The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-27 00:00:00

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HORSE-RACING BILL.

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ht
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oTi uoi
nrnuoytfe shw2uhehimleihmu esil
he Ga
ngudil‘ll ver, and
con-
versation which he held with a class of beings who etpshaeortfrooohnkis-
moraof the equine than of human nature. But no one, that
we are aware of, has turned the satirical lesson of Jonathan
Swift to the same account that our modern legislators have,
They are imbued deeply with its spirit—at least with its bet-
ter spirit ; for they do not suffer their feelings to be warped
by a detestation of Yahoos into an acrimonious misan-
thropy, but combine their affection for horses with a love to
their fellow-creatures ; and even when they seem to be most
intent upon a race, are most earnestly prosecuting the great
work of benevolence. They sat with admirable patience
through a ten nights' debate upon Ireland and the Irish.
Every topic the most irrelevant that fancy could provoke—
every grievance the most anomalous that querulousness
could speak out—every remedy the most impossible that
quackery could suggest—was listened to, argued, refuted, re-
peated, cheered, groaned, repeated again, until even the juvenile
Members of the House spoke by anticipation whole sentences
of reproductive harangues. The 'virtues of the Whigs
in general, and of Lord Normanby in particular—the merits
of the Appropriation Act—the propriety of enriching May-
nooth, and the expediency of pillaging the Establishment—
nay; the whole of the jury-list and the names of the missing
members—were before Saturday morning household words
in the mouths of beardless law-makers. But, patient, at-
tentive, and animated as the House was throughout this
tedious debate, it must be admitted that it did not evince
that thorough and heartless zeal which is manifested on mat-
ters of near interest. Ireland was a good theme for Parlia-
mentary oratory, but it was not a subject which came home
to the bosoms and business of the orators; it was a capital
peg.whereon to hang stalactites of imagery and antitheses,
but it had to be "got up"—men were obliged to " cram "
something about Strongbow and the Irish invasion, the
pale, penal laws, Catholic conspiracies, Protestant mas-
sacres, incorruptible Parliaments, Orange magistrates, and
Repeal policemen. Consequently there is an air of effort about
the most successful of the speeches. There is wanting that
freshness of thought and freedom of language which
characterises the essays of men speaking on a sub-
ject which they understand, and the importance of which
they deeply feel. How different was the tone and the feeling
of the speakers on the Horse-racing Bill There was a
freedom—an abandon—which declared at once the genuine-
ness of their sentiments, and justified the warmth of the
language in which they were expressed. There all the
constraint, all the uneasiness, all the stiffness, which are
the signs of men speaking on things about which they
either know or care nothing, were lost. Each man spoke
ftcasethe fulness of his heart, if not with all the graces, at
least with all the force, of which the vernacular is suscep-
tible. And it must be allowed that the cause was a noble
one, and worthy not only of the enthusiasm which was
kindled, but also of the logic which was arrayed, in its de-
fence. "Horses and wagers"—" the manly sport" of betting
more than 10/. at a time—the lofty object of maintaining
the blood of English horses unimpaired, and transmitting
the purity of their breed through distant generations by the
simple process of stoppingqui tarn actions, this was the prin-
ciple in support of which the Imperial Parliament of Great
Britain was inspirited to fulfil its duties with a celerity
which, but for the vast importance of the subject, might
have been termed indecent. But, high and momentous as
these considerations are—generous as is the nature of the
horse, wonderful his love of praise, admirable his energy in
earning it, super-brutal as is his appetency for Queen's Plates
and handicaps, superhuman as is his sympathy with the
ambition of his master, and worthy encouragement as are
all his other virtues--still there was another motive co-equal
with, if not superior to this, which impelled the collective
wisdom of the nation to take this summary but laudable
method of legislating. It was not for horses alone--albeit
they appreciate the virtues of the horse—that the Duke of
Richmond and Mr. Wortley spoke. \o; it was for their
own species also, and especially the poorer portion of them.
The benefits of the proposed measure to the poorer classes
have been as logically deduced from the premises as their
salutary operation on the breed of horses. If noblemen and
gentlemen are to be subjected to heavy penalties for betting
on horse-races, they will not bet; if they do not bet, half the
excitement of racing will be lost; take away the excite-
ment, and what becomes of the race? Racing will thus be
destroyed, and with racing the equine race and all its virtues
will vanish from the earth. Again, if races are discouraged,
or rendered hazardous to their patrons, and the said pa-
trons desert them, the race-course will lose all its healthy
moral influence on the rural population ; the grand stand
will be empty—the course will be unfrequented—the
booths will be unknown in the scenes of their former splen-
dour—gingerbread will cease to glisten, and ginger beer to
pop—rouge et noir will no longer attract the speculative
cockney—roulette will no longer congregate its assemblage of
lords and jockeys, real ladies and equivocaljwomen—finally,
the pea will no more wriggle under the unconscious thimble.
Ascot and Epsom will pass without their great moral lessons,
and the virtue of the agriculturists will have received a fatal
blow. Those, then, who pretend that the intention of Mr.
Wortley's Bill is simply to indemnify certain gentlemen for
breaking laws which they ought to have studied, argue as
rashly as those who affirm that it is intended to legalize
gambling in the higher classes. Its clear and obvious pur-
pose is—first, to maintain the breed of generous horses; se-
condly, to promote the virtue of a moral; and, lastly, to
serve the great ends of civil justice. And we firmly believe
that the cause which induced Mr. Wortley to bring on last
night the consideration of the report, was simply a determi-
nation to pave the way for the repeal of all laws which at
present restrict the gaming and other innocent diversions of
the lower orders.

