The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 27, 1865.

have been different. The steel rails used were under 300
tons, and did not exceed a cost of £3,000. They were used
for portions of the line near London, Peterborough, and
Doncaster. With regard to the unproductive capital, the
company were restricted from charging the interest to capi-
tal; it therefore must be paid out of revenue. The 20 lo-
comotive engines he had mentioned were now in course of
delivery, and the directors had ordered more rolling stock
to enable them to carry the very large amount of mineral
traffic which Mr. Fildes told them was waiting to come on
the line. The expense incurred last session in opposing
the Great Eastern. scheme was about £B,OOO.
The report was unanimously adopted, and the preference
and ordinary dividends recommended therein were declared
payable on the Ist of March.
The retiring directors, Colonel Packe, M.P., Lord Col-
ville, and Mr. Tennant were re-elected, and the election of
Mr. C. B. Denison to fill the vacancy caused by the retire-
ment of his father was unanimously confirmed.
Mr. Morgan, the retiring auditor, was re-elected, and the
allowance to the auditors was increased from £lOO to £2OO
a year each.
On the motion of Mr. V. KNIGHT, seconded by Mr.
HUGHES, a resolution was unanimously carried expressing
deep regret at the retirement of Mr. E. Denison from the
direction of the company, and unqualified satisfaction at the
manner in which he had presided over its affairs, the result
being highly advantageous to the interests of the company.
The directors were authorised to borrow £75,000 for the
Spalding and March line, and £166,000 for the Cheshire
lines.

The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to the
chairman.

LONDON, CHATHAM, AND DOVER.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was held on Fri-
day at the Grosvenor Hotel, Pimlico ; Lord Sondes in the
chair.

The report, an abstract of which has appeared in The Sun,
was taken as read.

The CHAIRMAN, in moving its adoption, congratulated
the proprietors on the position and prospects of the com-
pany.

