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June 21, 1851.] <E |j fc VLtamt* 583
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nothing so uncertain as human life in re...
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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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Home In 1849. The Restoration Of The Pop...
vention ] as well as from the frenzy of anarchy , " meaning national popular government . But in a despatch to M . de la Gour * at V ienna , dated two days previousl y * so much stress is laid on the effect which Austrian successes had had upon the " balance of power , " as to leave no room to doubt but that th ere lay the most powerful motive for intervention . While writing to MM ; d'Harcourt and de RayneVal , at Ga « ta , M . Drouyn de Lhuys distinctly states that the expedition was undertaken , not to compel the Pope to adopt " such or such a government , " but simply to reconcile the Pope to the Roman People ; mainly for the benefit of the latter !
Can anything be more conflicting P When the French army marched to the gates , depending on the Reactionists within , and was driven back with gre at loss , Louis Napoleon affected great astonishment and pain that the army sent to perform " kind and disinterested services " for the people should be met as enemies : he declared that the military honour of France Was involved , and that to conquer was a necessity . Both Mr . Freeborri and
Sir George Hamilton assert that the French were " deceived" in their estimation of the state of feeling at Rome ; and that the masses hated " Priestly Government . " Her 6 is a pretty complication ! and , to crown all , Prince Schwarzeriberg wrote to Count Colloredo > April 29 , that orders had been sent to Radetzky to enter both Tuscany and the Legations , in obedience to the wishes of the Grand Duke and the Pope , whose desires " were identical with those of the
civilized world . ' * General Oudinot interpreted the " wishes of the civilized world" somewhat differently , when , in his proclamation of the 24 th of April , he told the Roman People that their wishes should be respected , that he came to maintain their " iegitimate" influence , and that he was resolved not to impose upon them any form of government they did not desire . Meanwhile , as Lord Palmerston was correctly and " frequently" informed by Mr .
Freeborn , the French had been altogether deceived as to the real feeling of the vast majority of the Roman People , which , at first , adverse only to priestly government , became , after the Pope had solicited foreign intervention , adverse to Pius himself . Stiil knowing all thisj and knowing it well , Lord Palmerston thought fit to act with the Reactionists of France and the Absolutists of Austria , who were engaged in overthrowing and oppressing the Roman People .
In a despatch to the Marquis of Normanby , Lord Palmei ' ston naively asked—What are the intentions of the French ? And M . de Tocqueville replied , through Lord Normanby , that the rt first care " of the French would be " to secure the constitutional liberties of the Romans as already granted by the Pope , and to take care that his authority should not be reestablished on that arbitrary footing which had formerly been found
inconsistent with the good government of th £ People . " Palrher 8 ton was satisfied with this reply ; but ne politely requested further information as to what the French would do , supposing that they could not obtain the consent of tne Pope to return to constitutional and representative government , or the consent of the People to receive the Pope ; or that the Pope threw himself on Austria for support P
But Lord Palmerston writing to Pans is one man—Lord Palmerston Writing to Vienna is another . On the 12 th of June , 1849 , he instructed Lord Norinnnby to urge the French to secure a " real and effectual separation between the temporal and the spiritual power of the Pope . " On the 10 th of July , 1849 , he informed Lord Pon-Konby that it would be desirable for France to communicate with Austria , and induce her " to
counsel the Pope to secure to his subjects an arrangement which , while it reinstated him in his tuxsition of temporal und ecclesiastical authority at Koine , " should give guarantees for representative government . Three days after he sent Lord l ' ortfionby another despatch , and in this he again come » « ut for separation of the temporal and spiritual power , and declares that if the Pope refuses to concede that , " one of two things must happen ,
Either that the Pope must be restored t »> hisfurmt * power by the force of foMlgn & tmH , or that he must abandon all hope of returning thither . " The former , Lord Palmerston considered as so unjUst , that , if cfledted * it could only be coti ^ - sidcred " temporary "; the latter was a thing not to be thought of , and therefore her Majesty'h Government w « re desirout to pave thfc way , by conciliation , for " the Pope ' s resumption
laboriously framing a bill of pains and penalties against the Roman Catholic religion . To the Papal Government , with its inquisition , its spies , its authorised and daily atrocities , and "intolerable abuses , " they have only a diplomatic and casting objection ; but to the celebration of the Catholic religion , the barren assumption : of territorial titles , and the internal regulation of the Catholic Church , they pretend the direst ^ yet , puniest , hostility . It surely were fit thnt Palmerstori ' s Hortian liespatches and Russell ' s Durhaih Letter were bound up together .
