The Press. — London, England, 1858-07-03 00:00:00

before a committee, and a subordinate of the War Department threate ing the same man with ruin if he obeys that Minister's orders. Now, the testimony of GRAY alone is worthy of no small amount of credit, for the witness had much to lose and nothing to gain by making an avowal which would at once make Mr. RAMSAY his enemy. How much more valuable does it become when we find Mr. Mimi°, a gentleman holding an office of much responsibility under Government, informing the Committee that in the presence of Mr. ELLIOTT (who, by-the-by, seems inseparable from Mr. RAMSAY) the latter gentleman spoke to him (Mr. MirNno) in an angry manner, telling him that he went " open-mouthed" to give information to the Committee. Mr. MUNRO further states, that feeling hurt at being thus spoken to for answering in a straightforward way the questions put to him, he had some conversation with Mr. ELLIOTT on the subject, who told him that he had better look out for himself in answering any of those questions, alluding to questions put by the Committee with reference to the arrears of work at Weedon. To the statement of the first witness Mr. RAMSAY gives a positive contradiction ; to that of the second a vague and rambling denial, concluding with the remark, that to the best of his recol lection he made use of no expression calculated to intimidate Mr. MUNRO, and that he only represented to him two mistakes he had made in giving his evidence. Mr. MUNRO having heard Mr. RAMSAY'S remarks, was asked whether he accepted the statement made by that gentleman. Mr. MUNRO'S reply was pretty distinct :—" Ido not. I positively assert that every " statement I made to this Committee was true, and I am prepared to " stand or fall by the proof." Now as with Mr. GRAY so with Mr. MuNno—there could be no end to be gained by affronting Mr. RAMSAY. It is true that this gentleman denies the correctness of the assertions made by these witnesses. We wish that this case of conflicting evidence, like that in which Lady DiNoituEs was concerned, could be decided by twelve men in a jury-box. Two things are quite certain,—that either Messrs. GRAY and MUNRO or else Mr. RAMSAY are unfit for the public service; and that if Mr. RAMSAY has been guilty of attempting to inti midate witnesses, no Royal Commission will ever get to the bottom of the Weedon frauds until his influence is removed from the sphere of the inquiry. This is not the first time that we have heard of chiefs of depart ments abusing their power in a similar manner, and the sooner the prac tice is put a stop to, the better for the country. Therefore let this case be at once thoroughly sifted. If we have not already given extracts enough from the evidence to prove the necessity for a searching inquiry, here is a passage from the Blue-book which reads, we think, very much like truth, and goes far to prove that Messrs. RAMSAY and Ewcrrr had too many ideas in common. GRAY states saw Mr. Eworr the mine " day, and I said the Committee have asked me two or three questions " conc..rning the patterns; ' and he said, 'for God's sake mind what you " say, and you had better see Mr. Ramsay on the subject." When this subject is again debated in Parliament we trust we shall hear Mr. T. G. BARING speak less like a special pleader, and we would recommend Lord DUNCAN to show his attachment to the House of Ramsay in a less marked manner in future. One more observation and we have done with this subject for to-day, which nothing but a sense of public duty has induced us to notice. Some two months ago it was stated in an article in this journal, on the " Report of the Committee on Public Monies," that the present system of departmental or local examination of the public accounts was not efficient, and that we were convinced that the system of the Accountant-General's Department was wholly unsound. The Weedon disclosures have now corroborated our statement. A departmental audit of public accounts may be a convenience to Whig jobbers, but undoubtedly is not of advantage to the State. We trust that the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER will look into this matter. The ex-Attorney-General for Ireland (Mr. J. D. FITZGERALD) has been making himself restlessly conspicuous since his WI from office. On Tuesday night the Right honourable Gentleman, after mature considera tion, brought forward an inquisitorial motion touching the appointment of Mr. CECIL MOORE to the post of Sessional Prosecutor for the county of Tyrone. It was alleged that Mr. MOORE was an Orangeman, but the Attorney-General for Ireland (Mr. WHITESIDE) in an eloquent speech completely demolished the case attempted to be set up by Mr. J. D. FITZGERALD, and the motion was negatived without a division. It is not often that a motion made after such long preparation results in such complete failure. One of the most remarkable circumstances in the debate was the fact that the Roman Catholic Members from Ireland gave Mr. J. D. FITZGERALD no effective support. It is probably not for gotten by the Roman Catholics of Ireland that the speech of J. D. FITZ GERALD, when prosecuting Father CONWAY for the Mayo election riots, was couched in language which gave needless offence to Mr. FITZGERALD'S co-religionists. At that time Mr. J. D. FITZGERALD was supposed to be near the Bench, but since then