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Leader (1850-1860), 31st December 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1412

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      into the alleged corrupt practices during the recent election of a member for that borough . Serjeant Pigott presided ; Mr . Gurney , the banker , was present on this occasion , and was examined at considerable length . A nnmber of bribers and bribed also detailed the particulars of their receipts and disbursements , The inquiry is now closed at Wakefield and willl be adjourned to London . A Catholic os Papal MisGOVEnxMENx . —Mr . Catholichas

      Henry Petre , a well-known Roman , had ' trie courage to write a letter protesting against the conduct of theUltramontane party in seeking to prop up the temporal power of the Pope . He repudiates the doctrine that the maintenance of that power is essential to the security of the Roman Catholic Church ? and , speaking of the Papal Government , he savs that " it has become a by-word throughout Europe for its impotency for all that is good , its misrule , and its corruption . " has is

      Election Intelligence . —The Speaker - sued his declaration of the vacancy in the Lewes representation , caused by the death of Mr . Fitzroy . The writ will be issued in a fortnight . Mr . R . W . Blencowe is a candidate on the Liberal side . Mr . Benson , the Conservative candidate for Reading , lias been presenting himself before the electors . Lord Duncan , the member for Forfarshire , goes to the House of Lords in consequence of the death of his father , and'it is said that Sir John Ogilvy , the member for Dundee , may be invited to take his place in the Commons . Other names are , however , mentioned . ¦ __ . ¦ .

      _ The Loss of the Paramatta . —The Board of Trade have issued the official report on the inquiry into the loss of this ship , wrecked on the 30 th of June last , on a reef called Horse Shoe , lying off the Island of Anegada . The report attributes the loss of the ship to the default of Captain Baynton , her Commander , and the Board of Trade have , in consequencev directed that his certificate be suspended for twelve months . Bbateet Rewarded . —Her Majesty ' s

      Government , through the Board of Trade , have just presented a sextant to Captain Bartoii . and a telescope to Mr . Thompson , the second mate of the ship Melanie , of Coringa , for the gallantry they exhibited in rescuing the crew of the Sir Charles Napier from off the island of Palo Brasso , where they had been seized and detained by the pirates and natives ; 300 rupees have also been awarded to Captain Barton by the Board of Trade , for maintaining the shipwrecked crew .

      The Yarmouth Petition . —As the period approaches for the meeting of Parliament , the Yarmouth politicians look forward with increasing interest to the hearing of the petition against the return of the two Conservative members , Sir H . J . Stricey and Sir Edmund Lacoh . During the last few days rumours have prevailed to the effect that an effort will be made to compromise the matter , and that one of the hon , baronets will retire . It seems probable , however , that the case will come before a committee of the House . The unsuccessful liberal candidates were Mr . E . W . Watk . m ( of the Manchester , Sheffield , and Lincoln shire Railway ) , and Mr . A . W . Ypung , and the case is being prosecuted on their behalf .

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      NAPOLEON III . AND ENGLAND : A DIALOGUE . Mk , Cobdek , M . P ., had a lengthened audience of the Emperor of the French at the Tuileries on Wednesday week . The Tan ' s correspondent of the Times communicates the following conversation , as having t . " . l ; on place between two persons—one a Frenchman , tho other an Englishman—on the important and absorbing topic o ! ' the d . iy . Our readers , after having perused our abridge ' cporr , will be able to conjecture perhaps who i ' . u interlocutors are likely to have been : ¦—After a few unimportant remarks , the Englishman continued thus : —

      You know my sentiments with regard to France , and my sincere desire to se , e the most complete union always subsist between my country and yours . Judge then , of my surpriac , and allow me to add , my sorrow , at finding that the relations between our respective countries have gradually and profoundly altered—at least , if we may judge from appearances . I have carefully and conscientiously , examined'the

      state of the public mind in England . I hnvp interrogated and listened to persons of every class , from the highest to the very lowest . Well , then , I declare to you , to my deep regret , I have found , wlti ' i the one as with the other , mistrust pushed to the point of only believing : in menaces on the part of your country . Ifrmohman . — -I declare to , you , in the eyes of my countrymen , as in my own , tlio panic spread abroad ' In England is actually folly . EngU » hraan .--The fact does not the less exist > and , as it exists , it must be taken Into serious consideration . People ' s minds on both oWoa will grow

