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_Sbptember l%184g. THE NQfi^HERj^i STAR,...
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THE TWO RACES. BT XBKEST JONES. Pa»t I. ...
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PAM II. The New. <Jo! Seek them on the c...
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THE ARISTOCRACY OF ENGLAND. A HISTORT FO...
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TAIT'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. Septhmbbb. ; ...
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THE UNION MAGAZINE. September. London: B...
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Severe Thunder Storm and Loss op Life.—On Sundav evening a severe thunder storm was cxpe-
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Mbtropolitax Mortamtt.—The tables of bir...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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_Sbptember L%184g. The Nqfi^Herj^I Star,...
_ _Sbptember _l % 184 g . THE _NQfi _^ HERj _^ i STAR , _u *
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The Two Races. Bt Xbkest Jones. Pa»T I. ...
THE TWO RACES . BT _XBKEST JONES . Pa » t I . The Old-Up 5 Gentlemen of England , Brace armour to the breast ! "Where are you , North and South t Where are you , East and West Tip ! Gentlemen of England , Ride np from tower and hall , Te peers of the Plantaganet , And conquerors of the Gaul . Te sons of Saxon chivalry , And hospitable state ; Those champions of old liberty ,
When kings bad grown too great . Who bearded bluff King Harry , And John on _Kunnymede ; "Who tamed the tyrant ' s tyranny , And soothed the people ' s need . Who welcomed honest poverty To shelter and to feast , And broke on his own infamy , The crozier of the priest . Now mount yonr high blood chargers And , furbish up your mail , And let your proudest summons Go gathering on the gale ! For nobler works awaiting , Than tournament and tilt : To give ite _rights to labour ,
And ptiauh _pune-prosd guilt . Arise ! if ye are nobles In nature aa in name : There ' s misery to banish 1 There ' s tyranny to tame ! _Tor the lords of trade are stirring With their treasures , far and nigh They are trampling on the lowly , They are spurning st the high . "With weights of gold and silver , They are crushing spirits fast , And the _piople rise like one man , To break the chains they cast "Sow , gentlemen of England ! Where are ye , one and ill * Te peers of the Plantageaet , And conquerors of fhe Gaul !
Pam Ii. The New. <Jo! Seek Them On The C...
PAM II . The New . < Jo ! Seek them on the carpet floor , "Wiiere jostling silk Is sheen , Or lolling with the courtezan , Behind the painted scene , Sot wooers of an English maid _. By deeds of honour dons ; Sat kneeling at the shameless feet Of lust , that wealth has won . Not hunting cVeery forests through , In chase of deer or fos ; Sut pacing Bond Street and Pall Mall Or sconced in Opera-box . Wot leading on their yeomen bold For hearth and home to fight * But languid exquisites by day , And ruffians in the night .
Not bidding in their tuners'halls _. The general welcome sweU ; But pale , and thin , and fevered waifs , That crowd the rattling hell , _Ifot righting innocence betrayed , "Like gallant knights and true ; Bet _lurers ofthe Tillage maid , That scorn what they undo . _ThSUj " Wrecked by premature excess , By rifled pleasures cloyed ; They seek on banks of foreign streams The strength they have destroyed . So champions of the nation ! Ko men Of "better kind 1 Bat a worn-out generation , In body and in mind . They ' ve buried all tbeir manhood In silk , and plume , and gem ; They look ibr strength from us
2 fot we for strength from them ! Though still some fever flashes Of former power are seen ; And still an old-pulse dashes , — But few and far between ! Like echoes that remind ns , While faintly fleeting o ' er , Of some old , gallant ditty , That man can sins no more . Bnt another strain is sounding , In music fresh and clear ; And the nation ' s hearts are bounding , That glor ious psalm to hear . It tells , a race has risen , Of more than knightly worth 5 Forth-breaking from its prison , In the dungeons of the earth . And _uothy lance or sabre ,
These nobles hold their lands , — But by tne right of labour , And the work of honest _hands _. And not for crown or crozier , They _till the sacred sod ; But the liege-lord of their holding , Is the lord of nature : —God .
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The Aristocracy Of England. A Histort Fo...
THE ARISTOCRACY OF _ENGLAND . A HISTORT FOR THE PEOPLE .. By John Hampden , Junior . London : Chapman . Brothers , 121 , _Newgate Street ; Effingham Wilsra , Royal Ex change . [ No . IL ] Frem tbe time of the accession of Henry " STI . to tlw fl _ight of the second James , with the exception of one reign , that of Edward VI ., the aristocracy play "but a secondary part in the grand drama of English historv . Throughout tbe reign 3 of the two last _Eenrv ' 3 the aristocracy exhibited the mast _pusillanimaus cowardice and disgusting sycophancy to the
_irown , accompanied by a most determined spirrfc of plunder , directed against both church and . people . Thev pjaved the same part throughout tbe reigns of _Elizabeth " , James the First , and Charles the First . In the time of the Commonwealth , they crouched _likejpanie-Strifcen slaves before the people ; they assisted _Gharles the Second in his bloody retaliations against the patriots , aiding him in all his infamous _designs npon the liberties of the kingdom ; and if tbey resisted his snccessor , it waa because they feared thev would be compelled to disgorge some of tbeir ili-gotten wealth , had that foci , who " lost three kingdoms for a mass , " succeeded in Ms attempts to re-establish the corrupt and justly hated despotism ofthe Romish Church .
From the time of Henry the Seventh to that of James the Second , for a _moment only , the _aristo-Crac ** attempted a revival ot their former undisguised aud hi » h-hauded domination over both King and People , " this was during '{ the short reign of the boy monarch , Edward the Sixth . \ 3 _ha- * been before observed , the " Wars of the Poses , "followed bv the " loppings" in the reigns of the seventh and eighth . Henrys , had almost totally ext * in _« -uished the old aristocracy—the mail-clad lions -who nroduced a " king-making " Warwick , with his army of thiriu thousand men ! The day of these was gone , never io return . _JA new class of robbers-yile , jt * noble miscreants , with no glory of chivalry to _tfWise their tvranny , — pimps , parasites , and church plunderers , were now in the ascendant , vaunting themselves inthe stolen titles of the ironhanded barons of the middle ages . The following -extract is part of a finished picture of this
_scumocraev : — IHE AMSIOCIUCT IS THE _KEICJ * OF _EDWAKD VI . Spite ofthe lopping and levelling of the last reigns , a swarm of adventurers and gamblers for rank and _influence stood as thickly and as busily as ever round the throne . "What was worse , they were new men , —hungry , and without law or conscience . The old oaks were felled , and here wasa prodig ious growth of fungus shot up from their stumps and _stoob . The nation had got lid of its lions , and bad got wolves and leeches in their places . The estates wrested by the crown both from the fallen nobles and the church , ana suffered by the bloated hands of Henry Till , to be snatched away from it , were now pounced upon by a crowd of hitherto unknown men . All these , the _moment they became possessed of a good _shpre of this hootv , were seised with an equally ravenous
desire for titles and power . We find a complete catalogue of strange names , and even where we find the old titles , there are no longer the old men in thtro , but dull and creeping things ; aBses in lions' skins- , toads and salamanders , which had crept into the deserted shells of torioiM _* s , and 3 w _* l ! edwitIlTal " tytol 5 U out ' "P 03 Sible > the space too wide for their reptile littleness . Amongst the men surronnding the death-bed of Ilenry , or forming the lirst council of "Edward , were Drowns , Peun ys , Bromlevs , _WiugHelds , 1 ' _etres , Southwells , Parrs , l _' eckhams , ? a-et 3 . n _' mnew . Bakers , Saddlers , and such like , all
_un-Jcao-vn to the old history . md glory of the country . There wiis _Wiothesley , who had grown up by _^ ile sycophancy _-under Henry ; and by laying what the historian calls his Ijcslia * bauds on any vile job which tlie tyrant wanted _( Joiu " , had gorged himself with church and other spoil , and _"l own to L ird Chancellor . There was John Russell . * L aoneared nnder Henry for the first time in any _proc-inent history ; tad crept a nd wound himself by a most 1- w » « _nuacitv . and now stood Barou _Uussell _. Lord _SvvSe-iI _ThS is the orig in of the greatness of tl , _rnvj _o _=. Russell managed to lav j £ _& _££ ii *» » f cm i ' roper _* and to _t _nTade Earl oi Bedford ; as many of these _m _wereiwd *
The Aristocracy Of England. A Histort Fo...
