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01*08^ 15,1853.] THE LEADER. 999
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A HERO IN THE CAUSE OE HEALTH. Mb. Godwi...
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NEW SOCIETY OF KEFOJRMERS. Unbek the som...
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(Dpta Cmturil.
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[iN TniH nKrAUTMTKNT , AH AI,T- OPINIONS...
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Tlioro in no loarnnd rrum Iml. will c.on...
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THE MOKMONimS AND THEJU PEKSECUTOKH. (To...
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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.
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The Governing Classes. No. Vt. Loud Stka...
dip lomatist has to attain the objects of the governing classes without offending the prejudices and the feelings of the governed classes . Above all , he is fettered in this respect : he cannot at a particular moment run risks and be . bold , because he may be repudiated ( as Colonel Bose was the other day ) by the governing classes , or be hissed by the governed ; at any rate , may be lelt without the fleet and the army to back him , and thus rendered the laughing stock , not merely of Europe , which he despises , but of the diplomatists , with whom he is engaged to dine , of other nations . When such a man as Lord Pahnerston is at the
Foreign Office , the British diplomatist is in a moat impracticable position . Lord Pahnerston talks the Berinondsey policy , and acts the Russian ; and though a clever , agile man , like Lord Pahnerston , with an easy , stupid , insular race to deal with , can contrive adroitly to combine the purpose of cultivating despotism , and yet pleasing the British people , very few of the diplomatists can do as much ; for , granting that they are as clever , they may be more scrupulous and more honest—say , like Lord Redeliffe . Yet Lord Pahnerston only does in a bold , dashing , daring way what every
Foreign Secretary has to do ; and thus the difficulty of our diplomatists is chronic and invincible . England is a constitutional country ; therefore English foreign policy is to promote constitutionalism . But English foreign policy is also the policy of non-intervention , and therefore is a negative policy ; and hence we have to pursue a negative policy , and talk positive principles—result , offending peoples and outraging kings ; negative policy rendering England consequently a negation in Europe . Such is a broad description of English efforts abroad , and of England ' s position ; but such a general description is subject to variouslnodifications . England adopts the negative policy for the purpose of preserving peace ; but ,
in certain cases , there may be a positive policy without endangering peace . That is to say , England has a negative policy with the big states—a positive policy with the . little states . When France changes her government we accept the new government . Lord Palmerston , for instance , enthusiastic lover of freedom as he is , not only accepted but applauded Louis Napoleon ' s coup d ' etat . To Russia again we are very respectful , and the United States we take care not to offend— -except through our leading journals . But our tone to the small monarchies is very different , and our theory of non-intervention amounts just to this—we will only interfere with the little states . We bullied Greece for
a Don Pacifico ; but we are perfectly polite to Russia , though the destiny of the East , and perhaps of the West , is in question . We accept a change in the French Government , and we do not recommend Louis Napoleon to be constitutional , but we recommend King Boraba to imitate the institutions of a country which glories in a Houso of Commons into which any man with JOQI . can buy his way ; and we warn the Duke of Tuscany that he must not imprison Protestant tract deliverers , though tract delivering is an impertinence offensive to Tuscan institutions . In short , we talk Liberalism , and act respectfully in favour of Despoti . sm , with the big states , bullying insolence with the littlo states ; and oven these mero pretensions to
liberalism wo contradict in our policy towards our own colonioH . With no real principles , then , to lay down , and with a contradictory policy to pursue , contradictory to our antecedents and contradictory to our contemporaries , what chanco , in auch confusion , has the ¦ British diplomatist ? For the British diplomatist getting out , of England , and out of reach of the Great Britons , gets a n
¦ enduri ng an doctoral nystcm which makes the •«' nid paramount , and a prosH ayHtem which gives a monopoly to ono or two journals ; and ho OHCortauiR thai , outnido iGngland , from Dublin to Madras , the BritiHh empiro in an empire held together by a do « po-1 HIU Jl internal denpotinm . Conscious of the untonaihty ° f 1 » H poHition , tho British diplomatiut can never ' « a fruo agont or a suceeHaful man ; ho can never act Wit hout ordorH from homo ; and nine funoB out often ''« cannot aocoj ) t thono ordorH . And while ho in """ tf ling , twaddling , and trying to build up ft falno powiion , tho Fronohman or iho KiiHHian in puuhing on —and winning . That in tho hiutory of British
