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Leader (1850-1860), 15th June 1850, Edition Town of 1, Page 268

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      Untitled Article

      selves to originate and carry out reforms in their system of education . He believed that Oxford , and he was certain that Cambridge , of which he was more competent to speak , were engaged at the present moment in carrying out such reforms , and m his opinion Government interference was more likely to check than to facilitate the improvement of

      education . The Earl of Carlisle said there could be no objection to furnish the papers moved for , and he could assure the House that Ministers were actuated by the most friendly spirit towards the universities . He was not disposed to ignore or undervalue the many improvements effected by those bodies in their systems of education , but at the same time it could not be denied that many of their customs and statutes were antiquated or obsolete , and the Government , therefore , thought that a commission of inquiry ¦ would be very desirable . The Earl of Powis saw great reason to fear that the commission would only be a prelude to the admission of Dissenters to the universities .

      Lord BitoxroiiAM , though he did not conceive that the Government were hostile to the universities , still thought the issuing of the commission would be a very great mistake . After some conversation , in which the Earl of Carlisle declared that the Government had no intention to frame the commission after the model of the Chapter Commission , and the Duke of Wellington expressed his satisfaction at that declaration , the motion was agreed to .

      The House of Commons was occupied for some time in committee on the County Court Extension Bill , and various clauses , proposed by the Attorney-General , Mr . Mitchell , and Mr . Muxungs , were , after discussion , added to the bill , which is to be read a third time on "Wednesday . The motion of Mr . Ewart , that the House resolve itself into committee on the Public Libraries and Museums Bill , was opposed by Colonel Sibthoiu , who moved that its further progress be postponed till that day six months , and also by Mr . Forbes .

      Mr . Wyld could not account for the opposition which the agricultural members gave to this bill , unless by supposing that they were alarmed lest it should lead to the diminished consumption of an article in which they largely dealt ( malt ) , because it appeared from the whole course of evidence on this subject that , in proportion as institutions of this kind were established , drunkenness and crime had diminished , (// car . ) The House having divided , the numbers were : — For the amendment , 21—Against it , 87 Majority for going into Committee .... 66 . After some conversation it was agreed that the committee on the bill should sit again on

      "Wednesday . The House having gone into committee upon the Marriages Bill , Mr . Koundell Palmer moved the insertion of words , in the third clause , providing that no member of either Church who may contract a marriage contrary to the doctrine or discipline of the Church to which he belongs shall be exempted from spiritual or ecclesiastical censure or punishment , and that no sentence for restitution of conjugal rights shall bo pronounced by any ecclesiastical court in any suit between the parties to such marriage . Mr . S . Wortley opposed this amendment , the effect of which was to extend ecclesiastical authority , and whilst it recognised the validity of these marriages for all civil and temporal purposes , would leave the parties exposed to ecclesiastical censure .

      Mr . CocicnuRN thought there could be nothing more mischievous than the proposed amendment ; for the committee , if they agreed to it , were about to place the ecclesiastical tribunals in direct opposition to the civil tribunals of the country . After ii brief debate , in which Mr . Oswald , Mr . Wood , Mr . Goulhukn , and other members took part , the amendment was negatived by 11 / 5 to 103 . Colonel CiiATTiuiTON moved a proviso that the bill should not extend to Ireland , which was opposed by Mr . S . Woutlky , and negatived by 132 to 114 . The bill was then reported .

      Untitled Article

      THE FRENCH PRESIDENT . The chief , topic of discussion in France , for the last few days , has been the Dotation Bill . The subject was formally discussed in the French Chamber , on Saturday , when Ministers urged very strongly the necessity of increasing the allowance of the President on account of his being subjected to extraordinary expenses . The . Legitimists opposed the bill , though not in a very determined manner . They cautioned Ministers against , giving it the character of a

      permanent dotation . They considered that it would be sufficient to defray the debts of the President , without creating for him what they viewed as tantamount to a Civil List . The Republican party made the mo * t derided opposition to the measure . They rrgunli'd it as inopportune , unconstitutional , am ! impolitic . They wero of opinion that nothing would be thereby added to the dignity of the Executive , while great discontent would bo produced in the country , which loudly called for retrenchment . M . licncllin

      asked the Government if they thought the allowance insufficient , why not have introduced it in the budget of 1850 ? He maintained that it was not necessity , but the desire to constitute a civil list , which occasioned the presentation of such a project , and it was not the President but the Printre that they wished to give a dotation to . General Subervie observed that , in 1799 , only 500 , 000 f . allowance was allotted to the First Consul , and the Consulate , he added , lasted four years without any one asking for an increase of allowance , and yet the First Consul resided at the Tuileries , and cut a very good figure there .

