The Press.
London, England, 1856-02-02 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

SATURDAY,

bids him to gaze upon any question whatever except through the
spectacles of trade. He tells us in his speech how many men, and
how much money, the war has cost; and then calculates how many
factories we could have built with it, if we had not spent it. Now, no
doubt it is a good thing to have money in one's pocket, or money in..
vested in factories. Yet, after all, money is but a medium. We do
not eat it, drink it, or wear it ; we spend it in order that we may eat,
drink, or wear something else. And we are sometimes obliged to
spend a little more, that we may do this in peace and quietness.
Carry out Mr. BRIGHT'S principle to its legitimate extent, and every
penny spent upon bolts and bars—unon policemen or firemen, &c.—
would be utterly wasted.

We must remind our friends again that the contest for Cambridge
University is no mock struggle. The Reform Club is busy at work ;
and we must urge upon the constituents that it will be necessary for
them to go to the poll, unless they desire to fall into an ingenious trap.
Nothing is more unfair than the conduct of the Liberals. They get
up a false cry that " party is dead," and yet, in connection with Cam-
bridge, they oppose Mr. WALPOLE, perfectly unacceptionable as a
scholar and gentleman, merely because ho is a Conservative. We
know the efforts that the Liberals are making to seat Mr. DENMAN , and
we must say that, at such a time, it is extremely unfair to make a
mere " party" display against so excellent a candidate as Mr. WALPOLE.
The Conservatives, therefore, must be active. We must not be out-
witted, and we must show that we are not apathetic. The rank which
Mr. WALPOLE holds in the great Conservative connection entitles all
his friends to call upon the constituency to poll up for him.
The polling days aro fixed from the 7th to the 12th of February,
but the first and second days will almost certainly decide the contest.
Let Mr. WALPOLE'S supporters make up their minds to record their
votes early, and there can be no doubt of his return.
They must bear in mind that apathy on their part will really be aid
to his opponet. The friends of Mr. DENMAN are active ; they are
well-organised, they have large resources, and they are determined
to spare neither exertion nor expense to secure his return. To
defeat Mr. WALPOLE would be to deal a heavy blow to the principles
which he represents, and to throw the representation of the
University into the hands of the Reform Club and its unscrupulous
agents. We know that we have many of the electors among our
readers, and we speak to them plainly. Fulfil your duty as members
of this important constituency, and you will succeed. Neglect it,
and you will give a signal triumph to your opponents.

The tone of the American papers on the Central American difficulty
is not encouraging. They appear to think that a point of honour is
involved, and that nothing but a dissolution of the Palmerston
Ministry can prevent hostilities. The only practical point at issue is
whether the two islands of Ruatan and Bonaca belong to the State of
Belize or the State of Hondurus. If they belong to the former, then
our occupation of them is not in contradiction to the terms of the
Clayton-Bulw•er treaty. If they belong to the latter, it is. The ques
tion itself is not worth arguing ; but Great Britain stands pledged to
the maintenance of certain rights from which she cannot well recede—
such as the protection of the Musquito Indians and of the town of
Greytow•n from the aggressions of the State of Nicaragua. These
matters, though strictly speuking they have nothing to do with the real
point at issue, have naturally become implicated in it, and are likely
to demand the most discreet management in order to avoid a rupture.
As the scheme of a canal through the isthmus has been now abandoned,
there is no reason in the nature of things why matters should not be
as they were before it was proposed. That, however, seems to be im-
possible, owing to the national jealousy ; but we most sincerely hope
that this trumpery quarrel may not he fanned into a blaze by inju-
dicious politicians on either side the Atlantic.

PERFECT SINCERITY.
" Nisi sineerum est vas," &c.

lam willing to believe that Russia is perfectly sincere. . . On the part of her Majesty's
Government I wish to give the most emphatic denial to the assertion that in undertaking the
negotiations for peace they have been influenced by any other feelings then those of perfect sin•
ctrity.—Lord Clarerulon in the House of Lords, Thursday, Jan. 81.
My Lords, we have boggled and blundered,
Shifted round as the current was shifting,
Drifted first into War---and then wondered
To find that towards Peace we were drifting.
But, amidst all the crooks in our lot,
And in spite of Dame Fortune's asperity,
I most fervently pray you will not
Feel one doubt of our " perfect sincerity."

Hard names on the foe we've been heaping,
We called him a trickster and shuffier,
A braggart—a Jupiter Scapin—
A faker, a prig, and a huffier.
Yet, when even this Muscovite Zeus,
This fuliginous Nephelegerata,
Undertakes to cease playing the Deuce,
We confide in his " perfect sincerity."

So while we, too, are slaving like millers
To untie our unfortunate tangles,
To prop up Europe's sore-shaken pillars,
' And harmonise some of her jangles—
While Diplcmatists busily pen a
New Treaty of Peace and prosperity,
Pray forget all that passed at Vienna,
And rely on our " perfect sincerity."