Lord HARRIS, the deputy-chairman, seconded the motion,
and adverted to the great and satisfactory increase that had
taken place in the traffic receipts, notwithstanding that the
company had not been able to carry out their goods traffic
at the Blackfriars-station, owing to the delay in the open-
ing of the Ludgate-hill station. It was gratifying to find
that the established companies appreciated their position,
as indicated by the arrangements they had made with the
Great Northern and London and South-Western. On the
completion of their metropolitan system the company
would improve their position, increase their traffic, and
greatly augment their receipts. (Applause.)
Mr. SHAW complained that he had applied by letter to
the directors for information, and had not even received a
reply. He wished to know the modus operandi of dealing
with and issuing "Lloyd's Bonds." The cost of construc-
tion of the London, Chatham, and Dover was double that of
either the Brighton or South-Eastern. He was not prepared
to move a vote of want of confidence in the directors, but
if any other gentleman would do so- he would support it.
Mr. HOLROYD, director, in reply, said that as regarded
the conversion of the third preference into ordinary stock,
the fact was that, although the third preference. holders
held a large sum entitled to dividend before the ordinary
shareholders, they had surrendered their rights and agreed
to take dividend in common with the ordinary shareholders.
As regarded Lloyd's Bonds the company had never raised
money on them, for it was not legal to do so, but whenthe
contractors of the company had in anticipation of capital
done work and advanced money they gave them these
Lloyd's Bonds,. which were a legitimate acknowledgment
of indebtedness, and thus prevented the stopping of the
works. The bonds were formerly reduced to £115,000,
but now they very slightly exceeded £50,000. This, he
thought, went to show the sound position of the company.
It was not fair in estimating the cost of the London, Chat-
ham, and Dover, to take the total capital and divide it by
the mileage and compare it with other lines in the district.
The hopes andpromises and prospects held out in previous
reports had been to a great extent realised. When they
had arrived at the point of paying all the preference
charges on the debentures and first preference stock, and
when they told the proprietors that the traffic of the pre-
sent year showed an increase as commensurate as the last
year showed over its predecessor, and would pay a dividend
on all the stocks of the company, including the second pre-
ference
stock, and that the ordinary stock in 1866 would re-
ceive a dividend also, he thought they might fairly assert
that their expectations and promises had been realised.
(Applause.)
Mr. HARTRIDGE wished to know the exact earnings on
the Bickley and Dover line, and how much capital hadbeen
sacrificed by the sale of the steamboats intended for the
Boulogne traffic. He also wished some further information
relative to the Sevenoaks and Maidstone line, and its lia-
bilities. Mr. Forbes, the general manager, had stated that
within two years the ordinary stock of the company would
be paying a dividend, and he wished to know on what
ground he based that calculation, taking the entire capital
of the company at £16,000,000.
A PROPRIETOR was of opinion that the progress of the
line was not so great or so satisfactory as it ought to have
been, and that bad policy or management had driven gene-
ral passengers as well as regular customers from it.
Another PROPRIETOR thought it was highly creditable
to the company to have been the first to establish working
men's trains, and that it would be followed in other direc-
tions. He suggested that in future there should be given
in the accounts a comparative statement of the gross re-
ceipts, expenditure, and mileage. He thought the company
had progressed well during the last six ;months, and that
the metropolitan extensions were getting on satisfactorily.
Mr. HARTRIDGE considered that some arrangement might
be made with the South-Eastern. He did not mean to
imply that the London, Chatham, and Dover were about to
engage in any large liability, such as renting or leasing the
South-Eastern. (Laughter.) But a certain movement had
recently been gding on in the matter, and perhaps it might
bear its fruit in duo season;
Mr. SURGEY looked upon the London, Chatham, and
Dover Railway as a sort of metropolitan cosmopolitan line,
for when their metropolitan extensions were completed
they would communicate with the South Western, Great
Northern, Great Western, London and North Western, and
all the other London lines. He had not much to say about
the leading question and the South Eastern, but should be
glad to see terms agreed to. The South Eastern must lose
from year to year, while the dividend of the London,
Chatham, and Dover must go on increasing. But there was
room enough for both. If the South Eastern and London,
Chatham, and Dover were amalgamated they. would be
able to save £lOO,OOO a year in the working expenses of
the two lines, and £50,000 in interest on debentures, or
£200,000 a year to the shareholders in their respective
companies. At present two express trains ran morning and
evening from Dover carrying only 30 passengers, and
there was no reason why, under one management, this
should be the case. Both the proprietors and the public
would be benefited by the arrangement.
Mr. FORBES explained that the increase in the receipts in
1864 over 1863 was £98,585, and after deducting expenses
the increase of money applicable to dividend was from
£60,000 in 1863 to £llO,OOO in 1864. If the increase in the
ratio of profit in the next two years was as in the past two
portionn oitrgreathe pelyo or
tfdoi
nt haae r
yrieu advantagexestshr atai
ortprofit
eaTwt
ec
The
emn
trlphde
avrevision
bet
ys
.tao vnwa la
so f-
years the whole of the obligations of the company would
n
n
i
b e cofrafv.oreHrersdeod,hiutvaidadon:bedn
da:
athbextle
not desirable to issue all the new stock at the present time ;
several gentlemen largely interested in the undertaking had
subscribed for it at a certain price, giving the company
power to redeem it in twelve months hence at the same
price—(hear, hear)—and the Board felt indebted to those
gentlemen.

Mr. lEGAREL, as a large shareholder, was perfectly satis-
fied with those explanations, and had great confidence in
the Board.

Sir M. PETO, in reply to Mr. Knight, stated that the
company Might calculate with certainty on the junction
with the Finsbury line being completed and trains work-
ing over it by the Ist of June. The line would be doubled
throughout, and completed up to the Finsbury station.
(Cheers.)
The report was unanimously adopted, the retiring direc-
tors and auditor were re-elected, and a vote of thanks to the
chairman and directors concluded the proceedings.

panics, and a bill had been laid before Parliament for that
purpose. The total amount of calls made upon the ordinary
shares of the company had been £303,200.

LEEDS, BRADFORD, AND HALIFAX JUNCTION.
The half-yearly meeting was held on Friday at Brad-
ford ; Mr. William Brown in the chair.

The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report (an
abstract of which has appeared in The Sun), said that the
result of the working of the Great Northern system, for the
itst 12 months, gave a dividend of .£7 2s 6d. per cent. to the
proprietary of that company, as well as to the proprietary
of this company. They receiveda dividend of 3 per cent. for
the half-year ended June last, and they now received the
balance of £4 2s. 6d. per cent. :Although the dividend was
a good one, yet it hardly reached the anticipations which he
and others had formed at the beginning of the past half-
year.

