The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-03 00:00:00

PRICE sd.

Number is devoted to its consideration. The
article is entitled " What should the Kirk do
now ?" and sets out with the assertion that it
should undo all that it has done, and "begin
again on a new and more heroic strain." The
writer's remarks on this subject are characterized
by a boldness and decision that extort the re-
spect of the reader, whether he agree with them
or not. Alluding to the approaching meeting of
the General Assembly, the writer says If
the Strathbogie men are to be deposed; let them
be deposed at once, and with as few words as
possible. There •is a certain sublimity in deci-
sion of conduct, even when it is the decision of a
fool. The hour is ripe to have done with the
prating heraldry of terrors and splendors that
shall -be. Let the deed show what is meant."
In the " Passages iu the Life of a Radical," we
have an entertaining notice of-the Reminiscences
of Samuel -Bamford, a silk-weaver of Middleton,
who distinguished himself as an uncompromising
Reformer about the period of the famous Man-
chester meeting. Sonie of Bamforrs remini-
scences possess all the stirring interest of a ro-
mance. " Memoirs of Jeremy Bentham" are
singularly dull this month. Even the anecdo-
tal portion is wholly without interest. Jerry,
it seems, supped once at the Mitre with John-
On and Goldsmith, and though he expressly
tell us that' he " came to hear JohnsOn's good
things," he does riot record one single bon mot,
sarcasm, or opinion of the great moralist. All
he tells us is, that he disliked Goldsmith's
"Deserted Village,"—which we can readily be-
lieve, for never was there a more unimaginative
dog than Bentham. "..Chapters on English
Poetry" contain some ingenious criticism. There
is.much truth, if not novelty, in the following
remark :—" We write poetry in our youth, aud
when the business of life commences,. exchange
the • muse for some better-dowered and more
housewifely companion; acknowledging at last,
or only satisfying ourselves with the excuse,
that the gods had not made us poetical." The
"Green Gauntlet, or the Traitor's Son," is a
spirited Irish tale, referring to the close of the
last century. The "Patron of the Parish" is a
song meant to be humorous, but dull by Mistake.
From a quaint paper headed " Loose Thoughts
on Hanging," we quote this curious anecdote
. _

It is not so very long since a man was hanged in Ireland
for MAKING A NOISE ! The fact is authentic. It was cited
at a solemn meeting of the Twelve Judges, last winter, by a
member of the venerable Consederunt, who had himself been
an eye-witness of what he related. When Justice, with her
black cap. and funereal pall, rode the circuits, and Death
skipping nimbly in her train,

Bless'd his maw,
Destiu'd to that good hour,—

a man was found guilty of some felony, for which it appeared
uncertain whether he would be cast for death or not. The
Court deferred the sentence, and ordered that he should stand
over till the end of the assizes. The fellow was crazed ; and
being taken back to prison, fell a howling, and uttering various
other disagreeable noi-es, such as judges do not like to hear,
and which (as the window of his cell and that.of the Crown
Court opened upon the same plot) seriously interrupted the
public business. The cause of this strange disturbance being
ascertained, the Judge sent a peremptory order to the male-
factor to keep the peace, or (as his Lordship pithily remarked)
"it might be worse for him." But the wretch, ignorantly sup-
posing that the law could do nothing worse in his case, re-
turned an answer of defiance, and sent forth more piercing
yells than before. Now, what would one of our feeling Popish
or Radical Judges do in a like case? The solemn business of
the CoUrt was at a stand, and it was abiolutely necessary that
silence should be restored. To remove the noisy culprit to a
distant part of the prison would have abated the nuisance pro
hac vice; but then some future convict might repeat it, and,
at all events, this would have compromised the dignity of the
sacred ermine. The Judge, of whom it is our hint to speak,
had no notion of sanctioning so bad a precedent , and there-
fore, as soon as he received the insulting reply, he cried with
a loud voice, " Bring hint tip I" These are thrilling words,
from whatever lips they proceed, after the damnatory verdict
of a Jury; but who, that has heard them once uttered by the
Rhadantanthus in question, can ever dismiss from his memory
the tiger's growl, and the blood-shot aspect of cruelty, which
filled the bystanders with indescribable horror, and shot a pang,
equal to the very bitterness of death, through the heart of the
stoutest criminal ? In five minutes after the issuing of that
terrible mandate, the criminal stood again in the dock, and re-
ceived sentence of immediate execution. It was like the scene
in Rokeby
Ho! Provost-Marshal! instantly
Lead Denzil to the gallows-tree ;
Allow him not a parting word—
Short be the shrift, and sure the cord!

The Court adjourned while it was done; and—so prompt was
justice then—his Lordship resumed his seat in about half an
hour, with an unmoved countenance, and went on trying men
for their lives, who, if they were capitally convicted, did not
(you may be sure) offend his ears " with exclamations hiper-
bolical.'