The Press. — London, England, 1855-05-26 00:00:00

MAY 26, 1855. declared their strong objections, but admitted at the same time that it contained the possible elements of peace, while the British plenipotentiary had simply declared that his instructions were exhausted. The state of things had fully justified Mr. Gibson in an nouncing his motion, but he submitted to that right hon. member if, after what the house had just heard, it would not be a sound discretion to refrain from asking the opinion of the house at such a juncture. After Mr. S. HERBERT had declared that he would meet the motion, if persisted in, by moving the previous question, Lord H. VANE, as the intended seconder of the motion, advised its withdrawal. Mr. DISRAELI characterised this course as unpre cedented and impolitic. Before acceding to it, the house had a right to information much more explicit than that which had just been given by Lord Palmerston. Why had he not, when his Ladled emissary returned from Vienna, stated that the negotiations were not finally closed, when he might have appealed to the house, perhaps not in vain, to suspend its opinion? Instead of this he had actually given a Government night to tue right hon. member for Manchester. Now that the whole country was expectant, by some mysterious communication, with out the annluncement of any new fact, and with nothing but the most vague assertions to support him, the noble lord expected the house to stop the discussion without * protest, or even without a murmur. He contended that the Ministry should make a litatement, clear, explicit, and unequivocal, to show the country that it was not trifled with, and to justify the renunciation, by the House of Commons, of one of the gravest duties which it bad to perform. Lord PALMERSTON defended his conduct. He had stated before that he held such a discussion to be inconvenient, but when notice was given that the discussion would be raised it was his duty not to shrink from it, not to place technical difficulties in its way, and had come to the house prepared to face it. The motion would be prejudicial to the country, not inconvenient to the Government. The house would be seriously injuring the public service if it took upon itself the duties of the executive, dictating the terms and conditions of negotiations. It would be impossible to carry on negotiations if the Govern ment were compelled from day to day to give an account of their progress. Mr. BRIGHT said his own object was simply the procuring peace; he did not want to know if the Government were willing to listen to negotiations, or if modes of solving the difficulties yet existed—all this was matter of course. What he wished to know was if the negotiations were still in that form which took them out. of the ordinary state of things which existed during war, wherein one side is always willing to receive offers from another. If the elements of peace, as asserted by the Austrian and even the French Minister, existed in the last Russian propo sitions, he conjured the noble lord not to let slip the opportunity. Something more definite might be stated by the Government in a few weeks. Mr. ROEBUCK could not see that the state of things was altered from the time when the resolutions were first laid upon the table. He was himself anxious for the question to be raised, because he believed that the country had no confidence in the Govern ment, and believed a part of it anxious for peace at any price. He contended that the member for Man chester, who had placed himself forward as the mover of the resolutions, had no right to withdraw them. After the Marquis of GItANBY had urged the ne• cessity of more specific information, Lord JOHN RUSSELL gave some details of the latter days of the Conference—explaining that, though Count Buol had agreed that the Conference should close for the present, he bad expressed his hope that it would resume at a future day, and that the several envoys had declared their instructions exhausted, because the Russian propositions did not include the limitation of the Russian power in the Black Sea. He believed that, before the Conference finally closed, the Austrian Government would submit a proposition of its own ; after which, either the nego• tiations would be finally broken off, and the house would be at liberty freely to express its opinion, or they would be resumed under better auspices. If the explanations, he added, of the Government on the subject were vague, it was because there was a vague ness and uncertainty in the situation itself. But he contended that the situation was not the oidinary one, in which during war proposals of peace might be made by any party. The Conference, though cus p iaded, was not broken off. Sir J. PAKINGTON contended that nothing definite had been stated to guide the house in its decision. The protocols had been laid upon the table, and it was the natural consequence that Parliament should express its opinion upon them. In die absence of all declaration by the Government that anything had occurred to suspend the discussion, he saw no