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422 THE LEABIB. [No. 371, Saturday,
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WHAT TO DO IN CHINA. The British Governm...
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MUSTERING OF THE NEW PARLIAMENTFor once,...
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A LAST ARCTIC EXPEDITION. The extent of ...
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The Ameek Ali Morad.—Papers relating to ...
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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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
A Strong Government At Sea. If We Are To...
told that a British admiral was shot from time to time * ' for the encouragement of the rest . " It is on- this principle of encouragement that we send out regiments in sinking ships . And all this time" we are told night and morning by ministerial journals that we are in the enjoyment of a strong Government . "We are to put away the idle vanities of political reforms and electoral cries , and to be content with , administrative excellence . "Where is this administrative excellence to
begin if not in our navy ? There is no department of the publie service on which the nation is more ungrudgingly lavish than on this- Ajid such , ia our reward . " When we were ab war in the Crimea we shipped two armies without accident or loss : we cannot move a single regiment for China in common safety . How is this inconsistency to be explained ? Simply by the fact that in our late war our transports were taken , up , and that our great
commercial companies are not in the habit of employing unseaworthy ships . We have only one decent steam transport in the service , and she was bought from the Peninsular and Oriental Company . "Why can't we build a dozen or two Himalayas , or get them built , instead of laying down , day after day , those unwieldy and utterly impracticable line-of-battle ships , which , for all fighting purposes , are as obsolete as the Great Harry ? General Paixhaijts , who knew what
he waa talking about , used to say that light , swift craft , with a few heavy guns , would do the work of future wars , and we have lived to realize his words . But our strong Government blunders on in the old routine of big ships , typical enough of bluster and pretence . We ask for Himalayas and gun-boats ; we are presented with Boyal Sovereigns and Transits . Nevertheless , let us repeat , we are now in
possession of a strong * Government ; it is nothing if not strong . It eschews organic changes , repudiates political reforms , laughs to scorn electoral eries . And Lord PaIiMEBSTon will be permitted to personate a strong Government so long as the British public fails to perceive that , until we have strengthened the constituencies , we shall not strengthen the House of Commons , and that until we have strengthened the House of Commons we shall not secure a Government fit to send a troop-ship to sea .
422 The Leabib. [No. 371, Saturday,
422 THE LEABIB . [ No . 371 , Saturday
What To Do In China. The British Governm...
WHAT TO DO IN CHINA . The British Government is not responsible for the recent events in China . Those events were the fruit of long-latent conspiracy ; had the Arrow incident been passed over , another occasion would have been forced , if not by Teh , by some other golden-skinned savage in . the confidence of the Imperial Government . Therefore , our Ministers at home and their agents in the East are free from reproach , except in one particular . They knew , or ought to have known , that a collision was about to take place . If they did not know , it was because they did not
believe the representations made to them by military men and by civilians , who , before the October , quarrel , counselled the authorities to take care of their establishments in China . The conflict broke out and proved us practically unprepared . ' Wq have to concentrate our naval forces ia the China seas ; wo have to collect an army near Canton , from home , from India , « nd from Persia . We may att ? mpt to forao a passage , with gun-boats , up to I ekin ; we may operate by bombardments upon the coast cities ; or we may invest Canton , and starve it into a capitulation . Twelve thousand men would auftlco to secure within a fortnight the surreal der of Canton ; they might . circumvallate it completely with
military lines * take possession of the roads , bridges , and canals in the rear ; keep open a double communication with the fleet , drive back every relieving force , and wait patiently for the physical exhaustion of the Cantonese . Thua a great result might be effected , according to the calculation of no secondary authorities , with the least possible expenditure of time , treasure , and human life . On the other hand , to shell the city and to leave its land communications uninterrupted , would be to damage a number of roofs and walls , and to produce no appreciable effect . Should the
capture of Canton fail to determine the dispute , it would be time to develop the campaign along the coasts of the Yellow Sea , whither , it is reported , several squadrons of imperial junks have retired , to lurk in fancied imniumty from shot and shell . Those who know the country , however , who are locally acquainted with Canton , and have had experience of Chinese war , point to the investment and starvation of Teh ' s populous stronghold as the most direct and efficient means either of closing the contest or of opening it upon an extended scale .
Mustering Of The New Parliamentfor Once,...
MUSTERING OF THE NEW PARLIAMENTFor once , Parliament has mustered and dispersed , without a word about policy . The attendance , to use a reporter ' s phrase , was neither numerous nor influential ; Lord Palmerstoh was present , but Mr . Disraeli was not . The election of Mr . Denison as Speaker was got through without fuss or studiousl
eclat ; the mover and seconder were y mediocre ; the Pirst Minister ' s congratulations fell flatly on the ear ; Mr . " Walpole ' s encomiums were uncomfortably magnanimous . And so , Mr . Denis on became Mr . Speaker , and avowed himself very grateful to the Commons . The Commons went home , and it will not be until next week that we shall scent the real qualities of the new Parliament .
A Last Arctic Expedition. The Extent Of ...
