The Press. — London, England, 1857-03-14 00:00:00

2 52 THE WEEK. THE turmoil of a general election has now fairly begun. Political parties are mustering their forces ; but as yet some confusion prevails both as to the feeling of constituencies and as to the political senti ments of new candidates. This haziness will, no doubt, clear away by and by. Some important points are established by the proceedings which have thus far taken place. First, it is evident that the " conspirators," as the independent Liberals who voted against the Canton slaughter are termed, will not be extinguished so easily or so completely as the official, or circumlo cution Liberals, seemed to expect. When a dissolution was first an nounced, the " conspirators" were somewhat discouraged ; hut as they came to test the feelings of their constituents, they were agreeably sur prised to find that the vote they gave was cordially approved. Great popu lar meetings have voted confidence in Mr. WILLIAMS at Lambeth ; in Messrs. ROEBUCK and HADFIELD at Sheffield ; in Mr. LINDSAY at Tyne mouth ; in Sir ERSKINE PERRY at DeVOTipOrt ; in Messrs. MILNER GIBSON and BRIGHT at Manchester. Lord JOHN RUSSELL has nailed his colours to the mast for London, boldly appealing to the electors against the dictation attempted to be exercised by that fussy and arro gant body, the Liberal Registration Society. His Lordship is in high spirits ; and, by the evident delight with which he anticipates the coming storm, justifies his cognomen of " Foul-Weather Jack." A " great fact" is established by the activity of his Lordship and the independent Liberals at this juncture. It is, that the Liberal party is irreconcilably divided, and that the officialists and the independents must necessarily fight against each other a life or death battle. The officialists generally state that they have "no political " theories to propound," and cry " PALMERSTON for ever !'"flie inde pendents vigorously justify their votes on the Canton business, and stick to the old Liberal programme of Economy and Reform. The addresses of many Conservative Members are before us. That of Lord H. G. LENNOX to the electors of Chichester may be taken as representative of them all. His vote on the China question was given from a conscientious belief that the best interests of England and of her trade in the East would be imperilled by the lamentable events which have taken place at Canton. He is favourable to a judicious revision of our national expenditure, having care to maintain in a state of complete efficiency the defensive establishments of the country ; he thinks reduction on these principles would facilitate the early extinction of the Income Tax, and the progressive removal of taxes which press most heavily on the comfort of the people. He is sincerely attached to the Protestant Church of England, and he is for the redress of social grievances, for sound legal reform, for measures of practical improvement, and for the principle of local self-government. Can more be safely promised, even by the ardent reformers who advocate Extended Suffrage and the Ballot as means to an end ? Means to what end ? To those practical measures which Conservatives of the stamp of Lord HENRY LENNOX would seek directly. Can wisdom be shown in goin g round a mile to gain a place which may be reached in a hundred yards, more especially when in the former instance there are so many by-paths and cross-cuts that there is little probability of the right road being kept? The seceders from the Conservative party have not yet, to our knowledge, issued a manifesto. BENTINCK is silent. The cry of "No Popery " seems extinct. When Lord PALMERSTON'S new allies, particu larly those of a saintly turn, do issue their addresses, it is supposed that in addition to the Ministerial formula, " PALMERSTON for ever, " Foreign Wars, and More Taxes," there will be a special cry, " SPURGEON for the next Mitre." It is a noticeable fact that the retirement of Mr. COBDEN from the West Riding should be followed by the selection of Lord GODERICH as a candidate, who, like Mr. COBDEN, voted with the majority, and must therefore be considered an anti-Palmerstonian. The most accurate election intelligence we could collect will be found in our other columns, but the changes which take place are so rapid that we can pretend to no more than approximation to accuracy. The addresses of the Premier and of the Leader of Opposition in the Lower House have yet to come. Like skilful masters of fence, are they waiting on each other's attack ? Mr. ALDERMAN SALOMONS must surely be the Noodle of the Liberal party. On Tuesday he moved a resolution at the London Tavern, expressive of complimenta►y regret at the termination of the connec• tion between Lord Jouri RUSSELL and the city of London. Mr. Noodle SALOMONS is no doubt a clever man in his way, but not quite clever enough to put an extinguisher on Lord Joint RUSSELL. At that very time his Lordship was concocting his address to the electors, having no doubt been well informed of the insignificance of the body which pretends to dictate to the electors the choice they shall make. The magnitude of the split in the Liberal party is acknowledged by Mr. TORRENS M'CuLLooli at Great Yarmouth," Situated as the Liberal party " is now ; rent. as he was sorry to say it was, by divisions neither new " nor few." This gentleman sat in the House of Commons for some years, and was officially connected with the Whig staff, having been private secreta►y to Mr. LAROUCHERE. How will the official Liberals, headed by their veteran placeman, pretend to meet the House of Commons as a Government, with the independent Liberals, headed by Lord JOHN RUSSELL, " fresh and vigorous from the embraces of their " constituents," at their back, with the Gladstone and Graham con nection on their flank, and with the Conservative a►ray in their front? The supposition is ludicrous. The division in the Liberal party can not soon be healed, and we trust constituencies will have the good THE PRESS. SATURDAY, sense to look facts in the face, to see that