The Sun.
London, England, 1828-02-29 00:00:00

THE SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

It was distinctly stated in the House last night)
that there was no foundation for the reports which
.have been in circulation of his Majesty's indisposi-
tion. What we stated yesterday has been► -con-
firmed.—Morning Chronicle.
The state of the Police in the Metropolis and its
vicinity was brought before the House last night, by
Mr. Peel. In the course 'of 'twenty years crime has
increased in England about fourfold. The increase
has proceeded in a sort of regular progression. In
the Metropolitan district of London and Middlesex
the commitments for 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823, and
1824. exhibit little variation ; but in 1825, 1826, and
1827 the increase was fearfully rapid. Mr. Peel
availed himself of the very able accounts of the state
of Criminal Justice' in France for 1825 and 1826,
furnished by M. Peyronnet. Those of our readers
who take an interist in these matters, and who
wish to obtain a clearer idea of the nature of M.
Peyronnet's labours 'than Mr. Peel's speech supplies,
would do well to consult the 3d number of the
Jurist, just published, where they will find a
valuable article on the subject, in which the state
of crime in England and France is exhibited in a
variety of lights. Mr. Peel does justice to the ability
displayed by the French Minister and his colleagues.
We wish it were possible to compliment the
Public Functionaries of this country on either the
ability or industry displayed by them in any matter
whatsoever. It is curious, that while in, England
whatever is done by private individnals is better
none, generally, both as regards design and eitecu-
:ion, than what is done by individuals on the Con-
tinent, our public men are as remarkable for the ab-
c„,, of ability and indußtry. Thies,. for 'instance,
tfrough.the increase of crime has led to repeated dis-
orussions and inquiries, of late years, and Returns
have been 'furnished from the Home Office, very
little instruction can be . derived from them, on ac-
e?unt 'of the mill,horse manner in which the labour
has been performed. The Population Returns, pre-
pared with so much expence, are another instance.
Ak previous inspection of some of the Returns fur-
nished on the Continent, would have taught the
persons charged with the plan of the tr. aliat they
might be made subservient to the el vidation of a
number of curious problems in nationaa rconomy, re-
specting which it is highly desirable to possess in-
formation ; as, for instance, the proportion between
the married and the unmarried, &c: This absence
of reflection, this inability to strike out any improve-
ment, seems to be characteristic of almost all who
fill public employments -in this country. Their ob-
ject is to get through their business tallier qualiter,
for which we Cn conceive no otber reason, than
that interest is alodo consulted in the disposal of
offices, and talent is without any motive for exerting
rime is solely in cases
itself. The increase of
where property is eoncerned Mr. Peel, advert-
ing to the French Tables, observed--" It ap-
pears, that in large
,and populous 13..5ce5, out of
every one hundred , offences, ninety were offences
against property, and ten offences against the Ger-
son; while in thinly inhabited districts, in Corsica, ,
for instance, out of each hundred offences, 70 were
against the person, and twenty-four against property.
This is a very curious fact, but it is not easy to draw
any very decisive conclusiOns from it. It does,
however, appear, that where large bodies are con-
gregated together, property is most the object of
attack; While in thinly peopled districts, such as
agricultural counties, offences arise principally out of
malicious feelings, and other motives of a personal
nature, and are for the greater part offences against
the person." We believe the reason of this diffe-
rence may be discovered without much difficulty.—
In densely peopled districts men are brought into
collision with each other, are soon taught the neees-
city of placing their feelings under rigid discipline
and controul :s and from' the, multiplicity of objects
which"constantly solicit their attention, their feelings
with regard to any one can seldom possess much in-
tensity. In a thinly peopled district both the kind
and the malevolent feelings have more force. It
used to be remarked by the French writers,
that Love in Paris was only known in Ro-
mances, and Friendship in books of Ethics :
but both love and friendship in small towns,
end villages are often a very 'serious matter.—
in a large town, no' one man is so necessary to ana-
-1 her that his death or removal is felt as an irre-
parable loss; but in the country the loss of a friend
cannot be supplied, and cannot be forgotten. But
inproportion as the kind affections are strong, in the
fame proportion are jealousies and slights strongly
felt and resented. The offending individual, too, is
constantly reminding the person who conceiveshim-
self offended, of the wrong suffered by his presence.
On the other hand, the desiie to obtain property in
towns is constantly stimulated by all mariner of ob-
jects, which solicit the senses in every conceivable
manner. Tie countryman sees the same objects
every day; they are familiar to him, and therefore
barely strike him : besides his means are known,
and any extraordinary indulgence would excite sus-
picion. Thitthe poor man in a town is solicited at
ever step by something new, something to eat, drink,
hear, or see ; the cook-shop sends forth its sa-
voury steams, the public-house invites him by
its melody and' merriment. •' Besides, desires
may be gratified without exciting suspicion, or at-
tracting attention. Hence' the poor man in a town
must wage a constant war with desires that can
only be gratified by a departure from honesty. Mr.
Peel " wished to draw from the facts he had stated
?lone of the inferences, for they seemed to ofe.„r so
wide a field, as it seemed to him that none could be
safely drawn from them, either upon the general
subject of distress, on that of game, or on that of
the facility of commitment, without at the same time
taking into consideration a vast many elements of in-
quiry too numerous for him to touch upon at pre-
sent. ' - It is of the'utmost importance, however,
with a view to ascertain whether and bow far the
increase is an evil which may Le remedied, that we
should enter on a variety of inquiries, with a view to
draw the necessary inferences. Some inferences
may be easily drawn; and one is, that .where steal-
ing is so very common with those who have in or-
dinary circumstances so few inducements to, steal,
the cause must be sought in the sufferings of ex-
treme poverty. On the other hand, the paucity of
crimes against the perion in England, compared with
what is observable in France would seem to prove
a much higher civilization here. For instance, in
France, in 1825, no fewer than 123 persons were
sentenced to death for taking away the lives of their
fellow-creatures. In England only 12 persons were
sentenced to death for this crime in that year,
and the number is seldom much higher, If we
should at any time have an increase of murders, the
alteration would be caused by a wish to destroy evi-
dence, in consequence perhaps of increased severity
of punishment for offences against property. Mr,
Wilmot Horton applied himself to the cause of the
poverty and crime of the lower classes in a manly
and candid manner. " I admit (lie observed) that
)oldness of wages is a cause of crime ; but I say
that it is the result of a redundant population—of
the disproportion between the amount of capital and
the supply of labour. I do not deny that the re-
mission of tax's would not in the end tend to the
relief of the poor; but I do say, that as 'long as
there is a considerable number of th4m out of em-
ployment, the effect of the rernistion_of taxes would
not be to raise the general condition, or contribute
to the happiness of the labouring Poer."—lt is
quite true, that so long as there are more labourers
in the market than there is
a demand for, they are
at the mercy of the employer. During the war,
were
wages were often high though taxes
and navhigh, by
the consumption of men in the army y, just
as in former times, when a plague swept a a part
of the Population, Parliament used to pass Acts to
keep down wages, Taxes prevent the accumulation
of capital, and consequently . diminish pro tanto the
means of giving increased employment; but if the
increased employment, with or without high taxes,
does not equal the increase in the number of labour-
ers, their condition will not be bettered. Sir Ed-
ward Knatchbull was in great wrath against Mr.,

