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Leader (1850-1860), 31st December 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1418, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      that imprudent courage which Bengal huntsmen delight to find in th £ tnldbotcr . Xord Carlisle and Dr . Cumming inay . not be quite right in their philosophy of vials and trumpets , but it needs no profound researches into mystic themes to become aware that we are oil the eve of great changes , and to look to the decade upon which we are entering for the evolution of new principles and the practical recognition of old truths . The bells- that from a thousand towers will ring out the old year to-night will also , in the words of Tennyson" Ring out the old , ring in the new . " Let us hope that they will likewise "Ring- in the valiant man and free , The larger heart , the kindlier hand ; King-out the darkness of the land , Ring in the Christ that Is to be . "

      Untitled Article

      BICKERINGS OF THE INFALLIBLE S . We have now the official account of the transactions in which " the so-called mutiny " of the seamen of the Princess Royal originated . The Admiralty considered the subject of such importance that it instituted an inquiry by three Commissioners , which has ended in the Admiralty passin cr a severe censure on the conduct of Captain Baillie , who displayed , says the illustrious Board , " a great want of judgment and firmness in dealing with every circumstance of the case . " Captain Baillie and the imprisoned and now pardoned seamen are , we must therefore suppose , t&e only persons to blame on the subjects But the partial

      publication of the correspondence which the _ Admiralty has sanctioned , will enable the public to judge for itself , and perhaps its verdict may differ from the censure of the Board . What . Captain Baillie has to say for himself has not transpired , and the public must form its opinion on the exparte statement of his censurers . TProm this publication we learn that there exists an Admiralty order restricting the grant of leave of absence to seamen . It has been apparently renewed , with some modifications , by an order issued on November 28 , which directs that " leave is to be granted to officers or men

      belonging to ships to be paid off , unless a Sunday intervene , when the Port Admiral may exercise his discretion . " In the opinion of Admiral Bowles , such an order is extremely injudicious . It imprisons men as culprits in whom no confidence can be placed on returning from a lengthened foreign service . From entertaining such an opinion Admiral Bowles took on himself the responsibility - —contrary to this Admiralty order—to permit one watch of the Princess Royal to go on shore on , the application of Captain Baillie . The Admiral set the example of disobedience to an order which he was bound to enforce , because he

      believed it to be injudicious and unjust . But soon after Captain Baillie returned arid reported the whole crew in a very excited state , whereupon the Admiral saw " it was time to be firm and decisive , " and revoked the limited indulgence he had granted , because the " crew were so unreasonable in their demands . " Thev all wanted the enjoyment which the Admiral thinks they ought to have , and wlxick to deny them is to treat them as culprits . That is exactly what the Admiral did when ho revoked the permission . So the disappointed and injured men were stopped from going on shore ; and so they kicked up that row which

      was called a mutiny , which courts martial were empowered to try , " and for which they sent , a large batch of seamen to prison . It is now perfectly clear that the humane but weak Admiral was first wrong in disobeying the Admiralty order ; and next wrong in regarding the men ' s desire to go ashore as unreasonable , and revoking his permission . Captain Baillie is wrong by . the judgment of the Admiralty , but only the unfortunate seamen got imprisoned . The Admiralty , by repeating its order on No-The Admiralty , by repeating its order on

      JNovember 28 , not to allow seamen leave of absence , Censures Admiral Bowles , and openly censures Captain Baillie ; and the Admiralty itself will escape censure and punishment unless the public inflicts them : The public will probably think , j ^ fth Admiral Bowles , that the -order to withhold leave from the seamen when a ship is about to be ( . tfoiijl off i » most injudicious . If the order bo injum $ ofli ( jjj the Admiralty deserves to boar the :. 4 w ^ . ] jlftme . belonging to' the transaction . It 0 $# nW < & QMfoetyiiMtsi foolfoh order to " treat the seamen aa culprits , in whom no confidence can bo

      placed . " THis phrase of the Admiral expresses the principle on which the Admiralty always acts . It has no confidence—it . never has had any confidenee-r—in the seamen . How could it ? Whahas confidence in the men he has enslaved ? The Admiralty has unbounded confidence in its own wisdom . On this'prmciple it has always acted , and the result is that the seafaring population-is , and has long been , disgusted with the Navy . They are always reluctant to enter ; they desert in multitudes after entering ; they go in crowds to the United States ; so the wonderful confidence which the Admiralty has in its own wisdom inflicts on the nation a mass

      of evils . The unpleasant occurrence on board the Princess Royal is an illustration of the effects of its infallibility . There is no tribunal to overhaul its conduct ; no court martial to try it , except the public ; and if the public desire to see the Navy ¦ willingly manned and the nation zealously defended by its seafaring youth , it must insist on the Board acknowledging that it has done wrong to the seamen .

      Untitled Article

      MR . BARON BRAMWELL AND BRIBERY . Mb . Baron Bbamwell ' s elevation to the bench gave general satisfaction , because , though no one expected him to prove a great constitutional lawyer , his industry , clearness , and common sense , indicated him as a man capable of occupying- an excellent second place . These expectations nave not been in the main disappointed , but we regret to notice occasional aberrations , which , it would be well for the learned Baron himself , and for the cause of justice , should be kept in check . The task of presiding over a common law court is apt to grow

      wearisome , and we cannot" wonder that men , deficient in the lighter elements of wit , should sometimes indulge in ponderous caricatures of jocularity ; but they should take care in what direction they scatter their cumbrous jests . In a recent case , Mr . Bramwell , having , perhaps , one eye for the then approaching season of jokes , puddings , and pantomimes , and another for the matter before him , decidedly overstepped those boundaries of decency , which surround his office , and laid himself open to the charge of being either an undignified

      trifler , Or a political partizan . "he occasion which gave rise to this conduct arose put of the action of the Northern Reform Union against tho electoral corruption at Berwick . It will be remembered that Mr . Reed , the indefatigable secretary of the Northern Reformers , made an elaborate inquiry into the malpractices connected with the election in the well-known border town , and having obtained information which left no doubt of the rottenness of the place , he next proceeded , by direction of the ReformUnion Committee , to bring actions against certain suspected persons , in oi'der to recover thepenalties alleged to have been incurred under the Bribery Act .

