The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-01-01 00:00:00

THE ?BAUD ON THE BANK OF

MANCHESTER

We are glad to be enabled to state, that the perpetrator of
the fraud on the Bank of Manchester has at length been dis-
covered, and that evidence of the most conclusive character
has been obtained against him. For two or three clays past,
we have known that the noliee were by no means satisfied
with the evidence against Win. Smith, alias Thomas Brown,
the individual apprehended last week, although he IV s some-
what positively spoken to by the post-Office clerk, and less
confidently by another witness. The doubts thus ente-tained
appear to have been perfectly well founded ; and is will most
probably turn out, that the individual in question is perfectly
unconnected with the affair. The name of the real offender,
and the circumstances under which he was discovered, will
be learned from the following details :

On Wednesday last, Messrs. Bannerman and Sons, of this
town, received a letter from a house it Dublin, with which
they do business, requesting to know why the receipt of two
bills of exchange, which they had remitted by post on the I
16th inst., had not been acknowledged. The particulars of
the bills were given in the letter,--one for £69. 15s. was
drawn upon the London and Westminster Bank, the other
for £23. lls. was accepted payable at Roberts. Curtis, and
Co.'s, London ; and both were specially endorsed to Messrs.
Bannerman and Sons. As no such bills had come to hand,
Messrs. Bannerman and Sons, apprehending that they might
have fallen into improper hands, wrote to London to stop
payment of them • and learnt, in reply, from the London and
Westminster Bank, that, the day before their letter came to
hand, the bill had been sent up for payment in a letter signed
" Wm Wilkinson," the writer of which requested that the
bank would make returns by a cheque on Messrs. Heywood
and Co., and address it to him at the Post Office,•Knott
Mill, Manchester. The London and Westminster Bank had
consequently lodged a credit with Masterman and Co., and
sent an order in the usual form on Sir B. Heywood and Co.,
to the address indicated in the letter. Application was con-
sequently made to Heywood and Co., who stated that they
had paid the amount to a young man, who called in the first
instance, on the morning when the notice arrived, and asked
if they had not received an order for a payment to William
Wilkinson. He was told that they had, and the clerk asked
if his name was Wilkinson. He replied in the negative, but
said that Mr. Wilkinson had sent him for the money. The
clerk then filled up a blank cheque, and desired him to get
Mr. Wilkinson's signature to it, and the money would then
be paid. He called again in the afternoon, bringing with
him the cheque signed as directed, and also the order which
had been addressed by the London and Westminster Bank
to the Knott Mill post-office ; and then, of course, the money
was handed over to him, and he carried it off.
On the following day, of course, the' arrival of the letter
front the London and Westminster Bank disclosed the fraud
that had been committed ; and it was found on inquiry, that
the young man who received the payment at Heywoods', an-
swered the description of the person who had obtained the
letters of the Bank of Manchester, and presented the ab-
stracted cheque at the bank of Messrs. Jones, Loyd, and Co.;
and, on a comparison of the handwritingof the letter to the.
London and Westminster Bank, with the name and address,
" T,homas Brown, Preston," written on that cheque, it was
obvious that they had been written by the same party. . No
doubt could then exist, that one or more letters, addressed
to Messrs. Bannerman and Co. had been surreptitiously ob-
tained from the post-office on the 17th instant, two days
before those of the Bank of Manchester were carried off, and
that both offences had been committed by the same party.
Who that party was still remained in doubt; but that doubt
was speedily to be cleared up. Success in one case had made
the offender careless, and he suffered the consequences of his
rashness.

