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11& THE LEADER. [No. 306, Saturday
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THE RUSSIAN SETTLEMENTS IN SIBERIA. Noti...
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ft?\t<\. Gft v^te ((M E /Clil^ f rtvat wi 3
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THE RIVAL WIZARDS. Not a hundred years a...
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Mr. Maoaulay on Loch-Lomond.—In no count...
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Transcript
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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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Latter-Day Poetry. The Mystic; And Other...
On ? reading tliis we were strongly moved to a parody : — Oh ! Mr . Chadwick , what stuff , ; What stuff , what stuff ! You have surely written enough , Enough , enough ! Of Senae you have left the shore , And will never come back any more . The bride , in the original ballad , thinks that her "lad" has been killed "
Alma ' s plain , " when he suddenly steps from some inscrutable hiding-place , and aanounees that he " is here , is here , is here . " We beg to add a final stanza—supposed to be spoken by the lovely bride : — My lad , you never were there , Were there , were there : I suspect you bolted in fear , In fear , in fear . Get along , do , from my side , For no longer I'll be your bride .
Versicles is the modest title given by Mr . Thomas Irwm to a collection of poems which , though possessing no great pretensions , have the rare merits of being easy , natural , and self-controlled . Some of his verses are very sweet ; his measures have music in them ; and he does not forget one of the essential requisites of poetry—good sense . The BatUe ' ofthe Alma , by J . W . Fletcher ( Theobald ); Conquer aye , a War Idyl , by T . Forster Ker , M . P . S . ( Churchill ) ; Florence Nightingale , a Pbern , by John Davis ; Lays of the War , by Michael Joseph Barry ( Cork , office of the Daily Reporter )' , belong to the multitudinous spawn of war poems , and are so ^ like their brethren in the accustomed sound and fury , that elaborate criticism would be needless severity . Of Mr . John Davis we may remark that he does not maintain the reputation , of his namesake of the reign of Elizabeth , who sung of " Dancing . " Although the lawyer-poet , in treating of the divine Crimean Nurse , would have indulged in conceits enough , he would not have talked
of—Sweet Nightingale , most charming ( bird of song . The Italics are Mjr . Davis ' s own . He fears that the joke will be missed if lie call not the printer to his aid . The Rev . Archer Gurney contributes The Odecf Peace , hpropos tothe present Crisis . Mr . Gurney has a reputation of some years' standing , which it would b ? a pity to lose , for placid common-placei solid Toryism , and unimpeachable orthodoxy . The object of his present harmless outpouring is to beg us not to strike Russia too hard now she is down ; not to take away any of her territory , nor to force her into " the posture of a slave" by cbmpell ing her to sue for peaces but kindly to assume that agreeable posture ourselves ; for the essettce of Russian Government ( that fine paternal rule ) consists in the opinion offtsinyincibility , and it would be a pity to destroy the lovely dream . If Russia should succeed in bamboozling us at the Conferences , we may expect ta find Mr . Gurney singing an ode of triumph and thanksgiving .
11& The Leader. [No. 306, Saturday
11 & THE LEADER . [ No . 306 , Saturday
The Russian Settlements In Siberia. Noti...