The report was adopted, and the dividend recommended
was declared. Toe retiring directors and auditors were
re-elected, and the meeting separated.

SOMERSET AND DORSET.

The report states that the anticipations expressed of a
large increase of traffic had been fully realised. The revenue
account showed a balance of £7,462, after providing for
working expenses. The balances for the corresponding
periods of 1863 and 1862 were £3,221 and £2,610 respec-
tively. The number of passengers conveyed during the half
year was 206,910; of goods, 64,670 tons; and of live stock,
25,196. There had been a large increase in the trade at
Highbridge during the past six months, the imports and ex-
ports having amounted to 35,717 tons, as against 16,509
tons for the corresponding half-year of 1863, or an increase
of over 100 per cent. Arrangements were now pending for
establishing steam communication between Poole and Cher-
bourg, by means of which it was hoped that a considerable
traffic between South Wales, Bristol, and the North-Western
district of England on the one hand and the west and south
of France on the other might be secured in connection with
the Somerset and Dorset line. The capital account showed
a total expenditure of £1,071,082, leaving a balance against
capital of £18,465. The revenue account showed the re-
ceipts for the last half-year had been £23,938 and the ex-
penditure £16,476, leaving a balance of £7,462.

SPIRIT. OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

THE " SPECTATOR" ON MR. VILLIERS' BILL.—
Mr. Charles Villiers is a very " safe " man, perhaps
there is no safer man in Lord Palmerston's Govern-
ment. When he has anything considerable to do
he does it quietly, annoying as few interests and
shocking as few prejudices as he possibly can, post-
poning symmetry to fitness, and subordinating
everything except principle to practical expediency.
It is a wise policy, particularly in matters like
changes in the Poor Law, on which so many people
have crotchets, and everybody thinks himself qualified
to form an individual opinion. It will, we believe,
in this case enable him to carry a very important
improvement with very little dangerous opposition,
and without arousing the latent suspicion with
which country gentlemen are apt to regard every
movement of the Poor-Law Board; a body which,
existing as it does chiefly for the purpose of judi-
ciously snubbing local crotchets, can never be very
popular with those who are snubbed. The way in
which Mr. Villiers has in this instance steered his
way through opposing interests and conflicting
opinions, yet arrived safe at his goal at last, is a
specimen of very highest constitutional style. Most
of our readers are aware of the strong objections
which have from time to time been raised against
the Law of Settlement, and which have rendered
opinion almost ripe for its abolition. That law, a
relic of the days when to be a " masterless man "
was to be a criminal under sentence, formerly com-
pelled a labouring man to reside in the parish in
which he was born, under penalty of losing all claim
upon the poor-rate. If he went further afield, where
he was wanted, that is, where wages were high, he
was on the first lull in demand or fit of sickness
carted back to his parish, which very often carted him
back again. Fortunately the cartage of a pauper
costs money, parishes began to find that a carrying
trade of that sort was very oppressive, and Sir R.
Peel passed an act making any man who had resided
five years irremovable. By another act his ex-
penses were charged upon a union fund, which, in
1861, was directed to be levied according to the
amount of rateable property in every parish of the
Union, that is, in fact, though not in theory, by a
Union rate. The parish raised it and paid it over,
but as the amount varied with property the cost of
the irremoveable poor was really defrayed by a
Union rate. At the same time a further and very
great improvement was introduced, the time neces-
sary to establish a settlement being reduced to three
years. This, again, succeeded, and the country
began to imagine that the Law of Settlement, which
visibly interferes with the ebb and flow of labour,
might be swept away altogether, or at all events the
time of residence reduced to three months. That is
the ideal towards which matters are obviously tend-
ing, but meanwhile there are some serious obstacles
still to be overcome. Big boroughs are by no means
prepared to dispense.with the law all at once. They
want to see the flow of labour made easy, but do
not exactly appreciate the flow of idleness. They
are afraid that in every bad winter or time of scant
labour the country population will flow to the cities
in search of work, and not finding it come on the
rates in numbers which will seriously affect the value
of property. London in particular would be dread-
fully burdened in that way, while Liverpool would
be absolutely inundated with Irish. They swarm
there already, and but for the power now latent in
consequence of emigration, but still existing, the
town would be eaten up with them. That is a real
difficulty, and there is besides a distinct grievance
calling for more immediate redress. This is the
condition of the permanent poor. The parish is
still to support them, and there is therefore an im-
mense temptation on the part of its owners to turn
them out, pull down their cottages, and decline to
erect new buildings, leaving the Union to pay for
the labour required within the parish. The State in
fact throws its burden upon the Federal taxes. When
the whole of a parish belongs to one man this is done
to an enormous extent, and in some instances by
complete depopulation, and people evicted are huddled
as lodgers into the over-filled cottages of the open
parish, more especially town suburbs. To such an
extent has this system been carried, landowners," add-
ing house to house and field to field till there be no
room for the poor," that, says the President of the
