The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-23 00:00:00

THE 'SERV, LONDON, MONDAY EVE NI :'4IG, :DEOMMBER 23, 1861.

..11:••=0.•••M
iTower-street, T. G. FINNIS, Esq., alderman of the
'ward, presiding. The old members proposed were
Messrs. Turnbull (deputy) Lawrence, Redhead, H.
N. Nisen, T. S. Smith, W. Jerry, J. Young, T. B.
Humphreys, and J. Malcolm. The name of H. H.
Heath was proposed, and upon the show of hands'
Mr. T. Smith was in the minority, for whom a poll'
was demanded.

(Cheers.) We are especially attached to the form of
government as exhibited in this great and ancient'.
municipality, and we believe we have in the person
of Mr. Besley one who takes a comprehensive view of
the duties and obligations of citizenship. We have
reason to hope that while he will be disposed at all
times to adapt the usages and =toms of our ancient
corporation to the wants and requirements of an
age of progress, he will have a due regard to its
long career of purity and usefulness--(hear, hear)—
that ho will defend the ancient rights of his fellow
citizens, especially the privilege, existing from time
immemorial, of electing their own magistrates apart
from the Crown, and the power of administering
• their own affairs through a Common Council ; and
we therefore ask your lordship and this court to
accept him as our alderman.
Alderman Besley then took and subscribed the
customary oaths. This ceremony over, he was in-
vested with the violet gown of an alderman, and
afterwards received the congratulations of the Chief
Magistrate and the other members of the court.

TIIE ITALIAN PARLIAMENT.

TURIN, DEC. 19.

An unexpected discussion arose yesterday in the'.
Chamber of Deputies, which ought to be highly in-
terestingto English readers, as illustrative of a diffi-
cult point of constitutional law as understood in this
country. Various newspapers had for some time past
put forth some dark hints, conveying an imputation
of flagrantly dishonest practices against a high func-
tionary connected with the Ministry of Public
Works. The name of the offender was not given
but public opinion, putting together a variety of
rumours circulating about the cafes in ominous
whispers, settled upon the Commendatore Pietro
Boschi, the Secretary-General, or, as he would be
called in England, Under. Secretary of State, for
the above-named department of the public adminis
tration. Boschi accepted the challenge of that sinis-
ter report, and, in a letter addressed to the Gazetta
dcl Popolo, declared his intention to bring an action
against his calumuiutors, no as tu litiVtl u faiLuppui-
tunity to vindicate his conduct.
Yesterday, however, a letter signed by him was
read in the Chamber by the Vice-President.
Tecehio, in the chair, in which Boschi, a deputy.
informed his colleagues that he had instructed the
public prosecutor (Procuratore del Re, or Ministero
Pubblico) of the Criminal Court to proceed against
himself, Boschi, and institute an inquiry into his
dealings at the office of Public Works, that hiE
guilt or innocence might be legally proved before
the Court. He asked, therefore, for the leave of
the Chamber to be allowed to appear before the
Court in the capacity of a prisoner at the bar.
Now, the 45th article of the Statute, or Constitu-
tional bill of Rights, of 1848 is thus welded :

" No deputy can, except in the case of fiagrante delitto
(or of being taken in the act of an offence against the law),
/be arrested during the Session, or bruught into court
(tradotto en giudizio) in criminal matters, without the pre-
vious consent of the Chamber."

