The Express.
London, England, 1851-08-26 00:00:00

gfte Znwego.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Proad Walla 4" Tie Esprego," =stilts-Mt he Mae MOW.
Orsette," Is pulgisitest evely Tosalay and YALU, Lem,
Mr pail.
&by umvr• latenled " The Ea prem." Laois 'Min MP".
se" boo. the odic% P. Swords:OM, by Two Wslecit am lb*
emy of pabliestioo.

HIGH AT LONDON BRIDGE
WlterallitA
Tart ' Ism Atiersios. a. Oa.
Ib. Ws. . Afterser, h. 21n.

LONDON, TU.CSDA I; AUGUST 26.
IT was alleged In Dye idialatryh Review; that the
ferocious loyalty
.of Sorntril birthday odes was
the unchanged sprit of Jacobiniam of his early days,
raanifested and expressed in new forms and words.
The hypothesis will appear plausible enough to those
who take the trouble to compare the juvenile and
senile effusions of the laureate. Nor is his case of
real identity amid seeming change a solitary one.
There is, for example, the Editor of the Tab'et. whose
tirades not unfrequentle suggest the idea of GrostbE
Fox masquerading in habit of a Dominican.
To illustrate our meaning, we need go no further
than the notable piece of railing against the Arch-
bishop of ('Ax rvitia;KT, which we quoted in our yes-
terday's publication. In a aeries of lengthy and in-
volved sentences, that venerable prelate is first de-
:WA of his archiepiscopal title; next his claim to the
title of doctor of divinity is called in question ; and
lastly, it is more then hinted that his Christianity is
of rather a dubious complexion. Nor does the inge-
niona editor stop there. From the exeledastical titles
of the archbishop he proceeds to his civil title., and
deals with them quite ns unsparingly. lie admits,
Weed, that as n number of the Pnvy Council the
prelate may he called "The Eight Honourable" hymen
of the wool Id ; but he maintains that in his editorial
eyes "plain Mr. tit MNER " is a much more correct
olcaignatiom; and he evo n avows a strong inclination
to call him simply JollSO lttsu SUMNER." How
difficult it is to {pet rid of early habits: the fiery pro-
selyte who lalsiurs to make up for lost time by
crowding more than the zeal of a whole life into the
polemical effichs of his post-conversion yeara, unrols
the' man, the featherless biped, from the ligaments of
titles, civil and ecclesiastical, as antiquaries unrol a
warmly from it, yen meat*, with as much gusto as
NATI.EIt himxlf CORM have done.
Nor is it alma in this disposition to mock at and
trample upon titles of dignity, civil or ecclesiastical,
that we reeognise the unchanged and unchangeable
spirit of Quakerism. The Editor of the 'Tablet, to
the sore dismay- and annoyance of his spiritual direc-
tors, has carried into a church which inculcates
ice-
ylted deference and submission to the priesthood, all
his original sturdy habits of asserting the right of
private judgment. There is, indeed, at times some-
thing unutterably ludicrous in the selfeomplacency
;with which the neophyte instructs his reverend
teachers in the recondi e mysteries of their own faith.
The Ohl adage about teaching one's grandmother to
sock eggs conveys hat a faint notion of his pragma-
tical airs of assumption on such occasions. Nothing
earthly can he command with him—unless, in-
deed, it be Mr. Ultlll'llANT instructing good
Illsoculmans in the dogmas of their own religion, us
be is presented in some of his own books. It will
easily be believed that this amiable peculiarity of the
editor of the 'Edda does not tend to make him a
favourite with the priesthood. little more than a
month liar elapsed since it involved him in a public
