The Sun. — London, England, 1836-02-25 00:00:00

Loßr,, MO UGHANIandLAW REFORM. C OURT. OF CH ANCERY-HOUSE OF LORDS. To Su 1. T HE .EDIT OR OF THE SUN. 1 h ate, 'rough th e medium of your influential Journal, siacee , :ler, r l y demonstrated that Lord Brougham alone de{c , effecting th e most a d vantageous L aw Re forms, w rich remnoved many practical grievances, especially by 4. d on ishins the delays, expense, and vexation of litiga and. wen was there exemnlified more earnest, devoted, itelilt)e!'se vering labour, to - accomplish important improve . 4 r " the ad m i n i stration, of justice, than this patriotic shi ' sen aza ilt h as uniformly manifested. Has not his Lord pmfreq ue n tl y evinced matchless energy, whilst ensuring pro a nd efficient l eg i s l at i on aga i nst t h e f antast i c max i ms be ses . w le b different branch es o f our l ega l sys t em was f oun d e d, Prqu e xposing fl agrant ev il s w hi c h t h ey unquest i Ona bl y e ' ? In order to reform our judicial establishments, a nd pr o this mote the a d equate d i spensation of justice, d i d not exti "lightened personage abolish useless technical rules, lo u p ll3 l , ate bad statut es , and substitute other enactments in c:ear er f orms, and on more methodical principles ? Pi not not Acts of Parliament • ,th us passed under his aus- e s, and rule s o f C ourt sanelloned by Lord Brougham's y ti e th°lit3 ' , suitable to the exigence of each case, as well as S r Y Possible emergency of the national interests ? h e mo s t si success has already attended these ex ten ve ameliorations of the law, no t w ithstanding they were "PAssea b M I 3 „ persons that,, Lord Bacon observes, " are 01 nimble and sinister: tricks and shifts, whereby they Pervert plain and f'airect courses of Courts, and bring ti ee into oblique Vines and labyrinths." Since such en lee`Tiindividuals c'auld. not justly make any reasonable ob -1 °ll ' against Lord Brougham's expeditious process of k le ii i. e L c i nf" En glish causes in the Court of . C . hancery . , they re- Ilsr a t " other for . lish modes of exercising their disinge post::owers. - But nothing could be more absurd and pre us than their - disreputable conduct. For, when the of L o ans Chinseellor heard Scotch appeals in the House t e r ' o s ' w as he not accused of abandoning English causes 11 ; ` 3 tt't of Chancery ? And, when Lord Brougham Eqe:itd Lincoln's-Inn Hall to dispose of , business in the Lords`" W aS he n o t th en a tt ac k e d f or o mitt . ing Lo attend at :ntical time to Scotch appeals in the House of lid ? I hus, was it not impossible to satisfy the cavil- Loar it ' 4 ins who appeared resolved, forsooth, to harass as h„ 8n to ghat", by striving to enervate his functions as lf tlest and intrepid Law Reformer? to bl a ri ng th , e p er i o d L or d Ch ance ll or Brougham continued 1 111 01 , 4 ,1 t het Gre a t S ea l, the most exemplary measures were Eg l ai t t e " tti advance the general interests of suitors in en a V , Ptor v id e f or t h e more prompt d ec i s i on o f cases , an d t 4 'Court of Chancery effectually to discharge the tioo s - "' n .,t duties connected with it, jurisdiction. Se is • evils rhich arose from a multiplicity of useless forms ki t iti o ; ei al p rocee dings were eradicated, together with the tatisa 8 Was te of money which the antiquated system en-f f. th e 7 011 suitors. But, in my last letter, having stated some o to I rt raPra 'V elm' its which Lord Brougham effected in the Do re °f C i a lra;cery, permit me now, Sir, to adduce a few that th tenl az/.eable instances. Parliamentary returns prove Batede r minber of Appeals and Causes heard and adjudi u3r Lord Eldon between 1823 and 1827 was only Ilti vell b e "ve ; by Lord Lyndhurst from 1827 to 1830, the tt r o ,, 'tas one hundred and nineteen ; whilst Lord fr orn tanl heard and adjudicated in a less duration of time, i , U mh mber 1830 t o Ap r il 1833, the extraordinary ititl - l uer of •L'w o hundred and thirty-seven appeals and o /v1: t ; r, : a u 3 es, besides th r ee hundred and forty-six Special of A -138 . Which were amply contested. Again, the number of peals. standing for hearing when Lord Eldon went out ° CI R ,.e was ninety-seven ; when Lord Lyndhurst left office the uumber was one hundred and three ; whereas he atti t- Br ougham adjudi ca t e d a ll th e App ea ls and Causes te a k a nd sta n di ng f or j u d gment, prev i ous to his official of: 44t i". - Csid not Lord Brougham also decide upwards hund re d and twenty Appeals in the course o f a few 4 0 4 1 13 ; and. instead of suffering, like former Lord Chan -11,4; 4 larg e arrear of causes, was there one Appeal un cut.'" O r a single petition left unanswered? What Lord V,: ee lloc ever evinced such unparalleled despatch in the. f o ,. Th tt of Chancery, or accomplished similar beneficial re aud the orders, regulations, and enactments Introduced iladepted under the auspices of Lord Brougham ? t eas "e uniform despatch of business in the House of Lords the ' cost satisfactory whilst Lord Brougham presided tah te in. Winen appointed Lord Chancellor, ninety-four beside were undecided in that supreme appellate tribunal ; ' t cle the number of appeals and writs of error had gone llot°rarlY increasing during his period of holding office. 'Cr' th e 13 rougham ' suffered no delay to interpose when tingle l ' ar ties were ready to proceed ; nor was there a l B a4 l f el' hearing at the conclusion of the session in hera ra - - eh , had been entered before the commencement fr eci was most remarkable, as appeals have been tilto n b ently zeven, eight, or nine sessions in arrear. The andl e : °I Appeals to the House of Lords in 1825, 1826, 214 was 221 ; in 1828, 1829, and 1830, they were t roll ` B3 l, 1832, an d 1833, th e y amoun t e d to 240. Lord t he "ant having afforded every facility to all parties for the I) , p tir P°se of hearing their causes, adjudicated between apkarrears and appeals entered during these three years th e ti 's of th ree h un d re d an d thi rty —th us f ar excee ding co ss -n ather ever di sposed of b y any o f hi s j u di c i a l pre d ei 134 t. Notwithstanding some of these appeals were o "Portanc e , an d in vo lv e d p o ints of much difficulty, 0 1; e : l i o s t ,tht fact of all e .. arrears, and other subsequent. ae rate navin g b een adjudicated, unquestionably demon.; aaPrer hat his L or d s hip's judicial proceedingsin the t iott Oappellate jurisdiction deserve national comrnenda isati Were no t t h e appea l s , causes , and motions rptrien i determi ne d t h at, w h en L or d B roug h a m resigned eli;i:e.. ll °rship, no arrears existed either in the Court of lha"Y, or in the House of Lords ? ver Y Person canvass i ng thi s su bj ec t s h o uld remember, Lords t,,, branches of judicial business exist in the House of intri e t he one being Scotch appeals, which are generally the and comprise the great bulk of appeal business ; ow n -Is branch consists of English and Irish appeals. tlti r a l-1 the first and second, besides a great portion of the ia,„ sessi en, Lord Brougham had heard and adjudicated him , - . 