The Sun.
London, England, 1827-05-24 00:00:00

SPIRIT OV THU PUBLIC JOURNALS.

It will be seen from the Gazette, and from
yesterday's proceedings in the Common Council,
that addresses have begun to greet his Majesty
on the late auspicious change in the constituion of
his Government. This being a thing of course,
where an alteration has been made so manifestly
on a constitutional principle, and for so much
better prospects, we notice' it merely to add the
fact that the ex-Ministers are striving hard to get
up counter-addresses of remonstrance or condo-
lence—we presume from their former partisans,
but, who, it is pretty clear, will be their partisans
no longer. What, then, we wonder, is to be the
form of such very wonderful addresses ? Why,
they must be addressed to the ex-officers them-
selves, to reproach them with running away
from their Sovereign. It was their own act.—
The Ring never thought of commanding
them to resign : Mr. Canning never urged
them. All this pother is of their voluntary
making, and now they want to have their
penitence recorded in the Gazette, with, it is
to be hoped, an order for a general mourning
annexed to it. It is, indeed, not more than rea-
sonable that a General Meeting of poor half-pay
naval officers should be held, to thank Lord Mel-
ville for his generous appointment of those who had
nothing but services and scars to recommend them,
in preference to Scotch favourites, and political de-
pendents, where lucrative commands were to be
given. It is but justice that a Committee of Colo-
mists should vote- their thanks and regrets to Lord
Bathurst, for his upright selection and humane sup-
port of such Governors as the renowned Lord
Charles; and above all;_it.would be a mortal in-
gratitude in the old suitors of the Court of Chan-
cery, or to speak more strictly, the heirs and execu-
tors—the disinherited heirs, and executors without
assets—of a large body of those who were for half
a century suitors in the Court of the late learned
and praise-bedaubed Lord Eldon, if they did not
pass a unanimous resolution of acknowledgment for
at least one act of his official life, and of heartfelt
sorrow that it took place no sooner.—?rimes.

