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630 The Saturday^ Analyst mid Leader. [ ...
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THE BRITISH '< TIE,." OLD times are comi...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The Mozambique Consulate. The Americans ...
not only business is to watch the proceedings of slave-dealers ; and the propriety of haying one at Mozambique has been already admitted by the appointment of Mr . McLeod , who succeeded , whilst there , in obtaining from the Governor of Mozambique the enforcement of several of the laws , which his . subordinates had previously systematically violated . According to Mr . McLeod s own account , he was driven away from Mozambique by the gross persecutions he was subjected to by the persons he had offended , the Governor giving him little or no protection , and his own Government caring very little about him . However that may be , and Lord Wodehouse went out of his way in resisting the of
motion of Lord Stuatheden for the purpose throwing ^ a slur upon Mr . McLeod ' s judgment , the fact remains , that the Government of tliis country resolved upon having a consul at Mozambique , maintained there for two years one whojsucceeded in putting a considerable check upon the infamous traffic , besides assisting in his ordinary capacity as consul , a number of English subjects who at different times visited the port ; and further , was able tp collect a great quantity of very valuable information about the country and its productions . It is not right that so laro-e a line of coast should be without some consular authority , so long as competent men can be found to brave the dangers and inconveniences of such a climate and such a service . The very
energy with which Dr . Livingston ' s explorations are being prosecuted , renders the presence of such authorities the more necessary , It will be of no use to encourage the people of the interior to enter into a legitimate trade , and endeavour to wean them from slave-hunting , if the Portuguese officials are allowed to throw every obstacle in the way of that fair trade , and are left , withoiit let or hindrance , to encourage slave-hunts . Nor is it probable that any British subjects will attempt to carry on that traffic with East Africa which alone will encourage the natives to persevere in industrial pursuits , if they find no British consul on the spot to protect them against the vexatious interference ¦ _ of the Portuguese ; or that absolute prohibition of trade which thev have sometimes dared to enforce . ^ ..
The estimated cost of maintaining a Consul at Mozambiqiie is about two thousand pounds per annum . If that suinwere -multiplied twenty times by the maintenance of similar officials upon other points of that rich coast , the nation woidd not begrudge the expenditure . The outlay would prove of a highly remunerative character . It would not be so much hard cash expended in the mere attempt to suppress the Slaye-trade as a fearful scourge of the unhappy races who are its victims , or in purely philanthropic efforts to elevate their condition . It would develop the commerce of a country capable of producing hundreds of articles for which European markets will always have a demand ; and above all , it would stimulate a cultivation of cotton , which , lessening our dependance upon America , would save us from tlift terrible effects which two or three successive bad
harvests—as likely as the three successive heavy crops of Ilie ~ l 3 st ~ three years—would infallibly produce . We should benefit purselves ' whilst benefiting the negro . Lord Palmerston , at least , has a sincere desire to suppress the Slave-trade ; he has been a member of all the Governments which specially pursued ^ that object , and has always shown the warmest sympathy witli it . We trust , therefore , that Her Majesty will be advised to coinply with the wish expressed by the House of Lords , and appoint a Consul at Mozambique .
630 The Saturday^ Analyst Mid Leader. [ ...
630 The Saturday ^ Analyst mid Leader . [ July 7 ,. 1-860 .
The British '< Tie,." Old Times Are Comi...
THE BRITISH ' < TIE ,. " OLD times are coming back again , and the English nation is once more becoming thoroughly manly . We are resolved not to go to the bad , like the Romans , through luxury and indulgence . Wo are plucking up in time , just when we have reached that pinnacle of success and prosperity from which the great nations ot the pust reeled down headlong to decay and extinction . Qysters and vapour baths are said to have had something to do with the full of ancient Rome . The luxury which has of late year * threatened the stability of Great Britain and the vigour of its people are the principles of peace . Had we swallowed that oyster and suffered our senses to be lulled into delicious dreams ot the confraternity of the lion and the lamb in that seductive bath , we might at the present moment be owning as our master and ruler , not the mild and benignant QuBENViCTOBiA , but the grim autocratic Czar of All the Russiaa ! It is scarcely a year ago since a leading journala-emurkedutliat a ^ soldierjvaajjo . rare a sjghtjm ^ London that a stranger tnight fancy our whole army was composed or the sentinel * at the British Museum and the two mounted troopers at the Horse Guards . But now look at us—we are all soldiers I By and by the exception will be to see a civilian . What , has so suddenly roused ' us from our dreams of peace P What speotre has woke us up from the feast , and beckoned us forth from the halls of euse to the field of arms P Who is the Eanquo /—Louie Napoleon ov Tom SayebsP Was it in dread of the one or in emulation of the other that we hnvo so suddenly oast off the lamb and assumed the lion P The merit of this great gun-trick certainly belongs to
