT, JAN. -3. ~ The Ferret, 10, will
be undocked to-morrow, and is expected to be commissioned
in the course of tiext week. Eight of the advanced ships
of the line at this port have had their topmasts and jib-
booms, which were only recently put on board by Admiralty
order, returned on shore, and the others are also to have
theirs sent on shore for better preservation. Four heavy
frigates, it is reported, are to be put in an advanced state
of commission at _this port, and the 'Worcester and Chi-
chester, new 50-gun frigates, and the Cornwall, 50, and the
Conquestador, 50, are mentioned as having been selected.
The whole of the guns for the old fortifications have now
arrived. They are 63 in number, and are of the following
description—viz., 4 are eight-inch guns, 98 cwt. each, and
11 feet long; 29 are eight-inch guns, 66 cwt. each, and 9
feet long ; 26 have a 6-inch bore, are 5G cwt. each, and 9
a
feet 6 inches long ; and four long 32-pounders. The
workmen now await the arrival ofre
the carriages and plat-
forms from Woolwich, the beds for which are concreted, and
the masenry on which they are to rest being all ready to be
to
laid down. The guns are be placed as follows, viz.-20
on the Half-moon battery at the point ; 13 on the Admiral's
.platform ; overlooking the said battery ; and the remaining
30 along the works protecting the barracks. The new
works continue to progress most rapidly ; the battery form-
ing opposite the docks and gate is now up to the height of
the platform, its further progress has, however, been deferred
till the formation of the deep ditch by which it is to be pro-
tected, and on which all the workmen are now concentrated.
Wooden profiles are up for another battery, with which this
is to be connected by a musketry wall, while to the east-
ward it will be continued into the bastions extending from
the Thames to the Medway.
ALTERATIONS IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. The
change of deans, four having held the appointment within a
period of about two years, has tended to interrupt the anxious
wishes of the chapter to devise means of accommodation for
the very;large increase of persons who throng this venerable
church, especially on Sundays, when the rush to get in (until
Dean Wilberforce caused the doors to be opened half an hour
before the service began) was frightfully alarming. The
choir will be enlarged by placing the beautiful oak screens
back, so as to include the pillars within the choir; more
light will be obtained by filling the upper parts of the panels
with plate glass, like Canterbury Cathedral; the prebendal
stall will be close to the screen, and two rows of seats for the
laity in front of them on either side. The seats in-
the centre will be made to accommodate eight per-
sons, four on either side of a division, to avoid
crnto-
fusion in passing each other ; these will be
the
convenient distance from the steps to the
the
or.,
nion ; the pews will, of course, be removed
s;
on
either
gan also will probably be removed to the arches;
side of the loft, which will be formed into a g 1
of accommodating a large number ofpeer,rc":: withoui altering
which will then
the appearance or character of the edifice,
view,
be seen from east to west in onettomNi.leltreyrrgurpeatetdadsant a
show.
ing the beautiful west window
The Builder.
The Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe and Lady
Susan Innes Ker have arrived at Thomas's Hotel, from Floors
Castle, near Kelso, N. B.

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF Tins ,
POST.—What do the gentlemen now think of tbenOeives
who refused to say or do anything decisive in support of. She
principle of protection till they had heard Sir Robert Peel
They have heard him. How much wiser are they? They
would not believe it possible, after what they had heard hitnt
say ,in former years, that he could really mean to abandeni
the, principle of protection. They have now heard his open-
ing speech of 1846 ; let us ask them now what they believe?'
Do they mean to endure this as if they-wete the menials and
not the Parliamentary supporters of the Minister? Do they
mean, like Lord Francis Egerton and Mr. Beckett Denison,
to do the dirty work of this man who has betrayed the leaded
interest ? The Minister, indeed, showed his usual craft in f
selection of the Noble Lord and the Honourable Gentleman..
