Ten Englishmen of the Nineteenth Century Part 16

I say, in contradiction to the honorable gentleman, that this country does stand well with the great majority of the foreign powers; that the character of this country stands high; that the moral influence of England is great--a moral influence that I do not take credit to this government for having created, but which is founded on the good sense and the wise and enlightened conduct of the British nation. Foreign countries have seen that in the midst of the events which have violently convulsed other countries in Europe, and which have shaken to their foundations ancient inst.i.tutions, this country has held fast to her ancient landmarks, standing firm in her pride of place:

Fell not, but stands unshaken, from within,

Or from without, 'gainst all temptations armed.

That has given confidence to foreign countries in the government and people of this country. When other monarchies were shaken to their very foundations, England stood unhurt, by its evident security giving confidence to other powers. They have seen that the government of England is not like that of other countries, struggling for its existence, and occupied in guarding against daily dangers. They have seen that the British Const.i.tution acts in unison with the spirit of the nation, with whose interests it is charged. They know that its advice is worthy of being listened to; and that advice is valued and respected, and is not spurned with contumely, as the honorable member would wish us to suppose.

THE "CIVIS ROMa.n.u.s" SPEECH

[Nothing which Lord Palmerston ever said or did made more for his popularity and reputation than the closing pa.s.sage of his speech in the Commons in the "Don Pacifico" debate in June, 1850. He had been speaking for five hours, and it was almost morning when he flung out these high-spirited words.]

I believe I have now gone through all the heads of the charges which have been brought against me in this debate. I think I have shown that the foreign policy of the government in all the transactions with respect to which its conduct has been impugned, has throughout been guided by those principles which, according to the resolution of the honorable and learned gentleman, ought to regulate the conduct of the government of England in the management of our foreign affairs. I believe that the principles on which we have acted are those which are held by the great ma.s.s of the people of this country. I am convinced these principles are calculated, so far as the influence of England may properly be exercised with respect to the destinies of other countries, to conduce to the maintenance of peace, to the advancement of civilization, to the welfare and happiness of mankind.

I do not complain of the conduct of those who have made these matters the means of attack upon her Majesty's ministers. The government of a great country like this is, undoubtedly, an object of fair and legitimate ambition to men of all shades of opinion. It is a n.o.ble thing to be allowed to guide the policy and to influence the destiny of such a country; and if ever it was an object of honorable ambition, more than ever must it be so at the moment at which I am speaking. For while we have seen, as stated by the right honorable baronet, the political earthquake rocking Europe from side to side; while we have seen thrones shaken, shattered, leveled, inst.i.tutions overthrown and destroyed; while in almost every country of Europe the conflict of civil war has deluged the land with blood, from the Atlantic to the Black Sea, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, this country has presented a spectacle honorable to the people of England and worthy of the admiration of mankind.

We have shown that liberty is compatible with order; that individual freedom is reconcilable with obedience to the law. We have shown the example of a nation in which every cla.s.s of society accepts with cheerfulness the lot which Providence has a.s.signed to it, while at the same time every individual of each cla.s.s is constantly striving to raise himself in the social scale not by injustice and wrong, not by violence and illegality, but by persevering good conduct, and by the steady and energetic exertion of the moral and intellectual faculties with which his Creator has endowed him. To govern such a people as this is indeed an object worthy of the ambition of the n.o.blest man who lives in the land, and therefore I find no fault with those who may think any opportunity a fair one for endeavoring to place themselves in so distinguished and honorable a position; but I contend that we have not in our foreign policy done anything to forfeit the confidence of the country. We may not, perhaps, in this matter or in that, have acted precisely up to the opinions of one person or of another; and hard indeed it is, as we all know by our individual and private experience, to find any number of men agreeing entirely in any matter on which they may not be equally possessed of the details of the facts, circ.u.mstances, reasons, and conditions which led to action. But making allowance for those differences of opinion which may fairly and honorably arise among those who concur in general views, I maintain that the principles which can be traced through all our foreign transactions, as the guiding rule and directing spirit of our proceedings, are such as deserve approbation.

