The Sun.
London, England, 1827-12-27 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

We have but little to add to the intelligence
which we communicated yesterday on the affairs of
Turkey, and that little must cnsist, not of new
facts, but, of simple discussions and inferences from
the old. Diplomatically speaking, the die of war is
cast. Yet it should seem' to be an odd resolution
on the part of Turkey, to declare that she will make
war, which she can carry on in no other way than
by calling upon others to beat her." We have been
informed that Mr. Canning, when about to quit
Constantinople, was conjured, in the most energetic
terms, by the Reis Effendi personally, to suspend
.his departure; and though the cause assigned for the
request was frivolous, yet the request itself was im-
portant, as indicating an extreme aversion by the
Turks to begin the passive warfare. It is probable,
however, that our declaration may not linger much
longer. If- the Turks will not have peace, they
must have war.— Times.

• We yesterday offered some observations on what
we considered a most mischievous principle, acted
on by the Supreme Courts of England, namely,
that except corruption could be established against
a Magistrate, he should be freed from responsibility,
and we noticed a case just decided by the Court of
Session in Scotland, where two Justices of Peace
were deemed liable in damages to a man, whom, in
inflicting a penalty for a breach of the Game Laws,
they had charged with offences not connected with
the case before, them. "A case which occurred at
Marlborough-street office on Friday last, and was
again agitated-there yesterday, will serve to illustrate
the position which we have laid down. On Friday
last a Mr. Wall, d Cirencester-place, Fitzroy-
square, and an Officer belonging to Marylebone
Workhouse, appeared at the Marylebone Police
office with a boy about six years old. Wall stated
that he had formerly kept a boarding-school at
Streatham, but had sold the establishment with
the pupils, four months ago, to a Mr. Row-
croft- ; that on Thursday the child then by his
side had been returned on his hands by Mr. Rowcroft,
-who, be had imagined, was apprehensive that as
the child was illegitimate, and the parent had gone to
India, he would not be paid for him. In this case
the 'duty. of the. Magistrate was very simple. His
authority to act was given to him by the Poor Laws,
and he had .merely to ascertain who was chargeable
with the maintenance of the boy. On the face of
the statement it was obvious that Mr. Rowcroft
could not be liable for the maintenance of the bov.—
The selling, the boys meant neither more nor less
than selling the goodwill of the school, on the prin-
ciple followed in all other concerns in England. Mis
Wall could not sell to Mr. Rowcroft the boys, be-
cause it did not deperid upon him, but the parents
or guardians of the boys, whether they should re-
main a day with Mr. Rowcrofs; and, on the other
Antud, there could be no engagement on the part of
Mr. Rowcroft to keep the boys a day or an hour
longer than he liked or was paid for. If he was
bound to keep them a day, he was bound to keep
them twenty years, or a life time. , With Mr. Row.
ti-oft it was entirely a matter of cseling prudence,
whether he should keep all or any of-them, beyond
the period which he might have bargained with Mr.
Wall, or the parents or guardians of the children, to
keep them. Upon the mere ex-parte statement of
Mr. Wall, Mr. irlawlinson, according to the report in
the Chronicle, is made to say, " the conduct of the
parties towards the little creature had been very
,entiel. and improper. He desired Mr. Wall
and the officers to take him back immediately in a
hackney coach to Streatham, and tell Mr. Row-
croft, if he did not receive him, measures would
be taken to compel him; and in the mean time, to
treat the child with the greatest kindness, and by no
means as a pauper." .The Times and New Times
have the same report. In the account lathe Morn-
inglierald, Mr. Rawlinson is made to say, " this
was an indictable offence, and desired a summons to
he issued against Mr. Rowcroft, in order that he
might come and explain the matter;" and he is
afterwards made to advise " one of the parish offi-
cers, who was present, to take the boy down to
Streatham, and to tell Mr. Rowcroft that probeed-
ings would be taken against him, if he refused to
take the child back. It was, he said, a most cruel
act towards this little creature, to leave him in that
way, and he hOped Mr. Rowcroft would receive him
into his house again, and behave kindly to him."—
We do not say that Mr. Rawlinson used the lan-
guage here attributed to him; but if we say,
that if he did, on a mere ex-parte statement,
use language which might go to injure Mr.
