The Sun. — London, England, 1836-04-30 00:00:00

1)1111 T OICTHE PUBLIC JOURNALS theft Peers did right—haviner one of the stamp in L ielt House possessed of a smooth and fluent tongue, a recreant Irishman to foster Lord Isynd tiu,sr,st:,s bantling, and it must be conceded t r e ' lli ` their instrument so acquitted himself as to give „E1m...n0 cause to repent their choice. True, the pro- Po aloe which Lord Fitzgerald and Vesey was tutored t() 8-1 • Lonna to the hereditary_ wisdom of their Lordships Was cell con • r rani., ed i n f rau d an d ma li ce ; t rue , i t sme l t „ of faction ; true, it evidenced hypocrisy the st contemptible , and politico-religious prejudice the blinde st and most grovelling ; but were not these alone "ffieient reasons why the bastard progeny of the apos tatehe de_ mocrat should be fostered by the ci-devant se r al Repr esentat i ve o f „ Cl are ? Wi t h out g i v i ng the ,I•t a eredi te credit for any extraordinary sagacity, they d u ndoubtedly perceived that the fittest instrument to against a country's rights is a degenerate son, fo w l , l o d eserts his country's cause and associates with h e r • Besid es , it was iderate to allow Lord Fitzgerald and Ves e y an opportunity of retorting upon the honest li e : ) .1) 1 2 wh o , s h oc k e d at his terg i versat i on, scoute d from t hustings Mister Vesey Fitzgerald. When the lust of place has eaten up t h e l ove o f country an d o f lib erty gil d te pri nc i p l e i s extinguished by the passion for pre • ferme nt , we may l ament, b ut should not wonder at, 0 7 Prostit ut i on o f ta l ents to t h e d etr i ment o f a course ee eei ,N ) heY which, when the mind was uncorrupt e d b y _v I associati on , an d b e f ore t h e h ear t was stee l e d b y resentment, w as p ronounce d t o b e th e wisest, safest b i , e 't•" The period i s not remo t e wh en amongs t t h e m ost strenuous and persuasive advocates of Irish rights Catholic equality ranked Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald. hence th e c h ange ex hibi te d i n hi s speec h on Mon "ight ? We think we can discov e r i n severa l oas -ges of that s p eec h a l ur ki ng s pi r it o f revenge . 'And , a whv should this be ? If Clar e w as l os t a coronet 48 fou'od, and the regret that might have been felt at anb expulsi on f rom t h e C ommons oug h t sure l y to h ave e " far outweighed by the joy attendant up on an ad mission i nto t h e sanctuary o f h ere di tary w i sdom. p a 854 1", however, from this minor topic, and verlooling, also, the plan of Municipal Reform, o d r i note properly speaking, destruction, propoun by the Ex-Chancellor, and detailed by °4l Fitzger a ld, we come to the reasons assigned b t, y "e _latter in support of his proposition. And what a re these reasons which it was intended should bar er' t ee, and which, if in the present , constitution of the ,P,Per House reasoning be required to influence the F a iarity, did influence their Lordships to strangle in Very birth almost, the :Ministerial measure, and to substitute the Copley scheme ? Ireland is Catholic— or is oppressed by a Church alien to the great body the people—she is coerced into discontent—she i s traelaimed be the clergy of a dominant sect who form t a fragment of a fraction of the people, and by the il l sinterested Tory Barons of the Court of Exchequer r` bublin, to be in a state of rebellion against tithes Viceroy has the authority, at his caprice, to — Vend the c on stitution from the Giant's C a us ewa y to • l o Cape Clear, and from Howth to Connemara—a ,;!ig, continu o u s ca r e er of Tory oppression and l oca l ta ntle has produced its natural effects, popular demora ration and disaffection—an insolent and rapacious-fac t," have by th e i r unc h ec k e d i n i qu it o u s proced ure exas r4ted the public mind and nearly extirpated all respect l e r the laws and the constituted authorities—a cru e l 'leg ," of the i n t eres t s o f th e p easan t r y h as l e d to a f requent la: u rrence of outrage ; and for these sound reasons— cause, forsooth, oppression has not engendered a of the laws—because injustice has created dissa netion, because the heart, sickened by promises fj L ° Ken and hope long deferred, does not teem with idli ness towar d s t h e rec kl ess ma l e f actors w h o, b y i t l6l ' Vices and sway, have succeeded very nearly in N tlri lina a rich and fertile soil, where lie the seeds of C a ntles blessings, but where the buds are ever nipped . r Y , t he pestilent breath of intolerant mountebanks, into (le aert productive only of misery and ruin—because e f ' an d, always until now misgoverned, does not exh ibit the gr atifying appearance of England, generally tr,% l governed, at least in local respects,—the Union is he--so the House of Lords declare—a piece of haste pager, a mockery—the empire is but a name— ela,d Irel an d i s to cont i nue a p i t if u l prov i nce , su bj ect to ' the calamities that ever have attended upon m oo oici a l isolation I That Lord Fitzgerald and kih e i c Y should resist any approach to an effectual att of the two countries by means of equal Ell 8 / seems natural enough ; for he, possibly, l at t iertains an hereditary hostility to that legis raP fusion, rather than sanction which his late . 1 7r flun g u p o ffi ce ; but that he should be egged on ' t or '" abetted in his pernicious attempt to plant the TOWS t„ etern a l feud, and maybe!) of future separation, be ten Great Britain and Ireland, by the majority of , e le British Peers, would appear marvellous indeed, 1) 1 any act of the Tory Peers now excite wonder th °l )ot their Lordships sec—if they are not really of horn blind" they must perceive—that Ireland, ti ie n`` g Cath o li c , an d h a vi n g now the protection of go Acts of 1793 and 1829, cannot any longer be, te,j,!""ed in conformity with that " imperial line of 1 1 .( Y , " which the Times once loudly deprecated fief ,h the profligate pages of the apcstate are now ki, with bombastic periods in its favour ? The Le itr, 4t Ure cannot halt now. The Catholics of Ireland t he th e Parliamentary constituency of that country, eed nave the legal right to seats in the Legislature, full participation in all the rights, liberties, stir ai 'munities of Great Britain they must have, th e we must retrace every step we have taken for N e `aht forty-three years, and re-enact the penal Iri s h It will no t d o at this time of day to say to the 1 1 , 0 Cath o li cs , " T rue . vou are united with E T . ite e ' d ) hut , you are u n fit for the possession of English u 4. ). They will question the truth of the dogma, to en 4 ' l ` tar/ they are not in a condition to acquire, i m . tip at , and to use, all the rights and privileges parti it h e ed, in bv their British fellow-subjects ? Should ;61. 4 4 1 ' 441 in reply, as it has been said by Lord Fitz dud echoed by the infamous Times, that Ire telie•ls not so prosperous, so contented, so free from fOrt~tus rancour and sectarian strife as Great Britain r eto rt 4 tely Is, will not the Irishmen quickly and naturally, Of mk,..