The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVEN I Nti, MAY 27, 1844.

O'Connell, and as the papers were evidence te6peetively
against the respective publishers, they were evidence against
. the co-conspirator of the publishers as acts done in further-
ance of the common object by Gray and Barrett; and as,
therefore, being acts which) according to the law of evi-
dence relating to conspiracy, may he given in evidence
, against Mr. O'Connell, although he had not personally par-
:. ticipated in the publication of the reports, and may, as a
; ! matter of fact, be absolutely ignorant of their existence. It
7 : seems to be universally acknowledged, and we believe it
to be an undeniable fact, that such evidence was never be-
fore admitted for the purpose for which this evidence was
ladduced upon the recent occasion; and the exposition which
the three judges of the Irish Court of Queen's Bench have
given, of the grounds of their judgment in favour of its ad-
missibility, appears to us to show very clearly that the de-
cision is as wrong as it is novel. The Chief Justice, adopting
the words of Mr. Phillipps (Treatise in Evidence, ch. 5, sec. 4),
observes that the " act of the publication being done by one
conspirator, in furtherance of the common design, was to be
considered as done by him in the character of agent to his
co-conspirators; and, therefore, that if Mr. Barrett
published a statement of Mr. O'Connell's speeches and
proceedings at public meetings, he published it as the
agent of Mr. O'Connell." Now, in the very place where the
Chief Justice found the first part of his doctrine, he must
have also found that an exception was made in regard to
such declarations or statements as consisted in relations of
antecedent events. The conclusion, therefore, which the
Chief Justice drew from one part of the text, was actually
prohibited by another, and that which his Lordship has de-
duced as a consequence from the rule, is declared by his own
authority to be an exception to it. As this matter is all
within the department of Sir James Graham, we recom-
mend the Right Honourable Baronet to step from his own
chamber in the Home-office to that of Mr. Samuel
March Phillipps, and to ask that learned and able person
whether what one of the several conspirators may have stated
in the form of a narration of a past occurrence, can be given
in evidence against any other individual of the same party?
In answer to this question, we presume that Mr. Phillipps
will give the same information to Sir James Graham that he
has already given to the rest of the world in the 4th section
of the sth chapter of his " Treatise upon the Law of Evi-
dence." The published accounts of the judgment of Mr.
Justice Burton represent him as concurring in the judgment
of the Chief Justice, upon the same grounds and upon the
same authority, and making the same omission of any re-
ference to the exception which we have already men-
tioned, and which, in fact, altogether governs the present
case. In regard to Mr. Justice Burton, it is, however,
extremely singular that, in support of his own and the
Chief Justice's view, of the admissibility of such papers for
such a purpose, he actually refers to the case of the " King v.
Hardy," which is the very authority upon which Mr. Phil-
lipps relies for their exclusion. But the extravagance to
which Mr. Justice Crampton has carried this novel doctrine
is perfectly romantic, and absolutely soars into the sublime
of the absurd. He says, "that even though every speech
and every fact stated in the newspapers were false, they were
as much evidence against Mr. O'Connell as if he had written
every line of them." This is one of those daring flights of
imagination before which criticism falls prostrate in utter
and impotent amazement.

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S
BALL AT APSLEY HOUSE.

A magnificent ball, in celebration of her Majesty's birth-
day, was given by the Duke of Wellington on Friday night
at Apsley-house. The fete was in every respect worthy of
the occasion ; at the lowest computation 900 of our high

aristocracy were assembled.
For the ball it was said that 1,000 cards of invitation were
issued, in which were included the officers of the different
household regiments. At about a quarter to ten o'clock the
carriages began to set down visitors, and it was nearly half-
past one before all _the company had arrived. Owing to the
park-gates having been allowed to remain open all night, and
the admirable arrangements of the police under Superinten-
dent Baker, not the slightest confusion arose.
The Waterloo gallery and five noble saloons were thrown
open for the ball, and most brilliantly illuminated. In every
disposable part the choicest flowers and exotics were placed,
imparting a delicious fragrance. The gallery, adorned with

its invaluable collection of paintings, and embellished with
its gorgeous decorations, presented a splendid scene at half-
past eleven, it being crowded by a rare galaxy of beauty and
rank. It was there that the dance was formed, a band of
22 performers occupying the orchestra at the south end. At
the opposite extremity sat their Royal Highnesses the Duke
and Duchess of Cambridge, with the Noble Duke, surrounded
by some of the principal guests.
There were present—Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge, attended by Baron Knesebeck and
Baroness Ahlefeldt ; his Serene Highness Prince Edward of
Saxe-Weimar, and the following foreign Ministers :—His Ex-
cellency the French Ambassador and Countess de St. Aulaire,
his Excellency the Turkish Ambassador, his Excellency Prince
Castelcicala, his Excellency the Russian Minister and Baro-
ness Brunnow and Mademoiselle Olga Lechner, his Excellency
Baron Nieumann, his Excellency M. Dedel, Countess Revent-
low, his Excellency Count Pollen, his Excellency Baron Hu-
gel, his Excellency the Belgian Minister and Madame Van
de Weyer, his Excellency the Portuguese Minister and Ba-
roness Moncorvo, his Excellency M. Fortique, his Excellency
the American Minister and Miss Everett, his Excellency the
Brazilian Minister and Marchioness de Lisboa, his Excellency
Baron de Cetto, his Excellency the Swedish Minister and
Countess Bjornstjerna, his Excellency the Mexican Minister
and Madame Murphy, his Excellency M. Moreno, Baron
Koller, Baron Bjornstjerna, Count Jarnac, Count de Noailles,
Baron de Thile, Baron Brockdorff, Baron Scheppingk, M.
Sartorius, Baron Brenner, M. de Berg, Baron Lionel Roths-
child, M. de Koudriaffsky, Marquis and Marchioness Ran-
celli, Count Rosen, M. Lomonossoff, &c.
The subjoined is a list of the general company :
Dukes—Richmond, Leeds, Roxburgh, Beaufort, Norfolk,
Leinster, Buc,cleuch, Montrose.
Duchesses—Sutherland, Beaufort, Roxburgh, Norfolk,
Leinster, Buccleuch, Montrose. •
_ _

