The Sun.
London, England, 1830-02-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

We had imagined that there would not be found
one man in Parliament to oppose the claims of the
Jews to a participation of the privileges enjoyed by
their Christian fellow subjects. The ground of op-
poiition to the Catholics was intelligible, however
smell the credit due to it ; but there is no Pope or
roller foreign Potentate to whom the Jews owe obe-
dience, and we have never heard it even whispered,
that " the people of that persuasion were inclined to
overturn governments, to persecute, or to make pro-
selytes." In modern times, every Christian sect
hes by turns played the persecutor ; and at this very
moment the Calvinist-Presbyterians of the north of
Ireland (for persecution is a duty enjoined to Cal-
viniet-Presbytelians by their confession of faith) are
cruelly persecuting the Arian-Presbyterians of that
country. But the Jews have never persecuted, not
even in Poland, where, according to the French,
they are so numerous, that in many places a Pole is
hardly to be seen. Yet, even with regard to this in-
offensive people, there has been found one man in the
House of Commons to stand up and oppose their
admission to the rights and privileges of English-
men. But who should this man be but he whom
the University of Oxford has delighted to honour—
Sir Robert 11. Inglis ? Sir Robert regarded a
measure in behalf of the Jews, " as separating the
last link which bound the religion of the country
with the Legislature." Though the House can swal-
low a good deal, this was a little too much, and
accordingly there was a good deal of coughing,
when, with awful solemnity, he dwelt on the horrors
at the " separation of Christianity from the Legis-
lature." " Here (said Sir Robert) was the spirit
of encroachment proceeding with rapid strides. He
was not to be told that a small body of men could
not, by acting together, render essential services to
the country, or that they could not inflict very for-
midable injuries." We have at present the un-
speakable advantage of a Christian Legislature ; but
supposing the people of this country were at some
future period to embrace generally the Jewish per-
suasion (we take the matter at the worst), that
would not surely he a good reason for taxing them
without their consent, and making slaves of them.
Christ said, " My kingdom is not of this world."
Civil Government refuses the aid of no religion ;
for its object is not religious opinions, but the pro-
tection of person and property. But it is super-
fluous to enlarge en what Sir Robert Inglis alone
will refuse to admit. The days of persecution are
gone by ; we trust for ever in this country,—
Morning Chronicle.
In the Committee of Supply last night, Sir Henry
Hardinge moved a grant of 3,013,3331. for the Ex-
pellees of the Land Forces, exclusive of those in
India. Colonel Davies observed, that it was per-
fectly unavailing to make any opposition to the de-
mands of Government. " He cared not (he said)
one farthing how the Estimates were voted, or how
they were spent; for, those who opposed them
were not listened to, but were deserted by those
wont whom they had a right to look for the most sup-
port. Had the Honourable Member for Cutnber-
land brought forward his motion respecting the
Treasurer of the Navy, large numbers would have
voted with him, for few men could hope to benefit
by the job of the appointment; but when they came
to the Army Estimates, Members would not oppose
them, so many, with their friends and connec-
tions, were interested in the extravagance of
Ministers." This is the bitch. The people are
interested in a reduction of the expenditure ; the
guardians of the public purse have a separate interest
from that of the people ; they are, as Col. Davies
says, interested in the extravagance of Ministers, or
rather, for plain English is always best, Ministers,
must be extravagant to satisfy Pailiament. " There
was no use (said Mr. flume) in Parliament now,
except that men might speak in the House of Corn-
mom what, with the present Attorney-General,
they dare not speak out of it.—(Cheers.)—lle had
often stated to Hon. Gentlemen, that if there was
no other benefit in the House, there was at least
this advantage, that they bad no Attorney-General
to bring them to account for what they said within
these wally.—(Cheers.)—What state were they in
Now ? They had to pay enormous taxes; and if
any man out of the House complained, what was his
situation ? Why, he would be liable to be brought
sip by the Attorney-General, under the direction of
his Grace the Duke of Wellington; for he (Mr.
Hume) did not believe that thin Attorney• General
would venture to do so many acts to bring the Go-
vernment into disrespect, if he did not do so
in obedience to the wishes of the Cabinet, or
of the Duke of Wellington, who was himself
the Cabinet.—(Hear, hear, and
,a laugh.)"—Men
nifty, indeed, speak in the House of Commons
what they dare not speak out of it; but then Mr.
