The Sun.
London, England, 1848-12-19 00:00:00

tr
11'01lin ill .S 1,111)

LONDON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1848.

Although the law officers of the Crown in Ireland
hare been completely exonerated from the serious
charges that had been preferred against them—al-
though his Excellency the LORD-LIEUTENANT has
shown that their conduct in setting aside certain
jurors during the late State trials was not only
justifiable, but that, had they acted differently, they
would have been guilty of a grave dereliction of duty
to their SOVEREIGN and to the community in
general—although such is unquestionably the case,
it is deeply to be regretted that such accusations
could appear even for a moment to have the slightest

foundation, that any number of persons could be in-
duced to affix their signatures to a document
such as that which has recently been pre-
sented to the Earl of CLARENDON, and to which
we yesterday directed the public attention. The
administration of justice should at all times be above

the breath of slander. It should not only be perfectly
pure and strictly impartial, but it should be beyond
suspicion. No deeper calamity could happen to the
nation than the existence of even a doubt as to the
efficiency of the institutions by which it is dispensed.
If distrust is once excited as to the public tribunals—

if the opinion gets abroad that a conviction may be
obtained, not because sufficient evidence is brought
forward to convince sober and dispassionate men that
the prisoner is guilty of the offence with
which he is charged, but because his judges
entertain political or religious sentiments wholly
different from those which he professes,
a hope can no longer be cherished of a peaceful and
constitutional Government, of a happy and contented
people. The existing powers may maintain their
position by force, murmurs and complaints may be
suppressed, fear and terror may prevail, but they
cannot rule in the hearts or govern the affections of
the citizens. A sullen obedience is all that can be
obtained, and that will only be yielded during the
existence of these influences. It is therefore of the
most vital importance thAt some great and compre-
hensive measures of reform should be introduced,
that discontented men should no longer be enabled to
give utterance to complaints bearing even the sem-
blance of truth.

So long as unanimity is required from juries, so
long as a single dissentient can neutralise the acts of
the other eleven jurors, so long will such rumours
be rife in the sister kingdom. When men can suffer
their private feelings or their political prejudices to
interfere with the discharge of their public duties—
when solemn obligations can be forgotten and oaths
violated—and when those who have so grievously
offended are lauded as patriots, in place of being
stigmatised as perjurers, then, indeed, it becomes
essential for Crown prosecutors to scrutinise the
constitution of the jury panel with a curious eye, and
fearlessly to desire all those of whom a reasonable
doubt may be entertained " to stand aside."

If, however, the system that has so long prevailed
in Scotland, and with such happy results, were intro-
duced, if after a certain time, sufficient for the most
ample discussion, the verdict of a considerable majo-
rity, say three-fourths of the entire number, were
received, there would no longer be a feasible excuse
for an indiscriminate resort to the obnoxious privi-
lege. A single man may set himself against the deli-
berate opinions of his colleagues, when convinced
that his single opposition would be effectual, and
that his party would derive great advantage there-
from ; but when convinced that, after a time, the
majority would prevail, and that he would expose
hi,

.mself to censure without any corresponding
benefit being attained, he would withdraw from
the useless contest, and speedily fall in with the
views of his brother jurymen. Under the present
system it may, and, we believe, frequently does hap-
pen, that the majority succumbs to the minority,
that an obstinate man, of strong frame, prepared to
bear the cold and hunger that might prove fatal to
others, will succeed in obtaining an erroneous deci-
sion. The able and experienced gentlemen who were
selected as Commissioners to report on the Common
Law most decidedly and unequivocally condemn the
present system. They say—" There seems to be no
.eiple o of
f good reason why, after a period of time sufficiently
kgeievpiinngg a
long for the purposes of reasonable and ample dis-
cussion, the jury should not be excused from the
necessity
verdict, or whyuntil the present
principle
themtogether,
be produced by a sort of duress of imprisonment,
should be retained—and the interests of justice seem
manifestly to require a
subject. W.,therefore,
change of the law upon this
- propose, that the jury shall
not be kept in deliberation longer than twelve hours,
unless, at the expiration of that
unani-
mously concur to require further
period, they
er time, which in that
case shall be granted ; and that, at the expiration of
the twelve hours, if any nine of them should concur in
a verdict, such Verdict 8411 be placed
upon the record,

and shall entitle the party in whose favour it is given
to judgment, and in failure of such concurrence the
cause shall be a remanet."

