The Press.
London, England, 1856-06-21 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

our best interests. I think further, that its power and
influence Are and ought to be so great, that unless that
hierarchy be connected with the State, it may be too power.
ful for the State ; and hence the necessity of maintaining
that connection for the benefit of the State. On these
grounds, and not for any fanciful and theoretical reasons,
assigned by some writers upon this subject, I never for a
moment would consent to anything which should endanger
the Protestant Establishment.
I further feel that the Protestant Establishment of
Ireland is the very cement of the Union; I find it inter.
woven with all the essential relations and institutions of
the two kingdoms ; and I have no hesitation in admitting
that if it were destroyed, the very foundations of public
security would be shaken, the connection between England
and Ireland dissolved, and the annihilation of private
property must follow the ruin of the property of the
Church.
In five years afterwards, when several of the
Reform Ministers, on principle, seceded from
the Grey Cabinet, Lord Plunket retained his
Chancellorship of Ireland, supported "Appro-
priation," and took part in the "Lichfield-
house Compact," after having been in Tory
times a zealous Anti-Reformer !

To the fame of a commanding speaker, bril-
liant, powerful, and occasionally overwhelming.
Lord Plunket is justly entitled. He had
r ason, memory, imagination, and he shone
with the fire of genius. The speech on the
" Bottle Riot Treason" (so called) is the most
perfect specimen of his powers. It is also the
best reported. The following characterisa-
tion of William 111 is extremely brilliant.
It was introduced iu his speech by Plunket in
order to bias the feelings of the jury, who
were of the " Orange " persuasion :

Perhaps, my lords, there is not to be fonnd in the annals
of history a character more truly great than that of Wil-
liam 111. Perhaps no person has ever appeared on the
theatre of the world who has conferred more essential or
more lasting benefits on mankind ; on these countries,
certainly none. When I look at the abstract merits of his
character, I contemplate him with admiration and reve-
rence. Lord of a petty principality—destitute of all
resources but those with which nature had endowed him—
regarded with jealousy and envy by those whose battles he
fought; thwarted in all his counsels; embarrassed in all
his movements ; deserted in his most critical enterprises—
he continued to mould all those discordant materials, to
govern all these warring interests, and merely by the force
of his genius, the ascendancy of his integrity, and the im•
movable firmness and constancy of his nature, to combine
them into an indissoluble alliance against the schemes of
despotism and universal domination of the most powerful
monarch in Europe; seconded by the ablest generals, at
the head of the bravest and best disciplined armies in the
world, and wielding, without theca or control, the unlimited
resources of his empire. He was not a consummate
general; military men will point out his errors; in that
respect fortune did not favour him, save by throwing the
lustre of adversity over all his virtues. He sustained defeat
after defeat, but always rose adverse rerum immersabilis
unda. Looking merely at his shining qualities and achieve-
ments, I admire him as I do a Scipio, a Regulus, a Fabius ;
a model of tranquil courage, undeviating probity, and
armed with a resoluteness and constancy in the cause of
truth and freedom which rendered him superior to the
accidents that contiol the fate of ordinary men.
But this is not all. 1 feel that to him, under God, lam
at this moment indebted for the enjoyment of the rights
which I possess as a subject of these free countries ; to
him I owe the blessings of civil and religious lihert and I
venerate his memory with a fervour of devotion suited to
his illustrious qualities and to his godlike acts.

We have known it asserted, upon good au-
thority, that the late Sir Robert Peel thought
the foregoing character finer than Mr. Nlacau-
lay's portraiture of the same hero. We men-
tion the story on the relation of the late Mr.
Sheil.

Our readers are aware that we have directed
their attention to the fact of some tardy
justice being at length done in many quarters
to the memory of that great statesman the late
Lord Castlereagh. Fifty years ago he was
referred to in Plunket's words as "an apology
for a Minister." Mr. Hoey has yet to learn
the true character of that extraordinary man.
He writes of him thus :
Neither Mr. Pitt nor Earl Camden seems to have per-
fectly discerned the amazing element. of power which lay
latent in this extraordinary young man. Who indeed
could have believed that under that bland adolescent air, that
lithe and dazzling front, and, stranger still, that tongue so
awkward and maladroit, were hidden a heart as subtle, a
will as truculent, a courage as cold, and a conscience as
unscrupulous as Caesar Borgia's ! For a model of Castle-
reagh's character we naturally refer, not to the generous
ambitions and the gallant rivalries of the British Parlia-
ment, but to the crafty, impassible. and implacable ideal of
Maehiavelli's prince, or to the inexorable volition, passion.
less wisdom, and atrocious cold blood of the Third Napo-
leon. He was not then quite thirty years of age, and wore
them with such a blooming, patrician beauty, that it was
the custom of the Opposition to speak of the secretary as a
smooth-faced minion of Mr Pitt. He had that order of
mind, difficult and ungraceful of display in the liberal air
of public assemblies which " men of intellect," far excel-

