MELBOURNE. ANDERSON THE NEGRO.

New Zealander, Volume XVII, Issue 1568, 27 April 1861, Page 3

MELBOURNE.

ANDERSON THE NEGRO.

VOLUNTEERS UNDER ARMS. (From the " Herald," April 2.) The visitor to the Werribee Encampment yesterday who wen, with a mind full of vivid recollections of Waterloo celebrations iu the Phoenix Park, (that spot so unrivalled in the British empire tor splendid military displays,) or of Royal reviews in Hyde Park, or of imposing military spectacles at Pans or Vienna, would probably not be very much struck either with the array or the evolutions which he there witnessed. The bare suggestion of the comparison to which such remembrances would almost necessarily lead would be obvioaslv unfair to onr young Volunteer army, and a moment's reflection would correct it. But to the mind of a youthful Anglo-Australian, who has never had an opportunity of seeing a body of fifteen or twenty thousand soldiers engaged in mimic warfare, there must certainly have been something very impressive,— besides the novelty of it,—in the scene of the Encampment yesterday. So picturesque a sight he never sawbefore. It was truly camp-life in miniature ; but it was camp-life in its brightest and most holiday-like aspect. The brilliancy and softness of our Australian climate flung a peculiar charm over the moving scene. The eager crowds of spectators thronging from the railway station, across the plain, to the town of white tents which gleamed in the distance on the sun-lighted lea ; the surprising number of sutlers and campfollowers,—where do they all come from and whither do they go when the war is all over ?—who had pitched their tents in the outskirts of the canvas garrison ; the blending masses of Volunteers in their various uniforms,—riflemen and cavalry, bandmen and sentries, officers and privates ; the slightly disenchanting peeps into the interior of the tents which at a distance looked so picture-like ; the review and the sham-battle, with their stirring suggestions of ' the pomp and circumstances of glorious war ;" the bustle, the life, the martial movement of the whole ; and then the break-up and hasty return to the camp and railway station as the shades of evening began to fall:—here surely was variety of incident more than sufficient to stamp a lifelong memory on any impressible young mind. Never before have the echoes been awakened on the shores of our tranquil bay by the thunder of the cannons and the long roll of musketry of nearly two thousand volunteers under arms. Never before have we seen congregated into one serried phalanx the prowess of Melbourne, the martial valour of Collingwood and St. Kilda, the patriotic gallantry of Ballaarat, and the chivalry of Bacchus Marsh. Has Cadmus been amongst us unawares,—like Apollo in disguise amongst the herdsmen of King and sown on Victorian soil the dragon's teeth which, as the mythic chroniclers assure us, always spring up again in the shape of armed men? It would be unfair, as we have already hinted, to institute a comparison at any time between HM perfect evolutions ot a body W trained spiers and those of our citizen volunteers. But would it be so where the numerous and complicate* man«uvresof a regular field-day have to, be gone through. Setting comparisoni aside, however it is but simple justice to record that the entire Volunteer force mustered on the Werribee plains yesterday went ZSheh movements with very credible spirit and precision. Both in file and column were the exerc 1 ses sSully executed. There was, at all events, cviScc enough to show that a good basis has been fnid for a thorough military training, should it ever be needed. The spirit of progressive improvement clearly possesses the entire force. This is enough. It is not necessary that our Voluuteers should ever become disciplined soldiers in the strictest sense of the word • all that is required is that they should maintain just so much practice of the military art as will fit them, whenever occasion may call for it, for temporarily assuming the duties of real soldiers. A few days spent u under arms" every year will be amply sufficient for this purpose. The Werribee Encampment will thus cometotakeitspittCJin the Victorian calendar as a regular annual institution.

