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300 THE LPPEE. [Ko. 46^ March 5, 18^9.
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teeth)j and: pi'pduces a national ecstac...
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FACTS, FAILURES, A2*D. FRAUDS Facts, Fai...
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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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Court It Was Viewed As From Afar With Eu...
these signs of fear , a bold and faithful counsellor , ¦ whose name has not been recorded , remonstrated with the King upon the error and mischief of his flight ; but all he could obtain was . a promise that the fact should be concealed from , the people * in order not to . damp the warlike ardour of the provinces , or the hatred of the French . Letters and messengers were accordingly dispatched to assure them that the King was preparing to annihilate the enemy , who , aided by treachery , and venturing into the heart of the kingdom , in the midst of fortresses and a population in arms , would find the punishment he deserved for his temerity . The credulous people
trusted implicitly in these words , and redoubled their ardour and endeavours to oppose the French . Suddenly , on the morning of the 21 st Dec , a number of ships which had Aveighed anchor in the night from the port were seen navigating the bay , and upon the largest vessel ( which was English ) the King and the royal family were embarked , as could be perceived * by her flag . At the same time an edict was placarded on the walls of the city , proclaiming that the King had left for Sicily , and had appointed the Cotnmander-in-Chief , Prince Francesco Pignatelli , regent , but that he intended shortly to return with a powerful army . As soon as the King had departed , the secret history of his flight was divulged . '
Ferdinand liad carried off the jewels and treasures of the crown , as well as the most valuable of the antiquities , and works of art in the museums , besidesall that remained in bar or coin in the mint and banks — -in short , a booty of twenty millions of ducats , belonging to the State treasure , leaving the unhappy nation engaged in a foreign and domestic war , without law or guidance , destitute and insecure . The ships were detained three days in the bay by contrary winds , and during that time the municipality the magistrates , the , barons , and the people sent deputies to the King , promising , if he would return ^ to use every effort against the enemy , and secure him the victory by their numbers and determination . But Ferdinand declared his resolution to be
irrevocable , and the ministers repeated the same in less courteous terms . The loyal feelings of the people were changed by this conduct ; the magistrates retired from public Office , either from indignation or to secure their own safety ; those who loved quiet waited events in fear and trembling ; the hopes of the innovators were rising , while the rabble ^— 'the only party actively engaged—daily committed worse excesses / ' ' • Naples , after a brief resistance , opened its gates to the French ; and 'Chaznpionnet , whose instructions from the Directory savoui * ecl as much of political propagandism as of militaiy conquest , resolved to signalise his success by calling into existence another democratic daughter of France .
On the day of his triumphal entry he visited the shrine of St . Januarius , and made votive offerings of great splendour to tlie miracle-working saint . On the following day he proclaimed in his own name , as General-in-Chief of the French , army , the establishment of the Parthenopcan Repxiblic . By subsequent decrees , feudalism , was abolished , certain rich monasteries were suppressed , many judicial changes were introduced , and a vast sum in treasiu'e , besides numeiwis objects of antiquity and ai't , highly prized b y the nation , were declared to be appropriated to France . From such beginnings what could have been expected ? A number of upright and patriotic men , who had studied liberty in bopfts , and talked to one another in salons and libraries , until they fancied they
that have cast an irredeemable stain upon his memory . We have not space to fellow the historian through his narrative of the oppressions and rapacities of the restored Bourbons ; and of their second expulsion by the troops pf Napoleon to make way , first for his brother Joseph , and then for his brother-in-law , Murat . Colletta , who served under the latter with distinction , speaks enthusiastically of the personal qualities of Joachim , which endeared him to those around him , and rendered him at one time highly populai- amongst his involuntary subjects . The hard necessity of his ire drove
position as a tributary of the French Emp him by degrees into errors and inconsistencies , and ultimately ° into faults that deserve a graver epithet under the obloquy of which he finally fell . Once more the old regime was rehabilitated by the decrees of Vienna ; and once more the loathing with which , its benighted sway was regarded , and the inextinguishable longings after freedom in the breasts of the educated classes broke forth in 1821 , when the Constitution was proclaimed . Ferdinand dissembled , took the c onstitutional oath , fled to Laybach , where lie signed an engagement to put down the new representati ve institutions he had sworn to maintain , and returned to his capital to execute the most ruthless retribution Avblch
tyranny could devise , under the protection of an Austrian army . Colletta , whose only sin had been that he had served the sanguinary despot too faithfully in suppression of revolt in Sicily , was condemned to a perpetual imprisonment in exile at Spielberg , for having held office for a few weeks under the constitutional government . He was after a time permitted to reside in Tuscany , where he composed the present work , and died in 1831-We cannot commend the style of the translation , the slovenliness of which often mars the pleasure which the work is otherwise calculated to afford .. Colletta was a man of observation and of action rather than of ideas ; but his contribution to modern Italian history is one of unquestionable value .
