The Sun.
London, England, 1827-07-19 00:00:00

SPThIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

It is with great regret that we have observed
the recent proceedings in the King's Bench
Prison. Is it by mock elections, and the ex-
eesees attendant on such scenes, that the persons
removed to that place of confinement mean to
satisfy their honest creditors, and (in many cases,
we fear) make compensation to those whom
they have wronged ? We have always supported
a lenient system of legislation on the subject of
debtor and creditor towards the former; but there
is a want of moral feeling in the prisoners who
joined voluntarily in the late festivities—for we
will give them no harsher a name—that is truly
shocking. In what state were their wives, or
children, or other relatives out of prison, (luring
the mock elections ? Were they engaged in
unmeaning merriment and stupid buffoonery ?
If the inmates of a prison have the heart to
mingle in such revels, there let them pass their
days, and be for ever forgotten by their kindred
abroad, many of whom have neither the will nor
the power to purchase for themselves similar
amusements. But let not the Marshal suffer
those who are duly sensible of their state to be
pressed, e'en by example, into the excesses of
the shameless and callous : for if there is one
tyranny more grinding than all the rest, it is that
which imposes fictitious mirth and the semblance
of enjoyment upon the sorrowful and broken-
hearted. What has the inside of a prison to do
with elections ? Mr. Jones acted prudently in
suppressing the riotous mockery, from its pro-
bable consequences and result ; he acted wisely in
suppressing it, as an indication of such profligate
hardness of heart in those who were the volun-
tary actors in it, as is disgraceful to the human
character. But why was it encouraged ? Why
was it suffered to commence and proceed ? Is
there no improper gain derived from the indis-
creet indulgencies of the prisoners ; and is folly
then only suppressed when it begins to deviate
into riot, and inspire terror for the consequences?
But, above all, why was the military called in ?
This is a most reprehensible act. If a disturb-
ance had Of.curred at the Horse Guards, it might
have been in character to quell it by a detach-
ment from Knightsbridge-barracks ; but does the
Lord Chief Justice of England allow his deputy
to preserve peace, or merely prevent a breach of
it, in the prison of which his Lordship has the
government, by soldiers ? Are fixed bayonets
and halberts to be used instead of constables'
staves, in a case 'where no resistance is offered,
and where half a dozen men were all that were
required to give the fullest effect to the Marshal's
orders, were they just or unjust?--Timer.

Since the publication of our account of the
beet method of establishing parish clubs or
friendly societies, we have received various let-
ters on the subject. One presents us with the
rules and go7ernment of a club of this nature
established and managed by a Mr. Armstrong,
the late curate of Cl:eshunt. \%e are ourselves
convinced that the whole secret of rendering
these clubs useful consists in the word " ma-
nagement." After all, what provision is to be
made for the aged, who are in health, but only
able to perform half a day's work 1 Anciently,
such men had the right of some contiguous
common, and could there tend a cow or two ;
but the indiscriminate rage for enclosing has
robbed them of this right, and in how few
places have cottages with gardens been substi-
tuted? The alleviation, also, of the burden of
the poor's-rate, sought directly and exclusively,
is an illegitimate object. The relief of the poor,
and the bettering their condition, are the first
points to be aimed at : the lowering the rate is
but a contingent or incidental advantage. We
confess we do not approve the process according
to which the land proprietor or cultivator is , al-
lowed to give low wages, and the labourer forced
to make a saving out of them for his club
money, in order to protect the said land pro-
prietor or cultivator from making up from the
rates the scantiness of the original wages.—Bid.

