The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-19 00:00:00

IRELAND,

DUBLIN, FRIDAY.

Mr. William Sharman Crawford died yesterday at
his residence, Crawfordsburn, near Bangor, county
Down. He was long known to the British public as
member of Parliament for Dundalk and Rochdale,
and he has been popularly known in Ireland as "the
father of the tenant-right question." He was an in-
dulgent landlord, content with moderate rents, en-
couraging improvements, and rejoicing in the pro-
sperity of his tenantry, not one of whom he ever
ejected. He allowed them to sell their " tenant-right"
freely, and on his estate it reached the highest figure,
equalling the fee-simple of the land. The great ob-
ject of his political life was to give that customary
right in Ulster the effect of law, so that it would
not be disturbed by the landlord, and also to extend
it to the other parts of Ireland. The tenant-farmers
throughout the country regarded him as their cham-
pion, and he spent most of his time for years in ex-
pounding their grievances in long letters and heavy
speeches. He attended the meetings of the " Irish
Tenant League," not only in Ulster, but in some of
the southern counties, where he was regarded with
respect and gratitude by the Roman Catholic priests
and people. For many years he had charge of the
tenant-right question in Parliament, for the settle-
ment of which he brought in several bills; and the
platform and newspaper cry of the tenant-right
party in Ireland then was,—" Sharman Crawford's
Bill—the whole bill, and nothing but the bill."
His measure, however, never found favour with the
Legislature, and all attempts to get tenant-right
embodied in an Act of Parliament proved abortive.
Mr. Crawford opposed the Repeal agitation when
first started by Mr. O'Connell, and he once ap-
peared in Conciliation-ball to " beard the lion in
his den." The great agitator did not appear to ad-
vantage on that occasion. He was rude and abusive
to his distinguished opponent, and attempted to
overwhelm him wim with ridicule, remarking upon
dress, and reciting a song with the burden—
" Sharman my jewel, Sharman my man."
But Mr. Crawford was equally unmoved by the
invectives of the assailant and the hisses of the
excited mob. Though opposed to the repeal of the
Union, he had a plan of his own for a " Federal
Parliament " in Dublin, by which purely Irish
questions might be entertained and determined.
But at that time the multitude would hear
no dissentient voice in the Liberal ranks.
O' Connell ruled with despotic sway, and Mr.
Crawford, driven from the representation of
Dundalk, could enter Parliament only as member
for an English borough. Since the tenant-right
agitation died out he has taken no part in public
affairs. He was a magistrate and a Deputy-Lieu-
tenant of the county Down, wnere he was regarded
by the people with a feeling bordering on venera-
tion. The journals which represent the. Roman
Catholic interest pay glowing tributes to the
memory of the deceased. The Freeman ranks him
among iliustricus Irishmen, and says :
"As a landlord, he illustrated in practice the
principles'he professed. In the House of bommons,
while representing. Dundalk and Rochdale, he was
universally respected for his integrity, fairness, and
sound sense. Sharman Crawford was almost the
last of the race of great men'; and if honour,
honesty, and a loyal devotion to the rights of the
Irish people be a claim to their gratitude, few
deserved it better than William Sharman Craw-
ford." _

The Norntng News thus notices the mournful
event:—

" Sharman Crawford is dead ! True, honest,
benevolent old man—in him the Irish tenant has
lost a great, a faithful, and an earnest friend.
Many a time have our columns been draped with
mourning hues, but never for an occasion more sor-
rowful than this. Over all our laud, in every home
where the news shall speed, few there will be who
will not realise the loss of such a man to the cause
which won his earliest advocacy, and which to his
latest moment he never deserted. No man devoted
bis time more zealously, no man devoted his labours
more generously, to the poor persecuted and unfor-
tunate tenants of Ireland. Whatever differences
may have arisen between those with whom he
worked in the endeavour to ameliorate their con-
dition, none can refuse to concede to him a a charac-
ter for integrity and devotion perfectly unimpeach-
able . No name in the ranks of public men in
Ireland has been so long before the country, and on
none has there rested less stain of selfishness. A
great portion of this century has found him occupy-
ing a prominent position in the regard of our people,
and that regard he has continued to maintain to the
close of a long career of usefulness. With the great
labour to which he gave his best years unfulfilled,
with a long life of effort expended without the
success of its dearest aim, we cannot but regard the
death of William " Sharman Crawford as a great
public calamity."

THIS DAY'S MARKETS.

ARDEN.

fruit and ,vegetables is on
Ld rules steady, as follows :

s. d. sd;
Cherries, per lb. 0 oto 0 0
Filberts, per lb 1 3to 1 6
Cobnuts, per lb 1 6to 2 6
Almonds, per bus 0 oto 0 0
Walnuts, per 100 1 oto 2 0
Figs, per doz 0 oto 0 0
Strawberries pun 0 0 to 0 0
I Gooseberries hf sv 0 oto 0 0
pCurrants, per do. 0 oto 0 0
Plums, per do.
Greengages, pr do. 0 oto 0 0
I Raspberries, pr pt 0 oto 0 0

MIABRAL WEALTH OF NEW
ZEALAND.