We have stated that the missing letter to Messrs. Ban-
nerman and Co. contained two bills, one of which was paid
as above described. The other, for £23 Ils fell due, we be-
lieve, on Saturday last ; and on that day, it we are not mis-
taken, the bill arrived at Messrs. Robarts, Curtis, and Co.'s,
where it was made payable, in a letter, the signature of which
we have not learned, requesting that they would make re-
turns by an order on the Manchester and Liverpool District
Bank, to be again addressed to the post-office at Knott Mill.
Messrs. Robarts and Co. had, however, received the order
for stopping payment of the bill ; and, we believe, had been
informed of what had taken place with respect to the bill on
the London and Westminster Bank. They, therefore, laid
a plan for the detection of the offender. They immediately
forwarded the letter which they had received to Sir Charles
Shaw, in order to put the police on their guard, and on Mon-
day addressed to the post-office, at Knott Mill, a letter
containing an order on the District Bank, in the usual
form, as if they had suspected nothing wrong. Of course
a very strict watch was kept on the Knott Mill Post-
office ; and yesterday, between one and two o'clock, a young
man, answering the description of the one who had been
previously seen at the post-office and the banks, presented
himself at the office, where he demanded and received the
letter, closely watched all the time by Inspector Bibby, of
the police, who was dressed in plain clothes for the purpose.
He was allowed to go away with the letter; and it was
Bibby's intention to permit him to go to the District Bank,
to ask for the money, before taking him into custody. Owing
to the crowded state of the streets, however, he found that
there would be great difficulty in keeping his man in sight ;
and, fearful of some mischance, after following him for a
short distance, he seized him with the letter in his possession,
and then found that his person corresponded exactly with the
description given of him by Mr. Loyd and others. He is a
very young man, not much exceeding 16 years of age, named
Thomas Bourne, the son, we regret to say, of very respecta-
ble parents, but of bad character himself, having, we under-
stand, been previously once or twice convicted of felony. He
was immediately and most satisfactorily identified by Mr.
Loyd and one of his clerks, as well as by two clerks from the
bank of Sir B. Heywood and Co. ; and the post-office clerk,
on seeing the new prisoner, at once said, that he had no doubt
he had previously been mistaken, and that that was the per-
son to whom he had delivered the letters In his possession
was a pocket-book containing a number of entries, the writing
of which corresponded exactly with that of the letters to the
London bankers and the name written on the cheque pre-
sented to Messrs. Jones, Loyd, and Co. Further, in his
Mackintosh coat was found a bond of indemnity to the Bank
of Manchester, which had been sent to Newtown, Mont-
gomeryshire, for execution, and which is believed to have
been enclosed in one of the letters obtained from the box of
that bank on the 19th instant.

Although we believe there can be little doubt that the pri-
soner is the party by whom the letters have been obtained,
and the cheque and bills attempted to be negotiated, it may
reasonably be doubted whether he had not some confederate
in the business. He is, as we have already stated, only 16
years of age ; and although an early initiation in crime usu-
ally gives great precocity to the understanding, it is difficult
to conceive that a youth like him could possess the know-
ledge of bills of exchange, and of the customs of bankers,
requisite to carry on the daring and dangerous game in which
he appears to have been engaged.
There is one circumstance connected with the robbery of
the Bank of Maachester, which may not be unworthy of no-
tice. Yesterday week, Mr. Burdekin, the manager of the
bank, received a letter, evidently in the same handwriting as
those mentioned above, stating, in substance, that the writer
had then in his possession all the enclosures contained in the
letters obtained from the post-office, amounting in value to
upwards of £7,000, with the single exception o the cheque
which he had sent by a lad to the bank of Jones, Loyds, and
Co. He wished to know what reward the bank would give
for their restoration, and requested to be informed by an ad-
vertisement in the Guardian of Saturday morning. The only
step taken in consequence of this communication was the
sending of notices of the particulars of the robbery, and of the
bills stolen, to all parts of the kingdom, so as effectually to
' preclude any chance of negotiating them in any quarter.
Of course, the young man who has been several days in
custody, on suspicion of having been concerned in this affair,
will now be liberated, and some other parties whom the affair
appears to have involved in a little trouble will be left at rest.
The informinfation of the robbery, and the description of the
offender, circulated throughout the country, appears to have
had a very prejudicial effect upon the comforts of the rather
numerous class of " shabby genteel" young men with sallow
complexions, and dressed in threadbare black suits. One of
this class was sent over in custody from Liverpool yesterday
another is said to be in prison at Leeds; others, we believe,
are under Surveillance in different parts of the country ; and,
had it not been for the fortunate detection of the real offender,
it is to be feared that a considerable portion of the votaries of
the muses, the aspirants to histrionic fame, and other people,
the condition of whose apparel is too frequently as much be-
neath their wishes as it is below their notions of their own
merits, would have found their way into the interior of her
majesty's gaols.