DEATH OF BARON WALLACE.—Lord Wallace died
on the 23d inst., at his seat, Featherstone Castle, Northum-
berland, in the 77th year of his age. The late Baron mar-
ried the widow of Henry, Viscount Melville, and daughter of
the second Earl of Hopetoun, by whom he has left no issue.
Lord Wallace was Master orsthe Mint, and Vice-President of
the Board of Trade under the Wellington Administration, and
was raised to the Peerage, in 1828, by the title of BaronlWal-
lace of Knaresdale. Before his elevation to the Upper House,
his Lordship sat for Penryn and Weymouth. His Lordship
dying without issue, the title becomes extinct.
SUDDEN DEATH IN A ru......,-ituusE.—Last even-
ing Mr. Payne held an inquest, at the Crown, Lambeth-
road, on the body of Mr. William Barrowes, aged fifty-
six, a gentleman of independent property, residing in
South Lambeth. It appeared in evidence, that at about
one o'clock on Friday deceased called on a widow named
Pepper, of King's-row, Snow's-fields, with whom he had
formed latterly an acquaintance, and she accompanied him
to the above public-house. They entered the parlour, and
he ordered a glass of grog and biscuits, and then com-
menced reading a morning newspaper, and whilst doing so it
dropped from his hand, and he fell forward on the table. Two
persons came to his assistance, and finding that he did not
recover, they called Mr. Coulthred, a surgeon, who pronounced
him dead, and considered that he died of disease of the heart.
Deceased on the forenoon of the fatal occurrence had left in
perfect health the house of his brother-in-law, Mr. J. Bar-
nard, of the Belvidere-road, Lambeth, promising to return
to dinner at four in the afternoon.—'Verdiet, " Natural
death."

MERCHANT SEAMEN'S ORPHAN Asn.unt.--Yester-
day a general meeting, and the spring election of children
into this asylum, took place at the London Tavern. The
election was presided over by Captain Henry Nelson, the
Treasurer of the Institution. The children of the asylum
were present at the meeting, and had a very neat appear-
ance, and much interest seemed to be taken in the result of
the election, some of the applications being made under the
most distressing circumstances. It appears that there are
now seventy boys and thirty -six girls in this asylum. No
report, or statement of account., was read at this meeting,
it being reserved for the August meeting; but it appeared
from the circular of the Committee, that they regretted the
funds would not admit of a greater number than four boys
and two girls being elected on this occasion, and most
earnestly appealed to the generosity of the public with a view
to carry out the intentions of the charity, by doubling the
number of admissions at the August election. The poll closed
at three o'clock, when, soon after, the names were announced,
and the business of the day terminated.
On Sunday last the Rev. Mr. Sibthorp received
the Holy Communion from the hands of the venerable Pre-
sident in the chapel of Magdalen College, Oxford, where be
is now staying on a visit.
The Lord Bishop of St. Asaph has appointed
Frederick Bolingbroke Ribbons, Esq., of Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge, one of the masters of the Birmingham
and Ldgbaston Proprietary School, to the Head Mastership
of the Wrexham Grammar School.

