The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-20 00:00:00

MINORITY-NOES, 22.

Aldans, W. Martin, John Talbot, C. M. R.
Brotherton, J. Maule, Hon. /ex Warburton. Henry
Duncan, Georgo Mitcalfe, Heenry Williams, W.
Wyse, Thomas
tEwlpahritnistvvon.e, Howard
Granger,7Thomas C. Philips, M. TIMMS.
Hodgson, Richard Sandon, Lord Forster. Matthew
Hume, Joseph Scholefield, Joshua go • D
wring, r.
Hutt, W. Stuart, Lord J.
ohl.oFrerrisr,ll34aßvi.dx

A GOOD DAY'S WORR.—A legal gentleman of
Colchester left that town, after very early breakfast, on
Wednesday morning, by the mail train for Warwick, which
he reached by eleven o'clock, and went on to Leamington to
complete his business, where he had twenty minutes' inter-
view with the respected Dr. Marsh and his son, the Rev. W.
Tilson Marsh. Our traveller then returned to London via
CovePtlY, and re4Pllea town by 4ix o'clock rtg„ dined, 4414
kept three appointments during a stay of two bows and a
half, returned to Colchester by the mail train to a late tea at
eleven o'clock, after which be finished the labours of the day
by communicating through the same night's up mail, to his
friends at Leamington, Warwick, and London, his safe arri-
val and the result of his journey. The distance thus travel-
led in twenty hours, besides the pedestrian tour in London,
was as follows :—From his house in Colchester to London,
fifty-two miles; Shoteditch to Euston-square, four • to Co-
ventry ninety-four; to Warwick (posting), ten ; to Learning-
, ton, two; to Coventry, ten; to London, ninety-four; t o Shore-
ditch, four; to Colchester, fifty.two; , •,•• three hunc44,4114
tYretq-two,-,Zfiti" 4fMciciall .

1N THE MOON.
THE MONSTER TELESCOPE.
(From Hood's Magazine for May.)
[We feel infinite pride and gratification in being able to
present the following letter exclusively to our subscribers; who
will thus be in possession of discoveries, which for some days,
probably some weeks, will not appear in the scientific
journals. The astronomical reader will readily recognise the
stupendous instrument referred to by our Correspondent, as
the one constructed at the expense and under the direction
of a nobleman of distinguished mechanical genius, and de-
voted to the sublime study of the stars. • Its dimensions may
be estimated from the fact that it is twice as long (eighty
feet) as the famous telescope erected by Sir William Her-
schel! at Slough. The diameter of the speculum is two yards!
--Enrron.] Dublin, April 21, 1844.
My dear ****—Since my last, an event has occurred here
of unusual interest to the scientific world, and the astrono-
mers in particular :—nothing less than the testing of the
monster telescope!—with results so extraordinary and of
such thrilling interest, that, jaded as I am with fatigue and
excitement, I cannot resist sitting down to give some ac-
count of our discoveries.

It was my good fortune, you will remember, to be present
at the casting of the great speculum, when his Lordship so
signally exhibited his skill, energy, and presence of mind:
and on Friday last I was agreeably surprised by receiving a
courteous invitation to assist, as the French say, at an ex-
perimental trial of the powers of the stupendous machine, at
last happily completed after the expenditure of so much
time, labour, and money. Finding that my friend Maclure,
the well-known author of a " Treatise on the Differential
Calculus," had received a similar card, we hired a chaise and
proceeded together to the appointed rendezvous, his Lord-
ship's country seat. To prevent interruption, or intrusion,
the affair was a profound secret, except to the initiated—in
all about a score of persons, several of whom had come over
expressly from England, and one or two from the Continent.
According to Maclure, there was even a Professor from the
Swedish University of Upsala.
The company being all mustered, we repaired in a body,
led by our noble host, to the grounds, where we found the
telescope, erected pro tempore on a gentle eminence in the
park ; the abundant brass work glittering brightly in the
moonbeams, and the huge frame, throwing a complicated
skeleton-like shadow across the smooth grass. Seen against
the dark blue sky by the dubious lunar light, its dimensions
seemed even greater than they really were. Altogether it
looked more like some gigantic engine of war—a " hollow
tube" of that artillery described by Milton as pointed by the
rebellious angels against the host of Heaven, than a machine
intended to aid in the peaceful achievements of science—a
quiet victory over space.
Some minutes were spent in walking round the telescope,
watching its singular appearance in different aspects, and
then In testing and admiring the simplicity of its construc-
tion and the facility of the movements. The workmanship
was perfect. Not a screw was loose ; not a hinge was stiff;
every joint and pivot moved as easily and as silently as
those of the human frame. So delicate was the adjustment,
so nice the poise. A child could have turned the enormous
tube, at will, in any direction. No vibration, no oscillation.
None but the operatives of our country and our own times
could have produced such a result. It was verily the triumph
of modern mechanic art

