The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-23 00:00:00

rHE rSUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, :DECEMBER 23, 1861.

11.';;WI=;ti.i•-eTi:T:G. FINNIS, Esq., alderman of the
`ward, presiding. The old members proposed were
Messrs. Turnbuil (deputy) Lawrence, Redhead, H.
N. Nisen, T. S. Smith, W. Verry, J. Young, T. B.
Humphreys, and J. Malcolm. The name of H. H.
IHeath was proposed, and upon the show of hands
Mr. T. Smith was in the minority, for whom a poll
was demanded.

(Cheers.) We are especially attached to-the form cfg,
government as exhibited in this great and anciettv
municipality, and we believe we have in the persa,
of Mr. Besley one who takes a comprehensive view)f
the duties and obligations of citizenship. We have
reason to hope that while he will be disposed at 11l
times to adapt the usages and customs of our ancitnt
corporation to the wants and requirements of an
age of progress, he will have a due regard to its
long career of purity and usefulness—(hear, hem—
that he will defend the ancient rights of his felbw-
citizens, especially the privilege, existing from time
,'immemorial, of electing their own magistrates mart
from the Crown, and the power of administeing
,their own affairs through a Common Council ; and
we therefore ask your lordship and this court to
accept him as our alderman.
~, Alderman Besley then took and subscribei the
'customary oaths. This ceremony over, he wts in-
?'vested with the violet gown of an aldermar, and
.afterwards received the congratu'ations of the Chief
;INlagistrate and the other members of the court.

time, to be attributed, I think, to the valuable ser- I
'vice rendered by the National Guards. Patrols of;
'them, as also of the Carabineers, guard the streetsl
nightly, together with the police. They are armed
with revolvers and swords. For several months the
city has been in a most dangerous state, and the in-
stitution of this extraordinary service proves it.
1
I must not close my letter without saying a word;
of Vesuvius, Its form is much changed. The sides of;
the crater have been thrown into the air, and the]
abyss is so deepened that it.is impossible to see the
bottom of it. There are ten small craters formed
above the town of Torre del Greco, and the report
of the principal guide of Vesuvius, which has just
been sent to me, announces that another "palazzo"
fell during the past night. Indeed, the shocks of
earthquake are continual, and are felt slightly even
in Naples. Palmieri, Director of the Observatory,
reports that on the 14th the needles of Lamont
were still active, and the sismograph registering.
On Sunday night and on Monday morning the
shocks were repeated both here and in Torre del
Greco, and though that place no longer trembles'
like a jelly under our feet, as it did on the 9th inst.,
the movement continues at intervals. The Provin-
cial Council meets to-''ay to vote 36,000 ducats for
the relief of the sufferers, and I hear that his
Majesty has increased the already liberal donation
which he has given from his private purse. Indeed']
the promptitude and:energy and benevolence which
have been displayed by the Government and the
local authorities show that a different order of
things is introduced here. Instead of masses and)
processions, we have action ; and, instead of the
dishonesty which took advantage of the sympathy
created by the ruin of former earthquakes, we have
the honest administration of the funds, thanks to
that hither to unknown spirit of integrity which the
Northern element has introduced. The following
,ittle anecdote, the truth a which I guarantee,
shows the difference between the usages of the
North and the South. A nobleman, lately acquitted
'ay a verdict of " not proven," accompanied by his
sdvocate, went round to the judges (Neapolitan) to
thank them. He was received, and he gave a pre-
sent to the servants. At last he visited the highest
law officer (a Milanese), who refused to see him,]
alleging that he needed no thanks for doing his
duty. Accompanying the advocate to the stairs,
he observed the nobleman's servant slip a douceur
into his own domestic's hands, but he dismissed him
on the spot. Yet this has been the regular practice.
On looking out of my window I see Vesuvius has
ust burst out again with increased violence.

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, ►SATURDAY EVENING.

One could scarcely exaggerate in describing the
sympathy with the Queen in her bereavement
which is manifested by all classes in this country.
Yesterday one of the largest and most influential
meetings ever held in Belfast was convened by the
Mayor, in pursuance of a requisition, to give suit-
Able expression to the deep sorrow of the inhabi-
tants at the death of the Prince Consort, and to
their loyal and affectionate sympathy with the
Queen in her present affliction. The speakers re-
presented every political party and religious deno-
mination.

