SCOTLAND.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 22, 28 December 1863, Page 3

SCOTLAND.

(rBOM OUB OWN CORRESPONDENT.) GLASGOW. 24th October, 1863. Unless for tbe passing excitement occasioned by the sitting of the Autumn Circuit Court in Glas" gow, — the Western metropolis has, during the pastmonth, suffered something like a partial eclipse* rendered the more striking through the brilliant light which has recently fallen upon" Auld Reekie." Tiie Prince and Princess of W^es, who appear iv* tent upon making themselves popular north of the Tweed, returned from Balmoral on the Ist instant, and paid a visit to Edinburgh on their way south, which raised the loyal feeling of the Scottish capital to something like a climax. Excited mobs met tbe royal couple at the station, and accompanied them to Douglas' Hotel, in St. Andrew's Square, with every demonstration of delijjht and affection, which, on account of the darkness that pre. vailed, could hardly have beon inspired by the beauty of the Princes*, or the condescending notice of her amiable husband. The Princess received the Edinburgh casket presented to her, from a deputation in Holy rood on tbe day after her arrivaland on the evening of the same day the Prince and Princess dined with Provost Lawson, in George's Square, an honor which gave rise to some fears that the worthy seedsman's head would be turned, and his wits sent a " wool gathering," as happened to tbe immortal " Jamie Forrest," when Queen Victoria -caught him and his bailies napping. Provost Lawson, who is noted <& right good fellow, has re* cently added to his own mansion the adjoining house, and had thus ample accommodation for the Prince and Princess, and a brilliant circle of bailies decked off with a few of the honorables who accompanied the Prince. I have neither seen a correct card of the entrees, cor an authentic list of the guests ; but the whole affair was brilliant in the extreme, at least for a fote under the roof of the first magistrate of Edinbnrgh. A window of the Provost's dining room was knocked out, and entered upon a conservatory of exotics no doubt supplied with the most choice specimens from the Provost's own arbors. Provost Clouston of Glasgow felt after the visit which Lord Palmerston paid him, that he htid been singularly blessed, but after what has happened to the eastern potentate, our own Lord Peter must Bing very small. On the game day as the Prince arrived in Edinburgh, the Prince and I Princess of Prussia reached the capital on their way ncrth to Balmoral— a visit so far unexpected and unheralded. Three children, constituting the family of the Princess Royal, accompanied the royal pair. Greetings between the Princess and her bro'her and sister were very warm ; but nothing is said of how the stiff backed Fritz behaved himselfThe Princess Royal made considerable purchases among the bewildered and delighted shopkeepers of Edinburgh, and after visiting Hblyrood and the Castle, took herway north to Abergeldie.just vacated by the Prince aod Princess of Wales. The ' peasantry ' around Balmoral, express themselves delighted with the ' bonny* Princess of Wales, and gave the Princess Royal a right royal welcome. On , a recenfc Sunday, Her Majesty attended service at ! Cratbie Church, and was much affected by the ' service. Following in the wake of Eoyal visits, the meeting of the Social Science Association at Edinburgh, attracted a large number of learned and influential visitors to the northern cajiitaL The business of the Association began upon Monday, the sth inst., by BOrne preliminary arrangements carried out under the direction of the Secretary of the Association. The Parliament House, High street, was wholly devoted to the accommodation of the Association,—and in addition, the hall of the Free Church College, and the Established Assembly HaU Castle Hill, were opened for special purposes'. In the Fres Church College Hall, Lord Brougham delivered bis inaugural address upon

the evening of WedneMay, the 7th instant, tolisten to which, the elite of Edinburgh turned out, as well as the whole multitude of notables as. sembled in the city. The veteran waa received with a hearty welcome, and after shortly referring to the lessening distance which separated him from friends gone, he launched into his subject. He drew attention to the atrocities committed in Poland in the name of law and order by the satraps of the Czar, ami tnade some bitter comments upon the arrogance and criminal ambition of the American Federals. While makin* these comments, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, brother ot Mrs Beecher Stowe, who happened to be in the front of the gallery, rose in a passion and left the HaiL Lord Brougham afterwards drew attention to convict discipline, Parliamentary legislation, work for wotnon, and kindred matters. At considerable length he reverted to the progress which co operation has made among the working-classes, which admirable system ho traced back to the rudimentary experiments attempted by the philanthropist, Hobert Owen, at New Lanark and other localities. Workmen's clubs were likewise alluded to, and the veteran reform°r's interest in all that affects the welfare of the workman was thoroughly vindicated by th« notice taken of industrial -novementa. Upon the following day Tswd •Curriehill — an eminent " paper" Lord — delivered a