The Sun.
London, England, 1836-04-04 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Now that the differences between France and Ame-
rica are settled, and the first instalment of the money
in question between them actually paid, it is,' and
Ought to be, to our countrymen matter of proud con-
gratulation, that so beneficial a result as the prompt
settlement of differences which might easily have led
to the most disastrous consequenceg, must be mainly
ascribed to the good faith and amicable mediation of
our own Government. This is a fact no less gratify-
ing than universally admitted--England has received
from both parties the warmest expression of their gra-
titude for her interference. Nor is this language held
by Guerin:lents alone, individuals of the highest sta-
tion in both cotmtries have not hesitated to confess
how much was due td ihe disinterested conduct and
good faith of the British 50verninnt. In America,
in particular, it was gratifying to see men like
Mr. Clay sinking national prejudices in the cor-
dial acknowledgments which justice drew forth. It
is perfectly obvious that in the conduct pursued
by our Government, they were actuated by a high re-
gard for mighty and philanthropic considerations, and
not by narrow views of petty and selfish interests,
which might have been possibly advanced at the ex-
pense of the commerce of either of the belligerent's.
In contradistinction to Tory jealousy, which would
gladly seize the occasion of fanning the strife between
such powers as France and America, it was the ob-
ject of the present liberal Government to, interpose
their offices for no other purpose than that of re-
storing harmony between what must be termed the
liberal Powers. To strengthen the hands of liberal
Governments was never more important than at the
present time ; and the policy of Lord Palmerston has
been manfully directed to the great object. The
state of Europe generally, and that of the Penin.-
sula in particular, bear testimony to the importance
of this wise and statesmanlike conduct. A

defeated faction exclaims against the supposed

loss of our influence abroad. Can there be a
, better answer to its taunts, or a better justifica-
_ _

tion of the prudent and straightforward conduct of the
Foreign Secretary, than that under British mediation,
and under Lord Palmerston's direction, within the
short compass of two years' disputes—first between
' France and Sweden, next between Portugal and Sar-
dinia, and lastly between France and America, have
been effectually and amicably settled ? Is it nothing
for England to be received as the mediator between the
two greatest maritime Powers in the world, after our.-
selves, and to find that mediation successful, and both
parties expressing their cordial acknowledgments ?
What a show of rejoicing would it have been to the ene-
mies of liberal institutions, what a subject of congratu-
lation for Russia, to have beheld the flame of war fanned
into activity, and bursting out between France and
America ! How might her dreams of aggrandisement,
her ambitious views against her southern neighbour,
have been realised and advanced in the general struggle
to which such a contest might have led ! Except the
worn- out Tories of England. no party would have pro-
bably rejoiced so much at the disastrous struggle as
his most extensive Highness the Czar of Muscovy.
But the public, who by the means of their Representa-
tives in Parliament have already hurled the Tory fac-
tion from place and power, can appreciate facts like
these, and will draw their own inferences as to the
soundness of the policy of the Liberal Government,
and the degree of attention which ought to be paid to
the howlings of the Opposition about loss of influence,
&c., in the face of testimony of British influence so well
known and authentic. We congratulate Lord Palmerston
and the Government upon the beneficial result of Bri-
tish mediation in effecting so fortunate and so speedy
a settlement between two of the greatest Powers in the
world—we congratulite the country upon the important
bearing which the amicable settlement of this question
has upon the cause of constitutional liberty and of ge-
neral peace ; and while at home we see reform either
in successful operation or in active progress, and the
resources and prospects of the country steadily in-
creasing, it is equally gratifying to know that our in-
creasing influence abroad is no less marked than our
urosperity at home ; and the Government, strong in
the affections and support of the people, and backed
by such evidence of their beneficial operation, may
pursue the course they are in with calmness and.dif,T-
nity, unmoved by the ravings of a faction whose hold
upon this country is constantly and rapidly diminish-
ng.—Mariting Chronicle.

It has been 'at all times a distinguishing characteris-
tic of the institutions of this country, that the admink-
tration of justice should be placed in pure and disin-
terested hands. Blackstone thus notices one of the
extremes to which this principle is carried :—" The
prudent jealousy of our ancestors (says the great com-
mentator) ordained that no man of law should be Judge
of Assize in his own county ; and a similar prohibition
is found in the civil law, which has carried the principle
so far, that it is equivalent to the crime of sacrilege for
a man to be Governor of the province in which he was
born, or has any civil connection?" The objection to
judges sitting on the Civil Side et the Assizes in coun-
ties wherein they may happen to have property, is still,
we believe, rigidly adhered to in practice—a circum-
stance which we take to be of little other value or ad-
vantage than as retaining one of the old landmarks
which "the prudent jealousy of our ancestors" placed
for our guidance and observance. And if this absence
even of apparent interest be so essential in persons ex-
ercising judicial functions, it must, we imagine, be ad-
mitted that those who are placed in the situation of Legis-
lators should be equallyexempt from the smallest suspicion
of interested bias in the performance of their high and
important duties. If those who are to administer the
laws should be pure, those who make them should at
least be disinterested and impartial. If there are any
who doubt the salutary tendency of this maxim, we
would refer them, for an ample corroboration of its
truth, to the history of the celebrated South Sea
scheme, where they will see Members of the Senate
figuring in and promoting one of the most extensive
frauds and bubbles that former or even later times have
ever witnessed. When we see, then, the names of
Members of the Legislature put forward as Directors
or Subscribers to schemes, however plausible or even
valuable, to which the subsequent assent of Parliament
is to be required, we cannot help considering that such
persons sink the higher character in the lesser, and, in
fact, disqualify themselves from giving that impartial
consideration to the subject which every measure which
comes before them is entitled to receive. The same,
or even a more rigid rule, applies to contracts ; it be-
ing an established maxim that a Government con-
tractor is ipso :ficto disqualified from sitting in the
House of Commons. Governed by these undeni-
able principles, we were much struck with an
avowed and ingenious evasion of the latter, resorted
to by the City of Dublin Steam Company, with
which, we believe, several popular Members of
of Parliament are, connected. " The Company asked
to be incorporated (said its agent at a late meeting) as
the General Steam Navigation Company had been, in
order to prevent the Members of Parliament who
were connected wills it from being ousted frog: their
seals, should the Company obi= the contract"—
meaning the' contract for conveying the mails. Now
if this be not, in principle, at least, a distinction with-
out a difference, we scarcely know what is. So an in-
corporated Member of Parliament may become a con-
tractor with impunity—an impunity, by the bye, which
not only embraces a virtual violation of the law, but
which also limits his liability to his creditors ; and
besides this, he may be the maker of the very law
which enables him to do so, and thus to become the
dependent supplicant to the Government for its favours
to him as a common carrier ! As all this is openly
avowed, and no secrecy or reserve resorted to, we
readily suppose that persons who put forth,. or act
upon sueh premises, see none of the consequences we
have alluded to. Whether Parliament and the country
will be of the same opinion, remains to be seen. We
have merely performed our duty in drawing their at-
tention to what strikes us as a gross disregard of the
,4 prudent jealousy of our ancestors."—Morn. Herald.
The public attention has been recently called to the
state of our relations with China, in consequence of
Mr. Hamilton Lindsay's published letter to Lord
Palmerston upon that subject, and the criticisms
which it has called forth from certain portions of the .
Press. We perceive that the Government Papers,
which do not find it convenient to consider gravely the I