The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-13 00:00:00

SIR JAMES GRAHAM.

Sir James Graham -hasbeen for upwards of 40
years engaged in public affairs. Before he had
acquired any reputation as a clever administrator,
he was distinguished in the House of Commoni as a
detector of abuses. He tracked corruption in its
most secret windings, and gained celebrity by drag-
ging it to light. At a time when Toryism was all
powerful and Reform only mentioned to be sneered
at, he was a fellow-labourer with Mr. Hume, and
helped most materially to bring about the improved
opinion prior to 1830 from which flowed the Reform
Act and all subsequent legislative improvements.
As First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary.ofl
State for the Home Department he has adminis-
tered the system he before held up to obloquy. He
knows it thoroughly, therefore, both from watching
its course and working its springs. For all its
movements he is an unimpeachable authority, and
his accusations are those both of a detective and an
accomplice. What he said at Carlisle on Monday
is on this account of great public importance, and
though it might have passed as mere electioneering
squibs had it fallen from other men, coming from
him it is most instructive. For a party purpose it
is of no value, for it affects all parties alike. Sir
James bore testimony against himself and his
friends as well as against his opponents, and made
the public so much the better acquainted with the
system he has administered and now condemns.
Other elections, when Sir James and his friends
have been in office, have been influenced by the same
means as the present elections. Knowing this, he
could divine and state that at Berwick-on-Tweed the
election had been decided in favour of two Govern-
ment candidates by a promise given by the Govern-
, ment just before the election that the old castle
should be repaired and a new barrack established
there. So the expectation of the advantages to be
derived by the town from an expenditure of the pub-
lic money, only to be obtained by returning two
Conservatives, secured their triumph. The packet
service, Sir James reminded the public, costs nearly
a million a year ; and how the expenditure of this
sum may be used to influence elections, and pro-
bably has been used to this end by every successive
Administration since the first subsidy was granted
to the Cunard line, Sir James explained by the
examples of Dover and Galway. The public has
been amply informed of the refusal by Captain
Carnegie to contest Dover when requested by the
First Lord of the Admiralty, but probably only a
ci-devant First Lord could explain the dishonour-
able means by which he was expected to succeed.
The controct for tne employment of packets at
Dover had been modified or eked out in some way
just before such terms. according to
Sir James, as turned the election in favour of Ad-
miral Leeke, the new Lord of the Admiralty, and
his colleague, Mr. Nicholl. When Sir James ascribes
the success of the Conservatives to Admiralty
patronage, it is impossible for the public to forget
that between Dover and Mr. Bernal Osborne there
were no peculiar sympathies, and impossible for it
to avoid suspecting that he owed his former success,
when Secretary of the Admiralty, to like arts exerted
in his favour. Sir James informs us then, very
clearly, that the election at Dover was carried by
the public money having been employed, though in
a way to escape legal punishment, to bribe the
electors. Of Galway Sir James could speak more
positively, but not for the public more conclusively.
Already, he said, a communication by packets is
established between America and Liverpool, at an
expense of £240,000 a-year. And the American
Government, following our example, had also, at a
considerable expense, established a line of packets,
so that the communication between the two coun-
tries is carried on with the regularity and certainty
of the old mail coaches. But Government, at the
instance of a valuable body of members in the west
of Ireland, thought it would be advisable to add to
this communication by establishing a Galway line
at £70,000 a-year. It would have been cheaper,
said Sir James, had the Government employed
£lOO,OOO of the public money in buying the votes
and debauching the voters of Galway, than thus
to apply £70,000 per annum under a contract
for seven years. The consequence of the
contract, however, was to return Mr. Lever, a
supporter of Lord Derby, at the head of the
gentleman who is reported, indeed, to
have offered his t
enable him by a subsidy to buy the electors of
Galway. such vote any Ministry which would
These are only specimens of the corruption
which we must believe,
many years past,
Public writrs connected of Sir James, has
probably elections, and on the respeficutaebnleeeadutthheorlaittye
has in many places in
and hoping oqnuna
el
tleyte d.
with influenced
th
thael
Government,elections
when the issue has been doubtful.
a share in the Administration may may gloze over these
occurrence to be joked abousteean:u
some time or other to have
accusations, or treat the
laughedmatter as as an ordinary
inlairyre
can only regard it as a very rous matter, affecting
the character of representative_.b government and
retarding the progress ofliberty throughout the
world. is keeping out of fuel
an war, aad not

