The Sun.
London, England, 1829-05-16 00:00:00

Mr. O'CONNELL.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT OF THE MORNING HERALD )
Yesterday the Hon. Member for Clare wits at the
House of Commons as early as oue o'clock; and from that
time till the meeting of the House he was engaged in
giving evidence before the Select Committee on the Irish
Miscellaneous and Education Estimates; and after that,in
the Commons' Library, consulting the Journals. The
Honourable Member's intention to present himself for the
purpose of claiming his seat, and that, too, under the new
Act, soon became known ; and consequently, by half-past
three o'clock, some time even before the SPEAKER'S arrival,
the House was amazingly crowded with Members ; there
could not be fewer thaw 300 Members present; and by the
time that the SPEAKER arrived the Members' side galleries
were crowded. Under the gallery also was thronged,
chiefly by Peers; amongst them were the Duke of NOR-
FOLK, Earl FITZWILLIAM, the Marquis of A NCLESZA, the
Marquis of SALISBURY, Lord BERESFORD, &c. In the
roof of the House there were several ladies. The Minis-
terial benches were attended by Mr. G. DAWSON, Mr.
CALCRAFT, Sir GEORGE HILL, &C. Mr. PEEL did
not enter till the SPEAKER had taken the Chair : he
had been absent for several days on account of ill-
health, and was evidently labouring under indisposi-
tion. Mr. VESEY FITZGERALD (the ex-Member for
Clare) was not present, at least he did not appear on
the Treasury bench. On the Opposition bench were
Mr. BROUGHAM, Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH, Lord AL-
THORP, Mr. TIERNEY, &c., most of them being provided
with copies of the new Act, and busily engaged in conning
over its clauses. Mr. O'ColiziELL entered the House be-
fore the arrival of the SPEAKER; but in his way thither,
though the avenues and lobby were crowded, there were
no marks of applause indulged in. He took his seat un-
der the gallery, introduced by Lords DUNCANNON and
EBRINGTON, and went there according to the etiquette in
cases of Members waiting to he sworn. The Hon. Mem-
ber was provided with the certificate from the Commis-
sioners acting for the Lord High Steward, setting forth
that he had taken the preliminary oaths of allegiance (as
presented by the old law) before them : he did that on
Thursday in Mr. DORRlNGTON'tioffice.
The SPEAKER having taken the chair, inquired whe-
ther there was any Member to be sworn ?

Mr. O'CoNNELL, with Lord DUNCANNON on his right,
and Lord EBRINGTON on his left hand, to introduce him
in the customary forms, forthwith passed the bar of the
House, and proceeded towards the table.
Mr. LEY, the Chief Clerk of the House, then left his
seat, proceeded to the lower end of the table, and there
met Mr. O'CoNNELL. Mr. O'Conlarr.r. handed in the
certificate from the Commissioners of the Lord High
Steward, his return, and his qualification.
The Clerk, having examined these documents, and found
that they were all perfectly correct, immediately opened
the large box, in which are kept various official forms, &c.
and took out the old oaths affixed to paste-boards, and
handed them to Mr. O'CoNNELL, together with the New
Testament, on which to swear him. Mr. O'Corivu.
took the Testament, but on the oaths being presented to
him, he said, in effect, to Mr. LEY, the Clerk (the con-
versation was not addressed to the SPEAKER or the House,
and, of course, it was not heard in the gallery) " I apply
to take my seat under the new Act. lam ready to take
the oath directed to be taken by Roman Catholic Members.
Ido not feel that I am bound to take those oaths (passing
his hand over the Oaths of Supremacy, &c., to point out
which he meant.) Perhaps, Sir, you will state that fact
to the SPEAKER for me—that I do not consider I ought to
be called on to take other than the oath named in the new
Act?"

Mr. LET, the Clerk, then went to the SPEAKER, and
made the required communication, taking the old oaths
with him, and pointing out the exceptions made by Mr.
O'CONNELL.

The SPEAKER. thereupon immediately rose, and stated
(this speech, of course, will be found in the Parliamentary
Report), that if the old oaths were not taken, he must de-
sire the Hon. Member (Mr. O'CONNELL) " to withdraw."
Mr. O'CONNELL bowed to the SPEAKER, but neither
attempted to speak nor to withdraw; he remained stand-
ing at the table, and facing the SPEAKER.
Mr. BROUGHAM rose, but—

The SPEAKER prevented him from speaking by calling
out " Order, order !" thereby intimating that he could not
proceed till Mr. O'CONNKLL had withdrawn. Then again,
addressing Mr. O'CoNNELL, he said the Hon. Member
must " withdraw."

