Star.
London, England, 1830-04-23 00:00:00

QUEEN'S COUNTY.

One hundred Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, are
rent to the British House of Commons, to represent the opinions
and watch over the interests of the Irish people • but, for any use
they are of, we might just as well, if not better, leave our affairs to
the honour of the English and Scotch Members, for then we should
not have the name of being protected, and thus, peradventure, any
very glaring encroaclarents upon our rights might enlist the feelings
of a generous people in our behalf. But as the ease now is, the
acquiescence of our hundred mutes in all the projects of Ministers
gives us the appearance of a consenting party ;—and so the mea-
sure proposed, no matter what it may be, however obnoxious or
hurtful to the Irish people in general, bears some plausible sem-
blance of fair play and equity. During the time which has passed
of the present Session of Parliament, while the House rang from
side to side with complaints of distress in England, there were not
five gentlemen to re-echo the cry from this neglected country.—Our
Representatives (Heaven shield us !) maintained a decorous silence
—most acceptable, no doubt, to those who advised the King to an.
pounce to his wondering lieges that unfavourable seasons had occa-
sioned the low prices of bread and meat. They, by their silence,
gave the world to understand that Ireland was in • state of wealth
and prosperity, as compared with the rest of his Majesty's domi-
nions • nay one Honourable Gentleman, who sits for an extensively
agricultural county, went farther than that—for lie had the mo-
desty and good sense to say that such was the case. lam quite
sure that his constituents never authorized, nor instructed him
to make so extraordinary a statement; and the only excuse I can
devise for him is this—that not having any tenants in the county,
he could have no practical knowledge or experience of his
constituents' condition. But the consequence to the country
of this supine conduct on the part of our Members is most
mischievous: for the Chancellor of the Exchequer has taken
advantage of it, and whilst he relieves the clamorous petitioners in
England, of five millions of taxes—(Hard estddens invideo—l
only wish it had been ten instead of five)--he aims a mortal thrust
against the prosperous tillage.fanners of Ireland. As a soft
of encouragement to the slave trade (1 can call it nothing else) the
duty on rum is to be lowered so as to bring that pernicious beverage
(which, for more reasons than one, might be called the real black
strop) into more general demand, whilst the duty on Irish spirits
is to be advanced—a trifle indeed, but quite enough to make it a
drug in the English market. Would the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer but repel the malt duty, we ought not to complain of any
amount of tax which it might be his pleasure to impose on ardent spi-
rits ; for then we should gain in morality enough to counterpoise any
loss we might otherwise sustain. But by the proposed arrangements,
all the pernicious and demoralising effects remain in full force.
Whisky still continues as accessible as before to the Irish peasant.
It is only prohibited in England for the sake of giving the people
there a taste for the deadlier product of negro labour ; and the up-
shot of the matter will be, that the Irish tillage-fanner must let his
land lie fallow for want of a remunerating price. Our landowners
are beginning to view this matter in its proper light. The Magis-
trates of Upper Ossory have called a meeting of that Barony, to
petition Parliament against Mr. Goulburn's anti-Irish project.
They will meet at Borria-in-Ossory on the 26th. Requisitions for
similar meetings and petitions are in progress through the other Ba-
ronies; no doubt the alarm will spread through other counties
also ; and thus, though our,worthy Representatives may still con-
tinue contumacious,; our petitions will make known to both the Ho-
nourable Houses,and to the country, how far the sentiments and the
interests of the Irish :Member', and those of their constituents, coin-'
aide upon this important subject.

At his audit, on the Ist instant, at Shaftesbury, Earl
Grosvenor, returned his tenants, on the Motcombe and
Gillingham estates, 20 per cent. on their last twelve-
months rents.

