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GSTabch 24, 186b.] The Leader and Saturd...
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IIUMBOLDT'S LETTERS.* HPO an Englishman ...
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* Jlrhfa von Atcvuwlro von ILmuWdt «it V...
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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 National De Fences.* Bully Maks, An ...
visions of such piping times of peace danced before then- eyes people could not think of the" horrida hella" with which they had Ji short time before been frightened . But those visions now begin to recede a little . Mr . Disraeli appears upon the stage , and favours us with ' his personal assurance that France no longer , conceals its purpose of general empire , and that the prospect , as far as l ^ iigJand is Concerned , is infinitely more dangerous than in the days of the French Republic and of the old French Empire . Then we shall soon have Mr . Sidney Herbert aslang for the separate votes of which he has already told the sum total ; soldiers , sailors and civilians will raise the old ghosts ; and Mr . Gladstone ' s music almost forgotten * save perhaps by some deluded wretch who has attempted to drown his disgust at the income-tax in cheap claret , and finds the luxury strongly provocative of a comparison with the bottles of the family apothecary , we shall have the deafening sound of the trumpets heralding some desperate attempt upon our purses .
If we could hope that the question would be taken up in a practical and moderate manner , we should be glad to see the National Defences become the order of the day . Whether the Emperor of France hate us , as Messrs . Horsman aiid Roebuck would suggest , or love us , as Messrs . Bright and Cobden intimate , it is equally desirable that all chance of a successful landing upon our shores should be prevented by suitable precautions . We need not , of course , apprehend any attempt to conquer , or even keep possession for any length of time of , the < f tight little island ; " but a freeb oo ters ' expedition , with the object of sacking the metropolis and inflicting upon us the resulting indelible disgrace , is quite within the bounds of possibility , if not of probability . Such a possibility ought to be
guarded against , but hot- at a cost which would inflict a certain and permanent evil upon the country . We have the heartiest desire to feel perfectly secure , and the utmost readiness to pay a reasonable premium for the assurance , but we must decline altogether to adopt the extravagant schemes recommended by so many very Worthy old soldiers in unreadable pamphlets . The veterans would secure us , no doubt , but they would make us pay a price utterly beyond our means ; and they fail to perceive the real point which deserves attention—the means of resisting a marauding expedition upon London , the only object any sensible enemy would attempt . So thick has been the shoal of these pamphlets by generals and admirals all marked bv the same characteristics of excessive
trepidation and extravagant outlay , that we took up . the pamphlet of . General Williams with very little hope of . finding anything in it worth notice : We did , however , the general a great , although unintentional , injustice . The question is treated by him in a very fe \ v pages with great fairness , and a remarkable freedom from the pi-ejudices which possess most of his brother officers , whilst the suggestions he makes appear to be of a very practical , and are ¦ certainly of a comparatively very inexpensive character , ^ General Williams starts upon the assumption that the objects of an 'invasion'would not be conquest , nor even protracted occupation , but a temporary success , which might wipe out past liiitniliaiions , aiid the creation , by a rapid march upon the metropolis , of a panic , which mitflit induce an inglorious peace and ignominious conces'
sions . With that design , the enemy would seek upon otir coasts the shores which are " easiest of access , most devoid of protection , nearest to bis own ports * and least distant from our metropolis . " Those shores General Williams , after a close examination of the ¦ whole south coast , places . within . the limits of Rye harbour and Brighton . " Our most vulnerable shores , " lie adds , " undoubtedly lie in the Bay of Pevensey , and thence by Bexhill to Hustings . " Holding this opinion , General Williams does nob propose the perioirs cost of fortifying 1 the whole of that extent ; ho is averse , as he says , to the multiplication of open batteries liable to be storm . ee ! , but he would occupy Beachey Head by an intrenched work capable of contaming fifteen thousand men , and he would establish similar posts on Ashdown Hill , and on the - north side of Mariscott Hill . ! Nor doqs he . intend expensive works . ' He wants only " field
works , consisting of a ditch and parapet of bold profile , with sufficient buildings only to contain , in time of p _ eace , art adequate garrison for their protection . " Tho troops , in these _ posts could be at once thrown by railway upon any spot at which an enemy . ' .. might attempt a landing , pr upon n point which would intercept his niarch upon the' metropolis ; and their place in the intrenched camps could be supplied by the volunteers , whose value the general cordiially admits—who , with a sprinkling 1 of old soldiers , might hold them against any force tho enemy could detach ugninst them . In timo of peace these camps would further serve tie purpose to which A-ldershot is now devoted , and would thus prove a most economical outlay , If to the three posts already mentioned were added the occupation of Shooter ' s Hill for the protection of tho metropolis , and cmnpa at Brighton and Fortsdown Hill , General Williams believes tho kingdom would bo perfectly safe . Ho urges that , however larere the sum wliich may bo Hount in addinir . to tho
fortifications of the dockyards- —the great , crasso of tho day—it \\\\ l not add in the slightest degree to the seourity of London ? and ho points out tho danger , with our small army , of multiplying and extending fortifications , which will require large ganiaons to adequately defend thorn ; whereas tho system of intrenched camps leaves tho greatest possiblo numerical force disposable foi' every ^ merg / enoy . We have given but a meagre outline of General Williams'a plans , hut it will bo enough , we thinlc , to show that they aye well deserving- pf public attention . Thoy are inexpensive mid simple , adaptable to existing 1 arrangements , and are based indeed upon tho principle of utilising 1 all the elements of strength which tho country already possesses , For our own part , we have been rrnxoh gratified , not only
with his suggestions , but with the cordial recognition of the merits of others and the manly modesty which characterise his pamphlet ; and we recommend all those who would prefer paying two millions for a complete system of defence to the ten millions which the National Defence Commissioners are going to ask for ; a partial one , to insist" upon a fair examination of the scheme which General Williams has laid before the Secretary of War .
