The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-08 00:00:00

Anniult

LONDON, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 1850.

It is impossible to read the particulars, given else-
where in this evening's impression, of the disgraceful
scene witnessed last night at the meeting held in fur-
therance of the " Working Man's Memorial! to Sir
ROBERT PEEL" without feelings of the most poignant
indignation. From the report of those proceedings it
will be observed that interruptions of the utmost vio-
lence Marred the'unanimity of those who had assem
bled
,together for the purpose of doing honour to the
memory of a great and,patriotic statesman. With the
veteran' Reformer the Member for Montrose as chair-
man, and with the platform crowded by popular repre-
sentatives, distinguished all of them by the liberality
of their political principles, and some of them by the
importance of their political achievements, one might
reasonably have supposed that some degree of deco•
rum would have been preserved among the auditors.
More especially, considering that the object of the
meeting was to give utterance to the national sense
of the losses accruing to the state through the sudden
and premature demise of an illustrious citizen. If
such anticipations were formed by those who
felt in the smallest way interested in the proposed
memorial, they must have been most grievously
disappointed. The assemblage, which should have
been more than usually moderate in its bearing,
was in fact more than ordinarily boisterous in its be-
haviour ; this, moreover, in consequence of the inde-
cent disturbances caused by certain Chartist malcon-
tents. Distressed as we are that the occasion referred
to should have been the one unhappily selected for
this shameless demonstration—we are rather
gratified than otherwise that the demonstration
should be thus conspicuous, serving as it does
to point a truth which we ourselves have
not unfrequently inculcated. The disgusting I
exhibition of last evening may in this manner be I
turned to some satisfactory account, namely, as serv-
ing to illustrate the intimate relation existing between
Chartism and ultra-Conservatism. Often has it been
our duty to direct attention to the latent complicity
associating together among our neighbours, the Red
Republicans and the counter-revolutionists.
We have shown again and again, by a mere
collocation of facts, that Legitimacy (so called)
is the necessary sequince of Terrorism—that the
triumph 'lof- the Reds or Anarchists inevitably
condtices` to the ulterior success of the Whites or
Boarbouists. Oat of. Anarchy springs the restoration

of Absolutism. Precisely in this manner also is it, as
we have repeatedly intimated, that Communism is the
logical deduction from Protection.. Our true-hearted
but unreasoning farmers, the great agricultural body
of England, when listening to the inflammatory
tirades of Mr. BUSFEILD FERRAND, or when reading
the plausible casuistries of Mr. RICHARD
OASTLER, little imagine what is actually the
case, that they are drinking in those poison-
ous sophistries which constitute the daily
bread of the Communists. They are far from recog-
nizing the unseen bond of union which, however
obscurely, does really and veritably bind together in
one common cause M. PROUDHON and his Grace the
Duke of RICHMOND. They have no notion, these
good loyal subjects of Queen VICTORIA, how absolutely
identical in influence are the arguments for the re-
vival of imposts on corn and other cereal importa-
tions, and the worshippers of that pernicious creed
'yclept solidariti. Yet so it, is ; and such is the
truth occasionally and most unintentionally blurted
out, as it was blurted out last evening in the meeting
at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, now known as
the Whittington Club. Judging from their tumul-
tuous expressions of incredulity as to the beneficial
effects resulting from the operation of free trade, and
estimating their political sentiments from the ani-
mosity expressed by them towards even the
memory of the illustrious statesman recently
departed, we should certainly arrive at the
conclusion that these Chartist recusants are hand and
glove with the Country Party, that they are Protection-
ists to the backbone, and that their aim is in the highest
degree restrictive and retrogressive. Nor, perchance,
should we be so very far wrong in arriving at such
an estimate of their principles. Already we have
directly pointed out the novel illustration afforded by
them of the veracity of the old saying about extremes
meeting. Our long-cherished notions upon this bead are
not likely ♦ery soon to be dissipated by such dis-
graceful scenes as those which last night reflected so
much discredit upon the Chartists, and tended so
glaringly to identify them with the ultra-Protee-
, tionists, and the ultra-sticklers for Conservatism.
Let them not flatter themselves, however, with the
absurd idea that the people of England are going to
be influenced in any manner either by their specious
radicalism, or by their riotous demonstrations. The
Chartists alone have failed hitherto in their attempts
to force their ideas upon the acceptance of the mul-
titude. The Protectionists alone have in a similar
endeavour proved equally unsuccessful. Both the
Protectionists and Chartists united will find it
equally impossible to shake the integrity of the poli-
tical principles of the multitude, or to diminish in any
respect the popular reverence for the memory of a
generous and-lamented statesman.

