The Sun.
London, England, 1834-08-19 00:00:00

which any accordance can be traced with the promise
of the King's Speech. His Majesty upon opening
the session said, " I have to lament the continuance
of distress amongst the proprietors and occupiers of
land ;" and, as he made no allusion to the matt3r in
his speech on the prorogation, it is but fair to sup-
pose that the abolition of the tax on shepherds' dogs
has been the measure precisely fitted to the relief of
the landed interest, and so the remedy having been
ministered, it was unnecessary to say more about the
evil. It is for quacks to glorify their cures. The
modest skilful practitioner sees the patient, says
" You are suffering much," and writes a prescription
to remove the pain. The Government laments the
oppression of the poor landed interest which is so un-
able to help itself in its afflictions, and it takes the tax
off shepherds' dogs. The evil is cured, and what
more need be said ? The fact that the distress
of the landed interest had not struck the public
is explained by this circumstance—that it was so
fine, that the removal of the shepherd's dog im-
post just relieved it. It was like the Sybarite
distressed with a doubled rose leaf : but so much the
greater is the credit of the Government, which has so
keen an eye for the discovery of annoyances, and so
nice a hand for the appointment of remedies, so that
they shall be no more and no less than sufficient. If
Apollo were again, to be hurled from the skies, he would,
on looking round him and surveying the various bur-
dens on our various classes, make his election as in
Midas—

" What shall I do 7—turn shepherd ? "
For his dog—thanks to our generous Chancellor of
the Exchequer—would be untaxed. These things
will, however, be all better handled and better ho-
noured in the manifesto which we are impatiently ex-
pecting. The authors will not fail to show, that if
people "do not see the wood, it is by reason of the
trees"—that vast things have been done which our weak
optics cannot comprehend. If they will throw in an ac-
count of the battles which have been fought in the Cabi-
net, the value and interest of the production will be
much enhanced, and in contention a field of great ac-
tivity can surely be shown. Men cannot do all things,
and it was not possible to fight the battles of the people
and colleagues in the Cabinet at the same time. The
art of doing nothing with the greatest possible noise
has certainly been advanced to a matchless height in
the past Session, and it will be well to note the princi-
ples upon which the success has depended. Some-
thing of the same kind we have observed on board of
French ships, in which every man has his notion to
propose of what should be done, which is seconded, if
seconded at all, only by his own pair of hands, the
effect of which is an admirable confusion, which would
be yet further improved if the man at the helm were
as ignorant of his business as the crew of discipline.
Preparation and order are the grand essentials to suc-
cessful progress, and therefore we find the absence of
both at the root of the talking-tree of many leaves and
little fruit which has branched out to such overwhelm-
ing extent in the House of Commons. Ministers have
brought their measures before _Parliament as women
try on their caps, to see how they will look ; and when
they found the thing unfit, or awkward, or unbecom-
ing, it has been stitched or pinned up into another
shape. Nothing has appeared with the marks of pre-
paration, or nothing in which the public felt concern ;
and the bungling and botching of Ministers gave
opportunity and encouragement to the praters and
charlatans in the House to hold forth on their schemes,
and advertise their various nostrums. A Government
has immense means available to the best preparation of
measures, and if it made wise use of them, so as to
present examples of more perfect projects of law, the
unqualified would be very much deterred from thrust-
ing their clumsy schemes upon the attention of a
House accustomed to look at workmanlike plans. But
now, all the bills that are shot upon the table are pretty
nearly on the same level in point of aptitude for their
objects, and an Agnew project only shares after all in
the ridicule which also attaches to an Althorp scheme.
An able and diligent government might do much to
raise the standard of legislation ; and electors may
do something towards checking the intrusive crudities
and idle speechifying of their representatives, who,
when called to account for their stewardships, should
be asked not only what they have done, but what they
have attempted, and what they have impeded in their
attempts. Some discretion is to be required of mem-
bers in proposing things which may be desirable. A
representative who has no understanding of the season-
able and the opportune is a nuisance, however good
his intentions, and his interruptions serve as most con-
venient cover-sluts for the negligences and omissions
of the Government. The method and internal ma-
chinery for good legislation is indeed yet to be sought.
Our members have not advanced so far as to have an
understanding of the faults and the deficiencies in
their present mode of proceeding. We had intended
some observations on the 102 notices of motion for
next session, but the 102 are now as much too many
for us as they will prove too many for the progress of
business in the next session.—Times.

THE MURDER OF MR. ASHTON.