The Express.
London, England, 1858-01-05 00:00:00

IILE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 5, 1858.

ther has been, strenuously opposed to it. Are
we, on that ground, opposed to the appoint-
ment ? Most unquestionably not. In all these
eases there is one, and only one, question to be asked
with • view of forming a correct opinion as to the
nature of the selection. Who, in the general esti-
mate of the legal profession, would be the fittest man
for the post, apart from all political considerations ?
. . _ .

This is the fair test. In that gregarious and quick-
sighted brotherhood, a man's merits and capacities
ars rapidly and accurately assessed. Professional
j ealonsies and exaggerated eel f •esteem may blind some,
but the general judgment of Westminster Hall, the
common voice of the long-robed populace, rarely
errs. Tried by this test, the choice of the new
Judge has been a right choice. If Mr. Serjeant
BYLCS had been passed over, the general feeling,
we think, would have been, " Ah, BYLES no doubt
" would have been the best man ; but then his poli-
" tics, you know, put him out of the question."

The occasions on which we have had to re-
monstrate against Lord CILLNWORTR'S want of
energy as a law reformer have been only too
frequent ; but we have always recognised
that conscientious desire to select the best
man, which has honourably distinguished his higher
legal appointments. A firm adherence to the prin-
ciple that professional fitness, and not political
opinions, ought to form the guide in judicial
appointments of all kinds is especially valuable
in the present day, when the legal patronage tested
in the Chancellor is so enormously increased by the
recent creation of subordinate judgeships. In • free
country few possessions are more valuable than the
thorough independence of that profession which has
been, and again may be, entrusted with the defence
of endangered liberty against the encroachments of
irritated power. Once proclaim and act upon the
principle that judicial office, high or low, shall be
the prize of political subserviency or parliamentary
adhesion, and the independence of the Bar is at an
end. Instead of a body of free-spirited ad-
vacates, you have a crowd of expectant place-
men. The tendency of the times, the necessities of our
increasing population, and the growing demand for
• more certain and scientific administration of
justice—all point to the probability of a still further
increase of judicial offices and a corresponding exten-
sion of the legal patronage of the Crown. The same
circumstances conspire to give an additional value
to such appointments as those of Mr. serjeant
BYLF.S. Whether he will make a good Judge, time
alone can show; to venture • prediction on this
point is at least as hazardous as to attempt the con-
fessedly hopeless task of estimating the chances of
an enacted play. But this is certain: the new
Judge has a professional reputation for sagacity,
good sense, and sound judgment, not surpassed by
that of any other practitioner in Westminster Hall.
If the possession of these qualities by an advocate do
not constitute a guarantee for excellence as a Judge
nothing will.

Cbt Court.

WINDSOR, JAN. 4.

The Queen walked and drove in the Home-park
this morning, and visited the Dothan of Kent at Frogmore.
Prince Arthur, Princess Helena, sad Princess Louisa 1100DOI•
panied her Majesty.

- The Prince Consort went out shoodag.
The Bishop of London left the Cade in the forenoon, and
Colonel Francis Seymour, C. 8., also took his departure.

A LEAF FROM THE " PEERAGE."

