The Press.
London, England, 1856-02-09 00:00:00

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own. It was impossible to resist the jus-
tice of Mr. CAIRNS appeal. It was received
with thunders of applause. Mr. LowE was
stripped of his borrowed plumes in an instant,
and presented one of the most pitiable in-
stances on record of political nudity.

TIIE PEESS.

pulsion if it can be avoided. Certainly the
best thing would be, that the public should of
its own accord be enthusiastic and intelli-
gent, and sound and practical, and should
voluntarily found and conduct the requisite
number of reformatory establishments. Fail-
ing this, we. may as well permit the levying of
rates, because the bare permission does at
least secure a slight element of voluntaryism,
and we should be sorry to see that element
wholly eradicated. It is a very easy thing
to levy a rate. It is no such arduous
matter even to pay one. It is quite another
thing really to reform a single criminal. We
advise our readers to lose no time in making
the acquaintance, if they have not already
done so, of some man who has proved his
capacity to achieve this truly difficult result.
There is more than one such man in this city.
The governor or superintendent of a London
reformatory is generally such a man. Visit
him, converse with him, examine his method
and study his principles, give him sympathy
and substantial support, and you will perhaps
be able with sounder judgment and clearer
conscience to talk, and if needs be to write,
concerning the reformatory movement.

SATURDAY,

RocwEsTEß.—The nomination of Mr. Bodkin and
Mr. Martin took place on Thursday, and the poll
commenced yesterday, when
TAMWORTIL—Lord Raynham was elected on Thurs-
day without opposition. In the course of his remarks
upon the occasion, his lordship stated as his opinion
with respect to the war that the five points about to
be discussed at Paris " would not meet the demands
of Europe":

A peace founded on these propositions would, be was
afraid, be without honour to England, while it would give
no security to Europe. It behoved them all to see that the
blood of our soldiers and sailors was not shed in vain. In
his opinion it would be impolitic to allow the present op-
portunity to pass away without restoring Poland to the list
of nations. Finland ought also to be wrested from the
grasp of Russia. He was sorry that Russia had agreed to
preliminaries for peace, as lie trusted that proper terms
might yet be obtained from her.
The noble lord, noticing several measures proposed
in Parliament, said " they all bore the impress of the
energelic talent of the Premier," and added that he
was in favour of the abolition of religious disabilities.

TAUNTON.-Mr. Labouchere was re-elected for this
borough on Tuesday without opposition. In his
address to the electors upon this occasion the rght
hon. member spoke of the prospects of peace, and
said be should rejoice if the negotiations led to such
"peace as might afford a prospect of durability."
WIGTOWNSHIRE.-Sir Andrew Agnew, of Lochnaw,
Bart., has offered himself as a candidate to succeed
Lord Dalrymple. In his address, the hon. baronet
states that he holds Liberal opinions, but maintains
strongly that the Protestantism of the Constitution
should be preserved. He will support any well-
considered measures for extending to all classes the
blessings of a sound education. He is in favour of
religions toleration, but opposed to the Maynooth
grant, and will resist all attempts to alter the regula-
tions by which the nation acknowledges the Divine
authority of the Sabbath.

PRINCE PastriEwrri,u, whose death is an-
nounced this week at Warsaw, was so celebrated
a man in the military history of Russia as to de-
serve a brief notice of the leading events of his life.
Born on the 12th of May, 1782, at an early age he
was attached to the personal service of the Emperor
Paul, and soon after appointed lieutenant in the
Guard and aide-de-camp. In 1805 he served in the
campaign of Austerlitz, and from 1800 to 1812 was
on active service in the Turkish war, where he dis-
tinguished himself on several occasions by the exhi-
bition of great military talents. In 1812, having
reached the rank of general, he was appointed to the
command of the 20th Division of Infantry, under
Prince Bragatiow, and was present at the battles of
Dachkofka, Soultanofka, Smolensko, and Moscow.
Upon the retreat of the French, Paskiewitch distin-
guished himself greatly by his untiring activity in
following up the enemy, and in 1813 was intrusted
with the blockade of Modlin. In the autumn of
that year he was ordered into Saxony, was present at
the battle of Culm, commanded the advanced guard
at the attack on Dresden, and for his gallant conduct
at Leipsic was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-
general. lie was subsequently employed successively
in the blockades of Magdeburg and Hamburg ; in
1814 he was intrusted with the command of the 2nd
Division of Grenadiers, then in France, and at the
battle of Arcis-sur-Aube he had a horse killed under
him. At the conclusion of the war he returned home,
and in 1820 was appointed to the command of a divi-
sion of the Imperial Guard. In 1820, in the Persian
war, he was nominated second in command under
Yermoloff, and at Elisavetpol rendered such im•
portant services that he was presented by the Emperor
Nicholas with a sword mounted in diamonds, and
bearing the inscription—" To the Conqueror of the
Persians at Elisavetpol." In the next year General
Paskiewitch succeeded Yermoloff in the chief com-
mand, and penetrating into Persia, took several for-
tresses, defeated Abbas Mirza, captured Erivan and
Tauris, and forced the Shah to conclude peace on
the 10th February, 1828. For these eminent services
Paskiewitch was raised to the rank of Count of
Erivan, and presented by the Emperor with a mil-
lion of roubles. In the war with Turkey which
followed, Paskiewitch captured Kars and Erzeroum,
and was marching upon Trebizond, when hostilities
were put an end to by the signature of a treaty. For
these results the Emperor Nicholas conferred on him
the rank of field-marshal. The Polish insurrection in
1831 was the next great occasion on which Paskie-
witch distinguished himself. Having succeeded to
the command on the death of General Diebitch, ho
signally defeated the Poles and captured Warsaw—
services for which he was raised to the dignity of
Prince of Warsaw, with the title of Highness, and
the power of transmitting it to his heirs. He was,.
moreover, appointed Lieutenant of the Kingdom of
Poland, and, with the exception of the temporary
command (and failure) at the siege of Sili~tna, in
1854, concluded his long and honourable career in
that high position.