nothing ! We have seldom read a more disgustingly instructive Parliamentary paper than this " Correspondence relating to the Affairs of Rome . " It reveals no noble policy worthy of England , but discloses ah ignoble shuffling system of diplomatic tactics disgraceful to England . It cannot be too distinctly impressed upon the minds o ( all classes of ktiglishmen , that tne Roman republic was put down with our consent , and at our instance , and that the restoration of the Pope was approved of by the very men in Downing-street who are now
The operations of the Foreign Secretary place the conduct of England in a mean and miserable light . We avowedly supported the Pope , rightfully deprived of his temporal authority ; we permitted , nay , encouraged , French intervention ; and while the Austrian , the Spaniard * the Frank , and the Neapolitan marched armies to crush a devoted people , the Minister of England mumbled and stammered about securing constitutional government and civil freedom . Like Pilate , he was prepared to wash his hands of the blood of the Romans , leaving it an ineffaceable stain upon the French , if they did not take his advice . His ad-Vice !—as if France did not know that it meant
the beginning of the state of public opinion in Italy * But beydnd ffefcbminendihg French iriterventiofi , in the fittfe instance , and writing a few notes in the course of the summer , as a spectator merel y * he did nothing to protect the Roman People in the exercise of their national fights . In the Correspondence before us * after the date , August 7 , 1849 , th £ re is not one despatch signed n Paliherstdn . " What has he been doing for the last two years ?
strongest tendency to . retrograde principles **; and it was especially obvious to th £ a 6 afoe mind of Commander Key , that " the Httte whifeh had been dtitte since the return of P & pal authority did hot show any 6 yinptom of a return td a constitutional form of ( ydvernmeht , of a relaxation of the old Gregorian ecclesiastical System . " Now Lord Palmerfiton was implicated in all these affairs . Hfe had had the best evidence from
of the Papal power . " On the 18 th of July , Lord Normanby wrote from Paris ~ " France will Hot enact any Conditions from the Pope as the price of hie entrance into flttme " and she did not do ho . In August Louis Napoleon wrote his famous letter to Colonel Ney , the * at Gagta ; yet in the same month the Cftfdiftal TKufovirate bad been established , the Inqui & iticm regstftblteheQ , all laws passed sihete the 15 th of November , 1848 , abolished , fetid the Government Comihtesion for the trial of political bffeHaers decreed . . In September but came the mock amnesty * and a false runiour of the premulgatidii bf the " Code Napoleon ; " It was clear by this time " * eviefl td the Tory mind of Sir Gearge Hafcriltbn at Flbfrence ^ that *• every act" of tnfe Gartiraat Triumvirate showed the
June 21, 1851.] <E |J Fc Vltamt* 583
June 21 , 1851 . ] < E | j fc VLtamt * 583
Nothing So Uncertain As Human Life In Re...
nothing so uncertain as human life in regard td particular individuals-, but there is nothing lesfe liable td fluctuation fch & ti iht avgftige value and Bfcp ' ecfcfttidtt 6 i lift ifc a ntihtber of persons . And dh thte prmciple H it thai life Asauratite a & sdtiatiofts are based . We wtiuld that the year 1851 , the year of ft-ogress * might show a new march in the morte general adoption of assurane ' ey and that every man who Retires to bed in feAr lest his household goods might be consumed in the eight , might also bfe impressed with as salutary a dread that the light < tf his own existence might be quenched before the" morning .
