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Northern Star (1837-1852), 22nd February 1845, Edition 3 of 4, Page 3, m MS

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    • A BOWL OF " PUNCH," FRESH BREWED.
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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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      February 2% 1845. The N0rthern St Ar _ 3

      February 2 % 1845 . THE N 0 RTHERN _ST _AR _ 3

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      The Holt Alliance Of Nations . Imitated ...

      THE HOLT ALLIANCE OF NATIONS . IMITATED X _£ OJI BE & xsgxs . Insatiate War Ms Woody wings _anfurled , And fled the fields his demon bands had torn , And heaven-born Peace descended on the world , _rnngn-g around ner flowers and ears of corn . " 0 ! " said the goddess , " bear , ye nations , hear ! English , Prench , German—all contending lands Term an alliance holy and sincere , , _And join , join hands ! "Oman . ' poor lump of sanguinary mud ; Open your eyes , and be no longer blind ; "Wly should ye rage and shed each other ' s blood , Because some tyrant thinks his realm confinea ! " Wly , when he mounts his chariot should ye cheer E ' en though his hot wheels crush the trodden lands ? enn an alliance boly and sincere ,

      • And join , join bands I " lo i 'mong the corn , now Bruised and trampled down Ten thousand soldiers breathed their dying groans ; Ana at each border , fort , ana-frontier town The barren soil grows rich with human bones ; The luria war-torch , blazing far and near , Has filled with terror all the suffering lands . Form an alliance holy and sincere , And join , join hands ! " Shouldmillions perisb in their cursed strife , Still monarchs think their battles eheaply won ; "Wh 3 t do they care for -wasting human life ? They gain a province and the thing is done I Then up to hearen their haughty heads they rear , Ana prate of glory to the bleeding lands . ? orm an alliance holy and sincere ,

      And -join , join hands I t : Why should your glory , founded on your woe , Dazzle jour eyes , and yoie you to their car 1 Ase ye the gainers by their warlike show ? Pools _-fliat ye _' ve oeen , short-sighted that ye are , Wh _j should these tyrants trouble thus your sphere , And vdtb their quarrels _deebnate the lands ? form aa alliance holy and sincere , And join , join hands : u , free and happy let the world Tepose—Sheathed be the sword—and be the cannon dumb And let the _memoiy of your former _woea " Mate you the wiser in the days to come . " Then _shaD ripe corn-fields all yottr labours Cheer And _thewdvinlage gladden an the _lan-Js . Term an alliance holy and sincere , And join , join hands !

      Thus to the nations spofce the seraph Peace—The vintage ripened and tbe rich corn grew- — Hen bade their struggles and their warfare cease , And youths and maidens danced upon the dew . Then hear , ye nations' hear , yepeoples , hear ! Treedoin aud wealth shall gladden all your lands , "When that alliance , holy and sincere , Has joined all hands

      Sever Give Up. Never Give Up! It Is Wise...

      SEVER GIVE UP . Never give up ! it is wiser and better Always to hope than once to despair : Fling off the load of Doubt ' s cankering fetter , And break the dark speU of tyrannical care ' Sever give Up ! Or the burden may sink you— - Providence kindly has mingled the cup , And , iu all trials or troubles , bethink you , The watchword of life must be , Never give op i Never give up ! -there are C . bailCeB and Changes Helping _thenopeful a hundred to one , And through the chaos High Wisdom arranges Ever success—if youll only hope on : Xevergi-reup ! for the wades * is boldest , Knowing that Providence mingles the cup ; And of all maxims the best , as the oldest , Is the true watchword of Never give up !

      _J « ever give xip i—tho" the grape-shot may ratue , Or the full _ftuntler-eloud over you burst , Stand like a rock , —and the storm or the battle Little shall harm you , though doing their worst Never give up 1 if adversity presses , Providence wisely has mingled the cup , And , thebest counsel , in all your distresses , Is tbe stout watchword of Never give up !

      Xttbuiw

      Xttbuiw

      Gqkingsbx; Or, The New Generation. Bv B....

      GQKINGSBX ; or , THE NEW GENERATION . Bv B . B'Isbaeli , Esq ., ALP . —London : Colburn , Great Marlborough-street . ( Contmutdjrom _theNorihern Sear of February 1 st . ) _"J-he opening _clmpiers ofthe second volume exhibited Goxi . _vGSBT arrived at Manchester , whither he has been led by cariosity to see the wonders ofthe capital of manufactures . Mr . _D'Ibkaeu paints the manufacturing -system so couleur de rose , that we apprehend both employers and employed will be astonished at his descriptions . The former will be "mightily sur prised to learn that they are ihe good and amiable -masters represented ; while the latter will wonder how Mr . D'JsnAEuever came to dream of such happiness

      being their Jot as he has depicted . _According to Mr . _TSisiiviLi , the female weavers , -working a thousand or fifteen _^ hundred together in a room , are decked in _"consl ' _neeklaccs _, " _^" _sonne _pretty , some pert , some _graref ** jandjoeund , someabsorlj _^ _m _* _fflejroccnpation ; alittle gerious seme , few sad . " Again , in describing tbe locale of the elder MniBAXE , wc have pictured a " greenvalley / ' "abroadmeadowland , " " and very old elm trees ; " audhjerc stands the * mjfio ? Oswald AhLunsK . TheworfeeKatthis-millliveina " pictnre _^ iic village" close bv , which village has its "lecture room , " "library , " and " reading hall . " _Tbeiffe-itfa / _flownervitappcais , had built " churches , schook and institutes , " for -the benefit of his

      workers . He had also built for them "houses and cottages on a new system of ventilation , - had provided them with " garden allotmente . " and established " singing classes . " This " happy valley" is situated three -miles ironi Bolton , out 5 _? ietuer north , east , south , west , or which of the intermediate points of the compass , Coningsby saith not . A voyage of discovery , an expedition in search of this region of the blessed , would surely be "worth ihe while of others besides Mr . D'Israeli . Should any ef our Bolton readers be disposed to make the trial , wc hope they will let us know the result of their labours . The discovery of the mnch-songht _north"svest passage , would be nothing tothe discovery of Mr . Disraeli ' s Lancashire Eden . Alas ! for this gentleman ' s fanciful pictures , the stern realities of ihe manufacturing system are too well known to need recapitnlafingin opposition to Mr . _B'Tsbae-o _' s

      baseless visions . Before that gentleman again ventures a description of Lancashire Ufe , we advise him to apply to Lord _Ashxet for a few useful facts ; and instead of _seniimentalising at the Manchester Athenaeum with Cobmk and Co ., lei him apply himself to the Manchester workers , -visit their homes , and learn from iheirlips , male and female , the workings of the system he so mistakingly lands . The elder _Miujaxk , even with , all 34 V . _D'Isbae-u ' s T aniish , stands out the nnmistakcable representative of his " order . " Envious of the landed aristocracy , it is not their exclusive privileges he wars against , but against the fact of his own exclusion from a pariiapation in those privileges . He denounces as ridiculous and monstrous that dukes and earls who are not" richer than we ( tie milloerats ) are " should be law-makers for the nation . He is not , however , opposed to m aristocracy , but is for what he calls " a * eal s a natural one" : —