A LAST ARCTIC EXPEDITION . The extent of coast line in the Arctic seas already examined by the Government searching expeditions , is six thousand five hundred miles . There remains to be discovered only three hundred and seventy miles . To this narrow space the highest authorities point as the probable prison or tomb of the Erebus and Terror explorers . It includes a narrow circle not far from the North Magnetic Pole , completely surrounded by the discoveries of recent years . This portion of the Ax * ctic continent
is easy to reach . In the spring of last year Lady Franklin solicited the Government to authorize a last expedition for the purpose of setting at rest the question of her husband ' s fate , and of rescuing , if possible , the records of his ill-fated adventure . To her letter a reply , was immediately written , expi'ossing profound sympathy , with a hope that ahe would be assisted . No assistance came . Lady Franklin waited until the summer had passed , she then repeated her application . The answer was , " Too late for this year , at all
events . " Early in the present spring she wrote a third letter , which appeared in the public journals . Again , time waa taken to consider ; the reply was delayed until the season for operations had commenced ; and then came a positive and definitive refusal on the part of the Government to aid Lady Fhanklin in a final search for the missing expedition . This was not fair treatment for devotion to receive . But slio would not be daunted . Despairing of official co-operation , she resolved to dedicate fclio remnant of her fortune
to a last search for her husband , for lws remains , for tho Erobua and Terror , or for Uio JQurnala ., kept by tho officers . of those
unfortunate vessels . At her expense , the late FSir Richard Sutton's screw-schooner yacht was purchased ; CaptainMcClintock , already famous for his Arctic explorations , volunteered to command it , and , with that object obtained a year ' s leave of absence from the Admiralty . The expedition will be carried out , and , unless the public interfere , it will be carried out at the expense of Lady Frajstbxin , who has already sacrificed the greater part of her fortune in the endeavour to exhume two gallant crews from the accumulated winters of the Polar ocean .
Now , why not yield to the suggestions of the address transmitted a short time an-o from New Xork , and send the Resolute " ? There are at Woolwich abundance of stores for Arctic service , saved from previous expeditions ; there are also large quantities of stores in cachettes near the immediate ground of operations . The expedition proposed is not dangerous ; there is no service more popular among seamen than the northern navigation in . a particularly healthy climate . So that the humanity of the Government is a simple pretence . Lady Pbanxlijj- , we think , has been treated with "worse than discourtesy .
The Ameek Ali Morad.—Papers Relating To ...
The Ameek Ali Morad . —Papers relating to the confiscation , of the territories of the Ameer Ali Morad have been published on the motion of Mr . Isaac Butt , the member for Youghal in the last Parliament . It appears from the correspondence on the subject that the Ameer fraudulently altered the treaty of I ^ ownahur concluded between himself and Meer Rooston and Meer Nusseer Khan , so as to substitute , among the possessions ceded to him , instead of the village of Mathelab , the pergunnahs of Meerpoor , Mathele , and Mehurkee . His Highness -was therefore mulcted of a portion of his territory , by way of punishment . The New Malta Exchange . —The ceremony of
opening the New Exchange , at Valetta , took place on Saturday , the lltli instant , in presence of the Governor , Lieutenant-General Sir John Pennefather , the Members of the Council of Government , the Heads of Departments , her Majesty ' s Judges , the Foreign Consuls , the Members of the Chamber of Commerce , and several of the residents . In iiis speech upon the occasion , his Excellency dilated upon the importance of Malta as a naval arsenal , and showed that it would increase in value in proportion as the native resources of the place nre augmented . The Nightingale Fund . —The subscription for this fund is about to close . All persons desiring to contribute should therefore forward their names and donations without delay to the Honorary Secretaries , 11 , Scrlc-street . Lincoln ' s Inn-fields . . ,. held
. The Italian Nation ' . —A great meeting was at Glasgow ou Tuesday last , the Lord Provost in the chair , at which resolutions were passed in favour of Italian Independence , and against the meddlesome intervention of foreign powers . Few meetings have taken place in Scotland so enthusiastic or so influential . Mr . Buchanan , M . P ., Mr . Dalglish , M . P ., Dr . Nichol , and Mr . O . A . Campbell were among the speakers . .-Unnanf Tine Kiev . V . D . Mauiucb . — Through the exertions ol tho Bishop of London and the new Dean of Westminter ( Dr . French ) , Mr . F . D . Maurice has been restored to his professorship at King ' s College , \ ^ ' ^^ he had been deprived in consequence of his ° I »» » ° ° J the subject of eternal punishment . ? ° ™ \ PfT £ has lately given 000 ? . to the Work . ng Mans College , and 100 W . more have been lent to it on a mortgage bj an unknown person , Who is said to bo no other than Jftrs .
F . 1 > . Maunco . , T » THIQ liKIWOKDIAN SYflTBM OK THE UUlVKKSh . « i . Bedford delivered n lecture on Tuesday ovonmg . <)<• £ Lecture Hall , Chester , on " Social Progress amUnm ssation . " In this discourse , he contended that tl c great stumbling-block in tho path of popular iinprovcroc w tho superstitious reverence attached to the Bible , Hhowed that tho present observance oi tho &« gh s Jewish , and not Chriatian . Any religion * toad infe , J « observed , that is contrary to reason , is contrnrj to uo ^ and , if England will not givo up her pagan sm on idolatry , the meridian of her glory will . have 1 » J ; ^ must " look to tho starry heavens for tlio . koy to tl j J * tcrios which have oiihIuvwI mankind . Art , LiUi «» and Science , must bo the motto i"Horibod orto ban " of future progress and civilisation . " Tho lecturo . w » very warmly received , with the exception oi n lov , " nTilmo JuorruptiouH ; and on tl . o ft , I ^ uijf «« B ' J wua Horonadud by somo of bin dwoiplo * , ""» V ™>
sovcrnl pieces of mimic beneath hw wiwIuwb . Tina l ' ANOi-m ; oN , Leicester-miimro , yftxa 1 ur , » i auction on Thursday , and wan knocked down i \ l ih *> to Mr . K . T . Smith , tho losaoo of Dnuy i-une .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 2, 1857, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02051857/page/14/
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