The Press.
London, England, 1853-12-24 00:00:00

GAbIBLEItS.

Fitom time to time the police reports inform us that
much sensation has been created at Marlborough
street by the appearance in the dock of some score
or two of gentlemen, bearing the names of Johnson,
Thompson, Smith, Jones, Williams. and Brown.
Vliy does (lie appearance of these gentlemen create
a sen,aiion at Marlborough street, where even mur-
derer. have been fully coin mined with immelodramatie
apathy ? Because it is pretended that they are all
xlsatias mariptiotes, earls, viscounts, barons,
baronet:, konouralles, ur lieutenant colonels at the
least. who, having been raptured the previous night
in a rambling house, have spent the intervening time
in the cells of the ',olive-station, and are now brought
up for examination before the magistrate. This was
the fate of no less than forty gentlemen this week, and
of about a hundred within the last two months. The

795

course the cases take is always the RAW'. The active
inspector deposes that from information he had re-
cei‘ed lie obtained a warrant to search the suspected
house—that he went there it one kielock in the
morning— that he knocked 1111411 was reeonnoitred
through a hole to a man who at first refitsed to
admit him, lan on preparations being made to form
un Cittninee the 41. sir was slowly opened—that it was
bOtlttli with iron, and strongly bolted—that at each
landing there was a similar door, where a similar
scene occurred—that finally, after half at hour's

. _
detention at these barriers Oa the staircase, he
readied a room of the top or the house, where some
twenty gentlemen were found innocently employed
in knocking billiard bons about _eating ,othatttehe,..._.
drinking wine and smoking cigars. The room is
seareheil—no implements of gambling are discovered ;
the gentlemen are taken to the station-house, where
they also are searched. with the same result. No.
thing of st nature to show what they have been doing
is to Ist found. Mr. el.kinisoN twho attends fiir the
prisoners' dwelnws to address the magistrate, as
there is no evidence hefore him—the magistrate
agrees with Alr. tl.tnksos, and the accused am
discharged.
Now, there are two lights in which these eases
may he looked at—either these gentlemen are
gamblers, or they are Mat. they are not, a mon-
strous injustice is done by dragging them week after
week front their innocent sandwiches, cigars, asset
wine, at one. two, and three o'elock in the morning,
taking them to tic station hawse, no keeping them
in cells when there is no evidence against them ; or
if they are gamblers, and if gambling sl hl be
repressed by law, then the present law is detective,
and should be amended and made efficient.

Inn. contemporary the Morning Chronicle, indeed,
wen's to think otherwise. In commenting ou the
case which occurred this week it congratulates the
police on having diseovered the names of some of
the prisoners. "Seriously speaking," it Nal.P4, "we
"11111 st congratulate the of pollee 111p011
"the hi111)111. but, w., strongly suspect, effectual
"lowans which they have devised for suppressing the
" nefarious dens to u Welt, d e." Seriously speaking,
we 111111s1 it'll our eoliteinporary that the police are
the 4.m...tithe of the law, and vve are tag aware that
there is any statute %Illicit emuls that they shall play
the Paid liry awl then gossip Kith the reporters for
the 'malting paper 4. If these are to be their ditties,
why confine the sphere of their observation to
gamitig !liaises here are other ionises to which
people ought not to go, and to which they would not
go if the fact were published. Why does not our eon-
temporary suggest that the pollee should watch these
plirces, tattsli,4l4 the none :1 of Choy() who fn,,1444.4g,
Ill' ul on ••144 ct In thr /lire and 'rig, the
I ilk of uc should Ise the hod Pry
'I le• •!• ritet of the throvick i• N. like It ('llatUN
" II II I ic;1111." I.ollllllti our 1111444'10%N Mt tills
to 1.11111 it ,ripph silent with El of )1 itiglity people.
It is not by ri medics like these, Lot by relaxing the
law of cvillence in these eases, that the evil ran he
met. A slave ship is condemned oil proof of its iu
ternsl arrangements, even if no slaves sue On Wank
Why cannot a similar rule be applied to gmoing•
house,

Every one knows bow the Jive are mule away
with. A spat' front the top Ot. the house 44ainnuni
rate'. wills the drain in the treet ; down this they
go, and, long before the active inspector has reached
the room, " the implements of gauging" are fur on
their jia‘rne i the Thames. It is all von well to
boa‘t that an Englishman's house is his castle, but
a hoarse is a CaNtle ill el 1110 Dry ; there is
Ilse oreavpal 111 Make it Ma' 1411. the Sakti of immoral
practice. Surely gentlemen Can eat sandwiches in
sufficient conduit without the seeurity of bolts, bare,
and iron bound doors ; nor can these precautions has
necessary to keep out the draught tunl serve as a
protection against cold. Every one knows what they
are there for. Either let the gamblers gamble on
in 'WIRY, anti ruin themselves ir they will, or make
the law elfectual and euttvict and punish them ; but
in the name of elainnon sense do not let the present
••ottiprosoise continue. 1.41 us not by the practical
bull and national Niotwrisy justify the statement that
" England is au moral that she will hut permit
gambling, and punishes it by a law which cannot be
role weed."