--Whence this admitted difference the condition t ug}, countri es ? Is it not all the effect of Tory Te• a( ninistrati on an d O r a n ge. ascendancy ? The t Ql t j, € : h ave destroyed Ireland, and then they punish her ie th y! . w retchedn ess . They subvert the constitution %t e country, and substitute the sword for the I.et Ptre, and then, because they have done so, they Iq / ti eir abnegation upon a measure of relief. till "and ther e - is an Insurrection Act—the pro -114 /.,°!: the Pe e l an d G ou lb urn s c ho o l ; in England 14 4 •'' no such outrageous law ; therefore, he nut fit t o h ave a reform of her municipal th e d e '',; . B ueli as the Legislature conceded last year to 'lfe ren ' Ol 4l of t h e peop l e o f England I Philosophic o ti e te---wise conclusion Is it not worthy of the 4e t° t ?which such language is addressed ? Now, we 1 l ike to be informed what the Insurrection Act ll hso e Co- • sreion Act has to do with time _Municipal ~rurNl • 13111 - It is not pretended—even the audacious e 4 has 'er e not presumed to assert—that either of these i et - and unconstitutional enactments were applied at tl l d,d to apply to towns in Ireland. Granted, 1 persecuted peasantry ill Tipperary, Kilkenny, ' the Queen's County, have violated the laws tta . 44 111 C ommissionti of nocturnal or noon-day outrage— e that Ne ed , the hunted cottier has turned to bay, and t ' 4 • alinSelf upon li:s• ruthless pursuers—and we le t s th e ,, inaild sincerely lament the occurrence of such 4 1 Ces eoli the rural districts of Ireland—is that i hre wby statesmen should insult and injure `'e "sire town population, and deny to the il pt, eitiz• ens of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Water st y, or Belfast, a salutary law similar to i t ,„nili e h i , W as passed a year ago for th e b ene f it o f e m acit ' a nts of Liverpool, Bristol, Le e d s ? T ory L ae ; '" advanced this precious reason for not tl • 1 ,, ic Irish Corporations, fellows it up by an st, s ou , v sk ll, ,e, c, lid reason for abolishing—utterly extir ke.4tll, 4 . at municipal system in which, but twelve of the Tories discovered the purity of per - am 'd tl surest safeguard of the Church and ill 'tZti hr on . een t l di " It was intended," says Lord hf t by those who concurred with him in je s .'e X u t e v reform, to agree to the proposition Cor de Lord f or a b o li s hi ng all the exist '4l ~Pora • t "is alter the 18111 qf Januar:9, 1837." allneuncement the Noble Lord followed up by stating that his party decided upon abo lishing the props and mainstays of Royalty—so th.:. Corporations have been designated by Tory writers and speakers—in order to establish perfect equality in Ireland ; it being, it seems, a dogma :of the new Tory creed, that " it is neither prudent, politic, nor safe to give to one patty an absolute and uncontrolled ascendency." Agreeing perfectly in the truth and wisdom of this dogma, may we ask how ancient is the date of its Tory adoption ? The Tories did not certainly entertain such radical opinions in the palmy days of their power; for we find that while Mr. Peel was Home Secretary, and Mr. Goulburn Secre tary for Ireland, no steps • were taken to abolish this imprudent, impolitic, and unsafe ascendency, which the Tories now deprecate, and which the Orange fac tion then revelled in with uncontrolled violence in Ire land. It is impossible that the British public can be come the dupes of such impudent imposture. The people of England must see through the hypocritical cant and vicious motives of those corruptionists who, when the period for inquiry into their malversation has arrived, seeing the impossibility of retaining that power and those trusts which they have flagitiously perverted and abused, with demoniac malice invoke destruction upon their own heads, in order to enjoy in their last throes of agony the fiendish pleasure of beholding the enemies of their peculations and oppressions over whelmed in the same ruins. We shall return •to this subject.—Morning Chronicle. Statesmen, and people who are not statesmen, go to work by different methods. Of all descriptions of persons who undertake the duty of political govern ment, we should say that speculative. and experimental rulers are the most dangerous ; but of all speculators the wildest and most absurd are those who attempt to build analogies out of insufficient materials, and to in sutute practical measures on the strength of analogies so constructed. These remarks have been suggested to us by a Parliamentary paper which accident has thrown into our hands. It is entitled " Papers relat ing to the Ecclesiastical Establishments of Prussia," and has resulted from an inquiry set on foot by our wise Ministers, with the obvious, indeed the acknowledged, purpose of assimilating the church establishment and institutions of Leland to those of the above-mentioned military power, " whose perfect system of religious toleration, which is not only established by law, but ingrafted practically upon the habits of the people, renders Prussia a model for the imitation of Other countries in such matters,"---at least so dogmatizes the circumspect and profound Lord Palmerston, in a letter to our Ambassador at. Berlin. The greater por tion of the 20 " questions" which have b een trans . . _ _ mitt :d through the said Minister to the Prussian Go vernment, on the subject of its ecclesiastical institu tions, are framed for the manifest purpose of eliciting a►tswers favourable to certain projects of the O'Con nell clique, for new-modelling the church of Ireland according to views of an hostile nature towards the United Kingdom, and the Protestant major:ti of its inhabitants. But, as it seems to us, the scheme breaks down at tl►e very threshold. How transfer 1) Ireland, by any expedient of sidden he state of a country where it is admitted that he " habits of the people" constitute an essential feature of that system which we arc called upon to imitate as a model ? How transfer at once to Ireland the principles and attributes of the Prussian method of providi►►g for the clergy, when that method is as various as are the provinces of the Prussian monarchy, and the relations of the several sects are modified by circumstances in which the GO vernment has had no, or an indefinitely small, con cern ? Nor do the answers to the interrogatories, as happens frequently when the motive is unfair, serve to helpi the conspiracy against the established church of Ireland. It appears, for instance, in reply to the question whether, if the members of a given sect, in a given district, were to be diminished, the number of clergymen would follow the reduction of their flocks ? " that the case is not providedlbr by the law of Prussia" —it is left to the real exigency, operated upon by the consent of the Government—a military and absolute Government, be it remembered—by which, however, special titles, " and as regards the Catholic Church. " its constitutional privileges are always respected." Will our Ministers, then, be satisfied to apply the same rule in