Though the forms of society have greatly ap-
provArt;,ated in England and France since the
peace, theme still remain certain distinctive pecu-
liarities ; nor are any more remarkable than those
which, in the upper classes, regulate the inter-
course between man and man. The fiery tem-
perament of the Frenckman often takes offence
at an expression, a gesture, or a glance, which
would pass unobserved or disregarded by his
more phlegmatic neighbour. aiisfaction is
angrily demanded, and haughtily refused : no
letter-writing,—no mutual friend,—no hack se-
kond,—no amicable adjustment,—no Lord
CL ief Justice : they rush furious to the field ;
the 1-Anguished sprawls in the Bois de Boulogne,
and the victor breakfasts at Tortoni's, applauded
by his comrades, and unmolested by the law.
The blood of the Englishman is less easily
roused, though his courage and his spirit are at
least as high, perhaps of a higher quality, from
being more deliberate and resolved : having more
to lose, he sets a greater value on existence, nor
cares to leave before his time " the warm pre-
cincts of the cheerful day." He is the more
wary of entering into a quarrel, as, in addition
to the hazard of by a bullet, he stands
a chance—a remote one, if you please, but
still a chance—of suspension by a halter.
It is an undoubted result of this differ-
ence of character and laws, that a man who
in England- would be shunned as guar-
relcom.e, in France would be excused as sus-
ceptible ; and that forbearance on this side of
the Channel would be Timidity on the other.—
Both systems have their dii:.Advantages ; that of
France leads to frequent and fatal duels,—that
of England to a licence in manners And conver-
sation, which often interrupts the harmony of
society. 111-natured and overbearing individuals
presuming upon the patience and good humour
of others, establish privilege upon impunity, and
annoy their fellow-creatures by disagreeable re-
marks and painful allusions, or offend them by
supercilious and arrogant demeanour. Such
persons rank high among the minor nuisances of
hie ; they exercise a continual piracy upon the
ease and comfort of the peaceful member of the
community, who hates to have his bile set in
motion, and his digestion deranged, by a flippant
attack or contemptuous regard. It is no conso-
lation to him to be told that he ought not to
mind, for that it is only this man's way, or that
man's manner: from that moment he abhors the
offender, though he may endure the offence, and
secretly
delights in any mortification or chastise-
ment that may befall him. This gratification he
not unfrequently enjoys. Though the licensed
tormentor selects, with instinctive caution, such
victims for his sport as are least likely to kick, he
sometimes stumbles upon a restive animal, who,
with horn or heel, retorts a salutary correction.
Of this an instance recently occurred at one of
the minor theatres, which created general
satisfaction. A Noble Lord, who carries into
private life all the loftiness of senatorial hn-
portance, and who has laid down for himself a
system that it is beneath his dignity to treat male

acquaintance with the bow or smile of ordinary
recognition, went to Sadler's Wells, for the pur-
pose, probably, of studying the action of some
favourite performer in the melo-drame. He sal-
lied into a box, under an impression that it was
retained for him, but which, in fact, belonged
to a party of gentlemen. Though they yielded
to him the place of honour, he took offence at
their remaining in the box at all: measuring
them superciliously from head to foot, he thrice
shook the bushy honours of his head, and darted
on them such withering glances, as the basilisk,
only, or Medusa, are fabled to command. Hav-
ing vainly attempted to frown them from their
seats, he indignantly withdrew, but with glances
of such ineffable contempt, and gestures of such
portentous import, that if report says true, the
next morning an explanation was deemed indis-
pensable, the result of which was ample assur-
ance, both verbal and epistolary, that no offence
was intended,—it was only his Lordship's man-
ner.—lbid.

The struggle which is now going on between
the Press and the Justice of the Country will
form an important era in our domestic history.
The most inattentive observer must have per-
ceived, that in this struggle a principal part has
been played by Chief Justice Best. The Court
over which he presides has, in fact, been generally
selected by those ardent lovers of the liberties of the
Press, the Attorneys, as the arena on which, in
their opinion, the struggle could be most bene-
ficially carried on. These patriotic gentlemen
must, no doubt, have been greatly moved by the
ardent attachment which the venerable Judge
has always manifested for the liberty of the Press,
-and their confidence in his peeuliar ability to dis-
criminate impartially between Liberty and Li-
centiousness. Every effect has a cause, and we
have no hesitation in attributing the comparative
frequency of prosecutions for libel in the Court
of Common Pleas to the confidence entertained
by plaintiffs and their advisers, in the partiality
of the venerable head of that Court for the duly
regulated liberty of the Press, and their firm
conviction that he has nothing so much at heart
as the endearing that liberty (which, as our pa-
triots are in the habit of toasting it at their
meetings, is " like tile air we breathe ; without

it we die"), to the people of England. The
example we have in that venerable Judge proves,
in a striking manner, the importance of allowing
no consideration to weigh with those who nomi-
nate to seats on the Bench, but acknowledged
judicial fitness. Warmth and energy may re-
commend a man as a partisan, but the Judge
ought to have little in common with the partisan.
The Stuarts were pleased with the zeal which
the celebrated Jeffreys displayed in their cause ;
but James the Second (according to the extracts
from the Stuart Papers which have been pub-
lished) repented bitterly that he had ever yielded
to the appointment to so high a judicial situa-

