The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-23 00:00:00

APRIL 23, - 1846.
_

.h wTa.seE, 11 PE RANCE SOCIETY.
A public meeting of the friends of this socie. y was
add on Wednesday evening, in Exeter Hall, where 4
;rest assembly was congregated some time before the
your ap, tcd.
Mr. °'
o(st,
nst
eEntt,riwilhgo
thhaed
hbael el
,n
raencne
iovuendc ewd tt
with take
ft„,. hre..
• :huas cr.h e e‘rvi nhge,nwiht i hi a aesorneephel
da terd ahftee r
rho es
ehaandfi taken,said t
heh
e
,}lll,l not consent to fill the chair, without in a very few
vords acknowle ging the very warm recep ion he had
set with. Such a reception showed they thou ht
ightly of him—that his spirit was kindredwith theirs.
I would not address them on the subject of temperance
it any length, not because it was not important, but be-
cause the topics were so very obvious—obvious to all
sresent. Indeed, nothing new could be said on the subject,
But he believed that it; was the greatest bleesing God ever
showered upon a country, independent of religious feel
iug.—(Cheers.) Temperance was the suitable com-
panion of man in every condition, for there was no feel-
ing which it did not softer. and sweeten, no evil which it
lid not smooth and alleviate, no good which it did not
:herish, and no vice to which it was not an antagonist.
Many calumnies had been poured upon his country, and
among the rest it had been reported of Irishmen, that
they were drunkards ; no grosser calumny than this had
been published upon his country. The Parliamentary
Reports now, however, exhibited the_ true state of Ire-
land in this respect, for Irishmen were found to con-
sume the minimum quantity ; one-half less than was
consumed in Scotland, and one-third, he was sorry to
say, less than the quantity used in England. He meant
no taunt, but he claimed the full ineed for Ireland. In
his country he was proud to say the temperance move-
ment began, and every successive impetus in the move-
ment was received from Ireland.—(Cheers.) That
country was at present suffering from poverty, but vir-
tue was the loveliest in the poorest; the brightest gem
in the crown of the monarch shone not with so great a
lustre as that virtue which followed the peasant to his
home.—(Cheers.) Drunkenness degraded the character,
relaxed the habits, made the family haggard ; tempe-
rance made the parent kindly, the home happy, and
conduced to preparation for another and a better re-
gion.—(Cheers.)
The meeting was then addresed successively by
Messrs Whitaker, Grosjsan, Ridley and Eden.
Dr. HonsoN, who had resided several years in China,
said he was glad at all times to protest against the use
of intoxicating liquors. In Europe he said distillation
was not known till the 11th century; but he found by a
Chinese work which he consulted the other day, that it
was known in China 1,300 years before the Christian
era, and an Emperor about that time, whose name was
Woowang, said to his Minister, if the people drank of
the liquor to intoxication, they were to be dissuaded from
the use of it, and rewarded if they complied ; in case
they persisted, however, they were to be punished after
the second warning, and after the third time
they were to be put to death. Dr, Hobson said
that sarnchoo, which was the only alcoholic liquor in
China, and was made from rice, was always used hot
and without water, but in so small quantities as never to
inebriate the drinker. Comparing. the few who used it,
to the mass of the people, and the moderate quantity
taken, he thought the Chinese might be called a very
temperate people. Dr. Hobson then remarked on the
deleterious effects from the use of intoxicating liquors on
Europeans in eastern climates, and resumed his seat
amid cheers.

Mr. J. S. SMITS and Mr. LEARE addressed the audi-
ence at some length.
Dr. OXLEY stated that there had been a considerable
debt incurred in the temperance movement, and that
the money gathered in consequence of the meeting.
would go to the liquidation of it, as would appear in the
public papers.
A vote of thanks to Mr. O'Connell, the Chairman,
was carried with great cheering, and the meeting sepa-
rated.

THE TURN-OUT in the BUILDING

TRADE.
(From the Liverpool Standard.)
This strike still continues, nor is there any appear-
once of its termination. But it is not confined to this

