The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-19 00:00:00

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1856.

FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT

MONDAY MORNING.

The QUEEN, Prince ALBERT, and the Royal Family, arrived
at Buckingham Palace, from Windsor Castle, on Mondty
afternoon. The Court will remain in town till the 22nd
proximo, when HER MAJESTY and her augnst family will
return to Windsor to pass the Easter holidays. A Court was
held at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, at which Prince
ALBERT was invested with the order of the Seraphim, by

command of the King of SWEDEN. On Wednesday there was
a Cabinet Council held at the Palace, which was attended by
nearly all, if not the whole, of the Cabinet Ministers. At this
Council, which sat nearly two hours and a half, it is under-
stood that Lord CLARENDON received his final instructions
.relative to the peace conference to be held in Paris. On
Saturday morning his lordship set out for that capital, where
he arrived the same evening. Most of the plenipotentiaries
of the conferring parties have now arrived in the French me-
tropolis, M. de Bunxsrow, the Russian envoy, being the first
to arrive, and AALI PAD UA, the envoy from Turkey, will be
the last, his arrival not being expected before Friday. The
conference will, it is understood, be formally opened on
Saturday, and some who lay claim to the gift of diplomatic
second-sight profess to know that the conferences will not be
of so protracted a duration as was at first anticipated. Others,
from the peculiar nature of the preparations, pretend to a
clairvoyant knowledge that the whole will have its beginning,
its middle, and its end iu talk ; that, in point of fact, the
proceedings will consist entirely of " a great palaver,". accompa-
nied by marvellous ceremonies, intended to demonstrate that
Louts NAPOLEON is in verity and by " Ceasar, Reeser,
and Pheezer, an Emperor ;" that there will be grave
and dignified discussions as to precedency—as to who
shall sit down or who shall rise up first ; that his
Majesty the Emperor of Fizarrcz will be specially designated
by all the conferring parties Monsieur, mon frere, but that
here the practical result will end, that the liberties of Europe
and the fair claims of the Allies to be indemnified for the ex-
penses of the war will be bartered for the application of those
three magic words. Many, who are sincere advocates for
peace, contend that the Allies run the risk of being utterly
bamboozled by the combined diplomacy of Austria and Russia.
In the meantime anticipated discussions as to the precise in-
terpretations of the fifth point give rise to a very prevalent
belief that both France and Austria will concur in the decla-
ration that razing the Russian fortifications on the east
coast of the Black Sea is not " a measure required by the in-
terests of Europe." Dwelling on this doubtful point, some of
the journals go so far as to hint that we may henceforth have
to wage the war against Russia single-handed; of which ne-
cessity ominous indications are picked out in various quarters.
In the House of Commons, the other night, Sir C. WOOD, in
describing the gigantic preparations for carrying on the
war, was particular in pointing out that 350 pennants for the
Baltic and 100 for the Black Sea, the intended armament for
_
next year's campaign, is an amount of naval force sufficient to
enable us to carry on war against any power on our own sole
resources. By many this is looked on as a shadow of one of
those coming events which most men would deem very unde-
sirable to meet ; but which, if in reality , coming, cannot be
too soon or too steadfastly looked in the face. Others, with
probably more reason on their side, see in the observation a
friendly hint to our loving cousins in the United States.
The Times, as is its wont on tatraordinary occasions, is ex-
eeedingly sententious and admasitory on the subject of the
' conferences, and bestows on Lord CLARENDON such an
amount of advice and second-hand wisdom as may render
that statesman's task an easy and successful one, if he will
only consent to act on the disinterested counsel, and can
persuade the country to sanction it if acted on. " Let our
plenipotentiaries," says the typographic Jupiter, " bring us
home good terms and they shall be supported." Good,
doubtless very good ! " Above all," he continues, "we fear
nothing, so long as they maintain with suitable dignity the
honour and position of the couuntry. 'We shall forgive every-
thing to the man who shall err in asserting too boldly and
too loudly the rights and honour of England ; but an Am-
bassador who should commit at Paris the error of Vienna,
and humble the nation to the dust before Potentates, would
commit an offence which our sensibility could never forget,
and our self-respect could never forgive." Many years have
now elapsed since England was represented by the three
vicarious and self-elected tailors of Tooley-street, but even
they, in the wantonness of their self-imposed dignity, did
not soar so high into the sublimities of egotism as is thus
indulged in by the "fustian" manufacturer of Printing-house-
square.

