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642 T'lE LEABIB. :[No>.^8/Jto^.^j8&8i:
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GOYERNMENT OP THE ARMY. The House of Com...
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TESTS JOB. LIBERAL MEMBERS. " Fob the pr...
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SIH WILLIAM PEEL. The saddest iteTn of t...
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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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Something Too Hugh Of Slough. One Great ...
Downing-street . Why , then , did he make that indiscreet speech at Slough ? For a very clear reason-It ; yra & an . election address . He knows , and his colleagues know , that it would toe vain to attempt governing for long with the present House of Commons . Therefore , reckless of censure in thai House , they appeal to the country . And some of their cries would be very telling , if their assertions could be substantiated . It is a very fine thing to say , " We are for peace aud you are for war ; we are for justice , and you for piracy ; we are
merciful , and you barbarous ; we sustain the honour of the country , and you truckle to foreign powers . " lord John Russell pronounces the word tf falsehood , " and is not called to order ; Lord Clarendon tells the right honourable gentleman that he has made a statement containing " not a particle of truth , " and Lord Palmerston contradicts him in language peremptory enough to be insulting ,, and yet the Chancellor of the Exchequer bears it all meekly ,, with a hope in-his mind that audacity in Buckinghamshire may beget a little enthusiasm elsewhere . He does lxot elioosft
to wear the Osborne muzzle , and he has a perfect ri g ht to make what lie can out of his position . We might assist him , we think , in working out the process commenced at Slough . A . t the Foreign-office there is—so we once heard from Sheffield ; where possibl y the ark was Tnade-r-an iron strong-box , containing the evidence of Lord P aimerston ' s perfidious compact with Russia , for which he received , through the hands of the Princess Lieven , an Aladdin ' s lamp in the shape of a . blank draft upon the imperial treasury . Wow is the time for the Urquhart statesmen to prove their charges . Let Mr . Disraeli discover , "break open , and search that box , produce that document , and expose his enemy in the House of Commons , and Lord Palmerston ,
having received such a shot in his hull , will sink" to rise no more . What if discretion be offended ? We want to know what Cambridge Hoase is built upon , and Mr . Disraeli must be smitten with what the poets call immortal blindness / if he fails to confound the "Whigs altogether . It may be , however ,, that the whole story is a fiction—that the black box has no more existence than that of Habbakuk Sallenbacha , and in that case we will not go so far as to instigate a forgery , even for the satisfaction of seeing Lord Palmerston ' s invectives retorted upon himself in a less airy style than from the barn in Buckinghamshire . Half the week has been wastedin one stupendous squabble , and half the session in another . Perhaps the House of Commons when it has fought its duels will settle to business .
642 T'Le Leabib. :[No>.^8/Jto^.^J8&8i:
642 T'lE LEABIB . : [ No > . ^ 8 / Jto ^ . ^ j 8 & 8 i :
Goyernment Op The Army. The House Of Com...
GOYERNMENT OP THE ARMY . The House of Commons has resolved that " the Departments of the Horse Guards aud War-office should be placed under the control of one responsible Minister ; " but the Government has decided that " no measures shall be taken in . connexion with that resolution either in or out of tile House . " The Peers have found it necessary to give way when the House of Commons insisted upon the Jew Bill ; it remains to be seen whether her Majesty ' a Ministers , wielding only a minority in the House of Commons ; , can defy that body with more
impunity than the Peers have done . There-can be no doubt as to the motives which dictate opposition to the measure contemplated by Captain Vivian ' s motion . General Peel , who had formerly been in favour of consolidation , has discovered in office that there arc " practical ' reasons against it ; and many others admit that " theoreticall y" Captain Vivian is right . TJhe enlightenment which General Peel Las acquired on oatering office , and -which obtains Jam credit from sorne older officials , is due to the consolidated opposition vrhiolx all find who enter the
precincts of the Horse Guards , or of any of our most exclusive departments , against all kinds o £ change whatsoever . The official mind is in antagonism to improvement , aud any statesmen who enter office for a time discover that it is absolutely impossible for them to carry on their daily business creditably , and at the same time to act against the force which is put upon them by the permanent officiate . The Horse Guards do not intend to "bo submerged under the War Department , and that is enough , for any Cabinet holding its position by a precarious tenure . In . this feet wo aee one evidence , against the , oomraon notion that a weak Government is the beat : instrument of roform .
