The Sun.
London, England, 1832-09-10 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The report of the Bank Committee, fromi
which we have made so many extracts, and on!
some parts of which we have so largely com-
mented, without having as yet given any general!
description of its contents, consists of 4S folio'
pages of evidence, and of 120 pages of ap
pendix, containing Bank amounts, tables, and
other official statements. The committed cold!
lected this immense mass of evidence during
the examination of 27 days, which their sittings
occupied, and from the lips of 22 witnesses.'
Their inquiry began on the 29th of May, and
terminated on the 3d of August. The 2 wit-
nesses, to whom we have alluded, comprised the
Governor of the Bank of England and four
Bank directors, nine country bankers, or gentle-
men connected with provincial banking, four
London private bankers, a London bill-broker, a'
London general merchant, and two London,
stock. brokers. As their names may suggest the
kind of evidence which they would give, and
the extent of inquiry which the committee pro-
posed to institute, we shall make no difficulty
in here inserting them, though most of them,
have already appeared. In the order of
their examination they are as follow
Mr. H. Palmer, the present Governor of 'the
Bank, who was examined for the first four,
days; Mr. Vincent Stuckey, a country banker,!
from Bristol ; Mr. W. Beckett, a country bank.;
er from Leeds; Mr. C. S. Forster, a country.
banker from Walsall ; Mr. J. Parry Wilkins, a'
country banker from Wales; Mr. W. Ward, a'
Bank of England Director; Mr. Harman, the,
same ; Mr. G. Warde Norman, a Bank Direc-
tor; Sir Coutts Trotter, a London banker ;'
Mr. Samuel Jones Loyd, a London banker ;.
Mr. Samuel Gurney, a London bill-broker ;,
Mr. Thomas Tooke, a London merchant, who;
was examined three days ; Mr. J. C. Dyer, Mr.
James Burt, Mr. B. Smith, bankers from Man-
chester ; Mr. G. Grote, a London banker, Mr.:
N. M. Rothschild, the broker and loan dealer;
Mr. J. B. Richards, a Bank Director; Mr. H.
Burgess, Secretary to the Association of Coun-
try Bankers ; Mr. Thomas .Atwood, the well
known banker of Birmingham ; and Mr. East-
hope, M.P., formerly a banker, now a stock-
broker. It is well known by their own admis- '
Sion, that the committee had not obtained from '
these gentlemen what they conceived to be suffi-
cient evidence to enable them to make up their
minds on the course which they could recom-
mend Parliament to pursue on the momentous
question submitted to their inquiry. On several
occasions, even before the appearance of their
report, we have stated what ought to be the.
points to which their attention should be directed.'
The following is their own statement of their
duty, which differs little from our conjectural,
anticipation

" The principal points to which they have directed
their attention (say the Committee) are—
" First. Whether the paper circulation of the metro-
polis should be confined, as at present, to the issues of one
bank, and that a commercial company ; or whether a
competition of different banks of issue, each consisting of
an unlimited number of partners, should he permitted.
" Secondly. If it should be deemed expedient that the
paper circulation of the metropolis should he confined, as
at present, to the issues of one bank, how far the whole of
the exclusive privileges possessed by the Bank of England
are necessary to effect this object.
" Thirdly. What checks can be provided to secure for,
the public a proper management of banks of issue, andt
especially whether it would be expedient and safe to compels
them periodically to publish their accounts.
.‘ With respect to the circulation of paper in the couni
try, the Committee have examined, first) into the effect
produced by the establishment of the branch banks of the!
Bank of England; and secondly, into the expediency of!
encouraging the establishment of joint stock banks of isauel
in the country.

" On all these, and on some collateral points, more or
less information will be found in the minutes of evidence ;
but on no one of them is it en complete as to justify the
Committee in giving a decided opinion."
In Mr. H. Palmer's depositions, and ini
those of the other Bank Directors, will be found!
a fuller disclosure of the recent proceedings of!
the Bank, of the system on which it has hitherto
acted, and on which it now acts—of its mode of,
transacting business, both as regards the public
and individuals—of the interference of the Go-!
vernment, under different Administrations, in
compelling it to contract or extend its issues, in
its concerns—of the occasions on which it .be-!
comes sensitive to the foreign exchanges, and!
the principles on which it generally regulates
issues—of the provisions which it made for.re-
turning to cash payments after the bill of 1819,!
and the manner in which it was counteracted by
the Ministry of the day—of the foreboding of
difficulties with which the year 1823 commenced,
and the terrible alarm in which it ended—than
had ever before appeared, or than we expected
even from the present inquiry. The whole
mystery of the prosperity of 1823 and 1824 is
explained by " the action on the currency,"
which the Ministers then suggested to the Bank,
and pressed upon its adoption—" an action"
which, under a better system, ought never to
have been obeyed. The following extract from
Mr. Ward's evidence places this point beyond
dispute:—