impeding the growth of prosperty at home, the
government of the United States has been eminently
successful, its people have been more prosperous,
and no Government has managed its foreign rela-
tions more aculely. Nevertheless, no Government
is more despised in Europe than the Republican
Government of the United States, because it rolls on
the wheels of sordid corruption. And what is the
chief objection made by the most enlightened portion
of the people of Europe, who still groan under
despotism and yet fear to shake it off, to our
Government? Why, that everything, including
honour, and virtue, and:power, is bought and sold,
and has a money price. They are very much in
error, but their belief is partly justified by the
continual repetition of such accusations as those
made at Carlisle, and the continual recurrence of
corrupt praetices not confined to any one party. The
i
Tory First Lord of the Admiralty m y use a packet
contract to serve Tory purposes. B t the vast sum
expended in this service mentione by Sir James
Graham is the work of the opponent of the Tories.
At the Tynemouth election, very trecently, Mr.
Lindsay asserted that he had visite4 Dover as one
of the commissioners for inquiring into harbours of
refuge, and had satisfied himself that a large portion
of the annual expense now incurred for the port
there might be spared. From his statement,
and what Sir James Graham tells us, we cannot
avoid suspecting that successive Administrations
have bribed the electors of Dover, as Lord Derby is
said to have bribed the electors of Galway, by
directing a fertilising stream of the public revenue
into their laps.
On this occasion we cannot avoid recollecting
that the. Government expenditure under the head
of Miscellaneous has gone on increasing year by
year, and much of it, now amounting- to £7,000,000
a year, we may now suspect is applied for purposes
no more honourable nor useful than to seduce elec-
tors. Though our neighbours are grossly in error,
they find in such facts sufficient reasons for not
hastily discarding their own systems of Government,
and for distrusting some of our commendations.
Thus the system of corruption which is lightly
treated helps to keep alive despotism'hbroad, while
it debases our own people. The first fatal step in
most men towards crime is the severance of honest
resolutions from the acts which are their natural
and appropriate consequences ; and , the kind of
bribery described by Sir J. Graham saps morality
at its foundation, by seducing men to act contrary
to their political convictions. When we find that
this is done by the public money, we must heartily
condemn a system which wrings taxation from
the people to continue a degradation that helps to
destroy the influence of Representative Government
in Europe.—Daily News.

ELECTION INTELLIGENCE.

WEST RIDING.-THE DECLARATION.

The declaration took place from the hustings at
Wakefield yesterday morning, in the presence of
from 15,000 to 20,000 people.
The High Sheriff (Sir J. M. Pilkington) appeared
in front of the hustings a few minutes before one,
~
accompanied by the under sheriff (W. Gray, Esq.)
and the deputy sheriff (B. Dixon, Esq.), and imme-
diately proceeded to declare the poll. He said—
Gentlemen, I find that the result of the poll is as
follows :
Mr. SirjFohnrankWCiliroiasnisley ltanisde
.. ll
15,401 ••
15,978
Hon. J. S. Wortley .. .. 13,636
(Cheers.) I therefore declare Sir John William
Ramsden, Bart., and Frank Crossley, Esq., to be
duly elected as knights of the shire,to serve in Par-
liament for the West Riding of the county of York.
The hon. members then put on their cocked hats,
and girded themselves with their swords; after
which
The UNDER-SHERIFF read the writ, declaring

