Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-08-11 00:00:00

It is a strange fact that the party which is taken

to represent the aristocratic element in our Govern-

ment, has been the first to break in our own FOreign
. .

3 the tradition of that " Continental system,"

done England no good, and has done
Europe infinite harm. It is this very system which
is supposed to be based upon aristocratic prejudices
and claims, and to have 'derived from their success a
fresh lease of power after the fall of NAPOLEON. ' It
strengthens the front of despotism, and is inimical to
the rights of nations. But the Liberal party loves it;
for the opportunity it gives to the antiquated folly
of two men who wish to riot for five months in an
unshackled diplomacy, and play with the foreign
relations of England and the hopes of freedom
abroad as an experiment or a pastime. It will be
well for England if she does, not find, on the meeting
of the next Parliament, that the chains of this system
are rivetted stronger than ever, and she herself
dragged after Louis NAPoi.oN through the mire of
a disastrous Italian arrangement.

which I

4.

THE St. Petersburgh correspondent of the Times has
furnished an account of the review of the Russian
Fleet at Cronstadt, from which it appears, that
although the recent talk of the alarmists among our
countrymen., about a' Russian Fleet issuing from
Cronstadt, of the strength of forty sail of the line,
has been, as almost all alarmist statements are, an
exaggeration, yet Russia has really become provided
with naval armaments of no contemptible amount or
efficiency. As the writer, observes :—" During the
" war but 'one screw frigate, the Palkane, remained
" motionless behind the batteries of Cronstadt, hope-
lessly regarding the magnificent steam fleet of
" Great Britain ;" whereas " on Saturday, the 23rd
'5 inst., the EMPEROR, accompanied by the Grand-
" Duke CONSTANTINE, Grand Admiral, rqviewed a
" fleet of twenty-one vessels, all propelled by steam,

certain restrictions as to the employment of the English and
Irish Militia in the United Kingdom, so as to give the

Government greater facilities for taking ;advantage itg
services as occasion may require. Very opportunely did
Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, on the motion for its second
reading, the other night, warn the House of Lords that.
though:peace has been concluded, we are far. from possessing
any guarantee that tranquility will be maintained ; and that,
therefore, it is a national duty to be, prepared, and to be
upon the alert, that
,not a single one of the defences
on which we ought to rely shall, in the time of need,
be found to have -been neglected. This noble neer-----:and
he has had no small experience in public affairs—
cause of requiring the restoration of the Militia

Ballot, to

which he is evidently of opinion we may be called upon to have
recourse, should the country be threatened at any time with
invasion, or should any, disturbance of its peace and secu-
rity be threatened. The last few months have witnessed

the transition from peace to walland from war to peace;
and it is znot altogether improbable that, before Parliament

meets again, one of these transitions may again take place.
It is true that. the negociations at Zurich profess to have
in view the permanent peace of Europe ; but, under the

noes of the Cont

faith to be placed in any such expectation'

. _
The narrow escape which the Ministerial eandidaVe at
Devonport has had, this week,, reads a powerful lesson to
the-Government and the country. Mr. Bushfield Ferrand,
at the close of the poll, was within 49'votes of gaining the
seat, and this in a constituency upwards. of 2,100 of whom
voted on the occasion. More than this, Devonport is a
Government borough. The influence of the Ministry of the

day is very great, and no doubt it was. exerted to the utmost

on this occasion

Another lesson may be learned from the result of the
Taunton election, occasioned by the elevation to the peerage.
of Mr. Labouchere—a Liberal of the first water, as our
readers, no doubt, are aware ; but who is succeeded, we are
glad to see, by a good Conservative, in the person of Mr.
13entinck. Thus, not only has Lord Palmerston lost, if not
the co-operation, yet the support, of an able member of the
House of Commons ; but has got his place supplied. by one
who, it is probable, may prove a rather formidable
opponent.

The Liberals continue to have their late doings in the
way of Bribery and Corruption at the General Election not
only exposed, but punished. Another Liberal member, who
contributed to the small majority that upset Lord Derby's
Ministrylhas been proved to have gained the, privilege he
so. unjustly exercised by corrupt, and therefore illegal
means. Mr. Walters has been turned out of his seat for
Beverley, on the ground of corrupt electioneering ; and what
makes the case all the more striking is, that his Conservative
colleague, Major Edwards, retains his seat, his course of
proceeding having been proved to be of a very opposite
character to that of the Liberals. It will be strange, indeed,
if such facts as these do not, produce a powerful impression
upon the public mind—dispelling many popular delusions
as to the immaculacy of Liberalism, and the questionable
character, in these respects, of Conservatism. We never
believed that the Conservatives could, upon principle, pill
their seats iii Parliament by Bribery and Corruption; and
it is now being clearly shown that such is only the Liberal
way of doing things--not the Conservative. - _ ,

The prevalent idea, we believe, •is,. that in this tight
little island" of ours, all the land, or thereabout's, that ig

available for culture is, by this time, appropriated. our
transatlantic brethren, who visit us, return home under the
impression that England is a garden ; that, from the Land's
End to the Sol ay Firth, it is all under cultivationr—that