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. GOIKG ! . OorNG J ! M sotifca-r- 'ii ne sartiva j » as ! fa&yanvkut . ot iparas are m > nt to shout when , they observe a stp . ut . ^ ft tleiiftaii 8 tt ^ gg ling out of a crowded pit in tfce enitfrnie . ' ^ Tfte present cry of the Trench nation ^ . according to those carefulfy incorrect chronielers , the correspondents of the j » orning journals , is , ilpartira , il ne partira pas . " Mewillgp ; " " He won ' to the ' Crimea , " as fear or hope suggests . Do not the two jtnost civilised nations upon earth present a strange spectacle of moral
infirmity jiat now ? In England , we are unable even to conceive the materials of a Government" beyond the circle of three or fourjreigning families ; we cannot believe in men under Sixty or . seventy to lead in council or in the field . InEranee , when poor old Xqtjis i BffixtPPE was . alive and flourishing , the ICTiiTSSiiS . of modern times , it was commonly Relieved tfeat when liotris Phuttft'E died France would cease . to exist , IFor the present ,
indeed , Jfchere is ~ a temporary suspension of 'her moral and iBcfreBectual existence ; but as a physical force , * we ^ find her more than usually vigorcras and j demonstrative . Who would Jsave thought , ten years ago , that the departure of the tamef Eagle from ^ France-would cm& day be a question , of life and death at # he Bourse ? "Will hegoP "We should at any time , "speaking a priori , consider such a " move " on the part e > f the French Emperor probable enough . The Imperial Government is , from -first to last , a mise en scene , the
conditions of its being are excitement and adventure .. The ^ oup d ' etat was a game played by ¦ desperate- gamblers ; it was easy to foresee ' that the winners would be forced to live our stimulants , « nd to play ever higher and higher stakes . ILottis I ^ AiPOiiEOifr , it is -well known , has for some time been anxious - lamd impatient at the unexpected difficulties in the Gritnea : he'was the first to announee
u Sebastopol is -taken , " and we believe he gave the order fora salute of 101 guns at the Invalides , fortunately not executed . He is » known to be a thorough fatalist : the unflinching personal coolness and courage he has always displayed amidst a public either hostile ^ o * indiffierent ~^ proves this : destitute 6 f the military genius of the First Napoleon , i he feels the , obligations of the name . Decisive operations , we hear , are almost imraediately expected : perhaps to essay the
practical results of his own theories in gunnery . Loins JSTapoiiJiqn may have decided . to share the honours of a victory so long deferred . From Sebaatopol he may decree a rejoonstitution of the Ambigu-Comi ^ ue , after the manner of his uncle decreeing from Moscow the'eonstitution of the Theatre-Francais , He may return to Puance the conqueror of Russia and the idol of his army , and ienter Paris through triumphal arches . But if there should be a . reverse ? His renfcr . ee
into iFranee would be difficult . There xermaina the field of Europe , and then would begin the second Empire , which was declared to bo peace . But he leaves difficulties behind . There must be a council of Regency for the Empire during his absence : the council must bo headed by those members of the Boitapaktjj family who are obnoxious to himself , detested by his advisers , ignored
by the nation . We do not for a moment anticipate , any MaIxet conspiracies . But if he take Sebastopol , and smell powder in the field , the second Emperor ' s career as a soldier will only have begun , and the bourgeoisie ( who elected him to keep down the peasants and the workmen , as the peasants elected him to tax the middle-class ) are -alread y be ginning to feel the pressure of a "war without glory and without result . If "be fail in . the Crimea but we decline to imagine an , alternative of which British , soldiers must bear half the cost .
