Let them rave of the Dungeon, the steel, and the cord,
Let our legions be charged by the sons of the sword,
When our comrades were captured they dared not condemn,
The steel and the cord were all harmless to them.

The Charter! the Charter! why lingers the day
When the feeble shall rule, and the proud ones obey?
When the falchion shall gleam in the artizan's hand,
And tyrants shall tremble when freemen command?

'GLASGOW :-PRINTED BY GEORGE RICHARDSON, 35, MILLER STREET.

THE development of the plot is proceeding. Since we inflicted upon Mr. Wallace the castigation he so richly merited, circumstances have transpired which prove, beyond the possibility of dispute, that every assertion we then made was fully supported by facts. We felt confident that the learned gentleman was acting under the dictation of certain liberal inhabitants of Glasgow; that the motion of which he had given notice, and which he subsequently postponed (for what reason we shall presently see) was concocted in this city, and was intended by some means, of which the framers of it had but a vague conception, to annihilate the Peel Club. That confidence has now increased a hundred fold. Mortified at the complete failure of the plans arranged last year, the members of the Liberal Association are moving every power at their command to overthrow, by secret and indirect means, the opponents with whom they feel themselves utterly unable to cope in the fair open field of honourable conflict. Had they succeeded in removing from his office the present occupant of the Rectorial Chair, we should have heard nothing of Mr. Wallace's motion. But baffled in their ungenerous attack, failing to realize any advantage from their attempted organization, and sensible of their utter failure at their first and, in all probability, their last dinner, they are quite willing to disband their ranks if, by so doing, they can, by any possibility, accomplish the dissolution of the Peel Club.

The last few days has brought to light a Petition, which we will take

the liberty of introducing for the information and entertainment of our readers. It is in all respects worthy of the party from which it emanates. Here it is:

"HUMBLY SHEWETH,

"The Petition of the Undersigned MERCHANTS, MANUFACTURERS, BANKERS, and other Inhabitants of the City of Glasgow,

"THAT your Petitioners have beheld with deep regret, the great evil to the educational and other interests of the University of Glasgow, caused by the organized Association of the Students thereof into two political Clubs arrayed against each other, the one entitled "THE GLASGOW UNIVERSITY PEEL CLUB," established in the year 1836, on the occasion of a political festival given in honour of Sir Robert Peel, then Lord Rector of the University, and the other entitled "THE GLASGOW UNIVERSITY LIBERAL ASSOCIATION," and formed in February, 1839. May it therefore please your Honourable House to adopt such measures as to you in your wisdom may seem meet, for the purpose of abolishing both of the said Political Clubs within the University. And your petitioners will ever pray."

A more meagre document it is scarcely possible to conceive. We would almost defy any one, however shallow his intellect, to put together the same number of words so as to convey less meaning. One could almost imagine that it was the production of the united wisdom of her Majesty's ministers.

But what does the petition assert? That the establishment of the two Clubs has proved so detrimental "to the educational and other interests of the University of Glasgow," as to excite in the bosoms of those who have appeared so much of late in the garb of science, feelings of the deepest regret. Generous defenders of your country's literature! disinterested upholders of the cause of science! devout worshippers at the shrine of wisdom, sacred be your tears! hallowed be the sighs which the recreant conduct of the rising generation draw from the lowest depths of an oppressed bosom!

We would ask, however, which of the Clubs has most disturbed the peace of the University? Who was it that converted the quietude with which the present Session ought to have commenced into a scene of angry conflict, and thus give a tone, as it were, to the subsequent months? Which of the antagonist Clubs has resorted to discourteous means of attacking its rival, and thus fanned into a flame the spirit of party which would otherwise have continued dormant until circumstances might have demanded its energies? No one acquainted in the slighest degree with the history of the last five months can hesitate for an answer. And yet the patrons of this very association, the direct instigators of these proceedings, have now the effrontery to come forth and profess a most overwhelming regard for the educational interests of the University. Away with such hypocrisy !

