The Sun.
London, England, 1834-11-05 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The Times seems determined to lose no opportunity
of attacking the Chancellor. Whether he speaks or
remains silent—whether he suggests measures himself,
or adopts measures suggested by others, he is sure to
be in the wrong with our contemporary. In the fable
of the " Old Man and the Ass," we have an exem-
plification of the impossibility of pleasing every body.
The Chancellor may be certain lie never will succeed
in pleasing every body ; for the Times, contrary to
the prognostications which most people were led to
make, from its proverbial inconstancy, seems deter-
mined never to be pleased with his Lordship. Some
of the accusations trumped up against him are indeed
strange enough, and indicate the great straits to which
our contemporary is driven, in order to keep up the quo-
tidian warfare. His having availed himself of the labours
of others in preparing the Central Criminal Court Bill,
has even been made matter of accusation against him.
" If this Bill (said the Times of Monday) had really
been the offspring of Lord Brougham's own knowledge and
judgment, we should not have allowed our disgust at some
of his late strolling adventures to prevail over our sense of
justice ; we should immediately and even anxiously have
ascribed to him that which was his due. We knew, how-
ever, that the Bill was none of his, though we did not think
it worth while to say so ; but when we see that he is not
ashamed to appropriate to himself that merit which belongs
of right to others—when we see that he allows his syco-
phants, some of the lowest myrmidons that ever formed
the tail of any pretender, from Creon to O'Connell, to laud
him as the author of good which has been the 'work of
others—we think it a duty to state, that the great, head of
the law has nothing to do with this measure, exec. -tit with that
part of it which may be denominated its
.io.l.)hery—a part
of the measure which does not appear in. the Act itself,
but which, it is understood, is to he one of its legal con-
sequences. The Bill itself, we have reason to believe, was
drawn many years ago by Mr. She'.ton, the Clerk of the
Crown at the Old Bailey, and \vas settled by that experi-
enced Judge in criminal. Praises, Sir J. Sylvester. It
was found among the papi-,rs of Mr. Shelton, and was given
to the Lord Chancelbrr by a gentleman, who certainly ex-
pected to have stnr.e remuneration for so valuable a pre-
sent. The 0-I".,ancellor saw an opportunity of acquiriot
some reputation by this well-digested measure. He seized
it eagerly,
and, in the first burst of his gratitude, wished to
roPP7i the donor with a gift of even Oriental magnificence.'
TOne donor, however, had no wish to go further East than
the Old Bailey. Under these circumstances what was to
be done ? Only this : the Chancellor is to enjoy the full
reputation of being the author of a measure of which he
probably has never taken the trouble to understand more
than half the details ; and for the donor, who prefers the
water of the Thames to that of the Ganges, some appro-
priate place must be created—at the Chancellor's expense?
No ; out of the public purse. We attach no blame to the
gentleman who is to be the object of the Chancellor's pa-
tronage : indeed we even think he will be in the situation
of those who, in the Irish phrase, gain a loss ;' but what
shall be said of him who is content to strut about and claim
our homage by the display of property clandestinely with-
drawn from its rightful owner ?"

Even malice itself is here at fault. The Chancellor
is not accused of having adopted an improper measure.
The measure, we are told, was well digested. But it
was not of his own contrivance ! Who supposes that
a Minister—and more especially one who, in addition
to his Ministerial labours, discharges the arduous du-
ties of Chancellor and Speaker of the House of Lords,
could find time to frame a measure for an extensive re-
form of a Court with which he could not be particu-
larly conversant, without being greatly beholden to
others ? It is sufficient praise that he at once saw the
value of the. measure which was presented to him, and
that he determined the public should have the benefit
of it with as little delay as possible. Then he created
an office to reward the donor of the measure ; but o:tat
place will not benefit the gentleman who is to ob+,,ain it.
The Times here alludes to Mr. Charles -Phillips,
who, it is understood, is to be appointed public pro-
secutor in the New Court. It does not say that the
office is one which ought not to be crested, nor that
the gentleman in question is not a proner person to fill
it. Indeed, the admission that he -will be a loser by
the appointment, is a proof that it believes the office is
properly bestowed, as far hs professional fitness
is
concerned. We are supposing, for the sake
of argument, that Mr. Charles Phillips's ap-
pointment was conne'aed with the service derived from.
him in laying the faults of Mr. Shelton's labours before
the Chancel)'...x. This assumption, however, is purely
ciratuito.:is. Why
are we to believe that the appo'mt-
riv-nt of one of the most successful practitioners,, at the
Old Bailey to the office in question, was not suggested
by a conviction of his being peculiarly fitted for it ?
