The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-02 00:00:00

4

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
TIMF,S.—The love of order and the obedience to
lawful authority for which the pcople of England
have ;men so recently complimented by the Secretery
of State for Foreign Affsirs never shone cut with
greater lustre than during the sicgular, and, we are
happy to say, unprecedented scenes which have been
passing at Liverpool during the last few days. We
can imagine nothing more irritating, mosie calene
lated to rouse and in some degree to extenuate re-
sistance to lawful authority, than the course of ecn-
duet which, for causes hitherto unexplained, though
only too easily surmised, has been adopted by the
Judge of the Lancashire County Court. Placed there
contrary to the wishes of the great majority of thou.
among whom he was to administer justice, from his
connexion as the son of a land agent of an aristocra-
tic family, the new judge had, doubtless, much ori-
ginal prejudice to surmount, It was felt, and with
considerable justice, that so important a situation in
the second city of the empire ought to be
the reward of distinguished merit, and not of
mere personal claims. Rea curable as this feel-
ing was, it is probable that a little tact and good
sense on the part of the judge would
.t; ite
buta short
time
have succeeded in removing l
far from this being attempted. a course of conducto
s
was pursued which completely obliterated the re-
membrence of the original appointment in discontent
at the manner in which the business of the court was
conducted and the sort of treatment to which liti-
gants and witnesses were constantly subjected. Then
followed an investigation, in which Mr.Rarnshsy was
acquitted of charges of which the public opinion of
the town considered him guilty, and readmitted to the
exercise of his office. As if this were not enough to irri-
tate the public mind, he performs a sort of ovation over
his defeated antsgonists, and while loading them with
intention
of most unmeasured abuse announced his
of opening a regular campaign against the press.
irritation
fresh is with these preliminary causes of
fresh on their minds that the public are called upon
to witness the carrying into execution of threats
uttered a week beforehand. The style of the
examination which the judge addressed to his ow.us
witness has probably not been paralleled since tue
memorable interrogation of Donne by Chief Justice
Jefferies at the trial of Lady Alice Lisle.
Judge--" Was his hand doubled ?" Witness—
" Yes." Judges--" Then, you ass, don't you
know that fist ? that is what it is called
le all you ought to know that." Next to the stu-
pidity of the witness, nothing seems to have annoyed
Mr. R. amshay so much as the name of the indoor
superintendent of the police, Mr. Clough, which ap-
peeps to have had somewhat of the same effect on the
Judicial mind as the exhibition of a piece of red cloth
to a bull. "I do not care who he is, or how big or
how low his name may be ; but as sure as he is a
living man I wi▪ ll bring him before me." The whole
offenceimputed to Mr. Clough, in addition to his name
—which perhaps can hardly be considered as a fault—
was his remark to the bailiffs that they could nett
arrest Mr. Whi▪ tty without a warrant—an extremely
sound opinion in point of law, and scarcely, we,ap-
prehend, amounting to a contempt of court. Belt
the astonishment and iedignation of the audience
reached its climax when the judge, grinding Lis
teeth
.with rage, stated that Mr. Whitty had been
guilty of a crime against the Act of Parliament;
that he looked like a man in whose eyes and
in whose face the worst passions of our nature
were delineated ;" and after having imposed fines
under every illegal pretence conceivable, wound up
i
with a declaration that, whether he should ropos.a
any more, or not, at that moment he could not say.
Two of the bystanders were also fined five pounds
eech for giving vent to their feelings by appleudirig
the sentiments of the advocate of the prisoner-3 li-
cense which, though always repressed by Courts, bus
never, that we are aware of, before been visited with
a fine. We have mentioned these things not with a
view of making out a strong case against Mr. Ram.
shay, an effort perfectly superfluous, especially as we
do not, notwithstanding the threat which preceded
by some days these outrageous eroceedings, believe
the judge to be in a state of mind which would jus-
tify us in treating him as responsible for his
actions, but in order to show the amount of pro-
vocation which will be patiently submitted to in
England rather than do violence to that strong
national instinct which impels us to submit to
lawful authority even when most scandalously anti
notoriously abused. Mr. Whitty was sent off by the
railway, to undergo a term of imprisonment for four
or five offences, of all of which everybody knew
he was perfectly innocent, in the presence of a
crowd indignant at the insults he had sustained and
the barefaced and cruel injustice of which he was
for the time the victim. Yet, inasmuch u
these things were done in the name of the law and
sanctioned by the warrant of a judge, the large
multitude present at the departure of the prisoner
contented themselves with expressions of sympathy,
and made no effort whatever to interfere with
the execution of the sentence. The reason of
this extraordinary forbearance is, no doubt, to be
found in the cause to which Lord Palmerston
attributes it. The people of Liverpool know
well that whatever excesses may he committed for
a moment, there is no leer that their perpetrator
will find any sympathy from any officer of the Go-
vernineWn They feel the utmost confidence that so
soon as this extraordienry outhreek shall be known
not a moment will be lost in setting the prisoner at
liberty, and removing from his dike the judge who
has thus abused the power with which he is invested.
Were it not for this entire confidence of instant jus-
tice and redress, it would hardly have been in human
nature to have stood by and witnessed the perpe-
tration of so monstrous a violation of individual
liberty. But the people have no occasion to do
that irregularity by their own hands which they
know that their Government A ready and willing
to do for them. It is with some disappointment
that we find that a single day has been allowed to
elapse without taking measures to put an end to a
state of things at once so dangerous and so discredit-
able. The Earl of Carlisle is, we observe, in at-
tendance on ber Majesty at Balmoral, and as for the
rest of the Cabinet they are we know not where. The
extremely agreeable and exhilarating plan adopted
by the present Governmok of leaving the affairs of
this great country to take care of themselves during
the reoess of Parliament is not without its inconveni-
ences and dangers. A flagrant outrage on private
liberty is committed, and the Minister to whom the
protection of that liberty is intrusted is not at
his post. A judge runs riot, end the only
person who has the power of stopping him is not to
be got at. No doubt it is highly complimentary to
the spirit of order of the English people that during
a part of the year their affairs should' be left to ad-
minister themselves ; but there are casets--;and
the present is one of them—to which this conve-
nient mode of governing does not
apply. The
practice is, however, so pleasant that it
is - sure to
be persevered in till its folly and rashness are
satisfactorily illustrated by some heavy disaster.
We do not regard the occurrences to which
we have been calling attention as reflecting any de-
gree of discredit on the administration of jus 'eia
in the County Courts, or as evincing any seri
defect in the law. After legislative wisdom as
done all it can, much must still be left tb the work-
tts
ing of individual discretion anT of that most deli-
cate and easily disorganised instrument, the human
mind. Did the County Courts Act, indeed, confer
the powers claimed by Mr. Rausebay on the' judges,
there would be great reason to complain of the
negligence with which the Legislature had guarded
our liberties ; but as these powers are mere as-
sumptions and mere imaginations, we can blame
no one for their exercise except the judge himself.
It is quite necessary that the judge should be pro-
tected in the execution of his
office, and it is not
the fault of the Legislature if a gentleman should
be found with a mind so unhappily constituted as
to convert this necessary power into a general claim
to fine and imprison his fellow citizens at his will
and pleasure.

