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722 THE L.EAPEK TPpblic
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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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Tiif Liberal Ltnion That Lord Derby Obta...
_Austria to come to terms with France ; but those who know the obstinacy which characterises the Court of Vienna whenever it is wrong , do not anticipate anything so sensible as a confession of 3 efeat . The Adda is not reckoned a strong line of defence ; but on the Mincio Austria may hold her ground for months , and during that period she may calculate upon regaining by diplomacy what she has lost by war By transporting troops through Bavaria " she has compromised the neutrality of that Power , and will continue her efforts to force either that or some other _Geiinan State in- to hostility with France . These efforts , _however , cut both ways , and would justify Prussia in break- ing up the Germanic Confederation , rather than permit one of its members to plunge all the states urto danger by acts contrary to the spirit of their union . The advice given by Russia should be eh- forced by England , as the best chance of bringing the war Ito a quick and satisfactory termination , by making Austria feel that the cup of quarrel is her own making , and thait she is welcome to drain it to the dregs , if she doos not choose to cry " hold , enough . " We regret to observe that the Tuscans are doing very little for their own emancipation , and this will be the more deplorable if jealousy of Sardinia is connected with the inaction . At such a crisis inItalian history all differences should be set aside , and , as a practical step towards ultimate unity and - . liberty , all the north of Italy should hasten to acknowledge allegiance to the Sardinian crown . This may not be the best thing that Italian patriots could conceive ; but the man or the nation that neglects the practicable in search of the ideal incurs a penalty of bitter experience as the inevitable reward of a lack of sense . ¦ " . _¦¦¦¦¦' ¦ ''' ¦ ¦ _JbiAL _.
722 The L.Eapek Tppblic
722 THE L _. EAPEK _TPpblic
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. ___ ' _ _v _ _„ _ . _ _IMKJirAl _^ Jii _^ _^^ VV U _± lMJ ? KJl < bbMl ! _i . N 1 . The greater is the danger of waiv—to be pre- paredfor which thewhole nation is now arming—the more incumbent it is oh the public to prevent all new measures , and sweep away all old measures , which tend to excite an unwillingness in our sea- faring people to serve in the navy . We would fain hoj ) e that Ministers entertain a similar view , for the only measure which they announce in the speech from the throne is a bill to give effect to the recommendations of the commissioners , for inquiring into the best means of manning the navy . In the main , these recommendations consist of concessions of more pay , more provi- sions , and less restraints onthe seamen ; but all these could be carried into effect by grants of money without further authority from the Legisla- ture ; and therefore we suspect that the bill is chiefly intended to modify the law , as recommended by the commissioners , for more effectually enforc- ing " the compulsory service of the seamen . " In consequence , we feel it our duty to refer once more to this semi-barbarous method of procuring useful services . It is nothing better than a civil war on a small scale , ruinous in proportion , like all civil wars ; yet high authorities talk complacently of reviving it . There are some things , we must remind the' reader , which Government ought not to do , such as prescribe or bias religious faith , settle the _intercst of money or the price of corn ; and there are other things , such as defending the nation or raising a revenue in the best manner , which it is bound to do . Our country can best be defended on the surrounding ocean _, and its defence must mainly bo entrusted to our maritime population— borderers , everywhere placed nearest to the post of danger , nnd by nature appointed the defenders of their native land . Their instincts concur with their position . They are fearless , and dislike foreigners . Only by retaining" their affections and wisely guiding their exertions , can our Government perform its duty of defending tho State . It has , ttoweyer , been so stupidly arrogant and oppressive , eo blind to facts and reason , that it has over- powered their strong instinct of patriotism by their stronger instinct of self-preservation , and driven them from / the naval service and tho country . . These consequences of prerogative have boon known for a century , and the conduct of Govern- mont has been condemned alike by moral sonti- xnent and careful observation . Lattovly , a thousand peddling little improvements in pay , pensions and provisions , badges for good conduct—no one will give Government _euoh a badge—have been made
