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THE FATIGUES OF THE SELF-GOVERNED. Some ...
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BRITISH EXPEDITION AGAINST KARRAK. At th...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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public opinion of this country , or will even have objects which the people of this country desire . For anything we know , it may turn into a war to put down the Italians in the name of the Allies—namely , of France , Great Britain , and Austria .
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The Fatigues Of The Self-Governed. Some ...
THE FATIGUES OF THE SELF-GOVERNED . Some of the self-governed would like to he governed without so many appeals to their freewill . They are poisoned by adulterations , and they want Parliament to protect them against the vendors . They are harassed by hearing of suicides , and they ask Parliament to guarantee the repose of their nerves hy forbidding the sale of poisons . Of course , to forbid the sale of poison is to forbid the sale of medicine , since all medicine , taken in
excess , is poisonous . They must hare their health seen to , and be prohibited from living in close rooms or undrained neighbourhoods . The : Supreme ^ Legislature must , next session , indicate where the self-governed may bury their dead ; must compel the vaccination of every individual in the realm , ( though some hold vaccination to he a form of murder , " while others abhor it as irreligious ); must , for the twelfth time 3 introduce a new code for the medical profession ; must
calculate the produce of the fields ; must provide schools for the nation ' s children ; must help the Metropolitan Board of Works to raise money , must do all that the selfgoverned cannot do for itself . These may he prudent schemes , but where are we to stop f We are not ac custom ed to put that question , considering that because we ought to stop at the end of two miles is no reason why we should not go a mile and a half . But the tendency is evidently a growing one . " WTe saw , not long ago , how Sir
Qeobge G-bey was compelled to provide the counties with police . " We have seen . how the Home Office has placed the police magistrates under its control . " We see Lord Pai / mebston widening the arena of his patronage hy dealing with the aged bishops . " We see Sir Benjamin * Haxi / s authority ramifying far and wide among the local Boards of the metropolis . " We have even seen the Marylebone v estry , which was once called " the fourth estate , " depriving itself of public sympathy in a contest with the Central Poor-Law Board . " We are afraid
lest in England we may soon have too much government . It was with a strange delight that some persons heard the anecdote concerning the Queen ' s objection to the appointment of Dr . Trench to a bishopric . They enjoyed the idea of Xiord PaIjMERSton , the representative of Parliament , being ' set right' by the royal prerogative . If the royal prerogative would go further than it went according to this anecdote ( which is , of course , a compound of rumours
and guesses ) , certain persons would be still more gratified . They are tired , and want rest . It appals them , to learn that , in America , serious things are discussed in a violent manner . " We are all becoming very white-handed in . England , and the public avows , with a yawn , that it is * bored . ' " Whenever any matter goes wrong , " the Government ought to interfere . " If a jury return , a foonsh verdict , wise people have long doubted whether we can adhere to the
system of juries . If a session be fruitless , there _ ie reason to believe that we have passed that period in our historical m which parliamentary institutions are UBeful If a particularly vile forgery is committed , it & to be regretted that capital punishment for such offences is ^ longer the law of the l and . This disposition to revoke the social changes of the
century has made considerable progress , and finds expression , from time to time , in an indirect manner , and with ridiculous gravity . We Lave even heard a proposal that Government should take all the charities into its own hands , inspect tlie accounts of public companies , establish a Central Board of Management to regulate the proceedings of
Railway , Bank , and Assurance Directors , and undertake a variety of other duties , to make up for a deficiency of good sense on , the part of the public . But the self-governed will find that , by entrusting their affairs to G-overnment , they effect a sacrifice of independence without a diminution of responsibility . They will have to protect their own interests , let the Legislature do what it will .
British Expedition Against Karrak. At Th...
BRITISH EXPEDITION AGAINST KARRAK . At the opening of the . present century the objects proposed to "be achieved by British diplomacy in Persia irere twofold—to raise up a counterpoise to the power of the Affghans , and to neutralize the influence of France . For some time previously , the invasion of India had been , contemplated by the AfFghan prince Shall Zeman , instigated as much by the golden promises of WtrzEER
Aiii of Oude , as by liis own ambition . To create sufficient employment for the hostile Shah "within his own territories , Was at that time deemed a matter of chief importance ; and Lord "WEXiiESiiEY actively intrigued with the Court of Teheran to create a diversion in the province of Khorassan . In this his lordship encountered no great difficulty , as FtTTTEH An Shah 3 iad already avowed his intention of " conquering and deducing the countries of Candahar and Herat . " Thus
far , then , Captain Mjli < colm found his mission sufficiently easy , though : the subsequent dethronement of Shah Ze ^ iak was effected solely by the intrigues of his younger brother , Shah Mihmoud , without either British or Persian aid . Captain . MA-icoiiM even succeeded in the more momentous task of counterbalancing the prestige of Napolison Bonaparte , then in the full career of conquest ,
and by his immense largesses accomplished the expulsion of the French from the Persian territory . As time glided on , a Itussophobia succeeded to the Gallophobia . There was little to be apprehended from our Gallic rivals so long as Louis Philippe was sitting in his chamber , counting out his money . -But ] NTioho : las was Czar of All the Russias , and the cold shadow of the Cossack darkened
Central Asia .. It was undoubtedly through Russian counsels , supported by the promise of the engineering services of Baron Ache , that an expedition was designed against Herat in 1832 . The interposition of Mr . — now Sir Jonir—McNeil availed , however , to cause its postponement until the following
jrear . In the autumn of 1833 , Maiiommed Mibza was at length able to gratify his longcherished ambition of leading a well-appointed army into Western Afghanistan . But the valour of the Heratees and the death of Abbas Mirza compelled him to raise the siege of their city , and return to his own Government .