favour of the Irish Protestant Church, and not suffer its constitutional and established privileges to be trampled on by a tyrannical rah'ale ? It is, with reference to Ireland alone, what the Roguish Church is with regard to the whole of Prussia, the church of the minority. Again, we are called upon to assimi late ecclesiastical institutions, and do for the Roman Catholics what is done in Prussia. The Crown in Prussia possesses an authority over Papists of which the King of England is desiitute. The King of Prussia sends his con . O . daire to the chapter of each Roman Catholic diocese, which is obliged by a brief of Pope Pius VII to elect for Bishop persona»l regi (warm. The Romish Bishop, therefore, in effect, is appointed by the Crown. Will the Roman Catholic priesthood of Ireland vest a like power in his Britannic Majesty ? We apprehend not. These gentry even despatched an emissary to Rome to dissuade the Pope from issuing any hull, or signing any concordat to that effect ; if we recollect right, they even denied his authority to do so. They alleged that the constitution of Irish Popery would not suffer it. Very well : if the Popish Church of Ireland be so constituted as to forbid the establishment of those political securities which are acceded to by Popery in other countries, as the condition of the indulgences which it prays for, is the Parliament of the United Kingdom to blame for withholding what the King of Prussia grants Prus sian Roman Catholics? And what again is that ? Is it any where said in the answers to the Palmerston interrogatories, that the old revenues and possessions of the Protestant Church in Prussia have been made over to the Ro:nish priesthood, for perpetuat ing under the nickname of " education" the ranco rous and anti-Protestant - superstition of their laity. But, main, we are told with an air of triumph, that zr) in Prussia, and throughout Germany, all Churches are equal by law. It suffices to say that in Leland, and throughout the whole United Kingdom, all churches, fur the best reasons, are not equal; and that an organic change for no apparent end but to accommodate our ecclesiastical institutions to those of a distant country, is one which, though Lord Pal merston may recommend, the British nation repudiates. Lastly, we are told, that in the Rhenish provinces of Prussia the Crown pays a salary to the Popish Clergy, as a compensation for their landed property which was seized by the French when they made a conquest of those provinces. Then, we put it broadly to the Whig- Radical Ministers of England, will they or will they not bring in a Bill for making the Irish priesthood sti pendiaries of the State, and thus placing them in one prominent respect, though not in all, on a footing (viz. as functionaries in the public service) with the Clerg,y of the Protestant religion ? Will they do that, or will they not ? If not, they' are paltry and peddling hy pocrites, whose words and acts are in open and bare faced contradiction. The unanswerable truth of the matter is this :—The argument of " numbers," ad duced by the Popish demagogues, is a fatal stumbling block to their own cause. Ireland is no less a portion of the United Kin ;dom than Yorkshire. The nume rical relation of Protestants and Roman Catholics must, by every principle of the Constitution, and every law of common sense, be estimated by a re gard to the whole kingdom, as recognized under the Union of 1800. According to that calculation the Roman. Catholic body amounts to not so much as one third of the gross population of Great Britain and Ire land ; and when pushed by the pretence of Irish num bers, that is the ground on which the Statesmen and Legislators of the empire ought to take their unflinch iiig stand.—Times. Whether the Stamp Duty on Newspapers be re duced or abolished—and reduction or abolition is now become inevitable—three are three great objects to be steadily kept in view. Time first is, to give the widest pos6bie scope to the exercise of talent and the dif fusion o f i nte lli gence ; the second, to protect from illegal competition the property of those who, on the with of the law, have invested large capital in Smewsprpers ; and the third, to take every possible precaution against trenching on the rights of the sub ject in the attempt to suppress the contraband trade. With regard to the first object—the utmost diffusion of knowledge —under the conviction that whoever advocates ignorance is an enemy to the State and to humanity, we have always been anxious for the total abolition of the Newspaper Stamp Duty, and if we have acceded to its being reduced to a penny, it is not that we abate a fraction of our original claim, nor. are we willing to forego its full liquidation, but be cause, as Mr. O'Connell would say, fearing that we should not be able to obtain the whole of the debt, we are willing to accept an instalment of 15e. i n th e pound. This was the principle on which we acted when the present Earl Spencer was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and when of the daily Metropolitan Press we stood alone in our denunciations against the existing duty. This is the principle on which we no w act, and in accordance with which we have recently contended that if the reduction to a penny take place a clause should be introduced for the total cessation of all ' duty after the expiration of one or two years. This would effect the desir e d c h a nge without giving a n y shock to Stamped Newspaper property ; but, for our own part, we should much prefer the immediate aboli tion of the duty, with compensation on a graduated scale to the proprietors of the legal Press, to any reduc tion whatever. We have great respect for Messrs. Grote, Hume, and the other gentlemen who composed the deputation which on last Wednesday waited on Lord Melbourne and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, nor would we suspect them to sacrifice principle to popularity ; but we must say that in their laudable zeal to free the Press from its trammels, they seen to have completely overlooked or disregarded the .ne cessity of protecting the legal Newspaper trade from illegal competition. Th e i r sympathies would appear to have been wholly engrossed by the smuggler, and while they declaimed indignantly against the forcible entry clause as a violation of the sacred rights of the subject, the fraud on the public revenue and the plunder of private property committed by illegal pub lications was deemed unworthy of allusion. We are as averse to the existing law as ally of these gen thrrnm can possibly be ; but we arc desirous to see it repealed by constitutional means, and not put in force against one party, while another is suffered to violate it with impunity. While the Executive neglects any legitimate means fir the suppression of unstamped Newspapers, every penny of duty levied on the stamped journals is a robbery ; and in self-defence the pro prietors of the latter would be fully justified in fol lowing the example of the contrabandist, as the law which denies them protection can have no claim on their observance. On this account every allowance should be made for the solicitude of the Government to secure the enforcement of the law, and we cannot forbear the expression of our surprise, that certain members of the deputation should declare themselves ready to be a party to its violation. Such declara tion we regard, to say the least, as unbecoming and in decorous, for who can be expected to pay deference to the law, if its promulgators themselves set the ex• ample of disobedience ? A few days since, we stated that the size of a paper legalized by the penny duty, was not to be fixed by the standard of any particular journal, and we are now enabled to corroborate this statement, as we have heard from good authority that the penny sta np will carry a newspaper of 1,530 superficial square inches in extent, which is to be the maximum. This extent is more, by nearly one-half, than the largest single Sheet daily journal in London. 