At last, we all congregated in a group round the inferior
end of the machine. The huge brass cap over the larger
disc had been removed : the covering of the smaller lens was
now withdrawn, and the tube stood ready to disclose its
wondrous visions to the human eye. Expectation Was on
tiptoe—curiosity wound up to the highest pitch—anxiety on
the rack—but nobody stirred or spoke. There was a dead,
solemn pause of wonder, and I might say awe, for who
knew what sublime revelations might be in store for us !
sights invisible to tke mortal organ since the creation of
the world! What perplexing problems were perhaps about
to be solved ! What long-cherished theories confirmed or
overturned for ever !

In the meantime the glass was carefully levelled at one
" bright particular star," and through the intense silence
came an emphatic whisper distinctly audible to us all.
" Now, then, gentlemen, for the first look through the
virgin instrument." This honour was assigned to a person-
age who stood beside me :—the Astronomer Royal, probably,
or Sir John Herschel; but my old infirmity prevented me
from catching the name, and I am acquainted, personally,
with very few of our seavans. Possibly you will recognise
him from my description—a large square-built man, very
bald, with a bland countenance, and a peculiar hitch in his
speech. He trembled visibly as he applied his eye to the
glass, and to judge by myself we all quivered more or less
with the same nervous excitement. By a stop-watch, his
gaze would perhaps have occupied some forty or fifty
seconds : but to my feeling, and doubtless to that of the rest
of the company, the long, long look endured for several
minutes. Nevertheless, nobody hurried to take his place
*hen he turned away from the glass : every eye was in-
tently riveted on his face as if to guess by its expression
the nature and amount of his emotions. But to all our
glances and inquiries he only answered by the exclamation
—" Look ! look ;" with a gesture of his arm towards the
telescope.

The noble proprietor was now urged to take the turn ; and
after a very hasty peep, resigned his place to a foreigner,
whom I should have guessed to be Mons. Arago, who cer-
tainly ought to have been there, if he had borne the least
resemblance to the portraits of that distinguished philosopher.
But he wanted the commanding figure, as well as the marked
features, of the French astronomer. However, he wore the
star of some foreign order on his bosom ' • and another of his
attributes was a prodigious gold snuff-box, from which he
drew and inhaled an intolerably long-drawn pinch before he
settled to the glass. Like his Lordship, his politeness did not
allow him to engross the sight for more than a few seconds ;
but they sufficed to convince him, that the spectacle was
" superbe ! magnifique !" as he continued to ejaculate between
each prise from his tabati?re.
We now stood rather less ceremoniously on the order of
our peeping. One after another hurried eagerly to the glass,
curiosity sometimes taking precedence of good breeding; but
the expressive faces of those of us who had looked, their
excited gestures and vehement expressions of surprise and
admiration, had worked impatience into a fever. These rap-
tures, however, owed a portion of their intensity to some gra-
tification
vouchsafed only to the scientific : for, when my
own turn came, my first feeling was one of disappointment.
The two brilliant stars that I beheld, magnified almost into
moons, were indeed beautiful objects—their discs sharply de-
fined, and without any prismatic halo, or diffused light from
scratches on the speculum,—defects which had been appre-
hended as likely to occur with lenses and a mirror of such
enormous size. But that was all. I was not aware till after-
wards of the true value of the phenomenon—that up to the
hour, those twin orbs had been supposed to be one.
The company having warmly congratulated the noble pro-
prietor on the signal success of his enterprise, the Gigantic
Telescope was turned towards another quarter of the heavens,
by this time studded with stars. The Frenchman now took
the lead : and whatever he saw, the spectacle was too much
for his equanimity. Ile hastily seized on his nearest neigh-
bour, whom, with a " Mon Dieu !" he literally dragged to the
glass—still exhorting every one about him 'to regarder, as if
they could all have looked simultaneously through the tube.
His successor was also a foreigner, possibly the Swedish Pro-
fessor, for he had the same cast of face, with the long light
hair flowing over his shoulders, as our old friend Jorgenson of
Stockholm. He was also strongly excited, as was a very
venerable white-haired gentleman, who followed him in turn ;
the last indeed, by the glistening of his eyes, was even in
tears. And really there was cause for such strong emotion,
considering the singular beauty of the spectacle, and the
interesting nature of the discovery which I shall endeavour
to describe.

