The Sun.
London, England, 1851-07-17 00:00:00

THURSDAY EVENING,

KNARESBOROUGH.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sin,—l have been spen,3ing toe last we, kin Knares-
borough, and in return for t hi, great pleasure I often ex-
perience in perusing your bigi.ly-talented journal, and, in
particular, the letters signed "An Old Retormer," I ven-
ture to send you some particulars concerning Knares-
borough and the late election, which may probably
gratify many of your readers.
In the first place, then, Knaresborough is a beautifully
picturesque town; it contains in the parish the fashion-
able watering place of Ea,rrogate, ri,o justly celebrated
for its mineral waters. Now, Harrogate is only two
miles and a half from Knaresborough, and contains about
as many inhabitants, and in the now Reform Bill which
is promised by Lord John for the next year, it is hoped
that the whole parish of Knaresborough will be included.
Certainly it ought to be, and then there will be far less
corruption in the place, as the constituency would be in-
creased from 360 to upwards of 900. It is now very
corrupt indeed, and is called a second 'Pontefract—the
inhabitants must take care they do not find it a second
Sudbury!
Knaresborougb, under the rotten borough system,
was perhaps the best represented of any town in the
kingdom! For the last twenty-one years of the old sys-
tem, the Duke of Devonshire nominated the Right Hon.
George Tierney and the Right Hon. Sir James Mackin-
to-h. Now, under the Reform Bill, there has been a
miserable falling off in the representation of that ancient
place.
The first Members were Mr. Henry Rich and the
well-known Mr. Ferrand; its late Members were the late
Mt. W. S. Lascelles, the brother to the Earl of Hare-
wood, and Mr. Westhead, a gentleman first nominated
by the Manchester League. Mr. Westhead is himself a
rich cotton spinner, and bears the reputation of a quiet
and inoffensive man.

The well-known and highly-respected Mr. Eneas
Macdonnell also visited the borough and offered himself,
but being a Roman Catholic he did not receive that
support which his great talents ought to have insured
to him.

At the last election, also, there was an address to the
electors issued by a late townsman, and a native of the
place. I was favoured with a sight of the address, which
was treasured up by an old gentleman like sterling gold,
and he told me the address was reprinted at Manchester
and at Glasgow, and many thousands sold, as a model
address, worthy to be followed out by every Member of
Parliament, ind had this been the case the country would
now be very different to whet it is at the present day.
Mr. Foster in this address appears to be an induce.-
dent Conservative, of the Peel original school. He
contended that " justice ought to be dealt to the indus-
trious British farmer as well as to other classes of
the Queen's subject!" fie described himself "as too
poor to contest the borough, and could ho afford to do ro
he would not buy the constituency, because he would
never sell them, but would employ all the energy and
talents which od had given to him for their benefit and
thus of his country."
Mr. Foster was also described to me by his old friend
as the firm and personal friend of the late highly gifted
William Cobbett, and that the latter had told him when
on a visit, to Ripley Castle, that it was " a shame such a
man as Mr. Foster was not in Parliament, as he was
the fittest man he knew to be sent there—that his com-
mercial knowledge was not excelled by any one in the
House of Commons, whilst on the subject of the Cur-
rency I delight in calling him my first disciple." This
was the opinion of by far the greatest politician of the
day of Mr. Foster.

In this address, which was valued, it would appear,
every where except in the venal borough of linaresbo-
rotign, Mr. Foster "pledged himself, if returned (viz,
in 1847), immediately to move a total repeal of the Win-
dow- tax, a repeal of the Income-tax, and a re-modelling
of the new Poor-law." This was, indeed, " thinking
like a statesman." _ _

Mr. Foster is now, I am told, in the prime of life, and
is the father of that highly-talented young and rising
barrister, Ur. Campbell Foster, the late Times' commis-
sioner in Ireland.

Mr. Collins, jun., and Mr. Lawson, the two candi-
dates from the very rump of the Tory camp, were the
only gentlemen who were offered for the choice of the
electors; and Mr. Collins was returned. He also is a
young barrister, but who, albeit he has plenty of talk,
will certainly never set the Thames on fire;" his father
is not, nor ever was, the vicar of Knaresborougb, as has
been falsely represented; but he is "a Reverend unat-
tached." His grandfather was an attorney, of the firm
of Collins and Richardson, whilst his notorious great-
grandfather—" the less that is said about him the
batter."

Knaresborough is also justly celebrated for its ancient
castle—perhaps the remains of the strongest feudal edi-
fice in England. A capital account of this castle is given
by a very able historian and good man, the late Mr. Ely
Hargrove, of Knaresborough, a book which will well
reps), its perusal; it also contains the original account
of Eugene Aram, now immortalized by our great Bul-
wer; also the birth of Mother Shipton, who was born
near the famous "dropping well" at Knaresborough;
also the history of the famous " Blind Jack," of Knares-
borough—perhaps the most extraordinary blind man of
modern times.—l am, Sir, &c., G. W.
Bradford, July 16.

REPRESENTATION OF ARUNDEL.
ARUNDEL, WEDNESDAY:-.-The election of a repre•
sentative for the town of Arundel, to fill the vacancy
caused by the retirement of the Earl of Arundel and
Surrey, took place to-day. There being no opposition,
the proceedings excited little attention, Mr. Edward
Strutt, formerly the representative of Derby, who bad
obtained the support of the Duke of Norfolk was the only
candidate.

