The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-21 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

The late refusal of the Middlesex Magistrates to
license several theatres and public houses, and the rea-
sons assigned for their decisions, have lately excited a
good deal of attention. In the opinion of these Ma-
gistrates music and dancing ought to be interdicted to
the people, and crime and amusement are inseparable.
All foreigners who visit England are particularly
struck with the disposition to drunkenness in our
working classes ; and, without being aware of the
cause, they are also struck with the almost total ab-
sence of those popular amusements which are to be
found on the Continent. In many of the States of the
Continent the Governments actually favour the amuse-
ments of the working classes, instead of imposing re-
straints on them. And we have no doubt that the dis-
position to drunkenness is greatly promoted by the clo-
sing up all sources of innocent amusement to the peo-
ple. It may be said, without much fear of contra-
diction, that no man labours for labour's sake,—that
the end we propose to ourselves by toil is the posses-
sion of the means of enjoyment. The tradesman,
while plodding from morning till night, has his toil
sweetened by the hope that when he has acquired a
competence he shall be able to have his villa, in which
he will be able to entertain his friends in a sumptuous
manner. If he possess taste for music or painting, he
hopes to be able to have concerts, to have his rooms
adorned with pictures ; and if he have a fondness for
rural sports, he looks forward with fond anticipation to
the time when he may astonish his neighbours with his
horses and hounds. The philosopher who goes through
the shops and warehouses of a great town, may ex-
claim, how many things are there with which I can
dispense ! But it is the hope of enjoying these sup-
posed superfluities that gives the stimulus to in-
dustry. Even they who attach the least im-
portance to this life, and wish to be thought
only occupied with another, are still found on all
occasions to be as anxious as their neighbours to
provide themselves with more than what is strictly ne-
cessary during their passage through this world. If
enjoyment be desired by all men, and if the rich be
allowed the utmost latitude of enjoyment, upon what
principle is it that the rich apply to the poor any other
law with regard to their pleasures than what is appli-
cable to their own ? If a poor man love music and
(lancing, why should lie be debarred from them ? The
rich man says music and dancing bring the poor in
the way of temptation. The poor may say with equal
justice—why should you stock your cellar with fifty
different kinds of wines ?—the more simple the diet
the better it is for the health, and a variety of dishes
injures the stomach and breeds the gout. Your operas
and concerts afford opportunities for intrigue, and we
call on you to put down all such places of iniquity.
The great object of the social union is, that every man
should be protected in the full enjoyment of his property,
and of his personal liberty, subject to the limitation that
his acts are not injurious to others. The labouring man
ought to be as important in the eye of the law as the
nobleman. He ought to be left in as full liberty to
expend his earnings in the way most agreeable to
himself, as the nobleman has to spend his rents
or his pensions. No man ought to be allowed
to say to him, you shall not spend your money in this
way or that way, because you may expose yourself to
temptation. Till he do what is positively wrong, i. e.,
till he act in such a manner as to injure others, no law
ought to interfere with his acts. It is, therefore, we
contend, an abuse of power in magistrates to withhold
licenses to those places in which the labouring classes
can be amused to their taste. There must in every
country he police regulations, for preventing public-
houses and places of amusement from being kept open
at hours incompatible with the repose of others ; but
beyond this all interference is gross oppression ; and
it matters not that the oppression is sanctioned by.
law ; for the law itself, giving such extensive discre-
&nary powers, is vicious in principle. Adam Smith
supposes that the morals of every country in which the
natural aziness of an Established Church is corrected
by a tolerats3n of sects, would be " disagreeably ri-
gorous and unsocial," without the cultivation of science
and philosophy by the people, of middling or more
than middling rank and fortune, and public diversions
for the inferior ranks.

