Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-08-12 00:00:00

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Ole Rortixtu titra

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 1857.

THE DAY'S NEWS.

The House of Lords met at the usual hour last
evening. Their proceedings were entirely uninst-
pcSilant. Lord Brougham made an inquiry respect-
ing the report of the Circuit Commission, which
called forth some remarks from the Lord Chan-
cellor. A number of miscellaneous bills were
forwarded a stage, and the House adjourned
about- six o'clock.

The Commons had an early sitting, when the
newly elected members for Great Yarmouth,
elec..ed on Monday, took the oaths and their
seats. The Probate and Letters of Administra-
tion Bill was considered in Committee. The
evening sitting was commenced by Mr. Disraeli
calling on the Government for some information
respecting the reported suspension of diplomatic
relations with. the Porte. Lord Palmerston made
a somewhat lengthy explanation, in which he en-
deavoured to show that matters were by no means
in such a critical position as many believed. The
other discussions were not of any particular im-
portance._

The Select Ves'ry held their usual fortnightly
meeting yesterday. The chief matter which
engaged its attention was the lengthened speech
of Mr. William Jones, touching the statements put
forward respecting the regulations of the Industrial
Schools. We have made this matter the subject
of special comment in another column, and have
only further to remark that Mr. Jones is entitled
to• much commendation for his judicious, able,
and unanswerable statement.

The trials at the Assizes yesterday, were not of
an dmpJrtant character. At the Barne time, we are
glad to perceive that the presiding judge manifests
a desire to &impel an observance of the laws by
inflicting severe but well-merited punishment upon
the prisoners convicted. Mr. Baron Channel has.
arrived from Lancas;:er and taken his seat in the
Nisi Prius Court. The cause list, published in
another column, will give our readers a knowledge
of the extent of business to be transacted in this
court. Whilst on this subject we may here add,
that the Spollen trial has terminated, and the
jury have returned a verdict of aequital, thereby
setting the accused at large. This has been a
a most singular investigation from beginning to
end, and the result has disappointed many who
hail. made up their minds that there would have
been a " capital conviction," and that the gallows
at .Green-street would have had another victim
It has been ordered otherwise. Let us hope that
the verdict which the jury give was in accordance
with secret purposes and designs of an omniscient
and all merciful judge. Spollen owes much
to the zeal and ability of his counsel, who made a
speech of transcendant eloquence and legal power
as will for ever do honour to the name he bears
According to reports from Dublin, dated yesterday,
it appears that on Monday night, after Mr.
Brewster had closed his speech, that the prisoner
was regarded as certain of being convicted, and
several persons 9f morbid taste had actually com-
menced to take windows in the vicinity of the
gaol where the accused would be hanged, if he were
foand guilty.
Yesterday, Mr. Charles Mozley was elected,
without opposition, as member for Rodney-street
Ward, in the room of Mr. Fleming, resigned.
This is a judicious selection. Mr. Mozley is an
intelligent and influential gentleman. He is a
liberal in polities, but independent in all his
movements. He will be an ornament to the
Connell, and, we have no doubt, will confer many
advantages on the town, by the zeal and ability he
will display as member for Rddney-street Ward.

Our .Paris advices mention thaCthe Debats in an
article on Indian matters, treats with ridicule the
idea of the decline of England, or the ultimate
success of the insurgents; it takes the Palmerston
cabinet to task for its want of proper foresight,
and anticipates for it tha fate of the Aberdeen
ministry in 1851). On the same subject we fln.i
the Union commenting on the London journals;
which hive advocated a merciless extermination of
the rebellious Sepoys. It aimits that it is
necessary for England to make a great display of
force for some time to come, but thinks that such
grave events ought to inspire some reflection with
regard to past policy, and should not exclu-
sively exeite sentiments of vengeance and
hatred against a nation which might and
ought to have been rendered llts barbarous
after so many years' rule. The following
is a brief view a: the French j num als respecting
the -rupture of the Four P)wers with Turkey :
France and her adherents have not insisted with
the-Porte, on the recall of Kaimak to Vogorides, as
that would be Evidently an infringement of the
sovereign tights of the Sultan. To avoid reproach
of this kind, they have not even demanded that
the recent elections in .leblavia should be purely
and s'mply annulled. This seems to have been
originally intended, but it is said that the advice of
Prussia, which power again and again appeals to
the necessity of keeping closely to the- letter of
treaty law, has ultimately prevailed, and that
nothing more has been insisted upon than, that the
European commission at Bucharest should be en-
trusted with an inquiry into the complaints of
il'egality which the Kiimakan is said to have com-
mitted at the elections This demand it is which
the Porte has refused, making instead the
ludicrous offer that the accused Kaimakan should
be suminoned to Constant:nople, where the furY-
ish government itself wittid inquire into the com-
plaints. In one word, the Porte wants to be
judge in her own case, and affects totally to dis-

regard the existence of the European commissio❑
at Bucharest, the representative of the Paris con-
ference, appointed by the latter for the very
purposes of watching over the observance of the
letter and spirit of article 23 of the treaty of Paris,
and whose avowed object is to furnish the Paris
conference at its next meeting with evidence of the
real nature of the wishes of the Rouman people.
Letters from Vienna describe the impression
of the events at Constantinople in the metropolis
of the European power allied with us in this mat-
ter. The confidence shown in the ultimate triumph
of the united effJrts of England and Austria seems
to be very great. A conference has taken place at
Vienna between the representatives of Austria,
England, and Turkey, in which the Turkish am-
bassador explained to his colleagues that the late
ministerial change at Constantinople indicated by
no means a change in the system of foreign policy
hitherto pursued, :but had only been made to ap-
pease the anger of M. de Thouvenel, This is
sincere at all events.

