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Leader (1850-1860), 24th February 1855, Edition 2 of 2, Page 15, FEBBgABX 24, 1855.] THE JjBABBR. *8g

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      The Duty Of Independent Membeks. The Iss...

      before them find that they cannot , by denuncaaiaoit or by warning , rescue either our army or the national honour , they must undertake the more arduous , and perhaps the more hazardous , task of trying to correct the master evil , by wrenching the power of the State from the class that have usurped it .

      Febbgabx 24, 1855.] The Jjbabbr. *8g

      FEBBgABX 24 , 1855 . ] THE JjBABBR . * 8 g

      Lord Elle1stborough's War Policy. Wanted...

      LORD ELLE 1 STBOROUGH'S WAR POLICY . Wanted a War Minister of energy , invention , and insight , who thoroughly understands the present war . Wanted a Minister who -will make the most of the enormous resources of the British Empire in men , money , ships , material , and science , to crush the Russian Empire and build up a strong barrier between the barbaric North and the civilised West . Wanted a Man , in short , to lead the British nation , in Parliament and out of Parliament , supreme in the council , pr ime-moving spirit in the field .

      Has the British nation got such a man in its public places , or in its holes and comers ? If it has , let him come forth and take up the mighty burden the British nation declares itself ready to lay upon him . As yet , certainly , the leader and saviour of the state , the Maryborough or the Wellington , the Napoleon or the Pitt , of this degenerate day ,

      has not appeared . Lord Raglan is not he ; Lord Panmttre is very far from being he—his only resemblance to Chatham is that he is liable to the gout ; Lord Palmerston—we have strong doubts whether the sprightly War Secretary of 1810 , is the mighty War Minister required in 1855 .

      Is it possible that Lord EliSenborottgh is the man ? True , he ^ has a natural inclination for war ; true , he has a natural love of matters military ; true , he deals eloquently in farreaching views , and affects _ a ^ £ amiliarity with details . He is full of years , he would fain persuade us he is full of vigour also . He is a thorough Tory , and asks to be the Minister . of a Liberal war . Can Lord Ellenborough , chiefly known as a reckless talking power in

      the House of Peers , latterly presented to us as Lord Derby ' s Mars , be the man the nation is seeking ; and if he be , will the nation accept his policy and its consequences—a policy not ne ^'''' tb ^ h ^" public ' :: ; =: but " ' riew '" in ' . "the""House-of Peers ? Not new , we say , to the public , for programmes equally bold have been proposed before ; but new from the lips of a Tory statesman , and a sign that the party is going to bid high for popularity .

      Since Lord Ellenborough ' s war policy , should the Executive relapse into the hands of the Derby-Disraeli faction , may become the policy of the country , it is important that we should note it , the more especially as the Derbyite press have sanctioned the programme ostentatiously declaimed by the possible Minister . At the commencement of the war , Lord Ellenborough declared that it was " a

      statesman ' s war , " and that the people of this country would never understand it . At that time the people , and the people ' s organs , were demanding that the war should be at least partly carried on by an appeal to nationalities . On Tuesday night Lord Ellenborough treated the House of Peers to a sketch of the war policy he would pursue . We find , to our infinite surprise , that the statesman has taken

      up the people ' s view , and that he solemnly assures us that we must " appeal to nationalities os well as to armies , " if we would succeed . Let us assume that this is not a " bid" only ; but the earnest utterance of patriotism . Here then is one great principle of the policy of the man who aspires most pertinaciously towards the leadership of England—war b y nationalities . It is true that among the nationalities be

      named , that of Poland is not—but surely he must , for consistency ' s sake , include Poland , and perhaps Finland too . Next to this great principle is that of adequately carrying on the war in Asiacertainly a most important object . For this purpose he would call on . the Indian Government to furnish cavalry and artillery , and take a prominent part in the war ; he would obtain the aid of a corps of Persians , " who are the very best soldiers , as brave as their swords ; " he would employ the Turkish troops in British pay in this service , and with these combined he would overrun Georgia , and with the further aid of the Circassians he would drive the Russian

      army beyond the Caucasus . He would have a body of Turkish troops m French pay , joined , we presume , with Austrians , make a diversion on the Pruth ; for he calculates that without these diversions in Asia and Europe , Persia will be compelled to side with Russia , and that the Allies' force in the Crimea will be unable to hold their ground . Of course , it is easy to

      fill up the outline . There would be vigorous war from the mountains of Georgia to the shores of the Baltic ; there would be ^ Turks and Georgians , and Persians and native Indians , and Austrians and Poles , and Fins , and English and French , all surging steadily up against the great bulwarks of Russian power . It is a magnificent programme !

