The Sun.
London, England, 1839-09-03 00:00:00

THE SPEECH AS IT IS, AND AS

IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.

(From the Examiner.)
Various charges of delinquency that were once
brought by Lord Rodney against certain naval officers,
were obliged, it is said, to be kept in the back-ground,
for no other reason than because (such was the state
of the Navy at the time) it was difficult to muster a
sufficient number of non-delinquent officers to try them!
All Tory charges against the Liberals in our day fall to
the ground for a still stronger reason--the difficulty is
in this case an impossibility. Whatsoever they charge
upon Reformers, either of non-performance or of prac-
tical wrong-doing, they have been guilty of themselves
a thousand times over, and in a far more criminal de-
gree. Tory criminality, it must be granted, does not
establish Whig innocence ; but it establishes neverthe-
less the unfitness of Tories to be Judges or witnesses in
any case of complaint against Whigs.
Take for example the last crime of the Cabinet, the
composition of the Royal speech ; the speech which
they say is a foolish speech, a barren speech, an empty
speech—a poor, dull, trite, spiritless, insignificant speech.
Were these epithets never applied, at least as truly, to
Royal orations before ? If there is nothing new in the
speech, there is as little novelty in the mode of ridiculing
it. We remember Sovereigns, far less like Juliet in all
other respects than ours, who possessed quite as strongly
Juliet's faculty of " speaking" yet of " saying no-
thing." But there is, to be sure, this essential dif-
ference to be noted. The barren speeches of Tory

monarchs were always received as blessings ; com-
municating nothing, they claimed admiration, and a
grateful welcome. But. when the speech happened to
contain news, it was sure to send people home with
rueful visages, and the " merry peel" that greeted
Majesty had a strangely muffled sound to the ears of
subjects.
But why is the Royal speech all but destitute of
animated topics and joyful congratulation ? Why,
with the exception of the reference to the Penny
Postage, does it contain no charm powerful enough
to render us insensible to the futility of the remain-
ing paragraphs ? Why was her Majesty condemned
to travel to Mexico and Teheran for subjects of no
very vivid or lasting consolation after all. It was
simply because the majority of the Lords whom she
addressed, encouraged by a large proportion of the
Commons, who crowded the bar, had chosen to de-
prive her Majesty, at the close of the session, of such
topics of congratulation as we now well know she would
have loved to dwell upon. But for the factious pur-
poses and anti-national prejudices of so many of her
Majesty's " Lords and Gentlemen," the speech would
have contained a paragraph to this effect :
" I rejoice that the spirit of wisdom and justice has
at length prevailed in your councils, and prompted you
to extend municipal privileges to Ireland, on the only
principle that does not involve dishonour and deception
towards the people of that tranquil part of my dominions;
and I alio hail with pleasure your adoption of a measure
that secures to the negro population of Jamaica the full
'enjoyment of all that was comprehended in the term
emancipation."
Now if the speech, so " pitiful" in its topics, had
but contained this—as Yorick observes, " %would be
something."
But if the parties alluded to had been legislators and
patriots, instead of mere " Lords and Gentlemen," her
Majesty might have gone on to say—
" There can be no doubt that your adoption of a
measure for enlarging the constituency of the country,
by establishing a more satisfactory registration of voters,
will be received as a proof of your determination to
give the Reform Act a fair trial, which it has never
had. The measures which you have passed for remov-
ing some of the defects of the present system of pri-
son•discipline, and for the correction of certain glaring
abuses connected with the discipline of the church, are
among the proofs that public time has not been entirely
wasted, and that public wants have not been wholly
disregarded."
All this, however, was excluded from the speech ;
for her Majesty could only have alluded to these mea.-
sures as forlorn hopes, created in the Commons to be
lost in the Lords—measures deemed beneficial by the
people's representatives, and consequently rejected by
the Irresponsibles who are permitted to rule over them.
The introduction of such topics would undoubtedly
have given a different character to the Queen's speech ;
but imagine the difference, had the speech been drawn
op by Sir Robert Peel ! Had the Queen been less firm
in May, the Speech would unquestionably have been
far more full of existing topics in August. Her Ma-
jesty would probably have been made to say—
" The danger and consternation that have prevailed
in various parts of my dominions have rendered neces-
sary a large addition to the standing army ; a strong
military force being required in Ireland, to aid the
troops previously stationed in that country, in re-es-
tablishiog tranquillity. I lament that it has been found
found expedient, in the emergency to which the
legal authorities of the kingdom have been
driven by the disorders that have prevailed in this
country, to call for extraordinary powers by which to
secure the conviction of political criminals, and to pro-
vide for the suppression of liberal opinions. It is con-
solatory, however, to think that the unconstitutional
measures adopted have been quite successful ; and that
all political sentiments not in accordance with those of
my Government and the upper branch of the Legisla-
ture, are so effectually checked as to threaten no imme-
diate danger."
Another paragraph might have proceeded thus—
" Gentlemen of the House of Commons :—You
have nobly defeated the mischievous attack upon the
revenue, and the financial credit of the country,
made by a portion of your body, under the name of
a plan for a penny postage ; rather than sanction
which, the Minister who speaks the sentiments of my
Cabinet has declared that he would retire from public
life at once. The reflection that you have averted such
a calamity, and saved the commercial interests from a
destructive rate of postage, will be the reward of your
virtue."
It is possible too, that her Majesty might have as-
sured the " Lords and Gentlemen" that the zeal they
had ever manifested for her personal comfort and well-
fare had been attended with the most gratifying results
—witnessed in the endearing ties and associations sur-
rounding her, and the perfect harmony and happiness
prevailing throughout her palace.