If this admirable suggestion were adopted—if after
twelve hours spent in deliberation, the verdict of nine
jurors were accepted, and judgment recorded thereon,
we should no longer witness such scenes as those that
have recently taken place. The detention of the jury
twelve hours would ensure a calm and deliberate dis-
cussion of the evidence—it would prevent the possi-
bility of a hasty or ill-considered decision ; while the
concurrence of nine persons at least, on their oaths, in
the verdict would show that there must be due founda-
tion for the verdict. None would be coerced into a
verdict against their conscientious opinions, for all could
bear twelve hours' seclusion, particularly if a mode-
rate supply of food were allowed ; and there can
be no adequate reason assigned for the present com-
pulsory abstinence which often seriously affects the
health of gentlemen who are discharging their
onerous duties honestly and impartially.
. _

We trust, therefore, that the recommendation of
the Commissioners, which has so long and so un-
accountably been overlooked, may be carried into
speedy execution. Then, indeed, there can no longer
be a necessity for telling any "to stand aside," and
there will be no grounds for the assertion that any
class of her MAJESTY'S subjects have been systemati-
cally excluded from juries for the trial of any des-
cription of offences.

The fluctuations of public opinion and the caprices
of popular fancy constitute a curious and interesting
study. The ebbing and flowing of the ocean is not
more invariable than the mutability of popular
preference. The favourite hero of to-day will to-
morrow be esteemed nobody. Some object of in-
difference or contempt at the present moment may
next week or next year be the "rage" and the fashion.
This characteristic inconstancy of public taste, some-
times injurious and sometimes beneficial in its effects,
has rarely been more strikingly manifested than in
the history of the British drama. It might have
been supposed that in a country so rich in its
dramatic literature, a country remarkable for his-
trionic excellence, above all in a country where the
plays of SuAresresaz are original, the theatre could
never be deserted, and the taste for dramatic litera-
ture could never decline. Experience has proved the
falsity of any such supposition. After a brief but
glorious period of public favour the popularity of the
stage decayed. Its Yousias, :its KEANS, its KESI•
BLES, passed away, their successors were uncared
for and disregarded. Theirs became a thankless
task, they toiled without encouragement, they de-
served without ever obtaining applause. The temple
of the drama was deserted. The plays of SHAESPERE,
exquisitely mise en scene, and admirably enacted,
were performed to empty benches. The temple of
the drama was desecrated ; crowds again thronged its
portico, and filled up every crevice of space to witness
the feats of the beast-tamer and admire the docility
of lions and tigers. The political orator drew eager
crowds while the eloquence of the dramatist was
wasted on the air. The opera and the ballet charmed
thousands and tens of thousands, and SRAKSPERE was
handed over to the student in his closet. This apathy
became too:universal to be disregarded, and the wise
puzzled their ingenuity in conjecturing its cause.
Some alleged the inferior merit of the actors, while
others declared this inferiority to be occasioned by a
want of encouragement; for cause and effect are
here so inseparably intertwined that it is impossible
to say whether good actors draw full
houses, or full houses make good actors.
Be this as it may, the neglected condition of the
drama l ad long since become proverbial, and we only
refer to it at present because we are inclined to be-
lieve that the ebbing has at length been succeeded by
the returning tide. The popular enthusiasm evinced
some time back on the subject of SHAKSPERE'S house
fully demonstrates, that with the love of the drama
the love of SHAKSPERS has not diminished among his
countrymen. In reference to this enthusiasm, a re-
cent pamphleteer has proposed,* that the nation,
having purchased SHAESPERE'S house, should now
purchase a house for SHAKsFERE—a theatre, the
property of the nation, to be exclusively devoted to
SHAKSPERE'S plays. Now, without going so far as
this zealous Shaksperian in this particular, we cer-
tainly agree with him, that " the human mind
receives most quickly and retains most durably im-