FEBRUARY 9, 1856.

ract6ings in arliamtnt.

THE WENSLEYDALE LIFE PEERAGE.

In the House of Lords on Thursday there was a
very full attendance of peers, in anticipation of this
d hate.
Lord LYNDHURST, in moving that the letters patent
purporting to create Sir James Parke a baron of the
United Kingdom be referred to the Committee of
Privileges, with directions to consider the same and
report thereon, said that the subject was one of no
ordinary interest, as it involved the question " whether
the ancient hereditary character of the house should
continue, or whether it should be broken in upon,
and new modelled to the extent and according to the
discretion and interest of the Minister for the time
being ?" The elevation of Baron Parke to the peer-
age in this unusual form, it was clear, was intended
as a precedent for future occasions, to enable the
Minister for the time being to place as many peers
in the Lords as might suit his convenience. From
the assertion that it was part of the prerogative of
the Crown to appoint peers for life, it did not follow
that. the exercise of that prerogative was consistent
with the Constitution. The position he laid down
was, that no instance had occurred for the last 400
years in the history of this country of the elevation
of a commoner to the peerage by a life patent. l're-
vious to that period a few cases of the creation of
barons for life, under peculiar circumstances, were
on record, but it was during civil wars and confusion,
before the Constitution of the country was formed ;
a id to make the proceedings of that age a precedent
fir altering the established position of either house,
was a gross violation of the principles of the Consti-
tution. Lord Lyndhurst then cited various cases of
the creation of baronies for life, from the reign of
Richard 11. to that of Henry NI., showing that they
differed essentially from the present appointment,
inasmuch as one was a foreigner, who could not sit
in the house, and the rest, by previous and higher
rank, were already entitled to a seat in the house.
Coming to a later period, he referred to the peerages
for life created by Charles 11. and the Georges, in
favour of their mistresses ; and argued that the
bestowal of such dignities certainly (lid not justify
the Crown in issuing the present patent. Adverting
to the great reliance placed upon the authority of
Lord Coke, Lord Lyndhurst adduced several in
stances when that authority was overruled in ques-
tions of peerage privileges, and denied that the mere
unsupported apse dixit of even Lord Coke was to be
held up as infallible. The question was no. one of
technical law nor of legal right :
The question is this :—Whether, upon certain precedents
established 400 years ago, the Crown can at this period,
after the settlement of the Constitution, and after the
frame of the two houses had been established for a period
of nearly 204) or .'IOO years, exercise this right ; or whether
your lordships will for a moment think that the exercise of
the prerogative of the Crown in this instance can be con-
sidered justifiable or consistent with constitutional usage
and practice?

What would he the consequences of such an exercise
of the Royal prerogative ?
You will from time to time have appointments of this
kind repeated—you will become accustomed to them—and
3ou will have this house divided into two classes—part
hereditary peers, and part mere peers for life. One great
barrier against the creation of peers for the occasional
purposes of the Government is the hereditary character of
this house. To attempt any such creations at present
would be accompanied with great risk. No man would
encounter that risk or dare to do it. We all recollect that
iu the time of Queen Anne Sunderland and Oxford made
the attempt, and that it been a matter of denunciation
ever since. But if a few members of the legal profession
can be created peers for the short period of their remaining
career, how easy will it be for a Minister—an unscrupu-
lous Minister—and we have had unscrupulous Ministers
—how easy will it be, I repeat, for a Minister to carry the
system out to what extent he thinks proper for his own
purposes? It may, no doubt, be sparingly exercised. It
is said that you are not to reason against the pod, because
that good may be abused. Ido not accede to that posi•
lion. Ido not accede to that position on what I call con-
stitutional policy. I will give no power that is capable of
being abused, unless when it is absolutely necessary, and
some good reason requires it. That I have always thought
and conceived to be the correct constitutional doctrine.
He denied the charge that judicial strength was
wanted in the house. Never was there more legal
knowledge on which to rely than there was at pre-
sent. Writs of error were rare, and on important
points of common law the house had the power of
summoning the twelve judges to its assistance when
sitting as the supreme court. What was the real
secret of this change in our system?—
Is it that, from our frequent intercourse with our friends
on the other side of the water, we have become enamoured
of their system, and contrasted its vigour and indepen•
Bence with the vigour and independence of your lordships'
house, and been led to imitate them in regard to the com-
position of this house?

He had no desire to cut down the House of Lords
to a life interest, upon which the Senate of France
was formed :