during Edward ' s . minority ,, in fact , by . _themiclvis into nobles and great ministers . But above all , tho two families destined to play the grand-nobles' in this' reignthe Dudleys and Seymours were the most complete up starts , and played « ' the _moslfantasHc tricks before high heaven ; " _notning less ih . n the crown ' being _abbr to aa ? tisfy their ambition . The whole of the proceedings of this reign constitute a most admirable tragic-comedy _, showing what aristocracy is and always will be when it can have full swing . The above-named locusts , with many others , having the king in their own hands , proceeded to grant to themselves ( in the king ' s name ) titles , estates , revenues , & c . The head of this gang , Seymour , assumed the title of " Duke of Somerset by the grace of God , " and again , " The Most High , Noble and Victorious Prince Edward . Duke of
Somerset , Guardian of the person ef the King's Majesty , and Protector of all his realms , & c , & c , < fec . " This Duke had a brother as ambitious as himself , who aimed at marrying the princess-Elizabeth ( _aiterwards Queen ) , his career , however , was cut short by his head being cut off , principally at the instigation of his brother , who signed his death warrant . Somerset , himself , was next overthrown by his enemies , and beheaded on Tower Dill , on the same spot where he had caused his brother to be executed . Somerset ' s great enemy , the Duke of Northumberland , whose father had been beheaded as a "knave and extortioner , " next r"led the roast . The attempt of this towering son of an executed felon to place his own family on the English throne resulted in the tragedy in which Lady Jane , Grey was the _consoicuous and deservedly pitied victim .
One ofthe most instructive chapters in this work is the exposure of the real character of that royal tigress Elizabeth . The author has done immense sert * ioe to . tha cause of truth by unveiling the real character of this abominable she-tyrant—woman we will not call her , for she had no one womanly virtue . This " Good Queen Bess" was " a woman of undoubted ability , though overrun with the most _ludicrons vanity , and the most childish weaknesses—a woman of a most masculine will and despotic
disposition—daring , selfish , cunning , and artful as a serpent , but with the serpent ' s venom and the tiger's cruelty—a - " true "; Henry the Eighth in petticoats . " The disclosure of the foul conspiracy against the reputation , peace , person , liberty , and life of the unhappy Mary , Queen of Scots , which Elisabeth from first to last directed , never pausing until she had gorged herself with the blood of her victim , is most revolting . From this portion of the work we shall make an extract illustrating the character and doings of
THE _rNFAJtODS SCOTTISH . ABISTOCBAcr . Most ofthe _Scottish Protestant nobles were in the pay of Elizabeth . These lords , commonly known as the Lords of the Congregation , were eager to receive English pay , great names as they bore , such as the Earls of Argyle . Montrose , Glencaim _, and Arran _, called also Puke of Ciiatelberault , lord Lorn , the Prior of St . Andrew ' s , Mary ' s illegitimate brother , Ac . We find Saddler paying them £ 2000 at once , telling them , that if they made a good use of it , and kept it a secret , and the Queen * * _houour _laitoucbeJ , the ? should soan h _* ve more . Knox , the reformer , was amongst the most active of them , and amongst the _moit clamorous for some mom y , and Saddler soon advised tho sending of £ G 000 or £ 8000 more , which was done .
Elizabeth ' s real des'gn was to undermine Mary ; and when she resorted not only to instigations of _Insurrir . tion , but of murder , the object became too apparent to be mistaken . In all those dreadful transactions—tht murder of _Rizz-o , the murder of Barnley , and other _murders , the money and the instigations ot Elizabeth 3 re nowbrought to the dayliaht . _Savnge and unrefined the Scottish nobility had always been , bat now tbey were _promoting * Protestantism , not for any care they had _abnut religion , but to seize on the
estates of the church . They hallooed on the preachers as their tools , to denounce the Catholics , and pull do - n the churches , and then bilked them of their pr _.-y , seizing it all to themselves , and setting all the thunders ot * Knox , Which had " sent _totvvr and tem ple to the _grouud , " at defiance . These nobles anvcted _jurprUe _, and expressed a sincere displeasure when the Prebsyterian ministers put in a claim for a share of the monastic and other church property ; and asked them whether " th-: nobles of Scotland were to turn hod bearers in " the buildia . " - of _ihekiri .. "
Into the midst of such a set of wolves and hyenas , whetted to still more ravenousni > ss by the _liop-i of Eliza _, bath ' s traitor-gold , _di-1 the Quetn of _England s _? e , wiih a secret certainty nf her ( _Kstruttion , her youthful _vo-ss _' n pass , whom she hated alike for her _lu-auty _, aad for the moral certainty that shr or her _ilesa-ndaiirs wou'd pos . _sess that power wliich sbe now _iie-d , and would fain hold firm . The dreadful scenes which followed , were the natural and inevitable results of Elizabeth ' s preparations . How far ilary in her youth and weakness became implicated in the crimes laid to her charge , we will not pretend to say ; but two things are certain , that she both denied them , and demanded , on all occasions , the fullest examination , face to face with her enemies , and that all
these enemies were in the pay of Elizabeth . The murderers Of _Rizzio and Darnley were the paid agents of Elizabeth as those of Cardinal Beatoun , the able head of the Catholic party in Scotland , had heen of her father . " The revelation of these atrocious secrets , which had been concealed for centuries amid the dust and cobwebs of the State Paper Office , " says Knight ' s History , "is enough to make the villains turn in their graves . " The direct bargaining for ths murder of Cardinal Beatoun , by H-nry , through his agents , the E-atl of Hertford , Thomas Forster , and the notorious Sir Ralph Saddler , who spent a long life in the commission of the blackest crimes , ia indeed one of the most atrocious things in history .