Marquises—Salisbury, Normanby, Kildare, Ailesbury.
Camden,' Lorne, Iluntly, Angles 4, Douro, Worcester, Head-
fort, Downshire, Winchester, Ormonde.

Marchionesses—Ailesbury, Londonderry, Douro, Clanri-
carde, Wellesley, Downshire, Ormonde, Westmeath.
Earls—Aylesford, Winchilsea, Dunmore, Aberdeen, Craven,
Sefton, Wilton, Bruce, Rosebery, Clarendon, Morley, Lincoln,
Cawdor, Howe, Malmesbury, Hillsborough, Haddington, De-
lawarr, Wicklow, Morton, Normanton, Altamont, Falmouth,
Powis, Auckland, Mansfield, Dartmouth, Dalhousie, Bes-
borough, Devon, Eldon, Brownlow, Kinnoul, March.
Countesses—Wilton, Jersey, Dunmore, Clanwilliam, Rose-
bery, Craven, Sefton, Clarendon, Verulam, Morley, Glengall,
Hillsborough, Radnor, Tankervie,Malmesbury, lladdington,
Delawarr, Wicklow, Morton, Euston, Powys, Minto, Dowager
Mansfield, Ashburnham, Dartmouth, Guilford, Eldon, Bridge-
water, Brownlow, Kinnoul, Grosvenor, Manvers, March.
Viscounts—Strangford, Cranley, Sydney, Canning, Leve-
son, Fielding, Folkestone, Loftus, Jocelyn, Lewisham, North-
land, Palmerston, Clive, Barrington, Stopford, Alford, In-
gestre, Curzon, Combermere, Emlyn, Hawarden, Marsham.
Viscountesses--Beresford, Adare, Folkestone, Jocelyn,
Ashbrooke, Palmerston, Barrington, Forbes, Howick, Emlyn,
Hawarden, Gage.
Lords—Fitzroy Somerset, Cremorne, Claud Hamilton, Ed-
ward Howard, Brougham, Elphinstone, Harry Lennox,
Sondes, Foley, Redesdale, De Ros, A. Lennox, Heytesbury,
G. Paget, Colchester, Manners, Aylmer, Colville, Prudhoe,
Edwin Hill, Templemore, Feversham, Ernest Bruce, Dela-
mere, Thomas Cecil, Marcus Hill, Henniker, Monteagle.
Ladies—Brougham, De Ros Fitzroy Somerset, Sarah
Ingestre, Cremorne, Aylmer, Wenlock, Sondes, Colchester,
Dowager Manners, Prudhoe, Colville, Ernest Bruce,
Granville Somerset, A. Grosvenor, John Somerset, Clemen-
tina Villiers, Elizabeth Palk, Lucy Vaughan, Georgina
Curzon, Georgina Codrington, Caroline Lennox, Duff Gorden,
Dowager Rendlesham, Adelaide Paget, Eleanor Ashburnham,
Eleanor Balfour, Caroline Dancombe, Pierrepoint (2), Harriet
and Kathleen Ponsonby, Caroline Townley, Charlotte Her-
bert Cust (2), Mary Howard, Mildred Hope, Harriet Clive,
Elizabeth Leveson Gower, Anne and Louisa Primrose,
Georgiana Kerr, Emily Marsham, Jane Fitzgerald, Charles
Somerset, Templemore, Elizabeth De Burgh, Mary Hood,
Feversham, Alexandrina Vane, Graham, Mary Fielding,
Caroline Lascelles, Frances Hope, Louisa Cavendish, H.
Douglas, Shelley, Polly, Catherine Cavendish, Augusta
Cotton, Caroline Murray, G. Seymour, Sarah Saville,
Marianne Alford, Finch (2), Jane Grimston, Elliot (2),
Ellen Douglas, Louisa Fitzroy, H. Howard, Mary Agar,
Mary and Olivia Taylour, Augusta Somerset, Jemima Eliot,
Fuller, Emily Hardinge, Caroline Wood, Dowager Clinton,
Braybrook, Harriet Corry, Charlotte Egerton, Georgiana
Bathurst, Dowager Floyd, Jane Charteris, Charlotte
Fletcher, Wheatley, Freemantle, G. Egerton, Hunter, Dela-
mere, Isabella Blachford, Frances Cole, Domvile, Louisa
Churchill, Sophia Cecil, H. Campbell, Cockerell, Mary
Stanley, Isabella Hope, Farquhar, W. James, Ouseley, Mac-
donald, Willoughby Gordon, Elizabeth Steele, John Scott,
Langford, Bowater, Campbell, Marcus Hill, Kirkland,
B. Johnstone, James Stuart, Gore, Elizabeth Fielding,
Elizabeth S. Stanhope, Ann Charteris, Alice Peel, Arabella
Arden, Mary Ross, Maria West, Selina Kerr, Shaw Stuart,
Henniker, Emily Drummond, Caroline Sandford, Harriet
Paget, Rosa Greville, Read, Pakenham, Mary S. West, Ha-
milton, Monteagle.
Lord Chief Baron Pollock.

