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Sbsvbbibkr 9, 1854.] THE LEADER. 8&d
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OFFICERS AND GENTLEMEN. I. , Tmo GOVKKNI...
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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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The Wajb And The English Jpeopxe. By An ...
and with the geopte , we speak for the people iii what we' are about to- say . 3 ? rom tbe first we had our misgivings * We cottlcknofibring ourselves to hope that'the aggressions of Russia were really to be chsastised -when we saw at the head of af & irs < such a man- as Lord Abexdeeny who , however he may & are > been influenced ]> y stronger mind to yield on soBie > minor- points- connected with domestic afiairs ^ - is still , with regard to foreign policy ,- but a miserable relte of th & oM ultr-a-Tbry days of Castlereagh- and Siftmoutb , as a statesman , far below aedioerifty ; ia plaee , and kept in place , by Court- influence ; and , as a man without a- single noble- aspiration for Ms fellow ? roan , an opponent of liberty * an enemyof . raw
tiomlMes-and people , a wretched worshipper of dynasties and despotisms . He justified ovir measure of him , and , true to his fame and cliaractef , battled for his friend Nicholas to the last extremity . But when the voice of honour and of public opinion had prevailed , and war was positively declared against the ; dangerous tyrant of the North , we did think that in . very decency and' delicacy Lord Aberdeen would have retired . Unhappily ,, he ehose otherwise * Our ; next anticipation 1 was that , at alt events , by the vigour with which the war would be e ^ rie &' on under his auspices , all former suspicions wouLd , be blotted but . But once more we were , doomed to be disapV poixrtfed . Oar warriors went fbrth amidst : mtcch
cheering and Warm : Ropes . Their chiefi proceedcid to the field after the fashion of aballet dn . tfie bottr < fei of tfte theatre ; they danced hit Eondon ,. they danced : in Paris , they danced to Vienna , they : daiiced in Cox ~ stantftioiplei they danced at every stage upon tfe roadj as if fully : sympathising with the blgcfc lady at the- /* dignity ball * ire Barbadpes ,. who thws rebuked the- talkative midshipman vfho was her partner , * : ' Sate ; me-cqme for dance , not fbr chatter ; "" Jit last Varna was reached , ^ nd we did begiVrtoljppe tihat bcrffetsirere now really to be changed for bitlfetk But npthittg was done ; pays grew into weekfs , and stilt it w / sts ; nothing . Weeks- were ejctended ittto months , ami stilt mail after m ail arrived with nbthirisr . nathina .
nothtng to tell . The Turks had won laurels on the . Woody field of Ottenitzav They had gained victory after victory 5 n front of Ealafat . Citate told of Russian defeat and : flight . They had driven back ; their tiafflfed foes from , the walls of Sillstria , and ; rolled back the tide of war beyond the Danube .: But , all this' time , oUrgallant fleets and armies were doing nothing . And then came the cholera to decimate their ranks , and mow- down the high and the noble ; and ; the braTe , with the unsparing and iinjjartial scythe of ' pestilence . ^ Can we wonder , theiii that public impatience and' indignation are beginning to find a- voice ? Rather we may wonder if the whisper . heard 1 , at Newcastle does not presently grow into a thunderclap to fill and echo through the land from
one extremity to the other . And why is this delay 2 Why -this seeming fear and real hesitation ? Froft Pudorf because out statesmen either sj'mpathise with or tremble before the young despot of "Vienna . By some strange alchemy , the war undertaken to protecti Turkey and clip tlie wings of Russia , ha . s been transmuted into an unholy alliance -to guard German dynasties , and Austria in . particular , against the wishes of their enslaved people to be free . And what are we to gain by this degradation ? As we see and read it ,. Austria is to do the police work of Russia in the Dannbian provinces , and by thrusting her armies , between the flying enemy and the allies , not only coven his retreat , but also secure his frontier for hundreds of miles against -the very danger of attack . The whole Russian force will thus be enabled to
concentrate on any point , and the interference of their friend , our ally , will thus give thorn the opportunity of meeting , and , perhaps , checkmating us wherever , if wo do ever act at all ) we may make our attack . No true Englishman can have any faith in an Austrian alliance . It will surely turn out in the end to be all false and hollow . Wo have now an additional cause for apprehension « nd anxiety , Either ym are about to bo betrayed by these horrid ' friends , or \\ vhat would bo worse , our Ministers must have pledged themselves
against freedom and liberty throughout Eui'ope . Howiait ? What are we to say , w lint to thinlc ? Whom are we to accuse , in whom to trust , whom to blame ? We havo long abandoned nil confidence In . Lord' John Russell , as a mere lover of place and glutton after patronnge ? But wo confess to having had a persevering hope in Lord Palmers ton . Is that also to go ? Has ho also become Austrlnnised ? Will ho too , politically « die and inuko no sign" to cheer , and re-assure us ?
