The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-08 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS•

•
FROM TIM tVENtiec, fiklAft b iATuRDAy.
.ItObePt Nei is fortunate in escaping' from a
storm which was fast gathering, and threatene . to burst
upon his head at a moment when he would be i 1-prepared
to meet the explosion.' The Bill of Lord Pelvis; Put pieserV-
ing thediocesem of. St. Aettpli and Begot from being relied
into one, egil,whkit the Lords were prepared' td pask the crte
the Duke or 'Wellington's endeavours to redtWie the Illeargents
to ettlisuissioil,; is- disposed of-sthltigled at the, moment
whien, it, seined certein or a safe passage to the. other House
Of -Piirliainent.. The " manoeuvre," as the Duke or Neweestlt
aphitleptlitelydesignated• the Duke of Wellington 3 Mode •of
grAtinguishing the measure has snetettlett. The trick"
has been succeerifully-ple3'ed oil', and the Premier is restored
to that contrast& ffice and feeling Which has of licte, been
aertslisly disturbed, and was threatened. te be yet further
ruffled, ij not incurably demolished. . When all hope was
,
gone' of inducing the. Lots to reverse their cote in favohr of
PP.4 theta seemed no means of esrP ''e'f t,th deli
P-liBollfitil Would inflict on the GOverntnent ili.the House of
Commons—where Cabinet Mittlettrfe Were. fettered .by pre-
pledges and rf`obliges, from which they could
tiat'. escape; to, anpport -the' mt'asnre—a rkv •of light
PeUetrated Through .the thick darkneec cottid it not -be
shewn that, the. royal . consent . wet essential, in order
reallo* the, Bill to be (Pet ttrited in Parliament? True ; the
pbjection,...if taken et all; ought to have been taken on the
introditetiott of the,Bill. Btit, then, who would have thought
thetther Peers would' contrimacibuely rtflise to obey the high
behest :of the Great Duke, whtm-province •it is to enforce
.order and discipline among them ? Better late than never.
The Bill must be kept out of the Commons, or the Cabinet,
aiifel pries seil fronr-withent,' would exhibit the ininptome of
internaiedisseniion, -which are the certain precursors of ells-
,solution. A Committee, as- appointed to search for prece-
dente. • The w
journatit were examined with lerd4ike diligence.
No prevedent•or fetch a' Bill havingbeen introditced without
the cgOttnt of the.Sovereigny eta obtained and communt.
.. could. be found, u Ike the "manoeuvre" wrouglit
Another step, Mitt all *as Safe: The: dsnger threat-
-cried by-the to the official eistenee of the Cabinet would
.be .a.Vertecl. . The session would: then close —without the
dreaded debate apd division on this'most.embarrassing rnea-
stire, to OpPoet which, with all the means-athisdisposal, the
Premier .had pledged 'himself. The Select 'Committee; to
whom the second•search was :intrusted, dispatched the deli-
cate business intrusted to it with a rapidity truly gratifying
Lard titharncliffe, a Cabinet Minister, was Chairman of
the Committee. , This may account for the expedition with
which the Committee brought its labours to a 'clime, and
might; have -some • effect on the result of the- inquiry. Be
this' as it may, certain is it, thatthe Noble President of the
COuncil, as chairman of
.the Committee, last evening." re-
ported', front the Select Cornmitteeappciinted to inquire as to
the necessityiof thiroyattonsent beinggiventto the ahoveßill,
that such eonseet was necessary,, and. that it had been the cus-
tom of theHotise to receive such consent at vurionestages of the
Bill." The Bill wastherefore withdrawn from their Lordships'
further consideration.. Whether the Noble Lord. who intro-
duced :the Bill, and the Peers who enabled Mint° carry its
second reading, will consider the "manoeuvre" which has de-
feated this pet project for preserving one of the two'Welsh
bishoprics from extinction, as worthy treatment from the Go-
vernment of which they have hitherto been Aiipporters ; or
-whether- there' will be a schism. among the Lords who occupy
seats on the• Ministerial side of the Woolsack, as threatening
as that which exists among the Conservatives in the Com-
' mans, we take not upon ourselves to predict. "Mr. Glad-.
stone, -however„ preserves place.. in the, Cabinet,
which .he would have .104 ,by , voting. , consistently
with his kilo/41-, and avowed approval' 'of the .'Mr.
'Goulbourn is saved from,: the : necessity of flying in the,
face of hie constituents; and .being -subjected to a fate
similar to, that which befel hie chief wheu• he was re-
jected 'from being representatiVe in' Parliament for the same
University', for conceding 'Catholic Emancipation, which he
had, during his previous life, opposed and denounced. The
Ministerial barque
,has again got into smooth water; and,
though sadly-shaken by recent storms, if. no sudden squall'
bursts upon it, may. weather the session„ The
,crew which
Man it have had several . narrow escapes, by getting off the
Welsh rocks; that which has just 'occurred; though it 'has.
excited' less sensation out-of doors, than the deliverance from
foundering on-the West India quicksands, did not cause less
apprehensions to those_ best
_acquainted with the 'dangers of
the ,navigation. • • '• •
STANLIARI?:—Lord Campbell's. Libel Law Amendment
Bill was last night' rejected in the House of Lords by-a ma-
jority of 33 ,to The, Bill; was supported in argument by,
the lieble.Mover 'and 'Lord Brougham, and.opposed by the,
LOrd, Ghancellerr
.and,
.Lord hlenman. Strong as
are,: and- ever have 'been, our opinions upon the
subject 'of the libel laws, . and -sincerely . grateful,
as .we are .• to .Lord Campbell . for his Libel, Law
Amendment Bill of •, last . year, ; ,we cannot regret the
failure- of the present' Measure, '
which was a Bill to en
with
able parties, charged 'seditious .hbel.ie: to produce evi-
dence- in support pf their seditious• allegations. • It seems to us,. that. in treating, seditiOna libels' as having any-
thing -ht.' common with • what : limy -be called • personal
libels, , a great error is committed-) In personal libels the
gist of the offence is the making that public in print which it,
would not• be' so injurious - to comintinicate- privately;,
and, therefore, it is vet*: Proper' to :,:alkive:proof of the
truth.- to' justify: the . publication by showing that -the;
truth. • has been told, and" told without and;
solely from a . good, motive. ' But sedition, excitement
to crime,, is never inoocerife. and even:- if mixed up
With frith; it cannot"bednthat account the more permitted.;
The printing of his incendiary 'suggestions Ma'', supply evi-
denee Against the'diatniber a the public peace, but it scarcely
aggravates his offence; for this reason we have always con-
sidered, and often *argued, -that- publications hostile to the
public peace, to morality, and religion,.ought.to be taken out
of the category 'of libels, and prosecuted respectively as
sedition,. corruption of, morals, or, blasphemy en nomine. But
would it be endured, or ought .it to be endured, that the
Cendiary Corrupter of Morals, or blitephemer, should make a
court Of justice` the theatre' :in :Which t 6. vindicate, by the
mouths of witnesses, andly-arguments' of counsel; his dan-:
gerous or detestable. doctrines? Or, is a. jury a competent,
tribunal to decide upon such an -investigation ? These
views, if they are correct, show the impossibility_of ever,
adopting'a lave,like that proposed, by Lord,campbell: s The
N-oble Lord has dune. much for the press; we heartily thank
him for What he has done, and we entreat him to persevere
in the same line in which he has'succeeded, but in which we
Assure him there is still much to reform. On Thursday we
communicated the case of a Cheltenham journal put to the
expense pf nine hundred pounds costs in a case where the jury,
returned one damages.' Ought such a thing to bt
possible?