Page images
PDF
EPUB

To the Hon. the Lady Provost of Glasgow.

MY LADY,

We, the subscribers, residing in Glasgow and its vicinity, request your Ladyship will call a Public Meeting of the Matrons, Spinsters, and all those Ladies of Glasgow who take an interest in such matters, to be held on an early day, to take into consideration the state of manners in the community, and the propriety of erecting a wall of separation between the genteel and vulgar classes of society.

We are, my Lady, Your Ladyship's obedient servants,

DEBORAH DRYSALTER.
BARBARA BAKER.
CATHARINE CONSERVE.
MATILDA MUSCOVADO.

DOROTHEA MACDRUGGET,

TABITHA MAC TWIST.

GRACE GINGHAM.

ANASTASIA MACLAPPET.

CECILIA CIGAR.

BETHEA BOTTLEBLOWER.

MARY MAC NOTAR.

AUGUSTA MARIA WILHELMINA MACLINEN.

LARGS REGATTA, BY A LANDSMAN.-No. III.

"The Graces! the Graces! remember the Graces!"

CHESTERFIELD.

I was exceedingly chagrined by my last misfortune. I began to doubt, if the ladies were, really, so beautiful, or the gentlemen so polite; for, when on bad terms with myself, I generally find I am disposed to be on very indifferent terms with other people.

Whilst I was in this amiable mood, my respected friend Mr. Reef, senior, who, although he could not dance, because of his wooden leg, yet was on his legs all the evening, was enjoying the scene with an almost youthful vivacity. Observing me moody and solitary, he sought a companion for me, and soon introduced me to a gentleman, "a particular friend," as he was pleased to denominate him. I would, much rather, have been left to my own meditations. However, after the usual salaams, we commenced conversation. "Pray, Sir," said I, "who is the awkward creature, so curiously dressed, and so conceited, who leans on the gentleman's arm at the opposite side of the room?" He hesitated.

"Um-a-why, Sir, to tell you the truth, that is my sister." This was a damper, indeed—so I fixed my eyes on the colours at the end of the apartment, looked vacant, and pretended not to hear him. A few minutes elapsed, during which time we criticised the dress of one of the gentlemen present, and our taste seemed entirely to agree. But the fair sex was still in my head. A lady attempted to look agreeable as she passed my companion"who," I exclaimed, "is that ugly and forward woman?" "Zounds, Sir!" cried my companion, "that, Sir, is my wife!" Here my former tactics would not do. I was now obliged to apologize in good earnest. This had, already, been a dark day in my pilgrimage, but my evil genius had not yet forsaken me.

A smile of recognition from a very sweet face, overturned all my doubts regarding the beauty of the ladies, and, as I flattered myself, its owner had entered the room after my late exhibition of awkwardness, I went boldly towards her, and, presenting my kidded hand, I received such a hearty shake, that it elevated me more than I had been during the evening.

ner,

She was one of those warm hearted creatures altogether without artifice, that we so very seldom meet, and, as from her manI flattered myself she was not entirely indifferent to me, I concluded that fortune, tired of her persecutions, was now smiling on my path. My companion, occasionally, cast longing looks towards the dancers, but I carefully eschewed the interpretation of them, and, indeed, "the Elysian dreams of lovers when they love," presented, so many "words that burned," and visions of fancy and of feeling, that, at length, neither of us seemed inclined to separate even during the short intervals of the quadrille. Her's was a face one does not easily forget, and, if I had now the mellow pencil of a Lawrence, I could, even yet, trace her every feature. In height she was rather under, than above

