The Press.
London, England, 1854-02-25 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

Such are the questions asked, with more or
less warmth, by influential parties interested
in the promulgation of scriptural religion and
ardent in the cause of Christian truth. They
derive additional gravity from the notoriety
of certain facts in the administration of the
present Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The
Viceregal patronage of such politicians as Mr.
William Keogh and Mr. John Sadleir, the
scandalous impunity given to the reverend
rioters at Six-mile-bridge of sanguinary fame,
the promotions given to Coalitionist Roman-
ists, the very peculiar tone of the St. Germans
press, the scoffing derision offered to the
opinions of Archbishop Whately and Mr.
Blackburne, furnish ample topics for the
angry invectives of those who would insinuate
that between the Castles at Dublin and St.
Angelo there exists a telegraphic communica-
tion, by means of which the understanding of
" His Excellency " is often mesmerised with
some spiritual whispers from " His Holiness."
For our part, we desire to draw the attention
of our readers to the question of education iu
Ireland, without encompassing its discussion
with the inflammatory topics common to
Irish affairs, and in the very first place we
have to observe that the subject is in every
sense, direct as well as collateral, an English
and imperial, as much as an Irish or a local,
one. The rules laid down at Dublin by a
constituted "Board of Education," supported
by 192,0001. per annum from the English
exchequer, are of imperial importance.
" What's fact to-day will be precedent to-
" morrow," and the experiments tried in Ire-
land may possibly be repeated nearer home.
Our systems of police and local courts are but
copies from similar machinery in Ireland, and
we have imported also from the sister isle that
systematic clamour and organised agitation
under which free opinion in this realm has
been considerably endangered. But even on
the highest moral grounds, apart from any
technical regard for administrative politics,
the whole question of the National Board, in
its relation to Protestantism and the Church
of England, is essentially a subject to which
the public opinion of England must be
energetically applied. Upon the whole ques-
tion we could wish to say a few plain words,
setting forth the fulness of its importance.
The very gravest part of the subject is that
arising from the prodigious increase in the
number of Protestants in Ireland. It has
been doubted whether the positive addition to
the Protestants by means of conversions has
been so great as has been asserted. The
point can be settled at once by reference to
the files of the Roman Catholic journals. The
author of the first work at the head of this
article writes :

Of the extent of the movement it must be understood
there is no question on either side ; it is the character of
it which isin question. Even in 18.51, when it was much
more limited than at present, the Tablet, the great organ
of the Roman Catholic party, the powerful exponent
of Ultramontanisrn, wrote m the Bth of November, 1851

"We repeat that it is not Tuam nor Cashel, nor Armagh,
that are the chief seats of successful proselytism, but this
very city in which we live," i.e. Dublin.
Another Roman Catholic organ, the Dublin Evening
Post, thus wrote on the 11th of November, 1851: " We
learn from unquestionable Catholic authority that the suc-
cess of proselytism in almost every part of the country,
and we are told in the metropolis, is beyond all that the
worst misgivings could have dreamt of. There is not only
no use in denying these statements, but itwould be an act of
treachery to the best interests of the Catholic Church to
conceal them, or to pass the matter over as a thing of no
great moment. There is no Catholic who does not regard
the movement—if he be a sensible and sincere one, and
not a brawler and a mountebank—with, we were going to
say, dismay, but we shall substitute for the word, indigna-
tion and shame."
Nation Newspaper, November 20, 1852, writes: " There
can no longer be any question that proselytism has met
with an immense success in Connaught and Kerry. It is
true that the altars of the Catholic Church have been de-
serted by thousands born and baptised in the ancient faith
of Ireland."
" The Irish nation is fast dissolving, as the Jewish na•
tion dissolved before the curse of (sod lr-
eland is ceasing to be a Roman Catholic nation."—The
Nation newspaper.
" In many parishes at present the priest gazes on his
empty chapel The Roman Catholic Church
of Ireland will need a defence association of guardian
angels to save it from extinction."—Nation newspaper.
But the very extent of this movement—this
late blossoming of the goodly tree of the Re-
formation—is a reason why Rome is now put-
ting forth her old resources for blighting the

