The Sun.
London, England, 1840-02-07 00:00:00

PRIVILEGE versus LAW.

Our readers will be delighted, as doubtless will the
Tory Members of the House of Commons, with the
following Royal specimen of the true Tory theory re-
specting the power claimed by Judges, of determining
questions of Privilege. The King of HANOVER enter-
tains the identical opinions of JAMES 11. of England as
to the superiority of Proclamation made over Statute
Law. Nor does Von SCHELE appear unworthy to fill
the place of Chief Justice JEFFREY :
ROYAL DECLARATION RELATING TO THE
FULL OBEDIENCE OF THE LAWS AND
REGULATIONS.

" ERNEST AUGUSTUS, BY THE GRACE OF GOD KING 01
HANOVER—We have learnt that doubts have arisen whe-
ther it be part of the duty of the tribunals of the country
entirely to obey the laws and regulations proclaimed by
the Sovereign, or by the functionaries appointed by
them, or whether they are authorised to examine into
and to decide upon the constitutional origin of
those laws ; as formerly the tribunals of this country
were not allowed the faculty of deciding whether the le-
gislative power, which belong to the Sovereigns should be
put in force or not—a faculty which clearly would only be
the means of confusing every power in the kingdom—of
placing the judge over the law-giver—and of producing an
anarchical state of things ; and, inasmuch as our intention
is not to tolerate unwarrantable excesses of the judicial
power, so much the more do we feel ourselves called upon,
in order to avoid every doubt, hereby to declare, after con-
sulting with our Council—.
" That it never can be tolerated that the tribunals of
the country should examine and decide, whether the laws,
ordinances, and regulations may have had their origin ac-
cording to the constitution, but that all judges and public
servants, as well as every subject in our kingdom, are in
duty bound to obey implicitly every proe.lamation pro-
ceeding from us, or our public functionaries commissioned
by us. As, accordingly, it never can be allowed that a
tribunal of the country should decide respecting the
validity of the patent given cra the let of November,
1807, declaring the fundamental constitution of the
country to mist no longer; we, therefore, declare, and
expressly command, that inas'inuch as contrary to our ex-
pectations there are still J-o.dges, or other public servants,
who recogniic as voile, the laws which existed at that
time according to the former fundamental constitution of
the country, and cor,sequently would oppose themselves to
the constitution
'of the country now lawfully established,
such offences "will be punished either by judicial or ad-
ministrativo -proceedings. Given in our dwelling town of
Hanover,...he 17th January, 1840.
(Signed) " ERNEST AUGUSTUS,
"BARON SCHELE."

'We observe that the Standard and other Tory
Papers have been putting forth a deal of twaddle, intended to
l prove that. because thirty-one " place-holders" voted in the
majority, :it was no real majority after all. The short reply to
nonsense cr.f this kind is, that for every " place-holder" to be
deducted 0) i the Whig side, there should be deducted at least
two "place -expectants" on the other. The division would then
stand thus,.