      * MJXLOCBAT ' S IDEAS OF A " XATGIUI . - r . KISTOCEACT . "And _where * win you find your natural aristocracy V ' _<& . _<& _ComngEby . "Among those men whom a nation recognises as the _aost eminent for virtue , talents , and property , and if you please , lnrfh and standing in ihe land . They guide _opi-*«»; and therefore they govern . I am no leveller ; 1 look upon an ardlicial equality as equally permcious with _siactitious aristocracy ; both depressing the energies , and -kecking ihe enterprise of a nation . 1 like man to be frte ; _reaUv free ; fice in his industry as well as Ms baav . _* " /

      Tbe reader will observe thai the most eminent tor _Xf'F-rtu , birth , and standing , are to be the aristocrats 01 the ( cotton lord ' s ) new regime . True , " virtue " _Md *¦ talents" are not omitted , but these , _wesuspect , _* m , as heretofore , stand but a poor chance of _ennooiement when -unaccompanied by " property . " We suojoin two more specimens of a millocrat ' s political the _soracrs or -tbe _sxcusn teerags . ti _Hwirj VII . calledhisfirst Parliament , there were _^ "y ttveiity-niue te mporal peers to be found , and even ; •"" - . _* - Ibem took their seats _illegally , for they had been _^ _J _****** 1 - of those twenty-nine not five remain , ana they _^ dn > Ifowaids sjr instaace , are wit _Gorman nobilitye ° « t ilie English peerage to three sources * . tbe _spolia-O of _* e church : the open and _dagrant sale of its _hojarsl-y the elder Stuarts ; and tbe boroug hmongcring _oif _oOT _, times . Those are the three main sources of e _-aslstingpeerage of England , and , in my opinion , _dis-Pawful ones .

      . » UTI OF A SECOXD _EECIStiTIVE CHAMBER . a n 5 * 5 iK . - _aiaa-popular asseroblv electe d by theflower of coaia ' ' l ' reci P itatef If pVeripifate , what senate bas _\^ _T an assan % so chosen ? Xo , no , no ; the thing . _•**» tried over and over again ; the idea of _restrain-I > *? Iw ** erfu 1 by the weak is an absurdity ; the quests-It' 1 * 1 _**^* Ifwe wanted afresh innstration , weneed lto * _, _5 _^ _Represent state of our own House of lords . a _vu T _*}** B 0 « ung ; it has , in fact , announced itself as Hon _»! _^ t of Registration of the decrees of your _* _« wnons . bW » . Ta « nted antiquity of the "hereditary _ineura-* enM _~ * »* % smashed , as Brother Jonathan _s _^ . _** £ in the first of these extracts . But , in the » - "a , the nUlnoKif _*!•> Tnn . la * _-n-nvn-r-A 4 / ifk-mn / di for

      i _* _irlE _2 _> _? . Be proves the titter -tJ _^ essness ofa ° _eed-oSrf _*^ _slati ve order ; -and the Democrat will le _sae _^ _" _011661 , * _asnrnent to prove the _utterworth-^ _ietw _^ toia _y- « Mnen 5 e € vil—ofany _amtocraxy _, JUttL * _$ _***** *« _flandlords dr milWords ; _-BdiibliiTT _* of hep _fatJaer _, _ConiiGSB-f encounters _danvS _•*« daughter of the elder _Miixbaxs . Of this _*^^* e f uture "ladye-love" of our hero , tiie W 1 * illhe _* u * more anon . .

      Gqkingsbx; Or, The New Generation. Bv B....

      THE CHRONICLES OF THE BASTILE . T . C . JSewby , Mortimer-street , _Cavendiah-sqnare . ( _Ctnttimie & from the Northern Star of February 15 th . ) Vive la Revolution . ' must lie the involuntarv exclamation ot all who read this most excellent work b ear ful was the struggle , deadly the strife , the COmmencement _ofwlnchsaw the destruction ofthe hated _Uastile ; but though many a deed of horror was perpetrated m that Revolution whieh the lovers of liberty must ever deplore , few conversant with the previous state of Fnnee will be found , we think , who will not regard that change as the _happiest event which the human race has yet witnessed . Wehearmuchof the horrors of the " reign of _ten-or ; " but let any one read this work , and then say whether that terrorism was

      not unavoidable , and the necessaiy consequence of the uamnable despotism which preceded the Revolution Historians have counted the victims of the Revolutionary Tribunal ; but they have mostly been altogether silent as to the number of victims who year by year , for centuries , had been silently sacrificed in this accursed den ; their only offence that they had incurred the dislike of the reigning tyrant , or some royal courtesan or minister . Men were seized on the authority of a lettre-de-cachet , and without being acquainted with their alleged offence were immured in this _horriblcdungeon , wheretheyremainedduringthe will of their persecutors . If their death was deemed more _neeessaiy than their continued incarceration , they -were cither secretly dispatched , or nut into thn

      hellish cages , where death after a time relieved them of their sufferings . "Within forty-six years , the number of prisoners who mysteriously disappeared from tbe Bastiie , without any vestige remaining to attest their fate , amounted to two thousand ; these being over and above the number of prisoners who durin " that time were liberated , or who died a " natural death . " It is fortunate for Captain Warseb that he was not born a Frenchman—a Frenchman , we mean , of a century back ; had he been so unfortunate , his _olowmg-up discoveries would assuredly have blown him into the Bastiie . In the reign of Louis Quinze , an individual named _Bbb-s de _Coa-damdje having invented a kind of exploding bullet , communicated his discovery to Monsieur de Saktlses , then Lieutenant of Police , in hopes of inducing the Government to purchase the secret , hut instead of which he was

      shortly afterwards arrested and conveyed to the Bastiie . Hence , he attempted to escape , and had succeeded in lowering himself from the parapet of the __ towers , when -unfortunately the cord broke by which he hung suspended , and he fell into the ditch ; the sentinel fired at and wounded him , and brought him before the Governor , De _Lausbt , who ordered him to be cast into the dungeon of the ditch for eight days , and to be fed only on half allowance of bread and water . The register does . not state whether this _-f ortunate man was liberated ; the probability is , therefore , that he was either secretly murdered , or succumbed under the tortures to whieh he was subjected . This same Governor De _Lauset was on the Storming of tbe Bastiie , on the 14 th of July , 1789 , hewed in pieces by the triumphant people . Righteous retribution ! So perish all the accursed agents of tyranny ' .

      In the limits we are necessarily confined to , we have found it impossible to detail the mot of the Chronicles , we have therefore been compelled to leave it to the reader to judge of the work by the specimens we have from time te time given . In our last number we gave an extract descriptive of one of the modes of torture to wWc _^ _theTlllliaPPypi _* iSOners were flomethnes subjected . The following extract describes a successful attempt at escape from this accursed edifice ; an attempt but rarely made , or at least but rarely successful : —

      THE " ESCAPE OF ST . IJEU FROM THE BASTIIE . Judging of the height of the towers from that of his cell , from the number of stories , and . the space between each , he calculated upon requiring ahout a hundred and twenty feet of rope , but great was his dismay when he discovered that every available article of wearing apparel thathe possessed , added to the sheets and blankets of his bed , would riot , when twisted into strands ofthe requisite strength , make up more than half the necessary quantity ; Still , he wrought on , with increasing assiduity , until he had no more materials to work with , save his outward

      garments , the sacking of his bed , the slight cords that held it together , and the bed-clothes themselves . Itt this dilemma , he feigned indisposition , in order to have a show of excuse for not getting up , and so far imposed upon Ru , as to induce this individual to supply him with an additional blanket and a coverlet ; these rapidly shared the fete of the others , so that on the fifth day from the commencement of his task , he had , by weaving * all these articles together in strips , into what is , by sailors , called _"ticfce-Iaid , '' completed a rope of tolerable strength , and of fourteen lengths , each length averaging about five feet . # * *

      As the only materials he now had at hand , to finish the rope , could not be used without attracting Itu ' s attention to their disappearance , St . Leu found it necessary to fix upon a night for making the contemplated attempt , purposing to attain the platform by means ofthe chimney and thence , with the assistance ofthe rope , todeeend inte the great ditch , and gain tbe Seine through the small moat by which the former was fed . Be had no time to wait for a favourable opportunity wherefore as the nights at that season were very long , and very dark , he chose the following evening—the sixth after his interview with Julie—though the difficulties that threatened him were materially augmented by the fact of a large quantity of snow liaving fallen , rendering a discovery by the sentinels more to be apprehended : the die , however , was cast ; he had gone too far to recede , and delay might prove fatal to his project !

