The Sun.
London, England, 1827-01-18 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

!The Duke of Wellington, we understand, has been ar -
tually appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Army—an a: -
=gement to which we call plead no objection, having a'_
ready stated our belief that no , other individual in th .
country was so well qualified for that important office.--
BLit it was not then our intention to recommend that hi
Gti.ce should, at the same time, continue to hold th
111aster-Generalship of the Ordnance. If one man be c:-
pable of performing the duties of both these high an i
powerful situations, then has the public been much di -
cetved as to the degree of labour which belonged. to eact
of them. For ourselves, we are ready to admit that th,..
separation of the military portion of the Ordnance—that is
to say, of the engineer and artillery department—from
that under which all other branches of the military force
. of the empire are placed, has hitherto appeared to us to be
in.': principle au ill-conceived and disjointed regula-
' doh. If the duty of superintending both services
can be adequately performed by the same chief, there can,
of course, be little reason, or none, why that chief should
not be the Duke of Wellington ; the single question being
atc.to the practical feasibility and advantage of such all
union. It is understood, that his Grace, in assuming the
command at the Horse Guards, retains the Master-Gene-
ralship of the Ordnance without any share of the salary
annexed to it—a prelude, we trust, to the measure lybicil
has been hinted at above—namely, the merging: o{' the
Ordnance Department in the general 3tninistration of
the Army. It is undoubtedly a 'eery serious, and in our
judgment, an unconstitutio7.lA arrangement, that the
• Commander-in-Chief, 10*... him be who he may, should
iz hold a Cabinet ofli'le. The beauty of the late Duke of
, York's goveriment of the army was, his independ-
:: dance of 'Ministers. He was a servant, and therefore
- 6!).014 not consistently be a colleague. He was in-
trtl.'sted with the welfare of the military service alone, and
tould iherefore reply to any political applicant, that he
0 had. no concern with politics, arid would not be influ-
timed by party considerations in distributing honour, emo-
lument, or promotion. We are far from questioning the
Duke of Wellington's integrity, or his contempt for sordid
and sinister views, in the dispensation of his patronage.--
Bilt if, in his hands, the double business of an executive
otcer and a Cabinet Minister be safe from every danger
arising out of a capability of corruption, the precedent is
not one which it would be safe to establish or to follow ;
and there are, on that ground, reasons for hoping that the
arrangement which unites the two discordant characters
in his Grace, Will turn out to be no more than temporary,
—until the balance of power in the Cabinet can be ad-
justed oenerwise than in his person. One member of the
Cabinet, it is alleged, has given strenuous opposition to
tite appointment of the present Commander-in-Chief, the
Right Honourable Gentleman expressing a desire that the
'Duke of Cambridge should be chosen instead of him.—
His Royal Highness is a worthy mall, and is, or has
been, in possession, of a clear and useful under-
standing ; but under all the circumstances known
_ ..

:to the -public, and from a regard to others which
-Islay perhaps be unknown to them, there can now
:oust no real question between two such competitors
lor an office S 3 delicate and important. The accession of
#e Duke of Wellington is looked at by a large portion of
military men, with some dread of finding in his general
#meanour a striking contrast with that of the late Illus-
ous Prince. They do not expect to discover in him so
*uch gentleness, complaisance, or urbanity, to enjoy such
access to his ear, or to receive such marks of sym-
lathy in their feelings. All this may be a very reasonable
Mid well-founded apprehension; for aught we know, and
le there may be no incongruity in asserting that the
Afite of Wellington will not prove a whit the worse Com-
Inander-in-Chief of the Army. That a high public func-
tionary should be liked and beloved by all men, is not
rassential to the honest discharge of his duty, or to the
advantage of the state. It is necessary that such a
man should be respected and esteemed ; that he should
be vigilant, industrious, punctual, discriminating, im-
'partial, steady, and just. These are qualities which
``at once benefit the nation, and secure to the in-
dividual by whom they are exhibited the delibe-
; rate approbation and confidence of his country. The
Duke of Wellington, so far as experience forms a guide
,to our judgment, is gifted with the official virtues which
we have enumerated ; and without the least personal pre-
deliction for his Grace, it is no more than truth to declare,
that we have long and attentively watched him. If his
i'inmediate friends feel warmly attached to him for a cordial
and unaffected, though possibly a blunt and rough bearing
,towards them in the relations of private life, it is enough
for any man to desire. Let him be but upright in his
public station, and the army will soon be reconciled to its
• new Commander. The Duke of Wellington has intimated
verbally to the several officers who acted under the Duke
of York, that; if they like, they may all
.retain their places,
—a permission, of which it is to be hoped that some at
least of the individuals affected by it will not hesitate to
avail themselves, since among them are gentlemen than
whom no others are to be found in any office under Go-
vernment, who have been better trained, or are more tho-
, roughly qualified to execute the business of it with entire
satisfaction to the public. From Sir Herbert Taylor down-
wards, they were bred in a kindly school.—Times.

