abuse the Ministers of that Church into which he has been received by an excess of tolerance-but it may be generally concluded upon, that too many of those who lay claim to, and obtain, extraordinary privileges from the tolerant spirit of our Establishment, use their liberty as a cloak of maliciousness, and are usually found to be the most intolerant in their rejection of others who have too just a conscience to associate their principles with those of their ungrateful accusers. (To be concluded in our next.) THE HIVE. No. XXXVII. ANECDOTE OF A FRENCHMAN. A FRENCHMAN, who had a dispute with a Turk in Constantinople, and had stabbed him, was condemned to death. The criminal thought on means to save himself; and as he knew that the Emperor was a great lover of elephants, he proposed to him to spare his life, and he would in return teach one of these animals to speak. The Emperor, who knew the sense of the elephant, thought it possible, that by pains and art they might be taught to do so; he therefore accepted the proposal of the prisoner, and, besides, promised a handsome reward if he fulfilled his promise in a certain time. The Frenchman said, that ten years would be wanted to instruct such a very large animal, if he was to teach it to speak the Turkish quite perfectly; but he would be content to suffer the most cruel death at the expiration of that time, if he should not fulfil what he had undertaken. After they had agreed to this, he and a young elephant were confined in a tower, A Yorkshireman taking the advice of his counsel on a law-suit on which his fortune depended, the advocate told him he would be cast, and shewed him a case in point against him in East's Reports.-" Never mind," said the suitor, the judges may not remember it ;" and while he was discussing the matter, the counsel was called out on some bu our bite cut the disagreeable pages clean out of the book, and stuffed them into his fob. His cause came on, and he obtained a verdict; on which his lawyer congratulated him." O, Sir," he replied, "I could not lose, for I have taken special care to keep the law against me snug in my pouch!" and supplied with abundance of pro-siness; when, seizing his opportunity, visions. After a little time, he was visited by some of his countrymen, who testified their astonishment at his mad promise "You bring destruction on yourself by it," said one of them."Don't fear, gentlemen," said the Prisoner ; "ten years is a great period of human life; I assure you, that before these are expired, one of us, either the Emperor, the elephant, or I, shall be dead." "A person might make a very excellent book of that of which you know nothing," said a would-be wit, to one A wit wishing to annoy a general officer of no great merit, who had affronted him, offered to publish a volume entitled, "The Exploits of the Famous General **** ̧” After the title-page there were only some blank leaves. MEMOIR ОР PATRICK COLQUHOUN, Esq. LL.D. (Continued from page 192 ) Tantumque a specie adulationis absit gratiarum actio mea, quantum abest a necessitate. PLINIUS de Trajano. Ego autem etsi vereor laudare præsentem, judico tamen de re obscura atque difficil limá à te dictum esse dilucide; neque sententiis solum copiosè, sed verdis eliam ornalius quàm solent vestri. IN CICERO de Natura Deorum. "N that part of the metropolis which does not include the city of London, all the inferior magisterial duties, with some few exceptions, were, for many years, conducted by certain individuals, who were generally denominated Trading Justice's Nothing could be on a worse footing than the then state of the po. lice. The object of the Legislature 'was to obtain a purer and more intelligent Magistracy, under a stipendiary system, pledged to attend regularly at the different public offices, and to receive no fees or emoluments, except their parliamentary salaries. The benefits derived from this new establishment, by the lower classes of the people especially, have been almost incalcu Jable, as it sheltered them against those expensive litigations arising from petty assaults, and other trifling disputes, which, under the old system, were sent to the Quarter Sessions, merely to in crease the emoluments of the Trading Justices. Such, however, were the great police objects Mr. Colquhoun prospectively embraced in his view, that, in ac cepting the appointment of a Police Magistrate, he did not look forward merely to the vapid official routine of hearing and investigating charges, and of com nitting offenders for trial, he contemnplated a wider range. He kept steadily In view the improvement of a system of police which had long been a disgrace to the metropolis: for, while he acted as a magistrate ou the bench, he eagerly seized every opportunity to investigate the nature and extent of the various mo ral evils which afflicted society, to ena ble him with greater certainty to apply practicable and efficient remedies. Although, however, we have to lament, that many of his suggestions for the prevention of offences have not, from various causes, yet obtained the sanc tion of the Legislature; yet the public bas the satisfaction to know, that in all Europ. Mag. Vol. LXXI|I. April1818. instances where these suggestions have been acted upon, the most