" The State," he says, " by encouraging, that is, by
giving entire liberty to all those who, for their own interest,
would attempt, without scandal or indecency, to amuse and
divert the people by painting, poetry, music, dancing—by
all sorts of dramatic representations and exhibiti'ins, would
easily dissipate in the greater part of them that melancholy
and gloomy humour which is almost always the reason of
popular superstition and enthusiasm. Public diversions
have always been the objects of dread and hatred to all the
fanatical promoters of these popular frenzies. The gaiety
and good humour which these diversions inspire, were alto-
gether inconsistent with that temper of mind which was fit-
test for their purpose, or which they could best work upon."
But though we contend that in no case ought the use
of anything not positively noxious, to be prohibited
on account of possible abuse, and that in matters of
eating and drinking, the Legislature ought never to in-
terfere with individual liberty, we are not the less sen-
sible, that of all indulgences, that of drinking to excess
is the most pernicious. The drunkard is not only
miserable himself, but he is a nuisance to all with
whom he is connected. He is a bad servant, a bad
father, and a bad husband ; and when he has once
passed the Rubicon, he is, we believe, utterly irre-
claimable. This we know, that no consideration
would ever induce us to give any employment to a man
or woman addicted to drunkenness ; and the most cha-
ritable wish we could utter for a drunkard would be,
that his life should be as short as possible. But
drunkenness is the vice of people who are listless, and
betake themselves to the bottle for relief. The indi-
viduals most addicted to drunkenness are not the gay
and the cheerful—the men whose minds are occupied-
with any pursuit, whether study or diversion ; but the
heavy—the phlegmatic. It is the same with nations.
The nations that cultivate music and dancing are com-
paratively sober. It was remarked during the Penin-
sular war, that the German soldiers, who had a variety
of amusements, were never drunk on duty ; while the
great difficulty was to keep an English soldier from
the wine-house. The Germans are naturally as heavy
a people as ourselves—they were once notorious for
their deep potations. They are now comparatively
sober. In every village are to be found music
clubs. The song and the dance are frequent. But
no people are more careful or industrious than the
Germans. As far as our observation extends, the
great enemies of the gaiety of the poor are seldom
men connected by birth with the aristocracy, but
men who, by thrift and industry, have raised
themselves from the very lowest grade in society
to the possession of competence. These men not
having had the advantage of a liberal education, or of
mixing with well-bred men in early life, retain to the
last also the narrow-mindedness of their original condi-
tion, and being often possessed of great energy and
skill in carrying their ends, in all great towns they are
leading
.personages. For one of those who rise from
low beginnings to wealth, who possess the liberality of
the late James Watt, Thomas Telford, or Mr.
Rennie, there are hundreds who resemble the bustling,
purse-proud men, who, by their activity as Middlesex
magistrates, throw disgrace on the whole magistracy of
England. We do not deny these men the possession
of a good deal of practical talent, but they have seldom
very enlarged views, and they are sure to confound the
provinces of morals and legislation, which ought to be
kept quite distinct. If extravagant puritanism and in-
tolerance disgrace England, we owe it chiefly to the
towns ; and it is to the magistrates of towns that we
are chiefly beholden for the crusades against the
amusements of the poor. However this may be, we
hold that the disgraceful exercise of power by the
Middlesex Magistrates ought to satisfy the Legisla-
ture, that such a power ought not to be given to any
Magistracy.—Morning Chronicle.
Much as we deplore, in common with the public,
the late sudden and awful destruction of both Houses
of Parliament by fire, as good often comes out of evil,
we are inclined to hope that such may be the case in
this instance ; and that in the restoration of these im-
portant edifices, their acknowledged defects will be
supplied. The Examiner jumps at once to this con-
clusion, " We shall at last have houses fit for the
dispatch of their great public business." If fair and
reasonable expectation were always realised, we should
readily join in this anticipation ; but, judging of the
present state of architecture, by its recent results, whe-

