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    Feb. 21,1852.] TH| LEADER. 169

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    History O3v Parliament. The New Militia ...

    r . attempt to " blast the character" and " affix ? . ! S ? tu ^ man who has rendered " great public disgr ^ t House cheered the assertion . He S'rVSd the motives of Lord Clarendon and Sir Wil-CI Somerville from any imputation of private aims ; TfW he turned round upon the Opposition , and , m fLre of the character of Mr .. Birch in 1842 , cited fi Siy of Lord- St ; Germains , then Lord , Eliqt , i hieTsecretary for Ireland . Of course , Lord John fitted that Birch had been hired and paid out of Sp iublic funds , but then , said he , Lord Clarendon Lnlted the Chancellor of the Exchequer , and by his T ' e he paid back the total into the Exchequer . Dexterously changing the topic , Lord John dwelt upon the excited state of Ireland , and described , in tragic

    ktiffuao-e , how the empire was on the brink of ruin ; w John Mitchell and the United Irishman were thundering at the gates of Dublin Castle ; and how , in this crisis Lord Clarendon engaged the services of Mr . Birch and the World . Lord Clarendon put down rehellion , and saved the empire ; and now the man to attack him was a member of the Conservative opposition , indebted to Lord Clarendon for the enjoyment of fts property in peace and safety . As to the practice

    of subsidizing the press in Ireland , that was not the question they had to judge . But if the house wanted information they should call for former chief secretaries . " Take the Earl of Derby , for instance , " exclaimed the noble lord ; " if he say , that under no circumstances was it rifht or necessary to hire the press , and that he has himself carefully abstained , I should attach importance to the declaration / ' Lord Clarendon , he believed , had not acted differently from persons formerly connected

    with the government of Ireland . " The ingenious sophistry of the noble lord will not avail , " was the first sentence of Mr . Disbaeli ' s speech in support of the resolution . If you are successful in putting down a rebellion , never mind what means you employ—that was the doctrine of the First Minister . Would the House sanction that ? He ridiculed the heroic strain in which Lord John described the existence of the empire as at stake—when Lord Clarendon called to his councils the editor of the World , and all

    went well . But this was alleged to have been the practice of former Viceroys . It was represented as part of a system ; and on this , if on no other grounds , the House was compelled to weigh and judge . "And now , Sir , we have before us—fairly before usin a manner most temperately expressed—we have before us these facts-. —that the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland , doing , as the ' First Minister tells us , what all Lord-Lieutenants have always done , has placed himself in communication with a newspaper ; that he engages the influence , of that tewspaper in the support of his Administration , and pays hat newspaper out of the , pnblic funds .,.,,, ( Cheers . ) Stijl we are told that these are not At subjects / or . a House o £

    Commons to inquire into ( renewed cheers ) , ^ and , thcjti the First Minister rises , appeals to the great deeds of the person implicated , and says that we are not to inquire into circumstances vvhich are of public interest , of jptiblid Importance , which concern public morality , but which , becnuse the individual affected has succeeded in his policy , we arc not to notice . " ( Cheers ;) ¦ ' And this extraordinary positiony-whioh , is , in'fadv the ^ W story of Scipid revived , is coupled with this significant announcement'to ' tlik HotiSo of Commons , that this ia part of a system which has always prevailed . ( Hear . ) Now is it the opinion of the House of Commons that it should always prevail ? ( Hear . ) ; Jte it the opinion of the Houso . of Commons that ft i » beneficial for this country that the Government of Ireland , from whatever side of the house it maybe recruited , should subsidize the press out of thc public / funds ? ( CheqrsO >

    , The remainder of the debate , whifoh was , surrendered for a while to the ordinary , speakors on both sides , Mr . H . Herbert , Dr . Power , Colonel Thompson , Sir JD , Norreya , on behalf of Lord Clarendon ; and Mr * Sliarman Crawford , Mr . G . H . Mooro , Mr . Roche / Mr . Nowdegate , and Colonol Sibthorp , in support of the n > solution , wns only a variation , inoro or loss amusing , of tho Hpcechoa of tho Prime Minister and Leador of the Opposition . Lord Palmerston wound up tho debate , by whitewashing the whole transaction . Tho attack was personal . He hatod personal attacks . And , for bo giavo an accusation m that contained in tho resolu tion , ho had never heard such unsubstantial grounds . Lord

    Clarendon had boon offered support by an editor , Ht u moment of groat peril , and had he not given support in return , ho would him * been liablo to blamo . J- hut he mm tho victim of an unworthy confidence , was n co »»«» on . urinfortune of generous minds . Ho wound « 1 > a abort , deoiwivo , dogmatic speech , greatly cheered throughout , by aaying , thrtt . ho was euro tho House would leuvo Lord Clarendon in the high position ho ccjupiod . Lord Naah replUid , roiterating that tho question before tho House was ; whether they would sunotion the practice of abstracting money from tho public purHO , to subsidize a vonal press . On a division , thoro were , — For tho motion , 137 ; against it , 220 ; Majority against , 92 .

