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[ from the to 2 ?ffiE LEABEg^ Saturday,
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There is no learned man but will confess...
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THE MORAL OF THE MINISTERIAL CRISIS' (To...
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HOW TO CARRY ON THE WAR. (To the Editor ...
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A Turk's Notion of tiik End of Nicholas....
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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" The Stranger" In Parliament. [Tho Resp...
Commons , and he gave allthe patronage to the Whig aristocracy—the Bedfords , Rockinghams , and Graftons lord Palmerston could form a Ministry on Bimiiarconditions , bringing in the Tpriesor the Whigs , and acting himself for the nation . But Lord Palmeraton is not a great man who can act like Chatham : he is , perhaps , even not so grand aT > afcriot . The Tories have evidently refused him his terms ; and the Whigs , always jealous of him , Auspicious of him , will doubtless long hesitate before they put themselves in hi & power—for clearly Lord Palmerston ( even if Iiord Iiansdowne were the nominal leader )
would not undertake to obtain the Government for them , and to run all the risks for them , if Iiord John Russell were to be retained alongside him as the real chief , still their conBdential agent . Lord Palmerston knows that it is the Duk " es of Bedford who govern when the Whigs are in office , and he would indeed be sacrificing top much , perhaps his popularity , if he went into Government anew with his old friends , to leave them the power to humiliate him , as they did in 1852 , whenever they get tired of him , or whenever they conceive themselves strong enough to do without him . These are the considerations which
who are how carrying on our affairs will be 4 ead , Ind forgotten as soon as dead , hemay even be Prijne Minister . But , for the present , notwithstanding his Splanations , which would justify any very publicspSited pereon moving a vote of expulsion , . of iSrdJohrC ^ ll from aU his clubs , aBd . refusing invitations to aU his dinners , the I ^ ke of Newcastle has to step on one side , to a back bench , while Lord John Russell is by no means down . „ Saturday Morning . "AStranqkr .
explain the prolongation of a crisis . A Government is not formed merely by certain men : they must be representative men—not of popularity , not of principles— . but of great county families , and of great city and borough cliques of old Whigs or adroit Conservatives . Sir Robert Peel , when his burst of popularity was over , but when he had offended and sacrificed the great Tory party , wasa great individualitybut was no power—and could never again have been in office , except in the case of a democratic revolution , unless the Tories had readopted him . Mr . Gladstone is similarly situated . The House of
Commons was enthusiastic about him on Monday night . His speech was surpassingly grand ; a splendid effort of genuine genius : it ~ was made by a perfect debater ; it indicated "the -true " statesman . But Mr . Gladstone is a mere individuality : no county magistrates trust him : he is at the head of no great political conspiracy : he merely represents the age in England ; and the Age is never " sent for . " This is the secret of the weakness palpable in this crisis , when nobody thinks of the Peelites , except as materials for coalition : they are merely a collection of capacities ; and only that they happen to be
in Parliament—they might just as well be so many editors of clever newspapers . This also explains why the public eagerness for this and that man is not aftendeditoT iOs a monsftw who is not only thoroughly national , thoroughly patriotic , but thoroughly intellectual , to impute to the Queen any enmity to Lord Palmerston . The Queen knows , with more accuracy than is shown in the gossip of Jones , the peculiarities of the constitution ; and reflection upon those peculiarities should convince Jones that it would have been simply a waste of time to send for Lord Palmerston . It may be true that Lord Grey would be a capital minister of this , and Lord Ellenborough an excellent minister of that
But these are merely clever men—Earls , it is true ; but not nobles representative of other nobles , and of noble combinations . Hence they have to wait until a chief like Lord Derby , or like Lord John Russell , having arranged with the Queen , arranges with them . Perhaps a great individuality , say like Mr . Gladstone , might destroy this system , by counterconspiring with his Sovereign and his middle-class public against the conspiracy of the nobles to wield exclusively the power of the realm of . England . But —Mr . Gladstone probably thinks that the nobles are rather strong : warned by the fate of Peel , and by the miserable life of Canning , he prefers , like Mr . Disraeli , to make use of the Marquises of Carabas .
