The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-09-11 00:00:00

CONTEMPORARY PRESS.

THE CORPORATION NUISANCE.
(F'om the Manchester Courier.)
Another week has passed over, and the charter of
incorporation has not arrived ! What is the reason ?
Is it intended that it shall not come into operation this
year? or is intended that it shall not come into opera-
tion at all ? We have heard, indeed, that the delay in
forwarding it is occasioned by the absence from town
of some of the whig officials, and that it may still be-
expected in the course of a few days. We believe,
however, that come when it. may, it will now come too
late for the election of corporation officers for the pre-
sent year. By the act of the sth and 6th of the late
King it is enacted, that the overseers shall, on the sth
day of September in every year, make out an alpha-
betical list, to be called "The Burgess List," of all
persons entitled to be enrolled in that year; and shall
deliver the same " on the said fifth day of September,"
to
tfiadiktieletinect
het oetwiTor mi
s)
the
- itcsal i
ne
issue,
dr tow-clerk,
evidently
va oi
ndy the theywisest
r det tohntati
it)
et lytel personoorke gr regard
orwdarexecuting
andwithout
wmio tsilt m
asblutealcierieomi
con-
fidence otui
Int:, -
the
of town-clerk, who shall cause the same to be fixed
on the door of the Town-hall, or other conspicuous
situation. Of course, as no authority for making out
a burgess list has been received, none has been pre-
pared; and there is no provision, that we are aware of,
in that or any later act, to give validity to a list made
subsequently to the time specified. It is not, how-
ever, upon such objections that we rely. To postpone
the operation of the nuisance for a year would be
something; but we believe that it will be successfully
opposed, on the higher ground of objection, that a
charter granted otherwise than on the petition of the
major part of the inhabitants, cannot be maintained.
On this ground, fortified by some of the highest legal
opinions in the country, the opponents of incorporation
exertionspnerso o s
selected ed their
to b e
put opponents
in to
nomination
, elec-
tion of councillors, are all violent partizans ; so little
F disposed are the procorporators to conduct the munici-
pal affairs of the town upon the Guardian's principle
obtaint
att preponderat-
inghe eiec
influence in the council. We hear a good deal of
these exertions; but from all that we can learn, the
f
of "oblivion of political feeling."
We are alaclto
find that it is the determination of the conservative
party generally to abstain from all interference in the
elections, whilst the legality of the charter is in dis-
pe •
course they can adopt under the circumstances; and
they may rest assured the conservative cause will lose
nothing by it in the end.

Major Mackie, K.ii., has been appointed governor of the'
British settlements on the Gambia, in the room of the late G.
Rendall, Esq.
Lord Melbourne's economical mode of living offers an ex-
ample to all servants on board wages to pocket the one and
live from their employers' pantry besides.
London is now as empty as it is generally said to be at this
season of the year; but even when said to be "quite empty"
it contains more inhabitants than any other capital in
Europe.
DISEASED PARTRIDGES.—If it is true, as stated in the
-Brighton Gazette, that there is a fatal disease among the par-
tridges, it will make the Brightonians very shy of bu) ing
them.
TnE FATAL DUEL.—In Vaux's " Rambles of the Pyre-
neees" there is a description of a dinner party at St. Sebastian,
last September, to the following effect :—" On the removal
of the cloth, a row of blushing decanters was ranged before
the president. a young officer who was that evening unani-
mously voted to the chair, from his felicitous peculiarity in
guarding the guests against empty glasses, and maintaining,
at the same time, a constant flow of original merriment; and
certainly never did president more ably discharge his duties."
The president, on this occasion, was Mr. Eliot, then a lieu-
tenant of Lancers in the Legion, the survivor in this duel.
At the same time there were two officers in St. Sebastian,
who were limping about on crutches, from the effects of
wounds received in duel with the same Mr. Eliot.

WHIG-RADICAL CORRUPTION.

