Mar. 9,] 



THE NEWSPAPER. 



[1844. 



amongst those who have a common interest in making a 

 national exertion to secure, not the advantage of one por- 

 tion of the empire, bat the benefit of all. The first busi- 

 ness which brought me amongst you was to express my 

 gratitude for the feeling which has been expressed towards 

 my country ; but there was another object which I had, 

 and that was to impress upon the people of both countries 

 the advantage and importance of uniting in carrying out 

 the one great object of putting an end to class legislation 

 which has not a regard to the welfare of the poorer classes 

 —of putting down oligarchical domination, and giving the 

 principle of democratic liberty full swing and entire 

 influence. In regard to Ireland it is a mistake to 

 suppose that the repeal of the Union means separa- 

 tion. I deny that it means separation ; and I would not 

 demand or advocate a repeal of the Union if it meant 

 separation ; but I now state with all the solemnity 

 which belongs to an oath, but without any of its profane- 

 ness — with all the solemnity of truth, that so far from 

 looking upon Repeal to mean separation, I believe that 

 it Is only by obtaining a repeal of the Union that separation 

 can be effectually prevented. The people of Ireland can- 

 not endure the miseries and injustice under which 

 they suffer, and it is my belief that, but for my in- 

 fluence — an influence which to me is astonishing — 

 they would not have continued so long to endure 

 it. I have laboured constantly with the people, 

 and in defence cf their rights, and they accordingly 

 have confidence in me for my uniform advocacy of the 

 liberties of their country. I repeat, it is a mistake to 

 suppose that the repeal of the Union means separation. 

 Why, for 600 years Ireland had her Parliament and con- 

 tinued united to England. Ireland had a parliament of 

 her own during the American war, and at that period she 

 allowed every King's soldier to leave the country and go to 

 America, and made no attempt at separation. When an 

 invasion was dreaded, the Irish people armed themselves 

 against the French, the Spanish, and the Dutch. The 

 French actually landed, but the Irish rushed as one man 

 to preserve the connection with England and to prevent a 

 foreign foe from polluting her soil. I, therefore, in seek- 

 ing for the repeal of the Union do not seek for a separation, 

 but I seek by that measure for the maintenance of the 

 connection between the two countries. I deny that it 

 could produce the effect of separation. I want a local 

 Parliament in Dublin to do the business of Ireland— a 

 Parliament to pass laws for the Irish people alone, and 

 hating nothing to do with imperial legislation. No, 

 let England manage the imperial subjects — let her pass 

 laws for England and Scotland, but let her have 

 nothing to do with the laws relating to Ireland. I 

 repeat it, therefore, that I seek no separation ; but 

 I am anxious to maintain the Union in the only way 

 in which it can be made permanent — not as it is at 

 present— not useful to England alone— but useful and 

 advantageous to both countries. 1 now see better pros- 

 pects opening before us in the sympathies and affections 

 of the people of England. I rejoice at those prospects, 

 and believe me that the gratitude of the Irish jxrople is 

 not of a transitory nature or of short duration- Need I 

 tell you that the cheering which I have been greeted with 

 to-day, and the cheers which are still ringing in my ears 

 from the meeting at Covent-gardci), will call forth their 

 deep and lasting gratitude ? Oh, this is indeed a majestic 

 meeting, and it affords <»n evidence of your sympathy for 

 which the Irish people will be deeply grateful. Believe me, 

 that whatever faults we have to answer for, the want of 

 gratitude cannot be numbered among them ; whatever 

 errors of conduct may belong to us, they are mistakes of 

 reason, but our hearts are right. Oh, that cheer, given in 

 Birmingham to-day, will extend all over Ireland ; it will 

 reach to the Giant's Causeway, and will be heard at Cape 

 Clear ; it will be re-echoed by the lofty hills of Connemara, 

 nnd the mountain of Howth will, in a voice as if of vol- 

 canic power, announce to the people of Ireland the 

 glorious intelligence that Englishmen are beginning to 

 rally with us in our exertions to obtain our rights. 