Besides the- departmental ground of resistance thero is . an auistooratic motive . By the lato motion the purchaeo system hoe been virtually decided , ^ litany men , thos ^ . who ojjo connected with high
families , and Redtapists generally , have decided that the system of purchase shall be maintained for several reasons , bat principally for these : —First , there is a species of consolidated fund formed by the vested interests of those who have purchased commissions , and any Government for the time being would be reluctant to engage in the trouble of raising the money in order to abolish the purchase system by buying up those commissions which have been purchased . No doubt a loan could do it , and even , if the amount were added to ourperraanent Stock , the public would profit . Next ,
the purchase system keeps the commissions ui the Awny principally to the governing classes . Thirdly—and this is the most important reason—it materially contributes to keep societ y , in the messroom " select . " It is quite true that there are in . the Army men not of cultivated taste , refined manners , generous feeling , or temperate habits ; but while the purchase system contributes to draw wealthy men into the Army , wliile it operates as a fence against " the mob , " it collaterally assists ia keeping up those expensive regiments into which the very " highest" class of officers can direct their
own promotion , and thus it aids the upper classes of the Army in distributing its commissioned society so as to send the more low-lived" to Africa , the West Indies , or any other disagreeable station , while the " distinguished" form agreeable parties of their own at the messes of the select regiments . Trust the management of the Army out of the hands of its own military Commander-in-Chief , cease to separate it from civil control , and who would answer for the maintenance of this pleasant system ? This purely military view is strengthened by the sympathy of the " Conservative" —a word we use in a broader sense than its customary application to Parliament , for there are reactionaries on both sides
of both Houses . The working of modern civilization and its police restraints has been such as completely to divorce every people of Europe from the profession bearing 1 arms . The ¦' result has been the formation of an armed class distinct from the nation , but at the service of the Government , and peculiarly under the exclusive control of the Court . England is no exception to that most unconstitutional divorce . Now , Captain Vivian ' s motion , placing the Army directly under the control of a Minister responsible to Parliament , would be the first step towards reuniting the armed class with the great body of the people represented in the House of Commons , and restoring the theory of our Constitution a little more to practice .
Tests Job. Liberal Members. " Fob The Pr...
TESTS JOB . LIBERAL MEMBERS . " Fob the present , " said Lord Macaulay in 1832 , " I am perfectly willing to allow other persons to have infamy and place ; let us have honour and the Reform Bill . " The existing Ministry is not infamous , so that these words do not exactly apply ; but something like Lord Macaulay ' s meaning is applicable in the midst of " the chaos of unanimity " —to employ an old Quarterly phrase—in which
the progress of time has involved us . Men are in office who are not traditionally or by sympathy Reformers . What , then , is the duty and interest of the Liberal party P To drive them out of place , and restore the " obsolete oligarchyP ' Ear from it . The Liberals have a great opportunity , and they could not lose it more ignobly than , by obeying without hesitation the signals of Cambridge House . Let the followers of Lord . Derby have place awhile , and " let ? ts have honour and the Reform Bill . " The
Ministers are not Tories ; Toryism , as a rallying cry , is no longer in existence ; but , notwithstanding that all sections of the House of Commons are agreed in favour of some change , at least in the details of qur Parliamentary constitution , it may still bo assumed that , when , the question approaches its . settlement , the old line of demarcation will again become visible , and that the Reformers will find an opposition . The general acquiescence now nvowed is not altogether beneficial to the cause . " If Peel
is violent , " snid Lord Brougham , on the first night of tho great dolmto of 1832 , " the victory is ours . " In Iho yielding clement of universal assent , tho Reform principle makes little perceptiblo way j but , during the present session , thero has been a consolidation , a strengthening , an advance of the real Liberal party . Their importance ) has becomo manifest . They have been solicited from both sides of tho Houses . They have marked with their brand the military organization of tho country . Thoy have led tho Whiga into the movomout for abolishing tho property
qualification , and next week they will have two field days in the House of Commons . On Tuesday , Mr Berkeley will bring forward his ballot motion ; ' and on Thursday , Mr . Locke King "will proceed ' with his bill for extending the county franchise . Now there are . four hundred members of ¦ Parliament who call themselves Liberals . How many of these will vote for Mr . Berkeley and Mr . Locke King ? How many will stand the test of the ballot and ° the tenpound franchise for counties ? The division lists of Tuesday and Thursday will be of some value at ' the next ceneral election .