understood all about its workings in practice , wore placed at tho-head of the administration ; and for the most part 119 sot of men ever laboured more assmluouslv , more patiently , or more disinterestedly to infiiso life and vigour into the system imposed upon their country a la mode by Championnet . Ifut their efforts were in vain . The provinces , enraged at new taxes , which they not unjustly ascribed to French dictation , became the prey to guerilla warfare . Every brigand called himself a partisan of nationality , and affected to hold a commission from the fugitive King to effect his restoration . Many , like Fra Diavolo , actually received royal authority to act against the invaders and republican subvortors of the throne . After some months the French troops became unpopular in Naples itself ; and when at last they withdraw , their departure was lux ^ ed with general satisfaction .
Left to itself , the republio , which had novqr had any root in the convictions or ieolinjjjs of the community nt largo , perished without a struggle . Nelson brought back the Bourbons in triumph ; and , swayed by the arts and witcheries of Lady l-jnmilton , lent himself to the perpetration of those hideous deeds of cruel and cowardly vongoanco
300 The Lppee. [Ko. 46^ March 5, 18^9.
300 THE LPPEE . [ Ko . 46 ^ March 5 , 18 ^ 9 .
Teeth)J And: Pi'pduces A National Ecstac...
teeth ) j and : pi'pduces a national ecstacy of avaricious delight by announcing that the colony has given undoubted indications of coal . The financial reformer by this time . must feel excessivel y small as he hears on all sides the .. triumphant- shout of " Coal ! " Fleet and army at once receive instructions to go . ahead , and the buccaniers of pro g resssteal another jewel for the Crown . These jewels ( like many other luxuries pertaining to the Crown ) and while
are costly things ; our merchants are congratulating themselves upon the possession of another ¦ " ¦¦ m arket" for their goods , and the officeholders are singing over the victory we have achieved in conquering prodigious right of trade the general tax-payer is hardly made aware that the cost of colonial maintenance amounts to nearl y 50 per cent , of the gross export commerce , which that expenditure is suppposed to create an d protect .
This is ,- m substance , a faithful account of many a-British colony , and what it leads to ; and the present volume can tqll us little more . The Maories of New Zealand may have been an . exceedingly ¦' intelligent race ; the first Governor—Captain llobson ^—may have been a . wise and humane maii , but bad systems and false principles cannot work good through" any . individuals . ; and war , bloodshed , ; md cruel injustice are sure to spring from such seed . Mi * . ' Swainsony who was fifteen years , her Majesty's -Attorney-General for Now" Zealand , speaks up nobly in defence of the now fhst-exjuring native population , and gives us much 'interesting and useful information about their division aud tenure of land , and their civilised respect for privileges ,-boundaries ,, and rights . ¦ . We conclude our notice with a short extract relating to the earliest English government " of the colony . . The duties which devolved on the Local Government in founding the Colony of Kew Zealand , , arduous ns it would have been under any circumstances , had to be performed amidst the .-angry ' opposition of ah irritated Communit }*; and the most sti * eriuous . efforts were made , not only by land claimants in the north , and by tlie disappointed settlers in the south , but by a powerful English Joint-stock Association , to effect Governor liobson ' s recall . Almost alone—looking in vain ' for despatches from hbmc-j-failing in ' health-- — surrounded by angry . opponents and assailed by the bitterest abuse—uncertain Av . liether his proceedings woukl bo approved
. by . the Ministers of the Crown—the last ibw months of Captain . Hobsori ' s life were passed in 11 state of painful and harassing suspense . lliul lie lived but a feAV Aveeks longer , he avouUI have been cheered by the knowledge that his general administration of the allairs of Ncav Zealand Avas approved by her Majesty ' s Government : that his . selection of the site of the capital ¦ had ¦ rcceiA'cd ' the sanction of the CroAvn , and that in all his transactions with Hie New Zealand Company he might rely upon the support of her Majesty ' s Government against the <• exaggerated pretensions" of that Company ami their agents . ttemoved beyond the reach of praise . and blame , none will now ' deny that , in founding ft British Colony in Noav Zealand , ' Captain llohson had a novel and arduous duty to perform—that he it
