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Leader (1850-1860), 24th May 1856, Edition 1 of 2, Page 482

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      Rica , against a lawless invader , Walker ; and that the Government of the United States is prepared to act with us in the same direction ; but that no arms have actually been furnished . We do not hesitate to expreto 4 ftj * U * MO * t doubtm *> the accuracy of this statement It is difficult Ut say how parties are distribute ! amongst twm factions of Central America ; bo * it is evident that there is war between ] $ ic&T * gna , and Cost * Riea . The Costa Ricans have been so idiotical as to massacre several American passengers and officials at Panama—a new complication of hostilities which has excited much anger in the American Congress . The general tendency of these events

      is rather to benefit Waxkeb ' s interests in the American Union , and our Government has suffered itself to become involved in the intrigues of Mr . Wallebstbin and , the combats of a very local faction . What course the present Government at Washington may think fit to take we have no authority for stating ; but we doubt whether Mr . Cbamptok can have reported it correctly , and we have had reason to observe that that gentleman is not exact in his language , or very regular in his official conduct . He delayed a letter from Lord Clarendon which he was instructed to communicate to the American

      Government , and he certainly has not shown mnnTi aptitude in gathering the sentiments of the American people . We mistrust his account , therefore , of the official feelings at Washington , and regret that our Foreign Minister should have publicly avowed his reliance upon such an authority . A variety of other subjects have occupied time

      with little public sympathy as to the result . Ministers , for example , persevere in their bill for imposing duty upon fire insurance for property in this country effected abroad , but it has been proved that their bill will fail to get at the insurer , and they appear to rely upon the honour of man as a check against the evasion of tax . Fancy considering the tax upon fire insurance a debt of honour ! Mr . Henbt Berkeley has done suit and service

      for his Bristol seat by his annual motion on the ballot , rejected this year by 151 to 111 . Mr . Packjb , the " serious" Tory member , has introduced a bill for the abolition of church rates and their feimposition in another form , but he withdrew his bill at the instance of the respectable Sir John Pakington , not to impede the discussion on the bill concocted between Sir William Clay and the Government . Mr . John George Phillimobb

      has introduced a bill empowering the Lord Chancellor to appoint those Judges and Chancellors in various ecclesiastical courts who are now appointed by the Bishop and other Churoh dignitaries , but everybody avowed in the debate the belief that the measure was a perfectly useless fragment of a larger measure which has been rejected this year and will have to be introduced in a more complete form . The Lobjd Ghakcbixob has taken another stage of his Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Bill , referred at the suggestion of Lord Ltndhubbt to

      a select committee . Lord Lyndhurst thinks that the amendment ought to extend to the law of divorce , and to give tho wife a right of release for onuses the same as those which now entitle the husband to release , and the poor L , ohd Chancellor was pleased to consent to the reference of his bill , although he declared that he never would consent to the alteration of the law—his bill onl y altering the constitution of tho tribunal and tho manner of proceeding . Lord Brougham , too , is

      carrying forward his bill to authorize runaway marriages in Scotland , but Lord Brougham ' s bill has scarcely been debated , and since it is not likely to be carried , we cannot consider that its passing through its stages in tho House of Lords amounts to any progress at all . j . 4 p *® re "were several points at issue in tho Lords ' debate of Thursday night on tho maritiino declaration in the Paris Conference . On tho memorable 8 th of A pril Count Walewski initiated discussions upon a variety of subjects—Greece , Jtajyv Belgian newspapers , and maritime law .

      The last vrtm profiweedly the object of Lord Colchester ' s resolutions . He objected to Lord Clarendos ?* having affixed the signature of Great Britain without having referred to Parliament , a » t he objected to conceding the , principle thatfiw * ship » make free goods , while Akrcountry has BO frecwantly maintained the opposite .. As to tbe priadple itself it tends to draw that broad line of distinction : between war and eommercur which is in accordance with the mo * t obvious firtwnests of thte country , and with tfie most general conviction of the world at the present day , so that Lord Colchester was not likely to obtain _ ' ' ¦ ¦ f + _^ fc" ¦ a 1 _ _ _ T * 2 .. n J . n ^ T j-fc *» j-i W mr _