long oration upon some needed im« prove men ts in Scottish law connected with titles to land. Of course a very few were alone interested in this dry and technical subject, and a question for debate is how guch subjects are introduced into the business of tke Association. The Saturday Review defined the business of the Association to be a more or less -connected discussion of matters generally reckoned too dull far conversation ; but this rather broad licence falls far short ot thai taken by the office-bearers who select paper* to be read. Everybody who has a hobby or a grievance, appears to have a chance of gettiag it debated, and the present session is particularly prolific in the variety of the papers to be discussed. Dr Macadam, the brother of Professor Macadam, of Melbourne, for instance, read a paper on the spoiling of Btreams by paper works; and a Mr RevnoMa lectured upon the effects of tobacco on the system. Midway between these extremes, papers were discussed upon all sorts o f subjects. Sometime since I beard a shopkeeper express his disgust at the police for ordering him to ciear aw ay his goods left 0:1 the street, which incommoded the thoroughfare, and to my amazement he declared his intention of exposing the whole police system, and his own particular grievance before the Social Science Association, which in his eyes appeared to be a sort of cheap Court of Session, where indignation might be ventilated without the cost of lawyer's fees. To illustrate the jumble of subjects which so recently tormented the pundits of " Auld Reekie" who attended the proceedings of the Social Science Association, papers were read by Mr Frasrr, of Paisley, upon his own notions of education, and by the precise Professor G'hnstison, of Edinburgh, v.ion the types of disease in Edinburgh ; on the drainage and dirt of Leith, by some reformer not troubled with excitable olfactories ; on hospitals, from the pen of Florence Nightingale; on the eariy-closing movement, by the pious and Sabbath-observing Dr He<™ ; upon licensing of public-houses by Provost Lindsay, of L:;ith ; to which admirably-varied catalogue mj^hfc be arWed eccentricities never dreamt ot even among the unpractical geniuses of the University of Laputa, where Gulliver made tbe acquaintance, it will be reaembered, ot philosophers more unreasonable and flighty than the Social Science Association has yet lent its august patronage to. 'I'he Association would give another Swift an admirable text for another volume of travels, but the lustre which Lord Brougham and other learned patrons lend it for a time must hide its defects from the public gaze. Prince Alfred, in a Stewart tartan philabeg, has been attending the conversaziones and meetings of the Association, and is described as being particularly good-looking and amiable. Various incidents are report d in connexion with bis visits to the different departments of the Association, in all of which he showed admirable patience in listening to the papers read. He entered one of the departments while Mr Alesa-nder Campbell, of Glasgow, was reading a paper on cooperation, which incident Air Campbell Tather adroitly took advantage of, by referring to the interest taken by the Duke of Kent, the Prince's grandfather, in the cooperation sch mes of Mr Owen, lit New Lanark, which reference was acknowledged by the audience with clamorous applause, and by tlie Prince with a most condescending recognition. Among other 1 ddfties connected with the philanthropic gathering was a fete given to the " working classes," at which tbe piece de resistance Kits Montcvidean beef cunningly cooked in various ways, and offer* d us a chief substitute for flesh to our operative class. The idea of advertising the commodity under this philanthropic disguise waa worthy of Barnum himself, but unfortunately for the ftlontevidean agents who undertook the advertising experiment, the viands were pronounced execrable. The beef which I have tasted is dried before being sent home, and seems to defy every softening influence. Between the teeth it feels like decayed cordage, and can serve no better purpose than to make soups and gravies, for which it is admirably fitted. This plan of advertising is not likely to be lost sight of, and we may expect to find the philosophers, attending future sittings of the Association, fed upon every variety of sustenance which is in want of a little extra puffery. Now Zealand speculators in want of a market ought not to forget the Social Science Association, and to what base Uses it way be adroitly turned. On the 23th ult., the autumn sitting of the Glasgow Circuit C-mrfc opened, an.