The Press.
London, England, 1857-01-24 00:00:00

TRANSPORTATION AND THE F ALKLAND

ISLES.
Mu. C. W. EDDY hes this week addressed a letter to
the Times recommending the establishment of a
penal settlement upon the Falkland Islands. Mr.
Eddy admits that the climate is " inhospitable," but
he regards such a climate as "the very best adapted
for convicts "

- -
A rude and boisterous climate will stimulate their ener-
gies, will compel them to exercise and labour, to keep the
lifeblood circulating in their veins. It seems that it is
not considered too inhospitable a climate for pensioning
our military settlers upon ; but our pet convicts, the
darlings, must be nursed in the luxurious lap of some soft
and genial clime. Never, sir, was a more fatal mistake
made than that of sending large numbers of one sex exclu-
sively to a warm luxurious climate—to axone in which the
animal passions run riot.
The resources of these islands he describes as
follows : _ .

It will not grow corn. No ; but it grows potatoes to per.
fection. Its humid climate is favourable to all kinds of
esculents; it produces spontaneously the Tussack grass,
which feeds large herds of the finest wild cattle, whose
hides are an article of rapidly-increasing value; it pastures
herds of wild horses and droves of pigs. A country which
yields subsistence to the military pensioners, and which
enables cattle, horses, and pigs to increase and multiply, is
not to be despised. It possesses peat in abundance for fuel,
arid a bush which burns while green ; the. fresh sod for rais-
ing temporary shelter, and, there can be no doubt, clay for
more permanent buildings. Though corn does not ripen
well, yet oats, in all probability, would succeed ; and what
more do we want? Are not these all the elements which
have for ages supported a dense population in Ireland and
the Western Highlands? But these are not their only
resources. The neighbouring coasts of ➢lagellan's Straits
abound in seals of the largest species and in whales, and
swarm with fish. Nor are these valuable fisheries likely to
be soon exhausted, for the vast submarine forests of weed
(which grows there to the length of sixty fathoms) afford
a shelter and refuge which protect them from wholesale
destruction. Another inexhaustible source of wealth and
prosperity exists on the neighbouring coasts of Tierra del
Fuego, which are clothed with the largest description of
timber, down to the water's edge. Here is a resource for
ship-building and also for maintaining a supply of timber
for refitting ships, and this leads me to the great value of
these islands in a national point of view.

Mr. Eddy proposes to form a good refitting dock in
one of the numerous and secure harbours on the
coast:--

This single work, I don'thesitate to say, would be of the
greatest national importance, while it would lay the founds.
tion of success and prosperity to the colony. It is esti-
mated that a ship going in there for repairs or refreshment
would save from ten days to a fortnight as compared with
the loss of time involved in going into Rio ; but this is
the least part of it. Imagine a ship di:masted off the
Horn ; how is she to get to Rio? While the Falkland
Islands even a disabled ship could generally reach with the
prevailing S.W. winds.
• - -

The position of the islands, too, he considers remark-
ably favourable for a penal settlement:--

They are not in the neighbourhood of any civilised
country, and the planting of convicts there could not give
rise to angry remonstrances or complaints from any
foreign power or colony of our own. The escape of
prisoners thence need not be apprehended, for if they
landed on Patagonia they must starve. The distance from
England also is just what it should be—only half that of
Australia. and the cost of transport consequently propor-
tionably less, while it is sufficiently remote both for our-
selves and our colonies.

Mr. Eddy then enters into the details of his system
of colonisation, which offers certain advantages to
ticket-of•leave men, such as the guarantee of a free
passage, a few acres of land, and labour at the public
works. The prisoners should also be employed
upon the public works, or let out on the assignment
system.
Governor Rennie, late governor of these islands,
has replied to Mr. Eddy's letter, and corrects various
"erroneous assumptions which his imperfect know-
ledge of the climate and soil has led him into." Go-
vernor Rennie writes that it is impossible in these
islands to live by cultivation alone. In the first place,
the soil is either fine peat or intolerably stony, so that
it costs about 301. to clear and prepare a single acre.
In the next, after repeated experiments, he is con-
vinced that neither barley, wheat, nor oats, can he
raised in any quantity, if at all on the islands. The
produce of these islands is cattle and poultry, and
these can be reared in any number. With re•
spect to finding work for the convicts, Governor
Rennie says that a dock would be enormously ex-
pensive, and almost impracticable from the nature of
the ground, and the slight rise and fall of tide—not
more than six feet. Roads are not wanted, for
water carriage is much easier for heavy goods, and
draining valueless land would not be a profitable
occupation. After the cattle of the Falkland Islands
the fisheries may be reckoned the pursuit next in
importance ; but Governor Rennie considers that
employment unsuited to prisoners, "who, with the