reason why the motion should not be persevered in. Mr. M. GIBSON said that when the Government THE PRESS. laid the papers upon the table it had courted the opinion of Parliament, and ought to have anticipated discussion. But, now that it appeared that Austria was actually charged with the task of accommoda tion, and that the Government would not frankly discus the various proposals which had been made, he felt that he should not be serving the public in terest if he persevered in his motion. At the same time he hoped that the existence of the Conference would not delay the discussion till Parliament sepa rated; and he should bring forward the subject at any early day after Whitsuntide. After this the debate totally lost its interest, though it was still further continued for a short time. THE BALLOT. Mr. H. BERKELEY brought forward his annual motion on Tuesday. There was little of novelty in his arguments, excepting that he said the present crisis pro:•es the danger of entrusting the supreme management of aileirs exclusively to the great families, and the details of that management to members of the aristocracy, whose pursuits and plea sures were elsewhere, and who lid not make a busi ness of their profession like the members of the middle classes. Bribery anti corruption, he said, were on the increase, and he caused some amuse• ment by reading some electorial facts which he adduced, and some eminent opinions in favour of the ballot which he was able to cite. There was nothing of the slightest interest in the debate which followed. Lord Pat MERSTON replied with the old arguments—that the ballot would not prevent improper practices that the adoption would be illusory, and would degrade the national character. The ballot was adopted in America, not for secrecy, but for convenience. The ballot might on similar grounds be advocated for taking the votes of that house, in which members frequently voted contrary to their own opinion, yielding to the pressure of their constituents. The motion was negatived by 218 to 188. THE adoption of the petition against the proposed Cambridge University Bill was vigorously opposed in both houses at the congregation held on Saturday last. It was, however, carried. The following was the voting : Black Hood White Hood House. House. Placets Nun•placete 314ority 23 11 The following "reasons for supporting the petition" were circulated in the Senate-house : 1. Because the University of Cambridge already affords every encouragement in her power to thou who cannot submit to her religious tests to avail themselves of the advautagee of her training and education. . . . 2. Because by doing away with such tests we shall be virtually introduciug into our system the necessity of attempting to solve the insoluble problem, viz., how education can be carried out without religious teaching, and without °opinion worship of our Creator. 3. Because the University le essentially " a place of sound learning and religious education," and because her title to this •ill be seriously imderilled, if not virtually destroyed, by the abo lition of religious tests. Ma. Pxtxx, Q.C., M.P. for Bath, and counsel to the naval department of the High Court of Admi ralty, has been appointed to succeed Rear-Admiral W. A. B. Hamilton as second secretary to the Admi ralty. TUESDAY'S Gazette contains an order in council, whereby the Right Hon. Sir Edward Ryan, Assistant- Comptroller of the Exchequer, John Shaw Lefevre, Esq., Clerk-Assistant to the House of Lords, and Edward Romilly, Esq., Chairman of the Board of Audit, are appointed commissioners for testing, by examination, the qualifications of the young men who niay be proposed in future to be appointed to the junior situations in any of her Majesty's civil estab lishments. The commissioners will have power to appoint assistant-examiners, and before any young man can be admitted to probation he must receive from them a certificate of qualification with respect to his age, physical condition, character, and abilities. After the candidate has passed his examination, be must enter on a period of probation of six months. IN consequence of the difficulty experienced by the army postmaster at the seat of war in collecting the postage upon unpaid letters sent in the mails from this country, no letters addressed to any person in the Crimea will in future be forwarded unless the postage be paid in advance. Any letters so addressed, upon which the postage is omitted to be paid, will be opened and returned to the writers. AT the various statutes," or annual hiring of servants in husbandry, which have recently been held in the county of Lincoln, a higher rate of wages bas been obtained by both men and women, in con sequence of the increasing scarcity of hands. Agri cultural wages Wave been rising in the midland and northern counties for some years past, and in gene ral the class of men thus benefitted has improved in moral conduct and steadiness with their increased means. THE WAR. No telegraphic advices from the camp have been published, either by the French Government or our own, during