The Press. — London, England, 1858-08-14 00:00:00

786 Cherbourg as compared with our largest harbour. The largest harbour we have is that of Keylisru-1 mean the new harbour and dockyard near Devonport. When completed that harbour will occupy an area of 72 acres. It has two basins, with an area of six acres each. It has three large dry docks, and it has the usual number of storehouses and workshops of various kinds. Now, mark the contrast with Cherbourg. Cherbourg occupies an area of no less than 220 acres, an area three times larger than our largest dockyard will be when completed. It has three basins, one containing 15 acres of water, another containing 16 acres, and the third containing 'dl) acres of water—five times the water space of Keyhole. Each of these has thirty feet of water at low tides. Along the quay walls of these basins twenty-five of the largest line-of battle ships could be moored head and stern Running in connection with the dockyard is the railway to Paris and the whole of the in terior of France. Down Out line of railroad, the opening of which formed part of the sights to be seen at the great fête—down that railway could be whirled in a day the army of France ; 11)0,1) NI men could be marched from the its• tenor to the railway station, and from the railway station right on board the ships of war, at any time of the tile, and these ships could sail at any time of the tide. Now there is something very striking iii all this, and I said to myself, What can all this mean ?" Docks, torts, and a railway which could bring 100,000 men dawn to Chet bourg, and at a moment's notice, as it were, carry them to the shores of England. But wh-n I looked over the ships and compared them with our own ships, I said to myself," You may bring your soldiers down to your dockyard's, but before you call get them to England you must command the Channel ; and you must have a different class of ships to what ycu now have." I thought it my duty to examine the ships. I accordingly went on board the Bretagne, and examined her with Sir Charles Napier. She struck me as a very magnificent ship indeed. I afterwards went on board our own Royal Albert, a ship not so large as the Bretagne, but of a similar class. My feeling, after the inspection of both vessel+, was this : the Bretagne and the other vessels there may be very fine ships, but if both of them were manned by Frenchmen I would prefer to be on board the Royal Albert, foe I believe she would soon sink the other. When I looked at the sailors—chose who got up to the trucks of the masts ( while the Frenchmen could get no higher than the yards), and there waved the flag of Eng. laud with one hand, standing on one leg and swinging the other to and fro—l thought the Royal Albert would not be long in making short work of the Bretagne. When farther I looked at what was perhaps one of the most magnificent sights I ever saw—between 30)) and 400 beautiful yachts. the property of English noblemen—manned by 3,000 or 4,000 of the fittest sailors in England—:he magnificent shies belonging to that company who were good enough to give us a free passage to Cherbourg—when I thought that they were not mine than one-half of the ships owned by the same company—when I leaked to the maritime habits of our people—when I looked at the tine class of fellows who commanded them, the stalwart forms of the noblemen and gentlemen of England at the helm, and recollected that these gentlemen could 'light in the hour of need as well as their sailors—when I looked at the skill and know ledge of the people, to which my esteemed friend referred this morning, I said to myself, Well, well, we have nothing to fear from France, even though she have her mighty dockyards arid stupendous arsenals opposed to us." France, in the construction of that mighty arsenal—and it is a melancholy fact, but it is a fact which I must tell you, for we must not despise our neighbours—France in the construction of that mighty arsenal mast have hid some ulterior object in view, because when the British vessels left Cherbourg that mighty dockyard must have been almost deserted. And it struck me, " What object can France have had in view in comstructing such a mighty arsenal and such immense forts? " Why, depend upon it she did not build these docks unless she had some idea of building ships to put into them. It is a very melancholy fact, and I fir one regret, deeply regret, that a feeling of doubt on the part of one nation towarile an other should have arisen ; but we cannot shut our eyes to the great fact we have seen, that there is one thing in which we are deficient. We have abundance of seamen— we are a maritime people—out in the hour of emergency we have had a difficulty in obtaining seamen to man our ships. Bnt lam happy to tell you that the Government are now zealously devoting themselves to the question. They have appointed a royal commission, of which I have the honour to be a member, and I do hope, as the result of our labours, that a plan will be prepared, which will re move the only thing which we have to fear—the manning of our ships ill the hour of need. One wore before I COll - I referred to the fact that one great secret of our strength was our knowledge. I am sure Napoleon himself, when he sailed through that harbour end inspected his ships, must have said within his own mind, "I may create mighty arsenals and build great dockyards, and even launch great ships of war, but I can never make my people a great maritime nation, unless I can get them to own such magnificent merchant ships as those I see around me now—unless I can get my nobility an d gen t r y t o t u rn their attention more earne ally to yachting and kindred pur suits, it is vain fur me to attempt to rival Eng land as a maritime people—as vain as it would be for England to attempt to rival the great nations of Europe as a military penile." 