SAIIITAI3AY,

necessary boats required, might escape on board of
whalers, who are, especially the Americans, not at
all particular as to whom they engage." The cattle
farmers, he observes, could never employ any num-
ber of prisoner., and nearly the whole of the cri.-
mina's must be maintained by the Government.
With respect to the safety of the islands as a prison,
Governor Rennie, in conclusion, observes

I doubt exceedingly the great safety of the Manna
Islands as a prison. If you make regulations of a very
stringent character you will diminish the attractions of
the islands as a touching port for refits and refreshment.
No vessels, excepting under circumstances of real distress,
would ever come there, as the freedom and healthy
recreations of the crews and passengers would be seriously
interfered with for the necessary security of the convicts,
and of course if the discipline is less perfect escape would
by no means be difficult. The convicts during their
sentences would despair of ever settling permanently in a.
colony, which, although healthy, offers so few pleasurabler
or profitable prospects, and as soon as freed the able-
bodied among them would quit the islands, leaving the•
helpless or idlydisposed a permanent burden on the,
Government.

ANOTHER STORY OF AN INNOCENT MAN unjustly
convicted is related in the Times of last Monday by
Mr. Brady, M.P. The case occurred " within, the
last four years." Mr. T—, a young man of high
character, with respectable family connections,
was employed for twelve years in one of the
largest firms in the " Manchester line " in the City,
the last three of which as buyer for the establish-.
ment ; in that capacity he laid out on an average.
from 40,0001. to 50,000/, a year. In the early part
of the year 1853 he left town for Manchester by the.
night mail ; on arriving at station he ehatiaed:
his mind, and determined not to proceed to Moves
cheater that night. By accident he took up the
wrong carpet bag—a policeman stopped hint, and,
finding him in possession of a Manchester ticket, took
him to the station-house. Expostulation was vain,
He declared his innocence and asked for his own bag,,
but the reauest was looked upon as part of the.
sharper's dodge. After a little further ceremony he,
was consigned to a cell for the night, to wait his, ar-
amination. He implored permission to write to. his:
wife, but so great a favour could not be granted., The-
accusation, even at this early stage, had clone its,
work. Excitement set in, and in the agony of Weo
distress he conceived the futile design of attempting
to escape. The attempt was made andifailed, and from
that moment his fate was sealed. Without being
permitted to communicate with his friends he was
examined before the magistrates, and committed to.
the county gaol. A gentleman of high character in
the City intended to be present at the trial, to speak,
to character. But the fatality which in the first In-
stance befell him, pursued him with unrelenting:
perseverance. The names of the witnesses for cha-•
racter were called; but as the trial unfortunately took.
place twenty.four hours earlier than in the ordinary.
course was expected, they were not present. The.
jury, without leaving the box, found him guilty; the.
judge approved the verdict, and Coe poor man was:
sentenced to some years' imprisonment. Mr. Brady.
goes on to relate that in prison the unhappy man be-
came idiotic, and his innocence having been subse-
quently established, he was removed to a private,
asylum, where he died an idiot. His poor widow. na
" now, with a shattered constitution and skeletons
form, stitching from daylight till twelve o'cboelk at,
night, to obtain a most miserable and scanty
for her three helpless surviving children.". Mr. P auk!
has since written, acknowledging the numeronr, offer*
of assistance to the widow, sent to him, stating
that a committee of managemertli will bri appointed.
and a list published of subscriptions* d into beasts.
Mastermann's.

