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told that a British admiral was shot from time to time " for the encouragement of the reBt . " It is on this principle of encouragement that we " send out regiments in sinking ships . And all this time we are told night and morning by ministerial journals that we are in the enjoyment of a strong Government . "We are to put away the idle vanities of political reforms and electoral cries , and to
be content with administrative excellence "Where is this administrative excellence to begin if not in our navy ? There is no department of the public service on which the nation is more ungrudgingly lavish than on this . And such is our reward . "When we were afc war in the Crimea we shipped two armies without accident or loss : we cannofc move a single regiment for China in common safety . How is this inconsistency to be explained ? Simply by the fact that in our late war our transports
were taken up , and that our great commercial companies are not in the habit of employing unseaworthy ships . "We have only one decent steam transport in the-service , and she was bought from the Peninsular and Oriental Company . "Why can't we build a dozen or two Himalayas , or get them
builfc , instead of laying down , day after day , those unwieldy and utterly ^ impracticable line-of-battle ships , which , for all fighting purposes , are as obsolete as the Great Harry ? General Paixhaits , who knew what he was talking about , used to say that light , swift craft , with a few heavy guns , would do the work of future wars , and we have lived to realize his words .
But our strong Government- blunders on in the old routine of big ships , typical enough of bluster and pretence . We ask for Himalayas and gun-boats ; we are presented with ' Royal ( Sovereigns and Transits . Nevertheless , let us repeat , we are now in possession of a strong Government ; it is nothing if not strong . It eschews
organic changes , repudiates political reforms , laughs to scorn electoral cries . And 3 Lord Pailmebston will be permitted to personate a strong Government so long as the British public fails to perceive that , until we have strengthened the constituencies , we shall not strengthen the House of Commons , Itnd that until we have strengthened the House of Commons we shall not secure a Government fit to send a troop-ship to sea .
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WHAT TO DO IN CHINA . The British Government is not responsible for the recent events in China . Those events were the fruit of long-latent conspiracy ; had the Arrow incident been passed over , another occasion would have been forced , if not by Yeh , by some other golden-skinned savage in the confidence of the Imperial Government . Therefore , our Ministers at home and their agents in the East are free from reproach , except in one particular .
They knew , or ought to have known , that a collision was about to take place . If they did not know , it was because they did not believ © : the representations made to them by military men and by civilians , who , before the October quarrel , counselled the authorities to take caro of their establishments in China . The conflict broke out and proved us practically unprepared . "We have to concentrate
our naval forces in the China seas ; we have to collect an army near Canton , from home , from India , and from Persia . "Wo may attempt to force a passage , with gun-boats , up to 1 ekm ; we may operate by bombardments upon the coast cities ; or we may , invest Canton , and starve it into a capitulation . Twelve thousand men would suffice to secure within a , fortnight the surrender of Canton ; they might , circumvallute it completely with
military lines , take possession of the roads , bridges , and canals in the rear ; keep open a double communication with the fleet , ^ drive back every relieving force , and wait patiently for the physical exhaustion of the Cantonese . Thus a great result might be effected , according to the calculation of no secondary authorities , with the least possible expenditure of time , treasure , and human life . On the other hand , to shell the city and to leave its land communications uninterrupted , would be to damage a number of roofs and walls , and to produce no appreciable effect . Should the determine the dis
capture of Canton fail to - pute , it would be time to develop the campaign along the coasts of the Yellow Sea , whither , it is reported , several squadrons of imperial junks have retired , to lurk in fancied immunity from shot and shell . Those who know the country , however , who are locally acquainted with Canton , and liave had experience of Chinese war , point to the investment and starvation of Yeh ' s populous stronghold as the most direct and efficient means either of closing the contest or of opening it upon an extended scale .
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MUSTERING OF THE NEW PARLIAMENTFob , once , Parliament lias mustered and dispersed , without a word about policy . The attendance , to use a reporter ' s phrase , was neither numerous nor influential ; Lord Palmerstok was present , but Mr . Disraeli was not . The election of Mr . Denison as Sneaker was grot through without fuss or
eclat ; the mover and seconder were studiously mediocre ; the First Minister ' s congratulations fell flatly on the ear ; Mr . "Waipole ' s encomiums were uncomfortably magnanimous . And so , Mr . Penison became Mr . Speaker , and avowed himself very grateful to the Commons . The Commons went home , and it will not be until next week that we shall scent the real qualities of the new Parliament .
