.fitiscellantous.
The Queen Dowager and the Dutchess of Kent returned to Willey Court, on Monday, from Gopsall After visiting Hamilton Palace, Glasgow, and Scone Palace, (Lord Mansfield's Perthshire residence,) the Duke of Cambridge and the Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz arrived at Inverary on Monday, to be present at festivities in honour of the Marquis of Lorn's marriage. The young " chief " arrived on the next day, bringing his bride from Erskine House, the seat of Lord and Lady Blantyre.
The Dutchess of Cambridge and the Princess Mary, with the Here- ditary Grand Dutchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, returned to Kew on Thursday, from Badminton.
Sir Robert and Lady Peel went down to Brighton on Monday, having taken a house there for two months.
The Paris &We speculates on the movements and projects of Lord Palmerston- " Lord Palmerston, who quits London for Brussels—Brussels for Win-- baden, where there was held a congress of Whig ex-Ministers, [Lord Lansdowne and Lord John Russell have been there,]—Wiesbaden for Berlin— and perhaps Berlin for Vienna—after this review, in which he only forgot St. Petersburg and his illustrious friend the Emperor Nicholas, Lord Palmerston is, it is said, about to visit Paris. An Englishman comes to Paris at this season of the year either to enjoy the sun of autumn or to visit the environs before the fall of the leaf, or to be present at the opening of the Italian Theatre. But Lord Palmerston is not a man who travels without a more serious object, and we do not commit an indiscretion when we suppose that his journey has a political motive. But, it may be said, what can a politician do at Paris in the absence of the Chambers, when AL Guizot is at Auteuil, H. Thiers at Lille, and H. Odillon Barrot at Leon ? He may visit Nudity or St. Cloud : he may do what every minister or diplomatist does—he may demand an audience of the King. It may be answered, that every one is privileged to visit the King but Lord Palmerston : he audaciously violating the constitutional fiction, pro- claimed himself throughout Europe the personal enemy of Louis Philippe, thus taking a share of the Emperor Nicholas's antipathy. It may be added, that the success of 1840 does not appear to have mitigated his hatred, as Lord Palmer- ston, since his loss of place, has constantly spoken and acted as the avowed enemy of France; and that he has lately (the fact is certain) contributed to the commercial treaty concluded between Prussia and Belgium. Notwithstand- ing all these facts, Lord Palmerston, we repeat, publicly announces that he wilt come to Paris, and that he will visit the King. It is not difficult to foresee what the Whig Ex-Minister proposes by this proceeding. Lord Palmerston bas not in view a sincere reconciliation with France; for if he sincerely abjured Ins past principles, he would not so carefully feed the fire of the Morning Chronicle. But Lord Palmerston supports his exile with impatience. During thirty years, under the Tories as well as under the Whigs, with Sir Robert Peel or opposed to him, he never ceased to be Minister, and he would return to office at any price. Various symptoms have warned the present Ministers of Eng- land that they have lost much of their stability. Lord Palmerston is aware of the disgust of Lord Aberdeen, and of the weariness of Sir Robert Peel ; and he perceives that the affairs of Ireland and the success of O'Connell keep the Government in check. Lord Palmerston, perceiving the prospects of his party becoming brighter, does not wish to lose any opportunity which may offer ; and being aware that a Minister openly hostile to France would have public opi- nion against him in England, he wishes to make his peace. This advance of the Whig Minister is not sincere : it is a proceeding counselled by personal in- terest, but which can produce no result in a general point of view. If the inter- view should take place in the presence of a responsible Minister, we have no doubt that many fine phrases will be interchanged ; but whatever simplicity may be attributed even to the friends of England in our Cabinet, they cannot suffer themselves to be duped. We trust that the proposed meeting will pro- duce no other result than the recollection of a species of honourable apology made to the Prince who represents France by the Whig Minister who betrayed the French alliance, and who revived against us the bad sentiments as well as the evil designs of the coalition."
On this the Morning Chronicle remarks- " Lord Palmerston's travels disquiet M. Barrot's journal very gratuitously. We are in the habit of permitting our public men to enjoy their vacation in partridge-shooting or posting without inquiring too minutely into their comings or goings. But the French seem incapable of believing that a politician can travel merely for health, amusement, and information."
The Examiner of last week calculates, from ascertained data, the pro- bable period when Repeal of the Irish Union will be accomplished—.
" Last autumn, before the Clontarf proclamation, Mr. O'Connell named an early day for the Repeal of the Union; the precise date we forget, but it is past. Lord De Grey's Clontarf proclamation and the consequent prosecution were said, and we believe truly, to have promoted the agitation ; so that the question, so advanced, should have been carried even before the time fixed by Mr. O'Connell anterior to the measures accelerating it ; but, as we all know, in the slang phrase, it did not come off.' Now, the reversal of the judgment is proclaimed to be a wonderful advancement of Repeal ; and yet, marvellous to say, it is not so near at hand as it was last autumn, (when it was to have hap- pened before no.); so that it plainly appears that the more events occur to push on Repeal, the further off it is removed ! A man gives you a promissory note at six months after date; he tells you meanwhile that he has had a god- send, making his fortune—but nevertheless the bill when due is not honoured; It is renewed at twelve months, and meanwhile a greater benefit accrues, the prosperity heightened—but the bill remains unpaid, and it is renewed, when overdue, at two years I At this rate, the day of payment becoming more dis- tant with every boasted improvement of the means, a little more prosperity will put the period of liquidation out of sight altogether."
