The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-01-17 00:00:00

FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

MONDAY MORNING.
A NOTABLE court sat two days. last week, in the Chapter
House, St. Paul's Church-yard. The judge was the BISHOP
13f LONDON, reminding one of the early annals of the Ca-
thedral ; but the BISHOP sat only as " Visitor." The fact
is—and I state this without reference to the BISHOP'S
. .

judgment—that there has been great discontent among
the smaller clergy of St. Paul's, for a long period of years.
There are twelve minor Canons, two of them—PACKMAN
and LVPTON—are regular Radicals, and claim what they
call aliquot parts of the revenues. Now, this is absurd on
the face of it, because the minor Canons now are not the
minor Canons of five hundred years ago. I mean they are
a different set of people altogether. However, they ought
to be paid. They are. Hence ten of them don't grumble.
The case was opened by Mr. HALEY, a young barrister,
and not a very old man. He was first initiated into the
mysteries of London life and literature when the old
Courier newspaper was moribund. At that time, young
HALEY—a boy—might have dropped from the clouds, for
anything the old stagers knew or cared ; he appeared to
be up to everything, answered questions, whether respect-
ing the quality of Rhenish, or the price of molasses—the
latitude of limbuctoo, or the Grampians, always in the
affirmative; got acquainted with Bishops ; became " hand-
in-glove" with the Earl of SHAFTESBURY—eat his terms—
was called—and now in Grand Chapter we find him advo-
cating the cause of the minor Canons, claiming an equit-
able adjustment of the revenues of Paul's Cathedral. To
one at all acquainted with Church history, or interested
in it, the two days' proceedings were worth attending to.
The %mop was-welt supported ; he had Dr. LusKING-
Ton, who ought to be a great lawyer, seeing he has had
fifty years and more of it; Sir JOHN PATTESON, also,
the retired Judge, still able to earn his pension by attend-
ing City commission and Cathedral inquiry ; besides, there
were the BISHOP'S Secretary, his son-in-law, Assessor
Holm-son, and lots of counsel, all arrayed, en grand
Jenne, against single-handed HALEY. Poor work was
made of the inquiry,—
.4 Puzzled in mazes,
And perplexed in error."
The question was not, apparently, understood. It appeared
that the two petitioners demanded that their body should
be reduced from twelve to six, in order to increase, not
the splendour of divine service, but the emoluments of
their own position. Both petitioners, moreover, were
pluralists,' so to speak—had other livings. On one
side it was alleged that, with proper management, the
revenues might be £lOO,OOO a year; on the other, that
they did not amount to £B,OOO or £9,000 a year. The
suon has not yet given in his judgment. Those in the se-
cret say, his Lordship will go half-way with the petitioners.
There is probably not a better test, or proof of true
nobility of mind, in public men, than forbearance. For-
bearance in noticing erroneous statements put forth in
ignorance ; and, it may be, forbearance also in addressing
the Senate (if in it) on too many subjects—making
speeches, in fact. Of the former I am able to give an
illustrious example, which occurred during the past week :
of the latter I have many at hand ; and rice versa—clever,
educated, well-brought-up, members of the House of Com-
mons, as public speakers, shelved, merely because they
had not self-denial—the virtue of forbearance—of sitting
still and holding their tongue. Begin with old COBBETT,
a member of "low degree, to be sure, but a man living
in his day in the world's eye —that man only figured in
Parliament about a week ; he found he was listened to on
the first and second occasions, or so—rose afterwards at
every breath, thought he could command the ear of the
house, as well as the eye of the SPEAKER ; prated away,
no one cared, no one listened. Next day the papers were
all but silent : out came the following " Register," the
"reporthers," as COBBETT used to style the gentlemen in
the gallery, were blamed, sneered at, stigmatized as
" Suckmugs." COBBETT was a cunning old fox in his
way ; sometimes he would speak on, as against time—
cough—affect a cold—speak huskily—and squeeze oranges.
