The Sun.
London, England, 1830-01-04 00:00:00

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Juntry niv thrash then coro, thc_TILW *.,,,*
inie in idle discus,ions, which ant hdre,4,t4rac-
tical result, ‘vhich is intini;elv too li::le 161-th ,
wants of air own people. Fore:gtwls lau4h at
us for this dispw-ition to combat windinilA, :I;
well they may. To a rellecting:»;n:l, notlung
gprears so astonishing, as that in a country ,o
far advanced in the arts of civiliz lion as Eng-
land, in which there i,l so large a cl.iss p,s,,e.s,cd

~~

of the means of existing without Ishour, there
should be so few men who cornbine.with suffi-
cient penetration to discern the rsal nature ana
causes of the abuses for which the peopla suffas
the virtue and firmness to make war against them
with effect. Ten men, perhaps the all of tips:
nunsher, possessed of clear heads and resolute
hearts, and perseveranca in the House of Com-
mons, would produce an effect, the force of
which is almost incalcillable, on the nubile
mind, and, through that mind, on the House.
But, with the exception of one, or, at most,
two individuals, there is no man in the
HoliSe rif Commons whose heart is on the
right side, who has courage to ham!: the oppo-
nents of' the people and their interests fairly in
the face—to grapple earnest// with arguments
—to disregard the expression of titlrisces around
him, the sneers, and the jokes mvinapactd loud
enough to be heard by him. This coral:lice
may be accounted f a.. The Members o' the
House of Commons belong to a caste which hag
little sympathy with the people ; and even those
Members whose inclinations are not corrupt (a
very small number necessarily in a country where
the ratnifications of Church and State are so
extensive) have constantly present, when speak-
ing, the effect what they say will have on their
reception in circles, the good opinion of which
ahastut more
indirectly, influence
through
good opinion of the body cf the Fleop •
\I, hen
a Liberal leaves the Chamber ,71. DePtni"t he
t theirhei rhappiness,
families,appess than(l Y i
the
retires to a circle animated by the ses:.'th!eiits to
which he gave expression in that assembi;,. and
which cheers and encourages him to the resolute
discharge of his deity. When Bruce and Black
and the other Presbyterian Divines, who, under
the leading of Andrew Melville, fought
so suc-
cessfully the good tight against King James, be-
fore his accession to the Crown of Enrland, re-
tired from those noble conflicts of wind"; we have
so spirited accounts in Calderwood and l\l'Cric,
they did not retire to the society of these against
whom they combated. Man cannot exist with-
out sympathy, and he is necesstri?y most intim!.
enced by the circles in which he daily
moves. Were a man even to be indifFa-
rent himself to the notions of the so-
ciety by which he is immediately sur-
rounded, it seldom happens that his wife, his
sons and daughters, arc equally indifferent.
Bishop Watson states it as a reason why, as
long as the inequality of Bishoprics prevails, the
Bishops must be the creatures of the Ministry
for the time, that if a Bishop were to be himself
indifferent to wealth, his wile would seldom pos-
sess the same indifference, and he is thus forced
to cringe and crawl, that his wife may be gratified
with a splendid establishment. Thus we find
numerous powerful motives constantly acting on
the resolution of members, and few of die stimu-
lants by which men are incited to distinguish thqm-
selves. We remember the time when Sir Francis
Burdett seemed to be alone in the House of
Commons. He is now popular in that assem-
bly, because he has found out the art of speak-
ing in unison with his audience. All this dis-
position to obtain a little distinction by looking
abroad for grievances to evade combating in
earliest at home, to take up with insignificant
nostrums to tinker the little holes in the political
kettle, may be accounted for on obvious princla
pies. The people of England are represented by
men belonging to the wealthy and aristocratic:
elass. Till by some accident a few men belong-
ing to and identified with the people, whose soul
is in their work, shall find their way into Par-
liament, the fight will always be a sham fight.
Human nature is the same everywhere. Courage
and energy are to be found in England as well
as in other countries ; but courage and energy
do not easily find their way into the House of
Commons. It was very well to call England
the classic land of liberty when England was time
only country in Europe in which there was any
scope for the expression of opinion ; but though
England has many institutions the want of which
is sensibly felt in all parts of the Continent, it
is not the less true that the spirit of several parts
of the Continent is now much 'better than in
England, and under the influence of that spirit
better institutions will, no doubt, in time be ob-
tained. Under the influence of that spirit at
present the worst institutions are rendered harm-
less. In this country Juries are too often found
actuated by the most slavish spirit, and ready to
yield everything to power. In France the
Judges, a class who in this country, with hardly
an exception, have been hostile to the cause
of the people, are seen vindicating the liberty
of discussion, and defending Journalists
against constructions of libel law which would put
an end to all censure of men in power. The
reason is that in France there is no Aristocracy,
while in England the Aristocracy is everything,
Judges in France identify themselves with thin
nation. But, as is observed by the Journal des
Debats of Thursday last, this conduct, " so
honourable to the character of the First President
of the Cour Royale, is only an additional reason
in favour of a jury. Men pass away ; institu-
tions alone remain." But it a Jury would, even
with the prevailing spirit in France, be an advan-
tage, we fear that we must wait a long time in
England before it would be advantageous to rely
rather on a Judge than on a Jury. When we
shall have a Government identified with the
people, we shall have Judges on whose political
honesty reliance may be placed ; which we
may expect, from a superiority to the vulgar
prejudices which sometimes influence Juries
too much. Till that time we should be sorry to
have no other security for our liberties than the
French now possess. We are quite aware that
the example of England, whatever good it might
once have encouraged, can only operate now
detrimentally to the Continent. Our unpaid
Magistracy, our primogeniture, our Church and
State abuses—the yearnings of our aristocracy ;
all tend to the encouragement of the Govern-
ments abroad in their encroachments on the.
people. The people of the Continent seem,
however, to be now fully alive to the extent of
the hyptcrisy which prevails in this country. In
a Letter of Jefferson, dated June 11, 1823, we
have a striking instance of the discernment with
which he appreciated the hypocritical conduct of
this country towards the foreign Liberals.
't That England is playing false with Spain (he
says) cannot
,be doubted. The Government is
looking one way and rowing another. It is
curious to look back a little on past events.
During the ascendancy of Bonaparte, the word
among the herd of Kings was sauve qui pent:
Each shifted for himself, and left his brethren to
squander and do the same as they could.- After