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Leader (1850-1860), 24th December 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1388, Untitled Article

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    • 1388 THE LEAPEBv [No. , 509. Dec. 24, 1869.
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      Untitled Article

      GERMANY . Hanover , Dec . 21 st , 1859 . Austrian affairs have claimed more than usual the attention of the public during the past week . Reports from Vienna represent the state of things as so dismal that the rumours of the intended abdication of the Emperor , which I was disposed to reject as devoid of all foundation , begin to take more consistency , and demand more notice . . The statements in the public papers , combined with the information contained in letters from officers in the

      Austrian army induce the belief that the Emperor . will really abdicate , or that some great change will take place in the Austrian system . The reforms which were promised after the peace of Villa Pranca are beyond the Emperor ' s powers to effect , and he must stand before his people and the world as a sovereign whose word is not to be relied on . If , however , the inability to execute his expressed ishes for his people ' s welfare were the sole reason f his resolution to abdicate , he might be considered lmost super-chivalrous ; and the generality of people , I entertain little doubt , would think him the very last sovereign whom they would desire to

      be rid . of . The idea of a prince descending from his throne , and retiring info private life , because unable to keep his word , per t ains altogether to the regions of fiction the most romantic . It may be one ground ; but the great and glaring fact is , that the Hapsburgs have lost the confidence and sympathy of the most intelligent part < . f their people , who have no longer any attachment to their persons . With the outer world Austria has lost all credit—a man is ashamed to own that he possesses Austrian state notes . Her defeats in Italy have dissipated all respect for her military prowess . Love , honour , money —all are gone ; and she stands now tottering like a tree without roots .

      The Commission , whose tnsk it was to recover the deficit in the treasury , have held four meetings , but appear to have arrived at no result in the right direction . One member proposed the reduction of all official salaries to the extent of 5 per cent , but , as might be expected , found no seconder . Nor would such a measure have been of any beneficial e ffect , for so long as Austria regards it necessary to her existence to maintain a standing army out of all proportion with her population nnd their means , the deficit is irremediable . It has been continually rumoured that the Government hnd resolved to

      reduce the army by 200 , 000 men ; the third and fourth battalions were to have been dissolved long ago , Now it is suid that the officers are to dispense with their servants—each officer having been hitherto allowed one at the expenses of the Government' — their number is 27 , 000 men . But no faith can bo put in these reports , for it is difficult to understand how such a step can be ventured upon with the national yearning of the Magyar and Sclavonic nations so resolutely ardent . Those longings after a separate nationality , which cause her so much trouble and are replete with so much clangor ,

      Austria has to thank the German propaganda forthis propaganda she herself was the foremost to encourage , little , thinking that her rival , Prussia , would reap all the benefit of it . Tour vendors may , perhaps , be inclined to ask what is meant by the term German propaganda ? It will bo shown bout , in my limited space , by the following epistlo addressed to the Pangermane , a publication just brought out nt Brussels . The letter is from Ernst Morltz Arndfc , the whilom wnrbard of Germany . It is dated Bonn , Deo . stli , and na > y * i' ~~'** The Pangermane lino reached my hands well and merry < i .

      Oh ! the Germans and their ways ( Art ) . Whatever of good and worth that lives and moves ( i . e ., effectuates ) upon European earth has sprung from the most German tribes ( i . e ., tribes that have most of the Teutonic element in , them ) . _ God bless their Germanic blithesome JLebiing , Hebung , und Bclebung vnd JErhebung ( I must' refer your readers to their German dictionaries for the interpretation of these bouts-rimes . I confess ray inability to translate them . That they have a meaning is certain for Amdt is a poet of celebrity , and may yenture upon an amphigourie without suspicion ) . " ' It is to be hoped , " continues the poet , " that soon a happy German hour will" arrive for the worlds

      likewise a God-born German hero , whose advent has long been awaited in vain , who with sharp iron and the heavy stick , called a sceptre , will beat up into a grand whole the so-and-so many petty lordship and kingship fractions . Yes , long live the pan-German , and the pan-Roman ' s and the pan-Sclavonians wili never create another world-history . "With this hope I salute my esteemed Belgians . You know that according to the derivation of the word it means the Schtvellenden , the Wogigen , i . e ., the heavy ones , the raging ones—Balg , Boeljae . Thus shall they heave , rage , swell , roll , and toss like the waves and billows of the great German Ocean , ever braving and dashing like the gamesome rnain .- ^ In German truth , Yours . E . M . Arndt . "

