The Sun.
London, England, 1826-12-23 00:00:00

vernment, would have found a pretext: for. crossing the
frontiers, and coming to the ,assistance of the absolute
King Don Miguel, as they did to the assistance of the
absolute King—the beloved Ferdinand—On the first
indication of internal disturbance. We are enemies to
war on principle. We deplore the folly and injustice
that ever made it necessary for States to have military
establishments ; and we kink upon the decision of na
tional questions by the bloody sacrifice of thousands of
our fellow beings, by desolated countries—and by,
cities-laid in ashes—as the greatest disgraCe and cala-
mity of human nature. But there are occasions where
the timely demonstration of power may prevent the ne-
eessity of war ; and we areinclined to believe that Mr.
Canning has-acted Upon this principle in the present
crisis. It certainly appears improbable, because very
inconsistent, that a Minister, who, ever since he came
into power up to the present time, cultivated the rela-
tions of peace with great solicitude, should at once
become a Quixotic advocate for unnecessary
war, and destroy at a blow the whole system
of pacific legislation and amicable arrangements
which he had been so long and anxiously con-
structing. Every man wishes to bring any work on
which he has spent a great deal of time to a happy
conclusion. The arrangements of peace, whether on
a wise principle or not, were those to which Mr.
Canning bad devoted himself; and his sentiments in
the House of Commons always showed that he had
no ambition to cultivate what are called the glories of
war, which was not overcome by a sense of the natio-
nal miseries which it produced. Whether he has been
long aware of the treacherous intrigues of the French
with regard to Portugal we cannot tell ; he has affec-
ted to believe them sincere in their professions of co-
operating with England, even when he called forth
the military and naval power of England to counteract
their machinations. But he may have expressed him-
self in this way from the policy of' a statesman, who
would rather give .a hollow-hearted ally an opportunity
of backing out of his treachery, by pretending not to
suspect him, than to drive him into a corner by direct
accusation, and force him to make a desperate plunge
to escape. At all events, Mr. Canning is not a young
statesman, who, if he ever wantonly kindled a war in
Europe, could ever hope to outlive its calamities, and
sit down in quiet to complete the system of peace,' to
which his energies, his talents, and his hopes, had
been previously directed. I-le has the example of his
great and unfortunate predecessor Mr. Pitt before his
eyes, who died in the vigour of life—the broken-
hearted victim of that warlike statesmanship which
brought this country, even amid hundreds of victo-
ries, to the verge or political destruction as well as
financial ruin. We therefore think that Mr. Canning's
design is to check the aggressive ambition of the French
Government in'tne,present instance, and thereby pre-
vent it froth attaining to thitt degree of confidence, by cal-
culating too securely on our weakness, which might at
length lead it to acts which we should resent by arms, or
submit to be trampled on and despised. There, is, indeed,
a blind, furious, bigoted, and hot-headed party in France,
that will take no warning by the lessons of history—and
whose sole and indefatigable policy it is to bring back Eu-
rope and its institutions to the state in which they were
before the Reformation—that party, though forming but
a small portion of the real strength of France, has a great
ascendancy in her councils--and those Ministers who see
the absurdity of such ignorant and fanatical designs, have
submitted to this dark influence rather than run the risk of
being shoved " from their stools," by its malignant genius
for intrigue. But now the rational part of the French
Cehinet, seeing that- war is inevitable if they should not
retrace their steps, Will, to prevent the greater evil to them-
selves and their country, in all probability resist the Apos-
tolic faction, and representing to them the danger of a new
revolution in France, as well as a war with England, will
extort from their fears the compliance which they.could
never obtain from their 'Modem, This re-action appears
to have already begun, as the partizans of Villele take
pains to disavow the bitter and impassioned declamation
against England which was indulged in by the journals
which-are ruder the direction of the 'Apostolic incendia-
ries.--Ibid.

A question has arisen as to the benefit or injury
produced,to the . community by the practice of giving
publicity to the proceedings at Police Offices, upon
criminal charges. Upon this question some of the
Judges have taken Occasion, at various times, to pro-
nounce a decided opinion ; and we must concede-that
in some instances, under the colour of reporting Police
cases, the most unwarrantable licence has been
assumed of holding up indiViduals to public ridicule
Or indignation.' The proceedings before Magistrates
have in these instances not been reported but drama-
tised, and offenders and complainants have been sub-
jected alike to the punishment of being metainorphosed
into the characters of a vulgar farce, got up for tire en-
tertainment of the lowest and most ignorant part of
the community. But the abuse of a system is not to
be confounded with the system itself, arid if care be
taken not to report injurious falsehoods of individuals
which are often stated, the practice would not only be
harmless, but in some cases advantageous to the ends
of justice. The province of the Judges of the 'Land is
to 'expound the law abstractedly' as it is. Whilst they
confine themselves within this, not, very narrow pro-
vince, their decisions will never be arraigned by us,—
but when they meddle with questions of-general or of
municipal policy, they are, from the very nature of
their usual duties and habits, very likely to err. No-
thing, however can be more irrational or factious, than
to conclude from such errors that the Judges are sp-
tematically inimical to the liberty of the press. Ihe
libertrnf-the press is an essential' paft of the 'British Con-
stitution ; and there is no body, of men so little likely to
be its intentional enemies as the Judges of the Land. The
law of libel may perhaps in other respects be susceptible
of improvement, but we do not believe that the alteration
which Mr. Brougham prides himself on having suggested
would be an improvement. We are persuaded on the
contrary, that to admit evidence of the truth of the facts
charged as libellous in all cases, would open a wide field to
chicanery and injustice in some, and afford a secure triumph
to faction in others. The suggestion of Mr. Brougham
requires, however, a more detailed examination than we can
now bestow upon it.--illerning Post.
The great advantage of Juries is, that taken by ro-
tation, or according to some other fair principle, from
the people, for the decision of a particular case, and
returning on the perform:ince of that duty to their or-
dinary avocations, they are not imbued with the feel-,
ings peculiar to any particular order of men, as Judges
for instance ; nor are they open to suspicion on ac-
count of an intimacy with those who have good things
at their disposal_ an intimacy which has generally sub-
sisted between the possessors of power, and the ad..
ministraters of the law. In one respect, however, h
is acknowledged, the Institution has
opera-
tef generally
on Judges. By freeing them from
direct responsibility, they have often proceeded, to
extremes, from which they would have shrunk, if the
whole odium had attached to themselves. The weak-
est part of the Institution of Juries is, the compare-
responsibility. Relieving the Judges
pftriavorerantifrvecedon tfom
responsibilityr
from their number and their
obscurity,corn-
and their immediate withdrawal
from 'the public eye on the discharge of a specific duty,