Au< 



,] 



THE NEWSPAPER. 



[1844. 



day." The above accounts from the French official 

 papers offer a singular contrast to subsequent advices 

 from naval officers and others on board the English ships 

 of war which witnessed the bombardment. All these 

 accounts concur in stating that the exhibition of seaman- 

 ship and gunnery by the French squadron was the source 

 of great amusement to our own sailors, and it is manifest 

 that the Prince had no very easy task to perform with so 

 many professional eye3 watching his manoeuvres. One 

 of these letters published by the Times, from an officer 

 of H.M.S. Warspite, states that the first blunder of the 

 day was committed by the Prince himself, who had his 

 ships towed into action in such a manner, that had the 

 Moors not been more polite than politic, would have ex- 

 posed the ships to a destructive raking fire. The Moors, 

 however, allowed his Royal Highness to anchor in any 

 position he might choose, where, it must be evident to 

 most people, he had not much to do in silencing forts 

 which were soon deserted by their defenders. The writer 

 also mentions as proof of the total deficiency of the 

 French in naval gunnery, that the Triton, of 82 guns, was 

 sent to silence a fort which was abandoned by the Moors 

 before the ship got abreast of it. No resistance therefore 

 was offered, yet the French persisted in firing for two 

 hours, and then after resting half an hour discharged two 

 rounds of shot at the fort and moved off in tow of a 

 steamer. On the smoke clearing away our officers were 

 astonished to find that with all this firing very little injury 

 was done. The embrasures indeed were hardly touched; 

 perhaps not more than six shots left any impression, not- 

 withstanding the ship lay not more than three quarters 



of a mile distant ! The writer then says : — 



*' The second instance presented to observation, illustrating 

 the same Inefficiency with respect to gunnery, was exemplified 

 by the Bells Poule, a heavy new 60-gun frigate. About 

 1 p.m., the Belle Poule was ordered to weigh and proceed im- 

 mediately to silence a round fort, on the eastern side of the 

 bay, right opposite the town. The frigate forthwith proceeded 

 on the service assigned her, and a more miserable attempt 

 or a more contemptible failure perhaps was never witnessed, 

 and does not cease to call forth I icole and jeer^ of all who 



were spectators of the transaction. As the Belle 1'oule ap- 

 proached her station towards the fort its defenders fired by way 

 of challenge several distant si i ; these, Irom their distant 

 range, gave undeniable evidence of the heavy calibre of the 

 guns, and induced the Frenchman to shorten sail very soon, 

 and creeping up timidly, drop anchor at such a distant position 

 that the guns of the frigate could not reach the beach, much 

 less prove effective against the object of assault. However, 

 the Frenchman resolutely fired irregular rounds ot shot in the 

 direction of the fort for full two hours, but with as much 

 effect as though aimed at the rock of Gibraltar ! After this 

 achievement a steamer took the frigate in tow ; but the fort, in 

 scornful defiance, gave her the last and farewell shot ! In the 

 instance just stated, the Moors stood by their guns to the last, 

 and the sole reason that the French frigate escaped a most 

 severe chastisement is entirely attributable to the want of 

 gaunery science on the part of the Moors, for the fort was 

 armed with ordnance of formidable character, and undoubtedly 

 ■would, if properly directed, have committed terrible cxecuiiin, 

 lor the shot frequently passed right over the Belle Poule." 



The writer goes on to express the surprise of the 



English squadron that the French did not land and take 



possession of the works after silencing these non-effective 



batteries; and in conclusion he adds that 



"There was one circumstance in this transaction which 

 affords, and oid in a most striking manner give, the most un- 

 qualified satisfaction to the whole British squadron present at 

 it, namely, the conspicuous deficiency of the French marine in 

 their gunnery. Yesterday, in every point did the French 

 clearly and indubitably j rove themselves totally insufficient to 

 cope with the British navy. Tnis fact ought to be marie 

 known, nor can it be too widely circulated iu En. 'land— the 

 evident and vast disparity in every branch of naval efficiency 

 between the French and ourselves. Before the events of yes- 

 terday, there was certainly not an officer on board this ship, 

 perha.-s not a man, but would have given our rivals credit and 

 character for far more professional ability than they themselves 

 displayed. Nor would these have existed any doubt in the 

 least as to the French having requisite courage. But now it is 

 said of them that, in this affair before Tangier, they undertook 

 and attem; 1 more than they had ability or dared to perform. 

 Facts as they occurred have been simply laid down. Nothing 

 is here stated but that which is believed to be substantially cor- 

 rect. Therefore, if any inference may be deduced from the 

 foregoing, it must strongly demonstr »te that the above opinion 

 is not grounded upon any oblique sentiments of national jea- 

 lousy or caprice, but is founded upon the evidence of plain un- 

 extenuated facts." 