(From Blackwood's Magazine for September.)
In closing this article (on the influence of the Crown,) it
ought not to be omitted that when we say the influence of the
crown is increased, it by no means follows that the influence
of the throne is equally augmented; indeed, it may be di-
rectly the reverse. A minister, especially if he has been long
in office, may have so engaged and corrupted the great pro-
prietors of boroughs; may have so distributed honours, and
ribbons, and offices; may have so obliged the principal
members of the House of Commous by providing for their
principal friends and relations in the Customs, the Excise,
or the colonies; may have so fettered every public man of
weight and influence by the ties of private interest, that at
last they shall be able to say to tneir Sovereign, "however
pernicious our measures may be, and however unpopular our
persons, you must maintain us in power, for we alone can
command a majority in the House of Commons, though our
conduct and our acts are offensive to the country, and dis-
gusting to your Majesty."—Lord John Russell's Essay on
the English Government and Constitution. London : 1823.
Page 427.
A history of the whig party since the famous coalition be-
tween Mr. Fox and Lord North would be one of the most
amusing productions in the whole catalogue of English poli-
tical narratives. In days of yore, when Mr. Pitt, long be-
fore the commencement of the French war, endeavoured- to
increase the trade with France, how loudly did Mr. Fox de-
clare that country "the natural enemy" of England! When
Mr. Pitt went on in the execution of his plans of economi-
cal reform, how boldly did the whigs attack him, and how
mournfully they lamented the sad decay of ministerial pa-
tronage, and the abolition of private jobbing in the public
loans! When Mr. Pitt was, in his early days, a reformer,
Mr. Fox, Lord ,Rockingham, Mr. Burke, and many more,
openly stood up not only against "the bill and the whole
bill," but against even the slightest amendment of the repre-
sentative system. More recently the whig friends of liberty
bailed joyfully the despotism of 'Napoleon, and ridiculed the
absurd attempts of the Duke of Wellington to emancipate
degraded Spain ; and more lately still Lord John Russell,
Lord Melbourne, Lord Palmerston, Lord Glenelg, and a
majority of the rest of the present cabinet, denounced
nearly every single measure—whether of church spolia-
tion or Irish " justice"—which they have subsequently
been the instruments of carrying through parliament.—
Honest Lord Althorpe once candidly avowed, alien pressed
to repeal the house acid window taxes, that he could not do
so as a minister, though for party purposes he had endeavour-
ed to do so while in opposition. We need not, then, marvel
to find that the men who now rule this country are quite un-
scrupulous as to consistency, and- quite deprived of all power
of recollecting their past opinions and proteedings. For in
stance, if Lord Althorn could thus factiously act, we cannot
be surprised to find that the extravagant whigs of 1806 be-
came, a dozen years afterwards: when the loaves and fishes
were in other bands, great sticklers for economy; nor can
we wonder if again these rigid economists of twenty years
back, have heeome the authors of corruption and the humble
imitators of Walpole's extensive profligacy. But if at these
things therefie little cause to wonder, it must be owned that
the conservatives have some right to complain of them, when
it is remembered that all the odium heaped upon the Duke
of Wellington's government during the reform mania was
nothing but the artful hypocrisy of designing men pretending
to a purity they never intended to practice. It is to be
hoped that the people now know how complete the delusion
was under which they then acted. It is high time that honest
men should acknowledge that the reform bill was intended
for nothing but securing the supremacy of the whig oligarchy,
and that the clamour about tory corruption was designed for
nothing but. to blind the people while the hungry tribe of
whig-radicals fattened on the hard-won money of the poor. If,
however, this acknowledgment be still withheld, we will un-
dertake to extort it from every man who seeks only the ascer-
tainment of the truth; we undertake to prove that, under the
whigs since 1830. patronage has been more increased and
more scandalously abused, and that the public money has
been more lavishly and suspiciously squandered, than at any
period during the past 50 years.
Of course we do not mean to commence a crusade, like the
Radicals, on the prerogatives of the crown, or to picture in
exaggerated colours the influence and corruptions of the
court. We leave these themes to others, confining ourselves
to the point contained in our extract from Lord John ltus-
sell's book. namely, the aggrandisement of ministerial power
as distinguished from, or, perhaps. opposed to, the just au-
thority and influence of the sovereign. It will be no difficult
matter to show that the whip have struggled for an imperium
in imperio, and that they have recently, as ofttimes they did
a hundred years ago, endeavoured to close round the mo-
narch on every side, so that neither the wishes of the people,
nor the advice of the ablest statesmen, can find access or
acceptance. Lord Chatham first struck down this great
conspiracy, and trampled on the Newcastles and the other
" great Whig families" then dominant in the country. His
illustrious son struck the second blow after the notorious
India Bill; and from that time till 1830 the whig party lan-
guished in distress, and crippled by the lasting operation of
merited popular distrust. But from 1830 till the present
time no effort or no energy has been spared to consolidate
the faction's strength ; no exertion or display of ingenuity
has been wanting; no scruples' have stoodin the way. In
1831 so much success had attended this system, that when
the late King dismissed his first Melbourne ministry, the
whigs resolved on revenge, and determined to force them-
selves back into his council. This, also, will be no matter of
surprise when %de have accomplished the proof we have un-
ertaken of the augmented corruption of the present

