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No. 455, December 11, 1858,} THE LEADEB,
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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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Biographies Op German" Prijtces. Xo. Y. ...
Legislature could be got together , in consequence of many of tkose deputies who had been elected even according to the King's charter refusing take their seat in the Chamber . This obstinate despotism of Ernest Augustus , Duke of Cumber land-and Peer of England , is a matter somewhat concerning ourselves as -giving an insight into certain dynastic tendencies w _ icli are wont exhibit themselves formidably—even in royal fami lies reputed to have sympathies with representative government—whenever tRe political barriers op posed to absolutism have lost aught of their strength . In this respect , the Government of the present King of Hanover , George V ., also points a moral however little it may " adorn a tale . " He , too has inherited from his . father the predilection for irresponsible administration . This is the more re markable , as George V ., in his personal manners affects an affability and good-humour not very con sistent with the audacious contempt of law he lias so frequently exhibited . It is well known that the King , from youth , has been afflicted with a de fective sight , and for years past been in a state of total blindness . Probably it is this calamity that imparts to his manners in society a certain interesting helplessness that awakens the sympath y , of thooe around , while in reality he is far from being the Jacques Bonhonime which he would fain have himself considered by the many . He possesses a Protean facility of changing character . He can alternately appear a . sentimental , languishing listener to the strains of Volks ¦ Heeler ' s , a plaintive player on his flute of- — Morgen muss ich fort von tier , und muss Abscbied nehmen , or— - Drei Lilien , drei Lilien , die pflanzt' ich . auf ihr Grab ; and then , his little ditty finished , he can issue ordi- nances of a like complexion to those of any other despot by grace of grape-shot . Tims we have seen him doing the interesting at popular musical festi- vals i and anon—sometimes on the very same day- — fulminating decrees that have outraged the feelings of all right-thinking' men in the country . He re- semblcs in this some of the Austrian princes , not a few of whom have been known to blend despotic natures of the deepest dye with an outward bon- > home that seldom fails to delude the unwary . It is said that King George is supported in this double role by his partner , the little Princess of Sax . e-Alten . burg , who rejoices in the somewhat extensive nomenclature of Maria-Alexandrina- Wilhelmina-Catheriue-Oharlotte-Theresa-Henrietta- Louisa-Pauline-Elizabeth -Fredcrica- Georgina , et cattera . During the reign of his father , the present ruler of Hanover was m some degree kept aloof from governmental affairs . The old king , with his abso- lutistic temper , was but little inclined to share his power with any one else . The Crown-Prince , there- fore , grew up better versed in bars and crotchets , anil all the intricacies of the musical art , of which lie is : v great admirer , than in . the knowledge of political matters . His taste for harmony is , na- turally enough , the result of an affliction that robs him of so many other gratifications . This defect of vision gave rise , during the time he was yet heir-presumptive , to many discussions and doubts as to his right to the succession under circum- stances of such physical disability . It was then niaini dined by many men whoso opinion had con- sidcrablo value , that George could riot rulo as king , his blindness not allowing him to satisfy himself of the nature of the decrees ho would bo called upon to sign . These scruples , which might have called his rights of inheritance into question , were , however , speedily silonood at the epoch of reaotion , during which ho mounted the throne . Still it remains a curious fnct that a country which professedly is governed in a constitutional manner , should possoss a blind king on whom , of course , many anti-consti- tutionnl deceptions might bo practised . This state of things is but a very slight degree bettor than that prevailing ia Prussia for many years past , whore a ruler continually sufforing from delirium tremens , which ultimately rcsultod in downright uisnnity , was allowed full exercise of his " right divino . " R Tho Constitution , which has boon violated by Gcorgo V . in the most barefaced manner , had been fifroru to by his father as well as by himself . The dynasty of Hanover , like other German dynasties ,
No. 455, December 11, 1858,} The Leadeb,
No . 455 , December 11 , 1858 , } THE LEADEB ,