ther it be by a tumble-down Custom-house, a tasteless
Palace, by Courts of Law in which nothing can be
heard, and theatres in which people can neither hear
nor see, there is far more reason for checking, than en-
couraging, too sanguine an expectation. Still the oc-
casion is one which presents the finest opportunity
to the architect of distinguishing himself that
has, probably, ever occurred, and we trust, there-
fore, that if a fair and open competition be en-
couraged, such plans will be submitted as may present
a choice which will justify. a correct and satisfactory
selection. But let us have no jobbing or favouritism ;
no Board of Works, or Committee of Taste, controlling
and defeating the better taste of the countr v. Though
the subject is one to which we shall have 'frequent oc-
casion to recur, we cannot omit the earliest opportu-
nity of saying how much we deprecate an idea which
has been thrown out of altering the site of the Houses
of Parliament, by placing them in a more northerly di-
rection. To the gambling and the gouty, the walk or
drive to Westminster may be inconvenient ; and to
some of the unfledged senators of both Houses the
distance from the Opera House and Almack's may be
an excessive bore, a feeling into which some dandy
Minister may readily fall ; but, to say nothing of
habits and associations which are not readily overcome,
it appears indispensable that the High Court of Par-
liament and the Courts of Law should be in close
contiguity, while the present site presents a nearer ap-
proach from the public offices of all the Ministers than
any which could be devised. We have said, and
would again urge, that the greatest possible publicity
and competition should be invited and encouraged
upon the occasion ; and we would further suggest that
no plans should be finally decided upon, till they
have been submitted to the most open and
general
scrutiny and criticism. The farce of presum-
ing that some little coterie—call it a Committee of
Taste, or what you will—is alone competent to decide
upon such matters will, we trust, be altogether ex-
ploded. On the contrary, let a great national object,
for which the nation is to pay, be made an object of
national choice. And one word to the artists who
may embark in this important competition. Let them
recollect that their art does not exist in mere external
effect ; that buildings, unlike statues and pyramids, are
not erected merely to be looked at ; but that, in such
as will be required on this occasion, internal arrange-
ment is every thing, and external appearance compa-
ratively nothing. Not that we wish to see a building
erected in which this latter point is entirely lost sight
of, standing, as it will, between two of the finest
specimens of that ancient skill in architecture which,
unfortunately, appears to mock rather than to inspire
modern rivalry. We have one public edifice in the
metropolis which does appear to combine the two ex-
cellences of external effect and internal arrangement—
we mean the new Post-office. Our hope is that the
two new Houses of Parliament may do the same. At
any rate, the designer, whoever he may be, has one
advantage--he can hardly fail to suggest something
better that the buildings which we have lost.—Morn-
ing Herald.

Some of our conservative contemporaries have in-
dulged in remarks upon the appointment of Dr.
Allen to the see of Bristol, which, although they evi-
dently flowed from the best principles and feelings,
have not, we regret to say, in every instance, appeared
to us to be characterized by perfect fairness, or go-
verned by sound discretion. A little too much, we
think, has been said about Dr. Allen being perfectly
unknown to the public ; for in the first place we are by
no means certain that this in itself would be a disqua-
lifying circumstance, and in the second place we find
from the statements of our contemporaries that a good
deal is really known of Dr. Allen, and that all that
is known is decidedly in favour of his elevation.
Dr. Allen was tutor to Lord Althorp, and had
no doubt to perform in this capacity a very labo-
rious and unpromising task, yet we cannot but
think that, all things considered, he got through
his onerous duties with considerable credit. If
Allen has failed to make Lord Althorp a very
brilliant person, we verily believe that the fault was
none of his, and that as an apology for failure the
old adage ex quovis ligno non fit Mercurius may very
well serve his turn. That Dr. Allen was the tutor of
Lord Althorp, so far from being any discredit to the
Right Rev. Gentleman, is merely a proof that thirty-
five or forty years ago lie was deemed, by one who was
at that period a very competent judge, a man of more
than ordinary learning, and of unquestionable discre-
tion and integrity; for at the period to which we refer,
Lord Spencer was a very competent judge of all these
qualities, and Lord Spencer had, we may naturally
suppose, the most potential voice in the appointment of
a tutor to his son and heir. It is further known of
Dr. Allen that for several years he has been one of the
Prebendaries of Westminster, the Rector of a metro-
politan parish, as well as of another parish in the im-
mediate vicinity of the metropolis, and that he has
discharged the duties of these various ecclesiastical
offices in such a manner as not to be heard of by the
world, or, in other words, in a manner so exemplary as
to escape calumny or censure, in an age in which to
censure and calumniate beneficed, and especially digni-
fied, clergymen has been the vulgar and beaten path
to popularity. Knowing this much of Dr. Allen,
and this is no more than is universally known, we
cannot conceal our opinion that it affords a strong pre-
sumption in favour of his qualifications for the elevated
station in the church to which he has now been ap-
pointed. 'We pay no very extravagant compliment,
certainly, to the present Bishop of Bristol when we say
that, considering the persons by whom the patronage
of the crown was to be exercised, on the occasion of
the recent vacancy of that see, his appointment ought
to be regarded by the church and the friends of the
church in the light of an escape. Let us meditate
upon the list of names put forward by the, Ministerial
Journals just before the conge a relire nominating Dr.
Allen was issued, and, while we thus meditate, let us

