Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-12-09 00:00:00

DECEMBER 9, 1859

triumphs in the walks of politi-&—azid of filiance•
His preparatory Parliathent has sat it appears at
the Guildhall ,COffeezhouse, and arranged its
plans for the coming session. These 'plans are
to be guided by more practical prudeffee- than
Mr. Bright usually condescends to be guilty af•
He very properly sees the impossibility of getting
all he wants, and counsels his followers to take
what is to be offered theni—for the present.
At the meeting
_of the Mersey pod& and
Harbour Board yesterday, several matters of
general interest were brought under discussion.
Among these, the sugge§tion of Mr. John Laud
for establishing a National Dock Yard and Arsenal
at Wallasey Pool, was taken up by the Board.
Some diversity of opinion lon the subject vils
.
elicited, and after a good deal of discussion, 'll
which the Chairman, Mr. Mondel, Mr. Graves,
Mr. Tobin, Mr. Shand, Mr. Rankin, and Mr.
Maclver, took part the question as a whole was
referred to a committee, consisting of the Works and
Marine Committees for. report. The importanee
of the subject, and the" vast interests which It
involves, claim for it a dispassionate considera-
tion, and such, without doubt, it will receive from
the Board when the report of the joint committee
is brought before it. Another matter of public,
as well as of individual importance, which ealne
under the consideration of the meeting, was the
period of service of Mr. North, solicitor to the
estate. It appeared, from the proceedings, that
Mr. North has been solicitor to the Dock Trust
for eleven years, at an annual salary of £l,OOO--
the sum he was originally engaged at—without
any increase of remuneration, and that his services
have been of the greatest benefit to the Estate. In
consideration of these facts the Board, without
a discussion, and all but unanimously, resolved to
present Mr. North with £2,500 as a gratuiti'
and to increase his salary to £1,500 per annure,
commencing from the 24th of June last.

At the weekly meeting of the Workhouse Co'
. mittee of the Select Vestry, held yesterdays l%
report was submitted in relation to the assertions
put forth by- Mr. Joseph Rowntree, in the neoro"
papers lately. These assertions charged the incol"
bers of the Vestry generally with negligence ill
the discharge of their duty as guardians of the
poor; they likewise averred that the flour frosi
which the bread of the paupers was made, wag
unsound ; and- that the place in which the female
inmates of the workhouse were set to work ill
grinding flour, was ill-ventilated and unhealthy' ;
and, moreover, that the occupation itself was 011;
pressive and unfit for_females. Each and all 01
these avermentswas distinctly-denied in the report'
'which further declared there was no ground for
having made them.