A SCHEME FOR MIDDLE-CLASS EDUCATION ham
been started in the west of England. Mr. Thomas.
Dyke Acland, eldest son of Sir T. D. Adam!, hies
propounded a plan for the practical education of the
middle classes in the west of ngland. An associa-
tion has been formed, and a programme issued in
which it is stated that whilo the education of the
upper classes is promoted by the recent improve-
ments in the universities and the examination tests
in public schools, and that of the lower classes is
zealously aided by the exertions of the benevolent
and by Government grants, "the middle classes
bear the whole cost of the education of their own
children, and that they derive less aid from ancient
endowments and from the public purse than any
other branch of the community." It is, therefore,.
intended to offer prizes for competition to boys
educated in the west of England, with a view tcs•
employments in agriculture, arts, manufactures, and
commerce, the objects aimed at being a good general
education, in conformity with the common opinion:
of Englishmen, that skill in farming, handicraft, and
trade is best acquired by practice. At the annual'
meeting of the Exeter Literary Society, Sir S.
Northcote advocated the scheme, and it has already
received a large and encouraging measure of support
from men of various positions ill life and different..
religious greeds,

JANUARY 23, 1857.

jartign 6orrtsgonbtatt,

BIR ROBERT PEEL AND THE PRINCE
DE LIGNE.

BnusseLs, January 21.

ON Monday, the 19th, a numerous deputation of
the English residents at Brussels, naval, military, and
civilian, waited upon the Prince de Ligne at his
hotel in the Rue Royale, to declare their reprobation
of the personal vulgarities uttered by Sir Robert Peel
against the Prince in his disreputable speech at Bir-
mingham. The deputation expressed a hope that
the offence would be judged by him to be—as it was
in fact—an isolated ebullition of low breeding, highly
displeasing to the English of all parties, and which
the unanimous censure of the Anglican press had
placed in its true light—as unbecoming a gentleman.
A deep regret was also signified that the nobleman
selected by the King of the Belgians to be his special
ambassador at the coronation of the Queen of Eng-
land, in 1838, and lately deputed in the same
capacity to the Emperor of Russia, should have met
with an insult from an Englishman, utterly unpro-
voked, and couched in terms unknown to the lan-
guage awl to the sentiments of honourable men.
The Prince de Ligne, in warm terms, acknowledged
the compliments pail him by the deputation, and
observed :

Gentlemen, believe me that I am most grateful for this
your spontaneous act of courtesy and goodwill ; and I am
deeply sensible of the generous kindness that has prompted
you thus to repel the vulgar aggression unwarrantably
made upon me by Sir Robert Peel. I conjure you to be per-
suaded that I do not suffer the displeasure I may experience
at this low•bred indignity to affect, for one instant, the high
respect and sincere regard long and cordially entertained
by me for England and the English. The coarse verbiage
adopted by Sir Robert Peel to revile me belongs only
to a sot (ivropee) and a blackguard (gamin), and as such
I regard it with proper contempt; but, without seeking
that personage, should chance ever place me in unpalatable
contact with him, i shall not hesitate to say that his con-
duct towards me has been that of an underbred puppy
(mad dere et raurien). And now, gentlemen, on my part,
I have to express my sorrow and extreme displeasure that
countryman of mine, and without my authority, should
have used this untoward circumstanue for a reason to offer
you the incivility of refusing your admission to the dial
Noble." Such conduct on their part appertains to that
category of social offences which we have had occasion to
deplore. I have been greatly pained at such inbred and
unworthy conduct. Allow me, gentlemen, to say that out
of this unpleasant occurrence I have, at any rate, derived
the pleasure of making your personal acquaintance, and of
being able, in returning you my hearty thanks for your
considerate attention, publicly to testify my constant and
ardent regard for your country, its inhabitants, and its
institutions.

A violent demonstration was lately mule at
Ghent and at Antwerp against the liberty of worship
expressly conceded by the Belgian Constitution. On
the vigil of the Epiphany an Ultramontane Jesuit
preached a sermon in condemnation of the false
doctrines of Protestantism, and especially denuncia-
tory of the reading and dissemination of the Bible.
The possession of a bible he authoritatively declared
to be a crime ; the reading of it to be perilous to
salvation ; and the adoption of its heresies to be a
renunciation of the redemption by Christ. The
Bible, he said, is the book of hell. (L'evangile
Protestante appartient a l'enfer.) Excited by these
Jesuit appeals to passion, a Romanist crowd assem-
bled at the Protestant chapel on the " Canal
Falcon," during the time of divine service, forced
themselves into the chapel, demolished the pews,
maltreated the congregation, threatened the clergy.
man, and tore all the bibles into pieces, amidst the
most blasphemous execrations. The psalmodies
and French liturgies partially escaped ; but the
bibles were the principal objects of this destructive
rage. It was not without the active interference of
the commissary of police, M. Vanden Bogaerts,
that the disorders of these Jesuit emissaries were
arrested, and that the Protestant congregation could
depart homewards. At one time it was feared that
the Romanist fanatics would set fire to the chapel.
An outrage of this nature cannot pass unnoticed by
the authorities, as it is certain to be brought to the
notice of the Chambers. The Liberal and Con-
servative press of Belgium has inveighed strongly
against this insurgent liolupou pr 1139 i‘ vtcle
padanaptay!

