The Press. — London, England, 1858-05-29 00:00:00

I THE PRESS, MAY 29, 1858. DIARY OF A WEEK. (A SCRAP PICKED UP JN THE REFORM CLUB.) FRIDAY, May 14.—Hurrah ! We are going to do it now, and no mistake ! The fight comes off in both Houses to-night. In the Lords we calculated on a majority of from 20 to 30,—in the Commons, one of nearly 150. But ELLENBOROUGH'S resignation has changed some votes. Still, we must win. Hav—lt has been very civil. Twice he has hinted to me that there will unquestionably be openings ; that there must be some new blood introduced; that it will not do to go on with the CLAN —DES, BAINESES, V— S-s. He has pressed me to let him know soon what sort of a post I should think suited to my tastes and habits. If we win the game in the Lords, I will see him in the morning. (5 o'clock). —The fray is just beginning. ABERDEEN deserts us in the Lords. Still, we have got a round dozen of bishops, and every Roman Catholic peer in the House. It is feared, however, that we shall not win by more than five or six votes. This is too close. SAnjuDAv.—The Lords disappointed us, and DERRY pulled through, though only by a neck ! Never mind, the Commons cannot fail us; and I don't see how Government is to get on, and with what face they can dissolve, if the majority against them be close upon 100, as they say it will be. (11 o'clock p.m.)—CARDWELL made a wretched affair of his opening, and CAIRNS cut him into mincemeat. The prospect does not improve, but still HAY—R says that he is sure to win by 70 or 80. MONDAY (17th.)—" The Thanes fly from us." Men are getting fidgetty. This word "confiscation" is an ugly one ; and the people out of doors show signs of not liking it. Letters from B— to-day, warning me to be careful, for the people there are getting doubtful whether CANNING or . ELLENBOROUGH is in the right! (11 o'clock p.m.)—That fellow ROEBCCK, confound him, has walked into us awfully! and I am afraid halfof the "Independent Liberals" will go with him. And what possesses our people to put up such sticks as Woon, and ATHFarros, and DUNKELLIN ? WHITESIDE is now blazing away at us; and every one is remarking how terribly we are getting licked in the debate. (I won't say anything to HAY--R yet, about the berth I should like best, till we get a little nearer the end. We are losing ground, but there is this comfort, that the more one is wanted, the more one will be worth.) TUESDAY.—The Indian debate goes off to-day, till Thursday, as CHARLEY NAPIER won't give way. This delay does us no good. The more the Proclamation is talked about out of doors, the more the people dislike the "confiscation" clause. T— has got a note from his father to-day, enjoining him, whatever happens, to stand by his party. This is all very well; but then he gets, by the same post, a letter from his agent at B—, warning him that, if he votes against the Government, he had better look out for another borough ! So, between the two, the poor fellow is in a horrid stew. It's most likely he'll bolt ! WEDNESDAY.—The Derby. Lord DERBY lost the race—that's all right ! But I hear that, before he went to Epsom, Colonel T— was with him, and professed to be pretty easy about the division. They must have pulled up amazingly if they have really got near us, in point of numbers. It is true 1 do see more anxiety about HAY—R'S eyes and mouth the last day or two than has been visible for a week past. THURSDAY.-4 was told, by a man who had been at the Carlton, that they have the impudence to talk of a majority of ten ! I told HAY—R so, and he laughed, and said it was all stuff! But his laugh was not a very hearty one. He is evidently not comfortable about things. -- (8 o'clock p.m.) BRIGHT has had his innings, and done his worst. It's well that 'a over. But here are our people playing the fool again ! Putting up COLLIER and LABOUCHERE after BRIGHT ! How absurd ! GRAHAM is coming next, and how are we ever to deal with them on such terms ? I protest I begin to doubt the result. FRIDAY.—I asked HAY—R just now to tell me how matters really stood. He did not attempt to conceal the fact that we had been losing ground all this week. But he said that, on the closest calculation he could make, he thought we must win by from three to seven votes ! This is dreadful—for we should have a dissolution in ten days, and then where should we be? (1 o'clock).—The men are asking one another about the new Indian letters (Outram, &c.), just delivered. They say that these letters quite alter the case. It is clear that many of them want to back out. I hear that five petitions have come up this morning, all against Lord CANNING'S Proclamation. —(5 o'clock).—A regular mutiny ! Men are flying by scores ! A pretty figure we shall cut, if we get into a division ! Several whom I have just seen, will jump out of window rather than vote! I never saw men in such a fright before. —(7 o'clock).