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^^7A^ 10, 1855.] 'BEEl* li^^B^^B^ ^5
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MTSffir.ST3cA3SfGEE" INPARLIAJM&iNT. [!T...
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GENERAL MTLBITZ. .< (To the Editor of th...
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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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^^7a^ 10, 1855.] 'Beel* Li^^B^^B^ ^5
^^ 7 A ^ 10 , 1855 . ] 'BEEl * li ^^ B ^^ B ^ ^ 5
Mtsffir.St3ca3sfgee" Inparliajm&Int. [!T...
MTSffir . ST 3 cA 3 SfGEE" INPARLIAJM & iNT . [! The responsibility of-the Editor- in . regard to these ^ jntribut ^ on ^ is . linciited to the . act of giving them publicity . The . qpiniqns expressed are those of the . writer : both the Leader and " The Stranger" benefit by the freedom which ia left . to hjs pen and discretion /] Let us all remember , said oin Thursday night the Marquis of Lansdowne in the solemnest tones of that solemn old nobleman , that in the struggle in which we are now engaged the representative system off government is oa its trial . And all the . Lords cheered solemnly ; and the press reports with em-, phasis ; and the country , with awful gravity-, aeeepts the suggestion , and resolves , to be cautiousr ^ it : does > not exactly know as tOiwha . tr—but still . cautious * . TJi ©
Lords were talking , about the crisis ; - and ; no one seems to . perceive , that , we have had this crisis ,, and are breaking down , in the . war , simply , because we have not got representative government ^ -simply because it is sham representative government which is on its trial . We are a very singular people . If the Marquis of Lansdowne ,. when he was in the full vigour of brain , and manhood , had ventured to advise his nation , we should have treated his advice with Hie derisive inattention of which an Earl ' of Malmesburyisnow the subject : we knew the Marquis of I / ansdowne was not qualified to guide nations . But now that the Marquis of Lansdowne has become so feeble from age that even his mediocrity is weak mediocrity , we attach the highest importance to his
nonsense . The debate—or rather series of statements—in the House of Lords on Thursday was conspicuous for itsjargon of . that sort . All the old . Lords praised one another : complimented ; one another's patriotism : adulated the good sense of the country : and were sanguine of a general co-operation , at this momentous . period ,, carrying the country they adored through its difficulty . The cant of their class on such occasions was unusually rampant on this occasion ; with the most complacent innocence the old Lords exposed all the villany of their political system . The Earl of Derby began . Her Majesty sent for him . He headed a party bound together by mutual interest
and mutual good-will . He was conscious of the glory of leading a Government . But he had to consider , ought he to accept office when , as parties are now constituted , he would have to consider how to catch a majority by measures that might not be altogether exactly in the interest of his own party ? No : he felt that he ought not . So he went to "Lord Palmerston , and Mr . Gladstone , and Mr . Sidney Herbert ,. aadjje . saidr ^ Join ^ can manage together , and always be sure of a majority . " But they would not : he deeply regretted it . That is a summary of Lord Derby ' s coarsely careless speech . What he meant was , that he didn't care to lead a Government which would not be an absolute
Government ; and to get such a strong Government he didn't care joining the Lord Palmerston , whom he attempted' to ruin in the Don Paciflco case , the Mr . Gladstone whom his party have been reviling with unscrupulous malignity these seven years , and the Mr . Sidney Herbert who had said of the Disraeli Treasury bench—at a time when Mr . Herbert could not have foreseen the majority against the subsequent Coalition— " If you want to see humiliation , look there 1 " Not a word through Lord Derby's speech of public principle , of the wishes of the country , the spirit of the time , or what is meant by " carrying on the war with vigour "— -that is'to say , not a word of foreign policy . He eulogised Mr . Disraeli—who had announced that England loved not
Coalitions—for agreeing to all this baseness , compared with which that of Fox in joining North was a patriotic sacrifice . Ho eulogised Lord Clarendon , because , though he had not taken the trouble to ask him , he was quite Bure that Lord Clarendon would havejoined . He eulogised Lord Lansdowne , because he was certain , as everybody seems to be , that the matured virtues of that nobleman arc such that lie thinks it his duty to do what anybody may happen to ask him . And , with Bomo insolence , ho eulogised the Queen , because ho could assuro their Lordships her Majesty had never asked him a single question as to what he meant to do if sho gave the English people up to him . It was an unvarnished tale—ho said he had nothing to conceal—as to how he had conspired to