Board, by the census returns in 1821 agricultural
parishes in England there are between 1851 and
1861 a decrease of houses accompanied with an in-
crease of population. The total decrease of houses
in these agricultural parishes within these ten years
has been 3,118, while the increase in the number of
persons has been 16,497." This is an intolerable
mischief, sapping as it does the very foundations
of population, health, comfort, and chastity, and
urgently demands a reform. We may not yet be
able to redress the great evil of English country
life, the defective condition of the mass of cottages,
but we may at least avoid aggravating it by a legal
incentive to overcrowding. Mr. Villiers, upon
whom, as upon Sir Cornewall Lewis, this point
seems to have made a great impression, thought it
possible, without encountering any of the just ob-
jections pleaded against the abolition of the Law of
Settlement, to remove its main defects, and at the
same time the temptation to this grievous over-
crowding, and he has, so far as we can perceive, ac-
complished both his ends. His bill, a very short
one, does not abolish the power of removal, which
would hurt London and Liverpool and the great
cities, but transfers it from the overseers to the
guardians. These, though sometimes amazingly
stupid, are usually men of a very superior class to the
overseers, are always a good deal more humane, and
usually very indisposed to the expense of removals
and of the law-suits growing out of them. They,
have in fact the brains to see that saving five six-
pences at the cost of half-a-crown is not a profitable
occupation. The second change is much greater.
The whole cost of the Union poor, whether their
settlement is inherited or they are only irremoveable,
is thrown on the Union fund, and not, as now,
divided between the Union and the parochial in-
come. Consequently, although the ebb and flow of
labour as between Unions is still imperfect, as be-
tween parish and parish of the same Union it is com-
pletely free. It is no object of the parochial magnate
to pull down cottages, for he must have labour,
and if his men live within the Union they will tax him
just as much as if they lived in his parish. It would
pay him to expel them from the Union, but very few
Unions indeed are " close," i.e., owned by one or
two men and distance has to be taken into the ac-
count. If the labourer has to walk too far he can-
not do a full day's work, and if the distance be
stretched beyond his patience—we wish we knew
its limit—he will not come at all. Whenever
therefore the employer does not happen to live just
on the boundary of a Union with a village just across
it his tendency will be to house his labourers close to
their work, to make occupancy part of wages and
dismissal the equivalent of eviction, a system which
as labour gets scarce will compel the employer to
offer good cottages as an attraction for good la-
bourers—a vast improvement.
THE " EXAMINER " ON THE INDUCEMENTS TO
MILITARY SERVICE.—If we look back to what was
the condition of the private soldier at the beginning
of the century, we cannot wonder at the popular
feeling against the service. There was, indeed,
hardly any worse condition in the country, and a
man was considered at the last extremity of neces-
sity when he took Sergeant Kite's shilling. But an
immense change for the better has been made in the
soldier's condition within the last fifty years with-
out any corresponding change in the common
opinion respecting it. The comforts of the men have
been studied, rational amusements provided for
them, and the inducements to a decent life are
stronger than those of old to reprobate habits and
courses of debauchery. More may remain to be
done, but the much that has been done has not
altered as it should have done the popular opinion of
the service, and mothers still believe the Queen's
pay to be the next thing to the Devil's wages, only
not so liberal. Yet certain we are that the
habits and morals of the labourers of an
agricultural village will not bear comparison
with the habits and morals of a regiment, with
its library for the men, its games and resources
counter to the temptations of the ale-house. See
uccthh
waa
sri
te
hpi bestonsstihb eel
em
sopoul
lotd
oee
frd, .sh
reach,
earucetha thai:sltdnh
what Bt
that
onlyss
the labourers after work and the soldiers off duty, and
mpwuhatra
ktasiswmhpui
to the formation of his better habits, but the disci-
pline is wholesome and good for him. The clown
after his day's work boasts of
being his own
master, and the probability is that a worse he could
not have. The soldier in parting with some of his
liberty has the rest of it made of higher value.
Scamps and blackguards there will be here and
there, but the comparison between the average cha-
racter of the soldier and that of the class from which
he has been drawn, or, so to speak, the raw material
of which he has been made, is immensely in favour
of the soldier. Yet the old bad repute of the service
sticks to it, and stands in the way of recruiting,
without reason in the main, but with reason in some
important respects. In the discussion which fol-
lowed Mr. O'Reilly's able speech on Monday, the
War Secretary complained,—The hon. and gallant
gentleman, Colonel North, whose object, no doubt,
is to furnish as plentiful and as good a supply of
recruits as possible, gets up and tells the class from
whom they are taken that the pay is totally inade-
quate, and that any man who has any respect for
himself and can do anything else had much better
not dream of enlisting in the army. I imagine that
that he is one of those country gentlemen who make
the village too hot for the recruiting sergeant if 'he
ventures to show his face in it. It is a great pity
that any member of this House who is supposed to
represent the army should attempt to. send it forth
to the country that the shilling a day is the real pay
which the soldier receives. The hon. and gallant

