The Sun.
London, England, 1835-05-12 00:00:00

DUBLIN.

(FROM ova ibWN COMtE.PONDENT.
The Tories, the truth were known, are by this time un-
affectec;ly sorry chat they ever thought of -dist-;uting Mr.
O'Connell's return fot- the City of Dublin. The 'Commission
is bripging matters to lijht which not only tend to blight the
hopes ef the petitioners, 1)0. seriously involve the character of
the late Government. -It ha; been proved that on the very
day of Sir Henry Hardingcs nri7al to conduct the affairs of
Ireland on principles of " Salutary Reform," he issued his
conamalds to the Commissioners of the _Paying Board, and all
the clerks and servants under their controut, requiring them to
exert themselves in the cause of the Tory culdidateg. To
such a rigorous degree was this ofz„ler enforced, that Mr.
M‘Kane, a gentleman of high character' the Bar, who is
^rmitted even
Counsel to the Commissioners, would not be
to abstain from voting, but was ordered by our latt Military
Secretary, itt person, to give his suffrage to Messrs. Ha:"
and West ; and he voted for them accordingly. The arnh.., s-
sador employed in those dignified negotiations was no less
personage than that Judge without a fellow, the Right lion.
Frederick Shaw ; and the tool he worked with was an Al-
derman of that Worshipful Corporation of which he is him-
self the chosen Recorder. What a triumvirate I A Minister
of State, a Judge, and an Alderman plotting together to de-
stroy the freedom of election
The rage of the faction at the discovery of all these do-
ings bas quite neutralised their joy at the disgraceful event
in South Devonshire. Even their licensed bullies of the
press are confounded, and make no attempt to deny the
damning facts which have been thus unexpectedly dragged
before the public; but, on the contrary, by their loud recla-
:nations against the treachery which has divulged the secrets
of the Paving House, they have virtually put in a plea of
confession. You will find it in that genuine and accredited
oracle of Sir Henry Hardinge, of Mr. Shaw, and of the Cor-
poration, the I.").ublin Evening Mail, published on Friday last.
The rejection of Lord John Russell by the tenants at will
and the mitred agitate"- of Devonshire has grieved every friend
of freedom in this country—grieved but not dismayed us.
For we are assured that tie voice of that " majority" is
decidedly adverse to "public opinion"—many thanks to Sir
Robert Peel for the word ; and 'hen we find the name of
the Earl of Devon among those v,-.110 have achieved the
shameful victory, we think it adds to thd reputatlon of the
spotless Champion of Reform, that he has been repudiated
by a constituency so tainted. It is for the advocates of
Church abuses to sun themselves in the smiles o,c so noble
a patron. But men bold in conscious purity and an .
honest
cause would rather suffer ostracism with Lord John Russll
than enjoy an ovation with the irrevocable absentee of Devon.
A silly report is in circulation, that Lord John Russell
has induced Mr. Edward Ruthven to resign his seat for
Kildare, in order to make an opening for his Lord-
ship. There is not a constituency in Ireland, which
might not justly think itself honoured in such a repre-
sentative. But the author of the Reform Bill will surely
find seats enough in that country which will, as long as liberty
endures, point to his name with grateful recollection, as
amongst the foremost of her children who have preserved and
ennobled it.
A Mr. Barton, a wine-merchant, whose claret is much
purer than his politics, is named as a candidate to oppose Lord
John in Kildare. He is an Orangeman; and the mention of
his name, as a candidate for Kildare, shows that the whole
story is a hoax. Should be have a mind to try what a plea-
sant thing it is to be twice beaten in six months (for he stood
a contest lately at Roscommon), Mr. More O'Ferrall will soon
afford him an opportunity of sporting his metal. They say he
possesses a large share of that very desirable qualification, and
the attorneys are laudably exerting themselves to persuade him
that there is a re-action.