Hon. Messrs.—Somerset, H. Cholmondeley, General Upton,
G. Dawson, F. Leveson, Finch, Colonel R. Trevor, Jocelyn,
Captain aude, C. E. Law, C. C. Cavendish, S. Ponsonby,
Cadogan, R. Curzon, F. Charteris, Colonel Fitzgibbon, A.
Liddell, H. Liddell, M. West, Spencer, 0. Duncombe, H.
Pierrepoint, Colonel Gordon, S. Lyttelton, S. Herbert, Gor-
den, Barrington, G. Cavendish, Captain Rous, R. Wellesley,
S. Bourne, Addington, Chichester, R. H. Clive, C. S. Rice.

Hon. Mesdame-s—Norton, Maude, Wyndham, Herbert,
Montague, Dawson, Law, Vere Fane, Liddell, Rous.
Hon. Misses—Smythe, Copley, Maynard (2), Duncombe
(2), Hood (2), De Ros, Miller, F. Somerset (2), Mitford,
Foley, Stuart, Thelluson (2), J. Somerset, Eliot, Hamilton,
Lawley, A'Court, Barrington, Liddell, Neville, Flower, Gage.
Sirs—F. Trench, G. Murray, J. C. Hobhouse, J. V. B.
Johnstone, H. Wheatley, E. Bowater,Gordon,
W. H.
Hardinge, W. James, W. Cotton, H. H. Campbell, J. Mac-
donald, J. Shelley, J. Kirkland, R. H. Inglis, H. Seymour,
H. Douglas, A. Dalrymple, W. C. Codrington, P. G. Egerton,
G. Clerk, C. Hunter, E. Codrington, W. W. Wynn, C. Dom-
vile, C. R. Cockerell, F. Head, A. Barnard, J. Williams, J.
R. Reid, H. Pelly, C. Dalbiac, G. Hamilton.
Colonels—Bennett, T. Wood, Wood, North, B. Drummond,
Montague, H. Baillie, Bouverie, Lascelles.
Captains—F. Seymour, Wood, A'Court, Vivian, Meynell,
Percival, Martyn.
Messieurs—Tomline, M.P., Clark, Parnther, H. Baring,
M.P., Verschoyle, V. Fane, Liddell, Graham, Peel, Brown •
rigg, C. Fane, Bonham, Drummond, W. Egerton, Dundas
Greville, Sandford, Mildmay, C. Drummond, Grenfell, Leslie,
Cole, Kerrison, Bentinck, G. Repton, M.P., Boyce, F. Gre-
ville, E. Tennent, Bankes, M.P., Estcourt, M.P., Stanhope,
Escott, A. Montgomery, Stanley, Greene, Ross, Newdegate,
M.P., J. Townley, G. Hope, Talbot, Vaughan, Neville, M.P.,
A. Capel, Beauclerk, Herbert F. Dawson, Cavendish, Town-
ey, A. Hope, M.P., H. Twiss, Russell Ellice, H. Russell,
Cornewall, T. Egerton, M.P., Cox.
Mesdames—Verschoyle, Balfour, A. Capel, Beauclerk, Cun-
liffe, Mills, Dawson Darner, H. Twiss, Fellowes,tll. Russell,
Cecil Fane, Russell Ellice, Drummond, Morier, Brownrigg,
Boyce, H. Baillie, Wilbraham Egerton, Smith, Dundas, Mar-
tyn, Cox, Thesiger, Percy, Emerson Tennent, Bankes, Law-
rence, H. Baring, Boyce, Lane Fox, Gurwood, Greene.
Misses—Codrington (2), Mills (2), Clerk (2), Law (2),
Rice Trevor (2), Fremantle (2), Hamilton, Meade, Fitzgib-
bon (2), S. Stewart, 'Johnstone, Kirkland, Paget (2), Las-
celles, Copley, Stanhope, Balfour, Bowater, E. Balfour,
Wheatley (2), Ross, West (2), Farquhar, Gore, Fielding,
Ouseley, Campbell, Steele, DufWordon (2), A'Court, Har-
dinge (2), Beauclerk, Crewe, Darner, Drummond (2), S.
Bourne, Seymour (2), Fellowes, Mactavish, Morier (2),
Brownrigg, Dashwood, Tilney Long, Drummond, Wellesley,
H. Baillie, Addington, Legh, W. Egerton, Blachford, Smith
(2), Pierrepoint, Greville, Cox, Percy, Clive, Stanley, G. Sey-
mour, Domvile, Kerr, Cole, Escott, Montgomery, Gurwood,
Estcourt, Greene, Pakenham.

