The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1865-06-27 00:00:00

stituency by whom he ought to Ile regardrici its
an old and well-tried representative. thit it
does not always seem to follow in the present
election that the Conservatives give their own
side that ctrdial tmpport which the Tories of old
gave to ope another. The back of party is well
nigh broken. Lord Palmerston'a alleged and
supposed Conservatism, in trtith, stands many
people instead of stronger party principles and
never in the course of any General Election
perchance will there be seen so many prep red
to " hold with the hounds yet lie down with the
hare." Strange to say, instead of narrowing the
struggle this will deepen, excite, and intensify it
V, a degree, becanae of the very uncertainty and
vacillation in Which innumerable votes will
be left till the latest moment.

OUR IMPRI4oNED, CHAINED, AND
ENSLAVED COUNTRYMEN IN
ABYSSINIA.

SIR HENRY DRUMMOND WOLFF, With the
tide ot popularity turning clearly in his favour.
gaVe the doustituency of Dorchester on Friday
evening—we are mire without intending it—a
foretaste of his skill and talent its *statesman
in bringing forward the subject of our ()minify-
men, oppressed. imprisoned, shained, and in fact
enslaved in Abyssinia, in as lucid and suceint
manner as we have ever known a pnblic topic
handled and compressed within the limits of a
nut-shell. It is the pride and glory of this
country to make the name of Englishman loved
and respected throughout the world. If she has
ever lost the prestige of her high character and
honourable fame, it has been through some um
happy act of inalisdnlinietratiou committed or
countenanced by some incompetent member of
our Government; and none have been More un-
fortunate in this respect than Earl Russell, in his
mismanagement of our Foreign affairs. Bullying
a weak power, and truckling to a strong, has
served only to bring the British flag into con-
tempt in every quarter of the globe, and the
case of our Consul and countrymen in Abyssinia,
to which Sirllenry Drummond Wolff directed at-
tention in his third address to the electors of
Dorchester, is about one of the worst instances
of the noble lord's notorious recklessness in
dealing with matters he does not takkthe trouble
to comprehend, that has yet been held up to
public indignation. We have seen the time,
when bed the tidings reached this country of
upwards of a &len English subjects--=a consul,
several inissionarieet their wives, children, and
attendants having been seieed and cast into a
loathsome dungeon, chained to blackamores—
nay, even sent to Ctaffat "to work for the king"
—in other words dent into slavery—the land
would have rung with indignation meetings from
end to end. All India was astir, England and
her metropolis held meetings of this sort, when
Colonel t‘toddert and Captain Connolly were
detained in B dthers ; and Sir Henry Wolff's
father was the very man to risk his life and
devote his energies on that occaspn, to penetrate
into those remote and barbarous regions with a
view to their liberation. Well may the bon.
gentleman then feel his sympathies excited by a
case which is infinitely more aggravated as an
insult to the Crown and Government, and an
outrage on the people of England. This is not
even a case which demands, or can obtain military
redress ; conciliation is the simple policy required,
for it is a case in which the Abyssinian Emperor's
love of Englishmen has been converted into
hatred by the insolence of Earl Russell—by his
inconsiderate pettishness and hauteur towards a
semi-barbarian potentate, who doubtless
" Brooks, Ike the Turk, no rival near his throne ;"
and the slightest response or interchange of
civilities would certainly have averted the suffer-
ings which, for one whole year, at least, our
countrymen and countrywomen in Abyssinia
have been doomed to endure. Instead of using
any effort whatever to extricate a representative
of our Government, and relieve so many other
British subjects from a degradation almost worse
than death, Earl Russell only snubs officially the
suffering party, and turns a deaf ear to the offers
of distinguished officers and others to andertake
their rescue, seeming to say in fact that they are
rightly served! Now the truth is that, according
to the instructions originally issued to Consul
Cameron, he did no more than his duty in pro-
ceeding to Gondar to inquire, as directed, into
the situation of Abyssinian affairs on which our
Government professed to be so badly informed,
and on which he was not only to keep informed
the Home Government but the Indian Governor-
General, That Earl Russell ought to have dis-
patched a force, or could have done so, for our
consul's relief is more than we venture to
affirm. But we have seen it -stated on no
meaner authority than that of Sir
Gardener Wilkinson that the Christian ooptic
patriarch at Cairo, *add have been got
effectually to interfere. But Earl Russell dis-
dains to move so much ass little finger on behalf
of these unfortuuate Englishmen The only
remedy is to rouse the country by means of
public meetings and compel the adoption of
measures for their rescue. It. is an unfortunate
time, in the crisis of a general election ; but it
must be done; the English name is sacred and
must be protected throughout the world.