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to justice , but as a matter of special favour . Stwmiy in fact , affects to be giving the United States a trifle of money to get _ rid of importunity—a demeanour at once as irrational and fiumiliating to Spain as it is insolent towards the United States . It is a broader complaint that when any dispute arises in Cuba , it is necessary to refer ft to Madrid ^ although the first step taken there is to refer it back to Guba ; that island , which Spain persists in treating as a colony , though , the only advantage of the connexion lies in the revenues which Cuba yields to the most beggarly and ostentatious Government in Europe . In Madrid there
fe a strong fear of granting any efficient localguriscftctiim to Cuba which would enable it to deal with its ewn actions or its own responsibility , forfear it should weaken the connexion and cut off a source of in-< jome for Spain . But that policy which keeps Cuba m so subordinate a position , and is felt to be injurious by the genuine resident colonists ^ is a still greater injury on those foreign neighbours who have to put up with the caprices of the official party in Guba ; and to seek redress in Madrid , when in the waters of Cuba , American citizens feel that they must suffer on the spot and get compensation across the ocean , perhaps , twenty years hence .
interests of Spain . Should that part of the globe be disturbed by anything resembling a general war , which is not impossible , it would be necessary for the United States at once to assume the military occupation of Cuba , which is really the outpost of the Mississippi mouth . It is well known that numbers of the islanders ar- ready for-union with the powerful aud prosperous republic , under whom their legitimate trade would prosper . At present their commerce is restrained by all the oppressions and caprices of Spanish barbarism ; the one commerce which prospers is that denounced by England—the slave trade . In Cuba alone it finds its
consuming inarket , and the United States arc positively bound by treaty with England to maintain a fleet for the purpose of intercepting Unit transport of negroes from Africa to Cuba , which ¦ would cease from the very day tliat Cuba-should be privileged to enter the Federal Union . This country would undoubtedly benefit by the change ; the necessity for inain taming the squadron for the suppression of the slave trade would cease , the would hav ired
function of the squadron e exp , a considerable yearly outlay for this country would expire , and the cause of many complications with our best allies , Brazil and the United Suites , as well as France , would at once cease and determine . la this rapid survey of that portion of the president ' s Message which bears upon foreign policy , we have done no more than interpret his own simple aud lucid language by a reference to notorious and obvious facts .
The direct quarrels of the United States are with' neighbours who draw blood from the same Iberian stock settled in the same continent . Mexico is a prey to rival factions , and can hardly render war self-supporting , since it is kept up by a process of feeding upon itself . In order to eke <> ut the means of slaughtering each other , Mexicans levy forced contributions upon foreigners—a gross violation of the national law . They have seized both person and property , and on remonstrance from Washington they render no redress ; at the same time the authority of the Mexican
Government is so feeble that it cannot keep peace on its own borders , nor even give satisfaction for injury . The United States have exhausted their" endeavours to bring the Mexican Government to reason . Mr . Buchanan , in fact , has been waiting for the return of the constitutionalist party to power , and he has therefore postponed as long as possible anything like reprisals , which might easily be made by seizing some portion of the remote and unsettled territory claimed by Mexico . In order to take precautions against border outrages , he proposes a temporary protectorate over the provinces of Sonora and Chihuahua . It is assumed that these steps are not what they profess to be , the ordinary mode of exacting a
redress from a foreign power which will not tultil its obligations , but steps of encroachment towards a seizure of Mexico for annexation to the United States . Such an inference can only be made in defiance or forgetfulness of certain facts ; for Mexicans of respectability and influence would some time since have negotiated an admission of Mexico into the federal union which centres in Washington , if American statesmen , Mr . Buchanan conspicuously among them , had been able to approve of any consolidation . But the purchase of Louisiana and the annexation of Texas bear no resemblance to a wholesale admission into the union of large territories peopled by a foreign race , and it is well known that Mr . Buchanan would
