The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-17 00:00:00

THE FUGITIVE SLAVE CASE.

Mr. George Denman writes to the Times
pointing out the circumstances under which the
British Legislature ratified by Act of Parliament
the treaty under Which the surrender of Ander-
son was elaiified.

On the second reading of the bill in the House of
Commons, on the 11th of: August, 1843, Sir Frederick
Pollock, the Attorney-General of the day, explained the
objects of the bill. He was followed by the,late Lord
Macaulay, who in the course of his speech made the
following remarks. He said :
" Take the case of a slave who had committed murder
in his own defence. Suppose a man scourged him, pur-
sued him. The slave had surely the right to resist, and,
in his defence, to kill his assailant. By the law of Eng-
land that would be justifiable homicide. By the law of
Georgia it would be murder," &c.
The Attorney-General said :
" That in all the cases put by the right hon. gentle-
man no doubt could arise. The bill expressly said the
fugitives must be tried by the laws of the country where
they were found."

Mr. Macaulay asked,--:
"Whether he was to understand, then, that an action
not criminal in a free man, would, be held not to bo
criminal in a slave ?" 1-7 g !)" 7"',!4

The Attorney General said "
n
"He was of opinion that an English magistrate"
would not be at• liberty to enter into the question as to
whether the fugitive brought before him was a slave or
not. He could only enter into such questions of com-
mon law (which, of course, means English law), as
might arise out of the case ; and if the accused person
was not shown to be a criminal, no extradition could
take place."
Viscount Palmerston—

"Did not go so far as some of his friends Its to the
effects of this bill, and the explanation of the hone and
learned gentleman had gone far to remove the ark/then,
sions which he might have entertained. He understood -
that in no case where a slave was charged with thd
offence of murder or robbery would any English magis-
trate be justified in delivering him,up for trial, unless
the offence he was charged with was one which was
looked upon as murder or robbery by the law of Eng-
land ; and he apprehended that any act that a slave
might commit in resisting the coercion of his master
could not amount to murder, and would not justify a
magistrate in giving up the fugitive."
The Attorney-General said nothing to qualify his
previous explanations, nor did any other member of the
Government dissent. On the contrary, the present Lord
Derby, then (if I mistake not) Colonial Secretary, used
these words :
"No fugitive could, under the treaty, be surrendered
as a murderer, unless his offence were such as our laws
would qualify with this epithet."
I make no comment upon the above extracts from.
Hansard, 3d. Series, vol. lxxi., p. 565-579, beyond
calling attention to the' fact that the words of the
treaty, including its proviso, to the effect -that the
evidence of " criminality " must be evidence of that
which would constitute an offence in the country
where the fugitive is " found," are expressly, and
verbatim, recited in the English Act which thus passed
its second reading ; and that the Canadian act is a mere
substitute for the English Act so carried through the
House of Comthons.

THE SYLPHIDE SCANDAL AND
GOSSIPING CORRESPONDENCE.

Under the head of " The Sylphide Scandal" our
readers will find a very strong, but scarcely too strong,
letter from the Marquis of Downshire, giving the lie to
the unscrupulous scandal with which his name has been
quite recently associated. As we did not publish, and
have no desire to perpetuate, the falsehood, we refrain
from alluding to its details. But it is almost incumbent
upon us as journalists to repudiate the system under
which such mis-statements are possible, and _to
protest against the • abuse of privileges' which 'it'
involves. The days of the Satirist are happily gone
by ; but there is still a marvellous taste for gossip;
and a powerful faith in the public, and under its influ-
ence anonymous writers are assuming a -license which is
even, more injurioni to the clumnicter press than ,
were the eoluttane of the SaioWti_ Th-oee oo.lcl wt "lovet
be avoided. When people read the Satirist they knew
what they wanted, and what they were sure to find in::
it. But now-a-days the scandal peeps out in respect-,1;
able journals, which are acenstomed very likely
on many points to assume a higher* tone of mo*7,
lity than their contemporaries r and writers vilros
would be afraid to breathe their calumnies to any
but confidential friends are not ashamed to makeo
their columns the channel for communicating thenri
to the general public, under- the impbSing signature 'of
"your own correspondent." One constantly hears of So
and So' being a most eligible. correspondent—a gentle;
man who has the entrée of two or three clubs, picks up
all the on dits and scandal of the day,•and can indite
a bag full of gossip to the provincials. The gossiping
raconteur usurps the place of the, political writer,
and if he can only flavour his anecdotes rather highly
—if he scan give them a lifelike colour, and twaddle
as pleasantly to the public as he would by his
club fire, he will find no end of listeners. But•
harm is done in many ways. In the first place,
club gossip, however frivolous or scandalous, does
comparatively little harm. Those who retail' it ,know
perfectly well they are answerable for all they say.
What is more, it as frequently as not remains with
themselves. The case is very different if club gossip is
made up with highly-spiced condiments for the public
taste. In the first place, the whole principle of club
life is clearly violated; in the second place, those who
are connected with the press must inevitably; sink im
public estimation., At the clubs and in society men in
their presence will talk as freely ,as they do in, Paris -
before the agens de police, or as they did 'at NaPles in
the company of the sbirri ; the result will .be that the
journalist will be "tabooed" and the profession of jour-
nalism will suffer in consequence.
The Sylphide scandal is perhaps a stronger case than,
usual. There never was, perhaps, such a string of blun-
ders tied together, the gentlemen of the Foreign Office,
the Sardinian Ministers, and Heaven only knows how
many other unfortunate beings, lugged into it without
the slightest reason. The lesson has, however, been
rather a hard one, and we hope it will not be thrown
away. It is not pleasant to be known as a trafficker in
gossip, still less agreeable to be marked as the indiscreet
disseminator of unfounded scandal. Perhaps the exposé
of the present affair may put a stop to what is really a
growing evil, and save the credit of anonymous jour-
nalism.—fferald.

HENGLEWS CIRCIVE.—The Cirque, during the week,
has been as attractive and crowded as ever. The
splendid pantomime still holds way, and along with the
other attractions delights thousands every night. Those
who wish to enjoy a rational evening should do so
during this week, as the grand spectacle must be with-
drawn on Saturday to make room for further novelties.
The last day performance will take place on Saturday,
when the juveniles of all families will have a rare -treat.
VOLUNTEER COMMISSIONS.—Signed by the •Queen
47th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps—J. G. S. Will-
cocks, late Lieutenant 3rd West York Militia, to be -
Adjutant, from Nov. 3, 1860. Signed by Lord-Lieu-
tenants : 27th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Rifle Corps:—
Major -NV. Gray, M.P., to be Lieut.-Colonel. Memo-
randum : 33rd Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps—Her
Majesty has been graciously pleased to accept the resig-
nation of the commission held by Ensign R. 0. Hughes.
Cheshire Rifle Volunteers-2nd Company : Lieut. W.
Horner to be Captain, vice King, promoted ; J. Roper,
gent., to be Lieutenant, vice Horner, promoted. 15th
Company : her Majesty has been graciously pleased to
actept•the resignation of the commission held by Capt.
J. P. Legh, in the above corps.