4 DECEMBER 1841, Page 5

His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, it is said,

is about to. resign the Grand Mastership of the ancient Order of Freemasons ; and it is also rumoured that his Royal Highness Prince Albert will be offered that distinguished honorary appointment.—Standard.

It is understood that the Lord President will be the Lord-Lieute- nant and Custos Rotulorum of the West Riding of the county of York, in the place of the Earl of Harewood, deceased.—Morning Post.

Tuesday'sGazette announced the appointment of Captain Sir Charles Napier, K.C.B., Captain Sir Nisbet Josiah Willoughby, C.B., K.C.H., Captain Sir Thomas Fellowes C.B., and Captain Edward Henry A'Court, to be Naval Aides-de-damp to the Queen, on the promotion of their predecessors to be Admirals. It also announced the appointment of Sir Edmund Walter Head, Baronet, one of the Assistant Poor-law Commissioners, to be a Com-

missioner, in the room of Mr. John George Shaw Lefevre, resigned.. On this appointment the leading Opposition paper, the Morning Chro- nicle alluding to its own candid praise of Ministers when they do a goo deed, says— "Recently we have had two or three occasions of doing this, and of these we have gladly availed ourselves. Indeed, it would be unpardonable in us to

neglect this duty, inasmuch as the honest and judicious acts of the Government are precisely those which the Government press either leaves in studied, obscurity or loads with coarse and unjust obloquy. "The appointment of Sir Edmund Head to the vacant place of Poor-law Commissioner cannot be too strongly placed before the public as a proof of good intentions, justice, and discriminate selection. The vacancy in the Com- mission, occasioned by Mr. Lefevres removal to the Board of Trade, was left

by the late Ministers for their succesors to fill up. The mere fact of its being Shied up at all is a satisfactory proof that Ministers do not falter in their honest purpose of upholding the main principles and leading provisions of the new

Poor-law. 11 they had not resolutely made up their minds not to truckle to the ignorant prejudices and irrational outcry of their own press and the Con- servative Democracy,' they would not have given this clear indication of their determination to maintain the Commission. The selection of Sir Edmund Head corroborates the conclusion which we have drawn from the mere fact of the ap- pointment being made at all. He is, and has for some time been, a most active A.ssistant-Commissioner ; and the confidence reposed in him by the Commis- sion was strongly evinced by his being intrusted with the charge of the Me- tropolitan district. We may look upon him, therefore, as a man pledged to the principles of the New Poor-law, and as having evinced, to the satisfaction of the Commission, peculiar ability and steadiness in carrying it out. If the Government meant to give up the Poor-law, or work it inefficiently, they might have made a job of the appointment, given it to some one who would have acted as its secret enemy, or equally damaged it by negligence and blunders. Sir Edmund Head's sincerity and efficiency have received unequivocal testi- mony, not only from the Commission, but from the attacks of its opponents.

" While we thus state, as the strongest recommendation of Sir Edmund Head, that he is known as an able administrator of the New Poor-law, we must

not omit to add that we believe him also to possess suet good sense and know-

ledge of the world as may be most serviceably infused into the Commission. It is impossible for the sincere but judicious advocates of the New Poor-law and of the Commission to deny that the soundest principles of the new system have sometimes been enforced at ill-chosen periods, carried out with abruptness, and promulgated with a pedantry that savoured of harshness. The feelings of the subordinate administrators of the law, as well as of those who are immediately subjected to its operations, have not always been consulted as to the season and manner of effective changes in themselves conducive to their welfare. The correction of these faults is necessary to secure the permanence and enlarge the beneficial powers of the Commission and the system which it administers; and this effect will be best brought about by placing a man of Sir E. Head's pru- dence and knowledge of the world to cooperate with the zeal and sound views of the present Board. "We must not omit to mention, as an honourable feature of this appoint-. ment, that it marks a perfect independence of party influences. Sir E. Head has never taken any prominent part in politics ; but, at the same time, it is well known that his political opinions are decidedly Liberal, audio unison with the general policy of the late, not of the present Ministry. Sir James Graham might have found a man of his own party to whose appointment to this office not even party opponents could or would have objected; and it is therefore to his honour that he has appointed the fittest man, without availing himself of the excuses by which be might have justified an appointment more palatable to his party."

