The Press. — London, England, 1856-10-11 00:00:00

962 thought expedient that every Right Rev. Pre late should possess the learning of WARBURTON, the metaphysical acumen of BERKELY, or the deep philosophy of Btrruca,—still there is a standard at least of classical scholat ship below which no marnber of the Episcopate should rank; saki.* at lomat to animas him from erroneous hataapretations of classical authorities, and to be a guarantee of academics, industry. In the t= day we know that it is no small &Nua e with the two dead languages which will justify a ram in main taining that his college career is evidence both of talent and application. We have named two positive requirements for the dignity of a bishop. There is also a negative qualification which yet remains to be noticed. We havo said what a bishop should be. There is one thing to be named which he should not be. He should not be an avowed political partisan. He should not be a promi nent member—we had almost said leader—of a quasi heretical school of theology, totally at variance with the tenets and traditions of the two great English parties, one in whom anti quated politics and new fangled theology are met together, and whose sole claim to pro fessional advancement is, that he has done nothing for his religion, and a great deal too much for his party. A bishop should not be a man obnoxious to any of the charges we have here brought forward. And it is for those who know Dr. TAIT more intimately than ourselves, to say whether any of them are applicable to him or not. But we certainly think that a gentleman to whom common report attributes failure in more than one of the requisites we have mentioned, should hardly have been selected to fill so important a diocese as that of London, simply because he had made himself agreeable to the political and religious prejudices of certain leading persons in the country. LORD PANMURE. THE pure patriotism of a genuine Whig is one of the most refreshing spectacles presented to the eyes of the philosopher in the nineteenth century. Only let him serve his country, find he is content. He asks for nothing more. Ho is not so egotistical as to care who are his colleagues, or what are their measures—good, bad, indifferent, or none at all. He knows his duty better. If good he can aid them, if bad he can hinder them, if indifferent he can mend them, if none at all so much the better, he will be spared the imputation of conceit. He will go anywhere, or do anything. If need be, he will leave his county for his country's good with the most devoted alacrity—in ccelum jusseris ibit—which may be roughly para phrased, that he will never refuse office, how ever impossible that he should perform its duties. These general reflections have been forced upon us by the now famous manifesto of Lord PANMIIRE, delivered on Saturday last. Our Noble Secretary for War affords one of the most striking examples ex tant of the virtue of self-sacrifice. When he was offered the seals of his present office by Lord PALMERSTON, he was prompted by inclination to refuse them. Lord PAN MURE had entered public life under the auspices of Lord JOHN RUSSELL ; he enter tained a long cherished veneration for the house of Bedford, and fully shared in the con viction that this country owed all her greatness to the political philosophy of Woburn Abbey. In the second place, Lord PANMCRE alleges that ho believed in the capacity of the Duke of NEWCASTLE, whom he was called upon to supersede, and considered that he had been driven from office by nothing but a senseless clamour, of which we were going to say he scorned to take advantage—only he did not. Thirdly, the Noble Lord was looking forward to a long period of repose. He was --burning to come down and live and die among his tenantry; to exercise a paternal sway . among his grouse and red deer, and to 'prove the condition of his peasantry by build mg ornamental lodges. He was wishing to be known as, " the good Lord Panmure," and .. 1 ~ THE PRESS. o set an example to all neighbouring land ords for fifty miles round the country. Ho was, therefore, in a difficult position. His Noble Friend Lord Jo rs RUSSELL had been badly treated, net to Roy jockied, by his other Noble Friend Lord PALMERSTON. This was certainly very awkward. Was the protegee $0 step Into oo over aos prostrate body of 14 fallen patron? Was In to kiss the foot which had sbepped into Ins benefactor's shoes? However, as WO all know what he did do, it is useless to ask further questions. He chose the Whig alternative—sacrificed his private feelings, and preferred his country to his friend. Yet there remained another difficulty to be surmounted. If the Duke of NEWCASTLE was perfectly competent to the discharge of his duties, it was not easy to see how it could exactly be an act of patriotism to supplant him. If he was driven from office by clamour, would not his successor be thought, neverthe less, to tacitly sanction it? Here again, how ever, the politics of his party came oppor tunely to his aid. 113 remembered that the will of the people was the source of all power. It was no matter, therefore, whether they were right or wrong. Having accordingly sacrificed his feelings, the Noble Lord next proceeded to sacrifice his convictior.s at the same shrine. It was evidently better for a Whig to be in office, even under false pretences, than not at all ; and patriotism, having triumphed over gratitude, now triumphed over truth. These gigantic sacrifices being made in the cause of his country, it was not to be expected that Lord PANMURE would permit his rural tastes to obstruct his acceptance of office. He thre w them over as readily as he had done the ties of party and the dictates of reason, and, in the consciousness of having acted up to his principles, saved his money, and pro vided for his • nephews, doubtless reaps the reward which is the meed of disinterested virtue. What effect may be produced upon Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S own mind by the language of his quondam subordinate, we should bo