THE LATE IRISH INSURRECTION.
A correspondent of the Morning Chronicle, writing from Mullinahone, sayi :— # " Much baa been said and written on the rue and proffi-ess,' as well as on the * decline and fall,' of the Irish rebellion of 1848, but at yet the puilic cannot clearly understand how it came to pass that a conspiracy io deeply laid, orgtniied, and wide-spiead. could have been so easily ciushed— crushed almost without an effort on the part of the conipirators. I shall tell you. " At a respectable farmer's house not many miles south of the city of Kilkenny, there met, on the 25th of July— the Tuesday previous to the affair at Balhngarry—seven of the principal leaders of the insurrectionary movement. It was, in point of fact, a council of war. The first subject brought under consideration had reference, naturally enough, to the coramusimat ; and the question wai proposed, • How were the rebel forces to be maintained ?' This interrogatory was at once auswered by one of the most youthful, and certainly the most chivalrous and gifted, of the insurgent leaden. * How are we to maintain our friends,' said he, « bat at the expense of our enemies ? Those who ■re not with us are against us, and wesh»ll m»ke them pay the penalty of their disloyalty to their country. All were in favour of this bold, decided, and, under the circumstances, certainly not unreasonable proportion, save one, and that one was Smith O' Buen. I belong,' he replied, « to an ancient family-perhaps the oldest ia fiuropc-wlioie honour hub remained,
Dreadful Firb at Constantinople.— On Wednesday, August 16, towards seven in the evening, a moat lamentable fire broke out in Yemish Jskelessi (dried fruit bnizitr), situated between the two brid^ei. The intensity of the confl -gration acquired such force, on account of the surrounding inflammable matter, that in a short quarter of an hour it had extended itself in a fearful manner. In the immediate neighbourhood of the fruit bazaar was the Yagh Kapan, or oil depot, the ma^azinei and warehouses being well stocked with this inflammable matter; on the oher side, towards the arsenal, was an immense timber yard, the greatest m the city, a quarter of a mile in length, 100 feet m height, and 500 in breadth. At eight o'clock both these places were invaded by the flames. When the whole linr. of sphere on which the timber was p.led was one blazing sheet of flame, the appearance waa that of one burning uiau of liquid gold. What was still more grievous wai, that a compact ma« of shipping wai moored opposite to this spot, and the masting of seveial Turkish ve»seli. laden with oil, wheat, and timber, won took fire, and rendered the scene on the placid aud tranquil water still more sublime than on land. The shrill cries of the respective commanders of the menaced vessels, the long, continuous, and .avace howls of the nurmers and sailors, in their endeavours to dr.iw their crafts from the tlieatre of the conflagration, all tended to impress the spectator ■ wiHi the grandeur ot the dreadful calamity thai had befallen the cry of Constantinople. Towards nine o'clock the fire had spread out in an awful manner. In one direction it was travelling at a rapid rate towards Ulmoumjilar, in another toward* the Uzan Cataki, whilst on the other it was raging at the Odun Kipoussj. Notwithstanding great efforts were made to pi event its spreading towards the hill, which g.adunlly rises until it reaches the cre»t, on which stands the mosque Sulymanieh, and rbse to that the palaces of several vizirs, the Sheik-ul-Islam, Kapousse (Port of the Ulemas.) aud otoer extensive public and private buildings, with their hanging gardens and kiosks, « ivm all of no avail. The houses were destroyed ons after the other. The dimes rushed up the walls, and stood like pyramids of fire in the air. At length, at about eleven o'clock, the pinnacle of one of the minarets of Su'eymameh, on the extreme height, and hi ly one mile from the icene of destruction, caught n«.
