BR1F.F NOTES ON A NUMBER OF THINGS.
THE Moniteur forms one of the most curious records in the world. In the present week it contains the despatch from Count Walewski to Count de Persigny, in which we find this passage— "It was in England that Pianori formed the design of attacking the Emperor; it was from London that, in an affair the recol- lection of which is still fresh, Mazzini, Ledru Rollin, and Campa- nella, directed the hired bravoes whose hands they had armed." [This round assertion is devoid of the slightest proof, but we are referring at present to the official journal.] In May 1855, the Moniteur contained the address of the English residents in Paris congratulating Louis Napoleon on his escape from assassination at the hands of Pianori. Side by aide with that document was the report of the Commissioners appointed by Louis Napoleon to pay the bequests under the will of the First Napoleon : one of the items mentioned was 10,354 francs to " Cantillon, sons-
officier "—the man who attempted to assassinate Wellington. This looks like a very strange reciprocity: in one direction the blow is a classic virtue, in the opposite direction it is a orime.
The subject was brought before the House of Commons last night by Mr. Stirling, and the story was roundly contradicted by Lord Palmerston. The bulk of the legacy, he says, was paid in 1823 and 1826 by N: • deon the First's executors, General Ber- trand and General ontholon, [the latter was with Louis Na- poleon at Boulogne]; the Commissioners appointed in 1854 refused to pay the balance to the widow, as they believed that Napoleon must have made the bequest while labouring under mental aberration ; and "the Executive Government had nothing what- ever to do with the matter." [Had the Nephew nothing to do with it ? And how do these statements explain that mystery the Moniteur ?] The opponents of the Indian Government Bill raise a serious objection on the point of time. Before we have recovered our empire in India, they say, it is too soon to set about the adjust- ment of our administration : and if this is partly met by the an- swer that it is better to render the Government as strong as possible, and place the most vigorous General at the head of the Army even before the campaign be finished, there is another objec- tion arising from Indian finance, still more serious. It is a great object to keep the finance of India as much as possible independent of England. Notwithstanding the official considerations of economy " usually professed, " the efficiency of the public service," &c. entails upon India a deficiency which seems to be established at two millions sterling a year. The war expenditure appears to have increased this deficiency by about five millions during the current year ; and a loan is contracted for the purpose of covering that and other contingencies. Now, amongst the sources of Indian revenue is the cultivation of opium ; and the trade in that narcotic drug, a smuggling trade, is a very objectionable traffic. But are we in a position to abolish it at a stroke ? It yields about four millions and a half of revenue ; and if that alone were abolished, it would create a deficiency in revenue almost equal- ling the war excess of expenditure. We cannot abolish it yet; but by bringing India, with this traffic, " directly under the government of the Crown," the Government in Downing Street would constitute itself the grand opium-dealer, and would appoint Queen Victoria Principal Smuggler to the Empire of China.
In the debate on the cumulative vote of thanks this week, several speakers made the mistake of ascribing the complaints against Lord Canning exclusively to " the Calcutta press." Now some of the complaints rest upon facts which have been made known even more by representations in this country than in In- dia; and the somewhat turgid reproaches of the Calcutta press have had far less effect in creating prejudice against Lord Canning than his own vacillating conduct in Oude before the mutiny,— conduct which was noticed in our own .columns before the mutiny was known in this country. Lord Canninagtietspears sometimes to have encouraged, sometimes to have thwarted the local Govern. meat. One remarkable instance of his vacillation was the arrest of the proceedings to abolish the mud forts, followed by his sanc- tion of the abolition, and after all by leaving the forts to obstruct Havelock. Some of the latest advices represent Lord Canning as being in controversy with the Chief Commissioner of Patna, not only on the conduct of that gentleman, but on the language of his despatches ; and the Commissioner has been compelled to apolo- gize for a nautical metaphor in saying that he hoped to " weather the storm." The Governor-General of India wanted to know, what storm ?—he thought the language not official, and ad- ministered a sharp rebuke. Lord Canning personally conducts an enormous correspondence, and is suspected of conscientiously de- siring to order and direct everything with his own head and hand ; so that in attempting the impossible, he must give some MUM for just complaint.
" Civis Romanus" still enjoys but a sorry theoretical advan- tage from the British aegis. It appears that Park and Watt, the English engineers imprisoned by the Government of Naples, are thoroughly broken down in health—Park subject to fits, Watt in a state of mania. This is the consequence of bad treatment in the early days of their long confinement. It is officially ex- plained that our Government has interfered to procure them a fair trial ; but the Neapolitan form of fair trial, which drives men mad and murders them by inches, is as practical a wrong as if the punishment were inflicted by arbitrary and summary sen- tence. If the British Lion retained any of the old stamina beyond his roar, Park and Watt would have had their wrongs redressed before now, in time to prevent the effect of the sentence which they have undergone. But it is observed that the British Lion has lately contracted an old-gentlemanly chuckle in the midst of his roar ; and when he lashes his tail, people remark that he is no longer anything but a wag.
