The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-04-05 00:00:00

Eibapool g--7tanbarbt

FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

MONDAY MORNING.
THERE has been a regular " rumpus" all the week in the
city, among the merchant princes, anent that silly and
uncalled-for address, to Louis NAPOLEN, setting forth
that England had the best possible feelings of brotherly
love towards Frenchmen. I must tell you that the affair
was got up by Mr. MASTERMAN, a worthy man, morally
and commercially ; Sir JAMES DUKE, the alderman, a
cannie Scot, of unblemished character, though, perhaps,
not of withering brilliancy of fancy ; and smug SAMUEL
GURNEY, the great Quaker bill broker,fiegled by SIDNEY
SMITH, of corn-law notoriety. There are a great many
merchants in the city who have not, and would not, sign
the address at all ; firstly, because they did not see any
likelihood of a breach of the peace between the two
countries ; and, secondly, they considered it would be just
as well to let " booing" to the EMPEROR alone for the
present. Worse, however, remains behind ; the suppres -
sio yeri is a not very creditable act on the part of any
man, or body of men ; yet vast numbers, even of those
merchants who signed the address, declare, in scorn, that
they never would have done so, had they known that it
was to be presented personally to LOUIS NAPOLEON.
In short, this fact was kept in the dark. The thing,
however, is done, and the EMPEROR and EUGENIE, his
cars sposa, certainly did the honours of the Tuileries
dinner in grand style, according to the accounts of several
who have returned after having been both balled and
dined. It was a droll sight to see not a few of the
staunchest English Conservatives so employed, in the ab-
sence of all the Conservative respectability of France !
Some say the address could do no harm ; I am not sure of
that. The merchant princes bad no business to go half
way, as if they really were afraid that, for a moment, the
EMPEROR contemplated an invasion. At the same time,
the French don't like to be licked,—Waterloo still sticks
in the throats of the most peaceful of them: thousands and
thousands of French people, men and women, if truth is
spoken in cabaret and yin ordinaire. Let " Lumber
Troopers"cejole, as they can cajole, and go the whole hog—
deputations—Vice les Anglais—Vive every thing—Wa-
terloo lives in their memories—and rankles—a word, and
a blow if need be ; but it so happens there is, and shall be,
"no need be." For Louis' word nobody would give a
button, if he (Louis) were placed on the horns of a
dilemma. Luckily it so happens we are prepared for him,
though great Agamemnon be sick ; in our preparation we
have our " flower safety" as from the " nettle danger ;"
and if the address to the EMPEROR (Help us !) was a
piece of surplusage, the parties paid for it at the price of
about £3,000, but they had into the bargain a nice Easter
jaunt to Peri, as the " buffers" are now calling Paris,
after the stay of a week. Fact, I assure you ; within one
hour ago I heard one of them, whom hitherto I had looked
upon as a rational and tolerably educated person, drawl
out Katie for Calais. One hates humbug, with which the
city address began and ended.
Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN's manifesto, all the way from
Van Diemen's Lend, has ceased some conversation and
commiseration in our political circles. Now that mostly
all the members of the legislature have returned to their
Parliamentary duties, I doubt not it will attract some
attention in the House of Commcns. This, lam of opi-
nion, will not be absolutely necessary ; for, from what I
can gather, there is every disposition in the highest quar-
ter to hold out mercy and forgiveness ; in short, to allow
the once-misguided, wrong-headed, but not bad-hearted
man, to return to his "own dear country." So much am
persuaded of this, that I do not hesitate to express my
belief, as it certainly is my hope, that we shall have the
descendant of the kings of Ireland a member of Parlia-
ment once more. His address to the nobility and gentry
of Ireland, who exerted themselves for his release, in
placinz a memorial to that effect before the Earl of
EGLINTON, might have been more tempered in diction ;
but, considering the man, it is evident he is much tamed
down. Poor fellow, I recollect him, when, Maevoeio-like,
he was kept prisoner in the cellar of the House of Com-
mons, no martyr appeared to be more proud, even when
the passer-by stood between the " Irish patriot" and
the little sunlight lie had about a couple of hours in the day.
He says he don't remember ever having uttered a word
disrespectful of Queen VicTottia. Certainly not; neither
her Gracious MAJESTY, nor her Ministers past or present,
accused him of that. But bad the Priests stuck to him
and his mad scheme, no one could have predicated the
consequences. The Irish Priests, however, encouraged
him till no longer safe for themselves, and then left the
vain, deluded, and obstinate patriot to shift for himself.
That funny fellow, BUCKSTONE, the actor, and lessee of
'the Haymarket Theatre—where may he prosper—in his
capacity of treasurer to the General Theatrical Fund,