the middle size. Her hair was neither dark nor light, but that effective middle tint that harmonizes so well with a countenance, rather pale than rosy, and, which is so frequently the concomitant, of a modest and gentle disposition. Her brow was a tower of ivory. Her eyes were set with that indescribable effect which is so remarkable in the Greek statues, and which is so full of sentiment and feeling. Her chin and mouth were perfect in proportion and expression-altogether she was, indeed, a charming creature. Her hand so white, so small and sylphlike, lay gracefully on the arm of the sofa, nearest where I sat. We were in a retired corner of the room. Its fair owner was steadily gazing on the dancers. Could I resist? No! I ventured to attempt to kiss it, and I knew it must be done quickly. Down went my head, when, at the very moment, she unconsciously raised her hand, having in it a small Chinese fan, it entered my right eye, and, for five minutes, I suffered intense pain. Huge basons of burning copper waxed and waned before me; I thought on my unpaid subscription to the Glasgow Eye Infirmary, and the resources of the blind in the new Institution. The tears at length came flowing down from the wounded optic, and afforded me relief, whilst conscious I had intended wrong, I kept the uuwounded side of my face to my fair friend, and endeavoured to throw into it an expression of pleasure. Heraclitus and Democritus in one physiognomy, the laughing and crying philosopher in my face at the same time!

"Surely fortune, now thou wilt leave off thy persecution of me, who, most earnestly, woos thy smiles," I mentally prayedbut no, that fan! that fan! was still destined to be the cause of torment.

Having, successfully, concealed my tears, my partner and I proceeded to the very thickest of the ball. I saw my fair one wished to dance, and "corragio," I cried, "I'll request her to be my partner." Her fan, at this moment, fell. I saw one of the stewards and two of the Club, rushing, with all their might, to have the honour of presenting it to my loved one-could I permit this? No! So I rushed, with greater alacrity, than they, and, for the same object of course. I suddenly stooped down, stretching every muscle to lay hold of it, when

[ocr errors]

"Quis talia fando,"

my tights gave way, "we must not say where," and though I involuntarily placed both hands in a situation to cover my disgrace, a burst of laughter, from the whole company, completed my discomfiture. My fair partner vanished in a moment! The first gentleman who spoke to me, enquired, "if I had increased my landed property lately?" I stood silent. "Because," said he, you are encreasing your rents." Even old Reef, the confounded old fellow, could not be silent, but, in his man-of-war dialect, expressed his regret that I had sprung my Transom. I hastened to the door, when meeting one of the stewards I apologised for leaving the ball-room so early, but he said, "all apo. logy was unnecessary, as all the company saw my end in retiring."

REVERIE OF A MAN OF GENIUS.

"Quoque per inventas vitam excoluere per artes."

YES, it is somewhat consolatory to reflect, though none of my discoveries have yet elicited a tithe of the approbation which they merit, that their very peculiarities evince them to result from an inventive talent of no ordinary kind. Human intellect must be at a very low ebb, indeed, when it is incapable of duly estimating the efforts of genius. 'Tis true, no one can appreciate my discoveries, as I am taught to do, by the infinite labour which some of them cost before being brought to that state of perfection in which I could look upon them with the utmost satisfaction; but even our famed Society of Arts not to perceive the practicability of my cloud conductor !! Their discretion, however, in acknowledging that I was an eccentric, was something; and, se far, I honour them for their candour. Yes, I glory in the title-Davy was an eccentric, Newton was an eccentric. In short, all deviated from the common herd whose great names, like so many luminaries, add a lustre to the intellectual firmament, and where, thank my stars, there is still room for another.

"Full many a flower is born to blush, unseen,

And waste its sweetness in the desert air."

Ah! there is no flower like that of genius, and none so much neglected. It appears to be a law of nature that fortune should smile upon the rogue and the fool, and allow the son of genius

to famish upon the bare curiosity of an ungrateful public, until his sublime intelligence, like an ill-used ghost, spurns its claybuilt tenement, and speeds away to a more genial, than its terrestrial sphere. Beautiful! Egad I'll publish a "Chameleon," and dedicate it to Cribdotha. As there are some exceptions, however, to this pitiable fate of genius, I am determined I shall take care to be one of them. Even at the expense of talent will I aim at the filling of my pockets; after which, the immortal honour due to vast and momentous discoveries will follow, of course. I am free to declare that the world, when it beholds me enjoying the rewards of my labour, will acknowledge me to be the first genius who ever was a wise man. How it laughs at the starvling poets and scranky philosophers, whose very souls seem to peep out through their bodies.

