The Sun.
London, England, 1827-06-21 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

A correspondent:, ~inns himself a " Co-
lonist of the Cape of Good Hope," has written
us a stiff sort of letter, professing to unite the
love of justice with a certain tenderness towards
Lord Charles Somerset. To save trouble, we
print the letter; a proceeding which appears to
us more consistent with the justice for which its
author ostensibly contends, than favourable to
that cause in the name of which be makes his
appeal to justice. This Colonist, or ex-colonist,
which we rather believe and hope he is, has
taken two texts for the grounds of all his mur-
murings: Ist, " That often as he has been
abused in Parliament, no man has come for-
ward boldly as his public accuser ; but that, al-
though he (Lord Charles) came home to meet
his accusers, and has pleaded not guilty' to
each and every charge preferred against him, he
is encountered, not by direct and specific charges,
but by general sarcasm and reproach." To this
first complaint it may be answered, that sarcasms
and reproaches have not been gratuitously ut-
tered, but have pointedly alluded to known facts
and formal documents—to applications for in-
quiry into alleged misconduct of his Lordship's,
made openly and repeatedly to the King's Mi-
nisters, by one or more of his Majesty's subjects
at the Cape-Lto the deliberate, though indirect
and covert, extinction of thriving settlements
within the colony—to partial and mercenary-
appropriations of land—to arbitrary, vindictive,
and illegal punishments—to the exile and ruin
of respectable individuals, for rousing the public
attention at the Cape to the principles arid ten-
dencies of the Noble Lord's administration—to
acts of outrageous tyranny committed against the
freedom of the press. Attacks upon his Lord-
ship, having an avowed reference to statements
and occurrences of such a nature as the above,
we certainly have heard- in •Parliament, and
have ourselves pretty frequently reported, as
well on Parliamentary authority, as on that
of a less elevated though not less trust-
worthy character. " General sarcasms and " re-
proaches," with nothing on which to rest them
but the ill-humour of those with whom they ori-
ginate, would long ago have died away of them-
selves, and would bear, in truth, not the slightest
resemblance to the grave, the definite, and expli-
cit representations of which Lord Charles So-
merset's official course, as Governor of an im-
portant and exasperated colony, has for years
been made the subject. But when the Noble
Lord (we beg pardon, the " Colonist') com-
plains that no man comes forward as a public ac-
cuser against him, why we join in that most na-
tural and just lamentation. We, on the part of
the people of England, complain that no man
among those whose peculiar and imperious duty
it is to prosecute State criminals, to bring them to
prison or the block,—or, if innocent, to ensure,
for the fame of the accused and for the satisfac-
tion of the people, a full hearing of all the mat-
ters charged, and a solemn. and decisive acquittal,
—that no member or members of the, Ministry
have yet appeared to vindicate the reputation of
the Government itself from the suspicion of un-
worthy sympathy with the alleged culprit, by mak-
ing one or more of the innumerable complaints re-
monstrances, or reports which have poured in upon
the Colonial department, a ground of process on
the part of the King against this much detested,
though possibly unoffending officer. It is little
wonder that private persons do .not come for-
ward as accusers of one whom eueliiiiifinite pains
have apparently been employed to screen..pqt.only
from the consequences of his.ermks,, but from their
mere detection. A Commission 4: klquirrhaO, it
is true, been appointed by the lat,e,,ColoipatSecre-
tary; but how does this promote the justice of the
present case ? The Commissioners go out—they
inquire, after a fashion of their own—they report on
such evidence as they thought At to receive, but in
their own fashion likewise, Now suppose the corn-

mission to have been a " cushioning." commission
—suppose it to have been a packed commission—
as is asserted, and to have produced, as is very
strongly asserted, a garbled and unfair report I'
What chance has any individual Member of Parlia-
ment of succeeding against such a manoeuvre ? The
very appointment of the Commission, without con-
sidering how it was appointed, will be offered by Mr.
Wilmot Horton as proof of " the fairness" with
which he and his nominal chief, Lord Bathurst, were
disposed to act ; the bulk of the report will be taken
for evidence of the industry with which the inqui-
ries were made; the suppressions, however large,
will be unnoticed; and if a word be breathed about
any skill which may have been exerted in preferring
one class of evidence, or excluding another, so as
to soften the general complexion of facts, and
produce a tone of colouring throughout the re-
port less unfavourable than had been anticipated
in relation to Lord Charles Somerset's con-

