IRELAND. Dublin, Tuesday Morning, March 2.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 652, 14 July 1852, Page 3

IRELAND. Dublin, Tuesday Morning, March 2.

Departure op the Earl op Clarendon. The Earl and Countess of Clarendon held an undress reception at three o'clock yesterday evening, which was extremely well attended. Contrary to general iisage in these cases, their Excellencies did not sail for England after the completion of this ceremony, but deferred their departure until this morning, when they bid farewell to Ireland. Early in the forenoon a deputation from the Chamber of Commerce waited upon the noble earl for the purpose of presenting him with an address on his retirement from the arduous task of governing this country. The address having, in the absence, through illness, of Mr. Guinness (the President), been read by Mr. Leland Crossthwaite, Lord Clarendon read the annexed excellent reply : — " Gentlemen, — T am most thankful to you for this record of your good opinion and kind feelings. The bigbest reward to wbicb a public man can aspire is tbe approbation of his fellow countrymen, and to receive sucb a testimonial from the Chamber of Commerce of Dublin, composed as it is of men perfectly acquainted witb tbe true interests of Ireland, and actively engaged in promoting them, fulfils every object of my ambition, and will always be remembered by me with mingled feelings of pride and gratitude. 11 On my appointment to tbe office which I have had the honour to fill for nearly five years, tbe difficulties which beset the Government were doubtless of no ordinary character ; it was tbe will of Providence that Ireland sbould be afflicted by a calamity, unparalleled for its extent and duration, and unparalleled also for the patience and resignation with which it was borne; but widespread ruin, not unnaturally, engendered feelings of despair, and the national energies were paralysed and prostrate. "It then appeared to me that my official position might be turned to useful account ; and, although I had not tbe presumption to think that I occupied the chair of practical wisdom, which, according to the happy expression in your address, sbould be the. seat of authority, yet I resolved to miss no opportunity of declaring, in the fiank language of conviction, that tbe Government and the Legislature might, and ought to, alleviate tbe sufferings of the people; but that tbe real and only remedy for the misfortunes of Ireland would be found in that spirit of exertion and self-reliance which necessity seldom fails to evoke in manly minds, and the firm determination to overcome and not be conquered by difficulties, however appalling. I bad no claim to influence public opinion, but I hoped to turn public attention towards what I believed to be for the good of all. Tbe advice wbicb, as a friend, I took the liberty to offer was received in a corresponding spirit ; and it is to that, rather than to any efforts of mine, that we now owe tbe satisfaction of knowing that the energies of liishmen have been roused, that the national resources arp better developed, and that tbe industrial progress of the country is placed upon a sounder and more permanent btibis. " I thank you for the terms in whicb you have expressed yourselves upon the relations we have bad together, and I can with truth say that I never received a deputation from the Chamber of Commerce without feeling myself indebted to them for some useful knowled go or advice upon matteis of public interest respecting which it was my duly to become informed. " Individually and collectively, gentlemen, my best wishes will always attend you. I hope it is unnecessary for me to assure you of my attachment to this country j but if you desire to prove your belief in my sincerity, and at the same to confer a favour upon myself you will never hesitate to command my services at any tune

and in .my way that you may think them calculated to be beneficial to lieland." * The Corporation of Dublin also presented an address, to which Lord Clarendon made gracious and impressive reply. Eight o'clock this morning has been fixed for the departure of the Lord- Lieutenant, with the Countess of Clarendon, family and suite, from this country foi England. At the above hour the Viceregal party v*ill leave Dublin Castle, and proceed by special train from Westland-row to Ringstown, where, immediately on their arrival, they will embark on board the Ehlana* Government steamer, which has been for some time in waiting in Kingstown harbour for the purpose of receiving them, and cross thence to Holyhead. The departure will, of course, be of a strictly private chaiacter.

Viceregal Appointments. It is stated that some of the present (or late) possessors of office in the Viceregal household will not be removed by the incoming Lord-Lieu-tenant. Captain Willis will continue in the post of Gentleman Usher, and Captain Molyneux, Major Ponsonby, and Mr. Harvey are also to retain their places. The Earl of Boctive is to succeed Earl Mount-Charles as State Steward, and Captains Petit and Munday are to hold the offices under the new arrangements, together with Captain the Hon. John Jocelyn Bourke and Lord Adolphus Vane as paid aides-de-camp. The Evening Mail states Mr. John Wynne, of Hazlcwood, in the county of Sligo, is likely to be the new Undcr-Secretary. This gentleman filled the office of Commissioner in the Devon Inquiry.

