The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-07-30 00:00:00

Weecltes at that length, and with that accuracy to which
thy, (the honourable member) considers himself *juitly
I;tied. Mr. O'CONNELL complains, in the second place,
the
the gentlemen of the gallery have been recently in
.11. e habit of mangling his brilliant ideas, misreporting
his orations, disjointing his periods, arid making him utter a
jar get superabundance of nonsense than comes within the
strict rule
of modern liberality. ;In Amt. Mr.iO'CoNNELL
18 incensed beyond measure, and breaks Artli into a
torrent
of abuse against 'these. excellent p'ettims, whom
he denounces as miserable hirelings, and base wretches,
whom the Whigs have bribed to misrepresent his senti-
ments, and ki make him say that which he never uttered,
in the .
i hope of undermining his popularity and destroy-
:g his reputation. In winding up the catalouge of grin
acees Mr. O'CONNELL further insinuates that the cha-
racter of these reporters has of late been sadly deterio-
rated, inasmuch as their wages have been reduced, and
that, consequently, they have neither talent to do justice
tothe
his eloquence, nor the independence of mind to burst
odious fetters imposed upon them by their masters,
the proprietors of the Herald, Chronicle, and Times.
r T. these grave accusations the gentlikaen of the press
respond that they know no distinction of persons in the
Reformed Parliament—that the speeches therein deli-
vered are the most insufferable trash they ever listened
t°--that the language ocone-third of its members is
caintelligible—that if they were to report literally they
Wuld he accused of bringing the House of Commons,
Grammar, and the English language into con-
temthey pt' and that, in the particular instance of O'CONNELL,
"Iv find nothing in his speeches which they have
`" over and over again reported, until their eyes were
red,
and their hearts sore. As to any "particular or
l4i,,tividi°us combination against him, they declare, upon
eir honour, that they are innocent, and that if occa-
:ally his, or any other man's speech be omitted or
41'00, they protest that this either arises from the
olutrente length of the debates, or their earnest and anxi-
ous desire to improve some peculiarity of idiom which.
Y, from their classical education,* but imperfectly un-
qersi
• and. In conclusion, they consider Mr. O'CONNELL'S
(,1411)tertinellt reflections upon their " order" to be a breach
the privileges of their house and a violation of the
c'nstit. • ,
re-atton in church and state ; and they have further
solved that until the honourable member shall make an
tht4eYPle apology for the indignities he has cast upon them,
4 shall in future carefully abstain from reporting a
tilitgle syllable of any speech he is pleased to utter in the
of Commons or elsewhere.
use h
to th- • what a long breath it has taken us to do justice
be l'o'r and KETTLE! But the fun is too exquisite to
8150,7,Pped here. O'CONNELL has summoned the re-
har-sPle, or rather sham proprietor of the Times to the •
knt,? the house. What he means to do with him it
all ti Puzzle a conjuror to tell. Reporting speeches we
that 00w is a breach of privilege, but we have yet to learn.
4 b Misreporting them, or not- reporting them at all, is
tharie4eh of privilege. It is the accuracy of the report
the- constitutes the offence. If a member be accused in
and tiewsPapers of stating that which he never uttered,
ter, tilf. fictitious statement be injurious to his charac-
h the
Publisher of the raper is liable to be indicted, or
raw k
oni_zs,t'ed
.by a civil action. O'CONNELL, therefore, is
the Y lighting with a shadow when he makes war upon
hit:gentlemen of the fourth estate, the great majority of
41 are his countrymen, as furious revolutionists as
self and in point of reputation equally, if not more
hrespectable than himself. He cannot compel them to re-
the bi
~_ 8 speeches; that he has the power of preventing
btu. from reporting at all remains to be seen.
tile'icficulous as the quarrel seems to be, we are_ by no
sinesorry that it has occurred. It is time that the u-
It lis of reporting should be placed on a better footing.
w as too long been an arbitrary and venal occupation.
have Use the latter word deliberately. O'CONNELL may
vd cause of offence • but he is only one in a hundred
int'se hoses
have been misreported, distorted, turne
jotto ridicule, or invidiously suppressed altogether by the.
rnlierithe3'men of the London papers. The reporters, with
elai„, apparent warmth and well-assumed sincerity, dis-
til all corrupt, or personal, or factious influences in
beu reports. We have no wish to impeach their honour;
ciitt We suspect its average value is like that assigned to
tin-EEN CAROLINE'S virtue when Mr. THOMAS DENMAN,
Chief Justice of the King's Bench, told her to " Go,
861 no o • " Mr. O'CONNELL'S impartiality and
Pntrt,,t• m• ".
he - Ism might, without suffering any disparagement,
girt
in the same estimate.
giat is delectable to consider that such a squabble ori-
nates most naturally in a reformed parliament. .In an
assembly composed for the most part of gentlemen such
discussion could not have occurred, or at least would
not have been tolerate& The reformers, however, are
45gged into it, and they must now either compel the
Press to do impartial justice, or they must shut it out of
t01,111,e gallery altogether. One only alternative remains.
