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No. 417, T«mo«». 18M.1 IEI LBAJBB. -279
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CONFIDENCE AND CONFIDENCE. An obscure an...
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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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Loud Palmerston's After-Thoughts. Iff Th...
place which , Mr . Disraeli tells us , was very voluminous ; but ten months elapsed and one of the victims was tortured into insanity , while the other was half-starved , and in many respects infamously maltreated . The incident has been the moat disgraceful one in Lord Palmeeston ' s career , and fixes an indelible blot upon his reputation . But , as if the dishonour must be complete , he prevaricated on the evening of Friday lastand on Monday retreated under
, cover of the paltriest subterfuge . Upon the first occasion he said that , before their retirement from office , the late Ministers were reconsidering the case of the Csiglian , so far as to impugn the jurisdiction of the Neapolitan Government upon that spot of the seas -where the vessel Mas captured . To what did the reconsideration amount ? To a letter written , to a memorandum , to a statement laid before the law officers of the Crown ? No such thing . The new
Govern-, ment was taken by surprise . They had determined to admit the Neapolitan demand , and to abandon a principle of maritime law and usage . But , when their predecessors had declared the question to have been reopened , back went the Chakceliob or the Exchequer , to Downing-street , with Lord Malmesbuuy , and there they began , as Mr . Osboenje said , to ransack the pigeon-holes of their predecessors . Mr . Disraeli ' s record of the affair stands thus : — " I am bound to say
that a careful examination of all the papers rendered that statement of the noble Lord one for which we were entirely unprepared , and I feel it due to ourselves to add that a minute , laborious , and subsequent examination of these documents affords no clue whatever to the information which , the noble Lord communicated to the House on Friday night . "
Nothing could have been more miserable than Lord Palmerston ' s explanation : — " "When I stated the other day that the question was still under the consideration of the Government , what 1 referred to was , that we were expecting further documents from Naples and from the Sardinian Government with respect to the demand made by the latter for the restitution of the Cji < Hiari ;
because , if that demand were acceded to by the Neapolitan Government and the vessel ¦ were restored , then undoubtedly our claim for the restitution of the two engineers would have assumed a different character from what it had before . That is what I referred to , and I think the right honourable gentleman will find—though I know not whether information on this head be before the
Government or not—that we were expecting , so Jar as I am informed , further documents ) from the Sardinian Government with respect to the claim they were making on the Government of Naples . " This , then , was ' reconsidering' the question . The Government had not taken a step , or written a word . They had not even asked for further information . They had admitted the Neapolitan claim , and had not signified to Naples that it must bo subject to judgment after additional investigation . Lord Pai >
merston ' s statement on Friday wns something worse than a quibble , and liia explanations on Monday must have been painful to tho House ol Coinmona . Lord ¦ Debky has now tukon up tho matter iiX ~ "tlfe ~ "l * fglTfc" ~ tone 7 ~~ mKl' * nt'" ~ is—understood King IArrdinand will bo compelled , by one process or another , to roatoro tho Caglinri nnd release tho Englishman still incarcerated at Naples . In other days , wo might Imvo talked of indemnity , but we shall only bo too grateful , while national honour ia at its present discount , if our Roman citizens oaeupo with ten months' of horrible captivity , and if tho
King of Naples be prohibited from imitating the Dey of Algiers . Mr . Roebuck : would have sent Lord Lyons instead of Mr . Lyons , and that is the sort of envoy Nelson would have recommended . Mr . Hodge , in Piedmont , has reason , we think , to rejoice that Lord Palmjekston is no longer Premier of Great Britain . And Great Britain , we fear , has reason to be convinced that Lord Paxmerston ' s spirit and temper have been so exhausted and demoralized by a dangerous predominance as to disqualify him from ever again standing at the head of public affairs .
No. 417, T«Mo«». 18m.1 Iei Lbajbb. -279
No . 417 , T « mo «» . 18 M . 1 IEI LBAJBB . -279
Confidence And Confidence. An Obscure An...
CONFIDENCE AND CONFIDENCE . An obscure and somewhat incorrect expression of the Times has given the French official organ an opportunity of making a seemingly triumphant reply . The leading journal said last Monday : —" Something like contempt will be the feeling of Frenchmen for this frenzy of repression in a sovereign who used to show himself so fearlessly , and who was at least as safe driving his phaeton like a private gentleman on the Boulevards as when surrounded by spies and with whole squadrons for an escort . " From this the Moniteur infers that it is meant to be
alleged that the Emperor c never goes out except surrounded by squadrons ; ' whereas the writer intended to say , and in so saying would have said no more than { he truth , that when the Imperial carriage is not surrounded by soldiers it is by spies . There seems to be an error also in implying that the time ever was when the Emperor drove out ' like a private gentleman , ' unattended and relying on the loyalty of his subjects ; but this error , of course , the Moniteur does not refute . It simply says : — " His Majesty has changed nothing in his ordinary habits , and continues to go out every day without an escort . " This is not strictly true , because a piquet of Lancers often accompanies the carriage ; but it is quite true that since the Coup d'Etat one uniform practice has prevailed when the Emperor issues from the Tuileries .