the time has come for a transfer of power from one of the great parties in the State to the other, and, setting aside hypocritical and impracticable cries and cor rupt influences, to select men favourable to the great principles of order and progress, and to the only Government now really practicable, a Government with the high-minded and patriotic Lord DERBY at. its head. The Government takes unusual credit to itself for the conclusions of Peace with Persia. Now, the term " conclusion of Peace " is pre mature. The Treaty is not rat►fied. It has been signed by the repre sentatives, and has been despatched to Teheran; but we have yet to• learn that the Persian Government will agree to those terms it offered previous to all knowledge of the attack upon, and the capture of,. Bushire. Possibly under• the pacific influences of the French and Russian Ministers at Teheran the Shah may be induced to ratify the Treaty. We trust that he will do so ; but at the same time, before we have received intelligence of that act, so much self-gratulation is premature. The history of the conclusion of this Treaty is curiously illustrative of the peculiar qualities indigenous to the Palmerston policy. When FEROUR KHAN arrived at Constantinople, he offered certain terms of Peace. The Noble Lord at the head of th 2. Govern• ment protracted the negotiations till intelligence of the fall of Bushire reached him, when his demands rose to an extravagant height. He insisted upon the dismissal of the Grand Vizier at Teheran, and the signal reception of Mr. MURRAY by the Shah with a series of barbaric honours raked out of the rubbish of Persian anti quity. FEROUK KHAN peremptorily refused to concede this obsolete. folly ; the negotiations were abruptly broken off, and the terms of . peace rejected. The Persian Ambassador came to Paris. The Empe-• ror of the FRENCH offered his mediation. Lord PALMERSTON, imputingl to the Emperor of the FRENCH designs of gaining credit and influence at our expense, insultingly rejected his offer. The Noble Lord would: have no mediation. Questions at length were asked in the House of Commons. Mr. LAYARD put one, Mr. GLADSTONE put another, and at: length a definite motion upon the subject was shaped. Lord PALMERS TON became alarmed. Lord COWLEY was instructed to seek an interview with the Emperor of the FRENCH, and entreat his Majesty to use his influence to secure at all hazards a "respectable" peace for Lord PALMERSTON. Lord PALMERSTON, who had bungled himself into a difficulty, had now to humble himself out of it. Every point was conceded to Persia that she resisted. Nothing that Lord PALMER STON had so specially insisted upon was obtained, and the very terms the Noble Lord contemptuously rejected at Constantinople he humbly accepted at Paris. Such is the history of that treaty upon which the Noble Lord and his supporters so complacently congratulate them selves. Mr. LowE, we see, asserts that Lord PALMERSTON, by his promptitude in making peace, has saved this country millions of money and thousands of lives ! " Persia," continued the Right Ho nourable Gentleman the other day at Kidderminster, " finding she• " had to deal with a country which would give her blow for blow, gave' "up her bullying, surrendered Herat, and—peace was secured r" Mr. LOWE'S ingenuity in cooking up this account is very remarkable, and worthy of " colonial experience "—the Right Honourable Gentle• man understands the term. Intelligence from China up to the 30th Jan. confirms the previous reports that the suburbs of Canton had been burned down. The indignation of the Chinese was intense, and a determined effort was to be made to expel us the country. Patriotic proclamations were issued by the Mandarins in every province, calling upon the people to rise and prosecute a war of extermination against us, and the appeal was answered at all points. From each of their settlements the English had retired. No reinforcements of troops or vessels appear to have reached Admiral SEYMOUR, who had withdrawn from the Dutch Folly Fort, and retreated lower down the river. Affairs have now reached such a pitch that a really serious war with China is inevitable. Reinforcements of troops are being hurried from home with all haste. The 23rd, 82nd, 90th, and 93rd Regiments of the line, four companies of artillery, and 1,000 Marines are to be embarked at once, in eight ships, for Hong Kong, while vast quantities of ammuni tion are being transferred from Penang and Singapore to Hong Kong. The statement that the French Government are also about to despatch troops is incorrect. The French squadron only will be reinforced. The Neufchatel Conferences have been partially suspended at Paris. The settlement of a primary point has necessitated a reference to Berlin. We have no reason to doubt the goorl faith of the Kind of PausslA, and we anticipate an easy and satisfactory solution of all difficulties in the course of a brief period. Admiral BERKELEY informed the House of Commons the other night, that since tile surrender of our maritime rights, the difficulty of manning the navy had greatly increased. There is now no hope of prize-money ; and without that inducement volunteers are not forth coming. It is true that the right of blockade is reserved to us by the " Clarendon Capitulation ;" but against steam-vessels, we are informed by Sir CHARLES NAPIER, that it is impossible to maintain a blockade. Pleasant prospects these in the event of another war ! And to whom is the nation indebted for the surrender of these rights? Is it not to that very Minister who now appeals to the country, on the ground that he has consistently maintained its interests and its honour against all enemies, whether foreign or domestic? We regret that this matter should have attracted so little attention in Parliament.; but if the electors do their duty, it will not be forgotten at the hustings. Lord DERBY proposes next Monday to call attention to the cir cumstances under which Parliament is about to be dissolved. His Lordship may with just reason complain of the loss of one entire