The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-17 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

Mr. Andrew Van Sandan, solicitor, appeared before Mr.
Twyford, at Bow-street, to answer the complaint of Thomas
Clarke, a clerk in the service of Messrs. Turner and Hainsman,
solicitors in the Court of Review, for assaulting him. The
complainant stated that on the 13th instant he had occasion
to meet the defendant at the office of the Registrar of the Court
of Review, in Chancery-lane, respecting the minutes of a case
in.which he was concerned. A discussion arose out of an
order of the. Court ; the defendant at first applied the terms
" knave and fool" to the complainant, and afterwards struck
and kicked him with much violence. The magistrate in-
flicted a penalty of 51., and ordered the defendant to find bail
to keep the peace for six months.
At Marylebone, Henry Wellby, proprietor and driver of
an omnibus running from Paddington to the Bank, was
summoned before Mr. Long, by Charles Hoppey, Esq., soli-
citor, for unlawfully driving to the danger of passengers.
The evidence went to show that on the 18th ult. com-
plainant and another gentleman named Needham, a special
pleader in the Temple, were. on the outside of an omnibus
belonging to the London Conveyance Company, and that in
Oxford-street the defendant crossed the vehicle upon which
they, were riding, thereby causing a collision which threw
both the gentlemen into the road. Mr Hoppey was 'rep,'
severely injured. Defendant was ordered to pay five gtu-
neas, the expenses attendant upon surgical assistance for Mr.
Hoppey, in addition to 255, for damage to wearing apparel,
and ss.—a nominal fine for the offence for which he was
summoned.
At Clerkenwell, Caroline King, who was remanded from
Monday last, on a charge of having assaulted and wounded
George King, her husband, of No. 5, Little Warner-street,
Clerkenwell, was again placed, at the bar for final examina-
tion, when her husband attended in a weakly condition. The
husband said he did not wish to press the charge. The pri-
soner on being discharged clung to her husband, begged his
forgiveness, and they went away arm in arm in tears, and ap-
parently on affectionate terms.
Edward George Barrington, a native of Bristol, was brought
before Mr.Ballantine, at the Thames police-court, on a charge
of stealing two 101. Bank of England notes, a 5/. note, and
35/. in gold and silver, from the Volunteer public-house, in
Mill-place, Limehouse, the property of Mrs. Ann Blakey, a
widow, and committed for trial.

COUELT-P.ILSECION.A.BLE.
Lady John Russell's assembly, on Wednesday evening, in
Chesham-place, was attended by the Duchess of Sutherland
and the Ladies Leveson Gower, the Duke and Duchess of
Bedford, the Earl and Countess of Morley, Mr. Aysford and
Lady'Caroline Sanford, Lady Theresa Lister and the Hon.
Mrs. George Lister,.the Earl of Minto, Lord Glenelg, the Earl
of Auckland and the Hon. Misses Emily and Fanny Eden,
the Earl and Countess of Clarendon, Mr. Charles' and Lady
Georgiana Romily, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Labouchere.
The Lord Chancellor and Lady Lyndhurst received the
Duke and Duchesi of Bucclench, Duchess of Beaufort and
Lady Angusta'SOmerset, his Excellency the French Ambas-
sador and Countess de St. Aulaire, Viscount and Viscountess
Villiers, Earl of Lonsdale, Lord Forester, Lofd Lovaine, Sir

Wm. M. Stanley, Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Stanley, Mr. Tomline,
Rev. Sydney Smith, and a select party at dinner last even-
ing, at the Noble and Learned Lord's house, in George-street,
Hanover-square. Lady Lyndhurst had a soiree afterwards:
The Hon. Colonel Douglas Gordon Pennant, M.P., gave a
dinner at Ingestre House, Belgrave-square, on Wednesday
evening, to Lord Saltoun and a select party.
Sir George Palmer, Bart., and family, the CountesS of Mel-
ton, Captain Mainwaring, the Count Zuva, &c. left London
on Sunday list, by the steamer Antwerpen, Captain Jackson
Miss Burdett Coutts, Captain Bristowe, Captain Cotton,
Colonel Hall and family, and the Rev. Mr. Porcher, were
among the passengers that embarked yesterday at the Bruns •
wick Pier, Blackwell, on board the General Steam Naviga-
tion Company's steam-ship, Wilberforce, for Antwerp.
Lord and Lady Northesk have arrived at Brown's Hotel in
Dover-street.