While all'. eyes have been turned with less or more of
anxious speculation towards the Conference at Paris, and with
even more anxiety to a contemplation of the means by which
war is to be carried on with vigour, if the negotiations fail,
the proceedings in Parliament relative to these have been
attentively scanned. Although JOHN Bunn is admittedly
sensitive in reference to any move which threatens to dip into
his pocket, the announcement made by Sir CHARLES Woon,
on Monday night, that the naval estimates for the coming
year are formed upon a war and not a peace policy, has met
with general approbation. It is looked upon as the most elo-
quent mode of advocating the benefits of peace, to show that
we are also fully prepared for war. Among all classes of poli-
ticians the intimation of unrelaxed endeavours to conquer a
satisfactory and lasting peace, will give more cogency to the
arguments of our ambassadors than any extent of Bombastes
Farioso exhortation which can he bestowed upon them ;
with such respectable backing as that represented by 450 war
vessels, and an efficient and well-disciplined army, the British
plenipotentiaries at Paris will find themselves in a position to
propose and insist omgood terms. Such terms the country
looks for from them, and will rigorously exact.
The The Parliamentary session, although little more than com-
menced, has already been marked by the discussion of several
,questions bearing seriously upon the public interests, too
many of them, however, beitg of a character little fitted to
give general satisfaction. The one which for the time being
has created the greatest amount of jealousy and anxious dis-
cussion in Parliament and out of doors, has been the attempt
to tamper with the constitutional privilege of the second estate
of the realm. By an extraordinary indiscretion in the use of
the Royal prerogative, Ministers have created disputes among
themselves, have provoked serious suspicions as to their real
intentions, and involved the Crown and the House of Lords in
an unseemly contention, all of which could have been easily
avoided. In raising Baron PAnza to the peerage, if the patent
had been issued in ordinary form, little risk woald have been
entailed of making a permanent addition to the peerage, if it
was considered desirable to avoid such an addition. The
learned Baron is so far advanced in life as to render his con-
-tinned celibacy a matter of secure calculation. How, under
all- the circumstances of the case, Ministers should have felt
themselves tempted into a conflict on so unnecessary a subject,
it is impossible to divine; unless it be referred to the pro-
verbial science of the Whigs, in constructing walls to knock
their own heads against. The first meeting of the Committee
of Privilege, to which the consideration of this question has
been referred, was looked forward to with much interest ; but
it resulted in little beyond the arrangement of the preliminary
steps for bringing the question to issue. In the meantime, it
has assumed an important aspect, through the operation of
adventitious circumstances. The LORD CHANCELLOR and
other members of the Government affect to stand
aloof from the inquiry, and the question immediately arises, is
it the intention of Lord CEANWORTH to enforce the preroga-
tive of the Crown, and insist on Lord WENSLEYDALE taking
his seat in the House of Peers, whatever may be the decision
of the committee ? If such be the course he intends to pur-
sue, he will have done more to disturb the harmony of the
British constitution than any man who has held office since
the revolution of 1688. If he does not mean to do this, but
to submit to the decision of the committee, he has, probably
without any such intention, subjected Baron PARKE to an
amount of annoyance and a degree of indignity as wanton and
unwarrantable as it was unnecessary and unconstitutional.
That the step is felt to be an unwise one, is evident from the
peevishness and irritability exhibited by ministers in relation
to it. The LORD CHANCELLOR, who tendered his resignation
an the subject, as his opinion differed from that of several of
his colleagues, treats the matter in a morose and dogged spirit.
Lord GRA.NYILLE is pettish, and snarls at any one who dis-
putes his dictum on the question of ministerial interference
with the peerage. Those affecting to be deep in the cabinet
secrets say that ministers calculate on defeating the inquiry
,by putting obstacles and raising difficulties in the way. The
tact and resolution of Lord LYNDRUEST and the other law
lords, who are all against government on the subject, will prove
too much for such a style of tactics, which, if resorted to, will
tend greatly to lower ministers in public estimation.
In the House of Commons, some interesting and important
discussions have occurred during the past week in connexion
with matters referring directly to the law or to its administra-
tion. On Tuesday evening the propriety of appointing-a"
Minister of Justice was introduced to the notice of the mem-
bers by Mr. NAPIER, one of the represoutatives of the Univer-
sity of Dublin. The propriety of some such measure as that
suggested by the Right Hon. Gentleman was concurred in by
both sides of the how, and the motion, slightly.modified as
was agreed to, and will, in all proposed by Sir GEORGB Guar,
likelihood, be consigned to the limbo of vanities, in which the
good intentions of parliament are said to be locked up. On