      That day fled , but slowly ; the night came , and waned but more slowly still 5 Would to-morrow never dawn ? oh yes ! the morrow came , and with it , snow and wind J _ueon-tide too passed , and still the snow fell , and the wind blew ; night succeeded , with more snow and more wind ! St . leu watched tbe white flakes as they descended , and listened to the howling of the storm ! the sound pleased liim ! Seven o ' clock struck ; his heart leaped : thc time he had so anxiously looked forward to had arrived . As soon as Ru had paid him his last "visit , St . Leu took out the rope aud examined it , length by length , subjecting it to the heaviest strain he was capable of , with a view to test its strength ; the result proved satisfactory : to complete it was bis next task , and to this he -lpplied himself

      with an earnestness and an energy of purpose that the emergency increased tenfold . Every article in the cell , available as a substitute for yarn , now came into requisition : tbe sacking of his wretched couch—the old , and half-rotten green serge of the same that served for curtains—all that remained of his bedding , even to the tick ofthemattrass—his own outer garment !*—coat—waist coat—neckerchief—every shred of raiment , was turned to account ! He stationed liimself near the narrow window of his cell , and listened as he . worked to tbe chimes that marked the fleeting hours ! eight o ' clock—nineten ! still his task renamed Incomplete 1 eleven struckthen midnight ! another half hour and all would be ready ! at last his work was done . '

      Having again assured himself of the strength of his rope , as far as the means for so doing would allow , he coiled it over his left arm , breathed a brief prayer , and with a firm heart commenced his perilous adventure . With some difficulty , he forced his way up tbe narrow chimney as _f-ir as the elbow , where the obstruction existed which he had cleared away , as related in a former chapter : here , over his head , an iron bar , similar to the one he had already bent aside , stopped his egress : however _, be at last succeeded in removing it also , and soon gained the aperture above , which was scarcely large enough to afford his body a passage _^ -indeed , bad he retained bis clothes , be could not have got through it . He -was rejoiced to find that thc storm continued with unabated violence , and that the wind , which blew most boisterously , came from the north-east , ' placing him to

      leward of the sentinels . The night too was very black , though the snow that had fallen—and wliich stiB continued to drift hlindingly in every direction , save straight down—renderedsnrrounding objects perfectly distinguishable , so that he could even plainly see the sentry-boxes at the further end of the platform ; one of these stood notforly feet from _theapertorehe lay concealed in , Which , fortunately for him , was situated at _ttie angle the tower of the Bertaudiere formed with the _niasenry that connected it with the Baziniere , so that he could reconnoitre unperceived : tbe unlooked-for cifcnmstonce startled him at £ rst , but a few minutes sufficed to restore bis courage , for be soon remarked that the sentinel bad taken refuge within , leaving the road comparatively free : hardly daring to draw breath , lie gradually emerged from his hiding-place , shivering and benumbed , aud as the nei ghbouring clocks struck one , set his foot upon the platform : there was now no recedum .

      . With the stealthiness of the car , he crept on his hands and knees to the nearest embrasure , and , under cover of the piece of fieia-artMery with which it was _funiishedj proceeded to attach Me rope to the wheel thereof , taking the precaution to cast the coil over the battlements , ready for use . This operation occupied some time , for his hands and limbs were not only chafed , swollen , and laeerated , but deadened from the effects of cold , so that he could hardly use them : atlenglh , however , be completed Ms task in safety , and having ascertained that the rope was securely fastened , cautiously raised himself for the purpose of commencing Ms fearful descent , when the sentinel suddenly came out of his box and began parading the platform , passing backwards and forwards within twenty paces of the embrasure in which he now again lay crouched , a prey to the severest mental and bodily anguish that can be . conceived .

      Twice , when the vigilant guardian s back was turned , did St Leu creep towards the embrasure , with the design of placing that barrier between them , and twice was he compeUed to forego his intention , for the soldier ' s Walk was so short , his face might be said to have been turned almost always one way : but hesitation now was madness , for the success of his attempt depended upon his decision and firmness ; taking advantage therefore of the same favourable opportunity that had already twice offered Itself * . St . leu bounded towards the battlement , when a fierce gust drove the blinding sleet and snow into the sentry ' s face , causing him to turn suddenly round : be caught sight of the strange figure before him—the click of the musket—the _gui-vive told St Leu that he was discovered _. Dashing forwards— -ananned , naked , as be was —he grasped the man by the throat—and a short but desperate struggle ensued , during which the musket exploded : placing his foot in the middle of the soldier ' s body , he wrenched tbe weapon from bis grasp , and swing-

      Gqkingsbx; Or, The New Generation. Bv B....

      ing it over his head , with the _butt-end laid him senseless at his feet : fie next moment he hung suspended in the air : he had commenced his frightful descent ! Meanwhile , the other sentinels _wisb-j-i to the _sucmnh of their Comrade , but stupified by -exposure to the inclement night , _looi-ed about for the fugitive in every _diyeetiousave the right one—d ischarging then : pieces in the air , in order to rouse the garrison . The alarm now became general , though some time elapsed first , for the wind was so high , it drowned the vociferations ofthe soldiers on the towers—bawling out to their comrades on the roundaway—who knew not where to look , nov what to do , until one of them perceived a white figure dangling in mid-way air , rapidly descending from the towers into tho di _*<*» and at which he _leveUed his musket , and fired , but Without effect , although it served to put bis companions oa the proper track .

      St . Leu had by this time descended more than halfway , but his position was frightful in the extreme ; liaving nothing to steady his descent , he was swinging about backwards and forwards , in imminent danger of being dashed to pieces against the massive stone-work , and owed hi 3 safety only to his presence of mind , wliich he still retained , even at that critical juncture . His sole aim was to reach the ditch beneath him , which he saw was frozen over , for the snow laid thiek upon the surface of the ice j he therefore continued lowering himself , heedless of the uproar , or of the strife of the elements that raged above , aud around , and on all sides of him , his only fear , being as to the strength of the rope , upon which the strain increased every moment , causing it now and then to crack , and reminding him of the frail materials that it was composed of , so vividly , that his fingers seemed to interrogate each thread , as if to ascertain the safety of that particular one on whieh his life was at that precise moment hung .