Since the above was written, we have learned that a large
portion of the sum obtained from the bank of Heywood and
Co., we believe about £45, has been discovered by the police
in an empty house, near the residence of the prisoner's
father. This discovery would seem to diminish the probability
of the prisoner's having had an accomplice.
We learn that
the prisoner was in the service of Messrs. Lowe and Co.,
hosiers, Church-street, and was on the point of being inden-
tured to them as an apprentice.

APPALLING DEATH AT BURSLEAI

(From the North Staffordshire Mercury.)
An accident of a terrific character, attended by circum-
stances of a most painful interest, occurred on Saturday
night last, at Burslem. Some of our readers may remember
the name of Maria Brett, as having of late frequently occur-
red in our police reports. This girl, though not more than
nineteen or twenty, and possessing her share of personal
attractions, is one of the most degraded of the class, usually
designated " unfortunate." Within the last few months,
it appears from the girl's statement, an acquaintance had
arisen between her and a young man named Thomas Har-
rison, a brick-maker, one who had the reputation of being a
sober well-conducted person, and a " teetotaller." On
Saturday night Harrison met with the girl Brett, and after
treating her wills liquor, though he took none himself,
made
an engagement to meet her later in the evening, intending
to get rid of his companions. About eleven o'clock they
were together in the neighbourhood of the Bell-bank, an
open space at the back of High-street. In this space is a
small brick outbuilding which covers a well, about sixteen or
seventeen feet deep, entirely unprotected, by any covering,
and containing water to the irepth—of about thirteen feet.
The well is about four or five feet diameter, and is situated
at one of the further corners on the right, occupying more•
than half the length of the building, which is not more than
eight feet by about seven. Into this place, according to the
in
vited
Harrison, of a little girl who was passing, the girl Brett
arrison, taking him by the arm. They walked in, and in a
few moments both were precipitated into the well. Most pierc-
ing shrieks for assistance were immediately heard, and the
little girl who had seen them enter the place, hearing
the plunge in the water, gave an alarm. At this moment. a
young man named Ralph Malkin, who was approaching trom
the Market-place, instantly ran to the well. The water not
being more than four feet from the top, he saw a woman
struggling in it, and he lay down and stretched his arm as
low as he could. The girl seized his hand, and he contrived
to raise her so high that she was able, by placing her right
foot against the opposite wall, to keep her head above waters
He then saw the unhnppy man Harrison come to the surface
of the water, convulsively working with his hands, in the vain
hope of catching at something to sustain him, while the girl
in her frenzy kept kicking with her left leg against his head,
and splashing the water so as to render his efforts perfectly
hopeless. Ralph Malkin immediately ran for assistance. In
a few moments a number of persons were on the spot, and by
means of a rope the girl was got out alive, but the young man
had sunk. A drag was procured; and in a few minutes his
lifeless corpse was drawn out. The neighbours around all
affirm that the girl knew of this well, as she had been used,
when younger,'to fetch water from it; and in consequence of
this fact, and some groundless rumours, suspicions were at
first entertained that Harrison had come by his death in
some foul way, otherwise than by accident. There appears
to be no ground for the suspicion ; and the fact that the girl
was in liquor at the time accounts, in some measure, for the
circumstance, supposing her to have known of the well. The
body of Harrison was removed to a public house near, to
await the coroner's inquest. After a patient inquiry, a ver-
dict " accidental death was returned.

Power was given to the trustees, by the late act of parlia-
ment, for charging the estates of the Duke of Wellington
with a jointure for the Marchioness of Douro, amounting to
£2500 per annum. It will be recollected that £700,000 was
granted to his grace for his eminent services to the state, to
be laid out in the purchase of landed property, and entailed
upon his successors. At the duke's special wish, the plate,
china, jewels, pictures, statues and other valuables present-
ed to him by different sovereigns and states, were also set-
tled and conveyed as heir-looins with the title. No jointure
to a Duchess of Wellington can exceed £6500 per annum,
nor can the estates for jointures altogether exceed £lO,OOO
per annum.

Ebt liberpool gl)tanDatt.

