The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-08-23 00:00:00

THE LivEtIPOOL silANDAidi

influence of long-tried senatorial talents and industry,
as well as by private moral character, to the confidence
of his Sovereign, in a moment of critical state-emer-
gency. We beheld this private English gentleman, ad-
ditionally recommended to support and confidence by an
early attachment. and association with those principles
which had directed the policy of one of the greatest
statesmen of this or any other country, either in ancient
or modern times—of him whom we justly look back
upon and regard, not only as the skilful pilot who
guided the majestic vessel of the English state, during
the fury of the greatest revolutionary storm that ever
assailed the repose of mankind; but to whose memory
is closely attached the endearing epithet, of having
been alike the ardent friend and saviour of his country
in her hour of peril ! We further beheld in his successor
in feeling, an individual not merely possessing the ordi-
nary pretensions to greatness as an ornament of the
senate by the powers of his eloquence, or capability of
sustaining vigorously the energies of debate; but even
(against our own preconceived prejudices on a vital
question) standing on higher claims with others, as a
man whose feelings of national patriotism had caused
him to perform that, which, whilst it paved the way, un-
der a mistaken view of human nature, controled by the
dark influence of the principles of political popery,
ought to have endeared him at all events to the present
generation of Irish Roman Catholics. We say then we
beheld this gifted Statesman, possessing at once so many
strong ties on the affections and the gratitude of the Irish
people especially, and even claims to the full confidence of
the liberal reformers themselves of this kingdom—
having no just rival in the confidence of his King, and
whom not only the wealth and interest of England rooked
up to, but Europe itself respected, treated by a faction,
not as one deserving well of his country, but presented
as an enemy the more dangerous by his influence, conser-
vative feeling, and mental power, to the real welfare
and popular interests of his fellow men, supplanted by a
treacherous compact with an adventurous, trading,
mendicant agitator, (who owed his elevation to power
and state influence, to the misplaced confidence of the
former) and deprived of carrying out measures of safe
and approved public benefit, by means of an anomalous
confederated union of apostatate whigs, destructive
radicals, papists, and dissentients on one falsely consti-
tuted leading question, the stalking horse to power—
braced up by the two latter, for the covert purpose of de-
stroying the remaining integrity and pre—eminence of
the Irish Protestant Church—the inviolability, as by law
established, of a British Protestant Parliament, and that
remaining necessary proscription of principle in the
constitution, expressly covenanted with the reformed
church, and which guards the throne itself from being
held by a papal prince, and is equally needful to the
King's supremacy ; and eventually, step by step, the
final distinction of all those landmarks which from 1688,
downwards, have preserved internal peace and religious
security, (excepting the two armed attempts made by
Papists for similar objects) in the now united kingdom.
These are the grounds of our open opposition to
the present ministry, and by the principles they involve
we stand or fall.

It now becomes our duty to inquire what redeeming
points or mitigatory circumstances have transpired in the
acts of this self-appointed Whig and anti-protestant
administration, to obtain for them the confidence of the
country generally, as well as to remove those well-
grounded apprehensions w hich we ourselves, in common
with our conservative brethren of every rank, have en-
tertained by reason of our preceding defined premises.
In this by no means easy task we are greatly indebted to
the genius of that Nestor of the British peerage, Lord
Lyndhurst, who has routed the centaurs of sophism, by
an exposé at once luminously vivid and smashingly de-
structive of the value of their pretensions to frame laws
for the improvement or regulation of our varied and
complicate domestic interests, or to wield with honour the
truncheon of our foreign policy even in the hands of their
valiant colleague Lord Palmerston, to whom-We advise
them to inscribe the' heroic sentiment of Ovid :
" I nuns magnifieos, victor, moliere triumphos,
Cinge comarn lauto, votaque redde Jove!"

Anglice—March now, thou conqueror, achieve great
triumphs, encircle your brow with laurel, and offer up
your prayers to the mighty Jove 1 . In.other words, await.
"the destiny from on high," and sing the triumphs of
Isabella Segundo, and to the music of the constitution
of 1812, as recently serenaded at Saint Ildefonso ; but
preserve a free passage Intrie for poor Evans, (and his
Westminster grenadiers,) who is too sick to join in your
transports!