How many corn fields are there comprised within the vast
wealth of the Noble Lord? How much is the interest of
either mover or seconder involved in the interests of British
agricaltiire ? The speech of Sir Robert Peel is, in the greater
part of it, nothing better than an attempt to get up or
revive a sort of ear • post facto panic on- the subject of fa-
mine. Whether he was really frightened out of his wits
two months ago, or only pretends to have been so, in or,ier
to get up an excuse for his falsehood and treachery, we c,an--
not tel nor is it worth while to inquire. We are now to
have legislation founded on a bygone panic, and a Minister
comes down, with an air curiously compounded of the pon-
derous and the lachrymose, to revolutionise long-settled in- •
tereste as a cure for a- desperate attack from which the
country happily recovered some weeks ago. It is provoking
enough to read the solemn nonsense about letters from Lord-
Lieutenant Heytesbury and Lord Spring Rice Monteagle,
and " scientific " reports from professor this or pre,
fessor that. It was not in this way that Mr.
Pitt went to work when he wanted to know how
practical matters stood. We do not know whether it
was folly or dishonesty which prevented the Minister
from taking the plainest and directest course to obtain in-
formation as to the probable supply of food in the country;
but had he acted like a man of sense—had .he acted as Mr.
Pitt would have done under similar circumstances',.
he would have sent for some of the leading corn-
merchants of London, and asked for their information.
It is their business to know, as accurately as careful in-
vestigation can inform them, what are the probabilities of
supply and demand both at home and abroad. From every
part of the world in which information on the subject of.
supply and probable demand can be had, they have letters
intended to regulate their business. The state of business
in Mark-lane showed clearly enough that the panic had not
reached them, and bad Sir Robert Peel asked them how that
happened, they could have shown him very satisfactory
reasons. But either Sir Robert Peel was so overcome -With
vulgar terror (which is not at all impossible), or so bea
upon making the panic of November a foundation for long
premeditated fraud and treachery (which is extremely pro-
bable), that he did not seek for good information where he,
might have found it, but jumped straightway to the con•
elusions of Cobden and Bright. But suppose dm panic pre-
text to have been well founded, was there not the sliding-
scale? Did Sir Rebert Peel believe that in the face of
scarcity prices would remain low, or did he forget that
as soon as they became high the existing law wonl4
take away the import duties ? But he may have thought,
a more sudden remedy was needful. He should, how-
ever, have known that a more sudden remedy than that
which the sliding-scale would have afforded was impossible.
Irish meetings might resolve with habitual Irish absurdity
that the ports should be at once thrown open, but the Mi-
nister ought to have known that this would have increased,
and not removed, the dangers of scarcity. Sir Robert Peel
seems to think it rather an affront to his high dignity to say
that the protectionists put him in office. lie thinks he owes
it wholly to his great talents that he is in office, and this is
not least apparent, when in his own peculiarly nauseous
manner, he affects to talk of himself with great humility.
We will, however, ask this question. If he had, in 1841,
avowed opinions such as lie avowed on Thursday night, or if
he had not avowed opinions almost directly opposite, would
he have achieved the position of Prime Minister? He knows
that be would not. And yet now, using the power and in-
fluence derived from the profession of opinions diametrically
opposed to free trade, he attempts to force free trsinsle
the country, and to revolutionise the landed interest.
mail who can believe that such conduct as this is hoiSest,
may next believe any extravagance of intentional fiction, or
mad fanaticism.