Pray can you solve this simple question—for opinion is much
divided on the subject—ls Ben D'lsraeli afoot? His letter
to O'Connell has occasioned a great deal of merriment here ;
particularly that passage in which he owns that the people
have shown their good sense in repeatedly refusing his appli-
cations to send him to Parliament. His words are—,, With
regard to your taunts as to my want of success in my election
contests, permit me to remind you that I bad nothing to
ap-
peal to but the good sense of the people." The context, it is
scarcely necessary to say, as well as the events, abundantly
manifests that he could not have appealed to a more just tri-
bunal. But as there must be always a " Buffoon" in the
Lower as well as in the Upper House, let us hope that the
good sense of the people will for once give way to their love
of humour, and permit Ben to attain the object of his ambi-
tion whenever Colonel Sibthorp or little Kearsley shall leave
the throne empty.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN SCHOOL SOCIETY.—
The 31st anniversary meeting of this society took place yes-
terday at Exeter Hall. The great room was filled to an abso-
lute overflow long before the hour that was appointed for the
commencement of the proceedings of the day. It had been
announced that Lord John Russell would preside on this oc-
casion, but as his Lordship was not in attendance, the chair
was taken by Lord Brougham, who was received by the cor-
dial cheering of the persons assembled. His Lordship said,
it was not derogatory to the dignity of the highest public func-
tionary to attend the meetings of his fellow-countrymen, and
it was nothing but the pressure of his public duties, and not
the absurd notion that it was belovi the dignity of a man in a
high public station to be present on an occasion like the pre-
sent, that prevented Lord John Russell from being in the
chair. Twenty-five years ago, when the present society was
in an infant state, it had been necessary, in addressing public
meetings to expatiate at large upon the advantages of general
education ; happily no such necessity now existed. The in-
crease in the diffusion of general education had been conside-
rable. He (Lord Brougham) had issued circulars, and had
obtained 500 answers, from which it appeared that within the
space of ten years, from 1818 to 1828, the benefit of educa-
tion had extended in the ratio of 30 to 14. His Lordship
here went into a detail of his inquiries, and inferred from them,
that although the exertions of this society had been most be-
neficial, there was, nevertheless, a great proportion of the
people to whom the advantages of education had not yet been
communicated ; that it was, therefore, imperative upon all
present not to relax, but rather to increase, the exertions
which had hitherto been so advantageous.—The Secretary to
the Institution then read the report, which was of considerable
length, and from which it appeared that the efforts of the In-
stitution had been rewarded by increasing success, in the dif-
fusion of general education and knowledge both at home and
in the remoter regions of the earth.—Several resolutions were
then moved and seconded, and carried by the unanimous voice
of the meeting : and several gentlemen, amongst whom was
Mr. Hume, the Member for Middlesex, addressed the meet-
ing : the latter gentleman declared himself the friend of uni-
versal education, and professed his willingness in his place in
Parliament to support any effort that might be made to diffuse
knowledge throughout the empire. The Hon. Gentleman
was well received by the company. The collection at the
doors, from the incessant jingling of sovereigns and silver in
the plates of the collectors, appeared to be more than usually
munificent.
TEN YEARS IN SOUTH AFRICA, BY LIEUT. J.
W. Moonis.—Africa has not been explored in vain by our
countrymen. The works of travellers in that picturesque
region supply a fund of valuable information. Southern
Africa is the"best known quarter of the whole. Rose, Barrow,
Holman, and many other travellers, have rendered us familiar
with its mixed people—the Dutch, the Hottentots, and the
English settlers. We arc, therefore, the better enabled to
appreciate the merits of this work, which we have read with
considerable pleasure. It presents an excellent idea of the
external features and domestic character of Southern Africa,
and is written out of the fullness of experience. The author
lived many years in the interior, and traversed it step by step
with his gun on his shoulder; saw the people in all their
changes, their labours, and their amusements ; participated in
the field sports, which we need not observe, are perilous even
to sublimity. He writes with freedom and clearness, and has
a certain dash of philosophy in him that sometimes casts an
agreeable shade over his pages. The work exhibits a suffi-
cient variety to make it bath entertaining and useful.—Atlas.
THE LORD MAYOR AND COMNION COUNCIL.
—On Friday last the Aldermen of the city of London assem-
bled, in consequence of a summons issued by the Lord Mayor
" upon very particular business." At two o'clock there were
twenty Aldermen present. They sat not as a Court of Alder-
men, but as a meeting of the civic magistracy. The city law
officers were also present. The Lord Mayor bad called his
brother Magistrates together in consequence of the many great
impediments which were thrown in the way of the performance
of the public business in the Court of Common Council. The
Court of Common Council had appointed a Committee of the
whole Court to consider the subject of the municipal institu-
tions of the city of London. That Committee had made a re-
port to the Court, and thus terminated its own existence ; but
the Chairman of the Committee thought proper to act as if it
were still in existence, and a resolution was passed in the Court
recommending the total annihilation of the authority of the
Lord Mayor in the Court of Common Council. The resolu-
tion in fact recommended that, in the event of the unwilling-
ness of the Lord Mayor to call Courts upon any particular oc-
casions, the Court should appoint an Alderman, or a member
of its own body, as substitute for the Chief Magistrate. Ap-
plication had been made to him in his capacity of Chief Ma-
gistrate, to order this resolution upon the paper of business
for discussion by the Court. To this extraordinary applica-
tion he had denied his consent, and he believed himself to be
completely justified in making that denial. Several Members
of the Court of Common Council, however, insisted that he
was bound to enter the resolution upon the business paper, and
upon the last Court day he had been obliged to break up the
Court. He had now assembled his brethren and the law officers
in order to counsel with them upon such an extraordinary state
of things, by which the public business of the city was ob-
structed, and grounds of dissension and hostility established.
A long conversation took place amongst the Aldermen, who,
we understand, unanimously agreed that the Lord Mayor would
not be justified, under all the circumstances, in allowing the
paper of business to be incumbered with the matter of the re-
commendation. The law officers also expressed their opinion
that any other course would be illegal. His Lordship will act
upon this counsel.
As the Red Rover Herne Bay steam-packet was
going down the river yesterday morning, closely followed and
running with the. Star Gravesend steamer, which was a-head
of her and gaining ground, the crew of the Red Rover, when
off 'Woolwich, proceeded to set their sails, in the hope of
overtaking the Star, and while occupied in this manner, and
entirely engaged by the excitement of the moment, unfortu-
nately neglected to keep a proper look out, and ran foul of the
John Bull steam ship, which was coming slowly up the river
on her passage from Hamburgh. The John Bull figure-head
and cut-water were carried away, and the Red Rover, the au-
thor of the mischief, sustained herself considerable damage,
and was prevented from proceeding to Herne Bay.