English and Foreign.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 429, 13 December 1856, Page 4

English and Foreign.

SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON ON TILE WAR. This eminent political writer and historian took the opportunity, when in the North of England,to deliver a lecture iv tlie Literary Institute^ at Seahain, on the conduct and termination of the Russian war. The facts thrown together oy the learned baronet and his opinions thereon render the lecture well worthy perusal. Addressing the assemblage, he said :— lord, ladies, and gentlemen,—The sight of this room, and of the many countenances thai I. see around me, forcibly recalls to mv recollection the feelings which we all entertained when I formerly addressed you, and paints in th. clearest^ colours tlie justice of the eloquent "--marks which have fk!!.n from our noble chair-v-iiu. When f last addressed yon from this ;n-:i-..-'.', we were in the commencement of a terrii-]_- -triggle. then only in its infancy, which ov-r.-h-.dowed the mind with the very darkest '■"■•j'-urs. We were engaged in a desperate strife v.-iils t!i-_t gretd power whi<-h,ov»e-:-h-idowin_. the l-uiio.-iH of northern 'Europe, hud, like the genii i": Die Slide, eme'-ged. like an armed giant from ih<- ..hores of the Euxim; tj.pphtuse).' You all l**-o'.v iherc was scarcely on- amongst us who lj.--;d not a -on, or a brother, or some m-;o- relative h: that terrible contest, and we all looked with anxiety, fear and trembling to '-voiy post, lest it SiiouM bring us the aco-im of the death of the deur cue in the terr'-hk- stri'V- in the trenches. '•-"• J'ticn ip'y.iv-Q —ti:o\;g:i ;.!';.-r a terrible loss 1-> ail mankind, and a gn-vhni. bereavement to ncmy Jamilies in this country. But victor.*has 2; length been gained for the righteous cause—

peace again shines upon tho earth, and the voice of joy and gladness undisturbed is again heard in the dwellings of men (cheers). Thankfulness to the Almighty disposer of all events must certainly be the first feeling of all after the many terrible dangers through which wo have gone", and for the bright prospects now opening to us. But, in addition to this general cause of thankfulness, there are those hero who, as our noble chairman had so ."justly said, have to rendor peculiar thanks to the Almighty disposer of all for the blessings which amidst this terrible strife ho has vouchsafed to them. Those whose absence wo lamented—whose fate we wore anxious for when wo last met —have returned again in honour and in safety, to receive in the respect and gratitude of their country tho reward duo to their heroism, their fortitude, nnd their constancy (applause). We have tho happiness of seeing again those whose absence we lamented, and for whose safety wo felt such anxiety. We have tho happiness of seeing one of the distinguished Crimean heroes presiding over this assembly to-day (applause). If in a general and national point of view, over the whole empire we have cause to fool thankful. I cannot look around me without feeling that we have peculiar cause of gratitude for the prosperity and the happiness which we individually enjoy. When I look around me at this rising town —I may almost say this rising city— and reflect that twenty years ago it consisted only of a few hamlets perched upon the bleak, dreary shores of the northern ocean, I cannot but reflect upon the vigour and intrepedity of that mind [which ha> bridled the waves of the sea, and cast upon a barren shore the seeds of prosperity, joy, and happiness (loud applause). But, while I see so many proofs of the wisdom, beneficence, and energy of that- noble character who laid the foundations of your prosperity, 1 see around me also marks, not" less conspicuous, of another hand which has completed the beautiful structure (cheers). I see rising around me a church, a hospital, a school, with the happy faces of the children who are there receiving the elements of education —and I see that if masculine energy, talent, and intrepidity, have laid the massy foundations, female charity, benevolence, and humanity, have contributed to complete the structure (loud applause). It is common, on occasions* such as this, to descant on the merits aud importance of institutions of this description, and it is an easy matter to speak in eloquent terms of the blessings which may accrue to society when the lamp of knowledge lightens every mechanic's workshop, and the torch of science is seen burning by every peasant's fireside. But there are some things so well known, that it would be superfluous to descant upon them. It has been said by foreigners in comparing our houses of parliament with the legislative assemblies of other countries, and especially of France, that they often debate matters which in the English House of Commons are taken for granted. There are many things also to be taken for granted in popular institutions like this as well as in the House oi* j Commons, and I think no question may be more safely taken for granted than the vast" and unmcasurable utility of such institutions as this (applause). 1 shall not, therefore, descant upon that topic, but I .shall endeavour to direct your attention to the lessons winch we should derive from the events whicli are passing before our eyes, and which we should endeavour to

