The Press. — London, England, 1858-08-21 00:00:00

warm IPPI r the porter as no to hei is 1101 the of those 7b alone were lowed Then are n have upon eon was treat by c unkt inter for t, Elgi the 1 that the and and tau iron the reef fron upo best peg' nns this aid min lest sop set' den the 1 pol pla nil int cat ret Ta tie co be frt be to th a at Pt T thl et. at e! tl It 1111 THE PRESS, AUGUST 21, 1858. In the evening the Prince and Princess of Prussia entertained a large party at dinner. The Count of Flanders arrived from Berlin, and joined the Royal party. His Royal Highness returned to Berlin at night. The Princess Frederick William is in the enjoy ment of excellent health, and accompanies her Royal parents in all their walks and drives. On Sunday morning her Majesty and the Prince Consort, with the Prince and Princess of Prussia, the Prince and Princess Frederick William, and the Prince and Princess Charles of Prussia, attended divine service at the Garrison Chapel. A Berlin letter says : The meeting between the Queen of England and the Princess Frederick William, her daughter, was very affect• ing. The Princess sprang into the railway carriage to her Royal mother, and the two remained clasped in each other's arms for some time, unable to speak. hasproved most eatisfactorily the wisdom of IPPlrent'9lla y the representatives of the four the po li c y pursue _ . • • which has been to conduct negotiations at a point powe , as fl ea rs the capita: as possible, so as to bring that pressure t o bear upon the Inipetial Government without which it is hope) to expect its compliance with the demands of the outer barbarians, however reasonable and moderate those deinaude may be. The day before yesterday two new Imperial Commis sioners arrived with great a large m ount cemony ed re from tinue, and fol- Pekin. They were accompanied by lowed by a train of mule-carts carrying their baggage. These iunctiouaries, by name Kweiliang and Hwashana, are m andarius of the highest rank in the em p ire. They have announced themselves as specially empowered to treat upon all the points specified by us as subjects of negotia nun by virtue of an Imperial decree similar to that which was conferred upon Keying on the occasion of the last treaty, as a further proof of which they style themselves by our manufactured word, " Plenipotentiary," a term unknown in their own official vocabulary. A preliminary interview has been arranged with the British Ambassador for to-day, in a building set apart fur the purpose. Lord Elgin will be accompanied by a guard of 150 Marines ant the band of the Calcutta. Meantime, it has been arranged that the Fury shall proceed tomorrow to Hong Kong, for the purpose of sending up by the troopships Adventure and Assistance, the 511th Regiment, a battalion of Marines, and some artillery, which the arrival of the native regi touts from India and the expected advent of the 77th from Australia enable General Straubenzee to spare from the garrison of Canton. The French Admiral is daily ex recent% s force of 600 Marines who haze just come out from France, so that within six weeks we may calculate upon having collected h, re a military force of 3,0i10 men, besides a very strong naval brigade. In the event of the negotiations now about to be commenced terminating ensatiafactorily, there will be no difficulty whatever, with this strong body of men, in marching to Pekin along the excellent road which leads to that city ; and, however ob stinate and impracticable our previous experience may lead us to believe the Chinese Government, we can hardly suppose it to he so infatuated as to brave the serious con sequencee which must accrue if it continue to resist our demands, with an army encamped beneath the walls of their capitol prepared to enforce them. From these facts it would appear that the result of the policy pursued by the allied Governments has been to place them in an attitude which gives them a complete military command over the Imperial Government without interrupting the trade at any of the ports. Count Putistine and Mr. Reed, the Russian and Ameri can Ministers, are living in a yamun which they have rented upon the banks of the river. Unless we have a can's belli, we had nn right to touch Take or attempt to force a way within Chinese fortifica tions; and if we bad one we are distinctly wrong and in consistent in quitting a warlike attitude until redress had been gained. Taint is just twenty four hours per post from Pekin (we are certain of that), and yet, although 'fake fell fourteen days ago, and we have been one week between Taku and Pekin, it has taken the Emperor until today to send us a Minister to treat. Does that show they are much alarmed, or does it argue they are either in a haste to grant re,irese or be rid of our presence at a place supposed to be the throat of the capital ? No ; had we pushed on a light division against Tung-chow, held Tiensin as a base, sent despatch-vessels to beat up the whole coast of Chile and Shangtung, worked and kneaded these slow-thinking Tartars until they only saw one way of escape from us and our gunboats, we should have a treaty such as would repay Englund for all her delay and expense, instead of now having to ask much and take little, and the amount of that little purely dependent upon Om ability of Lord Elgin. He tLord Elgin) tells everybody, R 8 T hear, that he shall wait here until doomsday rather than concede any of his just demands, but we believe in our hearts that he finds