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    THE FOREIGN LEGION . ftf Sober t * uth , the Ministerial bill for aubh" 6 ri 9 ing the Crown to enlist not more than ¥ 6 , 000 Foreigners for the service of the country rfi . th © present war was unexplained . The foreigners , it appears , ^ vould be enlisted , drilled , 64 td then employed against Russia ; but we are not told from what countries they would be drstrat- ; and we cannot perceive that the allufilefri to'Germany And Switzerland is a real definition < tf the source whence even the first draft Would be taken- The measure is open

    ib-obvious objections , and they have not been fbrgatten by the Opposition . The idea of authorising the Crown to organise and drill an army of 15 , 000 forei gners within the United Bangtiom is repugnant to constitutional feeling ; flie ^ ttfea that we must rely upon foreigners to assist tis in the war is repugnant to the newlyawakened militaryfeeling of the country ; wnd the idea that the bill is a weak point in the Ministerial plan , fa delightful to the Oppoaitfacu Hence it forms the object of studied attack , and its success canndt be anticitftited . ? h ht

    y « remig , howeyer , be good grotinda ffor a measure to etrtploy foreigners , and we should be the last to p ^ ect . If ^ were the intention to accept the- ^ service of Poles , and Hungarians , or Italians , We should hail the measure ; but if 4 hab were the purpose , if there were any intention ttf « nab 3 nitg % he peoplesto redress the balance of unhappy alliances , and to stand by tfee ^ eid © » f iihis country < in defending national independence against its chief aggressor , ithere 5 COBM 'be no necessity to limit the number , ^ rantitig'th at tinder ac tual alliance with Austria this country ^ not employ the subjects Of * hat ^ ower withqirfc the ileave of their Government , still 'there are other countries not in

    alliance-with-as who could well furnish their legions ; Torid surely we are notbound to consider the « oonveTrience'ofh ^ lf * pea > iherous , ; wholly hostile Italian and German ^ Governments , whodo not think > fit io declare themselves on our side in this war . But the number of peoples who are * the natural enemies of absolutism is

    IK * limited i ; o 15 ^ 000 . Poles alone have ttrdt i been reduced to that beggarly number . The mere numerals , therefore , make us doubt ¦ whether ^ Government intends to employ the , sons of * the oppressed nations j or , if Government tloes so , whether it can really riae to ' so great a duty when it begins with sopaltry ' an instalment . :

    And ? what necessity is there for bringing ' the -foreign recruits to be drilled on English roil P Ministers repel with indignation the idea that ' foreigners are to be organised for preftorviag peace at home , * why do we want-them here at all , then ? They could aa easily be drilled at Malta ttfl ; at Aldershot . Malta , to be'sure , does not lie to the North , and < ve Amovr well that the marine campaign in the JBaltic cannot 'be renewed without an army . JBufc this 'point , like all the . essential points of Ithe

    Bill , remains unexplained . Possibly , if Mi- ' jilators had Hhe courage-to explain what they design ^ we might b « . compelled to Bunpott th » in » Hf twia knew any of the purposes for ' tfhMi this foreign auxiliary legion was to Tjb omtltoyed , -we might -say it is most desirable to fcittlow ithe'Orown with discretion , to free its hands , ' « nd let it Tnako use of 'any auxiliaries that ' it can find . W © mistrust the discretion in this case , because it does not appear to be

    Iwrge'enough . If < our -Government intends to Btand'really ' free , It 'would not disengage itself fbrtising Only 15 , 000 [ foreigners as an instru-Wiertt , and remain bound as to all other ft > reigtj « ra "Who would bo so eminently our imttiralnllics . If the object is to let loose the flPdlee -upon Russia , -why oblige them to como iiosthia ^ cowntry i 'aa if England lay in the . rood $ &m VblanAtto "St . 'Petersburg 1 If Garoramont stood in fear of the Opposition—* if it

    ttpprehended the jealousies that still survive amongst us on behalf of the constituted Governments abroad—it should rather have left this measure alone altogether than have designed one which can alarm the Absolutist party -without satisfying the National party . If there is a latent greatness in Ministers , let it come out : they need not fear it . If they designed to carry on the war with all the resources of strength that they can muster , let them say so , and fear no man out of the Cabinet , or in it ; for then they would be supported by an entire body of the English people . But they will not win support by abortive fragments of great measures .