Mr. O'CONNELL once more bowed, and then withdrew,
but without uttering, or attempting to utter, one word.
Mr. BROUGHAM remained on his legs, and when Mr.
O'CONNELL had withdrawn (Mr. O'CorrNztr. resumed
his seat under the Gallery), Mr. B. proceeded, and mov-
ed (the details will be found in the Report) that Mr.
O'Comistr. be heard at the table to state his reasons why
he refused to take the old oaths. After much discussion,
Mr. PEEL'S suggestion to postpone the debate till Monday
was adopted. It, of course, will then take precedence of
all other business, the question being one of privilege.
Mr. O'CoNNELL had prepared himself to commence his
case instanter. He had ten or eleven volumes of the Jour-
nals of the House, besides several volumes of law books,
&c. which all were stationed in the door-way ready for
use, had the House determined to hear the Hon. Member
for Clare.

Prince LEOPOLD has recovered from the
effects of his cold. His Royal Highness took an airing
yesterday in an open carriage, for the first time since the
commencement of his indisposition.

On Tuesday an inquest was held at Porto-
bello, before APCARTHY, Esq., one of the Coro-
ners for the county of Dublin, on the body of WILLIAM
VINCENT BERRY, Esq., which had been found drowned
on the same morning, in the grand canal, near the above
place. JANE HILL, an aged female, of respectable ap-
pearance, identified the body to be that of WILLIAM VIN-
CENT BERRY. He was a Professor of languages, and a
native of France, and had been for some time past in ra-
ther a desponding state of mind. His lodgings were at
the house No. 86, Marlborough-street. Witness latterly
often heard him wish for death. He, on the preceding
day, observed how welcome death would be to him ; but
she did not hear him say he would drown himself. The
Jury, in the absence of further evidence as to the particu-
lars immediately connected with the circumstances of his
death, found the following verdict :—" That the said
WILLIAM VINCENT BERRY was found dead that morning
in the waters of the Grand Canal, without any marks of
violence on his person ; that it appeared that the deceased
had been in a desponding state for some time previously to
his death, but whether he had been accessory to his own
death by drowning himself, or had accidentally fallen in,
the Jury could not undertake to say." The de-
ceased, it appeared, was of a most respectable
French family, and had served, in the rank of Captain,
under NAroLlsorr. The fall, however, of the lat-
ter, was the occasion of a reverse of fortune to him.
Reduced to comparative indigence, he about ten years
since came to this country, where he married, and en-
deavoured to supply the means of support and indepen-
dence as a teacher. How he sncceeded in this profession
the circumstances attending his nntimely end (for he iv 49
but in his 42d year), furnishes a melancholy answer, The
deceased was remarkable for the amiable suavity of 1.1!
disposition. His manners were those of the perfect gen-
tleman and scholar. His person was handsome in a very
eminent degree, combining the most exact symmetry of
form, with features of highly classic beauty.—Dublin
. .
Morning Post.

LTTERATURE.

FLORENCE, OR THE ASPIRANT. 3 Vot.s.
_ LONDON. 1829.

This is a work differing altogethir from the
usual run of novels. It has little or no incident,
scarcely three strongly defined characters, and so
far as the style goes, is homely and unadorned.
The writer's chief object has been to inculcate
a series of religious and political truths, founded
on the tenets of Catholicism. With this view,
he has thrown aside the usual stimulants of
incident, description, and character, and come
at once to the great object of his tale—
dissertation we should rather call it—the
purity, the sacredness, the truth, and the supe-
riority of the Catholic faith. In enforcing these
favourite opinions, the author, who is manifestly
an enthusiast, displays infinite research, ingenuity,
and force of reasoning. It is singular with what
adroitness he conceals the weak, and puts for-
ward the strong, points of his argument, appealing
alike to the fancy, the fears, and even the frivolities
of his readers. The incidents of his tale are
slight, and may be summed up in a few 'words.
Florence, the only and favourite daughter of
Mrs. Saville, having a strong desire to attend a
Catholic church, prevails on her mother to take
her there one day, where she happens to hear a
Mr. D'Alembert, a Jesuit of great powers of
-mind, who delivers a discourse which makes a
great impression on her fancy. Circumstances,
unnecessary to be detailed, throw her soon after-
wards into the company of Mr. Asliburne, a
fellow minister with Mr. D'Alembert, through
whose united agency the process of conversion is
carried forward, and Florence, who is represented
as being naturally ardent, devout, and sus-
ceptible, is ultimately prevailed on to abjure
Protestantism and embrace the Catholic faith.
This is the sum of the tale ; the polemics of
which, however, are relieved in the first volume
by an episode, where Mrs. Saville details to
Mr. Ashburne the circumstances of her early
life. This episode is told with much spirit and
force of colouring, and convinces us that the
author, when his enthusiasm will allow him to
do so, can pourtray the passions with no
ordinary skill. Altogether the tale, to those
who are fond of seeing an abundance of
argumentative adroitness thrown away upon
a weak subject, is highly interesting and
instructive, but to the lovers of romance, inci-
dent, and variety, it will be, we fear, found de-
ficient.