nisters.
In 1822 Lord Brougham brought forward in the House of
Commons a resolution-to the following effect :—" That the
influence now possessed by the crown is unnecessary for main-
taining its constitutional prerogatives, destructive of the in-
dependence of parliament, and Inconsistent with the well go-
vernment of the realm." It was alleged, in support of this
resolution, that there were then 87 placemen in the House of
Commons; but in order to make up that number there were
included all King's Serjeants and King's Council, and others
holding honorary offrc•es on both sides of the house, so that,
in fact, the real number of placemen directly or indirectly
under the influence of the crown, or in receipt of pay, was re-
duced to 47 Now, without further preface, we w►ll enumer-
ate the persons in the House of Commons—the reformed
House of Commons—who are similarly situated at present,
mentioning only those in the actual receipt of salaries, and
under the direct influence and command of the administra-
tion :

Sir Charles Adam, Lord of the Admiralty
Sir George 'Anson, Surveyor General of the Ordnance.
Colonel Anson, Storekeeper of the Ordnance.
Nicholas Ball, Attorney General of Ireland.
Francis F. Baring, Secretary to the Treasury.
G. C. Berkeley, Lord of the Admiralty.
C. Buller, Member of Lord Durham's Canada Council,
G. S. Byng, Comptroller of the Household.
Sir John Campbell, Attorney General.
W. F. Cowper,..-S-ecretary of Lord :',l,.,,lbourue.
William Curry, Prime Serjeant of Ireland.
Lord Dalmeny, Lord of the. Admiralty.
T. S. Duncombe, attached to Lord Durham's Mission.
E. Ellice, jun., Secretary to Lord Durhstri.
Cutlar Ferguson, Judge Advocate General.
Robert Gordon, Secretary to Board of Control.
Sir George Grey, Under Secretary to the. Colonial Depar
ment.
Sir John Hobhouse, President of Board of Control.
Edward Horsinan, Scotch Church Commissioner.
Lord Howick, Secretary at War.
H. Lahouchere. Master of the Mint.
James Loch, Arbitrator for Government under the Rai
way Bill.
Dr. Lushington, Judge in Ecclesiastical Courts.
Fox Maule, Under Secretary for Home Department.
Lord Morpeth, Secretary for Ireland.
J. A. Murray, Lord Advocate.
R.. Lynch, Master in Chancery.
E. O'Feri all, Lord of the Treasury.
Lord A. Paget, Equerry to the Queen.
Lord Palmerston. Foreign Secretary,
John Parker, Lord of the Treasury.
Sir H. Parnell, Paymaster General.
Captain Pechell, Equerry to the Queen.
Spring Rice, Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Henry Rice, Equerry to the Queen.
Sir Robert oire, Solicitor General.
Lord John Russell, Secretary for the Home Department
Lord Seymour, Lord of the-'Treasury.
Richard Sheil, Commissioner of Greenwich Hospital.
Hon. R. J. Smith, Lord of the Treasury.
Robert Vernon Smith, Secretary to the Bored of Contro
Edward John Statielv, Secretary of the Treasury.
Doctor Stock, Judge of Irish Admirality Court.
J. C. F. Strangways, Under Secretary of Foreign Depar
ment.
Robert Steuart, Lord of the Treasury.
Earl of Surrey, 'Treasurer of the Household.
C. P. Thomson. President of the Board of Trade.
Sir E. Troubridge, Lord of the Admiralty.
Sir Richard H. Vivian, Master General of the Ordnance
Major Vivian, Aid-de-camp to ditto.
Charles Wood, Secretary to the Admiralty.
Here then are 50, exclusive of the minor commissioners
as Mr. Wrightson, Mr. Duckworth, Mr. Maule, &c.; and
of persons who have held offices, as Sir Edward Codrington,
Sir Charles Grey, &e , though at present unemployed. But
still these are by no means all who have felt the benefit of
government patronage in these days of purity and reform;
and, therefore, we will proceed to name a few more who
have solid reasons for voting black and white to keep W hig-
Radicals in office. The following members have been se-
lected for honourable notice in the different modes we hate
mentioned
R. M. Bellew, created a Baronet.
E. L. Bulwer, ditto.
J. R. Carnac, ditto.
S. Crompton, ditto.
.1. Duke, Knighted.
J. Dunlop, created a Baronet.
J. Ewards, ditto.
Lord Dundas, gazetted Lord Lieutenant of the North
Riding.
J. Guest, created a Baronet.
R. Ferguson, gazetted Lord Lieutenant of Fifeshire.
B. Hall, created a Baronet.
R. Howard, ditto.
C. Jephson, ditto. •
Roderick Macleod, created Lord Lieutenant of Cromartv.
R. B. Philips, created a Baronet.
D. Roche, ditto.
J. Seale, ditto.
Matthew Wood, ditto.
E. De Lacy Evans, made a K. C. B.
Again the following members have retired from Parlia
ment and received their reward for past services. Some have
kindly resigned their seats to make way for others—a Lord
John Russell or a Palmerston for instance—and have in re-
turn aeceived a suitable acknowledgment of their magnani-
mous self-denial.
Mr. Stewart Mackenzie, appointed Governor of Ceylon.
Mr. Hanbury.Tracy, elevated to the peerage.
111 r.. Tracy Leigh, gazetted Lord Lieutenant of Monmouth.
shire.