'ley might appoint reporters of their own—men sworn
treport accurately—who shall be paid according to their
leilraCy and impartiality. The reports which these
Zen take might be sold to the different newspapers for a
rßch lower sum than they at present pay to obtain them.
1,11 this way the conductors of newspapers would be al-
wed their discretion in inserting more or less of the
`Ports as they should think expedient ; but this advantage
111121_1.d b.e gained, viz. that they would be precluded from
44tnating the speeches, or distorting the meaning of
.btlY Member. They might cut and hack as they please,
1.14 that which they did publish should be either the
itteral words or the unbiassed substance of the speaker.
ae le Press has aided in reforming Parliament, and on the
in°re of gratitude it is time that Parliament should assist
potterreforming the press. It is the clay reforming the
we know, but n'importe
hAttinisters suffered another defeat on Thursday last,
not 14 which, we are happy to say, no lives—we mean
1„,,,8a/aries.--were lost! The effects of this new disaster
44'cite at first believed to be of a very melancholy nature,
namely with dire calamities to a mighty empire,
threat to
the meditated retirement of the Whigs, and a
a de
to lay down their arms. This intelligence caused
streeeP sensation. There was weeping in Downing-
eon et, and
wailing in Berkeley-square. Lord ALTHORP'S
4,artlttenance and the price of wool and mutton fell. The
Lord (T 4 many an hungry expectant grew cold at the news.
'
Rier, Jo RUSSELL, inn et, abjured poetry, and SPRING
Lor, figllreS, for ever. Sir JAMES GRAHAM, the First
of the Admiralty, instinctively hummed out—
*bile " See the ship in the bay is riding," &c.
la b„ ----Jrd
PALMERSTON was busy, for nearly three hours,
Pttroin,,o. his correspondence with LOUIS PHILLIPE, Don
Uaptain NAPIER, and Doctor BOWRING. It was,
\vas hrtueless, a false alarm. The anticipated resignation
he„l'reciature. Ministers, on reconsidering the matter,
a•itliale convinced that the country could not be governed
441 OUt them,—that were they to desert their s overeign,
the reitY and ruin would be the inevitable result,—that
pia security of the church and the fundholder would be
•tiot dnin jeopardy,—that the GREY family would lose
.t3si,'„„,`"°o a-year, the PLUNKETTS £40,000, the PAGETS
the BROUGHAMS £25,000, the RUSSELLS
41,,,'"u, the THOMSONS, WOODS, SMITHS, PARKESES,
Otb:LREYS, /ABERCROMBIES, LITTLETONS, and various
vipt-r unhappy and unknown persons would be deprived
tne hundred thousands more, rather unequally di-
leaedf—in short, under all these circumstances ministers
ant to the side of mercy and charity, consented to retain
4,ce for a few weeks longer, thereby conferring a last-
obligation on the KING, whose servants they are,
~,,e'lpgratifying the wishes of an unanimous people, whose
tare alone they have at heart.
~, e la bagatelle ! Long live humbug ! The gist
heatit_unthis solemn farce is, that Lord GREY has been
on 7, in the Lords two or three times, and the last time
the 6iursday
last, and Lord ALTRORP as many times in
collea"Thoons, and yet these noble personages and their
c 141,4 Fues still cling to office, as if they had an hereditary
an moo it, and as if the two houses of Parliament were
thinisteled together for no other purpose than to register
tat edicts.
tttlioantt,e,r The time was when it was deemed a
of honour and duty, on the part of an administra-
the to resign their seals of office to the KING, whenever
ba 1 3 found themselves in a minority in either house of
ent always . The determinate question, we *grant, was.
.rciN re ?Ile °I some importance. The Duke of 'WELLlNG-
qonslgned because he was defeated by a small majo-
ch
morethe civil list ; but Lord GREY has been beaten on
44(1 inlP°rtant u •
Ln.Asa Aary questions, and yet adheres to place
undisconcerted by the ridicule of the public.
R--. tILTHoRp
8 mot' on
"'RV was beaten on the malt tax, and on
s •
, moreover bte
for the abolition of sinecures. He
trPoriant
much more
n on the factory bill, a _
question than the civil list, and all this within
Vie last two or three months. Within the same space of
enne, Lord GREY
N 011
uEbYseteilte
oPfrepmoier himself, has been defeated,
pre,ent ne
ance, on the
defea, nst rtugal and secondly, in the
uPon defeat—one Irish Church Bill. Here follows
.s of another,one vote of censure coming upon the
'ttis both houses declaring his MAJESTY. S
ters t° he •
evnus , either ignorant or reckless of the mis-
atu re of their own measures—incompetent to
countryl.
zautvi n the
These and unworthy the confidence of the
en'
these defe.atrma _spparliamentary declarations are on record,
are now matter of history,—the follies
mti'Lo blunders
men are as notorious as is the sun in
kernece of prinle d. y.e Lord GREY continues to fill' the
_ minister, Lord BROUGHAM is still the
tkaPettorttof the. fiiNo's conscience,-and the immortal Lord
and t.,:nsdtiill presides over the finances of Great Britain
Th
I e ela°' h
e t ,sein t e church bill on which ministers -Be
11 toe nOnoritr on Thursday was the 117th. -y

• -•••••••Y wits