The Press.
London, England, 1857-12-05 00:00:00

anll Dating ,Intelligentt.

LIEUT.-COLONEL PALLET SOMERSET, who is now
engaged in raising a second battalion for the 7th
Royal Fusiliers, has up to this time succeeded in
enlisting 533 men, out of the full complement of
1,000. The head-quarters of the battalion are at
Preston, and for the present Major Orilly is in
command.

A ROYAL WARRANT (dated Nov. 23rd) has been
issued, directing that in future the minimum pay of
Assistant Surgeons in the army shall be WI. per
diem. The pay hitherto has been 7s. 6d.

THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF has issued the follow-
ing general order :—ln consideration of the distin-
guished services performed by Colonel Sir Archdale
Bart., and K.C.8., of the Bengal Artillery, at
the Siege of Delhi, the Queen has been pleased to
command that he be promoted to the rank of Major-
General in the army, in conformity with the 10th
clause of the Royal Warrant of the 6th October 1854,
and that his commission shall bear date the 14th
September, 1857, the day on which the troops under
his command stormed and carried the ramparts of
the city of Delhi.
CAPTAIN THE HON. C. G. Eu.tor has been ap-
pointed a naval aide-de camp to her Majesty, vice
Captain Hope, who has obtained flag rank by the
demise of Admiral T. Le M. Gosselin.

MR. CILARLES HINDLEY, M.P. for Ashton-under-
Lyne, died on Tuesday last at his residence, Dart-
mouth House, Westminster. Mr. Hindley had eat
for the above borough since 1835. He was in favour
of the Ballot, a strong advocate of the Ten-hour's
Bill, and a free-trader,

1180

THE WEEK.

THE opening of Parliament on Thursday has been the event of the
week to which the country looked with no inconsiderable interest.
The Royal Speech as a political document will bear analysis, but not
interpretation ; as an effort at good English it is below par. The
subjects upon which it touched are of considerable importance. The
suspension of the Bank Act, operative distress, the reconquest and
reorganisation of India, our foreign relations, and Parliamentary
Reform. Neither Lord PALMERSTON nor Lord GFUNVILLE would give
any explanation of the line of policy Ministers were prepared to follow
upon these great questions. They were not disposed to accept the
respoxsibilities of a declaration of policy. They prefer that prudent
inaction which admits of indolence and puts off responsibility. With
regard to Parliamentary Reform, Lord PAL3IERSTON wishes to offer
something as a redemption of his positive pledge. The country, there-
fore, is in the dilemma of being offered a measure which may prove
nugatory, and which may not be accepted as a settlement of a great
subject which the Liberals have thought proper to keep in constant
agitation. If a violent measure of anti-constitutional change were
allowed to pass, there would be serious danger to the empire ; but
there is no likelihood of such a plan being accepted. There is no
democratic .excitement in the country ; and Mr. DISRAELI was well
warranted in saying on Thursday that " it is no longer in the power of
" any political combination to force a measure through Parliament
" for the object of increasing the following of a party."
The dilemma of the Government is that a moderate and safe
measure of Reform will not be taken by their supporters; and, on the
other hand, if a sweeping measure of a violent character were intro-
duced, such a scheme, in the present temper of the public mind, would
be likely to produce a vast Conservative majority against it, and the
settlement of the question on a Parliamentary basis might be allowed
to pass into the hands of the Conservatives. What, then, does Lord
PALMERSTON propose to do ? He placed in the Queen's Speech a para.
graph which says—" Your attention will be called to the laws which
" regulate the representation of the people in Parliament, with a view
" to consider what amendments may be safely and beneficially made
"therein." The plain meaning of that paragraph seems to be that
Ministers will throw upon Parliament the practical responsibility of
the new measure. Lord PALMERSTON will propose a Bill, shaped in
slick a way as to admit of an infinite number of " amendments." Some
of its provisions will sound with a democratic tone, and others will
seem to echo the feelings of Conservatism :—" There is our Bill for
" you," our Premier may say ; " if you do not like it you can help us to
"make it better. Is it too large for the Conservative gentlemen
" opposite ? If that be so, they must only see about making it smaller.
"Is it too small for the gentlemen behind me? Then let them see
" about making it larger, if the House of Lords and the calm feelings
" of the country will allow them to get up steam. Let gentlemen to
" the left or right of the Speaker's chair work away at their amend-
" ments.'" Such is the tone likely to be taken by the Premier ; and
with his jaunty air and great personal confidence he may thus get out
of his pledge.
What is this, then, but to confess that the Cabinet has no real
policy of its own upon the sutject of Reform ? It will give the subject
to the House of Commons, and let Honourable Gentlemen cut it
short or lengthen it out as they please. But we must warn our
readers that there is a powerful and influential section of the Liberals,
who are desirous to use any Bill that may be granted for further
objects. The proportion of representatives to the landed interest of
the country, and the character of the representatives elected by the
large towns, are serious questions bound up with " Reform." It has
been confessed in the pages of our contemporary, the Economist, that
young men cannot be introduced into Parliament by means of large
constituencies ; and it has been felt that the old Parliamentary stagers
have had a practical monopoly of administration under the working of
the boasted system introduced by " the Bill, the whole Bill, and
" nothing but the Bill." In short, there are questions both of a repre-
sentative and administrative nature involved in" Reform," and it would
be unwise and impolitic to take the tone of levity set upon this grave
subject by the Premier.
To any measure brought forward by the Government Lord DERBY
has announced that the Conservative party will give " the most deli-
" berate, impartial, and dispassionate consideration." The great point,
in our opinion, to strive for will be that the country should have a
settlement of this subject, and that the public mind should not be
disturbed by repeated threats of a measure which may point to a
revolution. " The distribution and disposition of political power in
"England" (to use the Words of the Right Honourable Member for
Bucks) cannot be left in permanent uncertainty. We must bear in
mind that our Constitution is fixed as well as free.
The Conservative Loader in the Lower House earnestly recom-
mended the attention of Honourable Members to the consideration of
the important returns obtained under the head of " Property Tax and
Population." Those returns were given on a motion of the Right
Honourable Gentleman, and were ordered to be printed on the 25th
of August. On their first appearance there was an extraordinary rush
to obtain them, and the journals throughout the country began to dis-
cuss them. We had ourselves entered upon their study, but the
excitement produced by the Indian intelligence compelled us, along

