Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-06-11 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN TIMES, SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 1859

course, in strengthening, by every means in their
power, the defences of the country."

This policy of neutrality was prepared for, by the
strenuous efforts of Ministers to prevent the war.
"We have endeavoured," said the CHANCELLOR OF
THE EXCHEQUER, "in eVery possible manner to
preserve peace, and I shall be happy and ready,
when the papers are in the hands of hon. Members,
thoroughly to vindicate the conduct of the Govern-
ment in that respect. Indeed, I challenge inquiry,
and all that I ask is that the House should not decide
on a question so momentous in the absence of the
documents, for it would be absolutely impossible for
the House to arrive), at a satisfactory decision." These
are the papers that were referred to in Her MAJESTY'S
Speech, and which will enable, we believe, both
Parliament and the country to understand, that it
has not been from any want of mediation, or admo-
nition, or remonstrance, on the part of the English
Government, that the war has taken place. And
yet has it been imputed as a great fault, that
Ministers did not, after all, prevent it. But, as the
House was reminded, " it is only four years ago
that a war took place, not between two of our
Allies, but between this country and the great
military power of Russia. Were there no negocia-
tions entered into in' order' to prevent that war?
Was not the stake infinitely greater, and the respon-

blility proportionately increased, when our own

nation was engaged, and it was upon our own
conduct that the important question of peace or war
was based ?" Yes —there was all that to enhance
the interest and the importance of the war with
Russia. We were direct parties to its unfortunate
occurrence, and we were actively engaged in its

sanguinary struggles. It cost this country an im-
mense sacrifice of blood and treasure, and one which
will continue to be painfully felt for a long time yet
to come. And that war, let it not be forgotten, was
brought about by the conduct of the very men who
can now taunt the Derby Ministry with having

failed to prevent, not England, but France and
Austria, going to war ! They were then in power,
and had it all very much in their own hands. And
they were an able, as they were a powerful Ministry,
—numbering as they did, such experienced states-
men as Lords ABERDEEN, PALMERSTON, CLAREN-
DON, and RUSSELL. Well was it asked of them, in
the debate, " What did you do ? What . did the
noble Lord the Member for Tiverton, my Lord
ABERDEEN, my Lord CLARENDON do, with respect
to the negociations, to prevent war between England
and Russia ? Why, the shame of those negociations
is not yet forgotten ; the state papers of the Vienna
conference are not yet blotted out of the conscious-
ness of the people of England. You had great
advantages, and signally failed ; you had a majority
in Parliament, you had a wise and experienced
statesman, you had a still greater stake to prick you
to exertion and to increase your responsibility ; yet
you were utterly discomfited in your negociations !"
A more triumphant answer, to such a taunt, from
such a quarter, it would be impossible to furnish.
Lord DERBY himself, in the Upper House, was,
equally forcible and decisive in his expositions of the'
duty and the interest of England in this war. " I
have always contended," he observed, " that if it
were a question of the Italian or any other nation
seeking to emancipate itself from a galling yoke, and
to establish a Government more resembling the insti-
tutions with which we are blessed in this country,
the private feeling of every man here would be in
favour of the establishment of free Governments.
But is that at all the case in the present struggle P Is
the present struggle that of a nation seeking to free
itself from foreign control, and designing to replace
it by a free Government ? Besides, whatever our
feelings and sympathies may be, we must bear in
mind that we are bound by international obligations
which would not allow us to give active effect to our
sympathies ; because I must say, that while I cannot
speak with approval of the course taken by Austria,
while I cannot avow sympathy with Austrian rule,
and have no sympathy with the Austrian form of
government, I say that this is a war undertaken