The following address of condolence with Her
Majesty was unanimously adopted, the Right Rev.
Dr. Denvir having moved that it be engrossed and
presented : _ _ _

" May it please your Majesty,—
"We, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal sub•
jects, the Mayor and inhabitants of Belfast, i❑
public meeting assembled, beg leave to approach
your Majesty with the feeling and expression of our
deepest sympathy and condolence in your sad
bereavement by the death of his Royal Highness
the Prince Consort. _ _ _

" We are fully sensible that, as none could know
his worth, so none can feel his loss as does your
Majesty.
" Still, it must be a melancholy consolation to
know that by all that was heard of his private and
domestic virtues, as well as by all that was seen of
his unwearied efforts for the public good, he had
won for himself a place in the hearts of all your
Majesty's subjects, and has left behind him a name
that must hereafter rank as one of the brightest in
the records of British history.
"It is our humble and earnest prayer that God,
who, in His providence, gives and takes away,'
and who alone is able to minister consolation and
good hope in all human sorrows, may grant to
your Majesty and to your Royal House His grace,
protection, and blessing.
" Signed in the name and on the behalf of the
meeting."
Another resolution was passed recommending the
closing of all places of business from 11 till 1 on the
day of the funeral, and the adoption of general
mourning.

The antipodes of Belfast, as to the predominant
feeling of the population in religion and politics, is
Drogheda ; and, only to show the universality of
the sentiment of regret caused by the Prinee's death,
the corporation of that town met at the same time
to consider an address of condolence with the Queen.
An address was adopted by the Council, in which
they say that, " in union with all her Majesty's sub-
jects, they deplore the bereavement she has sus-
tained." They earnestly hope that the "loss will in
no way affect the auspicious reign of her Majesty,
and that she will be supported by a reliance on
Divine Providence in wielding her sceptre over her
extensive dominions for many years to come." This,
they say, will ever be the sincere wish of her " de
voted, loyal, and valorous subjects." No doubt tht
corporation means by the last epithet that its mem-
ters are individually willing to lay down their liver
for her Majesty should circumstances ever call for
the sacrifice,—which is, happily, not likely.
The Dublin Evening Post earnestly urges the
claims of Dean Kirwan, of Limerick, to the vacant
see, as he has the rare advantage of being popular
with both Protestants and Roman Catholics, and
has superior professional qualifications.
A petition was presented to the Lord Chancellot
yesterday, on behalf of the Lord Mayor, the Dean
of St. Patrick's, and others, relative to a charitable
fund which had accumulated from an annuity left
some years ago by Mr. H. Metcalf, of this city, to
be applied for the establishment of an almshouse
for eight elderly Protestant women. In 1857 the
present Lord Mayor, Atkinson, had given 11,000
to a similar object, and £3OO was subscribed 1)3
others towards establishing an almshouse in New-
street. The Lord Mayor now adds £l,OOO more,
and the object of the application to the Court of
Chancery was to have the whole fund invested in
trustees. The Lord Chancellor granted an order of
reference to the Master.

Sir Croker Barrington, son of the late Crown Soli
citor for Munster, Sir Matthew Barringtoni Bart..
has been appointed, it is stated, to the office of Crown
Solicitor of Limerick, rendered vacant by the death
of Mr. Fleetwood.

The Ist battalion of the 15th Regiment has re-
ceived the final order to leave Richmond Barracks
on the 26th inst. for Cork by the Great Southern
Ind Western Railway, and to embark on the 27th
for Canada.

The Agricultural _Review, in an article on the
winter show of the Royal Dublin Society, says :
" Several of the managers of the model agricultu-
ral school farms, in con neetion with the Board of
National Education, contributed samples of turnips.
marigolds, carrots, parsnips, kohlrabi, beans, oats,
wheat, barley, &c. These were staged by them-
selves, ' not for competition, and included the pro-
duce of Glasnevin, Cork, Belfast, Kilkenny, Athy,.
Gormanstown, Dromisken, Templedouglas, Bath,
Ind Roscrea Union Farms. Samples of butter were
Also shown from the Glasnevin and Cork Model
Farms, which were exceedingly creditable to both
establishments. The butter from Glasnevin was the
produce of cows fei on two feeds of turnips, one of
cabbage, 21b. of oileake, with a littla hay and straw
daily; and that from the Munster Farm, from cows
fed on Swede and Aberdeen turnips, with 31b. of
Irapecake daily. These interesting collections, toge
idler with a matchless specimen of the Windsor breed
lof pigs just ready for the shambles, sent in by Dr.
iKirkpatrick,Head Inspector of Agricultural Schools,
'attracted no small amount of attention during thel
show.
" Of the other farms connected with public insti-
tutions we have only to notice that attached to the
Worth Dublin Union Workhouse, the produce froml
!which would do credit to the champion root growers'
of the country. The various productions sent for-
ward byMr. Boyle, the agriculturist to the above,
union, possessed peculiar merit, inasmuch as they!
have been exclusively grown by juvenile inmates;
of the establishment, and without any extraneous,
expense in manure, &c.,to the Union being