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repentance , and established an awkward ' * solidarity with the very eccentricities it professed to repudiate . It is not until they are excluded by the exquisitely ludicrous resentment of the Belgian aristocracy ( whatever that may he ) from the UaZ ' Noble , that the English "bestir themselves ta make the wnende honorable They then feel that an . apology is due to the insulted equestrian order to which the Prince
de Licwte belongs . How do they proceed ? With the aid of Jeames , Garter King of Plusb , they form a committee of what , in New York , would be called the creme de la creme of Anglo-Belgians . The cream is skimmed , and that unctuous oracle , j ; he ' address , ' is carried with silver-salver solemnity to the injured and offended Prince de Ligkne . The deputation , in point of fact , implored the Prince not to believe that Sir Robeb / e
must frankly assure the deputation , with all respect , that although the report of this strange language Lad reached his ears , it had excited scarcely a momentary indignation- — he had "been willing to forget it , or rather to ignore it ; and while he thanked them very sincerely and respectfully for their good feeling and good intentions , he could not help regretting that they had deemed it necessary to revive unfortunate words , and to draw attention to a scandal which had already been talked of too much . "
. Now , we ask our readers , in England and in Belgium , whether the Prince de Lig-: ne , of whom we desire to say nothing inconsistent with due respect , would not more prudently have replied in some such manner as this , than in the words attributed to him ? What did he actually say ? He retorted that Sir Robert Pedii was a " sot , a gamin , and an underbred , good-for-nothing fellow . "
Is not this , we repeat , a mere circumlocution , neither happy nor elegant , for " You ' another ? " Is it not mere vulgar abuse ? Has not the Prince de Ligne helped Sir E . OBEET Peel , out of the kennel , by plunging into it himself ? Auy street-boy in the Strand , any costermonger in Tottenhamcourt-road , could have ' ¦ called names' "well as the Prince de Li one . As to the
pertinacity with which our young Tory contemporary ( which , in the opinion of its own party , would itself be more influential if it were less scurrilous ) has appropriated this miserable altercation , it is easily explained . The living baronet is assailed because the dead baronet was superior to his party . It is not the follies of the son , but the virtues of the father , that Mr . Disraeli ' s organ can neither forget nor forgive .
Peel was the type of an Englishman ; not to think that " Anglicans" of all parties were accustomed to such " ebullitions of low breeding ; " not to blame them for an act of which only he had been guilty . The Prince de Ligne seemed only partially to understand them . He knew , however , that , while they were repudiating Sir Robert Peei , they were only anxious not to be repudiated by the stewards of the Bal Noble .
-N " ow really , whatever we may think of the wisdom or the dignity of this proceeding on the part of our countrymen , this was , at all events , giving the Prince de Ligne an opportunity for a beau inouvement . But he , if we may judge by his reply , as we find it reported , appears to have mistaken , or at least to have wilfully missed , the advantage of his position . We are tempted to suppose that the Prince permitted a sudden impulse of
reckless generosity to get the better of his amourpropre . For if his words have any signification at all , they simply confirm , in a great measure , tlie accuracy ( we say nothing of the discretion ) of Sir Kobert Peel ' s description . The gentleman who declined to exchange amenities with a cabman , said , " JSTow , I ' m not going to bandy abuse with you , but I tell you you ' re a . " The Prince de Ligne ' s allusion to Sir [ Robert Peex
is really neither more nor less than " ' another . " Yet how dignified was the attitude he might have assumed , how telling the reply he might have made to the English deputation 3 " Thanking them , with a pardonable tinge of sarcasm , for their spontaneous act of humiliation , and apologizing for the silly self-assumption of the JBal Noble , he might well have suggested that such language as Sir E . Peel was reported ( he had hoped incorrectly ) to have
used at Adderley , could not of course reach him , any more than it could affect the general reputation of English statesmen and gentlemen : from his deep respect for England , his only regret had been that a man bearing a name so honoured , not only in England , but throughout the civilized world , should have ( if , he must repeat , the report was correct ) descended to such strange and inexplicable improprieties , not to say indecencies of
language , aa might be tolerated among hired lampooners and venal farceurs , but were inconceivable from the lips of a man bearing a commission from hia Sovereign , and representing not only the majesty and the wealth , but the intelligence , the social refinement ot ' England . He was willing to believe that Sir 11 . Peel had been the iirst to regret the utterance , or , at all events , the publication of ill-considered and unwarrantable
indiscretions , dropped verj r likely in one of those momenta of forgotfulncss which all young men are liable to occasionally , and perhaps , too , from a mistaken confusion of popular merriment with public approbation . But ho
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THE EYE OF THE SESSION . Thebe has been a complaint that Lord Palmerston has acted the dictator . "Well , Parliament meets in three days ; whose fault will it be if he continue dictator then ? We had a dictator in 1834—the Duke of Wellington . For a fortnight , while Sir Rorert Peel was coining from Rome , the Duke took upon himself the business of the empire .