Sbsvbbibkr 9, 1854.] The Leader. 8&D
Sbsvbbibkr 9 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . 8 & d
Officers And Gentlemen. I. , Tmo Govkkni...
OFFICERS AND GENTLEMEN . I . , GOVKKNINO . CLASSICS AND THE NAVY . ( Totko Editor of ( ho Loader . ' ) Sin , —ICugland cannot do without a Navy . When we consider tho diffident institutions . thai * io « d reform , xt is aa wall to rofleut beforehand whether wo could not altogether dispenao with them nt onoo . It ie possible to abolish tho House of Lords , instead of
introducing reforms ' rtrto its sacred precxttotss Ifcisi equally easy to anniliilatechureh .-ra . tes , and' jvatf && Dissenters on the same footing with cfrurch peopjte * But the Kavy must exist , while Brance , Russia , anffl America are- alive ; , and without hex wooden walls England- would be powerless ; igptwever necessary ^ Ms ' Kavy is iff the wei & rer of Eisiglattd , it i & luadly probable that it caa exist much , tbnger in its' present form . Facts are daily coming , to . light about both thei services ^ that make- pe » pj & think twice before committing taemselrves op their aoiwto th « : mercy of battle-. flelds and wa ^ esj The present is- an age of great changes , and tlie range of' reform may well bei extended even more widely .
TJieNavy is now in a state of transition , touching at one ettofc on the : eiviliaed shores ^ on the other , extending t & Ffe-Benbovite 1 roughness , fa most messes , these two elements meet together Eke two adverse tides one party of oldsters being ., civilised ,, the . other , being ia- a-state of , primitive , barbarity , Hereupon both ? factions suffer ,, and between them the uHftMtitnate youBgsters manage to fall in . for a shat ^ o ^ T ^ yii ^ th ^ is < much greater than t ;] ie ordinary experience bf > men .. ashore caw have ; any eoncepiio ^ bVofc- ^! Bftt ¦ . ^<^ ¦^ s fe ^ ¦ ' ¦ lM ^ ,: lbe ^^ afc ¦ : o to Bexies ; 1 ty'ea-. larging . oa . the sttfferiaga of tloe youngest parfc of the communifty , . gfeniorfts- priores is . the established rule , Ho- Wliiefc ' w & . iQwglit ¦•' tpf cbnforia , and commence by a glance a * the Goveraixig' Classes , and the influence they hare wrec theKattyr .