a great change has occurred; and the electors of Ennis may at a future time show that they do not understand a politician who can make speeches in office calculated to please the Protestants of England, while in Opposition the same gentleman would concoct futile motions for the purpose of investing himself with Roman Catholic support. The position of Mr. FITZGERALD on Tuesday was most ludicrous, when Mr. WHITESIDE produced a congratulatory address to Mr. CECIL MOORE signed by deputy-lieutenants, magistrate; and by four Roman Catholic priests. Mr. FITZGERALD never had any reputation for statesmanship or eloquence, though it was supposed that he had some discretion and skill as a tactician ; but after his floundering exhibition on Tuesday no one hereafter will be disposed to place confidence in his political judgment. " A Jack in office" is proverbially disagreeable, but the pretensions of a " Jack out of office " may be even more unpleasing ; and the best men of all parties unite in condemnation of the tone and spirit in which Mr. FITZGERALD raked up past Irish discussions on 'Tuesday. While listening to his sectarian speech, thinly disguised under an affected impartiality, we could not help thinking of EDMUND BURKE'S ( 1 (11'1 , 1' 4 1110R of the retrospective malignity of those politicians " who " would exhume the coffins of the dead in search of bullets for assassinating " tut living." THE PRESS, JULY 3, 1858. THE "TIMELY RETREA T;" t 37 Or, THE EX-STINKTION OF FATHER THAMES. It was a s ultry night in June, the weary city slept, And o'er the still expanse of Thames a dark miasma crept ; The moon peep'd ghastly thro' the mist—beneath the light she gave Forth stole the ancient River-god, i m p a ti en t o f the wave. The silver mantle, erst his pride, was soil'd or rent away By Iron-bound Leviathans, or Copper'd " Letter A ;" Dull, dead, and dirty were his looks—and thus I heard him cry, " Alas! can Ibe come to this! Alas! can this be I! " My banks were green and pleasant once, but pleasance now is gone; For nothing green can there be seen, save those who walk thereon. Men praised of yore my sounding shore,' but ah ! too well I ween My shores' to-day, tho' loud enough, are 'common' and unclean. " Time was, infinity of fins would cleave this stream of mine— Blithe fisherlads would haul the net, and anglers drop the line; But fish are none where all is foul—no net proceeds at all ! No answer to th' inviting line—no profits from the " The swans that floated double once, like pearls around my brow, Their bills have clear'd and disappear'd—no ecce signum ' now ; Dead curs recur for evermore, and most unfeelin' cats ; But nought can thrive or look alive save antibilious rats. " Ah ! woe is me ; the fairest spot in all my wide domain, Fr,m Blackwall tip to I3attersea, is now no watery reign; The very pool—bad cess to it—is thick as mud can be; And if you mutter'd what a sink !' you'd hit it to aT. " The friends who sought me, shun me now—the steamers miss their fares Of Aldermen from London-bridge, Q.C.'s from Temple-stairs. The sicken'd peeler dares not watch the outlets of the Strand, But quits his stand—too well he knows 'tis what no nose can stand. " Our Judges—no bad judges they—of shorten'd sittings talk, Our M.P.'s, distrusting lime, prepare to walk their chalk. I to o, them, from 'Westminster must westward stir perforce ; To migrate is my great design—my source my last resource ! " Yes! I must teach some clearer reach to purge this eye-sight dim, Some fresher wave this face to lave, so grimy and so grim; I'll hook it' off to Penton Hook, to Boulter's ' bolt away ! Adieu—a long adieu—foul Pond ! fare-well I cannot say !" • The Mayor of Portsmouth is said, while walking round the Dockyard with Wigiaten IV., to have thus alluded to the rats,—" I wish, jour Majesty, we cou:d get rid of them ' antibilious' animals." THE ALABAMA " RESOLUTIONS." Air—" On boa rd the Arethma." Oh ! New Orleens flogs half creation, And old Virginny's a prime location, And a first-chop place is Tenessee ; But above them all, at the top of the tree, The glorious home of the wise and free, Is the State of Alabama! Oh! that's the pride of the stripes and stars; The 'coons down there air as big as bars, And Freedom broods in a spacious nest, And laws air strong, and virtue blest, And Planters wallop their Niggers best In the State of Alabama! They come out strong in a resolution Or a 'cute defence of "the Institution;" They've look'd out sharp for 'varsal laws, 11 ave traced the world to its final cause, And summ'd up all in a sweeping clause— The sages of Alabama! " There ain't no doubt that blacks are born To pick our cotton, and hoe our corn— We've seen many 'carnal ills befall, And some air great, and some air small, But want of Niggers air worst of all," Say the sages of Alabama! " If Slav'ry's right (and in course it air), The eend being good, why the means is t'air ; And thus it's proved, as we all must feel, That the men which works for the public weal Ilas a right to buy their slaves—or steal—" Quoth the wisdom of Alabama! " Let `clippers' be rigg'd, and `deals' be made, And the South go in tbr a roaring trade; John Bull. I guess, will have found his match When we bring home slaves in a hansom' batch ; And won't we wallop e'm like old Scratch," Quoth the State of Alabama! i lismmoi•mimi■immimosminiA \, S t 4 ti,