seize , absolute , power in ^ England , and how he failed , because , to his great astonishment , Mr . Gladstonewho had aided in repealing the Corn-laws , who had opposed the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill , who had assented : to the Rjzssell . Reform . Bill ,, and who ? had passed the Successipjij . Duty Bill-rribiitf great measures in six years / on which he and the Tory , party had . foughtto the death— -did npt , appreciate the . ide ^ of sueb politicalraficaJityi TakpLorjiJ Derby ' s speech r-th , e others i » : tbp IiQlds . that evening were in . the same tone of an ingenuous oligwrehy—m conjunctionwith the too candid'dlsdbsufe * of Loj $ John Russell asto what goes qb among Cabinet . Ministers behind the scenesTT ^ and" we attain to a very distinct notion
of the spirit in which the Governing Classes- govern ; Great Britain . I * ord Derby has , indeed , soi utterlylost sight of the old delusions which used . to . be kept up— -and- which .- Lord ; Lansdowne , less , lively , keeps up , stut—that ; . hfi ; does not hesitate to mention , that one of the reasons . which urged him to go to Lord Palmerston was that he kmw Xord : Palmerston wa * ** in the Cabinet ? , without office , " of— 'Xauijs Napoleon I . Only recal . Lord Join ' s speech in the . Pacifico business— " No > sir , my . noble friend-is not the Minister of Austria , is not the Minister of \ Russia , he is the >
Manaster of Aangland , " QJQud \ cheery , from . all . parts of the House . ' ) These ; old Lordsr do not in the least yet discern that the practical British public haadeteoted the secret of the crisis , and only permiisthis reconstruction . q £ the Coalition because it would not at such , a moment be businessrlike to . revolutionise the . system . The English , can believe a . goofldeal when- a Lord is the teller . But the English cannot believe that it was worth while to upset a Government in order to give a Lord Panmure a good office ; or . that European destinies- are to . be altered because an old Lord near
eighty takes the place . of another old Lord near-eighty . The complete catastrophe of the Governing Classes is conspicuous to all the world : and . we . may be .-sure the English , an- intellectual people ^ will not long endure , the government , of pantaloons and fribbles . The crisis has damaged the Governing Classes—not alone in evidencing that they are not' leaders of principled parties , but leaders of factions merely ,, which factions-can'only , carry on the conspiracy by Coalitions—but still more , for all that -was suspected already , in showing the houowness of individual pretensions to public . honour , public spirit , and public fealty . Lord John Russell will continue a . personage until the chiefs of his party openly transfer their
confidence and transmit their orders to Lord Granville , who seems the candidate . Buthis personal character is destroyed : that is to say , it is at . least understood in the light in which the present writer has for some years , laboured to present it to the public : and bis intellect is so essentially shabby and fifthrate , that if he lost his Bedford proxies to-morrow , he would at once take in the House of Commons about that rank which is held by the sententious Mr . Murdough , or the eloquent Mr . J . Phillimore . Lord Derby ' 8- character is gone even with his own party ; for this is the second time he-has insulted them by proclaiming their incapacity to supply occupants for high office , ~ and ~ by proving -his own incapacity , to effect combinations with the men whom he has
preferred to them . Mr . Disraeli does not pretend to character : but if it were possible to debase Mr . Disraeli , he must now be debased by the discovery that he , who started a paper called " Anti-Coalition , " would consent to a Coalition , -wnd—worseconsent , for Lord Derby ' s convenience , to be treated like a footman , and , after - creating the party ,, to be relegated to a fourth-rate place in a Conservative Cabinet . Why , however ,, should Mr . Disraeli be scrupulous ? Here are these old Lords , who are at least Englishmen , treating their country as robbers treat the common spoil :, and why should he , who is no Englishman , refuse his share of the plunder ? He , like the old Lords , would be a more respectable man if the country more respected . itself .
But we have a Government : that is the great point . Not that there ' s anything to do but send out lots of men to die in the Crimea , and lots of stores to rot in the Crimea , and take and spend all the money the House of Commons will vote : and that is what is meant when Lord Granvillo , with exemplary timidity , announces , with a glance at the bewildered-looking Panmure , that the war is to be carried on with vigour . But , still , it . is understood to be a great national triumph to induce fifteen old Lords to take an average 4000 / . a year each . And the nation is , pro tern ., content : and our anxious Queen may sleep in peace that Balakhwa has been got out of Downingstreet , and that her old nobility have supplied her with the chance of losing another army in a year or so . Still , we must begin to consider ' the prospects of this Government .
