Northern Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-04-18 00:00:00

LATEST TELEGRAMS. - GERMANY. FRAN KFORT, April 16. -The Ober Postainozeitung, of to 3' i_ `& 4 , Published th e following :—" Munich, Satur.:. da - T , April 16 . —The King of Bavaria has left to -3r for Dar ms t a d t, to attend, as it is alleged, a nieet in g of several monarc h s o f S out h ern G erma n st ates. ,, Fito BPOR T - ON-MAIN, Sunday.--The Frankfort v ol o p ur na i a. of to-day s t a t es, t h at t h e Mi n i s t ers o f War vel.a l G erman States, and the commanders of the h - Federalon Corps &Armee will hold another meeting Tilr L cUEB-Ety next, at H e idelberg. tend ered Sunday.—The whole Ministry have their resignation, on account of certain 'epees ; 8. in the administration of internal AUSTRIA. f or V s IEII NA, April 17.—C oun t C ars l ey l e ft y es terday to P etersburg P etersburg on a private mission. On yes sh e vening's B ourse th ere wa s a slight rise in es Wier. of the Northern Railway and the Credit Mo -Ar‘r'T,Stuiday.—The official Wurteniburgsker ' 4a . lB44zei ger publiqhes an extra sheet containing a nl ro i r l usteri a l „ decree concerning the forced levy of horses rili"tarY service.. NIP TRE WAR QUESTION. bist Estm 1 181 ft n Saturday, April 16.—The Dresden jour for at) . — "ay stat es th at th e l a t es t proposal of Austria is sa • o r i ner al disarmament previous to the Congress "3' b e supported by Russia and England in roe lli tit ala .. m r which will facilitate its practical fulfil prinei ' li e great Powers now seem agreed in - Pt , but Sardinia continually persists in Ting difficulties. e nia itiEs TE, 16.—An official announcement, o ori lia ; ti nt?. from the Austrian naval commanders, '-'llB Particulars respecting the ordered enlist -1411! v olunteers for naval service on the coasts of 18 , Cr • °Litla, and Dalmatia. m akes Sunday, April 17.—The Moniteur of to-day tinti ‘es the following announcement naval force e st :,the command o f Vi ce -Ad m i r al Sehennes, sailed " r uaY from Brest for the Mediterranean. 4. THE FRENCH FUNDS. •tel.:418) April 16th, 12 15 p.m.—The Bourse opened e ett s *: Ra t Rentes were quoted 67.30, being -2 per I " a d ecline since yesterday's closing. 6 ,,Y•r0.---Rentes closed better, 67.50 for Money, ' h „ . 0 1.45 for Account, being a decline of nearly Per cent. since yesterday. WAR PREPARATIONS. Th e Paris correspondent of the Times, writing on B o 4rs tlay evening, describes the aspect of affairs as of s°lll bre as to justify the renunciation of all hope tei )e4 ee, 5,000 more troops have arrived in Mar ," f rom Algeria. 8 th e Post, in a leading article, says it is possible ; •. lon _' ll4 -cloud may pass away, but it can conceive ii,hriu A g to encourage such a hope in the spirit in A ustria has treated this question. THE• CIRCASSIANS. h:EttlalN gh , April 15.—A despatch from St. Peters of ;. victor 14th, announces th a t, in consequence eirea:et°l•Y gained by General Wrangel, 2,000 W ede LI sialls 14 (1 come into the Russian camp. At the C u %oassians continued to come in. It • is A PRUSSIA. the -1-1401 inced, though not yet officially, that of So Pruss ian Government intends to contract a loan 11; °°° ' 000 , to pr ov ide for military eventualities. 114 i The visit of the Austrian Archduke to Berlin is d to core„ be for the purpose of inducing Prussia to of i l l " 3 a Positiv e engagement on the mobilization 6 ?ederal Army. SARDINIA. ll • k r .. T correspondent of the Times says there grou to th, ads that the Azeglio mission has no relation question of the Congress. I °I ! EI GN AFFAIRS.—THE DISSOLUTION. thatch?ON, Sunday Night.---The Observer believes p rob the latest i n t e lli gence f rom a b roa d renders it A ft b le that t h e Ministerial statement on Fore i gn st ar s Will t a k e place to-morrow ; b ut, notwith th,"ina this, the Observer says it 'is probable that vi ! ) k r°r ogation w ill no t t a k e p l ace b e f ore Th urs d a y, s at 7iell case the new writs will not be issued before thi h i Z cl aT next. Th e G overnmen t, h owever , s till i ss ;:" it practicable to prorogue on Tuesday, and e the Writs on Thursday. FO REIGN INTELLIGENCE. , FRANCE. bell I s , Friday Night.—We were yesterday, I o n t e b ve, Within a few hours of a declaration of I ..t va i r s att ; h e part of Austria, and I regret to say that o N , r- e' l ltable to the prevarications of the Imperial a 4 isa rei ril o xi leut of France. When the question of 'P44 n 'elent was at first . proposed the popular "W: - was against Austria, because she, a great .. to with vast armies, required, as the condition 4 E1 6, 1. e ntering the congress, that Piedmont should ith: 4l. fis s arni• This was a fault, but Austria retrieved nien"f-tie more reasonable demand of a general disarma to gal The French Government, whose only object was l loC a -11 t ime, started a new objection : -France had Ali,jPaed, and she could not be asked to disarm. s loth demanded that the general disarmament Conn take place previous to the meeting of the „o•c , er e t , SB ' and England urged the same. The French Iled h , --- ,, l nent, whose equivocal policy M. Cavour's 4.4Cnt i ese friends declare so much reassured them, Th' that the question of the disarmament should e " IMitted to the Congress and be decided by it. eon). eu j e et , of course, was to have sufficient time to bre a t e t,„,e its preparations, and, when completed, to ou.one pretext or another, all further ne 4:he t„ -11 4 , and take the field with its ally, Piedmont. eoral ;Psi' Government were aware of this creditable whom ; So, of course, was Austria. Austria, to ,eous „erY day, nay, every hour, is of immense t;n2lr,, e rtee, made up her mind for the worst ; 441; 11 . ; asked for a categorical answer to the arid the for immediate and general disarmament, its i„-eFrench government was called on to exercise h a d the with Sardinia to enforce compliance. It Sarnia ffrontery to plead that it could not compel eou r to do anything of the kind. _O . f Pos e d we then saw that our friends were d h is- t a to Play us false, and Austria intimated that tt eerteategorical answer was not given within_ Would aill time, as to the disarmament, shewar ; Consider it as equivalent to a declaration be at T r Would act instantly ; and would probably e_ preei kr . n of ttut ten days. Austria may be accused of "4ting matters, but her situation is arm y , e Most critic a l ; t h e expenses o f her are straining her resources to the ut most, and , her only chance of safety was to re nounce all hope of peace, and act at once. It was the necessity of her condition. When people blame her, they ought to remember that, in point of fact, she has been menaced since the Ist January last. From that date she has, beyond all doubt, seen through the plan contrived against her by M. Cavour and his great friend, and set herself to prepare accordingly.. She knew that