Hume forgets, that they must not write out of the
House what they speak in it. A Member is privi-
leged to epsak, but not to report what he speaks ;
eat' the moment his speech appears in print, the
Attorney-General may pounce on the writer of that
.speech—whether himself or another person. Nay
wore, the Attorney-General, if he pleases, may
within the walls of the house commence an attack
on him, which attack shall be circulated through-
out the country, while the defence may subject
the reporter of it to the vengeance of Mr. At-
torney. Mr. Hume would find the privilege of
speaking within the walls a very sorry affair
without the aid of the Press, which snakes the
whole British ruction his auditors. The public could
only know the House from its votes, without the
Press ; and an admirable encouragement it would be
to a speaker, to address an assembly for two or three
home, knowing all the while that he had as much
chance of prevailing on the said assembly as of pre-
vailing on the man of the moon. The beggar who
importunes you in the street is not without hope
that his eloquence will have its effect ; but Mr.
Hume, though a sanguine and stout hearted man,
never yet could for a moment yield to the
sweet illusion, that he had the remotest
chance of prevailing on the House to refuse
a single grant. He speaks through the press to
the tuition; and, as in the case of the Military Col-
lege, the effect is produced by the reaction of the
exposure on the House at a subsequent period.—
Whatever of good is done in the House is done
not through the House, but through individual
Members of the House, acting in opposition to the
wishes of the majority. The good, therefore, these
individuals can do of then: selves amounts to
earthing. They can act ou the public only
through the instrumentality of an engine over
which the Attorney-General possesses con-
tract. It has been said, we know, by Mr.
Brougham, in an article in the Edinburgh Review
for September, 1826, that the power of the Parlia-
ment to do mischief has been greatly increased by
the circulation of their discussions through the
country by the press, " Thus, whether they deseive
it or not (he observes), the Parliamentary Debaters,
from belonging to the body which has in its hands
the honour of making laws, and indeed, directly or
indirectly, ruling the country, have by far the
greatest weight in regulating the public opinion
upon any given question, and the greatest influence
in directing that opinion generally upon subjects
connected with public aireirs. It is not easy to esti-
mate the power which Parliament has thus acquired
over the country, and the degree in which the sys-
tee-attic publicity of its proceedings has enabled
it to tax and to rule. We may, indeed,
form some judgment of the force employed, by ob.
serving the effect produced. We have seen one
Parliement spend in twelve months, a hundred and
thirty-three ; and another thank the MH
glister fur the Walcheren Expedition! There is no
saying to what a people may be brought, by the art
so well known to cunning. rulers, of making thew ad-
vances slowly upon the purse and the liberties of
the people ; awl we cannot, therefore, pronounce
with certainty that under the old system of debating
with closed doors, as they did the seven year 'a
war, the expenditure »right not have been increased

gradually from thirteen to a hundred and thirty
millions, and the debt from eighty to eight hundred.
But not biog., surely, can be inure improbable, th
that such bluebells should have been submitted to by
a people who had become univeraidly thinkers and
talkers upon every subject of a political cast, unless
they were allowed either to raise the money them-
selves, by Representativs whom they had actual)
chosen, or received something in the place of this
contract—some share in the management of their
ONViI concerts, taken as an equivalent for the right
of election. The ruling powers had, apparently, but
one of these two courses open ; either to let the
people appoint their stewards, or to give what might
be taken as a substitete for the power of appoint-
ment ; and, as it was by no means clear that the
stewards chosen by them would concur in the ex-
penditure required, it must have been an agreeable
surprise to find the people just as well satisfied with
being suffered to inspect the account!, and see how
the measures for raising the money were founded,
and what were the reasons given for raising it. Ili
a word, we have very little voice in the choice of
those who are to spend our money for us ; bat we
are allowed to hear all they have to say in their own
behalf, while their hands are in our pockets; and
this seems to prove quite as satisfactory.
Thus it is with all the measures of Government.