ATHANASIAN CREED.—Patron Paten was so averse
to the Atbanasian Creed, that he never would read it.
Archbishop Seeker having been informed of his recu-
sancy, sent the Archdeacon to know the reason :—" I
do not believe it," said the priest. " But your metropo-
litan does," replied the Archdeacon. "It may be so,"
replied Mr. Paten, " and he can 'well-affoid it ; he be-
lieves at the rate of seven thousand pounds a year, and I
only at fifty."

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
THE DERBY.

The perplexities of the betting world, induced by
the postponement to an indefinite period of the " de-
ciding heat," between Orlando and Running Rein,
have received an unwelcome addition in the death of
Mr. Crockford, who had a large account on the race.
His book was compared at the usual time by Mr.
Edward Crockford, who, we are given to understand,
has declared his intention to attend for the purpose
of paying and receiving. Such, however, is the un-
settled and excitable state of the " ring," that al-
though several highly respectable and influential men
have declared their willingness that he should do so,
there are others who are strongly opposed to it ; and,
worse than all, no one to decide which side is in the
right. With regard to Tuesday we have nothing sa-
tisfactory to say. The question now under discussion
is, whether there shall be a partial settling, or whe-
ther, under the circumstances, it would not be advis-
able to postpone it altogether until a jury shall have
decided which of the two claimants is entitled to the
stakes. Upon this point, as well as upon the knotty
one raised upon Mr. Crockford's decease, we hope to
le able to speak more definitely in our report of Mon-
day's proceedings at the Subscription Room. In the
meantime, so great is the reversion of opinion in re-
pet to the grand question, that instead of four and
five, and in some instances ten to one on Running
Rein, the odds are now six to five on Orlando. We
hear that Colonel Peel has already commenced pro-
ceedings, and that he has retained Mr. Martin.
LEANDER AND HIS "JAW."

In our report of the Epsom Races, and the inci-
dents that preceded and accompanied them, we
noticed tie protest against Leander on Monday, and
the fatal termination of his career on Wednesday. We
have now to record the denouement of one of the many
episodes that will serve to make the Derby of 1844, the
mcst remarkable that has ever sullied the annals of
the Turf. Leander was destroyed on the evening of
his accident, and was buried the same night at Ash-
stead, and, but for a frolic, his remains might have
reposed undisturbed, until every one, and everything
connected with him had passed into oblivion. Nothing
occured on Thursday to bring his name into notice;
on Friday, however, Colonel Anson's filly won the
Oaks, and the protest against Julia having become
a subject of discussion, at a merry-making of Scott's
friends at Leatherhead, in the evening, the conversa-
tion naturally turned upon Leander, and the wine,
no doubt, having had its effects, it was determined,
"by way of a frisk," to " have him up." Acting upon
the impulse, the necessary implements were procured,
the "whereabouts" discovered, and, in a brief space
the grave of the unfortunate Leander was re-opened,
when, lo! he was found to be minus the lower jaw.
As this looked rather suspicious, the head was forth-
with cut off, and, on Saturday morning, sub-
mitted to Mr. Bartlett, the veterinary sur-
geon of Dorking, who, after examining the upper
jaw, pronounced it to be the head of a
four year old. This was droll enough, but the fun-
niest part of the story remains to be told—the ex-
humation got wind, and before the day was over Mr.
Forth, the trainer of Mr. Litchwald's horses, had
shown the missing jaw to Mr. Field of Oxford-street,
and-on his declaration that it had belonged to a four
year old, had immediately proceeded to Burlington-
street, and deposited it with Messrs. Weatherby, as-
suring them that he had been grossly imposed upon
by the Messrs. Litchwald, and that it was only the
vicious temper of the horse that had prevented an
earlier discovery of the fraud that had been practised
upon him. Strange that so experienced a trainer,
with the knowledge that for months past the age of
the horse had been in question, should have been so
slow in satisfying himself upon the point. Stranger
still that this very horse should have received his
death-blow from Running Rein, and stranger than
all, that the Messrs. Litchwald should be non est
inventus.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
The settlement on the Derby is still a vexed question
at the Corner. The state of facts we believe to be as
follows':—That the Derby stakes are in the hands of
Mr. Wetherby, as stakeholder ; that the owner of Run-
ning Rein and the owner of Orlando have both demanded
them ; that, on their being refused to the latter, Mr.
Wetherby was by him served with notice of action ; and
that the stewards of the races of Epsom 'have refused to
interfere. How, then, are the bets to be effected? The
general rule is that bets follow the stakes. It seems to
follow that while the stakes are in abeyance, the bets
will be in abeyance also. But it is asked—why should
not bets which affect neither the first nor second horse
be settled? If any person backed the Ugly Buck or
Ratan, by no possibility can he win the bet ; his bet
will not be in any degree affected by the decision be-
tween Running Rein and Orlando—why should not, he
pay? Because, say those who deprecate a partial settle-
ment, the following is the state of the betting ring :
About 100 person, bookmakers by profession, lay odds
against as many horses as they can ; if ono of them
lays 30 to 1 against each of 40 horses, he wins 39 of his
bets and loses one, and gains on the balance a handsome
professional remuneration. Many of these men are
known to possess but a small capital, but are trusted on
account of the_ care and caution with which they con-
duct their business. The public, to the amount of many
thousand persons, are the backers of horses, and conse-
quently the takers of odds. If a partial settlement
should take place to-morrow, each of these persons will
receive 38 out of the 40 bets which they have laid, and
will not pay on either of the remaining two. They will
become the stakeholders of the whole money which the
public has adventured on the Derby. This money they
will hold during the whole time that the courts of law
may take before they give a final decision on this case.
In the interim they may die, or be subject to other
casualties which are familiar to those who frequent the
ring. As bets on the Derby and Oaks have always been
settled together, and set off against each other, the above
reasoning is felt to apply in some, though, of course,
in a very minor, degree, to a settlement on the Oaks.
Considerable discussion has taken place with respect to
the account of Mr. Crockford, who died on Thursday
last. The general rule is that bets are not due till the
regular settling day, and that they are avoided by the
death of either party. There are, however, instances
in which the account of &party deceased has been settled.
The general rule appears the safer course. Every one
admits that the representative of a deceased party cannot
be called upon to settle, and it is obviously unfair to
leave it at his option to come forward if the deceased
were a winner, and to abstain if he were a loser. We
understand that some gentlemen who take a leading
part in these matters, will meet at Tattersall's to-morrow,
and from them probably some recommendation may
emanate respecting the settlement of accounts on the
Derby and Oaks. We are in possession of several cir-
cumstances relative to the Running Rein affair, which
we think it would beimproper to make public as the case
will be submitted to a legal tribunal.

