Star.
London, England, 1825-10-03 00:00:00

'duplicity and falsehood, And many other degrading'
vices which we fear can be repressed by human
laws, without producing,, by n*illion of times, more
evil than good. Is it inteadedio red* a free people,
by petty police enactments, to Ole condition of the
slavish Chinese, among whom every conceivable offeacel
has its stated punishment, graduated horn five blows of
a bamboo, or puling, fur half a mile, the pack-rope of
a barge, up to the cruelest death by torture?
Cruelty to animals, therefore, is a vice which can
oily be restrained by a sense of incurring the detebta-
tion of the vast majority of mankind. It is needless to
multiply instances. That vice can never be subject-
matter of rational legislation, except on one of two
principles—either the animal ill-used is valuable pro-
perty, and as such, ought to be protected from damage
at the hands of any other than the owner, who oifthis
ground alone has a right to complain ; or the public

ilfliction of cruelty on brute beasts is a nuisance, offen-
sive to the feelings of humane by-standers, and, as
such, ought to be put down as any other vice, the gra-
tification of Which by one mAn diminishes the comforts
of many others.

We honour and respect the motives and kind hearted-
ness of the Members I,f Parliament by whom this Act was
supported, and were full willing tc render to its author,
Mr. It MARTIN, our meed of praise, had he limited his
exertions to their proper sphere—the House of Commons.
But when we see a Member of the British Se►►ate assume
the odious and degrading office of a public informer,
the pest and plague of our police offices—when we see
him apply for extraordinary remedies to repress the ex-
ercise of public opinion—remedies which, like the sword
of Goliath, were only meant for momentous occasions,
even if their Constitutional propriety were on all hands
admitted;—when we see it given in evidence that all
this was done for the silly purpose of acquiring a mo.'
mentary popularity ; and that this noloriely—not popu-
larity, was declared by himself to be “ nuts to him ;"
that is, the end and objects of his wishes ; then, indeed,
without any unkindness to Mr. MARTIN, we blush
that the voice of such a man, so beset by pitiable infir-
mities, should have been heard in the walls of the same

House which once was filled by the eloquence and
manly wisdom of PITT, GIIRNVILLR, Fox, BURKE, Sxa•
MAN, and GRATTAN, and which still resounds to the
surpassing talents and energy of a CANNING, Baotra-
HMS, PRIME, TIRRNEY, ROBINSON, and MACINTOSH.
To the other more impoTtant question of the Com-
binations we shall request the attention of our Readers
at an early opportunity.

This forenoon we received the Austrian Observer of,
the 21st ult. and the Allgemeine Zeitung, of the 26th.
They contain the speech of the Emperor of AUSTRIA
to the States of Hungary, which is an interesting docu-
meat. His MAJESTY notices with much feeling, the
great events that have occurred since he ]ast met them,
and alludes to a proposition be had to make," directed
to the good of the State." The most importans part of
the speech, is, however, the confidence with which the
EMPEROR speaks of Me certain hope of continued peace,
La declaration calculated to quiet those alarmists who
see a preparation for war in every armed vessel that
leaves a French pert, or in every review of a dozen
Regiments in Russia. The following are extracts :