their return.
Sir J. W. RAMSDEN then proceeded to address the
assembly, and was received with an enthusiastic
burst of applause. He said..-Mr. High Sheriff,
electors, rand non-electors of the West Riding, I
return you my -warmest thanks. I offer you my sin-
cerest congratulations. (Cheers, aid a voice—
" What for bribery and intimidation.") The battle
has been yours, and bravely you have fought it.
(Cheers.) The victory is your own, and nobly have
you won it.. (Cheers.) The struggle has been severe.
(No, no, from the Conservatives.) It has been
severe, for our opponents are strong, and well have
they maintained the fight. (Cheers from the Con-
servatives.) The prize was worthy of the contest,
and it is yours. (Loud cheers.) Befoie the battle;
I said I would not boast ; and now that the victory
is won I will not exult. I rejoice that our oppo-
nents are so strong as they are, for it is their
strength in which consists our victory. (Cheers.) It
is their prowess which doubles the splendour of our
success. I told you before that this was no personal
contest. (Hear, hear.) It is not whether my hon.
colleague and myself, or the right hon. gentleman
who opposed us, should have this seat in the House
of Commons ; it is not that. We are in ourselves
nothing; we are but the humble instruments of
your power, the indicators of your will. (Cheers.)
We are the straws thrown up to show the direction
of the wind. (Hear, hear.) It was afar more im-
portant question. Great principles were at stake—
a great and illustrious reputation was in jeopardy
—the West Riding was such trial, and we were called
to do battle in defence of those principles for which
our fathers had fought in days of yore. Bravely
have you fought that battle—(" Barnsley to wit")—
you have shown that you are not degenerate ;
Jou have proved that you are -worthy of your great
traditions—(cheers)--that you are true to the prin-
ciples for which your illustrious champions have
done battle in days of old. (Cheers.) You have
shown that you still value religious liberty—
(cheers)—that peace is still precious in your eyes;
that you are still attached to commercial freedom
—(cheers)—that reform is still the watchword of
your party—(loud cheers)—and that political pro-
gress is the beacon of your course. (Renewed
cheers.) Well have you fought and nobly have
you won. You have won a victory not here alone,
but in the eyes of England, which were concen-
trated upon your fight. (Cheers.) I told you on
Saturday that it was for us to redress the balance
—(A voice—We have)—that the cause of Liberal
principles was committed to your hands ; that with
you it rested whether those principles should be
borne up victorious or cast down in defeat.
(Cheers.) Your answer cannot be misunderstood.
(Loud cheers.) And I rejoice to think that though
we have had a fierce contest—though we have won
a decisive victory—we have done so in perfect good
humour. (Cries of " Barnsley," and interruptions
from the Conservatives.) I say here to our oppon-
ents, I don't accuse them of acting an unworthy
part in this contest--("You can't)--and I trust that
they will be able to bear the same testimony to us.
(" No. no." from the Conservatives, and counter
cheers.) Yorkshiremen are always fond of fair
play, and never enjoy it so much as when they
fight with each other—(a laugh)--but though two
parties can fight, and gallantly so too, only one can
win, and therefore it is that I trust those who are
defeated to-day will feel no bitterness—(cries of
" Hear, hear," from Mr. Wortley)—and that we
who have the triumph will give way to no ungene-
rous exultation. (Cheers.) This is indeed a great
day for the West Riding. We have shown that
we are worthy of our great position. (Cheers.)
Long may we continue in the same course—
(cheers)—long may the West Riding continue firm
to the principles it has ever upheld—(Cheers)—
long may it continue undivided and unimpaired,
to stand the first and foremost amongst the
constituencies of England. (Loud cheers.) And
as its size is the greatest—as its importance is
the most overwhelming—long may it continue to
be the staunchest champion of the great principles
of peace, of progress, and of reform. (Loud
cheers.)

Mr. CROSSLEY next presented himself, and was
received with enthusiastic cheers, which were
again repeated. He said—Gentlemen, from the
bottom of my heart I thank you for the noble vic-
tory you have won this day. Defeat flatters no
man, and I would not light up a straw to make that
defeat worse to bear by my right hon. opponent
than the fact makes it. (Hear.) For seven years I
have had the honour of a seat in Parliament, along
with that right hon. gentleman, and during the
whole of that time I have received nothing at his
hands but courtesy and respect. (Hear.) Gentle-
men, there is something about his manly bearing,
there is something in his unadorned but natural
oratory, that I for one shall be sorry to be deprived
of. (Hear.) I think the right hon. gentleman has
not been well used on this occasion. (Laughter,
cheers, and an exclamation, " By his own friends.")
His friends, who induced him to give up a high
and honourable position, told him that they could
return him for the West Riding at the bead of the
poll. (" They never could.") They deceived him
when they told him so—(hear)—.and if they did
not know they were doing so they ought to have
done. (Hear.) I remember some time ago that the
right hon. gentleman told me in the lobby of the
huvoinut
ibhmn
House of Commons that he found it very hard work
of
ufazfl ht the. bgaettle ono g virtz l tu c orooregh

Yesterday an exceedingly interesting and in-
structive lecture on the French war in Italy in
1796, was delivered in the lecture-hall of the United
Service Institution, by Lieutenant-Colonel Mac-
dougall, commandant Royal Staff College, Sand-
hurst. The hall was crowded by a very select
attendance of ladies and gentlemen, and amongst
the latter we noticed his Royal Highness the
Count de Paris, Major-General the Hon. Sir Ed-
ward Cust, K.C.H., who presided; Sir C. Pasley,
Sir D. Macdougall, General Drummond, General
Cameron, General Lawrence, General Low, Colonel
Hamilton, Colonel Lambert, Captain Atkinson,
Captain Macguire, General Alexander, Colonel
Lloyd, Dr. Lloyd, &c.
Lieutenant-Colonel MACDOUGALL, after a few

