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ORIGINAL C0EEESP03TDENCE.
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ierrible recollections of the day when the barbarous military element revelled in these sanguinary orgies . Even at this moment , years after the suppression of the national and democratic movements of German Austria , and Hungary and Lombardy , the Emperor affects to be more the chief of an army that holds countries in subjection , than , the sovereign of industrious populations ' over vrhose destinies he is supposed to preside . On all great political emergencies that have occurred since 1849 , he has insisted on addressing * himself , in his manifestoes , inore to his armed legions than to the people at large . To his praetorians he best likes to speak . It is them that he informs of his course of policy .
the throne in a position beset with nascent difficulties . , , . ' ¦ . Of the private life of Francis Joseph le ' ss is known than of that of any of the German Princes . He strictly avoids unnecessary intercourse . Since liiis life was attempted hy Libenyi he secludes himself more than ever from the public eye , and is only visible on state occasions . It was said on good authority that the Hungarian knife had for a long
time left its traces , not only on the body , but also on the mind , of the Emperor—that the grazing of the one had tended to craze the other . Of Jate , however / these rumours have been discontinued , so that he would seem to be again in possession of his faculties , which , it must be said , he has never yet made use of , except for the purpose of destroying every vestige of national independence , and annihilating the last germs o f liberty .
fie even announces to them first whenever a child is born to his House . This almost exclusive cultivation of the military has been bitterly remarked by the Viennese . They see with ill-concealed anger that the Emperor , since the day of his accession , has never yet appeared in public in any other garb than military uniform , armed cap-a-pie , " from head to heel , " and closely hedged in by his halberdiers . They are aware—aud if they were not , they are pretty . plainly told—that the sovereign thereby means to let them know how disaffected he considers them , and that his rule will be always by grace of grape-shot . Such a state of relations between a king and people is but little likely to result in any amount of afiection .
Young as Francis Joseph is , he has already taken care to make his authority felt , not only in his own dominions , but in Germany at large , as well as in the Italian peninsula . His reign has witnessed a deeper humiliation of Prussia before the Austrian Court than has been the case for well-nigh two centuries past- The aged King Frederick William IV . bowea like a vassal before the beardless Hapsburg . In Italy , too , Austrian prestige surprisingly recovered itself after the severe trials to which it
had been exposed during the year of revolution . Modem , Tuscany , and Naples have for the last few years been linked with the strongest ties to the policy of the occupant of the Hofburg . The late Russian war , however , delivered a damaging blow to this expanding nimbus of Austria , when the House of Hapsburg , in spite of the secret jealousy it is known to entertain for . Russia , could not be brought to join the alliance of the Western Powers . The hidden motive of the hesitation then exhibited is , no doubt , to be sought for in the apprehension prevailing in imperial councils lest the Sclavonic element , / by whose aid revolution had been crushed in ! S 48-4 rS ! , might turn round against the dynasty itself if the latter dared to draw the sword against the supreme chief of the Pan-Sclavists , the Russian Czar .
The question has been raised whether Francis Joseph is really at heart of those monkish predilections which pervade the famous Concordat he concluded in 1855 with Rome . Many incline to the belief that he has been influenced in this act by a genuine mediaeval spirit of fanaticism ; and , indeed , the annals of the Hapsburg dynasty afford many examples of its princes donning the cowl and cord of the Capuchin . At this very moment it is said that one of the relations of the Emperor intends withdrawing from the outward world into the seclusion of the cloister . Still it does not
appear very plain to us that the present ruler , with all his morose inclinations , would be likely to yield to clerical dictation from a feeling of religious exaltation ^ He has , no doubt , granted privileges to the Roman priesthood vastly more important than any vouchsafed by his predecessors . Ay , he has set them up as a , power in . the State , as an tmperium in imjperio . But yet it strikes us all this has been done more with a Mafihiavelljatic political object than from any bond Me religious sentiment . The Concordat , it would seem , has a double political meaning . It was first used as a means of weaning
the Roman hierarchy in Italy from Fronch influence , fcnd drawing them onoe more into the Austrian interest . Then it was intended , to all evidenoo , aa a lever to stir all the Catholic elements of Germany in favour of the cause of the Hapsburgs . In other words , it was a great stroke against tlie man who , by his expedition to Romo and the immunities granted to the Ultramontane party , had hitherto won the praises of the Church . At the samo time it was a means of gaining influence among the Romanist faction , of the Prussian Rlunelajads , of Posnaniftand so forth . Nevertheless , it is equally
, true that not only has Jesuitism made an immense stride by the aid of this Conoordat towards enslaving Che people of Austria , but has also placed