The New Zealand Examiner says of the Otago
gold fields :
Brighter prospects would appear to be in store
for New Zealand in general and Otago in particular.
We refer to the discovery of gold fields in that
province. The accounts just received have been
confirmed by subsequent researches. Other gullies
have been prospected, and are believed to be richer
than that in which the operations have been
hitherto principally carried on. The total quan-
tity received in Dunedin up to the 3d of August
appears to be about 5,000 ounces, and double that
quantity was believed to be in the hands of the
diggers, who declined to part with their hard-
earned gold at the rate offered, 70s. per ounce,
which they conceive to be far below its real value.
The result of the assay at Sydney, which the next
steamer was expected to bring, was anxiously
looked for. The most sanguine expectations were
entertained as to the prospects of the province,
it being expected that very shortly the receipt of
gold would equal the whole quantity received from
the Nelson gold fields during the years 1359 and
1860, which amounted to some 12,000 ounces.

The exciting intelligence of the gold discovery,
as was to have been anticipated, had been the
means of bringing many adventurers from the
neighbouring provinces, and great numbers were
expected to arrive. Of course some have returned
disappointed. Altogether. from 1,600 to 1,800 per-
sons had visited the diggings. , The weather having
been very eold and wet, and the state of the roads
bad, added to the probable high• price of provisions
for some time, has had the effect, it was believed,
of preventing many from visiting the golden spot
until the weather became more congenial.
Advices from Melbourne state that three steamers
were loading for Otago, and would take a large
number of passengers.
The Nelson correspondent of the same paper
writes :

Every vessel arriving from the South brings us
news of large quantities of the precious metal being
found at the new field in Otago, and the result is
already visible. The " gold fever," in a malignant
form, has broken out, and labour, which has been
too plentiful for some little time past, bids fair now
to be as scarce. Every vessel that is available,
from the cutter of 10 tons up to full-rigged ships of
500, is laid on for Otago, and every one a full com-
plement of passengers. The wages of seamen on the
coast have risen to £6 and £lO per month, and the
hands from other vessels are deserting fast. Shovels,
picks, galvanized iron buckets, tents, and blankets
are at a premium ; at every store may be seen
intending diggers providing themselves with re-
quisites, and carrying them on board vessels at the
Wharoa. Two days ago there was an exodus
on a large scale. The Storm Bird, a steamer of
100 tons, was to start, and about 90 hadtaken their
passage in her. At the time of starting she looked
like an excursion boat. Just at the last there was a
visitor on board in the shape of a sheriff's officer,
and a few of the, would-be diggers, who had
neglected to "square up". before leaving, were
brought ignominiously ashore. The steamer started
and made about 20 miles beyond the Head, when
she was met by a south-east gale, and 'yesterday
morning we found her snugly anchored in harbour
again, the impatient gold-seekers being put ashore
to wait for a change of wind. Should the reports
from the diggings'continue favourable there is , no
doilbt that as the weather improves a much larger
numb& of men will leave, as there is just at present
very little offering here. Next I come to the chro-
mate of iron, in which several parties are now specu-
lating. It exists in enormous quantities on the hills
around our city, and, thanks to the perseverance of
the Dun Mountain Copper Mining Company, which
nothing daunted by their want of success in
gathering riches from copper lodes, like unto those
at Lake Superior, yet persevered in constructing the
railways. This company will yet realise extrava-
gantly large dividends from these simple circum-
stances—that slate exists in large quantity upon
their land, and will be eagerly purchased, not'only
here, but in all surrounding settlements, and thus
do away with with a great nuisance, _wooden
shingles for roofing of houses. Again, their land is
heavily timbered; now firewood !Aches here about
255. per cartload (and a small cartload it is), and as
this company can so readily convey' it Vora the
forest intolown by their railway, they could easily
sell it at say 175., and make about 7s. per load clear
profit;, then again,, they can give us that much
needed article, stone, while they have also a species
of marble on their land ; there are also posts and
rails for fencing, and lastly, after having conveyed
their chrome into town, their slate, wood; &c., like-
wise,' they will most certainly become large carriers
of produce from the town to the port for shipment.
The coal discovered at the River Grey, on the
west coast of this province, having been sent to the
School of Mines in England for analysis, we have
received a report of Mr. Percy's tests, which showed
that the coal, out of 100 parts, contains 79 of carbon,
5 of hydrogen, 7 of oxygen, and 9 of nitrogen,
sulphur, ash, and hygroscopic .water,:--" In com-
position, this coal is nearly identical with coal
occurring in some of the coal measures of this coun-
try. • The- 00,1 from New Zealand 'is a caking coal;
that is, when powdered and heated in a close vessel,
it aff9rds a coherent coke, the original bulk of the
coal being considerably increased during the opera-
tion. The gas which was disengaged appeared to
possess a highly illuminating power, as far as could
he ascertained from the small quantity of coal experi-
mented upon, the residual coke amounting to 64.32
per cent. The quantity of coke, however, obtained
on so small a scale must not be taken as an exact
indication of the yield by the ordinary process."