But, however this may be, why should the Chancellor
reward the donor of a measure beneficial to the public
at his own expense ? As well demand that every Mi-
nister should maintain at his own cost all the
duals in the office over which he presides. The Chan-
cellor, like any other man, is bound to give., only his
own services to the public. No one ever thought of
calling on the Chancellor to disburse charges of the
Common Law Commissioners, bor.ause he proposed
measures suggested by them, That it should have
been deemed advisable to appoint a public prosecutor,
is not surprising ; but that this grievous defect in the
English criminal system should only be remedied now,
for the first time, is indeed truly surprising. In Black-
wood's Magazine for November, a Scotch writer gives
expression tq 'h. just feeling of pride at the superiority
possessed 1:;y his country in this respect ;
" Since the attention of the English has been strongly
tuned (he says) to the amendment of their criminal juris-
prudence, the importance of a public officer to conduct pro-
secutions for crimes, at the national expense, has been
strongly felt ; and it is understood that Sir Robert Peel,
among other salutary practical improvements which he
had in view in the Home-office, was preparing a plan for
the gradual interference of the right of prosecution from
individuals to a public office, who might at once relieve in-
jured parties of that vexatious and often oppressive burden,
and introduce greater certainty and equity into this impor-
tant branch of Government, than it could possibly attain
while still subject to the passions or the caprice of private
individuals. That great and really useful reform, however,
is still unaccomplished, and Engla'Ad as yet labours under
the uncertainty and the expense of private prosecutions.
Whereas Scotland, from the very infancy of her jurispru-
dence, has been familiar with the institution of a public
prosecutor, under the name of Lord Advocate, who, with-
out legally excluding private prosecutions, if the injured
party prefers proceeding at his own instance, has practically
superseded them, from the superior skill and success with
which the proceedings are conducted at the public expense,
than they possibly could in the hands and with the funds
of private individuals. Of the good effect of this great in-
stitution, decisive evidence is preserved in the facts which
the Parliamentary Returns of 1832 have brought to light,
that while the convictions are to the acquittals by the grand
or petty jury, on an average of all England, as two to one,
they are in Scotland as eight to one."
For the removal of that reproach, England will be
indebted to the Lord Chancellor ; and the only ques-
tion with which the public are concerned is, whether
the individual about to be appointed is fit for the si-
tuation, and whether his remuneration is just and pro-
per. We are almost ashamed to notice such vile ribaldry
as the Times of yesterday indulges in, with reference
to the same subject :
" Altogether (says our contemporary) we are well pleased
Nvith the promise of the new Court
,; and we look upon the
accident by which the plan came into the Chancellor's pos.
session, as one of the most fortunate in the history of trover.
But it is more than a case of trover, with conversion of the
credit to the finder ;itis a more serious offence air the
rights of ownership, and committed, too, by the'keeper of
a King's conscience, who, perhaps, from the employment of
the charge, has no leisure to look to his, own. Granting,
however, as perhaps we must, that it was a theft, yet it
cannot be said of our Brougham as of Sir Fretful Plagiary,
that he does not steal with discretion. The stealing of
a Criminal Court is, indeed„ a brilliant singularity.
me the Exchequer, Hat,' seems a trifle after it : nay, the
. pillage of the Exchequer is a thing of every day occurrence,
but the stealing of a Criminal Court is quite unique.
When rise 'broom-seller in Joe Miller asks his rival how he
Cf, possibly contrive to undersell him, as, to speak can..
. didly,' says he, I steal the birch'—the other answers,
Ay, but I steal the brooms ready-made ;' and this is the
advantage of the Chancellor in the appropriation of the
• Criminal Court. He made it his own, ready cut and dried,
and we all know how clamorously lie hawked it about the
country. In low life the receiver pays out of his pocket
the price for the stolen goods ; but our great man knew a
' trick worth two of that, and cuts out an office, at the pub-
: lie charge, for his convenient friend. Curious is the merit
of having so brought forward a plan for a Criminal Court
as to deserve a place in its dock."

Once for all, we may observe that the Chtncellor
never attempted to conceal the aid he had derived from
various quarters in the framing of the 'measure. In
one of the conversations in the Hense on the details of
the Bill, between Lorti
lord and the Chancellor,