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Nov. 8, 1851.] ®ttt ?Leatn>r. 1071
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ltiiDKMrTiON Sucikty.—The principal subj...
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dDpra Cnnnril.
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[Ik this department, as all opinions, ho...
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There is no learned man but -will confes...
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TO JOSEPH MAZZINI. London, November 3, 1...
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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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Chatiges Against The National And Parlia...
Tension of their difficulties . It was a touch of French pr Sn rather unusual in that stolid party . Mr . Sney sees in this only a " fling " at Ultraliberalism . Afr Harney does not rest at this , but adds— "As to honest tone , boldness of speech , broadness of sympathy , Sous and warmer spirit-old birds understand this v A of chaff- Let them give bold measures , broad rtacip les , and details in accordance therewith , and then I ' will trust them . " Does Mr . Harney mean to tell us that nothing is lo be sidered by tne people , as bold , brand , oriental , which does not come up to the Chartist standard , and is not accompanied by Chartist details ? This is the way a man might write who wished Chartism to become an arrocance and a contempt in the land . Mr . Harney doubtless writes what is the truth to him , but he . writes of his fellow labourers in the cause of popular reform as though an enemy had lent him a pair of spectacles to see them through . il
, , . __ ,...,, ,,-r ., Mr . Harney does not comprehend how Ion " can continueto sit upon the Executive , if he believes the measure of Reform , mapped out by Sir Joshua Walmsley , to be " the largest practicable measure . " Because "Ion " believes that the temperate exertions of the Executive niay yet make a larger measurse practicable . The phrase " the largest practicable measure does not imply the largest measure which \ a right—but the large & t measure which can be carried at this time . We all know
that that which 13 theoretically just cannot always be realized as soon as it is discovered . There is always a long , arduous , unthanked duty to be performed—that of advocating unfriended truth , till it hecome popular truth . This is why I sit ( and " consistently " sit ) upon the Executive , advocating a larger bill of rights than is just now " practicable . " But this does not prevent me cooperating with all who are endeavouring to realize a great approximation to the views I wish to prevail . How far I understand the position I occupy on the
Executive , or am faithful to its political faith , shall be seen , as I will publish in these columns an address to the public , which I drew up , and read to Sir Joshua Walmsley and his colleagues at the Manchester Conference , as indicative of the attitude Chartism ought to maintain towards the Parliamentary Reformers . Mr . Harney makes one of those declarations which only one omniscient should venture upon . He says , without qualification , it " is not true that the overtures of these men are generous and truthful . " I wrote trustful , but it may stand as above . I am at least more likely to know the views of these politicians than Mr . Harney ; for I have been among them to judge for myself , which is more ttan Mr . Harney , I believe ,
has done . All who know Mr . Harney in the distance , only believe him to be a very different man from what he is , and never caring to mix with him personally , they continue deceived , and think ill of him and of his confederates . Conscious how men are thus misled , and how much personal knowledge corrects public impressions , I went down to Manchester , and accepted an opportunity of introduction to the Parliamentary Heformers through my friend ltobert Le Blond , and what I reported to the editor of this paper I reported from personal observation , not from prejudice , hearsay , conjecture , or public impression . So few men succeed in explaining themselves fully , or with exactness , that the rich fail to understand the poor , and the poor the rich , because tht-y never mix together in friendship .
For myself I am glad that the editor of this paper accorded insertion Ao the letter of Mr . llarney . Nothing would be so likely to persuade a person of Mr . Harney ' s suspicious turn of thought , that lie was in the right as the omission ( siqtpressiou Mr . Harney would call it ) of his letter . Doubtless the editor of the Leader no more than myself has any conviction , or cares to have any conviction , which will not be ; ir discussion , and I am glad that Mr . Harney has not sufieicd the fact of" my being one of his collmgui's to exempt me from the advantages of his friendly criticism . Ion .
Nov. 8, 1851.] ®Ttt ?Leatn>R. 1071
Nov . 8 , 1851 . ] ® ttt ? Leatn > r . 1071
Ltiidkmrtion Sucikty.—The Principal Subj...
ltiiDKMrTiON Sucikty . —The principal subject which eii { ium > 8 the attention of the directors at present , is the desirability ot taking larger premises ; ho that the Cooperative Store—which is progressing favourably—the society ' s meetings , and weekly meetings for lectures and discussions- not confined to hociul topics merely—may be accommodated iu the same building . A committee » re now making inquiries , and will give in their report on Wednesday , November /> . Moneys received for the week : —J ,,. ( . { iH > £ , 5 . IDs . 10 . 1 . ; Hyde , per Mr . Bradley , 1 ; is - 'id . ; Manchester , per Mr . Bloomer , 3 a . / id . Buildi '' g I ' liiul : —LkmI . s , Is . ; Hyde , <) a . , 'kl . ; Manchester , 2 « . I ' ropagdndist Fund , / j . s . lOAd . —J . 11 kndkkson , Stc .