SIGHT AND HEARING—TESTIMONIAL.
From T. J. Pettigrew, Surgeon, F.R.S. to Messrs.
S. and B. Solomons, opticians, 39, Albemarle-street,
Piccadilly,—Gentlemen, I hive no hesitation in replying
to your inquiry as to the results obtained by the use of
your Improved Spectacles ; being in the constant habit
of reading and writing formally hours together by lamp-
light, it is but justice to say that your newly invented
Spectacle Lenses have afforded me the greatest comfort.
When I employed the ordinary pebbles, I never failed to
experience in the morning a great irritation in the eyes.
Since I have used your admirable glasses I suffer from
no inconvenience of the kind, and my vision is much im-
proved. I shall ever feel grateful to my good friend,
Dr. Blundell for having drawn my attention to the sub-
ject.—Believe me to be yours, vary respectfully. T. J.
PETTIGREW, 8, Saville-row. Also, newly invented
Acromatic Waistcoat-pocket Telescopes and Opera-
glasses of the same kind of Lenses.—Every kind of Te-
lescope of larger size and increasing powers for shooting,
sea purposes, and upon stand for astronomical observa-
tions the powers are so great and the lenses so bright
and brilliant that minute objects at an extraordinary dis-
tance is brought completely under the eyes. Sportsmen
tourists, and sea-side visitors will indeed here have a
great treat. Acoustic instruments of every description
for deafness. Caution.—Messrs. S. & B. Solemons, opti-
cians and aurists, are not in any way cennected with a
person of the same name in their immediate neighbour-
hood, nor in any part of the country. To prevent mis-
takes, be cautious, and observe—Only to be had at 39,
Albemarle-street, Piccadilly, opposite the York Hote
BENEVOLENT TREAT.—Some time since Mr. Baily,
the Governor of the Shiffnal Union Workhouse, whose
kindness in relieving poor travellers is well known, gene-
rously treated all the poor in the house, who were will-
ing, to see the American equestrians, at his own expense.
The neatness of the paupers, who went to the circus in
procession, was noticed by the whole spectators.—
Wolverhampton Chronicle.
There is an old prophecy, remembered by those
who still believe in the powers of " grammery," to the
effect—that " when a bull shall toll Lanercost bell, and
a hare bring forth on Naworth 's hearth-stone, Lanercost
shall fall, and Naworth be burned down." A bull, they
say, did toll the bell, and a hare has brought forth on
Naworth hearth-stone: and the prophecy, they insist,
has now been fulfilled—for Lanercost is a ruin, and Na-
worth Castle has been destroyed by fire.—Carlisle
Journal.