town and neighbourhood, for it extends to Manchester
Bradford, Sheffield, Birmingham, and other placts, in all
of which the builders and their workmen are at issue.
The men who are employed hlve to contribute 'very
largely towards the support of those who are standing
out, and men have been engaged during the week dis-
tributiag papers and soliciting subscriptions, not only
from housekeeper,;, shopkeepers, and others, but also
from persons in the streets. The latter class of solicitors
are generally the labourers. By a letter. which is pub-
lished in another column, it will be seen that the unions
have absolute controul over men who are hundreds
of miles distant, and that masons have been
prohibited coming from Ab een to set the
colums at the New Assize Courts. All the
avenues of the town—the railway station, the dock
quays, and the pierheads—are closely watched, lest
strangers should come here in search of employment ;
and picquets are set who keep watch upon all the prin.
c,pal builder,' establishments, so as to prevent, if pos-
sible, any man from entering. Yet, in spite of theme
precautions, many of the large employers are procuring
bands, anti every day brings an accession. It seems to
he pretty well known, that but fur the terror of the
trades' unions, the great majority of the workmen
would gladly resume their work ; and it is lamentable
that, during this struggle, buildings are standing still
in every direction, not merely in Liverpool, but in va-
rious parts of the country. The teen object to quit the
unions, and he masters say that they have no security '
in underta .g contracts so long as their men are in-
fluenced k he leaders of these combinations.
A stall g fact appears in the letter of the President
of the order of Forresters, which is published in another
column, viz.:—that more than one million of adult men
are enrolled in secret benefit societies in this country.
An address has been widely disseminated amongst the
working classes, calling on. them to preserve their rights,
and this bears the signature of Thomas S. Duncombe,
M.P., President.

In fact, although the master builders in Lancashire
and other places are the first to feel the effects of the
trades' unions, it is evident that a wide•spread
organisation exists throughout the country, and if
the master tradesmen in this locality shrink from the
struggle, the demands of the millions will spread like
wild fire throughout the land, and general confusion
will be the result; or otherwise the price of labour must
be so much advanced that the effects will soon be appa-
rent in railway calls, and monetary difficulties will
ensue.

In Ireland, as we find by the Irish papers, one por-
tion of the peasantry are stated to be in want of food
--still the stonemasons are discontented with 4s. 6d. a
day, and have actually struck for ss. a day. We fear
that any advice which we may tender will be thrown
away, for in the excitement of a turn-out few men will
listen to reason. Combinations seem at present to be
the order of the day, and we much fear that they will
be carried so far as to ruin trade. They have already
laid a very heavy tax upon the operatives themselves,
and we fear that they are preparing much subsequent
distress for the workmen engaged in them.
The masons are still the most determined in standing
out, but it appears, by facts that have come within our
knowledge, that their obstinacy will render them greater
loosen than the masters, who are willing to employ them
on reasonable terms. As a proof of this, we may men-
tion that the principal engineer on the
.Liverpool end
Bury line has struck out. or dispensed with, the whole
of the masonry of the foundations of the bridges, &c.,
on the line, and the quoins of the piers, purposing to
substitute concrete (a mixture of lime and pebbles) in
place of the intended stone-work fixed upon in the
original plans. In fact, about three•fourths of the
masonry , that would have otherwise been executed is
to be dispensed with. In Ireland, too, the heavy con-
tracts taken by Mr. M•Cormick on many railways are,
for the same reason and necessity, to be reduced in cost
to the contractor by the adoption similar measures.
The men in the employment of this gentleman had, be-
fore he engaged them, only 38.6 d. a day. He raised
their wages to 4s. and they have now " struck " for ss.
Instead, therefore, of turning the arches of the bridges in
stone-work, as was intended, it has been determined to
useiron beams of cast-iron, to prevent delay in the
completion of the work. It should be added, that many
of the architects throughout ti-e empire are reducing.
or doing away with, a great amount of the masonry,
being of opinion that the demands of the workmen in
that department are most unreasonable. The strike has
already prevented many parties from building who had
the intention, bet have abandoned the idea for the pre-
sent season. The masters had a meeting yesterday, and
the general feeling was that a crisis had arrived when
they must protect their interest to the utmost.

LETTER FROM CHINA-AN AD
VENTURE.

r The following are extracts frGin a letter by the chief
engineer of one of the war-steamers at present on the
coast of Chins to his friend{ in Edinburgh.]
WHAMPOA, Jan. 26.—The list instalment of the Chirv-se
ransom money (2,000,000 of dollars) was paid in Canton
last week. The inhabitants being in a riotous state, we
were ordered from Hong-kung up the river to lie abreast