1 ,"Y Scotch appeals, that the parties at length informed I ),y th -le Y Were not ready to proceed, having been overtaken P eals despatch of business. In the process of English ap struet are m any ser i ous d e f ec t s f ro m the p ec uliar con- I'lleJudea of th e j u di c i a l system i n th e H ouse o f L or d s . e ge wl Its o one day presides in the Court of Chancery, 80 that , t . n ext, perhaps, on an appeal from his own decision, Ittp, . In stead of being an appeal from another court to a th e I.l°l* tribunal, is it not, in reality, only a re-hearing of d .1 01 8 1 at a t e cause before the same judge ? But did not Lor nia m , g. , u anl always endeavour to , surmount this exceedingly frott;alnus arrangement, by abstaining to sit on appeals sa s i st t „ b e Court of Chancery to the House of Lords, unless kett d by some Equity Judge? Whenever Lord Plun elah_4attended P ar li ament, was a single day su ff ere d to : without the concurrent proceeding of both those Pe a b o a nd Learned Lords with English and Scotch ap- L orA tion of Brougham's Bill t o re f orm th e a ppellant jurisdic th e } louse of L or d s was w i se l y d ev i se d to eradicate th orn s abu ses injurious to the character of its supreme au the ,7, and to the interests of suitors. By common law, 1:411 by are all presumed as present in cases of appeal ; Ch, Y an order of the House, in hearing thereof, the Lord (1111qtleellor, and two Noble Lords„ constitute a Court. soh: aPPeals cannot be heard in less than four or five days, Le t he the co-occupiers of judicial benches with the Learned Lord, are not bound to remain longer than they . t wo At present, two Lords hear the appellant's case ; heamnrds afterwards hear the respondent's case, who never .Ply the appellant's case ; two Lords afterwards hear the last' of the appellants, who did not hear either the appel , Lords case, or dthe respondent's case ; and probably two ar s assist in giving judgment, who heard the neither appellant's case, nor the respondent's case, nor joitleanteer,Pwyi.lereAasppeals are thus made to a single professional in order to inspire the suitors with confi• 411pel e i or in insure uniformity of judgment, ought not this le a ,, n a . ," jurisdiction always to consist of more than one of several eg cign ? Though in common law cases the assistance ntl ie ,. judges is required in cases of appeal, yet in all appeal lnstances, is it not a mos t i mpo li t i c pract i ce that the must be made to a single judge, who frequently finds 'lttilulsela o bliged to divest his mind as much as possible from 83 , s Y , bias left thereon by former decisions ? C an such v. Leto be deemed fair either towards the public, or noble T FIE SUN, LON DON , THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, F-36 the See of London or Canterbury—not for his know ledge of divinity or his knowledge of human nature, or his moral character—but for his knowledge of heathen plays, or scholastic disquisitions on the Greek cho- I ruses, or on difficult passages in the tragedies of lEs chylus and Euripides. Injurious as the system is in this point of view, it is still more injurious when we regard its effects on the mind of youth, and the stamp which it gives to their character for life. Few me❑ are better qualified to judge on this subject than Pro fessor Pillans, both from his intimate knowledge of the English system, and the opportunities which he has had of judging of the beneficial results of a plan which he has so successfully carried into effect in his own country. Every impartial person who has attended to the subject, will admit that the following account is any thing but overcharged : " In the great schools, he says, of England—Eton, Westminster, Winchester, and Harrow,—where the majority of English youth who receive a liberal and high professional education are brought up, the course of instruction has for ages been confined so exclusively to Greek and Latin, that most of the pupils quit them, not only ignorant of, but with a considerable disrelish and contempt for, every branch of literary and scientific acquirement, except the dead languages. " In this general neglect of all knowledge but clas sical, it would be some consolation to be assured that Greek and Latin, at least, were acquired ; although h cannot be denied, that the most perfect mastery of these tongues would be but a poor return for a term of ser vice comprehending, (if the pupil go through all the gradations of Eton school), ten of the most docile and valuable years of human life. But it will scarcely be pretended that any such security exists. The gram mars, and other initiatory books, are so unphilosophical and repulsive—the methods of instruction so technical and uninviting—and the temptations to idleness and dissipation so numerous among youths removed from the eyes of parents and friends, that we need not be surprised to find a result which has furnished plausible grounds for many an attack on classical discipline . The result may be stated thus :—A few quit the grea t schools of England with scholar-like acquirements ; a greater number, without being much of scholars, shew a refined taste for the niceties and elegancies of Greek and Latin poetry ; but a majority, we will not venture to say how great, leave school with a slender enough stock of classical attainments, and no disposition to in crease it, and in a state of ignorance of every other de partment of science and literature, foreign or domestic, which would be ludicrous, if it were not lamentable, in the case of young men to whom, from their station in society, independently in a great measure of their talents or acquirements, the destinies of this great country ate likely to be committed." Such practical errors form the ground work of nearly all the arguments against classical education, and have induced many to jump to the conclusion, that no great injury would be caused by its abolition, or at least by making it secondary to the study of arithmttie, geometry, geography, and modern languagec. The fallacy of such arguments are pointed out with great and convincing force by the author ; and while he ad mits that for some mechanical employments a course of classical education might be misplaced, and that it would be desirable to have institutions formed which, without attempting ornament or variety, should profess to give no instruction beyond what an education strictly mechanical or commercial might be thought to require—he at the same time regrets that a disposition should have sprung up to preclude the sons of the middle class of easy and respectable citizens from all chance of that general cultivation of the intellectual powers, and that humanising influence of ancient lite rature, which result from a well-directed course of clas sical education. By making this admission, we think he goes too far. Classical education, when conducted in a proper way, not only calls into active exertion the powers of memory, judgment, and reflection—it not only tends to improve the intellectual powers, but it affords the only secure method of becoming acquainted with the customs, laws, and institutions of antiquity, and of successfully comparing them with our own— and it also inspires a taste for geography and history, which no one who is not opporied to all education for the lower classes would deny even to the son of a mechanic. We are not to presume that because a man is a blacksmith or a weaver, his son is to be chained to the anvil or loom, as in China. The high est offices in this country are open to the lowest classes, and more particularly since the passing of the Reform Bill, the highest honour which can be conferred on a citizen, that of representing in. Parliament the wishes and interests of his fellow-citizens, has been conferred on men who were originally warehouse por- ters, or who, according to their own accounts, in learn ing their