FRIDAY

MORNING, JANUARY 1, 1841

A new year has this day commenced, and we hail
with thankfulness the arrival of eighteen hundred and
forty one. Before entering, however, into any specu-
lation upon the prospects which the future holds out
to us, let us not be a!together ungrateful for the past.
The year which has just measured out its span has not
been unproductive of substantial advantages to Great
Britain; and whilst we welcome its successor let us
turn our glance back for a while and record a few of
those events which have distinguished the days of
eighteen hundred and forty.
And first in interest we are bound to notice the gra-
tifying change which the last twelve months have
brought about in the domestic position of our young
and gracious Queen. The year 1840 has presented
her Majesty with the husband of her choice, whose
habits and disposition, so far as they are at present
known, promiSe not only to promote her own personal
happiness, but to endear the Prince himself to the peo-
ple over whom it is her fortune to be placed, and to
whom her consort, the partner of her domestic hours,
must ever he an object of interest. The same year has
rewarded the prayers of the nation and the affection of
the royal pair with the birth of a princess, who may
one day be destind to sit upon the throne of the yealm,
but whose happier fate we trust it will be, as the
Princess Royal and sister of a male heir, hereafter to
be born, to set a bright example of virtue and private
worth to the female nobility, of whom from her station
she must be next to the throne itself, the recognised
head.

The next gratifying feature which presents itself is
the decline during the past year of the principles of
Whig-Radicalism in the estimation of the people of
Great Britain and Ireland. With difficulty during the
last session of parliament the Radical party could main-
tain even the shadow of power. Harassed and over-
awed at every step by a strong Conservative phalanx ;
enfeebled by divisions amongst the discordant elements
by which it is supported ; the ministry of Lord Mel-
bourne, hopeless of effecting any great objects, gladly
hurried ove the period usually devoted to public busi-
ness, and submitted to have their measures laid aside
or rem oulded, in accordance with the views of their
opponents. Degradation of every kind was submitted
to and embraced for the sake of the emoluments of
office, in the vain hope that some lucky shuffle of the
cards might supply them with additional strength to
encounter another session. But the year 1840 had no
such lucky consummation in store for Lord Melbourne
and his party. If within the walls of parliament Lord
Melbourne was weak before, the registrations of the
past year and other circumstances of very significant
import have shewn that out of doors his strength is not
greater. In the various municipal contests throughout
the kingdom, with a very few exceptions, the principles
of modern liberalism have been scouted with disgust
by the people ; and viewing, in a candid spirit, the en-
tire political demonstrations of the past year, it is
scarcely possible to avoid corning to the conclusion that
history will record the year eighteen hundred and forty
as that in which the power of Whig-Radicalism, for a
season at least, received its death-blow in Great Britain.

We have already noticed (in our observations last
Friday) the accession of moral strength which the
cause of Protestantism has derived during the past
twelve months; and to this we may add, the increased
conviction on the part of the sound portion of the peo-
ple of the advantages of a religious education. The
year eighteen hundred and forty has witnessed this
conviction practically demonstrated in Liverpool by the
foundation Of a noble institution for the training up of
our youth in the principles of the Established Church ;
and if this were not sufficient evidence of the tendency
of opinion upon the subject of education, the results of
the late contests in several of our wards would suf-
ficiently prove that in the good old town at least we
have at length taken our stand upon the sound and
healthy principle, that, in a Protestant community, re-
cognizing a Protestant church establishment, the re-
ligious doctrines of that church should be the basis of
any system of education which is provided at the public
expense or for the public benefit.
With respect to the state of our foreign relations we
must confess that the past year has not been productive
of any improvement upon which we dare congratulate
our readers. The Spanish question has been settled
it is true, so far as the partizans of Don Carlos were
concerned, but no further; 2nd it is very doubtful
whether the new embroilment of the affairs of the
Peninsula will not be of such a nature and extent as
seriously to involve Great Britain as a party to its set-
settlement. In addition, we are now involved with
China—we are carrying on active hostilities in the East
Indies—we have the Syrian question on our hands (for
who can.say that it is settled yet)—and we have France
embittered to the utmost against us; raving in a per-
fect frenzy of hatred against everything which bears
the name of England, and burning to rush into a strug-
gle with us upon any battle ground or upon any or no
provocation. So far, however, we have " held our
own," Whatever may have been the policy which has
led to our present entanglements, whether the sword
of England has been drawn prudently or rashly, the
events of eighteen hundred and forty have shown that
the hand which wields it is still strong as ever. The
spirit of our gallant navy, the right arm and the bulwark
of England, is still unimpaired; and with this left us
we cannot despair of our country.
As a whole, then, we are not disappointed with the
events of the past year; on the contrary, we are fully
convinced that in it the seeds of much future good
have been sown. As respects ourselves we are in duty
bound to speak well of the departed. We have striven
honestly to do our duty to the public—to do our duty

