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candour enough to disregard the twaddle about producing confusion , and vras party man enough not to throw away what he was supposed to have thought was the last chance which would ever be his to recreate the Whig party— by getting out of the Coalition . But his eventuating tears indicate his state of "body ; he hadn't health enough to be daring , and so gave in , and was cowed into a great constitutional sneak off , chiefly because , being nervous and assiduously earwigged' by the I ^ aboucheres and George Greys , he was afraid h « wouid have carried no party out of the Coalition . For which the House , which , of course , is with difficulty restrained from reforming itselij cheered him with uproarious heartiness , and for which the papers , particularly the gushing Liberal ones , patronised him as a great patriot — a great patriot because , they said , he preferred the advantage of his country to his own advantage . Indeed , his self-suppression , which would not have startled the Hotnans , is conspicuously glorious in a country whose contractors sell to our noble troops bad hay , and whose shipbuilders dp a stroke of business , as privately as possible , with the enemy , and whose young braves ( see the Cork papers accounting for increased emigration ) rush to America rather , than enlist , ~ -though they would enlist to defendcivilisation against barbarism .
being a man whom Liberals should mostly dread as the thing of liberal principles , I -don't understand why on Tuesday he should have been so entirely separated , hi the consideration and reference of the House of Commons , from his colleagues of the Coalition Government . Granted that Lord John Russell was sincere in introducing his bill , and patriotic in withdrawing it : —was the Coalition Government sincere on " Reform ? " Granted that
Lord John Biusell was unaffectedly sorry , for whatever reason , in . being stopped with his bill : —were Lord John Bussell ' s colleagues in , the weeping condition of the chief mourners for the . dear defunct " party ? " These are questions which suggest jthe elaborateness of the sham . of Tuesday ' s ceremonial ; and , therefore , the folly of the pathos . And all the whimpering Radicals and touched Tories were perfectly aware of the sham — in fact , the Eadicals laughed , consumedly , for , tlie usual reason ! when
Mr . Disraeli pointed out that" it was sham . The most credulous Radical believed no . more , from the beginning , ' than * that Lord" John' would have preferred to haW gone out on the bill ;—not even . Mr . Hume believed that Lord John wanted the bill carried . And , on ' the otiier fiatia , every one knew that the majority in" the " Cabinet , who make no disguise of that secret , Had looked at the whole of this " Reform row" as a ^ nQischievdug ' saiiness , impedhig the Government , and only amusing Lord John . .
What could . be done , however ? There was Lord John wiping his eyes and sobbing ; who could have had the heart to say too rough a truth ? It is-all very well for strangers and outsiders to sneer and be accurate ; but a club is a club , and the House of Commons is a club ; and , when you don ' t feel a nation behind you , as Von Vincke had the ot ; her day , to back you and support you , you prefer not to agonise a respectable nobleman whom you may be sitting next to that very evening in the tea-room , tagging him to be so kind as to pass the muffin or
the milk . He is not bound to read the newspapers ; you are bound to believe he doesn't ; and you say what you like , and what you think the lofty duties of journalism require you to say , in the imposing bourgeois which symbolises your profession . Biityou cant be a truth-teller in the House of Commons , if the age is aa apathetic age , and you know that . nobody— Ofoa know that you don't )—cares anything about the question . See what Shelley got by it . Shelley said the Reform Bill was a sham ; and Shelley was worried—Hume was down on him—the
Tories yah-ed him ; Lord John , trembling with passion , scorned to take any notice of him . Who that remembered the fate of Shelley would have cared to be candid on Tuesday—the House , generous and good-natured , and clubby , being in a mood to vote Lord John an illimitable pension ? Nobody did anything so foolish . ' Mr . Bright , whose moral courage is supported ia the club by frequent contact with Manchester , avoided the disaster , and was complimentary—almost caressing . Every one set to soothing the afflicted parent of the early-removed
offspring—the gods having evidently fallen in love , for Olympian reasons , with the minority clause . In fact , the House did not trust itself to do more than give the hysterical round of cheering , as Lord John sat down ; no sooner was Labouchere seen on his legs , to do the sympathetic howling over the bier , than members rushed to the door in hundreds : and only a merely decent number were retained , —who had sufficient command
over their feelings to be enabled to wait for the possible . elegies of Disraeli and Bright . Accordingly , Mr . Disraeli , who , had he risen , as he should have risen immediately after Lord John had fallen back on his bench , would have kept the House , spoke his somewhat clumsy kindness to a dismal three or four dozen of early diners ,: and Sir John Pakington was critical to about forty—who began to wonder what they were staying for . Sir John was worthy of a larger audience : at least his shrewdness should have
been reported , which it wasn't . Sir John has made the most of the session : and his phrase , which acutely sums up a sliam , should be endorsed by Lord John on tlie lieform Bill , when lie puts it buck into ita pigeon hole;—viz ., " tlio Reform Bill which has ( o be withdrawn is a KeformBill which should never have been introduced . " Xaturdaij MoYnimj . A Stranckr .