member for Longford has put the question more
fairly. He stated that the advantages which the
soldier gets in the way of good food, good lodging,
good clothing, education, and innumerable other
particulars, are such that the pay is, I think he said,
fair and adequate. It is nothing but a misrepre-
sentation of the most mischievous kind to announce
to the working classes that the pay they may expect
to get in our army is a shilling, and a bare shilling,
a day." But why is there the opportunity for this
mistake or misrepresentation ? Why is it not clearly
seen what the pay is and what it is not ? Why is the
matter mystified by stoppages, the precise effect of
which is not and cannot be understood? It is a sys-
tem of giving with one hand and taking away with
another, so that really the value of what •is pos-
sessed is never comprehended. A young soldier
never knows how he stands. He has to pay for
some things supplied which he knows not to be
worth the price exacted from him, and this makes
him naturally suspicious of all the rest. Last year
we noticed some startling statements of a corre-
spondent of the Times, who evidently wrote with
thorough professional knowledge, and we may add
authority, and amongst other abuses he mentioned
the fact that the men have had to sole the new shoes
served out to them, the contractors having furnished
vamped-up articles made to pass inspection, not to
wear. Such rascally frauds may not be practicable
now, but what is nevertheless still desirable is that
the soldier should have a distincter and unmistake-
able view of his pay instead of a shabby sort of
truck system conducted in the name of her Majesty.
It is generally agreed that the pay for the recruits
and young soldiers is sufficient, and that what is
wanted is a distinction, like that in the navy, be-
tween the ordinary and the able men, the unskilled
and the skilled. It is when a man has learnt his
duty that it is the interest of the State to retain him
in the service by the tie of his interests. But we
are told that this is not easy even with the non-com-
missioned officers, who having clerkly qualifications
get offers of more profitable employment. The cry
for better pay for a better sort of men is plausible,
but a sounder proposition would perhaps be better
pay for the better men of the present sort. They
are called the sweepings of our towns ; but
if the sweepings of our towns can be worked
up into the stuff of our soldiery, a material
that would otherwise go to waste is turned to
good uses. It is something like the sewage ques-
tion, and what would be noxious in the wrong place
becomes highly profitable in the right one. The
Queen's chaff is proverbially said to be better than
other folks' corn, and if her Majesty's ranks are
filled with what is harshly called the refuse of the
community, it is most satisfactory to find that re-
fuse convertible to so good a material. The Ame-
rican armies are now mainly recruited by classes
rather inferior to the stock of our own, and the cal-
culation is that they cost a thousand dollars a head,
which we believe to be far below the mark, as all
calculations are apt to be not based on monetary
realities. But with us an advance of pay to the
better men, whose retention in the service is most
desirable for its character and efficiency, would not
be an addition to the charges of any burdensome
amount, for the pay of officers and men of the two
services makes but a small part of the cost of the
establishments, hardly a third. It is in the civil
branches that the extravagances make their luxu-
rious shoots. It may be said that there are already
rewards for deserving men, but rewards will never
serve in place of the fair remuneration which is the
thing wanted. When a man is thinking of enter-
ing a service, the consideration that weighs with
him is what he will have a right to in exchange for
what he gives. A trained soldier is a skilled
labourer, and reasonably claims wages proportioned
to his acquired qualifications.