_Htnry , fancying that all opposition to his schemes upon that country would cease in Scotland if Cardinal Beatoun was pat out of the way , he entertained the project of assassinating the cardinal . The Earls of Angus and Casillis _, with Sir George Douglas , agreed to do this murder if the king would pay for it . There was thereon much negotiating and bargaining carried on between these parties and the king , through Thomas Forster and Sir Ralph Saddler . Sir Balpb , in obedience to Henry's orders , recommended the assassination as of himself , and told them that the projact had not been communicated to
King Henry . The noble Scots were too cunning for that ; ihey would have the king ' s commission , and security for the reward , saying , " If the king would have the cardinal dead , and would promise a good reward , " it could soon be done . Henry , like his daughter afterwards , desired the deed to be done , but hi 9 Aononr to be saved , and eventually the cardinal was taken off by Jess scrupulous and less conspicuous assassins , Norman Leslie and bis coadjutors , also Henry ' s pensioners , who immediately informed the king ofthe accomplishment of the deed , and received from him assistance and support .
Such were the deeds and practices of Elizabeth ' s father , and snch were her own , and carried on by the same agents . Tbe men calling themselves noble on both sides ofthe border , were never found averse to undertaking base and treacherous commissions like these _. The long account of the horrible persecution of the Catholics , and the infernal cruelties practised up ™ thousands of innocent persons we must pass over , merely extracting the following notice ofthe
DEATH OF ELIZABETH . The picture of the past 'days of this truly termagant qncen is one of the most dreary , melancholy , hut most useful in history . The hard heart and the cunning head were both alike subdued by'disease " and terrors . She dreaded death , and with what comfort could she look on life ? She , who with the whole heart ofa great peoplo with her might have pursued a _hfah and generous career , had pursued a dark , a burrowing , and a bloody one . She who might have won the everlasting renown of a great queen , had become « nly a great tyrant .
Murders many and dark lay on her soul ; but above all , that which she had so desired , so Monflily for seventeen long years travailed to compass , and yet would so fain have put from her , that of her cousin , the Queen of Sco _* S . She had torn asunder loving hearts , and had not attached one fathful one to her own . She had been most sickeningly fumed with adulation , and now knew tbat all , even Cecil , the son of the great Burleigh , were watching to flee away to her successor—successor ! of all words the most hateful to her soul . "For tlie last t" 0 days , " writes Beaumont , the French ambassador , " she has heen sitting on cushions on the floor , neither rising nor lying down ; her finger almost always in her month ; hereyesfisedon tbe ground . "
Elizabeth has been mueh lauded for the celebrated Poor Law ofher reign , but it was no sense of justice or humanity on her part tbat prompted its enactment . The preservation of the country from the lawless rule of tho tens of thousands of " sturdy berrirars , " whom force could not sub : lue , nor the gallows thin , was the cause of the adoption of tbat law . Tn Elizabeth ' s reign beggars might be sold into shivery , branded with hot Irons , and for a third offence raigK be put to death . In the reign of Elizabeth ' s father seventy-two thousand beggars , thieves , and vagabonds , were consigned to the gallows ; and during tho _reitin of Elizabeth tlie average _hangiuirs of these criminals—to say nothing of political and religious victims—was between three and four hundred yearly ! Blessed be " the wisdom of our ancestors , " it must have been " Merrie England " then with a vengeancei Here is aH attractive portrait ot
JAMES 1 . James , the first Stuart , was a ridiculous pedant , and a royal ass . Ho came into _the'kingdom such an object as had not for ages sat on our throne , and followed by a troop of hungry Scots , ready to tear him and the kingdom to pieces for wealth and honours . With thc most inflated pretensions to absolutism and the divine _rieut _:. » . ! supernatural glory of kings ; he was ill his _o-vupu-son as ludicrous and _disgusting an obiect as his mother had been beautiful . He is described in no very attractive fashion by his countryman , Sir _Salter Scott , in " The Fortunes of Nigel ; " but his con _ternpararies represent themselves as overwhelmed with _astoiiislim-nt and disgust when they first saw him ; " at ike verv unroyal person and behav iour of the new sovereign , wi _: o 3 e legs were too weak to carry his body ; whose tongue was too large for his mouth ; whose eyes were goggle , rolling , and yet vacant ; whose whole _appearaaw and bearing was slovenly and ungainly , wllilr his uumuulv fears were bttraved by his wearing a _thick
The Aristocracy Of England. A Histort Fo...
wadded doublet , and by many other ridiculous precautions . '' James conld not move from Holyrood nntil ' money wai sent to him from England to put himself and family into decent clothes , and to pay the _expemea _bfhisjourney . Of course there was now an influx _j . f vagabond Scotch courtiers , who speedily became part and parcel of our precious English aristocracy . We must give one specimen of the wise sayings of this pompous James : —
THE RIOM niVMH . As we have remarked , James entered England with tbe most absurd _vauntings of > oyal vanity . He told parliament that they must not begin talking about taxation and grievances , but vote him money for his Immediate _neeesaities : and when they appeared in no hurry to do this , he called both houses together , and made his famous speech to them on the _god-liks attributes of kings . "Kings , " said he , " are justly cilled gods : for they exercise a manuer or resemblance of divine power upon earth . For if you will consider the attributes of God , you shall see how they agree in the person of a king . God hath power to create or destroy ; to make
or unmake at his pleasure ; to give life or send death ; to judge all , and to be judged accountable to none ; to raise low things , and to make high things low at his pleasure ; and to God both body and soul are due _. And the like power have kings . They make and unmake their subjects ; they have power of raising and casting down ; of life and of death ; judges over all their subjects , and in all causeB , and yet accountable to none but jGod only . They have power to exalt low things , and abase high things , and to make of their subjects , like men of chess , —a pawn to tuke a bishop , or a knight ; and to cry up or down any of their subjects , as they do their money " ic . & c .
This is the most precious definition 01 royal power which ever was delivered to tho world by kingly lipi . It is what many a tyrant has thought In hia heart , ¦ but which few have dared to give utterance to , and none with so much simplicity of a silly man ' s faith as this second Solomon .- Well might the learned Buchanan , who had educated him , when he was upbraided trith turning him out such an ass , ' reply , " If you had but 96611 what a fool he was , you would wonder that I made of him an ) thing at all . " It is to James we ewe the creation of that ai der of our aristocrats called "baronets . " This title was
openly sold to any one who would give a thousand pounds for it . A very honourable origin for that branch of our aristocracy ! The most disgusting rapacity and corruption distinguished the aristocracy of this reign , as . a specimen ; it may be sufficient to notice the corruption and villainy of the celebrated philosopher , Lord Chancellor Bacon , who for hia malpractices waa impeached by the House of Commons , dismissed , declared incapable of again holding ofiice , or of sitting in Parliament , and banished beyond the verge of the court , that is , to twelve miles distance .