Brougham for not holding the Great Unpaid in suf-
ficient honour. He is to do execution against him
to-night, in the name of the enraged Squirearchy.
—lbid.

The•avowal of Mr. Peel, that "after the name;
seen event of-that House deciding. by a majority,
that it would take the subject of the Test and Cor-
poration Acts• into consideration, he must say that
he was not prepared, and he believed that many
other members were not prepared, to say what course
it would.be most proper to adopt. By the majorit y
of the House having come to 'that decision which
was Unexpected, it became desirable that it,should
suspend further proceedings for a short time, to con-
sider the whole bearings of the question, and the
consequences of the decision." We learn from this,
that Ministers exerted themselves to the utmost
against the motion, and that they knew so little of
the real situation of the country, that the votefilled
them with extreme surprise. The ignorance of
men in the very highest situations in this country
of the real state of it, is often astonishing. For
instance, it is not more than two or three years
since a Cabinet Minister expressed his astonish-
ment on hearing of the existence of a linen ma-
nufacture in England,"though if he had looked at
the imports of flax into Hull, he might
.have seen
that the Yorkshire manufacture of linen is the most
extensive, perhaps, in the three kingdoms. The
Dissenters form now so large a proportion of the
pepulation, especially in. towns, that few,Membere
are such fools as to endanger their seats by what
would give great offence to :that body. Strange
that Ministers should not have dreamt of the differ-
ence between Catholics at a distance and Dissenters
at home—between a theoretical zeal for the Mother ,
Church, and a practical !love of their pocket:Ed—.
The paltry attempt to boggle and chicane, in.order
to make the concession, which cannot be prevented,
as ungracious as possible, is wretched in policy as it
is offensive to good feeling. Ministers ought never
to have allowed the agitation of the question ; but,
having allowed it, they should yield with a -good
grace. We observe that Mr. Peel, .who' saw no in-
convenience -from the laws on. Tuesday night,-,now
sees a number of inconveniences ;—he wishes to
exaggerate them now, in order to have a pretext for
leaving some of the evils unremedied. It is bad
policy to remedy all abuses at once. Leave a nest
egg by all means. Mr. Peel, in the course of the
discussion, 'displayed a temper not the best calcu-
lated for preserving influence in apopnlar assembly.
He could not at last master his feelings, and left the
House abruptly.—/bid.
We are not surprised to see the breathless eager-
ness with which attempts are making to, smooth
down the mass of enormities contained in the ac,
counts before Parliament, under the head of
" superannuated"' list. The War-office, as being the
most prominent culprit, comes forward earliest with
its disavowals and excuses. We are told of the
" large amount of 'the superannuated lint as regards
that office, being the effect •of the extensive reduc-
tions in the establishment" which Lord Palmerston
has been enabled to make. Now, what ought to be
inquired into, is the principles of selection, if there
were any such principles, which governed the
process of reducing that great establishment, and
,whether a considerable number of the "'super-
annuated" parties were not either persons of com-
paratively 'slick standing in the service, or re-
munerated, more largely than they ought to have
been; or turned out merely to make roam for others;
—in short, it ought to be well examined into how
much of the boasted reduction was a job. It is
droll that a tone of congratulation should be
ployed in pointing out the magnitude of a Govern-
ment reduction, of which the only effect seems to be
that the parties reduced were formerlypaid for doing
little, and are -paid at present for doing nothing.
Then for the famous case of Mr. Merry, to
Which we alluded in The Times ,of yesterday,
though without mentioning him by name. This
gentleman had been for a long time Deputy Se-
cretary at War, and was, a yea; or two since,
superannuated by Lord- Palmerston, on a retired