Cooi'uuation in Birmingham . — Our cooperative '"" its lure , though on a small scale at present , promise "inch . The J- 'lour J-ociety i . ow numbers 1000 membrrti , and the balance-sheet for the half year shows a cleargain of L'Mti . lO . s . ' 2 \ A . although a considerable sum has been e xpended upon the premises , an 1 the members have been Hll I > I > li <( l wiih pun : flour at ' . d . per peck under the retail prices . The committee have now secured the mill and l" « 'iuises on a lease ; of fourteen yearn , at a rental of" £ 110 I' « 'i annmn . The cost of a t . hure in JC 1 ; we only rt . quiie 11 bukehouse , building in connection with the mill , to give
co mpetition and adulteration one of the heaviest blows y < l mined at . them . Our Coke and Coal Society , though ' younjr ,,,- j . , || , j H progressing in a generally satis'" ctoiy manner . The sharen are l () rt . only , and thesociely »<» w numbers upwards of 600 members , with a rolling ^ ' < k capable « ii supplying at least double that number . . t > x P « 'ct to mid considerably to our numbers this winter , being alile to supply our friends at from 12 to <> per cent , under the ordinary retail prices , and to give "' ' i- 1 " " ' r Wt 'K » t . We me , now making hu effort to " umihIi a general ( Jrocery Store on the , name plan «« « rl ) u < v » tnil Agency , wo think with the bcBt iTOBnecto of Bucct'HH .
Ddpra Cnnnril.
dDpra Cnnnril .
Pc01907
[Ik This Department, As All Opinions, Ho...
[ Ik this department , as all opinions , however extreme , are allowed an expression , tub editor necessarily holds himself responsible for none . ]
There Is No Learned Man But -Will Confes...
There is no learned man but -will confess he hath much profited by readme controversies , his senses awakened , and . his judgment sharpened , ir , then , it be profitable for him . to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . —M ilton .
To Joseph Mazzini. London, November 3, 1...
TO JOSEPH MAZZINI . London , November 3 , 1851 . Fkie . vd and Brother , —Let me now come back to the original argument : If Italy can only be rescued and regenerated by the unanimous effort of her own children , by what principle or on what grourul are the Italians to be brought to act together with that oneness and steadiness of purpose , which has power to overcome all obstacles and buist the chains of fate ? A negative answer is always the first that suggests itself . The Italians should do exactly the opposite to what you have been doing hitherto . It was not without momentous reasons , Mazzini , that I first undertook to address you , five or six weeks ago . Rumours had reached me of a split amongst the members of your Italian committee . I had heard that two of your noblest supporters , Sirtori and Saliceti , had departed from you , more in sorrow than in anger , truly , as always is the case with those who approach you—but still irretrievably parted from you . The name of Sirtori was unknown to me ; but Stillceti is a maa highly revered by honest men of all parties in Italy , and I grieved to hear of this new division . I wondered to what fraction of a fraction you would reduce your own Republican party by your inexorable exclusiveness , by your narrow bigotry and absolutism of opinion . I was unable at that time to form any estimate of the matter at issue between you and your former associates . But more lately a letter , addressed to you and to your remaining colleagues , by Sirtori , and entitled "Al Comitato Nazionale ed agl'Italiani , " has made it plain enough to me that it is to your own darling scheme of a ^ European democracy , to your new friends Ledru Itollin and Co ., that you have sacrificed old friends , countrymen , and , what is more , your own bravest fellow-labourers in the cause of democracy at Home , as true and staunch republicans every one of them as yourself . And I need not remind you that whilst those leave you on the one hand , because they find you too extreme and uncompromising , others , like Cuttaneo , Cernusehi , & c , fall off from you on the other hand , because you are in their eyes a retrograde , whom they have long since outstripped in their headlong career . If 1 tell you frankly that it is my linn conviction that your party and your name never were at a lower ebb ia Italy than at this moment , it is merel y because I am aware of a latent power in you , of a prestige which you exercise over the mind and hearts of your countrymen , which may at any moment turn the tables in your favour ; becauuo I know that the hearts cif tin ? Italians , even whilst blaming and protesting against you , are over secretly yearning towards you , ever ready to love and worship you—if you would only let them . 1 have often before witnessed the ebb and How of your popularity , and never more plainly and forcibly than in IS 18 ; first in Junuar } ' , and then again at the close of that year . In the earlier period the Italians thought at last that you were- inclined to Mich reasonable compromise as would enuble you to meet all other parties half way , and , in the later moments , they began to look upon their national eauso as desperate , and joined you at Rome with the eagerness of a drowning man catching at a straw . If I can trust the reports that reach me from many quartern , more especially from Piedmont and Tuscany , 1 inuBt come to the conclusion that the immense , and , what is more , the sane , majority of the Italians are at the prcHent moment estranged from you . The Constitutional , or what you like to call sneeringly , the Savoyard , party carries the day moat triumphantly . Nor is it matter of wonder ; for we have in l'iedmont the rare phenomenon of a lie Ualuntwmio , king , honest inmn , and the still greater wonder of a people conquering its liberties without a battle , and yet proof uguiiiHt the intoxication of too easy n victory . la tho eyoa of tho moat moderate men in l'iedmont
and Tuscany , you are now nothing better than a wild and mischievous dreamer . Were the world to go on this present footing you would do no good and but little evil in those countries . But I look far into the future . Piedmont is not all Italy . The Austrians are still there , masters of twice the ground they occupied in 1848 , and with them the French , and with them Grand Dukes and Little Dukes , Popes and Bourbons , all of them doing their utmost to keep your memory green , to cause you to be regretted , playing your own game and preparing the day for your signal revanche .