We certainly should not have taken the trouble to no- ,
tice the various opinions some of our contemporaries have
expressed on the authenticity of the Archbishop of To-
ledo's Exposition, which we published in our Paper of
Monday and Tuesday, intending to leave the document to
stand entirely on its own merits; but we find, in a Morn-
ing Paper of yesterday, an expression on the subject, that
We Cannot pass over in silence. Our hasty contemporary
very broadly asserts as follows :—" It is a fact, not less
astonishing than true, that notwithstanding we yesterday
-proved this document to be a fabrication beyond all con-
troVersy, yet the Evening Papers, to-night, continue to
talk about it as though it were genuine. For their infor-
mation we repeat, that this Exposition,' as it is called,
dated Madrid, December 25, alludes to Mr. Canning's cor-
rected speech, which speech was not published till Satur-
day, Dec. 13." This would be important if true, as the
7.y. However, the Exposition does not in the
Mr. Canning's corrected speech, which, the
" was published on the 13th of December."
there in the Exposition any allusion to this
,each ? It indeed says, " that although it
[n, as we have been assured by our own re-
.er, that he has since made a public retracts-
; passages of his insidious andalarrning Speech,
;his passage, what allusion is there to the cor-
.? It is Avell known that the day on which
.ras published in the London Prints, viz. Dec.
the Foreign Ministers, whose countries were
by it, as well as others among the upper
made a great clamour, and many passages,
confidently reported, were not liked or ap-
some of the Members of the Cabinet. Im-
Sterwards, it was announced to the public,
ithority,
at-ft corrected speech was preparing
is, and the motive became a topic of general
as the correction was a task which could
olve on any other
Person than the orator
the political circles,
viers mixed, the report particularly those in
twas current, that the
...c1 retracted some things he had said,
or had
been made to say; and in these same circles it was at-
tempted to attach blame to the Reporters of the public
papers. What diplomatic explanations might have been
,given on the subject we do not pretend to say : but it
is very natural for a Spanish or French Minister, agent,
or individual, anxious that words pronounced in the heat
of debate, and, perhaps, coloured, or indistinctly heard,
should not be taken in the extreme sense in which they
unauthorisedly appeared in print, to have put in such a
'caveat, when, besides, he was supported by the current re-
port. of the day, nay, perhaps more. The Exposition
!says, "it appears certain, and so it was considered in
London, in the political circles, the first, second, and third
day after the speech was reported in the public prints;
and the fiet.mat confirmed from the moment a notice ap-

