Star.
London, England, 1831-05-27 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

REFORM DINNER.
I
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Frost our Estes Reporter.
The Duke of Glocester and the Princess Sophia villitad
On Tuesday there was a grand Dinner of Reformers at Halstead, in .
Essex, at which Mr. Wellesley presided; and yesterday the Fn.. their ?deject:a yesterday, at the Palace at St. James's.
holders of the Rochford Hundred were to give Mr. Wellesley and Mr. ' His Majesty gave andier yes yesterday to the Duke of
Western a grand Reform Banquet: it was expected that all the liberal Dsvonshite, Earl Grey, Lord Moll nd, and the Hanoverian 111,ni5t,...
members of Essex and its boroughs would attend. Viscount Combeimere had an audience yesterday of the
It is expected that a very large dinner and illumination will take Kirg, and presenled tv o standards, then at the capture of Bhurtpoor.
place in the course of next week at Colchester, to celebrate the first The Duke and Doich:.-s of Glucester nave a grand dimmer
complete conquest over the Tory party In the county of Essex, as
Lit evening, at Gls:tees!, v-house, to their Majesties, the Dtic::ess of
well as in the borough of Colchester, for upwards of a century. The
Kent, attended by the D.,clitsta of Northumberland, the Lanerevint
Tory party are trying to rally their strength against another
a Hesse Homb:T.', the Prioress A s the Duke of Cumberlenti,
election, and on the
will
of June they are to have a crated dinner at the
i„ and otlin Alembers of tee: Rovaluit.utintail'y ; the Duchess of Saxe.
Shire Hall, which will of course consist chief of CM gr"", who, -'" Weimar, st:d a seket party, to Mcct Jr it Majestic..
Essex, are almost all to a man enemies of reform.
It would seem, by the curious hint thrown out in the Rent and Eyes The Duchess of Kent and Prince Leopold honoured the
Jfercury, that the patriotic M.P. for Colchester was about to commence Perfotolou" of 11, ' Vrendl Play. (for the benefit of M. Laporte) or.
an action against the Church parson who spoke so disrespectfully of Wahl .i.de.? evening. v. ilb their present .
him at Mr. Wellesley's dinner. It was, indeed, a very foolish, weak, The Russian Ambassador and the Baron de Zuylen de
and ill-edvised thing, as all parties now allow, for a Clergyman of the • Nyevelt (on a 4).6'1 Ini.sioo loom th. 2 Kies of the Netherlands) hat:
Church of England to volunteer a speech, (at a dinner, too, to which int hies' yesterd,,y with E.A.I Grey, at the Treasury.
he was never incited, and in a society of unanimous friends, into 1 M. Moreno, the Minister from Buenos Ayres, gate a
which he obtruded himself.) against one of the most deservedly poptlisr grami dinner on Wancsisy to all the South Americans resident ht
members of a borough which had just gained a triumph over the anti. 1,,,,,.dat.,
,„„t a party 0;. peons, of distinction. in
e..i,hreitet. of the
es.
Reformers ; and though we trust Air. Harvey will have the good sense to air..,...,ey of the iodevendente of B. epos Ayres.
spare the Rev. Gent. the severe exposure and punishment, which he 1 Mr. Moyers, ngent for Be rbadoca, and Mr. Browne, agent
might inflict, on the grounds of generosity towards a fallen party, yet an interview yesterday with Viscount 6, deficit at the
we trust, at the same time that it will prove as a warn- 1 flrilt::o"itie,'„Ad.
ing to all future clerical Don Quixotes, not to meddle i' "
with windmills whose sails are filled by the breath of every I The II ttssian Ambassador and the Sardinian Minist.'r had
patriot in the country; and which, in spite of all that can be achieved I i!,tery '" s With Viscount Pain, .r-ton yesterday, at the office of the
toy antiquated ecclesiastical knight-errantry, will rind down the Isce,et.,Ty of Suite for Foreign Affors.
remains of bigotry to impalpable powder. The triumph of Philosophy The Marquis of Cleveland
presented an address to the
and of Reform Is complete; and we hope, therefore, that Philosophers King rat the Lvee or, Wednesday, from t:,: county of nl'ol3lll.
and Reformen will bear their victory with moderation, and turn away The Marquis of Lai,sdowie, the Chancellor of the Ex-
with contempt from, rather than meet with resentment, the last ex. el..quer. Sir Jam -• Or, ham, and •11.? Dolt: of Itic'tmond, had inter-
piring insults of an odious and exploded superstition. views y stenlay ski: Ear) Or:T. at the Teos.nry.

