The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-15 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONUON, FRIDAY EVENING, AJARCH 15, 1867,

and the Admiral in command on the Pacific station being
similarly desirous of obtaining vessels. It is important that
the committee, the House of Commons, and the country

should consider what is the absolute necessity of keeping
up these large squadrons in all parts of the world- (hear,

hear)—squadrons of small ships, which on the approach of
any large ship belonging to an enemy would have to " cut
and run." ([fear, hear.) No officer dare at present take
upon himself, in the face of the policy of non-intervention,

demand reparation of any act done against us until he
receivo the opinion of the authorities at home. He

should hail with delight a decision to modify or altogether
remove the African squadron, if the present Government
or its successors should think that course consistent with
the interests of humanity and the public service of this
country. (Hear, hear.) The slave trade can be kept
down by fear of vessels stationed at Gibraltar, without
the frightful losses of health and life suffered on the Afri-
can coast. But the question is for the house to decide.
The Lords of the Admiralty had to turn their attention to
the question what class of ships it is best to build in our
dockyards, and on the whole had found it wise to carry out
the opinions of the late Board. The present Board of Ad-
miralty found three vessels of the Amazon class on the
stocks. One had been an unfortunate vessel ; but although
she came to an untimely end through the neglect of the
officer in charge, that is no reason why a very useful class
of vessels, superseding the old first-class despatch boats,
should be discarded. The Roebuck class never exceeded
11 knots, but the vessels launched last year have realised
12.8 and 12.4 knots. Instead of carrying 68-pounders, they
carry two 6f rifle guns and two 64-pounders. The Admi-
ralty ordered four additional vessels of this class to be laid
down. The next class is very dear to all admirals, officers,
officers, and sailors of the navy. These vessels are intended
to replace the old paddlewheel steamers. Two of them will
be completed, of about 1,460 tons, and with admirable ac-
commodation for taking small nundrers of troops, supernu-
meraries, and stores. The next work to be done was to
follow the late board in laying down some gunboats, which
will be of 678 tons, and will carry one 61-ton rifle gun and
two 40-pounders. They aro built of wood, and have double
screws, enabling them to turn with great facility. They
are of light draught, and adapted for going up rivers and
creeks. They are expected to go at 11 knots, which is at
least two knots in excess of the speed of the class they
supersede. Ten of those vessels have been laid down. The
next class is intended for the euppression of Chinese
piracy. The Chinese squadron consists of 36 vessels,
and of these about 17 aro gunboats, built for the Cri-
mean war. They are of wood, and are rotting away
much faster than was anticipated ; and the Admiralty
have been obliged to get forward a class of ves-
sels to take their place. These will be of 430 tons, built of
composite iron frames, with wood flanking. They will be
of light draught, and of 120 horse power. The engines
will be taken from the old gunboats. Two gunboats
ordered by the late board will be completed at Hasler, and
the Hercules and Monarch at Chatham will be finished.
During the official inspection at Pembroke and Chatham
the board found two small wooden vessels on the stocks,
far advanced, belonging to a class which was tried and
found wanting. One of them, the Newport, of 450 tons,
was orderett to be completed as a surveying vessel.
£5,618 had been spent on her, and the total estimate to
finish her will be £13,000. The other vessel, the Myr-
