The Sun.
London, England, 1828-01-16 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE, "PUBLIC JOUIZNA

It is probable that ere our paper goes to press,
we may have something to communicate on the
subject of the Ministry. In the mean time, before
we begin to look up for the manna of intelligence,
we may cast a view around us on the soil which
pines for it, and on which it may hereafter fall; for
by this metaphor, we shall describe our brother
journalists in general. A cotemporary, and a po-
temporary—the Morning Chronicle, and the Even-
ing Standard—are contending with ardent seat
which shall praise Mr. Berries the most. They
remind us of two puppy dogs, whom, no longer
ago than the morning before yesterday, we fa w
striving for the person of a new-dropped lamb : "
mine," says Pompey ; " No, it's mine," say,
Sacken. In the mean time, the poor innocent wa.s
worried and torn to death by the rival proofs of re-
gard, and the rage for appropriation. " Never, for,a moment," says the Morning Chronicle, " did Mr.
Herries conceal his objection to Lord Althorp as
Chairman of the Finance Committee." Well
tugged, Pompey ! On the other side, Sacken, who
has got hold of the lamb's head and ears—(Pompey
had only the offal)—Sacken, we say, though bat a
modern Cossack, rivals the most renowned heroes
of antiquity in courage and skill, and makes a more
desperate pull. He boldy asserts, that " Mr.
Herries' character was the sole stock in trade of the
late Ministry !" That "it was the name of
Herries which first obtained for it credit throughout
the country !!" Gently, Mr. Standard, gently
Retman of the Cossacks, prudence and mo-
deration ! For, to say nothing of the slander
of which you are guilty in asserting, that
his Majesty appointed a Ministry which was
totally without character except what it derived at
the time of its formation from a Treasury clerk,
pray are Lords Lyndhurst and Bexley—who it
is said are to pass over to the new Administra-
tion—in this lamentable predicament, that they have
no character save what they derive from their asso-
ciation with Mr. Herries, one of whom did not even
know him by sight ? Oh ! fie, Sacken, fie, Het-
man of the Cossacks ; tug with more caution, lest
you loose your hold on the poor lamb, and tumble
backwards in the dirt. Nov, had you, our po-
temporary the Standard, instead of saying that Mr.
Herries had all the character of all the Ministry, as-
serted only that he had all the character of ail the
stock-jobbers, we verily believe that the gentlemen
of that establishment would have been most happy
to transfer their great name from themselves to
him ; and not one word more would have been said
about the matter. And with such an illustration of
Mr. Herries's omnipotence at hand—so kindred, so
congenial—we must say that it shows a most Cos-
sack-like disposition in the Standard to provoke a
quarrel,—to have applied an eulogy to the object of
its adoration, which human patience could not bear.
To the rest of our cotemporaries we shall say,—
with a self-denying deference to their superior claims
" Take your places, gentlemen—take your places,
near or remote from the new Ministers, as best suits
you. When you are seated, we shall find or make
room for ourselves in some nook or other: but you
will all have the honest pride to exclude from the
sembly sham rascals, who attempt to get in with
forged tickets."--7 inns.
In the evening of yesterday, we had heard no-
thing of any new Ministerial arrangements. It was
then rumoured that Mr. Peel would not " come in"
without Mr. Huskisson. If so, it is a proof that Mr.
Peel has no great confidence in the financial talents
of Mr. Berries. At a later hour, facts and reports
of a yet more important and interesting character
reached us. In the first place, the Gazette an-
nounced the farther prorogation of Parliament from
the 22d, from which day it had been summoned by-
repeated proclamations for the despatch of business,
to the 29th inst. The public will recollect, that we
have spoken frequently of the embarrassment which
must be felt from the meeting of Parliament and the
change of Ministry being all but co-incident. At the
Council by which the Parliament was prorogued, it
is most remarkable that not a Minister was present
except the Lord Chancellor, whose formal act was.
required for the process of proroguing, " his Lord.
ship having to cause the commission to lie prepared
in the usual form for proroguing the Parliament."
And now as to reports, and outward signs of in-
ternal proceedings, Messrs. Rothschild, Maberly,
and the Stock Exchange, it is clear, " have not it
all their own way" in imposing the child of their
hopes on the King and Country as a Finance
Minister. The matter hitches; and the snub which.
has been given to the Ultras is felt with extreme,
bitterness. They well know what we mean,when we
repeat to them, in this the moment of their disap-
pointment and vexation, the triumphant expressions
of their brighter hours—" We must bind him down
fast (meaning the King), particularly about patron-
age !" Mr. Huskisson, we have no doebt, stands
honourably firm and unshaken in that conduct and
in those principles in which he was first assailed by
the vile intrigue that occasions the dissollt6on of the
MiniStry. Being betrayed, he does not unite with
those who betrayed him in consummating their
signs; and there are even reports, and from respect-
able quarters, that Lord Grey has been sent for.--