A singular spectacle indeed it was, to see this airy meteor burning and blazing away, while tbe flames in a vast body kept beating like wavei against the angle of the Sheikul-Islam's palace, after having destroyed, in rapid succession, all the intervening building*. At about midnight it had reached Baluk Bazaar, in the immediate neighbourhood of the new bridge, and iir^at anxiety was entertained respecting the Drug Uazaar, which is a splendid building, well known to tourists who visit the city. In the opposite direction it had reached the Skemne^ekr, and was proceeding at a rapid rate towards the Oun Kapan. The efforts made by the Turks to extinguish the fire was useless ; they everywhere ceased, and were mostly employed in pulling down buildings. With the poor inhabitants it was a general sauve gui petit ; indeed, many were %> surrounded by the flames as to be unable to escape, and were burned to death. Near Oun Kapan a dreadful destruction of life occurred, ond it is said that upwards twenty persons have perished. At two o'clock in the morning the fire had abated in its violence for want of fuel to aliment it, and about half-past tl r e no more danger was anticipated. The fire has con* sumsd, according to a deta'led estimate, about 2500 shops and 500 houses; about forty of the latW wne splendid palaces belonging to Sheik-ul Islam, Moustipha Pacha, Said Pacha, Inet P»cha*. HassHDi Pacha, and others. The general losi is cumulated at averaging from £2,01)0,000 to .£4,000,000 sterling, hut some have carried to £5,000,000. We would state it at, approximative^, about i? 2,50 r >,ooo. To account foi th's great loss, it must be carefully understood thnt vast depositories of merchandze were kept here, besides whole bazaars of oil, fiuit. wax, ii.;ts. spices, tallow* coffee, sponge*, &c, as well as the establishments of the knife grinders, wholesale grocers, nut-sellers, &c. In addition to these must be noted nineteen khans, seven mosques, four baths, two public granaries, 15,000 bushels of rice belonging to tue Pacha of Egypt, a governmrnt steam-mill and 17 vessel*, and among the rest an Austrian and Russian vessel, &c. This fire exceeds that of Pera two months back, not only in the extent, but in the value of the objects destroyed. Here people are positively ruined, as their all was there. A frightful night of havoc indeed it was. The Sultan went incognito to the icene of destruction, and subiequently took up hit position in a steamer in the arsenal. The alarm gunt have just I een fired, and it is said that a serious conflagration had broken out at Karagumruk, towards the Seven Towers. Coal. — We think there is every probability thatVun. Diemen's Land will be as celebrated for its coal fields as South Australia for its lead and copper. We before mentioned the extensive and valuable seams of extreme thickness at Fingal and the Break o'-day. The disadvantage of both was the distance from the water ; and worse still, from any available shipping place. A new seam has been ditcovered which is free from either disadvantage, by Dr. Milligan, who has just leiurned from an examination of that extensive coal-field whither he was despatched by the Governor, to ascertain more pnticularly what were the capabilities afforded for an easy system of good coal, as well to the city, as for steam, manufacturing purposes, and export. It is eight and a half feet thick, highly bituminous, bums to a fine light coke, and is but six miles from Long Point, on the eastern coast, which affords shelter from every wind, except the south-east, one from which the wind very seldom blows, and when it does, a vessel can be peifec ly secure by running to the other side of the point.— H. T. Advertiser. Regulation of Public Meetings.— A sense is growing in Prance and England, that while discussion ii left perfectly free, it is deiirable to keep it distiuct from plotting which pursues its unhallowed Gouneils under pretext of discussion. The French Assembly has been discussing a law of clubs ; and M. Coquerel, one of the metropolitan deputies, threw out a suggestion thnt clubs should be recognised, but required to deposit caui ion-money with government ; which would, as it were, be taking security from revolution that it should behave respectably. At a meeting of Chartists in the Cripplegaie Theatre, this week, for the benefit of the Irish rebels who are enjoying the London sea~ son) the chairman furnished a very sitisfactory illustration of the aJvantige wbich would accrue from affixing a definite responsibility on pulilic meetings. He seemed to feel an unusual degree of moral responsibility, declined to sanction oi permit any overt " sedition," and retned from the ch»ir ; a courie which manifestly checked the seditious tendency of the crowd. Now, by enartmg the responsibility which Mr. Kennedy volunteered, a great step would be gained towards the maintenance of order. The difficulty in respect to publ.c meetings is, to combine perfect freedom for lawful discussioa witn responsibility for going beyond the bounds of lawful discussion. By making simple attendance at a public meeting without a duly appointed, chairman illegal, and then making the chairman primarily responsible for the conduct of the meeting,— with power to clear bimseli by giving up a real offender, yon would fix a definite and easily fulfilled responsibility on every one present ; would define the duty of police ; and would yet leave all lawful dUcusiioo without check or hinderance. It appears to us that such a law would add weight and influence to all legitimate public discussion. — Spectator.
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New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 279, 31 January 1849, Page 3
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1,609THE LATE IRISH INSURRECTION. New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 279, 31 January 1849, Page 3
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