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Leader (1850-1860), 24th September 1853, Edition Town of 2, Page 920, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      the only human beings who think in Russia , are very anxiously interested in the fate of the rayas ? ( Greek Christians in the Ottoman dominions . ) All ! they know better than anybody else the sort of immunities those poor wretches would have to enjoy if they ever passed from under the sceptre of the Sultan to the sceptre of the Czar . Imagine , then , how they laugh at the efforts which European diplomacy is making , or at least was lately making , 'to transform Prince MenschikoftMnto an Evangelical Missionary !' NICHOLAS " NOW AND THEN . "

      In the midst of this general excitement , what is the attitude of the Emperor Nicholas ? It is sombre and mysterious , no doubt , but it yields to the torrent nevertheless . Did he not himself let loose the floodgates ? Nicholas must not be regarded as the man he was , say , twenty years ago . At " that period , having just vanquished a revolution , which well nigh cost him his throne , he was absorbed b y the anxieties of the internal administration of the Empire . He had not only to re-establish his authority , but to surround it with those institutions and elements of strength which confer at once power and prestige . He had

      hardly sketched out this mighty task , when Poland rose in insurrection . Nicholas determined to reduce Poland , and with that object he deemed it politic to exterminate it by degrees . This required time . Then he resumed his labour of organization and influence . Long years were given lim to develop his projects substantiall y- Next came the revolution of February to give him an opportunity of putting his work to the test . While all was tottering around him Russia remained firm . Nicholas , afraid of his own safety and of his system , assumed the character and the office of the invincible protector of the rights of the

      discomfited Kings . The Kings believed him , Austria threw herself in his arms . For a moment the Muscovite Czar was regarded as the corner-stone of social order , as the arbiter of the world . This moment passed by . Peace was restored to Europe . Nicholas retired . And it was then that , in his secret meditations he felt himself devoured by a bitter grudge . Catherine If . was fond , as she used to say , of " fishing in troubled waters . " "Nicholas had had an opportunity of indulging largely in the same tastes . He was annoyed to find the thrones in safety again , and the peoples quiet . Besides , his intervention in Hungary appeared to be less fruitful in results than he had antici pated . He felt that the

      scandalous malversations committed by the officers of his army , in the face of a foreign power , the innumerable corpses with which his army , by its disgraceful condition , had strewed the roads and infected the encampments ; he understood that all those horrors would be so many flashes of light to expose to Europe the secret weakness of his empire ; and that he would run the risk of appearing to the rest of the world ratlier as the conserver of mischief than the energetic organizer of public order . Nicholas , moreover , knew well that obligations imposed are apt to degenerate into an involuntary yoke , and one which , soon or late , tho obliged makes no scruple of shaking off , as Prince Sehwarzenherg expressed it , by a sujwcme ingratitude .

      THE RUSSIAN EMIGRATION . Nothing , in truth , can be more curious and instructive than what is now going on on tho banks of tin Nova . The very ministerial bureaux scarcely dissemble the movement . Ah for other people in tho city and about the court , it in a rivalry which shall betray the mystery first . They dream of nothing but Byzantium and the enchanted shores of tho Ho . sphorus . "Are you going to the country soon ? " " No , 1 am waiting ; hut , for Heaven ' s Hake , I hopo it will soon be nettled . " One hoars of schemes of emigration en masse . Even the merchants and bankers sire ready to ship their countinghouses and bo off .

      Untitled Article

      RAILWAY ACCIDENTS ABROAD . Arrnccidont happened on Sunday on tho PuriK-lJouvdoaux railway . Two eiitfineern , two lir ' einon , arid ( ho tfimnl were killed . Oilier pa . sHongft-. s reeoived . severe ! eoii ( unioiiH . Th « omiso of Mio ncciilcnl ; is naid to have heen koimo unaccountable neglect on ( he part ; of ( he Hlntion-inimtor of tSfc . hifrufrd . There is a . s yel , hut . one lino of ruilH hel . weeii 'J ' oui'H niul Uoiinleaux . A leJe / jniphie de . spalch wiih sent , to the tjt . uliOM-nm . stor , informing him Mint a npecinl fjood . s train from Ikmrdenux was coming up t . lic line , and desiriiif C him to keep ( he down mail ( rain on dim nido rails at the Htution until Uie lug ^ n ^ o train hud pawed . Thinor < lor Wiih unattended to , and fienee the collision .