she was, to be duped, and, as she had no faith in the fair promises and pious aspirations of the Moniteur, she resolved to be ready against all emergencies. It is difficult to see how she' could act otherwise than she has done, and it has proved her best means of salvation. As I have told you, matters reached yesterday the extreme point. The French Government were informed that the responsibility of so terrible a calamity as a general war would fall upon them alone. In spite of the civilities, courtesies, and coquetting going on for some time past between St. Petersburg and Paris, it was shown that when the critical moment came the French Government would not have the support or sympathy of any one Government in Europe, except, I suppose Piedmont ; and Russia, notwithstanding her re sentment against Austria, showed symptoms (as I am assured), of a wish to stand well with old dynasties and old friends, and litttle real inclination towards a war which sooner or later must become revolutionary. But the scene, it appears, has changed, and hope smiles once more. The French Government are said to have seen the dangerous course they were hastening on. But, what ever be' the cause—whether the prospect of the unanimous condemnation of all Europe, the certainty of the condemnation of France, the soundness of the reasons and arguments of her allies, or all these things togetker—l am given to understand that we have at last got into smooth water. I pre sume that the French Government have agreed to a general disarmament, including, of course, that of Piedmont, previous to the Congress ; as I am told that the Congress will meet about the time already mentioned, and that ,the Moniteur will soon an nounce the fact. No one will rejoice more heartily at this than the' French people themselves ; and M. Walewski and one or. two of his colleagues will exult as much as any one. I hope it is not the inven tion of some rash optimist, but I also hear that M. Walewski this morning made inquiries about a house at Baden-Baden with a view to the Congress. Prince Gortschakoff has already done so. It is announced that M. Fleury, brother of General Fleury, who is French Consul at Liverpool, has been appointed Consul at Palermo. ;elf • ro° l ' lac; 10 e. ,o 0 !lit/ AUSTRIA. VIENNA, April 13.—1 t is not yet certain that the Congress will meet, but it will be entirely the fault of the Emperor of the French if it does not. The Austrian Government no longer insists on a general disarmament before the Congress assembles, but it will be satisfied if 'the Moniteur will inform the world that the first step taken by the Congress will be to make arrangements for placing the armies of Sardinia, Austria, and France on the usual peace footing. In fact, Austria requests nothing but the above-mentioned indirect proof that the real object of France in insisting on a Congress is the maintenance of the peace of Europe. The Austrian Government must be well aware that the concession which it requires is without any value, but it probably wishes to give to the mediating Powers, and to the, world at large, another proof of its moderation and wish to avoid war. The extreme docility of Count Buol has given great offence to all parties, and it is related that very influential persons have complained to the Emperor of his Minister's want of firmness. Nine Austrians out of ten firmly believe that Louis Napoleon wishes to gain time, and that when his armaments are com pleted (which will probably be the case towards the end of May), he will find so me excuse for breaking off the negotiations, and for going to war with Austria. All professional politicians with whom I have spoken on the subject are of the same opinion, and they express their astonishment at the short sightedness of the British and Prussian Govern ments, " which are involuntarily playing the game of the man who is endeavouring to reduce Europe to a state of moral servitude." It may be observed that when the Gallo-G arman Foreign Legion was formed, it was stipulated that it was to serve abroad, so that in case of war its mem bers might not be pitted against their fellow-country men. It is evidently the system of Napoleon I. carried out in a diminutive scale. The reply of the South German newspapers to the last Moniteur note is---" Arm ! Arm !" " How," says the Augsburg Gazette, " can a man who with sneer ing perfidy is assisting in the gross 'violation of a treaty (that of 1856), which is hardly two years old, except that Germany will place con fidence in his honeyed phrases?" According to advices from Alsatia, a French army of 100,000 men is to be collected in the departments of the Upper and Lower Rhine by the end of April, by which time the change which is being made in the French artillery will be almost completed. The Arch duke Albrecht reached Berlin soon after five o'clock yesterday morning, but, notwithstanding the earliness of the hour, he found several of the members of the royal family waiting at the terminus to receive him. The Austrian Prince was conducted at once to the palace, where a suite of apartments was placed at his disposal. As soon as the Imperial Envoy had made himself comfortable, he received a visit from the Prince Regent. In my letter of yesterday some information was given relative to the claim of Austria to garri son Piacenza, but a fact has to-day come to my knowledge, which clearly proves that Count Cavour has not been candid with the British and Prussian Governments. On the 20th May, 1815, the great Powers and Sardinia signed a treaty, con firming the reversionary rights of Austria to Parma and Guastalla, and on the very same day Austria and Sardinia signed a 'secret article, in which it was stipulated that as soon as Austria acquired a right to Parma, the city of Piacenza (including the for tress) was to become the property of the Emperor of Austria, who was to give in exchange for it some other part of the territory of Parma. On the 28th of November, 1844, Austria, Sardinia, Tuscany, and Modena concluded a treaty at Florence, to the effect that Sardinia was to have a reversionary right to the Duchy of Guastalla, in exchange for the city of Piacenza, which is ceded to Austria. " Thus,' says the Ost-Deutsche Post, " the military position of Austria in Piacenza was acquired with the- consent and direct co-operation of Sardinia." To this I must remark, that as Sardinia only has a reversionary right to the town or city of Piacenza, it cannot make a legal concession of it until it has acquired possession, which it cannot do until the family of the late Charles Ferdinand 111. of Bourbon, Duke of Parma, is extinct. The day before yesterday the Bohemian nobles presented to the Emperor an address, in which they expressed their readiness to sacrifice life and property (Blut and Gut) for him. - THE NORTHERN-TIMES, MONDAY, APRIL 18 1859 ITALY. TURIN, April 13.