Set)Tell GIZILVANcES .1N1) SCoTell
Aviitinvit meeting of the .‘ssoeimion for the t'iniliea•
tiou of Scottish !tights was held at Glasgow last
week. The speakers addressed themselves radii....
to practical than to heraldic grie‘aiires. The ano•
inalons position of the Lord Aihocate, shut over
tasked lawyer who rules the deaiuies of the um them
ponion of the island, was forcibly dwelt upon. And
we nre inclined to agree with our 54446411 friends,
that, if they had a responsible Minister to attend to
their interest..., their other grievance); would dis-
appear. We lately received a letter from a corre-

spondent at Glsuigow, who signs himself " Darien,"
containing some interesting statistical information,
which its length precludes us from giving in extenso,
but the result of it is that the revenue of England
would now be 290 millions if it had increased in the
same proportion as that of Scotland since the union
in 1707. With this fact before him, our correspon
dent fully admits the i►enefits which Scotland de-
rived from the union, but complains that in future
she is to be deprived of the pleasure of knowing how
much she contributes to the aggregate revenue of
the United Kingdom. "We are to be kept in the
" dark as to the share Scotland contributes to the
" imperial revenue, the customs and post-office
" being now given in eumulo with those of England."
This change, no doubt, has been introduced to save
• expense, and we cannot think this grievance a great
one, because, if for any real purpose it should be
desirable to ascertain the fiscal progress of Scotland,
a motion for a return to the House of Commons
would always accomplish that object. Hut there is
another point which we certainly cannot call a
Scottish grievance, for the Scotch do not complain
of it, and may, perhaps, view our allusion to it as
arising rather front an assumption of superiority on
the part of England than from a regard to their
interests.
It is, however, for the common interest of the realm
that we call attention to the anomalous position of
such of the Scottish peers as are not amongst the
sixteen representatives. Neither fish, flesh, nor
fowl, shut out from the (louse of Lords, not eligible
for the !louse of (commens, the Scotch peer without
a seat in Parliament is under disabilities from which
commoners are exempt. 'there is a nobleman now
in this inactive position whose presence in the
national councils would at this moment be hailed
with acclamations of delight. We nseatt the gallant
L►rd I )i•stesNAl.l). Ile may, perhaps, no more, from
age, repeat the daring deeds of his early youth, but
in the Senate his wisdom; would be as useful as his
calculated temerity once was on the sea, and, per
Laps, his presence might awaken something of the
spirit of the old days, and serve to remind us that if
now we have au ABERDEEN we once had a !'ITT, if now
we have a DesnAs we once had a NELson, and that in
those days we were wont to hear of the English
fleet, but then it was at Aboukir, Trafalgar, and
Copenhagen. It is not our intention to propose
remedy for this evil at presenti—several will readily
suggest themselves to the mind,—but we hope our
Scotch Mends will take it into their considerat. ,
for certainly it is a strange state of things that th..
Scotch peers should enjoy fewer facilities for be.
coining members ()film legislative body dims either the
peers of England or of Ireland : it is a system which
rs unjust, not to Scotland only, but to the realm at
large, often depriving it in critical periods of the
services of eminent men, as it does now in the ease
of Lord Dustiosim.o.

