The Press.
London, England, 1858-02-27 00:00:00

THE PRESS, FEBRUARY 27, 1858.

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and bloody struggls may be yet looked for around that fated
city. In Central India affairs continue in the most disorganised and
unsatisfactory state, but the Punjaub and Scinde would appear to be
safe, owing to the arrival of troops by the overland route. The appoint-
ment to the head of the India Board at such a critical moment of a
Minister possessing such vigilance and sagacity and vigorous energy
of character as the Earl of ELLENBOROUGH. will be hailed by the
country with profound satisfaction. And in common with the country
we anticipate the happiest results from the accession to power of the
Earl of ELLENBOROUGH.

When we are once fairly in for a quarrel it is better to win than
to lose. Even when the quarrel is unjust nations cannot afford the
magnanimity of welcoming defeat. So now that Canton has been
taken, YEn led into captivity, and some sort of impression produced
on the Celestial mind, let us beware of an abortive conclusion to our
labours. It is yet in our power to reap good out of evil ; and though
we are as firmly convinced as ever of the impolicy and wantonness
displayed in the commencement of hostilities, we are all the more
bound to make use of present circumstances to prevent, if possible,
their reccurrence. That many impediments exist in the way
of a satisfactory settlement cannot be denied. One is the
stolid, impenetrable passivity, if we may so speak, of the
Chinese themselves. They will stand to be shot down or
bayoneted, but they will not abate one iota of their pretensions.
This has always constituted our difficulty in dealing with them. We
do not like to persevere in butchery that seems to lead to nothing ;
and so finally we come to a compromise, and lose half the fruits of our
victory. Such was the result of the last Chinese demonstration, when
Sir GEORGE BONHAM was driven to renounce one of the principal points
wo were fighting to obtain. Another awkward circumstance is the
smallness of onr force upon the spot, and the difficulty, not to say
impossibility, of sending any large reinforcements. Active hostilities
may now, however, be expected to cease, and negotiations to com-
mence. We have all confidence in Lord ELottes tact and resolution ;
and we trust that under his auspices the best will be done that the
nature of the case permits of.

Lord DERBY must be congratulated on the manner in which he
has filled up the responsible posts of Secretary and Under-Secretary
for War. The civil administration of the army has lately been
intrusted to a nobleman endowed with great powers for the trans-
action of ordinary business, but with no desire or capacity for breaking
through the red-tape bonds of routine. Fond of power, arrogant in
manner, possessing a full share of his countrymen's obstinacy, Lord
PANMIIRE was totally deficient in those conciliatory qualities which are
necessary for the satisfactory discharge of the delicate duties involved
in the concurrent jurisdiction of the Secretary of State and the Com-
manderin-Chief. His Lordship was assisted by an Under-Secretary,
chosen on account of a speech on University Reform and for the
ability displayed in moving the Address in January, 1837, who, at the
date of his appointment as organ of the army in the House of Commons,
was ignorant of the distinction between " staff" and " regimental"
officers, and laboured under the impression that " sergeant " and
" private " were synonymous terms. Tho War-office is now
to be presided over by one of whom it was said by the late Sir
ROBERT PEEL, that "my brother JONATHAN, if he ever takes a part in
" public affairs, will show that he has a better head than I have ;" and
who, having for five years occupied the situation of Surveyor-General
of the Ordnance, is remembered for his practical ability and kindli-
ness to his subordinates. Although never so fortunate as to be em-
ployed on active service, Major-General PEEL was for twelve years a
regimental officer, and during his whole Parliamentary career has
evinced the greatest interest in the welfare of the army, having
taken an active part in every important inquiry into our military ad-
ministration. Ho has not, however, been desirous of merely taking
the popular side, but, while the soldier's friend, has also beau the
defender of the officer, when ignorantly or calumniously attacked.
In this good cause ho has not hesitated repeatedly to encounter the
taunts and gibes of those to whom it is pleasanter
to accuse than defend, but ho has had the moral
courage to persevere in his course, and by his conciliatory
manners to extort forbearance from his opponents. This
happy combination of firmness and tact is precisely the charac-
ter which is required in the situation now held by General
PEEL, and we feel sure that the interests of the public service will
benefit greatly by the increased cordiality likely to subsist between
the War-office and Horse Guards. Nor could a better appointment
have been made than that of Lord HARDINGE to the post of Under-
Secretary. It was right to bring forward the son of a father who
shared with Sir Lowey COLE the credit of the victory of Albuera, who
saved the glory of England, and perhaps her Indian empire, at
Moodkee and Ferozeshah, who led her troops to victory at Sobraon,
and by whose exertions the rifle was furnished to her army which

mainly thwarted the murderous onslaught at Inkermann ; and the
present Lord HARDINGE has talents which, when brought into opera•
Lion, will prove the wisdom of the choice, and show that he will not
discredit the fame of his illustrious sire.

