The Sun.
London, England, 1829-11-02 00:00:00

NEW MONTHLY AND LONDON MAGAZINE.

" Notes upon Circuit," is one of the most
delightful of Mr. Sheil's very delightful series
of papers upon this subject. It possesses all the
wild interest of romance, combined with all the
strict sobriety of truth. The style is particularly
captivating, highly ornamented, and in some
parts redundant, ..but every where suited to the
subject. Among the numerous trials which he
has selected for the display of his varied abili-
ties, we extract the two following ; both are
highly interesting

" KILKENNY.—The only civil case at Kilkenny which
deserves mention, was an action brought by a girl named
Maria Leonard, against an English officer, the paymastt r
of a regiment, Captain Richard J . He had been
quartered at Templemore, where he contracted a concu-
binal intimacy with Miss Maria Leonard, whom he ap-
pears to have considered as a piece of porcelain that had
never received any flaw. This Diana of the barracks al-
leged that, previous to his leaving Templemore, he gave
her a certificate, written in' bog Latin, in which he had
forged the name of a Father Kesbani, testifying her mar-
riage to one Jacobus Smith. This document, which was
sworn to by several respectable witnesses to be in the Cap-
tain's handwriting, produced a good deal of merriment at
his expense. But the ground of action was a kind of bond
for two hundred pounds, by which the Captain bound him-
self, in the event of his putting her away, ' from his fancy
or otherwise.' The question turned upon the genuineness
of this instrument. A variety of the Captain's letters
were produced, which raised shouts of laughter. There
was a quantity of contradictory swearing, and the case
was doubtful, until a whole squadron of dragoons was pro-
duced, who kissed and told," and made the counsel for
the plaintiff, who had represented Miss Leonard as a second
edition of ' Sterne's Maria,' upon their sentimental journey
through Circuit, look exceedingly disastered. The ge-
neral camp, pioneers and all,' appeared to have participated
in those favours of which the Captain imagined that he
enjoyed a monopoly. It was impossible to resist the charge
of the whole regiment, who came down with fixed bayo-
nets; but when the plaintiff's case was utterly broken, the
most melancholy person in court was the Captain, who,
although he got a verdict, seemed to think that the romantic
drollery of his amour more than counterbalanced the glory of
success. He appeared to wish that he had nothing known,'
and that the bliss of ignorance in which he had so long
revelled was better than such a verdict. It is but justice
to him to add, that his character for liberality, and his
high reputation as a into of honour, were thrown by the
jury into the balance, and weighed the plaintiff up. The
only farther circumstance worth note is, that an idea went
abroad that the Catholic rent had supplied the means to
defray the action. This preposterous notion was set at
rest by the highly-respectable attorney who conducted the
case, by whom it appeared that the plaintiff had herself
been able to advance the costs, in order to assert a right
which, at first view, appeared to be perfectly well-founded,
and which it was his professional duty to assist her in
maintaining.
" In the Criminal court, a conviction of three men for
the murder of a man of the name of Devereux, afforded an
illustration i f the moral condition of the peasantry, and
one of the instances in which murder is at last overtaken
by a slow but certain retribution. Devereux took a few
acres of land from which the prisoners at the bar had been
ejected. It was resolved that he should die ; sentence
having been pronounced upon him by the secret tribunal,'
which Captain Rock has established for the redress of
wrongs, which are not only not cognizable, but are pro-
duced in the imagination of the lower orders by the law.
Devereux was aware that bis head had been devoted. He
never slept out-of the town of Callan, which was at three
miles distance from the farm, and always walked with arms
about him. However, the ministers of 'agrarian vengeance

