The Express.
London, England, 1853-02-24 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24.

Wuo is to be Bishop of LINCOLN ?—is now an in-
quiry of the day. Various clerical candidates have been
named—the list including the vicars and rectors of
some large London parishes—more than one Dean—
and the relatives of divers members of the Cabinet.
Though nobody yet knows how the vacant post will
be filled—the filling it is a subject of great public
interest and importance, since the selection of Dr.
KATE'S successor will indicate the tendencies of
Lord ABERDEEN'S Government in relation to Church
matters. Are we to have Puseyism and Reac-
tion or Liberality and Progress on the Episcopal
bench? On the solution of this problem rests much
Ministerial popularity or much public discontent.
On PELHAM'S death, the old Duke of NEW-
CASTLE requested Fox, subsequently Lord HOLLAND,
to lead the House of Commons. Fox, however, met
the request by an inquiry, who, under the change, was
to administer the patronage of the Crown. " That,"
answered the greedy PREMIER, " I intend to do
myself." Fox thereupon had, for once at least, the
spirit to refuse to conduct in the Lower House of
Parliament the public business of a Government, of
whose private arrangements and patronage he was to
have no share or knowledge. He should not (he
remarked), know how to speak to his supporters.
The century that has since elapsed has, at all
events, purged the House of Commons itself of corrupt
practices such as Fox referred to. Members no
longer drop into the Treasury on their way down
to an important debate and more important divi-
sion, to receive what was then termed their "gra-
tifications." Grants of reversionary offices are now
almost unknown, except, indeed, in the courts spi-
ritual ;7pensions on the Irish list and on West Indian
funds are no longer in existence; and though pa-
tronage still has its charms even for members of the
House of Commons, it is shorn of its old coarseness,
venality, and corruption. Hence it is, no doubt,
quite possible for Lord JOHN RUSSELL to do what
Fox declined to undertake—lead the House of Com-
mons without office or its patronage.
But even in these very different times, it is not
judicious, nor will it prove satisfactory in the practi-
cal working of our Government, for the leader of the
House of Commons to be without large influence over
the greater offices that may fall at the disposal of the
Cabinet. In leading the House, Lord JOHN RUSSELL,
though without office, and advising the Crown only
on his responsibility of Privy Councillor, is neverthe-
less practically the moat important member of the ,
ABERDEEN Cabinet. He has had a larger and a
longer experience of public men and of public affairs
than any of his colleagues (Lord LANSDOWNE ex-
cepted) ; he brings to the support of the Administra-
tion a much more numerous and stronger division of
the House than any of his fellow Ministers
can pretend to; and to him principally will
fall the preparation of those greater mea-
sures on the sufficiency or insufficiency of
which will depend the fate of the present Govern-
ment and his own permanent fame. Occupying such
a position as this, Lord JOHN RUSSELL will not, it is
to be hoped, be without considerable power of veto
over the patronage of the Cabinet.
We do not, of course, desire to see Lord Joint
RUSSELL troubled or disturbed by the administration
of what is known as Treasury patronage. That
will take its bad course as usual, unless, indeed,
Lord JOHN carry out the designs which he once en-
tertained of connecting appointments of that sort
with an educational system. Nor is it to be wished
that Lord Jour; RUSSELL should be permitted
to interfere with the ordinary patronage of the
other Secretaries of State, or of the subor-
dinate departments of the Government. Neither can
it be expected that Lord ABERDEEN, as Premier, or
Lord thuswoaTil, as Chancellor, will submit to be
bound to consult with Lord JOHN in the bestowal of

ecclesiastical benefices in their respective gifts. All
thlse appointments will properly remain, as they
always have been, the privilege of the departmental
chief in whose jurisdiction the patronage lies. But
there is a patronage higher than this, and beyond
this, without personal power over which no man
leading the Rouse of Commons can adequately occupy
that eminent position. It is the patronage that denotes
the general tone and character of a Cabinet—that
has important consequences on that public opinion
on which alone governments can exist—that indi-
cates the sense and the sort of responsibility under
which a Ministry is acting. We refer to the patron-
age of the highest offices in the church, in the civil,
military, and colonial cervices ; in Indian, diplo-
matic, and colonial positions of the greatest trust; of
bishops, judges, generals commanding abroad, lord-
lieutenant at home, and the governors of India and
of our largest colonies, such as Canada and the
Australia'. Power over such appointments as these
any Leader of the House of Commons ought to have
but especially Lord Join( RussELL—for he, in reality,
if not in form, is the Chief Minister of he Crown.
It is not enough that Lord Joni', in his new po-
sition, should be responsible, as he will be, for
these appointments after they are made. That he
must be, whether consulted on them or not. It is
necessary for the good working of a government
that he should share, and be known to participate,
in the appointments themselves. Otherwise, his
personal influence will be diminished, and with it
his power of public; usefulness ; and a party may be
formed around otherenembers of the Cabinet aiming
ultimately at dispensing with assistance now found
so indispensable. Let na take care. By the death of
the late Dr. Beta, the See of Lincoln is vacant. On
the filling. up of that vacancy the present Govern-
ment may justly give great offence to a very large
part of the community, if they do not follow the
moderate example which Lord Joni; Enema. set
them when the Head of a Government. In the
present Cabinet, it is impossible not to perceive there
are two parties, having very opposite ecclesiastical
opinions and leanings; and at 1M head is a Presby-
terian Peer. The question of Dr. KATE'S successor
is therefore in every respect a very delicate one.
In all Etch patronage it is desirable that the Earl
of Anitnnxix should act only with the full appro-
bation and concurrence of Lord Joint limn&
Without Lord Joules aid, the noble Pannxii has
frankly avowed, he never could have formed an
Administration ; and that aid Lord JOHN has
given in the most disinterested, as well as most
unreserved form. It is therefore due alike to his
former more elevated sphere of action, to his present
exemplary self-denial, and to his capacity of future
ea that Lord Joint RUSSELL should in this
most important question of higher patronage, be on a
level with the Primula himselL

COPTEIGUT LAW BETWEEN ENGLAND AND Aim
Elcs.—A well-informed New York correspondent
says :—" You will be glad to hear that there is a fair
prospect of a Copyright Treaty. It has been nego-
tiated by Mr. Everett with Mr. Cramptow and will
soon be sent to the Senate, where I trust there will
be influence enough brought to bear upon the ques-
tion to enure its ratification."

A DOMESTIC TRAGEDY.—A horrible tragedy took
place a few days ago in the little village of Cauret, depart-
ment of the Crease. A young man named Daguet, son of
a wealthy farmer, suddenly rushed on his mother-in-law as
she was peeling potatoes, and struck her on the back of the
head with a hatchet until the skull was completel7 hasten
in and she fell dead. Shortly after the murderer a father
entered, and he discharged his gun at him. Mama h it
was only charged with powder, the commotion it ed
caused the old man to fall, He then loaded his gun, and
as his sister entered at the moment discharged it at her.
She wee wsooded in the hand and shoulder. He then
knot el her down, and beat her on the head with the
hatchet until she was dead. He next despatched his father
in the same way. He did not attempt to fly, and calmly
said to one of his relatives, who came in, " All is over—take
up the bodies ! You may do with me what you will—l
mean neither to fly nor to do any harm to you or to my-
self!" lie was arrested and lodged in the gaol of Gueret.
As no motive for these crimes is known, it is supposed
that the murderer had become ,middouly iumme.