The Sun. — London, England, 1832-09-11 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. The deplorable condition to which Belgium is reduced by the " protecting" policy of the " London Conference" is but the natural con sequence of the Machiavellian spirit which has presided over its Councils. Here have the five Plenipotentiaries of the " Great Powers," for two years past, with the solemn and imposing air of business, been hatching a " Belgic settle ment ;" and their servile organs of the Press have been " cackling" periodically as if the task of incubation was brought to a glorious conclu sion ; but lot! the most patient and credulous of people begin at last to suspect that they have all this time been sitting on an addle egg, and that their labours will terminate in nothing ! We are of a somewhat different opinion. Their labours have produced mischief, and are likely to produce more. The fact is, as we have often stated, the Powers of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, brought our Government and that of France into their project of intervention, with the intention of circumventing both, and, if pos sible, ruining Belgium. Why a wary old diplo matic fox like Talleyrand, of a thousand and one intrigues, should become the dupe of the subtle barbarity of the Cabinet of S-. Petersburg, if his intentions were fair, it is impossible to imagine. It may be that while representing the in terests of France, from some former recollec tion or unknown cause he sympathised rather with Holland than with Belgium ; but certain it is, he has assisted in bringing the affairs of the latter country into a more melancholy state of confusion than that in which he found them. Whether this is for the advantage of Russia or of France we leave others to determine. As to Lord Palmerston, as he has never shown any political capacity whatever, and as his education in the school of Castlereagh, and his long ser vice in the Tory camp, cannot be supposed to have had a very liberalizing effect upon his understanding, we are not surprised at his being the ready tool of the diplomatic work men who are employed to " settle" Belgium, and Europe in general, according to the most approved Cabinet plans of the Holy Alliance. The great object of the Ministers of the despo tic States, in entering on the Belgic question, was two-fold—to divert the attention of England and France from their formidable warlike prepa rations on the Continent, and then occupying the most favourable positions for dictating. at the point of the bayonet, to other nations, if they could not carry their am bitious objects ultimately without war, was one part of the plan ;—the other was under the pretence of amicably arranging the differences between Belgium and Holland, to assist the Dutch King to obtain all possible ad vantages by intrigue, and so to harass and distress the Belgic people as to make them re pent of their revolution, or at least to excite so much discontent in the country as might render it not difficult, in course of time, to bring about a counter-revolution, and to replace Belgium once more under the sceptre of her late paterna' Sovereign, who is so closely related in senti• ment and affinity to the merciful conqueror of Poland. This our Government did not foresee, but they ought to have foreseen it. The Whigs, when out of office, seemed to know pretty well the character of the Holy Alliance, and when in office they ought to have avoided " bad com pany." One of our Brussels Correspondents, in our publication of yesterday, stated " the nation is becoming daily more alive to the im portant question of the liberty of the Scheldt. and petitions are pouring in from all parts of the country, entreating his Majesty not to consent to any terms that might impose the slightest tolls on vessels coming to or going from Antwerp. The different Chambers of Commerce have also ad dressed the King on the subject ; and the merchants of Brussels have plainly told hiir that it was their firm conviction that any al teration in the navigation of the Scheldt would seriously injure the commerce and industry of the country." The fact is it would place the key , of the commerce of Belgium in the hands of the King of Holland, and soon might the "in dependent" kingdom of Leopold " shut up shop" as a commercial nation. Our corres pondent adds, " These demonstrations of the people place Leopold in an awkward position. It must be truly embarrassing for him to listen to addresses in which his subjects are suppli cating him not to destroy their commerce by consenting to the demands of the Conference, when, at the same time, he is conscious he has it no longer in his power to boldly stand for• ward to defend their rights. Leopold has sacri ficed much to preserve the peace of Europe. He has sacrificed much for Louis Philippe ; but he may go too far, and sacrifice hiinself." We confess we are ignorant of what sacrifices Leo pold has made for Belgium. If he chooses to make sacrifices to serve his father-in-law, that is quite another thing, for Louis Philippe is no more the friend of the Belgic liberals than he is of the liberals of France. Leopold owes a Crown, and a second Royal wife, with splendid fortune, to Belgium ; but Belgium, as yet, owes him nothing. If she is to be ruined because, after all his boastful pretensions about an appeal to arms against the insolent claims of the Dutch King. he dare not defend her like a man, we should like to know why he was placed upon the throne at all. She could certainly have been ruined without Iris assistance ; and, if he was only graced with a diadem to preside over the sacrifice, he was raised to the station which he pecupiee more for ornament than use. It was clso the Princes of the House of Orange de fended Holland against the vast power and am bition of Philippe 11. or Louis XlV.