trade at the spinning jennies, have had their skulls cracked by billy-rollers for skulking behind the machinery. Those men would now give half of their fortunes for the possession of those intellectual quali ties which they might have acquired in their youth at a trifling expense and without loss of time. It is ab surd to talk of loss of time. Everybody who has time and means to acquire that species of instruction de nominated sc hool-education, has time to acquire, if not a thorough knowledge of Latin, at least such a know ledge of the rudiments as would enable him, in after life, to_ become master of it. The advantages arising from even this defective classical education are well pointed out in the following words : "In attending such a course in a public seminary, they have got, it may be, but an imperfect knowledge of Latin ; and the little they once had, may eventually be lost. But they have gone through the drill, though they have forgotten their exercise ; and it has given them a firmer step and a more graceful carriage. They cannot, perhaps, construe a classic on opening in it ; but they have sat on the same benches with the best of the land ; they have learned to respect themselves ; they have read and dwelt upon the noble passages, stamped as they are with the authority‘of ages, in which the free and manly spirit of antiquity is embalmed ; and they have heard them commented on and illustrated by their teachers, till the sentiments they contain have be come part of their nature, and continue to influence their character and conduct long after the words, and aven the language in which they were first conveyed, have faded from their memory." CASE OF MR. BUCKINGHAM. TO THE BRITISH PUBLIC. London, Feb. 24th, 1836. FELLOW COUNTRYMEN, By a decision of the House of Commons, which was passed last night, by the votes of 125 to 81 of its Mcraber2—justice was substantially denied to me ; as, after sr, Select Commit tee of the House, appointed in the Session of 1834, had una nimously resolved that compensation ought to be made' for the wrongs inflicted on me in India ; after a Bill had passed a first and second reading in the Session of 1835 7 —giving this Resolution the sanction of the whole House, which Bill was interceptel in its progress only by a technicality which re: quired that it should be introduced as a private instead of a public Bill: after such private Bill was introduced its the Session of 1836, with every requisite formality, and read a first time within the prescribed period-125 Members re fused to let it go to a second reading, and thus closed the door entirely against its being discussed in Committee, where alone its details could be fairly examined. The facts of the case are so clear, that no one can mis understand them, unless he be wilfully and purposely blind. They are these : In the year 1818 I established a daily journal in India, on which 20,0001. of capital, and five years of labour were ex pended ; and in 1823 it produced a clear profit of from 6,0001. to 8,000/. per annum ; and one-fourth of it was sold for 10,000/., the purchasers realizing 35 per cent. per annum of dividend on their shares. In the year 1823 I was banished, without having violated any law, either Indian or English—without any legal proceed ing, trial, or hearing—merely for having expressed my disap proval of a public appointment, by which a Presbyterian minis ter was made a Clerk of Stationery at a large salary, and for having contended that this union of the and the secular duties in one individual was incompatible and improper. On my arrival in England I found that this very appoint ment had been so disapproved of by the Court of Directors, the India Board, and the General Assembly—the Iliree great authorities who had power to annul it—that each of them had passed a much more severe censure on the appointment than I had done, by ordering it to be revoked, on the very ground of its impropriety. A few weeks after my banishment from India, and while I was wholly unconscious of what was going on in my absence, the Go vernor- General, by his mere will and pleasure, without any con viction of even an alleged offence, without any legal process of form of law—suppressed this journal entirely, and not merely extinguished a property which it had cost so much labour and expense to create, but decreed that even the types and mate rials should never be used by any other person, so long as I was to derive any proprietory or pecuniary benefit therefrom. Seeing this general wreck, I humbly asked leave of the India Company to allow me to return to India for ever so short a period, to gather up the fragments that might be left, wind up my concerns, and leave the country for ever. Even this favour was killed to me ; and the consequence of the whole of these arbitrary and tyrannical proceedings was, that I was utterly despoiled of three-fourths of a property of the actual saleable value of 40,0001., and involved in debt and liabilities to the extent of 10,0001. more. If this had been done by a Russian Government towards a Polish subject, all England would have rung with denuncia tions of the tyranny of the act. Is it the less tyrannous be cause perpetrated by one British subject towards another? If it had been done by a Prime Minister of England towards any journalist in London, every village in the kingdom would have had meetings and resolutions denouncing the atrocity. Is it the less atrocious because it was performed in Calcutta ? I may add, that if it be tyrannous and atrocious to banish, plunder, and despoil men, not for their private vices or their public crimes, but fur their private virtues and their public ser vices to the community and the State, can it be otherwise than tyrannous and atrocious to uphold or defend such conduct, as some have done, or to do every thing to oppose the granting of redress to the victim, which has been the conduct of others ? But it is contended that the freedom of the press, though useful and safe in England, is dangerous in India. Ask Lord Hastings, Lord William Bentinck, and Sir Charles Metcalfe— three of the ablest Governors, of recent date—and they will answer, that the freedom of the press is even mare useful in India than in England, and quite as safe in the one country as in the other. It is said, too, that though the particular article for which I ::as banished and ruined was a harmless one, and even just in its censure, yet that the general tendency of the journal was inflamatory and immoderate. Ask Lord John, Russell; the present Leader o f th e H ouse o f C ommons , an d he will answer in his own words :—" For my own part, having lately had an opportunity of reading all the articles published in Mr. Buck ing-ham's Journal, which were particularly found fault with by the Indian Government, I can undertake to say that there is not one of those articles, although they must all have been written and inserted in the hurry inseparable from the publica tion of a daily paper, which not only does not reflect the slightest stain on the character of the writer, but aro such as would do honour to any man possessing an honest zeal for the welfare of the community in which he lived, and such as there is every reason to believe were written and published with a perfect conviction, on the part of the author and publisher, that he was serving the cause of truth, and was therefore entitled to the thanks of his fellow-subjects, and the approba tion of a wise and benevolent Government." This opinion