      An accident , hnn iiiho occurred on ( , he Rouen railway . About eig ht , o ' clock on Sunday evening two en ^ inoH came in collision opponilo Sotleville , in coiiHeqiiouco of noirio nuNtalco in turning the nwiteheN . Ah l . he en / rineH wero both running at ( Ljreut Hpo-ed , the hIioi-Ic whs very no . v <> i't » . One of the en ^ ineH was completely Knocked f , <> JneecH , and the two men thrown ninon ^ Ht the ruiiiH of it . I he eng ine-driver had Ih ' h Mii ^ li and his Jcnee joint broken , Nixl Urn n | , <>|(()|> received Homo very severe contunions . lh « vy were both convoyed to tho liolol-IJiou at Rouen , where tho state of tho onifino-tlriyor wna considered very u « i » uorouM . J

      Untitled Article

      THE CHANGE IN CHINA . The rebellion makes way slowly but steadily . We Imvc news of various small successes by the rebels , of imbecile movements by the imperialists , and Tieu-tcli , Haid by some to be a myth , is heard of again . A person writing privately from Hong Kong says : —¦ " News is now coining in of new insurrections in all parts of the empire , and the fall of the old dynasty is become hardly a matter of doubt . With a body of religious enthusiasts , part . of whoso creed in war to tho death in the heart of the country , and engaging in all the feeble energies of the Government , and insurrections under other banners in nearly (( very province pouth of tho Yellow River , it cannot long Hurvive . The ultimate result in a question only to bo decided by time , hut the Kuperior organization , poor ns it is , of the Christian rebels , and their more determined spirit , may justly give us hope that in tho end they may prevail over their competitors for empire They still remain in position at Nanking and Cliinkiangfoo , and beyond Homo HlcirininheH with the Chinese foreign whips , in j which they arc uniformly huccoksI'uI , nothing new has occurred . " Tho general of the Amoy inHurg « ntn profe . swtf himself an adherent of the restored dynasty of Ming , represented by Tieu-teh , and it , in nai ' d that great and quiet person is to appear in peram should tho rebellion become generally successful . At Foochow there had been a Chinese riot , cut whorl , by the Tartars , who cut oil ' the heads of tho rioters on tlio spot . Two ships chartered by nu American / inn wore lying below Foochow waiting ' for ten curgoeH , hut owing to thu dioturbwicea in tho interior lltu tea hud

      not arrived . Trade in general at Shanghai was dulled by the unsettled state of things . The European im port merchants had asked Sir George Bonham to eel the duties temporarily taken off on the grounds that the market for goods was spoiled by the bad state of things , but Sir George considered such interferenca beyond his province .

      Untitled Article

      " THREE COURSES OPEN" 'TO AUSTRALIA Southampton- is destined to be the starting point f 01 three lines of steam-packets running regularl y to the Land of Gold , and three distinct companies are in "the field , " if one may bo term the wide stretch of waters to be crossed . That mouarcli of great associations , the Peninsular and Oriental , has been the pioneer of regular passages to Australia . It equipped and sent to sea , from Southampton , the two first steam ships destined to commence and continue a postal system . That wealthy and suecessful company , already possessing a line of steam ships in regular operation from Southampton , via the Isthmus of Suez , Ceylon , and Singapore , to China , was enabled to bo the first in the field , and the operations of their steam ships , stretched out in advance so far as Singapore , 'the nearest point to Australia , rendered it a comparatively easy task to complete the line by adding a link from Singapore to the various ports of South Australia . That link has been already supplied , and for some months past the mercantile community have been indebted to tlie Peninsular and Oriental Company for the most speedy and only reliable method of postal intercommunication—viz ., that by the eastern route . This route is not and lieVer can be anything more than . a postal one , its great expense for passenger , bullion and merchandise traffic is practically prohibitory , and must apparently long continue so ; while , additionally , the frequent changes from steamer to steamer , and the necessity for crossing the desert through Egypt , are inconveniences not easily remedied . The . line established

      by this company is , however , of much importance- to this country in a postal point of view , while many benefits to the trade and commerce of both India , China , and Australia have been effected by the regular communications maintained between those places by means of this line . The second company in this line is the General Screto Steam Shipping Company ; and it has chosen the Cape of Good Hope route to Australia . At an outlay of capital of nearly 500 , 000 ^ . sterling , this company are using the greatest energy to place upon the best possible footing this gigantic enterprise , which

      involves nothing less than the circumnavigation of the globe ( for their steamers are to come home by way of Cape Horn ) during every voyage to be undertaken . The Harlinger , of 1000 tons , the first of their ships , opened the line in February last , and for an experimental voyage did exceedingly well . This' vessel wns followed b y the Argo , a fine screw steamship of 1850 tons ; and tho Harbinger is about to start in October to prosecute another voyage to the antipodes . Pending the experimental trips of these steamers , tho General Screw Company are preparin g three iron screw steamships of great size , with which most efficiently to carry out their undertaking . These arc tho Croesus , tho Jason , and the Golden Fleece , each of 2500 tons , and GOO-horse power ; and a fourth , of still greater