, On the whole , it occurred to me that the scene of Tuesday , when the stern patriot was offering up to his country a virgin . Reform Bill , was not very-creditable to Great Britain . There are precedents for Lord John ' s crying : fox , particularly after a heavy night at faro , wept woefully with all the pathos so exuberant in men when they are pitying themselves . And it is rather honourable than otherwise that the Radicals whimpered , and that the Tories - were touched ; a tale of woe , if regular heavy woe , appeals to our best feelings and affects us , in
spite of ourselves , —just as you will see the oldest stagers plunging ] into their handkerchiefs when Desdemona is under the bolster , Mrs . Haller is carried off to the left wing , and Pauline Deschapelles goes up the limited staircase , leading on her unexpected , mother-in-law , and wondering whether she'll have tune to dress properly for the next scene . A drama is dramatic : and Lord John , on Tuesday , was & natural actor , so tntt he brought down the stall as well as the galleries , — -and made even Hayter , the call-boy , feel femaly . The speech
was a pity the sorrows of a poor old man' who had tried a variety of Houses with a variety of Reform Bills , and could not get any of them accepted , sort of speech : and as far as the personal distress of the plaintive vagrant was concerned , it was right and proper in the House to sympathise in the " mental struggle" of a man who had made a mess of a great question , and who didn't know what to do with it or himself . Lord John Russell is the sort of man English gentlemen like , he is so English gentlemanly , and it is not astonishing that while the
House of Commons is a club , and not a national senate , the personal liking for the man should within doors overshadow political doubts about the statesman . But out of doors , where , at least among journalists , it is desirable there should be accurate estimates of governing men , the disposition should be rather to laugh at Lord John than to cry with Lord John , and to be angry , rather than sympathetic , with the House of Commons . There is nothing in the career of Lord John Russell to support the Laboucherian theory that Lord John Russell has been the
champion of the Liberal cause . I think there would be no commotion about a Reform Bill now , had not the Reform Bill of 1832 been a delusion , foisted upon a dull people by a clever Wliig party , and I don ' t know that Lord John Russell ' s name can be connected with anything but that celebrated delusion . I think that when Lord John Russell left office a short time ago , after fifteen years' sway of the
destinies of Great Britain , lie left office because he had passed a petty Turitan bill to insult the religion of the majority of Christendom : and when he heft office , he left Continental Europe Kussia . ni . sed , the colonies all in revolt , and Kngland so elcctornlly arranged that hor representation had to be acknowledged by himself to be a lie and a fraud . And even were Lord John Russell , in truth , a man entitled to the euiifidence and condolence of Liberals , instead of
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There is no learned man . but will . confess lie Ixatb . mucn profited toy reading controversies , his ' seasesawakened , and boa judgment sharpened . If , then it be profitable for himfa read , why should it not at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . —Mimou " ¦ ' ¦ ¦ : ' ' * ' ] '; " " ' ¦ - <• • ¦ ¦¦ ¦; ; ' ¦¦ ; V * .