tion, of a- man, whose indiscreet zeal could not
be moderated, and of whose actions the odium

had to be borne by himself. They who recom-
mend themselves by a readiness to go farther
than other men in the furthering of particular
views, will often go much further than it is
wished they should go ; for the diseased energy
of an ill-regulated mind, governed by 'im-
pulse and not by fixed principles, can with
difficulty be restrained when prudence requires
moderation. In the time of Judge Jeffreys,
however, the Government possessed a power
which is not possessed by the Government
of the present day. It could avail itself of
the services of a Judge for a time, and when his
unpopularity became troublesome, dismiss him.
But the Judges since the Revolution have been
appointed for life, or good behaviour—that is,
they are irremovable. A Judge appointed in a
time of political agitation, from motives of expe-
diency, remains as an affliction to the country in
times of tranquillity, andcarries with him into the
adjudication of cases between man and man the
passion and intemperance which recommended
him as a partisan. There is no evil of such
magnitude in a country as judicial partiality ; for
the constant view of this spectacle corrupts, by
the indifference to right and wrong which it
begets, that public opinion, the sensibility of
which to all deviations from rectitude and pro-
priety forms the best guarantee for the proper
conduct of all functionaries. When men are
familiarized to the sight of what is odious, their
abhorrence of it is diminished. We had all a
proof of this in the obtuseness of the public
feeling with regard to artifices for raising money
in Joint Stock Companies, which, in many cases
differed in nothing from swindling, but yet
which, from their frequency, came at last to be
so much disregarded, that the names of numbers
of Meiners Of Parliament ceased to excite atten-
tion when their participation was mentioned.—
The same tricks which passed unnoticed a year
or two ago would, five years before, have driven
from decent society any one suspected of them.
It is well for us that the learning, moderation,
and impartiality of our Judges, secure us against
the calamity of witnessing passion sporting with
the rights of parties on the judgment-seat. We
have no Chief of any of our courts, of whom
Government and people have not cause to be
equally proud. There is no such thing ever
witnessed in any of oar courts as a Judge dis-
playing, in his charge to the Jury, as much ar-
dour and eagerness to gain them to his opinion.
as if he were a party to the cause. There is no
such thing in any of our Court? as a Judge dis-
playing all the sycophancy to Jurors, to captivate
their suffrages, which would recommend a Coun-
sel to the attorneys as a knowing one. Happy
the conductors of the Press in England, that
their struggle has been carried on under such
favourable auspices. -A time may come when
that moderation and impartiality and dignified
conduct on the Bench, which so much distin-
guish the venerable Judges to whom we have so
often alluded, shall no longer be enjoyed by
them. They are, however, secure against any
such calamity, so long as that venerable Judge
retains possession of that strength which has not
been exhausted in the service of his country.-
0 may he economise that precious strength, so
dear to the Press and to English liberty !
Morning Chronicle.
We are not at all sorry that the very first
object to which the Marquis of Lansdowne 's at-
tention has been drawn, on his receiving the Seals
of the Home Department, fs the state of that
wretched receptacle of misery and vice, the
King's Bench Prison. It would not be fair, nor
is it at all our wish, to judge too severely or hastily of
the conduct of Mr. Jones, the Marshal, in the
execution of the ticklish and responsible sur-
veillance which he has to exercise ; but we must
say, generally speaking, that the introduction of
troops into a prison to check any temporary in-
subordination, seems (prima facie, at least) to
be one of the most unwise and unnecessary pur-
poses to which their services can be applied. On
the present occasion it does not seem that the
usual means adopted on similar occasions by the
civil power—such as employing Special Con-