v I ^ l tha first place , ; how is the Kavy goveimed ;? By : the' Aidxaiialty : ^ yrifoOn turn ape gpyerhed ; by public ? opimony and tifo private considerations ofi yotes atid ! ; jkoliticaVpiaijtiesi It seems ; fcobiei an established ruiei \ that ; t ^ - Krst Lord o & ? the Ad miralty should 1 sdwttys - be prpfoiindly ; : ignorant of naval matters . We cam reboHect but ona cas >& duriag several yeais . w : hen , a naval man w «) 9 appoiated First Lord , and tlien the < interitipn . w ; as better than the result * . We allude to tiie Duke ofe iSrorthui » be ( rlia , ndj . a ^^ captain- in the Na-vy ^ . and th © rnan ^ whoi as . is almost unnecessary to relate , was- Lopd : Derby ' s ; First Lord , of the Adnairalty * Sir James Grraham has many years ago held the same post that has fallen to his share in the Coalition , yet
we cannot rememfoex r any regulations intirodtteed by him that have meibwith satisfaction in the : profession he ia- supposed to govern- To Mm we owe a "bill on : the subject of merchant seamen , that has caused imnaeRse trouble to foreign- , eoasuls and meichant captains . However , if he is personally ignorant of tilie ^ avy , he has a / brother afloat who can give him some information . Certainly the Navy generally would not be surprised at Sir James ' s appointment . But what , in the name of eyery . tliirig strange , coiild have led to the appointment of Mr . Bernal Gsborne to the post of Secretary to the Admiralty , under the very Sir James Graham he quizzed in Parliament
such a short timp ago ? ¦< It is always sujjjosed that the secretary is . the » eal head of ohe Admu-atty , and this supposition , which may not . be true as regards the present Board , was certainly correct in the case of John Wilson Croker . Wo nave heard that the eminent Quarterly reviewer , when secretary , did not only aspire to control the ' ? Lords , " but , endeavoured also to emulate Julius Cassaty and dictate two or three despatches to different admirals at the same time . There is littlia fear of Mr . Bernal Osbotne imitating his predecessor in this respeet . Tho post he has gained has so sobered hicn- down as to deprive him of the power of making jpkes in Pai'liament , and his oratorical efforts there are confined to
snubbing * members who aslc questions about certain , pro . motions , and informing the country that political interest is altogether disregarded by the Admiralty , and that " certain families ' cannot , aa before , bo omnipotent . Whatever may lie Mr . Bernal Osboi'ne ' s sentiments a » regards these " certain families"' ( and surely as fteeretury to the A-dmiralty he pught to know nothing about the Niivy ) , we niust beg leave to dissent from his propositions about political influence . As we stated in a letter published in tho Leader of the lyth of August , some people aresnifeved in the Navy to do what they like r merely baciwse ot : Dlioir political connoxions . In fact , political influence , in which wo include tho influence that naturally belongs to a great house , or to any member of tho Covorniiicr Classes ,
is tho ' « ho all and end nil" as regards naval nppointmcntSk Wo quote these words IVom tho lctt « r mentioned , and will proceed to substantiate their assertions by indisputable facts . "At this stngo I shall lmvo n great outcry raised , and I shall be told that Captain Cavendish hus always thought the Navy ono of tho best professions that could bo chosen . Captain Cavendish being of a curtain family , has jilways served with certain onptains , and has alwnys uict with tlie speediest promotion , Mis nicssimiiU' 8 know bettor limn to bully hiiu > and tho AdmirtUty knew better than to send Uim to disiigK . 'eablo stationfl , or to make him servo undor obnoxious captains . If lie did anything that required notice , hiu conduct whs uxtununtod'i if ho whs to be tiriod l > y a aourt-inu-vtial , a picked' selection of ounpaina wub sont out to try him .