THE . ^ 3 LEA . DBS " - AlStP iQKD'STANLEY . At the present time , when it is notamaaiittralLy a watterof reauBd ^ -that . the awwspaper preas is . either opposed or generally silent upon the great , changes proposed by * the Govewiraent in the laws of the press * we may be pardoned if we recur to the course Of the Leader upon this question . We have noticed with satisfaction the able and generous aid rendered toward the solution of this . question of the postal law of newspapers by Lord Stanley . A letter , argued with considerable ability , and expressed with felicity , bearing the name of the noble lord , appeared in the
course of last month as a supplement to our contemporary the Press . Striking-passages in his lordship ' s letter % ear a marked coincidence with ideas advancedin the Leader ( JNos . W 8 , 159 ) two years * go . From * he Leader of 1853 , and the Press of I 8 S 5 , * we ^ quo * e a few parallel passag es ; not all we might select , but sufficient to show that 1 she same subject , which has now the conspicuotw advantage of Lord Stanley ' s advocacy , was urged upon the attention of the Government in these pages- at attune when the Society for the Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge , hadfewerfriends than now , asui its success wasim < are « emotft : —
The Leader , ^^ 1853 .. This cheap and humble press will be a universal lion'a provider : for ; the > dearer and ahler , press , -which , is now comparatively unread by the mass of the people . What ; is the common complaint ? Is it not that a philosophic and high-toned paper is too good to succeed—that the public do not ? appreciate it . The abler a . " weekly paper in England , the fewer readers it haa apart from class connexions . No penny journal can . command the highest sources of news , nor will the excise dnty and cost of paper and necessary salaries of editors , writers , and reporters , ever permit any penny proprietary ra this country to compete with the " regular newspaper . The nature of things isagainst it . The events oil the week can never be recorded for one penny , and the usual newspaper buyers want all the news , ana that early , and they will have it . Take off the taxes on knowledge tomorsow , _ and we Ji bair have cheap papers for thei " poor , and Detter papers for the rich ; but the same class distinctions founded on price will exist * The penny paper will be a penny paper still , and the higher priced papor will be better in proportion to its price , and will , as now , be sought after by all who want a perfect journal , and the regular newspapers will have this advantage , that more readers will be created for them by the Penny Pioneer Press .
The Leader , April , 1853 . Some urge , that the provincial press is in some districts indifferently edited , and that the working man's press might compete with it . The only result in these cases would be , that the gentleman ' s journal would bo quickened and improved—; not superseded . Tho greater resources of the rich Proprietors would always enublo them to kcop in the first rank . Whatever journal , daily or weekly , is first Sn powor , will retain its readers , and multiply them in tho good ( unstamped ) timo which is coming . Tho repeal of the taxes on knowledge will create a small pioneer news Literature—a secondrate newspaper trade , which docs not ' exist now , and whioli will carry small portions of light , knowledge , nnd refinement to thousands who now get none . The penny newspaper compete with tho sixpenny or fourponny or threepenny one ! As well irgue tiwjb the . third class on
Tha Press , Feb ., 1855 . Either ( which is most unlikely ) the unstamped press will rival the stamped in the value of its information and tho merit of its writing—and in that caso it matters not whether one or the other is most extensively patronised ; or it will not— -the hi gh ' priced journal will still maintain its superiority—and the cheap local prints will not drivo it out of the market , but attract another class of customers , those "ho at tho present moment neither purchase nor read any paper , and thus flourish by its side without doing it injury . Take an illustration of the state of the caso . Suppose tha same logislutivo stigncity which dictates the retention of tho stamp duty to have prevented all cheap travelling on railways — to have prohibited the railroad companies from taking second or third class passengers—is it likely that the number of first class travellers would have beon increased by tbo number of
The Press , Febu * 1855 . After all , is there so much danger ofour press becoming " parochial ? " As matters stand , the existence of local journalism in small communities is the exception rather than the rule . It is only the large town , or the populous' district , which can support ahigh-pricedstamped journal .
The apprehension , then , that journals of the most expensive class will not be able to hold then- own seems wholly groundless . Each rank of society will find its own organ , the' . exponent of its opinions and ideas : and this is desirable . But earlv intelligence—familiarity ¦¦ with the political questions . of the day—eloquence and argUr mentative power—are not to be had without paying for them ; and in these , though stripped of the artificial and unfair privilege which they now enjoy , the superiority of the large * and-long-estahilished journals will continue to consist . Nay , as it seems to me , the power and influence of such journals over tho public mind will be not diminished but augmented .
the railway will displace the first and' eecatid—¦ 'that ihe onuubus fcrtereefc will ; d « stray the cab interest— "that the beer-houses will abolish "the hotels— that the sixpenny ordinary will supersede the half-crown and five shilling table d'hote—that the threepenny concert will attract the audience from the Boyal Italian Opera . No ! all these preferences are part of human nature , and they , have then ? seat in what is nearly as strong as human nature—in human custom , pxMe , and convenience , which an act of Parliament did not make , and which the repeal of the newspaper . stamp act will : not change .
