The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-21 00:00:00

EVENING,

TUESDAY

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
TIMES.—Tae retirement of Mr. Justice Patteson
from the judgment seat which he has so long adorned
is a great public loss. We rejoice, for the sake of
this learned and upright rnagietrate, that he abandons
the judicial bench with unimpaired faculties and—
but for one infirmity—in the full vigour of his bodily
powers. It is, however, a painful reflection that for
many years to come he might have rendered good
service to the profession and to the public. The trade
of a judge, like any other, must be slowly learnt if it
would be fully mastered. It is not the Ilcutest lawyer
nor the most eloquent advocate Who makes the best
judge. There is no Royal road to the exercise of
the judicial faculty in the highest degree. A re-
markable union of sound common sense and intellectual
vigour educed by industry and claastened by experi-
ence is the best qualification for the judge. 'We make
no mention of honesty
of purpose, for, happily, ell
question of wilful corruption is merely traditional
among the presiding magistrates in Westminster.
hall. It is not often that all .these qualities have
been united in one person to so remarkable a de-
gree as in the eminent man who is shortly about to
vacate his seat upon the bench. If not possessed of
that glowing imagination which lest warmth to the
flights of many of our forensic rhetoricians—if some-
what careless of extreme eubtlky and of mere fine-
spun deductions, the mind of Mr. Justice Patteson
has always shown itself evenly balanced—always
true to itself. The efforts of counsel to lead him
astray from the substantial point at issue have invari-
ably failed in their effect. A sophism, however inge-
niously stated, was to him merely irrelevant. So
clearly did he appear to see the zeal bearings of a case
that he could scarcely be brought to appreciate the
merits of a false view. There are not wanting
judges in Westminster.ball at the present moment
who rejoice to meet an advocate iu the field of dia-
lectics, and to pierce him with his own rapier. Such
was not the practice with Mr. Justice Patteson. He
coald or would do nothing more than meet the
ingenious sophisms of counsel with simple truth,
with one of those brief statements which appear so
obvious when once uttered, but which yet are
uttered so seldom. It would be in the highest degree
incorrect to attribute this high judicial faculty, how-
ever instinctive it might appear, to the mere gift of
nature. It was natural, no doubt, in the learned
judge of whom we are speaking; but it had been
carefully cultivated by the industry of half a cen-
tury—some forty years of which , had been spent in
the study and practice of the law—and upwards of
twenty years upon the judicial bench. We are con-
fident the opinion of the profession will bear us out
when we say that there never set in Westminster-
ball a judge more soundly versed in the principles of
the common law than Mr. Justice Patteson. The
rules of practice, too, were as familiar to him as the
general spirit of English law, and in his hands were
applied in a reasonable manner to the progress of a
case. If we follow bins into the Crown Courts we
find him still acting with the same moderation and
good sense—inflexibly just, and yet leaning ever
to the side of mercy and humanity where it was
possible without a dereliction of duty. We appeal
to the recollection of all practitioners whether is
chambers, on circuit, or at Westminster-hall, if it be
not true that, with a good cause in hand, they would
have earnestly sought, and with a bad one they would
have studiously avoided, the judgment of Mr. Justice
Patteson. It would be unfair to omit all mention of
that genial good humour and constant amenity of dis-
position which rendered practice before him so easy
and agreeable to the feelings of a gentleman. This
unvarying sweetness of temper -in all probability
helped to maintain that perfect balance of mind which
was one of his most striking characteristics, and pro-
cured for him universal goodwill. The consciousness
of a well-spent life and the society and affection of his
friends must henceforth be the chief consolation of his
retirement. For ourselaes, we would add our humble
tribute of respect to the general voice, and express
our hope that it may please Providence to grant many
years of tranquillity and enjoyment to so excellent a
man at the close of so honourable a career.
ADVERTISER.—What's in the wind ? There
is something. It is not for nothing that the Marquis
of Granby comes forward to stutter through a speech
on Protection, of an hour and half's duration. That
deed the Noble Lord performe4 at Waltham, in Leices-
tershire, on Friday last. Webs not envy those whose
destiny it was to listen to an bour and a half of the sort
of eloquence in which he deiils. Hard, indeed, was
their fate. The very fact of the Noble Marquis being
announced to play the principal part on the occasion,
had the effect of causing what in histrionic phraseology,
would be called a thin house. It deterred many from
" being present on the oacasiofi," who otherwise would
have given their countenance'to the annual meeting of
the Waltham Agricultural Ateociation. If those who
stayed away were legitimateesUbjects of congratula-
