hasty and imperfect outline. How deep must have been the gratification of Mr. Smith, in his declining years, to find all the labours of his early life thus crowned with success, and the soundness of his earliest views thus practically acknowledged! How vigorously and perseveringly he fought, through good and evil report! Few public men, at the commencement of their career, have encountered more of the world's obloquy; no man has lived to vindicate a higher character or a purer fame. Mr. Smith was a man of cultivated taste, and a warm friend of the arts. He was always ready to promote every local and national improvement. As Deputy-chairman of the British Fisheries, and as a Commissioner of Highland Roads and Bridges, he had ample opportunity, which he did not. fail to improve, of testifying the deep concern he took in the welfare and interests of Scotland. In estimating Mr. Smith's character, public and private, we shall not do him justice if we omit to call to mind the circumstances of the times in which he began his career; and above all, the then state of public opinion. The party which Mr. Smith opposed was the popular party. The French revolutionary war was especially a war of the people-they cheered and hallooed on Mr. Pitt in its commencement and its progress. Catholics and Dissenters of all denominations were alike obnoxious to the people. The nation was essentially Tory and High Church. The aristocracy and the mob went hand in hand. The middle classes found their account in war, and supported the other two. A Birmingham mob set fire to the house of Dr. Priestley, an Unitarian minister, and compelled him to flee for his life. Mr. Fox and his party (to which Mr. Smith belonged) strongly opposed the French war, and not only denounced the popular outrages committed upon the Catholics and Dissenters, but accused the Government that apparently connived at them. A Tory, in the year 1830, previously to the passing of the Reform Bill, was not half so odious to the public as a Whig or Jacobin (for they were synonymous) at the commencement of the French war. Tories alone were deemed the supporters of order, of constitutional government, and of the Monarchy. They were the exclusive friends of morality and religion, and of our late respected Monarch King George the Third. A Whig, on the other hand, was stigmatized as the promoter of anarchy and sedition-was often branded in society as a traitor-and was always on the verge of being seized and treated as such by the Government. Mr. Smith came in for his full share of this odium and this danger. A Society denominated "The Friends of the People" was established about this time for the purpose of obtaining Parliamentary Reform, to which Lord Grey, the present Lord Durham's father (Mr. Lambton), Mr. Wm. Smith, and about twenty Members of Parliament belonged; some of the society were apprehended upon a charge of high treason, Horne Tooke and Mr. Thelwall amongst others; the law was strained to the utmost to obtain conviction; their lives hung upon a thread; and it is mainly attributable to the powerful exertions of Thomas Erskine, and to the firmness of a jury, that they were saved from the gallows. Had they been found guilty, a species of proscription against those denominated the Friends of the People would have followed. Days of political persecution had already commenced, which the result of these trials could alone have arrested; and they did arrest them. These were times of no small personal danger to any man of any note, who dared to profess liberal opinions; but Mr. Smith never hesitated nor faltered; he confessed his creed, he steadily and fearlessly pursued his course, and was prepared for all consequences. It is only by referring to this leading point in his character, to this unflinching exhibition of moral courage in times of real danger, that he can be fully or fairly appreciated. Let us look back for an instant, first, to the Tory war-cry. What did the war gain? Hundreds of thousands perished in it; millions of debt were accumulated by it. Again, look to the Dissenters and Catholics, vilified and persecuted at that time of day-where are they now? Little or no distinction is now left between them and their brethren of the Established Church. Parliamentary Reform has been carried by a nation's acclamation, and Reformers are the only patriots. Mr. Smith was engaged in six contested elections. He sat in Parliament forty-six years, eighteen for the boroughs of Sudbury and Camelford, and the last twenty-eight for Norwich. As a speaker, though not oratorical or commanding, he was clear, ready, fluent, and pointed. Though firm to his principles, he never permitted party feeling to degenerate into personal hostility. He commenced his political career under the auspices of Mr. Pitt, as a Reformer: but when that gentleman abandoned his reforming principles, Mr. Fox became his guide, or his example, for the last