the admiral so fail him in granting support to his demands that he will have to be very moderate in pressing the Imperial Commissioner. Indeed, there is another consideration to he kept in mind. The Frenchmen can go no further in their vessels; they maintain it is now alone by military operations tat Tung•chow fuel Pekin are to be taken or threatened, and have accordingly ordered tip the shiploads of marine infantry lately arrived at Hong Kong; all that they say or wish is our admiral's law, and it would h e an awkward thing for us if, when T angtehow was taken, or, may be, Pekin, the Frenchmen played first fiddle and we the second. However, we can only hope for the best; and I must say I have considerable faith in Lord Elgin carrying us eventually through . all the errors and difficulties which surround the question, and he has risen fifty-fold in all our estimation by the per severance shown in b,inging the admirals to act at all in Support of his views, against, a certain Hong Kong policy of their own, which they are pleased to state is that of beset Britain and France. 6ourt AuA ,fasOon. Her Majesty and the Prince Consort are now residing at the Chateau of Bahelsburg, with Prince Frederick of Prussia and the Princess Royal. Not witlmanding the extraordinary heat of the weather an d long journey, the last of which was fifteen hours' duration, her Majesty remains in perfect health. Her Majesty th e Qu e en and the Prince Consort, With the Prince and Princess of Prussia and Prince and Princess Frederick William, drove on Saturday the llth through Gleniche, the beautiful seat of their itoYal Highnesses Prince and Princess Charles of Prassia. rtialtb. LORD PALMERSTON IN SLIGO. LORD PALMERSTON'S reception by the tenantry on his Sligo estates was only such as might have been anticipated after an absence of several years from Ireland. A local Tory paper states that parties of all political opinions combined in the warm demm strations of respect paid to the ex• Premier on his arrival ,in company with his agent. "As a land lord," observes the Sligo Independent, "he is held in esteem by all who know the relation that subsists between Wm and his tenants, and though his lordship is not in the habit of granting leases to his tenants, every one feels as secure in his posses. sion as if he were the holder of a long lease." Another local authority (the Chronicle) has this re velation respecting the future of Lord Palmerston : We are enabled to state from an authority that is perfectly reliable that Lord Palmerston is about to retire from public life. lie has agreed to do so on the urgent entreaty of Lady Palmerston ; and a growing defect in his lordship's power of hearing has also had a share in inducing him to bring his long public career to a close. The noble lord, when he shall bid adieu to the excitement of parlia mentary life, intends, with Lady Palmerston, to take up his residence at Cliffony, near this town and instructions have been given, and we believe arrangements are now being made, to erect a suitable mansion there for their re ception. A special meeting of the commissioners of the town and harbour of Sligo was held on Monday to consider the propriety of presenting Lord Palmers ton with a congratulatory address on the occasion of his present visit to his estates in Ireland. A deputation' consisting of Mr. Tate, Alderman Lyons , Mr. Kidd, Mr. Mends, Mr. Seeley, and other com missioners, waited upon his lordship at his new rent office. in the town of Sligo, and presented the address. In his reply his lordship alluded to the circumstances wider which he assumed the reins of Government in 1855, to the Peace of Paris, and to the India Bill introduced last winter. With great good taste he abstained front any allusions to more recent events, L and concluded by some encouraging remarks on the prospects of the town of Sligo, and with thanks for the address presented to him. TENANT-LEAGIJE MEETING. Os Tuesday a special conference of the members of this body was held at the Council-rooms, Beres ford-place-, Dublin. The object of the meeting was to consider " the present position and prospects of the tenant cause," and considerable interest was attached to the proceedings from the fact that it was known to be the intention of Mr. John Francis Maguire, M.P., to make a statement with reference to the course taken by the representatives of the inde pendent opposition party. Thera was a large attendance of Roman Catholic clergymen and others, Mr. Maguire, M.P, for Dungarvan, Mr. Blake, M.P. for Waterford, and Mr. M'Evoy, M.P. for Meath, being amongst the number. The chair was taken at one o'clock by the Rev. Mr. Fitzgerald, P.P., Roman Catholic archdeacon, Rathkeale. Letters were read from the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Town, and from Messrs. P. M‘Mahon, M.P., F. M. Calcutt, M.P., J. O'Dwyer, the Rev. Peter Conway, and others. Having been called on by the CHAIRMAN, Mr. JOHN F. MAGUIRE, M.P., said he rose in obedience to the wish of that body to give an expla nation to his countrymen nt large of his conduct iu reference to the Tenant Bill which he had had the honour to introduce into Parliament. But let him be distinctly understood, owing every obedience to his countrymen and respect to their just demands, he had no sympathy with those whose whole object was to return the Whigs back to power, and whose constant practice for the last half-dozen years had been to malign, to traduce, and to calumniate the conduct