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Ar«ii. 7, 1860.J The^ Leader and Saturda...
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CONFLICTS AND COMI'IIOMISES 1* T1IE CABI...
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| AN OUTLOOK ABROAD. miLR misfortune's o...
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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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Ar«Ii. 7, 1860.J The^ Leader And Saturda...
Ar « ii . 7 , 1860 . J The ^ Leader and Saturday Anal-si . ^ _ ___ ^ 1 ^
Conflicts And Comi'iiomises 1* T1ie Cabi...
CONFLICTS AND COMI ' IIOMISES 1 * T 1 IE CABINET . - ¦' XTtllKNT the present Administration was formed it was said W to he one which , though it contained much mettle . and spirit , ¦ could not be run away . with . . This was its . great merit m the eyes of the Court . The terror entertained at the Palace ot an- uncontrolled ascendancy in the Cabinet , on the . part ot either Lord J ' almeiistox , Lord J . Russell , or Mr . . Gl . vdstone-, whs . profound . They had eachUmd all of them given utterance to opinions on foreign afiairs at variance with , dynastic hopes , ot repression and reaction . The - two latter had committed themselves irrevocably to the principle that the Italians should be left to choose their own rulers , be they . whosoever they might ; and if Lord Palmkkston had of late years been less-demonstrative on this head than formerly , he had gone further than any other hnglish statesman in his professions of friendship towards the Lmperor ot the FitExcii . Upon the fall , therefore , of Lord . Dekby s administration , instead of sending- for any of the inen whose ability and character pointed them out pre-eminently above other politicians as qualified to guide . the counsels , of the . State , the Queen was persuaded to commission Earl Gkanvilli :, one of j the safest and smoothest third-rate men . acceptable at Windsor , , | to form a Government : The attempt luckily failed at the very . } outset ; and then ; as the least of evils , Lord PalmkksTox was ; intrusted with the task . He was soon made to understand ., ; however , that unless he consented to have has . Cabinet packed j with men of the Palace , he had . practically no chance of becoming a " second time Premier . . ; At -seventy-five an ambitious man has not time to ^ stickle ¦ about points ' of nicety in such matters . The veteran Viscount i agreed to all that was ' exacted from Jiim , aiid . , lie had even con- ¦ . seWd to replace Lord Clmkxdox in the Foreigiuoffice ^ when . . ; Lord John interposed a peremptory veto , and imdertook that department himself . The Court shuddered , but succumbed in that partieuiar , consoling itself with the beliefthat a majority of the Cabinet would . be always able and ready to check and control the " Secretary of State , should he -propose to do or say anything too liberal or too national in its spirit and . tendency . ¦ '¦ * ' ¦ . How ' far . these anticipations have been disappointed during the r | afet - ten months we are not . now about to inquire . It is enough for our present purpose to note that , so long as the three leading statesmen we have above referred to were understood to remain in accord regarding " foreign policy , their counsels prevailed , ami j their courtier colleagues ventured not to resist . How long this passive attitude will be : observed , if differences should arise between the . distinguished / individuals in question , time only can tell . But we must confess that we should not be surprised if the events that have recently taken p lace abroad , a . nil the mode in which they have been dealt with by our Government , should lead , ere long , to a disruption of certain bonds , that ; . w unite together these eminent public men . It would , in point of fact , be affectation to deny that the language held by Lord John ; . Russell iu Parliament -towards the French Emperor with respect to the annexation of Savoy is openly repudiated by other ( members of the Cabinet . Mr . Gladstone especially is said to object"to the . utterance of any sentiment that is calculated to . weaken , as-he ' thinks , the intimate alliance with France * . His | reputation as a politician and as a financier are so closely affected by ' this consideration , that we onu hardly bo astonished at the excessive susceptibility he evinces on the , subject . 'I he fulfilment of all lfis prophecies and the realization of all his estimates depend on the preservation of peace— -peace sit any price . He is , therefore , oaai'ly disturbed by the declaration of the : Fqakio . n Skckt . taky , that the conduct of the Ally , for the sake -of whose friendship wo have just been making so many sacrifices of revenue , and risking so much financially next year , has suddenly caused us deep dissatisfaction and distrust , and that , ¦ in cons ' oqucnco thereof , wo moan to draw closer to other continental Powers . The utterance of suck sentiments has ' been unmistakubly approved by the country at largo ; bub it has , gone far to dissolve the dream of financial wonder-working , j -in wldoh the CuANqiaLou of the Exounqujsit has for some , time dwelt ; and ho is too sensitive ,, too earnest , and too _ selfreliant a man to stille his feelings and opinions on tho occasion . Tliu Palace party in tho Govern men t this time back Lord John , not because * they sympathize with his general disposition m foreign affairs , but because they arc Bourbonists in feeling , and iJroier alliances with tho old Legitimist courts of tho Continent to tho t'ltlcutu conUahi with Imperial Franco . Tho answer ' of our Government to M . Tiioi / vKNJjh ' a despatch respecting Savoy wns very diflforent as originally , framed , from thnt itlfimntcly sent . When tho original draft , wns submitted to 'the Cabinet , warm nnd protracted discussion uvoso as to its tenns . ' Mr . Gladstone nnd Mr . Guidon , na" may bo mulilv ¦ believed , objected to our undertaking to lecture or to scold ,