      to nnage , is , we understand , likely to bo built . There is no doubt , therefore , that ore long tho (' ape route to Australia will bo effectively and regularly performed by the ships of this company , ' and that great kuccosh will reward Iho efforts of " this enterprising association . Tho merits of tho Cape route , no far as passenger and merchandise tnuTi < : in concerned , over the eastern route , urine from the convenience and moderate charges with which goods , bullion , mid paHHungorH can be conveyed . No change of ships in needed , and a passenger setting foot , at Southampton , on board ono of tho nohlo HteainwhipH of this company , may without further inconvenience bo conveyed direct to Melbourne and Sydney , at a co . st comparatively trifling when contrasted with tho excellent accommodation to bo aflbrded on hoard

      flKi . se magnificent floating hotels . The fact , likewise , that there in no isthmus to cross , and that no transshipments of any liind arc necessary on this line , "" - ables merchandise of all descriptions to be shipped u < such rates as will always command h remunerative freight for wo dosirahlo n . ' method of conveyance . 'H » ; Hllips nro destined , therefore , to be tho carrier * ol » vast , quantity of . cargo , ami will also bring back , m greivt amounts , tho precious products of the « urifen >< ' » soil of the Australian colonieH .

      The third competitor \ h iho Australasian r < "' f ' Mail Steam Packet , Company , and iln road i » ¦ ' " ^ through 1 , 1 k , Irithunmof I ' anunm . Only » tow won ™ will intervene before , u regular oonunuliirufion ' "" * of Panama will bo uMtiibliHhiid , Sout hampton being U * * wine , no in tho awe of tho eastern and Cajjo ' routw 1 '

      Untitled Article

      SUSPENSE OF WAR IN INDIA . The Burmese war is said to be at an end , but it seems merely a suspension of hostilities . Our troops are kept in a state of readiness ; staff-officers are not allowed to leave their regiments , and all European women are restricted to Rangoon as the only safe place . The Friend of India , the Ministerial paper , speaks in an exulting tone of the future conquests to follow that of Pegu : — "We have obtained possession of another of those great Asiatic deltas which teem with the luxuriant fertility of the tropics , and have opened to our traders another river , which may well be compared , in its own size , and the richness of the tracts through which it flows , with the Ganges or the Indus . . ... We still believe , as we have always believed , that a

      third Burmese war is ultimately inevitable , and that our frontier to the eastward will shortly be Western China The Ministry did not desire the war , the Court of Directors regretted it , the public were scarcely reconciled to it , and it was denounced , from the first , by the English press as a quarrel about a swamp . Yet , in spite of press , Parliament , and people of the Board of Control , the Court of Directors , and the Government of India , the red line , the mark of British dominion , surrounds Pegu . We have quitted the peninsula and are fairly embarked in the affairs of Indo-Chinese Asia , and , if any one imagines the red line will remain at the 96 th degree of east longitude , he has studied the history of India to exceedingly little purpose /'

      But at present this " fertile" province is the scene of a most frightful famine . The entire population is destitute of food . Rice , the staple production of the country , and upon which its inhabitants are as much dependent for existence as the Irish were upon potatoes before the famine of 1846 , is so excessively dear , that it is beyond the means of any but the richest to purchase enough to keep body and soul together . A small basketful sold in Calcutta for about a shilling , there costs sixteen ! A letter from Prome of the 11 th of July states : —" Some hundreds of families came in from the jungles a week or two ago in a state of starvation indescribable . Forty of them died in one night . "

      A most liberal subscription , amounting to 600 r ., was raised among the officers at that station , and many starving people were relieved . By the last accounts the scarcity had been only in the most partial manner alleviated by the arrivals of rice from Calcutta ; but there were 16 to 20 vessels loading grain on the 1 st instant , of an average tonnage of 500 tons , and of which , we believe , some have already lefb for Rangoon . In the meanwhile the whole country is overrun with bands of dacoits . The river is so infested with them , that no merchant will venture up ; and it is said , that even the commissariat with a strong guard dreads the passage . The Rangoon Chronicle is full of nothing else but murders , dacoities , starvation , and cholera .

      Ihe official intelligence from India is meagre . The Governor-general is at Calcutta , and Lord Falkl and and the Commander-in-Chicf at Poonah . At Calcutta a monster meeting of native Indians had beon held to express disapproval of many parts of Sir Charles Wood ' s Bill .

      Untitled Article

      920 THE LEADER . [ Satwrbay , timimKa ^ mi ^ mmmmi ^ m ^ fm ^ m&itmu ^ i ^ i ^ mm ^ i ^ ttt ^ mmH ^^ mm ^^ m ^ imimmm ^ mm ^ mmmmmm ^ mt ^ mm ^ mmm ^^^ m ^^^ aa ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ i ^ m ^^ imi ^ ai ^^ tauta ^ tmm ^^ - ¦ . — - '

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 24, 1853, page 920, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2005/page/8/