The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-21 00:00:00

THE NORTH-ERN TIMES.---LIVERPOOL, TUESDAY.

estimated, are found to be hardly worth acceping.
This is a matter which cannot remain as it now
is. Our colonists have a just right to have all
their complaints thoroughly and impartially in-
vestigated, their grievances redressed, and their
commercial interests placed upon the most advan-
tageous footing. In the present instance this
has' not been done. We permit the French
government to assume a right and title to certain
trading upon the waters of our colonial posses-
sions. That Government pays out of its national
exchequer a bounty to its fishermen in our waters,
whilst our colonists are left to contend and com-
pete against such encouragements, and are
deprived of some of their best fishing grounds.
We had never any great faith in the doings of
our Colonial Office, and this Npwfoundland
Fishery Convention, convinces us more than ever
of the want of foresight, and the absence of
honest and straightforward dealings by its offi-
cials. Truly the time has come for pressing on
the question of Administrative Reform. •

HER MAJESTY has given Prince ALBERT
another pledge of her affection. Another Princess
has been ushered into the world. The Royal
Family now numbers nine children—four boys
and five females. Just as the little stranger is
about to enter, her elder sister is preparing to
take her departure, and to become the wife of the
Prince of PRUSSIA. To this we can have no
objection. She has a perfect right to get wedded
or not as she pleases. But while thus granting
to her Royal Highness all the rights and privi-
leges in matters of this kind, which are enjoyed
by all her sex throughout the British empire, we
are very far from approving of the proposed
Royal dowry of 70,000/. per annum.
It has been the misfortune of this country to
be saddled with an enormous expense for the
support of the shoals of German pensioners who
form so large a portion of the Royal Family of
England. The principle of seeking husbands
and wives for the Royal children of England at
German courts is nefarious. Are there not to be
found hearts as loving,--dispositions as amiable
and generous,—and persons as commanding and
attractive as ever have been produced by the
house of Coburg, the sovereigns of Prussia,
Austria, or Russia, in the long list of our titled
nobility and wealthy commoners ? Certainly
there are ; and the fact of. her Majesty going to
the Court of Berlin for a husband for her clang hter,
is an insult to all her loving and loyal subjects.
It is nothing less than• to say not one of " My
lords and gentlemen," or their offspring, are good
enough for her daughter. There is reason to
believe that at an early age the QUEEN herself
felt the inconvenience of this absurd law, and it
is said that a certain noble lord had to be got rid
of, lest the friendship which sprung up between
them should ripen into affection which could not
be controlled by motives of expediency, or the
stringent requirements of the law of succession.
But the absurdity of that law is more apparent
when we consider the possibility that the
Princess Royal may yet be Queen of Eng •
land. It is well known that the Prince
of Wales is by no means of a robust and healthy
constitution. Should he die, the Princess Royal,
and the Princess, or it may be the Queen
of Prussia, would be called to the throne of these
realms. In that case the King of Prussia would
be King consort of England. We have seen
enough of•the double dealing of Prussian politi-
cians, and of the chicanery of its present King,
to satisfy us that the fewer our dealings are with
the Court of Berlin, the better will it ba for the
people. During the late war with Russia, his
Majesty not only withheld from us the aid of his
arms, but indirectly countenanced the aggressive
designs of the Emperor Nicholas. Subterfuge
succeeded subterfuge, metaphysical pleas were put
forth, and diplomatic quibbling resorted to, in
order to gain time for Russia to extend and im-•
prove her defences, and to save Prussia taking an
active and decided part in the contest. Brought
up and trained in the school of German politics,
it is more than probable that the Prince of
Prussia, when called upon to assume the kingly
office, will act in the footsteps of his predecessor.
If so, his connection with the crown of England
would not at any time or under any circumstances
be worth more than the tenth of a year's purchase.
Arguing, then, from the principles of common
sense, expediency and morality, we condemn in
toto the proposed alliance. England can gain
nothing by it, but, on the contrary, runs the risk
of being worsted by the intended matrimonia
connexion.

