The Express.
London, England, 1852-01-30 00:00:00

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LONDO.V, FRIDAY. JANUARY 30.

THE appointment of Lord COWLEY to succeed the
Marquis of lioanasior in Paris is a choice that will
give, we believe, very general satisfaction. The first
requisite for such • choice was that the object
of it had taken no part in those struggles
of parties and preference of persons which
have agitated Paris. It would have been
nowise to name any diplomatist, known as an Or-
leaoist, or inclining to Bonapartism. This alone
would set aside a number of able men from the post of
English ambassador in Paris. The Marquis of CLAN-
MICAKPF. was spoken of. But he is of the known
opinion of Lord PALMERSTON. Lord CL tRENDON
was mentioned, but he who is said to have refused the
seals of the Foreign.otllco was not likely to
•mhark in such a troublous sea of diplomacy
as Paris. Lord Cissilso was thought of. But his
lordship has identified himself of late years with the
foreipi politics of the Morning Chronicle. than which
nothing could be more illiberal or reactionary. Lord
Cowl 1111 has been out of the turmoil of English and
French polities. Though come of a tory stock, he
took a decidedly liberal view of German politics.
Those opinions were fearlessly professed, though
not carried out in any way that was intermeddling
or offensive. fro are glad to see a politician so
liberal, at least so little bound by tory and aristo-
cratic tradition, appointed to watch over British
interests in a country every way so anomalous and
new as France has become since the accession of
Louts N.%IOLEON to unlimited power.
The Marquis of NORMANRY has shown himself
very susceptible of newspaper reports. We do not
mean offence, nor fear denial, however, when we
state that Lord NORMANDY was, however innocently,
the cause of Lord PALMERSTON'S resignation or dis-
missal. Lord PALMERSTON, it is well known, expressed
himself in London to Count Wsidtseskt in terms
which did not harmonise with Lord NORMANBT'S lan-
guage in Paris. The President of the French republic
mentioned, and showed proofs of this discrepancy to
Lord NORMANDY, who appealed to the government
at home. These circumstances led to Lord PALMER-

wros's withdrawal from Downing-street, and Lord
NORM %N BY'S retirement from Paris. This mere out-
line of farts will be useful for the appreciation and
understanding of debates that must ensue, as well as
for affording a clear view of the relative position of
the two governments.
We have censured, strongly censured from first
to last Lord PAtucitirroses approbation, or sanc-
tion, —whichever it may prove,—of Louis NAPO-
LRON.S unwarrantable acts. But this does not pre-
vent a regret that any minis'crial rupture
should have taken place, or been allowed
to take place, which bad the ill-judged effect of
presenting one member of the British government as
favourable to Lot•ts NAPOLEON, and other members
of the cabinet as unfavourable to him. However
lively and outspoken should be the feelings and
judgment of a nation, those of a government had
better be enwrapt in decorous silence. The Eng-
lish are and must be enemies of a mili-
tary dic'atorship, but they are not enemies
of the person, but the thing. They owe no
grudge to BON %PARTE because he is a BONA.
?Ala E ; and have no predilection for an ORLE.%NS
bemuse he is a BOURBON. Hut a representative go-
vernment will always be preferred by us in all coun-
tries to an absolutist one. And even the Times admits
that a republic is more congenial to us than a
despotism. When we recollect the opinions
expressed by our contemporary on the subject of
Hungary. and even of Germany, this opinion of his
causes seine surprise. But we are glad to see that
the near aspect of military despotism in Paris has
alarmed the Times, which could nevertheless a little
time previous fall down and worship the same
image of military despotism, when set up at Vienna
and at Frankfort.

It is ono comfort, indeed, that wo are all—whig,
tory, and radical—pretty well agreed as to the
merits of Louts NAPOLEON, and as to the tendency
and probable finale of his rule. A year ago, the
army, with a government perched upon its bayonets,
was the object of tory gratitude and admi-
ration. NI tits was the god of order, and
a regiment the very emblem of civilisation.
On closer inspection, however, we found that a
government from head quarters and by courts mar-
tial is but • sore rigid and more regular species of
some:minim, a confiscation of industrial capital, not
for the benefit of the industrial operatives, but for
that of the idle soldier. And the army, as a police
and a support to an administration. has fallen to a
terrible discount. People to mark this have but
to compare the Times articles on SCHWARZENBERO
and lIATNAV with those upon Louts NAPOLEON and
M. M tutu. We could show that the line pursued
by the French President is almost • copy of that
adopted by the Austrian minister. There was the
same treachery, the same principle, the same result.
The only difference was, FERDINAND JOSEPH having •
long line of ancestors to plead for his despotic rights,
whilst Louis NAPOLEON had but one solitary uncle. But
the fifteen years' reign of the BONAPARTIST uncle
was surely worth the century of the House of Loa-
RAIN Z. However, the upshot is, that, although
bitten or smitten by successful military despotism
on the Danube, the very tories dislike and disown it
when it rears its helmeted head on the banks of the
Seine.

