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$28 THE LEADER. [Saturday ,
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'I UK KAIIL OF STIRLING AND TIIK RUSKKLL...
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W O M E N. It is easy to say that the ma...
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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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How To Dress A Soldier. In Discussing Ho...
palm of a higher courage and the claim to a higher glory . ) Different regiments might also have distinctions , and the whole army should be clearly distinct in appearance from the civilians of their day . The moustache and beard would serve this end as well as preserve the throat and lungs of the soldier . It is also well that he should be widely different from the common enemy- ^ -say " the Russians "—lest he should be mistaken and worsted , a result natural to anything like a Russian . The Duke was strong on this point ; his enemy being " the French . " " If they by chance went right he'd purposely go wrong . " He wrote in 1811 : —
" I hear that measures are in contemplation to alter the clothing , caps , & c , of the army . There is no subject of which I understand so little ; and , abstractedly speaking , I think it indifferent how a soldier is clothed , provided it is in a uniform manner , and that he is forced to keep himself clean and smart , as a soldier ought to be . But there is one thing which I deprecate , and that is , any imitation of the French in any manner . It is impossible to form an idea of the inconveniences and injury which result from having anything like them , either on horseback or on foot ; and his piquet were taken in June because the 3 rd Hussars had the same caps as the French chasseurs a cheval and some of their hussars ; and I was near being taken on the 25 th September from the same cause . At a
distance or in action colours are nothing ; the profile and shape of the man ' s cap , and his general appearance , are what guide us ; and why should we make our people look like the French ? A cocked-tailed horse is a good mark for a dragoon , if you can get a side view of him ; but there is no such murk as the English helmet , and as far as I can judge it is the best cover a dragoon can have for his head . I mention this because in all probability you may have something to say to these alterations , and I only beg that we may be as different as possible from the French in everything . The narrow top caps of our infantry , as opposed to their broad top caps , are of great advantage to those who are to look at long lines of posts opposed to each other "
The suggestions have the one vjjgjsv well expressed , but then it is the mere look out of a soldier guarding one point . The last point is the suitability of the dress for the character of the service . Our troops must pursue as well as fight , so their dress should be easy . They must carry with them conveniences for impromptu lodgment and personal shelter , and therefore should carry knapsacks — the
lighter , of course , the better . Circumstances dictate other changes . Late improvements in offensive weapons make the soldier less liable to sword thrusts or sabre cuts than before , and more likely to bo picked' down by that human speck nine hundred yards off , or swept away in mass by grapeshot or ball . Defensive breasfc-platcs and very heavy helmets aro therefore gravely
useless—Like haul s plate armour on the she pherd boy , Encumbering but not arming him . Metal shoulder scales — the first form of the useless worsted epaulette—might be retained as easily borne and really defensive in close conflict ; while they eke out and point the manly squareness of the shoulder . But all other heavy pieces of motal are bad . In the wars of to-day the soldiers are not to win by ins inertia , as'the British partly won at Waterloo ; modern science would
soon make short work of a standing army , or kneeling squares . Our troops must make good running as well as fighting ; they must bo quick to circumvent the enemy , or quick to meet him full in the face before ho can load his batteries a second time . In short , our system should make the soldier easily moved—his own spirit will suggest tho direction . The best dross for tise is easily found ; tho object of tho man should alone suggest tho beauty .
$28 The Leader. [Saturday ,
$ 28 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
'I Uk Kaiil Of Stirling And Tiik Ruskkll...
'I UK KAIIL OF STIRLING AND TIIK RUSKKLL CONVENTION . Tin ? Oonvontion concluded between Lord John 'IIushoU and Mr . Ingorsoll , in February last , on the part of-tho British and American Governments , HCorns to have been destined to provide for tho " portentous" event that has happened at Washington . The Convention arranges the appoint-311 ent of ii , joint commission to decide claims preferred by corporations , companies , and private individuals of either State upon the Government of tho other State . It is proposed that her Britannic Majesty and the . President of the United ( Stales ahull each appoint a ComniinHioner .
from the day of their first meeting , or any specia case requiring delay within three months longer . The Commissioners must examine and decide all claims within one year from the day of their first meeting , the two Governments binding themselves to accept the decision of the Commissioners or of the umpire as final . Any payments decreed under the Commission to be paid within one twelvemonth of the decision without any deduction save a slight per centage towards the
l The two Commissioners to meet in London with the least possible delay . They are at once to appoint an umpire , or if they cannot agree upon an umpire they are to nominate two ; and on each question of disagreement between the Commissioners the case is to be referred to one of those umpires ,,. who shall be selected by lot for that particular judgment . Every claim must be presented to the Commissioners within six months
expenses . It is a well-considered plan , and promises to work well . A contemporary has vaunted it as a proof of the good feeling between America and England , and far be it from us to deny to Lord John- ' Russell and his colleagues the credit that they deserve for their share in a practical arrangement , which , by tending to prevent many mischievous understandings- between two important States , will promote a real understanding . They have done something towards the American alliance ; and it is not our part to withhold from them the due acknowledgment of their contribution . But to our agitated minds at the present moment the convention has a solemn destination .
