Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-06-22 00:00:00

TE RA.NDEL FESTIVAL.

Tte glint Handel Festival has concluded worthily.
The last day of the celebration was honoured by an atten-
dance which casts that of Monday and Wednesday into
the shado. The noble choruses of "Israel in Egypt" were
enjoyed on Friday by an audience of 17,292 persons. This
large increase of visitors to the palace was of somewhat a
sudden character. Some secret half-belief in a prolongs.
tion of the festival seems to have been cherished by many
persons till the positive announcement made on Friday
morning in the newspapers ; and then the demand for
tickets was most eager. Oa Monday nearly the whole
company proceeded by early trains; but on Friday down to
a few mtuutes before the Commencement of the peformanee
the trains arrived at the palace heavily laden and in rapid
succession. The promptitude with which the demand for
enlarged accommodation was met by the railway company
speaks highly for the efficiency of its staff. To say that
there was no crowding of those who came at the last mo-
ment would not be true, and the day was one to make
pressure particularly unwelcome, but we believe that the
transit service was performed in the most satisfactory
manner. The spectacle which the nave and transept of
the place presented during the performance of the oratorio
we shall not again describe. If on the previous days it
was inspiring and grand, it was rendered much more so
on Friday, when the company had been increased to the
number of five thousand. Israel in Egypt,
,the oratorio
of Friday, is a work better fitted than either of those
which preceded it for performance in so vast a locality
and on so enormous a scale, for it consists almost
entirely of choruses of gigantic proportions, while
the airs and other pieces for solo singers are so few and
slight that they form an almost insignifieent proportion
of the whole. This circumstance has undoubtedly been
the greatest obstacle to the popularity of the oratorio,
from Handel's own day nearly to the present. Though
" Israel in Egypt," next to " The Messiah" is the greatest
of its immortal author's works—and some critics place it
even: above "The Messiah"—yet it has been among the
least successful. Its history, indeed, is striking and
melancholy. It was composed in the year 1738, ,begun
and finished, with Handel's usual fiery rapidity, within
one month, and first performed at the King's Theatre
(the Italian Opera•house) on the 4th of April in
that year. Jt was repeated on the 11th, and again
on: the 17th, when Handel found it necessary to make
it more' palatable to the :public taste by introducing
into it several Italian[Opera songs having nothing to do
with its subject. But this hopeful expedient did not
succeed. It was; again announced, but on the day of
performance Saul was substituted. It was once 'per-
formed in 1740; once more in 1756, after an interval of
sixteen years; and for the last time during the composer's
life in 1758, the year preceding his death. Six perform.
ances in twenty years. It was not printed while Handel
lived, nor for many years after he died. There is
no reason to believe that it had a
,single performance
in London from the time of Handel's death till it
was revived at the Westminster Abbey Festival
in 1834. On that occasion a number of airs
were interpolated, though this was done with more
attention to propriety than iu works of Handel's own day,
for, the additional airs were selected from Handel's own,
and the words were made appropriate to the subject.
Since then Isaml in Egypt has become one of the stock
pieces of the Sacred Harmonic, by whom It is performed
in its integrity without mutilation or addition ; but it is
only of late that even the Sacred Harmonic Society
have ventured to do this ; for it is not above ten or
twelve years since this Oratorio with airs interpolated
was performed at Exeter Hall. Such, however, is now
the state of public feeling with regard to Handel and his
works, that a practice which so recently was thought
absolutely necessary would now be deemed an act o f
barbarism, and justly; for the works of great men are
not to be tampered with on any ground whatever, not
even if a case of real improvement could be made out. We
cannot help thinking, however, though it may not be
heresy to hint at such an opinion, that it might perhaps
have been as well if Handel himself had constructed his
work somewhat differently. Without lessening its massive
grandeur, ho might perhaps have infused a little more of
the elements of beauty and variety, by the introduction of
some of those " sounds and sweet airs which give delight
and hurt net," of which his genius was an ever-gushing
fountain, and for which ample scope was given by his
subject. Be that, however, as it may, we have the work as
formed by,fts author, and let its form be religiously pre-
seived. The little piece of recitative which leads to the
first chorus was distinctly uttered by Mr. Sims Reeves ;
but as its character did not admit of any effort of voice, it
must have been unheard by alarge portion of the audience.
The chorus, " And the children of Israel sighed," one of
the most pathetic of Handel's choral compositions, was
beautifully sung,'and its long, mournful notes taken up by
one part after another had a most impressive effect. The
next chorus, descriptive of the first plague, when the
waters were turned into blood, is a figure on a subject so
strange and harsh in its intervals that it creates something