      This will afford your readers a slight idea of the German propaganda . Can they wonder at the Scandinavians , the Sclavonians , the Magyars , the Italians , and others paying them back in their own coin and setting up each a propaganda of their own ? A reduction of the Austrian army with the prospect before them of a war of races is altogether out of the question . Reform is equally impracticable . There reriiains hardly any resource but an abdication ; but in what way this will serve the turn of the Hapsburg is still a question . The imperial edict , granting the Jews throughout the empire permission to marry in future without the interference

      of the district authorities will mostly affect the Jews in Bohemia and Moravia . In German Austria , Hungary , and Poland the Children of Israel were not condemned to single blessedness _ at the whim of an official . It may not be uninteresting to your readers to hear something of the hitherto slavish thrall in which the Jews of Bohemia and Moravia were held . The Jewish communities were limited to a fixed number . A young man was not permitted to marry till it pleased Providence to remove from this world soinu married member of the persuasion . Tlius , the brother waited with criminal longing for

      the death of the brother , the friend for the departure of the friend . The happy man , who after a thousand anxieties managed at last to get possession of the concession which enabled him to take home his bride , was termed a Jamih / ant . He had to pass through a vast number of ceremonies and examinations ; the chief object of which , however , was the fees . If he could not provide himself with the needful , it was in the power of the official to keep him a bachelor as long as ho pleased . The change has caused , as may be imagined , much joy amongst the poor Jews .

      Untitled Article

      AncHiTECTURB in Berlin . —Tlie number of monumental buildings in Berlin is to be increased by threo edifices , which , if-they fulfil the expectations of the proprietors , will become masterpieces of art . The municipal authorities nrc building a town hall , larger than many now existing in the principal cities of Europe , and on the whole forming a combination of everything that is magnificent and costly : The corporation of the merchants have already commenced the construction of an exchange , by the aide of which tho edifice hitherto used as the shrine of Mercury will look like a dog kennel at the foot of St . Paul ' s ; and , to relieve the sterner aspect of Northern architecture by nn admixture of the fantastic element of tho Orient , the Jewish congregation will in the early spring lay tho foundation stone of a monster synagogue of 3

      capable holding , 000 worshippers , and designed jn the style of the Alhambra , These are symptoms of tho growing importance of Berlin , which , but fifty years ago , was more like tho county town of a province than the capital of a powerful kingdom . Tlie groat majority of the edifices in the Prussian capital are of very recent date ; and up to tho second half of the roign of Friodrioh Wilholm HI ., tho old towns in tho south and > vost of Germany far surpassed this city in elegance and external appearance . It was not until a very short time ago that the dull perceptions of tho people of Northorn Germany wore awakened to a sense of tho beautiful $ and even now the architectural enthusiasm of the Berliners refers less to the art and style Of tho piles they aro about to ercot than to tho accidental importance reflected upon the place thoy adorn by the accumulation of stately structures .

      Untitled Article

      The Winter Fair at Milan . —The Milan correspondent of a contemporary writes : " The ground , which on ordinary week days is in the ex elusive possession of a few solitary vendors of patent blacking , walking sticks , singing birds , and shiver ing puppy-dogs , is now invaded by shoals of booths and stalls , teeming with every imaginable description of merchandise , winter clothing of all kinds , gloves mittens , embroidered collars , pocket-handkerchiefs ' needles , and pins , cravats , felt hats and caps for the National Guard . After these come sinning rows of pots and pahs , and kitchen implements of every sort Not , a single available inch of space is left unoccupied * The basement of the cathedral is hung with oil

      paintings , lithographs , and engravings , many of the latter of the old English school . There are coloured sheets of ¦ ' characters and scenes , ' and miniature theatres for children , confused heaps of newspapers pamphlets , and second-hand books , and- —a new importation since the departure of the Austrians giltedged rows of Italian Bibles and New Testaments printed by one of the religious societies of London A little further on we are informed by means of a huge linen placard , that the great Lorenzo Scaccabarozzi from Perugia has taken up his residence for a few days only , in this distinguished capital ) for the purpose of disseminating his world-renowned infallible specific for the removal of corns

