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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.
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NOTICES TO COF . RESPONDT / NTS . X— -The Letter has been forwarded ; Thanks are offered for the Suggestion , which will be adopted .
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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 . Pjsase , 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 . WiNH in the chair , to consider his 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 P 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 Harl of Dubby to make all men peers . Parliament is in a dilemma , whiohuas been aggravated by Lord John Russell . Inveterately vain , and determined to stand ( not to , move ) in front of the Liberal party , he set aside UVir . Dillwyn ' s motion , which might have been successful , in favour of his own ,
which must be shelved . Six readings , two committees , and a Royal assent constitute the process according to Russell , a simple affirmative that according to Dillwyn . A majority of one in the House of Commons would , settle the question for ever . Wo do hope that , even though he be 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 pajrallel privilege , and accept Baron lioauiflOHiLD ' a affirmation without consulting that
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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 . BbbtoIiAOOI is concerned , unless there be an utter miscarriage of justice , it is a case for restitution or compensation . But in a public aense 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 . Bertolaooi first disturbed the serenity of the staff in 1804 . They took no warning , and , getting rid of the Auditor , slumbered until Mr . CowiNanuun ' s motion
roused Chancellor , Receiver-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 . BbhtoIiACCI . 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 background of
explanations . The point is—do these explanations invalidate the Auditor ' s statement ? We Ay ill first take Lord Gbanvillb ' s case , v . hicli stands first upon the petition , —p laced there at the suggestion of Mr . Roebuck . 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 . " lo 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 bis original aweara . But why 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 . Ib 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 tho
department was sucli that Mr . Bebtolacci 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 it hinted at any special compact between him and his friends on the Committee . He is the member of a guild , and the members understand one another—that is all . We have no doubt that Lord Granville anticipates with perfect satisfaction the decision of the Committfift .
Lord Belter , by his own statement , justified the punctilious method adopted by Mr . Bertolaooi . 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 Receiver-General , who not only admits that he spoke of him as a ' damned , fellow , ' but- ia described by' Lord Hahbo . 'W . b y as saying , when his Lordship became Chancellor , " 1 wonder how you will get on with that fellow BEaTOLAOOi r" " The only difficulty seemed
to be , " remarked Lord Bbxpeb , " that the Auditors of tho Duchy had always been uniformly members of the Council ; " and this , becoming known to the Auditor , stood between him and the despotic clique , the nnuuoinl transactions of which he was bound by Ins oath and his duty to chock . Tho oath itself implied his right to a seat in Council ; but throughout the proceedings the offtciuls 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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prelacy which the nation has tolerated too long m the midst of the peerage . _ What does the Premier think . of the nominee of Ripen , the Evangelical Biceersteth , voting to exclude the Jews ? It is time to relieve the 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 Inde
the Tories are to be defeated and the - pendents 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 Palmeeston 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 Campbell ' s offer to go to ISewgate , Mr . Walpoie ' s quotations from the history of the Commonwealth , and Lord Pal-MEBSTOif ' 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 opiuion will waffc 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 Shaftesbuby 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 political energy , and Reform will be within reach .
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h is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive . Their insertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits of the commumca-Ntf ' notice can be taken of anonymous correspondence "Whatever is intended for insertion must he authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not , necessarily for publication , but as a , guarantee of Ins good faith . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . Communications should always be legibly written and on one side of the paper only . If long , it increases the difficulty of finding space for them .
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liik \ /* - > V ~ y » - SATURDAY , JULY 25 , 1857 .
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There is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world ) isby thevery law of its creation in eternal progress . —De . Akkoid ,
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-ntt THE LEADER . : po . 383 , Jttxy 25 , 1857 . / \ IO ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ _ _ : , , — .. ... ¦— -. ¦ ¦ ¦ — .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 25, 1857, page 708, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2202/page/12/
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