The Sun.
London, England, 1845-07-29 00:00:00

F IV 11 SSING REMARKS ON T E
PRIVILEGE QUESTION. By Sir John
Walsh, Bart, M.P.
This is a pamphlet clearly indicating in its author
Poe ers Of higher order, and views of a comprehensive-
re-ei originality beyond the scale which the scope
and. limited form of his present "Remarks." The
genet's] purpose of the argument here put forth by Sir
John is to eetablieh the necessity for some very carefully
digested declaratory measure ascertaining and defining,
la the most distinct and intelligible terms, " the" pri-
vileges of Parliament. He looks upon such a course as
offering the only available middle term, at which it will,
ere long, be possible to escape from the high privilege
Pretensions of one party in the Legislature, and the high
(Illruinon• law doctrine of the other. In speaking of the
privilege question, now pending before the judicial tri-
bunals of the country, he remarks that—
" The determination to appeal from the decision of
the Court of Queen's Bench to the next tribunal, post-
pones the difficulty, but does not remove or modify it..
It tekes, indeed, the chapter of accidents in our favour.
qThe Court of Error may reverse the judgment of the
ueen's Bench, or other contingencies may intervene.
The case, however, that the collective body of the judges
may confirm the decision of the Court below is suffi-
ciently probable to render it the part of ordinary fore-
sight to anticipate the chance of its occurrence, and to
ask ourselves beforehand whet line we should he pre-
pared to take, in the position in which we should then be
involved."
Sir John Walsh clearly shows the indispensable necessity
for the existence of Parliamentary privilege to an extent
fallY adequate to uphold and to maintain its independent
action and corporate dignity. But he is keenly alive to
the perhaps inevitable tendencies of unwritten " pri-
vileges" to grow into a powerful and uncontrollable ma-
chinery of oppression. unless subject to be modified by
the interposition of the authority and the powers of
courts of law. All the dangers incident to a eollisium
he between these courts and the High Court of Parliament
shedows forthwith a spirited hand. Perhaps he could
not have hit upon a mere illustrative analogy than that
suggested in the following passages:—
" The Courts of Law have on their side this great
principle of human soeiety, that the progress of it is
always attended and marked by a constant process of
defining and limiting rights and powers. Everything is
gradually appropriated, end fixed in its proper place.
.The House of Commons has contrived, in these vague
and unbounded claims, to place itself in opposition to
the opinions, the interests, the veryinstincts of advancing
eivilizetion. I would compare this dispute to our late
difference. with America on the Maine boundary. Some
i%lgahtty
Lyay, as
eta.rsasgu.orlyngimaginary frontier line was inserted
limits which could not be ascer-
tained, and describing landmarks which had no existence.
At the time it was totally immaterial, for neither piety
cared for the possession of a tract of pathless fereez. ; lett
as the two nations went on reclaiming, and civilizing.
aPpropriating this wilderness, they came at leegte jet:,
;mtact, and they discovered this line to be no line al eI.
`ls there was no limit ascertainable, the two nations eueli
male its ewn, and they were on the point of going to
er. to maintain them. It happened fortunately that
rd Ashburten did not carry into his negotiations the
thsPirit of Sir Thomas Wilde ; and as they could not find
e old line, they ~reed upon a new one. I think
;%;eutually the IL'use of Commons and the Courts of Law
PI do the same."
le Thomas Wilde, as the champion of the high privi-
lege party, is the object of Sir John's frequent and some-
eat unwarrani• d attaeke. But for our own we
eollciir in the overdrawn and colonhighlyred
i";:etions ,hieh his owe hand has drawn of the exclusive
Sir hobert Peel to undertake the or-
lthizatien of sie / a scheme of privilege definition as he
has here advocated.
