The Press.
London, England, 1858-06-12 00:00:00

THE PRESS, JUNE 12, 1858.

THE WEEK.

Orrz quarrel, which might easily have set all Europe by the ears, has been
most successfully terminated. It was announced last night by Lord
MALMESBL'RY in the House of Lords, and by Mr. DISRAELI in the House
of Commons, that the King of NAPLES has acceded to our reasonable
demands ;—has paid, without hesitation or condition, the sum of 3,0001. as
compensation to the two English engineers ; and has given up the Cagliari
and her crew, who, before this time, are safely moored in the port of
Genoa. So vanishes at once one of those "alarms of war," which have
long weighed upon the minds of the fearful, both in England and on the
Continent.

We do not wish to grasp with eagerness at the credit which naturally
attaches to this success. The people of England will not need to be told by
us that this important negotiation has been well and skilfully conducted
by her Majesty's Government. But we must add our sincere doubt,
whether the Cabinet which was broken up in February last, would have
succeeded in bringing this matter to an equally favourable termination.
Lord MAtancssußy's success has surpassed most men's expectations ;—that
a like good fortune would have attended Lord PALMERSTON, we do not for
one moment believe.

Mr. LYONS, whose zeal and talent have been so signally manifested in
the conduct of this difficult affair, receives a substantial proof of her
Majesty's approbation, by being appointed to the Mission at Florence,
recently left vacant by the resignation of Mr. HOWARD.

It is always a very difficult thing to draw the line between caution
and suspicion. The most astute of mankind must always run the risk of
either offending an innocent person or neglecting a coming peril. In the
case of individuals, knowledge of character will of course go a long way in
modifying our opinion of facts. But in the case of two nations it seems
dangerous to allow ourselves to be guided by any but general rules. A
statesman, especially, who is acting in behalf of so many millions of his
fellow-creatures, is not entitled to indulge in the luxury of generosity to
the same extent as if only himself were concerned. We cordially sympa-
thise with the spirit in which her Majesty's Government is disposed to
construe the policy of the French Emperor. We dislike as much as any
one can do those half-confidences and lip-deep loyalty between great
Powers which diplomacy stamps with its approval. But we may rush into
the opposite extreme. And we are induced, as well by the conversation
which took place in the House of Commons last night as by a
circular that has recently been placed in our hands, to in-
quire whether our attitude towards France at the present moment
does not verge on that excess? It is unfortunately notorious that both the
army and the navy of our already too warlike neighbour has, within the
last few months, been largely augmented, while our own has, from various
circumstances, been proportionately weakened. The flower of our soldiers
are in India, and we cannot procure sailors. The answer to the uneasiness,
which this state of things is not unnaturally calculated to excite, is this :
that England and France were never more cordially united than they are
at the present moment, and that the Emperor's good faith is unimpeach-
able. Esto perpetua. But we must nevertheless. be permitted to suggest,
that there is a substantial token of that goodwill to be afforded us which
would be far more satisfactory than all the courteous phrases of the French
Ambassador. At least, let the noise and bustle and menace of the Impe-
rial preparations no longer proceed almost within earshot of the people of
this country. If the Emperor must have his 600,000 soldiers and 70,000
seamen, at least let him keep them as much out of sight as possible. If he
means no harm to this country, no danger would arise from our ignorance.
But with Cherbourg and Boulogne staring us in the face, we cannot hold
the public anxiety to be altogether inexcusable. The least which the
Government can do under these circumstances is to forbear from weaken.
ing our defences any further, and not to choose the moment when our own
home force is so small and that of our neighbour so powerful, to discard
the only substitute we possess—the embodied Militia.

tIF"r( Tqr`

For some time past a few of the Pimlico clergymen have not only been
making a determined attempt to revive the practice of auricular confession,
hut in the instances where they have succeeded in doing so have con-
ducted it after a fashion involving some of the worst abuses of which the
system has ever been accused. The innovation, howevle4 has met with
an equally determined resistance from at least one individual, and mainly,
it appears, through his efforts, the Bishop of LoNDoxhas been induced to
interfere in a manner which it is to be hoped will prove effectual for the
future. The meeting which was held on the subject in St. James's-hall
yesterday morning was, as it was natural to expect, most numerously
attended. Attacks upon any imitations of the Romish system are always
exciting to a British audience, and the abase was one which "comes home
to the business and bosoms" of the great part of the community. The
Hon. and Rev. F. Banitto, whowas introduced to the meeting by the chair-
man, Lord CALTHORPE, stated that the Rev. ALFRED POOLE, a curate of
St. Barnabas, had been
.in the habit of inducing girls and married women,
by the bribe of pecuniary or other assistance, to confess to him as a pre-
paration for receiving the Communion. Three cases of this sort were de-
tailed. The *buten were taken into a dark roorn,- and there subjected to a

