The Press. — London, England, 1856-05-17 00:00:00

pendent of those connected with the name of Palmer, leaving no substantial doubt on the mind that poison and not disease was the primary agent of destruction, without detec tion of the poisoner. It is a shocking reflec tion that in all societies—at dinners and balls, at concerts and theatres, at church or at ohaoel, in town or in the country, wherever and in whatever society we may be—it is pos sible a murderer may be present. Not only does not one half the world know how the other half lives, it knows not how the other half dies. If from murders we pass to fires, we arrive at a species of offence, perhaps, the most diffi cult of all to bring home to a man. Arson is a crime by which money may so readily be made, and which so few persons are usually in terested in investigating, that it is probably the one which, of all others, is most frequently committed without detection. Insurance com panies are loth to prosecute, for it gets them a bad name ; and private individuals are afraid to utter suspicion so difficult to verify, and so likely to entail heavy penalties. It is proba ble that a much larger proportion of fires are intentional than we are in the habit of suppos ing. how seldom do we hear of a fire being satisfactorily accounted for? " The " origin of the fire still remains a mys " tery," are words with which all readers of newspaper paragraphs must be familiar. The two passions of revenge and covetousness might very frequently be called in to fill up the hiatus in question. With commercial climes we have lately been surfeited. How flourishing was the Tippe rary Bank, with its profits and dividends, till the suicide SADLEIR was found on Hampstead heath ! The readiness with which forged bills have been discounted is an appalling fact. It is even asserted that forged bills, if presented by men of any station, find readier acceptance with a certain class of bill discounters than genuine ones, for the simple reason that they arc more certain to be met. If this practice is proved to prevail to even a limited extent, what a vista of crime it opens to us ! Who knows how many forged warrants may at this moment be passing between Bankside and Lombard-a treet—how many bankers may at this moment be negotiating securities which do not belong to them—how many adven turers may be raising large sums of money on the counterfeited names of friends and patrons ! The amount of undetected crime which goes on festering and generating by its own cop• ruption we cannot pretend to estimate, nor hope to guard against. As good and evil in this world go hand in hand, as the wheat and the tares spring up together, so we feel we must attribute this canker of crime in great measure to the increase of education and the spread of science, enabling the arts of the criminal to keep pace with increased facili ties of detection, and supplying at the same time additional motives for the perpetration of offences. Increased vigilance in the officers of the law from the highest to the lowest—in creased vigilance iu all publie men and public bodies, insurance companies, and trading firms—above all, we should add, in all mem bers of the medical profession, is all that we can at present point to as likely to impose restraints on that wide range of moral lawless ness which must be classed under the head of Undetected Crime. RUSSIA AND THE CAUCASUS. MR. LAURENCE OLIPHANT, the accomplished author of the "Shores of the Black Sea," delivered last Saturday a lecture at the United Service Museum, Whitehall, descriptive of the campaign he made with Omer Pacha last autumn. We extract a portion of lecture having reference to the importance of 'ssia as the Asiatic barrier against Russia:— 'q as Russia persists in her determination to con• esia, she asserts her intention of adhering to her -olicy, and every blow levelled at Cireassian 's a menace to Turkey and to Persia. We tted that we are interested in the Asiatic rmer, and, therefore, we are interested -ee of the Caucasus. The experien, , e Russia has maintained in these he only way by which she can by the establishment of a re, established a line of 'oast of the Black Sea, h other nations, they undeveloped re• THE PRESS. sources, which must sooner or later be exhausted. We have seen how fruitless is the most indomitable fortitude when the brave men who exercise it are left to themselves. There is no reason to suppose that the siege of Circassia will terminate differently from that of Kars, nor will the results be so widely dissimilar. Every gun that rever berates through these rocky defiles will find a warning echo in the mountains of Armenia,—every flag that floats from these blockading forts is a signal of defiance to Constanti nople. The ruins of these forts still remain, and Circas sians have rebuilt their cottages within gunshot of their loopholed walls, little thinking that the day would again come when a hated foe would once more invade the soil of their fathers, to establish, against every principle of right and justice, a barrier which should cut them from the rest of the world ; for Russia has no right whatever to this country, even admitting that, in the