THE IONIAN ISLANDS AND THEIR LORD HIGH COMMISSIONER. [From the "Times "]

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 509, 1 March 1851, Page 3

THE lONIAN ISLANDS AND THEIR LORD HIGH COMMISSIONER. [From the "Times "]

The extreme want of addivss and judgment s-hown by Mi. Hume in the lime and manner of biinging forward his cabe against the seveie measmes of repression employed by Sir Henry Ward in Cephalonia may prove more favoutabk 1 to the peisonnl mteiests of the inculpated governor than the pievious silence of Parliament ; and, although the defence of these proceedings was not lematkable lor ascuuey or candour, the inopp(ntuneneas of so feeble an attack in an exhausied House of Commons i-> sufficiently demonstrated by the numbers who voted with Mr. Hume on the division. Hut, nit hough this blunder has enabled theGo»ernincni to cushion the proposed inquiry, it musr not be sup posed that there are but 13 men in the House of Commons who view with gravp dissatisfaction the proceedings of Sir Uemy Ward. '1 hat gentleman had noted lor many years with a piity in the House of Commons whien claims for itself a monopoly of liberal piinciples, of geneious sentiment., a»idevi«n of humane sympathies. Yet, some of th» very men whi> arc so eager to condemn on all other occisions tlie mea>uies of foreign Governments m subduing and punUhuig insurrections of the most foimidablr character weie not ashamed to give their vote on Fiidoy evening for the purpose of stiff in? an inquiry, in the mild form of a Royal com-mi-sion, inf. the conduct of their late collengue and the piesent condition ot the lonian Isles. It cannot be roigotten that similar attemps were mude, with greater assurance hut with less success, to evade and to bnffie the inquiry into Lokl loniri»ton's conduct at Oylon. The result ot that laborious investigation is now before the countiy and we hope shortly to have a more complete knowledge of the evidence taken by that commiUee ; foi, without prejudging its almost incredible discl'j-uivs, the appointment of Sir George Anderson to tin' government of Cej}un is » sufficient intimation that Lord Tornns;ton'b ici^n of folly and of deceit is at an end. Yet, the arguments employed by Lord John Resell to oppose the appointment of Mr. .BaiHie's committee were certainly not more forcible than those he has piessed into the defence of b:r 11. Ward. The facts lie m a ve;y n<urow compass. In August, 1849, news ai rives at Corfu (hat a murderous not has broken out in a ceitdin diiliict of Cephalonia. Within three bouts marti-l law is proclaimed. With great stress of steam the Loul High Commissioner starts for the disturbed island, accompanied by military remiorcementsi and followed by the largtst fleet which had entered a Greek harbour sinea Navarmo, — a fleet which was destined, a few mouths later, to be still better known to the Greek people. The troops landed at once and without opposition. Three or tour hundred rebels or Tuners, headed by two or three desperate brigands, sustained a skirmish for a couple of houis on the rous>li ground of the coast and then dispeised. In a Jew d.tys complete tranquihty was rebtoied, and wit'iout the loss of any lives, by the troops or auttioiuics after the fust outbreak. The courtsmartial theu set to work : 68 persons weie tried, 44 of them ware sentenced to death, 2L were executed, 16 sentences were commuted, ami 7 remitted. In addition to this bloody assize, 80 persons were flogged Riiinmdr.lv under the 143 ait'cle ot war, and received fjoin 6 to'jj lashes each. A British Lord High Com mi sioner must have the reputation of a Radical ot the purest water to buppoit the responsibility of hisch act*. In othe. men they would be regarded as offence? of a deep, u not a heinous, tharacter , but the true democratic partisan has a chaiter from his fdlluws to hang, draw, and quarter with impunity. An attempt was made on bath sides in the House of Commons to lay an undue stiess on fhe inurdets and other outrages against life ami property which accompanied thib rebellion, as if its rcprebsion weie no more than the undoubted punishment of such crimes ; but it is a gross perversion to a&Mtmlalc these crimes to offences of the same diameter committed from oidinary private motives ot plunder and revenge. The veiy measures taktn by Sir Henry Ward show that he knew he had not to deal with an ordiuary gang of assassins or bandiiti, whom every honest man in the island would desire to capture and destroy; but that he had leason to fe-ir, and he did fear, that the population of the island was r.kingag.u'i.st the Anglo lonian Government, an-l it is to political motives only that we can reasonably impute his seventy. In every insurrection or popul'ir movement pnvnte chws are committed, but it is disingenuous! andabsuidto a«seit afterwards that nieasuiis of icpression were required to punish and lepiess these accidents, when the cause itself lies untouched. Sir Henry Ward expressly declared that the political element prociouimated in this outbreak. He reports thut the head ol the Cephaloman Hetaia (or Greek cmbonun) li.id had an interview with i Vlacco, altei the Ssoala lia^dy had taken place, to airange an attack, oa .-vrgoatoii ; and, subsequently, the report ot the lonian Aitouuy-GeneiAl Lid bure tiie whole organization of what was termed "rlhc" r Ihc great " Hellenic Brothmh«od," with a computation that Cephalcnia could supply 3,000 armed men for the purposes of this revolutionaiy society. The plain truth is that there was a revolutionaiy plot in the island, and that some ot the brigands justly put to death by Sir 11. Wciid were its hired instruments; but the real motive of his seventy to so Uige a number of vicunas was obviously a icsolution to put down with a high li md these sparks of ii*vo!t amongst an inflammable population. The subscquc t relations of the Government with the lonian Assembly completely establish the fact that everybody on the c| ot attached to these measuics an entirely political signification. The execution ol any number ot common thieves and minderers would not have uiilul forth the rrmoiistiances of tiny political I a-sembly. But tue I tniun Assembly in \\k popular