w It is quite evident that such a measure must be the
materials
of a Goverement—no individuals could have the
411terials to frame, or the power to carry it. The opi-
k" of Sir Robert Peel is known indeed to have been in
Cour or the assertion of privilege. I remember one of
alttl zuest eloquent speeches, iu which he deprecated any
th erupt to lower the character or degrade the position of
kitkt illustrious body, and in which he seemed to consider
Areg,'„eto be the aim of the opponents of privileges. The
Member in the noblest of representative assemblies,
wench he feels perhaps that he owes everything, and
~ttners think that be has paid back all that he owes, the
tendency his mind would be to stand forward
ita foremost I wish he could believe that
hi se who differ from him as to the means, concur with
tkeu_ as to the end. They think that the true source of
4`ittle glory and power of the House lies in its numbering
eo,%g its ranks those who, like himself, sway it and the
licetry
by the force of intellect and statesman-like
They believe that the attempt to force these high
tit of privilege against the genius of the British con-
dsnr, I°ll. would injure and undermine its real ascen-
Nsh;l: He now stands in a different position from that
00-;" be occupied then ; still the leader of the House of
atl ids ell'oos, he is also the first Minister of the Crown ;
e'tperience has shorn that his policy has in many
a
litie rlecs been modified by a due sense of the responsibi-
-18108 Of his office. The results of the former contest in
Pre,„ are before him—the flame kindled by the harsh
the 'dings against the sheriffs, and the ease with which
iettZestion of the publication was disposed of by the
of a Bill.'
Upon c'e considerations must have a strong influence
keit a mind natueelly aver,, to extreme and violent
withoutsurs.
I cannot but encourage the hope that—
stusuffering himself to be euibarked in an invidious
tettifg.l°, without eommittiee: the House a second time
,e e employment of naked force, without waiting till
ecireumstanees brought on a crisis—he may under-
ntk , by the peaceable means of enactment, the final
tlement of this embarrassing and vexatious question."
P krt i
This pamphlet is agreeably written,
s and for the most
n a temperate and dispassionate pirit.

,121ESNIERIC LECTURES —Mr. Spencer T. Hall's
dlect'ure on mesmerism at the Western Literary Institu-
a°s, Leicester-square, was delivered on Thursday evening to
Dl.llNarnerous and approving audience. The experiments upon
I,4,_"e:t strange to Mr. Hal and new to mesmeric operations
is,l re interestUag and generally regarded. as conclu.sive—thtee
It:r_et he seemed instantaneously to acquire over an invetei a
,sitgitnerer whom he had never seen before, striking all, wha
pl,„4,sed it with amazement, and calling forth eared
,itelillts• We perceive that Mr. Hall has announced his fare-
'stn
eetores for the season, and the friends of mesmerism
141Thicit fail to be gratified by the progress it has made in
I.,ladiarin his residence in town.
gis
KONIGSMARK, AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE.
1110,CAPTAIN FREDERIC CHAMIER, R.N.—Count Konigs-
t,t,' Was one of the most remarkable characters of a wild and
tttle,4turous age. His extraordinary career in many quarter
and !1310be is traced by Captain Chamfer with a vigoroush and ,e
teett'e interest of the reader is never suffered to flag for a
Rst„lpts as the hero rushes from peril to peril, in lore, wahr,
',tit, 4,0 g, riot, or murder. His indomitable bravery
.throug -
44,9juicit made him so successful in his amours, furnishes new
raithi„uiricias matter for evey cha,nter • but the character of his
hnd ' and deceived follower, \ ratz, is drawn. equal force,
'hs n.arl •as stroup a hold upon the imagination. And
1,v1: another ) person in the drama, the Italian, Isabella, the
rni.tress of Koni,,smark• than whom the pages of ro-
t°
hrr do not present a more effective female portrait. Next
's Donna Maria, a noble Spanish senora, whose destinies
°°t'.ll4,4'4,lZied with those of Konigsmark ; and towards the
'l
tne Prince:4. in whose secret bower his false intrigues
NißlkLi4Z &els came to their bloody close. In addition omaterials to which we have pointed, the story is
ched
111;,,1).,.Y a number of historical personages of the age of
1.,, ;"---Literary Gazette.
4 Week, as the Talbot steamer was getting
^ta,4°Alftv hot-e Lyonsortunatel y , it caughtbeen
no perso novas i njured, e
had taken place a few minutes later the vessel would
4rit,,,eseh °j her lassage, and the results might have been very
A - Gaiignani.
‘Lar lately escaped from Ghent from a collection
"` ,"ea,ta, and caused considerable alarm amongst the in-
.q k,,
„ ,s• It was at last killed by an inspector of forests, who,
an.moaflitcsomfroenotut of a thicket, fired a pistol at it,
;,tleti-'2" one' aws, and with another shot in the
:iliats,,44surided it so severelyp that in a few hours it died. The
the Riven up to the owner, and the skeleton is to be placed
Tl),:4'eurri at Ghent.