---The departure for London, on a special mission, of the Marquis d'Azeglio, is fixed for to-morrow night. The object of his mission is. of course, kept secret, but there are grounds for believ ing that it has no relation to the question of the Con gress. One is rather puzzled to understand the selec tion of M.d'Azeglio on this occasion and at this moment. His sympathy for England is well known, and no one could have been chosen who would have been surer of being welcome and acceptable in that country and to her government. But, on the other hand, he is no supporter of the war policy, and how, then, can he be deemed a fitting expounder and advocate of the views of the Sardinian Cabinet'? It would almost seem to support the hypothesis I put forward in my letter of the 6th instant, that, per haps, after all, Count Cavour is not so exorbitant in his demands as he at times has appeared to be. His memorandum of the Ist of March already showed that he would be content with less than that which many had thought would alone satisfy him, and, although he promised only the 44 temporary setting at rest" of the Italian question in return for such concessions, as it is to be feared Austria will never be persuaded to make (those, I mean, which concern her own Italian provinces), • yet he undoubtedly there took. up a position much more likely to win support than the more violent one previously assigned to him of a would-be con queror and despoiler of Austria. It is no secret that M. Cavour is extremely desirous to con ciliate, in England, that public opinion which is always finally victorious, and I have reason to know that his agents have not been idle to that end. Since my letter of yesterday we have no novelty of any kind here, excepting that I have been informed this morning that the Lombard emigrants are getting impatient at the suspense that exists, and at the delay in the realisation of their warlike hopes. They are not wanting in intelligence, and they cannot but perceive that their country is the great difficulty in the question, and their desires the most uncertain of realisation. As regards the rest of Italy, all parties may be said to be - agreed, and Austria disposed to yield, under peril of having all Europe against her if she refused ; but Lombardo- Venetia is the turning point on which she will certainly, make a stand; and in defence of which she has a prospect of support from other members of the European family. SPAIN. The Madrid journals of the 11th have arrived. In the Chamber of Deputies a debate 'had:taken place as to whether certain measures taken by the Constituent Cortes in 1856 were to be considered valid, though' - hot sanctioned by the Queen. M. Olozaga and M. Calvo Asensio :Maintained that, under the circumstances, and from what took place in 1812, they. ought to be; but the President of the Council and. the Minister of the Interior insisted that no act of the Legislature was valid without the Royal sanction. No formal decision was come to on the matter. What occasioned the discussion was the presentation of a petition praying that a pension accorded by the Cortes in 1856 to the family of a captain shot in 1847 for political causes should be paid, and the petition was referred to the Minister of War. Why is a chicken-pie like a gunmakers shop ? Because it contains fowl-in-pieces. TRANSPOSED —A boy's construction of a proverb : Spoil the rod and spare the child." EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY OF A MURDER. There has been a most remarkable discovery of a murder committed by a husband in America, which affords another instance of the adage that " - Murder will out" The particulars are of a most romantic kind. An Irishman, named Stephens, has for some time resided in the upper part of New York, in the employment of. an extensive carriage maker, whose goodwill he had won by his strict observance of the reli gious duties of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was a member. His wife, also Irish, was nearly 14 years older than himself. They had lived together in apparent happiness for several years, till in two succes sive summers two nieces of his wife had arrived from Ireland, and become members of his family. Two years ago his wife sickened, and in September, died. He followed her to the grave an apparently sincere mourner, and continued in the employment of his old master, trusted as before. , Just within a year after his wife's death the brother of the nieces arrived from Ireland, and immediately made an assault upon Stephens with a pistol at his workshop. He was arrested, and in the course of the examination it came out that Stephens was charged with having made an attempt at violence upon one of his nieces, and of. having poisoned his wife for the purpose of offering her his hand. His friends demanded that the body of the wife should be exhumed and analysed to acquit, him of those slanders. It was taken up on the anniversry of the burial, and subjected to what was probably the most searching examination in the history of medical jurisprudence. Hour after hour the chemists stood by to watch the result of a simple test. Enough to say that the presence of arsenic in sufficient panties to destry hu man life was proved beyond a doubt. It was also shoWn that the prisoner had about that time purchased a quaniity of arsenic. On the part of the defence, it was attempted to be shown that the arsenic so bought had been used to kill rats, and that the character of the nieces was abandoned. In both of these positions the defence failed, and the jury, after a trial of most unprecedented length, even in that city of lengthened litigation, found the prisoner guilty. THE ENFIELD RIFLE.— The rapid march of invention in everything which relates to the science of gunnery and the manufacture of small arms, renders it absolutely essential for the government authorities who have charge of that department to be watchful of every proved defect, with a view to applying a speedy remedy, and thereby . keep pace with the requirements of the service. In this point of view, the discussion which has recently arisen respecting the Enfield rifle, possesses no little interest, since it bears inti mately upon the question of military efficiency of those in whose hands it is placed. Although it was regarded as the best possible weapon with which the soldier could be armed, facts have transpired which appear to modify that opinion, and induce the belief that it is still susc.ptible of great improvement. Complaints are, made that, however perfect it may be in. theory and on the practice-ground at, home, in India experience tells a different tale ; for, whether from faults of construction or from a difference in the lubricating material, the efficiency in the Enfield rifle is stated, upon capital authority, to be so greatly impaired as seriously to diminish its high reputation, and even to suggest doubts as to the propriety of continuinc , its use until means are found of remedying its alleged ' defects. It was at first supposed that the manufacturers were in fault; but the severe supervision.