HERALD.—We have a peculiar sort of dread of Lord -
Francis Egerton. He -is to Sir Robert Peel's Government
what the present Earl Fortescue, when a Member of the
House of Commons, was to the Whig Administration from
1830 to 1841. Both of these Noblemen, from their high and
amiable characters, independence, talents, and general esti-
mation, were sure to be called forth on any remarkable emer-
gency. The appearance of either of them in the front rank
signified to the practised eye the existence of danger. Hence,
as we have said, we beheld the employment of Lord Francis
Egerton, on Thursday, with a kind of trepidation. There
was also something almost delusive in making him the first
annunciator of the Ministerial intentions. He comes for-
ward, it is true, as a member of one of the highest branches
of the aristocracy ; and hence is imagined, by a cursory
pbserver, to speak on behalf of the land. But the fact is
not so. The land of England, so far as it is employed in
agriculino, is comparatively a matter of indifference to
Lord Francis Egerton. He has large property in mines;
but chiefly, once all others, be is a great carrier. He
ru..annecir
ii7ly the firm of Pickford and Co.—
i
the boats. Thus it is, after
ihseafisoadritntlehaeding and be
canals,pa
all, manufacturing prosperity on which he chiefly depends;
and while he speaks as a county Meniher and the brother of
a Duke, his bias, so far as interest cad bias an honourable
man, is mainly with the Lancashire inanufgcturers. There
is another reason why we dread Lord Francis JEgerton, and
that is, his constitutional failing, his liberality Pf disposi-
tion and amiability of character. He is the sort of per-,
son to give a kingdom away, if he had it, out of pure,
good nature. He is also romantic and enthusiastic. We •
remember his once saying to a friend of oars, " I
am worth, I believe, about 70,0001. a year ; andl
1 would give it all to be the author of Waverley.'" Is;
this the sort of man whom the directors of the Bank of Eng-•
land would like to entrust with a difficult financial negotia-
tion? His Lordship has diecovered that agriculture is no-
thing else than a great manufacture. We rather think that
it was Montesquieu who made thst same remark a great many_
years ago, calling it, we believe, "tie universal manufacture."
However this may be, we are quite milling that agriculture
should be dealt with on the footing of o!.ber manufactures :
we ask no more, we expect no less. NOW, we are aware that.
some of the principal members of the Laague, who are
engaged in the fabrication of extremely simple com-
modities—pieces of cotton cloth, chiefly produced
by machinery, and into the cost of which human
skill and labour very slightly enter—are reasty to
exclaim at once, " We want no protection ;—we are ready
to compete with the world, and so ought the farmers to L's.?
We humbly submit, however, that to leap to such a conclusisSta
would be an exceedingly hasty, superficial, and unstatesman--
like proceeding. Rather let Lord Fiancis Egerton ask him-
self, how he would deal with the cotton manufactures of
Lancashire, if they did require protection ? Suppose, for in-
stance, it appeared that there were, near Hamburgh, a great
number of large cotton factories, which, from some favourable
circumstances, of situation, or cheaper labour, &c., could
easily produce cotton goods some 30 or 40 per cent. cheaper
than any of the mills in Lancashire. Would Lord Francis
Egerton then say, as he seems to have said on Thursday, that
" It was time to depart from that principle which had been here-
tofore maintained, of endeavouring, by protective duties, to
restrict the importation 'of foreign commodities ?" Would
he, in a word, say, that it was a matter of little importance
whether or not 200,000 or 300,000 liSsuds were thrown out of
employment? We are confident that Ise would say no such
thing. We are perfectly certain that its would earnestly
maintain that this circumstance was a most important fea-
ture in the question. And we ask no more on behalf of the
agriculturists. It is a fact asserted, we believe, by very
credible persons, that in the provinces near Odessa there are
capabilities of raising for the English market millions of
quarters of wheat, at an average of less than
20s. per quarter. It is undeniable, we fancy, that
in the markets of New Orleans wheat is often, for
months together, sold. at an average of from 2s. 6ds
to 3s. 6d. per bushel. Add the freight to England, and it is
clear that the price is still far below what similar grain can be
produced at in this country. Is it not worth Lord Francis
Egerton's while, before he fleshes to a conclusion on the pre-
sent question, to search carefully into these facts, asd to see
whether it is quite certain that neither Europe nor America
can send into England, after a year or two's notice, such
supplies of corn as must effectually discourage its groom
among us, and thus, as Lord Brougham and Lord4ons
Russell have both predicted in other day "ttrow mum
of the labourers of England out of employment.

drew a full
The fine open weather
peculiarly good.