Glasgow Constitutional states that it is in-
t; Oti,,`.! republish the old Glasgow Courant from the lath
;'edo."„'er, 1745, to the 15th of October, 1746. It says—
,44lar ,7°t. know that there is another copy of the paper exts.nt,
•i't've 5.5
it for no other thing but the vivid accounts of doe
si:_fett4ll„ntl%fl the Pretender, and the facsimile presented by
, ners and customs of Glasgow a hundred years
4,111 s, °aid beth exceedingly
Interesting, and must insure the
th Port ofe inhabitants.
Ser:s li°w*ager Countess Grey is surrounded by a
r"l'4' farnily circle at Howick Hall, Northumberland. At
mtl '47'intion of the late venerated Earl, Viscount Howick (now
514 pe,,Yri' the Hon. and Rev. John Grey, the Honourable Cap..
Grey, R N Lady Georgiana Grey, Lady
-451.,:reoarrington the Huno;i‘rable and Rev. F. R. Grey, the
eDNoti4t4,,ble Captain' Henry Cavendish Grey and Dr. Wilson, were
raide the death bed. The Honourable Colonel Grey,d
hd the °„he Queen, did not at rive at Howick until batturreaacy,
ick-tionourable Captaindid. no
Ladhy
fi,'ry 'ail until a few hours after the Earl had expired.
Vp gat °°,,,d 'l'4 Lady Elizabeth i;ulteel did not arrive there be.
leeketal suCaY• It was the late Earl's most earnest desire that his
?--c)takl be conducted as privately as possible.
Ple;Rs K , On i uesdav morning,
9f's "readful ?"
at s mine called
i,4-rthra w accident occurred near Merthyr,
tgeY-ohe ~Ynch Fawr. Four men, named Watkin Jones, aged
"wis Powell, his son.in.law, thirty.one ; David Davies,
tlesee-r,e,:eh ; and Thomas Jane., twenty-three, entered a bucket
h,cl. the ," the shaft, when, about seven or eight yards from the
teqtcltet 4olaanttce chain, or a link of the other chain to which the
ached, broke, and the poor fellows went down with
54:,'.threhle
-re
r to the bottom, a depth of nearly one hundred yards.
naed died instan'aneously ; but Thomas Jones
1,4 - 0)0 he wartken to the mouth of the level, and converse
'lt left atiltran to his assistance. Three of the deceased men
1„'411 Wl'os and families. A brother of the deceased Lewis
• "h th arr",ly esca
14ter e otlie Ped death, as it seems he entered the bucket
f rs, but recollecting he had forgotten his candle, he
t wed
r'r the purpose of procuring it. The lander then re-
-111..
• to co re-enter the bucket, saying, " Four men ate quite
x, Aai (1!° dossr at or sse..'— Bristol Journal.
14-46elci-:► ATCII-I‘ll'. Joseph Andrews, his Ter.
reilly for a s now in his possest.lon a watch which has been. I. his
tr. 44 Of c,_:!.ls' two hundred years. It was made early in the
f,th..wies
the
and beai., date 16'50. The present owner's
`',.!1105:41-ndo.ree the.watch seventy years, and it is now inrngaolu
1,441' L,4 keeps time exceedingly
.well.—Nottengham ou
4'h 14
bt halt T SCHOOLS, \‘. ATERLOO-ROAD.—SQI:-
thelPl Chu„, of these schools were preached yesterday at St.
4.41 !ltes,. 4"1. Waterioo.road by the Rev. E. Irvine, M. A., and
Jo, M.A. schools, which e,4l_e_oucationhnston to children of both seThese xes from one year andsupply a
i"trOyt
) .tint. 4. years °f ago, are supported entirely by voluntary con-
number ofchiloren received in the schools average
th7,:•ttnb(Yunre taken in at such early ages, are found a great
Lti.l 14:Z C0,..t, ring, Poor of the neighbourhood.
tr,,tn/ er I I:LLINC.. 3 AN'S NOSE.—J,,hn r•
h
itt,st% Wh,w ia.rner, was brought before the bench of niagis-
"ithprotrii,ents (in 'fuem.lay last, and fined Si. for pulling the
(.441141.,, Part of the face of Mr. William Thompson, a
wrier 4..
rather as unoarsuottioutzaanner.—Yerh-