Ve t it is impossible to suppress a feeling of tl rnitv on Victorian soil, of such scenes as w jnconfjruty, ister( j )lV> This sunny Southern Lam 0/lom J of national existence lias been s w^ e . sis surely destined to have a, conthmousl B „ S piciou £«j career. It stands on th pe - aC ht shores of tlio mild Pacific, not on the ironboun br'g nt ' \ fl gtonn y Atlantic. Let us accept the omei c° flSt(> if hopeful augury. Let us never forget thai i *Sb« and fiercely exciting as war may be, it i / m K ■'ice and those who love it that the blessin; | wita pw* Tlic y 0 ] nntt ;er force itself has bee; eTCr iliil with the design, not of soliciting, but c: tiro war. This is the moral of yesterday' fbatue. ' By all means let the Volunteers 2p?ld architects, build their light town of canvas " r " p 'llv on ibe shores of our sunlit harbour; but thef f- r go will be, in effect, but a repeated declaratioi kSnretheworld that tho people of Victoria love an, hj hj peace, and have unanimously resolved ti S'ntain it within their own territory. T HK WERKIBEE ENCAMPMENT. To say that there was a great crowd at the Wcrrihei ucHinpment yesterday would not adequately convey n 6 rrci't impression of the numbers on the ground. All Melbourne appeared to be there. From an early houi •' the morning Bourkc-strect west was crowded witli lemons on their way to the Spencer-street station, and, arrived there, a scene presented itself which lias rarely, {fever occurred before. Scarcely bad the lir.-t truiii hcen drawn up to the platform beiore it was filled with ••• living freight. Still the platform remained crowded, and tickets could not be supplied half fas; enough, Another train, and still another, were tilled with nil raniuiiv, andyct the number of intending visitors to the Werribee did not appear to have been diminished. To seine the crushing and squeezing was suffice it to deter them from proceeding any further ; others, more COflragCOUS, pushed and elbowed their way into the crowd, and of those who ventured to bide their time, there were large numbers of the gentler t,ex. But even thti r helplessness was not respected ; crinoline was comprised into one-eighth of us ordinary circumference " best bonnets" yielded to the force of circumstances, and the best l'aris hats, new for the occasion, "were reduced very soon to shocking bad ones. So determined were some to -jet seats that, alter the doors were locked, they obtained ingress through the window, and there was more than one instance in which females had lo submit to the process of being dragged through the window. Towards eleven o'clock the crowd was still it" dense as ever, and at this hour His Excellency the Governor and suite arrived. A special carriage was of course provided for His Excellency and party, but even in this train there was not sufficient accommodation for half the number of person son the platform. We will now visit the camp. J lis Excellency the Governor of course duly arrived at the Werribec station about an hour after his departure from Melbourne. He was accompanied by Lady Barkly, Captain Bancroft, and Mr. Tnuins, His Excellency's Private Secretary. On arriving at the camp, His Excellency was received by Colonel Pitt, and the volunteers, who had been drawn up in review order, presented arms. Having reviewed the troops. His Excellency and Lady Barkly, and about 170 ladies and gentlemen, at the invitation of Coloucl i'if, adjourned to the pavilion, where a dejeuner had been provided. Colonel Pitt, of course, presided. Lady Darkly being seated at his right hand. The fuests included the staff'officers, the commanding officers in the force, the Chief Justice, and Lady Stawell Sir Hedmond Larry, Sir Francis Murphy, and members of both branches of the Legislature. The repast was of the most sumptuous description, having been provided by Messrs. Spiers and I'ond. At the conclusion of the dejeuner, His Excellency proceeded throu"' | i the camp on a tour of inspection. He was accompanied by Colonel Pitt, Captain Bancroft, Capt. Hinds, and Captain Scratchley. His Excellency, we believe, expressed himself exceedingly pleased with the whole arrangements of the camp. The strength of the force had of course been considerably increased since the preceduur day, there being no less than 2013 men under arms yesterday. The following was then the state of the camp :

Total armed force on the ground 2U13 i ;i After the dejeuner preparations were ofcour.se made j a •for the sham fight, and the companies were drawn up sl in the front ofthe camp. About this time, and shortly before ir, crowds of visitors arrived from Melbourne. •' Tii ■■ -puce between the encampment and the railway P station was thronged, nn.l such was the large influx " that, at ihree o'clock, there could not have been many u less than 12,000 spectators. At the dinner hour, one C; o'clock, Messrs. Spiers and Pond's dining-saloon was " crowded with hungry souls, and, judging from appear- !; ances, their wants were readily satisfied. In one por- l ' tioti of their establishment there were mountains of w loaves, which would have set up half a dozen bakers ti shops in Melbourne. In other quarters extensive S( - culinary operations were going on, and huge joints of °i meat were being operated upon by half n dozen expert Vl carves. "

Before we proceed to speak of the sham fight we must mentally carry our readers back to the Spencer street station. After the departure of the train which conveyed His Excellency the Governor and suite, crowds of persons continued to arrive at the station, and another train was dispatched about twelve o'clock. This exhausted all the available carriages l on tlu line, and there was therefore no hope of getting to the Werribee except by waiting for the return trains. Ttie contusion increased as the minutes passed, and when it was found that there would not he another train until two o'clock, numbers who hail purchased tickets on the faith of going by the quarter-to-onc o'clock train expressed their disappointment in no mea»nred terms, and the tickets changed hands at half the price that had been paid for them. There was no need to trouble the ticket clerks, for plenty were willing to s-11 out, and some little amusement was caused by the fall and rise of this description of railway stock, according as the probabilities of getting to the Werribee increased or diminished. The state of things continued until half-past one o'clock, when passes to the Werribee suddenly rose to par. Some cattle trucks were looming in the di-tance, and were shortly afterwards-drawn up to the platform. Here a scene occurred which defies description. The trucks v,i re rushed; everyone clambered into them as he best could and 10. a few moments there was not standing room to bo-obtained for love or money. Soon, however, a dozen other carriages were attached, and at ten minutes past two o'clock a train of .'io carriages, containing at least -2UOO persons, moved off, leaving the pl-it form siill crowded with persons. But to the sham fight, which was the great feature of the day's proceedings. We are now at the camp again, and the volunteers have nil been marched out in their respective companies in front of the camp. The cavalry, consisting of the Yeomanry, Mounted ltifles, andihe I'allaarat Rangers, the latter in their dashing Uaribaldine costume, attract a great share of attention, and the foot forces, from tho extreme regularity of their lines and the smart manner in which they obey the word of command, draw forth the commendations of the spectators who are crowding all parts of the ground. His Excellency and suite are also spectators of the scene; Colonel l'itt and his staff Officers are of course preparing the men for the intended onslaught upon the imaginary foe, and between half past three and four o'clock the order to advance is given, and troops march in a south-easterly direction from the camp. A line was soon formed, the artillery occupying a central position, ami the latter were soon brought into action under the command of Major Smith and Captain and Adjutant Slice. The Naval brig-ado, consisting of the William-town and Snndridgo divisions, occupied a position on the right, under the command of Capt. Kay; Lieut. 11. Payne,acting as adjutant. The cavalry took up position on the extreme right; and the Melbourne and Suburban liiflcs, under the command of their respective oflieers, occupied a position to the left of the artillery. The artillery and musketry lire )vao vigorously kept up. the tones advancing as tho imaginary enemy was supposed to be retiring, and tho y arions evolutions common to field actions were gone through with an alacrity and correctness exceedingly "ratable to on? Viettfrura voltratm?':*. At th i