Tlier fact has been so often repeated m correspondence from Paris , in private letters , and in conversation , that it has a certain air of triteness about it ; and perhaps for that reason is not believed . However , there is really no doubt that whenever the Emperor leaves his palace , whether it be to take an airing in the Bois de Boulogne , to range along the Boulevards , or to visit the Faubourg St . Antoine , his route is exactly laid down beforehand ; and in addition to the ordinary police , a number of agents in plain clothes , some dressed as gentlemen , others in blouses , are ordered to scatter themselves along the streets among the crowd . There arc those who pretend to know that there are exactly four
hundred persons employed in this way ; " whilst others say many more . No doubt the number varies with the occasion ; but that such is the system followed every one asserts in Paris . Indeed , old residents will not have failed to remark that , when the Emperor lias passed in any particular place , the crossstreets leading to another point of his route arc instantly filled by persons running along with their hands in their pockets , and with vacant faces , as if performing a routine duty . They are evidently going to mako up a public in a different direction , and to watch if any one raises his hand in a suspicious manner . The slightest observation is suffioient to assure one that the ' eager populations '
who murmur Vioe I Empereur when his Majesty p asses , are always composed of the same yawning , listless , ill-looking follows , among whom tho Corsican physiognomy greatly predominates . They have beon seen at Lyons and Marseilles , and are well known at Compieg-nc , Fontainebleau , and Biarritz , as well as in the Strand and at Osbornc . Nevertheless , as public notoriety and tho inferences of practised observat ion are not strictl y testimony , wo should not be surprised if many fanatical admirers of Imperialism refused to believe these sad
revelations , were wo not able to point to two or three fuels which singularly corroborate our « ccoiint ; r" ^~ W"hciv ~ PrAT > TOHi-maao- 'hi 8-attempt- 'nearly Uiruo years ago , tho Einporor was to all appoaranoc ridiiur ' Jiko u private gentleman , ' accompanied by an aide-de-camp or two , up the Champs-Jfilysdos . What courage ! What confidence ! A man stops forward with a pistol nnd firea . At the same instant tho intended assassin is struck by a dagger in ( ho loins . AuissANjuir , tho police-agent dressed in plain clothes , has observed his action , drawn his oonoonlodi woapon , and rushed forward . There ia
every reason to believe thai ; at short intervals , from the Tuileries to the extreme limits of the Emperor's intended drive , similar agents were posted , and that wherever Pianobi had raised his hand , lie would have been similarly prevented . It must be confessed that an escort witli shining lances and clattering sabres is _ far less efficacious than this one ; and that if nothing else can be said in favour of his Majesty ' s confidence in the loyalty of kis people , we had better be silent . Again , when the attempt of Obsini took place , we" have reason to believe tliat , in addition to an escort of Lancers , a detachment of the Garde de Paris , and an unusual allowance of sergens de ville , the wliole secret battalion was present in the Rue
Lepelletier . No particular attempt to conceal this striking fact has been made by tne French Government , for when the Mo ? dteur gave a list of the killed and wounded by the grenades it enumerated " thirty-nine agents of the Prefec ture . " In other words , setting aside the soldiers , full half of the persons injured , and consequently we may infer full half the persons present , were spies collected to simulate enthusiasm or guard against danger . If we suppose that Oksini and Ms accomplices knew of the composition of the crowd around them , we may well feel surprise at the audacity with which they acted . Let us hasten to add , that in addition to the regular agents on that special occasion , many employes in Government offices received intimations to be in the neighbourhood and to join the crowd .
This comedy of courage and confidence , played before actors of enthusiasm , has been continued ever since the fatal night when Louis Napoleon pronounced his own outlawry by violating bis oath . We do not allude to the fact that the Legislative Assembly outlawed him at theMairie of the 10 th arrondissement , because we are chiefly referring to matters known in France ; and that terrible vote was so stifled that few indeed are aware of it . But by a great number of persons , especially in Paris ; the mere circumstance of the violent assumption of arbitrary power is considered to constitute et man a public enemy . Tlie conduct , therefore ,
attributed to the Emperor would be simply absurd . If he were to go alone in the streets he might not be immediately run at like a mad dog , but the experiment could not often be tried with safety . Some sudden burst of indignation , such as that which seized Barclay ' s brewers when Haynau came amongst them , would always be feared ; and halfeducated men , who may have lost fathers , mothers , sisters , or sweethearts , perhaps children , in the indiscriminate massacre of the Boulevards , might easily be carried away to administer Lynch law in all its extremity . As the Emperor never has
exposed himself to such a contingency , we trust he never will . Fanatics may say that this would be the proper termination of his regime ; but no one will deny that it would be a very bad beginning for any other . No taunts , therefore , should provoke Napoleon III . to trust himself for an instant abroad , beyond the circle of his spies armed with daggers , ia a city which , eilent though it may seem , cowed though it may seem , even cheerfully subservient though it may seem , cherishes a blood-feud against him .
The Moniteur not onl y denies what was never precisely asserted , that the Emperor dared not go out without an escort , but repudiates tlie accusation that the police penetrates oy means of its spies into the interior of families , and thus unsettles the confidence of private life . Of course , it is difficult to discuss this subject in a peremptory manner , because the very secrecy of tuo proceeding preoludes tho possibility of alleging proofs that would be satisfactory to all the world . But we know- that Napoleon III . has always done his best to imitate his unole ; and the part played by spies and informers in the first Empire , ia matter of history . We have
recontly been present in a salon of Paris wuero a number of old friends were sitting in a circle chatting on political matters . A strange face appeared . Tho company broke up in groups and began to talk of tho weather . Thia ahowa tho impression that exists . Indeed , it ia a oorainou saying that when teu 4 iooplo-iu-e , proaout ,, owo . i 3 JimiJ ^| Lq ^ Ky ^ Jl know positively of a police-agent who now goes out disguised as a priest , now as a soldier , anon as a private gontlouuui with a decoration in his buttonhole . Tho declaration of the Moniteur that espionage ia unknown in . Franco will assuredly be reoeived with derision .
. . . Tho truth is , tliat recent events have entirely destroyed tho little coufuleuoo wlxioh tho Emperor may ouco Imvo had iu his position . Ho now boos
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 20, 1858, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20031858/page/15/
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