diplomacy since the battle of Waterloo , and it accounts for the ludicrous attitude of Great Britain , in every capital in Europe , in 1848-9 , and for the contempt for England which Czar Nicholas has manifested in 1853 . A great Power ceases to be a great Power when she misses a policy ; whatever respect remains to be paid her is paid to her material strength merely . On the other hand , the moral strength of Russia fights battles in advance for the Czar . Were secret diplomacy an advantage for diplomatists , Lord Stratford de Redeliffe would be a very successful man . In Paris or Vienna a British Minister must
negotiate to , some extent publicly ; for French and Austrian despotisms have this advantage over British constitutionalism—they confide more to their publics , having less reason for concealments in all foreign discussions ; and the English diplomatist must , then , speak in society as well as write protocols , and must speak out . But Constantinople is the harem of secret diplomacy . There you have is no tangible public , no
" society ; " ho newspaper correspondents to worry and bore out small secrets and suggest hints of great facts , which hints have , now and then , to be officially contradicted—the contradiction being a hit for the correspondent . In Constantinople , too , a British Minister meets no one to upset his theories about his free country , and may talk with enormous conceit at half-civilized Turkish secretaries and attache ' s . There
is no one to deny his assumptions and his assertions ; and it is taken for granted that a British Minister sent to the Divan represents the positive ideas , the fixed policy , of a consistent , great nation . And , in a large degree , Lord Redeliffe has profited by all his advantages . He has , in fact , ruled Turkey just as an English Envoy to an Indian Court rules the Indian ruler ; and Abdul Medjid has an immense notion of Lord Redeliffe , as also has Redsehid Pasha . At Constantinople there is this further advantage for a
Minister sent out there : his airs as the representative of a free country do not interfere with English policy in Turkey ; and English policy in Turkey is tolerably clear , definite , and precise . England is protector of Turkey ; and her policy is supposed to be—Lord Aberdeen differs with others of the governing classes on this point—to keep Russia out of Constantinople ; and the mission of Lord Redeliffe to Constantinople was to represent that idea to the Sultan . And as tho Muscovite is not yet in . Stamboul , Lord Redcliffo is concluded to have succeeded . But Lord Redcliflb does
not think so : Lord Redeliffe believes that England has gone down , and that Russia has gone up in tho East ; and he might find tho reason in the fact , that the policy of England in the East was too closely confined to the technical preservation of Constantinople—as if Russia would not be tolerably content with tho key of her houso being in her own lodger ' s hands . Lortl Redcliffo is not a man of startling strength of mind : but tho faults he has committed are leas personal , than attributable to Iuh weak position—with no determined Government , or instructed people , behind him , to act
his advice in tho East . Inspired b y a conscientious detestation of Czar Nicholas , who once refused to receivo Sir Stratford Canning at St . Petersburg , an honourable , well-informed , clear-headed man , like Lord Redeliffe , could have conquered Russia in tho East , had he ever felt the certainty that ho would be sustained . But he never had this consciousness ; and tho result is , that indirectly Lord Redeliffe has beon tho ruin of Turkey . The present Sultan has followed him blindly , and has cultivated " reforming " " VizierH upon Iu ' h counsel ; and ha . s all but emasculated
the empire . Lord Redeliffe , doubtful about Lord Aberdeen , still inoro doubtful of tho Peace Society , did not dare to advise tho Sultan to declare war agaiiitit RuBBia when Runnia entered tho PrincipaliticH and Turkey will never recover that blow uiiIohb nho eonquora in a war , which ie not likely . Whether Lord Redcliffo haa at last advised the declaration of war by Turkey is not yet known ; but lot us hope that ho did not deprive hiniHelf of the only honours which could
redeem the calamiticH he haa cauttod . A . t a certain point , wo do know tho gonhiH of tho Sultan asHerta itself , and ho tramplon upon tho feuhlo technicalities of flueh a politician hh Lord ItedoliflTe— - wiho only to the extent of being cautioun , not wi « o to tho degree of courage . Lord Itedelino advinecl th « Sultan not to « U « lt « r KoMHuth ; and in the same oireuinstanceH Lord Redcliffo would give tho flame advico for tho name roasona— .. because , though representative of a groat
Power , the great Powers insist that he is only an individual . ^ That is the fate and perplexity " of all British diplomatists . ' What Lord Redeliffe would do in a new capacity ( he was spoken of once as Foreign Secretary ) , or on a nearer European mission ( his former ones were unimportant ) , we may infer from two facts : he is an admirer of Lord Derby , and he is a "Protestant champion . " Both these faiths are disqualifications . Long resident from his native country , Lord Redcliffe may be excused for his ignorance of Lord Derby ; while , at the same time , such an ignorance unfits him for a master of English politics . But the man who has had
so many opportunities of seeing that the Turk is a nobler fellow than the Christian , and yet considers that Turkey would be improved by nasal meetinghouses , declares his complete incapacity for the comprehension of the century . Non-Electok .
01*08^ 15,1853.] The Leader. 999
01 * 08 ^ 15 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 999
A Hero In The Cause Oe Health. Mb. Godwi...