RELATIONSHIPS EXTRAORDINARY.—An odd sort
of relationship was lately formed by a pair of nuptials ex-
traordinary in Camden. A widower, who was not very
young, became smitten by a beautiful girl and married her.
A
younger
widow lady still in the person,Thut with the
short time after a son of this man, by a former wife, be-
came
mother also f inth love, v
father'se not withn ew a
wyiofe„li
bloom of life. He offered himself, and soon the young man
and the widow were united in the bonds of matrimony ; so
that, in consequence of these two connexions a father became
the son-in-law of his own son, mid the wife not only the
daughter-in-law of her own son-in-law, but still more, the
mother-in-law of her own mother, who is herself the
daughter- in-law of her own daughter, while the husband of
the latter is the father-in-law of his mother-in-law, and
father-in-law ofhis own .
fatherCaledonian Mercury.
THE REV. MR. WOLFF'S MISSION TO ROEHARA.—
We have the gratification of announcing that intelligence
has reached usl by the way of Trebizond and Malta, of the
safe arrival of this intrepid traveller at Meshed, from which
place he was to have taken his departure on the 21st of
March, under the escort to be furnished him by the Gover-
nor. The most perilous part of the journey, extending over
a space of 300 miles, was yet before him; but he appeared
fully confident that, under Divine Providence, he should suc-
ceed in accomplishing the same. No fresh intelligence had
been collected touching the objects of his search, whose fate
continued still a matter of mystery. The contradictions in
the accounts lead rather to a hope that they will be found
alive, though perhaps the captives of the despotic and tyran-
nical Ameer.

LI TERAT URE.

