The Express. — London, England, 1848-01-04 00:00:00

THE MURDER IN CLERKENIVELL. Yesterday morning, at I 1 o'clock, the inquiry u to the dcaiit of Robert Henry Blake, aged 5, and Armenia B i t k e, age d 7, was resumed.—The Coroner, on the court being A wned, complained of a statement which appeared in the morning papers to the effect that Mr. Blake, the father, gave the alarm at 4 o'clock on Saturday morning, that his el 'ldren w e re murdered. This could not be the fact if Blake stated the truth .—A policeman said no such statement was mole at the police court. S. Hewlett, a lodger at the Duke of Bedford, Golden-lane, stated eat he was in front of the bar a little before 5 o'clock. Robert Blake called him out and eked if he would go t • the theatre with the woman Parker, who was with him. He refused. Blake said, " We will go for a walk then." Parker followed them, saving, " You shell find a complete devil in me." She appeared sober, and not much excited. All three then went to a public.ho use in Guorell.street, and Blake and the woman Parker appeared inner comfortable. Having returned to the Duke of Bedford Blake got away unseen by Parker, but she mimed him in half a minute, and ran out ' , g oy excited. She mine back in five minutes, and said, Z' It is a good job you did not go with him ; he shall repent of this before morning. I will do something that he shall repent, and will die at Newts - ate." She then went away. In a few minutes witness went to her house, No. 3, Cupid's court. She opened the window, and said, " I have some thing very black in my mind, and I'll stop it before long. You will hear of me before you see me." This was about half, pot s ight at night. Jane Jour., of No. 2, New-court, Doswell - street, said that she knew R. H. Blak e. On Friday evening last, about seven o'clock, she met him at the corner of Golden-lane and Old-street. A m and a female were with him. They passed on into °newel' street, and witness lost sight of them in Fan-street As they were going down Geswell-street, witness said, as they peered, " Robert." She did not think Harriet Parker heard her address Blske. In three-quarters of an hour after that time Blake met her at the corner of New-court, and said, " Make haste, Jane, for I think I am watched." They then went to a public-hnuae at Cow-cross, where they stepped till half-past eleven o'clock ; from there they repaired is a house in Itell.alley, Onewell-street, where they stopped until a quarter to ten o'clock the following mormug. She had not made any arrangement to meet him that night. R. Wright, of 15, Arthur-street, said that about half-past twelve oe Saturday morning, as he was passing dawn Golden-lane, ha met Esther Parker with the eldest deceased. The woman asked if he had seen Robert, for he had given her the clip ? Site said He has gone to the play, sod he shall repent it." She appeared at that time subs r, but very excited. Witness afterwards saw Parker proceed in the di rection of her own home. J. Moore, of No 9, Cupid's-court, said that on Saturday morning, about 4 o'clock, he was awoke by a knocking at the door. Hs opened the window, when Esther Parker called out. " It is me, Mr. Moore; I want to speak to your wife." Witness told his wife, who went down stairs, where she remained a few minutes. Upon her return she made a communication to him, which induced him to get up and go for a policeman. He Mk t two constables, sod went with them to Blake's house. They got in at the window, when they ennui the two children lying on the bed quite dead. The clothing of the bed was very much disturbed. In ten minutes wierwards witness heard that Parker had given herself up to police.eonstable Fowler. Jane Moore, wife of la.t witness, seated that upon going down stairs she found Path. r Parker waiting at the door. She went into the lower room, and sat down, exclaiming, "Oh, Mrs. Moore, I hive dune it" Witness asked her what she had done, when Pat ker replied, " Blake came home last night to take me to the play, and on giing ~at he met with • woman, who took his arm, and they ran away immediately. Witness asked her whether or not Mr. Blake had come home. Parker replied, " No he has not ; a pretty spectacle there is for him when he does come home," Witness naked her what she had done, when Parker placed her hands on her should, ci and said, " I have murdered his two children, and lam going to give myself up." She then went away. Wit ness afterwards saw Parker at the police-station, when she heard her say she tripod she should not be dragged through the streeui, but go in a cab to the police-office, as she knew she must go to prison. Police-ounstable Standen, O 11, and Brown, 273 0, de scribed the state they found the room and the position of the children. The former witness was of opinion that the de ems.id children had been strangled by the hand, front the marks on the throats G. Fowler, IGI G., said, that about four on Saturday morning Parker cone to him and cold, " I give myself up." He asked her what for, hut she refused to tell till she got to the station-house. Auother policeman came up and asked him what lie was gong to do with her—was it anything to do with Cupie'acourt ? She raid, " Yes; I have murdered the two chislren ; I intended to do the mine nine months ago. Now I have done it, more to my sorrow ; but I knew what I wee about." W. Grubb. living at 3, Cupid's-emote, deposed that, on Friday night, Parker passed Mtn uhe was standing at the corner et the court. On her going in he saw that the window and shutters of her room were open, and the two deceased children sit ing on the bed at play. He was awoke by the none in the court in the morning. Mrs. Moore or Mrs. Matthews then called out that Parker had murdered the two children, and upon going down stairs he saw them lying dead.—By the Coroner : Saw nothing of Parker after twelve o'clock on Friday night, ner did be hear any noise or cries rill the knocking at four the nest moraiog. lie be lieved she was of mound mind. Quarrelling took place between her and Blake sometimes. She appeared quite sober when she passed him. Policemen Kiuchin, 26 0, was next called : Had charge of thee. II in which Parker was put from sic till nine on Saturday morning. No promise or threat was made to her. She spoke out loud, knowing he was present. She said, " I committs d murder to revenge the father of two children. They are innocent—l am guilty. lamof a vindictive mind. Through my wickedness I have done it." He cautioned her, and eh • paused. She then continued, " I loved him ; I doated on the ground he walked on. lam not iike a per son that was drunk. I know well what I was about; I was sober." The Coroner thought, as this was only the second day after the discovery of the crime, it would be better to adjourn the inquiry, when the surgeon's concluding evidence would be taken, and it would gave the wretched woman an oppor tunity of corresponding with her friends. Front the long remand th- case coshd not possibly be sent before the present grand jury at the ad Bailey. The inquiry was then adjourned until Thursday next. NllO. T ELl..—Messrs. Bevan and Goodeve re ceived on Saturday a let er from the solicitor of the treasury to the effect that the gent restoring the property of her Into husbar.d, the mur.lersr, John Tawell, which had been con fiscated to the crown txustees, is now signed. LIBERAL DONATIONS YROM SOUTH AUSTRALIA.— The secretaries of the British Aulciation for the Relief of Distress in Ireland and Scotland have received from Ade laide, South Australia, an order front his Excellency Go vernor Robe, ..n the lords of her Majesty's Treasury, fee 1,0001., subscribed by the COlOltigtel for the relief of the dis tressed by famine in Ireland and Great Britain. A dona tion in wheat of similar value is shortly to follow. • LONDON COFFEE .AND EATING-HOUSE KEEPERS' BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION.—Yesterday evening a meeting of the in. cabers of the above association, founded for the purpose tits telseving aged and decayed members of their trade, their widows and orphans, was held at the Free masons' Ta,ern ,• Mr. Q Cniviett. president, in the chair. The report stated that the institution, which has been eata bli•hed ten years, is bereaving in prosperity. The male and female pensioners each receive 131, per annum. The balance sheet indica July loot showed, the receipts to be 2821. 16s. 10d., whilst the expenditure amounted to 2721. 12a. The funded capital of the society amounts to nearly 2,0001. ROYAL MASONIC INSTITCTION.—Yesterday even ing a !mural meeting of the governors and subscribers to the above charity was holden at the institution in Blooms. bury-place, Bloomsbury-square, for the transaction of general business, and the election of 7 additional boys, which will make the full complement of 70 on the founda tion. Since the society was instituted upwards of 700 boys have participated in its benefits. ST. JOHN'S-WOOD AND PORTLAND-TOWN PROVI DENT DIEEENNAKY.