tuoal.csiaaitotiiiionay°nniply.oerffsptS%h7iet-042:
We yesterday alluded to ;what
le
ow considerhbloe9.sf
sL lostLoomor rdei
ctla, an
opinion pregnant with dangerous consequences that
the functions of a British Statesman mars be conjoined
with the cares of an industrious ye---that is, that
the principle, according to which we trust to fled-.
dent for the administration of provincial justice,
should guide us in State affairs. When a 'Squir,,
cannot dispose of himself more agreeably or D'l.of,t-,
ably, he employs himself in committing of enders, or
attending the Sessions. When a StttoteefrsotmhsasenNTlliaa:
nothing else to do, in the way of, trade, profession,
otbEetihnatatenrilsntdsliosva!ilinmpeesouf
or pleasure, he will attend to the affairs
lion. We have more than once lamented that so
much should be left to accident in the management
of the public affairs. Thus, for instance, Legisla-
tion, deserving of the name, is unattainable in tnis
country, from the utter want of\s:lmss.ahttaeionriinntrPodarulciaiimigent
qualified to legislate with skill and advantage to the
community. In the last Number of the Quarter/if
Review, there is an article on the Amendments of
the Criminal Law, to which we have more than
much
it,o,,st:geerie:eisisliieas:
once referred. Alluding to the complaint
lutesßacon,
e 0 tnleliettrn7ng thereon:ni sdmmesaalott;cdthei
matter,
tnniatnddahyteisl
they
iotsnnotersisbeucti e
little
I t:
dgltauesnetecedi easiiidtiv them
troierosartnirtes
of
the
same
e la
w., , T
kw
theintrichaetaep,,,, thatth
et hNevrict,ee:riitaaogibnestirovre legislation
on
pa
r..
and special erner-
ilnvAtel,,„
our laws; or of that extreme•
of execution, which has intro-.
much complexity and confusio►►.
While tile PrePalations otth'ecoNln.otrrkactosfainledrsloegnasloilusstkrtiiii
injadsififilerent branches of law, the most
viamtnsrinjehpel(nnlinopeertgsl'stsaePnneter(illoea. vaguetitityislllicsa)ce,lil' lefttdah °ie' cdtuomBj eetitariuitltnu'eset—: thesh'aaalssnl.tze\tdo',l‘l'sfee-ecooOttafinlicp:ecei re a lm—has
in di vi dft al Member who happenedcoNllafitsiesi
centhso,Ombisnactyluvrideladupepae:
or
tip ern-
Ploy
if
of.
(1)1n
tayinipedepraus
alterations
ioutstse•
ihinmsw
thohilee,:vnfir:
which
carillhitttililaeee.cide
iso;:titiaisarlillYnierrcaialnfi_t--
I
psi
isallilbeice cwt i
ti
hn
theits passage
suggestions
of
vatrlii
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uns
..teoN'ohnolleisliemlgiti
arbveeecresbi,::eensna.
oct oruiigmtyi
nciaedntlydthtboereibn‘c,,itlteoyrnegasitlstdoosifitn:la'parireiicoittfo)so,,
state of the law
ignorance has conti-,y
ncongruities and
aco.
o%T.niee.srtilsda, overlaid
e‘likdin;atotlafwera:ldpleadrttgeiclgeihsuo%issfcroiutrtelkhpetaaobdyplttlarleliella.teivipnopgoenegtslasii
between
ectinntasfltilil,i3eic,ectirs)siruobdbdeilfttei,e;tedenmutt ah(stieti
Sections
glaring incongruities
sometimes even
writer goes on to instance a few of the multitude of
absurdities and contradictions with which our Sta.,
tutes are filled, and concludes with observing, that
" :here is no reason why laws should not be perspi,,

