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141o THE LEADER, _ " [No. 510. Dec. 31, ...
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embittered; and the merest cause will su...
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"Volunteers in the Colonies.— The recent...
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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 Court.—The Queen And Royal Family Ar...
into the alleged corrupt practices during the recent election of . a member for that borough . Serjeant Pigott presided ; Mr . Gurney , the banker , was present on this occasion , and was examined at considerable length . A nnmfcer of bribers and bribed also detailed the particulars of their receipts and disbursements , The inquiry is now closed at Wakefield and willl be adjourned to London . _ A Catholic on Papal Misgovernment . —Mr . Catholiclias
Henry Petre , a well-known Roman , had the courage to write a letter protesting against the conduct of theUltramontahe party in seeking to prop up the temporal power of the Pope . He repudiates the doctrine that the maintenance of that power is essential to the security of the Roman Catholic Church ; and , speaking of the Papal Government , he says that " it has become a by-word throughout Europe for its impbtency for all that is good , its misrule , and its corruption . " . has is
Election iNTELLiGEXCE .-r-The Speaker - sued his declaration of the vacancy in the Lewes representation , caused by the death of Mr . Fitzroy . The writ will be issued in a fortnight . Mr . R . VV . Blencpwe is a candidate on the Liberal side . Mr . Benson , the Conservative candidate for Reading , has been presenting himself before the electors . Lord Duncan , the member for Forfarshire , goes to the House of Lords hi consequence of the death of his father , and It is said that Sir John Ogilvy , the member for Dundee , may be invited to take his place in the Commons . Other names are , however , mentioned .
The Loss of the Paramatta . — -The Board of Trade have issued the official report on the inquiry into the loss of this ship , wrecked on the 30 th of June lastj on a reef called Horse Shoe , lying off the Island of Anegada ; The report attributes the loss of the ship to the default of Captain Bayntpn , her Commander , and the Board of Trade have , in consequence , directed that his certificate be suspended for twelve months . Bravery Rewarded . —Her Majesty's Government , through the Board of Trade , have just presented a sextant to Captain Barton , and a telescope to Mr . Thompson , the second mate of the ship Melanie , of Coringa , for the gallantry they exhibited . va rescuing the crew of the Sir Charles Napier from off the island of Palo Brasso , where they had been
seized and detained by the pirates and natives ; 300 rupees have also been awarded to Captain Barton by the Board of Trade , for maintaining the shipwrecked crew . The Yarmouth Petition-. —As the period approaches for the meeting of Parliament , the Yarmouth politicians look forward "with increasing interest to the hearing of the petition against the return of the two Conservative members , Sir H . J .
Stracey and Sir Edmund Lacon . During the last few days rumours have prevailed to the effect that an effort will be made to compromise the matter , and that , one of the hon . baronets will retire . It seems probable , however , that the case will come before a committee of the House . The unsuccessful liberal candidates were Mr . E . AV . Watkin ( of the Manchester , Sheffield * and Lincolnshire Railway ) , and Mr . A , W . Young , and the case la being prosecuted on their behalf . "
141o The Leader, _ " [No. 510. Dec. 31, ...
141 THE LEADER , _ " [ No . 510 . Dec . 31 , I 8 oc > .
Embittered; And The Merest Cause Will Su...
embittered ; and the merest cause will suffice to bring about a rupture . Frenchman . —The difficulty is to lead back to the truth those who obstinately wander from it , and to cure the blind who will not see . "Facts shall speak first , and figures after . The Emperor has given to no foreign power more than to England guarantees of his desire to live in good harmony . Hardly had he ascended to power , when he despatched , in spite of the Assembly , the French , fleet to make common cause with yours in the East . Subsequently he united himself with you in the Crimean war ; and ¦ when the insurrection which broke out in India employed all your army in Asia , did he profit by
the absence of your force to pick a quarrel with you ? On the contrary , he offered to the English troops a passage through France . -He subscribedas well as the Imperial Guard—for your wounded , while ( be it said en passant , and without meaning reproach ) our wounded in Italy seemed to find v : ou indifferent . Finally , how many measures for the last ten years have been proposed by divers Governments which might have caused annoyance to England ? He has rejected them all , and made no merit whatever in your eyes of the rejection . How can so many proofs of a cordiality so constant be all at once forgotten ? And how does it come to pass that mistrust and error are substituted for the legitimate effect which it should have produced ?