RELIEF OF THE FAMISH] NG PE.4SANTitY OF
IRELAND.

A meeting sou held on Wednesday, in Exeter Ilan, according to
the advertisements, to raise funds and provide fur their appliewion to
relieve the famine now raging in several districts in Ireland. The meet.
lag um numerously attended, and the Chair sou taktn by Lord
LORTON.
Mr. J. S. RITNOLDN secretary to the committee, read an address,
which exhibited the existence of a wide-spread and calamitous destines
Lion in several districts in Ireland, and tstablisbed the necessity Of
prompt and immediate measures of relief by numerous tureen I.MS
respectable correspondents, which furnished a body of evidence mast
painful and conclusive. The tint extract was from a letter of the Ali.
bishop of Tuam :
" Extraordinary distress, from the failure of the last pots.° crop,
exists at this moment all ong the coast of Cunnemara and Mkt'', and
the islands opposite to those coasts in Ennis, and won to the county of
Donegal; and at all times much distress prevails throughout this pro-
Isince of Connaught for the want of employment; but I think that the
very great and extraordinary distress is in most pans. if not altogether,
tontined to the districts which I have now mentioned."
The next is an extract from the letter of .1. Dombrain, Esq. I.
spector.General of the Coast Blockade for Ireland:
•• I have just returned from a visit to the coast of Donegal, mist
the sanction of the Lord Lieutenant, to ascertain the state of the port
In thew: remote parts, and it is with feelings of deep pain and regret I
communicate to you a catalogue of miseries, almost unexampled even
in this country.
" The first In order, and primary cause of all the rest, was an almost
complete failure of the potatoe crop; this was owing to incessant heavy
rains, and a succession of violent gales of wind, which commenced about
the first of August, and continued till November. Oats, from the same
muse, were not more than half a crop. Hay, the season for cutting
which in the mountains does not commence till October, not half a
crop; and the turf almost entirely destroyed: the consequences are, that
at this moment there are hundreds of human bangs neatly dying from
starvation ; many are living on sea-weed, and such shell-fish as they can
pseure : and should warm weather set in, I have little doubt but that
fever will follow, and carry off thousands.
" The snow remained an unusually long time on the ground, the fod-
der was soon exhausted, and the cattle are now dying by hundreds ;
use person, I know, lost the week before last twenty.five head of black
cattle s you may readily imagine that I feel convinced of this awful
visitation, when I tell you that I have sent 2001. worth of potatoes to
be retailed out at a price which will leave me a considerable loser."
A further testimony was found in a letter of the Rev. James Cram
ked, of Maghery Glebe. This letter proves, that even the cattle are
dyinigreberwant of sustenance.:—
fit certainly exists at present very great distress amongst the
aonsseous poor people of this extensive parish, which would be increased
so as alarming height during the ensuing summer months, should no
relief be afforded; but many thanks to you and our English friends for
your timely and liberal donation, which, together with what we expect
from others, will, it is hoped, in a great measure, relieve the calamities
with which we are threatened. The great failure of the potatoe clop
by blight for 2 successive years, and want of employment for the super.
abundant population, have been the proximate causes of the present dis-
tress. There has been also a great loss of cattle and sheep; there is, in con.
quenee, no marketable article that would afford the people means of
purchasing provisions at the present exorbitant prices. I beg to men-
tion acs instance, which will prove to demonstration the great want of
food. Two of my friends, extensive graziers, have during the past
month lost—one thirty-seven head of cattle, the other seventeen ; and
they died of disease; and in wretched poverty the country people used
the flesh for food." _