      The' event must show whether Mr . Reed has been right or wrong in his selection of individuals , but so long as the Legislature throws upon the public the task of checking electoral bribery , and offers a reward in the shape of a penalty to be recovered by any successful informer , it is the plain duty of judges to afford every reasonable fnofnty to any one risking the heavy expenses of an action according to the provisions of the law . The principle of tho Act rhay bo objected to , as it is discreditable to a civilised country , and to the first representative assembly in the world , that so serious tin ofFence as bribery for the purpose of procuring ' the corrupt return of a member of Parliament should go unpunished , unless some one should bo tempted to try to make 4 J 100 by playing the part which ought to belong

      to a publio prosecutor or a special officer of the House of Commons . Under ordinary oiroumstances the plaintiff in such an action is liable to have his motives considered to be simply ft dosiro of gain , and to chock frivolous actions tho Act provides that the prosecutor or plaintiff shall not be entitled to recover costs unless he have given security to pay thorn in the event of tho decision going against him . In tho case befbro us there was no ground for supposing that the action was brought heedlessly or voxat tiousiy , and the defendants had in fact , if not in , law , the unusual security of dealing with' an important publio body whoso character would bo destroyed if they suffered their secretary to fail in tho discharge of pecuniary obligations incurred in obedience to their own orders . It

      may also'be ^ emariked ^ hatj ^ if such"laws are to be put in force at all , " it is much better that the initiative should be taken by an association than hy one of the class of personswho usually act . as informers . It appears that the defendants in the Berwick ease applied to Mr . Baron Bramwell to order the plaintiff to give security for the costs of the suit , upon which his lordship observed that " the Northern Reform Union is a purity society ; it consists of patriots ; , and surely these gentlemen will only be too eager ' -to give any security that be desiredif it merelto show

      may , were . y their highmindedness . and integrity . " In another passage Mr . Bramwell is reported , to have exclaimed : " It is very easy to go about professing integrity to commence actions against people for penalties when the plaintiff cannot pay the costs of the suit is a cheap way of becoming a patriot , —cheap , and , I think , nasty . " After this elegant comment , and after having suggested a compromise of the ' case , Mr . Brain well directed the securities to be given . In a letter before us , Mr . Reed Fejects his lordship ' s proposal for a compromise , a proposal Which it was anything but creditable for him to make , and asks : — "Is it consistent with

      propriety , is it consistent with judicial decorum , is it consistent with the high character popularly assigned to every English . judge , to endeavour at the outset of a legal proceeding , as your lordship is reported to have done , to sneer away the character of the p laintiff in the suit ?" There are very few who will not agree with Jfr . Reed ' s remonstrance ; and , should the case come before Mr . Baron Bratnwell for trial , it will require great core oil his part to avoid the

      suspicion of acting under a prejudice , from which a judge ought to be free . Electoral corruption is one of the most disgraceful and dangerous evils of the day , and , although in the class of society which Mr . Baron Bramwell may frequent it may be regarded with levity , there is only one proper course open to a judicial officer , and that is , to treat it as a very grave constitutional offence . If those who endeavour to check so flagrant an evil

      must be met with taunts about their " purity " and their " patriotism , " there are ¦ plenty of low characters who can dispense such insults , without leaving tho function to be performed by an occupant of the Bench . Bribery may be fashionable , and " patriotism" ungenteel ; nevertheless , the public do not pay Mr . Baron Bramwell to act as arbiter elegantiai'um , but to execute justice , and maintain the dignity of the law . With a

      weakminded jury , nothin g is more damaging to a cause than to make it ridiculous , and how can Mr . Bramwell tell that this case may not be tried by twelve men who may fail to see that the proper person to be laughed at is himself ? Among tho wealthy classes there are , unfortunately , umny who look upon bribery as one of the pillars of the State , but we do not wish to sec our judges leaning against such a support in an attitude of bread grin . We do not believe Mr . Baron Bramwell meant

      any mischief , and , upon cool reflection , wo are sure he would be as strong an opponent of electoral corruption as the members of the Northern Reform Union ; but if he is unable to temper facetiousness with discretion , let him suspend his mirth until ho has doffed his wig .

      Untitled Article

      POLICY OF DEMOCRACY . Amongst the numerous seizures of the productions of the press recently made in Paris is La D mocratio , a volume in duodecimo , of 400 pn s written his book in a serene spirit , as if he had been living in London or Geneva . Ho is n scientific politician , of tho Royor Collawl school- —a metaphysician who lopks as far aa ho can into tho principles of sooioty , and deduooa oonsoquonces in . n formal , logical manner . His book cannot excite enthusiasm or harm tho French . Govornmont , and tho aoizuro must have , boon dictated by ignorant official zeal .

      Asa matter of fact ,, tho oertain ascendancy ot democracy in tho ( future is recognised by ft " modern thinkers , and ; it is consequently most tw * girablo that a knowledge of tho principle 9 gy

      Untitled Article

      ) $ 4 i $ TETE ILEADjETK . [ ffio .. fogfr . -Bec . 31 , 183 $ .

      Untitled Article

      ? LftDdmoorfttio , " Par Etionno Vaoherot , nnol ^ M ' rootour dee lfltudos a l'Hoolo Normal Suporlour . TarlH , l » P *

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 31, 1859, page 1418, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2327/page/14/