SATURDAY,

precious promise. Unable to bully the British
Parliament with an " appropriation clause,"
and foiled in its attempt to violate the Act of
Union, Romish generalship artfully retreats
from the parliamentary encounter, and adopts
an ingenious system of covert policy. Here is
what the Romanist leaders say in their con-
claves ;—" English opinion has abided with
" Lord Derby on the appropriation question'
" raised in 1834. Even Lord John Russell,
"as Mr. F. Lucas, M P., says, laughs in our
" face' when we talk of the Irish Church
" question. Even our dear ally Sir James
" Graham repeats that the Irish Church
" property must be held sacred from spoliation,
" and the friends of the writer of the Durham
" letter ' will not join in any cry against the
" Establishment. It is hopeless to fight an
" open battle against the Church of England.
" Shall we then despair ? No ! let us get hold
" of the education of the Irish and we will yet turn
" the tide of victory." Divested of its Jesuitry
and its sacerdotal style of rhetoric, such is the
political logic of those wily persons who suc-
ceeded in driving on the Romanist members
of the Board of Education into courses which
eventuated in the withdrawal of the Arch-
bishop of Dublin, Mr. Blackburne, and Baron
Greene. Nor let it be thought that there is
shallowness or want of craft in this masked
policy so dextrofisly adopted. The priests
have already their Maynooth with thirty thou-
sand pounds per annum for the special educa-
tion of their clerical recruits ; they have also
the Queen's Colleges, a costly experiment, in
which all creeds are placed upon a level ; and
at the University of Dublin the degrees are
open to Roman Catholics. Let our readers
mark the pregnant fact that the Roman Catho-
lics of Ireland have far more educational ad-
vantages than their fellow-subjects, the Pro-
testant Dissenters of England. We will not
pause to inquire into the mode in which they
obtained these great advantages, but the fact
is patent that their Sheila, Moores, Wyses,
Woulfes, and Pigots can freely graduate in the
university of Usher, Swift, Berkeley, and Grat-
tan ; whilst upon the other hand the Baineses,
Martineaus, W. J. Foxes, and Howitts cannot
take degrees at Oxford and Cambridge. Yet,
so far from softening Roman Catholic big otr,
or appeasing its insatiate appetite for do-
mination, it is announced that Rome if sh e
be allowed) will never pause until she can
clutch with tenacious grasp the entire manage-
ment of the revenue of the Board of Educa-
tion. Her ample repast at Maynooth, along
with the favours given to her at Trinity Col-
lege (a university established by Queen Eliza-
beth for advancing the Reformation) and in
the Queen's Colleges, have only whetted tho
serpent's appetite. Its scaly folds glittering
through its ambush show it writhing in its
sinuous course, and collecting itself fora spring
at its too unsuspicious foe.
Not the least curious and interesting fact in
relation to the question of the Education
Board is the circumstance of education proving
such a powerful element in assisting the pro-
gress towards Protestantism. Unquestionably
popular education has advanced considerably
in Ireland since Lord Derby first founded the
"National" system. The reading of the Bible
in the vernacular was one of the means by
which the doctrines of the Reformed Faith
rapidly spread in the days of Luther (and sub-
sequently) ; and the power of perusing the
Scriptures has done wonders in sapping the
sway of Rome in Ireland. Her dilemma in Ire-
land is that she must stop the circulation of the
Scriptures, or the Scriptures will stop her! Give
her the power of leavening them with her own
man-made wisdom, and she fears them not;
and grant her the whole control of education,
and she will not quail before the printing-
press. Yes ! yield everything to her—listen to
her whine for toleration (while she triumphs
in greater privileges than are accorded to our
English sectaries)—allow her to banish from
your Board of Education such calm and con-
scientious Protestants as the Whig Archbishop
of Dublin, the Conservative ex-Chancellor
Blackburne, and the neutral Baron Greene—
be deaf to their remonstrances and hearken to
her requests—scoff at the appeals from friends
to your own faith, and adopt the arguments of
its deadliest foes, and it will not be your fault
if, before another decade of years shall have