HAYMARKET THEATRE.—The very laughable co-
medy, A Cure for the Heartache, was revived last night.
Old Rapid, the enriched tailor, was personated by Farren;
Young Rapid, the son, had Charles Mathews for his repre-
sentative ; Mr. Strickland was Vortex, the nabob ; Mr. Web-
ster appeared in the character of Frank Oatland, Miss Julia
Bennett as Jessie, Mrs.. Edwin Yarnold, as Ellen Vortex, and
the character of the more antiquated Miss Vortex was ad •
mirably sustained by Mrs. W. Clifford. Farren was almost
inimitable in some of the scenes, especially that wherein his
son receives the challenge from Young Stanley. The con-
tending feelings of the affectionate father with the sense of
what is due to his son as a man, were depicted with genuine
feeling, and elicited loud applause. The character of Young
Rapid is well suited to Charles Mathews, who continued to
keep up the spirit of the scene to its full tone, Vthout
exaggeration. The comedy was received with shouts of
laughter and applause, and when Mr. Farren came forward
to announce its repetition, he was greeted with a warmth
that testified how much the efforts he had made were
appreciated.
FIRE AT CHELSEA.—About seven o'clock yesterday
morning a fire broke out in an unfinished house, No. 4,Mark-
ham-square, Ohelsea, which, owing to the inflammable nature
of the materials in the building, spread with frightful rapi-
dity. Several workmen were on the premises at the time,
and whilst some were endeavouring to check the progress of
the flames, others were dispatched for the fire-engines. The
local engines arrived first, and after them the Fire Brigade
and County engines. There was an ample supply of water,
and by half-past nine o'clock the fire was totally extin-
guished. It was confined to the premises,' but these were
completely gutted. The damage done amounts to nearly
300/., the building containing a great quantity of doors, win-
dow-fraines, sashes,-and other fittings, which had been stored
therein prior to being used in other new erections. The
fire originated from a spark flying from a stove and igniting
some shavings. Messrs. Hunt and Humphrey, the owners
of the premises, had insured them in the Guardian-office
for 2001.

