The Sun.
London, England, 1827-12-07 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF TUE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

In the still-protracted delay of official news
from Constantinople, we would recommend the
perusal of our City article. The funds advan-
ced more than a half per cent. at the opening of
the market, while the issues of war or peace
may be said to hang upon the balance ; and the
cause of this advance was ascribed to the econo-
mizing measure of releasing the Yeomanry from
their duties. Thii3 cause is no suggestion of
ours,—it was discovered and applied to an
otherwise causeless effect by the people in the
money-market itself; and, without either affirm-
ing or denying its validity, we lIQW only state its
origin and its supposed consequence. The mere
suggestion, however, of such a cause, is a proof
of the beneficial efficacy which those who are
pretty conversant in money matters attribute to
the spirit of retrenchment evinced in one•act.—
and let it be observed, that this is not only a re-
trenchment of public expences, but a sparing also
of the'mOney:of individuals,---7.an accommodation
to the wants- of a class of persons unavoidably
suffering by the pressure of the times : its opera-
tion in this respect must be considerable. For
we haVe all seen the complete accoutrements and
excellent fitting-out of the Yeomanry Cavalry.
If these have cost the country but little, and if,
therefore, but little be now remitted to the coun-
try, when it ceases from being obliged to contri
bute its part towards the supply of them,: so
much the better for the Yeoman:
gains the more ; he gains all . the rest,'
both of time and of money. But when,
we ask, was-ever such a thing known before even
in the.history of this sea-girt country,- as the
disbanding ofa military force on the threatened
commencement --of—a- war ? This interrogatory
ejaculation brings us to consider, for a moment,
the nature of the menaced war itself. It is now
for more than five years, that not only the people
o
untries
in Europe,
England,Eurve nhbvuet not
poor Greeks,
theboer:rl
been hurling
e Ipeoplee_kibyisn,fellow-Christians,
je e
lcho or
dear most
bitter
reproaches at their respective Governors " for
suffering
th,
the
f faith,
but by the recollection of ancient times and
early associations, to be oppressed and slaughter-.
ed by a race of blind, barbarous, bigotted inti-
, dels.' At length the cause of the oppressed
people is taken up by three of the chief Euro-
pean States: a treaty is formed, not to make
them triumph over their masters, but only for
their protection against absolute extermination.
The Tory party of England are the authors- of
the Treaty. In its announcetcent to the Turks
by an united maritime force, capable of ensuring
it execution, a battle takes place, begun by the

Turks themselves. Is there any people of Eu-
rope, we ask, base enough to shrink from the
consequences of such a battle, and to leave their
Governors " in the lurch," after they had forced
those Governors-to adopt measures which might
lead to such a conclusion ? And above all, if
there be a people so base, is that people the
English ? We leave it to England itsei to an-
swer the question,---or rather we will answer it.
We will answer it in the name of that heteroge-
neous new Opposition which is said to be spring-
ing up, and amalgamating contrarieties ! In the
name of that Opposition we will say, " Yes,
leave the Ministers in the lurch, now you have
embarked them in the cause of humanity ! De-
sert the Greeks, whom you have affected to pity !
What matters it?---you will hot hear their cries !