Yesterday, we gave prominence to an ira.Pcd:
tant meeting held on the previous evening, f°'
the purpose of promoting the interests of tile
Protestant College at Malta. To-day we
give reasonable space to the reported proceeding
of another meeting in connection with the sate
subject, the chief speaker on the occasion being'
as before, the Earl of Shaftesbury. To the
early portion of that philanthropic nobleman'
address we have peculiar pleasure in , direct'
ing attention, insomuch as it refers to the
general value of an independent Conservative
journal as a means of disseminating correct views
upon national affairs. The other portions Of
Lordship's address, relating to the commercial
advantages likely to arise out of a properly
organised system of Protestant education among
the numerous tribes whose youth will be educated
at Malta in the proposed College, are so practical,'
and so practically comprehensive as to recommea'
themselves to general approbation.
WE
-
WE think Mr. BRIGHT would employ mare ad
vantageously his time snatched for 10,1101
leisure from the management and direction of Ili°
own manufactories,. in investigating the jobbed
of the Whig party, than in propounding the
impracticable propositions set forth by the m
Findlli;
cial Reform Association with regard to a ne
system of taxation. By doing so he would de
the State some service, instead of attacking tilo,
great landed Interest:of this country, and a
them up by means of misrepresentation
obloquy to the odium of their fellow-men. -%Se
andcannot seriously believe that that gentleman
his disciples really and truly think that the aria
e
tocracy of this country is indeed actuated by t",t.
selfish motives he and they attribute to
We consider the disposition of the Egg,.oo
I,te
nobleman to be quite as generous and conside-
with regard to other men, as that which 14:ej
of the noisy and fussy declamatory of " advan4,
Liberal " opinions appropriate to themselw
011
be
We are fully convinced that if it could •
shewn to the nobility and landed gentry of
country, that they were not paying a due 1
portion of the requirements of the State, ace() oraji4
f
to their possessions, there is not any elan a 3
the community who would be more de9il.ol
to correct, with alacrity, such an 11-tiegrol
state of thins. =. It is contrary to their gedece,
feeling, as it must be allowed to be to their praetl
to be relieved from any such just proportion'
bt -
pressure upon their more humble and less fdtt:ia
nate fellow countrymen. Mr. BRIGHT 11° t. 4
deprive the great landed Interest of those Ile tt
which do most unquestionably appertain to it' oe
which ought always to command that jag° it,
in the State which properly belongs t°9o
—by substituting principles of universal tic
frage and the other concomitants of transatidll,o
republicanism. While he would contract,
political rights within the narrowest lids
desirousundue andto
he is most anxiousandanadn
proportion nt'ecessities of the empire. to
rittitohne
olfartghees
does he not turn his attention to enforce. 14
practice of those plausible precepts preached_ to
the Whigs as the reason for their selectio_
office by the country, namely, that of retreo.
went and the careful and economical OP be
ture of public monies. Perhaps it may be for
neath the notice of the honourable Inentbtri'
Birmingham to condescend to save to the CO7 the
by the reorganisation of our public once'' wed
million pounds which Mr. DISRAELI • the
for
could be easily effected. It iS too purl
grasp of his gigantic mind and purpose. beat
The fact is that the Whigs have ah'illYs

DEuEMBER 9, 1859.

loudest in professions and the most laggard in
execution. The-7
cannot be charged, at any
period of their political history, with being with-
out natural affection for their own kith and kin.
Xot, indeed, but that we think a certain amount
of political nepotism may be exercised towards

supporters without censure or impropriety, pro-
vided it is not to the detriment of the public ser-_
vice and at the cost of the public purse ; but
such a disgraceful and flagrant attempt as
has been recently made and. broUght to light
under this " motley Administration," of Whig
jobbery, is almost unparalleled in effrontery and

Cupidity. It appears that Sir RICHARD BROMLEY,

—who commenced life as a dockyard clerk, and
has, by his own diligence, assiduity, and intelli-
gence, raised himself to one of the most impor-
tant, permanent, and lucrative offices connected
With the Admiralty, that of Accountant-General to
the Na (the salary of which is £l5OO a-year,) and
to which he was appointed in 1854 by Sir JAMES
GRAHAM,—had suffered so much in health from
'constant and harassing application to the duties of
his office—which were greatly multiplied upon

him, by the vigilance and activity imposed upon
Sir NOUN PAKINGTON by the inertness and negli-
-gence of his Whig predecessor,—that this valuable

-servant of the public was compelled to request
that the Board of Admiralty would be pleased to
superannuate him. Sir 3-011 N PAKINGTON,
With real regard for economy, in ,the present
highly taxed state of the country, refused to in-
crease the expenditure by allowing the retirement
of so valuable an officer, and granted him leave

of absence for six months to recruit his strength.
In the interim between the granting of this leave
and its expiration, the present Cabinet "of the
4` mixed talents " came into power. Such an op-
portunity was not to be lost of providing for
some hungry supporter, although there had been
an absence from office on their part of only
'twelve months. Brief as was the interval, yet

-still it was sufficient to whet the Whig ' appe-

tite for patronage and jobbery. The present
Board of Admiralty immediately superannuated
Sir RICHARD BROMLEY, with a prospect of

creating a place for some Liberal parasite. For-

tunately, however, for the pocket of the country,
this artful dodge could not be smuggled through
-sub silentio, but had to be confirmed by the
Treasury, which, however, refused to do so,
because it was found that it would be contrary
,10 the provisions of an Act of Parliament.
Now we ask Mr. BRIGHT whether his talents

