On this page
-
Text (4)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Untitled Article
once with an administration and a policy suited to the progress of the age . Its success is to be calculatedfrom the elements of its own constitution ^ A ministry appealing , as this must , " To * Persons about toMarry ' ' - —a very numerous class , we understand ; appealing as it does " To Advertisers , "— £ the vast interest which exercises a peremptory sway over thejwhole press ; appealing as it does to all classes , —to the nobility , gentry , and public in general , —cannot but succeed in that which has been the despair of every preceding ministry , in uniting all classes under the dominion of the national spirit , the shopkeeping
persuasion . We understand that the ministry will be joined as an ally , if not as a colleague , by Mr . Eisenbergj who , like the Duke of Wellington , carries in his pocket the signatures of half the nobility , to say nothing of the excellent footing on which he stands with Louis Napoleon Bonaparte . Possibly , though it must be a matter of some delicacy in the asking , Mr . Eisenberg might waive any objection that he would naturally entertain against taking the post vacated by Lord
Malmesbury . This happy idea restores the conduct of public affairs to harmony with the " great facts" of the age . The Barons have had their day ; the country gentry have had their Bill ofUights , and have killed their own mutton long ago ; the Church , which took to itself what it asked for the poor , belongs essentially to a past sera ; even the merchant interest passed its zenith under Sir Robert Peel ; but the true union is consummated for our day in the union of Shop and State .
Untitled Article
MALMESBURY'S MAGNUM OPUS RE . EDITED . It has only been by degrees that the true nature of Lord Malmesbury ' s administration has become known to ihe English public ; even the Mather story has become intelligible , bit by bit , and it has needed constant recapitulation , in order to fit it to more developed knowledge . A detachment of Austrian soldiers is passing along the street , to relieve guard ; the street is crowded , and two English youths , nineteen and seventeen years of age , endeavouring to cross the street in the midst of a crowd , pass between the
band and the detachment ; while in that position , one of them is pushed by the sword of an officer , and then by the officer's left hand ; as he is getting out of the way , he is Btruck in the face by a second officer ; and , turning round , as any English youth would , to ask the meaning of the attack , he is cut down with the sabre . In these particulars , both variations of the story agree ; but there is one point of difference . He turned round , says Marshal Badetzky , in the action of an English boxer : the civilians who witnessed the occurrence , distinctly deny that they saw
anything of the kind . It is remarkable that their evidence , which appears to have been taken , is totally set aside , whilst the report of an officer on duty appears to be equivalent to a revelation , in the estimate of Marshal Eadotzky . But , it is still more remarkable that the English Minister , the Earl of Malmesbury , Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs , absolutely admits Marshal Hadotzky's account as final and sufficient , and , on the strength of it , pronounces the occurrence to be " an accident , " unstained by personal or national animosity .
The reason for the aotion of Lieutenant Forsthuber must be admitted as a sufficient motive . In England , we are at first surprised to see an officer applauded for striking an unarmed man j and Lord Palmerston relates , in Parliament , two anecdotes , Bhowing that the possession of a weapon has been considered , both , by a brave Englishman and a brave Frenchman , to bean absolute disqualification for contest with an unarmed man ; to Lord Westmoroland , Prince Sohwarzenberg reciprocally boastod of a similar feeling ; but , when Lieutenant Forsthuber , " fearing ot
^ "f ^ T ^> - > be exposed to a dishonouring insult , from which ^ />^>^^ i ^^ O \ ^ oessarily behoved him to . secure himself , " ^ L /^^^ C ^^!^!^ ^ * - " ki , Mather * ' a blow on the head 5 % l ^^^ W ^^^ St ^!^ ° &R ° ° f h * sabre ' , " Marshal Kadotzky ^ |^^ J ^ ^^^ lT *^ unoos * "k ° was perfeotly right , " and ft * T ^ ft ^ ffio $ cmf ^ * ie ft ^ ° lu * ^ y did nothing but what he was * n iSl ) ff ^ k \ U ! HM& *? ^ ° ' . * ° d ° * en <; l lumselt from an outrage , i £ Pk ^^ Ik ^ A inevitable consequences . " Now , wo bo-, J& jf ^^ ^ OSplpw ^ hcro is no nation under tho sun , not oven / ' ^ V ^ m-StS ^ ** wiuinniatecl Neapolitan nation , whose y ' ^ ' ^^^^ Jjpnw ldierft wr © otherwise than , brave * aud . therefore the conduct pf tho Austrian Lieutenant , backed
by the approval of his chief , would be simply a puzzle to the English reader , if he were not informed of an absolute rule in the Austrian service , that every Austrian officer who receives a blow , must kill the man who gives it , or be subject to degradation . That is the rule , inflexible as the doom of destiny , which neither the Marshal nor the Lieutenant could gainsay ; but it is not the rule applicable to English subjects ; and
the surprising fact is , not that it should receive the acquiescence of Austria , but that it should receive the submission of an English Minister , on behalf of an English subject , on territory not Austrian . For we always are to remember that Mr . Mather had not placed himself within the paje of Austrian laws by entering Tuscan territory ; and that , therefore , the rule of Austrian law was not to be accepted in his case , by the Minister of the English Government .
