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*« : O ? HE- STRANaER" IN PARLIAME&T . [ The responsibility of the Editor in regard to these contributions is limited to the act of giving them publicity . The opinions expressed are thoae of . the writer ; both the Leader and " The Stranger" benefit by the freedom which is left to his pen and discretion . ] . Lex us all remember , said on Thursday night the Marquis of Laiisdowne in the solemnest tones of that solemn old nobleman , that in the straggle in which we are now engaged the representative system of government is on its trial . And all the . Lords
cheered solemnly ; and the press reports with ' emphasis ; and the country , with awful gravity , accepts the suggestion , and resolves to be cautious—it does not exactly know as to what—bat still cautious . The Lords were talking about the crisis ; and no one seems to perceive that we have had this crisis , and are breaking down in the war , simply because we have 710 / got representative government—dimply because it is sham representative government which is
on its trial . We are a very singular people . If the Marquis of Lausdowne , when he was in the full vigour of brain and manhood , had ventured to advise his nation , we should have treated his advice with the derisive inattention of which an Earl of Malmesbury is now the' subject : we knew the Marquis of Lansdowne was not qualified to guide nations . But now that the Marquis of Lansdowne has become so feeble from age that even his mediocrity is weak mediocrity , we attach the highest importance to his
nonsense . The debate—or rather series of statements—in the House of Lords on Thursday was conspicuous for its jargon of that sort . All the old Lords praised one another : complimented one another ' s patriotism : adulated the good sense of the country : and were sanguine of a general co-operation , at this momentous period , carrying the country they adored through its difficulty . The cant of their class on such occasions was unusually rampant on this occasion ; with . the most complacent innocence the old Lords exposed all the villany of their political system . The Earl of Derby began . Her Majesty sent for him . He headed a party bound together by mutual interest
and mutual good-will . He was conscious of the glory of leading a Government . But he had to consider , ought he ^ o accept office when , as parties are now constituted , he would have to consider how to catch a majority by measures that might not be altogether exactly in the interest of his own party ? No : he felt that he ought not . So he went to Lord Palmerston , and L Mr . Gladstone , and Mr . Sidney Herbert , and he said— " Join me : and then " we four can manage together , and always be sure of a majority . " But they would not . he deeply regretted it . That is a summary of Lord Derby ' s coarsely careless 6 peech . What he meant was , that he didn't care to lead a Government which would not be an absolute Government ; and to get such a strong Government he didn't care joining the Lord Palmerston , whom ho attempted to ruin in the Don Paciflco case , the Mr . Gladstone whom his party have been reviling with unscrupulous malignity these seven' years , and the Mr . Sidney Herbert who had said of the Disraeli Treasury bench—at a time when Mr . Herbert could not have foreseen the majority against the subsequent Coalition— " If you want to see humiliation , look there ! " Not a word through Lord Derby ' s speech of public principle , of the wishes of the country , the spirit of the time , or what is meant by " carrying on the war with vigour "—that is to say , not a word of foreign policy . Ho eulogised Mr . Disraeli—who had announced that England loved not Coalitions—for agreeing to all this baseness , compared with which that of Fox in joining North was a patriotic sacrifice . He eulogised Lord Clarendon , because , though ho had not taken the trouble to ask him , he was quite sure that Lord Clarendon would have joined . Ho eulogised Lord Lansdowne , because ho wns certain , as everybody seems to bo , that the matured virtues of that nobleman aro such that he thinks it his duty to do what anybody may happen to ask him . And , with some insolence , ho eulogised tlio Queen , because ho could assure their Lordships her Majesty had never asked him a single question as to what ho meant to do if she gave the English' people up to him . It was an unvarnished tale—ho euid he had nothing to conceal—ns to how he had conspired to
