The Press.
London, England, 1858-08-21 00:00:00

BOMBARDMENT OF JUDDAJI.

SoNEE of our contemporaries profess to be scan-
dalized by the bombardment of Juddah, and
accuse Lord MALMESBURY of infringing on the
Sultan's prerogative and violating the integrity
and independence of the Porte. It is possible,
indeed, that an error of judgment was committed
in the first instance ; but if so, it was on the part
of Captain PULLEN. That Gallant Officer may,

perhaps, have acted with too much caution and
forbearance immediately after the occurrence of
the outrage, but there can be little doubt as to
his being perfectly justified in at last taking the
decisive step of bombarding the guilty town. As
a military operation this bombardment may,
however, have been " a trumpery affair enough,"
and the leading journal may be pardoned so very
mild a sneer at the indication of energy in any
other than Lord PALMERSTON. The object, it
must be remembered, was not to involve in one
common fate the innocent and the guilty, but to
prove to the Mahommedan Powers that the day
has gone by for aggressive movements, even on
religious grounds. The outrage in question had
this peculiarity, that it was not an international,
but an inter-religious one. It was an exposition
of the old fanatical hatred of the Moslem for the
Christian, which has fitftilly slumbered during
the last hundred years, and is now vainly striving
to shake off its lethargy. The massacre at
Juddah was not directed against individuals or
any particular people, as such. It was simply a
defiance hurled against Christendom. The mere
punishment of the murderers by the action of
the ordinary laws would not have satisfied the
exigencies of the case. The actual massacre of
the European victims might, indeed, thereby
have been avenged, but the affront to the Chris-
tian religion would have remained unexpiated.
We can readily Imagine that, in an age and in a
country where indifference has become fashionable,
and where feeling is pronounced vulgar and of bad
taste, the idea of resenting an insult to Chris-
tianity will be received with a shout of derision,
and that allusions to the Dodo may he ex-
pected from gentlemen of facetious reputation.
But in the East religion Is still cherished as the
chief motive and mainspring of men's thoughts,
words, and works, and not as a mere holiday garb
to be assumed on the seventh day. Among Asia-
tics religion enters into every movement and trans-
action of ordinary life, and nothing is too trivial
to be worthy of an invocation to Allah. It was
religious faith or prejudices that instigated the
people of Juddah to insult and massacre the
Christians, and on those grounds the guns of the
Cyclops accepted the quarrel and avenged the
affront. There is reason, besides, to believe
that this outrage was partly attributable to
the machinations of Mahommedan pilgrims
from India, of whom an unusual number
has this year been attracted to Arabia,
by the revival of the festival of the
Kaaba. Ilad Lord MALMESBURY hesitated to
take swift and summary vengeance, it would
ere long have been noised abroad through every
bazaar in Guzerat and the Dekkan that the
Feringhees had been bearded with impunity at
Juddah, and that the final overthrow of the
Kafirs was already nigh at hand. Asiatics must
be dealt with after their own fashion. They
ever couple forbearance with fear, and leniency
with conscious weakness. To force alone are
they amenable, and the bombardment of Juddah,
" trumpery " as it may have been, will be more
effectual in repressing future outrages than the
ablest protocols, or even the best written articles
in the columns of our contemporary.

REGISTRATION, A STEP TO
REORGANIZATION.

IT was about this time last year that our
readers were told in these columns that from the
want of political confidence the year 1857-8
might be expected to be as fertile in memorable
changes as the year 1834, when the great
Reform Bill party was suddenly broken up into
fragments, and the Conservatives became orga-
nized and disciplined. Events occur in cycles,
according to some philosophers, and certainly
there is some resemblance between 1858 and
1834. In both these years Liberalism, apparently
triumphant, was really in a flaccid state ; its
strength was but nominal, and its hold upon the
country was much weaker than was supposed.
It lost confidence in 1834 in the vacillating Earl
GREY and in the vehement Lord BnouonAm ;
and it has no belief in 1858 in the dethroned
PALMERSTON and the rejected RUSSELL. It has
no new or rising statesmen of ability, and the
country at large is evidently disinclined to plunge
tbrward for organic changes, in the hope that a

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