- - ~ --•:

LTHE PRESS.

The Prusso•Swiss quarrel is now terminated. On
the 17th the Procureur-General left Berne for
Neufchatel in order to release the ro)alist prisoners ;
and on the 18th they were conducted, under strong
escort, to I'ontarlier, beyond the Jura, on the confines
of France. The Federal Ccuncil has ordered the
army to be disbanded, and General Dufour, in an-
nouncing the pacific solution of the international
dispute, took leave of the army preparatory to re•
signing the command. But, as it has been before
stated, neither of the bellicose parties are perfectly
satisfied. The King of Prussia is displeased that
the royalists should not have been liberated openly
and at once. It is complained at Berlin that whilst
they remained on Swiss ground they received the
treatment of malefactors without any disguise of
public opinion, and with official sanction. They
were guarded with intentional rigour, and subject to
personal annoyances during the progress to Pontarlier,
that completely belied the act of gracious liberation.
These discourtesies towards the prisoners sufficiently
attest that the Swiss were reluctantly compelled to
yield their vantage-ground. By consenting to with•
draw the State prosecution, they have to a certain
extent lost their cause. And this is the true version
with which the King of Prussia should be contented.
The debates in the National Assembly were violent.
Although the immense majority of ninety-one to four
would seem to denote an almost unanimous opinion,
yet the four dissentients, MM. Camperio and Denier
of Geneva, Thury of Vaud, and Weingart of Berne,
represented a large section of Swiss malcontents.
Their language in opposing the articles agreed upon
at Paris was brutally truculent, unstatesmanlike, and
passionately low. In the States Council the question
was decided by a majority of thirty-two to three.
Here again the deputies of Geneva, MM. Fazy and
Vught, signalised themselves by their earnest opposi-
tion to the acceptance of the articles submitted to
the National Assembly. Each of the deputies of
Geneva spoke with acrimony at the conduct of
Switzerland in yielding the point relating to the
prisoners. Henceforth Geneva, by a public mani-
festation, assumes to be the centre of the ultra-
democratic party in Switzerland, and the haven of
refuge for European revolutionists.
Lazzarini, the celebrated Roman brigand, has
been captured. It was known to the Papal police
that he was in the neighbourhood of Poggin, on the
Tuscan frontier. Having concerted measures with
the Tuscan detachment, the Papal gendarmes sur-
rounded the house of a farmer named Ledin, at
Casella, nod entered the premises. The brigands
fought with determination in the large kitchen of
the " fattoria." Enrico Casadin, known by the name
of Pasottiuo, the second in command of the bend,
was shot; and Lazzarini, whose proper name is
Giuseppe Afflitti, was afterwards secured. Brigadier
Andrea Tanesini, a fine young man, who commanded
the attack, fell in the encounter by a pistol-shot
from Lazzarini. Many of the gang escaped ; but
without their famed leader they will cease to be
dangerous.
C. A. H.

foreign anti doionial ]ittelligtna.

THE WAR IN CHINA.

A telegraphic despatch from Constantinople,
dated " Thursday, Jan. 22," brings the fol-
lowing important intelligence :

ALEXANDRIA, Jan. 15.

The Calcutta steamer hss arrived at Suez with
advices from Hong Kong to the 10th of December.
Yeh, backed up by the gentry and people, con-
tinued obdurate.

The French Folly Fort hal been taken and de-
stroyed.
The Chinese had set fire to the factories, and all
the Aongs were destroyed.
The Oriental, Agra, and Mercantile Banks were
on fire, with no hopes of saving them.
One fatal accident at occurred—O. T. Lane, ne-
phew of Sir J. Bowring, being killed by the falling
of a wall.

It was said the city of Canton would no longer be
spared, and that the discharge of rockets and shells
had already commenced.