of the Tenant League and those assisting it. To the hacks of party he flung down the gauntlet— to the mere partizans of those who were anxious to get in the Whigs and to get out the Tories he pro. claimed hostility and contempt. The bill which had been confided to him was that which had been intro duced by his friend Mr. Moore, whose absence from Parliament had always been considered by him as a national loss and whose restoration would be a national advantage. If any person had felt surprise or dismay at the result of the discussion in the House of Commons he was certainly not answerable for it, as on two or three occasions he had spoken in that room in a manner so plain as to be almost dis couraging. He bad some experience of the House of Commons, and of the materials of which the Irish representation was composed, and he hail stated over and over again that there was no possible hope under the present circumstances of the country to obtain a measure such as he believed ought to be passed. In 1857 a committee of forty five Liberal memoers waited upon Lord Palmerston, and one of the gentlemeo called Tenant Leaguers put into the mouth of that statesman an objection which his ingenuity did not require to have supplied to him. Upon that occasioo Lord Palmerston distinctly stated that he could not allow the second reading of the bill then before the house, because by so doing he would be sanctioning the principle of retrospective compensation which it contained ; yet after that distinct declaration on the part of the leader of the greatest party in England, he asked anybody that bad scanned Irish politica whether Lord Palmerston had lost a single one of his supporters in consequence ? Was the enthusiasm in his favour, the eagerness of the support, or the reckless partizanship in his favour diminished one single iota in consequence of that deliberate declara tion of hostility, not only to the present but for the future? Under these circumstances he had told the league last year that one of two courses must he adopted. If they were for immediate legislation they should bring forward a modified bill, such as would be listened to ; if, on the other hand, they were disposed to wait for better days, and merely to keep the question alive, the bill then proposed was as good as any other for the purpose. This was the under standing upon which he had taken charge of it—for he believed it would require very many years to obtain that organization of popular strength, amounting almost to a national convulsion, which would be required to carry that measure in de fiance of Lord Palmerston and of the landlords, who constitute a majority or the House of Commons. Shortly after his return to London he went to Lord Derby with a deputation, of the constitution of which he would only say that he was obliged to be as vague and general as possible in his observations, otherwise he could not have been the spokesman upon tile occasion—for perhaps if he had gone into any thing like uetail, some of the members present would have caused a discussion which would have been more fatal than any refusal on the part of the Minister could possibly be. With Lord Derby's answer he would not trouble the meeting ; but he came to the question as it was dealt with upon the second read ing. If it was only a debate upon the bill that was wished for by the league, they obtained as satisfactory and prolonged a debate as ever there had been ; and it was rendered important by the speeches of Lord Palmerston and Lord Naas. In order that there miht be no mistake aoout the opinions which he had explessed in 1857, Lord Palmerston, no way in fluenced by the opinion of his late Attorney-General, whom he followed in speaking, attacked the bill, and especially the retrospective principle, with a vigour and an energy peculiarly his own, and in which he seemed to excel upon that occasion. Mr. Maguire then read extracts from a ,speech of Lord Palmers ton, in which he declared his opposition to the re trospective clause. He (Mr. Maguire) might ask him what hope they had if Lord Palmerston was brought into effice next day to have a retrospective measure carried ? Lord Naas took his tone from his speech. And yet at the time of Mr. Cardwell's motion did Lord Palmerston lose any of his Irish fullowing ? Did they not conspire to put into office again the man who from a higher elevation would hurl against the measure a greater condemnation? Knowing the feeling of the house when he (Mr. Maguire) was replying, he asked for a vote on the preamble and not on the details of the bill, and thus he gut some votes. He knew right well that if he had asked for a vote on the details several who were most friendly to a prospective measure would have voted against the retrospective clause. Did tint this fact show the worth of the advice he gave at the last fleeting? Then lie and the supporters of the cause of justice were blamed fur having given up the metro spective clause. It was not true that they had. Who abandoned it? When the measure was brought forward under Lord Aberdeen's Administration, who destroyed the bill ?—the Duke of Argyll and the Duke of Newcastle, two of the Ministers of the day. He maintained, if John Sadleir had been an honest man, if others who had acted with him had been honest men, these noble lords would not have dared oppose the clause, and the people of Ireland would then have had thoir rights. Then they had no ez• pectation at present of getting a retrospective clause