at the last anniversary, held two or three days ago, men-
tioned in his speech that two gentlemen of the legal pro-
fession bad vouchsafed certain advice and performed some
law work for the institution, gratis—free for nothing, as
PAT says—thereby saving the fund a good round sum,
available to charity, which otherwise would have to be
disbursed to pay the lawyers. The intimation was re-
ceived with more than the usual raps on the London
tavern mahogany—which, by the bye, has a deeply in-
dented margin all round, caused by knocks in ac'enow-
kdgment of millions of pounds sterling given by after-
dinner gentlemen in charity. BUCKY'S announcement
was followed by the remark that so sensible was he of
the kindness of his forensic friends, that he had resolved
never, while he had the management of the Haymarket
Theatre, to utter one word, however piquant the word,
or tempting the opportunity, to the disparagement of
lawyers in general. This, of course, produced a hearty
laugh, and a hear ! hear ! or two. Well, I hope our
friends, the lawyers, will console themselves in part with
this. Certes, they and the clergy need not go for brotherhood
to those two aristocratic nests, the Wyndham Club and
Arthur's, for there they are black-balled in a most sweep-
ing manner at present ; and what's more, the dukes, mar-
quises, earls, viscounts, barons bold, &c., of the two
establishments, say they don't want any more of the
" clergy," or of the legal profession, amongst them. I
neither applaud nor condemn the resolve ; I state the
fact. lam sorry, however, to add, that there is almost
in every club a coterie, which, without regard to the
merit or demerit of a candidate, black-ball, as the whim
suits. In short, the " yea " or " nay " rests with the
members of this coterie, some of whom, it may be, I
would not set " with the dogs of my flock ;" but they—
not the dogs—are in, and keep better men out. These
remarks are not of a personal character. I never was
black-balled in my life, and for a very good reason—your
correspondent would " serve them out " if they dared.
Of all the City dinners I beg to recommend the Easter
banquet at the Mansion-house. That of Monday last
was, if anything, an improvement on its predecessors as
regarded three or four important elements ;—the wittals
and drink were superior, and the company, though more
numerous than select, was select enough to testify to the
popularity of my Lord Mayor CHALLIS. Besides, there
was no waiting till a quarter-past eight, as .1 have waited ;
sensitive ears greeted with certain subterranean sounds
indicating long abstinence, impatience, disappointment,
and all the other desagremins,—result of dinner deferred.
I do not believe that our present Lord Mayor would have
waited for that Russian crab-apple, PrinceMENSCRIKOFF ;
as it was, nobody had to wait till the broth was spoiled.
There are, perhaps, two reasons why the people at the
Easter banquet look better—less vulgar, in short, than
they on the 9th of November, at -Guildhall. At the
former dinner people have to go in daylight, and your
daylight is a capital detector of sham. One's " Mechlin "
must be real on Easter Monday ; and I am sure our
friends the lawyers, from Mr. Briefless up through
Q. C.'s, sergeants, attorneys-general, solicitors-general,
barons of every grade, chancellors and vice-chancellors,
always have a handful more flour thrown over the
horse-hair ; the forensic " bib and tucker," too, give
evidence that the blancheseuse has been coaxed. The
Banquetting-hall, also, is of more elegant construc-
tion and appearance than the Hall of Guild, no dis-
paragement to which is meant. That at the Man-
sion-house is for refined conviviality—'tother for election
purposes chiefly. I advise all persons invited to the
Easter dinner at the Mansion-house to arrive a quarter of
an hour before the time fixed for dinner, especially if
' '
the party have an odd name, such as BUGGINS DOBBS,
PIPPIN, or any other that can by possibility be twisted
orally, contorted, or confounded. Iroy, sharp and insuf-
ferable, to the numerous families of WIGGINS and FtG-
GINs is always accorded, when either name is announced.
SMITH likewise seems to be a laughable name at the
Mansion-house. After the poor de'il SMITH has
entered
the reception-alley, he is announced b a
e good-natured,
well-fed, and somewhat " y
exhilirated"tu domestic, who
evidently likes a joke, and it is amazing to witness' how
many friends SMITH has got in the company, and to hear
with what solicitude inquiries are made—after his mother
'specially. Another piece ofad vice 1 give,—should yourvehi-
cle follow hot in the rut of a Minister of State, tell gunman
to hold hard,—let the minister enter half a minute a-head
of you, else you will be bawled out ' 'The Right Honour-
able the Earl of —, HER MAJESTY'S &C., &C." I was
served so once, and never will forget my agony. Being
a lover of my genus, I point a moral. Care ! The two
first fiddles on Monday were played by two Scotchmen—
(no ill-bred allusion to the Scotch fiddle is here meant,)
the Earl of ABERDEEN and the Duke of ARGYLE. The
former looked less bilious than 1 have seen him, the latter
amiable and glib enough. I was a little surprised to see