PROVINCIAL BANK OF IRELAND.—Yesterday the
annual general meeting of the Shareholders of this Company
was held at the establishment in Old Broad-street, Mathias
Attwood, Esq., M.P., in the chair. After a few prefatory re-
marks by the chairman, Mr. Marshall, the secretary, read
the report of the Directors, in which the usual allusion to the
agricultural and commercial state of Ireland was made,
which last rear passed over with greater exemption from
mercantile failures in trades connected with Ireland than for
many preceding years. The linen manufacture of Ulster was
fairly maintained, and as to the cultivation of flax, it had
greatly increased in the quantity raised, as well as in the
importance of the quality, which being conducted under the
Belgian system of management recently introduced, and now
becoming so prevalent in the north of Ireland, it was thought
it would supersede in a great measure the necessity of im-
.porting the finer description of flax from the Continent. The
only circumstance of importance connected with the Bank of
Ireland, was the discontinuance of the branch bank of Money-
more, in the county of Londonderry-. Allusion was made to
the low value of money which had been greater during the
past year than at any period since the establishment of this
bank, in the year 1825. The Government
regulationil„ to
as to
ly
the system of banking generally was not thought
at t the n
gsda
omme
timeaffe no etthneowbanbkasnksof
oifssuisesnien
in
nrealany part
Ireland, whileof the
will be allowed. Though the accounts showed the income
not to be equal to former years, the Directors were, not-
withstanding, enabled to continue a dividend of eigh per
cent. per annum, as hitherto, and would also make an add!.
tion of 2,300/. to the rest of last year. The rest, on the 25th of
was 97,1211. 9s. 101, from which deduct two
half-early-early43dividends, together 43,290/., would leave a ba-
lance of 53,921/, 9s. 10d., to which must be added' the nett
profits for the past year, 45,5011. 4s. 10d., showing the rest
on the 30th of March, 1844, to be 99,422 L 14s. Bd., from
which it was proposed to pay-idend of four pr cent.
report
eel re ent e
dewx,at ,s
iaahtdatoi he
thanks
serda, rate of
ors et
.a r p ending
lavnni
nngra t
bbeleTi
fouritth epp
ehirra le
ccf-year
tt unanimously
the
sFniecorismili:oshululasGslr. votedsyhNhmaA
AFFAIRS.—It
establishment,
tr,
hAwetihoßestsenhc.
_ert
he Chairman
e:s•ematainanncdgoatmnhdem principalDirectors,en
adjourned.i
officersa nd also
f
e
most laconic military dispatch ever issued was etahatthasetntthb
y
Caesar to the Horse Guards at Rome, containing the three
memorable words, " Veni, vidi, vici ;" and, perhaps, until
our own day, no like instance of brevity has been found. The
dispatch of Sir Charles Napier, after the capture of Sinde, to
Lord Ellenborough, both for brevity and truth, is, however,
far beyond it. The dispatch consisted of one emphatic word—
" Peccavi " " I have Sinde" (sinned).—Puneh.
THE NEST INDIAN MAlL.—Letters and news-
papers will be in time this morning, the 17th instant, for
• Aladeira, the West Indies, Bermuda, and Venezuela, to be
forwarded by the Dee steamer, via Southampton. For Bri-
tish North America:and the United States, to-morrow even-
ing, the 18th instant, to be forwarded by the Caledonia
steamer, via Liverpool, Halifax, and Boston. For. Sydney,
New South Wales, and Port Philip, on the evening of the
31A instant, to be forwarded by the Garland Grove, via
Gravesend. For Gibraltar, Malta, Greece, the lonian Islands,
Egypt, India, Hong-Kong, and China, on the morning of
the Ist of June, via Southampton, by the overland closed
mail to India, via Marseilles, on the evening of the 4th of
June% if not detained by Government..

MEEtING Or THE IsITNTEN.
(From the Tyne Merciery.)
On Monday, at twelve o'clock, a meeting of the, pit-
men recently employed in the collieries or the Tyne,
and a few on the north of the Wear was held on the
Town Moor, in t: is town. The p!acard announcing the
Meeting intimated that the use of the ground had been
granted by the Mayor (Sir John Fife, Knight), of the
borough. The meeting was numerously attended, there
being not less than from seven to eight thousand men
and women present. The entire proceedings were of
the most peaceful character.

Mr. AtiRK DENT, having been called to the chair, said
that it was not with him at this meeting as it had been
on former occasions—it excited within his breast plea-
surable emotions in having the honour as acting as
chairman. We arc still alive, he said, though it was
predicted that we should have been by this time as a
nonentily as an association ; but we are now more
powerful than when we first came out. The speaker
then alluded to certain articles which had ap-
peared in. the Durham Chronicle, respecting the.
pitmea, on which he said, this old hag, this
Will o' th' Wisp, that before long they would
let him know they would catch hold of him, and
punish him for his calumny and falsehood.
When we started in this struggle, we said that we were
determined to be fed, aye, and to be better fell, better
dad, and better educated; we want all time abundance
our labour was destined to create for us. At the com-
mncement of this struggle we had to contend against
the avarice of the coalowners and the ignorance of the
people. Many of the local press were also opposed to
us, but now their views are changed, and they are with
us. I must now urge you to keep the Peace, and give
every speaker a fair hearing.—(Loud cheers.)
Mr. JOHN TULIP, from South Hetton, moved the fol-
lowing resolution :
" Resolved—That in the opinion of this meetirg, we,
the Miners of Northumberland and Durham, have been
an ill-used cla,s of men, and we hold ourselves juqtitiable
in ceasing from labour until we obtain an advance of -
wages on equitab'e terms."