&IMF. Ktatistiem of the British h'a'le have just been
compiled, wlileh show that tat less than:ti,lMNl,ll. tl of till's
an suntialir raised, the endue of which at the pit's mouth
falls little, if at all, a 16.611 of tot militia's sterling, intil lit
the plaeot of eotimittiption. expenses of transpoit
mill other charges, proluil.lr not less Own '2O,IIOII,IINNIL
The capital employed in the tnule rxeceds 10,11011,414111/.
A 6.11441111 iron fur utters of ;11'31 Itrilain rolls
10,100,4100 tuns Of 0/111?4, HMI 7,000,01111 tolls of ironstone. in
tinier to produce 1,4144.inin tolls of of the %slue of
IijOWSINIS of $OO,l/10/. For the supply of the metropidis
slime 3.111111,15N1 tons of coals are required f.ir iminufae•
tnlimj sad domestic purposes; coasting vessels
in iM. II topwards of 11,3110,4101 i toes to various tapir in the
nittel Kingdom, awl :1,3:60,101141 tons woe cmsorieil to
hireign e tries and the Whist' possessions. About
1111,41110 persons are vonstiatilly einpli.yeil in extracting the
coal from the mines, and in some of the loather', counties
there are more persons at Sulk under the ground than upon
its surface. The extent .if the coal arras in the British
Islands is 1'2,11011 square tidies. mid the Minna' produce
:1;.0110,11011 tons : of Belgium. ':51) miles, animal produce,
5,11014.41410 tons: of Fromm, 2.11110 tttilea, n 1111 l itil positive,
,1511.1NN1 tons ; of the l' lined States, I 1:1,114 NI miles, I 1111 l
prodime, 4,IMMI,INNI toms; of Prio.sia, 2.1,0 ii miles, animal
produce, :1,:itN1,010 tuns: of Moan, 4.4100 miles. animal
produce, taus; 1,1 British North America,
animal produce not knows. Taking the British
1114hOOIS tubule. and dividing. them into ilistHets. we Mid the
supp4osed wiorkable area as folhisa in acres :—Niiiiiiiiiiiis•r-
land /mil 1,4 WWI ; '11111114.1•11Mtl, Wt.:41110011nd.
and West !tiding. 09.11 M/ 11.1Oli•Ofthire, Flintshire, and
North Staffordshire, to:01,4.INI: Shrolopaiitt. toad %Von...MeV-
%hire, 19,9:51); Smith Statroril•iiire. 11:0104); Weil% iel4iirt.
and Leisittershire, 441,1101 I; B.sinersetshire and iloucester•
1117,500; South \\*ales, 11011,1100 ; Seottioli void. fields,
1.0-0,4100. 116411 ei later, 10,0. s naught,
t!IN1.000 ; Leinster. 140.000: Munster, 1,000.111 N). Our
rxports, which in 1840 amounted to 1,6011,000 tons, valued
M :411,41041., hod inerea,isi in Illt4l to :1,:411,B110 tons, of
the %slim of I, M4,4MNN. In ISII our exports to Prance
Were 01,300 tons; to pollard, 173,48 tolls; to Prussia.
16.2114) tuns; and to Cosssio. 77,142 tuna. 11l its.l4l they
woe to Fraiire 020511 tuns; to Holland, 1:\11,94:1 tons;
to Prussia. Illil,tc2a tons; 51161 to Russia. 1.3.1.15 s tons.

A NIA (.41MF'1' 11111 inst. by Mr.
Kllliskerfites. of the Gottingen Obttenntory, on the bonier
of the Ctoutstellation l'ou-seus, ovar the fuut of Audrumetla..

4•1•1111.

THE PRESS.

SCOTTISH BIGHTS MEETING.

ANovicit national demonstration on behalf of
the "lights and Grievances of Scotland" came off
on the 17th instant. The place of meeting was Glas-
gow, where more than 3,000 persona congregated in
the City-hall, at the summons of the Association for
the Vindication of Scottish Rights, under the presi-
dency of 31r. Watson, senior bailie of the city.
Among the speakers at this gathering, besides the
chairman, were the Earl of Eglinton, Professor
Ayioun, Mr. ltaillie Cochrane, and Sir Archibald
Alison. The "rights" they vindicated for their
nation were, of course, precisely the same as had
formed the topics of discussion at the late meeting
in Edinburgh ; but were urged with many additional
arguments, accompanied by the complaint from more
than one hand that their opponents had encountered
them with ridicule instead of logic. Lord EL:LIN-
TON declared

" there never was a nat hood movement based more entirely
on justice, in which demands were Inure muderute, and in
which such demands were made more temperately.
( (leers. 1 The object which we have in view, strapped on
the one hand of aspersions which have been cast on it,
a►al on the other perhaps of a little tea► zealous advoeary—
the object which we have iu view is to preserve for Scot-
land her national rights, so 1111' as these are consistent with
a united Iniperial Legislature and with constitutional
government. ( boo/ Arcot.) If• then• be one thing out
which 1 as an individual have studied to be explicit—if
there Ile one thing on which every man with whom I an►
associated has been decided, it is in expressing our deter-
mination to preserve in all its integrity the union between
Englund and Scotland, und not to be parties to the sowing
of dissension ls•tween the people of the two countries.
(!G•era•ed cheers.) hut our opplakents will not take us at
our word; they either will not read what we do say—(llear,
levr)--or they refuse wilfully to believe what we assert.•'

After recapitulating the items wherein redress was
sought and justice demanded—the special Secretary
of State for Scotland, the increase in the number of
Scottish representatives, the maintenance of public
buildings, the expenditure upon public works, the
change in the heraldic emblazonments m which the
arms of Scotland were disparagingly placed—the
noble earl traced the grievances of his country to the
great fact that she was treated as a province :

