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    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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      Yp. 437, August 7, 1858,] _ T H E Leader...

      yp . 437 , August 7 , 1858 , ] _ T H E LEADER . 77 o ¦ ^ l ^ _ . L ' ~ T ~* - ' - ¦ — . , — . ' ' ^ ^^

      Notices To Correspondents. No Notice Can...

      NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . No notice can Ijq taken of anonymous correspondence . THiatevcr is intended for insertion tnust be authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . I £ is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive . Their i nsertioa is often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quite independent of tho merits of the communication-We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .

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      Saturday, August 7, 1858.

      SATURDAY , AUGUST 7 , 1858 .

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      ^ u lifir Iffiurs .

      There Is Nothing So Revolutionary-, Beca...

      There is nothing so revolutionary-, because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . —Du . Ausold .

      Cherbourg And Its Fetes. The Fetes Of Ch...

      CHERBOURG AND ITS FETES . The fetes of Cherbourg belong to the week , the works of Cherbourg belong scarcely more to the present generation than to the past , and more to the past than to tlie future . Ihe inauguration of the great naval poit and arsenal has created a vast alarm founded on a minimum of fact ; but the true bearing of the works which are now completed , christened , and proclaimed to the world , has been overlooked , not much to the credit of this country , the sagacity of its politicians , or the courage of its public . On . the other hand , there is something ludicrous in the attempt of the French papers , and

      of some amongst our own journals , to make light of Cherbourg , its festal demonstration , and its gigantic works . Malce ligM of Chatham and Plymouth combined . Cherbourg is at least a great fact , and it is not to be talked out of sight . Does it follow that-n-e are to stand in fear of a fact , or that be--cause the Government of Prance is henceforward to be in the known position of a , great engine , the engine must therefore be used agauast us ? The power that has been created at Cherbourg is great and self-supporting . The town , which lies at the bottom of the bay that bears the name , has before it extensive and commodious roads , which

      bave been enclosed by a great sea-wall or breakwater , almost , in a straight line , about two miles and a haLf in length ^ from one end to tlie Other . On the centre of this breakwater is a fort ., at each end a fort , with a fort also on the mainland opposite each end , and in . tlie western entrance , which is somewhat broader , a fort . In the midchannel there is a fort at . each side of the inner roads . The whole of the immense avsenal which lies to the left of the town is fortified , one of the forts which commands the lesser roads being a part of the arsenal fortification . Above the town , to the west , is a semicircular chain of five forts ; behind

      the town , the citadel commanding tlie whole space . Every foot of anchorage , therefore , is covered by tho fire of artillery , and no shii > can seek safety from the storm of nature without braving the storm of art . The docks have an immense constructive power . A navy could bo built arid anchored at Cherbourg ; winch gives to France '« Plymouth , and realises the idea of the first Napoleon in supplying France with the means of striking a blow at any enemy seaward . Unquestionably the policy of the structure is one of aggression , although we must remember that aggression is frequently no more than the best form of sclf-dclenco .

      ^ The ulterior effect of this great naval construction is to render franco more independent than she has been of naval alliances . She will not he compelled so much to depend upon a combination of Russia , for example , to counterbalance England , or vice versa . Should she bo in alliance with tlie United States , she might almost brave iho , European Powers , England included , even at sea . Should any Napoleon of the future thunder forth Berlin decrees , he would not find England alone riding the wave and able to duly him . But , far short of any such a contlicl , the simple fact that Trance possesses iv navy as well as am army , will strengthen U » c Emperor for holding the balance of power by sea as well as land , and fit him the better

      for tlie duties of an umpire . A policy may be based upon the construction , therefore , which is not necessarily aggressive , though it undoubtedly tends to the aggrandizement of JYauce . TFifrli regard to the demonstration of which so muchjias been made and which , will have such imposing effect , the policy ; is perhaps not less domestic than foreign . It is generally understood that the greater number of officers in the army are not politically Bonapartists ; they are anxious for

      the aggrandizement of the army . Now , nothing could be a better counterbalancing of a purely land force than a more powerful sea force than If ranee has yet possessed . On the other hand , hitherto the fleet Jias not been very ardent in its Boua partism , in a great degree probably because the fleet has not been so much cultivated as the army It must noAV see in Napoleon its greatest friend , its new creator—a sovereign who rivals Louis the Fourteenth in his ideas , with additional capacity for realising those ideas .

      The fetes will lave their effect beyond the French frontier ; they exhibit IVance as a naval power in close alliance with Great Britain , a compact which almost amounts to dictation in the seas of Europe . And the frankness with which Cherbourg is thrown open to the English visitors , the sailors of our fleet , the volunteer sailors of the Royal Yacht squadron , is strong evidence that the French Emperor not only entertains no hostile ideas towards this country , but waives no small part of the jealousy which ha 3 animated France , and seeks to make no mystery with the islanders . It is a land of frankness which implies the fear of no misconstruction ; and the man who fears not misconstruction seldom deserves it .