11l fixing upon this size, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has evinced a most lau dable and careful desire to respect existing interests, and the limitation of size earl only affect those journals which are in the habit of crowding the advertisements of two days into one 's paper, to the great injury of advertisers. We cannot close our ob.,:ervations without expressing our surprise, not to lire our feelings any stronger de.signation, that some Gentlemen con nected with the Press, who attended all the public and private meetings with the Chancellor of the Ex chequer, and who expressed themselve satisfied at the measure to be introduced, should subsequently have presented a petition to the House of Lords against a measure to which they were themselves a party. It is unnecessary to add, we hav e n o t be e n a party t o such proceedings, nor that wet e we aware of its being in progress until it was published through the usual chan nels.—Morning Advt.) tiser. The Lord Chancellor is singularly unfortunate in his first of of legislation, for his scheme for im proving the administration of justice is rot only found fault with by his twin-brother on the Equity Bench, Lord Langdale, and other Noble and Learned Lords of much higher authority ; but it is treated with con temptuous and insulting disrespect by one, at least, of the journals which is generally understood to speak the sentiments of a considerable portion of the Ad ministration. "It is impossible, of course," says the Morning Cnronicb, '' to kncyx what such a body as the House of Lords will do; but if they be guid...(l by anything like reason tire•,• will put an end to inter mediate appeals to the Chief Justice of the Chancel y, and to the political functions of the Lord Chancellor." This, considering that it comes from a Minis terial paper, is rather a rude slap in the face for poor Lord Cottenha►n, who declares that he has no intention to put an end either to the in termediate appeals to the Chief Justice of th e Chancery, or to the political functions of the Lord Chancellor, and who, therefore, _ according to the Chronick, is a person not " guided by an vthing, like reason." We agree with the Chronicle in think ing - that one appeal is enough in any case, and are not quite certain that the general administration of justice would not be improved by abolishing the right of ap peal altogether, or placing it at least under much more rigorous restrictions than at present With respect to many of the ordinary subjects of litigation. This would ma nifestly tend to improve the general character, high as it already is in this country, both 'of the original and appellate tribunals, impressing upon the fanner, and upon those who appoint the Judges, a more acute and pervading sense of responsibility, and relieving the lat ter from the confusion and embarrassment of mind, from the painful and paralyzing consciousness of inade quacy, which can seldom fail to accompany an exces sive pressure of business, or an inordinate accumula tion of arrears. The question of the separation of the judicial from the political functions of the Lord Chancellor, is one which seems to us, we own, to justify a greater degree of hesitation. If the union of these functions has been attended by some incon venience or injury, it can scarcely be denied that it has also produced important advantages which it seems impossible otherwise to attain. It is difficult to believe that the constant presence in the Councils of the Sovereign of the actual and acknowledged head of the legal profession, of one who cannot h a v e divested himself of his professional sympathies and habitudes, of one who must of necessity, in a great majority of instances, have emerged, by means of diligence, inte . gritv, and learning, from the middle classes of society, . can fail to operate advantageously upon the political . character and conduct of the Government. \Vho so fit to advise the Sovereign in respect to the exercise of his prerogative of mercy in all cases of difficulty and doubt, as the head of the law, still in daily intercourse with the most grave, learned, and able lawyers, and still retaining in a great degree the tendencies and sympathies -of a plebeian origin ? Who so sure as such an . adviser to associate the confidence of the people with the exercise of this necessary, and exalted, and glorious, but still most dangerous, prero gative? Who so well qualified to edify and guide the Administration in all those transactions and &ire rcnces with Foreign Pow e rs, which rest upon the true construction of the law of nations, as one who, bred a lawyer from his youth, is still daiiv conversant with the principles and precedents of a Court to which equity has supplied a name and a foundation ? The single object of Government in England has been said to be the appointment and support of the• Judges. If this be something more than the truth, it must be admitted that the most important duty of Government is fulfilled if good Judges be appointed, and their de crees duly enforced. And who so fit to advise the Sovereign who are the lawyers among his contempo raries, best qualified fur Judges as the individual at the head of the law, and still actively and habitually engaged in the 'administration of justice, as, in other words, a Lord Chancellor, whose judicial I avJ not been separated from his political . functions ? The condition just mentioned is evidently indispensable, :f the advantages w e have poin:ed out are worth pre,erv jug. No one who reflects upon the subject can be lieve that, after. the separation of the judicial func tions from the Great Seal, the risen to whom it is THE SUN, LONDON, SAi'URDAY, APRIL :A 143,6 entrusted will generally be the head of the law, or even a lawyer, in anvth;ng but the na:ne.