The Sun.
London, England, 1842-11-17 00:00:00

GIBRALTAR.

OCT,. 12.—A general meeting of the inhabitants of
this town was held on Monday, at the public-room of
the Exchange, for the purpose of taking into conside-
ration the propriety of presenting an Address to Sir
Alexander Woodford, on occasion of his Excellency's
retirement from the government of Gibraltar.
Mr. Marcus Hill Bland having been requested to
take the chair, the following resolutions were pro-
posed by Mr. Charles Glynn, and seconded by Mr.
Glasgow, and unanimously agreed to by the meeting:
Resolved,—lst. That a valedictory Address be pre-
sented, on the part of this meeting, to Sir Alexander
Woodford, on his Excellency's approaching and much-
regretted departure from Gibraltar.
2d. That a suitable piece of plate be provided by
public subscription for the purpose of being offered to
his Excellency's, acceptance, in testimony of the gra-
titude and respect entertained towards his Excellency
by the civil population of Gibraltar.
Thirteen gentlemen were elected by ballot to act
as a Committee for carrying the above resolutions
into effect.

The proposed address was then read and unani-
mously adopted, and the Chairman was authorised to
sign the same on behalf of the meeting.
OcT.lB.—Yesterday a numerous deputation of the
inhabitants of this city waited upon his Excellency
the Governor, for the purpose of presenting the ad-
dress agreed to at the general meeting on the 10th inst..
OCT. 24.—0 n Saturday, at noon, the Governbr,
Lieut.-General Sir Alexander Woodford, attended by
the commanding and other officers of the Royal
gineers and Royal Artillery, laid the foundation stone
of the extensive new work, which his Excellency named
" Prince Albert's Bastion ;" under a Royal salute from
the 'batteries. The band of terw•ards played " God
save the Queen," and "Rule Britannia."

LIT ERA TURE.

SCENERY and ANTIQUITIES of IRELAND.

Virtue, London, 1842.

This cleverly illustrated work has now reached
its Eighteenth Part, and exhibits not the slightest
falling off, whether in the number or quality of
its embellishments. We have here not iC6B than
four of them, of which tl►e most striking is the
wild, .romantic sketch entitled " A Pattern in
Connemara."

CANADIAN SCENERY Virtue, London, 1842.
The present Part, which'is the Twenty-ninth,
contains several interesting illustrations of the
peculiarities of Canadian scenery; and among
them- is a sketch—" The First Settlement"—
which represents a party of settlers just com-
mencing their log-hut in the depths of an im-
mense forest, some of whose stateliest trees are
falling under the vigorous blow of the axe. In
the foreground are seen a father and his chil-
dren standing near a gypsy sort of fire, gazing
complacently on a fine deer, which the former
has just brought down with his rifle, of course
for the day's meal. This picture realises one of
Galt's best and most truthful descriptions in
" Lawrie Todd." The letter-press portion of the
work is mere dull, irytnimate common-place.

NOTES OF A TOUR IN THE MANUFAC-
TcRIA:q DISTRICTS. Duncan, London, 1842.

The spirit displayed throughout these "Notes"
is a temperate, and—so far as we can form a
judgment—an impartial one. The author, Dr.
Taylor, had no previous impressions or preju-
dices to confirm or get rid of; so viewed matters
with a cool, dispassionate eye. The result of
his observations is, on the whole, favourable to
the manufacturing system ; and of the factories,
he says, that they are certainly not evil in them-
selves, but may be so ill conducted as to produce
much evil. In the course of his work, the Doctor
bears the following testimony to the efficient ser-
vices of the Anti-Corn-law League. He is al-
hiding, we. should premise, to. the period of the
riots, some two or three months since:
" I am as persuaded, as I am of my own
existence, that the Anti-Corn-law League
at this moment alone preserVes•the public peace.
in the north of England'. Wtre its members to
suspend their Operations, or disSolVe their bddy,
declaring ' we have done all'that we 'Could do,.
and we must now abandon -our effortS in sheer
despair,' there would instantly be a break up of
the body politic, society would resolve itselfintO
its original elements, and no' rriaii• could predict
the consequences." We suspect 'there is some
'little heightening of colour here, for we cannot
possibly imagine, even at the critical period of
the riots, to which Dr. Taylor refers, the body
politic breaking up, like polar ice, with a crashOf,
thunder, and society resolving itself into "its
original elements "—that is to say, into the state
in which it exists among the Ashantees or Hot-
tentots—merely because the Anti Corn-law
League may choose to dissolve their Association!.
That the dissolution of such a body would be at-
tended with injurious effects, we are quite wil-
ling to admit; but the social system is not so
easily shattered—does not so readily revert to
the patriarchal condition, when our savage an- •
cestors were tattooed like New Zealanders,
wore painted hides, lived in caves, and browsed
on thistles! Society, like a cat, takes a deal of
killing, and it, is not the disruption of one, or
even of a dozen-, Anti-Corn-law Leagues, that
would occasion its overthrow-