curious to ascertain. Does he apostrophise fortune with Horatian placidity nno mihi nunc alii benigna or does he rail at the in solence of the parvenu statesman who has passed him in the political race ? All readers of Thackeray must remember the indignation of old Lady Clapperclaw when her protegee, that odious Mrs. (le Mogyn " cut her in Hy. park." Does the De Mogyn of the War office excite similar sensations in the gentle bosom of Lord ;fox% ? Whether, however, he does or does not lacerate the sensibility of that amiable Nobleman, we are pretty con fident that he will earn the contempt of the public. Lord JOHN RUSSELL, whatever his shortcomings, requires no crumbs from Lord PANMURE'S table. Ho is a man of acknow ledged intellect, nor does his constant invocation of Magna Charta and Lord SOMF:RS interfere with his generosity and benevolence in private life. Whig patriotism is no doubt a very fine thing, but even that will not carry off the tone of impertinent arrogance which the party considers itself exclusively entitled to adopt. THE IRISH COURT OF APPEAL. BY an act of the last session of Parliament a Court of Appeal in Chancery in Ireland is to be constituted, and to come into operation on the first of January next. It is to consist of the Chancellor and a Judge of Appeal, who are at liberty to call to their assistance a com mon-law judge, the decision of the majority to be binding, subject to an ultimate appeal to the House of Lords. The Judge of Appeal is to he appointed by her Majesty by letters patent, and to hold office during good behaviour; and he must have exercised the office of High Chancellor of Ireland, or have practised at the Bar for not less tlian fifteen years. If an ex-Chancellor, he is to rank next after the Chancellor ; other wise he is to rank next after the Chief Baron. And this court is to hear appeals from orders and decrees of the Chancellor, the Master of the Rolls, and of the Commissioners of the Encumbered Estates Court. SATURDAY, The salary, in ease the person to be ap. pointed shall bo in receipt of any salary or pension as exercising or having exercised a judicial office in tiny Pf the superior courts of law, equity, or the Oourt of Prerogative, is limitcl to 1,000/. a year, in addition to such salary or pension i otherwise the sala r y i s fixeil at four thousamd poem's a year. The in to the administration ofjus tico of selecting for this highly responsible and permanent office the best man whose services can be obtained is apparent ; and during the progress of the bill through Parliament it was conceded on all hands, and generally understood, that the Right Honourable FRANCIS BLACKBUBNE was the man beyond all question the most competent and highly qualified to fill it. Upon this there could be no possible difference of opinion, and the reference to an ex-chancellor in the act im plies a preference. If he should accept the office, as an ex-chancellor the appointment would entail an additional expense on the country of only 1,0001. a year. _ . It is now mare than ten months since this act became law, and yet no appointment has taken place. Before the newly constituted court can hear appeals a code of general orders must be framed, which will require time and care, and which ought to be done before the Court of Chancery resumes its sittings. Whence this delay? We are assured that in accordance with the system that we have already condemned, of establishing Roman Catholic ascendancy, especially with reference to the Judicial Bench in Ireland, the most unremitting exer tions are being made to prevail on her Majesty's Government to disregard the im plied pledge on the faith of which this act was suffered to pass, and to ignore the paramount advantages to be obtained by the public of se curing at a trifling expense the most valuable services of the able gentleman we have named, and to substitute for him a Roman Catholic judge who has presided in a common-law court for nearly twenty years, during which long period it may be fairly supposed that whatever measure of equity knowledge he mey have possessed when at the Bar must have nearly evaporated, without reference to the great intervening alterations, of which he cannot be expected to be informed. By this move, if successful, a double job would be achieved—a salary of 4,0001. a year imposed on the country, besides an additional retiring pension, which in the case of Mr. BLACK BIIRNE'S appointment would not result, as he could retire on his existing pension. We have said a double job, because the vacancy to bo created on the Common-Law Bench would, as a matter of course, be also filled up by a Roman Catholic gentleman, merely because he is such. We cannot believe that Lord PALMERSTON will lend himself to such a scheme, to such a flagrant violation of an implied pledge, and to what would be felt as a scandal to the admi nistration of justice. It is obviously of deep interest in furtherance of the objects of the Papacy to occupy the judgment seats by its minions; and the importance of having "a friend in court" where so many questions involv ing pious frauds arise, cannot be undervalued. We therefore look with some anxiety to the filling up of this office, involving as it does principles which vitally interest every right thinking Englishman. It is not, as it would . seem, a mere local matter, but the working of a deep-laid conspiracy against Protestantism. MR. W. S. LANDOR. THERE is a serious and a ludicrous aspect to everything under the sun. There are ridicu lous features in the Massacre of St. Bartholo mew, and grave ones in the Popish plot. A man may laugh at a funeral, or cry at a wed. ding, as his taste prompts him, with almost equal reason on either side. Just such an equivocal affair is the letter of Mr. WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR to the Daily Yews. Who would not laugh if such a man there be, Who would not weep if Attic= were he, as nearly expresses our own sentiments on the subject as words are capable of doing. First, we think of Mr. LANDOR as the writer of this