EXTENSIVE ROBBERY.—Yesterday information was
received that a man who called under pretence of wanting an
answer to a letter, had plundered the premises,
street, Brunswick-square, of eight 51..8ank of England notes,
two gold cigar-cases, several double sovereigns and guineas
of the reign of Queen Ann and Charles the Second, about
43, Hare-
-501. worth of jewellery, a number of Spanish dolTarsh,jauundt‘r-a
gold California coin, inscribed Augustus Humboldt, assayer,
silver medal, with
United States, 1851' ; also a similar robbery at
wood-square, from whence a 10/., and three 51. Bank of
y, a mourning
rEinngg,lan,,dlnnionteems,oarybouott
C2OOl/o.nweoll,ilodf,,,jeawesl
property,two ba r s other valuable
satnadaces the thieves
were carried
dAlo'atEamluNabPctahul'il
got clear away with their booty.

IIISh• -
DEATH OF AN AGED DRARD.--An inquest
was held at Devizes on Saturday last upon the body ox an
oldo, man named Barnes
The deceased, who was 75 years of
age, had long been addicted to drinking, and on Wednesday
night was brought home so drunk that he was obliged to lay
hi bed the whole of the next day. He got up dbout threw
o'ciccic on Friday afterneon, brit feeling very uncomfortable,
stairs, he 1,.il bed again, what, on ascending the
Lc was alrut
backwards,toito
and was killed uron the spot.—
Salisbury lieruld.

SHIPS CARRYING LETTERS TO SAIL IN OCTOBER.
7-For Mauritius, the Stratford, from the West India Docks,
Oct. 15 ; Sydney, New South Wales, the Glenbervie, from
London. Ducks, 10; ditto, the Royal Stewart, from ditto. 10;
ditto,W
15; ditto, she Prince of ales, from ditto, 1; ditto,.
the Josq)h Somee,
from Plymouth, 11 ; Port Phillip, the
Maitland. from diet',, 11 ; Geelong, the Clifton. from ditto?
1 ; Port Phillip and Adelaide, the Duke of Bedford, from
ditto, '2O ; Launceston, the Artr.,n, from London Docks, 1;
Hobart Town, the Anna Maria, from Woolwich, I ; Ade-
laide, the Ilashemy, from Plymouth, 8; ditto, the Adelaide,
from ditto, 5; New Zealand, the Katharine S. Forbes, from
St. Katharine Docks, 10; . Port Lyttelton and Wellington,
the Marmora, from East India Docks, 10; New Plymouth,
the William Hyde, from ditto, 15; Western Australia, the
Will Watch, from London Docks, 15; Sierra Leone, the
Salsette, from St. Katharine Docks, 10 ; Madeira, the Dart,
from Southampton, 7; ditto, the Brilliant from ditto, 1;
New York, the Ocean Queen, from Portsmouth, 1 ; Phila-
delphia the City of Glasgow steamer, from Liverpool,
.Post-office Official Directory.