duct, there is nothing half so easy as for a Right
Hon. Secretary to put on big looks of official
gravity, and of wounded virtue—to " reject with
scorn" the most remote suspicion that might bear
upon the perfect impartiality of the Commissioners,
to " deprecate the harsh prejudices" which go forth
against Colonial Governors—and, winding himself
up at last to the etc plus ultra point of noble indig-
nation, to finish with a grand panegyric on the ho-
nour, temper, generosity, integrity, and Statesmanlike
wisdom of Chas. Lords Somerset. We do not say:that.
such things must, or will happen; but we do aver
that the risk of their happening is such as to Meter
any prudent person from taking on him the (trice of
public accuser against a delinquent whose rank and
alliances form s. very powerful temptation with
members of the Government to screen Um. since
we began to write this article, a pri:Ated copy of a
correspondence which took place tetween Mr. Greig
and Mr. Wilmot Horton, with, regard to the seizure
of Mr. Greig's property as 4 printer, the ruin of his
business at the Cape, e-nd his painful but unavoid-
able return to thin country to seek redress against
his persecutor, has been laid before us. Upon the
face of this correspondence, we do not scruple to
tell the Under Secretary of the Colonial Office tya
his beard, that we never read a series of documems,
detailing. the circumstances of a wrong cell-
utitted, and the demeanour of men in authority
when applied to for redress, where a more reprehen-
sible spirit appeared to actuate a public servant in
the situation of Mr. Under Secretary Horton. All
the sympathies of the Colonial Department are ma-
nifestly with the aggressor, and all its unkindly
feelings are brought to operate against the sufferer,
who is carped and quibbled with on minor points,
while the great merits of the case—the obvious in,
juries done and suffered—are carefully kept out of
sight. With this added proof of Mr. W. Horton's
predisposition in favour of an alleged defaulter, he
must be a bold man, out of office, who ventures to
stand forward as the prosecutor of Lord Charles
Somerset. It is, in fact, the bounden duty of Mini-
sters themselves to declare manfully, if they have
nerve to do so, their conviction of this person's in-
nocence, and of the utter malice, falsehood, or stu-
pidity of all the charges brought against him by all
(speaking in round numbers)—all the King's sub-
jects inhabiting the Cape; or if this be more than
Right Hon. Gentlemen could make the country
swallow, it is their business, and only theirs, to bring
frankly
l
re-
ferred to. Whenever accusations are made known
duty on the
the ex-Governor to justice. 2. The " Colonist"
complains that the Times has published charges
without proof, against Lord Charles Somerset.
True, we have done 11e, repeatedly, and for years ;
but always on authority, which
officers, sse,
haveeers,
it is
a e
tothepress against i
part
ofthe press to state them. It is;

on the other hand, an equally binding duty to insert
the defence,in reply to the accusation—to comment,
as we do now, on both, and let the public judge.
If Lord C. Somerset be an innocent man in his offi-
cial conduct as Governor of this Colony, so unfor-
tunate a being surely never existed ; for none that
we have heard of, in ancient or modern times, ap-
pears to have so completely estranged and disgusted
the people who were subject to his administration.
—Tnzes.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir—Without presuming• to dispute the pretensions
made by Englishmen collectively, and emphatically by the
Editors of their Newspapers, to a peculiarly strong sen.e
of justice, I must be permitted to say that in the proceedings
against Lord C. Somerset I can see few marks of this na-
tional characteristic. He has quitted his government to
meet his accusers; he has pleaded " not guilty" to each
and every charge preferred against him ; he has invoked a
trial, and pledged himself to establish his innocence : yet,
in the Parliament of his native country, though he has
many to revile him, no man has been found manfully to
assume the office of a public accuser. He stands before the
only tribunal competent to condemn or to acquit him ; and
is encountered, not by direct and specific charges, but by
general sarcasm and reproach. If this be justice, it is,
certainly not that form of justice which, in the land of my
nativity,—a land second to none in the science of jurispru-
dence,—l was taught to revere.
" But there is the tribunal of the publie before which he
is cited, with the Editor of the Times for his accuser !
There, an impeachment is preferred, to which his Lordship
cannot object as too general or indistinct. Why then does
he not plead his cause before this august court, in answer
t this eager prosecutor ?"
Again, I take the liberty to say, that if this mode of
citation and trial be English justice, I am happy to have
studied in another school than that of England. I claim
nothing for his Lordship on the ground of personal rank:
provide a fair field for the contest, and if he declines it on
any ground whatever, I, at least, will not be among his
supporters. But is it fair to summon him to this contro-
versy in your columns? With what inequality must he
engage in such an encounter ? You attack hint in the
pursuit of your daily avocations ; he is daily called to se-
vere labours, which leave him no leisure for pursuing the
debate with you. It is your privilege to produce your
charges at moments selected by yourself; he would have
to wait your permission before his defence could be heard.
You have but to make an accusation, in one sentence of
-which you may bring the integrity of a long life into ques-
fon ; it is his office :to produse a refutation, which, from
the necessity of the ease, must occupy a space tenfold or a