SATURDAY,

knee, are always so vain to contemn To the last days of
his life Castlereagli's mixed metaphors and rigmarole rta-
soiling were the sport o the wits of Opposition. But
sneer, stricture, and invective alike glanced aside from his
imperturbable, polite placidity, and his callous pluck. Few
men have ever possessed such extraordinary executive
faculties, such reticence, tact, and duplicity, such skill in
deceiving, and such address in managing men, and so
intense and even an energy iu the conduct of great affairs.
Mr. Hoey does not appear to know that
Castlereagh was Pitt's favorite pupil, and that
the " Castlereagh Papers" abound with tri-
butes to Castlereagh from Pitt and Camden.
But Mr. Hoey sees, at least, the force of
Castlereagh's mind and its " amazing elements
"of power." After Plutikees coarse invectives
against him in the House of Commons, it is
strange to find him thus paying an humble
tribute after Castlereagh's death to one whom
he reviled while living, without any provo-
cation :

His friendship and confidence were the prime causes
which induced his Majesty's Government to desire my
services; and I can truly add that my unreserved reliance
on the cordiality of his feelings towards toe, joined to my
perfect knowledge of the wisdom and liberality of all his
public objects and opinions, were the principal causes
which induced me to accept the honour which was pro.
posed to me. Nothing can ever occur to me in political
life so calamitous as the event which, itt common with all
his country and Europe, I so deeply deplore.

When shallow declaimers talk idly about the
cruelty f Castlereagh, it is well to recollect
Lord Plunket's written opinion of him.*
It is odd that the first attempt at an elabo-
rate posthumous notice of Lord Plunket
should be from the pen of so strong an
opponent of Whigs and Tories as the editor of
these speeches. Mr. Cashel liney is a pupil
in politics of Mr. Gavan Duffy, to whom this
volume is inscribed! The introductory memoir
is more circumspective than might be ex-
pected from oiie so committed in politics as
Mr. Cashel Hoey. His style is too vehement,
and wants smoothness ; and he aims too much
at Carly Tian effects. He shows also that he
likes the rough-and-ready mode of the late
Thomas Davis, who never aimed at the laurels
of a mere writer, but relied on the resources
of his various and encyclopedic intellect.
The " historical notices " prefixed to the
seve►al speeches in this volume are well
executed, though too onesided. Mr Hoey, while
using the pliant pen of a practised journalist,
preserves an individualism of his own. Though
we cannot accept his dicta as authoritative,
we see that he can be superior to the cant of par-
tisanship. He has talents for literature, apart
from politics, and with a more careful choice
of correct models he ►night obtain distinction
as an historical essayist. On the whole, this
volume, particularly oz account of its re-
ferences to Protestant and Catholic affairs,
deserves a place in the politician's library.

Caravan Journeys and Wanderings in Persia,
Afghanistan, Turkistan, and Beloochistan.
By J. A. Ferrier. London : flu: ray.
This volume would be valuable if only as an
itinerary of some principal routes through
Central Asia. The author, with a pracision
worthy to he copied by all travellers in coun-
tries little known, notes every placa he passed
through, and gives the length of each day's
journey. He is also particular in describing
his modes of travel, and in furnishing alt such
information as may serve as a guide to other
travellers, or can give a correct conception of
the nature and habits of the people through
whose territories he passed. The volume is
so full of matter that we can bu• glance at its
contents ; and first a few words on the author.
M. Ferrier is a French officer, at present
holding a Government appointment in Pon-
dicherry. About sixteen years ago he was
selected with other French officers to drill
and organise the Persian army. He rose to
the rank of adjutant-general in the Persian
army, hut in 1843 was removed, as he believes,
by the intrigues of the Russian Ambassador.
Failing to interest the French Government
in his complaints, he determined to travel
through Asia, and seek service under Runjeet
Singh, in the State of Lahore. There is some
inaccuracy in the preface from which we take
these details, as while it is stated that Nf.
Ferrier arrived in France from Persia in 1543.

