The Press.
London, England, 1855-11-10 00:00:00

MR. COBDEN ON THE WAR.

MR. COBDEN has embodied his views on the state of
the war in a letter addressed to the Leeds Mercury.
The first part of this document is occupied with a
critical examination into the state of our army, and
the revelations of the Sebastopol Committee ; but,
subsequently, Mr. Cobden proceeds to pass his
opinion on the war itself :
A war which, in my conscience, I believe to he more nn.
necessary, rash, and aimless, than any in our history ; and
which, for the visionary objects avowed by its advocates,
has no parallel since the Crusades.
Mr. Cobden notices the boasting tone of the war
advocates, as likely to bring ridicule on the coml.
try:—

And I must be permitted to tell our war-at any-price
party, who talk so glibly of humbling and reducing to
abject terms of peace an empire of 00,000,000 of people, by
invading their territory at a distance of 3,000 miles, and
thus contending with the passive obstinacy of the most
stubborn race in existence under the greatest possible
disadvantage to ourselves,— who treat with scorn the
neutrality of Germany, Austria, Prussia, Sweden, Den-
mark, Holland, and Switzerland, and assume to them-
selves and France the exclusive honour of—to quote the
words of an esteemed friend of mine on a late occasion
to his applauding constituents—" thrusting back a bar-
barous power which is seeking to trample out civilisation
and overwhelm Europe,"—l tell this party that they will
bring ridicule on this great country, that they will lower
our prestige, and perhaps draw upon us slights and in-
sults, thus hazarding the recurrence of future wars, unless
they either moderate their language to the level of their
deeds or raise their performances to an equality with
their pretensions
To test the real opinion of the people, Mr. Cobden
proposes that an appeal should be made to the peo-
ple, to see if they are themselves willing to enlist to
carry on this " war of civilisation." He says, that if
" it be a people's war, there will be a response to the
appeal ; if it be a war of diplomatists and news-
papers, it will fail." To the thoughtful portion of
the people he looks with hope :

Before I conclude I would express a hope that the time
is not distant when the thoughtful portion of the British
public, who in the end determine our national policy, will
be awakened to a sense of their responsibility. . . . .
And by whom is the prolongation of hostilities advocated ?
With the exception of those in office, to whom peace will
bring a day of reckoning, is there a statesman of trust or
authority in this country who is not in his heart in favour
of peace on terms believed to be now practicable ; or can
there be found one commanding intellect now employed
( unless under the shield of an anonymous irresponsibility )
in inciting the country to a perseverance in the war?
And fur whose benefit are hostilities to be continued?
Not for that of Turkey, for every day of their continuance
diminishes the chances of her resuscitation—not for the
interest of the governing classes of Europe, for they all
desire peace—nor for those of the " democracy," whose
eminent chiefs have denounced the war as an aimless
waste of human blood, in which they have no interest—
not even for the benefit of our ally, for we know that the
French Government was favorable to a pacification after
the Vienna Conferences ; and report says, 1 believe truly,
that it is now again disposed for peace. What human
interest, then, can possibly be served by the continuation
of hostilities ?

His concluding paragraph satirises the minds which,
like that of Mr. Tennyson, have suddenly abandoned
themselves to the war frenzy, as to the last novel
stimulant of the hour:—

There are minds so wanting in moral continence that
they abandon themselves to every popular emotion of
frenzy of the hour—who, when all hearts exulted at the
signs of international peace, declaimed of the horrors of
the war—who, now that the demon of carnage has sway
for a season, sing of the " canker of peace," and who would
be ready to mop and mow with madmen to-morrow if
Bedlam could be but one day in the ascendant. Such are they
who now ask us to believe that the spectacle of human
passion and suffering which has been enacted during the
last year in the Crimea, and which has converted that
fair sea into an earthly pandemonium, is necessary for
the social regeneration of mankind ; that the purer feel-
ings and affections of our nature find a healthy develop-
ment in an atmosphere so foul and unnatural that domes-
tic cannot breathe it ; that an employment where men
bring every faculty to the task of destroying others, and
preserving themselves from destruction ; that there is the
school to unlearn selfishness and to train us to the disin-
terested love of our species ! We are asked to believe
these things. Yes, when we are prepared to pronounce
the New Testament a fable, and Christ's teachings an
untruth, we will believe them, and not till then.