—The third annual meeting of members was held lot evening in the Committee-room, 98, St. John's wood-terrace. The Kee. Dr. Thompson presided. The report of the committee for the past year was read. It con gratulated the members on the increased usefulness of the institution, and the extent of its operations, and would not let the opportunity pass without expressing their satisfaction with the male in which those operations had been con ducted. Notwithstanding the fact that the number of re cipients had been nearly double whet it was last year, yet that Mon are had been only gradually progressive, and they felt that, at the present crisis, additional energy was called for in order to m et the increasing demands on the institution, in con.ywnec of the recent epidemic which had been severely felt in the neighbourhood. The number amens bees enrolled during the year was 333, which made a total from the commencement of 731. The number of cases of sickness which had been attended during the year was 1,037, making a total from the commencement of 1,769. The number of cases at present under treatment was about 150, of which the averts" daily attendance was 50. The num ber of patients attended at their own homes had been 48. The receipts for the year amounted to 2281. 4s. ltd. ; out of which a balance remained of 221. The remainder of the business of the meeting comprised the election of the com mittee and officers for the ensaing year. _ OUTWITTING THE REVENUE.—A laughable story is going its niund through the Isle of Wight, at the expense dome of her Majesty'. protectors of the revenue. We be lieve there are good grounds for supposing that the Coast Guard service has on this occasion been completely outwitted by the contrabandist', and that a goodly store of spirits have made their way into the island, in order to be in readiness for the Christmas festivities. It appears that on Christmas Eve the Edward, from Cherbourg, of about fifty tone, after firing signals of distress, came on shore sear Brook. The whole of the Coast Guard near the spot, as in duty bound, rendered her every assistance, rescued the crew, which consisted of three Frenchmen only, and landed them in safety. The tremendous hurricane which tame on aeon Mtn' dispersed her hull and rigging over the Wide waste of waters, and on Sunday not two of her timbers held on to each other. Suspicions naturally arose as to the Why and the wherefore of the Edward, of Cherbourg, find lag herself on the coast of the Isle of Wight without a cargo! Several of the crew of the cruiairs which were drawn to the spot, recognised on the shore a piece of timber, which, en mamination, pr,ved to be the well-known boom of a cele brated smuggler, astern of which they had chased for many Weary league, without getting within hail of ker. m reply to their inquiries, rumour answered that the crop was dim:tuned in Freshwater Bay into boats or attached to warps. The empty craft was then worked round the point ot Brook, where, after exhibiting signals of distress, she was run on shore, end whilst the attention of the Preventive Service was drawn to her danger, the whole of her valuable cargo was lanced in safety, without molesta tion, and out of the cognisance of the unsuspecting protec tors of the constitutions of those of her Majesty's subjects who delight in tippling in French brandies duty free. It may be added that the sacrifice of the free trader waa com paratively trifling, the vessel being old and worthkss, and scarcely safe for a *wind trip, though her spars, in the ex treme length and strength of material, betrayed the purpose for which they were procured. 'TIE POOR OF ISLEWORTIL—Sir,--Those of your readers who observed my letter addressed to you on the 29th ult., will be glad to hear that the poor of the parish of Isleworth have nut been forgotten, although the present Duke of Northumberland has withholden the hand of charity. The Dowager Lady Cowper has in every possible manner contributed to their comiort, and a committee of ladies are zealously employed in going from house to house to find out the poor and needy, and to do good and to distribute, It has been a mutant for a great many years for the almoner at Sion-house to give to the poor wide., of this parish and of New Brentford a new year's gift. I am sorry, indeed, to say that on the Ist of Jan., 1848, this benevolent and praise worthy custom ceased, and that there have been no songs of joy in Sion this day.—Mossis ADAMS, Isleworth, Jan. I. COAST DEFENCES IN THE LAST CENTURY. The preparations fur the defence of London in 1798 are thus detailed in a morning paper of April 25, 1708: " The whole kingdom was at that period in a state of excitement in consequence of a project believed to be entertained by Napoleon to invade this country by means of immense rafts, which were to transport hither 'the army of England,' and land the troops on our shores. The Paris papers of the day give the following as the distribution of the French armies : ' The army of Rug. land, extending from Brest to Antwerp, 100,000: General in -Chief, Buonaparte. The division of the army of the north, quartered in Holland, 25,000. The army of the Rhine, from Iluniogue to Cleves, conprisiug the frontier garrisons of Alsace, Lorraine, Luxemburg, &c., 65,000. 'lhe army of Switzerland, from &ileum to eausanne, 25,000. The army of Italy, from Genoa and Chem beri to Ancona and Rome, 65,000. The army of the coasts of the south, comprising the 10th military division at Perpignan, 40,000. The army of the interior, 40,000. Absent on leave, or sick, 40,000. Total amount, 400,000." The private corresp indent of the Times, at Brussels, wrote under date April 12, 1798, as follows: •In order to accele rate the operations of the army of England, General Buono parte has sent some of his ablet officers to every division of the army. They are to receive his order, and to attend to their execution. IR the canal of Brussels nits are construct ing, which are ninety-six feet in length. Several of them are to be joined by means of iron chains. Oa board these rafts entrenchments are to lie erected, and mounted with cannon. Each of them is to curry 1,000 men. Several en ginems, appointed by Buonaparte, have the direction of these works.' We need not inform our readers that these announcements excited a commotion throughout the whole land, and that preparations for defence were made in every quarter. In London the inhabitants bestirred themselves most actively in organising measures for the protection of their city in case the enemy should succeed in penetrating so ' far into the bowels of the land. The inhabitants of the various districts voluntarily resolved theinselvi s into military associations, distinguished by uniform. to undergo regular training and to St eve without pay. County associations of similar character wire formed, and the court of aldermen held meetings at Guildhall to decide on the best means of raising armed corps in the different wards. The clergy were not behind others in patriotism at this singular crisis. A paragraph in the paper to which we have alluded was as follow*:—. The Bi.hop of Winchester has sanctioned the whole of the clergy of Hampshire, and especially of the Isle of Wight, to take up arms in the prevent crisis, and also to do whatever they may thilik best for the service of their country.' The following also appear mas an editorial article under the head ' Hints to Assist in the Gi m cal Detence of London, ifcc." 1. Block-houses to be built in cash square for corps de garde. 2 Horse to patrol the stem ts. 3. Banica does for each street, to be defended by the inhabitants of the street: the earner houses to be supplied with hand grenades; and, fir the more easy communication, passages should be made from house to noose OR the roofs. 4. A bell in the centre of each street, to summon the inhabitants to their posts. 5. Corner homes and barricadoes to be the genteel rendezvous in case of an alarm. 6. Artillery parks to be in the squares, and as many artillery as possible to lie pieced at the barricadoes of the main street. 7. Night-cellars in the City and St. Giles's, &c., to he [ex amined, and every precaution taken that they should not harbour improper persons. 8. All communications to lie cut off from house to h Rine underground. 9. All obnoxious foreigners to be sent out of the country. 10. No foreign servants, ni or female, to be allowed. It. Prisoners to be put into prison-ships, in the most secure •ittlatiOltS, so that they may be destroyed instantly in cases necessary for the defence of the country. 12. No quarter to be Riven the enemy when found in the actual attempt of invading the country, whether in transport., gunboats, or otherwise. 