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if is France . Meanwhile , it is certain that under their divided viceroyalty the people are grievously oppressed , and that they attribute many of their wrongs to the Government of Great Britain . Great Britain , they know , desired to prolong the Austrian occupation ; in other words , the reign of military terror along the line of the Danube , as savage as Turkish , tyranny , as arbitrary as Bussian
c protection . ' Sir Henry Buitvjie is undei'sfcood to have detected the real character of Gtiiika and Satjtzo in Wallachia , and Baxsche and Katahdji in Moldavia , who are hated by the mass of the population . The blundering tyranny of the Ilaimakans has excited the reprobation even of ILord de Kedcliffe and KEDScniD Pacha ; I ) ut the personal differences between the Ambassador and the
Commissioner threaten to interfere with pernicious effect between public men and public interests . We trust that the attention of the Government at home will be directed to this episode in the story of our Danubian diplomacy .
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THE WARNING TO HEFOBMERS . It was the misfortune of Sir Joshtta "WalmsiiET , on Tuesday night , to make an unanswerable statement to which no answer was necessary . To what purpose does a Liberal member inform the House of Commons that it is elected by a limited number of the people , that numerous large towns are unrepresented , that -wretched little boroughs rank in the scale of influence with large
conthat upon Mir . Locke Krsro- ' s motion Lord PALiraBSTOtf could not retain the support of forty members of his party ; It is true , also , that a hundred and seventy-nine Liberals voted against him ; but if those hundred and seventy-nine men were sincere , could they not easily obtain the assent of the Premier to a moderate plan of reform , drive him . out of office , or summons him to show cause against a Bill at a general election ? Let the Liberal party understand that
" pressure from without" is as necessary now , as at any previous time . However desirable a tranquil state of public opinion may seem , it is not by tranquil public opinion that great reforms have been effected .
Btituencies , that with a population of twenfeyeighfc millions we have only one million of electors ? And whom does he expect to convince ~ b y quoting tlie opinions of Looke , Tox , Sir "Wii , iiam Jones , Burke , a Duke of ^ Richmond , and " . a noble member of the House still living / ' in favour ¦ of Reform ? The House of Commons has heard all this , knows it well , is weary of it , and asks , " "What then ? " To which . Sir Joshua Walmsley
replies in these really cogent words : - " We shall have neither bill nor committee while the people are quiet , but as soon as the people demand with a loud voice , there will be a bill , whether there is first a committee or not . " That sentence contains the whole truth of the question . " We will quote , as its parallel , some remarks which felL from Lord John Husselx during the debate on Mr . Locke
King ' s motion : — "I think it maybe said that there is no great pressure in the public mind , no national urgency for the adoption of & comprehensive measure of reform . For my own part , I Bhould think it was very imprudent in my noble friend ( Palmehston ) if he wore now to say that it was the intention of the Government to disturb the legislature and the mind of the country by such a comprehensive measure . "
"What is wanted , consequently , is , not a select committee , but a national agitation . Sir Josiitta Walmsley makes that his threat ; Lord John Russklii makes it hia apology . . From the Government no proposal can bo expected ; Lord John Busbbli . cannot be reasonably asked to assume the initiativo witliout an impulso from the nation besides , that which might seem to him to complete the constitutional edifice would , in all probability , fail to Batisly the
popular advocates for an extension oi tho Bnflrago , and its liberation from corrupt control . While the old Registration Associations are dissolving , while political life is languid outside of Parliament , while a new Jioiorin Bill is troatcd as a chimera , while annual motions are mado and not believed in , t » o llouso of Commons will never bo influenced m iavour of that comprehensive men-Euro to tho inuncdiato introduction of which -U > rd John Russell has objected . It ia true
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jntEE EMIGRANTS AND COTTON . Tim Manchester manufacturers have invited Uio Liverpool anerolianta to co-operate vat ' them in a plan to abolish tlio cotton nio-
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tember 8 , 1855 , when in command of the covering 7 ladder party of tie 2 nd division on the assault of « T Redan , to which he gallantly led his men Ha *;« entered the Redan , he with only nine or ten men helH position between traverses , and only retired when li hopo of support was at an end , himself danfeerouabJ wounded . & b v V" Private . John Connors ¦ ( No . ^^ . - —Distinguished himself most conspicuously at the assault on the Redar . September 8 , 1855 , in-personal conflict with the Pa , sians ; rescued an officer of the 30 th Regi ment , who w £ surrounded by Russians , \ v shooting one and bayonet ing another ; ana was o ^ served inside the Redan in personal combat with the Russians for some time Was selected by his company for the French war medal "
Another :- — " Private Samuel Parfees ( No . 635 ) . —In the chars ? of the Light Cavalry Brigade at Balaklava Trumnet Major Crawford ' s horse fell , and dismounted him and he lost his sword ; he was attacked by two- Cossack * when Private Samuel P / arkes ( whose horse had be ° ii shot ) saved his life by placing himself between them and the Trumpet-Major , and drove them awav by his sword . In attempting to follow the Light Cavalry Brigade in the retreat they were attacked by six Russians , whom Parkes Icept at bay , and retired slowly fighting , and defending the Trumpet-Major for some time , until deprived of his sword by a shot . "
In one sense , this is probably the most democratic measure given , to us by the British Government , confounding ranks and classes : " William Peel , Captain , " gets exactly the same decoration with . " Joiin Sulltva .-n , boatswain ' s mate , " or " Thomas Reeve , seaman . " As we have already seen , IIestily Ja .: mes Rabtt , Tho ^ ias Taylor , and IIenby Curtis not only received the same cross , "but are grouped in the same paragraph which records their exploits . It is an honour conferred without respect of persons : it is thoroughly " levelling . "
THE VICTORIA CROSS . The new decoration for military services is one of the best things that we have got from the present Government , if , indeed , we must not ascribe it' to Queen Victoria , herself . It consists of a plain cross , with .. a , small gratuity to those men in the humbler classes of the army or navy who would value the aid . Nothing can . be simpler than the decoration itself , or . the organization of the order which it constitutes ; and yet it is more thoroughly an order of chivalry than any of those which pass by the name , and still enable grandees to play at knighthood on occasions of ceremonj' ' .
