for a Judgegentlemen, who whatever may be their faults--are no doubt actuated, in the discharge of their high duties, solely by the most upright integrity and zeal.

As the practice now stands, there is no check-or, at least, but a very slender one-to the dictum of the Grand Juror;-and as his decisions have reference solely to criminal cases,—we must think, that a Military Jury is not the best qualified in the world to try the point at issue. Mr. Kemp, in concluding his speech at the Meeting, remarked, that, having been a military man for upwards of twenty years, he stated, as his opinion-founded, of course, upon very enlarged experience,—that military men are imbued with subordination: -they are more,—they are governed by it: and, although they may resolve not to be thus governed, their actions, and even their very thoughts and feelings, are still imperceptibly, but most certainly and entirely under its influence. Although, we have every reliance upon the honour and impartiality of the officers, composing these Military Juries, we cordially agree, nevertheless, with Mr. Kemp in the opinion, that a Jury of twelve Colonists is far preferable to that of seven military men. In considering these things, we must not lose sight of the frailty and imperfections of our mortal nature: we must examine minutely and jealously into the operation and influence of the human mind, as well as of the human heart;—and, in this point of view, we cannot divest soldiers of the influence of their constant and accustomed habits. The case comes before them, in a manner pre-judged; for the Attorney General has found a true bill against the offender, and enhances the veracity of his decision by his mode of conducting the case, by virtue of his office as Attorney General. Here is a weight of opinion, extremely difficult to oppose or controvert, and we know of no better or safer mode of doing so, than by a Jury of twelve “ good men and true,"-in fact, a Jury of Peers.

If, then, we have shown, that a Jury of Peers is our best safeguard, as it is one of our dearest and most just rights, it only remains for the Legislature to grant us the means of possessing it. This would be no Herculean task; and would, at once, silence the clamour, and allay the fears of the people, who naturally expect it as a right from the Government. Sincerely do we hope and trust, that this right will be granted; for the unequivocal and unanimous feeling, which was displayed at the Meeting, calls, most assuredly, for some accordant response on the part of our rulers. We have too good an opinion of either the Attorney General, with whom the new measure is said to have originated, or His Excellency, the Lieutenant Governor, to suppose, for a moment, that they will turn a deaf ear to the expressed wishes of the people,—in a manner, too, so completely divested of all political tendency. On the contrary, indeed, we fully agree with a Contemporary, that, where any decision, connected with the wants of the people, is left to the sole determination of His Excellency, that decision will be given in their favour. On this occasion, therefore, we feel assured, that, should

the proposed measure ever come in a tangible form before His Excellency-the people, trusting in his considerateness, need not fear

the result.

LEAVES FROM MY PORTE FEUILLE.

No. I.

"To Francesca."

Loved Francesca, sadd'ning things
Haunt all my imaginings,

And my passion-riven breast,

Like the ocean in unrest,

Toss'd by stormy blasts of ill,

Will not hear the voice, "be still!"
Beauties whereso'er I go

Are around, above, below,
Earth and sky, and shore and sea,
Yet, oh! what are they to me,
Can I turn to them and bless ?-
Tho' th' imprisoned bird possess
All things that his eye would greet,
His enthralment to make sweet,
More the greenwood doth he love
Where his early nest was wove.
Struck with wonder, I have stood
On the mountain solitude,
Watched the eagle soaring by,
Wild companion of the sky!
Marked the morning misty wreath
Floating idly far beneath,
Till the sun's enlivening ray
Bade it roll itself away,
And before me lay reveal'd
Many a cultivated field.

I have heard the music call

Echoing from the waterfall,

Where a thousand bright streams sung
To the rock from which they sprung.
(Children at their mother's knee

Laughing in eternal glee!)

I have bent me o'er the flowers

Which a southern climate showers,

Fragrant as the breath of her

Whose I am a worshipper!
Yet Francesca do I yearn

For that period to return,

When once more I gaze upon

Charms which erst my heart had won;

Hear the voice whose simplest tone

Melody herself would own;

R.

Being where I'd ever be,

Share enjoyments shared by thee.

Yet, Francesca, who would live
Over pleasures past to grieve,
If it were not for a hope-
In the gloomiest horoscope,
There is some redeeming thing,
From the which a joy shall spring-
Yes, a hope of meeting yet,
After years of deep regret.
And a smile shall take the place,
Of the grief that clouds the face.
When upon the dancing brooks,
Starlight beautifully looks,
How their sparkling ripples gleam
In the lustre of its beam,

So my brow shall catch from thine-
Joy ineffably divine!

For only things of clay.

The scabbard of its own accord,

Would yield th' imprison'd blade;

If but the voice of liberty

Was heard to call for aid.

At Salamis and Marathon,

Our fathers triumph'd once,
But tho' their spirits beckon us,
They meet with no response.

For with a craven, craven heart,
We hug our tyrant's chain,
And Freedom looks with tearful eyes,
But looks to us in vain.

