THE ENGLISH MAIL.

West Coast Times, Issue 89, 30 December 1865, Page 2

THE ENGLISH MAIL.

HOME TALK.

( From the Home News, ) The Temple, October 20. Lord Palmerston is dead. In the last of theso letters it was said "it is certain that ho has been very ill." But, except in tho fact that ho was nearly eighty-one, there was no reason, until within a few hours of the end, to expect bo sudden a termination to his long career. He had, however, been suffering from a complaint which requires rest and care, and ho was not tho man to bestow cither. He was at his seat, Brocket, in Hertfordshire, nnd not only attended to business, but went out in all weathers, more sito. In ono of his drives — this was on a Friday —ho caught cold, and distressing symptoms appeared. The best advice was summoned, and ho was thought to bo going on well, when a relapse came, ho succumbed, and on tho following Tuesday the languago of tho physicians implied that tho end was approaching. He expired, without suffering, at a quarter to 11, on Wednesday, October 18. Had ho lived two days longer he would havo been 81. The news was telegraphed all over the couutry on Wednesday afternoon, and I have known no such genoral feeling of regret. The departed statesman was the friend of all, and all parties vie in expressions of l'cspectf ul alfection for his memory. To tho "-political results of tho event, reference will doubtless be found in another column ; I record merely its social aspects. Thero is to bo a publio funeral, to-morrow. It had boon intended, nnd iC had been Lord Palmerston's wish, that thero should be no dispLy nt his obsequies ; but tho Queen, who had beon hourly supplied with information os to his condition, intimated, from her Highland palace, that it was due to the memory of tho venerable Premier, and to the feelings of tho nation, that ho should receivo publio honors nnd a grave in tho Abbey. His remains woro therefore brought to Cambridge-house, Piccadilly, on Monday, and whilo I write, tho largo dining-room in whioh his constant hospitalities woro so pleasantly dispensed, is darkened by the presence of his coffin. He will be laid in the great inausolum of English worthies, between Fox and Pitt and ns near his friend, George Canning, ns is possibles. Tho most illustrious of Ills survivors will Attend, nnd the general concourse will bo immense,, Carefully prepared biographies had long been lying ready for tho mournful event, and they duly appeared on the day after its,ocoiu'rence, but few of them add anything to what was known by all who tako nn interest in political history. Tho Premier's personal character was thoroughly understood by nil, and hence one of tho gijeat causes ef his unoxampled popularity. He was not a speooh-makor, ' in tho ordinary sense of tho epithet. Orations he despised, but ho spoke for the purposo of effecting an objeot, and held that to bo the best speech which most easily accomplished that purposo, with the least offence to others. I heard many of his addresses in Parliament, about 1850-1-2, aud, especially, I heard tho miracle of a speech, as one of tlie journals calls it, on tho 25th June, 1850, when thoro was a four nights' debate on his foreign policy; and on the second of theso nights he spoke for nearly five hours, without notes, and " took all, the points on his targot." He des cribed his policy not inorely in gross, but fn oxtroino detail, nnd took us round and across the world. I think that he skolched nbont ten groups of political diameters, in as many different localities of the world ; showed how he had dealt with each nation, and summed iq: with an emphatic declaration that ho had doiu his best for tho interests of England. Tho storm of applause which followed was overwhelming and it had scarcely subsided when, in answer tc some remark across the table, the vetorar sprang up, apparently unfatigucd,- ant giwir tfnrfu finnnrtton suuginfc fwilo uisu pH'nOut at tho debato whon Lord Russell had caused him to bo dismissed, an.l hoard Lord John's justification and Palmerston's rather scornful reply, "All tho Ministers, according to tho noble lord, wcro free to express opinions on foroign politics save the only man who had studied them." He speedily avonged tho wrong by upsetting the coach ovorthe Militia Bill. His days of fighting " ended when ho took up tho fightiug for us, and brought all his powers and all his War Office knowledge to boar upon our war, then languishing, With the successful result of this, his popularity was finally established, and ho had only to show-.Jn'mself among his fellow-citizens to be lmiled'n^'hy'ibeJoVcd friend. His splendid constitution and unflagging spirits sustained him through labors and exertions that would have been too much for most men, I doubt whether, except in fun, hoovjr declared himself, "bored" in tho course of his life, nnd he took a great interest in nmusemonts of an [out-door kind to the lust. I do not think ho cared much about theatricals and the like, but he had had enough of that sort of thing in. tho gay limes of hit youth, when he was as dovoted to plcasuro as any man of tho day. Peoplo forgot now thai Lord Palmoifiton was a "swell" of tho firs! water, that he was so fascinating as to have roceived from a great lady and long retained the name of " Cupid," that he was a superb waltzer, and that his renown as a lady-killor was (something portentous. All the qualities whioh made hiin~ successfuliu society toned down with ago, but remained to contribute to a less brilliant but inoro general popularity, and his wondrous elasticity never left him. He was a fearless and dashing rider, though not, according to sports' mon and grooms, a good one, but he almost always managed to bo in at tho death. Ho did not win tho Derby, though his horses won inanj good races, and Mninstono might have dono the great thing but for an accident. He betted verj little indeed ; in fact, his bets wcro niero play Is it going below tho dignity of history to add that ho had a splendid appetite, but was verj temperate with wine, that he wroto ohicflj standing, and that ho whistled enormously, though not " for want of thought ?" I ought tc say, too, that though of late years he used to saj that he had no time to read anything except MS, in early lifo ho was somewhat literary, and contributed squibs to "John Ball," and wiot< tho best thing in the New Whig Guide, The magazino for such satire in our day, Punch, has appeared with a poetical tribnto to his memory by Sherloy Brooks, and with tho last verse ol tho composition I closo my refcrenco to tho doparted :—: — " Our bravo English chief !— lay him down foi the sleeping That nought may disturb till the trumpet o\ doom : Honor claims tho proud vigil— but Lovo will como wcopiug, And hang many garlands on Palmerston'i tomb !" , Earl Russoll is the now Premier, Having held that office before, it was mattor of etiquctto thai it should be offered to him in tho first instance, and ho accepted it, though it was rathor uncoromoniously hinted to him by tho press that ho k nn old man, and not vory popular, nnd so forth, Thero were several other names held up "as those favorites, notably, Mr Gladstone's, but he is to lead tho Commons, ns Bitrl Russell could hard I j bo oxpected to servo under him, aud ho it favored with ndvico not to bo so terribly iv earnest about overy thing, not, to bo proud and easily irritated, not to niako long speeches, of a. profound character, whon short nnd shallow onet will do, and, abovo all, not to scold tho Commons, who will fcUind anything but that . • So he will go to school, and know what lessons ho it oxpeoted to learn. Then thoro was Lord Granvillo, who at 50 has just married a beautiful bridooflS. Evorybody likos him, and ho ii sweet tempor personified, and a» f ho cannot b< Premier, ho will probably go to Paris, whorohii father (tho best whist playor in Europo) was am biis&ador long nnd successfully, fcord Clarondoi wns also talked of, and it is stated that ho take: tlio J'ovoian.oAlQo imtcml on-MUusspll, J liuvi lipiwl iliiU WMwt Jwrti p( nm tlio mill

