The Press. — London, England, 1853-11-26 00:00:00

698 " steamer, with only one large gun, could de " stroy her before her fire could take the " slightest effect. What is this force, even as a nucleus, to contend against the fleets o f " Great Britain or France? . Two or three " English steamers, with guns of long range, " could sink every ship and steamer in pos• " session of the Government." Jonathan looks not only at his fleet, but also at his navy list, and on it he observes "old fogy cap tains " to such an alarming extent that, for five frigate° which he names, fit captains could not be found. From this sad sight the writer mournfully turns, and casts his eye over the eastern waves, till it rests on England end the conti nent of Europe ; and there he sees " France " and Russia actively engaged in increasing " the numerical force of their navies." And there, too, he sees, " at. Spithead, a fleet such " as the world never saw " before ; and Eng land with a preponderance of strength on the ocean that guards her shores and protects her commerce " wherever her meteor flag is borne, " and has compelled Cabinet after Cabinet, " even in America, to tamely submit " to the observance of treaties, these relating to the fisheries for example. The inference the American draws from all this is that " the true way to maintain peace " is to be prepared for war in pace ostendite " ferrous," and concludes with an inquiry whe ther the moirit of WA!IIIINGTON. PATRICK HENRY, and Awnnew JAexsos is extinct, on which point, perhaps, Roarer OwEN may give him some information. Thus, then, we have an influential journal of New York, the capital of Mr. COBDEN'S model republic, denouncing the organisation of that braneh of the United States service, which ham to him appeared to be the emanation of absolute wisdom, and the perfection of national naval efficiency. Is this blow as much as Mr. COBDEN can bear? Alas ! the American journalist is yet more cruel ! Fle lands and holds up as an example to the people of the United States the admi nistrative conduct of the late "Tory" Govern ment of Great Britain, and not only of the " Tory" Government, but of that particular portion of it against which Radical orators and writers more especially delighted to discharge their envenomed arrows of malignant false hood. Yes, it is to that powerful fleet which the Duke of NORTIIEMBERLAND and the Board of Admiralty of the Government of Lord Denny called into existence, that the New York Herald attributes the proud position which England then maintained, and which she might hold now, could the present Govern ment well and wisely wield the magnificent weapon which their predecessors created and bequeathed to them. A CHINK IN THE COALITION. PLACE, and the good things of place, are, to the Whigs, the very breath of their nostrils. To the Russells it is sanctified by hereditary tra dition, and was, indeed, the foundation of the fortune of the haus', of Woburn. And we verily believe that the reason Lord Joss RVSSELL bus so little control over his few remaiuing followers is, that, though nominally Leader of the House of Commons, ho has no Wary. A Minister without salary is, amongst the Whigs, only half a Minister—a King without a realm. But, besides the diminution of respect from this cause, it is now discovered that, in the unprincipled combination which overthrew the late Government, the lion's share of the spoil by no means fell to the leaders of the old Wbig party. The Peelites appropriate so much more than their share that many of the Whigs are in a temper which borders on mutiny. At this dull season of the year, when most of the usual channels of political information are closed by the stagnation of London society, and the absence from town of all but officials, it is scarcely less difficult to get a peep behind the THE PRESS. Ministerial curtain than to find the way amidst the November fogs. Little, therefore, has been heard of these divisions except from the grumblings of the members of Brookes's. and the hangers-on of the old Whig party. But on Saturday last a counter manifestation of feeling on this subject was made by the publi cation in the Morning Chronicle—the organ of the Peelite portion of the Ministry—of a violent attack on the Master of the Rolls for appointing Mr. WRIGHT to the office of Clerk of Enrolments. Now, Sir JOHN ROMILLY is a Whig of the Whigs—a Whig without spot or blemish. When he was Attorney-General he was the most influential member of the Chancery Commission, which, while it distin guished itself by the Spartan severity with which it clipped the office of Lord Chancellor —which it was known Sir JOHN ROMILLY would never fill—of all superfluities, left that of the Mastership of the Rolls, to which it was probable he would be apmointed, untouched. To the Rolls he went, and, since his appoint ment, he has, besides minor patronage, been enabled to cheer certain of his friends by dispensing amongst them the fol lowing good things ; viz., secretary, an nual salary, 1,200/. ; under-secretary, 1,000/. ; two examinerships. 1,5001. ; Clerk of En rolments, 1,2001. It will thus be seen that the Master of the Rolls has acted on the excellent advice of the late lamented CHARLES BULLER, who used to say " when " reforms are proposed never be niggard in " granting compensation, otherwise the occu " pants or expectants of the offices you would " abolish will oppose you, and the reforms " will be delayed or prevented Make a bridge " of gold for them to retreat over, and your " reforms will be effected." This rule Sir JOHN ROMILLY, with that humility which always accompanies true greatness, applied with rigid impartiality to himself. He did not say with presumptuous confidence, "I, the chief member of a re " forming commission, am a virtuous exception " to the rule ;" but, knowing the weakness of human nature in general, he strengthened himself for the work before him, and first de prived himself of all motive for not reforming, that thus his natural inclination for good might have full swing. With the rich rever sion of