imaginary foe was supposed to bo hemmed in excepting e on the side next the river. They ivtreatcd, of course", a aml were hanl pressed by th» Naval Brigade and several companies of rifles in dark uniform, tho other j Melbourne and suburban companies extending in front ' "; on - lf > le . oi,,lks of the river to prevent escape. The '_ Naval Brigade weie then ordered to charge with fixed j bayonets, and right willingly did they carry out the i 01 'dcr, driving their imaginary foe across tho river, At the same time the artillery, which had u commandj Mg position in the roar, opened fire and the revcrberf attons through the valley of the river, and the other | attendant circumstances of the repulse, had an exp itremely good effect. After the sham fighttho captains of , all the companies were assembled together, and His Excellency the Governor addressed theni in highly ; complimentary terms on tho daily increasing efficiency , of the volunteer forces. After this, three cheers were given to the Governor, and three more to the gallant colonel commanding the forces. We arc sorry to say that one casualty occurred during the sham fight which somewhat marred the pleasure derived from the success which otherwise attended this first attempt at field engagements on the part of our volunteers. A sou of Mr. Vardy, the solicitor, and a member of the Emerald Hill corps, was severely wounded l>y a shot from his rear rank man, whose gun accidentally went off whilst he was in the act of capping it. Tlic charge, which of course was blank cartridge, passed through the legs of the unfortunate young man and lacerated them very much. He was subsequently taken to the hospital tent, where every attention was paid to him by Dr Gillbec, and he was afterwards removed in a litter to tho railway station, and conveyed to Melbourne. After tliesham fight of course the visitors made their way to the station as fast as the could, as from the large numbers on the ground it was generally expected that there would be difficulty in getting scats in the train. The station soon became over crowded, and there was hardly any .standing room in or about it. The. Govcrnor returned to town by the five o'clock train, and another pass»nger train was despatched half an hour afterwards. The remainder of the visitors, by far the largest proportion, had to wait until eleven o'clock before another train started, which, with two others, we believe brought away the remainder of the passengers. The confusion and anxiety to obtain seats was intense, and we wonder that there has been so i\i\v accidents, it any, during the day. Many were tlie complaints of the delay which occurred, hut we believe one excusable cause for if is the absiiisc of MY. Ilainmett, the traffic superintendent, through illness, and the fact that the acting traffic superintendent has been suspended for disrespectful conduct to the commissioner. We trust that on a future occasion of this" nature there will be no cause for such complaints. Tin: i;i:al social kvil. [from the •• Herald."] There is one fact connected \vi;!i tho social and moral condition of this colony which ought to be kept constantly in view by legislators, by philanthropists, and by all who are in any degree zealous for the progressive well-being of the country ; and yet it, is a fact almost wholly overlooked. At times, when there is a disposition in the public mind, or in the journalistic mind, to revive the ever-ineffectual discussion of the , Social Evil, the fact we refer to gets casually noticed, but it speedily drops out of sight again. And yet its < immediate and immense importance cannot possibly : be overstated in terms. It goes down to the very roots j of the social life of the community ; it affects more or , less powerfully the public morals, the public happiness, and even the public health ; and it exercises the very s greatest influence on the national prosperity. No other , fact of a purely social kind can he so much as named , beside it for general interest or for direct practical effect on the population. It is, simply, the disparity , of the sexes. ) .

Here is an evil of the most palpable ami striking kind, and one admitting of a plain and practical remedy. Why. then, is it so persistently ignored by the puMic at large, and especially by those persons who aspire to the character of Christian philanthropists ? Why do we never hear of any movement being made in patriotic or in religious circles for its suppression ? Possibly this marked neglect arises from the very circumstance that the evil is capable of a simple and practical remedy ; fur it i< a curious fact that the more vague and unmanageable a great public evil is, the more zealous are the efforts made by wellin etitioncd people to extinguish if. Thus there is a prevalent and most unaccountable conviction in a certain class of minds that the only tiling required in order to root out all irreligion and immorality from society at is to saturate it with millions o! printed tracts ; and the measure of success in this case is calculated, not by the ascertained amount of positive moral reform, but by the millions of tracts circulated. I*. was but the other evening that His Excellency was congratulating a handful of ladies and gentlemen at the Mechanics' Institution on the assured approaching Christianisation of the world, because the Bible Society had printed a couple of millions of copies of the Scriptures last year. " As if there were really no difference whatever between means and ends : Perhaps it is a pity, in regard to the ■subject under consideration, that it is an evil of a kind which cannot —really cannot —be dealt with by means <>f tracts and ten-meetings and platitudes from platforms. A movement to reform it might, in that ease, gain large public sympathy and pecuniary support. Unfortunately, however, the remedy suggests itself at once, and is capable of being applied in the readiest way; and therefore religious and patriotic people avoid the subject.

Ther.-are, in round numbers, 130.000 less females than males in our present population. Allowing a proportion for the Chinese (who do not count socially) there arc still wanting at least >20,000 females to bring up our population to its natural condition. Who can calculate the enormous amount of mischief resulting to the population in every way from this single fact ? There is a great deal said now-a-days about the Servant-girl grievance and the Social livil : but who that has an atom of intelligence fails to perceive that these are only the surface symptoms of the deeper social malady ? They are but the temporary effects ; but It, re is the permanent cause. To work a real cure, von must eradicate the root and origin of the disease It i< worse than idle to talk*of working a thorough, moral, and religious reform against a population so long as its natural conditions are sadly disarranged. It is tutile to hope for anything like enduring national prosperity so long as the only possible means by which it can be achieved are absent Tracts and Testaments are, no doubt, very good things in their way ; but what this people require are not Tracts and Testaments, but comfortable and settled homes, and good wives to aid in establishing them. Equalise the sexes, and you do more towards the moral and religious renovation of the community than by all the tracts that ever were printed, and all the tea-meetings that ever were held. Equalise the sexes, and you do more towards making this a truly prosperous and happy land, than by till the parliamentary speeches that were ever delivered in Victoria.