How the Royal Society will stare at my solution of that problem which will give the long established system of elemental philosophy an irrecoverable shock! Twill be some consolation for the chagrin I lately felt, when my proposal of dividing, equally, among all classes, the whole property of the nation, met with no better reception than a grin. Little are people aware of the blessings that would result from such an equality. Every clamorous reformer would then be as happy as a king; and I, my single self, would have the sole honour of the change. O, I must lay my proposal before the public now that they are ripe for such a thing. Indeed, I am ever making some valuable discovery, though the utility of those heretofore, alas! for the world, it has not had perspicuity enough to discern. So all my delightful theories, too refined and too complex for the vulgar conception, like the hidden treasures of an undiscovered mine, have never been beheld by their own light. 'Tis a dark age this-a most degenerate age! and I am the sufferer. But 1 shall not sink into oblivion. A better day is at hand in which my now obscure name will be enrolled, in golden letters, in the annals of fame. How depressing to the noble spirit of genius is the neglect of that great dunce the World, who progresses so rapidly in the "march of intellect," that has become as giddy as a boarding-school miss in her first trip by a rail-road. 'Tis to be hoped that it will, ere long, open its eyes to the value of real merit. O, these, in verity, will be the golden days; and I hope to enjoy them long before reaching what is called the wane of life, in spite of the insinuations of some of my young friends, that I am a bachelor already. O horrible, preposterous, degenerate notion! Because, forsooth, I am not foppish, nor frolicsome, but carefully avoid every thing unbecoming a man of intellect. But, let me tell such base, unprincipled detractors, that I neither wear a wig, nor am I much turned of fifty! and who will presume to say, any man is a bachelor, properly so called, till he be past the prime of life!! O, I wish I had beat that young puppy to death with my walking cane, when he hinted so of me in Cribdotha's presencethough I believe his confessing, he only meant that I was a smart young bachelor like himself, was the only thing which saved his bones from my fury. Yet people should have a special care against shocking one's more tender feelings.

It

O, Cribdotha! thou little knowest what is waiting thee! is needless to imagine that there is the least probability of this invention failing of success. How enraptured Cribdotha will be, when she knows it was discovered on her account! and how much im its favour is the atmosphere of this city-seldom a clear, dry, cal m, bright, sunny day, from January to December; but, rain, ra in, rain, morning, noon, and night. O, I like to see nothing better, excepting my dear Cribdotha; for, without the rain, what would become of my invention, and then my bright prospects would once more be clouded. What mighty consequences result from apparently insignificant causes! An apple falling led to the discovery of the law which guides the planets in their course; and had it not been for the blattering and blustering of the rain and wind t'other day, when I witnessed the lady's bonnet twitched off her head by the little round gentleman, when attempting to hold his umbrella high enough to let her pass, ten thousand to one I had never made the discovery. And though I do not flatter myself with having accomplished what was impossible, I have certainly hit upon a most delightful invention. Well might I mutter to myself, as I shuddered from top to toe, that if I had been the little fat gentleman, and Cribdotha the unfortunate lady, or had I done so yester-morning, when I brushed past, pretending not to see her, lest she would speak to me when my asthma was so bad, I would not, no, I could not have set the value of my small toe against my interest in her future smiles. I never more would have dared to look either her or her sweet, pretty, little, darling pet, as she calls her great Tom puss, in the face. Tom is, indeed, my rival; but, what of that! he is the only one; and, as cats can't last for ever, he will soon be as blind as a bat, and fusty as an old bachelor; while I will just be in the prime of life -fresh and fair, sound and sixty! Then Cribdotha will turn all her doating upon me! Oh, sweet-sweet-sweet charming creature! Hem, hem!

O, soft and light as a gossamer's web

Is my heart, when it bounds to Cribdotha's smile;

And a fire-fly's tale is not half so red

As the glow that plays on her cheek the while.

For she's fair and bland, as the sweet autumn morn,

When it all the blue sky is adorning;
And blushes just like the sun when too soon

He has risen in a cold winter morning.

