The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-07-18 00:00:00

up wil

termination, a resume of its " sayings' and doings" would
be dished up and presented for the delectation of ministers
—the amusement of the house, and the information of the
country. Some little idea of the staple of such a " dainty
dish" may be gathered from the masterly philippic delivered
by Mr. DISRAELI on Thursday night. Well and skilfully
put was the demand of the caustic member for Bucks, to

he session. The derisive cheers and explosions of laughter
•41 rung in the ministerial ears, as their tormentor
his desire to know " if we had been at war, what
fie had achieved ; or if at peace, what beneficial
vents or what advantageous legislation had been
.fished," were well-earned tributes to his able
anent of irony. The felicitous ridicule with which
Asserted Lord JOHN RtrssELL's weakness consisted in
rstating his case ; and his fatality in that of being
ways beset by difficulties, which it seemed to be the
siness of his life merely to evade, and never to conquer
attempt to conquer, was irresistible, and made the
!e ring with admiring plaudits. The miserable attempt
splying, in the to quoque style assumed by Lord J.
'LL, created no sympathy in his favour. His trail-
qanation—defence it could not be called—of the

lusts w

naives which dictated to him the course he felt con-
'trained to pursue in reference to his Reform Bill, and the
Aber measures which he had unnaturally assisted in
mothering, or recklessly abandoned at the prompting-8 of
a disunited coalition, was tedious, flat, and ineffective.
It formed a fit introduction to the ad misericordiam appeal
with which the noble PRESIDENT of the CousciL be-
sought his antagonist to try conclusions with him in a
Geld of the noble lord's own selection—a vote of want of

!onfidence in the government. Never was opportunity
nore adroitly seized than this was by Mr. DISRAELI tO
ell the leader of the government forces that sixteen or
ighteen adverse majorities upon important questions
vould have been held by any other than the present
idministration as unquestionable proof of want of con-
idence. Well did he, also, apply the precedent of Lord
EBRINGTON'S motion, pledging the House of Commons
o a vote of confidence in that government of which Lord
--N RUSSELL had himself been a member, and invite
',ship to try the same course now. The master-
the invective, however, was reserved for its con-

elusion. The vaticinatory force of the concluding sentence
it would be indeed difficult to surpass in stinging eloquence
or damaging effect. " When," said Mr. DISRAELI, as a
wind-up, "the present coalition government was formed,
I was asked how long it would last, and I replied until
the political reputation of every member of it, as a public
man, is irretrievably rained."

The conduct of the war, the alleged interference of
Austria, and the still more than simply equivocal conduct
of that power in reference to the position of the bellige-
rent parties, afford ample scope for free, if not latitudi-
arian, discussion among those politicians whose natural
it is to scrutinise diplomatic arrange-
warlike movements and hostile opera-

s, and estimat

tions. A few brief days ago, and the dreamy believers in
the Utopia of Austrian fidelity were loud in their hymn!

)y at the decided attitude assume

d by the youthful

representative of the House of Hapsburg, whose energy
was extolled, whose judgment was eulogised, whose
bravery and disinterestedness were the theme of their
unmitigated laudation. We were told by those seer, who

the wish the father to the thought

with such powerful aid as he would bring int& play, the
Russian hordes would be scattered like chaff before the
wind. The Russian force was in full retreat, and he was
following fast, and so he seemed to be; but the Russians
halted and faced about at Bucharest, in consequence of
their rear being threatened by the advancing Turkish
army, and what did the armament of FRANCIS JOSEPH

do ? Why, follow up their advantage, and press onwards,
of course ! No such thing ! The instant the retreating
Russians halt, the advancing and wonder-working
Austrians pause. The Austrian steamers plying on the
Danube are fired upon by the Cossacks, but this provokes
no hostile demonstration on the part of the " stern and

resolute" young Emperor. He who so short a time since
was so prompt to " occupy" is not now prepared to fight.
He who was to aid the Turks and defend their territory
now finds that his own frontier is unguarded, and his
dominions more menaced than even those of Turkey. His
eulogists, lice his army, have now changed their tactics;
they say his position is a critical one, and that allowances
mus -

ide for him. Amen, say I, with all my heart;
but why did those gentlemen not descry the critical nature
of his position, and bespeak allowance for him and it
before ? The effect of his and their interference has been
to foster the lukewarmness of spirit which is more than
suspected to retard the resolutions of our cabinet, and to damp
that ardour by which the national feeling was compelling
our reluctant Ministers to simulate an alacrity they did not
participate in. Much precious time has been lost to us,
and an equal amount of equally valuable time has been
gained to Russia, while we have been temporising to se-
cure the co-operation of a power whose concurrence events
have proved to be of no value;
_and but for waiting on