13. No Dutch boats to be allowed to supply the country with as they carry back much useful information to the enemy. ii. Every company of wetermen, lightermen, lamplighters, coalheavers, hackney coachmen, &c., to be formed into corps fur the defence of London ; they are to be celled out in ease of actual danger to the town, and magazines of arms to be placed in the companies' halls for their use. 15. Fire•engines to be placed in proper sta tions. 16. A large corps de garde to be placed to de fend the waterworks and pipes which supply the town. 17. Tides de Pont to be erected for the defence of the bridges on the Thames, and casoon works for the southern slope of the bridges. 18. All barges, vessels, and boats ti be taken from the Surrey side of the Thames in case of the enemy making good their lauding." Of course the caterers fur the theatres were not backward in the administration of entertainments consonant with the prevailing spirit of the people. At Astley's Amphitheatre we find, by the advertisement, that, amongst a complete medley of performances, consisting of burletta, billet, panto mime, tumbling, and equestrian exercises, a divertissement, called 'The lintith Bulldogs against the French Rafts,' was announced for representation. At Covent-garden, too, on the following evening, 'by command of their Majesties, ' the performances were to be • The Raft," The Lie of the Day,' and • Has Sequin's: Return.' It is unnecessary to in ' form our readers that the threatened invasion never took place." TEE CONVICTS SALE AND WCOY.—These two wretched men, who are ordered fee execution on next Mon day, hod, as far as M'Coy was concerned, nearly presented a different termination, in consequence of a most murderous attack having been made on him by his equally guilty com panion. M'Coy, it will be recollected, made a confesaion, and which it appears treated a deep feeling of revenge in the mind of the other. From what has transpired, it appears that a few days since, and previously to the execution being fixed on, Sale, on leaving his cell, had by immense exec thin forced out of the place in which he was locked up a portion of an iron bar, which he secreted about his person, and with this deadly weapon he went to the day room. Shortly atter M.Coy was brought is, and while he was in the act of washing himself, Sale went behind him and struck his companion a terrific blow on the head, which instantly felled him, and before the turnkey could render the slightest aid he was knocked down. Fortu nately the turnkey was enabled to cry out murder, and riag the bell, which brought some of the other turnkeys to his aid. Sale swore that he would murder the first that attempted to seize him, and that he was determined to have M'Coy's life. The men, however, rushed on him, and after a short but severe struggle they overpowered Sale, and he was placed under control ; on examining his cell, to ascertain how he had obtained the piece of iron, it was dis covered that he had, in the course of the night, forced it out of the wall near the cupboard, and had succeeded in remov ing some of the bricks, no doubt, under the impteseion that he should have been enabled to effect his escape. Since the time of the order t s carry the law into effect they have been • placed in different rooms, and six men—namely, one in the day and two of a night, are in constant attendance, and will continue so until they are delivered up by the governor into the hands of the sheriffs on Monday morning next. YESTERDAV.—STARVATION.—In the committee-room of Lambeth workhouse, before Mr. Wm. Carter, touching the death of Mary Joyce, aged four years and a hell', who died from want and exposure. Upon the return of the jury to the inquest-room from viewing the body, Dunn, the officer, informed the coroner of the death of another child belonging to the same family.—Caroline Jennings stated that she was in the employ of the guardians as a paid nurse to the sick ward for females. The deceased ' when admitted was literally starving fur want of nourish ment. She was much attenuated, and weak of body. Wit ness conveyed the deceased, with the mother and two ' smaller children, to the ward, where the former woo placed in boil, being previously washed by the mother. When the mother applied for a night's shelter she had the three children at her back, fastened to her by means of a leathern strap.— ' Mr. Doke, the surgeon, ordered the deceased beef tea, wine, and new milk. The deceased was seen twice on the follow , ing day, when she died.—The Coroner: What condition was ' the mother and the other two children in when first ad ' mitted I—Witness They were very emaciated and dirty. ' Their clothes were scanty and thin. When witness ' examined the deceased she found an abrasion on the right knee, several similar spots were on the hack and ono on the , forehead, which the mother said she could not account for. ' Witness thought they were occasioned by the strap at her back, in carrying the deceased with the other children. Witness and Mr. Duke asked her particularly why she had not made application to the union earlier, but she made no reply. She said her husband gave I her a few shillings and left London in search of work in the western part of England.—Samuel Caldagh, an assistant to Mr. Duke, said that the deceased I had been unable to take any food. The child breathed well, I and there were no symptoms of existing disease. Witness's I opinion was that the child had been starved. Its weak ; teas was entirely from the want of food. Witness at once • ordered that the deceased should have mutton broth, arrowroot, wine, &c., in small quantities, as it could be i taken.—Coroner : I believe a second child has died ?—Wit ness : Yes, sir. The immediate cause of the second death is I erysipelas, but the primarrcause was want of nourishment i and exposure to cold.—Mary Joyce was next called, and stated that she was the wife of John Joyce, a labourer. The two deceased children were her daughters. Her hur t band left her six weeks since to seek work in Cheltenham, on • the railways. When he left London witness was living in a ! lodging-house at Garret-lane, Wandsworth, which she was I compelled to leave owing to her distress. On Tuesday night last witness came to the workhouse fur relief, as she and her • three children were starving with hunger and cold.—The , Coroner Where have you slept during the time your hus band has been away ? Witness: I have not been in a bed for six week*, but I and my children have been sleeping under the hedges and in shads at night, and begging by day. THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 4, 1848. Our chief support was a little dry bread ; sometimes we had water, and at others we managed to get some tea from &bene volent individual who happened to take compassion on us. I gave my children as much as my means would allow me under my distressing condition.—Other witnesses were ex amined, whose testimony was merely confirmatory, when, the learned coroner having summed up, the Jury, after a few minutes' consultation, unanimously returned the follow ing verdict:—" That the deceased died a natural death, arising front the want of nourishment and exposure to the eold."— MORI DEATRS tN MILLIJANI Pl4ll3oN.—By Mr. Bedford, at the Millbaak prison, on the body of Woodhouse Moore, aged 28. Deceased was received into the prison on the 25th of lest March, having been convicted of felony at the pre oboes January sessions at Norwich, and sentenced to *even years' transportation. He wa, then in good health, but on the lith of April, suffering from pleurisy in the chest, he was removed into the infirmary, where he remained in a sinking condition till the 27th ult., when he tell into a state of stupor, and lost the use of hie limbs, remaining so till the night of the 30th, when he died. Oa the body being opened the cause of death war found to be scrofulous die, ase of the lungs and bowels.—Same coroner and place, on the body of Joseph Rorke, aged 54. The deceased, who was described as a labourer, war convicted at the last Much Gloucester sessions of larceny, and sentenced to seven year!' transporta tion. He was received into the prison on the 20th of April, and on the 24th of July, being attacked with asthma, he was placed in the infirmary, where pulinouary consumpti-tt de veloped itself, under which he lingered, and died on Friday Wt.