The Sun.
London, England, 1828-03-12 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

The Dublin paperp present to us the loyal Pat-
landers running, as usual, down the throat of their
new Lord Lieutenant. The corporation .of the Irish
capital has been addressing Lord Anglesea, among
the many other political and moral perfections of his
Excellency, " on his well-known attachment to the
established principles of the British Constitution in
Church and Slate." This compliment, we imagine,
must have struck the Noble Lord as bearing an un,
acceptable eonstruction--if it be true that he has
recently. laboured to efface, both here and from the
minds of the Irish, the recollection of his somewhat
inconsiderate language delivered in the House of '
Lords at no long period after the ill-advised Duke of
York had astonished the country with his " So help
me God." What the feelings of the Corporation
of Dublin may be towards Lord Anglesea twelve
months hence, is quite another sort of question. An
Irish Lord Lieutenant of late has been no more than
the insect of an hour. What was the history of
Lord Anglesea's immediate predecessor in that gor-
geous and costly, but otherwise insignificant office
The Marquis Wellesley went over to Ireland with
large pretensions put forth on his behalf, if they were
not encouraged by him personally. To him, as well
as to Lord Anglesea, the gallant Corporation of Dub-
lin presented addresses, and keys, and compliments
(though not id the Orange sense, as they now do to
" his attachment to the Constitution in Church and
State.") Yet before he could turn round in the
country they grinned at him, while he was pelted
from the gallery of their playhouse by blockheads in
the pay of some of their own fraternity ; and the
very Aldermen of Dublin were foremost in the at-
tempt to screen the blackguards from public justice,
and to frighten their dear" native Viceroy"from the
Orange Island. If we follow this instructive his-
tory, we find, that the "native Lord Lieutenant"
who had made his entry, cracking and blazing like a
faggot in a bonfire, burned dim enough before the
pageant ended, forgotten, though existing in the
midst of the addressers who had flattered him, and
going out like a farthing candle, just before the
dawn of his successor's day. Nor did the sad part
of the spectacle terminate in Irelan (;:the Noble
Lord has been for almost three um the within a
two hours' drive of the Court, and nsver once been
admitted to his Sovereign's presence ! This fact is
now asserted every where respecting the Marquis
Wellesley,— -viz., that, contrary to all etiquette ob-
served/towards former Lords Lieutenant of Ireland,
and indeed towards all public officers returned to
England from an official station beyond its limits, lie
has never, since he arrived in London, had personal
access to the King, even to pay his respects, or be
coldly thanked for his services. That such a thing
never has occurred but where a design existed to
mark unequivocally the Royal displeasure at some-
thing in the conduct of the party so put aside, or at
least to show that he is held cheap in that sphere
whence honour and favour are understood by all the
world to emanate, is positively affirmed by those
who profess to be familiar with Court forms. If
that be so, he cannot hold himself forth as a candi-
date for public trust or office, until he shall have
got out of this limbo of mortification, and by some
means or other " purged the contempt"--not. the
contempt which he has been guilty of, but that with
which he has, or is said to have, been treated.
Thus, however, it is with your Lords-Lieutenant of
Ireland: grandees in outward show, but in substance
less than nothing. They have state trumpeters, and
state officers,
and battle-axe guards, as we have been
told; and they talk big about their administration
of the country. There never was any boast half so
ridiculous as this. We had it from Mr. Peel's own
lips In the House of Commons last spring, that the
policy, the patronage, the every thing, in regard to
Ireland, belonged to the Secretary for the Home
Department, was under his absolute controul, was
executed through the agency of the Secretary for
Ireland, and that the Lord-Lieutenant was a mere
cipher. Let Lord Anglesea, therefore, beware of
talking about " his" administration: it was absurd
in Lord Wellesley, and would be equally so in bins.
The last Irish Ministry was Mr. Peel's, through
Mr. Goulburn ; the present .is Mr. Peel's also,
through Mr. Lamb. Let Lord Anglesea,
distrust these speech-making corporations, and keep
clear of them : they mean to have him for an in-
strument if they can ; but if not, they will betray
and persecute him. His Lordship has 30,0001. per
annum for salary, that is the real benefit of the Vice-
royalty to the holder. He may make it a source of
much good to a few of the wretched people who
are.famishing around him; but whether any advan-
tages accrue to the State is at least problematical,
and, after Mr. Peel's declaration, should be the sub-
ject of inquiry by the Finance Committee.—Times.
A Correspondent, under the signature " A Law-
yer," relative to that part of Mr. Brougham's speech
which touches ern the office and qualifications of
the Peace, observes that, " of all
unpaid Justices o'f
the mischiefs, as the law is now worked, none, per-
haps, occur snore frequently than those of which the
Justices of Peace in Sessions, as well as out of Ses-
sions, are the authors?' Again, "it is considered
quite enough to put a man into the commission,
that he possesses a certain property, or that he is
heir to it ! Thus, it is common to See persons of
mature age on the Bench totally ignorant of the
laws they are called upon to exeeute, and scarcely
isrulerstanding the language of the statutes and
cam." As to the charge of " scarcely understand-
ing the langizige of the Statutes and cases," we do
not think that it very grievous one against Justices
of the Peace, inasmuch as the confused, verbose,
and slovenly manner in which the Statutes are gene-
rally drawn np, often makes it a matter of extreme
difficulty for even the most experienced and acute
lawyers to ascertain their real meaning; and the
ablest Judges, is the performance of their duty, fre-
quently find it impossible to translate .slatuable jar-
gon into intelligible language. The contradictory
eases, also, with which books of law abGgnd,
wherein the same principles are, very conveniently
for the interests of the profession, at one time esta-
iNhed and at another over-ruled, together with the
nutniser of exceptions and subtile distinctions with
which .every general rule is clogged, render it
not an easy matter for Justices of the Peace, after
hearing a leap-zed argument, supported by learned
authorities on bOth sides, to discover on which side
the scales of Jusi'iee ought to prepianderate. These
are reasons why the kw should be reformed ; but
he who would, therefore, affirm that unpai4 magi-
strates, as at present selected, would be. adequ.sse
to the satisfactory 'administration 'of any system of
law whatever, must be singularly easy to please with
respect to the qualifications for the dispensation of
justice! ft is absurd to suppose that men who, like
the generality of the rural Magistrates, are utterly
ignorant of the very elements of law, eau ever come
to a right decision except by accident, or where
(which is sometimes, but not often, the Aaa) a
Chair Man of intelligence, ability, and good sense,
acts as the dictator of the quorum, and overrules by
his individual indiscrimination their collective inca-
pacity. Our correspowient says, " let an appeal
lie in every case against tha acts of Justices out of
Sessions to the Quarter Sessions,piet all the acts of
the Quarter Sessions be subject to the seview of the
all
Courts of Westminster H, The ,
master deems
not to be aware that the law has already provided
for such appeal, in almost all cases, from the .Tus-
tices out of Sessions to the Court of Quarter
Ses-
sions, of which the party, in summary convictions in
general, bas a right to avail himself, upon entering
into certain recognizances to prosecute his appeal,
and giving notice thereof. But as the Justieea in
Quarter Sessions assembled are the same deierip-
tion of persons as those who pronounce the Slll9_
mary convictions in the first instance, it does not,.
seem likely that in most cases the convicted party
would derive much advantage from putting himself
to the expenses of the appeal. Again, the writer
appears not to know that the acts of the Quarter
Sessions are in general " subject to the review of
the Courts of Westminstei Ilall," that by stating
the special circumstances of a case for the considera-
(ion of the Court of King's Bench, or by writ of