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bring them " into contempt with the country . ' " I see / 5 Mr . Clay added , " but one solution of the difficulty—that the Whigs who follow Lord Palmerston must shake hands with those who are attached to Lord Jolm Russell . Both must then take a vide step in advance to meet the Radicals , and must meet thcin on something like ' equal terms In the formation of a Government . " This was the spirit of the first meeting . At the second , held on " Wednesday last , no formal resolutions were adopted , and the discussion derived a colour from the events which appear to he forcing on a new Parliamentary crisis . At the third , the impending crisis in . Parliament hushed every other question , and , while Mr . Bright defended the
Cabinet , Liberals of Mr . Duncouibe ' s stamp agreed to go with Mr . Car dwell into the lobby . There has been in existence , for a considerable time , a committee of parliamentary Liberals , with whom originated the plan of appointing two whippers-in to keep the party informed upon all matters affecting- its organized action , and to assist in establishing a political concert among the members before every important debate . It may be hoped , therefore , that we shall no longer hear of Ballot motions rejected "without a discussion , and of a parliamentary Liberal , upon asking leave to introduce an important bill , being deserted by his seconder , shouted down by his friends , confuted by a Treasury speech , which it is impossible for him to hear , and thus made to contribute towards a Conservative
triumph . Two grand objects may be accomplished by the Independent members if they do not tire in their attempts to consolidate themselves into a working party . They may wield immense parliamentary power , and act vigorously upon the public mind , and they may compel a reform in the composition of Cabinets . It is simplyovr ing to their disunion that no Administration has hitherto been formed representing the opinions , principles , and talents of the great Liberal party , that forty families have monopolized the great offices of state for forty years ; that courtly influences are "obeyed when popular influences are despised ; that cliques and compacts dishonour the very theory of
constitutional government . All this it is in the power of the independent Liberals to amend if they go to work without egotism or apathy , and especially if the most adroit of their number are capable of resisting a temptation to sink the party , and accept the first offer of a service under the Whigs . Some there are , we fear , in this expectant attitude ; but if the widening of a Government is to consist merely in the absorption of any Bernal Osborne willing to be gagged by a secretariat , the process will only damage and demoralize the Liberal organization . The resolution , " that any Government wishing to have the confidence of the Liberal party should be established on a broader hasis , " means more than this , or it means nothing at all .
. Much time has been sacrificed to the dilatory indifference of the independent Liberals . In the middle of their second session they are preparing to rnovc . Their time for preparation , however , will in all probability be short , since their votes arc now challenged iipon a question affecting the duration of the existing Government . Mr . Bright , we think , expressed the universal sentiment of the Liberal party when he said that no reason existed for prematurely dissolving the actual Ministry ; but if a decision must be taken on a point involving
something of far more vital importance than the calculations of party—the security and regular government of "the Indian Umpire—and if members act upon their convictions , a change may be precipitated even sooner than , upon general grounds , he considered desirable . Is , then , the liberal party in readi ness for such a contingency ? There have been negotiations , and the Whig leaders thoroughly comprehend the terms upon which the independent members will support them ; but , for the present , we can offer no satisfactory statement of results .
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PUBLIC MEN AND "PMYATE " ADMIN 1 ST RATIONS . We have new revelations of hidden statesmanship . The great accusation against Lord Kllcnborough in fact is , that he has not paid sufficient attention to tlio private portion of official writing . He had Lord Canning ' s Proclamation , and he had a right to judge it ; but lie is accused of not having sought instruction from private notes addressed to the other gentlemen who have been in oilice . Years back we exposed the extent to which this practice « t concealed statesmanship has gone . The correspondence between caqh department and its outlying
subordinates is carried on by notes , by despatches which may or may not be read , or by private letters which profess to be intended exclusively for the information of the officials . In India this style of correspondence has been developed to enormous dimensions . The correspondence between the several departments extends to masses which would scarcely be conceived by the purely English mind ; every document being-repeated at almost every exchange of letters . But oesides those public and recorded communications , there has been growing up a literature consisting- of purely private letters , and the practice has extended from the Governor-General downwards . No gentleman , has carried it
so jar as Lord Canning , -who may be said to have reflected his public correspondence in a constant accompaniment of private correspondence , modifying , amending , contracting , enlarging , and reversing the public and responsible instructions by private and irresponsible suggestions . For this is a form of administration which completely avoids the inconveniences of publicity and responsibility . The practice has now been carried yet a degree farther . In explaining the nature of the letter which Lord Ellenborough is reproved for not seeking , Mr . Vernon Smith says that it was not a private
note addressed to him as a minister , but it was a , letter addressed to him sis a private friend . If so , he was certainly not bound to produce it . But let us understand this statement . It would appear that public administration has come to be a matter discussed between " private friends , " as an affair of their own . Lord Canning issues a Proclamation substantially confiscating the scigneury of the land of Oude . It is a document which needs explanation , fully at a convenient time , but in . some degree at once . It is not , however , thought necessary to make this explanation to the public Minister , though
it is necessary to the private friend . In short , the txue spirit and intent of a great act of confiscation in Central India is a merely private matter . We suspected this view of public affairs , and we believe that it has existed for some time . It lias been said that the administration of this ebuntry has been so long carried on by forty families and their connexions , that they regard it as a family property . Their holding , indeed , is subjected to certain usages , as many a baronial tenure has been . A great corporation lias retained its holding on condition of counting certain hobnails ; a Lord of the Manor is obliged to give a ilitch of bacon in
some cases ; others have been under compulsion to give a horse , or to lend a certain number of armed men on demand . In the same way , the forty families arc obliged , upon certain occasions , to consult the Commons ; but all these little matters can be arranged . Even the consulting of the Commons can be managed through agents , who see to the right composition of that body , and take care that it cannot do mischief or encroach upon the power of the families . Thus the administration of England , as well as of India , is settling down into a family matter ; and it will be bad taste as well as bad manners to pry into family correspondence .