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A LAST ARCTIC EXPEDITION . The extent of coast line in the Arctic seas already examined by the Government searching expeditions , is six thousand live hundred miles . There remains to be discovered only three hundred and seventy miles . To this narrow space the highest authorities point as the probable prison or tomb of the Erebus and Terror explorers . It includes a narrow circle
not far from the North Magnetic Pole , completely surrounded by the discoveries of recent years . This portion of the Arctic continent is easy to reach . In the spring of last year Lady Franexin solicited the Government to authorize a last expedition for the purpose of setting at rest the question of her husband ' s fate , and of rescuiug , if possible , the records of his ill-fated adventure . To her letter a
reply was immediately written , expressing profound sympathy , with a hope that she would be assisted . No assistance carao . Lady Franklin waited until the summer had passed , she then repeated her application . The answer was , " Too late for this year , at all events . " Early in the present Bpring Bho wrote a third letter , which appeared in the public journals . Again , time was taken to consider ; the reply was delayed until the season for operations had commenced ; and then came a positive and definitive refusal on the part of the Government to aid Lady Frankxtn in a final search for tho miaaiug
expedition . This was not fair treatment for devotion to receive . Bub sho would noii he duuntqd . Despairing of official co-operation , she resolved to clodicato the roimmntof hor fortune to a laafc uearch for her husband , for Win remains , for tho Erobua and Terror , or for tho journals kept by tho officers of those
unfortunate vessels . At her expense , the late fSii Richard Button ' s screw-schooner yacht was purchased ; Captain McCiiIHtock , already famous for his Arctic explorations , volunteered to command it , and , with that object obtained a year ' s leave of absence" from the Admiralty . The expedition will be carried out , and , unless the public interfere , it will be carried out at the expense of Lady Franklin , who has already sacrificed the greater part of her fortune in the endeavour to exhume two gallant crews from the accumulated winters of the Polar ocean .
Now , why not yield to the suggestions of the address transmitted a short time a » o from New Xork , and send the Resolute ? There are at Woolwich abundance of stores for Arctic service , saved from previous expeditions ; there are also large quantities of stores in cacliettes near the immediate ground of operations . The expedition proposed is not dangerous ; there is no service more popular among seamen than the northern navigation in a particularly health y climate . So that the humanity of the Government is a simple pretence . Lady Franklin , we think , has been treated with worse than discourtesy .
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Tiie Amber Ali Morad . — Papers relating to the confiscation of the territories of the Ameer Ali Morad have been published on the motion of Mr . Isaac Butt , the member for Youghal in the last Parliament . It appears from the correspondence on the subject that the Ameer fraudulently altered the treaty of Xownahur concluded between himself and Meer Rooston and Meer NusseerKhan , so as to substitute , among the possessions ceded to him , instead of the village of Mathelah , the pergunnahs of Meerpoor , Mathele , and Mehurkee . His Highness was therefore mulcted of a portion of his territory , by way of punishment . The New Malta Exchange . —The ceremony of opening the New Exchange , at Valetta , took place on Saturday , the 11 th instant , in presence of the Governor , Lieutenant-General Sir John Peunefather , the Members
of the Council of Government , the Heads of Departments , her Majesty ' s Judges , the Foreign Consuls , the Members of the Chamber of Commerce , and several of the residents . In his speech upon the occasion , his Excellency dilated upon the importance of Malta as a naval arsenal , and showed that it would increase in value in proportion as the native resources of the place are augmented . The Nightingale Fund . —The subscription for this fund is about to close . All persons desiring to contribute should therefore forward their names and donations without delay to the Honorary Secretaries , 11 , Serlc-street , Lincoln ' s Inn-fields .
The Italian Nation . —A great meeting waa held at Glasgow on Tuesday last , tho Lord Provost iu the chiur , at which resolutions were passed in favour ot Italian Independence , and against the meddlesome intervention of foreign powers . Few meetings have taken place in Scotland ao enthusiastic or so influential . Mr Buchanan , M . P ., Mr . Dalglish , M . P ., Dr . Nichol , and Mr . O . A . Campbell were among the speakers . t- nBnF Tim Kbv . F . U . MAUiticK—Throug h tho exertions of the Bishop of London and the new Dean of We 9 tin" » : ster ( Dr . French ) , Mr . F . D . Maurice has been restored to his professorship at King ' s College , London , o ' . ^ i c lie had boon deprived in consequence of his opinions on tho subject of eternal punishment . The rev . gc " ^ an has lately g iven 000 / . to the Working Man ' s College and 1000 / . more have been lent to it on a mortgage by an unknown person , who is said to bo no other than mra . F . D . Maurice . __ tv . K . U . JUJ . MUHVU . " \
J TlIlC 13 KJWOUDIAN SYSTKM OV TJUS UmVKRhh . > - " Bedford delivered a lecturo on Tuesday evening , at »« - Lecture Hall , Chester , on " Social Progress amU . ivmxation . " In this discourse , ho contended that the f , reai stumbling-block in tho path of popular iniprovonu-n s tho superstition reverence attached to the bible ; » ' Hliowcd that tho present observance ot tho SabbaUia Jewish , and not Christian . Any religion * tonclimfc , it observed , that is contrary to reason , is contrary to iioa , and , if England will not give up her paganism antt Idolatry , the meridian of her glory will have pabl . vvo must » look to tho starry heavens for tho key to J tones which have enslaved mankind . Art , L ciuu and Soionoo , nmnt bo tho motto inscribed on tio imni of future progress and civilisation . " The Juet . u . oi vrj a vory warmly received , with tho exception ot a Io v , « mndo aomo interruptions ; and on the following »« h «•/ » was Horonadud by Homo of his disciple , who piuj
several pieces of music beneath his windows . Tun 1 ' anoi'TXCON , LflU : < mtor-n <| Uiirc ! , was put "l auction on Thursday , and was knocked down at l J , u ' to Mr . E . T . Smith , tho lusaeo of Drury Lane .
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422 THE LBABER . [ No . 371 , Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 2, 1857, page 422, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2191/page/14/
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