      He had yet a distance of some twenty-five or thirty feet to descend , when to his utter dismay , he came to the end of his rope—and atthe same instant he felt that somebody was pulling it above : a moment ' s hesitation—only a moment ' s—Ant what a moment tbat !~ -he loosed his hold and dropped ; a rush of air—a suspension of breath—a stunning blow , a sensation of his bones being all broken at once—and the next instant he was immersed in water , and mud , and ice , and snow , and blinding darkneES ! But life—life—was Ms only , thought , _notwithstanding 1 He rose to the surface , and pushing aside the broken , jagged masses of ice , succeeded in gaining a footing upon a firmer part ; he had , however , escaped one danger only to encounter another . Ee was yet separated-from the small moat , which he sought to gain , by the whole width of the great ditch , into which he had fallen , and the space between the

      Bertaudiere and the Baziniere towers , a distance of nearly seventy yards , in traversing which his person would offer a sure mark to the sentinels on the round-awayj who were now aware of his position ; fortunately , however , the biting wind blew direct in their face , driving before it a shower of tiny , _froien arrows , that nearly deprived them of vision , the intolerable pain diverting their attention from the fugitive to themselves . St , Leu scrambled forwards on all-fours—the ice cracking , and bending , and breaking under him , until he . reached the middle ofthe great ditch , when a shot from one ofthe sentinels—for he was now within twenty yards of the round-away—took effect on his person , passing obliquely through the fleshy part of his arm . Regardless of the anguish , and of the additional danger to which he wa 8 now exposed , he started to lus feet , bounded forwards , and reached "the small moat

      This moat —which likewise formed the outermost boundary of the gardens of the arsenal—communicated with the Seine , and was about forty feet Wide , and ol' the Same depth as the great ditch ; over it , at about fourteen or fifteen yards from its point of junction with thc latter , fell a triple draw-bridge , "defended on the inner side by a corps-de-gardc . Hearing the shots and the _SllOUtS Of their comrades , the soldiers on duty here lowered the bridge and rushed , in amass , to the first outer court , in order to learn the cause of the outcry ; they passed within twenty feet of the wounded and trembling fugitive , who , the better to conceal himself , crouched down into the snow ; he saw them run across the bridge , and beard their halloos to their comrades—he heard , too , the chains of the great draw-bridge clank , and its ponderous , hinges grate—he could see the flash and nicker of their torches , and distinguish the hurried tramp of his puMuers- footsteps drawing every instant nearer aud nearer ; then , a shout of exultation—they were on his track—the snow had betrayed the direction he had taken I

      Life—life—liberty—Julie and again he r \ 18 hed On . wardB- _^ asping—exhausted ! Another shout ! they were nearer ! another effort , and he could place the massive outer wall of the Bastiie between them and him ! On ! on ! on ! over the rotting ice , or immersed in the gelid waters that it covered ! now wading through them—now scrambling over tbe unsafe masses on its surface—'• ov leaping and running when a footing offered " ; but still on ¦ —on—on ! St . Leu had now gained that portion of the smaller moat where it was traversed by the outer wall of the Bastiie , a small arch of about five feet in length—the thickness of the wall—forming the junction between it and the moat ofthe arsenal gardens . But here—between

      him and his liberty—a formidable barrier in terposed itself , in the shape of a harrow-formed grating , fixed into the arch and descending to within a foot of the water-mark , and at the bottom of-which bristled a chevaux-de-frize : he hesitated : it was only for a moment : the voices , aud the tramp of footsteps in his rear told him he was lost if he paused longer : he drew one long breath , burst through the rotten ice with his feet , and plunged ! a long halfminute followed ! a noise as of a thousand drums beating all at once , or of as many guns going off all . at the same moment , filled his ears ! still he groped on beneath the water , guiding himself by the bank —then his head touched a substance - with his last remnant of strength , he forced upwards—he breathed again—the last bavricr was passed—lie was free !

      We believe some fourteen or fifteen numbers of this work are published , of wliich we have as yet received but eleven : when the remainin'j' numbers come to hand they shall be duly noticed . In the meantime , wc earnestly recommend the Chronicles to the reading world in general , and to CYevy lOYer of VAcrty in particular .

      Punch's Complete Letter-Writer. By Dowla...

      PUNCH'S COMPLETE LETTER-WRITER . By Dowlas _Jebboid . Punch Office , Fleet-street , " It is an ill wind , " . says the proverb , " that blows nobody good ; " meaning that most winds , however ill , do blow some good ; and of this we have an instance in the work before us . Too much of anything but good is , we fear , too chargeable to Sir James GrahaU ; and not the least of the odious acts which will cause his name to be held in disreputable remembrance long after his official career shall have ceased , will lie his un-English and most infamous Post-office espionage . Atrocious and odious , however , as were the acts of the Minister in this particular matter , it is , we believe , to these malpractices , or at least the discovery of them , that the public are

      indebted for the excellent letters which , under the above title , have been given to the world by Douglas _Jeruoij ) . These letters , originally appeared in Punch ; but to those who have read them in their original shape , we beg to intimate that their re-perustd in their present form will be found a treat Which might hardly be anticipated ; for the fact is , that the Complete Letter Writer is now made really complete , its attractions being greatly increased by the _lettei-s being collected and placed together . Those who had not the pleasure of reading the letters as they appeared in _i-tincft , will do well to purchase the volume without delay . We promise them that their only regret when they come to the conclusion , will be that , instead of fifty letters , there are not five hundred of the like excellent quality . Where all arc excellent it is impossible to single out

      particular letters for special praise . But as our readers will expect a specimen of the contents , we select the following , by a guardian in reply to a young gentleman ( his ward ) , who has expressed liis desire to enter the army . We cannot afford room for the young gentleman ' s letter , but we should premise that the writer expresses himself as being passionately enamoured ot * a _seldier's . life . Itis not , he alleges , the outward trappings that attract him , but the abstract glory : his heart throbs at the achievements of conquerors ; the game of war is a pastime for gods : he exults in the idea of death , in the bed of glory , and a whole country weeping over , his ashes ; he wishes to see the sublime spectacle of a German review ; above all , after the fury of battle is passed , how _glorious the privilege of succouring the wounded and protecting the helpless . In reply to these ravings we give the

      ANSWER OF THE _GUABWAN TO THE TOU . VG GENTiEHAN . My Dear Arthur , —I thought more highly of your discrimination . I believed that you knew me better than to make so foolish a proposition . My opinions on war and its instruments are , I know , not the QpUtiOnS . Of tllC world ; it would save die world—I am vain enough to think—much guilt , much misery , if they were so . You , doubtless , believe your letter the result of an honest enthusiasm ; and yet , to . my fancy , it is nothing more than the folly of a boy , who , unconscious of bis prompter , mites with a fiend dictating at his elbow . Yes , my boy , a fiend ; he is too often busy among us—one of the vilest and most mischievous demons of all the brood of wickedness . To be sure , he visits men not in Iris own name—oh no ! he comes to them in the finest clothes and under the prettiest alias . He is clothed in

      gay colours—has yards of gold trimming about him—a fine feather in his cap—silken flags fluttering over himmusic at his heels—and his lying , swindling name is—Glory . Strip the thing so called , and how often will you find thc abhorred nakedncs :- of a demon . Be assured of it , fife and drum make the devil ' s choicest music . He blows and beats—for , being a -devil , he can do this at the same time—and makes the destructive passions of men twist and wriggle in the hearts of even peaceful folk , and with the magic of his tattoo drives them on to mischief . You know , people say I have strange , violent thoughts . Well I think every sheep whose skin is turned Into drumparchment , has been sacrificed not to the gods bat _devjJe . You tell me that you are smitten with glory in the abstract—with its naked honour . Pooh ! like a poor-souled footman , you are content to take the blows for the . fineness of the Uvery .

