CHINA AND THE GREAT EASTERN.
The following letter appears in the TTime:—"These* :— "These twin disasters which have been announced together have started us in our English reveries of triumphant success. It is well that it should be so, and that they should have occurred at once and together, "for out of this nettle danger we may pluck the flower safe.ty" Without anticipating the explanations from China, it j is clear that we must revert to our plan of operations ; in the first war, and stop the supplies of the Imperial I city, and we should be careful to make most of the favourable season. Let, then, the trial trip of the Great Eastern be to the waters of China ; arm her with Armstrong's guns, or the best and lightest rifled cannon, and embark in her a sufficient force of infantry, engineers, and artillery, and- let her make a summer voyage to the Yang-tse-Kiang, which she I may accomplish in six weeks or so. The appearance of such a vessel and such an armament at such a time from these shores would have a moral, as well as matej rial effect, not to be otherwise produced. No delay need occur in the equipment of the Great Eastern, for ! it may be presumed, after the recent disaster, that it will not be deemed necessary to redecorate the saloons with mirrors and gilding, nor that the men who are to achieve such a success would require them. If Lord Elgin should be disposed to resume his post, let him embark with the expedition, and the troops would be ready, with lighter craft, to proceed on, if required, to the Peiho. As the telegraph to India is now open, let another expedition of European and native troops who are without caste prejudices be organised and dispatched from Bengal, Bombay, < and Kurrachee, to so operate. The season is favourable for the voyage, as it is for the operations in China, and if the French desire to co-operate, the Great Eastern could accomodate a brigade of their troops with our own. Let an able officer be sent in command from this country, and let Lord Clyde select the commander for the Indian contingent, who should be volunteers."
CHINA AND THE GREAT EASTERN.
Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVI, Issue 1274, 29 November 1859, Page 3
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