The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-03-01 00:00:00

PHILHARMONIC HALL

THIS EVENING (TUESDAY),
LAST NIGHT BUT FOUR Of
THOMAS'S UNRIVALLED BAND
OF Firm- PERFORMERS.
Admission, Is. ; Stalls. 2s. ; Boxes, 2s. Sd.
(See Programmes of the day.)

March Ist,

Etbapoot -:".ltanbarb.

FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

MONDAY MORNING

THE existence of the present Government will, to a great
extent, be determined on Thursday, when the Irish
Liberal Members intend taking council as to the course
they should adopt in the present crisis of public affairs.

About sixty representatives from the sister country are
expected to attend the meeting ; and if the majority
should resolve that, in pursuance of the policy recom-
mended by the Tenant Leaguers and Ribbonmen, all
ministerial measures shall be opposed so long as Lord
ABERDEEN refuses to endorse SHARNIAN CRAWFORD'S
bill, and pull down the Established Church, then, as by
one of the Brigade's standing rules, the minority are
bound by the majority, you may expect ovtr half a
hundred Liberals arrayed in opposition to the government,
and the government itself in a minority in the House o
Commons of from 15 to 20 Notes. The result of the
meeting is looked forwardto with great interest, and each
of the two sections into which the Irish parliamentary
party is divided has been for days past using vigorous
exertions to secure the attendance of as large a number as
possible of those favourable to their respective views.
Half a dozen lines in the report of Friday night's par-
liamentary proceedings record the fact that the select com-
mittee who were to have tried the merits of HELY
HtrcurNsos's petition against the return of Mr.
ESNIOND, the Brigade member for Waterford county
have been discharged, and an order made by a special
vote of the House of Commons for the appointment of
another Committee, who, it is to be hoped, will confer
the representation on as gallant and honourable a Conser-
vative as ever sipped champagne at the Carlton. This
rather unusual disbandonment of an Election Com-
mittee, just on the eve of being sworn before the Speaker,

has given rise to a good deal of by no means uninteresting
gossip; and as the real circumstances connected with the
affair have not yet found their way into ang of the public
journals, I think I may as well narrate them here. The
newspaper report says, that Sir JOHN TROLLOPE moved
for the discharge of the Waterford Committee, and the
nomination of another, on the ground that Colonel VER-
NON HARCOURT, one of the members, had pleaded
inability to attend, in consequence of the death
of his brother. It is quite true that such a