To equalise the sexes nothing more is needed than a continuous stream of eligible female immigration. Whilst wc, at this side of the globe, arc suffering in every way from the abnormal state of society in regard to the statistics of the sexes, our fellow-countrymen at the other side of it are complaining of the precisely converse evil. In England, as the "Times" recently said, " women are a drug." There are half-a-million more women than men in England alone. Wh-tt an immense nggicgatc of neglected power, constrained idleness, and undeserved suffering does that single fact imply! And how truly noble, and philanthropic, and Christian a work it would lie to set about diminishing it! Victoria could take off a full fourth of the English surplus, and be incalculably the gainer by it. The Australian colonies could absorb the entire number, and the benefit to them all would be illimitable and everlasting. The transfer of the half-million of females from the overcrowded old country to the unpopulated new one would be a threefold blessing,—to the two countries respectively, and to the willing immigrants themselves The "Times"complains that there exists at home no agency for sending English governesses and domestic servants to the colonies, where they arc much wanted. This is a direct challenge to us to set about the task for our own benefit, at all events. Let us have, then, a liberal grant for female immigration this year ; and let there be established forthwith an association for 'he purpose of working side by side with the Government scheme. We commend this idea to the attention of all benevolently disposed persons, especially of the ladies. They are bound —since the other sex proves itself so ungallant and so unpatriotic —to take up the case of their superfluous sisters tit home. They would soon put an end lo the Servantgirl grievance if they did so, and to many other social evils as well. When all is said, it is the disparity of the sexes that is our real Social Evil.

Tub circumstancej which have once more brought the que.-jii mi t>f slavery bi'l'ove a British tribunal an.; ;is follow* :—One Anderson, i 'lave in Missouri, made his escape While crossing tlio plantation of Mr. Seneca Digges, he was seen and pursued and overtaken. When brought to bay, us his last chance, he drew hj knife and stabbed Pigges c|ied • Ar-dev-'on i/ir-l'-' bh e?cui> y

to Canada, whore he was domiciled as a British subject, when he was tracked and his person du mantled under the terms of the extradition treaty. The magistrates of the town of Brentford, whera Anderson was tnken, declined to take the responsibility of surrendering him, and the case was pulsed on to the highe- courts, where it has been fully argued. The most intense public interest, has been excited in Canada upon the subject. Canada has so long been a refuge for fugitive slaves, that the colonists cannot bring themselves to believe it possible that they could surrender to death, and to ignominy worse than death, a m«n whose only crime has been the love oij liberty, and who had defended tiiat liberty by thffl resort, to means which every free Englishman considers justifiable.

EX [>ARTi! ANDERSON. —COURI' OF QUEEN S I'.KNI'II. [From the " Time?,'* January Hi.J (Sitting in Banco before Lord Chief Justice Cockburt), and Justices Crompton, Hill, and Blackburn.) Mr. Edwin James,Q.C. (with whom were Mr. Flood and Mr. G. Allan) moved for a writ of habeas corpus, to be directed to the Governor of the Province of Canada, to the Sheriff of Toronto, and the keeper of the .'aol there, to bring up the body of one John Anderson, together with the cause, of his detention. Lord Chief Justice Cockburn asked why the name of the Governor was introduced. Mr. James said the reason was because in the St. Helena case, to which he should have to refer, the name of the Governor was introduced, as well as that of the keeper of the «aol. The affidavit on which the learned counsel moved was made by L. \. Chanierovzow, of No. 27, Xew Broad-street, in the city of London, Secretary of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. He stated that John Anderson, of the city of Toronto, in Her Majesty's province of Canada', a British subject, domiciled there, was, as he verily believed, illegally detained in rhe criminal gaol of tinsaid city there against his will, not having been legally accused, or charged with, or legally tried, or sentenced for the commission of any crime, or for any ofF.nce against or recognised by the laws in force in the said province, or in any • titer part of Her .Majesty's dominions, or not being otherwise liable to be imprisoned or detained under or b. virtue of any such laws The I affidavit further stated that ilte deponent verily believed that, unless a peremptory writ of habeas corpus should immediately issue by th s honourable Court, the life of the said Joint Anderson would be exposed to the greatest and to immediate danger. The learned counsel proceeded to observe, that, in moving for this writ of habeas corpus, the persons for whom he appeared would have to satisfy the ourt that they had jurisdiction to issue this writ to the province of Canada ; and, if he established that proposition, their Lordships would Lava no doubt that, under the pressing circumstances of the case, the writ ought to be directed to issue. The proposition for which he should contend was, that the Crown had power to issue the writ of habeas corpus into any part of Her Majesty's possessions. Canada was a part of the possessions of the British Crown, and, in the language which had been adopted in these cases, Ii r Majesty had a right, to have an account of the imprisonment of all her subjects in all her dominions He contended that the Court had as much right to issue this prerogative writ into Canada, as ;l possession of the British Crown, as into the Isle of Wi-ht or Yorkshire. These writs had gone 10 Calais, when a possession oi the British Crown, and also to Ireland, and he should contend that Canada stood in precisely the same position, as a possession of the British Crown. Canada, which was a part of the continent of America, was colonised in the ivign of James 1., and the first charter was granted in the 13th of James I. At that time (and the expression was material) the whole of that portion of America was called "the Plantations." and the Board of Trade was called the ••Board of Trade and Plantations" Canada belonged to the British Crown till the yen- lo'3'j, when it was ceded to France ; and it was held by the Crown of France till the year 1759, when it was retaken, and ceded to the British Crown. The statute >( the 14 th George in. cap. 83, treated Canada as a •olotty in the possession of England. Lord Chief Justice Cockburn said that in the Lower Province of Canada the French law prevailed; but I'oronto was an English colony in Upper Canada. Mr. Justice Hill said the Bth section of the s'atutc ho 14th of George 111. reserved civil matters i'ov the dd law; but, by (he llilt section, the criminal law of Sngland prevailed through tho whole of Canada. Mr. James read an extract from the judgment neivered by Lord Uenninn in the case of the Canadian visoners (9 A. and K , 782), where Lord [)emnr.n :aid,— ■'The d ilicult questions that may arise touching the snforccment in England of foreign laws arc excluded rom this case entirely ; for Upper Canada is neither a oreign Stac, nor a colony with any peculiar customs. [ere are no mala pruhib'ttu by virtue of arbitrary mneUnents ; the relation of master and slave is not •ecogniscd as leual ; bur Acts of Parliament have dedared that the Law of England, and none other, shall here prevail." By the 11th section of the statute t! e Ulhof'Gcorgo til., cap. B.'!, the criminal law of England was in force hroufh the whole of Canada, and, beyond all question i British subject in Canada was within a portion of tier Majesty's dominions. The learned counsel conended that it was matter of right and clear law that, is soon as a country became a portion of Her Majesty's loininions, more especially if, like Canada, it became to by conquest or cession, that the writ of habeas vrpiis issued into it, upon the ground that Her Maesty had a right to know what had become of every me of her subjects. No instance could be 'ound of he writ going into Canada, and therefore it was ne•cssary to rely upon the argument by way of analogy, vhich empowered the Court to issue the writ. That he writ which lies and runs into every pari of Her Majesty's dominions was laid down in Bacon's Abridgement —lit. Habeas Corpus (15)— in these erms:—