*would not be more usefully applied in the expo-,
-flare of such. reckless and selfish extravagance in
the administration of the public funds than by
exhibiting himself shorn of the support of his
friends, like
" The last rose of summer, left blooming alone,
All his lovely companions were faded and gone,'
at that miser4ble failure of an attempt to get up
a counter demonstration to that which was -SO

successfully and so satisfactorily to all parties

concerned, lately made in honour of Lord DERBY
'---one of the greatest ornaments of that aristo-
cracy which it seems to be Mr. BRIGHT'S eon-
14tant and' congenial occupation to vilify and
misrepresent.

biz recent Financial Reform demonstration
served, at least one use, which was not for itself;
ked illustrated one principle which belonged to
"Political opponents. For, in:the first place, when
Radicalism shows its front we can have no doubt
that Conservatism has a very definite antagonistic
creed. The fact of Mr. BRIGHT'S manifesto of the
let December being put forward in conscious
rivalry of Lord DERBY'S on the 29th of October,
Proves that therewas great meaning in the latter.
And the principle which it illustrates—by the
bile of contrary—is that to which Lord STANLEY
gave expression on the first and most memorable
If these occasions, namely, that " the day for
extreme opinions has passed."

Some people, and in high quarters too, are pre-
tending to make out that Conservatism represents
only traditions which have died away, and. has no
longer a real work to discharge for the country. But
ill opposition to this, we maintain that iffor seventy
Years we trace the intellectual progress of the
Ilarty which present Conservatism represents, we
4411 find it discharging substantially the same
unction for the State ; we shall learn to ascribe
t 4) it the present stability of our institutions,
411 d the high tone which pervades the national
character. If the lesson it teaches at the
esent day may be taken as justly described
14. the words of Lord STANLEY, we may say with
Nuai truth, that its function was to teach the
iiklale lesson seventy years ago. To the faithful-
Ilet3B with which it taught that lesson then,
1/443' we ascribe our having escaped the in-
glience of those disastrous and extreme opi-
-41048 which first established in a neighbouring
Lcountry the license of a depraved liberty, and
L4°e at last ended in the supremacy of a single
hI. And who shall say that—the danger
tithe old revolutionary spirit being past—the
4071atitution, the best interests of the nation, and
110 the various classes which compose the body
:tie, have not still to be saved from the disas-
-11;13 influence of " extreme opinions ?" It is
probable that whatever changes are effected in
tile face of this country and its institutions,
illO they may be very extreme and very violent,
cY Will be effected without a revolution. But
u! play be-none the less abrupt and none the
71, subversive of the principles and traditions of
Ithipolitical life. The very circumstances, indeed,
ch at this day render violent changes possible
t
4eut the appearance of actual violence, and
iaer
the destruction of everything particularly
lish
eftbie and which the best men love best, practi-
L Without the warnings with which revolution
aids •
ht its approach, perhaps increase our dan-
-44d render necessary a diligence of prepara-

tion more subtle and systematic. We, alluded
yesterday. to the way in which public opinion is
both abused and counterfeited,. and the danger
which attends the-Church of. England from this
tendency of the rude mind of the day. Now, the
service which has to be done for the Church,
Conservatism has hitherto done, and is yet doing
for the State. There is no reason to be ashamed
of its past.. career. For the sake of argument or
of agreement, we might admit for it many mistakes,
and some errors—many fears unrealised, and
many predictions unfulfilled. Every school and
combination has an evil or a mistaken tendency,
which needs correcting or counterbalancing. The
tendency of Conservatism may have often been to
oppose earnestly changes which have turned out
not so badly, and to suspect the beneficial operation
of measures, whose usefulness even their advo-
cates were not certain of, except as experiments.
We say, all this might be admitted without
damaging the position of the great Conservative
party, or proving that its mission is less definite
or less necessary than ever. Even if so, its fail-
ings have leaned to virtue's side ; and when
its rivals have charged it with being immoderate
in opposition, it may be well asked, would a more
modified tone have presented that excess of " re-
form," which contains in it no preservative from
revolution ? We say that hitherto Conservatism
has done its work well, and that it knows in
itself what it has yet to do, and is preparing to I
do it.