      You say , that when you tcad the history of conquerors , you yearn to become a soldier . ' Well , 'I "dispute it not ; there have been ' men made soldiers by ; tyranny and wrong , whose memories may , like thc eternal stars , shine down upon us ; these men may be envied . But I , - too , have read the lives of conquerors ; and , as 1 live , they no

      Punch's Complete Letter-Writer. By Dowla...

      more tempted me to emulate them , than the reading of the'Newgate Calendar would make me yearn to turn footpad or house-breaker . _ At best , soldiers are the evils ofthe earth—the children of human wrong and human weakness . Understnnd me ; I would not have men ground arms , and , with quaker-like submission , cry '• friend '' to . fhe invader . Nevertheless , do not ' let us prank up a dire necessity with all sorts of false ornament , and glorify wholesale homicide . You say war Is tho pastime of gods . Homer tells « s as much . And pretty gods they were who played at the sport ! In my time , I have known many men who , for very humbly imitating tliem in some of _tlteir amusements , haye died on the gallows or withered on board the hulks . I trust the time will come when it will bring as great shame to men to mimic Mars , as it now deals upon the other sex to imitate Venus .

      You talk glibly enough ofthe bed of glory . What is it 1 A battle-field , with thousands blaspheming in agony about you 1 Your last moments sweetened , it may be , with the thought that somewhere on the field lies a bleeding piece of your handiwork—a poor wretch in the death . grasp of torture ! Truly , that is a bed of greater _gloi-y which is surrounded by loving hearts—by hands uplifted in deep , yet cheerful prayei * . There are thoughts , too—it is my belief—better , sweeter far than thoughts of recent slaying , to help the struggling soul from out its tenement .

      You talk , too , of the nation ' s tears ! in what museum does the-nation keep her pocket-handkerchiefs ? Depend upon it , nations that love to fight , are not the nations that love to weep . I grant it , many a fine , simple fellow , has died in . the aeiief of » eing wept over by his country , Who has nevertheless been shamefully defrauded of his . dues . My dear boy , never sell your life for imaginary drops of water . And then you rave about laurel—an accursed plant of fire and blood .. Count up all the crowns of Cmsar , and for the honest , healthful service of _uy * , ** _,, are they worth one summer cabbage !

      You would wish to see the German review—you think it so noble a sight t Be assured , if you can teach your eyes to look through the spectacles of truth , there cannot be a sadder , amore rueful exhibition—one reflecting more upon tbe true dignity of human nature—one more accusatory of the wisdomandgoodness of man—than thousands of men dressed and harnessed , and nicely schooled for the destruction of their fellow-creatures . All their finery , all their trappings , are to me but the gimcraekery ofthe father of Wickedness . In my time , I have seen thousands of soldiers drawn up , with a bright sky shining above them ; and I have thought them a foul mass—a blot—a shame upon the beautifulearth—an affront to the beneficence of heaven ! But then , I have odd thoughts strange opinions .

      lousay it will be sweet , the battle over , to solace the wounded , My dear boy , it will be sweeter" far not to begin the battle at all . It may he very humane to apply the salve after you have dealt the gash—but surely it would he better wisdom , truer humanity , to inflict no hurt . And , in time , men will learn this truth ; they are learning it ; and as I . would not see you in a profession which I trust is speedily becoming bankrupt , you will never , with my consent , purchase into the army . Your affectionate friend , B-6-SJAMIH _AlLrEACF , As a satirist of existing frauds and follies , few , if any , writers of the prest 3 nt day can compete with Douglas _Jerrolu . Ihis volume is another added to the list of his offerings at the shrine of . truth , and will be found an excellent pvonAQ _^ V Of . tuft good OttttSe of right Against wrong ., The letters are illustrated by _Iuesnt Meadows , whose cuts are admirably in keeping with the satire of the author . We earnestly recommend this work to our readers , and hope that it will have an extensive circulation .

      The Penny Novelist, And Library Of Roman...

      THE PENNY NOVELIST , AND LIBRARY OF ROMANCE . Cleave , Shoe-lane , Fleet-street . Have our readers seen this publication i Doubtless some of them ha , ve , but in all probability not near so many as would have done had they been aware of its merits . The i- _ewiu Novelist is no new experiment , the success of which is yet to be tested ; its success is already proven , aa the _louryolumes already published sufficiently testify . The fifth volume is now in course of publication , and will be found fully equal , if not superior , to its predecessors . The most important of the contents of the volumes already published are the translations of Eugene Sue ' s works , wliich are fully and faithfully rendered into English . Of . ' this great writer's works the volumes contain — The Mysteries of Paris ; Paulia Monti , or , the Hotel

      Lambert ; The Salamander ; Arthur , ov , The Journal of an Unknown ,- and The Wandering Jew . This last was commenced in the fourth volume and is continued in the fifth . We _shbuldstate that the Penny Novelist is so printed that at the conclusion of a volume "The Wandering Jew" may be separated from the rest of the publication , each part forming two distinct - works . This is a great advantage to those who may desire to have this singular romance separate from the miscellaneous tales of the Novelist . To attempt the slightest sketch . of the varied and entertaining contents of the : first four volumes , in addition to the works of Eugene Sue , is impossible , so numerous are the romances , novels , tales , die , of this surprising work . The Novelist must be seen to be

      understood—once seen , it cannot fau to be read , arid the reader commencing with it , will , we are certain , never tire of its entertainments . We understand that the work is stereotyped ; and , therefore , that the whole ofthe numbers from the commencement may behad . To those who have not read , but who are desirous of reading " The Mysteries of Paris" and the other works of EuaENE'SuE , we can confidently recommend these volumes , feeling assured that they will give unbounded satisfaction . While those who for the present-are content to read the Wandering Jetv , will do well to procure the backand current numbers containing it . The four volumes already complete may behad , handsomely bound , ofthe publisher . We shall return to a further examination of the Penny Novelist as soon as we can afford room .

      Simmonds's Colonial Magazine-Fj-B. Wo Ha...

      SIMMONDS'S COLONIAL _MAGAZINE-Fj-b . Wo have received this Magazine so late in the month as to render it impossible for us to do more than barely notice it . The present month's number opens with a most important article " On thc Manufacture of Sugar , " being the prize essay by J . F . Caroill , Esq ., to which was awarded thc premium of £ 100 , offered by the Earl of Elqi _" - _* , Governor of Jamaica . The fourth of the valuable essays on " The Whale and Whaling , " by EnvrAUD WaREFIBM ) , Esq .., is given in this number . The truly entertaining ' ¦ Journal of a Voyage to Port Philip " is brought to a close ; it is with regretwe bid farewell

      to so pleasing a writer , but we hope yet to hear , through this _Magazine , something of his experience as a colonial magistrate . The remaining principal articles are , "Australia : Past , Present , andFuture ;" "New Zealand Affairs ; " and " The Annexation of Texas . " We should have much liked to have given some extracts from the article on " Upper California , " but our review page this week-was already occupied before the arrival ofthe Magazine . So far as we have found time to peruse the contents of the present number , it appears to be fully equal to the best of its predecessors , lacking nothing in talent and sound information ; aud not destitute of that variety usually looked for by the reader of the monthlies .