Englishman . —But , the people—but the army Come now , frankly speaking , do they not both detest us ? And will not public opiBion force their Sovereign some day to declare war against us ? Frenchman .- —It cannot be denied that there is at bottom , in both countries , a remnant of rancour and rivalry which still subsists , but subsists much more in a latent than in an aggressive state . Material interests on one side , liberal ideas on the other , tend incessantly to draw the two countries closer to each other . Moreover , France is more practical than you imagine What advantage , material or moral , could a war with you bring us ? None—absolutely none . Consequently no one desires it . Englishman . —But the development given to the French navy is out of all proportion to the requirements and the greatness of your country .
At the present day our merchant navy ia not suffi ciently developed to enable us to find steam trans " ports when we have need of them . We are there " fore forced to build them , in order to have at all times a certain number ready for the conveyance of troops and at the very moment I am speaking to you all our transports are proceeding to China ; and , that we may not be entirely without resources , and be unprovided , the naval department has been obliged to purchase three large steamships in England Englishman . —Have you any explanations to give me on the supplies of coals and the boats intended for the landing of troops ?
Frenchman . —Some months back your Tory Ministry was so much opposed to the war in Italy that everything announced its wish to place itselfon the side of Austria . It was even on the point of causing coal to be considered as contraband of war Now , our navy used only English coal . The minister had then to look about for the means of supplyingin case of need , the French fleet with French coal ! It was . his duty not to leave pur supplies at the mercy of your Government . Sixty iron vessels of a very small draught of water , were built to facilitate the transport of coals over the docks j but these boats are very different from ttiose which serve for
the landing of troops . The important part , however , is to know for what purpose we wanted this great quantity of coal which frightens you . It is exclusively destined to supply our fleet in China and in other parts of the globe . Like other countries , we are in a complete state of transformation , but you seem not to wish to comprehend it . We have to change not only all the materiel of the navy , but on land also the whole of our artillery ; and , although the Emperor had in Italy 200 rifled cannon , he will still require three or four years to entirely accomplish the definitive transformation . Permit me one more observation . You have avowed frankly all the apprehensions which my country causes you ; but I have not expressed to you the whole of my opinion on yours . If , in Enjjlund , people are convinced that France desires to declare war against you , we here are , in our turn , well convinced that the mistrust excited on the other side of the channel is a party manoeuvre . The Tory party , dissolved , as you are aware , by Sir Robert Peel , seeks the means of reconstructing itself ; and , according to it , the best possible one would be by reviving the hatred of France , and by seeking , as in 1804 , to form a European coalition against her . The statesmen who at this " day take the lead in public opinion cannot be ignorant of all that I have just told you . Among us it is well understood that the Tories , in place of combating these errors , labour to gain them credit , and pursue thoir policy with traditional perseverance .
Frenchman . —This is another prejudice . You speak of our extraordinary armaments , but are you quite sure of the fact ? Learn what is doing hi France , and hold it for certain . Not a centime can be spent without the vote of the Legislative corps , and without the previous examination of the Council of State . Consult the estimates of the navy and army , and you shall find in them no excessive expenditure on the part of the Government . Englishman . —Your estimates are nothing to me . I am ignorant a ? to how they are arranged . Figures are easy of handling , and are susceptible of every
combination . Facts , on the contrary , are inflexible . At Toulon and Brest you are building plated ships . Against whom can they be intended , if not against ) us ? At Nantes j-ou have on the stocks hundreds of , flat-bottomed boats . For what purpose , if it be not to throw in an instant 20 , 000 soldiers on our coast ? And then , your immense supplies of fuel , and the prodigious activity of your arsenals . Everywhere you are building ships ; everywhere j-ou are casting rifle cannon and projectiles of all kinds . These are so many evident facts , and of public notoriety . What answer will you give mo to them ?
