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Kaech 21,1857.]
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THE OPERATIONS IN CHINA. It may seem ing...
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lovers of pea^e. Fortunately, we believe...
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AE.MY EDUCATION REFORM. Tins is ono of t...
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Thk Crimean Commissionkrs and Loud Panmu...
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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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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Lord John' .In. The City. Loed John- Ktt...
disclosing the fact , tliat m the Cabinet of 1854 Paimebsion was the obstructive of Xord John ' s Reform Bui . Most of us knew It before Sir Jahes peached , but he has established the historical fact . We have a Btron" - impression tliat Lord John could give a clear account of what happened about Vienna . T 7 i is w tnow , that there was less difference . between . Ministers and hirnselt than the friends of Ministers . pretend . But he did not hasten to defend himseli by violating the confidence of his Cabinet Perhaps he carried this punctilio too far , but
it was an honourable excess . There have been , occasions when we have been compelled to criticise severely Lord John ' s shortcomings , but surely he is better than men who do not come at all . At this . moment he represents tlie most tried , the most earnest , the most influential advocates of suffrage extension . He could get something of that kind done for us . If there is any feeling in the country favourable to the extension , of the suffrage , Lord John is the man who embodies the leadership of that appeal . If the country sets him aside to go for Pat / merston , it se * ts aside that suffrage extension whieh is the real key to
Administrative Ueform . ,. There ia another little secret which we will disclose . The attempt to jockey Lord John has originated with those persons who , under a Liberal mask , are trying to prevent any extension of the suffrage—any progress of political reform , They have made themselreS—who are the enemies of Heform—the enemies of Lord John , and they stand unmasked . This bad treatment identifies the statesman more than ever with the people . He will be carried against the Grovernment influence by the popular feeling . Is it likely that he will forget his xeal supx > orters ? It is more than probable that , amongst his supporters throughout the country as well as in the City of London , there will be a large proportion , perhaps a majority , of the genuine working-classes . Is it probable that Lord Johw will forget the moral , if not the technical , obligation which be invites when , with strong moral courage , he insists upon being a candidate for the City of London—a candidate , not in the personal interests of Lord Palmeeston , but in the national interests of Heforni ?
Kaech 21,1857.]
Kaech 21 , 1857 . ]
TTTPi T " A n'W'B- 279
The Operations In China. It May Seem Ing...
THE OPERATIONS IN CHINA . It may seem ingenious to magnify the consequences of the . recent events at Canton by affirming that they may lead to a war between Great Britain and one-fourth of the human race ; but the plain truth is that a war with China would be a conflict between an ' ^ organised force and a rabble of barbaric soldiery . That Admiral SETatounhas been driven to a temporary abandonment of tho forts in the river is no proof that tho Chinese havo gr , own more terrible sinco 1842 , when they were compelled to ransom Canton , or since 1 $ 47 , when a moderate British force succeeded iii spiking eight hundred guns in tVp defences of that city . The necessity for offensive action had arisen suddenly and unexpectedly . The rivor forts were captured and the imperial squadrons sunk , not as tho commencement of a regular series of operations , but with tho view of coercing the M " antchu authorities by a few rapid and irresistible blow s . Tho Mantchus remaining obstinate , it was not for the British admiral to follow tip hiy original movomonts by n virtual campaign , without receiving instructions as well as reinforcements from borne . He therefore withdrew hia forces from Canton , and satisfied himself with taking up a defensive attitude , preparatory
to a resumption of hostilities with adequate means , under the authorisation pi his Government . It would have been folly to have undertaken the permanent occupation of the military works round Canton , with a vast population seething round a few isolated detachments ; but we may be sure that a British expedition , planned on a very small scale , would speedily capture the entire city , and lioldit against the imperial armies of China . Its fortifications are contemptible , the garrison though capable of making a noisy resistance , must infallibly y ield to a regular attack , and as for the people , they proved in 1842 how far the Emperor can rely upon the cheap de-¦¦
fence of nations . _ - ., ! " We sincerely hope that Lord Elgin will be enabled to effect a p acific settlement of the questions in dispute between Great Britain and the Government of the jSIantchus . He possesses some qualities that peculiarly fit him for his mission : but it would be
• taking a verv optimist view ot L , statesmanship " to listen with any very sanguine expectation for rumours of peace from those remote waters . The Chinese comprehend little of diplomacy ; they have a Japanese habit of regarding themselves as the supreme aristocracy of the earth ; they never make a concession without a secret resolve to revoke and revenge it at a future day ; they understand -what an enemy means when he has captured their towns , blockaded their coasts , driven their armies far inland ; but until that climax comes , they : are not generally disposed t o modify their national pretensions- The commercial community throughout the East is anxiously awaiting such a result of the recent transactions at Canton as mil teach the Chinese to _ appreciate more correctly their relations with the leading Powers of the West . Should they force on a war , it is to bo hoped that an attempt will be made to drive the imperial . family from Pekin , and to occupy that capital , which is by no means inaccessible across the ; Yellow Sea . Tho most decisive course of t action , is that which will take the speediest r effect , and relieve an important region of Asia
from the pressure of war . Lord Palmerston may be assured that his Chinese policy is adopted by the nation , and that by refusing to desert his subordU nates who have difficult and onerous duties to ' . perform at so vast a distance from home , he has gained and deserved a sensible increase of popularity . Should any future minister acquiesce in other principles than those which have actuated his recognition of Sir John BowniNa ' s proceedings at Canton , he may represent a party , but lie will not represent English good feeling , or English common sense .