podos havo also heard, is wanted back into the Ministry. Bref, there will be no particular difficulty in re-arranging tho Ministerial party for the meeting of Parliament, and the rest is in tho hands of Pate, I have a private opinion, which may be taken for what it is worth, to tho effect that Earl Russell will not be the Premier of England very long. Tho Foreign Minister has a piece of business on his hands, and it may or may not be troublesome. The Amoricans have sent in their claim for compensation for the damages dono, during their war, to the properly of thoir ' citizens, by vessols of British origin, as tho Alabama and Shonandoah. Earl Russell has replied that we did all wo could to prevent tho fitting out of such vessels, and theroforo we are blameless, and he refuses all compensation. Tho > American envoy proposes an appeal to arbitration, This Earl Russell also refuses, declaring that thero can bo no question in the case, and that our Government are tho guardians of their own honor. He offers to submit such cases as the two Powers can agree upon as subjeots for discussion to a Commission, to be named by tho two Governments, and Mr Adams has undertaken to submit this proj>otHtion to his chief, but does not think that it will bo accepted, and almost hints that Earl Russell know this. That is where the dispute stands at present, and whore Lord Clarendon will have to tako it up, Except the Yankee organ hero, which is Mr Bright's organ also, the whole of tho English press is on the side of Earl Russell, and evon the 1 exception only goes to the iongth of qaying thai wo ought not to havo rejected arbitration. Wo alsio had another sensation of Amerioan iMMmfaotiwe. Tho press of the States Ikxb its merits, but a superstitious roverence for truth, and the decencies of life, is among the conventionalities which are discarded by writeis for an advanced peoplo. Some of tho Yankee journals invented n list of subscribers to the Confederate loan, and put down Mr Gladstone, the editor of the Times, nnd a variety of other well known person's as mon who had thus supported tho rebels. Mr Bright's organ, which considers it a crime to doubt anything that is printed by the sacred and enlightancd press of America, republislicd this list, and the othor papers were immemediately filled with denials by the accused parties, that they had anything to do with the loan. This would not have been much— all journals must make mistakes sometimes — but the Bright organ, which U chiefly edited in obedience to Manchester ordors^and is therefore father provincial, did not wait for tho answers, but made fierce attaoks on the Chancellor of the Exchequer and oharged the Times with 1 writing up tho Confederate cause for pecuniary purposes. The credit of the Star, therefore, has not been improved. I believe that its real want is an able editor who will not be • fettered by provincial dictation — in many respects it is a good, holiest paper, and it is fitting that all sides should be heard.