Ugh, I have no voice for singing just now; this asthma almost stops my breath. The lady's head, too! Oh! if I thought Cribdotha had such a head, I would go mad. When her bonnet fell off, such a little round skull thinly set with reddish grey hair, presented itself. The long auburn ringlets, which hung so gracefully from her brow but a minute before, appeared now to no more advantage than if they had been decking a peruke-maker's block. Well, for me, I furled my umbrella that instant, and vowed never again to tempt the winds and fate with a thing so dangerous; for it was this which set my imagination a-soaring, and led to the important discovery of my patent umbrella. The cover will turn round the staff delightfully, from the nice construction of the top; and all risk will be avoided of uncovering a fair lady's caput in the ungraceful manner I witnessed, or even of tearing her veil, or poking out her beau's eye. O, reason! thou art the noble pillar of true majesty in man! O, Cribdotha! nothing is wanting to make us happy! No wonder my umbrella-maker was struck dumb with admiration, and unable sufficiently to express his approval of my plan, when I discovered to him its utility. I think I was not long in putting in practice his hint of obtaining a patent for it. His suggestion, too, of the propriety of giving him an order to make a few hundreds, was exceedingly kind. It will bring riches immediately. O! I am already on the wing of fame! It will now be Mr. Philosophus Thumpet's patent umbrella, instead of Sir Humphry Davy's safety lamp. Now I have succeeded in an invention which the world shall behold, and, beholding, will admire. What have I to do, but instantly set about taking a dwelling in the city, for Cribdotha and myself, with a good perspective of the Trongate, hoping that we may still be blessed with constant rain; and then the delight of sitting all day long at the window, and seeing the umbrellas whirling round like so many .spinning jennies. O it will be a grand universal whirlosity of patent umbrellas!!!

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

Ir is certain, that the gloomiest prospect presents nothing so chilling as the aspect of human faces in which we try, in vain, to trace one corresponding expression; and the sterility of nature itself is luxury compared to the sterility of human hearts, which communicates all the desolation they feel.-Maturin.

The life of the happy is all hopes-that of the unfortunate, all memory.-Maturin.

A CLASSICAL HORSE-DEALER.-A horse-dealer in the Athenian city of Oxford, who is familiarly designated Squeaker Bill, lately made an addition to his stud of two tine horses, to which he assigned the classical cognomina of Xerxes and Artaxerxes. A gentleman commoner having demanded of him his "exquisite reason" for so doing, he replied, "Why you see as how when I drives tandem, I make Xerxes my leader, and puts the other in the shafts, and so I calls him Arter-Xerxes."

TALENTS IN A NAPKIN.-A gentleman once introduced his son to Rowland Hill, by letter, as a youth of great promise, and as likely to do honour to the University of which he was a member; "but he is shy," added the father, "and idle, and I fear buries his talents in a napkin." A short time afterwards the parent, anxious for his opinion, enquired what he thought of his son? "I have shaken the napkin," said Rowland Hill, "at all corners, and there is nothing in it.”—Diamond Mayazine.

GIARDINI, (whose popularity in England at one period nearly equalled that of Paganini now,) had, notwithstanding the brilliancy of his execution, but small pretension to musical seience. When somebody told Dr. Boyce that he professed to teach composition in twenty lessons, "All that he knows," sarcastically replied the Doctor, "he might teach in ten."

GLASGOW GOSSIP.

THE Literary men in this part of the world were all in agitation last week, by the production of a poetical gem that appeared Such in a contemporary, under the modest signature of D. B. was the interest excited, that a committee of subscribers are said to have waited upon the master-spirit of the New Exchange Room, for the purpose of having it publicly read.

The late dinner in Blythwood Hill, where the chandelier was destroyed, turned out a breakfast.

LONDON THEATRICALS.

From our London Correspondent.