-

FEBRUARY 25, 1854•

rolled us nearer to eternity, you shall not have,
under the cover of a " Board of National Edu-
cation," established at British cost a potent ally
to the Propaganda, and have actually stopped
the reformation in Ireland, that seems now
providentially ordained ! But
Nought can England rue
If England to herself be true;
and at this point we will answer the questions
of those readers who may desire to know our
advice upon the momentous subject of the
Irish Board.
All that we desire, at present, upon this
grave question are strict public inquiry and
vigilance. The first, thanks to the practical
sagacity of the late excellent Viceroy of Ire-
land, Lord Eglinton, has been secured for us;
and it will not be our fault if due attention be
not from time to time given to the question.
The House of Lords will nominate a commit-
tee of investigation into the whole subject ;
and even already the debate of last week has
renewed public attention on this vital subject.
The whole question will be examined strictly
upon the issue as stated in the " Petition of
Patrons of National School." They have de-
manded inquiry into the arbitrary acts of the
board, and they have required security
against the religious element being extruded
from the system. They request attention to
the singular circumstance of books, previously
approved by the board in the days of the tole-
rant Archbishop Murray, being now removed
at the suggestion of the supporters of the ul-
tramontane Dr. Cullen.
And here we must specially notice the con-
duct of the Prime Minister in the debate of
last week. Audacity is not the quality that we
would look for from " antiquated imbecility,"
but it really required excessive assurance in
Lord Aberdeen to tell the House of Lords
that the system of the National Board had not
in, anywise suffered from the retirement of
Archbishop Whately ! To support this as-
sertion, it was said that in 1852 the number of
schools under the board was 4,953, and that
in 3
ith reached 5,07
Archbishopll2 of Dub-
lin's retirement. But, as Mr. Burke said,
" Two and two do not always make four in
" political arithmetic." Was there, forsooth,
no moral loss to the system on the retirement
of one of its most revered upholders? Would
it be said that an army suffered no loss in the
fall of one of its best generals because " 112"
raw recruits had been attached to it ? Or, in
computing the value of his crops in one season
against another, would an agriculturist only
look to the numeration of acres under
tillage, and pay no regard to the character of
the produce, arising from the vicissitude of
the season or the presence of a blight? And
if, under the auspices of an Aberdeen Cabinet,
the aphis vastator of Popery is to settle upon
the upspringing harvest of scriptural religion
in Ireland, what satisfaction, truly, will it be
to learn that " 112" more fields have been
tilled for the pestilence to work upon ?
And, lastly, let not our readers be deceived
by those who raise a cant cry of " intole-
rance" against the supporters of the views
of the Protestant seceders from the board.
Upon this point we have, in the report
of the debate in the House of Lords, the
conclusive testimony of the Earl of Desart
and the Earl of Donoughmore to the fact, that
on our side there is no intolerance. Lord
Desart declared that " the real fault in the
" existing system of the board consisted in
" the fact that the management had fallen into
" the hands of men who took a greater interest
" in the welfare of the Roman Catholic Church
" than in the spread of education ;" and Lord
Donoughmore confessed " that for himself he
" did not wish to see the system of education
" paid for by Parliament out of the publ
ng
ic
" money carried on under any proselyt,
system, on the one side or the other. It
will be recollected, also, that Lord Desert wir
Colonial Under-Seeretary in Lord Derby
Ministry, and that the Earl of Donoughmore
was selected by Lord Derby as mover of the
address in 1853 ; and, amongst the rising
members of the House of Peers, few give
more promise of practical ability than both
these noble lords.
To resume, we have drawn attention, first,
of the anxiety existing upon the question of

THE PRESS.

the National Board in its relations to the
Church of Rome ; secondly, to the aspect of
the subject under a Coalition Ministry ; thirdly,
its imperial importance as a precedent ; fourthly,
to the covert course of Rome upon the subject ;
fifthly, to the advantages enjoyed by Irish
Romanists over English sectaries ; and, rejoic-
ing in the fact that a committee of the House
of Lords will investigate the petitions of
" Patrons of National Schools," we will keep
our eyes upon the inquiry. So enormous are
the fallacies of " Liberalism" on the religious
question in Ireland that we may take an early
opportunity of pointing out certain facts, con-
veniently or purposely hidden by superficial
investigators of Ireland and " her difficulty."

