The Press.
London, England, 1856-11-22 00:00:00

Volittr AI.

CABINET COUNCILS have been held at the Premier's
official residence, in Downing, street, on Monday,
Tuesday, and Friday in the week. All the Ministers
were present, with the exception of Lord Clarendon
on Monday.

MESSRS. H. BERKELEY, W. H. GORE LANG-
TON, arm W. MILES ON PUBLIC AFFAIRS.
Os the 13th of November the citizens of Bristol
celebrate the anniversary of the birth and death of
their philanthropist, Edward Colston. Three so-
cieties have been established for perpetuating his
memory. The Anchor (Liberal), the Dolphin (Con-
servative), and the Grateful (neutral). The amount
collected this year for the purposes of these several
societies, the funds of which are appropriated to the
apprenticing of boys, the relief of poor lying in
women, and the assistance of cases of distress, was
as follows :—Grateful Society, 663/. 10s. ; Anchor,
1601.; and Dolphin, 3361. Is. 2d.
Mr. H. BERKELEY, at the Anchor dinner, after
some remarks on local politics, asked what were Con-
servative principles now ? snd expressed his satisfac-
tion at being unable to discover any Conservative
principles:to attack
It would puzzle any man to tell. It is not for me to
stand here and find principles fur Conservatives; I can
only rejoice that I can find none to talk about. J And
nothing to attack,—nobody to put down.

1100

As to the war cry of "No Popery," he wished
the Tories "joy of it." The hon. member then
dilated at some length upon Liberal Protestantism,
religious tolerance, church service, and Puseyism,
and at length came to praises of Lord Palmerston,
as "the pilot who weathered the storm" in the
late European crisis, when "Queen Victoria mounted
a great war horse, which she rode boldly, with the
people in full cry at her heels." But although he
bowed to the decision, energy, and great capabilities
of the noble lord at the head of the Government,
he was not quite satisfied with him. He wished he
was more of a Liberal :
He has well maintained his high position in dealing
with the affairs of the war, but we wish him now to turn
his attention to moral progress and the reformation of
abuses. Will he do that remains to be proved; it will be
for you to jtulp of him by his acts; I am sorry' to judge
of him by his antecedents.
What was the result of the Sebastopol committee?—
Nothing. What of Administrative Reform. But,
first, what was Administrative• Reform? asked the
lion. member. " Who can tell me? I never saw
the man who could." But he could see no hope of
any Administrative Reform without a reform in the
House of Commons. Yet, how was that to be
done?—

I am for Administrative Reform—l go every length the
Administrative Reform Association wishes me. But how
is this to be done? You cannot remove the aristocratic
dummies from the House of Commons until you free the
electors from their influence. So long as the aristocracy
and landocrecy can send 500 or 600 men to vote as they
please, without even taking the trouble of asking them to
give a vote but through their steward or underlings, how
can you expect these men to speak the truth of their own
consciences at the polling•booth. You can't do it. It is
impossible, so long as this aristocratic influence remains,
that you can do it. You can have neither army reform
nor any other reform, so long as the great majority of re-
presentatives are elected by the aristocracy and money
oligarchy. How soon the people may please to demand
the first step towards reform, the leading step to reform,
how soon they may demand the ballot, is a question not for
me to solve.
The Liberals in their efforts to obtain reform had to
undergo a great deal of reproach, but they looked to
their consciences and their friends, and relied upon
their constituents and the public press. Yet he was
delighted to think that the Liberals possessed no
party press. Liberal editors of Liberal papers were
not to be controlled by mere party considerations :
It is very true that the Liberal party has no party press;
you may just as well attempt to govern so many mad hulls
as the editors of Liberal papers, and I am perfectly de-
lighted that it should be so. The Tory party have a party
press which will say anything which tends to the advantage
of their own particular party.
The hon. member then congratulated his hearers
upon the approaching abolition of Church rates.
lie thanked them tor the confidence they had re-
posed in him, and which he had endeavoured to en-
joy by a conscientious discharge of his duties, even
when those duties jarred upon his own feelings, said
he was particularly lucky in such matters as regards
politics, in which he always felt himself at home, but
he found a great deal of difficulty in steering clear
of the rocks and shoals of religion.

Mr. W. H. G. LANGTON then rose, and was very
warmly received. He opened his address with a
brief allusion to the barren results of the late
session ; but he thought that the situation of the
country when Parliament assembled, with the con-
elusion of a great war and the restoration of peace
having been achieved, admitted of some excuse for
the apparent indifference of the house to enter then
fully into great questions of social reform. Yet the
discussions which took place en the questions of
education, of our commercial policy, an,l of the
amendment of our civil service, had, he trusted, pre.
pared the house during the ensuing session for
more useful and practical results. Mr. Langton
then explained his reasons for voting in the majority
on the Kars debate

