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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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disclosing the fact , that in the Cabin . et of 1854 PaIiMEESIOn was the obstructive of ZLord John ' s Reform BUI . Most of us knew It before Sir James peached , but he has established the historical fact . We have a strong impression tliat Lord John could give a clear account of what happened about Vienna . T 7 i is to tnow ^ that there was less difference . between . Ministers and himself than the friends of Ministers pretend . But he did not hasten to defend himself byviolating the confidence of his' Cabinet . Perhaps he carried this punctilio too far , but it was an honourable excess .
There have been , occasions when we have been , compelled to criticise severely " Lord John ' s shortcomings , but surely he is better than men who do not come at all . At this . moment he represents tlie most tried , the most earnest , the most influential advocates of suffrage extension . He could get something of that kind done for us . If there is any feeling in the country favourable to the extension , of the suffrage , Iiord John is the man who embodies the leadership of that appeal . If the country sets him aside to go for Pat / merston , it sets aside that suffrage extension whieh is the real key to Administrative Ueform .
There is another little secret which we ¦ will disclose . The attempt to jockey Lord John has originated with those persons who , under a Liberal mask , are trying to prevent any extension of the suffrage—any progress of political reform , They have made themselveS—who are the enemies of Heform—the enemies of Lord John , and they stand unmasked . This bad treatment identifies the statesman more than ever with the people . He "will be carried against the Government influence by the popular feeling . Is it likely
that he will forget his real supporters ? It is more than probable that , amongst his supporters throughout the country as well as in the City of London , there will be a large proportion , perhaps a majority , of the genuine working-classes . Is it probable that Lord Johit will forget the moral , if not the technical , obligation which he invites when , with strong moral courage , he insists upon being a candidate for the City of London—a candidate , not in the personal interests of Lord Palmeestok , but in the national interests of Keforna ?
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THE OPEHATIOUS K ? CHINA . It may seem ingenious to magnify the consequences of the recent events at Canton by ajurming that they may lead to a war between Great Britain and one-fourth of the human race ; but the plain truth is that a "war with China would be a conflict between an " organised force and a rabble of barbaric soldiery . That Admiral SETatounhas been driven to a temporary abandonment of the forts in the river is no proof that the Chinese have
to a resumption of hostilities with adequate means , under the authorisation of his Government . It would have been folly to have undertaken the permanent occupation of the military works round Canton , with a vast population seething round a few isolated detachments ; but we may be sure that ; a British
expedition , planned on a very small scale , would speedily capture the entire city , and hold it against the imperial armies of China . Its fortifications are contemptible , the garrison though capable of making a noisy resistance , must infallibly yield to a regular attack , and as for the people , they proved in 18-42 how far the Emperor can , rely upon the cheap defence of nations .
We sincerely hope that Lord Elgin will be enabled to effect a pacific settlement of the questions in dispute between Great Britain and the ^ Government of the Mantchus . He possesses some qualities that peculiarly fit him . for his mission ; but it would be taking a very optimist view of Chinese statesmanship , to listen with any very sanguine expectation for rumours of peace from those remote waters . Tlie Chinese comprehend little of diplomacy ; they have a Japanese habit of regarding themselves as the supreme aristocracy of the earth ; they never make a concession without a secret resolve to
revoke and revenge it at a future day ; they undeistand what an enemy means when he has captured their towns , blockaded their coasts , driven their armies far inland ; but until that climax conies , they are not generally disposed to modify their national pretensions- The commercial cqnainuniLy throughout the East is anxiously awaiting
such a result of the recent transactions at Canton as will teach the Chinese to appreciate more correctly ' their relations with the leading Powers of the " West . Should they force on a war , it is to bo hoped that an attempt will be made to drive the imperial family from Pekin , and to occupy that capital , which is by no means inaccessible across the Yellow Sea . The most decisive course of
action is that which will take the speediest effect , and relieve an important region of Asia from the pressure of war . Lord Palmerston may bo assured that his Chinese policy is adopted by the nation , and that by refusing to desert his subordinates who liave difficult and onerous duties to perform , at so vast a distance from home , he has gained and deserved a sensible increase of popularity . Should any future minister acquiesce in other principles than those which have actuated his recognition of Sir John Bowbing ' s proceedings at Canton , ho may represent a party , but lie will not represent English good feeling , or English common sense .
