The Sun.
London, England, 1831-07-18 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC .TOURALS

It is amusing to hear the boasts of independence
rale from day to day in the House of Commons,
by gentlemen of a certain cast of politics. There is
nobody of whom we should be less inclined to speak
harshly or unkindly than of Sir John Malcolm, for
the sake of what, if he be it no longer; he certainly
has been in former times. Sir John, after gaining
from the whole world the reputation of being one of
he most distinguished, and, in some respects, most
useful writers of the last generation (he has been a
:salient soldier, too), would have better consulted his
own tranquillity and character by resting on his manye
coloured laurels, than by this last desperate enter-
pr of attempting to raise the siege of the rotten
horouehs. But the ridiculous part of the veteran
officer's present situation is his ignorance of the
ground he has chosen to occupy, and the hard hood
with which he expresses himself on all occasions, from
the belief that his enemies are no better informed
than himself. Only think of a man sitting for
the Duke of Northumberland's borough, and not
merely affecting to call himself independent, but
actually fancying himself to be so, and proclaiming
that the livery of his patron Duke is no more a badge
of servitude than is the free choice of the Livery of
London to one of the representatives of that popular
and powerful body. We should fear that Sir John
Malcolm was verging upon the seventh age of
Soakspeare, did not Mr. Knight, a youngish man,
and a clear-sighted one, seem to be bitten by the
seine disorder. Mr. Knight is unquestionably just
as independent of the Powis borough patronage as
poor Sir John Malcolm can be of the Northumber-
hind. How droll it is that these tame elephants
should, one and all, mistake themselves for wild
ones ! and tinder the very noses of their keepers
too !—Tintes.
We think it right to state, that the Bill for the
suspension of the militia ballot, which has passed the
House of Commons, does not interfere with the
helots stow its progress in several counties, but only
does away with the necessity of balloting again at
the end of the year, when, in consequence of the
previous ballot, there will be few if any vacancies to
be filled up. As some of the meetings of lieuten-
ancy have, under an erroneous impression, stopped
their proceedings, it is necessary this should be
known.—Times.
Mr. Bingham Baring has called at our office with
a note, inviting the Editor's attention to a letter
which he (Mr. Baring) had addressed to ns by the
medium of an Evening Paper of Saturday, and
which lie seems to consider an exculpation of him-
self and his proceedings, from the charges affixed to
both by the evidence on the trial at Winchester, alluded
to in our last number. As every man has a moral
right to be heard in selfsdefence, we have inserted
at full length the letter of Mr. Baring, and we now
affirm, what we are satisfied every dispassionate and
discerning person will agree to, that Mr. Banner
stands at this moment very nearly in the same post- 14
lion in which he was before. The purpose of the
" Letter " is that of every man found guilty of a
gross offence, who seeks to overthrow, by mere ir-
responsible gossip, the solemn decision of is court of
justice, founded on legal testimony, after a regu-
lar explanation of the mutual relations of the law
and evidence by the presiding Judge, and a delibe-
rate verdict against the party by a sworn Jury. Mr.
Bingham Baring says he did not " sign" the warrant
under which Mr. and Mrs. Deacle were seized*,
Who cares for that, when it is sworn, and not hi
any manner disproved on cross-examination, and not
questioned either by Judge or Jury, that if he did not
sign the warrant, he personally directed that shock-
ing execution of it, for which the action was brought
by Mr. Deacle, and the damages, however paltry
and inadequate, awarded ? He talks of the " deposi-
tions" against Mr. and Mrs. Deacie not being of a
trivial nature. The proper test of the " depositions"
is the instant acquittal of Mr. and Mrs. Deacle on
their trial, without requiring them to enter on any
defence of their conduct. As to the immediate
charges against himself, Mr. Bingham Baring " un-
dertakes to prove" that he did not order Mr. and
Mrs. Deacle to be handcuffed : the witnesses at the
trial were on oath, and were pretty well cross-ex-
amined,—why was not the fact sworn to by the con-
stable to whom the orders were directed, then dis-
proved ? Mr. Bingham Baring " undertakes to
prove" that he was not even present when " Mrs.
Deacle was conveyed to the cart :" two wit-
nesses, the constable and the maid-servant, swear
that he was ; and that it was he (Mr. Bingham
Baring) who carried her. He, again, is very po-
sitive that he did not strike Mr. Deacle on the
arm. " A touch—l do confess a touch !" But
a blow, or any thing like it, he declares he
never intended. Let Mr. Bingham Baring have
the benefit—and, indeed, he must have it, were we
ever so much disposed to refuse it to him, which,.
God knows, we are not—of all that he can prove
in the refutation of the evidence against him ; bat,
as the case at present stands," the proof," unfortu-
nately, lies the other way. He says, that all his
witnesses were made defendants for the sake of de-
priving him of their testimony ; and some of them
were complimented on their humanity, "for the
purpose tfaggravatiag the case against me." Now
these assumptions of motive against those whom he
had already injured, by an individual circumstanced
like Mr. Baring, ate, we really cannot help saying,
more offensive than almost any thing we have ever
read. He names but four persons as having been
made co-defendants for the above unworthy pur-
pose; yet, in the early part of his letter, he refers
to five gentlemen as having accompanied him on
the expedition, and suggests no reason why
he might not have adduced the evidence of
Mr. Deane, the banker, who had not been dis-
qualified as a di fendant. To the charge of having
refused Mrs. Deacle the use of her own horse, to be
led by a constable, he says nothing; ner to that of
having withheld from a delicate woman any con-
veyance but that of a cart without springs, does he
hint a single word of palliation. We are, therefore,
compelled to abate very little of our first impression
of the whole case, and to lament that proceedings of
such a nature should have been proved against an
English Magistrate. As for personal feeling against
this individual (our political feelings coincide), who
will be idiot enough to eecuse us of uny ? We
never saw Mr. Bingllam Baring, or held conver-
•ation with him in our lives; but we have a strong
feeling as British subjects, and if all who bear that
respectable character do net sympathise in our sen-
timents of indignation, nay, alarm, at this convicted
and unrefuted outrage, we shall be lts.s proud of the
name of Englishmen than before, Mr. Bingham;
Baring may have been affeeted in his judgment
through the excess of hie terror; but is :my indi-
vidual prone to that most cruel of the passions, a fit
object for reference as a Magistrate.—Tintes.
We have received a communication from Mr.
Bingham Baring, which our readers will find in
another column ; and we have received various com-
munications from gentlemen of high character,
speaking of him as a kindhearted, benevolent man.
Even admitting, however, that on the points re-
specting which Mr. B. Baring and the witnesses differ
from each other, the former is correct, and the wit-
nesses are not to be believed, still there are circum-
stances in the case which we cannot digest. Why
was a lady put in a common cart at all—a degrading
mode of conveyance, so different from that to which
her station in Li'e must have accustomed her ? This
was alone an insult. Again, Mr, and Mrs. Deacle,
by all accounts, had shown no disposition to resist
justice; why then presume that, after he was hand-
bolted, he would attempt to escape ? The touching
a man, who was handcuffed, on the arm, to prevent
his ,ieizing the reins, is a mode of explaining
the blow that has its difficulties. That Mr. B.
Baring should be anxious to set himself rght
wit
however,
to adopt
phristeli6usp.ubllive,e suer'iethismutrprliTesti,of time, dtstnhoet
surthe tone of his Counsel,
h it would almost appeaz;
the Hampshire Telrgrap
should not have been better advised i
trial. From
the
line
of
defence
titnEi'-'sticitnele, as reported in