Ono thing is very gratifying ; the Anglo-French alllanco is now complete , seeing that Louis Napoleon governs both countries , which is ono way of sustaining Lord Lansdowne ' s representative system against Russia . Of course Lord Palmerston will hear a good deal on that point , and will keep his temper as becomes a Constitutional Minister , who knows what ho is about , and that tho Government of the British
Empire vaut bien a laugh . * We shall get over being governed ; byfaslfaench Emperor as we got over , two centuries ago , being governed by the Ministry of a French King ; the Whigs will find precedents for these matters . But some other testscwllLbe applied tathe Palmerston Mmistay , in the attempt to . ascertain its policy . Lord Palmerston ' s principles are vaguft + lie . sent one French , Emperor to- Sjt . Helpna , and . he . applaudeAthe coup , xPetat of atiQtf ^ r Erejacfc . Emperor ; he voted for ; Sidmouth ' s Six Acts , and ! he voted for * tho- 1632 Reform Bill ; he- voted " for * Catfofilifi , Emanxapfttiouft . and , he * voted ? for tha * Ecqlesiaatical , Titles . BUL ; he ia the tottle-hftifler ,
of Freedom ' s Champions , and he takes care that the . , bottle is an empty one . You may hunt Tip his speechea .-andhi & despatehes * andytw vri & get puzzle * , one . refutes another ,. or itse & wijifegucluslaverness :- ^* in fact ,. the conclusion you will cpme . tQ , is . that . £ or 4 Palmerston has no policy : —and in that respect you will see he is admirably qualified to head a- Governmeat , the mission , of whichy accordiogD tp-J & oni Gran * ville , is to sustain . Lord Panmure , wshen Lordc Pan ^ mure resorts to his best Scotch accent in bullying a set of clerks- atthe War-Offlce . But Lord Fatmarstoft has : opinions : at least he has * one : and ; , sei »« ing- upon * that ,, we ? are- bound ., to . give , hie * Ministiry
a name . He holds the ; opinion—his solitary opinion—tnat men are . born good , and that , accordingly , Ike- Redeemer made » Wteader- in * coming to xedeem us * The ; Palmewtcit Ministoy ia the nonrChristian Ministry . Not the anti- ; Chriatiao Ministry : that would imply a positive opinion , and Lord Paltaerstott confines his one opinion to a negation : —the non-Christian Ministry . Oh , y » bishops , will you vote for this Government ? Oh , ye Protestant and : Conservative-party , is * it to this you have , brought a pious , land?—pious ,. though practical . Saturday Morning . "A Stkangejr . "
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TUT THIS I > BKAETMBNX ,, A 3 AM . OPINlDHa , HO \ TBVBK BXTBBUXi ABB ALLOWED AN EXPRESSION , THE EDITOR NEOESSABtLT H 01 X > 8 HIKSEiPKEepONSIBlE TOE NOHEj
General Mtlbitz. .< (To The Editor Of Th...
GENERAL MTLBITZ . . < ( To the Editor of the Leader . " ) 24 , Hbwland .-street , Fitzroy-square ,. Feb . 7 ~ Sir , —Permit me to correct an incorrect assertionmade in the work of M . About , La Girtce Cantemporaine , which you noticed in- an interesting article in ? your number of last Saturday . I was in Athens at the time mentioned : bjc Ml About , and was- secretary of a committee in aid of the Italian and Polish refugees * of which . General Milbitz was president . I waa > , therefore * , intimately ; acquainted with all the Poles , forty or forty-five in » number . It was the duty of the committee not only to assist them when they could not obtain employment ,, but also to exercise a kind of moral
influence over them ,, so that their , conduct should justify , the . hospitality afforded them , in a foreign land . For this purpose tfie committee was"dury ~ infbrmed--of aUtheir proceedings , and ! ami able positively to affirm that I never heard of any Pole having been assassinated , nor of the challenge mentioned by M " . About .. The hospitality experienced by the refugees in Greece , and which M ? . About stigmatises as meagre ,, was far more cordial and effective than that given by France or England ; while in the Ionian Islands ,. Malta , Marseilles , Corsica , and Algiers , they were rejected , oxrif received , they were watched by spies , and in no way assisted . But in Greece they found a . safe asylum and work . The poor fellows had to
work very hard , it is true , but still work was given both by the Government and by private individuals f and there was also a charitable fund ^ collected-by voluntary contributions , to assist them when sickness , bad weather , or other casualty threw them out . of employment . I can testify that 72 , 000 frarfeswere collected in one year in Athens alone , besides sums subscribed for refugees in Patras , Nauplia , Syra , and other towns of the kingdom . I do not wish to justify the faults of the Greek people . I am neither a Greek nor a Philhellomst ; I know there exists in Greece , besides tho Russian ^
the English , the French , and oven the German . Parties , a " National Party , " which deserves the sympathy of every liberal-minded man . This , however , is not the place to speak on that subject . It is sufficient for me to say that what M . About has . stated with regard to tho treatment of the 1 . olea is entirely without foundation ; that General Milbitz was expelled from Athens , to tho groat regret of the Athenian population , solely through the intrigues of the Russian ambassador , and that there was a public : feeling of execration against the Greek Muuater , wno . had servilely adhered to Russian commands .
Trusting your well-known feeling of justice will induce you to publish this statement in tho column * of your liberal journal , I am , Sir , your obedient servant , Edoakdo Fuaco-
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 10, 1855, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10021855/page/15/
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