THE opera of Rob Roy has been always a particular favourite of mine, and the other night I saw it enacted in a style, at Drury Lane, which I have seldom seen equalled. MACREADY appeared in his original character of Macgregor, which he renders a fine, bold, and altogether splendid piece of acting; and its representation in other hands is either weak by comparison, or ridiculous by imitation the first position of which refers more particularly to Warde, and the latter to Cooper; both of whom I have seen in the part. Mr. Wood who has been ill all the week, has been the means of introducing Mr. Templeton in several of those characters which I presume he calls his own. I may merely say that I think the change is for the better, Templeton having the sweetest male voice on the stage, and being a much finer musician than Mr. Wood now is, or ever will be. He sung the airs given to Francis Osbaldiston in the most finished style, and his entire performance was received with that favour which is always due to excellence and modest merit. Many persons cry down Harley's Baillie, and, by way of absurdity, cry up Liston's; but, I must confess I like the former best. It has less buffoonery, and more genuine dry humour, which is certainly more characteristic of the wary weaver of Glasgow, as drawn by the matchless author of the novel from which the drama is taken. The injunction, viz.-"Let your clown say no more than is set down for him," should be strictly attended to, and this Mr. Liston invariably violates, and Mr. Harley pretty generally adheres to. The true distinction of talent lies far more in raising a laugh out of the good joke of the author, than out of the slang puns of a greenMajor Galbraith was performed by BEDFORD, and, barring a little too much breadth now and then, was about the best done thing in the play. Mr. THOMPSON, in Captain Thornton, looked as dull and uninteresting as a legitimate November fog. There is no penetrating him, and he wanders and gapes about as if he were really in one. Mr. PERRY was the very worst Owen ever exhibited before a row of gas lights, and RUSSELL was just one shade better in Dougal. But how shall I characterize the exertions of Mrs. Woon, who made Diana Vernon what many singers would not condescend to do-a prominent feature. She introduced two extra ballads with great effect; and in one of them, "Here's a health, bonny Scotland, to thee," was vociferously applauded, and only escaped an encore by the interposition of one half of the audience. I never heard this songstress in better voice, and never saw an audience in better humour for relishing her singing. Mrs. SALMON performed Meg Merrylees, with about as much energy as a tomtit could muster. Notwithstanding the minor defects alluded to, I think I have said enough to convince you, who was not there, that had you been, and witnessed the united exertions of Macready, Harley, Templeton, Bedford, and Mrs. Wood, you would have been quite as much entertained as I was.

room.

The piece of "My own Lover," announced at Drury Lane for performance, is from the pen of GEORGE RODWELL, who, both in the capacity of author and composer, is a man of very considerable ability.

Notwithstanding the many reports to the contrary, I may tell you that Robert le Diable is in a most forward state at Drury Lane Theatre. When George Colman heard that Bishop had slept a night or two at Calais, and mentioned as a reason for so doing, the difficulty of procuring a "Diligence," he observed, that he certainly ought to have got one somewhere, because he used NONE of HIS OWN. His most gracious Majesty is still at Brighton, and so is little Moses Poole, living in great style on the profits of the Dominique-and "so much for" the drama, till I next write you.

FOREIGN LITERARY INTELLIGENCE. DUTCH literature has just sustained a severe loss by the death of the celebrated Poet BILDERDYKE. He was buried on the 23d The ult. with great pomp, in the principal church of Haarlem. intellectual powers and varied erudition of this poet, were not more remarkable than the purity of his life and the warmth of his benevolent affections. Throughout his whole writings there runs a sober, serious, and pious spirit; a spirit which, may be truly said, has tended not a little to re-awaken the energies of his distinguished predecessors, Vondel and Cats.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

"N. N's." communication has been received, and will appear in the course of a few days.

We have received "The Beachers." It is smart and satirical, but we cannot insert it without the name and address of its author.

"P." has taken much trouble in sending us "Piper's news." A friend recommends to our attention the question regarding the New Exchange railing. Although not given to irony, we shall discuss it to-morrow.

The first of a series of Articles on Portugal under Miguel, from the pen of an eye-witness of his atrocities, will appear to

morrow.

TO OUR READERS.

WE are now entering upon our third week's labour, and we caunot allow the opportunity to pass without returning our most sincere thanks to the public for their kind and increasing patronage. We are in hopes that we have now made such arrangements as to insure our readers being in possession of our Journal by nine o'clock, which at this season of the year may at least be accounted a good breakfast hour.

