The Press.
London, England, 1854-12-02 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

to let bygones be bygones. A forestalling mind must
look to the past for instruction. And the great lesson of
acoomplished facts is, that England's policy, in reference
to the present war, has been wrong in its direction, and
inefficient, unsuccessful, and disastrous in details. Let us
analyse the situation. Your gigantic armada in the Baltic
is nearly without a laurel to rest its head upon. To do
something effective there, the co-operation of Sweden was
a matter of prime necessity. England did not get it, be-
cause England's policy was wrong. I told England six
months ago that the co-operation of Sweden is to be got
only by calling Poland to arms. And that was the answer
which, three months later, King Oscar gave to General
Baraguay d'Hilliers. You have taken Bomarsund, a small
matter forsooth, yet when the time comes that necessity
will force you to remember Poland, and shall have to thank
her for the advantage of getting Sweden over to your side.
Then Bomarsund would have proved an acceptable offer
to Sweden, but you blew it up, as if afraid of your own
victory ; as if bent on the purpose not to have anything to
offer to Sweden. What a gigantic blunder! (Applause.)
England pretended to strike a blow at the commerce of
Russia by blockading her coast, and England just sac-
ceeded in turning Russian commerce to Prussia.
Of the Austrian diplomacy, he said :

England has bent her mind on bringing Austria over to
herself; she has sacrificed to this one sins everything:
numerous millions spent in vain ; the life-blood of the
flower of England spilt in vain ; principles, political repu-
tation, the liberal character of the war, and the very issue
of the war—everything. And has your Government gained
Austria ? ("No, no.") Has it gained that Austria to
whom it has sacrificed everything—that Austria of whom
even the Times is bound at last to acknowledge that " you
are fighting her battle more than your own?" ("No, no.")
What a proud sneering there was in official quarters when
I, months ago, told the good people of England that they
believe they pay and bleed for freedom, when in reality they
are made to fight for Austria. Now it comes out at last.
Truth will come out, like murder will. Well, has your
Government gained Austria ? ("No.") Go and read the
well-founded lamentations in the organs—even the minis-
terial organs of publicity—about the treacherous attitude
and the overbearing insolence of that Austria which your
Government persisted in courting with so much submis-
sion, and which, in return, facilitates the enterprises of
Russia, insults your allies, and counteracts your combina-
tions. (Cheers.) It is not only that you have not gained
over Austria, but you have the Turks arrested in the midst
of their victorious course; and the fruit of their heroic
struggle, poor Wallachia, played over into the treacherous
hands of despotic Austria. There is the Turkish army
paralysed on the one hand, and there is, on the other band,
the Czar left free to throw overpowering numbers upon the
flank and the rear of your gallant ranks in the Crimea.
There you have the spirits of the Turkish army, high flow-
ing as they were by the victories at Silistria and Giurgevo,
now depressed ; there you have the spirits of the Russian
army, depressed as they were, now restored. And, oh ! I
could tell you what it is to neglect the moment of spirited
excitement in a victorious army, and what it is to give
time to a demoralised enemy to resume its spirits and to
take breath. One such moment's neglect in a war, and it
is not battles, but empires that may be lost by it.
The Sebastopol expedition, he went on to show, had
brought us into a position of infinite peril and sacri-
fice without any promise of ultimate results cons
mensurate with our efforts and losses.
M. Kossuth then offered various criticisms upon
the conduct of military operations, and sketched
a plan of campaigning in which the English and
French armies were to have co-operated on the line
of the Danube with Omer Pschs and his Turks, so
as to drive the Russians back entirely from the
Black Sea and making the inva.sion of the Crimea,
than perfectly isolated, a mere episode in the years'
proceedings. Adverting again to the English share
of the war risks and capabilities, he spoke of the
avowed necessity for our furnishing a constant stream
of reinforcements to our army, and inquired how we
were to procure them :