Rowcroft most materially, by holding him up as a
cruel man, he ought, on every principle of justice,
to be held responsible to that gentleman. Assuming
that he thus pronounced an opinion on the conduct
of Mr. Rowcroft (for we do not say that he did state
-what is put in his mouth), without hearing him,
the least lie could do, when Mr. Rowcroft appeared
before him again yesterday was to give him a hear-
ing. Two places in Scotland (Jedburgh and Cu-
par) conteed for the hpnour of having first hanged
men and then tried them • a measure highly credit-
able to the economy of the Scotch, as they thereby
saved the maintenance of the prisoners. However,
they gave them at last a trial--a very fair trial. But
11,7 r. Rawlinson still neither' hear Mr. Rowcroft be-
fore nor after sentence. Under very excited feel-
ings, as may easily, be supposed, Mr. Rowcroft
wished to explain, that the statement made against
him, on which the Magistrate, according to the re-
port, had pronounced so confident ,an opinion, was
incorrect; but after waiting in the alike until all
the police cases were disposed of, on his rising
to speak he was cavalierly stopped short by Mr.
Rawlinson. " I have come (he said) to explain
conduct. You have thought fit to pronounce an
opinion on an ez-parte statement, and will you not
hear my refutation ?" No—not a word Would he
listen to. Had he listened to the explanation, or
looked into the correspondence to which, in justice
to Mr. Rowcroft, we have considered ourselves
bound to give publication, he would have found that
that gentleman was under far leas obligation to
maintain the child than he himself was. Mr. Row-
croft who is a son-of the late much-esteersied Mr.
Alderman Rowcroft) has himself a family of nine
children. He had already, in the short space of
three months, had five failures inshis establishment,
and this boy made ;he sixth. lie had Aorresponded
with all those from whom any knowledge of the boy
could be derived, with a view to obtain some gua-
rantee for the mere outlay on him, but his efforts •
were fruitless. A Mr. Carter, an attorney, at Maid-
stone, who had been connected with the father of
the boy, very kindly advised Mr. Rowcroft to bear
the risk, but very prudently shrunk from it hitnaelf.
A Clergyman at Roe.hester' who had been applied
to with a view to ascertain the relations of the child
by the mother's side, could only inform him that he
was born in an inn
at Rochester, end that a poor
man in the parish of Shona., in whose care the
child had once been, -complained that.three pounds
were due to him for his maintenance. After ins
4uiring in all directions for two Dr. three months,
from a wish, highly creditable to him, to save the
poor boy from coming in contact with the parish,
without success, he' felt himself bound to apply
to the parish, at whose recommendation the
boy was taken to Mr. Wall. There are few people
who are so cruel as to refuse to be generous at the
expence of others. What makes novel-reading so de-
lightful to sentimental persons is, that they can wet
the pages with their tears, without lightening
their pockets of a farthing, The generosity is pure
and unmixed ; no coming event—such as a clamo-
rous tradesman's bill, which an sat of liberality
Might leave unsatisfied—casts its shadow before.
Even an attorney can be generous in theory, for
alms. W. Carter, Esq., in the very letter in hich
be tells Mr. Rowcroft, " though he feels no anxiety
for losing his money," yet " lie cannot afford to
add to his responsibility," very humanely observes
—" Yon surely would not pursue so harsh and de-
grading a measure" as to refuse to charge yourself
With his board and education. Mr. Carter observes,
it is true h®haee eery large family hi mself, or "he would
cheerfully tat v 4be boy home ;" but he has no hesitas,

tion, without knowing whether Mr. Rowcroft has
a large family or not, to pronounce that it would be
a harsh measure in him to do what he (Mr. Carter)
does himself. Mr. Rawlinson too, is evidently
deeply affected by tales of distress, and thinks it
very hard that any one should want de Mr. tow-
croft has a shilling in his pocket. He also, like
Mr. Carter is quite above considering the. nine
months dependent on Mr. Rowcroft for subsistence.