We would likewise take this opportunity of thanking our contemporaries of the Press for their kind notice of our labours, and especially of assuring THE SCOTSMAN and THE GLASGOW HERALD, who have each shown so much kindness towards us, that it will be our endeavour ever to retain, by increased exertions, the good opinion which they have formed of the first steps which we have made in our literary career.

[blocks in formation]

THE DAY,

A MORNING JOURNAL OF LITERATURE, FINE ARTS, FASHION, &c.

VELUTI IN SPECULO.

GLASGOW, TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1832.

THE RECENT CONDEMNATION-STIRRET'S

CASE.

No trial has occurred in Glasgow, for many years, in the issue of which the public has expressed a deeper interest, than that of the unhappy lad who was lately condemned for the murder of his aunt Mrs. MacGibbon. The respectability of the poor old woman whose life was so inhumanly curtailed-the simple and harmless tenor of her general character-the intimate relation in which she stood to her destroyerthe many proofs which she had exhibited of her interest in his welfare, and of her desire to promote his permanent settlement in the world-have all combined to invest the lamentable history of her death, with a deeper drapery of horror than usually surrounds even the most revolting of human crimes: and yet, even now that the result is known, and that the community is assured that justice will be vindicated, there has succeeded to the primary emotion of indignation, a strong feeling of sympathy. How is this inconsis

tency to be accounted for? There are specialities in the case, and these we shall endeavour calmly to review.

The boy Stirret was adopted by Mrs. M'Gibbon, and educated as her child, but it would appear that he is not the only member of a family in which insanity is hereditary, but that he has always been regarded as a weak, and imbecile person. His look, gait, and manner, were strongly confirmatory of this impression, and were indicative of what is colloquially known in Scotland by the name of " a want." It comes, therefore, to be a question of grave consequence to ascertain, whether the deficiency was such as to entitle him to the general immunity from moral responsibility, which in all civilized countries has been extended to such as are afflicted with the heaviest of all calamities. On this point the testimony is peculiarly conflicting; but, after the most patient consideration which we have been able to give to the exculpatory evidence, we regret to say, that, we do not consider it satisfactory. Weakness of intellect was clearly proved, but, as was well observed by one of the most respectable medical witnesses, there was no unequivocal proofs, either in his general conduct, or his occasional conversations, of disease of the understanding; and the distinction is a very important one. He was, obviously, not a man to whose judgment anything could have been safely con'fided, even in the common business of the world; but he was not so bereft of understanding as not to be able to conduct any ordinary process of life, when instructed how it was to be done. After the death of her husband, his aunt entrusted him with the manage

The above paper should have appeared in an earlier number, but its publication was postponed, at the request of the legal advisers of the unhappy lad to whom it relates. A reprieve having reached Glasgow, we are no longer compelled, by a deference to the feelings of others, to delay publication. We have only to add, that we have heard of nothing which could induce us to alter the views which we originally took of this interesting trial. We have no sanguinary appetites to gratify; but, when we reflect on the alarming fact, that four instances of atrocious murder have occurred in Edinburgh and Glasgow alone, during the last nine months, in which the plea of insanity has been urged in bar of execution, we think it high time that the attention of society should be called to this delicate question.