After reading this he said--.-Now my friendsotaany men
have insinuated that our grievances are imaginary. Now,
I ask, was not our time come to resist the oppression of
the masters ? I am thankful that the. Miners' Association
exists in England. We have met together to-day to show
that we are an oppressed set of men. We have been in the
school of experience, and there learned wisdom. The
masters laid on the screw, but at length we reared oise
beads, and to-day we are free men, to-day we are no
man's servants, and before we return to our employ
ment we are determined to have a better agreement. We
arc told to discharge from our service Mr. Roberts, as
our legal adviser, and all will be well. It would nppea
that this gentleman is a mote in their eyes. If they
wish us sincerely to accept their advice, let them destroy
the cause for him, and do unto others as they would
others do unto them. After urging them to keep the
peace, and making other remarks, he concluded by
moving the resolution.

Mr. Thos. PRATT, from Castle Eden, seconded the
resolution. He said that it had never been deemed
that they were an ill used set of men. He said, they
tell us that we have no just ground of complaint,
and that we are a lazy, indolent class of men. He
now declared and without a blush, that there was
not in the county a more hard-working, industrious
set of men than the pitmen of Northumberland.
Are we not called from our bed in the night, and
required to descend into the bowels of the earth ,
and there risk our lives, and run numberless bazarda
to earn a paltry pittance for our families? But we.
defy their threats; we are possessed of a moral power
which alone is sufficient to carry us through this strug-
gle triumphantly. Ile said that in Scotland, the men
were receiving 2s. per ton, whilst in Northumberland
they were only asking from Is. 3d. to Is. 4d. per ton.
Mr. MiTcHELL said that it was an incontrovertible
fact that the peaceful demeanour of the men in this con-
test had gained them the good opinion of numbers of
the middle classes, and spok at considerable length on
the principles of the union, which, in consequence of the
late period at which the meeting was held, pr. vents our
reporting. He concluded by moving the following reso-
lution:—

Resolved—" That in the opinion of this meeting, we
have, by our joint actions and virtuous deeds, merited a
great share of public opinion, and in order to maintain
our ground, we pledge ourselves to keep the peace."
Passed unanimously.
Mr. GEORGE CHARLTON, from South Shields, pro-
posed the third resolution, which was seconded by
CHRISTOPHER HASWELL, of Seghill :
" Resolved—That in the opinion of this meeting, we,
the miners of Northumberland and Durham; feel abun-
dantly thankful for the help we have realised from our
friends, the shopkeepers and others • and we do hereby
pledge ourselves to come forward, like honest men, to
liquidate all debts that may be contracted during our
cessation from labour."

At the conclusion of tho meeting a vote of thanks was
unanimously passed to Sir John Fife, the Mayor ; and
also to the Chairman, for his conduct in the chair.

PUNCH'S POLICE.

GAMBLERS ! CAPTURE EXTRAORDINARY !
Yesterday, the neighbourhood of our (police) office
was in an extraordinary state of excitement ; it having
lien understood that that very vigilant section of the
force, Letter A, had on the previous night succeeded in
forctng an entry into a well-known house, known as
Crockford's, and capturing some dozen Peers, and at
least as many Commoners of distinction, all of them un-
lawfully assembled for the purpose of beggaring them-
selves and families, by means of cards anti dice. It ap-
peared that the, house had long given great offence to
many virtuous shopkeepers in the neighbourhood, and
I last night was selected as the happy time for the abate-
ment of the nuisance.

There were in all five-and-twenty prisoners ; amongst
whom we noticed the Duke of Fourhonors, the Marquis
of Cutace, the Earl of Rouge, Viscount Noir, Baron
Jacques O'Spade, Sir Harry Finefinger, the Count San-
terlecoup, Charles Roulette, Esq., and others well known
to the " play" world. The prisoners having been kept
in the watchhouse all night, did not when brought up
show to the best advantage. However, true to the fine
instinct of aristocratic blood, they put a bold face on the
matter, and looked loftily, contemptuously around them,
as they were brought up in pairs, and put to the bar, to
answer for the misdemeanour.