,

cuous and accessible, as well as purely administered."
There is no reason except that they cannot
be made otherwise. There is no reason why a man
should not play on the fiddle ; but if he have
not been taught he cannot play. Legislation does
not come by nature any more than playing the
fiddle. But this is an idea which never entered
into the head of any Member of the two Houses,
any more than it entered into the head of the Country
'Squire, according to the well-known Joe Miller—
that he could not play the fiddle as a matter of
course. So long as the British public will be con-
tented with bungling Legislation, with the wretched
performers who go to work without knowing either
what the existing law is or what will be the conse-
quence of their efforts, so long will the members of
the two Houses favour them with their performances.
The evil is rooted, and cannot be cured, because,
under the existing system, there is no machinery by
which laws deserving of the name can be manu-
factured. The Lawyers in the House of Commons
have no time for attending to legislation. They are
wearied with their professional labours, arid deem
the public very much their debtor if they throw off
a speech of an hour or two's length occasionally. We
are supposing them perfectly well intentioned, and
sincerely desirous of remedying the evils of which
they have daily experience. The principle is just as
vicious that men should make laws without know-
ing anything of Legislation, by way of pastime, and
to improve themselves at the expence of the com-
munity, as it is that men, without a knowledge of
law, should amuse themselves with administering
justice to their neighbours. Legislation ought not
to be a pastime; and the only reason why it has
been hitherto considered as such is, that the Legis-
lators, being their own Judges, are not hard to please.
But it is obvious, that if we wish to have good
laws, Parliament must commit to individuals of

learning and skill, who shall dedicate their time ex-
elusively to the business, the important task of pre-
paring laws. It would be necessary to pay these
individuals and to pay them well, as well as to
honour them, whereas at present our laws cost us
nothing in the making ( whatever they cost us after-
wards); but it would be well employed money.—
Morning Chronicle.
That spirit which has been so aptly described as
4" the madness of many for the gain of a few" is
just now peculiarly rife ; and the real interests of
the country are virtnalty lost sight of by those
whore party alone infects with its selfish, blighting.
:ntleenee. What the country now wants is men of
talent and principle to guide its affairs. Of men of
principle, it is to be hoped, there is no dearth ; but
of men of talent there appears to be a world de-
ficiency. We hear a vast deal of the march of
ietellect, but we fear that, if it be not all talk, there
is at least much more of froth than of substance in
the boasfe It is truly mortifying to those who look
zo the real interests of the country, regardless of
party, to see the venom which no small part of the
Press is now giving vent to, towards those who are
not of the particular faction each paper may espouse.
We could instance in particular the personal rancour
which is displayed with regard to Mr. lleski,eren
and Mr. Herries—public men both uneeceptionable,
and to whose union the country at large has an
interest in looking at the present moment. If any
points of jealousy or disunion exist between two such
men, it should be the object of those who wish well
them or to the country to smooth down excres-
cences, to obliviate minor dissensions, and to direct
their views to one great object—the public weal.
But instead of this, we see a rancour courted and
excited, which it is to be hoped that neither of these
persons entertain towards the other; and a virulence
of personal animosity engendered, which has no
other object but " the gain of a few." We do not
wonder that the task of forming a Ministry should
be no easy matter ; but why the difficulties which
naturally present themselves in its formation should
be enhanced by an indulgence in private rancour,
we are at a loss to conceive. Of Lord Goderich, the
late Premier, we would wish to speak as we really
think—he is an honest and estimable man ; het, as
a politician, we view his desertion of the Govern.
meat at the present time, unexplained as it still is,
as political cowardice. We shall be happy if, as a
Peer of Parliament, he is able in his place to do
&way this impression : but we consider the he and
some of his colleagues have much to answer fee if,
on the eve of the meeting of Parliament, they have
thrown the King's Government into the present
awkward and unexampled dilemma, unless they
have an -unanswerable case to offer tp Parliament
and the country in their defence. If men are unfit
for high station, why do they undertake it ? If men
have " greatneseee.l;rest upon them," why do they
not at once•acknowledge that they are only fair-
weather sailors, unfit to encounter a storm? But it
rts not to be borne that public men shall think them-
selves fit to carry on the affairs of the State till the
day of reckoning comes, and then run away, leaving
whoever can be got to settle their unaudited ac-
eon nt.—Morning Herald.
It involves a double contradiction,that that which
should be the most clear is the most obscure, yet
what every one is presumed to be aware of. This,
however, is the case with the Law of England,
which, though perfect in most of its principles, is
so involved in its consequences that we :defy any
man to know, in the commonest matters, what law
he has infringed, or what are the consequences of his
having infringed it. And this uncertainty is not
eonfined merely to trifling matters, but extends even
to the highest offences. Adultery and seduction,
for instance, are not criminal offences by our law;
and a starving wretch who steals a loaf to appease
his hunger, or an urchin who cribs a penny tart, are
=dealt with by the same law which passes by the man
who robs a father of his daughter, or a husband of
the dearest treasure he possesses. A striking in-
stance of the acknowledged ignorance of what the
consequences of offences are occurred a few days
since, during the present Sessions, at the Old
Bailey. A foreigner, a native of France, was ac-
cused and convicted of stealing in a dwelling-house,
from one of his own countrymen, four live-pound
notes, which is a capital offence, On his convic-
tion the prisoner was recommended to mercy by the
prosecutor, eel the ground that the law in this coun-
try, relative ne such offences, was more severe
than it was in Prance, and that the prisoner
was not • liware of the nature and extent of
the punishment to whieb he would be liable.—
To which the Judge is stated to have made

