The Press. — London, England, 1854-05-06 00:00:00

THE PRESS. MAY 6, 1854. hand, as you are the representative of the opinions of the country, of course the very selection of you as Minister proves that those opinions are your own, and therefore your accession is only to be considered as an event enabling you to carry out the feelings you have entertained for years. You may, therefore, confidently ask foreign Powers how it comes, if it is true, as the newspapers say, that the people of England are for war, yet that you, the sworn friend of the enemy, are allowed to remain Minister? You can tell them that, in all offices and at all times, you have held foreign sympathies, and yet the country " had eyes and chose you." It is nothing that you are taken into office as an occasional servant till the new one comes. That is only a reason for doing as much mischief as you can in the time; for you may de pend upon it that it was in the last resource that you were employed, and therefore you cannot consider it a compliment, or as anything other than an opportunity of serving those friends who always ad mired you, and who are the only persons who ever did. THE LORD CHANCELLOR. You are the head of the law, and, as nothing is more disastrous in a country than the law's uncertainty, it is your province to see that evil-disposed innovators do not succeed in making what they call " reforms "in it. Such people will keep on asking you questions as to whether such and such bills are to be proceeded with. Do they sup pose that you have the gift of prophecy, or can tell what desertion of infants may take place before the end of the session ? If the creation of a new Constitution must be suddenly abandoned, how can you answer for the alteration of the details of the old one? In the mean time, by impeding the officious efforts of these law reformers, you con tribute to the development of legal science by leaving the codes of the country in a state of contradiction, and thus form an excellent exercise for the judicial intellect. THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER. The unreasonableness of the demands made on official servants is more evident in your case than that of any other. You are required to do what to you is an impossibility—keep the money matters of the country in a healthy state. However, you are still to remember that " service is no inheritance," and it will probably come to your successor's turn to put some of your breakages right. This should give you courage to undertake for future payments even at a very short date, as on the arrival of the time of payment you may not only be relieved from the necessity of meeting them, but have the further advantage of demanding why your successor has not provided the means of doing it. Nothing is more popular than the appearance of paying off public debt. Therefore it is not for you to consider whether you have the means or not before you announce your willingness to disburse a few millions. As soon as you have done paying, you can begin to borrow ; and, if you must borrow at 15 or 20 per cent. loss, it will give an impetus to the industry of the country, as you well know that nothing stimulates so well as a little addition to taxation. Besides, it will enable your successor to relieve himself from the proverbial em barrassment of having to dispose of a surplus, a part of which all the interests in the country persecute him to allot to them. If there is any difficulty in obtaining your loan, you can give interest on the hope of the money to be lent ; which cannot fail to make the project favourably looked upon. At all events, it will have the merit of novelty, and you are by this time well assured that to you the old system or any of its modifications is either obsolete or unintelligible ; and at the worst, when the Treasury is exhausted, it is as cheap to promise one thing as another. TO CORRESPONDENTS. It is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive. Their insertion is often delayed, owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted, it is frequently from reasons quite Jude pendent of the merits of the communication. We cannot undertake to return communications of which we do not avail oursetves. Ccmmunications should always be legibly written, and on one side of the paper only. If long it increases the difficulty of finding space for them. Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer, not necessarily for publica tion, but as a guarantee of his good faith. Advertisements sent from the country must be accompanied by a remittance or a reference for payment in town. Irts :ITvgxl+ LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1854. POSTSCRIPT. HOUSE OF LORDS.—FRTDAY. In answer to a question from Lord Clanricarde, The Earl of CLARENDON made a similar statement respecting the bombardment of Odessa to that made in the Commons. Lord REDESDALE having complained of the attack made by the press on the Duke of Cambridge, The Duke of NEWCASTLE vindicated the conduct of his Royal Highness. He had acted all along upon instructions from the Government., and manifested the greatest eagerness to fulfil his duties. 421 The Earl of HARDWICJE recommended that such insinuations should be treated with profound con tempt. A conversation followed, in which the instructions to the fleets in the Black Sea were criticised, but nothing new was elicited. The house adjourned shortly before seven. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—FRIDAY. Sir J. GRAHAM, in reply to Mr. French, said that, according to telegraphic despatches received that morning, Odessa had been bombarded by the allied fleets. The land batteries bad been destroyed, several ships sunk, after which the fleets proceeded to Sebastopol. Great care was taken to prevent the destruction of private property. Lord JOHN RUSSELL, answering Mr. Cobden, said that he was not aware if Lord Stratford had been consulted respecting the expulsion of the Greeks from Turkey, but he certainly had offered no op position to it. Papers on the subject would shortly be laid on the table. The house then went into a committee of supply, when Sir J. GRAHAM demanded 4111,0001. increase for wages, in great part on account of the increased means of obtaining men, whereby 5,000 men, cal culated for half a year hence, had been engaged at once. He proposed a reserve force of 5,000 men, involving an expendittre of 220,000/. As, unhappily, thee; was little chance of the return of Sir J. Frank lin, 20,0001. would be paid to the relatives of the lost company. 160,0001. was a large but necessary item for coal; 253,000/. for machenery for steam vessels to be prepared for the reserve; the largest item of all followed, 3,090,000/. for transports. 25,000 men THE 'MINISTER " WITHOUT OFFier --- '— Your duties are so general that, besides attending to the directions given above, you have a right to make your presence felt in every department. This will be the more convenient as you are responsible for the management of none, and any little self-created liability, in the shape of a new bill, can be killed off at a moment's notice. At the same time you can rightly take credit for any such act of the whole body as displays the stamp of their united honesty and ability ; such, for instance, as the orders in Council, which not only show a laudable desire to carry on the war with the utmost gentleness, but give the German States an opportunity of showing their philosophy in sacri ficing the whole Russian trade by abandoning their neutrality. THE OFFICIAL SERVANTS IN GENERAL. It is your clear duty to hang together, and not allow any one to display more zeal or activity than another. It would be flat treachery in such a one to teach his mistress and the country to expect too much ; for masters and mistresses you must never forget are only on the look-out to make poor servants slave themselves to death. If, for instance, the War-office had gone unreasonably out of its way , and given itself officious trouble to provide accommodation for the troops in the East, its example might have been tauntingly held up to the Ad miralty, and a piece of work been made about there being no coals for the fleet, whereas the Admiralty can now point to the War-office, and the War-office to the Admiralty, while it is very easy for you to show that by the good management of the one department the troops have gut the advantage (after so long a peace) of knowing all at once what " roughing it" precisely signifies, and by the conduct of the other, the Admiral commanding was kept from running into any hot- . headed exploit that might have annoyed the Czar, or not given the Greek insurrection that fair chance which " English fair play " ought to accord it. Finally, it is your duty to persist in remaining in your places. It does not stand to reason that your mistress and the country should know your value as well as you know it yourselves ; and especially at present, when you are trying the great experiment of having war and peace with Russia at the same time. TO THE - LEADER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ; ON THE RAZZIA OF PRIVATE MEMBERS' BILLS. , (A Hint from " The Elide of Lammermoor.") • e Luta a ratbkos Toil thou not with systems new, wolt4 oux dui!What are law reforms to you ? 1 • Leave to CAMPBELL " law of nations," . , , ' • • ' "IP Touch not Pictures " declarations," • t t,, 'Gainst BOWYER'S projects raise thy finger, Let the " mortmain measure " linger; In all of these are trouble's embers, Give them up to " private members." If, in fact, you nothing do, Who dare lay the blame on you ? DELICATE ATTENTION. WE understand that the " no House" on Tuesday was out of con sideration for Mr. Gi,►nsroNE's feelings after the financial speeches of Lord MONTEAOLE and GREY the previous evening. What a gentle manly Opposition ! were on their way or bad arrived in the East ; 2,500 horses had been sent, and double the number would be sent forthwith. Improved arrangements had been made for the transport of the artillery. Even if peace followed immediately, the effort would not be thrown away; we had shown the world the means and appliances we had, and that the freest and most powerful legislative body in the world could sink its private differences when the honour of the country was at stake. In the committee, Mr. HUME thought the regulations issued towards neutrals a great step in civilisation. Admiral WALCOT Eulogised the plans proposed by the Government. Sir B. BALL eulogised the conduct of Admiral Dundas, in which he was followed by Mr. B. Os borne and Mr. A. Stafford. Mr. COBDEN saw with satisfaction the maritime revolution, by which we had abandoned our extreme belligerent rights and dealt a deathblow to privateer ing. He would go a step further, and exempt from capture all private vessels of the enemy, unless vio lating a direct blockade. It would be for the glory of this country to give the first impulse to such a principle, which was as much for our interest as for our glory, for we now paid two or three minima for ship insurance. We had abstained from attacking private property at Odessa; why not adopt the same principle on the sea' Lord DUDLEY STUART complained of the tardiness of the operations in the Black Sea. Sir J GRAHAM took the full responsibility of the conduct of the war in the Black Sea on the Govern ment. Admiral Dundas had preserved under - ■ I