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No. 438, August 14,1858.] THE LEA.DEE. 7...
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/CHERBOURG is deserted by the wondering ...
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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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No. 438, August 14,1858.] The Lea.Dee. 7...
No . 438 , August 14 , 1858 . ] THE LEA . DEE . 795
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/Cherbourg Is Deserted By The Wondering ...
/ CHERBOURG is deserted by the wondering thou-\ J sands who a few days ago thronged its quays and choked up its old narrow streets , and fought for its sleeping-rooms , and poured out maledictions on the heads ( including the eyes ) of its rapacious purveyors of bed and board . The last echo of the last thundering salute has died away , the smoke of the thousand guns blown Heaven knows whither . Her Majesty has returned home for a day or two ,
and is now in the heart of Germany , on her -way to Berlin . The Emperor and Empress have steamed away to Brest , and are enjoying more naval salutes and the vivas of their Breton subjects . Only one or two grumblers have " written to the Times , " and we may , therefore , conclude that the fetes have passed off satisfactorily . Even the members of the House of Commons , who , after having the Pcra placed at their command , were said to have found themselves as badly off as they were at the
memorable Spithead review , turn out to Lave got along famously ; they vere favourably placed for seeing whatever "was most interesting ; and even Sir Charles Napier—who may some foul day have to try his hand at silencing the triple-piled batteries of this wonderful stronghold—rolled about the place without the smallest objectionable let or hindrance . The same free right of way was given to all the honourable members of her Majesty ' s House of Commons , but special advantage of the license was
taken by two of the august party . "We don ' t knowall the ins and outs of Cherbourg yet ; but we are rapidly making up our minds as to the power of the place as an engine of hostility to this country . We are making up our minds a little too rapidly , and the statements and opinions of Messrs . Roebuck and Lindsay , thetwo members alluded to , delivered at Tyncniouth , on Tuesday , axe calculated , in some measure , to help to this undesirable result . It
may be quite certain that , as Mr . Luulsay says , the finest ship in the French navy is not a match for such a ship as the Royal Albert ; that French sailors can never staiid comparison with English tars ; that the English are born lovers of the sea while the French detest it ; it may be perfectly true that , straining every nerve and using every resource , France could not convey one hundred thousand men in arms out of the harbour of
Cherbourg in less time than we could collect such a fleet as would safely stop them before they could be thrown upon English ground ; but our security is only made certain at the inevitable cost of a frightful amount of blood , and of a sum of money which , with all our riches , we may well desire not to be called upon to pay . Cherbourg is a great fact which it will not do to undcr-estimatc . There may be no danger in it at present ; but it will remain when , possibly , the sources of our present security are dried up . Some Napoleon of the future , with whom we may not be on terms of alliance , may be master of Cherbourg .
But in the mean time , Napoleon III . — -going out of his "way , on occasion of the banquet on board the Bretngne—has pledged his word for the continuance , as far as he is concerned , of the present alliance . Ho disavows the fury of his colonels , the menaces of his ministers . ' " The facts speak for themselves , ' ho says , " and they prove that hostile passions , aided by a few unfortunate incidents , did not succeed in altering cither the friendship -which
exists between the two Crowns , or the desire of the two nations to remain at peace . Therefore , " he goes on to say , " I entertain the sincere hope that if attempts wore made to stir up old resentments and the passions of another epoch , they would break to pieces upon public common senso , as the -waves break wpon the breakwater which at this moment protects the squadrons of the two empires against the violence of the sen . " Uo speech
could be better , and there is nothing in the mere fact of the speaker's having perfected a great military engine that might be employed against us to warrant a doubt of his sincerity . We have nothing seriously to fear from Cherbourg ; we have , ho \ v ° ever , to regret that its completion should compel us to enter upon a course of warlike expenditure at a time of peace of all the advantages of which we have special need .
Returned from Cherbourg , the " honourable " cargo of the good ship Pera have scattered themselves through the land for pleasure or for profit , or for both combined . Mr . Osborne was the first distinguished member to show in the provinces . He was down at Dover at the end of last week to meet his constituents ; tlie meeting was celebrated by a speech that is hi many respects remarkable . With the Liberals Mr . Osbome is shocked and
indignant . " There is an apathy about them , " he says , " and the best thing that could happen to this country would be a dissolution of Parliament . Liberal principles he is inno doubt about ; they must triumph , no matter what ministry holds office ; but of the Liberal party , as a party , his only hope is in the wholesome influence of the constituencies . " However decayed the party may be , it will gain new life as it is brought into contact with them . "
A . topic of more immediate interest , however , is the formation of the new Indian Council . On Monday , a Court of Directors of the East India Company elected seven of their own body to sit in the new Council , namely , Charles Mills , Esq . ; John Shepherd , Esq . ; Sir James Weir Hogg ; Elliot Macnaughton , Esq . ; Ross Donnelly Mangles , Esq . ; William Joseph Eastwick , Esq . ; and tlcnry Thoby Princep , Esq . Of the portion of the Council to be nominated by her Majesty ' s Government , one name is already anno-unced ; it is ' Sir John Lawrence , who is now on his way home ; two other names are
expected to be announced , namel y ^ Sir Henry Kawlinson and If r . Willoughby . " Job ! job ! " is already beginning to resound ; and whatever is the policy of the Government and the Company , or whatever may be the necessities of the case , it is certain that , after setting in motion all the ponderous machinery Avliich it has taken a whole session of Parliament to prepare , to effect a great change in the Government of India , the Court of Directors will , under its new title , have everything in its own hands , "just as it was before , " as a correspondent of the Times pointed out .