peered that a corrected copy was preparing for the press.
All this, with the greatest ease, could have been known.
in Madrid on the 22d. The notification of any intention
to print a corrected copy was a kind of satisfaction in the
eyes of the Spanish Ministry, and the Archbishop alludes
to no particular proof; he speaks of the " retractation" as
a subject which had been discussed in the Council, and
as showing the orator's displeasure and intentions. Hav-
ing said thus much on the assertions of yesterday, we will
revert to what our contemporary calls his proof of fabrica-
tion" beyond controversy," as published on Tuesday. The
Journal in question very kindly informs the public, that
the exposition was manufactured in England, because it
was a document reserved for the Portfolio of Ferdi-
nand : how then, he asks, could it fall into the hands of
the CArcnicle's Correspondent ? We answer, the same
secrecy is not observed in the public offices in Madrid as
in other countries. The Archbishop, besides, had been
induced to present this Address, and was joined in it by
others, therefore the obtaining a copy was not attended
with insurmountable difficulties. When nations are go-
verned by a party, as is the case, at this moment, in Spain,
and after many convulsions have occurred, it is very na-
tural for men of weak nerves to have confidents, and to
be, in some Measure, compelled to make them the depo-
sitariee of their inmost secrets. The Archbishop, as well
a 8 1.1.;,s Master, must have them, and if he doubts it, a peep
into the ing's camarilla, or the Archbishop's study,
would soon put the matter beyond question. Who, then
can answer for the fidelity of all these confidents, &c. in
Madrid—that is, among 'Clerks, Secretaries, their wives,
&c. the former of whom have not had, perhaps, more
than one quarter's pay for the last twelve months ? Our
contemporary next augurs that the document cannot be
genuine, because the language in which it appears is too
good for a translation. This may he considered as a com-
pliment to the translator, but it cannot be taken as a proof
of its not being genuine. The immense length, as well as
the difficulties of the original, not arising out of the lan-
guage or terms used, but rather the extremely small and
close hand in which it was written, independent of the
abbreviations, and in many places requiring the aid
of a magnifying glass, rendered some of the pas-
sages towards the close of the portion published in
our Monday's :Paper, less perfect than we could have
wished. In a few of the last paragraphs, justice was not
done to the original, and the only excuse Ive can now
plead, is the pressure of time. It is said, that the phrase,
" big wigs," as used in the accompanying letter, " looks
very English," meaning, no doubt, that it is not a Spanish
phrase. We thank our Contemporary for this trait of
erudition; but if he will look at his Spanish dictionary for
the word wig, and then to his Spanish grammar for the
rule how to form an augmentative termination, he will find
that an adjective is not required to express the size of the
wig formerly worn in Spain by Counsellors, &c.; and
almost any Spanish novel will convince him that the term
in Spain is applied exactly as it is among us. We shall
conclude by saying, that we cannot see what the biogra-
phical sketch, by which the exposition was introduc-
ed, has to do with the contents of the• document, or
whether it was a piece got up on an emergestcy. The
life and deeds of the worthy Prelate happen to be well
known to us, and many interesting traits of his religion:
and political creed we could have added, if there had been
room. Nevertheless, we cannot ourselves swear that he
either wrote, or signed, the paper in question, yet we
can affirm, and with full confidence, that the insinuations
of its having been written by any "clever Refugee," on
whom he could lay his hand, is not only ridiculous, but
false. The document came through the regular channel
into our hands, in the original Spanish, and we are well
satisfied for the best of purposes. Spaniards of the
highest eminence pronounce it to be the language and
style of the present Archbishop of Toledo, and every one
confesses that it is a perfect picture of the policy by which
King Ferdinand is at present actuated; and we ourselves
venture to add, that if he were now to publish to the
world a manifesto, it would be no other than an echo of
the Archbishop of Toledo's exposition ; and a manifesto
has, for some time, been expected from him.—. Morning
Chronicle.

The different Quarter Sessions which have just con-
cluded, have presented, in most instances, an appalling in-
crease of offenders, amounting in some instances to double
and treble the usual number. Of ,course, great part of
this must be attributed to the local circumstances of the
country, which have thrown so many persons out of em-
ploy. Of the prisoners for trial, in most, if not all, the
agricultural counties, a considerable number were for of-
fences against the Game Law ; but these bear no propor-
tion to the multitudes which crowd the country gaols
and bridewells under summary convictions—for such are
the absurd and disgusting distinctions which these laws
produce in our far-famed jurisprudence, that while a known
London thief shall be tried at the Old Bailey by a Jury,
found guilty of some serious offence, and fined, perhaps,
a shilling, or imprisoned a fortnight, a man for catching a
hare shall be doomed to three mouths' imprisonment and
hard labour without trial—and that, perhaps, by the
very owner of the hare himself, or by some convenient
friend or hanger-on (a Reverend one, mayhap), whom he
has got placed in the commission for the purpose. At the
Hampshire Sessions (a county in which the horrors of the
system are nearly as pregnant as in Wiltshire), the sub-
ject attracted marked attention in various ways. The
Visiting Justices, in their Quarterly Report, through the
Chairman, Sir Thomas Baring, deplored the great num-
ber of offences of this description which thronged the
prisons ; the Chairman of the Sessions, Mr. Pollen, in his
Charge to the Grand Jury, rang the same doleful knell ;
the Grand Jury, on their discharge, re-echoed these com-
plaints; and lastly, the Reverend Chaplain of the Prison,
has preached and published a discourse on " the conse-
quences and unlawfulness of poaching," which we have no
doubt was highly edifying to his hearers. But what, we
would ask, is all this, but a useless, solemn mockery, if the
Noblemen and Gentlemen of England do not open their
eyes to the inhuman, brutalising effects of this horrid
Code, and if they do not rid themselves of this disgrace,
and their hereditary possessions of the danger, which are
every year increasing upon them ? What a farce it is to
hear gentlemen deploring, on these occasions, the evils
they themselves are prediacing ! and what a useless, par-
tial labour it is, for the clergy to preach repentance and
contrition to the tempted, while the tempters are allowed
to enjoy in silence the fruits of their, morally speaking,
much greater fault ! We trust that Parliament will not
have met another day without this urgent and alarming
subject being pressed upon its attention. We trust that
fresh returns will be immediately moved for, of the number
of persons who have been convicted and prosecuted since
the last returns were made. We believe these returns
have hitherto been deferctive in one striking particular—
viz. that they have only comprised those who have been
actually imprisoned, wholly omitting the very many who
have paid the fines to avoid imprisonment—and that often
by the sale of the few articles of household furniture and
wearing apparel which they and their families possessed—
and all this lest a pheasant should be legally and openly
sold in Leadenhall Market by the side of a turkey !
though, laying aside the openness and legality, it is per-
fectly well known to every man that the one is just as
easily obtained there as the other. We repeat that we
look with shame and sorrow upon the continuance of so
unjust and demoralising a system, and view with disgust
the hypocrisy which affects to deplore, while it takes no
means to alleviate, so manifest an evil. Poaching is, we
know, generally the forerunner of other crimes ; the
poacher is generally the worst character in his village.—
But is it always certain that the man who has made him
so is much better ? nor that he who, for a selfish enjoy..
ment, can consign his fellow-creatures by hundreds to the
dungeon, and whole families to ruin, can have a heart
much more to he admired or envied, than that of his ig-
norant, his tempted, and unfortunate victim ?—Horning
Herald.

