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1 I —woa—.——December 23 i 1854 : ] ^ THE...
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YY ho does not remember that wonderful s...
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BOMJBARDMENT OP RUSSIAN FINANCE. Tics Fi...
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CHAUCEH. Poetical Works of Gaoffmj CJimt...
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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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A Work, Entitled Portraits Buxjraphiqucs...
1 I —woa— . ——_ similar kind which Lave appeared in this country . We have often felt that a good biographical dictionary of living celebrities—political , military , literary , & c— is a desideratum . Our usual dictionaries and cyclopaedias do not make an " article" of a man till he is dead , whereas fifty times in a -week one -wants to know the " antecedents" of some living man .. The German Conversations Lexicon has articles on contemporaries ; and if you ¦ want to know how old Sir Lytton Bulwer is , or -when Mr . Ca . rlyle published his first work , we believe you will find the most accurate information on such points iii that German compilation . Even that , however , is inadequate ; and what other means of similar information we have are too scattered foT
convenience . The work of M . des Essarts , of course , supplies only one part of the desideratum—confining itself to biographies of men figuring directly or indirectly in the present war . A critic in the Journal desljebats charges the writer with some inaccuracies and omissions . Complaining that , amongst other sketehes , there is wanting one of General Bosquet ^ the critic st ates the following fact , which will be interesting in this country , ' ¦ where General Bosquet ' s . name is now so popular . In 1848 , General De JLamoricieius , then Minister of War , was greatly attacked by the Opposition for having raised to the rank of general of brigade a colonel ^ vhose right by seniority was not admitted . He remained firm , however , declaring that he bad promoted the young colonel fox unusual services in Africa , and * that his worth would he found out one day . The Assembly was sensible enough to take Lamobiclere's word for it ; and the colonel thus promoted is ° now General Bosquet .
1 I —Woa—.——December 23 I 1854 : ] ^ The...
December 23 1854 ] ^ THE LEADEB , 1215
Yy Ho Does Not Remember That Wonderful S...
YY ho does not remember that wonderful spectacle to gods and men—the Frankfort Parliament of 1848 , wherein it was shown how a century or . two of combined metaphysics , tobacco , and despotism , can utterly eradicate action from the Teuton , substituting endless talk in its stead ? The ghost of this defunct Talk-Babel has recently appeared , provoked by Heixb in his late volumes , and one of the arch-talkers spouts once more to the extent ; of three columns in the Cologne Gazette . Among the poems in the Vermiselite Scliriften is one entitled " EIobes I ., " in which Heine ridicule s the Frankfort Parliament after his own fashion , by recommendinc * Germany
not . to elect an Emperor from dynasties , hut to choose Kobes I ., of Cologne —a personification of all the faults and follies of the impracticables of 1 S 48 . " Who is Koues ? " asked the public ; " is he a real person , or merely characteristics made personal ? " And just as the public were dismissing the matter and saying " NHmporte , " M . Kejjedy , deputy from Cologne to the Parliament , writes hotly from Zurich to the Cologne Gazette , claiming to be the real identical Koues , and enclosing two columns and a half of doggrel in reply to Hhse . A perusal of the doggrel -will convince the reader that M . Kennedy ' s claim is valid . He must be Kobes
Bomjbardment Op Russian Finance. Tics Fi...