 Believe me that we are equally ready to sympathise 

 with you in your struggle. Your Reform Bill has 

 been a total failure, for the constituencies have been 

 jast kept up to the bribery point, and the crime has 

 thus increased, for instead of bribing one person, now 

 it is necessary to bribe as many as 150 or 200 indi- 

 viduals, and thus there is a multiplication of the crime, 

 a crime which is one of that character that brings down 

 the vengeance of Providence upon corrupt and profligate 

 nations ; and therefore I say that the person is not a 

 man, he is not a Christian, who will not rally with us in 

 putting down those atrocious corruptions j we will assist 

 you in your struggle, and I am not one of those who 

 would be for refusing instalments of public liberty, even 

 when we may not get the whole at once. You often sing 

 that ' Britons never shall be slaves;" now I say that any 

 man who has a right to have a vote and is not allowed to 

 vote is a slave I say that any man who is under la*s 

 which he has had no voice in making is a slave. I say 

 that any man who has no control over his own property, 

 only such control as must be regulated by laws made by 

 others, and in which he has no voice, who has his ind 

 try and its remuneration regulated by such law, I 

 that man is a slave. I say that the man 

 has heavy taxation imposed on him by men 

 whom he has no possible control is a slave, 

 a man is a slave, and belongs to the slave class. 

 land is aroused, and she will unite with you in your con- 

 stitutional exertions. They may send me to a dungeon 



they have the power to do so — but I'll be as merry there 

 as I am here; and I can inform them that I will have as 

 much influence over the people there as I have here. They 

 may shorten the space of my daily walks, but they cannot 



us- 

 say 

 who 

 over 

 Such 

 Ire- 



shorten the space of my political exertions. We will co- 

 operate with you in seeking for your rights ; we will 

 struggle with you until you are protected by the ballot — 

 until you have the protection of the honest ballot — the 

 ballot, which will allow every man to give his own vote, 

 and not to give the vote of his landlord, or his employer, or 

 his customer." He then adverted to the recent trials and 

 denounced them as an attack on the liberty of the subject, 

 which might be converted into a precedent against English- 

 men to-morrow. At the close of his speech, Mr. S. Craw- 

 ford addressed the meeting, and a petition to Parliament 

 embodying the views of the meeting in regard to the Irish 

 trials and an extension of the suffrage, was adopted. A 

 vote of thanks was then passed to Mr. O'Connell. 



Caistor. — On Sunday morning, the Rev. George Wat- 

 son, vicar of this place and rector of Rothwell, shot him- 

 self in his sitting-room. He was discovered lying on the 

 carpet partly dressed, but dead. He had placed an air- 

 gun in his mouth. Mr. Watson was educated at Eton, and 

 resided some time at Devizes after he left the College ; he 

 was about 50 years of age. From the evidence adduced 

 at the inquest it appeared that he was so extremely sen- 

 sitive to even the appearance of injury or disrespect, as to 

 exhibit, when under excitement or in trouble, strong 

 marks of mental aberration. Some months ago his mor- 

 bid sensibilities led him to write a letter, in consequence 

 of some fancied slight, to the wife of one of his parishion- 

 ers at Rothwell, which was made the subject of a com- 

 plaint to the Bishop, and led to the issuing of a commis- 

 sion of inquiry under the Church Discipline Act. On 

 Friday week that commission was executed, and the 

 members reported, not on the innocence or culpability of 

 Mr. Watson, but merely that there was a prima facie 

 case for investigation, adding to their return, however, the 

 fact that Mr. Watson appeared to be labouring under 

 great eccentricities and infirmity of mind. The Jury 

 returned a verdict of temporary insanity. 



Isle of Alan. — The following paragraph is from the 

 Mono Herald: — "On Saturday last about thirty indi- 

 viduals left this port by the mail packet for Liverpool, on 

 their way to the 'New Jerusalem' of Mr. Joe Smith, the 

 Mormon impostor, in the far west. Mr. Kelly, late of the 

 Rhean near this town, and his family, embark for Liver- 

 pool this day, and will sail thence on Friday on their way 

 to Nauvoo." 



Liverpool— The annual Christmas soirte at the Me- 

 chanics' Institution, having been postponed in order to 

 suit the convenience of Mr. Charles Dickens, who had 

 promised to preside on the occasion, the event came off 

 on Monday week. Long before the hour appointed for 

 the opening of the doors, the street was crowded with 

 persons anxious to obtain admission, and double rows of 

 carriages, cars, and other vehicles lined the street, from 

 Hope-street to Rodney-street. Most of the principal in- 

 habitants and municipal authorities were present on the 

 occasion. " It would be difficult to describe," sajs the 

 Liverpool Mercury, after giving a full description of the 

 proceedings, and a full report of the speeches, " the 

 pleasure which numbers of the townsmen and towns- 

 women experienced from the visit of Mr. Dickens. The 

 inimitable and philanthropic • Boz' has made an era in 

 Liverpool from which many circumstances will be dated." 