      a decision in his favour , to contradict the principle being his main object . As to the want of reference to the Houses of Parliament , we believe that the objection is most important ; thoug h few men in the Upper House possess the patriotism to make a firm stand . The fact is , that the power , influence , and judgment of this country are used by a comparatively few men , who treat " the people " in as arbitrary a manner as the Tory party used to treat the people , with only this difference , that instead of dragoons and criminal prosecutions , they have substituted humbug and liberal professions . Some of the Opposition also objected

      to the attack upon Belg ium ; and the defence against this objection was the most extraordinary part of the Government proceedings . Lord Claeendon avowed that the papers to which Count Walewski referred were no part of the Belgian press at all , but French sheets printed in Belgium without printer ' s name , and smuggled into France . Why then was Count Walewski permitted to make an attack upon Belgium for not performing its duty , with a hint that she might be made to behave more properly ? And why did Lord Clarenimdn sign a protocol implying some demand upon Belgium ?

      The manner in which the people are played with has been shown in nothing more than in the Sunday bands affair . Sir Benjamin Hall suspected that the great body of the people would enjoy the perfectly rational recreation of music on the Sunday ; he . provided it in Kensington Gardens , and he was permitted to do so ; he provided it in Victoria Park for the poor of Bethnal Green , and there is a great outcry ! This is called " aggressive ! " If Sir Benjamin had sent a great body of police to dragoon the poor creatures out of the public-houses to which they resort , that would have been called protective or missionary ; but to

      draw them forth from comfortless homes or disorderly " public-houses into the open air of the park , and into the influence of the most humanizing of the arts , is " aggressive ! " It is true that an immense number 01 the people , more than a quarter of a million , confirmed Sir Benjamin ' s anticipation of their pleasure and opinion , by attending at the performances in the West , the North , and the East ; but the Scotch members hinted hostile votes , the Archbishop of Canterbury wrote a didactic letter to Lord Palmerston , and the proud , clear-sighted Lord Palmerston , who knows so much better , gave way to the bigots of Lambeth and Edinburgh . So that we

      in London , who agree with Lord Palmerston and Sir Benjamin Hall , must conform our manners and customs to the rule of Canterbury and cant . There have been some public meetings this week , and the working olasses are at least beginning to take up the subject . As we said upon the same matter last week , they will have their freedom when they show that they are prepared to take it . The case of Palmer has taken its place in the history of monster trials . It has lasted nine days , with only tlic prospect of closing on tho tenth . The mass of evidence has seldom been equalled in extent or interest . It is , however , entirely oircumstantial , and is subject to a grand debate amongst medical savans in presence of tho court ,

      as to the symptoms caused by the administration of stryohninoand the actual symptoms which preceded Cooke ' s do $ th . Tho question for the jury , therefore , has narrowed to a question in tho rapeutics , —that is , if tho jurors strictly abide by the letter of the obligations which they have under takon to decide wholly and solely upon the evidence . How often is it , liowover , that jurors can bo found who are prepared to decido a question upon the exact balance of scientific logic ? Meanwhile the trial has constituted one of the most interesting inquests which tho world has yet seen ; but Lord Campbell , . Tove-likc , has thundered from tho throne of justice against that naughty boy , tho Editor of tho Times , who has already dared to rush into tho crime of " comment . "

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      . QO T H E Ii E A D E R . [ No . 322 , SAT / ufiPAY , 4 rS ^ i . ^^^^^™ ^^ . i i ^ __ ^ —^———^|^———^^^^^^^^^^^ " ^^^ ^^ WB ^ Ii ^^^^™^^^ ' ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ mb ^^ ^^^^^^^^^^ ¦¦ ^ ¦ ^ ¦ ^^¦ ¦ ^ ¦ ¦ ^ ¦¦ ¦ ^ ¦ ¦ ^ ¦ ¦ ^^¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ^^•¦¦ •^^^¦ ^•*™ " ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^

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      Monday , May \§ th . PARLiAManr weembled after the Whitsuntide recess on Monday ; The House of Lords met at five o ' clock ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS ( IRELAND ) . ' The JLoBD Chancellor , in reply to a question from tlte EaA « l Donouqhmobe , said it was intended by the Go vernment measure to leave the Ecclesiastical Courts fn Ireland untouched , but ultimately to establish there a court of divorce it vinculo matrimonii , similar to that which it was proposed to establish in this country .

