The Press. — London, England, 1857-05-09 00:00:00

THE WEEK. THE week has emnprised some important events. The assembling of the New Parliament for business, the deliveryof the Speech from the Throne, the Ministerial statement, the Opening of the Manchester Exhibition, and the intelligence of the capture of Mohammerah by General OCTRAM, are the leading features of this first week of the season. The swearing in of the new Members had occupied the House of Commons a few hours every day in the early part of the week, and it was pleasant to mark the greetings between combatants on opposite sides, fresh from " the country." The new Members, losing themselves iu the various passages, and asking their way at every turn, were recognisable at a glance. Experience will soon teach ; them - to navigate that dangerous passage " the lobby," where so much of the hktory of our age is really transacted. The first business-night of the new session passed off without much excitement. The Speech from the Throne, as vague in meaning as inelegant in . style, was followed by an explanation of policy by the Premier, as meagre and obscure. In the Lords a short discussion arose, in which the Earl of MALMESBL'RY in the happiest terms exposed the hollowness of the Ministerial programme, and, passing on to the China war, warmly defended. the Conservative party from, the deliberate aspersions of Lord PALMERSTON both in his Mansion-house speech and his Tiverton address. Before the close of the discussion, Lord CL.tNRICARDE called attention to the disparaging imputations cast upon the profes sional reputation and the personal courage of General ASHBURNHAM. The question of anonymous writing Was to some extent opened, and the observation of the Earl of HanowicKE last night, when the subject was resumed by Lord CARDIGAN, WHS most to the point, and such as might be expected from the Noble Lord's manly, straightforward nature.- •" .When such charges were made, it was disgraceful," said the Noble Lord; •" that the writers did not append their names." It may be added, that it is quite a matter for consideration bow far it is judicious for a journal, without pretensions to scurrility, to accept and publish such communications, thus affording them a moral support and circulation they could never otherwise obtain. The further proceedings of Parliament may be briefly summed up. Lord LAMPBELL has obtained a Select Committee to inquire into the Law of Libel as regards the publication of the reports of the Courts of Law, and Sir GEORGE GREY has introduced his Transportation Bill. The opening of the Manchester Exhibition will long be remem• bered as one of the memorable events of May, 1857. His Royal High ness Prince - ALBERT -was enthusiastically received, and up to the present time we believe that the Exhibition promises to meet with the hearty support of all classes. The visit of her Majesty late in the season is now decided on. The attack upon, and capture of, Mohammerah, so long after the arrangement of terms of peace, is much to be regretted, and we even doubt if the situation will prove more healthy than Bushire. It may to some extent be a more advantageous position. Has this consideration in any way delayed General OCTRANI'S instructions? The statement of Lord GRANVILLE on Thursday, that General OCTRAM had received intelligence of the conclusion. of peace, will be generally acceptable. The Paris papers express a doubt of the ratification of the treaty by the Government of Teheran.) The last despatch of the Secretary of State for the Colonies to Governor DARLING of Newfoundland, upon the subject of the recent Convention entere , l into with France, has to some extent relieved the apprehensions of the colonists. Mr. LABOCCHERE announces that, in consequence of the refusal of the Newfoundland Legislature to assent to the Convention, the proposals " fall to the ground." Sir JOHN PAKINGTON, we rejoice to hear, will on Monday next present a petition front the Newfoundlanders, and question the Colonial Secretary with 'respect to this remarkable Convention. In connection with the subject, we may observe that the Times last week, in discussing and approving of this Convention (which gave the French the enormous advantages, without equivalent, of the sole and entire use of five harbours on the island, with the concurrent right of fishing upon nearly a hundred miles of our most valuable ground on the Labrador coast and in the Straits of Belleisle, besides other important privileges), based its right and justice upon the 13th Article of the Treaty of Utrecht, which the writer summarised as follows : The fisheries of Newfoundland have been, from the first discovery of the island mainly in the hands of the French. Before ellq English colony had settled in the place, a French establislian-nt at Placentia was already working the Newfoundland coast, and, on the principle ut the right of the first corner, was already in riAtful possession of the Fisheries of Newfoundland. The two great wars between this country and France, which terminated in the Peace of Utrecht, deprived the French of all right to the territory of the island, hut they still clung to their Fisheries, and that peace guaranteed them the exclusive privilege over the larger part of the coast. The Peace of 1703 continued the same privilege. Ity the Peace of 176:1 the French exclusive right of fishing on the coast of Newfoundland was to commence on the east coast at Cape S. John, and thence to extend round the Strait of Itelleisle, including all the western shore as far as Cane Kay. That is to say, the exclusive fishing over more than one• half of the Newfoundland coast was secured to them. The revolutionary war , of course, deprived them for the time of th e p r i v il ege, b ut i t was regained at the Peace to* PAL It is instructive to finil, upon reference to this Treaty, how much faith we may put in the 7 imes version. The original is written :-- Tht, island called Nivfoundloinil, with the adjacent islands, shall from this tin's forward belcng of right wholly to Britain ; and to that end the town and fortress of Pli eentis, an 4 whatever other places in the said island are in the possession of the FreLe,, THE PRESS. shall be yielded and given up within seven months from the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, or