to the cause which we advocate and which we conaci-
entiously believe to be the cause of truth; and we are
happy to acknowledge that our exertions have been re-
warded with a fair measure of success. In commen-
cing the new year, we are emboldened to hope that
increased exertions will meet with corresponding re-
ward ; and in this hope, which is strengthened by the
result of former efforts, we beg, whilst expressing our
thanks for the share of support which we have re-
ceived, to wish our readers, each and all—" A happy
New Year." •

By the packet-ship Independence, Capt. Nye, which
arrived here yesterday, we have received New York
papers to the 10th ultimo, inclusive, being one day
later than those brought by the Great Western. The
President's message had not reached New York when
the Independence sailed. Without the presence of a
quorum, in both houses of Congress, no business can
be transacted. In consequence of the great snow storm,
and the impassable state of the roads, very few mem-
bers had reached Washington up to the 9th ultimo,
and the consequence was, that both houses stood again
adjourned. There is very little general news in the
paper of the 10th. We subjoin the most important
extracts :

NEW YORK MONEY MARKET.
(From the New York Herald of December 11.)

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 9.-5 rit.—The Great Western
nailed to-day at one o'clock, with a full freight-102,000 dol-
lars in specie-70 passengers—a letter bag yielding 1100 dol-
lars at the Exchange, and probably 1400 dollars at the agent's
office. She could not wait longer for the President's Mes-
sage. It will be seen, therefore, that the movement in specie
still goes forward, in the face of resumption here. By the
steamer and the other packets, this week, nearly 400,000
dollars specie has gone to Europe. This fact, at the be-

ginning of the winter season, when steam navigation will be
nearly closed for three months, begins to alarm bankers in
connection with the subject of specie payments at Philadel-
phia. In summer a ready supply could be imported from
Europe, but this is n!,t so easily effected in mid-winter.
The resumption of the Philadelphia banks, on the 15th of
January, if not sooner, which is now generally announced
and believed, does not seem to give any animation to the
markets generally—indeed, the reverse is felt. In the stock
market a general fall has taken place, varying from a to 2
per cent. Money is also scarce and dearer.

Narrowly examining the process of this resumption, and
analysing the elements of which the movement is composed,
it could not be expected that the mere announcement could
exert a great effect on any branch of the markets. The
Philadelphia banks alone comprehend a monied movement of
about 100,000,000 dollars, to say nothing of the southern and
south-western banks, which may be put down at 150,000,000
dollars more. How then could a negotiation for a sum equal
to 2,500,000, with the capitalists of Philadelphia, lift, from a
state of degradation and torpor, a monied movement of
250,000,000? The thing is ludicrous—and leads the shrewd
inquirer to infer, that the whole negotiation is intended either
for the benefit of some small speculators, or to be made the
basis of a future movement, having a wider prospect of ad-
vantage to all the interests concerned.

GREAT SNOW STORM.—On Friday last, about noon,
heavy snow-storm commenced in this city and neighbour-
hood, which, although partially ceasing for a few hours on
Saturday, broke out anew about eleven o'clock, A.M. on Sat-
urday, and continued all Saturday night and yesterday, until
the time this paper went to press. There is now about 18
inches of snow upon the ground, upon a level, drifted in many
places to 3 and 4 feet. So heavy a fall of snow in this city
is not recollected since that of January 15, 1831, and so lone
continued a storm was never known here. Our streets are
almost impassable. The mails are impeded, and all travelling
is at present nearly at a stand. Several of the churches were
shut up during the whole of yesterday, and divine service
necessarily omitted therein.—National Intelligencer, of
Monday.
THE SNOW—THE MAILS.—The average depth of the
snow which fell on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, is about
16 inches. In many places, owing to the driving north-easter
which prevailed, it lies in drifts 10 or 12 feet high. The
snow-storm here was a heavy rain-storm at Norfolk.
The Northern and North Western mail, due here on Sun-
day at 2 P.M. by the Susquehanna railroad, arrived about
8 P.M. The mails by the same road, which were due yes-
terday, came in at the regular hour, the railroad track from
this city to Columbia having been cleared of snow.
The Southern train, which left Washington at six o'clock
yesterday morning, reached this city in about three hours.
The snow ploughs in front of the locomotives are said to have
worked to admiration, occasionally clearing the track where
the snow had drifted even to the height of ten feet.—lbid.
LATER.—Last night the lOhio railroad train came in,
bringing two mails from the West, and one from the South-
west.

ICE IN THE DELAWARE.--All the vessels lying along the
ends of the different wharfs yesterday morning were com-
pelled to haul inside of the docks, in order to avoid being
cut through by the skim ice, large quantities of which came
Heating down yesterday.-Gazette, Dec. 0.
THE WEATHER at Quebec, on the 30th, continued unu-
sually mild for the season, the thermometer standing at
about 45. The roads and fields were nearly bare, and there
was but little floating ice in the St. Lawrence. The travel
in the vicinity, and as far down as L'lslet, was on wheels.
WINTER NORTIL—There. is excellent sleighing north.
Snow is eighteen inches deep on the Catskill. Ice at New-
burgh is four inches thick.

We have received our files of .the Guiana Times to
the 11th of November, inclusive. The Court of Po-
licy had met on the 27th of October, when Governor
Light announced the important fact of his suspension
by the Home Government. In making this announce-
ment he remarked that, acting in the spirit of " laufi-
able moderation," so characteristic of their treatment
of the colonists, the Home Government had again af-
forded to the Court of Policy, combined with the fin-
ancial representatives, an opportunity of acquiring the
merit of a voluntary compliance with the duty of set-
tling a suitable Civil List on the Crown, and thus of
" removing from the Combined Court the reproach
which might be cast upon it." In laying before the
Court the despatch of the Colonial Secretary, by which
the conduct of the negotiations was devolved on Sir
Henry M`Leod, the Governor of the neighbouring
island of Trinidad, he (Governor Light) only hoped
that the arrival of that officer would enable the local
authorities to promote and augment the prosperity of
this most important and valuable colony. He breathed
this prayer with the utmost fervour and sincerity; and,
for the future portion of his government, neither
daunted nor intimidated by any attacks that might be
made upon him, he was ready to accept and appreciate
the assistance of that court, and he hoped that that
court, and the Combined Court also, would co-operate
with the local authorities. His only object was to
attain a satisfactory issue of the existing difficulties.
The despatch of Lord John Russell was to the following
effect :—" The recent despatches of Governor Light on
the subject of the settlement of the civil list, had re-
ceived much of his (Lord John's) attention, and would,
ere long, be fully answered, His immediate object
was to apprise Governor Light, that the best way to
bring the matter to a satisfactory close, would be to
entrust the negotiations to some person exempt from
the difficulties inseparable from his (Mr. Light's) posi-
Lion. 'net troy., the . Queen, on his (Lord John's)
advice,- had been advised td commission Sir Henry
M‘Leod, Governor of Trinidad, to come over for the
temporary assumption of the government of British
Guiana, for the specific and single purpose, however,
of conducting these negotiations, and of experimenting
whether the Combined Court were prepared to assent
to a reasonable proposal for settling a civil list on the
crown, and raising the annual supplies."
Governor M'Leod was daily expected to arrive at
Demerara. It was confidently rumoured in the colony
that he would he invested with its government.
The Guiana Times contains the following notice of
the recent sales effected in the colony :—" Plantation
Success has been purchased by Mr. Whyte for £30,000
sterling, and plantations Wales and Vrydestein by
Messrs. Stuart and Matheson, jointly, for £30,000.
Thus, with the exception of Coverden, which is aban-
doned, the great house of the Gladstones has now not
a foot of ground in British Guiana. Are these pur-
chases so many arguments for a belief in our pros-
perity ? By no means ! The estates are considered
bargains for the money, and the purchasers, while they
see that many are doing wretchedly ill, fondly fancy they
themselves will be added to the number of the fortu-
nate few, who do well."

The business transacted in the Court of Policy bad
been comparatively unimportant. A bill for the in-
corporation of the British Guiana Insurance Company,
and another for the establishment of a corporate com-
pany, to be called the British Guiana Steam Navigation
Company, had been read a second time.

It is quite perceptible from the strain of observation
indulged in by the oracles of \Vhiggery, that when the
next trial of strength shall take place between the two
great parties that divide the kingdom, a desperate at-
tempt will be everywhere made to separate the tenantry

from their landiordg. Indeed the hopes of the party
seem to be mainly reduced to the possible success of
this experiment ; and we may therefore expect that
they will work it with all the industry and ingenuity
of which they are capable. There is a plausibility in
their favour when the question is looked at within a
limited range of view, of which every advantage is
taken -

They permit their readers to see no more than

just a speck, or mere " puncturn," of difference be-
tween a landlord and his tenants; and they ask with
an air of triumph, " What right has a mere proprietor
of inert matter to dictate to the mind or conscience of
the persons who do him the favour to reside upon his
estates ?—who made him a judge, or a ruler over
them ?" The " eternal fitness of things " is appealed
to, and the repeal of an ordinance so much at variance
with their views and purposes loudly demanded.

There dre no means of making men really indepen-
dent, but by putting all parties on a level as to the
tenure of property ; and this is a result which nothing
but a revolution could accomplish. That it sounds
anomalous—and is perhaps, in the abstract, an ano-
maly—that men should be given a franchise which
they cannot exercise in perfect independence, may
possibly be defended ; but social government is very
far yet from being raised to a perfect science, and
some of the best-arranged attempts to reduce to prac-
ice theories of the most brilliant conception, have
proved utterly abortive. We feel, therefore, supported
in rejecting mere abstract theory as a test in deter-
mining the merit or demerit of any part of our consti-
tutional system ; and avow it as our belief, that it
would he quite possible to make that appear in theory
erroneous, or even ridiculous and absurd, which in
practice is attended by exceedingly few and trifling
inconveniences.

The cry is now to make tenants independent of their
landlords. But if this cry were to become effective,
what would be the consequence ? Obviously, that
property would cease to be repres nted in the great
council of the nation, and mere numbers would carry
the day. Thus we are met by revolution ; and
the short of the matter is, that without a revolution
the owners of large possessions cannot be divested of
an influence which is inseparable from that ownership.
" But this influence," say the Liberals, "works a griev-
ance; and if we cannot do all that we wish, we will do
all that we can, to remove it." No doubt. But we
wish to show that there is one arrangement which
cuts the Gordian knot, and removes all difficulty ;
and that is, the perfect unanimity of landlord and
tenant on those delicate subjects whereon a difference
is now likely to had to unpleasant results. If the
parties could be reconciled in this way, there would
be no longer any real grievance to complain of. On
this point we challenge contradiction ; and the course
we would suggest as most prudent to follow—and we
commend it to the especial attention of all liberal pen-
men of the public press—is to aim as much as possible
at creating this unanimity and harmony of sentiment
between the parties referred to, instead of widening
the breach by attempting to instil into the minds of
the tenants that they possess a degree of independence
which in truth and in fact they do not. It is quite
natural that the landlord should expect to be supported
by his tenantry in political affairs. His consequence
greatly depends upon it. But if, in general, he should
espouse that cause and support those principles which
are most in harmony with the spirit of our institutions,
and most influential for the general good of the people,
there would exist no cause whatever for regret that he
should be supported by his tenantry in such a policy.
" But," say the Liberals, " in point of fact, it is other-
wise. The landed interest is Conservative.' The
landlords are opposed to the march of liberal ideas,
and the privileges of the people; and they must there-
fore be opposed with might and main." It thus be-
comes a question of party principles, and doubtless it
has that phasis ; but we wish to consider it at present
under another aspect. Assuming, then, that the landed
interest is Conservative, might we not reasonably say
to any candid Whig—" Try your moral-force system
on the landlords. They are fair game. Bring them
over to your side, if you can. If you gain them, you
will have their tenantry also ; hut desist from the at-
tempt to create division, and catch at the votes of the
tenant in defiance of the power of the landlord. You
see how inseparably they are connected together by
the ties of property, and you perceive that these ties
are indissoluble so long as the fabric of our constitu—
tion itself endures. The tenant is a dependant'
upon his landlord. True. But what is social happi-
ness itself but one continued chain of dependencies ?
The operative depends upon his employer—the shop-
keeper on his customers—the merchant on the shop-
keeper—the servant on his master—and the master
upon the servant. Everywhere there is ' dependence' ;
and it cannot be dispensed with in the relation of
landlord and tenant, without introducing into the
social system worse evils than those which are sought
to be removed."

Such is our appeal to any really liberal opponent.
At the same time, we are far from saying that it would
be prudent to rely too much upon its efficacy. We
feel persuaded that the Popish Priests in Ireland would
pay little regard to it. They possess a power in the
genius of their terrific superstition that enables them
to dispute, but too successfully, the landlord's influence
over his tenantry; and while that power remains in
their hands, it would be quite idle to expect that they
should forbear to use it. In this country, it is our
" fourth estate," or the radical portion of it at least,
that constitutes the great antagonist of the landed
proprietary; and far be it from us to say that this
" estate" has tasted so little of the sweets of power as
to have no relish for its enjoyment.
We look upon the influence that a landlord is capa-
ble of using with his tenantry as one that, under just
management, is decidedly for good. It is not neces-
sary that it should be used as the instrument of a mere
arbitrary will ; since Conservatism is based on truth
and sound principles, it may be wielded as a safe guide
both to the conscience and the understanding. Con-
servatism has nothing to fear from light and discus-
sion ; but it is necessary that men should acquaint
themselves thoroughly with its principles in order that
they may be able to detect the sophistries with which
it is continually assailed,—in order that they may dis-
seminate those principles widely among those with
whom the circumstances of society place them in con-
tact,—and in order, further, that they may exert over
such classes a mild and enlightened moral influence,
which neither the agents of a dark superstition in the
one country, nor those of a reckless spirit of change in
the other, may be able to gainsay or subvert.

Months ago the veracious scribes of the Morning
Chronicle and Globe proclaimed that the Repeal agita.
tion in Ireland was " a complete failure," and that the
Repealers consisted only of a few idle vagabonds at
Dublin and two or three other places. What will
these honest journalists now say, when they find that
the great mass of the Popish population of Ireland has
been organised into a grand confederation of rebels,
ready to take the field at the beck of the arch-agitator ?
Will they have the candour to acknowledge that they
were in error ? Or, rather, we should say, will they
confess that they designedly endeavoured to mislead
the people of England by their cunning efforts to throw
ridicule upon a traitorous plot which they had not the
courage openly to denounce ?

We especially recommend to the notice of the mini-
sterial hacks the following recapitulation of O'Con-
nell's recent triumphs, as uttered by him at the last
meeting of the Repeal Association :

" We have had in the portion of the year that has passed,"
said he, " first the provincial meeting in Connaught—(cheers.)
The province of Connaught met, and the first place that met
was my friend's county,
Mayo—(cheers.) The county of
Galway next met, and the town of Galway met. We had
the provincial meeting in Tuam, which was attended by the
greater number of the nobility of the province, the baronets,
the magistrates, the deputy-lieutenants, and the gentlemen
of large fortunes, and by the people. We had the wealth of
Connaught and its respectability and gentry surrounding us.
The next ste-) we took was to call a provincial meeting in the
province of Leinstcr, and on the occasion of that meeting I
made myself heard by 250,000 repealers in Kilkenny. We
have called the provincial meeting of the province of Mun-
ster, Which will take place in Cork, on the 11th of next
month. I shall not leave the North without saying one word
about Monaghan. I have reason to know that in Monaghan,
with proper assistance, they will be able to return two
Liberals at the next election for the county—(hear, hear, and
cheers.) The people of Monaghan have made great and
heavy sacrifices in support of Liberal principles, and I may
add, by way of parenthesis, that this association will stand
by them—(loud cheers.) Such is the progress of repeal
through the provinces. Ireland is too noble to be the pitiful
province of any country under Heaven—she was s nation