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to - to - - , , - , - - [ . * c c s u t t n s *¦¦ a a _ ; e cowered in 1848 before the uprising of the peop id and swore readily enough to everything require ; o of them . Nay , for several years later , the Govcrn ; e ment even continued the comedy of apparently adr- liering to constitutional rule , until the Feudalist and it Reactionary party had gathered strength enough to o enable the King to carry out his coup d'etat against 0 the existing parliamentary institutions of the [ -. country . The intrigue was begun and accomplished e in the genuine Machiavellian style . At the very > - time when the Court secretly conspired with the ir landed aristocracy and the chiefs of the Conservative party , the Ministers boldly declared before the j . Chambers that " nothing was further from the in-1 tentions of the Crown than the design of under-, ' mining the Constitution . " Unfortunately for the p veracity of both Court and Ministers , authentic , . documents , containing some original correspondence , , afterwards came to light , which revealed all thework' ing of the plan for many years past . It was seen s from these documents that an hypocritical set of 3 Royalist and aristocratic intriguers had jockeyed \ the country in the most outrageous manner . The f indignation ensuing thereupon may be easily ; imagined . It "had the effect of diminishing to a ' considerable extent the ranks of the devotees \ to monarchic rule . The Democratic party—forr - merly bat weakly represented in Hanover—has 1 since then received many new adherents , with ' [¦ whom the dynasty will one day have to reckon , ^ though at present it may possess power sufficient ¦ ' to keep them down . . As a significant sign of the times , we may call attention to the fact , that , the Ministers of the King , a few months ago , came before the Legislature with a demand for a fresh grant of public money , in : order to augment the strength of the royal army , and to establish , in six of the principal towns , in Hanover , an increased organisation of political police . On inquiry being made by the deputies as ; to what was the necessity for this sudden and unexpected demand , they were told that " the demo- ; cratic spirit had shown itself , of late , more dangerous j than- ever , thoujgh for the nonce it worked only in ] secret ; " and that the Government of the King ] " could not wait until the country was in flames , i but had determined to prepare beforehand for cer- * tain emergencies . " Now this statement of the j Cabinet of George V ., regarding the aspect of * affairs , is , no doubt , a little overcoloured . Still it ' makes known facts significant enough , and plainly £ shows that the effect of the unconstitutional prac- j t . ices of the House of Hanover has been to awaken i an ardent yearning for a better state of freedom D among a population hitherto but slow to adopt de- t mocratic ideas . f ' ¦ t ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ i . ' ( d- ' * " „? L 3 u ¦ a t W tic a" he n- T- ie ic e l' P ¦** " ¦ J a ! S r- IS } j I 11 » , ii ix T i S l j 5 i- l i
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jj s ia b : aj n > >" bc S ; , ' T ] j r th la re go dr a . lii ; tl 1 " * 1 a ,, ou iyc To Re On * S olli no «« bei box vei Tat-too at Gib is altar . —That night I fell asleep in the hot-boarded bedroom of the Club House Hotel , Gibraltar > which rears its yellow-ochry bulk in a small market-square juat out of Watorport-street , which ia the High-street of Gib . I fell asleep after doing battle with the mosquitoes , and thanking Heaven for again gotting , after many wanderings , under the red and blue cross , and sank down a sort of dark well-shaft into abysses of balray forgetfulnes * . A great boom and bellow , a twiddling and chirping awoke mo . I ran to the great folding glass window and looked . Good Heavens ! the waits ? A gigantic military serenade , given by tho Governor to some hidden Moorish beauty ? No . The usual night-tat-too , only go-to-bed-Tom , on great drums and little drums , and shrill , petulant iii ' os . There they are just opposite the guard-house , where all day languid young fops in scarlet lounge in the balcony , and read tho Times . Great drum flinging out his arms n 3 if going to hug the instrument , or cooper a cask . Little drums subservient but vociferous . Fifes with heads on one side ( wry-necked as tho groat Williams calls thom ) whistlingly military and official . Now they burst out with tho British Grenadiers , with the tow-ow-row that must make tho sleeping Spaniards turn in their beds and finger tho long knives under their pillows . Now they form two deep , and storm away down the main street , and I fall nsluep before God savo tho Queon has died out in tho distance Many a night afterwards , tired from wild-boar seeking in tho cork-woods , or after wild Tartar scampers on horseback over tho sands to Saint Roquo , or after cavalry charges to Outpost stations at Catalan Day . or through tho parade to Ragged Staff and Europa Point : aftor pleasant noisy revelries in Spanker and Driver ' s moss-rooms , or smoking chats in chairs outside tho hotel door , I hoard that band , yot never did tho exhilarating indolonco and tumultuous oxuboranco of military stirring national ardour rouse mo as it did that first night in Gib . I sloop , I thought , beneath tho countless guns of England , guarded by her eons , who are my brothers . Gib ' s governor ia my governor . —_ fow «?/«> W Words , 1 i