this memorable reply—that " few of the indivi-
duals who were tried in-that Ccurt were aware

of the extent of the punishment to which they were I
liable, and the same argument would apply to them.'" •
This is, in itself, an extraordinary admission, but not
more extraordinary than true; and it is, if we may
fa express ourselves, one of the false consequences
of Mr. Peel's reform of the Criminal Law, that no
popular mode has been adopted of ranking its pre-
sent state known. it any cne thing should be in its
nature so clear that " those who run may read,',
it should be the Criminal Law of a country; Yet
to
the highest Criminal Court we are gravely and truly
told that few men know the consequences of attiltY
actions. Ought this to be so ? Ought law, more
especially criminal law, to be a mystery, concealed
in sealed books, to which none but the initiated have
access ? Here certainly is a wide and disadvanta-
geous difference between a criminal code and what
we call statute law ; but if it is still deemed ad-
visable that we should reject the simplicity of the
one for the jargon of the other, it still would be-'
come those who mean that the law should deter men
corn offences, not to entrap them into the com-
rrn-ssion of them, that something like a popular ex-
position of the criminal law should be put forth,
which all men might comprehend, and afterwards
offend against at their peril. As Mr. Peel is now
probably about to be again in power, we hope he
will he induced not only to follow tip his improve-
ments in the law, but to adopt some method of let-
ting the generality of people know what the law
really is, and relieve the Judges from the apparent
absurdity of telling a foreigner, that his ignorance of
the matter is only upon a par with that of the King's
own subjects. When we hear lawyers themselves

disputing ad iiyinitum as to what the law really is,
is it not absurd and almost unjust in the highest de-
gree to hear men in general told that their ignorance,
of the law is no excuse, for that all men are pre-
sumed to know what it is ? If a man does this,
that, or the other, he is told by a painted board,
wherever he goes, that he will " be prosecuted ac-
cording to law," though nine times in ten the ful-
minator of such a placard knows not what the law
is of which he thus threatens the consequences, and
in many instances there is, happily, no law to be of-
fended against. Few measures would probably tend
more to diminish the number of offences than that
the law itself should be mono generally known, and
its consequences, when known, be more certain.—
Ibid.