The MAYOR (Mr. W. Osborne) opened the business of
the election with the usual formalities, after which Mr.
Halliday proposed, and Mr. Marshall seconded, Mr.
Strutt, as a fit and proper person to represent the town
of Arundel in Parliament.
Mr. STRUTT then addressed the burgessQE, stating his
views to be those of a Free-trader, particularly as re-
garded corn, any re-imposition of a duty on which, he
believed, would bo attended with serious injury to the
best interests of the country, as well 39 being calculated
to excite great ill-will in the minds of the people gene-
rally. He considered -that the time bad now arrived
for an extension of the suffrage within certain bounds,
and should give his support to any well-prepared
measure that might be brought forward to that end.
With regard to the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, he stated
that had he been its Parliament he should have given his
support to that measure, although he wished it to be
understood that he was a warm supporter of civil and
religious liberty. He should upon the above question
have taken a course directly opposite to that of the
Noble Lord their late representative, although he readily
gave that Noble Lord credit for conscientious views and
conduct in the course he had taken. Mr. Strutt con-
cluded by promising his best services to the town in the
promotion of its loc4l interests.
Captain HoLarEs then made an attack on the Duke of
Nortulk, in re'erence to an alleged attempted diversion
by his Grace of one of the public footpaths. He also
neelated himself to be a Protectionist, and determined
at the next guneral election to assist in ridding the town
of the intimidation practiced towards the electors by those
in the interest of tee Duke.
Mr. COOPER, stev.ard to his Grace, replied to the
Captain amid the applause of the assemblage.
The proceedings then terminated by the MAYOR de-,
elating Mr. Strutt duly elected.

-----
TFIE O'BIRNE TEt•TIMONIAL.—WR
understand
that a meeting of naval officers for the presentation of the
testimonial to Mr. O'Byrne, the author of " The Naval
Biography," will take place at the United Service Institu •
tion. Whitehall, on Saturday, the 19th inst., at twelve
o'clock. Admiral Sir Charles Adam, K.C.8., will preside.
UNUSUAL Low TIDE,—On Tuesday evening the
waters of the Thames fell unusually low at Waterloo-bridge;
with the exception of the two nearest the Middlesex shore,
the whole of the arches were quite dry. Extra dummies
were required at many of the piers to enable the steam-boats
to land their passengers ; several vessels grounded in the
usual channels of the navigation.
ARRIVAL OF THE IETERIIOFF STEAM-YACHT.--4
This fine vessel, builA, Mr. Mare, at Blackwell, and fitted
with engines by -ivlessrs. George and Sir John Rennie, to
serve as an Imperial yacht to the Emperor of Russia, tad
which eve at., when on her passage to St. Petersburgh, on the
rocks off the Island of Oessel, in October last, has been re-
r:overed, and is now in the Import-dock of the East India
Company at Blackwell, apparently in as good a state as
before the accident, with the exception of the wood panel.
ing of the cabins, which has yielded to the ill treatment it
received and long immersion under water; but the hin and
engines are as good as ever. The followinsf eletails may
prove interesting :—Various attempts ex,
are made by the
get her off, assis ed by
captain and crew of the vessel to
some officers and men sent by the Il':.seian Government, but
without success. The vessel s'Lick fast on the ridge of rocks
with a hole in her bot.ter: n
, a being constructed of iron, she was abandoned by 'ale Russian authorities to the agent
of the compalry London who had insured her, and the
company sell‘. out an able officer—Captain Fell, who after
great exee:tions succeeded in getting her off the rocks. He
let tb"., water into every part of her, and allowed her to re-
-IPlain full all the winter. This bold experiment had the effect
of preserving her from being battered by,the winter storms,
and in the spring the vessel was raised, and, after being par-
tially repaired, he floated her to Riga, where she underwent
a more thorough repair. He then tried the engines, and
found that they worked well, and on trying the speed of the
vessel at the measured mile, near Riga, the result was ascer-
tained to be sixteen knots an hour. From Riga Captain
Fell proceeded with the vessel to Elsinore, and from Elsinore
to Hamburgb, where he lay for a short time, and then left
for England, and although he had to contend against a
strong head wind, reached the East India Docks, at Black-
well, on Sunday night last, in 35 hours, being a distance of
about 500 miles, showing the average speed of the vessel
during the voyage to be at the rate of upwards of 131 knots
per hour.

TUB GUILDHALL.—The Lord Mayor having
granted the see of the Guildhall for the purpose of a dress
and fancy ball in aid of the ward schools and dispensaries
of the city of London, the event took place last night. The
patronage that had been vouchsafed to the undertaking,
headed as it was by the Queen, Prince Albert, the Duchess
of Gloucester, and the Duchess of Kent, brought together a
vast concourse of visitors, and at a comparative early hour of
the evening the hall was completely crowded. The [fittings
provided last week for the reception of her Majesty were, by
the courtesy of the Lord Mayor, left untouched, and those
who did not care to enter into the Terpsichorean festivities of
the principal salle were amply amused by roaming through
the vestibules, corridors, and crypt, and surveying the gay
And varied decora.ions which the liberality of the Common
Couucil had supplied in honour of the auspicious event al-
luded to. We have already given an account of these em-
bellishments; and they appeared to be precisely the same as
they were yesterday se'nnight. Nothing could be more
brilliant than the lighting of the hall; while the tableaux at
the west end, composed of flags and reflectant glass, have
not often been equalled for picturesque and imposing lumi-
nousness. Adams's band was in attendance, and the company
seemed to enjoy the pleasures of the evening to the utmost.
We can but hope that the charitable institutions for whose
benefit the ball was projected will profit by the issue; and
there was every reason for believing from the numbers pre-
sent, that the balance of money available for distribution will
be considerable,