sooner, if possible, by the most Christian King, to those who have a commission from the Queen of Great Britain for that purpose. Nor shall the most Christian King, his heirs, and successors, or any of their subjects, at any time hereafter lay claim to any right to the said island and islands, or to any part of it or them. More over, it shall not be lawful for the subjects of France to fortify any place in the said Island of Newfoundland, or to erect any buildings there, besides stages made of boards, and huts necessary and usual for drying of fish; or to resort to the said island beyond the time necessary for fishing and drying of fish. But it shall be allowed to the subjects of Prince to catch fish, and to dry them on land, in that part only, and in no other besides that of the said Island of Newfoundland, which stretches from the place called Cape Bonavista to the northern point of the said island, and from thence, running down by tho western side, reaches as far as the place called Point Niche. But the island called Cape Breton, as also all others, both in the mouth of the River of St. Lawrence and in the Gulf of the same name, shall hereafter belong of right to the French; and the most. Christian King shall have all manner of liberty to fortify any place or places there. Between the deliberate falsification and the actual document the dis crepancy is patent. The text is corrupted to vitiate and to impair the and, shaped in the guise of a running commentary, the matter is put forth in solemn faith as a truth and a reality. The Irish Chief Secretaryship, vacated by Mr. HORSMAN, has 4 caused Ministers considerable embarrassment. Amongst the English Members of Parliament who (it is said) solicited the office, is that sage senator Sir ROBERT PEEL ! His father was once Chief Secretary, and why should not the present Member for Tarnworth obtain the post? But the Cabinet did not respond to his ambitious pretensions, and Sir ROBERT PEEL resigned his Lordship of the Admiralty. Such, and not the contemplated arrival of the Grand Duke, was the real cause of his withdrawal from office. It is a singular, we might say an unprecedented :.drcuinstance, that an office of such a character and of so peculiar and urgent importance as that of the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, should be allowed to remain vacant, now for the space of nearly a mouth. The difficulty in filling it is not from the paucity, but from the number of aspirants ; and it illustrates admirably the character and nature of Lord PALMERSTON'S Admini3tra ticu. As we have had occasion frequently to remark, the Government of Lord PALMERSTON is of ono shade in Great Britain, and of another shade in Ireland. It is blue in Eng land—it professes to be—and is green in Ireland. Is the new Secretary to be green or blue? that is the first difficulty. We venture to state confidently that if it were not for considerations of this kind, the office would have been filled up long ago. And the names that have been mentioned among the aspirants are a sufficient proof of the justice of our remark. Mr. JOHN BALL—the rejected of Carlow borough, the rejected of Carlow county, the rejected of Sligo borough. the rejected of Sligo county ! Mr. BALL abandoned a subor dinate office under the Poor-law Commissioners in Ireland for a Par liamentary career. He entered the House of Commons with no ordi nary expectations on his own part; he assumed immediately the position of a leader. There was a competition between Mr. REYNOLDS and himself, each aiming at leadership, and each at the same time keeping a side eye towards the Treasury bench. Poor JOHN REYNOLDS lost his seat and his hopes. Mr. BALL succeeded beyond his expecta tions—acquired the right of sitting on the Treasury bench, became a Minister, raised the green banner for Irish expectants as regards the good things in the colonies ; and yet his own countrymen have now excluded him from the House of Commons. We have no desire to disparage Mr. Ilacr.. We believe he has been an assiduous, and not an inefficient official ; but we want to know what pretensions had he to office originally, except his being a Roman Catholic ? Could he have been Under-Secretary for the Colonies if he had not been a Roman Catholic. and would he have been suggested for the office of Chief Secretary if he were not a Roman Catholic ? Well, then, we have on the other side Mr. HERBERT. a respectable country gentleman of moderate opinions, considerable Parliamentary experience, and compe tent fairly for the office. But lie is a Protestant ! The same objection holds to Lord Moses:. supposing he were able to obtain a seat. We wonder Mr. FORTESCUE has not been selected, because his disqualification as a Protestant is somewhat neutralised by his enmity to the Established Church and to scriptural toleration. There is one man whose appoint. ment, we believe, would be generally acceptable ; and that man is Sir \V. SOMERVILLE This gentleman, we happen to know, though never dune justice to by his superiors, or allowed to take his proper position when Secretary for Ireland, was appreciated by Irish Members gene rally. But Sir W. SOMERVILLE is a follower of Lord JOHN RUSSELL ! In their distress they have even thought of BERNAL OSBORNE. BERNAL OSBORNE ! They have succeeded in muzzling him at the Admiralty We should like to see Beasar. OSBORNE rattling away as the Chief Secretary. Even Mr. BUTT has been suggested. While writing these lines, we have been informed that, iu order to prevent further embar rassments, Mr. HORsMAN has been requested to withdraw his resigna tion. Mr. FITZROY was one of the latest candidates started for the post. Mr. JOHN CONNELLAN DEANE, the General Commissioner of the Manchester Exhibition, has had his services specially alluded to in one of the addresses presented to his Royal Highness Prince Albert. Mr. DEANE is a gentleman with many remarkable qualities. He is a native of Cork, and is son of Sir THOMAS DEANE, an eminent Irish architect. In early life Mr. DEANE travelled in America, and was subsequently called to the Irish Bar. He was for some years an Assistant Irish Poor-law Commissioner, and he discharged other im portant duties under the cognisance of Government. Ho was actively engaged in the Cork and Dublin Exhibitions, which succeeded the SATURDAY, 456