Lord John Russell still entertains up to the present hour. Mr. Cutlar Fergusson, who was at the bar in India during these transactions, characterised them there as " more suited to the meridian of Madrid or Constantinople than to that of a British Settlement ;" and be has both spoken and voted in favour of my claims, at the India House and in the House of Commons since. Sir John Hobhouse, before he was made President of the India Board, also expressed his indignation at the tyranny of the Indian Government, and even after his appointment to office, and up to the week before the Bill of 1835 was brought in by Mr. Tulk, he expressed himself ready to vote for the Bill, if Lord John Russell should do so; and this, indeed, might be naturally expected, as the whole of his public and private professions have always been in direct opposition to those which could sanction or defend such acts of oppression as there described. Mr. Lawson objected to my having sent printed circulars to different parts of the country, requesting - the assistance of Members to forward them to their constituents, in order to ob tain the expression of public opinion in the case, for this was all these circulars solicited. Why, how are the facts of any case to be extensively known, but by giving them wide circulation? And how can they be circulated more unobjectionably than by Members sending them to their constituents, as they do daily for every variety of object? The parties were merely asked to express their opinion on the case, and whathas been the result? Why that while hundreds of petitions and thousands of signa tures infacour of my claims have been sent up from places and persons whom I had never visited or seen, not one unfavourable answer has been returned, nor a single petition sent up against the case. Y did no more than every man does who has a grievance to complain of; namely, to spread the knowledge of it far and wide. The sympathy with my injuries, which was as spontaneous as it was universal, was created by the facts of the case itself. I had no means or influence but this to make my wrongs known ; I did so, and the response was universally in my favour. Mr. Roebuck objected to making the people of Hindostan pay for the losses incurred by a " violation of the law." This objection is founded in entire ignorance of the facts : as, first, no law was violated, either Indian or English, and no legal process or conviction was ever attempted ; and, secondly, the people of Hindostan would not pay one farthing more than they do at present, whatever amount of compensation might have been awarded me. _ _ Mr. Robinson thought the people of England would readily sign petitions for any compensation provided they had not to pay the sum out of their own pockets, and he also contended that it was unjust to make the people of India pay for losses incurred by the conduct of their rulers. But it is remarkable that Mr. Robinson himself has taken great pains to induce Parliament to compel the India Company to grant compensation to the officers of their China ships, merely because the cessation of their monopoly has caused an inter ruption in their employment. If, then, Mr. Robinson thinks that the revenues of India may be justly drawn upon to give pensions to those who never had the slightest claim upon the natives of that country for consideration, what must be the in et,nsistency of mind that can object to the same resources being applied to compensation for property destroyed by those among whom the whole of that revenue is divided ? But, in truth, it is the greatest of all delusions to suppose that the natives of India would be taxed a farthing more than they are at present, if 'any compensation were to be paid. They are taxed to pay the dividends of 10i per cent. on East India Stock, to proprietors who never saw their country ; they arc taxed to pay the President and Commissioners of the India Board, Sir John Hobhouse and his colleagues, the Court of Directors and their Establishment ; they are taxed to pension officers of every class who are out of employment ; and the surplus of the revenue, when all this is done, is appropriated to the payment of their debts. From this surplus alone, any com pensation awarded to me must have come ; and if ever the Com pany owed a just debt, and one that ought to be paid in full, and even with interest, it is the debt due to me for property destroyed, and for twelve years of unjust resistance to a just demand. This, then, is a brief, but faithful summary, both of the facts of the case, and the arguments urged against my claims. Before a fair and impartial tribunal, they would have had due consideration. But, in a House of Commons, where, of the 658 Members, there are rarely even more than a third in at tendance, and their proportions are altering ever hour of the evenin—sometimes the one party being most numerous and evening sometime s ._sometimes the other ; where the utmost uncertainty prevails as to the exact hour when any subject is coming on ; where questions are rarely decided upon their merits, but often on purely party grounds • and where baste , and c onfusion , and misapprehensi on , and accident all concur in turn to defeat the best arid most just of causes, due consideration of any minor or p ersona l case is almost impossible. From these untoward co mbinations—namely, the uncer tainty of the time at which the question would be put to the vote—the accidentally-full attendance on the Tory benches, and the slight attendance on the Liberal side—the close and compact discipline of those who are opposed to Reform, and the loose and disunited bonds of those who are its professed advocates —which caused the absence of many whose presence would have cast the balance in my favour, had their weight been included in the scale, my claims were rejected ; and justice, through the present Parliament at least, has been thus y finally and i rrevocably denied mo. I have n o reme d y at law, and t hi s i t i s w hich aggravates the cruelty o f m case ; that while the ev idence is indis putable, th e d amages capable o f proo f, and the wrong un doubted, th e only Jury before wh i c h I ca n bring my case is that composed of 'the unfavourable materials above described ; and their course has been, by this decision, to prevent the 1 case going to a Committee, and thus effectually to prevent its impartial hearing. To you, then, the BRITISH PUBLIC, it is right that these facts should be known ; and as you have shown, by the most unequivocal proofs, your deep interest in my cause, by sending up petitions from nearly two hundred cities and towns of the kingdom—embraing England, Scotland, and Ireland—With many thousand signatures of the most respectable individuals in each, praying that the I-louse of Commons would vindicate ! its own dignity, maintain public justice, and amply redress s:) , w"r"ongs, it is right that you, at least, should know—fii-st, that I an-deeply sensible of your kindness, and grateful for your syMpiatliy, which I shall remember as long as I have memory or life ;; and next, thatinothiug has been omitted which could be done; either by me or by the real friends of justice in the House or in , the country, to Secure the fulfilment of your wishes to their utmost dctent. For myself, I feel , that while the Parliament is constituted as at present, all hope'of Legislative relief is vain , ;: and tint it would be self delusion to indulge it for a moment longer, I have now been twelve years'Eluggling