Star.
London, England, 1826-08-04 00:00:00

STATE OF THE COUNTRY.

We visited last week, says the Editor of the Duntfiies
reed Gatiotetry Gautier, Manchester and Salford, and
learned from individuals resident on the spot (one of
whom is most minutely acquainted with the statistics
of Lancashire), that the poor operatives are in a wont
situation than we had any idea of. In walking tlifonib
the streets, a stringer might be deceived by external
appearances; the shops are well filled with goods. if
nor-with customers, and there are so many individuals
passing-to and fro, that every thing seems to be moving
in its accustomed channel; but on repairing to the su
barbs, youi encounter groups of men and children,
whose locks are even more beseeching than their words,
and e ha, since the policehave discontinued dogging their
footsteps, have become, it is said, exceedingly impor-
tunate. Whole bands of impostors mingle with these,
and make so bad a use of what they receive, that they
have steeled the hearts of the most humane persons, and
prevented, in a great variety of cases, the housewife's
mite, whether in the shape of money or victuals, from
Ending its way to many a hungry mouth and empty
pock-t. The number of persons totally out of work
bears no proportion to those who are only partially ena.
played ; and the evil habits engendered by even occa-
sional idleness is one of the worst consequenees of the
der eis;on of the times. To hanket after excitement of
settle sort or other, appears to be an inherent principle
of our nature ;.and we ourselves observed, while crossing
a field—thickly covered whit huge mounds of bricks,
for which there appeared to be no sale—more than one
circle of un ached operatives, busy playing with packs
of the dirtiest.looking :ards we ever recollect to have
cast our eyes on. The stakes, if any, were not visible,
but judging from the oaths uttered, and the looks ex-
changed, the parties seemed to be influenced by the
hope of gain, though perhaps, like gamblers of a higher
degree, they were recklessly hazarding what they could
neither pay nor afford to lose. In many other places,
weavers and cotton spinners are found lounging by the
road side, comparing their situation with that of the
-hinds or other classes of the passers-by; and perhaps
. exclaiming, as they lean over the gate of some sweetly
rural residence—
" Oh! that for me some home like this would smile,
qome hamlet shade, to yield my skisly form,
Meth in the breeze, sad shelter in the storm.
Here should my hand no stinted boon assign,
For wretched hearts with sorrows such u mine!"
Fathers of families, reduced to such grievous straits,
ate of course the vet y materials upon which incendiaries
would wish to work; and it says not a little for the
good sense of the people, that these characters have
hitherto met with such slender success. This circum-
stance of itself constitutes the strongest possible claim on
compassion ; but alas! alas! private charity is well nigh
exhausted, and it is now, we perceive, utter drivelling
to talk of the danger of Government interfering. A
national calamity requires the application of national
remedies..and it is plain and obvious, that nothing short
of this will stifle discontent, and avert starvation. Again
and again, debt has been contracted for less itnpor-
taut purposes ; and if the matter cannot be managed
without the sanction of Parliament, Parliament should
be immediately summoned to meet. To call honour-
able Gentlemen away from tile grouse and patridge
shooting, may be a very unusual and inconvenient pro-
ceeding; but duty is one thing and pleasure another;
and the man who could stand aloof during the present
crisis would as little deserve the name of senator as a
certain captain deserved the name of naval hero, who
in the day of battle ensconced himself in the cock-pit,
in place of pacing the quarter-deck, encouragipg his
men, and, when matters came to the worst, ordering
his boatswain to nail the colours to the mast-bead. In
the westariding of Yorkshire, there are some symptoms
of a reviving trade; bOt the re-action is so far from
being general, that the master-manufacturers in the
south and the wet are involved in deeper gloom
than ever. The money subscribed in England and
Scotland will only lag two weeks more, and the
Gentlemen of Renfrewshire are so well aware of
this fact, that they have addressed a most ener-
getic letter to the King, which, from the gracious and
charitable character of his Majesty, will doubtless meet
with the most prompt consideration. In Manchester,
too, a public meeting of the inhabitants bas been called,
and though different individuals object to such a mea-
sure, and think all communications sh, uld be made
through the Magistrates, the opinion of the majority is
likely to prevail. November and December are rapidly
approaching, and unless trade revive much more spee-
dily than most persons anticipate, winter 1826.7, will
be cm e of the most calamitous that ever pa sal over our
heads. In fine weather the poor man's family may dis-
pense with fuel altogether, particularly when they have
almost nothing to cook. Food is still more indispensable
than bedding, and the warmth of the weather during
the summer literally bad the effect of constraining
many of the working classes to sell or pawn their whole
stock of blankets and sheets. But unless these articles
be cepleced or redeemed, their situation will be greatly
altered tor the worse, whin the hills are white, and the
Streams frozen ; cold o ill then come as the ally of hun-
ger and SliAt'ASt, and death rapidly ensue as the natural
coosequenee. It is good, therefore, to be prepared for
the'worst ; to avert evils which are yet in abeyance, and
meet what is admitted to be a national di:ease with some-
thing like a national remedy.
In Manchester and Salford there are thirty thousand
individuals who receive relief from the subscription
fund, in addition to those who ale partly supported out
of the poor's rates. These rates, including 10,0001. paid
by the County, amount to 50,0001. per annum, and fall
at
.present as a tax on rental to the extent of 3-. in the
pound. On some occasions they have been much higher,
and this fact has been adduced to prove that the times
are not so bad as is generally supposed. But before a
man can get on ire palish hocks the overseers and '
others mutt be perfectly satisfied that he was either born
in the place, or at one time occupied a house rented
at 101. per annum ; and when we reflect on the ge-
nzral circumstances and fluctuating character of the
populati e. of eelaecliester, we must see at once that
comparatively few workmen can ever obtain a regular
settlement. If the poor rates be good for anything,
such a law is essentially absurd, and' erely provides a
partial maintenance for persons who have retrograded
in their circumstances, and seen what is called better
days. At this very moment there are 20,000 men,
women, and children, living within a very narrow cir-
cle, who never had and never will acquire a regular
settlement or residence ; and we were altogether asto-
ribbed to hear that it had inert seriously proposed to set
the emits mass adrift, by refusing them assistance in
every finer and shape. Such a proceeding would be
the height a injustice, ingratitude and cruelty; lot in