Lord Langdale, Master of the Rolls, Vice-Chancellor Wigram, Mr. Pemberton, Queen's counsel, and Mr. Sutton Sharpe, Queen's counsel, have undertaken, under the sanction and at the request of the Lord Chancellor, " to consider the practice, course of proceeding, and offices of the Court of Chancery, with reference to such regulations and altera- tions thereof as (under the powers conferred by the statutes 3 and 4 "Victoria, c. 94, and 4 and 5 Victoria, c. 52) it would be expedient to snake for the purpose of diminishing the expense and delay attending the administration of justice in the said court."

We learn that Sir Robert Peel has sent agents to the Continent for the purpose of collecting detailed information relative to the average rates of wages, the prices of food, and other circumstances bearing on the condition of the humbler classes. Judging from the characters of the gentlemen to whom this mission has been intrusted, there would appear to be every disposition on the part of the right honourable Baronet to obtain accurate and unbiassed information.—Morning Chro- nick, Nov. 29.

Sir James Graham left town on Sunday, for Netherby.

Dr. Birkbeck, whose name is part of the history of the day and its efforts at self-advancement, died on Wednesday morning, at his house In Finsbury Square. He had laboured under a painful disease for some time, and expected a fatal issue, though perhaps not so soon. From a notice in the Morning Chronicle we glean a few particulars of Dr. Birk- beck's life. He was the son of a merchant and banker at Settle in Yorkshire ; where he was born in 1776. He was educated for the pro- fession of medicine, and was a pupil of the celebrated Dr. Baillie. He finished his medical studies at Edinburgh ; where he formed acquaint- ance with Brougham, Horner, Jeffrey, Scott, Sidney Smith, and other distinguished men. In those scientific pursuits towards which his me- chanical turn of mind directed his attention, he attained such proficiency as to be appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Andersonian Institution of Glasgow. It was then that he laid the basis of the "Mechanics Institutes," with which his name will be always asso- ciated: he invited the mechanics of Glasgow to attend his lectures gra- tuitously; and the beneficial results of their attendance determined him to establish a Mechanics Institute in London. The Institute in Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, was the first established ; and towards this Dr. Birkbeck contributed not only his exertions and influ- ence, but a loan of 3,000/. The members of this institution were about to meet to celebrate the eighteenth anniversary of its foundation within a few hours of the founder's death.

Dr. Birkbeck was alike estimable for his worth and his talents. He practised as a physician, and enjoyed a considerable share of reputation. Mild and equable in his temper and disposition, benevolent in spirit, and possessing great suavity of manners, his was a character that won upon alL He spoke with singular neatness and fluency ; and his ideas were as clear as his language. Whenever he appeared among the me- chanics, by whom he was venerated, he was welcomed as a father and friend.

More important subjects not abounding, the London papers have busied, themselves with the squabble at Oxford between the Puseyite and Anti-Puseyite candidates for the Professorship of Poetry ; and the learned people themselves have not relaxed in the struggle. Dr. Pusey and Dr. Gilbert are at issue mainly as to whether or not Mr. Williams preoccupied the ground with the general concurrence, as Dr. Pusey maintains ; while his opponents insist that he was suddenly nominated by the head of the new theological school. The Morning Post puts forth elaborate hints that Mr. Garbett, the Super-Protestant candidate, has no case to stand against Mr. Williams's claims ; the Ultra-Protestant Standard sneers at a claim founded for Mr. Williams on his "middling verses"; the organ of the "Religious Liberty" party, the Morning Chronicle, argues from Mr. Williams's controversial prose and theolo- gical reserve that he cannot cultivate the ingenuous art of poetry ; while no one has any thing to say about "the songs of Garbett," the exist- ence of which is assumed by the Morning Chronicle.