Mr. Carew, elevated to the peerage.
Sergeant Volfe, Chief Baron of Exchequer in Ireland.
Mr. Western, elevated to the peerage.
Sir J. Wrottesley, ditto.
Mr. Hanbury Bateman, ditto.
Mr. Methuen, ditto.
Mr. Ponsonby, ditto.
Mr. Coke, ditto.
Mr. Portman, ditto.
Mr. Littleton, ditto.
Mr. Pepys, ditto.
Mr. Denman, ditto.
Sir A. L. Hay, appointed Governor of Bermuda.
Mr. R. Grant, appointed Governor of Bombay.
Mr. Kennedy, appointed Chief Comrnissionei in Cuba.
Mr. O'Dwyer, Stipendiary Magistrate in Ireland.
Mr. Fitzsimon, Clerk of the Irish Hanaper Office.
Lord Belfast, appointed Vice-Chamberlain to the Queen.
Dr. Bowring, appointed Foreign Agent to the Foreign
Office.
Mr. H. L. Bulvver, Secretary of Legation at Constanti-
nople.
- bLr. Bradyrgolieitor-General of -
Mr. Crompton, Judge in Ireland.
Mr. Perrin, Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland.
Mr. Blamire, appointed Tithe Commissioner for England.
Mr. D. Browne, elevated to the Irish peerage.
Mr. Lefevre, appointed Poor-Law Commissioner.
Colonel Fox, appointed Clerk of the Ordnance.
Sir John Newport, appointed Controller of the Exchequer.
Admiral Elliot, appointed Admiral on African Station.
Of this tribe we could easily discover dozens more, but it
is unnecessary; the specimens above will show that many a
pure and patriotic membcfr of the House of Commons, who
has not hitherto deigned to take place or pay, may neverthe-
less have some pleasures of hope to console him for his rigid
independence. Others who have nothing given to them-
selves, who probably also expect nothing, are .sufficiently
enchained to the ministry by the employments or honours