In the struggle between Charles I . and the Parliament , the aristocracy supported _ibefflojj as long as they jurat , and when he was at length overthrown , these _** _hish-blooded"Jnohles fled in all direction *' . The House of Commons then voted the House of Lords " a nullity , " " dangerous and useless . " Surely England will some day see a repetition of that vote but before that can be . we must hare a real reform ofthe House of Commons . Passing over the time of the Commonwealth , in which the country attained to a height of prosperity
and glory , never previously enjoyed , we come to the period of Cromwell ' s death , when thearistoeracy _. once more emerging from their hiding holes , with the traitor Monk at their head , effected their release from their obligations to the state , by bargaining to that effect with Charles II . This bargain was nothing less than to exempt themselves from their feudal obligations , their military tenure , the p-oeeeds of which constituted , in fact , a land tax ; and to throw this burden , not merely from themselves , but upon the shoulders of the unsuspicious people in the shape of the Excise .
This transaction between the _rao't debauched and unprincipled prince and the selfish aristocracy that restored him , should never be forgotten when the Restoration is spoken of . It should then and for ever be remembered at what cost to ths nation it was made . How tbe proper resources ofthe crown from the landholders were filched away by those landholders , as the price of the monarch ' s return , put for ever into their own pookot 9 , and the pockets of _tt . e people fathomed by the exciseman ' s stick to make up the deficiency ; so that the pt'ople are ac . tually heari- g all those burdens for the aristocracy , which were the price of nil ih > _-ir land !
But thrir Si : lfi _? h _proceedings did not end here . Having removed all t . iv . tion from themselves , thu amountof wbich was actuall y half the revenue of the whole country , and laid it on the people , they managed to get from "William III , a stranger and a foreigner , almost all his crown lands , either in gifts or on long lenses , thus making the crown dependent ou themselves . When it was found tbat the crown , deprived of the land revenues and of its own estates , could not carry on thepublic business , a land tax was obliged to be imposed . But this thoy took care was hut a light one , and in fact for the main part , falling
On personal property . As their land grew rapidly in v _» lue , through those exemptions and tbe industry ofthe people , this tax would have , notwithstanding , grown to something considerable ; and therefore , what did the aristocracy ! They passed an act in 1797 , declaring that the land tax should only he levied on the original assessment of "William III . ! Thus , while their land has been rising to tenfold the value of tbat period , and the taxation on the people has risen from £ 400 , 000 a year , to Fifty Millions a-year , the land tax has stood stationary from 1797 , at £ 2 , 037 , 627
The consequences of the ** Restoration" were speedily seen in the royal , aristocratical , and priestly vengeance directed against the patriots . The survivors amongst the " regicides" were tortured and put to death , and the country narrowly escaped the eternal infamy of hanging its immortal poet , Milton , for having written his " Defence of the English People . " Tbe dead bodies of Cromwell , _ Ireton , Bradshaw , and others , were torn from their tombs _, dragged on hurdles to Tyburn , hanged , beheaded , and burned under the gallows , the heads being set on the top ef Westminster Hall . The body of Blake , the renowned and honest-hearted Admiral , the first of naval
heroes , was subjected to a similar _mdis-nity ; so were the bodies of Cromwell ' s mother and daughter . Sucb is the disgusting and infernal vengeance whicli restored tyrants delight in ; a lesson to be remembered by all generations of the sons of men . This _reicn is rendered infamous in the annals of Scotland , by the persecution carried on against the Covenanters , when racks , thumb-screws , iron-boots , gibbets , musketry and cannon , were employed to torture and exterminate thousands of tbe people ; in this work , tlie aristocracy produced some noble butchers , as -witness "thc bloody Claverhouse . "
Charles contrived to add considerably to the stock ofour
" pure blooded abistocract " . His court swarmed with mistresses , bastards , pimps , procurers , and parasites of every description . He compelled his wife , Catherine ef Braganza , to associate with his professed mistresses . He had one Chifiinch , tho great procurer , and master ofhis harem ; and while his subjects were groaning and bleeding under tbe bands ofhis aristocrats , he was always to be found in the midst of his women , aud a set of profligate courtiers of similar tastes to his own . The number of his mistresses was prodigious ; bat the chief were Mr 9 . Palmer , formerly a Miss Villiars , with whom ho lived in double adultery towards
his own wife , and towards her husband , whom he made "Viscount _Castlemaine , and her finally Duchess of Cleveland ; a Mademoiselle Kerouaille , a French woman , whom he made Duchess of Portsmouth ; Nell _Gwjnn _, an actress ; Mary Davis , and Lucy Walters . The picture of tlie manners of the court left by the diary writers of the time , are inconceivable in their utter abandonment of morality and sense of decorum . It was one scene , not only of adulterous , but of incestuous crimes , in the highest quarters . The people were so enraged that , having pulled down several brothels in the city , they stuck up pl _& cards , aa ; ing they would next go and pull down the greatoneat Whitehall .
Pepys , in one entry of his diary , say , "The two royal brothers , thc king andjDuke ofTork , areboth making love to the same court woman—the infamous Mrs . Palmer . The duke hath gat my Lord Chancellor ' s daughter with child ; high gambling is common at court , and the people ate beginning to open their eyes in astonishment . " In another place he says , " At court things are in a very ill condition , there being bo much emulation , poverty , and the vices of drinking , swearing , and lore amours , that I know not what will be the end of it but confusion . The clergy so high tbat all people that I meet with do protest against their practice . "
The _keat mistresses of the king , as he was not true to his wife , nor to any of tbem , wero also , in general , equally free in their practices . Their houses swarmed with children , and all these the king was made the reputed father of , and they must be provided for , and married into noble families , and have estates conferred on them . For all this folly , vice , and debauchery , all the money which parliament could grant , or his emis . saries and venal judges could wring from the people , was just like so much cash flung into the bottomless pit . Of this bastard brood there are many traces yet in _different familiis of the aristocracy ; but the country was especially saddled with three of them as Dukes of St . Albans , Grafton , anil Richmond , whose _descanilants under these names stand aloft in the peerage to
this day . De Foe had anticipated John Hampden , junior : — The Royal Refugee our breed restores "With foreign courtiers , and with foreign w——s ; And carefully rc-peopled us again , Thr oughout his lazy , long , lascivious reign , "With such a blest and True Bom English fry . As much illustrates our nobility . French cooks , Scotch pedlars , and Italian w s Were all made lords , or lords ' progenitors . Beggars and bastards , by his new creation ; MtK'h multiplied the peerage of this nation J "Who will he all , e ' er one short - > _go runs o er , As true born lords as those we had before .
Thc crowning infamy of the royal rascal was his becoming the pensioner and paid-tool of Louis XIY . He received the price ofhis treason for many years .
The Aristocracy Of England. A Histort Fo...
thI"dS ™ th * ?* _¦™»» trw « M , ministers , his brother _cSdinAh _? v _? o d a nurabe p of the _«<** _% . _ff _*^ _A _5 _t _'*! _^ _^ - _' _»««^ _fit » _monev" 1 _n a 8 Sad ( ! ' - """ ted a ' great deal of "money -were all pensioners of the French king . Death of CnABiflB II . Th _^ , ?„ _» t rr d 0 ff 8 _uddflI , iy ln «> e midst ofhis vice . _meL , _wiiw _^ _UffwBd the _kingdom tobe torn to _SuncfatTons f _^ ' , i 0 I i sP ? P » h Plots and Titus Oates'de . \ TTTT _"f" _* e _. P _* . and would never lift a finger to . Ave the _Ciitholics . from tbeir _enemie , , though he laughed in private at the sham pIots ,-in his last moments , with the bishops and clergy crowding round his bed , walks them all out , and—takes the last unction from a popish priest !