introductory observations from the Chairman, pro-
ceeded with what was really a very able and com-
prehensive outline of the great French-Italian
campaigns of 1796, and the clear manner in which
the colonel laid the most important events before
his auditory elicited frequent warm manifestations
of applause. He said that at the request cf the
council of the institution he had determined upon
making the subject matter of his present discourse
the campaign of Napoleon I. in Italy, in 1796, as
being particularly interesting at the present
moment, when the same scenes were being again so
conspicuously brought before the public. It was
remarkable to observe that, after the lapse of so
many years, the same military evolutions were
being pursued—or rather were reproduced—and
hostile armies were placed in the position of former
times, while it was peculiar to observe that the same
contending parties were about to moisten with their
blood the soil which previously received the blood
of ,their forefathers. A short consideration,
however, of the particular positions of hostile armies
in the campaign of 1796 and the present day would
easily convince them that this arose from the nature
of the country, which, in certain parts, by moun-
tainous and barren regions or fertility determined
the line of military operations. Thus in many cases
the precise spots could be pointed out where
decisive battles would be fought, and in con-
sequence of this all eyes were now turned to
the battlefield of Marengo as being the
probable scene of another great battle, the
position of the Austrians at the present time being
such as was taken up by the first Napoleon in 1796.
. _

Well, to proceed with his remarks upon that cam-
paign. The first coalition against France, it would
be remembered, was in 1792, and he would refer
his auditory to the moving events that took place
between that year and 1796 to history, and not
having sufficient time to enter into details, he would
confine his remarks to the principal and important
operations in the latter year. Ile proposed, how-
ever, to describe more particularly the opening
movements of the campaign, which resulted in the
battle of Martanello and the combinations of
Napoleon which preceded the passage of the Po at
Piacenza, as being of interest at the present mo-
ment. In the year 1796 Sardinia was allied with
Austria and England against France; the line of
demarcation between the French on the one side,
and the combined Austrians and Sardinians on the
other, being diTided into two parts. The section
was formed by thin mountains from the-Little St.
Bernard in the. Col di Argentera, the southern part '
of the line of demarcation being formed by the crest
of the maritime or southern Alps, which extended
from the Col di Argentera to the Col di Cadibona
above Savona. The French army, styled the Army
of the Alps, under Kellerman, guarded the western
Section , while the Army of Italy under Napoleon occu-
pied the southern line (the lecturer by means of maps
pointed out most minutely as he went on every parti-
cular position alluded to, which greatly added to the
interest of his address, as the audience becoming also
spectators could closely watch the strategical and
extraordinary foresight of Napoleon and the con-
summation of his remarkably well laid plans). The
disadvantage of occupying such positions for any
length of time against an enemy in Piedmont was
at once apparent, for the different French corps
posted on the summits of the mountain passes along
this extensive line were unable to communicate
with each other but by a long, painful march, and
it took 20 days to go from one extremity of the line
to the other. The Sardinians, on the other hand,
posted within the concavity of this vast circum•
ference, and able to march between any two points
by the shortest line possible, could throw themselves
in force on any point they might desire to attack
or defend on a far shorter notice than the French
would require to concentrate their forces there.
The French likewise found great difficulty in sup-
plying their troops, owing to the badness of the
roads ; while on the rich plains of Italy their
enemies were abundantly fed, and, to add to their
strategical advantages, the French had to contend
with the climate, so that they lost in fact as many
men in three months from these causes as would
have sufficed for a general action. To penetrate
into Piedmont through the western barrier an army
would have to operate by one of of the five passes of
Argentera, La Croix, Mont Geneive, Mont Cenis,
or the Little St. Bernard. First, from the Col di
Argentera three valleys lead into Piedmont, viz.,
those of Stura, the Maria, and the Vraita, which
were guarded respectively by the forts of Deminte,
Genla, and Castel Delfin. Second, from the Col de la
Croix two valleys lead into Piedmont, viz., that of
St. Martin and Pragelato, guarded by Dignerolo
and Fenestrelles—an army proceeding from Mont
Dauphin would operate by this pass. Thirdly, an
army operating from Briancon over Mont Geneive
might descend by the valley of Pragelato or by that
of Dora Riparia, guarded by Exilles and Susa.
Fourthly, an army coming from St. Jeanne Marienne
would march over Mont Cenis, and descend into
Piedmont by the valley of Susa. The lecturer then
pointed' out the other approaches into Piedmont
from the Alpine districts, and continued : At the
commencement of the campaign Napoleon's only
line of communication with France lay through
Nice and his immediate base of operations might
be considered to have been the strip of country
between Nice and Savona, between the mounains
and the sea, the English having the command of
the sea, so that the French were thus debarred from
using it as a means of transport. The force at
Napoleon's disposal consisted of above 40,000 men,
in four divisions of infantry, under Generals Massena,
Augereau, Serrurier, and Laharpe ; and two divi-
sions of cavalry. When Napoleon joined the army
he found it in a state of great destitution as re-
garded food, clothing, transport, and supplies of
every kind. The men were starving, they were much
in arrears, and there was no money to pay them
with. Napoleon's first care was to provide for im-
mediate wants, to restore order, and to inspire his
troops with an ardent desire to engage the enemy
by appealing to the national love of glory, and by
convincing them that the only hope of an improve-
ment in their condition lay in a victorious advance.
On the very day Napoleon arrived at the s
si
ue
red
s,
head-
quarters at Nice, on the 27th of March, he
the following proclamation to the troops, ~ sod
you are naked, and the Government is much in
your debt, but has nothing to Five you. The
patience and courage you have displayed in this
desert of rocks are admirable. But these qualities
are unable to procure you any glory so long as you
remain here. I am about to lead you into the most
fertile plains of the world. Rich provinces, great
cities will be your prize. You will find ix that
rich country glory, honour, and wealth. Soldiers
of Italy, you will not be wanting
in courage or
constancy." The lecturer next depicted the harass
and fatigue that had to be endured by Napoleon
before he could get his army into anything like a
state of organisation and efficiency, but this he did
between the 27th of March and the 9th of April,
when he made his first decisive movement ; and the
lecturer, after graphically describing Napoleon's
strategical movements, which ended in the start-
lin? defeat of the Austrians at Montenotte—the
disjointed light of the Austrian centre, Pursued by