tion, those who were present were, by every acknow-
ledged rule of logic, objects of compaasion. They
themselves felt that they were so. They appeared, the
reporter tells us, "moody and discontented." We
do not wonder at it. The matter for marvel would
have been had it been otherwise. They had, on this
particular occasion, peculiar causes of depression In
addition to the dejection consequent on the lowness of
prices, they had the fear of the Marquis of G-ranby's
Speech of one hour and a half before their eyes—a
fear which the event too surely realised. That any
body of men, with such an infliction banging in ter-
rorem over their heads, could have looked aught else
than " moody and discontented d
would have been a
such
moral impossibility. With a prospect before
them, the most cheerful must have looked sad—the
most light-hearted must have felt depressed. The
fact of wheat being at 375. inen
per quarter could
not, for a moment, be compared, in its depressing
effect, with the certainty of a long harangue from the
Noble Marquis being about to be inflicted on them.
And if the mere anticipation caused so much moodi-
ness and discontent, what must have been the feelings
of the Noble Lord's auditory
when they came to en-
counter the reality ? If they
looked so moody and
discontented before, what must have been the ex-
pression of their countenances when the noble orator
was in the very midst of his address ? Then,
indeed, there must have been seen such an assem-
blage of lugubrious countenances as were never
before grouped together under similar circum-
stances. But our business is with the Noble Mar-
quis, and not with his Waltham auditory. What,
we again ask, is in the wind ? The question, to our
apprehension, admits of an easy answer. We all
know that there has been more than a month a va-
cancy in the Protectionist leadership. Disraeli abdi-
cated his functions as the Protectionist champion, in
his Aylesbury speech. Lord Granby, there can be
no doubt, is aspiring at the vacancy thus created. It
is no secret, that he was ambitious of the honour,
when Lord George Bentinck was snatched away by
the hand of death from the Protectionist party. Bat
he had then a far too formidable rival in the person
of the Member for Bucks. The latter was chosen, by
nsgtiatnt
hcwueeatodru'tpgolud.
sediaesbalil ties j
general consent, the Protectionist chief, and now that
he has resigned the office a successor must be ap-
pointed. The Noble Marquis, in these circumstances,
is again in the field, and certainly with greater
chances of success, than on the former occasion.
Then he had Disraeli to compete with. Now he
has no man of greater calibre, or of higher preten-
sions, than Mr. George Frederick Young. This
is the origin of the Waltham oration of the
Noble Marquis. He aspires at the vacant leader-
ship, and in the speech in question has in effect
avowed his candidature. We leave the matter to be
settled between him and them. If they are satisfied
with such a leader, it is not for us to utter a word
of dissent. The address of the Noble Marquis
makes no pretensions to reasoning. So far we have
no cause of controversy with him. Of course, we
shall not be expected to reply to arguments which
were not used. In the absence of, arguments, Lord
an and ended with predictions.
phe tic address. It beg
It might have been supposed that
the little success
Granby dealt in prophecies. His speech was a pro-
phetic
e Lord's previous efforts
have deterred him from re-
in the same way would
Those who talk in this way
• what was be to do? Any
speak without reflection.
lbemust do something.
ungenerous to blame
port, say the sailors,
nmre'hwihinhghtahseatattetnedmepdt.the
in a storm. The Noble Marquis
tShaot
Nisbet was the only resource
be
not the vocation of the
wAansdsoascipr
him for what be has do
predictions
done. Argument was out of
as it would
open to him,icauymi
was quite
ther Had the Mar-
within the sphere of his Ntheobqieuemstairocinu.
is
;Tbo
man who could string a
be within the sphere of any
score or two of sentences tog
gals of Granby attempted to reason his audience
d for the
would at once have perceived his unfitness
task. They would, in their own minds, have replied
used them, for as be
to his arguments as fast
cour-
tesy's sake, anything be advanced must have been
called by that name. But to speculate in prophecies
•
was a safe adventure. Be his predictions what they
might, there was not a man " among hismoody and
havegot and
discontented" auditory who could up
one and all, be sooner
affirmed that they would not,
or later fulfilled. The Noble Marquistherefore,
is,
entitled to credit for having displayed so me tact in re-
sorting to prophecy, instead of attempting argument.
But why venture his predictions through the medium
them of foreigners, instead of boldly
hazarding
him-
self ? Lord Granby can hardly be said to have spoken
at all in his own person. He played the orator on
this occasion through means of others. He called in
the aid of M. Thiess. And when he could
serve his purpose no longer, be laid violent hands
on an obscure American, named Greasy—a
name, we make bold to say, which was never
before heard of by one out of ten thousand of our
readers. But last, and worst of all, the Noble
Marquis was compelled to resort to one of the most
worthless and disreputable of all living authorities—
that of the New York Herald—in his anxiety to make