" In speaking of the increase of notes in 1822, you
said that in 1822 it was found necessary to relax the mone-
tary system of the Bank ; did you mean by that, that it
was necessary to increase the circulation of bank-notes ?
—Yes, it became necessary to increase the securities.
" Was that the opinion of the Government of that
time, do you think?—l think it was the opinion of the
Government at that time ; but it certainly was the opi-
nion of the Bank.

" Are you aware that Lord Liverpool stated, on the
20th of February, 1822, that his Majesty's Government
had resolved on borrowing 1,000,000/. of Exchequer-
bills from the Bank, with the view of applying it in
some manner for the relief of the country, and that he
stated, on the same day, that the chief object which his
Majesty's Government had in view was, not so much the
adoption of this or that particular measure, as the adop-
tion of any measure that would have the effect of getting
those 4,000,000/. into general circulation ?--1 recollect it.

" Do you recollect that various plans were suggested,
such as lending en parish rates, lending on public works,
an Exchequer-hills ?—.Yes.
" Do you think that the relaxation you speak of took
place in accordance with the views of his Majesty's Go-
,ernment ?--As far as I can read Lord Liverpool's inten-
tions, I think his object was to stimulate the increase of
circulation to a legitimate extent."
The following very remarkable declaration of
the same intelligent gentleman shows how com-
pletely the Bank was considered as under the
control of the Government, or bound to take its
advice and to relieve its embarrassments:—
" Mast not those operations have had the effect, one set
of them of advancing prices, and another set of them of
contracting and reducing prices ?—Yes, but they were
always in connection with uther circumstances ; for in-
stance, I cannot shut out of my mind the bad harvests of
1816 and 1817, and the loss of the property-tax, and
various ether things that occurred at the different periods.
" Would the loss of a tax be a good reason for the Bank
to advance 4,000,0001. to Government ? The financial
condition of ?he Government must always act upon the
Bank, directly or indirectly."

`\-ho that listens to these admissions, and
knows how often a Government is disposed to
get rid of present and pressing difficulties, with-
out taking into their serious consideration the
whole range of probable or possible conse-
quences, could ever think of permitting a system
to continue, iii which the Bank is forced to
abandon for a time, not only a regard to its own

security, but the principles which can alone gua-
rantee national safety ? In the following digni-
fied reproof of this vacillating policy, contained
in the examination of Mr. Tooke, every sensible
man must Concur

in cases of over issue by the Bink of England, the
directors have been in the habit of setting fath at a justi-
fication the plea of aiding the publit service by advances
to Government, or the plea of affording accornmodatioh to
trade ; what, in your opinion, is the value of tuch pleas
think neither plea is any justitcation's it is the busi•
ness of a hank that administers a paper currency in ex-
change for gold, or in lief of gold, to have no other end in
view than that Of preserving its paper strictly, correctly,
and inVariably, upon a level with the value of g'aid, and
any assistance to trade, or any assistente to Government,
involving an increase of issuo not called for by the wants
of the circulation, is t departure from the legitimate ob-
jects of thy institution."

