The Press.
London, England, 1856-10-04 00:00:00

THE FRENCH ALLIANCE AND THE

ENGLISH PRESS.

AN article in the Rev►ie Contemporuine of yester-
day, of which the subjoined is a translation,
is, we are assured by trustworthy correspon-
dents, considered to proceed from " high
authority." Wo see nothing in the article
itself of special importance, but we print it
as likely to become a subject of general
remark :

For the last fortnight the journals have been filled
with recitals respecting the fetes of which Moscow,
the capital of Old Russia, has been the theatre, on
the occasion of the coronation of his Majesty the
Czar, Alexander 11. There have been seen, defiling
in columns, the splendid corteges and innumerable
squadrons of Europe and Northern Asia—picturesque
costumes, glittering arms, civilisation seasoned with
a little barbarism, the nineteenth century mingled
with the middle ages—all peoples represented, all
races confounded together—the North, the South,
the East, and the West—the present and the Fast
marching with steady tread towards the future. One
spectacle, doubtless, must have been very fine, to
see the representatives of great nations who only
yesterday were at war, to-day united by one common
thought, that of rendering homage to the supreme
dignity, and consecrating by their presence and their
respects the authority of the new Emperor. Who
would have said, some eight years since, when we
were writhing, crushed, and bleeding in parliamen-
tary convulsions, or torn by anxiety for the menacing
future, while pens too hasty in taking their wishes
for realities wrote every morning, "the Kings are
flying,"—who could then have told us that at a day
so near we should see all the Sovereigns of Europe
seated more firmly on their thrones than they have
been for the past sixty years, sending their ambas-
sadors to the coronation of an Emperor of All the
Russias ? Who would have said that the prestige of
power could be raised again, so soon and so high ?
If one examines oneself in good faith—if one scru-
tinises one's conscience thoroughly and sincerely—if
one inquires without arriere perish, and with no
foregone conclusion, to whom are due such grand
and glorious prodigies, there is no man of sense
who will not name him at once.
The heir to the throne of Peter the Great has not
misapprehended the cause while presenting the
effect. The predilection which he testifies towards
our ambassador, and the attention of which every
Frenchman present at the coronation has been the
object on bis part, afford a proof of this. That
proof might be strengthened, were it necessary, by
the excellent relations which have been knit since
the treaty of Paris, between the French Govern-
ment and the Russian Cabinet—relations which
even the discordances that have arisen respecting
the interpretation of that treaty cannot disturb,
and, indeed, on the contrary, seem to have con-
firmed. It has not been necessary for us to exert
ourselves in puerile demonstrations in order to
obtain recognition for the rights of each, or of all;
and the energy which we displayed in the war saves
us to-day from consuming our coals in inoffensive
promenades upon the Euxine. Our allies of Great
Britain, it
.is said, have not been able to see this
intimacy arise and extend between the two Cabinets
without anxiety and even discontent. This is,
no doubt, a mistake. Why should the English Go-
vernment view with an evil eye the growth of rely
Lions which afford a better guarantee of peace—that
peace so dear to England, as her hesitations in the
war of the East, and her longanimity before the
insults of the American Government, sufficiently
demonstrate? Her evangelical virtues must be
praised ; but, at the same time, one should see some
better security than those for the entente cordiale so
often extolled, and now in these last days so
solidly realised. The English nation knows as
well as its Government that France will always be

SATURDAY,

t1:13 ally of its policy, so long as that policy shall be
one of justice and good faith.
The new relations which attach us to Russia can•
not moreover receive any shock from the Circular
of the Russian Cabinet to its diplomatic agents, and
Which has been published by the Gazette de
Cologne, and subsequently by Le Nord and other
journals. One might, to a certain point, call in ques-
tion, if not the substance, at all events the form of
this document. The mode of its original publication
gave even some probability to this hypothesis. But,
adopting it as it stands, we can see in it nothing but
the natural discontent of a Power who no longer
plays a leading part in the affairs of Europe. At
bottom the circular is only a declaration of neu-
trality, and if it sets forth a divergence of opinion
between the Cabinet of St. Petersburg and the
Western Powers, it declares also on the part of the
Russian Government the desire to lake no active role
in the conflicts which the obstinacy of the Neapolitan
Cabinet or of the Court of Athens may occasion, and
to concentrate all their efforts upon the amelioration
of the internal condition of the country, and the de-
velopment of its civilisation. We do not then
attach to this Circular an importance which it could
not bear, even in the eyes of those who dictated it.
The English journals vainly seek in it the occasion
for new diatribes. At ler•gth we have become familiar
with these attacks.