the put week. It would seem that operations are for the moment in suspense, although a general expectation, both at home and ou the spot, is entertained that some movements of grand and important character are in immediate contem plation. The return of the Kertch expedition is explained by the French journals to have been ordered for the sake of con cen t ra ti ng th e a lli e d troops, in order to a co-operative series of manceuvree, involving, probably, an attack on the Russian lines of the Tschernaya and a campaign against their army around Simferopol. General Pelissier, on assuming the command in chief of the French army in the Crimea, is said to have announced that an attack would soon be made. This declaration is reported to have been received with enthusiasm by the army. The following is a closely approximative estimate of the allied forces now in the Crimea:-120,1100 French, 30,000 English, 15,000 Sardinians, 35,000 Turks, and 10,000 Egyptians—in all, 210,000 men. It is considered that 80,000 men will abundantly suffice to hold the trenches before Sebastopol, and the remaining 130,0(X), besides reinforcements, are available for detached service. The latest Govern ment accounts are said to report that the amount of the Russian force in the peninsula is much less than has been supposed. The latest accounts state that heavy rains had fallen, by which the trenches were overflowed, and any extensive movements rendered impossible ou either side. The British troops were, however, in One health and spirits. When the Mediterranean regiments come out they would muster 40,000 red coats. The Moniteu►, in an article on the sanitary atilte of the French army in the Crimea, says -- The enemy enjoys as good health as could possibly base been hoped for. The number of men taken into the am bulances, which in the month of March was 7,585, was in April reduced to 5,000, while the number of those who left cured in the same mouth was 1,399, having been 1,064 in March. This has been the result, although, in consequence of the siege operations, the wounded were more numerous in April than in March. The army of the Crimea is, then, in good condition to fulfil its mission. The following order has been published to the British army : With a view to the maintaining the efficiency of the trans port of the army, it is highly desirable that, where the exigencies of the service wil admit of the arrangement, one day in the week should be allotted for rest to both men and animals. General officers commanding divisions will accordingly be pleased to cause one seventh of the transport establishments attached to their respective divi sions to remain daily unemployed in their Hues. Two despatches from Lord Raglan have been re ceived at the War office, and published in the Gazette since our last impression : Before Sebastopol, May $, 1865. The enemy aasaulted our advanced parallel on the right attack on the night of the sth instant, and some actually got into the trench ; but they were speedily driven out and repulsed with the utmost gallantry by the detachments occupying it, of the 30th and 40th Regiments, under Captain Williamson and Lieutenant Nubbins, of the former, and Lieutenant Rochfort, of the latter, who, unfortunately, was severely wounded; and I regret to have to add that several valuable non-commissioned officers and men were killed and wounded on the occasion. On the same night Captain Arnold, of the 4th Foot, was wounded and taken prisoner [his death has been since announced], whilst posting the advanced *entries on the left attack. The loss of the services of this officer is greatly to be lamented. He had done his duty unretnit, tingly, and in the most spirited manner, throughout the operations of the siege. I have heard that six ships, having on board Sardinian troops, have arrived in the Bosphorus. V.B. I have the satisfaction to announce to you the arrival of the first detachment of the 12th Lancers. May 12. I do myself the honour to acquaint your lordship that General de la Marmora, with a portion of the Sardinian Contingent, arrived off Balaklava on the night of the Bth hist., and he came up to head-quarters the following morning. The very unfavorable state of the weather since the Pth has prevented any material part of the force being Isnded ; and it has been found necessary to send the vessels that brought it, and which could not be got into the harbour, to Kszatch Bay, until it should moderate. Five troops of the 12th Lancers landed on the 9th from the Hintalaya, which performed the voyage from Alexandria to liale.klava in ninety-four hours. The enemy made two serious amanita upon our most advanced parallel of the right attack ou the night of the 9th, but were on each occasion moat nobly met, sod repulsed with considerable lose. The arrangements of Col. Trollops, who had charge of the right attack, and Lieut • Col. Mundy, the field officer of the trenches, were mcst judicious; and Capt. Turns of the Royal Fusiliers, and Capt. Jordan, of the " Regiment, are reported to bars doue their duty • most gallant rummer. ua the 489