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Dec. 27, 1851.] &&£ Uta^tW 1239
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This page is accorded to an authentic Ex...
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[In our number of July 19 last, we not o...
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(Drnaimatimis uf the $eaple,
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POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
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ENGLISH SYMPATHY 1-OR FRENCH REI'UBLICAN...
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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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Tiik <;Amk At Kim'xunation. Icrisonic In...
a youth , having the Girondin 8 " pointed out to him in the streets . This old gentleman looked to me the very type of old Paris . l ' shall have much to say to Slingby Lawrence himself on the perfect—absolutely perfect—acting of Geoffroy as Mercadet , and , indeed , of the whole calte ; and a few hints to offer as to the acting at the Lyceum . But I may tell you , ' without flattering our friend , that I was more struck at the wonderful adaptation to English society he has made of this monumental satire on the French Haute Bourgeoisie , when I saw the original play acted , than when I read it in England . His rewriting of the play for the English
stage in thirteen hours is little less than a miracle But I want to say how the audience caught at two or three " mots " in the play , apropos to existing circumstances , such as " Us ressemblent 5 . ces vieux soldats qui attendant toujours Napoleon , " This was received with a shout of laughter . And at these words , " Le succes ! ah ! de eombien d'infamies secornposet ! ils souvent" ! there was an audible " frisson" through the audience ; for the success of the coup d ' etat was accomplished by how foul a murder in cold blood of three thousand inoffensive persons—besides I know not how many shot at dusk on a foggy evening , in the Champ de Mars !
It seems that Balzac left Mercadet as a five-act comedy ; but one act , of which the scene was laid at the Bourse , was thought a little " trop hazarde , " so it was cut down to three . But what a merciless dissection of this French society : rotten to the very core , a whited sepulchre To this deep decomposition all the materializing , corrupting policy of Louis Philippe lent its whole power . There is no soul left but in the working people , and even they have tasted the poison of materialist doctrines . Whoever has seen the profound
and terrible corruption will not be surprised at the revolutionary elements that exist , or at the panicstruck servility of the middle and upper classes here ; the disposition to accept of any strong yoke that will keep things as they are ; the true " Utopians ! ' I have no space to do more than suggest to you all the thoughts that spring from these considerations . I should like all France to see Mercadet acted ; it is the best of sermons . I hope all England will see the Game of Speculatio ? i . Le Chat Huant .
Dec. 27, 1851.] &&£ Uta^Tw 1239
Dec . 27 , 1851 . ] && £ Uta ^ tW 1239
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This Page Is Accorded To An Authentic Ex...
This page is accorded to an authentic Exposition of the Opinions and Acts of the Democracy of Europe : as auch we do nob impose any restraint on the utterance of opinion , and , therefore , limit our own responsibility to the authenticity of the statement .
[In Our Number Of July 19 Last, We Not O...
[ In our number of July 19 last , we not only gave insertion to the address of the Central European Democratic Committee to the Roumains , but moreover accompanied it with a brief explanation , who and what those Roumains were : we now give the answer of their National Committee , which , being a complete adhesion to the policy and principles of European Democracy , shows at the same time the aspirations and tendencies of that People . ] THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE KOUMAINS TO Till ' . MliMISKRS OF TIIK CuNTUAL EUUOPKAN 1 ) KMOtJ It AT 1 C COM M ITTK K . Citizkn . h , —Your appeal was listened to by the Roumains . Your prophetic voice has alre . uly reechoed throughout tin ; land of the Roumains , and that land of believers has heaved with joy . Yes , we have received your sacred words with transport , with faith ; mid the faith of a Rouni :: in is grout , for his long martyrdom has purified and consolidated it .
It i . s already 18 centuries that we have suffered , worked , ; m < l . silently struggled , never having forgotten that we . arc called to represent in the . bosom of Eastern Europe , the thouyht of individual liberty and collective , pnx / ress , which has consecrated us Europeans to be the apostles of humanity : that we am thtivan-yuard of the . ( Iraro-Latin race , and that we . ouijht to ha one . of the links of junction , destined to unite our race with those , of the . Sclavonians and May yarn . No , even in our wor . st days we never doubled our great mission to m . mkiml .