•••J. To what places it, may be granted. It hath been already observed that the writ oUtabeii* corpus is a prerogative writ., and that, theicforc, by the common law it lies to any part of the King's dominions; for the King ought to have an account why any of his subjects are imprisoned, and therefore no answer will satisfy the writ, but u> return the cause with partition ha*>eo corpus, Sec. Heucc it was holdcn that the writ lay to Calais at the time it was subject to tin: King of England." Mr. .lames then referred to Cowlo's case, in the 3rd vol. of Harrow's Reports, p. 8-'}4, where Lord Mansfield sail,- " Writs nut ministerially directed (sometimes called prerogative writs, because ihey are supposed to issue on the part of tin: King), such as writs of mandamus, prohibition, habeas corpus, certiorari, are restricted by no clause in the constitution given to Lerwick ; upon a proper case they ra«y issue to every dominion ol the Crown of England. There is no doubt of the power of this Court where the place is under the subjection of die Crown of England ; the only question is as to the propriety. To foreign dominions which belong to a Prince who succeeds to the throne of England this Court has no power to send any writ of any kind. We cannot send a habeas corpus to Scotland, or to the Electorate ; but to Ireland, the Isle of Mail, the Plantations, and (as since the loss of the duchy of Normandy they have been considered as annexed" to the Crown in some respects) to Guernsey and Jersey we may, and formerly it lay to Calais, which was a conquest, and yielded to the Crown of England by the treaty of Brctigny." Mr. .hunts said that, by the industry of bis junior (Mr. Flood), he had copies of the writs which had been issue 1 to Calais in 1837 and 1839. They might bo seen in liymcr's Fusdeia, p. I"*. In 1839 such a writ was issued by the of Lords, sitting as a court o! justice. The learned counsel relied strongly on the authority of Lord Mansfield, who said that the writ would issue to " every dmuniou of the Crown of England;" and that this Court could scud the writ to Ireland, to the Isle of Man, and to "the Plantations." lie also referred to VnlteVs Laic of Nations, b. 1, chap. 18, p. 210, as an authority for the position that where a nation took possession of a distant country, and settled in it, it became a part of the parent State ; and to Grotius dc Jure Belli ac Pads, b. 2, C. '.), to the same effect. He also referred to I'eere Williams' Reports, hj. 2, pp. 7-1, 65, where it was said:— "Memorandum, the 9th of August, 1722.—1t was said by the Master of the Polls to have been determined by the Lords of the Privy Council, upon the appeal to the King in Council from the foreign Plantations, 'That if there be a new and uninhabited country found out by British subjects, as the law is the birthright of every subject, so wherever they go they carry their laws with them, and, thcivforo, such new-found country is to be governed by the laws of England.'" Mr. .James then rtfuired to the case of "Peg. v. Crawford'' ( 13 Q B, til.;;, which was an application for a writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum to the Islo of Man, and in which it was held that the writ would run into that island since the .oth ol George 111 , by which the island was vested in the Crown, and formed part of its dominions. The learned counsel also cited the case of "Campbell v Hall," in Cowpcr's Reports, page 204. Mr. Justice CroiuptoQ thought the question wnf whether the Courts in Wrttoinstcr-hjjll had now n