 Manchester. — A destructive fire broke out in this town 

 on Saturday morning in the pile of buildings situated 

 between York-street, George-street, Pine-street, and St. 

 James's churchyard, which were erected a few years ago 

 by the Rev. Jas. Taylor. They were seven stories high, 

 and were occupied by Messrs. Nelson, Knowles, and Co., 

 and other manufacturers. In the course of a few minutes, 

 the whole block of buildings was in flames. This rapi- 

 dity of the conflagration was the result of the construc- 

 tion of the warehouses. All the outer walls and most of 

 the walls of the various floors, were lined inside with 

 wood ; every warehouse had its well-hole, and the whole 

 were connected in the attic stories and roofs ; so that 

 when the fire reached the top of one warehouse, to which 

 it speedily ascended by the well-hole, having made its way 

 to the timber of the roof, it was carried by the breeze 

 along the whole range. The firemen soon saw that it was 

 hopeless to attempt to save any portion of this block, and 

 they therefore directed their attention chiefly to the sur- 

 rounding warehouses, which at various points were re- 

 peatedly on fire, and several of them In imminent danger. 

 In York-street the warehouse of Messrs. Makin and Co., 

 silk-manufacturers, was on fire and sustained some da- 

 mage ; the adjoining warehouse, that of Messrs. J. Le 

 Mare and Sons, silk-manufacturers, was also partially 

 damaged. At the back of the block in Pine-street, the 

 warehouse of Messrs. Amschel, Tobler, and Co., mer- 

 chants, is almost wholly destroyed, as are all the ware- 

 houses in the same block. On the opposite side of George- 

 street is a warehouse at present unoccupied, but recently 

 taken by Messrs. Wright and Lee, and in which the join- 

 ers were at work. It repeatedly caught fire from the great 

 body of flames issuing from Mr. Townend's warehouse; 

 but with great exertions the firemen were enabled to pre- 

 vent the flames from doing it much injury. The loss is 

 said to exceed 100,000/., but the buildings are insured. 



Oxford. — An inquest has been held on the remains of 

 Rabbi Jacobs and his daughter, when, after five hours' 

 investigation, the Jury returned a verdict of " Acci- 

 dentally burnt," nothing having been elicited to show how 

 the fire originated. After the inquest the bodies were 

 sent to the German Jews' Synagogue, in London. The 

 Hebrew Bible which was destroyed was printed in Poland 

 on vellum, and was considered a very rare and costly 

 litioa. The trumpets, Rabbi's vestment, and several 

 other articles used in Jewish worship, were destroyed. 

 The synagogue used by the Oxford Jews was held at 

 deceased's house. 





Scilly Islands — On the morning of the 22d~~uir~tK~ 

 Dutch East Indiaman,Nickerie, was totally lost on Ro 

 wear, one of the small uninhabited islands of this ero 

 and only two seamen out of a crew of 21 persons w^' 

 saved. A letter from St. Mary's gives the following «!? 



ticulars, communicated by the survivors: «• It an 



that the vessel was on her passage from Batavia to RoT 

 terdam, with a cargo of coffee, tea, sugar, and other 

 articles. On the night of the 21st the vessel encountered 

 a heavy gale of wind from the westward, which she bore 

 gallantly against. As morning approached, the weather 

 became thick and hazy. The ship was not brought to 

 but they continued the passage, as they thought in safety' 

 but suddenly they observed the Scilly light in a direction 

 which they knew to be dangerous to the vessel • and 

 before it was possible to avoid it, the ship went on the 

 ledge of rocks on the Rosewear Island, and with such 

 force as to throw the mainmast overboard. They describe 

 the scene that immediately ensued to have been of a 

 heart-thrilling description. While some were lashing 

 themselves to the rigging, another dreadful crash took 

 place, and in an instant the ship parted in several places 

 and all perished excepting an English and a Dutch seaman' 

 who were saved by lashing themselves to fragments of the 

 wreck which were washed ashore; but they were in a most 

 pitiable condition, and suffered severely from the cold. 