THE "LONDON REVIEW" ON LORD COMBERMERE.—
A death which in the common course of nature might
have occurred any time in the last quarter of a cen=
tury, took place on Tuesday, and removed from this
mortal sphere a man who began to earn his laurels
in the days of William Pitt. It might almost be
said of Stapleton Cotton, Viscount Combermere,
that for a long time past he had been even more re-
markable for his years than for his achievements.
When he appeared on horseback in Hyde Park on
that memorable occasion of the reviewing of the
Volunteers by the Queen in June, 1860, people
marvelled at the sight of a man who had dis-
tinguished himself in the closing years of the
eighteenth century still taking an active part in
affairs, and identifying himself with the new citi-
zen soldiers, many of whom, and men with beards
on their faces too, were the grandsons of
those who shouldered musket in his earlier days,
when the First Napoleon threatened an invasion of
these shores. The veteran must even then have
been ninety-one ; and it was a strange and unwonted
sight to see such a relic of the past still moving in
the living sunshine of the present. It was one of
the subjects of the day on which newspapers com-
mented and men talked ; and every one thought
that of course such a phenomenon could not last
much longer. Yet the aged lord had even then
nearly five years before him. When he at length
succumbed to that " lean fellow" who, as an old
poet says, " beats all conquerors," but who seemed
as if he would never make up his mind to grapple
with this particular conqueror, he had attained, we
believe, the extraordinary age of ninety-six. We
say " we believe" because there has alwaysbeen some
uncertainty with regard to the precise number of
his years. It would seem as if the hero had had
something of a woman's dislike to letting his exact
age be known. At any rate it was not recorded in
the Peerages, and the accounts in the Biographical
Dictionaries varied in a most perplexing manner,
some making him out to be seven or eight years
younger than he probably was. Now that he is
dead, however, it appears to be agreed that he was
born in 1769—the same year which saw the birth of,
Wellington and (unless he falsified his age by a
twelvemonth, as some affirm he did) of Napoleon
Buonaparte. That Stapleton Cotton could not have
been born much later, is evident from the subsequent
career of his life. He was appointed second lieu-
tenant in the 23d Royal Welsh Fusiliers as far back
as 1790 ; was a captain in the 6th Dragoon Guards
when Robespierre was making the streets of Paris
run with blood in 1793 ; had become a colonel in the
following year ;. and greatly distinguished
himself in the campaign of 1798-9 against
Tippoo Sultaun, ending in the death of
that potentate at the storming of Seringapatain.
We thus find the late Field-Marshal a man of posi-
tion and note before the end of the 18th century;
and this will give us something like an idea of the
time at which he must have been born. He was a
contemporary of Wellington and Anglesea, of Na-
poleon and Soult, and was the elder of men who
arose in the present century, and who belong to the
later ranks of the chieftains who fought so gallantly
in the last war with France. Lord Clyde, who, as
plain Colin Campbell, won a reputation in the
, Peninsula, and who died a year and a half ago at a
' ripe age, was very considerably Lord Combermere's
junior. So with many others, some of whom still
linger among us, while, several have already con-
fessed their mortality. Combermere was, without
an exception; the oldest of our public men. The
Premier, over whose age we have been in the habit
of lifting up our hands for some years past, was
quite youthful by his side. Brougham himself looks
like the formation of a later geological period ; even
Lyndhurst, were he now living, would be two years
younger • and Lansdowne would not be entitled to
enter into the comparison. There is something in.
this marvellous accumulation of years—this indefi-
nite and preternatural postponement of the common
fate of all living beings—which is almost a fame
and a glory in itself. The man who contrives to
live longer than his fellows is by that very fact a
species of hero, as having successfully conducted for
years a defence against the most pressing enemy in
the world. We regard him with a certain mysteri-
ous awe, as if he were the accepted champion of
humanity in a contest with Fate. We know
very well how the struggle will end—how it
must end ; yet we take a breathless interest
in watching it go on, and in marking with
what art, or what happy turn of fortune, the human
being continues to foil his grim foe, as if he were
really endowed with the immortality of the gods.
The veriest clodpole, fighting such a fight, would
assume something of heroic proportions in our eyes
if he only came under our observation, as the hum-
ble Yorkshire fisherman, Jenkins, has become a per-
son of distinction from the mere fact of its being
said, whether truly or not, that he lived to be one
hundred and sixty-nine. How much more, then,
does a singularly old man interest us when his life
has been associated with thegreatest events of modern
times ! Viscount Combermere had no need to fall
back upon his age as a title to distinction ; and per-
haps he has even met with some injustice on this
score, most men being irresistibly moved to talk of
his years rather than.of his deeds, owing to their
wonderment at the unusual extent of the former.
He should have died twenty years ago, and then we
should have thought more of the brilliant cavalry
general of the Peninsula, who commanded the
whole of the allied horse, and flashed like a meteor
before the eyes of the French at Talavera, Llerena,
at Fuentes d'Onor, at Salamanca, at Orthes, at
Busaco, at Ville Garcia, at Castiglion, and at El
Bodon. We should have spoken with greater inte-
rest of his achievements at Toulouse, and of the
services which he subsequently rendered, in 1825-
26, by the reduction of Bhurtpore, in India, long
supposed to be impregnable, and before which Lord
.Lake, in 1805, lost a large number of men in a vain
attempt to take it ; and we should the more readily
have called to mind that Lord Combermere was at
that time supposed, and not without reason, to have
saved our Indian Empire from the most serious
dangers. Few English generals of modern times
have achieved more signal successes ; and we hardly