THE RUSSIAN SETTLEMENTS IN SIBERIA . Notion Vie htte Expedition against the Russian Settlements in Eastern Siberia . By Captain Bernard Whittingham . Longman and Co , The ^ iissians . set a high value on their Siberian . territories . Those provinces , ^^^ ^*^ * PP ^ in Western Europe mere deserts Q * 3 *^;? ° ^^ » woin-pits , and snowy plains , are among the most valuable in the . emtoe . Instead of being the ab 6 de of eternal winter—the retreat only of wild beasts—four-fifths of them lie in the temperate zone , and are capable m : W a -V ' - The whole of the Umlian borders are overlaid with the Slack Stall which gives a name to an extensive region , and which is not less fertile than the deep loam in the Volgau and Dniepern valleys . With the Aunlr leading from Siberia to the PaciBc , caravan routes penetrating the Binese frontier
^ on one side , an open communication by sea with America on . the other , with channels of navigation to Japan , and to all the ports of pastern Asia , is it surprising that Russia has sedulously prepared fortresses and commercial stations along the coasts of Tartary and Siberia ? Moreover , is it conceivable that when she found herself , in 1854 , at war with the Power A £ £ v f i * ^ o possessed the key to that important region , wHtfe the English and French ships ventured timorously from cape to cape , seeking enemies and finding none ? Captain Whittiugham , who narrates the incidents of the North Pacific Expedition of 1855 , discloses enough to set at rest the minds of those who too readily ascribed a quality the reverse of rash-? S fa O 5 ?!? aen tbat «*• ^ hetherinhisown viewhe exculpates
; L ^ . ^^ . * , them , is doubtful ; but the result is this , that the allied squadron was sent £ *? » n uasurveyed sea to attack forts in situations perfectly unknown , and that it foued even to blockade the enemy ' s fleet . While the charts have 2 SL r ^ ° mth - f ™? ^ on evcr y reef in the CuaSQ Archipelago , and ftlV ^ V ^ been ^ not useleasly-examined as minutely as a * iJ ?^ S q """}* J ? vast Tartar Gulf has been left almost witfiout ™ iS * t 5 ° Ok t ofc 8 k ha ? r ««» ained almost a mythj and waters , ™^\ £ \ * ° spq f . best yeara of his Hfe in exploring , leave on the map . that yacu mn which the pilot abhors . Surely , in' peace or war jt ^ ere well to know a little more of those important coasts , and of the * 2 time approaches that connect them with the Sea of Janan .
W * W ^ S \ ^ ^ 7 Oa P ^ Whittingham ' s statement , illustrated « £ i % IS k / « cr S ' tfet wTien . the All ^ eS squadron , in April last year , Tov £ n ?^ fr ° % ? n ^ B * « North > acific , they entered on a SFEB-lf t SCOVe i & . u - he sl "P both notions hwJ bee « » *» ocean , and S ^ iSSS ? " ^* Siberian coasts the year before ; they had been baffled at ¦ 3 & " 21 J ? 3 k Petr ° P attl <> V 8 k »; tbeyhad been unsuccessful ; and had not ¦ SSJ ijhe way to a new enterprise . Absolutely , in the second Pacific SsSe * L l aXtlOnhnd 8 tillt (> " attain » where the Russian posiwaa | Sib 4 ^ fortified ; how >' they extended ; and whether it R ^ SS & lSiSiS ^ % ? * r 5 lieht T ^^ T the P r ° e r < e 88 of to be SSSTw ' < £ * ftwtaflfiWaona m the Bay of dkhofak werS found BquadroCSn KboLdX ft B , altXc ' witIlin natural ' ^ Vri nths , her , mtunp ; behind wleta and shoals , succeeded in flying by unknown
channels , or , through the fog , to harbours more secure . Though in greater force than the Allies , the Russians would not engage , and only challenged an attack , from an inaccessible position , under land batteries . Why they were permitted to escape from De Castries Bay , and to escape across narrow waters , in presence of an Allied squadron , to the River Amur , naval men may be co mpetent to decide . As we understand , and as Captain Whittiugham explains it , the failure was blameable . Yet there were collateral circumstances to be considered . Both French and English were in a strange sea , which was r >
erfectly familiar to the Russians . While they sounded and signalled through the mist , the Russians fled . Why these waters were so obscure is anotlier point , on which the Admiralty may be interrogated . At De Castries Bay the Russian vessels was surprised , lying within a barrier broken by practicable channels . Why were they not attacked ? Because the English charts were unreliable , and because they were unprovided with the charts of La Perouse . Since that romantic navigator explored the avenues of the Sea of Okhotsk , its great fisheries and curious shores , they have only been visited by Commodore Broughtpn , and by a few drifting whalers .