The motion of Mr. Whiteside on the fall of Kars was,
perhaps, one of the most important of the session. As
soon es the fall of that fortress became known one general
expression of regret and indignation burst forth in every
quarter, and I will frankly state that if Mr. Whiteside had
adhered to the words of iiis original motion, I should have
felt it my duty, so convinced was I that the events which
led to the fall of Kars were to be attributed, in a great
degree, to the neglect, the pride, tun' the obstinacy of our
ambassador at Constantinople, to have voted with him,
whatever might have been the consequence of that vote ;
but Mr. Whiteside was induced to surrender his better
judgment to the prejudices of his political friends. and,
yielding to their wish of sheltering the real offender, he
altered the terms of his motion to a vote of censure on the
Government—in other words, on the Earl of Clarendon.
Now, I would ask any one who has ever read the corre-
spondence relating to this unfortunate event whether
there is any name which appears throughout the whole of
these transactions in so honourable a manner as that of
Lord Clarendon ; and I therefore recorded my vote with
pleasure in that immense majority which expressed the
opinion of the house as to the conduct of one of the most
able and patriotic statesmen which this country ever
possessed. A

1110

The political state of Europe was unsettled at
present, but he saw no reason to anticipate a rupture
of the French and English alliance. He supported
Lord Pahnerston's view as regarded the execution of
the treaty of Paris. Russia had exhibited her old
deceit and want of good faith, and for that reason
the Austrians still held the Principalities and the
British fleet occupied the Black Sea. And he
trusted—

That no diplomatic intrigue will induce the Govern-
ment of this country to withdrew our naval forces in the
East until the provisions of the treaty of Paris are fully
and effectually carried out ; and from the language used by
Lord Palmerston at the Mansion house, we may now be
satisfied that the Goverutnent will adopt that right and
energetic course.

The state of Italy was deplorable, but any active
interference on our part wouid plunge us into a war
with the absolute powers of Europe. The first step
towards the happiness and prosperity of Italy must
be the abatement of the Papal power :

I speak not now of the religion, but of its political
power. There exists in the very heart of Italy an old and
oppressive system of tyranny, which weighs down every
energy, and chills with its icy breath every germ of free-
dom, liberty, and independence. I trust that the day is
not far distant when that monstrous spirit of priestcraft
shall quail before the light of reason, truth, and moral ad-
vancement; then, and then only, will Italians recognise
their country, and Italy be restored to what she was in ages
past—the land of heroic deeds, the centre of arts, science,
and civilisation, one of the finest and must favoured re-
gions of the earth.

Since the state of Europe was so critical, and such
momentous events trembled in the scale, it was
essential, in Mr. Langton's opinion, that the desti-
nies of this great country should be guided by a firm,
practical, and energetic hand. Lord Palmerston, to
his idea, admirably filled the post he held :

One who is not deceived by diplomatic tricks or Court
intrigue, one who is cautious in promises, but prepared to
act with energy when the occasion requires ; and such I
consider to be the noble lord now at the head of affairs. My
hon. friend and colleague will bear me out when I say that
I have been no servile follower of Lord Palmerston;
during the late session I opposed the Government on the
Scotch biletting question, on the Maynooth, on the Appel-
late Jurisdiction Bill, on Lord Goderich's 'notion for the
amendment of the civil service, and on several other occa•
sions acting according to my own convictions and what I
believed to be the opinions of the majority of my consti-
tuents ; but the experience, the tact, the energy of the noble
lord render him peculiarly adapted to meet the exigencies
of the time, and one to whom we may safely intrust the
honour of our country.

Mr. Langton concluded by stating his conviction
that in the ensuing session the country would expect
that Ministers should deal with the many important
social questions which have been neglected, and that
they should adopt a definite and determined course
of action.
Mr. W. MILES, M.P., at the Dolphin Society, in re-
sponding to the toast, " The County Members of Glou.
cester and Somerset," viewed the present apparent want
of party organisation in the house with no alarm. In-
herent principles did not vanish with the day—they
could be called into action at any particular time
and at any particular moment—and he had that
opinion of the good sense of the people of England
that he nelieved if they were touched on any vital
point, touched on any point in which their religion,
their honour, or their loyalty to the Queen were
called into question, they would as one man come
forward to vindicate themselves. Therefore let them
not be alarmed because at the present time they had
not two organised systems of politics. The present
state of foreign politics was peculiar, but he was fully
convinced there was no man in that society but must
be aware that the alliance with France had led to the
most glorious consequences :
England and France had fought together; England and
France had gained glories in the Crimea; and he felt con-
vinced that it would be for the interests of England and
France to hold together in amity to the longest possible
period. Let them, therefore, be determined not to take
advantage of little difficulties.

The existing difficulties upon the proper interpreta-
tion of the treaty of Paris had arisen from the general
geographical ignorance of the envoys at the late
congress :

He believed that, if they had had a man at the late con-
ferences who understood the geographical position of the
Principalities the present difficulties would not have arisen
with respect to one single town. The French seemed to
hold to one side, while England held to the other. England
said that if the occupation of the Russians of that parti-
cular town was at once given up her fleet would not go into
the Black Sea, while, on the other hand, France said it
was but a small difficulty; and he hoped that peace which
France and England had purchased (not forgetting Sar-
dinia) with their blood would not on such a point be in
danger for a single iimment.

With respect to the Neapolitan affair, he thought the
system of England was so diametrically opposed to
that of the Continent that any interference by us
must inevitably lead to strife.

THE POLISH EXILES held a commemorative
meeting in Duke-street, St. James's, on Monday, the