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    eventualities with -which we now have to deal , wrote as follows ;—" li for a sudden and determinate purpose the English sent : * fleet intouthe Baltic , it would be wiser for the Russian 8 < juadr <* weVen / if it ntunbered thitty sMps of the fine , to avttid eagd ^ nrthe English fleet , which would , doubtless , be at fe *» t ?^ tftti * llft forc « , and to trust quietly to the season far a cevtain- ^ dJafccrance 1 " < Xn 4 &e Baltic as in- the Euxine Russia has the winieir for ^ ajBure ally . In the Baltic as in tike £ &xine she has a naval fort and arsenal

    unattackablebjsea . Of Sebast ' opal this may b& affirmed without reservation , ana -we have yet to learn lftw ^ Cronstadt is to be got at by an enemy ' s fleet . T ^ e b ) eliev 6 it to be the decided opinion of all offifieca $ rho commanded or served in the Baltic durit ^ gt the last "vrar , that Cronstadt is unattackafole . pihe approach is completely covered , by tEeai&tuious batteries . There is one , a stone ship bfiktt ^ 7 > : jcommandib g the passage , which , an eyewij ^ sa ^ escribes ^ j to * compared " only to a hpgevgranite * hip , with three or lour tiers of guns tl theip > wer tier as near the water as the lp > wer deck gpftgr < p | p a Jiaetoffbattle sHp . " This , battery moillnijttat least 15 a of the heaviest guns . "Xsaw , ?¦ ¦ vf ^ itoiftA friend who risited St . Petersburg in 1850 i

    3 ' 4-cocrette ,. used aa an 6 xerci $ e ship , sailing close to 2 & $ M 6 ft , an the South' coast of the < 5 ulf 7 fom or ^ v © ihiles fi ^ &i&nftadfc ; She mly httw been constructed to' 4 ra , w V 4 « yf<ftotfar ,: lmte it woatdbe ^^ w « cth whfle toptrjttrhethec stttoien icooia Jtom > # » . ppsitjon ^ f : Cronstadt iy thu ( the : Sl ^ tfc ^ channeL ^ Bae . sKppera of inoet of tlie steamers plj ^ bfifween ^ teKibtfre and PeterhofiTare fioglish&ien ' U- xne ^ r tuo aiutwccL to ouiu tnio coixQinrjr vmvt xiiiffuC ! glivg * soxSt adlottnatioift T ^ li © Gulf of Mnlaira is'fio shaillow , thatr tilBtl 3 » lmolu » maflced out by stakes tfcr dowa below Gronstwifci . < 3 : IiB ~ lkwu ^~ im ^ sounding : wftjSi ^ u % A ^ 4 £ so ,, ^ siio ^ ye ^ lsljrgm , passiq ^ rave thrdtigfc tWfair way" wiey ; liawlllo ^ eii ' % bjr ^ hi'trwrks-of Cronstadt ? As the" water ifiwiaPie ^^ has channel * dtep e ^ j ^ ferrtl »( Tfcry ; 'large 9 tr « hips ia the world , there may mm |^ JMfm ^^ hu < toe ^ hAnDeI higher up in gpite , of the aestfaubtiiup nejttto nothing in olaces . " .

    ! l ! fcra , tduttgive ourreaders some faint idea of the difficulties involved in that popular Idea , * taking C | oEjs | ti 4 t 7 Touching ^ tjie materiel of Russian ab ^ pi ^ wiuy andthe quality of the cre ^ ws , we may re <^ tVajT t dictum , of Nelaon wnich vie cited on a former lOccasioii T— ' * outmanoeuvre a Rpssian * We shaLTbest express ihe substance of official reports o ^ . ^ eq fiWbject by describing Russian men-of-war gjen . « rally as clean , and orderly , well manned rtbu

    ^ jn , / Ucmvj . « u me ueiecc ox ineir arhvament is , the guns are too crowded , so as to craumthe ^ men at quarters . It is the remark of Brjttish officers who have met Baltic slips In the Mediterranean , that they take infinite pains in drilling the crews in gunnery and seamanship , and jbhat in a very short time after passing up the Str # uVthejr are very smart aloft , and go through all-their evolutions effectively . set we mention that the shi

    command respect and insure discipline , without which the finest fleet that ever swam is powerless . It la popularly supposed that Sir Charles Napier istiie idol of the navy . "We are not prepared to affirm or deny the fact , but we may be allowed to doubt whether , if the Baltic fleet were polled , to elect the Admiral-in-Chief , the majority of votes would fall on the burlesque subduer of Syria , and the- donkey-riding scarer of the Egyptians . What are the qualities England has a right to expect in the Gommander-iii-Chief of her Baltic fleet ? In the first place , he should "be in the