" 1 can never forget , " says Evelyn , "thoinexpressible luxury and profaneness , gaming , and all _dissolutenBg _* , and , as it were , total forgetfulness ef God , U being Sun ! day evening , which this day _se ' night I was witness of ; tho king sitting and toying witb his concubines , Portsmouth , Cleveland , Marazin , ' ic . —a French boy singing love songs in that glorious gallery ; whilst about twenty of the great courtiers and other dissolute persons were at basset round a large table , a bank of at least £ 20 » 0 in gold before them , upon which two gentlemen who were with me made reflections . Six days after was all in the dust . "
The . last of the Stuarts , James II , now ascended the throne . His reign was short , but infamous and bloody in the extreme . Linked with the name of Judge Jefferies , eternal ignominy is attached to both . The number of victims judicially murdered after the failure of Monmouth ' s insurrection is unknown , bat the amount was certainly enormous . The dripping heads were fixed on the churches , the town halls , along the streets , and the highways , in such numbers that the roads could not be travelled for the horror and the stench . Shirty , author of « ' Tho Bloody Assize , " writes , " Nothing could be liker hell than these pests—cauldrons hissing , carcasses boiling , _E itch and tar sparkling and glowing , bloody limbs oilins , and tearing and mangling . " But the day ot retribution was at hand , James hated by the people , luckily also excited the hatred of the church and aristocracy too : —
Redetermined with a high and rapid hand to restore popery : He rilled the army and all offices with Papists . He sent Palmer , the Earl of Castlemaine , thus created for his wife ' s prostitution to the late king , as ambassador to Rome ; he received the pope ' s ambassador openly in London . , - Popish bishops and priests were already in swarms thrust into the most lucrative livings in tbe church ; the parliaments of both Scotland and England were hastily dismissed because they would not submit to this state of things and James was come to the point of ruling without a parliament , But he mi g ht have known that neither the church nor the aristocracy , miich less fhepeople , would tolerate thia . The people dreaded the Papists for their past terror , and the king ' s bloody campaign under Jeffries gave them an awful warning of what -would be their fate under a _tho--oug _* i / y papistical power . Lords and priests and bishops were not likely to give up quietly their good things and offices to the greedy-swarm of Papists .
: He commanded the clergy to publish in the churches _hl 9 " Declaration of Indulgence , " which would have let in at once all the broods and harpies of popery , They refused . He imprisoned some of the bishops for their obstinacy , and the judges acquitted them . The match was set to the train of excitement which was laid all over the kingdom , ~ through every town , and into every Protestant house , and—TnE Revolution wab coke .
Tait's Edinburgh Magazine. Septhmbbb. ; ...
TAIT'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE . _Septhmbbb . ; Edinburgh : W . Tait , Prince ' s Street . London : Simpkin and Marshall . "The Whigs , like the Bourbons _^ have returned from their exile , having learned nothing and forgotten nothing . The same faults which shattered the Grey Ministry , and sapped the Melbourne , are strong in them as ever . " Such are the opening sentences of an article on the "Politics ofthe Month . " There 13 another party , the " Philosophical Radicals , " who ; judging of them by this , their monthly oracle , appear to have "learned _nothing and forgotten nothing . " Thus , Tait says , "ThePoor Law Commission has been pvoved to be _insfficient in its personnel , but no one thinks of rescinding the New Poor Law ; new Commissioners will be appointed , who can availthemselves ofthe talent and experience ofthe Secretary and Assistant Commissioner .--, and a
better organization will be given to it . A nice mnn this to write comment-fries ou the " _Folities of the Month , " who can gravely assert that " no one thinks of rescinding the Neiv Poor Law . " Why the man must be " clean daft . " The great mass , and immense majority , of the English people , demand the rescinding ofthe New Poor Law ; and Tait will find that not the least ofthe formidable obstacles the Whigs will have to contend with atthe opening of the next session , will be this same "demand , " expressed through the voice of a national agitation . We turn from Tait ' s politics—tha philosophy of selfishness—to the more congenial _^ matter of this number . George Gifillan ( no favorite of ours for his calumnies on Byron ) bas an article on the Sheffield Poet , James Montgomery , in the course of which he pays some very pretty compliments to Mary Howitt . By the bye , Mr . Gilfillan does not notice that " spicy" production of Montgomery ' s in his
Hot vouth , when George the Third was king , —the " Church and Warming Pan . " We intend to reprint this literary curiosity in the Star , as soon as we can find room . That De _Quincey's ( opium-inspired ) article on tlie " System of the Heavens as revealed by _liird Rosse ' s Telescope , " ia apiece of very " powerful" writing , we of course are bound to admit on the faith of tbe author ' s name ; but if any one will tell us what it all mcass , we shall feel obliged to our enlightener . The " postscript" to the article , like that to a lady's letter , we can partly comprehend , * at least , we have an idea what the writer is driving at ,
and we feel strongly _lnolined to have a set-to wjth him . Such an encounter would , however , commit us to a discussion not suitable to our columns ; we , therefore , beg to hand the "Opium-eater" over to our friends of the Reasoner ; he is a fit subject for their dissection . The " Feast ofthe Poets" contains some choice morsels of poetry . There are several interesting "Reviews , " including one ofthe " Revelations of Austria , " a work we shall have to review in two or three week ' s hence . __ " Rings and Posies " will be a favourite article with the readers of Tait this month two should like to extract from ita rich store of beauties , but cannot find room .
The Union Magazine. September. London: B...
THE UNION MAGAZINE . September . London : Barker and White , 33 , Fleet Street . There are two or three good articles in this number , but there are others beneath criticism . Amongst the good articles we have been gratified by reading the brief and pleasing _"RuminafcioBs by the Roadside . " Wc quote from some pretty verses TO CERTAIN PL 0 WER 3 _, PLUCKED IU TBE _OAUDEN OF WJIMAX Ann JIABY
HOWITT . Fairest and _sweetrst ofthe floral race , Ye shall remind me in the time to come Of the * ' eiv pleasant hours that lied apace , ¦ While I sojourned within your happy home . Ye shall remind me of thebenming looks Ofher 1 long had wished to gaze upon , Associate in my mini with birds and brooks , And flowers , and all things fair beneath the sun Ye shall remind me of the open smile , And _Vd'Allly voice of him to whom I oft Had listened in imagination , while He pictured wood aud vale , and grove and croft , And all the varied scenes of rural life ; And how the seasons change and pass away , Each with its own peculiar beauty rifo ;
And storins told of many a by . gonc day : Of the kind welcome of this gifted pair , He the trueman , the perfect woman she , And 61 that gentle , winsome daughter fair . _Swtet flowers , as memories I shall cherish ye ! H . G . A .