concurrent jurisdiction with the local Courts in granting this writ. , Lord Chief Justice Cockburn said that, in the Berwick case, Berwick was not subject to the law of Scotland, and therefore there was no superior Court which could send a habeas corpus to prevent an illegal imprisonment, unless this Court took upon itself jurisdiction. But was that the case in Canada? Mr. James said lie did not dispute that Canada had

both legislative and criminal jurisdiction ; but his argument was, that the Courts in England had a concurrent jurisdiction with the Courts in Canada. The present was not the cuse of a man who had been tried in Canada, or who was under the sentence of a Court which had power to sentence him, for the affidavit showed that he had never been tried ; and he contended that the mere institution of a local jurisdiction would not oust the Queen of the right which she had to ascertain whether any of her subjects were illegally imprisoned. In the case of the Me of Alan, there were local courts which had the jiower to issue writs of habeas corpus, and so also in the St. Helena case (" Ex parte Lees," Ellis Blackburn, and Ellis, 28). In this latter case a writ of habeas corpus had been very recently granted, after a writ of error had issued. Mr. Justice Crompton said he issued the writ as ancillary to the writ of error.

Mr. dames said, that if this Court refused a writ of habeas corpus the party had a right to go in succession to each of the superior courts ; and if this Court should refuse their writ, he would have a right to go to every court in Westminster hall. He thought that was a strong argument to show that this Court had a concurrent jurisdiction with the Canadian courts. Lord Chief Justice Cockburn said the question was whether it. was within the ambit of this Court's jlliisliiction, or whether the power ot granting the writ was not vested by the Crown in another jurisdiction.

Mr. .James contended that the mere establishment of such a jurisdiction in a local court could not limit the rights of the Crown without the authority of an Act of Parliament. Lord Chief Justice Cockburn said that by the conquest or cession of Canada the law of England attached, and this Court bad the power to issue writs of habeas corpus into that country, unless the Crown ha 1 either expressly or by implication taken away that power. The question was, whether, by the establishment of a local judicature, and committing to it the duty of protecting the subject by writs ot habeas corpus, the Crown had not, by implication, taken away the jurisdiction of this Coii't.

Mr. Justice Crompton said the Legislature might do tha'-.

Mr. James said it was open to a party in this country t.) apply for the writ of habeas carpus to any Court of co-ordinate jurisdiction.

Mr. Justice Hill: And also for a prohibition. Mr. James contended it was a common law right of the subject to go to every tribunal for this writ, and, a fortiori, the courts in this country would have a concurrent jurisdiction with the Colonial courts, unless it was taken away by an Act of Parliament.

Lord Chief Justice Cockburn asked whether the right to go to every one of the courts had not arisen from the habeas Corpus Act? Mr. James contended it was by the common law, and all this Court was asked to do was, not to interfere with any judgment, but to grant a habeas corpus to liberate a man who was in illegal custody, ile was not in custody under the commitment of any local court which had tha power to try him ; ther>j was no judgment to set aside; but it was shown to the Court that he was detained for no crime cognizable by the law of England. The learned counsel then referred to Cams Wilson's case (7 iI.M., 984), in which the writ had issued into the Isle of Jersey; and then proceeded to argue that the case might arise when the courts in Canada mi :ht be tuiable. to discharge their duties, as a reason why this Court should still retain the power of granting these writs. Lord Chiei Justice Cockburn inquired, supposing the writ should go, what means lud the Court of en-

forcing it ? Mr. James said the Court could enforce the writ by attachment, but it could not be assumed that the Queen's writ would not be obeyed. The Court could send its own officer to execute the writ. An application had been made to the local court for a writ of habe.au corpus, and refuse 1 ; and it was now shown to this Court that John Anderson, a British subject, wa.s illegally detained in prison, having been guilty of no crime cognizable, by the law of England. There were precedents for this application, and he confidently submitted that the mere fact that there were other courts which had a concurrent jurisdiction would not deprive the applicant of that protection for which he now prayed the Court. The learned counsel then handed in the affidavit upon which he moved, and which was iti these terms: — " In the Qdeen's Bench. " The affidavit of Louis Alexis Chamcrovzow, of No. 27, New Broad-street, in the city of Loudon, Secretary to the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. •• I say, 1. That John Anderson, of ihc city of Toronto, in Her Majesty's province of Canada, a British subject domiciled there, now is, as I verily be 1 eve, illegally detained in the criminal gaol of the said city there, against his will, not having been legally accused, or charged with, or legally tried, or sentenced (or the commission of any crime, or for nnv offence

against, or recognized by the laws it; force in the said province, or in any other part of Her .Majesty's dominions, or not being otherwise liable to be imprisoned or detained, under or bv virtue of any such laws.

" 2. I verily believe that, unless a peremptory writ of habeas corpus shall immediately issue by this honourable Court, the life of the said John Anderson is exposed to the greatest, and to immedia'e, danger."

