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pleasure I may derive from it , I must say that , had it not been for circumstances , arising partly from ill-health , over which * I had no control , I should not have deemed it my duty to leave the seat of war at this time , although , perhaps , my remaining there would have been useless , for I had nothing left to command . I still think that , unless some such reasons as I am about to assign can be urged—incapacity arising from ill-health amongst the number every general officer is bound to remain with the army as long as there is an army to command—( cheers)— and I am prepared to say further , that if my services are again required , they shall be perfectly available . ( Loud cheering . ') In the mean time I have been promoted to a situation—Inspector-General of Cavalry —in which I hope to be able to render considerable
service to the army by repairing the losses and restoring the dilapidated condition of the cavalry—being , in short , entrusted with the preparation of all cavalry recruits for the army . " ( Cheers . ) Respecting the fatal " order " he remarked , " Though I do not pretend to more sentimentality than other men , U seemed to me at the time , and still seems , that the loss was so certain and serious , and the advantage to be gained by the attack so slight , as to make it a matter of deep regret that the order was given . I received the order , however , to attack , and although I should not have thought of making such an attack without orders , and although I differed in opinion as to the propriety of the order , I promptly obeyed it . " ( Loud cheering . )
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THE REAL SOLUTION OF THE ARMY DILEMMA . Sir Francis Head has written a letter to the Times which professes to explain the real cause of the nonefficiency of the English army . It seems , that in 1834 , Sir Francis was much impressed with the thorough capacity of the Prussian military system , ¦ w hich includes education for officers and men . In a patriotic spirit he called on Lord Raglan ( then Lord Fitzroy Somerset ) to explain the matter , and suggest that similar care in pur owncase must lead to similar results : — " For some seconds , " says Sir Francis , " he appeared either unwilling or unablejo answer my . plain question ; at last , calmly shrugging ~ his left shoulder and the stump of his right arm , he" replied , with a look of dutiful submission , —' Joseph Hume . ' " Sir Francis expresses his-astonishment that the Times should have recently regretted ^ the severe illness of so palpable a culprit as" Mr . Hume . He says Lord Raglan maybe destitute of . forethought and contrivance , but the real blame should be cast on Mr . Hume , whose well-intentioned measures of economy , enforced by the House of Commons , have gradually dismembered our army of all its " field-departments , " and for want of a well-educated staff * has reduced 54 , 000 effective troops , by hunger and cold , to 12 , 000 effective bayonets .
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CONTINENTAL NOTES . Paris has worn a Crimean aspect all the week , so far as deep " snow , bitter " cold , " and" high windsp may be said to constitute a resemblance . The Moniteur promulgates the law by which pensions of 20 , 000 fr . a year are conferred on the widows of Marshals Bugeaud and St . Arnaud . Recruiting for the French army is going on very rapidly . The Minister of War has just directed an office to be opened at Gex for enrolling men for the new Foreign Legion . Such recruits as may be obtained are to be forwarded to Besancon . And the Metz journals state that orders have been given to the officers of engineers to prepare a piece of ground in the neighbourhood for a camp of 100 , 000 men . Preparations , it is said , are being made at the Palace Stanislaus , at Nancy , for the reception of tho Emperor .
The King of Hanover is hastening on military preparations ; and letters from Vienna Btato that he has empowered Baron de Stockhausen to conclude a separate treaty with Austria . Brunswick and Nassau have also sent declarations on that point of a very satisfactory character for tho Austrian Cabinet . The adhesion of Naples to tho alliance of the Western Powers is considered a fait accompli , but , as Piedmont concluded . hers with Franco and England , the King of tho Two Sicilies will only have to do with Austria . The amount of her expected contingent is not mentioned . The Russian Minister has gone to Cascrta . Count Abel Hugo , brother of Victor Hugo , and Count Melchior dd Polignac , last surviving brother of tho Minister of Charles X ., died last week . Tho second grand ball for tho season was given at tho Tuileries on Thursday night .