Anticipating the treatment which he ia to receive from his own Government , Lord Malmesbury has disavowed his diplomatic agent in Tuscany , Mr , Scarlett * not because he had accepted an inadequate compensation , — --Lord Malmesbury had . already blown upon tjbat part of the case , by his own instructions j not because he had mixed up the claims of the Mathers with that of the Stratfords ; but , says Jjord Malmesbury , because he had abandoned the principle of Tuscan responsibility . Now , as Lord Palnierston has shown , Mr . Scarlett had not abandoned that principle
he h * d simply waived its discussion ; and Lord Malmesbury had acquiesced in that waiver . But the mixture of the two cases , which Lord Malmesbury sanctions , was , in itself , absurd , as Lord Palmerston demonstrates . The Stratfords had a right to release , on tlie ground that they had been convicted by an illegal tribunal , —an Austrian court-martial on Tuscan territory , which has no claim to be recognised by the British Government , Lord Malmesbury ' s agent , therefore ,
cruelly as he has been reprimanded on wrong grounds , has gratuitously yielded an important principle in the case of the Stratfords , and has fawningly accepted a degrading compromise in the case of the Mathers ; in both respects with Lord Malmesbury's express sanotion . The case is not over yet . Lord Malmesbury has begun , again ; but we are much mistaken if Mr . Mather , the sound-hearted , does not still keep a watch for Englishmen over our own English Foreign Secretary .
Untitled Article
A SPOONER-FUL AT BEDTIME , OCCASIONALLY . " If you flog my Jew , " cried the German postillion , " I'll flog yours : " " If you won't read my County Polls Bill a third time , " cried Lord Robert Grosvenor , " I'll move the adjournment of your Maynodtli debate ; " and on that motion the House voted . It was a critical hour , and great was the judgment needed in Spooner . He had much in his favour . He was the champion chosen to uphold a cause specially and avowedly favoured by Derby , though not by Disraeli ; he was utrong in the sense of exclusive rightcousnoBS : " Dieu et mon Derby" might have been his motto . Thrice had he forced the House to entertain the
question 5 and although taunted with the inevitable necessity of leaving the inquiry after all till " next session , " he had succeeded in pushing it forward . In vain , practical but discreet members tried to shirk the uncomely but " Protestant" intolerance ; in vain Disraeli was forced to admit his reluctance , and to swallow it ; in vain generous politicians urged the House openly to set the subject aside . Thus far Spooner had succeeded .