The House was rather taken aback by Boschi's
application, and the incident gave rise to the utter-,
ance of an endless variety of opinions. On the',
whole, however, the subject was discussed with
admirable temper and calm judgment, and the
conclusion was, in the estimation of most mend
highly creditable to the sense and moderation of
the assembly. Some of the deputies, foremost
among them Niacchi and Massari, took the most
merciful view of the matter, thought that the
Chamber should afford every facility to their tra-
duced colleague to clear himself, contended that the
whole Parliament was interested in upholding the
honour of one of its members, that the deputies
were to look upon Boschi as a fallen man, lying
helpless on the ground, inasmuch as his very pri-
vilege deprived him of the means of righting him
self, and that no time should be lost in deprivin;.,
him, at his own request, of this inconvenient privi-
lege by granting his request without hesitation.
Others, among whom were Crispi, Piroli, Leardi.
Lanza, and full 15 orators besides, thought that the
Chamber was not called upon by Boschi to sit in
judgment upon him, and that it was not the keeper
of the honour of any of its members ; that this was
a mere question of form, and the question resolved
itself simply into the interpretation of the 45th
article of the Statute. It was for the judicial power;
they argued, to determine whether, on the suit ot'
Boschi, they deemed they had sufficient ground to
proceed criminally against him or not, as in the for-
mer case the application for the consent of the
Chamber for a criminal prosecution against one of
its deputies would be made by the competent autho
rity, and the House would then come to such a re-
solution as might seem just and expedient. Should
the judicial authorities upon a preliminary inquiry
find that there was no ground for a regular prose-
cution, as, indeed, the vagueness of the charge would
naturally lead many people to expect, the vote of
the Chamber, thus extra judicially solicited, might
be interpreted as a moral decision in favour of Boschi
—a decision which, in its total ignorance of the cir-
cumstances of the case, the Chamber had not the
least plausible means to come to.
The question, nevertheless, seemed of so serious a
nature that Piroli and others moved that the subject
should be dropped for the moment, and that the
House should take time for deliberation till to-mor-
row's sitting. The opinion that the affair sho'ild at
once be settled prevailed, however, and an order of
the day was voted by a large majority to the follow-
ing effect :
u The Chamber, considering that the 45th article of the
Statute is not applicable to the case of the Deputy Boschi,
and considering that the just and praiseworthy motives of
the said deputy Boschi in the present state of the matter
meet with no obstacle in the enactment of the above said
article, proceeds with the order of the day.
This resolution met the views of most members.
It did not grant to the Deputy Boschi The eon-
,ent ho applied for, and, in so far, the exigencies of
legality were fully complied with. At the same
time, the House expressed an opinion favourable to
the endeavours of this deputy to exculpate himself.
And gave a sufficient assurance that leave for the
prosecution would not be withheld when the appli-
cation was made in due form and by the competent
authority.

time, to be attributed, I think, to the valuable ser•
vice rendered by the National Guards. Patrols of
them, as also of the Carabineers, guard the streets
nightly, together with the police. They are armed
with revolvers and swords. For several months the
city has been in a most dangerous state, and the in-
stitution of this extraordinary service proves it.
I must not close my letter without saying a word
,of Vesuvius. Its form is much changed. The sides of
the crater have been thrown into the air, and the
abyss is so deepened that it is impossible to see the
• bottom of it. There are ten small craters formed
..above the town of Torre del Greco, and the report
of the principal guide of Vesuvius, which has justt
been sent to me, announces that another "palazzo '
fell during the past night. Indeed, the shocks of;
earthquake are continual, and are felt slightly even
in Naples. Palmieri, Director of the Observatory,
reports that on the 14th the needles of Lamont
were still active, and the sismograph registering.
On Sunday night and on Monday morning the
shocks were repeated both here and in Torre del
Greco, and though that place no longer trembles
like a jelly under our feet, as it did on the 9th inst.,l

the movement continues at intervals. The Provin-I
cial Council meets to-day to vote 36,000 ducats for'
the relief of the sufferers, and I hear that hisi

Niajesty has increased the already liberal donation
which he has given from his private purse. Indeed,
'she promptitude and:energy and benevolence which
have been displayed by the Government and the
local authorities show that a different order off
,hinge is introduced here. Instead of masses andi
processions, we have action ; and, instead of the!
dishonesty which took advantage of the sympathy
created by the ruin of former earthquakes, we havel

he honest administration of the funds, thanks tol

chat hitherto unknown spirit of integrity which the
Northern element has introduced. The following
little anecdote, the truth Gf which I guarantee,
Mows the difference between the usages of the
North and the South. A nobleman, lately acquitted!
+•)y a verdict of " not proven," accompanied by his!
tdvocate, went round to the judges (Neapolitan) to'
Thank them. He was received, and he gave a pre-

ient to the servants. At last he visited the highest'
law officer (a Milanese), who refused to see him,
alleging that he needed no thanks for doing his
duty. Accompanying the advocate to the stairs,
he observed the nobleman's servant slip a douceur
into his own domestic's hands, but he dismissed him
on the spot. Yet this has been the regular practice.
On looking out of my window I see Vesuvius has'
just burst out again with increased violence.

-------;-------!incurred in their cultivation.We have, indeed,
seldom, if ever, seen a collection so creditable, so:
(varied, and so extensive from any similar public'
establishment ; ;.every item in which, to use the.
words of the judges, ' possessed merit such as they
!have seldom seen before. We trust that many,
of the other similar institutions throughout the,
country will imitate the praiseworthy example of
the North Dublin, by contributing such excellent
and interesting displays of agricultural produce at
!the subsequent shows of the society."

LA TV INTELLIGENCE.—Dec. 21.

ARCHES COURT.
(Before Dr. Lushingtoc.)
"ESSAYS AND REVIEWS."