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in order to lessen the _repugnance of the maritime population to the naval service . Bounties , pensions , and other blandishments , however , have failed to overcome this repugnance . To this day it occa- sions alarm for the public safety , and numerous inquiries have been instituted how it may be conquered . Last year the commission already referred to was appointed in consequence of an address of the House of Commons . It consisted of the Earl of Hardwicke , the Marquis of Chandos , Mr . Cardwell , Admiral Martin , Sir J . D . H . Elphin- stone , Commodore Shepherd , Mr . Lindsay and Mr . Greene , shipowners , and Mr . Shepherd , a Deputy Master of the Trinity House . The commission ended its labours last February , and its report has recently been published , lo ascertain the reasons of the acknowledged repug- nance of the maritime population _^ to the naval ser- vice was one object of the commission , as many _of the questions put to the different witnesses dis- tinctly prove . But neither the character and position of the members of the commission , not one of whom belongs to the class whose feelings were to be inquired into , nor the witnesses sum- moned before it , only one of whom was a member of the seafaring communities of Shields , Sunder- land , Bridport , Yarmouth _^ Leith , & c , is calculated to inspire the public with any confidence in the investigations and conclusions of the commission _, One of its own members—perhaps the one in whom the seamen might place the most confidence , Mr . Lindsay—dissented from its conclusions , and an- nounced his dissent in a separate report . Thus the latest investigation leaves the subject , so far as official men are concerned , in all its original obscurity , and leaves the country exposed to . all the evils of its natural defenders continuing dis- affected and unwilling to serve the State . Some of the conclusions of the commissioners , _and some of the statements 6 f the political witnesses , will excite the surprise of the public , Notwithstanding our experience of the disas- trous effects of impressment ; _notwithstanding the assurance given to the commissioners by many com- petent witnesses , that compulsion could no longer be used that , in fact , it is as dead as Geo . III ., as surely killed by the progress of civilisation as the cu"stom of wearing swords , the commis- sioners do not propose to " weaken the force of her Majesty's prerogative . " They think she may still require compulsory service at sea ; and so they keep , as Captain Pirn lias already informed the seamen , impressment hanging in terror-em over them . Our _semirbarbarous authorities still claim to _exei-cise the prerogative of the middle ages , and of a slave state . The ci-devant First Lord of the Admiralty to the " dirty boy " of Punc 7 i , one of the witnesses , is strenuously opposed to " any legislative enactment which should , m the slightest degree , impair the prerogative of impressment . " Sir 3 James Graham even prides himself on having given a statutory sanction to the old prerogative , though oven he was _obliged to " impair" or restrict it . With such opinions entertained by our statesmen , should the least emergency arise , the country will again sec our unteachable authorities driving , by their arbitrary violence , our natural defenders into the arms of our opponents . A dog returning to his vomit is not inox _* e disgusting than these often defeated and convicted men , ever going back with ardent love to thoir old dishonoured and barbarous practices . For clodhopping persistence in old ways , for chums to power more absurd than the Pope ' s claim to infallibility , commend us to our Admiralty , and all connected with it . Worse than the Bourbons—it novcr loams that it is oven possible to be wrong . Tho Queen ' s _preroga- tive is now another name for the Ministers' power ; and in tho year 1859 , when such claims are made , tho public should at once curtly and decisively say that no ministers—no Parliament even—shall over again bo allowed , on any pretext whatever , to _xiso brutal compulsion towards tho seamen , and treat them a _» if they were the slaves of tho throne . —
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, -nmrT * apttv rn _? _tt'tt'wt _^ _txtatvtia _tt _WUWtAlllY OI FERDINAND II . _NO > UI _« In November , 1847 , a politioaldemonstration , which lasted two days and three nights , took place at Palermo . This may be regarded _ae tho prelude and precursor of all the European revolutions of 1848 . Palermo , the capital of Sicily , is a city to