In common with many others, I have often wondered at the
little resemblance between the constellations and the objects
after which they are named. With trifling exceptions, they
suggest no figures at all, certainly not the monsters, real or
fabulous, that sprawl on our celestial maps. For example, it
would require a very courtier's imagination to detect in the
stars of Taurus any similarity to a bull, or in Cetus anything
" very like a whale." As to the Bear, he much more re-
sembles his vulgar alias, the 'Plough. But we did injustice to
the Chaldean seers, and the patriarchal shepherds, or who-
ever recognised the ancient signs in heaven, and bestowed on
them their names. In the course of ages, many of the stars
belonging to the Constellations have receded, and disap-
peared, like the remarkable one missed from its place by
llipparchus of Rhodes, about 160 years before the Christian
era. These lost stars, till now invisible to modern eyes, were
however plainly discernible through the Monster Telescope ;
and it was obvious, that when they occupied their original
places, the Constellations to which they belonged must have
presented a striking, not to say startling, resemblance to the
figures with which they were associated. For instance, Leo,
which was as well defined in its outline by its stars, as our
Royal Crowns, Lc., in illumination lamps !

The excitement produced by this brilliant discovery it
would be difficult to describe. One little brisk personage ac-
tually capered with delight ; while the Frenchman threw
himself, after the national fashion, upon his Lordship, whom
he overwhelmed with his embraces and his voluble felicita-
tions. Another, a tall, large man, walking rapidly to and fro,
rubbing his hands vehemently, and muttering to himself,
"It beats the solar eclipse at Pisa !"* In the meantime some
of the more composed of the party took occasional peeps
through the telescope, and from their successive reports, be-
held not only double, triple, and quadruple stars of various
colours—blue, red, green, and purple, but absolute swarms of
comets; not less than sixty-four being counted within the
same field of view—some with a single tail, others with two,
and one projecting from its nucleus three distinct trains of
light, diverging from each other at angles of about twenty
degrees!
Judge of our state of enthusiasm and rapture at these
thronging novelties 1 Every body seemed more or less in a
state of delirium 1 For my own part, I can only compare
my feelng to the exaltation which I once experienced after
inhaling the laughing gas. I seemed literally lifted
Above the earth
And possessed joys not promised at my birth.
Nothing but the dread of alarming the neighbourhood, and
attracting a concourse of the peasantry, prevented our join-
ing in a general shout.
As yet nobody had positively mentioned the Moon ; but
sundry glances at the planet had shown that she was not ab-
sent from our thoughts. These significant looks now became
more frequent ; and her name even began to be uttered
c
amongst us, in spite of a previous understanding
bondinuhe. Butg that she
was to be left to the last, by way of a bonne
for
re
thewondersm anlo
we excited
of
allou rt .ho appetiteeci
e s.
tial bodies the moon, the nearest to the earth—our owe satel-
lite'elus had
to already
a ravenous seen
pitch;liad
with her map-like face—her dark and bright spots—her
prodigious mountains, valleys, and active volcanoes, hfts cver
been a subject of supreme interest in human &peculation.
fancloa Monster Telescope, with its ilia •
These conjectrirni
mense powers, now promised to set at rest, together with the
romantic theory of Fontenelle, of a plurality of worlds, each
inhabited like our own.
Inspired by these hopes, and eager to realise them, there
sprang up among us a sort of agitation, carried on by mur-
murs and gestures which finally led to the investigation of
the Moon, in preference to Jupiter and his satellites, Saturn
and his ring, the Nebula, or the Milky Way. The venerable
gentleman already alluded to was the first to look, and after
a while actually staggered away from ghtza with" after
ejaculation, which, thoub FAcv4val unaer he circumstances,
w 9.414 soul pi:l:Jane it deliberately committed to paper.
* Prebably Mr. Bailey% the astrouotuer.—Erb.
•