—Morning We believe it will be generally admitted that the Bill '' for the better administration of justice in the high Court of Chancery, and for making provisions for the hearing . of appeals and writs of error in the House of Lords," has not conic too soon, and, if it be a good Bill, cannot be praised too much. Chancery reform, like a Chancery suit, has moved at a very slow pace, even in these reforming days ; still, if it really conies now in the shape of Lord Cottenhain's Bill, we arc sure the public will be grateful for the boon, and not value it the less because of its being, so long with held. and with so much difficulty ohtained. But is the Leril Chancellor's Bill a good ooe ? Is it really a 1111 of Chancery reform ? We think not, and we give our reasons. The Bill sets out in error—it legislates upon a wrong principle—it does not attack the master-evil of the Chancery system. On the contrary, it goes to perpetuate it. The accumu lation of arrears of business in Chancery, beyond what is possible to be disposed of within any reasouahle time, while the machinery of Equity judicature remains as at present, is the great evil to •be remedied. Will Lord Cottenham's Bill remedy that evil ? We confidently say it will not. Lord Cottenham's Bill provides, indeed, for the op • pointment of a Chief Judge in the Court of Chan cery, who is not to be Lord Chancellor--but it retains the intermediate right of appeal from the Courts of the Master of the Rolls and Vice-Chancellor to the Court of Chancery. The consequence will be that the time of that Court will be consumed in hearing appeals, all, or nearly all, of which will have to travel to the Court of highest appeal, to the additional ex pense of suitors and the needless prolongation of suits. In the mean time, the arrears of causes in the Courts of Rolls and Vice-Chancery, if they do not increase, will certainly not be much diminished, because the Chief Judge in Equity will have to give the most of his time and attention to the hearing of appeals. When Lord Chancellor Brougham took great cre dit to himself for getting the appeals under in the Court of Chancery, he (lid not inform the public that the arrears of original causes, of which former Chan cellors used to take their share, were greatly accumu lating in the other Courts of Equity. We need scarcely remind the public that the Vice-Chancellor's Court was created in the year 181:3, for the express purpose of taking off' a portion of the original causes from the Court of Chancery. Had Lord Brougham given a fair proportion of his time, like former Chan cellor:,, to the dispatch of that business which comes wahin the original jurisdiction of the Court,. the arrears of causes in Equity would not hare reached in his time the same point of accumulation, as near as possible, as they had in 1812., before the esta blishment of the Court of Vice-Chancery, but then he could not have made the ad captandum flourish that he did touching the reduction of appeals ; nor could he have 'hod:Acid at any time during his Chan cellorship of closing the Court of Chancery for want of brisiness to go on with. Let us here observe, that, when it is said that the Noble and Learned Lord's pro jects of law reform were thwarted by lawyers lest it should diminish their gain:, it would be very difficult to pi - riot out any project of " law reform" of his since he attained the Woolsack, which did not add to the burdens of the country. Need we instance the cum brous, useless, and most expensive Court of Review in Bankruptcy, and the addition of 1,000/. per annum to the retiring pension of Lord Chancellor, which, of course, was a " reform" also, and one which strangely exemplified his generous disdain of pecuniary consi derations in carrying on the "great work of reform." llad this been done by Lord Eldon, it would have roused the indignation of the country : but when be who denied even to the meritorious poor all right of relief in sickness, old age, and misfortune, augmented ha own retiring pension at the public expense, there was no liberal patriot in either House' of the .Legis lattice to question his right of conferring on himise!f his first and greatest act of liberality. In order to get rid of the arrears of causes in Eq u ity, th e Chief Judge should be confined to the duties of an o rigi na l jur:sdiction, and the intermediate appeal should be taken away. Our readers will recollect that was part of Mr. Lynch's plan of Chancery reform, which he proposed in a letter to Lord Melbourne, just before the Chancery Commiss:on was put an cod io by the appointment of Lord Cottenham. We commented at that tone upon the plan of Mr. Lynch, and expressed our approbation of its main prJvisions. One of these was to separate the political from the judicial func tions o f Loid Chancellor, and another to abolish, as ice havc, stated, the hitt:ruled:ate \Ve arc glad to hind that these propositions arc supported by the high aut h or ity of Lord Langdale, who expn!ssed his regret that the Bill of his Noble and Learned Friend st;11 left the political and judicial functions of the great est . in►portance united in the Lou! Chancellor, and invested tl►e Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Chan- eery with a united appellate and Original jurisdiction. It was part of Mr. I, , ,•nch's plan, if we recollect right, to rtholish the anomalous jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, to which there are other grounds of objection besides the taking away Judges from their proper Courts. A very extraordinary part of Lord Cottenham's 8.11, and which appears to to be against all principle, is the provision for the sitting of the appellate jurisdiction of that House during a prorogation, and even a dissolution. Now, as the ap pellate jurisdiction of the House belongs to the Lords only in their Parliamentary character, and while inPar liament assembled, the sitting of the appellate juris diction when, in point of law and fact, there is no llouse of Lords, does appear to us to be a violent de parture from principle—not a new modelling of an old jurisdiction, but the creation of an entirely new tribu nal, unknown to the Constitution, thou g h , with powers greater than any other. It is no excuse for the de fects of this measure that it is a cautious one, as Lord Melbourne described it ; and that if found not to sue- coed, the country can return to the old strte of things. We can easily tin.lerAand the difference between a cautious measure on a right principle, and a bad or im perfect measure on a mono. one. The former may be amended in progress of time ; but as the latter sets out in a wrong direction, the further it goes the more wrong it is. If we are to have Chancery reform by the slowest imaginary degrees, be it so—let us have a bit" now and a " bit" again, but let the first bit be upon the right principle. It is only by avoiding blun ders in the commencement of the work, that a strong foundation can be laid for a solid superstructure of a reformed system of equity. The outline of Lord Cot tcultAm's Bill we can assure the Government gives the greatest uissatisfaction to the Bar. There are other points of it to which we shall A° another opportunity of a:lverting.