Severe Thunder Storm And Loss Op Life.—On Sundav Evening A Severe Thunder Storm Was Cxpe-
Severe Thunder Storm and Loss op Life . —On Sundav evening a severe thunder storm was cxpe-
Nenced At Liverpool, Manchester, And Oth...
nenced at Liverpool , Manchester , and other districts of Yorkshire , and Lancashire . At Bradford the storm burst with great violence , and it is currently stated that one or move lives have been destroyed by the lightning . In Manchester , at Rochdale , and at some neighbouring towns , even so far south as Macclesfield , the lightning flashed at intervals of halt' a minute , from seven o ' clock a . m . till ten o ' clock a . m . On Monday the atmosphere continued sultry , and a tremendous storm of thunder and lishtning ; accompanied with hail and rain , visited Bradford . At i- ' _iidsey _, four miles from Bradford , Mrs . Dyson , the wife of Mr . John Dyson , whilst attending a nephew and niece , orphans , both sickly children , almost in the last stage of consumption , was herself struck dead by tlie lightning , and several panes of glass were broken by the electric fluid .
_Adsencb of Mi . vd . — A butcher ol Garstang , on returnin _* last Tuesday from Hornby fair , seem to have cot so be-muscd on his journey as to mistake Jus poney for a fine Scots' heifer , and be accordingly led it to the slaughter house , knocked it down in a busi- ' i > e ? 9-likc manner , stuck it in due form , and began _skinninn-itj nor would he then have discovered his mistake ' had not some neighbours , in passing , perceived what he was about , and caused him , by force as well us entreaty , to desist from his wild adventures . — Preston Chronicle . Exkcutios in France . — Jeannie Peyvieux , who _wi's recently condemned to death for the murder of her husband , underwent her sentence on Wednesday last nt Perigueux , in presence of an immense concowse of spectators . She refused to be carried to the scaffold in a cart , and walked there with a firm stop . Before ascending thc steps she knelt down aid received the benediction of the chaplain , andiu a moment waa no more .
Mmm ?M$In_ Mt
mmm _? m $ in _ mt
Mbtropolitax Mortamtt.—The Tables Of Bir...
Mbtropolitax _Mortamtt . —The tables of births and deaths registered in tlie metropolis , for the weekending _Saturday fast , gives the deaths during the week at 839 .. In ' ' 1843 the number was 909 , so that notwithstanding the increase in population during the last three _yeara , there are fewer deaths by 20 last week , than there was in the corresponding week of 1843 . The greatest number of deaths , * namely 128 , is from diarhwa . The next greatest number , 124 , is from consumption . Thirteen persons are returned as having died from cholera . _Tnk Exiles of Lambeth . —Lambeth has become a sort of Siberia since the stopping up of Westminster _Bridge , for there is now literally no
communication between the inhabitants of the Northern shore , and the transpontine people . All means of social intercourse are completely cut off , and Astley ' s Amphitheatre might as well be on Salisbury Plain , as far as there is any possibility of getting to it from any part of Westminster . Lambeth is in a state of utter desolation , and the principal street rerahv ' _s one of a _stradu in Pompeii . A civil war might break out and . be all over before any one on this side ef tbe Thames could know anything about it . The people are becoming quite isolated from the rest of their fellow-subjects , and the interests of
civilization are severely suffering . Already Lambeth is a week behind U 3 in the polite arts , and every day that the blockade continues will send them backward 24 hours towards the harbariam which it has taken centuries to get out of . We should not at all be surprised at Hearing through some circuitous channel that a provisional government bas been established in the New-cut , and that the whole of the Marsh has thrown off its allegiance . During the stoppage of "Westminster "B ridge , the L & mbethites are aliens in _geagta \ _uYy if not in Wood , and we can scarcely expect submission where protection is not afforded . — Punch .
Thb Prussia ** _Constitutios * . —Lost on St _' olkk _, THB Prussian Constitution . It was done up in a Small parcel , and was dropped about ihe 3 rd of last month . It was last seen at the Sans Sonci , Potsdam , where it had been lying on the shelf for years . It is marked '" Anno Domini , 1816 , " and has a Royal seal to it , with the motto of " Sie Sollen eB nicht haben . " As the eontents are of no value to any but the owner , a small reward will be siren for its restoration to ' Frederick , Royal Palace , or Greek Theatre , Berlin . " For fear of accidents , it had better be labelled " Fragile . " —i \ _-ncA .
_Slkepi Veterans . —A curious notice is posted on the chapel door of Greenwich Hospital , stating that complaint has _bicen made that many of the pensioners are in the habit of sleeping during divine service . The boatswains are , therefore , directed to wake them , unless they are very old and infirm , and especially during the reading of the creed , and to report all such offenders to the captain of the week . An _Usbfui M . P . —L _» 9 t Thursday _morning ., the passengers on board the William Jolliffe steam-boat , on her passage from London for Yarmouth , were informed by the captain and stewardess that they might shortly expect an addition to their number , one of the female passengers having been . taken with the pains of labour . The unexpected addition at length took place , a well-known medica 2 Member of Parliament acting as doctor and midwife on the occasion . Both are " doing as well as can be expected , "
Omnibus Statistics . —The total number of omnibuses now traversing the streets of London is 1 , 490 , giving « mploymenk to *» ery nearly . 4 , 00 *) hands . . The earnings of theae vehicles vary very much , on some roads being as highas £ 4 per day , and on others as low as £ 2 ; but taking the lowest average , we shall then find that there is spent in omnibus rides in and around the metropolis , the large sum of £ 2980 per dny . Persons can now be conveyed as great a distance for sixpence as would formerly cost five times the amount : besides , the whole isso _reaulated
that tbere is a comfortable means of conveyance ready at all hours , from eight o ' clock in the morning till twelve o ' clock at night , to all parts ol the metropolis _, and for miles Vyond it in all direction . . A Wise Man at Fault . —On Tuesday evening Ralph Lowe , of Chesterfield , a professor of the art of fortune telling , had his pocket lighted of _eighteen sovereigns by two of tbe frail fair of Chesterfield . They were _talien to pri-on but no traces of the gold could be found . It is rather awkward when nn adept in describins ; where the lost property of others has taken flight to , is not able to obtain a clue to his
own . .. Tub Gweunmkst Offices at Westminster . —It h . is now been determined that the fronts ofthe Treasury and Home Office shall be altered to accord with the great improvements made at the adjoining Government offices towards Downing street . Men are engaged in erecting the necessary scaffolding for tlie above purpose . Another Waterloo Exile . —A confidential friend of the Duke of Wellington has written to us to state that the Hero of a Hundred Fights has determined upon leaving England . He says this resolution has cost the Duke a deal of pain , but he has been driven to it by the statues whieh are being erected to him in all parts of London . He says he cannot endure being made ridiculous any longer . He attributes these frequent attempts to reduce him in the estimation ofhis countrymen to the _vindictiveness of the French . —Punch .
