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856 THE LEADEK . [ No . 487 . July 23 , 1859 ^
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alone to face the events which were being prepared for , and ¦ which every day ¦ would have rendered more grave . " It is something to find a real live Kaiser condescending to be thankful to journals of any kind , as it affords an indication that Captain Penis gradually defeating Captain Sword ; but we have now to do with the reasons alleged by the Austrian potentate for agreeing to the separation of one of the wealthiest provinces of his empire . In the passage just quoted there is an unmistakeable assertion that the Germans would not fight for his Italian cause , and that they determined to leave him alone "to face events which were being prepared . "
calculations , but as those which the : French Emperor made the foundation of his Hungarian alliance . If he had acted in good , faith he would not have allowed Kossuth to believe , even after the armistice , that his plans were unchanged . ^ It is clear he used Kossuth and the Hungarians simply to carry on his negotiations with Francis Joseph . We . will admit that he could not tell whether the latter would agree to cade Loinbardy , but he offered terms which he could not expect would , be refused . Af ter making such a peace , it was appropriate that the Imperial baby should offer the laurel crown ,
for any one pld enough to know what he was doing ought to have been ashamed of the task . Napoleon HI . has failed . We know it—France knows it—and hence the alarm which dictates the continued seizure of English newspapers , which might proclaim too loudly another fact , that the failure was the well-deserved consequence of working y ith a crooked mind . If France should prove discontented the blame will be thrown upon Germany or upon England , and a new -war invoked to redress the grievances , created by the old . ^ Italy has yet to be settled . Tuscany protests against the treason by which she is to be handed back to her masters ;
and , in Turin , portraits of Orsini have replaced those of Louis Napoleon . We cannot imagine that Batazzi will consent that Sardinia shall enter into a confederation that would subordinate her to Austria and the Pope , for , if we mistake not , he took part in the Siccardi Laws , and is no less a friend of Italy than an enemy of the Concordat party , to which Francis Joseph belongs . Pio JSFono himself may prove intractable , and see what a burlesque exhibition it would be to make St . Peter ' s successor " Honorary Pi-esideht , " or dishonourable puppet , of a Confedei-ation managed in Paris and Vienna . Notwithstanding ] Nlr . Disraeli ' s fears , we have confidence that Lord John Russell ' . ' . will avoid entangling this country in
schemes that can come to no good , and -which are based upon the vicious principle that nations are to be disposed of at a conclave of despots -without tlieir own consent . It is impossible to avoid the belief that fresh complications are in store for Europe , and Mr . Gladstone ' s budget will remind the nation , that although not actually at war , we cannot properly be said to be at peace . An irresponsible despotism in France means wax * taxation for England . Army , militia , and navy will cost 26 , 000 , 000 / . for the current year , and thoughtful politicians fail to see the time when by diminishing th e burdens of the people we can enjoy one of the principal advantages of a substantial peace , aa distinguished from a condition of armed neutrality .
Of course , the complaint refers more especially to Prussia , without whose concurrence the smaller Princes of the Confederation , however Austrian _ their tendencies , could not move ; and it is satisfactory to find the chief Grerman power acting in conformity with the advice and opinions expressed in Lord John Russell ' s despatch . ! The " events which were being prepared" would appear to mean the projected invasion of Hungary , which not belonging to the Confederation ^ would not have necessitated its interference . , It is important to have the testimony of one of the chief parties concerned to the non-existence of any danger to France ,
provided Louis Napoleon kept his word and sought only the objects which he avowed . It is also satisfactory to learn that , so far from Prussia intending to fight for the slavery of the Italians , she would have proposed terms more favourable to their interests than their professed patron has obtained . The Austrian Emperor tells us no less when he says— "I have acquired the conviction that I should obtain , in . any event , conditions less unfavourable in coming to a direct understanding with the Emperor of the French , without the blending of any third party whatsoever , than i n causing to participate in the negotiations the three great ., powers , which have taken no part in the
struggle . " That is to say , neither Russia , Prussia , nor Great Britaioe—no longer under the Tories- — would have sacrificed Italy as Louis Napoleon has done . We know , on the other hand , that there are rumours current of an understanding between the Prussians and the Qrleanists , and that King Leopold , instead of minding his own business , and looking exclusively to the safety of his own people , has been busily exercising his talents for intrigue ; but , with Lord John Russell for our Foreign Secretary , the balance of probability seems to be that the expectations of Francis Joseph would have proved correct , and that he would have been left " all alone . "
When we turn to the speech made by the Emperor of the French to the great bodies of state , in reply to their adulatory addresses , we find his excuse for not keeping faith , with the Italians was the danger to be expected from Germany . He says , alluding to V erona , ? ' It waa necessary to crush boldly the obstacles opposed by neutral territories , and then to accept a conflict oh the Rhine as well as on the Adige . It was necessary to fortify ourselves openly with the concurrence of revolution . " Long before the war began this very question of how to deal with Verona . without entering the Tyrol , or any other portion of the Confederation was amply discussed , and it was the foundation of the offers made , to Kossuth , and of the . conditional alliance between Louis Napoleon and the Hungarian leader .