—Verdict, in each case. " Natural death." ENGLISH HUSBANDRY. THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S JOURNAL. December, 1847. There is no department of industry in this country in which skill and enterprise are more surely rewarded than husbandry. It has been said "formers do uot make for tunes;" and if by that term is an erstood only those enor mous fortunes which we flud often made by comm .roe or manufactures that is quite true; hut that good farmers do not often attain e impetence, and something more, is by no means true. But the great and important characterise,: of sweat industry, rightly pursued, is its certainty. In uo other way can a moderate capital be so productively employed with so little risk or so many opportunities of personal co n fort as in farming. But that employment must be directed by judgment and pursued with en,rgy. The niggardly farmer never succeeds, while spirited outlays in the cultiva tion of land are sure to be recovered with a profit. Of course in thus speaking of farming as a business we assume that the farmer adapts tee size of his farm to the extent of hie capital, or that by rigid saving he is constantly increasing his pro ductive capital, and that he has a secure and permanent tenure of hie farm. These conditions are indispensable to profitable farming, as a matter of calculatl'n and certainty, all instances to the contrary being merely accidental. How then is it we had so many English farmers on the verge of poverty, who contrive to pa) their rest, and exilic and little more? This will be found to be attributable to one of three causes, either the insufficient extent of the farm, the deficiency of capital, or insecure or restricted tenures. To one or the other of these causes, not %infrequently to the three or two of them combined, must all that w..nt of ewe ices' in husbandry of which we have open heard so much be imputed. Now the first step to a remedy of these evils will he that the Gwnersand occupiers of land should become fully alive to their ineidence and operation; probably nothing promotes that obji et more eff,ctuelly tnau accurate details of the agriculture of differentdieft lets. The prizes off, red by the Bald Agricultural Society for essays on the egrieulturcof canons counties hove produced many papers which are of considerable statistical value, and often indicate mere of the actual state of farming than they actually tell. No one in• timately acquainted with firming and farmers can avoid seeing that them mays are all written with a consciousness that they are to be adjudicated upon by a committee of land. owners, and that an undue degree or tenderness towards some of the worst ills of English husbandry is shown because those ills are occasioned by the manner in which litudownera manage their estates. In the part of the Society's Journal just published there are twoessays on the agriculture of two different counties — Suffolk and Northumberland—which are lull of suggestive matter, and from each of which we propose to present a few passages to our readers. Suffolk contains 918,760 acres, and it is estimated that about 46,000 acres are rich loam, 80,009 marsh arid fi n land, 450,000 acres heavy loam or clay, and 250 sand of vari ills qualities. Here it is impossible nut to be struck with the large proportion of the laud which consists of " heavy loam or clay," and which is the kind of land en which least improvement hss been made, where the condition of the occupiers is the least flourishing. This land takes in the great body of the county, extendible from the south to the northern extre mity, and from the south-west nearly to the north-eastern corner. It may thus be said to give the character to Suffolk farming. The farms in the heave-land district seldom ex ceed 300 acres in extent ; they are generally na ch smeller, and many are to he found from 30 to 50 acre+. On the light lands of Suffolk the farms are larger, varying from 300 to 1,500 acres. Indeed, light land is everywhere occupied in larger tracts and by men of more capital than the heavy land of the same locality ,• and Suffolk torma no exception in this respect. As it is the heavy land here, as elsewhere, which most wants and alfoirds most room for improved ma nagement, we shall chiefly refer to that part of the essay which treats of that portion of the soil of Suffolk That the writers of these essay, who are usually intelligent farmers, should dwell most upon the brighter side of their picture, the management of the better farmers of the light lands, is natural ; but, if we would estimate the actual state and the chances of improvement in the hus bandry of any county, we must look at the condition of the mass of the ferment. That in Suffolk will obviously be the occupiers of the heavy lands. Arthur Young, nearly half a century ago, complained of the bail management of the pasture lands of Suffelk ; the neglect of irrigation, not. withstanding the number of streams suited for the pur pane, heavy carts and waggons, inconvenient farm buildings end large barns, and the number of hedges and hedge-row trees. The pasture land has been in a great measure broken up, but the inconvenient homesteads and the hedges and hedge-row trees, to the reproach of the owners of the land, I still remain unaltered. Ot u e management of this hind the writer, Mr. 11. 11.yubird, says : " Draining, and the peculiar in stem of drill husbandry, have rendered it one of the finest corn districts in England; the increased cultivation of green and root crops, especially man goldewurzel, is rapidly contributing to place the farmers amongst the larger greaten of fat sheep and cattle. A great portion (the middle and northern part) was in the time of Arthur Young the seat of the celebrated Suffolk dairies these have nearly disappeared; it is said that there is net a tenth part of the number of cow+ now kept. At that time the dairy farms consisted of grass land; they are new chit fly arable, and what pasture remains is r.pidly being broken up wherever permission is given to do so. The low price of butter and cheese, caused by the competition with Ireland and Rolland, and a reason which I have heard advanced by mere than one farmer, yin, the difficulty of procuring dairy servants, have mainly contributed to the disuse of the dairy system. But when we consider it is now asserted by many who were theme. lees dairy farmers that one-third more is paid for rent, two-thirds more for tithes, and double the amount for labour, than was paid under the dairy manage ment of the latter part of the eighteenth century, it shows at once that the improvement in the (arming has been very great, particularly as this is a thickly inhabited agricultural district, where nearly the entire lacewing population has to depend on the farmer for its subsetence." After some rural details, he thus describes the rotations most in use : " In the course of cropping there is much variation, par ticularly among the smaller farmers; but on the largest estates, and throughout all the best cultivated farms, the course of cropping is : 1. Fallow, either clean tallow, tares, beet, or turnips. 2. Barley. 3. Half clover, half beans or pea., alternately. 4. Wheat. This may be taken as the general course. The modifications which are occasionally made by good farmers are : In the first year having all long fallow on strong land, or all roots, or growing rye grass, or trefoil for spring feed, and then breaking up for fallow. In the second year, the growing wheat alter beet, and sometimes after turnips, tr.stead of barley. In the third year, the growing tarea instead of beans, and, what has lately been in troduced, the cultivation of Italian rye gram instead of clover, by which the repetition of the latter is removed from eight to twelve years. And the growing of oats on freshly broken up land, and to a small extent, in lieu of other white straw crops fur the purpose of home consumption. Varia tions, the usefulness of which is much to be questioned, are the taking a third crop, as it is called, which is oats after wheat, and then fallow ; the growing white straw crops in succession on freshly broken-up pasture. Many instance' are known of farmers ploughing up a piece of toward, taking firot coleseed and then wheat for three years running. Such scourging as this is much to be reprobated, and is productive of considerable injury to the land, the farmer, and the natine at large. Sum deviations as growing two white straw crops in succession, ought never to be saectioned ; though devia tions from any rotation, however good, may frequently be made with propriety by the judicious cultivator to suit cir cumstances. The constant recurrence of onc monotonous round of cropping must, after a time, end in the failure, to a certain extent, of one or more of the plants grown ; and the farmer being bound to this, is unable to exercise his judg ment in growing those crops which will command the highest price in the market." For the fallow or roots it is usual to give five or six plough ings, and six ploughings is commonly prescribed by the agreements under which the tenants hold, but it is now ascertained that one or two ploughings in the autumn, leaving the land to be acted upon by the atmosphere during the winter, is a far more effective preparation for the root crop, the basis of all good forming. That plan is as follows : There is yet another way of managing heavy land for roots which is coming into notice, and appears to have great advantages, particularly as it does away with spring ploughing, and with another injury so often complained of, that of carting the manure on wet land in the spring. The stubble is ploughed up early in autumn, and the I land ridged in about 30-inch ridges (these are