The news from India , itself is of a character to disappoint in some degree the expectations raised by the previous intelligence . The operations in Gwalior appear not to have had so good an effect upon the enemy as was supposed . One week after their flight they are reported to have been at one place not less than 15 , 000 strong , including camp followers , and well supplied with ammunition . On the other hand , Brigadier Sir Hope Grant has had a very successful engagement with a large body of rebels in the neighbourhood of
Nuwabgunge , commanded by the lloulvie . Six hundred of the enemy were cut up , after they had made a desperate stand , and seven heavy guns were captured . Beaten by Sir Hope Grant , the Moulvie retreated towards Shahjehanpore , and , being reinforced , surrounded the palace of the Rajah of Powaync . The llajah and his two sons went out to givo Mm battle , and in the conflict
lie was shot . He had no sooner fallen than his head was cut off aud sent to the British Commissioner of Shahjehanpore . Both in the Upper Provinces and in Lower Bengal , particularly in tho latter Presidency , there arc manifest signs of activity on tho part of the rebels . In Cawnporc emissaries huvo been discovered endeavouring to beat up recruits for tlic rebel leaders . Several cases of atrocity have come to light . The news from China , which accompanies that brought by the Calcutta mail , is of uogrcat
importance ^ or interest . Lord Elgin and Baron Gros were at Tientsien receiving and giving ceremonial visits to and from the Chinese Special High Commissioner . A declaration of war is spoken of as the Alternative , if our demands are not promptly complied with . The news from Canada is of a painful nature . The want of moral as well as legal union between the Upper and Lower Provinces has resulted in difficulties of a serious kind . The act of 184 = 0 , which was intended to do away the distinctions of race and language , which had stood in tlie way of a
thorough- harmony of intercourse between the mixed population , appears never to have effected its object . There has been a constant struggle going on between the French and English for political supremacy , and many a party cross-purpose besides , and this struggle has been particularly bitter with reference to the question of the choice of a capital for the United Provinces . In the hope of escaping from the difficulties by which the adjustment of this question was impeded by national and party jealousy , the Canadian Parliament referred the
matter to her Majesty for her decision . It will be remembered that the choice fell upon Ofctowa . Now a Parliamentary majority has repudiated the decision of its sovereign , after voluntarily soliciting it , and the immediate result has been to overthrow the Ministry , without the chance of a minister being found who can command a majority .. Against this uncomfortable piece of news we may put * that which comes to us from Australia
The progress of the country is highly satisfactory . The revenue more than doubles the necessary expenditure ; and although every penny of it is spentj the surplus is all applied to the permanent improvement of the land , the production of railways , and other great public works . Day by day we have the -pleasant assurance repeated that electric communication continues uninterrupted to and from Newfoundland ; and in a
very tew days more we . may hope to commence using the wonderful instrument tor general purposes of intercommunication . The circumstantial account which has been given of the third and successful attempt to lay the cable is a fine sermon against despondency . Had the third attempt been unsuccessful , what thousands would have pronounced the undertaking impracticable ! But even if it had failed , how practicable it would still have been .
The state of railway propert y is at the present moment a subject of very serious interest . We have , at an enormous outlay of money and energy , raised a system of railways that is the wonder of the world ; the work is successful in all but the one essential—it does not pay . We have had the use of a splendid instrument of national progress , and we have so misused it that half the good results of the produce have been lost . The condition of * what promised to be the most magnificent railway of the kingdom , the Great Western , is an
example of the all but ruinous effects of the mismanagement which is very nearly general in the working of our railways . In IS 45 an 80 / . Great-Western fetched in the market 205 / . ; at the present moment a 100 / . Great-Western share is only worth 50 / ., and will not readily sell even at that price . It is not that the traffic of the main lines of this great system of railways docs not or cannot be made to nay ; it is that jobbery and incompctcncy have combined to overlay the original and legitimate schemes of the leading railways with a host of minor schemes , worthless in themselves and fatal in their influence on the others .
Side by side with the record of progress which the accounts of tho electric telegraph iurnish , we have from Ireland a distressing specimen of tlio darkness which still hangs heavily over the mind of one portion of the community . In Kilkenny some thousands of rural labourers have banded themselves with the object of destroying all the farming machinery in tho country . Riot ; and violence have hud full swing some days , during which time several valuuble agricultural machines have been broken to pieces and their owners maltreated , and tho rioters Juvo at last been quelled only by the interposition of a body of soldiery . This looks as if tho Irish rural population were at least a quarter of a century beliind that of England . But there is notliing in the fact that need dishearten the well-wishers of Ireland .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 14, 1858, page 795, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_14081858/page/3/
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