Expulsion ot ? Gas from Mines . —A method of expelling carbonic acid gasftom pits , mines , and reservoirs , has lately been projected in France by _Mons , Faucille . It consists in discharging among the gas a volume of steam , whereby the gaa is in part expelled and in part absorbed , by the water brought into minute subdivision while the steam is being condensed . A destructive fire broke out at Leipsic , on the evening ofthe 29 th ult , by which several houses wero destroyed ; in addition five persons were killed and five wounded . The fire was still burning on the 30 th , when the account left . An express train has been established between London and Newcastle . The distance each way is run in nine hours and a half . In connection with it a train now runs on the Newcastle and Carlisle line , which makes the time of transmit between London and Carlisle , just thirteen hours . —Carlisle Patriot .
A farmer , near Northallerton , lately pulled a single stem of oats , of the Tartary kind , on whicli there were 240 good seeds . "Love is Blind . "—A legacy was lately left to a young lady , one of two or three sisters , resident on the banks ofthe T- , in this country ; and , when her good fortune became known , a sly swain "fell in love" with ber money . He accordingly wont a wooing . For a wonder the "course of true love ran remarkably smooth . " His suit prospered , his hand was accepted , and in due time he was a " happy man . " But , alas ! he dad " married in haste , to rue at leisure ; " he was tbe husband of the portionless bride — he espoused the wrong sister . — Gateshead Observer . An IWi-uaBD Bachelor . —A bachelor is published in the papers of Porkpoh' s for having refused to pay
his washerwoman ' s bill . He publishes a card stating that he refused to pay because she washed all the white out ofhis shirts . —Yankee Paper . A young married " Princess , " daughter of a ex-King , eloped from Paris on Wednesday night with a Dutch painter . —Globe . Bite or an Adder . —Last week a pic-nic party on _Burdon-hill , Charnwood Forest , _weregrealty alarmed by tlie fact that an adder had bitten the driver of the vehicle wliich conveyed them hither . The reptile buried its fangs in the man ' s body , to whicli it clung with such pertinnoty , that some time elapsed ere it could be secured . The poor fellow was conveyed into Leicester with all speed in great agony , his hand , arm , and part of his body being fearfully swollen . He is , however , recovering . Charnwood Forest and its neighbourhood are remarkable for producin _" adders . Scarcely a week passes during the warm weather but some are captured .
Religions ix the British Empire . —It is a startling yet indisputable fact , that if we decide according to numbers , Paganism must be pronounced to be the . _religion of the British empire . The numerical order ofthe four great religious distinctions prevailing in the empire is , 1 st . Paganism , * 2 nd . Mahoniedanism ; 3 rd . Protestantism ; 4 th . Ptomanism . Escape of a Pi _^ oser from _Giltspur-stbebj Compter—On Saturday , between one and two o ' clock , a prisoner , named Dennis Shine , effected his escape from this prison . It appears that he was
employed to assist the workmen in making some repairs now going on , and while they were gone to dinner , Shine availed himself ofa ladder which they bad left in the yard , and contrived to scale the wall and escape over the roofs ofthe neighbouring houses . He is a desperate fellow , who was tried at the last London Sessions , and convicted of the commission of a series of ruffianly assaults at a bouse in Fridaystreet . He is described as having light hair , fair complexion , stoutly built , five feet nine inches and a half high , and ahout 21 , He has not yet been heard of .
Turnip Disease . —We regret exceedingly to learn from many farmers who have attended the Oxford market this day _( _Satuvday ) , that asomewhat similar disease to that whio ] a has been raging amongst the potatoes , has manifested itself In many parts of the county amongst the turnips , whatever is tho cause of one there is little , doubt is the cause of the other . Tho turnips are struck iu a similar manner to the potato . The leaves first become affected , and the disease fast spreads tight into the heart of tho turnip , which
in a vory short time becomes so rotten , that a person may easily run their finger through it . and a very offensive _Bmell arises from it when in this state . At present we have heard of no remedy being applied to _stop the disease . Great fears arc entertained th ? tt tho turnip crops will sufi _' or verv alarmingly frorn it . Within this last week or ten days , the turp . i p fields in the moro immediate neighbourhood o _. f Oxford never looked better , but we regret t » _say't _' ii & t in many ofthem _vrnfavouvablc symptoms oi the . disease has made its appearance .
The late Miss Liswood . — A marble monument to thc memory of Miss Lin wood has just been erectcu in the church of St . Margaret ' s , at _Lcicc-dec .
Mbtropolitax Mortamtt.—The Tables Of Bir...
_Ashbuutoh . — -On Saturday night last , the Sth inatant , _~ _Walarming accidentjOceurred * at the Marfey Tunnel , " oh the South Devon Railway . From the information received , it appears that at about ten o clock in the night _several workmen were engaged in removing the centre and uprights that had been used m erecting the arch over the tunnel , aa all the masonry was considered perfectly safe . Melancholy to relate , about fifty yards of the arch fell in , and Oiiried tour men , and others received injuries . Several houra elapsed before the bodies could be extricated , and the poor fellows were literally cut to pieces by the heavy mass which fed on them . Bartholomew _FAia . -This fair terminated on Sa . tiirday night , as it commenced , without much additional _nowe or bustle in the locality in which ifc i _*
held . There were altogether but nine stalls , which were devoted to the sale of gingerbread , and whose profits were anything but large ; and only two public houses opened rooms for the former customary revelry of balls . The only incidenf . in the fair , was the seizure on Friday of _somejgamblins tables , in the yard of an adjacent public-house , by the police . _Extraordisat _IifTREPiMTr . —A correspondent in Swansea gives us the particulars of a remarkably courageous action perfprmed . by a Mr . Thomas Shepherd , lately a chemist in that town , who , returning to his lodgings on last Tuesday evening , was surprised to find his family , and that of Mr . Rowe , in whose
house he lodged , shut up in ditterent rooms , from wbich they were afraid to emerge , in consequence of a dog belonging to Mr . Rowe having suddenly become rabid . Mr . Shepherd instantly determined to attempt the destruction of the furious animal , and having provided himself with a heavy hammer , and guarded his hands , he scaled the garden wall , and watching his opportunity , threw some bed furniture over the dog , and while entangled in it , grasped him by the throat with his left hand , and inflicting several heavy blows on his head with the hammer in his right , speedily dispatched the ferocious animal , to the great delight of the household , and his neighbours . — Sunday Paper .