Every one knew that to besiege Verona in front , and do nothing else , would be simply to repeat the folly committed at Sebastopol , and that Austria , under such circumstances , ought to bo able to prolong the resistance in a similar way . It was to guard ngainst this that Hungary was to bo invaded by a liberating force . PcscTuora would have fallen in a few days , and in a few weeks Austria might have been confined to her throe remaining fortresses , with the disadvantage of having Mantua completely isolated . All supplies tor the army defending Verona and the valley of the Adigo
must then have boon brought from a distance , at great expense , while tho loss of Hungary following the loss of Italy—fortresses oxooptoor—would have been a tremendous blow , both , financially ,, and "as regards means of obtaining fresh troops . Austria wowldhavebeen doprivoa of mox'o than half her population by these measures , and , moreover , it was not impossible that an enemy , having tho command of Lake ( Sarda , might manage to oooupy a portion of the Valley of too Adigo behind Verona , yrtfhput pausing ffao boundary Irae that separates it from the Tyrol . We do not give those as our
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OFFICERS ANJ > GENTLEMEN . Evjbrx one has their ideal . From boyhood upwards ours has boon that of a military officer . Often times , with humble admiration , wo have
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might give rise to a repetition of the same dangerous'conduct . '* . ¦ ¦ . With reference to this matter , the official / , tribe seem very perfect in the science of . " how not to do it , " and they have recently got up a scene of flogging and riot in Keyliam steam-yard , Plymouth , which will produce sentiments of disgust and indignation wherever working men congregate and read narratives of the scandalous event . It appears that a seaman belonging to the Caesar was sentenced to be flogged for insubordination , and the time chosen for the exhibition was seven
o ' clock in the morning , when the artisans are " rung in . " Accordingly , about 400 of the yard-men were present when the culprit was stripped and lashed to a grating so placed as to afford the best view of the sanguinary ceremony . The civilians were . disgusted at the punishment being administered in their presence , and still more at finding that the prosecutor at the court-martial , the boatswain' of the Caesar , was to be the chief executioner and commence the scene . " It was with intense
excitement , " says a paragraph in the Morning Star , " that they saw him throw down his hat , pull off his jacket , moisten his hands , and clear the tails of the cat with his fingers . " The stripes were inflicted amidst' hisses , groans , and exclamations of disgust from the artisans , and some Turks in an adjacent ship . Towards the close of the entertainment a conflict took place between the ship ' s officers and the workmen , ; formidable adzes were opposed to the bayonets of the marines , and the affair terminated ; in some arrests and dismissals . For aught we know , the man may have deserved a punishment fully as severe as the flogging administered ; but the authorities committed a serious moral offence
-in ordering its infliction to take place m the presence of civilians , whose humanity had not been degraded and whose tastes had ' not becii corrupted down to the official level . Making a public exhibition of this kind certainly excites terror , among other sensations . But terror of what ? Clearly of joining a service in which such brutality forms au element . Degrading and disgusting punishments are contrary to the spirit of bur age and civilisation , and we repeat , that if- —which we do not admit—there be men who require them , they arc unfit for a sphere of-life to which honour and dignity should be attached . There is a kind of ungentle gentlefolk who cannot imagine that the working classes possess . any sense of decency or refinement ,. and fancy they ought to be treated lilce- some inferior order of animals . These are of course advocates of the
THE " CAT" AT KEYHAM . Those who administer our naval affairs seem determined to ( maintain one great characteristic of barbarous times—a flagrant opposition of interests between the rulers and the roled . They scare good men , from the service by making it hateful , and then demand the perpetuation of barbarous punishments upon the pretence that they afford the only means of maintaining discipline among the low class of mortals they manage to entice . Under the impressment system ships of war deserved their appellation of " floating hells , " sailors were watched and guarded , like malefactors in a
jau ,, to prevent their escape . Voluntary enlistment , and a diminution of the brutality of the Georgian eva , have effected great improvements in the service , but tho Admiralty cannot divest itself of the old-fashioned idea that " serving tho Queen and the cpuntry " is a thraldom that no one would endure except under the influence of terrorism and force . In the management of criminals flogginec is no longer believed in as a curative dispensation ; and if there bo individuals who cannot bo made to work or preserve order without suoh a stimulant , they should bo rejected as unlit for tho
honourable occupation of national defenoe . Those who know the feelings of the working classes can entertain no , doubt that navy flogging is regarded by them with great repugnance , and is one of the causes of the difficulty experienced in manning pur wooden walls . We should suffer a tremendous calamity in a contost with any adventurous naval power jf another fleet were sent to soa in tho disgraceful condition in 'which Sir James Graham dispatched our ships to the Baltic during the Russian war $ and yet , unless the navy is made more popular , a sudden demand for large forces
lash , while others appear to defend it rather from regard to tho incapacity p ' f the officers than to the inferiority of the men . It is well known that punishments are most frequent in those ships or regiments which are worst commanded , and we have no doubt that the abolition of flogging would render it necessary to demand higher qualifications on the part of those invested with power . In this , as in other cases , reform must come from without , and in spite of old admirals and wooden " boards , " the change must be made , and any officer who feels incompetent to govern tippn a humane system should be permitted to retire . By becoming more
scientific war requires superior agents , an < l it will be impossible to obtain men competent to manage breech-loading rifles and Armstrong guns who will submit ; to tho risk of suffering a punishment Iry which they will bo marked and degraded for life . If " arms of precision , " as our neighbours call them , are placed in tho hands of course , ignorant persons ; they cannot bo employed with advantage ; and men capable of becoming skilled carpenters or engineers will not enter a service on conditions painfully inferior to those of manufacturing life .
The old bull-dog ferocity is no match for modern skill , and skill is necessarily associated willi personal pride . Should we bo involved in ft naval war , it 'will be on a gigantic scale , and of short duration . There will bo no time for the old vhxn of making blunders first and repairing them afterwards , and when it is too late it maybe found that preserving the " oat" is preparing a catastrophe . The Admiralty should remember that ovex'y newspaper which influences tho working classes incites them to avoid tho navy until this stigma is removed .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 23, 1859, page 866, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2304/page/14/
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