The Press. — London, England, 1854-04-22 00:00:00

F APRIL 22, 1854. ligently kept, and thus evidence of the title to property has been lost, there appears no objec tion to the transference of all the wills in the kingdom to Doctors' Commons, provided that limited locality have capacity to contain them. But we cannot so readily concur in other parts of Lord CRANWORTH'S bill. A dis • tinetion is made between estates which exceed and others which are under 1,5001. The former must necessarily be proved in Chan cery ; the latter may, with certain limitations, be proved at district registries which it is proposed to create. We are thus to have cen tralisation, local organisation, and a new staff of salaried officials provided for us in a bill which was professedly based on the alleged expediency of destroying the second and re ducing the third. If centralisation is good, let us have it ; if new local districts, with new officials, are likely to be more careful, and to " sweep " the wills " cleaner" than the old custodians, by all means let us have them ; but let us not adopt — at least without full discussion—a measure which seems to be a "'coalition" of the two systems based on a "compromise " of the principle of either. Lord CRANWORTH, on moving the second reading of the bill, said that it had been pre pared in "a hurry." Why was this? What was the necessity for hurry? Is any abnor mal mortality amongst the people anticipated? or was the Court of Chancery in danger of dying from depletion ? But if Lord CRAN WORTH was in the condition of an " otiose fellow," and suffering from ennui, and if the leader in the Courts of Equity, finding a paucity of cases, was, like the demon in " Vathck," roaring out for " more victims, more !" considerations like these should not be thought sufficient reasons for " hasty " legislation in matters of national moment. When the Report of the Commissioners first appeared, and before the bill had been intro duced, we remarked that it originated in a suspicious quarter, and should be carefully watched. That caution we repeat emphati cally, for its merits have never been discussed. RUSSIA AND HER RESOURCES. THE curious document purporting to be the will of PETER the GREAT, recently reprinted in the papers, has certainly been in existence for 70 or 80 years, and whether we suppose it to be really the composition of its reputed author, or to embody the traditional policy of the Russian Court, or to be only the lucky conjecture of some political seer, it is cer tain that the policy it prescribes has, up to the present time, been acted on with literal fidelity by the successors of the great Czar. Poland is subjugated, Turkey greatly weakened, though not yet conquered, the armies of Russia are united, and three months back she could boast that the Euxine and the Baltic were in the possession of her fleets. Having advanced thus far in the path of universal dominion, the Emperor NICHOLAS seems to have thought that the time was come for breaking up the political system of Europe, and for greatly extending his empire amid the general confusion. Though it would yet be rash tc hazard a prediction on the conse quences of his daring enterprise, it seems highly probable that he has miscalculated his means for achieving the end he has in view. For the Russian empire, vast as is its terri torial extent, great as is the aggregate of its population, is not only proportionately the poorest and least populous in the world, but even the elements of which it is composed are not amalgamated into one body. Russia is not a nation as France is a nation, or England is a nation; the Samoed amid the northern ice, the Georgian on the Eastern sand, the Russian nobleman , whose chief accomplish ments are a knowledge of modern languages, cookery, and games of chance, have no com. mon ties of interest or sympathy to bind the m together. Of the 80 , 000,000 to 1 0,000,000 n habitants of the Russian empire, about one third are Muscovites proper; the rest . are Tartars, nomadic tribes, savages inhab iting THE PRESS. countries with every variety of temperature and physical configuration, extending from the frontiers of China and Persia to the Frozen Ocean and Northern Germany. The Russian empire is as much a problem, and not much older, than the United States. Defensively strong, it is aggressively weak; and whether it possesses a vital principle which will sustain it unbroken through danger, disaster, and defeat, we have at present no data on which to form an opinion. The differ ence between " the English Factory at Cal cutta" of 1700, and our Indian empire of to day, is scarcely more marked than is that between the Muscovy of the great Czar and ALL THE MMUS over which NICHOLAS reigns. When PETER gained strength from an annual defeat inflicted on him during a course of eight years by CHARLES XII., his sub jects were puro Muscovites. The Muscovite element constitutes but a third of the popu• lation over whom NICHOLAS claims dominion, and his empire has never sustained a shock sufficient to test its powers of cohesion. Every child knows that the real glory of the great PETER consisted less in his victories than in his vast and successful labours to found Russian commerce. He was greater as a shipwright, working in the dockyard of Smar den, than as a victor at the head of his army after the battle of Pultowa. It is as the founder of the Russian marine, as the actual constructor of the first Russian vessel, that he has won and that he has deserved the homage paid to his memory. In truth, the power of Russia and her influence in Europe are mainly attri butable to the rapid growth of her trade. Shut up within her own territory, spacious as it is, she will be excluded from those civilis ing influences which have made her what she is, and be in danger of falling back into that' barbarism from which the enlightened policy of her rulers for the last 150 years has res cued her. Is it likely that Russia with ruined merchants, impoverished nobles, pressed on externally by the narrowing line of fire and steel that day by day grows closer and thicker on her frontiers by land and sea, can pre serve internally that appearance of unity which she now presents ? At all events, if Franco and England are to put forth their utmost strength—if an army of 200,000 men and a fleet of 100 sail are to aid the yet unconquered Ottoman—surely it would be but wisdom to strike