fortythree years of his political life. For Mr. Fox's public character and private virtues he had an unbounded admiration and love, which continued undiminished to the last. In all Mr. Fox's difficulties and trials, in his painful and affecting separation from Mr. Burke, and in his difference with Sheridan, Mr. Smith never abandoned his friend. He never for one instant forgot the lessons he had learned from this great patriot and good man. Mr. S.'s career is now closed, but the impress of his toils and his virtues will remain in the memory of his survivors and his friends; his country has already put its seal upon his faithful labours in the holy cause of the liberty and the happiness of mankind. From the Morning Chronicle. MARRIAGES AND DEATHS. Married.]-Henry Coe Coape, Esq., eldest son of H-Coape, Esq., of York-place, and Maldon, Essex, to Sidney Jane, third daughter of Major-General the Hon. Sir Henry King, K.C.B. Richard Pierce Butler, Esq., eldest son of Sir T. Butler, bart., of Bullin Temple, in the county of Carlow, to Matilda, second and youngest daughter of Thomas Cookson, Esq., of Hermitage, in the county of Durham. Captain Thomas William Nesham, 66th regiment, son of Captain Nesham, R.N., to Caroline Harriet, youngest daughter of T. H. Bulteel, Esq., of Bellevue, Devon. At Edinburgh, Sir James Stuart, bart., of Allanbank, to Katherine, second daughter of Alexander Monro, Esq., M.D., of Craiglockhart, Professor of Anatomy in the University of Edinburgh. At Lullingstone, the Rev. Nicholas Fiott, Vicar of Edgware, Middlesex, to Harriet Jenner, second daughter of Sir Percival Hart Dyke, bart., of Lullingstone Castle, Kent. At St. George's, Bloomsbury, Mons. Marie Louis Robert Ali, de Boulogne, to Elizabeth Bridget, eldest daughter of the late Thomas Forman, Esq., of Coombe Park, Greenwich, and of Pyndaryn, Merthyr Tydvil, Glamorgan, Died.]-At Ripley, in his 35th year, Lieut.Colonel C. H. Somerset, second son of the late Right Hon. Lord Charles Henry Somerset, nephew of the late Duke of Beaufort, and Lieut. Colonel of the 1st Royal Regiment of Dragoons. At Vine-house, Milborn port, Somerset, Sir William Coles Medlycott, bart., aged 68. S. O'Halloran, Esq., for many years in the Commissariat at Jamaica and other West India Islands, John Armstrong, Esq., late Major of his Majesty's 5th Regiment of Dragoon Guards. At the Rectory House, at Bangor, in the county of Flint, (of which parish he had been rector thirty-seven years,) the Rev. Maurice Wynne, LL.D., of Llwyn, in the county of Denbigh, aged 75, the last male descendant of the house of Gwydir. At Cowes, the Right Hon. Mary, the Baroness Kirkcudbright, wife of Robert Davies, Esq., M.P. At his brother-in-law's residence, Bruntsfield-house, Scotland, Major-Gen. Sir John Dalrymple, Bart. At his residence in the Place Vendome, Paris, the Eari of Devon. He was in his 67th year, having been born in July, 1768, and succeeded to the Viscountcy of Courtenay shortly before he was of age. The Rev. George Gray Stuart, son of the Hon. Archibald Stuart, of Balmerino, Vicar of Milborn St. Andrew and Dalish, Dorset, Domestic Chaplain to Lord Gray, of Gray and Kinfauns, and late curate of Heckmondike, Yorkshire. At Croydon, the Hon. George Anderson Pelham, aged 49, only brother of Lord Yarborough. In Addison-road, the Hon. Geo. Barrington, Captain in the Royal Navy, in his 40th year, second son of the late and brother to the present Viscount Barrington. At Tunbridge Wells, in his 56th year, MajorGeneral Francis Hepburn, late of the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards. At the house of his brother, the Hon. and Rev. R. B. Stopford, Cloisters, Windsor Castle, the Earl of Courtown, K.P., aged 70. In Fleet-street, E. Troughton, Esq., F.R.S.L. and E., F.R.A.S., &c. aged 81. PROVINCIAL OCCURRENCES IN THE COUNTIES OF ENGLAND, AND IN WALES, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND. CORNWALL. Truro.-The foundation stone of the Column to be erected in this place in honour of Richard Lander, the traveller in Africa, has been laid with suitable ceremonies. The Provincial Lodge of Freemasons having been invited to attend on the occasion, held their annual meeting then, instead of the 24th, the feast of St. John the Baptist. They proceeded to the spot, where a platform was erected for the ladies. The D.P.G.M. addressed to the assembly a very eloquent speech, which was followed by a very excellent address from Mr. Ellis, P.G.S. H. Willyams, Esq., chairman of the Lander Committee, also addressed the assembly, thanking the lodge for their assistance, which was acknowledged by the D.P.G.M. DEVONSHIRE. Tavistock Visiting Society.