A more indecent, scurrilous, and unjustifiable libel
has seldom been published than that to which Lord
13Rouolless, on Tuesday evening, directed the atten-
tion of the House of Lords, and which elicited the
unanimous condemnation of his brother Peers. If
anything be regarded with peculiar reverence in this
country, it is the administration of justice. If any-
thing be considered peculiarly sacred, removed far
beyond the shafts of malice, or the sting of coarse and
vulgar personalities, it is the position of an English
judge when engaged in the performance
of his arduous and important duties. The beat secu-
rity for the liberties of the subject is to be found
in the purity and independence of the judicial body.
They can guard against any injudicious or inequitable
law—they have power to effect legally and constitu-
tionally any legislative changes that might be re-
quired, but they would be utterly helpless against any
corruption on the part of the sworn interpreters of
the law. The most salutary enactments might be
perverted by an able, but unconscientious man, who
would be influenced by no moral considerations, but
would be guided by his ewn private feelings or in-
terests, and not by the immutable principles of justice.
' Happily there is now but little danger of any abuse
of the extraordinary power confided to their hands.
The days of the SCROGGSEB and JEFFREYSES have
departed, never to return. The voice of public
opinion exercises a more salutary control than any
that could be devised. The most stringent penalties
cod not produce a greater effect on the highminded
an it pourable men who adorn the bench of justice
in the United Kingdom, give additional weight to
their judgments, or afford more perfect security to
the suitors in the various courts, than the moral check
that is universally recognized. If, occasionally,
a case should be decided, not according to its real
i merits—and such instances may sometimes occur, for
Iwhat merely human institution can attain perfection,
or arrogate to itself infallibility'—the error may in
nine cases out of ten be attributed to the law itself,
and not to its administrator. And should there
even be just grounds to impeach the judgment, the
mistake will be one of the head and not of the heart,
and no person, not even, the aggrieved party, will
think of ascribing any improper motive to the pre-
siding judge.
Any slander or calumny, any unprovoked attack
upon any person engaged in the administration of
j ustice is the more unjustifiable, and deserving of the
more severe censure, inasmuch as, if well founded, or
that the slightest credence could be afforded thereto,
it would place the inculpated individual in the most
invidious light, and hold him up to the abhorrence of
the community in general. Indeed the arrow would
fly beyond the goal at which it was directed, and
I reach the court or tribunal of which he was a member.
Hence a more stringent code than even the ordinary
law of libel was applicable, and the proceeding for what
was termed scandalum magnatum, or " great
scandal," for using language derogatory to Peers and
high functionaries, was of a very peculiar description,
much more severe than in common cases of defama-
tion ; it was, in fact, of a very inquisitorial cha-
racter, as the parties convicted of disseminating such
slander might be compelled to produce their autho-
rity. The proceeding has now fallen into desuetude,
and become practically obsolete, chiefly because those
high functionaries are held in such general estima-
tion that they require no extraordinary protection,
and any shaft directed against them recoils on the
assailant, and wounds the hand by which it was dis-
charged, and not the party aimed at.

But if such is the case with respect to the ordinary
tribunals—if an assault upon the administration of
justice in the Court of Queen's Bench, of Common
Pleas, of Exchequer, or of Chancery, is justly consi-
dered to be an offence of no ordinary gravity, a high
contempt against the jurisdiction insulted, and justly
subjects the guilty party to exemplary punishment,
how much more serious is it when it is aimed at the
highest tribunal in the land—the court of ultimate
resort I An error of judgment in almost
any other court may be remedied. An appeal will
lie to some other jurisdiction, where an erroneous
decision may be reversed, but nothing but an Act of
Parliament can affect a judgment of the House of
Lords in its judicial capacity, which may indeed be
regarded as final and conclusive. Anything that by
a possibility can tend to depreciate the authority of
that House as the highest tribunal in the land is es-
pecially to be deprecated ; anything that can lower
the estimation in which it is held in the
most important of all its high functions
is to be most energetically condemned. The Moble
and Learned Lord himself, who has been, so wan-
tonly and improperly assailed, recently placed this
matter in the clearest light. In his admirable speech
on the separation of the political and judicial func-
tions of the Lord Chancellor, Lord BROUGHAM said—
" Let it not be supposed that I am romancing or de-
claiming—indulging in fanciful speculations or un-
I profitable talk—w ben I express my apprehension of
anything that can lower your estimation in the
1 country, or your authority in the consti-
tution as the supreme judicature of this
realm. On your judicial character mainly
rests that estimation and that authority—strip the
House of its judicial attributes, you endanger its very
existence. Judicature is to the Lords as important
as money to the Commons. Strip either of these
peculiar attributes, and the virtue has departed from
it." In assailing Lord BROUGHAM, therefore, for
rendering his valuable assistance in disposing of the
many heavy appeals that were standing over before
the appellate jurisdiction, for removing a load of sus-
pense and care from many an anxious heart, and for
averting the ruinous and enormous expenses that were
eating up many properties, the libeller was attacking
the House itself, not in its political capacity, for that
might be tolerated, but in its judicial attributes, and
sapping the very foundations of justice.
Never was there a more unmerited accusation than