There was formerly in existence a society which gave very great offence to the Conservatives . It was called " The Parliamentary Candidate Society , " and was established , not indeed to provide candidates , but to supply the public with infor mation respecting all persons who appeared in that character , giving , if they had previousl y beenin the House , epitomes of their speeches , lists of their votes , and , generally , a history of their political careers . Mr . lloebuck , who has described its organization , believes that it never influenced an election ; but this must have been because it
worked feebly , or in a false direction , since every one must recognise the possible effect o ? such an association directly addressing the body of voters throughout the United Kingdom . The press , lioweveiv may be said to compensate for the absence of the old political societies , and the constituencies will , no doubt , be put in possession of all the knowledge necessary for them to determine whether their representatives have deserved well of them . Hitherto , nothing could have been move aimless , timid , and feeble , than the conduct of the independent Liberals , considered in the aggregate . They have displayed neither unanimity nor courage ,
and if they would go any way towards fulfilling the pledges of the . hustings ., they must support Mr . Berkeley and Hr . Locke King , not only by attendance and by votes , but 1 ) y absolute debate . Frequently Reform motions j after being attacked by the Whigs , are suffered to fall through without a word of sanction from the professional patriots below the gangway . Since Lord Derby ' s accession , however , there has been a good deal of restless activit y among the Liberal members . But this is attributable not alone to their consciousness that ' 'a-dissolution is pending , but that , for good or for evil , the House of Commons , as constituted by . the Reform Bill of 1832 , must shortly close its accounts . The Reformed Parliament once more feels itself to be the Unreformed . It is confused , hesitating , and perturbed . There is no possibility of carrying any great Reform measure this session . Eveu if Mr . Locke King's 33 ills for abolishing the Property Qualification aud for extending the County Franchise were to pass into law , they would be but instalments , or rather anticipations ,, of a general Heform to come , while the Ballot motion will be of
value principally as a test . The Whigs evince no disposition to adopt it , and the onl y hope of the independent Liberals is so far to swell the minority as to give them a claim to bo consulted when the provisions of another Bill are considered by Lord John Russell and the other members of the old Whig party . In that light the discussions of the approaching week will he most important , and it is anxiously expected that Reformers will be in their places to support their principles .
Sih William Peel. The Saddest Itetn Of T...
SIH WILLIAM PEEL . The saddest iteTn of the late news from India is that which relates the death of Sir William Peel ; he died of small-pox at Cawnporo , on the 27 th of April . It is said , on the authority of his father , the Jaic Sir Robert Peel , that ho made Nelson his model , and sought to emulate the achievements of the great scaTcliieftain ; the brilliancy of his short career shows -with what chance of success he aspired . He was every inch a sailor , or rather he realized entirely the popular idea of a thorough
sailor . Prank , brave , learless , those who knew him best say it was impossible not to love him ; and how generally he wa 3 beloved may bo guessed from the accounts which' reached England of the distress of his men when he was wounded at tho siego oi Luoknow ; many of them wdpt liko women . ' Ho was the third anil favourite son of the lai-o Sir Robert Peel , and was Worn in November , 1824 ' . M fourteen he ontorcd the navy us midshipman , and was present nt : the siege of St ... lean d'Acre , wlion ho first smelt powder burnt in anger . After going >" the Cambrian , under Captain Chads , to the Chiiw
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 5, 1858, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05061858/page/14/
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