Forgotten , mistaken by the western Peoples , by our brethren of the-blood of the Latin family , miscomprehended by the eastern Peoples , harassed by our neighbours , abandoned , we marched steadily onwards through the innumerable storms which Asia gathered around us . Kueh blow inflieted upon us , each wound received , elevated us , and the niflietor too for by his aims lie eauie into contact with civilisation . Tin ; profound isolation and the imminent
dangers we had daily to contend with , far from abating our courage , unceasingly reminded us that ue were of the race , of those who never perish , and the de . ~ scrndantti of that People whic / i had impressed the , world , on the (/ rout , road of European civilization , with its < jiya . nt . in slump . Those unfit-rings , moreover , daily eou / inned us in the instinct , of u ltouinain , that nothing we might do could be lost to mankind , and that the time will coino when it ( mankind ) shull ' vulutj
each drop of that blood we have shed . For our heart told us that God—that guide who never errs , that witness who overlooks nothing—traced our route with his Almighty finger , and his eye followed our steps . That time has come . You , now , representatives of European Democracy , give evidence before mankifid of our efforts and of our rights . Citizens , by verifying the accumulated treasures which every People contains in itself , you teach us the secret of our nigh victory—you give to all of us the consciousness of our collective strength .
Mankind at last reechoes through you the so oftrepeated cry of Fraternity ! In the name of Frenchmen , Italians , Poles , and Germans , you call us your brethren . Thank you , brothers ; for up to this moment we have felt our life but through isolation and suffering . Yes , this very cry we uttered in 1848 , as also at any other great historical epoch . Whenever a ray enlightened the horizon of a People , we hoped that it would pierce the dense cloud which prevented the nations from knowing and from fraternizing with each other , and we hastened to recognize in them our brethren .
You now know that the God we worshipped in 1848 was not the God of physical force , i . e . the God of the Romans , in whose name , however , we have once filled the world with marvels . The scymetar of the Mussulman has blunt itself against our breasts , and , as you know , was thus prevented from reaching you , who live in the West . The God we Christians worship has exalted us by the martyrdom of several centuries , and in 1848 our God was the God of justice , the God of mankind . In 1848 , since the first day of our Democratic revolution , we unanimously proclaimed , besides the sovereignty of all , justice for all , fraternity amongst all . But the time was not yet come ; our neighbours had not yet understood us . Even you , Peoples of Western Europe , you great Peoples , were not yet ready for the grand consecration of Fraternity .
Doubtless , all the Peoples have suffered ; but , in order to have fraternized in . 1841 in happiness , we ought to have first walked side by side in misfortune . Yes , the great Democratic communion required simultaneous suffering and a common preparation , and then the great mourning which expended itself from one extremity of Europe to the other , the last three years of sorrow and blood , might have been averted . But they are passed ; from the intense evil
we foresee the hour of deliverance ; from the intense darkness which is overwhelming us , and the coldness which seized us in our dungeons , we feel that the aurora will erelong dawn upon us ; we see it coming ; we have again seized our banner , and we wave it over the heads of our neighbours , that they too may be in readiness , lift up their eyes and behold the first ray of a new light behind the rainbow of suffering Humanity , peering through the three colours on which the Roumain has inscribed with letters of fire :
Justice—Fraternity . Have confidence , brethren ; this time we shall all be united ; we shall march together , Hungarians , Sclavonians , Greeks : they will all join us to struggle in the holy crusade of Democracy ; for we shall not combat for our own sake , we shall combat for the rights of all ; the enemy of right , whoever lie be , shall be our enemy , for our motto is : one for all , all for one ; our desire is liberty , equality , justice for all ; we wish that every population , as well as each individual , be entitled to freely choose its city ; and , should the fixation of territorial boundaries create
litigation , it is not ( were we even ten times stronger ) the sword , not brutal force that shall decide ; it will be right that will be the mediator ; it will be the future congress of European Democracy , auch us you in your sagacious foresight propose to us in advance , and to the verdicts of which we from this moment readily submit . Our neighbours will likewise submit ; donot doubt it . At thin hour the ) r all know that against brutal force there will always be still greater brutal force to oppose , and that the power of right alone is invincible , for there is no right against right .