The Potato Disease irt Canada . —It will be seen from ' the following extract of a letter from Montreal , received by the _Hibernia , that the . disease in the potato crop exists in Canada as well as in this country . — ''Montreal , 12 th of August , 1846 . —I have received your letter of the _ltth alt . from Glasgow . I have no doubt that your anticipations in regard to tlte potato disease will be realised . * it is again raging in this neighbourhood . I am cutting the haulm off mine . I have noticed the turnip fly , or a fly very like it , quite thick upon the leaves or vines of the potato this summer , * the leaves are completely riddled by them . I have been wondering whether these insects could have any effect in producing the disease , " We believe that these insects wherever they are found , are the consequences and not the
causes of disease . By the accounts from the United States , it appears that the disease is as destructive there as it is in Canada or Europe . —Liverpool Times . Necessary Safeguards . —Every seat , stool , &(;• » made of the American steamer Massachusetts is a lifeboat , of iron with air tight compartments , and adapted to swim , even with the weight ofa man . [ Why does the British Government not enforce the adoption of Similar precautions on board every British steamer ?] A Modest Emioa . — We have tasted Diek ' _a bottled Edinburgh Ale , sold by Messrs . D . Tellett &> Co ., and can pronounce it excellent ; a good hearty swig at it this weather is worth all the cold water of the Amazons , whatever teetotallers may say . When we have half-a-dozen fine iong-necked bottles sent us , a 9 * m this case , for review , we get on with some spirit ; and if any one has a house to let , allow us to live in it for a year , rent free , and then we will be
able to tell the public whether it is a " desirable residence" or not . The country at large know not what they Jose by being stingy with newspaper edi « tors , —Manx Liberal . A Central Sun . —Dr . Mndler , the professor of astronomy at Dorpat , has published the result of the researches pursued by bim uninterruptedly during the last sixty years , upon the movements of the socalled fixed stars . These more particularly relate to the Star Alcyone , ( discovered by him ) the brightest of the seven bright stars of the group of" the Pleiades . This star , he states , to be the central sun ofall the systems ot stars known to us . He gives its distance from the boundaries ofour system at thirtytour million times the distance of the sun from our earth ; a distance which it takes 53 i years for light to traverse . Our sun takes 182 million years to aocomplish its course round this central body , whose mass is 11 * 7 million times larger than the sun .
Storm is the Metropolis . — A singular storm visited themetropolis on Sunday . About noon , after a hot , hazy morning , the sun burst forth , and while shining brightly , a sharp clap of thunder was heard over the northern portion of the metropolis , The thunder continued at intervals until past four , and was accompanied hy exceedingly partial showers . At Islington , it rained very heavily during nearly an hour , whilst on the south side of the City-road scarcely a drop fell . A severe shower came down in the immediate neighbourhood of Seymour-street , Soraer ' 3 Town , whilst the back of Mornington crescent , scarcely a stone ' s throw distant , was left perfectly dry . Along the line of the Richmond Railway the fall was copious and continuous , whilst in Chelsea , oa the north side of the Thames , no wet whatever vac observed . There was another storm , on Monday , at tiie western suburbs of the metropolis , which appears to have been very severely felt at Windsor , and other places to the west and north-west of London .
Sudden Death op a Theatrical Performer . —• Mr , Patrick Sutcliff , who has been for many years engaged at the Dublin Theatre , was a few mornings since found dead in his bed . Alarming Storm at Windsor . —Shortly before three o clock , on Monday afternoon , one of the most fearful storms of thunder and lightning , accompanied by torrents of rains ever experienced in Windsor / passed over the town from the 80 _utll-ea" _-t _. and lasted for upwards of au hi ; ur and" a half . The lightning was ot the most vivid character—flash followed flash—and peal succeeded peal , without intermission , during the continuance of the storm . For the last two days heat had been most oppressive . The thermometer on that day at one o ' clock , in the shade , stood as high as 82 . Thukder Storm . —Rochester Sept . 1 . —Yesterday morning was close and sultry , with a cloudless sky ( up till noon day . shortly after which some clouds / made thoir appearance from the southward , followed-,
by a tew drops ot ram . 10 this sacceedetf . dark threat ' ening clouds of * a slaty hue , projecting forward their white heads , and the thunder pealed loudly , but the clouds bore away to tlie westward , and we escaped the effects ofthe storm . On the road to Gravesend , the storm burst with great fury , doing considerable damage to the crops and everything within its range . At the Rev . Mr . Hindle ' s , opposite the _Falstafflnn , on Gad ' s Hill , where the hail fell in torrents , some of the windows were broken , and in the greenhouse upwards of 200 squares of glass were destroyed . Some of the pieces of ice measured nearly three inches in _lesgth , and irom the quantity which fell , laid thick ou the ground for soma time after the storm had abated . _Seei *< g the Invisible . — A manufacturing wireworker , in an advertisement in the Times newspaper , invites tbe public to come and see his invisible wire fences .
T ' iorougMiV Ghben .... Aii innkeeper advertises in the Derby Mercury for " a thorough vegetable cook . ' " A Railway Smoking Saloon . —Within the last few days a novelty has been introduced on the Eastern Counties Railway , in the running of a very handscmc carriage , termed a smoking or excursion saloon Its extreme length is forty feet , the body about thirty feet , the ends being converted into a kind of open lounse . It runs on six wheels . Tho seals extend the full length of the side ? , and are haiKUome . y covered with Morocco leather . A mahogany table occupies the ct-ntre ; the entire lilted with self-balancing lamps . The sides are lighted by eight plate glass windows of unusual siie , while the ends are fitted up with four plates of lookingglass .
Old asd Young Irelasd . — "Conciliation Hall " is carrying on a most unconciliatovy war against tho Mntion newspaper ; tor not only is that , paper erased from the list of papers circulated by the association , but the committee lme announced that ivhcrmt the Nation is taken in , all future supplies from the repeal treasury will be stopped , and the refractory reading-room and its members disassociated from all connection with the liberal patriots oi * Burgh Quay . What a sample of the _Zi'toii we should enjoy in Ireland under a Uepeal Parliament and Government ? It begins to be seriously thought that "Dan" has sold the pass in earnest , and is really seeking to do all the despite be can to the Repeal _onus > e ; in short , to undermine and blow up tiie edifice wliich he had reared himself .
Water in London . —The metropolis is supplied with water by eight companies . This daily supply-. _^ of the whole amounts to 3 ( 5 , 000 , 000 gallons ¦ . " and tho _\ houses to which this vast quantity of watsr is _dis- tributed are 250 , 000 , or on average of 144 . gallons to each house . Cnnious _Arr-Lic . mox to a Magistrate . — At Clovkenwell Police Court ou Tuesdaj , aa old woman , aCrui ! " seller , who had been deprived . ' of her basket by the police , applied to thc magistrate to give her tivo shillings to buv a new one , as h * i- only means of support was sellinij trait . Mv . Combo , thc magistrate , ordered an _ollict-r to go witlj her to the workhouse to make inquiries into her . case .
Guild _Duui'mo .-On _Tuos-lay information was received bv the police , that a female mtant , apvarcntlv four " days old . had boon-abandoned by its 1111- natural parent in the pas -ugc of the house ot Ino . , . ¦ Vow-street , _Goldcn-square , iu thd occupation ot Mr . . Pennington , ft bvukci \ The child was wrapped in . an old blanket , is of fair complexion , blue eyes , and ; dark hair . ,, _ , ' _cST _*** A BiouT-KovAt . Sow . —Messrs . Bakers , _rjeajjSCi-tsh-eet Chelsea , jmve now in their posscssum ijT / hina _* ow tl ' iit has had tho unprecedented numbjer of sixty pics at-th _* : ce farrows , viz 17 . 10 , and . lasEly , 2-1 , 21 of _whii-h and tho sow aro alive aud doing well .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 12, 1846, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_12091846/page/3/
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