midon,was of 645 tons, and £11,682 had been spent on her,
and the estimates to complete her are £27,320. There aro
in three of the dockyards vessels laid down as line of
battle ships, but when the change came over the spirit of
modern warfare the shipwrights were taken to other work.
One of these, the Repulse, has cost £61,711, and if broken
up she would be a loss of £27,500. Instead, therefore, of
breaking her up, it had been decided to finish her as an
armour-plated ship of the improved Zealous class. The
general result of the proposed operations of the year will
be the construction of 22,945 tons of shipping in the docks ;
and the most ardent critic of the Admiralty will not be
able to say, if the programme is carried out, that the
dockyards do not kturn out w ork of service to the
country. On vote 10, section 1, there is an increase
of £17,000 for paint, materials, capstans, &c. Thar e
is a reduction of £lOO,OOO for coals, on account of
the Indian Government having undertaken to pay for
the fuel consumed in its service. There is also a great
reduction in the stock of timber. In the " wooden-wall"
period the stock was 60,000 loads, but under tho new sys-
tem a smaller quantity will suffice, and a reduction of
£147,990 has been made. But there is an increase of
£522,550 for iron shipbuilding. But for this increase the
estimates would have been almost identical with those of
last year. A sum of £83,355 has gone for the cupola ship
Captain, now being built by the hon. member for Birken-
head (Mr. Laird). She was designed by Captain Coles,
who was allowed to choose his own tonnage, specifications,
and builder, in order that his system might have a fair
trial. (Hear.) The Board of Admiralty wore from the first
most anxious to give not only an impartial, but almost a
favourable consideration to the plans of Captain Coles.
There is a sum of £344,350 for armour-plated iron ships.
It may be asked, what is the necessity for building more
iron-plated vessels ? He was opposed to drawing numeri-
cal comparisons between the forces of this country and the
forces of countries who are our allies and near neighbours,
for such comparisons are liable to give pain, and to convey
to this country a most fallacious idea of the strength of
other countries. Still, it is necessary to refer to the French
fleet, to show what a first-class power, which does not pro-
fess to be a purely maritime power, thinks it right and safe
in the present day to keep up, without in any way being
considered to be menacing the peace of Europe. France
has 43 ironclad vessels, of which 16 are first class. But four
or five of them, after going through a severe storm, re-
turned to port like " crippled ducks," and more recently one
of them has been shipwrecked. The others are to be reserved
for harbour defence. There are four first-class ironclads in
addition. Of the second class, one is built and seven aro
building; of the third class they have 12, many of which
are of an indifferent character. The Imperial Govern-
ment has followed the example of the American Govern-
ment, and recently laid down four large wooden frigates,
intended to possess great speed and carry heavy
arms, to defend the commerce of France or to harass the
commerce of an enemy in case of war. The total number
of ships in the French navy is 365; in the Spanish, 95 :
Austrian,
CB2;Russian, 218 ; and American,
234. And to the American, one word upon
h
isanPet
Minister of Marine to Congress. That
tere p
report
70
0 with: I
the Italian,
el
report enters most fully into the state of the American
navy; but the most interesting portion of it is that from
which it appears that the American Government have not
the slightest intention of building any more iron-clads.
They intend to rely solely on turretted monitors for the
defence of their coasts, and upon large wooden frigates for
the purpose of protecting their own, and harassing the
commerce of an enemy.