—Morn ing Herald. The unexpected decease of Sir Albert Pell, causes a vacancy in Lord Brougham's new Bankruptcy Court, which there is great reason to suppose the Chancellor will not, for the pre sent, at least, fill up. As far as its labours have as yet been visible, there seems to be a pretty general impression that, to use a homely simile, it consists of " more cats than can catch mice ;" and that, even had its labours been double what they have been, or (according to present ap pearances) are likely to be, three Judges are quite as able as four to perform all the duties which can be required of them. This must ap pear the more obvious, when it is considered that their duties literally consist of a small part of what the Lord Chancellor and Vice-Chan cellor hitherto performed ; in addition to which it has now been unequivocally ascertained that, from the superior working of the first stages of bankruptcy under the new system, references to the new Judges bear no proportion in point of number to those with which the old ones were en cumbered. Lord Brougham at any rate is not a man likely to persist in error, merely from a fear of the imputation of inconsistency, and if he sees reason to think that in this part of his new system fewer Judges would suffice, neither patronage nor [mere apparent consistency will induce him to saddle the country with an ex pense which can with propriety be avoided.- - Morning Herald. Will the Lord Chancellor fill up the vacancy in the Court of Review occasioned by a late melancholy event, namely, the death of Sir Albert Pell ? " No," say the Reformers and the Whigs, " that we are quite sure he will not; he has had sufficient testimony of the inconve nience arising from having four Judges in such a Court, and he will now suffer it to remain with three only." To us, who have had quite as ample testimony of our inestimable Lord Chan cellor's peculiar and patriotic scorn of patronage and power as he has had of the inefficiency of his Court of four Judges, the matter appears in a different point of view. We think that the ' Lord Chancellor is quite sufficiently alive to the charms of an exalted situation, with a salary of 2,0001. a year, and with very little to do for that salary, not to confer it on some kind rela tive or friend, as well as any Eldon or Lyndhurst, or any corrupt Tory or Conservative, of them all. That able, excellent, highly talented, and practically perfect Commissioner, Mr. Charles Frederick Williams (who, once last year, is reported to have declined the honour of being one of the Judges, but who afterwards became the Senior Commissioner of the Court of Bank ruptcy), should be selected by Lord Brougham and Vaux as the able successor of the late Sir Albert Pell. His talents well demand such a promotion, and, by so doing, the Lord Chan cellor will not only put hi»z into a snug little place for life, but also have the snug little place which he now so exemplarily fills to give to somebody else. We are no advocates for leaving situations of this sort long empty ; and, if no new Judge be soon appointed, the three re maining Judges must always be in the way, so as to be able to meet on any emergency, when orders for attachments for non-payment of costs, or orders of any other sort, may be wanted. The practical inconvenience which will result, not only to the public, but to the learned individuals themselves, will at once strike a mind so acute, so intelligent, and observant, as that of our Lord Chancellor. We hope, therefore, that he will not suffer his better judgment and kinder feelings to be led away by any nonsen sical Tory jargon of the uselessness of four Judges in the Court of Review, or by the still greater Whig and Radical outcry of eco nomy and placemen, and the abandonment of party professions. It is wrong to say that Parliament was not fully convinced of the ne cessity of having a Court of Review ; it is wrong to say that it was not equally convinced that that Court should consist of four Judges, and that the expense of it should be 12,0001. a year, or thereabouts; and if the Legislature were so convinced, shall any man, let him be Lord Chancellor or other, presume to say otherwise, and therefore not to fill up a Judgeship of the paramount necessity of having which the Parliament has so clearly spoken ? With all the splendid eloquence and ability of Lord Brougham, we doubt if he could bring himself out of a scrape of that sort. When he sees Lord Grey dispensing the good things which he has to bestow on every individual who, nearly or remotely, is connected with him, shall the Lord Chancellor be told that he is to hold his hand forsooth, and not give away that to some friend or relation which we are quite sure, if it were in the gift of Lord Grey, would have been given away long before this time ? Government have purchased a spot between Chichester -rents, Chancery-lane, and Lincoln's Inn, where the Court of Review will hold its future sittings.