controversy with a priest, who rated him in good
set term. fur his preaumption in taking upon him
to expound and champion the faith, seeing that he
bad taken none of the vows, had received none of the
ardent, and had nut even the tonsure to show us a
visible sal of his in'ission. And we have heard that
eves baton• the scene of the Tahiti's labours was
transferred to Ireland, there was much muttering and
murmuring among the ultra-montane priests about
the anomaly of the organ of their church in the news-
paper press being edited by a layman. Hut the ultra-
montane priests are too wise in their generation
to reject se'rv'ices because they dislike or distrust
the permit who offer. them. They have unlisted the
championship of the Editor of the Tab'et under pro-
toad. They have repeated so often their diaupproba-
titm of a layman's presuining to speak, as it were, ex
cathedra on matters of discipline and doctrine, that
dal feel coontident they can disavow him whenever
it becomes neetswary ; and, fortified by this convic-
tion, they allow him to prattle on uneheeked as long
as it suits their purpone.
At present they appear to he using bins as what
SYDNEY Sault would have called a tisohonteter.—a
gauge of their fool:invent' capacity fur swallow. They
etwewdly suspect that with the educated class of
Roman Catholics it may be going a little too far to
speak of the papal aggression controversy as a " ques-
tion at bow between Heaven and ;" or to lay
down as an article of faith that, " it is nearly as cer-
tain as that Goo is in !leaven that Cardinal WISE-
MAN is A relibishop of Westminster." They have
their misgivings that this mixture of ribaldry and
blasphemy may shock the ficlings even of amerce
but intelligent disciples of their church. 'They are,
however, not unwilling that their flocks should be
brought down to a standard of intellect and taste
that may find such trash palatable, and they allow
the Editor of the. Tablet to hold forth in this strain,
prepared to avow or disavow him, according as it
turns out to be acceptable or the !cense.
In short the worthy Editor of the Tablet, who is
as sincere in his way as great ignorance• and im-
mense conceit will allow a man of slender intellect and
enormous vanity to he, is used by the directors
of the Impel aggression much in the same way
that TAILLEVER appears to have been used by die
Normaus at the battle of Dealings. TAILLF.YER was
a brave man and sinewy swordsman. but a " jong-
lour," or juggler, who was made to ride at the head of
the army. playing all sorts of profersional tricks, such
as basing his sword in the air and catching it again
by the' hilt. It is easily conceivable how while. the
Naomi were gazing open-mouthed at such dexterity,
the sorman horsemen might charge them at caftan-
tags. .And, its like manner, it is hoped that, while
the protestants and rational Roman Citholiettof Eng-
land allow their attention to be engrossed by the I
writhing+ and bellowing* of the Tablet —the eon-
factions of the Sybil. without her inspiration—the
taltm•montane prises may unobserved play their own
more cautious game.
Few after all the exaggerations of the Tablet are
so more than was said, in milder and less startling
phrase, at the Aggregate Meeting in Dublin. 'Mere,
too, the Raman Cathodic noblemen who have (Ir-
eland thentselvea inimical to the Papal Aggression
were denounced as having swerved from their duty ;
sad to entertain any doubt. of the justice of the pre-
lusion. advanced by the Rornish Pontiff, in regard
to the creation and demireation of dioceses, was in as
smay wards called heresy.