In vain she shews her wounded side,
Whence flows the purple stream;
For cold and nerveless we appear,
As tho' we did but dream.

And would that it were but a dream,
And not eternal sleep,

That o'er our very hearts and souls,
Seems stealthily to creep.

One effort more, one struggle yet,
Determined to be free,

Although the struggle end in death----
A new Thermopyla!

*K.*

SONG.

Wake, love, awake!-The violet,

Its odours unfolds for thee!

The rose-bud, with tears of joy is wet,

And blossom, and leaf, and branch are met,
In their infant purity.

Wake, love, awake! The blackbird's cry
Is heard in the budding grove,
List to the lark in the soft blue sky,
The early rook in the forest high,
And coo of the gentle dove!

Wake love, awake!-When nature calls,
What heart can the call despise ?
Oh, wake!--The lapse of the waterfalls,
Invites thee from sleeps' enchanting halls;-
Then, love, from thy couch arise!

Wake, love, awake !-Each herb and tree-
Each bower, and each budding grove,
And each streamlet pours its strains for thee,
And carolling bird, and murmuring bee,
Are singing thee songs of love.

Then wake love, awake! Thy lover's lay,

Is loud in thy dear retreat,

Thy lattice is bright with blushing day,
And strains of joy round thy cottage play,
Thine earliest steps to greet.

PIETRO.

To the Honorable E. Stanley, Secretary for the Colonies.

SIR,

As my thus addressing you through the medium of the Press, may be deemed presumptuous on the part of a private individual, it will be necessary, previous to my drawing your attention to the subjects which I am about to lay before you, to explain my reasons for not forwarding my communications in the usual manner. The orders issued from the Secretary's Office, I am fully aware, require all communications that may be forwarded by private individuals, for the consideration of the Home Government, to be sent in duplicate to the Lieutenant Governor, so that his explanation may accompany the accusations. Full well do I appreciate the talent of Colonel Arthur, as a despatch writer; and fully satisfied am I, that any complaint a private individual might make, of His Excellency's Administration, would, if forwarded by him, be coupled with such exparte statements, as would defeat the intention of the complainant; the nature of which exparte statements, the individual complaining, could never be made ac

176 To the Honorable E. Stanley, Secretary for the Colonies.

quainted with-this, Sir, is one reason for my thus addressing you through the medium of the Public Press.

What I am about to offer to your consideration, in this, my first letter, is a subject of vital importance to the Colony-it is not a private, but a public question, in which the interest of the Colonial Government is concerned; nor can I, an individual unknown to you, be accused of being personally interested in bringing the subject before you for consideration. As a well-wisher to the Colony-as a well-wisher to His Majesty's Colonial Government do I take the trouble to address you, and I openly defy any man to accuse me of stating that which is untrue. I can gain nothing by any attempt at making the Home Government acquainted with the state of the Colony, than the satisfaction that I have performed my duty to my fellow Colonists; with these feelings, therefore, do I address you publicly, and I trust you will not be displeased with the liberty I have taken.

The first and most important topics which can be brought forward for your consideration, is to shew you the power-the influence -the favoritism, which exists in the Colony; nor can I, by any possibility, give a more convincing proof of these, than by drawing your attention to the following correspondence, which lately appeared in one of the Colonial Journals :—

To His Excellency Colonel GEORGE ARTHUR, Lieutenant Governor of the Island of Van Diemen's Land and its Dependencies.

SIR,

It is the bounden duty of every fountain-head of authority, to administer justice with impartiality, and therefore is it that I request the attention of your Excellency to the few observations I am about to offer to your notice. My thus addressing you, through the medium of the public press, may perhaps be considered as not paying sufficient courtesy to the established etiquette; but your Excellency will please to recollect, that your decision has already nominally been given upon the subject to which I am about to allude, and therefore no other channel than the public press is open to me-and further, I might urge, that another reason compels me to adopt this mode of proceeding-it is the private influence which has such weight on so many occasions with your Excellency. I am fully convinced that you never could have decided, as you have lately done, had not representations of some kind or other been made to you of an exparte nature, which have been the means of misleading your judgment, and causing you to decide contrary to former decisions under almost similar circumstances.

One of the greatest evils threatening this Colony is that system of absenteeism which has reduced Ireland to what she now is; and in order to prevent this, I conceive it to be the duty of every well-wisher to the Colony, and I am sure I may consider your Excellency as one, to oppose as much as possible the inroads such a system would make upon our prosperity; it is with this view, that no absentee landholders should be permitted. It is now in the power of Government to check this absentee system, but if once openly sanctioned, the end of all this will be, that the Colonists of Van Diemen's Land will be slaves to landlords, whose incomes will be spent away from the Colony.

One of the most glaring cases of this description, I lately brought officially before the attention of your Excellency, but I fear, from the private influence, or private feeling towards myself personally, a very different answer was returned to me to that which might possibly have been the case, had some one of more consideration than myself addressed the communication.