But the petitioners speak of "other interests" in addition to those of an educational nature, as endangered by the existence of the rival Clubs. What these are it is not easy to discover. Probably they had in their minds a figure of speech, of not unfrequent application, in which a part is put for the whole, and thus the "other interests” may mean the interests of the Liberal party. That these interests are affected, and that in no slight degree by the existence of the two Clubs, is beyond a doubt. The manifest strength of the one, and the equally manifest weakness of the other, tell powerfully to the detriment of the interests of the Liberal party. This, in their view of the case, is no doubt a "great evil;" and hence we can place far more dependence in their professions of regret here than upon the previous point.

We have assumed, in the preceding remarks, that the petition upon which we are animadverting proceeds from the immediate patrons of the Liberal Association. Such we confidently affirm is the case. It forms but a part of the one great plan which is to accomplish such stupendous results! Tuesday next is the day to which Mr. Wallace has postponed his motion, and this petition is unquestionably intended to strengthen his hands and to furnish him with a plausible opportunity for abusing, in more unmeasured terms, the Peel Club. The petition is virtually, if not in fact, the petition of the Liberal Association.* To individuals unacquainted with the tactics of the party, it will no doubt appear strange that they should come forward and petition the Legislature to abolish their own Club, and this very fact indicates the existence of a secret scheme for the attainment of an object which they dare not attempt openly. They could, if they chose, disband their own ranks, but this would not suit their purpose. It would leave the Peel Club untouched, and it is for the sole purpose of overthrowing this that they secretly associate themselves with their rivals, and disinterestedly solicit the interference of the House of Commons.

We are aware that the defence usually put forth by the members of this Liberal Association is, that while reluctant to disturb the peace of the University, and anxious to disband their ranks, they are compelled to continue the existence of their Club, as they were in the first instance to establish it, simply as a defensive measure. A more absurd plea we have never heard. The fact is, that the Liberals were the first aggressors, not indeed by the establishment of their Association, but by the employment of external influence. The Peel Club was, no doubt,

* Since writing this, we have seen sundry members of the Liberal Committee parading the streets with certain suspicious looking rolls in their hands, for the undoubted object of obtaining signatures to the petition; and we are informed by a friend, that a gentleman was actually called upon yesterday, by a member of this Committee, and solicited to append his name. Can there be a doubt now as to its origin?

formed to commemorate the election of the illustrious leader of that noble band in the House of Commons, by whose disinterested conduct the Constitution has been preserved, to the office of Lord Rector, and to perpetuate the recollection of that unparalleled display of Conservative strength which then took place: but it was also formed with the direct view of counteracting the unfair influence which for many years had been so unscrupulously employed from without by the party whose motto is "Liberty," but whose actions are those of a tyrant. We are far from condemning the establishment of the Liberal Association. We cheerfully yield to our opponents the liberty which we claim for ourselves. Our complaint is, that they should descend to acts of petty annoyance, and endeavour to accomplish by secret and unfair means what they are unable to effect by an open and honourable course of conduct.

But we would ask,-how do the petitioners expect to secure their object? What power has the House of Commons to command the dissolution of the two Clubs? Literally none. We are banded together for no opposition to the laws of the land: we are no secret society, and hence the undoubted fate which awaits this petition is to be laid upon the table of the House, thence swept by the ruthless hand of a Clerk from its surface and rudely thrown beneath, beyond which we are unable to follow it. It will, however, serve one purpose which we have no doubt its framers have in view; it will give Mr. Wallace, as we have already said, a more plausible opportunity, than he would otherwise have, of abusing the Peel Club, and of venting upon it his impotent spleen. It is somewhat amusing to mark the manner in which they attempt to connect the Peel Club with its illustrious patron, intending, no doubt, to imply that Sir Robert had some hand in its establishment. Let them rest in the happy delusion if they choose. For ourselves, we are quite satisfied that he is our patron.

We now leave the petition and its honourable originators to the contempt which they so richly merit, and, in conclusion, we tell them, as we have so frequently done before, that nothing will alter our determination to maintain our position, and to pursue our course with unflinching energy.

ADVENTURE IN THE BASQUE PROVINCES.

WHILE stationed near Passages, I had been so fortunate in my billet that when at a subsequent period I had resolved to avail myself of several weeks furlough to visit the south of France, I took up my quarters at the same cottage, previous to sailing from Passages for St. Jean de Luz.