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• were to die , would give bis widow and children the support due to the husband ' s and the father ' s rank and standing . If he die to-morrow , his widow and children would lose everything due to the rank and station to which his valour and bravery raised him . I know 1 am speaking to your feelings , and I know that your feelings respond too . . This regulation should be broken in Bombay . That glorious soldier led to the breach—to victory , and he is a brave and good man , and deserves all that can be heaped upon him , although he did rise from the ranks—and a glorious foundation , too , for a man to come from . { Cheers . )" Another officer of high rank adopted this " touching allusion to the wife and children of one gallant man who is now amongst us " : —
•' If there is one fault in the English , army ( I say it with diffidence among so many distinguished men ) it is , in the eloquent phrase we have heard , that the private soldier fights under the cold shade of aristocracy , and sometimes withers . And when one hears of a man ennobled by his own deeds , and hears that the partner of his bosom is to fall down into poverty and distress , to hear that the brave and distinguished man in military history is not to have the same benefit as his brethren in arms , is painful indeed . " " Painful indeed ! " Yes , and the cheers of the company corroborated both the assertion of fact and the opinion . Many a man there present might have told of narrow means , slow promotion , difficulties unceasing , endless toil , dependents at home —all that sickens the heart of the soldier at hours
when danger itself is welcomed . And why is the public sympathy withheld from these ill-used men ? Because the soldier is alienated from the People , and regarded as the instrument of oppression , the favourite of official caprice- It soldier and citizen knew each other better , both might feel the benefit of that better knowledge .
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SAYINGS AND DOINGS IN THE FRENCH ASSEMBLY . The French have had a " scene" in the National Assembly , for the amusement , perhaps , not certainly for the edification of civilized nations . The motion of M . Creton , for the abrogation of the law of banishment against the Bourbon family , was made the subject of discussion on Saturday last , March 1 st . M . Dupin , the president , was ill , and his place was occupied by M . Benoist D'Azy . M . Dufraisse , a Member of the Mountain , rose to oppose the motion . He is a King-slayer on principle ; a red of the deepest hue : he made himself known by a written apology for Fieschi and his accomplices , and was one of Ledru Rollin ' s Proconsuls or Prefets , after the February revolution . The man showed himself strictly consistent in the present occurrence . He referred to the execution of Louis XVI . in terms of unqualified approbation . He seemed to regret that all the brood of Louis Capet did not expiate its crimes on the same guillotine ; but if survivors and descendants are providentially placed beyond reach of the axe , let them continue so : it behoves France , at least , carefully
to guard against their attempts . A restoration is the worst of all revolutions ; and the return of the Bourbons would only be a first step towards such a consummation . Royalty never dies . Hence , neither should the hatred of a republic against it ever remit of its intensity . We do not know from the reports how many of these sentiments were allowed free utterance . The allusion to the death " of the Royal Martyr" raised a storm in the House . The
Legitimists stormed the tribune with unmannerly vociferation , with the fists up to the orator ' s face . M . Berryer , the great organ of the party , having gained a hearing , stigmatized as " detestable" the words of the daring mountaineer . And after a short evaporation of right-loyal passion in a language hardly more temperate than that of his opponent , he brought the discussion to a , sudden close b y proposing an adjournment of the question for mix months .
