London, Oct. 27, 1848.

Dear Sir:—Things are going on here so very quietly, that there is little to be said of public interest. Messrs. O'Brien, McManus, O'Donohue and Meagher, have all been tried and found guilty of high treason. The evidence agaisnt the first three was too strong to be resisted, but considerable difficulty was found in convicting Meagher. He appears to me to be decidedly the best of the Irish patriots. His youth, honesty, unselfishness and general nobility of character, have all procured for him much sympathy. But it is much to be regretted that a man of such talents, and such purity of purpose, should allow himself to be carried away by a cause which cannot possibly be productive of benefit. If the eloquence which he employed in denouncing past injuries, raking up old grievances, and exciting national animosities, had been used to inculcate patience, industry and forgiveness, he might thus have done much to elevate the character of the mass of the Irish people, and at the same time to bring their selfish landlords to a sense of their duties and responsibilities. There cannot be a doubt that the mass of the English people are most anxious for "just to Ireland," and therefore only evil can flow from a course which tends to excite ill-will between the two races. The Church of Ireland is a grievous burden—a perfect incarnation of robbery; but the English Church is an iniquity, and so is the Church of Scotland. Why, then, should blame be put upon Saxon shoulders for oppressions which equally with the Celts they are groaning under? It is perfectly surprising to see writers on your side of the Atlantic taking up the subject in the manner they do. If you want to benefit Ireland, subscribe your money—not to buy pikes, but to invest in railroads and works of public utility. Send over, not warriors, but missionaries, who will teach the people perseverance, industry and peaceful habits; and at the same time by their example inculcate independence of spirit and honesty of conduct, and depend upon it, you will emancipate Ireland much sooner than by sending a starving nation, to keep idle holidays or the mountain, and cheer claptrap speeches about Saxon misdoings two hundred years old.

Sentence of death has been passed upon all the prisoners, in the usual barbarous form, which is an utter disgrace to our Government to have retained upon the statute-book, especially after universal disgust had been created by it a few years ago in the case of Frost, Williams, and Jones. The sentence will not be carried out, a universal feeling prevailing in favor of clemency.

The Emperor of Austria has been again driven away from his capital by a rebellion of the people, in which two of the ministry were assassinated in a most atrocious manner. The Diet continues to sit in Vienna, and seem to have assumed the same attitude towards the Emperor as our Parliament did to Charles the First at the commencement of the civil war. They do not wish to break with the Emperor but neither will they submit to his despotic measures. The Hungarian Parliament is also in rebellion, and sent an army to the support of the Viennese, which, however, it has since withdrawn. It is probable, however, that the Emperor will be supported by the Regent of Germany, only on condition of accepting a Constitutional Government, which, indeed, he constantly expresses his willingness to do. It is impossible to foresee the result of these complicated movements.

The cholera is here, but does not make rapid progress. The cases in London have been very few, and it has not been considered necessary to publish regular bulletins, as there are not more than two or three cases a day. In some other towns it has been rather worse, but Edinburgh is the only place where it can be said fairly to have got a footing.—There have been about two hundred cases there, of which about one hundred have died. In the Edinburgh returns, Leith and Newhaven are included. Leith is the place where it rages most.

There is to be a meeting at Exeter Hall on Monday evening to receive some of the principal members of the Peace Convention lately held at Brussells. I have no doubt it will be a good meeting, and have its effect on public opinion.

It is generally supposed that the government intends to prepare a plan for the endowment of the Catholic priests in Ireland; but as many of the Catholics themselves will unite with all the dissenters and with the Evangelical party in the church, to oppose such a measure, they will have much difficulty in carrying it. Indeed, I do not believe they will carry it at all, because all classes will unite against such a costly scheme at a time of so much financial difficulty. So for want of means, if not in consequence of public virtue, government bribery will be found impracticable. There is nothing for it here and elsewhere, but justice—pure justice to all—which is the only legitimate end of government.

R. S. D.