Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-03-28 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN TIMES, MONDAY, MARCH 28 1859

The direct consequence is often the least important.
Incidental, remote, and unthought of evils or advan-
tages frequently exceed the good that is designed,
or the mischief that is foreseen. It is from the silent
and unobserved operation, from the obscure progress
of causes set at work for different purposes, that the
greatest revolutions take their rise." ♦such an
argument as this—for its force is irresistible—shews
beyond all question to how difficult, as well as how
important, a question it is that this long debate is
being devoted.
But a still more practical consideration, and one
much more pertinent too, perhaps, to the subject in
hand, is the fact which this debate has, day by day,
more and more forcibly brought out, that there is
such a difference of opinion among those who are the
most competent, or, at least, the most ready, to
undertake the construction of any measure of
Reform, that it would be very difficult, if not utterly
impossible, in the present state of political parties,
and of public opinion, for any Ministry to be formed,
capable of carrying on the business of the country,
that would be found in entire agreement on the
question, or that could concur in all the de-
tails, if even in all the principles of such a
measure, without some considerable compromise.
And it is on this account, if on no other, that we
presume to differ from the position taken up, in the
debate, by several undoubted Reformers; and,
among others, by Mr. MILNER GIBSON, when he
said,—" I will not shadow forth schemes of Reform
that in my opinion may be desirable, nor allude to
schemes that other hon. members think ought to be
adopted. Parliamentary Reform is essentially a
question that must be dealt with by the Ministers

of the Crown." Now, we humbly think that, on
the contrary, Parliamentary Reform is essentially a
question that must be dealt with by the Legislature
—the Great Council of the nation. And on this
account, it is, that there was so much force in what
the Chancellor of the Exchequer said, the other
night, in answering a question respecting the
intentions of Ministers as to persisting in retaining
certain objectionable features of their Bill,—that
" when he introduced the Bill for the amendment of
the representation of the people, it was the opinion
of his colleagues there was no proposition in the Bill
that might not be beneficially submitted to that calm
and dispassionate consideration which the House had
pledged itself to her Majesty to give to the consi-
deration of that question, and without which pledge
on the part of the House, considering the circum-
stances under which they acceded to power, .that
Bill certainly would not have been introduced." We
know how liable such a declaration as this is to be
construed into a mere pretext for yielding to the
necessity of alterations in the measure, rather than
subthitting to the greater mortification of defeat.
Into this, however, we will not enter. All •we say
is, that the principle enunciated therein is a sound
one, and one of peculiar applicability in the case in
question. Any measure of Parliamentary Reform, in
the present state of public opinion, and of parties, to
be successful must be the act of Parliament itself ; and
Parliament, rather than the Government of the day,
must be responsible for it to the country.

Whether or not this is the view which the House
of Commons will determine to take, and to act upon,
is on the eve of being decided. We cannot but
think, under all the circumstances, that it is, as Mr.
WALPOLE so forcibly shewed, the first duty of the
House of Commons, to see what practical grievances
are to be found in the Constitution, and what defi-
ciencies are to be sunnlied. and then flint They allmil 1
endeavour to see how they can remedy those griev-

and supply those deficiencies in such a manner
as to recognise in the changes they effect all the
constitutional rights and usages of the community,
to make it harmonise with the existing Constitution,
and to elevate by the change, and not depress the
character of that House, and thereby bring the
matter, if possible, to a satisfactory and practical

ances,

conclusion

ENGLAND THE HOME OF FREEDOM.

THE evident appreciation, by the Neapolitan
exiles, of that cordial welcome they have met with
in this country, ought certainly to excite a feeling
of no ordinary satisfaction and pride in every
British bosom. Patriotism is a commendable, nay a
noble quality. There is no sensibility of a popular
description more worthy of being cherished. But
then the country must be deserving of one's love,
and one's attachment. There must be in it something
worth being patriotic for. If we are to be proud of
it, there must be that which, to a rational being,
and a freeman above all, may give just cause for
such a feeling. True, there are those,—and their
name is legion,—of whom it can only be said,
" They love their land because it is their own,
And cannot give another reason why."
But Englishmen, thank God, stand in an infinitely
higher position than that. They " love their land,'
not only " because it is their own," but because it is
the land of liberty,—the land of free and liberal
institutions,—the land of enlightened opinion, of
justice and charity,—and, as such, a land in which
the persecuted and the oppressed will ever find
refuge and protection. The Neapolitan exiles have
experienced this, in a manner which it is impossible
to think of but with a proud consciousness of our
great and noble superiority over every other nation
of Europe : an advantage which ought indeed to
make us grateful, as well as elated,—not forgetting,
at the same time, that it involves a measure of
responsibility on our part, which we must faithfully
discharge, each in his vocation and opportunity; for to
every one does it, in some form, and in some degree,
attach ; if we are to stand acquitted in the national
test by which onr patriotism is to be tried,—