But this the way of world. Tender sentimental
attorneys and blubbering Magistrates, who,'were Mr.
Rowcroft's family on the streets, would not, perhaps,
give them a single sixpence to save them from the
gnawings of hunger,. think it cruelty in the extreme,
excessive cruelty, that, without knowing any thing
of the connections of an illegitimate child, he should
not; in addition to the three months' board and edu-
cation which he has already lost,. continue to feed,
clothe,
.and educate him at the ;isk of never re-
ceiving a farthing. If he were to keep the boy for
one, two, three years, without receiving a farthing,
or seeing a prospect of receiving any, there would
still, we doubt not, be sentimental attorneys and
magistrates to exclaim, " 0 fie! how cruel ! to
turn away the poor boy after having had him so
long in his house ;" But we ask, if the
.bread of a
man striving to maintain by his exertions a large
family, and to the success of which exertions public
()Pinion is essential, is to be -taken from him in this
albitrary manner by a Magistrate, whose sole title
to interfere at all was as an administrator of the poor
lavv ? What right or title had he to sit in judg-
ment on Mr. Rowcroft ? What right has any Ma-
gistrate to say, on an ex-parte statement, that this or
that is cruel? We contend, that if the Supreme
Courts do not curb Magistrates—that is, do not
punish them when they travel out Of the record,
when they pronounce on the character and conduct
of men, without being called on so to do—they
may ruin and destroy whom they please.—
Their duty is to administer the law, -and to
say no more than they are called on to say in
the cases -before them. If improper persons
are thrust into the Magistracy, who -cannot
distinguish between what . they ought and what
they ought not to do (we do not say that this
description applies to Mr. Rawlinson), that is no
reason why the public should suffer from their
blunders. If the English Judges would only act
with the manly independence of the Judges of the
Court of Session, Magistrates who could not act.
without blundering would, after paying a few penal
ties, find out the propriety of leaving the field open
to better men. 0 but the Press does all the mis-
chief! It was the Press that gave currency to the
statement of Mr. Wall, and the opinions of Mr.
Rawlinson ! There is no harm then hsthe character
of a man being attacked by a Magistrate in an open
Court, and his reputation being whispered away,
without his knowing the enemy who fired at him in
the dark. There is in she interesting work, " The
TaleS of the O'Hara Family," an interesting case of
a young man, who suddenly found every door shut
on him, without his being able to ascertain the
cause, which turned out to be the secret whispering
of a Priest. Why it is the Press that renders the
scandal innocuous. An innocent man is thus enabled
at once to meet and destroy the effect, of the accu-
sation, which might otherwise ruin him irretrievably.
The Press is the bulwark of the innocent. It is the
person who states what is unjustifiable, not the
Reporter who is the author of the evil; and the
Press, if Magistrates be not screened from responsi-
bility, would 'arrest, or at.least check the evil, by
presenting to the minds of Magistrates that their
language will not be lost, and that if they speak
unadvisedly they must take the consequences.—
Morning Chronicle.
People are taught to hand down facts to posterity.