under false pretences—not for the freedom of Italy,
but a war into which, unfortunately, Sardinia has
taken the lead in forcing Italy, thus assuredly demon-
strating that the form of constitutional government,
which we desire to see thrive and prosper in that
country, gives no security against the adoption of an
aggressive policy, which is often supposed to be a
peculiar attribute of despotic powers. Ido not say
whether most blame rested on one side or the other ;
but I do say that neither on one side nor the other
was there sufficient ground for incurring the disasters
of war, nor were there any political difficulties which
might not have been solved by friendly negotiations.
This country, therefore, cannot rejoice in the success
or defeat of one party or the other, except as it may
lead to greater complications ; but in present circum-
stances, I hold it to be the imperative duty of this
country to maintain that policy which, from the first,
we have announced—strict and impartial neutrality
between the two contending parties." This reitera-
tion from the head of the Government, of their
persistence in a policy of neutrality, must have been
hailed with renewed satisfaction, by the country at
large. It was another assurance of the Government
being one of non-intervention and of peace ; and it is
under such a policy, we may depend upon it, that
the solid interests of this country are, the most
certain to be advanced.

There was a remark made by Mr. EGERTON,
towards the close of his maiden speech, bearing
closely on this'point, and which strongly confirms
what we have just said. " I have the satisfaction to
know," he said, "that the state of the trade and
finances of the country is very prosperous, and as far
as my own experience goes in Lancashire trade has
not suffered, or not suffered in any material degree,
from the state of continental affairs." This is no
doubt to be attributed to the policy that has been
pursued ; and it is only, we may rest assured, by the
continuance of such It policy that our prosperity can
be maintained.

•
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE IN IRELAND.
AVE had barely directed public attention to this
vitally important subject, when her Majesty's Speech
from the throne appeared in our columns, in which
the especial attention of Parliament was directed
-
to further improvements in the law. It is impos-
sible to predict what view the legislature will take,
of the Crown's anxiety for the welfare of the subject.
It will be well for both Lords and Commons to bear
in mind that a love of justice is one of the strongest
affections of the British nation. As you trava
downward through the several grades of society,
from the highest to the lowest, this affection
will be found growing stronger and stronger. The i

solicitude of the parent for the child's after welfare,
is often surpassed by that of the child for its parents.
The will of the deceased is the last bond that binds

the dead to the living, and if this bond is not main-
tained in its integrity, and once it ceases to be
paramount as an authority, the dissolution of society
must follow. The laws which govern the dissent of
property, of every and any kind, cannot be tampered
with with impunity, without hastening a social
crisis of the most alarming and dangerous
character.

We are not frequently called upon to give
publicity to cases in which the subject is deprived
of the rights secured by will, still, the instances which
are brought to light are far too numerous tobe passed
over in silence. It is not so much the fault of the law
of wills as the " practice" of the courts into which
those wills are taken for adjudication. Where there
are equitable matters for adjustment the will and
the substance are taken into Chancery, a sort of
temporal hell," from whence there is no redemption."
The subject knows and feels this, and it would be
impossible to describe the universal contempt and
execration in which this branch of our legal
institutions are held by the public. And how the
Court of Chancery is to be rendered as cheap and as
expeditious in its final decisions as our courts of law, is
a question which parliament will be called on to decide
very speedily, if that court is to remain in existence.
The attempts that have been made to reform
Chancery have wholly failed in giving public satis-
faction in administration suits, which immediately
affect the provision made by parents for their children.
There is the old system of receivers and accounting
—endless applications to the court and masters for
directions, references, decrees, reports, supplemental
decrees, and then a final decree coming after the
rights of the parties have been so mystified and
obliterated in volumes of pleadings, that every one
engaged in the suit, except the parties actually
entitled, get the property bequeathed.
Such stories as these don't require to be often
repeated, in order to render the whole system odious
in the sight of the community at large. Its work-
ings must have led to endless misery in Ireland,
where Courts and Judges enjoy, by common consent,
a glorious and impenetrable isolation. The TALBOT
divorce case, in the Irish Consistorial Court ; Mr.
MAILLARD'S case in Chancery and the Common
Pleas; and the "M'CoßmAcres, in an Assize Court ;
all call loudly "for the better administration of
justice in Ireland. There never were three such
iustances of the perversion of justice, and contempt
for law itself.