i communicate to future time as the result of the j experiences which we are now troing Ihrou_rh j (applau.-O. People often in addr ssing a.ssern- ] b!;:g._ of this description, endeavour to gratify 1 the audience whom they address in* flattering j tln-ir intellect, their information, and their im | tefiigence: and be it far from me to say anyI thing to the contrary with respect to this ; assemblage, for I know well enough that among j thos - whom i have the honour now to address j then: ',<■■-■■ great ;t degree of intelligence, wisdom, i and iiii•(r*-i'i.!ior_, as is to !■<• found in auv equal I numb--r in the United Kingdom ; but "still in i the who!-' iMsss of so.-i.-ty, including the hi_.h-------i est, the mi-hlk, and the lowest, we shall see. if ] w« kok ;it the jtre.--.cut times, that vast errors ] and v::si mkiahes have } vH -n prevalent, and j that we l;: tV :. r.•<-. n < ] y sufkred and made most j nari-o'.v c>K.,.p-:-- in consequence of the want of j information in the great middle clashes of j society, now the ruling body of tin.-state, and j that i; we w.jidd avoid .-indlar dangers in times to co::ie we must avoid the same mistakes. I include myself and every person of education in | tbweountry—we have all a share in those errors,

and our wisdom should bo to observe passing events, and endeavour to educe truth from the mass of error in which we have been involved (cheers). There are three things from which I shall endeavour to educe the lessons of experience from passing events. One of these is tho undoubted duty of all the country and, above all, of the middle classes, being impressed with the absolute necessity of maintaining our national armaments on an adequate scale if we would not only avoid a repetition of our late Crimean dangers and disasters, but dangers and disasters infinitely greater, and perhaps the ultimate and not distant ruin of the empire (hear). In the next place I shall endeavour to point out to you the great and important change which is taking place in (lie commerce, not with this country alone, but the whole world, in consequence of the discovery ol' the vast gold mines of California and Australia —changes the effects of which it is impossible to over-estimate; and 1 'propose to conclude with a few remarks upon the eilects which these changes will have upon the relationships of society around us. Now, ladies and gentlemen, if there is any one point which the lessons of experience show us in the most clear and lucid colours, it- is the immense danger we have run in the last forty years, in consequence of ihe undue reduction in our national armaments. So great have been those dangers, so enormous the perils we hay. incurred, and so inconceivable the infatuation with which the nation was driven forward in the course which imperilled its very existence, that ; really, when a person comes to look back on the ! history of the last forty years, you feel as if you were following the steps of some Somnambula treading with her eyes blinded on the edge of precipice. I will give you one or two examples of the danger you incurred in consequence of the desire to lessen our national armaments. j At the conclusion of the last war, no person ventured to show himself upon the hustings to solicit the suffrages of a constituency, who did not begin directly by saying that his principles embraced unflinching economy, and unsparing reduction in every department of the state. That was the universal cry—no one ventured to gainsay it—and if they did, they were immediately rejected, and the other party got their own way. The other party were entirely successful, and they reduced the armaments of the country to the very lowest- point; and I. will tell you the dangers we incurred in consequence. In 1830, in consequence of the prevalent cry for economy, and for reduction, the army in India was reduced by 100,000 men, —it consisted of 250.000 men 'and was reduced to 150,000. Attend to iheconsequeneeofthis. The consequence was that Russia,knowing this—knowing we had reduced our army, and that we had recently dismissed our old soldiers, who were tho nucleus ] and the strength of our army,—immediately began to encroach upon Northern Asia. She conquered Persia and moved forward to Affghanistan. She besieged Herat, the key of Northern India, and we were obliged therefore, to move forj ward into Afghanistan in order to repel the j power of Russia, which then threatened us in 1 the East, as it has recently threatened us in the | West. Now at tend to tit is. The AHgli.-misUui 1 Chief, Dost Mahommed, had command u^^be | passes leading from Northern Asia into India. The .Chief oil'ered, for £"50,000 a-year, to enter I info a close alliance offensive and defensive, with j (ireat Britain, and exert his whole strength to j repel the Northern invader. They would not | give him the money, they yielded to the cry of i economy—and what was the consequence ? The j Russians succeeded in establishing their irdluj ence amongtheni.and we were obliged to send an | expedition to Afghanistan, to establish, at the ! point of the bayonet, the influence which we had | lost by a false economy ; and that expedition and the war which followed cost our Indian empire ten millions sterling, and occasioned a loss to our* army of O,O<X) lighting men and 10,000 camp followers, of whom only one escaped the terrible disaster. 25.000 lives were thus sacrificed. Now, for only £'50,000 a-year. which you would not give, you lost an army of 25,000 men, and the disasters thereby occasioned shook the empire to its foundations, and almost lost, you ihe kingdom of Ilindostan. Attend to the furl her consequences of this false economy. We had dismissed 100,000 men from our army in India, aud what followed H They took service with the native chiefs, —they took service with the Sikhs, with Runjeet Singh; and we know what terrible dangers were incurred in the war with the I'unjaub, where if was only in