—Morning Herald. The cordial reception given to Mr. Aglionby's mo t= last night in the House of Commons shows that the day of exterminating punishments is fast drawing to a close. The Hon. Gentleman's motion, indeed, was confined to the simple object of putting an end to the intemperate precipitancy of a law which ordains that persons convicted of murder shall die within the next 48 hours—a law which has, not unfrequently, oc casioned the immolation of an innocent victim, as many of our readers will remember : but the short dis cussion which arose upon it furnished an opportunity for communicating sonic. most important information to the House. Upwards of three years have now elapsed since the Legislature abolished the punishment of death for several offences, and both Mr. Hume and Mr. Len nard last night availed themselves of the occasion to prove, from statistical facts, the beneficial effects which have resulted. This they did by reference to abstracts of ParLamentary rettn us, showing that a great deal of blood had been shed upon the scaffold, not only use lessly, but with positive injury, as appeared by the con sequent increase of the crimes so punislied. Mr. flume demonstrated that while in three years ending with 1329, no fewer than 42 persons had been put to death in IVEldie.ex, and in the three v'c:rtts ending. with 1835, only one person had undergone that punishment for the same offences, the substitution of rational and more Certain penalties in the latter period had brought with it a diminution in the coin mitments, the number laving fallen from 67.2 to 64-9. On the other hand, Mr. Leunard 'moved a similar re salt with regard to the ei L !lit circuits of England, where in the firs'. -mentioned period of three years, 54 con victs had suffered death for the crimes referred to, but in the last-mentioned period only one execution' had been permitted by the Judges, and the number of commitments had fallen from 3,950 to 3,613. For other particulars we refer to our Pailiamentary report. It is highly satisfactory to observe our mitigations so completely realized.—Morning Herald of yesterday. CHANCERY COURT-FRIDAY. ANGELL V. WESTCOMBE. In this case a deed, required by a plaint fT to substan tiate his claim to an estate in Kennington, has Leen pro duced, in obedience to an order under a bill of discovery, and deposited with the officer of the Court. An applica tion was made some time since for an order to produce tl!e dee] on a pending trial of the rights of tie parties by an aetion of ejectment in a Court of law, but thi.. order was refused on the ground of its being contrary to the practice of the Court. Mr. DIxoN, on the part of the plaintiff', npw directed his Lordship's attention to, the peculiar position in iVhich his client was placed by this decision of the Court. The plaintiff remained in the same situation with reference to the proof of his tide as he was before he succeeded in obtain'ng a discovery of the existence of the deed. WIGIIAM, fur the defendant, had no obj,ction to take back the deed if the plaintiff required it. The LORD CHANCELLOR would make no order on tl.e subject, but if the parties were agreed on the subject the. e could be no objection. KING'S BENCH-FRIDAY. LONGDEN AND ANOTHER V. ALLEN. Ti.is was an action of trespass for taking a st:xl:'ng- Machine as a distress for rent, and the triestion raised at the trial was . whether a stocking machine was not an im plement of trade, and as such, protected from a liabiiity to distress. The cause was tried at Derby, at the Spring As sizes in 1835, before Lord Chief Justice Tindal, when it appeared that the frame had been in use for some time be fore the distress ; that it was used on the Saturday night before the distress ; and again, at an early hour on the Mon day morning ; and, when seized as a distress, had some un finished web in it. The Learned Judge would not direct the Jury to find a verdict for the plaintiffs, but left it as a question for them whether the working of the frame at that time was or was not a colourable working, and on that question they intimated an opinion, and a verdict was ac cordingly taken for the defendants. Mr. BALGUY, in Easter Term, 1335, obtained a rule to set aside this verdict, on the ground of misdirection on ti.e part of the Learned Judge. Mr. WiturEttuitsr now showed cius2 against the rule, —Rule discharged. BAIL COURT. Mr. BYLES moved for a mandamus to be directed to Mr. Charles Baldwin, surveyor of the highways in the parish of Clerkenwell, coalman :ling him to pay to Sir George Duckett, 'Bart., two rents, which an Act of Parliament had directed to be paid by the surveyor. An application had formerly been made to the Court, and a rule nisi ob tained, which was ultimately discharged by the Court. On the present occasion the Learned Counsel was ready to sho►: that the Act in question related to the public high wa) s.— A rule nisi was granted. ARCHES' COURT-FRIDA Y. ELLIS AND GOUGII V. GRIFFIN. This is a case of subtraction of church rate. The pro ceeding is instituted by Messrs. Ellis and Gough, the churchwardens of the parish of Portsea, in the diocese of Winchester, against Mr. Griffin, a parishioner, to enforce the payment of the sum of 7s. 6d., due for church rate upon a house rented at SOL per annum, and is brought. into this Court by letters of request from the Chancellor of the diocese of Winchester. The rate is opposed, upon the grounds that there was no necessity for it. Dr. LeSIIINGTON appeared for Mr. Gran ; Dr. ADAMS for the churchwardens. Sir 1 - 11.1;ramT JENNER considered there was no abstract point upon which he could ground his decision as to the validity of this rate. The allegations must go to proof; and his only course, therefore, was to pronounce for the admission of the present allegatio:i. BANKRUPTCY COURT -FRIDAY. JOAN BOURKE RICKETTS' BAKRUPTCY. A meetin of the creditors under the fiat of bankruptcy awarded against Mr. J. B. Ricketts, a general merchant, was itch! to-day,,for the purpose of considering what mea sure; should be adopted to obtain an arrangement with Mr. T. B. Ricketts, relative to certain property belonging to the bank: opt, of which his brother was a trustee. Earl St. Vincent was in attendance in pursuance of the request of the Learned Commissioners. The bankrupt's father, who died in 1811, left some valuable estates in trust for distri bution among his children, and appointed Mr. T. B. Itcketts and a Mr. 11 difax trustees to dispose advan tageously of the property and divide it between his children. Since 1811 Mr. T. B. Ricketts has been in possession of the proceeds of the estate, and upon being called upon by the Commissioner on a firmer Court-day to proceed to the sale (the bankrupt's creditors having an interest in the proceeds of his share), and render in account of his receipts, stated that he considered he had a right to the receipts under the trust assigned to him until the estate was advantageously sold. The creditors took a different view of the matter, and the present meeting was called to ascertain if an ar rangement could be effected. St. Vincent should fecl happy in endeavOuring to bring about an arrangement, either as a creditor, or as a member of the family of the bankrupt. lie was, however, placed in a delicate situation, and should wish to proceed privately to obtain the arrangement sought for. Mr. Commissioner WILLIAMS said the interests of jus tice demanded that an arrangement should be effected. 