13't on this subject a very curious memoran-
dum, delivered in by Mr. Horsley Palmer, will
be read with interest. It is A defence of the
conduct of the Bank since the return to cash
payments was ordered in 1819. This singular
justification of the Bank throws the whole blame
of its errors upon the Government. " What-
ever faults," says it, " were committed prior
to this period, were more the acts of the Go-
vernment than of the Bank, by forcing
upon - the latter Exchequer-hills in opposi-
tion to the repeated remonstrances of the
Bank Directors." After the year 1819, the
interference of the Government was equally
pernicious—leading to all the specidations of
1824, and to all the calamities of 1825. The
Bank, in order to 'resume cash payments at the
time appointed by Act of Parliament, had pro-
vided, in less than four years, the amazing sum
of 20,000,0001. of gold—more than the pro-
duce of all the mines in the world, for the pre-.
ceding six or eight years, and probably one-tenth
of all the refined gold in existence. They were
thus in a situation in 1822 to issue sovereigns
for all the 11. notes of the Bank of England it-
self, and of the country banks, when, as the
memorandum states, " without any communi-
cation with the Bank," the Government thought
proper to authorize a continuation of the coun-
try small notes till the year 1833. This per-
mission, we know, was rescinded after the panic
of 1825, when it was found that one-pound
notes and one-pound pieces of gold could not
circulate together ; but in the mean time the
Bank coffers had been filled, at the beginning of
1824, with 14,200,0001. of gold, at the ex-
pense of great suffering from a contraction of
the currency, and soon about to create still more
wide-spread misery, from another rapid succes-
sion of expansion and contraction. The evi-
dence of the London bankers who were examined
after the Bank Directors, though uniformly in
favour of one bank of issue in the metropolis,
and disposed to speak favourably of the present
Bank management, did not agree with the for-
mer in all points. Some of them, indeed, such
as Sir Coutts Trotter, cannot suggest any im-
provement, and are complete Bank optimists;
others, like Mr. Grote, desire some changes,
such as a greater publicity in Bank accounts.
'the latter witness, when asked the following
question, made the annexed reply :

" Have you ever considered what alterations it would
be expedient to make upon the renewal of the charter of
the Bank, in the management of their concerns, as be-
tween them and the public?—l have bestowed some con-
sideration on the subject ; and there are some considers•
Lions which, in my opinion, are advisable. One, parti-
cularly, is a more complete publication of the Bank affairs
than has hitherto been permitted. It strike; me that the
public are kept too much in the dark as to the manage-
ment of the Bank, and that fuller communications on thi.
subject would materially contribute both to strengthen the
general confidence in the Bank, and to improve the ma-
nagement of the Bank itself."

This very intelligent witness is opposed to the
establishment of a bank conducted by Govern-
ment commissioners, as contrasted with one con-
ducted on the footing of the Bank of England, as
will be seen by the following question and answer :

" You consider that a bank managed, as the Bank of
England is, by directori chosen within the body from
commercial men, is likely to be better conducted as a bank of
issue purely, than an issuing bank conducted by Govern-
ment commissioners ?—I think it is, if under the check of
full and continuous publicity, which I always assume, and
which I consider indispensable."

We regret that these desultory observations,
which a hasty view of this voluminous report
has suggested, will not permit us to-day to state
the outlines of the evidence supplied by the
country bankers, or to enter upon an examina-
tion of those more general questions respecting
the improved management of our currency, to
the solution of which all the evidence ought to
have been directed. The following is the me-
morandum to which we have above alluded :
" The reports of the Committees of Parliament of 1797,
1810, and 1819, are before the public. Whatever faults
were committed prior .to those respective periods, they
were more the acts of the Government than the Bank, by
forcing upon the latter Exchequer-bills, in opposition to
the vepeated remonstrances of the directors of the 13ank.
" By the resolution of the House of Commons of 1819,
the Bank were required within four years' to pay off in
gold the amount of their IL notes then in circulation
(about 7,500,0001 ); further, to provide the coin for pay-
ing off the country small notes in 1825 (about 7,000,0001.
or 8,000,06001. more); in addition to which, the neces-
sity was imposed-of providing the requisite surplus bullion
for insuring the convertibility of all their liabilities ; which
addition of bullion to their then stock could not be esti-
mated at less than 5,000,0001., making; in the aggregate,
20,000,0001. of gold as necessary to be procured from
foreign countries within the space of four years from 1819.
" That supply of gold could only be purchased by re-
duced prices of commodities, the Bank withdrawing a
given amount of securities in the first instance, the notes
for which might be reissued in payment of the gold as im
ported. The low prices, and general state of trade.from

1819 to 1821, and the withdrawal of the Bank's securi-
ties, enabled the Bank to cancel their small notes in the
latter year.; and in that following (1822), three years
prior to the time fixed by Parliament, they were in a situ-
ation to furnish the gold for paying off the txuintry small
notes, when, without any communication with the Bank,
the Government thought proper to authorize a continu-
ance of the circulation of the country'small, notes until
1833. The consequence of that measure was to leave in
the possession of the Bank an inordinate quantity of bul-
lion (14,200,0001., in January, 1824,) and further to
afford the power of extension to the country bankers'
issues, which, it is believed, were greatly extended from
1823 to 1825.

