The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-05-14 00:00:00

that worth must be estimated according to the
prn,pects of the Ministry; Which are certainly at
an 3 thing but prollising, Lord Sohn
said, that it was- rather the fault of the Howe
than of the Government that the debate on the
second reading had been so protracted,—as the
Government had expedited !the bill as much as
possible in. the. presence of 'measures, -especially
financial measures, of great urgency and iiiiport-
ance. It is the mischievous nathre, .however, of
se..very measures, or many of them, that has
!‘.in' part; occasioned the delay —dislike of the
Reform Bill itself having also had its procrasti-
nating effect. The probability now is, that Lord
John_ may be turned out of office before the time
for the second reading of his obnoxious measure

actually arrives.
The overland mail from China, it will be seen,
has brought intelligence to the effect that it
appeared evident the Chinese Government -cuts
still determined to make no concession to the
allied ministers, but to resist by force of arms
any demonstration on the part of forces: of the
two countries.. The Emperor himself is believed
to be pacifically disposed, but he is controlled by
the strong war party now dominant at Pekin.
It must be taken for granted, we suppose, that
the:Solicitor-General is right in his constitutional
law, as he laid it down in the House of Commons
the other' night, that, a subscription having been
opened in London, in aid of the Sicilians, persons
in this country who contribute to the fund which
it was proposed to raise would not render 'them-
selves liable to any legal proceedings. The
learned gentleman gave his opinion most confi-
dently, that, so long as that which was done was
confined to the limits of a mere subscription,
there Would be no violation of English law. If
this; then; be the case, all we can say is, that this,
country will be very likely to embroil itself with
the revolutionary outrages still going on in Italy.
What should we in this country think, should an
insurrection break out in Ireland, if France, or
Austria, or Sardinia, or any other Continental
Power,' should allow funds to be raised in its
dominions in aid of the insurgents;—suCh Power
being at the time in amicable relations with us? •
Thefßadicals of all shades are evidently work-
ing themselves up into a rage, under the appre-
hension that the House of Lords will throw out
the bill for the repeal of the paper duty.
According to their views, this second estate of the
realm is no estate at all, but only a sort, of registra.7
tion.court, where the edicts of the Commons are,'
without question, to be registered. All sorts of
appeals are being made to the Peers, as well as
all sorts of threats addressed to them, to mind
what , they are about,—not to suppose, for a,
Moment, that they have any right whatever to
the exercise of an independent judgment in such
matters of legislation, but to be content to only,
give effect to the behests of the Commons, however
inexpedient or mischievous they may think them
to be. "We trust we may take for granted,"
says one of the more moderate of the Liberal
journals, " that there is sufficient prudence among
those to whom the peers are likely to look for
guidance to render a most sinister suggestion harm-
less,"—the suggestion, namely, that " should they
think proper to put their veto on one of the most
valuable and important financial measures of the
year) they May do sd in Safety, as a defeat hi their
house is t not so certainly fatal to a Government'
as it is in the Commons,teraftily adding, that
" whatever the Loads may think of the policy or
iiiipoliey of abolishing the paper duty, they could
not possibly take a course more calculated to
bring misfortunes on themselves and on their
country than byattempting to wrest from the House
of Commons its exclusive right to the control and
management of the national finances." This is a
stale Radical menace,—and one as irrational as it
is stale. It simply aMonnts to thisi—the Corn 7
Mons ate riot only absolute, but infallible also ;
while yotilia4rehojudgrilt tit di* discretion whatever ;
or; even if you had any, have youi the rower to
exercise it, and any attempt to do so would only
bring misfortunes on yourselves ! Can such be
the Character (4 the British Houe of Peers ?
:Does so absurd a question need io be fisted in this
:" liberal and enlightened age ?" Has not the
House of Lords, as an estate of the realm, ifs
rights as well- as the- House of Commons ; and is
that House ficit to to at liberty to exercise them,
,as well as the other? Could any such idea as
thatbe in accordance with Constitutional govern-
ment ? Impossible. Yet such, we say, 'is the
course which the Liberal journals are, now, by
Mingled threats !Ufa pertinacious, urging the Lords
to Piirlitel "'says arlotilei' of those jonrtials,
"they *fish to prove ail that Mt: Blight has. said
against tliem; they *ill reject the bill. ff fhey
wish to play into the hands of their enethies, they
will reject the II they Wish to lend fuel to
an agitation which will be fatal id,,their order,
they will reject the bill. If they are careful to
maintain their constitutional privileges, they will
pass it.". -This, we repeat, is the old story—tbe
story always told.them by the Radicals, whenever
thpy offer ttsistafice,to Mischievous Radical mea-
sures. 1744, the .5* *ay; eve ecniterldi for the
Lords to "maintain their constitutional firisi-
legeb"..-- privileges un the moillLeuanCe vu wnit!b.
the very existence of the Constitution may
depend—is for them to exercise their privileges
whenever, in their judgment, the interests of their
catirtt4 may seem to demand it. And this, We
the Save, "Teets of England'
will do on the present occasion.

TIME works wonders. "We do not know that
there was any very great wonder to be worked,
in order to dispel the dr‘..4lfit delusion which has
prevailed respecting the pIIANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER'S Budget. But, at any rate, time
has worked it. The narrow escape of Ministers
from being defeated on the third reading in the
House of Commons of the Bill for repealing the
paper duty -was of itself, as we have before shown,
a prett significant demonstration of what time
—and no very long time eifVerhad already
worked in the matter. Yes—" that old common
arbitrator, time," as it has been called, is a great
corrector of errors, a thorough expositor of falla-
cies, and often a determined setter right of what
is wrong. It has been our great consolation
under many national vicissitudes, that time would
bring things raiiiid.,—that a mistaken and mis-
chievous policy Might trinniph for a while, but
that in the end it would be found out, and either
its operations be modified, or its course reversed.
" Time, the cradle of hope, but the grave of ambi-
tion," it has been well observed, " is the stern cor-
rector of fools, but the salutary counsellor of the
wise, bringing all they dread to the one, and all they
desire to the other; but, like CASSANDRA, it warns
us with a voice that even the sagest discredit too
long, and the silliest believe too late. 'Wisdom
walks before it, opportunity with it, and repent-
ance behind it. He that has made it his friend,
will have little to fear from his enemies ; but he
that has made it his enemy, will have little to
hope from his friends." These " wise saws" are
being continually verified by " modern instances,"
more especially in political life. As respects the
Budget, there was, from the first, every reason to
believe that they would be verified, at least when
the next year's public expenditure had to be pro-
vided for by whomsoever might have the misfor-
tune to be Chancellor of the Exchequer. But it
is coming to pass already, we say, that time is
working in that natural, though still wonderful
way,—actually becoming, even before the folly
has well got into practical operation, to be the
" stern corrector" of those who have proposed
and perpetrated it.
See, for instance, what the London correspon-
dent of the 3.tonchestei- Guardian is constrained