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Finance Minister in 1846 , and as a Finance Minister he was the deadest failure remembered in our timesand we have known Lord Ripon and Lord Monteaglc . But this Y orkshire squire is quite ready to undertake the management of the finance , and politics , and society of 100 . , 000 Hindoos . And , of c ourse , will be considered , on the 4 th , to have made an " able statement . " Represented public knows little of Constantinople , but how much less of Calcutta ! On the 4 th , therefore , something more may have to be said about the self-government , as suggested by Kossutli , of the British Empire . " A Stranger . " Saturday Morning .
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( To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sir , —Formerly there were four cases in which a witness was deemed incompetent to give any evidence at all ; viz ., 1 st , Where his character was infamous , in consequence of conviction of some crime ; 2 nd . Where he was interested to any ex tent , no matter how trifling , in the matter in issue ; 3 rd , Where a witness labours under a defect of understanding ; and 4 th , Where he refuses to take an oath , or has not the requisite religious belief . The tendency of our law in modern times has been to remove altogether these grounds of incompeteney , and to allow witnesses who were formerly
in-THE LAW AS TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF OATHS . III .
competent to be examined , leaving t 7 ie jury to determine their credibility . The two first grounds have been entirely abrogated by the statutes G and 7 Viet ., c . 85 ( Lord Denman ' B Act ) , and 14 and 15 Viet ., c . 99 ( Lord Brougham ' s Act ) ; and the third ground bus been greatly modified , for in May , 1851 , it was decided that a monomaniac who was brought from a lunatic asylum into court to give evidence , was a competent witness ( Queen v . Hill , 2 Denison ' s Crown . Cases , 254 ) . Lord Campbell in that case said that " it is for the judge to
Hay whether the insane person understands the nature and sanction of an oath ; and then the jury are to decide on the credibility and tveiyht of his evidence . " Mr . Justice Coleridge observed that , "in old times the rules of evidence were much narrower than at pre-Hont , and more in accordance with those of the Civil and Canon Laws . " There is houio reason in this ground of incompeteney , as it prevents raving madmen from being brought into court , where their evidence , if given , would not be credited , and whereby their malady might be increased .
Wo will now consider the propriety of maintaining the fourth ground of incotnpctcncy . " Is it wise , " nays Mr . Best , " to leave in the power of every man whose breast is the repository of evidence materially affecting the lives and fortunes of his fellow citizens , to stifle that evidence by pretending to hold erroneous views on the subject of religion ? And even supposing the Atheism , Epicureanism , & <" ., ever so unfeigned and genuine , in it not more properly an objection to the credit than to the competency of'Mm witness ; for it amounts . simply to
this , that out . of Jour Kanctions of trul . h ( as to which see my last , lctler ) , one bus no influence on bis mind . The only ease , uh has been well observed , in which " Cacotheisw , or bad religion , is a legitimate ground for the exclusion of testimony , is where a man belongs to a religion , t . lio god of which ordains perjury ; " and the fanatic whose creed allows mendacity in private , and iiilsc-Hwearinjr hi public , is more dangerous in the witness-box than uny Umu uf infidel that could present himself . Ev « u Atheism , » M juKtly remarked b y Lord
victed of perjury , and has been thus proved not to be actuated or influenced by any one of the four sanctions of truth previously mentioned , is a competent witness , and is allowed to g ive evidence , while an atheist , who is influenced by three out of the four sanctions of truth , is deemed an incompetent witness , and is not allowed to give evidence . The one by which he is not influenced being , perhaps , the weakest of the four , and which has the least influence on the mind of a witness . What influence has the relig ious sanction on a child six , seven , or eight years of age ; and how absurd does the following mode seem of ascertaining whether the child understands the nature and sanction of an oath .