with our contemporaries, to postpone our elucidation of their figures.
Now, however, their consideration becomes a matter of necessity, for
if Reform is to be left to Parliament, and if the new Bill is to be manu-
factured by a process of "amendments," it is necessary that the publio
mind should be thoroughly enlightened upon the conclusions estab
lished by those most valuable returns,lwhose accuracy and authenticit
cannot be disputed.

The debate last night on the Bill of Indemnity and the appoint-
ment of a Select Committee hss resulted in the confirmation of the
views put forward by Mr. DISRAELI on Thursday. The Right Hun.
Gentleman and Mr. GLADSTONE concurred in the opinion that the ap-
pointment of a Select Committee was unnecessary and injudicious,
and they succeeded in compelling the Government to separate the two
questions, and appoint a separate night (Friday next) for the consi •
deratiou of the Select Committee. It will then be seen whether
Government is to be permitted to enjoy all the privileges of °thee
without bearing its burdens, to evade responsibility while the issue
of events is uncertain, and to claim all the credit when others have
concluded them successfully. This has long been Lord PALMERSTONS
game. But if he be refused the Select Committee on Friday next,
which he trusted to cover his retreat, he will be compelled to fight in
open ground, and his real power will be tested.

We suppose we may, for once, be permitted to say, without fear
of contradiction, that the two most notable speeches on Thursday last
were delivered by the Leaders of the Opposition. Tbere can be no
doubt that the consciousness of the ordeal which awaits them on the
opening of Parliament must exercise a very salutary influence upon
the conduct of Ministers during the recess. And, so far from being
a merely formal display, we doubt if this initiatory criticism upon the
conduct of the Government be not one of the most valuable duties
which an Opposition is called on to discharge. By it Ministers are
recalled after a period of unc Necked authority to a sense of their re-
sponsibility and dependence, and reminded on the threshold of the
session that they are watched by a vigilant censor. It happens that
on the present occasion there was more than usual need for the exer-
cise of this office. We had been visited with great calamities both at
home and abroad, and it was surmised that in one case our disasters
had been, and in the other case might be, aggravated by the ig-
norance, the inertness, or the timidity of those in power. Under these
circumstances the strictures of Lord Danar upon the conduct of Mr.
VERNON SIIITFI cannot be considered too severe, while his observations
on the possible fallacy lurking in our trade returns during recent years
may conduct us to profitable inquiries. The vacillating and yet pug-
nacious character of our foreign policy was the subject of some bitter
sarcasm from Mr. DISRAELI. The humorous representation of the
Premier's sentiments by the Right Hon. Gentleman recalled to our
minds the picture of the dissatisfied gentleman in " Piekwick," who
was so immeasurably disgusted at finding his friends had settled their
differences without a duel, that he endeavoured to persuade every man
on the ground that he himself had insulted him, in order to prevent
an inglorious termination to the affair.

It would be gratifying to receive assurances from Lord PALMERB.
TON and Lord GRANVILLE that the state of our European foreign rela-
tions is eminently satisfactory, if the assertion were only borne out in
fact. At present the friendly feelings would appear to be all on one
side. Take, for instance, France. Lord PALMERSTON eulogises the
sympathy and offers of assistance by way of expediting our troops to
India made to this country by the Emperor of the FRENCH as a
proof of the cordiality existing between the two Governments. Last
week Lord CLARENDON received a deputation from the Anti-Slavery
Society, and, referring to the recent effort of the French Government
to obtain free African immigrants for their West Indian possessions,
designated the scheme as . the slave trade unmitigated and undis-
guised." That, at all events, was not a very friendly interpretation of
the sentiments of the French Government. Neither did Lord CLA-
RENDON mend the matter by expressing his confidence that the
Emperor of the FRENCH would not " reopen this execrated traffic " in
opposition to—" the sentiments of this country!" If we are to accept
these public statements as expressions of the sincerity of the cordial
relations upon the part of Ministers towards France, why, taken in
connection with the "iron heels" and "steel scabbards" of Mansion-
house notoriety, that paragraph in the Royal Speech which declares
that " nothing seems likely to disturb " the peace of Europe would
appear, after all, to bear well the interpretation put upon it by Lord
DERBY and Mr DISRAELI, and that it was not exactly " an intense feel-
ing of pleasure " which dictated the words .

The neglect of the Government to despatch the troops from India
by the shortest route or by the most rapid means was very forcibly
exposed by Lord DERBY on Thursday night, as well as the gross,
and glaring, and lamentable ignorance of Ministers on the real nature
of the Indian crisis. We have upon more than one occasion pointed
out the indolence of Ministers to avail themselves of the offers of allies
or the applications of science. It was in the middle of June that the
Sultan expressed his readiness to grant the required finnan for the
transport of troops across the Isthmus; it was in July that the Penin-
sular and Oriental Steam Company offered to make immediate arrange-
ments for the transport of troops to Calcutta via'. Suez ; but the Govern-
ment would have nothing to do with either of these projects; and as to