The Press. — London, England, 1858-05-01 00:00:00

rw•r mercialists of the ultra-Free-Trade section. Then, again, in the general body of the Parliamentary L i berals , there is a wide divergence of opinion on the very primary pr inciples of ." Constitutional Govern ment." There can be no more interesting political problem than that involved in the question, " Must you have vigorous political adminis tration, in order successfully to carry on the affairs of the empire, and to supply a policy ; or can you trust to the decisions of th e fl oa ti ng " public opinion of the t im e , to popularmeetings, to newspaper a r ticl es , " and to the talk of political clubs, looking for a satisfactory result to " the action of those diverse elements in the Legislature ?" Upon this great subject every sound Conservative has his mind firmly made up. The Conservative respects public opinion, but his political faith is in the free institutions of England, and in government by " Queen, Lords, and Commons." A vast portion of the Liberals have no rooted faith in government by institutions, and they are only too ready to confound transient clamour with "public opinion." They run afte r "popularity," and they think that it must decide every question. But on this point a highly respectable portion of their party dissents from the enthronement of an ephemeral " popularity." At one time it was " popular" with the Liberals to cheer for " Catholic Emancipation,' and to subscribe to " O'Connell Tributes ;" and at another time it was "popular" with them to vilify Cardinal Wlsemati, and to prosecute Irish agitators. The sensible men of the Whigs do not take the exag gerated views about the worth in government of mere " popularity." There is thus, it cannot be denied, a Conservative Liberalism and a Radical Liberalism. Of the former school a highly intellectual expres sion will be found in the interesting work of Earl GREY, and sometimes it finds a thoughtful utterance in the better speeches of Lord Joan Rus sell. The difference between these two schools of " Liberalism" splits the connection to a greater extent than can be easily imagined by those who have not closely watched the operation of political causes. Foreign Affairs also contribute to loosen the bonds between the various sections of the Liberals; and it is worth recollecting that the Liberals have always had a strung tendency to split upon the Foreign Affairs. The most ruinous schism that ever took place in their party was on the question of policy upon the first French Revolution. The Conservatives all stood together, and were joined by many Liberals. In 1809, when the Government was weak, the Liberal Opposition broke up by dissensions about the "Peninsular War ;" and again in 1815 as to the propriety of going to war with NAPOLEON after his return from Elba. In our own time Lord PALMERSTON was a fertile source of bickering and internal discussion in the Whig party even during his Foreign Secretaryship. One portion of the Liberals are active in their sympathies with the revolutionists of the Continent, and they would like a " spirited " or intermeddling policy, in which John Bull should dictate to other nations how to manage their affairs. The other section is more cautious and reserved in its views, but this fund a mental difference is of great importance at the present time. To these various considerations, and to these broad and pervasive causes of dis sension, add " the fatal predominance of jealous feelings " alluded to by the Times, and we are fairly entitled to ask what chance is there of any unity being likely to take place amongst the Liberals? We believe that there are permanent sources of dissension amongst them shin would render any Ministry formed from them liable to sink at any moment. Surely what has happened to Lord PALMERSTON'S Cabinet would be likely to occur to any other Liberal Government ! Mr. Csian's Bill for procuring agricultural statistics, meeting the fate of every similar measure that has been introduced into the House of Commons since 1837, has been rejected. The advantages to be derived from securing a return of the number of acres cropped on the let of June in each year with wheat, barley, clover, hops, &c., we can not perceive. Will the number of acres sown be any criterion of the quality and quantity of the crop ? Undoubtedly they will not ; yet what is the argument put forth by Mr. BASS in support of the measure? " If," said he, " I found 3,000,000 acres had been cultivated with "barley one year, while in the year previous scarcely 2,000,000 had "been planted, instead of sending my agents abroad to b uy barley, " I should keep them at home." We wonder that no one suggested to the Hon. M em b er t h at to carry out hi s t h eory, i n t h ese f ree - tra d e d ays, it would be necessary for him