branch lou'Hy protested apiinst Sir H, Word's recent exploits, and their brief session de;?>>ner.ited into <ir altercation with the Lord High Cr .nmissioner, in whiih we arc pqaally 6tru"k by the incaprcity ot the Assembly to ailheieto the dunes of a Fariirimen?, and by the incapacity of the Governor to uphold the dijjnifipd authority ol the Ciown. The up ,hot of the whole proceeding is that Urn lamentable dispuy of excessive severity h.is pn.vcd not only a crime in the eyes of humanity, but u f.u\lt in policy of the grossest kind, for it has concuTed with the more recent attack upon the kingdom of Greene to embitter the {.'ebnps ot the whole Gieek popu'atioti against ourselves, and to turn their hopes in the <nnie proportion towards Russia. The Cmperor of Russia has not neglected so favourable an opportunity of eveudinq his influence : and while Mr. Wyse was disputing with M, London for (he last bag of drachmas the Russian Legation at Athens was concluding with that, M.nister the rmsfc important comr.ieieial treaty which could be conceded (o thsGieek maiium.' population by opening the pons of Russia to them on t e • vi s ol c raplete equatuy m all respects wjtli Kusaian fubjecto France, i« th" meanwhile, had successfully interposed to put an end to the Pacifico dispute and we have now receivtd a copy of the convention si^nei .it Athene, by vntue of wh.'di the sum o\ money paid in deposit to Mi. Wyse foi the notorious Portu>ue->e clums has been paid bid: to Greece, upon the Kiups'*' undei taking to pay whatever raaj be awarded to Pacifico as lawfully due on these ptipers. Will any one contend, tint shile the other piotectin;; I'owerh of Cieece iia<e redoubled their solicitude tor her weJ'are and their own influence, we have derived any arce»si<m of titreus't) or any rlaim to ihe giatitude of Greene fiom the brutal tiansacfions ia which Sir Henry Waid and Mr. Wysu have been engaged ? The lonian Isles, und our peculiar position itt that countryi had given us an opportunity of betting an example to the continent of Greece of such free institutions as may be adapted to the national character, ami of a rempei.He anil progressive Administration. Of •hat opportunity what ure has been made ? We presume to censure the feeb'e Court of Athens for not putting down ihe bauditti which have for a;es infested the mountains of Greece, and ne are astonished that it cannot govern on the purest constitutional principles, and pay its d>-bts every quarter. We heaitily wish it could do nil these things, an 1 more ; but, if the race of Gieeks be not very dibhimiLu on the continent and in the islands (in fact, the, iusu.ai population is by far the more weallhy and cultivated 0/ tho iwo), we can claim little credit for a British Commissioner who proclaims martial law, and distol cs the le^islilive body, as if he were as much pre^uadtd as the mo-t <icspoti<: Minister uruici Km;; Oiho tliat the Gre. I: people are only to be ruled by the ;irlilices of coirupti h or the tenor of arbitioiy power. There is certainly no ae.t of iigouc for wh'ch tiir U. Ward's policy mighs not furnish a precedent, if uot «n excuse.