BRUSSELS, FEB. 23.—After several days of dread-
fully bad weather, during which the snow continued to fall
in great quantities, immediately melting, the temperature
has suddenly changed to intense cold. Last night the frost
was so severe here, that it is feared the navigation of the
canals will be again interrupted.
NOVEL ASSAULT.—A few days ago, as a man was
at work in a plantation, near the Syston station, on the Mid-
land Counties Railway, a hare sprung from beneath a hedge,
and knocked him down. The man was stunned by the fall,
and when he recovered himself he found that his timid assailant
had actually given him a black eye.—Hal far Gvardian.
Northumberland House is undergoing a course of
re-embellishment, preparatory to the arrival of the Duke and
Duchess from Alnwick Castle, for the season.
SIR GEORGE MURRA.Y.—We are happy to state
that this distinguished officer, who has been mitering under
rather severe indisposition during the last few days, is suffi-
ciently recovered to enable him to resume his official duties
at the Board of Ordnance.

RAILWAY BUSINESS IN PARLIAMENT.—The follow-
ing Railway Bills have been read a second time, committed,
and referred to the Committee of Selection :—Manchester
and Leeds (Bradford branch), Huddersfield branch, Leeds
and Selby, Manchester and Leeds (Heywood branch),
Manchester and Leeds (Bury branch). Norwich and Brandon
and the Great Western, the York and Scarborough and the
Salisbury 'branch have also been read a first time. The fol-
lowing petitions for Bills have likewise been reported :—The
Newbury, Basingstoke, London and Southampton, and the
Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne, and Manchester.
YORK, CAMBRIDGE ItAILWAY.—A great sensation
is created in the Railway Market on account of the almost
certainty of this railway being established. It will give a
much easier communication with the north, and will be of
infinite service to the fine agricultural country through
which it will pass. It will render the Blisworth and Peter-
borough line of very little service to the London and Bir-
mingham Company, either as a protective line or as a source
of profit.—From a Correspondent.
THE NEW ROYAL EXCllANGE.—Yesterday at one
o'clock, Mr. Pullen commenced the sale by auction of the
second portion of Bank-buildings, which will comprise the
Sun Fire-office, the secretary's residence, and two other
houses. The disposal of the materials took place in the large
room of the Sun Fire-office, and it was crowded throughout
the entire proceedings. The competition was very animated,
the lots put up being principally purchased by private indi-
viduals, and not by the trade, as many of the articles con-
sisted of excellent mahogany counters, desks, &e. The day's
sale produced about 3001., making 1,600/, for what has already
been disposed of. The auction will last two more days, on
which the interior and exterior fittings wil be sold. Twenty-
eight days will be allowed to remove the whole of the materials.
," Two or A TRADE."—In our marriage notices is
one which records the nuptials of Mr. Carter, "the lion
king," on Sunday last, to Miss Chapman, of Manchester.
The old adage that " two of a trade never agree," was for once
disproved by the fact that Mr. Carter's celebrated rival, Mr.
Van Amburgh, officiated as groom's-man on the occasion.
We understand that the two intrepid brute-tamersoainre
their
inti-
mate friends ; and perhaps as they are the onlyou jeciw,
and their
perilous trade, they are above allpetty
".rno'e.k the lion
only rivalry
p eisewhere says,
when he roars for prey ;"
oedgalntelli
" make leopards tame.' —Le g
is as to who shall ngiossihafeke:leees:se
dgstealing;pa t o f tha
for,
he
A case which came before the sitting magistrate at
Marlborough-Street, on Saturday, fully proves the inefficis
e lawst
lienn
ahandkerchief preventing or
twentieth the
punishing
value of the dog, he might have been transported for it.
Some measure like that proposed by Mr. Bishop is necessary
toput a stop to this system of plunder.S
1071 Y the of
t tUNDERLAND, FEB. 23.—The Constantine, of Shields, is
on shore three miles south of this port, with keel broken.