Now if moderate men of the Liberal party re-
tain, as we believe they do, fixed patriotic princi-
ples, they must congratulate themselves and the
country at large on the existence of a make-weight
to the madness of Mr. BRIGHT. There is only one
thing which can keep this alien element of
Brightism in solution in the composition of the
State. Where shall this principle be looked for
except in Conservatism? Without the counter-
Acting influence supplied by the Constitutional
party, the Brightean element would have long
ago attracted to itself every spite of false phi-
losophy, every outburst of momentary discontent,
every development of human passion, and gathered
it into a mighty avalanche for the purpose of
crushing the whole political fabric. The fiery
element which is now kept down, corked up,
• pressed into a corner, and watched over by
the wily and diligent guard of Conservatism,
would otherwise have burst its • confines and
blown the vessel into a thousand pieces. This
is the service which Conservatism does the
State, and which Whiggism has shown
itself too vacillating and too factious to be either
able or willing to do. We believe there are
many moderate Liberals who thankfully recognise
this service, and who would dread nothing more
than that, through mistake or faction, the Conser-
vative party should be betrayed or obliged, for one
moment, into giving it up. There is no other
party-combination that can discharge it. There
is no other influence which can keep the Consti-
tution from the rude touch of those unwieldly
hands, which though they should gain a giant's
power, have only the retentiveness of an infant's,
and would tumble it into fragments.

THE LATEST NEWS.

LBY BRITISH AND IRISH MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.]

FRANCE.

Lord Brougham has left for Cannes, where he
will stay for the winter.

Large shipments of Irish spirits have reached
Rouen and Bordeaux this season, owing to the
high price and scarcity of French-made alcohol,
for curing the vintage.

THE FRENCH FUNDS.
PARIS, Dec. 8.
The Three per Cent. Rentes open this morning
at 70 ex dir., being 4- per cent better than yester-
day.
12.50 P.M.—The upward movement in Funds
continues, and Rentes 69f. 95c.

2 P.M.—Business on the Bourse is very active,
and a further material advance has taken place
in Rentes, which are now quoted 70f. 30c.

3. 40 P.M.—Market closes firm. Rentes per
cent. above yesterday, the final quotation being

70f. 40e.
•
THE CONGRESS.

Dec. 8, MID-DAY.
The Paris correspondent of the Times says,—
Count Walewski's friends assert that he has sent
a despatch to Turin, setting forth that the Con-
gress is a work of conciliation, but the choice
of M. Cavour gave umbrage to the Emperor, to
the Pope, and to Austria, and therefore hopes he
may count on the goodwill of Piedmont not to
send as her representative her patriotic and her
ablest statesman Count Cavour.
PARIS, Dec. 8.
The adhesion of Spain to the Congress had been
received, and M. Mon will be her second pleni-
potentiary. Baron Schlienitz, it is asserted, will
,lecidedly sit at the Congress, as representative of
:)russia.

HUMANE CONDUCT OF A FRENCH

CAPTAIN.

The gallant conduct of the captain of a French
clipper in rescuing the captain and crew of the
ship Birkenhead, of Liverpool, from impending
death, has been reported to the French Govern-
ment. The lives of twenty-three persons were
saved ; they had been exposed to the greatest
privations for twelve days, and during this period
a British vessel had passed near, without affording
any assistance, though the condition of the Bir-
, kenhead was evident.

PRANCE AND ENGLAND.

The Paris correspondent of the Daily News
denies that eithe,r thd army or any other consti-
tuted body in France, has either the desire or the
power, in the slightest degree to force the hand
of the executive and urge on war with England,
against the real wish of the Emperor.
At a grand 'dinner given to the new Municipal
COuncil of Paris, by the Prefect of the Seine, the
speech of that functionary was eulogistic of the
new pacific era on which he said France had now
entered ; and, in proposing the health of the'
Prince Imperial, he remarked that dynasties are
founded by the, glory of arms—it is on works of
peace that durable grandeur is established. Ac-
cording fo the letter from Berlin, in the Journal
des Debats, the English and French Governments
are consulting together upon an arrangement of
the Italian question,, which will probably not
satisfy Austria, but will-encounter no serious ob-
jection at Berlin and St. Petersburg.

NORTHERN DAM Tingt,,