Gstabch 24, 186b.] The Leader And Saturd...
GSTabch 24 , 186 b . ] The Leader and Saturday Analyst . 279
Iiumboldt's Letters.* Hpo An Englishman ...
IIUMBOLDT'S LETTERS . * HPO an Englishman Httmboldt must ever be an object of profound -I- interest and admiration , as the man of encyclopaedic mind , who was one of the largest contributors to the science and philosophy of the age in which he lived . His name calls up a host of associations connected with physical geography , climatology , terrestrial magnetism , the distribution of plants and animals , and other special subjects to which his attention was directed with such , important results ; and of the Kosmos , or harmonious whole of physical nature , which lie endeavoured to delineate with no feeble success . Whatever could throw light upon , the life and character , of such a man we should therefore be prepared to welcome ; but the brilliance of his reputation has excited expectations which cannot easily be fulfilled , and disposed us to view critically any coiitribution to his
biography . Far removed in spirit , though , trot in person , from the royal pedlar craft of German courts , and caring nothing for the local and temporary questions which agitate the official mind in those half-benighted regions , in which ail unsatisfactory struggle is maintained against the free principles that belong to the age ,, we cannot look upon Alexandhb von IIumbojldt as a portion of the political system and -aristocratic , life ''' . Berlin , but survey -him , as posterity will contemplate him ., from an , ¦ altov gether higher and wider point . of / view . Hence , when . the Litteis which have caused so much ' stir-in Genriany make their appearance in an English dress , ' . there will be a feeling' of disappointment at the small amount of mutter which they contain of lasting interest , and ¦ the ¦ public' will- , be , sdi-iie ' what . . ' puzzled to understand the effect they have produced . Already some , of our journalists have
entered their protest against the publication of retiiaks calculated to wound the feelings of living persons , and break down the barriers which , according' to . -English notions , ought to screen from common eyes the sanctuaries of private life . But the letters have been published in Germ any , and for the Germans ,, and tlie . propriety of the act must be judged by loeal standards rather than by our own . While the Prussian aiid other courts do their best to stifle public opinion , ' . prevent fiie living from exc'ici . sing an honest and ' useful freedom of speech , we ^ annot wonder that the good people should call into action the services of the dead , and not allow the grass to ' -grow over the grave of Humjjoldt before they circulate with eagerness every expression they can find in his correspondence , in which notable persons are stripped of their solemn trapping's' and pretensions , and held . up to laughter and contempt . .
Our correspondent speaks of the excitement winch the publication has produced , the anger of the Court and Kreuz-Zeituny party , and the ., futile . efforts of the police who fouhd their endeavours to suppress thework , completely frustrated by the clever arrangements of the publishers and the rapidity with which the book circulated through private channels . Already a second edition , has been called for , and . the fact that the various Governments of Gennany think it bad reading for their subjects will ensure for it an immense sale , and almost boundless popularity . The letters , whioh fill a good-siz < jd octavo volume , amount in number to two hundred and twenty-live , and are for the moat part written by HuMnoiiDT to his intimate friend , ' the late , Vaunkagen " von Knsk ; but there are uls (» letters to Hu ' MupuiT from King
Christian VIII . of Denmark , Prince Mjjttkunich , Guizotf TijiKKs , Victor Hugo , Uesskl , Sir John Hicztscnrci ,, I 3 ett , ina . von Aknui , KUckkkt , Manjsoni , the Dukes of Ti'scanv and WEistAit , Prince Aluium . ' , and . other persons of notoriety or celebrity , and' likewise many extracts from Mie diary of Vamnhaoen himself . Tho general tone of . Humbo ^ dt ' s letters is that of kindness and frnnlC'iieiis ,- and those would judge him wrongly who imagine , from the severe remarks upon particular individuals which have ' obtained' tho chief currency , that the great philosopher had groyrn a cynic in his old iigrc , Tho fact ia , that tho Court life of Germany , and perhaps especially of Pru ?» in , was a very d . ismal sham , and persons rose to royal . favour by hypocritical pretences p f evangelical piety , coupled with a supple readiness to assist in stifling- liberal ideas and preventing tho recognition of popular and
rigjhtn . From the traditions of Prussia as a Protontant power , her natural position as tho head of tho liberal party in Germany , men of intellect were entitled to expect from her a very different conduct from ( . hut which she has pursued ; . and although official life offered no legitimate opportunities for publishing- hia opinions , wo can readily understand that Humhomh' » riunfc have been nUed with indignation at the potty men and tlie petty meusures which enjoyed the favour of tho sovereign , and glad of tho occasion uffbraed by correspondence with a valued and en lightened frioud to , express his thoughts t \\ u \ convictions without reserve . Vahnhagen von Ensk wms a diploniatiBt too liberal lor the reactionary ministers who usually possessed power , and during the latter , portion pf his life was chiefly -known by his writings , whicw German critics pronounced admirable examples of . modem prose .
* Jlrhfa Von Atcvuwlro Von Ilmuwdt «It V...
* Jlrhfa von Atcvuwlro von ILmuWdt « it Vitni /< at / c ? i run HSnso . Jjelpaig > Brookhnus .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 24, 1860, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24031860/page/11/
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