If the property of an English country gentleman was recently threatened , by the sudden apparition of a '" Sir Richard Hugh Smyth , " the possessions of her Britannic Majesty are in like manner threatened by a portentous individual calling himself the Earl of Stirling and Dovan , -Viscount Stirling , and Viscount of Canada , in right of his ancestor Alexander Earl of Stirling , & c , hereditary Lieutenant-General and Lord Proprietor of Nova Scotia and Canada . The present noble earl claims territory extending to fifty leagues on each side of the St . Lawrence and tho Lakes , Avith all the fisheries which were recently the scene of disputes between English and American fishermen . This venerable nobleman
—for he is upwards of seventy years of age—is not only accompanied by his son , but also by the traditions of his family ; he holds " the original charter of Nova Scotia , " also " the original charter of Canada , " with other charters giving vast political and administrative powers , including the power of making " baronets . " A company is forming itself for the purpose of supporting tho noble earl in his claim , and when they have made it good for him , he , reciprocating the favour , will make over the fisheries to them . Here we have , therefore , a corporation , an individual , and a company ; so that tho Earl can come before the new Commission in all capacities , and we can foresee something of the turn which the examination would take before the Commissioners . The parallel , we believe , with the late Smyth case would bo very close . The Earl would provo that he had been in correspondence , under his title , with Lord Chancellor Lyndhurst , . First Lord of the Treasury Grey , - " Mr . Robert J . Walker , late Secretary to the Admiralty of the United Slates , English Lords of tho Committee of Council , and other olh ' eers of State , whoso authenticity is undoubted . He will probably bring forward " tho original charter of Canada , " " the original charter of Nova Scotia , " and other original documents ;
one of which irrefutably makes over to tho ancestor of the present noble Earl , " marrcssiu . s Incubus aqnir pisca . lionibus Lam . in aqua salsa auam rcccnti tarn regalium piscium- quavi alioritm . " . It scorns impossible to contest a claim sustained by such Latinity ! He will bring forward , also , wo dare say , rolls showing that he has voted in the election , of representative poors ; likewise maps ' setting forth the territories which lire his , or ought to bo his .
Avid then the CommisHioner . s will examine . They will ask him whether iho charter <> 1 " 1 (> 2 K , offering to him Canada , and some small appurtenances—a sort of territorial wutoh and ne » ln-- ~ then belonged to his Britannic Majesty to giver Should the Earl loyally answer in the aflirnmtivo , perhaps a , reference to history Avill nhow that at that period the country in question belonged to . France . Too late , " therefore , in one nenso , and much too early for Wolfe . The
Commissioners will then perhaps inquire whether th map of Canada , by " the map-designer to fa King , " Louis the Fourteenth , endorsed with ho lograph observations by the most em inent Prenc h * men of that day , including the King and Arch " bishop Fenelon , is the same map which was ex " hibited in Edinburgh on a distinguished occasion * in respect of which it was proved that " the map ' - designer to the King" had not received his an . " pointment until ten years after the date of the map , and that the persons whose names were endorsed , including Fenelou , had most of them died before the designer was appointed ? So true it is that persons advancing claims to ancient estates and titles should be exquisite archaeologists and chronologists !
The Commissioners will also ask the noble and alleged Earl , whether , before he voted as a Scotch peer , he had proved his style , title , and estates P Whether , indeed , any such proof is absolutely necessary before voting ? Because we have an impression that other gentlemen have voted in that assemblage , and have afterwards been disproved . The Commissioners will perhaps , admit that Lord Chancellor L yndhursfc ' Earl Grey , and other distinguished Englishmen , ' were in themselves authentic ; but they will ask '
whether that authenticity extended to everybody with whom they might Happen to correspond ? We have heard of a case in which a merchant wrote on the back of a bill of exchange— " I will be d- d if I accept this bill , John Smith , " was judged to have accepted it by his signature ; but we never heard that the Lord Chancellor , by the single act of writing to a suitor in Chancery—possibly denying his claim—thereby certified the title of the suitor . If it were so , the more absurd a claim was the more sure the man would be of
ratification ; and a very impudent application to Chancery , extorting an indignant reply , would be the surest and quickest process for a suitor . The Commissioners also will probably ask the alleged Earl whether he is a Mr . Alexander ,. ' who took his trial in Edinburgh , in 1839 , on a charge of forging documents to support his claim , the map included ? Whether the jury did not pronounce the documents to be forged ? And , whether the verdict of " proven , " as bearing on the charge of personal complicity on his own part , is in itself a proof that ho was the Earl of Stirling .
They might also ask him some other interesting questions . Whether , for example , he intended to claim , as a British subject , those parts of bis territory which lies within the jurisdiction of tho United States ; and , through his " company , " as so many American citizens , that part of his territories which lies within the British dominions ? This would be a most magnificent example of an individual under the Commission making a cat ' s paw of two great States—setting tho United States to seixe the fisheries and colonies of
Great Britain for him , and Great Britain to reconquer a large portion of the independent republic ? A further question might bo putwhether in the event of his success , he intended to make every shareholder in tho company « baronet ; and thus for the first time , to introduce , by the high prerogative of Stirling , that chivalrous title into the model republic P
W O M E N. It Is Easy To Say That The Ma...
W O M E N . It is easy to say that the man who raises his hand to a woman save in kindness should be whip " ' * at ; tho carts' tail , or brutally mauled by . Barclay ' s draymen . A natural instinct suggests this wild justice . But surely our bcHt possible instructors are at fault when brutality against brutality '" their only device . The cell and tho tread w 1 i «< h have been tried for years ; in single eases they have instilled a useful fear , and in single wisos
they have hardened a bad heart ; but their general effect on the population in making n * kindlier towards women , has been of no account . Wo are now advised to try ii harsher reinody ; to meet greater brutality in offence with gr « il . < brutality in the punishment . If we iind » greater brutality in tho effect the logic of M »» barbarous justice will , be thoroughly carried o » That crimes committed through ii ' rold and < " ''" Iouh thirst for giving pain should lead to promP physical retribution we freely admit , but th < : » ' <> are traits in many of the late eases which innK " us hesitate to believe that the whip is our 1 ><>
reformer , or our only resource . The reluctant of injured wives to " prosecute , whether it oouw from the forgiving heart of woman , or from l < n <
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 27, 1853, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_27081853/page/12/
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