      and chilblains . Near this professor stands a man , who is busily engaged in sharpening pencils with an instrument Jin size and shape resembling an ordinary scythe , both instrument and pencil being held behind the back of the operator . These pencils are entirely new to the respectabie public of Milan , being exclusively manufactured for the present proprietor in the famous lead ^ mines of Spain . They may be cut with any implement , from a razor to a reaping-hook . From their capacity of being driven through a deal board without injury to the point , they will , at a pinch , admirably serve the purposes of a hat-peg , a gimlet , a corkscrew , or a weapon of defence . But the largest throngs are gathered round the lottery-tables , which : i re many and various . Let us take one as a specimen . A

      large wooden tray , lined with white paper , is divided intp a hundred partitions , each partition being marked with a number , and containing asugarstick , a few comfits .. or an ; ilniond-c ; ikc , whli which are interspersed , at rare intervals , objects of greater value , a fat capon , a panctlone , an accordion , a sausage , and a bottle or two of wine . A buxom dame invites the attention of the bystanders by shaking a little bag , containing the numbers , which decide the fate of the adventurous speculators : — . ' Forward , worshipful public ; forward with courage ' . Only five- cents , the draw ; all prizes and , no blanks I Remember , every hand wins ; forward , forward . ( A number is drawn)—Seventeen ! Only think , if it had been fifteen you would have carried off the accordion . ( Another draw )—Forty seven , Three burnt almonds ! Thirty-six would have won the

      capon , &c . American Reporteks . —The special correspondent of the New York Herald , sent to report tho proceedings at the execution of" Old Brown " gives the following description of callous impudence on , the part of himself and follows , which equals the worst that Dickens or Trollopo ever said of Ins countrymen . — •? Duringyesterday , Mrs . lirovn kept her room . Several persons , members of tho press in particular , anxiously sought interviews with her , but the gentlemen who accompanied her invariably objected . Sho ia not disposed to bo communicative , and is said to be particularly reserved when uware of the presence of any one connected with the press . who

      I was one of a party of three gentlemen were admitted to her r ., om last night . Who was aeutea near a table in the centre of thu room as we entered . One of her male companions , through whom wo haa secured tho privilege of an interview , introdiicea each of us as , we went in , after which wcull too * seats . A gentleman connected with a Iscw xorK illustrated journal took a position * immediat ely opposite her at the table . Ho commenced a conversation with her by asking if she luul an interview with Mr . Brown . Sho replied that sho had , JJ » a he scorn to bo In good spirits ? ' asked tho gonilomun , Sho said . ' Yes ; ho expressed a wish timj God would be with her , and assurod hor that uou was with him . ' Tho next Question was , ' i ) Ki >«

      receive you warmly , madam ? ' Sho answered iu uw > affirmative , and then rose from her soat , anil , removing back from her interrogator towards uw bed , held down her head and begun to woo p . as this time tho gentleman who introduced us inl 0 J posed , nnd said he would allow no more questions w be asked . Wo all then loft the room , leaving M * and her lady companion together . " ., i " War to t « m Knwu " . —Another loiter rceoiveu by M . Molondez says of the Moors «— Thoro aro » great many oi their priests among them > f' 1 ? 80 ^ ,, ' ? to bo distinguished by their long boards , tlwir wllu

      Untitled Article

      ral Scott added in his note that any addition or modification suggested by Governor Douglas would meet with resrectful consideration . Lieutenant-Colonel Lay returned with the following reply : — " Memorandum , —His Excellency Governor Douglas authorises me to say , having yet no time to consider the proposition offered bv Lieutenant-General Scott , or to consult with his official advisers here , he is at a glance satisfied that no obstacle exists to a com--pletely amicable and satisfactory adjustment continuing throughout the period of diplomatic discussion respecting the title of the island of San Juan , either upon the plan suggested by General Scott , or some other that may be mutually agreed to after advisement . " A copy of this memorandum was retained by Governor Douglas , after being read and approved by him , and signed by Lieutenant-Colonel Lay .

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      ( Srimmtl Covjcs $ 6 nixmce

      1388 The Leapebv [No. , 509. Dec. 24, 1869.

      1388 THE LEAPEBv [ No . 509 . Dec . 24 , 1869 .

      Untitled Article

      FOREIGN INCIDENTS

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 24, 1859, page 1388, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2326/page/8/