John Smith,_ policeman, deposed that he had the pre-
vious night effected an entrance into the house through
the drawing-room window. Other policemen burst in at
the doors they all rushed to the play-room, where they
found the Duke of Fourhonors and the Earl of Rouge
playing with dice ; the other prisoners were grouped
about the table, playing a game with cards. On seeing
the police tht prisoners attempted to escape, but were
Seized. Two packs of cards (they were produeed) were
found in the Duke of Fourhonor's pocket ' • his Grace
swore very singular oaths on being searched. Sir Harry
Finefinger attempted to swallow a couple of dice, but
was prevented by Sergeant Quick grasping Sir Harry's
throat ; whereupon Sir Harry spat them out upon a
salver.

Samuel Briggs, another policeman, corroborated the
foregoing testimony. Indeed, the evidence left no doubt
as to the object of all the prisoners at the time of their
capture.

All the prisoners were fined in the highest sum per-
mitted by the statute ; and, having paid the penalties,
departed homeward in their carriages.
By a curious coincidence, several lower gambling-
houses were entered on the same evening by the police ;
and a host of their inmates taken the next /corning be-
fore Mr. Hardwick, at Marlborough•street, who fined
them accordingly. Thus, it is delightful to reflect that
the same watchful spirit which is active, to destroy the
lower hells, like that of " the Nick, 16k, Castle-street,"
is no respecter of place or persons, but breaks into
Crockford s, and captures Dukes and Lords. The im-
partiality of justice in this matter warms the heart, of
every true-born Briton !

- , --------- --
SERIOUS AccroENT.--Yesterday as Sy
' lvester, son of
Louis Sylvester, Esq., of Larkhall-place, Bath, at present on
a visit to some friends in Barnsbury-terrace, Islington, was
mounting his horse in the Islington road, the animal, a very
spirited one, started, throwing his rider to the ground, and
before Mr. Sylvester could extricate his foot from the stirrup,
he was dragged a distance of from twenty to thirty yards ; he
was picked up bleeding profusely from some severe wounds
about the head, and conveyed home in a cab in a state of in-
sensibility, and it was supposed his skull.was fractured from the
violence with which in his fall his head came in contact with
the ground.
MIGHT AND MAIN.—Lord Charles Somerset was
telling a long story about his walking in the woods at the
Cape one day, when he came suddenly upon a huge shaggy
lion. "Thinking to frighten him,' said the Noble Lord, "I
ran at him with all My might." " Whereupon," said an-
other, interrupting, "he ran away with all his mane." "Just
so," said his Lordship.
MELANCHOLY DEATIL—In another column we give
an account of the proceedings at a meeting held in Dublin on
which h.
scarcelyoilelh. i
ll
g thisfe
excite
encigiteet
among y
surprise,
Monday last, when the " Irish Metropolitan Conservative
Society" determined on its own dissolution. Considering th
event
aevre:iliitcsemas.
of its useful labours must be deeply lamented, though the
thoselt ariseswo outhrs bravely
hfoat
igwhet
side by side with the present Ministers when in opposition,
and hailed their accession to office as the triumph of sound
principles ; it has its cause in the " apathy" of the Irish Con-
servatives, and this apathy, according to the chairman of the
meeting, has been occasioned by the neglect of their friends
by the Government and the favour shown to their enemies.
hasperformed, the terminatione
Disappointed individuals will, no doubt, always be found to
make a similar complaint ; but a body, numbering twelve
hundred members when Sir Robert Peel acceded to dam
cannot universally have been disappointed ; and we repeat,
therefore, that the dissolution of the Irish Conservative So-
ciety can only be looked upon as an expression of disgust at
that indiscriminate deference to" gentlemen opposite,' which
may gain an occasional cheer in the House- of Commons,
though the public will be slow to reconcile it with an bonen
and unbending attachment to principle.—Post.
EPIDEMIC AMONG THE LONDON CLOCKS. —WA
heard from several quarters of the metropolis that the extra-
ordinary malady which so long afflicted the clock of St.
Clement's, has extended to several others of the church
dials of London. An East-end clock, whose name we are ia
possession of—a clock that has for some years occupied a
high position in the City, in fact, Shoreditch—has, we re-
gret to say, been seized with the same distressing symptom
as those from which St. Clement's clock is still slowly tv.
covering. The unhappy dial has lost the use of both hands,
and gives every indication of falling into a state of hopele
derangement. -Many of the neighbours have for sometime
suspected it was " not quite right," and we are sorry to say
that their worst fears are now confirmed. It was painful to
observe the anxiety with which several persons who appeared
most interested in its fate, remained with their eves trued on
its
time unfortunate i
haying
ipto, aght
have
Non.
net
1,
esap epo however,(isnedo togboaae: in-
dicationihntoowoldl.oothkeegrotagt.
its face, in the hope of even the slightest change, but ell
be
hold, fofer one mom
1: acinou.
—Punch, ,