thousand fold more extensive. Five -minutes careless
reading will convey to the minds of your readers, statements
the answers to which would exact from them years of la-
borious study. I repeat it, then, that in declining to en-
gage in this controversy through the medium of your jour-
nal, his Lordship is governed, not by choice merely, but
by an uncontronlable necessity.
This morning you impute to him, with reference to Mr.
Buisinne, conduct the most cruel, oppressive, and unjust.
I know that case intimately ; and I scruple not to say that
your representation of it is utterly untrue—the more un-
true, because there is just so much mixture of truth as
renders it impossible to oppose the charge by one unquali-
fied denial. Without the fear of contradiction when the
day of inquiry shall arrive, I assert, that if Lord Charles
Somerset erred respecting Mr. Buissinne, his error con-
sisted merely in undue tenderness to him, and in unmerited
ielicacy to his brother-in-law, Colonel Bird.
Ycu will reply, why not verify this assertion by evi-
dence ? I answer, that the real narrative could not be
told with truth and accuracy, unless I were to take posses-
sion of the whole of your four-and-twenty columns. You
would not grant me the opportunity of making such a de-
fence, and if you would, your readers would look out for
some other amusement at their breakfast-tables.
Again, then, I ask—is it consistent with any principles
of justice and fair-dealing, that any man should be placed
in such a jeopardy as this ? He is called upon for his de-
fence before the tribunal of the public, by an anonymous
ac user, without any power of being heard in his defence.
Before that tribunal where he courts inquiry, and which
alone is competent to decide, he can find no accuser. If
this be the justice of England, I shall the leas regret that I
have no claim to the title of Englishman.
I have the honour to be, Sir, your very humble servant,
June 18. A COLONIST of the Cape of Good Hope.
To speak much, or at least to speak in a par-
ticuliti• tone, of a part of the proceedings which
occurred in the House of Lords last night, might
place us in the invidious character of tale-
bearers between the two Houses. If the debates
of one House be seen by the other, it is through
an unaccredited medium ; and it is better, there-
fore, to appear not to notice that which cannot
be known with legal accuracy. The two Houses
of Parliament communicate sufficiently with each
other, and a relation sufficiently close is main-
tained between them by their acts : an attention
to words would be endless and unsatisfactory.,---
Certain unpleasant reflections are said to be oast
on the Members of one House by a leading
Member in another ; it was denied, on the part
of the colleagues of that Member that the words
were used. After this, to advise the party sup-
posed to have offended to be more cautious; of
his expressions in future, or to wish that others
should so advise him, would be a gratuitous and
unprovoked offence : it would be carrying a direct
cctnmunication from House to House, for the pur-
pose of exciting ill blood. There is one principle of
our Constitution, as well as a maxim of common
sense, which we hope is always duly present to 'the
minds of Noble Lords, and that is, that though they
are not chosen by the people like the Commons, yet
it is only for the people, and not for themselves,
that they exist as a pavileged body. It is conti-
nually thrown in the teeth of Sovereigns, that they
exist only for the public good—that Kings are made
for the people, not the people for Kings; but it is
less frequently repeated, though the truth is equally
clear, that the people are not made for Lords, be
Lords for the people. No man ought to forget
;himself in any station.—lbid.
Though from the absence of Ministers from
the House of Lords on Tuesday night, a sun
went clown on the wrath which the account of
the proceedings in the House of Commons on
Monday 11.;slit naturally excited in many Peers,
there was no lack of heat last night in that au-
gust Assembly. The Earl of Winchelsea, the
g-reat Champion of -9ur Protestant Constitution,
who has shone with ecial lustre in Theology
and Political Economy, advanced with his cha-
racteristic warmth and energy to the relief of the
Duke of Wellington. We cannot help congra-
tulating the Noble Duke on his good fortune in
obtaining the high approbation of so excellent a
judge of desert as his Lordship ; for if, from
the proceedings in the House of Commons on
Monday night, and more especially the letters
and clause of his Grace's manufacture, some
persons might have begun to have their mis-
givings with respect to the Duke, when they
find that lie stands higher than ever in the opi-
nion of one so well entitled to be heard on such
a theme as Lord Winchelsea, their misgivings
must instantly give place to a firm belief in the
capacity and political discernment of the distin-
guished subject of his patronage. Who will pot
sympathi.se with his Lordship when he declares,
that the high character of public men, of those
who had contributed to ennoble their country, in
particular the character of that illustrious and dis-
tinguishedindividualwhosegenius, and valour, and
military skill had placed this country on an un-
rivalled eminence, had been basely traduced,
whether the blow were struck by the
• • •
highest or the lowest, that blow would be met
by the just indignation of every high-minded and
honourable man in the nation ?" No, no, God
forbid that we should, after this, ever doubt the
political discernment of the Noble Duke, or even
so much as hint that the clause submitted by
him to Mr. Huskisson was not dictated by ab-
solute wisdom. We wonder it did not occur to
Mr. Peel to take this high ground ; and we must
lament, in common with all admirers of his
Grace, the, he should have so pathetically depre-
cated the throwing ridicule on his Grace ; for

this amounts to a confession that his Grace could
he hurt by ridicule—that his conduct was open
to ridicule. It is in this way that men are so
often injured by their pretended friends. One
friend in the House of Commons bore testimony
to his Grace's honesty at the expence of his capa-
city ; another bore testimony of his simplicity ; and
another lamented that so good a man had fallen
into bad hands. But Lord Winchelsea took
high ground, very high ground indeed, and all that
we lament is,that his Grace was not in his place
to enjoy the triumph. But passing from the Noble
Duke to other matters, we may observe that, after
the significant hints thrown out by their Lordships,
as to the impropriety of questioning the motives of
Noble Lords, we feel ourselves called on to sub-
scribe to the position laid down by Lord Winchel-
sea, that their Lordships " had voted as they had
done, because they conceived it was for the public
benefit." "No man (as he truly added) had a right
to say otherwise"—it was well he did not also add,
or "to think otherwise." We are ready to admit,
without hesitation, that his Lordship's position is
true in part : that their Lordships conceived that
part of the public, at all events, would benefit by
the measure—namely, that important part which
they themselves form. We are not less disposed to
believe in this than in the sincerity of the generous
declaration of his Lordship " that he came into the
House ready to sacrifice every shilling of his pro-
perty, and trample under foot every thing he pos-
sessed, rather than sacrifice one particle of that
honourable feeling he hoped he possessed." It is
astonishing, after so many declarations of a similar
import, the world should be so disposed to doubt
the disinterestedness of their Lordships. But thus
it is always with exalted virtue. There is not a
newspaper which does not abound with invita-
tions from men of learning and science, who gene-
rously offer their gratuitous services to the af-
flicted; and yet there are persons who doubt the
existence of such high disinterestedness as that to
which Lord Winchelsea lays claim. Earl Grey
does not, we believe, lay claim to the generosity of
Lord Winchelsea ; but, on the contrary, so far from
being ready to sacrifice his property, he expressed a
determination to sacrifice those who attempted to
invade it. Last night his Lordship warmly retorted
on Mr. Canning. He complained of " the charac-
ter of the House having been more severely vilified
than he ever before recollected it to have been
vilified by a person holding the situation of a Mini-
ster of State, using terms and expressions, first ap-
plied to individuals, and next, to all those who sup-
ported certain measures, tending to excite hatred
throughout the country against the character and
proceedings of Parliament, and used also when, un-
der the law as it now stood, and as it had been
made by those who now used these terms, a second
offence might send these persons into banishment."
Their Lordships are all of a sudden become great
sticklers for decorum. How long is it since Mini-
sters, and Mr. Canning in particular, were assailed
in the coarsest manner by their Lordships ?—Morn-
ing Chronicle.