indulge for once a feeling of gratitude even to Lord
Althorp. And, apart from any consideration of the
personal merit of the new Bisho :of which it must
have been seen we have been led to form by no
means a low estimate, we are really grateful to
Lord Althorp on account of the principle or the
feeling which is understood to have governed the
exercise of his Lordship's influence on this occa-
sion. It is understood that Dr. Allen's only claim
to the patronage of Lord Althorp was founded upon
the relation which had once subsisted between them
of tutor and pupil ; and we must say, even if Lord
Althorp were ten times a Whig, that the practical re-
cognition of such a claim is not only honourable to
both the parties concerned, but eminently conducive,
in our judgment, to the good government, usefulness,
welfare, and security of the Church of England.
There is, perhaps, no circumstance which has contri-
buted more effectually to maintain the proper character
of the Episcopal Bench, and to preserve the purity
and vigour of the Ecclesiastical Establishment of this
country, than the practice which has so extensively
prevailed of bestowing the mitre upon men who had
previously filled the office of tutor to persons of the
greatest power and influence in the State. We thank
Lord Althorp, therefore, very sincerely for 'adhering
to a practice which we deem highly beneficial ; but
our gratitude in this instance is certainly increased by
the belief that in the person of Dr. Allen the Church
has acquired a Prelate, and the House of Peers a
member, who will show himself, whenever the Church
or any other of the essential institutions of the State
is made the object of attack, a conscientious and un-
compromising Conservative.—Morning Pose.

SURGEONS' FEEs.—A question of law at present
excites the attention of the medical world in Paris. A physi-
cian, celebrated for his skill in lithotrity, has recently cured
the Count de la B--., formerly a Minister of Charles X.
M. de la B—, after writing in vain to M. A to fix the
amount of the demand, sent him three thousand francs. M.
A— in reply stated that it was too small a remuneration for
his services, and demanded ten (dix) thousand francs in full.
M. de la B— read, or pretended to read, the " ten " " six "
(six), and sent the doctor 3,000 francs in addition, to make up
that sum. M. A— the renewed his demand of the ten
thousand in the most positive and plain manner, and the Count
in reply refused to give more than he had already done. The
physician then commenced proceedings, and the matter is to
be -decided before a competent tribunal immediately.
ribunal immediately. In a
similar case M. Dupuytren was paid by arich banker in away
which he deemed insufficient, only six thousand francs, and he
replied in the following terms :—" I thank Mr. H for the
six thousand francs which he has this morning sent me, and I
only regret that he did not avail himself of the opportunity to
pay me in full."—London Medical and Surgical Journal. •

OLD BAILEY, OcT.-20

OLD COURT.

Charles Morris, Wm. Stock, and Stephen Sole, whose
trial yesterday for a rape on the person of Elizabeth Cooke,
was not concluded when we went to press, were all ac-
quitted, and the prosecutrix refused her expences.