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humane professions of England . They understand how partial and capricious is our rampqbhy , and they feel that which M . 2 > E Montaiembebt has so powerfully expressed in his commentary on Lord Paxmebston ' s policy towards Pius IX . " You are very mighty , very haughty , very Roman , m the presence of the weak . You are infinitely less so in the presence of rivals worthy of you . " That is the caustic jest , which is heard in every quarter of Europe . After trying to detach the King of Naples from his Russian connexionswe upbraid him for his cruelties ,
, and justify our interference upon the ground of humanity . And the heart of Englandthat England which is represented by statesmen—would leap to hear that our threedecked ships of war had threatened the coast of a kingdom , with a naval force consisting of two ships of the line and five frigates . But to Austria there is "judicious forbearance . " To . France there is "judicious forbearance . " " But , in God ' s name , " asks M . be Montaiembebt , " why do you not practise this forbearance , this moderation , in the presence of the small and the weak ?"
We are not asking for a humane intervention in France . " We only object to the constant exhibition of diplomatic hypocrisy . No external influence can benefit the French nation while they remain in their present attitude of melancholy <^ nicism , indifferent , inert , sceptical , the only active classes being the multitude of conspirators and the few proud lovers of law , the great public writers , whose protests strike the throne from an elevation which Louis Napoleon ' s claqueurs can never hope to reach .
These claqueurs pretend that France , having regained her former place in Europe—which she had not lost—is in the enjoyment of all the liberties necessary to the well-heing of a state . Liberty of the press , of speech , of discussion , of religion , of education , of personal movement , of political association , not being among those liberties , it is difficult to imagine Avhat they are . But this may be
said , that the older states of Europe have reached a point at which it is impossible to govern absolutely without the use of terror ; and that , while no Government in France could brave tine public indignation so far as to scourge a citizen on the Place de Oreve , the principle on which the Austrian , French , and . Neapolitan Governments are founded is one and the same .
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THE INGREDIENTS OX OUDE SAUCE . The King of Oude has adopted a stroke of policy very commonly resorted to by gentlemen in difficulties . When a man has been imprisoned or otherwise punished for being habitually drunk and disorderly , ten to ono but he sends to his master or his inagistrato a pathetic wife or tearful mother , showing many family reasons why mercy should bo sh-own to the delinquent . Wiping her eyes with the corner of her apron , the lady
confesses that the sinner is altogether unworthy of mercy , but , sho says , with maternal unction . r— " Think of his children ! " And an air of resignation in hor countenance also implies that it is needless for her to add , " Think too of mo ! " Tho King was coming to frighten the East India Company out of its preposterous injusbieo in displacing him from his throne , and to obtain
from his cousin Queen Victoria , a restitution of justice . Tho English people , however , are a prejudiced race . They might get over the difficulty avInch wo foresaw of tho multitudinous wife to which Iuh Majesty is married , ot not married , since wo English , with all our disposition l ; o oppress our own countrymen when they differ from us , will allow aliens any licence of manners and customs on tho simple
ground thai the licence is ' foreign . * It was in this fashion that some intelligent persons provided human flesh for the well-known Psalmanazab . to eat , on the . understanding that during his protracted residence abroad he had become accustomed to that diet . An hareem , however objectionable for an English gentleman who has always lived at home , may be tolerated in an earl who has been accustomed to Eastern luxuries ; and is an object rather of curiosity or approval when it
is realized in its genuine foreign shape . It waB not so much that the King of Oude was married to a corps de ballet that frightened English propriety , as the fact that he had consorted with an English barber . He had killed persons in his time ; and his officers had subjected them to torture . Well ! such things have been done by English officers in India . When men will not pay taxes , what can they expect ? At home we do not use physical torture , but moral torture is quite as bad .
Besides , we must remember how Eastern potentates are brought up . But nothing could reconcile us to the idea that , descending from his throne , he had associated with Soapsuds . It was ' vulgar , ' and the King would positively not have been admitted into society . In this position he resorts to a p lan well known in Ireland , and sends to us his mother . The respected lady is attended by a court and by British allies . Already her Majesty has made an effect . An earl and a countess
have rushed down to see her ; a mayor has been blessed by touching her hand—though what particular delight can have struck upon the heart of the Mayor of Southampton at shaking the hand of a strange middle-aged ladythe hand presented to him through a curtainwe cannot well understand . No sooner , however , has her Majesty arrived , than the English press—the ' best possible instructor 'immediately reads up the subject of Oude , its manners and its customs , and proceeds to
enlighten the English public , principally on the cooking of Oude . When we desire to understand the nature , fashion , and usages of the court , we are told that " fish are wiped dry with towels ; they are then rubbed over with eggs , after which curry powder , and various spices and seeds are strewn over them , and they are fried in oil . " As we might expect from the people of Oude , their cooks use " numerous ingredients , which are so peculiarly mixed as to give the viands a
peculiar and delicious flavour . " The " lower castes only eat vegetable food , " " a few are allowed to eat fish , " and a still more exclusive party eat flesh ! " Tho Oudeans rise early , " " go shopping all daylong , " touch their turbans with a iinger , " like Jack Tar touching his forehead in salute , " " docile and peaceable , " grave , and " sometimes indulge in fun and badinage . " Such is the rapidly-sketched character of Oude as it is seen at Southampton .