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

power which can Dever give her umbrage on any point of
the globs, and so the alliance was concluded. Preemie; we
have said, was urgently solicited to join the alliance. We
have reason to believe that King Frederick William was
quite disposed to sign the protocol if he could have prevailed
upon the Emperor of Russia to sign it at the seine time.
It was with this object that the King of Prussia took a
part in arranging the interview between the Em-
perors Alexander 11. and Francis Joseph at Weimar
in the month of October. But Russia appearss resolved
to stand aloof, for some time at least, from any concert with
other Powers. The new Czar desires to be a simple spectator
of what is going on in Europe—an interested spectator in-
' deed, bat one unfettered by any engagements. His internal
reforms, his railways, his fortifications fur the defence of his
frontier, will for many years to come absorb all his attention
and all his 1.11100/0118. He thinks he has nothing to fear from
isolation, and nothing to hope for from any new alliance, and
be will probably not change hie present attitude. As to
Prussia, she has been in • state of interregnum
since the interview of Weimar, but this situation
cannot be prolonged. Either a regency or a
new reign are imminent ; and in either case the well known
sentiments of the personage who would become the head of the
date are in favour of the &Mono. of which we have spoken.
The marriage of the Prince of Prussia with the Princess
Royal of England, which will take place in a few days, will
draw still closer the bonds which unite the courts of Berlin
and London. It Is very possible that an abdication, much
spoken of in Germany, may very shortly place the crown
upon the head of the young husband of the English princess.
It is therefore not rash to consider that Prussia, and in
consequence all Germany, will in all probability
adhere t the alliance between Austria and Great
Britain. This alliance, we hasten to say, will have
nothing offensive in its character. It is one formed with •
view to observation more than action. It does not menace
the established order of things in Europe ; it is but a work
of reciprocal self-defence against foreseen or unforeseen
eventualithe. It Is, however, s fact beyond doubt, that of
all the diplomatic events of the year just concluded, the
alliance we have mentioned is the most important : it is one
the consequences of which must necessarily be universally
felt. In seeking the alliance of Austria, Lord Palmerston
was necessarily compelled to renounce the policy which he
bad pursued for many years in Italy. From being • revolu-

Uteriat in Europe, he become ;conservative. If he still
thinks of M. de Cavour and his friends in Piedmont, it is
only to advise them to be very prudent, and to keep on good
terms with their neighbours of the Lombardo-Venetian
kingdom. Far from encouraging the revolutionists of Naples
or Sicily, he is almost ready to hold out the hand of friend-
ship to King Ferdinand, and is disposed to say that, otter
all, his states are u wall governed ea those of her Britannic
Majesty. It has been already remuked with whet moderation,
with what unwonted consideration for the rights of nations,the
noble lord spoke of the arrest of the engineers of the Cagliari.
• • • • But it is more especially in regard to the two
great Powers loft out of the combination—France and Russia
—that the existence of the new protocol deserves notice.
Why this barrier placed between them from the Mg to the
west of the European Continent P Is it a conflict, or is it an
alliance too intimate and dangerous for the balance of power
in Europe that the new auks have wished to prevent by their
interposition f These ere questions which it would be pro
mature, if not Imprudent, to raise and to discuss.
Let us confine ourselves to the immediate effects of the event
of which we are treating. Russia, as we have said, occupied
with internal refdrms, which will require years to complete,
will not for a long while to come seek to take any active part
in the affairs of Europe. Without abdicating her position as a
first-rate power, she will remain ea far es possible a simple
spectator. • • • • The same cannot be said in any point
of view of Fromm. Doubtleas;,we have nothing to fear from
en alliance which is not menacing to us ; and doubtless
France will always be strong enough to resist any
hostile designs; but the sort of isolation in which
we are placed is a great change in the situation.
The barrier erected at our very gatea, although it does
not interfere with our movements, oppose' to throw us
beck many years. We have not, like Russia, taken a vow
to stand aloof for a time from the general MGM' of Europe;
and yet this alliance places us in a certain minority in any
conference or congress whenever we may happen not to
agree in opinion with the parties to it. We are, moreover,
exposed to a repetition everywhere of the situation which,
linos the departure of our troops, we have suffered
at Constantinople. There, whenever any question of im-
potion°s has been raised, we have found ourselves opposed
by Angle-Austrian influence. We have in Turkey an am-
humidor admirably fitted for his task. But It is all In vain
that he is supported by the remembrance of the glorious ser-
vices which our soldiers rendered to Turkey. He is never
listened to unless he goes the length of threatening. His
allies of yesterday have become his declared or secret adver-
saries of to-day ; and he passes his whole time in unravelling
wretched intrigues, or discussing the most miserable ques-
tions of etiquette. Such, with few exceptions, is the state
to which we have been reduced in the East for the lest two
years by the policy of Atuarialand LEngland. If we are to
suppose that the object of the ethane* concluded between the
two powers is to place our relations in Europe upon a similar
footing, it cannot be denied that we have a good right to
complain.