Let us proceed with our summary detail. In the first
place, that mighty thing of " sh►eds and patches," and
awful hobby of the great ex-chancellor Brougham, " re-
form of the Court of Chancery,"
,was propounded in the
speech from the throne at the commencement of the ses-
sion ; but after great anticipations had been roused and
marvellous benefits promised, it passed over, in the words
of Lord Lyndhurst, " week after week, month after
month, and nothing was done ;" at length a bill (No. 1 of
the grand list) was brought in by the present Lord
Chancellor, Cottenham ; and such was the intrinsic value
and the good quality of its materials, that " it found
favour from no party, whig or tory, radical or conserva-
tive, all condemned it, and it fell still-born on their lord-
ships' table." As it had performed so great a part in the
circle of our reforming policy, we say, with Lord Lynd-
hurst, requiescat in pace! "Let not its ashes be dis-
turbed !"

The next measure, or No. 2 in the list, was a bill for
the reform of the Ecclesiastical Courts. This bill had
been drawn up under the recommendation of a commission
appointed during the Duke of Wellington's administra.
tion, upon a report made by Dr. Lushington, and which
report was handed over to Lord Grey's administration
when they came into office. Lord Brougham, the then
Chancellor, was repeatedly reminded of tile great impor-
tance of the subject, and at length a bill was brought in,
ostensibly for the purpose of removing the evils com-
plained of. This bill (in some matters of detail only)
met the objections of Lord Lyndhurst and others—it was
at length referred to a "committee up stairs;" and, after
a laborious or protracted inquiry, the committee made
their report. That report was laid on their lordships'
table, but from that time to Thursday evening last Lord
Lyndhurst said, " no effort had been made by any minister
of the crown to carry into effect that important measure !!"
In fact, according to Sir Charles Wetherell's definition, it
had got into the grand dormitory ! And we would ask,
why should it not repose there, and join in the slumbers
of the mighty whigs ? It appears, however; that it has
now been aroused by a peal of unexpected thunder, and
the ears of its guardian angels sufficiently well opened
by the report thereof !
Our next friend is the bill for the reform of the Royal
Stannary Courts. This bill was opposed principally by
Lord Langdale (the Master of the Rolls), and it was
forcibly shown by Lord Lyndhurst in addition, that one
of its provisions contained the unconstitutional principle
of interfering with the independence of the Judge
Here again Whig and Tory joined in condemnation—
Lord Wynford had also held up its unconstitutional in-
terference with the act of settlement, under which the
Judges held their high functions and administered the
law, independently of the Crown, one of the most
valuable provisions for the preservation of the liberty of
the subject, since the passing of Magna Charta, the Bill
of Rights, and even the Habeas Corpus Act. This sub
ject was so beautifully illustrated by Lord Lyndhurst,
that we refer especially to that part of his speech on
Thursday night upon it, that choice illustration displays
the crooked deformity of contemplated Whig despotism
in a form which will go down to posterity, and cover the
vaunted patriotism of Lord Holland, whn essayed its
defence with indellible disgrace. So much for the glory
of Whiggism in 18:36, and its renown on the page of
history—nor do we think that even the sprightly efferve-
scence of Lord Holland trill venture to exclaim With
Virgil—

" Olim merninisse juvabit."

as applied to this evening.
And now for the great O'Connell mortar, charged for
the destruction of Protestant, and the substitution of
Popish corporations, the " Irish municipal corporations
bill." The grounds on which the House of Lords re-

