The Press.
London, England, 1858-08-28 00:00:00

828

THE WEEK.

We are willing to believe that the remarkable speech delivered by
the Count DE PERSIGNY on Monday last, which has occupied so prominent
a position in our daily contemporaries, is as honest as it is unquestionably
eloquent and ingenious. To affect a doubt of the sincerity which ac-
tuated him in his observations upon the English alliance would be as un-
gracious as impolitic. It is most true that England has little or nothing to
gain by a war with France, or indeed with any Continental Power. She
aspires to no European conquests. She sighs for no change of government for
which hostilities might afford the opportunity. ller colonial dependencies are
as extensive as she can conveniently govern. And she would probably never
seek to regain those ancient maritime rights of which the " Clarendon
capitulation " deprived her. All these reflections are so extremely obvious,
that, however grateful we may feel towards M. DF, PERSIGNY for the
courteous and friendly tone in which he has expressed them, we cannot
disguise from ourselves that they convey no intelligence to the people of
this country which it did not possess before. That the commerce of
either nation would be seriously damaged by a collision is a consideration
not wholly unfamiliar to us. Nor do we require to be reminded by implication
that the nearer the two countries are brought together by the discoveries
of modern science, the more would hostilities between them partake of
an unnatural character. No man could be insincere in using such
arguments as these. They arc patent to the most ordinary intelligence,
and have long formed the stock of English public opinion on the subject.
There is, however, a very material point, to which M. DE PERSIGNY did
not—perhaps could not—have been expected to allude. We mean
the equally patent fact that it is not by considerations of this
nature that peace and war are determined. If all history did not warn us
of this, the experience of the last twelve months would be sufficient to do
so; and accordingly, without for a moment underrating the good inten-
tions of the French statesman, we must frankly declare that we think lie
has laid undue stress upon the circumstances in question. Ilk account,
however, of the misunderstanding between France and England nine
months ago is such as every Englishman must rejoice to see afforded
by a Frenchman, and it is upon this particular portion of his
speech that we have dwelt with the most unqualified satisfaction. The
part which will perhaps commend itself least to the general sense of the
English public is fortunately that which also concerns them least. We
allude to his remarks on the Imperial dynasty. Now, there are plenty of
arguments in favour of the expediency of maintaining that dynasty with-
out having recourse to the somewhat strained ones which M. nn PERSIGNY
pressed into its service. "Men accuse it," says he, "of a tendency to dis-
" inherit the country of its legitimate influence in the conduct of public
" affairs by founding, as at Rome, a sort of Caesarian dictatorship, aided by
" the prestige of the name of Napoleon. Allow me to repudiate this
" analogy. Between C/ESAR and NAPOLEON there is nothing in common,
" except the glory which founded the prestige of the two names. But the
" situations are totally different. At Rome the problem was to transfer a
" society corrupted and disorganized by civil war from a republic to a
" dictatorship by the destruction of its ancient liberties—while in France,
" on the contrary, the task of the Napoleons is no other than to continue
" our old monarchical state by a fourth dynasty—not to destroy ancient
" liberties, but to consolidate new ones." We think if these be the aspi-
rations of the Napoleon dynasty that they will hereafter be best described
in the well known Virgilian couplet—
Andiit, et voti Plicebui succedere pattern
Mute dedit; partem volucres dispersit in auras.

That it may consolidate new liberties is very possible, but that it will ever
be regarded either by its contemporaries or posterity as " a fourth
dynasty," succeeding to the House of Bourbon as the house of Bourbon
succeeded to that of Valois, is the mere dream of an enthusiastic partizan.
We most earnestly believe, moreover, that any attempt on the part of the
present Emperor to link himself with the old Legitimist traditions will not
be conducive to the growth of his power or popularity. Let his family be
accepted for what they are. The inaugurators of a totally new order of
things—of a system in which the people are everything and the aristo-
cracy nothing, as opposed to one in which the people were nothing and
the aristocracy everything—of a reign of equality opposed to a reign of
privilege. Let his House, we say, frankly accept this position, and far be it
from us to limit the future that is in store for it. France may still have
her Antonines; but we trust the present Emperor will avoid the snare
which was fatal to his uncle, and not hanker after aristocratic sympathies
which can never be sincerely given to him.

The European troops at the disposal of the Calcutta Government
having been required in the Upper Provinces to suppress the revolt of the
native army, it became necessary to employ detachments of sailors as a
land force in maintaining order and tranquillity in districts near the sea-
board. A portion of this Naval Brigade was stationed in Assam, and by
their presence effectually checked any tendency to mutiny on the part of
the local battalion. In the absence of more stirring. occupations these
amphibious worthies devoted their leisure hours to private theatricals, and
to galloping furious), about the neighbourhood on the small ponies that
abound in that pro,ince. The dusky daughters of the land likewise found
favour in their eyzs, and time thus pleasantly ambled along with them
until the moment arrived for their return to their "native element," or
the acceptance of their discharge front her Majesty's service. They
prefer, it is said, the latter alternative, but coupled with the condition that
they shall receive certain allotments of land in their adopted country. It
is probably unnecessary to remind our readers that the tea-plant grows in
wild profusion throughout the upland districts of Assam, producing a leaf
fully equal to the best varieties obtained from China. The cultivation of
the plant itself is sufficiently simple, but the picking and manipulation of
the leaf require some judgment and great delicacy of touch. Of course
certain amount o copit4l Is also indispensable, as no returns can