13nt he must have felt, too, that another great source of our wealth was our knowledge, the skill of the workin g c l asses, t h e in dustry of our arttrints—that industry which was en couraged by the opening of such iontituUons as these— which encouraged onwards those hardy sons of toil who, after all, are the true secret* of a nation's wealth and a nation's power. These men, ladies and g en tl emen —i t i s these men, the mechanics, the hardworking, industrious mechanics of this country, which have made England what she is—great and powerful throughout the nations of • the earth. Mr. ROEBUCK was received with great enthusiasm. iilip. n..9WWIMIMMIwyIing! THE PRESS, AUGUST 14, 1858. After some repetition of Mr. Lindsay's remarks, he proceeded : But this I will say, that England has been insulted ; England's Parliament vindicated her, and we have had Cherbourg fetes to make up. I am perfectly willing to acknowledge all that, but, with my right hon. friend, I cannot help feeling and thinking that there is something behind. What is all ►his for? If Igo down to Liverpool I see dock after dock full of merchantmen ; I see them coming in from all parts floating into that basin in every breath of heaven, laden to the very brim with the world's produce. That is England. But at Cherbourg I saw nothing of the sort. I saw a solitary 90-gun ship ready to be launched on a Sunday ; and that was France. That is the difference between England and France. Depend upon it we that are here need not be alarmed by anything that my friend has seen—[Mr. LINDSAY : " Hear, hear '1 —while we have institutions like the present. And now come to the moral of my tale. Depend upon it, that while you have stalwart arms —that while you have clear-thinking heads—you will need to fear no despot that the world aft 'ram, let him come from France, or Austria, or Naples. The free soil of England, washed by the free ocean that is around her, guarded by her sailori, is free against the world in arms. I sin but a poor creature, yet I could turn out to-morrow. Depend upon it, every man, woman, and child amongst us knows what we have in England. We have freedom here. We should lose that freedom if we were conquered by anybody from abroad ; we should cease to be England—we should cease to be the head of the world, which we now are. We hold up to nations a torch that they see in darkness; and inasmuch as their darkness is greater than our light, the more brilliant is our illumi nation. Well, then, my friends, depend upon yourselves— depend upon your intelligence—depend upon institutions like these, and every despot in Europe will tremble, as they do now, at your name. You are England ; you stand at the head of civilization, and you need not be alarmed ut any Cherbourg. You are England, against the world in arms. (Loud cheers.) she Eastern seas, as dependent on the right decision ottliis question. Your petitioners would further represent that, owin g to the withdrawal of British protectio n , end the impression abroad that Sarawak has been abandoned by this country, the Chinese inhabitant.; of Sarawak, instigated by events in their own country, ruse in insurrection, to the injur y of British life and interests. That this insurrection was successfully and Minted'• ately repressed by the energy of Sir James Brooke, but that the situation of Sarawak must iieeebsarily c oa ti", uncertain and precarious, from the withdrawal of the recognition and protection formerly given ; that no pe tty native State thus situated can advance in civilization, and that the time has arrived when fur her own interests and the security of those British subjects residing i ll her territories Sarawak should be placed under the formal protection of Great Britain, or some other power. ful State. Your petitioners humbly submit this is not a question to be delayed or lightly regarded, and being deeply im• pressed with a sense of the responsibility incurred should British life be sacrificed, or British interests injured inane sequence, more especially at a time when events passing in India and China render a measure of permanent and steady protection imperative, they respectfully, but strongly, u rge upon your hon. house the importance of preserving and improving the advantages already gained—advsntages which comprise the maritime command of the southern shot° of the Chinese Sea, the possession of an extensive coalfield, the value of which in its powers of ultimate supply can scarcely be overrated, the means of establishing and main. taining electric communication with China, the develop. went of a county rich in tropical productions, the increase of trade and spread of British influence, and the advance• went of civilization in the Eastern world. That these advantages should not be lost to a nation whose constant policy it should be to seek and Wa g , every new outlet to the commercial enterprise of its people, but that, on the contrary, a trade which now amounts to above a million of dollars yearly should be fostered and en• couraged by every legitimate means, and security afforded to a commerce of which a steady increase may be autiei pated to follow the secure development of a country pos sessing such abundant resources. Your petitioners pray, therefore, that the protection of the country may he granted to Sarawak, and that such other measures maybe taken as will tend to insure the advantages above referred to ; that the policy of 1847, for the mainte nance of British influence and the peace and security of the coasts of Borneo, may be carried out, so far as may now be found practicable, in order that British interests, now seriously compromised by indifference and neglect, may be legitimately secured, and that justice may be done to the honourable motives and services of Sir James Brooke, so frequently acknowledged, but hitherto so inadequately requited. SIB, JAMES BROOKE AND BORNEO. THE following petition of merchants, shipowners, bankers, brokers, and others in the city of London engaged and interested in commerce with China and the East has been