The extension of life assurance is one of the surest roads to the prosperity of the pedple . IF , However , it had been continued on the principle of the old offices , simply as a means of insuring a prospective advantage equivocal in ail points but that of placing a large sum in the pockets of the directors aiid proprietary , We should have had little hopife bf its adoption by the masses . Indeed , one of the causes operating to retard its progress is ignorance of the various immediate , as Well as deferred ,
advantages which it provides . The establishment bf offices on a modernized and liberal principle is a boon more recognized by the old offices than by the community for whose benefit they are . Those whose craft is in danger are generally not slow in appreciating the superior advantages of their antagonists ; and a war is now- waging between the old and modern assurance offices of the metropolis ^ in which the former are sure to be vanquished , ana the result of which must be advantageous to the public .
Amongst the modern offices which , providing the most perfect security to the assured , offer advantages which seem like a fairy tale beside the prospectuses of the ancient corporations , is the " Sovereign Life Assurance Company . " It was established , not alone for new applications of assurance for temporary purposes , but for giving advantages immediate as well as prospective to the assured . A large proprietary affords a guarantee for its financial stability , while the advantages of a mutual company are provided by the division of 75
per cent , of the profits among the assured . This may be received in cash ; by an addition to the amount of the policy ; or by reduction of the prej mium : and as assurers are also participators in the profits derived from policies granted in connection with loans and advances , this division is really tantamount to sharing in the whole profits . All inquiries being made before the proposals are accepted , the payment of a policy cannot be disputed
or delayed on account of any error in the proposal . When death unhappily arises from duelling or suicide , assigned policies are valid ; und if not assigned , a proportion of the premiums received is given up to the survivors . The lowness of the whole-life tables may be seen by the fact that a person of thirty may secure £ 100 at his death by the annual payment of £ 2 9 s . 4 d ., and be entitled to a- division of 75 per cent , of the profits of the cotttpahy .
With regard to annuities , in addition to the old form of purchase , by one table two-thirds , and by another the whole of the money paid for the purchase of a deferred annuity is returned in ease of death before attaining the specified age . So that a person may provide for himself in old ago , and at the same time accumulate a fund for the benefit of hia relations should death interpose to prevent his enjoying the annuity .
In the system of endowments for children also the tables of this company show a decided advance . Parents , by a single payment or by arnall annual payments , may provide for the marriage portion of a daughter , or for establishing a son in business on attaining his majority . Then ; are three tables for this purpose , liy the first , the money paid is forfeited in case of death of the endowed ; by the neeond , two-thirds of the money paid are returned in case of death before the specified age ; and b y tile third , the whole of the money 18 returned . Ilere We have modifications which
give every matt an opportunity of providing for bin children , and procuring- for them an advancement in life not to bo obtained with certainty by any Other means . Although the benefits of life assurance are ho great , the various ways in which the principles may De made available give it an additiorial value . Suppose a person has a life income of £ 1000 a-year , how readily might h « appropriate £ 150 a-yeskr to asauring his lii © for £ 6 OOG , which would leave his family comfortably provided for . The possessor ot entailed estates , effecting uaHuranccn
of these associations , o « rib many practical developments of a principle which Is yet to work out thd welfare of the human race . In lift ) ABA & ufanco thfe advantages of combined operation dfe singularly manifested ; By it h benefit lit rtferhiit ' d to th <> He who suffer Ides ' , paid itl inflnltfcftirhrtl amounts by thohe who \\ dmi uhftctethgd . By th 6 prlndpte of 0 dtlCert > all ths tlncfrftttihtieS und r ) vil 4 dl life may fod if not rtirtiovdd , lit least mitigated ; for throughout every event and affair of *»* i <* tehce , thftt Whidft appear * m b & nietfi isolation And chance , is . by thft doctrinA bf itVttrHg 64 , nrbVfrd to bis h part of « n httfihdnidua and conceit < M trhblo . Them in
PROGRESS OF ASSURANCE . THK HOVK 1 UHOX 1 AFK ASSl / ftANOH COMPANY . Regarding them in the magnitude of their operations and as involving the Welfare of our country , a « controlling and managing so many millions of money , as combinations of menfor the benefit of their fellow-creatures , life assurance companies must be considered among the most important institutions of this age . To the admirers of the principle of Concert —a principle which in daily becoming more and more acknowledged by every class of society—nothing can be more gratifying than the ri « o And pr « grriH 8
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 21, 1851, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21061851/page/11/
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