The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-07 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS

FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OP TESTERDAY.
GLOBE.--Posterity's Plutarch (who will perhaps
look back to a Lord Mayor as a Megalatherion,
which, we may inform our mere English readers,
means a great beast—no longer extant) will perhaps
amuse himself, after the manner of his classical pro •
totype, with drawing a parallel—or rather contrast
between the present Lord Mayor and the pre-
sent Bishop of London. The characteristic effort
of the former exalted functionary seems to make
differences, and the characteristic effort of the latter
(as Sir Peter Laurie says) to split them. If Bishop
Blomfield and Lord Mayor Gibbs both ener-
gised in- the same sphere of action, the latter would
blow up billows for the former to ride up and down
upon. The all-defying soul of Gibbs would complete
what is wanting to the scolding one of Phillpotts.
The Lord Mayor's soul is above scolding, and seems
to find its exclusive satisfaction in assuming attitudes
of defiance on grounds no one else would think tenable.
With such a Primate, the Church would witness the
days of Archbishop Laud back—and something more.
We have not brought these spiritual and secular digni-
taries into mere arbitrary juxtaposition, as our readers
will perceive, if they turn to the scene in yester-
day's Common Council. The Lord Mayor again ex-
hibited himself in his character—unaccountable, and
immoveable (again too on a matter of finance)—the
justum et tenacem propositi virum, on whom the civiurn
ardor pram jubentium is simply thrown away. If
the Puseyites ever elect a Pope (and for some reason,
best known to themselves, they don't choose to obey
the existing one, whom Mr. Ward nevertheless calls
the " Chief Bishop on Earth," and concerning whose
infallibility Mr. F. Faber cites with approbation the
sentiment of Manzoni—that it is " the main point,
from which the smallest deviation is damnable heresy")
—if, we may say, the Puseyites ever elect a Pope of
their own—and they seem on the point of doing so-
-we should strongly recommend them to take into con-
sideration the unique aptitudes for their purpose of
the present Lord Alayor, when the term of his present
office shall have happily expired.
" Jove in the chair
Of the skies Lord Mayor,"
was a joke to Lord Mayor Gibbs in this crowning
year of his astonishing A ldermanship. His " dogmatic
decrees" are just what the Puseyites want—decisions,
namely, which are not to be criticised or questioned
" without presumption." Any attempt to get either
an account or an argument from him—in short to
question the infallibility of his sum total, whether
of mind or money—is an attempt not to be enter-
tained or discussed, but to he put down as damnable
heresy. The scene of yesterday was a specimen of this.
The matter which had been under discussion was
the report made to the Court by their Finance Com-
mittee, to whom had been referred the petition of the
Rev. James Tyler, 8.D., rector of the parish of St.
Giles's-in- the-Fields, praying for pecuniary aid towards
the erection of a new free church in that district,
which was brought up and read.—lt recommended a
grant of 2001. in aid of the undertaking. On the mo-
tion that the Court agree with the Committee in their
report being put, Sir Peter Laurie made an oration,
in reading which we were tempted to exclaim—" Mon
tine parle, et meme it parle Lien." It is not, perhaps,
known so universally as, we think, it ought to be, that
Sir Peter Laurie has set his heart upon two things,
as his special earthly mission, and which he looks
upon himself as the honoured instrument destined for
accomplishing. One of them is the taking up of wood
pavement, and the other the putting down of
Puseyism. When Sir Peter Laurie shall have accom-
plished both these great works single-handed, he will
sing his Nitric dinzittis. There may be more far-
sighted sagacity even than usual in these two enter-
prises, which the City champion of our Protest-
antism 'and paving-stones is thus carrying on, as it
were, abreast. If Puseyista and wood-pavements
continue extending themselves concurrently any far-
ther, we are evidently threatened with the double
danger of a revived disposition towards autos da fe,
and of the temptation to celebrate such acts im-
promptu, afforded by wood ready at foot. We must
refer our readers to Sir Peter Laurie's own words for
a full estimate of his wisdom, only remarking that we
have, for once, the satisfaction in a good measure of
agreeing with him. But Lord Mayor Gibbs's last
new exhibition of infallibility was the immediate sub-
ject of our notice. After some discussion on the tno-
tion for agreeing to the report—
" The Lord Mayor, after referring to the original
petition and to the terms of the report, and conferring
upon them with the Recorder, stated that the report not
being in accordance with the reference, it must fall to the
ground, as the question could not be put.
" A stormy scene here ensued, in which it was con-
tended by Mr. Wire and several others, that it was for
the Court to judge of the fact whether or not the report
accorded with the terms of the reference, and that the
Court would surrender its privileges if it submitted in
such a matter to the dictum of the Lord Mayor.
" A scene of great confusion prevailed, but
" The Lord Mayor persisted in his decision, and called
for the next order on the paper to be taken, upon which
"Mr. De Jersey moved that the Court do now ad-
.