you will not see their blood flow ! A people
will be .extinguished—a race of' men will cease
to exist ; but those by whom they will be exwr-
minated"will soon supply their place on the phy-
sical globe, and will more competently discharge
all the charities of human life and commercial
intercourse in that once-blessed region, by the
gentleness of their manners, the purity of their
faith, and the vivacity of their intellect'' This,
we say, is the language of those who would ad-
vise us now to fly from the effects of the en-
gagements into which they plunged us. But,
further, they would affect, we are told, to blame
the battle of Navarin itself, from which such ha-
'. portant consequence may flow. Why, if we
meant to stay the slaughter of the Greeks, we
must at least, with our allies, exhibit a fin-ce ca-
pable of effecting the purpose. And this is the
first time we ever head that a British squadron
might not show itst where the. Turkish crescent
was floating! H w was the 'battle to be
avoided ? We did not begin it. Did Sir Ed-
ward Codrington frame his despatches for the
occasion ? Did he write theist before the battle
commenced ? He says that the. Turks fired at
us repeatedly by muskets, and at last by a can-
non, before their shot was returned. Was he
to submit to this? If he had so submitted, we
hope he would have died on the quarter-deck
like Byng; and even if he had submitted once,
would not the insult and murder—fOr such they
were—have been repeated by the Turks r Did
he take them unprepared ? All was ready for
the engagement on both sides, and they began l
it. Or, if Codrington had receded, o
ede:ll' could he
have imposed the same
measure
a
the French
airrid b
d Reuenssi destroyed ans
? Supposerat
turned to England with his squadron safe, gird
only a few men killed and wounded, how then
would he have faced his country ? • How WOUkt
his country have faced indignant Europe?
But,or
captured, they
had
and fought u
he alone,a d
on the contrary, he did not fight till
he was
forced to it ; and when engaged, 1.
tscharged
his duty like a brave man. The consequence
of this battle is, not war of a ceitaint • •y, but 1,
most
'certainly war - or submission
on the part of the
Turks.— Times. •

The Noble Duke who is now restored to the
head of the Army is said to be every where assert-
ing the perplexity in which Ministers are involved
by their approbation of the late battle. "We
have them now : they are tied to the treaty by
the red riband," (the Order of the Bath sent out
to Sir Edward Codrington for the battle of Na-
varin). It would be ungracious to desert a brave
man who had fought well in the cause of hu-
manity. But is not his Grace also
pboosinidve,
equally fast with Ministers, to the policy of which
the battle of Navarin is the first result, by the
seal which he affixed to the Treaty of St. Peters-
burgh ?—lbid.
We are authorized by atirlieoisirpitety:te;abmalneasdugt;ntleman, •
who is also, we havtleyt.heaNt,ety. reasoli)nresteontbeedlietvoet,hae
confidential agent of the Bishop of Chester, now
ngtiovefnto:)yrni,istooenoiitiritdai(u.
subjectit)eurina: lise public, loti e4fiatsithlaieti es
I:l7,o'etrrt,l::::;:iiic)lßziaiwstylici.
uoaEpoeonafltei:e,onsorouowirbitihjeateihhnp:::
plied, to the Archbisholpt:frelarteitnecreb
to
this,sub.
occasional rubber at, whist. The contradiction
st:eadfinal acknowledgment
iiillei),(u.)trsetw Tel:
be
Si Ila
considered 3 Cq
state,t t e
in a • letter which the.
he is too old to
Bishop of Norwich
; le tOci blind to read
has recently written, his
that we were in, err_or.,,
Lordship says, that
\vith any one 1 is by
el:nice!

'7lll

light, therefore his only resource on a winter's
evening was a game at cards ; and that he would
frankly own it was his intention not to give them
up."—/bid.
We see from the Scotch Tapers that a num-
ber of agricultural labourers, could not receive en-
gagements at the late hiring markets, and that
wages have in consequence been very much re-
duced. This is attributed to the depression of
prices of produce. Thus, for instance, the
Edinburgh Courant gives the following state-
ment from a Correspondent in East Lothian :
" The scarcity of work which prevailed in the manu-
facturing districts, and which for a long time was severely
iplt by manufacturers of every description, seems now to
nave reached those counties which are purely agricultural ;
for at all the recent hiring markets a vast number of young
men and labourers remained unengaged, whilst those who
fortunately found a master were contented to serve him at
reduced wages. This stagnation of labour, which augurs
no good to the prosperity of the country, was expected' to
follow the reduction which has occurred in the value of farm
produce, therefore gives no surprise to those who are prac-
tically acquainted with rural transactions. Indeed, under
existing circumstances, the probability is, that the demand
for labour will gradually lessen, till it is entirely confined to
theoperations of ploughing, harrowing, thrashing, and other
necessary purposes ; whilst every kind of improvement must
be laid aside, front a total want of the means for carrying
it into execution. If labourers thus suffer in the first in-
stance, the case of their masters will soon be infinitely
worse ; for proprietors of laud may run abroad, and live
at less expence than they can do at home, and labourers
may emigrate to other countries in search of employment,
though noue of these shifts can be of any avail to the mas-
ter farmer, he being bound neck and heel to the farm till
his lease be concluded or his capital be exhausted. The
case of the master manufacturer is very different, as, when
trade languishes. he has only to stop businest till matters
come round, and then proceed as formerly. Not so the
farmer, for he must go ou with his work at all events, not-
withstanding its being as clear as noon day that from it no
advantage can be reaped."