A court has come over bodily ; we have " the whole boiling of them , " and there are one hundred and ten . The array is evidently intended greatly to impress tho British . Tho Bahadours , or dignitaries who may bo seen , are arrayed in gorgeous costumes , in coloured stuffs and gold ; they aro grave and pompous . At a distance in a picture , the court of Oude looks grand and imposing . Inspected close , the English eye discovers that some retainers of the court aro not accustomod to tho use of
soap and water . Looking a little closer , tho grandeur is dingy . Followed even to ita tomporary home , there is a certain irouziness in thia Oriental court . It is worse than a court from tho masqueraders ; it is gaudy , but not neat . It is expensive . Wo anticipated this , and if tho King has disarmed the English people by sending his mother instead of himself , ho
will not economize in the bill . Women maj save at home ; but send them out to accom plish a mission with a well-filled purse , anc seldom do they bring home any spare cash We expected , top , that the King would b ( infested by agents who wanted ' to do foi him . ' Already , * mother' is spending at t fearful rate , and agents are already quarrelling about their position in the household . Major B ibd , described as " late Resident af the Court of Oude , " appeared as spokesman before the public of Southampton , and boldly he spoke out . If the late King were dispossessed , he said , how could Queen Victobia trust to the continuance of her throne ? If
the royal line might be expelled from Oude , might not Queen Victobia from Ireland ? Evidently Major Bibd , who was well received by the people of Southampton , with cheers and other testimonies of British sympathy , had promised to carry the question of the King before the constituencies ; but the official list of the court ceases to include
Major Bibd , late Resident , in its number . He has , it appears , had some difference or other with another gentleman attached to the court , respecting his position , and Captain J . R . Bbandok , " with her Majesty and the Princes of OrrnE , " remain in possession . The bill ! the bill!—Think of the sums that Royal Oude will have to pay for this odd suit out of Chancery !
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NOTES FOR AN ITALIAN . We commend to the attention of the JInione the two letters of Gabibaldi , and the picture of imperial justice at Cayenne . Will the Vnione show us the points T > f difference between the two regimes , and confess what it thinks of this new commentary on the coup d ' etat ? We would also gladly know , parenthetically , at what time , in our century , France was so degraded in the sight of Europe that the Empire of Guiana and the galleys became necessary to her restoration ? Perhaps the TTnione and the Leader regard these questions from separate points of view . We may take thought for the moral life of a nation as well as for its physical well-being , if that can be called well-being which is represented by a fever of speculation , by reckless displacement of capital , by bewildering games of hazard at the Bourse . Long ago , we said that France was being converted into a vast gambling-table , with Louis Napoleon as croupier , and we trust to hear that this is what the TTnione would not
desire for Italy . Otherwise , what are liberal politics ? It is becoming a serious question whether the Piedmontese Government has acted wisely in refusing to retaliate upon the Austrian sequestrators by sequestrating tho possessions of the Milanese Archbishop and Bishops in Piedmont . The Austrian Government has lately put into effect tho scheme of 1853 ; the inventory of possessions belonging to the Lombard emigrants is all but complete , tho Courts of Law are declared incompetent to interefere for the protection of private rights , and thus not only tho Law of
Nations , but also tho Austrian Civil Code , is violated for tho salte of an affront to Sardinia . It is very uncertain whether Count Ca-VOUH will bo justified in declining much longer to take- what reprisals are in . his power . Of course his position is difficult—rendered more difficult by tho sinister attitudo of Franco , tho inexplicable policy of England , the joaloiis reserve of Italian liberal parties . But it might not bo incautious to signify , by an act of practical resistance , that there iimafc be limits even to tho imperial encroachments of Austria . Fiiancis J osei ? ii pleada , however , a state necessity—such a necessity as Louis Nai'OL-ison pleaded when ho despoiled
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Am **** Wm , 1 THE DEADER . 881
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 30, 1856, page 831, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2156/page/15/
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