sometimes turned back) and then a dressing of farm-yard manure ap plied, spread and covered in by splitting the ridges; in these operations the common plough is used. The laud now lies I exposed through the winter to the action of the front, and no more ploughing is given till the seed is drilled in the spring. The ridges are made across, the direction of the land Is , stretched up, so that when ploughing for the following year barley, the furrows are laid in a contrary direction to the ridges of the root crop; by this means the manure applied to the roots becomes equally distributed in the soil, and the i barley is a level crop, and ripens altogether, which would not be the case if the land was ploughed in the direction of the ridges. This is undoubtedly the simplest and most effective way of securing a fine filth for the seed. If weeds vegetate during the winter, they are destroyed by using the stuffier or horse-hoe over the land before sowing, and if con sidered necessary, the ridges are then moulded up with a small double-breasted plough." One of the objections assigned to this practice is that when the land is allowed to be unploughed all the winter "it does not spoil the early partridge shooting, as there is no occasion for the immediate removal of the stubble." But Mr. Raynbird does not state, as is the fact, th .t on a large proportion of Suffolk farms the tenants are actually restricted , by their covenants from cutting their corn crops, so as not to ' leave a high stubble, and from breaking up the land after grain until late in the autumn, in order that the owners of the land may enjoy the puerile diversion of partridge shouting in the greatest perfecticnt. He does not mention another com mon covenant in Suffolk, by which the fernier is bound to thresh hie grain by flail, on the plea of employing the labourers. Al if the money saved by the use of machinery might notbe more profitably employed in cultivation. Since the time of Arthur Yoult's report the rent of lend in Suffolk has advanced one hundred per teat , and in spite of difficulties of all sorts to which the farmers have been sub jected there is no doubt that the produce of the land has increased in at least an equal ratio. Our next extract refers to the improvements still required " in the county generally " " In Suffolk, as well as in many other parts of the country farmers are frequently baund by covenants for the cultiva tion of their laud under a certain rotation, without suffi eiently considering that one rotation or system is not suited to every description of soil, or that more than one kind of moll occurs on the same farm. That it is an error to ima gine the fourcoueae or tiny other rotation is the best teat son be adopted, we may mention the opinion of Mr. Piney, who sass, • The merits of the four-course system are great; but a great defect, too, is its monotonous circle of wheat, tur nips, barley, and clover.' Hence, whatever crops are intro duced so at to remove to a greater distance the repetition of this monotonous circle without breaking the arrangement of growing a c ern and green crop slterseate!y is found to be an improvement. The tanner is often obliged to adopt the seine course of cropping on a stiff clay ss on a friable land, although there are many unavoidable circumstances which ruder it impracticable alwgs to farm in the manner laid down with the rime profit that might be obtained should some of these strineent conditions be taken off the farmer's shoulders. For instance, by being bound to plough his flows a certain number of times—in Suffolk frequently five or six—the farmer, if a little behind-hand, which will frequently occur, either from an excess of dry or wet weather, will perhaps lose the opportunity of sowing his root crops, merely because be has not yet given the regular allowance of ploughing which be is bound to give, and which the land is obliged to receive, without considering whether he is doing good to the land or to himself by such pros• clings. The farmer has often been told, and, doubt less with some reason, that he follows is the footsteps of his father and grandfather, without stepping out of the way to make improvements in the cultivation of the soil ; but as the manner of cultivating that soil by a fixed system is often chalked out by &lawyer, who is not competent to judge of i• . s suitableness to the land, and from which the termer is not allowed to deviate, how can it Ito expected that he should do otherwise than tread in the footstep, of those who have pre ceded him ? The amount of game is also a great drawback to improvements on much of the light land." Of the farm buildings, he says, " The greater part of the farm buildings of Suffolk, im proved as they may have been since the time of Arthur Young, are yet far behind the cultivation of the soil, particu• lierly those on the heavy land. In every village are to be sees buildings arranged in every form except that which would give economy in the manufacture of manure, or in the feeding of cattle. Large and expensive bares there are— necessary, perhaps, for flail thrashing and seed farming, but good and c,nvenitnt accommodatiou fir cattle is nearly dia log rded. In a word, many of the Suffolk tanneries consist only of barns for storing and threshing grain, of a stable and yard fur cart horses, and a shed for the shelter of machines; the shed afforded to cattle is frequently inferior to that for carts and waggons ; a horse-mend, the colour of the water contained in it giving evident indications of the presence of liquid manure, is the indispensable adjunct to the buildings; and it may be said that one of the greatest improvements required is in the erection of farm buildings with greater accommodation for the housing cattle and the manufacture of manure, the threshing of grain, and the preparation of food for cattle. The expendi tore for the repair of buildings of this description, built with a view to economy (where stone or brick cannot be obtained there is no better material than clay for this purpose), would not be greater that', if equal to, that yearly spent about the present inconvenient structures. The landlord would be di rising interest on the money 'pent in the erection of good buildings, and the tenant would reap much more from the economical manufacture of manure, and com'ort to his cattle afforded by fatter farm buildings- For in fettering cattle scientific men have of late years taught us that warmth is equivalei.t to food, and I leave it to any practical farmer to say whether It is cheaper to supply this warmth by walls and roofs or by food." The essay a6o contains some interestirg evidence of the antiquity of the practice of draining land in Suffo it, The subject is one which requires a separate notice. he other essay on the agriculture of Northumberland is a concise and business-like paper, in which the writer, Mr. Colhe ck, dwells upon the improvement made by teruip husbandry, for which Northumberland has of late years breome famous. Here, however, we find yearly tenancies are prevalent; Mr. Colbeck says," Although the advantages of long leases are yearly becoming more understood, a great proportion of the tarms;in this comity are still let from year to year. It will, indeed, seem strange that so absurd a custom should be persisted in, when the ruinousconsequences ere so apparent. In Northumberland the greatex improve ment has been made on the light land, and much of the centre and south-east parts of the county consists •• gripper, wet „heavy soil, producing comparatively inferior crops of corn, unless within the reach of manure." In nothing, however, is the conoeset between Northumberland and our southern counties more striking than the condition of the agricultural labourers. On this point the writer rays: " A few yeses ago the writer had nn opportunity of com paring the condition of the farm labourers of Northumber land with those of Somerset, Dorset, and Devon, and never can the differeuoe be forgotten. At that time the labourers here were receiving at least 50 per cent. more wages than in the southern counties, and, as already mimed, relief to able bodied paupers is entire ly unknown in Northumberland, the demoralising, degrading effect of which practice upon the people, is too well known to need any comment here. Al though not so ambitious as our neighbours in Scotland to secure a classical education for the poor, there are very few of our farm servants who do not manage to procure for their children tile• common rudiments of an English education. This c .mbination of circumstances his produced in Northumberland a decidedly superior class of servants to those in many of the southern counties. In the populous districts it is now customary for • great majority of the men to enrol themselves in selfaupporting sick and burial clubs ; and though they may not be on the beet peasoble plan, they are a pleasing sign of a wish amongst the poor to place themselves above (what they con sider) the degrading application for parochial relief. It is ' still usual in many places to pay the yearly servants in the produce of the farm; however, as the men are beginning to find that they receive lees actual wages in this case than when paid in money, the custom is fast dying away. The work on the farms is now principally done by resident married men, as their wives and children are round very useful anal more to be ecepended en than those of the neigh , bowing cottager,. The married men are always eu gaged for the year at 14s, per week., with house and coals. The young men, who always reside in the farmer's house, receive about 201. per annum, and the female servants about 91. to 101. There is every prospect of a rise in the price of Labour consequent on the demand caused by railways and the general briskness of i trade in the district. For the ordinary work on the farm, females are employed at 10d. per day ; and nearly the whole of the harvest work in the county is done by women, who are paid from 21. to 3s. per day. Where they cannot he procured, Irish labourers are employed generally at so much per acre and their food, the price varying with the crop." r He also notices the various and opposite plans of draining adopted by different persona in the county, on the merits of which there is much diversity of opinion. Yet, while r agriculturixs are not agreed as to what system of draining r is a permanent improvement, the landowners have secured r treaeury advances for draining. Surely this should suggest , caution in such inteelerences with private enterprise. TILE IRRATIONAL DEFENCES. (From the P.ransiner.) " Be not too exgete.te To cut the falhlon of upeertam evile."7lllwrow. About three weeks ago it was revealed to the public that there was extant • terr•ble lett,r from the Duke of Wellington to somebody, showing that the country was at the mercy of the French, and that it might be taken any day or any night, by a coup de main, for went of 10.000 ad ditional regular troops and 150.000 militia. A writer for whom we nave a great esteem, who contributes to the daily press under the signature of P. (the initial either of Popgun or Panic) divulged this tale of terror, gracing it with decent honor. The alarm was of course taken by half the public— for alarm is always popular, and John Bull is ever ready to be frightened out of his wits, unless he happens to pensive that at the same time he is very likely to be frightened out of his money. The gist of the horrible discovery that has been made is this, that in a time of profound peace we are not in the state of preparation that would be suitable to war. The Frenchman's advice as to carrying an umbrella was," When it is fine always carry an umbrella ; when it rains do as you like." The counsel as to defences is analogous. In profound peace keep up your defences as if all the world were in arms against you. In war, reduce them if you please. An ex cellent effect of this system would be, that war, whenever it should happen, would differ in cost very little from peace, and therefore people would cease to regard it with such ex treme repugnance. Indeed, when England and France have raised works, planted cannon, and enrolled vest forces against each other, the feeling will probably arise that such preparations should not be made for nothing, and that it will cost very little more, bloodshed only excepted, to make use of them, and turn them to that profitable com modity—glory. The type of ancient wisdom, Ulysses, thought it prudent I to banish arms from an amicable meeting, saying the eight of the iron tempts the man. The maxim, if you would be at peace be prepared for war, wants emendation ; it should run, if you would be at peace pay the full price of war. If you would live on good terms with your neighbour, keep a blunderbuss in your window loaded with slugs to the muzzle, ready to do execution upon him in the event of ' trespass. Such preparations tend wonderfully to eordislity and a good understanding—that is, the understanding of mensal di•truet, and of a mutual alacrity for throat•eutting. Six years ago we were laughing at the French for fortify ing Paris. Lord John Russell has felicitously defined • good proverb as the wisdom of many, and the wit of one. The fortification of Paris was the fully of many, and the craft of one. But west is now demanded in sober England is not the fortification of a city, but that of the whole coast-board. We are to shut ourselves, like the Chinese, within a frontier wall. One mays, if a war should break oat, what is to be- come of Brighton ? another takes the alarm for Worthing another sees Bognor sacked ; another contemplates the ravages of Ramsgate ; and there are folks who look to the burning of dirty, swampy, unhealthy, misplaced Sheerness in the light of a calamity to be averted at the expense of MOMS huudredi of thousands, though no enemy could be wished worse than the occupation of it. tii ccebem mat is the irresistible argument. Your if was once a great peace-maker, but if now is the maker of all the muniments of war. Possible risks are pointed out ; but how is it practicab:e for men or communities to go through the world without possible risks d Prudence diminishes mks up to a certain point, but does not attempt the absurdity of excluding them altogether. In every act of life we take our chance of dangers more or less remote, preferring the chance to the sacrifices attending the avoidance. An in dividual that guarded against all possible dangers would have no fire, lest he should be burnt; would not stir out of his house, lest he should be run over, or have his brains beat out with a chimney-pot; would not sleep, lest robbers should surprise him ; nut eat, lest a hasty morsel should choke him. Nations, like indi viduals, cannot make sure against all contingencies, and take the part of wisdom in leaving to the chapter of accidents provisions and precautions too large and costly for the chapter of prudence. Protection is an excellent tning, but , it is quite possible to pay for it more than it is worth. As the mealy-faced ghost of Gaffer Thumb rises in 'he I burlesque, predicting all sorts of horrors to King Arthur, so Lord I.Alesmere appears in the Tinges, warning this unhappy country of frightful insea'urity, and what must happen to it if the French should some Rae day happen to land 50,000 men. " Awake, arise ! or be for ever fallen!" is the motto of his lordship's fee-fa-funs epistle, to which we should reply, changing a word of the old epigram— " Lie still it you're wise, You'll be tax'd If you rise." Lord Ellesmere has made the notable discovery That for a considerable period, of which It is diffic.ilt to fir the pre cise commencement, the instinct ofself-preservation has beer. in stemma and suspension in this country. To spend no more than sixteen or seventeen millions yearly in soldiers and sailors is evidence of the suspension of the in stinct of Pelf-preservation. Assuming the fact to be so, a bleared thing has been the abeyance; for here we are in safety after all, having saved some thirty or forty mil lions, which the instinct of self-preservation, in the super abundant activity Lord Ellesmere would give it, 'would have cost us since the peace in unnecessary tomes. There is no quedion that steam-navigation has afforded new facilities to aggression, butlord Ellesmere very much overrates the advantage it would give to France in the event of war : We have ceased to be an island; we have approximated in the opinion of all observing and reflecting men to the condition of a con , tinental state. . If the channel has dwindled to a ditch, this much is certain, that the French swim their boats very badly in it Their steamers are continually meeting with disasters. They cannot go from port to port without some distress from the most lubberly bungling. In the late gale the King's yacht had to make the short paste from Havre to Cherbourg. To do this she was taken an tow by amen of war steamer in the teeth of a rising gale. The strain upon the towing vessel of course soon disabled her, and obliged her to beer up, which she did so cleverly as to leave the yacht adrift without either sail or steam, and she lay tossing and tumbling about like a log. The vessels saw ne more of each other, and the yacht was next heard of in the Downs. This is no unfair sample of French skill in steam navigation. The history of their act- mpta to cress the Atlantic demonstrates still more strongly their miserable comparative inefficiency. But supposing a fleet of steamers to bear an army to our coasts; the difficulty of a landing is always overlooked, and the disembarkation of a large body of men is talked atriut as if it were as easy a thing as the proceeding of passengers quietly stepping out of a vessel to a quay ; but they who have seen the disembarkation of even a brigade, and in a friendly country, know that the operation is not so simple and