      embittered ; and the merest cause will suffice to bring about a rupture . " Frenchman . —The difficulty is to lead back to the truth those who obstinately wander from it , and to cure the blind who will not see . Facts shall speak first , and figures after . The Emperor has given to no foreign power more than to England guarantees of his desire to live in good harmony . Hardly had he ascended to power , when he despatched , in spite of the Assembly , the French fleet to make common cause with yours in the East . Subsequently he united himself with you in the Crimean war ^ ; and when the insurrection which broke out in India employed all your army in Asia , did he profit by

      the absence of your force to pick a quarrel with you ? On the contrary , he offered to the English troops a passage through France . He subscribed- — as well as the Imperial Guard—for your wounded , ¦ while ( be it said en . passant , and without meaning reproach ) our wounded in Italy seemed to find you indifferent . Finally , how many measures for the last ten years have been proposed by divers Governments which might have caused annoyance to England ? He has rejected them all , arid made no merit whatever in your eyes of the rejection . How can so many proofs of a cordiality so constant be all at once forgotten ? And how does it come to pass that mistrust and error are substituted for the legitimate effect which it should have produced ?

      Englishman . —But , the people ¦•—but the army Come now , frankly speaking , do they not both detest us ? And will not public opinion force their Sovereign some day to declare war against us ? Frenchman , —It cahhot . be denied that there is at bottom , in both countries , a remnant of rancour and rivalry which still subsists , but subsists much more in a latent than in an aggressive state . Material interests on one side , liberal ideas on the other , tend incessantly to draw the two countries closer to each other . Moreover , France is more practical than you imagine "What advantage , material or moral , could a war with you bring us ? None—absolutely none . Consequently : no one desires it .

      Englishman . —But the development given to the French navy is out of all proportion to the requirements and the greatness of your country . ^ Frenchman . —This is another prejudice . Ypu speak of our extraordinary armaments , but are you quite sure of the fact ? Learn what is doing in France , and hold it for certain . Not a centime can be spent without the vote of the Legislative corps , arid without the previous examination of the Council of State . Consult the estimates of the navy and army , and you shall find in them no excessive expenditure on the part of the Government .

      Englishman . —Your estimates are nothing to me . I am ignorant as to how they are arranged . Figures are easy of handling , and are susceptible of every combination . Facts , on the contrary , are inflexible . At Toulon and Brest you are building plated ships . Against whom can they bo intended , if not against us ? At Nantes you have on the stocks hundreds of flat-bottomed boats . For what purpose , if it be not to throw in an instant 20 , 000 soldiers on our coast ? And then , your immense supplies of fuel , and the prodigious activity of your arsenals . Everywhere you are building ships ; everywhere 3 ' 0 u are casting rifle cannon ' and projectiles of all kinds . These are so many evident facts , and of public notoriety . What answer will you give roe to them ?

      frenchman . —I will now quote laws and regulations , authentic reports , and go back to a period that will not bo suspected by you : —According to a Royal ordnance of the 22 nd November , 184 G , the total strength of the naval forces on the peace footing was to be 328 ships , of which forty were to be liners , and fifty frigates—sailing vessels . When the war in the Crimea came on Franco had very few steam-ships ; it was easy to see that sailing ships had passed their time , and that it was necessary to boldly admit the principle that henceforth every man-of-war must be a steamer . The Emperor consequently named in 1855 , under the presidency ot Admiral Hamclin , a commission to fix the basis of the now fleet necessary for France . The renort demanded that the . annual

      grant for the maintenance of the materiel of the fleet should be augmented by an annual sum of 25 , O 0 O , O 00 f . for thirteen years , the period jndged indispensable to complete their transformation . The Council of State reduced 1 : to 17 , 000 , 000 f . fqr thirteen years the amount of extraordinary credits demanded for the nary . In I 860 our fleet consisted of twenty-seven ships of the lino , and fifteen frigates , screws , completed ; and of throe plated frigates . We have , then , in order to arrive at the forco on * a peace footing , decided under Louis Philippe , thirteen ships of the lino to transform , and thirty-five frigates to build , which will require ten yoare at least . A a for the plated frigates' —the invention of the Emperor —• nothing is more natural than to construct them as an experiment , since if they succeed they can bo advantageously substituted for ships of the lino .