stables, reading the Riot Act, &c..—had been
resorted to. Besides, we doubt very much whe-
ther the Marshal, though he may happen to be
a Surrey Magistrate, is exactly the person who
can with the greatest prudence and propriety act
as such in what may be called his own cause,
especially in having recourse to that " ultinza
ratio" of gaolers as well as Kings, which has
been adopted upon this occasion. We do not
mean to say that an officer would have been
justified in refusing to allow his troops to act
under the orders of Mr. Jones, the Magistrate ;
but if any lives had been lost in consequence of
Mr. Jones, the Marshal, having ordered the
troops to fire, we should not like to have stood
in the shoes of Mr. Jones, either in his one
capacity or other. But it will naturally be asked,
where was the harm of this Tom-fooling of a
mock election ? If wrong, why was it suffered
to go on ? And who has the profit upon the
beer and spirits which, as at other elections,
flowed, we have no doubt, so copiously upon the
occasion ? We repeat, however, that we are
glad that the attention of the new Home Secre-
tary must necessarily be drawn to the state of
this prison. The Whigs out of power have
always been talking of Reform ; and here is an
ample space in which the head of the party may
exercise his taste, so long repressed. Next to
the abolition of imprisonment for debt altogether,
nothing would do more credit to the humanity
and good sense of a person holding the situation
the Marquis of Lansdowne now occupies, than
an immediate reform and mitigation of the evils
of various kinds which exist in the debtor prisons
in and about the metropolis.—Morning Herald.
When the Earl of Eldon was Lord Chancel-
lor, every puny railer who had wit enough to
string together three sentences of snarling accu-
sation, shot his arrow at that venerable and illus-
trious Judge. He was the fountain head of all
that was grievous and oppressive in the system
of the Court of Chancery—he encouraged every
abuse—he caused all delays—he opposed all im-
provement. The John Williamses, the Joseph
Humes, and the Michael Angelo Taylors, while
they denounced his fatal influence, sighed aloud
for the millenium of a successor. In due season,
their aspirations were heard, and the Noble Earl
made room for the present Chancellor. We
know not what hopes may have been formed of
the immediate renovation of the Court of Chan-
cery, by the appointment of Lord Lyndhurst ;
but this we know, that his Lordship has too
much manliness of character, and too much
of honourable candour, to countenance, by
any official empiricism, the senseless clamour di-
rected against his predecessor. The following
conversation, which took place yesterday in the
Court of Chancery, is a fine practical comment
upon all the ignorant chattering which has been
heard respecting the delays of that Court :
_ _

" Mr. HEAL]) applied for leave to bring on a motion for
a new trial in the case of the King v. The Corporation of
Huntingdon.'
" Mr. SWODIN said, lie did not see any reason why the
motions for new trials should have precedence of the regu-
lar business of the Coutt. He had a number of motions
which required immediate attention ; but, in consequence
of these matters taking up three or four days, he found it
quite impossible to bring any of them forward.

"Mr. SHADWELL observed, that he had been endea-
vouring for some time past to bring on a motion for a new
trial in a case of WILLIAMS v. BACON, which had stood
over for some months ; and as it was a case of a very press-
ing nature, considering the Assizes were fast approaching,
he trusted, as his Learned Friend, Mr. Mama, who op-
posed him, was then in Court, that his Lordship would
give precedence to this case.
" The LORD CHANCZLILOR said, that, from the little ex-
perience he had in this Court, he found it was a very diffi-
cult thing to bring on motions, in consequence of some cases
extending to such an immoderate length ; but as the mat-
ter mentioned by Mr. SHADWELL seemed to have been
pending for a considerable time, he considered it entitled
to precedence."
Every man who had any knowledge upon
this subject, with honesty enough to confess his
knowledge, could have said as much as was said
by Mr. Sugden, Mr. Shadwell, and Lord Lynd-
hurst ; but there were, (and are) fools and
knaves—(they who reviled in ignorance, and
they who knew full well for what they reviled)—
who delighted to identify with a defective sys-
tem, the blameless conduct of the individual who
presided over it.—New Times.

THE MARKETS.

COAL MARE
Adair's 325. Od.
Heaton 31 6
Hebburn Main -- 33 3
31 U
Killingworth 32 0
Pontop Windsor- 90 0
Shipccte » 30 6
31 6
Willington 33 6
Wylam 32 0
Ditto Bell Robson & Co. 33 0
Ditto Burraten 32 6
Ditto Crarnlington-- 30 0
Ditto Northumberland 31 3
Ditto Russell's 95 U
Ditto Walker 31 6
Ship. at market, 493,4-Shii

.ET.—.laly IS.
Walls End Newmann— 34.5. Od.
Tanfieli Trader...,... 32 6
Londonderry small -- 18 0
Larnbton small 17 0
Eden small 1.1 6
Culin ( ox 0
Elgin Main 34
Hartley -... 20 0
Stone Coal Barrington,- 46 2
Inverkeithing Splint 19
Lambton's Primrose 32
Russell's Lyon's 32 6
Walls End Helton ..„.„ 37 6
Ditto Stewart's 37 6
Russell's Hetton'sW. E. 36 g

)s sold, 294-Unsold, 20.