Their Lordships then retired to consider their dc-

During their Lordships' absence great interest was manifested by a huge number of the bar, who were present, and their Lordships' return was waited for

with the greatest anxiety. After a short absence, their Lordships returned, and resumed their seats, and

Lord Chief Justice Cock hum said, —We have considered this matter, and t lie result of our anxious deliberations is, that we are of opinion that the writ ought to issue. We are, if: the same time, sensible of the inconveniencies that may result from the exercise of such a jurisdiction. We arc quite sensible that it may he said to be inconsistent with that high degree of colonial independence, both in legislature and judicature which has been carried into effect in modern times. At the same time, in establishing local legislation and judicial authority the Legislature of this country bus not gone so far as to abrogate the jurisdiction which the courts in VVestmiuster-hall might properly exercise in issuing writs of habeas corpus to any parts of Her Majesty's dominions. We find that exercise of jurisdiction in these courts asserted in the earliest times, and exercised down to the most recent. We have it on the authority of the most eminent judges—Lord Coke, Lord Mansfied, Mr. Jmticc Blnckstone, and Bacon's Aqridijement —that these writs of huhcus corpus have been issued, and are to be issued, into all the dominions of the Crown of England when it is suggested to this Court that one of the Queen's subjects is illegally imprisoned. Not only have we these authoritative diclu of the most eminent judges and assertions of text writers, but wc have the practical exercise of this prerogative from the earliest period down to modern times. The most remarkable oases are those where the writ was issued to the Island of Jersey, to the Isle of Man, and to St. Helena, and all these in very modern times. When we find that, upon these authorities the power has been not only asserted butjearried into effect as a matter of practice, even where a local Legislature and judicature were established, nothing short of a Legislative enactment expressly depriviug us of this jurisdiction ought to prevent our carrying it into effect, when called upon to do so for the protection of personal liberty. It may bo that the Legislature lias thought proper to leave this concurrent jurisdiction in our courts, even where local jurisdictions were established, to he exercised in the same way as it is exorcised by the different courts of this country. We can only act on the authorities, and wo feci that wc should not he doing our duty, under the authority of the precedents to which our attention has been called, if we did not issue this writ At the conclusion of the judgment there was a very general, but .suppressed, expression of applause ; and the countenances of all in court seemed lighted up with extreme pleasure at the result.—Writ of habeas corpus granted. On the above case the Times makes the following remarks: — The case of Anderson, the Negro who is demanded from this country under the Extradition Treaty by the United States, has passed into a new ami very interestin"- stage. The Southern States and their institutions are destined during the current year to attract to themselves the attention ot both hemispheres. While the question of the possibility of any longer coulintting the tic which unites Freedom to Slavery is solving itself on the other side of the Atlantic, we in England arc to he involved in one of the collateral issues arising out of the contliet. The Court of Queen's Bench has, with a celerity which will take the public a little by surpriso, issued a writ of habeas corpus, directed to the authorities in Canada who have Anderson in charge, •requiring them to bring him up before the Court, together with the cause of his detention, in order that, if that detention bo found illegal, ho may bo set ar liberty. To those who ova accustomed to consider the

- writ of habeas cor tins as the creation of the reign < Charles 11. it may be surprising to learn that the wr ■ is as old as tho Common Law itself, and that, whil - America is threatened with disruption because fot i millions of her people are detained in slavery, Englan - in the very darkest night of the middle ages was pot . sessed, in theory at least, of this means of protectio for individual liberty. It may also excite surprise when we consider the ample powers of self- govern ment possessed by Canada, her separate Legislature her responsible Ministers, her distinct finances, he complete judicial system, to find the Court of Queen' Bench assuming to act directly on the rights of person within her territories, just as if Toronto were situate 01 Windermere instead of Lake Ontario. Wc are familia with the appellate jurisdiction of the Judicial Com mittce of the Privy Council, reversing, altering, o affirming the decisions of Colonial Courts. But t direct interposition of an English Court in the admin istration of justice in the colonies is, in our time a least, a novelty, and a novelty to justify the intr«duc tion of which very grave reasons are required. Possibly, on a very carelul consideration of the case these reasons may not be found to be wanting. Tin application has already been heard before the Court o Queen's Bench in Canada, and was there refused. Nc proceeding in the nature of an appeal lies on accoun of the refusal of the writ of habeas corprs. The onh course would be to apply to another of the Colonia Courts, which, though of equal jurisdiction posses: less authority, and would therefore give a decisior which, should it differ from that of the Court of Queen'; Bench in Canada, could not be regarded as saiisfac tory. The matter, too, in dispute is peculiarly suitabh for the decision of a metropolitan tribunal. It is bardb possible for those who live on the North American Continent wholly to free themselves from the influeno of the mighty struggle that is going on, and to regan the question of law with perfect calmness and impar tiality. Moreover, a question involving the construe tion of a treaty is less suited for the judicature of I dependency than for the decision of the highest Cornel' tlits mother State. It is by the reports of the case decided in that Court that colonial tribunals arc in th< habit of guiding their decisions, and even in Americi the judgments of English tribunals exercise an an thority only second to that which they possess ii Westminster Hall. Iris only due to the United Statei in deciding a case so momentous in itself and having so immediate a bearing in their present politica struggles, that it should be dealt with by a Court o; the highest dignity, of tho most paramount jurisdiction, and of the greatest authority ; and such a Court is, undoubtedly, the English Court of Queen's Bench, We may, perhaps, venture to anticipate that the question at issue will be looked at in a larger and more comprehensive spirit by the English than it has been by the Canadian tribunals, and that while due weight will be given t > the construction of the local statute, a little more attention will be bestowed on the interpretation of the Extradition Treaty which is, after all, the fittest key to the legal difficult. It may, perhaps, be found that a construction which requires us to give up as guilty of murder a prisoner who, according to our law, is clearly innocent of the crime, offends not only against the moral sense of mankind, but also against the principle upon which Extradition Treaties have hitherto been based. We arc not in the habit in this country of sending persons to trial for a crime when we are thoroughly convinced of their innocence, and it seems strange that we should stipulate to do that for the subjects of other nations which we should not think of doing for our own. At any rate, we feel sure that such an interpretation can only be adopted where the words are clear and unambiguous, and that nothing but the most peremptory necessity will force our Courts to put such a construction on the treaty as will make them, according to the law they are bound to administer, the instruments of a gross injustice. At the same time we feel confident that this great issue will be tried fairly, honestly, dispassionately; that no wish for a momentary popularity, that no desire, natural though it be, to save a fellow creature in the pursuit of freedom, will turn our Judges one hair'sbreadth aside from the most upright impartiality. To the benefit of the law this poor hunted Negro is just as much entitled as the proudest Peer of the land; and we doubt not that be will receive just measure, whether that dootn shall consign him to lite or death. It is just possible that some persons may suppose that by granting the writ of liabt-an corpus the Court of Queen's Bench has already decided the case—that as soon as be ton-lies the soil of England Anderson will be by our law emancipated from the control of his master, and can never afterwards be claimed as a slave. This is undoubtedly true, but, unf rtunately, has no bearing on the issue that is to be raised. Anderson is demanded, not as a slave, but as a murderer ; and the question is, not whether the Courts will givo effect to the claims of a master over a slave who is on English soil, but whether in deciding what is murder within our Extradition Treaty they will guide themselves by the laws of England or by the laws of Missouri—by the code of the freeman or the bondman. Should the Conrt of Queen's Bench in England agree in opinion with the Court of Queen's Bench in Canada. America will have acquired a right under the treaty to have the delivered up to Iter, and there is nothing that we know of in the laws of ibis country to prevent that delivery from raking place. At the same time, we do not seek to conceal from ourselves the vast importance of the impending issue. If the decision bo in favour of the Negro, we cannot help seeing that at a very critical moment a most weighty and damaging censure will have been passed by the very highest authority on the laws and practices of the United States —a censure not likely to be soon forgotten or forgiven, since it must be founded on the assumption that their laws cannot be enforced, because they are contrary to the very first principles of natural justice. If, on the other hand, the decision should be against the Negro, we cannot regard without apprehension the excitement of feelings in tiiis country which may lor years to come poison our relations with one-half of the United States. We, at least, arc not accustomed tr> act as bailiffs or as gaolers for the Slaveowners of the South, and it has been long since England has experienced a day of such humiliation as she would feel, if, through the provisions of a Treaty negotiated and entered into for far other objects, she felt herself compelled, by the charge of a crime the existence of which she does not admit, to surrender a slave who has lived in freedom seven years under tho protection of her laws to the hands," not of his infuriated master, but of that mob which holds a reign of undisputed terror over the Uda and black population of fifteen Anglo-Saxon Republics. The Fugitive Slave Case.—ln pursuance of the rule obtained in this case on Tuesday, a messenger of the Court of Queen's Bench proceeded on Saturday from Liverpool by the Cunard steamer for Canada, and Anderson will be brought over, unless it shall so happen that he has been liberated by the Court of Common Pleas in Canada before the messenger arrives out. — Globe. THE EXTRADITION CASE. (To the Editor of the " Evening Mail.") Sir, — In a case of such vast importance in its consequences as that of the fugitive slave Anderson, I trust you will allow me lo occupy a small portion of your columns in order to point out to your readers tho circumstances under which the British Legislature ratified by Act of Parliament the treaty under which the surrender of Anderson was claimed.

