The Sun.
London, England, 1842-06-09 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY.
GLOBE.—We are not sure that, in alluding to
the disgraceful exhibition which Mr. Ferrand made
of himself last night in the House of Commons, we
are not contributing to his gratification, by aiding his
efforts to acquire notoriety. That honourable dis-
orderly gentleman has so often shown himself in-
sensible to shame, that it were vain to endeavonr,
by reproof, to make him conscious of indecorum,
however gross. To appeal to the rules which
are recognised and obeyed by those who move in the
society of gentlemen appears altogether ineffective
when V Mr. Ferrand is in question. After the experi-
ment of last- night, the Hon. Member for Knares-
borough must be allowed to utter what he pleases,
without being held responsible for his language. It
would be only co-operating with the notoriety-hunter's
desire to get up a scene, that he might play the chief
part in it, to demand explanation from him
of any personal allusion, however injurious, in which
he had indulged—for the authority on which he
had rested any accusation, however gross, or the re-
tractation of any.assertion, however offensive. A man
of honour is as careful to avoid giving offence as he is
prompt in vindicating his feelings or his fame from
indignity or injury. Mr. Ferrand indulges in calum-
nies without seeming to imagine that he can be con-
sidered responsible for their truth. The assurance
that he has heard them, or something like them, from
some nameless individual, is the authority on which he
rests their claim to credence ; and his making the state-
ment within the walls of Parliament is the protection
which screens him from consequences that would ne-
cessarily follow the indulgence of his propensities
elsewhere. The tumultUous proceedings of last night,
by which the business of the country was impeded
and the sitting of the House abruptly broken up,
will, we trust, be the last of the kind the public press
will have occasion to record. It cannot be that such
scenes can take place in the House of Commons
without materially lowering its character and im-
pairing its dignity in the estimation of the country.
STANDARD.—After the termination of the pro-
ceedings upon Lord Ashley's proposition, the House
went into Committee upon the tariff, when an obser-
vation was made by Mr. Ferrand ihat Dr. Bowring's
statements upon foreign trade ought not to be received
as an authority, because the inquiries of the learned
gentleman had been partial and imperfect. A prodigious
clatter of" personality" was raised upon this expression
of Mr. Ferrand, and it more or less disturbed the debate
through the remainder of the night's sitting. This
stratagem of constructive affronts and mock passion is a
very convenient and therefore a very trite one. Every
one, however, must see through the trick—must see
that there was no offence given or intended in Mr.
Ferrand's telling that that had been the case whiCh
it was evident beforehand must be the case. Dr.
Bowring is, we believe, a perfectly honourable man,
but he is a thoroughly bigoted political economist,
and, as such, he was selected and sent abroad by
the late Government, to aid their views of forcing
measures founded on their politico-economic theories
upon the country. Could such a man act fairly,
however honourable his intentions ? The thing was
impossible. He could not consult all ; and there-
fore, in the selection of those whom he was to con-
sult, he would be determined by his opinion of the
intelligence of the parties; but this opinion would
necessarily be formed from the agreement of these
parties in his own doctrines, viz., the doctrines
of the political economists ; all others would be
rejected as narrow-minded, ignorant, antiquated
persons, behind the light and intelligence of the age.
Again, as Dr. Bowring's commission was not merely
to receive evidence, hut to analyse and digest it, can
there be a doubt that he must give a preference to
those views which most nearly coincided with
his own ? The fault was not in Dr. Bow-
ring, but in those who sent him out. The
Learned Gentleman is not to blame for acting
as every prejudiced man must act, how honourably
disposed soever ; but the late Government is greatly
culpable for sending a prejudiced man on such a
mission. Dr. Bowring is—we repeat it cheerfully—
an honourable Man ; but he certainly is not one jot a
more honourable man that Mr. Ferrand. Now, what
would the country think if Sir Robert Peel's. Govern-
ment were to send Mr. Ferrand alone to inquire into
and report upon the state of the factory districts, with
a view to measures of general legislation ? We have
no doubt whatever that Mr. Ferrand would do his
part honourably ; but we could scarcely have the
face to represent his opinions as possessing any
substantive authority, or to defend the Government
employing the honourable gentleman as its sole organ
for collecting information.