In many cases of importance, to the reproach of the Police, recourse is had to noted and known Receivers of stolen Goods for their assistance in discovering such offenders, and of pointing out the means by which the property may be recovered: this has on many occasions been productive of success to the parties who have been robbed; as well as to the ends of public justice; for however lamentable it is to think that Magistrates are compelled to have recourse to such expedients, yet while the present System continues, and while robberies and burglaries are so frequent, without the means of prevention, there is no alternative on many occasions _but to employ a thief to catch a thief_. It is indeed so far fortunate, that when the influence of Magistrates is judiciously and zealously employed in this way, it is productive in many instances of considerable success, not only in the recovery of property stolen, but also in the detection and punishment of atrocious offenders. Wherever activity and zeal are manifested on the part of the Magistrates, the Peace Officers, under their immediate direction, seldom fail to exhibit a similar desire to promote the ends of public justice. And when it is considered that these Officers, while they conduct themselves with purity, are truly _the safeguards of the Community_, destined to protect the Public against the outrages and lawless depredations of a set of miscreants, who are the declared enemies of the State, by making war upon all ranks of the body politic, who have property to lose;--they have a fair claim, while they act properly, to be esteemed as "_the civil defenders of the lives and properties of the People_." Every thing that can heighten in any degree the respectability of the office of _Constable_, adds to the security of the State, and the safety of the life and property of every individual. Under such circumstances, it cannot be sufficiently regretted that these useful constitutional officers, destined for the protection of the Public, have been (with a very few exceptions) so little regarded, so carelessly selected, and so ill supported and rewarded for the imminent risques which they run, and the services they perform in the execution of their duty.