which our army in the East might have been landed at
Varna in a few days' longer time than they took to reach
Gallipoli. Loud, and deservedly loud, are the censures
pronounced by well-informed and thinking men on these
misdirected efforts, and respecting the lost time occasioned
by such short-sighted policy. Most of these parties enter-
tain rather more than mere suspicion of the honesty of the
Austrian professions, from the commencement of this mis-
understanding ; and they maintain that, in the whole course
of her proceedings, the Court of Vienna has been covertly
playing the game of Russia. Judging from appearances,
the mode of conducting war by a Coalition Cabinet,—and
a newly-created ministry of war, entailing on the country
an additional annual outlay of £17,300,—is to send out
powerful armaments, under the command of able officers,
to seek opportunities and devise means for bringing the
war to a satisfactory conclusion, or at least of striking a
decisive blow ; the opportunity secured and the means
discovered, they must then, it seems, send home for in-
structions as to whether the opportunity shall be embraced
and the blow struck or not ; while the home rulers are
busy in the intricacies of diplomatic negotiation. In the
meantime the season for military and naval action is ra-
pidly passing away, the relations of the belligerents are
changing, and no blow has been struck. The time has
been, when the English people were ridiculed for the ple-
nitude of their diplomatic expeditions, compared with the
meagreness of their martial preparations ; when, on the
continent, it was customary for wits to speak of the Eng-
lish contingent as consisting of half-a-dozen ambassadors
and ten barrels of herrings. Surely the ministry of " all
the talents," with such large available means at their dis-
posal, are not ambitious of reviving the contumelious
sarcasm. Their war movements are tardy and expressive
of indecision and wavering counsels—inaction abroad re-
sults from uncertainty at home—paralysis of the extremities
proceeds from deficient energy in the administrative de-
partments. Their professed administrative power is
neutralised by divided opinion, and everything seems con-
verging to a break-up. Rats are said to leave a doomed
ship ; the Sydenham Palace directory have wooed and won
the chef de cuisine from the culinary paradise of the
Reform Club ; and everything indicates an impending
catastrophe little less awful than that which befel the
hidalgo who tore his breeches as if heaven and earth
were coming together !

That the EMPEROR of the FRENCH is a bold and ener-
getic man, many circumstances long ago revealed to the
eyes of the wondering nations ; that he is actuated by
higher motives than those which animate the mere
usurper, or are to be traced in the career of the ordinary
parvenu and upstart, every day is producing fresh proofs.
The energy and apparent good faith with which he has
recently laboured to uphold the integrity of Europe, and
aid in restraining the inordinate and dangerous ambition
of Russia, have gained for him " golden opinions from all
sorts of men." He now feels so secure in the good graces
of his fickle subjects, that he ventures abroad with little
or no preparation to secure personal safety ; and so lately
's Tuesday last he drove along the Boulevards in an open
hout escort of any kind, and accompanied
Jnly by a single attendant ; this was on his route to
Boulogne to view the embarkation of his troops for the
Baltic. Prior to their embarkation he addressed the
soldiers, alluding in marked terms to the singular and
gratifying fact that the French army was to be floated to
its northern destination in English vessels. His recep-
tion was, at every point, moat enthusiastic and. flattering.
As he passed over the bridge to enter the town at Bou-
logne, an English collier, which was discharging, had her
yards manned, and gave the EMPEROR an English wel-
come in right English style, a mark of popular favour with
which His Majesty seemed greatly pleased. The English
residents at this town were loud and hearty in their de-
monstrations of delight. While attending to such "mighty
matters of state," Loris NAPOLEON finds time or makes
occasion to cultivate the arts of peace, and is a liberal
patron of literary men and artists. Like his great name-
sake and prototype, he is desirous of having artistic
records of those scenes and events which in the present
war are likely to redound to the martial glory of France,
and with this view has despatched M. HORACE VERNET, the
celebrated painter, to the East. The artist has already
arrived at Constantinople, charged with a commission to
make sketches. Our own countryman, Mr. PATRIC PARK,
a rising and highly talented young sculptor, has been sent
for to Paris, and is honoured with a commission to exe-
cute the bust of the EMPEROR. Mr. PARR is a Scotch-
man, and has, in his own country, given numerous proofs
of his eminent ability.

carriage wit:

The Committee of the House of Commons appointed to
examine into the subject of licensing public-houses, beer-
shops, theatres, and other places of entertainment, has made
its report ; it recommends inter alia that the Crystal
Palace, the National Gallery, and the British Museum
should be open to the public on Sundays during certain
hours, exclusive of those set apart for public worship.
The report and its recommendations are viewed with very
different feelings by different sections of the community,
and before the recommendations are adopted by the legis-
lature, if they ever should be, much discussion and no
small amount of feeling will be displayed.
At the Royal Italian Opera, at Covent-garden, the opera
if " Otello " has been produced with a charming and
so strong indeed that many eminent
A is the best which has ever been witnessed in
nd the heads of most of the musical dilettanti
turned by it. With Madame VIARDOT as Des-
LABLACHE as Elmiro, TAMBERLIK as Otello, and
the inanities of the operatic lago into
general effect may readily be
still continues her more last
-.as and wondering
sue concerts odfthruepwtielkohf theav Londonebeennum season,erous
and, notwithstanding the is
have on the whole been well attended.

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