Tut: proceeding. of the Court-Martial, now sitting
at Lyons fur the purpose of investigating into the
alleged eonspiraev against the present government
of France. furniik a very strong illustration of the
infancy of French opinain with regard to the admi-
nistration of justice. We have no sj mpathy with
the cause of the &reused. We du nut pretend to dis-
pute the existence of the plot with which they are
charged. We have not the meals of forming a
judgment on either side of that question.. nor is it
one in which we take much interest. But we cannot
hey observing that if it be the object of this party.
and we fang• it must he. to provoke out of doors a
general opinion of their innocence. they cannot pas-
ably desire a better method of obtaining it than that
by which the government is labouring to procure
their conviction.
Not to expand unduly or unnecessarily our Aver-
entices on this head, let us take the proceedings of
only one day, by way of sample. The brief analysis
tells its own tale, and spares an Fnglivhinan at limit
the necessity of comment.
At the witting of the ('curt on Monday. the 18th
instant, the counsel for the accused applied for per-
mission to impeach the credit of the government

witnesses, whenever there was season to believe it
doubtful, and more particularly that of a witows
alleged to be of infamous
.chmacter, who, having
wormed himself into the coofidence of the French
refugees at Geneva, VOW professed to betray it.
The Public Prosecutor opposed this. on the ground
that " the Code of Criminal Proceedings says posi-
tively that a witness can only be questioned
on matters relative to the case !" The Court, we
are told, taking the same view of the matter,
gave judgment "that the invo-tigation propsall*
was not et a nature to aid in the demwistration ce
truth; that it could not be allowed; and that the
certificates presented against the witness should not
toe accepted." After two other witnesses for the pro-1
aeration, a commissary of police was called. He ad-
mitted that " it was only after GENT'S arrest that he
had even heard of the Lyons p'ot. Ile had then
been charged to make inquiries respecting the cha-
racter of GENY. He had learned that in his youthl
he was fond of women, pleasures, and play, and that
he wee very ambitious. Ile was also supposed to
1 astorbin advanced political opinions. In March,
11149, his furniture was seized to pay his debts. It
was generally known at Avignon that he had com-
mitted incest. He had sold for 30,000 f. his share in
the fortune of his father.. All this information had
been given to the witness by men of honour. They
were, moreover, rather of GENT'S way of thinking
in politics." The unfortunate GENT here inter
and " appealed to the Court for protection. He
reminded the Court of the decision it had just given
strainst himself. Surely, if it were incompetent for
him to shake the credit of the police-witnesses, it was
equally so for them to defame him, anonymously.
Surely such evidence as this—hearsay moreover,
could not be interpreted to be " matters relative to
' the case," within the meaning of that highly prized
article of the Code of Criminal Proceedings. He,
therefore, called on the President to compel the wit-
ness " to state all the truth, and name his inform-
ants." The President reused to do so : observing
that "he could not force the witness to speak , and,
moreover, that the police always refused to give up
the MIMI'S ,!". its «yenta." The counsel for the accused
hereupon drew up their " conclusions" (or
bill of exceptions," as Westminster Hall bath
it), against the ruling of the president, which
were immediately taken into consideration by the
tall court, and, after argument, mianinvoisty re-
jected ."Ihe egregious logic of this judicial iniquity
was at the same time thus stated by the court:
"As the witness has made his statements on the
authority of police reports, and as such reports could
not give rise to a judicial investigation, there was no
reason for taking the measures demanded by GENT
and his advocate r It is a pity that these fatal ob-
kstions did not occur to the judicial mind whilst the
witrwss was giving this irrevelant and hearsay testi-
mony ; for then, perhaps, it would have also occurred
to it that " there wns no reason for allowing him to be
examined at all." On the contrary, the very ohjections
which had not been suffered to prevail against the exa-
mination in chief, did prevail against the cross-exami-
nation of the witness : a curious and pregnant illus-
tration of the total absence from the tribunals el
France of the fair play of those of England, where
exactly the contrary is the undeviating practice.
And then. we are told, to check further controversy
in the matter," when GENT rose to speak, the Presi-
dent prevented him, and, rising hastily, declared
the court adjourned:" So ended the day's pro-
ceedings.
In England not one of' these events could have
happened. We are not sulijected to Courts Martial,
but to Courts of Justice. Every prisoner on trial has
the unquestionable right of asking what questions
and calling what witnesses he pleases, in order to
impeach the credit of the adverse testimony; he
has, moreover, the right of putting ques-
tions to the witnesses for the prosecution,
which the prosecutor cannot put. All this
exists in favoreni ribr et lilwrtatis. nightly con-
sidered, it is these immunities and rights, and all
others of a merely personal nature, that form in the
aggregate the political freedom of the English. The
community is free because of the freedom of each at
its constituents. In France, unhappily, the reverse
of this is the truth. Political liberty in France—
not very ancient certainly—is yet older than the
liberty of the subject. The latter was born of the
former, not the former of the latter. The former
has not as yet reached to manhood ; but the latter is
scarcely out of the cradle. In short, an Englishman
finds it very hard indeed to imagine that the liberty
of the subject, for practical purposes, exists at all in
France.