Wr do not pretend to see farther in a fog than other
people ; we therefore avow frankly that we cannot
tell how near the ship " Cabinet," ItcsseLL master,
may be to the fatal quicksand whereon, like all that
ha%e gone before it, it is doomed to founder; or whe-
ther, by good luck or good guidance, it may yet
escape the shoal and outride the storm. But we note
from day to day the number of minute guns fired in
the Gazette, and draw what conclusions we may
therefrom.

A fortnight since we were informed by a demi-
official contemporary that one noble marquis was re-
solved upon retiring from the government; and now
the same authorityannounces the surrender byanother
of • post hardly less coveted than a cabinet office.
Lord CLANRICARDE was the last man in the mi-
nistry whom anybody would suspect of giving up
in disgust or from any sentimental cause whatever.
We doubt if even the Aaron BROUMITON DIP. GYFFORD
possesses a livelier perception of the merits of stick-
ing fast to one's friends under all circumstances, and
the notion of quitting the Post-offiee at a juncture
like the present seemed to us incredible, " when a
sense of duty" and all the usual stock pretexts
might be urged by so distinguished a statesman a.
the lord of Portumna for " not abandoning his sove-
reign amid diffinuaies." Nevertheless the fact is raid
to oc so. We have no doubt that Lord et.s.sme MOM
knows, or thinks he knows, what he is stout; and
if l' finally executes a retreat from St. Martin's-le-
°rand, we are sure that it will he a muterly move-
ment, though it is likely enough he may leave a
considerable amount of baggage behind. 'Where he
will go to, and what new branch of the foreign, colo-
nial. or domestic administration of the empire is
likely to engage his attention it were presumptuous
to conjecture; but the vacancy occasioned by his re-
tirement would seem to affind another and timely
opportunity to Lord JMIN to introduce some new
blood into his government.
Unfortunately there is at the same moment another
old friend of equal degree and equal deserts to be
considered. Lord Noma %Vex has found it necessary
to reign the embassy at Paris. He was Postmaster-
Oeneral in his youth, " long, long ago ; "—why not
make him lord of letter-carriers again? He would
not open any of them we hope, at the bidding of a
Home Secretary, although in this respect we fear
that the traditions of bureaucracy. both whig and
tory, are all of the most estimable description. In
France the sanctity of the
.post-office is no-
toriously disregarded ; Lord NORMANDY if he
resumes his former ministerial station, will,
we hope, give some definite pledge as to the rule to
bn observed in this respect. It is time to have a
clear understanding on this matter. We ought to
know, once and for all, whether the old system of
peeping and pimping has altogether and finally been

abandoned, or whether it is held in reserve for con-
venient use by our lordly rulers, whenever their own
misgivings of the disposition of the people, or the
uneasy consciences of foreign despots render them
curious to ascertain what the fugitives from their
cruelty may be thinking about in this land of re-
fuge. We do not suspect our new foreign secretary
of the base compliance with the diplomatic requisi-
tions of absolutism which caused the name of
England to be sullied ten years ago by
the betrayal of the Brothers BANDIER.A. We
hope better things of Lord Gansiviu.s, and we
have heard with pleasure that one of his first acts, in
his present position, has been to reply in terms wor-
thy of his country to certain proposals which arc
said to have been made by foreign governments
upon the subject of the asylum freely accorded by us
to all classes of political refugees. But wo do not
affect to feel indiscriminate or blind confidence in all
statesmen of the aristocratic school upon the point
above adverted to; and we think the occasion suita-
ble for exacting explicit explanations regarding the
sacredness of letters in their passage through the
British post-office.
Thus, then, if ono marquis goes out another
marquis is likely to come rn. M e are nothing the
better and nothing the worse for the change.
It is merely a shuttle of certain of the court
cards; the residue of the pack remaining as before.
In place of Lord NORMANBT, wo find that Lord
CON LET goes as minister plenipotentiary to Paris.
Lord COWLEY has earned a good reputation as a
young man of sense and discretion at Frankfort,
where he has been diplomatically resident for several
years. His tendencies are said to be liberal ; and,
in a post of so much difficulty as that he is
about to occupy, he will have abundant opportuni-
ties for the exercise of the qualities which his friends
ascribe to him. Why so junior a diplomatist should
have been selected, is another matter. Humours are
afloat that Lord CLARENDON would prefer some
other post to a continuance in his present un-
enviable position in Ireland ; and others, of
high political standing,—or, what is the
same thing, of high oligarchical connexions,—are
believed to have been covetous of the same distinc-
tion. It is no secret, we imagine, that Lord DAL-
!tousles very modest and considerate offer to remain
for a second term of five years in India, was flatly
rejected by the directors, who with equal decision
offered a veto to the oriental ambition of Lord NOR-
MANDY. Their high mightinesses of Leadenhall-
street arc said to entertain no objection to the nomi-
nation of a man like the Duke of NEwc•trrtE, and
we should not be surprised if the golden apple fell
into his Grace's lap. Lord Thit toustr. may thus
return to England in time to help Lord ELLEN-
Roaouull in the House of Lords to his long
deferred retribution on the East India Com-
pany. The days of the charter are drawing to
a close, and of the select committee of the
Upper House to inquire into the propriety of its re.
newel, all ex-governors-gencral,as a matter of course,
will be members.