consequence of the devoted bravery of Lord Hardinge, Lord Gough, and a few others, that the loss of our Indian empire was prevented. And what did the arduousness of the war arise from but that we were fighting our own soldiers, tho men whom we had disbanded. Now attend to what was going on at the same time in the west. All that period our force in this country was reduced to such a point that it was stated by Sir Charles Wood, in his place in parliament in 1837, that England had only two ships of war, one schooner, and one frigate, afloat to guard her stores,- while at the very time liussia had thirty ships of the line and the French had twenty j>erfectly ready for sea; and when the expedition to Acre took place, wo had only nine ships while France had seventeen. At that time we were twice on the verge of war, once with France, and once with France and liussia combined, and w re have tho authority of Lord Hardinge for saying that he could not, if England had been invaded, have got more than 10,000 men together, and only forty guns, the greater portion of which were so crazy that if they had been put into a clay field they would have gone to pieces. This is an examjdc of what is the consequence of nations yielding to the cry of economy, without considering what t will be the ultimate result? Now this is not a 1 matter of party. I would be the last person to urge anything here which should occasion any division in any of my hearers, but there are some points of national policy which are not matters of party, but are matters of public utility and public salvation, and if there is any one point upon which I trust the whole commmunity of Great Britain will ever be united it is the maintenance of those measures which are necessary to uphold our influence and independence, and to preserve our national freedom. (Applause.) I trust, therefore, the time will never come again when, relying upon the shadow of former victories, England will neglect present preparations. (Hear, hear.) And remember the best foundation for securing peace is to be prepared for war; and a certain way of inducing war is to give over the preparation of the means Iry which it is to be resisted. (Loud applause.) There is another point to which I desire to direct your attention, and that is the immense alteration that is going on in the value of money and in the price of every article of life, in consequence of the gold discoveries in California and Australia. That is a matter of which it is utterly impossible to over-rate the importance, and in comparison with whicli the victories of Napoleon and the power of Russia sink into insignificance. It is a matter of durable and lasting importance, for it will alter altogether tho prices of the articles of life and affect the fortunes of every individual in the country, from the ducal magnate to the humblest peasant; it will raise the prices of every species of industry, and in short produce consequences of unparallelled magnitude to every part of society. Now this is not a matter of speculation. There are two great occasions on which great additions have been made to our metallic circulation, and it is a most extraordinary feature in the history of mankind 'X^tat those two great changes have occurred when they were most calculated to produce beneficial effects. The first of these occasions was three centuries ago, when America was dis-

covered, Avith the rich silver mines of Mexico and Peru ; and the next when the great regions of gold Avere discovered in California and Australia in our own times. Now, attend to the coincide ice of these discoveries with the increasing necessities and Avants of mankind. At the time when America Avas discovered, —Avhen Columbus pushed his adventurous sails across ihe Atlantic..—a. new world was ouened to ilui commerce, the ingenuity, and the efforts of a man, a vast number of additional transactions took place, and an immense impulse Avas given to every branch of human industry. Now if there had been no treasures discovered —if no silver mines had been found in Mexico and Peru, —Avhat Avould have been the consequence ? The consequence would have been that if tho transactions of men were constantly increasing, and no addition was made to the circulating medium, prices of everything Avould have fallen, —and the Ay hole Avorkl Avoultl have been involved in distress—debts Avould have been increased — profits would have diminished —Avagcs would have fallen, and everybody must have been im volved iv misery and distress in consequence of die great discovery of another continent, which

