The Press.
London, England, 1857-03-14 00:00:00

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

IT is announced that Lord ELGIN is to proceed
as Plenipotentiary to China. Elsewhere we
have stated that the post was previously offered
to, and refused by, the Duke of NEWCASTLE.
The appointment of Lord ELGIN is highly sa-
tisfactory. It is questionable whether any
better man could have been found. The
" factious" vote of the House of Commons has
then had one good result. It has led to a
special mission with Lord ELGIN at its head,
thus superseding the authority of Sir JOHN
BOWRING and Mr. Consul PARKES. We have it
on the authority of Mr. LINDSAY that at the
meeting of Lord PALMERSTON'S supporters, held
previous to the division in the Commons, Lord
PALMERSTON approved all Sir JOHN BOWRING'S
acts, expressed himself determined to support
them, and resolutely resisted all concession to
the wishes of persons who, like Mr. LINDSAY
and Lord GODERICH, desired that a special
mission should be despatched to China.
The case then stands thus :—Either Lord
PALMERSTON has been converted to the opinion
of the factious majority in the Commons, that
it was desirable to send out a Plenipotentiary
to supersede Sir JOHN BOWRINO, and to en-
deavour to settle the China quarrel ; Or, he
resisted such proposal that he might have an
opportunity of dissolving the House of Com-
mons, and attempt to get another more de-
voted to his will.

The result of Lord ELGIN'S mission must
greatly depend on the nature of his instruc-
tions. If he is compelled to insist on that
" new demand" by Sir JOHN BOW RING which
led to hostilities, it is to be feared that they
may be long protracted to gain a concession of
not the slightest real impoitanue.
The speech of Mr. EDWIN JAMES at tho
Guildhall yesterday is one of tho most extra-

THE PRESS.

ordinary nisi pries exhibitions ever made
before a public assembly. Mr. JAMES makes
two grand assertions. The first is—that all
the despotic Courts of Europe tremble bt
Lord PALMERSTON'S name. If ho had looked
into the Times of that morning he would have
seen by the correspondence from Vienna that
all the Austrian official journals lamented the
defeat of Lord PALMERSTON in the Commons
as a great misfortune to Austria, Lord
PALMERSTON having lately become Austria's
" most obedient humble servant." The
second assertion is not less extraordinary. It
is that " Mr. DISRAELI hunted Sir ROBERT
" PEEL to death." We had thought it was
tolerably well known that Sir R. PEEL died
through a fall from his horse, having pre-
viously been in full health aad spirits. If
Mr. EDWIN JAMES is looking for Government
favour, he should endeavour to qualify for it
by more decent practices.

The election intelligence of this morning
does not contain many new items. The contest
will, however, be more severe through the
country than was at first anticipated. The
Government machinery is getting into gear,
and tremendous efforts will be made by some
means or other to return a Pahnerston ma-
jority. The official Liberals, having submitted
to his dictation, will fight desperately to
retain their hold of place, and to defeat every
candidate who will not join in their cry of
" PALMERSTON for ever !"

The statement made by Lord CLARENDON
in the House of Lords last night with refer-
ence to the terms of the Persian Treaty is
important. The Noble Earl admitted that
England had relinquished the right of protec-
tion to native subjects. It was upon this very
right that the Persian war originated ; yet
this point is conceded to Persia, and 'we are
congratulated upon the " highly advantageous "
terms of the treaty.