Mr. SHAW LEFEVRE—They will be 3,000 tons.
Lord 11. LENNOX—Yes, and more. There was a pre-
vailing idea that our coast defences were bare, and that i
would be advisable to build some of these turretted moni
tors in the same way as the Americans. But I venture to
think that is the very last class of ships that we are most
in need of. In the first place, I hope and believe that there
is scarcely any event that can be more improbable than an
invasion of our shores; and in the next place, when 1 re-
member what the Americans were able to do in the course
of a very few months, I feel confident that the spirit of
Englishmen, aided by the private yards at our disposal,
will be able to effect as much. (Hear, hear.) Therefore I
think that that is a class of ships which of all others may
be the most distantly postponed. I may then be asked,
why make ironclads at all ? But my answer to that is, that
England ought not to stand still while all other Powers
great and small, are progressing in the science of arms. In
the year 1860-61 a sum of £582,000 was taken for ironclads ;
in 1861-62, £865,000 ; in 1862-63, £966,000 ; in 1863-64,
£630,000; in 1864-65, £638,000; in 1865-66, £120,000
(not spent); and last year nothing was asked for on ac-
count of this vote. Therefore, I think, if any board were
justified in coming to Parliament and asking for a vote on
that head, we'were. The. French Government make no un-
usual effort. Their estimates are not unusually large, but
they go on year by year doing little by little, and the con-
sequence is that in the end they have a great show. I only
wish that had been the policy of the English Government,
and I am sure that it is the soundest. The Admiralty
having come to the conclusion that ships were to be built,
we had next to decide upon the chts+ and description. We
found that we had 18 first-class ironclads, but that of those
four, including the Warrior, Black Prince, and Defence,
were not perfect specimens. We found that in the second
class we had only three ships afloat and one building, and
that was the class in which we most needed an increase.
Then came the question of pattern, and then again rose the
difficulty of getting a comparatively small sea-going turret
ship. Upon that Admiral Robinson brought to us a design
by Mr. Reed for such a ship, and we adopted it. Her ton-
nage will bo 3,774 19-64ths, ker horse power 800, draught of
water forward, 21ft. 6in.,
and aft, 26ft. 6in.; her speed, 13}
knots an hour; and her complement, 450 men. She will
be covered with armour plates 8 inches, except at the ex-
tremities, which will be 6 inches ; she will have a teakback
of 10 inches, and a skin of 11 inch ; the height of the port
sides on the main deck will be 10 feet out of the water, a nd
of the upper deck 14 feet. She will carry on her main deck
an armament of six guns of 12 tons each, with two 68-
pounders, one fore and one aft, as bow guns ; but her pe-
culiar characteristic will be the semi-turrets, within which
the twelve ton guns will be placed. The weight of her hull
will ba 2,704 tons, of her armour 850 tons, and of backing
146 tons. We propose to build two vessels of the second
class, and two gunboats on the same plan and principle us
those already in the dockyards; and there is further an idea
of building another of those ships which were laid down
by the late Admiralty, and which are chiefly intended to
protect or to harass the commerce of an enemy.
She will, however, have this possible objection in the
eyes of Englishmen ;
she will be so fast that she will
never get within the range of an enemy's guns. (Laugh-
ter.) But it may be said, when speaking of our coast de-
fences, why go to the expense of building new ships? why
not cut down the wooden ships in your dockyards ? Un-
fortunately the reason is that the board do not believe that
the plan of Mr. Henwood would give either good or cheap
ships. Mr. Henwood is no doubt one of the most eminent
shipbuilders in the country, but he has had no experience
in constructing men-of-war, and has overlooked the fact
that the ships with which he proposes to deal have been
already deteri9rated by omen= frona oailtpg t 9 eoruw