We think, upon the whole, though the sub-
ject be one which we view with great jealousy,
that the motion of Mr. M. A. Taylor, respect-
ing the Court of Chancery, was, perhaps, prac-
tically as vrs'll disposed of as it could be at the
present moment. It is, and has been, acknow-
ledged by the warmest advocates for Reform,
that the mischief inflicted on the subject by this
Court resulted partly from the system, and partly
from the personal character of hun who directed
the movements of that system. Such being the
case, the distinct quantum of blame to be as-
cribed to each may, perhaps,'be best ascertained
by trying a new Chancellor. Let him remove
his share of the evil, and Parliament take away
the rest. But if some very important change
do not soon take place in that most detestable
Court, the Court of Chancery, we shall say that
the hopes of the people of England are
frustrated ; and that they are robbed of one
of the most important benefits which they ex-
pected, and had a right to expect, from the new
Administration. We were not altogether pleased
with the fulsome compliments which were lavished
upon the old Chancellor., " Veniam sibi petunt,
indulgentid peccatorum alienorum." People
prepare a refuge for their own guilt, by affecting
to treat the criminality of others with indulgence.
If the present processes of the Court of Chan-
cery may, as is ascertained by the friends of
Lord Lyndhurst, be easily shortened by his per-
sonal interposition, how can the late Lord
Chancellor, who, in spite of all the remon-
strances of his countrymen, has suffered such
processes to weigh with unalleviated pressure upon
the subject,—how can the late Lord Chancellor,
we say, be eusaled to praise ? The Ultra Tories
who are gone on: with his Lordship are con-
sistent. They say thai the Court of Chancery con-
tained no imperfections DI: such as are inherent in
every court of equity--=that the, are irremediable—
and that the Chancellor himself was ,11 most impartial
and sagacious Judge ' • in which character they revere,
and ought to revere him. But a man who shall at
once reprobate the practices of the Court, allow them
to have been corrigible, and yet praise the Judge
who has acted under them without correcting them,
a man, we say, who does this, is, without any circum-
locution, a knave : and with respect to the upright-
ness
of the last Judge, which no one can doubt, let
his Lordsk;o for that have his appropriate meed of
renown. Oh wonderfully just and upright Judge,
who, with no htni:ian motive to make his mind swerve
in the causes whicii have come before him, has
always decided according to the unbiaas'd dictates
of his conscience His country is much obi;ged to
Mr. Taylor for the manly and unfettered manner iP
which he forced this question on the attention of the
house : we hope he will resume the subject next
session, and if something shall not then have been
already done by the present Chancellor, and there
shall not also then be evinced by Ministers an eager
disposition i,Q extend and complete his reforms by
Parliamentary *enactment, we again say that the
people of Englaoi will have to complain of having
been deceived, and anojter instance will be afforded
of the bad faith of patriots..--4bid.
A Meeting for the propagaZ:on of the Gospel
in Ireland was on Monday last held at the Free-
masons' Hall, and a report of its proceedings ap-
peared in yesterday's Journal. We shall have
credit for good inentions, at least, from those
*Nix) understand our Sentiinents,. and the real
natu:e.of this very interesting subject, when we
express. an unaffected and .deep-regret that such
meetings *should now take place ; and that, under
the present ci:cumstances of the United Kingdom,
such projects z;fe.openlY contemplated. That
the Romish creed IC tainted by a variety of super-
stitions, must be the Pyinion of every man who
sincerely professes the 4cet-lines of the 'Church
of England, and every ,Protestant who feels at-
tached to his communion, for its connexion
with the spirit of civil liberty as well as for its
covformity to the Gospel truth, is doubtless
fixed and strengthened in his devotion to it by a
strong dislike to the church-government of the-
Roman. Catholics, as an instrument for gradually
subjugating the reason of the layman to the ar-
bitrary will of his priest, and thus forming, by a
natural though circuitous process, the ground-
work of an influence which, even in things tem-
poral, must tend to establish between the
confessor and his penitent the relations oE
superior and subject. it appears to us, that we
have, in the above sentence, not understate 4 those
chmacteristics appertaining to the Catholic faith,
or its professors; on 'which the missionaries
for the conversion of the Irish Papists wextilfl be
most desirous to argue the duty and expediency
of their enterpr humbly ise. Acalls honest
oursel Pves), we rotestants,
more
then
(for such we
than doubt, under the actual circumstances of
Ireland, both 6: expediency and the duty of
any such attempt. it the question were merely
whether you should, if you 17ere able, transmute
the whole population of Ireland, ,from ignorant
and indigent Catholics, obedient to no but
the pleasure of theirriesthood, and often 3,s
regardless of that as olany other, Into enlighten-
ed, industrious, and prosperous members of the
Established Church, who could hesitate how
such an interrogatory ought to he answered
But there is, unfortunately, more in this propo-
ition than meets-the mind's eye of the worthy

men, (for worthy many of them ve, we 'ac-
knowledge), pious and indefatigable in the
cause, and wholly unconscious that owing to
the scene on which they act, the unnatural con-
dition of the people whom they appeal to, the
unchristian state of feeling which everywhere sur-
rounds them, the discoloured and perverted
medium through which men and things are uni-
versally regarded—in short, the little aptitude of
time, and Place, and persons, to the success of such
a well-meant scheme—they, the preachers, are, by
the distribution of Bibles, the multiplication of
schools, and the warfare they have proclaimed
against an erroneous faith, earning for them-
selves little better reputation than that of civil
incendiaries. To be listened to with deference,
a man's motives must not be liable to suspicion.
The instructor who seeks to enlighten the igno-
rant, ought previously to have gained the confi-
dence of his pupils. He must have convinced
them that he is not governed in his general con-
duct—more especially when he comes in con-
tact with these very pupils themselves—by sordid,
or selfish, or ambitious passions. He ought first
to have divested himself of any outward marks
or symbols which may have adhered to him, and
which may have classed him as one of a perma-
nent and well-defined faction, which, wherever
riches or power were at stake, had betrayed a
spirit of rapacity and oppression the most oppo-
site to that of the mild and gentle, the liberal,
expansive, and benevolent doctrines which he
now tenders to those who have hitherto only felt
themselves his victims. A single preacher, or
society of preachers, when they see the great
body of the people of Ireland already exaspe.
rated against the Protestant power, and suffering
under temporal grievances, the sense of which'
has induced the sufferers to look upon most
Protestants as their natural enemies, ought not,
indeed, to abandon the sacred hope of one day
placing their Catholic fellow Christians on
sround, with regard to religious truth and corn-
tort, as safe and elevated as their own ; but we
submit that they ought not to begin by attempt-
ing to teach the repugnant Catholic a creed
from which he will turn with disgust, as
being that of the man who oppresses
him in his worldly interests. Raise the Ca-
tholic to the same level with yourself as a citi-
zen, and he will believe Your profession of
a desire to lift him from religions bondage. So
long as the Catholic priests and aristocracy shall
teach the poor that their only want is constitutional
liberty, and its consequence a rise. in their condition,
it is obviously vain for a Protestant stranger to tell
them that their wants are spiritual, not temporal;
and that Bibles must satisfy them in the place of
bread and justice. The priests and the laity of the
Catholics will never let go their grasp of the public
feeling of their body, or submit to such a diminution
of their united strength, as would result from an
understanding between any large portion of the Ca-
tholic mto...tude and the " Heretic" missionaries,
until the mass of Catholic numbers, and their com-