journ,
" On this motion a division took place, when there
appeared—For the adjournment, 38 ; against it, 31 ;
majority 7.
" The Lord Mayor then retired with the other autho-
rities, but

" `Mr. W. IL Ashurit called upon the members to
remain, as he maintained the privilege of the Court had
been- invaded by the decision at which the Lord Mayor
had arrived."

A large body remained accordingly, and agreed to
a resolution to the effect. that " It is the opinion of
this meeting that the ruling of the Lord Mayor on
the discussion of the report of the Finance Coin-
mittee, touching the grant of 2001. to the new free
church in St. Giles's-in-the-Fields, is subversive of
the Tights of free discussion, and interferes with the
privileges of the Court of Common Council." It is
clear the magnanimous breast of Gibbs confronts a
world which is not worthy of him. It is equally
clear the Press should vote him a piece of plate—we
forbear to say what metal. At this dull season, the
Fourth Estate owe him a deep debt of gratitude.

• FROM TU MORNING PAPERS OP THIS DAL
TIMES.—This is the age of public meetings and pub-
lic:dinners: The latter are, in a great meausure, made
the feelers of general opinion, whenever a party purpose,
or an object of peculiar weight in the eyes of certain
individuals, is to be promoted. By the medium of toasts
and speeches the required stimulua,:is conveyed to the
guests,'Und they go away with the noblest impressions of
the Scheme to be adopted or the thing to be done. All,
of course, are on one side, for who would attend at the
dinner where he would be the sole opponent—the un-
supported dissentient from the voice of a whole company ?
Nothing, therefore, is more delightful, and more capti-
vating, than the undivided unanimity under favour of
which every sentence is applauded to the echo, and every
speaker cheered to his heart's content. Such assemblies
may be necessary, they may be useful, they may be called
for by the necessities of the times, or the peculiar merits
of the topic to be diseussed.,: We neither ridicule nor
condenin them ; it would be quite unnatural to do so,
seeing that men are seldom, we may say never, so
good-humoured, and so ready to take everything
for granted, as after a festival of this kind. How-
ever, with all our readiness to do justice to the
value of such entertainments, there may be, and there
must be, certain occasions, and certain remarks
to which those occasions give rise, which do not alto-
getlier win our approbation or goodwill. Our readers
will find in another part of our paper a report of a meet-
ing of sundry noblemen and gentlemen at Cirencester,
at th© annual commemoration of the Cirencester Agri-
cultural A3sociation. There was indeed the abounding
flow of sentiment, and the usual amount of speechifying.
There was, of course, much tender pathos; a due a -
mixture of the grave and gay to interest as well as to
amuse the, audience. The principal theme of the day,
A howeVer' was one which all of every class now feel
themselves imperatively obliged to consider ;—we mean
the 'depressed state of the tabourer, and the best means
of atimilThrating his condition. The Hon. W. Bathurst
seems to have been powerfully awakened to the subject.
" We must not forget," he said, " on an occasion like
this, the agrieultural labourer ;" and truly the company
did not forget—to mention him at least, as how could
they 41 such a dinner, and amid the recurrence of such
queatiops ? This gentleman, however, unadvisedly as we
think, strayed into one or two diversified branches
of argument, which he might certainly have left
unnoticed with much better taste and feeling than
he shOWed by introducing and dwelling upon them.
He made, in truth, a somewhat angry attack upon
the manufacturer on behalf of the agriculturist
population, neither well-timed nor exactly applicable
to the whole state of the case. There was manifested
throtighOura pointed desire to accuse and overwhelm
the millowners as the most selfish and heartless race of
men—the oppressors of the poor labourer whom they
had taken into their employment, and who, when his toil
had answered their purpose, and he was no longer use-
ful, or could no longer be maintained, turned him adrift
at once upon the parish ! No doubt there is, and nt
doubt can there be, that all the peasant wants is em-
ployment ; he wants, and is ready to do, " a fair day's
work for a fair day's wages," than which no proposition
more equitable or more reasonable was ever offered to
the human understanding. He wants just what the lot
of moan enjoins upon his station—to gain his bread by
the sweat of his brow. He asks this of his employers—
he has a right to ask it ; although it is a portion of toil
and privation, such as it is, it is his birthright, and can
be no more justly withheld than the rights of his land-
lord can be refused. No wonder, then, that several
of the' speakers adopted this subject for their observa-
tions. It could not well escape their attention at
a
meeting so obviously connected with the cause
of the' poor man. But, we confess, how his
cbayua.efiittina.g beit adwviatlliced, or his condition mended,
aggressive violence in the
face of the manufacturer, is enigma that it puzzles
our irigenuity to solve. ties fiery emulation,
this undisguised jealousy of ape
ecillowner ? Could not
efisnod topics enough
Mr. Balhurst, or any other spof
soerm,
offer upon
to dilate upon, and remedies
the bittet portion of the unetoployed tillretrsto
iwithout arraying all his chivany against the man se"'
turere_ Besides, gentlemen, you will permit us, if
—.,, •
you please; to show you one very sufficient reason why,
if any charge of the kind were made at all, it should
have been aimed elsewhere in the first instance. Who,
we ask, was it that turned the agricultural labourer into

