Star.
London, England, 1830-12-29 00:00:00

( DELT EN HA 51, DEc. 27.

Whilst the disastrous experience of every day confirms l
Abe estimate but too justly formed of the positive and scarcely
remediable injuries inflicted upon this country by the effects
of absenteeism, it is not too much to hope that the agitated
appearance of the Continent—from north to south, and from
east to west—may at length impose some restraint upon that
unpatriotic spirit which has led but too many of our landed
proprietors to squander in the pursuit of foreign follies that
wealth which, as it was derived from English soil, we are
justified in saying should be rendered conducive to the ge-
neral prosperity, or available to the general exigencies of
England. The charm of novelty can no longer be pleaded
in extenuation of that total abandonment of home and coun-
try, which, we are free to confess, we should the less lament
or deprecate if the gratification of such anti-national feelings
did nut also involve a prodigal and inexcusable waste of the
resources of the land. But want of security will work out
that cure,which neither patriotism nor prudence could before
have achieved. " Amid the wreck of matter," and as it
were, " the crash of worlds," England alone maintains the
calm untroubled aspect of tranquillity and peace ; for, how-
ever atrocious may seem the acts of a peasantry driven
almost to desperation, by the blindness or insensibility of an
Administration, that has providentially been hurled from
power, none bat a revolutionary fanatic could persuade him-
self, or endeavour to persuade others, that the established
'lnstitutions of this land of constitutional freedom were in the
slightest degree shaken or disturbed. The mania of
absenteeism, therefore, we look upon as having already
been exposed to such rigorous treatment as must even-
tually work out its cure ; and we rejoice on this ac-
count that those who have been so far the victims of its
infatuation, as to prefer continental gew-gaws and frip-
pery to substantial comfort and happiness at home, have
derived from experience a lesson too bitter and too im-
pressive to be easily eradicated from their memory. We
rejoice still further, that the riches hitherto squandered in
the vain pursuit of pleasures that were never enjoyed, and of
fancies that were never realized, must henceforth be expended
in the more becoming duties of every Englishman, be his
station in life or his means of usefulness what they may : and
we rejoice above all, in reflecting, that amongst the many be-
neficial consequences which must result from such &change,
the local and incidental advantages so peculiar to Chelten-
ham, must become better understood, and more justly appre-
ciated even by those who whilst wandering under foreign skies
in pursuit of health and pleasure, seem to have forgotten
the attractions with which both health and pleasure are sur-
rounded in this delightful spot. Is the intercourse of the
most distinguished and the most refined society the object of
the Absentee ? In Cheltenham that society may not only be
found in the serenity and the privacy of domestic life, but in
its fitting station, giving the tone and spirit of its own cha-
racter to all the elegancies, the pleasures, and the amusements
of the circle of fashion. Is economy the order of the day ?
In no part of the kingdom, and we might also say in no part
of Europe, could its arrangements be more happily combined
with the enjoyment of all the charms and fascinations that
society possesses, than in Cheltenham. In short, the very
luxuries of life may here be said to be within the reach even
of moderate incomes, whilst health, the grand inducement
which alone renders us capable of enjoying all others, may
be more certainly attained in this town than in any other
quarter of the globe. To enter into any detail of the extent
or style of the general accommodations which the town now
affords, to families or to individuals—to the votaries of
pleasure or to invalids, were little less than a work of supe-
rerogation. Its pre-eminence amongst watering-places,
and its unrivalled estimation in public opinion, furnish the
surest criterion of its intrinsic merits—the bat guarantee
of its unabating estimation.— Cheltenham Journal.
In the New Town, Edinburgh, the master and mistress of
a house went, about a fortnight ago, to see the performances
at Ducrow's Amphitheatre, leaving their daughter, a little
girl, at home, along with the maid servant. The latter indi-
vidual, thinking it would be a good opportunity to have an
interview with her sweetheart, endeavoured to put the child
out of the way, by doses of spirits and laudanum, which she
induced or forced her to swallow. When the parents re-
turned, they found their daughter in a state of insensibility.
A surgeon was called, and the contents of the stomach were
found to have the smell of ardent spirits and laudanum. The
unfortunate child, after lingering in great pain for several
days, died on Saturday last. The servant, we understand,
had been in the meanwhile discharged.--Caledonian Mer-
cury.
A melancholy accident occurred at Lock Katrina, a few
nights ago. Donald Stewart, Stroin, and Geo. Macfarlane,
Conklin, had been in Callender that day,
_paying their
rents ; and on their return home stopped at Trosach Ina.
After they left the inn, Stewart gave Macfarlane his horse.
About the end of Loch Katrine, the horse stopped at a burn
to drink, and Stewart went on; and as his companion did
not come up, he sat down by the roadside, and fell asleep,
In the interval the horse arrived at Stroin without a rider,
and the saddle turned beneath his belly. Next morning
search for the unfortunate man was made, and his body was
found in the lake. The plase from which he had fallen is
frightful and dangerous. The road is cut out of the aide of
an almost perpendicular rock, at the height of 30 feet from
the surface of the Loch, and is so narrow, as scarcely to
admit of a man walking by the side of a cart, and is without
a parapet or any safeguard.—Glasgow Chronicle.
A disturbance took place on Sunday night amongst the
German sugar-boilers, &c. in Goodman's-fields. It appears
that they had some kind of antipathy against the foreman of
Messrs. Cotton' end Tellison's factory, in Leman-street.
About eight o'clock they numerously assembled at their gates,
and tried to force an entrance. A considerable force of po-
lice of H division were soon in attendance, and a general
rencontre ensued : ultimately the assailants were over-
powered, and one or two of the most refractory were se-
cured. No mischief was done, with the exception that the
outer gates of Messrs. Cotton and Tellison's sugar bake-
house were partly broken, and battered about with brickbats
and., oones.
A' though we cannot readily concur with those of our Lon-
don contemporaries who seem desirous of exonerating the
Duke of Wellington, from all participation in the factious
and virulent, though ineffectual opposition which such per-
sons as Mr. Gee. Robert Dawson, and John Wilson Croker,
think fit to offer to the popular administration of Earl Grey,
yet it affords us sincere satisfaction to state that hopes are
yet entertained in the best informed political cireles, that
" the hero of a hundred fights"—the greatest soldier of mo-
dern times, may be induced to resume that distinguished
station at the head of the British army, for which he is
pre-eminently qualified, and from which we have
never ceased to regret that ministerial ambition ever for a
moment allured him. As Commander-in-chief, the Duke