The Anglo-Saxon Race. — In 1620 ths AngloSjxoh i ace nurabeied about 6,000,000, and was confined to En»!and, Wai s, and Scotland ; and the combination ot which it is the result was not then moie than half jieifecteci, for neither Wales nor Scothnd was hulf-Saxomsed at the time. Now it numbers 60,000,000 of human beings, planted upon all the islands and continents of the earth, and increasing everywhere by an intense ratio of progression. It is fast absorbing 01 displacing all the sluggish raee 1 ? or baibirous tiibes of men that have occupied the continents of America, Africa, Asia, and the islands of the ocean. If no great physical revolution supervene to check its proportion, it will lumber 800,000,000 of human beingb in le*is ili,m 150 j ars from the present time— ail speaking the saut, language, cen'ied to the aarae literature and religion, and exhibiting all it 3 inherent and inalienable characteristics. Thus the po^ pulation of the earth is fast becoming Anglo-Saxon-ised by blood. But the English language is more self-expansive and aggressive than the blood of tbac race. When a community begins to <-peak the English language it is Aiali-Saxocised, even if not a drop of the Anglo Saxon hload mns in its veins. Ireland was never colonised from England like North America or Australia, but nearly the whole of its 7,000,000 or 8,000,000 already speak the English language, which, is the preparatory slate of being entirely absorbed into the Anglo Saxon race, as one ot its most vigorous and useful elements. Everywhere ihe English language is gaining upon the languages of (he eaith, aud preparing: those who *y>e*k for this absorption. The young generation of the Ea^t Indies is learning it ; and it is probable that within fifty years 65,000,000 of human beings of the Asiatic race will speak the language on that comment. So it hin the United States. About 50,00 I cmi.Tan's from. Germany and other countries of continental Europe <iie ai riving in this country every year. Peihnps they cannot speak a word of English when they fiist land on our shores; but in the course of a few years they master tbe languags to some extent. Their children sit upon the seme benches in our com* mon schools with those of native Americans, and become, as they mow up and diffuse theanelves among tbe rcßt ot the population, completely An^lo-S<xyonised. I'lius the race is last occupying,, and subduing to its genius, all the continent* aud islands ot the earth, ihe Grandson of many a >oung man who reads these* lines will probably iive to see tbe day when that race will number its 800,000,000 of human beings. Their uniiy, haimony, and brotherhood must be determined by the relations between Gieat Britain and the United {states. Ttieir union will be the union of the two worlds. It they discharge their duty to each other and to mankind, they must become ths united heart of the mighty race they repreaeiir, feeding its myriad veins with the blood of moral and political lite. Upon the state of their fellowship, then, more than upon the union of any two nations on cat th, depends the well-being of humanity, and the peace and progress of the world. — Ama ican paper.

Ridiculi: — 1 know of no principle which it is of more iinpoitance to fiv in the minds of young people tbnii that of the most determined resistance to the encroachments o( uJicule. Give up to the world, and to the ndkule with which the woi Id enforces its dominion, every tr fling question of manner and appearance : it i» lo toss com age and firmness to the winds to combat with the mabb upon such Mibjects as these. But Jearn, from the eailie,t days, to iiiaine your principles against the penis of ridicule : you can no more exercise your leahon, it you live in the constant diead of laughter, than yon can enjoy jour li!e, il you ate in the constant teiror of death. It you think it right to differ from the times, and to make a sUnd for any valuable point of morals, do it, however tustic, however antiquated, however pedantic it may appear — do it, not (or ins>oteuce, but senously and. gianclly — as a man who wore a soul of his own in his bosom, and did not wait till it was breathed into him by the breath of fashion. Let men call jOu mean, it you know you are just; hypociitical, if you aie honestly religious; pusillanimous, if you feel that you are firm : resistance booh conveics unprincipled wit into sincere respect ; and no aiter- time can teai fiom you those teehugs which eveiy man cariies within him who has made a noble and successful exertion in a vuluous cause, -h'ev, Sydvsy Smith,