      It is difficult to say what the ultimate decision of the Assembly will be . In the committee appointed to consider the bill there is said to be a majority of three against the dotation , but the general belief is that they will be gained over . A considerable number of members , who do not approve of giving a permanent allowance of 3 , 600 , 000 f . to the President , and who still do not see how Louis Napoleon can accept of less , after his formal declaration that he would not agree to any modification , are disposed to grant the full amount of the sum demanded , but to limit it to one year ; so that the question will be again brought forward this time next year .

      The President , in the uniform of a general of the National Guard , left the Elysee on Sunday about nine o ' clock , in an open carriage , for the Northern Railway . He was accompanied by the Ministers of War and of Commerce , and two orderly officers , and was escorted by a body of Lancers . A special train was waiting to carry him to St . Quentin , for the inauguration of the railway from that place to Creil . The President arrived at half-past six on Sunday evening in the theatre of Saint Quentin , where a banquet was served . Ten long tables extended over the lendidldeco

      stage and pit united . The hall was sp y - rated , and lit , and crowded with spectators , for the greater part ladies . The President had on his right the Mayor of Saint Quentin , M . Baroche , the Bishop of Soissons , and General d'Hautpoul . Baron Rothschild , the director of the railway , MM . Bineau and Dumas , and Lucien * Murat sat on his left . When the dessert was served , the mayor stood up and delivered a short address of thanks to the President for attending the inauguration . The President replied in the most complimentary terms , and spoke in a rather ambitious style of his great mission as the ruler of

      France . " It happens , " said he , " that you scarcely are acquainted with me , and my acts as well as sentiments are continually sought to be misrepresented to you . Fortunately the name I bear reassures you , and you know at what high sources I have imbibed my convictions . The mission which I have to fulfil to-day is not new ; its origin and end are known . When , forty-eight years ago , the First Consul visited this place to inaugurate the canal of St . Quentin , as to-day I visit you to inaugurate the railway , he came to say , ' Be calm , the storms are passed . / will cause to triumph the great truths of our revolution , hut I xoill repress with equal force neto errors and old prejudices—( applatise ) —by bringing back

      security , by encouraging all useful enterprises . It is my wish to give birth to new industries , to enrich our fields , to ameliorate the lot of the people . ' You have only to look about you to see if he kept his word . Well , my task to-day is the same , although easier . The good instincts of the revolution must be encouraged , and the bad must be boldly withstood . The ppople ought to be enriched by all the institutions of Providence and assistance which reason approves , and ought to be well convinced that order is the head source of all prosperity . But order , according to my view , is not an empty word which everybody interprets according to his own fancy ; order is the maintenance of what has been free ly chosen and sanctioned by the people . It is the national will triumphing over all factions . "

      Before quitting St . Quentin he handed to General Roquet 400 f ., to be distributed amongst the small garrison of the place . The papers favourable to the Dotation Bill are at pains to state that there was not a hospital nor a manufactory he visited during his journey where he did not leave marks of his bounty . Of course this will be deemed an excellent argument for voting him a larger income . Government still remains as sensitive as over to the attacks of the press . On Saturday the Feuille du Peupla was seized at the Post-office tor publishing a seditious article on the Electoral Law . On Friday the director of the Voix du Peuplo w . is condemned by the Court of Assize of Paris to imprisonment for six months and to pay a fine of 30001 ' ., for having

      published a seditious libel , on the 1 st of April last , containing an attack on the Catholic religion . M . Victor jMaugiu , the director of the National tie V Oi / ost , has been sentenced by the Court of Assize of Nantes to six months' imprisonment and to pay a fine of lOOOf ,, for having published n libel on Colonel Thomas , of the 11 th regiment of light infantry , accusing him of having crossed the stone bridge at Angers whilst his men , by his orders , crossed the suspension bridge , by which numbers were drowned , the bridge havinggiven way under their weight . AVe perceive also that the Prefect of the Haute-Vionne has issued a proclamation declaring that , as the reading of journals aloud in factories and workshops convert these latter , in a manner , into clubs , and prevent work , such reading is interdicted in . that department .

