The Press. — London, England, 1858-04-24 00:00:00

396 THE PRES I r r" i4 l 24,7'1*8. THE WEEK. IT is not to be denied that so long as two such Powers as Naples and Sardinia are at variance, and have a substantial ground of quarrel, uneasiness must exist as to the preservation of the peace of Europe. But the nature and extent of this peril is so thoroughly understood, and the desire of all the great Powers for the maintenance of the general tranquillity is so unquestionable, that we cannot for a moment doubt that a pacific solution of the question in dispute will in some way or other be found. Meanwhile the Emperor of the FRENCH has manifested in the clearest manner, by sending us such a representa tive as the Duke of MALAKOFF, his desire to be on the most cordial and friendly terms. This of itself is nearly a sufficient guarantee that no important disturbance of the peace of Europe will occur. France and England in unison, and desiring peace, can do much to insure it. During Lord COWLEYS absence from Paris, Lord CHELSEA has taken charge of the Embassy. Lord STRATFORD DE REDCLTFFE'S return to Constantinople to take leave will probably not take place until August; and in the meantime no successor will he appointed. The papers on the Cagliari affair were delivered yesterday. We postpone our observations on them until our next publication. Mr. KINGLAKKS motion, it will (he seen, was withdrawn. The fact is that in an affair of this delicate and perilous nature, the less public discussion takes place, the more hope there will be of a pacific solution. The first struggle on the India Bill is likely to occur on Monday in the House of Commons. At least, Lord Goosatcu gives notice that he shall oppose the going into committee on the resolutions pro posed by the Government. But it is well known that Lord :PALMERS TON himself, having surveyed the ground, thought such an attack not likely to be successful. And if he could not indulge hopes of success, it is not probable that Lord GODERICH will prove more fortunate. The stage which the discussion on Church-rates has nowrAilehed, and the position in which it stands, is rather a curious one. By the forms of the House the question now stands over till next Wednesday three weeks, and if every debate in committee is like that of Wednesday last, when the House did not even get so far as the first clause, there seems reason to believe that the Bill will not be disposed of during the present session. It is not, therefore, surprising that Sir JOHN TRELAWNY and Mr. Baicur should press the Government to grant them a day for going into committee on the Bill. But, on the whole, we cannot believe that there is any valid reason for acceding to their request. Mr. BRIGHT says that "the country is determined" to have this question settled. Now, we all of us know very well what is the usual behaviour of the country when it is determined to have a question settled. Crowded public meetings year after year, petitions from every town and county in the kingdom, and a steady succession of articles in the public press, are the ordinary symptoms of the country having made up its mind. But on the subject of Church rates there is no such agitation. The fact is, people are very apt, if we may so speak, to take the name of the country in vain ; and to cry war when there is no war, as much as peace when there is uo peace. We cannot persuade ourselves that the country is at ali excited about the matter ; and we believe it will be rather glad than otherwise that the settlement of the question should be deferred until the modus operandi has assumed some definite shape. The Times favoured us with a column yesterday to prove that the Church would be far better off without Church-rates ! This could only be done by the aid of a great fiction. It was assumed that forty years ago the Church had Church-rates, and that at that time no new churches were built ; but that recently she lost her Church-rates, and then new churches sprang up by thousands. This, as we have said, is a great fiction. The Church of England 'had Church-rates in 1800, and she has them in 1858. It is very true that of late years Dissenters have opposed Church -rates, and have succeeded iu their opposition in about 400 or 500 parishes out of 10,000. But in nineteen-twentieths of the parishes this opposition has never been heard of. When the Times says that " since the beginning of this century several thousand churches have been built or restored," it should add, that nine out of ten of these churches have been built in parishes where Church-rates are made, and often by means of those Church-rates. How such a fact, if truly stated, can furnish an argument against Church-rates, it is not easy to see. The position of political parties at the present moment is almost without precedent. On the one side we see the Government, with perhaps not more than 250 to 260 reliable supporters. But on the other side, under the general term of " Liberals," we observe at least three clearly. defined and distinct parties. There are the members and supporters of the late Ministry, many of whom, if not all, are really anxious for its speedy restoration, But, next to these, though inferior in numbe'r, are those Whigs who prefer Lord JOHN RUSSELL as their natural leader. These do not despair of seeing a Russell Administration in less than twelve months; but they are not disposed to help to restore the late Cabinet. A third party, of "advanced Liberals," dislike both the Whig chiefs, and, having no hope of constituting a Ministry of their own, they are for keeping Lord DaRBY in