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PUBLIC MEETINGS . A WAB DEMONSTRATION AT GLASGOW . A demonstration in honour of our victories in the Crimea was held towards the latter end of last week in the City Hall , Glasgow . | Dr . Nichol , Professor of Astromony , in the University , occupied the chair , and observed . in the course of his address — " Will any one tell me how the capture of Sebastopol or Russia ' s flight beyond the Caucasus , shall affect her authority in the Baltic ? How it can mitigate the oppressive weight now resting on Germany ? How it will emancipate Denmark from the terrors of that fatal treaty of London , or restore a true national
independence to Sweden ? Nothing , I confess , has amazed me more , in all our discussions concerning these grave affairs , than the forwardness of statesmen and other distinguished men to place it on record that we do no ¦ desire what they are pleased to call the dismemberment of Russia . Dismemberment ! Have these noble lords and hon . gentlemen ever read history ? And will they be good enough to point to me one solitary instance in which guarantees were ever taken against an encroaching and dangerous state unless by the very thing that they call dismemberment ? Are they ashamed of the great times of our Elizabeth ? Was Spain not dismembered ? Or of the times of William III . and Maryborough ? Was
Louis XIV . at that time not dismembered ? And still , of briefer memory , who hesitated to check the grand Napoleon by doing the very thing that all policy calls on us at present to respect—viz ., by erecting an independent barrier state ? ( Cheers ) . They say there are difficulties . Would gallant Poland , if revived , not be as strong as Belgium ? Or is it not rather that we are too apt to grant to the wolf what we would refuse to the lion ? The erection of that barrier State , gentleman , so far from being difficult , bo far from being visionary , would , I believe , be hailed by every European statesman and country beyond the frontiers of Muscovy as the true and perfect solution of existing embroilments , and our
perfect safeguard . Would Sweden , think you , hesitate to accept Finland again and the Aland Isles , and bo to unite herself with the West , if she knew that an independent Poland would rest on her flank ? And Germany , Btricken now by no unnatural fear—inasmuch as her oppressive master is within a few days of unobstructed march on either of her capitals—is it possible to imagine that she who , through effect of that terror , not only dares not join the Allies , but has been so reduced that she could see her own great river , the Danube , torn from her , in the face of
distinctive treaties , almost without a remonstrance ? -is it conceivable , I ask , that Germany should remain insensible to the truth of Lord Palmerston ' s statement that , most of all , the restoration of Poland is a question of security for Germany ? I have seen in the newspapers lately various speculations and remarks concerning loans that Russia in obtaining at Amsterdam and New York . The guarantees , gentlemen , of aucli loans , are noblemen like the Earl of Ellosmere and your forbearing Htatosmen . In mercy to Europe , pronounce the word ' Poland ! ' " ( Applause . )
Professor Blackie , in speaking on the sentiment , ' ? The interests of literature and science and of all free thought as involved in the war , " took occasion to remark that the heart of the German people is with the Western alliance , and that Germany is only deterred from joining the war out _ of fear of that colossal incubus of Russia . Several other speeches were delivered and the meeting , which was very enthusiastic , separated at an early hour .