The above article has very considerably disturbed
the equanimity of the government to-day, and the
question of what was to be done in consequence was
the subject of very lively discussion both at the
police-office and at the ministry for foreign affairs.
I understand that it has been determined that it
would be impolitic to adopt severe measures against
the journal, although, of course, it will be
marked down for a warning on the first trivial
occasion on which it may be found tripping.
The government journals have been ordered
to prepare stately leading articles throwing
ridicule upon the allegation that France is
in a state of isolation, and denying positively the
existence of the supposed protocol of Vienna. I
think, however, more especially as the assertion of
Speetateur is evidently not lightly made—that the
fact of a warning not being given to that journal
for promulgating false news of very serious import,
is a pregnant proof that the protocol in question is a
reality. The Patrie and Pays, en attendant the going
off of greater guns, merely analyse theSpectateur ar-
ticle, and treat the protocol as a " diplomatic ro-
mance," and the " isolation of France" as a troubled
dream of the Spretateur. Much more will be heard
of all this.

The Bourse has been extremely animated, and a
great rise has taken place. The Rente rose 7k. for
cash and lfr. 13c. for account, closing at 69fr. 40c.
and 69fr. 95c. Mobilier rose 62fr. 50c. The Or-
leans Railway rose 40fr ; Northern, 12fr. 50c. ;
Eastern, 15fr. ; Lyons, 10fr. ; Southern, 10fr. ;
Western, 72r. 50e.; and Grand Central, 2fr. 50c.
No particular reason was alleged for the great ad-
vance in the Rente, but a feeling of confidence in the
future prevails.

TAE AUSTRALIAN MAILS.—The light portion of
these mails will probably miss at Marseilles to-night, and
reach London on Thursday morning or afternoon,—jost Ave
days after the contract time. In conaequeoce of this delay
the merchants in the northern manufacturing towns will
have barely sufficient time to wind replies to their edvicee by
the outward mall, which leaves on the 12th inst.

THIS AXERICAN EXPEDITIONS IN SEARCH OF
Sin Jonx Flue ILIN.—From Washington we Wen, under
date Dec. 19, that Lord Napier bad, by instrootion of Lard
Clarendon, placed in the hands of Secretary Cass a number of
medals which her Msjesty's government desires to prevent to
the officers and men engaged in the several expeditions
which have been fitted out in the United States for the re-
covery of Sir John Franklin and his companion. Her
Majesty's government directs Lord Napier to express the
high sense which they entertain of the real and devotedness
of the parties who volunteered in these enterprises, and their
earnest hope that the CitILMIS of the United Stateswito shared
the same dangers may be permitted to acoept Ike same hono-
rary rwgnitions as the °Moen and Moo( her Mejesty's ser-
vice empioyed in the cause of the Arctic dieoovery.
.

MURDER OF A WALLACHIAN JUDOF..—A Baehr.
rest letter of the 41st nit., in the Post Aotiet Gazette, rays:—
" The preaident of the cavil tribunal of this plea was me-
seaelnated to-day about twelve o'dock on his seat of Nair-
meat. The murderer is a Greek, aged 22, who had just lost
a mutt for the prosecution of which be had been obliged to
sell all his property. When be heard the judgment Iwo-
Doctored, he drew a Oat& from hie pocket end blew ont the
president's brains. rilahnitur, 'At last. justice is donor He
then wanted to kill himself with another pistol, but be was
prevented and lodged in prima."

THE UNITED STATES.