A writ was issued for Reigate by the Speaker, as if the House of Commons were not in session ; and it is a qriestion how far the recent election is valid or void. What induced Mr. Speaker Denison to take the issue of the writ upon himself, instead of leaving it to the House, as it should be left during session ? Did he, like some other people, imagine that the House was prorogued before Christmas ? was he actually looking for a Queen's Speech on the 4th instant ?
The rate of discount at the Bank of England has descended to 3 per cent, and its further fall is already a subject of discussion ; yet trade does not rebound with anything like the elasticity that would have been expected. Men engaged in actual trade hesitate before they borrow money to enlarge their operations ; for they know that they are still restricted in all the great export-markets while the surplus for export falling upon the home market will keep down profits. Those who are but slightly connected with trade, yet have money accumulating on hand, are growing impa- tient; and it is assumed that they will rush into speculations. Wanted at the present moment, a commission to hunt up pro- mising, desirable, and safe lines of investment. We need some knight-errantry in commissions to redress the wrongs of com- merce, and to find out those wrongs whose redress will " pay." Some investments are obvious enough. The India loan, for ex- ample, will be safe, and will yield a man who has a hundred pounds to give, at least 41 per cent if not more. The other day we suggested a test for determining those investments which are in their nature safe and likely to continue profitable : the test was, the utility of the object. There is one field which has not yet been to any extent explored, yet is certain to yield rich harvests for every sowing—it is the field of British agriculture.
At the meeting of the Hospital for Sick Children, an " infant institution," Mr. Dickens made an appeal to parents, who, like Charles Lamb, own feelings of affection towards the children which they have not had. This appeal to the nonexistent evi- dently told ; and much perhaps might be made of that " side of nature " hitherto unpainted—the side which is not. To it belongs many a good action which we might have done but have ne- glected. For any proportion of the bad actions that men do, this form of sinning is much more abundant. When our offerings are not made too mechanical, and simply in the easy shape of a five- pound note from a man in easy circumstances, they form a fitting and sometimes sufficient compensation for those moral ladies.
It has been observed that some persons to whom the Victoria Cross has been given have been mentioned with the titular aug- mentative " V. C." after their names. Is this legal ? Has any right been conferred upon them by competent authority, not only to wear the cross but to say that they do so in this literal mode P That the form will be conceded by courtesy no one can doubt. There is a certain futility in giving honorary distinctions if they may not be turned round so as to show all sides of them, and it is almost a pity that one of the most recent titles allows the bearer nothing but the use of the augmentative on formal occasions, with the petty privilege of having two letters of the alphabet put after his name. On rising to official recognition and titular rank in this humble grade, Mr. Alton Locke becomes " Alton Locke, Esquire, C.B." ; but he is never made conscious of his rank except when he receives a letter by the post. He is a Companion of the Bath, but nobody calls him so. Silent merit may be a virtue, but surely there is no virtue in silent recognition of it. If the Companions of the Bath were called by their titles, the augmen- tative would be worth twentyfold what it is : why not call the gentleman " Companion Locke " or " Companion Alton Locke" ? As it is, he is compelled to go about with an almost secret adorn- ment, like some exquisites whose under-clothing is gay and pic- turesque—whose braces glitter, and whose boots are melodra- matic—under the modest waistcoat and trousers of the usual costume, so that they are striking only in their dressing-rooms. The invention of a new title such as that of "Companion to the Order of the Bath" would supply a want which we have formerly noticed in attaching to the empire the gentry of our Colonies, and in attaching to those gentlemen a mark of preference for the guid- ance of their fellow-colonists in elections, &c.
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A great German philosopher repeats what somebody else had said before him, that we detect the weakest points in men by the things that they laugh at. A ludicrous incident has enabled us at once to know how the Chinese estimate the English and what Chinese philosophy and science are worth. At the last meeting of the Zoological Society, on Tuesday, two curiosities were exhi- bited: one was a lizard, with a tuft of feathers behind the neck ; the other a snake, with feathers at the back of the neck and a pair of hairy quadruped legs attached behind the head. The junction was effected so skilfully, that as a matter of mere work- manship it excited admiration. The specimens, however, were presents from the country of Confucius to the curiosity-hunting English. The Chinese consider us curiosity-mongers ; they do not comprehend the ideas that make the Englishman inquire.
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The Horticultural Society is illustrating the principle of success with lower charges. The year before last it seemed dying, with its entrance of six guineas and its subscription of four guineas : this year it is reviving, with no entrance-fee, but with an ad- ditional second-class subscription of two guineas, and broader arrangements for the convenience of the public,—a spring and autumn show in St. James's Hall, and one rand show of flowers and horticultural manufactures at Chiswick in June. But what of the chance of bad weather ? what of the price of admission ? Why not hold the flower-show for more days running, with a second-class admission ? It would •" pay."
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