~
Then came, on Saturday, a flaming Register, with my
speech in the Commons, which the `reporthers' did not
give." It is needless to state that COBBETT made
his own speech in his publication. So, likewise,
as to speaking, a cleverer man—HENRY HUNT,—both
went out like the snuff of an ugly candle. They did not
know when to forbear. Leaving those extreme Radicals,
take THOMAS WISE, WILLIAM EWART, EMERSON TEN-
RANT, Noon TALTOURD, now the Judge, BULWER, Sir
LYTTON, our accomplished novelist and dramatist • these,
and many others of mark, all sent themselves to Coventry,
in continually rising to address the House—from a want
of forbearance, in fine. Jon Hunn in one House, and
Lord BROUGHAM in the other, I freely admit, are excep-
tions to the rule. BROUGHAM has been known in the
House of Peers to rise forty times in an hour and a half's
sitting; JOSEPH HUME on a committee (Estimates) night
a hundred times ! Let me, however, approach the sub-
ject—germane. Who has not heard of Lord ASHLEY,
and, having heard, in a great measure, admired his cha-
racter and career, not less now as the Earl of SHAF'TES-
BURY ? Sometime since, his Lordship and a few others
were instrumental in forming a body formidable for its
respectability as well as for its numbers, styled the Protes-
tant Alliance ; it was called into existence by the alleged,

activity of the Romanists in England, and their also
alleged great increase in these realms. I say alleged,
because, happily for the Protestant cause, Romanism is
not taking that strong and dangerous footing among
us that its professors would fain have the people of
England believe. For proof, I need only refer to
the POPE'S Allocution, issued a few days back. At
one of the early meetings of the Protestant Alliance,
held in Freemason's-hall, during the season which has
just passed, the Earl of SHAFTESBURY, in the course of
his remarks, deeply deplored the stringent decrees—penal
codes—call them what you will—of Portugal, as affecting
all Protestants in that kingdom. I know something of
Portugal, its more than rigid Roman Catholic worship,
the imperious vows imposed by its clergy, burial of the
dead, Sr.c.; but, I humbly declare, I was not prepared for
the grave complaints made against the Government of
Portugal, in these regards, by Lord SHAFTESBURY. He
was charged with being actuated by a " zeal without
knowledge"— called bigot even, and worse. Further-
more, lest this should not be enough, several Portu-
guese merchants of London, Lisbon, and Oporto,
denied the noble Earl's statements—that they knew
Protestants in Portugal had every liberty, every
facility of worship, celebration of rites, and so-forth.
These respectable individuals, in dispassionate language, as
became gentlemen, denied the truth of the English lord's
statements. The contradiction is allowed to remain un-
noticed ; the noble EARL, in London circles, certainly was
charged with making assertions, of the truth or falsehood
of which he hadnot assured himself. Severe stigma this;
enough to make an Earl wince. On Monday last, how-
ever, Lord SHAFTESBURY found a fitting opportunity of
rebutting the charge. A deputation of " black coats" and
others waited, by appointment, on the Earl of CLARENDON,
at the Foreign-office. Gentlemen, not of the deputation,
in the neighbouring offices, had ittle difficulty in being
present. There was no occasion for secresy,—" Come in,
gentlemen" quoth the FOREIGN SECRETARY, bland
enough, give him his due ; and here it is curious to ob-
serve that, I believe there never was a minister but
received his deputations tenfold more blandly when he ex-
pected to be turned to the right about, than when he was
new in office, or considered himself safe in his saddle. On
the present occasion, CLARENDON—certainly not of vine-
gar aspect at any time—was very sweet on his visitors.