In corroboration of these proofs of the existence of the most melee-
choly suffering, the following communication was added from a gentle.
man at Sligo
" When I recollect that to-morrow is only the lat of April, I look
forward with horror to the state of this country in two or three mouths,'
judging from what I witnessed yesterday. The beach between 'nub.,
crone and Pulocherry was quite covered with women, picking the awl
moo black sea-weed off the rocks, which, I am told, they miry bone
to the mountains and boil for food, to eke out their few reload/1g pi.
Woe!. What is to become of them in June or July 1 know not. I
think, when the tide was out, there could not have been less than three
thousand persons employed as I have stated."
Another letter says—" The distress around is rapidly increasing. The
appearance of the people speaks loudly as to their internal sufferings,
although they do not utter a single word. The famine is very general
over the kingdom. I could tell you tales of suffering which would her.
row up your soul ; but, suffice it to say, the Noonan family that you
found so ill in the cellar in St. Giles's, were in comparative comfort to
many here. They are lying all Swelled from hunger as if ill of dropsy,
with their children all crying for hunger around them. Description and
hattitirtion fall far abort of the dreadful reality."
Rev. hir. BEAMISH was next called on by the noble Chairman,
Ind read a resolution,which he said had been entrusted to him to propose.
Capt. B. HARCOURT Called on those who wished to rescue their Ca.
tholic fellow-countrymen from error to come forward on the present
occasion, and prove to those people that their opposition to their reli.
gious tenets originated in love, not in hate.
The resolution was then put, and curled without dissent.
The Honourable and Reverend GENAID Nort. moved—" That,
although a portion of the fords collected in 1323 may have been miss
appropriated, this circumstance affords no ground for withholding Te.
lief, when the present distress is so decided and so appalling; while
the experience of the past must serve as a beacon to prevent the recur-
rence of similar errors."
Rev. Mr. ARMSTRONG said, he was speaking to Christians; and,
therefore, believing the Bible to be a fact, they must answer to the
appeal that he was about to make to them. Some persons might, per-
baps, say, that the poor Irish had nut much claim upon them—that
Irishmen had been guilty of crimes, conflagrations, and murders—and,
therefore, it was hopeless to expect to be able to do anything in their
behalf. What he wanted to see done was to have the landlords en-
couraged to live at home ; to have the British capitalist it duced to take
his capital into Ireland, and the introduction of such a state of feeling
into that country as should give stability to the measures of Govern
ment. Toe only war in which these three advantages were to be ac-
complished was by introducing a moral influence into the breasts of
Irishmen ; and the only way in which that influence could be intro-
duced was by the propagation of the Gospel. If the original sin was
the great curse on mankind, he could not but look on apostacy as a
greater curse; and he deemed the Roman Catholic religion to be the
great apostacy from the truth of 00D. (Bisset and cheers.)
Mr. DauIIWOND said, that it was far from him to deny the wrongs
which Ireland had suffered from England; it was far from him to
deny the injustice of the Church of Ireland, which received the money
of ..1* people without being able so much as to instruct them in
the% own language. It was also far from him to offer any apolor..; for
the errors of Popery. But when the Rev. gentleman spoke of moral
-influence, surely he must know that they could not enact laws to enforce
moral influence ; and what they bad that day to think of was remedy
for a tangible and very pressiag evil. (much applause.) But it might be
easily shown, that let every one subscribe his thousands, the
evil would still be a recurrent one: and it was, therefore, the duty of
the Government to take care of the poorer part of the population, the
rich being able to take care of themselves. He waist to say that it wits
the imperative duty of the Government to enact poor laws in Ireland;
and it was the duty of those who supplicated the Castle of Dublin, for
arms to protect them, to supplicate also for a law, by which every one
who was willing to work should have week found for him, se that
might be able to live. It was lamentable to hear of peseisiene being
exported from Ireland, when the people there were starving ; but Ibis
arose from their being sent out of the country to raise morass foe the
absentee Widow& who spent their peahen here.
The Noble Catalogue. in putting die resolutiesi, agreed will all
that had fallen hens Mr. Drummond. He, however, objected es the
term " Poor Laws." He would rashes that it abouldbe callodby some
(other name. At the some time week might to be found foe the poor

and It ought to be found on the estates of those that were rich, regula-
tions being adopted for the proper payment of the workmen.
A Gentleman then auempted to speak on the extreme left of the
platform ; but ti e Noble Chairman hastily put the motion, and de-
clared it to he ciaried in the affirmative. The gentleman then exclaimed
in a loud voice, •• Is this, or is this not a public meeting It seems
only so be a msneeuvre to raise money so pay the landlords' rents, and
the clergyman a tithes."
The Rev. Mr. DALTON Olen proceeded to move the third Resolution ;
and in so doing, proceeded in the strain that had been employed by
Mr. Blemish. Mr Noel, and Mr. Armstrong. He said that all the
evils were to be traced so the state of religion in Ireland ; and that
as long as the Catholic religion prevailed, he believed their souls to
in danger.
Sir JOHN Br iixr. M.l'.—My Lord, I rise to order.
The CEA NAN -I cannot hear you, Sir John Burke, till Mr.
Dalton has ftnl•hed.