" Notwithstanding that vacillation on the part of Go-
vernment in 1822, and the events which followed, the
Bank took .no measures from January, 1822, to April,
1824, to increase their circulation; the increase at the
latter period was forced from the Bank by the increased
amount of bullion held in 1524 over that of 18,12

" BULLION. CIRCULATION.
Apil, 1824..—. ........ .£13,800,000 April, 1824 ..£19,300,000
January, 1822 11,700,000 January, 182" 17,70.),000
Increase £ ~100,000 Increase... ........ 1,600,000
being less by 500,0001. than the increase of bullion,
" Between January, 1822, and October, 1824, the
Bank only invested in securities the amount.of deposits
which had accumulated i❑ their possession during that
period—viz. 6,500,0001. ; tl ey had in Febru try preced-
ing, in order to facilitate the reductio❑ of the Four per
Cents., engaged to pay off in October, 1821, the dissen-
tients, under a stipulation that such advances should be re •
paid by quarterly payments from the sinking fund of
500,0001. each. This latter engagement was made when
the Bank held an inordinate stock of bullion, and while the
exchanges were in favour of the country ; and it was not
until the 18th of November, 1824, that any direct evi-
dence was afforded to the contrary. In consequence of
the advances made to pay the dissentients in October, 1824,
the issues of the Bank were increased in January, 1825, to
the extent of 1,300,0001., which advance was the only
amount of increase of circulation with which the Bank can
be charged, hnt which was justified by the Bank then
lo'd Mg an amount in bullion very nearly equal to one-third
of its total liabilities.

" During 1825, the bullion exported from January to

Novembtr extended to 7,000,n00t., and which of itself
effected every degree of contraction through the bank-
notes and deposits which could be reasonably requind or
endured by the public. The inconvenience finally sus-
tained towards the close of that year) arose entirely from
the discredit of the private banker's cirtulatioh, which
Mused a demand upon the tank, fot Min to the laktent of
,500,000/.

Whatever charges may be made against the Bank for
invei3ttnents in mortgage and dead-weight, during the
period referred to, it is to be remarked-, that the advance of
the first did not extend to more than half the surplus
profit of the Bank, ivhrieh in no way interested the public;
and, furthel-5 that neither the amount advanced en mort-
gage, dead weight, nor any other securiti, s, excet ded the
dernsits which had accumulated from January, 1822, to
October, 1824. It is further contended, that there can
be no more eligible mode of investing a portion of the
assets held by the Bank than in an annttity, which is
constantly upon the i•eiurh; the shorter the period of the
annuity, the more eligible for the Bank's object.
" Sinc.! 1826, no objection has been made against the
management, except such as may have arisen from the
establishment of branch banks.

