that pious man who has suffered Buenos Ayres, and Chili, and Quem mulcent auræ, firmat sol, educat imber ; For the alleged insults, injuries, and degradations inflicted on British character and interests, if such they be, the British Parliament is bound to require explanation. The opium sufferers are turned off unceremoniously; and Britain must, we suppose, lose all the money incurred by our glorious successes over a miserable handful of frightened and powerless, though brave Ghaznevides and Affghans. But how are we to prevent this new war with China? The moral force of a few vessels might have saved much, if not all, of recent outrages; but that very minister of the admiralty whose partizans charge neglect on the former English ministry because at a time when English energies were taxed to the utmost, and upwards of six hundred vessels were on service in every quarter of the globe, some could not be spared for the service of Spainand this during an unexampled war-while a host of Whigs, with six vessels in active service, threw Turkey into the arms of Russia because England could not spare another ship:-this very minister, in peace, with not a tenth part of the above-mentioned force required, (as it is stated at least) has left half Europe, all America, and China, to shift for themselves, without protection even from a single frigate! Of such imbecility what can be the result? And will Britain trust him as her minister of marine for another hour? A war with China is not a jest: a fleet may cut off supplies and injure trade to a certain extent-not beyond it. serable junkmen and floating population of that country are outcasts by its laws. Their wrongs are merely their own: but if we are to make a serious impression on the Chinese government it must be on land also: and how is this to be effected? Armies of The mi For the unlearned reader's gratification we endeavour to imitate the original of Catullus. "So blooms in sheltered glades the unconscious Flower; some hundred thousand men each, though vanquishable in pitched battles, are troublesome by their very numbers, and their passive courage their constancy in defeat. If we trade with the Chinese under their existing laws, what security is there that homicide may not again occur? If we desire to alter this, how is it to be done? Are we to join the dethroned dynasty, with its millions of followers, and drive the Tatar usurpers from Pekin! The mischiefs of neglect already committed externally are known. A more serious point we now bring under consideration. It has been public and notorious, that experiments of a most formidable character as to projectiles have been made; that in England this has gone so far as to necessitate a great change in our defensive system. This has been confessed by those best calculated to judge; has been examined into scientifically by official order, years ago. Certificates, couched in terms it would be difficult to surpass, have declared that the invention is far beyond any effort of imagination; that the existence of Great Britain depends on it; that the fate of the navy must go with it wherever it is carried by the inventor; royal sanction has been given; the royal signature pledged, and for years, to the individual. Everything that words could promise, or incredulity require, has been exacted; and every proof demanded has been given, till doubt was converted into admiring consternation. Why is this power, against which all resistance, even that of the strongest fortifications, is impossible, still unobtained for the country? Is it to be allowed to go to other nations, for them to turn it at once against a country they envy, and would fain destroy? Where lies the obstruction then? Is it really in that one sole quarter where inactivity and imbecility have been so often, and so justly, charged of late? The Whigs boast of economy; and the saving consequent on adopting this invention is admitted to amount to millions; enough to pension off all those who might suffer by the change, and still produce a vast diminution of expenditure to the nation, as well as secure it against all contingencies for the future. Why then is all this thrown aside? Is it that the services of the present head of the Admiralty are so valuable, that even millions, annually saved, would not console the nation for his single loss! that pious man who has suffered Buenos Ayres, and Chili, and Quem mulcent auræ, firmat sol, educat imber; For the alleged insults, injuries, and degradations inflicted on British character and interests, if such they be, the British Parliament is bound to require explanation. The opium sufferers are turned off unceremoniously; and Britain must, we suppose, lose all the money incurred by our glorious successes over a miserable handful of frightened and powerless, though brave Ghaznevides and Affghans. But how are we to prevent this new war with China? The moral force of a few vessels might have saved much, if not all, of recent outrages; but that very minister of the admiralty whose partizans charge neglect on the former English ministry because at a time when English energies were taxed to the utmost, and upwards of six hundred vessels were on service