The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-10 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, JULY 10, 1863.

The recent dismissal of the lonian Judges was
the occasion of a spirited debate in the House of
Lords last night. So vehement at one time was
the discussion that prevailed, and so personal and
contradictory were the assertions uttered, that
the demure locality of " another place" be-
came, for the time being, doubtful, and the
solemn precinct of the Throne and the Woolsack
were startled from their customary propriety by
unwonted cries of " Order." The combatants,
in the first place, were the Marquis of BATH and
the Duke of NEWCASTLE ; and, in the second
instance, the Earl of DERBY and Earl RUSSELL.
Lord DERBY, with his more mature experience of
the customs of the House of Peers, admonished the
junior Earl of his flagrant violation of those usages
in giving utterance to ironical cheers. Those who
remember the happy lines in the "New Timon,"
descriptive of Lord STANLEY in the House of Com-
mons, " frank, haughty, rash," and ready to quarrel
with friend and foe, until Sir ROBERT wisely
removes him—

" in hope the vein to cool,
To the prim benches of the Upper School,"

will be amused to see how effectively the lesson has
been learned, and how correctly the once refractory
debater can call to order a more inexperienced
and ignorant new corner into these solemn precincts.
Lord RUSSELL, in self-defence, assured his irritated
brother earl that he had intended no discourtesy,
and added, with demure gravity, that he (Lord
RUSSELL) always listened to the noble earl's
speeches with as much courtesy and attention as
the noble earl displayed in listening to his. After
this war of words, the matter at issue was for the
time being satisfactorily settled, the Duke of NEW-
CASTLE agreeing, although under protest, to pro-
duce the papers, whether " half' a box full" or a
"whole box full," relative to the dismissal of the
lonian judges. Such an agreement was the only
obvious alternative. The position of a Judge is re-
garded by our Constitution as being of an almost
sacred character, and anything that in any way calls
that character in question should be subjected to
the fullest investigation. A man who holds a high
judicial office, and who has held it for more than
twenty years, is not to be dismissed in consequence
of some legal technicalities in his terms of tenure
without explanation. Lord DERBY very happily
employed in this regard the forcible argument ad
horninem, and inquired of the Duke of NEWCASTLE
how he would himself admire en abrupt and un
expected dismissal simply on the ground that
such an act was within her MAJESTY'S
prerogative. As to the advisability of the dismissal
of Sir GEORGE MARCORAN ana Sir ANASTASIO
XIDIAN we shall pronounce no opinion unti
the evidence is before us. They may
have been wisely supplanted ; but, if 80,
the wise act was most unwisely performed. It is
ridiculous to assert that their discontinuance of
office was a mere matter of course, because their
appointment was only for a period of five years,
which period had expired. Such may be the letter
of the law in the lonian Isles, but it is obviously
not the practice, one of these Judges having held
office for twelve and the other for twenty-two
years ! To say, therefore, that their appointments,
ate necessarily void, is simply absurd. In they
ordinary practice of lonian precedents, those ap-
pointments would have been extended as a matter
of °7215e. They were, on the contrary, declared to

be at an end, and the superseded Judges were left
without explanation. That explanation Lord
CHELMSFORD has demanded at the hands of the
Government ; and that explanation, so consonant
with every English sympathy, the Duke of NEW-
CASTLE has very properly, but very ungraciously,
promised to ace3rd.