plea was raised, but it is equally true that ano-
ther member, Viscount 31oNce, found himself
placed in such an awkward fix by the cleverness of
the Conservative agent, that he could not consistently
take any part in the transactions of whatever
committee may be selected to seat or unseat
Mr. ESMOND. As the Committee originally stood,
it presented many features decidedly unfavourable to the
Conservative candidate. The majority were of Mr.
E,MOND'S political complexion, and two of the members
are his personal friends. With such a tribunal, FIERY
HUTCHINSON'S prospects of winning the battle, as you
can very well suppose, were all taut hopeless. Fortu-
nately, it transpired that, some weeks ago, Viscount
MoNcre had made a bet of £25, at the Kildare-street Club
in Dublin, with CECIL LAWLESS, Lord CLONCURRY'S
son, member for Clonmel, that Mr. EMSOND would not
be unseated. Viscount Moscx, an Irishman, though
representative of an English borough, when questioned
touching the wager, frankly admitted that it had been
booked. The SPEAKER was then informed of the circum-
stance. He gave it as his opinion that Viscount Moecx
could not serve, and directed the chairman to report the
affair to the House of Commons and call for another com-
mittee. In the meantime the domestic calamity to which
I have adverted occurred in Colonel Heacouer's femil y,
and on this ground was the committee discharged,
Viscount MoNcx's entanglement in the plot being care-
fully concealed from the eyes of the Legislature.
An interesting little debate occurred in the House of
Commons on Tuesday evening, before the Maynooth
question came on. It arose on the motion of that genuine
Conservative and real old English gentleman, Sir ROBERT
HARRY INGLIS, whose very name is " warrant for his
welcome," and touching whose personnel more anon.
Sir ROBERT called the attention of the house to the ardu-
Oils duties of Mr. SPEAKER, in olden times called " the
mouth of the house ;" he referred to the apparont ab3ut•
dity and unreasonableness of imposing such constant
attendance upon frail humanity, the want also of a deputy
for the right hon. gentleman, to take the chair in case of j
sudden emergency from cold or cholic. Sir ROBERT then,
from a very early period of the history of the House of
Commons, cited various instances of speakers being placed
in such a predicament. There was, in 1686, a Speaker
reported to the house as " very sick," whereupon the
house adjourned ; there was a period of fifty years when
no Speaker was reported unwell and absent from duty. In
1659 (I give you dates as pronounced by Sir ROBERT
INGLIS). there were four cases of absence from illness—
house adjourned each time, much to the satisfaction of all
the members, save and except those who had motions to
bring forward ; in 1772 the Speaker was taken " sick at his
post,"—house adjourned. But I need not go into more
details from my notes, as we come down the tido of time,
be it enough that Sir ROBERT Iscels clinched the impor-
tance of the question by calling attention to the fact that
the present Speaker, Mr. SHAW LEFEVRE, " put the
question" no fewer than three hundred times on Monday
evening. Under these circumstances it does seem strange
that there is no Deputy-Speaker, and stranger still, that
such a thorough-paced business man as JOSEPH HUME
should oppose so rational a proposition. He did so, how-
ever, but took nothing by his opposition. The House of
Peers, which does not sit one twentieth of the time, com-
pared with the Commons, has four or five deputies, or
speakers, who take the woolsack in the absence of the
LORD CHANCELLOR. It may be that the more aristo-
cratic atmosphere of the upper chamber, with all the
agremens of lordly-life beside, might even change the
perennial and sturdy member for Montrose—were he
made Lord Hume—into an exotic or hot-house plant, and
hence deputy-speakers by the half-dozen may be required
in the Lords. Be this as it may, the Speakers of the
House of Commons, time out of mind, for the most part
have been remarkable for their immunity from sudden
or prolonged attacks of the ills which flesh is heir to. The
late CHARLES MANNERS SUTTON was a remarkable
example of unbroken attention to the duties of the
speakership, and, no doubt, would have been referred to
by the right lion. baronet in his enumeration of Speakers,
but for the obvious reason that a great number of the
members of the present house—although it is motley
enough—well knew and remembered the manners in the
house of my old friend. Not so your readers generally.
MANNERS SUTTON, afterwards Viscount CANTERBURY,
was, indeed, a prodigy in sticking to business. It was his
wont on a " debate night" to take the chair at 4 o'clock
in the afternoon ; after prayers—l don't think they say
them so well now—came petitions, then as now, by the
cart-load, till five—teazing questions coming as quick as
hail, and referring to every end of the earth, and to every
subject in or above it, occupied another hour, at the expi-
ration of which time the regular business began, not ter-
minating till two, three—aye, four in the morning !
Twelve mortal hours, during which period MANNERS
SUTTON—beyond a friendly chat with a member leaning
on the arm of the chair, and apparently a more needful
pinch of rapee—had no other creature comfort during the
tedious hours. There he sat, like JUPITER TONANS, in
wig, without " budging," meat, or drink. When he
retired to his house, which was reached by a short passage
from the senate chamber, his usual meal was a basin of
humble gruel, little better than skills ; then he went
through his devotions in the same attire he sat in in the
house : these finished, to bed, with what appetite for sleep
he might. So attached to the duties of the speakership
and to their faithful discharge was this remarkable man—
in other respects mediocre—that on the pleasant summer's
evening, when his aged father, the Archbishop of CAN-
TERBURY, was breathing his last in Lambeth Palace, across
the Thames, and opposite the House of Commons, the
Right Hon. Gentleman was, as usual, presiding over the
august assembly. A trusty servant of the house was sta-
tioned on the roof, keeping his eyes on the Archiepiscopal
palace. It had been arranged that, when it was unmis-
takeably apparent that the ARCHBISHOP was in articulo
mortis, a white handkerchief should be waved for a mo-
ment from one of the ancient towers of Lambeth Palace.
and
About half-past six o'clock the signal was perceived,
in a few minutes the house adjourned. If Sir ROBERT
INGLIS had told this, it would have told better than re-
ferences to cholics two hundred years old. N'importe,
Sir ROBERT you are a brick of the right sort. The con-
stant sitting of MANNERS SUTTON superinduced a disease
which it is believed ultimately cat short his life. The
present SPEAKER divides his evening. About ten:o'clock
he retires—has the wing of a fowl, or something of that
sort ready —a glass of wine—takes them, and is in the
house again in a twinkling.
The axe is laid at the root of the Upas. The politically