I therefore fearlessly challenge the verdict which this House, as representing a political, a commercial, a const.i.tutional country, is to give on the question now brought before it-whether the principles on which the foreign policy of her Majesty's government has been conducted, and the sense of duty which has led us to think ourselves bound to afford protection to our fellow-subjects abroad, are proper and fitting guides for those who are charged with the government of England; and whether, as the Roman in days of old held himself free from indignity when he could say, Civis Roma.n.u.s sum, so also a British subject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of England will protect him against injustice and wrong.

THE SEPOY MUTINY

THE DEFENSE OF LUCKNOW

[Tennyson's poem was inspired by the recital of one of the most notable features of the Great Mutiny.]

I

Banner of England, not for a season, O banner of Britain, hast thou Floated in conquering--battle, or flapped to the battle-cry!

Never with mightier glory than when we had reared thee on high Flying at top of the roofs in the ghastly siege of Lucknow-- Shot thro' the staff or the halyard, but ever we raised thee anew, And ever upon our topmost roof our banner of England blew.

II

Frail were the works that defended the hold that we held with our lives- Women and children among us, G.o.d help them, our children and wives!

Hold it we might, and for fifteen days, or for twenty at most.

"Never surrender, I charge you, but every man die at his post!"

Voice of the dead whom we loved, our Laurence, the best of the brave: Cold were his brows when we kissed him-we laid him that night in his grave.

"Every man die at his post!" and there halted on our houses and halls Death from their rifle-bullets, and death from their cannon- b.a.l.l.s; Death in our innermost chamber, and death at our slight barricade; Death while we stood with the musket, and death while we stooped to the spade; Death to the dying, and wounds to the wounded, for often there fell, Striking the hospital wall, crashing thro' it, their shot and their sh.e.l.l; Death--for their spies were among us, their marksmen were told of our best, So that the brute bullet broke thro' the brain that would think for the rest; Bullets would sing by our foreheads, and bullets would rain at our feet-- Fire from ten thousand at once of the rebels who girdled us round-- Death at the glimpse of a finger from over the breadth of a street; Death from the heights of the mosque and the palace, and death in the ground!

Mine? Yes, a mine. Countermine! down, down! and creep thro' the hole!

Keep the revolver in hand! you can hear him--the murderous mole!

Quiet, ah! quiet--wait till the point of the pick-ax be thro'!

Click with the pick coming nearer and nearer again than before-- Now let it speak, and you fire, and the dark pioneer is no more; And ever upon our topmost roof our banner of England blew.

III

Aye, but the foe sprung his mine many times, and it chanced on a day Soon as the blast of that underground thunder-clap echoed away, Dark thro' the smoke and the sulphur, like so many fiends in their h.e.l.l, Cannon-shot, musket-shot, volley on volley, and yell upon yell-- Fiercely on all the defenses our myriad enemy fell.

What have they done? Where is it? Out yonder, guard the Redan!

Storm at the water-gate! storm at the Bailey-gate! storm! and it ran Surging and swaying all round us, as ocean on every side Plunges and heaves at a bank that is daily drowned by the tide-- So many thousands, that if they be bold enough, who shall escape?

Kill or be killed, live or die, they shall know we are soldiers and men!

Ready! take aim at their leaders--their ma.s.ses are gapped with our grape-- Backward they reel like the wave, like the wave flinging forward again, Flying and foiled at the last by the handful they could not subdue; And ever upon our topmost roof our banner of England blew.

IV

Handful of men as we were, we were English in heart and in limb, Strong with the strength of the race, to command, to obey, to endure, Each of us fought as if hope for the garrison hung but on him; Still, could we watch at all points? We were every day fewer and fewer.

There was a whisper among us, but only a whisper that pa.s.sed: "Children and wives--if the tigers leap into the fold unawares- Every man die at his post-and the foe may outlive us at last-- Better to fall by the hands that they love, than to fall into theirs."

Roar upon roar in a moment, two mines by the enemy sprung, Clove into perilous chasms our walls and our poor palisades, Rifleman, true is your heart, but be sure that your hand be as true!

Sharp is the fire of a.s.sault, better aimed are your flank fusillades-- Twice do we hurl them to earth from the ladders to which they had clung, Twice from the ditch where they shelter, we drive them with hand- grenades; And ever upon our topmost roof our banner of England blew.

