The Press.
London, England, 1858-08-21 00:00:00

THE PRESS, AUGUST 21, 1858.

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6‘ to the minister for the unburdening their consciences ; and closes by
r nmending peace and harmony, urging clergymen to attend to their
-oc:cen°lflocks rather than create dissension in the Church by criticising their
neigh-pours.
To this pastoral Mr. SHAW replies in detail. First, justify ing his
own motives in the affair. Secondly, controverting the Bishop's argu-
ments on the general subject of confession, and showing in particular that
he has garbled and misinterpreted the 113th Canon. And, thirdly, making
some forcible remarks on the present dangers which are threatening the
o from within." Respecting the matter of' fact, he urges the
Church
query, " Why is the statement of Mr. GRESLEY and Mr. WEST
to be believed more than ours ? " To the nice distinction drawn by the
Bishop of OxFon”, that while the " enforced" confessional of the Romish
church was an abomination, it was right and proper to " receive " or
" invite" confession from penitent sinners, Mr. SHAW remarks that the
proper epithet in the present case should be " extorted; " adding, that
the poor woman " did not send for Mr. WEST."
We have given, so far as space allowed, the essence of the controversy.
Fur some comments which it has suggested we must refer to another part
of our paper.
Where is the divinity that once hedged in kings ? It is to the
throne the knee is bent, be the occupant anointed of heaven or elu du
peuple. Let him descend from his seat, and straightway the sight. seers
say to one another—" Let us go and see the old King, if you care about
The last of those mysterious potentates whom we so long reverenced
as the " Great Mogul " is now an exhibition for a newspaper correspondent,
and brought out to "make sport " for the million. "The ex-King was sick ;
" with bent body he seemed nearly prostrate over a brass basin into which
"be was retching violently . . . . That dim, wandering-eyed,
" dreamy old man, with feeble hanging nether-lip and toothless gums."
Is it thus a generous, warmhearted Irish gentleman should speak of an
old, old man, the last of a powerful and vigorous line of monarchs ? Did
not his very imbecility extenuate the part -he took in the rebellion against
his infidel masters ? The massacre of the unfortunate women and
children was due rather to his sons than to himself. Enfeebled by age
and infirmity, what power had he to struggle against the strong will
and reckless violence of the desperate and frenzied men by whom he was
surrounded and coerced? In any case, reverence is due to the seventy-
eight winters that have passed over his hoary head. Whom PROVIDENCE
has borne with so long, men may surely tolerate for yet a brief space.
Fifty-five years ago another King of DELHI, equally forlorn and miserable,
was visited by an English general, who sought to comfort him with words
of sympathy and kindness. " There," says THORNTON—" there, at the
"ancient seat of the power which BARER had reared—where MOLAR had
" placed on record the length and breadth of the provinces which owned
"his sway—where At'RUNGZERE had assembled mighty armies to chastise
" his enemies, and reduce to subjection tributary kings—there dwelt the
" living representative of the house of Timoux in the person of a miserable
" man, old, blind, and decrepid ; without power, without pomp, or state,
" or retinue—almost without the means of commanding the common neces-
" saries of life Beneath a small and ragged canopy,
" the appearance of which seemed a mockery of regal state, sat one whose
" age exceeded that usually attained by man, but in whose appearance the
" operation of time was less apparent than that of long and hopeless
" misery. Eighty-three years had passed over his head, and they had
been filled with trouble and soi row. While his name was held in reve-
" rence throughout India, his life had been passed amid poverty, danger,
" and suffering, and all around him at this moment indicated the most
" wretched destitution." But Shah ALurat was fortunate in being spared
one impertinence. In General LAKE'S suite there was at least no Ilibernian
reporter trying to find out a Timour, and finding only Ilolywell-street. It
was not thus that captive princes were treated by Englishmen in the olden
time. Our forefathers, indeed, struck down the haughty, but they spared
the fallen, and the heir to the Crown of England thought it no shame to
wait upon a monarch abandoned by fortune.

The elevation of Mr. PEMBERTON LEIGH to the Peerage has afforded
an opportunity to the Times of indulging in an extra sneer at Lord
ihnity's alleged inconsistency. "Is not," says our leading contemporary,
" the appointment of Lord bEnnv of this great and childless lawyer an
" indirect censure pronounced by himself on his own policy on the question
" of Life Peerages ?" Now the question here raised admits of a very
speedy solution. What was the reason that induced Lord DERBY to op-
pose the introduction of Life Peerages ? Simply this • that it offered a
tremendous temptation to a corrupt Minister to fill the House of Lords
with his own creatures. The Minister who would hesitate long before en-
rolling a corps of venal satellites in the hereditary peerage of the
country would have no scruple at all in doing so were they
only to be Peers for life. But, independently of this consideration, if
we consider on the one hand the ordinary temptation to which
any Minister would be exposed of rewarding a political adherent with a
Life Peerage whom he now rewards in some other way ; and, on the other
hand, the rapidity with which our hereditary peerages die out, it is no
extravagant supposition that in process of time nearly two-thirds of their
Lordships' House might consist of men who were Peers only in name, and
subject to all the external influences that control the Commons. Thus the
character of the Upper House as a wholesome and constitutional check on
the precipitance of the Lower, and an arbitrator between the Crown and
the people, would be entirely destroyed. And now says the Times—
What is Lord DERBY doing in this instance but selecting for the very
" Purpose for which peers for life were recommended the very person who
" would have been sought out for the purpose, only that, instead of
" granting the Peerage for life directly, he indirectly effects the same
"Purpose, as in the case of Lord WENSLEYDALE, by selecting a person in
` years and without children? Surely if it be so desirable to do such a
thing indirectly, it is still more desirable to have the power of doing the
" thing directly: Why, he who runs may read the glaring fallacy con-