absolutely disapprove of any such result . There are disputes also with the States of Costa Rica and Granada , and there are claims on Parafiay which may have to be satisfied by force , arnguay , it will be remembered , haying before been violent in its conflict with Brazil . In fact , these Governments which lie between the two great bodies of the American continents are as irregular aa the territory they inhabit . The Spanish blood in , those districts seems capable of exercising
« perpetual activity , without the power of organising an eflectuol Government . It cannot even perform its duties towards civilisation . The object of the lino of military posts contemplated by Mr . Buchanan in Sonora and Chihuahua , the powers which he asks to protect travellers by the routes of Nicaragua , Panama , and Tehuantepeo , ore rendered becessary by the paramount duty of self-defence whore the nominal Government cannot even furnish an effective police ,
Here lies the difficulty ; the protection of Americans within their own borders , on their travels , or engaged in peaceful commerce . There is nothing- in Cue President ' s Message which is in the alighfest degree aggressive . The proposal for 4 p-immediate advance or money to purchase Cuba , not to rotas it , is justified by considerations for the peace of the world , and © yen for the enduring
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STATISTICAL SUCiETV . The increased number of learned socid ics within recent years is a phe-nomem-n of much more Mgwliennce I him i . s generally unsigned to il . I he old Limieau Societ y at one lime claimed dominion oi the whole kingdom of natural history , but slic " . as given birth tu ; i 'numerous . progeny who imj \ v Uis' nuto her possession of everv province and domain , however limited in extent . Sume of her estranged children have Ioiilt held dominant sway over zoo og . \ , others of them have been equally powurlul m tluar rule of botany , n bold ami iimbniuu * lew liwe . nii their « i ? S « sa
aimed jit even imperial gniiy m conquest , of geology , while an aerial , ami ^ j "" g an ephemeral , portion have lately aswrrtcd ihiu exclusive claim . ' us an indt- | KM » dciH » n >»^ * outomolQicv . She is even denied all voice ana authority in ethnological latitudes , nor jrcnmttod to grow a single cubbngo mihm « ' jg boundaries , and . some of her most j « aud favoured children actually , Irom f » jj 2 seventh-born , ullogo to have a ^ y ^ pjprogntivo and exclusive right to mm- b . Q Llcon ? t sight in u recently ^ " ^ "SJn " T sconionl region . Unless she can , , J ^ H briig to if aid the diplomiioy « 1 a ^^ . SuS Metternicli , tho supremacy ol tin , T uiouS fall under the successive assaults ol ««»¦ ICUCUW
This dismemberment is , however no o Jnod the Liuncan Society . It hn . s equally t ibmuB « l . . other * , but we shall now only reh-r Io il » ^ » J relation within the realm of the biaus j lical ^ tainly ' heretofore ( ho most vigorous o iu sqiontiflo institutions of London . Tli « » ubjeoUMW cussed by this Booloty . lmvo had ft more mwjoO * application thanthosc ol any other to J dd puUio polity . liven questions whichliivo Ur ^ the grout contending parties m the tiLo hu ^ on llrst found their truo soienlillo solution . » J rf quenco , it has enrolled miioiinll VTl S" 3 <» all the greatest statesmen o tho i jiy , a lMh ° » f p r of tho most aotivo minds iu both Houbcb «
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peaceable manner The game of inciting to rc 3 has been frequently played nearer home , and avK it has sometimes seemed to our Western notS to be of a dangerous kind . But in a distant 2 no haW of contagion from revolution can be feared , and the calculation of Alexander U a his advisers probably is , that insurrection ifdnlv fostered and guided , may be . left to bum itself ouf after the Austrians have been humiliated and dm ™ beyond the Alps . a lie this as it may , the last few days luive sWn what -Villafranca was wanted for . It is to b converted into a grand art'na lor the regular disnlav of tho power aud the will of llussia . 1 ' or no otlier intelligible purpose has the Grand Admiral of ' the '
empire , escorted by three screw line-of-battlc sJuds two steam corvettes , and certain sinalicr vessels ' visited the Sardiuiau waters . Eor moie than a week the squadron lay in the harbour of Genoa where its officers the more readil y fraternised vitli the naval and military authorities of the place as both speak French . . The Grand-Duke Constautiue having inspected nil the public places , and praised everything he saw , proceeded to Turin , where he w-as feted aud complimented in all conceivable ways . Stccrinir along the Spezzian shore at the head of his