Lovers Of Pea^E. Fortunately, We Believe...
lovers of pea ^ e . Fortunately , we believe Lord Pai ^ ekston to be often , by force of sheer good sense , a far "better Reformer in practice than he allows himself to be thought in theory— -we mean in administrative , not in
political departments . At all events , we can report progress tenwards the reform of army education . In the autumn of last year , three Commissioners—two military , one civil—were sent out by the "War Department to ascertain the character of the Military Colleges in France , Prussia , Austria , and Sardinia They W « now nroduced a Blue-book containing ¦
the results of their inquiries . m ; . ¦ This ' Blue-took , more especially the-hrst forty pages , deserves the attentive study ot all who are interested in the reform ot our army . Every one , we think who "understands education , and who wishes'that it we are to have an army at all it should be one
whose ability and devotion to tne profession may ensure success , will concur m the suggestions of the Commissioners . Iney have wisely abstained from asking too much where it is difficult to obtain anything ; _ but the one thing absolutely indispensable , it we are to hold-up ' bur heads among military nations , tho necessity of real encouragement for scientific military knowledge , . is very plainly and directly enforced by the Commissioners . Tlio question is simple enough . Make it worth ail officer ' s -while to study his profession , make it tell on his advancement , and he will do so . Give , in other words , real distinctions to your pupils m early Military Schools , and let the rule be absolute that the Staff school is the necessary preliminary to the Staff , and the thing is done
. ... Such is the pith of the Commissioners report , based upon extensive and minute investigations . Surely the plan is prudent enough , and-water-tight . But it is no secret that " Remember Dowb" is still the watchword at the Ministry of War , and that patronage for appointments which require merit is still the order of the day . Unhappily , soldiers have , generally speaking , so little idea of the value of education , even for their own purposes , that nothing will be done to open a career to military scientific ability unless civilians take the question up . " When , the new Parliament has met will be the time to make a push ; meanwhile , it is just as well that the subject should be kept alive by the press .
Ae.My Education Reform. Tins Is Ono Of T...
AE . MY EDUCATION REFORM . Tins is ono of those subjects -which must not be shelved oven during the excitement of a General Election . Lord Pju . merstoh affected to disdain the notion of making aristocratic British officers know their duty when tho question was raised discursively in tho House the other day ; and with his usual adroitness he supported his disinclination to lie form by a masked battery of British claptrap , about our officers being as brave , & c .. which nobodv doubts : and about a voluntary
service being different to a conscription which we are equally ready to acknowledge Thero was even a pretended sneer at largi standing armies , and at tho profession o arms , which was rather amusing on th < lipsof jth © prhno representative and pet o British pugnacity , tho lighting Foroigi Minister ; but which was well designed t < moderate tho indignant prejudices of i \ v
Thk Crimean Commissionkrs And Loud Panmu...
Thk Crimean Commissionkrs and Loud Panmurb . —Under tbc date " War Office , February 28 th , 1857 , " Lord Panmure writes to Sir John M'Neill , in reference to the letter in which that gentleman declined the offer of a thousand pounds : — " I should not have thought xt necessary to add to this correspondence had it not been for the interpretation which you have put upon a passage in my letter , and which I feel it to ho due both to you and myself to correct . I certainly had no intention whatever to place a money value on the advantages dorived from your report , and , on a careful perusal of my letter to you , I cannot hell ) considering that such a construction of its terms ia somewhat strained and liyporprit . ir . jil . All that I aimed at was to convoy to you , in
the most courteous manner , the offer of tho Government , nnd to signify my r < sgret for my own personal omissions ia this matter . " To this , Sir John replies , writing from « GrantonHouse , Edinburgh , March 2 nd , " as follows : — " My Lord , —I had the honour to receive this morning , your Lordship ' s letter of the- 28 th of February , in which you inform mo that all you aimed at , & c . . . . This asrsuranco has afforded mo the greatest satisfaction , and I dooply regret that the proceedings in rogard to the com' mission with which I was connected have not been such ' as would have entitled me to assume that your Lordsliip ' a intentions wore friendly or courteous , though the ' terms in which you expressed them appeared to imply a different meaning . " ' , Manciiebtkk Aimiucsfl to Sik John M'Neiix . ani > f Coi-onku Tui-locii . —An address , signed by one hun-3 clred and twenty-one of the leading merchants , magiaf trates , hauliers , and other citizens of Mnnchcster , was recently forwarded to Sir John M'Neill and Colonol 1 Tulloch , expressing a lasting scnao of the important . 3 services rendered by the Crimean Commissioners . JJotU 3 the commi . sBioners havo acknowledged the comp liment .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 21, 1857, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21031857/page/15/
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