. The , accuracy of these viows is illustrated in the quarrel between the Duke of Newcastle and Lord John Russell . The Duke of Newcastle , by his statement on Thursday night , set himself perfectly right in public opinion ; facing public opinion with the boldness of a manly intellect and the sincerity of a generous heart , but with the modesty of true merit , he explained the facts , and appealed to his countrymen against the conspiracy of which he was the victim . In less than one year , as Mr . Gladstone predicted , the Duke of Newcastle will be reinstated in public favour j in ten years , when aU the old lonta
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There Is No Learned Man But Will Confess...
There is no learned man but will confess . much p ^ fited bT rea « 3 ing controversies , ^ senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened If , then , it be profitable for him \ o read , why should it no t , at least , be tolerablefor his adversary to write . —Milton .
The Moral Of The Ministerial Crisis' (To...
THE MORAL OF THE MINISTERIAL CRISIS ' ( To the Editor of tha Leader . ") Sir , —Is it not humiliating or amusing , according as one happens to be serious or cynical , after the complete wreck of the old ministerial-vessel , to find the wise men of all the accredited organs of the press put forward and recommend not any new system , or new men , but merely the old timbers and the old officers . The wreck is to be broken up , forsooth , and a raft made of its beams to float us through the storm of a European war , and the command of this miserable raft is to be given to no young or bold sailor , but to superanuated lieutenants . or matesconvicted of sleeping on the watch , and allowing the vessel to drift ashore . , Even the Times , which so oft and so irrefragably demonstrated the danger of entrusting even a cockboat to Lord Palmerston , would now thrust him upon us as Prime Minister . Lord Palmerston , to the knowledge of all the world , has failed as Home Minister . Earl Grey , in the remembrance of every one , failed as Colonial Minister . But , as a certain class of traders are never worth-any thing till they have been bankrupt , so our statesmen are really not worth public consideration till they qualify by some egregious failure ^ Who does not recollect Lord Ellenborough as Governor-General or India , with the gates of Ghuzni on _ his back , and recalled in very great alarm by the East India Company ? Who does not recollect Lord Grey ' s embroilment of England with every one of her colonies ? Yet these are the men put forward for the office and the business of which the Duke of Newcastle has made a mess . According , to the same rule / his Grace will be the fittest man for Premier in a twelvemonth .
Every family , every clique , every aristocratic knot , every editorial closet in London , has its minister . And every one of them is incapable , imbecile , and superannuated , _ WhyJiaveLiiot _ the . pepple _ of England a choice , a candidate , a champion ? There are ; papers which call themselves popular organs , which affect to represent the middle-classes , and to be the friend of the lower ones—yet whom do they recommend for first officer at this critical moment ? Why , of course , some hack official , some superannuated statesman , a man who has run the gauntlet of power for the last half century , kept every man of promise and of talent from the light , and holds a foremost position solely because no younger man has been allowed to rise up and dispute it .
Political power and fitness in this country , as in every country , is the fruit of experience and apprenticeship . But the old members of the great political corporation for the last fifty years have had no apprentices indentured to them . They would take none but the rich and the well-connected . And all the rich and the well-connected were so stupid , that ' there was not an average pound of brains amongst them ; and it is therefore that we have no statesmenno relay of Ministers , and that we must either take the old ones or go without Ministers altogether . All this may be of comparatively littlo consequence in time of peace , when the only result is to obstruct the progress of the nation . But it is of tremendous consequence in war , when it sacrifices 30 , 000 men at a swoop , and may , by prolonged imbecility , bring the horrors of Sebastopol home to us to taste , every one of us at our own doors , and upon our own soil .
The war has read very plainly its own lesson . All that is democratic in the army has proved effective , heroic , indomitable ; all that is aristocratic in the army lias proved itself , brave perhaps , but incapable . What ia the remedy ? Plainly , assimilate the army to those of France and of Prussia , whoso officers arc neither appointed nor promoted for wealth or , from connexion , and where the meanest person has the chance of promotion . What Minister of those named would or could do this ? How , then , is it to be done ? By the people seeing , admitting , and expressing the necessity for such reforms , and the constituencies making them the condition * of election . Then , and not till then , will Parliament do anything . . Then , and not till then , shall we reap any
notable result from the war , or grow nearer to a profitable peace . We have the example of Lord Derby's Ministry to disprove that the inexperienced cannot do as well as the experienced . The Tories improvised a Cabinet . They filled their offices from the Conservative clubs in such a way . as we may supposei They took the first men they met with . The result was just the same as if they had spent a month in sifting the party . The majority of the Administration were very decorous noodles , and there were one or two very clever men , who made the machine work .