The proposal took all parties by surprise . It was carried byassiH et leve ' e , a method of voting almost tantamount to acclamation . Messrs . ilerrycr , Mole , Broglic , all the LogitiiniHtH voted , of course , for the adjournment . The OrlcanistH joined the Mountain and voted against ; . The adjournment for half a year is considered equivalent to a rejection of the motion . The Bourbons , whether of older or younger branch , will not , therefore , come in , not at least by the high road . Indeed , we never thought there was any chance for them . Franco is never at a loss to find a master , without looking abroad for one . Indeed , there are many reasonh why , in that country , pouseHnion Hliould always bo , instead of the most uiKlinputed legitimacy . In a normal wtatn no people lends
itself more easily , more passively , more unconditionally , to its leaders than the French : it is " the flock" par excellence . Its old system ol centralization , its compact bureaucracy , its long habit to the yoke , as first laid on its neck by all the Louises from the Xlth to the XV lth , improved by Napoleon , perfected by Louis Philippe , had long since rendered the nation , as a mass , incapable of legal and systematic opposition . It is of little use to try every year new experiments of one or two Chambers , of larger or smaller assemblies . The French nation falls into utter invincible
apathy , the day after the election . What is going on in the Chambers interests no man , save only a few of the idle rabble of Paris . Anything like popular agitation , as we understand it in this country , is an impossibility in France . France revolts , but does not agitate . The Executive will , consequently , always be despotic in that country , for the Assembly never has a steady efficient support from the people . No medium there between passive servitude and violent resistance . The man
in power is always omnipotent , till suddenly struck with utter impotence . There is no decline , no oscillation , but only a sudden downfall of authority . A French King or President rules by a prestige analogous to the sway exercised by a sorcerer over a demon to whom he has bartered his soul . So long as the bond holds good the whole of nature is made to bend to his sovereign will . But the hour strikes : the chains of fate are broken asunder . It is the familiar ' s turn now , and most
unmercifully will he use his advantage . Revolution in France is always short , unless fomented by foreign threat or intrigue . The French are always eager for a master—a hero if it is to be found ; if not , the most obscure or contemptible will always equally do . Power will transform and rehabilitate him . The King can do no harm . The National storms , the Charivari sneers ; but the people bow down and revere . The throne is the Pythoness ' s tripod . Hence all happy
inspirations . Its occupier is always the " Napoleon either of war or peace "—if not the Achilles , then the "Ulysses of the age . " Since Louis XIV ., France has invariably had a Grand Monarque at its head . This , not from feeling of loyalty , but from base , grovelling servility . The throne is no less sure to give way suddenly , unexpectedly , almost always undeservedly , at the wrongest possible moment : and then we see how mercilessly it is dragged in the mud , how wantonly assailed with the grossest contumely !
Well , France has now her own master , and longs for no better one . Louis Napoleon may be something less than a man—a mere thing—the shade of a name : he of the Strasburg exploits , of the " tame eagie" of Boulogne—he is none the more to be put aside in France , except by a revolution . If anything could contribute to weaken the cause of the exiled Princes , it would » be the ill patched-up divisions of their several parties . The last exposures have put all chances of a reconciliation between the Chambordist 8 and the Orleanists for ever out of the question . Why , M . Thiers alone appeared calm and cool with crossed arms in the midst of
the uproar consequent tipon the expression of the regicide theories of M . Dufraisse , ' which interrupted the discussion for above three-quarters of an hoxir ; on being pressed to give utterance to his opinion of the orator ' s principles , he merely observed that M . Dufraisse was perfectly entitled to entertain and to proclaim any opinions he pleased upon what was merely matter of history ! and he was the first to register his vote for an adjournment , which deprived his friends Joinvilleor D'Aumale from even a hope of appearing as a candidate for the Presidency .
Xo , no ! the Bourbons may be restored ; but then it can only be by that blind shuffling of cards which places the French political game so entirely out of rational calculation . Till now , Louis Napoleon is very obviously the truinj ) card . A far more quiet , but not much more honourable sitting of the Assembly took place on the previous evening . The Government obtained credit for the Kiun of 3 , 218 , 000 fra . nc « for keeping oh the war footing , the army or division of occupation in
Rome . Not a few of the barefaced falsehoods that had been put forward on former discussions of this melancholy question were now repeated with unenviable assurance . The Roman hero , General Oudinot , said he had only met foreu / nern on the gateH of Rome ; that he had saved the Romans from an Austro-Spanish invasion ; that the Romans were fully alive to the benefit conferred upon them , inasmuch as 50 , 000 of them n : \ utf the 7 V ? Denm for the French victory , and carried the General
himself on their grateful shoulders with an ovation worthy of ancient Rome . M . Passy contended that the restoration of the Pope was a necessity for France on religious grounds ; that France must needs keep a Pope , and that it is but right he should be kept at the expense of Rome and Italy : whereupon the Assembly applauded , and received with a scornful laugh a few remarks urged by Emanuel Arago , Mathieu de la Dr 6 rne , and other Republicans about the horrors of the Papal Government , the Inquisition , and the violad engagements the part ot
tion of the most sacre on the French Government . Then the Assembly gave utterance to all its pious horror on the subject of Rossi ' s murder : in which it was determined to see no imitation of similar deeds committed on French ambassadors , Duphot and Basseville , at the instigation of a priestly Government , at no very remote period . The long and short of the matter was that the bill was carried all but by acclamation , and that the three millions are to go with the sixty millions the expedition has already cost . The government refused to name a period for the withdrawal of the army from Rome . The occupation will last , it seemsas long as the Pope himself .
