The Press. — London, England, 1856-04-12 00:00:00

~ ~i THE PRESS. 348. THE WEEK. THE Government has sustained two defeats this week, not on points of opinion upon which a Government may be divided without weak ness, but upon matters of fact which so far come within the province of the Executive that all the Members of Administration are com pelled to act together, and to resist an adverse vote as indicative of want of confidence. The first defeat was on Monday, when Mr. COWAN moved a resolution against billeting soldiers on private families in Scotland as oppressive to Scotch society and injurious to military discipline. Half a dozen Members of tbo Government opposed the resolution, but all on different grounds. Mr. F. PEEL denied the -grievance, and thought Scotland had less to complain of in all classes being liable to the intrusion of soldiers into their homes, than Eng land in the billeting being limited to publicans alone. The LORD ADVOCATE admitted the grievance—" it wail injurious to the comfort of " private families and to the discipline of the service, but the resolu " tion was only ' abstract.'" The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER opposed the change on financial grounds, and Lord PALMERSTON, Sir G GREY, and Mr. VERNON SMITH thought there should be no inter ference with the discretion of Government. Mr. DISRAEL I placed the question on its proper ground : the resolution would bind the Govern ment only to fulfil its duty—to provide a remedy for an admitted grievance. The House took this view, and decided against the Govern ment by a majority of 23; though the resolution was opposed on 4 a round that, if carried, the Committee of Supply could not be gone , . :that night. Yet, no sooner was it affirmed, than the Government ••'' nged its tone, made an acknowledgment of mistake, and duly ' proceeded to vote thousands for the purchase of surreptitious pictures, and other purposes. The other defeat was on a point equally prac tical, but more purely political. In all the discussions on Mr. LOWE'S Socialist Bill for seizing Corporate Property, the Government has skilfully avoided a division by conceding the point at issue. On Thursday, the rashness of Mr. LowE challenged an expression of opinion. He insisted on the nomination of Mr. KIRK as a member of the Shipping Dues Committee, though Mr. KIRK had made a speech strongly against the maintenance of local charges. The House, eager to show its distrust of Mr. Lows, readily accepted his challenge, and decided against Mr. KIRK'S name by a majority of 21. • These divisions show not only that the Government has no control over the Legislature, but that it lacks the confidence of the Legis lature. So there are the three courses before it—of endeavouring to get through the session by throwing over all but urgent business, of resorting to a dissolution of Parliament for which there is no pre tence, or of resigning, of which it has no intention. It is the first course, then, which will most probably be attempted. Now that the war is at an end, there is one question requiring the earnest and immediate attention of Parliament. What is to be done with our Foreign Legionaries ? The country viewed the embo diment of this force with grave distrust;. the Legislature consented to it with great reluctance. The objectionsap;it were overborne only by the plea of urgent necessity; and it 'wits distinctly stipulated that, as this force was required by the exigency of the war alone, with the war its services should cease. It would seem, therefore, the most sensible course now to consider upon what conditions the regiments of the Legion could be best disbanded, without entailing that needless expense on the country which will cer tainly be caused by complAtitg their organisation and perfecting their discipline. But what is aqtually done ? On Friday, in last week, five days after the Treaty.of Peace had been signed, the Great Britain steamer sailed from Turin . tor Malta with the 3rd Regiment of the Anglo Italian Legion, 1,070 men in all. At the very moment when it becomes necessary to arrange for bringing our forces back from the East, we go to the expense of sending a full regiment of the Foreign Legion thither. We are actually reversing the course of proceeding which common sense dictates ; and are, as if for the express purpose of increasing the liabilities and burdens of the country, sending out reinforcements, that wo may incur the cost of bringing them back again. Another fact is noticeable. The following is from the Turin letter, April 5, in Friday's Times:— - - - - - - The Italian Legion would be admirably suited for duty in the colonies; and for • such service it might, perhaps, be worth while to complete the other two regiments for. merly contemplated, and to which the home authorities continue appointing officers, even in the latest Gazette, although they have suspended recruiting. Was ever absurdity equal to this? There are to be officers without men ; the staff of regiments, though the regiments themselves do • not exist. By its acts the . Government seems to contemplate the • maintenance of a Foreign Legion as part of our peace establishment It is impossible on any other ground to understand the despatch of the Italian regiment to Malta,' and the continued appointment of officers. The country will then have to decide whether it prefers for its protection a home or a foreign, a native or a mercenary, force. A , very considerable reduction of, our army there . must be. The at tempt to