CAUTION TO PERSONS WRITING ON NEWS
PApEk COVERS. —On Tuesday a respectable-looking man
named Henry Naghton was brought up at the Borough
Court, Manchester, charged with having put his initials on
the cover of a newspaper addressed to " Jas. Hey land,
Esq., Clougher, 13elsmullet, Ireland."—Mr. Eldershaw
appeared on the part of the Post-office, and stated that this
paper having been charged 11. I3s. was returned, and Mr.
Naghton had been ascertained to be the person who had
sent it. The paper being returned to Mr. Naghton, he,
of course, refused to take it back, and wrote to the Post-
master-General at Dublin to know the reason why the
paper had not been forwarded, and charged the clerks
in the Post-office with having written on it so as to
prevent its reaching its destination. Mr. Eldershaw
also stated that when Mr. Naghton was questioned on
the subject, he admitted that be might have put his
initials on the paper, but if he had he was not
aware that he had committed any offence. Mr.
Naghton, on being asked what he had to say, stated
that he had only to throw himself on the mercy of the
court. At the time he received his friend's letter he
went to the Post-office, requesting that the papers might
be sent back again. He was satisfied Mr. Willock would
not have brought oa this prosecution but for a third party.
He was confident that be had written nothing on the paper.
The initials on the paper were his initials, but be did not
by any means admit that they were his writing. Besides,
the letters " nghton" had bcen added to the initials. The
Mayor—The charge was only for the three initials
EL W. N., and not for any other part of the name..—Mr.
Naghton thought that was a forgery, and he wanted to
know who had written it?—( Laughter.) The Mayor—
We have nothing to do with anything but the initials.—Mr.
Naghton-1 never admitted that I had written those initials.
—Mr. Eldershaw positively stated that Mr. Naghton had
admitted having written them. The Mayor (to
Mr. Eldershaw)—Can you prove that he admitted
this to be his writing ?—Mr. Eldershaw stated on oath
that he admitted the writing to be his, and, besides, it
corresponded with the rest of the direction.—The Mayor
—Did you find these initials on the paper before it left
Manchester?—Mr. Eldershaw—No, the initials were dis-
covered at the Post Office, Dublin.—The Mayor (to Mr.
Naghton)—The paint is whether you wrote these initials
or not. You stated to this gentleman that you might
have done it.—(To Mr. Eldershaw)—" Is there any fur-
ther admission that he made ?—Mr. Eldershaw—When the
paper was returned he said " Yes, I wrote it, but I was
not aware that it was wrong." I said, do you moan to pay
the 1/. 13s. ? and he refused to pay it.—Mr. Naghton con-
tended that he admitted the initials to be his, but not the
writing.—The Mayor—lt is a very hard case, but we
feel confident that you did write these initials, and that
this is your writing. It is exceedingly hard, because we
are satisfied you had no intention to defraud the revenue in
this case.—Mr. Naghton (to Mr. Eldershaw)—Do you
swear before that Bench that I put my initials to that paper
with any intention to defraud the revenue?—Mr. Elder-
shaw— I cannot swear to your motives.—The Mayor—We
don't go upon your motives, but upon the breach of the
law. You must pay them 1/. 13s. We are quite satisfied
you had no intention to defraud the revenue, but the Act
of Parliament is imperative upon us.—Mr. Eldershaw—lf
you choose to memorialize the Postmaster-General he may
mitigate the penalty.—The Mayor—That will be the best
way. If you will memorialize, I will sign the memorial.—
Mr. Naghton applied that the 1/. 13s. might not be en-
forced until he had memorialized. The parties then left
the Court. —Manchester Times.
IMPORTANT TO PRlNTERS.—Considerable
misapprehension prevails as to the effect of the new enact-
ment (2 Vic. c. 12) with regard to the necessity for
an " imprint" to printed papers. A paragraph has
been going the round of the newspapers to the effect
that no imprint is now necessary ; but this is a mis-
take. The recent Act imposes a penalty of not ex-
ceeding fire pounds, instead of twenty pounds, a;
previously, upon every person who shall print " any paper
or book whatever" without having his name and pla ec of
abode on the first and last leaves of any book, or tipon the
front of any paper printed on one side only. Besides this
reduction of penalty, no person can sue far any penalty
incurred except in the name of the Attorney-General of
England, or the Lord-Advocate of Scotland.