      CENTRAL AMERICA . The Earl of Elgin , having read the letter recentlypublished in the newspapers , purporting to be an answer from the Foreign Office to a request from the agent of the Government of Costa Rica for a supply of arms , asked the Earl of Clarendon if that letter was genuine and , if so , whether he had any objection to lay on the table a copy of the application to which the letter appeared to be the answer ? The Earl of Clarendon said he had no hesitation in declaring that the letter in question was a genuine document . Some time after the attack of Walker on Nicaragua , the agents for the Government of Costa Rica and other Governments of Central America applied to

      England for assistance . In answer to these applications , it was suggested that England should assume the protectorate of those countries ; but the offer was declined , and the English . Government then determined to have nothing to do with the affairs of Central America , though it regretted the proceedings of Walker , as having led to the sacrifice of property belonging to English subjects . A naval force , however , was despatched to the coast of Nicaragua , to protect those subjects ; but it was not larger than was required for that object . Subsequently to that , the agent of Costa Rica ( Mr . Wallerstein ) said that the Government of that State meant to oppose Walker , and asked for assistance in the way of arms . The answer of the War Department was contained in

      the letter which had been published in the papers ; but the offer then made was not accepted , and Mr . Wallerstein had since died ; so that no interference , even indirectly , had taken place in the affairs of Costa Hica . It was some time since Walker took possession of Nicaragua , and he disposed of a good deal of English property by force alone . Her Majesty ' s Government had communicated with the Government of the United States in the matter , and he would read an extract from a despatch of Mr . Crampton on the question . There had been no disguise whatever with the United States Government ,

      the object of the British Government avowedly and openly having been to protect English interests . On the 15 th of March , Mr . Marcy said he entirely disapproved of the existing state of things in Nicaragua , looked upon i t aa dangerous , and thought it likely to cast a shade upon the reputation of the Government of the United States . ( Hear , hear . ) He ( the Earl of Clarendon ) observed that he knew no better plan of proceeding than for the United States Government and the British Government to combine for the protection of the subjects of the United States and of Great Britain . ( Hear , hear . " )

      CIRCASSIA— SARDINIA . The Earl of Malmesbury asked whether or not it was true that the Circassians had made a representation to the Porte , asking for the interference of the Allies in favour of the independence of that country , and to protect them , from Russian invasion ; whether there wns any foundation for that rumour ; whether Lord Clarendon had received any papers on the subject , and whether he would be prepared to lay them on the table of the House ? Also , whether Lord Clarendon had any objection to lay on tho tablo the two notes which had been presented to the Governments of England and France by the Sardinian Government , and which were laid before the Sardinian Parliament ?—Tho Earl of Clakkndon said it was quite true that a deputation of Circassians

      had made such a representation to the Turkish Government , but the English Government had not received any document , except a letter from some Circassian chiefs to tho Queen . The spokesman of this deputation was Haflz Pacha , who ia not a Circassian at all , and who during tho war showed himself anything but friondly to the Allies . It was he who promised that a great number of Circassians should bo ready on a stated day to assist in tho fiold ; but tho promise wns not kept , and Mr . Longworth declared ho was one of the greatest enemies tho Western Powers had . Under thcue circumstances , ho did not think there wns any claim whatever on tho British Government . Ho had no objection to the production of tho notes asked for from tho Sardinian Government to tho Governments of Franco and Eng land .

      INDIA . Tho Earl of Aliibmarlii : moved tho rcappointinent ol tho Select Committee on tho Government of our Indian territories . Tho former committeo , tho labours of which wero interrupted in 1853 , had left several matters uiiihquired into , and ho thought , therefore , that tho investigation should bo resumed . —Earl Gkanvilms considered tho necessity for roappointing tho Committeo hud noi bcon proved . —Tho Earl of Ellknhououoh agreed witn that opinion , as ho thought the present wns not tho time

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      ,- «*^ b ^ mb ^^^ h-n -v ¦ v t ^ l "WfcT T t -m ww- » - » ¦ »»» OTMSRIAL PARLIAMENT . —•

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 24, 1856, page 482, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2142/page/2/