CO.NINGSB Y. 3 Vols. Colburnl London, 1844.
Of all the works of fiction that Mr. D'lsraeli has
yet produced—and he has for some years been a dili-
gent labourer in the fruitful , fields of fancy—
Coningsby is the one that does most credit to his head
and heart. The egotism and assumption that, like
flaws in a vein of marble, ran through his otherwise
delightful " Young Duke"—the tone of flippant
levity, caught from Lord Byron's " Don Juan, "r that
formed such a drawback to his brilliant "Vivian
Grey"—the exaggerated sentiment and rhapsodical
mysticism of his " Contarini Fleming," wherein he
seemed constantly within reach of fine thoughts and
as constantly missing them ;—all these defects, so de-
trimental to the effect of his earlier and cruder tales,
have disappeared from the work before us ; which is
manly, energetic, and healthy in feeling; sound—
sometimes even original—in thought; bold in portrai-
ture ; sincere, eloquent, and lofty in its political ut-
terances ; and wholly free from anything like conven-
tional cant. Such a work, recommended by so many
sterling qualities, was never more wanted than at the
present time, if only to counteract that low, vulgar,
flash spirit that has crept into our lighter lite-
rature—a spirit which loves to haunt the purlieus of
Newgate and Field-lane, which manufactures heroes
out of thieves and murderers, and apotheosizes upstart
Cockneys and vagabond adventurers as though they '
were so many demi-gods. If Coningsby do nothing
more than "put out of Court"-- to use a legal term
—the prevalent taste for this depraved, unhealthy
class • of works, by imparting a loftier and more
generous tone to fiction, it will have accomplished
great good; but its salutary effects, we hope, will
not stop here; it is a tale eminently suggestive, fur-
nishing the materials of thought even more than of
entertainment, and tending to rouse a spirit of inquiry
in the reader's mind, which can scarcely lead to other
than beneficial results. If we except a few Quixotic
speculations, savouring rather of the idealist than the
practical politician, there is not a single sentiment
enunciated in Coningsby that is not based on truth.
The author is no party man—he is not blinded by
prejudice—he swears neither by Whig nor Tory—he
is utterly indifferent to what may be thought of him
in Downing-street--but in all his theories and sug-
gestions has a reverent regard to what he deems to
be the best interests of the community at large.
Even those who may dissent from his tenets will not
fail to admire the earnest and elevated spirit that
characterises them—the eloquence with which they
are expressed, and the sagacious reasoning with which
they are enforced.
Mr. D'lsraeli, we need scarcely inform our readers,
is one of those ardent and sanguine politicians to
whom their adversaries, by way of ridicule, have
given .the nic-name of " Young England." The
leading principle of these comprehensive reformers is,
if we mistake them not, that of faith in the national
character, and distrust of all sects and factions.
Having closely watched the progress of events during
the last twelveyears, they have discovered—and what
thinking man can have failed to do otherwise ?—the
utter hollowness and selfishness of party—its inability
to conciliate the suffrages of the people—to unite
them in the bonds of brotherhood—enlisttheir cordial
sympathies—and win their unhesitating confidence.
As yet " Young England" is but in embryo ; it has
scarcely chipped the egg-shell ; but it gives promise
of a lusty growth, and will, we suspect, Jive to see
the downfall of the two feeble, antiquated sects of
Whig and Tory, and raise its head triumphantly
above the ruins. It is impossible, indeed,
that things can continue much longer in their pre-
sent unhealthy and distracted state. True, we have
a Government all but omnipotent in both Houses of
Parliament ; but it is a Government that rules, not
by public opinion, but in spite of it—that owes its
strength to the jealousies of party, and the cold, con-
temptuous indifference of the people who, after many
years of disappointment, seem to have lost all faith in
their rulers, whether of Whig or Tory persuasion. A
nation, slowly indeed but surely advancing in intelli-
gence, and a Government which should originate im-
pulses and head movements, either standing stock-still
or retrograding—a Crown, whose chief-distinction is
a state-carriage and eight cream-coloured horses—an
aristocracy, possessing a world of showy privileges but
little substantial power—a vast commercial class,
careless of everything but the pursuit of gain—a
church cold, indifferent, selfish, and distracted with
sectarian feuds—a peasantry, viewing in their
superiors oppressors rather than guardians, but,
concurrently with their operative brethren,
fast awakening to a true sense of their
situation such are the discordant elements
of which England is now composed; and as if this
state of things were not sufficiently injurious to her
welfare, she has the additional humiliation of feeling
that she is wholly at the mercy of a Conservative
House of Commons' majority—a set of bastard Tories,
devoid of principle, energy, genius, information, con-
sistency—who have neither faith in themselves nor
their countrymen ; whose powers of vision are limited
to their own petty interests ; who recant to-day .the
sacred pledge to humanity which they gave yester-
day ; who crouch, like beaten hounds, to the very
man whom, of all others, they most fear and dis-
trust; who rely only on the Chapter of Accidents,
and, in compliance with the will of their despotic
Chief, take expediency as their sole rule of action !
Never was there an age of such dreary political
mediocrity as the present. Our great statesmen have
all passed from the stage of life, and have left no suc-
cessors. Lofty, comprehensive principles of action
are out of fashion ; sentiments that might touch the
heart of a nation are heard no more in the
Senate ; all is vapid, second-rate declamation,
and peddling details of business, with which the vast
mass of the people have no concern, and in which
they take not the slightest interest. To foster the
growth of a more generous and enlightened system of
policy—to substitute sterling principles for shifting
expediency, hope for despondency, action tor lethargy,
things for words, truth for sophistry ;—such seems to
us to be the leading object of " Young England ;"
and though this political confederacy is just now but
limited and comparatively uninfluential ; though it
may be said to be groping its way in the dark, doubt-
ful at present of its course, with views not Yet suffi-
ciently defined, and with perhaps a little too much of
the Quixotte in its character ; yet it will most as-
suredly make its way to the heart of the community,
slowly, indeed, but surely, for it is opposed to every-
thing that is mean, and factious, and selfish in policy,
and appeals unhesitatingly to the liberal sympathies
of its countrymen, as the illustrious Chatham did—
and successfully, too—when he found himself fettered
by the ill-concealed dislike of the Court, and the open
hostility of the aristocracy.
But to come back to Coningsby, of which we have
too long lost sight. The hero is the grandson of the
shrewd, wealthy, profligate Marquis of Monmouth,
who had -disinherited his father for presuming to
marry against his will. Pleased, however, with the
spirit and intelligence of the, young Coningsby, he
adopts, and sends him to Eton, and then to Cam-
bridge, with the intention of fitting him for public
life in the House of Commons, and at his death, of
leaving him the bulk of his unentailed property. But
all these views are thwarted by the independent spirit
of the young man, who, on the Marquis proposing
to him to stand for his own borough of Darlford, de-
clines, on the plea that he cannot approve the party
principles which he is called on to support. From
that moment his grandfather's favour is -withdrawn
from him, and on his demise, which takes place shortly
afterwards, Coningsby finds himself left with nothing
but the interest of ten thousand pounds, the bulk of
the Marquis's immense estates having been bequeathed
to Flora Villebreque, his natural daughter by a
French actress. Under these untoward circumstances,
our hero resolves to bid adieu to gay life, and to
apply himself diligently to the profession of the law ;
but before he has time fully to mature his
plans, the young heiress Flora dies, and
having long loved him, though in secret—
for he was almost the only one who had ever
shown her kindness in the days of his prosperity—
she leaves him her entire fortune. Thus suddenly
restored to affluence, Coningsby enters Parliament
under the auspices of a wealthy and intelligent mill-
owner, by name Millbanke, whose daughter Edith he
marries; and at this interesting crisis of his destiny
our author takes leave of him, previously, however,
assuring his readers that the young statesman—in
conjunction with some friends of his youth—will be an
ardent supporter of the views and principles of
" Young England." From this brief summary, it
will be seen that there is not much novelty in the
plot of Coningsby ; nevertheless, it is skilfully con-
structed; events, too, follow on events in rapid but
natural sequence ; and the story never halts for an
instant. The dialogue throughout is remarkable for
point and brilliancy, and reflections are now and then
thrown out—apparently without the slightest effort—
which will surprise and delight the reader, not less
by their depth than their sublety. Mr. D'lsraeli ex-
cels in the descriptive, but we could have wished that
he had been somewhat less gorgeous in his sketches
of patrician character, tastes, and luxury, which are
o
far too highly coloured, and are rather more Oriental
than English in their tone. Of the personages f his
story, the best—because an evident transcript from
Tory hack, Rigby—an
real life—is the portrait of the shrewd, bustling,
speaker in the House, and
has contrived to wrig-
glebobscureut
himselfn
his cringing submission to his aristocratic
the Privy Council, and attach "Right
Honourable" to his name, by dint of his intrepid im-
pudence,
" slashing articles" in a certain Tory Quarterly
periodical. Of the character of Sidonia, which is
t Trisheira very
cadventurer, scrupulous
who
evidently a favourite with the author, and on which
he has bestowed great pains, we may observe
Luasdetenrsce,histact
as a
party
that it is a creation of the fancy rather than a sketch
from actual life ; it is, in fact, a magnificent idealism,
which none but a • poet could have conceived, and
which those readers only who are endued with a
lively imagination will be able fully to appreciate.
We close our notice of this remarkable tale with a