(rma ova owN

NEW YORK, Dec. 23.
Without waiting for the President to remove him
Governor Walker has sent his resignation to the
Secretary of State, accompanied by an able and un-
answerable vindication of his official acts as Gover-
nor of Kansas. It is said that the President (dis-
turbed by the course which events have taken)
refuses to recognise this official communication of
Governor Walker, and that he has been or will be
peremptorily dismissed by a species of political drum-
head court-martial. But the Governor has evidently
got the start of the President, and as you will doubt-
ing find space for the Governor's letter, it will be
unnecessary for me to say anything further, unless
it may be a word on the reception of the letter, so
far as we learn it front the telegraphic, despatches
which have come to ns this morning. It has been
sent over the wires to all parts of the Union, and it
is as long as a presidential message. Immense ex-
pense has been Incurred in its dissemination, and
but one response has come back from the Eastern,
Western, and Northern States. One of the New
York daily journals uses the following language on
the subject :
Governor Walker's letter to the president, resigning his
commission es Governor, is not merely a defence of himself.
it is an attack upon the good faith of the President, which
cannot fail to cause that functionary a great deal of WNW&
nese. The Governor takes the ground that nothing but his
promises, authorised by the President, that the Lecompton
Constitution should be submitted to the people, prevented
the assumption of authority under the Topeka Constitution,
accompanied, as it must have been, by civil war; nor does he
entertain a doubt that the failure to keep this promise, sad
the attempt to force the Lecompton Constitution on the
people, will be attended by a like result.
This is a plain statement of the facts in the case.
But a careful reading of Governor Walker's letter of
resignation will be necessary to enfold the subject
clearly, even to an American.
It is now evident that a great and wide-spread
defection has taken place in the Democratic party
all through the Free States. Fifty of the Demo-
cratic newspapers of the single State of Ohio have
enlisted in the cause of Douglas and Walker against
the Kansas policy of Mr. Buchanan. The State of
Michigan (General Casa's state) has also wheeled into
this revolutionary movement, and at a Democratic
Mass Meeting the great doctrine of State Sove-
reignty" has been re-affirmed in favour of the policy
of Walker and Douglass. The meeting was held in,
the town where the Secretary of State lives (Detroit),
and the men who moved most conspicuously in the
affair were the personal and political friends of
General Cass.

In close connexion with this general movement,
we have received Acting-Governor Stanton's address
to the newly assembled legislature of Kansas. When
the news arrived by telegraph that Mr. Stanton had
summoned the new legislature to meet before the
regular day of their assembling, the President of the
United States appointed his successor; but before
the news of Mr. Stanton's removal could have been
received in Kansas the legislature had met, and
taken the power into their own hands. What they
have done we do not yet know ; but we do know
that the Free State men are determined to be trifled
with no longer. They have the clearly defined right
by act of Congress to frame their own laws and in-
stitutions to suit themselves, and they are resolute
to do it. The great mass of the American people, too,
will stand by them in the doing of it. Mr. Stanton'.
reasons for calling a special session are very clearly
and frankly stated. He wishes, first, to preserve the
public peace; and, secondly, he is determined to nul-
lify the acts of the Lecompton convention, and he
will succeed, it is believed.
Thus, you will perceive that we are again fairly
afloat on the open sea of sectional strife ; and that in
attempting to buoy up the sinking ship of slavery,
Mr. Buchanan promises to wreck himself and his
PartS•
In executive session yesterday the Senate re-
ceived from the President the nomination of General
Lamar as Minister to Nicaragua, and, unexpected as
it was, he was instantly confirmed. This is alto-
gether the most important diplomatic appointment
on this continent at the present time, and the
General is, with the exception of General Walker
and M. Soule, the most prominent Filibuster we
have. He had no small agency in taking Texas'
from Mexico, and became one of its Presidents be-
fore its final annexation to the United States. He
has seen active service in war, is an experienced
senator and financier, and altogether en extra-'
ordinary man. His capacity fits him for any diplo-
matic position. But he is "an intense Filibuster,"
and one of Walker's intimate friends. His object is
accepting this mission is to help Walker. How all
this is to be reconciled with Mr. Buchanan's message
we cannot explain.
I subjoin the following statements contained in a
despatch from Norfolk, to show the active revival of
the slave trade. It is only a single indication of the
enormous mason which this barbarous traffic is now
being carried on by American vessels with Cuba.
Will not the British government at last do some-
thing definitive on this subject?
Norfolk, Dec. 21.
The barque William 0. Lewis, thirty-eve days from the
coast of Atria', arrived here to-day. She was captured ma
slaver in the Congo river by a boat expedition, commanded
by Lieutenants Walker and Cummins, from the United
State* sloop of war Dale. The brig Windward, supposed to
be a slaver, was also captured, and will be here in a few dam
The British steamer Electra had seised the barque Clara 3..
Williams and an American schooner about the same time.
Many slavers are reported to be on the African coast. Twelve
bad been captured after the arrival of the Dale there. She
was to leave soon for St. Helena. Her officers and crow were
all well.