. Russia has applied to Turkey to be allowed to
exceed the limit placed on the number of her
vessels of war in the Black Sea by the treaty of
Paris, her warlike operations in Circassia rendering
it necessary, as she alleges. She justifies the
sincerity of this demand by pointing to the ab-
sence in the stipulations of any limitation of the
number of her transport vessels, which, if she
Were ill-disposed, would easily afford her a means
of evading the spirit of the stipulations altogether
The treaty of commerce between Russia and
France has been published. It is by no means
so important as was anticipated. The protection
of French manufacturers' trade-marks in Russia,
forms the most prominent feature of it.

A telegraphic communication from Genoa speaks
of the continuance of dangerous excitement in the
prison there, caused by the late outbreak. It has
already led to the execution of two convicts.
The Spanish Chambers of Commerce begin to
pronounce in favour of the Suez Canal scheme,
in the form of petitions addressed to their Govern-
ment.

By the arrival of the steamships Vanderbilt, at
Southampton, and Atlantic here, we have New
y,,rk advices of the Ist inst. The news contained
in the papers is quite unimportant. The army of
the United States had set out for the territory of
Utah, to call Mr. Brigham Young to account for
his Mormon atrocities. A synopsis of the news
will be found in another column.

PUBLIC defalcations have become a matter of
so much notoriety that we need not feel surprised
at the strange and startling revelations which
were made before the Select Committee appointed
to inquire into the petition presented by Mr.
BERTOLACCI respecting the audit of the accounts
of the Duchy of Lancaster. Fi'om what has
taken place, it appears that that gentleman,
having been for a series of years engaged as an
accountant in the office of the Board of
Ordnance, obtained the appointment as auditor
of the Duchy of Lancaster. Two reasons were
assigned for the appointment—namely, that he
was a gentleman apt at figures, of good business
habits, and that, instead of the office being a
mere sinecure, as heretofore, it was the object of
the then Chancellor (Lord BELPER) to make it
one of work, Accordingly, Mr. BERTOLACCI,
on receiving his appointment, had special
instructions " to look into the accounts with
reference to the arrears of rent due to the
SOVEREIGN, and that he should endeavour to
remodel the system of the accounts of the
Duchy generally, so as to present them to
Parliament in a more intelligible form than
heretofore." Besides these instructions, Mr.
BERTOLACCI received orders " to ascertain whe-
ther the large amount of rent then in arrear,
and yearly brought forward in the Receiver-
General's account, was irrecoverable." For
these instructions Lord BELPER merits public
approbation. as they evince on his part, as
Chancellor of the Duchy, a desire to do his
duty as a Minister of the Crown. The fact of
such instructions being issued is a positive proof
that irregularities in the Office of the Duchy
had taken place, and that unjustifiable arrears
in the Duchy rents had been permitted to go on
from year to year. Of course, this circumstance
led the newly-appointed auditor to look-sharply
after the matter, and to ask for the vouchers
connected therewith. Men in office do not like
to be questioned for their actions by subordinate
officials. To be subjected to their inquiries is
deemed derogatory and insulting; hence Mr,
BERTOLACCI was at once deemed a nuisance,
and the Clerk of the Council immediately began
to throw obstacles in his way, and denied him
the use of the vouchers, and an inspection of
the books and minutes of the records of the
Duchy.

The constant application of Mr. BERTOLACCI
for these documents, and his insisting upon
being present at the meetings of the Council, at
length brought upon him dismissal from the
office of Auditor, whereupon that gentleman
resents his memoraWe petition to be heard by

the House of Commons. Has he fulfilled his
pledge to prove the existence of abuses in the
affairs of the Duchy ? We answer at once that
he has ; and that the facts elicited before the
Select Committee, who considered the petition,
not only proved irregularities of the grossest kind,
but something more. They show most clearly
that persons high in office, and rich in territorial
possessions, are nothing loath to make use of the
public monies of the Queen—at least, instead
of paying the just demands upon them as
tenants of the Crown, they make it convenient to
run into arrears, and to leave a heavy balance
due by them to the Sovereign. These remarks
apply particularly to Lord GRANVILLE, who was
Chancellor of the Duchy during a portion of the

time Mr. BERTOLACCI acted as Auditor. From
the evidence given before the Committee, it
appears that during Lard GRANVILLE'S term of
office, as Chancellor of the Duchy, he ran greatly
into arrears of rent for his holdings under the
Crown. Under Such circumstances, it was but
natural that his rigid system of examining and
auditing the accounts should nettle the then
Chancellor.

What are the facts connected with his
Lordship's balance due to the Crown for lands
held in the Duchy ? We have before us the
minutes of the proceedings of the committee of