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THE LEADER. ;ft* o. 383, Joty 25,1857. 7...
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NOTICES TO COF.RESPONDT/NTS. X— The Lett...
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h is impossible to acknowledge the mass ...
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jBfm&Z t*
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SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1857.
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^ti liik Slffaira. - ¦ - !
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^ There is nothing so revolutionary, bec...
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THE POLITICAL DILEMMA. Before the year 1...
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THE SLEEPERS AWAKENED. The Duchy of Lanc...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
The Leader. ;Ft* O. 383, Joty 25,1857. 7...
THE LEADER . ; ft * o . 383 , Joty 25 , 1857 . 7 vO ¦ ' : '
Notices To Cof.Respondt/Nts. X— The Lett...
NOTICES TO COF . RESPONDT / NTS . X— The Letter has been forwarded . Thanks are offered for the suggestion , which will be adopted .
H Is Impossible To Acknowledge The Mass ...
h is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we re-™\ va Their insertion is often dolayed , owing to a press of matterTand when otnitted , it is frequently from reasonTquite independent of the merits of the commumca-No ^ notioo can be taken of anonymous correspondence Whateveris intended for insertion must he authenticated by theTame and address of the writer ; iiot . necessarily for Dublication , but as a , guarantee of Ins good faith . We canaot undertake to return rejected communications Communications should always be legibly wntten . ud on one side of the paper only . If long . it increases the difficulty of finding space for them .
Jbfm&Z T*
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Saturday, July 25, 1857.
SATURDAY , JULY 25 , 1857 .
^Ti Liik Slffaira. - ¦ - !
^ ti liik Slffaira . - ¦ - !
^ There Is Nothing So Revolutionary, Bec...
^ There is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world tsby thevery law of its creation in eternal progress . —De . Aekold . ? - ^
The Political Dilemma. Before The Year 1...
THE POLITICAL DILEMMA . Before the year 1833 , when it was proposed to admit the Jews into Parliament , a favorite Tory argument was , " If the Jews come in the Quakers will not consent to be kept out . " The ready answer was , "We will open the doors to both . ' Early 'in the session of 1833 , Mr . Pease , a Quaker banker , was elected as member for Darlington , presented himself at the table of the House , and claimed to make affirmation instead of taking the oaths . The clerk offered to swear him ; but he refused , and was ordered to withdraw . A commifcteo was then appointed , -with Mr . Wynn in the chair , to consider Iiis case , and it resolved to admit him , upon the ground that if , by his entrance , he became liable to any penalties , the risk was his own , and in no way concerned the House of Commons This being reported to the House , the question was put , whether Mr . Pease should be allowed to make such affirmation as was binding on his conscience ? The * Ayes' were loud and multitudinous , there were no' Nays ;' and the Quaker representative , clothed in a complete suit of brown , appeared at the table , and took his seat amid general and cordial cheering . There was no conflict between the two Houses , or between parliament and the courts of law . Had a Jew been elected at the same time , and claimed the right conceded to Mr . Pease , what would have been the position of the legislature ? There was as much fear of Quaker proselytizing as Jewish—that is to Bay , none . The Jew has no more desire to make all men Jews than the ISarl of Dubby to make all men peers . ; Parliament is in a dilemma , whiohnas been aggravated by Lord John Kvsbeix . Inveterately vain , and determined to stand ( not to * move ) in front of the Liberal party , he set aside IMLr . Dillwyn ' s motion , which might have been successful , in favour of his own , which must be shelved . Six readings , two committees , and n Royal assent constitute the process according to Russell , a simple affirmative that according to Dii . lwyn . A majority of one in the House of Commons would settle the question for ever . Wo do hope that , even though he bo driven off to the last day of the session , the member for Swansea will persevere . The Lords have declared themselves judges of their own constitution ; the Commons may assert a parallel privilege , and accept Baron Roaui-OCHiLD ' a affirmation without consulting that
prelacy which the nation has tolerated too lon ^ i " n the midst of the peerage . What does the Premier think . of the nominee of Eipon , the Evangelical Biceersteth , voting to exclude the Jews ? It is time to relieve tiie Bishops of these painful political responsibilities . The public must not be unjust to Lord John Rfsseli . He is more liberal than Lord Palmeeston . He acts unofficially -with him upon particular occasions , when the Tories are to be defeated and the Independents suppressed ; but it is to him partially that we must look for the efficacy of a Reform Bill in 1858 . At the same time , it is indisputable that he acts either an insincere or a selfish part in repeating the old game of the Oaths Bill . Can he coerce the Lords ? Will Lord Palmebston do that ? If not , where is the chance of passing this measure to remove doubts ? There is no chance whatever , and the Liberals are simply cheated .