full length portrait of the Right Honourable, Nicholas
Rigby :
" Mr. :Rigby was a Member for one of Lord Monmouth's
boroughs. lie was the massager of Lord Monmouth's par-
liamentary influence, and the auditor of his vast estates. He
was more ; he was Lord Monmouth's companion when in
England, his correspondent when abroad—hardly his coun-
sellor, for Lord Monmouth never required advice ; but Mr.
Rigby could instruct him in matters of detail, which Mr.
Rigby made amusing. Rigby was not a professional man ;
indeed his origin, education, early pursuits, and studies, were
equally obscure ; but he had contrived in good time to
squeeze himself into Parliament, by means which iso one
could ever comprehend, and then set up to be a perfect man
of business. The world took him at his word, for he was
bold, acute, and voluble ; with no thought, but a good deal
of desultory information; and though destitute of all ima-
gination and noble sentiment, was blessed with a vigorous,
mendacious fancy, fruitful in small expedients, and never
happier than when devising shifts for great men's scrapes.
They say that all of us have one chance in this life,
and so it was with Rigby. After a struggle of many
years, after a long series of the usual alternatives
of small successes and small failures, after a few cleverish
speeches and a good many cleverish pamphlets, with
a considerable reputation, indeed, for pasquinades, most
of which he never wrote, and articles in reviews to which
it was whispered he had contributed, Rigby, who had
already intrigued himself into a subordinate office, met with
Lord Monmouth. He was just the animal that Lord Mon-
mouth wanted, for Lord Monmouth always looked upon
human nature with the callous eye of a jockey. He surveyed
Rigby, and he determined to buy him. He bought Mtn ;
with his clear head, his indefatigable industry, his audacious
tongue, and his ready and unscrupulous pen ; with all his
dates, all his lampoons ; all his private memoirs, and all his
political intrigues. It was a good purchase. Rigby became
a great personage, and Lord Monmouth's man.
"Mr. Rigby had a classical retreat, which he esteemed a
Tusculum. There, surrounded by his busts and books, he
wrote his lampoons and articles ; massacred a she liberal—it
was thought that no ono could lash a wuman liko Ribgy—
cut up a rising genius whose politics were different from his
own, or sacrificed some unhappy wretch who had brought
his claims before Parliament, proving by garbled extracts
from official correspondence that no one could refer to, that
the malcontent, instead of being a victim, was, on the con-
trary, a defaulter. Tadpole and Taper would back Rigby for
a slashing reply' against the field. Here too, at the end of
a busy week, he found it occasionally convenient to entertain
a clever friend ur too of equivocal reputation, with whom he
had become acquainted in former days of equal brotherhood.
No one was more faithful to his early friends than Mr.
Rigby, particularly if they could write a squib. It was in
this refined retirement that Mr. Rigby found time enough,
snatched from the toils of official life and parliamentary
struggles, to compose a letter on the study of History, ad-
dressed to Coningsby. The style was as much like that of
Lord Bolingbroke as if it had been written by the authors of
the "Rejected Addresses," and it began, "My dear young
friend." This polished composition, so full of good feeling
and comprehensive views, and all in the best taste, was not
published. It was only privately printed, and a few thou-
sand copies were distributed amongst select personages as an
especial favour and mark of high consideration. Each copy
given away seemed to Rigby like a certificate of character,
a property which, like all men of dubious repute, he tho-
roughly appreciated. Rigby intrigued very much that the
head master of Eton should adopt his discourse as a class-
book. For this purpose he dined with the Doctor ; told
him several anecdotes of the King, which intimated personal
influence at Windsor; but the head-master was immovable;
and so Mr. Rigby was obliged to be content by his Letter on
History being canonized as a classic in the Preparatory Semi-
nary, where the individual to whom it was addressed was a
scholar.
" Rigby's slashing articles' were things which, had they
appeared as anonymous pamphlets, would have obtained the
contemptuous reception which, in an intellectual view,
no compositions more surely deserved ; but, whispered
as the productions of one behind the scenes, and appearing in
the pages of a party review, they were passed oil as genuine
coin, and took in great numbers of the lieges, especially in
the country. They were written in a style apparently
modelled on the briefs of those sharp attorneys who weary
advocates with their clever common-place, teasing with ob-
vious comment and torturing with inevitable inference. The
affectation of order in the statement of facts had all the lucid
method of an adroit pettifogger. They dealt much in ex-
tracts from newspapers, quotations from the Annual Register,
parallel passages in forgotten speeches, arranged with a for-
midable array of dates rarely accurate. When the writer
was of opinion he had made a point, may be sure the
hit was in italics, that last resource of the Forcible Feebles.
He handled a particular in chronology as if he were proving
an alibi at the Criminal
.Court. he censure was coarse,
without being strong ; and vindictive when it would have
been sarcastic. Now and then there was a passage which
aimed at a higher flight, and nothing can be conceived more
unlike genuine feeling, or more offensive to pure taste. And
yet perhaps the most ludicrous characteristic of these factious
gallimaufreys was an occasional assumption of the high moral
and admonitory tone which, when we recurred to the gene-
ral spirit of the discourse and were apt to recal the character ,
of its writer, irresistibly reminded one of Mrs. Cole and her
prayer-book."