The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-04-01 00:00:00

for they are behind the screen. We must take the
puppet to task, iiirriply because we cannot lay bold of the
rogues who pull the wires.
In this capacity we call upon Lord JOHN to stand fOrth
and read us the lecture which was read to hini on Tues-
day by Sir ROBERT PEEL and Sir RICHARD VYVyaH.
We declare before Gon we never saw any other minister
of the crown stand in such a humiliating situation before
the assembled commons of England. He was charged
by Sir RicHAliD VyvyAN with gross corruption in his
distribution of ministerial patronage, and yet he made
no defence ! He stammered out a few unintelligible words,
and sat down exhausted, if not ashamed. He did not
consider the charge personal, and to save his hide he
swalloWed the leek !

What a pity the loose of Commons did not take fire
a second time, and save the c r try from the exposure
which took place ! Where the honourable member
for Finsbury, on this occasion ? Why did he not step
forward to the rescue of Lord JOHN fiUSSELL ? It was
stated—it was admitted—that Lord JorrN has used all
the patronage arising from the municipal bill to promote
party and factious purposes. it was admitted that none
but whigs and radicals (witlt a very few exceptions) have
been placed in the commission as thagistrates under the
corporation Property, station, intelligence, and
independence hare been entirely overlooked. Lord Jour'
has usurped the functions of the LORD CHANCELLOR and
the prerogatives of the crown, and he has made a job of
every local court of judicature. None but furious radi-
cals and wild revolcLionists have been elevated to the
borough benches. Well might Sir RICHARD VYVYAN
charge him.with corruption ;..tor what can be more cor-
rupt-=what can be more invidious,-dangerous, and mis-
chievous, than to make politics, and pcilitics only, the
passport4o;the seat cif judgment . - •

. But we have not `space to say more on this subject.
The people must now, be satisfied as to the true quality
of these reforming whigs. , They care
.for nOthing but
themselves—for nothing beyond place, power, and pay.
ru gain these, and hold these, they are ready to sacri-
fice every institution in the country—the honour of the
magistracy—the guardianship of the poor—the purity of
the judgment seat.
In the course of the debate that ensued relative to the
new municipal justices, a scene occurred worthy of no-
tice, in which our remarkable member, Mr. EWART,
cut a truly ludicrous figure. It is known to all our read-
ers that Mr. EWART is considered the Punch of the
House of Commons. He is part of its " laughing stock
in trade", as O'CoNNELL would say. He is continually
on his legs perpetrating small talk, and he is as conti-
nually snubbed, sneered at, and coughed dorm. On
this occasion, however, be played the part of mouse un-
der the fangs of a -terrier. Mr. RICHARDS, the member
for Knaresborough, was addressing the house in support
of Sir RICHARD VyvyAN's charge of corrupt conduct on
the part of Lord JOHN RUSSELL, when our member—
our Mr. WILLIAM EWART, had the immense boldness,
bordering upon impertinence, to rise to " order." What
followed will speak for itself:—

" Mr. ItictiAßns admired extremely the economical feeling,
if he might so call it, with regard to the time of the house, of
the hon. member for Liverpool, and would ask the house whether
that hon. member was not constantly in the habit of wastiny the
time of the house by bringing forward useless motions. (Hear,
and laughter.) He ::had not addressed a single speech to the
house for a long time, but that hon. gentleman spoke usque ad
nauseam. (Laughter.) Night after night had he (Mr. Richards)
been forced to sit and listen to the meagre powers of his elo-
quence, and now,- influenced by party feeling, he rose to order."
It may be safely conjectured that after this our
WILLIAM was dumb. He felt the flail and kept the
peace during the remainder of the evening. We regret
to learn that he has been, considerably indisposed ever
since. Pt:Ca:ll2l)S cicatrized the WART !

We have h-artl so manycomplaints !•ecently of the ex-
traordinary decisions of the stipendiary magistrate, Mr.
HALL, and of his total incapacity to discharge the duties
of his oaice, that we deem it our duty to notice them thus
publicly. We have no wish to wound Mr. HALL'S feel-
ings, but it appears to us tint he has mistaken the nature
of his duties altogether. We beg respectfully to inform
-him that-he is nreyet 'the Lord Chief Jiistice Of—Eng:
lald. He is not a judge at all—he is simply a magis-
trate, ivho is bound to hear the corriPlaints:Of the King's'
subjects and afford them tall the rethess in his power ac•
circling to law; but:he ismot to usurpthe functions of
judge and jury and' try the partie,s;*hO appear before
him. This we..are assured Mr. 'HALL constantly in
the habit of d*Oing; Af a mail appears before Mr. HALL,
and swears that tie was robbed of so much money by a
person whom he identifies,the stipendiary dismisses the
case-on the ground that the money stolen has not been
found on the person of the accused! If a' man charges
another. man with having threatened to knock: out his
brains, Mr. lIALt dismisses the charge on the ground
that the brains of the Complainant have not been knocked
out! If a man applies for a summons or warrant to
bring before the magistrate a person charged with swind-
ling or receiving'money on false pretences, Mr. Hall re-
fuses to issue the summons until the witnesses in the
case are heard! This may be reformed.justied, and sti-
pendiary practic ; but we contend that it is a stretch of
magisterial duty quite unprecedented and exceeding :y
original. . We suspect that the good petiole of Liverpool
will shortly discover that they have paid dearly for their
paid magistrate. In• fact the conduct of Mr. HALL on
the bench is the standing jest of the profession, and
great dissatisfaction is expressed by almost every person
who has appeared before him or. sought justice at
,his
hands. We throw out these hints thus early in the hope
that it will produce some beneficial if not judicial change,
for Mr.-HALL may depend upon it that his conduct has
excited and is exciting many.. curious and striking re-
marks. Some people havegone the length of observing
that it would be better for the interests of the town, and
the safety of person and property, to make the stipendi-
ary's otlice- a strict sinecure, and give Mr. HALL £l,OOO
a-year on condition that he absents himself from the
Police-court. altogether. It is a laughing matter at pre-
sent, but it will become serious by and by.

rs,t,iceer,'.9orNi-Gssr2ri_ Ita'talazieturAols:ottt,