were not to be frustrated. A day wi. 1 for his
lation. The whole conotry was e!.a.sed of it. As lie
was walking in the broad ;), in ia,, ti ell, cue of
bourere engaged him in converaatien, and et the corner of
a hedge three men rushed on him, when Lila companion
pinioned his elbows behind his back, in order to prevent
him from drawing the pistol which Ile endeavoured to
grasp, and, beating his forehead in. left him dad upon the
ground. The wh,le scene was observed by a woolan, who
was aware that the morder was to be perpetrated, and
cent out for the purpose of seeing the spectacle. She was
induced, by the reward offered by Government, to give in-
formation, on which the executioners of Devereux were
hanged. Devereux was himself a bad and bloody man, and
at the trial it was stated by one of the witnesses for the
prosecution, that he had, many years before, committed
murder. The question was not pursued, and whom he
had murdered I did not at the moment learn. Upon the
day appointed fur the punishment of the men who had
taken his own life away, I left Kilkenny for Clomnel. It
was a bright and cheerful day. The very breathing of the
air under a cloudless sky, and in a delightful temperature,
seemed to intimate the value of existence, and gave to the
consciousness of a light and unburthened vitality a great
charm. It was a day which should scarce have been Re-
lected for the ministry of death. As I advanced, I observed
crowds of people assembling in various directions, and
climbing upon hedges, where women and girls, as well as
:nen, were seen straining upon tiptoe, in order to catch a
glimpse at some object by which they seemed to be singu-
larly attracted. On looking towards the gaol, I perceived
in the rope which was depending from the pulley to which
it was attached, and in the rest of the apparatus of justice,
the motives of this intense curiosity. The murderers of
Devereux were about to die. I saw the door of the prison
leading to the stage on which they were to perform a part
that appeared to be likely to engage the sympathies of the
spectators, open, and presently the iron balcony was occu-
pied by the figures of the doomed and of the executioner.
This was sufficient for the gratification of any love of this
kind of excitation which I may happen to possess, and
turning from the frightful spectacle, I desired the driver,
who obeyed the orders with some reluctance, to push on.
We were soon out of sight of this painful scene. I fell
into conversation with the postilion, who was continually
turning back to catch a parting view of the catastrophe;
and from him I learned, what I afterwards inquired about
and found his statement confirmed, that Devereux, upwards
of twenty-five years before, had imbrued his hands in blood.
He had joined in the conspiracy of the unfortunate Robert
Emmet. The insurgents rushed into Thomas-street, and
advanced towards the Castle, scattering dismay before them.
They met a carriage, which they stopped. Some of the
crowd exclaimed, 'lt is Lord Norbury !' That instant the
door of the carriage was burst open, and, while the unhappy
gentleman inside it exclaimed, No ! I am your friend,
Lord Kilwarden,' the hand of Devereux drove a pike through
his heart."

Did time and space allow, we should present our
readers with a fine piece of landscape painting,
in Mr. Shell's description of the scenery in the
neighbourhood of Clonmel. It is as fine, and
we know not that we can give it higher praise,
as any thing we ever remember to have read in
the long, matchless series of the Waverley novels.
But it is ill his more thrilling and sombre de-
scriptions that Mr. Shell's genius shows to best
advantage. Even its sportiveness has a sardonic
cast about it, and we know no living writer, with
the single exception, perhaps, of Mr. Banim, who
can throw so much terrible power and earnestness
into his details of an Irish murder. His details
of the death of one Crosbie, at Wexford, by his
wile and her paramour, is a striking evidence
of his abilities in this line. " Anecdotes of
Russia" is a pleasant and moderately satirical
sketch of the domestic manners of the Russians
in the neighbourhood of Moscow. According
to the author, the women there, even of the
higher classes, are uniformly dirty and squalid ;
and realize in the most literal sense the truth of
Campbell's remark, that " 'tis distance lends en-
chantment to the view." Seen at a distance,
from which the minutiae of their dress are in-
visible, they show off' to considerable advantage ;
but woe to the admirer of the sex who incon-
siderately ventures within view of their dirty
stays, which rarely fail to peep out through the
interstices of their rich and glittering silk gowns!
The author adds, that Dr. Clarke, in his descrip-
tions of the habits of the majority of the Rus-
Sian aristocracy, has little, if at all, overcharged
the picture. " The New Police" is a spirited
and judicious defence of Mr. Peel's new Police
establishment, which is very properly contrasted
in its candour and manliness, with the sneaking
system of espionage pursued by that paragon of
imbecility, my Lord Sidmouth. " The Dead
Sea" is a striking description of one of the
most striking scenes in nature. In point of
earnestness, however, and force of colouring, it
is far inferior to Sir W. Scott's sketch of the
same spot, in his opening chapter of the " Ta-
lisman." " A Short Plea for a Joe," is a
lively apologetic defence of old jokes. " A
Thought of the Future," is as eloquent, and
tender, and graceful, as Mrs. Hemans' poetry is.
" Autobiography of a Landaulet," is sketchy
and amusing, and of the usual calibre of maga-
zine articles. " The Crusade of Children" is
an intelligent essay upon a subject now nearly
worn threadbare. We could have spared, how-
ever, the illiberal sneer at Mr. C. " His-
tory of the Crusades," from which, notwith-
standing the petulant tone of his remark, the
author has gleaned some of his most valuable
facts. " Effects of Emancipation" is a satirical
sketch of the state of parties in Dublin after the
passing of the Relief Bill. The cursory sketches
of Sir H. Lees and the Lord Mayor's Dinner
are thrown off with infinite spirit. Altogether
the number is an excellent one.