The Temps asserts that M. Guizot had abandoned the intention of bringing forward a bill on electoral reform in the course of the next session of the French Chamber; and adds the report that the Bing has given M. Guizot a carte blanche to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies if they should place him in a minority. Three Municipal Councillors of Toulouse, who took part in the opposition to the resurvey of taxes, have been prosecuted before the Court of Pau. The immediate charge against them was, that they re- sisted an order to dissolve the Council, on the ground of some informal wording in the order. They were condemned by the Court to pay the nominal fine of 100 francs, including costs. Against even that they appealed to a higher tribunal. The trial of Quenisset and his accomplices is fixed for Friday De- cember 3d; and the Chancellor of the Court of Peers has issued the usual notice.

The price of the four pounds loaf of bread of the first quality was fixed in Paris, for the first fortnight of .December, at 35 cents. (31(1.); the second at 28 cents.

One of the many little Swiss revolutions has just taken place in Geneva ; but without violence. It arose out of the disputes respecting the suppressed convents of Argau; the convents having been supported by the Aristocratic party and the deputies of the Protestant Cantons ; while the opposite side was taken by the Democratic party in the same cantons. Valais is disordered in consequence ; but in Geneva the Government has been upturned : the zealous Calvinists of the canton united in an association on the 3d of March last, in consequence of the vote of the Deputy Rigaud; and it is this association which, by preach- ing and clamouring for political reform, in order to the preservation of Protestant doctrine, has produced the present revolution, in the shape of a successful demand for a "Constituent Assembly" to revise the constitution. So early as the 18th, the Council of State conducted their deliberations with doors guarded by the Militia. They promised electoral reforms ; but still the agitation increased. On the 22d, the

Militia, finding it impossible to keep back the multitude which pressed around the Hotel de Ville, disbanded themselves, says the Journal de Genive, "to their own relief and that of the citizens." The Council then yielded to the popular demand, and issued the following decree- " Art. 1. The present constitution shall be revised by a Constituent As- sembly, appointed by the citizens. "2. The Council of State will propose to the Representative Connell, within a fortnight at furthest, a project of law relative to the mode of appointing the Constituent Assembly. This project will be debated and voted in the form of ordinary laws. 3. The Constituent Assembly shall be convoked within the fifteen days following the adoption of that law. "4. The constitution agreed to by the Constituent Assembly shall be re. (erred to the sanction of the citizens.'

No violence had been offered to anybody. On hearing the promul- gation of the decree, the crowd quietly dispersed, and the agitation im- mediately subsided.

Espartero returned to Madrid on the 23d November ; and he was welcomed with a public reception. Squadrons of the Royal and National Guards formed an escort of honour ; the balconies and windows were hung with festoons und garlands. At two o'clock the Regent was received at the city-gates by the Municipal authorities. He entered a Royal carriage, and drove to the Palace, surrounded by General Officers and a brilliant staff. Soon afterwards, the Queen appeared at the balcony with Espartero, and the troops defiled before them. At night the city was splendidly illuminated. An extraordinary courier had been despatched from Madrid with an autograph letter of Queen Isabel for Queen Victoria, congratulating her on the birth of the Duke of Cornwall.

Subjoined is the text of a note sent by the Porte on the 28th October to the representatives of France, England, and Russia-

" The question of the property of Turks is Greece has been now for many years pending between the Sublime Porte and the Greek Government ; and the position of a great number of Mussulmans, owners of this property, has be- come worse daily. The representatives of the Three Powers at Athens have just presented a note to the Greek Foreign Minister, to hasten the solution of this affair. The Minister of the Sublime Porte at Athens has sent a copy of this note ; and his Highness has learnt with joy this step, as a proof of the sentiments of equity with which the Three Powers are animated towards his Government.