in every quarter of the globe, some could not be spared for the service of Spainand this during an unexampled war-while a host of Whigs, with six vessels in active service, threw Turkey into the arms of Russia because England could not spare another ship:-this very minister, in peace, with not a tenth part of the above-mentioned force required, (as it is stated at least) has left half Europe, all America, and China, to shift for themselves, without protection even from a single frigate! Of such imbecility what can be the result? And will Britain trust him as her minister of marine for another hour? A war with China is not a jest: a fleet may cut off supplies and injure trade to a certain extent-not beyond it. The miserable junkmen and floating population of that country are outcasts by its laws. Their wrongs are merely their own: but if we are to make a serious impression on the Chinese government it must be on land also: and how is this to be effected? Armies of * For the unlearned reader's gratification we endeavour to imitate the original of Catullus. "So blooms in sheltered glades the unconscious Flower; some hundred thousand men each, though vanquishable in pitched battles, are troublesome by their very numbers, and their passive courage their constancy in defeat. If we trade with the Chinese under their existing laws, what security is there that homicide may not again occur? If we desire to alter this, how is it to be done? Are we to join the dethroned dynasty, with its millions of followers, and drive the Tatar usurpers from Pekin! The mischiefs of neglect already committed externally are known. A more serious point we now bring under consideration. It has been public and notorious, that experiments of a most formidable character as to projectiles have been made; that in England this has gone so far as to necessitate a great change in our defensive system. This has been confessed by those best calculated to judge; has been examined into scientifically by official order, years ago. Certificates, couched in terms it would be difficult to surpass, have declared that the invention is far beyond any effort of imagination; that the existence of Great Britain depends on it; that the fate of the navy must go with it wherever it is carried by the inventor; royal sanction has been given; the royal signature pledged, and for years, to the individual. Everything that words could promise, or incredulity require, has been exacted; and every proof demanded has been given, till doubt was converted into admiring consternation. Why is this power, against which all resistance, even that of the strongest fortifications, is impossible, still unobtained for the country? Is it to be allowed to go to other nations, for them to turn it at once against a country they envy, and would fain destroy? Where lies the obstruction then? Is it really in that one sole quarter where inactivity and imbecility have been so often, and so justly, charged of late? The Whigs boast of economy; and the saving consequent on adopting this invention is admitted to amount to millions; enough to pension off all those who might suffer by the change, and still produce a vast diminution of expenditure to the nation, as well as secure it against all contingencies for the future. Why then is all this thrown aside? Is it that the services of the present head of the Admiralty are so valuable, that even millions, annually saved, would not console the nation for his single loss! CRITICAL SKETCHES. ART. IX.-Encyclopedie des échecs, ou resumé comparatif en tableaux synoptiques des meilleurs ouvrages écrits sur ce jeu par les auteurs français et étrangers, tant anciens que modernes, mis à l'usage de toutes les nations par le langage universel des chifferes. Par M. Alexandre. Paris and London.* THIS certainly, even as far as extent is concerned, is the largest, best, and completest work on that noble and ancient game. M. Alexandre's idea cannot be called other than original. He has extracted by ten years of labour the systems of the most celebrated players, and now lays them in a synoptical form before the student. Such is the plan of the work, and its practical utility is so tangible that we need not dilate on it farther the labour of these crowded tables to the author is almost incalculable; and yet the book, with its long rows of numbers, letters, and signs, apparently so complicated, will not take half an hour to unriddle and understand completely. The author moreover has given an introductory game, in which this array of signs is thoroughly explained. The work is indispensable to every amateur of this pleasing science; and we have but to add that among the subscribers to it are the most illustrious names of both France and England. ART. X.-Picturesque Architecture of Paris. Folio. Boys, London. THIS singularly beautiful work exhibits a series of plates combining all the delicacy and effect of colours with the cheapness of lithographic impressions. The art is novel, and appears at one step to have rached a very high degree of perfection. The exactitude, finish, and beauty of the plates are exquisite, and invaluable to the amateur's portfolio. * Hurst, St. Paul's Church-yard. |