On Wednesday, the Morning Chronicle came forth as an opponent of Irish Repeal in its new and moderate shape, Federalism- " First of all, experience and example do not serve as guides. For no fede- ration ever existed such as that which should or could exist between England and Ireland. That between Sweden and Norway is most similar; but what an example of mutual hate and mutual weakness I—two armies, two Parlia- ments, two flags—union in nothing but name; and both kingdoms so neu- tralizing each other that their Bing has but the alternative of depending on neither country and making himself a mere Russian Prefect. The attempt to preserve the independence and nationality of each apart has in reality de- stroyed the political independence of both. The Achrean League, the Swiss Cantons, the United States, were all Democracies, and either did without a Sovereign power or elected a temporary one; so that on whomsoever or whatsoever party the choice fell, its limited powers and brief tenure silenced jealousy and discontent. The principle of Federalism, the very essence of it, is jealousy—mutual jealousy ; the kind of union which is achieved by Fe- deralism sanctioning and perpetuating, not stifling, this universal sentiment. But in order to render this sentiment innocuous, to prevent it poisoning all others, it must be fully satisfied, and left without a pretext to feed on. There must be the most complete equality between the Federal parties : if territorial or monied preponderance, or the abode of the Sovereign, or any other real or ap- parent pris liege belong to one, the other will never be contented. As this would be impossible between England and Ireland, we do not think that Federalism would lead to either amity or peace. It would merely prolong the hatred of and declamation against the ' Saxon,' and end in a separation of mutual dis- gust." The Whig journalist proceeds to discuss difficulties arising from re- ligious dissension and English sympathy with the Irish minority ; from commercial estrangement—for we can get corn cheaper from America, and independent Ireland of course would manufacture for herself; from clashing Cabinets and Legislatures. By the way, it is noted that Federalism arrests the progress of civilization—of political reform in Germany, of education in Catholic Switzerland as compared with Ca- tholic Austria, of Negro emancipation in the United States. And ffinally, the Irish Liberals are advised to go hand-in-hand with English Liberals- " if concession is to be wrung from the Imperial Parliament, it can be better wrung in the shape of tqual rights than of legislative and political separation. If England consents to the latter, she must make up her mind to abandon the supremacy and sinecure wealth of the Church in Ireland, as well as every other mark and remnant of conquest. In yielding Federalism, England would yield this, and far more—she would raiie a hostile fortress on her Bank. Let not Ireland give her the great excuse of self-defence for not doing justice."
Tuesday's Gazette notified a distribution of money granted by Parlia- ment to the officers and crews of several ships actually present at the operations on the coast of Syria under Admiral the Honourable Sir Ro- bert Stopford, in September, October, and November 1840; the money to be paid at No. 33 Abchurch Lane, on the 16th October next, be- tween eleven and three o'clock in the day.
The price of wheat at Mark Lane is now 38s. to 54s. per quarter ; and bread has consequently fallen in price, being from 5id. to 7d. the four-pound loaf.
It is understood that the Customhouse authorities have it in contem- plation to place officers on board the steamers from the Continent as soon as the vessels arrive off Gravesend, so that the inspection of lug- fage, dsc. may be completed during the passage up the river. The ob- ject of this experiment is to prevent the detention of passengers after their arrival ; and if it be found to give adequate protection to the re- venue, it will be continued regularly, and will be a great improvement.
The letters on the bombardment of Tangier in the Tinter, by " British officers," continue to draw forth counter-declarations by British officers, which are becoming somewhat tedious and overdone- " M. Eugene Bero, the King's Consul at Gibraltar," says the Journal des Debate, " has just informed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, that Mr. Wallis, the commander of the English frigate Warspite, went on the 6th instant to the Consulate, with an Artillery officer of the English garrison at Gibraltar. Captain Wallis declared to our Consul that be had come to protest as loudly and energetically as depended upon him against the shameful things published in an English journal, by individuals calling themselves officers of his frigate. Be added, that the step which he had taken was official; and he requested the Consul to announce it officially to his Government and to the Prince De Join- ville. Captain Wallis is an old and brave officer of the British Navy, and has performed the moat honourable services. Ile expressed to the French Consul his indignation and deep mortification that such infamous productions should have been dated from on board his vessel, and did so with an emotion and an energy which proved the sincerity of his words. This emotion was the more natural as Captain Wallis declared himself full of just admiration of the courage and skill shown in his presence by the officers of the French navy at Tangier and Mogador, and as the Captain, during his sojourn on the coast of Africa, had been treated by the Prince De Joinville with a politeness and a kindness for which he felt the most lively gratitude. Captain Wallis also expressed a hope that he would return to England in time to be able to solicit the honour of being presented to the King of the French. The Captain of the Warspite was to deliver to the French Consul a letter for the Prince Be Joinville, and had applied to the Governor of Gibraltar for the insertion in the Gibraltar Chro- nicle of a protest ; which has, of course, been published. Already several supe- rior officers of the garrison of Gibraltar had expressed to the French Consul the indignation which they felt at the letters which had appeared in the Eng- lish journal."