munity of passion upon the one great political point
at issue, shall cease to offer itself as a powerful en•
gine for the advancement of their civil rights. Until
that day, the attacks which are made upon Popery
as a religion can only tend to aggravate and en-
venom the political soreness of which Catholics are
sensible-as a party: the religious outrage will, by the
priest, be blended and incorporated in his addresses
to the people with that constitutional wrong which
every layman feels, from the noble down to the lowest
of the peasantry; and the effect will be what the ex-
perience of the last two or three years proves to be
inevitable in the existing state of Ireland—not an ac-
cession of true believers, or a change in the smallest
degree favourable to our church, on a comparison be-
tween her members and those of the adverse com-
munion, but a positive increase of rancour and ani,
mosity in the hearts of the vulgar Catholics towards
the State, and a ripening of all those principles of
violence and distraction whose tendency is to war
and ruin. If we should be asked by any zealous
labourer in the field of proselytism—" Are you, then
for ever to abstain from preaching the Gospel, and
extending the reign of Reformation over Ireland ?"
—our answer would be, " God forbid 7. we are no
less anxious than the most eager of you all for the pro-
gress of that mighty blessing; but let us not defeat
our joint aspiration by efforts ill-adapted and un-
reasonable. Exalt the Catholic gentleman, and pay
the priesthood,—make partizans no longer necessary
to the one, nor parishioners to the other,—make it
' indifferent to the gentleman whether his tenantry be
Protestant or Papist, and to the priest whether his
weekly congregation amounts to thousands or to
hundreds only. In ten years afterwards, the cause
of the Reformation, if supported by able Ministers,
will have passed from a state of evident decay, to
one of rapid and irresistible prosperity." The zeal
anti activity of reforming missions in Ireland, after
the question of Emancipation shall have been car-
ried/ and when there can be no further job or poli-
tical machination connected with such efforts, will
serve as measure for ascertaining how much or how
little of integrity or hypocrisy has hitherto mingled
with and impelled them.--- ..bid.
The discussion to which the motion of Mr.
Michael Angelo Taylor, for the separation of
the Bankruptcy Jurisdiction from the Court of
Chancery, gave rise, on Tuebday night, is well
deserving of attention. With respect to the se-
paration in question, we believe it is the general
opinion of those best acquainted with the subject
that it would not he advisable. In the Jurist, a
new Quarterly Journal of Jurisprudence
_and
_Legislation, the first number of which was pub-
lished two or three weeks ago, and the appear-
ance of which we hail as a most auspicious sign
of she times, affording, as it does; a proof of the
increasing interest .taken -by the public in the
most-important of all the sciences, it, is ably re-
marked—" Greatly as we advocate frequent dis-
cussion on
.the subject of all .our judicial esta-
blishments, -and especially. of those in which the
greatest abuses and inconveniences- prevail, as we
fear-is the case in the present- administration of
the Bankrupt Law ; yet we cannot but depre-
cate one -of I,lle forms in which this question is
likely to be discussed karid probably will have
been discussed-before this-paper me.sts the pub-
lic eye). We allude to the motion of which
Mr. Michael Angelo Taylor has given notice,
that the jurisdiction of Bankruptcy should
be entirely taken from the Lord Chancellor:—
We object to this form, first, as by mixing some-
thing of personality, or, at any rate, by exciting
the suspicion of personality.in- the discussion,
the general question is likely to be preju-
diced ; and, secondly, because we very sincerely
believe, and in this belief we find ourselves con-
firmed by the concurrent opinions of all who are
most conversant with the subject, that the con-
troul of the proceedings in Bankruptcy, and the
finai appeal on subjects growing out of them,
ought 16 remain with the highest judicial autho-
rity. \Ve do not mean to assert, that the inter-
position of the Lord Chancellor is absolutely
necessary in one-third of the interlocutory mat-
ters in -which it is now exercised ;. these might
be safely confided, in the first instance at least,
to the Commissioners, even as now constituted
in London ; but it is most material that the
Commissioners, or any new Tribunal which may
be itibstikut,7,d for them, should feel that they are
acting under the
equally import that the suitor
should feel a confidence in the superiority of the
p;tlgment to which his interests are ultimately to

