The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-09 00:00:00

'rom, the draft was made, but then his Eminence

was ill, and could not sign it.

The deeds of

SIXTUS the Fifth and of Cardinal RICHELIEU are

only on a par with those of " Nw. CARD. WISE-

MAN," who, in his last extremity, declares that

he had, " owing to his malady," an utter abhor-
rence of letter-writing ! Well might he say so.
To have penned any acknowledgment on the
subject, in this the last stage but one of the pro-

ceedings, would have convicted him of double-

dealing,—a quality which should never attach

itself to that of a. Christian Bishop. But, in con
nection with this part of the subject, we should
remark that those Who fib require excellent me-
mories. He tells the Abbe that indisposition
alone prevented him writing the required letter
for the Emperor's guidance and satisfaction,
At the trial at Gloucester he admits that "he
never intended to pen such d letter," and declined
to give any reason for conduct so strange,
unclerical, inconsistent and unworthy. Matters
did not improve by the defence which the Car-
dinal set up. That defence brought forth the
fact that his Eminence had endeavoured to pre-
vail upon the poor French priest who was under
his control, by virtue of his holding a small
chaplaincy at Chelsea, to declare among his con-
nexions in Paris that the document had not
been in his possession ! The upshot of the trial
was a verdict of 500/. for the Abbe Roux, the
jury thereby believing the statement of the
plaintiff, and marking with grave contempt the
subterfuges of his Eminence, and those who
testified on his oehalf.

This is not the first case of the kind where
Cardinal WisEmng has been found a litigant in
our courts of law. Indeed it seems as if the
heads of the Ultramontane chiefs of the Roman
Catholic Church had made up their minds to
become notorious, as defendants in actions
for libel, and holding over property which
neither the law nor the first principles of right
entitle them to possess. Cardinal WISEMAN has
been convicted of libel, so also has Dr. NEWMAN.
The Cardinal now appears before one of her
Majesty's judges, for forcibly, and without just
cause or reason, holding the property of a clergy-
man, whose only fault was, that he sympathised
with the poor and needy, fulfilled his mission as
a minister of the Gospel, and in this matter in
particular comported himself as a gentleman, a
patriot, and a Christian. Although it may please
the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster to
assume all the haughtiness of a prince of the
Church, he ought to bear in mind that it will not
drive England to imitate his proud and impe-
rious predecessors of the sacred college, nor stoop
to the commission of acts which must tend to
lower him in the eyes of the world, and at the
same time act injuriously to the interests of
Christianity generally.

WE have just finished the reperusal of a report of
the evidence taken beforq a special committee of
the council appointed to investigate certain charges
which were made through the columns of the
Liverpool Mercury, in October, 1818, against the
persons then having the management of the Water
Works. The investigation was ostensibly under-
taken at the instance of Mr. SCOTT, who at that
time held the same position in the Works which Mr.
DUNCAN fins at present. The Editor of the Mercury
was present at that enquiry, as was also a reporter.
from the office. It must be borne in mind that the
Mercury was then a free and independent journal,
and the opinions it enunciated on most subjects
were looked upon with respect by the general
public. Not so now, however. The bought organ
of a party, or a faction, is entitled to no respect
from the people for its paid advocacy of any cause,
more especially such a disreputable one as that
which has been latterly espoused by the journal in
question.

The charges against the Water Officers were
to the effect, that they had for a length of time
witheld a full supply of water from the inhabitants ;
that they had endeavoured by every means in
their power to mislead the Water Committee as to
the actual yield of the wells ; that they had endea-
voured to exhaust the supply of water in the wells by
incessant and unnecessary pumping ; that vast
quantities were willfully pumped to waste ;
that the inhabitants had for a length of time
previously been supplied daily ; that this daily
supply was ordered to be discontinued, and a
tri-weekly supply substituted in its place ; that
at this time there was plenty of water, although
the contrary was represented to the committee;
That in the middle of summer several of the
most important engines were dismantled
on the most fuivilous pretexts ; t hat t4e
officers connected with the works who
were cognisant of these facts were threat
ened with instant dismissal in the event of
their divulgiag anything, &e., &e.

The Committee met, for the first time, on Tuesday,
,he 21st of Nov., when, after some sparring on a point
of etiquette, the editor of the Mercury, on behalf
of that paper, called on the then assessor, Mr.
JAMES M•DoNALD, to substantiate the allegations
which, from time to time, appeared in that
journal. Mr. M'DoNALD at once accepted the
responsibility of proving the charges, and called
as his witnesses the superintendent, Mr. M`GILL,
the various foremen, engineers, turncocks,
clerks, and other servants connected with the
works; all of whom concurred in proving
that the water supply had been tampered
with in the most shameful manner. That
at the very time when Mr. SCOTT, who ap-
peared only to have been carrying out the orders
ho received from head-quarters, was representing
to the Committee that the wells were failing, and
denying the poor suffering inhabitants a necessary
supply, he was causing in the most reckless man-
ner millions of gallons to be pumped down the
ewers, or otherwise wasted. This disgraceful
proceeding was rendered doubly iniquitous, from
the fact that at the time in question, the ever to be
remembered famine fever was raging with all its
fury. The investigation extended over three days
and in addition to the persons. immediately
connected with the works who gave evi-
dence, were the following : The Borough
Engineeer, the present Water Engineer, Dr.
DUNCAN, Mr. DAviEs, Mr. FRESH, and a
host of others ; in short, the whole testimony
was damnatory and overwhelming against the
Water Committee and their engineer, Mr. SCOTT
It covered them with shame and confusion, and
long before Mr. M‘DoNALD had finished his telling
examination they must have looked the very
pictures of despondency. Mr. SCOTT, who had
challenged the enquiry, and who, as a matter of
course, ought to have been prepared to meet the
charges which had been so publicly made against
him, had no reply to make at the moment; he was
clearly convicted on the most conclusive testimony.
He demanded increased time, and the committee
gave him a week to prepare his reply, which,
however, did not make its appearance until after
the expiration of a month. In the interim one
of the reporters published the evidence in