tamed in this sentence. The power of doing the thing indirectly
confers all the advantages without any of the mischief which doing
it directly would involve. It is always competent to her Majesty
to confer a peerage upon gentlemen like the present Lord KINGSDOWN.
In what way would the power of conferring Life Peerages help her in
doing this? Lord KINGSDOWN, it is said, might have had a son, and then
he wouldn't have accepted it. But (and this makes all the difference)
how often is it in England that a gentleman described as Lord litsusuowN
is described in the article here mentioned need be without a large
fortune if he has a family to provide for? It is well known that all the
highest prizes in the legal profession were open to Mr. PEMBERTON LEIGH ;
and the extremely rare instances in which such a man would be without
a fortune if he had had any inducement to make one, are not enough to
counterbalance the disadvantages of the system of Life Peerages. The ex-
periment has been tried in France, and not with such eminent success
that we wish to see it repeated here. Lord KINGSDOWN, however, is about
the worst instance the Times could have selected, for he has a large for-
tune, and had he been the father of twenty sons the appointment would
have been made just the same.

A VIRGILIAN DIALOGUE.

"Amant atterna Catmethe."

Far in a deep recess, two swains were met ;
From Dover one, and one the Sheffield pet,—
Well-match'd in Lib'ral cant, and both alert
To smell a fault, or deftly scatter dirt.
Both seem'd at odds with Fate : on either face
Sate Discontent, ill hidden by grimace ;
In measured cadence flow'd each plaintive note,
Alternate strains, on which the Muses dote.
A stray Reporter on their accents hung,
And plied his pen, while thus the shepherds sung.
ROEBUCK.
How dull, how dreary lags the long recess,
With no debate to rile us, or to bless !
When bile accumulates, denied a vent !
" Now is the winter of my discontent."
OSBORNE.
HOW slow and sadly drags the quarter-day,
Uncheered by office, and unmark'd by pay !
Fraught with no soe'reign balm, it only brings
That " sorrows crown" of which the Laureate sings !
ROEBUCK.
Alas! my friend, altho' the Fates permit
Small scope for satire, scanty room for wit,
Tho voice, and audience, and occasion fail,
The spirit moves me, and I needs must rail.
OSBORNE.
Well said! old Trojan ! there we both agree ;
When out of office, that's the way with me ;
Though not a soul were by, to wince or laugh,
My monkey's up, and I must have my chaff.
ROEBUCK.
I sail'd to Cherbourg—what beheld I then ?
Fat priests—plain women—seedy-looking men
In peg-top bags, like Cochin China fowl.
I might have laughed—but honour bade me scowl!
OSBORNE.
I spoke at Dover—what was then my lot ?
A thankless concourse heard, but heeded not ;
They hiss'd my tragic mouthings, and express'd
No sense of humour at my last new jest !
ROEBUCK.
France is too peaceful—else 'twas my design
To show what valour nerves this arm of mine!
Fain would I singly charge th' invading foe,
Intrepid, fierce as column-scatfring L--.
OSBORNE.
Pam has a genius, but 'twas justly thought
lie did not use Reformers as he ought.
I vow'd to leave him, and I should, no doubt ;
But fate is sudden, and they kick'd us out !
ROEBUCK.
Dear is Saint-Monday to the Sheffield cad,
And neat Glenlivat to the highland lad;
Dear to electors their septennial ale,
But dearer far to me the right to rail.
OSBORNE.
'Tis sweet to launch a well-prepared harangue,
Vent spleen in epigram, or wrath in slang ;
But ah ! what joys can slang or satire give
To match the Place for which we Patriots live!
ROEBUCK.
Alas ! my spirit sickens when I see
A decent, steady, working Ministry ;
Fain would I oust them, but I know not how—
Let Discord reign! I languish for a row.
OSBORNE.
Ah me ! 'tis sad to witness, hour by hour,
A willing nation keep our foes in pow'r !
When will the great, the glorious change begin ?
Foyers of Moll Kelly ! when shall I get in ?

Ye rival swains, break off the endless song !
The brightest stream, 'tis said, may flow too long ;
Your keener longings must not silence mine—
I've fad my note-book, and 'tis time to dine !

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