The question is, what have you to do in the situation you
are placed ? Yon are told, for all answers, that reinforce-
ments shall be sent, and reinforcements will do. 1 went
the length of England and the Highlands of Scotland, and,
seeing the scantiness ofyour rural population, I wondered
where England could find soldiers, once seriously engaged
in a great war. Your cities absorb your nation, and it is to-
day true what Horace wrote 2,000 years ago ; it is not the
cities but the rural population, " rusticorum musculor
militum proles," which furnishes the stout arms for the
war. Still to send the most possible of reinforcements is
wise, and it is a duty and an obvious necessity besides.
He concluded by returning to his starting point, the
Austrian difficulty :
To have a radical case you must penetrate to the root
of the evil. The real source of all your difficulties is Aus-
tria. (Cheers.) Every child knows this. Either England
fears Austria too much, or loves her more than she ought.
There is the evil. Don't fear Austria; throw her over•
board, and you are safe ; if not, not. To engage in a
wrong direction may be an error—to persist in a wrong
direction and sacrifice life may look like a crime, the retri-
bution of which may yet fall heavily on your heads. Shift
the theatre of the war, insist peremptorily on Austria's
evacuating the principalities, and on aiding with or against
you; advise the Sultan to grant independence to the Ron-
mains and arm them. Enlist the Polish emigration—not
in Turkey, but here. Mind where the weak point of
Russia is, and strike there. And wherever a Government
is playing false to you, call on the nations it oppresses.
(Loud applause.) These are your radical remedies; but
remember that while in matters of- internal progress you
way say—by and bye we shall souls to that; in a war

1137

everything depends on moments. Opportunity lost is a
- Poland is • -surest
would

campaign lost—may be, even more. is your
remedy even to-day, but how much surer and easier
it have been six months ago. Ido not speak from even
patriotic egotism. Come what may—in this war England
stands more in need of Poland and of Hungary, than
Poland and Hungary stand in need of England. With us,
victory; without us defeat, or a disreputable insufficient
armistice. You remember the tale about the nine sybilline
books. Poland willbe your sybilline books. Three already
are lost. Hasten to buy the remaining six, or else, like the
Homan king of old, you shall have to pay the full price of
all the nine for the last three. Mine is the advice, yours is
the choice.
M. Kossuth resumed his seat amid loud cheering,
and the meeting terminated.

MECHANICS' INSTITUTE AT PRESTON.
A YEETINO to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the
Preston Institution for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge was held at the institute on the 22d ult.
About five hundred persons were present, including
Lord Stanley, Sir Robert Peel, Mr. Ford, High
Sheriff of Lancashire, and Mr. Patten and Mr. Hey-
wood, members for the northern division of the
county.
Lord STANLEY, in addressing the assembly, said
that he perhaps ought to apologise for calling atten-
tion to any other subject than the all absorbing one
of the war, but that

practical proof that war
interrupt the course of

On the contrary, u we
that it is the inevitable
sorbing, almost monopolising,
the progress of internal reform,
necessarily and naturally
the struggle in which we are
unfavourable than those 1
tertain, I believe that the
service which we can

in which we can co•operati
our battles abroad, is to -

evidence that their exertions
that social progress, that
intellectual cultivation,

poorer classes, are not
existence d a most formidable
cheers.)
He then concisely noticed the present circumstances
of the institution. It was free from debt; its mem-
bers amounted to 600; it had a clear yearly revenue
exceeding 3001.; it had 180 students in its various
educational classes ; and its library, for free circu-
lation among its members, amounted to 5,000 vo-
lumes. He feared, however, that the benefits of the
institution were chiefly enjoyed by classes higher
than that one—working men—for whom it was spe-
cially designed, and he urged the importance of
getting workmen to join it as extensively as possible.
The public benefits of such institutions might be
considered tinder two points of view, social and