Another officer writes still more strongly; he says 

 without scruple, that the French war-steamers went 

 "rather a cowardly way to work, for though all were 

 under weigh, they took up a position outside the ships 

 that were remaining neutral." He says that the French 



" Have not much to boast of, as their firing and manoeuvring 

 were far from good ; and, considering there was a man-oi-war 

 from all nations looking on, it will not speak well for their good 

 gunnery order. I myself am delighted to have had the chance 

 of seeing a French squadron under fire, and for the future shall 

 look on the boasting journals of France with a laugh on my 

 face. I must say one thing more, though I am not a boaster, 

 but one regiment from Gibraltar, and a hundred artillerymen 

 manning these forts, would have sent Joiuville and his crew to 

 Davy Jones's locker." 



Another officer says — 

 It is now two hours since the firing began, the Frenchmen 

 E!S l 5 K "P a . conti nued blaze, and for one hour not a shot has 

 ?om i k by J heMo °r8. They have all the time been firing 



Wnmi^. thlnk ' a dozen « UU3 > and no m °re. The place is 

 „::., h D f a mas sof ruins, so tar as we can see, but it is nothing 



Jhree men EJ'SS K the,r men ; the * ma r have lost two °* 

 El£ rta ' nly ( not more, and not a rope or spar has 



Sve struct hrrin^h^'f J ° St * b ° Ve lhe water Une and two 



alon^wav off n,d rhp*""' She * as h ™kcrin& round a fort 

 alongwa> off, and they served her with a shot The " crand 



nation" have nothing to boast of; they took u the b 



positions with an overpowering force against a lavage and 



barbarous people, whose only force lies in the madness ot 



fanaticism. It is now 5 o'clock, and the French shs have 



hauled out of harm's way j I may say given it up 1 t game 



to land. The town is very much knocked about. Such a dis 



play of lubberly conduct as the French have shown to day is 



beyond belief; their steamers running foul of different ships 



—from bad management the line-of-battle ships presenting 



their bows and sterns to be raked, and their bad gunnery has 



Made us laugh. Little do they know the feeling against them 



among our men ; could they be let loose the Crapauds would 



*ue this day ! We despise them for their conduct to-day, in 



iring at a defenceless town, as much as we laugh at their 

 lubberly way of going to work." 



In readingthese statements, of course we must make allow- 

 ance for national feelings, although no misrepresentation 

 can avail either party, since the whole affiir was wit- 

 nessed by vessels of war, under no less than 7 different 

 flags— British, Spanish, Danish, Swedish, Sardinian, 

 American, and Tunisian. The Suffren line-of-battle 

 ship, bearing the Prince's flag, is said to have received 

 40 shot, the Belle Poule also received some trifl ng 

 damage, but the loss of life was very small. On shore, 

 notwithstanding all the French firing:, the loss of lives is 

 said not to have exceeded 2 killed at their guns. The 

 damage was much less than supposed. In one battery of 6 

 brass guns, four remained quite untouched. The French 

 fired 9000 balls and bombs, besides Congreve rockets. 

 The houses had not suffered much ; but one or two 

 belonging to Europeans, which had been deserted, had 

 been entered by the Moors, among others that of the 

 Portuguese consul ; but, owing to the zeal and good 

 management of the authorities, comparatively little in- 

 jury was sustained. The Moors kept their flag flying 

 till the last ; and as soon as the French ships left their 

 anchorage, they began to repair their fortifications, so as 

 to be better able to resist another attack. The 

 Prince set sail on the 8th for Cadiz to make 

 good his damages, previous to proceeding to Moga- 

 don, where it is eaid he intends to make a more 

 signal demonstration. In reference to these events, 

 it is necessary to state that the bombardment of 

 Tangier*, was not only unexpected by our own admiral 

 at Gibraltar, and by Mr. Hay, our Consul- General, but 

 the Prince had so far assured them that everything wore 

 a pacific aspect, that Sir E. Owen sent despatches to the 

 Admiralty to that effect. It appears also, that the Em- 

 peror at his interview with Mr. Hay, as the mediator on 

 the part of England, actually conceded every point de- 

 manded, both by France and Spain, but although Mr. 

 Hay's return with the Emperor's answer was hourly ex- 

 pected, the Prince did not wait for his arrival, but com- 

 menced firing when Mr. Hay was only distant 15 miles 

 from Tangiers with news of the Emperor's concession. 