The Hunting Season in .I.eieestershire has been
attend-
ance of sportsinen,
The hospitalities have
he havep
la
cby
e theirLor pre-
really been
et
nti easrupnros refuse as
bueseunal:naonsdt
tbhreilllaiandiest..
d
teoirtlhoerdsayrteomtliieltoofn
swenCe
rt
ho accompanied
Lady ewP° !d Colonel and Mrs. Anson occupied the
Plyanaitelddetdh
house of Lord Wilton, and by their frequent dinners made the
absence of the Earl and his amiable Countess less felt. In
Derbyshire, too, the hunting has been excellent. Mr. Mey-
nell's hounds afforded admirable sport, and the horsemanship
of the Earl of Chesterfield's son, the young Lord Stanhope,
excited general admiration. It is a subiect of regret in Derby-
shire, that Sir Robert Burdet, the master of such fine pos-
sessions there, is no sportsman, and therefore contributes
nothing to the amusement of the county.
AUGMENTATION OF THE ROYAL .ARTlLLERY.—Ap-
plication was made some time ago for an increase of the
Royal Regiment of Artillery to the extent of twentytwo
men to each company, and it has been decided that an :in-
crease will take place to the extent of ten men to each cora-
pally. There are seventy-two companies of Royal Artillery
at home and on foreign stations, consequently the number of
men to be added to the regiment will be 720. With the ex-
ception of Lisburn, Ireland, where Lieutenant Clerk has ob-
tained twenty-six recruits ready to be sent to head-quarters,
the recruiting in other parts, especially in Scotland, is very
unsuccessful, and it is the general opinion of those acquainted
with that branch of the service, that the only effective plan to
insure fine young men to enter the service is to grant a pen-
sion of ls. per day after twenty-one years' service, as in that
case there would be no difficulty whatever.
WAKEFIELD CORN MARKET, JAN. 23.—The arrivals
of all grain are moderate this week. There is a much hotter
feeling in the Wheat trade this morning, and a fair business
was transacted in all descriptions of Wheat, at fully late
prices. Barley, except the finest qualities, in limited request,
without alteration in value. Beans scarce, and in good re-
quest. Oats and Shelling each maintained the prices of Fri-
day last. Malt as before.
His Highness Prince Nicholas Esterhazy left the Earl
of Jersey's residence, in Berkeley-square, last evening, on his
return to Middleton Park, Oxon. The Countess of Jersey
who had been in town since Tuesday last, accompanied by
Viscount Villiers and the Hon. F. Villiers, yesterday left for
Middleton Park to join the family circle. The Earl of Jersey
is expected to leave on Monday.
ROBBERY AT A ROMAN CATHOLIC
5 h insitant the
City police that during the night of th
Yesterday information wasfforwarded to thee Aifettroportan and
as entered by some
Catholic chapel of St. John, at Wigan,
to the communion serviAcTe.
LIMERICK.—By an thief or or thieves, who stole therefrointhwe silver articles be-
longingßEPEAL DEMONSTReAIIOnNeddz
_epo
R rter, we have received
traordinary edition of L
Besides the various toasts, all the
Members in the theatre.f om the lips of the speakers breathed
copious particulars of tahbanquet given to the city and county
sentiments which fell r
the
as strongly
as ever an aspiration fur a repeal ofUnion.
Amongst those who.addressed the meeting were Counsellor
Devitt and Mr. illiam Smith O'Brien ; the former in a
NN
very flowery, the latter in a somewhat argumentative speech.
About 500 sat down to dinner, and only separated at mid-
night.
ROWING MATCH.—Benjamin Allen, of Greenwich,
and William Liley, of Gravesend, are matched to row, in
wager-boats, for 501. a side ; the match to take place in
February, and the distance seven miles, between the Lobster
Tavern, Denton, and %Greenhithe. The first deposit of 101.
a side was made at Mr. Lightfoot's, Gravesend, and a final
deposit of 401. is to be made 2d Feb. If the friends of Allen
are disposed, it is added, the match can be made for
1001. a side.
SEA GULLS.—Yesterday several of these birds were
observed on the river near Battersea, and having hovered
round for some time, they took their Sight.
' '