Suppose the people knew nothing of Par-
liament, except that it sat, and made itself
felt through the tax-gatherer; it is easy to see
how limited would be its power in any way, espe-
cially in taxing." This, we apprehend, is taking
the effect for the cause. Heavy taxes led, in the
American war, to the publication of the debates, be-
cause it was but equitable that they who were
called on to contribute so largely to the exigencies
of the State, should know something of the grounds
for the call ; but the publication of the debates con-
tributed materially to the embodying throughout
the nation of an opinion to which the most obsti-
nate Monarch, perhaps, that ever filled the throne
of these kingdoms was, however reluctantly, at
length obliged to yield. The opponents of that
ruinous war were in turn emboldened by the voice
of the nation, which loudly responded to them, to
become gradually more daring, and dissatisfaction
with the working of Parliament then first created
that desire for Parliamentary Reform which some-
times appears to subside, but which always bursts
forth again with increased strength, and which
cannot be much longer withheld. We cannot
but remember, too, that a neighbouring nation—
the French—without any reported speeches, were
plunged into every war, and oppressed with taxes
beyond their ability, and that the Revolution was
brought on by the incurable deficit caused by the
wanton embarkation of the Government in the war
between us and the colonies, with which it had no
earthly concern. No, thank God, the publication
of the debates does not tend to raise the House,
either collectively or individually, in the estimation
of the country. Mr. Hume seemed to think this, at
all events, for he observed that " The Attorney-
General might, perhaps, say that he was bringing
the House of Commons into disrespect. He
answered that the House deserved to be brought
into disrespect. He did not wish to use any unpar-
liamentary language, but he must say that almost
every act connected with the expenditure of the
country had a greater tendency to bring the House
into disrespect, than all the paper bullets of The
Standard or Morning Journal, or aay of the other
papers that have been brought up for these libels."
It must have been very gratifying to the majorities
against retrenchment to be told by Mr. Peel that
patriotism and purity are best proved by dealing
liberally with the public money. "He (Mr. H.),
said the Right Hon. Gentleman, has made an
attack upon the majority that voted in favour
of Government, and he has imputed base, corrupt,
and personal motives to those who divided against
the side he wished to prevail. Let me inform him
that on one occasion many Honourable Gentlemen
voted on our behalf who are adverse to our general
polities. I will venture to say that those Members
who voted on Friday night for the present amount
of the At my Estimates, were individuals as hollow-
able, and to the full as free from the imputation of
personal corruption, as the Honourable Gentleman
himself.--( Much cheering.)—lt is too much to hear
a Member of this House undertake not only to eels.-
sure the conduct of those to whom he is opposed,
but to charge others, as honest, as upright, us in-
corrupt, as patriotic as himself, with a base desire to
promote their individual interests by the votes they
give in this House." What better evidence could he
wish for the purity of the Hon. Members than their
own hearty cheers in confirmation of the tribute to
their worth so liberally paid by Mr. Peel ? Base and
corrupt, for sooth ! Parliamentary Reform is not ad-
vocated, because it is the interest of Hon. Members
to be lavish in their votes. No reform could obtain
more disinterested and upright men than those who
now vote away the public money ! Members who
vole away the public money have no relatives who
benefit by the expenditure ! It is a singular coun-
try this ; for twenty millions can be spent every
year, and yet those who vote the expenditure are
so disinterested, that they have no advantage, direct
or indirect, from it. New, this is, perhaps, the only
country in Europe where a Parliament could pre-
serve its purity under such trying circumstances..
But our purity is, and always has been unimpeach-
able. It is, perhaps, Sir Robert Inglis will say,
because we are yet a Christian Legislature.—Mr.
Peel afterwards taunted Mr. Hume with endea-
vouring, under the shelter of his privilege, to provoke
the people to resistance ; and eulogized the man-
liness of Sir Francis Burdett, who put himself in the
power of the Attorney-General. Mr. Hume an-
swered Nvi th much naivete, that " he might Le
fool-hardy enough on other occasions, but he was
resolved to keep out of the hands of the Attorney-
General, if possible. But no taunts should induce
him to throw away the privilege he possessed ; no
charge of being a coward rebel should tempt him
to put himself into the hands of the enemy defence-
less." This invitation of Mr. Peel to Honourable
Members to throw themselves in the way of Sir
James is somewhat toc close an imitation of the
call to Barnardine, in Shakspeare, to come down
and be hanged.—elforning Chronicle.