to procure an acreage return of the cropping of the whole world. It is said that all the Governments of the Continent, with the exception of Spain and Turkey, possess such returns, but can we depend on them? Might not a Government, when famine was about to be sore in the land, send forth its agents to buy corn, and at the same time declare that the harvest was ar. average one? But we believe that it will ever be impossible to calculate from area of land sown in June what the harvest will be in September. Statistics, to be of use, must be reliable and precise. One thing, how ever, we think is quite clear,—that if the probable produce of the soil cannot be estimated with certainty in England, neither can it be com puted in Scotland or Ireland, and therefore the sooner the grants for these services, amounting to something like 7,0001. a year, aro withdrawn, the better. We are glad to find that the President of the Board of Trade did not listen to the argu iment insinuated by some o f t h e supporters o f t h is Bill, " th a t no h arm was likely to come from the measure ; therefore, 10,0001. might be voted annually to carr y out i ts prov i s i ons ." It i s high time that a stop .be put to th e present system o f ma ki ng sma ll grants w h enever a prima-facie case can be made out in support of' them by " our own r t cporter," or any other fidgetty member. Any crotchet with a scientif i c mge has b een a bl e of late years to secure a grant of public money, and this, t oo, at a per i od when our soldiers were dying for want of proper barrack accommodation, and our War Ministers were obliged to screw and b pinch i n every direction. We recommend the House of Commons to ear in mi n d t h e o l d adage, " Take care of t h e pence; t h e roun d s will take care of themselves." IRISH MELODIES. THE LAST OF IRELAND'S WRONGS. BY ONE OF THE " GLORIOUS MINORITY." Air—"F_rto go bragb." Friends ! Pathriots ! Irishmen ! whisht, while I'm tellin' The Parliament news, fit to blister my tongue ! Oppress'd and outvoted, my bosom is swellin' At Erin's worst grievauce—the Saxon's last wrong ; They poison'd the praties, and brought us the famine. With out-male and pig-male the boys they'd be crammin And set them to work, if they thought they'd be shammin . — But what was all this to the tax on Potheen ? We argued and bluster'd—we whined and we wrangled— The House was too stubborn to lead or to drive ; With brogue and with blarney for voters we angled, Yet couldn't catch one but a poor thirty-five ! Bad luck to Disraeli's statistic oration, His solemn appales to " the sinse of the Nation," His "fair distribution" and " equalization " He's laid on a thuuderin tax on Potheen ! Time was, when each feast set the cudgel in motion, When we christen'd each Saint's day with pure mo Or mix'd " the materials " with tipsy devotion In the name of St. Kevin or Brian Boru I But now we may hang up the useless shilelagh— Must pray to the Saints without toasting them daily, And stint the ten tumblers we tippled so gaily ; For the could•hearted Saxon has tax'd our Potheenl In spite of St. Patrick and Cardinal Wiseman, The Isle of the Saints shall be blighted and bann'd, And that mur►.herin' villain, the Saxon exciseman, Go huntin' for stills thro' a desolate land ! But faix, that same huntin' he'll find rather risky— The sons of Green Erin tho' paeeful are frisky, 'no' lovers of law, they are lovers of whisky, And it's thim that 'll fight in the cause of Potheen ! THE PRESS, MAY 1, 1858. Alas ! but Pm dimming ! they live but in story 1 The hearts that of old were alive for a row, And barrio' great Daniel, that's dead and in glory, There's no livin• sowl that 'll fight for us now ! We would bawl for Repale, but our Fate has subdued us ; Tho' each law is an outrage, each statesman a Judas, We must drink out the cup that the Saxon has brew'd us, And wash down the dregs with diluted Potheen I H. R. F. A HOWL FOR AN INJUDICIOUS Och hone ! my dear jewel, why did you go " out," And lave each supporter to look like a lout, Och hone ! och hone ! Shure 'twas you were alive an' kickin' last year, And of " dissolushon " we were tould not to fear, And that all our fortunes by you we should clear, And we wished for that same, Small blame, But now why did you give up the game ? Och hone ! och hone ! Arrah, jewel, why didn't you do what was right, And against Pat Walewski stand up in the fight? Shure each boy in the parish would have rush'd to the sight. And we never supposed you'd have taken to flight, Och hone ! och hone! Och, murther, and now all our fortunes are kilt, An all our sweet votes for flotilla' we've spilt, Och hose ! Och, Halter, why couldn't you have let us alone ? Och hone! But we've done for ever wid you, be it known, Our wrongs might, sure, draw tears from a stone, .Ooh hone ! ooh hone ! •