—lt's all up! Twenty men (all on our side) jumped up at once to call for the withdrawal of CARDWELL's resolution. CLAY, BOWYER, DUNOOMBE, I4OCKE, WYLD, BONHAM CARTER, LOCKE KING, H. VANE, WiirrE, and a dozen others, all urged it. The Ministe rialists were in a broad grin, but sat in silence to see what would come of it. CARDWELL affected to be firm, waiting till PALMERSTON gave him the word. The "downy old bird," as Punch calls him, held back as long as he could ; but, at last, there was nothing else left to do but to surrender at discretion. If he had held out ten minutes longer, half of his followers would have deserted in a body, and then the Tories would have walked over those that were left! So the motion was withdrawn, amidst som e hearty cheering ;—in fact, there were two hundred men there who fe lt themselves reprieved from a sentence of extinction. And so end our hopes. The Palmerston newspapers will have a nice job to explain away all they have been asserting, and promising, for ten days past. TO CORRESPONDENTS. IWe have to acknowledge the receipt, from nearly twenty kind correspondents, of sundry pieces of verso and prose, inspired by recant events. Unfortunately, however, our space for productions of this kind was preoccupied, as our readers will see ; and we have thus been compelled impartially to decline the whole of their favours. Our acknowledgments are not the less duo fur their friendly offers of assistance.] WE had reason to expect, until within the last six hours, that we should have had the pleasure of announcing, in this week's number, an im portant accession to Lord DERBY'S Cabinet. The fact was too important to be kept a secret, nor was there any desire to conceal it,—that the Cabinet would gladly have received the adhesion of the Senior Member for the University of Oxford. Possessing the double qualification of great efficiency in official duties and pre-eminent ability in debate, there has been no Administration for a dozen years past which would not have rejoiced to gain the assistance of Mr. GLADSTONE. Nor is there, we believe, any solid difficulty in the way of a junction on the part of Mr. GLADSTONE with the present Government. Hence, during the present week that gentleman has seriously entertained the pro posal. And, if it were possible for him to isolate himself, and to have regard solely to his own views and feelings, we believe that his accession to the Cabinet of Lord DERRY wouid not be delayed another day. But there are few men who have passed twenty years in public life without having found friendships and connections which cannot be left out of view when cir cumstances like the present happen to occur. These connections, we believe, form the main obstacle to that acceptance of high office by Mr. GLADSTONE which has been hoped for during several days past. We fear that the hope is, at least for the present, at an end. Other arrangements will therefore have to be made; but the termination of the communica tions with Mr. GLADSTONE having only taken place within the last few hours, there has not been time for the completion of any other arrangement. It has been rumoured within the last day or two, chiefly among the friends of Baron ROTHSCHILD, that " the Jew question was likely to be settled." We believe that this rumour was chiefly caused by Lord Luctor's notice; to which we have adverted in another column. We confess that we regard these sudden " settlements "—which always imply concessions—with alarm. We can remember the delight with which Sir R. PEEL'S accession to the lead of the House of Commons, in 1828, was greeted. He was regarded as the Protestant Minister. In a year or two he was seized with an ambition to " settle the Catholic question." He did so, broke up his party, and fell from power, remaining on the Oppo sition benches for nearly eleven years. At last he was restored to the Pre miership; and was again smitten with the idea of " settling the Maynooth question and the Corn-laws." Again he scattered his adherents, and lost his power, which he never afterwards regained. In fact, there is nothing more disheartening nothing tending so much to break up a party, as the unexpected and needless concession of claims which have long been successfully resisted. For these reasons we rejoice to receive the assurance that the Government is not a party to Lord LUCA.N'S intended motion. The Judgeship vacated by Mr. Justice COLERIDGE has been offered to, and accepted by, Mr. Ilt - oit HILL We will not say that among the whole Bar it might not have been possible to have made an equally good choice, but we will vent ure t o assert t h a t t h e LORD CRANCELLOR could not have made a better one. Mr. HILL has long been known as a sound lawyer and a gentleman. Unobtrusive, and, in fact, rather reserved, it was not so generally known that he was of sound principles both in politics and religion. He takes his seat on the Bench at the fitting age of about sixty, and he will scarcely find his superior there. Mr. MtALL's paper, the Nonconformist, gives us the following sketch:— "Lord PALMERSTON sat in Cambridge-house and dreamt a pleasant dream. We cannot undertake to give a detailed description of it, but we note down its principal features, after the style of Mr. Alfred Jingle. Oude Proclamation—ELLEN - BOROUGH'S censure—stick by your subordi nates, right or wrong—generous and popular sentiment—very—must take, like the Canton fever—Lord Joint RUSSELL on our side—Peelites indig nant at CANNING 'S treatment—clever motion evading the merits of the question—large majority—Ministry upset—myself sent for—form a new Ministry—make one or two popular appointments —say one or two liberal thing.—throw dust in the eyes of the country—more powerful than ever—DEnitv's last card trumped—Lord Jotts useful in harness— Radicals of no importance now—do as I like—a long Administration.' Lord PALMERSTON waked up on Friday evening. The House was laughing—the country was laughing—worse than all, Lord DERBY was laug t? ' hing—and every one seemto say to him, ' Don't you wish you may get i" 516 THE WEEK.