ness of Parliament . They hold the balance of parties ; if united , their action is in the long run irresistible . There are , then , extensive arrears from last year to be worked off the paper ; many vaguely-worded propositions to be fixed in statute form ; long-condemned anomalies to be expunged ; commercial laws to be revised . But we hold it to be the duty of the Liberals in the House of Commons to recal Parliament to the consideration of
political reform . That subject must be revived with energy before the next general election . It has grown in importance year by year . The opportunity may now present itself for debating the whole question in a dignified and decisive style . It is very improbable that any Continental war will , during the year 1857 , distract the attention of the country . Nov is it to be feared that our Eastern
embarrassments will be of so serious a nature as to become engrossing topics at home . We will say no more at present on the legislative programme of the year . The events of the coining week will serve as indications of what may be expected from this fifth session of Lord Derby ' s Parliament
He laughed , exactly in Lord Palmerston ' s way , when solemn people talked of the Constitution , and held eight offices for fourteen , days . Meetings were held , strong resolutions were passed , orators spoke of the ' dangerous precedent ; ' Lord Campbell , at Edinburgh , even hinted at an impeachment . Meanwhile the Constitution glided into deep water again , when Sir Kobeut Peel ' s carriage came down Whitehall .
On the 3 rd of February we shall be once more in deep water . Ministers , no doubt , will be prepared with their course of action —we do not say " policy ; " the Tories , of course , will oppose them , on public grounds ; but what will the Liberals do ? Pile the table with petitions against the Income-tax . But after that tax has been regulated , some serious questions remain yet for consideration . We have to ask Lord Palmehston what have been the results of his
intervention in Naples ? what lias been his action m the Swiss dispute ? how our foreign accounts stand ? what reforms he proposes to introduce ? Wo have to hear * explanations ' about Sir Robert Peel . We should be glad to hear a question from Lord John Russell . aa to whether he may proceed with his ' Bill ;' but sucli questions are usually asked and answered in private .
Of course , the object of the Government is to get through the session . The object of the Opposition is , not to allow the Government to get through the session . "What ahould be the object of the independent Liberals ? To press forward the real busi-
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OUB , OPERATIONS IN ASIA . The British operations now in progress at different points of the Asiatic continent , appear to be radically misunderstood in certain quarters . It is asserted that the Persian expedition is a buccaneering attack upon , the independence of a feeble state ; and that the bombardment of Canton was unprovoked and aggressive . Now , we have declared war against the Shah of Pbksia , in pursuance of a distinct treaty "which binds us to prevent the wresting of Ilerat from the independent governm-ent of the Af tghans . We have gone through all
the usual processes of diplomacy at unusual length ; and , while we have negotiated , the Persians have been breaching the walls of the town placed by solemn convention under our guarantee . ^ Vhat is it that the advocates of peace , under all circumstances , desix'e to establish as a , precedent of Eastern policy ? That Persia , if she so willed , should seize ' Herat , and that Dost Mohammed , when he claimed the fulfilment of our contract , should be presented with the Pipe of Peace ? That , from Herat , she should advance , assisted by Russia , to the heights that overlook India ? That we should retire within the Indus ? That
we should never resist a demand , or enforce a claim ? This , it will be perceived , is the line taken by those publicists and speakers who declaim" against the Persian war . Their arguments are deprived of all weight by the fact , patent to every reader , that they never accept an English reason for an English act .
and never find cause for blame in the conduct of a foreign power . opposed to England . Let us hear , to-morrow , from any part of the world , that English guns or cutlasses have been , brought into action , under whatever circumstances , and we are certain to hear " violence , " " precipitation , " " wanton outrage , " imputed to our authorities .
In China , the case in favour of the English is not less clear than in Persia . It may answer a particular purpose to quibble over the registration papers of the lorcha ; bift the truth is , that the conduct of the Chinese officials had become unendurable , and that they seized the crew on board that vessel , in defiance of the English flag , of the master ' s
protest , and of tho treaty . If Chinese sauora on board a Hong-Kong vessel aro to be subject to the brutalitiea of the native police , Singapore vessels can no longer claim , protection . Are the assailants of our policy aware that Chinese vessels from Singapore bear certificates , but that , whether provided with certificates or not , tho British Government
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January 81 , 1857 . ] THE X EADE R . 109
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 31, 1857, page 109, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2178/page/13/
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