V

Then on another wild morning, another wild earthquake out-tore, Clean from our lines of defense ten or twelve good paces or more.

Rifleman high on the roof, hidden there from the light of the sun-- One has leapt upon the breach crying out, "Follow me, follow me!"

Mark him-he falls! then another, and down goes he.

Had they been bold enough then, who can tell but the traitors had won?

Boardings and rafters and doors! an embrasure! make way for the gun!

Now double-charge it with grape! it is charged and we fire and they run.

Praise to our Indian brothers, and let the dark face have his due!

Thanks to the kindly dark faces who fought with us, faithful and few, Fought with the bravest among us, and drove them, and smote them and slew, That ever upon our topmost roof our banner in India blew.

VI

Men will forget what we suffer, and not what we do; we can fight!

But to be soldier all day, and be sentinel all thro' the night-- Ever the mine and a.s.sault, our sallies, their lying alarms, Bugles and drums in the darkness, and shoutings and soundings to arms; Ever the labor of fifty that had to be done by five; Ever the marvel among us that one should be left alive; Ever the day with its traitorous death from the loopholes around; Ever the night with its coffinless corpse to be laid in the ground; Heat like the mouth of a h.e.l.l, or a deluge of cataract skies, Stench of old offal decaying, and infinite torment of flies, Thoughts of the breezes of May blowing over an English field, Cholera, scurvy, and fever, the wound that would not be healed; Lopping away of the limb by the pitiful, pitiless knife-- Torture and trouble in vain-for it never could save us a life.

Valor of delicate women who tended the hospital bed; Horror of women in travail among the dying and dead; Grief for our perishing children, and never a moment for grief, Toil and ineffable weariness, faltering hopes of relief; Havelock baffled, or beaten, or butchered for all that we knew-- Then day and night, day and night coming down on the still shatter'd walls Millions of musket-bullets and thousands of cannon-b.a.l.l.s; But ever upon the topmost roof our banner of England blew.

VII

Hark, cannonade, fusillade! Is it true what was told by the scout, Outram and Havelock breaking their way thro' the fell mutineers?

Surely the pibroch of Europe is ringing again in our ears!

All on a sudden the garrison utter a jubilant shout, Havelock's glorious Highlanders answer with conquering cheers, Sick from the hospital echo them, women and children come out, Blessing the wholesome white faces of Havelock's good fusileers, Kissing the war-hardened hand of the Highlander, wet with their tears!

Dance to the pibroch! Saved! We are saved! Is it you? Is it you?

Saved by the valor of Havelock; saved by the blessing of heaven!

"Hold it for fifteen days!" We have held it for eighty-seven!

And ever aloft on the palace roof the old banner of England blew.

THE LIGHT BRIGADE AT BALAKLAVA

[In a letter to the London Times Mr. W. H. Russell, the war correspondent, described the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, one of the most notable incidents of the Crimean War.]

Supposing the spectator, then, to take his stand on one of the heights forming the rear of our camp before Sebastopol, he would have seen the town of Balaklava, with its scanty shipping, its narrow strip of water, and its old forts, on his right hand; immediately below he would have beheld the valley and plain of coa.r.s.e meadowland, occupied by our cavalry tents, and stretching from the base of the ridge on which he stood to the foot of the formidable heights at the other side; he would have seen the French trenches lined with zouaves a few feet beneath, and distant from him, on the slope of the hill; a Turkish redoubt lower down, then another in the valley, then, in a line with it, some angular earthworks; then, in succession, the other two redoubts up to Canrobert's Hill.

At the distance of two and a half miles across the valley is an abrupt rocky mountain range of most irregular and picturesque formation, covered with scanty brushwood here and there, or rising into barren pinnacles and plateaux of rock. In outline and appearance this portion of the landscape was wonderfully like the Trosachs. A patch of blue sea was caught in between the overhanging cliffs of Balaklava as they closed in the entrance to the harbor on the right. The camp of the marines, pitched on the hillsides more than ten hundred feet above the level of the sea, was opposite to the spectator as his back was turned to Sebastopol and his right side towards Balaklava.....