However , since it appeared that the passage between Saghalien and the mainland , instead of being a channel , was only a gulf , and that the Russian ships , in order to gain the Amur , must come out of the narrow waters and pass round the head of the peninsula , a frigate and a corvette commenced a blockading cruise . After seven days of sentinel duty , they bore up to De Castries Bay , to make sure of their enemy . He was gone . And now the discovery was made , which a less discreet commander might have made before—that there was a clear channel inwards " for frigates and large vessels , " and another to the north for smaller craft , so that the Russian squadron might have been assailed as it lay , all the day , in the bay . The next movement was towards the Straits of La Perouse , possession of which is coveted by Russia to secure a communication between the Amur
and the Kurile Islands , to advance her maritime outposts towards the Korean Channel , and towards the ports of Japan . Twice during this century has Aniwa—the citadel of the Straits — been attacked from Siberia , but the enterprise has not yet been successful . Captain Whitttngham , Avho possesses enthusiasm and talent , desired to test tlve theoretical geography of the Germans , and the falsified geography of the Russians , and to penetrate from the Channel of Tartary to the gulf of the Amur ; but the expedition was , from this point , fruitless and disheartening . At Ainian , the new capital of the Government of Okhotsk , three slight earth batteries en banquette were found , constructed by seamen , to illustrate the defences before which our naval forces failed at Petropaulovski . But these were deserted . Approaching the Amur ,
a broad channel seemed to invite the advance of a steamer , at least . The steamer went in boldly , and after feeling its way for three miles and-a-half , touched a sandbank . Various passages were attempted , but their intricacies foiled the adventure . Ultimately , the enterprise was cut short , the squadron returned to the Sea of Japan , and it was left for the Russian commanders to say that their positions in that quarter were beyond attack . Certainly , the Allies had done little to ensure success . But the British Government should learn ; , at last , that wherever great political and commercial interests arise , geographical and hydrographieal science should follow them . Whatever may be said , the Pacific Expedition failed , because the Admiralty was ignorant . We commend to the notice of all our readers Captain WhittLaghain ' s narrative , which is replete with interest .
Ft?\T≪\. Gft V^Te ((M E /Clil^ F Rtvat Wi 3
Clre itts .
The Rival Wizards. Not A Hundred Years A...
THE RIVAL WIZARDS . Not a hundred years ago , the two national theatres were carrying on a spirited campaign under the rival managements of Garkick and Colma . n ; in 1856 , Professor Anderson and Mr . E . T . Smith arc engaged in amicable hostilities on the same illustrious field . Such is the progress of the British drama ! The struggle is not now for the possession of the Goldsmith or the Powell , but for the most slashing counterfeit of the Wizard of the North , and the most easy and pleasant mimicry of a favourite comedian . Such was , such is , the condition of the British stage . Professor Anderson ' s retort has had the disadvantage o ? hanging fire . His Corsican brother over the way had possessed the town for weeks before the retort was ready . This is a mistake which the "tremendous excitement
created by Rob Roy" does not entirely account for . Meantime , however , that somewhat strong title , "An Impudent Puppy , " had been exchanged for the more vague and harmless one of tc What do You Want ? " No doubt some distasteful personalities have also been expunged from the stage copy ; the few that survive by no means constitute tlie success of the farce . That success is due to the admirable mimic powers of Mr . Leigh Murray , whose personation of Charles Mathbws almost , if not entirely , equals the latter ' s embodiment of the Wizard . His imitations of Charles Kean and of the Professor himself as Ron Roy , arc equally surprising and clever : the gay dexterity and elegant vivacity with which ho rattles through the performance mark l-eal power in the actor , and keep tho audience amused .
Mr. Maoaulay On Loch-Lomond.—In No Count...
Mr . Maoaulay on Loch-Lomond . —In no country but England havo tho only means and scenes of relaxation within tho reach of aome million or two of pooplo beon * yBtenaatically lampooned and deridod . ThiS disgraceful Inimlarity oxjbIh no longer . Still , some weak traces of its contemptuous spirit may occasionally be found , even in very unlikely places . The accomplished Mr . Maoaulay , in tho third volume of his brilliant history , writes loftily about <( tho thousands of clerks and milliners who are now thrown into raptures by tho ( right of Looh Katrine and Looh Lomond . " No such responsible gentlenaan , in France or Germany , writing history—writing anything—would think it fine to snoox at any inoflonmvo Rid useful olaes of bin fellow subjects . If the clerks and milliners—who pair on ? J i ^ , " ' by thouBanda > for kooh Katrine and Looh Lomond , to celebrate tho ISarly Closing Movement , we presume-will only imagine their prosonoe poisonmg those waters to the majestic historian as he roves along the banks , looking for Whig Monabera of Parliament to sympathiao with him in admiration of tho beauties of Nature , we think they will bo amply avonged in tho absurdity of tho pioturo . — " iNflUL . utrwEe . ' Jlovtehold Words .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 2, 1856, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02021856/page/20/
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