General Peel said on Thursday, at the Huntingdon wool fair,
that he is anxious the troops should have a breech-loader, and he has now before him a very great opportunity. If he can supply the army with a really effective breech-loader—Snider's, or Spencer's, .or Cochrane's, or whichever proves the best, within six months, he will earn a new reputation. A week's experiments will show any -decent rifleman which is the best, and that ascertained, the Secre- tary at War ought to brush every remaining obstacle out of the way. A million or so is of no moment whatever, compared with an effective army, and General Peel need not be tender of putting pressure on the manufacturing establishments. The use of a Tory is to rule harshly when harshness is required, and the public will support him in dismissing any number of " Austrians " necessary to ensure speed.
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