it was hoped would open the doors of prosperity to mankind. (Hear, hear.) But what did Providence do ? It opened the mines of Mexico, and gave a currency to the world adequate to the increased wants of mankind. Attend to the period when the next great discovery was made —when thirty millions of gold were poured annually into the circulation of the world. This was in our time—in the days when the steam-engine had come into play—when steam navigation had bridged the Atlantic —when the railway had trebled the means of communication in every civilized country, and the electric telegraph had rendered the capitals of the globe almost like the same city. It was then that these discoveries were made to render the monetary circulation adequate to the wants of tho world; and, had it not been for the discovery ofthe gold treasures of of Australia and California, the results would inevitably have been that the steam-engine, and the application of that power to travelling by land and by water, and the vast impulse given to industry in consequence, must have been productive of nothing but misery, desolation, and ruin. (Applause.) Now one consequence of this great discovery is, that the prices of all articles of life will be permanently and lastingly raised. Attend to this. You are all concerned in it. People say that prices were raised in consequence of the war with liussia; that had some effect, no doubt, but it was not the great thing. It was the gold of California and Australia that caused the rise of prices. Gold became cheaper in consequence of being more plentiful, and as gold becomes cheaper every article of life will, of course, rise in price, as price is measured in gold. Now that is ofthe greatest possible benefit to a conimmercial community, where almost every pcrsoii is dependent upon industry and commerce, and where the great element of prosperity is a regular and progressive rise of prices— for a rise of prices is beneficial to every person — to the highest as well as the lowest. In contrast to this we all know the distress of the country during the thirty years of low prices. But what has since taken place ? Since thattime gold has come more plentifully into circulation, and the price of everything has been raised. And what is the consequence ? Do we not see it in the most unequivocal marks of prosperity; and do not all the public journals boast of the immense increase of our exports and imports, and the greater ease with which we bear increased taxation, raised, as it has been, from fifty millions to seventy-five millions, and under which the country prospers even more, owing to this great mass of gold importation, than formerly when the taxation was twenty-five millions less. Therefore, I think, this great change, arising out ofthe discovery of the gold regions, is certainly one of the facts upon which the attention of all persons should be continually fixed, more especially persons in trade, because it evinces the wisdom and beneficence of Providence, for if it had not been forth c mines of California and Australia the benefits arising from the great discoveries of recent times would have simply augmented those distresses under which the country so painfully laboured during the quarter of a century before IS-50. Before leaving this all important subject of the manner in which Providence contrives to work out its own purposes through the instrumentality- of human agencies, without human intelligence knowing what is going on, I would call your attention to the wonderful proof that is afforded of it by the events of the late Avar. Russia, you all know, is a great and aggressive monarchy. She has had it in view to conquer Constantinople and over run Asia —in short, to subject the world to her domination : and in consequence of that, in n-.vW in inn we. liw- w.iv su_e to Constantinople.

she built that beautiful and magnificent city on the shores of the Black Sea.Avhich is now only a mass of smoking ruins, and there accumulated a mass of military stores and military pOAver and strength unparalleled in any other ago or country. "That was the object of Russia. Noav, tho Russians, by building their arsenal in that spot —by setting their foot upon Sebastopol—to make it the lirst step to Constantinople —have brought upon themselves all the misery and agony they now endure, and they have themselves to blame for all the sulfering in Avhich their empire has been involved. What has been the cause ofthe success ofthe allies in the late Avar ? Is it to lie found in anything else than this, that the Russians Avere fixed in a place at a distance from their resources, and that the