Lord Camfbeuq ' s offer to go to JNewgate , Mr . Walpoie ' s quotations from the history of the Commonwealth , and Lord Paxmebston ' s allegiance to constitutional routine go for nothing . Still less to the purpose is an objection that the Government should resign . It ought not to be admitted that the peers have the power to overthrow an Administration . As long as the policy of the Cabinet and of the Commons is one , the . Minister has a constitutional right to retain his place . The House has the result in its own hands . It may admit the Jew and protect him , and the Lords , we may be assured , will not long delay an act of indemnity . Meanwhile , the agitation of the great towns must be commenced ; it would be useful if the Liberal members , during the recess , were to meet the principal constituencies , and move them to patriotic action . Let a bold man spread his sails , and public opinion will waft him to the head of his party . He will have lieutenants in Parliament and out of doors . The Oaths Bill is past discussion . The country is weary of waiting . Lord SiTAFrESBUBY may give way in the House of Lords ; but when shall we seethe majority of dissentient peers and bishops triturated down to a minority ? A vigorous debate , and a vote of the Commons—and we are at an end of the discussion . A winter of po litical energy , and He form will be within reach .
The Sleepers Awakened. The Duchy Of Lanc...
THE SLEEPERS AWAKENED . The Duchy of Lancaster Inquiry is now all but concluded . Within a few days the Committee will have made its report . So far as Mr . Bbbtoi « aocx is concerned , unless there be an utter miscarriage of justice , it is a case for restitution or compensation . But in a public sense the investigation has been most important . Administrative secrets and official habits have been exposed of which the nation has had , hitherto , not the slightest idea . Attention has been drawn to an extraordinary series of defalcations in state departments , the details of whioh had been hushed in convenient mystery . We have seen how accounts are falsified to deceive the House of Commons ; how the Crown property is eaten up by private interests , and how a machinery of concealment and collusion is worked in order to produce an impenetrable mystification , and perpetuate the privilege of jobbery . Yet ? the knowledge we have obtained amounts to scarcely more than a glimpse . Next ? session there must be a committee to scrutinize to the bottom the affairs of tho Duchy of Lancaster . Mr . Behtola . 001 first disturbed the serenity of the staff in 1804 . They took no warning , and , getting rid of the Auditor , slumbered until Mr . CoNiNanuun ' s motion
roused Chancellor , Eeceiver-G-eneral , Counsel , and Clerks to answer for their conduct . So far , so good . The dust has been shaken off ; four Peers , a Lieutenant- General , an Attorney-General , a Clerk of the Council , a Clerk of the Records , a Clerk o / the Ordnance , and a Deputy Receiver- ^ General , have been interrogated , and their united testimonies have not shaken a single statement made by Mr . BehtoIiACCI . JVbn mi ricordo has screened them , in a good many instances , . from the effect of inconvenient questions , and when pressed upon other points they have offered admissions—with a ¦ back ground of explanations . The point is—do these explanations invalidate the Auditor ' s statement ? We \ y ill first take Lord G-banviIiLe ' s case , -which ¦ stands first upon the petition , —p laced there at the suggestion of Mr . Boebtjck . The charge was that , being in arrear of rent , he had assumed the' office of Chancellor , and had been favoured in that respect by the officials . " There is no doubt , " he says , " that for tlie last eight years I have been in arrear . " To improve the value of his own leases , however , he has expended large amounts of money , and his evidence in this respect , though not judicially corroborated , undoubtedly releases him from all imputations in respect of his original arrears . But \ vh . y did he become Chancellor ? What right had he to assume the stewardship of an estate to which he was deeply indebted , and in the interest of which , under circumstances that might be supposed , he could have had to act against himself ? At the outset , he recognized the falsity of such a position , and we can only regret that he abandoned his scruples to commit an act of gross administrative immorality . It is not denied that the accounts were habitually kept open to give him time , that he was the principal defaulter to the Duchy , and that ; as Mr . Roebuck remarked , before gliding out of the case , Earl Gtbanville ' s connexion with the department was such that Mr . Beetolaoci was justified in drawing attention to it in the opening part of the petitions . With regard to the Leader , the new Knight of the Garter is wrong in supposing that ifc hinted at any special compact between him and his friends on the Committee . He is tho member of a guild , and the members understand one is all aoupi
another—that . we nave no that Lord Granville anticipates with perfect satisfaction the decision of the Committee . Lord Bei / peb , by his own statement , justified the punctilious method adopted by Mr . Bebtolaoot . The accounts had been badly kept ; it was necessary to keep them more strictly ; but the officials objected , and the Auditor brought bitterness into the happy family . He was offensively accurate , repulsively conscientious ; a thorn in the side of the lleceiver-General , wbo not only admits that he spoke of him as a ' damned fellow , ' but ia described by' Lord Habbowjby as saying , when his Lordshi p became Chancellor , " 1 wonder how you will get on -with that fellow Bebtolaooi r" " The only difficulty seemed to be , " remarked Lord Bexpeb , " that the Auditors of the Duchy had always been uniformly members of the Council ; " this , becoming known to the Auditor , stood between him and the despotic clique , the finaiioinl transactions of which he was bound by Ins oath and his duty to check . Tho oath itself implied his right to a seat in Council ; but throughout the proceedings the officials laid little stress upon Aots of Parliament , Charters , or Letters Patent . To evade this point , they coll upon the law-officers of the Duchy to state their opinions ; and those officers have stood before the Committee ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 25, 1857, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_25071857/page/12/
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