      At the present day our merchant navy is not sufficiently developed to enable us to find steam transports when we have need of them . We are there - fore forced to build them , in order to have at all times a certain number ready for the conveyance of troops and at the very moment I am speaking to you all our transports are proceeding to China ; ami , that we may not be entirely without resources , and be unprovided , the naval department has been obliged to purchase three large steamships in England . ¦ Eng lishman ' . —Have you any explanations to give me on the supplies of coals and the boats intended for the landing of troops ?

      Frenchman . —Some months back your Tory Ministry was so much opposed to the war in Italy that everything announced its wish to place itself on the side of Austria . It was even on the point of causing coal to be considered as contraband of war . Now , our navy used only English coal . The minister had then to look about for the ' means-of supplying , in case of need , the French fleet with French coal ! It was his duty not to leave our supplies at the mercy of your Government . Sixty iron vessels of a very small draught of water , were built to facilitate the transport of coals over the docks ; but these boats are very different from those which serve for the landing of troops . The important part ,

      however , is to know for what purpose we wanted this great quantity of coal which frightens you . It is exclusively destined to supply our fleet in China and in other parts of the globe . Like other countries , we are in a complete state of transformation , but you see nv not to wish to comprehend it . We have to change not only all the materiel of the navy , but on land also the whole of our artillery ; and , although the Emperor had in Italy 200 rifled cannon , he will still require three or four years to entirely accomplish the definitive transformation . Permit me one more observation . You have avowed frankly all the apprehensions which my country causes you ; but I have not expressed to you the whole of mv opinion on yours . If , in England ,

      people are convinced that France desires to declare war against you , we here are , in our turn , well convinced that the mistrust excited on the other side of the channel is a party manoeuvre . The Tory party , dissolved , as you are aware , by Sir Robert Peel , seeks the means of reconstructing itself ; and , according to it , the best possible one would be by reviving the hatred of France , ami by seeking , as in 1804 , to form a European coalition against her . The statesmen who at tins d % y take the lead in public opinion cannot be ignorant of all that I have just told you . Among us it is well understood that the Tories , in place of combating these errors , labour to gain them credit , ami pursue their policy with traditional perseverance .

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      Volunteehs in tub Colonies . — The recent muster of the Volunteer Kifle Corps seems to have passed off very well at Wynburg . From the report of the Graham ' s Toivn Journal it fioems that some blood was shed . On the Friday niorning the forces began to muster on the field of battle . There were the rifles , artillery , and cavalry from Capo Town , but not the sappers and miners , who are still unprovided with completed uniforms . There were the artillery and cavalry from Wynburg and Simon ' s Town , besides the several corps from P'LTrban , Stellenbosch , Paarl , Malmesbury , and Darling . The volunteers altogether must have numbered about six hundred , and the concourse of spectators from Cape have b

      Town and surrounding country , could not een less than four thousand . Colonel Hill took the command as colonel-in-chief , and under him the various subs discharged their respective functions admirably . The review commenced at eleven a . m ., was continued till half-past twelve , resumed at one , and concluded at three p , m . The customary evolutions were . gone through with considerable efficiency ; but the sham flight , towards the close of tho day b proceedings , was conducted with great spirit . Kuthor too much of it , indeed . The gallant horseman were so bent on cutting down , and tho defenders of the guns wore 60 resolved to thrust back tho cavaliers , that more than one unhappy charger was made to feel the taste of cold steel unplousantly enough . Ono fiery horse , ridden by un equally fiery dragoon , to

      advanced so fur that it was deemed expedient give him six inches of a bayonet to secure ins repulse . The horse fell , of course , and bled to dcatn . The rifles volunteered to subscribe sufficient to reimburse tho cavalry man for his loss ; he would not hoar of anything of the sort . Ho had lost his horse by the mishaps of war , and scornod to apply * compensation . Everything was carried on in tup beat possible oplrit j and » t the close , tho " forces wore drawn up in a line , and Colonel Hill uddroMOd them in reference to their performances . All 01 them retired to dlscusa tho abundant tiffin prepared for thorn 3 the company broke up by drinking » closing bumper to their next merry meeting . * next day the shooting match for Sir George Grey 0 rifle came off in the neighbourhood of D'Urban .

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      1412 THE LEADER . [ Xo . 510 . P ^ ' ^* 8 j& _

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 31, 1859, page 1412, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2327/page/8/