maintain a large and expensive army will end in producing such a reaction against largo armaments as may.again reduce our force below the standard of efficiency: Last week we traced the policy which it would be our best interest to pursue. • Let us abandon all thought of keeping up an unnecessarily largo establishment in peace time, but let ' ustake care that the establishinenthve have is thoroughly effective, always keft in' good working order, and organised on such a principle as, will readily allow of its expansion when the necessity for an increase arises. A highly disciplined force of this kind, together with a disembodied militia which would accustom our population to military service, and. SATURDAY, insure an adequate number of recruits as occasion required, wo- i ld be the most efficient, the most constitutional, and the cheapest arrangement which could be adopted. The first step towards placing our military system on a proper footing must be to disband the Foreign Legionaries. A large army in time of peace is se far from being likely to prove an efficient force, that through want of service and the false sense of security which the apparent strength tends to produce, it is likely to fall into disorder, and become really weak, while burdening the resources of the country for its support. The various professions seem bent on distinguishing themselves, after the fashion of Sir JAMES GRAHAM and Sir CHARLES NAPIER, in getting up wordy wars. The diocese of Bangor is associated in eccle siastical history with the controversy raised by HEADLEY, and the Prelate who now fills that see also waxes wrath in letter writing, General CAVENDISH, unmindful of his family motto, " tutus eavendo," has followed the Bishop of BANGOR'S example, and charged into print with scurrilous effect The Church, the Army, and Navy, have thus all had their brawls, within the last few days. Literature, we are sorry to say, has contributed its share to these verbose encounters. Mr. ABRAHAM HAYWARD—a failure in invective against others, but a great proficient in satirising himself—thought that he saw an opportunity of damaging a celebrated reviewer. Always aiming, and never suc ceeding, in the present as in other instances, Mr. ABRAHAM HAYWARD is the register of his own discomfiture. The town has not forgotten that not long since Mr. ABRAHAM HAYWARD advertised, in a pamphlet, how the Lycurgus of the Law Magazine had risen into a Dublin Turn pike Trust Commission. Not satisfied, however, with his professional pre-eminence as a Queen's Counsel without briefs, and a teeming writer without an audience, Mr. ABRAHAM HAYWARD, failing to gain fame, strives hard to achieve a small notoriety. Mr. WILSON CROKER is now very old, and in feeble health, but he still possesses powers equal to demolishing, instanter, a score of Mr. ABRAHAM HAYWARDS. But the ex- Dublin Turnpike Trust Commissioner thought that the ex-Secretary for the Admiralty would fall an easy victim, so he chivalrously fired his syringe of vitriol in the old man's face. Never was a wretched impulse more signally chastised. Without any effort Ma. CROKER has administered a punishment to MR. ABRAHAM HAYWARD, which the unemployed Lycurgus may remember for many a long day. A man, possessed with an uncommon ardour for disagreeable distinction, and acting up to his propensities, is really a new type of character, and is the only thing which Mr. ABRAHAM HAYWARD can succeed in realising. We never could suppose that so virulent a nature could be asshnlated to the factious Knight of Windsor, but in the one point of " alacrity in sinking," Mr.ABRAHAM HAYWARD even excels Falstaff, while his writings more than equal the odours of the buckbasket. Commencing his notoriety with Mr. ROEBUCK, he finishes it with Mr. WILSON CROKER and the unity of his career exemplifies the line of Pope— li___ Downwards to climb, and backwards to advance. The death of Sir CHARLES HOTHAM, the Governor of Victoria, creates a vacancy which it will be difficult to fill up. Sir CHARLES ap pears to have united more of those qualities which his position espe cially requires than are ususlly found in the same individual. With naval firmness—a quality surely very needful in one who is appointed to administer the laws in a half lawless community—the deceased Governor combined a liberality of sentiment and a skill in diplomacy not always to be met with in sailors. To his possession of the latter quality, though somewhat slurred over by the Times, Lord MALMESBURY bears unimpeachable testimony. Sir C. HOTHAM negotiated ono of the most important commercial treaties of this generation ; and that with a people requiring " uncommon tact and patience " in the management of them It was this treaty which opened " the " internal trade of South America to Europe through the vast dm " nels of the Parana and Paraguay, which pierce it for 1,200 and " 1,500 miles." A DANIEL COME TO JUDGMENT. Alll-" Widow Alschree." Have ye heard o' the judge from Athlone? Och hone! From stuff-gown to scarlet he's grown, Och hone! Oh, he tickled the hearts 0' the boys in thim parts, And now he can stand all alone, Och hone 0' pledges he's broke a full score, Or more ; And parties he's sold to the fore, Galore ! Ould Ireland now, From the hall to the plough, Expicts from him illigant law, Asthore! Far so spotless was this Mister Keogh, It's thrue ! You might thry him and tempt till all's blue, Might you ! For the purtiest place He'd not risk a disgrace, Or be friendly with Whig or Peel crew, Hurroo ! '9 ..: w. 111