The Press. — London, England, 1857-06-06 00:00:00

JUNE 6, 1857. of jesuitry and pusillanimity the King of the BELGIANS and the country were saved by the firm acid statesmanlike conduct of Lord HOWARD DE WALDEN, acting as Minister in the name and on the behalf of England. The Duke of CLEVELAND'S speech on the new Reform Bill is an additional proof, if such were wanted, that Conservatives can regard the subject of Parliamentary Reform with as much confidence as the Liberals. The interests of tho former were so injuriously affected by the settlement of 1832, that it is almost impossible any fresh arrange ment could leave them worse than it found them. There are, indeed, one or two observations which fell from the Noble Duke which, though doubtless prompted by a liberal generosity, seem to be a little at variance with those rights of which his Grace declared himself so warm a supporter. The county franchise has always been admitted to arise out of the ownership and cultivation of the soil ; the phrase " landed interest " has now a recognised constitutional significance ; and persons living in counties, but entirely unconnected with the land, whatever their abstract rights to a voice in the election of representa tives in general, cannot claim the right of voting for the special repre sentatives of a class to which they do not belong. We sincerely hope that in any reconstruction of our representative system this distinc tion will he steadily borne iu mind. if the landed interest is to pre serve its duo weight in the administration of the affairs of this country, it must be by maintaining its representation unembarrassed and un distracted by the introduction of foreign elements. In the Noble Duke's remarks upon the subject of 101. renters we fully concur ; and the general tone of the meeting was such as to give great satisfaction to the supporters of the Conservative interest. The foundation of the Oxford Diocesan Spiritual Aid Society is a fresh step towards strengthening and extending the usefulness of the Church of England, and regaining for her that hold upon the minds of the people which the rapid and disproportionate increase of the population has during the bast century impaired. The building of new churches, and the multiplication of district clergymen, are not enough by themselves to meet the growing want. The clergy must be above poverty if they are not to be below usefulness. And the great majority must be married men if they are to fulfil the intention of the English Church. All this of course renders their maintenance a more expensive affair than it is in Roman Catholic countries. As the Bishop of OXFORD said, " to maintain a set of men in religious "houses would be far cheaper than to scatter Christian families over " the land with all the healthful and purifying influence of domestic " life." But the English people have learned to set a full value on the influence of our married clergy, and of a system under which every parsonage house in the kingdom becomes a little centre of hu manity and refinement. We fully agree with Mr. GLADSTONE, that to provide funds for the improvement of pauper benefices, and the endowment of new ones, is the step to be taken, and that additional churches and priests without these will rather do harm than good. The famous Persian Treaty has not satisfied the army cooped up at Mohanimerah : As far as I can learn (*rites the Times correspondent), Femuk Khan had consented to much more than we have now obtained from Persia in his negotiations with Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, and what has finally been agreed upon seems to be very much below what we had imperatively demanded. All these concessions, moreover, have been made subsequent to our successes over the Persian forces. We feel persuaded that, though Sir James might not have insisted upon all the original demands, he ould certainly have obtained something more than what has now satisfied the English Ministry. The army naturally feels that its labours have been in vain, and that more might easily have been obtained by rational diplomacy than we have now gained by force of arms. We fear that British diplomacy at Paris was no match for Oriental shrewdness ; and that FEROUR KHAN there quickly detected the insincerity of the British Govern ment in its exorbitant demands. So what he offered to concede at Con stantinople he refused to enter even upon the consideration of at Paris, and finally obtained a treaty as creditable to his sagacity as it was anything but a remarkable evidence of the astute skill, ability, and experience of the Noble Earl her Majesty's representative at Paris. It would, of course, be particularly unwise and improper at the present moment to discuss the terms of this famous treaty now about to be laid before Parliament, although it may appear very great nonsense to say that a treaty which we are told is so soon to be made public is a matter of secrecy; but we would venture to observe that, in order to comprehend the nature of the treaty and the circumstances of its conclusion in all their bearings, we feel a great desire for a little further information than the bare text of the treaty can afford us. Perhaps the Government, for the satisfaction of the public, may find it convenient to publish Sir JAMES OUTRAM'S instructions, from which, possibly, some further light may be thrown upon the affair, for we might hope to gather what at least this distinguished officer's opinion was of the nature of his instructions and of the object of the expedi tion The little bill for this little difficulty has not yet appeared. I► Ivould be, perhaps, premature to anticipate how much the rejec tion at Constantinoplo of terms of peace which we accepted at Paris have cost the country. The Suez Canal scheme is being pushed with much vigour, but we do not apprehend with much success ih this country. We have lee• tures, and trle9tings, ae4 