° which the gnnmakers bear testimony, and the ri g id ordeal to which every rifle is submitted, do not allow us to attach much value to this hy pothesis. The well-known marvellous accuracy of the ma chinery with which the Enfield rifles are turned out is of itself almost a sufficient guarantee that - no discrepancy of. bore could exist. It can hardly be supposed that differ ence of climate could produce an appreciable variation; besides which, the effect of increased temperature, would be to expand, not contract the barrel. It has been suggested with some degree of plausibility, that the defect complained of may be traced to the continual checking by the ring of the bayonet of that expansion of the barrel which is caused by the vibrations produced at the moment of explosion—thus, after a certain number of rounds, inducing an absolute contraction at the part in question. This, however, if the real cause, would have been discovered long ago. Nor is it in the portion of the barrel adjacent to the muzzle that the obstruction is found to exist We are, there fore, driven to the conclusion that the defective action arises not from the weapon itself, but from that which is put into it ; or, in other words, either from some fault in the construction of the cartridge, or from the use of an un suitable " clogging up" composition. A valuable communi cation, signed " A Civilian," has recently appeared in the columns of a morning contemporary, entering at some length and with considerable acumen in what appears likely to become [a vexatia questio, unless a ssries of carefully con ducted experiments are made with a view to its elucidation. Under any circumstances, the remedy which the Govern ment officials are attempting to apply is as devoid of com mon sense as it is opposed to scientific principle. Instead of setting to work to discover the cause of the defect, they content themselves with supplying a cartride smaller than the original one‘by the 1-15,000 th of an inch, thus utterly subverting the very principle on which the efficiency of the Enfield rifle depends ; viz., that the bore should only be so much larger than the cartridge as to admit of the latter being rammed home without violence ; and this proportion has been attained by the relative diameter of the bore and size of the cartridge, viz,, 577 and 575; the difference between them being consequently two-thousandths of an inch. The effect of the reduction as forcibly pointed out by the writer of the communication referred to, is necessarily, that " the explosive force of the powder will the elongated but loose and ill-assorted ball from the breech to the muzzle of the musket, the amount of windage inevitably rendering its passage along the calibre swerving and bent with undulation." Under such circumstances, it is more than probable that the advantages derived from the shape and posterior expansion of the cylindro-conoid projectile will be to a great extent neutittlised, and that its course along and after leaving the barrel will partake largely of the irre gularity attaching , to the old spherical bullets. If it be likewise true that 60,000 smooth-bored muskets are sent, or shortly to be sent to India, we can only say that in this particular, as in many others, the dictates of good sense and experience and the most ingenious revela tions of science are alike thrown away on the government. It must be confessed that at a time like the present, when, as Mr, Disraeli stated, a European war may be merely "an affair of hours," is ill chosen for exhibiting so humili ating a want of recourse on the part of those who govern us. • We venture to assert that, with respect to the diminution of the size of the cartridge, not only no scientific man would have suggested such an idea, but that any well-informed mechanic in the Enfield factory would have given sounder advice on the subject. This is not the time for rash and ill-advised changes, especially when, as in the present in stance, they tend to nullify the results of science, and reduce our brave soldiers to a level with those whose weapons are really inferior. If we are to have experiments, let them at least be' guaranteed by the authority of men of high scientific repute, and not be resorted to as the last despairing device of some blimdering and bewildered official of the War Office.—Telegraph. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS.—SATURDAY. The house sat for appeals at half-past ten o'clock. After the private business, the Municipal Election Bill was read a third time and passed. ELECTION NEWS. The Times assumes, as a matter of course, that the people of Rochdale will return Mr. Cobden; and both applauds their choice and thinks them honoured in securing such a representative. The Times devotes a leading article to Mr. Cobden's career as a public man, and gives a full report of the speech of Mr. Bright at Rochdale last week. OLDHAM.—The Manchester _Examiner learns that Mr. J. T. Hibbert has consented to stand for the borough of Old ham. His candidature is not to be considered in any way hostile to Mr. Fox, whose services it would be ungrateful to 'dispense with. The seat likely to be jeopardised is Mr. Cobbett's. This gentleman has hitherto been returned on the credit of a name to which he does, politically, but little honour. He talks Chartism to the electors, • but gives his voice and influence to the Tories. The Liberals owe it to themselves to supersede Mr. Cobbett by a man in whose professions they can place some reliance, and we trust the r e su lt of the contest will be to return Fox and Hibbert for 1 1 Oldham. CHESTER.—The excitement in this city is increasing daily. Earl Grosvenor has commenced his canvass, and his return, which is practically unopposed, is certain. The contest for the second seat seems likely to be one of the severest ever witnessed in Chester. Mr. Humberstone addressed an immense assemblage on Thursday evening, and was most enthusiastically received. Mr. Humberstone's, canvass bas been so successful that little doubt is now felt of his ultimate success. Suanwsßunir.—Along with Mr. Tomline, who Commenced his canvass last week, Mr. R. A. Blaney again seeks re election. Colonel Phibbs has suddenly retired from the contest, and in place of the gallant colonel a Mr. Richard Banner Oakeley has come forward, and issued an address on Conservative principles. SHROPSHIRE (Nonrn).