The Express.
London, England, 1852-05-21 00:00:00

in a manner which we had rather &sera);

than designate as it deserves. It is our duty to
call attention to the facts ; we would willingly be
spared the pain of commenting upon them in the
manner which unhappily they merit. We shall
confine ourselves for the present to the case of a single
town; but we warn those by whom Lord Sr.
LEONARDS may be ill-advised, that the eye of public
scrutiny is upon him, and that wherever, through his
instrumentality, the attempt is made to render the
tribunals of summary jurisdiction predominantly of
one party, colour, or complexion, complaint and rt..
preach will assuredly be heard through the culumna
of a free press.
In the borough of Great Yarmouth there have
been for some time no fewer than eighteen magi&
trates—a number which, in a community hardly
amounting to 28,000, will be admitted by most 1 r
1101114 we imagine, to be more than sufficient. To
these, however, no fewer than six have now Leen add( d
—not at the instance of the municipal council of the
borough, or upon the request of its inhabitants gene-
rally, but upon the private and partisan suggestion
of an anti-liberal clique, who desire to absorb in their
own circle those privileges and rewards which fitly
belong, without distinction, to all shades of senti-
ment and opinion. At Yarmouth, as in most other
places throughout the kingdom, there arc two great
parties—that of reaction and that of progress, that
of exclusion and that of tolerance, otlfr which
seeks to maintain Lord DERRY in power, and
that which desires to see a truly popular ministry
formed of sound popular elements, and with prac-
tical popular aims. In the ranks of the
one are to be found all the old and im-
penitent foes of religious freedom and political
reform, and with them some few who once were
believed to have put their hands to the plough of
dual progress, but who have been tempted to look
back. The proportion which these latter hear to too
bigoted bulk of the party will rarely be found to be
considerable. In Yarmouth it is particularly.small;
yet the unequal allies affect to style themselves by
the equivocal title of "coalition; and this misformecl
and ricketty combination has for its immediate object
the return to parliament at the next election of two
opponents of all further reform, and supporters of
the present shuffling administration. Sir ED-
MUND LACON fitly represents the thorough-going
toryism by which England was governed forty years
ago in Church and State ; and which the MALID:i-
BURYS, and BERESFORDS, and LONSDALES would fin
resuscitate again. The other "coalition" candidate,
Mr. RUMBOLD, was once a whip, but has gradually-
lapsed further and further from liberal principles,
until, finding himself utterly repudiated by the po-
pular party, he has flung himself tbr pity and pro-
tection on those whose every sentiment mid doctrine
he formerly affected to disapprove. The same com-
mittee, the snme colour, and we have even heard the
. self-same canvassing card is adopted by the baronet
and his apostate colleague. Will it be believed that
the LORD CHANCELLOR has not scrupled to attach
the Great Seal to this electioneering coalition by
adding six of its members and none others to the list
of the borough magistracy ?
We have said that there existed no necessity for
making any additions at all. This, we admit, how-
ever, is a matter of opinion, respecting which honest
and upright men may differ. Our quarrel is not
about a numerical sum, but with the open disregard
for all recognised precedent in making such ad-
ditions to the list without reference to tho
municipal authorities on the subject, and to
the undisguised partiality of the selections
made. Soon after the passing of the 31u-
nicipal Reform Act, a rule was laid down re-
garding the appointment of borough magistrates by
Lord JOHN RUSSELL, who then tilled the office of
Secretary of State for the Home Department, to
which succeeding governments have, generally
speaking, seen the wisdom and propriety of ad-
hering. The rule was this—that without wailing
the right of the Chancellor to nominate any duly
qualified person to the commission of the peace for
any particular place, the recommendation of a ma-
jority of the town council of each city and borough
should have paramount weight in determining when
and what new nominations ought to be made, and
that practically none such should be forced upon the
locality against its desire thus constitutionally
expressed. We believe that in some exceptional
eases Lord LYNDHURST broke through this salutary
and constitutional rule ; but in the main it has
systematically been acted on, and with excellent
effect. But Lord ST. LEONARDS seems resolved to
show his utter contempt for even the semblance of
its observance. Not only have six individuals, whom
he has created supernumerary justices of the peace at
Yarmouth, been chosen without reference to the
properly constituted local authorities, but, as we arc
informed, in contemptuous disregard of expostulation
and remonstrance from the Mayor, and a very nu-
merous and influential section of the municipal body.
But this is not all. The worst feature in the trim-
section remains to be told. Out of the eighteen
heretofore holding the commission of the peace
for the borough, eleven belong to the anti-reform
or ministerial party, giving that a preponderance
over the liberals of four. Of this the latter chit not
make any complaint, trusting that time and lair
dealing on the part of government would quietly re-
dress the inequality of numbers on the judicial bench.
Bat what has now been done by the new tens,
Chancellor renders the position of things altoge-
ther different. Lord ST. Leos:Antis has wantonly
and recklessly raised the majority from to
ten, or in other words, he has decreed that in
a community in which the friends of ballot, free-
trade, and religious equality, are at least twenty
to one of their ministerial opponents, justice shall in
future be summarily administered by of the
latter, and but seem of the former! We here take the
nominal proportions; but in reality the proportions
are still more unfair, inismuch as two of the liberal
minority, from different causes, are seldom if ever
able to attend, while but one of the majority is said
to be similarly circumstanced. l'ractically, there-
fore, the disparity is measurable by. the difference
between sixteen and five. And this is what the pre-
sent advisers of the crown mean by providing for the
duo and decent administration of justice. Let every
town throughout the kingdom look to it. None of
them can tell whose turn it may be next.
The question put to the Howe SECRETARY last
night by Mr. l'it'Cum.solt regarding the recent
appointments to the magistracy, as exemplified in