laboured honestly and assiduously to discharge , and that his services entitled him to tho favourable consideration of his country . And if tlie native inhabitants of these islands shall escape the lute which has hitherto attended uncivilised tribes when brought into tho vicinity of civjlisocl men , they vui oavo something to tho in / lexible sense of justice 01 their first Governor , who , while living , enjoyou their esteem and gained their eonnduneo , ami wnoso paternal government is still hol < M > y tlunn in ro'pcotftil romombranco . " Mother Vietorla , "—wrote « no of their greatest chiefs , addressing her Aiujosiy after Governor liobson ' s death , —" my subject is * Governor for us and for tho strangers of this ihiuiw . Let him bo a good man . Look out for a good nuin a man of judgment . Let not a troublcr come neu . Lot not a boy eomo horo , or one pulled up , . J ^ -t 11 " » bo a good man , as tbo Governor avIio Ihib ) UPt {\ w \ ,, Thore is much in Mr . Swainsou ' u book thuUMH interest many ' persona .
NEW ZEALAND AND ITS COLONIZATION . JVew Zealand and its Colonization . By "William Swainson . Smith , Elder , and Co . The history of all colonies and dependencies is pretty much alike . First comes the energetic man—the circumnavigator , or the wandering mariner , who lands upon the strange island or continent , and deals Avith the simple natiA'es to considerable personal adA-antage . Next comes the missionary , armed ' Avith tracts , accordions , Bibles , and caulifloAvex * seeds , Avho effects a lodgment in
the name of a parochial religion and a bigottcd civilisation . Close upon the heels of the theological pioneer there . follows Mammon ,, in the shape of-a trading company ; and large dividends are paid to antipodean shareholders by jockeying the aborjgonos out of their landed birthright . At this point the Avhite man generally introduces the firewater 5 and it is then discoA r ered what an inferior , contemptible race of heathen savages we have undertaken to improve . They feed upon baked monkeys—the nasty beasts!—and they never heard of pale-ale , and the . registered palotot !
It is difficult to conceive . Avhy such creatures wore box'n . They positivel y worship wallcingsticks * and prize tenponny nnils 5 and their gods ore so hideous ( as the enlightened traveller remarks ) that the- 'children yell at them , and go into fits . This may have been their condition for centuries before avo luckily found thorn out , and wo must mirsno our mission vigorously to make up for lost time . The savage objects to bo robbed , except under tho thin veil of exchange ; andwhew tho shoo of the Anglo-Saxon mission gives him oaiumcc is
wv uyui u pinuu , xno pi peace cxunguisoa in tho heathen council chamber , nnd the tomuhaAvk is once more polished up for the logic of Avar . The first homeward mail takes acoounts of n native insurrection , or a collision Avith tho rebellious aborigines , nnd tho colonial minister runs liis joAvellod fingers through his Avig , and ' puts it to Purliamont Avhether this state of things should bo . Some financial reformer , ' who has . the weakness to resist a wnv of extermination on tho ground of inhumanity and reckless oxpoime , is yory ( juit-kly siloncod by the British pluck of tho Houso . An uncler-sccvotnry gots up Avith a paper , which ho says " he holds in his hand " ( not in his
Facts, Failures, A2*D. Frauds Facts, Fai...
FACTS , FAILURES , A 2 * D . FRAUDS Facts , Failures , and Fruutla , By V , Ttfm'lw Kvn » ' . London : Groomhi'Mgu » " < l >* m ' Wh oannot regard the prettont volume . nn ft creditable or satn-j / hutoiy poWbriumicc . M * 1 ;„ , ' , is on lulling—and that is all . It tolls " « Ilo |] l" J which we can rely upon j \ s being IK-o li'oin l ' " thnt wo did not know before . 1 ,. The author , or oomnilor , if wo nibluhu no ! , mm
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 5, 1859, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05031859/page/12/
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