FEBRUARY 2,185 G.

For the Past—to describe it exactly—
If we bullied, it was but for show meant ;
If we quailed, 'twas when matters looked blackly ;
If we bragged, 'twas the heat of the moment ;
When wo failed, 'twas the fault of the system ;
When we lied, but postponing the verity.
Then let bygones, however you twist 'cm,
Leave no doubt of our " perfect sincerity."

For myself, at this Congress selected
To play off your initiative,
'Tis because 1,..am highly connected,

Or because I spealiK•ench like a native.
Pretensions I've none to ability,
But I wish to go down to posterity
Renowned fin• this one sterling quality,
That I acted with " perfect sincerity."

OUTRAGE TO MR. BILLY 'WILLIAMS, OF

LAMBETH.
(Front the Morning Advertiser.)

WE hasten to proclaim, and in the same moment to denounce, the
cruel mode in which all our daily contemporaries have joined—let us
rather write conspired—to suppress the eloquence of one of the most
intellectual and fascinating speakers in the House of Commons—we
mean Mr. William (otherwise Billy) Williams. whose mellifluous voice
is always raised in the cause of patriotism, and never less so than
when in the fullness of his historical, social, and statesmanlike
wisdom, he lays his chopper (we do not, as ribalds might hint, allude
to his hat, which we know quite well should be spelt shappean) to the
root of the accursed 'Spas tree of aristocracy. The very first speech of
the new session was Mr. Williams's, who refused to permit a hypocri
tical Standing Order (which he facetiously said "he could not stand ")
to be read without an indignant comment. The order against the in-
terference of Peers at elections called up the Honourable Billy
Williams (as our Yankee friends would describe him), who, even in
the meagre and emasculated reports of our contemporaries, is made to
show that Peers set that order at defiance, and that it was mockery to
lay down a rule which was not enforced. We have endeavoured to do
more justice to the Honourable Billy, and we are enabled to present
the following verbatim report of his noble protest against the coroneted
nuisance :

Mr. W. WILLIAMS : Sir, if this order could be enforced like, and
Lords hindered from interfering at the elections of the people's repre-
sentatives, all well and good. But, Sir, how stands the case ? I ask,
Sir, how stands the case, Sir? Do them Lords interfere, or do they
not? Echo answers in the affirmative. Why, Sir, it is within my own
knowledge that they do. (Name, name.) Hurry no man's cattle ;
one day Honourable Gentlemen may have a donkey of their own. 1
can state cases in which Peers have interfered. Why, goodness
gracious me, don't I see oppersite to me lots of Honourable Members
which are the sons of Peers 9 (Hear, hear.) Very well ; if a man has
a son, and sends that son into Parliament, isn't that interfering with
elections? (Roars of laughter.) You may laugh, but if the Peer didn't
have a son he couldn't come into this House. (Renewed laughter.)
But that's not all. I was coming along Pall-mall yesterday, and at the
door of the Conservative Club I saw three Lords talking. My business
is to watch over the interests of the people, and when I see three
Lords together I feel like a political policeman. Up I came, and what
did I hear these aristocrats saying? "Two to one on Walpole for
Cambridge," says one. " Ponies?" says the second. " Halves," says
the third; and they wrote down the bet in their little books. Isn't
that interfering? (Cheers.) I caught a Lord voting one day, so as
soon as lie had done I said to him, " Is that the right thing ?" says I
" Well, I think it is," says he. " How do you make that out?'.
says I. " Why," says he. " taxes," says he. " Taxes ?" says I ; " that's'
our business." " I know it," says he. "We can do nothing about
taxation in the Lords ; we are in your hands, and therefore I think
we may at least exercise an Englishman's right to choose the men who
are to tax him." Such are the sophistries of the aristocracy. (Hear,
hear.) And then, Sir, there is another way in which the aristocrats
interfere. I don't mean any disrespect to you, Sir—you are not a
Lord yet, and when you are one I am sure you will discountenance
such practices—but I allude to the habit of the female aristocracy to
go about canvassing. lam told that the Duchess of Devonshire does
(Roars of laughter.) But I tell you I have read an anecdote—ale
honourable member's voice was drowned in laughter, apparently inextin-
yuishable, amid which his trords—" butcher "—" kiss "—" Charley "
could alone be heard don't see what there is to laugh at. I am
aware that the Duke of Devonshire is a Whig. but that is no reason
why the Duchess—(shouts renewed). Well, there are heaps of other
cases. I know a gross case of intimidation. A poor, but independent,
dealer in marine stores, residing at Portsmouth—(laughter)—was
threatened by a policeman that, if he did not mind what he was
about, it would be the worse for him. Now mark. That policeman
had been recommended into the force by a marchioness—(Name)—
I have forgotten it ; I think it begins with a P or else a li, but the
moral is the same. In a fortnight after that caution there was an
election. ; and which way did the poor marine store-keeper vote ?
(lP inch ?) I don't know, but I should think you might pretty well