THE OFFICE or THE JUDGE PROMOTED EY THE BISHOP
OF SALISBURY V. THE REV. DR. HOWLAND WILLIAMS,
D D.

Mr. Fitzjames Stephen, following Dr. Deane, ad-I
dressed the Court on behalf of the defendant. If
this had been an ordinary case he should, he said,,,
have occupied a subordinate position only ; but,'
considering the importance of the issue involved,'
the counsel for Dr. Williams bad thought it
better to pursue their independent resources,
to lay their conclusions independently before the
Court. The real issue involved in this case was this

—Did the law of England forbid the clergy of the!
Church of England to exercise their minds in the
interpretation of Scripture ? The first question in
every case of this kind must be—What is the law
!under which the defendant is to be tried, and what

'the principle upon which the judge is to regulate
;his decision ? The judge of that court was not sitting
las a divine to decide upon the truth of Dr. Wil
iiiams's opinions, but would have to consider only
[whether the defendant was forbidden by law to en-

tertain those opinions under penalty of deprivation
of his living of Broadchalk. The ground upon which
he intended to argue this case was, that in ecclesi
astical courts open questions were permitted, and
;that, upon questions which had not been decided,
!full and entire liberty was left to the Church. That
which was contained in the articles was conclusive,
and though the rubrics and formularies of the
Church were also conclusive, greater distinctness
land precision were required in them than in the
articles. If there were any ambiguity in the formu-
xlaries, it was not to be understood that the Church
imeant by them to establish indirectly that which
it did not establish directly by the articles of faith.
From reading the indictment in this case he was led
'lto the conclusion that this was a skilful, artful, and

'insidious attempt to overthrow the fundamental
'doctrine laid down in the Gorham case ; and he
!called upon the Court, therefore, to strike out from
!the articles of accusation everything except the
'articles of religion, the rubrics, and formularies, and
oto strike out especially any reference to any text of
!Scripture cited upon the assumption that every
itext which the Church ordered to be read on parti-
cular occasions was to be accepted as part of the
doctrine of the Church. If the principle of admit-
ting these texts were conceded, the result would be
that the judge would be called to put a judicial
construction upon every passage of the Bible which
was read in the course of the year, and the ulti
mate result, that a clergyman would not be able
to publish at all, and would be able to preach no-
thing but homilies. As the friend, as well as the
:advocate of Dr. Williams, he should not adopt the
course of taking extract by extract quoted from the
Essay," and showing that there was no law of the
Church against this or that opinion, for orthodoxy
was not merely the question to be tried. The cha-
racter of an Englishman and an English gentleman
Was at stake, and his client would, he was sure,
sooner lose his living than gain his cause upon a
technicality of law or by the sacrifice of his convic-,
tions. He took, therefore, the bolder course, and,
contended that if Dr. Williams had entertained un-
familiar opinions, opinions which startled many
people and some divines, he had a right to entertain
those opinions, because he had from the Chinch,
according to his ordination vow, the right and duty
to follow studies profitable for the understanding of
the Holy Scriptures. That the Bible was the law

lof the Church, and contained all things necessary to

salvation, was no ground for asserting that every-
thing contained in the Bible was literally true, and
this prosecution was an attempt to impose dogmas
upon the Church which the Church itself did not
impose. There was a great difference between un-
feigned belief in the canonical Scriptures as declared
in the ordination service, and unfeigned belief in
every word of the authorised version. The liberty
of interpreting Scripture according to private judg-
ment was allowed in the writings of every divine
of the Church, and he was convinced that so far
from lessening the authority of the Bible, free criti-
cism would do more thin anything else to remove
the doubts thrown upon it by the discoveries 01
science and the comments of learned men. Th(

.questions of inspiration and interpretation were left
open by the articles, and having regard to the con•
troversies at the time of the Reformation, he con•

tended that this was no accidental omission, but
that the articles were as carefully and advisedly
framed as any legal document. At that time
there were three parties holding different opinion&
with regard to the Bible. The Roman Catholics
founded the Bible upon the Church. The Cal-
vinists based it upon itself, and the Church of
England, as shown by incontrovertible evidence.
based the reception of the Bible upon the groand&l
of piety, reason, and historical evidence. la proof
of the opinions that the discussion of Scriptural,
interpretation was not intended to be limited by the
articles of religion, but was purposely left an open
question, the learned counsel proceeded at great
length to refer to the Westminster Confession, thi
Eleven Articles upon which the Thirty-nine Arti-
,eles were framed, the authority of Chillingworth,
IBaxter,Cartwright,Jackson,Hooker,Jeremy Taylor,
and. others, and in conclusion expressed a hope that
he had satisfied the Court that the sixth and seventh