    active vigour of life , a condition which excludes a large class of * dear old men' whom the country would gladly see laid up in ordinary , at a comfortable pension , in Pall-mall East . It is cruel to drag from their easy chairs these staunch old gentlemen who ploughed the seas before most of us were dreamed of . Let them , be the Nestors of the Club . We want a man of sound and active body , vigorous and unclouded mind , ripe in experience , frash from active service , conversant with steam , familiar with , the latest improvements ; a man of teiaiper . of moderation , strict in duty , expansive in intercourse , conciliating afiection , imposing a cheerful obedience , an example , of self-respect to all . Surely there are many such to be found ; we have hut the embarrassment of selection . Weljelieve

    ire shall be only expressing the feelings of the sea ^ viceif , with no disrespect for others , we cite one name which appears to combine all the essentials wb have mentioned . Admiral Fansbawe is not only one of the youngest , but one of the ablest and most active admirals on the Hst . He commenced his career as amidsMpman und « r Sir By ana Ikfartin in the Batticv-atid ad a boy knew what a brush with the * Russians in the Gulf of Finland

    meant . Hebks been constantly afloat : in 1840 , on the coast of Syria , as flag « captain te Sir-Robert Sttopford , the did dutytalso as captain of the fleet , and proved what could be effected wkh very poor mftterial by the force of personal character , and tbe high example of devotedness . It "was he who , in command of the squsidron off" the coast of Africa , completed the destruction of the slavetrade . At Portsmouth , more recently , hfe has been conspicuous for administrative vigour , and many

    of our readers , who were afloat oa the 11 th of August , will remember with what admirable skill and ( as landsmen we may say ) picturesque effect the ' enemy' were ^ handled on that memorable occasion by Admiral Fanshawe . With some opportunity for forming an opinion , which , however , we present with extreme deference an < t respect ) we believe we shall not incur the charge of unadvised speaking when we venture to express our belief that the appointment of Admiral Fan - ehawe to the command of the Baltic fleet would be ^ welcomed with satisfaction by the navy , and with confidence by the nation . His flag is already ilving at S p itheadfor the West India station : but it may well be shifted from the JBoscawen to the Duke of Wellington in the Downs .

    Avs a -on ^ may ps are , for . the most part , rather clumsy in construction , ami built of green fir , so that we are not surprised to tear of an officer sticking his hand into the seaans ojf the Aurora ^ -at Portsmouth the other day , as if they were so much sponge . We fear the Russian slips will make but poor firewood for us next winter . JMay we be permitted to say a word about the command of the Baltic fleet ? We are glad to hear that so energetic and active an officer as Admiral Cifc&ds ,, to whom we owe many of our best seamengunners in the service , has been appointed to the second command . Sir Charles Napier has been tainted of for the command-in-chief ; whereupon a chorus of acclamation from * Marry bone" Radicals , who consider themselves identified with the

    hero who stormed a ragged army of starving Egyptians on a Jerusalem pony . We do not wish to disparage the gallant services of Sir Charles , and we know all the value of the name of Napier . We should be glad , too , to give the gallant admiral an opportunity of a nobler climax to his career than his last exploit oa the coast of Portugal , when the Radical member for Marrybone , ' as the faithful servant of a dynastic policy , arrested with his big ships the transports of the revolutionary Junta of Oporto , and by the terror of his name preserved the tnrone of Donna Maria 1 But all considerations must

    bend to tho public service . The command of the Baltic fleet requires a combination of the highest qualities . Every BritiBh admiral is a Napier in courage , but to that universal characteristic there are men who unite the rsirer but scarcely less necessary virtues of order , discretion , dignity , which

    Untitled Article

    ABOLITION OF THE LAW OF SETTLEMENT . The hints of objection which were thrown out on Friday night , when Mr . Baines introduced his bill for amending the poor-laws , "by abolishing compulsory removal of the poor and extending the area of charge , is aa evidence of that obstinacy which resists improvement after " Everybody" has made up his mind that the improvement ought no longer to be delayed . We can scarcely imagine any class which would have the face to avow its real motives , in confessing that proposed amendment is injurious to its own interests . C « rtainly there is no class in the country which oui / ht to be injured , or to feel itself so , by Mr . Baines ' s bill .

    neither associations nor friends , nor opportunity of employment . Formerly , as at present , but on more reasonable grounds , each parish , whieh found itself liable for the support of its own poor felt some jealousy at supporting the poor oi another parish ; and nence the poor person applying for relief was bound to establish his right by birth , by apprenticeship , servitude , or some other proof of actual domiciliatioru Withia the parish he was considered as a foreigner , and was liable to be taken back to the last place where he could establish some such permanent claim .