      But what security have we that it would be carried out if Lord Ellenborough were entrusted with the war ? There are some important , some significant omissions . Lord Ellenborough : spoke of the militia , and recommended coercive measures ; but he is evidently not prepared to make it a truly national force , accessible in its higher ranks to others than gentlemen at large possessed of certain property . What view would he take of the

      systena of promotion ? Is it likely that the Tories would abolish the military Game Laws , and throw open the commission preserve to merit ? Certainly not . Yet that must be done by the minister who makes the military service popular and attractive in England . Besides , what guarantee have we that the party , whose Chief of the Staff this Lord would become , would sympathise with his policy in office—om ^ is another matter ? Lord Stanley is not an

      insignificant Disraelite ; yet only last week he professed a belief -in tne _ good _ jntentions _ of Russia , and insinuated that war broke out because the Emperor was misunderstood ! When has Mr . Disraeli ever declared heartily in favour of the war ? It is just , he says , but was not necessary . But if the armed and aggressive policy of Russia be not strangely belied by facts , the war was not only just but was inevitable , and necessary for the safety of Europe .

      Still Lord Ellenborough ' s position in Parliament , and his relations with parties , give his speeches an importance which they otherwise would not have ; and suggest a few reflections which demand consideration , and a few questions which demand replies . Are the British people so fully awakened from the dreams of peace , so fully aware of the dangerous power of Russia , as to give their adhesion , if not to Lord Ellenborough , then to Lord Ellenborough ' s adopted programme ?

      Look the thing full in the face , and it will be seen that it carves out for us years of steady and unfalter ing war . Yet the danger confessedly is great . Russia must be the conqueror or the conquered ; a compromise would be a delusive and a criminal waste . Look at Russia . The picture has often been drawn by abler pens than ours . Look along any large map , from Finland to the Caspian Sea , and observe the aggressive nature of the whole line of frontier . Tho Baltic is lined with fortresses of enormous strength , gradually edging down to the Sound , and permanently menacing Sweden

      and Denmark . Poland , aa enfceeucbed earaft equally studded with citadels , projects w in *» Germany like a huge bastioo , lowers over Prussia , and outflanks Austria . Far & ear » outh » ward Russia almost holds the keys of Transylvania ; is master of the Pruth ; and is positively , at this hour , supreme on . the Lower Danube . From Sebastopol—if Sebastopol escape us , she can again send forth a huge naval armament : and on the Circassian coast hear

      forts will rise from their ashes under the sun of peace . She is master of the Caucasus ; sheis king in Georgia and Armenia ; her legions have occupied 1 Bayazdd , that eastern gate to Syria ; her steamers float upon the Caspian , and her soldiers encamp on the Jaxartes . Over neighbouring nations she exercises a subtle influence , even beyond her frontier , from Montenegro to Herat . Certainly , now is the time to deal the giant a fatal wound ; and the man to deal England ' s share of the blow is wantinsv

      But is it the man alone that is wanting for an earnest and deadly war ? Are the people high-tempered enough to support the man ^ if they find him ? to give him men , to give him money , to give him obedience , all with a prodigality as yet not manifested ? Are they who call for the reconstruction of Poland , are they who demand freedom for the Circassians , are

      they willing to pay the cost of the enterprise ? We put the question distinctly , are the British people ready to spend their energies in a war on this gigantic scale , and stake their honour on its success ? It is full time that the question should be searchjngly put and frankly answered ; and if answered injfche affirmative , that the strongest _ demonstratipn of that affirmative should be made throughout the country .

      Is Lord Ellenborough ' s policy the policy , - and is the expounder of that policy the man of the hour ? If Lord Derby comes into office we shall probably see ; but till then , at least , we may be permitted to doubt the self-advertised pretensions of Lord Derby ' s Minister of War . '

      Military Promotion By Birth. The Treatme...

      MILITARY PROMOTION BY BIRTH . The treatment which Lord GoDERicH ' s > motion receives from Government is curious . He was asked by Lord Palmerston to postpone it , because Mr . Sidney Herbekt was absent through indisposition , and he wished to take part in the debate . In the interval between Tuesday last and Thursday next , the day newly named by Lord Palmebston , Mr Sidney Herbert leaves the Government . What part then will he take in the debate ? The position that other men may occupy is also an interesting question . We know , by

      the experience of Kidderminster , what Mr Lowe will say to it . Mr . Osborne , who mounted on the top of the Admiralty to discharge red-hot shot into the building " next door "—the Horse Guards—may be fairly asked , what part of the system— " rotten from top to bottom "—is worse than the promotion ? There are other men of the rank of Ministers who have some knowledge of the world of England as well as of class or department , and they must know what is their duty on thi » occasion . Mr . Cardwell , for instance , ought to be able to tell the men of his order what is

      the feeling of the nation ; just as officers risen from tho ranks have been able to tell their brother officers at mess what are the feelings . of the men . . . e It may bo supposed that the complaint ot undue " aristocratic" exdusiveness is imaginary that the sons of the aristocracy do no more than take the advantage which their position gives them to keep the lead of their countrymen . If that were so , we ahouW not grudge the use of accumulated and hereditary honours .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 24, 1855, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24021855/page/15/