be submitted. The jurisdiction of Bankruptcy
is not, and cannot be, in ordinary cases, subject
to appeal in'the House of Lords ; being deprived
of this last resort, it is, certainly, both just and
expedient that the suitor should have the next
best remedy against errors—the revision of the
Lord Chancellor." The arguments by which
Mr. M. A. Taylor was met were, the inexpedi-
ency of separating the two jurisdictions, and the
possibility of the existing Courts being ade-
quate to the dispatch of the business before them.
But several points not immediately connected
with the motion were introduced into the dis-
cussion, and more particularly in the nature of
the reforms necessary in the Equity Courts. It
is but fair to allow to men in authority time for
giving effect to their views on this important
subject. To criticise measures before being put
in possession of them, is to display neither can-
dour nor judgment. The measures which the
Attorney-General stated that he was authorised
by the Chancellor to announce as in contemplation
may or :nay not prove satisfactory ; but at all
events his Lordship is entitled to our forbear-
ance till he has had due time for making the
public acquainted with his intentions. A sort of
incidental discussion arose respecting the merits
of the legal profession. As far as talents are
concerned, a successful lawyer has juster cause
to be proud than the members of any other pro-
fession ; for a merchant may become rich by
lucky hits, a divine by favour, and a physician
by making himself acceptable to ancient females,
and useful to apothecaries ; but though many a
clever man neVer rises in the. law, the man who
rises must possess ability. With respect to moral
qualities, lawyers will be found, we suspect, very
much like other men ; some generous, some sor-
did, some single-minded ; others artful ; and so
forth. It is true, every profession may be said
to have acquired, from the circumstances pecu-
liar to it, some distinguishing-characteristics.
While the Clergy in general displayed_ great
soreness, on account of the character of Priests
as a body drawn by Hume, Dr. Campbell, in
an Address to his brethren, admitted that
some of the features were popularly attri-
buted to the order; and that though na-
tional characters, and characters of particular
professions, were not implicitly to be relied on,
yet there was generally some foundation for them.
It would be absurd to deny, that in the profession of
the law there are not many men an honour to human
natrire ; but there may at the same time be some
foundation for the popular impression, that the harm-
lessness of the dove is not exactly emblematical of
lawyers. But however this may be, it is clear, that
to the virtue and honest intentions for the public
good of members of the learned profession we must
be indebted for improvements in the practice of the
law. In proportion, indeed, as laymen become
better acquainted with the science, and are better
able to appreciate the labours of professional men,
may we hope to see among the latter greater devo-
tion to the cause of the public. The same cause
which has improved the character of public men
(and indeed all classes), namely, the eye of an en-