Mucit ADO ABOUT NOTHING.—Not long ago, a
sort of rustic drama, that well deserves the title we have
given it, was got up in a large village in Dumfries-shire,
which excited a sensation approaching to a panic, and
owed its beginning, middle, and end, to the most insig- '
nificant circumstance imaginable—a frog in a well. At
the time alluded to, two little children, while at play near
their father's house, espied a paddock treating itself to a
swim, mistook its appearance for a man's hand, and ran '
home instanter to communicate to their mother the ap-
palling intelligence. The tale made the matron's " flesh
creep," if not her hair stand on end, and the more so,
that she had a vivid recollection of a child having been
drowned at the same spot. To her excited fancy the cir-
cumstance seemed ominous, and betokened some heavy
calamity, perhaps to one of the members of her own fa-
mily. With fear and trembling she repaired to the well,
to gaze on the spectre hand with hown eyes ; bt the
frog by this time had dived to the bottom, or hid itself
under some cape or headland, composed of a single clod
or stone ; and, strange as it may seem, its disappearance,
in place of dissipating, confirmed her fears. On pondering
the matter, she Caine to the conclusion that it would be
"a tempting of PROVIDENCE' RI allow the well to re-
main longer open, and when her husband returned home
on Saturday night, " she set upon him" with all her
might, and pressed her suit so anxiously that he was glad
to give in, perhaps on the old and patent principle, that
" nought's to be had at women's hands, unless you gie
them a the plea." Accordingly on Monday, the well
was crammed full of earth and stones, and the poor frog
hermetically sealed in a bigger bottle than ever was blown
in a glass manufactory. In the meantime, the wife had
whispered her fears and suspicions to the neighbours: the
report soon spread—nay, flew like wild-fire, and in the
end the prevailing opinion was, that some resurrectionist
had been at work—that the grave had been violated, and
that the hand seen was a real hand, and formed part of the
body of some unfortunate child. Strange-looking charac-
ters had been seen prowling about at untimeous hours; gigs
heard galloping through the streets at midnight ; and to
crown all, some one made the discovery that the smell and
taste of the water were abominable. The mooting of this
point was the signal for a crusade ; and great was the
ire of all and sundry when they discovered that the well
had been newly filled up. Here the plot thickened. If
there was nothing wrong, why gag the gurgling—the
oozing out of the bonny bit spring ? But there must be
something wrong. Well saith the proverb—" trifles
light as air," &c. and while the excitement lasted, who
can Bender that the owner of the ground was summoned
to appear before " his betters ?" Here the Justice and
his clerk acted very wisely ; fur, however misguided the
people may have been, it was right to sooth their honest
prejudices by something like a regular investigation.
Truth, by a beautiful figure of speech, is said to reside
at the bottom of a well ; and it was literally so in the
present instance. On digging deep enough, nothing was
discovered but the author of all the mischief, a solitary
frog, which, by having crept into some crevice or cranny,
was still alive, though a tenant of the tomb, and no doubt
felt grateful to the unintentional resurrectionists who
had restored it to the pleasure of light and liberty.
Though this discovery might have disabused the people
of their fears or prejudices, they still felt dissatisfied, and
repaired in the next place to the parish burying-ground,
whore an industrious tailor was known to have been in-
terred a short time before. With the implements used
in opening the well they proceeded to open the tailor's
grave, and on unscrewing or forcing the lid of the coffin,
discovered that his remains were entire and untouched.
This circumstance perplexed them sadly ; the storm of
prejudice gate place to what may be called the calm of,
reason, and as they retired to their wonted homes and
employments, they began to doubt whether they had not,
been sent on a fool's errand—a surmise that was con-
firmed by the result of the legal examination. In chro-
nicling the above strange event, we are by no means
certain that we have noted all the incidents in the exact
order in which they occurred, and our object in recording
them, is not to tui n the actors into ridicule, but to teach
them greater caution in future. There are persons who
feel a malicious pleasure in frightening the lieges with
stories about resurrectionists, and we may even add, that
the press, by giving currency to these, has done more,
mischief than it can easily romedy.—Diunfries Courier.l

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

TATTERSALL'S._

The amount of business done yesterday fell short of what might
have been expected from the number of gentlemen present; in fact,
little or nothing took place that calls far particular notice, unless
mention is called for by the sudden advance made by Mr. Hobert's
Sister to Sailor colt, who is stated to have had a favourable trial;
the closing odds, 25 to 1, were offered too freely, to induce a belief
that he will maintain his position ; Wat Tyler (or What Tailor,
as Mr facetiously calls him) dropt back, and is again a dead
letter in the betting. Cetus receded a couple of points, and from
the evident disinclination to back him, many conclude that he is not
quite right. The Mummer is now on his road to Epsom, but win.'
ther Cetus accompanies him is doubtful ; Mouche and Maria veto
in considerable demand for the Oaks, both making a trifling ai.
vane. l'he only betting on the St. Leger was about Lord Qua&
berry's Hassan, who was backed freely at 17 to 1 by the same gen.
tleman to whom his appearance in the betting, from the beginning,
is to be attributed. The closing prices were as follow :

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TWO TROVSAND GOMIS STAKES.