think the reputation of the old hero at the presens
day is equal to the services he conferred upon his
country: Almost to the last, Lord Comberrage
was a vivacious, vigorous old man ; fond of societye,
fond of angling, and moving the surprise of those
who knew him by the gay elasticity of spirits
wi
which he bore his weight of years and honours.
THE " SATURDAY REVIEW"
CANADA.—The problem is to save the country
being conquered almost before it has had time
realise the fact that it is at war. To achieve evtehe
this will require vastly more sacrifice than ,„
ON THE DEFENELE 013317
colonists have yet thought it incumbent on theme to
endure ; but a militia force such as could be raised
without any difficulty would, in Col. Jervois'oP
amply suffice, with the aid of a small British con
tingent, to hold the strategic points ess,ielltler
to the defence, not only of Lower, but of uati
Canada. The lower province, from its proii,llllof
to England and its geographical situation, is of
course, in a military sense, by far the Inost,/,0
portant ; and as long as Quebec and Montreal "
out, this portion of the country could never be
jugated. If, addition to this, a naval
ance were established on the St. Lawrence and be
be
Ontario, a large part of both provinces Wow are
safe from molestation. For this end two things uo
essential—one, that Quebec and Montreal 5he.,,03
be covered by fortifications suitable to the con
of of modern warfare, and Kingston, Toront, tile
Hamilton adequately protected, against a hos.ot
descent from the lake • the other, that a sutfiel,evar
force should be available at the first outbreak of usts
to hold, at any rate, the two most important Ption
until reduced by a regular siege. No prePard
preP°lls.(ll4ere-
on
short of an army capable of taking the fie'
equal terms against the enemy would make tiltregron
trict which lies between Lake Erie and Lake -1•"-
absolutely secure from insult ; but the Power w'ileji
held Ontario and the St. Lawrence must ultitia
remain master of the whole country. These 'sist-
the known conditions on which the national e tof
ence of the Canadians would depend in the eveny
war, it might have been thought incredible that ty
ye
should hitherto have been utterly neglected.
has no fortifications which would be of any
against modern artillery, and Montreal is w„, of
without defence. Kingston, the importat.'do
which as commanding the mouth of the
sung
Canal is very considerable, might be made a 500,
position by some additions to its defensive "
but at present it has no adequate fortification s•
for the other Lake towns, they are absolute's'
the mercy of an enemy who might gain s.„ste'
porary naval superiority. Even if all the they
rial resources of defence were supplied„,' gent
would be useless until the small onvf. ores
of British troops was supported by 3 1.014 e.
such as Canada has not yet attempted ton Aito
Some 10,000 English soldiers and 21,000 Caiifel
Volunteers, who may perhaps be nearly OR Bis et
in training with average Volunteer regi,Tpelleonr
home, constitute the whole force of whichn,'.ooSe•
mander-in-Chief in Canada would have to I" ;ich
Even if the requisite fortifications existed, orinoto
force would be useless in opposition to the erlikell'
armies with which an invasion would in a'„,,thfog
hood be- attempted, while up to this time
has been done to put the vital points of the ei,va (10'
in a creditable state of defence. After sue' ,ric,in
play of apathy in the fourth year of the 11,;!;ildl?°,
war, it was indeed time that the truth 51"; AP"
openly told both to England and to Call o'ana..li
has been told in Colonel Jervois' able Itel3°';d
history of the relations between C aCI3 3
0
Home Government during these years of Pe-1:d bee,
have been ludicrous if the issue at stake otoclii?