f Canton, and I believe to fire into the city in erase of
their attempting to burn the factories. We rbmained
there eight days, every man on board under arms, as we
exp cted every night an attack from the populace, who
seem to have the most bitter enmity towards Euro-
peans.. The money was all paid. however, and the riot-
ing having partially subsided, we were ordered away, at
which I was just as well pleased, having got tired of n'
bed-fellow;, no other than a pair of loaded pistols and a
drawn cutlass. Engineers were ordered to lie under
arms, as well as every one else on boa, d. We have
since taken up our st tion here, which is twenty miles
firther down the river than Canton, and about sixty
from Hong-Kong.
The scenery in this place being most beautiful, and
yesterday, feeling inclined to enjoy it in a walk through
with me, and thinkinregdthluepmbai
the country, I took a boat and (me of my apprentices
goashmtt,alfirin,cdrweiestkoh
,mtahenegd mue
ancv,
iinlngtook
e
bmo)y. gun
t aakl se° .c
h"ra regsea iol
g
hand, walked into the country. I had not gone a quar-
ter of a mile, when approaching a small village, the piople
came towards me, about thirty or forty in number.
They began hooting and crying at me, which is the
usual way they have of treating us “..barbarians "
Alien they get a lone one unprotected ; and as they '
kept pressing round me clo,.ely, I thought it useless
to persevere in going forward. Therefore, turning
myself round to go back to the boat, one of them from
behind made a sudden spring, grasping in his arms,
both my • leza under the knees, and another
seizing the barrel of my gun, they dragged me to
the ground. The latter kept pulling at the gun trying to
wrest it from me, all the while the muzzle pointing to his
breast. The gun being at the time in full cock, I had
his life completely in my power; my first thought was,
" I will take it ;" the second was, "If I do so, mine will
certainly pay the penalty." In the meantime another
was striking at me with a stick, and I was compelled to
relinquish my hold of the gun to defend my face
with my arms, the fellow now in possession of
the gun wielding it as if to strike me on the
head with the butt-end. I cannot tell you how I felt,
every instant expecting a death-blow. It was
very strange, that at that moment the picture of the
death of Captain Cook, in the volume of his voyages in
my father's book-case, came vividly before my eyes—
their gestures and appearance were altogether quite as
savage like. Before the blow came, I managed to spring
to my feet, and attempted to keep them back, unarmed as
I was. They then desisted, and went into the village, taking
with them my gun, hat, powder-flask—in fact, all my pro-
perty. I was completely fleeced, my clothes torn to pieces,
the pockets and their contents torn away from my
coat. Glad I was, I can assure you, when I saw their
backs turned ; and walking on towards the boat, 1 saw
them assembling again, and to intercept me. Now,
thought I, they are going to have a shot at me—this is
another ordeal ; but presently the gun went off in the
middle of them, and I felt relieved so far, as it is very
likely some of them were hurt. The savages are quite
ignorant of the use of a cun, and one of them may have
been looking into its barrel, for all I know to the con-
trary. My troubles did not cease here; for on reaching
the spot where I had left the boat, I found both it and
the boy gone. I saw, however, two Chinese in a boat,
and promised them money if they would take me across
the creek. I went into their boat, and finding in one
of my pockets two rupee;, which the late robbers had
missed, I gave them to them ; tbey then wanted more,
and having me a prisoner in their Vat, made motions as
if they were going to search me, upon which I made an
attempt to throw one of them overboard. They desisteol,
and landed me on the other side. I know the villains en ly
wanted a few more to help them—they don't consider
the odds in their favour ; two against one European.
I then walked along the banks of the river for a 10-g
distance, until I discovered another boat, which I per-
suaded by promises to take me to my ship. It turned out
hat the boy I had left in the boat had been plundered
by another party of everything but his shirt and trousers,
and was glad to escape with his life. He had returned
to the vessel, telling the officers that he thought I was
murdered, and they immediately sent an armed boat's
crew in search of me. I wanted the captain to give
me another boat vs ith armed men, and I would go
and barn the village ; but he said he could nut
take so much upon himself. At the time of the
war such a thing might be done, and fre-
quently was fur less cause. He tells me he
will report it t) the admiral, who will most probably
take notice of it through the Chinese authorities. You
may depend upon it the Chinese will pay dearly yet for
the way they have been going on lately. &nee this
occurred, I heard of several Europeans having been mal-
treated quite as ill and worse than me in this neighbour-
ho,:cl. Only this morning an American boat's crew was
attacked by these savages, but they broke their oars into
cudgels, and beat them off. Mr. S---- told me that he
and two missionaries were nearly killed in the same way;
they were severely beaten with sticks, robbed, and their
clothes torn to pieces.—Sca.maa,