      _ There is , however , a totally independent point of view from which both the demonstrations and the works at Cherbourg may be regarded . The great constructions which have been completed have not been , executed in a year , nor intcnyears . But their beginning goes baelc to times now distant . There is nothing really new , therefore , in the breakwater or the arsenal of Cherbourg : but the idea of Louis the Fourteenth—of ¦ tlie first Napoleon —has been finished and announced . Cherbourg is a crowning acquirement for the naval power of France ; it places that empire somewhat in advance of other powers that have sought to become naval . Russia , for example , whose

      navy was half rotten , lias been building vigorousl y . France is able to keep pace with her . Austria is increasing her fleet , but can run no race against Cherbourg-. The United States is building , though not very actively ; but it possesses considerable building power ; oar own docks have not been idle , and if" the Queen is unaccompanied by a great squadron to Cherbourg , it is probable that a muster of the Channel fleet , at no distant date , will reassure any mistrustful people in this country . Cherbourg , in fact , may . he taken as the new point of ( departure from whicli those states which aim at being naval powers in Europe or America must take tlieir standard for future

      strength . Hence this is a consideration important as much in France as in Austria , in Europe as in America . Cherbourg marks a ditc from which the naval estimates of all those states must stand at a high figure , without any possibility of reduction . From this week we must sec a constant naval development , cost what it may . We cannot , of course , define the consequences . No man in our day will attempt , to predicate the impossible and tell us what may or may not liappcn us a sequel to the labours and festivals of Cherbourg . _ Unquestionably the cxi & tcncc of great power is in itself an incentive to use tho power . The present Emperor must see his strongest , interest in peace ; but how different have Ijcen the three N ; ipoloons ! And the fourth ' may be a still

      more marked variety , to sny nothing ol 1 . lie tact that we know not who his Ministers are to be . "We are speaking , however , less of political possibilities than of naval possibilities , and they may lie as much on the side of tltis country as of any foreign state . We shall sec what practical science can or cannot do j this very week , the English and Americans , in co-operation , Jiavc laid down the electric telegraph , and liavu brought together the two countries witliin the distance oi a fc \ v minutes . Slcam has not yet developed all that it can do , by sea or land , either in locomotion , or as au engine of construction . Within this week we luivc seen an observer of photography explaining how a cannon-ball passing I from tlie gun so rapidly that , wo cannot ace it , may I actunlly stamp its portruit on the photograph . If

      the most powerful existing' arsenal has been constructed at Cherbourg , it is more tla . ii probable that ; latent powers only await the discovery of the most active and energetic pursuers of practical science . Lord Dundonald assures us that lie lias a secret that at a moment ' s notice could paralyse a Plymouth , a Sveaborg , or a Cherbourg . No arsenal ever yet built can forge the living sailors , and perhaps at the present moment no navy could excel

      our own m practice , whether in the handling of arms or of artillery . Our American cousins can always run a level race with , us , but at present , from greater recent practice , we are heading them ; and it may be said , as tlie result of practical observation lately , that no sea captains can put in their ships , place them , and work tlietn like the English , or concentrate their artillery with such deadly weight upon a certain point . The Duke of Malakoff , who is to be the guest of Lord Lyons in the naval part of the festival , could himself bear

      testimony to some rather interesting reviews in which the comparative power with England lias been displayed . ' The gun-boat tribe hasnot . yet . been brought to its perfection ; in short , the naval tactics of the past have now to a certain extent been made common property , and any state winch intends to maintain the standard in the race for naval supremacy must strike out new inventions , new arts , new labours , and we have yet to

      see , probably , the very principle of naval construction and naval tactics for the immediate future . Tlie friendly review of Cherbourg which the English will share with their French hosts may itself so stimulate the . imagination and invention as to suggest the first ideas for making a new standard from this new point of departure . But the generous frankness which is now shown iu the Cherbourg fetes will of course disarm " any jealousy that might be felt at the emulous energy of . the British .

      The Church In Heal Danger. Tife Worst En...

      THE CHURCH IN HEAL DANGER . TifE worst enemy of the Established Church is the Established Church itself . No more formidable weapons of offence are forged against her than the weapons which she herself furnishes . It is all very well for Churchmen to raise , the cry of Dissent , Romanism and Atheism being in combination , to undermine the Church of England edifice , to sever the connexion between Church and State , and to deprive the established , elergy of the respect and affection of the people . There is no need for . Dissenter , ; Roman Catholic , or No-religionists to put themselves in the least out of the way to efiect the very worst purpose the very worst enemy can meditate towards tlie Established Church . The

      abuses and scandals that are so prevalent and coming so rapidly into the light of day are doing tlie work of destruction quickly and surely . Take the newest scandal brought before the House of Lords by Lord St . Leonards a few days before the closing of Parliament . His learned Lordshi p had previously presented a petition froin the inhabitants of Cainberwell , which complained that the parish had been left to the care of a couple of ill-paid curates for nine years , because the living was under sequestration for the debts of the vicar . The following appears to be an outline of this disveputable , but by no means uncommon , case : — About ten years ago the livi was bour / ht by

      ng tlie Rev . IVir . Williams for 15 , 00 0 ^ , subject to the large w / jwid debts of the former vicar . The purchase-money , 15 , 000 / ., by sonic oversight to which we have not the clue , was not . forthcoming , consequently there remained a charge on the living , which is worth about 2300 / ., of a no less sum than 30 , 000 / . Very soon after tlie new vicar was inducted into the living the revenues were sequestrated , as it is phrased , for the accumulated debts ; the vicar became noti c . sf , and for about nine years the Christian inhabitants of one of the wealthiest parishes in London have been obliged to suffer the humiliation of belonging to a parish where such

      doings are possible and where tlie religious services cannot be performed by their proper clergyman . We do not think it any liardshin that the parish is relieved of such a vicar , but we do think it monstrous that the parishioners have no summnry means at command to puL nn end to such a crying scandal . As long as the nccunnilalcd liabilities arc undischarged the inhabitants of Caaiborwcll cannot expect to ace their clergyman , but must bo content to put , up with the ghostly consolation which n couple of curates at 9 , 1 . weekly apiece enn afford tc give them for the money . It is calculated that ii ; about twenty years the income of the living will have

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 7, 1858, page 773, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_07081858/page/13/