"Not only is it urgent to terminate at length this affair, but all the world. knows that the Sublime Porte is anxious to preserve unshaken the relations of friendship between it and other Courts ; and to facilitate as far as in it lies the happy issue of affairs which interest them, desirous especially of maintaining and multiplying amicable relations with Greece. Desiring this on account of their near neighbourhood, it hoped that the Greek Government would evince similar sentiments ; but in this it has been disappointed. "First of all, this question of Mussnlman property in Greece, provided for by treaties, remains for a number of years in suspense, in consequence of the interminable difficulties of every kind obstructing the solution. The property of a number of Ottoman subjects is thus lost and themselves reduced to misery. Nothing, as yet, announces a desirable result. "Secondly, instead of preventing the departure of those who were proceeding to Candi& to aid the insurrection of the inhabitants against the Sultan's authority, the Greek Government has not even accused these individuals since their return. They are, on the contrary, treated with benevolence; and allowed to reside where they please. "Thirdly, two young Turkish girls, torn violently from their mother, have not been restored, and nothing is given but inadmissible excuses. "Fourthly, a Mussulman of seventy years of age, residing alone in his habi- tation, not far from Azdin, was assassinated by night, and his property stolen. "Fifthly, certain persons in Greece have formed a society to foment troubles and rebellious in the Ottoman empire ; and Government has by no means en-

deavoured to put a stop to this. Most of the Greek journals, as every one knows, disseminate most pernicious ideas, and tend to excite the Sultan's sub- jects to revolt.

"Sixthly, Colonel Velentza, one of those just alluded to, remains on the frontier, frequently passes into the Turkish territory to sow trouble there, and

is now on the point, it is known, of penetrating again within the frontier. No efficient measure has been taken to put a stop to the trouble occasioned bythis perturbation. " Some time since' a treaty of commerce, containing all kinds of facilities and favour, was entered into; and yet it was treated as pernicious to commerce and objectionable, even before the least experiment was made of it.

"These things are contrary to international rights and amity ; to the duties of a good neighbour ; and they threaten the interests of the Porte, as well as

the tranquillity of its subjects. The Sublime Porte, in consequence, begs the

Three Powers, his allies and friends, to invite the Greek Government to devise means of putting an end to this state of suspense, and to terminate

pending differences; to permit no longer perturbators to foment rebellion in Turkey, and to pursue a line of conduct befitting a friendly Government. If the employment of good offices by the Powers for the settlement of

these affairs should produce a satisfactory result, this is all that can be desired. If not, it is decided that all Greek interests, and commerce, and affairs, requiring the support and intervention of the Turkish Government, shall

be obstructed and treated with little favour. Nor need any observations be ad-

dresed to the Porte on the subject, since it has every right to act thus. It is necessary and important that Greece should give redress in the matters

enumerated. The Three Powers cannot but recognize and appreciate, in their

equity, the importance and justice of these complaints, and the inconvenience and dangers that the continuance of such a state of things must give rise to. The Sublime Porte entreats the representatives to inform their respective Courts, and begs the Powers to endeavour to brine about a speedy solution of the question of Turkish property in Greece, according to the note addressed by their Envoys to the Government at Athens, as well as a settlement of the other affairs enumerated," &c.

There has been more than one arrival from America during the week ; the latest being that of the Halifax mail-steamer Britannia, which brings papers from New York to the 15th November.

General Scott had announced his intention of becoming a candidate for the Presidency, with a great probability of being successful. He had issued a circular developing his political sentiments. On the ma- terial point, what position the Judiciary should hold in regulating the affairs of the Union, be affirms his conviction to be,that when a doubtfill question, arising under the Constitution, an act of Congress, or a treaty, has been solemnly adjudicated by the Supreme Court, the principle of the decision ought to be taken as definitively settled. This conviction, it should be understood, includes in it the further conviction that it is perfectly constitutional for Congress to charters' national bank, although

