The Sun.
London, England, 1834-08-26 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

There is not perhaps a Journal in the British domi-
nions which has not at times been supposed, by some
class of persons, to be honest and sincere, with the
single exception of the Times. We believe that jour-
nal may fairly claim the distinction of having never
been once supposed, even by those whose cause it was
advocating, and powerfully advocating, to be actuated
by any regard for truth and honesty. We say power-
fully advocating, because though the Times is often
coarse and vulgar, both in sentiment and language,
we will not be so unjust as to deny to our contemporary
the praise of thundering occasionally to some purpose.
Its mercenary character and its energy are quite dis-
tinct. Its advocacy may be insincere, and yet effec-
tive. A hired assassin may deal as heavy a blow as
if his arm were raised in a good cause. The Times
knows that it is necessary for its interest that it
should be thought capable of doing mischief—and
provided it do the job effectually, it is never scru-
pulous as to the means. The object of the Times has
been for some time to break up the present Ministry.
Knowing that Lord Brougham is an important and in-
fluential Member of the Cabinet—that he is a man
who occupies a large space in the public eye, its blows
are now more particularly directed against his Lord-
ship. /Availing itself of scraps of information derived
from its late connection with the Government, it pre-
pares, day after day, a dish of scandal for the public at
the expense of his Lordship, in which, though all may
not be falsehood, yet a false colouring is given to the
whole. His Lordship may not be without his faults
(who is without faults ?) but where is the man who
has laboured more for the public good than he has
done ? Has he not done more than any other public
man for the reformation of our laws ? Was it not to
him that the nation chiefly owes the impulse which
the public mind has received towards education ?
Did he not labour assiduously with Wilberforce for
the abolition of the Slave Trade ? Has he not
contributed largely towards the exposure of the
abuses of the Church ? In short, what reform in
Church and State has not been advanced by Henry
Brougham ? Is he yet suspected of entertaining any
wish which has not the improvement of the country for
its object ? The Times says that for 15 years it be-
lieved Lord Brougham to be " actuated by honourable
and elevated motives--guided by fixed and enlightened
principle"—and all at once it sees him possessed of
every vice and meanness that can deform a character.
The base lie carries with it its own refutation. To
whom is so glaring an incongruity addressed ? They
must be idiots and drivellers indeed, who can believe
that any other than base motives dictate the accusa-
tion. Disappointed ambition, or mortification of some
sort, has led to the disgusting exhibition of a jour-
nalist endeavouring to destroy to-day the public man
who was yesterday his idol. We are not blind to the
faults of Lord Brougham--we have never been his
flatterer—we have unsparingly pointed out his in-
consistencies, and are not unaware of the source of
most of them ; but we should despise ourselves if we
saw a base attempt to assassinate morally a great
public man, and not contribute what in us lies to
defeat it. Why, we ask, has Lord Brougham so con-
stantly been an object of hatred to all who live on
corruption ? Why has he been singled out as the
special object of the vituperation of the John Bull and
other slanderous papers devoted to the enemies of good
government ? Why is he so hated by all High
Churchmen and Ultra Tories ? Because they did not
fail to see that he was actuated by a restless ambition
to introduce improvements into the institutions of the
country, and to destroy abuses. They were not de-
ceived into the belief that Lord Brougham ever was or
could become their ally. They were not taken by the
attempts occasionally made by Lord Brougham to stand
well with them. If Lord Brougham has any weak-
ness, it is that he thinks himself more cunning than he
really is. He does not, however, deceive his opponents
by what sometimes alienates from him his friends. But
why dwell alone on the weaknesses of a man, who has
done more than any public man of his time for the
public good ? 'We are sure that a generous people
like the English will resent this base and unmanly
attiltnpt to 'run down a great public character. Who
would be ambitious of serving the public, if his ser-
vices are to obtain the reward of his being held up by
the press as the basest and most unworthy of mankind?
The Tory Journals are, of course, all overjoyed at the
exertions of the Times. The Morning Post of yes-
terday is pleased to assume that Lord Brougham is as
tricking and slippery as Times, and hints that it may
be doubted whether the conflict be any more than a
sham fight. The character of the Times, drawn by
our contemporary the Post, may be admitted as true,
because the Times has always acted from selfish
motives ; but Lord Brougham, we may be sure, is not
hated by the Tories because he is an enemy of the
people.—Morning Chronicle.
The respect and good wishes which accompany
Lord Grey into retirement will not be at all diminished
by the sentiments contained in his late speech at New-
castle—a speech, by the bye, as remarkable for what
it omits as what it contains ; for though the Noble
Earl's relinquishment of office was the sole immediate
cause and motive of the honours he was then replying
to, not a word does he utter which can be construed
to throw the smallest light upon the circumstances
which led to his retirement. The country in general,
however, we are convinced, stand in no need of being
enlightened upon the subject. They are satisfied that
the late Premier was the victim of a base intrigue ; an
inference to which Lord Grey's silence may be said to
give an unqualified assent. Not the least remarkable
feature in Lord Grey's address to his surrounding
friends and admirers is the candour with which he
alludes to the defects which have become but too
apparent in the reformed House of Commons. Lord
Grey possesses none of that irrational fondness whieh
can see no faults or failings in its own offspring ;
for though reform has been his favourite child—the
hope of his youth, and the fruition of his age, and as
sfich might excuse a little of a parent's blindness,
Lord Grey, while he boasts with feelings of becoming
pride of the boon which he has bestowed upon the
country, sees and points out with equal truth and force
the unlooked-for obstacles which retard its complete
siccess. One, and, perhaps, the most striking of the
results alluded to, consists in the description of persons
which both the new and the old constituency have, un-
fortunately, in too many instances, sent to Parlia-
ment ; in some instances amounting to the very worst
selection that human ingenuity could have palmed
upon them. We are prepared for the tone of triumph
with which this avowal will be received by the enemies
of all reform. But the disappointed outcasts of
SChedule A must be moderate in their exultations.
While we admit, with regret, that the first reformed
'louse of Commons has not fully answered public ex-
pectation, the evil is only a temporary one, and will,
we have no doubt, be remedied whenever the elective
franchise comes again into general operation. At all
events, if what we have received by means of the
leform Bill is not as yet all that we looked for,
about what the country got rid of there can be "no
mistake." Schedule A was at any rate an unmixed
and unequivocal good. As far as that goes, any
change must have been for the better. Various
reasons may be assigned for the first reformed
House not answering in every respect public expecta-
tion—among these the most prominent are, the no-
velty of the thing itself, the state of excitement in which
the country, but especially the new constituencies, was
placed, and the confidence felt that the Miuisters who
had conferred such a boon upon the country would be
prepared to carry out their measure in its true spirit.
But that a permanent good may not have been pro-
ductive of the immediate good which was to be ex-
pected from it—that the Members of the first re-
formed Parliament should not be in all respects such
as the country wished to see, are no grounds for
despair or apprehension. Grown wise by what they
are-witnessing, the electors throughout the kingdom
will, we have no doubt, exercise their franchise for the
future with more caution. Empty, vapouring, all-
promising inanity will not only have found its OWD
weight, but will act as a beacon to warn electors
against any attempt at renewed imposture. Nor un-
der these impressions do we at all despair of Earl
Grey living to' seg: the great measure of his public
life conferring upon the country that full !need of

l /(l/

}i I•i~