series of questions which we cannot pollute our pages by recording. It will be
enough to say that they related principally to
.the seventh commandment,
and that they were precisely of the kind prescribed in that very " curious "
work, the " Theology." of PETER DENS. Whether the female respondents
had ever wished to commit adultery seemed to have in each case formed
one of the reverend gentleman's interrogatories ; and this is a rer y
moderate specimen of the kind of inquiries his prurient fancy suggested to
him, and which were such as not even the most confidential medical
adviser would think of putting to his patient. Mr. BARING proceeded to
say that the evidence had been laid before the Bishop, who immediately
suspended Mr. POOLE from his functions, and after due inquiry revoked his
licence. The practical object of the meeting (the culprit having already
been punished) seemed to be, in the first place, to overbear the attempt
which is said to be made in some quarters to palliate Mr. Pootz's
conduct ; in the next place, to warn the public that though Mr. POOLE is
the only convicted offender, there still remain other curates in the same
district by whom similar practices are kept up, and that:the "lady visitors "
of the district are the agents in inducing and influencing the poorer female
parishioners to submit to confession. The names of these parties were for the
present withheld, but sufficient evidence of their having acted in the
manner imputed to them could be obtained. We doubt whether the
meeting was completely unanimous ; and it may be suspected, from the
disturbances which occasionally arose, that some partizans of the accused
side were disposed to make a demonstration in Mr. POOLE'S favour. The Chair-
man, however, having said that the meeting had been convened, " not to
make speeches, but to give publicity to facts," declared it at an end, and
the species of discussion and declamation which usually arises on these
occasions was thereby precluded. Mr. BARING, who stated that he had
never before addressed a public meeting, got through his work in a
manner with which the audience seemed highly delighted. We think
that it would have been in better taste to omit the sarcasms and pleasantries
with which he seasoned some parts of his statement. The facts were
weighty enough, and the gravity of the occasion certainly demanded that
the discussion should throughout be conducted in a tone of befitting
seriousness. With this exception, there was no fault to be found with the
proceedings; and we trust they may have their intended effect on that
portion of the public which is under the spiritual guidance of the Pimlico
clergy.

That Detraction is ever attendant on greatness, that " Envy doth merit,
" as its shade, pursue," are favourite dicta, especially with those who, find-
ing themselves envied or slandered, assume ex converso that they are great
and meritorious. Yet there is but a limited amount of truth in such say-
ings—or rather they exhibit one side only of the truth. The fact is that
over-praise on the one hand leads to over-blame on the other—the minute
blazonry of merits to the microscopic scrutiny of faults. And in this
respect authors fare much like other men—" plastered " by one critic (to
adopt Paul Clifford's vocabulary), they are " slashed " by another, and in
the upshot a sort of rude justice is done to their literary talents. Authors
who are regardful of public decorum are rarely the victims of personal
slander. We have been grieved to learn that Mr. DICKENS has been made
an exception to this rule—that some domestic trouble of his, of long standing,
has been made the occasion of false and cruel misrepresentations. We had
not been accustomed to hear Mr. DICKENS'S family relations much spoken
of; but what we have heard he might himself have heard with pleasure.
He had been spoken of almost invariably as the centre of an amiable and
affectionate domestic circle, graced by more than talents and at-
tractions. Of the " misrepresentations" in question we heard for the first
tune last Monday, from Mr. DICKENS himself! An article headed
" Personal" was printed in the Times, the Standard, and (we believe)
sundry other papers, in anticipation of its appearance on Wednesday at the
head of the Household Words. It was almost obscure enough to be sublime—
telling in the vaguest terms, first, of the existence of the long-standing
trouble, "of a sacredly private nature ;" secondly, of slanderous misrepre-
sentations of such trouble by some means unexplained or inconceivable,
by some person or persons unknown, and concluding by a statement, for
the benefit of those to whom Mr. DICKENS is not known, that the lately-
whispered rumours touching the trouble so glanced at are abominably
false, and that whoever repeats them will "lie most foully before heaven
" and earth." We question the good taste of this manifesto, of which we
save endeavoured to reduce the bulk and mitigate the phraseology, but
our object is not to criticize the form of the denial. It is rather to assure
Mr. DICKENS that it was needless and superfluous. A sensitive tempera-
ment has led him (we must suppose) to exaggerate the circulation of some
ill-natured gossip, and to commit the not uncommon error of accusing
himself by an uncalled-for defence. When he says, " I doubt if one
" reader m a thousand will peruse these lines by whom some
" touch of the breath of these slanders will not have passed like an
" unwholesome air," he mistakes not only the extent to which his private
history is matter of public interest, but also, which is more immediately to
the point, the extent to which malignant comments on that history have
found reception. He has invited the public to acquit him on some charge or
charges unknown ; and we believe they will do so freely and unreservedly-.
For ourselves, we can assure him that we are prepared to disbelieve the
slanders breathed against him when they reach us ; and that meanwhile
we doubt not that his slanderers—to borrow one of his own inimitable
phrases—are "booked for something unpleasant." In return for which
assurance, we trust he will accept a friendly hint, even though it assumes
him for once to have used his pen unadvisedly. We would urge him, as he
values the well-earned favour of the public, to send firth no more
mysterious protests—to suggest no more inquiries into matters of sacred
privacy. Let him trust the public, and they will trust him ; Jet him lice
down obscure slanders, and leave the " personal" department to thosehave not wit for anything beyond personalities,

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