— Morning Post. Now that the evidence upon the Bank Charter question is fairly before the public, and the prac tical testimony of Mr. Horsley Painter, the Go vernor, has been given verbatim in our columns, we may, we hope, with some confidence call upon our readers to say whether we have not been borne out by facts in all our assertions re specting the management of the Bank of Eng land and its high import to the empire. Mr. Palmer has shown, by his evidence, the sound course that the Bank has pursued in making the circulation approach as nearly as circumstances will admit to a metallic one. The value of notes , Ott and the deposits have been thus disposed of —two-thbds in securities bearing interest, and one-third in bullion ; and this principle has been tried under very difficult circumstances. A sounder proof of its efficacy can scarcely be given than the period which ranges between Aug. 1830, And Feb. 1832, and during the whole of which the exchanges were unfavourable to this country. At the former period the amount of bullion was upwards of twelve millions ; at the latter it was reduced to little more than five mil lions, the rate of interest gradually increasing from two and a half to four per cent. as the bullion gradually decreased from twelve to five millions. There probably was never a sounder period of commercial prosperity than in the early put of the summer of 1830, when the French Revolution came like a withering blast, and destroyed confidence, enterprise, and indus try. To this great cause for an unfavourable exchange was added that of a luge importation of foreign corn, consequent upon a scanty harvest and a financial discredit pervading Ireland, which produced a run upon many of the Irish banks, which in their turn drained the Bank of England to a large amount ; and yet, with the operation of all these unfavourable circumstances, the Bank of England so admirably regulated its proceed ings that it came out of this critical financial epoch without embarrassing its own resources, or without public discredit or inconvenience. The present Governor of the Bank has indeed truly said in his evidence that it is impossible for the Bank to guard against political discre dit, and, we would also add, against com mercial discredit (such for instance as occur red in 1825), so long as the operations of the country banks interfere in their circulation with , he pivot of circulation in the capital. Let us not be misunderstood. We are not casting the slightest blame upon the country bankers ; but the very essence of their transactions leads them to be operated upon by prices. High prices tend to augmented circulation on their part, and this circumstance must eventually derange the circu lation of the centre, and thereby render the 13ink of England liable to be placed in the situation of danger that occurred in 1825 ; and, whilst the circulation of the pivot and extremities is dis similar, the Bank of England must, with all its care and caution, be subject to this danger.— Setting the extraordinary circumstances aside of political discredit, and commercial discredit, that occurred in 1825, we think that we may tri umphantly refer to the period between August, 1830, and February, 1832, as a fair test of the soundness of the principle acted upon by the Bank. In the month of March of the present year the exchanges became favourable for this country, and the consequence was, that bullion flowed in, and the value of money declined ; and these facts show the true working of the system, even in a period of severe financial trial. The Times asserts, that the Tory organs of public opinion advocate a return to a small-note circulation. We trust that we may without pre sumption consider ourselves as one, and not an unimportant organ of Tory opinion, and we defy that Journal to point out any remarks that we have ever made that bear out the assertion that we have either directly or indirectly advocated that most mischievous change. Whether Mr. Peel's Bill was the best that could have been adopted in all its details to meet the exigency of the case it would be useless now to inquire ; itisthat Act we have to deal with, and we unhesitatingly assert, that to depart from its principles at this crisis would tend more than any other circum stance to revolutionize the country, bearing , fully in our mind the many events that are ap proaching, and all having a similar tendency. The effect of this measure would be to raise the prices of commodities beyond the comparative advance in wages. This result would occasion greater distress, and consequently more discon tent, than even that now experienced ; and if there be any Tories who are rash enough to wish for the experiment of a small-note circu lation to be tried, we call upon them in all sin cerity to consider the course they are adopting, and to examine thoroughly the whole bearing, of their proposition, and the more they exa mine it the more we are convinced will they see reason for changing their views. We shall have other opportunities of return ing to this subject, but we should consider ourselves as not acting fairly by the country if thus early in the controversy, if controversy unfortunately it is to be, we did not declare, in the most unqualified terms, our dread of and opposition to, by every possible means, a return to a small-note circulation. We know the position of the country too well not to be aware of the commercial panic, and probably po litical convulsion, that must soon follow upon the adoption of this measure ; and for what pur pose is it wanted ? We have not time or space to-day to give some interesting particulars re specting commercial industry, which we will , enueavour to do to-morrow ; but we will state one fact to prove the uselessness, putting the mischief out of the question, of a return to a small-note circulation, that money is cheaper now with a circulation of only 17,000,000 of notes than it was in 1830 with a circulation of 21,000,000. Laying aside all other considera tions, does this prove a real demand for the measure ? If, like the dram-drinker, the fever of excitement be desired for the moment, then revel in a small-note circulation, which will leave the body politic, like the natural body in a short time after an excess of ardent spirits, in all the wretchedness of nervous langour ; but, if permanent benefit be the object, we must not rush upon temporary expedients. We hope that we have said enough to set ourselves right with the country, if any portion of it erroneously believed that we advocated a small -note circula tion, and we call upon all true friends of the national prosperity seriously to reflect before they urge so rash and mischievous an experiment.