_•/may

Thursdiehe house was astonished ;vell as gratified at
witnessing the noble and daring ae‘ei Sir FITZROY KELLY
in offering to undertake that superhuman task—the conioli-
dation of the statute law ! He introduced two bills upon the
subject, prefacing their introduction by a speech of great
length, filled with well digested learning and coient argu-
ment. The motion for introducing the bills was seconded by
Lord STAranY, and, after complimentary remarks from
several members, leave was given to bring in the bills-
Immediately on disposing of this matter, the,
,house was
plunged into one of those partizan debates, which have
a tendency -to bring scandal .upon the usages' of—Parlia--
meat. Sir Joirs SHELLEY, in moving for returns calcu-
lated to show the manner in which the Irish Judges had dis-
charged their duties, delivered himself of an address in which
he represented the three chief Irish Judges as so oldas.to be
incapable of rightly discharging their duties • and dwelt par-
ticularly on the fact that, besides being very far advanced in
years, Baron PENNEPATHER was blind. He declared the re-
tention of the judge's seat by the three-judges, Mr. Justice
LEPROY, Mr. Judge TOUREN; and Baron PENNEPATHER, was
a scandal to the Irish bench, and that the Government should
interfere, and put a stop to it. The speech of Sir jaux called
forth a vigorous and manly.defence of the assailed judges from
Mr. NAPIER, who Accused the Government of a want of proper
spirit in not defending these judges from so scandalous an at-
tack, if they knew it was unfounded, or in not moving au ad-
dress to the Crown for their removal, if they believed the as-
persions to be correct. 'ln indignant terms, he denied the
accusation, and denounced the proceeding as a party manoeuvre
to clear the way to the bench for some of the Government sup-
porters. Sir GEORGE GREY admitted that he had made in-
quiries, which had received answers, stating that all the three
judges performed their official duties with regularity and assi-
duity ; but, still, it seemed true that Baron. PENNEPATHER
was both old and blind, and that the other two were old, and
he should, in consequence, support the motion. This conclu-
sion drew forth the ire of Mr. DISRAELI, who, in a strain of
satirical invective, combined with powerful reasoning, severely
flagellated the Home Secretary. Lord PALMERSTON closed
the debate by declaring that the partisan view of the matter
had been started by the opposition. On a division, the motion
was carried by a majority of eleven, in a house containing 253