against the power that oppressed me—and hitherto I Issue struggled is vain—l. have tried solicitation, entreaty, influence, argument, appear, and have wasted a large and valUable period of my life, and ex pended all the produce of my labour in the pursuit ; but all has been fruitless, and my wrongs are still unredressed. It is tree that I have beaten down the DeSpoiler, so fat' as to deprive him of his power to inflict the same injury on others. I have roused the people of this kingdom—from one end of it to the other, to demand the extinction of the monopoly of trade r and irresponsibility of power, heretofore enjoyed by the India Company ; and they are happily abolished. The rich provinces of I-lir2doostan are uow opened to the free settlement of British subjects ; and no man can henceforth be banished, as I was, without the violation of any law. The Trial by jury is established, and no man can now be despoiled of his property, as I was, without a verdict of his countrymen. The liberty of the Press has been recently confirmed, and no man can now be made a victim, as I was, for advocating its establishment. _ _ The trade with China has been opened, by which it has been proved that more than two millions a-year has been already saved to this country, in the purchase of its Teas. The trade with India has been greatly extended, by which, probably, another million annually is gained in the increased export of every branch of British manufacture, and the increased em ployment of British shipping. All these are national benefits, which I laboured humbly, but succersfully, to accelerate and accomplish. But, in doing this for others, I have been trampled under foot myself ; and now, after a career of as much industry, zeal, and public utility as it is permitted to almost any man to achieve, instead of enjoying the autumn of life in possession of that moderate competency which I had honestly and honourably earned, I find myself despoiled of all, without either legal or constitutional redress. I have, however, this great consolation, that I have done all that man could do to obtain justice from my oppressors • that I have served my country faithfully under every vicissitude and every change ; that my private honour remains unsullied, and my public principles and public conduct are unimpeached. These, I trust, will ever be in harmony with that love of liberty which I hope to cherish to the end of my days : and whenever that end may arrive, I shall have no self-reproach to dread in casting back a retrospective view over the sacrifices I have made, and the . sufferings I have endured, in the great cause of political and commercial freedom, which I have happily lived to see triumphant over despotism and monopoly, though I may be suffered to perish in the wreck. I am, Fellow Countrymen, Your faithful friend and servant, London, 60, Piccadilly. J. S. BUCKINGHAM. Lords called in rotation ,to assist in appeal cases,- or the suitors, whose interests shOuld be justly and dispassionately considered ? An efficient appellant court should be, therefore, estab lished for the purpose of insuring a right decision, and of commanding confidence in that decision, with reference to the suitor, .the public, and the legal profession. Lord • Brougham did not deem it indispensable that there should be any separate and exclusive tribunal of Judges appointed for the express purpose of deciding appeals, but merely a due admixture of various Judges with those whose decisions were appealed against—thus proceeding on a system analogous to the Courts of Common Law. Since his Lordship con-' _strutted the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council upon this principle, he proposed a similar change for the supreme appellant jurisdiction. Lord Brougham also proposed giv ing to the House of Lords the power of calling for the ser vices of Judges in Equity, and directing any case wherein there might be an appeal, to be tried by a Judicial Com mittee, which would publicly adjudicate and report to the Lords, who would pronounce their judgment in open Court. Besides, was not such Committee of the House of Lords to consist of four Judges, presided over by the actual or late Lord Chancellor, or the actual or late Chief Justice of the King's Bench or Common Pleas ? Though such alte rations were suggested in the supreme appellant jurisdiction, yet does not the British public well remember, that the ne cessity for such change did not arise from the mode in which judicial business was adjudicated in the Court of Chan cery, or the House of Lords, by Lord Chancellor Brougham, who never suffered any arrears in either of these important departments ? Since no arrears existed for some time in the Court of Chancery, Lord Brougham could not therefore proceed with his Bill for separating the judicial and political func tions of the Lord Chancellor, whose numerous and conflict ing duties must be. now efficiently separated. Though Lord Brougham despatched the business peculiarly apper taining to him as Lord Chancellor, yet the arrears in the Equity Courts have since increased to an alarming extent. Few, if any, men possess the clear judicial mind of Lord Brougham, for satisfactorily discharging all the duties which devolve upfn the Court of Chancery, as well as presiding over the House of Lords on all fitting occasions, together with acquitting the multiplicity of other functions apper taining to the office of Lord Chancellor. But is it not impolitic that the highest Judge in civil matters should be a Minister of State, removable at the pleasure of the Crown ? Would it not be prudent, if the noble, personage usually entrusted with the Great Seal were limited to perform the political duties incident to this high office, as adviser of the Crown and Speaker in the House of Lords, together with the judicial functions in that appellate jurisdiction? Since Par liament, at the suggestion of Lord Brougham, reformed the Privy Council tribunal, should not the Lord Chancellor be similarly placed as the other Judges who preside in that useful and efficient Court ? And, in the Court of Chan cery, should not a Chief Judge be appointed, with a com mission irremovable quaindiu bene se gesserit, like the Com mon Law Judges, whose independence of the Crown has been long regarded the best safeguard and security of our rights and liberties ? Though Law Reform, Sir, may be no' deemed com paratively easy, yet when Lord Brougham originated and effected various prudent legal improvements, were not num• berless obstacles encountered from a horror of any change in the law, as well as the opposition of individuals and classes of men who had an interest in the perpetuation of certain abuses ? Notwithstanding such obstacles, however, has not this philanthropic personage, with great skill, talent, and experience, rendered the transfer of property more simple and economical, the expenses of litigation trivial and in considerable, besides the adjudication of differences far more expeditious ? Instead of an equity suit enduring for some generations, did not Lord Brougham determine all arrears, and every cause introduced during the period of his presid ing in the Court of Chancery, thereby demonstrating him self as the ablest judicial functionary that ever filled the high station of Lord Chancellor ? Since this constant dis charge of-legislative and judicial duties pre-eminently distin guished Lord Brougham's official career, ought not his equally anxious determination to eradicate every principle injurious to the British nation, but especially detrimental to the ad ministration of justice, influence each disinterested and enlightened individual to co-operate in promoting Lord Brougham's useful, salutary, and patriotic Law Reforms ? I remain, &c. Chancery-lane, Feb. 22, 1836, MENTOR. LITERATURE. ESSAYS ON A FEW SUBJECTS OF GENERAL INTEREST. London, E. Churton. 