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

242 .~ ~:.. Its records till some of the blackest pages in history. It has enslaved distant nations ; it has desolated whole continents ; it has sought to legitimatise traffic in human beings, and in commodities which degrade and poison them ; and when it has obtained supremacy in any country, it has not unfroquently, by its inso lence mid aggression, provoked such a spirit of opposition on the part of other States as to involve its nation in long and desperate wars, closed at last in utter ruin. The fall of great commercial communities is not, as some have supposed, to be traced to a decline of mar tial spirit among them, but to the desperate wars they have provoked in their endeavours 'to aggrandise their trade by deeds of injustice and violence. Tho strength and virtue of England consist in the composite character of her people. Our chambers of commerce and great mari time bodies, however useful when restrained within their duo limits, would prove fatal to the permanence of our power if they ever obtained complete ascendancy. Their in terests are only consistent with national in terests when pursued under superintendence which restrains outrage and compels respect for the rights of humanity. The sudden action of these confederations on the China question looked suspicious. It provoked inquiry whether they might not have objects in this dispute adverse to the welfare of the country at large. Such bodies may have a very acute perception of what is best for dick own im mediate profit, but a great contempt for what is most conducive to the permanent prosperity of an extended empire. The opinion of the great body of the people .has been more sluggish in its movement; but 'it is now beginning to assume consistency, and to find a voice. At great public meetings held in dttlorent parts of the country, the pro ceedings at Canton have been condemned by overwhelming majorities. The Liberal "con spirators," whom a dissolution was primarily to punish, have become the heroes of their respective constituencies. LordJOHN RUSSELL, after a period of hesitation, has decided on standing for the City—an indication that he Las discovered that his vote is not likely, after all, to prove unacceptable to the first com mercial constituency of the empire. Sir F. BnitEco, Mr. LINDSAY, Sir ERSKINE PERRY, Mr. RonoucK, Mr. Mukt.r., and other of the conspi rators, have manfully stood forward to justify their votes ; and there appears not the slightest probability that Government influence, how ever unscrupulously exerted, will suffice to defeat them From this party Lord PALMERS TON'S Government, in a new Parliament, will have little forbearance to expect. IL is too early yet to speak with any cer tainty of Conservative prospects. AU we know at present is, that they improve day by day The Conservative connection in the next Parliament in all probability will be stronger and more compact, and 1011 be reinforced by sonic eminent rising talent; while the Liberal party must be irreconcilably divided so long as Lord PALMERSTON'S Government subsists. Such contempt as he has cast on the Liberals who refuse to submit to his dicta tion can never be forgiven. Ills chance of securing a Palmerstonian majority is at an end. Enough is already known of the temper of constituencies to prove that it is absolutely impossible for him to maintain his ground in the new Parlia ment. his policy at this moment is of that suicidal kind which is popularly described by the expression, that a man is digging his own grave. He has deprived himself of the only plau sible pretext he had for a dissolution, by recognising the wisdom and justice of the vote he denounced as factious. As the result of that vote, he proposes to send a Plenipc tentiuiy to China to supersede Sir Jo►ix BOWRING—a measure never so much as hinted kit before the verdict of the House of Commons was given. He disputes that vote, and he submits to it at the same time. lie shoxs hiniselfobedient to the "faction" against which he makes an appeal to the country. im (lees he select for his Pleni- The Alinisterialists have Lut one hustings. It is, outcry agaiust linationo. THE PRESS. Their chief is determined to deprive them of this pretext. He who pretends that he is the victim of an unnatural coalition flies for support to the Duke of NEWCASTLE—a promi nent member of the Aberdeen Government— the colleague of Sir JAMES CrRAIIAM, Mr. GLAD STONE, and Mr. HERBERT—a connection to which he is still believed to be attached. When Lord PALMERSTON desired to become Premier, he made no effort to shield the Duke of NEWCASTLE from the odium of having mis managed the war. He offered his Grace no place in his Cabinet. He presses him to accept the post of Plenipotentiary to China only that he may command the Duke's elec tioneering influence. He does this, moreover, with the knowledge that the Duke of NEW CASTLE absented himself from the China de bate in the Lords, that his name is not found in the division list, and that his connection and friends in the Commons exerted them selves to secure the "factious vote" which defeated Lord PALMERSTON'S Administration. The Duke of NEWCASTLE, With honourable indignation, refuses the offer, and declines to have any further connection with Lord PALM EnsToN. - - This fact must surely open men's eyes to the absurdity of Lord PALmEnsToN's pretended indignation against coalitions. His offer to the Duke of NEWCASTLE shows that he is ready in his extremity to clutch at any kind of coalition or combination which might afford a chance of aiding him. in his present desperate condition. Like the priest in that woodcut which figures on the covers of VICTOR Hcuo's " Notre Dame," he looks around him with despairing eyes for some object to break his inevitable fall. The Gulf of Resignation is below him, and the avenging face of Lord JOIIN RUSSELL is above. LC: 11111.11.VJ uu And wlioiu potentirtry ? 