-A prospectus has been issued in Tavistock for establishing a society in that town which should have for its object the moral and religious education of the children of the poor. To effect these desirable ends it is proposed to divide the town into districts, appointing two visitors to each, who are to visit the houses of the poor, and to recommend to the committee of superintendence proper objects for the society's aid. His Grace the Duke of Bedford has become the patron of the society, and contributed liberally to its funds. HAMPSHIRE. Mr. Dean, who is employed in raising the guns, &c., from the wreck of the Royal George, had his attention lately drawn by some fishermen to an object under water, which they could not make out, but which they thought was copper or brass, as it left marks of those metals on the ropes with which they endea voured to sweep it; it was lying in four fathoms, at low water, and not far from Arrow Bank. Mr. Dean, on going down with his diving apparatus, soon discovered it to be the muzzle of a gun, sticking upright in the mud, with about four feet above the bottom, and fixing his chains to it, had no difficulty in drawing it out, and getting it on board his craft. It turned out to be a brass twelve pounder, ten feet long, and weighing thirty-one cwt., of most elaborate finish, and in high preservation. It was cast at Amsterdam in 1637, and bears the arms of Brabant upon it, with lions for supporters, and surmounted with the crown of Charlemagne, while the breech is ornamented with fleur de lis. On inquiry, we find that about forty years since, Beale, a fisherman of this town, crept up, after much perseverance, a heavy piece of ordnance, about a furlong from the wreck of the Royal George, and with the assistance of a vessel, endeavoured to convey it into shallow wa ter; but when near the Arrow Bank, the slings near the breech gave way, and they lost it, nor could they ever fix a fastening on it again. This is doubtless the same gun, and there being six feet of mud at the spot, will account for its upright position. In all probability, it was lost from some Dutch man-of-war, either in taking her guns in from, or putting them into a small craft alongside.- Hampshire Telegraph. KENT. A perfect specimen of geological transformation was discovered at Sandgate a few days ago. A tree 14 feet long, the fibres of which bespeak it to have been either of the cedar species or a sapling oak, was found embedded in the sandstone rock, 20 feet from the surface. A portion of the specimen exhibits a petrifaction of the timber, combined with a substance of Kentish rag-stone.-Dover Telegraph. STAFFORDSHIRE. The tedious inquiry into the causes of the disturbances at Wolverhampton has been brought to a conclusion; and, in candour and justice, we must acknowledge that the conduct of the populace, both previously to and after reading the Riot Act, has been proved, upon most respectable evidence, to have been exceedingly violent and outrageous. We do not know why Sir Frederic Roe should have wished to conduct the inquiry in private. It is now quite evident that it was not with the intention of favouring the magistrates or the military, whose defence against the charges made by the demagogues of the Political Unions was quite strong enough to bear the light of day. The case of both civil and military authorities would have been seriously prejudiced by a private inquiry, because the public would have believed that course to have been adopted for no other purpose than to smother the truth; whereas the open investigation which Lord John Russell most properly ordered, has afforded them the opportunity of clearing themselves in the eyes of the public opinion as rapidly as the evidence which establishes their justification could be carried to all parts of the kingdom on the wings of the Press. YORKSHIRE. Disinterment of ancient Trees-Curiosity was somewhat excited lately towards the probable condition in ancient times of the ground on which the northwestern portion of the town (Sheffield) has so long been built, in consequence of the discovery of two very large trees in the excavation designed for the tank of a gasometer in Love-lane. These remains lie embedded in stiff argillaceous mud, under soft blue clay, and about fifteen feet below the surface. The tree first uncovered lies in a direction from S.W. towards N.E., and appears to have been not less than 25 to 30 feet in height, and from 15 to 18 inches in diameter at the bottom; the other, which lies at the foot of the last mentioned, appears about the same size; but it is as yet only partially exposed; both appear to have been oaks, and the fibre, though dyed black, appears but little injured; they had upon them, when first found, several large boughs, which the workmen have chopped off; the bark also remains in some places. It is worthy of remark, that near the thicker end of one of the trunks a considerable portion of the wood has been evidently cut away, as if an attempt had been made to fell the tree. The blue clay, as well as the less adhesive substratum in which the timber occurs, contains considerable quantities of vegetable exuvia in different stages of decay. At what period or under what circumstances these remains were submerged, we are unable to say. "Belike they have lain there ever since Noah's Flood," said one of the excavators; we should think they were not quite so old as that. Certainly several centuries at least must have passed away since these now so profoundly prostrated trunks stood erect in the pride of vigorous treehood; but whether they grew on the spot where they now lie, or were washed thither by one of the great floods to which the Don appears in all ages to have been subject, are questions scarcely less difficult to solve, than would be the inquiry as to whose axe effected the cutting on the side of one of the trunks.