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Leader (1850-1860), 11th August 1860, Edition 2 of 2, Page 4

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      The Headless Liberals And Their Recent V...

      been the very tiling likely to bring on a general "war . France would care nothing for an alliance that "was merely negative , and Russia would , have new facilities for pushing her ambitious designs . Maintaining Turkey as she is , would prove beyond the reach of any power ; but we may prevent her being a battle-field for marauding Sovereigns , and suffer her provinces to separate and form iicav combinations adapted to their characters and-wants . If a few other unattached Liberals occupied as conspicuous a position as Mr . Bright , his eccentricities would matter little , hut while he is the most prominent , and sometimes the only prominent non-official Liberal , his conduct is permitted to exercise an influence altogether beyond his merits as a political thinker . A year or two ago a Manchester party led a crusade against the East India Company without any appreciation of consequences , or any efforts , to guard against , the evils of aggrandising the patronage and favour of the Government and the Crown . Now the Bill for abolishing the local army of India furnishes him an illustration of the folly of this course , and Liberals are disgusted with the want of foresight displayed . Here was an opportunity for the Manchester party to hare rendered some service , but they have been perfectly useless ; the Cabinet has succeeded in obtaining the third reading of the Bill without furnishing the country with ; the information to which it has been entitled , and without fairly meeting any of the important arguments which MivHorsmax , Sir James E ^ Piii'SrsTOJrE , and a few others , brought forward in opposition to a sc heme which deserves to be characterized as one endangering the Indian Empire for the sake of adding to the unconstitutional favoui and patronage of the Crown . Lord Palmerstois" does not appear to want an improved state of theHouse of Commons . He knows that to keep-any force in order , whether civil or military , it is necessary to employ it in successful work ; but the only successful work he appreciates is to keep himself at the head of affairs . Hence his meeting with \ he Liberal members was very unsatisfactory , - ' He could only urge them to support liini because the Continent was in a ticklish state ; and yet when one member spoke of our foreign policy , he cpiickly told -him that was not the . subject To be discussed . It is plain that while Lord PalmerStox is the head of the Cabinet , the House of Commons will not be properly led by the Government , and it is patent before the public that the Manchester party have thoroughly failed as leaders ,, either for Parliamentary [ Reform of any " other constitutional question , and they have deliberately betrayed the country by pocketing the Lord ' s aggression for fear of damaging the tail of the French Treaty . They desire the credit of having made that Treaty , and we have no wish to underrate it ; but to sell all other questions " ~ fbTT 1 § mali- ^ oT ^ strongest reprobation , and we learn that some of the leading Liberals of Birmingham are loud in their expressions of disgust .

      7]6 The Saturday Analyst And Leader. 7 [...

      7 ] 6 The Saturday Analyst and Leader . 7 [ Aug . 11 , 1860 .

      The Syrian Protocols. Lord John Russeli>...

      THE SYRIAN PROTOCOLS . LORD John Russeli > has dealt very manfully with the bad business of Syria , which , in more fussy hands , would before this have assumed an alarming aspect . The Crimean war ^ although managed as a military job and a political swindle , did accomplish some important objects . It laid the foundation for the joint action of England and France in Turkish affairs , and weakened Russia so much that she has since found herself compelled to moderate her tone . The frightful slaughter of Christians in the Lebanon and in Damascus has excited the passions of the Russian people , and , if Nicholas had still been sovereign , with unbroken power , under the guise of a religious crusade , he would have had an excellent opportunity of pursuing his ambitious and aggressive designs . As it is , France is to pluy first fiddle in the Syrian movement , and Russia , whose operations would have been far more dangerous from her command of the Greek Church , must remain contented with an inferior part . According to the protocols which ore to form the basis of a Convention , the operations of the European Powers will assume the legitimate form ofassistance afforded to the SuivrAN-hy-Uis nllies . —The number of European troops is limited to twelve thousand , and France is to supply immediately one half of this force . Should the remainder be required , an agreement is to be made between the various European GovernmentS'nnd the Porte . The expedition will bo properly subordinated to the authority of the Sultan , and its commander ' will be instructed to muko joint arrangements with the Extraordinary Commissioner of the Porto . The contracting parties have fixed the period of occupation by European troops at six months , " convinced thut