that thus put forward. In place of deserving censure
for voluntarily undertaking so arduous a duty, the
Noble and Learned Lord had earned for himself the
marked thanks and gratitude of the commu-
nity. There was, unfortunately, no other
law Lord who could render any assistance.
Lords LYNDHURST, COTTENHAM, and DENMAN were
unhappily debarred by the state of their health from
attending, and Lord CAMrBELL was engaged in the
avocations of his high office. Lord TRURO, who had
only recently been appointed to the Lord Chancellor-
ship of England, found that all his time would be ne-
cessarily absorbed in his own court. Under these
circumstances, a large arrear of appeals had accumu-
lated, and would have stood over, but that Lord
BROUGHAM voluntarily undertook the duty of hearing
them. Of the manner in which he discharged that duty,
of the patient attention and calm deliberation which
he bestowed on every case, it is impossible to speak too
highly. Each day he sat until the meeting of the
House, at five o'clock in the afternoon, an hour be-
yond the usual time, and thereby saved very heavy
costs to the parties; and he has now disposed of all
the business before the House except a single case,
which, we believe, is in course of hearing this very
day. This is conduct worthy of the highest appro-
bation, not of censure—of praise, not of reproach.
He has been accused of precipitation ; but if his
well-considered judgments did not contain intrinsic
evidence, as they do, of the falsity of the charge, we
have it on the highest authority that no deci-
sion was arrived at for several days after the argu-
ments had been heard—a much more suitable time
than the months that are sometimes spent, and when
the arguments of counsel and the points of the case
must necessarily have passed from the memory.
Lord BROUGHAM has no reason to regret these un-
warrantable and unprovoked attacks; on the contrary,
they will place his character and conduct in a
brighter light, and show how well he has deserved of his
country, how fully he has merited his pension as a
retired Lord High Chancellor of England—a position
which, in his case at least, cannot be regarded as a
sinecure.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.-
On Tuesday a terrific thunder-storm burst over
Paris and the streets were completely inundated. A
letter from Paris thus describes the storm:—." The rush
of angry waters down those streets where there is any
declivity is absolutely tremendous ; the horses splash
about surrounded, and the carriage wheels look like
mill wheels as they whirl around through the stream.
You see hundreds of persons who have been weather
bound for hours, standing on door steps, watching the
rushing stream. At this moment the floodgates of
heaven seem to be opened afresh, and the torrent is
pouring down more fiercely than ever. The scene
would be ludicrous, for there is no danger to be ap-
prehended, if the destruction of property were not
considerable, as at the present moment the furniture
is floating about the dwelling places of those who
sojourn on the ground floor or in cellars under the
earth."

Another letter states that the horses in many of the
streets were up to their shoulders in water, that the
omnibuses that attempted to pass were filled with
water, that in some of the streets persons were swim-
ming along, and that in the shops in the ChauE63
d'Antin the water was a foot deep.
The Bill for the resumption of cash payments by
the Bank of France,passed the National Assembly
yesterday.

- The following " communicated" paragraph appears
in the greater number of the Paris journals :
" The Assemblie Nationale of the sth of August
contains an article calculated to inspire fears as to
the continuation of that perfect tranquillity which
Paris at preisent enjoys.
" We are authorised to declare that there is abso-
lutely no cause whatever to justify such allegations."
The differences between the Executive and the
municipal authorities of Marseilles have been satis-
factorily settled.

The -Erenement says that the idea of a camp at
Versailles is likely to be abandoned, the Minister of
War having declared so to several Members of the
Assembly.
The Committee of Parliamentary Initiative bas
recommended the rejection of the proposition for
opening to the Minister of Finance a credit of
10,800,000 f. for the construction of Transatlantic
steam-packets.
PARIS BOURSE, Aroust 7.—Latest Prices,—Five
per Cents., 97f. 25c. - Three per Cents., 58f. 40c.;
Bank Actions, 2,380 f:

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGF, Aus. 7.
Central of France (Orleans and Vierzon), 15—East Indian,
7% Northern of France, 15—Paris and Rouen, 24%—
Paris and Strasbourg, 698 ex in.