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/ r '^HV ^n A POLITICAL AND LITERARY REVIEW.
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T HE opening of Parliament proved to be a very tame affair . The Opposition did not feel strength for any attempt [ at resisting the dictate of the Government on the first day . The proposal of Mr . Evelyn Denisox by Lord Harry Vane and Mr . Thobnely , passed as if it had been a matter of course ; and on taking the chair , Mr . Denison was congratulated , not only by Lord Palmerston ,
but by his possible rival , Mr . Walpole . This was a characteristic act of gracefulness on the part of the Opposition candidate ; but it was perhaps intended to show that the Opposition concurred in the choice , for by accepting it they prevented it from being a defeat . That simple duty performed , nothing remained for the House but to begin the investigation of its own members , their due return and qualifications ; a labour which will scarcely be completed before the expiry of five or six days .
We bid farewell to the old Duchess of Gloucester with regret . It is not that there was any importance attaching to the last of the Georgian Princessesan aged Duchess is no better than any other aged woman , we shall be told ; but an aged woman or any human being who happens to be brought prominently before us must be , for the sake of our common nature , a subject of regret . There must , too , have been something of a kindly nature in the old lady , for she was manifestly an object of interest to the Queen , who is known to be a woman of
right hearty feelings and of excellent good sense . There was a time when the Duchess took her place amid the splendours of a Court , and shared the senso of an almost sacred power : how long that has passed ! There was a day when her name was chiefly known in connexion with her husband , illustrious for his involuntary wit : that day now belongs to old times . And the Duchess has latterly been known to us as nothing more than the aunt of a Sovereign Lady , the great-aunt of that Lady ' s children .
lfew events have chequered public hfo m our own country . The fact of a riot in Ireland comes almost with the force of novelty , especially a riot to prevent the export of potatoes , or another tu mob a Roman Catholic ; Bishop . The Grcon Island appears to be returning tu its chumctor of " Ould Ireland" in rol'erencn to pot . al . nos , while it ; is becoming wonderfully Protestant in election nmtlerrt . Tho oil ' onco of the Bishop of Ajuuoh was , that he had presided at a mooting to favour the return of Iho unpopular candidate ; ho had " sold" the Liberal
cause , and at Newtonforbes , it seems , the populace did not approve of the combination between the Roman Catholics and the Tories . The incident is amusing ; but it does show undoubtedly that the humbler classes do not feel that absolute subjection to the Roman clergy to which they have been accustomed . -The rioting- to prevent the export of potatoes has
happened in various parts of Ireland . It is incited by the fact that the price of the root is doubled , not only from the prospect of a scarcity by the late sowing this year , but also no doubt from the great demand in tills country and even in Prance . Across the Channel the price has trebled within a short time , and the intense need for all classes of provision has given a premium to every available import . Indeed , there seems no rescue for the French people from an amount of distress that would occasion
great suffering , and might be seriously embarrassing to the Government , except some special measure to introduce importations , and to place new' supplies at the command of the people ; and a measure of that kind is confidently reported to be just now under the consideration of the Emperor . In this country we have an interest in the subject . ; for so
long as Prance is restricted to the comparatively limited field from which her supplies are drawn , we must directly or indirectly feel the intensity of the pressure . Admit supplies from a wider field , and the pressure will be proportionately relieved ; the Irish will then once moro be able to enjoy their staple root without returning to the most barbarous form of " protection . "
Besides the systematic announcement of Mr . Disraeli last session , and the tone of the Tory organs more recently , several incidents have tended to show that the Tory Opposition will rely upon the cry of " retrenchment . " They will attack the Government for lavish expenditure ; and the estimates arc to bo considered as tho weak point . The Tory leaders rely upon two probabilities . Should Lord Palmeuston maintain a Conservative course , should
he refuse the measures which the Liberal party expect ., there will be a great indisposition to give him a cordial support ; and the gradual formation of an Independent party within tho broader " Liberal " ranks is nlrauly u mailer of calci . ilal . ion . One of the principles upon which Ilio leaders of tho Independent , party have started is " retrenchment . " But . I . hat , is not , all . Occurrences in ( . ho fur Juisl have indicated an extension of military movements ; and although tho immediate csl . iinalos may not contain tho sums requisite for such proceedings in
India and China , it is tolerably certain that they will be large . They will comprise some advances for the purpose of military improvements ; and while an additional expenditure is " looming in the future , " the Tories no doubt calculate that the Liberals will be very severe in demanding thorough reforms in return for the . increased outlay ; while the additional bill , impending for a later season , will afford opportunity for a redoubled echo of " retrenchment" from the Tory side .