—The lion. Rowland Clegg Hill offers himself for re-election in the Conservative interest. Mr. Dod, one of the sitting members, retires from the representation. The vacancy will be hotly contested by Mr. J. R. Ormsby Gore and Sir Baldwin Leighton, whose addresses have already been published. Mr. Gore's father formerly represented this division, and Sir B. Leighton is Chairman of Quarter Sessions. SHROPSHIRE (SOUTH). —In all probability Viscount New port and the Hon. Robert Wilson Clive will be returned unopposed. STAFFORD. —Colonel Addison goes down to contest this borough on independent principles. A somewhat remarkable address has been issued to the people of the Potteries." It is signed by Thomas Piers Healey, and is dated " White cross-street Prison, 14th April." . MILITARY CANDIDATES.—Amongst the names of aspirants for the honour of a seat in the next parliament, we perceive those of a good many militia field officers, and a few retired as well as effective warriors. For the county Clare, Colonel Vandeleur, Colonel Whyte, and Major Armstrong M'Donnell, offer themselves; Major-General `Wood, formerly M.P. for Middlesex, goes in for Brecknock shire General Wyndham and Captain Lowther stick to Cumberland ; Lieutenant-Colonel Cope adheres to East Norfolk; Captain Bennett, and Major Windsor Parker contest West Suffolk with' Earl Jermyn • Major Edwardes has rushed to the rescue of Beverley ; 'Captain Jervis does not intend to desert Harwich ; Colonel Clifford, of course, holds Hereford ; Captain Vivian tries Truro ; Colonel Sykes obligingly proposes to continue to represent Aberdeen ; Sir W Fraser does not desire to lose Barnstaple —and we do not desire to lose Sir W. Fraser; Colonel Freestun is not disposed to relinquish Weymouth, and we hope he will be returned, that he may try another fall with General Peel in the cause of the army subalterns ; Colonel Blackburne, a good conservative, offers himself for South Lancashire; General Peel still seeks the suffrages of Hun tingdon ; Sir De Lacy Evans has made a stirring appeal to Westminster, and we cordially wish him good luek ; Colonel Smyth has addressed the electors of York ; Lieutenant-Col. Stuart has no desire to be turned out of Cardiff ; Colonel i Wood is up' for Cork city ; Lientenant-Colonel Meyrick, of the Scots Fusilier Guards, stands for Maldon ; Lieutenant- Colonel Dickson, co. Limerick Militia, comes forward for Limerick ; and Mr. Otway, late M.P. for the pure borough of Stafford, has every desire to turn out Major-General Sir F. Smith, the conservative M.P. for Chatham. In all this list there are not more than half-a-dozen names of solid promise, as far as the interests of the profession are concerned. We, therefore, contemplate the contest with the most profound philosophy and calm resignation. United Service Gazette. LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S SPEECH TO THE ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF LONDON. At a meeting of the Electors of the City of London, held on Friday afternoon, Lord John Russell was very warmly received, and said : Gentlemen, I rise to address myself to the important questi in of the approaching dissolution, and the election for the City of London, and I fear that I must detain you for a considerable time longer than either of those gentlemen who have preceded me have done. The reason is a very simple one ; they have taken, no doubt, a very clear and liberal course, but they have not had, as I have, to sustain the blame and the reproaches arising from different quarters, for my having taken a very prominent part in the events of the last year. (Hear, hear.) I say of the last year, because I propose to go through with you the events of that year, and I hope you will indulge me, as we have had little bio graphic notices lately. (Laughter.) I hope you will indulge me while I give some historical notices of what has happened during the course, I should say, of the last fifteen months. You all • remember, gentlemen, that there was a bill brought into parliament by Lord Palmerston's government —a bill of which I did not approve, considering not that the bill was so very objectionable of itself, but that the English parliament ought not to legislate to comply with the wishes of any foreign power. But, gentlemen, in that opinion I entirely differed from what is called the great Con servative party. They not only supported that bill, but the present prime minister suggested an outline of it on the meeting of parliament last year, and they gave Lord Palmer ston every reason to suppose that by their aid such a bill would be carried by an overwhelming majority. So it appeared in the early stages of the bill, and the ninety-nine who voted against its introduction were looked on with something like contempt from the smallness of our numbers and the seeming insignificance of our position. When it came to a second reading a resolution was proposed by my right hon. friend Mr. Milner Gibson, which did not directly touch on the latter, but censured the ministry for neglecting to answer, or leaving unanswered, a despatch, and con nected that censure with the second reading of the bill. Now, gentlemen, you would hail() thought, and I certainly thought that, although I, who was bent on defeating that bill, might safely and naturally have voted for that resolution, that the party which had signalised itself by arguments more cogent, and by zeal more enthusiastic for that bill than the members of the government themselves had shown, would certainly have voted for its second reading. (Hear, hear.) But to my surprise, and the surprise of many, that party adopted the resolution, and thereby defeated the bill to which they had given apparently such great support. Now, gentlemen, on that fact I have two observations to make. The first is, that I think Lord Palmerston was very ill-treated by those who pretended to be so ready to support his measure ; and the second that it is wonderful to me that those who defeated Lord Palmerston, who opposed that vote of censure, and thereby defeated the bill of which they had professed them selves to be the friends and advocates, should now come forward and denounce a factious proceeding, a resolution_ proposed by those who were against that bill, and which resolution was directly in point, and applied itself to the bill that was before the House. (Cheers.) [The noble lord then referred to the India Bill, and the course he took upon it.] Mr. Bernal Osborne, in one of his amusing speeches at Dover, declared that I ought to have had a t prize from the Royal Humane Society, for I had rescued the Ministry 'from drowning. (Laughter.) I did, I own, rescue them, thinking it a public duty so to do (laughter), but I did not consider I was for ever to act the part of an officer in the Humane Society's service, and go about with along pole and a hook at the end, and always to pull the Ministry out of the water when they were scrambling and floundering from the effects of their ow n blundering and awkwardness. [The noble lord then went into a history of the Government Reform Bill, noticing its two chief defect s. ] What I do maintain is that, besides the £lO householdea, you ought to admit a great portion