Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-01-13 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF EXCHEQI7ER.—WEDNESDAY.
Sittings in Banco, before Lord Chief Baron Pollock,
• Barons Bramwell, Watson, and Channel
THE NEW JUDGE.
Sir H. Keating, the newly-appointed judge of the
Court of Common Pleas; in the room of Mr. Justice
Crowder, deceased, took the oaths._

SWINFEN V. LORD CHELMSFORD-AN ADVOCATE'S

• LIABILITY.
In this case, Mrs. Swinfen had brought an action
against Lord Chelmsford to recover compensation for
the noble defendant's having (when Sir Frederick
Thesiger) compromised an action, in which she was
plaintiff, against her express wish and authority. The
particulars of the case are now so well known that we
need not recapitulate them. On the trial, which took
place- before Lord Chief Baron Pollock and a special
jury at. Guildhall, the jury returnedn a verdict for the
noble defendant. A rule was subsequently granted,
calling upon the noble defendant to show cause why a
new trial should not be, had, on the grounds of mis-
directiOn and-the non-reception of evidence. Last term
cause was Shown against the rule, and Mr. Kennedy, for
the plaintiff, was partially heard in support of the rule,
when, owing to the termination of the term, the further
arguments were adjourned to the first day of,the term.
Mr. Kennedy, with whom was Mr. M‘Mahon‘and
the Hon. G. Denman, resumed his arguments. Ile con-
tended that a counsel was not justified in exceeding his
instructions by entering into a compromise, not only
unauthorised by, but against, the expressed desire of his
client. If the defendant had exceeded the scope of his
authority he was liable to an action. If put in motion
for a compromise by the attorney, as the client's agent,
he was liable for not having followed the instructions
of the principal, and he (Mr. .Kennedy) denied, that
the defendant , had been, so set in motion by
the plaintiff's- attorney. • The defendant had of his
own accord so acted as to render him liable for
the consequences. Although the plaintiff had suffered
nothingwwirtohngt,hsehegrtehaotugphrtinciple nof her
injuries
that compared
would
accrue from the judgment being in her favour. She had
not commenced this action in antagonism to judicial
hostility to the legal profession. On
the contrary, she had paid the highest compliment to
j
and advantage
authority, or in
judicial authority, because, although her opponent occu-
pied the highest station in society, and hers was the very
humblest one, she did not fear to encounter him, because
shextfre.lt
3tlh,aiNtiarhigohnt andand jHusotinc.e would übdeninpreavn having prevail.
lair. been.
heard on the same side,
The court took time to consider its judgment. •
Judgment deferred.

Mr. Charles Sharman Crawford has, in consequence
of ill health, resigned the office of Poor-law Inspector of
the senior class, in Ireland. Mr. Crawford is a son of
Mr, W. Sharman Crawford.
THE KENT ELOPEMENT.—We are assured, on the
best authority, that there is no truth in the statement
that Mrs. Smith Bannerman and her paramour, the Rev.
Mr, Green, had sailed from England in the ill-fated
Blervie Castle. The guilty pair were seen in England
after the dale of the wreelialluded to.

Fridu, Ig6o-7.-

_ -
0111§SION.:TO THE . NAVAL SERA.

We inserted in our Tuesday's impression some
correspondence between the Duke of Somerset
and the Chairman of the School-frigate Conway, -
relative to cadetships in her - Majesty's. navy.
The question seems •to excite considerable-atten-
tion at the present mOmetitTand we present our
readers with editorial articles on the subject,
from -the London. Globe and Daily: 2rewe, of
Tuesday last :

(From the Globe.)