Bacon ( Essay on Superstition ) , "leaves a man to sense , to philosophy , to natural piety , to laws , to reputation ; all which may be guides to an outward moral virtue , though religion were not ; but superstition dismounts sill these , and erecteth an absolute monarchy in the minds of men" ( pp . 187-189 ) . It is said by the Right Hon . S . March Phillipps , in his Treatise on the Law of Evidence , that "in inquiries upon this subject , tho great end and object ought always to be the ascertaining of the most convenient and surest means for the attainment of truth . The end sought is truth j the rules laid dotvn are the means used for the attainment of that end . " And yet a man who has been
con-Judge . " Little girl , how old are you ? " Child . " Six , sir . " Q . "Do you ever go to church ? " A . " Yes , sir . " Q . " Do you say your prayers ? " A . " Yes , sir . " Q . " Is it a good thing or a bad thing to tell a lie ? " A . " A bad thing , sir . " Q . " And what will God do to you if you do not speak the truth ? " A " Burn me , sir . " This will be recognised as a correct sample of this species of examination by the frequenters of our criminal courts . After this conversation , the judge declares that the child may be sworn , whereupon the officer of the court roars out with stentorian voice
to the little girl , who keeps all the time wondering at the judge ' s wig , " The evidence that you shall give to the court and jury sworn between our sovereign lady the Queen and the prisoner at the bar , shall be the truth , the whole truth , and nothing but the truth , so help you God . " " The divine punishment for falsehood being prospective and invisible , detracts much from the weight of this sanction , and perjury is often committed by persons whose religious faith cannot be doubted , but
who presumptuously hope by subsequent good conduct to efface its guilt in the eyes of heaven "—( Principles of Evidence , W . M . Best , A . M ., L . L . B ., p . 14 ) . How often has the truth been sacrificed by religious persons in order to avoid bringing scandal on their creed ? It is well known that many of the lower orders of Irish , although timorous of taking even true oaths in general , consider pejjury to save a criminal from capital punishment either as no crime at all , or at most a peccadillo .
As instances of the inefficiency of oaths I need only mention the following , in addition to those already referred to : —1 . Custom House Oaths , in which men were formerly obliged to swear to facts of which they had no knowledge , and which oaths were broken by tho hundred . 2 . University Oaths [ see Leader , March 12 th , p . 250 ] . 3 . "Protestant sees in Irelandbishops , 22 ; archbishops , 4 : together , 20 . Previously to investiture , oath taken by every bishop , promising to
see that in every parish within bis diocese , a school of a certain description shall have place . Of the aggregate of these oaths , what , in the year 1825 , was the aggregate fruit ?—performances , 782 ; perjuries , 480 . When received and communicated , behold the preservative power of the Holy ( Jhost in these minds against perjury" — ( ficnlhani ' s Petition for Justice ) . 4 . Tho Oaths taken by the deans und canons of our cathedrals ) arc ( us follows :
" 1 , A . 1 $ ., who have been nominated , elected , and instituted u canon of this cathedral church of Christ , having in my hand the ; sacred and holy ( Jo . spels of ( Jod , swear that 1 will keep all and even / one oj' the statutes and ordinances of King Henry VIII ., our founder , and will take- care that they shall be kept by others ( so far as may in ino lie ) , and that 1 will not binder what may lawfully bo done for the profit and honour ol this church , but will stud y and promote its interests . All and every one of ( . heso things I will take on myself . So help me ( Jod , and these ; Holy Gospels of ( Jod . "
The dean says in bis oal . h— " I call God to witness that I will well and Ja il'hf ' nlly observe all und everyone of tho statutes and ordinances-of Henry VIII ., our founder , and will take care that , they shall be studiously observed by others , so far as they concern them . So help me ( Jod , and thesu Holy Gospels of ( Jod . " For the manner in which those oaUi . s inllucnco the conduct ; of these ; deans and canons , I refer the reader to Cathedral Trusts and their Fulfilment , by the Kev . Robert Winston , M . A . In tho Civil Law , where the judge bad : i discretionary power , in doubtful ca « es , of deciding the cause
by deferring an oath , called the juramentum suppletorium , to either of the litigant parties . Pothier , one of the greatest foreign authorities , who , to the learning of a jurist , added the practical experience of a judge , says , "I would advise judges to be rather sparing in the use of these precautions , which occasion many perjuries . A man " of integrity does not 1 ' equire tlie obligais not
tion of an oath to prevent his demanding ivhat due to him , or disputing the payment of what he owes : and a dishonest man is not afraid of incurring the guilt of perjury . In the exercise of my profession for more than forty years , I have often seen the oath deferred ; and I have not more than twice known a party restrained by the sanctity of the oath from persisting iu what he had before asserted "—( Pothier on Oligations , pp . 831 . )
In my next letter T shall show the mischievousness of exacting oaths , and point out the numerous instances where they have in late years been abolished . A Barkistee . Temple , March 21 st .