    There was a time when the- labouring man was bound to the very earth upon which lie was born ; was unable to free himself from that bondage ; passed with the estate in the not unfrequent case of its being sold , or in the more frequent case of its being confiscated and given to a new lord and , ia fact , remained , so far , a part of the property . But , on the other hand , in those days , the labourer bad a right to be thus attached to the soil ; the lord who eould prevent him from going away , could not remove him ; and while the same

    lord could compel him to work , for the benefit of the master , he could not exclude him also from working for his own . In those ancient days , when transit , was difficult , the parish was properly the home of almost every man that first saw the light there . The wanderer * and sturdy beggars- * -outlaws whom barbarous punishment had deprived of their civil rights , the remains bf disbanded armies , or persons who joined , such lawless bands from mere love 6 f idle life , were unjust invaders of the parish . While the poof man ehing fast to the

    soil , which was has birthright , the parish had a corresponiihig' right to cTtfase awar the wanderer that invaded rt . Front that dayj , when the labouring man . was bound to the soil r and the soil was bound to him , to our xjwn , wlsea the labouring man is free to go where he liats , there haa been a gradual change , which has converted the country from one extreme of localization , to the very extreme , not of centralization , hat of generalization

    Whatever may be the abstract right , lit is the fact now , that the labouring man las no special hold upon the soil , or upon any particular place . Fun * damentally , he has no claim ftt all , except the right of relief if he be destitute ; and that claim i » barred by no topographical limitations . Tb . e law of settlement , therefore , can be of no use to the labouring man ; its effect upon him is only to drive him back to live where he has not chosen to live .

    Its effect upon other classes is very obvious . As settlement gives not the poor man , but some other parishes the right to send a pauper to a particular place for relief , landowners and farmers who wish , to keep down their local rates , systematically endeavour to oblige labouring people to keep outside their bounds ; and one way in which they effect it is , by preventing the labouring men from residing within the parish . That is the object which has made many landowners take down

    cottages , and otherwise contrive to prevent the labourer from living upon tile estate where he works . No matter if the toil is increased byhaving to walk four , five , or six miles to the place of labour . No matter either if , being driven intotowns , iihe labouring classes are forced to find out rural * priced lodgings in urban streets , and therefore the cheapest lodgings in crowded towns ; ia other words , the filthiest streets in those towns . It is a system which herds them in places where residence itself becomes ine-vitable sickness ; and

    at the same time it burdens those towns with overcrowded neighbonrlioods , increased rates , and the charge not only of more poor , but of sick poor . Thus one parish obtains an unfair relief by tricks which turn a discontented , crowded , expensive , and diseased population upon other parishes . What one parish saves in rates is cast fourfold on another . Take the whole country round , and yon find that the paltry saving -which can be effected is infinitely more than counterbolancod by the wasteful and vicious means to effect it . On the other band , while the wholes system of trade ft . nd manufactures tends to make it desirable

    that there should be tho freest play in tho movement of tbe industrial class , it also becomes the interest of those industrious classes to be fi * e < j if * their movements . No longer possessing a hold upon the soil—we are not now relating what ought to be , but what is the fact—tire labouring man ' s sole reliance is either npon the right of relief for destitution , which he enjoys everywhere in this country , or upon the best employment which he can find , in choosing out of a wide space of country . The law of settlement , which disturbs the distribution of industry for the employer ,

    What is it that it professes to do P We shall better understand that when we understand the nature of the two branches of the present system which it proposes to change . The law of settlement was introduced into this country in the reign of Charles the Second . It is often regarded , — and particularly by the poor , who arc not

    paupers , bxit fear lest they might become so , —as conferring the right of relief in the place of their own home . Now , it does no such thing ; it is , indeed , not for the benefit of the poor , but of the parish ; and while it really conveys to the |> oor no right whatsoever , it did lod ^ e in the parish , and does now lodge in the union , a tyrannical power which often sends the poor man from his home , and takes him to some place where he has

    Untitled Article

    im THE LEADER . * [ Saturday , - — —* - . - — —¦ - -f ' ¦ - - ¦ .-. . . i ^ ^

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 18, 1854, page 158, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2026/page/14/