The Press. — London, England, 1858-12-18 00:00:00

1286 THE PRESS, DECEMBER 18, 1858. THE WEEK. ---------,___--___. his loss of character was sufficient punishment. IC h owever, h e was merely a weak but well-intentioned meddler, his character is nut lost. If he wail anything else, he is not sufficiently punished. The case of the Duke of BEAUFORT V. WEATHERLY, and WEaTimiti.y v. the Duke of BEAuEoier, ought to gladden the heart of Mr. Harem. Here is a plain proof that the people are not, as has been alleged by a hireling press, insensible to the insolence of a tyrannic aristocracy. Here at length has been found a champion to throw down his glove to the proud oppressor—a gallant cavalier who allowed himself to he unhorsed rather than stain his escutcheon by an apology. These are the kind cf men Mr. Bittour is in search of to swell his slender retinue. All honour to WEATHERLY ! But what shall we say of the Columbine to this accom plished clown ? What words can express our admiration at that union of literary eloquence, and moral grandeur, which characterize his masterly epistle to the infamous aristocrat ! "It appears," says he, " that your Grace, while engaged in an amusement, the precise nature of " which I am acquainted with personally "—how considerate of Columbine to relieve the public curiosity by this interesting avowal !—" thought proper "to strike my client by propelling bludgeons at his person." Quite the gentleman, Columbine, and far above the vulgarity of such a phrase as throwing sticks. "It would almost seem," continues our arbiter elegantiarum, " that the sport in which your Grace was engaged was more becoming an " apprentice than a peer of the realm." We presume that Columbine's evenings must at one time have been spent as master of the ceremonies at Caldwell's, as we know not where else lie could have learned to decide with such promptitude upon the social proprieties. From the concluding sentence of the same paragraph, to the effect " that if his Grace chooses so to beguile his time " he must conduct himself according, or else that the law will reach him as well as a poor man, we should conjecture that Columbine's mornings have been passed a good deal in the company of the noble Judge who presided at the trial. It is very unfortunate, however, that all this dignity, and—well, we were going to add a substantive that would have recalled to our reader's minds a celebrated picture of LAND SEER'S, but we abstain, as it would have been inconsistent with our former observations—should on this occasion have been thrown away. For the fact is that the Duke of BEAUFORT was in this instance the victim to class exclusiveness, and not the agent of it. The Brighton racecourse is managed on the principle that pedestrians have no business there, and that if they come they must make up their minds to be ridden down. Acting on this manly and liberal-minded system, Mr. WEATHERLY made straight at the snob who was amusing himself at the ignoble game of Aunt Sally, intending to teach the wretched plebeian to make room for his betters. His surprise and disgust at finding the common fellow turn again may be well imagined. llis consternation at discovering the real state of affairs was probably surpassed by his hatred of the person who had placed him in so ridiculous a position. Hence the recourse to Columbine, the immortal letter from that luminary, and the damages of 1001. which an enlightened British jury, eager to vindicate themselves from Mr. BRIGHT's aspersions,. have awarded as plaisters for the bludgeons propelled against the person of the plaintiff. The Committee on Army Clothing, which commenced its sittings many months ago in a committee-room in the House of Commons, thence migrated to Weedon, and from that station to Woolwich, finally completed its sittings at the Tower of London, on Wednesday last. Public interest has throughout been pretty evenly divided between the disclosures of the witnesses and the conduct of the Commissioners themselves. On the whole, perhaps, it may be said that the facts elicited have not been such as mate terially to shake our confidence in the existing system of manage ment. When the whole of the evidence has been thrown together in the form of a Blue-book, we shall be better able to judge of its signifi cance. But, read from day to day, it has not left any strong impression upon our minds to the disadvantage of the authorities. Some jobbery has been detected ; but, on the whole, we think less than might have been anticipated. At IVeedon, no doubt, the bad example of a superior officer had led to a laxity less observable elsewhere ; at Woolwich certain timber transactions still require to be explained ; and, since the transference of the inquiry to the Tower, contradictory statements have been made by various individuals relative to the em ployment of douceurs, which we could desire to have cleared up. W c arc bound, however, to add that in our opinion the commissioners have appeared to less advantage than they might have done throughout. Their demeanour has not been marked by that dignity and repose which ought to characterize all persons intrusted with the discharge of such grave public duties. On the last occalion of their meeting there was something pitiful in Mr. TußNEles complaint about the War-office, and ill-disguised jealousy of his colleague. However, they have finished their labours, and we can only now thank them for the trouble they have undergone for the public good. Tractent fabrilia fubri. When Sir CHARLES 'NAPIER (or we might almost say any one of his family) devotes the talents he possesses to the elucidation of subjects with which he is practically acquainted, we are always happy to listen to him. At the Society of Arts, on Wednesday last, Sir Ciimu.Es, after a paper by Mr. E. .T. HEED