Ihesc facts are the great arguments against any tnusalliances . If statesmen will unite themselves politically to persons who arc bcueath their caste , they must either admit profane people to the family confidence , or they must occasionally break the routine by excluding improperly promoted officials from initiation into the family letter-writing ' .
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OPPOSITION UNDER DIFFICULTIES . There is some instruction to he derived from the last election which lias taken place in Paris . The candidate of the Opposition , M , Ernest Picar-d , was totally unknown to the constituency , and oven to most party leaders . He came forward only a few hours before the period fixed liy law and took the oath . No address was issued in his name . All the Government journals received orders not to mention his existence . The only means of publicity at his command were the Sii'dc and the Prcssc , which simply stated his name ns candidate for the Opposition . A few bills bearing his name were pasted on the walls . Yet , in spite of this , he very nearly obtained the majority ; and as other candidates were in the field and got votes there was no return . A second election , therefore , became necessary . The Government did its best to agitate the circumscription in favour of M . Eck ; and , ns before , ordered its journals to mention no other name . This time , however , the manoeuvre was unsuccessful . The existence of M . Picard had become known ; and although iinauy Republicans still
preached abstention , the Liberal party showed itself sufficiently interested in the result to come up to the poll in greater numbers than beforehand to give the previously unknown candidate a majority of fifteen hundred . The fair inference from this is , that the means at the disposal of the French Government for throwing obstacles in the way of the expression of public opinion are very formidable indeed . The Opposition is forbidden to meet in any numbers , or in any public way , forbidden to issue addresses , forbidden to make use of the press in an effective manner . It
can only attempt to arrive at a common understanding by means of interchanged words or letters ; and we all know how difficult this must be in a constituency of thirty thousand voters . In England , despite the press , and public meetings , and committees , and agents , it is often found difficult to move twothirds of the electors of a tolerably sized borough . Where should we be if deprived of all these means ? There is nothing , it seems , astonishing in the fact that , except in some very few instances , the Imperial Government always carries the day . We believe that throughout the country its candidates rarely unite much more than a quarter of the electors ; but , as the Opposition generally abstains , partly from deep hostility to the imperial
regime , partly from fear , chiefly , perhaps , from the impossibility of coming to any agreement , power triumphs nevertheless . A very curious fact has been ascertained , namely , that a large proportion of the peasantry , who most willingly voted for Napoleon III . as Emperor are disposed , if allowed to exercise their free will , to give their votes for what are called " red" candidates . They do not even now see _ through the false pretences of liberalism on which Louis Bonaparte obtained his throne . There can-be-little-doubt , however , that , in the course of time , the Opposition will again come to have a clear and defined object ; and then the Government will be placed between the alternatives of chauging its policy or perishing .
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retaining a distinctive personality , blended with the crowd . The Hooding light over all was smooth and tender ; the music seemed as if made by the motion of the scented air—it was so spontaneous , so thoroughly a _ part of the life of the beautiful picture . Nothing could surpass the harmony of colour which the eye took m at every point of view ; in texture everything that met the sight was in perfect keeping ; there was not a discordant form . A rainbow-tinted mist with sparkles of diamond-light playing through and above it ! How has this delightful effect been produced ? "V 71 iat is it that gives the tone to the picture ? It
THE STATE BALL AND ITS ; DRESSMAKER . A State Ball at Buckingham Palace is a picture all the details of which are rich , and bright , and graceful ; the figures living types of the social refinements of the time ; the beauty exalted to the last step between the tangible and the ideal ; the inner spirit of the whole scene the poetry of ordinary life . Cynics may sneer ; but a State Ball in that palace is a beautiful scene—a dream of fancy realized . Nineteen hundred guests -were invited by the Queen to the State Ball on Monday evening ; but ihc sense of number was entirely overborne by that of the harmony in winch the individual , while
is , above all else , the beauty of the women , heightened and completed by their dresses . Beauty " unadorned" is a dream of A ready ; living in the present , we all acknowledge the added charm of dress fitting ; and beautiful ; a woman elegantly dressed—as the phrase is—we all admit to be externally at her best , that is , for ordinary occasions . But it is on great and extraordinary occasions , such as a State Ball , that we jnost thoroughly realize the -value of dress as means for setting olf
to the greatest advantage the beauty of woman ; and we use art freely and admivingly to give completeness to the adornment of natural charms . Nay , we arc never satisfied till we have exhausted all the means at our command for the accomplishment of this reasonable object—or till we think we have . Unfortunately , our views on the subject of woman ' s dress and adornment have been limited by the barriers set up by Fashion—a system of patents and cxclusiveness applied to a subject on which reason and taste dictate that there should be the most perfect freedom . The beautiful picture upon which we have been looking at the State ] 5 ; ill is the triumph of Fashion ; it has-filled us with pleasure while looking upon it ; but is it perfect ? Has Fashion done fox- every beauty in that throng
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No . 425 , May 15 , 1858 . ] _ 5 L 1 L-1 L _^ ^^^ EH . 469
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Leader (1850-1860), May 15, 1858, page 469, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2242/page/13/
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