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There is no learned man but will confess he hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and nis judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . —Miltobt .
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[ IN THIS DErATCTlTENT , AS ALL OPINIONS , HOWEVEE EXTREME ARE ALLOWED AN EXPRESSION , THE EDITOS NECESSAEILY HOLDS HIMSELF RESPONSIBLE FOE NONE . ]
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522 THE LEADER . [ Satprpay ,
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The Cottese of Tbfe Love . —Who does not know of eyes , lighted by love once , where the flame shines no more?—of lamps extinguished , once properly trimmed and tended ? Every man has such in his house . Such mementos make our splendidest chambers look blank and sad : such faces seen in a day cast a gloom upon our sunshine . So oaths mutually sworn , and invocations of heaven , and priestly ceremonies , and fond belief , and love , so fond and faithful , that it never doubted
but that it should live for ever , are all of no avail towards making love eternal : it dies , in spite of the banns and the priest ; and I have often thought there should be a visitation of the sick for it ; and a funeral service , and an extreme unction , and an abi in pace . It has its course , like all mortal things—its beginning , progress , and decay . It buds , and it blooms out into sunshine , and it withers and ends . Strephon and Chloe languish apart : join in a rapture : and presently you hear that Chloe is crying , and Strephon has broken his crook across her back . Can you mend it so as to show no marks of rupture ? Not all the priests of Hymen , not all the incantations to the gods can make it whole —TnAfiirT-RAv ' s ~ Rsm , ond .
A Heaet-Teagedt . —There is a natural communicativeness about women ' emotions which men ' s do not possess . A happy woman imperceptibly diffuses her happiness all around her ; she has an influence that is something akin to the influence of a sunshiny day . So , again , the melancholy of a melancholy woman is invariably , though silently , infectious ; and Mrs . Sherwin was one of this latter order . Her pale , sickly , moistlooking skin ; her large , mild , watery , light-blue eyes ; the restless , vigilant timidity of her expression ; the mixture of useless Imitation and nervous , involuntary rapidity in every one of her actions , all furnished the same significant betrayal of a life of incessant fear and
restraint ; of a disposition full of modest generosities and meek sympathies , which bad been crushed down past rousing to self-assertion , past ever seeing the light . There , in that mild , wan face of her ' s—in those painful startings and hurryings when she moved ; in that tremulous , faint utterance when sho spoke—there , I could see one of those ghastly heart-tragedies laid open before me , which are not to be written , but which aro acted and re-acted , scene by scene and year by year , in the secret theatre of home ; tragedies which aro ever shadowed , darkly and more daikly yet , by the slow falling of the black curtain , that drops lower and lower every day—that drops , to hide all at last , from tho blind of Death . CoMiINS ' 8 Basil .
Tiirc Fish-wipe's Tonotte . —In Edinburgh , where women do not in general abuse the privilege of their sex , the fish-wife alone has a long tongue , and generally a sharp one . I ' n Dublin again , where all aro well furnished with this member , it is mentioned in the memoirs of the late celebrated Irish Demosthenes ( as Frenchmen delight ; to designate Daniel O'Conncll ) , and quite as u feather in bis cap , that he once heat an Irish iehthyopolist of the feminine gender at her own weapons —effectually silencing his Celasno b y bringing unexpected charges of an extraordinary nature against her reputation , filched on !/ of the elements of trigonometry
and IOuclid . The n : uno characteristic t y . syplioinsni in showed abroad . The poissiideH of I ' aris have ever been distinguished by \\\ v \ v vilujx rativo and abusive language : in Sicily the noi . se made in disposing of tho mutest of creufure . s is perfectly stunning ; und in Ital y at least half the accidentcs and accios of the total population of a town are vented in the lishniarket ; or if we look back into the history of ichthyopolisin to times when the nndern peschcria was represented in ( Jrecce by an agora , sunl iu Italy by a forum , we find Mint even then , as now , it was a noisy calling entirel y m the hands of Hunters . —From Fraser ' s Magazine for May .
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Leader (1850-1860), May 28, 1853, page 522, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1988/page/18/
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