providing for the poor, the question is not so much
where were they horn? as -where did they live froni
they

- -
feeble youth to premature old age? as where did ._ _
work the strength out of their sinews, and the marrow
out of their bones? And to these questions what would
be the true and proper reply ? Amidst the noxious at-
mosphere of a manufacturing district—amidst factories
too hot, and weaving shops too damp, for the proper
play of the human lungs. These are the receptacles
that thake.paupers, as it were, by wholesaler, and yet,
when the evil day or Fives, it is seriously rnposed .to
turn the most unfortunate of there paupers away.
" Some of them have been with us all their lives—that
is, since they were good for anything ;—some of them,
too, have families of children, who, by working in the
factories, and regularly carrying home their earnipgs,
contrive to support their parents when they are aged,
sick, or out of employment; but, barring all this, let us
get quit of every undomiciled stranger, Irish, or Scotch,
and then our population will be paired down, and thin
lied to the proper level." Such, if openly expressed and
avowed, would be the language of the advocates for
wholesale deportation; but a scheme so iniquitous will
never be sanctioned by the right thinking and sight-
feeling part of the English nation. The adult slave
who is separated from his children, has the satisfaction
of knowing that they will be clothed and fed—that
their owners are bound to perform this duty; but the
Irish mechanic, were he driven from one home, anal
corni,elled to seek another in the wilds of Cunamua,
might torment himself with the idea that his child was
sick and no one to care for him ; and altogether a
greater wring could not be done, or a piece of greater
cruelty wantonly inflicted on the human race. _ _

