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Leader (1850-1860), 11th November 1854, Edition Country of 2, Page 10, SPIES ABROAD AND AT HOME. The Piodmoutos...

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      The Greeks And Mr. Bright. Mr. Bright, I...

      fifty years the then member for Manchester may not be cheered for denouncing the anti-Russian war of 1854 ? For our own part , -we do not think that that day will ever arrive ; but there is none the less reason why we should be tolerant of Mr . Bright- —whose moral courage is at least all the more to be respected , that , chief of a very small band— -taking- his stand , with his sixty Greek firms of Manchester , in a Peace Society Therrnopylaer-i-he dares to face

      a unanimous natioa . As to > tne Greeks themselves , we cannot see why they should be lynched for expressing their public opinion in opposition to ours . They are a race—a religion—a nation : they hate the Turks , and they rejoice when , they fancy Russia is succeeding in destroying Turkey . Out civil " protection " of them , as residents among- us , only amounts to a permission to them to pay our taxes and swell

      our trade ; it does not entitle our police to take ^ them into custody when they deride the patriotic City men , who , according to the Greeks , are profoundly ignorant of what the war is reall y about . It is said that their public roar » ifestations of joy at the delay at Sebastopol are indecent : but that is only a complaint that they are not hypocrites . England , City men Included , can afford to endure their joy ; to despise the Greeks—and to take no notice of them .

      But the best way to meet Mr . Bright and the Greeks would be to- reason , with them . "We , for ourselves , venture to say to these gentlemen , —You are in a great error in condemning this war merely because the Turks are barbarians—because the Greek Christians , who are represented by the Czar , and against whom we are making war , as if to defend the integrity of Turkey , are the best portion of Turkey . We grant you your -whole case ; but you are still quite wrong . If this were a war for Turkey and . forTurkish institutions , it would be a very absurd -war . But it happens to be a ¦ war against Russia ; and that fact constitutes it a sensible—more , a holy war . Our national

      pretence of defending the integrity and independence of a Sultan who , in accepting our defence , becomes our satrap , is a mere pretence . Our Government ' s ( Palmerston ' s ) profession of faith in the Turkish capacity to attain civilisation is a sham . Yet , still , the war may be vindicated . In the first place , the Government , which has no liberal conceptions or contemplations , and which takes as its allies , in crushing a despot , , other despots , is perfectly right in insisting on the maintenance of the Balance of Power in the Easf ; . But Mr . Bright and the Greeks overlook the circumstance that this

      empire is sustaining the Government because the war is believed to be a war against the principle of despotism , —for human freedombecause there is a national faith in the " eventualities" of the war . Mr . Bright is unworthy of himself in condemning 1 the war because the scene at Alma

      was terrible" and " hideous . " Did ho ever see a man under the surgeon's knifo for cancer ? Thousands have fallen : but , in a whole nation , great emotions and large sympathies have been aroused ; and it is that , and not prosperity , which makes a national life . Loss of lifo is not the greatest sorrow to humanity there are evils stevior ttrmis : there is such a thing ^ s a dead world .

      1066 The Leader. Rsatt7iu>A*

      1066 THE LEADER . rSATT 7 iu > A *

      Spies Abroad And At Home. The Piodmoutos...

      SPIES ABROAD AND AT HOME . The Piodmoutoso Government , wo regret to sny , has reoontly disgraced itself by setting its spies upon honest men , un < d exiling- patriots whoso politics were known through their frankness . Wo allude particularly to tho case of Mr . Nioolini , some time ( jineo an associate of Mazziai , and avowing Ilia own opinions ; conceiving , however , some hope in the power

      of constitutionalism as developed in Sardinia . Protected by an English citizenship and passport , employed in reporting for an English journal , and desirous of watching the growth of constitutional freedom in a new land , Mr . Nicolini expected that his honesty would be hostage for his fidelity , and that the Sardinian Government , which claims generous construction for itself , would know how to appreciate generous frankness in others . He was mistaken . We regret to find that he had overrated the sagacity , the courage , and the generosity of King Victor Emanuel ' s

      Government . In France , too , there is a spy question . The Soule question is settled ; th ' e Emperor has thought better of it ; he has discovered a reason why he should not persist in his fear to let the American Ambassador to Spain pass over French ground . The Emperor Napoleon was apprehensive that Mr . Pierre Soule intended to become a resident in France .

      Dreadful fact ! If the plea were true , we must presume that the Emperor Napoleon considers the permanent presence of self and Soule incompatible . Does this show the power of Soule , or the weakness of Napoleon ? In the meanwhile , the Emperor has discovered that the basis of his fear , not the fear itself , was erroneous ; the American Ambassador in Madrid has no intention of residing in France . Why Napoleon should have conceived an , intention so -totally incompatible with Mr . Soule ' s functions we do not know . It indicates a great alacrity of sinking into fear .