      Evils Eksulting From The Game Laws, Ad»M...

      Evils Eksulting from the Game Laws , AD » m * ssi * D to Youao England—The National Temperance Advocate—The CoxiMUNisr CnROWCLE . These are each , good in their way , and eaeh worthy of perusal . The Communist Chronicle is a monthly publication , edited by Goodwin _Barmbv , and published by B . D . Cousins , No . 18 , Duke-street , Lincoln ' s-inn-fields . _PuniiOA-nOJ-s Received . — -The Christian Mythology Unveiled—TheLondon Entertaining Magazine , parte —The Dungeon Harp—Good ! a Proposition on the National Debt—Thc Atrocities of the _. Dictator Rosas ,

      A Bowl Of " Punch," Fresh Brewed.

      A BOWL OF " PUNCH , " FRESH BREWED .

      "The Health Of The Labourer." The Great ...

      " THE HEALTH OF THE LABOURER . " The great social difficulty that has beset us in the amelioration of the condition of the labourer , is at length solved . To the Duke of Richmond , we believe , is to . bo attributed the happy discovery . Doubtless , when the full success of the plan is made manifest ; when , throughout the length and breadth of England , its wondrous agency ; _is turning the _hpts ofthe labouring poor into abiding-places of substantial comfort- — when it is calling smiles into the labourer ' s cheek , and putting flesh upon his bones , and _giving him the erect bearing and independent look of God s _prihiest work—Man ; then , we doubt it not , other claimants ofthe discovery will rise up , contesting with the Noble Duke of Richmond the originality of that stroke

      of philanthropic genius which hasworlced such blessed wonders . It has been so with the inventor of printing ; with tho discoverer of the motive principle of steam . Be it then our rewarding task at once to claim for Richmond his inalienable right to the gratitude of England ' s labourers . He has discovered the infallible remedy for all their social ills . It is simply tliis : it is to drink their health . Mr . Lane tells us , that the Egyptian magicians enact their greatest wonders with merely a bowl of water . The Duke of Richmond performs his benevolent hociiS'Pocus with a glass of wine ! 0 , it is soothing to the soul , wearied and desponding from a contemplation of the crushing ills that _nress the very manhood out of thousands , to see a

      nobleman—philanthropic as "Prometheus—rise in a . tavern hall ; and with a voice melodious as ten silver ' trumpets , give— "The Health of the Labourer ' . " There is - no mistaking the look , the presence of tho _maiu He is rapt , sublimated by the greatness of his mission ; by the almost divinepowerof his discovery-: " The Health of ike Labourer !" Magical are the _syflaMeal / What are ttiey _. Ma truth , but sis the words of some spirit-compelling wizard—some polUical Frosperp—that are no sooner dropped from the lips ofthe speaker than they ardiise a swarm of genii—working vassals of benevolence _!^ - and away they fly to carry on their wings a . healing balm to thousands and thousands ! So mighty is the necromancy of the toast , that when uttered , it is easy for imagination to behold a very cloud of A'riels

      "The Health Of The Labourer." The Great ...

      rising from the Freemasons' Tavern . East , west , north , and south they separate upon their glad mission . ' Some , carrying loaves—? 0 nlC , meat—S 0111 C , kegs of nut-brown ale—some , new raiment—and ali of them alighting at the labourer's _fiveleas hearth , and calling cheerfulness and hope into his face , and making his gaunt wife and pallid little ones smile at the miracle of sudden plenty , What benevolent magic lies in that little sentence , " The Health of the Labourer ! " It is the " Open Sesame " to the heart of the country . And even when the labourer fails to receive the substantial sweetness of these fairy gifts , it is . plain he is largely benefitted , though all unconsciously , by the magical toast . Therefore , let hini take'heart .

      True it is , he may wither on seven shillings a week ; but then , does not a Duke drink his health ? and such condescension must more than double the miserable stipend . Consider this , 0 labourer ! It is possible that all day you have wanted food—at night you need shelter and firing . There are sullen thoughts clouding your brain ; there is , too , a slow , withering heat at your n ' tals ; night is coining on , and you know not where to lay your head . This , it must be owned , is an uncomfortable plight ; nevertheless , you may shake off the misery like an ugly dream ; for know , you have heeil toasted in a London tavern . Yes ; at the Freemasons' the Duke of Richmond has given— " The Health of the Labourer V '

      You are breaking stones in a Union yard . Let the thought ofthe toast touch your brain with music , and somehow try and hammer on the granite a grateful accompaniment to— " The Health of the Labourer !" Well , labourer , you fall sick ; it may be in the parish of Iver , in Buckinghamshire ; in the county of " the farmer ' s friend . " You are carted to Isleworth , and you ask for bread for yourself and wife You cannot move ; but your wife , poor wretch ! has yet some strength , and so she is ordered to trudge fi _* om Hillingdon to Uxbridge—and from Uxbridge back to' _Ialeworth _, having walked in the cutting winter air , only one-and-twenty miles , before melting charity gives her an order for grocery , price three shillings ' . It is very wearying , it is sickening tO tile

      heart , it is enough to make you call upon death to take you from that despot , fellow-man ; it is ' very wretched for you to wait the return of your wife on her hard pilgrimage of three-and-twenty miles . But take heart ' . Be of good cheer 1 Disease and famine have hold upon you j but let this thought make them powerless—all that can be done , is done for you ; for amidst huvrahs and cheering clamours , somewhere in London , they drink "The Health of the Labourer !" And , labourer , it may be you ave just turned in howling winter time from a comfortable gaol . You were sent thither for straying in search of work , that you might take your wife and offspring ; from the union . ' You could not make out the offence ; but the

      magistrates , hawk-eyed , saw it , ar id you were sent to gaol . -There ; - you slough your "labourer ' s rags , ' and are warmly clothed . Your sentence is suffered , aHd yon are discharged the warm convict clothing is taken from you , and your labourer ' s tatters restored . You shiver at the gaol ' s threshold * , for the icy wind makes you know the difference between the snug garments of a felon and the threadbare IftimWlt" Of a worlring _* _-in 9 . n . Well , you trudge on ; but tou have palpitation at the heart , and it is sore travelling with you . At length you crawl into a wayside hovel ; and with one loaf , in withering December , you fightfamine for three days ; your feet becoming gangrened with the blighting cold . Terrible thoughts must visit you in that lone hovel ; you cannot but hold awful communings with the midnight blast , howling , to your ears , Hie humanity about you . Nevertheless , you ai' _6 not forgotten . No : wrong not

      humanity—landlordhumanity , and all its gushing impulses ; for though you are starving , perishing ; though you are a piece of numbed , mortified , human refuse—a Duke remembers you , and gives " The Health ofthe Labourer !" Aiid , labourer , you crawl from your hovel , and are taken tothe union . You die . You have been killed —murdered—by want and winter's cold . You are at length at peace , * and sleep the sweet sleep of death in a pauper ' s shell . You are carried to the pauper ' s ground ; and whilst the priest utters the words that confound all things in one undistinguished heap of clay—the pomp and the poverty of life , its emblazonments and its miseries ; while he utters " Ashes to ashes , dust to dust , " let your spirit in its upward flight be comforted for those of yonr earthly fellows you have left behind ; for still ,, still will be drank— " The Health of the Labourer !"

