The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-03 00:00:00

DALKEITH PALACE.

Dalkeith Palace, the seat of his Grace the Duke of
Buccleuch, stands on a knoll, overlooking the con-
fluence of the north and south branches of the river
Esk, six miles south of Edinburgh. It was built
about the beginning of the last century by Anne,
Duchess of Buccleuch, widow of the unfortunate
James, Duke of Monmouth, natural son of Char)es
11. The approach to it, as well as the banks of the
river, are adorned with plantations. The Great Court
between the Palace and the park is very spacious,
and from the gate of the Court there is an avenue
through the park, directly south, of a mile long ; and,
round the Palace a terrace, which on the north,
where the front of the Palace is 120 feet wide, over-
looks a precipice to the river as at Windsor. On the
east side is a natural amphitheatre, at the bottom
of which Is a flower-garden, and round the side
evergreen slopes.
The estate of Dalkeith has been held by the Buc-
clench family, ever since the year 1642. The park,
which abounds in woods, particularly ancient oaks,
consists of about 800 Scotch acres, and is surrounded
by a high wall. The rivers North and South Esk
run through the Park, and unite.their streams about
half a mile below the house. His late Majesty
George IV. took up his residence at Dalkeith palace
on his visit to Scotland.

The entrance to the palace, which her Majesty is
now honouring with her visitation, is by a hall paved
with stone, to the left of which is the great staircase,
supported by pillars of marble. Every step is cu-
riously inlaid with walnut-tree wood. At the top of
the staircase is a noble room, 40 feet long, and 30 high
and broad. There is also a great room to the north
of the hall. The walls of most of the rooms are
adorned with many very valuable family portraits.
The offices join the town of Dalkeith, which contains
about 6,000 inhabitants..

The noble family of Scott, of which his present
Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, is the lineal descend-
ant, is not only ancient, but has ever been of great
importance on the borders.
The first of the family ennobled was under the reignof James 111., and who assumed the title of " Domi-
nus de Buccleuch." Sir Walter Scott, of Branxholm
and Buccleuch, 1492, was a brave and powerful ba-
ron, and Warden of the West Marches of Scotland.
This Sir Walter is celebrated by historians for great
deeds of valour and magnanimity, during the minority
of James V., for an abortive attempt to rescue that
monarch from the control of the Earl of Angus, on
which Sir Walter Scott has founded " The Lay of
the Last Minstrel." Another ancestor of this name,
in the reign of James VI., and from whose hands he
received the honour of knighthood, was no way infe-
rior to the bravest of his predecessors in courage and
intrepidity.
Having carried on a predatory warfare against the
English, and boldly rescued one of his attendants, Kin-
mont Will, from the Castle of Carlisle, he was deli-
vered up as a hostage upon an adjustment of the feuds
between the English and the Scots. During his so-
journ in England, family tradition states that he was
brought into the presence of Queen Elizabeth, who
demanded, in her usual arbitrary manner, how he dared
to engage in deeds so desperate and presumptuous ?
" What is it," said the undaunted chieftain, " what is
that a man dares not do ?" Elizabeth struck with this
reply, said to a lord in waiting, " With ten thousand
such men, our brother of Scotland might shake the
firmest throne in Europe."

DEATH OF DR. IRELAND, DEAN
OF WESTMINSTER.
It is our painful duty this day to announce the
decease of Dr. Ireland, Dean of Westminster. This
melancholy event took place at the residence of the
venerable dignitary in the Cloisters of Westminster
Abbey, shortly before eight o'clock yesterday morning.
The late Dean has been an invalid for the last
four years, but his illness was not of a severe nature;
it did not prevent him taking daily exercise, until
within the last few days. On Wednesday afternoon,
however, about four o'clock, Dr. Ireland was seized
with rather violent pains. He was imthediately con-
veyed to his bed, from which he never again rose.
The late venerable Dean, who was much respected
and beloved by all who had the pleasure of his ac-
quaintance, had nearly completed his 81st year, having
been born on the Bth of September, 1761.

MAJOR-GEN. PASLEY'S OPERA-
TIONS AT SPITHEAD.