it is mentioned as a separate sutjeot : in the celebrated case of DPCul- lough versus the State of Maryland, the Supreme Court decided that Congress had power to regulate a national bank. With regard to the Presidential veto, General Scott expresses a wish that that privilege should be reduced. The framers of the constitution, he says, could only have desired, by granting such a privilege, to enable the President to defend his power against usurpations of Congress, to enable him to forbid other legislative infractions, and to guard the country against other acts of violent legislation ; and then he proceeds to say that the Judiciary—" the balance-wheel " of the system—affords of itself all the security the people can desire. The opinions thus expressed are obviously intended as a contrast to the course pursued by President Tyler. General Scott's modification of the veto would be to allow it to be overcome by a bare majority in each House of all mem- bers, at the end of a few days afforded for reflection. Among the lead- ing measures which occupied the attention of Congress during its extra session, General Scott expresses himself in favour of the Land Distri- bution Bill, the Bankrupt Bill, and the second bill for creating a fiscal corporation.

The State elections, where the result was known, had terminated in favour of the Democratic party ; the Whigs having scarcely made a struggle for victory. On the New York election, "A Genevese Travel- ler," the correspondent of the Times, remarks- " New York, like every other State where there has been an election, has fallen into the bands of the Opposition through the supineness of the Whig party. There is no evidence of any change of opinion among the mass of the people as to the measures the Government ought to adopt, nor is it certain that a change has taken place. It is true, however, such results in political contests, no matter from what causes they may arise, are calculated to effect a revolution in parties if not promptly checked, inasmuch as they give confidence to and increase the zeal of the Opposition, while they dishearten and disgust the adherents of power. "One reason why the Oats should acquirestrength is the love of office. The Americans are an office-hunting race. This observation is alike applicable to both and to all parties. Too frequently it is the principal, if not almost the only cause of an overthrow of a party in this country. The great difference in this respect appears to be, that one sect professes to consider that to the vic- tory belong the spoils of victory,' and act upon that principle; while the other, without professing, practise it. No sooner has the minority become majority and triumphed, than an indiscriminate removal from office ensues. The aged, the competent, and the praiseworthy, share the fate of the incompetent and the worthless. I do not say that this is right or that it is wrong ; 1 state the fact as I have witnessed it, and as one of the reasons why parties here are constantly vacillating. The most humble citizen often becomes an applicant for the most elevated station; and thus the number of candidates for office is exceedingly numerous. Every disappointed man thinks his claims neglected; consequently that injustice has been done to him. Under such circumstances, a few of course will change; while many, dissatisfied, will refuse to vote until their irri- tation has subsided, and their imaginary wrongs are forgotten. "The Whig party, as a party, remain unshaken, but inactive. They can- not long hold their present position. They must again take the field, and that promptly and vigorously, with their, whole force, or their rank and file will de- sert. The approaching session of Congress will probably decide their fate. At present all is uncertainty as to the policy which President Tyler will adopt. The safe-keeping of the public money, and the currency of the country, are now the trying questions. If his plans and suggestions on these topics shall comport with the views of the Whigs, he will be supported by them; if not, not."

Mr. Clay was reported to have resigned his seat, and was about to proceed to Havannah for the winter ; his health requiring it.

Congress had been summoned for the first Monday in December. Among the subjects which were likely to engage its attention, were the revision of the Tariff and the establishment of some military institution. The annexation of Texas is again talked of; and that may perhaps come before Congress.