      As * some ducal landlords drink the health ofthe labourer while living , so , to make the heartfelt solemnity complete , a Doctor Cantwell should bury him when dead .

      Mmxtt Aim &Lt; 3rt

      mmxtt aim < 3 rt

      A New Jzxoiiie Of Destruction.—A Mr. Bem...

      A New JZxoiiiE of Destruction . —A Mr . Beming , of Jersey , has , we understand , after a lengthened period employed in constructing an electric gun , _sucfeeoded in completinghis object , wliich he denominates a . " siva . " He has exhibited it several times , and demonstrated its amazing effects , which are most destructive . The continuous and vapid flight of balls discharged is scarcely credible . The simplicity of this wonderful work of mechanical art , as a projectile , is such , that it can be easily removed from place to place . It contains within itself the means Of continuing to an indefinite period Its power and capability of destruction . : More Wonderful tiiax Credible . —Some time ago , a paragraph went tiie round ofthe papers mentioning the discovery , by a Swedish doctor , of a means of . preserving animals for ages in a state of torpidity , from which at any tune they could lie brought by certain applications again into active life . The following account , purporting to be -written by an eye-witness , we quote from an American periodical called the Magnet , where it is gravely set forth , without comment , under the head " Extraordinary Discovery : "— " Professor Von Grusselbach , of Stockholm , has very lately brought to a state of perfection the art of producing a torpor ofthe whole system , by the app lication of cold of different degrees of _intensityproceeding from a lesser to a greater , so as to

      , cause the human body to become torpid , without permanent injury to any organ or tissue of the frame . ' In this state , bodies may remain a great number of years , and again , after a sleep of ages , be awakened to existence , as fresh and blooming as they were when they first sunk into their frigoric slumber . The attention of the learned professor was first led to the subject by findinga toad enclosed in a solid fragment of calcareous rock , ten feet in diameter , which , when taken out , shewed unequivocal signs of life ; but it was supposed that the concussion caused by blasting the rock occasioned his death in a few hours after . The opinion of Baron Gruithizen , geologist to tbe King of Sweden , was , that it must have been in that situation for at least seven thousand years ;

      his calculations being drawn from the different layers of _s ! rata by which it was surrounded . From this hint the professor proceeded to make experiments ; and after a laborious course of experiments for the last twenty-nine years , of his life , he has at lastsucceeded in perfecting this great discovery . No less than sixty thousand reptiles , shell-fish , & c , were experimented on , before he tried the human subject . The process is not entirely laid before the publie as yet , but I bad the honour , in company with ia friend , of visiting the professor . I shall give a slight description' of one of the outer rooms , containing some of his preparations . Previous to entering we were each furnished with an india-rubber bag , to whieh was attached a mask with glass eves . This was put on to prevent the

      temperature of the room from being varied in the slightest degree by our breathing . It was a circular room , lighted fromi the top by the sun ' s rays , from wliich the heat was entirely disengaged by . its passage through glass , & c , coloured by the oxide of copper ( a late discovery , and very valuable to thc professor ) . Theroomis shelved all round , and contains nearly one . thousand specimens of animals , < fec . One was a Swedish girl , aged , from appearance , about nineteen years , who was consigned to the professor by order of the Government , to be experimented upon , having been found guilty of murdering her Cliild . With the exception of a slight paleness , she appeared as if asleep , although slie has been in a state of torpor for two years . He intends , he says , to resuscitate her in

      five more years , and convince the world of the soundness of his - wonderful discovery , The professor , to ' gratify us , took a small snake out of Ms cabinet into another room , and although it appeared to us to be perfectly dead and rigid as marble , by application of a mixture of cayenne pepper and brandy , it shewed immediate signs of life , and was apparently as active as ever It was in a few minutes , although the professor assured ns that it had been in a state of torpor for six years . " —This narration is . decidedly inferior to tho clever story about the inhabitants of the ro . 00 n , which emanated from brother Jonathan a few years ago ' . is a veritable scientific discovery . Bnt whether it is to be ranked in the same category , or in that of those truths which are " stranger than fiction , " our readers arc left to determine in _accordance with their various experience and phrenological develop-¦ ¦¦

      ment ? . •' _- '• • _' Restoration of the Portland Vase . — Thepublic and connoisseurs will learn with sincere gratification that this invaluable relic of antiquity , although : so seriously fractured and mutilated _^ considered by Sir Henry Ellis to be capable , to a : certain extent ; of restoration , so as still to remain extant in shape for tno admiration of the world of art . At _^ meeimgof the Society of Antiquaries , on Thursday . evening week , Mr . ' Windus , at the close of the evening , _addi-essmg the members on the subject , said m reference— it was but too true that nothing could _restore to them the vase itself ; but genuine copies had fortunately been made .. '* The late Pichler , the eminent ; engraver of gem ' s struck with its beauty , moulded the Vase at Rome . ' This mould was put into the hands of * Mr . Tassie , and after a certain number ( only a few ) of casts weremade , it was destroyed . Afew of these casts arc extant . The Marquis of Exeter , Sir . A . _PeUatt _. _' and he himself ( Mr . WinduB ) , possess copies . His own he intended Bhortly to exhibit , together with

      A New Jzxoiiie Of Destruction.—A Mr. Bem...

      a cast of the sarcophagus in wliich it was found , at the Polytechnicon . " Sir HenryEllis statedthat the British Museum had also one of _thesecoples , which would , as early as possible / _beoxhibited to thepubhe . The vase , by Wedgewood , it appears , is only a modern copy , and not cast from the original . Sir Heniy Ellis also stated that _tjjc vase had not sustained SO much injury as was expected • that the principal _figures were preserved , and two persons , named Doubleday and Buldock , employed in the Museum , would be able to put it together again .

      M Ms

      m MS

      The Surplice Question. By A Benedict. A ...

      THE SURPLICE QUESTION . By a Benedict . A verv pretty public stir ls making down at Exeter , ' Aboui ; the _surplici- fashion ; AtkI-many'bitter words and rude Have been bestowM upon the feud , And much unchristian passion . Por' me , 1 neither know nor care Whether a parson ought to wear A black dress or a white dress ; FiH'd with a trouble of my own—A wife who preaches in her gown , And lectures in her night-dress . flood ' s _Manci'iwt

