Star.
London, England, 1821-05-28 00:00:00

CRII)4II,L

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The following are the Documents which were read
on Wedres. day night,ln the House cf Commons, by
Mr. Buvrox. They are ctirious.. Whilst, historically
investigating the subject, observed the Hon. Member,
he had di-c•,,ei ed a curious letter, which was written
by a Magistrate of the County •of Somerset toethe•
Lord Chief Justice, in the time of Queen Elizabeth.
This letter contained such an account of the state of
society in Somersetshire, as was calculated to damp
the joy of those who lamented that the glorious days
of Queen Elizabeth ,had passed away. The Magis-
trate wrote thus:
I may justly say, that the able men that are abroadEseekings
the spoil and confusion of the Lind, are able, if they were re-
duced to good subjection, to Sive the greatest enemy her Ma-
jesty hath a strong battle ; and, as they are now, are so much
strength to the enemy. Resides, the generation that daily
springeth from them is likely to be most wicked.
" These :pare neither rich nor poor ; but whether it be great
gaine or mutt, all is fish that cometh to net with them ; and yet
1 sale, both they and the rest are trussed up apace.
1. In which default of justice, many wicked thieves escape.
For most commonly, the most simple countrymen and women,
looking no further than to the loss of their own goods, are of
opiuion, that they
.would not procure any man's death, for all the
goods in the world. Others, upon promise to have their goods
again, will give faint evidence, if they be not strictly looked into
by justice."
This conveyed a pretty picture of the state both of
the law and the country at that time; and there was
a very remarkable passage upon the state of the laws
in a Speech of Queen Elizabeth to her Parliament.
It was follows:
Lawsorrithout execution, be nothing else but pen, ink, and
parchment—a countenance of things, and nothing in deed—e
cause without effect—and serve as much to the good governance
of the common weal, as the rudder of a ship cloth serve to the
good governance of it without a governor—and a serve to as
good purpose to direct men's actions, as torches do to direct
men's goings in the dark, when their lights be put out.. Were it
nut great folly, crow ye, yea and meer madness, for a man to pro-
vide apt and handsome tools and instruments to refornt and prune
his trees withal, and then to lay them up in fair boxes and bags, •
without any usrsof them? And is it not as strange, trow ye,
to make laws to reform men's manners, and to pfune away
the ill branches and members of the•common weal, and then
to lay up those laws in fair books and boxes, without execution
of them? and not to execute them, is to breed a contempt of
laws and law-makers, and of all Magistrates, which is the mother
and nurse of disobedience, and what she breedeth and bringeth
forth, I leave you to judge."
And yet that Queen executed more than 500 cri-
minals in a year, although she complained of the in-
efficient execution of the laws, and threatened in the
following passage to the Commons, to send private
persons to see the laws executed, if they did not exe-
cute them. Her words were remarkable:
" Which if they forget to do (that Is, the Commons forget to
execute the laws), her Majesty shall be then driven clean con-
trary to bee most gracious nature and inclination, to appoint and
assign private men, for profit and gain's sake, to see her Penal
Laws to be executed."

An elopement from Horsham took place a few days
ago, Miss T—r, on a matrimonial excursion with a
gallant son of Mars, a Nr.,6-it. The young Lady
dropped a note at the chamber doer of her mother,
which informed her that her daughter would boa wife
ere they should have the happiness of meeting again.
Wednesday morning, a melancholy accident oc-'
curred at a colliery at Silkstone, near Barnsley. Be-
tween nine and ten o'clock, eleven men employeJ in
that colliery were ascending from one of the pits, and
after having nearly reached the top, the brig gave way,
and the chain breaking, the whole were unfortunately
precipitated to the bottom, a depth of nearly sixty
yards. Six of them were killed, and the remainder
so dreadfully injured as to leave but little hopes of
their recovery. Most of the unfortunate sufferers have
left families. _

The landing of a cargo of smuggled goods was
effected at Herne Bay a few nights since by the fol-
lowing stratagem : a gun or pistol was fired on the
cliff, which appeared to be a signal to a boat off
shore; upon observing this, the attention of the men
employed on the Preventive Service was directed tol
the spot where the firing took place, and a party
went off in the boat in pursuit of the supposed smug-
gler at sea ; whilst this was doing, the cargo was
safely landed and carried off into the country.
In consequence of information against several per-
sons for concealing smuggled goods, search warrants
were on Wednesday granted by the Mayor of Can-
terbury, on the affidavit of one of the Officers of Ex-
cise, in the execution of which on the same evening,4
a quantity of arms and ammunition were discovered
in the house of a man named Webb, residing at the,
corner of ltuttington-lane, in Broad-street, who stated
that they had been left there by a noted smuggler
supposed to have been connected with the persons
concerned in the late murder at Herne Bay. They
consisted of eleven horse pistols, a belt or pouch with
eight rounds of ball cartridge, upwards.of one hun-
dred ball cartridges made and unmade, with the' in-
struments for preparing the same; all which the
Officer took into his custody.
The number of passengers who have passed to and
from London to Margate, by steam and other packets,
from the 6th April, 1820, to the same date this year,
was 46,937, which was 4,602 more than the pre-
ceding year.
A most extensive robbery was committed in the
night of Monday, the 14th instant, at.the mansion of
the Bev. Dr. FOSTER PIGOTT, at Mereworth. The
thieves entered the house by cutting a pane of glass
from a window, near the kitchen door,and then making
so large a hole in the inside shutter, as to be enabled
to silence a bell, which was fastened to the shutter.
They then effected an entrance without disturbing
the family, and succeeded in carrying off property to
the amount of upwards of two hundred pounds, and
got clear off With their booty. Amongst the plunder
were a large collection of gold and silver coins and
medals, two watches, two brace of brass barrelled
,pistols, and a quantity of linen.
The following is an extract from Madrid, dated
the 10th May :—" The King and the Princess air.
peared in public on the Sth ; they were received with
great enthusiasm, particularly on the Prado, where
the cries of Long live the Constitutional King! were
loud and universal. His Majesty bowed repeatedly
to the multitude, and apppared highly sensible of
their devotion ; but he-looked exceedingly pale, and
appeared to be suffering under mental agitation.
In one part of his walk, his Majesty wa • grossly in-
lted by an individual of the lower orders, who