complete success has followed, as will be fully shown in the sequel: and what will convey not a little surprise, but not less surprise than truth, to the reader, when he is informed of the extraordinary fact, that notwithstanding Mr. Colqu houn's exertions and labours in the public service, for more than a quarter of à century, he has never cost the State one farthing. Moreover, he disclosed to the public, above 20 years ago, all those prominent evils which the reports of the Committees of the House of Commons have recently displayed to the view of the nation. In 1793, the year after Mr. Colqu houn had been appointed one of the police magistrates, under the Police Act, he received the public thanks of the silk manufacturers of Spitalfields, couched in warm and grateful language, and signed by Mr. George Hubert, their Chairman, "for his great attention and assiduity in putting into execution the laws against persons guilty of embezzlement, and other offences in the silk manufactory, and which have tended effectually to check at system of depredation which formerly occasioned a loss to the manufacturers of very considerable amount." In the years 1794 and 1795, which 'were marked by a turbulent spirit iù the people, spreading a general alarm, not only in the metropolis, but throughout the country, Mr. Colquhoun, then resident in the eastern district of London, laboriously exerted himself in counteracting the dangerous effects which were likely to result from such unrestrained turbulence. The mass of useful information he industriously cola lected, with respect to the nature, extent, and plans of some seditious asso ciations which then existed, greatly assisted in enabling his Majesty's minis ters, before whom it was laid, in devis ing measures for their defeat. Not satisfied with corporeal labour in the meritorious discharge of his duty, during which his life, highly precious to a rising family, was often greatly endan gered in the tumults which occurred, this conscientious magistrate, with a spirit which ought to animate the breast of every public man, wrote, pubs lished, and circulated, at his own expense, several thousand copies of pamphlet, recommending and pointing Rr out the means of economizing food, which, especially in the article of bread, had risen to a very high price. In all communities which have existed in the world there are always found some individuals, who, from various causes, are mischievous enough to take advantage of any insubordinate spirit that may arise among the people, to goad them on to acts of violence. At this time such a spirit manifested itself, consected with circumstances arising out of that hydra-headed monster, the French Revolution, and increased by the high price of provisions. Mr. Colquhoun, with the wisdom and benevolence of a true political economist, clearly saw that the mere action of coercive law, without attention to the removal of the causes of discontents, would be insufficient in restraining those who are urged on to violence by deprivation of food. He therefore did incalculable good, by first drawing the attention of the public to the preparation of cheap and wholesome soups for the poor; and by representations to the Lord Mayor, and personal activity with some of the most respectable citizens at Lloyd's, he laid the foundation for those economizing establishments which have been, under the pressure of scarcity, so useful to the poor. Important and laborious as were the occupations, both of body and mind, which engaged Mr. Colquhoun's attention, from 1793 to 1795, he still found time, I almost said made it, for another object of great national magnitude; viz. devising means for coun teracting the excessive evils arising from counterfeit coin and base money, which were circulated to a very great extent at this period. After much patient labour and indefatigable investigation, he detected and apprehended many of these nefarious coiners, and exhibited a list of 130 persons engaged in the treasonable practice of fabricating, not only the current coin of the realm, but of different foreign states, to so large an extent, as to become, from nefarious cupidity, the object of great commercial speculation. As the existing laws were not sufficiently operative, he di. rected his attention to their deficiencies, and by the sanction of Government, and with the assistance of the Solicitor of the mint, framed a bill in 1796 for obviating this offence, so injurious to the interests of the public; and although this salutary effort did not procure the sanction of the Legislature, the services rendered to the public by those who prepared this important bill are not the less meritorious, as it is hoped its beneficial effects will be experienced when its provisions may be passed into a law. And in 1798 Mr. Colquhoun received the acknowledgment from Mr. King, the Under Secretary of State, that, owing to his discovery and detection, large quantities of counterfeit dollars were collected for exportation to North America and the West Indies, and that letters had been written to his Majesty's Governors in North America to prevent the further circulation. The successful labours of Mr. Colquhoun in 1793, already mentioned, for preventing and detecting the depredations