      The _iast from Punch . —The Chartist ranks feel _sohigldy indignant at the conduct of one of their late lecturers , that they have determined on sinking a vowel in his name , whicli will render it M'Do-all . O'Conn-bm / s Btol-ism . —That Irishmen commit solecisms , or , as they are commonly termed , "bulls , " is , to use the words of Lord Colchester , when Speaker ofthe House of Commons , on the subject of selling of seats , as " notorious as the sun at noon-day , " but we certainly did not expect to find the " great Agitator" exhibit in one which even Sir Boyle Roche might have envied . While speaking in favour of the resolution preventing the Irish membevs from attending Parliament , he is reported to have said ) " If it were attempted to bring m any measure injurious

      to Ireland , he would feel it his duty to go over and to die on the floor of the House in carrying out a vexatious opposition to it . He would then come back to Ireland , and ask his countrymen , ' Are you for Repeal now V " Although O'ConneU , in his time , has performed many parts , we were not prepared to find that , like the ghost of Mantlet ' s father , his appearance after death may be calculated upon . Suhscouently he said that all the Irish representatives were ready to attend the House if circumstances required , and die at their posts . We think it will be a matter of congratulation to many ofthe tradesmen at . the West-end if some of them remain in Ireland . " Boz" has given an excellent description ofthe partiality of Irish labourers to standing at their pits in St . Giles ' s , but we opine they never had mi idea of

      dying there , unless from the combined effects 013 mllelaps and whisky . If this memorable tragedy is ever to be represented on the floor of the House , we trust Fitzball will be engaged to give the adequate quantum ofblue and red fire , and all other ingredients , to produce a due scenic catastrophe . —Satirist , ¦ * The ( _Juintessenm- * of _( W , —* 'Of all the cants in this canting world , " said Sterne , " though the cant of hypocrites may be the worst , the cant of criticism is the most tormenting . " What then would he have said had lie lived in the present day , to have witnessed the cant of h y pocrisy and fanaticism united ? Messrs . Grissell and I ' eto _haveprencnted every workman on the Brandon line of the Norwich Railway with a Bible and Tracts , and have also engaged five

      missionaries to preach to them on tmnaays , ana other days of the week . Is it during the day , or afterthe men have left work , that they arc preached to ? Messrs . Grissell and 3 ? etohave long been , not only before tbe public , but before committees ot ths Houses of Lords and Commons , for the delay in the re-building of the Parliament Houses ; and that delay was occasioned by tlieir sanction of a system of tyranny into which it is not necessary that we should now enter . As , from circumstances which have come to our knowledge , we have reason to doubt of the presentation , without a corresponding reduction of wages to pay for the books and tbe missionaries , we shall make inquiries on the subject . — Ibid . Cheap _Immortamty . —The destroyer of the

      Portland vase , valued at upwards of one thousand pounds , has . got no more punishment than the smashers of a half-crown pane of glass ; in fact , not so much as the . City smasher , for the right honourable Michael Gibbs has sent some of these gentry to prison for six months , in default of bail . If a man can excite Europe , and hurl to " immortal smash" one of the most beautiful and valuable specimens of antique genius the country can boast of—if he can live in histoiy , be the " observed of all observers , " gain a lasting immortality for the _astonisfc ' ng foiu price of five pounds , or two months' imprisonment , there is little doubt but

      spirited young gentlemen who wish to adorn a page of ( ncwspaper ) . kistory with their exploits , will now go a cheaper way to work ; and since Parliament has passed a bill that has been a " heavy blow and great discouragement" to poppers at her Majesty , will now seek to achieve a deathless fame b y ' aiming at works of art . The aspirants , however , for a niche at Madame Tussaud ' s must not be suffered to obtain it for five pounds . Parliament having passed a special Act to protect her Majesty from potboyism , it had better do as much for works of art , or they may find , when too late , the smasher ofthe Barberim vase will soon havo rivals in the field . —Ibid .

      A . N Orthodox Finish . * — The illness under which the respected Bishop of Ely is labouring is , wc perceive , apoplexy , which is reckoned the most orthodox disease tor a" Bishop at any time , and therefore highly becoming his sacred' " order . " When the time arrives , as it must , for a Bishop to be translated tothe heavenly world , it is perhaps best that the attack which is to seKil them to paradise be sudden and speedy , inasmuch as such spiritually-minded men can have no" reason-to dread being cut off in the "blossom of their sins , " or brought to a quick account , seeing that , unlike the present Lord Mayor , they are naturally always prepared for such contingencies , A short cut to the realms of bliss must be the best in the case of a Bishop . —Ibid . Kicked the Bucket . _Heta lies Joan Kitchen ; when her glass was _spunt , She kicked up her heels , and away she went .

      American _ToMnsTOxn . — " Sacred to the remains of Jonathan Thompson , a pious Christian and an affectionate husband . His disconsolate _^ widow continues to carry on tlietripc-and-trottor business at the same place as before Ms bereavement . " The Saixts Ashamed . —Two cardinals found faidt with Raphael for having in one _e'liis pictures given too florid a complexion to St . Peter and St Paul . " . Gentlemen , " replied the artist , ill pleased with the criticism , " don't be surprised , I pamt them just as they look in heaven . They are blushing with shame to see the Church below so badly governed . " Public Baths fob the Poon —From time immemorial England has been a maritime nation , but at present she displays her affection for the sea with redoubled energv . The temperance movement is enough to convince any man ofthe futility of asking on all occasions for a go of rum or a go of any other spirituous liquor , when lie must reflect within himself that now-a-oavs water ' s " all the go . " And when

      we remember , likewise , that legislators are proverbial for treating the people like so many pigs , we cannot be surprised-at . their at length proposing to erect _washhouses for their convenience . This is refined satire . The notion of presenting a half-starving population with tanks to bathe in , and soap and water to scour their clothes with , is in fact tantamount to oftering a man " a glass of water with the chill off and a cinder in it . "—Great Gun . _Cunious Dress . — - _*» member of Parliament _writeB thus to the Times last week : — " Please to mention that I attended the great agricultuvalmeeting in one your earliest impressions . " —iMd . ' Sir E . _Kx-vroHmnx is to be raised to the peerage , by which elevation the excellent baronet hoped to get rid of his not very euphonious name . And 80 he will but that wicked wag , Sir Robert Peel , has insisted on creating him Lovd Bullock Smithy , of Bullock Smitbv , in the county of where is it ? So Sir Edward thinks ' his . hatfits him as well as his coronet could do .

      —( _h-eat Gun . Character in a Laugh . —How much of character is there in a laugh ? You know no man till you have beard him laugh—till you know when and UOW he will laugh . There are occasions—there are humours when a man with whom we have been long familiar shall quite startle and repel us _byto-eakrog out into a laugh which comes manifestly right from his heart , and which yet we had never heard colore . Even in fair ladies with , whom I have been much pleased I have remarked the same thing . _ As in many , a heart a sweet angel slumbers unseen till some happy moment awakens it , so there _laleeps often in gracious and amiable , characters . deep in the back ground a . quite vulgar spirit , which . _starts into , life when something rudely comical penetrates into , the less frequented chambers ofthe mind . — Blacfovood's Magazine . - " -

      E \ _TBAonw . _vABy N . UH . ATIVE .. —Thei / am ' jon ( Texas ) Times contains a series of remarkable papers- under the following title , viz : " The Female Warrior : an interesting narrative of the suffering , singular and surprising adventures of Miss Leonora Siddons , who ; led on by patriotism , joined the Texan army under Gem ; Houston , fought in the ever memorable battle of San Antonio , where she , after seeing all her comrades slain , was shot down and left for dead . Recovering the following morning , she was captured by the Mexicans ,-conveyed on board the shin St .

      Juan , from which she attempted to escape , with the surgeon in a storm , but being soon missed from the ship , they were pursued by six men in a boat , overtaken ; and after a terrible struggles , she was recaptured ) taken to Vera-Cruz , tied behind a cart , aiid made to walk from there ( barefooted ; over burnin" sand , and beneath-the tropical sun ) to the city of Mexico , a distance of ever 250 miles , where she was thrown into prison , ; from- whence she escaped , made a voyage to sea , and returned to her friends in this , country in March-last . -Full' and interesting particulars written by herself" i ! : ' ; " . ' - "

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 22, 1845, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_22021845/page/3/