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    THE MOVEMENT ABROAD

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    Untitled Article

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    THE MOVEMENT ABROAD.

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    Untitled Article

    lie declares that , in speaking of a " -further measure of Reform , he referred exclusively to the distribution of seats . " At Birmingham he demonstrated that the Bill before the country would let in very few of the working-classes , and now : he affirms that the only further measure he contemplates is a re-distribution of seats . The honourable gentleman is fully entitled to hold Tory views if he pleases , but we would suggest the propriety of his holding them honestly , and not endeavouring to make the working-classes a stalking-horse for his own ambition . He opposed all legislation to rescue them from factory slavery ; he condemned the Volunteer movement , which a man generously

    relying upon the working-classes would have made national , and not exclusive ; and he now tells those whom his adopted schemes will exclude from the franchise , that his further anxiety will be confined to a re-distribution of seats—a measure which , taken in connexion with a narrow limitation of the suffrage , would simply transfer so much political power from the land-owning to the mill-owning part of the community . At Liverpool , he frightened the rich by preposterous schemes of taxation ; and at Birmingham , and in the House of Commons , he adds to the political distrust of the poor by demonstrating that it is simply the advancement of his own order , and not the general good , that occupies his thoughts .

    The Movement Abroad

    efforts of Garibaldt must lead to outbreaks on the mainland of Neapolitan -territory , while a successful insurrection there could not possibly leave the Pope in possession of what now remains of his ill-governed states defended by hireling cutthroats from , foreign lands . A rising right and left of the Austrian positions would leave Francis Joseph but two alternatives—either to . retire altogether from Italy , or try once more the chances of war ^ and no one can doubt that a movement in Hungary would follow or accompany a renewal of the Italian campaign .

    It is evident from Count Cavotjr ' s speech , upon which we commented last week , that the Sardinian Court reckons upon further aid from France if any emergency should arise to render it necessary ; and however anxious Louis Napoleon may be for peace , he ( tare not permit his work in Italy to be overthrown by a restoration of Austrian authority and prestige . To do so would be to make the second empire a failure , and to confess himself beaten by those Hapsburgs who betrayed his uncle , and have been the traditional enemies of France . ' Matters are still further entangled by the meddling of Russia with Turkey , contrary to the provisions of the Treaty of Paris , and by the doubt still entertained whether the German Powers would be content to

    leave Austria to her fate . The South German pr inces are known to be against the emancipation of either Italy or Hungary , and the Prussian Court is afraid to take its stand upon the principles of popular right . With such complications , what can the French Emperor do but prepare for the possibility of having to encounter a coalition , into which England might be dragged while her rulers are unfaithful and her people asleep ? The doubt cast by England over the liberal efforts of Europe are

    rpHE state of Europe question each day assumes greater JL importance , and -every one is convinced of the impending disturbance of that uneasy condition which the despotic Authorities are pleased to term " peace . " The reactionary parties in the English Parliament look with satisfaction at the probability of their being able to stifle the cry for Reform by a still louder appeal to those fears which the ' .. occurrence , of war can so readily excite . Day by day our funds fluctuate according to the movements of the Paris Bourse , while every statement of the Moniteiw and every word that falls or is supposed to fall from the military chief wlio sits enthroned at Paris , is watched with as much anxiety" as if he were the sole arbiter of the destinies oi' the

    world , instead of being a man of subtle shifts and expedients , watching the turn of events as anxiously as any speculator in the most ticklish market , and regulating his adventures according to the opportunities of the moment rather than by any predetermined scheme . The great difference between the Emperor Napoleon III . and the common-place monarchs and advisers by whom European states are governed , is , that he has a keener insight into the character of his people and the necessities of his time . They endeavour to maintain their thrones by idle efforts to check the motion of public affairs;—he sees that a quiescent Europe or a quiescent France is an impossibility , and seeks with

    Efcill ^ TrdnsTTcceTss ^ crT )^^ ing energies that cannot be neutralized into a channel more consistent with his own interests and plans . England , so far as its Court and Government are concerned , still clings to the benighted notion of keeping things quiet by throwing weight alternately in one scale or the other , without the- slightest regard to the inherent justice of the occasion , and without any perception of the palpable absurdity of attempting to preserve an equilibrium by the opposition of repulsive powers . During the Russian war , the Prince Consort declared the British constitution to be

    on its -trial . It was tried and found wanting , for the irrefragable argument of events demonstrated that an unreformed Parliament was no check upon official jobbery and folly ; exposure only led to a miserable minimum of improvement , and the irresponsible distributors of honours and patronage rewarded with blue ribbons , titles , and places every conspicuous offender whose political or military delinquencies had caused the death of our soldiers , or brVmgh ' t discredit upon our arms . Again the Prince Consort might tell us that our constitution is on its trial , and again we should see proof of the absolute necessity of causing it to undergo a thorough repair .