ENTIRE REMOVAL OF THE WRECK OF
TRACY'S LIGHTER, SUNK IN 1783.
The operations against the wreck of the Royal
George have been (tarried on this season with greater
activity than in any former year, but have attracted
less notice, in consequence of those great explosions
which excited so much public interest and curiosity,
and attracted thousands of spectators, having become
unnecessary in the present state of the wreck, the re-
mains of which are now buried in a shoal of mud only
a few feet higher than the adjacent anchorage, so that
Major-General Pasley has directed that no charges
exceeding 2001 b. of powder shall be used. On the
4th of May Lieut. Hutchinson, the able and zealous
officer who was employed the whole of last year as
the executive engineer at Spithead, set out from
Chatham at half-past four o'clock in the morning
with a detachment of Royal Sappers and Miners, and
all the necessary stores, and the whole were
embarked on board the Success frigate hulk at
Spithead the same evening, having gone from Chat-
ham to Gravesend by Edwards's vans, thence to
London-bridge, and afterwards to Vauxhall by steam-
boats, and thence to Gosport by the South Western
Railway. Such are the modern facilities of travel-'
ling; but only a few yeqrs ago a detachment of sol •
diers could not have made the same journey without
a harassing march of nearly a week, involving much
greater expense to the Government. On the sth of
May the pensioners who had been employed last year
were engaged, but a gale of wind prevented the
operations being commenced before the 7th of that
month, When only four divers were employed, which
number was increased to five on the 13th of May,
and to six on the 3d of June, and the same number
has constantly been employed since. All the divers
are soldiers, either of the Royal or of the East India
Company's Sappers and Miners, the former being
generally the same who worked last year, the latter
volunteers, who, by approbation of the Court of
Directors, will take out that important art to India,
as well as the use of the voltaic battery for sub-
marine explosions in its most improved application ;
and in the meantime they are very useful at Spit..
head, which, from the depth of water, the strength
of the tides, and the present state of the wreck,
covered with stiff mud, and embarrassed by iron and
shingle ballast, staves of casks, firewood, &c., affords
the best school of instruction in helmet diving that
could have been found. It was the intention of
Major-General Pasley to have employed six or seven
divers from the first, but the stores of last year having
been found in bad order, especially the air-pipes, he
was obliged to wait till new were supplied, and there-
fore the wreck of the small vessel sunk about 50
fathoms south of the Royal George was not attacked
until the Ist of June, when he directed that Corporal
Harris should take charge of the removal of it. The
Corporal had previously cone down to examine it, and
reported that it was about 60 feet in length, and that
the timbers could be traced all round, rising five or
six feet above a small shoal on which it was partially
imbedded, the upper part of the timber being worm-
eaten and decayed, This report, was verified by
Lieutenant Hutchinson himself, who went down to
the same spot. It was soon found that there was not
room for a second diver to work conveniently in the
removal of this little wreck, so that Corporal Harris
was exclusively employed about it.
Not being able at first to ascertain the name of this
little vessel, it was called the Perdita, but afterwards
its history was discovered by consulting the letter-
books in the Master-Attendant's office in Portsmouth
dockyard, and it proved to be a mooring lighter, em-
ployed by Mr. Tracy, in 1703, in his unsuccessful
attempt to weigh the Royal George, and was sunk in
that operation. The then Master-Attendants of
Portsmouth dockyard, who evinced throughout a dis-
position ordered, reported to
assist him,
pasut
thobeystawcleersedinthMer2.
01:rhacoyf'sAwra.yi,
theth a than
N aov y
Board, by letter date.
fla7ilBe4d,
;thaant
dthtehyathathdoutrgihedittowwaisngpeliethti_si lighter, but
to recover her bye mplon
wo roeuredaenny. aPn d vesse
in a second attempt,
for the cordage that would be expended in the opera-
tion.ot even pay
her value
re-
moved fifty-nine years after she sank_,_ C3f_t f.l
She was therefore left at the bottool, be
rat
of her
of the Royal Sappers and Miners. N
butp not withoutg
s
keel, having been successively got up:
now left, the flooretimbers, kelson, olpaanrkin , and
expending about 7501 h, of
powder, In charges Active
from time to time by the same iotuiligt3;# . flfte,
ofthelaced
diver, of which the largest was 1801 b.—no
others exee.e4ed 70Ib.
feet, or 61loads The demolition and removal of the wreck of the
Royal George has been going on withp zeal and ac-
re l o
five, and now sl,lc
ac-
tivity, never fewer than four ord.
divers, being constantly
June, 3,066 4,43 employe of° nthe 20th of
timber, had
rat the latter
of iron ballast, from the Royal of these
been removed from the
' weighing, at 3 cwt, each, 32 tons two wrecks, besides 219 pigs
0 the 30th
sent up
19 pigs, or nearly 3 tons,
sale
ln
Lance-Corporal Jones, one.nof
oiwt best divers,
or
of June, the quantity of timber stacked r