"accursed thing"—Maynooth College—school for traitors
—is doomed ! Though the debate on Mr. SPOONER'S
motion was not cleverly managed,—yea, bungled,—
ruined in the outset, as it were, by Mr. SCHOLEFIELD'S
wishy-washy and side-wind amendment, having for its
effect the doing away of all state enactments in aid of
ecclesiastical or religious endowments whatever, still a
victory was gailed, the motion for an enquiry into the
grant being lost by a majority of 30 only, and this majo-
rity, I have good reason to know, would have been much
less, had the division,—hurried on,—not taken place at a
Wednesday's sitting, just about six o'clock, when the
house as a matter of course adjourns. A division was not
expected by many members in favour of the motion.
Hence the partial defeat. Mr. SPOONER is able to deal
heavy blows against the iniquity : let him ecr on ; he will
succeed in the long run. And why ? Cardinal W ISEMAN
and his allies, the Romish Priests of Ireland, are the hon.
member's best supporters in the present instance; the
fearful denunciations of the priests at the recent Irish
elections, against all who did not support the renegade
quaker-papist and his like, told more for Mr. SPOONER
than all his facts, fiery though they were. The debate, on
a nauseous subject, was deeply interesting, as was shown
by the attendance of members and strangers, the former
chiefly preferring a drive in the ring of Hyde-park, on
Wednesday, to sitting in the House of Commons, and
sensible fellows they are for so doing. The Government
acted rather wisely on the present occasion ; not prone to
praise the Co. Cab., as the Coalition Cabinet is sometimes
called for short, its members considered that there was
little or no use for scarcely a word from either of them.
This was well ; the thing will work its own " kill or
cure," and though " His Eminence " holds over, or at
most, only attempts a little dust-throwing in the eyes of
the natives, by spouting absurdities in reference to the
support of science,—which means knowledge and all that
sort o' thing, given by the Faithful in Italy,—he is sore at
heart ; and though apparently taking no public part, he
thinks the more, deeming prudence the better part of
valour. A fool is accounted wise when he holds his
tongue. Sensible Roman Catholics, I mean those of that
numerous and in most regards highly intellectual and
respectable portion of our fellow-subjects who are not
priest-ridden, lament the recent interference at the

elections. Repeat it, and the progress of Popery is
put back a century. And happily. Cardinal WisEmAN
knows now, that had he staid where he was, his church
would have had more chance of advancing. The late
DANIEL O'CONNELL scarcely ever passed any of the fine
metropolitan places of worship a dozen years ago, without
expressing himself, in what he deemed prophetic accents,
that before many years were over, the niche would have
its holy water in these same churches. It is not so. Nor
likely to be.

Idiosynceacy of Parliament ! Tell us the meaning of
the words, best of all possible correspondents. Go to the
taverns in and about Palace-yard, and you will, gentle
reader, soon find out an answer for yourself. Every
question debated in Parliament attracts its own particular
auditors. So likewise do contested elections bring toge-
ther, in the hostels aforesaid, certain shrewd-looking,
bribe-taking—many of them—individuals, in the shape of
witnesses, peculiar in aspect and manner,—rusticity and
cunning curiously blended, and striving as it were for
rivalry,—garb homely but good. They are tolerably well
paid for their attendance to vindicate the futility of Whig
measures for the prevention of bribery. Proh pudor !
Bush.' For the most part, the varlets I treat of have a
guinea a-day ; yet a shilling clears each man of the majo-
rity. In the evening they spend no money, for they
chiefly get admission to the gallery of the House of
Commons. which they make redolent with dirty cheese.
This is a cheap, quiet, instructive, warm way of passing
the evening ; and then it affords them scope and verge
for conversation in tap or parlour, when they return to
their polluted (in a parliamentary sense) town. To hear
some of the evidence tendered by many of these worthies,
it is quite evident that they must have managed to get
their names put on the list of witnesses; thus shewing
the " jobbery " of the affair ; for, in many cases, their
evidence is not worth a farthing. We have had close
upon half-a-dozen election committees sitting within an
equal number of days. Bribery ! Bribery ! all is bribery ;
and the grave, the venerable city of Canterbury talked
about as unceremoniously as was another Cathedral city—
St. Albans—not long ago ; and, indeed, for that matter,
the committee was not very nice with your own sturdy
borough of Lancaster, the writ for which is not to be
moved for some days. There will be much more of this
sort of work going on for some time. A long experience
touching election committees and parliamentary proceed-
ings, enables me to say, that the present
more rife in political corruption of this sort, than many
parliaments which have gone before. And we shall get
worse, and worse, unless some more stringent means of

prevention are adopted, transportation to the bribed
elector—disfranchisement to the place, and ten thou-
sand pounds fine to the cause of all !