' The English papers waste their ink in trying from
time to time to exercise upon their readers an in.
fluence against us. The daily press in England has,
by the very excess of liberty which it enjoys, lost all
authority over public opinion: it exists, on the con-
trary, only by throwing itself upon the tide, and in
following, as the Times does so well, all its fluctua-
tions. This journal, beyond the Straits, is nothing
but a magazine of information, whence each man
takes what he wants, and, far from submitting to its
influences, wishes merely to find the image of his own
thoughts. Nevertheless, it is not the same on this
side of the Channel ; and we who have assigned to
the daily press a certain power upon the public
mind, because we have interdicted it from extreme
license—we who feel all the susceptibilities of a point
of honour when aggression comes to us from a
great and powerful nation like England—we do not
suffer willingly that people should accuse us un-
justly, and so soon forget the services we have ren-
dered. The noble and wise reply which M. Amedee
Renee, the director of the Constitutionnel, has made
to the fanfaronades of the English journals, has ex-
cited amongst us the liveliest sympathy from men of
all classes and shades of opinion, at the same time
that it appears to have caused regret at their im-
prudence even to those who have provoked it. The
English journals appear astonished that they have
been taken here au serieux, and hasten to protest
their confidence in the French Government, and
even their loyal admiration for the Chef de l'Etat.
This article of the Constitutionnel produced -apon
us only that pleasant influence which one ought to
feel in thanking the author; but it will have, as we
believe, a much higher effect. Republished by the
journals, it will remind Great Britain, that if opinion
in France is today in favour of the English alliance,
it has only become so through the prudent firmness
and wise skill of our Government. England, who
knows so well how to preserve the outside of her in-
stitutions, while modifying them bit by bit to the
fashion of ours, has learnt much from contact with
us upon the field of battle ; and if all the glory has
not been hers, she has at all events learnt some-
thing in the way of management for which she ought
to be grateful.
It is only M. de Montalembert who says,
that everything is for the best in Great Britain and
Ireland. The English themselves are not of this
opinion; but know:very well, while accepting the
academic eulogium, to credit whatever the academi-
cian blames among us, and to despoil him of what-
ever they praise among themselves. Singular and
presumptive refutation of a book which flutters them
without convincing, and which they accept without
believing in its sincerity !

THE RIGHT HON. JOSEPH NAPIER, M.P.; gave a
lecture on Friday evening last, in the new Lecture-
hall, Keswick, for the benefit of the Keswick
Mechanics' Institution. The subject of the lecture
was " Labour and Knowledge in connection with the
Conditicn of the Working Class." The lecture was
well attended, but chiefly by the higher classes of
Lake society.
The Berlin correspondent of the Frankfort Journal
states that a second peremptory note has been ad.
dressed to Russia on the subject of the Isle of Ser-
pents by Great Britain.
" The Mediterranean squadron, under the com-
mand of Admiral Trehouart," says the Toulonnais
of the Ist, "is still in our roadstead. The crews
had been forbidden for some days to leave their
vessels, which circumstance gave birth to the rumour
that they only waited a telegraphic notice to sail for
Naples. That interdiction has now been taken off,
and nothing leads to the supposition that any speedy
departure is in contemplation."

OCTOBER 4, 1856.

ittraturt.

A Residence in Tasmania ; with a Descriptive
Tour through the Island. By Captain H.
Butler Stoney. London : Smith and Elder.
THE same kind of interest which belongs to
biography is attached to the history of colo-
nial settlements. At first they have always
great difficulties to encounter. Their early
years are spent in contending with the hos-
tility of the native inhabitants, in battling
with the wildness of nature, or in suffering
from the hardships which the pioneers of
colonisation have invariably to contend with.
Sometimes the infant colony is all but ruined
by premature speculation, and sometimes all
but starved by famine through failure of the
first efforts of cultivators. But these first
perils overcome, the colony advances, not in-
deed with equal steps, or without occasional
retrocession, but still with vigour ; the most
favorable soils are purchased or rented ; and
that strong desire of landed property which
seems instinctive in the Anglo-Saxon race,
becomes the means of spreading cultivation
far beyond the limits which would suffice for
the wants of the settlers.
A general view of the progress of our co-
lonisation would present us with astonish-
ing results. Canada and Australia are each
year absorbing a largo portion of the popula-
tion and capital of Great Britain, and yet the
parent country thrives on the emigration, and
is rapidly paid back what she yields in the
spread of commerce and the increase of colo-
nial production. The decline in the West
Indies, though on many accounts to be re-
gretted, is more than made up to us by the
growth of comparatively new settlements, for
in the West Indies our colonisation, as the
result has proved, was purely artificial. There
was no resident proprietary, and no natural
labour. Our establishments and estates there
were little more than manufactories. British
enterprise and society struck no deep roots in
the soil. In Canada and Australia, on the
contrary, it is the Anglo-Saxon race which is
spreading, with all its natural habitudes and
all its social forms.
There is a striking difference in one respect
between the new settlements formed in the
United States and those established in
British colonies. In the former the commer-
cial element largely prevails. Society collects
in towns, but does not root itself in the
land. In the latter, a weighty landed proprie-
tary soon gains ground, and though from its
nature not capable of very rapid expansion,
yet makes continual way. From this circum-
stance, it may be anticipated that the social
fabric in our colonies will be firmly established,
and that the connection with the mother
country will long prevail.
In this pleasant book by Captain Stoney
there are evidences that the aristocratic
element in Tasmania is becoming a marked
feature in its society. The landed properties
of several settlers are immense. In the ex-
cursions described by the author we read con-
tinually of large estates, many of them evi-
dently formed with wise forethought for the
future rather than with regard to the imme-
diate present. The proprietors, notwithstand-
ing the youth of the colony, are wealthy.
Thus we read that Captain Horton, a " gentle-
"man possessed of very considerable pro-
" perty," has " built at a very large outlay a
"very fine college, endowed by him in con-
" Junction with the Government, for the pur-
pose of educating youth, and conferring
" degrees in every profession." Captain Hor-
ton s residence is on the road to Launceston,
and we read :
In this neighbourhood also is the residence of Philip
Smith, Esq., another large landed proprietor. We need
not enter upon a detailed account of Mona Vale, the mag-
nificent properly of Mr. Komode, it having been so ably
described in Colonel Mundy's work.
Again, in the neighbourhood of Launceston

The property of the Rev. Mr. Raibey, a very enterpris-
ing gentleman of large property in the colony. On the
opposite bunk of the river is the extensive property of
the Landon family, known as the Meander Rise, and con-
tinuing upwards of eight thousand acres.