The Sun. — 1845-08-04 (London, England)

DOUGLAS JERROLD'S SHILLING MAGAZINE.  The present number fully maintains the high character which this magazine has already acquired. The tale of St. Giles and St. James becomes intensely interesting as it proceeds. Our readers will remember that in the last number young St. James, for the murder of whom St. Giles had been apprehended, had been discovered to be alive. The present number begins as follows :  " And now,' thinks the reader,' St. Giles is free. There is no charge against him ; ha is not the murderer, men, in his wretchedness, took him for. St. James, with his injuries upon him, has withdrawn himself ; and once again the world lies wide before St. Giles.' Not so. There still remains, to his confusion, a hard accuser. Si. Giles is destitute. In the teeming, luxurious county of Kent, amidst God's promises of plenty to man, he is a guilty interloper. He may not grasp a handful of the soil, he cannot purchase one blade of wheat ; he is a pauper and a vagrant; a foul presence in the world's garden, and must therefore be punished for his intrusion. Every rag be carries is an accusing tongue: he is destitute and wandering : he has strayed into the paradise of the well-to-do, and must be sharply reproved for his whereabout. And therefore St. Giles will be committed for a season to the county gaol, as a rogue and vagabond. The roguery is not proved upon him, but it has been shown that whilst decent people have goose-beds and weather-proof chambers, he, at the best, has si raw and a barn. It is, too, made a misdemeanor against mother Earth to sleep upon her naked breast, with only the heavens above the sleeper ; and as St. Giles had often so offended—he could not deny the inquity—he was, we say, committed to gaol by Justice Wattles, as rogue and vagabond. Now, to punish a man for having nothing, is surely a sport invented by Bed.zebub for the pleasure of the rich ; yes, to whip arascal for his rags is to pay flattering homage to cloth of gold. Nothing was proved against St. Giles but want ; which, being high treason against the majesty of property, that large offence might be reasonably supposed to contain every other." It happens, however, that a murder has actually been committed—a certain farmer Willis, the brother-in-law of Justice Wattles, has been found murdered. A pocketbook falls into the hands of Wattles, which proves that Robert Willis, a rustic mauvais sujet, the nephew of the murdered man, is the murderer. This evidence Wattles suppresses, not desiring to bring disgrace on his family. Robert Willis, however, is apprehended on the charge, and committed, and in prison he meets with St. Giles, and to him confesses his guilt. Willis, at his trial, is defended by Mr. Montecute Crawley, a man who, by virtue of wearing a wig and gown, is entitled by law to become accessory after the fact to the crime of murder, provided only his principal gives him the usual fee. This honourable member of an honourable profession, so badgers and browbeats the witnesses of truth that Robert Willis is acquitted, and St. Giles, who had given evidence against him, is exposed to the danger of being torn in pieces by Willis's pot-house companions. St. James, however, who is on the bench, is struck with the manner of St. Giles. He sends for him after the trial is over, and engages him as his groom, and thus fit. Giles has, for the first time in his life, the chance of becoming an honest man. " The Spirit of Chivalry" is a well written paper on the exhibition in Westminster Hall, and we are glad to see that the writer does justice to the noble cartoon of Maclise on this subject. Coventry Patmore contributes a somewhat coarse, but very powerfully written poem. entitled " The Murderer's Sacrament." And Juniper Hedgehog continues his piquant correspondence on the events of the month. " The Englishman in Prussia" is the first of a series of papers on the manners and customs of Old Prussia. It promises to be an extremely valuable series. The author is evidently a shrewd observer, who has studied well the nation which he undertakes to daguerrotype. There are various other papers, to which, for want of space, we cannot further allude ; but we may sum up all in these few words—" There is not a single line in the magazine which we should desire to see cancelled."