Mr. MILNES has given notice of a motion upon the present vexa-
tious foreign passport regulations. We doubt if any definite benefit
to Englishmen will result from the investigation. There is one point,
however, in which some improvement could be effected. The French
Government has decided that all passports for France shall be finally
vied by a French consular official. At Dover and Folkestone the
French consuls are, we believe, both Englishmen, and hence arises
considerable inconvenience to persons who reach the coast from the
interior, and who rely upon finding a French consul at either of these
ports.

A fresh workhouse iniquity has lately been brought to light.
ALFRED FEIST, late Master of the Newington Workhouse, has been
tried for a violation of the Anatomy Act, by disposing of the bodies of
paupers contrary to the provisions therein contained. Mr. FEIST, it
seems, has been accustomed to send the bodies of paupers to the hos-
pitals for dissection, and has at times received pecuniary remunera-
tion. This, it appears, he is not, forbidden to du in all cases where
the deceased's relatives are not desirous that the body should be
decently interred. The whole casa, as it seems to us, turned on this
one word " desirous." What amount of evidence afforis a reasonable
presumption that such a desire exists ? But surely this cannot be the
real intention of the law, or if so, it requires a speedy alteration. Every-
body ought to be presumed desirous of seeing his relatives interred who
does not make an express declaration to the contrary. The burden of
proof should decidedly rest with the officials. At all events, from the
means adopted by FEIST to conceal his transactions with the hospi-
tals, it is pretty clear that he was aware of the indignation they would
excite among the friends of his victims. Such persons would be shown
the genuine corpse in the office, but before interment it would be
plundered for dissection, and its 'place filled up by the mangled re-
mains of a previous victim. And yet it seems probable that Mr.
FEIST will escape, because it is uncertain if Ile violated the wishes
of the poor dupes who believed they were following the body of a
parent or brother to the grave. The Anatomy Act requires speedy
alteration, if such a loophole exist in it as this.

The " peculiar" literature has been banished from Holywell-street
to reappear in Printing-house-squire. What was unfit for perusal
in the gaudy shop-window of a twopenny bookseller becomes " inte-
resting," " striking," " graphic," and an " instructive lesson," in the
columns of the leading journal. In the letter of " One More Unfortu-
nate." on Wednesday last there wore passages of as unquestionable
pruriency as could be fbund in the professed annals of vice, and all
the more mischievous that something was left to the imagination.
That the picture was striking and graphic we do not deny ; but so are
the worst passages of DRYDEN and FARQUHAR, and 80 doubtless is
much of the unmentionable literature. But we utterly deny that any
useful lesson is conveyed by it. It cannot be calculated to deter, for
it is not calculated to disgust. On the contrary, any young woman
reading the epistle in question will first be excited by hearing that a
" new source of enjoyment" is opened to ber when she loses her virtue,
and then relieved from all fear of the consequences, by finding that the
miseries which she has been taught to associate with a vicious life have
no real existence. Together with the new and varied pleasures which
money can nrocure for her comes an increase of respect and assiduity.
Tradesmen court her custom, landladies are obsequious, box-keepers
are polite ; she comes in contact with nobody who betrays any con-
seiousness of her degradation, or arouses any sense of it within herself.
Where is th 3 moral lesson of all this? Surely to the only class for
whom it can be intended it is a highly immoral one ! We doubt if it
would be possible to paint the path of prostitution in more attractive
colours, or more deftly to disarm it of all those repellant features
which it has hitherto possessed. On the other hand, as a piece of in-
formation to philanthropists, it is wholly unnecessary. The gentlemen
at present engaged in the investigation of this subject are perfectly
aware of the truth. They know, and have told the world they know,
all which is contained in the letters published by the Times ; and we
cannot but attribute the insertion of such communications either to
considerable ignorance of human nature or of the stage to which the
inquiries of social reformers have now reached.

The room in which the committee met for the investigation of
the charges against Mr. ISAAC BuTr, M.P., has been crowded during
the week. The Chairman (Sir J. GRALIAII) very properly prohibited
ally comments on the proceedings, and at present we forbear from all
s:tictures on the evidence. As might have been expected from the
nature of the charge, there was strong interest in the case. The
general spectators included a large portion of the habitual loungers of