seize absolute'powsr > in . England , and how he failed , because , to his great astonishment , Mr . Gladstonewho had aided in repealing the Corn-laws , who had opposed the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill , who had assented to the Russell Reform Bill , and who had passed the Succession Duty Bill—four great me asures in six years / oh which , he and the Tory party had ftfttght t o ' thedeath—did-not appreciate the idea of such political rascality . Take Lord Derby ' s speech —the others in the-Lords'that evening were in the same tone of an ingenuous oligarchy—in conjunction with , the too "Candid disclosures of Lord John Russell as to what goes on among Cabinet Ministers behind the scenes—and we attain to a very distinct notion
of the spirit in which the Governing Classes govern Great Britain . Lord Derby has , indeed , so utterly lost sight of the old delusions which used to be kept ap—and which Lord Lansdowne , less lively , keeps up still— -that he does not hesitate to mention that one of the reasons which urged him to go to Lord Palmerston was that he knew Lord Palmerston was " in the Cabinet , without office , " of—Louis Napoleon Only recal Lord John ' s speech in the Paeifico business— " No , sir , my noble friend is not the Minister of Austria , is not the Minister of Russia , he is the
Manaster of Aangland . " ( Loud cheers from all parts of the House . ") These old Lords do not in the least yet discern that the practical British public has detected thesecret of the crisis , and only permits this reconstruction of the Coalition because it would not at such a moment be business-like- to revolutionise the system . The English cau believe a good deal when a Lord is the teller . But the English cannot believe that it was worth while to upset a Government in order to give a Lord Panmure a good office j or that European destinies are to be altered because an old Lord near
eighty takes the place of another oldLord near eighty . The complete catastrophe of the Governing Classes is conspicuous to all the world : and we jaiay be sure the English , an intellectual people , will not long endure the government of pantaloons and fribbles . The crisis has damaged the Governing Classes—not alone in evidencing that they are not leaders of principled parties , but leaders of factions merely , which factions can only carry on the eonspiracy ^ by Coalitions—but still more 7 for all that was suspected already , in showing the hollowness of individual pretensions to public honour , public spirit , and public fealty . Lord John Russell will continue a personage until the chiefs of his party openly transfer their
confidence and transmit their orders to Lord Granville , who seems the candidate . But his personal character is destroyed : that is to say , it is at least understood in the light in which the present writer has for some years laboured to present it to the public and his intellect is so essentially shabby and fifthrate , that if he lost his Bedford proxies to-morrow , he would at once take in the House of Commons about that rank which is held by the sententious Mr . Murdough , or the eloquent Mr . J . Phillimore . Lord Derby ' s character is gone even with his own party y for this is the second time he has insulted them by prbcIarmin ^ tlieir ~ inclipacity ~ tO '" "Sitpply '' occupants for high office , and by proving his own incapacity to effect combinations with the men whom' he has
preferred to them . Mr . Disraeli does not pretend to character : but if it were possible to debase Mr . Disraeli , he must now be debased by the discovery that he , who started a paper called " Anti-Coalition , " would consent to a Coalition , and—worseconsent , for Lord Derby ' s convenience , to be treated like a footman , and , after creating the party , to be relegated to a fourth-rate place in a Conservative Cabinet . Why , however , should Mr . Disraeli be scrupulous ? Here are these old Lords , who are at least Englishmen , treating their country ns robbers treat the common spoil : and why should he , who is no Englishman , refuse his share of the plunder ? He , like the old Lords , would be a more respectable man if the country more respected itself .
But we have a Government : that is the great point . Not that there ' s anything to do but send out lots of men to die in the Crimea , and lots of stores to rot in the Crimea , and take and spend all the money the House of Commons will vote : and that is what is meant when Lord Granvillo , with exemplary timidity , announces , with a glance at tho bewildered-looking Panmure , that the war is to be carried on with vigour . But , still , it is understood to be a great national triumph to induce fifteen old Lords to take an average 4000 J . a year each . And tho nation is , pro ( cm ., content : and our anxious Queon may sleep in peace that'Balaklava has been got out of Downingstreet , and that her old nobility have supplied her with the chance of losing another army in a yoar or so . Still , wo must begin to consider tho prospects of this Government .