THE EXPEDITION TO THE PEESIAN GULF.
A despatch received yesterday from Trieste.
by way of Vienna, contains the following:—
The Lloyd steamer arrived this evening at Trieste
with the following news :
" The British fleet has taken possession of the fort
pf ''biro agd the island of liarralsf".

79

An official despatch, received at Paris,
states :

BAGDAD, Dec. 22.
An English proclamation has been posted here,
explaining the causes of the rupture with Persia.
An English fleet of forty boats and two steam
frigates had arrived before Bushire. The town was
not in a state to resist.

FRANCE.
THE MURDER OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS.
The trial of Verges took place on Saturday last at
the Cours d'Assisse. After the reading of the " acte
d'accusation " the prisoner rose, and in a fluent
address protested against his witnesses being denied
him. The court overruled his objections, and several
witnesses were examined for the prosecution and
letters of the prisoner read, during which he con-
ducted himself with the greatest violence, at times
becoming so furious in his abuse and gestures
against judge and jury that the gendarmes were com-
pelled to hold him down, and he was twice removed
from the court. In his reply, Verges calmly, slowly,
and circumstantially narrated each detail of the
murder. For two months he had determined upon
it. He declared that he knew perfectly well what lie
was doing. He went to the church early in the
afternoon. He had first consulted the list of the
ceremonies of the day ; lie then placed himself near
a bench with the intention of striking the archbishop
when he should enter to hear the sermon, but after
wards, when he reflected that many of the priests
had been his fellow-students, and might on recog-
nising him prevent the execution of his plan, he
quitted the bench and placed himself in the nave.
He was there when the archbishop arrived, and re-
mained there during the entire ceremony. At length
he opened the knife, biding it from every eye until
his victim approached. " I did not strike twice,"
said the prisoner, " for I was certain the first blow
had taken effect." Upon the reply of the Attorney-
General, Verges became again so violent that he was
removed from the court, and the trial continued and
concluded in his absence. After twenty minutes'
deliberation the jury pronounced a verdict of
" Guilty " against the assassin Verges on the three
points of accusation—namely, wilful murder, preme-
ditation, and lying in wait. The verdict did not
admit extenuating circumstances, and the court, Alta
a short deliberation, passed sentence of death upon
the prisoner. The prisoner has appealed to the
Court of Cassation against the verdict, and has also
petitioned the Emperor for pardon.
Cardinal Merlot, Archbishop of Toots, will, in all
probability, be the new Archbishop of Paris: The
cardinal it described as tolerant to religious opinions,
and otherwise liberal. no is nighty spoken of, and,
in every respect, the Emperor's choice is unexcep-
tionable.

The Emperor presided at a Council of Ministers on
Wednesday.
Farouk Khan's arrival in Paris has created a great
sensation.

Baron Brunnow has left Paris for his post at
Berlin, and charged, it is said, with •special mission
from the Emperor of the French to the Court of
Prussia.

Count Kisseleff leaves Paris shortly for Nice.
A grand dinner was given last week t) the Crimean
generals by Prince Napoleon at the Palais Royal.
The speeches on the occasion were remarkable for
their complimentary tone, and for the utter absence
of all mention of the services of the allies of
France

The immense advantage of this war (said the Trinee)
is that yon have proved that France has still het
great army !

AUSTRIA.

The Emperor is reported to have been rather
cordially received upon his entry into Milan ; but the
Milanese nobility absent themselves on all official
occasions.

The Archduke Maximilian of Austria is appointed
Governor-General of the Lombardo-Venetian States
as successor to Marshal Radetzky, who at length has
retired.

The inhabitants of Milan have subscribed a consi-
derable sum of money for the guns of Alessandria, and
to raise a monument to the honour of the Sardinian
army. The monument is to be erected on one of the
public places at Turin.
Instructions for the evacuation of the Principalities
by the Austrian troops have been sent off to Bucha-
rest and Jassy. The homeward march is to begin iq
the month of March next.
PRUSSIA AND SWITZERLAND.
The royalist prisoners of Neufchatel, escorted by
a detachment of Swiss troops, were conducted on
the night of the 17th to the French frontier, which
they crossed at Pontarlier. The Federal Council
has also given orders to immediately disperse the
troops already assembled ; and General Dufour, in
an order of the day of the 17th, has announced to
the Helvetic army the pacific solution of the dif-
ference with rrpsis, a44in tbM the sa;ticl; in