Frenchman . —I will now quote laws and regulations , authentic reports , and go back to a period that will not bo suspected by you : —According to a Royal ordnance of the 22 nd November , 1846 , the total strength of the naval forces on the peace footing was to be 828 ships , of which forty wore to be liners , and fifty frigates—sailing vessels . When the war in the Crimea came on France had very few steam-ships ; it was easy to see that sailing ships had passed their time , and that it was necessary to boldly admit the principle that henceforth every mnn-of-war must bo a steamer . The Emperor consequently named in 185 S , under the presidency of Admiral Hamclin , a commission to fix the basis of the new fleet necessary for Franco . The report demanded that the annual
NAPOLEON III . AND ENGLAND : A DIALOGUE . Mb . Cobdek , M . P ., had a lengthened audience of the Emperor of the French at the Tuileries on Wednesday week . The Paris correspondent of the Times communicates the following conversation , as having tiilcen place between two persons—one a Frenchman , the other an Englishman—on the important and ab-Borbing topic of the <\\ y . Our readers , after having perused ourabridar ' report , will bo able to conjecture perhaps whu tiiu interlocutors are likely to have been : — < t , After a few unimportant remarks ? the Englishman continued thus : —* You know my' sentiments witli regard to France , and my sincere desire to see the most complete union always subsist between my country and yours . Judge then , of my surprise , and allow mo to add , my sorrow , at finding that the relations between our respective countries have gradually and profoundly altered—at least , if wo may judge from , appearances . I have carefully and conscientiously examined the state of the public mind in England . I have interrogated and listened to persons of every class , from the highest to the very lowost . Well , thon , I declare to you , to my deep regret , I have found , with the one as with the other , mistrust pushed to the point of only believing in menaces on the part of your country . - ifimchman . — -I declare to you , in thp oyos of my countrymen , as in my own , the panic spread abroad In England in actually folly . EngUnhman ,. —Tha fact does not the less exist j ftna , ao it exists , it must bo taken Into serious oon-¦ Wexfttton . People ' * winds on both sides will grow
grant for the maintenance of the materiel of the fleet should bo augmented by an -annual sum of 25 , O 00 , 000 f . for thirteen years , tho period jndged indispensablo to complete their transformation , Tho Council of State reduced to 17 , 000 , 000 f . for thirteen years t , ho amount of extraordinary credits demanded for the navy . In 1859 our fleet consisted of twonty-sqvon ships of tho line , and fifteen frigates , sorows , completed ) and of three plated frigates . Wo have , then , in order to arrive at the force on a peace footing , decided under Louis Philippe , thirteen ships of tho lino to transform , and thirty-five frigates to build , which will require ton years at least . As for the plated frigates—tho Invention of tho Emperornothing is more natural than to construct them as an experiment , since if they succeed they can bo advantageously substituted for ships of tho line .
"Volunteers In The Colonies.— The Recent...
"Volunteers in the Colonies . — The recent muster of the Volunteer Rifle Corp 9 seems to have passed off very well at Wynburg . From the report of the Graham ' s Tou ? n Journal it ficeins that some blood was shed . On the Friday morning . the forges began to muster on the field of battle . There were the rifles , artillery , and cavalry from Cape Town , but not the sappers and , minors , who are still unprovided with completed uniforms . There were the artillery and cavalry from Wynburg and Simon a Town , besides the several corps from p'Urban , Stellenbosch , Paarl , Malmesbury , and Darling . The volunteers altogether must have numbered about six
hundred , and the concourse of spectutors from Cape Town and surrounding country , could not have been less than four thousand . Colonel Hill took tlio command as colonel-in-chief , and under him the various subs discharged their respective functions admirably . The review commenced ut eleven a . m . i was continued till half-past twelve , resumed at one , and concluded at three p . m . The customary evolutions wore gone through with considerable efficiency ; but the sham fight , towards the close of the days proceedings , was conducted with groat sp irit , ltutiior
too much of it , indeed . The gallant horsemen were 8 p bent on cutting down , and the defenders oftne guns wore so resolved to thrust buck the cavaliers , that more than one unhappy charger was raado to feel the taste of gold steel unpleasantly enoug h , Uno fiery horse , riddqn by an equally flery dnvgoonr advanced eo far that it was deemed expedient w give him six inches of a bayonet to secure w » repulse . The horse loll , of course , and blqd to dentil . The rifles volunteered to subscribe sufficient to reimburse the cavalry man for his loss \ ho would nos hour of anvthimc of the eorfc . He had lost his horse , tor
by the mishaps of war , and scorned to apply compensation . Everything 1 was carried on in two best possible spirit j and at the close , the " forces were drawn up in a lino , « nd Colonel Will ftU ( W 5 them in reference to their performances . Ail ° J them retired to diaousa the abundant tiffin proparcu for thorn j the company broke up by drinking » closing bumper to their next merry mooting . •* «« next day the shooting match for Sir Geor « o Qrpye rifle came off in the neighbourhood of D'Urban ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 31, 1859, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31121859/page/8/
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