      Untitled Article

      THE CUBAN EXPEDITION . The buccaneering attempt of General Narciso Lopez to wrest the "Queen of the Antilles" from the dominion of Spain has proved an ignominous failure . By the steam-ship Hibernia , which arrived at Liverpool on Tuesday , the intelligence received is such as to leave no doubt concerning the defeat and flight of the piratical invaders . The previous accounts were that Lopez , after taking Cardenas , had marched upon Matanzas , with a greatly increased army . It now appears that the latter part of the story was a New York fabrication . General Lopez , " Commander-in-Chief of the expedition to emancipate Cuba , " sailed from New Orleans in the steamer Creole with 600 men , on the

      12 th of May . He first went to the Isle of Contoy , on the coast of Yucatan , about 120 miles from Cuba , and from there he went to Cardenas , where he landed on the morning of the 19 th . Their first exploit was an attack upon the gaol , which they mistook for the barracks , and which was defended by only fifteen men , three of whom were killed , when the rest surrendered . They next attacked the Governor ' s house , which they finally took , and by way of showing the Cubans the amiable and virtuous motive of the assault , the house was burned , and the Governor

      taken prisoner . One account says , that fifty of the Spanish troops and thirty of the inhabitants were killed , besides invaders , who have not told their loss , though many wounded were carried on board the Creole . After this bloodshed , the men of the expedition , finding that no Cubans joined it , and hearing that a large force of Spanish regulars was approaching , insisted on returning to the Creole—bo says Lopez—and then the Creole set sail with all possible speed for Key West , having been at Cardenas about three days . " She was chased by the Spanish warsteamer Pizarro , but reached the American territory

      by fairly distancing her pursuer . m On arriving at Key West , Lopez and one of his aids immediately embarked for Savannah , on board the steamer Isabel , and arrived at the latter port early on the 24 th , taking up his quarters at the principal hotel . He was arrested at the instance of the United States marshal , and , with his aid , taken before Judge Nichols ; but , as no witnesses appeared against them , they were released . Lopez and his aid then left for Mobile ; but not until he had made a speech to the people , in which he said that he would yet accomplish the freedom of Cuba . It was resent hic to

      ported that Lopez had telegrap despatches Xew York for men and money , but particularly for money —in order that he and his men may again visit Cuba in the Creole . But the New York conspirators are ; not exactly in a position to comply with this request , for the United States authorities have evidentlv made tip their minds to enforce the law against all such piratical attempts . On the arrival of the Creole at Key West , the collector of that port went on board and took possession of the vessel in the name of the Government of the United States , for having violated the neutrality laws . There have

      Untitled Article

      ORLEANS AND BOURBON . The departure of M . Thiers from Paris , on a visit to Louis Philippe , has furnished a fruitful subject of speculation to the French journals . According to one account , M . Thiers , in order to guard against uncharitable constructions as to the motives of his journey , had an interview with the President before his departure . He did not , it is said , disguise his intention of visiting the ex-King , but represented

      this step as a duty -which he owed to his old master , whose life was fast ebbing under the progress of a fatal disease . The same paper says that " Louis Philippe is said to be dying of cancer in the stomach , and that his physicians say his life can scarcely last a month longer . " It is added that the President of the Republic expressed himself gratified by the confidence M . Thiers placed in him , and gave his full concurrence to the object the honourable gentleman had in view .

      As regards the health of Louis Philippe , the accounts representing him as alarmingly ill have been officially contradicted by the Times in the following paragraph : — " The Count de Neuilly . — "We are requested to state that the ex-King of the French , although suffering from a very serious chronic affection , is still not in a state to cause any apprehension of immediate danger , and that he has already experienced some benefit from the air of St . Leonard ' s . He has been confined to the house since his arrival there by an attack of bronchitis , which has added to the difficulty of treating his previous malady , and has suffered also from the rapid succession of atmospheric changes , but has already so far recovered as to be able to drive out . "

      Letters from Paris state that M . Guizot , M . de Salvandy , and M . Duchatel , are also about to pay a visit to Louis Philippe , who has expressed a desire to assemble several of his old Ministers at Claremont , to discuss some very important questions relating to the Bourbon and Orleans dynasties . The French Legitimist journals look with considerable suspicion on the visit of M . Thiers to England . They cannot believe that he has any good will to the Bordeaux pretender .

      Untitled Article

      268 © f ) £ % tti \* tt + [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 15, 1850, page 268, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1842/page/4/