    Roman-catholic religion . Lord Campbell , Chancellob , and Lord Brougham , all expressed their opinions that this claim could not be entertained . Several noble lords then took part in the discussion , which turned upon the real import of the words in the oath of supremacy . The Earl of Wicklow conceived that no Protestant could take the oath without an act of mental reservation , and he stated that some noble lords , to his certain knowledge , did take it with mental reservation . Peers were enabled to do so , because there was no clause in this oath forbidding such reservation . The Lord Chancellob observed that the question was entirely one of law . The Earl of Clancarty then retired . When the discussion on Lord Clancarty ' s scruples

    the Lobd THE HOUSE OF LOEDS . The discussions in the House of Lords this week have partaken very much of a conversational character . A novel incident took place on . Tuesday , when the Earl of Clancarty , having announced his intention , by letter to the Lord Chancellor , presented himself at the table to be sworn . The Earl has conscientious scruples about taking the Protestant form of path , on account of its containing a statement " that the Pope has no jurisdiction , power , or authority within these realms ;" he had frequently expressed his objections , by petition to the House , but he now claimed to be admitted , on taking the oath prescribed for persons professing the

    had terminated on Tuesday , the Earl of Roden , m pursuance of previous notice , moved for a return of the murders and attempts to murder in the counties of Louth , Monaghan , Armagh , and Down , from the 1 st January , 1849 , to the 17 th February , 1852 . He declared that the Ribbon conspiracy was revived , and that the agents of that widely-spread secret society " overawed" the most respectable and useful inhabitants

    of the north of Ireland with " denunciations of death , with assassinations , with attempted assassinations , and with the burning of houses . " The Marquis of Lansdowne said he had no objection to such returns being laid upon the table . The Earl of Glen & all regretted that the noble Marquis had not promised that some active measures should be taken for the repression of these outrages . SeveraT other peers having made remarks , the subject dropped .

    - On the same day the House went into a committee on the County Courts Further Extension Bill . The Lord Chancellor thought that the public would not be advantaged and that the profession of the bar would be greatly prejudiced by two clauses in this bill . By one , barristers were to be allowed to practise without being instructed by an attorney , and by the other attorneys were permitted to act as advocates , and thus to associate themselves in practice with barristers . The latiter . proposition he thought would lead to most inconvenient results ; ( hear from . Lord Brougham ;) he saw no reason why an attorney should desert his brother * practitioners . Lord Brottgwaw : coincided with a great deal of what had fiillen from his noble and learned friend . It was on the establishment of the County

    Courts that the prohibition for the first time by enactment was imposed on barristers to appear in court without tho intervention of an attorney , and ho was ? ncli ^ d ' tO rbinbVe : that prohibition and place the County Courts iipon the same footing ¦ as" the other courts , under the gnidance of professional feeling . As to the practice of attorneys acting as advocates , he believed that none but those who had been in communication . ! with the parties concerned could have any idea of tho perfect monopoly of County Court practice that the attorneys had almost succeeded in establishing , If any barrister darod to hold a brief in a county court , the attorneys combined to withhold all briofs from him . And the best plan for rendering- these moiiatrous ¦ ¦ combinations poworless would bo found in tho removal of the prohibition to receive clients without

    the intervention of an attorney . Lord Campbell argued that it was for tho benefit of tho suitors and tho public generally that tho distinction between barristers and attorneys should Ixs rigidly prooerved : he should therefore oppose tho introduction of tho clmiso which permitted buvristerH to receive briofs directly from thoir clients . Tho Lord Chancellor followed with tho samo class of objections , and urged in particular that it was of tho last importance to

    provont all intorcourno between tho witnoHHOH and tho barriHtor . Tho bar themnelvoa would sullbr great projudicb , thoir high character would bo lowered , " und yet , " said tho Lord Chancollor , " thoro would Btill doubtless t > o a number who would hold up their hoadH , and ' justify thoir priioticoH by tho nanio of f My Lord Brougham' —a great . authority in tho law— ' My Lord Brouham / they would Hay —"

    g Lord Brougham- — « And my Lord . Doninan , and my Ltfrd LyndhurHt . " IiQXD Chancellor— - " Tho *} nobio lords , and tlio House of Lords , thought that tho prohibitory oluwj ! ought to bo repealed , and they would therefore proceed ,

