The Press.
London, England, 1858-12-04 00:00:00

THE PRESS, DECEMBER 4, 1858

ascertaining the Colonel's age and the state of his regiment, for which pur-
pose he insinuated himself into the good graces of two very acute privates,
who, with brandy and water perpetually floating in vision before their eyes, and
in substance down their throats, undertook to supply the important piece of in -
forniation. The astute ROE forthwith sent two libellous letters, one to the dis-
turber of his domestic peace, the other to General SCARLETT, and the letters
containing libels on the Colonel's conduct as an officer were read publicly
on parade. Then followed the action against ROE: not for libel,
but for inciting the soldiers of the regiment to commit an act of
mutiny, for which there was not one tittle of evidence except the pothouse
insinuations made by ROE to the two thirsty soldiers. What could have
possibly led Colonel lionNE to risk the fair fame of his sweetheart we are
at a loss to conceive ; and it would have been much better taste, knowing
AS he did that the man ROE had intentions of slipping the love-making
into `his case," to have settled the matter in a less public manner. Mrs.
writing to the Times, assures us " there is a mystery in the case ;" and
we certainly don't envy Mr. ROE the life he is to lead under Mrs. Roes
roof, as shadowed forth in that lady's letter. The wretched man, in de-
fending his step-daughter, if he really had that object in view, has not
only incurred public ridicule by the method he pursued, but his very wife
ranks him as a madman, and repudiates his acts. The whole thing is an
amusing episode of barrack life, and we would strongly recommend
Lotharios of sixty-two, particularly if in command of a regiment, to keep
their loves and their sorrows to themselves, and not trumpet their " bonnes
fortunes " to the world, simply because a mad barber chooses to thwart
certain romantic intentions that arc paid to his daughter, and takes rather
a peculiar method of expressing his disapprobation and views on the
subject.

We have no wish or intention to depreciate the gallant career of Sir
JAMES BROOKE, whose military and administrative talents are beyond
dispute; who has perhaps more than any other man of this generation
illustrated the peculiar virtues of the English race; and who is unques-
tionably one of those characters who in certain stages of the world become
the founders of empires, or the civilizers of barbarous nations. Ile is a
man after Mr. CARLYLE'S own heart, and in an age when society was
carried on more exclusively by individual energies, would have risen to be
a hero. We say this in order that our readers may be quite sure of our
sympathy with the man, while at the same time we decline to advocate the
principles of which he is just now the exponent. The facts of the case in
relation to the district of Sarawak are simply these :—The island of Borneo,
though nominally subject to the sway of a Sultan, or suzerain, is divided
into many principalities and governorships, frequently at war with one
another, and not always respecting even their feudal superior One of the
semi-independent rulers, named MIRDA HASSIM, borrowed a sum of money
from Sir JAMES BROOKE, who first went out to those countries on a com-
mercial speculation about eighteen years ago. Being unable to pay at the
appointed time, he ceded the Government of Sarawak to his creditor as a
security for the debt—which was afterwards settled by Sir JAMES adding
another 8,000 dollars, and receiving the dignity for life. Now, MIRDA
HASSIM had clearly no right to alienate a single rood of the land he
administered as the representative of the Sultan of BORNEO; and the
extraordinary exertions made by the new Rajah to obtain the Sultan's con-
firmation of, the grant sufficiently show what he himself thought of the
nature of his tenure. When this confirmation was at length obtained it went
no further than the original agreement—that is to say, it accepted Rajah
llnooKi: as the Sultan's feudal vassal instead of MIRDA HASSINI. These are
the simple facts of the case, and they may be reasoned upon in various ways.
First of all, is it to be argued that England must always lay her hand upon
everything that offers, because if we don't advance, we should begin to
recede ? But we suppose this, if true of England, which we do not believe,
is true also of other countries, and would accordingly land us in con-
clusions that would be rather difficult of digestion. Such a maxim might
be true or not of a universal empire like Rome, but it could not be tolerated
for a moment in a commonwealth of nations like Europe. But we are
bound to keep faith with the British residents in Sarawak. No doubt it
is desirable that no British subjects should incur loss under such circum-
stances. But no Government can pledge its successors in this way to what
they believe to be an act of injustice or impolicy. The circumstances of
the whole case must have been perfectly well known to Englishmen who
settled there. If either their own too sanguine temperaments, or the
improper expectations held out by the Government of the time, have
placed them in a dangerous position, they cannot expect the present
Ministry to violate a great principle for the sake of a policy which they did
not initiate, and which they believe to be erroneous. The fact is the day
for this kind of thing has gone by. Whether the part we acted in India was
nght or wrong, we shall never permit ourselves to act it over again else-
where. To attempt it would be a revival of that antiquated system of
foreign policy, which is now generally condemned by the growing intelli-
gence of the community. _end we are sure that whatever abuse Lord
DERBY may meet with from the interested classes, the opinions indicated
by his recent remarks on this subject will be acceptable to the community
at large.

1185

may have partially sprung from a consciousness among the Quaker youth
that if protection was withdrawn, improvement must forthwith begin ; and
that their customary costume would become a serious drawback as soon as
peg-top trousers, turn-down collars—to say nothing of scarlet uniforms—
were permitted to enter the market against them.