Ifc has been bestowed upon comparatively few persons— -eighty-five ; audit has been remarked that surely more brave men might have been found in the British army and navy . We believe so , indeed , but that is not the point : the cross is given , and properly given , to those who have distinguished themselves by extreme bravery ot devotion—given for that kind of exploit which brave men would desire to perform if they had the opportunity , and which , when done , all admire
by the sheer impulse of instinct . " Where others were courageous and strict in discipline , the man who wears the cross lias likewise been courageous and strict in discipline , hut has also carried hia devotion and gallantry to a generous excess . In th « case of such an order the abuse would be , if it were given too generally ; it is desirable that there should be many who have strong claims—claims that may be made the subject of question ; for it is an order to which many should aspire , and few attain .
This is the more necessary , since it constitutes a new rank , overleaping the ordinary barriers of social distinction . The list of the exploits has been published in the Gazette , and it reads like a set of extracts from the old chivalrous romances , or from old heraldic chronicles , telling the deeds of early chiefs . A largo proportion of the achievements consists , either in daring attacks upon the enemy , or in picking ; up a live shell and throwing it out of the reach of mischief , or in saving wounded companions at the risk of life . In these services , all ranlcs were
engnged , and tho distinction falls equally upon them all . The mero fact of being named in such a liistory is in itself a glorious distinction . Hero is an example of tho commingling : — 11 Ilonry James Raby , Commander ; John Taylor , Captain of tho Iforccnstlo ; Henry Curtis , Boatswain ' s Mnto . —On June 18 , 1855 , immediately after tho assault on Sevastopol , a soldier of the 57 th ltcgiment , who hud been nhot through both logs , was observed sitting nn
and culling for assistance . Climbing over the breastwork of tho advanced sap , Commander Ruby and tho two soanicn proceeded upwards of 70 yards across the open spaco towards tho salient nnglo of tlio Kodun , mid , in spite of the heavy tiro which was still continuing ' , hucjceeded in carrying tho wounded soldier to a placo of safety , at the imminent risk of their own lives . ( Ijotter from SirS . Lushlngton , Juno 7 , 185 ( i . )" Hero ia another pair : — - " Urovot I / icutcnant-Colonel Frederick Francis Maude . —For conspicuous and moat duvotod bravery on
Sep-On the other hand , this levelling tendency is entirely of an elevating kind . If there are many private soldiers and seamen in the new order of only eighty-five persons , it is a matter of just pride to each one of them that he ranks on a level with Captain Peel or Captain Buckley , Colonel Ma . ude or Colonel Dixoisr ; and most assuredly those same officeTS will feel a pride in this distinction that they can scarcely feel either in their military title or in the ordinary Gazette honours . For what are blue ribbons and
green ribbons given at the present day ? By what services do mfen acquire the right of addingafter their names , " G . C . B . " "K . G . " ? What persons have not been included in those orders ? "What arms , even , have we not seen over the stalls in St . George ' s Chanel at Windsor ? Commonplace men , mean men , traitors , sycophants , and cowards , have tarnished tho glory of that order . A man may rise to it by such equivocal services , that the decoration proves nothing more than success —certainly asserts no personal qualities . Officers who attain to chivalrous distinctions
even of that kind may feel proud , because the character of their services is k nown ; but those chivalrous men who won the Yictoria Cross must feel that they are enrolled in an order of chivalry untainted by these adulterations . If , therefore , it introduces a democratic element into our aristocratic institutions , it introduces a chivalrous feeling amongst our ot
democratic classes . Tho very plainness the order , the absence of anything like ordinary profit , will make it an instrument for calling forth a higher spirit than that winch has boon generally cultivated of late years in this competitive : and trading country . It lS impossible that men should not covet such ft distinction , and it will constitute a motive ot action divorced from ordinary ostentation ana selfish gain .
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306 TEE LEADEB , [ No . 362 , Saturday
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 28, 1857, page 206, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2182/page/14/
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