salary of 2,5001. per annum. A near relation
of the Noble Lord was appointed Deputy Se-
cretary, vice Mr. Merry. This we described as a
transaction, every part of which ought to be tho-
roughly sifted by the Finance Committee, and we
say, so still. There never was a proceeding which
sraelt:more distinctly like, a job, though, of course,
we assert the likeness only, not the identity, inas-
much as the logicians tell us. that " rndlunt rirnile Est
idenz." The defence is, that " Mr. Merry, the late
Deputy Secretary, had completed fifty years' service
within a few months, and being upwards of sixty-
five years cf age, hada right to claim his full salary. '
Very well; but did he claim his full salary ? for on
that fact hinges the entire_ question. We say that
he did not,—that his retreat was forced upon him,
that he was as willing to work as ha ever-had been,
and as capable of work as ever,—that he was not a
volunteer mendicant for the public bounty, but that
he was solicited to retire, (let the Finance Com-
mittee find out 'by whom), that it was not desired
by Mr. Merry, nor necessary for him, to eat the
bread of idleness at an expence to the ,country of
2,500/. per annum, however desirable or necessary
it may have been for somebody else to step into his
shoes as Deputy-Secretary; that, in short, a near
connexion of Lord Palmerston (we believe his
brother-in-law) was made Deputy-Secretary in the
room of jr, Merry; the effect of which has been,
Ist, to make a handsome provision for the new De-,
puty Secretary; and 2d, to saddle the nation with
just 5,0001. per annuli instead of 2,4094 , This is
whet we hinted at yesterday; this is every word of
it true; and we now leave it in the hands of the
Finance Committee, to report upon it as they think
fit.—Times.

The King of France has done a manly apt In ap-
poi wing the-estimable and popular M. Royer Col-
lard President of the Chamber of Deputies, and he
has made this tribitte to the national feeling more
conspicuous and more giwerul, because the new
president was only third upon the list; the 'Neal
practice being to name the senior candidate. Wish,
ing very cordially the internal happiness and repose
of France, to which a kindly understanding between
the nation and their Government is indispensable;
we view with the most unfeigned gratification this
acknowledgment on the part of Charles X„ that he
deems it a duty of high importance, on a question
which has called forth such striking proofs of the
tendency and consistency of public sentiments, to
consult the deciere:d opinions of his diseeining people.
It is a sign that French politics are beginning to put
on a settled and wholesome character, when a
.COutt,
which once assumed the dictatorship in every, thing,
—which fancied it a point of honour to proclaim its,
contempt for all authority but the sceptre, and for
all earthly power but the sword,—now finds a surer
bond of stable and legitimate greatness in deferring
to the voice of 30 millions of men, than in madly at-
tempting to silence it. If his Majesty's advisers
have recommended the choke of M, Royer Collard
, in the spirit which seems to be indicated by such an
appointment on the face of it, and as a bana.fide
pledge to France of such a course of general policy
as is worthy of 40 association With names like his,
they have dOne a thousand times more for the moral
power of the, House of Bourbon over the nation,
than could be effected by whole legions of Jesuits,
er by as many " Charnbres Introuvables,"—more
than was even contemplated by those who, with five
hundred thousand bayonets at their back, restored
the Bourbons to a throne where force might seat
but could.never keep them.—/bid.

At Levenshulme, meazles are raging with
alarming virulence ; scarcely- a house is free from it, and
many children have already died under its influence.—
Glasgow Chronicle:

On Sunday last a fine child, the infant son of
a gentleman belonging to this city, was baptized in St.
Paul's Chapel, York-place, by the Rev. Mr. ALLisnx,
by the name of WALTER SCOTT, in testimony of admira-
tion and
.respect for the splendid talents, and public and
private virtues, of our illustrious countryman, Sir WALTER
SCOTT, But.......Ediliburyll Observer.