vague language of the treaty of Adrianople, it is included. It never belonged to Turkey; she cannot prove a single act of ownership, and, therefore, she had no right to cede it. The clause of the treaty opening the coasts of the Black Sea to the commerce of all nations will here become notably restricted, for one-fourth of them will thus be hermetically sealed against the com merce of all nations. The Russian troops garrisoned along the coast will no more allow a bale of Manchester calicoes to be carried into Circassia than they would have allowed a bug of biscuits to be taken into Kurs, and will fulfil to the letter that clause of the treaty which says, "a blockade in order to be binding must be effective." MR. BUCHANAN UPON THE AMERICAN QUESTION. MR. BUCITANAN, who so lately left us, has met with a very warm reception in the United States. Upon a recent visit to Philadelphia, he was presented with a congratulatory address, and in his reply alluded to the state of affairs between England and America : Gentlemen, it is hardly proper for me to speak of the diplomatic business in which I have been engaged on the other side of the Atlantic ; but I have been asked, re peatedly—is there danger of war? I think not. But it is simply because I believe our country to be so clearly and decidedly in the right on the questions involved between the two countries, that the British people never will con- sent to irritate them into a dangerous condition for both parties. Our commerce now covers every ocean ; our mer cantile marine is the largest in the world. We have the greatest interest of any nation on earth in preserving peace. We ought to cultivate peace with all nations. But there is an interest superior to all these considerations, and that is our national honour. If war should ensue—l feel, however, no apprehension of danger at the present moment—if the national honour of this people should ever be insulted by any Government upon the face of the earth-1 know that the merchants themselves, who would have the greatest sacrifices to make, would stand by the country at the expense of e%orything human. I can per no danger. I ought to say, gentlemen, that I have honestly maintained the instruction received from my country in the negotiation which 1 have had with Eng land, and while I have never hesitated boldly, but courteously, to express my opinions, I have never found anything but personal kindness in my intercourse with the British people. Ido not believe that any American can ingratiate himself into the good opinions of any people in Europe by concealing his honest sentiments upuu all proper occasions. I have acted upon that principle, and I have no reason to repent it. LORD DALHOUSIE'S PENSION. (From the Standard of Thursday.) AT the special Court of Propr;etors at the East India House, the proposed pension of 5,(K)01. per annum to the late Governor-General, was agreed to by a very great majority. We do not pretend to be qualified to offer any confident opinion upon any question of Indian policy, but there are some general principles of national progress which apply to all Governments, and which must apply to Indian Government, unless the case of India be exceptional, of which no proof has been offered. High among these general prin ciples stands the truth, that extent of territory is not necessarily either strength or prosperity, but on the other hand a very alarming element of weak ness, if it be not accompanied by a correspond ing increase of wealth and civilisation. A ra pidly extending territory, therefore, by whatever process extended, is no occasion of congratulation, unless it be accompanied by a proportional increase of wealth and commerce, the offspring of civilisa tion. Now, there can be no doubt that under Lord Dalhousie's Government our Indian territory has been enormously extended by annexation ; but, un fortunately, that extension of territory has been ac companied by a very great decline of revenue. To this it may, and rrobsbly will, be answered, that the decline of revenue is the necessary price of the acquisition of additions to the British Indian empire. To us, however, taught as we hsve been by history and by the late—we may say the actually present— experience of our own country, this answer is not satisfactory. Every empire, as far as our records reach backward, that has sought greatness by exten sion of territory, to the neglect of internal resonriks, has failed—almost always failed miserably. "No one," says the Greek proverb, "is so thirsty as a dropsical man ;" and, doubtless, East Indian pro prietors may swallow with delight every accession of territory, but it is the' duty of all who love truth and love their country to warn the patient of the neoes sary effect of the too liberal indulgence. SATURDAY, LORD RANELAGH'S LETTER. TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CiRLTON CLUB. My Lords and Gentlemen,—l have placed the following three resolutions on the board for the next annul meeting : I. That this club was established for political plus p 2 . That o h s i L i s s h h . e ed w e politicalwere entirelyprinciples o adverse f t this) those id v club, sa es t; ta cated by the present Government. 