If the term " King's Counsel" really meant a
" Counsellor of the King," and that the man
who was honoured with a silk gown actually and
necessarily assumed with it the management of
all the King's causes, whether public or private,
we could see some good reason why persons who
may not be in high favour at Court should be
precluded from such distinction ; but as it is
perfectly well known in practice, that the term
is, generally speaking, a mere honorary distinc-
tion, and that the King and his Ministers are no
more compelled or expected to take their law
from every silk gown, than his Majesty is obliged
to buy his tea of every one who calls himself his
grocer, we wish that the good old practice in
this respect had never been departed from, of
letting professional eminence alone be the pass-
port to this distinction, regardless of what a
man's political opinions are or may have been.
This has been the case in our own time with
some of the most eminent men at the Bar—as
Lord Erskine, Sir Samuel Romilly, and Sir
Arthur Piggott, who all became King's Counsel,
notwithstanding their being opposed, and that
in periods of strong party excitement, to the
politics of the King's Government. Mr.
Denman, with great good taste, repudiated
the idea of his exclusion from this step in
his profession being attributable to any quarter
but the Administration ; an idea which, could it
admit of any doubt, would be set at rest by Mr.
Brougham's patent of precedence, who, if mere pro-
fessional or political conduct could form the test,
has said and done quite as much or more than Mr.
Denman, to place himself within the ban which the
latter imagines is applied to him. It would seem,
therefore, that the only difference between the two
in this respect is, that the one is of a more pliable
and accommodating nature, and knows how to seize
what the lawyers call the locus penitenlice, than the
other. There is only one respect in which this affair
concerns the public, and it is this, that if it goes
forth to the profession, that an advocate's having
fearlessly performed what he deems to be his pro-
fessional duty, shuts him out from its honours and
advantages, fewer men will be found with courage
and self-denial enough to perform the one at the
hazard of losing the other. Lawyers, it must be
confessed, have tendency enough to sycophancy and
subserviency as it is ; and any principle which tends
to break down what share of independence there
may be remaining ought to be deprecated by all who
wish to see freedom of thought, of speech, and of
action, secured in a quarter on which the liberty and
property of so many of us must necessarily, in no
small degree, depend. If honours can only be ac-
quired at the price of independence, we should say
there is no price at which a high-minded man can
be justified in bartering it.—Morning Herald.

A proposal was made by Mr. Peel last night,
on the occasion of Mr. Warburton's moving for
certain Returns to the College of Surgeons,
which we should be disposed to entertain with
more hesitation than most of those made by that
Right Hon. Gentleman. Alluding to the diffi-
culties that Surgeons had in procuring dead
bodies, Mr. Peel proposed that the bodies of all
persons who died while under sentence for cler•
gyable felonies should be given for dissection.—
The Right Hon. Gentleman appeared to think
that this would be a very great improvement in
our Criminal Law. We think, on the contrary,
it would be the introduction into our criminal
law of a principle of great injustice. We are
aware that many are disposed to look on the
profession of a resurrection man, if not quite
reputable, at least extremely useful, and de-
serving of all the protection that can be fairly
extended to it ; and we have heard_ such persons
talk very affectingly of the interests of science, and
how much they suffered from the vulgar prejudices
of those who would insist on the bones of their
kindred being allowed to repose in peace. We,
on the contrary, consider the powerful outgoings
of affection which calt survive the death of their
object, and attach themselves even to its moul-
dering remains, to be, perhaps, more than any
other feelings calculated to humanise the man
who possesses them, and, so far from wishing to
uproot, we would rather cherish and strengthen
them. There, in the first place, is the defect of
any such measure as that suggested by Mr. Peel.
Such a regulation might, perhaps, work a little
on the malefactor ; but how would it operate, un-
less to harrow up the best affections of his sur-
viving relatives, who must be presumed to be in-
nocent, and might be respectable ? But this is

not the worst of it. There are some crimes so
revolting, that even death seems an insufficient

punishment to outraged humanity. In such ag-
gravated cases, we have no resource, but to involve
the relations of the criminal in his punishment, and
thus, if possible, to extend his sufferings beyond
himself. But all punishment short of death,
must be supposed to be meted to the crime ; it is
the fault of the judge, if it be not. With what show
of justice, then, are we to inflict on the relations,
who hare paid the required penalty, that suffering
which is only justifiable on the principle that the
utmost the law can inflict on the criminal himself is
inadequate to his crime. Take the case of a man
imprisoned. The utmost limit of such a mode of
punishment is to continue it during the natural life
of the criminal. He, then, that dies in prison, whe-
ther in a year or a month, has paid the utmost that
the law has a right to demand. If the law required
more it might have got it; imprisonment for life is
not our ultimum suppliciuni. Again, the punish-
ments for clergyable felonies are variable; yet to
each of these, it is proposed to add a penalty, which
admits of no variation, but is the same for the light-
est as for the most aggravated, and that penalty
hitherto associated with none, but erimes of the most
revolting character.—New Times.