— Morning Post. Every newspaper and private letter from Ire land is in one respect afac simile of every pre vious communication for the last five and thirty years, being but a melancholy record of the pro gress of faction in that much-harassed country. A Catholic rent was raised during one period to promote the great and salutary object of an abo lition of the penal laws. The code was repealed, but the rent was too good a thing to be repealed with it,—that tax went on, therefore, under an other name, which name it has since changed again from the " O'Connell rent" to the " O'Connell annuity !" What is the conse quence ? An opposition rent-shop has been more recently opened, and the Orange party have begun to play off this effective branch of the machinery of agitation against its author. The Irish Conservatives have got up their fund for general purposes, of course, in the first in stance ; but as these shall fail or prosper, the instrument will, no doubt, be found applicable to more personal uses,—the conservative rent presenting a faithful imitation of its respectable prototype, in each successive phase of " contri bution," " rent," and " annuity." It is awfully disgusting, this vile falling-off of great and noble struggles for liberty, and substitution of individual jobbings in their room. The question with the Catholic dema gogues was, formerly, how to obtain their rights ; the question, we fear, is now nothing less than how to abuse their victory. If the yell raised within these two years for the repeal of the Uniot succeeds in so far as to prevail with a large portion of Irish electors to insist on a pledge to that effect from candidates at the ensuing election, we do not see what will have been gained by the advocates of emancipation and of Church reform beyond a lesson for their guidance in after times. The cry for " Repeal of the Union" is a direct war-cry, as well against the Protestant body of Ireland, as against the whole British nation. Does Mr. O'Connell fancy that he can blind the world to the real meaning of this treacherous attempt, which sig nifies, with regard to things spiritual, nothing less than a Popish theocracy,—with regard to things temporal, the dismemberment of the em pire ; beginning with separate Parliaments, lead ing, by a close and intractable necessity, through blood and havoc to a dethronement of the Mo narch, if the party of the movement be success ful,—to a resubjugation and severe coercion of Popish Ireland, should their projects fail, as they unquestionably would do ? Nevertheless, put ting aside all holiest and moral arguments on this subject, and assuming a certain miscal culation of the relative strength of parties by the agitators, there is nothing unnatural, there is nothing ludicrous in their desire to have the Irish government to themselves. They may even—the more shallow-brained and impe tuous amongst them—have actually persuaded themselves that they wish for nothina more than a legislature chosen for objects exclusively Irish, and that no separation of crowns, replacing of churches, confiscation of properties, or interna tional conflicts, are to be hoped or dreaded as the results of this mighty enterprise. We be lieve that there may be a few such Catholic advocates of a repeal of the Union, not par ticularly wise, indeed, but practising the aver age amount of self-deception to be looKed for among political partisans. Will it be credited, however, that there are people of a different and antagonist tribe, who go about echoing the Anti-Union warwhoop ? Protestants ! Ascend ancy men ! Conservatives ! Lovers of British connexion—haters of Catholic privilege, who would re-enact every clause and paragraph of the penal code to-morrow,—wh o extolled the Constitution so long as it affixed the badge of servitude and suffering to the poor Papist's brow, and who have ever deprecated, as the most grievous of all injuries to themselves, his eleva. tion to the rank of a fellow-subject, Will it, we say, be credited that these Protestants—not very numerous, to be sure, nor any ways distinguished ' but by reckless violence of purpose—yet are so utterly wild and frantic as to join in the clamour for " repeal of the Union,"—of that union with England, constituting their single safeguard against the fury of a population, which, with hands unfettered to-morrow, would outnumber them as 5 to 1! Of all the lunacies that ever seized the minds of sane spectators with asto nishment is that of a section of the Orange clubs in Ireland confederating with the O'Con nells, for the dissolution of Protestant power. But they are demoniacs not to be reasoned with, --they must be saved in spite of their despera tion. The strong hand of the Government will uphold the peace of society against these unholy allies, and if from the dregs of two selfish and perverse factions, and under an unsound and vicious influence, a band of delegates are to be sent forth, to exercise the functions of re presentatives for the people of Ireland, let them well understand that in the collision which they seem to threaten they will encounter a moral force (we say nothing at present of any other) vast enough, disciplined enough, of sufficient patriotism, resolution, and high principle, to confound with little effort the scheme of which they are the organs. Irish faction is an inviting field, and we may cross it again as leisure and opportunity serve us.