like a feeling of horror. The treatment of this unearthly
theme is a piece of consumate contrapuntal skill. The air
;which follows, AC Their land brought forth frogs," is trivial
in its melody, and remarkable for a passage in the accompa-
niments, constantly repeated, by way of imitating the skip-
ping of frogs—a piece of practical mimicry which has been
classed among those puerilities into which great artists fell
inoarly periods of art, but has found defenders among
Handel's thorough-going eulogists. Miss Dolby sang it
well, but could not give it any effect. In the next chorus,
descriptive of the plague of flies and lice, there is more of the
same kind of imitation, the swarms of flies being described
by the rapidly-iterated high notes of the violins. Beyond
this, the chorus has nothing remarkable. The next, " He
gave them hailstones for rain," is of a very different cha-
racter, and is one of Handel's most wonderful achievements
in legitimate description, calling up the most vivid images by
the simplest means. We almost see the " fire, mingled with
hail, running along the ground." We hear the cries of tha
multitude, and the shrieks of terrified females, mingling
with the stern. The artist's design is appargnt to
every one ; and there probably nowhere exists a more
truthful and forcible piece of sound-painting. It was
sung most admirably, and thuuders of applause from
every corner called for and obtained its repetition. It is re.
markable that some ic'eas in this chorus are taken from a
serenata of the celebrated Stradella. Handel, indeed, has
borrowed freely in this oratorio ; bat on whatever he bor-
rowed he bestowed a new value, all his own. Another cele-
brated specimen of Handel's power of calling up images by
means of sounds is " He sent a thick darkness over all the
land." It is a piece of choral recitative, in which the words
are sung, or rather spoken, in unison, by all the voices of
each part, as if thy farmed the single voce of some
mighty individual ; while there proceed from tbo instra-
meats strains of harmony so smothered, undefined, and
gloomy, that the idea of something dark and appalling
irresistibly presents itself. This chorus is of excessive
difficulty; and its execution did the highest honour to the
choir: The chorus, " He rebuked the Red Sea," was one
of the great features of the parfsrmance ; especially the
concluding portion, which describes the destruction of
the host of Pharaoh, ovorvvhelmad by the waters.
Here, again, is sound-painting of the most marvellous
kind. The howling of the storm, the raging of the-
billows, the sounds of terror and despair are all
pictured by the tremendous harmonies of t„.4e-usician.
We know of nothing in music to which t/h-d-Ohortis can be
compared, save perhaps the storm 7.11r6h terminates the
first part of Elijah; bat even Meartielsoba follows Handel
at a vast distance. The thankiving of the Israe:ites for
their deliverance concludes the first part of the oratorio,
in which there are twelve consecutive choruses
without the intervention of a single air. The second
part is one unvarying strain of rejoicing and jubila.
tion. Handel, is his original manuscript, entitled it
" Moses' Song ;" and this title correctly describes it.
Nothing can be grander than the commencement of this
song, which also forms its conclusion, " I will sing unto
the Lord, for he bath triumphed gloriously; the horse
and his rider bath he thrown into the sea." When the
choir begin, " I will sing unto the Lord`" upon a broad,
simple piece of Canto Fermo, their voices seam like the
exulting shout of a whole nation. It is followed by a duet
for two treble voices, which has not much interest, and
sounds poor and tame after the "nighty outburst which it
follows, Madame Clara Novello and Madame Rulers -
dorff sung it well, but without making any iw-

pression. The next chorus, "He is my God." is
remarkable for the antique character of the fine fugue on
on the words, " I will exalt him ;" which is in the ancient
Dorian mode, resembling our modern key of D minor
with a fiat seventh ; so that the subject of the fugue
has a melody similar in character to some of oar
national tunes. It is a very simple strain, but worked,
up and treated with consummate contrapuntal skill.
Then follows the popular duet, "The Lord is a man
of war ;" a bold, bluff song, but of a samewhat vul-
gar and familiar cast, sung by Messrrs. Formes and Weiss
with all the strength of their voices, and received
with considerable applause. Mr. Sims Reeves and Madame
Clara Novelle afterwards had two consecutive airs, " The
enemy said," and " Thou didst blow." The first, though.
really a poor song, received an encore, which it oared t)
the prodigious power of voice with which Reeves shouted
the concluding words, "My hand shall destroy them."
The second, though a much better song, was ineffec-
tive; for the melody is smooth and quiet, and does
not enable the singer to make any great vocal effort
The duet—" Thou in Thy mercy"—though melodious
and expressive, and exceedingly well sung by Miss
Dolby and Reeves, was ineffective from precisely the same
cause. Tim most splendid performance of the day was
the grand final chorus, " Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath
triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He
thrown into the sea," which (as has been said) also begins
the second part. The manner in which, before the chorus
struck in, Clara Novello sang, alone, and unsupported by a
single instrument, was something ananzing —the very tri-
umph of vocal power. Her liquid notes rang through the
vast expanse with the clearness of a bell ; and what was more
wonderful still, not a syllable that she utter..d was lost.
But we cannot help expressing regret that she did not a--
here to Handel s grand and simple text, but male a flourish-
ing run up to the high C and concluded with a long shake.
In doing this she descended from the sublimity of " Miriam,
the prophetess, the sister of Aaron," pouring out the
exulttng thanksgiving of a whole psoele, to the prosaic
attitude of Madame Clara Novello, the favourite prima
donna, executing a tour de force to astonish the audience
in a concert-hall. Such has been the Handel Festival of
1857—a magnificent celebration, and a homage worthy of
its illustrious object. It is intended as the precursor of
another celebration, still more magnificent, two years
hence; and we hops that the experiment which has now
been made will bear good fruit in: suggesting plans for
removing the defects which have made themselves apparent
in the performances.

NOTHING IN THE PAPER TG-DAY.—I always think a man
a dolt who tells me "there is nothing in the paper to-day.'.
Nothing! The newspaper is the daily history of thirty
millions of people, with possessions scattered all over the
world—a people whose aggregate number at home and
abroad is not much less than three hundred millions.
And their 'daily actions are as "nothing" to those who,
skim the surface of a paper in search of a war, an insur-
rection, the death of a prince, or the explosion of a powder-
mill; and who, in one week, forget every incident which,
for the moment, was a real bit of news for them. Not
one person in a hundred knows how to read a newspaper.
They hear a great deal about strychnine, and are tie-
lighted to see the portrait, or read the biography, of a.
criminal; but do they turn to any chemical dictionary o r
work on medical jurisprudence for accurate inform atio n,,
on which to ground a calm judgment of that which excites
them so much ?• To read and understand a nesvpaper,
requires to take pleasure in its several details, as matters,
of contemporaneous history ; and there is scarcely any
single narrative—whether of politics or police, of law or
war, of destitution or mortality—but is fraught with a
true historical lesson, the dates and circumstances worthy
to be made note of, and the outlying facts affording mat-
ter for many a curious literary or scientific study.