ment of her affairs, and it is worthy of remark that when his functions as her deputy were suspended→ which they often were during the last eighteen months -it was not on the ground of natural incapacity, but on the ground of bad and immoral habits. The appellation daft, by which, it seems, he was distinguished by the children in the neighbourhood, and on which considerable stress was laid at the trial, is too vague in its meaning to be received as an element in so nice a calculation as the extent of mind which any individual may be supposed to possess. It is a term of degree, but not an epithet of absolute signification, and is used in the common speech of the country in a loose and varying sense. It may mean a person distinguished by some eccentricities of habit and manners, or one utterly destitute of reason a born ideot; but, in Stirret's case it could not mean the latter, for he was not an idiot, and, consequently, if it meant anything at all, it must have signified the former. It is probable, however, that the urchins who employed it had no very precise notion of what it implied, and used it as a term of annoyance to a weak lad, who was sensible to petty vexations. It was not proved on the trial that he was the subject of any fixed delusion, nor does it unequivocally appear that he ever laboured under a decided paroxysm of mania; yet the tendency to maniacal fury, when he was under the influence of foreign excitement, was pretty fairly made out, and it seemsto be indisputable, that he had oftener than once attempted to destroy himself. This is the strong part of the evidence in his favour and we have no doubt it would have operated so far beneficially, as to have procured a modification of the sentence of the court, had not the circumstances connected with the commission of the murder utterly destroyed its weight. In the form of madness called periodical insanity there are intervals of greater or longer duration between the paroxysms; and the integrity of the remission is generally estimated by its length. If it be for days only, the presumption is against its completeness-if it be for weeks, the presumption that the malady has suffered a positive suspension is greatly increased-and if it extend to months or years, what was in the other cases merely presumption is converted into proof. Now, as it does not appear that this lad was ever positively insane, and as all that can be alleged is, that he occasionally, and at indeterminate, and distant periods, exhibited indications of disordered intellect, we cannot see, we confess, that this, strong though it be, amounts to anything like demonstration of actual madness at the time the deed was done. The mere act of destroying a helpless and unsuspecting being, who had so many claims on his tenderness and protection, we are bound to believe, for the sake of humanity, was the result of a sudden maniacal impulse; but the same thing may be said of every wretch who imbrues his hands in the blood of a fellow creature. Besides, how shall we account for all the indications of purpose, which the horrid transaction displays? If a maniac destroys life, he is satisfied, and neither seeks to elude apprehension, nor to abstract property. His vengeance has been appeased by the sacrifice which has been made to it, and though the act be often premeditated, and the opportunity for carrying it into effect cunningly watched, the distressing draina is closed when it is per

petrated. The knife is not withdrawn, washed, and secreted. The body of the victim to imaginary wrongs is not cleansed from gore, and decently laid out; and the whole proceeding, however shocking it may be, bears unequivocal marks of having been designed, and executed by a creature over whose mind reason has lost its empire. But in Stirret's case it was not so. Whatever may have impelled him to it, the murder was done with deliberate and merciless cruelty, and what is more, it was done for a given end. The house was rifled of the few valuables it possessed, which were conveyed to a miscreant who paid the murderer a price for them. In all this we can recognise no evidences of insanity, as that term is generally used, and much as it grieves us to arrive at so dreadful a conclusion, we are bound in justice to the living, and the dead, to declare, that, in our opinion the verdict of the jury, and the judgment of the court, cannot be impugned.

one.

There is no crime which, in its immediate and contingent effects, is so hurtful to the best interests of society, as murder; and, delicate though the ground be, we must add, that there is none in which the rigid demands of justice can be less safely departed from. The principle which relieves an individual from the usual moral responsibilities, who has ceased to be answerable to the laws of reason, is a beautiful evidence of the triumph of civilization over one of the least equivocal requisitions of the heart, which naturally demands that life shall only be bought with life; but were it once received as an axiom that every weak or incapable person might with impunity raise his hand against his fellow-man, a door would be opened for the commission of crime which would inevitably end in the total disruption of social life. If it be necessary to curb the passions of a violent man, it must be equally so to restrain the irregular feelings of a weak In neither case is it any extenuation to say, that habitual drinking, operating on a susceptible temper, was the immediate cause of error, since this would only be adding to the liability to perpetrate villany, the sin of a vice, which every man has it in his power to avoid if he will. Earl Ferrars was hanged for the murder of his servant, though it was clearly proved that he was choleric to madness, and when under the influence of wine, quite ungovernable; and unless it be meant that drunkenness shall be esteemed one of the seven virtues which save a man from perdition, we cannot comprehend how society is to be held together, if such be not the fate of all who follow in his footsteps. If a poor and miserable Irishman, who never heard of moral responsibility as applied to the crime of which he has been found guilty-or who, if he ever did hear of it, is incapable from ignorance, of appreciating its importance-be put to death for passing a forged note of the value of twenty shillingswhat shall we say to the reasoning which would declare him unaccountable for his actions-who has destroyed a fellow creature, merely because his history exhibits various mental peculiarities which disqualify him from being placed in the category of wise men or fools? To violate the humane enactment which places an insane person under the immediate protection of the laws, be his conduct ever so unruly, would be to injure society in the tenderest point; but it is especially necessary, when considering so melancholy an occurrence as that which has occupied us in this paper, to remember that the privilege may be prejudicially extended, and, from a faulty lenity, may be made to comprehend cases in which the effects of momentary passion, or gross cupidity, are mistaken for evidences of deranged mind.