Tho Moniteur has published an article recommending discretion to the press in regard to operations of the -vrnr . The article is a derision in Franco . Imagine tho French Government talking in tho following strain to the journals it can suppress ovon without a warning . " We are no longer jn that state of war abroad that it should necessarily lead to dictatorship at home . Tho Governments which haye accepted the honour and responsibility of a great struggle , entered into for the purpose of insuring the independence and balance of
power in Europe , have not found it necessary to decree laws of public safety . They have relied on the intelligence of public opinion , as well as on the heroism , the patience , and the abnegation of their armies and their fleets ; they have not been deceived on any . point , neither will they be disappointed when they request from the press of all countries the patriotism of discretion . " The inconsistency of the Moniteur appears in publishing in its fourth page extracts from the correspondence of the Times and other papers relative to the army , and the presumed plans of its operations , after having denounced in its first page the practice of such publications . raise in
A French company has proposed to France a legion for the service of the English Government . The Company engages to supply from 10 , 000 to 25 , 000 men within the shortest possible time , half " the number that may be agreed upon to be ready in fifteen ? days at the utmost . In order to effect that undertaking , it requires that it shall be permitted to recruit in France , or in neutral countries , men who have been liberated from military service , and on whom otherwise their Governments have no special claim . It is stated that the English Government is disposed to entertain the propositions of the company , and only awaits , to enter on its execution , the assent of the French Government . The company offers , moreover , to equip / the men if desired .
With regard to the mission of the Prussian General Wedel to Paris , it has been stated that Prussia still demands that her neutrality shall be recognised , and insists that , even without signing any treaty , separate or collective , pledging her to an active co-operation in the war against Russia , she shall have her place in the Vienna conferences . Religious liberty is not yet appreciated in Spain . On the 8 th , the discussion of those passages of the constitution which recognise Roman Catholicism as the religion of the state was proceeded with in the Cortes . M . Ruis Pons moved , as an amendment , that liberty of conscience and of worship should be allowed to the same extent as in Rome . The amendment was opposed by M . de los Heros , in the name of the . committee on the constitution , as unsuitable to the present situation of the country . The amendment was summarily rejected . Another resolution , placing religious liberty under the guarantee of the constitution , was at once rejected , the votes beingfor , 139 ; against , 73 . "
The royal house of Sardinia is , indeed , sorely afflicted . On Saturday night last the Duke of Genoa died of consumption , after a lingering illness . Ferdinand ^ Duke of Genoa , was-the second son of the late King Charles Albert , and only " brother of the present" Sovereign of Piedmont . He was born Nov . 15 , 1822 , and married , four years ago , to the daughter of Prince John , now King , of Saxony 7 The present situation of King Victor Immanuel is one to call for universal sympathy . Within a few weeks , and almost in the act of giving an example of active magnanimity to the kings of the Continent , by taking part in the European war , he has Seen his mother , his wife , and now his brother fall at his side . The Moniteur says : — "'"
" The auxiliary corps which Sardinia is about to send to the East will be composed of four brigades of infantry of . the . line , two , battaliona , of riflemen , two regiments of cavalry , four batteries of artillery , and a company of carabiniers . The four brigades of infantry will be that of the Grenadiers of Sardinia , regarded as a picked corps , and those of Piedmont , Pignerol , and Aosta . The riflemen , which are organised on the same plan as the Chasseurs . de Vincennes , are well armed , and excellent marksmen . The regiments of cavalry which are being
prepared for the expedition are admirable ; their horses , bred in the mountains , and principally on the island of Sardinia , are very hardy , can bear great fatigue , and are easily fel . About one-half of the men are armed with lances . Tho artillery are well mounted , and the baggage-train perfectly organised . The greatest enthusiasm prevails among the troops destined to form part of tho expedition , and this honour is sought for with the greatest eagerness by the officers of all brandies of the service . "
It is said at Vienna that not simplo conferences , but a regular Congress , will be held there . Franco sends a Special Minister . Tho American , Phillips , who was mistaken by the police at Basle for Signor Mnzzini , and kept five days under arrest , has obtained from the Federal Government two thousand francs , as compensation for the deprivation of his liberty . Tho chief police officer at Basle has been admonished to use more discretion . An inhabitant of Berne is under prosecution by the Federal Government for circulating an appeal inviting his countrymen to join tho French foreign legion under General Ochsenbein . Spain will not permit recruiting for service in . tho Crimea .