On the decease of Futteh Ai « t Shah in the latter part of 1834 , Maiiommed Mirza was placed upon the throne by the united good offices of England and Russia . The ascendancy of the latter Power now became speedily apparent , though it was actually to the former that he was chiefly indebted for his elevation . The new Shah had no great cause , indeed , to bo grateful to the Muscovite , but he had experienced his superiority in war . After the rout of Ganjah , nothing but the fleetnesa of his flying charger hud i saved him from death or captivity . The terror
of that moment never passed from his memo ™ And it must be admitted that the Russian Mi mater at his court spared no pains to humour Ins evil inclinations and to inflame his desiro for martial glory . On the other hand , the British envoy was too honest and upright to advise him to his own hurt . He urg « d the Shah to stifle his ambition , and to devote his energies to the happiness and " welfare of his people . It is not surprising that Count Simonioh became a greater favourite than Mr . MoNeii , ;
The people of Herat had furnished reasonable cause for the Shah ' s indignation . Notwithstanding the treaty they had concluded with Futteh An Shah on the death of Abbas Mirza , they made frequent inroads into the Persian dominions , for the purpose of carrying off captives to sell in . the markets of Bokhara and Khiva . But in 1837 , Prince Ka 3 tran" sent an ambassador to MAHbifjrED Shah , the bearer of rich presents and of most advantageous propositions . Nothing , however , would satisfy the Shah but the acknowledgment of his suzerainty , an indignity little likeltbe t
y o acceped by the Affghan prince whose independence had been recognized by the defensive treaty concluded in . 1809 with the British Government . The envoy from Herat . had been especially instructed to solicit the good offices of the English Elchee , who appears to . have exerted himself to the utmost to recommend mild counsels to the Shah . It was all in vain , and the envoy returned to his master with the assurance of the Shah ' s wrath , but of the Eicliee ' s good wishes . Thinking it possible that the envoy might receive further communications from Prince KAMBAisr while on his
return homewards , Mr . McNeil sent a native servant of the British Embassy , to accompany him a few marches . Hearing ; , however , that an English gentleman was lying sick at Herat , the envoy very considerately took the Gf-liolam the whole way , to give the invalid an opportunity of writing to his fellow countryman . Th . e Persian authorities , therefore , arrested the Gholam as he rode back to Teheran on
the plea that he was an , emissary from the enemy . Mr . McNeil lost no time in demanding his servant ' s liberation and proper redress for the insult to the British Hag . A long correspondence then ensued , conducted on the one side with admirable firmness , temper , and knowledge of Oriental character , and on the other with ultra-Oriental duplicity and subterfuge . The matter in itself would
he comparatively unimportant were it not for the suspicious coincidence that on occasion of the present expedition against Herat a somewhat similar dispute has been got up by the subordinate officers of the Persian Court . It is probable that in both instances the object has been to "betray the Elchcc into an unseemly exhibition of temper , and thus divert his attention from more serious questions . In Mr . McNeil ' s case the artifice was easily baffled by that gentleman ' s long Eastern experience , but in the present instance it seems , unhappily , to have been more successful .
In the latter part of 1837 , Mahommeb Shah sat down before Herat witli 40 , 000 men and 80 pieces of artillery . The Russian Minister , Count Simontoh , marked out the batteries , directed the guns , and p lanned the grand assault that was delivored on the 23 rd of Juno , 1838 , and which was so signally
repulsed by Affghan valour , guided and confirmed by British skill and solidity . Tno defender of Herat was Lieutenant Eldwed Fottingeb , a young artillery officer in t ' Hon . Company ' s service , and ono of the many heroes that service hna produced . ™ ' failure of tho assnult would probably have sufficed to compel tho Shah to return to ws
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 1, 1856, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01111856/page/14/
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