MR. JAMES WILSON has not resigned the office of
Financial Secretary of the Treasury, nor has he
accepted the Chairmanship of the Board of Inland
Revenue. Mr. J. Wood, who has so long filled that
office, has entirely recovered from his recent illness,
and will shortly be able to resume his duties.
THE EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH, it is told in Paris,
received no less than eight despatches last Thursday
and Friday, from Marshal Pelissier it is presumed,
for his Majesty put them all into his pocket without
communicating tlitir contents to anyone.
'1 HE REV. DR. WHEWEI.L, Master of Trinity Col-
lege, Cambridge, was on Monday elected Vice• Cha-
ncellor of that university for the year ensuing.

SATURDAY,
NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.

The new Commander-in-Chief of the Army in the
Crimea, Lieutenant• General Sir William John
Codrington, K.C.8., is the eldest surviving son of
Admiral Sir Edward Codrington, G.C.8., whose
principal achievement was the victory of Navarino,
when the squadrons of England, France, and Russia
acted under his general directions. Sir William was
born, we believe, in 1805, and is now in his fiftieth
year. He entered the Coldstream Guards in 1821,
and rose through the different regimental steps to
the rank of captain and lieutenant•colonel. He
received the brevet rank of colonel in 1840, and be.
came a majorgeneral in the brevet of June 20, 1854.
During this campaign Sir William has been con-
spicuous for his energy, activity, and zeal. At Inker.
mann, it will be remembered, he was the firstgeneral
officer on the field.

Great diligence prevails in all the dockyards. At
Woolwich there is a vast increase in the amount of
shot and shell daily arriving, mortar•carriages and
guns of all calibres. A daily proof of ten and eleven
inch mortars has taken place during the week. At
Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Sheerness great activity
also prevails in fitting out gun-boats.
Captain Horatio Austen, C. 8., has been granted
the vacant good-service pension by the Lords of the
Admiralty.
Lieutenant-Colonel Mauleverer, C. 8., of the :10th
Regiment, has been granted a pension of 1001. a
year by her Majesty for distinguished service at the
siege of Sebastopol.
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Graham, of the Ist
Royal Regiment of Foot, who landed at Portsmouth
invalided from the Crimea on Sunday week, died at
the hospital at Haslar on Friday night. The gallant
deceased left his sick-bed to lead on his men to the
assault of the Redan at Sebastopol on the Bth of
September, by which exposure he incurred illness
which has terminated fatally. He had seen thirty
years' full-pay service in the army.
Captain Julius Roberts, of the Royal Marine
Artillery, whose clever inventions in reference to
mortars and mortar-vessels, proved so effective at
Sweaborg, Sebastopol, and now again (according to
Admiral Lyons' despatch of the 18th ult.) at the
reduction of Kinburn, has been received in Paris
with marked courtesy and distinction by the French
Minister of Marine, at the express command of the

Emperor.
Four regiments of English militia are shortly to be
removed from Aldershott Camp to Ireland, and are
to be replaced at Aldershott by four regiments of
Irish militia. It is also expected that a large force
of militia will be kept at Aldershott during the coming
winter.

The steamer Caradoc, Lieutenant Chandos Stan•
hope commanding, is being hurried forward with
every despatch for the reception of Lord Canning.
The internal fittings of the Caradoc are not termi•
nated in consequence of some changes considered
necessary for the accommodation of the numerous
suite of Lord Canning. The Caradoc, after landing
her passengers at Alexandria, will proceed to the
Black Sea.

The naval dress regulations are still in abeyance.
The Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth has lately
been at the Admiralty, and after a further consulta-
tion the proposed changes have been set aside for the
present.
The defence of the southern coast in at present
under the serious consideration of the Admiralty.
The port of Shoreham, at the mouth of the Adur, is
about to be defended by a fort mounting six heavy
guns, with barracks for the men.
General Beatson late in command of the Bashi-
Bazouks, has arrived at Malta, where he will remain
for the present.
The Malacca, 17, screw frigate, Captain Farquhar,
sailed at daylight on Tuesday morning for the West
Indies.