However, it sufficed, with his look of concern, if not horror,
to drive us from our propriety. There was a general rush
towards the glass, each individual who succeeded in turn,
having to endure the entreaties, remonstrances, and even re-
proaches, from the more impatient of the throng. In this
unsatisfactory way I obtained a hurried glimpse ; but it
served to show me such a scene of desolation as I had never
contemplated even in a dream. Wide dreary wastes of white
sand, bounded by barren rocks, enclosing gloomy valleys
dark as that of the Shadow of Death ! Vegetation there
was none ; but one immense shady tract proved to be a vast
forest—literally a Black Forest—of charred trees. In its
shape I seemed to recognise one of those dark patches on
the surface of the full moon,• which are visible to the naked
eye. Dismal as these features were, there were others of
quite as melancholy a character. Thus the bright spot named
after Kepler by the astronomers, was made out by the
Swedish professor to be a great conical hill of bones bleached
to a dazzling whiteness. To what class of animals they be-
longed it was impossible to determine ; but none of them
resembled the bones of the human species.
From these indications we at first entertained sanguine
hopes of seeing some living creatures; but not the least sign
or stir of life could be detected in any part of the planet.
But the most astounding discovery was yet to come.
Amongst the dark patches on the face of the moon, dis-
cernible by the naked eye, is a remarkable one, supposed
to be a valley or cavity, which has been estimated by some
astronomers as fifty miles broad, and nearly three miles in
depth. It is called after Tycho Brahe, I believe, by the
learned. In the midst of this huge hollow, there appears a
bright spot, formerly the object of much speculation and
controversy, but now ascertained, by the extraordinary
powers of. the new telescope, to -be the skeleton of a gigantic
animal—of dimensions so enormous as to surpass the mam-
moth or mastodon as much as they exceed in size our ordinary
oxen!

The skeleton was lying on its side ; and most of the bones
retaining their places, afforded a very good notion of its
figure. According to the Frenchman, who professed to have
studied osteology under Cuvier, the structure was very pecu-
liar, and unlike that of any known terrestrial animal, living
or fossil. From the valley where it lay there ran a long
narrow ravine, which you may trace by referring to a map
of the moon. It was strewed with detached bones, and was
doubtless the passage by which the monster issued and re-
turned from his foragings.

The total absenceoflike, and the conical mound of ble,ached
bones, were now accounted for; the monster, after ravaging
all around, had at last perished by famine ; but there is some-
thing bewildering in the idea of a creature of such magni-
tude inhabiting a planet not so large by two-thirds as our
own.

To give you any idea of the effect produced on us by so
unexpected, and, I may say, so appalling a spectacle, is im-
possible. It was absolutely stunning. We stood and looked
silently in each other's faces like men suddenly awakened
from a sound sleep. Could it be real? Was it not all a
dream? And that, then, was the Moon, the favourite haunt
of romantic and poetical love fancies—one of the retreats of
the fairies! Well might the Frenchman shrug his shoulders
and exclaim that it was " triste—vraiment affligeante !" Nor
did it much surprise me to see the old white-haired gentle-
man, sitting on the grass, weeping like a child. In reality
there was something depressing and shocking in the horrible
desolation we had witnessed; yet withal so strangely fasci-
nating, that we returned to it again and again. But we
made no new discovery; except of the crater of an extinct
volcano, in the vicinity of the charred forest already de-
scribed.

At this point the party broke up, and Maclure and myself
took leave. But there are mysterious whisperings afloat of
subsequent explorations by a " select few ;" and in par-
ticular of some supposed ethereal or angelic beings discovered
in Vesta. Their shape, it is said, cannot be distinguished;
nor are they visible whilst within the disc of the planet,
which is a very bright one; but when beyond its edge they
are discernible, against the dark sky, hovering about with a
soft greenish light, like that of the fire flies one sees on the
banks of the Rhine. As soon as I can obtain any authentic
particulars you shall hear from me again. In the meantime,
adieu.—Yours ever,
__

CHARLES MAITLAND KILGOUR.
I omitted to mention that, observing how everybody
rubbed their eyes after looking through the telescope, I de-
termined to watch my own sensations, and detected a slight
drawing or shooting pain in the organ ; of course from the
immense power of the lenses overstraining the optic nerves.
I have just learned that several of the party are suffering
from the same cause: one of them with a temporary blind-
ness of the right eye.
• Perhaps the one called Cleomedes.—ED.