, By way of consolation for the mournful anniversaries of the previous week , the French celebrated the festival of the Fat Ox on Sunday last , not only with all due pomp and circumstance , but with a mirth and noise worthy of Old France . The whole Parisian population was out in the open air . The sky shone highly propitious—the day was warm and genial . France was all alive to the customs of the good old times , hardly aware that the cutthroat harangue of that horrible Dufraisse was almost still singing in the air . The head of the Bceuf Gras has satisfied the bloodthirstiness of the Red , at least for the Carnival of 1851 .
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TOLERATION IN THE CITY . The office of Common Councilman is an ecclesiastical office . We learn that fact from the last election . When Mr . David Williams Wire was called to the civic House of Lords , a vacancy was created in the Common Council for the ward of Walbrook , and there were four candidates—Mr . Murrell , Mr . Warton , Mr . Walter , and Mr . Robert Le Blond . Two retired from the contest , leaving their supporters to Mr . Le Blond : and as Mr . Murrell was a Tory , there could be little doubt of the result .
All of a sudden one of the Rectors discovered some old writings by Mr . Le Blond ; subjected to much twisting , such as docs sometimes go with purely technical " faith , hope , and charity , " this writing was construed to be injurious to " Christianity" and "Order "—Mr . Le Blond was proclaimed to be an '' Infidel , " and although he has some stake in the ward , an enemy to " Order . " Fiightful fact ! Of course no one believed Jbout the order ; but once call a man an Infidel , and you are sure to be believed . Besides , must not a Rector know what is an Infidel ? Nobody credited , indeed , that Mr . Le Blond is a man really without faiih or religion ; but he is a man
with opinions of his own , and a sincere man—qualities very apt to entail suspicions on the score of orthodoxy . Mr . Le Blond refuted the charge of Infidelity ; but he could not refute the fact that such a charge had been made ; and that was the damaging part of it . To be an Infidel is not venial , but to be called so is destruction . The alarm created by the random use of the word of fear was so great , that it shook the very Rock on which Mr . Le Blond had been relying : the champion who had faced the redoubted Oibbs , blenched before the power of evil-speaking : Mr . Rock not only deserted , but deserted to the enemy ; and took active pains to injure the maligned man . The affrighted Waril returned Mr . Murrell . It is observed that the young men of the ward recorded
their votes for the " Infidel . The old gentlemen , however , have preserved the eccle siastical character of the office .
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AUHTIIIAN CALUMNIES AGAINST JIUNOAKIAN KKFUGKKB . Austria , it seems , is not natisflcd with her relentless persecution against the persons of the Hungarian refugees . She wages war even against their fair namen-Iler official papers have given a long lint of maPHacres said to be committed in Transylvania by the Hungarian revolutionary Government , the victims of which are made to amount to 48 IH men , women , and children . The chief perpetrators of those horrid deeds was stated to be M .
Eugene Von Bothy , one of the commissaries of Konsuth . The statements of the ' Vienna papers were eagerly quoted by the ' Times correspondent . It ho happen * lhalM . Ho'hy in now living in London , and a letter by him appears i »» the Daily News of the Oth , in which the ontrageoiiH charge is indignantly mid triumphantly refuted . M . Bothy , > is now satisfactorily proved , wan only in Traimy lvania from the 2 nd to the ' 2 !) th of January , 1 H 4 !) , and during that short lime of olliee , Ilia administration wiih never stained bv blood . The Tinw . t had added , thnt Hem had loudly
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Leader (1850-1860), March 8, 1851, page 224, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1873/page/12/
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