The Press. — London, England, 1856-05-31 00:00:00

THOUGHTS ON ILLUMINATION NIGHT. Still as we view the Whigs with strange caprice Drifting to war, precipitate for peace ; Now threatening Cronstadt o'er the drunken bowl, Now warning cautious Charlie from his goal ; Now grudging gun-boats for the Northern war, Now launching myriads when the strife is o'er; Now seeking soldiers mid a felon horde, Dregs of all lands, by every land abhorred; Now spurning loyal Canada's free sword ; Now ranting for the freedom of the Turk, Now the free press of Belgium wild to burke ; Now propping rights by Russia overthrown, And now to France surrendering our own ; Still as these feeble, fickle Whigs I mark, Observe their souls how small, their minds how dark, I turn me sadly from the wild display Of garish lamps that flout each public way, And vainly sigh, " Oh, could this great expense Enlighten them with honour, virtue, sense, Illumine their murky minds with statesman wit, On Palmerston reflect one ray of Pitt ; For such illumination—but, alas! These miracles no longer come to pass. A Whig turn patriot ! nay, rather hope To see in holy Rome a liberal Pope ; Expect Argyll some modest doubts to feel, Look for one generous impulse in Fred Peel ; One spark of intellect in dull Panmure, One speech of Cranworth's that's not mean and poor ; Expect in Harrowby to find a sage, In Lansdowne see aught reverend save his age. For Whiggish wit and eloquence are dead, With Fox and Sheridan their lights have fled." Thus, musing sadly,--I went home to bed. MR. PEPYS ON THE FIREWORKS. (Extracted from his Diary.) MAY 29.—Being the Anniversary of the Restoration of my Gracious Sovereign King Charles the Second, I, Samuel Pepys, did ask leave of the Janitor of the Elysian Fields to go upon earth for some few hours. Which he granting with no great ado, did betake myself to the London parks, and found vast crowds assembled there, it being then towards nightfall, and preparations for firework playing, very great. Said to a youth of smart appearance that I was glad to see the memory of King Charles so well honoured. He stared, and spoke to a companion, who observed, " Rum old buffer," and they laughed loudly, but at what I knew not. Mixed in the crowd, and learned that the fireworks were a rejoicing for a peace with Russia, with whom I had forgotten the nation had gone to war. Asked who had taken clnduct of this peace, and whether it were favorable, but found it hard to get any tidings. At last an artisan told me that an opportunity for making a good peace had been given, but that our managers had left it incomplete. " Then why these rejoicings?" quoth I. " Who's rejoicing?" was his repartee, with au oath. He added that he had come to see certain sanguinary fireworks, and not, as he phrased it, to cackle. Was glad I was a ghost, for there was some hint of punching my head, a process abhorrent to me when in the flesh. Yet I think the fellow was not naturally brutal, but simply discontent. Then, being spiritual , did transport myself to a balcony, wherein were several persons of quality, having State charges. They waited for the show, but, Lord, to hear what folly they spoke ! There was a Minister (I name him not for very shame) who was jesting about an Archbishop, and asked a tall baronet they called Hall, whether the lamps of Lambeth Palace were yet broken, offering the other a wager. It seemed that the Minister had been holding up the MAY 31, 1856. THE PRESS. It has been erroneously stated that Lord RANELAOR withdrew his motion at the Carlton on Saturday, because apprehensive of being in a minority. On the contrary, the probability was that still stronger resolutions might have been carried had a division been pressed. His Lordship had every reason to be satisfied with the effect produced by his motion : a strong expression of opinion was elicited, which will, in all probability, accomplish the end proposed, and have the salutary consequence of combining and consolidating the Conservative strength at the Carlton. The Government of President PIERCE has taken a lesson in bottlelolding from our Premier, and in good time the pupil seems likely to beat the master As our Liberal party has found demonstra tions against the despotic Courts of the Continent a profitable game on the hustings, President PIERCE hopes to secure his re-election by threatening to whip the Britishers? This p o li c y i s no t f ree f rom peril, as it is impossible for the Governments of free countries to be long adverse to each other without rousing passions in the com munity which only a stout fight can allay. Prelate to popular hate, in order Ito save his own credit, and now jauntily laughed at the churchmaz's peril. There were Lords of Admiralty there ; but even when I was secretary, and, 'flack, saw much to make a good man weep, did I never see such a poor creature as their chief. A lady (very goodly, and such as I, when in the flesh, might have loved) did ask him which way the wind set; and he pulled out a little mariner's compass, to see, as he said. The needle chanced to point S.S.W., and that he declared to be the quarter. I thought he was jesting, fur the N.W. wind blowed through me; but he thought that was the use of the compass. Then came the fires, which were mighty fine for women and children, and much mirth there was among the company. When the Roman candles were fired, my Lord the Minister took off his hat to a religious colleague, of the Protestant faith, and begged his pardon for permitting it; but methought the other had the better, when hei)ointed out a firew o rk—called i n the synopsis " a tremendous Jac ln-the-hox "—and complimented his noble friend on the faithful likeness. The reports of the works were very loud, and a part of the spectacle was said to represent one of the attacks in the war, which methought was not a theme for holiday foolery ; but tho others thought not with me, and laughed mightily when, at a single great bounce, the aforesaid Minister said, " That represents Colotol * * * * * narrating his feats in the siege " I knew not the fin, but marvelled at the ease with which some fiud matter for mirth. At last all was over, and the company went forth to see the illuminations, which were mighty pretty, but lacked invention; and I did note that while many folk studied to pay honour to the Q. and her Ally, not one person did seek to compliment her Government, and so back to Elysium. A NAVAL ODE. REVISED BY LORD C—N. Ye Mariners of England, Who used to rule the seas, Whose flag has furnished many a time Allusions for M.Ps., The neutral standard ne'er molest That masks a lurking foe, But sleep on the deep In a silly style and slow, Though in vain your fleets blockade his ports, And in vain your blood may flow. The spirit of your fathers Was really very wrong, Their fighting was too violent, Their measures were too strong. So where they rode ti iumphantly Your humbled flag shall go, As ye sleep on the deep In a silly style and slow, While in vain your fleets a port blockade, And in vain your blood shall flow. Britannia needs no statesmen To break her torpid sleep, Her trust is in her Clarendon, Her Pam she thinks is deep. And still the views of Providence The times shall let her know, Till they sweep from the deep All she treasured long ago, And her seamen. tamed by Liberal rule, Forget to strike a blow. THE SWEEPS. SOME little coincidences arose in the drawing tho sweepstakes at the clubs before the Epsom races. The following list has been sent to us as authentic : Mr. James Wilson drew ... Lord J. Russell Mr. Vernon Smith ... Mr Bernal Osborne Lord Aberdeen Mr Labouehere Duke of Argyll Lord Palmerston ... Pretty Boy. Yellow Jack. Mr. Verdant Green. Saucebox. Apathy. Flatterer. Defiance. Bird-in-Hand. Blink Bonny. Roebuck. Clumsy. Brother to My Lord. Mr. Lowe ... ... Sir James Hogg ... Sir Charles Wood ... Mr. C. P. Villiers ... THE BARON BREWERY. WE understand that a special seat at the bar of the House of Lords will be appropriated for the use of Lord Wensleydale, and the other life-peers that are to be, with a board over head inscribed in the usual blue and gold letters, " Cranny and Co.'s Entire,"g MI