New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-05-08
BRITISH TOPICS.
PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.
THE TIcnBOgNK DEBATE - MODERATION OF DR.
KENEALY-wIiAT MIR SULLIVAN PROPOSED TO

I
| lrROM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT or THE TRIBUNEI
| LoND N, April 2i.-'he Tchborne debate took
\ place last night. There was DR.. kenealy
| was moderate-nore moderate than some OF his
| opponents. The House listened to him in silence.
bokon only by occasional laugh, or by one OF tho
cries which usually pnncnate a long speech, or by
| al interruption like that Of Mr. Sam Morleys,
whose Impotence got the better of his respect tor
forms. Dr. Kcncaly's speech lasted nearly three
hours. 1t is the fashion 10 say il is dull. ! don't
know what il may have Sc, med to the House during
delivery but have read what appears 10 be yer
batim report Of it this morning, without much
modification of The flesh. Ii is not great speech,
nor a strong indictment, but it il interesting And
| it is idle 10 deny that great interest
| is felt in the mntier-an interest far greater
| than is consistent with the determination Ia pooh,
pooh DR.. Kcnealy and his supporters Hardly within
! anyholy's memory has there been snch pressure
for places. All the seats allotted to Poers were taken
! up Gays III advance. Six hundred "'ttrangcIs" con-
tended for admission, and that means that almost
every member of the House must have been applied
to for the order Of admission which be is entitled
! to give. An order in such a mean. about one
sixth of u chance Of getting in. good many OF DR..
kcneay's friends went down to cheer him as he
| passed through Palace Yard. Most Of ihcm were
rather late The police had takcn prccautions and
military forc0 al hand hadit been wanted. Bat
there was no disorder. d.: kcncaly remarked in the
course If his speech that no instance OF disorder had
occurred ~ any of the large and frequent Tchhornc
meet ugs that hc had addressed all over hc country.
So Ear ~ know that statement tnc, and it is
Tor which he is cni tied to credit. The people who
20 to hear him ar, not among the most intelligent Of
tie nation nor do they belong in all cases 10 the
classes which deem dccorum the FIRST of virtues.
The most frequent cricsn On ID. keucaly' speech
i. chat it's an argument for rclcaring the lchbomc
cause. II do.s not 10 precisely that. There
arc lo.a paSsagr in which hc discusses rulings of
thu Court aud other incidents Of the tnal, and in
| some t.-cs evidence; but they all bear upon ms
main propositions: that the conduct of the trial was
such as 70 prejudice the rights cf the defendant 1t
i, easy to distinguish between an argument on the
w"ie..t OF evidence and an argument thar evidence
was unfairly excluded or unfairly commented on in
con, rquencc OF ulicl partiay. Tho latter I'M
lcrstand to have bc'n Dr. kcncays point. He he
gan by explaining way he moved for y Royal Com
/ mission inst .ad of select Committee. The latter
would bc composed exclusively Of men brr' Il iho
House f {. minors; the former Of Peers and Com
mourls together. Sow the bias If the HOUSE, of
Comrous said Inc Doctor is notorious; that &c the
House OF Peers has not been mace known. Net Il
bad point. Indeed. the speech las sundry good
pnns-uf points that would Lc 80 be good were
not tie iii ike of Dr. keucaly-a dislike for which
4
srurc mems perception oi such merits ~ he has His
abilities are very considerable, his knowledge of law
is extensive, his cul urc may even be called unusual,
and his courage is of Il high order II iS bis
Inability to keep his TEMPER under circumstances
# great proyOcation which has destroyed BIN. Last
night, and Oh other orcasions when he las been
family treated lie has shown no extravaganza OF
speech or dcmcinor. lie justified himself Tor his
scadfdstnrSs to his client in terms which did not
Lack dignity or vgor. The Claimant no hero to
him lie had taken mp lIs a uartcr OF duty.
and he held himself bound IN honor 30 stand by him
to the last On the merits of the case, people had
trusted aIg.l IT, he ,hought. to the newspaper sum-
marics aud these had misled them Beyond doubt.
be nd the feeling that the man bad not had fair
tIia w.ls widespread. II might he deusIOn, If 1t
be- no way to put end TO it SIRE as by Royal
Comm ssiOn. his Government might in that way
repair the of tine last in directing prosecution
at tie public cXpcIsov hioh is it may Ge necessary
to remind American Iead,rs-a most unusual thing
in this country whc:c criminal prosecutions are con
duc,cd ut the cost OF the aggIicVed
All this is reasonable enough lint when Dir. kc-
ncay dcscendc, Ia particulars Of his charges against
the Ecnch they did not prove to be very conclusive.
The Lord Chief-Justice is naturally singled ont as
the chief offender, but tie deeation If his 0enses
scks clcarncss and the supply Of proof Is not very
great. There is. presume, no doubt that the Lord
Chicf-Jus;ice hal conceived strong prejudice
against Orton before his trial that he had expressed
lis belief that Ne impnSt0r, and that during
the tIll he SAWED Il bias against him of uI'st un
nlistakabo hiAd. The latter cuuid have been de-
molStratcd from tho records of the trial. but DR..
krueay scarcely gave himself tie trouble 20 into
that lie preferred To rely on hcarSay evidence of
SIR Alexander CochLurn's remarks III private about
the Claimant. Flat contradictions were offered to
SOME of these statements Tho Others Mr.. Disraei
tried to Ill pYse # in Iii, usual way-Ly Iilicur.
1t is not seriously disputed that the Lord
Clirf-Iustico did say to Mrs. Milhauk
in n forcnco to Iord Ryerss assertion that ho would
never give NJ the claimant "Tell Lord Rivers that
in that ease he will probably have 10 accompany his
fierd to penal scIyudc." The version which Or.
kcnealy relies on is "Tcll Lord Rivers will send his
friend into penal scrvitulc' The two mean pretty
much the same thing. IL is probable also that tho
Lord Clief-Ji!slice had spoken Of the Claimant
rank inpostcr. At any rate. the Claimant, when
called up for contempt offered TO prove IT, and his
challenge was declined. Dir. Disracli, who seems
moro particularly 10 have held brief for Sir Alex
andcr COckbun, excuses these de, aratOns as mere
relaXatons of the judicial mind they were made in
casual cOnvcrsa iOn. That may not seem to every
body Il very sufficient answer, but it in the best
get Nor does his apologst attempt 10 defend his
nsnrped jurisdiction in matters of alleged contempt.
But il is certain that this extra judicial power was
cxerted to the injury of the defendant and of those
who took part with him. People have quite lately
become aware that danger lay bid in this new doc
trine but at tho time there stretch Of arbi
trary authority which was not app!auded.
The lack Of substantive matter in DIR. kenealys !
speech of evidence and even of specific charges |
seems really TO have surprised the House They ex-
II. n.