Mazzini , I feel confident , your own day will come again . Popular or unpopular , alive or dead , your influence is indestructible in Italy—or else I would not lose time and waste ink in addressing you . The day of retribution , of conflict , of long-treasured revenge , is sure to dawn again for Italy , and may God speed it and make it full and decisive ! But how shall Italy be prepared for the great day ? What shall you have done to enable her to be equal to the emergency ?
A similar day dawned in 1848 . The signal of battle was given . On one side wa 9 Austria dismayed , perplexed , but still compact and unanimous—one Austria—on the other , alas ! was not one Italy but two The Italy of Charles Albert , the " Italy of the People "—Mazzini's Italy . Suppose a declaration of war to be ventured upon again , suppose the Milanese once more to fall on their oppressors and grapple with them , what forces can Italy bring forward to her aid ? Charles Albert ' s Ital ' y , or the Italy of Victor Emanuel would probably again take the field , There would be a King , a tolerably unanimous army
and people . But where would Mazzini ' s Italy be ? Home and Naples—supposing your name to be still omnipotent there , — could only march against the foreign enemy after having rid themselves of their domestic foe : national warfare must there begin by civil bloodshed , by local revolution ; supposing that revolution to be successful , supposing the South of Italy to be organized into a republic after your own heart , the Italians would then not only march against Austria under two different standards , but those two different parties would too probably forget the great work on their hands to indulge blind internecine
animosities . Now , I ask , Need these principles , however different , be antagonistic ? Has not the Itoman Triumvir as great an interest ia turning out the Austrians as the Piedmontese king ? And if they could , on an emergency , act in good faith together towards a common end , could they not even now prepare for such contingencies by a good understanding between them ? Mazzini , I ask you to step forward and hold out a friendly hand to all honest Italians . To the honest King of Sardinia , to his honest ministers , to his sober , earnest , manly , though not democratic , people ; it is never too late for a reconciliation between brethren . I do not ask you to renounce your principles , not to
despair of their ultimate success . There is no man in the world at the present time that can see only two inches into the future . It may be that you have been right all this time ; that kings—such kings as Austria , and Prussia , Naples , Home , and Tuscanywill weary Heaven with their folly and brutality ; it may be that their days are numbered , and that they will drag the good ones , the Victor Emanuels , the Queen Victorias , along with them in their fall . It may also be that the bad ones , or else their children and descendants , be forced to acknowledge the omnipotence of human progress ; that they may be compelled to play an honest part in spite of themselves ; that they may , as in 1818 , be brought to doff their hats to the multitude in order to
save their heads . We are now so very near to the extreme of a " Cossack Europe , " that wo may well look forward to the opposite extreme . 15 ut it behoves us , in the mean while , to proceed on analogical principles—from the well-known present to the great shadowy future . Freedom has a pied tl terra on Italian land . Nationality has gained a linn ground in Western Ital y . Let that be made the basis of all future operations . Mazzini , I adjure you to become a Piediuontese . I am not aware that any of your ideas or principles —that any of your partisans —is proscribed from the Sardinian territory , or even excluded from the Sardinian parliament .
Are not Urofferio , Kudicc , and many ardent Republicans , living , writing , preaching in Piedmont , even some among those who think journelf lukewarm or backward in the People ' s cause ? Is not the freedom und even the licentiousness of the press tolerated on a footing unexampled in Europe , without exception of England itself ? In not your own journal , L Italia del I ' opolo , allowed to lie side by Hide wiih the J'itdmontesn Gazette , in any cafe that chooses to patronise it ? Docs any of your world-redeeming ideas meet with any obstruction in l'iedmont , « olong as it makes it . s way into the country fairly and openly , relying for its suet-ess on truth and reason ?
It may not suit your convenience to go nnd take up your quarters in'I urin , or in your own native Genoa , and to g ive in your mime aa a candidate for any of the Ligurian contingencies . Nay , Prunce and Austria might muko your prcuoncu there a casus belli against Piedmont ; w » 4 that country ia as yet weak enough
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 8, 1851, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08111851/page/19/
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