LIVERPOOL NEW GAS AND COKE BILL.—The
price of gas in Liverpool, which was reduced to Gs. per 1,00 t)
feet on the Ist of April last, is, by this Bill, which received
the Royal Assent on Friday last, made the maximum is
future

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS-2f
• 71`.•.)14 THE EVENING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY.
GLOBE.—When the Whigs were in office the mem-
bers and adherents of the present Government were in-
cessant in their attacks upon the way in which Ireland •
Was rulel The 'adminietration of justice—the exec-
vise of the Royal prerogatiVe of mercy by her alajesty'a
representativeevery net which pertained to the rime-
Veils of-the executive, wore rigidly investigatedfor the
Pnepese of discovering whether any feasible.' pretext
for a party assault upon the Government could be
Made in either House of Parliament. The tables are
Bow turned upon themselves. Retributive -justice
commends the poisoned chalice back to their own Bpi.
That which they imputed, without cause, to the admi-
nistration of their predejessOrs, is dealt back. This,!
difference is; however, discoverable. Their attacks
were the result of a factious desire to obstruct
the Government in its equitable administration ;
and thus prevent the beneficial results of the sys-
tem that was practically condemning their own
Partial, and therefore inefficient, dispensation. Thus
they fostered the discontents of the great mass
of the people. The manifest intimation, too obvious
to be mistaken, made to the favoured few by the
Underlines of the Government, that the many were to
beiiiiShe7l aside and disregarded whenever the interests
or inclination of the former could be served or gratified
by sacrificing the latter, produced their natural effects.
On the one hand, the people relapsed into gloomy
dislike ; showed a disposition to confederate against
the Government which treated them with neglect,
and • handed them over to oppression ; while, on
the other, the Government had recourse to the
old system of employing secret agencies to de-
tect crime ; and these secret agencies, in many in-
stances, have actually prompted the commission of the
very offences they were employed to discover. It is a
feht, which the records of the criminal comes in
Ireland fully demonstrate, that since the ascession
of the present Government there have been more
instances 'of crimes committed by policemen and
other Government agents, in order to fasten
them upon innocent parties, and offences committed at the
instigation of those who were employed by the Govern-
ment authorities to detect offenders, than were supplied
during the entire period of the Grey and Melbourne Ad-
ministrations. The speech of Lord Normanby on Tues-
day evening, on moving for papers connected with the
recent- dismissal of Mr. Gray, a police inspector in
Ireland, affords a striking illustration of the injurious
effects of the spy system, which has been revived in Ire-
land under the present Government. A man named
Osborne had been apprehended by the police in the
act of singing, and offering for sale, a ballad which was
regarded as seditious.. He was taken before Mr. Gray,
who ordered him to find bail to answer the charge at the
assizes. Thepurpose contemplated by the inspector was, it
seems; to convict the printer of the ballad. To secure the
ballad-vendor's evidence against him, he was committed
to -gaol: A correspondence was subsequently opened
upon the subject by Mr. Gray with the Secretary's office
at the'Castle.- The object was to obtain the sanction of
the Government to the man's release; and the reason
assigned for this was, that the Crown would
not thus be deprived of the benefit 'of his evi-
dence against the printer. The " law adviser" of
the Castle authorities declined to release the
ballad-seller; and intimated that other evidence against
. the printer might be easily obtained. This hint was,
it seems, understood, and acted upon. The very
course taken by tho police inspector is an illustra-
tion of the system. A police-constable is provided
with the disguise of a beggar-man; he is supplied with