committed on the property of the silk weavers, were more fully felt this year in 1796, when he again received the unanimous thanks of their committee," for his kind and unremitted assistance and exertions, whereby the perpetrators of the robbery of the silk belonging to Mr. James Lewis Desormeaux, one of the members of this society, were discovered and brought to trial and convic tion, and the stolen property, of large amount and value, restored to the owner." Signed by William Wilson, and the other gentlemen of the com mittee. Alive at all times to the diminution of vices and crimes, Mr. Colquhoun did not suffer the condition of the publichouses, too often the receptacles, as well as the lure, for idleness and dissipation, to escape his ever vigilant at tention. He accordingly, in 1798, framed and suggested various regulations, which were adopted by the li censing magistrates of the Tower Hamlets, and at the same time published his "Observations on Public-houses," which brought under the review of the public, and particularly the brewers and the magistracy, so many new, im. portant, and useful facts, as called forth warm acknowledgments, in the follow ing handsome vote of thanks : At a special meeting of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace acting for the "Resolved unanimously, "That the magistrates of the Tower division, fully impressed with the ser, vices rendered by Patrick Colquhoun, Esq. to the Hamlets by his active exer tions, return him thanks for these exer tions, and request that he will favor them by considering himself an honorary member of their meetings. "By order of the magistrates, Mr. Colquhoun soon found, after his appointment to the magistracy under the Police Act, however useful that Act was, that much still remained to be done in the prevention, particularly of those misdemeanours and crimes which were committed from the great facilities for the sale of stolen goods which receiving shops afforded. Their suppres sion formed an object of his auxious thoughts, as the new Act was totally inadequate to the effect, He, there fore, had a Bill prepared for the accom plishment of this great point, which received the approbation of government, and was only not passed into a law in consequence of the pre-eminent employment of Parliament on the weighty concerns of the revolutionary war. The consideration that the public attention should be fixed upon the ne cessity and importance of a well-reguJated police, applicable in all its bearings, to the prevention of crime and preservation and encouragement of moral quietism in the people, induced Mr. Colquhoun, after a patient and laborious collection of materials, to publish that important and highly useful work, "The Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis." The many gratuitous and beneficial acts Mr. Colquhoun had, by this time, performed for the public in each extremity of the island, the bigh reputation which had followed him from Glasgow to London, his active industry as a magistrate, his keen penetration and assiduous perseverance in the detection of crime, his prompt but merciful administration of the laws from the benevolent tendency of his mind, and the known comprehensiveness of his views, pointed him out at once to the public as the author of this work, originally pub lished anonymously. It was, cousequently, eagerly sought for, and read with avidity: it soon passed through several editions, and all the reviewers, in the several stages of its progressive editions, rose unitedly in encomiastic strains for the great utility and advantage which the municipal regulations of the metropolis received from the infor mation it conveyed. It speedily at tracted the attention of the legislature. The twenty-eighth report of the select Committee of Finance alluded to it in terms of high approbation; and in their statement to the House, recommended the plan of police drawn up by P. Col quhoun and Charles Poole, Esqs. mentioning that the subject was further elucidated by the examination of Mr. Colquhoun. Mr. Colquhoun had also the gratification to receive the personal thanks, on this subject, of his Grace the Duke of Portland, then Secretary of State for the Home Department, who also conveyed to him the gracious notice of the King, a monarch who knew well how to appreciate moral conduct, and who was always attentive to the moral rectitude of his people, in the following flattering and merited terms: "I am commanded to express to you the high satisfaction with which his Majesty observes your unremitting and zealous attention to all the objects which come within the scope of your official situation, and to the means of establishing a system of morality and good order in the metropolis. "I am, &c. &c. (Signed), "PORTLAND." But the extent of Mr. Colquhoun's labours for improving the police did not end with suggesting and publishing the means- he felt for the wretched condition of the criminals, particularly for those who, with loss of character, were released from the gaols and hulks, and were turned out again upon society without the means of getting employ meut, he, therefore, with the patriotic feelings of humanity directed the atten tion of the public to the subject. The reputation which the work on police acquired, and the beneficial effects resulting from its practical suggestions on police regulations, were not confined to this island, for it was translated into the languages of the Continent, and attracted the attention of the government of the United States of America, where its principles have been adopted and acted upon, and where it is mentioned in transatlantic publications, as one of the most valuable books to the legislature that ever was published."