| | ; where we had neither authority to . impose rules nor power to punish contumacy : . Tlicv . argued , ' no- doubt , -plausibly and . well , ' that if Great Britain had no iivtentiun of intri : ferin » - mseiitfiilly ! on behalf of Hwit / . rrHind or Savoy , it' - \ vii . s foolish and wrong to ! lay her flag in the . riiir < -, for lionnpartist . aggression to , step ! safely on . On the other hand , we c : ; m-i imagine the sort of argui meut resorted to by those ; who wish to s ; 'i / . e . opportunities for snubbing .: Lovis Natoi . kon , and for loosening ; the bonds that ' have hitherto held together the "Western Powers . . Lord John ! Kuss'KLTL is probably ' iiVlhienccd : more by thtr -desire to express j clearly and vigorously -the predominant feeling of Parliament and j of the natipii , than by any sympathy with-dynastic prejudices I against the Elect of Seven Millions on the one : hand , or upon the other by any exaggerated fear of the eonscqunicvs of a mis-! understanding with France . We ; believe him to be sincere in saying' that ho wishes ¦ heartily , to preserve the alliance ; but he understands well , that that can only be-done by allowing free expression to the national sentiment whenever France shall take a course , which public opinion in this , country disapproves . It was the fearless adoption of this line , of policy / , that saved us from an open rupture in the affair , of the Conspiracy Bill ; and we do not question that . a similar course on the present occasion will eventually ' prove the wisest and the best . The reply to AC . Thouvhx . el must be ' read , '" meantime , ' . ' - { is a compromise between . conflicting- views in the Cabinet . Its terms " * we believe , were ultimately settled by . - the experienced pen of the Premier , who has hail in this and . other instances to assume , ' virtuta ¦ officli , ¦ the duty and responsibility of grainl arbiter between his dissentient colleagues . _ The : recess ' will scarcely prove a holiday to . Ministers ; for in the brief ii | t ( s rval that ' is to elapse between the adjournment of the two . Houses and their reas-senibling , they will have to ( leliberate . ^ and to decide on several questions of moment , about which they ' have luthcrto : been ; only , alile , to agree by . deterring ; them from day to day . One of th ^ most importaut of these is the production of the 1-ieport of the ( Jonnnission ap ]) ointcd last year to " incmire into the necessity of Coast Fortifications , and the rcconimendation-to Parliament of . measures suggesteel therein . If we are not mistaken , the SSkcukta hy for Wah is all if > v laying the . Report upon the table forthwith ,, and calling ou the Legislature > to sanction a large expenditure on Works of national defence ; while the CiiAXCicLLou of the ExcirioquEit ' rcsolutidy protests against a course which wbulfl leave him open to the taunt of prematurity in the production of his Budget . The Report lias been long since , ready for presentation , hut it has been kept back oh various tcc-hnicaf pret . ex . ts until after Easter . When Parlia-, ' ment meets again , Mr . l ? idnky ILisrhkut will find h . difficult any longer to . withhold it from the public gaze . .
| An Outlook Abroad. Milr Misfortune's O...
| AN OUTLOOK ABROAD . miLR misfortune ' s of monnrjehs have sometimes invited t . he _ syin-X pathy cf ¦ . mankind ,. but ' tiien ; is no object more < lc * i > rving of 1 contempt than v . sovereign who has lost his place tltrough . misconduct , and who , instead of humbly kissing the ' rod with which he has been righteously chastised , wearies earth and heaven with importunate aiid impious appeals , fn this ignominious position the Emperor of . Acsthia , tlrb I ' oim :, and the . Duke of Modkna have thought proper to place themselves ; and , instead of Huj worthy triad sitting in sackcloth and ashes , confessing and bowaiiing their manifold sins and iniquities , and expressing grali-Uule that thoir power of working evil has been ledneed within narrower limits , they , behave like incorrigible mendicants , . clamouring for pity they never showed , and for churilablo help lhat WQuld bu prostituted in their btthalf . Austria- appeals to Europe to protect the reversion she claims of t | i « . bodies lind souls of the Tuscans and inhabitants of the two Duchies ; the . Pope furbishes up the theatrical thunderbolts- of thu . Vatican , and propols ' hispop-gun- 'pollctrtut men who , during to be free , will dare also to laugh at tho silly exhibition of iinbccilily and rnge ; and tho . little Duke of Modkna struts about the world ' s stage , endeavouring to attract attention by the undignified grjinnres of n penny-Iheatro ' kiug . There is something irresistibly ludicrous in the MVc , Francis the Fifth , Archduke of Austria , Prince Itoynl ol Hungary and of Bohemia , by thcUrac . ; of Uoi ) . Dub ; of Mod « nn , jlco ., & e . V and to hear tho talk about bow this givnC . " _ concentrated " our forces / ' " retired with the greater part ot our troops , " and did other wonderful things ' , all ending in u " solemn declaration , " protesting against universal siill ' rnge as a principle whioh ,. would ' - ' attack tho oxwtonou of . cvury huropi-nu monarchy . " While the representatives of wpru-outJIovernnionts and dying superstitions thus make ( heir appeal todoet riues ulterly incon . ipatiblo with human rijjlil , tin' pntriot King ol' Surdinia , rcn proaontiug tins spirit of tliu limes , nddresses what we may \ ww consider the Italian Parliament , in manly strains , mid calls upon *< mi . ' ¦ ¦ ' ' .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 7, 1860, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07041860/page/3/
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