less momentous. On both sides the inli&o3°A
danger was seen, and in terms admitted; bilvia
persistently refused to do anything for her c'eot er
tection, lest she should diminish the contingiuie th
pected from England in the event of war, Iferee,
Home Government, disgusted with the illuZ
of the colonists, was preparing to with'i'eselic-
troops from the outlying posts, where their P,,g..the
was all-important for the purpose of traiiTt
native recruits who might at last be brongtDij,gere
the field. This fatal, though, in certain cello ha i 0
cies, inevitable policy seems for the moniell'i Jett')
been averted by the remonstrances of Co lone
against the abandonment of the Torontoruo
th
and by the indications at length apParelinareciti";
part of the Colonial statesmen of a better f
d 0 g
ton of the dangers that surround them, 4't
responsibilities which fall upon their coutorle.r,l),ll
yet the Canadian Militia exists only upon le alw,:e
a few hundred officers have been trained in of 1"'
tary schools established at the headquarternt. ccOti
British regiments, and the first contingen
posed exclusively of young unmarried Inen'servic,'"
to be on the point of being called out for
This alone will furnish nearly 90,000 rank Lig 'di
while the total strength of the force, inelnu-e
reserve, is calculated at 470,000 men. tt7v/bolt:
mises are promptly kept, the aspect of ttull, COAN
question will be entirely changed. When
abso a 00
dians no longer grudge the expense
essential to their own safety, they will °rt
reluctance on the part of England to do her
the common. cause. As a nucleus, round r/two
national forces may organise themselves, n; it the
force will be invaluable, but more than island to t`"J
never be. If we were to leave our own /slant, ordbe
sole protection of the Volunteers, our arlilJ of t
still be altogether inadequate to the defßbo4
colonial frontier. Canada, as Lord E1,9,0a ,of
said, must be defended by the Canadian:,' Oat), of
hearty acceptance on their part of this the 1'01" otial.eij
every free country will ensure them an tel'hier
effective assistance from the mother-conn ny Ot 0,
neither would; nor indeed could, be given nil bas ci)ee'
terms. Already the Home Governmenb.,e
sented, on the implied condition of effeetlibe neectlie
ration, to bear its part of the expense of ce 01 01
sary fortifications ; and the naval defetoce'.oo4
Ontario will of necessity, in the first inrrile s 0,
exclusively upon the English navy. eady
part of the affair is the time which has 81'
r,d to yt>ll
lost. At the rate at which it is prono,s',,,beethe
struct the works, the fortifications of L47%,,ipile 1.))1
not be finished in less than four yearsjortAeljd
Montreal entrenchments, which are tincf";d
the colonists, will be twice as costly,
twice as tedious. The usual official e` 1 '`'
that it is impossible to proceed more rar co olste
due regard to the solidity and perrnaoellbe Ay e fell
work, will satisfy no one. The danger t° 5 jp.
..,1/
is as likely to occur in a few months °s hl
tvola
years, and intrenchments and fortifieatit:deks:,
up rapidly enough Ito be ready when N'tilid_,P;itr,
be more to the purpose, even if they Pl' Y6-00'
capable of standing for a thousand Yeax:.ssolo6
in the proposal of the Ministers to spen"er antra,
year on the fortifications of Quebec/ ~,-ove,j)iel,
movements of the Canadian Executive, e'o.o-,. t 0:
any adequate appreciation of the clang ddot:
Colonel Jervois' report enforces. Eve::leleo,f:
Canada remains in her present defen',o6l:,
bne
adds incalculably to the risk of Wa.r,,il-0
calamity is either to be staved off, or, 110.1oted,,'"
possible, to be effectually met, something prey
the energy with which the Confederatetspste'pe'
for their terrible struggle must be nasn,,diati
in the Colonial Office and in the Can
,cutive.