The New York Commercial Advertiser copies from the Inquirer a ru- mour that Mr. Stevenson, the late American Minister in England, had exchanged some sharp notes with the British Minister just before his de- parture, on the subject of the right of search. The Advertiser recalls the war to which that question gave rise under Mr. Madison's Presidency, when England claimed a right to search American vessels for British seamen who had deserted. The war terminated without definite result : since that time the question was in abeyance, until it took a new shape on its revival as an incident to the efforts of England to suppress the Slave-trade- " Two or three years ago, in the course of the ultra-philanthropic action of the British Parliament touching the slave-trade, an act was passed autho- rizing British armed cruisers on the coast of Africa to search the vessels of 511 nationssuspected of being engaged in the slave-trade ; and it is under that set that the existing difficulties have arisen. What will be the result is yet to appear. Certain it is, that the United States will not acquiesce hi the claim thus asserted by Great Britain, and of late so frequently exercised. "Nor is it from any desire to favour the slave-trade that the United States will resist the assumption. Notwithstanding the boastings of British philan- thropists and the arrogance of its Parliament, the United States were the first to move as a nation against this horrible traffic ; and in the work of emancipation likewise, the people of the United States have done more than England by fir. Our laws render the slave-trade piracy ; and it is the humble opinion of the people of this republic that they are of themselves able to enforce those laws on all proper occasions. In any event, they will never consent to allow Great Britain officiously to interpose and search our ships in the progress of her schemes of humanity. *Yet, after all, we doubt whether there is any very imminent danger of a belligerent collision even upon this subject. It is fortunate, on our own side of the water, that we have a head to the foreign department of the Government who is in all respects equal to any diplomatic exigency that may arise. Equally fortunate is it that the new Minister near the Court of St. James, in all the requisites of an Ambassador, is like Hyperion to a satyr compared with his im- mediate predecessor. More than all do we regard the late political revolution lb England favourable to the continuanee of amicable relations. The late Whig Ministry in England was timid and vacillating. It had no hold upon the nation, and it felt that it had none. The consequence was, that they had neither the confidence nor the courage to attempt the direct settlement of the Boundary difficulty ; while this right-of-search-question, in its present phase, is one of their own raising, and that too in direct opposition to the views of the great master-spirit of the present Ministry—we mean, of course, the Duke of Wellington. We have not forgotten that when the bill authorizing the searching of suspected vessels on the coast of Africa came up from the Com- mons, the Duke strenuously opposed its passage in the Lords. In the course of his arguments be predicted the very difficulty that has arisen under the law with the United States; and in the end, his opposition being ineffectual, the Duke entered a strong protest against the bill upon the journals of the House. Under these circumstances, we doubt whether the present Ministry will jeopar- dize the honour of the country for the sake of enforcing a law to the spirit of which they themselves are opposed."

The " Genevese Traveller" of the Times, referring to the accounts of the "Hunters' Lodges" in the English newspapers, and granting that the writer was sincere, says that he must have been deceived by the endeavour of the associators to magnify their own numbers and im- portance. He adds-

" In the London publications to which I have referred, among other names are recorded as members of the Hunters' Lodges, Governor Fairfield of Maine, Governor Masan of Michigan, Lieutenant-Governor Bradish of New York, and Mr. Cushing of Massachusetts. It is probably true that the two former are numbers; and if so, it is for the reason which I have already stated—the hope of increasing the number of their political adherents, and thus furthering their ambitious aspirations. The charge, so far as it relates to Mr. Bradish, I believe to be without foundation. lie is an accomplished gentleman, of the most delicate and refined feelings, bordering on fastidiousness. Such associates as he would meet in these lodges would, in my opinion, be incompatible with his notions of honourable associates. Of Mr. Cushing I am not the apologist : he is a man of strong passions and unconquerable prejudices, and these preju- dices are indulged with the greatest latitude against the British Government; but I have the most positive assurance from an individual whom I know to be well-informed on the subject, and in whom I confide, that Mr. Cushing is not a member."

Nothing of importance had been done in the Foreign Money-market. The rate on England was from 91 to 10; premium. The cotton-market was unchanged.

A Mr. Johnson, a Lieutenant in Colonel Dyer's Corps, and one of the parties implicated in the Grogan affair, had been tried, at Montreal, by court-martial. He did not deny having participated in the attack on Grogan, but be addressed the Court in mitigation of punishment. He was cashiered.

Some petty quarrels had occurred on the North-eastern boundary, in consequence of the American ex parte survey. The American Com- missioners had drawn a line of boundary which, as it affected the rights of private property, was very unpopular. In one instance, the observa- tory temporarily erected was destroyed by British settlers, and the sur- veyors were assaulted.