of Wellington may yet confer the most important services
on his country, he may, in a career of great public utility in
his own legitimate sphere of duty—efface the reeolleetion of
his untoward ministry—and eventually retrieve all that po-
pularity which he sacrificed for the pursuit of senatorial fame
and the attainment of a station to the duties of which' as
he once magnanimously avowed, he was unaccustomed,'
in which be was not wanted, and for which he was not qua-
lified. Hie Grace, since his retirement from office, has
been actively engaged in the discharge of his duties as Lord'
Lieutenant of Hampshire.— Cheltenham Journal.

SPECIAL COMMISSION.

BEHKiHIRF.

The proceedings under the Special Commission issued for
the trial of prisoners in the county of Berke, commenced on
Monday at Reading. The High Sheriff, attended by a nu-
merous cavalcade of the gentry of the county, met the
Judges at Soninglane, and escorted them to the Town-hall
shortly before twelve o'clock, when the Commission was
opened, and the Court immediately adjourned, in
order that the Cum —' ' might attend divine
Allan Park, Sir Wil-

Sir J

service. The Judges are dames _ bir •
Ham Bolland, and Sir John Patteson ; and the other Com-
missioners are the Earl of Abingdon and Mr. Chas. Dundas.
The Commissioners returned from church at two o'clock,
when business was proceeded with. In addition to the two
lay Commissioners, the Marquis of Downshire, C. F. Pal-
mer, Esq. member for Reading, R. Palmer, Esq. member
for the county, and a great number of the magistracy were
present.

The usual proclamation against vice, profaneness, and im-
morality having been read,
Mr. Justice PARK proceeded to charge the Grand Jury,
after which the Grand Jury retired, and returned in a few
minutes with a true bill against Charles Simmonds, for rape.
The prisoner was brought into Court in a state of the most
fearful and outrageous madness. He was put upon his trial
pro forma ; a Jury was hastily sworn, who without hesitation
returned a verdict of insanity, and the unhappy prisoner was
conveyed out of Court as speedily as possible.
Mr. Justice PARK then dismissed the petty jurymen, ob-
serving that he should try no case to day, but requiring their
attendance punctually at nine o'clock to-morrow.
The calendar contains the names of 138 prisoners, the
majority of whom are charged with riotously assembling
and destroying thrashing machines, and other species of
property. In several cases these outrages which appear
to have been committed principally in the course of the
week between Nov. 18 and 24, were accompanied by robbe-
ries of money, and in a fewer number of instances provisions
were forcibly demanded and obtained. There is only one com-
mitment for arson, and one for sending a threatening letter.
It is worthy of observation, that of the total number of
prisoners, only 25 (less than one in five) can read and write ;
37 (about ono in four) can read only ; the remainder, who
can neither read nor write, being 76. There are but 18 of
the 138 prisoners whose ages amount to or exceed 40; the
rest are generally from 17 to 35 years old.
Mr. Gurney, who has come down specially to conduct
the prosecution, was in Court during the day. Mr. Camp-
bell is also specially retained on the part of the Crown, but
was not present.