1836. he subjects of the finished Essays in this volume are—" Fox-hunting," " Society and the Social Sys tem," " 'University Education," On the Present Position of the English Aristocracy," " On the Amusements of the People," and " On the Love of Pleasure." Of these one half can hardly be regarded with any degree of propriety, as subjects generally in teresting. Nevertheless the work deserves encourage ment ; albeit the writer is obviously a young man with no very correct estimate of his own powers, either of observation or reflection. In the Essay on the University system of Education, we arc frequently offended by an egotistical display of knowledge, more sounding and pompous than intrinsically valuable. At the same time we must acknowledge that in these Essays we have the promise of valuable accessions to English literature. THREE LECTURES ON EDUCATION, Delivered in the . University of Edinburgh, Br PBOPBSSOR PILIANS. The evident object of these Lectures is to counteraci the strong and general feeling which has lately arisen, not only against the system of classical education pun. sued in public schools, but against classical education h general. This feeling is particularly strong in the northern parts of this island. Indeed a complete re-action has takes place in the public mind there, and a vast proportion of those classes who, some years ago, thought it encum bent on them to send their sons for seven or eight years to school to learn Latin and Greek, now regard such species of instruction as of the smallest possible value to any but those intended for one of the learned pro fessions. The consequence has been, that in several of the towns of Scotland, and more particularly in the capital, the number of scholars attcnding the purely grammar-schools has greatly decreased; and there have sprung up to supply the demand for the new system of instruction, numerous schools where Latin is not abso lutely excluded, but where it holds a very subordinate place, not only to mathematics, but to that knowledge which the advocates of the system consider alone necessary for the great body of the people. No per son who has paid attention to the subject can be at all surprised at the reaction,. The only matter of surprise is, that the absurd system so long in use in our public schools and universities should have been allowed to exist for a day after priests and monks had been ex pelled from the cloisters of our cathedrals and colleges. For these men there were great excuses. These schools were established at a period when learning was confined to the clergy, and were in fact established chiefly for the education of that class ; and knowing how much the perusal of the writings of the Greeks and Romans had contributed to their power, as well as to the civilization of Europe, they naturally adhered to a system which had been productive of such bene ficial consequences. For the Protestant clergy, how flyer, there is no such excuse, and their only plea is that urged against all reform—namely, the danger of meddling with institutions hallowed by time, and founded by the wisdom of our ancestors. Of all classes the Clergy are the last to do away with abuses, and to this anti-reform spirit may in a great measure be attributed the present state of our Schools, and consequently one of the great evils that spring from it—the anomalous and absurd system of Church Preferment. A Clergyman, for instance, is raised to PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS• METROPOLITAN HACKNEY CARkIAriES.—Mr. Alderman Wood's Bill for the better regulation of hackney carriages and omnibuses, contains a provision for the appointment of a Re gister, which is to be in the Aldermen. A penalty or impri sonment for two months is affixed to the offence of wanton driving or misbehaviour. Compensation also may be summa rily obt a ined for any injury arising from negligence. There is a penalty also among a great many other penal enactments for not having the vehicle and horses in good order, so as to se cure to the public safety, comfort, and room enough. IRISH CONSTABULARY FORCE.—The leading features of the Bill to consolidate the Laws relating to the Constabulary Force in Ireland," is the breaking up of the old vicious system. In principle it differs little from the Bill rejected by the Lords last session. The force to be called into existence by Lord Morpeth's Bill will weed out the Orange partizans with which the Constabulary is now filled, as an oath will be required, pledging each man that he is not a member of any secret or - illegal society. The appointments are in the Lord Lieute nant. By th e t hi r d c l ause , hi s E xce llency is clothed With the power to appoint an Inspector General, which officer Will virtually make all the subordinate appointments. Clauses 23 and 24 give pow er to t h e L or d Li e utenant to appoint resident stipendiary Magistrates. The expenses of constables are by the 25th and 26th clauses to be advanced out of the Consoli dated Fund, one moiety of such expenses to be repaid by the county. COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL Yesterday a Court was held for the despatch of business. The most important matter for discussion was the report of the Committee appointed to inquire into the receipts and expenditure of the Corporation, distinguishing the different sources from which they arose, and the salaries and fees of the officers. . Mr. JONES, the Chairman of the London Bridge Com mittee, brought up . the report of that Committee, which gave a very satisfactory account of the improvements in course of being accomplished in several parts of the City, and required that the Committee should be empowered to borrow the sum of 30,000/. to proceed with them. The report was agreed to. REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE OF THE CITY OF LONDON. Mr. WILLIAMS, M.P. for Coventry, brought up the re port of the Revenue Committee, and moved that the report should be received, printed, and circulated amongst the members of the Court. There were three separate appen dices to the report. _ _ _ 1. The City's revenue, .nearly all of Receipts. Expen. which was raised by dues, taxes, £ s. £ s. &c. 2. Taxes, rates, &c., raised by au thority of Acts of Parliament 204,433 0 132,757 0 0. Trust funds Received this year on account of the 1,000,000/. borrowed from the Bank of England to make ap proaches to London-bridge, to be repaid by a duty of Bd. per ton on coals, &c £659,733 0 676,122 0 By the first and second schedules it would be seen that 345,4641. was raised by taxes on the citizens , and a large amount upon other inhabitants of the metropolis, with the ex ception of about 47,000/. derived from the rental of houses, built principally on the site of the ancient city walls and ditches, which was given to the mayor, commonalty, and citizens, by the charter of Charles 1., adding to- which, fees and emolu ments received by officers and other persons appointed to places by the corporation, amounting to 57,688/., which did not appear in the City account book, amounting together to 49,153/. He would next give a statement of the cost of the management of the municipal affairs of the City, including salaries and emoluments of officers, law charges, &c. Officers and persons holding situations by the ap pointment of the Corporation or its branches £93,684 Cost of the Mayoralty, already reported upon 25,034 Committees of the Common Council, for dinners, fine money, and summer excursions £6,584 .