In Mrs. TALBOT and the M'CORMACK'S cases, it
wduld be hard to tell in which innocence suffered
most ; and if there be one syllable of truth in
what Mr. MAILLARD openly asserts, and which
has never been contradicted, how is it that the
persons who have imposed on the courts, and of
whom he complains, are still at large ? Have we no
Attorney-General in Ireland. to attend to such
matters P Are we to be for ever hearing that there
is no summary and sufficient redress for persons
complaining of being defrauded of their property in
a court of justice P We publish to-day a second letter
from Ma. MULLARD in which he states that suitors
run considerable risk in making any complaints of
the officers of the Irish courts, from which we may
infer that they take great interest in the proceedings
with which they have to do, and that Justice, instead
of being a blind Goddess, is one of the " wide awake "
school. What the officer of a court can have to do
'with the entering of a judgment when marked,
we cannot understand. If such a step be taken
improperly, the suitor, and not the officer, is
responsible ; and, unless some very substantial
grounds be shown publicly, why the officers of the
Irish Court of Common Pleas refuse to enter judg-
ment in Mr. IVIAILLARD'S ejectment case, the public
will look upon Mr. MAILLARD as a wronged and
oppressed man. He has bona fide rights or he has
not. The Irish Judges are surely able to decide, yea
or nay, in such a simple matter. The whole question
of Law Reform, however, is one of such magnitude,
that we scarcely dare grapple with it, and we can
only bring prominently before the country those
cases which show there is something radically
wrong in our whole system of law, and that her
Majesty's anxiety on the subject is not without
grounds for apprehension.

MAIL NEws.— The Ceylon steamer arrived yesterday
afternoon at Southampton, with the Bombay and Austra-
lian mails, and 185 passengers; she left Alexandria on the
28th ult., Malta 31st, and Gibraltar June Ist.

THE ARMY.—The General Orders, in which the long ay d
brilliant services in India of the 84th Regiment and the 9th
Lancers were acknowledged by the Governor-General of
India, on their embarkation for England, were published 'n
last night's Gazette.

The Gazette contains a notice, issued by the Prussian
Government, prohibiting the exportation of horned cattle,
and all animals used for food, from certain provinces of
Prussia.—The notification relative to the blockade of the
port of Venice, as well as of its outlets, by a French
squadron, is also published in last night's Gazette.

-~----

LIVERPOOL VOLUNTEER RIFLE CORPS.—The Volunteer
Rifle Corps movement in Liverpool procresses rather slowly,
though the committee have issued pamphlets and advertise-
ments containing all the information requisite for those who
wish to enrol themselves. The general committee sitting at
the Town Hall have as yet received only about sixty names,
but the original company, formed (principally of young
gentlemen on 'Change) and organised by Mr. N. Bousfield
during the last few years, numbers nearly 100 members.
Mr. Bousfield, while in London last week, had very Satis-
factory interviews with‘Mr. Wilson Patten, M.P., the Vice
Lieutenant of the County, and the military authorities.
The uniform of the corps (blue and scarlet), with the arms
and accoutrements, were approved of, with the addition of a
tunic and shako for field dress ; this uniform to be that of
the other companies of the Liverpool Corps. In compliance
with the prayer of a memorial, signed by the members of
the company, Mr. Bousfield has been appointed captain, and
we understand that all the members will be formally sworn
in at the Town Hall next week, so that the first company
of the Liverpool Volunteers will be the first enrolled under
the present system. We understands that a company,
which numbers about 70, has been raised at Fairfield and
Kensington, and that Mr. Huguenin, the well known
professor of gymnastics, is forming a corps amongst the
young gentlemen who frequent his establishment. The
uniform of the Liverpool Corps may be seen at the estab-
lishment of Messrs. Brett and James, South Castle-street. I