The correspondence which has lately taken placet)e-
tween the First Lord of the Admiralty and the Com-
mittee of Management of the School frigate Conway,
at Liverpool, is worthy of attention; less for' the precise-
object for whieh it originated, than for its general:;
bearing upon the efficiency and position of the mercan-
tile marine service. The Conway was obtained from "
the Government some time back by a number of Liver-
pool gentlemen, who associated themselves for the-,
purpose of establishing a practical training school for
the merchant service. The principle upon which it is
conducted is that of " giving afloat to boys of respect-
able parentage, desirous of adopting the sea as their
profession, such an education as will particularly qualify
them for and tend to elevate the mercantile marine-
'of this country, and make them officers' and gentle
men." The Committee lately applied- th the Duke o
Somerset for two naval cadetships annually for those of`
the pupils who might show themselves best qualified
for the Royal Navy. The Duke declined for reasons
which, so far as the present mode of entry into the
navy is concerned, are perfectly sound in theory ; but
he held out a hope that a system of competition for"
some naval cadetships was likely to come into existence,..
under which two pupils from the Conway would each
year have an opportunity of presenting themselves as
candidates. The Committee dwelt very forcibly upon
the intimate connection which must exist in time of
war between the Royal and mercantile navies, and the
desirability of elevating the tone of the latter by asso-
ciating, even to a slight extent, the training for the two
services, especially as bearing upon the Naval Reserve
systein now being carried out. Upon this ground the
correspondence is not without importance,. but, as we
have said, we consider the Conway institution weir
worthy of cordial support from the public, because we
look upon it as a wholesome and efficient means of
carrying out great improvements in the merchant
navy, and of giving greater safety and comfort to-
those who travel in ships, than has been ever before
afforded.
During the last dozen years great and unquestionable
changes -for the better have taken place in this respect,
but it scarcely requires to be. proved that still further
strides must be made before we ought to indulge in a -
complacent pause. The investigations into marine-
disasters, conducted by the Board of Trade have be-
come painfully frequent of late, and' amid instances of -
coolness and heroism enough to confer honour on any-
service, we have sometimes to note examples of care- -
lessness and inefficiency, calling loudly for some measure
of increased safety for the public.. These investigations -s
have been conducted with ability and judgment, and
their results have doubtless had a wholesome effect,
but we confess we do not look upon the suspension of a
master's certificate as the most efficacious instrument or
reform. Lessons taught in schools are preferable to
those taught in penitentiaries, and penal measures can
never effect the good that can be effected by sound and
judicious early training. We therefore invite attention-
and support to the institution, which confers so much
honour on Liverpool, and express our hope that we may
see it imitated in the other great centres of maritime
commerce throughout the United Kingdom. Why
should not London, Southampton, Bristol, Hull, Glas-
gow, and Cork each have its Conway ? We feel quite-
sure that a frigate adequate to the purpose would be-
given promptly and with pleasure by naval authorities,
and we have no doubt the public would. be speedily.
repaid with interest for its support. We want not
merely efficient seamanship, we wish that the com-
manders of ships, who exercise a most important social
influence on those passengers associated with them on:
long. voyages, should have a training calculated to fit
them for -their position—that they should possess
-qualities required as much in dealing with poor emi-
grants to Australia as with luxurious commanders and:
satraps from Hindostan—that they should, in short, be
" officers and gentlemen.", . .
(Prom the Daily News.)
We could not ghoose a fitter moment than the present
for demanding, and reiterating the demand, that the-
British navy should be thrown open to all her Majesty's
subjects. .We have too often had occasion to record the
brilliant exploits of our gallant officers serving in every
sea to irk the unworthy imputation that in seeking to
abolish the system under which they entered the service
we derogate from their high deserts. We are ready to
confess that we are as far as possible from thinking that
the quality of our executive officers could, be improves
'by any change in the conditions of service. The quali-
fications for promotion to the higher ranks, in which
superior scientiflo' attainments are indispensable, wild
even the ornaments of a thoroughly liberal education.
are not superfluous, are judiciously and carefully pro-
vided for by the new regulations which we published a
few, days- since. It only remains that the navy should
follow the example of the civil and Indian services, of
the artillery and of the Staff College, and be open to all'.
British lads who can present such certificates and pass-
such a preliminary examination as may prove their fit--
ness and capacity in wind and limb, in head and heart,
in morality and intelligence, to serve an apprenticeship
of honour and duty on her Majesty's quarterdeck. *-
There are plenty of people who like asking favours,
and incurring obligations, whose necks, like the necks
of a favourite order of German dolls, are almost too
flexible, and who are born with an incredible proclivity
to fall on their knees to their fellow-creatures ; but there
are: also; in England especially, many people of proud,
shy, and sensitive temperament, whose glory it is never-
to have asked a favour of any man ; and these stiffnecked
originals, albeit intolerable in the sight of a government,,
do really make an important and valuable stratum in a
mixed society, and in a free commonwealth. And it is
for the -children of these honest, though stiffnecked,,
tax-paying Britons, that we ask that they shall be
allowed to serve her Majesty and' their country at sea,.
not as a special favour, but as a common national birth-
right. There is no need, we know well, to give the-
great middle class mere interest in the navy than it
manifests now by the eagerness with which it votes the
estimates ; but as there, is every probability that Eng-
land henceforth will want all the ships she can build,
and all the nerve, and pluck, and intellect she can
at'what
wiwteh
navalmay muster, to command and to man them, is it not welt
th
call x
ta navalato taxation
representation
or, n
other
words,should
t hbe
co-equal a
all who find the ways and means of building and
manning our national ships should be represented on the
national 'quarter-deck by some of themselves? To insist;
-that, in effect, all classes of
'English society are largely
represented in the *service is to state something merely-
accidental ; the essential injustice is, that every duly-
qualified English lad has not an equal opportunity as.
well as an equal right of going into the nary. It is.
idle to pretend that boys unfit for the company of the:
gun-room would find admission into the service if nomi-
nation were at an end ; for no lad not in the best and..
Only true sense a gentleman could possibly satisfy a pro-
perly constituted board of naval examiners of his fitness
for the service. No father puts a son into the navy, as
he puts him into the church (if there is a family living),,
or into a bank, or a merchant's counting-house, as
comfortable provision for life. The British navy (we
speak of the officers) is notoriously the worst paid pro-
fession in the world; and for our own part we believe-
even financial reformers would not grudge a portion of
the vast sums to be saved from unprofitable expenditure
in favour of the vigilant protectors of our commerce ;
but under any circumstances the navy will always be a
profession of honour, not of lucre; and to "go to sea"
is not a business but a passion. We do not ask then for
our young fellow-countrymen anything but the common
right to seek danger and honour in their country's ser-
vice ; we do not ask for the right to get rich at the
country's expense. That there are any purely profes-
sional, administrative or technical difficulties in the way
of throwing open the navy we do not for one moment
believe. The demand for midshipmen is already large,
-and it must increase. Why should there not be peno-
-dical examinations at the Admiralty, at which all Eng-
lish boys of due age, and able to, produce due e. rtificates-
and testimonials, should compete for the vacant naval,
Cadetships ? Nothing would be easier than to make the
selection as rigorous and the standard of capacity as.
high as the most relentless first sea lord could require..
And the result would be an infusion of new blood that
would freshen and invigorate, not lower the tone or-
cheapen the character, of her Majesty's service.