THE result of the continued investigation into the
circumstances attending the loss of the Amazon has
been is correct several of the impressions which the
first report of the calamity produced. It has shown
that Mr. VINCEMT, although worthy of admira-
tion for the care he took of the preservation of his
own life and those of others in the boat, still found
his way to the said boat somewhat too soon, to merit
the applause which has been showered upon him.
At the same time we have learned that the
true hero, Mr. Holman, has been most unac-
countably neglected. This gentleman, it appears,
stayed at the tiller until he was almost enveloped in
the flames. Ile quitted the vessel only when all
hope of safety had departed, and returned to it upon
hearing the captain give an order, which he thought
would be better carried out with his assistance.
There is very little doubt that if he has perished, he
sacrificed himself to a stern sense of duty. Another
result of the inquiry is the discovery of the incompe-
tency or carelessness of the naval officers whose duty
it was to have inspected the vessel before she left
the port, and to have sent succour after hearing that
the ship had foundered. Captain CORRY, who rejoices
in the title of Admiralty Superintendent of Packets,
at Southampton, appeared to be in ignorance of the
very nature of his duties. " Ile did not think it
necessary to make a personal inspection so as to
report particularly." This in the case of a new
vessel " Ile did not know that there was a large
quantity of coals on board." It has been clearly
proved also not only that there was a want of dis-
cipline on board at the time of the report of the fire
being confirmed, but that the officers were unable
to enforce discipline. This is a most important
point. Lieutenant ORTLLI and others of the wit-
nesses combine in declaring that if more attention
and order had been observed in lowering the
boats a majority of the passengers might have been
saved. It is more than probable that Captain Srafioss
was completely_paralysed with the magnitude of the
calamity, Mr. ViNcrxr was away in the dingy, and
the whole of the duties fell upon Mr. ItoiseaTs and
his subordinates.

In the mean time our knowledge of the cause of
the fire has not been augmented. It is more than
probable that we shall never be able to arrive at this
knowledge. The total destruction of the vessel has
shrouded this, and many more details of the awful
catastrophe, in mystery. Although, however, we
have not discovered the origin of the fire, it does ap-
pear to us that sufficient has transpired to show that
a plan may be devised by which the lives of the
crew and passengers of steamers on fire may in
future be preserved. This plan would involve,
the possession of sure means for stopping
the engine—technically putting it out of gear-011
deck. The instant that a report of fire is confirmed
every soul on the vessel rushes above, leaving the
mad element to work its will below. There is no
control over the engines. Their power is probably
increased by the flames raging around them, and the
boat goes plunging rapidly on, adding by its opposi•
tion to the air, fresh forces to the conflagration.
Several of the survivors have given it as their
opinion that could the vessel have been stopped,
the passengers might have escaped. Lieut. ORYLLS
says," If the ship could have been stopped, more
lives would have been saved." One of the seamen
and the quartermaster LINO oven give it as their
opinion that it would have been impossible to save
more persons even if the boats had been lowered, since
" the flames followed you everywhere." An awfully
vivid I icturo of the fearful scene ! Mr. Nett.sox
says, "There ought to be some means available on the
upper deck of opening the feed-cock of the boilers, and
also of working the fire-hose from the upper deck, but
still more the means of being able to stop the engines.
Had this last been done, and half the energy dis-
played by the plant commander in lowering the
boats that was ineffectually expended in attempting
to check the progress of the fire, there was ample
boat accommodation, and of first-rate quality, to have
sared all hands."

This surely is decisive. No earthly power could
have quenched the flames, so long as the vessel was
driving furiously forward and thus fanning the
flames aft; but the progress of the tire would have
been sensibly checked, and the ehance of escape from
the vessel vastly increased,: could she have been sud-
denly stopped. That a very little mechanical inge-
nuity would suffice to contrive a plan by which the
engines might be stopped from the upper deck, we
arc convinced. In the meantime, until something
better is devised, we would advise that * connex-
ion be est.iblished between the eccentric-rods of
the engine and the upper deck. This might be ma-
naged by means of rods passing tnrcugh the deck,
and fastened to the excentric-rods. In case
of imminent danger when approach to the
engine room was cut off, the excentric rods
might ho raised by means of the connecting-
reds, and the engine thus stopped. The power ap-
plied to the connecting-rods in the upper deck might
be derived from some small machine, at which the
1 crew could work.

It will be said that violence of this nature would
probably spoil the engines. The reply to this is
that the engines would be doomed to destruction
before our remedy way applied. It may also he
observed that human lives are of more value thou
many steam-engines. It is very well to pay respect
to the property of owners, but it is a duty of a
higher nature to hare regard to the lives of
11 passengers. The government and the Steam Packet
Company incur a heavy responsibility at the depar-
ture of every steam vessel from our shores, and both
may be assured that unless ample means are at bast
tried for the prevention of such catastrophes as the

for of the Amason, the public will not be slow in
calling them to aocouot. Ltt us hope that both will
profit by this awful event, and that tke lemon de-
rived from the lose of the unfortunate vessel may
enable us to discover means of lessening the risk of
the occurrence of such calamities for the future.

FRANCE.