The Times, finding, from repeated experience, that its
attempts to vilify the Lord Chancellor hurried it always
into ridiculous blunders, and a betrayal of disgraceful
norance, has long abstained from the dangerous topic.—

Hoping that its past errors had fallen into oblivion, it re-
lapsed on Tuesday into its ancient sin, and mustered cou-
rage enough to try once more to vilify what it calls " the
detestable Court of Chancery." Whether the reproach
was meant for the Judge or for the Court we do not
know : and yet this is a point on which they who blame
should always be precise ; for the two, the Judge and the
Court, though confounded into one abstract ideal exist-
ence by libellers, must be kept distinct by all who honestly
hope to be useful, either by pointing out defects, or by
suggesting improvements. The system, when put upon
its trial, must stand upon its own merits, and must not
be allowed to shelter itself under the learning and virtues
of the Judge. On the other hand, it is not to be respon-
sible for his failings or errors; nor is he answerable for
those defects which arise from the institutions he is to ad-
minister. But whether the venom was intended for the
Chancellor or for the Court, the silly malice of our con-
temporary is equally ridiculous. If he meant to say that
the Chancellor was a detestable Judge, he will not find a
single individual who will not pronounce him to be in a
raving phrenzy. If he meant to apply the reproach to the
system, every person of sense will tell him, that it is as
foolish to talk in such terms of a matter upon which he is
profoundly ignorant, as it is indecent to insult the highest
of our tribunals with language so gross. The oc-
casion which called forth the virulence of our con-
temporary, seems to have been very dispropor-
tioned to the effect. The Lord Chancellor had
long since pronounced judgment in a cause, but the par-
ties had not had the benefit of it, as their Solicitors had
not been present. This having been communicated to
his Lordship, he had again gone through the pleadings ;
and on Monday morning, he again stated what his judg-
ment was, in order that a note of it might be taken down
by the Registrar. Mr. Hart and Mr. Home, who had
been Counsel in the cause, though they did not recollect
on which side they had been engaged respectively, con-
curred in expressing their acquiescence in his Lordship's
judgment—and this simple circumstance it is that renders
the Court and the Chancellor detestable ! The Court
and the Judge, forsooth, are to he execrated, because
Counsel forget the circumstances of a cause within a short
time after they have argued it. It may be deemed very
wrong in Counsel to forget a cause, as soon as they have
performed the duty for which they are retained. But
this sin (if sin it be) must be imputed neither to the
Judge nor to the Court. The Counsel themselves must
bear the blame; and that blame, we apprehend, they
would fini little difficulty in throwing upon nature, who
has so framed the human mind, that the particulars of
transactions, which are attended to only for a particular
purpose, make a very slight and transient impression on a
memory, the vigour of which is, in every successive hour,
devoted to a sucsession of new matters. If our Courts
are to be detestable until Mr. Scarlett, or Mr. Hart, shall
be able, at a moment's notice, to recollect the facts of all
the suits in which they have been concerned during the
preceding half year, there is, we fear, little chance of re-
medy.—New Times.

Amteraileallestaoy
easHerald says, '
But where is I
corrected Spo
appears certain
sident Ministe
tion of various
&c.;" yetin
ected Speech
lle.SPeech wi
3, some of tb
inost affected
classes here,
it was very
proved of by
inediately aft
its if from nut
for the press
;conversation,
scarcely devc
;himself. In
which foreign
'Minister had