the plodder of the factory ? Who first exhorted and
urged the peasant to forget his original occupation, and
bend his energies to another employment ? We do not
underrate the earnestness of these speakers, but we really
must refresh their memories with &correct representation
of the circumstances under which they themselves are
placed in this respect. How, then, came the manufacturers
to find labourers at low wages ready at their hand? Surely
it ought, in common justice, to be remembered that the
landowners themselves were the persons to encourage
this exchange of toil ; that they did all in their power
to free their parishes and estates from the superabundant
hands ; that they gave to the public highly-coloured re-
presentations of prosperity, making their own poor be-
lieve they would discover the secret of transmutation in
this Eldorado—that they were to rise rapidly in wages,
and enjoy all the contingent comforts of ample pay. All
this may have been thought politic and judicious ; but,
after driving these men from field labour, to which they
were born, and bringing them into a totally different
sphere of life, the landlords should not, in common fair-
ness, turn round upon the manufacturer and revile him
for doing in after times what their own example has but
too successfully taught him. And, again, though it may
sound very feasible to talk to the farmer about the neces-
sity of finding employment for the poor on his farm, it is
scarcely intelligible to ordinary minds how this can be dose,
when, as Mr. Kearsey, a farmer present, very justly ob-
served, so heavy was the taxation under which they suf-
fered, that they were driven to curtail their own expen-
diture, and this always operated upon the wages of the
labourer. Really, no one who advocates any benevolent
scheme ever seems to feel that the first effort should
come from himself, and that if he wishes others to do
good where he should himself set the example, he must
prove his sincerity by so doing, and doing it quickly.
It never seems to strike the wealthy landowners at such
meetings to propose a real reduction of their own rents,
as a foundation for employing additional labourers or
paying them more adequately. Thus, it is to be feared
too many of the schemes of advantaging the lower orders
fail or fall to the ground, from the want of this great first
principle of showing the way where we would wish to
lead others. It is no great praise to set up for a humane
character at the expense of a neighbour's reputation ;
nor is it any credit to the possessors of large estates
where a numerous population is without employment,
that the master manufacturers treat their own drudges
no better.