pamphlets, and publications, la support of 557 the scheme, and one of the small morning papers, the Star. seized with poetic rhapsody, characterises the project as " a bulb irnbedde I in the " rich eoil " of Frenchmen's imaginations, " ready to burst forth fresh " and captivating as a tulip." This may be pretty and poetical, and a fair introduction to what follows about the estranged waters of the Mediterranean and Red Seas rushing into one another's arms, and "kissing," as in days of old, to be " bound together," itc., but it is not practical. We quite believe that a canal can be made, but the difficulties of construction are immense, the expense under-estimated, and the nature of the traffic for which such a Canal would be serviceable misunderstood. It would never be available to British or American sailing ships, and the time for the universal application of steam-power to merchant &lips is not yet come. But. besides the mere pounds, shillings, and pence view of the proposal, grave political considerations are involved. Is peace so certain, so secure, that we may place India, with her exceptional form of Government, and with all her passions and prejudices, within such easy reach of Europe and European fleets and armies? On the whole, we are disposed to believe that the real gist cf the question lies in the adequacy or not of the railroad foe all purposes of traffic. The Leeds election has resulted in the return of the Conservative candidate, Mr. BEECROFT. The contest appears to have been close. The vacancy caused by the death of Mr. HALL, the late Conservative Member, will, we have no doubt, be ably filled by his present successor. The election for Carmarthen shire is one so dependent upon purely local influence, of which Mr. Peatt, a Liberal Conservative, would seem to have acquired the lion's share, that his return is not impro bable, but there is just the chance of a contest, for Mr. LLOYD DAVIES has announced his intention of offering himself also upon Conser vative principles. The question asked on Thursday night by Sir J. TRELAWNY about Church rates, and answered by Lord PALMERSTON in the affirmative, cannot fail of causing grave disquietude among all friends of the Church. It is not that such persons would be unwilling to subject the whole question to careful and impartial revision, or that they would deny the expeJiency of devising some final settlement. What they would shrink from is the danger of bringing so important a subject under the notice of the Legislature at a season when but few weeks perhaps of the session remain ; when Members are wearied of busi ness, and when the Manchester Exhibition or the moors have claims superior to legislation. A question of this nature, in which so large a portion of the population are so deeply interested, ought to be approached in a widely different spirit. What the terms of any final settlement might be we cannot pretend to discuss. Those, indeed, who contend that the abolition of church rates would but place the Church in the same position theoretically which she now occupies practically, we hold to be entirely in the wrong. It may be true that few instances occur in which the majority thrust a rate down the throats of the minority. But that is only because in ninetrnine instances out of a hundred the minority don't think of resisting it. But once remove the prescriptive pressure which they now feel, and a widely different result would ensue. At all events, whatever conclusions he arrived at, we sincerely trust they will not be such as to abet the attempt of certain parties to wriggle out of the obligations with which their property is charged, and to evade the conditions about which there can he no more doubt than of the right of a country gentleman to his estate. There is much to be said in favour of Mr. HORSFALL'S motion for a Special Committee to inquire into the feasibility of a better adaptation of the " Board of Trade." Since its first establishment the Board has undergone several changes, and the domestic revolutions in our commercial life would seem to call for a new organisation. It cannot be denied, also, that if some excellent appointments were at various times made to this department, on the other hand some nominations have occurred which seemed to show that the Board was not vitally necessary for the better government of the trade of the country. What, for example, did that brilliant orator, the late Mr. SHELL (who was Vice President of the Board), know of trade and commerce ? We could cite other appointments equally out of character. The House of Commons, however, is not likely to order any more special committees in the course of the pre sent short session. Much of the defence offered by Sir J GRAHAM and Mr. LABOUCHERE was irrelevant, and did not touch the subject of the debate. It is admitted on all hands that the Board has been of great use to Governments as a consulting body. But still the Board might be materially improved ; and in some respects its present constitution does not secure for it as much commercial confidence as might be expected for so important a department of Government. The visit of his Royal Highness the Duke of CAMBRIDGE to Bir minghatn, for the purpose of being present at the opening of the Cal thorpe-park, will long be remembered with pleasure by the inhabitants of that borough. His Royal Highness shows himself to be possessed of all the aptitude for the conciliation of the public which pre•emi nently distinguished his family; and he speaks with a manliness and soldier-like simplicity which at once wins upon his hearers. The oc casion itself was one that well deserved to be graced by the presence of Royalty. The gift of some thirty acres of ground to be turned into a park is worthy of the munificence of the olden time ; and we hope Lori CALTHGRPE way reap the reward of his liberality by long living io witness its beneficial effect upon the townspeople, THE PRESS.