flly reference to the three unpleasant subjects oi the day shall be very brief. The cattle disoaso has not been checked, its ravages are very great, and do one has yet discovered how to deal Mith it. Wholesale slaughter is the only device which lms commended itself to the minds of the authorities. Ido not know what the masses will do for animal food, if the plague continues. Is it impossible for you to slay and preserve meat,and send it over to us ? f The demand will be extraordinary. Tho Arohbishop of Canterbury has prepared a prayer, which has beon said in all the churches, and which is not well written, as it ought to h;i'o been. considering the noble models in the lithurgy. The oholoradoes not much terrify us, nevertheless it is among us, and hci3 dono work of death, Tho Irish treason appears to havo been tnoro successfully treated than our other afllictions. A largo number of I?enians are in captivity ; thore is no rising to deliver them ; the American brethren sond money, some of which weintercept, nnd bluster, which Joes no harm, but no frigates with the V &9.W, fliig gJHtel'ng o'er them" appear in Irish waters. , On the contrary, Mr Soward.sends us hints as to the Feniano, and is frightflly abused ,by tho American presa for doing so. Ido not wish to cast.any imputation on men who I dare say are honest, when I add that if any of the prosecutions fail it will no) be for want of the most explicit an]cl distinct evidence on the part of the Crown Witnesses. All parties agree in approving tho cojnduetof tho Government in putting down tlt'eso idiots- a conviction in time saves nine.

Tho^ unexampled weather, to which I gratefully referred ' in my last, was protracted until wo wcro 'well into this month, but has'now giAon way, and' we have heavy rains, which w.ore needed, and colp, which will operate beneficially in abating disease, or at least it is hoped so. ' Thoso who have no country-houses are now back again in London. Our Queen still lingors in Scotland, but will bo home again in a day or two,. and the Prince of Wales is already in town, not brought up, ono may suppose, by tho melancholy incident of the time, ay his royal highness has been visiting tho theatres. He has been deer-stalking . and salmon-fishing. I supposo that tho last Prince of Wales never saw dear excopt in Windsor Park, and probably believed that salmon grew in tho form of cutlets. The nation is not displeased to read that the future King has something of King Nimrod in him instead of King Ramrod, like the potty German sovereigns, whoso great pleasuro is a review of their two-penny armies. Tho Prince killed a salmon in very good style last week, sploshing up to his nuddlo in tho water liko a true fishermen.

Some deaths, in a lowlier sphere than tho great death, but still of iuterost, havo occurred. Vincent Wallace, tho composer, has long suffered, and is now na rest. He had more original genius than any of oiu musical writers, and though bis jost work, "Lurlino," did not achicVo tho success whioh muoh of it deserved, no musician could fail to recognise the advanco which the writer had mado, and tho faot that had circumstances been mfro propitious he might havo been a great man. He was not, however, strong enough to " achiovo greatness." Then Ernst, the colobrated violinst, ia gone, having bcon also delivered from protracted sufforing, nnd having left a kindly recollection in •the hearts of all who knew him. A third musical celebrity has died, but the namo will not bo so amiliar to the present generation as it was to the last, Madame Caradori, afterwards CaradoriAllan, was not n star of tho first magnitude., but was a brilliant one, and her voice id still in the momory of many who aro now "not so 'old,' my lord, as to dote upon tho woman for her siuging," as Kont says in King Lear, i A good deal of intorest was felt in tho question of tlio selection of a suosessor to Professor Aytoun (Wilson's son-in -law ), in the Edinburgh chair of English Litorcturo and Rhetoric Many very good candidates went in to win, The prizo, if it bo one, has fallen to David Masson, author of tho lifo of Milton, and a vory subtle and eloquent writer on metaphysics; He has beon editing Macmillan's Magaziue, with muoh success, and will continuo in its charge A farewell dinnor was givon Lim on Saturday, Mr Stansfiold, M.P., iv tho chair.