distance of Russia was turned against herself, while the sea—the proper basis for our military operations—the proper home for England—was close to the seat of war ? Our fleets were lying in front oi' Sebastopol—our troops and the troops of our allies were carried there without losing a man—the whole fleets of England were assembled around it, while the Russians had to march 1,500 miles by land. We know what we suffered by seven miles of land tranajwrt from Balaklava to the front, and what must the Russians have suffered by 1,500 miles land transport? Out of 20,000 ofthe Imperial Guards,who left Moscow for the Crimea, only 4,000 left Simpheropol to fight the allies at Sebastopol: 10,000 were destroyed hy disease, fatigue, and the other incidents of a long military operation of that description. But there is another consideration, which is still more striking, and that is this, —that if we had gained in the commencement of the Crimean Avar that decisive success whicli we all at one time hoped for, I believe we Avould at this moment have been fighting with liussia a desperate and doubtful war. I will tell } rou how that happened. We all remember the " Tartar's Story," that the English fleet had entered Sebastopol, that the town Avas captured, and that 18,000 Russians had been taken prisoners. Suppose that had been done, how joyful Avould Aye all have been. The whole nation would have rung -with acclamations, and every city would have been festive with illuminations. But Avhat Avould have been the consequence _* Why, the conssquence Avould have been that we would have been involved in a Avar Avith Russia for the next twenty years. Suppose we had taken Sebastopol, with 15 ships of the line and 18,000 prisoners, the Russians would have retired into the interior of Southern Russia, and we could not have followed them ten miles; the strength of Russia would have been intact, and they Avould have retired to then- deserts unscathed, where we would have waged with them a hopeless war. But in consequence of our not succeeding in capturing Sebastopol at once, and in consequence of the desperate strife carried on. in the trenches for tweh-e months, the Avar was enlarged, and Russia, unwilling to lose her great fortress—the brightest gem in her crown—made the most stupendous and unheard of efforts to protect it. The AA'hole of Southern Russia was Avasted of its resources to maintain the armies &c, and in tlie efforts to fight at that great distance from her resources, liussia lost 400,000 or 500,000 men, and, wonderful to relate, an empire boasting 75,000,000 of population was at last forced to sue for peace for want of soldiers. We see, then, lioav Avonderful is the action of Providence, and how events which at first sight appear to be most injurious in the end -prove our safety. There is one other subject upon AA-hich I Avish to say a few words—or.c in which Aye are all interested, and that is in regard to those contests Avhich have arisen, and "one on to so distressing a degree, and which may be pointed to as one of the consequences of the" want of a good understanding betAveen masters and Avorkmen. I do not think that among many social evils that exist iv a country therels any one of such miguitude and importance, or so appalling in its effects, as that oi. strikes among workmen. There is no person better able to speak on this subject than myself, I have been a witness of their effects for twenty years in the county of Lanarkshire ; and in this very spring a strike of unexampled magnitude has taken place, Avhich has resulted, as all these strikes do, disastrously for the Avorkmen. The strike took place in the counties of Lanaik, RenfreAV, and Stirling, and 25,000 workmen were engulfed in it at once, involving no less than 120,000 families, and you may conceive ! easily what the evil was to society when 120,000 I persons wore reduced to starvation. They held out during eleven weeks, and during that time the loss of money which Avould have been paid in hard cash to the Avorkmen as wages amounted to £-100,000, Avhile the loss in profit to the masters and to the people in the enhanced prices C oals being more than doubled in value— would amount to about an equal sum, so that altogether there would be £800.000 lost to these three counties in the space of three mouths, solely in consequence of this strike amongst the Avorkmen. Now. gentlemen, tlie leaders in that strike came to consult me before they began— for I am happy to say, although obliged to aet^ oilieialfy against them, I enjoy the confidence of both patties. They came and consulted me, and I counselled them in the most earnest m:m-------1 ncr not to enter into it. What 1 said was this,