GRAND DINNER TO MR. BROUGHAM

AT LIVERPOOL.

(CONCLUDED PROM OUR PAYER OF YESTERDAY.)

The next toast given was—
" A full, free, and fair representation of the people in
the Commons House of Parliament."

Which was drunk with three times three cheers and
much applause.
Mr. BROUGHAM then rose and begged to be allowed to
propose a toast, which, he was sure, they must all have
been impatient at not having heard already. He meant
the health of their worthy Chairman. He had often heard
it said, that as good wine needs no bush, proverbially, so
a good toast neads no preface ; and he was sure the com-
pany would agree with him that there never was a toast
to which a preface was less needed than the one he had
just mentioned. They would recollect that their worthy
Chairman had told them he was inexperienced in the duties
of his present station, and had thrown himself upon their
indulgence for pardon of his defects, and for their assist-
ance in supplying what in him should be found wanting.
For this service, all they could be entitled to claim—for
the office was very much in the nature of a sinecure, that
is to say, in the enjoyment of it with no duty to perform,
theugh it was true that it was also free from any emolu-
ments,—all their reward—their whole salary for this sine-
cure, was the gratification which they should feel in testi-
fying to the worthy Chairman their cordial satisfaction with
the very efficient manner in which he presided over that
day's entertainment, and their high respect and esteem for
his general character. —( Applause. )
" Our worthy Chairman, F. Jordan, Esq."—Three
times three.

The CHAIRMAN rose and said he was just going to say
that he was born a Whig—(laughter)—he was born, as
they were well aware, in the sister island, and he was near
committing that blunder. However he could say truly
and correctly he had been bred a Whig almost from his
birth, and he gloried in the title.—(Applause.)—To many
of the gentlemen who now surrounded him, he was very
little known, except by name ; but to those friends of his,
of whom there were many present, who had known him
for a period of nearly thirty years, he appealed, whether in
the whole course of that period, he had ever swerved from
his principles, or committed a single act to sully the name
of Whigs, or to tarnish the honour of his country.—(Ap-
plause.)—For the period which he had named he had lived
in this good old town of Liverpool. On his first arrival
here, discord prevailed ; the Whigs were few in number,
while their adversaries the Tories were numerous and do-
mineering ; but among that few were to be found the names
of Roscoe, and of Currie, of Rathbone and of Shepherd,
of Earle and of Birch;—men qualified to keep alive the
sacred flame of liberty and transmit it pure and untainted
to their successors, of whom he was proud to see so many
living proofs here to-day. Guided by such men, the cause
had held its course steady and undeviating, and they
were now assembled to celebrate its triumph in the
presence of the Champion of the order.—(Great applause.)
—They must, however, never forget that they owed that
triumph to the spreading of education among the people,
and it should be their glorious task to diffuse that bles-
sing through every grade of society. The Tories of the
present day, he was happy to say, differed materially from
those of a former period to which he had already alluded.
education The stamp of
ZYSaTsy among v had
tssetwbginn wutpa
iuponi otlN:;mae..
able candour and high and liberal feeling, and sorry he was
not to see a greater sprinkling of them among the company
assembled on the present occasion; for, as had been shown
lately by a most enlightened senator (Sir J. Mackintosh)
the difference between the two parties at the present day
was much smaller than either of them, generally speaking,
imagined, and he therefore hoped soon soon to see a union
of their ranks.—(Applause.)—He thanked the company
for the honour they had been pleased to pay him, and as
it had never before fallen to his lot to address a company
in his present capacity, except at his own table, and felt
conscious of his incapacity, he once more requested that
any deficiency on his part might be laid to the account of
his inexperience.—(Applause.)
" His Majesty's Ministers, and may their measures con-
tinue to entitle them to the confidence of the nation."—
(Applause.)
" The cause of civil and religious liberty all over the
world."—Three times three and great applause.
" Our able representative, the Right Hon. Wm. Hos-
kisson, and sound principles of Free Trade." Three times
three and much applause.
The CHAIRMAN then said he had now to propose the
health of a gentleman who he was sorry to say was not in
Liverpool at present, having gone to London on business of
importance relating to this port. The gentleman to whom
he alluded was a striking instance of modesty, allied to dis-
tinguished merit and ability, and by his excellent tempering
of zeal and firmness with discretion in the discharge of his
magisterial duties, was entitled to rank with the most dis-
tinguished of his predecessors.
6' The Worshipful the Mayor, and Town and Trade of
Liverpool."—(Three times three, and long-continued ap-
plause.)
Song, by Mr. Ryley, the author of " The Itinerant,"
composed for the occasion of this day's festivity.
" Lord Holland and Lord John Russell, and the repeal
of the Corporation and Test Acts."—Three times three
and great applause.
" The Lord Lieutenant of the county."
The CHAIRMAN said he had next to propose the health
of a staunch Whig,
" The Earl of Sefton, and may the house of Molyneux
ever follow his example."—Great applause.
Air.—" Home ! Sweet Home !"