Could not the people , out of their men ana party , do the same to-morrow ? It will be said " No ; " for the gentry and the House of Commons would not stand it and all the discarded statesmen of the old cliques—the liussells and the Palmerstons—would unite with the Grahams and the Newcastles , as well as with the Dizzys and the Pakingtons , to trip up the men who had but popularity behind them , honesty within them , and no clique around . True all had the had
for the moment . But people a party , or the people a press—a press could soon make a party —they would make themselves respected , nor allow any band of nobility and gentry to trifle with them . Sir it is the press which , more than any one or anything else , totally fails of its duty in such an hour as this , and in so failing is alike wanting to its own interests , to those of the country , and the people . I am , Sir , yours , K A Pressman .
How To Carry On The War. (To The Editor ...
HOW TO CARRY ON THE WAR . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) London , January 31 , 1855 . Sir , —Should you think the following idea worthy of consideration , I shall feel obliged by its insertion : — PROPOSITION . That a war fund of three hundred millions be created ; the interest to be paid out of the principle while the war lasts , and whatever portion may be used during the war to be a claim on the Emperor of Russia . REASONS IN FAVOUR OF SAID PROPOSITION . lstly . There is a great deal of capital on the Continent for which the owners now tremble ; and as England , I believe , is allowed to be the safest country for investment , we may conclude a very considerable portion of the 300 , 000 , 000 / . would find its way from there into this country , thereby precluding the enemy and false neutrals from benefiting thereby . 2 ndly . The creation of such a fund would dissipate all false illusions on the part of the Russian Emperor , and be the most powerful argument that could be used for bringing him to terms . 3 rdly . It would enable ' the Chancellor of the Exchequer" to remove all war taxes , and home reforms be proceeded with . Other obvious reasons may be adduced , but I hope I have given sufficient to call the attention of cleverer persons thanmyself to the-subject . In conclusion , sir , I hold the views of Mr . Gladstone about carrying on the war without increasing our debt as absurd ; and if we peril life and property to transmit to our poste rity a free and unpu . lagei > country as their inheritance , they will sadly have degenerated if they do not honour our memory for pursuing such a course . , Your obedient servant , Faugh A . Ballagii .
A Turk's Notion Of Tiik End Of Nicholas....
A Turk ' s Notion of tiik End of Nicholas . — We went on to a genuine Turkish kibaub shop . I know not whether my reader needs to be informed that kibauba are small pieces of mutton grilled on a set of - skewers , which are served on pieces of thick baked bread , with a little salad . I was about to sit down on a low stool , when Dr . Sandwith remonstrated , " Do not sit on the table . " He then took mo to the corner of an old khan , or general lodging-house , where an old schoolmaster was giving instruction to four or five boys . Ho belonged to the class of Softas , which seems rather to answer to the idea of the old Jewish schools of the Prophets . They are generally the most inveterate Mussulmcn of the empire ; and this man , who had formerly given Dr . Sandwith some lessons in Turkish , would not rise when we Christians entered , or give us the slightest salute .
Ho scorned , however , glad to see my friend and to talk to him . I was unfortunate in suggesting , as a sort of touch-stone , that he should bo asked how ho liked the new Sheik-ul-Islam ( tho highest functionary of their faith ) , tho former one having been lately displaced for his too close sympathy with tho old Mussulman party ,. This evidently rather ruffled him : "Why do you ask mo that ? You must have Borne reason . I cannot tell you : I do not know him , All I can tell you of him is , that , before ho was ¦ appointed , tho lightning of God fell upon his house . " We naturally got upon tho war , of which his view is as follows . "Nimrod was formerly a great conqueror ; bu £ God defeated him by tlio hands of Abraham , to whom be blessing for ever ! Ho was devoured by tho worms , and perished miserably : ho it will bo with tho Emperor Nicholas . "—Diary in Turkish and Greek Waters .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 3, 1855, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03021855/page/16/
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