'• Gentlemen, look at the money-market —look at prices—look at the prospects of society. In the money-market yon will see that the Bank ot England treasure, which formerly amounted to 22 millions, is iioav under 10 millions. When it is reduced to S millions the nation is bankrupt, because that amount is actually required to be kept in the bank by act of parliament. What is the effect of that '? It is that bankers, to diminish the pressure, have raised their rate of discount from 3_ to 7_ discount, and tlw price of iron has in consequence fallen from Sis. to 60s. per ton. Can yon possibly expect to get the same Avages with discount so much higher, with money lent to your employers at 7_- instead of 3| per cent, and with the price of iron at 06s. instead of Sis. and the probability of that pvic« becoming still lower owing to the termination of the war? Consider well"what you are doing if yon. strike under these circumstances. If you strike just iioav you will strike in the interest of the masters. They can get no profit from your work, and they will be glad to get rid of you." They said, it might be all very true, but they must go on, and could not help it. They struck to keep up wages at ss. a-day when the masters could only afford to give them -Is. Their object was by a "strike and combination, to keep prices in adversity at the level which they had obtained in prosperity—that is the great and dreadful mistake these men make. They said, " Last October, avo got a rise in Avages by striking: when things were in a state of prosperity, "and, therefore, in adversity we Avill prevent them falling by the same means." They could not be brought to see that the very thing -which made them, successful in tlie objects of their strike, when prices were rising, made them certain to be defeated when prices AA-ere falling. They were successful in October —why ? Because prices were high and discounts low. It •was the interest ofthe masters to employ them, and they Avould not lei them go, because they would have lost money by doing so. But A\dicn the balance was changed—when discount avus

high and prices loav, —the interest of the master was to let them go. That was the argument I used to tliem, and I discussed it with them for three hours, but there was no making them -understand it, and out they Avent, and the consequences were, they reduced themselves and their families to star\-ation for several weeks, and many families ivill not get over the debtcontracted in these eleven vreeks for the next eleven years. Hence, the importance of tbe -working and middle classes, who ha\-e now got the direction of national affairs into their own hands, having enlightened, sensible, and rational vieAvson these great subjects. They are at perfect Hherty to act as they like, so long as they obey the laws. But what I wish to impress upon them is how permanent and unvariable are the laws of nature, and how impossible it is to prevent the mutations of price produced by them and if they had understood these things, such distresses would never occur as result from attempts to keep up wages, in times of adversity, at the level they have obtained in. prosperity, yet they will act upon it to their own and society's ruin. _Sfow, if there is one thing that strikes me more than another, it is on returning to this county to find a very different state of tilings prevail. You see here a great, industrious, and happy mining community, engaged in the same pursuits as those to whom I have referred, avlio have not been led astray in the frantic attempt to keep up Avages in adversity to the level they had attained in prosperity, but live in harmony with their employers, and at the very time Avhen this strike was occurring in Scotland, a great entertainment Avas given in this county on a scale of almost feudal magnificence, unparalleled in any other age or country. It is of immense importance that rational A-iews on these subjects should be diffused and percolate through the community, that it may warn them against courses which are productive of the ca-Hs Avhich I h;.ve described, and I am sure, Avhen sound views and rational arguments are directed to the community on these matters, it will not be done in A-ain. 1 haA-e now addressed you on some of the most important topics of the" day, believing as I do. that topics such as these are most im-jK-rtant to an institution of this kind, and feeling as mi red that observations of this character are addressed with propriety to assemblages such as I see before me. I know well the talent, the energy, and the enterprise which pervades this great mining community, and I have only to look at the neighbouring town of Newcastle to remember that three of the greatest men Eng-

land ewer produced were born, and instructed in one school, Avithin its Avails. At a single school in NcAVcastle at one time there were to be found three, hoys avlio afterwards attained the highest distinction in English annals. There was Collingwood, avlio aflenv.-mis led one-half of the English fleet into the desperate fire of Trafalgar —there Avas Lord Eldon, avlio for twenty years wielded with so much impartiality the sceptre of justice—and there was also his brother. Sir William Scott, whose legal decisions Avill be quoted as .veil in this country as over the As-hole world, as masterpieces of judicial equity and legal knoAvledge, Gentlemen this is an important fact, indicating lioav desirable it is that institutions such as this should be generally diffused, —for there is no saying that in any society, or in the company I now address, or among the 900 children who on Saturday last shared in the beneficence as they had formerly been instructed by the liberality of Lady Londonderry—there is no saying but Avhat among those children or in this company may not be found the people upon A\-hom the fate of the empire is ultimately to rest, and avlio are destined to leave names immortal in English history— amongst you may be found those who are destined, it may be, one day—■ " The applause of listening senates to command, The threats- of pain aud ruin to despise/; To scatter plc-nty o'er a smiling laud, And road their history in a nation's .yes." Sir Archibald then resumed his seat amidst loud and long-continued applause.