Mr. Buono tram said the Chairman had again given him
leave to trespass on the indulgence of the company for one
moment, and it would certainly require no longer to give
a toast which demanded little comment. He greatly pitied
a large part of the company who, from being seated under
the gallery, were not able to see half the grace and beauty
that adorned this assembly. He and those about him hap-
pily were so situated as to enjoy the sight of about three-
fourths, while some ingenious friends of his had contrived
so to place themselves as to command a sort of corner view
of the four-fourths, the whole constituent beauty of that fair
assemblage. It was impossible, however, for any one who
could see even but one-tenth part of it, to refuse him their
attention for a moment, for the purpose of enabling them
to toast the fair part of the community of the town of Li-
verpool, who had shed so honourable a distinction over
that happy meeting, in gracing it with the honour of their
presence and protection. He called upon the company to
join him in a bumper to " the Ladies of Liverpool."—
(Long continued applause.)
- -

The CHAIRMAN said he need scarcely recall to the re-
collection of the company the business of the 18th of June,
—the commemoration of the Battle of Waterloo,—that
battle which he could safely say, from his reeollection of
the day when the account of it arrived and the effects it
produced, added at least 20 per cent. in value to the capital
of the country. He would therefore give—
" The health of the Duke of Wellington, and the Heroes
of Waterloo." Mixed applause, hisses, and hooting ; the
disapprobation evidently preponderating.
The band began to play " Britons strike Home," hut the
sound of the instruments was quickly overpowered by the
increased tumult of disapprobation. A pause at length
occurred, when one of the Company rose up and gave—
" The Heroes of Waterloo," which was followed by several
rounds of enthusiastic cheering.
Air—" Britons strike Home."
Comic Song.---" The Battle of Waterloo," by Mr. Reilly.
The CHatastax then gave.—
t, The Vice-Presidents :—Mr. William Wallace Currie
and Mr. Hardman Earle." Three times' three and much
applause.
Mr. W. W. Cum:tax and Mr. H. Emma respectively
returned thanks. The latter said that having disposed of
the subject which was the cause of his rising to address the
meeting, he would beg leave to give a toast arising from a
recent event which had caused a very considerable sensation

in the commercial world, and threatened the most serious
evil to the country at large, he meant the late decision of
the House of Lords upon the Corn Bill,—a decision which,
it could not be denied, had given great dissatisfaction to
the country. Undoubtedly their Lordships had a right to
make that decision ; but there was as little question that
it had been brought about by a union of faction and self-in-
terest, and that it was marked by gross and selfish indiffer-
ence to the wants of the people, and by the greatest igno-
rance of the real interests of the country. He concluded
by proposing :.—" The 122 virtuous and patriotic Peers
who voted in the minority against the Amendment moved
by the Duke of Wellington upon the Corn Bill.".—(lm-
mense cheering and applause.)
The CHAIRMAN next gave—
" The Duke of Sussex, and the London University, and
may the system of Education keep pace with the improved
spirit of the age, and be extended to all classes of the Com-
munity."
Mr. BROUGHAM shortly returned thanks, and paid a
high and well-merited compliment to the Duke of Sussex.
He then proceeded to advert to the notice which had been
taken of the House of Lords. Humbly venturing, he said,
to differ with their Lordships as to the vote upon that parti-
cular question, he yet viewed with much satisfaction the
increased activity to business which had been manifest in
that Noble Assembly during the present Session. He never
remembered so regular and so full an attendance of their
Lordships ; they met as regularly as did the Commons ;
which was not so before, and they had in consequence be-
came quite as busy and as factious, and had taken not merely
one, but nearly all the leaves out of their book.—(Much
laughter. )—He was glad of this, because a continued regu-
larity of attention to public business on their parts, meeting
daily, numerously, and in open house, with the press to
watch and report their proceedings, would tend more than
any thing that he knew of to restore the true and proper
balance of the Constitution.

" Our venerable and enlightened townsman, William
RosCoe, Esq."
Mr. W. Roscox, jun. returned thanks for his respected
father, whose ill health prevented him from attending the
Meeting.
" The memory of our townsman, the late Mr. Rushton."
Mr. E. RUSHTON returned thanks.
" Our respected townsman, Thomas Booth, Esq."
Mr. H. BOOTY returned thanks.

Mr. 13aouctum then rose to propose the Liberty of the
Press, and took the opportunity of stating that he had
been erroneously reported to have said, that in speaking of
Mr. Hume's motion for the repeal of a tax imposed upon
pamphlets by one •of the Acts commonly called the Six
Acts, that he saw no harm in the Act which made trans-
portation the punishment for a second conviction of libel.—
He never could have said so, inasmuch as he had been pre-
paring, and was in hopes of effecting his objeet, to try to
promote the repeal of that very Act, and indeed he knew
and no one could know it better than he did, through his
professional connections, that that Act had a most mis-
chievous effect upon a portion of the public press, by its
operating in deterring persons from embarking their capi-
tal in some newspaper concerns. What he had said on
the occasion to which he alluded was, that he was asto-
nished to see that gentleman take up a trifling matter,which
in comparison was not worth three straws, instead of
attacking the Act which made it punishable by banish-
ment to be twice convicted of libel. He concluded by
giving,

" The Liberty of the Press," which was drunk with three
times three.

Mr. W. W. CURRIE gave " The health of Mr. Rush-
ton and success to him in the legal profession upon which
he is about to enter."

Mr. E. RUSHTON returned thanks, and said that he
should never want a stimulus to exertion so long as he
retained the recollection of the highly honourble recep-
tion which had been given to the distinguished ornament
of that profession whom they had the pleasure of seeing
among them that day. He concluded with proposing a
sentiment which he had heard often hinted at but not as
yet openly pronounced !—" May our distinguished guest,
if he should be again defeated in the contest for West-
moreland, become a candidate for the representation of this
town—and may he be returned as the colleague of the Right
Hon. Gentleman who has liberalized the commerce of the
country."