LIST OF PASSENGERS BY THE B.M.S. ARABIA, FROM NEW
YORK :—Mrs. S. S. Levy, two children, and nurse, Mr.
and Mrs. D. H. Gor lon, Mrs. E. Biddle, four children, and
nurse, Mrs. Jas. D. Phyfe, two children, and nurse, Mr.
C. B. Lucas and family, Mr. and Mrs. John R. Lowry,
Miss Braze, Miss Glentworrh, Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Mathewp,
child, and nurse, Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Brander, Baron A.
Bruiningk and wife, and four children, Messrs. J. Nicholson,
J. S. Mills, M. Girand, P. A. Girand, lair. Mrs. and J. B.
Olivia, Gustave Olivia, Mrs. F. Olivia and servant, Miss
Phelps, Miss Girand, Miss Alexander, Mr. and Mrs. Bangs,
Mr. and Mrs. J. Eta; Miss M'Nabb, Mrs. Brown's maid,
Messrs. J. Lowery, James D. Phyfe, Edward Biddle and
son, J. S. Robins, J. S. Levy, R C. Cammack and family,
John Calder, C. F. Mitchell, the two Misses Murray and
nurse, Mr. Henry Williams, Messrs. Irven Van Wart and
son, T. Hillyard Cameron, Henry Sterns, Mr. and
Mrs. Battersby and daughter, Mr. Edward Townsend,
Miss Hartridge and maid ; Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Cheney,
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Waller, Messrs. A. Courtier, S. Titus,
L. D. C. Wood, Mossaisky, G. B. Cuthbert, W. Gemmel!,
Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Robbins, Messrs. J. H. Baldwin, A.
Smith, Ahl, J. W. Casilear, Barnwell, John B. Lamar,
G. Bulpin, Charles G. Hook, N. Jackson, James Robb,
Rev, R. A. Helium, Mr. Bayard Milligan, Messrs. A.
M'Andrew, Hugh arney, George Pocket, C. C. Ferrie,
Samuel Cropper, Maxwell, Dr. J. L. Kip, Mr. Archer
Anderson, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Davey, Mr. and Mrs
Joseph Walker', junr., Mr. and Mrs. Joseph W. Bates, and
child, Messrs. Ramon Longoria, Eulogin Fernandez, L.
Herschorn, John Edwards, Edward Rodewald, J. Townsend,
T. G. Hilton, Dr. Alexander Thompson, Messrs. G. L.
Taylor, H. Carter, Robert Woodside, Edwards, F. A.
Reichard, W. H. Fowle, A. Lowenhelm, P. Wilson, J. S.
Hasluck, Carran, W. K. Woodcock, Frederick Cyrus,
Charles Roonie, C. W. Smith, Hon. John Moore, Mr.
Robert Leech, Mr. C. C. Atkinson, Mr. and Mrs. 3.
Brown and child, Mr. and Mrs. M'Calmont, Messrs. Perrot,
John C Brune,and coloured servant; Burlage, W. Deden,
H. L. Williams, jun., L. Bonnermar, J. J. Friedman, J. H.
Dulles, Lewis, jun., J. H. Alwood, R. A. Hoskins, P. N.
Olivia, David Spence; Captain W. Gay ; Messrs. S. Boyd,
E. J. Hurst, William Glenn, James Earl, B. Fitzpatrick,
Miss Caroline Hopley, Miss Ellen Wrian, Mrs. Tonks,
Miss Taylor, Messrs. Gibson, F. Stewart, Joseph
Johnston, A. M. Crowhurst, P. Dusenbnry, H Dusenbury,
J. W. Colkley, L. A. Levyns, Jannin.

Tun NEW JERUSALEM . CHURCH. —The newly-ereetel,
and handsome bnilding in B:dford.streot North, belonging
to this congregation, was opened for public worship on
yesterday. Services were performed, and sermons preached
in the morning, afternoon, and evening, at which collec-
tions were made in aid of the building fund. This even-
ing a public tea meeting will take place in the Concert
Hall, Lord Nelson-street, and the amount realized will be
devoted to the same object.

CONSTANTINOPLE, June 11.—The pretender to the Prin.
cipality of Montenegro, who had taken refuge in Turkey,
has been assassinated. The Journal de Constantinople has
been forbidden to be transmitted by the French mail, in
consequence of the opposition of that journal to the union
of the Principalities. _

The MAINE-LAW MOVEMENT.—A large and imposing
gathering was held in connection with the United King-
dom Alliance on Wednesday, on Pardshaw Crag, Cumber-
land. This county demonstration numbered not less than
15,000 persons, and was presided over by Sir Wilfred
Lawson, Bart., of Brayton, one of the Alliance vice-presi-
dents. The meeting was addressed by the Hon. Neal Dow,
Dr. Lees, S. Pope, Esq , Alderman Harvey, Jas. Simpson,
Effq., J.P., Rev. W. Patterson, and W. Slater, Esq:
Pardshaw Crag is a natural amphitheatre of rock and
sward, commanding extensive mountain views. From a
natural pulpit on the Crag George Fox was accustomed to
preach, and here it was this great meeting was held.
POINTING WITH A VENGBANC& —A country barber in-
scribed on one of his window-panes the following an-
nouncement :—" What do you think, I'll shave you for
nothing, and give you some drink." A traveller entered,
took his seat, and submitted to the luxurious operation of
an easy shave. His toilet completed, he demanded the
drink, and. then " shaved and refreshed," was about to
depart, and of course pay "nothing" for the services
rendered. But the sly hero of the scissors and tongs
had punctuated his motto expressly to delude the unwary.
Our traveller was requested to read it thus : —" What ! do
you think I'll shave you for nothing. and give you some
drink ?" Thus a quaint communication was at once con-
verted into a pert question, and the literary spider caught
the 8y in his artful window-trap.

SPIRIT OF THE WEEKLY PRESS.

evasions to be guarded against. Simple as the

question to be asked on Monday is, we may
expect the answer to be complicated ; and we may
anticipate rather that the report of the meeting
will add to the crude raw material for after
thinking, than present ns with any plan ready cut
and dry for execution.—Spectator.