He has walked through the service on , velvet , and if be likes it , no one can wonder at his taste . " As a fancy sketch of Captain Cavendish , or any other gentleman possessed of & name , that would have delighted Peter Simple's boatswain , a matt clinging to the bottom of his family-tree asoysteraand limpets cliag to trees in marshy , often deluged , tracts , this extract would excite little attention , and be passed over as a pure fiction . But when we inform the public that a young ; captain ,, bearing & name that has now , as- it always had , an . undue influence in the
Navy , . flogged a midshipman on board his ship , when such an action could not be passed "by , by the ttuost indulgent admiral , or Lords of the Admiralty ; and when we proceed- to inform , them that a court- > ioaxtial was demanded and found indispensable ^ though we confess tha . 4 tlus-portion of the tale is rather improbable , even , though it is true ) , that a pioked assortment of captains was actually sent out to try this captain , and that they indeed acquitted him most honourably , we feel that , w-e ar © stating , facts we should ; not dare to bring forward if they were not as trite as the most well-known circumstances in the
world . We will not exiter into the details-of this one case , nor do we attribute the least blame to the captain who figured as > the chief in- an occurrence' diagraceful to offiaers and gentlemen , and doubly disgraeeful to the high potentates who rule the Navy , and ; imagine they have a . right divine because they govern wrong . - .. ' . ^ - ¦ . ¦¦ ¦ ¦ . ¦ . ¦¦ : ¦ ¦'' ¦ ¦ - ¦ ' : ¦' .. ¦ - . ' Let us next glance at the promotion that falls to the lot of these happy scions of the aristocracy . Some of the examinations the-y have to pass are merely
gonei tftrough under tlie eyes of captains , and the dtillest titled youth can freq . u entiy get through an ; exainination when the cleverest untitled in the fleet Is rejected . A person in the iNayy has to pass four grand examinations . The first one-is when he enters the seryice as . naval cadet , yfb ^ en he is examined in " thfe three r ' s—reading , rating , arid ritb > nietic , " To speak officially , these are the qualifications for a naTal cadet , and they may be found enclosed in ' every letter that calls yoaths from their homes to serve their countries .
" A naval cadet must not be under twelve years of age , and must produce a sufficient certificate , or other proof thereof i properly attested . He must be in good health , aad fit for service , that is , fre ^ from . im .-pediment of speech , defect of vision , rupture , or other physical inefficiency , fie must be able ! tp write English from dictation , ai ) d must be acquainted with the rules of common arithmetic , including the rule of three . " Slight as this examination might seem to ragged , schoolboys , it frequently proves an insurmountable barrier . Many youths have , been turned back : for not spelling , a ^ id many , high in rank ia the navy , if now subjected to that exaniination , would fare no
better . The next exanaination is that touching a cadet ' s qualifications to serve as midshipman , when he is expected to produce logs and certificates of good conduct for two years , and to have a due knowledge of arithmetic , geometry , and trigonometry , besides a number of technicalities which we will not inflict on pur readers . Over this examination again presides one captain , who can soften the process to the elite of the service . Tho grand examination , however , is that for a lieutenancy , and this can be shirked by no one . It is a stiff examination , too , and has proved an obstacle to numbers . The only way for the titled dune « s to avoid it , nor can they even then kee-n it off altogether , is to pass out on
some foreign stution , and remain for a long time in the position of acting-mates or acting-lieutenants . Wo remember distinctly how midshipmen used to pass for lieutenants in tlio Mediterranean while we wore there . Three captalins wero appointed to examine a number of candidates , one of whom was a nephew of the First Lord , while tlie others were mere midshipmen , without political connexion . Ono of the oxamiiuiiy : captains was notorious throughout the fleet , and in fact throughout the whole service , as a martinet Cthere are two or three captains of this sort , who are known by report , and hated by every naval man , whether they are known to him personally or not ) . On the present occasion , the martinet
proved equal to all expectations , lie bothered tho midshipmen by cross questions ; aak < 'd them impossible queations > which no man in tlio world could answer ; and turned them back by shoals . Ho \ yas the sort of man who would place you in tho position of Noah when tho ark rested on Mount Arimit , and ask you how you would get her down , Ono mfctohipman was turned back because tlio nmrlinot , in asking him a question ol" venerable antiquity , ono that lias been askod at every exnniination , ana u » known to every midshipman »« l >« --u *|? '"¦ i ; i \ forgot hulf tl >« question , aliored tlio purport ol it , and thon turned the youth bank beomiHO ho ili < not givo the proctHo uiibwit Iw would lmvo done it tho uestion hud boon lm ? -
q comp ^ TfVoT n «» Kvi i ! . uh !« *« I-t buck for Mx months , enter Hie nephew to the Mr * t Lord , u yory unrloolJecl youlh , nil wIkwu knowledge was «« n « ned bo tho hiniplo nice of IiIh fxistcnconHnephow to the First Lord . Ho might well bo frightened on hoiinug n-liat his prcdocossoru haul gone through . But to
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 9, 1854, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09091854/page/11/
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