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' ^ FRANCE . { From our own Correspondent . ' ) Paris , Thursday , 6 j P . sr . J > E MONTAUZitBEBT ' S " PARDOJT . " The Moniteur of this morning announces , at the head of its non-official columns , that " the Emperor , on the occasion of the anniversary of the 2 nd of December , has remitted the punishment pronounced against M . de Montalembert . " It may appear very ungracious to examine the motives and quality of this act of grace ; but the condemnation of the most eloquent orator and writer in France for the expression of kindly feelings towards Englishmen in their hour of . trial , and when they -were proved , as never people before were , is no longer a personal question between M . de Montalembert and the Emperor . Were it so , it would then , indeed , be ungracious to criticise the announcement in the
Moniteur . But the trial of the brilliant author of A Debate on India in the English Parliament , was a contest between moderate-r-very moderate—freedom and most immoderate despotism . Not only is it now established to be the law of Imperial France , by the obliging justiceship of M . Berthelin and his co-associates on the bench , that no man is at liberty to express an opinion if it be not laudatory of the Emperor ' s Government and its lowest servants , but also that to praise the Government and institutions of another and allied country is to libel and disparage those of France . Jnfundum ! Well may the Emperor recoil , aghast and terrified , at the fruits of his -victory : for —— " Vengeance in the lurid air
Lifts her red arm , exposed and bare . ' I am very willing and happy to believe that the remission of M . de Montalembert ' s punishment was an act of kindness , proprio 7 / iotti , on the part of the Emperor ; but it is , notwithstanding , as great a political blunder as the trial . Among intelligent men the imprisonment and fine of tlie last defender of French civil and religious liberties are matters of very secondary importance—even of indifference . Three thousand francs paid into the imperial treasury would not have rendered the lover of freedom and sympathiser with the victims of Nana Sahib ' s cruelties a fraction the poorer . Rather would
the money have carried a curse , with it . The six months' imprisonment would have been unpleasant and a nuisance ; but nothing more . They would , on the other hand , have conferred upon the prisoner the universal renpect and prestige which invariably accompany the martyr to the cause of freedom . M . de Montalembert would have been infinitely stronger in his dungeon than the Emperor upon his throne . His sufferings would have been the thome of universal comment ; his conduct an example to all generous minds , which would not have lacked imitators , until tlie prisons of France would have been too email to hold all the victims of prostituted justice and of brutal despotism . Ho
would have sprang up by his very punishment to bo the chief man in Franco , the one whoso whispered words would fill the public ear , and whose minutest doinga would fill the public eye , to the exclusion of all othersa position most intolerable to the wearer of the purple , and who can bear no rival near the throne which ia presumed to be based upon popular favour and universal suffrage . Independently , therefore , of tho kindly intentions pf the Emperor , and of hia desire to avoid tho infliction of dlaagreoablo constraint upon ao eminent a personage which might have the appoaranco of
vindictivoness , there are political reasons for the act of grace—pardon it cannot bo called , for M . do Montalombert has been BuV tv ° f no offence , unless it bo a crloio to express contempt for all that ia ignoblo and infamous —which although they may not detract from its merits , cannot bo passed over in , silence . Nevertheless , so far as the author of tho " JQqbato on India" is concerned , wo may express our cordial approval of tho conduct of tho Emperor . But if we malte abstraction of theao individualities , and look upon tho question as one between freedom and tyranny- —between two representative men ,
in fact--we are compelled to admit-that the remission ^ punishment has not altered its aspect and condition in the slightest degree . The last vestige of freedom hw been corruptly and ruthlessly destroyed . The press i , more helplessly fettered than ever ; and arbitrary un reasoning , uncontrolled power exalted to a height which it never before reached , and can never agaiu surpass THE EMPEROR AND THE LAW " . There is proved to be no longer any security to persona in Franco . The sanctuary of the law has been con * temptuously violated , and tho office of judge has been degraded to that of state lacquey of the Court . Corruption stains the ermine and makes it hideous to
behold . AU respect for moral and legal authority is confounded and lost . Men hold their personal freedom on sufferance and go about in constant danger , not knowing but their first word or gesture may place them in bondage , and render their future dependent on the intelligence and equity of the Sixth Chamber of Correctional Police . The bonds of society are loosened ; the rules for its government are derided by those who call themselves the partisans of order ; moral principles are fast fading into old men ' s tales , and the only law recognised is that of the strongest hand which erst ruled the border , and bids— . " Let him take who has the power ,
And let him keep who can . " The throne of France is virtually put up for auction to the most unscrupulous aud most powerful bidder , and we may yet behold it offered for sale by modern prastorians . Meanwhile , there is this danger —until possession by barter be agreed to—which is , that physical force may be resorted to , and the Empire fought for in the fields of France , for in making the will of an individual the supreme law of the state all others have been abrogated . Wlien Mi de Montalembert
was condemned , justice fled from France like a new Astrea . Should the strong will which now governs fail , it will leave a chaos behind , a confusion between right and wrong , and all restraints to evil broken down . Then personal gratification will have established the universal rule of action ;; the members of the same family will arm against each other ; the host will betray his guest—that is done now ;—society will be disintegrated into hostile elements , and become an heterogeneous and unmanageable mass—rudis indiyestaque moles . Such ; at least , is the fear of man v , which deprives them of opposing action .