" The great Duuubiuu I ' edoration will be a fact of our epoch , " you say . Yes , for the liberty of the Dunubian populations will be a fact of our epoch . In the view of self-preservation , and the development of well-being , association becomes an imperious law to all animated beings : to man , considerations of a higher moral order render it still more impeiious ; but liberty is to such an extent our essence , that even individuals or 1 ' eoples , who by their nature an ; sympathetic , and are attracted towards each other , reciprocally repel each other , under the
pressure of power . Without liberty no association is possible ; whilst with liberty the Peoples , ' those individual * of Humanity , " will link the individuals who associate , according to their inclination and iheir wants , in ii common interest , group themselves around each other , according to their geographical position and afliuitieH . Ah every I ' eople possesses Home aptitudes of its own , and a special mission to accomplish in this world , and as the l ' eoples belonging to the same race have souk ; allinitien between each other , and similarities which they do not share with Peoples of different races , it is the interest of nil Ihut every nutiou should reunite- all ita piutu in a concentrated
whole , strongly organise itself , indefinitely develope its individuality , and harmonize it with that of other nations of the same race ; thus preventing the forces of mankind from being scattered about , and from being neutralized by ill-assorted alliances . Hence the thought which guides us Roumains in all our acts is to unite ourselves in an indivisible whole , and to establish a community of thought and action among us , Italians , French , Spaniards , and our other brethren o f the same race living in the new world , and at the same time to form a great fraternal association with the populations whom chance has placed near us , in order to render the relations between the Peoples more facile , and to increase our mutual
resources . Let no fear creep into the bosoms of our neighbours ! The Danubian Federation , or , if you like it better , the close alliance of the Danubian Peoples , will not be a universal society , a community of property . In our association every member will continue to enjoy a free disposition of his resources ; he will only be answerable for his share in the engagement . Every one will preserve his individuality , his proper action . We shall not imitate models of the past , in which weak nationalities , confederated , intermingled , almost absorbing themselves reciprocally , merely to resist powerful enemies . Thanks to God , our nationalities lesta
are distinct , well characterized and strongy - blished ; thanks to God , the barbarians no longer menace us with their invasions , for the sun of civilization already extends its genial rays very far beyond our southern frontiers , and the solidarity of all Peoples will soon protect the right of each . Besides , we are ourselves a living proof that a People which is conscious of its own providential destiny , which understands and performs its mission in this world , cannot perish . The People which made its chord vibrate , and has already flung its note into the grand symphony of mankind , performed under the finger ot the Almighty , is imperishable . To doubt it would be to despair of humanity , nay , of its Creator .
Meanwhile , before the day of political and social reconstruction of the Peoples arrives , we watch ; we watch , we organize our forces , and proportion them to those of our neighbours for the great battle of victory we soon shall fight ; for this time we must vanquish . Banish all fear , then , brethren ; the Czar and the Emperor of Austria cannot deceive us . We have unmasked them , and show them in all their ugliness and impotency to the Peoples , whom they could still seduce or intimidate . And this is the reason why they are so enraged against us . But never mind , our turn will come to-morrow , and woe to them , for we shall be just .
Put your fuith in us , brethren , as we do in you ; the Roumani shall not deceive the hopes which European Democracy has placed in him ; we have already built the new arches of the Trajan bridge , and the first cry of victorious Democracy will rend the veil which now hides it from the jealous eye of the tyrants , and the bridge of the People ' s holy alliance will appear resplendent with beauty and strength ; for the cement used in its construction was moistened with the blood of our martyrs , and burnt in the ardent furnace of our souls ; it will be the symbol of the great European fraternity . We have almost accomplished our task , and we will entirely achieve it , doubt not , brethren .... we will achieve it , for our own conscience commands it , mankind invites us , and God wills it . In conformity with the original , Sept . 11 , 1851 . D . Huatuno .
(Drnaimatimis Uf The $Eaple,
( Drnaimatimis uf the $ eaple ,
Political And Social.
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL .
English Sympathy 1-Or French Rei'ublican...
ENGLISH SYMPATHY 1-OR FRENCH REI ' UBLICANS . To nil practical purposes of the period in which we live , Konsuth rightly defined " politics" as being " the science of exigencies "—and he who tloes not treat politics as such , must take his place either in the ranks of the dreamers or the obstructives . To many straightforward persons every suggestion of policy appears as the suggestion of trick . The great politician whose words are quoted above ; , cannot , be supposed to mean anything of that kind by the definition he guve . His own heroic career is a sufficient denial of such a supposition . Ity political policy i . s meant wise and honest calculation — not nuuiuMivreuud only by sensible and veracious calculation can a politician among us advance his views . He who calculates by tricks , deserves to fail ; and he who does not calculate as a true man , blunders , and will fail sooner or later , whether he deserves it or not . At the prenent hour , thoughtfulness is again much needed . The recent events in France awaken emotions which language ! cannot adequately utter ; but out of all that is felt by the people , only so much should bis expressed as will , in this time of excitement , he adequately ami justly understood . Tho meeting held at tho National-hall last week , to expreua tjymnathy for tho French people , ia an
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 27, 1851, page 1239, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_27121851/page/19/
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