Laharpe—the consequent disrupture of the com-
bined forces of the allies, through the mass of the
French army taking up a position between the
Austrians and the Sardinians—and the subsequent
humiliation of the Sardinians—brought the first
part of the campaign to an end, with the armistice
of Chevarco, concluded between the French and
Sardinians, upon special conditions highly impor-
tant to the French in following up the campaign
against the Austrians. In the second part of the
campaign it was Napoleon's plan to drive the
Austrians out of Lombardy and across the
Adige, and to take up a defensive position
on that river, which would afford him a
base for further operations against them, at the
same time that it covered his conquests in the
rear and his line of communication with France.
It was true that the Adige was a long way from
his base, and it was more than probable that if the
French should meet with reverses, the treaty of
Chevarco would be treated by the Court of Turin as
so much waste paper, and that the retreat of the
French would be anything but secure. The answer
to this, however, was that, however hostile in feel-
ing, Piedmont retained very little power of serious
annoyance. Her three great fortresses were in the
hands of the French, the others were dismantled, and
her levies disbanded. Her discontent need, under
such circumstances, cause no more apprehension to
Napoleon than the rattle of a snake that has lost its
sting. Piedmont was under the heel of the con-
queror. Napoleon again by his deep strategy hood-
winked the Austrians by a rapid surprise in the
passage of the Po at Piacenza. Then followed in
rapid succession the defeat of the Austrians at Fom-
bio, in which town they, had strongly fortified
themselves against the advance of the French--the
surprise of the latter at Codagno, and death of
Laharpe, the French general—the flight of the Aus-
trians, under Beaulieu, towards Lodi—and the me-
morable battle of Lodi, terminating the second part
of the campaign. After this, between the 10th and
the 22d of May was employed by Napoleon in or- ;
ganising Lombardy in the French interest, or, as he
facetiously termed it, liberating the enslaved sub-
jects of Austria. The manner in which (continued
the lecturer) the French of 1796 treated those
whose saviours they professed to be appears in
rather startling contrast with their professions,
and suggests rather an uncomfortable feeling
on behalf of those same enslaved subjects of
Austria in 1859. The third part of the campaign
consisted in the French advance to the Adige, and
the retreat of the Austrians into the Tyrol. The
lecturer further gave a rapid sketch of the subse-
quent movements of the belligerent forces down to
the surrender of Mantua in the early part of 1797,
which terminated the campaign of 1796.
The lecturer was loudly applauded at the close of
his interesting narrative, and the proceedings ter-
minated with a vote of thanks to him for the pains
he had taken in delineating many difficult and
intricate military tactics and evolutions, which
would be the means of giving a clear insight into
various movements at present being made by the
belligerent forces on the Continent. Indeed, on
the whole, the lecture was exceedingly interesting,
lucid, and instructive.