ships. The result of his plan will bo best shown by a com-
parison between the Victoria, if cut down, and the Royal
Sovereign. In such an event the'axcess of weight in the

c.ise of the Victoria would be 3,449 tons ; but the most
remarkable point would be this, that while the Royal Sove-
reign has a deck of 7 feet 21 inches, the Victoria would
have a deck of only 2 feet 21 inches out of water. This
shows thatthe Admiralty were fully justified in hesitating
before they proceeded to cut down their line-of-battle
ships. (Hear, hear.) What, then, is to be done with these
wooden ships ? There are no less than 55 of them in reserve
in the Medway and other places ; thoy cost £8,250,000 ; to
repair there would require £1,250,000 ; and the total annual
expenditure on account of them is £117,260. (Hear, hear.)
Impressed with that feeling, and knowing that sonic of
them never could, by any possible conversion, be made
serviceable to the country, my right hon. frieed, now
Secretary for War, decided that the worst of them should
be sold by auction. (IF ar, hear.) Thirteen of them
accordingly have been sold, and within the financial
year £8'.,000 will bo paid into the Treasury on account of
them. (Hear, hear.) The only other vote the noble lord,
in conclusion, said he had to refer to, wits vote 11, re-
lating to works. Thisycar there was an excess over last
year of £42,771, principally on account of the dock exten-
sion and other works at Chatham and Portsmouth. The
hon. member for Porrtsfract had called attention to the
item of £450,000, for extra payments and receipts. This
amount was made up of • £150,000 for the sale of timber
which was deteriorating in the dockyards ; £85,000 for the
sale of ships ; and £lOO,OOO for the iron ballast employed
in paving the dockyards. He had the authority of Messrs.
Ryland for estimating the "'pigs" at £lOO,OOO. Arrange-
ments had been made for giving the Messrs. Ryland fifty
tons for the purpose of testing the market value, but there
was no doubt that the estimated sum of £lOO,OOO would
be realised. He believed there were eight or ten other
ships which might also be sold with advantage to the
country. He had now brought his statement to a close.
He was afraid he was not sufficiently clear, but as far as
he could he gave all the information in his power. He
hoped the committee would accept the estimates. They
were the lowest the Government could propose. If they
were accepted, England might, as in times past, rely upon
her navy as the right arm of her strength in the hour of
danger. (Cheers.)
The vote for 67,300 men and boys, including 16,200
marines, having been put from the chair,
Mr. GLADSTONE said be only gave expression to the
general feeling of the committee when he congratulated
the noble lord upon the manner he had discharged his duty.
The noble lord might rest assured it was not to him person-
ally he raised the objection at an earlier period of the evening.
There were many matters in the estimates which directly
• challenged discussion, and as the noble lord was not the
representative of the Board of Admiralty in Parliament,
such discussion could not take place with any effect.
There were some points.in the noble lord's speech which
made him regret that he did not occupy a more prominent
position. The noble lord alluded to the building of gun-
boats, the meaning of which was that this class of vessel
would be scattered all over the world ; but, as they pos-
sessed no great amount of defence or resistance, in the
event of war they would be found to run off or surrender.
The amount for these gunboats would also neces-
sitate a large outlay in the ensuing year. The
noble lord had already told the committee he was not re-
sponsible for the estimates, and to anyquestions addressed
to him he could still return the same answer. The Go-
vernment were entitled to their opinion, but it was also
for the House of Commons to express its opinion with re-
gard to these gunboats, as they directly told upon the
number of men that would be employed to man them all
over the world. It was on this account that he hoped the
committee would not be asked to agree to the first vote
on the present occasion. If the committee asked for fur-
ther information, the noble lord could say, " I am not here
to announce a policy or to give an opinion." If the Go-
vernment wished to place the noble lord at the head of
the department, they would then be ready to show as
much courtesy to him as to any of his predecessors. (Hear,
hear.)
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCtIEQUER said, with-
out troubling the house with any reasons, he thought, upon
the whole, it would be advisable not to press the vote that
night. If the house pleased they would report progress.
(Hear, hear.) According to a telegram he had received,
the election of the First Lord of the Admiralty would take
place on Tuesday, which, if all went well, would enable
him to take his seat on Wednesday, and proceed with the
navy estimates on Thursday.
Mr. CHILDERS would be glad to have some more de-
finite information with regard to the iron ballast.
Sir J. HAY said it was impossible to state the amount
exactly until they ascertained the result of Messrs. Ryland's
experiment upon the market. There were 3G tons of the
pig iron used for paving the dockyards, and the cost of
£1 5s per ton for replacing it with granite pavement would
have to be deducted from the sum the pig iron brought in
the market.

Mr. O'REILLY wished to know the date of the purchase
of the timber now proposed to be sold.
Mr. SAMIEIDA asked if the second-class iron vessels
were to be wholly or partially plated; whether the height
of eight feet had reference to the port-sill above water ;
and whether the guns were to be below deck or to protect.
the upper deck; and whether there would be ono or more
port-holes.