" We are told that wear' a province, and that we havens)
right to nationality. We are not a prvince. (Loud cheers,. )
It may suit them to say so fur waist of argument ; yet it is
true that we have a separate established chute!, lone sepa-
rate laws, and a court of session. (Cheers. ► Rut, it is
asked, what is this nationality the want of which we coot
plain ? What, is nationality? It is patriotism. And
what is patriotism ? The most noble sentiment by which
the human heart is animated. The theme of the poet, the
dream of youth, the admiration of mature years, the foun-
statism of all tat basal greatness. (Great cheering.) It is
the love of the husband for the wife, the parent for the
child, and with the world something holier and more en-
illsisling still. It may slumber, but it never dies ; and are
we alone to be &cried for losing this old country of Isms?
Lssm/ cheers.) We love our English brethren, and are
proud to be associated with them in all empire over which
the sun never sets ; hut we are Seotehmen still. The
feeling of patriotism which has raised itself in Scotland
may at first have been scouted as absurd and ephemeral.
It may have blast been given utterance to by men of no po-
Mica! eminence or hereditary rank ; it may laws. been
looked coldly on by those who were regarded as the heredi-
tary and selected guardians of the liberties and interests
of Scotland : but it is as reality which will die away, and
which must be attended to. I, (1/err's.) Believe me it is
no small matter which has collected such meetings as we
have seen here and in Edinburgh ; it is no small matter
which has brought together thousands of every class and
Hitlessl feeling determined resolutely, but temperately and
constitutionally, to dennmil that whit+ is their due. (Urea/
desering. 1 And depend upon it, if we preserve that paw
detut ion of language whielahltbehdilletrrilit'd the speeehes
eentiv delivered in Edinburgh, stud which ehanieterised the
excellent speech which you have !ward !ran► your chairman
to night, and will, I trust, pervade the rest, it shall not be
long ere we obtain that justice which 1 ladieve the igno-
ranee and thoughtlessness of our rulers, more than any bad
feeling on the part of our English brethren, hitherto have
deprived us of. (('heers.) "

Professor Avrot'N repeated anti enforced the com-
plaint of the unfairness with which their previous
remonstrances had been treated
•' I was very anxious to know what our opponents might
hart. to say in answer to the points which were then so
thoroughly and ably diseussed—what excuse or vindication
they were prepared to offer for the notorious neglect of our
kcal interests and institutions—for theimperfert and ano•
malons motile of the nowitioety applied in the administra-
tion our affairs—for the imulequate representation
which prevents the Voile of Scotland trout haring ita due
weight within the walls of the Muse of Commons.
((/tren:.) Hare they done so? Hare they attempted by
argument to show that our complaints are groundless. or
that our requirements are itnjust ? Not at all. In.
stead of mg lit they hare had recounte to the old and
clumsy weapons of misrepresentation. (Hear, hear.)
Some of them. presuming, I must snppose, upon the
igtottunce of awir audience, have represented us as hostile
tit the maintenance of the Union. and AS animated by a
spirit of dislike to England and the English a more pre.
posterous charge than this it it utterly impossible to oat.
erne. Why, instead of 'objecting to the tenor of the arti-
cles of the Union, we are here expressly to demand the Ad-
lihutut and übbervanee (Athena in letter and in sriiit."

SATURDAY,

Mr. Rum': CocnatNE, touching on the same
point, remarked that a single grievance had been
selected for the pasquinades of antagonists, and es.
pecially of the Times. Ile drew the inference that
the rest were unassailable. Opponents ridiculed
their claim to quarter the Scottish lion more ad-
vantageously in the royal flag of Scotland. Out of
so long a list this was picked and used exclusively
as a topic for jocularity. It was a confession that
the remaining points were more serious and irre-
fragable. Mr. Cochrane proceeded to refute another
counter allegation :
'• (Inc remark has been made so fallacious and pre-
posterous that I must call your attention to it. There is
no injustice done to Scotland, because Scotchmen are suc-
cessful. If ever there was an observation worthy of
Ireland that is one. The Prime Minister, they say, is a
Scotchman; the Governor-General of India, the Governor•
t;eneral of Canada, the Lord Privy Seal, and so on.
Well, what does that prove? I will tell you what it
proves. That a country which can produce eminent melt,
who, by their own intellect, and in spite of all obstacles,
can achieve so much, is not a country to be treated with
contumely and injustice. (Cheers.) It is not because
men are Scotchmen that they are successful, but because
they belong to a nation of which Horace Walpole has well
remarked, If there be any one country more than
another that is endowed with a high intellectual position,
I should be disposed to give the preference to Scotland.'
And when England admits that a Scotchman, in ethics-
tion, in conduct, in success, is so superior to an English
man, 1 say that it is wrong to make that an excuse fur
national injustice, because some win in a nice in which
they are so heavily weighed. (Loud eheera.)"
the meeting separated after three hearty cheers
for Lord Eglinton.