      such a space of time will be sufficient to attain the object of pacification they have in view . " Thus there is no appearance of a permanent intervention ; and , although . Six months will assuredly be insufficient to obtain a complete realization of the various objects that have to be attained , it may suffice for the accomplishment of some of the most important . ' There can be nothing in the temporary presence of six thousand French troops in Syria to excite the slightest alarm ; and with great European difficulties impending over him , it is unlikely that the Emperor of the French will do anything to hasten or promote the breaking up the Turkish Empire , which need not be that imminent event which the interested and dishonest Greeks are so fond of affirming . It will not do to imagine the Christians of Syria perfectly meek and inoffensive beings . They have shown themselves to be religious fanatics , and have got the worst of a feud which they themselves provoked . The country wants a ruler strong enough to keep all factions in order , and events point to Abd-el-Kadeu as a man eminently qualified for the task . The authors of the massacres must be p unished , but they are far less blameable than the Turkish officials , who practically encouraged the murderous deeds . The contending parties were animated with that fury which possesses religious bigots of all races , and they carried on their warfare upon the sanguinary principles common in the Ea ? t . Of course , both were to blame , and the victors the most for the ferocious use they made of their power ; but , we repeat , the chief fault lies with the officials , who did not choose to do their duty , and the Sultan can have no power to carry out the benevolent intention he is known to entertain , until these men are made a severe example of . Abd-el-Kader gives an interesting account of the Damascus horrors * from which it appears that the war in that city broke out on the 9 th of July , in consequence of the punishment inflicted upon a few Moslems who had insulted some Christians . The Turkish soldiers assisted the rioters . "A few old Mussulmans made efforts to stop the business ; but the Turkish officers had no wish for peace , and , on -the contrary , hounded on their soldiers against the unfortunate Christians . " ^ Turkish officers are quite capable of understanding personal responsibility ; and if the offenders in this affair are treated as ^ they deserve , others will have too keen a sense of interest to repeat their misdeeds . . "Withbut European support thes Sultan might be unable to execute justice upon these offenders ; but he has now no excuse , and the European Powers ought to insist on the application of wholesome severity . For two days the Governor of Damascus suffered the massacre and pillage to be carried on , and probably no Christians would have escaped , if Abd-el-Kader had not so nobly and generously interfered on their behalf . The French Government has done well in c onferring the cross of the Legion of Honour on this distin-~~ ~ uished Mahometan , and" ~ the Sultan could not do better than o ffer him the Viceroyalty over the entire province .

      The Devils Of London. Rtiiie Devils Of W...

      THE DEVILS OF LONDON . rTIIIE Devils of which wo speak wore called devils in a former I age , they aro called spirits now ; but they liave boon en ) led by all sorts of names at one time or another , since the rcif ^ n of Pharaoh , King of Egypt . In Saul's day they were witches , though they wore not yet niistresfics of the art of aerial broom-riding . Among the ancient Greeks and ltomsms they wore Klonsinism Mysteries and Delphic Oracles , and so they came down through . 'igcs nnd generations to our own time , when they became simply spirits , but in all respects the very image of their ancient fathers . Oracles ; mysteries , -witches , ami spirits , in one form or oilier , have lumnted tlio world from its earliest infancy , or , at least , from tlic time that mankind appeared upon tho face of the earth ; and it is not at all extraordinary that their chnraetei'isties in all ages have been very much the eame ; sinco man is the same animal to-day , minus his tail , perhaps , thnt ho was six thousand yenrs ngo . There is no feeling more deeply implanted in the human breast than a love for ,, and a craving alter , the marvellous ; nnd as this very craving lias produced the moat it feeds on , it is but logical tliut the meat should nlways bo beef or mutton , with , perhaps , u variety in the mode of dressing . What wo see . in the modern days , in the latter lnilf of ¦ tlio nineteenth century , as -wo love to boast—scorns to prove that civilization nnd enlightenment nro no safeguards ngainst > i belief in supernatural agencies . No Pagan who consulted the oracles of Delphi could luivo boon more impressed with a belief in tho - prcscientpowcrs ^ ofdiTcct ~ au |^ 7 Tyy'thnTrnro wcll-qdtientcd-C'hristiim —¦ -----men and women of those days with the belief that Mr . . Humkcoxi flout through tho air , nnd that tables rap out communicalioiiH lVom tho other world . . Spiritual scahvvs rii'o now nil tlio rage with i n , certain class of society in London . They woro all the rage in Paris somo timo ago , nnd now they have conic over here , ¦ with tlio farffc-ihmtcd . bonnet and the new mantle , and nro . quite usmuch ' the fashion . We have hud mysteries of this hind in a variety of forms during 1 tho last twenty yenrs . A familiarity with sciontiiio phrenology introduced mesmerism , and mesmerism brought up electro-biology . Who hn » not scon a drowsy-headed rustic tftnreu

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 11, 1860, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11081860/page/4/