Star.
London, England, 1830-12-15 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE JOURNAL&

Tints.—The accounts of the Polish insurrection in the official Ga.
:ette ut' Berlin confirm, without any important additions, our previous
inforn:ation. The state of Warsaw on the Ist inst. would appear to
have been extraordinary and unprecedented. The Polish Troops of the
Emperor and King had overpowered at.d expelled Isis Russian troops,
while they still pretended to preserve their allegiance to their common
Sovereign,—the Polish Provisional Government, which had been
established under the name of a New Council of Administration,
had deposed the authorities of the Emperor in the Emperor's name,
and the citizens were called to form themselves into civic guards to ward
Erlanger, while nothing menaced them but military violence from those
itu.s!anit whom their government called their fellow-subjects. Nicholas
I. King of l'oland, is thus at war with Nicholas 1. Emperor of Russia.
The subjects of the King of Poland expel the brother of the Emperor,
And kill him generals, without committing any act of revolt against his
Puliali majesty. His Polish majesty's authority turned against himself,
as the troops of King Charles 1. were conquered by the parliamentary
force in the king's name ! This equivocal Stale of matters must soon
The provisional government has made no declaration of
independence, but it cannot long resist the Emperor in the Emperor's
hum. The first despatches from St. l'ettreburgh must inform the
Poles whether they are rebels or good subjects,-- whether they or the
Russians are to he masters in Warsaw,- whether the Grand Duke Con.
•I.4ntine, or one of the Provisional Government, is to be Viceroy,—
,ind whether they are to gain their independence without fighting ; or,
in order to regain their char..cter of a nation, must undergo the baptism
:Jr lire. They moat well have considered their own influence and the feel-
.igs of their countrymen, before they staked their heads on thisenterprise.
they ought to act with promptitude, as they can gain nothing from
leslay, and with vigorous opposition, as they can expect little from sub-
They have enraged the Court of St. Petetsburgh, as much by
mrtrpowering the Russian troops, and calling out the civic guards, after
the manner of the Belgians, as they can do by boldly proclaiming their
independence. Half measures cannot secure their pardon from the
Emperor, while they must damp the ardour and paralyse the energies of
their countrymen.

Cnnowtct.c.—Lord King, on presenting & petition front Southamp-
ton, complaining of the grievance of tithes, pointed out in a forcible
manna several of the evils interwoven with this burden, which it is eel.

dent will not be home much longer by the country. It is well known,
we believe, that there is a determination throughout the country to have
this question now determined once for all, and that In most places the
labourers have in reality been directly or indirectly encouraged by the
farmers. If such be the cue, as is generally believed by well-
informed persons, punishment becomes unavailing. Lord King oh.
served, also, that to the Tithe System we are indebted for that
demoralization of the agricultural labourers which threatens
the country with consequences that we dread to contemplate.
The Bishop of London, alluding to the vehement attacks which had
lately been made upon the system of tithes, observed, 44 Why that sort
of property should be attacke more than other property in land. which,
as well as tithes, were possessed only by virtue of the laws (hear.) he
could not explain, unless it were because the Clergy, of whom they
were the property, were the weaker party." His Lordship might, with.
out the exercise of much ingenuity, have discovered that tithes are at.
tacked, because they are a species of property hurtful to the enjoyment
of property in general ; that other property is not attacked, because it is
the object of the law to protect property : but that as property is the crea-
ture of the law, the law, to answer its object, ought not to sanction
the existence of a species of property injurious to property in
general. The law made the Church of England ; the same
law may unmake it, and give another destination to the property now
held by that Church. The Clergy are Servants of the State, whom the
State continues to employ, as It employs soldiers and other function.
aries. Soldiers were formerly paid in land, as well as Clergymen ; and
at that time land and the produce of land were the usual modes of re-
quiting services. But in the present state of the world there can be
no reason for continuing a burdensome mode of paying one description
of servants of the State, merely because it is established. Besides, one.
tenth par of the produce of the soil is somewhat too much for those
who merely minister to the spiritual wants of a nation. Taking the
population of England at 16 millions, this would be giving to the clergy
of the Church of England food equal to the support of sixteen hundred
thousand of that population. We know well enough that part of the
tithes is in Lay hands, and we know also that the clergy do not in many
cases receive anything like the tenth. But this very moderation leads
to great evils. Men take leases, and embark money on the faith of this
moderation; when a fresh incumbent, by raising his demands, involves
them in ruin. The tenth of the gross produce would often absorb
more than the rent. With respect to the distribution of the Church
Revenues, that is a question which must also be dealt with. The
question which immediately is the permanent settlement of tithes, by
converting them into a fixed corn rent, so that the cultivation of the
country may not be Impeded. As to the going on pari paws with the
landholders, it is well observed by Lord King, that the proportion of
rent to the produce of the soil was conatantly diminishing. For the
sake of that Church itself which the Bishop of London declares to have
ever been the pride of Protestant Europe, a mode of payment must be
devised which shall not spread vice and demoralization wider and wider
through the country. They are the true friends of the Church who wish
to fret' it front the curse of its present unpopularity.

