The Press. — London, England, 1858-03-20 00:00:00

-.or THE PRESS, MARCH 20, 1858. In the discussion on Thursday upon the punishment inflieted upon the rebels in India, Mr. Burrox adduced some remarkable facts in support of his assertion that it was not murder, but " a mere set ting aside of allegiance; which entailed upon the natives the punish ment of death, and this view was confirmed by Sir HICNBY RAWLINSON, who very appositely remarked that, though we had now been con stantly fighting for ten months, and winning great victories, there, was literally not a prisoner of war in our hands. Without wishing to trench upon the inevitable demands of military law which justly decrees death to every rebel found with arms in his hands, we may be per to observe that the time is passed for bloodthirsty re. prisals. The great rebellion of 1857 is contracting itself into a war for the defence of a single province against us. Our object is, the conquest of that province ; and the question is, whether we shall the more easily attain that object by the wholesale execution of disarmed adversaries, or • by measures in which humanity and firmness shall supersede severity and crime. What need have we now of the deaths of men who throw themselves upon our mercy ? By such a system we weaken our influence, and l a y t h e seeds of a sullen discontent which sooner or later will ripen into insurrection and bloodshed. It is by the firm but temperate use of the power which has changed hands, and by the feeling of security to which this moderation gives rise, by the protection it promises, and the prosperity its fosters, that we caii alone hope to conciliate the natives of Oude, and conform them to our rule. It is better for uF., if we are to retain the country, to lay the foundations of our rule upon the solid ground of popular goodwill, than attempt to base it on a soil soaked in blood and misery. The reception of Lord EGLINTOUN by society at Dublin shows how well Lord DERBY chose a Lord Lieutenant for Ireland. All parties have joined in welcoming the present Viceroy to a second term of office, and the " monster levee " which greeted the Noble Earl was fol lowed by a most brilliant Drawing-room, in which the beauty of Ire land was admirably represented. The circles in Dublin look forward to a most brilliant Viceregal period for Lord EOLINTOUN. His frank and genial manners are peculiarly suited to please a generous people like the Irish ; and it is no " State secret " that Lord EGLINTOUN has always appreciated the finer instincts of Irish character. The nomi nation of the new Chancellor has given great satisfaction. Lord Chan cellor NAriEit was the first man at the Irish Bar; for ten years he re presented the University of Dublin, and his Lordship, while engaged in practice, was repeatedly taken special to the House of Lords. He is a jurist of great attainments, and a philosophical lawyer, well quali fied for taking a great part in practical amendments of the law. The new Irish Attorney-General has already distinguished himself in office by bringing to justice at Nenagh the murderers of the late Mr. Ewa; and the Right Honourable and Learned Gentleman showed remark able tact and energy in that arduous prosecution. There cannot be a doubt that Lord NAAS will make an efficient Chief Secretary for Ire land ; and the other appointments are also well filled. We observe that the Morning Post has attacked Lord DERBY on account of his former antagonism to the late Mr. DANIEL O'CoENELL. But Lord DERBY, unlike Lord J. RUSSELL, never insulted the Roman Catholics with a " Durham Letter," and his views on the " Irish Church " are not different from those expressed by Lord PALMERSTON, who stated that the Act of Union was a complete bar to the opening of the Irish Church question. Lord DERBY is not bound to give appointments to the (self styled) " Liberal Protestants " of Ireland ; but we have no doubt his Lordship's promotions will be made with a fair claim to the pretensions of qualified candidates. We challenge the Morning Post to say a word against Lord DERBY as an Irish landlord ; and it would be very easy to draw a contrast between the qualities of Lord DERBY as an Irish landlord and some of the notabilities mentioned by the Morning Post. But comparisons in such oases are—what the proverb says. By the Gazette Return of the Bank of England, just issued, we find that the notes and bullion now in the hands of the Bank amount to nearly thirty millions Bullion and Coin Notes £30,290,010 In November last, during a few days, the same items fell below ten millions. Mr. RALPH OSBORNE has again come forth in CONGBEVE'S character of If - throesld, and has sought to produce effects by composing a cent° of old points. His speech on Monday night was made after a careful study of Lord MACAULAY'S ingenious and brilliant performance at the Edinburgh hustings in 1852, when Lord MACAULAY contrasted the sentiments entertained by various members of the Protection party. It is quite enough to have that sort of thing done once and well; and after Lord MACAULAY'S adroit cross-readings we have no patience for the second-hand wit of Mr. RALPH OSBORNE ; for the whole framework of his speech on Monday is old, with modern scraps of Hansard hung THE WEEK. Tux attitude assumed by the present Government towards the House