on ship-building, adverted to the state of the Channel fleet. He praised the alacrity of the present Government, who had got nearly six sail of the line, but recom mended that they should be made up to ten. After going through a variety of details, and showing how, if proper precautions Were 10 3 1 1 teAll We might , gt small additional expense, have thirty CHRISTMAS DAY. OUR next day of publication in the ordinary coarse would fall upon Christmas Day. To each and all we tender our sincere wishes that Christmas-tide may bring to themselves and to their jdouses happiness and pleasure ; and as it is not consistent with our view of what is due to the observance o: this great Christian Festival that any in our employment should be debarred from its free enjoyment, we propose to publish THE. PRESS of the ensuing week on Friday afternoon, instead of on Saturday morning. Now that the Reform agitation has once been set going, there is no fear of its being allowed to stop. We have this week four political meetings to chronicle, exclusive of Mr. BRIGH r's, and all of them devoted principally to this one topic. In Cornwall: we have had Mr. ROBARTE4 (Liberal) and Mr. KENDALL (Conservative) addressing themselves to this subject, neither apparently knowing very well what to say. But it must be con fessed that the latter gentleman brought forward a rather strange reason for distrusting Mr. Disit.tim—i.e., that he was a man of such transcendent ability. England has been too distrustful of men of ability. Witness CANNING, witness BURKE, and many another who had not the opportunities which they had. There cannot be a greater mistake than this kind of talk. It teaches the people to distrust the only thing by which they can, in the long run, be guided. If brains are not to rule, we may just as well give up the old theory of the government of the few by the many at once. The meeting at Glasgow, and the speech of Mr. DALGLEISH, afford us nothing beyond the old well-worn argument which Mr. BRIGHT has so often set up merely to be so often thrown down. Mr. GERARD STURT, in the course of a lively oration at Sherborne, congratulated the country on the new Reform Bill being placed in the hands of Lord DERBY instead of those of the Whigs. " I mean," said the Hon. Member, " the " Whigs proper, not the Liberals, for they are as tar apart as the two " poles; and if there is one thing which a Whig thoroughly enjoys and " appreciates, it is a job. They were born jobbers, they were bred " jobbbers, and they will die jobbers. Now Ido hope Lord DERBY, when " he brings in the Reform Bill, will not lay himself open to that charge ; " and [ hope Lord DERBY, when he brings in the Reform Bill, will bring " in such r tiill as the advanced state of civilization and increasing know " ledge of this country demand; and, if he does this, I am convinced " that the people of this country will rally round Lord DERBY, and will not " countenance any attempt to defeat him for the sake of popularity, or " merely for the sake of gaining the advantage of six months' office. " Thikt is my opinion, and my advice to you is—put your trust in Lord " DERBY." Mr. STURT also made use of some very sensible observations in relation to the French alliance, and commented on the absurdity of those attacks upon the Emperor which are to be found in some of our journals, while at the same time the whole country admits the good policy of the French alliance. Whether the acquittal of Mr. WELLINGTON GUERNSEY on the charge of stealing the despatches be in accordance with law, we will not at this moment undertake to determine; but, according to Baron MARTIN'S sum ming up, it is obviously contrary to common sense. To make out the charge of larceny, we are told, it is necessary that the offender should have manifested an intention to deprive the person injured of all property in the article abstracted. Now, in what does the property in a document of this character consist ? Clearly in the intelligence which it contains. When the despatch is made common property by publication, it ceases to be any body's property in particular ; and clearly, therefore, its original proprietors have suffered some kind of loss, for which they ought to be able to obtain redress. If the Jury's verdict be really according to law, it indicates a defect in our legal system which ought speedily to be remedied. If a man takes letters from a merchant's office, and publishes the contents, thereby jeopardizing the credit of the firm he belongs to, have they no remedy, unless the publication can be brought under the head of a libel ? If such an action is not to all intents and purposes theft, words cease to have any meaning. To say that Mr. GUERNSEY expected no advantage to himself from what he did, is downright nonsense. It might not be immediate pecuniary advantage, but he must have hoped to further his own interests in some way by the transaction, or he would never have imperilled his own safety ashe did. Or arc we to suppose, as was more than half implied by his counsel, that he was actuated only by patriotism ? He simply desired, says Mr. Sergeant PARRY, that the despatches should be made public. Now, to pass over the manifest absurdity of allowing any private individual to constitute himself the judge of what Government intelligence ought to be made public and what ought not, and of adopting this very summary pro cess of' carrying out his views, see the glaring contradiction into which the Learned Gentleman has brought himself! He admits that his client's cha rirter is blasted. But, although any gentleman's presumption in investing )unaself with the discretion here spoken of might bring him within the grasp o f the Lunacy Cormuissioner s , it certainly w o uld no t bl as t hi s PAntcy b...gged tho Jury not to fOßVitt him, *TOW