the manuscript of the song he is directed to purchase ;
and is dispatched to the ballad printer with his in-
structions. The ballad was not to be obtained, the whole
of the copies having been disposed of ; but it might be
reprinted—as it was ; and the printer prosecuted. To
get it printed was, it is said, no part of the policeman's
instructions. But as Mr. Gray, acting upon Mr.
Brewster's hint, went rather beyond what the
letter of his " opinion and advice " really justified,
so the constable went a little further than the inspec-
tor intended he should proceed. This is invariably
the case. When it is understood that a course of pro-
ceeding, not justified by the open and honest adminis-
tration of justice, is that which a Government recog-
nises 'as its mode_ of bringing offenders to punishment,
there will be no lack of indiscretion in those who
are employed to "carry such instructions into effect. Mr.
Gray. gave a liberal interpretation to Mr. Brewster's
intimation ; and the police-constable went about his
secret Mission with more zeal than Mr. Gray expected
or designed. The ballad-printer was entrapped into
the commission of an offence against the law by those
whose duty it was to prevent, and not to prompt
the perpetration of crime. The affair got wind. The
Government. was compelled to investigate the circum-
stances. Tho result was, that Mr. Gray was dismissed.
What we Most wonder at is, that the Castle authorities
did not see that, in punishing Mr. Gray with
dismissal, they admitted the vice of the system which
they act upon. The "other evidence" suggestion of
Mr. Brewster was the origin of the whole business. If
Mr. Gray was held guilty for employing the police-
man to entrap the printer, he was only criminal
in a secondary degree. Mr. Brewster, and the Go-
vernment which employs him, are the principal
offenders. When Toryism is in the ascendant, there
will never be a lack of crime in Ireland. The agents it
there employs are frequently inciters to, or perpetrators
of, the offences ; and the system on which it acts is the
prolific source of the discontent, disturbances, and alarm
which harass the country.
STANDARD.—The news from the United States
came yesterday upon the newspaper-reading public as a
refreshing shower in . a dry season. Nothing indeed
can be so- dull as the political horizon has been for the
last.year or two. Peace, peace, peace, everywhere ; no
prospect of stirring events, or critical situations, in any
part of the world. Lord Palmerston is sadly missed,
and his Lordship's political demise has reason to be as
mach lamented by " our order" as the death of Sultan
Amnratli was lamented by the owls of Bagdad—fur
whom, blessed be his memory, lie " provided so many
ruined villages." Let us not, however, make too much
of the windfall, seasonable as it is. The Senate of
the United States may not, after all, ratify the treaty
• for the annexation, and if it should, the affair is
still no such great matter. Via units fortior no
-doubt, but it must be via, not weakness, the union
- of which constitutes strength. The things capable of an
indefinite augmentation are those which increase by
every the least addition, as time, quantity, number.
(-Vial other things it is quite the reverse. The in-
~tensity of a colour, white for example, is not improved
ihut diminished by the addition of a less white shade;
and such is eminently the ease with regard to
nations and parties in political warfare. The addi-
tion of a weaker ally is in most cases an addition
not of strength, but of weakness. Of such an addition
of weakness, the annexation of Texas would seem to pre-
sent a remarkable example. The sources of weakness to
- the United States .are, too - many slaves, too many
State dehts, too great an extent of frontier, too
little reputation for honesty in pecuniary transac-
Vons, and—may we be pardoned for saying it—a
•-• disposition- to retrograde. in • manners, morals, and
of this last unhappy characteristic we might
snit- be- disposed to speak, were it not forced upon the
attention -of every one- by the late scere of complex