POST.-At the date of the last accounts from Poland, National
Guards to a considerable amount were already organized ; and in aid of
the Polish troops it was calculated that at least 30,000 of the inliabi- '
tants were in arms. The " Powers that be," if we are to credit their
professions, are anxious only for the return of peace and good order ;
and we have no wish to question the sincerity of their official declara-
tions in this respect. We shall content ourselves by merely observing,
that if they are really sincere in their professions, their sentiments
are alike creditable to their prudence and wisdom, and in their ten.
dency the best calculated to serve the real interests of the country. lf,
on the contrary, it should appear that with affected loyalty on their
tongues, there is deep disaffection in their hearts—that their real
stimulus is revolution unprovoked by circumstances—and that
treacherous and ruinous designs are concealed under the specious cloak
of Patriotism—then do we not hesitate to pronounce them the worst ene-
mies of Poland. They must in that case be either the dupes of delu-
sion the most dangerous, or the willing instruments of a faction lately
sprung up in Europe with purposes the most abominable, and utterly
destructive of the peace and happiness of mankind—Senseless indeed
must they be, if for a single moment they contemplate the possibility of
effectual resistance to the gigantic force of Russia, independently of the
other great Powers by whom they are immediately surrounded ; and if
they are at all actuated by love of country, they ought, if they are
capable of correctly thinking, seriously to consider the dreadful inflic-
tion which their misconduct and revolutionary designs are calculated to
bring upon the State. _

HERALD.—There have been two declarations of the Duke of Wel
lington, which betray a spirit so hostile to the peace of this country, and
to that of Europe, as makes it appear exceedingly fortunate, or, rather,
providential, that public opinion drove him front power at the time it
did. The one was his direct and unqualified reprobation of the brave
and noble people of the capital of France, in resisting, even to death, the
foulest attempt, on the part of a treacherous court and corrupt ministry,
to convert a constitutional monarchy into a despotism of which modern
history affords any example. The other, the unjust and useless con.
demnation of the procession of the Trades' Societies of London to present
a loyal and dutiful address to the king—coupled as that condemnation was,
with the opinion that the procession ought to have been stopped—a mea.
sure which, if attempted, would have most probably led to such calamitous
results as London would long have had occasion to mourn. As to the re.
probation of the conduct of the French people, whose heroic defence of their
rights hie Grace stigmatized as a " bad example " to Europe, we should
like to know why, entertaining that opinion of the revolution in July,
and being Prime Minister of England at the time, he, with the utmost
precipitancy, advised his Sovereign to recognise as legitimate the new
Government founded upon that revolution—thereby giving additional
force to the " bad example," which makes the royal pupils of the
school of Machiavel tremble on their thrones ? Was that recognition
sincere ? or was it only designed to serve some ulterior purpose ? In
the former case is his conduct now ! In the latter, how unlike
the honest frankness of an English statesman, and a soldier was
his conduct then ? Ile may fix himself on whichever born of
the dilemma he pleases. As to the outcry of the ex-51inistert, and
acme of their parasites in Parliament and the Common Council, against
the present Government for allowing the Trades' Societies to proceed
peaceably with their Address to the King through tile streets of the
Metropolis, it, no doubt, arose from their consciousness that it opc.
rated as a most convincirg ptectical exposure of the folly of the advice
given by the ex. Ministers to the Sovereign, to prevent hint entering his
own capital on an occasion which would have brought him in contact
with an immense body of his subjects, only to prove to the jealous and
alarmed tyrants of the Continent how secure, how popular, how unas-
sailable, in an age of revolutions, a Constitutional 'Monarch can be in
the midst of his people. As to the illegality of the procession, let us see
what that is. The Act of the I:1th Car. 11. cap. 5, sap,
" that not more than twenty names shall be signed to any petition or
remonstrance to the King or either House of Parliament for the al.
tcration of any matters established by law in Church or State, and that
no such petition shall he delivered by a company of more than ten
persons" Did the Address of the Trades' Societies come under the
description of a petition or remonstrance to alter any matters established
in Church or State ? We believe not. if we recollect right, it cx.
pressed the loyal sentiments of the addressers to the King, condemned
the conduct of the ex. Ministers in preventing his Majesty from meet.
ing his faithful people in the City, and prayed for an inquiry into the
public distress. But, even If it did pray for the alteration of matters
established by law in Church or State, the Act had become ob-
solete by modern practice, like many other old and tyrannical penal
laws passed in arbitrary reigns, and unsuited to the genius of a free
State. There was not a Member of Parliament, of either
House, of any standing, who had not been accessary to its vio-
lation, from time to time, by presenting petitions with more than twenty
names signed, for the alteration of matters established byllaw, in church
and state. Besides, this set of Charles 11. was pearled at a time when
Parliament seemed to think itself constituted for little else than to re.
gister the ordinances of a despotic court. To the credit of the Duke of
Wellington and Sir Robert Peel themselves, we believe they have often
proved that they considered it obsolete, by presenting petitions with
more than twenty signatures. Why then should they reproach the pre-
sent ministers for not subjecting themselves to the odium, and the nation
to the peril, of reviving this obsolete statute, as against the peaceable
and loyal Trade Societies in London, whose object in presenting an
Address at all was to evince their affection to the person of the Sovereign,
and to express their reliance upon his disposition to redress the grievances
of his people ?