formidable iloUlla , he cnterctl the lately acquired harbour . Not deem ing it yet expedieutpcrliapsiolay wholly aside the semblance of hannle&s . intentions , orders were ostentaliuusly issued that Iris Imperial Highness would , iluring iiis stay , preserve Ins incot / 71 it o ., a \\ & t hat consequently no salutes should mark his landing or departure . But , as if to raise the corner of the veil worn in iliis coquctlrrir de modentlivii , he proceeded , during his stay , to lay the foundation of a HusM ) - ( Jreck church , wilh-all the impressive ceremonials usual on such occasions . iiis other proceedings , at Viilaljra . uca were equally indicative of future jmrposes . When minufe examination had bren luade of every portion of the place , the Grand-Duke gave ilireciions , wln ' eli were carefully made known j > ubji ' ely , for the iunncdiate commencement of great wuiks of repair and improvement , calculated to render the limg-silciit lishing haven a ' centre of ' activity , and . a place where a Meditemmean ileet niit ^ iit securely seek shelter and re til . The -wh -, \ y . be , in fact , regarded as the iirst of a skilfully planned series of iiuproshivc inam ruvirs inieiuled to uel uj'on the mind of Italy , and thereby to work out . Russia ' s anti-Austrian designs .
THE GRAND-DUKE CONSTANTIXE IN ITALY . Ix begins to grow clear what llussia meant by the hiring of Vifiafranca . Our guhe-tnouclies fancied they saw , through the haze-that diplomatically overhung the negotiation for a lease of twenty-one years , ground-plans . of fortifications and arsenals , all case-mated . ' aiid bomb-proof , designed ere long to form for the Czar on the coast of Italy what Gibraltar is for us on the southern shore of Spain . When assured that the little deserted port and dilapidated castle were strategically valueless , being superciliously commanded , on three sides by the
contiguous heights , and that , so far from being an insulated point ( Tappiri fitted to menace the Sardinian aud Tuscan seaboard , it was , in a military point of view , simply a hole iu a hill in which , if caught , annihilation would be inevitable , our wiscaercs sough t to discover new uses for the Muscovite coaling station , and sagaciously guessed that it was meant as a rendezvous for future anuamcals against Turkey , to act in concert with France . But the second surmise was as far-fetched as the first was absurd . The policy of St . ' Petersburg is pre-eminently , no doubt , one that looks ahead , but it is also one that has always shown itself eminently
practical iu its adaptation of available means to immediate and certain , not dim and remote , aims . It is plain enough now what the object was oi becoming tenant of the ruined citadel and careening docks of Villafranca , mid of the warehouses and wharfs thereunto appertaining . There has probably never been tin ambitious power in Europe which has at all times relied so much in its foreign policy on what is called " effect . " Those who have resided in Turkey know the pains taken , not in the capital merely , but in every town of the undermined empire where a numerous Greek
population exists , to win the admiration as well as attachment of the disaffected race . Tho churches are full of curious and splendid gifts of Kussiau princes , and all their benefactions arc exercised on a sculo and in a 3 tylo not the best calculated to serve those to whom they arc made , but to attract attention , beget suspicion , oxcitc extravagant hones ou the onoiiand , and exasperate distrust and spleen ou the other , in all thoir dealings with other nations , the system pursued by these profound strategists is the same . Cost and trouble arc never thought
of when tho object is to create deep impression . Just now tho Italians , heretofore spurned and despised by tho huughly Muscovites , possess peculiar interest in their eyes . They arc viowed us a vast magazine , of combustibles , that may be used to blow in the gates and decimate the garrison of a rival empire . What becomes of tho elements so used after the town is seized Russia oares not a rouble Meanwhile , it is necessary to do two things : to familiarise tho Italians with the power and professed , sympathy of Muscovy-, and to establish the moans of constant communication and intercourse iu a noiseless and
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1418 ^ H E LEADED [ No . 457 , December 24 , 1858 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 24, 1858, page 1418, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2274/page/18/
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