'l'i►cre could be uo doubt as to the law of. the case. As trustee, Mr. Ricketts could not hold the proceeds of this estate, to which the bankrupt's creditors were entitled. Earl St. Vincent was ready to open a correspondence with Mr. J. B. Reketts upon the subject, but be was bound in candour to say, knowing the difficulty of altering any opinion once entertained by that gentleman, that he thought there was not the least hope that he would come to any arrangement. _ • Air. Commissioner WILL:Ams said that if that was the case, he would be ready to do his duty, and, however re luctant he was to advise the commencement of legal pro ceedings, he had a duty to perform to the creditors which, in case no arrangement were come to, he should not shrink from performing. _ _ Ile creditors obtained a secor share in the profits under the following circumstances G. Ricketts, late Chief Justice of Madras, died on the 13th July, IS3I, leaving the bankrupt heir to his share. The certificate of the bankrupt was signed by the Commissioner on the 12th July, but not confirmed by the Lord Chancellor till the Od of August. Sir G. Ricketts' share, therefore, fell into the bankrupt's estate for the benefit of his creditors. Ilad the certificate been signed by the Chancellor lief ire the 15th of July, the bankrupt would have retained possession of the share of Sir G. Ricketts. The total proofs against the bankrupt's estate was about P 2,000/. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. GUILDHALL. Jain Murphy, a man who represented himself to be wire-worker, was yesterday placed at the bar before Al derman LucAs, charged with being found in the house of J. Crosswaite, Esq., of 'navies Inn, Holborn. It appeared front the evidence of Miss Mary Crosswaite, that on the 26th instant, her father, mother, and two eldest sisters, went out to a party, leaving herself and sister at home. About seven o'clock at night, the servant girl, Ellen Collins, asked permission to go out for a reel of cot ton, which was refused. She came to the parlour again in 'a few minutes, and in the course of conversation she in quired if the two young ladies had taken their gold watches with them, and was answered in the affirmative. In about half an hour after this, she was observed to go out wish a pitcher in her hand, leaving the street-door open, which the young lady fastened . as soon as she discovered it. Thp_ girl returned with the pump-water, and her manner • w „, so embarrassed as to create suspicion, and on .. nqu i ry t h e young lady could not find the keys of t. 17:, ing•-rooms. About eleven at night, Miss CrossP:ak e thought she heard footsteps up stairs, and called 11;c servant up, insisting upon her going with her to search the house. When they had arrived at the servant's door she declared they should not go in there ; but the ladies, whose suspicions were increased, opened the door, and on searching sa.v the prisoner Mur phy concealed under the bed, He was given into custody, and on searching him a snuff-b6x belonging to M • Cross waite was found. Alder►nan LUCAS directed the servant to he placed in the dock ; and they were both fully committed fur trial. MAR Y LED ONE. y o te.pday Jain Fitzpatrick, a stout, red-fixed, well ,h,eigea Irishman, and Margaret Fitz/a/rick, a woman who sa l,: she was his wile, nod who led a little boy, were brought up in custody of Horsford and Higgs, two active oflieers belonging to the Mendicity Society, and placed at the bar before Mr. SHUTT, charged with exciting compas sion and obtaining money. Edward Chavel, a mendicitv ()Ricer, knew the prisoners to be impostors, and first beca me acqua i nte d w i t h t h e ma n on the 12th or June, 18241, when opposite Westminster- Hall he saw him and a weman (not the finale prisoncir), both noting similar parts to t h ose now deser ib e d by ns brother dicers, They were surrounded by a mob of 11"." sans, and relieved by seve-al Members of Parliament in;; to and fro. Ile took them into custody, and on their sons found a eonsd , N.abk sum, in silver and copper moneys. He subsequently apprehended them twice, and iii 1829 they dissolved partnership, when the man took up . with his I fellow-prisoner: The prisoners were committed to hard labour in the House of Correction ; the man for three months, and the :roman for one month. 11A7'7'0N-GARDEN, AN Infix Row.—Yesterday, O'Gallagker, the landlord of the Hart public-house, , ieorge-street, St. Giles's, was summoned to this race to answer the com plaint of several officers of the E division, for suffering disorderly characters to assemble in his house at au unFea sonabk hour. It appeared in evidence that on Tuesday morning, the 17th of April, a ruceting took p!ace in the defendant's house, where the party remained until two o'clock in the morning, and a general row and fight took place, wh;ch alarmed the whole of the neighbourhood ; and being imme diately opposite the station-house, Inspector Jenkins .enrl some police constables entered the place. Several of the °Meets gave evidence as to the disorderly conduct of the party, and they bad mach difficulty it& cicar ing the house. Mr. ()'Gallagher denied the charge, and said that he had witnesses. Patrick Fagan, a raw Ilihernian, was sworn, when Mr. LAING asked him what he had to say ? Fagan--I came here to spite about the thing in question. Mr. LAING—Were you present at the disturbance ? Fawn—l was not ; but I can tell yet all .lout Mr. LAING—What caused the list' - ..naner! ? Why, your Honour, it was a bit o' jealousy. We bad a smok ing -club, and in the course of the night we had a (lane:, when tall Dennis laid tumid of Biddy M'Grath, and be haved clandestinely to her, on which Tim 'Carty ax'd him the reason, and they fell out about the girl, and the friends of each party had a row and fought. Mr. LAING—Were you there at two o'clock in the morning? Fagan—To be sure not ; I was in bed. Mr. LAING—Then how an you possibly know what took place? Fagan—Sure wasn't I tould all about it ? Mr. LAING—SUM:I lack. ILIVe you got another witness ? A brawney-Aoulbred 'Munster man was next sworn, and gave a sm:oicious look at his worship, settling at the same time the front of his I,msn—Wel!:;iat do you know ahout the. mat ter ? Witness—Nothing ; only that there wls a bit a jejousy in the company, and a row took place and a fight. Mr. LAING--Were you there at two o'clock nu the ;norning, in question ? Witness—Faith an' I was not, I 'r.ras at home. Mr. L A/NC —T good here. hen you nay go home now, You are no The witness made an iligant bow and quitted the Court. Another witness wa; cane.; on, and on being asked what he was, he replied, " i sarve in the Company, and wo hal a smoking club, when a fight took place, and they bit my finger off, and cracked my skull at two o'clock in the