expeditious, especially if it is to be performed in boats. One ally of aura, whose force is always unnoticed, is sea sickness, to which the French are more liable than any other people; and 50,000 shipped heroes would, upon landing, be 50,000 wretched helpless invalids, nauseating even glory. But armies of 50,000 men aro not to be concentrated in a day or a week, nor can they come upon on like a thief in the night. They must have a fleet to transport them, and such a fleet his yet to be provided. It will be time enough to think of augmenting our army when we see the French pre paring and manning the steam-ships to throw theirs on our coast. Confident we ate that we shall find soldiers sooner than they will find ships and sailors—the indispensable machinery for invasion. We are sorry to see some assertions thrown out in Lord Ellesmere's letter which will be greedily accepted in France, and which are as little calculated to discourage any propen sity to aggression that may exist as to do honour to the English character. If the French were to appear at one end of London, the wisest movement the Guards could make would be to march out at the other. For the rest three howitzers would be sufficient, and the Lord Mayor would soon be busy with the details of billets, and whstee, r eoutribuuon might be accepted as u commutation for indiscriminate plunder. Let them come, I .den hear it said; they will never return. Don't let them come, I say ; but if they do, let them return as won as they can be induced to do pi. I really do not re why they should partieulatly wish It. In the present state of this country 50,0 4, 0 Frenchmen would find England os rife sad pleasant a domicile as any In which the soldiers of Napoleon ever luxuriated.. . . The homely proverb says, " It is a dirty bird that fouls its own nest." If England were as weak and spiritless as represented, it would be as well not to divulge so degrading • tact inviting to aggression; but we thoroughly believe that foul iblibtice is done to the courage and patriotism of the population. It is true that we are not a military people, but an immense proportion of men are skilled in the use of fire-arms from sportiog habits; and circum stances which depressed the spirits of the country during the period when Napoleon threatened invasion have since given place to others inspiring confidence, Up to the time of the Peninsular campaigns • notion prevailed of the invincibility of the French arm. ; the pres'ige of anemia was against us ' • Englishmen thought themselves doomed to be worsted by . land ; but now the pristige is the other way, and raw levies would go to the field to fight, fur home at least, with as much conti dencc an the raw levies in the Guards' uniform marched to the field of Waterloo. This country with its mighty ener gies, must be as capable of self-defence as it is proved capa ble of every other feat and duty. While deprecating demands for defence proportioned to ex aggerated fanciful alarms, we are far from conearr nc in Mr. Cobden'e opposite argument for a reduction of establish ments, P.t mod= in rebus, vault nerd deniqun finer, QUM ultra eitraque acquit cambium rectum. For present exigencies our army and navy are not larger than necessary, and it must be some time before the inte rests springing out of extended commercial relations can en able us to dispense with any t f our defensive powers. As the slender roots of grasses knit the surface of banks, and give them stability, so free trade will bind together the parti cles of interest forming the great dykes of peace ; but the growth requires time, and meanwhile other appliances for security cannot prudently be withdrawn. Indeed we see more reason for adding to our means of defence, short of extravagance, than for reducing them, and should be glad to see the force and efficiency of our steam navy augmented; and also some system adopted like that of the French national guard, instructing the people in the use of arms, and practising them is the manoeuvres by which bodies move with order and precision. A day's drill now and then could he no great hardship to people between the ages of eighteen and fifty ; and if ten of the men so trained were only equal to one regular soldier in efficiency, the re sult with such numbers would be an important consideration for an enemy meditating invasion. IRELAND. DUBLIN, JAW. 2. All is bustle in the crown-office in smoothing the way for the special commission. Chief Justice Do herty will be replaced by Chief Baron Pigot. The latter, together with the chief of the Queen's Bench, leaves Dublin to-morrow for the Cashel Railway. On arriving at the terminus at Ballyhophy, troops of cavalry with mounted police will escort their lordships to the borders of the county of Limerick, where the high sheriff and his cavalcade will receive them. The calendar contains 110 names, of whom 20 are charged directly with murder; ten with con spiring, aiding and assisting in murder, and the rest with various grave offences, including robbery of arms, attacking dwelling-houses, shooting and wound ing, assembling by night in arms, harbouring the famous Ryan Tuck, by which he evaded apprehension as a felon, and concealing Whiteboys. The attorney and solicitor-general, with Messrs. Bennett and Plunkett, Q.C., will conduct the cases for the crown. The resident magistrates are proceeding with great caution in granting licenses to possess arms. In Limerick city only fifty had been granted. In the country more liberality was shown, as in Newcastle seventy-six were privileged. The sanitary movement has found its way into Belfast, and already struggles for precedency with the " classical." At a meeting of the principal mer chants on Friday last, the Rev. Dr. Drew in the chair, the question was forcibly brought under the notice of the community. Nor is the necessity for sanitary measures at all premature in Belfast, for, ac cording to Dr. Malcolm, who furnished some interesting statistical facts, the average of life in Belfast did not exceed nine years—the lowest in Ireland. In conjunction with the classical and sanitary, the agricultural takes a decided lead in the public mind. The Chemico-Agricultural Society has had a meeting on the confines of the old and new year. The change of the society from l)ownpatrick to Belfast is likely to be attended with prosperous results. A paper in connexion with the society, and to be called The Irish Agriculturist, is on the eve of starting into existence. Amid the various movements, tenant-right takes the lead in the North. That old centre of Orange turbulence, Ballihay, is to be the theatre of a tenant gathering on the 11th. Sharman Crawford has been invited, and will attend. In his letter accepting the invitation be observes, " The tenant question is now arrived at a great crisis. I think 1 may say with certainty that a bill will be introduced by the government ; but I do not expect they will eit he r have the inclination co the purse to carry an effective bill thro ugh the two houses of par liament" Without a just revision of the law of landlord and tenant he despairs of either peace or progression for the country. the " threatening notice" system is spreading far and wide through the north. In Tyrone it is quite as extensive as in Limerick or Tipperary, though from an investigation which took place last week in Omagh it would appear that the local wickedness has its origin in a different class from that which circu lates the missives in the south. DISMISSAL Or IME BALLINA HUARD OF GUARDIANS. —The Commissioners have dismissed this board of guardians because, while acknowledging the difficulties with which it had to deal, the guardians were found in the m.qority of caste to have utterly neglected the discharge of their duties. This union of Sams stands debited iu the public returns with the highest amount of temporary advauces given to any district in Ireland. A TEAT FOR THE ABLE-BODIED.--The guardians of the union of Mullingar having complained to the poor-law com miseioners that they were unable to obtain in that town a suitable building fur en additimal workhouse, and the com missioners having satisfied themselves that the fact is so, they have issued an order 1 mutating out-dour relief to the able bodied. In order, however, to guard against imposition. the commissioners considered of a test, and had two before them from which to select. The first was a proposition to employ the able-bodied on the completion of the unliai‘hed roads. But this the commissioners rejected, as affording, especially when tried on en extensive scale, no adequate test, of desti tution. They suggest the employment of the labourers in the breaking of stone of a hard and durable nature, and that this shall, wader proper overseers, be done by tank-work, in return for the rations given by the union the men to be employed 9 hours per day at a minimum. THE LAND QUESTION IN DAELAND.