Algeria. The Topography and History, Poli
tical, Social, and Natural, of French Africa.
By John Reynell Morell. London : Cooke.
Tins is in many respects the best English de-
scription of Algeria that we have. Professedly
a compilation, it embodies the substance of
nearly all that has been written on the sub-
ject, well arranged and condensed into small
space. A work of this kind is meant rather
for reference than reading; it is more a guide-
book than a history ; but, among much matter
of little interest except to the geographical or
political student, we find descriptions and in-
cidents of war which attract both by their
novelty and the style in which they are re-
lated. These Mr. Morell has had the judg-
ment to extract or translate, for the most part,
without alteration. Of his original wilting
we cannot say much in praise ; his style alter-
nates between bombast and slang; and if this
book comes to a second edition, as it deserves
to do, we earnestly recommend him to expunge
a preliminary dissertation concerning things
in general, on which we fear he values himself
as a model of fine writing, but which to us
seems flippant, conceited, and in the worst
possible taste, besides having nothing more to
do with Algeria than with the new Reform
Bill. Who that buys a guide-book wants to
be told that " the regeneration of man is
" daguermotyped in characters of light, but
" we are blind to God's photographic art: the
" age of reason and the reign of love is mapped
" out by unearthly hands on our parlour-
" tables, but we are deaf to the summons of
" the seventh heaven"? Let Mr. Morell stick
to facts, and forswear the fustian which he
mistakes for eloquence.
Algeria divides 'itself naturally into three
belts or zones—the maritime zone, the Tell of
the Arabs, reaching from the mountain ranges
to the sea ; the pastoral uplands lying imme-
diately to the south of this ; and the sandy
desert beyond. This last increases in sterility
as you go farther southward : towards the
northern frontier, where it borders on the
mountains, it supports a considerable popula-
tion, the sea of sand being interspersed with
an archipelago of oases. On the Mediterra-
nean side are no rivers of magnitude, but oc-
casional torrents, and water enough beneath
the surface for purposes of navigation. The
French colony extends about 625 miles from
east to west, and from 150 to 500 in a north
and south direction. Marshal Bugeaud com-
puted the native population at between three
and four millions; but this estimate is usually.
considered as au exaggeration. The use of
the province—the probability of its ever re
paying the vast sums expended upon it—was
a subject repeatedly discussed in the French
Chambers; but to abandon a conquest is often
harder than to win one : sentiment forbids
what reason recommends. Moreover, France
requires an outlet somewhere : Africa at pre-
sent supplies her requirement; and a trans-
marine possession, distant only 450 miles from
the mother country, has the advantage of
being under the control, and almost under the
inspection, of the home Government. It a
t is
possible that a few years more may see ele-
graph laid across the Mediterranean, and Oran
and Constantine brought within immediate
reach of Paris.
The cost of the colony has been
In 1844, after the battle of Isly, theenormous. expense
to Government was computed at 26,85e0 e
0,0001.,
against which there was nothing to
t on th
credit side of the account except 2,000,000/. and
of
treasure found in Algiers at its capture a