•" Eng-

land expects every man to do his duty."
And, at any rate, what England expected of every
man is being done to those patriotic exiles,—patriotic
to their country, and martyrs in her cause, in her
struggles, alas ! so unsuccessful, to shake off
the despotism that so grievously oppresses her.
Well might Signor EMILIo PETRUCCELLI
declare to the company that received him and his
fellow-sufferers at Bristol the other day, that " they
were overpowered by the reception they had met
with everywhere; and if ever fortunate enough to
return to their native land, they would tell their
wives and children what a great country England
and always seek to impress them with a feeling
of veneration for a nation which could receive
unfortunate men with so much warmth and cordiality
of feeling." And well might he further declare,
that "the free institutions of this country heightened
not only its political but its moral elevation,"—while
he and his countrymen at the same time felt, that
0 although political subjects might for awhile be put
aside, there was one thing Englishmen never put
aside, and that was the principle of humanity."
Could there be more honourable testimony borne to
any nation than this ? And well did he add, that
" he hoped that some day the exiles might be enabled
return to their own native country, and they

would then tell their countrymen that their natural
alliance was with England,"—that "he trusted the
day would come when their own country would be
free, and that then the alliance would remain for
ever, permanent and sure." Yes,—it is only between
free nations that there can be any true alliance.
There must be something congenial, if there is to be
anything cordial. A cold and formal alliance there
may be ; but it will also be a distrustful one, and
therefore it can never be "permanent and sure."
There must be something—something sacred, in
common,—some tie that has its fixture in what may
be, perhaps, a cognation of mind, or nature, mani-
fested and realised in the congeneality of the
institutions under which they respectively live.
England, by her reception of those martyred
exiles, presents a spectacle just now which cannot
but, provoke anew the envy and admiration of the
civilised world. Where is there another country of
Europe that conld have presented such a spectacle ?
Where is there one that would have ventured, that
would have dared to do it, under similar circum-
stances ; or, if it had, would not have aroused a spirit
of insurrection and revolution ? There is no other
country in which the principle of a well-ordered
liberty is to be found in any such reality or efficiency,
either to have enabled the people to give such
political sufferers so hearty a welcome, or to have
allowed their rulers to incur the risk of such a
demonstration of popular sympathy with them, as
the victims of a despot's wrath.

And certainly it ought to commend those
noble souls who have done us the honour to
throw themselves upon our protection, and our
hospitality—it ought to commend them, we say, all
the more warmly to our respect and sympathy, that
they have not only shewn no desire to parade their
claims to our favour, but have firmly but respectfully
declined to be made the objects of the popular dis-
plays that were intended to be held in their honour.
" We feel," they say, " that, after our long absence
out of the world, we cannot give to such forms of
welcome the return which they ought to receive, but
that in retirement alone we can, for the present, do
justice to the proposed sentiments of gratitude which
the generosity of England has awakened in us."
And doubtless this is a sincere expression of their
feelings ; as it must evidently be a very natural
one, with men who have spent the last ten years of
their lives, not only " out of the world," but in the
afflictions of a dungeon. But as well as this, they
saw and felt, no doubt, the danger they

might

create by giving rise to a state of political:excitement
in which the sacredness of the cause in which they
have suffered might be too rudely dealt with, either
for its own interests, or those of any of the parties
concerned.