Whenever our present unfortunate dispute with
Turkey is related, we trust it will not be forgotten
that the whole originated, as far as this country is
concerned, in the schemes and theories of two sets
of people, calling themselves Philhellenists and
Greek Bondholders, and in the country having a
Minister unstatesmanlike enough to give ear to peo-
ple's impostures. The history of the world affords
few instances of folly equal to this; and if such a
practice were to prevail, it would be only necessary
for a knot of enthusiasts and jobbers to get together,
raise an outcry, and to get part of the Press to se-
cond them, vo involve dig country in war with one
or all of the States of the world. One would think
there should be a wisdom somewhere to protect a
whole community against such consequences : but
on this occasion it has unhappily been wanting 7 and •
we are now to be involved in a war with a Power,
which it was our interest above all others to be at
peace with. It is said, and with some degree of
technical truth perhaps, that the measure, right or
wrong, was not one of Lord Goderichls Admini-
stration ' • and that, therefore, the present Ministry
may " bark out" of it. We wish Ministers joy of
the advocates who do them the honour of adopting
such a line ofargument. Considering that they were all
the colleagues of that Minister, under whose auspices
the Treaty of London was negotiated and signed,`they
must all either have had a voice in the matter, or ad-
mit that they were in his presence mere automata,
succumbing to therays of his all-powerful genius. The
Ministerial writers, therefore, who resort to this equi-
vocation, neither serve nor do honour to their patrons
by such a course ; and we have a much better opi-
nion of Lord Goderich's candour and spirit, than to
suppose that he will consent, with Macbeth, to ex-
claim, Never say I did it." Whoever did it, the
art luts been a most unwise one, and may, ere long,
lead to consequences the most embarrassing. At
home, one of its consequences, it would seem, is
likely to be an increase of taxation; while in our ex-
ternal relations it must lead to lessening, if not de-
stroying, the power of that State whose strength
was osir own—to an early jealousy of the views of
one, if not both the Powers with whom we have
entered into so injudicious an alliance—and to the
ultimate aggrandisement of that State, which, how-
ever sincere and pacific the views of its present
Ruler may be, like other despotic Governments,
may, whenever it pleases, adopt a policy the very
reverse of that which, for the moment, it professes.
We confess we do not see how Ministers are to ac-
quit themselves of having unnecessarily involved the
country in these consequences. Here was no invasion
of teeriPary or of national rights to resent or to defend,
but, at home tg least, only the outcry of a set of people,
one half fools and the other knaves, urging on the
Government in a way which the very weakest of
men ought to have despised. To have swept the
sea of pirates, and to have insisted that the dispute
between the forte and her Greek subjects should
be no longer an annoyance to-the rest of the world,
were legitimate objects for the present Allied Powers
to have pursued; though, as far as
.England was
concerned, she could just as well have done her
part without an alliance as with it. This would
have been very diffssent policy from taking a side,
and making war upon a Power merely because it
does not choose to yield implicit and prompt obedi-
ence to orders which those who dictate them had no
right upon earth to give. And yet, for objects ille-
gitimate and groundless like these, Great Britain
finds herself invoked in a contest from which she
can derive no honour—in which even the splendid
services of her navy became-equivocal—and the ul-
timate consequences of which may be more fatal to
her national' welfare and resources than the most
Quixotic enterprise in which her Government could
have engaged.—Morning Herald.
It certainly would be a great improvement in the
system of the Church of England, if a decent allow-
ance were made to that hard-working and
class of its Ministers—the Curates; at least that por-
tion of them whose '° labours in.* vineyard" are
unsweetened by any hopes derived from patronage
or connection. In the present highly taxed and
overburdened state of the country, in consequence
of its National Debt, we would hesitate to advise
even so just a measure, were it not that we know
that the Church Establishment is rich enough to
providerespeetably for all its members. The great
inequality between the allotted stipends of the dif-
ferent orders of Clergy has not grown out of the or-
dinances of Scripture, and cannot be supported on

their foundation. The . nomish Church, which
overlayed the•pure spirit of Christianity with its
Corrupt iaventions, first -introduced that inequality
of payment to the Ministers of Religion which is still
preserved in our own. The Romish Church first
invented Popes, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishopi,
mitred Abbots, and some other dignitaries, with the
grandeur, power, and wealth of temporal Princes,
while it left inferior orders of the Clergy to
struggle with constant poverty, or' enrich them-
selves by a dishonest, exercise of. their spiritual in-
fluence. The Romish Church is called by our
orthodox Divines Antichrist, and certainly nothing
could be more Anti-Christian than to bestow on one
class of Clergy all the .means of worldly splendour,
poMp, and luxury, and leave otherS, and those the
working class, to a miserable pittance, not sufficient
