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No. 488. J^ SO. 1853.1 T HE LEADER, 889
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SATURDAY, JULY 30, 1859.
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Thereia nothing- so revolutionary, becau...
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LORD JOHN BUSSELL ON ITALY. It is no sma...
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formers in and out of Parliament. He oug...
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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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
No. 488. J^ So. 1853.1 T He Leader, 889
No . 488 . J ^ SO . 1853 . 1 T HE LEADER , 889
Ad01307
- —^—"" SUBSCRIPTION TO " THE LEADER . " ONE CU > NE A PER YEAR . UNSTAMPED , PREPAID . ( Delivered Gratis . ) ' ¦ ¦ ' NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . - "^ S ^ SSS ^ S for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . sonS quite independent of the ' merits o ? the communieation . . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . OFFICE , NO . , CATHERINE-STREET , STBAJTD , W . C .
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Saturday, July 30, 1859.
SATURDAY , JULY 30 , 1859 .
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Thereia Nothing- So Revolutionary, Becau...
Thereia nothing- so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . —Dn . Aenoid . . ? ' .
Lord John Bussell On Italy. It Is No Sma...
LORD JOHN BUSSELL ON ITALY . It is no small testimony to the value of the press that Lord John Russell ' s statement on Thursday evening , although to all appearance as frank arid complete as circumstances permitted , has given scarcely any information which the public did not previously possess . The attempt to reconcile the discrepant statements of the French , Prussian , and Austrian courts , amounts to little more than a confession that in the absence of anything reliable , either party was at liberty to form and act upon
what guesses he pleased . The most probable story is , that the French Empei * or received a communication from Russia decidedly objecting to a continuance of the war , and especially to its enlargement by operations in Hungary . Under these circumstances the two combatants preferred winding up their quarrel in their own way , instead of waiting for the probable concurrence of the great neutral powers in some project of pacification . It is important to note that the Hungarians do not complain of being deceived by Louis Napoleon .
tend that-, according to an article in the Villa Franca Treaty , the former are to return to their States ; but Lord John very appropriately asks , how- ? - —arid if a friendly co-operation with . Louis Napoleon will assist him to adhere to the decision of neither employing nor permitting the intervention of force to accomplish this end , it will be the fault of the parties chiefly concerned if they again fall under the thraldom of satellites of Austria who have forfeited all leg ? aad moral rights to rule over them . Tuscany has a population of 1 , 800 , 000 ; Parma and Modena together contains a million , and if by any means
these people couldbe united to , or honestly federated ¦ with Sardinia , a large and important state would be produced . The Tuscans are told by Lord John Russell , that if , through their representatives , they " declare that a certain Government is that under which they could live happily , it would be impossible for any representative of her Majesty to go against that declaration , " and the same thing is said to the Modenese . After this explicit and honourable expression of opinion , all friends of liberty will feel that the Cabinet ought not to be interdicted from intervening in Italian concerns . We have written as freely as any one
in condemnation of what was wrong in the Emperor Napoleon ' s conduct , but we are satisfied the solid judgment of the English people will approve of rendering him any moral aid towards redeeming those promises to the Italians which the imperfect treaty of Villa Franca did not fulfil . A candid perusal of Lord John Russell ' s speech will show that he is fully alive to the danger of entangling this country in negotiations from which she ought to stand aloof ; and he sees clearly the impracticability of the wild scheme of an Italian confederation under the honorary presidency of the Pope . The strength of Sardinia consists in those principles of civil and religious liberty by which
the Vatican was scandalised when the Marquis d'Azeglip proclaimed them in his dominions ; and if , by means of the treaty of Villa Franca , she were forced into a confederation ruled by Austria and the Pope , her condition and capacity to render services to Italy would be worse than before the war began . It is possible that the Emperor of the French may be desirous to make the treaty of Zurich a- better document . than the preliminary sketch made at Villa Franca , and for the sake of Italy and in justice to Franceif such be Ids intention—let no aid be wanting which a British Government can fairly give . If the Sardinians , Lombards , Tuscans , and inhabitants of the Duchies are wise
enough to form a'strong political union it should obtain the recognition and sanction of all the great powers , as the new position , although not guaranteed , would be recognised by the public laws of Europe , and any . future effort which Austria might make for its disturbance would be regarded as a violation of the general peace . The Papal question does not admit of present solution , but if a territory could be formed in Northern Italy , comprehending eleven millions of people , enjoying constitutional government , . religious liberty , and a considerable freedom of the px * ess , the work of enlightenment would . prosper , and now forces would be generated that neither Pope nor Cardinal would be able to withstand .
Time only can settle the condition and solve tli ' o difficulties of Italy ; the idea of finality must be discarded from nil present arrangements . It is enough for the day if the day ' s work is done , Europe can find no nobler task than that of repaying to Italy some portion of the benefits she rendered to humanity during long ages , when art , knowledge , and civilisation found in her cities tlioir most congenial home .