The Nlarquess of CLANRICANDE pmtetited in the warmrst way against
this dtctsion. Sir John Burke, enncrit in; that the Speaker was stating
that which was irrelevant, had risen to urthr, and be had a right to be
heard

The uproar here being excessive, almost ever) person on the plat-
form sear standing up, and the Chairman, S:r Jahn Burke, Jr. Grady,
and a person imme:liately below the platform, w.r., all speaking at
Of CC.

Sir RICHARD O'DONNELL was sorry to tee that some gentlemen
had come there under the garb rf religion, for the purpose of sowing
the seeds of discord, when the only question before the meeting was
that of charity. He was sorry for this attack, because both English
Catholics and Irish Catholics hart most liberally come forward. He
was an Irishman and an Irish landlord, and he could not but feel
Indignant at the insult that had been offered to the religion of his
country. They must he aware that Ireland was a Catho.
lie country, and that its people were all Catholic, ; and he
could not see what ri, ht clergymen had to come forward under
the garb of religion, and assert things which were utterly un•rue -
- lie wished to (know what religion had to do with political eco-
nomy? Nothing at all! The primary cause of the pr.stnt suffering
of Ireland was, that she had no where to look back to in the event of a
•hurt crop The Rev. Gentleman hal ex tiled the e''a•ity of the Arch-
Lishop of Tuam : and it was Tiny true that that Prelate had distin.
gtfahtd himself in the cause; but the Rev. Gentleman had quite for-
gotten that there were several Roman Catholics who had done still more
tlt in the Archbishop of Tuam. Ile had forgotten to state that Mrs.
Palmr had giveb 4,000 L; he had forgotten to state that the Marquess
of Sligo had given 1,500 i. (Chetrs.)
The Rev. Mr. DALTON agreed with hi. ll;!verentl Brother in regret.
tit g the state of religi n in Ireland, yet he by no means thought that
it was the sole cause of the misery of that eoun ry. He thought that
one of the chief grounds of duty on which they wt re met that eau wet,
the retribution which England wrel to Ireland. Most of the evils
'Fillet afflict the ►inter nation had b e^ imp •rted there from Eng! md.
This e untry bad sent to the Irish people latiellerds who dhoti. d tht)
of their subsistence ; and Cnlgymen ut all denominations, who have
not taught, and who do not teach them. England was, undoubtedly,
the cause of that dearth of the Word of God, which was worse than any
dearth of the bread of this life, and which (it was the simple fact) pre-
vailed there.

A GENTLEMAN. in a distant part of the It4ll, said (as we under-
stood him) that ice was a Protestant clergyman, as anxious for the
Scriptures as any man, hut that he had come there that day to aid the
sufferiug Irish, and he thought a controversial dissertation inappro-
priate and unwise. [Applause, blues, and cries of order, and chair,
were continued for a bog time, and produezd such a clamour as we
never heard in a respectable assembly.)
Mr. Norf. called Mr. Dalton to order. lie thought that the object
of the meeting had been kin si bt t.f. In the spirit of Christian can-
dour he rose to say, that had the present been a Reformation Meeting,
or ore in which Roman Catholics had been invited to a controversy, he
would go all the wity with Mr. Dalton. But as their avowed object
then was to alleviate the existing distress of Ireland, he thought it was
a trespass oo gond manners and on Christian charity, when Mr. Arm.
strong laid before the fleeting his czpo.e of the Catholic errors and
abuses (great applause, and some disapprobation.)
A long and tumultuous interruption was here occasioned by the
endeavour of Mr. Xmas I'Donnell and others to obtain a hearing.
At length
Mr. bPDottx ELL was allowed to say, that as a householder of It:
west end of the metropolis, he had been induced to come to the meet-
ing by seeing the invitation given in the name of Lord Lorton, and he
was sure that noble lord would not have given his sanction to the in% i.
tatlon, had he known that he (Mr. M Dounell), and other Roman Cs.
tholics, should have heard the insults which had that day been %Mewl
against them and their religion.
Mr. Cuanair made teveral attempts to speak, amidst ludescribabl!
confusion.
The CMAMIMAN then pitt a resolution of thanks to the Gentlemen
who had already subscribed ; and to the Record newspaper, for its ex-
ertions in aid of the Irish.
Mr. Cumuli opposed the resolution [immense uproar). He yr.
slated in attempting to speak, amidst unparalleled confusicn, his es,
cheers, laughter, and vehement erica of " Send for a Policem: a."