— Times. After what we have proved respecting the per nicious action of the Bank of England on the currency of the country, and after the remarkable disclosures which we have quoted from the evi dence of the Bank Committee, we may confi dently conclude that the renewal of the Bank Charter with its present exclusive privileges, is impossible, and that this blundering corporation on its present footing must, at the meeting of the next Parliament, be declared incapable of managing the money affairs of this great nation. The Parliamentary inquiry, though not carried to a conclusion, has been carried far enough to insure such a result. The Bank establishment, as the ruler of our circulation, stands self condemned, and condemned by all the world. It is condemned by its own witnesses,—it is condemned by its own official accounts — it is condemned by its natural friends, the London bankers,—it is condemned by its clients, the country bankers,—it is con demned by such London merchants as gave evidence partially in its favour, and Mr. East hope tells us, by hundreds who disliked the formality of deposing against it,—it is con demned by the history of the last 35 years, during which it has done more mischief than any other national scourge of which we have heard, real or fabulous,—it is condemned by the amount of the debt in which it has involved the nation, and of which it must be reminded every quarter-day that it begins to pay the dividends, —it is condemned by the ruins which the panics and commercial convulsions of' the last thirty years have heaped around it,—and it is con demned by the uniform exhibition of empy ricism, ignorance, or folly, which has distin guished its conduct from the year 1797 to 1832. It is proved, by the evidence of its own directors, that it is alternately the slave of the Govern ment and of the interests of its proprietors—that one day it obeys the commands of the First Lord of the Treasury, and the next the attrac tion of high dividends,—that it alternately dis• tresses trade by contracting its issues to meet some supposed emergency, and then after it has collected an inordinate amount of treasure, throws open its cellars and its printing-press to encourage speculation—in short, that it one year accumulates a great part of the disposable gold of the world to the ruin of commerce, and the next takes measures to have it exported, to the danger of leaving us in " a state of barter." It would be superfluous to recapitulate the chief admissions of the evidence, or to restate the chief portions of the official docu ments which establish those facts. To en able the Bank, therefore, should it again be intrusted with the management of the currency in any circumstances, to discharge its duty to th e public, it must be instructed to begin on entirely new maxims, and be relieved from all motives to the commission of its former errors. It must cease to be dependent on the Govern ment for direction in the management of its issues—it must cease to be charged with the purchase of Exchequer bills at unseasonable periods—it must cease to buy " dead weight annuities," in rendering its funds unavailable for more pressing emergencies—it must not look either to a great dividend, to an increase of its capital, or to an immense surplus accumulation —by transactions which are incompatible with the safe conduct of its financial affairs, or with invariable value of the circulation. In short, the Bank must, in this case, abandon its trade of private adventure, as well as resist Government dictation, and must consider itself as an ap pendage of the Mint on Tower-hill, or rather, must bring Tower-hill to Threadneedle-street. But if for our own safety—if for maintaining the invariable standard ofvalue—we must thu s cu t th e Bank off from all sinister influences, either of a pri vate or Government nature, the question co me s to be, is it then the best instrument for this purely public, uniform, and limited, though important, duty of superintending the circulation ? As it is quite evident that the Bank direction would thus become a public board for the management of the currency,—that their capital would be considered as the capital of the Government, — that their security would be that of the Govern inent,—that publicity of accounts would be ri gidly enforced,—that they would be required to make reports to Parliament, when required, of the state of their funds ; and in short, that there would be less mystery about the Bank than about the Exchequer,—is a commercial corporation, thus detached from commercial affairs, the best superintendent of the monetary system of the nation ? Even if we could devise no better system than that of the Bank Directors, thus modified, could we not enjoy its benefits at a cheaper rate than we pay at present for its ser vices ? Without pretending to give any de finite any side i ' n he teplanofot t irown on this subject, or to take corporationquestion currency, limit e d as we have described, and a of for preference,managingbe tween the board of national cornmissioners,we may state what we think some strong arguments in favour of the latter. 1. In the first place, the security of the public for the payment of their notes would be at least as great as it is at present . Peopl e not accustomed to this topic of discussion are not perhaps generally aware, that all the Bank capital is lent to the Government, and that every Bank of England note in circulation (at least with a very small exception) has been issued on Government credit or securities. It is ulti mately, therefore, the Government or the nation that is liable for the payment of all the notes of the Bank of England. When they put out their paper on the purchase of Exchequer-bills, — though they get interest for those Exchequer bills,—it is the Exchequer-bill which is the security to the country or to the holders of the notes, and not the " promise" of the Bank " to pay" the issues by which they were purchased. If the Government itself were to issue the small notes instead of the Exchequer-bills, and pay them in gold on demand, along with the interest, as its credit allows the Bank to do, the security of the holder would not be in the least altered. In the same way, when the Bank pays the dividends on the national debt, it pays them with Bank notes which have only the security of Government (to whom the Bank has lent all its capital) for ultimate payment. That this may be made ma nifest to the least attentive observer of such matters, we need only quote a part of one of the tables submitted to the Bank Committee by the Bank Directors : " An estimated account of profit derived by the Bank from Go vernment business. " Circulation £20,000,000 " Government deposits £24,000,000 " Of which two-thirds are estimated to be invested in securities, and one-third in bullion. Securities, .