Friday, January 13, 1860

Ritittb Stafts.

BRITISH AND NORTH AMERICAN ROYAL MAIL
STEAMERS.
• ear NCr TICE.

The Steamers for Halifax and Boston are latOheled tO tall at
Cork Harbour, on both Outwavd and Homewaid passages, to
receive and land Mails. " '

Freight by the Maill4teamers to Halifax and Boston and to Ne*
I, York direct, £3 per ton and i per cent. primage.
Freight on Parcels ss. each and upwards, according to size.
Parcels for different Consignees, collected and made up in single
Packages, addressed to one party for delivery in America, for
the purpose of evading the payment of freight, will, upon ex-
amination in America by the Customs, be charged with the
proper freight.

`The BRITISH AND NORTH AMERICAN ROYAL MAIL
`STEAM-PACKET COMPANY draw the attention of Shippers
and Passengers to the 329th section of the New ,Mershant

Shipping Act, which is as follows : '
"No person shall be entitled to carry in any. ship; or to
require the master or owner of any ship to carry therein,
Aquafortis, Oil of Vitrol,. Gunpowder, or any other Goods
which, in the judgment of such master or owner, are of a dan-
gerous nature ; and if any person carries or sends by any ship
say goods of a dangerous nature, without distinctly marking
their nature OR the outside of the package oontaining the lame,
,or otherwise giving notice in writing to the master or owner,
at or before the time of carrying or sending the same to be
shippedi.he shall for every such offence incur a penalty not
-exceeding £lOO ; and the master or owner of any ship may
refuse to take on board. Any parcel that he suspects to contain
goods of a dangerous nature,' and may require them to be
opened to ascertain the fact.".

BRITISH AND NORTH AMERICAN ROYAL MAIL STEAM

SHIPS.

APPOINTED BY THE ADMIRALTY
To sail between
• 4. LIVERPOOL AND NEW YORK DIRECT
And between
LITERP*OL AND BOSTON,
The Boston Ships only CALLING at HAL/FAX,' to land and
receiTe Passengers and her Majesty's Mails.

,
SCOTIA (new ship, building).
Captain Captain
PERSIA C. H. E. Judkins. AFRICA ' Neil Shannon
ARABIA James Stone. AMERICA W. F. Millar
ASIA' - Edwd. G. Lott. NIAGARA • Alex. lity4e
CANADA W. J. 0. Lang. EUROPA John eitjlh
CAMBRIA Captain Small. .
The under-noted or other Vessels are. appointed to Sail
From LIVERPOOL.
1860
AMERICA For Halifax and Boston... Saturday Jan. 14
• ASIA For New York Saturday Jan. 21
CANADA For Halifax and Boston .Saturday Jan. 28
ARABIA For New York Saturday Feb. 4
EUROPA For Halifax and Boston... Saturday Feb. 11
.* AFRICA For New York Saturday...... Feb. 18
AMERICA Fo; Halifax and Boston... Saturday Feb. 25
-* Taking passengers and goods for Nassau and Harannah, to
be transferred at New. York' on board the R.M. S.S.
KARNAK.