THE EDUCATION CONFERENCE.
The sate of the public mind on the snbject of
education may be described as that of authorised
enthusiasm, practical purpose, and total confusion.
The Consort of the Queen is to preside at Wiliis's
Rooms, on Monday and two following days, in order
to ask a very simple question as to the impediments
which check the progress of education among the
working classes, especially the early removal of
children from school ; and what practical answer
can we expect ? There is a fixed idea that " some-
thing must be done," but as to what, there is
vagueness and uncertainty ; and even since the
Conference was first advertised important events
have taken place. Fresh inquiries in parliament
have shown that the government will be brought
to account if it should neglect to extend the
education test in the civil service. Party has
been held in abeyance while the House of Com-
mons was compelled to suffer the passing of
Mr. Adderley's bill through the stage of com-
mittee; the object of that bill being to render
vagrancy or mendicancy in young persons a special
qualification which shall insure them an education ;
and commoners and peers are competing to enlarge
reformatory schocls. Oxford has advanced through
all but its last stage of statute for establishing
examinations of a kind suited not only to the
middle class but to all other classes, and calculated
to impart a national character to the schools pre-
paring students for that examination. Already we
see some signs to confirm our expectation that
schools will be established to meet this demand
A promising scheme has been issued for opening
a kind of Polytechnic school, " Gnoll College" in
South Wales, suited to the wealthier portion of
the middle class, or to the upper classes. And the
schoolmasters who have been trying to establish
a species of examination for themselves under the
College of Preceptors, will probably, in a great
proportion of cases, if not in all, conform to the
Oxford standard, or to the standard which Cam-
bridge will establish. In the midst of these new
testimonies to the faith in extended education, the
Prince Consort assembles a large body of eminent
gentlemen, for the simple purpose of asking, why it is
that the sons of labourers are detained by their
parents from school, and how that obstruction can be
surmounted ? We need not wonder if the public is
more anxious to know than able to inform itself.
Education in any useful sense, especially the edu-
cation of the working classes whether rural or
civic, is entirely an idea of modern times. Befere
Luther, children, in those classes not intended to
be " learned" or accomplished, were taught nothing
but their catechism, and even that rarely. .It may
be said to have been Luther who first laid the basis
for teaching all; and his native country, Saxony
is still at the head of the whole of Europe in the
proportion of school pupils to the groas population.
Pestalozzi, whose efforts attracted attention in this
country some years ago, gave such an impulse to
education in Germany, that Prussia and several
states have made education an important business
of the Government. The object of the le-
gislative and executive power appears to be even
more directed to the spread of information than
to the suppression of crime; and parents are not
only compered to send their children to school, but
to do so punctually and regularly. Among the
penalties for neglect is imprisonment. A more
vivid idea of the way in which school-attendance
is enforced, may be gathered from the forms of
notices and sentences in Saxony, which resemble
those used in other parts of liermany. The fol-
lowing notice is sent by a teacher to the parent :
" We miss N.N from the class since Monday, the
Ist of June, without having received any intimation
of the reasons of absence. We request you, there-
fore, to indorse the cause of absence on the back of
this ticket, and to send your child to school again."
If the offence of absence without excuse is con-
tinued or repeated, the register of the school is
exhibited to the school director, who sends the
following summons to the parent :—" To Mr. N.—
We now present to you the list of shool-absences
of your child. If you do not wish to be prosecuted
according to law, present yourself at the latest
between the hours of ten and four to the under-
signed, with your excuses." If after this summons
a valid excuse is not forthcoming, the school-director
gives information of the case to the government
school-inspector, who puts into the hands of a
policeman the following warrant, which cites the
delinquent parent before a magistrate :—" You are
hereby called upon to appear on the 7th of June at
ten in the morning, to be tried for the neglected
school-attendance of your child. (Signed)
...School-Inspector ...... ....Magistrate."
In England, until our own day, the State had
upon the whole remained passive, education being
left more or less to the parish or to the church. Now
the church believes in itself more than in the
school ; and not only has it subordinated the school
house to the parish-church, but each sect has had
schools in which, for many years, the object was
rather to see that the poor little pupil bad some
firm, though mechanical hold of the dogma, than
any real command of the elements of instruction.
Even the most "liberal" plans yet brought to the
verge of practice, demand some teaching of
"religious knowledge." One of the most re-
markable features of the school system in Saxony
Prussia, and many of the neighbouring States,
is the independence of any creed, and the univer-
sality of the children's attendance. After a child
has arrived at the legal age of attending_ school,
whether it be the child of noble or peasant, he
must be sent to school ; the only two absolute
grounds of exemption being illness and death.
Parents are not obliged to send their children to a
public school ; the children may be sent to a
private school ; but to some school the children
must go. All teachers, however, of private as well
as of public schools, must submit fo an examina-
tion, and must have a certificate of qualification
from the Government Inspector of Schools. The
quality of the education, thus compulsorily impart-
ed is not in all cases high, but there is a certain
amount of real instruction. In the rural districts
of Prussia, Saxony, and most other States of Ger-
many, the curriculum consists of reading, writing,
arithmetic, drawing, geography. and history. No
great stress is laid on the last two, but rather upon
the other four, and no individual can be encountered
of any grade or class whatsoever, who cannot at
least read and write and manage a little ciphering.
How are these school labours reconciled with
rustic laboor ? The hours, of attendance vary in
the different places ; but they are longer in winter
than in summer. In fact, throughout the poorer
districts of Pomerania, Silesia, &e , the schools
are described as being in vacation throughout the
summer, so that the children may assist their
. parents in field labours ; and during the harvest
all national schools in the rural districts are shut.
It may, therefore, be said that there is a complete
attendance in the, rural schools only during five
or six months of the, year, and the daily time at
that period appears toebe from four to six hours.
These fac,s, no doubt, aria connected with the
reason why Dr. Lyon Playfals is expected to tell
something as to the mode in which they manage
matters on the Continent. He had already studied
the subject, as any one may see by reading the
pamphlet embodying his speech at the anniversary
of the People's College in Sheffield in October, 1853,
on "Science and its Relations to Labour " It is,
however, quite obvious, in limine, that such com-
pulsions, are available in Germany could not be
employed in England ; and that consideration
reminds us that the experiences of the Continent
cannot be of more than partial application here.
The system of " half-time is more reasonable. It
is just to protect the child against the avarice or
recklessness of the parent, to whom the law ren-
ders that child subservient there would therefore
be no injustice in exacting from the parent a
certificate of the child's attendance at school,
as an indispensable condition to any liberty
of employing that child in labour profitable
to the father. But even this quasi-eompulsory
mechanicism of education would demand; as its
essential accompaniment, free schools ; and here we
are plunged again into all the questions of rating,
of voluntary " school pence," of colourable attend-
ance, with the interminable distinctions between
town and country, as to the character of the tuition,
the mode of supporting the schools, and the