CENTENARY OF THE BATTLE

OF CULLOI)EN.
(From the Inverness Courier.) •
Thursday, the 16th of April, is the anniversary of the
battle of Culloden. It is the hundredth anniversary, for
a century will then have completed its cycle since that
memorable event. Improvement was slow in reaching
this remote locality, but it is visible even on the moor of
Culloden. Incinsures, pastures, and arable land diversify
the surface of that long, bleak plain. The plough has
been driven through a considerable part of the battle-
field, but much of it is still a cold and dreary waste—
grim-visaged as war itself, and harmonising, in its
gloom, with the disastrous fortunes of those whose blood,
on that fatal day, stained the heather. The relics of the
fight are few, but impressive. The green mounds of the
buried dead ("How that red rain hath made the verdure
growl") are still conspicuous on the moor. The boggy
marshes which impeded the English artillery—the small
spring or well at which the wounded and thirsty stooped
to drink—the old, tall ash-tree at which Prince Charles
stood when the conflict began—and the broad flat stone
on which Duke William took his hasty morning meal,
are still there. We can trace parts of the important
stone wall, which, for a space, defended the right of the
Highland army, but which the Argyleshire Campbells
broke down, when they rushed, like a flood, on the
Jacobite clans. The position of the different forces may
be clearly ascertained on the spot ; and we can easily
picture the wild stormy struggle, with the maddened
shouts and gestures of the clansmen as they rushed
desperately on the firm, compact lines of the English
troops. What a contrast between the meagre, sinewy,
half-clad, enthusiastic Highlanders, and the heavy, com-
fortable Southron soldiers, arrayed in the military cos-
tume of the day—the long coats, cocked hats, and white
gaiters ! Their heavy dragoons, too, in ample red
drapery, trunk square toed boots, large holster pistols
and carabines, and mounted on fine sleek horses of great
power, seemed as if they could trample down the whole
clans north of the Spey. Yet the very weight and mas-
siveness of the Engiish troops would only have cum-
bered them if the brave Highlanders had not been in a
wretched condition, greatly (lisp!, portioned in numbers,
.oro out with hunger and fatigue, and set up, like
targets, on a level plain, to point the murderous fire of
the artillery. The very lements seemed to be against
the Jacobites. The rain and sh et beat in their faces, and,
joined to the smoke of the fierce cannonading and
musketry, compelled them to fight in all but darkness.
The struggle was a brief one—a shock like an earth-
quake, that threw down all the long-cherished hopes of
tree royals
more
o,ry
eeline
tt o,w) p eft
rhiSos
hut usbl
ynart,d cold-bloodedsacrificing,
day,l
dr e brave
men,
nnc
rdut this
elitasyv,oi nbnyge hfcataltupa
tivity, exile, and harsh tribunals.
Nothing could be more prosaic or unromantic than
the general character of the reign of George the Second.
The affair of the Forty-five burst like a meteor on this
dull period. It was poetry in action. "A primitive
people," says Scott, "residing in a remote quarter of the
empire, and themselves but a small portion of ;Ile
Scottish Highlanders fearlessly attempted to place the
British Crown on the head of the last scion of those
ancient kings whose descent was traced to their own
mountains. This gigantic task they undertook in fa-
vour of a youth of twenty-five, who landed on their
shore without support of any kind, and threw himself
on their generosity. They assembled an army in his
behalf—their speech, their tactics, their arms, were
alike unknown to their countrymen and to the English
—holding themselves free from the obligations imposed
by common law or positive statute, they were yet
governed by rules of their own, derived from a general
sense of honour, extending from the chief to the lowest
of his tribe. With men unaccustomed to arms, the
amount of the most efficient part of which never ex-
ceeded 2,000, they defeated two disciplined armies com-
manded by officers of experience and reputation, pene-
trated deep into England, approached within a hundred
miles of the capital, and made the crown tremble on the
King's head; retreated with the like success when they
appeared on the point of being intercepted between
three hostile armies; checked effectually the attack of a
superior body detached in pursuit of them ; reached the
north in safety, and were only suppressed by a concur-
rence of disadvantages which it was impossible for
human nature to surmount." To this enumeration of
facts, forming altogether a. picture dazzling to the ima-
gination, we may add the pure and devoted attachment
of the Highlanders to the Prince in his various wander-
ings
and misfortunes, and the contrast which they
pre-
sent in true nobility of mind to their sordid acid cruel
victoonn
rsiThaedeexep ceassneds cionmeffmaciteteadblaaftsetrtinthenbaotte English
dglish
cle_onf Cul-
lodenarmy, and the world saw,wi
thsurpne
military force, trainednation, how a regular
in a civilized a;:on, and
by com-
mended by a prince, could be outdone in hniamotianntait
courtesy, and feelings of honour,
race, reared in comparative solitude amidst the wild and
savage scenes of nature.
The breaking up of the feudal system in the High.
lands was a necessary result of the progress of society,
but it was accellerated by the defeat at Culloden.
Good sprung oat of Kerning evil. The statutes. pro-