The Press. — London, England, 1855-12-08 00:00:00

1168 THE WEEK. Tim belief in the possibility of peace has at last attained some degree of con sistancy. The Government organs, though coyly admitting the soft impeach ments of THE PRESS, carefully abstain from comment on the subject. That negotiations are in progress there is now no longer any doubt. Even the Times has at length discovered that the security of Turkey was the great object to be attained, and now questions whether " war should be continued for ' barren glory.'" At this moment the prospects of peace are decidedly favorable. It is the policy of France now to solve the question from which the war emanated, and if no adverse influence supervenes, that " prompt and durable " peace which the French Emperor acknowledged he so ardently desired, will be by him triumphantly achieved. TERRE is a story told of Madame CATALANI,Itbat, when a lady by the banks of the Lake of Como was drawing an invidious contrast between the English and Italian climates, the pride of the Opera put her band in her pocket, drew forth as English sovereign, and said—•' Ali ! my dear, behold the true golden " sun of England: it will shine under any sky." In his visit to the Guildhall on Tuesday, the King of SARDINIA bad an opportunity of witnessing a thoroughly gloomy day and a heartily joyous popu lation. Everything terrestrial looked miserable, except the animated groups,— ) noisy, so good-humoured, and so unruffled by a sky of Indian ink, by streets deep as Crimean mud, and by a temperature which presented an atmospheric apology for dram-drinking. Under such circumstances the King beheld a popu lation preserving order for itself. He saw vast masses whose healthy faces and comfortable clothing could have taught any observer that the golden sun of England, as described by CATALANI,'AS blessed with a genial warmth of its own, which can produce brilliant social results. The subtle harmony of that beau tiful art, almost indigenous to Italy, is exquisitely visible in the works of her great composers; but the philosopher, the statesman, and the King, may well pause in wondering admiration of the infinitely superior moral harmonies seen in a great people like the English, enjoying an hereditary liberty. London on the day of a great sight, like that of Tuesday, presents a spectacle unlike what can be seen in any other capital. There are no long lines of mili tary as at Paris, Berlin, or Vienna; nor bands of sacerdotal inspectors with ominous countenances, as at Rome or Madrid. Prearrangements are few, the police are sparse, the crowds are multitudinous. Our people have nothing fierce or turbulent in their demeanour, though it must be confessed that CHATEAUBRIAND was right in saying " t hey have a look of the streets." The spectacle of so much propriety preserved by such countless hordes is really wonderful. Nothing but familiarity with it makes it look commonplace. Foreigners on Tuesday were loud in their applause of the whole scene. The King was, undoubtedly, very well received. And why should be not have been so? He was a King, and CHARLES Fox used to say that "we English " were monarchy mad." He was the representative of the House of Savoy, and the people like old and gallant associations. He was still more; he was a brave man, who had fought like a hero in the battlefield, and had courted a soldier's grave, when fortune scowled on his royal house. He was also a beneficent ruler, who had gone far to establish an orderly freedom amongst his subjects, and who had delivered them from the oppression of bigotry. These were great claims to a cordial reception, and they were still further enhanced by the recollection of his Majesty's domestic misfortunes. It has} been attempted by the voice of political faction to give a colour to the reception of the King of SARDINIA not warranted by the facts. Every cheer for the King, the guest and Ally of the Queen of ENGLAND—the hero, and the opposer of priestcraft—bas been interpreted as a suffrage for continuance of the war. To put such a construction on the reception given to his Sardinian Majesty is an offence to that eminent Sovereign. We do only justice to the applauding crowds in saying,—that they cheered the brave King, who had come to pay his respects to the Queen and people of England, without any reference to the passing party politics of the day. The order for the annexation of Oude has been sent out to Calcutta. The fiat of that immaculate body in Leadenhall street has gone forth, and annexation :s the order of the day. This decision, we have reason to believe, was carried against the opinion of Mr. VERNON SMITH, the President of the Board of un•Control, and in a brief per'o Iwe shall learn the result. Con sidering the present state of India, we apprehend that the annexation of Oude will be accompanied with some few difficulties, and when attempted will neither be achieved with ease nor submitted to with patience. Of recent speeches on the 'war, that of Mr. HENLEY has excited most notice from the force with which he expressed a very prevalent notion—that we could not expect a durable peace until Russia had had a good "thumping." This thumping theory had been tried on a tolerably extensive scale in the history of Europe, but with no better result than that of producing long periods of war and short intervals of peace. For in the first place it usually takes some years to give a powerful State a good thumping, and then if hard conditions are im posed on it, the Government does not rest until it is in a position to try another thumping match, that it may escape from conditions which it conceives to be unjust. At present, the questio i seem; to be whether a satisfactory peace can b i secure.' v , ithout the necessity