The Press.
London, England, 1856-04-12 00:00:00

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THE PRESS.

348.

THE WEEK.

THE Government has sustained two defeats this week, not on points
of opinion upon which a Government may be divided without weak-
ness, but upon matters of fact which so far come within the province
of the Executive that all the Members of Administration are com-
pelled to act together, and to resist an adverse vote as indicative of
want of confidence. The first defeat was on Monday, when Mr. COWAN
moved a resolution against billeting soldiers on private families in
Scotland as oppressive to Scotch society and injurious to military
discipline. Half a dozen Members of tbo Government opposed the
resolution, but all on different grounds. Mr. F. PEEL denied the
-grievance, and thought Scotland had less to complain of in all classes
being liable to the intrusion of soldiers into their homes, than Eng-
land in the billeting being limited to publicans alone. The LORD
ADVOCATE admitted the grievance—" it wail injurious to the comfort of
" private families and to the discipline of the service, but the resolu-
" tion was only ' abstract.'" The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
opposed the change on financial grounds, and Lord PALMERSTON, Sir
G GREY, and Mr. VERNON SMITH thought there should be no inter-
ference with the discretion of Government. Mr. DISRAEL I placed the
question on its proper ground : the resolution would bind the Govern-
ment only to fulfil its duty—to provide a remedy for an admitted
grievance. The House took this view, and decided against the Govern-
ment by a majority of 23; though the resolution was opposed on
4a
round that, if carried, the Committee of Supply could not be gone
, . :that night. Yet, no sooner was it affirmed, than the Government
••'' nged its tone, made an acknowledgment of mistake, and duly
' proceeded to vote thousands for the purchase of surreptitious pictures,
and other purposes. The other defeat was on a point equally prac-
tical, but more purely political. In all the discussions on Mr. LOWE'S
Socialist Bill for seizing Corporate Property, the Government has
skilfully avoided a division by conceding the point at issue. On
Thursday, the rashness of Mr. LowE challenged an expression of
opinion. He insisted on the nomination of Mr. KIRK as a member
of the Shipping Dues Committee, though Mr. KIRK had made a
speech strongly against the maintenance of local charges. The
House, eager to show its distrust of Mr. Lows, readily accepted his
challenge, and decided against Mr. KIRK'S name by a majority of 21.
• These divisions show not only that the Government has no control
over the Legislature, but that it lacks the confidence of the Legis-
lature. So there are the three courses before it—of endeavouring to
get through the session by throwing over all but urgent business, of
resorting to a dissolution of Parliament for which there is no pre-
tence, or of resigning, of which it has no intention. It is the first
course, then, which will most probably be attempted.

Now that the war is at an end, there is one question requiring
the earnest and immediate attention of Parliament. What is to be
done with our Foreign Legionaries ? The country viewed the embo-
diment of this force with grave distrust;. the Legislature consented
to it with great reluctance. The objectionsap;it were overborne only
by the plea of urgent necessity; and it 'wits distinctly stipulated
that, as this force was required by the exigency of the war alone,
with the war its services should cease. It would seem, therefore,
the most sensible course now to consider upon what conditions
the regiments of the Legion could be best disbanded, without
entailing that needless expense on the country which will cer-
tainly be caused by complAtitg their organisation and perfecting their
discipline. But what is aqtually done ? On Friday, in last week, five
days after the Treaty.of Peace had been signed, the Great Britain
steamer sailed from Turin .tor Malta with the 3rd Regiment of the
Anglo Italian Legion, 1,070 men in all. At the very moment when it
becomes necessary to arrange for bringing our forces back from the
East, we go to the expense of sending a full regiment of the Foreign
Legion thither. We are actually reversing the course of proceeding
which common sense dictates ; and are, as if for the express purpose
of increasing the liabilities and burdens of the country, sending out
reinforcements, that wo may incur the cost of bringing them back
again. Another fact is noticeable. The following is from the Turin
letter, April 5, in Friday's Times:—
- - - - - -

The Italian Legion would be admirably suited for duty in the colonies; and for
• such service it might, perhaps, be worth while to complete the other two regiments for.
merly contemplated, and to which the home authorities continue appointing officers, even in
the latest Gazette, although they have suspended recruiting.