From all we can learn. (here ate .25,000 Irish resident
in Manchester, and only about 4,500 Scotch; Of the
former, 10,000 have app ied for and obtained relief,
and an equal number of EnOsh, who have srttlements
at a distance, have been receiving tickets entitling them
to 18d. per week from the subscription fund, which we
have already spoken of as well nigh exhausted. Of our
'own countrymen, only $6O have received charity—a
fact which, to nor mind, speaks volumes. There is no-
thing philosophical in a national spirit, and we wish to
eschew everything in the shape of vain-boasting, but the
poor Scotch are so often accused of a disposition tp
climb to the top of the tree, of lining their nests at the
expense of their employers, and we know not how many
other faults, that it is but fair to defend them when an
opportunity offers. When a poor country becomes
united to a rich one, it is easy to tell in what channel
emigration will flow ; but in the commercial world, no
man can possibly benefit himself without benefitting
others-in a still greater degree; and those who taunt ns
on the money-getting qualities of the Scotch must either.
prove that " they break through and steal," or confess
that they are paying them the greatest of all compli-
ments, by stating, as plain as language can speak, that
they are so much more active and intelligent than their
neighbours, that they generally get before them in the
race of competition. Borneo( the first cotton spinners in
Manchester are natives of Dumfries-shire and Galloway,l
such as Mr. Murray—a.hlessts. M'Connel and Kennedy,,!
and Mr. James Kennedy. The above Gentlemen em-
ploy among them 5,000 persons, and it says not a little
for their public spirit and private humanity, that they
have for months past been accumulating stock at a great
risk, if not at a direct and &skive loss, rather than dis-
charge a single workman.

COLLISON, THE CONVICT.

The real name of the unfortseate moo who was exe•

cated Wednesday for sheep-stealing, under the name of
Butcher, it appears, was CAnies Collin". He had
mitten a long letter to a Maseu, a butcher, of Bedford,
with whom the convict had formerly lived three years,
requesting his master to get it read from the pulpit of
a chapel where Mr. Isett's family attended, as a warn.
ing to young men, and which-request was complied
with. Mr. Isett also came to town, and attended the
unhappy man in his last moments. Collison had for•
wetly borne an excellent animater. His mother keeps
a respectable inn at or near Stony Stratford, to whom
he was indebted for religious education and instruction.
Sunday, Mr. Sheriff Kelly presented him with a book of
prayers, used by members of the Established Church,
in which be inscribed his name. This book the pri-
soner presented, just before his execution, to Mr. lieu,
with the following inscription :
" The Gift et Mai" KeUy to Charks Collisen, butcher, July I
30, 111114,wh0 was barn at Cosgrove, Northamptonshire, October 19,
1793, and was executed at the front of Newiste. Anson a, 11126.
" This is a Gift frogt Charles Column to John lieu, of 'Salford,
as a token of respect. August 2, 1096.
" Tell me. ye knowing and discerning few.