LIVERPOOL CORN EXCHANGE.—JuIy V 7.
Several parcels of British and Irish Wheat have arrived
during the week. The supply of Flour has also been con-
siderable; but cf Oats and all other Grain exceedingly
light. —There was less animation in the Wheat trade at
this morning's market, but a moderate business was trans-
acted at a decline of 2d. to 3d. per 701 b. on the prices
of last Tuesday. A few parcels of fine Oats were sold
at a reduction of about Id. per 451 b. ; but the inferior
qualities were quite neglected. Barley was sought after,
at a decline in value of 2d. to 3d. per 601 b. We reduce
our quotations for Beans Is. to 25. per quarter ; and for
Flour and Oatmeal Is. per sack.

OLD.
S. d. s. d.I
0 0a 0
o a 0
) 0 Oa 00:
0 0a 0 0;
. 0 0a 0 01
0 Oa 0 0
. 0 0a 0 0
0 aa

Wheat, English, per 701 b.
Irish (red)
Ditto (white).,....
- Scotch
- Canada (free)--..
----- Foreign (free)
- Foreign (in bond),,,
Barley, English, per 601bs.
Irish
Scotch

strff• d.
d. S•
6a 0 3
8a 1 1
0a 0 0
2a 8 9
2a S
6a 9 0
0a 5 3
it
a 5 0

o Oa i O;

9a 5 0

--
F
---Beans, English, 0 6 a
per Imp. qr.— 0 0 a-- -iP
Oats, English, per 451 b.- ~,,,, -- - 0 0 a 0 ;13:;'4g 0a 5i 0
0
(-) 3 10 a 4 0
_—lrish-----.. -- 0 0a 0 o'3 5
--- Scotch
--------- 0 0 a 0 01 3 10 a 4 0
Malt, Fine, per Imp. qr. ~.,. 0 0 a 0 06! 0 a 67 0
00 „,„„.....,,,,,. 00 aa 00
0_...
—.- 2,1ida1ing....--..- ...--.....---- 0 0 a 0 o'4-6 0 a. 56 0
60
0 a 35 0
1— 0 a 0
30
Flour, Amer., duty paid, per br1...--- 0 0 a 0
sour ..-
7.......,.,,,,
----- Canadian._... 0 a 0
Indian Corn, white, per qr. of 4801 b. 0 0 a 0 p .... 0 a— 0
--.... red .••••••••.....r.,..........vwe.* 0 0 a 0 0 0 a— 0
Pease, English white, per Imp. qr..- 0 0 a 0 041 0 a 46 0
Rye. .,. ,--- 0 0 a 0 036 0 a 40 0
Oatmeal, English, per 2401b5. ..... 0 0 a 0 on 0 a n 0
Irish
---- Sec-tch .—..--.. ....... 0 0a 0 0a _ e
IMPORT OF GRAIN for the WeeK ending July 16.
Wheat. Oats. Barley. Malt. Beans. IPease. Rye. lOatml.IOatml.
Qrs. Qrs. Qrs. Qrs. Qrs. Qrs. Qrs. Loads.
4,951 1,251 10 1,435 L,04 135 -- 724
Flour, 1,129 sacks, --- barrels,

iNlNEmoracs.—Every time a certain artisan
went to confess, he failed not to prepare himself
for this act of devotion by beating his wife.
" What barbarity! what cowardice !" said one
of his neighbours to him, who had often been
a hearer and spectator of this periodical broil;
why do you beat a woman, who assuredly is
not worse than another ? You are a scandal to
the whole neighbourhood !"—" Neighbour,"
said the unfeeling husband, " I have my reasons
for acting as I do, and when they are known to
you, lam sure you will approve of them. I
have a very short memory, and do not recollect
one-fourth of my sins when I am on the point
of goingf to confess,
so that there remains for
o
me but one way of remembering them, which is,
to beat my wife, who then takes a great care to
recall them all to my memory in the most glaring
colours,"