Sir J. HAY said the vessels will bo entirely armour
plated. There will be three or four ports for guns point-
ing fore and aft, working on pivots, on the main deck. As
regards the timber, it is difficult to say when it was all
purchased. It was in the years 1859-60 and 1860-61 when
the great increase took place. The demands of the service
caused three years' supply to be exhausted in one, the sup-
ply being 60,000 loads annually; but in 1862 we changed
the system of wooden ships for iron. There are now 101,000
loads in the yards. About 25,000 will be sufficient this
year, and, looking to the future, from 18,000 to 20,000; so
that 65,000 will be enough for us to retain. From 35,000
to 40,000 may therefore be sold.
Mr. Alderman LUSK said the noble lord asked himsalf
why we should build more ironclads of the first class, but
the answer did not appear clear. Why should we do so in
the present circumstances of the country ?
Sir J. HAY—There is no proposal before the house. It
is not now proposed to build any.
Mr. Alderman LUBK only wanted to know the answer
which the noble lord gave to his own question. (A
laugh.)
Sir J. HAY—It was not put as a question of policy.
There is no other proposal for building than the ono sub-
mitted by the Secretary to the Admiralty.
Mr. H. SEYMOUR said the question of the ironclads
was a most important one, as tending to economise our
military establishments at distant settlements. Why should
we not follow the plan adopted at Victoria, and by employ-
ing an ironclad for such places as Singapore and Hong
Kong, do with a smaller proportion of soldiers? An impor-
tant suggestion was thrown out by the Secretary of the
Admiralty with respect to our squadrons in various parts
of the world. Why might not the African squadron be
wholly dispensed with ? It was satisfactory to hear such
a statement from a member of the Government. The noble
lord shakos his head; but possibly the speech was a feeler
to ascertain the opinion of the house. Is it the intention
of the Government to propose any reduction of these squad-
rons? and if not, will any distinct motion on the subject
receive their support?

Sir M. PETO said the discussion of a policy without
the presence of those to direct it was a discussion
without aim, and he moved that progress be reported.
(Hear, hear.)
The CHAIRMAN then reported progress, and obtained
leave to sit again.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL brought in three bills
for the amendment of the Law of Bankruptcy, prefacing
his explanation of them by an elaborate review of modern
legislation on this subject, down to Lord Westbury's Act
of 1861, which ho remarked had not in all points worked
well, the chief complaint against it being that it interfered
too much with creditors, and did not leave them sufficiently
at liberty to manage the assets of an estato among them-
selves. He proposed, therefore, to adopt unreservedly the
recommendation of Mr. Moffatt's Committee, and to allow
creditors to appoint a trustee for the management of an
estate ; and, to provide for those numerous cases in which
the creditors were supine, there would be provisional
trustees (the Registrars of the County Court), who would
also have vested in them all estates between the adjudica-
tion and the appointment of the trustees by the creditors.
He proposed, also, to abolish imprisonment for debt, except
in certain cases of fraud, and to extend the Small Debts
Act to sums of £5O. Debts would be proved and divi-
dends declared before the trustees, with an appeal where
11 necessary; the adjudications would be made before the
Registrars, and the proof of disputed debts, the final
examination and discharge of debtors, would be the
functions of the legal tribunal, which he proposed
should be the County Courts, with an appeal to the Lords
Justices. On the mode of making a mau bankrupt on his
own motion, he proposed that a debtor should petition the
Court, upon which the creditors should be called together
and decide whether he should bo made bankrupt ; the
arrangement clauses would be left undisturbed, with this
addition, that a debtor must file a deed in the court describ-
ing the amount of his debts, the names of his creditors, and
his assets, and if it should be assented to by a majority of
his creditors representing three-fourths of his estate, the
Court should have power, after it had ramaiued three
months without being challenged by any of the creditors,
to declare it valid. Creditors, however, whose debts were
secured would have to deduct the amount of their security
before their debt was computed. On the question of dis-
charge he proposed to follow the principles of the old
Insolvent Debtors' Court, and to give the Court discretion
to make the future property of a bankrupt liable to a
limited extent, unless ho had paid a dividend of 10s. in
the pound.
Mr. GOSCHEN signified a general approval of the bill,
which ho believed contained the elements for solving
many of the difficulties of the subject, though on some
points it would require modification.
Tho scheme was criticised, and various suggestions were
offered, by Mr. Moffatt, Mr. Ayrton, Mr. Moncreiff, Mr.
Fawcett, Mr. Alderman Lusk, :Mr. Vance, and Mr. Nor-
wood.
The other business was disposed of, and the Rouse
adjourned.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—If ever there was a needless and futile
discussion in the House of Commons it was that

