The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-11-20 00:00:00

LORD JOHN RUSSELL.

IRRRE is a
certain kind of restless activity in some
• it'e_ncL, which renders it impossible for them to endure
olrse; and every opp ortunityis, therefore, gladly seized
to 10acquire some degree of notoriety. It is not very
4 since Lord JOHN RUSSELL, after a career in Par-
ent 4 of nearly forty years, and after having occupied
-44 st every ministerial office, was compelled to retire
til the Government, from-the overwhelming convic-
the public mind of his political treachery in
1044`gg inglorious conditions of peace when he had
Zt ih.:_ts4t to Vienna to maintain the national honour.
ogsZeilt have been thought that, at sixty-three years
Nir,the day for re-constructing a political reputation
to 8414'st, and that the wisest course would have been
Nit tenni]) to the storm he had himself provoked, and
loll: into the private life to which he must have so
stn a stranger. He seems, however, to be
lkl3l
'Oak eof rest, preferring 'rather the smallest modi-
lia: popular notice, of however questionable a
tiolitvter, to being altogether unforgotten. It was,
e 8 8 this morbid feeling of restlessness which
4% 4-'tCl him to the bitter mortification of being hissed
convivial banquet by his own constituents, whose
'ach
NI of decorum, so unusual on such an occasion,
st
Nil have been excited solely on account of his peace
INt'leetions, so foreign to the temper of the people,
of, her the merchants of London or the inhabitants
144), ntry places. But the few remarks which he did
• were scarcely less absurd than those which pro-
✓ his condemnation. He congratulated the citizens
111421d0n upon the election of the Lord Mayor as a
t.:1511 of principle, and abruptly resumed his seat,
e might perhaps have been informed what princi-
ho nad thus triumphed. It was an old-fashioned
v
ox len, though perhaps an exploded fallacy in the
tf.tai, on of modern philosophers, that the Constitution
of,;,ne country was based upon an especial recognition
v e truths of Christianity—the basis of our laws,
a foundation of our belief, and,
indeed, the only tie
111)ril• Which society is or can be bound. Yet the only
. /ample involved in the election (f the Lord Mayor
tllO ondon is a practical denial of Christianity, by the
.of a man who avowedly ignores his belief in
loctrines. Is indifferentism the great principle
lIALord &am RUSSELL was about to laud, had not
ee predilections imbittered his audience against
'h&j. It would be difficult to discover in what way
414;141)1e can be involved in the election of such a
the chief magistrate of the metropolis, unless
ti
ko,'eavo to religious principle is a commendable
-`qty
le • Be it remembered—for it is important to
, ,- sent--,that the Lord Mayor is only a Jew by
slay and, therefore, in impugning his election, we
tetra'
stye in from any remarks whatever upon those
tiket Who conscientiously believe and act up to the
to 14,8 in which they have been educated. It is absurd
tt °tut' that the Lord Mayor of London is a Jew,
ht sense of the word ; for he was presiding
un
seet4 a %et on the Sabbath, engaged in a peculiarly
eeoupation, and eating with those with whom
not lawful for himto eat, with forbidden vivands
wase table, at the very time when the ex-Minister
PPlanding his being there as the vindication of a
Vis absurdity•
number one, of which Lord JOHN
fisk
Aopusl_ca. has been guilty in his futile attempt to court
Natrria tY ; but, as if to leave no doubt of his in-
-I,leeti„ileY, he appeared, on Wednesday last, before a
'''o4,lo.* of the Young Men's Christian Association in
44 4, as a lecturer on civilization ; and there, after
that connected string of historical references, declared
sotialristianity was the only basis of national and
set to
If the one argument be true, what
of the other? The citizens of London would
ell to his laudations at theLordMayor's banquet,
the yob he
ged his ground, and attempted to enlighten
h4s, t men on the blessings of Christianity. He
hlrate, shown the versatility of his genius :
'e has Virtually closed the door of his political
4 tee,selt he may, no doubt, come out with icldt
fapp:4al lecturer, varied with occasional addresses
qr of the beer-sellers, who are just now suffer-

ing from a rigid application of the billeting system ;
while an advocacy of the right to open places of amuse-
ment on the Sunday may be diversified with lectures
on the sanctity of the Lord's-day.
The self-sufficiency that would unclecake the com-
mand of the Channel fleet, or perform an operation
in lithotomy, at five minutes' notice, can find no
difficulty as to choice of subjects, nor as to their ap-
parent incongruity ; and n the reception at the
mayor ay banquet is no doubt a notice to quit
P.e-d Par as the representation of London is concerned,
with perchance no convenient borough to supply the
deficiency, it is commendable prudence on the part of
Lord JOHN RUSSELL to prepare himself for a new
walk of life, in which, though his auditors may not
be legislators, nor his theme the rights and interests
of nations, he may contrive to keep his name before
the public.