£16,000,000 ; viz.— " £9,000,000 Exchequer bills, at 2 1 A per cent. 20.2,500 " 800,000 Stock, at 3 per cent 24,000 "£1,000,000 advances for circulation on Discount, at 3 per cent 30,000 " £500,000 Country Discount, at 3X, per cent 17,500 £4,700,000 at iA per cent 193,875 -- 467,875" "£16,000,000 It is here seen that the whole currency of Bank-notes, with the exception of some com mercial discounts, has actually been issued on Exchequer-bills and other Government securi ties. This would be still more manifest, if pos sible, were we to quote the debtor and creditor account of Bank affairs on the 29th of February last, in which we find the following statement, omitting private discounts and deposits : " Bank notes out-standing .C18,051,710 " Public deposits of various kinds 3,198,730 " Bank capital, or debt due to the proprietors by Government 14,553,000" To answer this debit side, they exhibit advances to Government— " On securities X 4,134,940 " Advances on dead.weight annuities " By other credits to Government 2,700,000 And permanent debt due from Government 14:68000" It is indeed quite evident that the only funds which the Bank now possesses, or could divide, if the establishment were broken up to-morrow, are the debt due from Government, and a re served or surplus fund of 2,639,760/. It may be safely assumed, therefore, that as a source of currency, the security of Government is neither worse nor better than that of the Bank ; and that the national creditor, who has intrusted Government with the 800,000,0001. of capital, may safely trust Government its notes in paying the interest. 2. If the security of the notes would be as great or in fact the same, might not the public have as good and satisfactory a guarantee against their depreciation or fluctuation in value as at present ? Governments have always hitherto been bad bankers or managers of the circulation, because they were unacquainted with the principles of currency, or because their alleged necessities generally exceeded their known honesty. Hence, as they had formerly no bank notes to depreciate, by excessive issues, they clipped their coin or deteriorated their standard. Subsequently the issues of notes by the North Americans during their revolutionary war, when their paper dollars became depreci ated 80 or 90 per cent.—the assignats of France and the paper rubles of Russia, which are now only a fourth of the silver ruble, are examples Of folly or faithlessness which must occur to every body. But in such countries, or at such times, the Bank of England—subjected as it was to the Government dictation—would have been equally insecure. The question, however, does not lie here, and the experiment of a cur rency managed for public purposes by public Commissioners, and not subject to the necessi ties of Government, has never yet been tried. The Board of Commissioners or Trustees might be ap pointed by Parliament, and rendered amenable to Parliament alone,havingnothing of that connection with the Administration of the day which has hitherto subjected the Bank to such inconve nience. Their own interests would be perfectly independent of any of their operations. Coming in place of the Bank direction, stripped as we have said it must be (if it continues the source of our paper currency) of all connection with the Government, and relieved from all the spells of dividends and bonuses, it would be required to attend alone to the state of the exchanges, and to render the currency as free from fluctuation as possible. If the Bank Directors, who have other duties to attend to, are supposed capable of executing such a duty, why may not a board of more intelligent Parliamentary Commis sioners ? 3. If such a national Bank could give as great security to the holders of its notes as the Bank of England,—if the scheme appears abundantly practicable under intelligent Com missioners,--and if it could be guarded against abuse and malversation by publicity of ac counts and vigilant superintendance, it cer tainly, in the third place, would derive a strong recommendation from its economy, or rather its gain to the public. It might be connected with offices for the payment of the dividends on the national debt, and the manage ment of the deposits of the revenue. In this way, with equal or greater security, more than 500,000/. a year might be saved to the nation. '[lie Bank has stated its net profits, derived from the transaction of Government business, at only 178,875/. ; but that must be a miserable misre presentation, or at least a very erroneous estimate; else how could they have lately divided 10 per cent. on their stock of 14,553,000/. ; added a tburth to their capital in 1816 ; and again collected a reserve or surplus fund of 2,637,7601. to be divided among the proprietors at some future period ? Begging again to say that we merely throw out this hint to show th a t t h ere i s an alternative between having the present Bank of issue and a number of banks in the metropolis, and not with any design of recommending it, we take leave of the subject to-day, but shall recur to it.