 —The Tahiti affair continues to be the subject of much 

 discussion, but no new light is thrown upon it by the 

 journals, and nothing definite has been decided by the 

 Government. The meeting held last week at Exeter 

 Hall, is duly noticed in the journals. It supplies 

 the theme of many an angry article against this coun- 

 try, and of many a violent paragraph against M. Guizot. 

 — The Moniteur contains a Royal ordonnance, dated 

 Neuilly.the 17th inst., whereby, " considering the acts 

 of disobedience and disorder which have just taken place 

 at the Ecole Polytechnique," that school is disbanded. 

 This occurrence would be of some gravity if the Parisians 

 were in a riotous mood, as that celebrated school has 

 almost ever since the fall of Napoleon proved a focus of 

 resistance or sedition. The chiefs, professors, and other 

 persons employed about the establishment, retain their 

 places and emoluments ; and another ordinance will 

 hereafter appear relative to the re-organisation of the 

 school. Most of the newspapers take part with the young 

 men in this quarrel with the authorities. It appears 

 that they refused to submit to be examined by M. Du- 

 hamel, a gentleman every way fitted for the task, but 

 who had been elected in contravention to the laws under 

 which the school was instituted, and who, it is also sus- 

 pected, would not be quite impartial in his examinations, 

 it is said to be in reference to this affair that Admiral 

 de Mackau was appointed by the King, on the 17th, 

 Minister of War ad interim, in the absence of Marshal 

 Soult, but on the next day the appointment v^as re- 

 scinded. Everything known relative to the subject sug- 

 gests the belief that Government have been long anxious 

 for an excuse for re-modelling this formidable institu- 

 tion; that they seized, if they did not actually create, 

 this occasion; and that, finding Marshal Soult opposed 



to them, they took advantage of his absence to effect 

 their favourite project. 



Spain. — Letters from Madrid of the 12th inst. give 

 the details of the events before Tangier, as published in 

 the Spanish papers. The French fleet arrived at Cadiz 

 on the 7th to repair what it had suffered in the bombard- 

 ment. Some disturbance broke out in Madrid on the 

 15th, but it was not of a political nature, and was easily 

 put down.— The Barcelona prints of the 13th state that, 

 on the day before, the Queen and her mother and sister 

 left for Tarragona, whence they were to proceed by land 

 to Valencia. At the same time, the English and Belgian 

 Ministers quitted Barcelona in the Lavoisier steamer. 



Portugal.— Accounts from Lisbon of the 14th state 

 that a series of illegal acts on the part of the government 

 prepared the way for the promulgation of an ordonnance 

 on the 9th inst., signed by the Queen, and countersigned 

 by the Ministers, wherein the Government arrogates to 

 itself the authority of transferring the different Judges of 

 the realm, and of changing the order of the different courts, 

 and of dismissing those Judges who, within a certain pe- 

 riod, shall not be ready to enter the new offices assigned 

 them, &c. This decree is in open violation of the Con- 

 stitutional Charter and ancient law of the realm, which 

 declares that all legislation to the contrary is revoked. 

 This act of absolutism has caused no small sensation in 

 Lisbon, and all are up in arms against so unexpected and 

 arbitrary a measure. The Duke of Palmella, who has 

 evinced all along the strongest feeling in favour of the 

 administration, went immediately to the Queen and 

 made known to her Majesty the general feeling of dis- 

 satisfaction which prevailed, and protested against this 

 illegal infringement. Another ex-Minister, the Viscount 

 Sa da Bandeira, declared that •• this decree, abrogating 



the Constitutional Charter, places the nation in a similar 

 situation to that in which it stood in 1828, in consequence 

 of the fundamental law of the state." Senor Cabral has 

 thus openly, it would appear, assumed the legislative 

 attributes of the Cortes— the power of making and re- 

 voking laws ; and it remains to be seen whether the 

 Queen will continue to sanction her Minister's assump- 

 tion of the whole powers of the state in his person, or 

 whether the representatives of the people may not 

 assemble, or a serious disturbance ensue. 



Belgium. — The small town of Chimay, where the re- 

 mains of the celebrated historian Froissart are buried 

 having resolved to raise a monument to his memory, the 

 King of the Belgians has granted 1200f. towards the cost 

 — We learn by the Railway Chronicle, that "the Bel- 

 gian papers contain the announcements of cheap travel- 

 ling to England, as if a trip to London were as usual a 

 summer occupation with our continental neighbours as it 

 used to be with our country neighbours at this season. 