    dignified with that authority , to attend public-houses , picking up cases , finding a defence where nobody ever thought of finding one before , and inventing a claim which no honest man would ever have thought of prosecuting . " Lord Brougham replied . The Lord Chancellor ' s amendment was adopted by the House , and the bill passed through committee . Duties on Carriages .: —Sir De Lacy Evans on Tuesday moved for leave to bring in a bill'for reduction , of the

    duty on carriages ; he urged upon the House that the duty was falling off from y ear to year , which he attributed to evasion , stimulated , and almost justified , by the heavy and unfair nature of the tax . He believed that his proposition would not cause any loss to the revenue . The Chancellor of the Exchequer considered it his duty to resist the motion , although he acknowledged that there was a good deal that was unsatisfactory in the present state of this particular tax . After a short discussion the motion vva 3 pressed to a division . The numbers

    were—For the inotion , 24 ; against it , 59 . Majority , 35 . Stamp Receipts . —Mr . Headlam moved on the same day that the present stamped receipts should be abolished . There were few taxes which were more objectionable than this , being open to continual evasion with impunity . He recommended the introduction of penny stamps on receipts and bankers cheques , and he believed that by these two sources any loss of revenue would be prevented . The Chancellor of the Exchequer said that if every tax which could be evaded was to be abolished , there would soon be very few taxes left . He also thought that stamps on

    crossed checks and penny receipt stamps would be evaded , and then the same reason would be given for abolishing them . He hoped the House would negative the resolution . Mr . Aglionby would support the motion to alter , not to abolish this mode of taxation . It was not put on the ground that people did not like the tax , but that they did not pay it . How often did the Right Hon . gentleman himself evade the tax ? ( A laugh . ) "What member present gave stamped receipts in his daily transactions ? Mr . Hindley expressed a hope that the Chancellor of the Exchequer would attend to the suggestion of a uniform receipt stamp . The House divided , when there appeared

    For Mr . Headlam ' s motion , 28 : Against it , 61 . Majority , 33 . Public-houses ( Scotland ) Bill . —On Wednesday , Mr . F . Mackenzie , after presenting a petition in favour of this bill , moved that it he read a second time . ~ After various speeches on both sides of the question , the House divided , when there appeared—For the second reading , 123 ; against it , 67 . Majority , 56 . Copyhold Enfranchisement . — This measure was read a second time on Wednesday , not without a slight opposition from Sir Geokge Strickland ; but there was no division .

    THE NEW EEFOIJM BILL . The Parliamentary Representation Bill is followed by two schedules . Schedule A names Birkenhead and Burnley as the new boroughs to be represented by one member each . Schedule B contains the sixty-seven existing boroughs to which other towns or parishes are to be annexed , with a definition of the new boundaries in a third column . For the last we have not space ; but tho subjoined is a complote list of the boroughs . Tho name of the county is at the beginning of each paragraph ; the names of tho old boroug hs arc printed in italic typo ; each one immediately followed by those to be annexed to it . Berkshire—Abingdon : Farringdon . Vallintjford ' : Wantage .

    _ _ _ __ _ _ „ _ lkrckmoHAM —/?«

    Dqrsetsiiirk —Bridport : . : Bland / brd , Sl . icrborno . Lyma Regis : Axminstcr . Poo / e : Wimbornc Minster . Slutftesbury : Stalbridge , Sturminstcr Newton . Wareham : Swunngo , Essex—Harwich : Coggeshull , Ilalstcad , Manmngtrco . Gxouckstjcr—Cirencestcr : Fairford , Lcchladc , Northleach . Tetokcsbnry : Upton-on-Scvcrn , Winchcomb . Hamp . shiiik — Andover : Basingstokc , Stockbridgo , Whitchurch . Christchurch : Kingwood . Lymingtoii . " Lyndlmrst , Roinsuy . Vctcrsfield : . Alresford , Alton ; . ' llmtKKOitn" - "Lcominster : Bromynrd , Kiugtoii . Huntingdon—Huntingdon : St . Ivcs , Lancaster—Glitheroe r Col no .

    Linoqj / n—Stamford : Bourn . Noiu'QliK . — -Theiford : Brandon , E . Peroharn , Swafl'liam . Northampton—Velcrborouyh : Oiindle . NoitTHUAUticiiitANJ )* " -Morpulh : Blylhe , OxiroiiU '—Banhnry : Chipping Norton . Woodstock : Witncy . Salop—Ltidlow : Biahop ' 8 Cnatlc , Church Strctton , Clcobury Mortimer .

    Feb. 21,1852.] Th| Leader. 169

    Feb . , 1852 . ] TH | LEADER . 169

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 21, 1852, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21021852/page/5/