Last night on the question whether Lord henry

Lennox, the Secretary to the Admiralty, should be
allowed to move the Navy Estimates. The state of
things was this. The time had come when these

estimates ought to be produe..d and considered, and
there was the more reason for avoiding delay as
everybody is aware that after next Monday the
Reform Bill will occupy all the time on this side of
Easter. Now, the late First Lord of the Admiralty
having accepted the War-office, and being

succeeded by Mr. Corry, it happened that last night
neither of these gentlemen had a seat in the House.
Mr. Corry, having been eight years away from the
Admiralty, might be excused from bearing a part in

the debate, if even he had been re-elected ; he
certainly could not be accurately informed of the
. .

details of what has been done during the time the
present Government has been in office, and of the
arguments by which they justify their present Esti-
.

antes.

On the other hand, Sir John Pakington,

if be had a scat in the House, might probably be
objected to, as General Peel was objected to the
other night, on the ground that he is no longer the
responsible Minister, but only an amateur giving a
voluntary assistance to a department of which
he is not the Head. Under these circumstances
the Government took the perfectly reasonable
course of committing the annual naval statement
to the Secretary of the Admiralty, who is
necessarily acquainted with all that has been done.
and is admitted to be perfectly competent to deal
with the subject. The Secretary of the Admiralty
is the recognised representative of the department
in the absence of the First Lord. He is generally
supposed to be more thoroughly acquainted with
the details of business than the First Lord himself,
and yet before Lord Henry Lennox could rise to
make his statement Mr. Gladstone objected to the
proceedings. Prefacing his remarks with the ob-
servation that the discussion was this year of unusual
itAportance, which probably has been said every
year within living memory, he objected that there
was in the house of Commons neither the Minister
under whose responsibility these propositions were
prepared, nor the Minister under whose responsi-
bility they were to be carried into effect. For this
reason he demanded that the subject should be put
off till the middle of next week. We cannot but be
astonished at such an objection from the leader of
the House under the late Government. It is but

the other day the House had to complain that the
very thing which the present Government is blamed
for doing once, on absolute necessity, was done for
several years together by their predecessors. In
Lord Palmerston's Administration who was the
First Lord of the Admiralty ? The Duke of Somer-
set, who sits in the House of Lords. Who was the
Secretary of War ? First Lord Panmure, then
Lord De Grey, both in the House of Lords, and
only in later years Lord Hartington. These two
great Departments, which administer the mass of
the national expenditure, were represented in the
House of Commons only by Secretaries. In the
empyrean of the Upper House sat the First Lord at
the time when the fiercest storms raged about the
Secretary below on questions of expenditure, on the
qualities of iron plating, on turret-ships and gun-
boats, on the supply of seamen or the transport of
troops. During the last few years we have made
the greatest revolution ever effected in our Navy.
The cost has been enormously increased ; the size
of vessels has been magnified till frigates and even
corvettes vie with the line-of-battle ships of only
a few years since. Shape has not been less revo-
lutionised than dimension ; scarcely has one inven-
tion established itkelf in public or official favour
than it is superseded by another, and people sus-
pect that the money spent on the last irresistible
machine of war has been purely wasted. At such a
time, if ever, the First Lord, as well as the Secretary
for War, ought to have been in the House of Par-
liament, which represents the tax-paying public,
and controls, or ought to control, the national ex-
penditure. The late Government, amid the mur-
murs even of its own followers, denied this claim,
and year after year the Commons had no informa-
tion save from Secretaries, who, however able and
painstaking, could not speak with authority, could
propose nothing that had not been sanctioned in
another place, could assent to nothing without a
few days' interval to advise with their superiors,
who, in short, were entirely void of that power and
that responsibility the absence of which Mr. Glad-
stone will not excuse for a single day. The present
Government have paid the Ilouse of Commons the
compliment of placing it in the Ministers who are
at the head of both the Army and Navy. This, we