power, in the hope of extorting or other wise gaining concessions from him. These three sections or the Liberal party are clearly separate and distinct ; and so long as they re main apart, the present Government can hardly be disturbed. But the estrangement of these three sections from each other is not-. $ circun3stance the endurance of which can be safely calculated upon. TO THE CHIEF OF THE WHIGS. MY LORD,—The Clubs are all talking of you. " What will L Jon do now ?" is asked in every variety of tone in Pall-mall and in St. James's-street. All the incidents of the situation which Lord PALMERSTON maintains towards you are eagerly discussed. The just create of your past services, your present influence and future fame,. your personal character, are all at stake upon yOur conduct in the current session. SYDNEY SMITH has been often quoted against you,, but fairness requires that he should be quoted for you. "If Lord " MELBOURNE was gone, it would be easy to find another handsome " )tetd for the ilatVi if Mr. Snore -RicE should vanish, g rea t wou ld "be the joy of. t4glThree Per Centc, ; if Lord PALMERSTON retired, we " should not be nibbling ourselves into little wars all over the world: " bat if anything were to happen to Lord JOHN RUSSELL, the whole " party would break up into sparks of liberality and splinters of " Reform." And is not SYDNEY SMITH'S prophecy come to pa ss ? Where is the Liberal Party now ? It is out of office. Of what is it composed? Of " sparks" and "splinters." On great occasions, and for many years together, Lord CHATHAM, Mr. 1;',034 r eilid the late Earl GREY, " stood alone ;" and though not holding the seals of office, those great men. wielded prodigious power over Ministers, who feared their frowns, and dreaded their censure. It is asked—" Is Lord JOHN RUSSELL great enough to stand alone?' That is one of the queitions frequently heard in political circles. It has often been said, that after yqu had found you had committed yourself by the " Durham Letter," :if you had then resolved to stand alone, and firmly declined eompronSising yourself by consenting to sit in a Cabinet, which owed its triumph over the Old Whigs to the votes of the "Brass Band" . j 'ykitt Would have vastly raised your moral influence, and imparted additional lustre to your name. Your Lordship is doubtless well informed of the extraordinary means taken by tho Cambridge-house connection to " organize " their power. That word " organize " is a new one in our political vocabulary. In former times, England, Conservative and Liberal, was ruled by its natural influences. Now-a-days, when certain jobbing Liberals want moral power, and when they have lost faith in the spell of great historical names, and discarded the old traditions of the popular cause, they proceed to " organize,"—that is. to construct au artificial authority in place of a moral influence. Counterfeit manufacture is always lurking under these "organizing" attempts. Ono of your Lordship's colleagues in the Aberdeen Cabinet was conspicuous for a brief season in consequence of his industry in " organizing." Your Lordship recollects the peculiar sort of political " tail " which his Grace appended to his person. What does your Lordship think of the Cambridge-house " tail " ? Largo jobbers—small jobbers ; high journalists—low journalists: clerks in office—clerks out of office; men who had " a name" and lost it—men who never will gain "a name; " intriguers incessantly advertising their small wits—fetchers and carriers of scandal—seedy Horace Vlalpoles, and George Selwyns out of elbows—rhetoricians " to let," and political inquirers whose final convictions are secured by the Californian screw; " City" speculators, loiterers in "the lobby," frequenters of the Stock Exchange, and a motley band of adven turers in search of a platform—such are the materials out of which the invisible friends of Lord Proteus seek to " organize " a mockery of public opinion ! They open a mart where the sellers are " Legion," though the buying is but for - 7 -oas ! ! e Whether a proud man: ' I.ord JOHN RUSSELL will consent to another " Coalition" with sgo r si; " organization," is anxiously asked . 11;r/ by many A Vows nox TIM CLUBS. ii !%., PERPLEXITIES OF AN OLD . I.IIIIIP. SCENE—Brookes'. Club. i?oisday Euta T w. Sin W. C. H.—( reading the letter of an Old Whig in Tuesday's " Globe"): " We have passed the time for even a new and improved edition of the " last Cabinet. We want a new Liberal Government, in which Lord " JOHN RUSSELL shall be a prominent member, which shall not exclude " Sir JAMES GRAHAM, which shall secure Mr. GLADSTONE, and which shall not condemn either Mr. BRIGHT or Mr. Giasox to proscription." Heyday ! Coalition again ! And what a Coalition—BßlGHT and GLAD* STONE! What will Oxford say to that? WI a .oIIT ( Reads again) : " Lord JOHN RUSSELL and his Mends refuse their " co-operation in an attempt to overthrow Lord Damn - for no higher " object than a restoration. They cannot be expected to become mere " tools to gratify Lord PALMERSTON'S personal ambition. And if they " are expected, it is quite certain that they won't." This is as pretty a quarrel as I ever saw. First, we have Barna,. publishing to all the world that Lord PALMERSTON'S Ministry was the " very worst" that he had ever seen ! And then we have Lord You or his friend declaring that, in the next Liberal Ministry, JOHN BRIGHT must have a place • How are we ever to get on in this way? (alias again) : " Lord Jeux RUSSELL may reasonably decline. " after all that has occurred, to serve under any one." "It is not, I - ' , ..11