[We have extracted the above from Hood's excellent Ma-
gazine, but we entertain grave doubts of its authenticity
It is a very bonnie subject for a Commission of Lunacy.—ED.
Sun.]

THE CORN LAWS.
The near approach of Mr. Villiel•s's motion for the
immediate and total repeal of the corn-laws increases
the interest which is felt in the question. That there
will be a considerable addition to the minority of last
year is a point on which there can be no doubt.
Much, however, we feel assured, may still be done in
the way of swelling the minority. If the constituen-
cies of populous towns will properly bestir them-
selves, where the Members are only fixed-duty men,
a goodly number of converts to the cause of total and
immediate repeal will be made before the day on which
the motion is to be brought forward arrives. Let no
constituency be deterred from fully and fearlessly ex-
pressing their views to their representatives, from an
apprehension of being twitted in the same way as the
electors of Edinburgh have been twitted by Mr.
Macaulay. The subject is one of the gravest im-
portance, and the electoral body have a duty to per-
form to their country as well as themselves. Consti-
tuencies not only have a right to call on their Members
to give effect to their wishes' on any important ques-
tion, but it is their bounden duty to do so. The
franchise being limited, those who possess it are to be
considered as holding it in trust for that portion of
their countrymen who are debarred from the enjoy-
ment of their political rights. On the question of the
corn-laws, public opinion in populous towns has been
expressed in the most unequivocal manner in which
it were possible to give it utterance ; but, as Members
often imagine they can safely disregard public opinion
when they cannot with impunity disregard the
wishes of their constituents, it is right that the latter
should remind their representatives of the way in
which they ought to vote on Mr. Villiers's motion.
The representations of the electors of Edinburgh have
not been lost on Mr. Macaulay, though he is sorely
offended that they should have been made to him. They
have had the effect of eliciting from him an avowal of his
intention to vote, on the approaching occasion, for im-
mediate and total repeal. That, it must be allowed,
is something. Let other constituencies only extort
from their fixed-duty representatives a similar promise,
and it matters not how many angry epistles the latter
may think proper to- pen. Let them, if they please,
imitate the conduct of Mr. Macaulay in underrating
the influence of the League, by way of revenge for
the sound information which it has diffused, and the
healthy tone of feeling which it has created on the
corn-law question,—let them do this, or do or say any-
thing else they please, if they can only be induced
also to imitate the Member for Edinburgh in voting
for immediate and total repeal. In the mean time, it is
gratifying to know that correct notions on the subject
of the corn-laws are rapidly spreading among consti-
tuencies where the densest darkness has hitherto pre-
vailed. As already remarked, in all the populous
towns the people are corn-law repealers to a man ; but
in many agricultural districts, much yet remains to be
done in the way of dispelling the mists of ignorance.
Last night, at the anti-corn-law demonstration in Co-
vent-garden Theatre, Mr. Turner, a Somersetshire far-
mer, brought before the meeting—a meeting as nume-
rously attended and as enthusiastic as ever—a large
amount of interesting information respecting the existing
state of corn-law intelligence and feeling in the agricultu-
ral districts. The farmers are as open to conviction on the
subject as any other class of the community; and they are
rapidly coining over to the views of the League. There
are two great . difficulties in dealing with the farmers,
with which the corn-law repealers have to contend. The
first is, that of procuring a calm, dispassionate,
and unprejudiced hearing to the case which the
repealers wish to submit to them. Their landlords
have in many, perhaps in a majority of cases, so
far succeeded in poisoning their minds against free-
trade doctrines, that they will hardly accord a hear-
ing
those t o
cases,a n
a nh
toiw- ceovrner-,1 iwn
o
free-trade views. The other difficulty is in prevail-
in on those who have become proselytes toout in
hentht
isordiaffireguulmtyeni
anti-
corn-law principles, to avow and carroyted.
So
practice the new views they have
.p st.oveltrn-
for free-trade
pro-
tection of the ballot, they dare not vote
made up their
candidates, unless they had previously. _
Jut
families ruined. though,
minds to see themselves and
the League must not calculate on any
for these reasons,
considerable number of farmers voting, when a general
long as they are tenants-at-will, and are denied the
don the enterprise of enlightening them on which it has
entered. If the repealers cannot expect the suffrages
eelleeecttiioonns comesthat
ignorantfree-trade
andstuphied candidates,
be enthusiasm Wit musthig
or
rnoont
baebhaan-f
of the agriculturists, there will be wanting in future
of monopolist candidates, which used to characterise
county contests. And in this absence of wonted corn
law enthusiasm, there will be seen a sign of the times,
which will not be without its effect on the Minister of
the day, no matter whether
Tory.—
Morning Advertiser.