think, ought always to be done. The cost of war-
like armaments is immense and increasing. There
is a painful distrust of the whole system of both
Departments in the mind of the nation. As soon as
the excitement about Reform is over, and the coun-
try turns again to details of practical administra-
tion, there will be a more searching inquiry than
ever into the traditions by which costly squadrons
are kept cruising at the other side of the world, and
regiments doing duty in distant colonies which have
no foe to fear. The Conservatives have shown that

they recognise the importance of these matters by
giving the representation of the two Departments
to members of the House of Commons. It is there-
fore, all the more ungracious to make much of the
temporary absence of the First Lord, and to wish to
silence the Secretary, especially since it is certain
that Mr. Corry can hardly make himself master of
what has been lately done so as to speak with autho-
rity in the forthcoming debate. We cannot conceive
that any inconvenience would have resulted from

debating in the usual manner, as if Lord Clarence
Paget,
instead of his nephew, who had just sat
down.
POST.—it is not an enviable condition of mind
that would be disposed to cavil at the determination
of the French Government to confer on M. de La-
m artine a substantial mark of the national gratitude
for important services rendered to his country, as
well as of national respect and even admiration for
his brilliant literary genius. It is a fact beyond dis-
pute that, through the vicissitudes of a long career,
M. de Lamartine, whether as an author, an orator,
a poet, or a statesman, has shown an ability of
which any country might be justly proud in one of
her sons. The literary and public career of M. de
Lamartine extend over a period equal to the term of
many a busy life, and date from more than half a
century ago. Even since he retired from politics,
near 17 years ago, when he had attained the age of
GO, he has produced four great historical works
which alone would have sufficed to establish an or-
dinary reputation. But though his old age has
been occupied with prose, his youth was devoted to
poetry, and it was his " Meditations Podtiques,"
which, published near 50 years ago, first rendered
him famous, even at a time when there were far
greater poets in the world as competitors than any
we have seen since they ceased to write. M. Marie
Louis Alphonse Prat was born in the year 1790, at
Macon. The name of Lamartine he derived from a
relation—an uncle on the mother's side—from whom
he inherited a large property. Though his father
was an officer in the army he does not appear to
have entered the service, which in those days
attracted grid absorbed almost all the energy, am-
bition, and genius of France—the army being a
thoroughly national one, in which any man could
rise from the ranks by dint of sheer merit to the
highest rank and dignity in the State. Political
considerations may probably have had something to
do with this. It is not a little singular that the ma-
ture fecundity of M. de L•unartine's literary genius
in his old age forms a somewhat striking contrast
with the absence of precocity in youth. Although
his working life has ranged over nearly half a
century, it was not till be was near 30 years old
that he began to write. It was during
M. de Lamartine's second tour in Italy,
about 1818, that he began to compose his first
poetical work, which was published a couple of
years later. It may be almost said of him as was
said of his greatest poetical contemporary, that he
awoke one morning and found himself famous. He
subsequently obtained an appointment as Attache
to the French Embassy at Florence, where he re-
sided for some time, after which he was removed to
London in the capacity of Secretary to the Ambas-
sador at the Court of St. James. It was while re-
sident in London that he married an English lady,
named Birch whose death, four years ago, cast a
gloom over his declining years, and greatly tended
to increase the sufferings which his own serious in-
disposition entailed upon him. As his second work,
the " Harmonies Poetiques," was not published
until an interval of nine years had elapsed after the
appearance of the first, it will be seen that not only
did he begin to write later in life than most authors,
especially poets, but that his productions did not
come forth with anything like the frequency they
have done of late. From London M. de Lamartine
proceeded to Florence, this time as Charge d'Affaires,
and about 1829 he was chosen a member of the,
French Academy. His subsequent diplomatic ser-
vices were rendered as Minister Plenipotentiary to
Greece, and as Minister for Foreign Affairs during
the short interval which he held that office under
the revolutionary Government of 1848.
which
services onstitnlt was
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cc
in-
deedtutes tltile: martoshtehmtpoookrtaahtt
of
thath
maintaining the cause of order. That he was able
crisisi
s
to do this was chiefly owing to the great powers he
had acquired as an orator, and to the influence
which the liberal views he had professed gave him
among the people. It was due to him that the na-
tional tricolour was preserved as the flag of France
instead of the red flag of the Social and Democratic
Republic. We have now reached the most impor-
tant part of his public career, and it is requisite to