delivered a long and eloquent speech , in which he referred entirely to the war , the objects and tendency of which he approved . He observed : " There are some who are very much affected bv the idea of dismembering Russia . They don't -want to make war to dismember Russia ; and it seems to touch them as nearly as if the question were that of cutting off one of their ; own limbs . ( Hear , hear and cheers . ) Now , I would say , although I don't pledge myself to this as one of the objects of the -war , that if the war should result in taking from Russia the Crimea , Finland , and Poland , I see no more reason to call that dismemberment than to empty a thief ' s pocket is to dismember him . { Cheers and laugJiter . ) I am in symathy with this war because the indirect influence of Russia is of as pernicious a character as its direct aggressions . It is the bulwark of all despotism . Hungary could have asserted and maintained its own independence if Russiahad not interposed . " ( Hear , hear . ) From congratulating his auditory on the alliance of England and France , Mr . Fox passed on to a consideration of the policy of the Peace party , which he condemned as tending to impress the Russian . Emperor with the idea that the English nation is not asfone in its opinions regarding him , and as having the effect of removing peace still further from us . The success of that policy would eject Lord Palmerston from power , and would substitute a Derby Government . " And what kind of Government would that be ? " demanded Mr . Fox . " Why , the leader of that Government in the House of Commons has guarded himself , with an extreme and almost unprecedented caution , in giving an opinion on this matter . He will act with those who agree with all war ; he will act with those who are against all war up to a certain point ; and he will act with anybody and everybody who will enable him to damage the pi-esent Ministry . " Mr . Fox was disposed to support Lord Palmerston in order that he might be enabled to work out those army reforms—more especially with reference to the sale of commissions—which the speaker believed he was most desirous to effect , and would effect if properly backed by public support : — " There are great difficulties in the way , and there are strong intersts opposed ; for , in fact , with us the army is not a service- it has become a trade . People talk of buying commissions as they would of making an investment ; and thus we have military men who like anything in the world better than fighting ; and hence we have military men who are so much entangled in their ' most urgent private affairs' that one would think they had the greatest difficulty in the world in managing their own concerns , and much more than the most successful capitalist has in managing his own business . " ( " Hear , hear , " and laughter . ) Owing to this state of things , " Inkermann was a surprise , Balaklava was a blunder , and the Redan was a repulse . " Mr . Fox concluded by alluding to ] the ^ readiness of the working cla sses to submit to privations for the sake of the war : — " The people of Oldham are interested , and deeply interested , in trade and commerce , but there is something else in which they have a yet stronger interest , and that is in the well-being and prosperity , the success and the character , of their country . ( Cheers . ) I say the people of Oldham feel the burdens of taxation and the dearness of provisions ; but they arc people who at least will never hold one thing cheap , and that is , the character of their nation for arts and arms—for all that progress which glorifies a country and redounds to the advantage of the worm . ( Cheers . ) And so I rejoice that in this hive ot industry , in this borough , which one hundred years ago was only a few miserable hovels , but which hns now a busy population of 80 , 000 people—I rejoicei thati m this place , where all are at work—from the little factory girl to the groat capitalist— I rojoico that hero where you have men who can win fcuropoan honouis for inventions and the application of skill , and whore you have also the multitudes who by thoir daily t' . U earn thoir daily subsistence—I rejoico that hero , m Oldham , in the very heart and centre of those gicnt interests and of those influential opinions wluoh might lead in a different direction , you declare y ? " ««« r ( 0 B spontaneously , decidedly , and unreservedly ,: »» J" JjJ of such a peace as war alone can win , « ud » u £ ~ " !" war , against the great enemy and robber ot i- " «^ j ( Great cheering . ) This country has shown ifcwlf , and brilliantly shown itself , great n all the virtuej ot peace ; it has known how to moroauo i «« P" » P" f and make that prosperity the moans of bloH »"'^ l ° other lands . It h * a won its way to the J" »»^ J rank among the nations in literature , in the arts , nm sciences ; it has put itself forward , and wifclJ ' ^ in its moral claims upon tho world ; it 1 w £ gonoroua in its roooption of tho fugitive ; it Imfl »«
MR . W , J . POX ON THE WAR . A large meeting assembled on Saturday in the Working Men ' s Hall , Oldham , to receive Mr . W , J . Fox , one of their representatives . Mr . Fox