educational :
First, as to what I call the social point of view. Now
we all know, we all perceive, that society in the present
day is in many respects constituted very differently from
what it was in former times. Various causes have operated
upon it ; perhaps amongst those causes the principal and
most apparent has been that increase of local communi-
cation which tends almost to destroy, within at least the
area of this country, all separations produced by space.
Now, on the whole, there is, of course, no doubt—the
man would be insane who denied it—there is no doubt
that that increased facility of communication has been
productive of very great benefit to the community; bet,
like every other benefit in this world, it has its seem-
pan)ing evils. And one of these evils, I think, is a ten-
dency, an increased tendency, which most people notice,
and which has been very frequently a subject of discussion
—a tendency to a disruption of local connections and ties.
I think we shall find, it you compare the state of society
now with what it was 50, or, still more, 100 years ago, that
men in the same class, following the same occupation,
though in different parts of the country, are in much closer
and more intimate relation one with another than persons
in different classes, following different occupations, who
reside in the same immediate locality. The tie of class
becomes stronger, the tie of local proximity becomes com-
paratively weaker. Now, no doubt other causes concur,
though in a lesser degree, to increase that division be-
tween classes. There is among the wealthy, perhaps,
greater luxury and refinement; there is among the wt rk•
ing classes—and I for one don't regret to see it.
more strongly-developed feeling of independence, which
makes them reluctant to meet those who, perhaps, they
think do hot meet them on equal terms ; and there is,
no doubt, also the pressure of severer labour upon all
classes consequent upon the increased activity of our age.
lint, be the causes what they may, the result, 1 think, is
certain. And what we want to do is, what it is important
to do is, to find for this severance, for this disruption of
local ties, a remedy which shall be efficacious and uni-
versal. The only remedy which I know is, so far as it is
possible, to provide common pursuits, to provide common
occupations and amusements, to induce different classes
to meet one another more freely, so as to maim people
think a little less of their individual place and station
in society, and a little more of their duties to society.
For myself, I consider that every pound and every shil-
ling ahich is subscribed to institutions of this kind, or to
free libraries, or to public baths, or to museums, or parks
and gardens, fur the use of the public—every shg

it might be useful to give a
rar ought not, and need not,
more peaceful occupations
3 are told, and not untruly,
e tendency of foreign war, by ab.
icing, public attention, to check
reform, and as that consideration
ly induces many persons to regard
ire now engaged with feelings more
e which they might otherwise en.
the best service—perhaps the only
render—perhaps the only way
erate with those who are fighting
give to the country a practical
ions do not tend to paralyse ours,
that internal improvement, that
that care for the wants of the
not interrupted even by the
.midable foreign contest. (Loud