Captain Toup Nicolas has written a letter to the papers, contradicting a report in the Paris Globe, that his ship the Vindictive had been
beaten in a race by the French vessel Adonis, commanded by Viscount de Saint-Georges. There is no foundation for the story : the two vessels made no trial of speed; the Adonis quitted Valparaiso for Eu- rope in March, and the Vindictive in May ; and in the voyage round the world, the Vindictive never encountered any vessel that could compete with it in sailing. The Viscount de Saint-Georges has also published a contradiction of the story.
Messrs. Arthur Tidman and J. John Freeman, Secretaries of the London Missionary Society, have again addressed the Times in contro- versy with Mr. Walter Brodie, the censor of the missionaries in Tahiti. They quote "a written communication" from Mr. Brodie himself, (apparently to the Society,) in order to make out that, on his own showing, he only staid six months in Tahiti, that he called himself supercargo of the schooner Unity, and that among what he called my things on board" were 440 imperial gallons of rum. They intimate, that so far from the introduction of spirits into the island being caused by the connivance of the island Government, it was owing to the open violation of the law by the French and American Consuls, who had been kept in check by the British Consul, Mr. Pritchard. Mr. Brodie persisted in ascribing to Mr. Pritchard the expulsion of two Catholic missionaries in 1836; and he said be had a letter before him from Paris with an extract of a letter signed by Queen Pomare, "wherein she betrays her adviser "— " That Mr. Brodie has received such a communication," say the Secretaries, "we can readily believe. We are aware of the existence ot letters in Paris said to be written by Queen Pomare, in which she is made to contradict her well-known detestation of the French aggression, and to invite the so-called Protectorate which has enslaved her country and stripped her of authority. And as to dr. Pritchard, Parisian malignity has stimulated invention ; and, as you, Sir, have lately assured the public, has ascribed to him delinquencies in that country which he could not commit, for the best of all reasons, viz, that neither he nor any of his family ever set foot upon the French soil. • • • Mr. Brodie asks, 'Did not the London Missionary Society refund to Mr. Pritchard the 125 ounces of gold which were paid as compensation to Messrs. Caret and Laval, to the captain of the French man-of-war, for the good cause he had gained 2' To this inquiry we have a ready answer—No. The Directors of the Society deemed it a suitable occasion to express their sympathy with the injured Queen, by contributing one-fourth of the amount ; and the remainder was raised by the friends of civil and religious freedom in England and else- where. But if Mr. Brodie makes the inquiry for the purpose of involving the Society at home in the responsibility or approval of the removal of Messrs. Laval and Caret, he assumes that which is utterly unfounded. The views of the Directors on that occasion were thus expressed in their annual Report for the year 1840.= With their faithful missionaries placed in circumstances no less delicate than trying the Directors deeply sympathize, and pray that they may have wisdom from above profitable to direct. In steadfastly opposing the abominations of Catholicism, they confide in their consistency as Protestants, no less than in their integrity as the servants of Christ. They feel assured that their conduct hitherto has honourably sustained their principles ; and they are convinced that, while they yield submission to the laws of the Govern- ments under which they live, and teach the duty of submission to their churches, they will never become the advocates of coercion, much less of per- secution, for the purposes of upholding the interests of religion.'" The Secretaries deny that the Government is supported by fines on prostitution. It may be doubted, they admit, whether a monied penalty is the best for the discouragement of vice ; but, as money is worth in Tahiti thrice the value that it bears in Europe, the penalties are not re- garded as light ; and at all events Queen Pomare is not responsible for the law, which was adopted by the Council of Chiefs, thirty years ago, when Pomare was a child. It would be cruelly libellous to describe the female population of Tahiti as generally profligate : as well might the morals of Englishwomen be estimated by those of Wapping. Nearer home such charges would not be misapplied— "Has he never heard of the formes publegues of Paris; and does he not know that they are licensed, registered, and pay a tax to the Government ? And has he never heard of certain apartments in the Palais Royal, as the notorious re- sort of the base women ? and need he be told who is the proprietor of the building? " Mr. Brodie insinuates that he has addressed private communications to the Secretaries, making charges against "some of those connected with the Society " : those letters, however, do not inculpate the missionaries, but some of their children ; and "these, with a solitary exception, are men of thirty or forty years of age, totally independent of and far beyond parental control, whose wicked practices threaten to bring down the gray hairs of their honoured parents with sorrow to the grave."
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