of the working classes of Britain to vote for members of Parliament. Now Ministers maintained in the course of the discussion not only that such a provision was not necessary, but that it would be exceedingly hurtful. The Colonial Secretary, in a speech of great eloquence, placed before our eyes the horrors of a French revolu tion, together with all the results which flowed from the very unwise and insane conduct of the leaders of that revolution. The Chancellor of the Exchequer spoke with much more moderation, and undoubtedly made the best speech in defence of the Government. (Hear, hear.) He said in substance, " I don't expect from the working classes of England massacre or robbery. I do not expect this, but I do anticipate that there will be a vast increase of expenditure, and that there will be a diminished and a diminishing taxation, so that the finances of the country will be exposed almost to ruin. I expect there will be wars rashly entered into and ignominiously concluded." These were the things the Chancellor of the Exchequer expected. I must say I expect nothing of the sort. (Cheers.) I expect--if these provisions are made with consideration if we admit those who are worthy to exercise the vote accord ing to the constitution of England—l do net believe these working men will produce either extra expenditure, diminished taxation, or anything in fact, which would reduce the power, or impair the good faith of the country. Nor do I expect they will enter into rash wars. I believe the people of this country wish for peace with all the world (Cheers.) lam sure it is of interest to do so, and I believe while they would resent any attack on the national honour, or any attack on the national territory, that they have as enlightened views as any part of the country with re spect to the benefits of peace and the benefits which flow from it, to liberty, to commerce, and to the happiness of man. (Cheers.) Such were two of the many objections which I took to this bill. [The noble lord proceeded to state the reasons which induced him to meet the question of the second reading with the resolution, and continued.] I determined to proceed with the resolution, not without the advice and concurrence of those for whose opinions I have the highest respect. I consulted my old friond Sir James Graham, who had been united with me in preparing the bill of 1831. I consulted Lord Palmerston, to whom that respect was due, and whose opinion upon such a point was of the utmost value. (Hear, hear.) I consulted Mr. Sidney Herbert, who wished to see a good reform bill, and who, at the same time, did not like to appear in opposition to the government upon other than fair and reasonable grounds. I consulted Mr. Bright (loud cheers)----I con stilted Mr. Bright, who is ft politician of another class, and whose opinions in many respects differ from mine, but who is a sincere and hearty reformer, and he agreed with me as to the defects of Lord Derby's bill, and agreed also with me as to the manner in which it ought to be treated. Well, I thought it was right, in my position, as I have already said, to get as much concurrence of opinion as possible. It had been called by hard names, but I think that concert amongst men for great pub lic objects, having nothing in vievrbut that which is for the public good, is honourable to all who are concerned. (Hear, hear.) Well, gentlemen, what I wish to see is a bill on which the people of this country can rest. We have had warnings on this subject which I think we ought to take anxiously into consideration. (Hear, hear.) A man —not surpassed in sa,gacity by any Minister of late years I mean the late Sir Robert Peel, introduced a Corn bill in 1842. He recommended that bill to the House of Commons, and it became an act of parliament ; but in 1846, Sir Robert pro posed a totally different measure. He said, I have changed my opinion ; and when he was twitted with his former act, he said, I will not be guided and controlled by my observa tions of 1842. (Hear, hear.) I think we may take warning by the course adopted by a man of such ability and eminence and sagacity as Sir Robert Peel in changing his measure within four years. We should agree that we don't wish to pass a bill which would last four years, or hardly so long, but that we should pass one which should be worthy the wisdom of Parliament to offer - worthy the generosity and patriotism of the peOple of England to accept. (Hear.) Well, gentlemen, I can only say that the ministers not having chosen to bring in a bill, and having thought it their duty to their Sovereign and their country not to resign their offices, there only remained the other course, namely, to dissolve parliament, and to appeal to the constituent body at large to declare what that reform should be. If I complain of them it is not for taking that course, but it is for not stating clearly the issue that is to be tried. They have none of them in their addresses ventured to say, you shall decide upon our bill whether it is a good or bad one ; they have not ventured to say, we have another reform bill in preparation, and we ask you to confide to us the manage ment of that great question. They have made it a personal matter ; they have complained of the divisions amongst their opponents; they have urged that there are sections amongst the Liberals holding different opinions, and that upon these grounds they must continue to hold office. I think thatis an nnworthy way of putting the question to the electors of the United Kingdom. The question really is this - whether the new parliament can have submitted to it a bill answering the requirements of the present time, and which is likely to meet with acceptance. I have given my opinions ; others have given their opinions. All I ask you is to trust me as a sincere Reformer (loud cheering, which lasted several minutes), and one who has long been engaged in this cause. (Renewed applause.) Gentlemen, in asking you to confide in my hands, as one of the four members of the City of London, the important trust of deciding what shall be the reform bill which is worthy of being passed, I refuse to bind myself to any details either that lor others may propose. I have given, in my place in the House of Commons, what I think would be a fair outline. It may be found upon consideration that that outline may be changed or altered with advantage to the country. I ask for a free exercise of my opinion on this subject. I ask you to trust me upon this important question, and no less upon this than upon another important question, which some persons wish to make a connecting part of reform —I mean the question of the ballot. I have always been ready to give my opinions in the House of Commons upon that subject, and I will not bind or tie mydiscre don in any way whatever. I tell you I am against the ballot. (Cheers, and cries of " No, no.") But gentle men, if I