It appears, then, that food is so dear in France,
that the military. are hardly able to keep-down
the starving population, while in this country it
is so low as to ruin the farmer, while it is yet so
much above the famine price of our neighbours,
that we cannot export any to them. This comes
of the mad attempt to force prices up by artificial
means greatly beyond what , they are in other
countries. The farmers say they must turn. off
their hands from inability at the present prices
to employ them. But how, we ask, can this be
prevented ? Whence can they obtain higher
prices? What branch.of our industry is in ;a
state to afford higher prices for food ? How can
the English manufacturer, on wages which do net
exceed those paid on the Continent, pay a double
and triple price for ,his food ? No Legislative
skill can extract from men more than they pos-
sess. The times are now very different from
what they were, when a cotton-spinner and his
family received four and five guineas a week,
and the single weaver his two guineas. Then the
mechanic could fare sumptuously, and enable the
farmer to indulge in all the luxuries of both he-
mispheres. But peace put an end to this state
of things. The war burdened us with a ruinous
debt, and peace offered to capital more bene-
ficial channelS of investment than are to be found
in an over-taxed country. But with our decreas-
ing means, we retain many of the pernicioUs
habits of extravagance
.acquired during the war.
The men who acquired capital in agricultute,
were mostly of low origin, with frugal habits,
and an everlasting vigilance, that attended mi-
nutely to every operation. But these men left
behind them, for the most part, a set_ of profli-
gate sons, who played the fine gentlemen, kept
hunters and livery servants, and forgetting that
the success of farming depends chiefly •riti care
and vigilance, and attention to minute details,
trusted every thing to servants. The .conse-
quence has_been the breaking up of a great num-
ber of these men. There is no evil without its
attendant good. We have heard that, in several
places, where cultivation has been carried to a
high pitCh of perfection, the destruction of :large
fanners haegiven rise to a nw mode of cultivation.
Several men of good chareacter of the lower or-
ders, who had saved Small capitals, NV C formed
copartnerships for stocking and labouring alarm,
which has enabled them to avail themselves of
the economy and superior distribution of labour
introduced by the farmers On a large scale, while
they display all the care and frugality of the
small farmers, and conduct the labour with an
energy and heartiness which, cannot be expected
from the hired labourer. In this manner. a
source of hope is opened for the industrious
and virtuous of the labouring classes, who,
by the general prevalence of large farms, re-
quiring large capitals, were ut off from all
means ot emerging from their zaituation, and
doomed to everlasting villenage. In the High.
lands of Scotland, the inhabitants of which
were devoted to destruction by the introduction
of sheep-farming, the greatest change has, we
understand, been wrought by the partnership
system. The natives having acquired a know-
ledge of the management of sheep, combined in
their respective villages to form a flock, under a
common shepherd ; and during the severe storms,
when the great farmer had no 'extra supply 'of
hands,_ each of the small farmers attended to his
share of the common flock; and thus often suc-
ceeded, by extraordinary efforts, in saving them,
while the 'flocks of the great farmer were de-
stroyed. We have heard that the improvements
of the Marquis of Stafford, which were attended
with such an, expense of individual suffering,
have turned out in the end a bad concern, while
the estates possessing old Highlanders have been
more successful. But be this as it may, it is
obvious that the agriculture of this country must
go hand in hand with its manufactures and ,com-
pierce, and that all the Corn Laws in the world
would be unable to extract high prices front rea
duced profits 'and reduced wages. Rents must
fall, and a number of estates mortgaged beyond
• their value, must go from the owners. These
things are deeply to be deplored : but we know
of no security against vicissitudes in this world.