gr , own more terrible sin co 1842 , when they were compelled to ransom Canton , or since 1 $ 47 , when a moderate British force succeeded in spiking eight hundred guns in tVp defences of that city . The necessity for offensive action had arisen suddenly and unexpectedly . The river forts were captured and the imperial squadrons sunk , not as tho commencement of a regular series of operations , but with tho view of coercing the Mantclni authorities by a low rapid and irresistible blows . Tho Mantchus
remaining obstinate , it was not for the British admiral to follow up hia original movomonts by a virtual campaign , " without receiving instructions as well an reinforcements from home . He therefore withdrew hia forces from Canton , and satisfied himself with taking up a defensive attitude , preparatory
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lovers of peace . Fortunately , we believe Lord PAi < 3 ii 33 iSTON to be often , by force of sheer good sense , a far better Reformer in practice than he allows himself to be thought in theory— -we mean in administrative , not in political departments . At all events , we can report progress tenwards the reform of army education . In the autumn of last year , three Commissioners—two military , one civil—were sent out by the "War Department to ascertain the character of the Military Colleges in France ,-Prussia , Austria , and Sardinia . They have now produced a Blue-book containing the results of their inquiries .
This Blue-book , more especially the first forty pages , deserves tlie attentive study of all who are interested in the reform of our army . Every one , we think , who understands education , and "who wishes that if we are to have an army at all it should be one whose ability and devotion to the profession may ensure success , will concur in the suggestions of the Commissioners . They have wisely abstained from asking too much where it is difficult to obtain anything ; but the one thing absolutely indispensable , if we
are to hold up ' our heads among military nations , tho necessity of real encouragement for scientific military knowledge , is very plainly and directly enforced by the Commissioners . The question is simple enough . Make it worth ail officer ' s while to study his profession , make it tell on his advancement , and he will do so . Give , in other words , real distinctions to your pupils in early Military Schools , and let the rule be absolute that the Staff school is the necessary preliminary to the Staff , and the thing is done .
Such is the pith of the Commissioners report , based upon extensive and minute investigations . Surely the plan is prudent enough , and-water-tight . But it is no secret that " Remember Dowb" is still the watchword at tho Ministry of War , and that patronage for appointments which require merit is still the order of the day . Unhappily , soldiers have , generally speaking , so little idea of the value of education , even for their own purposes , that nothing will be done to open a career to military scientific ability unleBa civilians take the question up . When the new Parliament has met "will be the time
to make a push ; meanwhile , it is just as well that the subject should be kept alive by the press .
ARMY EDUCATION HEFORM . This is ono of those subjects which must not be shelved oven during tho excitement of a General Election . Lord Paxmerstom affected to disdain the notion of malting aristocratic British officers know their duty when tho question was raised discursively in tho House the other day ; aud with his usual adroitness he supported his disinclination to lie form by a masked battery of British
claptrap , about our officers beiug as brave , &c ., which nobody doubts ; and about a voluntary service being different to a conscription , which we are equally ready to acknowledge . Thero was even a pretended . sneer at largo standing armies , and at tho profession of arm s , which was rather amusing on the lips of ' tho prime representative and pet of British pugnacity , tho fighting Foreign Minister ; hut which was well designed to moderate tho indignant prejudices of the
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The Crimean Commissioners and Loud Panmure —Under the date ' " War Office , February 28 th , 1857 , " Lord Panmure writes to Sir John M'Neill , in reference to the letter iu which that gentleman declined the offer of a thousand pounds : — " I should not have thought it necessary to add to this correspondence had it not been for the interpretation which you liavo put upon a passage in my letter , and -which I feel it to bo duo both to you and myself to correct . I certainly had no intention whatever to place a money value on tho advantages dorived from your report , and , on a careful perusal of my letter to you , I cannot help considering that such a
construction of its terms is somewhat strained and hypercritical . All that I aimed at was to convoy to you , in tho most courteous manner , the offer of tho Government , nnd to signify my regret for my own personal omissions in . this matter . " To this , Sir John replies , writing from " Granton House , Edinburgh , March 2 nd , " as follows : — " My Lord , —I had tho honour to receive this morning your Lordship ' s letter of the 28 th of February , in which you inform mo that all you aimed at , &c . . . . This asrsuranco has afforded mo tlio greatest satisfaction , and I dooply regret that the proceedings in rogard to the commission with which I was connected hav « not been such as would have entitled rne to assume that your Lordship ' s intentions -wore friendly or courteous , though the terms in which you expressed them appeared to imply a different meaning . "
MANCIIEBTKK AuDKKSfl TO SlK JOHN M'NeIIX ANI > Coixwkt .. Tim-loch . —An address , signed by one hundred and twenty-ono of the leading merchants , magistrates , hauliers , and other citizens of Mnnchcstcr , was recently forwarded to Sir John M'Neill and Colonol Tnlloch , expressing a lasting sense of tho important services rendered by tho Crimean Commissioners . Uotfi the commissioners have acknowledged the compliment .
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TVTATtcH 21 , 1857 . 1 THE I / EAPER , 279 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 21, 1857, page 279, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2185/page/15/
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