1138

which is subscribed in that way from private funds to
a public and general object, is so much clear gain to the
country ; it is so much taken away from that enormous
waste which is produced by private and what one must
call selfish luxury—it is so much taken away from that
waste and employed for the public advantage. (Cheers.)
Next he considered the educational advantage of
these institutions, in retaining and improving the
knowledge acquired at schools in early life :
A great deal is said of the want of a proper supply of
schools for the working classes. Now, lam very far from
denying that such a deficiency does really exist. But I
believe, if we came to look into the matter accurately, we
should find that our first and principal want is not so
much a greater number, as au improved quality of schools.
Now in this matter Parliament may do something ; whether
it will is another question. Government inspectors may
do a little in raising the standard of teaching; but, after
all, neither Parliament nor Government can do all that is
wanted. The principal labour, the principal responsibility,
must rest, after all, on the parents, and upon no other
persons. Well, what have you to do, then, if you want a
better system of teaching for children—what you have to
do is, to overcome the apathy and indifference of the
parents. Now, of those parents there are many who were
themselveslbrought up iu ignorance, and who, therefore,
as a general rule, cannot be expected to have much feeling
many
of the advantages of education. But there are
others who, having themselves received in their early days
a more or less good elementary education, are neverthe-
less quite indifferent to their children receiving the
sch same,
on this account--they say,` We were taught at 00l ;
we learnt to read and write, we left school, and after we
left school we found that no books were put in our way.
It was only occasionally that we could get a newspaper.
We had no means of using those acquirements, which we
gained with so much labour at school, and therefore they
have been comparatively useless." I have heard that lan-
guage held before now, and I cannot say it was held un-
truly. You perceive what lam coming to. What I desire
to urge is, that if you want school instruction to be pro-
perly valued, you must make it valuable. It is not valu-
able unless, for the boy who has left school, fort. e young
man, for the grown man of all ages, you prode such
means of continuing his education, or, at all events, of
profiting by that power which he has gained of reading
with ease and pleasure to himself—unless you provide him
with the means of using that power which in his early
days he has acquired with so much labour. This, then,
is the principal object of institutions of this kind. You
supply books, you supply classes, you give instruction by
means of lectures to the adult population. Once interest
the adult population, once interest grown men and women,
fathers and mothers, in this work of education, and rely
upon it, in a very few years, you will have such a demand
for teaching, improved in quality and extended in quantity,
as will compel the passing—or, what would be still better,
as would supersede the passing—of a parliamentary mea-
sure on the subject. (Loud cheers.)
Though we had no more right to expect that lite-
rary to should be universally diffused among the
working class more than among other classes, yet
lie showed there was abundant proof in our own his-
tory that working men, even to day-labourers, might
attain high intellectual culture :
I do not pretend to give a catalogue of those who, be-
longing to the working class, have achieved intellectual
eminence. But men distinguished in literature like Gif-
ford and Holcroft ; in science, like Hutton, of Binning-
ham, or Brindley, the engineer—men brought up not only
as members of the working classes, but under circum-
stances of great poverty and destitution; Franklin, the
American philosopher and statesman, who in his youth
worked as a journeyman printer for a bare subsistence ; a
fellow-townsman of your own, who has done more for the
cotton trade, and consequently for the prosperity, of Lan-
cashire than probably any other man--I mean Richard
Arkwright, who was brought up in extreme poverty, and in
his early days followed the trade of a barber—all those men
who had no advantages of wealth or of leisure, and who
nevertheless accomplished high intellectual distinction.
(Hear.) And if I were to mention men of the present
day who are following—at least, so far as industry and
energy goes—in the steps of those whom I have named, I
believe I might allude to at least one individual, an in-
habitant of this town—a man who long was, and I telieve
is, a member of this institution—a man who has obtained
from the books of this institution the greater part of the
knowledge which he at present raiseases. I will not
name him, because I believe his modesty is equal to his
acquirements; but I may mention that he is now at the
university, is expected to take a very high degree, and will
probably, in mathematical science, accomplish no incon-
siderable reputation. The person to whom I allude—and
many of you know him—was, I believe, a labourer, work-
ing upon small weekly wages, and at this moment he
has a wife who is engaged in one of the factories in this


town.
Analysing the employment of a workman's hours,
he showed that, after fulfilling every call of duty, and
allowing time for rest and domestic enjoyment, there
was still a margin left for intellectual improvement.
One day out of seven he had wholly to himself, and
be urged that a portion of the Sunday might pro-
perly be devoted to mental culture, as knowledge was
not profane, but sacred :
Now, I mention that because I think there is upon this
subject a feeling which I am loth to call a prejudice or a
superstition, but which I think is eureniely hurtful to the
interests of religion as well as of n,orality, and which does
materially interfere with the intellectual culture of the
busy, over-tasked working man—l mean a feeling which I
don't share, and which 1 believe the majority of an en•
lightened public don't share, but which discs in some

THE PRESS.