On the second reading of the Bill in (lie House of Commons on the 11th of August, 1843, Sir Frederick Pollock, the Attorney-General of the day, explained the objects of the Bill, lie was followed by the late Lord Macaulay, who, in the course of his speech, made the following remarks. He said:— " Take the ease of a slave who had committed murder in his own defence. Suppose a man scourged him, pursued him. The slave had surely the right to resist, and, in his defence to kill his assailant. By the law of England that would be justifiable homicide. By the law of Georgia it would be murder," &c. The Attorney-General said: —

" That in all the cases put by the right hon. gentleman no doubt could arise. The Bill expressly said the fugitives must be tried by the laws of the country where they were found." Mr. Macaulay asked, — " Whether be was to understand, then, that an action not criminal in a free man, would be held not to be criminal in a slave?"

The Attorney-Gcncaal said, — "He was of opinion that an English magistrate would not be at liberty to enter into the question as to whether the fugitive brought before him was a slavo or not. He could only enter into such questions of common law (which of course means English law), as might arise out of the case ; and if the accused person was not shown to bo a criminal, no extradition could take place." Viscount Palmerston—

" Did not go so far as some of his friends as to the effects of this Bill, and the explanation of the hon. and learned gentleman had gone far to remove tha apprehensions which he might have entertained. He understood that in no case where a slave was charged with the offence of murder or robbery would any Eug lish magistrate bo. justified in delivering him up for trial, uulcss the offence ho was charged with was ouc which was looked upon as murder or robbery by the law of England ; and be apprehended that any act that a slave might commit in resisting the coercion of his master could not amount to murder, and would not justify a magistrate ; n gmiigijp the fugitive,"

The Attorney-General said nothing to qualify his previous explanations, nor did any other member o£ the Government dissent. On the contrary, the present Lord Derby, then (it I mistake not) Colonial Secretary used these words:— " No fugitive could, under the treaty, be surrendered as a murderer unless his offence were such as our laws would qualify with this epithet." I make no comment upon the above extracts from Hansard, 3rd Series, vol. lxxi., p. 56'5—579, beyond calling attention to the fact that the words of the treaty, including its proviso, to the effect that the evidence of "criminality" must be evidence of that which would constitute an offence in the country where the fugitive is "found," are expressly, and verbatim, recited in the English Act which thus passed its second reading ; and that the Canadian Act is a mere substitute for the English Act so carried through the House of Commons. I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, George Dexmax. Temple, Jan. 15.

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