. - -
Where I may find a friend bothAros end true,
Who dare stand by me when in deep distress.
And then his lout and friendship most agrees."
The following is the letter written by the prisoner,
and addressed to Mr. Isitt
Cells of Newgate, Saturday, July 29.
D 4411. Fantwe---1 ant sorry, issued very sorry, organ to you my
unfortunate situation, but hope that Go tha. ordered it for the ben,'
and no doubt for the wisest purpose, for Goo above is a better judge
than I ate for myeelf. I put my whole tram In Mtn. as I well
know that I am a vile sinner, but I hope for forgiveness of ail the
sins that I have committed. lam ordered for eiteestion on Wed-
nesday morning neat, and I am well assured that you will pray ter
me, and I particularly wish your friends mid congregation at the
Chapel will offer your prayers to Gon to assist me in my trouble.
I "ebb it to be publicly made known as a caution to all yeoni people,
and particularly as some, no doubt, know and remember me. If I
bad &alms the advUe you apd. your late puor dear wife gave me. I
should not have brought myself and my friends into so mach dis-
grace; hut I see my error now it is toe late. lam not unaware
that you acted toward me as a father and deat Mend, as well as
a master, and directed me in the path into which I. &mild have
went ; but, alas! I was blind, totally blind. If I bad now the op.
portunity of kneeling down with you in that comfortable limit
which you provided for me, I would give the world for the privi-
lege, were it possible. If you have any yowl man living with you
in the situation I once enjoyed (filled), let him read this, and reed
it seriously, and then I trust to Goo that be will feel that be has a
home, such a home as I bate never had since I left you, and sty
dying prayers will be that Goa will make you amends. This un.
fortunate news (alluding to the Recorder's report) came on Thurs.
day evening, and I should bate written before, but have been other-
wise employed, as we have three religious persons attend us (refer.
ring to Fordham, his fellow convict). I could fill a quire of piper;
but I hope you will cecina my writing more in expressing my sin-
cere thanks to you. Pray remember me to all your family : I dare
say Elizabeth,-und perhaps James, may remember me. I wish to
hear front you by return of post, Lod beg you to state my real tha.
racter during the time I was in your service, as the letter (your
answer) will be read by the persons who attend me. I hope you
will comply with my request to-mortow morning ; and hope that
the Chapel may be ailed with young people, as it may be a warning
to them not to run in the way of destruction, and thereby bring
themselves aid families into disgrace, as I have done. Please to
write, so that I may have the letter on Monday.
Yours and unfortunate.
CHARLES COLLIBOI9.
P. S. Direct to Charles Butclser.condentoed Cells, lkitugate.
l'o Ur. lain, butcher, Bedford.
1
4 Livraroon, Tuna b itvisniro.—There has been
less animation in our Lottou-market to day than yester-
day. Prices, however, are steady, and the sates may be
estimated at 1,000 bags..

i

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

GUILDHALL.

'One Mrs. Ass Puffer, a very discreet.looking matron, was
brought before Mr. Alderman Amer, yesterday morning, charged
With very min tron-like conduct towards one of the City watchmen.
It appeared by the evidence of the watchman, that between
Metre and one o'clock In the morning, just as the citizens had
pretty Well settled theMselves down to sleep, and he was standing
at the end of Maidenheadeourt, in Aldersgate-street, " quietly
vratting•ibr the half hour," this Mrs. Fuller came straggling up to
him, and said, 0 Watchman—where are my lodgings?" The
watchman thought this was a mighty queer kind of a question, fot
Mrs. Fuller was an entire stranger to him. " I don't know where
your lodgings are, my good woman," he replied. " It's a lie! myl
good min," rejoined Mrs. Fuller, and so saying site straggled
away from him again ; whilst be congratulated himself upon
having got rid of her so easily. Presently, however, she came to
him with a say, watchman, pray what have you done with
my child?' " I know nothing about your child, my good woman,"
he replied. To which Mrs. Fuller rejoined as before, "
aHe ! my good mon." The watchman, upon this, began to grow'
angry; and desired Mrs. Fuller to go along about her business, and
not be bothering him with such nonsense ;—whereupon Mrs. Fuller
attempted to box his ears, and then he thought it was high time to
provide her with a lodging in the watch-house; and so he did.
This was the substance of hie evidence, and he added, that when he I
returned from abutting Mrs. Fuller in the watch-house, he found I
a trunk in the passage to a court on his beat, which trunk Mrs.
Fuller bad since claimed as her property.
Mrs. Fuller in her defence, admitted the facts charged—at least
she did not deny them, She said she bad been on a visit to a friend
at Pentenville ' • and, having stopped rather later than she ought to
do, she nut only forgot to bring her child away with her, but also
forgot where her lodgings were; and these forgetting. led to her
misconduct towards the watchman ; for all which she was very
sorry, and attributed it to ben having "taken a leak too much afterl
supper, in consequence of the recent death of her husband !"
The Alderman admonished her to conduct herself more deco-
rously in future: upon her promising so to do, she was discharged.
BOP-STREET.