places—that it is wrong to devote to intellectual culture,
or to any study not distinctly theological, any portion of
the Sunday. (Hear.) I think that is an error in any case;
in the case of the working man, over-tasked as he is, I am
sure it is a fatal mistake. (Hear.) It is easy to say that
more holidays should be given, and the hours of labour
made fewer, but it must be recollected that we have to
compete, and compete under some disadvantages, both in
manufactures and agriculture, with the industry of the
world, and we cannot afford to relax our efforts in any way.
It has been computed, and, i believe, without exaggeration,
that a national holiday—a single day during which, by
common consent, all work is suspended—a single holiday
causes a loss to the community of about a million sterling.
It follows, therefore, that we cannot hope for much dimi-
nution in the hours of labour. Almost the only available
time for intellectual cultivation which the working man
can obtain, is upon the day on which he rests from his
labour. Now don't imagine for a mcment that I would
suggest anything that would interfere with the proper dis-
charge of his religious duties. hut we all know that, reli-
gious duties being discharged as well or better than many
perform them, there still remains a very large amount of
time which,by working men in general, is spent in idleness
—by a good many in something worse. I believe the
greatest educational reform which you could bring about
would be to make men understand that intellectual culture
is an object which may properly be pursued upon that
which our religion declares to be a day of rest. Knowledge
is not profane, but sacred, and so far from such an appli-
cation of a part of that day being contrary to, I believe it
would simply be a carrying out of, the purposes for which
that day itself was instituted.
In conclusion he strongly urged that the friends
to popular eLcation ought not to rely much on
what the Legislature could do:—
The problem of a system of national instruction is not
so simple as it seems. Many persons do not see their way
through it ; some, perhaps, will not see their way through
it. In any case, the best course, the wisest and safest
course, is to rely upon our own energies, is to promote
education by such means as are in our power—and among
such means 1 rank as foremost institutions of this kind—
is to place the means of knowledge, the means of instruc-
tion in the hands of the working man : and when you have
done that you may feel assured you will not find
him either ungrateful for the privilege or incapable of
using it. (The noble lord sat down amid hearty
applause.)
Sir ROBERT PEET, who was very warmly received,
spoke next. He dwelt on the industrial progress a
the country, and on the good effect of rendering in-
stitutions like that as far as possibly independent of
extraneous aid. On the advantage of free libraries
and of cultivating a taste for reading he said :
He would urge every one to cultivate that taste ; it was
the most happy of all tastes. Fenelon used to say that, if
offered the riches of the Indies in place of his taste for
reading, he would spurn them all. Observe what a taste
for reading would do. It would not only place them out of
the way of vicious habits and idle pursuits, but, with cheap
literature and a free press, it at once placed, as it were,
the cottage on the same level with the castle or the palace.
(dppleasse.)
He advocated the cultivation of a taste for reading,
but doubted the practicability of carrying out Lord
Stanley's suggestion that some portion of the Sunday
should be devoted to intellectual culture. He rather
favoured the devotion of certain days in the year—
say six—as holidays for working men, without any
diminution of wages. If there was a money loss from
this plan there would be, he thought, a great social
gain. He urged the importance of the working
classes cultivating habits of frugality, temperance,
and industry; that a portion of that 50,000,0001. now
annually spent in tobacco and intoxicating liquors
might be devoted to gladden the prospects of home.
On the following (lay another meeting was held at
the institute for the formation of a free library, and
it is a striking proof of the interest felt in the subject
that 1,0001. was subscribed on the spot without any
previous canvass having taken place.

THE DUKE OF RICHMOND was entertained at a
banquet in the Hopetoun-rooms, Edinburgh, on
Wednesday evening, by a large company of officers
of the different services who have received the war
medal, in acknowledgment of the successful exer-
tions of his grace in obtaining for them this distinc•
tion. Nearly all the officers present wore military or
naval decorations. Major-General J. Geddes, K.H.,
was in the chair, and Rear-Admiral Montgomerte
acted as croupier.
A LARGE MEETING of the Roman Catholics of
London met on Thursday at the Sablionere Hotel,
Leicester-square, to present the testimonial to the
honourable member for Meath which has been for
some time in course of preparation. The chair waL,
t aken by the Very Rev. Dr. Whitty, vicar-general of
Westminster. The English subscriptions to the
testimonial amount to 4501., and the fund is still

increasing.
THE ROYAL HOSPITAL for the permanent care of
those who, by disease, accident, or deformity, are
hopelessly disqualified for the duties of life, held its
first election at the London Tavern on Tuesday, for
the purpose of electing six applicants from a list of
thirty approved candidates, all of whose eases were
I reported to be incurible.