The Re-elections. Lord Naas has issued his address to the electors of the county of Kildare. Like the majority of Ministerial manifestoes, it is sufficiently vague and obscure to defy criticism, and in this respect differs from the candid, however discreet; declaration of political principles put forward by the Irish Soli-citoi-General. Lord .Naas merely refers to his past votes as the best guarantee for his future conduct, and promises, in his new capacity of Chief Secretary, to devote all his influence to ameliorate the present distressed stale of agriculture, to promote commercial progress (not, surely, by the restoration of Protection), and to further the social improvement of the people of Ireland. Mr. Cogan's electoral address has also been issued. The struggle will be a severe one, but. even the friends and supporters of the Chief Secretary do not conceal their fears of a result adverse to Lord Naas. The accounts from Enniakillcn also speak of a neck-and-neck race between the SolicitorGeneral and Mr. Collnm ; but upon the whole the Government are more sanguine of success there than in the county of Kildaie, with its eminently Whig and Roman Catholic constituency. The Rev. Gerald Doyle, parish priest of Naas, who is quite a host in his own person, happens to be a relative of the Radical candidate. The election for the County of Cork is fixed for Monday, the 15th of March. Mr. Fagan A\iil not have a walk-over; on the contiary, his opponents are almost "legion." There is, in the first place, Mr. Alexander Macarthy, who formerly represented the city of Cork, already in the field; a third candidate, Mr. W. M. Drew, of Queenstown, has also addressed the constituency on free-trade prii c pics, and it is said that a fourth, Mr. Vincent Scully, who has lately purchased property in the county, is likewise in the field, and that his friends are confident of his having a very ampje share of support. Mr. Scully is in favour of moderate protection. Other claimants are spoken of, but sufficient for the day is the evil hereof. As another instance of the fury of faction, Mr. William Fagm's pretensions are fiercely disputed by the parish priest of Mallow, the Rev. Justin M'Carthy, who prefers a bill of indictment against the would-be member in the terms following:— '* Much as I value him as a public man, I must withhold Irom him the small amount of aid I may be able to render him in the attainment of his present object, in consequence of his being one of the most signal supporters of a system of education pronounced to be fraught ' with giave and intrinsic dangers to faith and morals,' by the supreme teaching authority in the Church of God. Convinced as I am that evils more formidable will follow from the perpetuation of a system from which the youth of Ireland cannot fail to take in intellectual poison, than can result from material legislation, and believing Mr. Fagan to be an aident and talented supporter of this system, doubly condemned by the successor of Christ in the visible government of the Church. I must consider his opinions on this point, as far as I am concerned, more disqualifying than opinions I may deem erroneous on most other polkical questions. lam fully aware that Mr. Fagan lias many strong claims to public favour, and I estimate at their full value the services he has rendered, but this only makes me regret the more, in common with many of my sacerdotal brethren, that bis views clash so much with those authoritatively put forward by the head of the Catholic Church, on a subject so important as that of national collegiate education." Who shall live to see the end of the " Irish, difficulty ?"

The Mukder op Mk. Bateson. It is understood that the Crown has obtained a ccrtiorari to remove the record of the proceedings, relative to the prosecution of the prisonei's charged with the murder of Mr. Bateson, to the Court of Queen's Bench, where the suspected pai ties will be tried next Term,

m »~l ■'■i.ilin I ' " UMjgtfci .' i — —■.■■■!■■ ... ■ " ■■ MM Extraordinary Proceeding at the Birmingham Sessions.—During the present week a prisoner of the name of James Irving was called upon to plead to an indictment for receiving goods knowing them to have been stolen, upon which Mr. OBrien (counsel), instructed hy Mr. Thomes Harding, solicitor, of Birmingham, handed in a plea on parchment, that the grand jury which had jeturned the bill, and all other bills during the session, and were then discharged, had not been properly constituted inasmuch as a gentleman of the name of Aspinall was at the time of his so serving as a juror one of the council of the borough. Furthermore, that by the sth and 6th of William IV. (commonly called the Municipal Act) town-councillors are absolutely incapacitated from sitting on any grand jury, and that such act did not piovide for a mere exemption only. Sir Eaulley Wiltnot, on behalf of the prosecution, obtained time until the following sitting of the Couit to file a replication or demurrer to the plea, and the learned Recorder, Mr. M. D. Hill. Q.C., instantly adjourned the sessions for that puipose. At the opening of ihe Court the following 1 day Sit E. Wilmot filed a demmrer, and the recoiderthereupon made a veiy able aiul elaborate statement, selting out the law upon the subject, from which it appeared that no similar proceeding had t.iken place for upwards of 400 yeurs. The learned gentleman did not, however, finally dispose of the matter, but adjourned the session until the 31st of October, to aifoid time for a more full and complete consideration of the case, and refused to proceed with the trial of any more of the prisoners. Another objection was raised, which applies to every prisoner who has been tried during the session, viz., that there were twenty-four members of the grand jury uis'ead of twentythree, and it is stated tint this wll be sufficient to reverse each of the convictions by writ of error in the Court of Queen's Bench. A Parliamentary paper printed on the 28th of Jdiiuary, contains a letutti of the total number of persons who have emigra'cd fjora the United Kingdom to British possessions or to foreign coniries from 1846 to 1850, inclusive. Ii appears that the total number ofemigrants dining the five \ears was 1,216,557. Of tlu-se 53,434: were despatched by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, leaving 1,163,123 as the number who have actually emigrated at their own expense. The nuinbei of adults who embaiked horn Dtptibrd was 22,690 ; and iiom Plymouth. 29,338. The expense of conveying emigiants sent for embaikation from London within the same peiiod amounted to £8634 14s. 4d., and fiom London to Plymouth £52 Is. 6'd. From the report of the gardener to whose eire the trees of the Crystal Palaco were entrusted, it seems that the o'd elms under the glass shade, so far fiom being injured by their confinement, have increa->ed in their bianches ironi six to seven feet, whilst the elms in the raik have nude, on the average, only oue foot of j'loots.