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    political action to an impossibility : it says either redress all wrongs , or none , either restrain all evil doers , or let all alone . Such a system may help a journalistic Ishmael to raise his hand against everybody , and create a disorder -which he may turn to his own profit , but it can establish nothing of practical utility , either in the regions of speculation or of fact . ¦ According to M . Girardin , England lias a foreign policy—to distribute her productions . Austria has a policy—to bind together and enlarge her bundle of states . Prussia has a policy—to

    counterbalance Austria . Russia has a policy—to execute the will of Peter the Great ; but France has no foreign policy at all , and has had none since she gaveTup that of conquest . Napoleon I . is dismissed as havinjr made conquests without a policy , and Napoleon III ., is praised for good intentions , but still declared destitute of this indispensable attribute of sovereignty . Then comes the instigation to a policy which would—until he deserted itsatisfy M . Girardin ; and that is , to establish what he calls , a " maritime equilibrium . A mere . embarcation on our coasts , would , he thinks , lead to

    nothing but a re-embareation ; and he deprecates serving London as England served Copenhagen , " because one act of barbarity does not justify another . " Still the reign of peace and commerce c : umot commence until England has been forced to give up Gibraltar and the Ionian Islands , evacuate Aden and restore Perirn ; and he asserts that a coalit ? on of all . the . nations of Europe , with the United States of America , would bring this about without war , for England would be afraid of opposing the world in arms ; and tlie same combination might declare

    the Dardanelles permanently free . Louis Napoleon was wrong in joining England in the Crimean war , because attacking any naval power , helps to maintain our " feudal supremacy " over the sea . Guizot was wrong in protesting against the absorp- ; tion of Cracow—he should have directed the French Ambassador at Vienna to illuminate in honour of the atrocity , because it was a violation of the settlement of 1815 by one of the parties to that affair . It did hot concern France to stop the aggression of Kussia in Turkey , because it would have reopened the era of conquests , —and has not

    France a large army with nothing particular to do ? The Isthmus of Suez is the weak point in England ' s cuirass : let France pierce it ; for if France and Russia are agreed , they will hold the Dardanelles , and " certain of being followed by America , " they can say to England— " Strait against strait . Gibraltar against the Dardanelles . " IF this should not bring England to reason , let France say to Spain "Never mind—count on me . Take and keep Tangiers . " Mr . Bright will be astonished to find that all this incentive to violence and crime is merely to shut up custom houses , and promote the exchange of goods—things which are , of course , impossible while England commands the sea . As some of the Girardin schemes would compromise the ricrhts of nations , we are told that

    " nationality is a deceitful word ; that if they had immunity from oppressive taxation and conscription , it could not matter to the Lombards whether they belonged to Austria or to Sardinia . " What can national independence matter if there 19 individual liberty ? " " Between conquest , which is f ho right of the strong , and liberty , which is the right of tjie weak , there is no room for nationality , which is a fact , but is wanting in right . " But enough of this tricky charlatan , -whoso appeals aro to low motives and base passions 5 and whoso principles—if they can bo dignified with the name , would make rapacity and chicanery the moving springs of international action . It is not by such advisers t ' lmt France can profit , and if wo thought M . Girardin susceptible of improvement , wo should recommend bun , in the words of Tennyson , to "Let the apo nnd titror die . "

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    THE RIFLE VOLUNTEERS . Iv every column in the daily papers relating to the volunteer riflemen could bo matched by a column of oflioiont defenders , wo should soon bo uiuuum o * oiiKJumi ; uviuuuura , wu uuuum bouh uu

    in a condition to laugh at assault j but it is worth inquiring whether the people are acting wisely in simply folWtag the Government load P or whether the authorities in this , as in other instances , have made good their claims as distinguished

    professors in the sublime science of " how not to do it ?" , the war of to-day is distinguished from the wars of yesterday by its crowding into the shortest space of time the results of the labour of previous years . _ We go from London to Edinburgh in a few hours , " because millions of capital and ° a prodigious amount of work was previously directed to render such an achievement possible , and it would be as easy for us to travel on an unprepared road at the rate of forty miles an hour , as to fight a modern battle without a previous accumulation of the immense machinery required . Scientific weapons and tactics have made skilled labour , when applied to military affairs , of more importance than they used to be ; but they are far from having diminished the demand for numbers , and recent campaigns have been remarkable for the quantity of men engaged . It is , moreover , tolerably certain that , if we were attacked at all , it would be by an assemblage of military and naval forces such as have never before been brought into ~ combined action . ' This feeling has prompted to the formation of volunteer corps ° If quality " only had been wanting , a little hammering of official stupidity in Parliament and out of it , would have sufficed to enable the British army to leave all competitors behind ; but there has been a just conviction that the regular forces ( whose cost has reached about six and twenty millions a-year ) would not suffice , unless largely aided by great numbers of the civilian class . Considering the extent of coast to be defended , and the number of roads and railways that would have to be secured against the successful march of any force that managed to effect a landing , it would be a low . computation to say that we ought to have half a million of men accustomed to handle a rifle , and at least moderately trained in military evolutions and drill . If we look at the efforts ' made in former times , when our population was much smaller , this ought to be an easy task , and it would be soon accomplished , if ofHcialperversity and public apathy did not stand in the way . In case of invasion , men beyond forty would , no doubt , contribute their quota to the national forces ; but that portion of our population best adapted for training , and upon whom our chief reliance should be placed , are those who belong to whut is called the soldiers' . age , from twenty to forty . Of these , we had in Great Britain alone 3 , 193 , 496 at the time of the census of 1851 ; showing , as the report observed , that in thirty years this portion of our people had increased by a . vast army of more than twelve hundred thousand men . Allowing for the increase of population since 1851 , , and adding men of forty and upwards , who would take part in a good system of training , we may assume that we have , after all deductions , about three millions , well adapted to learn something of the soldier ' s art . It should not , therefore , be a difficult task to get one-sixth of this mass decently taught . If we rely on the richer classes alone , we shall proceed a very little way in getting the desired numbers , for the rich , or even the well-to-do , constitute a small minority . Mr , New-march tells us , that in England and Wales 75 per cent , of the dwelling-houses are under . £ 10 annual rent ,. and if we remember that no small proportion of the remaining ' 45 per cent , of better class houses are let out in lodgings , we shall see tliat more than three-quarters of the adult males must bo excluded from any volunteer system that involves considerable oxponso . Tho Government proposition ^ upon Avhich the upper and middle class are acting , practically excludes all these valuable people , and will only havo the country defended by persons respectable enough to keep a gig . The State plan , " now not to do it , " sticks to the Oastlcrea ^ h ^ Act against drilling , and only relaxes its stringency in favour of tboso who can buy such an uniform as tho Lord-Lieutenant would like to see at his dinner table , and subscribe onoor two guineas a year , besidesen trance feoa and various contingent expenses . We havo omitted the cost of a rifle because the Government has olfcrred . to lend a certain proportion . The possession of ono by oaoh individual is , however , indispensable to a good system . The Cabinet has no objection to rich men subscribing to pay the expenses of a few poor men , but tho " Charitable Rifles " nro not likely to be n numerous olass . As a rule , « & 10 down , and £ 2 2 b . a year , besides the expense of getting to remote practising grounds , nnd other minor outgoings , are the penalties for shouldering a musket ana swearing to defend not only tho