FURTHER PROROGATION OFPARLIAMENT.—Yes-
terday the King held a Privy Council at Windsor,
when an Order was signed by his Majesty for fur-
ther proroguing Parliament from Tuesday the 22d
to Tuesday the 29th inst. then to meet for the des-
patch of business. This judicious and necessary
measure will afford sufficient time not only for the
full completion of the new Ministerial arrangements,
but for the due consideration of the measures proper
to be recommended by his Majesty on opening the
Session of the Great Council of the Nation. Va-
rious and important are the subjects which call
for most mature discussion, but none more par-
ticularly so than that which regards the perni-
cious policy adopted in an evil hour by the late Mi-
nistry, towards an old, a faithful, and most valu-
able Ally. This, we admit, under the circumstances
in which the new Ministers will find themselves
placed from the misconduct of their predecessors, is
a consideration of some delicacy; but we hope and
trust it will not he found to involve any question of
very material difficulty. On the question of diplo-
matic interposition in the internal affairs of States,
very indistinct notions have been entertained by per-
sons, who have averted to the subject, without in-
foaming themselves of the principles of international
law. If the subjects of any State act injuriously to-
wards the subjects of another State, the Govern-
ment of the latter State is entitled to require from
that of the former the exercise of its authority and
power to restrain - the misdemeanour of its sub-
jects. If the injury is still continued, the remon-
strating State has a right to trace the effect by
which it suffers, to its proper cause ; and if that
cause is ascertained to exist in the actual polity of
the State to which remonstrance is made, it is jus-
tified in requiring a correction of the cause ; be-
cause, it would be justified in resorting to force of
arms for its own redress, and that measure must be
justifiable which seeks to avoid the extremity of war,
and respects the authority of the power from which
it demands redress. But, it is contrary to every
principle of international law and equity, to require
an independent State to divest itself of the Sove-
reign power by which it might correct the cause of
the effect complained of, and to threaten that State
with war in the case of non-compliance. The first
of the cases here stated was the diplomatic interpo-
sition of Lord Liverpool, and caused the commis-
sion of the Duke of Wellington to St. Petersburgh ;
the second was that of Mr. Canning, and caused
the battle of Navarin.—Morszing Post.
The appointment of a Committee to investigate
the state of the slaughter-houses in the metropolis,
must be hailed by every friend to humanity and to
society at large, as likely to be productiaaa of the ut-
most benefit. In no city existing are these impor-
tant necessaries to domestic economy in a worse
condition than in this. Most of our provincial
towns, such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liver-
pool, Manchester, Bristol, Plymouth, esre., have
each their establishment of this description. That
of Edinburgh is exclusively appropriated for slaugh-
tering animals, anti entirely apart from the market.
But, for the despatch of business, and the order that
prevails throughout, the slaughter-house at the
Victualling-yard at Deptford is superior to any
thing of the kind in this country, and when the
new victualling establishment, now constructing at
Cremill Point, near Plymouth, is completed, we
may challenge a competition with our continental
neighbour. These, however, are Government works,
and not exactly suited to the wants and inte-
rests of the individuals for whom they are pro-
posed. A different mode of management, some-
what similar to the abattoirs at Paris, will be
requisite. The same inconveniences, under which
we now labour, formerly existed in ancient Rome.
The butcher;, scattered throughout the different
quarters of the city, were compelled to concentrate
in one quarter on the Mons Celi, called the Mag-
num Macellum, which became, in the reign of Nero,
one of the most magnificent monuments of ancient
Rome. A second market, similar to the first, called
the Macellum Livianum, but afterwards the Macel-
lum Martyrum, from the massacre of the Christians
at that place, was erected on the Mons Esquilini for
the slaughtering of animals, and the sale of meat,
fish, fowl, and vegetables—an example afterwards
followed by all the cities of the Roman Empire.
In modern times the city of Paris seems to have
outshone all its neighbours ; but it was in conse-
quence of the intolerable inconvenience experienced
by the continual passage of cattle and sheep through
its narrow and confined streets. The constant stream
of blood issuing from the slaughter-houses, and the
exhalations of putrid miasma, arising from the de-
composition of animal matter which infected the
air, became the source of fevers, and even death, to
the inhabitants, independently of accidents fre-
quently occurring from the escape of wounded ani-
mals into the street, that the French Government,
after great opposition from the butchers, decided in
1810 to erect the present abattoirs. The abattoirs
consist of handsome buildings disposed in parallel
hides to the sides of a large space or square, inclosed
by pail:sades for confining the cattle and sheep as
they arrive from the country, until proper stalls can
be found for theta la the stables, where they are pro-
vided with hay and watei, and allowed to cool pre-
vious to their being slaughtered, an operation so skil-
fully performed by experienced persons, that there
is hardly anything like the cruelty we so often see
practised here. There are five abattoirs in all,
namely, Le Roule, V illejuif, Grenelle, Menil Mon-
tant, arid Montmartre. They are situated on the
outskirts of the City ; three on the north, or most
popaLeus side, and two on the south side. The
abattoirs fLe Roule and Villejuif are nearly simi-
lar in dimension;., although somewhat different in
disposition, each containing thirty-two echaudoirs,
or killing places. That of Grenelle contains forty-
eight, and those of Menil 3lontant and Montmartre'
sixty-four each, making a total of two hundred and
forty ochaudoirs, or killing places; each of these
places are provided with the requisite conveniences;
their pavements are properly sloped, to carry off the
blood and filth, and an abundant supply of water,
primped up by a steam engine, is furnished by re-
servoirs anti cocks for the purpose.There are
likewise buildings furnished with boilers and presses
for converting the fat into tallow, thus withdrawing
a very disagreeable nuisance from the city. The
huitcliugs serve for offices and dwelling-houses for
the officers and clerks, and lodges for por-
ters, the whole being: surrounded by walls and
plantations, thus giving them the appearance of so
many villages, in which order, cleanliness, and ele-
taance, everywhere prevail, at once contributing to
the salubrity and ornament of the city. Italy pos-
seFses several of these establishments, particularly
that of Mantua, which, although riot equal in ex-
tent to either of the abattoirs of Paris, is a fine
building. Most of the great towns in France have
' their abattoirs----LY°ns, Blois, Rochefort, La Ro-
chelle, Grenoble, Orleans, Bordeaux, and Marseilles,
all of them worthy of imitation, and, generally
speaking, much superior to any thing of the kind
we have in this country.— New Times.
It will be seen by the Gazette of last night that Par-
Iliament is prorogued for another week, and will not
meet until the 29th. We have all along been of
opinion that it was impossible to complete the pen-
ding arrangements in time for the commencement of
business oil Tuesday next, and, indeed, the circum-
stance of three of the members of the late Cabinet