- - -
OFFICIAL CHANGE.—Sir Henry Hardinge goes to
India as Governor-General, and Sir James Graham, who ex-
pected the appointment, goes for the present to the Wall.—
Punch.
To LAIMIS.--The high and universal celebrity
which Rowland's Kalydor continues to maintain, as an active
yet mild and soothing extirpator of all impurities of the
skin, is, during the period of Spring, most pleasingly evinced.
This preparation, eminently balsamic, restorative, and invi-
gorating, is equally celebrated for safety in application, as for
unfailing efficacy in removing all impurities and discoloura-
tion ; and imparting a healthy freshness and transparonoy
to the Skin and Complexion. Its universally gm's!, demand
the cupidity of unprincipled shopkeepers, o give
the title of " Genuine';lydor to compoundsc of
their-tl
in own
anufActviro, fhe most deleterious char ter, collt4ll*kg
pi
ttiineral astringents utterly ruinous to the Cotelexon, and,
by their repellant action endangering heAltil• it is, there-
fore, imperative on purchasers to 400 that the words " Row-
land's Kalydor" are on the tiraPl others aro fraudu-
lent Counterfeit.

SPIRTT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF SATURDAY.
GLOBE.—Sir Robert Peel's Administration was
opened by high-sounding announcements of approaching
law reforms. Public expectation was on tip-tJe Lord
Lyndhurst was Chancellor. As head of the law,
whatever changes were proposed in the existing eco-
nomy of the law courts, must, of course, be first sub-
mitted to him for his sanction, if they were not ac-
tually the suggestions of his own mind. The name of
Lyndhurst and Reform, of any kind, was rather an
unpromising association for any beneficial results ; no
very strong anticipations in the public mind, or among
professional men, were therefore caused by the announce-
ment. Still there was hope. Political chemistry is
possessed of extraordinary powers. It can neutralise
antipathies, and bring into affinity bodies which
once seemed to be incapable of cohesion. Lord
Lyndhurst was Chancellor. For the purpose of pro-
ducing a favourable impression, law reform might be
seriously taken up by the Cabinet. Even Lord Lynd-
hurst might consent to forego his well-known dislike to
reform ; take the part assigned him in the State drama,
and play Reformer of flagrant abuses in the adminis-
tration of the law, as a means of obtaining popularity
The Court of Chancery was the first Court in w hid' Lord
Lyndhurst's newly kindled zeal for Law Reform
was to be tested. The Six Clerks' Office, with its enor-
mous impositions in the shape of fees, and incessant im-
pediments to the progress of litigation in the Court,
had long drained the resources, protracted the suits, and
exhausted the patience of the unhappy suitors. There
was, therefore, a considerable degree of satisfaction, tic-
companied by a more than equal portion of surprise,
when Lord Lyndhurst's Bill for the abolition of these
useless offices was announced ; satisfaction, that
the nuisance was likely to be, at length—abolished,
surprise
that its abolition should emanate from
such a quarter; proposed, as it was by the very
individual who had pertinaciously contended for
retaining it when a Bill for its removal was introduced
by his predecessor. Still, as we have said, there is a
vast difference between being in, and being out, of office.
The same measure which faction may oppose 1 nd de-
nounce as impolitic and unjust, will be taken up, and
recommended to Parliament as excellent, when its adop-
tion is likely to give eclat to a Cabinet, or will minister
to the personal advantage of a Minister of the Crown I
Lord Lyndhurst's Chancery Offices Abc:ition Bill is
a fine illustration of the mysterious influences which
a seat on the woolsack exercises over the visual faculties
of its possessor. In 1833 Lord Lyndhurst violently
and successfully opposed a Bill introduced to the
House of Lords for the very objects his own Bill of
1842 carried into effect. True, Lord Lyndhurst would
not have had the power of awarding the compen-
sation under the Bill of 1833. There would then have
been no compensation clauses smuggled into the Bill
at the last hour, enabling the holders of the abo-
lished offices to claim upwards of a million ster-
ling. No " orders" would then have issued, with
" Lyndhurst, C." affixed, by which that enormous
amountof compensation would be allowed, and annual
pensions assigned to these sinecurists during life—with
remainders after death—which should exceed the an-