    chasing the productions of military tailorcraft . Whenever the state was likely to require the services of the Volunteers , and wearing some uniform became a necessity , it ought to undertake the duty of supplying it , excepting onl y where persons were rich enough and willing to p \ -ovide for themselves . In old times , when the Government really did want the people to know the use of arms , archery grounds were maintained at public lycal expense . Now , that the Government is only playing with the question , and half afraid of it , the arduous task of providing rifle grounds , and the outlay attached thereto is entirely thrown

    country , but all future Charles I . ' s , against all future Oliver Cromwells , and all future James II S " against all future Princes of Orange . In St ' Pancras it was stated that the outfit of their proposed corps should not exceed . £ 4 a head . But even this and the annual subscri ption , not only excludes the workingman , but also the sons of small tradesmen , who could not afford anything of . the kind . ' . - ° ¦ ' It is quite possible to teach a man military drill without putting ^ him into an uniform ; and considering the object in view , it is very silly to exclude all . who cannot undergo the expense of

    purupon private individuals and adds immensel y to the difficulties of success . Xor do the obstacles end here , for quarrels and . dissensions about the choice of officers—all arising out of needless Government meddling , are of continual occurrence in the new formed corps . Then the uniform has been a bone of contention ; some Lords Lieutenant seeming to be of opinion , that its main object was to make the rifleman a good mark to be shot at , and to be of as little use as possible , in protecting its inhabitant against the inclemency oi" the weather . With all these discouragements , it is- plain that only a sharp panic can keep tiro . tiling going , and that twelve months of renewed coniidetiee would

    dissipate-rime-tenths' of the riile corps into thin air . . The machinery fordoing what is necessary mig ht bo simple enough , Let localities , parishes , or municipal corporations , provide practising grounds , and keep them in repair ; let the Government supply teacher ' s , -who will drill any respectable man who oilers to undergo a course oi lessons nt convenient hours ; ami let those who choose form regiments or battalion .- * , rfi . 'leeting their own ofliccrs , except the colonel—with a proviso that 110 one should receive . a commission without proving his capacity , by undergoing an examination .

    We know the . -middle class witu at 0110 time alarmed at the prospect of working men possessing arms and knowing how to handle them , Imt this Is passing away , being merely a variety oi' tlie timid spinster objection to anything " that would - ' go off . " "We have got beyond the stage at which ; i " servile- war" is possible ; and as our working men , even under the irritation of strikes , seldom uso the weapons they do possess hi the r-hupc oi fists and sticks , there is no rensun to expect that they would grow sanguinary by ^ nuulderiiu ; ' a tf 1111 *

    So far from military training weakening tin' bonds of society , it would have tho opposite elllrt ; anu men who were accustomed to reaju . 'ct . ' and obey their ofliccrs would be tho last to desiiv to < jfet _ up n not or a civil war . The untrustworthy portion of the population would not voluntarily put themselves under discip line at all ; and if any inillowiior should still indulge in idle terrors , there are plenty 0 ! country gentlemen who would restore hid peaoo ol mind , by showing him that the givut house wis not besieged because Hodge know how to nuuvh ana win tho shooting prize proscnted l > y tho s < jim' « j at a village feast .

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    STATESMEN'S FOLLIES . No Englishman will controvert I ho assertion recently made by u Frenchman , that tho ( - ' gotisuu pursuit of war by Napoleon I . wjis a great . to || v < It inflicted wounds on Franco , ( lint remain open ovon now , and destroyed himself . That tliu policy of Napoleon III . is equally foolish , us is i "" assorted , cannot bo known till its consequences havo oomo into . existence . At present , it [ lM involved him and Franco in prqat uMluiiltiej which aro perhaps not insuperable . Il' « * uocess , and tho very existence of bin Government , ' nro substantial proofs of the folly of his imtneUioic predeooseors and thoir advisors . Their slalom" 1 " 1 " ship was not beneficial either to themflolvos 01 their country . Wo have no occasion , however , to

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    1370 THE LE APE K . [ No . 508 . Dec . 17 , 185 $ .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 17, 1859, page 1370, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2325/page/14/