Was ever absurdity equal to this? There are to be officers without
men ; the staff of regiments, though the regiments themselves do
• not exist. By its acts the . Government seems to contemplate the
• maintenance of a Foreign Legion as part of our peace establishment
It is impossible on any other ground to understand the despatch
of the Italian regiment to Malta,' and the continued appointment of
officers. The country will then have to decide whether it prefers for
its protection a home or a foreign, a native or a mercenary, force. A
, very considerable reduction of, our army there . must be. The at-
tempt to maintain a large and expensive army will end in producing
such a reaction against largo armaments as may.again reduce our force
below the standard of efficiency: Last week we traced the policy which
it would be our best interest to pursue. • Let us abandon all thought of
keeping up an unnecessarily largo establishment in peace time, but let
' ustake care that the establishinenthve have is thoroughly effective, always
keft in' good working order, and organised on such a principle as, will
readily allow of its expansion when the necessity for an increase arises.
A highly disciplined force of this kind, together with a disembodied
militia which would accustom our population to military service, and.

SATURDAY,

insure an adequate number of recruits as occasion required, wo-ild
be the most efficient, the most constitutional, and the cheapest
arrangement which could be adopted. The first step towards placing
our military system on a proper footing must be to disband the
Foreign Legionaries. A large army in time of peace is se far from
being likely to prove an efficient force, that through want of service
and the false sense of security which the apparent strength tends to
produce, it is likely to fall into disorder, and become really weak, while
burdening the resources of the country for its support.

The various professions seem bent on distinguishing themselves,
after the fashion of Sir JAMES GRAHAM and Sir CHARLES NAPIER, in
getting up wordy wars. The diocese of Bangor is associated in eccle-
siastical history with the controversy raised by HEADLEY, and the
Prelate who now fills that see also waxes wrath in letter writing,
General CAVENDISH, unmindful of his family motto, " tutus eavendo,"
has followed the Bishop of BANGOR'S example, and charged into print
with scurrilous effect The Church, the Army, and Navy, have thus
all had their brawls, within the last few days. Literature, we are sorry
to say, has contributed its share to these verbose encounters. Mr.
ABRAHAM HAYWARD—a failure in invective against others, but a great
proficient in satirising himself—thought that he saw an opportunity
of damaging a celebrated reviewer. Always aiming, and never suc-
ceeding, in the present as in other instances, Mr. ABRAHAM HAYWARD
is the register of his own discomfiture. The town has not forgotten
that not long since Mr. ABRAHAM HAYWARD advertised, in a pamphlet,
how the Lycurgus of the Law Magazine had risen into a Dublin Turn-
pike Trust Commission. Not satisfied, however, with his professional
pre-eminence as a Queen's Counsel without briefs, and a teeming
writer without an audience, Mr. ABRAHAM HAYWARD, failing to gain
fame, strives hard to achieve a small notoriety. Mr. WILSON CROKER is
now very old, and in feeble health, but he still possesses powers equal to
demolishing, instanter, a score of Mr. ABRAHAM HAYWARDS. But the ex-
Dublin Turnpike Trust Commissioner thought that the ex-Secretary for
the Admiralty would fall an easy victim, so he chivalrously fired his
syringe of vitriol in the old man's face. Never was a wretched impulse
more signally chastised. Without any effort Ma. CROKER has
administered a punishment to MR. ABRAHAM HAYWARD, which the
unemployed Lycurgus may remember for many a long day. A man,
possessed with an uncommon ardour for disagreeable distinction, and
acting up to his propensities, is really a new type of character, and is
the only thing which Mr. ABRAHAM HAYWARD can succeed in realising.
We never could suppose that so virulent a nature could be asshnlated
to the factious Knight of Windsor, but in the one point of " alacrity in
sinking," Mr.ABRAHAM HAYWARD even excels Falstaff, while his writings
more than equal the odours of the buckbasket. Commencing his
notoriety with Mr. ROEBUCK, he finishes it with Mr. WILSON CROKER
and the unity of his career exemplifies the line of Pope—