Estai.es must share the fate of other property. A
fall of prices sends the merchant to the Gazette;
a fall of rents beggars the owner, whose estate is
deeply mortgage:a, For a log time past, many
receiving rents out of the
landlords have been
capital of their tenants On lease. But this stag
of things cannot last always. We see the Duke
of Buccleugh has lowered his rents SO per cent. ;
those landlords who refuse to imitate bun, must
make up their minds to do so, when they
beggared their tenants.—Morning Chronicle..
.. • There' are two classes of persons in this
country who chiefly derive advantage from the
present state of the law of libel—namely, per-
sons of sordid speculation, who hope to pocket
motley by it, and persons of doubtful reputation,
who wish to patch up a character. Among the
former class are the low and needy—or, as they
are denominated in the " vulgar tongue," the
pettilogging......attorneys. In the other class are
genteel swindlers and joint-stock schemers, who
swarm in our day
on the banks of the Nile numerously as the " reptiles
- Lion of the underlings of office and the minor
functionaries,who are as
v
intolerent of the eye andoice of public opinion as
Spanish Inquisitors,
and whose moral health is
•so . delicate that, as

some satirical writer has observed, they cannot
live withoutfianne/ next their 'reputation. On
the other hand, we never meet with an• justice
of a man of truly honourable mind and virtu us
character who does not rely more upon the fotce
of fact, and the eventual triumph of truth,; in
clearing his fame from any temporary obloquy
that prejudice or mistake may have thrown upon
it, than upon the penal application of the law of
libel, which, though it may. silence opinion,
cannot convince it. This topic cannot be better
illustrated than by reference to the language used
by the Irish Lord Chancellor, Sir Anthony
Hart, the other day, in the course of sonic ob-
servations which he made in reply to a statement
of Mr. Saurin. That Learned Gentleman, in
arguing the case at present in litigation between
the Lord Chancellor and the Master of the
Rolls, relative to the appointment of a Secretary
to the latter, thought proper to observe that " It
was extremely desirable it should not go forth
to the public that any unpleasant feeling existed
between the two Courts ; and more particularly
in the present times, when there was generally
prevailing a wish and au erukavour to degrade
and bring into contempt those in high station."
-.—How did the Lord Chancellor meet this
ad captandum substitute for argument, in
which the general feeling of society was
vilified to serve the particular interest of
the Master of the Rolls ? Did the Learned
Lord countenance the doctrine in the abstract,
or admit its personal applieationy His good
sense made him disclaim the one, and his confi-
dence in his own rectitude would not allow him
to set any value upon the other. His language,
in allusion to this subject, deserves to be• borne
in mind by all persons in authority, and espe-
cially by those who show a fretful irritation or a
vindictive vanity whenever their conduct becomes
the topic of public discussion. .He is stated to
have said, " With respect to that part of Mr.
Saurin's argument, relative to the wish existing
in the persons alluded to by him to degrade and
bring into contempt those in high stations, I
have but one observation to make ; and it is,
that he who acts uprightly, whose conduct is
open, to investigation, and whose motives are
freely and openly laid before the public-.-who
feels a consciousness of acting uprightly, ac-
cording to the best of his judgment—has nothing
to fear from the opinion of any man pr class of
men. Such are my feelings, and thus I dispose
of that part of the argument." Those are senti-
ments worthy of a British Judge who relies upon
his own acts and his own intentions, and not
upon legal sophistry or a law of terror, to pro-
tect from unjust aspersion the " spotless purity
of the ermine." It is lie who entertains such
sentiments, whether in public or private life,
who knows the true value Of character, for 'lie
establishes it on its only solid and permanent
basis—his own probity and virtues. Where
these do not exist, the law of libel may, indeed,
serve a mercenary or a vindictive purpose ; but
it cannot work a moral miracle, and give sound-
ness to a shattered reputation:—Morn. Herald.