A HERO IN THE CAUSE OE HEALTH . Mb . Godwin , of the Builder , is a man to be honoured . Hia first taste has been for art , and his labours have seconded a love of what is natural and beautiful , in every way , and to use happily a pleasant pen has been his duty for years . Yet he steps from the sphere of such quiet duties , to encounter the ugliest and most unwholesome terrors of London . He goes about doing good . He has been among the dens of Agar-town , and the courts round Drury-lane , and in many another place where dirt abounds , and he goes to show why pure abundant water should . refresh homes squalid for its want , and how the cheerful light of day should be made to pierce into dark ceilars and reeking yards . He has chosen to preach the virtue next to Godliness , but if ,
as Leigh Hunt tells in his talc of Abou-Ben Adam , those who love their nei g hbours well are first of those who love God , the task our fellow-labourer has taken up is second to no human duty . Many a per il and a bitter cross are in the path of the sanitary soldier . There are arrows of death flying around him , unseen . Minute enemies steal up from the standing pool , and through that opened door comes tho fevered breath of the poor child , gasping 1 for pure air , where there is none . Men fight duels when insulted , or face a single enemy , in battle , when the blood is roused to mere animal heat , but he who exposes himself to
feel what wretches feel , must do so by an impulse not common , and with a thought as noble as it is kind . We step out of our way to praise Mr . Godwin . We do so deliberately . We think it right now , while the good work is being done , and while our true-hearted brother is doing well hia chosen task , to loll him , from our heart , that there are many who , without even a knowledge of his person , honour him for his good intent and useful action . Better thus than reserve our praise for set occasions of " silver ' , testimonial , or for empty words , to " soothe the dull cold ear of death . "
New Society Of Kefojrmers. Unbek The Som...
NEW SOCIETY OF KEFOJRMERS . Unbek the somewhat grand title of " The London Confederation of Rational lioformers , " a new society ha » sprung into existence , composed , wo believe , of secedcra from an Ishmaelitish body ot politicians , headed by a wellknown anti-paci lie agitator , Mr . J . B . O'Brien . We are not surprised that there should bo seccders from the National Jteformers , who have Receded from everybody ; but we were not prepared to lind them professing to pursue their ideas of reform in a genial , earnest , and friendly spirit . In an initiatory tract published by them , they define" liberty " as " the realization of tho sovereignty of the individual , " — a definition derived from tho school of Jo . siah Warren . Tho policy and patient good sense of tho American reformers of Modern Times , will be found an improvement upon tie impulwivo agitations of Denmark-street . Proceeding by a method tho reverse of tho communistic , thin now London Confederation seeks reform by a segregation instead of aggregation . Their littlo tract ' on the Scienco of Society deserves a word as a novelty in . English democratic literature .
(Dpta Cmturil.
( Dpta Cmturil .
[In Tnih Nkrautmtknt , Ah Ai,T- Opinions...
[ iN TniH nKrAUTMTKNT , AH AI , T- OPINIONS , IIOWJtVKll 'BXTltTCMH , AUK A 1 , I , OWK 1 > ANT KXl'ItllHHlON , Till ! KHITOll N KUKHHAUIUX IIOIiUU 1 UMH 1 U , K UKHroifHlllliK I'OIt NOMU . _ ' |
Tlioro In No Loarnnd Rrum Iml. Will C.On...
Tlioro in no loarnnd rrum Iml . will c . ont ' ona ho hath n : moh profited by rn ; idin £ oontrovoroifKi , hid uanmui awnkonod , und hin judgment , nlmrpumsd . ICtlun . it "bo profir . ablu lav hirn to riiud , wli / nliouldit ; net , at leant , bo tolomble for bin advniv « i \ y to write- —Milton .
The Mokmonims And Theju Peksecutokh. (To...
THE MOKMONimS AND THEJU PEKSECUTOKH . ( To tho ICditor of tho Leader . ) Sin , —In my hasty sketch of Morinonito doings in HoinornetHhiro , to which you kindly gave a place in your lant weok ' n paper , I promiHod , with your pcrmitmion , to recur to the nuhjeot , in tho hope of deducing from it a few thoughts not altogether uiiMcrvicuuhlo in tho premmt Htate of public feeling towardu tho converts o tho now faith . The " piouH fraud" of the Nauvoo prophet , every one known , daton Hearcely ho far back an a quarter of a century . Whatever , thoroforo , wan meretricious in hiiiiHolf , or ut proHenfc portaiiiN to Inn uyHtoiu , hUuuIh before the world in bold and atuking relief . Wo who livo in the babyhood of the new candidate for Hpiritual
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 15, 1853, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15101853/page/15/
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