Lieut.-General William Buller, formerly of the
Coldstream Guards, died on Thursday last, at the
advanced age of 82. The gallant general had long
been on the retired-list, but in early life had served
in Flanders in '93 and '94, and in the West Indies
at the Beige of St Lucia and the capture of Grenada.

THE EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH, wishing to show
his high esteem for General Bosquet, who has had
so glorious a part in the Eastern war, has sent Capt.
Morand, one of his orderlies, to Marseilles to meet
him, with the military medal.
Hie EXCELLENCY MR. A. BUCHANAN, the British
Minister at the Danish Court, left town on Saturday
last for Copenhagen, to resume his diplomatic duties
alter a brief leave of absence.
THE AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT IS having a line-of-
battle ship of 120 guns built in America, and three
more are t) be built on her lines in the yards of Pola
THE REPLY OF THE HOLY SEE to the memorandum
published by the Spanish and Piedmontese Govern-
ments, on the occasion of the allocutions pronounct d
against them by the Pope, will very shortly be made
public.

Vontg Vadat ditg

FRIDAY EVENING.

THE monthly settlement in Consols was completed
yesterday (Thursday), no difficulty being expe-
rienced in the operation, although the speculative
transactions had been rather larger, and the range
of prices somewhat extensive since last account-day.
In the process of settling it became evident that
considerable masses of Stock had been absorbed by
the public, so that the market was left comparatively
bare. This affluence of bond fide purchasers was
considered a very encouraging symptom ; and it is
indeed not a little remarkable that at a period when
money is tighter than it has been for some years,
and five per cent. or more is readily obtainable upon
the most approved securities, heavy sums should
nevertheless be forthcoming for permanent invest-
ment in a Three-per-Cent Stock, under the tempta-
tion of a decline to 88 or thereabouts. The fact
proves that, in spite of all the alleged difficulties and
embarrassments to commerce, the tide of profit out
of whose savings real capital is accumulated has
suffered no serious check, and also that to capi•
talists who are seeking a permanent lodgment for
their money the well-approved and comparatively
stable security offered by Consols is on the whole
more attractive than the far more lucrative invest-
ments presented by innumerable bonds, shares, or in
commercial discounts, where the rate of interest is
nearly double, and in many instances even more.
Durability and exemption from rapid vicissitudes in
value are still accounted preferable to a high profit
by the great majority of those who have savings to
invest

The actual quantity of Stock thus taken off is un-
derstood to be very considerable. In fact, the sup•
plies required by the dealers in adjusting their
accounts were chiefly obtained by borrowing Consols
from the London banks. The operation was per
formed by the bankers selling Stock for transfer, and
repurchasing immediately an equivalent amount for
the next account-day, on December 6th. As this
supply is of course merely temporary, unless the
bankers should be compelled to sell again by some
renewed monetary pressure, the consequence has
been to give considerable firmness to the quotations,
which have progressively improved as the real state
of affairs became developed, from 87i, the price on
Saturday evening, to 88i 89 for money, and 891 1 for
the coming account. This advance would probably
have proved much more considerable if the market
had been left to its natural tendencies. But this is
not the case. Two instalments of ten per cent. each
on the last loan of 16,000,0001. will shortly fall due—
one on the 20th inst., and the other on December 18.
The Stock and annuities represented by the first
deposit of ten per cent. will also be delivered on the
completion of the last payment, so that an amount of
new Stock equivalent to a nominal capital of
4,800,0001. will be practically created within the next
two months, minus some small per centages on which
the payments have been already anticipated.
The Canada, which arrived on Monday from the
'United States, brought a consignment of 160,0001. in
specie, proving that the remittances of precious
metal from the West to Europe was not altogether
stopped by the unfavorable turn in the exchanges.
What was of more importance, the mail brought no