A deputation has waited on Mr. WALrotE on the subject of the
licensing system. This is one of those questions which we really might be
gratef►►l to a despot for settling for us. It is complained that the beer-
shops at Aldershott are greatly frequented by prostitutes, to the detri-
ment of the young soldiers morals; and it is sought to apply the same
rules to them as are already in force against the houses of licensed
victuallers. We have no doubt that in this particular respect the camp
is a nuisance to the surrounding country, on much the same principle that
a garrison town is not usually famed for the purity of its morals. We
sincerely trust, therefore, that something may be done in accordance with
the recommendations of the deputation. But somehow or other any inter-
ference with that " drop of good beer " which the Briton regards as his
birthright is always ill received in this country; and as for the other evil,
it is useless for one class of men to wage war upon prostitutes while
another class is doing all it can to recruit their ranks. We must begin
higher up the stream if we are to do any real good.

The sentence of the Court-martial on Lieutenant LrCKROFT, of her
Majesty's ship Hawke, seems a little harsh. This young officer, it may be
remembered, lately startled the whole population of Queenstown by a
violent cannonading from his vessel lying at the time in Queenstown har-
bour. The officer had been receiving a few friends to dinner on board,
and in the evening he complied with their request to see some firing. Of
course the offence was a grave one, and the offender was supposed to have
been drunk. Perhaps he was ; but on inquiry' it appears that he was a
very meritorious servant of her Majesty, and had served in China, where
he suffered from a stroke of the sun ; and it was deposed by the medical
witnesses that, after an attack of that nature, any person's head would be
more than ordinarily liable to be affected. Now, it may be true enough
that an officer in this state of health may be better out of the navy than
in it. Yet, we think, if some means could have been found of effecting the
same end less severe than dismissal from the service, it would have been
as just as merciful to have adopted them.

The Dublin papers of last Saturday contained the following adver-
tisement :

" Reward.—The correspondence of the late Duke of WELLINGTON,
from September, 1805, to April, 1807, is missing. Ilis Grace was of
opinion that he had deposited these papers somewhere in Dublin, on
assuming, in 1807, the office of Chief Secretary for Ireland. They are
supposed to he in boxes in some public store, or bank, or in some private
house in Dublin. Any information that may lead to the discovery of these
papers will be liberally rewarded by the present Duke. Reference to
WILLIAM BOOTH, Esq., C. 8., Farm-hill, Dundrum, Dublin."

The letters of the Duke of WELLINGTON here referred to were
written during the two years that intervened between his return from
India and his acceptance of the Chief Secretaryship for Ireland. He left
India for England on the 13th of March, 1805, and may he supposed,
therefore, to have arrived in England about the beginning of September ;
at all events during the two months of September and October three events
of no small importance occurred to him. He married Lady CATHARINE
PAKENHAM, daughter of the Earl of LONGFORD, to whom he was engaged
before he went to India. He obtained the colonelcy of the 33rd Regiment
vacant by the death of Lord CORNWALLIS, and he was returned to the House
of Commons as Member for the Borough of Rye. During the following year
he was much occupied in preparing a reply to the assailant of his brother
the Marquis, whose government in India had been denounced as tyrannical
and corrupt. The accuser was a Mr. l'At-L, Member for Westminster, and
son of a tailor at Perth, who had got a fortune in India, which he sub-
sequently lost in speculations, and then committed suicide. PAIL'S
principal supporter was Lord FOLKESTONE; and for a time Mr. WINDHAM
and other eminent members of the House of Commons lent him their
countenance. Sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY must, therefore, have had a good deal
upon his shoulders at this particular time, and it is probable that his
correspondence would contain many not over-flattering allusions to the
instigators of this attack. It is possible, also, that the letters written on
the eve of his departure for Ireland might be found to express some very
strong opinions on the misgovernment of that country, and the notorious
system of jobbery which prevailed at that time in all branches of the Irish
Administration. As throwing fresh light on a comparatively exceptional
portion of the Duke's career, it is to be hoped the correspondence may yet
be discovered in some lumber room, or possibly some private desk.

The Quakers have been holding a meeting to consider the expediency All is fair, we arc told, in love and in war and in politics; so we
of relaxing the severity of their regulations. One of the topics that came arc not surprised that the Opposition have been truing to establish
under discussion is of considerable interest to the outside public. we that the theft of the lonian despatch from the Foreign-office was in
mean the marriage restrictions that prevail in that singular society. No some way traceable to the misconduct of Lord DERBY Government.
( Nakeress is at present allowed to marry outside the charmed circle of the The worst of these miserable insinuations—at least for the maker of them
1 broadbrirn, and, considering how large a °rtioh of this world's goods has —is this, that they infallibly affect all his future statements, and that the
tound its way into the drab breeches-pockePts of the peaceful fathers, the Guardian of the Public Weal, having been caught out so often in vexatious
Prospect of free trade in their daughters is calculated to excite the liveliest and frivolous accusations, is not believed in important ones. Thus the
embotions of gratitude among the male sex of these realms. Probably the character of the whole press is lowered without any good whatever being
consideration of a change in dress, which accompanied the above proposal, effected to gratify the irrepressible jealousy of a single journal.