The honours of Knighthood was conferred on several un-
tlemen at the last Levee, which was not noticed in the
circular of the Court Newsman. Among these gentlemen,
was Dr. Beaty, physician to the immortal Nelson.

The United Kingdom, one of the largest of our Sunday
Papers, so called, is worthy of its object in its own une-
qualled dimensions. Every page contains seven columns,
and is 24i inches long by 19i wide, containing 480 snare
inches per page. The four pages contain, therefore, 1,920
square inches, and every square inch, on the average 32
words ! Hence this surprising sheet contains abets 60,000
words, sold for 7d, or 2,150 words for every farthing. Such
are the wonders of the modern Newspaper Press. The enlarged
STAR will, on Monday next, consist of 50,000 words, it-
self a phenomenon, when it is considered that its daily
contents are chiefly original ; and though the STAR will
then be about the largest of the London Evening Papen,
yet the power of the least of our brethren, of circulating
about 40,000 words per day, at so trifling a cost, is one of
the greatest wonders yet achieved by the social ingenuity of

We have visited Mr. Hancock's caoutchouc manufactory
near Walham-green, and find that it confirms Mr. Farraday's
report. Being able to cast any lengths ou mandrils, they
dry as tubes without seams ; and being impervious to air and
water, they form the most perfect flexible pipes for brewers'
hose, for acoustic tubes, and various ether pirposes. A slight
coating, or varnish, too, renders every substance waterproof,
and prepares canvas for tents, awnings, &c. at an easy cost.
Flannel and cloth thus becomes superior even 'o leatliar for
shoes, and felt for hats, perfectly water-proof; while it is
light, free from smell, arid imperishable. The car.ut 'lme
hose in Barclay's brewhouse save 1,0001. in wast and
leakage.

There are two vulgar errors which cannot be too often
expo.cd fur their green ab•urdity—one that the moon his
any other connection with the changes of the tveattla r than
the rotation of the hour-hand of the clock. The moon
changes 52 tines in the year, and the weather 100 tints;
hem e frequent coincidences are unavoidable, but not its cause
end effect. The other error, still more gross, is the supposed
connection of comets either with diseases, or any terrestrial
concern whatever. The idea originated in the darkest ages.
but our better knowledge of the nature and distance of
comets, and their mere optical tails. destroys every phantom
of ignorance on the subject. If diseases coincide with co-
mets, it is because we often have epidemics, and often
comets ; but if a list of the two or three comets were made
out that become risible every year, it would be found that
there is no general coincidence of diseases. Indeed, the idea
is trost absurd, and the perseverance with which both errors
are constantly repeated, is only another of many proofs
of the diti:culty of unlearning.
The rule for a criminal information has been made Ono-
hite against Messrs. Wakley and King, for alleged disturb-
ances at the College of Surgeons, and for subsequent chter-
vations in The Lancet. The dispute grew out of the
exclusion of naval surgeons from the Levee, and it w emi
more easy to account for tl e excitement of the profeetion
than for the order itself, or the 'apparent indifference of Cm
heads of the plofessiou. Generally speaking, all close cor-
porations do what they ought not to do, and do not do what
they ought to. do. Whether a corporation of enlightened
surgeons is an exception is the teal point at issue—though
other points have frrOwu out of it ; but the public will revert
to the questicn, whether in slay case a close corporation is
.qualified to act with becoming wisdom ?