The Press.
London, England, 1856-03-01 00:00:00

THE CONFERENCES OF PARIS.

RUMOURS are rife of a hitch in the Conferences.
They have certainly been suspended ; some
negotiators have appealed to their Govern-
ments lbr fresh instructions ; some have even
returned home to seek renewed inspira-
tion ; the public secui ities are agitated ; scrip
falls and rallies ; and there is doubt, and some
dismay, especially among those who know
very little, and yet have much at stake.
There is something in all this, and yet not
a great deal. In a few days the " hitch " will
have been removed ; and in other few days
a new " hitch " may probably arise. There
will be more delays, fresh fluctuations in the
funds, more instructions, misunderstandings,
and understandings. Diplomatists must be kept
in practice ; financiers in good wind ; and the
great public of several countries must be satis-
fied that the ultimate result has not been so easy
of accomplishment as they supposed But
that ultimate result is inevitable, and, compa-
ratively speak:— *-
Nothing can
settlement

humiliatin;

. _
ratively speaking, it will be immediate.
Nothing can prevent Peace, and it will be a
settlement honourable to the Allies, not
humiliating to Russia, an& a •
Europe. 'Cr'''. Zr
14 ‘- - • iß'' 1 ' PT!
4:t: 'A r .0,- •
SADLE IR, HIS ENGL st?il .at" '''..!..i '' -e
AND IRISH A vil.':: 101) , jam,ic
o..:icr'4
4
IT is only now that the pall - • • '
T4'4l t
't '
thoroughly aware of the d: r" ij .i 1 .
yomi,
of the Irish intrigue which . me"
4t4.N. I:L,— -
' .

W

i

I

I

■

194

termination of Lord DERBY'S Cabinet. So
dark a passage is not to be found in the poli-
tics of the last hundred years. We shall,
aided by the revelations of JOHN SADLEIR, place
upon record facts not to be forgoUsw Paths-
mentary history, interleaved with the Newgate
Calendar, is a literary legacy bequeathed by the
Coalition Cabinet.
At the general election of 1847, two candi-
dates were returned for Carlow and Athlone,
each destined to obtain invidious notoriety.
One was Mr. JOHN SADLEIR, an attorney prac
tieing at Dublin, and the other was Mr.
WILLIAM KEOGH, now her Majesty's Attorney-
General for Ireland. Little was known of
either of them in England, but the Dublin
correspondent of the Times of Thursday truly
states that " long before Mr. SADLEIR left his
" native country for England, his professional
" character was cone of the highest." For the
first three years of their political progress the
Members for Carlow and Athlone hung loosely
on the skirts of party. SADLEIR professed to
be a "Liberal," but he attacked the Whig
Cabinet, while he affected to despise the
" agitators" of the Roman Catholic connection.
Though both appeared to vacillate about their
intentions, the Members for Carlow and
Athlone gravitated towards each other by some
law Of affinity. Each seemed to appreciate
highly the qualities of the other, and they were
often noticed together They attracted con-
siderable notice by their avowed intention to
become " leaders " in Irish politics. Their
'apparent presumption gave great annoyance
to older representatives from Ireland, and the
late Mr. SHELL was foremost in deriding them.
When asked what might be the supposed
amount of their estates, Mr SHELL answered,
" They are Irish estates in themselves, for
" they have many encumbrances ; they are
" openly for sale, and they can find no buyers "
The saying was more pungent than prophetic.
The twain found—patrons, and attained an in-
fluence, and reaped gains, beyond their wild-
est dreams.

Up to the close of 1850 the Members for
Carlow and Athlone had produced no positive
effect; but after Lord Jons RUSSELL'S Durham
Letter, the Whig Romanists were denounced in
Ireland, and JOHN SADLEIR and Mr. WILLIAM
KEOGH, by having seats in the House of Fom-
mons, turned the crisis to great personal ac
count. SADLEtahad friends, also, in the " City."
One of the Scully family, fifty years since, had
married advantageously in England, and SAD-
LEIR, aided by his receiverships over several
estates in Chancery, resolved to work his
" City" connection. The chapter of accidents
appeared to decide in their favour, and the
adventurers determined to form " a party."
The Brass Band was organised. Jons SAD-
LEIR became its financier and " capitalist; "
Mr. WILLIAM KEOGH appointed himself its
orator and auxiliary-general, and they chose
Mr. EDMUND O'FLAHERTY for their " whip."
They held meetings, set up newspapers, and,
countenanced unfortunately by some influen
tial persons, they pursued a course in the
session of 1851 which made the "year of the
Exhibition" far from creditable in Parlia-
mentary annals. Debates were turned into
Irish riots. A club at the IVest-end was chosen
for their place of private council. Sir JOHN
DEAN PAUL (the coincidence is singular) had
founded a club many years ago, and at one
time JOHN SADLEIR was its only M.P. The
Member for Athlone soon afterwards dignified
it by his senatorial presence. and we see it
stated in the current publications for the
summer of 1851—" Last week sixteen Irish
Members of the Sadleir-Keogh party were
" admitted into the Erectile= Club." Under
that infliction the club rapidly collapsed.
P- founded i SADLEIR and his friends

.851, there occurred a
in the fortunes of
xers. Them was a
Cation of the county of
RICE POWER," who sat
Tests, spoke and voted
the Birch debate of
rewarded for his corn-
doted Governor of St.
seat the Brass Band

PAUL founded it; SADLf
sunk it.
in the same year, 18:
•in qataxisna4able inciden
eat' adventui
i • Tepresentu
'••••• • nEtor MAUR
,at:oof the prig
, • WNDON in
• gor he was r
• .• v.;
rr •
12,. appoi
vacated
•
-