They are bitterly disappointed that tho war should have been brought to a conclusion withoiit affording an opportunity for the revival of their cause ; but the pledges given to them wei'e only conditional , and left the French Government at liberty to accept or forego their aid as circumstances might require . Far different was the position of those Italians , who were invited to join in the . Franco-Sardinian movement , and who wore apparently deserted by the Villa Franca peace , Lord John Russell has confirmed the belief , that the principal questions are totally unsettled , but his distinct exr
pression of conviction that the Emperor of the French , will neither employ forco , nor permit Austria to omploy it , for the restoration of the Tuscan dynasty , or that of Modena against the wish of the people , holds out a strong hope that more good may bo effected for Ital y than the unsatisfactory termination of the war led most people to suppose . If his- lordship is also right in believing that tho Emperor of Austria does not entertain the idea of j ¦__ 1 _ j i _~_ . __ . Al ^~ - > l " . _ . v ^^ ra ^ f ** h 4 % a ¦¦ his to tho and
^ * ^ ' * * employing troops coerce Tuscans Modoneso , there would appear some chance of a settlement which , although far from definitive , may be useful in itself and Jay tho foundation for future progress . Our news columns will snow the movement in Tusoany in favour of union with Savdinin , and when the legal representatives of the peoplo assemble in Floronoo they will find themselves strengthened by tho moral power of England , as expressed in tho clear and forcible declaration pf tho British Minister for Foreign AfTairr . Tho Grand Dukes and Austria may con-
Formers In And Out Of Parliament. He Oug...
formers in and out of Parliament . He ought , as an experienced soldier and politician , to have seen that by the course he adopted he was merely playing into the hands ai Government , which , through his amiable intervention , has obtained the sanction of the Commons to the narrowest and most unsatisfactory investigation . Lord Palmerston represented the question to be considered as simply one of fortifications for dockyards and special sites , and deprecated inquiry into the quantity of military and naval force that would be needful , which , he said , was a matter that must be left to the Administration of the day . This argument is plausible
but unsound , and , if acted upon , will vitiate the whole investigation . It is , no doubt , true that each , successive cabinet must base its requisitions for ships or men on the particular circumstances of the time , but the labours of a well-chosen commission , embracing the whol e subject , would end in establishing certain principles which would materially modify both the extent and the nature of ministerial demands . Just now it is assumed that the country will pay any amount of money that the War
Department think proper to ask for ; but all men acquainted with finance are satisfied that the present enormous outlay cannot be maintained , and it is therefore useless to lay down plans out of proportion to the funds which can be obtained . Mr . Brieht ' s little party propose to turn common sense upside-down , and disarm this country whenever its possible foes are adding to their means of offence . This is a folly that the country will not commit , although it is already plunged into the opposite absurdity of beating all the world in the amount lavished upon warlike apparatus .
Looted at rationally , two fundamental considerations should lie at the bottom of any permanent plan of defence . First , the amount of money that can be prudently set aside for the purpose ; and secondly , the number of men whose entire labour can be diverted from industrial pursuits . A state which has abundance of idle men capable of being made into soldiers at a small cost , will naturally be able to keep a larger regular army than another state of equal population , but in a higher condition of industrial development , andas a corollary , it follows that the former will be of fortresses
able to garrison a number quite unmanageable by the latter . At present the tendency is for localities to demand , and for government to sanction the construction of fixed fortifications armed with guns , incapable of rapid transport . Town after town takes fright at alarming articles , in the papers , or prodigious speeches from venerable peers ; the local member is applied to , and his vote and interest is beneficially influenced in favour of the Administration , -who will build a battery and plant monster cannon , flanked by imposing pyramids of shot and shell . Just out of ranee of these formidable impl ements may be a notwith
convenient landing place , and the town , - standing its armament , may , for practical p urposes , be as defenceless as before . We often hear of the defenceless state of Portsmouth from the land side , and similar accounts are given of other important ports , but if half of them were protected in all directions by regular works , more soldiers would be required to man them than tho British army contains . We should be afraid of leaving them without garrisons lest they should be captured and used against us , and if we shut up our troops in them the enemy would go somewhere else . England and Wales alone have a coast line of at least 2 , 000 miles , measuring the principal indentations only , Aid this simple laet in PjW ~ geography is sufficient to show hovr flnwl " P ° »* ° " Sf our frontier we could hope , to defen by fixed ., W In "' former times , guns of small bore wmj A ^ 4 ^ r £ ?^ aTcl ^ S SsSorfe s isrx mioiitv * landing , tlian tho largest of the olaf " shioned guns & position . Them matters should bo well considered in arranging sohoraos _ ot dofonco , and the commission should likewise endeavour to indicate tho best methods by which able bodied civilians could bo rendered
avail-THE NATIONAL DEFENCES COMMISSION . Tub diacussiQn that occurred itt the House of Commons on Monday , whou Sir Do Lacy Evans brought forward his motion ior a Commission to inquire into our national defences , does not oneou ? rngo tho belief that much good will bo acoomplishod , Ob it is evident from tho remarks of Lord , ' almerston that the Government only intend that a small portion of tho subject shall bo oonsidorcd by tho gentlemen to whom tlioy commit the task . It would have been more satisfactory if the honourable and gallant monitor for Westminster lutd made a definite and specific proposal , whioh uight have had tho support of intelligent ro-
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 30, 1859, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_30071859/page/13/
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