BOMJBARDMENT OP RUSSIAN FINANCE . Tics Finances de la Guerre . Par M . Le " ou Faucher . Jiessource .- ) Fhimivieresde la Russie . Par M . Tegoborski . jR < i j > o > use u M . 1 ' egoborski . Par M . Le " on Paucker . ( In the lievne des Deux Mondes of September and November , 1854 . ) The Czar of the Russias has at length been hit . In vain does Napier , with a splendid armament , summer it in the Baltic —the Czar entrenches himself behind impregnable granite , and gives no answer . In vain is Odessa half bombarded , Alma won , Sevastopol hailed upon for two- months with bullets , andlnkcrman defended—the cannon and the bayonet speak in vain , and as far as we can know , the Czar remains unmoved , at any rate gives no reply , in vain docs the Times thunder its loudest thunder , and in vain in its columns does the acute Smith suggest Perekop , the keen-sighted Brown threaten Kcitch , the common-sense Jones cry Finland , and the spasmodic Thompson slmek Kamohatska and the Arctic Circle—despite all this , the Czar remains impassive , and gives no answer . Bub what Captain Sword lias hitherto failed in doing , and what the choicest bluster of English raw-recruit pei \ ma « ship could not achieve , has been achieved by Capjtain Pen in France , and a quarry from the bow of logic , fact ., and reason has hit the Russian Eagle , which turns round galled and wounded , and—replies . Xn September M . Leon Fuucher , whose death we hear of with regret , attacked , iu the llerue des deux Moncles , Russia on its weakest side , and in a masterly article proved conclusively that if the war were waged energetically on our part , Russia could not possibly resist over a third campaign . In the November number of the Jtevue is a reply from M . 'XVgoborski , and also a short , but qxiito conclusive , parting shot from Loon Faucher . The importance of this > rcply of Tegoborski ( author of Enquiries into the Productive Powers of / timid ) cannot bo exaggerated , not from its intrinsic value ( which is- ?» 7 ) , but for those reasonsthat it ia a defence of tho Czar by the Cziivr himself , and that , the fact of the Czar defending himself at all is u most significant fact . That Tegoborski ' s reply has oither been written by express command of tho Czar , or
sent to Pans for publication by his express sanction , no one can . doubt ; and that Kuasiii , tlmfc has never till now vouchsafed a word of ha finances , never allowed its revenue to be known , never produced a budget , nor in any way explained Its monetary arrangements to the world— -that Russia should now reply to Fauchor and seek to defend herself before Europe , clearly proven , wo think , that Fnucher ' H conclusions are tme , and that Russia is fearful of Iheir effect on tho public of France and England . If they were- false , why should Russia reply ? Jf she wero really opulent in men and money , and our action and policy were influenced by tho conviction that aho avuss bankrupt in the one and not ro strong iihwq are in tho other , Rushiii would clearly bo tho gainer by our error . Hut if that condition bo true , then it . becomes vitally important to Russia to prevent tho WeaUm nations from believing it to bo true . For fifty yours now Rushmi has assiduously sought tho prestige that
attaches to mysteries . Her resources unknown , her power in money and ! on h has , + n Ae /^ o « rite subject for li terary Mxmchausens To ^ Suhe long bow about , and they pulled it until Russia had grown to be a vague but omnipotent bogy , to terrify the naughty children of Western Liberalifm . it such as Faucher would only keep silence , what would be the probable result in the rdea of the Czar , supposing no vital blow to be struck a-t him ia a couple of campaigns ? Would it not be that the foolishly-sanguine public of Western Europe , that sent out its elite of men and its strongest vessels with frantic cheers , and made reckless bets that Russia would be crushed in a couple of months , smarting under the reaction of merely negative success , would cry— " We were rightly told that Russia ' s resources are inexhaustible ?• see , in two campaigns we have not once struck home : let us make an honourable peace while we can . " Whether this would be the case or not n *! ^ i ? nwise ho P e of the Czar > ^ Faucher only would keep silence , isut it the facts adduced by Faucher became known and his conclusions universally adopted , what would then be the result ? Would not the same public cry— " True , in two campaigns we have done nothing ; but we know how bankrupt at the core is Russia , and let us fight on : be it three , or four , or five campaigns , seeing that it is as clear as any theorem of Euclidthat
, Russia must be utterly bankrupt long ere we are driven to any extremities ot finance . Hence is it that what the sword could not do as yet , the pen has done ; hence is it that forlorn-hope Tegoborski is ordered by his parental Czar to immolate himself at the batteries of Faucherian deduction . Faucher ' s original article is half philosophical , half statistical . In the former part he examined Russia ' s resources in men , and proved , what is indeed evident , that seeing that Russia's population over an immense territory is not so great as that of France and England united over a much smaller territory , her resources in men pure and simple are not so great as ours . Hence Russia cannot wage a war of barbarian irruption , like the wars of-Alaric , Genghis Khan , and others , in which civilisation -was imperilled , without any curb , by simple brute force of inexhaustible numbers . Hence she must wage a civilised , war , in which numbers and fin anee go hand-in-hand . He then turned to the purely statistical , and showed byfigures , carefully collected , that Russia began the war in a worse condition
than "we can end it . In profound peace for thirty-nine years , she has been a constant borrower . Either , therefore , she has constantly been spending more than her income , and so sailing tranquilly year by year to the vortex of bankruptcy ; or she has been hoarding funds for the present emergeney-That the latter has not been the case > Faucher proves by marshalling the following dreadful facts against Russia : — - 1 st . That 110 sooner has the war broken out than she has to raise a new loanwhich failing- in ex-Russian Europe , is converted into a forced loan at home . . 2 nd . That she calls in the balance of her former loari .