So intense has the anxiety of the public been
with respect to the probable results of the battle
of Navarin, that all other subjects are almost li-
terally passed over in silence. It is now certain
that Don Miguel is to -Visit London on his way
to LiSbon,where he is to receive certain lessons

for the direction of his future government of the
Portuguese.. At the same time we are informed
that the French troops are evacuating the Spa-
nish fortresses, which they never should have oc-
cupied. ThuS then we find our armed interfe-
rence has left the Portuguese to their melancholy
fate, while in the East it is likely to lead to con-
sequences of the most disas6ous character. The
public mind is completely unsettled—and the
general distrust in the Administration nearly
at its height. To relieve us from our foreign
perplexities, or to devise any plan by wiat.
a destructive war may be avoided, would b(
conferring a valuable benefit on the public ;
hut we much apprehend that the crisis will
scarcely admit of - diplomacy coming to our
aid. We never contended for the continu-
ance of the Ottoman Government as it is, or
as it has been ; but we have still asserted,
that some Power capable of resisting the ambi-
tious projects of any European Autocrat would
be absolutely necessary to the protection of our
Eastern frontier. It cannot he disguised that
one of the Northern Powers has long cast a
wistfel eye upon Turkey ; and that .if such
Power were quietly allowed to cross the Pruth,
the Black Eagle would be soon seen floating on
the towers of the old Byzantium. The Russian
Nobles and soldiers pant for employment—that
is to say, for war ; and the Emperor has perhaps
some reason to apprehend, that a long interval of
peace would either induce or enable his subjects
to turn their attention to the cultivation of other
arts than those of war. The Sovereign himself
may be peaceably inclined ; but that is not the
prominent characteristic of his semi-barbarous
people. Besides, where the Government is
absolute, and the bulk of the people ,mere
serfs, chained to the' soil, or else soldiers
subject to the bayonet or the knout-:-the
people feel a degree of restlessness which the
Goveiriunent finds it difficult to check. A
Russian hates a Turk as the enemy of his reli-
gion ; and 'a Turk would destroy a Russian from
the same motive. Both parties either know not
or forget what they owe to civil society, and as
good government has been equally a stranger to
them, we marvel little at the surface which they
present to an attentive observer.' Austria could
not successfully prevent the irruption of Russia,
even if she were'inclinfd to do so. Prussia of-
fers no barrier—for discontent' is gnawing at her
borne
vitals at ; and except by sea,GreatMritain
herself can oppose no successful obstacle. To
do this would require a large, naval and marine
force in the vicinage of the liardanelles, or ge-
nerally in the Levant ; and thus it would so
happen, 'that our victories must entail ad-
ditional burdens upon the Nation. We have
hitherto unsettled the previous policy upon
which the balance of power in Europe was
thought to be permanently fixed. The Bour-
bons have now the possession of France, Sicily,
Spain, and, without any great violation of truth,
we may add Porti,igal. But fortunately there is
not one of the race able to take advantage of the
high ground on which he is placed, and turn
the inistAqs of England to his own accoupt,
,fin like manner the rode was allowed to exist as
an independent Power to co:mteract the designs
of Aussia—but 'it seems Oat the good old-fa-
shioned policy of prevention has been abandon-
ed, with what useful object we are at a ioss to
conjecture. Our Rulers surely must be infa-
tuated in the .conduct they are pursuingi or else'
they would not blindly and rashly continue tot
act as they have done. We hope, however, that
the good sense of the British public will teach
them their duty, and enforce its due performance.
—Morning Post.
The Marquis of Lansdowne has issued circu-
lars to the Police Offices, to inquire if any of
their officers have been guilty of compounding