The Express.
London, England, 1856-07-08 00:00:00

LONDON, 2UESDAY, JULY 8.

LORD WENSLEYDALE and the Appellate Jurisdio-
tion Bill came op together last night before the HMO
of Commons. We have no wish to repeat at any
length the opinions we have frequently expressed*/
to both. As tar as the noble and learned lord is con-
cerned, he has, no doubt, mach reason to complain.
Called to the Peerage by the rxercire of a prerogative
whose existence no one contests, he has been
long kept in • state of auepeobe and abeyance—no
longer a commoner and cot yet • peer—the con-
templation of which is no doubt painful to every
well•regulated mind. After a long career of honourable
judicial exertion, he has beet me in the ripeness
and maturity of his age a port of scintilla juris —a
portentous constitutional novelty—an alleged inno-
vation and a resisted eacroachment. This is hard,
no doubt. It is something, perhapa,.to feel that you.
are the representative of a great constitutional prin-
ciple, that without any exertion on your own part
you are rapidly being fabricated into history, that
you are a champion—an epoch, and so forth; but
notwithstanding the icing or all this there is a cer-
tain discomfort attending it likely to be felt none the
less acutely by one who for mote than a quarter of
century has occupied with clignifi.d serenity the
curate chair. Lord WENSLEYDALE, in all probability,
would very gladly have couseeted to purchase less
tame with less tangle.
There is great truth and gravity in the noble Life
Peer's allegation that uei her the QUEEN's prerogative
nor his own righ.s have been provided for in the Bill
sent down from the House of Lords. The only portion
of the oily clause in that Bill reletiog to the subject
which is free from reasonable doubt appears to be the
proviso which expressly declares " that not more
than four persons shall have seats in the House of
Lords at one time as Peers for Lite only." If word.
mean anything, the effect of this proviso is to limit
the prerogative of the Crown in creating Life Peers,
Four noblemen of the species so hateful to my Lords
CAMPBELL and ST. LEONARDS—four, aid four only,
can sit as peers together in It, Upper H use. If this
be not limitation, what ii? In ToM Moon's
famous version of the PRINCE RECENT'S letter, that
royal personage exclaim., with reference to hie
parent's malady and his own want of power,

A strait waistcoat on him, and restrictions on me,

r A more limited ennesercby cannot we❑ tn.
Four Life Peers, stud tour only at one time in their
Lordships House—it would sniety require more than
even the subtlety of a LYNDHURST to show that
there was no limitation here of the prerogative of the
Crown.

Passing from the prerogative and Lord WENSLEY-
DALE to the appellate jurisdiction itself, two things
may be remarked upon what toe k place in the House
last night. First, everything was said in defenosof
Lord CILANWORTICS Bill which could be said;
secondly, that "everything " really amounted
to " nothing." No answer was given to the
question which lies at the root of the whole matter:
Why, in order to humour the unreasonable
reluctance of the Lords to part with a privilege whose
' exercise only covers the in with discredit, throw upon
the wintry the ccst of two Deputy Speukt n at 5,0001.
a year, when, without a farthing of increased ex-
pense, you have an admirable appellate tribunal in
the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ? Why
pay 10,0001. a year for perpetuating an unaatiatao.
tory and unnecessary tribunal, when for nothing at
all a year you can have in its stead the best and
most satisfactory tribunal in the empire? If you
want to lay out 10,0001. a year on retired judges—
or rather, deducting their re-iring allowance,.
4,0001. in addition to what you now pay, do so;
but let it be done by way of remunerating the
more constant attendance of the ab!ear among those
judges who now act on the Judicial Committee. The
"Leading Journal," tome days b‘ck, threw out an
intimation of very transparent obscu icy that Govern-
ment intended, under (veer of tie powers conferred
on them by the new Bill, should it b•come law, to
confer one of the Deputy S,,eakerships on an eminent
lawyer no less remarkable tor his activity se an Oppo-
sition leader thi.n for the curious infelicity with
which he has more than once just menage d to mite
high judicial office a hen it was all but within his grasp.
It would be affectation to prelet.d Ignoratoe that the
gentleman thus d, signaled is Sir FREDERIC TEM.
ORR; but it would he tqudly 'mix-oath'e to avoid
expressing surprise that any one who had read the
clauses of the Appellate Jurisdicihn Bill and the
, Report on which they are tound. d, should have sup.
posed that dis,ingu!sred n.r.on to be eligthle for the
office referred to. The Report recommends, and the
Bill provides, that no ore shall he qualified to act as
Deputy Speaker who has nor tor five years or upward/
held some one of the higher judicial 'Aces. That
S•r FREDERIC THESICER has never held sny judicial
office, is notorious he h.a. indeed, twice narrowly
missed a Chief Justiceship, but this, although the
ground on which he snip. s. d claim is .need. is note
we need scarcely ssy, recognised as a qualification by
the Bill. We have no apace at present to advert to
the particular features of last night's debitte; the
force of argument was all on nee side, hie the weight
of numbers was with the Government, who succeeded
in carrying the second reading by a majority of
49-191 to 142. It remains to be seen whether the
Bill will be equally fortunate in Committee.

EVERY friend of rational liberty and good govern.
ment will learn with p!essure that Load JOHN Rue.
SELL has intimated his intention to draw the eaten.
tion of tt e House of Commons to the affairs of Italy
on Friday or Monday next. The cheers with which
this intimation was received, are a sure indication of
the spirit in which this question will be discoseed by
the representative branch of the Legislsture. All
that is asked by the patriots of Italy is the power of
arranging matters amicably with their own govern.
menu, free from foreign interference. The deck".
rations made by the representatives of France
and England, in the Conferences at Paris,
awakened confident hopes throughout Italy that
thin-ems:amble desire was on the eve of being attained,