One thing is very gratifying } the Anglo-French alliance is now complete , seeing that Louis Napoleon governs both countries , which is one way of sustaining Lord Lansdowno ' s representative system against Russia . Of course Lord Palmerston will hear a good deal on that point , and will keep his temper as bocomos a Constitutional Minister , " who knows what ho is about , and that tho Government of tho British
Empire vaut bien a . laugh . We shall get over being governed by a French Emperor as we got over , two centuries ago , being governed by the Ministry of a French King : the Whigs will find precedents for these matters . But some other tests will be applied ¦ to _ the Palmerston Ministry , in the attempt to ascertain , its policy . Lord . Palmerston ' s principles are vag-ue ; he sent one French Emperor to St . Helena , and he applauded the coup d ' etat of another French Emperor ; he voted for . Sidmouth ' s Six Aets , aria he voted for the ig 32 Reform Bill ; he voted for Catholic Emancipation , and he voted for tie Ecclesiastical Titles Bill ; he is the bottle-holder
of Freedom ' s Champions , and he takes care that the bottle is an empty one . You may hunt up his speeches and . his despatches , and you willget puzzled , one refutes another , or itself , with such cleverness : — in fact , the conclusion you will come to is that Lord Palmerston has no policy : —and in thatrrespect you will see he is admirably qualified to bead a Government , the mission of which , according to Lord < 3 raaville , is to sustain Lord Panmure when Lord Panmure resorts to his best Scotch accent in bullying a set of clerks at the War-Office . But Lord Palmerston has opinions : at least he has one : and ,
seizing upon that , we are bound to give his Ministry a name . He holds the opinion—his solitary opinion—that men are born good , and that , accordingly , the Redeemer made a blunder in coming to redeem us . The Palmerston Ministry is the non-Christian Ministry . Not the anti-Christian Ministry : that would imply a positive opinion , and Lord Palmerston confines his . one opinion to a negation : —the non-Christian Ministry . Oh , ye bishops , will you vote for this Government ? Oh , ye Protestant and Conservative party , is it to this you have brought a pious hind ?—rpious , though practical . Saturday Morning . "A Stranger . "
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Tim jrnis depaktment , as am . opinions , however bxteeue , abb ALLOWED AJf EXPRESSION , THE EDITOR UECESSAHILY HOLDS H 1 MSELJF RESPONSIBLE FOB NONE . 3
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GENERAL MILBITZ . __ ( To the Editor of the Leader . ) 24 , Howland-street , Fitzroy-square , Feb . 7 . SrK , —Permit me to correct an incorrect assertion made in the work of M . About , La Grece Cdrtiempo raine , which you noticed in an interesting article in your number of last Saturday . I was in Athens at the time mentioned by M . About , and was secretary of a committee in aid of the Italian and Polish refugees , of which General Milbitz was president . 1 was , therefore , intimately acquainted with all the Poles , forty or forty-five in number . It was the duty of the committee not only to assist them when they could not obtain employment , but also to exercise a kind of moral influence <> ver them , eo that their-conduct-should j . ^ the hospitality afforded them in a foreign land . For this purpose the committee was duly informed of all their proceedings , and I am able positively to affirm
that I never heard of any Pole having been assassinated , nor of the challenge mentioned by M . About . The hospitality experienced by the refugees in Greece , and which M . About stigmatises as meagre , was fapjmore cordial and effective than that given by France or England ; while in the Ionian Islands , Malta , Marseilles , Corsica , and Algiers , they were rejected , or if received , they were watched by spies , and in no way assisted . But in Greece they found a safe asylum and work . Tho poor fellows had to work very hard , it is true , but still work was given both by the Government and by private individuals ; and there was also a charitable fund , collected by voluntary contributions , to assist them when sickness , bad weather , or other casualty threw thorn out of employment . I can testify that 72 , 000 francs were collected in one year in Athens alone , besides sums subscribed for refugees in Patras , Nauplia ,
Syra , and other towns of tho kingdom . I do not wish to justify the faults of the Greek people . I am neither a Greek nor aPhilhclIonist ; I know there exists in Greece , besides tho Russian , the English , tho French , and even tho German Parties , a ' . ' National Party , " which deserves tho sympathy of every liberal-minded man . This , Jiowevor , is not tho place to spoak on that subject . It la sufficient for me to say that what M . . About hasstated with regard to tho treatment of the * <»<>»» entirely without foundation ; that General MUbitzr was expelled from Athens , to tho great regret of tho Athenian population , solely through the intrigues of tho Russian ambassador , and that there was-a public feeling of execration against the Greek ; Ministor , wao had servilely adhered to Russian commands . ¦ . Trusting your well-known feeling of justice will induce you to publish this statement in the column * of your liberul journal , . I am } Six , your obedient servant , Edoardo Fosco .
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^ EB nuABX 10 , 1855 . ] THE 4 ^ A PER . 335
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 10, 1855, page 135, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2077/page/15/
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