The Sun.
London, England, 1828-04-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

A second excursion of Mr. Jacob through the
northern parts of Europe has produced a second
report on the agriculture and corn of the Continent,
Any rational and impartial man's conclusion, from
the whole, would be, that the English agriculturist
has nothing to dread from the foreigner, even with
all the weight of taxes with which the former is said
to be loaded. To take the wheat of theMecklen-
burghs for an example. It would cost 40s. the
quarter before it could reach the port of London.
The finest quality of that wheat is inferior to the
average produce of England by ss. a, quarter. But
in the above price of 40s. is not made any allowance
.f profit to the farmer, beyond the interest on the
live stock and implements ; nor any income to the
proprietor, beyond interest on the valne of his build-
ings (odd omissions, certainly, by Mr. Jacob, in cal-
culating the cost of production). There must be •
also added,if the wheat be not sold before it is landed,
warehousing, rent, ultimate delivery, and there will
be a loss in measure ! We again say, therefore, that
there exists no cause in the world but sordid, selfish,
and at the same time unfounded and irrational fears,
why the corn-trade should not at this moment, and
from henceforth, be as open as any other trade. We
haYe not yet been able to find room for Mr. Jacob's
Report, either entire or in part, but as to-morrow
will be an open day, we will give the whole of it
for the convenience of the public. We have not
space to-night for any remarks on the discussion in
the House of Commons.—Times.

We have little more to say on the subject of the
repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, than that
we hope that it is drawing to a beneficial conclusion.
That class of Dissenters (we, indeed, speak with re-
Ypect of conscientious Dissenters of every kind), hut
the class called Unitarians, will have perceived, per-
haps with surprise, and we should hope with a reso-
lation to re-consider their tenets, bow little way
they have made in public opinion. Almost all par-
eies felt disposed in the House of Lords to exclude
them from the benefit of the repeal. But the re-
mark of the Bishop of Lincoln, " that in a Bill of
the nature of that under consideration, they ought
above all things to avoid dogmatizing apon points of
faith," was excellent good sense, thed in appro-
priate language, and probably tenied greatly to
prevent the name of the second person in the Tri-
nity from being introduced in the declaration. 13v
some oversight, the name of Lord Winebilsea was
omitted in the debate. His Lordship, however,
;maintained those opinions which have ever been so
evourable to the religious establishment of the
country. The pacific spirit of the Duke of Wel-
lington in all matters of internal policy, we should
say, begins to be gratefully felt by the country. If
the King, as is supposed, be hostile to these conces-
sions to the Dissenters, why did not the Bishop,
who is believed to have been the recent object of his
:Majesty's peculiar choice, give expression to similar
sentiments? It is piteous to behold the old Lord
;no linger Chancellor, striving almost alone, with
lenpotent zeal, to replace the stones of the sinking
f,„ee as they tumble about his ears.--Ibid.
when persons in grave and responsible situations
make assetions seriously affecting the conduct or
character of Others, it is to be presumed that they do
not do so witliot!, ample grounds for what they say.
We make this rernie-li in reference to an avowal made
by one of the Bow-streTt Magistrates, a few days
since, respecting the practice of compounding felo-
nies—viz, " that they do those things by wholesale
in the City, without any observation." It is clearly
for the interest of the public that there should be a
o-ood understanding between persons acting so near
ao each other, and engaged, as it were, in one ser-
vice, as is the case between the London and West-
minister Magistrates. And if, therefore, such things
nee known, as here stated, to exist, it would have a
more courteous appearance, at least, if the facts were
.communicated, in the first instance, confidentially,
o those who may ascertain and correct them. As
a mere matter of taste, to say nothing of policy,
such, we should think, would be the obvious course
to pursue. As, however, the assertion has been thus
Openly made, the City authorities cannot, on their
part, sit down with any decency or propriety under
the heavy censure implied in such a charge, but are
hound forthwth to investigate, and, in the end,
either remedy or r,Nel it. It is said that some curious
particulars have been comemmicated to the Police
Committee upon this subject. Among others, that
an eminent negotiator between the stealers of bankers
parcels and the bankers, has, as the slang phrase has
it, split, and disclosed the whole arcana of this au-
dacious system. We shall not be sorry if this be true;
nor shall we regret if the taunt which has been
thrown out against t he supposed felony-compounders
in the City, should lead to a train of mutual recri-
mination among the actors in such scenes. This
eemark, of course, does not apply to the Magistracy
en either city ; but though we may have no Peackuna
or Lockits in the present day, there must be under-
lings in one or both the districts who are privy to
proceedings which have filled tile country with L:o
much disgust, and are so disgraceful a stain upon
his part of our jurisprudence; and should these per-
sons be induced to let the world into the knowledge
of some of their secrets, there is an old adage which
cannot fail to be verified uporrthe occasion. At any
rate, it is high time that the laws were relieved
front the scandal, and the public from the encourage-
ment to plunder, which.attaches to a continuance of
these proceedings. We have heard a great deal of
late years of reform in the Criminal Laws; and
\lr. Peel has had, and justly had, great praise be:
:towed upon him, for the zeal and readiness he has
shown in being the instrument of bringing about
these apparent improvements—for apparent only we
must call them, while plunder is carried on by
wholesale unchecked, and while audacious deprede-
tors sell back stolen property to the owners with
almost as little demur as it it were their own; and
when even murder, by means of mere misnomer, or
some other-feather in the shuttlecock of quibbles,
finds itself relieved from all its fatal consequences.
—The Law, we unhesitatingly say, is not reformed
while such is the case ; and however we may flat-
ter ourselves with the theoretical amendments it
may eeppear to have undergone, while its practice is
such as we have alluded to, it might as well lia-ve
emained without semblance of improvement, which,
ettaccompaniell by any salutary effects, tends only to
t
engender talsesesNrity. and to deter real &mend-
enents from being ateempted.—Morning Herald.
Mr. Jacob's Second Report oa the Agriculture
and Corn of sonic of the Continental State of Europe,
collected in a journey through these States in the
Autumn of 18-)7, was distributed 3,esterday. Mr.
Jacob passed through Rotterdam and Amsterdam ;
the provinces of Utrecht, Guilders, Friesland,
Overyssel, Drenthe, and Groningen. Freon thence
the entered Hanover by East Friesland, awl then
proceeded through the Duchy of Oldenburgh to
Bretnen, and thence to Hamburgh, From Ham-
burgh he travelled through Mecklenburgh to Lubeck,
and thence by the Baltic to Copenhagen ; from that
city through the Islands of Zealand and Funen to
Jutland; then through Sleswick and Holstein, the
continental dominions of Denmark, to Hamburtrb•—
tie passed next through Hanover by Zell, Einbeck,
Gottingen, and-Munden, till he entered Hesse Cassel,
passing through which country, and Hesse Darm-
stadt and Nassau, he reached the Rhine, and theuce
hastened on to Brussels. This Report forms a very
valuable addition to the knowledge we possess re-
specting some of the most interesting countries of
the Continent, in an agricultural
point of view,
Much of the information contained in Mr. Jacob's
Report, and in the Appendix,could only
have
been obtained by an individual travelling as an
accredited agent of the British Government._
From the data furnished in great abundance by Mr.
Jacob, there can be little doubt that the expenses of
cultivation in the countries through which he passed
are greater than in England. The countries of the
Continent most favourably situated for cultivation
(with the exception of the -Netherlands, which im-
port rather than export grain), are Mecklenburg and
Holstein. " They are," says Mr. Jacob, " advanced
;n husbandry several staves before any other large