The case of the newspaper lately started at Dantzig , and called the West Prwsian News , displays Russian influence in Germany . In consequence of the liberal sentiments contained in the loading article of its third number , on tho question , " Is Russia' to be considered as a state of Europe ? " in which the question was answered in the negative , and proofs brought forward tq show that in its nature and institutions it is more Asiatic than European , the Russian consul denounced it by the telegraph to the
Czar ' s Envoy at Berlin , who complained to the Minister of the Interior , and effected the total suppression of the paper . The Czar has issued a manifesto , under date of St . Petersburg , the 12 th of February , in which he calls the entire male population under arms . The treaty-of alliance with the Western Powers has been carried by a large majority in the Piedmpntese Chamber of Deputies , after an energetic debate , in whiph the speech of Signor Bo , affirming that the commerce of Genoa was traditionally concerned 5 in the destruction of Russian preponderance in the Black Sea , was the most remarkable . In reply to an interpellation , Count Cavour said that the cession of Savoy had never been mentioned in any diplomatic conference . ' A small squadron of Sardinian war-steamers is to accompany the operations of the contingent in the Crimea . The Chevalier de Toggenburg , Civil Governor of Vienna , is the new Austrian Minister of Commerce .
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THE GOVERNING CLASSES . ( From the Times . ) In the life of every man there are certain periods when , overcome by some bodily weakness , led aside by some strong passion , or engrossed by some favourite pursuit , he seems to lose his ' grasp over his destiny , to relax his efforts after the end at which he is straining , and to sink back into ease , indolence , and self-complacency . Much such a period has this country passed through since the establishment of Free Trade in 1846 . Immersed in the pursuit of material wealth , proud of the extension which our noble principle gave to our commerce , and happy in the relief from pauperism and the increased facility of finding employment , we have been only too well content with things as they were , and too little disposed to inquire what they should be . The revolutions of 1848 , and the crimes , miseries , and absurdities to which they gave . r ise , had produced a reaction against liberal sympathies and opinions , and a tendency to submit without inquiry to whatever authorities might be placed over us . The election of 1852 was a struggle for a principle virtually condemned already , and practically obsolete , and the nation only sought to strengthen the hands of those in whose adhesion to Free Trade they felt
entire confidence . From different circumstances it eame to pass that at no period since the Reform Bill' had the aristocratic families obtained so firm a hold on office , place , and patronage as in the commencement of the year 1854 . They had conducted our business for many years without any extraordinary miscarriage or misfortune , and we were content to leave them the field of politics as their peculiar vocation and monopoly . But war has always been noted as an unsparing innovator , the destroyer of conventional respectabilities , and the overthrower of all manner of snug and comfortable cliques and coteries . The experience of the last few months has awakened the people of England from their dreams of wealth and prosperity , from their traditional
self-gratulations over the naval and military exploits of the late war , and from the supposition that men invested with high rank and clothed with great office are possessed of faculties equal to the direction of our affairs whenever there * ismOrethan an "ordinary strain on-the vessel of the State . Our eyes are open , and we behold that we are naked . We ask for talent sufficient to conduct great affairs to successful conclusions , and instead of talent we are offered titles and pedigrees . We ask for merit , and we are offered in exchange high connexions , or , at best , seniority . The cold shade of aristocracy is over us all , and nothing can grow beneath it except the offshoots of the tree itself . Up to the middle of November this country believed itself to have armies , generals , statesmen , departments ^ all equal to their several duties , all of the very best the world could
afford , and now , in the middle of February , in three short months , all [ is changed , or rather all is reversed . We kavc awoke from our dream of hope , prosperity , and success , to disaster and dismay . Our generals have turned out worse than useless , our Ministers something more than incapable , every public department has been crushed into hopeless imbecility by the weight of unbending routine and worthless formalities , and on no ono occasion that we are aware of , has tho right man been selected to fill the right place . Everything lias been mismanaged to a degreowhich , if predicted , would have been deemed incredible ; yet , so far ns the public are aware , no single official has yet been recalled , and after a week ' s interregnum , Government hfls boon reconstituted and strengthened only by the omisaion of three of its leading members , and the promotion of ono who is at least as guilty as any of those omitted .
. The people of England have remained quiet under all these things . They have felt— iifl how should they not feel ?—tho mortality which has brought mourning to every hearth . They lmvo noted - an how should they not notc?—tho incredible and inexplicable confusion and stupidity which have presided over every department , giving reality to absurdities such as tho most extravagant imagination could never have painted , and occasioning miseries ' such us tho gloomiest prophet could never have foreboded . Why the people have been so long silent has been to most reflecting men a matter of wonder and astonishment . They feel most acutely ,
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Febmtakt 17 , 1855-1 THE LEADER . 149
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 17, 1855, page 149, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2078/page/5/
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