The Sun.
London, England, 1827-10-04 00:00:00

3.-SCOTLAND.

Four witnesses were examined before the Com-
mittee of 1826 on the state of Scotland. Eleven
have been 'examined before the present Committee ;
of these, four were Members of the House, and five
delegates especially appointed by Emigration So-
cieties in Scotland to give evidence to your Com-
mittee.

From this evidence, the case of Scotland appears
to be that which presents the greatest difficulty.—
Where the evils of a superabundant population are
found to exist, they are not in general under those
circumstances to which emigration could be applied
as a permanent and effectual remedy; and your Corn-.
mittee would beg to remind the House, that they are
not prepared to offer any recommendation in favour
of emigration, sinless such collateral measures can be
taken as would prevent the recurrence of the evils
complained of. In point of fact, there has not been
laid before your Committee any evidence which tends
to show general or extensive distress from over-popu-
lation in the agricultural districts of Scotland. In
some of the islands, indeed, upon the western coast,
it does appear that a case exists in some degree, but
upon a smaller scale, corresponding with that of Ire-
land : and there is no doubt that very valuable set-
tlers might be furnished,from those parts with advan-
tage to the islands and colonies.
The system has indeed been carried , into erect,
and, it is stated, with advantage to some proprietors.
Upon this head, your Committee would refer to the
evidence given by Mr. Alexander Hunter. But by
far the strongest case of distress appears in the state
of the manufacturing districts—in that class; whose
places, from the greater fluctuations in trade than in
agriculture, would be the most certainly and speedily
filled up. Under this impression, it appearsfrom the
concurrent testimony of all the witnesses examined,
that a general disinclination would be felt in those
districts to advance any sum for facilitating emigra-
tion ; and the numerous applicants who hare, by their
delegates, been before your Committee, are in a state
which utterly precludes any pecuniary exertion on
their part.
The universal opinion expressed also is, that even
in those districts where the population is, strictly
speaking, redundant, the redundancy is chiefly, if not
entirely, owing to the formidable influx and compe•
tition of Irish labourers, who seem already to have

in a great measure effected in the manufacturing dis-
tricts of •Scotland those alarming changes in the
condition of the lower classes, which have been
already pointed out, under the head of Ireland, as
calculated to excite such serious apprehensions with
regard to England.
Your Committee feel themselves called upon to
add, however, that those evils have been much in-
creased by the" uncertain and hazardous state of the
law, (as expressed by one of the witnesses, a member
of your Idouse) with regard to the liability of real and
.personal property to a rate for the maintenance of
the poor, as also by the doubt who are to he con-
sidered " the poor," and by the absence of all law
of removal. On the whole, your Committee are
of opinion, that although the Scotch emigrants are
in most instances very valuable' settlers,* and
although there is a strong disposition among the
people, to emigrate, yet, as a nation it measure, more
effectual relief may be afforded by a reconsideration
of the laws above alluded to, and by the diversion
elsewhere of the influx of Irish paupers, than by any
system of emgration which might be applied to the
removal of the Scotch population.
* It appeared in evidence that many of the hand loom
weavers were accustomed to agricultural occupations.

(TO BE CONTINUED.)

LIVERPOOL MUSICAL FESTIVAL.

On Monday morning Divine Service was cele-
brated in St. Michael's Church, Pitt-street. The
morning
was delightfully fine. The congregation
began to assemble before nine o'clock, although the
Service was net to be commenced until eleven.
The Service commenced with Orlando Gibbon's
anthem, " Hosannah to the Son of David," which
was sung by the principal vocal performers engaged
for the festival, assisted by a strong band of chorus
singers. Sir George Smart presided at the organ.
The prayers and lessons were read, in a most impres-
sive manner, by the Rev. A. Dawson, 8.D., the
Senior Minister of the Church. The " Venite" and
the Psalms for the day were chaunted; and the " Te
Deum" and " Jubilate" were very well sung, as set
to music by C. King. After the collects, Kent's
beautiful anthem, " Hear my prayer," was sung;
the duet by Miss Stephens and Mrs. W. Knyvett.
The solo, " Take heed unto me," was given by Miss
Stephens, with all the pathos and feeling for which
she is so justly celebrated, and was listened to with
marked attention, .as was also the recitative, " My
heart is disquieted," which was sung by Mrs. W.
Knyvett : the chorus was very effectively performed.
After the prayers *ere concluded, an anthem of
Greene's was sung. The duets, " Thou, 0 God,
art praised in Sion," and " Thou shalt show us
wonderful things," &c. were sung by Mr. Braham
and Mr. Terrail. The latter gentleman gave the
solo, " Blessed is the man," &c., in excellent style.
At the conclusion of the sermon, Mr. Vaughan
and Mr. Phillips sung Dr. Boyce's exquisite duet,
" Here shall soft charity repair," with great taste
and feeling. When the congregation were retiring
from the Church, Sir George Smart, performed
a voluntary, and admirably displayed the brilliant
tones of the organ.
The collection amounted to 4961., which included
a donation of 1501. from their Graces the Duke and
Duchess of St. Albans.