THE PRESS, AUGUST 28, 1858

be looked for within three years of the original outlay.
04Y
though entertaining profound respect for the British sailor, whether in
the
cockpit or on the high and giddy mast, we do
jno t feel quite confident of his
Hi success in the character of a tea-planter. His judgment is not usually un-
impeachable, nor is he generally remarkable for the delicacy of his man ipu-
lation. The amount of his capital, and his appreciation of the value of
money, are tolerably well known in. every quarter of the globe; but his
pursuits are more frequently of a jovial than of a commercial or agricul-
tural character. The assignment of waste lands to a genuine sailor appears,
therefore, about as judicious a measure as the bestowal of a troop of horse
on a Quaker, or intrusting a steam-engine to the management of an
Ojibbeway Indian. Their application, we are told, has been taken by the
Indian Government into mature consideration—a circumstance that curls
the lip of a well-known daily contemporary. And yet there is good
ground for deliberation. On the one hand, a colony of industrious
Englishmen, occupied in the cultivation of tea, might undoubtedly be pro-
ductive of manifold advantages. But, on the other hand, a settlement of
reckless, improvident sailors, constant to nothing but liquor, might have
the effect of lowering the European character in the eyes of the natives,
and prove seriously prejudicial to our moral influence. Hitherto, Euro•
pears have never been seen by the natives of India in abject poverty and
destitution, and it is very desirable that such a spectacle should never he
afforded them. It becomes, therefore, a matter of grave importance that
grants of land be not conferred on every casual applicant. Due care must
be taken that the grantee have means and abilities to make a proper use of
the " talent " confided to him ; and on these points the Indian Government
must be allowed the exercise of the most ample discretion. Constant in-
terference on the part of the home authorities in matters of detail cannot
be otherwise than highly prejudicial to the efficiency of their representa-
tives in the East, where the only possible systemis that of a paternal
despotism.

A ship, according to the Johnsonian definition, is a prison with the
chance of being drowned. This is the status of the crew. Passengers
sometimes find it an hotel, in which, it' they escape drowning, they run
the risk of being put into irons. Such, at any rate, was the unpleasant
hazard encountered by the gentlemen who OA passage in the Undauntei,
Captain FRANKLIN, which sailed from Melbourne to London in April last.
The vessel left Australia with a valuable cargo and several passengers.
At Calcutta more passenger 3 were taken in, comprising many Indian
officers coming ho:ne on sick leave, several ladies, of whom one at least
had gone through the seine of Luckno'v, and about two hundred
invalid soldiers. Touching afterwards at the Cape, another posse of pas-
sengers was shipped, among the number a Mr. Kuno whose subsequent
treatment by Captain FRANKLIN formed the subject of an action
tried this week at Bristol assizes, and from which we gather sonic
edifying particulars touching the condition of the social circle on board the
vessel during her voyage. Passengers in a merchant ship suffer terribly
from ennui, and are apt to relieve the monotony of their confinement by
various de!assemens, some of which in shore-going society might very
possibly be considered odd, or even improper. In the case of the
Undaunted, among other amusements they had cultivated a quarrel with
the captain. Before reaching the Cape, Captain FRANKLIN was regularly
" sent to Coventry" by the occupants of his cabin, under circumstances of
provocation which induced him sometimes to allude significantly to
" twelve paces on shore," and sometimes to employ his authority as
commander of the vessel in a way which interfered at many points with
the personal enjoyments of the passengers. It must be acknowledged in
his oehalf.that his position was in many respects one of peculiar difficulty.
his crew consisted chiefly of Lanus, Those discipline was not so perfect
as that of British sailors; while the presence oftwo hundred soldiers on board
deprived him of that practical superiority of strength which might perhaps
have rendered him less sensitive to the disparaging inuendoes against
either his social station or his professional dictatorship. On one occasion
it seems that something like a definite challenge was interchanged on the
subject of an appeal to three; and when Captain FRANKLIN threatened to
" pipe up" his crew, one of the officers on board plumply told him that he
would find himself overmatched in any struggle by the red jackets, who
would, of' course, side with their own profession. Matters came to a
climax during the run home from the Cape. The passengers prosecuted
with redoubled zest the amusements in which the captain was not allowed
to share. They went to high
,jinks on the quarter-deck ; they played
cards in the cabin to a late hour; and cracked tumblers in playing "Car-
dinal Puff" at times when Captain FRANKLIN was trying to repose in
an adjacent berth after the fatigues of the day. On his side, the com-
mander showed a disposition to use his authority despotically. lie
ordered
the cabin-lamps to be shifted, so as to incommode the curd-party, and
even threatened to have the lights extinguished at eight e clock,
instead of the regulation hour of eleven. In the consequent disputes
Mr. FROG seems to have taken a prominent part, although the particular
incidents do not appear on the face of the proceedings. We cannot other._
wise understand how he came to be selected for a special visitation of
arbitrary power by the commander. His sole ostensible offence consisted,
in having stated, as a sort of legal opinion, that Captain FRANKLIN, if omni-
potent towards his crew, exercised towards' the passengers no other func-
tions than those of an hotel-keeper. The Captain, after this outrage, is said
to have got up a scene probably unexampled in the chronicles of maritime
adventure. lie buckled on a revolver, told his mate to take arms also,
summoned his crew about him, and declared that the passengers were
about to mutiny and seize the vessel. The comedy ended by his ordain;
poor Mr. Klux; into irons. A chain of seven feet long was accord-
ingly fixed round the leg of the unlucky passenger, the other end
being fastened to his cabin floor; and in this uncomfortable state 11r.
kitou passed ten whole days while the Undaunted was running I,e
11
through tropical latitudes. The pretence of mutiny, ridiculous from the
beginning, was speedily abandoned by Captain FRANKL I
iN, since he sent
daily message to the prisoner olrermg munedito rope 40°0