j ected this measure, or rather sabstittited another bill
abolishing the corporations entirely, are so well known
that we need not here comment upon them ; the same
applies to the Church of Ireland or Tithe SW, already
fully discussed by us in a former number, and as both
these Measures were rejected or thrown out by the
House of Commons, or rather by its fag end rnajorit,' of
radicals and papal destructives, because " The Lords"
would not sanction the principles of papal ascendancy in
one, and the spoliation of the Protestant Church in the
other, we need not again enlarge upon the subject " re-
quiescat in pace," as the whigs have given them a fu-
neral requiem !
Again, the " Benefices Pluralities Bill." This mea-
sure, one of the most important of the session, brought
in by the Archbishop of Canterbury, under the recom-
mendation of the ecclesiastical commissioners, and passed
by the House of Lords, having for its basis the doing
away with pluralities and equalising church livings, was
abandoned by the ministers themselves in the House of
Commons to satisfy or appease a senseless clamour raised
by their radical supporters and papal allies. A " mutiny',
in the Melbourne camp, which the noble premier put
down by concession, after the fashion of his friend Evans
at St. Sebastian ! The registration of voters' bill—the
newspapers' stamp bill (amended)—and the charitable
trusts corporations' bill (the first and last)—thrown out
in the commons by the worthy whigs themselves, com-
prise the substance of their mighty sessional labours—
and the grounds of their claim to the continued tenure of
office. We will not so grossly insult the good sense of
Englishmen by supposing for a moment, on this showing'
that they can command the confidence of the country'
excepting it be to perform the part of arch jugglers and
political mountebanks, in conjunction with the prime hero
of Derrynane and his Dublin parliament. In conclusion'
we ask for an impartial verdict on the evidence, and
" JUSTICE FOR ENGLAND 1"

To felt it our conservative duty to bestow that serious
attention to the sayings and doings of the holy friar of
the order of "Saint Ignatius de Loyola," for our last
impression, as exhibited by himself before the miscalled
National Association in Dublin, previously to his de-
parture to the " smuggler's cave" of Derrynane, that
we were, unavoidably, precluded noticing several topics
of passing interest connected with our local or immedi-
ate domestic legislation, if we may insult the majesty of
the term legislation by au association with the gross ir-
regularity and disorderly management under which our
modern would-be Solons concoct and bring forth matters
which are designed as appendages to our statute book,
and put forward as auxiliaries to our system of civil ju-
risprudence.

If a practical illustration were demanded at our hands
in sustenance of the justice of these our discursive ob-
servations, we have but to retrace our steps a few paces,
and, on Monday evening last, in that assembly miscalled
" the people's house," we behold the glaringly unseem-
ly slovenly manner uncle' which the most important ques-
tions and objects connected with the very protection of
our choices and popular rights are there managed, in the
hands of underling wing lawyers. We refer specifically
to the discussion which took place on the "second read-
ing" of the TITLE of "The Boroughs Justice Adminis-
tration Bill," "The Boroughs Boundaries Bill," and
"The Boroughs Fund's Bill," each and all measures of
(should-be) grave import, connected with the due ad-
ministration of justice, the security of property, and the
application of public monies to their legitimate objects.
And how do we find these all important matters treated
by the responsible (can- we say the dignified—the inge-
nious) law officer of this " house of the people" in his
place ? Negligence itself, gross negligence and inat-
tention to the important official duties of the situation
held by the Solicitor-General, hardly admit of pallia-
tion ; but when such neglect is attempted to be pitifully
shuffled over, and the just admonition evaded by direct
malversation in the face of fact, and the assembled Com-
mons of England, sent by their constituents as a body of
upright, independent, and intelligent gentlemen, to
watch over the interests of the nation at large, and the
rights of individuals in particular, there is not only total
want of decency but positive want of shame in such a
course—marked by perfect absence of that ordinary de-
corum; that candour and integrity of deportment, which.
is ever capable of " sustaining just deeds by noble
means," in the fine sentiment of the great Lord Mans-
field.