 They remained walking about the island for two days 

 before discovered." Another letter observes that the 

 situation of the wreck was such, that it was impossible 

 for it to have been seen from any of the inhabited Scilly 

 Islands, or in all probability the crew would have been 

 saved. No part of the cargo can be recovered, and 

 scarcely anything of the vessel or materials. On Monday 

 night the remains of two of the crew were thrown upon 

 the beach, and on Tuesday three other bodies were picked 

 up. The loss of the vessel and cargo is estimated at 

 15,000/. The Thames steamer, it will be recollected, 

 was wrecked on the same spot three years ago. 



Wainfieet. — The coast of Lincolnshire has suffered 

 severely from the recent gales. On Wednesday week the 

 City of Carlisle steamer was totally lost on a dangerous 

 shoal called the Dog Bank, a few miles from this harbour. 

 After she had struck the crew succeeded in getting her 

 afloat again, but she had sustained such injury and the 

 water gained so rapidly on the pumps, that she sunk a few 

 minutes after. Notwithstanding the violence of the gale 

 the crew saved themselves in the ship's boat and were 

 picked up by the life-boat and brought into Wainfleet 

 Haven. The steamer was on her voyage from Honfleur 

 to Goole. — The damage done to the shipping off the coast 

 during the late gales has been immense, more particularly 

 off the eastern and northern, and it is estimated that 

 40 vessels have been wrecked, with a great loss of life. 



Railways. — The following are the returns for the past 

 week: — Birmingham and Derby, 1195/.; Birmingham 

 and Gloucester, 1652/.; Eastern Counties, 3077/.; 

 Edinburgh and Glasgow, 1759/. ; 

 10,617/.; Grand Junction, 6259/.; 

 and Ayr, 1191/.; Great North of 

 London and Birmingham, 12,888/.; 

 4294/. ; Blackwall, 582/. ; Greenwich, 588/. ; Brighton, 

 2260/.; Croydon, 169/.; Liverpool and Manchester, 

 3422/. ; Manchester, Leeds, and Hull, associated, 5349/. ; 

 Midland Counties, 2147/. ; Manchester and Birmingham, 

 2763/. ; North Midland, 3944/. ; Newcastle and Car- 

 lisle, 1400/. ; South Eastern and Dover, 2298/. ; Shef- 

 field and Manchester, 484/. ; York and North Midland, 

 1466/ — The Bristol and Exeter Company at their meeting 

 last week announced a dividend of 1/. 85. for the half-year, 

 free of income tax, the disposable balance out of which 

 this amount will be paid being 140,000/. The line will 

 be finished next May, which is earlier than anticipated, 

 and within the terms of the contracts made. — At the 

 meeting of the Edinburgh and Glasgow company the 

 dividend declared was at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum. 

 The receipts amounted to 59,132/., the expenditure to 

 32,535/., leaving, with an unappropriated balance, the 

 sum of 30,030/. divisible among the proprietors. The 

 question of Sunday travelling was again revived and dis- 

 cussed at length, but Sir Andrew Agnew failed in his 

 attempt to carry his resolution. — The Hull and Selby 

 company at their meeting have announced a dividend of 

 27s. 6d., exclusive of income-tax. The report mentioned 

 an increase of traffic in the several departments. Large 

 payments in advance have been made on account of the 

 quarter-shares of holders, to whom 5 per cent, discount 

 has been allowed. — At the meeting of the Glasgow and 

 Ayr company a dividend of 20s. per share has been de- 

 clared. The question of supporting the line of steam-boats 

 between Fleetwood and Ardrossan was discussed with 

 considerable warmth. It appears that the working ex- 

 penses of the company have been reduced from 50 to 374 

 per cent., and a general system of economy has been 

 introduced. A motion for reducing the number of direc- 

 tors was brought forward, but negatived. — At the meeting 

 of the Birmingham and Gloucester Company an improved 

 dividend of 30*. per share was declared, and the goods 

 traffic is steadily increasing. The total receipts for the half- 

 year were 51 ,350/., the expenditure 37,6*32/., leaving a dis- 

 posable balance of 13,762/.— Several meetings were held last 

 week to consider certain clauses in a bill now before Par- 

 liament, by which the Great Western Company endea- 

 voured to obtain the power of prohibiting any "carrier, 

 innkeeper, warehouseman, or other such person, 

 include in one package to go by railway two or more par- 

 cels of goods,— the object being to compel payment to the 

 railroad company of their extra charge for small parcels* 

 Petitions against these clauses were unanimously adopte > 

 and on Monday Mr. Russell, M.P., the chairman ot tne 

 company, announced in the House of Commons that tn 



Great Western, 



Glasgow, Paisley, 



England, 1249/.; 



South Western, 