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-w _ a distance of six miles and a half—ia now com-P Dbath OF Admibae . Bkuat . —The Commander-in-Cbief of the French squadron in the Black Sea died while the fleet which was taking the Imperial Guard and himself back to Paris was leaving the roadstead of Messina . His decease is attributed by some to an attack of suppressed gout ; by others , to cholera . A few days previous to bis death , a complimentary correspondence , in which the deceased Admiral had spoken in terms of great affection of his colleague , had passed between him and Sir Edmund Lyons ; and on the 13 th of November he had been presented to , and complimented by , the Sultan . Thk Army Medicai , Officebs and Mb . Bracje-BRIDQE . — " A Medical Officer in charge of a Crimean hospital" writes to the Daily News , to combat the remarks made by Mr . Bracebridge at St . Mary's Hall , Coventry , in the course of last October . The writer says that , although Mr . Bracebridge has " inveighed against the British medical officers and to the department at large , " he has only brought specific accusations against one officer ; and hs has omitted to state the great difficulties under which the medical men laboured , owing to the want of requisite stores , food , appliances , &c . —a want for which the surgeons were not responsible . A Hint to England . —It seems ( says a letter from St . Petersburg in the Hamburg JYezos ) that preparations ai * e being made to equip for next summer the Baltic fleet , as it is found to have remained too long in inaction , and it is intended that at least a portion of it shall take the sea . Besides the reinforcements and improTement 3 which are to be introduced into the navy , it is intended to place at its head younger and more vigorous men . Already has tho former commander of Cronstadt , Lieutenant-General Burmeister , received his dismissal . The military governor of Cronstadt has also been removed , as well as the commander of the fleet , old Admiral Lutke , who is admitted to a pension in the Council of State . He will be replaced by Admiral Novossilsky , who distinguished himself at Seba « - topol . The Russian Army . —A symptom of the immense drain which the war must have made upon the military resources of the Czar ' s army may be found in the fact of several draschines of the militia of the Empire having been incorporated in the active army . of the South under General Luders . The Baltic Fleet . —All the English and French » hips of war which have arrived at Kiel from , the Baltic were still lying at that port on the 22 nd ult . The two Admirals , it appears , have been instructed to remain at that anchorage by their respective . Governments until further orders , in consequence , it is generally believed , of a negotiation still pending Jbetween the "Western Powers and the two Northern Courts to obtain leave for a considerable portion of the allied squadron to winter in one of the neutral . ports of the Baltic . Should the cold , however , continue as rigorous as it is at present in the north , the navigation must soon be interrupted in the narrow arms of the sea which the fleets have to traverse before entering the Worth Sea , large masses of ice floating already in the Belt . The naval force stationed at Kiel mounts nearly a thousand guns , And has still on board an immense quantity of war material , projeotiles , and Congreve rockets , which were not used during the last campaign . The fleet is supplied with provisions by contractors residing at Kiel , who daily furnish 10 , 568 rations . This will give an idea of the number of sailors and marines on board the squadron . —Letter fvom Hamburg , in the Independance Beige . The White Sea Blockade was raised on the 9 th of October . The Russian Position in and ab 6 und the Crimea . —A document , signed by the Russian Councillor of State , De Kotzebue , has been published , and contains the following passage relative to the prospects of the war : — " It ia diffioult to divine what the enemy will do in the future ; it is probable , however , that he will make some further attacks , in order to take our ¦ army either upon its flank or at its rear . Thus we jtnay expect that the Allies will make aome movements from the side of Kortoh and Yenikale , at both of -which places they have reinforced their troops ; but -wo may hope these projects will be baffled , for , as we Jhavo said , the army of the Crimea has received . reinforcements bo considerable that the General-in-Chief has it in hia power to augment in a notable manner Lioutcnant-Oenoral Wrangel ' s forces , which cover his extremo loft on the side of the Peninsula of Kerfcoh . This is equally true of the coast of the Black Sea , from the embouchure of tho Danube up to Perekop . Great masses of infantry _ and cavalry are distributed in such a manner that it is poBeible to concentrate them in ft very little time upon various points , and especially at Nioholaieffand Perekop . " Sin James Simwoh arrived in London on Sunday nigh * . " CAPiunn of FnENcn Naval Officers . — Threo Frenoh officers of tho garrison of Kinburn have been taken prisoners by some Coseaoka while walking
fiercely burning , while the tendency of the light air at first threatened a second and as serious an accident from powder , not eighty yards off ; for the roof of the building had been damaged , and the door blown in by the shock . " Wet blankets , and a good supply of water , however , soon removed this additional danger ; and , although several smaller fires continued to burn separately , all apprehension was at an end in about four hours from the first explosion . Six artillerymen , originally supposed to be missing , have been Bince accounted for , and are living .
during a fog on the Isthmus which connects Kraburn with the mainland . The Explosion at the Inkermann Powdeb Magazines . —General Codrington has transmitted to Lord Panmure , a detailed account of this lamentable catastrophe . He says that , even at head-quarters , two miles and a half distant , the shock burst open and broke windows ; and he adds : — " One hundred thousand pounds of powder had exploded in the French siege tram , set fire to all the stores there , and to our neighbouring English park , where all was
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1144 THE LEADER . [ No . 297 , Saturday
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 1, 1855, page 1144, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2117/page/4/
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