NINE H. URS IN THE COMMONS.
One night last week the House of Commons got
into a confusion so inextricable, became so
thoroughly puzzled, and so completely defied the
control of any acknowledged authority, that it had
to break up and go home to bed, from sheer
inability to discover any way of escape from the
difficulties in which it was plunged. It sat
for nine hours, without any result, except the bad-
gering of two subordinate members of the govern-
ment, and several sharp skirmishes between second-
rate speakers. Different causes probably united
to produce this unfortunate result. The parliament
is new, and does not as yet know its work. There
is no minister who can effectually control it in the
discussion of domestic subjects; for, patiently and
reverently as it listens to the Premier when he is
on the ground of foreign affairs, it distrusts his
lead in the details of horre policy. Then, again,
it is in the nature of Englishmen to undergo
strange fits of waywardness, and Parliament may
be expected to exhibit occasional outbursts of the
national humour. But the chief cause of the
imbroglio undoubtedly lay in the nature of the
subject with which the house was dealing. The

government—and they demoralize the house by
the habits of license and disorder which they
engender. It is absolutely essential for the govern-
ment to make arrangements by which their recur-
rence shall be rendered impossible. The course
taken by Mr. Wilson was taken from a very good
motive—he provoked a general discussion
because he wished to give free play to cri-
ticism. But the event showed that, when the
house has to consider the propriety of money votes,
the only chance of profitable discussion is to em-
dody every disputed point in a distinct and single
issue. If this can be done without the change of
any of the existing rules so much the better : for it
is very undesirable to alter regulations which have
received the sanction of time, and which may be
regarded as representing the experience of centu-
ries. Still, at whatever cost, confusion like that
which we have described must be prevented, and
the public business despatched. We trust that
the government will take warning by the lesson it
has received, and will prolride against the repetition
of scenes so discreditable both to itself and to
parliament —Saturday Review.

THE REDUCTION OF THE BANK RATE OF I
INTEREST.
The step taken by the Bank of England in
slightly reducing the rate of discount, appears
upon the face of the published accounts to be fully
justified, by its improved position, not only as
compared with the state of those accounts of the
preceding week, but still more as compared with
the accounts at the beginning of April when the
rate was raised to 61 per cent. As .compared with
the accounts of the preceding week, the bullion
shows an increase of no less than 632,7951, and the
reserve of notes in the banking department of
647,0001, the circulation in the hands of the public
remaining nearly the same. On the other hand,
the amount of private securities, which must
always be regarded as the measure of the demand
upon the Bank, shows in the one week a decrease
of 387,5421. When compared with the period when
the rate was raised to 6i per cent., the bullion
has increased by 1,012,0001, and the reserve in
the banking department is higher by 1,300,000/ ;
while the amount advanced upon private
securities is 1,319,0001 less. In looking, how-
ever, at the state of the Bank of England,
and in estimating correctly the reduction now made,
we should fall into a great error if we did not refer
to the particular time of the quarter which regularly
and periodically affects materially the condition of
the Bank of England. It is well known that
towards the close of each quarter the position of
the Bank is greatly strengthened by the accumu_
lation of Government deposits prior to the pay-
ment of the dividends, and that at such times the
Bank is in a condition. to extend its accommodation
from temporary causes. In order, therefore, to
form a correct relative estimate of the position of
the Bank in relation to the probable permanency
of its improved condition, it is necessary to com-
pare the accounts of the Bank at the corresponding
dates of each quarter. These accounts are dated
the 13th instant, and, therefore, the corresponding
accounts of last quarter were those made up on
the 14th of March. The items to which we have
referred, taken from the accounts of the 14th
March and those of the 13th inst., compare as
folio 413