brutality in Cogress, where one member " male a pass
at another" in the ardour of debate, and one of the
servants• of the Assembly was shot in the thigh in
an attempt to pistol another member on the floor
k• of the, house. Now these things—slavery, debt, exces-
sive frontier, want of character for honesty, want of civili-
sation and morals—disable any country from offensive or
even defensive war; a country afflicted by them, though
in the compact grasp of an energetic tyrant, could do
little. 'How utterly feeble must such a country be,
- with only that • she'dow of government which affects
to exercise the sovereign authority 'in • the United
States I But what is the portion that the States will
have with Texas ? More slaves, more State debts, more
frontier, and certainly they will not improve their cha-
racter for honesty by a transaction which two of the
leading statesmen of the Commonwealth, Mr. Clay and
Mr. Van Buren, characterise as a' gross outrage, 'and a
violation of public faith. The valued part o' the portion
of Texas ie, however, the slave part. Texas is adopted,
so eminently fitted by situation and climate to serve the
purpose (we write the words with disgast), of abreeding
farm for negroes; and probably the facilities which it
affords to the Cuba slave smuggler, to bring his con-
traband freight of humae beings- into the States, is
not wholly disregarded among the circumstances
that seem to recommend the proposed acquisition.
The annexation of Texas, if completsid, will lieces-
attrily confirm the United States as a slave country for
overaor, at least, until`freedem shall vindicate herself
by some violent convulsion.. But; independently of all
other considerations, there is to a loosely connected
confederacy a denger_consequent upon increase of terri- •I
. tory that . does not in the ;same degree, if at alt,
affect countries subject to any other form of govern-
anent,—the denger, that the parts will fall asunder
nfrom rivalry or from any other incompatibility. This
danger very seriously threatened the Republic from the
side of the northern provinces during the last tear of
the' late war with this country, and t7tgain in the case
;of the Carolina nullification proceedings • 'but it
is obviously a danger which must continue to in-
crease _ i
n a ratio far beyond that of the extension
o territory. Like the. houses a filch children bulttl
of cards, after they have reached a certain height,
40110 addition, however .`light, is sure to destroy thesbn:
laace -of their scarcely connected materials, and they
ell full to the ground. It is for this reason that
nothing short of a stern despotism can hold
together a great empire of homogeneous
parts,
because in such. an empire there must al-
ways grow up sooner or, later, rival Ship sad
opposition of interests.' The possibility of England
maintaining at the same time her vast empire and her
free institutions, arises from this, that her empire is not
homogeneous, but so varied that the parts of it cor-
respond one to the other, and all, without emulation or
collision, co-operate •to the • common prosperity. To
return to Texas—if we were enemies to the' United
states, we shouid most earnestly desire that the
annexation may be consummated, for the imme-
diate effect of that step would be to muter it impos-
sible for the States ever again to disturb other nations
by a war, and its not mach more remote consequences
must be a dissolution of the Commonwealth ; but that,
we fear, is inevitable in any event. We are nut, how-
ever, enemies to the United States ; on the other hand,
we wish them to enjoy all prosperity, and to deserve it :
and
ra therefore we-most deeply regret a step that would
cl
mit them finally and irrevocably to the practice of
slavery.

_
TUE HERRING FISUERY.—STORNOWAY, MAY 6.
,The herring fishing commenced here on the 2d inst., and
from,the 9t4ntity taken, there is a fair prospect of a good
fishing this season. On Friday last some boats had six crans.
On Saturday 100 barrels were shipped for Wick. -About,lso
boats have already arrived, and more are daily expected.—
Boas-shire ,ddrerttser.