Mr. BaououAm said he felt honoured by the compli-
ment just paid him, but he must at once repudiate the offer
to become a candidate for Liverpool, lest he should be
charged with infidelity to his affianced bride of Westmore-
land, or suspected by his friend Mr. Crump of bigamous
inclinations, which would no less subject him to the cen-
sure of his friends at Appleby. But although he could not
become a candidate, if they felt inclined at any time to
make any demand upon his services, as they got matters
over here before they began in Westmaree,should
have no objection to come over and lend them a helping
hand for some other friend.—(Applause.)
The following toasts were afterwards given

" Our best allies, the liberal spirits of Europe, and may
the victims of despotism ever find an asylum in this country."
" Catholic Emancipation."
" George Williams, Esq. and the reform of all County
Abuses."

" Thomas Wyberg, Esq. . and the independent Free-
holders of Westmoreland."

" The Rev. W. Shepherd."—" Sir F. Burdett."
" Joseph Birch, Esq. and the Electors of Nottingham."
" The Hon. E. G. Stanley and John Wood, Esq. and
the Electors of Preston."
" The Towns of Manchester and Birmingham, and may
they soon enjoy a share in the representation of the people."
" Prissperity to Ireland."

" LordCocbrane, and success to the cause of the Greeks."
" The United States of America, and may our friendly
relations with that country be perpetual."
" The Independent States of South America."
" The Lancashire Witches."

Mr. Baon6it4in retired about a quarter-past twelve,
and was soon aftetwards followed by the Chairman and a
number of other Gentlemen.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, Jim! 520.

The Court was occupied nearly the whole day on the
new trial paper. None of the eases were of the least public
interest.

At the close of the day Mr. BROUGHAM presented him-
self at the Bar, and took his rank, having been granted a
patent of precedency.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, JUNE *O.
(MADDOX V. TRICE.

This was an action for work and labour, brought by
Miss Margaretta Graddon, the celebrated vocalist and
actress, late of Drury-lane Theatre, against Mr. Price, the
lessee of that establishment, to recover the sum of 201. the
amount of two weeks' salary.

Mr. Serjeant Wunn (with whom was Mr. HUTCHIX.-
sox) stated the case. The action wat brought by the
young lady whom he represented, to recover the sum of 20/.
from Mr. Stephen Price, the present lessee of Drury-lane
Theatre. Miss Graddon was originally engaged in 1824
by Mr. Elliston, for three years, at a rising salary of 81.,
91., and 101. per week. In 1826, Mr. Elliston having
left the establishment, Miss Graddon's services were con-
tinued by the present management, at a salary of 101. per
week. She was under age when she entered into the con-
tract with Mr. Elliston, but had arrived of age prior to the
time when the cause of the present action arose, and that
was the reason she appeared as plaintiff on the present re-
cord. Mr. Price, the Learned Counsel understood, resisted
the payment of the present demand, on the ground that the
plaintiff had entered into a contract by deed with Mr. Ellis-
ton, by which she consented to have deducted from her salary
certain fines, in case of her violating the rules of the Theatre,
The defendant contended that she had subjected herself, by
the rules of the Theatre, to a fine of SU, and be had set
off that sum against her claim for service. During the
season of 1825 Miss Graddon perfermed with very great
success the part of Catherine, in " The Siege of Belgrade,"
and in 1826, without any cause being assigned, the part
was taken from her and given to Mrs. Geesin. Miss
Graddon never complained of the unhandsome treatment
she had experienced, but continued to play such parts as
were allotted to her till December, 1826, when " The
Siege of Belgrade" was announced in the bills to be per-
formed, and Mrs. Geesin was advertised to perform Ca-
therine, the part she had played in the piece during the
whole of that season. In the course of the day before the
piece was to he performed, Mr. Wallack, the Manager, sent
for Miss Graddon, and informed her that she was required
•to play the part of Catherine instead of Mrs. Geesin, who,
from some cause or other, could not perform the part. She
went home, and finding that she could not play the part at
so short a notice, sent a message to the theatre, declining it.
The Management thought proper to inflict a fine of thirty
pounds on Miss Graddon for not performing the character
in question. The Learned Counsel was confident that such
a set off could not be justly or legally made against the
claim of this young lady.
Mr. Edward Graddon deposed—l am the father of Mar-
egi7hetteenGraddon,
ago
; she performed at Drury-lane theatree plaintiff ; she arrived at age about
in 1826 ; I attended her to the theatre every night, with
only one exception, during the whole period of her per-
formance at that theatre ; she continued to perform up
to the 27th of December, 1826 ; her salary was 101. a-