Civil Service Estimates are composed of items so
miscellaneous—they cross many favourite hobbies
of individuals, irritate many sores, and are within
the compass of so many minds—that they are sure
to provoke, even under the most favourable cir-
cumstances, a large amount of desultory and
random criticism. And the peculiar mode in. which
they were last week presented to the considera-
tion of the house, made anything like orderly die-
cussion perfectly hopeless. Mr. Wilson, whose
office it was to bring them forward, knew that the
vast increase of these estimates during the last
five years was a source of alarm and anxiety
to the reflective portion of his hearers
and of the public ; and he wished, there-
fore, to take an opportunity of stating how
this increase had grown up, and how far the present
gorvernment was responsible for its existence. He
went through every head, stating the amount and
the cause of each additional burden thrown on the
tax-payer. He pointed out the instances in which
parliament had been more extravagant than the
ministry. He explained how increase oF expenditure
had been rendered necessary by changes in the
social policy of the country. He was prepared, not
only to defend the government on every point, but
to prophecy that futureyears would see the expendi-
ture augmented. And he adopted the unusal course
of making his statement after the Speaker had left
the chair, for the express purpose of inviting free
discussion, and of releasing his critics as much as
possible from the restraint of parliamentary forms.
Nothing could, at the first glance, have been fairer
or handsomer, yet nothing could have turned out
worse. What happened was only what might have
been expected. The house was invited to consider
the general subject of the increase of the Estimates.
But it is not very easy to deal with a hundred and
fifty heads of expenditure except in detail. A man
who wants retrenchment wants to see expenditure
diminished under some particular head, with the
facts of which he has made himself acquainted.
Every critic has made some one point his
own. As, soon, therefore, as a general discus-
sion was invited, a host of questions were asked,
and remarks offered, on every conceivable subject
connected more or less remotely with the Civil
Service. One member stated that he was longing
to hear a justification for an extravagant purchase
of furniture. Another complained that a guinea
was now charged for keys giving admission into
Hampton-park. A third wished to know how the
breeding studs at Bushy were kept up, and a
fourth thought that 251. instead of 501. (the
sum proposed) was sufficient to maintain the
Chancellor of the Exchequer's stables in Scotland-
yard. Of course no interrogator considered it neces-
sary to wait for a reply to the inquiries of his
predecessors ; and Sir Benjamin Hall, to whose
department they most referred, was often four or
five questions deep, and sat still from mere want
of power to reply to everybody at once. This
tempest of inquiry was diversified by a private
sparring between Mr. Stafford and Mr. Roebuck,
each of whom stated that he was in the most
,perfect good temper, but said the bitterest things
which the heat of the moment could suggest.
When Mr. Stafford sat down, Mr. Spooner„with
more humour than he ordinarily displays, asked
whether they might not now conclude that the
general discussion was terminated. But his
reproof was ineffectual, and the house relapsed
into its mood of special inquiry—different
members requesting information on subjects
so incongruous as, whether any pl ns had
been prepared for the adaptation of Burlington
House to natural purposes ? what rooms had been
hired for the conduct of public business? and why
the pictures at Hampton Court do not bear the
names of the painters? As it was impossible to
deal with this labryuth of questions, the ministers
interrogated for the most part remained silent.
Every now and then, indeed, an exception was
made. When a member confidently asked why the
expenditure on the royal palaces had increased 70
per cant ,he was met by the reply that it had
decreased by a sum exceeding 5,0001. But, gene-
rally, the querists were left to answer them-
selves, and any other course would obviously
have been hopeless. At last this irregular
fire 'ceased, and the house settled itself to the
discussion of the first vote on the list, by which
it was proposed to appropriate a sum of 190,146/ to
the maintenance of palaces and public buildings.
But here a new difficulty arose, which proved
insuperable. The different items of this demand
were accurately set down in the estimates, but
they were all comprehended hi a single vote. One
member objected to one item, another objected to
another item ; but the rules of the house did not
permit an amendment to be put many ather shape
than in that of a proposal to reduce the total
amount by a. specified sum. It was open to one
member to propose that the vote should be
reduced by 10,0001, and to another to pro.
posed that it should be reduced by 20,000/
—the regular course of proceeding being that
the larger reduction should be taken first, and
the smaller one put to the vote only in the event
of the house rejecting the former. And this ar-
rangement would work perfectly well, if only two
amendments were proposed but it obviously fails
if objections are taken to three items, unless two
of the sums are in the first instance added to-
gether, and their gross amount submitted to the
vote of the house before they are dealt with sepa-
rately. If, without any previous concert, three
members respectively propose that a vote shall
be reduced by the sums of 10,0001, 5,0001.,
4,oool.—end if the first proposal is re-
jected, and the second adopted—the third
cannot be entertained at all, because, if
it were carriel, the amount would be reduced by
0,0001., which is precluded by the rule that
the largest reduction must be taken first. The
only method of succeeding in both would be to
arrange that the £9,000. should be taken as one
vote. From the nature of the case, such an ar-
rangement is difficult to effect, because each mem-
ber has his own favourite point of attack, and is
wholly indifferent to the operations of his neigh-
bours. At any rate, it would require long practice
and great parliamentary experience to familiarise
members with the working of so complicated a
machinery. In a new parliament—and a parlia-
ment very little under , ministerial control—
the practical result of the rule was utter
confusion. Endless proposals for reduction
were made, but were withdrawn, because no
one amendment could be put to the vote without
interfering with all the rest. There was no way out
of the mess ; and after floundering on until nearly
one o'clock in the morning, the house had literally
to abandon the task, and to seek recoveey from its
bewilderment in a night's rest. Such exhibitions
of wasted time and energy are much to be depre-
cated. They make it impoSsible that parliament
should give the requisite attention to matters of
real importance—they cast a tiltlr on represeutatiye

Private Reserve of
Bullion. Circulation. Secaritt3s. Notes.

March 14.. 9,574,000 18,517,000 19,575,000 5 532,000
Jane 13..10,221,00) 18,772,000 18,679,000 5,924,000

This comparison shows the Bank to be in a
better condition at present, and more able to meet
the demand soon to be made for the dividends,
than it was at the corresponding time in March.
The bullion is more by 647,0001, and the reserve is
more by 392,0001, while the private securities are
896,0001 less; and circulation is only 255,0001
more. So far, therefore, as the comparison of the
two quarters are concerned, the accounts would
encourage an opinion in favour of an easier state
of the money market hereafter. With regard,
however, to the demand of capital for trade at dif-
ferent periods, it is more determined by the cor-
responding periods of the year than of the quarter.
And in this 'view of the ease, it would be a safer
criterion as to the future, to compare the accounts
of the Bank of England now published with those
of the corresponding period in June last year,
which may be stated thus :
Bullion. Circulation. Securities. Reserve.
1856. .£
June 14 . .11,437,000 19,233,000 14,367,000 6,673,000
1857.
June 13..10,221,000 18,778,000 18,679,000 5,924,000
Looking at this latter comparison the result is
much leas favourable to the bank. The bullion a
year ago was 1,216000/. more than it is at present :
the reserve was more last year by 754,0001., and
the advances upon private securities were less by
tho large sum of 4,3l2,oool.:—therefore, in every
way the bank was in a much stronger condition
to resist the pressure which came upon it subse-
quently, than it is at this moment. On the other
hand, it must be borne in mind that a year ago, the
rate of discount was 5 per cent., and that now it
is 6 per cent. This comparison would, however,
lead to well-founded doubts as to any consider-
able . reduction, if any, in the value of money
in the present year, and especially when it is
considered that the chief causes which led
to a drain upon the bank last year, continue in
full operation in the present year. The drain of
silver to the East, and the consequent drain of gold
from this country to procure it, in place of being
mitigated, is rather aggravated : the failure of the
silk crop in the present year is at least equal to
that of last year; the increase of our general trade
in 1856, which led to great demands for capital,
appears, at least up to the present time, to be still
proceeding at an equal rate. All those great causes
which existed for dear capital in 1856 appear equally
to exist in 1857, while the Bank is not in so good a
condition to meet the consequent demand. The
only important fact of a favourable character at the
present time, in comparison with 1856, is, that
perhaps more generally throughout Europe and
the United States the prospects of the harvest are
better, and that, so far as it goes, is no doubt an
important feature. So far, however, as the condition
of the Bank of England is concerned, and so far as
the known causes of the scarcity of capital in 1856
can be now compared with similar influences at
this moment, we fear that there is nothing from

which it would be safe to infer that the present
step taken by the Bank of England can be regarded
as the forerunner of a permanently lower rate of
liscount.—Economist.

