The Press.
London, England, 1858-07-31 00:00:00

724

surprising though by no means analogous feat.
Out of the number of different games which it has
played in the course of the past session it has,
according to its own account, at any rate
gainedone. In all, indeed, it has displayed
similarly eminent qualities to those possessed
by Mr. MORPHY, the great American chess-
player. Experienced bystanders have been
equally perplexed, bewildered, lost in surprise.
The brilliance of invention, the boldness of
attack, the ferocity of onslaught, the ingenuity
of combination, the provocative and vexatious
art, the remarkable temperament, and, above all,
the eminent fearlessness exercised by this ac-
complished adversary, have been matters of
public admiration, as they cannot fail to be topics
of private surprise. Leaving conscientiousness
and every sort of scrupulous talent out of the
question, and taking into consideration its varied
array of resources and acquirements, the Times
appears to justify the eulogium which an enthu-
siastic American editor has this week passed on
it of being " The most splendid example of the
" greatest modern Power." If humble contempo-
raries like ourselves may be permitted to desire
for the Times any faculty which it does not pos-
sess, it would be, possibly, a better memory.
The Times, generally speaking, finds it conve-
nient to forget, rather than to remember. This
week, however, it is convenient to remember, and
it makes a plaintive appeal to the public on a
matter which might have been forgotten. Posi-
tively, our contemporary affirms, and he reite-
rates it in the ears of an ungrateful public,
during the last session he has been right once!
He has been successful in his prediction respect-
ing the East India Company !

'p

We will give our contemporary credit for the
talent he has displayed to prove himself a true
instead of a false prophet. We will give him
credit for an excellemit game played in favour of
Lord PALMERSTON, for the ingenious diver-

sion attempted to be made to the disadvantage
of Lord DERBY. We will allow his repeated
efforts to procure the deportation of negroes from
Africa under the pretext of an apprenticeship
system, and the brilliant invention displayed in
his endeavour to embroil this country with
France—an endeavour which, we are happy to
note, he is retreating from under the cover of
well-masked correspondence. We will own the
rapid combination which attributed the mutiny
in India to missionary interference, and, when the
popular current took a missionary turn, and
reverted in favour of religion, the cleverness of
the Times in making use of religious terms and
phrases. We may justly note the ability of the
Times in manoeuvres meant to harass its political
opponents, and give it all the benefit of its
brilliant style, as Indicated in its desire that Lord
CHELMSFORD " might gnaw his bone in that
growling," in its request to Lord JOHN MANNERS
"to take a cool pot of Serpentine," or the
exhortation to the I'rench admiral to go up the
Peiho river " and bite a cherry," terms which
may perhaps be considered as goodnatured
familiarities, and by no means as vulgarities, on
the of the Times. Allowing and admitting
all trerste remarkable items of unsuccessful ability,
we may congratulate the Times on the one
success which it reports. It is this. In the
beginning of the session, by information peculiar
to itself; our contemporary was enabled to
announce (we will quote its own simple and
authoritative words), that "the then Govern-
" ment intended to abolish the East India
" Company."

A series of unexpected circumstances inter-
vened which prevented " the then Government "
from fulfilling their excellent intention. Another
Government came in, and did what the former
one was not enabled to do—which is pretty much
the same thing. They carried the measure,
as any Government must carry a measure, by
the help of the Times. The process is remark-
able and noteworthy. After the Times has
given its support to any Bill, the Bill, by a bold
figure of speech, may be designed as no longer the
Measure of the Government, but simply and ex•
pressively the measure of the Times. The
argument is odd. Has our epigrammatic con-
temporary forgotten his Martial ?

Quem recitas mess est, oh Fidentine,
Sed aisle quum recites incipit ease taus.

In three successive leaders of this week our
contemporary calls attention to the accuracy of
its predictions. One of its predictions respecting

k&