" Let the objects of those establishments he considered,
as regards solidity and regulation of the paper money, up.
holding upon the spot the credit of the country banking
and internal commercial interests, the opening of the Lon-
' don market rate of interest to the country capitali-t, and
lastly, the increased security to the Bank, in the diminu-
tion of the risk arising from internal discredit.-- Times.
Twenty years have now elapsed since Sir
Samuel Romilly, in the debate on the Vice
Chancellor's Bill, suggested that the period was
come when it was ncessary to separate the ordi.
nary judicial duties of the Chancellor from those
which belong to his office as Speaker of the
House of Lords and a Minister of the Crown,
and that the Chancellor, as well as the Judge
who should replace him in the Court of Chan-
cery, should be remunerated by a fixed salary
instead of fees. Both suggestions were treated
as chimerical and absurd, although it would be
easy to show that the first, if carried into effect,
would re-establish the ancient limits of the
Chancellor's authority wisely fixed by our ances-
tors, and sacredly preserved to a comparatively
recent period of our history; and the latter had
received the sanction of a Committee of the
House of Commons, which it must, however, be
admitted was somewhat more liberally composed
than was usual in those happy days when a
Castlereagh filled the foremost seat on the Trea-
sury Bench. Few Members of the Parliament
of 1811 could have been so sanguine as to
cherish the most distant hope that they should
live to see these useful reforms made, and yet
the one, which is in principle the most im-
portant, has already taken place ; and the other,
which in its results will be the most beneficial,
will shortly follow. Sir Samuel Romilly thought
that the Chief Judge of the Court of Chancery
" should have a practical knowledge of the state
of business in this Court, that lie might be able
to expedite it, to correct any abuses which might
be observable, and to bring back the practice to
what it was in former times." He foresaw that
this could only be insured by detaching
from the great engine of the Chancery the
political part of the machinery which has so
long encumbered and retarded its move-
ments ; and it is well known to the le-
gal friends of Lord Brougham that he long
since imbibed a similar opinion, although he re-
solved not to avow it until he should have
achieved his great work of exhausting the list of
causes. This task has been performed, and the
Lord Chancellor, having subsequently availed
himself of his familiarity with the civil law) the
foundation of equity jurisprudence) to introduce
some useful changes in the practice of his
Court, has lately propounded for the considera-
tion of the Legislature and the public his plan
for a more extensive improvement. This was
done in the speech (which, by the bye, upon this
point has been very imperfectly reported) deli-
vered by him in the House of Lords shortly be-
fore the prorogation of Parliament, and it is to this
plan that we now call the attention of our readers.
Tie Eldons and the Lyndhursts, as everybody is
aware, considered that 20,0001. a year in salaries
and fees, and the patronage of thirteen places,
yielding annually 22,0001. more, were only an
adequate remuneration for the labours of the
Great Seal, and, of course, they never contem-
plated any change in so excellent a system. The
Bills introduced by Lords Brougham and Al-
thorp, and which have now become the law of
the land, have, however, limited the Chancel-
lor's salary and emoluments to 14,0001. a year,
utterly annihilated the whole prospective pa-
tronage, and actually abolished, without com-
pensation *, three places, producing more than
3,0001. a year, that had already vested in enjoy-
ment, and which as much belonged to Lord
Brougham as the fee for issuing a commission
of bankruptcy against John Thomas, received
by the Secretary twelve months ago. But
these Bills have wrought no alteration in the
constitution of the Chancellorship, and although
abundantly sufficient to convince the most incre-
dulous that their author would never suffer his
private interest to clog the progress of Reform,
yet they do not satisfy Lord Brougham ; and
he- is prepared to sacrifice the moiety of
his present income, to furnish an ade-
quate salary for a Chief Judge in Chancery,
who, like the other Judges, shall be appoint-
ed for life, and incapacitated from sitting in the
House of Commons. Sir Samuel Romilly's
mantle has, in truth, found one worthy to wear
it. The Chief Judge of the first Tribunal in
the country, having under his control forty
millions sterling, besides half the land of the
kingdoM, will no longer form the only ex-
ception .to our famous maxim, that • our Judges
are independent of the Crown, and be chosen
merely "as a great political engine." Like
judicial offices in the other Courts, the Chief
Judgeship of the Chancery will be the reward of
professional industry, learning, and talents ; and,
like them, divested of all duties which can in-
terfere with the diligent and impartial discharge
of those •of a Judge. The Chief Judge in
Chancery will adjudicate all the business usually
brought into that Court, with the exception of
lunacy matters and the appeals in bankruptcy ;
these will be determined by the Lord Chancellor,
who will continue to exercise his usual judicial
functions in the House of Lords and at the
Privy Council. Of course there will be an
express prohibition against the union of the two
offices in the same individual. The salary of
the Chief Judge in Chancery should be 6,000/.
or 7,0001. ; thus the Lord Chancellor will not
have more than 7,0001. or 8,0001. per annum—
a sum which, however, will be sufficient, pro-
vided he be relieved from the necessity of ac-
cumulating a fortune to support the dignity of
the Peerage ; and this may be done by li-
miting the duration of the title to the life of the
possessor, a measure for which many precedents

regard the thousand pounds added to
* We say this advisedly. We know not in what light
• We contend that 1,0001. a tear in
tLhoerdre
ttrionugg
ph
eanwsi
oronay
reversion could not be, and was not meant to be, a com-
pensation for the abolition of three places worth more
than 3,0001. a-year, that had fallen into possession, and
we consider that the Act which has thus dealt with vested
rights affords so admirable a precedent, and leads to con-
sequences so interesting and important, that we sha'l
shortly take an opportunity of discussing its provisions at
some length.