— Times. I w as o s u l b d e e r n e c e a i v d e d r f e r s o s m e d h i t s o L L o o r d ti l Brougham, ship : thatm most s n t the e i s i t h i a v p e would Ap a a i m n p h h o le p t e which, si nce t h e t i me of Fielding, shape consideration I N I V v hhileChh we importance so am ply mer i ts. standing t o pi c o f r idi cu l e w i t h some , an d of i h n e g subject b i e s e one n a cen sure with others, but without undergoing any of that i m p rovement w hi c h t i me , coupled ' with the force o f p u bli c o pi n i on , so rarely fails to in troduce into all human institutions, however, vicious or radically bad. It is the magistracy of England to whom we allude—" the great unpaid," of whose voluntary services the public has heard so much, and from whose ignorance of the law, local partialities and enmities, and total irresponsibility, it has suffered so much evil. These are serious charges to be brought ag a i nst any body of men, more especially against those in whose hands are dep osited the p ow e r of fine, ‘yhcim prisonment,iiijusticaensdof t lie Peace are; appointed, b of they a r e of one 1 no less true than the y are serious, and grow as he mode in naturally branehes ootut atree ferom another its as the s t em and root, fords no guarantee for their possession of those qualifications which ought to distinguish the Judges of the land, while their utter irrespo►t' sibility affords temptations to tyranny, which it is more than to be feared are seldom resisted. " Justices," says the pamphlet referred to, " taken frool the community at hazard are supposed to possess know' ledge with the clod of earth which they inherit. A moo' just arrived at the age of majority, having left the Univet , sity, where a common degree, requiring some knowledge— some examination—gives him a fit, or the cholera—pre sents insurmountable obstacles to a mind absorbed in the sole consideration of dogs and horses —comes to reside os the family mansion—applies to the Lord Lieutenant of the county to be put in the commission of the peace, an d takes out his dedimus to punish and imprison his fellow men, as a companion to his certificate to kill gatne--at' tends the next Quarter Sessions, and makes the declara tion, that he will not upset the pure and reformed established religion, of which he perhaps knows as little—' takes his seat on the bench with the other, perhaps equally wise, justices. " This, my Lord, is the very common English educa tion for a Justice of the Peace. He now begins to lay down the law with all the violence and prejudices of an uninrormed mind—establishes weekly meetings at a neigh bouring ale-house with the parson of the parish, who either has been, or is, made a justice to assist him ; they appoint a clerk, as ignorant perb ips as themselves, and whose sole object is to get money; and the clerk being of the willowr kind, ingratiates himself into their good opinion, and hay' ing summonses and warrants ready signed, issues them Whenever required ; and, having been so credibly informed, I may positively state they have been sold, at so much the dozen, ready signed—a blank being left only for the name and cause of complaint. The parties come before their worships ; the case presents difficulties ; they determines at all events, that the clerk must be paid by one or both parties, and all are dismissed. The dlerk, who is become a greater man than the justice himself, makes out a tong bill of fees—totally disregarding all allowed tables of fees ; no common suitor of a petty sessions, daring to dispute the authority of the clerk to charge what he pleases—' pays the bill, and thinks himself well off." From such a body of men—so selected a nd so appointed—no good could well be expected, but this is not the only vice of the system, for c are has ever been taken to render that worse which is so radically bad. " Fur a century," we quote from the same pamphlet, "subsequent to the first establishment of justices, pro/i' sion was made that a large proportion of the body s hould consist of men of the law, and that no judicial act shoul d be performed w ith ou t t h e countenance an d gu id ance o f one of those persons ; I am at a loss to know what alters: tion has taken place in the relative position of the law 5 0 the justices, which renders this provision at present super' fluous ; that great injury has arisen from the non-absere' ance of it, there can be little doubt. The commissio o now little accords with the views of the founders, and with the dictates of common sense. " The Lord Chancellor himself appoints the judges ° f the superior courts ; yet, though he issues the commission of the peace, the Lord Lieutenant of the county names th e persons to be appointed, without the interference o f the Crown's responsible advisers. " The Lord Lieutenant of the county, as custos roto -1 hi s o u, county,n, abs l a u t t el y his s a o p l p e o w i n i t l s t a a l n l d t h p e i a u s s u t i r c e eLo b f e the fla y p , e a i n c e, a ° lrt b n ye e ol w i:kve;,b wu commission, tasit dwoans e e n l d ai nei laid v td o i oluewr West r t o eass l t e a a ß v g e i ed n o i ne u gr t a lonfamt rulehe s eb , yclovt,hhi county which (3 4 Lord Chancellor, Earl Eldon, that, however unfit a Als' gistrate might be for his office, either from private niiscon' duct, or party feeling, he would never strike out his name until he had been convicted of some offence by the verdic t of a court of record—a most herculean task. " In the exercise of the patronage of the Lord Lieute' nant, no responsibility whatever substantially exists; jur tices are therefore appointed by irresponsible advisers; irremovable without a conviction for some tangib le t . offence; and I will just state what the authority is men so chosen :—They can