185

rather less than the same sum, the collective
revenue of fourteen years' occupation; being
altogether a loss by the concern of twenty-two
millions and a half. The military expenses
have continued steadily to increase : Clausel
in 1830 commanded 37,000 men ; Bugeaud, to
whom the subjugation of the Kabyles is owing,
operated with 100,000. The regular strength
of the Algerine army has varied on an
average from 60,000 to 80,000 of all arias. Be •
sides the actual loss of money, African war has
reacted unfavourably on the French character.
It is, indeed, singular how large a space 'w-
ales and petty frontier skirmishes in Kabylia
occupy iu the Parisian imagination, while our
Burmese and Kaffrarian campaigns pass unno-
ticed in London, and the possession of India,
with a population fiftyfold that of Algeria, has
in no perceptible degree influenced our na-
tional ideas.
Colonisation in its true sense remains still
unattempted in French Africa. In 1850 the
total European population did not exceed
126,000 ; and of these 6 large portion consist
of the scum and refuse of the French towns,
sent off as a riddance to the mother country,
not as a gain to the colony. Deducting the
civil administrators and their retinue, the
camp-followers, and the population engaged
in trade, it appears that the number of Euro-
pean agriculturists falls considerably short of
the number of soldiers sent for their protec-
tion. Thus the caricature was scarcely an
exaggeration which represented a man digging,
with two others standing behind him in uni-
form, carrying muskets and fixed bayonets, to
keep off the Arabs. It is as a scene of mili-
tary display and military teaching—as a Chob -
ham on a larger scale—that the Algerine occu-
pation has answered the objects of its pro-
moters. Skilful generals have been formed,
and daring deeds done, at the expense of a few
barbarians whose murder by wholesale creates
no sensation in Europe. Bugeaud belonged
to an older school ; but Changarnier, Cavai-
gnac, Lamoriciere, Canrobert, and Bedcau owe
their fame to Kabyle campaigns. With some
brief notice of these we close this article
Describing Bugeaud's campaigns, CesteUane says
" Blows like these can only be struck by an army that has
more than reliance iu its commander. It must have re-
spect and love for him. Such were, iu fact, the sentiments
that Marshal Bugeaud had succeeded in inspiring in his
soldiers. Who amongst U 8 has been able to 'forget his
noble countenance and his noble heart? In their familiar
way of speaking, the soldiers had christened him Pere Bu-
geaud. And they were right ; for his solicitude for their
welfare equalled his affection for them. Easy and commu-
nicative, he felt happy among his troops, as iu the bosom
of his family : his language, full of good humour, went at
once to the heart of the soldiers. They all felt indebted
to him for losing sight occasionally of his high rank ; and
the respect they bore him was only increased by this con-
descension. It was in times of danger that ' Richard was
himself again.' In those seasons all eyes were turned to-
wards him, being certain to find a direction and precise
orders ; or, if the danger became imminent for all, common
safety."
The name of Bugeaud is associated with many of the
most important successes of the French arms in Africa.
He beat Abd-el-Kader on the Sikkak, near Tlemsen, in
1836 ; he overthrew the army of Morocc' at Isly in 1844 ;
and he subdued the greater part of Kabylia Proper In
1846 ; showing the greatest decision and the most deter-
mined courage throughout. Marshal Bugeaud, who was
created Duke of Isly after his victory, had servedunder
Napoleon at Saragossa (1809), as we have prevuiously
seen, and presided over Algeria as governor-general from
1841 to 1846. He died at Paris, of cholera, in 1849.
• • • • • •
Perhaps the most brilliant of Changarnier's achieve-
ments was the forcing of the Pass of the Oued-lodha, near
Milianah, in September, 1812. Never did &French column
run such risks. With a thousand men he was enveloped
in frightful ravines, while whole populations of hostile
Arabs and Kabyles rushed upon him. But Cavaignac was
there ; the zouaves, the chaseeurs d'Orleans, and the chas-
seurs d'Afrique were there ; and Changarnier commanded.
" Calm and impassible," says Caatellane, " Gen. Changarnie r
was at the rearguard, enveloped in his little caban of white
wool, a target for all the bullets ; and giving his orders
with a coolness and distinctness that gave confidence to
the troops, and doubled their ardour. Not a moment's
wavering was seen iu that daring eye ; his heart seemed
to swell with the danger. The column advanced,
the mountains re-echoing to the tempest of battle. He
led a charmed life amidst the showers of bullets, that
seemed to increase his coolness. Seldom have soldiers
shown more courage; but the chief knew how to com-
mand, and his men to obey."
Lamping informs us (1841) that " General Changan
flier, who commanded us, is known by she Changan
e as
a brave soldier. who exacts the very utmost from others as
well as from himself, and who accordingly moat commonly
succeeds in hie enterprises. He is more feared than loved
by the men, who say, ' C'est un homme dur cc Changer-
nier.' He appears to be a few years above 50, powerfully
built, but with a face somewhat weather-beaten by the