may be found, to say nothing of the case of the
Bishops. The adoption of this moderate stand-
ard for the remuneration of the two greatest
judicial officers in the kingdom, will render a
corresponding diminution necessary in the emo-
luments of all those of an inferior grade ; a
diminution, which; ndtwithstanding the recent
tedUction, We shall be prepared to show, when
the time comes, that the nation has, upon many
grounds, a right to expect ; for there are, we
fear, none of these dignitaries who will profit by
an example as noble and unparalleled as to the
world at large it must be unexpected ; and we
shall without doubt be favoured with discussions
and complaints loud and long, before they will
consent to abandon one dolt of their present in-
ordinate revenues.—Morning Chronicle.
It is stated that the body of Jobling, convicted
of the murder of Mr. Fairlees, and hung in chains
upon the gibbet at Jarrow-slake, has been stolen
by his friends, and is supposed to have been sunk
in the river, or buried in the sand. This does
not surprise us. The revival of the barbarous
practice of gibbetting, which had been banished
by the progress of civilized habits, added to the
practical knowledge of the utter uselessness of
that disgusting operation, as a preventive of crime,
was a great disgrace to the Legislature of Eng-
land in the nineteenth century. We trust that
the signal failure of the experiment in the two
instances in which it has been tried will put an
end to the nuisance for ever. A misconception
has gone abroad that this unexpected revival by the
Legislature of an abominable nuisance arose from
an inadvertent acquiescence in the provisions of
Mr. Warburton's Anatomy Bill ; but, object-
ing to much of that Bill, as we do, we think it
right that its author should not be held re-
sponsible for the objectionable alterations
made in it by others. Mr. Ewart's Bill was
greatly damaged by the absurd specimens of
the legislative genius of Lord Wynford, which
have been tacked on to it—so was the Attorney-
General's Bill for abolishing the penalty of death
in all cases of forgery seriously injured by two
sanguinary exceptions made to its sound and
rational principle by the same Lord Wynford
and the Marquis of Lansdowne, who, on that
occasion, was as anxious to snatch from extinc-
tion a relic of the exterminating system, and
transmit it " unimpaired to posterity," as any
conservative Lord in the land ;—so the intro-
duction of the clause, reviving the use of the
gibbet for the bodies of persons convicted of
murder, was the work of the House of Lords,
and was proposed by Earl Grey himself. Lord
Wynford, indeed, the indefatigable bill-spoiler,
helped to bring it about by objecting to the
clause abolishing the dissection of murderers—
he added, that he had known instances where
the fear of dissection had struck greater terror
than death itself. Lord Grey was weak enough
to be induced, on this representation, to try and
substitute some other terror for that which the
law had lost, though he ought well to have
known that the fear of dissection had, in rea-
lity, no effect in preventing the crime of murder—
as our criminal calendar for many years past
could too well testify. His Lordship first pro-
posed the introduction of a clause, providing
that the bodies of murderers should be buried be-
neath the gallows whereupon executed, or within
the precincts of the prison -where previously
confined. To these there could be no great ob-
jection, except that the former could not often be
practicable—in cities, for instance—and the latter
practice might, perhaps, tend to render prisons
still more unhealthy than they at present are ;
but the Noble Earl subsequently altered the
amendment to one making persons convicted of
murder liable, at the discretion of the Judge, to
be ordered to be hung in chains, or to be buried
within the precincts of the prison. It is worth
observing, that, in the two first instances of con-
victions for murder which followed the passing
of the Act, the Judges preferred putting ill
practice the more barbarous mode of the two,
and ordered Cook to be hung in chains at Lei-
cester, and Jobling atJarrow-slake. In allusion
to those sentences, we then said, " This sort of
exhibition, as all experience proves, never re-
forms, but always brutalizes, just as the breaking
on the wheel under the old regime of France, and
exposing the body afterwards, only tended, by
hardening the feelings of the spectators, to multiply
the cases of murder committed under the most atro-
cious circuthstances." Well, the brutalizingeffect of
this proceeding was soon witnessed upon Cook's
body being suspended to rot before the public
gaze. The populace flocked thither from all
quarters, not to take a moral lesson, but to gra-
tify a depraved curiosity in the first instance,
and then revel in intoxication and riot. A sort
of fair was actually held in the vicinity of the
disgusting spectacle ; and, even at the foot of
the gibbet, on the Sunday evening, were a knot
of fellows collected playing cards !—So much
for the terror it inspired ! Within two days
the nuisance was abated. On denouncing the
practice before the removal of Cook's gibbet, we
also said " that the gibbetting, besides creating
a public nuisance, exposes the law to insult,
and adds a new crime to our overloaded penal
code, by making it an indictable offence to steal
the body from the gibbet, as the friends and
relations often did in former times, and will do
again • to support one barbarism the law must
have recourse to another, and, to preserve a pub-
lic nuisance, wages war against the natural
affections of the human heart." Thus has the
law been insulted by the removal of .`Jobling's
body from the gibbet; but 'better that it should
be so removed than that the vile, nuisance should
continue. We trust that it is the last experi-
ment of the sort, and that, with 'the body of
Jobling, the gibbet itself may be for ever buried.
—Morning Herald.