transport—they can take 00/ licences from publicans, which often constitute the greate r part of the value of their premises—they can send a distre° or search-warrant into a private man's dwelling—the/ can consign their fellow men to the stocks—flog, a nd joy prison for one or more years." Yet the men to whom all these extraordinary powers are entrusted, are, to all intents and pur poses, devoid of the slightest responsibility ° any one for the use which they make of thew' . It is true that if a Magistrate commits a fault descends to the taking of a bribe, or to a ma"' fest perversion of the law, the law holds out MO It terms a remedy—that is to say, it allows th e injured party to bring his action against the 1V 13 " gistrate ; but it takes care that under none bot the most extraordinary circumstances shall that Magistrate be convicted by it, of any infraction of its principles, as is justly observed in the pa'?'' phlet referred to, and to which we shall agai n advert to-morrow. " The difficulty of proving corruption is rendered alna° 4 insuperable, because the magistrate has nothing to dot °I order to defend himself from the consequences, for instance' of withholding a licence from an innkeeper, except to adopt the short course of saying nothing at the tirne--kc e , l l ; ing his own counsel—abstaining f r om any sta t emen t of P i9 ' reasons, and no power on earth can touch hi m ; you can either show that he himself has stated his reas° °. —motives--or that there are circumstan ces so str" . ., tl ‘ against hi m as amoun t t o conv i ct i on — an app li cant i s V ti ; vented from instituting an y i nqu i r y i n t o th e su bj ec t. lb absolute is the authority with respect to the licensing; no t is this power of the magistrate that alone in which gee s , abuses exist—they prevail wherever their great authorl is exercis e d, i n i nstances too numerous to mention : an yet, for all their conduct in these matters, they are n e ej amenable to any superior power, provided, as it is sta t or before, they only keep their own counsel, and abstain fc° , stating the reasons by w hi c h th e y h ave b een actuste,l, should their motives hav e b een ev il."—M orn i ng Adee r user. A million of Bank -notes, placed one abol another, would form a pile of 416 feet in height, wh i t e is much high e r th an St. P au l' s , an d more th an doublet u j height of the Monument. Supposing th e m to be spr e e out, they would extend over 250,000 square feet, a be equal to the area of Grosvenor-square, London. M. UDE.—This celebrated providore Vl 5 once cook to the Earl of SEFTON, and quitted his Lord ship ship merely because one of the gues t s p u t p e pp er i n to , soup. " lor," said the enraged a r ti s t, " c ' est unaife e " ni to suppose my soup can want pepper." A Reverend Divine announces by advertise', went his intention of publishieg " A Thundering Le iter , to the Bishop of SALISBURY, which be declares will oce!,, , sion ct suit of "ecclesiasticul earthquake" in the diner of Sarum. BIRTHS. Claremont-terrace, r e ' " Yorkshire, the wife of - „ i e On the 9th inst. Mrs. Frederic Skey, of a sotu theOn On the 9th 9th inst.tttst Mrs. T. H ejt.irsytnlNtltahy,oorf, Upper_street, Islinift °P° of a son. to t ( i ) v n i I thele,o I f ,2 a t h daughter. a t John Thompson, innkeeper, of three children, whi c h, w ith '• born before, made an increase of four in one year. Cotherstone, --- t -7 : 7 IIIRIED. i Se; B all ad' ~ of Smith, Samuel Wrangh . 1 1 jeantson, M. A., ,T„, - fi a , Yorkshire, only son of the - late 3 V ice j;o l Esq., of Coates o Catherine, fourth daughter late Ric of the o f miral Ballard, t Park , . r . ,...-“, of Moor in the • county of Salop. n, i c Esq., of White-house; SalweY, ---,' inst. at St. Jam ' the 10th On , only son of the late Robert Gordon , Esq., " vei l ' . , 1,0 Hans - place. to Elizabeth, eldest Fort, Madras, rg e f Sloane-street. GO 'sg E sq ,, o On the 10th inst. at St. George's, Hanover-square, , s MI On the 6th inst. at Vicar Castle, by the Rev R. J . , f tee Hous l e y, of Curzon-street, Mayfair. On the Bth inst. at Brighton, Mr. David Satow, 0 - , i , . /. Tower-street, merchant, to Margaret, eldest daughter 0' ,I r , Edward Mason, of Finsburv-place. On the Bth inst. at Allhallows Church, Bread-stre ets ge s Downham, Norfolk, t" , Charles Goldsmith, of Chatham-place, to Martha, Y °° daughter of the late James Relf, Esq., of Reigate. Gilbert, On the 6th inst, DIED. at Benadruz;nverness-shire, in “. 5tD year, Buchanan WMillan, Esq , of Bow-street, Covent - t, On the Bth i nst. at Leiston-house, Saxmundham, vert, Esq., NI. p. On the 9th inst. at Upper Clapton, Herbert Jefrerie h E s A i or is ' ()n the sth inst., after a few hours' illness, Mr. J. N' late of Liverpool, aged 93. s oeff On the 9th inst. after a very short illness, Mr. Charle s surgeon, of Guilford-street, aged 41. lie t On the Bth i ns t. a t L ong D i t tos , S urrey , C a th e rine, the late George Alexander Wylie, Esq., of N o ttinghain-P, 1 0 On the Bth inst. in Dorset.place, Jessie Peach Maria , e a foi" , fant daughter of 11. J. Baillie, Esq., barrister-at-law, ag weeks. Of ill' On the Bth inst. at Wimbledon-common, in the 81st Y ear age, Arthur Ty ton, Esq., late of his Majesty's Customs- „ 000.7, On the 9th inst. at North Brixton, after a few hours,iu, of cholera, in the 80th year of her age, Sarah, relict of 1 " James Brewer, Esq., Clapham-common. Feis of fe wi O te n o t f h A e ir '26 . ja h m u e l s t. w at o l o ) n a e n , tz a i n e, d aegldedest44d,außgehbteecrcoa fDtohreoltlaiteearolti', : fr ey On the Bth inst., Blackhe ath. of a rapid consumption, Sarah, th e wi Mr. J. Colley, of Bishopsgate.street-within. • • 0 1'1 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY M U K I) 0 Y 0 U N •.-1 SUN OFFICE, 112, STRAND, LONDON.