ATTEMPT AT iVIuRnER.—At a late hour
on Saturday night, two men, Thomas Brennan and
Thomas Ryan, went into an eating-house in Grafton-
lane, which is kept by a man named Grannan. They called
for a quart of porter, which was given them. When that
wai'drunk they called for another quart. In the interim
they went to the window, and were for some time looking
out, when, on a sudden, Ryan asked Brennan if a person
fell out of the window, whether, in his opinion, he would
be killed ? To this strange query Brennan having replied
in the affirmative, the other thought to heave him out, as
if to try, by the standard of fact, the truth of his con-
jecture. The assassin having been foiled in this horrible
attempt, was nevertheless resolved on the work of destruc-
tion. He accordingly pulled out a razor, and plunged it
into the belly of his victim, thus inflicting a dreadful, and,
it is feared, a mortal wound. The poor sufferer was in-
stantly removed to Mercer's Hospital, and the inhuman
offender is remanded for further examination. He now
pretends to be insane. Before he made any attempt, he
said to Brennan—" Two or three of you have been plotting
my destruction, but now I have you in iny power."—
Freeman's Journal.

A GLIMPSE OF PERU.

Extract of a letter from a native of this neigh-
botirlidoa in Peru, to hih friend in Edinburgh :

" Arica, Lower Perii Sept. 4, 1626.
" The climate of this place is. of the triost
beautiful kind: From its Proximity to the
Equator there is little or no difference in the
length of the day and night through the year ;
the sun always rises about six, and sets within
half an hour of the same time in the afternoon.

In the evening, a little before sunset, a little dew
Begins to fall, and this continues till about sun-
rise, but is hardly sufficient to give a tinge of
dampness to the sand. By eight in the morning
the solar beams have dried up the vapours of
the night, and, except that the surrounding
mountains strive for maptery with the clouds by
which they are envelop&l, and exhibit appear-,
ances which only the Sierras and the atmosphere
Of South America can produce, the climate at
this hour bears a strong resemblance to the fine
mornings of June at home.. By eleven o'clock
it gets pretty warm ; but regularly at this hour a
fine fresh breeze sets in fi om the south, and comes
over the mighty Pacific tempered with the cool-
ness of its waters. This continues always until the
heat of the day is past, and by four in the after-
noon all is calm and temperate ; so that if you
wish to form an estimate of the climate here you
may just fancy a continual repetition of the finest
days in the end of an English June. In the
midsummer months of December, January,
and February, it must, of course, be a good
deal warmer ; but the peculiarities of the face
of the country—the everlasting snow which
covers the Cordilleras of the Andes—and the
proximity of the great Southern Ocean, will al-
ways secure Lower Peru from the burning heats
of the parallel latitudes in Asia and Africa.
With a climate like this, Britain would be a
Paradise ; but, wanting water, Peru is a bleak
and melancholy desert. Perhaps the greatest
privation which the traveller experiences in a dis-
tant country, next to the want of the society of
his friends is the want of information on matters
which at home form the chief topics of conver-
sation ; for one must have acquired, by a resi-
dence of some length among a strange people, a
mode of thinking differently from what he has
been accustomed to, before he can take any in-
terest in the events which constitute the news of
the country. Of what consequence, for instance,
can it be for me to hear debates, for a whole
evening, about the propriety of extending the
laws of Peru to the kingdom of the Chiquito
Indians ; about the elegibility of having a dance
in the plaza on the feast. day of San Mateus ;'
or of the immodesty of Senorita Maria in adopt-
ing the European practice of sitting on a chair,
while all the black-eyed beauties of Peru think it
far more becoming tulace their
,posteriors on
a stage resembling a tailor's shop-board. Yet
subjects of this sort must be put up with, the
custom of the-country is a despotism, against
which it is vain for any individual to strive ; and
there is but one alternative—take the benefit of
society, such as it is, upon its own terms, or shut
yourself entirely from it ; prudence and common
sense will not hesitate which to choose.
" I heard much before I sailed, and on the
passage, about the treachery and revengeful cha-
racter of the natives of the country ; and I con-
fess, when I first came on shore, I did not al-
together feel at case among them. For the first
fortnight I always carried my pistols ; and before
we went to bed, a regular warlike scene of pre-
paration invariably took place ; so that we were
like soldiers who had got orders to be ready for
a surprise upon a moment's notice. But a few
days convinced us of the needlessness of our pre-
cautions. The kindness and affability we every
where met with—the desire to _ serve and oblige