Tightened public, must act beneficially on the learned
profession. No position is more certain, than that
where the mass are ignorant, the heads will be cor-
rupt. Virtue and the diffusion of intelligence are
dependent on each other.. It is for this reason that
we have always urged the paramount importance of
making the study of law in this country a part of
the education of a gentleman • and that we hail the
appearance of the work (which appears to be con-
ducted with great talent), from which we borrowed a
passage in the outset of this article. No man ac-
quainted with the generous ardour with which
Mr. Brougham has always devoted himself, and
is now now devoting himself, to the improvement of
his fellow-countrymen, and with his utter contempt
of every thing gross and sordid, would ever think
of imputing unworthy motives to him. The wonder
is, how a man who has so much professional busi-
ness on his hands, and who exerts himself so often
and with such effect in the Legislature, Can find
leisure, and can possess the strength, to labour as he
does for the diffusion of useful knowledge among
the people. Other men may have the desire ; but
who is there that possesses the versatility, the
energy, and the inexhaustible spring of spirits to
execute a moiety even of what Mr. Brougham does?
That he will never turn his back on the cause of

improvement we firmly believe, and we think he
has sufficiently proved his disinterestedness to entitle
him t 6 repel any thing like insinuation levelled
against his motives. We will not quarrel with him
for the eulogy he passed on his profession, though
the colours are certainly laid on with a flattering
hand. We only hope that the result will prove
that his anticipations, with respect to judicial reforms,
are well founded. As we have already observed,
legal improvement can only be derived from profes-
sional knowledge. But instances of professional
liberality are becoming more and more frequent.
Mr. Humphreys has, by his book on property, con•
ferred an inestimable benefit on the public. Seve-
ral Professional Gentlemen acted in the same liberal

spirit in their recent communications on Bankruptcy
matters to the Committee of Common Council. If

the public expect a devotion to its interests, they
ought not to be niggardly of their approbation where
it is merited.—Morning Chronicle.
The Westminster Dinner yesterday was ruffled
by some singular proceedings, which were, how-
ever, we believe, pretty generally anticipated.—
We have hesitated to express our sentiments
freely, both in the way of approbation and dis-
approbation of Sir Francis 13urdett (for if the
Hon. .Baronet has, in Parliament, occasionally
delivered sentiments which met our -approba-
tion, he has at other, times uttered opinions of

which we never can approve), and we, do not,
therefore, believe that we shall be accused of
proneness to assentation, when we state it as
our firm conviction that, ever since the meeting
of Parliament,- his language in Parliament has
been equally creditable to- his tead: and his
heart. That his constituents generally viewed
his conduct in this light is what was to have
been expected, It is ridiculous to take up- this
opinion expressed at one time, and that opinion
expressed at another, with regard to oertain men
and certain questions, with a view to - found a
charge of inconsistency against him. The test
by which he ought to be tried is a very simple
one. In the opinions which he formerly ex-
pressed, and those which he now expresses could
he be actuated by any other motive than the be-
nefit of the people ? Would the nation have
benefitted by the continuance in office of the Lord
Chancellor, Lord Bathurst, Lord. Westmor-
land, Lord Melville, the Duke of Wellington,
Mr. Peel, and the accession of half a dozen
of narrow-minded bigots ? Who would dare to
maintain this ? The rescuing us from such an Ad-
ministration would alone have made any man a great
benefactor of the nation. Mr. Canning, and those
of his colleagues who rallied round him, had, by their
measures, provgd themselves entitled to the public
confidence; and hence it became the duty of every
honest man to rally round them during an emer-
gency, when such support might be essential to se-
cure their continuance in office; and, consequently,
to secure a continuance of their liberal measures,
and preserve us from the positive evil which would
have resulted from the return to office of their late
illiberal coiieagues.—lf Sir Francis Burdett had ex-
pressed himself a hundred times more unfaveurably
of Mr. Canning's former conduct than he has done,
yet if he believed that his support of him at this try-
ing conjuncture would benefit the nation, he would
have made himself responsible foc the. evil which

might have resulted from his withholding it. He
would have thereby proved himself an enemy of the
people, and. really inconsistent. Reform he does
not renounce; but Reform itself is verily valuable'
as conducive to the protection of the interests of the
people; and what sort of consistency would that be,
which, while advocating a measure on the ground of
its tendency to produce good to the people, should,
at the same time, contribute, either by omission or
commission, to inflict on the people the calamity of
an Administration hostile to all improvement, and
disposed to thwart and oppress all well-disposed
men throughout the country ? But the good sense
of the people dispenses us from the necessity of
saying more on this subject. Sir Francis has even
risen in estimation by his liberal anti manly conduct.
—lbid.