of more thumping ; if so, why not postpone farther thompiog until the occasion for it arrives? Whenever peace is made with Russia, its permanence must depend more on the arrangements which would array an irresistible force against her should she manifest aggressive tsi deacie-, than on the thumping which she may receive in the course of the war. The long pending controversy between Mr. WESTERTON and Mr. LIDDELL has at length been decide '—decided, at least, provisionally, an RS all might ?ire foresee 1, in Mr. WIESTERTON'S favour. The three principal points at issue veA—Abo us of a stone communion table, of crosses, and of various covered .. ~,••••••• ~., . _. THE PRESS. SATURDAY, clothes for the communion table. All these three are decided to be against law. Lighted candles are also forbidden ; but candles themselves are not. With screens, Dr. LuSHINOTON says he cannot interfere. Such is the substance of this important judgement, In the matter of the altar, Dr. LUSHINGTON bas mainly relied on the decision of Sir HERBERT JAMES Fusr, in the celebrated case of St. Sepulchre's Church, Cambridge. Here the law was simple enough, and it was impossible for the judge in the present case to decide otherwise than be has done. His opinion on the question of crosses seems to be founded principally on the expressed opinions of the Bishops in Queen ELIZABETH'S reign, and their remonstrance against the Queen's use of a cross in her private chapel. Granting that it is exceedingly difficult to to discover what was de facto the practice of the Church in the reign of EDWARD VI., we must consider that GRINDALL, PARKES, JEWELL, and WHITOIFT must have known what it was, and would scarcely have denounced a practice which, as having then been in exist ence, the statute of Un,formity, was intended to sanction. This, we think, is a fair presumption. But whether it is owing to a confusion of the reporter, or the Judge's own perplexity, we cannot say ; but we are at a loss to discover exactly what importance he attaches to what was done in the reign of CHARLES 11. He seems, however, to imply that nothing was then determined which would guide him in his prhsent decision. There will doubtless be various opinions among our readers on this particular question ; but for our own part, looking purely at the matter-of-fact, we do not think Dr. LUSHINGTON is quite correct in his view of ecclesiastical practice during the last century. We belieBe that crosses have been very common. As regards the various-coloured clothes we should think there can be no doubt that they are illegal. In Dr. LusHINOTON'S decision on the various other points isised we fully concur. The only one in which, in our opinion, an appeal is likely to be of the ,lightest use, being the queslion of crosses, We must sincerely hope that neither party will, feel very much aggrioved by a decision which, as the Judge declares, aflects no vital point either of religion or ceremony. Gossipping letters from our Sebastopol army report that our Commander in• Chief is not favourable to the continuance of newspaper correspondents in the camp. The presence of these gentlemen has previously led to some warm re. monstrances from our Commanders to the War office. It is difficult to believe that their communications can really give to the enemy any information which can be used to the detriment of the allied forces. But if so,—and of this cer tainly our Commanders should be the best judges—some plan might be hit on for submitting their letters to a military censor before publication. Of this our military authorities may be well assured, that if Mr. RUSSELL were banished from the camp to-morrow, the Times would still not want its " Own Correspondent." While some of the war-to-the-knife party are still boastfully prod aiming that the Crimea must be finally severed from the Russiam empire, the engineers of the allied army are completing their preparations for the total destruction of the Sebastopol docks—a plain proof that the Allies have not the slightest Intention of retaining possession of the country, even for a time. This cir cumstance shows that the Crimea is merely to be regarded as a battle-field, which the Allies will quit as soon as the enemy retreats, or when strategical considerations induce them to select some other theatre of military operations. IF I WERE A WHIG. C Air.—" If I bad a donkey," If I were a Whig in want of place (Which I'm happy to say is not the case), I should hold it. a shame and a sore disgrace To be treated as our Premier treats poor Labouchere. The Colonies vacant, you'd suppose He'd give them to one whose " views " he knows ; But not till he'd offered them to all his foes Did he ever seem to think of poor dear Labouchere. To Stanley first, in pleasant mood, "The Whigs," says Pam, " bah! they're no good; But you're the very man. Now, I wish you would." (Never thinking all this time of poor dear Labouchere.) But Stanley said " He'd rather not — His principles "—Pam stammered " What ! Then to Newcastle I must sell the lot." Which was very shabby treatment of poor Labouchere. Quoth Newcastle, " I must refuse ; " And Sidney said, "You know my views." So. having no where else to pick and choose, He was forced to give the Colonies to Labouchere. You'd think 'twas hard one's smiles to keep When one found one's talents held so cheap ; But, bless you, he's as " umble" as Uriah Heap, And rather likes a snubbing, does poor Labouchore. EXTRACTS FROM MARTIAL (FREELY TRANSLATED) " De Speetaculia," .XX XV. FOR MR. VERNON SMITH. Russia's resistance brings us no disgrace, But, beat by Santhals, who could show his face? Epigram, Book 1., ix. To THE DUKE OF ARGYLL. Vuiuly to greatness you aspire to rise ; Givatness comports not with your pigmy size. Y