But they do cherish, nevertheless, we may be
assured, " sentiments of gratitude ;" and they are
ready, they have shewn, deeply yet modestly, to
acknowledge and to perpetuate the feelings " which
the generosity of England has awakened in them."
Let us, then, as Englishmen, be also grateful. Let
our gratitude be made manifest for the blessing of
liberty we are privileged to enjoy,—ever remembering
that it is a blessing only because it is a liberty con-
nected with order—which is not only, indeed,
connected with order and virtue, but could not exist
without them. To preserve and to perpetuate this
should be our constant care, in all the political
changes that we would promote ; and this can never
be done, we may depend upon it, by impairing or
deranging that Constitution under which we possess,
...a +1,,,,,,0rh which alone we can retain it.

THE COURT,

OSB9RNE, March 25th.—Her Majesty and the Prince
Consort, accompanied by Princess Helena, rode on horse-
back yesterday afternoon.
Major-General the Hon. Sir James Scarlett and the Rev.
George Prothero had the honour of dining with her
Majesty.

A deputation on the subject of the Sale of Poisons Bill
had an interview with Mr. Secretary Estcourt on Friday, at
the Home-office. The deputation consisted of Messrs.
George Waugh and G. W. Sandford, and the secretary, Mr.
Bremridge.
At Rome, on St. Patrick's Day, the Prince of Wales
drove to visit the Irish friars of St. Isidore, and the mem-
bers of the Irish college at St. Agatha, between the hours
of religious service, wearing a large bunch of shamrock in
his button-hole, in commemoration of the national festival.
The prince left the friars, whose institution is entirely
dependant upon charity, a generous souvenir of his visit.
At the college his Royal Highness had an interview with
Archbishop Cullen, who attended the prince to the door
upon his departure._

A letter from Rome states that when the Marquis
d'Azeglio waited on the Prince of Wales to present him
with the collar of the order of the Annunciado, he found his
royal highness decked out with the insigna of the Golden
Fleece, which the Emperor of Austria had sent to him on
the previous day !
The Prince Regent of Prussia having on Tuesday, the
22nd, entered on his 63rd year, his royal highness received
in the morning the congratulations of the royal family, of
the distinguished personages now in Berlin, the ministers,
great dignitaries of state, &c. In the evening Prince
Frederick William and all the ministers gave grand dinners
in honour of the day ; all the members of the Chamber of
Deputies, without distinction of party, dined together, as
did also the members of the municipality ; and the Prince
Regent had a grand soiree. In the day time the greater
part of the houses of the capital were decked out with flags,
and at night were illuminated.

LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

The clipper-ship Tornado, from Melbourne, whence she
sailed on the 23rd of December, arrived here on Saturday
with £113,532 in gold dust.

AMERICAN Mails.—The Cunard steamer Canada sailed
for Boston via Halifax, on Saturday afternoon, with abont
fifty passengers and the mails for Canada and the United
States.

On Friday evening last a meeting was held at the Derby
Arms, Kirkdale, of the members of the Victoria Cricket
Club, Mr. George Gordon in the chair, when it was unani-
mously resolved that Messrs. McCombe and Kenion be
secretary and treasurer for the ensuing season.
ST. ANNE'S DISPENSARY AND EYE AND EAR INSTITU-
TION, 13, Rose Hill. —New patients entered on the books
last week, viz :-26th March, 1859 : Relieved at the
institution, 171 ; relieved at their own dwellings, 69 ;
total, 240. Visitors—Messrs. E. Watts, and G. Jordan.
Hon. secretary and treasurer, Joseph Kitchen, Esq.
HORSPALL'S MONSTER WROUGHT-IRON GUN.—This im-
mense piece of ordnance will in a few days be permanently
placed in its position, where it will form a part of the sea
defences of Portsmouth. Midway between Southsea Castle
and the. Western Auxiliary battery a bed of concrete has
been made in the shingle seven feet in depth, and on this
the gun, with its carriage, platform, and loading crane, will
be erected.