for the decent support of life. Before the Reform-
ation thousands of inferior Clergymen in this country
were under the necessity of supporting themselves
principally by the " offerings" which they solicited
from the public while the Beckets and Wolseys of
the then Establishment' were rolling in wealth, and
wining with Kings in pride and magnificence. The
Reformation preserved too much of thiS part of the
Romish system, while it swept away " aurictilar con-
fession" the " worship of images," and other lucra-
tive impositions. Thus it happens that the higher
order of the Clergy are nearly in as good a situation,
in a worldly point of view, as the higher order of
the Romish Clergy were; but the inferior class are
far worse of. Romish Priests, by means of " au-
ricular confession," the doctrine of " purgatory,"
and other profitable superstitions, had -a more
secret and, effective influence over :the minds
of their flocks than the Curates of the Reformed
Church ever can have; and, through that influence,
could get more readily at the people's pockets, so as
to be able to add to their means by, extra offerings
and donations of the weak-minded, the sick, and the
dying, beyond the ordinary dueS to which they were
entitled. The Citrates of the Church of England
have no such profitable machinery of superstition to
work with ; they must combine the keeping of a
school or the pursuit of private tuition with their
other severe duties, if they would at all acquire a
respectable livelihood. But if the riches of the
Church were a little less unfairly distribtited, there
would be resources enough for the liberal mainte-
nance of the higher Clergy, whose principal duty is
to superintend the workmen; and for the respect-
able support of the more humble and numerous
body, who " bear the burden and heat of the day."
The Chnrch of England stands very much in need
of a reformation of this sort, to complete the former
reformation.—Eid.

The extract which we subjoin is taken from a
letter, addressed by his brother to a gentleman'in
Westminster, who has had the goodness to favour
us with a perusal of the original. All communica-
tions from Constantinople possess at the present
conjuncture very high interest. Some of the facts
which are detailed in the following have been anti-
cipated by the summary which we gave on Monday
of Mr. Stratford Canning!s despatches; but there is
one of considerable importance, as indicating the
state of the Sultan's feelings, of which we were not
then fully aware. The 7lniee of yesterday morning
says there is no doubt that the embargo at Constant:-
nople had been re-imposed on merchant vessels before
the last despatches came away. Our contemporary,
who has played his cards very indifferently for these
some months past, is wrong in this, as helms been, not
unfrequently, in more important particulars. That
the embargo had not been re-imposed on the 28th
is fully proved from the statement below. The
declaration of the Ambassadors that even their
withdrawal from Constantinople was not to be
considered as a declaration of war, but only as a
bieaking off of the negociations, is also important,
combined with the opinion of the old residents that
the Porte may even yet submit to conditions. This
declaration is not given on rumour merely; but
seems, from the context, to have made part of the
circular sent to the English, French, and Russian
inhabitants on the morning of the 20th. 'We are
sometimes told of the sagacity and intelligence of
Turkey in her diplomatic arrangements, but we are
at 'a loss to discover in what they consist. It is
quite evident that, with a wise or cunning Govern-
ment, such a consciousness of weakness as Turkey
cannot fail to feel would have prompted any thing
rather than the proud and uncompromising tone
which it "assumed from the first, and which, up to
• the 28th, it appears to have maintained. The fol-
- lowihg 'is the extract alluded to :
CONSTANTINOPLF 28.
"We have'now fixed to go to Smyrna by the, N
Elizabeth,'(r.:
Captain Holmes.. The vessel has all her papers ready, that
is, her firma ; she will _sail in one or two days. we
have also our passports, and we put our luggage on board
to-morrow. The vessel we go in is consigned to M. La
Fontaine's house, a gentleman I have already mentioned as
having been particularly kind to us.
" I am sorry to say things are not going on well here.
The three Ambassadors, in consequence of their confer-
ences with the Porte not having terminated satiefactOrily,
have come to the resolution of demanding their passports ;'
with this intimation, however, that their departure is not
to be considered as a declaration of war, but only -as a
breaking off of negociation. Official intimation of this
measure has this morning been given to the resident sub-
jects of the different powers. It remains to be seen what
effect this will produce on the Porte. She must at length be
convinced that the Allies are determined to render Greece
independent, whether she treat or not. What can she
hope from a quarrel, the mostiavourable issue of which
would be, that she would obtain after a war what she is
offered before it? Those who have resided long here think
she will avoid a war, and say, When the Ambassadors
are Os board, then will we believe they are to leave.' This
may be the case—this ptishing to extremities may be the
Turkish policy now, as it has always been still it is
doubtful whether prudence will prevail over ignorance,
wounded pride, and a better motive—patriotism. I am
one of those who believe that the Turks will come to terms.