The special revelation which Mr. Brougham
has had of the merits of the Chancery-system, is
another remarkable instance of the change which
usually takes place in the moral vision of men on
migrating from one side of a certain Great
House to the other. It may appear unaccount-
able, that an orator, by stepping about half-a-
dozen yards across a room, should lose, at it
were, his political identity—should even become
the adversary of his former self. If we were
told of such a thing in the Arabian Nights'
Entertainments, we would say it was the effect
of enchantment—that there was some talismanic
charm in the neighbourhood of the Treasury
Benches, which .so operated upon the " mind's
eye" of a converted patriot, as to make him see
nothing but beauty and excellence, where all be-
fore had been deformity ; and to fill him with
admiration of things which he had previously de-
nounced and condemned. We had heretofore
believed that Mr. Brougham was one of the ar-
dent advocates of reform in Chancery, and that

he had about as much reverence for the Court
and the Judge who presided there as Sampson
had for the Temple of Dagon. His opinion',is now
so different on this subject, that we are bound to
suppose that he sees things in another light from
what he did, otherwise we could not give him credit
for sincerity in the expression of his sentiments on
Mr. Michael Angelo Taylor's motion. In op-
posing that motion, he took occasion to speak of the
Chancery system in the same manner that Mr. Can-
ning speaks of the rotten-borough system—namely,
that it is capable of " working well ;" and so it is ;
but whether to the lawyers or the public, is another
question. It is curious enough, that, besides find-
ing out the merits of the Court of Chancery itself,
Mr. Brougham has also discovered that Lord Eldon
was an able Chancellor. Where, then, did the fault

lie of that " delay, expence, vexation, and disap-
pointment to suitors, as well as that dreadful accu-
mulation of arrears of business," which used to draw
forth from the Hon. and Learned Gentleman and

friends such torrents of eloquent invective? The
fault was not in the system, for Mr. Brougham
thinks that so good, that he is most anxious not to
endanger it by any attempt at reformation; nor can

the rate Lord Chancellor be blamed, for Mr.
Brougham says, " Lord Eldon .was undoubtedly a
man of great ability, knowledge, and talent ;" and
what more could be required than a Judge with those
qualities, as no one has ever been so unjust as to
impeach his honesty ? Where, then, did the fault
lie ? Mr. Brougham has discovered it. He has found
out, that, though Lord Eldon " was at all times
an able Chancellor, there never were an able Vice-
Chancellor and Master of the-Rolls acting with him
at the same time." We suppose he will now order.
his biographer to throw in the fire his vehement and
sarcastic Philippics against that venerable Judge ►.
We wish, however, he had indulged in less decla-
mation, and condescended to be a little more argu,
mentative in remarking upon the speech of . Mr.
Harvey. His defence of the lawyers, and his pane-
gyric upon their virtues and wisdom, would have
come with better taste, if not with more effect, from
one whe was not a member of the profession. The
seventy-two Gentlemen of the Robe, who manage
the bankruptcy commission business, may be very
brilliant instances of -that legal excellence on which
he so warmly descanted, but the public have yet to
discover, their talents and their utility. Eut while
he expressed his indignation at the idea that the law
should be supposed "to hatch beings only fit for the
hot-beds of corruption," he was resolved that the
patronage of the Court of Chancery should not be
diminished, by allowing the bankruptcy business to
be separated from the system of that Court. The
statement of Mr.. Harvey might not have been so
florid as that of Mr. Brougham, but it had more
substance—it went more to the facts of. the easel.--
and is more likely to carry with it the voice of- the
public.—Morning Herald.