• Mr. Hoey sh3uld hare stated that the extract quoted in the
text is to be found in the introduction to the liCaatleresfb
Pagers." jt iq *roost remarkable pusqe •

I

JUNE 21, 1856.

and quitted it for his Eastern journey in 1845,
it is noted that "he waited several years in
France in vain attempts to gain the assis-
wilco of hi..t Government." In spite of his
persevering efforts to reach Lahore, he was
not enabled to proceed further than Candahar.
His daring attempts to proceed, and his peril.
ous journeys through countries where his life
was often not worth an hour's purchase, show
him to possess that singular combination of
courage and constancy which marks the true
hero of adventure. The narrative is edited
by Mr. Danby Seymour, who first met the
author in Teheran in 1840, after his travel
in Central Asia, and afterwards in Pon-
dicherry, in 1834. The work is trans-
lated by Captain Jesse, has been revised
by Sir Henry Rawlinson, and has been
annotated by that distinguished Oriental-
ist, by the editor, and by Sir John Login, who
was surgeon to the British Mission at Herat
under Major Todd. We think the book worth
the pains bestowed upon it. In Central Asia
an immense field is open to the spread of
European influence and the progress of
civilisation. In this field Russia is slowly
penetrating on one side, England on the
other. At what point they may hereafter
melt, and at how distant a date, are doubtful.
At present we can only note tendencies of
approximation. The terrible disasters which
befel the Russian expedition to Khiva and
the British invasion of Afghanistan must
operate to retard efforts on one side and the
other, and thus to isolate the barbarous
Governments of Central Asia. But the inac-
tion will not last. The enterprise of adven-
turous nations is not to be thus restntined.
They do not recognise any material barriers
to progress ; and, in spite of all that may be
urged against the impulses of aggression, we
look forward with hope and pleasure to a
time when vigorous but prudent and pacific
efforts will be made to assure to British influ-
ence a firm hold in the-countries of . Central
Asia. Much would be done to accomplish
this object could satisfactory relations be
established with the Government cf Persia on
one side and the Government of Afghanistan
on the other. Progress is the law of vigorous
communities. They cannot say " Here will I
" stand—within these limits alone will I work.
" I will discourage further advance." But
with that impulse which impels them onward
they must accept all the responsibilities and
complications, and toil, which the impulse is
sure to excite, and must, instead of welcoming
barriers as safeguards, view them as ob-
stacles, and cast its whole weight against
them to throw them down, and to open the
regions of influence which lie beyond. But
this principle, which would seem to defy all
limits, must act within limits, and there must
be a recognition of barriers which are inter-
terposed by international law It is the de-
bateable ground afforded by barbarous or de-
generating life which opens to advancing
nations a wove of activity ; and such ground
they cannot afford to relinquish, without great
danger of positive retrocession.
As giving much novel and authentic infor-
mation on the countries lying between Persia
and Afghanistan, the narrative of M. Ferrier
will command attention. It is surprising that
those countries which, it cannot be doubted,
abound in all the material elements of wealth,
should so long have been overlooked. At
Heist he found the crafty governor, Tar
Mohammed, eager for an English alliance.
M Ferrier found it difficult to convince those
authorities in Central Asia with whom lie had
intercourse that he was not an English agent.
Our reputation is established in those regions,
and it is for our Government to take advantage
of the way which has been prepared for our
influence, to found on it established communi-
cations and modes of travel and commerce.

. _
Through Persia the author travelled in cnm-
pany with caravans. This companionship has
its advantages, but. also, it must be confessed,
its discomforts:—

No greater misery can be conceivel than that of travel-
ling with a caravan, the dioagreoriu of which are many and
various. The ordinary muleteers are the greatest liars
upon earth, atid annoy you in every possible way. The
djiln•der, he who has, or holds, the bridle, or chief
muleteer. is a very different character. He is generally
an intelligent. honest man, is familiar with the roads, the
Wu*, tWages, and hal* of pie ratio* tritKs Qt the