It is very satisfactory to notice that the "Poisoned
Grain Prohibition Bill" was read a second time on
Wednesday. Mr. PAULL, in moving the second
reading, made a most interesting speech on the sub-
ject. The hon. member said that the mission of
small birds was of great utility, and their
destruction was most injurious to vegeta-
tion and agriculture: He also showed that
the means used by persons to destroy small birds,
by poisoning seed wheat, &c., was dangerous to
society at large. In France and Germany they
now understood the value of birds, although too
long they had carried on a war
to makearofext theer Gamemination
against them. He did not wish
nestringenrite,buutre he asked the Houseintheinterestof to
Lawsfarm more
sard of agriculture
stlhauatg,hituert.he
vli'uhee-growing
prevent
Commissionind
communes, inhisactdreinrmeipyncearattreesdthe loss from caterpillars
was £852,000. The Royal Agricultural Society's
journal
published an article on de-
structiver
and the immense services rendered
byat
birds. ye
insects, a
The great destruction caused by
eur
smalls
caterpillars was shown by its extracts from a Swiss
work. It appeared "in one year an area of 860
acres of fir forest was entirely stripped of its leaves
by the caterpillars of the Noctum, and the Govern-
ment paid more than 1,000 thalers for the
destruction of 94,000,000 of the above dangerous
insects." Mr. PAULL also said that while English
sportsmen were not addicted to the practice of de-
stroying small birds like the sportsmen of other
countries, yet nevertheless the destruction was
going on at an alarming rate. A curious case in
point was adduced from what took place in Hamp-
shire, when rookeries were abolished. Many hurt-
ful insects, and especially the cockchafer, increased
so greatly that women and children were obliged to
follow the plough to pick up the grubs. Therefore
the farmers resolved to re-establish rookeries.
Among the letters on the subject it appeared that
the members of a single Sparrow Ciub had de-
stroyed 13,000 birds. Of late years agricalturists
had adopted the pernicious system of employing
poisoned wheat. Of course the indiscriminate sale of
this article is most dangerous. A letter was read
by Mr. PAULL from Col. CLIFFORD. who stated that
his keeper complained to him that great mischief
was occasioned by it; and one morning eight or
ten pigeons dropped down dead after picking up
some of this grain on a field a mile off. Also, Mr.
BOWDEN, a magistrate for the county of Derby,
instanced three flagrant cases in his neighbour-
hood that proved the evil of this practice. The
poisons tised for dressing the grain were of the
strongest and most deadly kind—strychnine, cocu-
lus indicus, and arsenic.
Mr. PAULL concluded by stating that he had
essayed to make his bill as stringent as possible,
for he considered that no one had a right to pro-
tect himself in a manner that injured his neighbour.
The use of poisoned grain was now become so pre-
valent that all over the country hawkers went
about "with strings of birds round their necks,
and sold for a penny packages of poison enough to
kill a whole village. The bill was read a second
time upon the understanding that great alterations
should be introduced in committee. It is to be
hoped that notwithstanding the lateness of the
session the bill will pass into law, and- not be left
to another year, as some suggested. The practice of
d: stroying small birds is one that ought to be
stopped at once, and if some few suffer in Cr,l3-
sequence of the suppressed sale of these poisons,
they will only have themselves to thank for it. It
is indeed a custom that exemplifies the adage of
" penny wise and pound foolish," for the small
tithes that were the portion of the birds have been
greatly increased through the devastating inroads
of insects. The French have had to rue the day
when their legislators sanctioned the wholesale
slaughter of these little warblers. Their harvests
have failed repeatedly, and the wireworm destroyed
in one department during a single year corn to
the value of £160,000. It appears from the evi-
dence on all aides, that it is a crime which brings
its own punishment to the holders of property
who encourage the nefarious practice; but then
there is the loss sustained by those who
have done no injury, and the loss also of
the sweet strains of these feathered songsters.
There is surely nothing but evil wrought by this
custom, and it is hard for the ramblers abroad to
be deprived of their accustomed melody. In France
the traveller hardly ever hears their notes, so cruel
and exterminating has been the warfare waged. It
is, in fact, one of those cases where the law should
interfere at once, for the habit once adopted is sure
to increase. Doubtless the spirit of emulation is
now rife in every sparrow club, to achieve a more
complete slaughter than any rival society has yet
accomplished. As for those whom no sentiments
of admiration for these ornaments of creation can
affect, they had better consider that there is great
danger to human life in these wholesale poisonings
of animals. The poor, the ignorant, and the starv-
ing are sure to fall victims to a cruel death, if this
mode is carried on much further. All sorts of
animals are killed by the poisoned wheat, as was
and it
reports and statements made in the
House,
u provedse,
ie is certain that human life will next
o
pay the forfeit of this indiscriminate and inconsi
derate style of procedure. Through a mistaken
notion of economy, some have adopted the practice,
others follow it up for the love of mischief, some
join the sport for the excitement of the thing, and
unprincipled vendors of all classes make an un-
worthy gain from this deleterious traffic, It is high
time that all parties were checked in their unwise
and unmerciful course, and those who best appre-
ciate the harmony of the CREATOR'S works will
readily accord their aid in putting down this work
of destruction.

The second reading- of the Fortifications Bill
produced, as might have been anticipated, B
lengthened and animated debate. No sooner had
the Premier briefly introduced the measure than Sir
F. slant rose to move all amendment. The hon.
baronet did not go so far aB some subsequent
speakers, for he admitted that it would be unwise
to leave uofi3ished those works which were far
present incurred on the
advanced, and contented himself by proposing that
no furtherexpense
assumption
that an enemy
Ply mouth and Portsmouth, except on such works as
b eat present
might land and besiege
are in an advanced state. The hon. member for
Rochdale, on the contrary, with that fervent
opposition which the very name of war excites in
the minds of the Manchester school, denounced the
whole scheme as iniquitous, and suddenly discovered
that it was injurious to the honour of England to
build fortifications at all. Other gentlemen brought
forward their reasons for opposing the measure—
some objecting to the position of the forts in quest.
tint, some denying the probability, almost the pos-
sibility, of an attempt at invasion, while others
maintained the superiority of an iron-clad fleet as
a means of defence. It is by this time tolerably