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which the liberal world is deeply indebted for the liberal lessons she imparted eleven years ago . The . birth-place of the immortal Giovanni Piraino the learned Baron Casimiro Pisani , and the seat ' of a Parliament during eight centuries , this city , which dethroned kings because they could not or ' would not maintain its free institutions , boldly cast the gauntlet of defiance at Ferdinand the Second , and under the humble roof of a man of law drew up a proclamation which would have been characterised as a mere foolish bravado , had it not been followed by definite results . Francesco Bagnasco published the following programme : —" Sicilians ! our prayers , pacific protestati _ons , demands and supplications , have all . proved vain . So far from listening to them , Ferdinand has despised them . We , a people born free , are obliged to humble ourselves and beg for our rights . To arms , then , Sicilians ! Let the morning of January 12 th be the moment when the era of universal regeneration shall commence I Union , order , obedience to your leaders , respect for property ! Heaven second and prosper our holy undertaking ! Sicilians to arms ! " This proclamation began to be circulated throughout Sicily on the 4 th of January , 1848 . In the evening of the 1 lth , every one supplied himself with a stock of _pi-ovisions . The Government of Pahnero awaited the dawn of the 12 th . Patrols of fifty soldiers , picquets of cavalry reinforcements of the guards were attended to . The troops were consigned to their quarters ; the mortars with the -artillery of the forts prepared and the matches lighted were undoubted signs that , notwithstanding the incredulity 6 fGovemment , itwaspreparedforanyevent . Onthe 14 th of January , in spite of the universal excitement , the common desirejand wish of 200 , 000 inhabitants , the revolution was begun by 'fourteen individuals only : Of these only one was - . killed and one wounded , while the other twelve had put to flight , by ten o'clock a . m ., 135 soldiers of the line , a picquet of cavalry commanded by the son of Marshall Viall , and compelled Government to p lant four pieces of artillery in the . front of the Royal Palace , to command the . Via di Toledo , the principal street , a mile and three quarters in length _, These prodigies , accomplished by twelve resolute men , _pi _* oduced their effect . Tn the evening the city lay in a state of profound silence , broken only by an occasional shot fired from the lloyal Palace . On the 13 th a revolutionary committee was formed , and La Masa , Crispi , and Pilo , assumed the direction , as far as circumstances would permit , oi the revolutionary movement . Victory favoured the Palennitans . . "Without arms , powder , or artillery , they kept at bay , routed , and compelled to ask quarter , an army of 17 , 000 men , with an artillery of sixty guns . Nine thousand men tinder the command of Desuget , and the brother oi Ferdinand II ., were arrested and routed by 300 combatants . On the 28 th of January , eight steamers bore the relics of -2 G , 000 men to Naples ; the rest had fallen a prey to the balls ot the insurgents . Two hours and a-linlf ' s bombardment , executed by four pieces of thirty-six , and ( two mortars of sixteen , obliged the fort to yield ; j and it is false to say that it yielded in consequence of orders received by tlie commander irom _* erdinand . His orders , issued between _feopteinoci 1847 , and February 4 th , 1848 , were the loiiowing : — i _i 1 . Arrest all whom you believe to be opposcu to the Government . . 1 , " 2 . Punish the arrested by boating at me nomw of the public _cxeoutibner . 3 . _* » _'o upon any one -who _oflei-s resistance . 4 . Bombard every two minutes lrom cacn mortar . 5 . Permit the soldiers to make booty _, G . Promise everything . Use the most energetic means to arrest the revolutionary chiefs _, These orders wero executed to the very Jettra , and the headsman employed _hia oflico upon irom fifty to two hundred daily , to impose terror upon _, the people _, Had Sicily not risen in revolt in _Jnnunry , 1848 , th 0 other revolutions which burst out in almost every country of Europe would , in all probability * have boon unheard of . Palermo , the birthplnceoi FerdinandII ., was the city most oppressed tluougliout his wholo empire , and , in _oonsequeneo , hQth before and wince that period , her _sluirc has been groat in tho _oflbrts uuuto to _ronist tho tyranny ol King Bomba . Had * ho remained pni _^ ive , it ' * more than probable tliat _Nnples wouM l » _ivo made <
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 11, 1859, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/sldr_11061859/page/14/
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