It hes been easy to foresee, fur some time past, by
the violence of political parties in France, by the tutes
vernal formation of patriotic clubs to resist the appre-
hended imposition of illegal taxes, and by the general
hostility of the country and the press to the measures
and temper of the Court, that in the long run even
the question of a change of dynasty would be raised.
We do not, however, suppose that there is arty
conspiracy organised for bringing about this result,
or that there is any class of politicians so exaspe-
rated by their zeal or imaginary grievances as to be
prepared for civil war ; but that the advantages or
disadvantages of maintaining the Bourbons on the
throne of France, or getting rid of them, is made
the subject of daily discussion in every saloon of
Paris, there can be no doubt. The Ministerial
papers have long assured us of this fact, though
they limit disaffection to a fraction of the nation,
which they at one time typify under the name of
Journalism, and at another under that of the Direct-
ing Committee. Broad hints have likewise Weer
thrown out by some of the liberal papers, as to the
wish of the people for a change ; but it remained
for the Globe—a literary Journal, which since the
accession of the Polignac 'Ministry, has become
zealously political and polemical—to avow such
dangerous wishee without reserve or disguise. In
an article which that Journal published on Monday,
the 15th instant, and which the Government has
ordered to be pro-ecuted, the writer—who writes as
if conscious of addressing a great class of consenting
readers—speaks about the return of the Bout bons as
about the revisitation of a pestilence, and hints at
their departure with as much indifference as he would
at the distnis,al of a commis.lary of police or an officer
of gendatmerie.—Tiercs.

DISTRESS OF THE COUNTRY.

(From the Manchester Guardian.)

CONDITION OF TIIE INHABITANTS OF BLANCHESTER.

We know of no subject on which there has been
more assertion and declamation, or with respect to
which there has been less pains taken to collect ma-
terial
and important facts, than the distress under
which the country is at present labouring. That it
is severe and extensive is admitted by every one;
but as to its precise extent and severity, there is as
much diversity of opinion as there is on the causes
to which it is to be ascribed, or the remedies best
adapted for its cure. A considerable number of
persons who had predicted that about this time the
nation would be in a state of bankruptcy, unless the
various nostrums which they prescribed should be in
the mean time administered,----the gentlemen who
foretold that, without a re-issue of small notes, or a
return to restrictive systems of commerce, the taxes
could not be collected, and the internal business of
the country could not be carried on ;—these gentk-
men maintain that the distress in every part of the
country, and in every department of business, has
been for some years past steadily increasing, and is
at present much more severe than has been known
at any former period.
It becomes, therefore, a matter of some import-
ance to ascertain, if possible, how far these gloomy
statements are borne out by facts ; for, if they pre-
sent a correct p.cture of the condition of the country,
then, undoubtedly, the probability- is, that some
great and capital mistake has been committed by the
legislature, which must be corrected before we can
expect to witness a return of prosperity ; and to
the investigation of which Parliament ought imme-
diately and strenuously to apply. What, then,
has been the condition of the people of England
during the past year, as compared with their con-
dition during four or five preceding years ? This
is a very important question ; but how is it to be
solved ? Assuredly not by loose and unsupported
assertions in newspapers, or in speeches at public
meetings; nor yet by statements of the destitution of
a certain number of individuals, even though much
better authenticated than such statements have usu-
ally bven. There is always misery enough to be
found he those who will take the trouble of looking
for it ; anti a great number of cases of distress might
easily have been selected in the most prosperous
times which this country has ever known. Such
cases, therefore, prove nothing with regard to the
condition of the great mass of the population. There
are, however, in existence certain public and noto-
rious facts which are calculated to throw consider-
able light on the condition of the people; and we
think public writers and speakers would be much
better employed in collecting such facts in their re-
spective neighbourhoods, than in making random
assertions, or indulging in idle declamation relative
to the distresses of the country. Such being our
opinion, we have endeavoured to collect a number
of particulars relating to Manchester and the neigh-
bourhood, which we shall proceed to lay before the
public, with such observations as may appear to us
to be necessary.