3 rd . That she withdraws her funds iu France , England , and Holland . 4 th . That she seizes five millions sterling of the metallic guarantee of bills of oredit from the fortress of St . Petersburg . 5 th . That she issues from the beginning of 1853 downward , fresh " bills to " , the tune of four millions sterling . 6 th . That she takes the loans made to the public coffers by tho banks , the amount unknown , but certainly very large . 7 th . That she seizes the plate of the con-vent of Tzenotochwa . 8 th . That she takes the voluntary loan of the clergy , reported by herself to amount to three millions sterling .
This at the beginning of the war ; afterwards M . Faucher relapsed into the philosophical , and showed clearly enough that Russia pannot grow richer as the war proceeds . A purely . agricultural country , with already only one arm where there should be ten thousand , as men are drafted into the army the production must diminish ; the nobles becoming daily poorer , not only will not be able to pay increased taxes , but not even the same ; and will , into the bargain , withdraw their money from the banks , bringing about tin ' s pleasiint predicament—that what with its floating debts and its guarantees to the various banks and other establishments , Russia is liable to be called on to pay liabilities to the extent of two hundred millions sterling . This sounds like an Arabian Nights' Entertainment in £ s . d . ; but it is soberly true . And what does Tegoborsky reply ? lie simply denies everything * . The loan is not a failure ; it marches ( ilmurche ) in Germany and Holland . The Czar has not seized any of the metallic reserve ; it would not be legal for him to do it . There has been no forced loan ; he has simply invited Uis subjects to subscribe ., and paternally sugnesfed the amount . As for seizing the / 1010 « -i / onugt / d'ii , ctrc . 1 * j / ui'ir iiauy « if <(/ t / co : ecc wic uiiiuuict .. /\ s jlua aoiiCJUiy mu
silver vessels of the convent of What ' s-its-name — what do you mean ? The Czar steal ! Isn ' t his kind treatment of all his Catholic subjects ( the nuns of Minsk included , we presume ) sufficiently notorious ? In i ' act , it is quite surprising that Faucher should reiterate such soandala , seeing that they have already been denied in several Warsaw papers . And even the deductions Faucher drew from his facts , admitting them to be true , are false , because Russia is quite an exceptional country , and transactions which inevitably lead to utter ruin elsewhere may lead to aplcndid results in Russia , she is soexceptional . Would that we had space to give an abstract of Faucher s reply to this nonsense . Our epitome , however , of Tegoborski is fair and accurate , and wo think the reader can easily project for himself in how masterly a manner a man like Faucher , with facts at his complete command , searching logic , quiet humour , and a playful courtesy , utterly annihilated auch a reply . One feels pity that an able msin like Tcgoboraki should bo compelled to make such u fool of himself , even hi the servlco of so high a potentate as his Eminence the Czar .
In conclusion , will no enterprising publisher got the whole pasuage-atanns translated and published at n low price ? Ho will assuredly do the State a service , and would bo no loser himself , wo fancy .
Chauceh. Poetical Works Of Gaoffmj Cjimt...
CHAUCEH . Poetical Works of Gaoffmj CJimtctv . Edited by Robort Bell . Vol . I . Pnrker nml Son . On many accounts this is tho most important volume of the Annotated Edition of tho English Poets which Mr . Robert Bell has offered to the public . It is the first attempt that I » uf > been inndo , in our time , to popularize Chaucer . In tho present voluino tho general reader may buy for half-acroAvu a Life of the Poet , nn Introduction to tho study of his Works , and
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 23, 1854, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23121854/page/15/
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