—The late candi i date for Tipperary on whig prioc;ples, Mr. Bagwell, o Medfield, Clouniel, a gentleman of high station and large fortune in that county, has published his seutintents upon the question of land settlement and popular disturbance. The following portion deserves attention, as conveying the opinion of • calm and sensible man: " I beg to exaress my belief that the present evils under which we are labouring mainly arise from the insecure tenure of land and the odious depopulating stern, and that until thee,: causes tf jou dis content are removed, it is vain to look for improvement in the habits or conduct of the people. Let, therefore, her Majesty's ministers, taking advantage of their strength, brave the landlords of Ireland, and pass an act giving every holder of land a right to at least 31 years' lease of Lis farm, the poorest cattier as well as the wealthiest farmer, and leaving the owner of the soil no power of ej. ctment but for non payment of rent, or sub-division without mutual consent ; they, by thus protecting tho people from the caprice or tyranny of the landlords, will Dave the way for the regeneration of 'Wand, and enlist on the aide of the law every honest and industri ous men in the community. I believe this to be the best Coercion Act, and the only practical mode of securing tenant-right; and that while it gives an opportunity tor small capitalists to invest their savings in land, it f,cilitatee the enlarging of holdings, by enabling the wealthy farmer to purchase the interest of such of his neighbours as may be either unable le meet their engage:news, or who wish to re move their indumry to other climes.—l have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, Jolts Ba.owutt." STATE OF THE COUNTRY. The Limerick Chronicle of yesterday contains, under this head, an array of criminality not a little startling. The as malt on Michael M'Mahon, clerk to Mr. F. J. O'Neill, of Limerick, is likely to prove fatal. He was, it appeam, struck near his own door, and the ruffian who beat hint with the loaded stick was seen to have pistols in his p,cliet. A re markable circumstance is stated of M'Mahon—namely, that when a few years since a gunpowder txplosion occurred there, which threw down several houses, M•Malion's father, mother, brother, and cousin were killed. On Thursday night an attack was made upon the house of a farmer near Croagh, ten miles front Limerick, and the owner, a man named Hannan. so badly beaten as to leave little hopes of his recovery. On Wednesday night, within two nn.es front Limerick, a servant of Mr. Darby O'Grady, returning to his master's with meal, and laaviug a gun, was at tacked, and both provisions and arms taken from him. Ou the name night five sheep were slaughtered, the property of a widow in good circumstances. The carcases were re moved. The same night, in another pars of the county, an armed party attacked the houses of several farmers, and levied contributions from them. But worst of all—let us hope it may be either untrue or exaggerated—the tlronide states, but without detailing circumstance or probable motive, that a man named Browne bad been murdered be tween Thurlea and Cashel, on Friday. A house was attacked and robbed of fire-arms in one of the proclaimed baronies of Clare on Christmas-day. The same pap inform us that horrible destitution prevails in the west of Clare. The people tear up every root they can find. A man named Winslow, bailiff to Mr. John Boyd, of Red. hills, county Cavan, was fired at on the evening of the 27th instant, as he was returning home in company with five I other persons. He was openly attacked and wounded in toe thigh. INVISTIGATION.—The attention of the magi strates of Westport has been occupied recently by a ass not a little characteristic of those western regions. The corn ricks of • man named Joyce, re.ident iv Mir:neon% were burned at night. The night was calm, and the stacks, when he awoke and saw them on fire, were equally burned. There facts of course showed the fire to be malicious. He maw some neighbours of his named Gregory in the enclosure fully dressed, though it was a very late hour. Hence be judged them to be the incendiaries. However, he did not ray so at first, as he allrgcs, because ' that would prevent him from obtaining the value of his cern from the county. Meantime government offered a reward for the incendiaries, and Joyce came forward ; but before he heard of the reward he had stated his suspicion of the Ura -1 gories. The peculiar features of the case are these . The Gregory family were Roman catholics ; but shortly alter the confirmed prevalence of destitution went to the protestant church, and have atte n ded constantly there since. The children have ales gone to a school managed by the protestant clergyman. The RAMS* catholic clergyman had spoken from the altar of the Gregories, fsr having abandoned his Rick, and for kavivg sent their children to "a proselytiaing school." Their neighbours in consequence ceased to speak to thorn. It was suggested on the one aide at the inquiry, that the (harries had set fire to their neighbour's corn in revenge for their being tabooed ; and on the other side it was suggested that the charge against the Gregori. a was one suggested by secteri in animosity. This latter view the magistrates were incl.niol to take, but as the accused were unable to account for their presence fully dressed in the enclosure at the period of the burning, informations were taken against Alice Gregory, wife of James Gregory, and her two daughters. James was allowed to go free, as he was said to have been an invalid. Mr. Barter.—The polias of Waterford have arrested, on board an emigrant ship in the harbour there, a man, named earthy, charged with the attempt to assassinate Mr. Bayley, which bad nearly proved successful. SCOTLAND. EDINBURGH, J•N. 1. An "unfortunate shareholder" of the National Exchange Company has addressed a letter to the Glasgow newspapers on the affairs of that concern. As before intimated, the company is about to wind up with a heavy loos. But according to the "share holder" it was only on the 16th September that the directors, at the annual meeting, set forth in their report that " the net profits made by the company during the year amounted to 22,5101. 16e. 5d., from which they proposed to pay a dividend of 8 per cent., and which required the sum of 16,9931. 17e. 4d., leav ing &balance of 5,5261. 19s. Id., to be carried to the credit of the reserve account, which would then amount to 21,1261. 1,5 e. 3d." Where, ho then perti nently asks, is this reserveaceountof 21,126/. 15.. 3d., and where is the capital ? If lam correctly informed no bad debts have been made since, and if so, was the report a correct one ? If it was not a correct one, surely there is liability somewhere. Are the directors liable? If so, they should make up the loss. They are quite responsible. The " shareholder " suggests that each of the directors should, in the mean time subscribe 20,0001. each, in order th►t necessi tous shareholders should receive their usual dividends, and hints rather explicitly that legal steps should be taken to throw the whole loss on the directors if this or some similar course should not bo adopted by them. The Scottish Educational Institute has announoed the opening of classes for the instruction of teachers in the classics, mathematics, French, and history, and the leading fellows are also to give ten lectures on dif ferent educational topics. The parish schools have been attacked in a letter addressed to the Lord Advo cate, which contains some home thrusts. The points complained of are—l, Patronage (which resides in the heritors, and oftener in their law-agents and fac tors) ; 2, the kind of instruction (defective on the average) ; 3, the superintendence (vested in church presbyteries and performed perfunctorily) ; 9, loca tion (unsuited to the altered geography caused by new villages) ; 5, testa, which com pel the masters to belong to the established church. The foes of the parish schools are as apt to depre ciate as their friends are to overrate them. Their chief merit consists in having secured a minimum rate of tuition in a country destitute of superior na tural resources. A church and a school in every parish for more than two centuries have been great moral fulcrums for raising the standard of intelligence and conduct. But, of course, as population, dissent, and knowledge, all advance, the stream of in struction supplied by the united efforts of church and state becomes in process of time too nar row, and in some places too muddy, and hence complaint, remonstrance, and threatened reformation. the parish schools are neither better nor worse than any other institutions possessing corporation privi leges for a like time ; that they are susceptible of great improvement no one who sees clearly and im partially will for a moment doubt. Mr. J. S. Lefevre's report respecting the differences between the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal