, 1888-01-07

it is the emotion that uderlies the whole
theory and system of smuggling. All the
lectnring and moralising in the world will
not persuade people that it is really wrong
that is, absolutely sinful and wicked
to smuggle. Persons of unimpeachable
integrity, who would not defraud their
neighbour of IL single siXpenCe, and whose
dealings in every relation of life have al
ways been straight, fair, and aboveboard,
have been known in past times, when there
were heavy duties on lace and iewel,y y, to
convey such articles from the Continent to
their native shores srcreted among their
boxes or beneath their outer garments.
and to do all this without a pang of cOnsci-
ence. Some Of the wiSest and best men
amongst lis have bought the most execrable
anU villanous cigars from the mysterious
marine monsters who haunt seaside re.
sorts and prOtfer their wicked wares on
the strength of th"ir having paid ITO duty
to her MajeSty'S Revenue. There are no
tales Of humOur so krrnIy reliSlIel aS those
which tell of some particularly ingenious
stroke OF fraud on the Customs Depart
ment. Who has not laughed over the story
of the alnOrmally fat dog which used to
run in and out Of the London Docks day
after day, until his extraordinarily obese
condition excited the suspicious OF certain
too wary officials. wlm seized the poor
beast and-hedr it not, We kindly anti
vivisectioniSts actually layed him alive.
to find between his false and real skins
many scores Of yards OF the finest foreign
lace neatly rolled round his nefarionS
body We are inclined to applaud the
d0ingS of the =" Pirates of Ptnzance; " and,
if the truth is to be told, we somewhat
SymplthiSe with the deeds of all f~eaIieS$
..tl.... 81 Am. IA ,N,N ,,,nnn ,.h,,
in days gone 0y, wore short skirIs, striped
hose. high boots, cooked hats put on
crooked, and who bravely nailed the old
">kull and cro4SboAeS" to the masthead,
and Slilrd over III, mlin-th" main, Oh
serve, not the sea-in quest OF death and
glory or cigars and bad FrenC3 brandy
the latter couple for choice. 1t was in
thoS. brave days, and on the stage it still
is "a glorious hing to he ii pirate king
with IL 'tOucr on board the luggcr and all
will be we'll look about YOU. The artistic
element of pictureSqueneSs comes out in
all such scenes. Wild, lawleSS, faSCilMt.
ing freedom, setting at laught all dlSci-
pine, ANA ignoring at once authority and
the complex scheme for the reduction Of
the National Debt, is still lear to uS, and
polite II economists preach in vain.
AT all events, their doctrines have not
succeeded in reaching the reCeSS0S OF Ross
shire, for, according to Il Northern journal,
Il delightful and perfectly orthodox "Smug
gler'S retreat" has been mrartlpd and
dragged into the eye of the law. No bold,
bad carrIrrs-Of II of maidrnS and milch COWS
were tines s%mugglrrs. No "runmer>" of con
traband goods and foreign IaceS and silks
were these desperadOes, whose names are
aS yet unknown to fame and the nearest
police-court. They were simply freelaDce
distillerS OF The good old type. alcoholic
anarchists who deiel the statutes enacted
by the High Court of Parliament, and who
hra>ely brewed their potions under the
most Oh Irmingly artistic if wholly
illegal conditions. The graphic story must
speak for Itself, and we must premise that
a "bUthy" is IA term used to express the
idea of d perfectly beautiful and absolute
ly illicit diStillery-a place where, under
the most exquisite external surroundings
as regards scenery and effects of light and
shad :, the very worst whiskey imaginable
is cuncocted. Thus speaks our Scottish
contemporary: 'The revenue officers AVE
discovered another ingenlOuSly concealed
s%mugglerS' 'bothy' in Strathcarron, Ross
shire. In their search the officers followed
the got &c of d stream which flows in a
series of cascades through u rocky chaSm
of great depth. Here, twenty feet from
the bottom of the rocks, they found one of
the most artfully constructed bothleS ever