    Every hour proves that we want a national policy to lessen the chances of our being involved in war , and to show to other Powers iu what direction they may move with the certainty of avoiding collision with ourselves . Our old women of Downing Street are no match for the man of the Tuileries . He will not and cannot be quiet , while the world moves on , and the imbecility of our cabinets thrusts upon him the necessity of being prepared with alliances against us in case neither our friendship nor our neutrality can be secured . It is absurd to offer our support for the idle purpose of sustaining principles that are putgrown , or dynastic arrangements Hint are only compatible with chronic disorder and alarm . It is not en&y to unravel the

    web of European incidents or destinies , but it is easy to trace certain concntenntions that irresistibly bind together the fortunes of different peoples and states . A little more success of the noble

    closely connected with the compulsory hesitation of Cavour ; and our private letters affirm that even the expedition of Garibaldi has been imperilled by ' ¦ the . obstacles which the Sardinian Court has unwillingly , and .-perforce , placed in the way of his receiving the aid best adapted to his plans . If Austria should renew the war , as now seems most probable , it is to be feared that the French Ejiperor coivld not rely upon the approbation of Lord John Russell—the most liberal of our statesmen—if he should carrv out his ori < rinal intention of assisti-iijr the

    Hungarians to achieve ^ their emancipation , and he woulcLbe certain of virulent opposition if Lords Malmesbury or Clarendon conducted our affairs . Neither / Whigs nor' Tories are prepared for any efforts towards the Teconstruction of Europe , and whether they have to deal with Constantinople , the Principalities of the Danube , the States of Italy , or the divided fragments of Germany , their ideas are all taken from the past , and they pore over the Treaty of Vienna when they ought to be reading the signs of the times .

    The merchant hesitates in his speculations , and the course of our manufacturing prosperity is constantly disturbed , because England , has forgotten the fact ., that-she . is strong enough to control the events that most chiefly concern her , and able to offer a free vent to the disruptive energies of France , without imperilling one single interest she need care to preserve . . The astute descendant of the First Napoleon" ennuot fail fo know that an alliance with Russia could only be a temporary and dangerous expedient . Tliere is a great gulf between- the Courts of Paris and St . Petersburg , that might be provisiotially bridged over , but which no power can fill up . The French Empire boasts of its seven million votes ; the Russian ¦

    Empire haughtily condemns any Government that rests upon the suffrages of the people . Napoleon and Alexanpku may both be despots , but while the latter repeats old falsehoods about an imaginary divine , right , the former moves in the name , of his notion , and must gratify some broad popular desires to prevent his jjower from drifting away . The French Sovereign must play off the army against the Jesuit priests , the democracy against the numerous mid wealthy adherents of the family of Louis Philippe , and it would bo a greater triumph for him to secure the support of England in the new settlement of Europe , than io > obtain some transient advantages in a collision that could only end in his defeat .

    In Italy , in Hungary , in Germany , the wisest of the liberal leaders only claim from England a just expression of opinion , and the certainty that she will not interfere to prevent changes which , although they might be objectionable in some minor particulars , would , on the whole , bring about a greater conformity between national aspirations and territorial nrrangemenls . Evory one knows that England would not fight with the mowed purpose of restoring Austrian slavery in Italy , or of compelling the Hungarians to remain under the illegalities and , atrocities of Hapsbuuo misrule ; but the' Continent does not know whether the people of this country would permit Lord Palmerstos to sanctidn a second Russian intervention , und repent his former conduct of writing to Vienna letters of congratulation when the aid of barbarian forces had ennblcd Fhancis Joseph to drown the-

    Untitled Article

    536 The Ijeader and Saturday Analyst . [ June 9 , I 860 .

    The Movement Abroad.

    THE MOVEMENT ABROAD .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 9, 1860, page 536, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2351/page/4/