members.
The subject of Crimean military mismanagement has occu-
pied much general artention, and has also, during the past
week, been oftener than once brought under the notice of
Parliament. The provocative to public discussion has been
the remarks made chiefly in the House of Lords, complaining
of the statements, contained in the Report made by Sir JOHN
MNBILL and Colonel Terme:seer. The terms of that report
have- been severely reprobated by the Earls of CARDIGAN and
LuciN, and each of those noble lords has, in his place in
Parliament, gravely impugned the statements of the commis-
sioners. They slander me, says Lord CARDIGAN ; lam calum-
niated, echoes Lord Lucax. The general public, with a
feeling of considerable uneasiness, recals to mind the some-
what similar charges brought mutually against each other by
the noble lords, and remembers, with pain, the attempts of
both to inculpate his commanding officer, in reference to points
which affected the personal character or judgment, or both, of
the immediately subordinate one. What particular portions
of the report these two gallant officers complain of chiefly is
not stated by them, or at least not publicly. Both officers were
connected with the cavalry. One of the chief causes of the
disasters to the army was the loss of horses, the want of which,
for the transport of necessaries, caused the death of numbers,
and exposed thousands to the most agonizing misery. Con-
nected with the loss of horses, the report does not interfere
with the "death ride" of Balaklava, but says :—" Considering,
also, the suffering and severe loss of horses, from exposure to
the weather in the commencement of the winter, there ap-
pears to have been a want of promptitude or ingenuity in de-
vising for them some means of temporary shelter, such as
saved the baggage-horses of the Sappers and Miners at Bala-
klava. Experience has now proved that even a very moderate
degree of shelter would have been sufficient to save the lives
of many of the horses, if not to maintain them in serviceable
condition ; and it must be presumed that such measures were
considered practicable, for a• proposal to erect, with the
assistance of his men, some sort of cover for the horses of the
corps, appears to have been made by the officer com-
manding the Scotch Greys, but the manner in which it is
stated to have been received by the Lieutenant-General
commanding the cavalry was calculated to deter other
officers from making any similar proposal." The officer
was actually threatened with arrest ! Can it be matter
for wonder that such revelations caused LORD LUCAN to feel
uneasy ? It seems to have been a settled point that the horses
must be starved to death. The report goes on to say:—
"When the supply began to fail, the Commissariat officer
referred to, who appears to have done everything in his power
to meet the difficulties of the case, proposed, as he knew that
there was plenty of barley at Balaklava, that if a detachment
of the horses were allowed to go down daily he would engage
to bring up enough for the rest of the brigade. The proposi-
tion appears to have been brought especially under the notice
of Lord CARDIGAN by Lieutenant-Colonel MAYOU, Assistant-
Quartermaster-General of cavalry, who states that his lord-
ship declined to accede to it, as he had previously done, when
a similar proposition was made to him to send the horses
down for hay before that supply failed." The circumstances
under which these refusals were given may be susceptible of
explanation, and their lordships should, if possible, at once
afford it. Lord PANMURE assured the house, and most people
will agree with him, that the commissioners had no intention
of attacking Lords LIMAN and CARDIGAN, or indeed of per-
tonally attacking any one; but the cases stated imply grave
charges, and the assurance of Lord PANMURE that no derelic-
tions of a secondary nature could detract from the lustre of
those actions for which the noble lords had received decora-
tions, must be looked on as a sorry palliative of the accusation.
The public will not readily acquiese in construing the care of
the men and horses placed ruder the command of an officer
as matter of a secondary character. They look with pride
upon the display of fortitude, courage, and personal daring as
characteristic of every man in the army, from the drum-boy to
the commander-in-chief ; but in officers of distinguished
position they expect, united with bravery, presence of mind,
resource, judgment, seizure of opportunity, —in a word, the
combination of those high mental and bodily qualities which
used to be signified in that suggestive expression "conduct in
the field."
For a long period the impolicy of exacting duty by Govern-
ment on premiums paid for insurance against fire has been
a subject of general and well-founded complaint. The old
argument as to its being a premium on improvidence has
been met by the readily used one of the state necessity, and
the impossibility of the CHANCHLLOR of the EXCHEQUER
parting with so large an amount of revenue as £1,000,000,
produced by the duty on fire insurances. The matter has
recently assumed a new form, and presents itself to Sir G. C.l
LEWIS, as one of the finau cial dissolving views which form such
frightful phantasmagoria to the eyes of a finance minister.
Ou the Continent, in most countries, if not all, no duty is ex-
acted on fire insurance polices, yet the proverbial energy of
British enterprise has induced many of our insurance com-
panies to establish an agency in France. Our Allies, profiting
by the example, and animated by the reciprocal good feeling
happily established between the two countries, are busy in
extending their fire insurance system here. La France, a fire
office of some standing in Paris, has recently opened an agency
in London, and is busily engaged in planting branch agencies in
Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, and other districts, with
the avowed object of taking ordinary fire risks at 2s. per cent.,
under the impression that their polices, being issued in
Paris, are not liable to British duty. In this belief they are
understood to be fortified by legal opinions, obtained on both
sides of the Channel. If La France is successful, there can
be little room for doubt that other foreign offices will enter
into the competition, to the great detriment, if not to the
utter ruin of the English companies. In this state of matters
strong representations have been made on the subject by the
British companies, who have a large amount of capital in-
vested, and now insure in this country property to the
value of about £850,000,000. At first, the CHANCELLOR
of the EXCHEQUER appeared to treat the matter coolly;
further consideration of the subject, however, seems to
have wrought a change in his views, and the whole question
has now been referred to the Board of Inland Revenue for
consideration. What may be the result of that consideration
it is not easy to foresee. One thing, however, is clear. The
British Insurance Companies must be diligent in looking to
their own interests, or they may, ere long, behold their
business transferred from this eonntry to the continent
while, by the same movement, the CHANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER may be denuded of his much-prized million of
revenue derived from the duty on fire policies : his loss being
further augmented by a proportionate diminution of the
ineorae tax, caused by the loss of revenue arising from capital
invested in British Insurance Companies. The question,
more particularly in its new aspect, is a momentous one for
all parties, and is creating
a great stir in the metropolis.