the Rolls secured to him, and a seat in Parliament permitted, if a constituency would only elect him, if Sir JOHN ROMILLY left sala ries on too high a scale, his advice could not be attributed to personal motives of self interest ; for, having the Rolls, even malice could not insinuate he had an eye on any other place, none other being so good. His impartiality thus guaranteed, forth rushed the reforming knight Sir Joan, and sweeping and trenchant were the strokes he dealt around. On the Lord Chancellor's office espe cially fell the weight ofhis virtuous indignation. Lord LYNDHURST, who did not see the reason why Sir JOHN ROMILLY left the Rolls undis turbed, made this transaction the subject of severe and special animadversion in the House of Lords. Meanwhile, why is the Morning Chronicle so angry at the Master of Rolls for doing that which is only a direct and natural consequence of that much-lauded measure of the Whigs, the Suitors in Chancery Relief Bill? Above all, why does a journal inspired by one section of the Ministry make so violent an attack on an eminent functionary so closely connected with another section of the Ministry as Sir JOHN ROMILLY ? The Morning Chronicle speaks of " corruption which is flourishing in " the obscure nooks of our courts of justice." Corruption and ROMILLY ! Obscure nooks and the Rolls Court ! Are these the terms that are bandied about at the Council Board? Is this a Tu guogueto Whig murmurs? With the gentle man selected to hold the office no fault is found. Our contemporary says that Mr. WRIGHT is quite competent to discharge the duties of the place—indeed, it goes further, and save.y so is his clerk. The Suitors' Relief Bill left the office and salary of Clerk of Enrolments existing, and the Master of the Rolls has only exercised an undoubted right in filling it up. Our contemporary says Sir JOHN ROMILLY should not have filled it up till—:when ? 1 — till Parliament met. Does it mean that the plane should be abolished unless u Peelite can appoint to it? Nay, nay ! this is too hard on SATURDAY, the poor Whigs. If that unfortunate party is to be deprived of all share in the good things that appertain to Government, it is doubly hard to reproach them with their past fruition of patronage—to taunt them with the remi niscences of better days before their misfor tunea connected them with partners who are for keeping all the patronage to themselves. CIVIC CONDOTTIERI. GIBBON relates that, under the pontificate of one of the Popes, pilgrims were deterred from visiting the shrine of St. Peter, lest they should be pillaged by his successor. His Holiness, being generally in ambush with a few trusty followers on one of the roads lead ing to Rome, prepared to spring on any prey that presented a prospect of booty. What that Pope was to the devout of the middle age, " the chief magistrate of the capital of commerce," as the Lord Mayor delights to call himself, and his brethren, is to the merchants of the present day. The corporation of Lon don has at its command a body of Condottieri, who are called fellowship porters, and whose number, forty, is singularly suggestive of their deeds. It brings at once before us the tale of " Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp," or " The Forty Thieves." Mr. KEARNS, a what-linger of the city of London, when appearing as a witness before the Commission of Inquiry, gives a pleasing sketch of this stanch and chosen band of brothers, and of their pursuits. It appears that the corporation levy such heavy duties on fruit that foreign merchants are unwilling to send cargoes to London. Nor is the amount of the exaction surprising when we remember that the salaries of the civic digni taries and their officers for managing a popu lation of about 130,000 exceed the whole ex pense of the central Government of the United States. Funds, too, must be found for City feasts, " and fruit is dear that aldermen may dine." So upon corn, nuts, apples, and onions, a duty called metage is levied. Thus, if nuts are sold at a profit of Bd. a bag. 2d. must be paid for metage, and 2d. for porterage. The latter is, of course, at least double what the work could be done for if the fellowship of the forty porters (lid not exist The " forty " have the right of boarding any vessel they choose, and unloading it. But, as a " forty-porter power" is not adequate to the exigencies of the tonnage arriving at " the capital of com merce," viz., the wharf at London-bridge, these worthies are allowed to call in the aid of allies, many of whom were great thieves. These persons e► . tered the ships under the corporation banner. . . They set the owner of the goods at defiance . . he (Mr. Kearns) had often attempted in vain to remove from a ship men of that class tent under the existing system. Fruit was somet►mes seen in the baskets of women in the street before the mer chant had received his sample. By their fruit truly may ye know them ! Last year the career of one of these allies, who had worked in fraternal harmony with the fellowship—Mr. KEARNS thought he was one of the " forty "—for seven or eight years, was, through the exertions of that gentleman, brought to a temporary check at the Old Bailey. Which is worse ?—the plundering Pope of the dark age, or the plundering cor poration of the age we call enlightened? or is there any real difference between them? How the Pontiff spent his gains we do not remem ber; but the corporation we know spend much of theirs in that moat gross and de grading of all vices—gluttony. THE SCHOOLS AND PRIESTS OF IRELAND. Sut Roma KA:Ws recent speech in reviewing the progress of the Queen's Colleges in Ireland has attracted considerable attention. It is a less satis factory statement in some respects than at first sigh appears, and the speaker seems to us to have sal I either too much or too little. In such severe terms were the existing schools of Ireland disparaged by Sir ROBERT KANE, that, accepting his statements 64 verities, one would be disposed to say that, instead of colleges, with an expensive process of grakluation, it