one or the other ; and we , on our part , are disposed to favour the claims of Tom . We were the most peaceable of pge ^ the world , until we heard that a campaign was on foot > between thechampion and a representative of America . Prize-fighting untiLthat moment was voted low , vulgar , and brutal ; . and the doings of the ring were never mentioned beyond the circle of sporting papers * n & ' ? fancy" parlours . The interest increased as the _ preparations for the campaign proceeded . The movements of the two pugilistswere recorded in high class journals side by side withtile " >*« £ <* continental armies and the debates of Parliament . Genteel society beo-an to talk about the merits of the respective . men ; grave senators paused in imperial discussions to chat about the contest ; the ropes and the ring became familiar terms at the family teatable , and at last , when the battle of Parnborough was foughfc , the elite of the world of rank and fashionliterature and art , looked on
, with approving eves . It was certainly during thu ; period of excitement that the rifle movement received its greatest impetus . It was at this time that people began to discover that Biitish musck was ffoimr to grass , and that some immediate effort ought to be made to brae ! it up . In the absence of any incentive to this exertion , it seems only fair to accord to Mr . Thomas Sayeks the merit of having had at least some influence in inspiring this great national movement . What great events from little causes spring I Helen was the cause of Troy ' s destruction—a goose saved -Romeand a bricklayer ' s labourer has arrested the decline and Tall of the > British Empire ! Tom has put two noses out of joint with one hit
—Mr . Heejtan ' s and that of M . Ledbu Rollin . Had Tom been conscious of the share he had m bringing about the event of the day , with what pride he would have / surveyed , from his gig , the review in Hyde Park , and the meeting of the National Rifle Association on Wimbledon Common . There was Queen Victobia repeating the , heroic example of her ^ great ancestress , Elizabeth , and giving earnest , by the firing of a rifle , of her resolution , though a woman , to lead her army in person should occasion require . That was indeed a sight to make the heart otan Englishman beat high within him . That day . showed that the movement was no mere playing at- soldiers , Those armed hosts that had sprung at a moment ' s warning from the head ottbe : British Medusa were determiaed to show that they would not consent to be riflemen in name only . They had shouldered the liow to
rifle Ion" -enough , and now they were resolved to learn use it . The Queen herself set the example by firing a Whitvtobth and hitting the bull ' s-- eye at four hundred yards , thus proving ( bymeans of a mechanical rest ) an exception to-the rule , that there is no royal road to learning . We can imagme it to have been , further , a matter of pride and gratification , to Tom , who ^ s still surveying the scene from his gig , to witness the kind encouragement given to the movement by the Secretary of War _ and the officers of the regular army ; and more particularly by Jlis Koyal Highness the Pbince Cqxsobt , with whose ideas ot the auty ^ soldiers in the time of a civil war an army of volunteer ? might ^ be supposed to clash . The sacrifice of predilection and policy 011 the part of these persons must have struck our eye-witness as being Kiatifyino- and yet remarkable . The liberal presentations in the shape of ° prizes must also have called up a thrill of pride in that manly breast , and convinced him , if he had ever had any doubts on the subjectthat the movement , bred of his
dis-, tinguished example , was receiving the most-nsirrcere-and—hearty encouragement . It is just possible that , at this , point , Ioms mind , unaccustomed to so continuous a reflective effort , may have wandered away to a contemplation of the scene m another aspect . It may have occurred to him that it was very like a Derbyday meeting on Epsom Downs . There was something like a . grand stand : and there were the ring of spectators , and the tents , and the booths , and Aunty Sally and Babon Nicholson ; and ¦ what "J ° jjy thing it would be if it were repeated every year , just lue the Derby or Ascot races . Let us , however , bring Tom back to a consideration of the movement of which he is the father , and direct his attention to certain features which lie under the surface . We point out to himthat while prizes of from £ 20 to £ 50 are offered for
competi-, tion at various ranges , each competitor must pay one guinea before he can enter the lists . He may win the first prize of twenty guineas ; but he must pay another guinea before he can enter t <> compete for the second prize of thirty , and one guinea extra for each of the remaining two . Our friend Tom has had some experience ot a raffle at a public-house for a gun , a goose , and a silver watch , but he had no idea that this was to bo a raffle , and he wants to knowhow much the winner will have to spend with the Minister ot War , at the Crown , Westminster . We also point out to Tom , that the best positions for seeing the sight are reserved for the aristocracy , and persons of high connections , and that even the ordinary public are charged half-a-crown for admission to the Common , We cannot venture to reoeat the laniruiicre in which our manly eye-witness
characterizes this paltry and invidious proceeding . Suffice it to say , that it is both forcible and strong , if not elegant . We deeply regrefc that prejudice should forbid the publication of those sentiments m the languagehrwhich they were conveyed-to utv-feoliDg -that . it we could commit them to print , any further word from us would be quite unnecessary . In deference , therefore , to prejudice , we must have resort to soft phrases and circumlocution : and first we ^ vould ask—Is this a national movement , or is it riotP Are our riflemen to learn to lceon steD and present arms when a royal personage
passesthem , and nothing moreP We have it , on the authority of the Pbinob Consobt , that the Volunteerforce now amounts to 18 O ; 0 OO . men , and it is confidently predicted that this force will have more than doubled its number by this time next year . Now if each member
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 7, 1860, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07071860/page/6/
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