-It soon made its way, too, into our East India possessions, and to the West India colonies; and' such was the impression made upon the Jegislative body of the Virgin Islands, that in appointing Mr. Colquhoun to the confidential situation of Agent to that colony in great Britain, they give, among others, the following honourable and highly gratifying reasons :— "As the choice which has fallen upon you is totally uninfluenced by any pri vate exertions in your behalf, and is only owing to your elevated character as a magistrate, and the eminent services which you have rendered to society in general, and to the West India colo nies in particular, by your admirable Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis: we hope much, Sir, we expect every thing that energy and ability can effect." As part of a great commercial nation, the trade of the port of London, the emporium inart for ships from all quarters of the globe, had now increased to a gigantic magnitude. With this increase of widely-extended commercial intercourse, affording, from the immense quantity of property constantly importing and exporting, great facilities for the practice of all species of fraud and depredations, considerable plunder was daily and nightly committed, to the great loss not only of private property, but to the detriment of the fair public revenue of the country. So Herculean was the mischief produced from this source, that the ship-owners formed associations for the protection of their property on the Thames; and it therefore required efforts and means equally Herculean to combat the difficulties opposed to the application of remedies for this destructive evil. The charac teristic firmness of Mr. Colquhoun, the reputation he had acquired for municipal regulations, the success which had resulted from the adoption of his suggestions in his admirable work on the Police of the Metropolis, induced the West India merchants to solicit his aid, at the close of the year 1797, to devise and superintend the exe cution of a plan for the preventing these great depredations on public and private property. The loss to the pub lic revenue made it also a great object of government to remedy the evil. In consequence of this application, Mr. Colquhoun immediately applied bis thoughts to the subject of marine po lice, under the sanction and with the co-operation of his Majesty's Home Secretary of State. Consistently with the necessary previous investigation and labour, and with the great difficulties by which the subject was surrounded, he promptly produced a plan to government and to the merchants, which received their full approbation; and, under their sanction, he superintended its execution without fee or reward In this arduous undertaking he was engaged for more than two years and a half, and the perilous labour to which he gra tuitously subjected himself upon - this subject, will be best seen and understood by a reference to his Treatise on the Police of the River Thames, published in 1800—a work fraught with the most comprehensive information on the subject, and with suggestions, plans, and observations, highly beneficial in a practical point of view, to all the shipping interests. It completed the statements given on this subject in the Police of the Metropolis. Accordingly, immediately on its publication it was hailed as an era in the police establishments, and the different Reviewers were almost at a loss for words to express the high opinion they entertained of the merits of these labours. "The benefits," said they," likely to result from his labours will not be confined to this country alone, but must extend in their operation to navigators, traders, manufacturers, and agriculturists, in every part of the civilized world, who may have any connection, however remote, with the commerce of the port of London "-London Review. This prediction was very soon veri• fied; for, after the system had received the sanction of government, and after experience had pointed out to Mr. Colquhoun the improvements best calcu lated to render the institution most generally beneficial in every way, whe ther public or private, he framed a Bill which fixed the establishment of the Thames Police Office by the Act of the 40th of his Majesty; and, thus, as the British Critic well and truly observed, Mr. Colquhoun may be considered as the Parent of this system of Marine Police. The great beneficial effects which were felt by the trading interests connected with the Port of London, gave still a more complete fulfilment of the prediction in the distinguished notices, thanks, and more solid marks of honour, he received from_judges, different shipmasters in the Port of London, from the American, Low Country, Hamburgh, and West India merchants, the body of Wharfiagers, and different |