In making these remarks we beg our readers to recollect that we are not prejudging the case of an unfortunate man, whose actions have placed him within the pale of the law. So far as Stirret is concerned, the world is virtually closed upon him, and the reasonings of the men who live in it, can have no effect upon

his fate, which is now sealed; but we conceive it to be our duty, as in some measure the guardians of public feeling, to examine a delicate case of this sort upon general grounds, and to decide upon it without reference to the influence which such decision may have over the fortunes of any individual whatever.

PORTUGAL UNDER MIGUEL.

When force invades the gift of nature, life,

The eldest law of nature bids defend:
And if, in that defence, a tyrant fall,
His death's his crime, not ours.

DRYDEN'S DON SEBASTIAN.

THE following is the first of a series of papers on Portugal upder Miguel, which we have received from a military gentleman in London, the eyewitness of many of the well known atrocities which have characterised his cruel and tyrannical reign. As the gentleman who writes them has had the best opportunities of being intimately conversant with this subject, we need scarcely suggest to our readers, that the statements and deductions which he makes, will be found infinitely more sound and valuable than any of those which are, for the most part, given by writers personally unacquainted with Portugal, with its parties, its politics, and its wants. Our correspondent is master of these, and, being gifted with sound sense and a just discernment, is well calculated for the task he has undertaken. Let us merely add, that whatever warmth of expression he may fall into in discussing this subject, may be pardoned, when the cruelties which have been shewn to so many of his owu friends and to the best friends of Portugal are fairly weighed and considered :

It is as painful, as it is remarkable to observe, the little interest excited in this country, by an event now in progress, big with importance not only to the cause of liberty in general, but involving the fate of a nation for ages so intimately connected with our own, as to have acquired the designation of our most ancient ally.

The attempt which the heir of the House of Braganza is about to make to recover his sceptre from the grasp of an unnatural brother, who has usurped it-who stole it as a thief in the night, and has swayed it in the midst of bloodshed and terror-will be made, ere another summer, and at this moment the hearts of thousands beat high with hope. Some in the dungeons of the tyrant, without accusation, without trial, and without a crime. Some, still more wretched, hid for years in the recesses of their homes, starting at every footstep, and hearing, in every wind, the breath of the blood-hounds in search of Othem. thers scattered over the world in exile, and all, until now, reduced to despair. These, by a successful result, will be restored to happiness-Portugal, to which nature has been so bountiful, where the vine grows spontaneous on the rock, and the olive on the mountain top, will resume her rank amongst civilized nations. Under a young Queen, educated in Constitutional principles, confidence will be restored, capital and commerce will return, abuses will be reformed-with the liberty of the press and freedom of discussion, the ignorant will be instructed, a degenerate nobility and a profligate Church, will be brought to the bar of public opinion. It is not, however, Portugal alone, that will be regenerated. From experience we may presume, that what Portugal is, Spain must be. The shout of freedom in the one country has always sent its echoes through the other. The stream of the Guadiana is not wide enough to divide despotism from liberty. Away with the prevailing cant that the people of the Peninsula are not fit for free institutions. Did not the Constitutions of 1820, remain unshaken until 1823, when the boasted grandson of Saint Louis, at the head of a French army, swept them away. It is the only triumph he has to brood over at Holyrood. Let him enjoy it now if he can !

It is a curious fact, that Portugal owes her actual degradation to two countries, the only strongholds of liberty in Europe. She owes it, in the first instance, to the French, in 1823, and again, the new Constitution of 1826 received its death-blow from the influence of a British Ministry. It can be shewn that Don Miguel, an exile at Vienna, would never have been admitted into Portugal, had he not come under the auspices of England, His

« PreviousContinue »