us which every one evinced—the entertainments
that were given to welcome us among them, soon
convinced us of-the injustice of our preposses-
sions, and disarmed us of the unjust jealousy we
had previously entertained. I can now feel my-
self as secure in Arica, as I would in Edinburgh,
and am conscious that every day I meet with more
genuine kindness than any foreigner, with' no
higher pretensions, would receive in .Scotland.
" The institutions of civil government, in in-
fant states like this, take some time before they
can have any influence 'upon the happiness or se-
curity of the people ; and hence the republics of
South America are now, and will for a long time
continue to be disturbed by commotions, fo-
mented by general ignorance, or the ambition of
some particular influential individual. There is
no protection for person or property beyond
what might and main strength affOrds. When a
person gets indebted to you, and does not choose
to pay, there is but one resource, seize what you
can belonging to him. Should a murder, indeed
take place, or any serious personal injury be done,
recourse may be had to the Alcalde or Magis-
trate, a decent old man, who has the power of life
and death vested in him, and who does not trouble
himself with any judicial forms in the inquiry he
institutes : if he thinks the criminal guilty, he
orders him down to the beach, and he is imme-
diately shot. Sometimes he puts a person in
the guarda,' or prison, upon a simple com-
plaint ; upon the grounds, 1 suppose, that if he
is not guilty now, he may soon be. One of the
seamen of the Potosi, who used some mutinous
language to one of the officers, was sent on
shore, and put in jail, where he remained as long
as that place was the residence of the Colombian
soldiers who were here ; but a despatch came
from Arequipa for them one morning, and they
set off; leaving Smith, the seaman, in possession
of the keys ; he came 'out, of course, and walked
about the streets for several days, with the keys
iu his hand, apparently considering himself ac-
countable for them, as he repeatedly offered them
to Spaniards whom he met, but they neither un-
derstood his language, nor were willing to take
his charge ; and Smith continued for a fortnight
to make the prison his lodgings at night, till he,
at last, got a ship, and went off, keys and all,
having first locked the door. When Bolivar
wants soldiers, he sends down and surrounds the
church during service, and when the congrega-
tion is dismissed, a most lamentable scene takes
place :—all the young men whom the officer
fixes upon are picked out, and hurried away to
Taena, to be examined and clothed, amid the
most woeful lamentations of wives, and mothers,
and sisters.—This has taken place once since our
arrival. I mention these things to show you that
on some occasions, Old England for ever,' is a
very national exclamation.
4' We have had several earthquakes lately ;
indeed a week rarely passes without one, but
they never do much injury. If a house or two
fall, the people are generally all in the open air
before
.it takes place, and their continual fears
makes them much more acute in discovering the
first symptoms of 'a shock than a stranger can be.
In the interior of the desert shocks are felt, and
hills displaced almost every day. You in Eng-
land know better what is likely to be the result
of our mining speculations than we can do here ;
for my own part, since I have seep the country?

I would as soon think of lifting Arthur's Seat in
the car of a balloon, as taking the cargo of the
Potosissix hundred miles over almost inaccessi-
ble mountains—but money is all powerful. We
have had twelve hundred mules to begin with,
waiting at the nearest pasturage these some
months ; and if a hundred or two thousand
pounds could be raised by bills on England, I
have little doubt but the greater part of the cargo
could be got across. The late distresses in Eng-
land, however, has created an universal panic,
and no one will be easily brought to advance on
drafts at any premium.—Edinburgh Observer.