ASIATIC JOURNAL.
PAINURY. ALLEN, AND CO.

We are indebted to that valuable periodical, the Asiatic Jaunted—
the last number of which preserves its spirit, and abounds with im-
portant matter—foe the following reports of the proceedings of the
Asiatic Society of Calcutta, and the French Academy of Sciences:—
ASIATIC SOCIETY OF CALCUTTA.-At the meeting of the Phy-
sics' Committee of this Society held on the 30th June, Sir Edward
Ryan, the President, in the Chair; the following donations were
made :—A specimen of the Ornithoryncus Parodoxus, from Van Die-
men's Land, in good preservation, by Dr. Adam. A cross bow and
quiver of arrows, with a specimen of the poison used for the snows,
from Captain Bellew, who states that such poisoned snows are used by
certain tribes of bill in the Honing ; but cannot afford any in-
formation relative to ZPitr:te Honing
from which it is taken. It was resolved
to transfer the packet of poison to the Medical and Physical Society,
in the hope that some of its members may be induced to investigate its
nature.

An extract of a letter was read from Mr. Scott, agent for the 00.
vernor.tleneral on the N.B. frontier, to Mr. Swinton, dated Churra
Poongee, 12th June, is which Mr. Scott describes his visit to the cave
in the neighbourhood, and the precise situation of certain curious
stalagmitie balls found on the door thereof, some no larger than a pea,
and some as large as a cauliflower; but the most numerous of the site
and shape of a custard apple.
Two letters from Dr. Gerard were transferred from the General Se-
cretary, who stated that a collection of mineral epecinsens referred to
i 5 them hod wired when it was resolved that a Committee be ap-
pointed to examine sad report wpm the minerals at the next meeting,