nual salaries of Cabinet Ministers.- These concomi-
tants of Chancery Reform were left to the ingenuity
of Lord Lyndhurst to devise and carry into effect. They
certainly throw a halo around the measure, by which
the distinguishing characteristics of Law Reform, under
such auspices, are seen by their own light. They serve
to show how much the country is indebted to Sir
R. Peel's Administration for improvements in the judi•
cial institutions of the country ; and will ensure a cer-
tain kind of immortality to Lord Lyndhurst, as one of
the most extraordinary law reformers of his times.
We are glad to see that the Lord Chancellor is se-
cured in the possession of undivided merit in the'
matter of these enormous compensations. Sir James
Graham, in the course of the debate on Mr. Watson's
motion on the subject, endeavoured to produce an im-
pression that Lord Cottenham had assented to the
scheme. It appears, however, that Lord Cottenham
declines the honour assigned to him by the Right Hon.
home Secretary. It is Lord Lyndhurst's own. The
compensation plan—with all its munificent provisions for
the holders of the offices abolished by the Bill—is tho
emanation of his mind and will. The Chancellor must
li have consented, after a long struggle with himself, if
not with his colleagues in the Cabinet, to abolish these
offices ; seeing that in 1833 he regarded them as an
essential part of a perfectly wise and good system of
equity jurisprudence. No wonder, then, that his com-
pensation-scheme was so munificent ! The value of
the offices to the public was in the Lord Chancellor's eye
when he drew up the schema which allots a million
sterling to the holders of such posts. The idea of
continuing an interest in the compensation fund to the
holders of the offices for a given period after their
decease, is also worthy of commendation. Lord
Lyndhurst, possibly, had a reference to, and put a
liberal interpretation on, a much-controverted pas-
sage of Scripture:—" Make to yourselves friends
of the mammon of unrighteousness." We have
remarked that Sir James Graham endeavoured
on Tuesday night to assign a part of the merit to Lord
Cottenham. The mistake into which the Right Hun.
Baronet fell was very properly rectified, at the Noble
and Learned Lord's instance, by Lord John Russell.
Sir James Graham said something about having been
misled by Mr. Wainwright, who drew the Bill. There
will, however, be ample opportunity for ascertaining who
occasioned the mistake, so derogatory from Lord Lynd-
hurst's merits. The subject will be resumed, when, in
colloquial phrase, " the saddle will be placed on the
right horse."

-STANDARD.—The Globe undertakes to criticise
our remarks upon the foolish speech with which the
Dublin Conservative Association was dissolved, and
charges us with inconsistency, because we formerly
gave our support to the Society in question.
But there is no inconsistency in our conduct.
The Association was formed for a temporary
purpose—to rescue Ireland from the tyranny of Mr.
Daniel O'Connell ; and, under the guidance of such men
as Mr. Butt, whom we do not find taking any part in its
late proceedings, it nobly accomplished that purpose.
"Thenceforward its occupation was gone." Mr. O'Con-
nell is not now the tyrant of Ireland. lle is " scarcely
lord of himself." Nobody complains that any good
class of Irishmen is either injured or oppressed, or
of any danger threatened to any good institution.
Why, then, might not the Dublin Conservative Associa-
tion follow the example of so many similar associations
in England, that have dissolved themselves because
they have fulfilled their mission, in restoring Con-
servativelagislation and government ? Why should the
few, who may have kept the thing alive beyond
its proper period, for the indulgence of personal vanity
or the prosecution of personal gain, reflect disgrace
upon the pure and useful period of its history,
by ascribing to the whole body their own mean
feelings? It is of that that we complain, and there
plainly is no inconsistency in this complaint with
the highest possible respect for the Association in
those days when it was the rallying point of the
good and the wise, because it was necessary then for
the good and wise to take an active part in public life.
By the way, it may be the means of saving tho Globe
some labour, and sparing the Irish Chief Justice some
abuse, if we remind our Contemporary, that Mr. Ed-
ward Pennefather was a Whig when he advised the
Corporation of Kilkenny, and was Lord Grey's first
At torney-General.