 We are informed that in Cologne, Aix, Herbesthal, Os- 

 tend, Antwerp, and Brussels, passengers may be booked 

 through to London, at one fare, by single tickets ! From 

 Cologne to London they may be booked through for 

 Zl. 10s. first class, and 21. 7s. second class. To Aix-!a- 

 Chapelle the price is the same. There is also this addi- 

 tional advantage to travellers on this route, that if they 

 wish to stop on the way, they may do so as often as they 

 please; the ticket given lasts a month, a certain portion 

 being cut off at each principal stopping place." 



Germany. — The Augshurgh Gazette of the Kith 

 announces the arrival of the King of Prussia at Vienna 

 on the evening of the 11th. He alighted at the hotel of 

 his Minister, the Baroa de Canitz. His Majesty pro- 

 ceeded to Schoenbrunn on the following day, dressed in 

 the uniform of the 10th Regiment of Hussars, which 

 bears his name. Prince Metternich was expected at 

 Vienna on the 13th inst. — Among the recent arrivals at 

 Hamburgh from England was Viscount Cranbourne, 

 eldest son of the Marquess of Salisbury, accompanied by 

 his physician. This young nobleman is one of our great- 

 est travellers, having visited nearly all parts of Europe ; 

 he is now en route to China, traversing the more remote 

 parts of Russia on his way, and returning by the overland 

 journey to England. 



Italy. — A letter from Bologna of the 13th states, 

 that 15 persons (merchants, proprietors, physicians, and 

 lawyers) implicated in the revolt of 1843, but who had 

 not formed part of the armed bands, had been removed 

 to Rome, to be tried by the Sacra Consulta. Most of 

 the young men in the Legations went into mourning on 

 hearing of the fate of their brothers Bandiera and their 

 companions.— Letters from Turin of the 10th state, 

 that a few days before, the Duke of Genoa, second son of 

 the King of Sardinia, while riding in the neighbourhood 

 of his chateau of Raconige, was stopped by banditti. 

 The Prince told them who he was, which, however, did 

 not prevent the robbers carrying away his purse, watch, 

 and some jewels. The Duke of Modena was taken 

 suddenly ill, on the 5th, at his villa of Catayo.-A letter 

 from Florence of the 3d states that the body of the ex- 

 King of Spain (Joseph Bonaparte) was dep -'S"^ on tl c 

 3d in the vaults of the church of S.nta Cruz, the temple 

 of honour of the great men of Italy. It had been ex- 

 posed in state for eight days at his residence simply 

 covered with a black dress, and bearing the grand cordon 

 of the Legion of Honour, and the chain ot the Golden 

 Fleece. He is said to have left lo/OMMf. to h» 

 widow and daughter, who is married to her cousin, 

 Prince de Musignano, son of ^ncien Bonaparte. 



GREECE.-Letters from Athens of t ie . 3 ^ »"•,■''* 

 that the elections were progressing but slowly, and that 



gssssm 



",' h„t ?he eovernor of the province, cons.denng him 



Empress, 

 burg, are 



deeply 



nd 



r distressed k. - — . 



Duchess being de.erved.y^u « •»»■* ^ ha d 



rt, and the mnaoiw". - --- - 

 distressed at this event, the G 



th-west winds, and storms 



Rain, violent south-west »...u.. - "" " , inte rrup- 



prevailed at St. hteriWlM^J S J V da ,s ago 

 lion, and greatly impeded the harvest. A J ^ 



the environs of the city were v ^ b X ^ '« r wbi . h 

 storm that the splencud ^rmture of the .^^ 



plies daily between St. «^"^» m Ued t0 stop, and 



dashed to P lece ^f '^Wound refuge in the cabin, 

 tbe passengers with »i»J""T ,0 f ,» . eggs, and 

 The hailstones were of the size »■ Ps 



some even of hen's eggs. , u , f ro m 



TuBKEY.-By the Levant mail we have le ^ 



Constantinople of the 27th ult., T^ch ««* En . 



cordiality which had hitherto prevail ed ^Wf" Court 



glish and French Ambassadors at he OK ly 

 g of late somewhat impaired, and J**"*^ „e- 



3 osed one another on almost every ^™° ^ eI . 



iation. The Minister for Foreign AIM ^ 



was 



opposed one another on almost every quest; 



gotiation. TheMinUt.. — regret-*.--"- 



fe sed to Baron de Bourqueney h«s since re ^ 



,r -J ..„ *l.« 17r un nli PtlVOV at -Vl'Mio 1 



pre9 





violence offered to the French envoy « ^ nor 



assured him that he had given o rJ««to J> ^ 

 for the prompt and exemplary chesti.cme ed - 



hors. P Sir S. Canning had, in ttoj £»»« ^k for 

 ing week, two long conferences with the 