( 7,410 Expenditure money on the Maria Wood 826 Besides the cost of building the Maria Wood, and barge-house, which exceeded 6,000/. Law charges, on an average of ten years 16,397 Ditto, on account of making approaches to London Bridge Surveyors, &c. £147,662 Pensions to widows of aldermen, and other persons connected with the Court of Aldermen Pensions to officers, widows of officers, &e 11,821 £150,383 He considered that pensions given to the deputy Coai meters ought to be added, which amounted to 18,191/. There were, Lesides, ten city tradesmen appointed by the Corporation, many of whom were connected by relationship with members of that Court. The library at Guildhall, which was built and stocked for the benefit of the mem bers of the Corporation, cost 6,4381., and 200/. per annum was allowed to be expended upon it, at the same time that there was an annual expenditure exceeding 3,000/. on Guildhall and its various apartments. He hoped that he bad given the Court some idea of the municipal govern ment of a population of 122,300. M:. Williams concluded by moving that the report should be received, printed, and circulated amongst the members of the Court. Mr. FLETCHER rose to move an amendment. He had been on the Committee, but he had not had the opportunity of attending it closely. The report contained much of what was true, but it did not contain the whole truth. It was extremely incomplete. After some further observations, Mr. Fletcher moved— " That by an order of the Court of the 17th October, 1834, it was referred to a Committee to inquire into the duties, sala ries, and emoluments of the clerks and officers of this Corpora tion, and into the revenue and expenditure of this city ; and the said order contained an express instruction to the Committee to report to this Court whether any, and if any, what reduction could be made in the several items of such expenditure. " That in the report this day presented, the Committee, in stating an account of the salaries of the officers, has set forth the gross amount of receipts of office, without deducting mc nied charges and other disbursements payable thereout, whereby an inaccurate impression is calculated to be made as to the actual amounts of the emoluments derived by the corporate officers from their various appointments. In the said report, a statement of the duties of the several officers, as required by the order of reference, is omitted, whereby this Court is de prived of the standard by which the sufficiency or exorbitancy of their salaries might be justly measured ; that the said Com mittee has omitted to comply with the direct instructions of this Court, by not setting forth in its report whether any, and if any, what reduction can be made in the salaries of any one of the officers upon whose emoluments it has reported ; in consequence of which omission, the only practical beneficial object of the appointment of the Committee is frustrated or delayed. " That the report be referred back to the said Committee to amend the same, by setting forth and adding up, in separate columns, both the gross and the net receipts and emoluments of the several officers, and by setting forth their respective duties ; and that the said Committee do, with all practicable expedition, report their opinion to this Court, whether any, and if any, what reduction can be made in the several items of expenditure, both as regards the allowances to the various Committees of the Corporation, and the salaries and emolu ments of its officers, it being the firm determination of the Court to institute the most searching inquiry into all those subjects, and to effect every retrenchment in the corporate ex penditure which may be proposed, provided such retrenchment is compatible with the efficient discharge of the duties com mitted to its care, and is not inconsistent with a due regard to the just rights of the various persons employed in its service." _ _ Mr. PRIOR seconded the amendment. Mr. PEWTRESS said that the amendment was most ex traordinary, and conveyed a direct censure upon a Com mittee which had been most indefatigable. Mr. Ticknor, Mr. Anderton, and Mr. Jones supported the amendment ; and Mr. Weston, Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Hall the original motion. Alderman MARSHALL supported the amendment. . Some questions were the n put to Mt Scott, to verify th e report. Mr. PEansos was summon e d to attel id the Committ ee , and stated that he should oppose the rece, ')!:ion of the pre sent. report. The whole report ought Ito n tve been printed, and in the hands of the members of the fount, long ago. The: (Committee were appointed o n the 17th o. r October, and they never met till the 3d of Sanaa 1835. The y afterwards adjourned on the . 23(1 of Septet, ber, and held no further meeting till the 16th of February. This extra.ordinary active Committee slept for several mom:bs at a time ; and while awake, they had but si x t een meetingk*---L -(A laugh.) They referred those proceedings to a Srt: , - Con lmittee, and he took his stand against their repo' t. ,The re was no report from the Sub... Committee. But this-s• repo rt . was to be made good by an examination of Mr. Scott, as if by such means the neglect of the Committee -was to go Scott free.—(A lat6th.) The -very suspicious haste with which they were about to proceed, -when an ex amination was soon to be taken in another place, showed that there was more meant than met the eye.--(A. laugh.) Mr. Pearson then proceeded to make objections to the de tails in the report, and asked—was the. Court to be n.sade a laughing stock of ? The Committee ought to go back to the national sehools.--(Laughter.) It would be the great est kindness to the Committee to send back their report.- (Continued laughter.) He was like an old father to them.. —( Peals of laughter.) .HeVskecl the other day, was one of their accounts that he sa4tr to be given in ?—it amounted to 168,155/. ; and he asked Scott, did he mean to say that was an actual statement of n lonics received or expended by the Corporation ? Mr. Scott replied, " No, but lam told to do it."-- , —(A laugh.) This-. was a new edition of Scott on arithmetic, with variations. by Williams.----(ltoars of laughter,) Mr. W, PRITCHARD implored the Court to listen, not to , any attempts to amuse and had them away from the subject under discussion, by a similar display of political adroitness,. but to a plain ,statement of ilacts, and to some few, yet ob vious, inferences resulting from these facts, `as the most suitable answer to be given by the Committee to the groundless. and he would therefore add, unwarrantable censure, attempted to be passed upon them by the amend ment proposed.—(Hear, and mur,'nurs of impatience.) The Committee were directed, by the o rder of reference, to do three things—first, to inquire into the duties, salaries, and emoluments of the various officers of the Corporation : secondly, into the corporate revenue and expenditure ; and thirdly, to report what reductions they thought necessary in the various heads of expenditure, with a special reference to report at once as so the expense of the mayoralty. They had already satisfied the lat ter reference, and their report had been printed by direction of the Court.