The Times of yesterday, speaking of the re•
cent ministerial changes, has the following obser•
vation

" But the new Prime Minkter is charged with having
rid himself somewhat too dexterously of his old colleagues.
We ask, why should he have done se from personal mo-
tives ? Whatever might have been his station, he was
much more likely to have been of consequence among those
bigots and brutes, than among men of talent and character:
and if he has indeed contrived to surround himself with a
phalanx of greater ability and genius, the nation will derive
the benefit, and ought to thank him."
It is not on account of the scurrility of the
above extract, that we notice it. We think that
its coarseness is rather desirable as an antidote to
its falsehood. It is a wise arrangement in na
ture, that reptiles which are noxious should be
also revolting—that the toad should be ugly as
well as venomous.. Our contemporary's Bil-
lingsgate may, therefore, be excused, because of
its neutralizing effect. • It is the falsehood of the
statement we are desirous of exposing, The
" bigots and brutes" of the late Cabinet, who
have not seen fit to join the present one, are, the
Earl of Eldon, the Duke' of Wellington, the Earl
Bathurst, the Earl of Westmoreland, Viscount
Melville, and Mr. Peel. Lord Melville has

all along voted for Catholic Emancipation, so
that, taking the term bigot in its ordinary
acceptation, Lord Melville is certainly none.
He, we suppose, is included under the
other gentleman-like category of. our contem-
porary. It is to the other five seceding
Members, therefore, that the imputation of
bigotry, is, we presume, meant to attach. We
consider it somewhat of the best, and certainly
the briefest way to learn men's opinions from
themselves, and in what exposition of their sen-
timents, by any of those exalted individuals,
such reasoning as bigots are wont to use has
appeared, we are at a loss to discover. The
argument which they have ordinarily used, is,
that the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church,
are hostile to civil liberty. They prove this,
as those who think with them affirm, or attempt
to prove it, as those who oppose them affirm,
by reference to the effect of those tenets, on the
liberties of countries where they predominate.—
Honest John Bunyan, long ago remarked, that of
the two great enemies of Christianity, Pagan was
dead, and Pope was grown old, and could do little
more than sit in the mouth of his cave, grinning
at the pilgrims as they went by. The influ-
ence, indeed, of the pseudo-representative of
Saint Peter, the enemies of the Catholic
Claims, as well as their friends, admit to be
no longer formidable ; nor do they deny that
much of the evil leaven has been worked out of
the practice, although it still mingles with the
creed of his followers. But, with all these con-
cessions, they contend, that the mass of Catholicism
has not been yet so far purified, as to admit of its
safe amalgamation with Protestantism. Is this bi-
gotry ? The enlightened opponents of the Catho-
lics oppose their claims, not because of the cut or

colour of a robe—the composition or !angry. of
a hymn—or the form of a ritual—but because they
consider Catholicism hostile to the liberties of Eng-
land. Again we ask, is this bigotry ? If so, what
is Patriotism ? What say the advocates or those
Claims ? Do they deny that a Catholic people,
and an ignorant people—a Catholic people, and an
enslaved people—are all but synonimous terms ?
Do they deny, that wherever Catholici3m :.hoots
forth its branches, that in the precise ratio of their
vigour and their extent, ever:), liberal institution
withers, every liberal art decays ? Do they deny
the existence of that innate instinctive hatred
which the Catholic Church has ever shewn to

the great instrument of human improvement, with-
out which freedom has never been won, or at least
never been preserved—we mean the press? They
do no such thing. They admit all this. They merely
argue, that the danger of perpetuating the exclusion
of the Catholics is greater than the danger of admit-
ting them ; and on this point they and their antago-
nists are at issue. Who will say that the one party
are bigots more than the other ? Is the range of
our contemporary's observation so very limited; that
he has never discovered any bigots but among the
Anti-Catholics ? For our•own parts, we have met
with bigotry in men of all parties, and we have
found it almost an infallible symptom of the disease,
that the patient, like a drunken man, imagines every
one reeling but himself, and is always the first and
the loudest in railing at the weakness to which he is
most subject. Away, then, with the false and
foolish cry of bigotry or intolerance I Let this ques-
tion be discussed as its magnitude and importance
may well demand, temperately and deliberately, with
a proper consideration for the wishes of our Roman
Catholic countrymen, and with a just appreciation of
their grievances on the one hand, and with a proper
consideration for the feelings and opinions of our
Protestant fellow countrymen, and a just apprecia-
tion of the dangers that may result from concession
on the other.—New Times.

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.

(Concluded from our Paper of Yesterday.)