rOPULAR OPIMOX . I have said that the grace shown to M . de Montalembert is as great a blunder , politically speaking , as waa his trial . My reason for thia opinion is , that the intelligent classes consider it quite besiile the question that was at issue last Wednesday week . With them his condemnation was the thing , and not the punishment . With the masses , on whose favour depends the LmP ™» it is quite the reverse . They were disposed to applaud the trial as a proof of strength . " Many thought it a righteous retribution that he should be punished under the very law he himself had voted , and all are disposed to look upon the remission of the punishment , not as proceeding from kindliness , but from a sentiment of fear . 1 neea not say such ia not the belief of educated men ; for wliatever mnv be the EmDeror ' s failing , fear of any individual ,
or for himself personally , is not one of them . Uu ; we people , who have been taught to believe in physical force alone , do not understand , or at least do not appreciate , tho extension of tho slightest consideration to an opponent-especially when vanquished . Magnanimity they interpret by fear , and their comment runs , U > , CEmpereur a qracit JM . dt Montalembert jnxree quU en avait peur , " Now , to fear any one or anything , or to have tho reputation of being possessed by few , is we greatest danger that can happen to a public man ib S t „ ™ i ,, ^ niiwrc tho character or uw France I only tho character o « - «
. can compare people in that respect to the temper of a borso-jji fancies the hand to tremble that holds the bridUj rt will soon empty the saddle . There may . be no reason to suppose a proximate exhibition of restivonow , bu « t may happen it any time when popular belief aupposw apprehensions to exis * . If tho Emperor en tort > . s no fear , in tho ordinary acceptation of the * orm , he J dread the result of driving all tho hltoI } K ° * i honesty of France into uncompromising and bitwr w tilitv towards himself and family—of opening on im
passable gulf between thorn nnd him , between in * --his . Groat and fanatical as may bo tho belief in n » destiny , the question must sometimes occur-to hw nunc , " What will happen when I * m gono ? ^ i' nuy stand between the inheritor of my name ant . I tiie v geancc of those I have pursued to pnjonW' ° ° * uDlU . Tho Emperor ia too wise not to know that if ho ncCU l 9 lates hatred against himself , he U but henp . ng « « upon tho head of hi « aucce » Hor-that if ho J" ™ , mercy , nono will bo shown to him and Ins , i ¦ i « v > < ] m may well create apprehensions and inspire Woaiy » in fhough you Aould sot mo down « w oPjgJJjl confoas that I look upon tho conduct of tho wig < TritU unmixed satisfaction and us ^ VHlo - oplnlon thlnrro T fUlnlr « f T » rnv <> 9 11 doforOIlCO tO pUlMW v l '
greater than ho over exhibited , « n « l it also g ™ < determination not to weaken tho Kngltah » "gJJ |/ r exciting tho hostility of tho BnglW * poojjo- * tUo tho ptopoBition of Cambridge and Oxford to p » y
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1824 T HE -iL . E A DE R . [ No . 454 , December 4 , 1858 . ¦ i . ¦ - ¦ . ¦ ' - - ¦ ' " ¦ , - — ¦ — - ^ . — . ¦ — mm ^ m—Mmi '^ -L—^— " ~—~ *—" ir n ' im m »¦ ' ¦ ¦> ^^—p—*— ii ^^ fc ^^^ w ^ a ^^^^^^^^^^^™^^^™ . . _ _ M—^ . . . ^« . — , . ^ ^ b ^^^^^ b ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^— ' ¦ _ - . ^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Wi ^ BMI ^ B ^ fc ^^^^^^ ir ^^^""^^
Original C0eeesp03tdence.
ORIGINAL C 0 EEESP 03 TDENCE .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 4, 1858, page 1324, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2271/page/20/
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