—( Hear.) That inquiry had necessarily led th ern to finish the remaining branch of revenue and expenditti•re, comprehending, as the latter did, the salaries and emolut.aents of the officers. They had then only to report upon the d `sties of the officers, and, their opinion of the reductions requ'ired, and these two mat ters, as being well calculated to ills istrate each other, they had reserved for their third report, stating, as their present re p ort did, that they were prepa red to p roceed with a imnrediately, and that. they had only omitted it as a second part of their present report, because the time occupied by the one had left them no time for the other.—(Hear.) But the worthy Under-Sheriff objected to the Committee's ar rangement of their business, .and called upon them to finish the whole of their labours at o nce, or not to present to the Court what they had at so much - labour completed. Why? Because he knew well enough that, if they were so to act, the report would not be in time to be of any service at :I'. ( Hear, hear.) He had said that the report - was neither re levant nor sufficient, and he had attemptt'd, in support of that: position, to point out two or three discre i lancies, like single bricks exhibited as specimens of the whole building; but they had miserably broken down under him. On this point he (Ms. Pritchard) would oppose to the ingenious evo:utions of the , Under-Sheriff, to sustain his position, the valuable and unanswerable testimony of their corporate officers, Mr. Scott and Mr. Frith, so deservedly, eulogised this day. They, or the officers who had made returns to the Com mittee, had authenticated by their signatures as well as by their oral testimony, this day given, every document pre seated by the Committee, comprehended, as they were under the three several heads . of, first, an account of the landed estates and other revenue of the corporation, in its: corporate capacity, and the expenditure thereof ; secondly, an account of the evies of taxes and other impositions made by the corporation, under the authority of Parliament, and their appropriation ; and thirdly, an account of the funds under the management of the corporation, as trustees, such as the London-bridge and Gresham funds, and their ap propriation. The Court was /cot called upon to express any opinion upon these documents, but merely to print, and send a copy to each member, before any such opinion was called for—a course which was the every day practice the Court, but which was on this occasion to be re fused ; and instead of it a vote of censure was to be passed'. upon the committee by the proposed amendment, drawn: up as it had been by the Under-Sheriff, though not moved'. by him, with all the particularity of a bill of indictment, the result of a special retainer for his eminent legal ser vices, and charging the committee with all sorts of sins both of omission and commission, all of which were solemnly negatived by the uncontradicted and uncontradictable evi dence of Mr. Scott, and the other officers of the Corpora ration acquainted with the facts—(hear, hear)—and by that committee's report, which, so far from showing that they had omitted or refused to do the duty that had been assigned to them, manifested that they had completed int the best manner two-thirds of it, and were abont to - pro ceed immediately with the other third.—(Hear, hear.) The Court divided, when there appeared for the amend ment, 65 ; against it, 29 ; majority, 36. The amendment was finally adopted after three motions of adjournment, and the Court adjourne,l. AGAINST THE RECEPTION OF THE REPORT. ALDERMEN.—Lainson and Harmer. COMMONERS. Corney Filby Toplis Drew Wood Collingwood Pearson Rawlins Flower Heywood Cope Bennett Dawson Bedford Pilcher Lorkin Hossack llarmes Hall BlacLett Goss Davies Kipling Haines Culverwell Figgins Cuthbert Dixon Jackson Tickner Hoppe Price Atkinson Ganthony Verinder Stubbing Penning Savage ' Anderton Frisby Day M•Dowall Fletcher Marriott Jupp Powell Burn Fisher Old Robins Blarchant Davies Rutter Alderman Peacock Prier Rolls Croucher Gibbs Newton ' Baker FOR THE RECEPTION OF THE REPORT. ALDERMEN.—None. COMMONERS Williams Hoard Negus Sclson Pritchard G. Pritchard Robinson Gibson H. Hall W. Lawrence Tyars A. Saul D. Wire Baylis Patten Davis Johnson Heppell Evans , Benyon Galloway French R. Lawrence Sykes Lott Riottram E. Wilson UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. The annual general meeting of the proprietors of the University of London took place yesterday ; H. Warbur ton, Esq., M. P., in the chair. In their report to the proprietors, the Council expressed regret that they had not to announce the completion of the plan of the Government for the establishment of a Metro politan University ; but they stated their persuasion that the delay had been occasioned merely by the desire of Mi nisters to arrange the details with the care necessary for the fonnding of an institution of such great national importance, and that they should soon have to convene an extraordinary meeting of the proprietors on the subject. They congratu lated the proprietors on the continually increasing prosperity of the University, and on the circumstance that, for the first time since the formation of the establishrr ent, the re ceipts (for the session of 1834-5) were more than sufficient to cover the expenses both ordinary and extraordinary. A still more favourable report, it was stated, was to be expected for the current year, as the increase in the num ber of students and amount of fees received, was very con siderable. The gross amount of fees last year up to the corresponding period was 9,913!., it. is this year 10,630 — notwithstanding the postponement to the summer of the botanical class, a numerous and important one. Mr. TooKE, M.P., read extracts from a letter received i by him from Lord Brougham, suggesting for consideration several modes of employing the second donation of 1,000!. from an unknown friend of the institution, by whom it was referred to his Lordship to decide on the manner of appro priating the gift. The announcement of the improved state of his Lordship's health, and of his continued interest in the welfare of the institution, was received with very hearty cheering. Mr. W ARBURTON said that he had LIO doubt that the charter establishing a Metropolitan University would be completed within a very short period. It was within his own knowledge that many of the appointments to the Board of Examiners had been made, and he believed even that a Chancellor bad been fixed on. The new Members of Council elected were : Dr. Lush ington, M.P., J. T. Leader, Esq., M.P., Daniel Gaskell, Esq., M.P., and J. L. Prevost, Esq. ; and William Alcrs Hankey, Esq., was chosen auditor. MILITARY F L OGGING. — Monday a J ury was summ oned at Woolw ich to inquireinto the circumstances which led to th e death of a private intrine, named William Saundrey, whos e sudden decease, in the prime of life, was reported to have been occasioned by his having received 100 lashes on the Bth instant, in compliance with th e s e ntence of a Court-martial. The visiting military surgeon in his deposi tion having stated that nothing but a post mortem examination could decide the cause of death, the inquiry was postponed for the purpose of such ex am i nat i on unt il th e morro w (this day.)