The Sun.
London, England, 1842-08-06 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY.

GLOBE—Mr.T.Duncombe brought before the House of
Commons, again last night, a subject which cannot be too
often commended to the attention of the public. The
Honourable Member, in moving an address to her Ma-
jesty, " for the liberation of John Mason and seven
working men now confined in Stafford gaol," for attend-
ing a public meeting, took occasion to remark, that " as
long as these individuals 'remained in prison, so long
would the rights of the subjects of this country be in
abeyance." It is undoubtedly true that the incarcera-
tion of these men appears to sanction the doctrine that
the right of meeting in public is liable to be sus-
pended at the option of any constable who, by in-
terrupting the proceedings, thinks proper to cause a
breucii of the peace, and thus invest an assembly with
we character of illegality. It is really monstrous that'
such a proposition us this should be assented to, as it
indirectly is, by Ministers, when they refuse to in-
terti re for the purpose of disproving a principle
which intolerant Magistrates and meddling constables
will be but too ready to recognise as legal. There is no
meeting that can be held, on any subject whatever, which
may not be defeated by the interference of a policeman,
has only to raise an objection to the language he
hears—of the propriety of which he is constituted by the
new doctrine the sole
judge—and upon this he may de-
sire the speaker to desist, when a dispute must inevitably
arise, and the assembly may be at once dispersed as an un-
lawful one. It appears to be generally admitted that the lan-
guage held by the speaker at the meeting which gave rise to
this case was not of a seditious nature. It would seem,
nevertheless, that as the constable chose to consider
that the words he heard were seditious, he had a right
to act as if they really had been so ; and that therefore
a man is liable to be taken into custody, not because
he titters sedition, but because a constable who happens
to be present either believes, or says he believes, such as
offence to have been committed. This is making a con-
stable the sole judge of a very important and very
difficult legal question, in order to effect a breach of the
peace, which is pretty sure to follow the assumption of
functions so high by an official so contemptible. The
breach of the peace being arrived at, the constable's duty
becomes clear, and he accordingly proceeds to disperse
the meeting, which has only been rendered illegal by the
interruption he has offered to it. It is impossible that
such an interference with the liberty of the subject as
seems to be threatened by the promulgation of the new
doctrine can be long endured. Perhaps
even Sir James
Graham may feel the necessity of ere long adopting a
tone upon this subject in some degree consonant with the
spirit of the Constitution and the feelings of the people.
STANDAR D.—Sir Francis Burdett moved for a Se-
lect Committee to inquire as to what had been the nego-
tiations between the Government and Captain Warner
(who, by the way, turns out not to be an officer in the
Queen's service), respecting the extraordinary invention
of the latter. Sir R. Peel and Sir H. Douglas obviated the
necessity for the proposed Committee, by describing very
distinctly and very fully all that had passed between Cap-
tain 'Warner and her Majesty's Ministers. Captain War-
ner, it appears, fixed the price- of his secret at four
hundred thousand pounds! and though the Government
and the Commissioners appointed by them repeatedly
pressed
him to prove the value of his dis-
covery by experiments to be made at the
public expense, he declined to move a step
until 400,0004 should be guaranteed to him in the
event of the experiment proving successful. Now,
seeing that no desire was expressed to extract the
secret, or for more than to see the experiment
tried, this condition was perfectly monstrous. Captain
Warner was not to be paid such a sum as 400,0004
for a discovery that might prove efficient under se-
lected circumstances, but for something that might
be generally efficient, and of important efficacy. It
might be possible that he could blow up ships and
forts in a selected case ; but as was well asked by
Sir Robert Peel, " could he accomplish these tre-
mendous results in the face of an enemy—
could he effect them under all circumstances,
and with equally destructive results ? This
did not appear from the experiments that had
hitherto been tried." Let Mr . Warner look to the con-
ductengaged in
, and it is we
ef
e t
gAtlirlLightßingham o
of
and l
111NIra.
tßi
oinissheu,
upon the
Goodwin
Sands. We dare swear that their project will be as use-
ful
is beyond dispute more fsliulpptoosteheascy as Mr. Warnerspountr can be
benevo-
lent—anti yet these gentlemen have not been driving hard
bargains with the Government, nor have they, as we are
aware, applied to Parliament, for aid or to force the Govern-
ment into a bargain ; and why may not Mr. Warner
as safely trust to the justice and gratitude of his
country as Mr. Bingham and Mr. Bushe ? And as we
have referred to " the Light of All Nations," we will
take leave to suggest to Mr. Warner a mode of proving the
power of the agent that he has discovered in a manner
Kl:7or'd would
kl would
that will preserve his secret inviolable, and yet demon-
strate the tremendous effect of his discovery beyond con-
tradiction, it is only to blow away the Goodwin Sands,
or the Kentish Knock, or some other of the troublesome
obstacles to navigation. A few of those shells, that, as
we have been told, would blow the rock of Gibraltar to
a
ind noarll the
t h e
know of the matter is, the finding deep water in the place
surelyns,
( dropped) upon
all t
w e thea skG ofoord, aa•
of a destructive shoal.,

LADVERTISEMiN;.I-
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SITOCKING-ACCIDENT.-4 young, man named Nil-
Liam Sewin, employed as a " fly boy," as it is called, on
Professor which
Hof
our double cylinder printing machine, abeidently-ot one
of his arms entangled ip the machinery, cutting off the
hand just above the wrist, and crushing and mutilating
the arm in a shocking manner. The accident was occa-
sioned by carelessness on tilt:, part Of the injured 10,-::--
Boston Mal.