He read a memorial from the Alliance—a long docu-
ment referring to religious grievances on Protestant
subjects of HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY abroad. He then
glanced at the state of the question in Portugal, and re-
iterated his formerly expressed sentiments on the severity
of the Portuguese enactments. Lord CLARENDON, good
easy man, said, with a flourish, "That although there
were severe enactments in Portugal on the subject of re-
ligion, they were not now put in practice." Further,
there were on our penal statutes laws with respect to
religion very severe, but happily obsolete. So matters
went at the deputation, SHAFTESBURY apparently forbear-
ing too long, and CLARENDON certainly in a state of bliss-
ful ignorance, for a foreign secretary, until an individual
spoke, whose appearance indicated to my uneducated eye
that he was one not likely to deal in sham, or surface-
work. Dr. THOMPSON he was called ; he admitted all
about our law enactments, but he stuck to Portugal in
preference; the severe Portuguese enactments were not
of the old law (eh, log. CLARENDON ?)—they dated their
birth only from the 10th of December last, and were in
direct violation of the Constitutional Charter, (eh, again
CLARENDON ?) article 4th of which was " celebratin,, pub-
lic acts of a worship other than that of the said Roman
Catholic religion"—for the which, the punishment was
fine, and from one to three years' imprisonment ! The
Earl of CLARENDON, perhaps too busy with other matters
of State, appeared not to know anything of all this, for he
asked, in accents mild, if the new law were more severe
than the old one ? Yes ! undoubtedly, was the answer.
However, the deputationists, at the close, expressed them-
selves satisfied; but the whole affair presented another
proof, that, in many instances, the public and the public
papers, know more of what is going on than Her most
gracious MAJESTY'S Ministers. May their fall be soft !
The Earl of DERBY, head of the last Government, had
a command from Her MAJESTY the QUEEN to come to
Windsor Castle, where he has been staying some
days,—dining too, without a single co-cab man being
present. Is this significant of aught ? Pulse feel-
ing ? The Earl of DERBY was there. Enough. Before
we are many weeks older, we shall know more. Saw ye
ever the " Yerl Kynge" journey to Windsor ? or return
from his brother chieftains at " gorgeous Goodwood," as
sporting writers style the halcyon glades of Richmond ?
In the long roll of English nobility, not one peer, perhaps,
travels in more magnificent style than the present Earl
of DEBBY ; especially on a "command" from the SOVE-
REIGN. The present Ministers mostly all take the rail ;
Lord DEBBY puts his own drags on, and chariotted in
splendour with cattle in front of him worth, at the lowest
figure, £5OO, pays his humble duty to his SOVEREIGN !
The Earl is robust ; like every sound Englishman, after a
breezy attack of gout—capital ! He is looking well—
proudly so—yet without pride, for DERBY hates even the
low-pri article dealt in by the Whigs—the species
ced
which apes humility." But we cannot sometimes detect ;
I have seen BROUGHAM, Chancellor, borrow a "Joe" to
make up an sightpenny cab fare—the present RECORDER
of LONDON halve a penny roll with his noble father in the
market-place ; and PLANTAGENET, the present Duke of
BUCKINGHAM, at a farmers dinner in his own native
Aylesbury, collect the shillings for a couple of bottles of
port. But to the point—all the dons of the Conservative
party are in prime feather—meet often—rfectly under-
stand each other, and care at present note fush for the
new reform bill, the skeleton of which Sir FITZROY
KELLY sent, framed and glazed, to Lord Joins the other
day. The opposition has other and higher game to fly at.
Another great man has gone from amongst us ! Mar-
shal BERESFORD, by which name alone will you be ever
recognised, thou renowned Nullus Filius .1 This famous
warrior belonged to a type—the anti—of his noble master,
WELLINGTON. See that stalwart Marshal BERESFORD,
upwards of six feet in his stocking tread the floor of the
house of rs, so plain in dress wand, feature, you would
have him for a well-to-do Lancashire farmer. It
was the llest contrast in the world, sometimes to see
Lords H , BERESPORD, WELLINGTON, COMBERMERE,
and ANGLESEY, grouped in the House of Lords—they
were fond of it—they laughed much—very like boys on
Wednesday or Saturday afternoon! HILL, a great pet