were an advocate for the ballot, I should not think that the mode of tying down every member of Parliament, or of taking an account of his votes simply on that subject, was the way to precure a majority in Par liament on that subject, because honourable men, even though in favour of the ballot will shrink from condi tions which they think degrading to their personal honour. I think, likewise, that that question, like all other questions, if it has a right in its favour, will best be decided by a free expression of opinion. (Hear.) I believe much in the utility of constant discussion, year by year, for the carrying of ques tions which are recommended by reason and the public bene fit. My belief is that if you have such truth and . justice in favour of the ballot it will be carried ; but it is not my belief that it would be for the public interest, and, there fore, I believe that public opinion will ultimately pro nounce against it. (Cheers, and "No, no.") It is a matter which I wish seriously to be discussed—it is a matter of considerable importance, although I believe its decision one way or another would hardly havd the con sequences which some hope and others apprehend. (Hear, hear.) But I say let the question be fairly and freely discussed. Do not proscribe men because they are against the ballot—do not adopt men who have no other merit merely because they are in favour of it. (Hear, hear.) Now, gentlemen, with regard to our foreign relations, it appears to me that the Foreign Minister will have two questions to consider, when he is either called to attend congress or to speak on the part of England to foreign Powers. The one question is that of peace, and upon this question there can be no doubt that he should advise everything which is most conductive to the peace of Europe. (Cheers.) But there is another position he mus t hold, and that is, a position not unbecoming, the Minister of a free country. (Hear, hear.) My belief is that the pre sent complications in. Italy have arisen, not as alleged from the conduct of Sardinia. (Hear, hear.) They have arisen from an abuse of military power by one of the great Powers of Europe from 1815 to the present time. Hence the uneasiness in Italy. Hence the temptation per haps to the ambition of other Powers who seek their grati cation in this moment of difficulty and crisis. (Cheers.) For my part, I entirely approve that we should ask that these Powers should be at peace amongst themselves, 'and that we should likewise ask that the territorial arrangements of 1815 should not be disturbed. But this I must say for the States of Italy, that I think these States—independent States as they were engaged to be by the treaty of Vienna — ought to have free power to am end and reform their own institutions. (Hear, hear.) These are, gen tlemen, in a few words, my foreign pol itics. (Renewed applause have no reason to think t hat the p resent government take other views than these . I have seen no State paper of theirs ; I have read no declaration of theirs upon which I am at all dispo sed to differ from tAnd now, looking back f or a moment to the time that is a p t and looking to the time that is to come, ic s annot but see that under different administrations the cause of freedom, civil, commercial, and religious, has been making a constant progress. I trust that progress may con tinue. (Cheers.) -I trust that, whoever may be the minis ters of the Queen, that that progress will be possible, and that, at the same time, it will be uninterrupted. (Cheers.) Mr. Fox once said that of all the innovations that could be introduced - into the constitution of England, the greatest innovation would be to say that there should be no further change. We require changes adapted to the enlightenment of the people ; adapted to the immense energies which com merce and manufactures have produced iiie ertain parts of the island. I trust that these changes will be effected. I trust that they will be peacefully effected, and if you send me to parliament to give my advice on these questions. you may depend upon it, that as I have ever been faithful to the cause of freedom,_ I shall never d eser t th a t cau se, but I trust serve you to the end. (Th e no bl e lord resumed his seat amidst loud applause.) MR. COBDEN. The people of Rochdale will return Mr. Cobden as a matter of cou rse , so it may b e th oug ht a l mos t superfluous for us to say that we heartily applaud their choice, and think them honoured in securing such a representative. If we make any remark on Mr. Bright's very interesting account of Mr. Cobden's career, it is because he seems to challenge remark by something which we should call an ante climax in the interest of his narrative, and a paradox in its moral. There are public careers that might almost shake our faith in those eternal princi ples of justice and mercy, wisdom and goodness, which are generally supposed to be illustrated in the his tory of men, as of nations. There are men who build for tune, position, and imperishable fame on a foundation which we all believe to be hollow and vicious. The old fables and stories of cringing sycophancy working its way to great ness, and over and over again kicking away the ladder by which it rises, and of beginnings that by their baseneis only seem the foil of future splendour, are too common and too familiar to disconcert us. Prosperity is vulgar, and we know it. The new man has to pay the full penalty of his crime, for he has a whole popu lation at his heels. Bit M. Bright's story of his illustrious colleague in the Free Trade cause leads us to the same moral by a totally different roate. Mr. Cobden with the power of turning his great talents to the aca_eisition of a fortune, and thereby of power, deVoted himself wholly and solely to the deliverance of his country from a very sore burden. After a seven years war, conducted with con summate ability and enterprise, by the fire of an earnest eloquence and the art of a sound logic, he overcame an iniquity so inveterate that it was alleged to have been. part of every financial arrangement, public or private, in the whole kingdom. Mr. Bright describes, with some touches of very fine feeling the character of that warfare After that ho has to inform us that, following in the train of this victory. and with Mr. Cobden's co-operation, some other great reforms have been effected. The differential duties on sugar have been removed, and sugar itself much c!ie tpene.l. The Navagation Laws have been repealed, and freight much reduced. Most of the duty on newspapers has been removed, and in Manchester alone every week some hundred thousand papers communicate to all classes, at the cheap cats of a penny a-sheet, not only the produce of our own costly enterprise, but, as Mr. Bright says, excellent compositions of their own. Nor is this all. On the overthrow of Vie great and lamented statesman who became