morning. Mr. LAING said enough hat been heard, and the de fendant was convicted in the penalty of 40s. ;Ind costs. The defendant grumbled, when kr. LAING told him the next time the penalty would be 51. CORONER'S INQUESTS. On Tuesday an inquest was held by Mr. TtioNt PAT.. TEN, coroner for Rochester, at the Guildhall of that city, on the body of the Francis de Grey, who came by his death on the preceding day. Al!erne Higgs Barker, of the parish of WOOldham, raid lam Rector of the parish of Wouldham. Oa Monday morning last, about a quarter past nine, I was in my garden fronting the river, the deceased was standing down on the hard leading to my boat. We had just before pushed the boat off which had been aground, and I had returned into the garden. I was preparing to come in to breakfast. We were about to use the boat in the ;thermion, and as the tide was going down, we pushed her off to keep-her afloat. I saw the deceased in the act of pushing the boat off agai❑ with considerable violence, which drove the haat in a straight direction into the river sonic, yards. I then ob served that the anchor did not hold the boat, the force of the tide being too great. I then said to the decearwl, she is adrift now, but never mind." He said " I must swim after her." I Legged him not, and said, " Pray don't go ; besides yeu have your watch in your pocket." He said, " No,:I have not ;" and immediately jur.wel into the river, and stn uc•k o I observed the deer:ascd to la bour very much, and al ear frightened. He ...hot astern of the boat, and the tide carried him faster than the boat. . lie struck out about five or six strokes rapidly, evidently like a person much alarmed. He tried to stem the tide, and reach the boat ; he then turned round and said (but I will not be positive as to toe exact words), I think they were, " I'm drowning," or, " I shall be drowned." I en deavoured to encourage toe deceased to keep up. I imme diately ran round from the front of the river to the back of the house, where I lines there were some kegs. I took one of them in tny hand, and ran to a part of the river to which I supposed the deceased would have drifted, On arriving there I saw him struggling. I called out to him to come on shore, fearing he might be attempting to get into the boat ; he then in struggling turned upon his bad:, and his cap catne . off ; he was then about fifteen. yards from the shore. 1 took off my coat and waist coat, and with the keg, to which a sling was attached, in my bani, plunged into the river, baying one band through the sling ; in the exertion of swimming-, the sling broke, I turned to recover the keg, on reaching it I found in consequence of the sling having broken, it was of no ser vice, there being nothing to hold it by. I then jut gu the keg, ani savant out without it to within a yard or• two where I saw the deceased. l was then exhausted and found my self sinkine-, I turned round, and with diffiedlty reached the shore. During the tune I was in the water the deceased disappeared from the surface. By the Conox.La—The deceased was my pupil, about. '2l years of age. I had never seen the deceased in toe river before ; but he had told me more than once that be. could swim across it at any place. By.a Juror—lie was completely dressed when ire went into the water. Richard Bannar, of Rochester, bargeman, said, yester day, between ten and eleven o'clock. in the morning, I was aboard my barge iu the river Medway, near Bewley's Clifl; when an application was made to my master for creepers, and at his request I went in my boat down the river to near Wouldliam. I put my boat hook over, and after proceed ing about twenty yards, I felt the body. I hauled up my boat hook, and found it had caught the deceased by the collar of the coat ; lie appeared quite dead. The Jury returned a verdict of " Accidentally drowned." The deceased, who was the son of Lord Walsiitgbarn, was a tall handsome young man, and had only taken up his abode at Wouhlintat a fortnight or three weeks previous to the above ►ne'.aneho:y occurrence. MELANCHOLY SUICIDE OF A RESPECTABLE 1%1 ARMED W AN.—Last night an inquest was held in tlie Vestry hall of St. Magnus's Church, London Bridge, before Mr. PAY and a most respectable Jury, on view of the body of Mrs. Mary Esther Kinderinore, aged 4i, who committed suicide by throwing herself into the Thames. Mr. John Hindermore, tailor and draper, of O. G, Church-street,- Blackfriars-road, the husband of the de ceased, deposed that his wife had been the mother of a very large family, and had ever pLrforined her relative duties in the most exemplary mann.:r. For some months before her death she had been in a low desponding state of mind owing to domestic afflictions, wliich gained ground upon her, not withstanding witness endeavoured to soothe her by evary possible means. She retired to rest with witne3s on Tues day night- about eleven o'clock, and on his waking in the morning he found her absent. , By the Jury—The domestic afflictions 1E allude to was the loss of an elder son by death, and one of, our daughters absconded from her home, The jury returned a verdict—" That the deceased drowned herself in state of temporary derangement." Mr• Kean has just terminated an engagement for sir ~'.ghts at the Aberdeen Theatre ; he opens at Liverpool on Monday evening, being engaged by the manager for twelve nights. - RETORT COURTEORS.—The Springfield Repub- L'ean gives sketches of some of the Members of the Massa. chusetts' House of Representatives —among them Messrs. Andrew, of Salem, and Williams, Gr Boston. The charac teristic of the former is said to be inflation of style—of the latter, great ardour in debate. The following " passage "is uiven as an actual occurrence between the gentlemen :—"Mr 'Andrew thought that with the heat of Mr. W. he could clear the ice front the harbour." " Mr. Williams retorted that he had little doubt of the fact, provided the gentleman from Salem would assist in the undertaking with his own wind. —New York Paper. NOVEL IMPORTATION. —On opening a cask of hardware a day or two since, a firm in Market-street, Phila delphia, discovered a bevy of rats to the number of t wenty or twenty-live. One of the firm, being a conscientious man, went at once to the Custom House, and informed the officer in attendance that .an article had been shipped to them n o t arid upon whi e h t h ey were igno rant of the exact rates of d uty. The officer thought th e l aw mentioned in their invoice , would be e xplicit on the point, and, still unadvised as to the nature of the case, proceeded forthwith to consult authorities. Directly, however, the rats leaked out, and no small enjoy ni,„t was had by reason thereof. It was fully ascertaiacd., that by some strange oversight on the part of our legislators,. the sohj , •ct of accidental rut importation has never been ap proached. Congress would show its wisdom, we think, in dis cussing even such a contingency, rather than by taking part in such disgracefal and impious proceedings as are described in our columns to - day. —. Philadelphia Gazette.