186

77.‘

storms of life. He has been fighting in Africa ever since
the first occupation."
Changaniier has since shown the some stern, inflexible
will and decision at the barricades of the Faubourg St.
Antoine and in exile. Whatever his political opinions or
errors may be, he has valiantly supported the reputation of
the French arms.
Equally brave, more dashing, and less cool, the gallant
Lamoriciere is the perfection of a hussar
.officer. His very
conversation has all the entrain, the lightning speed of a
charge of cavalry. As governor of the province of Oran,
he was remarkable for the incessant activity, promptitude,
and rapidity of his intelligence ; and his bold spirit loved
to indulge in brilliant paradoxes, in discussing and study-
ing the questions of colonial empire and emigration. Ap-
pointed governor in 1841, in that and the foUowing year
he sapped the power of Abd.el-Kader in the west, his
stronghold, by his indefatigable razzias ; while Changar-
nier, the montagnard, as Bugeaud christened him, subdued
the province of Algiers.
• • • • • •
Cavaignac is a man of very different stamp—austere,
silent, embittered, full of the glowing but concealed fire of
disappointed ambition. A Republican to the backbone,he
won his most glorious laurels under a king ; and he com-
mitted his greatest fault as dictator of a republic. "Abso-
lute in command, energetic in action, slow in deciding
because slow of comprehension, but concealing the labo-
rious working of his min under a solemn silence, and
only speaking when decided, General Cavaignac wns es-
teemed by all, loved by some, feared by many. Those,
however, who had any relations with him were unanimous
in allowing that, if you appealed to his heart, the haughty
dignity with which lie loved to surround himself disap-
peared, to make room for a quite paternal kindness; but
'these moments of forgetfulness were rare. The silence
in which he lived, the separation from others in which he
iked to move, elevated his imagination; and the smo-
hered fire of his eye disclosed a man who thought his life
sacrifice, even when the rank and dignities of the state
were thrust upon him ; for we must do him the justice to
say that those dignities were received, but that he had far
too much pride to seek them. Thus Cavaignac, by raising
before his mind an ideal to imitate and worship, and by
preferring his own esteem to that of others, ended by
giving a false development to his naturally frank and
kindly disposition. In his military career Cavaignac has
given many proofs of his cool obstinacy. He obtained his
rank of commandant at Tlemcen in 1836, at the time of
the expedition of Marshal Clanzel, when he held the place
for six months, deprived of all succour and news. This
was one of the bright actions of his soldier's life ; and it
is but fair to add, that, though he sadly mistook his mis-
sion as a politician, he was never found wanting in war, in
the day of danger and strife. In 1840 he held out the
whole winter at Medeah, with two battalions of zouaves,
and was relieved in April, after five months' imprisonment,
by General Bugeaud : his firmness, his noble example, the
paternal encouragement of his advice, had been their great
support."

Travels in Bolivia; with a Tour across the
Pampas to Buenos Ayres, &c. By L. Hugh

do Bonelli. London : Hurst and Blackett.
MR. BONRLLI passed three years in wandering
over South America, going out by the West
Indies and the Panamese isthmus, descending
the Pacific coast to Lima, crossing the conti-
nent from Bolivia to Buenos Ayres, and thence
returning to Europe. An observant and accu-
rate traveller, speaking the language of the
country, might have found materials in such
a journey for a volume which should have
placed his reputation on the same footing as
those of Mutton, Madame Calderon de la
Barca, Sir F. Head, or Mr. Mansfield Par
kyns. There was not room for a second Hum-
boldt, nor need every tourist be a walking
encyclopedia of all the sciences ; but from
such an expedition as that of Mr. Bonelli we
had a right to expect a faithful and graphic
portraiture of manners, men, and scenery.
We might have heard from him something of
the fierce civil wars which desolate the
Spanish republics—something of the untamed
Indian tribes who yet roam over the vast
pampas of the south—something of the capa-
cities of those mighty rivers which the skill of
an English diplomatist has opened to the
commerce of the world. Nor were the ma-
terials of personal portraiture wanting. Chiefs
like Rosas, Urquiza, Belza, if not attractive as
heroes, are worth study as characters, who,
for good or evil, have influenced the destiny
of nations. Among the settlers in Bolivia,
Peru, and La Plata are soldiers of fortune

who have served in every army of Europe,
anti whose swords, though laid by for the
time, are still sharp and ready for use. The
bare recital of such men's adventures, as we
have heard them told ere now, would form a
volume considerably more interestingthan that
of the present writer. To say that he has dis-
appointed us—that he seems neither to have
observed judiciously nor to narrate graphically
—and that three fourths of his book are made
up of personal adventures not remarkable in