Cobden's pupil in. Free Trade, and sacrificed himself to carry out the lessons of his master, the politician by whom the sacrifice was effected offered the master a seat in the Cabinet vacated by his too sincere pupil. Though it grates rather on the ear that we should have to view the matter in this light, and we are not quite sure that Mr. Bright would have us do so, still it was an act of virtue in Mr. Cobden that he declined this honour. He had his health, his family, and his affairs to look to, and dreaded the effect of office on the conscience. Perhaps the nature of the transaction under which the offer came to be made might have given fresh force to' these scruples. Bat there, and at that point, with some amend ments in the laws relating to ships, newspapers, and sugar, Mr. Cobden's career seems thus far to have terminated; nay, worse than mere cessation, those singular talents, those endearing personal qualities, that unexampled triumph, have all failed to mitigate or to arrest the most monstrous and most growing of our country's ills, at least in the opinion both of Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright. Since Mr. Cobden came into public life, and became a prominent man in the House of Commons, the annual expenditure upon the armaments of this country has doubled, and is still increasing. Compared with this deplorable retrogression, as it seems, and as it is regarded by Mr. Cobden himself, all the rest we are told about this gentleman seems of little importance. One is not, indeed, quite prepared to hear of the saviour of his country—the Joseph who read the dream of famine and made it a season of abundance—visiting the United States to look after some Illinois Central Stock, of which we should be delighted to hear a better account than of most other American investments. If Mr. Cobden and his friends were .to suffer by some clever operation of the American shareholders, we should certainly feel . it a satire on republican sympathies, if not on - the cause of freedom itself. Nor need one think much of the fact, that the offer of office made to Mr. Cobden in 1846, has not been renewed. Others shared the penalties of Peel's great act, and have been almost ostracised from power, because for once, at least, they were good men. Martyrs and confessors abound in the Legislature, and in a dozen instances, if we ask why is such an one in so false and irreparable a position, the only answer that can be given is, that he unfortunately once listened to the sag gestions of conscience, and was duped by a truth. So here Mr. Cobderes fate is only a common one. If we choose to be virtuous, we must take the con sequences. But why is it that so great a man, so good a man, and so successful a man has utterly failed to do one jot of good towards abating the monstrous evil of a military preparation, never ending, still beginning, now with more to be done for it than ever, and a mere game of " beg ger my neighbour " in its only true bearing of foreign armaments ? As fast as that wise old housewife Political Economy, with her housebook, her bunch of keys, and her scales, saves the shillings and pence, her thrift-. less, graceless spouse, throws it all away, starves the household, and keeps the creditor at the door, with his interminable quarrels and preparations against every imaginable enemy. Was it for this, then, that Peel was overthrown, and the great Conservative party divided to the four quarters of the Heavens ? Was it for this that Lord Derby dominates in the Lords, and Mr. Disraeli, for a second time, leads with much confidence and no slight glory the Commons ? We don't profess to see our way clear to the solu tion of this moral enigma. We can only say, despairingly, that it ought not to be so. But still it must be asked, was there no want, nothing to desiderate, or wish other wise, in that powerful eloquence and that great crusade ? When a keen and practised ear detected something to blame in the first essay of that tongue in the House of common., and pronounced, rashly enough, " Nothing in him, he is only a barker,' there might be, and we think there was, a want of some of the q ualities necessar y to gain a thorough hold on the British heart and m in d. We fail, indeed, to recognise in Mr. Cobden that comprehen sive statesmanship which is necessary to make a man some thing more than the chief of one cause, and the hero of one great victory. To be a statesman and a legislator, a man must have sympathies with all causes, inter ests, and classes, and represent in his own per son the heterogeneous materials of this very com posite country. When a man so treats a great theme that, while doing it no less than justice, he yet jars on many a wholesome feeling, and does violence to many a sound and useful conviction ; when he opposes himself as an irreconcileable foe to much that will ever be in st strength and honour among us, we see the elements of perpetual failure, which some partial triumph will only render more conspicuous. There are those who are glorious in the battle field, but can ne v er be statesmen. There are those wh o distinguish themselves at the bar, but know not how the country is to be governed, or the laws they themselves interpret are to be made. There are Divines of eloquence, learning, and genius, and we know the sort of statesmen theology has given to the country. are inspired in literature, o r who There are men who perform miracles of mechanical enterpris e , b u t are children, and very dull ones, can in a council or a senate.r. Cobden is a great political economist. He regards his M country as the first, the richest, the most ind u strious, commercial firm in the world. He appreciates man as "an animal that can make bargains," and he has made for us the best bargain, the most favour able as well as the most generous, ever made by thapmni, But, as yet, there ends Mr. C o bd en . H e h as ne i t h er th e policy nor the eloquence to stop an armament for One day, or to mediate between one nation and another, to divert from his prey a single aggres sor, to solve a "complication," to heal one breach between classes. When a young man, he saw at a g lance that Manchester offered a great field for speculation ; and as his heart and mind expanded, he saw how the Corn Laws stood in the way of that and all other enterprise, and how that bond might be broken. But th ese he stood, and there he stands, and there, too, stands very much the wisdom of his party. Mr. Bright is is • some important respects a greater man, yitth_ a wider vision and more varied powers ; but i t rem a ins for him to show that he can do more than overthrow Protection, and repeat some dozen times the process of summary execution , done on the enlightened Statesmen who did the work of the • Anti-Corn Law League. We trust that Mr. Cohlen's return to Parliament will inaugurate a new and more fruitful policy.—Tinies.