The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-15 00:00:00

VENING EDIT! ON

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNAL $.

(I,IIOH THE DAILY ?AYERS Or TEITEaDAT.)
(From the Globe.)
It would be difficult to fix on an instance in which
gross misrepresentation has been more unblushingly
persisted in than is afforded by the statements respect-
ing Frost and his fellow-convicts, with which most of
the Tory Papers still abound. We cannot rut
repeat what we have already, in every form of
language, stated, that in the treatment of these
men there has been no departure from the course
invariably pursued. No instructions were sent
to the Governor of the colony respecting them ; he
was left to the ordinary regulations which he is bound
to follow in all cases, and from them there is no reason
to believe he has departed. If it be meant that Frost
our,'ht to have been placed in a gang of convicts working
in chains upon the road, we take leave to differ fromjthe
e pinion. To have subjected a man of his years, who had
never been accustomed to muscular labour, to such work,
',would have been torture, to be speedily followed in such a
climate by death; and would have laid any Government
-which had issued such directions, or bad allowed such an
exaction, open to the;charge of vindictive cruelty. If it be
pretended that there has been, in the case of Frost,
or his companions, any favour, by remission of any
of the ordinary rules by which the treatment of con-
victs is governed, or by any reward, in any form or
shape, for the labour they perform, we beg again to
deny that there has been any such remission, relaxation,
or reward ; and demand of those who venture on the
assertion that there has been, to adduce the proof.
We have reason to believe that the letter which has
appeared in the public papers as writter! by Frost, has
undergone material alterations and interpolations ;
especially as we have seen a letter from Frost of a
very different kind, in which he states that
" he and his fellow-convicts were placed on board the
Mandarin in the prison dress, and suffered severely
from the cold, until pieces of tarpaulin were given
them, which they threw over their shoulders." This
certainly is at: variance with the statement that they
were allowed, on reaching Port Arthur, to retain and
wear part of their own clothes. We shall here close
the controversy. If there be any Member of Parliament
so utterly demented as to place the slightest confidence
in the reveries in which the Tory journals have in-
dulged, let him move immediately on the meeting of
Parliament for all the correspondence, and all other
papers, which have any relation to the matter in issue,
and we will undertake to say that the motion will meet
with a ready assent from the Government.
(From the Courier.)
There is no foreign news of any importance in the
P iris Papers of Tuesday, and the principal subject
of interest in domestic matters is the disgraceful at-
tempt of the students and other revolutionary scions
of
.Young France to assist in an insidious attempt
to insult both the Queen and Prince Albert,
through the medium of a theatrical performance,
to which we alluded yesterday. This choice speci-
men of mischievous nonsense is entitled " I 1 etait
sine fois un Roi et une Reiue" (there was once a
King and a Queen), but the good sense of the Go
vernment prevented this exhibition, which, although
intended to ridicule England and the English, would
probably hate been chiefly remarkable for covering its
authors and all who assisted in carrying out their views,
with contempt. Elsewhere we have given some inte-
resting particulars from the Times respecting this pre-
cious concoction, which appears exceedingly well calcu•
fated to exhibit the character of the French agitators in its
true light. They appear to be precisely the men who would
injure in the dark, not having the courage to give eff.ict
to their vicious imaginings in an open and direct min-
ner. " Willing to 'sound, and yet afraid to strike," these
French patriots, as they style themselves, seem deter-
mined to show to the world that they merit the con-
tempt of all reasonable and thinking men. The journals
are of course still occupied with the Fortification 11111,
in which, it appears, M. Thiers intends to propose sere-
ral essential changes. M. Thiers was to make his re-
pert t 5 the Chamber on the subject yesterday.