I shall act, however, as if they were not to do so.
" It will depend on what the people of Smyrna think
whether we go to Alexandria or to the lonian Islands. I
saw .Mr. W. to-day, who said he could see no risk in going
to Egypt. He has had letters from thence, after the news
of Navarin had been known there."

—New Times.

No further advices from Mr. Stratford Canning
had arrived when our Paper was put to press. It
must be a source of mortification to every genuine
Englishman, to find that the general repose of
Europe is at last most seriously threatened ; and it
is most disheartening to think, that in a season of
such imminent peril, we are left without a.wise,
vigorous, or comprehensive Government. Without
stopping to speculate upon the causes that led to
the present crisis, it is admitted on all hands that
our liberal' system abroad and at home has mainly
contributed to produce it. We pretend not to
question the purity of the motives by which any of
its advocates were actuated ; but with all due sub-
mission to their understandings, we must doubt the
prudence or the soundness of the policy on which
they have acted. It was the great object of
England, until within a very short period, to
maintain what was called tho balance of power
in Europe, with a view to improve the in-
ternal condition of the States composing it,
and of preventing the aggression of the more
powerful over the weaker. To this . end it
was that we struggled against the ambition of Na-
poleon; and having, conjointly with other Powers,
effected his total destruction, some half-fledged phi-
losophers have started up amongst us, and with the
usual, though unaccountable success of other charla-
tans, have for a time persuaded the nation to for-
sake the paths that led them to glory and prosperity.
The nostrums of the quacks were greedily swal-
lowed, and when the nation's stomach became dosed
with them, nausea and bitterness naturally followed.
The bitter fruits, it is our unpleasant duty to state,
we are now sorely feeling; and in common with all
the right-thinking portion of the community, we
earnestly entreat our gracious Sovereign to save us
from still greater and more calamitous evils. The
British nation at all times requires a sensible and
prudent, if not an able government; but in cases
of 'great emergency,, all those qualities should be
united. At the present day, we have neither wis-

dom abroad, not: prUdenee' it lonie—.every thing
seems to be left to chance, or perhaps what is worse,
is confided to the stripling care of some 'irrespon-
sible officer, who is equally ignorant of the duties* of
his station, and the obligation he has contracted with
the Sovereign and the:Nation in his acceptance of
office upon any consideration. The present Minis-
try has no principle of unity, of congeniality of
views or sentiments, to keep. it long together—
and fortunate for *the country that • it is so; it is
made up• Of shreds' and patches—of every heteroge-
neous matetial which defies all confidence in their
measures, and excludes all hope from their future
efforts. They appear to have been completely nut-
witted by Russia and by France; despite the tripar-
tite victory of Navdrin, and the consequent breach
of faith with one of our most ancient Allies. They
have, to say the least, imprudently risked a war, the
ultimate result of which no man can now fore-
see—and their domestic policy. has • been a tissue
of petty exactions here, and • hypocritical re-
ductions therethe former unable to swell a de-
clining revenue, and the latter in no way calculated
to effect its professed object. In fact, the present
Government are like men in the dark, who may
stumble out of the scrapes in which their precipitancy
and want of foresight have involved them ; but it is
evident they are not the persons either individually
or collectively who can right the helm of the State,
and save her from impending storms. We have no-
thing whatever to do with them in their private ca-
pacity; but, as public men, they are a species of
public property, and cannot take objection at being
treated as such. 'We do not. quarrel with them as
men—their measures, as official personages, we have
a right to watch with care, and to expose with can-
dour, whenever necessity may demand it. This
course we have pursued from a thorough conviction
of its propriety, and we shall not deviate from it
until we find our cause's of complaint remeditd—if
not altogether removed.—Morning Post.