LIVERPOOL ROYAL INFIRMARY.—Return for the week
ending March 26th, 1859. Admitted : in-patients, 37 ; out-
patients, 19; surgical casualties, 25. Discharged: cured
20 ; relieved, and at own request, 11; made out-patients
6 ; irregular, 0 ; dead, 6; remain in the house, 181.
For the ensuing week. Visitors : Messrs. J. G. Livingston ;
H. Campbell, Esq. ; physician, Dr. Vose • surgeon, Mr.
Bickersteth ; house surgeon, Mr. T. S. Walker ; junior
house surgeon, Mr. J. Allen ; chaplain, Rev. H. J. Garrod,
A.B. Robert Hutchison, treasurer.
ACCIDENTS.—On Saturday morning William Hewitt,
lodging in Cunliffe-street, and a traveller for a Sheffield
surgical instrument maker, fell down the steps of his lodg-
ings and broke his leg. On Saturday John Lawrence, a
labourer, residing in Tarleton-street, Everton, fell down the
hold of a ship in the Stanley-dock, and fractured his leg.
Yesterday a child named Thomas Watson, three Years' of
age, fell down the steps of his father's house, in Ormond.
street, and broke his arm. The above cases were reported
at the Northern Hospital.
MARCH DUST.—It is said that a pound of " March
dust" is worth an " ounce of gold." • On the principle
that the quotation is true, it would have taken a good many
ounces of " Ballarat stuff" to have purchased the quantity

of dust that was going about the streets, blown hither and
thither on Saturday. There was rather more than a good
strong breeze " out" during the day, and the gravel-
dust that rushed through the streets, was rather injurious
to the optics of the pedestrians. An appearance of rain
was clear, and as April showers may be expected, the, storm
and dust of Saturday may be looked on as the precursors
of such balmy evenings.
THE CIVIL SERVICE.—The Recordership of Norwich has
become vacant by the death of Mr. Prendergast, Q.C.
Customs : Mr. James Baxter has been promoted from second
to first class tide surveyor at Liverpool ; Mr. John Hol-
loway has been promoted from third to second class tide
surveyor at Liverpool; Mr. Martin Byrne has been pro-
moted from third to second class tide surveyor at Liverpool.
Stamps and Taxes Branch : Mr. William Clark Shaw,
supernumerary surveyor of taxes, Liverpool, has been ap-
pointed surveyor of taxes at Pershore.—Civil Service
Gazette.

THE ENGINEERS OF THE BOGOTA. —Up to last night
Buchanax, the chief engineer of the screw steamer Bogota,
charged with the murder of a coal-trimmer on board that
vessel while on the voyage between Valparaiso and this
port, had not surrendereehimself. The police are on the
active look out for him, and we understand that all the
different police stations throughout the, three kingdoms
have been,advised of his disappearance. It is said by some
that he is yet in Liverpool hiding from justice, but this the
detectives of Liverpool do not believe in. They have
searched' everywhere that it is probable he might be con-
cealed in.

A REPOSITORY SALE or WORK will be held on Easter
Monday and Tuesday, for the benefit of the National
Schools of Christ Church, Hunter-street. Further parti-
culars will be duly announced. Contributions are respect-
fully solicited, and will be thankfully received by the
following members of the ladies' committee : —Mrs. Bous-
field, 53, Shaw-street ; Mrs. Blundell, 27, Everton-terrace ;
Mrs. Canty, 33,• Norton-street ; Mrs. Crosthwaite, 124,
Islington ; Mrs. H. J. Hindley, 3, Grecian-terrace, Ever.
ton ; Mrs. T. L. Hodson, 41, Islington ; Mrs. Martin, 116,
Finch-street ; Mrs. Osborn, 17, Earl-street, St. Paul's-
square; Mrs. T. K. Twist 72, Huskisson-street ; Miss
Howard, 23, Stafford-street; Mrs. J. W. Twist, Homer-
terrace, Bootle.

10.---

THE LATEST TELEGRAMS.

INDIA AND CHINA:
TRIESTE, MARCH 26TH.
The Calcutta Mail of the 22nd ultimo, has arrived
here to-day.

OUDI

Tranquility continues to prevail throughout Oude,
and the disarming of the provinces progresses
rapidly.

Up to the 12th instant, 378 cannons, arid 975,000
arms of all kinds had been collected, while 75 forts
have been entirely levelled.

The Begum and the Nana are still in the Nepaul

Terai

On the 9th instant, Brigadier Horsford took four-
teen guns from the rebels on the Nepaul frontier ;
was but slightly
.opposed, and suffered no loss.

Mr. C. J. Wingfield assumed charge of the office
of Chief Commissioner, from Mr. Montgomery, on
the 15th instant.