But now came his dark hour . It was far boyond the midnight of Monday *—nearly three o'clock on Tuosday morning . The House had been sitting ,, exclusively of a two-hours rest , for nearly thirteen hours , and had been discussing every variety of subjects , including more than ono Irish question . IVlr . Scully was jln possession of the liouso , and , on a previous night , had spent throe hours in bringing the history of
Maynooth down to 1814 ; still , therefore , having thirty-oight rooont yoars to work upon . Mr . Disraeli , whom it was so dosirablo to have present at the division , dodarod that , if Mr . Scully should rosurno the dobato , with all his respect for that honourable gentleman , it Ayas his own intention to go home ; and Mr . Sidney Herbert kindly counselled Mr . Spooner not to press tho motion at that hour . But in a spirit of obstinacy , offering ft lugubrious and saintly parody on " W «
won't go home till morning , " Mr . Spooner insisted on keeping watch even after the dawn had streaked , with russet the proceedings of the Honourable House . In the intoxication of the hour , the saints still determined to make a night of it ' and 103 choice spirits out-voted the 29 sober men who were for adjourning , But then came the most singular proposition ever made to Parliament . The most singular , we say advisedly ^ although we have Lord Malmesbury ' s jprojet de lot full in pur recollection . Mr . Spooner proposed to regard that vote as one " indicating the feeling of the House "—in other
words , to record it historically as if it were a vote on the main question ! To such a slippery footing had the Anti-Maynooth cause sunk , that its champion asked to be allowed to consider a vote on adjournment , as a vote on the main question of the grant ! The plea advanced by Mr , Newdegate was , if possible , more extraordinary . . ' . * He considered that the time for fair discussion was over , and , therefore , he had given notice above a week ago that they would take a division on the main question . " The application of this argument to Mr . Spooner ' s proposition is strange ; but the principle involved is wonderful . Adopt it , and we should see discussions divorced from divisions at
—^ the discussion taken one tune , and the division weeks afterwards . The next step would be for the House generally to go on discussing throughout the season , and for the champions of any particular " cause" to take the division when it pleased , them—when the House was in the mood , or the numbers would suit . In this way every side might secure a majority . Ultimately an old suggestion might be adopted , and the division of employments might be carried out by doing all the discussion in one House , and the divisions in the other . And it is Conservative Mry Newdegate who proposes the first step towards that plan for converting the House of Lords to some useful purpose I
• After all , perhaps , Mr , Spooner's plan is the simpler : it is to take any division you please , and consider it as the one on your own motion . But the House is not yet ripe for that proposition , nor green enough for adhesion to Spooner as a leader : he , the Anti-Maynooth blaze , and the session , all go out in the socket together . As heroes of old were translated to the stars in a cloud , so Spooner is lost to the eyes of the faithful in a smoke .
Untitled Article
POPULAR SELF-DEFENCE . The progress of opinion on the subject of national self-defence is satisfactory . Some time since , we saw Mr . Disraeli advancing the Militia Bill as a commencement in the re-arming of the people ; Lord Palmerston had previously deprecated distrust of the people ; and now we find Lord Lansdowne pronouncing it " expedient that by slow degrees the people of this country should be trained to the uso of arms . " The Duke of Wellington upholds a militia as a " constitutional" force , and as a needful part of a poaco establishment . And Lord Grey defends tho expediency of encouraging volunteer corps . A system of volunteer corps is a necessary complement of a militia , and is distinct from volunteor enlistment in the militia . The United States presents the best example of a true militia system — a vast majority of volunteer corps spontaneously formed ; and a . militia in which any man not enrolled in a " uniform companyis liable to serve . When Lord Lansdowne 18 " informed that evon the rocently raised
regiments of tho United States militia show thomselves anything but qualified for aotivo military service , " somebody must be mystifying tJio Marquis . What are " the recently raised regiments P" Zachary Taylor could tell him of ono disqualification which the militiamen oxlubitou for military routine in Mexico — -thoy did not know when they wore beaten . So they went on as if thoy were victorious ; and in tho onil < singularly onough , it proved just as good ! TheUnitod States also exemplify our fromioni remark , that a system of volunteers and w \» ltlf '
including tho whole people , is not juyounu ^ - disorder . Whero public opinion and tho possession of overwhelming physical foroo aroidontioauy coincident with tho great bulk of tho nation , neithor faction nor invasion , neither invador iw » traitor , can surprise the State . The militiamen an volunteers of the American republic have wc » ita victories , defended its institutions , voted iu it » © lections , and guided its policy . The vnion
Untitled Article
588 THE IE ADER { Saturpay ;
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), June 19, 1852, page 588, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1940/page/16/
-