Mr. FAYELL hoped he might be allowed to say a word
or two now, which would prevent misunderstanding. He
had supposed it to be perfectly understood, that a Com-
mittee must be appointed to draw up the Address, as was
always done ; and, to prevent his motion being misunder-
stood, he begged permission to alter the wording of it
thus :—" That this Court, equally anxious to support the
different branches of the Constitution, on the due exercise
of which the happiness and liberties of the people depend,
do present an Address to his Majesty, congratulating him
upon the firmness which he has shown in the just exercise
of hie Royal prerogative, in the late appointment of an
Administration."

The LORD MAYOR said, that personally he could have
no objection to the proposed alteration. At the same time
he must remind the Court, that as the Motion would then
be essentially different from that originally proposed, it
might throw the whole discussion open again.
After some discussion the alteration was withdrawn, on
the suggestion that any one could move it as an amendment.
Mr. Alderman BIRCH said, that he thought the address
would neither be grateful to his Majesty nor to his Prime
Minister. The present motion reminded him of what oc-
curred exactly '2O years ago, when the " Talents," as they
were called, came in. That Court then addressed the So-
vereign, congratulating him upon his administration, be-
fore it was known what they meant to do. Lord Grey
and Lord Grenville endeavoured to introduce a Bill by a
side wind in favour of the Catholics ; but the King saw
through it, and very shortly sent them all about their busi-
ness. He begged them to apply that to the present case ;
and he cautioned the Protestants of that Court against
congratulating his Majesty on an Administration, at the
head of which was a person who, much as he admired
him, had declared that Catholic Emancipation was his heart•
felt object. He thought it expedient to wait until they
had seen what the Ministry meant to do, and he should
therefore move the previous question.
Mr. BUTTERWORTH seconded the motion for the previ-
ous question.
Mr. Alderman WAITHMAN said, that it was in perfect
accordance with their principles to support every branch
of the constitution—the King's prerogative as well as every
other part; and he should therefore support the motion
for the address. To approve or disapprove the present
Ministry did not enter into the question ; and as for the
Court declaring its:confidence in the Ministry, that was
equally irrelevant. " Confidence," as Lord Chatham said,
" was a plant of very slow growth ;" and they must have
more experience of the Ministry before they could give them
theirs. He had made up his mind to support the Ministry
wherever he could, reserving to himself the right of op-
posing them on measures which he did not approve.
Mr. DIXON thought that the pretence of addressing
the Crown was only secondary to supporting Mr. Can-
ning's administration. If, however, there was to be an ad-
dress, great care ought to be taken in drawing it up. He
hoped that if the worthy member opposite (Mr. Favell)
Went up with the address, he would not lose so good an op-
portnnity of asking the King to dine with them in the
city.
Mr. Deputy SAUNDERS opposed the motion for an ad-
dress, and thought that Protestants had much to fear when
they saw that man, who was like a battering-ram to the
Protestant interest (loud laughter), was at the head of-the
Cabinet.
Mr. Deputy OLDHAM, Mr. HALL, Mr. T. CuaTts, and
Mr. BLEADEN, supported the motion for an address.
Mr. Deputy ROUTH said, that as soon as the motion for
the previous question was disposed of, as be was sure it
would be, by being negatived, be should move as an amend-
ment to the original motion, the alteration which Mr. Favell
had proposed.
The motion for the previous question was then put, and
by the show of hands there appeared a considerable majority
'against the motion. A division, however, was demanded,
and the numbers were declared to be_

For the previous motion— I Against it—
Alderman 1 Aldermen...—. 2
Commoners 3B I Commoners ...82
Tellers 2-41 I Tellers 2-86
Alajority against Mr. Alderman Birch's motion, 45.
Mr. raven's motion, as amended, was then put and
agreed to.
A Committee was immediately appointed, to withdraw
and prepare an Address accordingly.
The Committee then withdrew, and shortly returned
with the draught of an Address, which was read and agreed
to.7—Ordered to be fairly transcribed, signed by the Town
Clerk, and presented to his Majesty by the whole Court.
The Sheriffs,-attended by the Remembrancer, were in-
structed to. wait upon his Majesty, to know when the
Court-might attend him with the Address. The resolu-
tion for the Address was ordered to be advertised.