week ; she was not paid for two of the last weeks of her
performing.
Cross-examined.—She had entered into a contract with
Mr. Elliston for three years, to receive the first year, 81.;
the second year, 9/. ; and the last year, 101. per week.
It was admitted, on the part of the defendant, that 10/.
a week was a reasonable salary for the plaintiff, and this
closed the case for the young lady.
Mr. Sergeant Ana Ms addressed the Jury on the part of
the defendant. The manager of tho theatre had been so
harassed by the caprice of the female performers, that it bad
become necessary to teach them that they were bound
to respect the customs and usages of the theatre. The
plaintiff was admitted on all bands to be a most delightful
singer ; her voice and person were quite enchanting ; he
had witnessed her performance, and had been delighted be-
yond measure ; but the lady had exhibited very different
airs behind the curtain from those she exhibited in front of
it.—(Laughter. )—She was not always when behind the cur-
tain, the same charming, delightful, lovely, bewitching,
provoking little creature.—(lmmense laughter.)—She had
been assigned the part of Catherine, in " The Siege of
Belgrade ;" hut, from her waywardness and obstinacy, he
believed that she would make a better representative of
Catherine, in " Taming of the Shrew." She refused to
play the part, without assigning any cause, and Mr. Wal-
lack was compelled to apologize for her absence. The
Learned Counsel produced a printed paper, which he
should put in evidence, which contained the rules and re-
gulations of the Theatre Royal, Drury-lane, the ninth
clause of which lie would read :—" If any performer re-
fuse to study, rehearse, or play any prologue, epilogue, or
part in play, farce, or opera, or to dance a hornpipe, or
go in a procession, ballet, &c., when required to do so by
the Manager, they shall forfeit the sum of thirty pounds,
and also nine nights' salary."
LORD Crime Jo-mom—lf one of the principal per-
formers in comedy or tragedy were to refuse to dance a
hornpipe, it appears that he would be subject to a fine of
thirty pounds, and the loss of nine nights' salary.
Mr. Sergeant ADAMS continued,—He most certainly
would. In the present case, Miss Graddon took offence
because Mrs. Geesin had obtained the part of Catherine.
It would be found that the plaintiff had repeatedly violated
the internal regulations of the Theatre, and that she had
been fined during Mr Elliston's management. The Stage-
manager, Mr. Wallack, had no ordinary difficulties to con-
tend with, to keep the Ladies of the Theatre in order, who
sometimes were envious and quarrelsome, because the
trowsers of one were shorter and exposed more of the ancle
than another'e. It was necessary for the preservation of
rule and good order in the Theatre that the regulations,
which were notorious to every actor and actress on the
boards, should be enforced strictly.
Mr. Wallack examined.—l have been Stage-Manager of
Drury-lane Theatre since 1825 ; a bill similar to the one
produced has been constantly stuck up in the Treasury,
for the inspection of every person connected with the
theatre, ever .ince I was a boy ten years of age ; I can't
say this is the identical bill.
Mr. Wallack's examination resumed—On the 17th of
December last the " Siege of Belgrade" was announced
for performance. Mrs. Geesin had played the part of Ca-
therine during that season; and in consequence of indis-
position on the part of Mrs. Geesin, Miss Graddon was
directed by me to play the part. She rehearsed, on the
6th December, the greater part ; and not being perfect,
she did not rehearse the whole, but said she would go home
and study the part. On the following day she sent word
she could not play the part. Miss Graddon had been fined
the previous season, and the fine was stopped out of her
salary. I apologised to the audience for Miss Graddon's
absence, and Miss Ellen Tree played the part.
Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant WILDE—I did not
wish to annoy Miss Graddon, by requesting her to play
the part; I put it to her as plesantly as possible.
Mr. Sergeant WILDE—Yon put it to her as pleasantly
as possible, I have no doubt.—(Loud laughter, occasioned
by the quaintness of the delivery of the Learned Counsel.)
Mr. Wallack's cross-examination continued—Miss Grad-
don had not performed the character for a year; I have
often played a character at a short notice, which has been
taken from me, and been played by another ; it is the uni-
versal custom to take a character from one performer and
give it to another, and afterwards give it back to the former.
Re-examined by Mr. Serjeant ADAMS—I think Miss
Graddon had reasonable notice to recover the part ; she
was a tolerably good study; she left the Theatre, express-
ing her intention to study the part, and she made no ob-
jection to it till the next day, when her brother brought a
message from her ; I have been fined for violating the
rules of the Theatre; the printed regulations produced are
known to every person belonging to the Theatre.--[The
printed paper was put in.]

Mr. Dunn called—l pay the salaries, and have been in
the habit of deducting the fines ; I deducted a fine from
Miss Graddon's salary the season before ; parties under
parole as well es written contracts, who were engaged in
the theatre, down to the carpenter, submitted to pay the
fines ; the three weeks' salary claimed by Miss Graddon
were due on the 9th, 16th, and 23d December last ; she
had a week's salary after that, and I believe she did not
object to the stoppage of the SOI. fine till afterwards; the
sum of 10/. was sent to Miss Graddon, beside her week's
salary, with a letter (produced), stating that at the end of
the season, the other 20/. would probably be remitted.
Cross-examined—Miss Graddon sent every Saturday for
her salary during the three weeks it was stopped.
Mr. Sergeant Witant addressed the Jury for the
plaintiff, and contended that his client had been treated with
great harshness and injustice. She had not a reasonable
time allowed her to prepare for sustaining the character ;
and when she declined playing it, which she must have
done at the risk of ruining her reputation, she was mulcted
of the very moderate sum of SOL by the very liberal and
kind Managers of Drury-lane Theatre. He called upon
the Jury to give the plaintiff, who had nothing to depend
upon but her salary, the full amount which she had claimed.
Mr. Sergeant Anams observed, that Mr. Dunn had re-
quested him to explain that by two years he meant two
seasons.

The LOAD CHIEr-JUSTICE proceeded to sum up the
ease, and said, that if it was the notorious usage of the
Theatre to fine those who violated the printed rules which
had been produced—though he thought there was very
slight evidence to prove that Miss Graddose had ever seen
them—he was of opinion she was liable to have the fine
deducted from her salary. His Lordship said, that he had
not had the pleasure of seeing the young lady perform, his
time had been so much occupied by hie legal avocations ;
but his curiosity had been so much excited, that he should
do himself the pleasure of witnessing her performance when
she again appeared on the boards.
The Jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff-201.
The Court was excessively crowded during the trial.