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

THE WEEK.

Tim belief in the possibility of peace has at last attained some degree of con-
sistancy. The Government organs, though coyly admitting the soft impeach-
ments of THE PRESS, carefully abstain from comment on the subject. That
negotiations are in progress there is now no longer any doubt. Even the
Times has at length discovered that the security of Turkey was the great object
to be attained, and now questions whether " war should be continued for
' barren glory.'" At this moment the prospects of peace are decidedly
favorable. It is the policy of France now to solve the question from which the
war emanated, and if no adverse influence supervenes, that " prompt and
durable " peace which the French Emperor acknowledged he so ardently
desired, will be by him triumphantly achieved.

TERRE is a story told of Madame CATALANI,Itbat, when a lady by the banks
of the Lake of Como was drawing an invidious contrast between the English
and Italian climates, the pride of the Opera put her band in her pocket, drew
forth as English sovereign, and said—•' Ali ! my dear, behold the true golden
" sun of England: it will shine under any sky."
In his visit to the Guildhall on Tuesday, the King of SARDINIA bad an

opportunity of witnessing a thoroughly gloomy day and a heartily joyous popu-
lation. Everything terrestrial looked miserable, except the animated groups,—
) noisy, so good-humoured, and so unruffled by a sky of Indian ink, by streets
deep as Crimean mud, and by a temperature which presented an atmospheric
apology for dram-drinking. Under such circumstances the King beheld a popu-
lation preserving order for itself. He saw vast masses whose healthy faces and
comfortable clothing could have taught any observer that the golden sun of
England, as described by CATALANI,'AS blessed with a genial warmth of its own,
which can produce brilliant social results. The subtle harmony of that beau-
tiful art, almost indigenous to Italy, is exquisitely visible in the works of her
great composers; but the philosopher, the statesman, and the King, may well
pause in wondering admiration of the infinitely superior moral harmonies seen
in a great people like the English, enjoying an hereditary liberty.
London on the day of a great sight, like that of Tuesday, presents a spectacle
unlike what can be seen in any other capital. There are no long lines of mili-
tary as at Paris, Berlin, or Vienna; nor bands of sacerdotal inspectors with
ominous countenances, as at Rome or Madrid. Prearrangements are few, the
police are sparse, the crowds are multitudinous. Our people have nothing
fierce or turbulent in their demeanour, though it must be confessed that
CHATEAUBRIAND was right in saying "they have a look of the streets." The
spectacle of so much propriety preserved by such countless hordes is really
wonderful. Nothing but familiarity with it makes it look commonplace.
Foreigners on Tuesday were loud in their applause of the whole scene.
The King was, undoubtedly, very well received. And why should be not
have been so? He was a King, and CHARLES Fox used to say that "we English
" were monarchy mad." He was the representative of the House of Savoy, and
the people like old and gallant associations. He was still more; he was a brave
man, who had fought like a hero in the battlefield, and had courted a soldier's
grave, when fortune scowled on his royal house. He was also a beneficent ruler,
who had gone far to establish an orderly freedom amongst his subjects, and
who had delivered them from the oppression of bigotry. These were great
claims to a cordial reception, and they were still further enhanced by the
recollection of his Majesty's domestic misfortunes.
It has} been attempted by the voice of political faction to give a colour to
the reception of the King of SARDINIA not warranted by the facts. Every cheer
for the King, the guest and Ally of the Queen of ENGLAND—the hero, and the
opposer of priestcraft—bas been interpreted as a suffrage for continuance of the
war. To put such a construction on the reception given to his Sardinian
Majesty is an offence to that eminent Sovereign. We do only justice to the
applauding crowds in saying,—that they cheered the brave King, who had come
to pay his respects to the Queen and people of England, without any reference
to the passing party politics of the day.

The order for the annexation of Oude has been sent out to Calcutta.
The fiat of that immaculate body in Leadenhall street has gone forth, and
annexation :s the order of the day. This decision, we have reason to believe,
was carried against the opinion of Mr. VERNON SMITH, the President of the
Board of un•Control, and in a brief per'o Iwe shall learn the result. Con
sidering the present state of India, we apprehend that the annexation of Oude
will be accompanied with some few difficulties, and when attempted will
neither be achieved with ease nor submitted to with patience.

Of recent speeches on the 'war, that of Mr. HENLEY has excited most notice
from the force with which he expressed a very prevalent notion—that we could
not expect a durable peace until Russia had had a good "thumping." This
thumping theory had been tried on a tolerably extensive scale in the history
of Europe, but with no better result than that of producing long periods of war
and short intervals of peace. For in the first place it usually takes some years
to give a powerful State a good thumping, and then if hard conditions are im-
posed on it, the Government does not rest until it is in a position to try another
thumping match, that it may escape from conditions which it conceives to be
unjust. At present, the questio i seem; to be whether a satisfactory peace can
b i secure.' v,ithout the necessity of more thumping ; if so, why not postpone
farther thompiog until the occasion for it arrives? Whenever peace is made
with Russia, its permanence must depend more on the arrangements which
would array an irresistible force against her should she manifest aggressive
tsi deacie-, than on the thumping which she may receive in the course of the
war.

The long pending controversy between Mr. WESTERTON and Mr. LIDDELL
has at length been decide '—decided, at least, provisionally, an RS all might
?ire foresee 1, in Mr. WIESTERTON'S favour. The three principal points at issue
veA—Abo us of a stone communion table, of crosses, and of various covered

.. ~,•••••••

~., . _.