The Press.
London, England, 1854-03-11 00:00:00

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218

rights of weaker States. It is this which gives
tO NAPOLEON the THIRD the moral force which,
quite as much as his undoubted abilities and
his organised power, has acquired for him the
respect of nations, and enabled him to take
such a marked and leading part la the affairs

of Europe.
The English people are just, and how, when
they are reaping the benefits of the French
alliance, they will not forget to whom it is
mainly due. They will remember that, when
Sir JAMES GRAHAM and Sir CHARLES WOOD
were insulting the French Emperor by ribald
abuse before tumultuous and bacchanalian
assemblies, Lord MALMEBBURY, the Foreign
Secretary of Lord DERBY'S Government, had
frankly recognised the imperial authority of
NAPOLEON, had discovered the capacity for
sovereign rule which he has since displayed,
and calculated on the good faith which his
subsequent acts have verified.
Nor will it be forgotten that the predecessor
of Lord MALMESSURY—at once the most bril-
liant member of the Coalition, and the least
acquiescent in its policy—ceased to belong to
the Whig Government, because he also had
expressed confidence in the ruler of France.
Lord PALMERSTON, at the banquet given to Sir
CHARLES NAPIER, in proposing the health of
the Emperor, said :
We have had to do, during now more than a twelve-
month, with a most difficult and complicated negotiation
with the Sovereign of France. We have been met on his
part with the greatest straightforwardness—( loud cheers )
with the most perfect good faith—( cheers)—with a single-
minded sincerity, and with en energy of purpose and a
community of determination, which have inspired in our
minds the same full confidence m him that I am proud to
say he has always expressed in us. (Loud cheers.)
Lord PALMERSTON could say this with pride as
well as truth, but it would be curious to know
with what feelings it was listened to by his
colleague, Sir JAMES GRAHAM. His experience
may have brought with it mortification, but it
had not taught him prudence, as his subse-
quent speech attested. The inopportune
hostility of his gibes at our ally was re-
placed by maladroit congratulations on the
party advantage of having two " Reformers "
at the head of our national armaments.
To narrow his position further, by distin
guishing himself from another Reformer
—his Leader in the House of Commons
—he even went out of his way to emphasise
the confidence which he himself felt in the
"discretion" of Sir CHARLES NAPIER. He
stopped short, indeed, of the climax, that a
greater gain to Reformers was the consequence
of his own countenance of their " large mea
sure," in the acquisition of his own adminis
trative discretion at the Admiralty. From
these paltry pretensions we cordially turn
to that which a party may remember with
juster satisfaction. We may not be able
to boast that Conservative admirals or Con-
servative Lords of the Admiralty are to have
the exclusive, or indeed any, share in the
triumphs of the coming war. But this cir-
cumstance will neither diminish the alacrity
with which Conservatives will do their best
for the common cause ; nor will it lessen their
pride that they were deprived of their fair
official opportunities by the policy to which
it is now recognised that this cause is indebted.
Others, including reforming Secretaries of the
Admiralty, may reap the advantage of a posi-
tion they have done their best to undermine ;
but for the alliance which is invaluable at
this moment we are indebted neither to them
nor generally to their reforming colleagues,
whether Whigs or Peelites, but to the states-
men they opposed, and to the Ministry they
supplanted.

MR. GLADSTONE'S "ABORTIONS." i
WE are entitled to make the most of admis-
sions obtained from Mr. GLADSTONE, as it 19 not
circum-
a financier
His rhe-
_ in dealing
some facts too
• and we can
—lts to gain
avowing them.
now tells us,
from his speech

The committee ought to know the position of the public
finances with relation to the abortive operaliuns ( for they
main - for which
last year
ton of
onl4 tea
dy
~000,0004.

to be supposed he would acknowledi
•.. 14 - Ibits ...clipdvautage as a
1,••• ..Vl.‘ , IL, be concealed.
we, „
• . •
...i er ure• dextrous than
'V ,r., *ere are some
/
. . ' %iio •"' '
.• •• .• iikr Glottis to deny ; a
, • . She polic 1 which reel
as, ‘'''••• • •". ..• .itr by rankly avowii
‘".' 41 •.. 'Lim scheme, he nog
,
. . ... rTI re, We quote from
.11

were abortive in reference to the main purpose for
they were undertaken) which were attempted last
upon the debt and public balances.
The committee are aware that the commutati,
stook, Vf kith it nes proposed to effect succeeded o
an insireolleant extent.
Of the *inor stoke whit* were to be compulsoril3
off unless gommukg4 under the act of last session, 8,001
have be er will *presented for payment.
Sir, )lave made a full confession, for I have sai
the 'chow has proved abortive.
Nor can Mr. Gueorforti deny that he t
in opposition to the opinions and advi