The Leader , April , 1863 . And . faexe dies close to i our hands a . -clear answer to all who fear that an _ untaxed press' would , in this country , . descend * to the-level of the " iKwdy" portion of the American press . Never ! unless English nature and English culture should also be changed by the same Act of Parliament which unstamps the poess . Can the skilful mechanic endure bad machinery ? Will the cultivated architect endure an incongruous building ? or a painter endure a daub ? or an orator , spouting ? or a practical politician loud-mouthed rant ? or the . scholar illiterateness ? or the artist bad taste ? And as of art and manners , so of newspapers . The cultivated , thoughtful operative will not tolerate a paper inflated , antagonistic , and superficial . So of other and more educated classes . National culture will govern the taste of the English press , and " rowdy" journals will never sell in Great Britain until we possess a " rowdy" population and Yankee backwooas . In the United States the same law holds good . The firstclass journals of that country are supported by the cream of the inhabitants , and the rising tone of the American press generally indicates what it will be on the social consolidation- of the-great Transr . atlantic Republic .
those who now travel in the lower-priced : carriageo ? ils it not clear that en the . restriction being removed a vast multitude ' of- ' persons irotiM begin for theiusb time to use the railways who never used them before ? So will it be ¦ with the press . Those who now take m the Times , Daily News , Herald or Advertiser , are not likely to substitute for these firsfc-classjouraals , TCJth their early intelligence . and superior writing , the cheap penny print which will circulate among mechanica and labourers . I have no doubt that a dinner may be had in various London taverns at a very much lower rate than is charged by the clubs ; yet the clubs are not deserted in consequence !
The Press , Feb ., 1855 . To the vague and angry declamation of those who cry , " You want to pull down English journalism and substitute an American press in its place , " I scarcely hold it worth while to reply . The p lain answer is—like people . like press . The American press ( which by the way , does not by any means universally- deserve the bad character given to it in tliis conntry ) reflects , faithfully enough , the prevailing sentiment of American citizens . It is democratic—so are they . It is often vulgar , violent , abusive , addicted to braggadocio , and credulous of marvels—these are exactly the faults , a little exaggerated in . the copying , of a young and growing nation , in which material prosperity has advanced faster than the arts and refinements of life . If in the English mind ; there be ¦ _ a corresponding state' of _ feeling , by all means let it be exposed rather than concealed . An evil fully brought to light is half remedied . But , in truth , the English character differs widely -from the American ; and a popular press , though ultimately it may help in forming , must follow , and be suited to , the bias of the popular mind .
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» THE STRANGER" IN PARLIAMENT . [ The responsibility of the Editor in regard to these contributions is limited to the act of giving them publicity . The opinions expressed are those of the writer : both tho Leader and " The Stranger" benefit by the freedom which is- left to his pen and discretion . ] We are now at the end of three months of incessant revolutionary writing and talking against the governing and administrative system of Great Britain ; and really , it is time we should see some results of such . an agitation . There ' s Mr . iLayard showing twice a . week that the country will sink to a
thirdrate power unlessthe little interests of little men are put on one side by a great nation : and there ' s the Times every morning elaborately proving , in considerable type , that our salvation depends upon patting the right men in the right places . Everybody thinks with Mr . Layard , and is delighted to read the Times . Tho " spirit of the country" has clearly reappeared . You can trace it in the energy of provincial meetings—you-meet it in tho Liberal Club of tho City , met to consider tho re-election of Lord John . There are half-a-dozen Administrative Reform Associations getting ) up . But tho result ? Parliament
sits day after day , and votes money . Or , when it doesn't vote money , it discusses the Kennedy caso Half the Ministers are on tho hustings : but who opposes the re-elections — who makes conditions ? Lord Palmerston dares and defies opposition . A plundered people , mourning a murdered army , Js restivo under its old lords : and tho Premier scoff * at their vulgar declamation . Europe , watcliing a continuous Ministerial . cnisis ,. was intent on the dcclino and fall of tho ^ Governing CUuwea , " and in t * e teethi of tUA nation , tbo old loud wuo hud got tho
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 3, 1855, page 206, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2080/page/14/
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