Our objection to the marriage is not absorbed
n the foregoing remark. It is said that Lord
PALMERSTON purposes to ask Parliament for an
annual dowry of 70,0001. This, we admit, is only
one of the political on dits of the day. But the
fact of it not being contradicted in any of the
semi-official journals, is pretty good evidence
that the rumour is almost, if not entirely, founded
on fact. To the proposed dowry we give an
unqualified dissent. The Prince of Prussia, if he
wants a wife, should do what the poorest man
in these realms practices—support her. JOHN
BULL is already ground down with taxation. It
is, therefore, top much to call upon him to con-
tribute a sum every year which would support
fourteen hundred families at the rate of 50/.
each. Independent of the enormous amount
of the dowry, it is objectionable on the
ground that the money the hard earn-
ings of the people—are taken to and squandered
at the Court of a Foreign Prince. The scions
of German Royalty are not to batten on
taxes derived from the English people.
The future King of Prussia is not to be a paid
stipendiary of this country. Reason and common
sense repudiate the idea. If the PRINCE of
PRUSSIA is too poor to support the eldest daugh-
ter of the QUEEN of ENGLAND, the alliance should
not be perfected. His Royal Highness should
pay his addresses to a lady less expensive in her
maintainance than what it would seem the
PRINCESS ROYAL is to be when she takes upon

herself the cares and responsibilities of a married

woman.

In these remarks we have no wish to decry
the pomp and magnificence of Royalty, nor to
detract from the many amiable virtu,s of our
good and virtuous Queen. What we contend
for is the extravagance of the grant, and the
indefensible character of the principle upon
which it is based. Queen VICTORIA and Prince
ALBERT are in a matter of this kind nothing more
than other people, and should provide for their
offspring without sending a begging message to
the House of Commons to set aside such a sum
annually as will enable their daughter to bask in
the sunshine of extravagance at the Ccurt of
Berlin. Generally speaking, the members of the
House of " GUELPH" are pretty long lived. It
is, therefore, highly probable that the PRINCESS
ROYAL will reach her fiftieth year ; and suppos-
ing she is in the receipt of 70,0001. a-year, she
will receive from England no less a sum than
two millions one hundred thousand pounds ster-
ling ! Truly, a " Princess Royal" of England is
a valuable commodity, and a German Prince
equally so, when Joux BULL, out of his gen-
rosity, feels disposed to pay such a sum for
cementing a matrimonial union between the two.
Sincerely do we hope that the Government will
not be allowed to perpetrate the job. It may be

a diplomatic manoeuvre on the part of Lord PAL-
*
MERSTON. It is well known that his Lordship
has never been a great favourite at her Majesty's
Court. By endowing the PRINCESS ROYAL thus
munificently, he will gain any amount of Court
favour, and pave the way for a splendid and
costly establishment for the PRINCE of WALES,
whose Royal Household must, ere long, be pro-
vided for out of the national purse.

THE RIVINOTON PEAT 800 WASH.—AS was pre-
dicted by every one who knew anything of the
subject, the Pike water -is beginning to give
unmistakeable proofs of what may be expected
from it when the sunny days of July and August
shall have arrived Foul toads, frogs, and water
asks, are now being found in the pipes and cisterns
of our inhabitants. This morning, one of these
disgusting monstrosities was brought to our office,
where the curious or the sceptical in such matters
may see it. It was taken from a water pipe in the
the house No. 6, Salthouse lane, by a workman
named Samuel Porter, of 102, Park lane. Anything
more disgusting it would hardly be pbssibly to con
ceive. No (lout)! the water contains in embryo, even
now, myriads of such reptiles only waiting for the
hot weather to enter into an active existence It will
not be necessary to employ the microscope to prove
that the Pike water teems with animal organisms
of every possible description. The consumers will
discover to their dismay that they run the risk of
swallowing either a fully (level( ped newt or lizard,
or the owe of such if they should venture on a
draught of water that has not either been boiled or
purified by some other process. Great comfort
this for water drinkers—very ! How long shall it
be permitted ?