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    EXTEND THE MILITIA ! There is no question that Lord Palmerston ' s Bill for sanctioning the service of Militia regiments , who volunteer beyond the bounds of the United Kingdom , will pass during the short sitting . It follows almost as a matter of course that other men will be required at home to supply the places of those sent abroad . The whole of the present militia will be embodied , but the whole of the present militia , we eoneeive , will not be sufficient to secure the safety of the country or to supply the requirements of do

    the foreign services ; - ^ -and we not rely on the £ } nlistment of Foreigners JBill becoming law . Already Lord Palmerston talks of sending militia garrisons to the North American colonies , though we can hardly think it probable that any . regiments can be required in Canada , unless our Government is bent upon quarrelling with the United States— -for the colonists themselves have undertaken ' to guard

    the British provinces for the British Crown . If they were attacked by an enemy , their cry of help would bring over the border thousands of those Yankee riflemen who were quite prepared to take leave of " the old woman" and the children in 1887 to defend the colonies against another enemy . The Yankees would be quite as "willing to bring ' down a Russian as any other kind of " b ' ar . ' * The defence of those

    provinces , therefore , may be left , as all really free countries may , to their own residents and neighbours . Nevertheless , it is clear that an extension of the militia should anticipate any crying demand for < it . Already , the regiments along ithe whole of the east and south coasts are to be embodied * for evident purposes ; but all of our coasts which , are accessible to a foreign foe should be prepared in case some possible disaster should prevent 'the Russians from being intercepted by

    sea . We canndt anticipate any such result ; but we have already learned in this war not to count upon human calculations ; and it would be disgrace as well as calamity , if the Russians canno and found the English people unprepared . Moreover , Lord . John Russell says that the war is to be protracted ; it is quite evident that its immediate progress ns totally uncertain ; our alliances lire Btill imarranged , with the exception of the JFrench ; we shall , therefore , wnnt militiamen to ireoruit -the armies . abroad' as well as at home ; and if . the-Czar should make his resistance commensurate to the extent of

    his territories , to his ireBOurces , and the greatness of Wte enemies , we . shall hare to provide larger armies abroad than wo have ever done before . The only relief in that necessity would come from those nationalities who are ready to assist us in breaking up the absolutist system ; but the Duke of Argylo indignantly repels for the present Government the mission of assisting ' those nationalities . We arc not to accept the alliance of Poland , Hungary , > or Jbtdyi ; < we have not procured < offcctuavUy the alliance ol Auwtmj * wo flMcern the enmity of Prussia

    we rely upon France , whose conduct depends upon the life of one mortal man ; we count for the defence of our coasts upon a fleet that is a mortal structure not unassailable by the hostile elements of air , water , or file . It is clear , therefore , that the people should be put in train to defend itself , unless , indeed .

    we have amongst us statesmen who would be willing some day , upon an excuse of necessity , to surrender our administration to the satra ps of the Czar . More immediately the militia is required for the purposes already mentioned , and for that o'f affording a nursery to the recruitment of the line . The progress of recruitment , recently , has been satisfactory . The character of the recruits , at all events physically , has not been worse ; but there have been fluctuations in the

    supply , and even the enrolment of the mUi&a is not quite what it ought to be in all parts . In some parts of Scotland there is a decided hitch ,, and in some of the English counties an extension might also make us conscious of deficiency . The causes are evident , and the Scotch case . presents them , with peculiar nakedness . The northern counties do not present above a sixteenth of the number required to fill up the militia rolls . Is it that the clansmen have lost their spirit ? The Highlanders at Balaklava can answer the question .

    Now , it is not that the spirit has left the Highlanders , but that the Highlanders have left the Highlands . They were ^ first of all carried away by the ejectments for the benefit of the landed propr ietors , and subsequently they have emigrated for their own benefit . The ejectments were a positive act of misappropriation . The English land / ore ? is nob the owner of the soil ; he is only its governor , with certain proprietary rights . In modern times he has become a trader instead of a lord

    and he has expelled the people in whose numbers and gallantry he used to take a pride . The punishment for that usurpation has inow come upon us , when we want the men and find them : gone . It is the samp m this country , though to a less extent . England has parted with her . people at the rate of a million in three years ; and why ? For the twofold reason , that the people cannot obtain here the livelihood which they can in the West , and that they are deprived here of those political and social rights which they secure in . the West .

    They have been taught b y landlords and farmers to regulate their residence and their conduct of life entirely by the higgling of > the market ; their value in the land became only fa question of wages , and they have followed wagea . Deprived of their rights in their country , they retain no duties to their country . They " have gone to provinces , some of them still British , where men acquire rights , and with them duties . They have goao where the residents make a nation , and when we want them we discover the reasons why we have not retained them .

    It so happens , however , that the extension of the militia is one of the very first and most efficacious steps towards the restoration , both of rights and duties . It is true that these acts for disposing of the militiamen arc , in ft constitutional eense , illegal , for they arc to b& passed without the consent of the militiamen , wb . q , nob allowed the suffrage , are not re presented in Parliament . But the vemr act

    givea to these unenfranchised classes , to > a certain extent , « right which every , Englishman oiyoys under the Bill of Rights , but wbioh has'been talcen away from him by subsequent statutes—the right of possessing and bcaning arms . This right is expressly secured h , y tbp constitution of the United States , whither Englishmen emigrate by preference for t \ po jmupoSe of onjoyiug that . and tho origylits < th « t follow from lit . No disarmed > peopl © c « wi . fee

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    33-90 THE LEADER , [ Saturday

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 16, 1854, page 1190, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2069/page/14/