presented to Parliament, signed by all the principal firms in the City : That in the year 1842 Sir James Brooke obtained from the late Sultan of Borneo a cession of the territory and government of the country of Sarawak. That the above cession was du:) , notified to her Majesty's Government at the time by Sir James Brooke's agent in London. That this cession was ratified by the people of Sarawak, who contested the claims of the Sultans of Boraeo, and before and since declared their independence. That in 1853 the present and reigning Sultan of Borneo confirmed in its fullest extent the gilt of his predecessor by an absolute cession, subject only to the payment of 4,000 dollars on the demise of each Rajah of Sarawak. That Sir James Brooke has ruled this country for seventeen years with the knowledge and consent of the Government of England ; that during this tine he has maintained order and good government, repressed piracy, and advanced trade ; that these facts were established before a commission of inquiry which was held in 1854, by order of her Mojesty's Government, to inquire into the proceedings of Sir James lirooke. That the Government of England, in 1845 and 1840, vindicated Sir James Brooke's possession of Sarawak, tie• daring it to have been acquired in the most open and legitimate manner ; that they sought to advance the trade of the nation by availing themselves of the relations of Sir James Brooke with Sarawak ; and, further, with this object in view they appointed Sir James Brooke to be the Governor of Lauban, and Commissioner and Consul. General to the independent chiefs of Borneo, having previously aignifiee the approval of the Crown by the honour conferred on Sir James lirooke. That the Government of England, moreover, sanctioned the hoisting of a Sarawak flag, in order to afford a recog nized permanency to that country. That Sarawak, under the rule of Sir James Brooke, was formally recognized by the President of the United States of America, with the knowledge of the Government of England, by the appointment of an envoy with powers to negotiate a treaty, and by the formal salute of the flag of Sarawak. Looking at these facts, to the blessings of good government, the security of the high seas, the advance of trade, and our political position, your petitioners represent that the policy thus auspiciously commenced was consonant with the high position of England and her beat interests in the Eastern Archipelago. That your petitioners allude to the accusations made against Sir James Brooke, to the commission of inquiry, and to the entire vindication of his character and measures, only to express their regret that these painful discussions should have led to the withdrawal of British protection from Sarawak, and to the abandonment of the policy of recognition formerly pursued. That since MO the visits of her Majesty's vessels to the north-west coast of Borneo have been discontinued, and that Sarawak since 1854 has been left entirely to its own resources. That your petitioners deplore the injustice done to Sir James Brooke and to the native population under his rule by the abandonment of a policy dictated by wisdom and foresight and affirmed by national sanctions and encourage ments, and they view with apprehension the consequences which must ensue to British interests and to the national character. They regard the cause of civilization and Christianity, u well as the position and influence of Great Britain in (Election Intelligence. GUILDFORD.—On Monday evening last the friends of Mr. Evelyn convened a meeting of the electors of the borough, for the purpose of enabling that gen• tleman to express his political opinions and the grounds upon which he sought to be elected to re present the borough in the room of Mr. Mangles, who has been appointed one of the Indian Council, under the new act relating to the government of that country. Mr. C. Cooper, one of the magistrates of the borough, took the chair, and the public hall, where the meeting took place, was full of the electors. Mr. Evelyn, having been introduced to the meeting by the chairman, proceeded to address the electors. He expressed himself hostile to vote by ballot, to the abolition of church rates, and Mr. Locke King's County Franchise Bill. Upon the subject of the defence of the country, he would observe that be could not agree with the peace party that the country ought to be left altogether unprotected, but he thought that we ought not to keep up a large stand inz army , but that there ought to be regiments of militia and rifle clubs to teach the people the use of arms, and how to protect themselves all over the country. He did not believe that we had anything to fear from the present ruler of France, and he was of opinion that the outcry that had been made . in the press, upon the subject of our relations with that country, was quite unjustifiable, and was cal culated to produce nothing but mischief. LEOMINSTER.—Two candidates are at present in the field for this borough. Captain Hanbury, brother of Lord Bateman, Conservative; and Mr. Wilde, nephew of the late Lord Truro, Radical. - - NORTH CHESHIRE.—The election of a mem ber for the northern division of Cheshire, to oc• cupy the seat vacated by the retirement of Mr. Tatton Egerton, took place on Saturday in the Sessions-house at Knut'ford. The lligh Sheriff (Mr. G. F. Wilbrahatn ) having gone through the usual formalities, Mr. T. W. Tattoo (of Wythen shaw) proposed Mr. Wilbraham Egerton (son of the late member), of Rostherne-hall, as a fit and pro Per person to represent this division of the county. That gentleman was proposed because there wa g the strongest conviction that Mr. Egerton would devote himself earnestly and heartily to his duties, would bestow impartial attention to the commercial, mane. tacturing, and agricultural iiitetests of the great community, and prove himself to be an honest Con servative—not a supporter of the stead-still policy 01 IMPFNIIIMMMM I J