-i extended over a weeW. Tbe cases tried were numerous, and if they were not stained by any glaring atrocity, the unusual character ot some of the cases tried excited attention. An unexpected number of cases of infanticide were disposed of, and curiously enough, the number of crin>in&l assaults upon young women and girls was quite unprecedented. The details of the eases of infanticide were particularly painful, and the severity of the sentences passed, even exci'ed the comments of the London pr,;s*. Mary M'Cue, a worker at the Black land Mill Bleach Works, near Paisley, was tried for the murder of her infant chttd, to which she had given birth in " B.ick Knowe," a patch of brushwood near the Works she was employed in. The medical evidence went to show that something had been hell over the child's mouth after it was born to prevent it breathing, and upon this rather loose testimony, ; Mary was sentenced to penal servitude for life. Marsrnret Murray, a young servant girl, residing in Bruband PI 'Cc, Gresnoek, was tried for the murder of her infant, an illegitimate child, by bruising or crushing i^s head immediately after birth, which it was shown might heve been occasioned in various ways. Poor Margaret was nev. nheless sentenced to 21 years of penal servitude. Another case, in which the culprit was a married woman belonging- to<fohnstone, was tried, and with the same result as iv Margaret Murray's case. The cases of criminal assault were exceedingly numerous, the culprits ranging from fourteen years of age to upwards of sixty years. These cases were, of course, tried with closed doors, and none of the disgusting details connected therewith have reached the public ear. A case of murder, at Muryhill, was tried, clcsing in a verdict of not guilty i 1 favor of one of the culprits, and not proven in the other. The alleged cirao was perpetrated during a religious brawl between the Catholic and Protestant, fanatics of Maryhill, the victim being a hotheaded young Protestant, who evidently courted a conflict with his sectarian antagonists. An approaching excitement which promises to stir the dull atmosphere of our city, is the election of our Civic representatives. Sirae old * favorites," such as Bailie Govan, notable for Ms advocacy of the pump, promise to be re-elected, and several new and notable candidates are in the field. A Mr M<isson offers to oust Mr Thomson in the second ward, and Mr William Neilson, insurance broker, and connected with Bal rou, offers to fill the seat to be vacated by Bailie Gamill, who retires from tbe Council on the plea of ill-health. Mr Councillor Moir, the Gallowgafce tribune, will, of course, expect to drop into Baillie Gam ill 'a bailieship, and in the meantime, " Rory " begins to adapt himself to his magisterial duties. In the Glasgow papers of Tuesday last, was published Mr Moir's reply to some questions put to him by a deputation of citizens, complaining of the abo minable extortions practised by the officials of our local Dean of Guild Court. The reply is only a few lines in length, and -besides being a model of impertinence, explains to the agent wha wrote to Mr Moir that the best thing the complainers can do is to abide by the law, and obey it. The respect for the law, and defence of its majesty, comes rather queerly from the Councillor who, some years since, led a "tail" of raggamuffins over the sward in Kelvin Grove Park on a memorable Sunday afternoon in defiance of the law, and in ptOOt Of bis right to break it. While municipal electors generally are preparing for battle, a section of them, composed of the ratepayers of Govan parish, are at present enjoying a temporary conflict At a recent meeting of the Govan Board, it was "proposed, under various protests, to hand over ineifttothe head Inspector- Mr Kirkwood, the handsome douceur of £100. The Chairman (Mr

' Wilkie) supported tha proposal, but since ho is captain of the same volunteer company that Mr Kirkwook is lieutenant" 'la;- suspicions were immediately attached to the Chairman's friendly advocacy. Mr Councillor Binnio, who supported the project, it was shown, had a testimonial presented to him raai«ly through the exertions of Mr Kirkwood, and this fact gave a peculiar hue to the Councillor's wnrtn eulogiums on the Inspectors capabilities. The movement had indeed all the appearance of being promoted by a clique, and the consequence has been the provocation of au outside clamor which will spoil the '<job." On the 9th, a most dismal accident occurred on the Greenock Railway, at the Port Glasgow Station. The train which usually brings up the Irish passengers, had reached the Port about half-oast sir in the mornin<», aurl was considerably behind its time. While resting tu9re, an engine came up behind from Greenock, and Tan into the stationary train, killing one man, breaking both the thighs of a Mrs M'Elkennie — since dead — aad hurting other passengers most seriously. Carelessaesß was present somewhere, which the inquiry , now pending, may reveal. , On Tuesday last Prince Alfred visited Glasgow, and was shown over the cif-y by the Lord Provost, bailie Blaekie, the provost to be, and other public beadles. Tiie Prince visited the spinning; factory of Mr Bailie Grant in the East end, and after driving through the Green, went outtoThor.ilie Bank to lunch with Mr Crum, and see over his extensive works. T!ie Prince afterwards visited Napier's building yards, on the -south side of .the river, at Govan, where he examined and admired three ironclad frigates building 1 for the Sultan of Turkey. He eventually dined with the Provost, in Park Terrace, in company with a few select business friends of Mr J'iou«ton's, and the provost's family circle. The Prince returned to Edinburgh in the evening, with a grateful remembrance of his visit to our city. It is alleged that Lord Provost Clouston i 3 greatly disappointed at the prospect of resigning office without a handle to hiß r.ame. It was expected that on the Prince of Wales' marriage provost Clouston, along with the chief magistrates of Edinburgh and Dublin would have been made knights, but it was not to be. !