In whatever studies Lord Palmerston may be
employing the leisure of the recess, whether he
be poring over the mysterious subtleties of
Vattel and Grotius, or preparing a new protocol
for the further entanglement of European diplo-
macy, or paying his court to the clear-sighted
inhabitants of Lambeth, by whom that versatility
of talents will be duly appreciated which is so
lightly esteemed at Trinity and St. John's, we
trust that the investigations which have recently
been carried on before a Police Magistrate will
raise him from these or any other musings, and
awaken hint to some sense of the attention which
is due to the fulfilment of national engagements
'h"euljtsmttlie maintenance of public faith. If it
and if it be expedient that Eng-
land, by an armed interference, should terminate
the dissensions by which Portugal is harassed,
and take the crown from this head to place it
upon that, let us by all means hasten to secure
the benefit and to claim the merit of an open in-
tervention. If it be more consistent INith our
ditty and with our interest to leave the decision
of a Portuguese quarrel to the discretion of the
Portuguese nation, let us maintain between
two parties, both of whom make title to our
alliance, a strict and honest neutrality. Com-
mon sense and common probity present
no other alternative. But common sense and

common probity appeal in vain to the judgment
and the virtue of the Whigs. Lord Palmerston
has not indeed, on the one hand, ventured
to make England by name a party in the civil
discord of her old Ally. but neither, on
the otheri has he withheld the strength and
influence or England from actual exertion in
the fray. What is the result ? The one com-
batant is deeply wounded by the manifestation
of our hostility ; the other is little grateful for
the moderation of our friendship. Neutral, we
win no respect by our neutrality ; interfering we
serve no useful purpose by our interference.
For the present England cannot be purely im-
partial in the disputes of the Continent. The
very existence of a Whig Cabinet is an act of
intervention. Whenever the theorist is building
up, or the leveller pulling down, our country
gives powerful aid to both so long as she retains
in her service Statesmen for whom no levelling
is too extensive and no theory too wild. But
we may demand that our co-operation with the
visionary and the reprobate should go no
further. Above all, we may insist that, where
the Legislature has purposed to obviate a parti-
cular inconvenience by a special enactment, we
should not wilfully encounter the inconve-
nience by the continued neglect of the provi-
sions the enactment contains. Our desire to
see the Councils of Britain freed from the
suspicion of participation in these unworthy
squabbles is not in any way based upon a sym-
pathy with either party in the conflict. It is by
this time generally known, upon the testimony,
oral and written, of the Chancellor, that Don
Miguel is a monster, the like of whom history
hath not recorded in the past tense, nor ima-
gination conceived in the future. No property
is safe from his rapacity, no life from his blood-
thirstiness. Contrasted with his cruelty the
ferocity of Domitian was merciful ; compared to
his insanity the caprices of Caligula were tem-
perate. .And of course it is not less generally
understood that his brother, who was sent away
from the Brazils, is such a Monarch as Whig-
gism delighteth to honour, brave and humane,
and constitutional and liberal, the very Prince
Prettyman of our political fairyland. And since
the Portuguese, by their obstinate adherence to
the one, and their pertinacious opposition to the
other, have shown themselves most anxious to be
imprisoned and plundered, most unwilling to be
released and protected, we are forced to infer
the Portuguese are very foolish people, and that
they really do not deserve that any philanthro-
pist at the Crown and Anchor should spend
half an hour in the modelling of their Consti-
tution, or the selection of their King.—Morn-
ing Post.