THE NORTHERN TIMES.--LIVERPOOL, MONDAY, JUNE 22, 1857.

noted- of its political contributors. In spite 0,
their differences of opinion about the Roman
Catholics, the tory party concluded the
war in triumph, and preserved the due equili-
brium in European states. Will any one contend
that differences on a Jewish are more serious
than those on a Romish question ? It is, besides,
an entire mistake to suppose that an, absolute
'conformity on secondary or sectional political
questions was ever required from the members of
the great Conservative party. That connection
was founded after the Reform Bill, and it stayed
the movement from going too far. It gave battle
to the Liberals on the question of the sacred-
ness of church, and it won. It assailed the
Whigs on their financial blunders, and proved to
the country that the Liberals were unfitted to con-
duct the business of the exchequer. The whole
community pronounced against them, and accepted
the income tax in preference to whig budgets. On
foreign'policy the conservative statesman impeached
the conduct of Vicount Palmerston, and the country
has adopted the opinions of the conservatives,
while the Premier, ever facile and flexible, has been
compelled to modify his own. When menaced by
Irish agitation, which had, from the fostering
patronage of the whigs, disturbed the empire, and
insulted the majesty of the crown, the Conser-
vatives put the law of the land into
execution, and vanquished O'Connell. And
yet, while gaining these great parliamentary and
constitutional battles, and exhibiting an unbroken
confederacy, there were several secondary ques-
tions on which the conservative chiefs dissented
from each other—such as a municipal reform for
England and Ireland, the universities and the dis-
senters, railway legislation, and other subjects
which we need not particularise. Such differences
of opinion must always be expected amongst large
political confederations composed of freemen and
gentlemen. It is only in fundamental views and
essential principles that. absolute conformity can
be looked for amongst all the members of a
great party. The conservatives do not object
to the fair action of public opinion, once that it is
clearly ascertained to be opinion, and not the sense-
less echo of clamour. They desired to be ruled by
the ancient institutions of the realm, because they
preserve the state from the rigidity of absolutism,
or the extravagance of democracy. It is calumny
to assert that conservatism is opposed to social
progress, or the free development of true public
spirit. On all the, great questions cited above
the conservatives refused to bend to ephemeral
clamonr, and the voice of the country pronounced
finally in favour of their principles. Who now hears
any radical outcry about " Reform of the House of
Lerds," or removing the bishops from the upper
house ? So, also, on the " ballot," the conserva-
tives have consistently resisted that uu-English
mode of taking the suffrages of a free people.
The whigs, in reality, coincide in opinion with
them, but only for the aid given by the conserva-
tives our electoral proceedings would long since
have been "Americanised," and the foundations of
our mixed constitution would have heen shaken.
There will always be some exceptional question
presenting difficulties which cannot be solved by
the first principles of party. The Jewish question
has all that variety of complicated interests and
conflicting claims on which it might previously be
anticipated that there would be differences of
opinion between members of the conservative
party. To expect unanimity of view upon such a
subject would be impossible. There are many
" Liberals" in the country who do not, coincide
with Lord John Russell upon it; and, exclusively
of all political sentiments, there is undoubtedly
much variety of feeling on the question, and even
a great portion of apathy in the community at
large.—Press.

JERROLD'S GRAVE.
The funeral of Douglas Jerrold, which took place
in Norwood Cemetery on Monday last, was in all
respects a fitting and characteristic tribute to his
memory. There was too much real grief amongst
those present for any parade of conventional
mourning, and everything connected with the event
was quiet, simple, and impressive. The cemetery
is just the spot he would have chosen for his last
resting place—a green and wooded knoll,
surrounded with rich meadows, and within
sight of the great world of action; amongst
whose noblest workers he had resolutely toiled for
nearly half a century. The ocean roar of distant
city life,_ which for years beat a fierce, tumultuous
music on the brain and heart of the slumberer,
melts around his grave to the inland murmur of
a shell. He sleeps .amidst the summer blooms
Sand waving shadolas that he loved. For you can-
not . help seeing in his writings that, with the
keenest relish of city life, Jerrold had a poet's
fondness for wild flowers, green fields, rustic
scenes, and fresh country air. Glipses of the fair
and smiling fields of Kent, of its trim hedgerows,
" wayside cottages, with garden-strips of brimming
flowers,"often occur in his works, especially—and as
a welcome relief to its gloomy pictures of city wretch-
edness, luxury, and crime—in his longest story," St.
Giles and St. James " He rests, too, near his
earliest friend, ,Laman Blanchard's grave being
just opposite on the other side of the path. The
number and character of the mourners who fol-
lowed his body to the tomb were a living epitaph
on the deceased, more eloquent and striking than
any words could be. The funeral was private, and
the place of burial being distant and difficult of
access, it was naturally thought that comparatively
few would be present. With the exception, how-
ever, of one or two friends unavoidably absent
through illness or distance, the mourners at
the grave included all who knew him or who were
connected with him in any way, from the most
distinguished members of his own profession to
the pressmen and compositors from the printing-
office, who were now and then cheered, at their work
by his kindly word and radiant smile. The time
fixed on was scarcely convenient to some who might
have wished to be present, It was the first day
of the " Handel Festival," and while the sad pro-
cession wound slowly up the rising ground of the
cemetery, the sublime anthems, and swelling
choruses of the Messiah," flooded the crystal dome
of the neighbouring palace with the noblest
sacred music ever composed ; but this did not thin
the numbers in the quietburying-ground. To all who
knew him, indeed, there was a music that was
touching and profound in the words of consolation
and hope spoken at the open grave of one so loved
and honoured. The gathering round the grave
was spontaneous ; the loss heartfelt, and the grief
sincere. What an impressive sight it was F Every
turn of the winding carriage way showed in the pro-
cession some well-known face saddened by the
common loss Immediately behind the
hearse you saw Dickens's noble brow,
energetic form, and worn, intense mournful
look; and not far oft Thackeray's grand head,
white and uncovered, rose like King Saul's far
above all his brethren. Behind followed members
of almost every profession—barristers, physicians,
clergymen, artists, with the President of the
Academy at their head, managers and actors from
various theatres, leading publishers, headed by the
veteran Charles Knight, while every department of
literature was represented by some of its foremost
men, who had numbered Jerrold amongst their
chosen friends. Such a gathering at his grave is
a sufficient answer to all that has been said by
covert slander or open hostility of his vindictive
bitter nature. This is, indeed, but the cuckoo cry
of cold-LlFLarted and shallow crities.—Leader.