Yesterdiy afternoon, as Mr. Dlntstrutz, the Sitting Magistrate,•
was about leaving the Bench, a young Scotchman, who stated his
name to be Robert Fraser, and that be was a police officer of the
City of Edinburgh, entered the office out of breath, and begged leave
to inform his Worship that he had just been robbed of his watch in a
verrextraordinary manner. He said that he came to London a day
or two since, on business connected with his office, and shat morning
i
be was standing at the corner of Castle-court, Strand, when a smartly
dressed fellow came up to bins and asked him if he wanted to buy at
watch, at the same time taking one almost as big as a turnip from his
fob, and handing it to him for inspection. The complainant wild Ise
was hs no want of a watch, for be bad a good one of his own, and had;
no desire to bargain for another. “ Well," said the stranger," should
like to deal with you, and since you won't buy my watch, I will, if
you like,purchase yours." The applicant declined any dealing,but the
stranger having requested very civilly to look at his watch, be, as
matter of courtesy, and not suspectiog a trick in the middle of the
day, was drawing it from his fob, when the stranger snatched it
from him, and ran off. The applicant followed him, and saw him
go into the shop of Mr. Harris, a pawnbroker, in the &rand, whi.
ther he followed him, and saw him put his own and applicant's
watch down upon the counter, and ask the loan of ES& upon the
two. The applicant immediately informed the shopman, who took
up the watches, that one of them was his, and had been stolen from
him, but the shopman, who seemed to be on very familiar terms
with the stranger, only laughed at him, and took the watches to alt
room, Where Mr. Harris, his master, was sitting, and the
latter, having examined them, gave him the amount required. This
the shopman handed to the stranger, who Immediately left the box
in width be Was standing, and applicant was about to follow him,
when be was galled by the &oilman, who said, if one of the
watches was his; be had better take a duplicate for it. He waited
for the ticket, thinking that he had better have something to show
(or his watch, but in the mean time the stranger had gone entirely
sway. He remonstrated with the &spoon and his master, Mr.
Harris, but they both treated him with ridicule, and said they had
nothing to do with the matter, and that he must get his watch as
other people did, by redeeming it; and if the stranger had done
Ma wrong, be must seek his remedy against him.
Mr. Mansatust. asked the applicant why he did not prevent the
stranger from pledging his watch when in the shop?
Fraser said the stranger got into a box, where he could not well
get at bins ; and be told the shopman that the watch was his, and
warned him not to take it in, which be thought was all he cost Id do,
Mr. Mursamm. immediately dispatched Conyers, a constable, to
desire the attendance of Mr. Harris and his shopman, who ar
peared in a few minutes.
Fraser repeated kis statement ; and Mr. MiashuU having en.
pressed an opinion that the case, as it stood unexplained, was a very
extraordinary one, asked Mr. Harris and his shopman what they
had to say ?
Mr. Harris, who evinced great confidence of manner, treated the
matter very lightly, and said the fact was, be was in his parlour
when his man came, showed him the watches, and mentioned
the amount demanded upon them, which he (Mr. Harris) gave him
as a matter of course.

The shopman, whose name is Richard Wingham, said he advan-
ced the money as a matter of course ; and be did not know but that
the watches belonged to the person who offered them, having only
the assertion of the oempiainant, who was an utter stranger to him,
to the contrary.
The shopman befog sharply questioned by the Magistrate, adds-
ted that he was oat acquainted with the person who pledged the
watches; and being hard pressed, said be thought he might be able
to Ind him.

Mr. Mosotot s. said the transaction was a very shameful one; and
the shopman would do well to find the fellow who pledged the
watches as speedUy as possible. There was strong ground for be-
lievlng that he was leagued with the stranger ; and even lithe latter
should be caught, be (Mr. MinsbuU) doubted if it would not be his
duty to commit him (V/Ingham) as an accessary. There was net
sulkiest at present, perhaps, to detain him, but he should require,
security for his future appearance.
Mr. Harris said he would be answerable foe his shopman'a ap-
pearance; and Mr. Minoan!' accepted his ball; at the same dots
ordering Conyers to exert himself to apprehend the fellow who
pledged the watches.