'l.o%)ic fur the itaitic4l,comi IRELAND AND THE GENERAL ELECTION. TILL PREMIER is a great master of political intrigue and party artifice. In the many windings of his sinuous career he has displayed such ready adroitness, such inventiveness, and such elasticity, that he has emerged, for the most part, from his worst reverses and most trying vicissitudes with renovated vitality. The Noble Lord is not consequently without a somewhat numerous following. Success has supreme attractions for ordinary minds. It is often mistaken for wisdom, and it is not rarely pre ferred to virtue. We are willing therefore to admit that he has many admirers, that his tools are not few, and that his dupes are con siderable. But amid all the delusions, the fables, and the sophisms which are being ar rayed and marshalled in his favour to repair his damaged fortunes and resuscitate his fiding popularity, amid much doubt and no small perplexity, we have the utmost satis faction in knowing that Ireland is neither be guiled, deceived, nor perverted, but, true to her own honour and faithful to her own interests, is prepared to repudiate the Government of the First Minister. In the solemn appeal to its electors which is now about to be made, it will confirm the verdict and ratify the con demnation of the House of Commons. Our readers will have observed with much astonishment and some concern that a certain section of the Conservative party, and com prising, we gladly acknowledge, men of tried intelligence and approved integrity, has thought fit to sever itself from the general body, with a view to support the present Ad ministration. They have candidly stated their reasons and explained their motives for this conduct. Fervent and indefatigable in the defence of Protestantism, and deeming all other considerations subordinate to that object, they accord their full confidence to Lord PALMERSTON. Now we earnestly entreat their attention to the following considerations. The Conservatives of Ireland arc remarkable, are eminent, for their attachment and loyalty to Protestantism. A body which has within it such men as the Members for Dublin University, the Members for the City, the Member for Enniskillen, and many others, to say nothing of the Peers of Ireland, the Bandons, the Enniskillens, the Clancartys, and ) the Plunketts, may surely claim some consideration4as the appropriate exponents of Protestant principles, and tho SATURDAY, natural upholders of a Protestant policy ! Now, by this distinguished confederation Lord PALMERSTON is not only not regarded with favour, but is positively and unreservedly distrusted Shall Ireland bo deprived of the right, shall it be denied the duty of exercising its independent judgment upon matters which concern it—self•concern it closely and pro foundly—concern the safety of its Church and. the welfare of its society ? The gentlemen to whom we have referred rest their faith on Lord PALMERSTON—upon the strength of his recent Church appointments. Captivated and delighted with them, they ignore his support of May nooth, which they themselves consist ently and energetically denounce ! They for get the countenance he gave to Sunday bands, to the opening of the British Museum and National Gallery —innovations which they themselves regarded with hcrror and dismay ! They overlook the servile homage he has paid to the Roman Catholic element in Ireland— his elevation of Mr. KEOGH; his promotion of Mr. FITZGERALD ; his making Lord CASTLEROSSE Comptroller of the Queen's household, and Mr. MONSELL President of the Board of Health —appointments they themselves deprecated and denounced ! Is this fair to Ireland ?is it reasonable, is it just? Is Ireland to be handed over, bound hand and foot, to the tender mercies of the Roman Catholic body, as an exchange for four Low Church Bishops in England? Are the interests of the two coun tries to be thus severed, by its being under stood that there is to be one policy for the Prtitestants of Ireland, and another for the Protestants of England ? The Irish Conser vatives repudiate such a line of action with indignation and scorn ! They rAfuse to have their rights and interests made the subject of an unhallowed barter, in which the repulse of English Tractarianism is to 1•e a set-off for the encouragement of Irish Romanisin We have endeavoured, in a hurried sketch, to explain the grounds on which Ireland is anxious for the overthrow of Lord PALMERS TON. We owe it to our readers shortly to de clare the policy the Conservatives of Ireland consider expedient, and are prepared to support. They are not disposed to encourage agita tion for the withdrawal of the Maynooth grant. Although the Act of 181 gave great offence, and was regarded at the time as a breach of principle, the circumstances of the country have experienced so happy a change in many important particulars, that they do not con sider it wise or expedient to insist upon its immediate repeal. They desire to (mid occa sion for religious strife and sectarian animosity. They are anxious that the progress which the country is making in moral elevation, and in social prosperity, should not be impeded by the introduction of elements of discord and incentives to disorder. The Protestants of Ireland, moreover, do not wish to be con stantly at war with their Roman Catholic brethren. They do not covet ascendancy—they do not hope for predominance. All they ask, in a word, is fair play. They do not ignore the political or social position of the Roman Catholic body. In the distribution of State patronage, therefore, they demand nothing but that which is their due. Men may be appointed to offices very fairly and properly, although they are Roman Catholics. Their objection is to a uniform selection of men, not on the ground of ability or of merit, but because they are Roman Catholics. On the question of education their views aro clear, definite, and temperate. They de sire that the Protestants of Ireland should be placed on an equality with the Roman Catho lics in the national system. That once con ceded fairly and fully, they do not seek to dis turb existing arrangements. The Conservatives of Ireland are those truo and trusty friends of hers who know the weak ness from which she has suffered, and the strength of which she is capable. They are the men who, in her hours of darkest gloom and deepest prostration, never despaired for her, but devoted themselves to her servico with indomitable energy and with quenchless zeal ; and their only ambition is, that she may be allowed to fulfil her high mission, and rea• lise her glorious destiny. I