Idiosyncracy of Parliament, said I ? Yea. As flies are
attracted by the pot of ointment, so does a peculiar debate
attract peculiar men. Is it the Sugar Duties ? Yes. Do you
see that portly, somewhat heavy-headed German, in grey,
sitting in the gallery opposite, listening all ear to the
CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER ? He is a sugar. -
baker. And so on in every branch of legislation. During
the debates on the Municipal Corporation Bill, both
houses were inundated with town-clerks ;—Parochial
Bills, vestry-clerks are in the ascendant. The Free
Church question—a very foolish one, by the bye—filled
Lords and Commons with seedy black coats and seedier
smalls from every nook of Caledonia. Even the May-
nooth grant—to die soon, let us hope—still attracts its
admirers and opponents, as was witnessed on Tuesday
evening. The best nights are in the House of Lords,
when a " duck of a peer" is to make an explanation or
propound a question. Then it is that the daughters of
England's aristocracy most do congregate. Gabble !
gabble yet intelligent and attentive. Sharp wits and
politically bitter are many of these beautiful creatures.
How patient withal I have seen a duchess and her daugh-
ter exist—through a livelong night of ten hours—upon a
knob of lump sugar a-piece, and half a dozen drops of
eau de Cologne.
But of course I am not ignorant of the great fact in
grammar, that there is an exception to every general
rule. Were I, the appearance of the House of Commons
on Thursday evening, during the discussion of the Jew
Relief Bill, would have dissipated the error. I did not
perceive in the gallery, nor under it, three individuals of
the tribe, while Christian lords and commons—the latter
not members, but of our own common public—thronged
the spaces allotted to strangers. Why is this seeming
indifference ? Simply because the Jew cares not for the
question of relief in the 'parliamentary sense. Give him
his Exchange in Houndsditch, if you will, where he can
higgle in everything, from diamonds to dirty rags, and
nineteen-twentieths of the Jewish community will be
satisfied. Contrast Jew apathy to religious toleration,
with the warmth of our quiet friends, the Quakers, the
Moravians, the Separatists I A little bill was introduced

f and carried, a few seasons back, to relieve these people
from oath-taking, and, during the discussion of the
measure, they in a manner crowded the legislative
chamber. Do I, then, underrate the Jew in the scale of
intellectual grandeur ? Certainly not. Who are the
fathers of sphere-harmony ? Jews—MENDELSSEION and
NIEYERBEER—be of the Prophete ; older and greater I
might name, were Ito " bestow my tediousness."—Who,
executants of the divine art ? Jews mainly—men and wo-
men, singers of world-wide fame. Who in literature
grand ? The Jew—BEN DISRAELI for example. Who
writes those glorious periods, as with pen of burnished
gold, or sapphire, in the " leading journal"—the portion
devoted too seldom to literature, and which will be ad-
mired by the scholar as long as there is anything pure and
dignified in our language ? A Jew. For all this, the
Jews do not, as a body politic, care an old hat for the re-
moval of their " religious disabilities" as the thing is
called. I will not run the risk of sinning against the
patience of your intelligent readers by noticing the debate
on the question,—it was stere3typ6—the same platitudes,
heartless clap-trap,—humbug—of former discussions cha-
racterised it. The question was carried by a majority of
234 to 205, making a house of 439 members, which is
considered a tolerably good gathering. During the divi-
sion I went up stairs and cooled myself with a bottle of ,
Chateau La Rose, and ascertained that there are not more
than nine or ten of the present party-coloured Govern-
ment in favour of the Jew Bill. The measure will be
rejected by the Lords. The Bishop of LoNnoN's obser-
vations will not be forgotten,—temp. a dozen and more
years ago—" Though we have admitted Roman Catholics
into Parliament, my Lords, the House of Commons has
not yet ceased to be Christian."
With regard to the theatres, I might in a double sense
say nil ; first as to novelty of production, and second as
to receipts, with the exception, perhaps, of CHARLES
KEAN'S and Jolts MITCHELL'S establishments—the
latter the French plays. The recent dreadfully nipping
weather, indifferent dramas indifferently acted, together
with the revolution in the abominable order system, have
exhibited during the week a " beggarly account of empty
boxes." Mr. ic
—E AN, at the Princess's, has committed, and
is perpetuating, a dramatic mistake, in the most magni-
ficent manner; he has produced Macbeth as played 6cfore