pressions made by dramatic representation," and
that it is consequently a matter of the deepest
I importance that dramatic works of an ele-
vated character, more especially the works
of Strexsrese, " the world's great moral
teacher," should be worthily and constantly repre•
sented. Without recognising a necessity for the
purchase of a Shaksperian Theatre, esp:Tially at
present, we should rejoice fully as much as the en-
thusiastic Mr. WILSON in witnessing a universal
homage to the bard of ELIZABETH from the lieges of
VICTORIA. No reasons are so effective as those
which are indirectly given and unconsciously ac-
quired. The ears that would be deaf to the wisdom
of a preacher, or the eyes that would turn away from
the teachings of a homily, will eagerly look and
notice when the stage " holds the mirror up to
nature," and the listener's own faults and follies are
satirised and exposed. Can the ambitious man wit-
ness Macbeth without recognizing the vanity of human
ambition ? Can the passionate or the jealous watch
Othello without an apprehensive shudder ? Can the vo-
luptuary view the Tempest without a newly acquired
admiration for female purity ? And
-so on to the end
of the chapter. We might particularise all the
plays of the great Dramatist, and find some new
lesson inculcated by each. We are glad to believe
that a taste for the higher efforts of dramatic genius
is again developing itself among the public. Our
actors and our theatrical managers have done, and
are doing, all that is possible to enhance the attrac-
tions of the drama, and to render it worthy of pa-
tronage. Nay, more, Royalty has "set the fashion."
The tragic muse, after having been ignominiously
driven from her habitation, after having again and
again knocked vainly for admittance, after having
been despised and deserted by an ungrateful people,
is now, by a wonderful change of fortune,
to be presented at Court ! VICTORIA has invited her
to Windsor ! Again she will watch with FALSTAFF
under Herne's-oak. Three centuries seem blotted
out from existence. How gladly will London wel-
come back the royal guest. How universally will
her hitherto unseen perfections be extolled ! Her
MAJESTI could not possibly have invited any cirole
of guests to enliven the festivities of Windsor Castle
whose presence could have been more beneficial to
themselves or to the public, or more honourable to
their royal hostess. The names of some of the
greatest Sovereigns are identified with their patron-
age to the histrionic art. ErazAnivret is celebrated as
the friend of SHAICSI'ERE. The Grand ltionarque
treated RACINE with more consideration than
he did his courtiers. NAPOLEON was ac-
companied in most of his progresses by the
Thedtre Francais, and continually repeated a wish
that CORNEILLE had lived in his reign, " that he
might have made him a Prince." To the list of the
royal patrons of the stage the future historian will
add the name of VICTORIA. Her MAJESTY will have
no cause to repent of the amusement she has selected.
The chosen company of actors includes " all the
talents." It is invidious to particularise, where all
in their several ways are excellent. We gladly hail
this royal invitation as an omen that brighter days
are in store for the long-neglected drama.

*"AHouse for Shakspere; a Proposition for the Con-
sideration of the English Nation." By William Wilson.

THE ROYAL ACADEMY 05' MUSlC.—Yesterday the
annual election to the four King's Scholarships esta-
blished by his Majesty William IV., by the investment
of 2,2501., part of the profits arising from the Royal
Festival at Westminster Abbey in 1834, took place at
the Academy, Tenterden••street, Hanover-square. Two
of the scholars were selected from the pupils of the
Royal Academy, two being left open to the competition
of the public, and for which there were 30 candidates.
The names of the successful candidates will be announced
on Thursday next.
THE WESTMINSTER PLAY.--The second perform-
ance of Terence's Phormio, by the boys of Westminster
School, took place last evening in the dormitory, which
was thronged to the ceiling. The play was most effec-
tively put on the stage and well acted, and the applause
was sufficient to satisfy the desires of even a company of
amateurs.

THE NEW TURKISH. AMBASSADOR.—MS Excel-
lency Mehemed Pact's, !Ambassador from Turkey, at-
tended by a numerous suite, arrived on Saturday at
Folkestone, and, after partaking of refreAiments at the
Pavilion Hotel, proceeded to the Turkish Embassy,
Brytuatone-square.