On this occasion the Earl of Lincoln said he " must
call the attention of the House to the mode in which
these and similar bills were conducted through their se-
veral stages in that House. In the present case the
march of legislation was indeed sufficiently rapid; for
without having in reality been read a first time on Sa-
turday, the second reading of them was now proposed by
the learned gentleman. The learned gentleman was not
present on Saturday when those bills were said to have
been read a first time ; and he (the Earl of Lincoln) was
sure, that no honourable member would have been a party
to a proceeding that was a fraud upon the house, and an
insult to its members. "True it was," said his lordship,
" that these bills were apparently read a first time on
Saturday—that was to say, they went through the forma-
lity of having their titles read ; but when some honour-
able members went to examine their contents, they found
that three blank sheets of parchment had been laid upon
the table, containing nothing whatever but the titles of
the bills on the outside ! This case (said he) is an un-
precedented one; and he would appeal to the chair for an
opinion on the point." Three bills of legal (strictly)
practical application, demonstrated to the House of Com-
mons by their titles only ! Was there ever such a mock-
ery of legislation as this exhibited amongst a society of
educated beings?

The learned Solicitor-General—the avant courier of
the mighty whig logicians—said " he would bow to the
decision of the chair, (really, Mr. Solicitor, is it possi-
ble ?) but he would remind the noble lord that the entry
on the journals that these bills bad been read a second
time, was a document that could not afterwards be called
in question." What! Tile House of Commons not
able, not competent, to obviate or to comment upon an
unconstitutional act of glaring, palpable irregularity,
into which it had been entrapped, on a subject of such pa-
ramount importance as the necessary examination of the
provisions of three several acts of parliament, bearing
on the immediate privileges of British subjects! Whence
this profound, this etherial logic ? Then " The circum-
stance of the house having ordered the bills to be read a
second time, was a proof that they had been read a first
time !" Verily, learned sir, you must have had your in-
structions from a quarter with which we do not pretend
to be closely intimate, althoughtwe can shrewdly guess
the principles, " secreta m9nita," which govern the policy
of your masters, and above all of your great master in
jesuitry—the initiated of the holy creed of Ignatius—
the lay despot of our sister land, and her would-be su-
preme dictator!
But the chair—the chair! and oh what a scene was
there! Such a ruffled wig, the very curls of which be-
came astounded ! Really, Lord Lincoln, you were too
unmerciful, even in your polished gentleness,—that you,
my lord, should have so little consideration for the re-
cherche wisdom, the sterling value of whig law, and the
sensitive judgment of its controlling head, as to have vo•
lunteered an assault like this! To be grave, however,
with a grave subject, and as gravity best befits the: cepa-
ciouS learning of the wig (qu. whig ! ) and as we do not
wish to combat even with our humble play and ridicule
the stern front of Mr. Sergeant-at-Arms, we proceed,
with all due decorum and respect, to detail, that the
Speaker said there could be no doubt, that a copy of the
bills on parchment should be on the table of the House
when the first reading was moved ;" but (oh, whiggery
again !) he was not aware that such was not the case at
the time. He (the Speaker) understood that the reason
was this—" that the bills were at that moment in the
hands of the printer, in order to insure their being
printed, and in the hands of members as early as possi-
ble that morning! What a convenient printer I But
we must pause here, and leave our readers to enjoy the
smile which credulity itself cannot prevent rising into
merited contempt, of the shifts and quirks of our worthy
governorS, protected by the Chair, of the House of

Commons. Mr. Bernal, as chairman of conimittees;
Said, that " what had occurred was an accident, and one
'hich he hoped was not likely to happen again." And
we hope so too, Mr. Bernal ; for should it, we shall feel
it to be our duty, if riot our privilege, to prescribe a suit-
able punishment in the hands of you, Mr. Bernal,—
namely, that such bills, of titles only, be ushered in with
due form, surmounted by a jesuit's cowl with a " foes
cap and bells," that honourable members may be awak-
ened to the learned trickery going forward, whilst many
of them are slumbering on the benches, or quaffing at
Bellamy's " above stairs."

Finally, we oiler to Lord Lincoln the tribute of our
respect, and the thanks of our independent conservative
friends, for the exposé he has given on this occnSion
and we assure this patriotic young nobleman of our
humble support, whether against the learned, or the un-
learned of these arch councillors, on all occasions when
he may deem it expedient to assail their system; and,
having some knowldege of the true constitutional law of
England, we fear not the replication of those who would
vainly attempt 0. defen.l such deceit.