•••••..

review the preceding 20 years in order to trace his
progress as a statesman. After the revolution of
July M. de Lamartine had gone to travel in he
East, and it was during his absence that he was
elected deputy for the Department du Nord. On the
intelligence reaching him at Jerusalem he immediately'
set out for France to fulfil his duties in the Chamber,
and soon afterwards he published an account of his
travels, a work which has been universally read
and admired. Family traditions appear to have
moulded his earlier political views. He gave his
support to M. Guizot, but his proclivities seemed
to develope rapidly in a more lib,Tal direction.
Though he found time for the production of two
more poems, "Jocelyn " and "La Chute d'Ange,"
published between 1834 and and 1839, he seems to
have been chiefly devoting his leisure during this
period to the composition of one of the most famous
political and historical books which has appeared--
namely the " Histoire des Girondins," pubdshed in
1847, the year before the last revolution, and per-
haps in some respects the precursor of it. Not
that we mean that, according to the vulgar notion,
such a book and such an event stand in the relation
of cause and effect. What wo mean is that this
book may be looked upon as a sort of exposition of
the feelings and opinions then prevalent in the
minds of the people. The work just named was the
work at once of a poet, an historian, a statesman,
an orator ; and it only required such circumstances
its
author those which subsequently occurred to bring
author conspicuously to the front of affairs as the
ruling spirit of the hour. But these circumstances
were transitory and evanescent, and it was but
t
for an hour that Lamartine was the ruling
During that brief but terrible crisis, however, he
certainly did the State some good service. After
his " three months in power," which he has him-
self described, explained, and defended, his political
career may be said to have closed ; not so, however 4
his literary career. His " History of Turkey:.
his " Biographies of Celebrated Characters," his
" History of the Restoration," and his " History Of
the Constituent Assembly," have been given to the
world since his retirement from public life. M. do
Lamartine has certainly enriched the literature of
his country by many standard works which will live,
and, in the character of author alone, deserves well
of the French nation. The services of a statesman
are not always to be estimated by their length, any
more than those of any author, and while M. de
Lamartine's works, both in poetry and prose, are i
of considerable magnitude, and their excellence s
equal to their voluminousness, his services as real
chief of the State, at a icrisis of almost unex-
ampled difficulty and danger, were, on the other
hand, as vital and important as they were brief.
It is hardly too much to say that at that critical
_
juncture everything depended on one man, and 11
his nerves had faltered, or his patriotism been less
firm and noble, untold disasters might have been
precipitated that would have entailed social dissolu-
tion and political chaos for long years to come.
parliamentary grant of £16,000 to such a man,,
borne
down with ago and infirmity and domestic affliction,
is what the moral sense of the world will apPr.trie•
It is, as the bill which makes this grant recites,
worthy of France to honour the celebrity of A.l.,ds
Lamartine by such an act of munificence. The ,
veernment, says the bill, desires to intervene during
his lifetime, to give him striking testimony in. respectts
of his services to his country, whose best interesvr
he has defended with courage and success. The
of Aug. 22, 1790, says that every citizen who has
served, defended, illustrated, or enlightened France,
or who has given a great example of devotednes„
to the public good, has a right to the gratitude ol
the nation ; and, under either of the definitions of
i
this ordinance, or all of them taken together, a goo_
title to a national benefaction must be made out for
M. de Lamartine.