FRENCH RAILWAYS.
In the Chamber of Deputies, on Wednesday, the Minister
of Public Works introduced several Railway Bills, which
have been looked forward to with great interest by specula-
tors both in France and in England. The Bills introduced
on Wednesday are for the construction of the following new
lines of railways:-
1. A Bill for the c/asscinctit (fixing of the line) of the
railway from Vierzon to Chateauroux and Limoges on the
one part, and from Vierzon to Bourges and Clermont on the
other.

2. A Bill to raise 28 millions of francs for the continuation
of that part of the railway from Paris to the Atlantic, si-
tuated between Tours and Nantes.
3. A Bill for the classement of a railroad from Paris to
Rennes, by Chartres and Laval.
4. A Bill demanding a credit of eighty-eight millions of'
francs for the completion of that part of the railway leading
from Paris to the frontiers of Germany, situated between
Paris and Hommarting, and passing through Epernay, Cha-
lons, Bar le Due, and Nancy, with a branch railroad to
Rheims and Metz. _ . _

These different Bills comprise the formation of railroads to
the extent of about 500 leagues. They are all to be made
according to the mixed system laid down in the law of 1842.
The Debate says—" The outlay on the part of the State will be
about 60,000,000 f. per annum during six years. With the re-
sources at the disposal of the Minister of the Interior the
amount set aside for railroads is available without any embar-
rassment to the Treasury. The outlay, at the expense of Coru-
panics, will be about 250 millions. The whole comprises an
operation of 600 millions, without counting all the other
public works which the State executeson
the roads,
rivers, the canals, and in the harbours, and independentlythe of that which is expended by powerful public companies, such
as the Rouen and llavre Railway Company, whose works
alone will absorb about forty millions."

FABRI ES‘
cATED
tmins
The extraordinary charge tMr RA
Edward Fry,
son of a magistrate of the mnty
last, at
Roscommon, was
gentleman,sions of B o yle.
who, Theit
is
further investigated on Monday ra the Petty Ses-
n stated,ature ofisht hiaesh chargeeei c againsted ia thishe
county of Roscommon, must be fregshyin tihneeretcollection
of our readers, as the proceedings at the opening in-
quiry were so recently reported. The accusation is di-
vided into two branches—first, Mr. Fry was accused of
inducing his herd, Edward Cox, to kill a mare, his pro-
perty, and, subsequently, swearing an affidavit, in which
he stated that the mare was killed by some person or
persons unknown, his object being to recover compensa-
tion of the county for the alleged malicious injury. Ho
was also charged with having got a person of the name
of Burns to write a threatening letter to him, signed
" Young Smart." The original of this notice, it was
stated by one of the witnesses, was retained by. Mr. Fry,
in order that its contents should be embodied in his affi-
davit for compensation.
After the examination of witnesses, chiefly persons in
the employment of the accused, the Magistrates received
informations against him, and he has been held to bail
to stand his trial at the next assizes.
Under the circumstances, we shall refrain from any
observations on the case, as regards the guilt or inno-
cence of Mr. Fry, merely referring to the report of the
investigation, which seems to have been conducted with
fairness, by
.Mr. Wray, R.M., and other Magistrates.
The matter in issue is of the deepest importance, espo-
chilly to the county of Roscommon, where so many
outrages of an agrarian character have recently be en
committed.—Dublin Post.

U NCLAIMED lIORSE.—Some
person unknown, left a horse at the Angel Inu, in this town, on April fair day, and although it has been advertised, no
person 1123 come forth to own it, consequently it was sold by
auction, Ly Mr. Foster, at twelve o'clock, on TheadeY, for W &
guineas.