SATURDAY,

Sortign aio 60113riiill

FRANCE.
A grand review of the Imperial Guard took place
in Paris on Monday, the proceedings being cnietly
designed in honour of Lord Palmerston's visit to the
French capital. The infantry of the Guard were
drawn up before the Tuileries, the artillery occupying
the Place de la Concorde and the cavalry the Champs
Elysees The Emperor as he rode along was most
enthusiastically hailed. After passing along the front
of the lines of troops his Majesty returned and placed
himself in trout of the Pavilion d'Horloge, on the
balcony of which were the Empress, attended by the
ladies of her household, and accompanied by several
illustrous personages, among whom was Lord
Palmerston. The troops then filed before the
Emperor, who was hailed with loud cries of " Five
l'Empereur " from the troops, which were loudly
taken up and repeated by the immense crowd of
persons assembled.
The French Senate and Legislative body have
been called together for the 26th inst. The exporta-
tion of grain and flour has been prohibited up to the
31st July, 1855.
The two divisions composing the French army of
the Danube will consist of upwards of 20,000 men.
The generals of division at the camps of Honvault,
Fimereux, Atubleteuse, and Equihen on Saturday
received by telegraph orders from Pruitt to accept
volunteers for the Crimea from every company,
of every regiment under their command to the
number of ten. The officers were called toge•
titer at five o'clock, and at seven the various
companies were mustered and addressed by
the captains, who told them that the Emperor
desired to forward more troops to the East, and that
ten volunteers were required from every company
In five minutes the whole number stood forward.
In some of the companies thirty, in some forty, im-
mediately volunteered, to the cries of " Viva
l'Empereur !" Where so many presented themselves
they drew lots as to who should be the fortunate
men to fight against the Russians.
Very important modifimtions of the French army
are now under discussion. It is proposed to create
twenty more battalions of the Chasseurs de
Vincennes, the great utility of that corps having been
to strikingly manifested. his also proposed to place
the third battalions of every regiment on the war
footing, and to form a fourth battalion to each in
the depots. Some of the generals who have been
consulted, however, contend that as the Chasseurs de
Vincennes must be composed of the homntes d'ilite of
the army in general, and replaced by conscripts or
recruits, they would enervate the army at a moment
when it is required to be on the most effective footing.
The Charlemagne and the steam-frigates Sane and
Infernal arrived on Tuesday from the Crimea at
Toulon. Three large steamers—the Alps, Thames,
and Ripon also reached Toulon from England.
Three ships-of-the line and eight frigates or steamers
were at the, same port, awaiting more favourable
weather to embark trcops. The Emu and sevJral
hired vessels had sailed with troops fur Constan-
tinople.
The following is mentioned as an instance of the
rapidity with which artillery can be conveyed by
railway. Two battalions of artillery of the lOW
It: ginient, in garrison at St. Mato, having proceeded
by forced marches to Mans, there took the railwa
they
to Paris, and thence to Lyons, performing
journey from St. Mato to that city in thirty-six hours.
These batteries are on the war looting, with caisons,
forges, and 250 horses each.
The Salut Public of Lyons states that agents had been
engaged buying up at the butchers' stalls. all the
sheepskins on sale, having a contract to deliver in as
short a period as possible 80,000 prepared skins tor
the use of the French array in the East.
It is said that M. Ivanhoff, former Secretary
been
of
the Russian Embassy, whose presence had
tolerated in Paris, has received orders to quit
France. A similar order the
has been given to all
Russians, even the servants of that nation, still re-
siding in that country.
Madame Solomons, the mother-in-law of Baron de
Rothschild, died on Monday last.
The Duke de Mouchey, a senator, an ex-represen-
tative of the people, and a well known director of
several important public companies, is just dead.
The French Government has decided that a rail-
way shall be formed between Calais and Boulogne-
sur-Mer, and surveys for it are immediately to be
commenced.
The Emperor and Empress were present last week
at an experiment of the machine fur transplanting
trees, invented by Mr. Stewart MaeGlashiu, of Edin-
burgh. The trial was attended with complete success,
and his Majesty, after pur ;liasing the apparatus,
requested the inventor to proceed to St. Cloud, to
teach the gardeners of the palace the manner of
working it.
Id. Sobrier, one of the principal actors in the revo-
lution of 1848, who was condemned to banuibment