to oensist of Mr. Calder, Capt. Herbert, Captain Jenkins, Dr. Adam,
and Mr. Rosa

Dr. Strong's paper on boring for fresh water springs—read at the last
general meeting of the Society, was transferred by the General Secre.
tary to the Physical Committee, and after some discussion on the sub-
ject of the borings now carried on in Fort William, it was resolved that
Dr. Strong and Mr. Ross be requested to report to the next genera
mating of the Society the progress made in the recent borings in :he
Fort, and the probable expense that may attend the prteectitien of the
work to the attainment of the desired object.
There were received from Dr. Hardie, of Oudypore, a paper on the
Geology of the country to the eastward of Cluton—Sketch of section
of the strata between Neemuch and 31eintah, neat Oudypore, with
explanations--Sketch Map of the northern part of Megmaw, with ex-
tracts from an accompanying letter; Supplement to the Sketch of the
Geology of Central India, dec. The reading of these was deferred to
another meeting.
FIIEN Cli AcAnEwr or BclawcEs.—As the meeting of the 25th
October, 31. Person read a memoir on a Galvanometer, of his Leo.-
don, by means of which the existence of currents, however weak, aad
of the shortest duration, may be certainly detected. One of the first
experiments made by him with this instrument, was to ascertain whe-
ther galvanic electricity, which acts so powerfully after death in pro-
ducing convulsions, be not the agent employed by natute
,to create the
regular motions of life. Since Galvani's discovery, in 1789, a great
number of philosophers have endeavoured to establish a theory of the
nervous system, considered as an electrical apparatus; but none have
succeeded. The recent theory of 31essrs. Prevost and Emu, however,
appeared so ingenious. that the idea of electrical currents in the nerves
has acquired many partizans. With the view of obtaining a positive
solution of the question, Al Pawn undertook a series of experitnents
on living animals, which he varied in a number of ways, employing in-
struments of extreme delicacy, adapted to shew the existence of currents
of an almost infinitely short duration; yet he in no case duccied the
slightest indication of electricity.
The result has led Al. Person to regard the hypothesis of electrical
currents in the nerves as devoid of foundation ; and he supports his
opinion by the following arguments :--
" Not even the slightest indication of electricity has ever been de-
tected in any part whatever of the nervous system, although the uttsns
employed must have detected it if it existed, since it is demonstrutsd by
actual experiment, that the electric currents must have passed from the
nerves to metals, which are better conductors.

•
•tExperiments proving that the nerves are not better conductors of
electricity than the muscles, it is obvious that a current can remain in
the nerves only so long as their envelope is au isolating body, win seas
it is proved by a multitude of experiments to be incapable of isolating
the feeblest currents ; so that a current in a nerve, instead of folios :rig
its ramifications, would pass into the muscles, as soon as the latte-
atibrded a shone, passage. This accounts for the irregularity observe
able in galvanic experiments. When a nerve of motion is pincltd,
drawn, or cauterized, the muscles in which it is distributed become
convulsed ; a current acts the same without the need of proceeding the
whole extent of the nerve ; contractions take place, however small the
extent the nerve be traversed ; only, since electricity dots not destroy
the organ, the effect may be frequently repeated. If the results of ex-
perience arc attended to, it will be seen that a nerve of motion, during
life and during the period whilst irritability lasts, is in such a state,
that whatever abruptly alters the relative position of its molecules, may
occasion a contraction : so that the action of electricity upon the rents
must be temporarily assimilated to that of mechanical or chemical
stimulants.

" It is true that the experiments of Walsh, D'Humboldt, Guy.
I.ussac, Fah'berg, and others, have removed all doubt of the commotion
imparted by the torpedo and the gymnota being attributable to elec-
tricity ; but if the organ peculiar to these fibres generate the electric
fluid, it is not thence to he inferred that the nervous system performs
the same office, since its organization is altogether different."
The new instrument of M. Person will clear up many doubtful points
in the natural history of electric fishes.
On the 4th October, Baron d Humboldt, in person, presented to the
Academy his work on the direction of the chains of mourtair.s in the
interior of Asia, and on the volcanos existing there. Messrs. Abel
itemusat and Klaproth were the first to remark, on the credit of Chinese
and Japanese manuscripts, the existence of these volcanos, distant 400
or 000 leagues from the sea. M. d'Hurnboldt, in his travels to the
Ural, has collected additional particulars relating to the same subject,
and Pas fully established the existence of volcanos situated much more
to the north than those previously known. M. d'llumboldt remarks,
further, that the Caspian sea, having evidently extended formerly over
a much greater space than it does at present, the volcanic mountains of
Asia were in different circumstances than they are at present: The chart
accompanying the work exhibits a table of the heights of the principal
chains there described.
It is well known that two individuals who accompanied M. :Mum-
boldt in his.; journey to the Ural, Count Pallier, and Mr. Smith,
discovered diamonds in the soil brought down to the foot of this chain.
Eight diamonds were found, in a short space of time, but winter coining
on, the search was suspended. During the summer, the exploration re-
commenced, and seven more diamonds have been found. There is every
appearance that more will be discovered as they go on, for this district
which, like that of Minas Gerahes in Brazil, contains gold and platina,
teems to resemble it in every other respect.