the giant on the head and heart at once, and attack St. Petersburg, the centre whence radiate the thousand ad ministrative lines which alone, in our opinion, bind together• the unamalgamated elements of this stupendous empire. REHEARING OF MR. BARBER'S CASE. As we perceive that Mr. BARBER has given notice of his intention to apply to the Master of the Rolls for the renewal of his certificate to practise as a solicitor, it becomes a question for consideration whether or not he is entitled to succeed in his application. With the outline of the facts of the case most of our readers are no doubt familiar. Mr. BARBER— & solicitor in considerable practice—was prosecuted by the Government and convicted on a charge of forgery. Transported for life, after a detention in Norfolk Island of about two years, he received her Majesty's free pardon, accompanied by an intima tion from the Secretary of State of his belief that Mr. BARBER was " free from any guilty participation " in the frauds of which he was made the instru " ment." The main circumstance which continues to keep the case before the public is the deprivation of Mr. BARBER'S professional status. The Incorporated Law Society opposed the renewal of his attorney's certificate. After an inquiry before the Master, the case was argued before the Court of Queen's Bench for several days ; and ultimately the certificate was withheld. The judgment delivered was very elabo rate, setting forth the particular circumstances upon which the Court relied. Upon the result being published some severe strictures were passed upon the opponents of Mr. BARBER by the press. In these animadversions we do not concur; the Incorporated Law Society could have had no other object in view than the honour and welfare of the profession. In anticipation probably of the application now to be made, Mr. BARBER has published, in sectional , form, the entire judgment of the Court of Queen's _ _ __........- --- -- 363 Bench, and has met each point of difficulty by expla nations which certainly appear entitled to serious consideration, as they are fortified by reference to evi dence which cannot fairly be disputed, and much of which is new. Among other curious facts it appears that FLET• CHER had been engaged in the perpetration of pre cisely similar frauds for ten years prior to his introduction to Mr. BARBER'S office. In one of these he had the audacity to tile a bill to compel the Bank to pay the sum of 4,0001. claimed by an accomplice. They succeeded iu getting the money. The Chan cery proceedings in this case have been hunted up by Mr. lieneEtt's friends, and office copies are given. Reading them, now that the fraud is known, it ap pears extraordinary that the counsel and solicitors on both sides could have been imposed upon. In this and his other prior frauds FLETCHER had em ployed attorneys whose integrity has never been impugned. The extent to which the most acute legal minds may become the victims of deceit was strikingly exemplified by the recent case of Smyth t.. Smyth ; and it must be acknowledged that. this case, as well as FLETCHER'S Chancery suit, differed materially from the claims which Mr. BARRER and his partner were employed to support, in the fact that the latter were admitted by the Bank unquestioned, whilst the claims under FLETCHER'S Chancery suit, and the action of ejectment brought by the pseudo-baronet Surrn, were resisted expressly upon the ground of fraud. We observe that two of our legal contemporaries, recently reviewing Mr. BARBER'S case, have compared the circumstances of Swan's fraud with those in which Mr. BARBER and his partner were employed, contend ing that Mr. BARBER had far less reason for suspicion than the professional agents of " Dr. Smyth," alias l'rovis, who have received from the highest quarters "a spontaneous and unqualified exculpation." We commend this publication of the judgment, with the new evidence and explanations, to the candid consideration of those who have hitherto entertained unfavourable views of Mr. BARBER'S case. Appre ciating as we do the motives and objects of the Law Society, we should be sorry to see opposition carried to a point which might be deemed op pression. PATRIOTS, PENCE, AND SENSE. THE Messrs. NAriEn of Glasgow, and Mr. FILCHER of Northfleet, having respectively on hand, and on the stocks, certain engines and ships which they were manufacturing and building for the Emperor of RusslA, those gentlemen notified the fact to the Government, by whom both vessels and machinery were very properly purchased for the public service, so that the respectable firms in question sustained no loss by their patriotism. Now, patriotism is a very charming quality—let us take care it does not become a trade and source of profit also. All persons are not so respectable as the Messrs. NAPIER and Mr. FILCHER, and we can conceive the possibility of a crowd of patriotic boilermakers suddenly discovering that their stock on hand was designed for the enemy, and, in the spirit of ancient Romans, or rather of modern Greeks, offering it to the State. An enterprising Yankee lately found his account in manufacturing a liquid at a cost of fifty cents per cask, ship ping it to Liverpool as brandy, paying the duty on it, reshipping it to "his home in the buzzum of the " bright settin' sun," with the Custom-house brand upon it, and, by aid of that magic mark, selling it as "real stuff of the right sort." A Russian brand on worthless metal might similarly make it saleable just now. Dr. JOHNsom's definition of " a patriot " may occasionally be true. The Admiralty should consider the propriety of issuing a notice that after a certain date no more ships would be purchased on the confession of the innocent builder, or the Board will be overwhelmed with " astounding revela tions." By these remarks we do not mean to imply that the Government have acted hastily in the in stances we have mentioned. The character of Messrs. NAPIER and Mr. sufficiently gua rantee the bona fides of these transactions. From the former the Government have doubtless received excellent engines for their money, and from the latter excellent ships. The Cossack, and her sister vessel, will do good service against her destined owner, and when he hears her screams and feels her beak, " Like the struck eagle atretch'd along the plain, it will add to the pang " to t•el He nursed the pinion that impelled the steel." I i