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FIt- __ fCE . ( From our own Correspondent . } Paris , Thursday , 6 £ p . m . ¦ . FRANCE AND CHINA . The English papers that contain any information respecting the trial of M . de Montalembert are still rigorously excluded from France , and the French public generally are totally ignorant of what the world thinks of the recent doings of their Government . It is certainly strange that after your ally had joined with yoo , to break down , vi et armis , the barriers whereby his brother Emperor—I mean he of Pekin , who claims relationship with celestial bodies—sought to exclude the intelligence of other nations from penetrating into the Flowery Empire—it is strange that your ally , I repeat , should set up in France the very system he helped to destroy in China . It may be doubted if the learned mandarins were as ignorant of the world ' s opinion of their acts as Frenchmen of all classes have been during the last three weeks or a month . In fact , many are inclined to suspect that the obese old gentleman , Yeh , has disappeared from Calcutta , and is now enshrined in some recess of the Home-office , whence he issues instructions for developing his system of strong and ' paternal government which he almost succeeded in establishing in Canton . The Government of France is more closely approximating to that of China every day , and the curious in sucli matters might institute historical parallels which would astound by their exactitude the " outside barbarians . " True , ¦ we have not got pigtails yet , but we have made a beginning . The courtiers wear false tails when they disguise themselves a la Louis Quinze to hunt in the imperial forests of Fontainebleau and Compiegne . It is not so much in externals that the influence of Chinese policy is visible as in the science of government and moral ethics . Rome c qu ered G reece by arms and physical force , but was ignobly vanquished by the arts and civilisation of Athens . So France conquered Yeh and his bravesfor , as the Debuts informed its readers at the time , the English -warriors were simply spectators—and now France is converted to Taoli . The Emperor of France is not yet proclaimed brother to either sun or moon , but he is asserted to be of divine origin , and is called Emmanuel . Most certainly his brother of Pekin is not treated with greater reverence , or regarded as further removed from common humanity . The braves have their parallels here quite as unscrupulous and quite as ruthless . Upon a given order they would not hesitate to make a " potter's field" in Paris which need not fear comparison with the one in Canton . The dignitaries , officers , and servants of the French Empire are as little likely to have a will of their own , or conscience , or to act independently , or superior to considerations of salary , as peacock-plumed mandarins ; and Yeh , not were he tenfold more intensely Chinese than he is , could he fe ^ l greater hatred of the " yellow-haired devils " than does the ex-Secretary to the Polish Revolutionary Committee , the recipient of the largess of the Czar of all the Russias , his Excellency the Count Colonna Walewski , present Minister of French Foreign Affairs , and who is entitled to bear the bar-sinister upon the imperial escutcheon . But , after all , the great point of resemblance is the adoption to the full of Che exclusive policy of the Flowery . Land . That is the great and most apparent victory of tho intellect of China over tho imperial mind of France . THK ENGLISH JOURNALS . The English , the Cologne , and the Belgian papers aro excluded , in the foolish expectation that Frenchmen will not be ablo to learn how great is the contempt excited abroad by the sories of official and governmental blunders which accompany and follow M . de Montalem- * bert ' s trial . Tho eloquence of Berryer , his biting sarcasm nnd loathing contempt , tho irresistible and merciless logic of Dufaure , it was expected would bo shut up and stilled within tho four walls of the Sixth Chamber of Correctional Police . But , on the contrary , tho English papers spread tho news to tho uttermost corners of the earth , nnd coming into France , although stopped in the Post-olHce , they aro road , translated , and copied , for circulation among all men who can read . A great publicity is given to tho trial ; more , iniinitely more , public interest is excited than it' tho papers had been distributed in tho ordinary > vay . Tho 21 m <> s baa been already stopped three days , and all daily and weekly papers , except the u base exception . " Now , I most respectfully , suggest to tho English Government that this is a question in which they arc bound to intorforo to protoct tho property of their subjects . That the French Oovornmont is at liberty to provont tho delivery of English pnpors I admit , but that they aro ontUlcd to rotaiu possession of thorn I wholly deny , unless tho teachings of Fngan aro , to bo adopted as tho law of Franco , Mourn . Smith , of tho Strand , J will suppoao , poatod laat Friday evening a number of that day ' s papers , prepaying on each tlio postago , which , porhnps , may have amounted to some pounds . Tho postage was paid on tho faith of tho papers boing delivered to tho addresses they bore . But nothing of tho hind—they are all kept back at tho
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 11, 1858, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11121858/page/21/
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