On this page
-
Text (2)
-
April 14, 18600 The'Leader arid'Saturday...
-
THE SECOND ACT OF THE MINISTERIAL PLAY. ...
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
April 14, 18600 The'leader Arid'saturday...
April 14 , 18600 The ' Leader arid ' Saturdayi Analyst . 343
The Second Act Of The Ministerial Play. ...
THE SECOND ACT OF THE MINISTERIAL PLAY . AFTER a Mef interval Parliament is" a , bout to re-assemble . When the curtain fell at the close of the first act of the session , the principal characters were left in a somewhat doubtful position . The varied strength of the company had hardly been tested ; and the majority of those who had previously filled distinguished parts had remained almost mute . The two most prominent performers had indeed won applause rather for their manner of giving what they had to give , perhaps , than for the sake of the ' thing given . Mr . Gladstone never stood so high as the great rhetorician of the day ; " his superiority as a logical vocalist never was so universally acknowledged ; his rivals never seemed before so far distanced , and the intoxication of success , when it now and then betrayed itself , was never deemed so pardonable . But the plaudits had hardly ceased when doubts arose whether the whole performance was not , in a certain point of " ¦• view , a splendid mistake . Going off at score , as he had done , and exhausting prematurely every resource and expedient conceivable , what could remain for him throughout the second and third acts ? The richest jewels of the Exchequer having been lavishly pawned to secure the friendship of France , what was left to play with , should the first sacrifice prove to have been made in vain ? Ominous sounds to this effect had been indistinctly heard while yet the chorus o ? Euteute Cordiale-n-as still ringing in our ears ; and m e * whispered moodily to one another ¦ as tiuMvizard of the scene was still gracefully bowing his acknowledgments , — - " Can we have paid the price and missed the consideration after all ?" The position of Lord John Russkll was not . very dissimilar . As foreign minister he had from the outset taken a high mid ambitious tone . Regardless of Austrian feeling , but confident of beiii" - able to exercise a potential influence over the councils of France , his advice to the Italians often outran , indeed , the views of the Tuilerics ; but he always counted upon being able to restrain , by friendly representations , the impatient egotism of " our great aljy . ¦ ' *¦ ' Had he been duped throughout about Savoy ? ° or was there any truth in the retorts , not indistinctly or inaiulibly uttered by M * . de Peustgxv in London and M . de Tiiouvenel in Paris , that ample notice of the Imperial intentions had really been given from the first , but that the English Government could not or would not hear ? Napoltcon III , has certainly some right to say that had England hot thwarted Win respecting the annexation of Tuscany , he might and would have been content to forego" the French slopes of the Alps ; " but that , inasmuch as the autumn was spent by our Governmentrm . preventing , by every m eans short of open interference , the territorial severance of the Grand Duchy from the rest of the Italic kingdom , we could not be surprised at his wishing to ' compensate himself for his diplomatic defeat by enforcing the terms of the celebrated Backs cJefamiUe of January , 1 S 59 ; and that Lord CoAVLiiY must be a stupider man than even he is believed to be if ho did not understand throughout that the two annexations , namely , that of Tuscany and of Savoy , were throughout regarded as CQuntei > wei » -hts both at Turin ami Paris . The conduct of M Cwomt in this business is indeed somewhat difficult to understand . That he was a party to the original bargain , admits of no dispute ; it is oven alleged that the . transler now ¦ completed was negotiated by him , . together with the ^ marnago of the Princess Clotiiildk , during his visit to the Empbrou ; at Plonibiore , in September , 1 S 58 . But as the latter event was kept secret until the eve of its celebration , so the former was steadily denied with more or less emphasis by the Minister of Vktoii Emmanuisl up to the very last hour . The . well-known dcclarn-. tion nut into the mouth of the Krxo only six weeks ago , that he would neither sell nor give away his hereditary dominions beyond rthe Alps , is now attributed to the counsels of England . A taw telegraphic Hashes of indignation from Puns rapidly succeeded m shaking this chivalrous resolve , if resolve it ever worn . I he Pal . ukhston Cabinet was called upon to say plainly wliothov it was prepared to back Unit of Turin in resisting the exactions of France , and the nnswov being in the negative nothing remained but submission . When the thing was to bo done , it might as well be done promptly -mid gracefully ; and so M . Cavouh , having had the aid of England ' s moral influence to secure the ¦ consolidation-of a great mid populous kingdom for his sovereign , in anile of tho will of Jounce , naturally thought that the next best thing ho could do was to retain the friendship of that dnnffOTOiisW powerful friend , by letting him resume cmiotly tlio Alpme frontier of 1703 . [ Lord John KusiSJaL may fairly claim ' . credit for having aided materially in tho establishinent , of the new Italic kingdom ; and he lias lulroitly contrived to hi » v « himself and his colleagues iVom national blanio in the matter ol Snvov . But when lie ventured to threaten , however vaguely , tho ( renewal of rapproclteiuenlti with the despotic powers of tlio Couti-¦ - i , <*