3. That the presence in this club of gentlemen who have altered their political views, and are mem bers of the peseta Government (to which Go. vermnent the Conservative party has been in direct opposition ), is injurious to the interests of the Conservative party, and is at variance with the principles upon which the chili was established. I have noticed that personal feelings on subjects brought unier the consideration of the club at the annual meetings not unfrequently interfere with the fair expression and temperate consideration of the views of the proposer of a motion, and those by whom he is supported. It has, therefore, occurred to me, that I shall not only save myself from misapprehension, but also enable you to arrive at II mote just conclusion, it 1 give the reasons which have im duced me to place these resolutions on the board in a form which admits of no mistake. I think I may assert without contradiction that the Carlton Club was established for the furtherance of pain cuter views. I think I may venture further to assert that, either from his antecedents, or the careful inquiry of the committee, every noblemen and gentleman who has been elected has been deemed, and has actually admitted himself to be, of Conservative politics. Do 1 state too much when I maintain that without that qualification he would have been inadmissible? His acceptance of election, therefore, has been, on his part, an acquiescence in the known principles of the club. 1 will not trouble you with a history familiar to your selves, the cause of which events, originating with Sir Robert Peel, led to the formation of a party within the Con servative body which assumed, or to which was assigned, the name of the Peelite party. That party commenced its secession on a particular point of fiscal policy. Opinion was divided on that subject ; audit was considered by many that the severance of particular gentlemen from the views of their party on one subject did not indicate an absolute and entire departure from the common purpose of those with whom they ordinarily acted in public affairs. I, therefore, with others, deemed it expedient and only fair to await the moment when the Legislature should settle that agitated question, in the hope that those whom au individual difie rence had estranged might return to the common alliance. I think that such a course was temperate on the port of those who differed with the seceders, as well as just towards them. But I venture to think, considering the character of the club, its known political purposes, and the distinctness of their politics, that this was the fair limit of forbearance. Even place or office under an actual Peelite Government (for the sake of fair concession) I include in the same category ; for the came hope might be entertained towards the Peelite party generally as might exist towards an indi vidual member member of it : but the full of the Aberdeer Government brought about practically, in the House of Commons, the extinction of the Peelite party. To the Peelite party, therefore, to use their own language, two courses were open—the one to rejoin those from whom they were severed only by one difference, or to join those who had been and are the opponents of the CUR' servative party. 'f here are members of this club holding office under the present Government ; and I appeal to you if this is cons's tent with that which they either personally undertook, or was undertaken for them, as the condition of their election here. If it is, my motion is unfounded and inopportune; if it is not, you ought to vote for it. At uny rate, it Is tne ground upon which I have thought it my duty to place these resolutions on the board. I shall exceedingly regret if any word of the resolutions, or any expression in this letter, should be supposed to ex tend to many excellent members of the party who, front temporary or supposed difference, have for the moment held aloof from the general views of the party. My resolutions are directed against those alone who, either by writing, voting, or stronger adhesion, have openly or in efl'ect joined the party to which this club is opposed. I am most unwilling to obtrude myself ou the special notice of the club or the party ; but I do believe in the in ternal resources and strength of the Conservative party, if true to itself, and retaining its original purpose of vindi cating the rights of property and the freedom of the people.--I have the honour to be, my Lords and Gentle men. your ob dient servant, RANILICiff. Carlton Club, May 9th, ISM. GENERAL WILLIAMS. TO THE EDITOR OF " THE PRESS." Sir,—l see you consider Sir W. Williams "as a young man in the prime of life, being born in 1810." I hope he may still be considered as in his prime, but he is, at least, six years older than you imagine. I can state this from my own knowledge, having been with him at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich when he was at least two years senior to me, my year being 1806.—Your faithful servant, ONE NOT QUITE IN HIS PRIME. May 10, 1856. No FOREIGN ABII3k3SADOR OR MINISTER IN PARIS will for the future invite to his official parties any one who has not been presented at Court.