The Press.
London, England, 1856-03-29 00:00:00

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VOL. IV. LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 29,1856 STAMPED ....SIXPENCE.

o. 152.

UNSTAMPED..F.IVEPENCE.

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vernuient is incapable of acting •a1V46,. and
that it is compelled to assent to whatever
course our Ally proposes, i 3 a humiliating
confession of national infirmity. If two no-
tions are in alliance, and one proposes a
course which is impolitic and dishonourable,
while the other proposes a course directly the
reverse, is it possible for the latter t 3 yield to
the former without such a practical declara-
-tion of inferiority as must degrade it in its
own esteem, and cast contempt upon it in the
eyes of the world ?
If the terms of Peace should disappoint
the expectations which the Ministers and their
'adherents have held out, let us yet have the
manliness to acknowledge that we have borne
a fair and equal part in of it. If France
has been precipitate, could France compel our
Government to be precipitate likewise ? What
a low estimate must be formed of the national
character to suppose that its wounded vanity
can he healed by assuring it that in' this great
Jnatter of European settlement we have been
,compelled to play a subsidiary part, and to
submit to an arrangement which we know to
be impolitic, and think cannot be lasting.

have a definitive Treaty concluded on the
bases it had assented to. If we can trust the
reports which have reached us, the English
Plenipotentiaries have usually appeared in
the unfortunate position of wishing to throw
obstacles in the way of that settlement which
it was the purpose of , the Conference to effect.
The foreign policy of England at this hour
seems tending to a policy of isolation. The
sneers of Lord CLARENDON have lost to England
at Constantinople that influence which it was
one object of the war to uphold and strengthen;
his unaccountable mismanagement of our
relations with America has called forth hostile
remou4ratTheii from the Government of that
coup the ill-advised measure of
11V stren our West India squadron in
e
the autumn, has had the effect, as we foresaw
it would, of vastly augmenting the war navy
of the United States. Lastly, at an assembly
of the European Powers, Lord CLfratesnoit
assumes an attitude, which, if we may credit
the representations of his adherents, places
him not only,.
.;.;* .tagenism to the general
views of the ,7 t •ettee, but threatens to
dissolve our • France. This ten-
dency to isolation'tia. y Suit the views of some
Members of the Cabinet; it may be dignified
with the name of independence; but assuredly
it does not promise us much advantage, or
seem reconcileublo with sound statesmanship.

If this tone be persisted in, it will excite a
:sentiment through the French nation which
will effectnally dissipate all the happy effects
reasonably. to be hoped from our intimate al-
liance with that country and from the general
concord of our policy and union of our arms.
Let English►nen ask themselves what would
be their feeling if such reflections as are dis-
persed through this country came to us from
the other side of the Channel. Should we
hear with patience that a dishonourable Peace
was about to be concluded through our impa-
tience of the burdens of the war ? Or, if the
other line were taken, should we hear to be
told that we wished to reject satisfactory
terms of peace through a selfish desire to
advance our peculiar interests in the East ?
This is not the first attempt that has been
made to screen our Administration by covert
assaults on the Government of France. The
object is plainly to throw on our Ally the
odium of whatever may prove distasteful to
our people when the Treaty of Peace is pro-
claimed. Against this cowardly policy every
man of heart and spirit should exclaim. It
misrepresents the feeling of England ; and if
it did not, it would fasten on her honour a far
deeper stain than that which it professes a
desire to wipe away

TIM MINISTRY AND OUDE.

A GREAT deal of the difference of opinion
which exists among independent meinheis'of
the Legislature and independent journalists
regarding the annexation of Oude arises
simply from a misapprehension of the facts of
the case. The official defenders of it, to be
sure, know perfectly well what they are about,
but with these it is au object of the first im-
portance to mislead the public, because they
arc aware what must be the result of a full and
complete exposure of the naked truth. But
the others allow themselves to be imposed
upon by fine phrases, forgetting that no
political iniquity was ever perpetrated in any
country or at any period of history without
abundance of such. Even robbers and high-
waymen profess only to relieve the rich of
their superfluous wealth, and have often been
very kind and liberal to the poor. Indeed, the
promise that the Governor-General makes in
his proclamation, that " every man shall hence-
`• forth enjoy his just rights," was equally
put forth by JACK CADE, end has been simi-
larly adopted by every other revolutionary
leader from his time to the present day. They,
too, like Lord DALHoustE, have called the
nobility and Ministers of the Government
they sought to subvert " worthless favorites
" of the. Court," " violent and corrupt inen,uri-
" fit for their duties, and unworthy of trust,"
and they, too, on these grounds have claimed
the right to depose their kings. The plunder
of the nobility has then followed, and after
that the spoliation of every man of wealth.
What we want, therefore. - the
question of this annexal
Mr. VERNON SMITH, the
India Board, _ what in

In the Emperor of the FRENCH we have
found a wise, faithful, and vigorous ally.
While the war lasted, he put forth all the re-
sources of the French empire to make the
policy of the Alliance triumphant. and snccess-
ful. It was not his fault that the Adminis-
tration of this country was less active, nor
can it be his fault if on any points during the
Conference our Government has taken up an
untenable position, and has had to submit to
the mortification of having its views over-
ruled.

_
It is probable that the Plenipotentiaries of
England have exercised less influence in the
Conference than might have been expected
from the position of this country If so, the
cause must be found, not in the indifference
of our Ally, but in the position which our Go-
vernment from the first assumed. Having
committed itself to proposals of peace it affected
reluctance to proceed with the negotiation.
It never gave those cordial and concilititory
assurances which would have been universally
accepted as a pledge that •it really desired to

phrase about the securing
rights really means. Does
Ling aside the right of thr
—as he is said to have

right shall be maintained

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