nent , by way of holding Imperial ambition in . check , he committed himself in words , at least , to a course which he must feel it would be impossible for him actually to take . The Courts of St . Petersburg and Vienna understand this well , though they would willingly draw the English Ministry on to palterings and palavei' - ings against France , with the arriere pensee , that whenever ' our ' Government arrived at the point of harking- back and recalcitrating , they would be in an advantageous position to make advantageous terms for themselves with the " common enemy . " Such is the bottomless quagmire of bad policy and bad faith on the verge of which Lord John has been making his personal reputation prance and caricole . . We-venture to prognosticate that ere the second act of the parliamentary drama be half played out , Lord ,. ToriN will have been driven to explain away , if not retract altogether , the expressions which were cheered to the echo by a -reactionary . House of Commons , as foreshadowing . another League of Pilnitz . Some of the Budget bills still await legislative decision . There will be , it is said , a regular row on the Wine Licenses question , and a pitched battle on the Paper Duty . The most sanguine supporters of the Chancellor of . the ExoheQuek . begm to talk doubtfully of the necessity for . sacrificing so large - aiTamouiit of revenue this year " for sake of an experiment like that which he proposes to try in the art of cheap paper-making . Great doubts are entertained whether the price to the consumer would be perceptibly lessened by the sacrifice of £ 1 , 200 , 000 to the Treasury ; and increasing uneasiness is felt as to the depth of the financial chasm that already begins to be visible in 1861 . We should not , moreover , be surprised if certain Whig names were found wanting in the list of the division that is likely to take place on the Paper Duties . Jealousy of Mr . Gladstone s parliamentary position , distrust of his judgment as a financier , and , above all , antipathy to the pre-eminence self-assertedby tho merchant ' s son , combine in various minds ; in varying degrees to instio-atc the meditated mutiny and desertion : A \ ltliout any desire to swear -by . Mr . Gladstone as a prophet , we own we have a genuine sympathy for him rather than with him ; and we should feel it to be a deep disgrace to the Liberal party if , by a combination of despicable intrigues and pettifogging resentments , he were now to be hustled from power . But a man of genius thus -beset can be saved only by himself ; If he is wise he will be warned in time , and not wait until he is circumvented . Mr Glvostone must play out or lose the ft-ame . lie has gone too far to recede , or hesitate with safety , in foreign affairs and in finance he has proved himself to be liberal enough ; but , unfortunately , on the pressing question of Ite . ibrni i he has not only held back hitherto , but to his influence , amongst others in the Cabinet , is ascribed the dwarfish proportions of tho present measure , lie might clear this fence at a bound , ^ ever was a o-veat speech on a grout question more wanted ; never would present popularity mid future power more certainly iollpw from a groat oratorical effort . If Mr . Gladstone has but the courage to speak as he alone can speak on the Second Heading of the Hill ' if will be carried this session ; if ho . shirks Ins duty , in the hope <> f propitiating the Gkky and Cl . vkhndon . and Gowek factions , who arc already plotting Ins overthrow he will fail in his object , and the Bill will bo lost . A \ e say distinctly and advisedly , that with him the responsibility rests in u peculiar sense at tho presont moment . People who wish to forget his illadvised apology for the maintenance of rotten , boroughs when he s «) t on the Tory side of the House will be driven to recall it , if , when the House reassembles , prompt and vigorous exertions uo ¦ . not made to carry the . Bill through Committee . It will bo said — and said unanswerably—that had the measure besem a better measure , it would have had more support out ot doors j and that , it is what it is , because-Mr . Gladstone nml othor nioinbora of tho Carlton Club have shared in its production . VSe do no , ( S « re to inquire just now into Cabinet mysteries . _ A ystor < js let them rcniuiu , so Unit the people . arc not again bilkod and baulked of all even the most moderal ^ concessions . II . is pretty clear to all who cIioomc ; to pee that , with half thy p'jwut Imldors ol ' -ollico , the proinisc of Nofonn U but an ovgimyMid hypocrisy . fSoine of these worthies are actively engaged writing and speaking against the Bill ; and , as far as we know , lh < ir « is not a man oAhSii , oxeepUng porliujw LorclJohn himfU who ih taking tho slifchlwt mrt . in co ! . ntcra < : ting tlicao nel » of treachery . AVo call it ' trJnchiry , ^ no other plimsr is fitting ; an ; wo arc m lOSHcsHion of proof , which Jl . ail . not b <; wanUug , i it become . Ocessarv hereafter to disclose Lhoni . Alcmiwlitlu wo uipoat it—Uu > fatu of tl . e liiilbnu Will is in Mr . ( Ji-ADU TQNB a Imm b . ^ t him eonlinlly and gonero . wjywiiito with .. Lord Joun Kutfs *> u ., mid dare tlio Opp osition to vote on its uiimi i > rov »« o . iH , u 1 t . « Old Bailey nrtu i nil Qmirtor Hmwioii ^ iiiIDIub ol ^ l " "' ? ' ^' yo for niHiff ht , as thoy < lid when trlud nguiubt I ho JthiiHi 1 roaty and tlio JJuclg ot .
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), April 14, 1860, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14041860/page/3/
-