THE CONSERVATIVES AND THE
JEW BILL.
The malice of faction was rarely more distinctly
seen than in the active propagation of rumours
that there were schisms in the Conservative party.
Because Sir John Pekin gton honourably avowed
a change of views on the admission of Jews into
the Legislature, it was assumed that dissentions
existed amongst the representatives of the Con-
servative community. his significant that these
rumours have been spread abroad in a week
when a favourite measure of the government
escaped defeat in the House of Lords by
the narrow majority of five on a division
of 101 to ninety six, and when on a practical
motion, of which long notice had been given,
ministers were beaten on the same night in the
House of Coranalna by a majority of ten, on a
division of 172 to 162.
We must remind the circulators of such idle tales
that Lord George Bentinck was chosen leader of
the conservatives in the lower house, after the
clearest declaration from that lamented statesman TRIESTE, June 18.—The Envoy Extraordinary of Rus-
of his views on the question ; and the same thing sin, at the Court of Teheran, has arrived here, accom-
can be affirmed in the case of the right hon. gentle- panted by 17 officers and 60 cossacks, who served him as
man the member for Bucks. Like the " Cathol"
-1" Prince of Herat who was taken prisoner, has been be-
, 11-3ort. The Envoy was received the tollowing:day. The
Question," the subject of the admission of the Jews headed at Teheran.,
into the legislature has at no time been made a. Pest THE HIGH PRICE OF SUGAR. —PUBLIC MEETING IN
of party. _Lord Castleregh and Mr. Canning led LEEDS.—An open-air meeting was held in Church-street,
the tories in the lower house from 1806 to 1826, Hunslet, Leeds, on Wednesday evening, upwards of 10,000
though both were for " Emancipation ;" and these persons being present, for the put pose of taking into con-
eminent statesmen acted in a cabinet of which the sideration the present high price of sugar. Mr. William
Premier, Lord Liverpool, and the Chancellor, Lord Peel presided. The following resolution, proposed by Mr.
Joseph Scott, seconded by Mr. F. Smith, was
Eldon were were actively hostile to the claims of the
Roman Catholics. So little Of a party character mously carrihed. :h--" That this meeting, sjeaingo_noracoanuoseofor
the
agreesp r present nt
abstain
had the catholic question, that the Quarteily
convenient
Review remained silent upon it till 1830, and never g frrnmee
uosfisnuggaarnyexaceopftar bast
ist
„ to their families, until a reduction n of at least al per lb.
discussed its balance of arguments in any " uni- shall take place." The resolution concluded with a strong
lateral sense," to WM the phrase of one of the most recommendation to other townships to go and 40, likewise.

POLICE COURT.-SAT URD iY.,

LIVERPOOL.
BEFORE MR MANSFIELD.

ASSIULTiNd TIM POLICE.— A porter named Thomas
Mather, was charged cv,!!h having assaulted Policeman
No. 631. The officer saw titi,e prisoner running after, and
beating some boys, who were calling him " Jack Pud-
ding." The officer interfered, when the prisoner assaulted
him, tore his clothes, kicked him in tht legs, and knocked
one of his teeth down his throat. he peisaner was sent
for trial. Patrick Power, and Anne O'Brien, were sent to
gaol for six months fir having assaulted the police.
POCKET PICKING,—TWO well-dressed females, named
Elizabeth Woods and Mary Gilling, were charged with
picking :he pocket of Mary liarton, a " Cheshire gal," at
the George's Pierhead, on FrPay evening. Mr. Dodd
defended the prisoners. The case was clearly proved, and
as the prisoners were wall-known, to the police, they were
sent for trial.
ASSAULTING A BAlLlFF.—Michael M‘GaWArt was charged
with having assaulted a bailiff named James Reed. The
complainant said he went to levy a distress for rent on the
prisoners goods in Crosby street, when the prisoner
rushed at him with a spade, but he caught it and then he
gave him a "clout" on the eye, with sore thing that
opened it. (Meaning that he split his eye-lid open.) He
was sent to gaol for one month.
CAUTION TO SAILORS.—James R. Bell, Samuel Jeffers,
Emanuel Martin, James Campbell, Alexander Gardiner,
and Nicholas Twiss, were braught up by Inspector Chew,
on a charge of refusing to proceed to sea, and there was
an additional charge against Ball. f. r drawing a knife and
threatening the captain. It appeared that the prisoners
had signed articles to go to the Brazils in the ship
Snowden, with a Captain Smith. They were on board in
the river, and ready for sea, but it seemed Captain Smith
was replaced by another named Arthur William Dickson,
and when he assamed the command of the ship, the pri-
soners refused to proceed to sea, and acted very disorderly,
and Bell threatened the captain and drew his knife.
In answer to the charge, the prisoners said that they were
under the impression that they should sign fresh articles
when they got a fresh captain. Mr. Mansfield read the
articles, and a clause directing them to obey Captain Smith
or his lawful succe2sor. His worship asked the captain
if the risonere had received an advance, and he replied
they all got an advance. His worship said it was plain
why they refused to go in the ship. They wanted to defraud
the owners of the ship. It was mean, shabby, and un-
sailor-like. He sentenced Bell (as the worst of the gang)
to ten weeks' hard labour, and the others to six weeke'
imprisonment. The prisoners then said they would go in
the ship, but the captain refused to take them, so they were
committed.