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CTo the Editor cf tlie Leader . ) Sir , —I am interested in the success of the Leader ? and have considerable respect , for . its opinion , but I confess myself altogether ' unable to understand the * drift bf the artide ' last week on the '' Proposed Ka- * tionality League . " Am I to understand that the * Order of the Lone Star is held up to us as an example ? " Cuba ; " > orisay , ;? i *» bonfc to I become a > state of the American Union , " and ! ihrough . thejijggrj flnence of this Order :- * -thj « specific purpose of t ^ Order being *' t < f bring the I ^ ne . Star vhich lies ^ &
the mouth of the Missisaippi into ^ e . galaxy whose ensign is the star-spangled banner . " , You give ^ bk " as ^ a rt *^ J ™ $ p ^^ morement . " - Now it appears to me that this •« Order '" ' is merely a conspiracy d of uri ^ run ^ dui ^ M ' jobbers and adventurersto ^ ea / what ^ would b « the interest of the Unldn ~ td pbss ^^ has lost the opikirtunity ; wJiich ^ America ex ^ end ^ d ^ he ^ of selling ^ ilai ^^ fe ^^ Cpt ^ i ^ oiooa
mm - n may ye * cose Domxoopaia ana Ame * rica ; but Cuba will be American . " trfat isi 1 prc- ^ sume , Spam being veak iaiidunwiUipgtQiell or part with her property , America ' is tociit the ; ihroat 0 « f the Spaniards / and take , it by foR » . > This you call M the extension of the IJnion - and its influence ^ " promoting the principles and instituHons off * he Union aggressively—by reason and tfie sword wirfta ing together . " And you recommend a similar league ^ to us ! . You eay , " ^ br ^ aji ^ h ^ eB ^ e ' tt ^ a 0 p $ a $ > 0 & and dictate , yre now adyise . and l ^ tte ^^; 4 < but ' triiti rougher times that will try the mettle of Englishtcen will revive the lifew&biu < $£ 4 § x $ M $ fc& ^ m& fnrm Kilt . Vto a launia'tn anafain 1 !!« iili > K { n > . t : ^ 'i : ^»
-actively , and mggressively ^^ Youjwlll excuse me if I am utterly anttble to dirtibguisfc betweenKthifin aggressive principle you recommend aqd'the one thAt distinguished the followers of Mahomet , or that now ifi « tte ) tfces ibe RuVslanB . Tlie ^ velfS&re ^ df r ' all » i «§ Riufsiana poMrely requires a : sea ^ dara' auch * af Constantinople w 6 uld give ^ and the GbjistiaW a % only taking from the , TuT ^ whjitijne l ^ ur , ks sitpl ^ from them : but America h ^ no i ^ Kajosj ^ ^ Jieis contemplated robbery and murder . It appears to me that the object of the proposed irat&ftiality L ^ gue is just the reverse of . what : you rtpresent ' it ;; erpressed by the Monthly , i ?« cord as follows : *• England j
has taken up ^ tnVwir | r ^^^ ct 0 ^ ; B ^ lS not , she rnuBt not , lay them ^ dowri . ' un'til a serieFof propositions have been aolemnly /^ opted 3 byv ^ l ^ ti&& EuiopeariLpQwers , as a ibundjition'fo ^ ternational transactions , and-the first of ttiese ^ shipultq be , — -nopdteer shall ever ' ititerflire , ^ ede ^' i ^ bff ^ pee ^ f and friendl y advice , with Another people ' s internal bbn $ cerns ; in the event qf any potqer y iolatingithisrvXi , alk other powers will inter / ere in opposition , and re'eatablish the balance in favour of the attached nation . " By Acting on these principles , Poland , Italy , and Hungary , would have been saved ;—on yours , the Czar , promoting his principles of absolutism aggressively , pep set all Europe in a blaze . I am , sir , A Member op the Sooiett or tub Friends or r Italy . , ^ '• April 11 th .
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April 15 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . 36 a .
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IIX XB 1 S DEPAETMBJTT , AS AIX OPIBHOITS , ROWKTIR KXTRBUK . Jl&M
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Wednesday , the 26 th inst ., has beon named as the national fast on account of the war ; but as the Edinburgh sacramental fast takes p lace on the following day , Thuraday , the 27 th , steps have been taken with the view of altering tho nationnl fast-day for Scotland to the 27 th . Should Government not consent to this , it is most probable that the sacramental fast will be altered to the 26 th ; And in this event the usual Wednesday markets will be held on Tuesday , tho 25 th inst . —Scotsman . The Piedinontese Government has just granted a sprn of 80 , 000 f . to MM . Sommeillier , Grattoni . and Grandis , for an cxporinient of the invention of „ the application of compreeseU air to locomotion , which will probably bo used in tho ascent of Mont Oenia and tho Col do Tende . —Paris paper . It appearo tJie Czar of Russia is tho landlord of certain corn stores an d houses ia Limerick , which produce a net yearly rental of 400 / . Four fatal caseu of cholera have occurred at Hoylako , the -victims being notorious for their dissipated and dirty habits . Some official gentlemen from Liverpool have visited Hoy-lake to inquire into tho probable causes of tlio disease . —Liverpool rimes .
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Leader (1850-1860), April 15, 1854, page 353, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2034/page/17/
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