The intelligence from India and China is indeed unpropitious . The Chinese race appears to be running beyond its Emperor , and even beyond Yeh , the Governor of Canton , in hatred of the . English . This spirit has displayed itself in all diegptions , from Canton to Singapore . At Sar ^ afc ^ &r' ^ emis " sary from Singapore had successfully urged the Chinese to revolt , and it required all the chivalry of Sir James Brooke , supported by the heroic fortitude of a small European band , with the aid of Dyaks and other local allies , to inflict vengeance on the insurgents and to recover the lost ground . The Chinese had endeavoured to spike the guns on
board several of the steamers at llong-Kong ; they had persevered in the attempt to cut off supplies , by burning those bakeries from which Allum issued his poisoned bread ; they had seized one steamer , with the massacre of tho captain and Europeans aboard , only one passenger escaping . In short , they appeared to labour under a paroxysm of combined patriotism and piracy ; and they evidently calculated on making a booty out of the British with patronage from Ykh . They had confounded the Portuguese with the British , and it is more than probublc that all members of tho Caucasian race will become a prey to the Chinese , unless their wolfish fever be peremptorily arrested .
Of courso this extension or spread of aggression on tho part of tho Chinese called for reinforcements . Before Lord Eloin could arrive on the spot , it is probable that the British commanders had sent their claim ( o the Indian Government . By thai timo tho news would have arrived that the Pcrsia-u war was slopped . The troops in two of the presidencies at least ,, Bengal and Madras ^ JittdHbo&u ^ - hibiting somo signs of insiOjord ^ iillgar ^ nTOq ^^ nN . pretexts , but , generally , it . is K )^^^^^) ^ wore unemployed , and thus ttw ffltf ^< $ gffijm ' ^ mentin India to fall in with Jg wStofi ^ CBJI & war in , China . ShouM the iSqWm ^ fei ^ of tho Celestial Empire bu ul j 8 ®^ TOff ^' Iho submission of Ilio liereo ^^ iW ^^^ e ^^ r ^' Quangs , it is probable 11 ml LorcTOM * rS ^ J ^ 3
/ R '^Hv ^N A Political And Literary Review.
/ r ' ^ HV ^ n A POLITICAL AND LITERARY REVIEW .
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= VOL . VIII . No . 371 . ] SATURDAY , MAY 2 , 1857 . Pkice { ^ S §^ g jS ^ "
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REVIEW OF THE WEEK— i'aoe Opening of the Now Parliament 410 Accidents and Sudden Deaths 410 State of Trade 410 The Orient 410 The Insurrection at Sarawak ill America 412 Ireland 412 Continental Notes 413 The Royal British Bank 414 Our Civilization 415 Gatherings from the Law and . Police Courts 410
Launch of the Royal Sovereign 416 Naval and Military 417 Obituary 417 Miscellaneous 417 Postscript 41 S OPEN COUNCIL"Candide" on the Elections 419 PUBLIC AFFAIRSSir James Brooke in Borneo 419 Manchester and its Exhibition 420
Army Education 420 A Strong Government at Sea 421 What to do in China 422 Mustering of the New Parliament ... A Last Arctic Expedition 422 LITERATURESiunmary 423 Christianity in China 424 The Fortunes of Glencore 424 Calvin ' s Letters 425 Phantasmata 42 G Novels 426
THE ARTSNature and Art 427 Itoyal Academy PrivatoView 427 Her Majesty ' s Theatre 428 Theatrical Notes 428 The Gazette 428 COMMERCIAL AFFAIRSCity Intelligence , Markets , &c 1429
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¦" The one Idea which History exhibits as evermore developing itself into greater distinctness 13 . the Idea of Humanity—the noble endeavour to throw down all the barrisrs erected between men by prejudice and one-sided views ; and , by setting aside t . ne distinctions of Religion , Country , and Colour , to treat the whole Human , race as one brotherhood , having one great object—tne tree development of our spintualnature . "—Bwnboldt' s Cosmos .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 2, 1857, page unpag., in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2191/page/1/
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