-Sheffield Mercury. IRELAND. The gross produce of the Customs in Ireland in 1834 was 1,746,199/. 4s. 5d., and of Excise duties 1,961,0571. 38. 7d. Public Highways.-We believe it is not generally known that there are very few highways stopped up by justices, and other roads made in lieu thereof, which, if inquired into, would not turn out to be illegally done. At the last quarterly sessions at Chester, the justices there assembled decided that if any person stopped up an ancient highway, and in lieu of the same made another road (however commodious to the public the new road might be), yet should it afterwards appear that the person obtaining the order was not at the time vested with the fee of the land upon which the new road was made, the dedication to the public of the new road, in lieu of the ancient one, would be void; and of course the order would be voidable, and the public would be entitled to resume the occupancy of the old road at any subsequent time. This question is of great importance to all persons who have heretofore obtained orders of justices for diverting public roads; for instance, if a person is in the apparent possession of an estate, and such person shall not be vested with the fee, but only be tenant for years, for life, or in tail-or the estate is incumbered, and he has only the equity of redemption, such person cannot legally dedicate without every other person, having an interest in the property, joining in such dedication. We apprehend, therefore, that there are few diversions of roads made legally, for want of proper parties joining in the dedication, and we know not how the matter can be remedied. THE NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. THE NEW DOCTOR. A PLEASANT, pretty village is the village of Sutton Hill-built literally upon a hill; one long wide street straggling from the shady bottom, more than half way up, to the top-interspersed with two or three tall groups of Lombardy poplars, a few magnificent elms, and here and there a venerable hawthorn, rich, in the happy month of May, both in leaf and flower. The village dwellings peep in and out from amid these noble trees, in all the variety of hue and colour belonging to their respective classes. There is the grocer's-so called, because that is the more dignified of his several callings-but in fact it is the general shop, the multifarious dispensary of the village, famous for excellent butter, and the finest honey within ten miles round-there it stands, built of red brick, glowing and glaring in the summer sun, the window-frames and door-posts painted a bright blue, and the step of spotless whiteupon which step stands the worthy grocer himself, glowing and glaring as his own red brick-there stands honest Jack Flare!-Flare !—what a curious association of name and colour! A little farther on, where that stray branch of the finest hawthorn forms a natural garland over the pretty bow-window, and seated in its shadow, her head bent over her work, sits Mrs. Luscombe, the widow of a half-pay lieutenant, with three little children to clothe, and feed, and educate, upon forty pounds a-year! No wonder, although her industrious dwelling contains only four rooms-two on each floor-she tries to let the "drawing-rooms.' Aye, smile away, courteous reader, and smile again, when I tell you that those two rooms are cheerful, clean, pleasant!-and so sweetly furnished the dimity curtains so white, and the prettiest of French beds, adorned with netted fringe-of various widths, it is true--and yet so tastefully looped up, that Patty Pratee-(what an appropriate name again! Patty Pratee the news-vender and licensed scandal-monger of the place, who lives yonder in the untidy dwelling, surmounted by a long poking chimney that appears to be looking down every chimney in the village!)-Patty Pratee herself praised the fringe to Jack Flare-(Qy. was it genuine, disinterested praise ?)-Jack Flare being known to have a strong affection towards his lady-like neighbour, pale Mrs. Luscombe —an affection which would long ago have ripened into "will you marry me?" but for the patent of gentility supposed to be possessed by a curate's daughter and an officer's widow, often, poor things! to their great discomfort. Aug.-VOL. XLIV. NO. CLXXVI. 2 F |