of Commons is a great improvement upon that which their predeces sors adopted. It is perfectly clear that the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHE QUER is resolved to shake himself free from all that pompous mystery which has hitherto been deemed indispensable to the dignity of office. It is characteristic of little minds to take refuge in this sort of demeanour, which prevents an antagonist from coming to close quarters, and conceals poverty of resource behind a mask of pretentious reticence. The Government is resolved, we are told, in order to promote a clear understaudinp, both with Parliament and the public on the Neapolitan question, to lay the opinion of the law officers of the Crown before the House of Commons as soon as the subject is ripe for discussion. This is as it should be; and were such conduct generally pursued we should have fewer Parliamentary difficulties than we have recently boon ac customed to. Another instance of this dispostion to deal openly with the House was afforded by the conduct of Ministers in the matter of the Militia. A sum of money (500,000/.), being wanted for that branch of tho service, the Government plainly stated to the House what they wanted—instead of adopting the system of transferring the savings of other departments to the liquida tion of this liability. This is surely a much simpler way of doing business, and one which affords far less facilities for throwing dust in the people's eyes than the one which has hitherto been fol lowed. That their conduct springs from a real sense of right, and not from any desire to curry favour with the House, is sufficiently appa rent from the manner in which the inquiries of Mr. BERNAL OSBORNE and Mr. CRAUFURD were encountered. The Ministers showed plainly enough that they were neither to be bullied nor entrapped, and that they knew how to distinguish between an honest desire to promote the business of the country and a malicious attempt to embarrass political opponents. The visit of Mr. LYONS to Naples has already been productive of good. The Neapolitan Court, though disliking, as all Courts do, " pressure from without," has yielded to considerations of humanity, and poor WArr has been released. We may be allowed to hope that this, which is the first, will not be the last concession. As to the legal position of the case, upon that we are not yet able to speak decidedly. The speech of Mr. HORSMAN on Monday night was, undoubtedly, a Parliamentary success. It was spoken under the " inspiration of " independence," and it fluttered the tame inhabitants of certain Whig dovecotes. We are amongst those who always expected high per formances from Mr. HoitamAN ; but he began his political career with an extravagant over-estimate of the merits of the Whig " families," and he always daferred too much to the Whig clique. Another of his errors was that Mr. HORSMAN assumed the tone of a religious " Dis senter," and by doing so the Right Honourable Gentleman propor tionately narrowed his political influence. His Scotch associations might possibly have led him into this latter error. But Mr. HORSMAN is too clever and sensible to have experience wasted on him, and we trust that a broader priaciple will in future be taken by him as his guide. The vigour with which he criticised the mock Liberals on last Monday showed clearly that Mr. Hossusx has a great mission to realise in exposing the faux bonhommes of pseudo-Liberalism. Several of its professors winced under his stringent censure. He fastened at once upon Mr. OSBORNE, as " representing the " late Government," and the terrified Liberals roared out " No," "no ;" he hit hard upon proceedings of " his honourable friend " the Member for Dover," as obstructing the public business; and he drew a masterly contrast between the patriotic conduct of the late Conservative Opposition and that likely to be pursued by those who cheered that Liberal orator who has recently recovered his voice, and who is designated by the Daily News as " the Momus of faction." " Unless my memory deceives me," said Mr. HonsaisN, " when we (the " Opposition) had the pleasure of occupying those benches before, we " had more party divisions in three weeks than the gentlemen now in " office had ventured on in three years " ! That was a strong ad mission, and it cannot be gainsaid. Mr. HORSMAN then alluded to the generous feelings which many Conservatives had evimled towards Lord Pausitastors, and the degree of support given by them which had been so ungraciously rewarded. " The Funds," said Mr. HORSMAN, " had continued not to fall, and the country most provokingly refused " to rise " at the advent of Lord DERBY ; and the calmness of the public mind shows beyond doubt that the delusion of the "Palmerston Dic tatorship " has passed away. We expect much from the Parliamentary performances of Mr. Honours in the present session; and the Liberals, undoubtedly, require a really independent spokesman. " Self-assertion" is almost a virtue in Parliamentary politics ; and we trust, after the provocations that ho has received from his own party, that Mr. HORSMAN will play a part worthy of his talents and just pretensions. His speech on Monday has attracted attention in all quarters, and was far superior to the concocted effort of Mr. OsBoRNR. - oirelhs.,. I I I I II _ y l