      In the meanwhile , the Emperor Napoleon has favoured us with an exposition of one of the means by which he lives politically . It seems he cannot do without a spy ; the "Fouche is essential to the Napoleon . This is a humiliating confession . The Fouche-ism must also be co-extensive with the Napoleonic influences . That is certainly an Idee JSfapoleonienne . In

      London , in Madrid , in Venice , the Emperor must be represented by the lowest kind of scoundrel that infests society . That is the rapport which he preserves with the heart of allied countries . Go where you will , if there is French material , there is the Napoleonian idea embodied in a specimen of the Fouche tribe . Enter a French harbour

      armed with an Italian , an English , or an American passport , and you are from that moment watched as if the Emperor upon his throne conceived that the passage from Marseilles or Lyons led straight to his heart , —not in the sentimental sense . Ascend the hill which leads to the fortifications of Lyons , and while you take note that the guns of the fortress are pointed , not outwards against an invading ; enemy , but inwards against the people who were invited to vote " Yes or No , " and

      most especially concentrated upon the manufacturing quarter of the town—while you take note of these phenomena , you shall note the spy which dogs your carriage , not unknown to the driver . Go to see the lions in Paris , and if you are experienced and quick in such matters , you shall discover that the valet de place who leads you from sight to sight is instructed to report your itinerary to his Imperial master .

      J . here is reason in the roasting of eggs , and you cannot cat an omelette without its becoming an affair of state . Engage a courier as your travelling servant on the return to England , flatter yoursolf with the delusion that although intollig-ont he is faithful , and you will find b-y some abrupt disappearance of the man that you have boon paying 1 wages to the servant of the Emperor .

      . this , wo conceive , ia a losing g-ame -with Governments . Tho monarch thftt meddlos with spies breeds in others tho suspicion be fools , creates instruments to delude as well as to inform him , descends to tho part of sharper

      intriguing against sharpers in the lowest classes of political society , and becomes implicated in paltry crimes . The assassin and the master of spies are upon an equality ; and whichever has the worse , he can scarcely claim much sympathy with bystanders , who do not share the treachery of either . Our Government , it is hinted , has its eye upon the Greeks ampngst us , who are openly exulting in their sympathy -with , the Czar , and who are suspected of supplying 1 him with information . Our Government has never

      meddled with that class of political tricks without having had its knuckles rapped for its pains . Letter-opening , we trust , is an . offence that will henceforward be left to letter-carriers under strong temptations , or to pickpockets of th & ordinary class . The use of spies may be left to swindlers and foreign emperors . The present temper of the English people , its hearty support of Government , and its -waiving of many projects of its own , show tbat the generous , game is , after all , the best game for Cabinets . Those who create spies breed a class to inform against the authors of their wretched being .

      Priests And Politics In Ireland. The Chi...

      PRIESTS AND POLITICS IN IRELAND . The Chinese are a people of curious common ; sense . When they speak ef their priests they speak of a man who is in the Jos-House business ; just as we should spealc of a man who is ia the Public-House line ; Indicating a man who has a particular trade , to which he confines himself , out of -which nobody in the least regards him . We wish the Irish had the Chinese notion of priests-A very singular fact has just presented itself in Irelaud . Mr . Duffy , the faithful leader of the Young Ireland p arty—that is , of the party which is what we should call Radical , and the French , would call Republican—has been protesting , in energetic languag-e , against the act of a certain Roman Catholic Bishop who has prohibited one of his priests , a Father O'Keeffe , of active renown , from taking part in politics . Mr . Duffy says that an independent party , for Parliamentary purposes , cannot exist without

      the aid , direct and manifest , of a patriotic priesthood : and he considers that if the bishops generally imitate O'Keeffe ' s bishop—and there is a fear that the English Government has got Rome , through Dr . Cullen , to effect that state of things—it will no longer be possible for the Nationalists to fight any figlit at all against the landlords , the traitors , and the Government

      priesthood . In that protest there is a melancholy picture of Ireland . There can . be no doubt that in Ireland there are many justifications for the prominent part hitherto taken in politics by the priests . The great agitation for Roman Catholic emancipation was a religious agitation ; and , so far , the priests were in their proper places . In all the general elections subsequent to 1829 , the

      agents of O'Connell were the priests ; and in the recent agitation for Tenant-Right the priests led tho way—and not only Roman Catholic , but Presb y terian , clergymen . What would have become of the people , and the popular cause , if the priests had held aloof ? In Ireland there are two political forcesthat of" the " Castlo" influence—in Ireland it

      is the influence of corruption—and that of the Conservative landlords—in Ireland it is tho influence of intimidation . It is not the gentry who load tho people in Ireland 5 there is no such middle class as ours : and when a popular candidato stands for a borough or a county , almost all tho attorneys are against him—ho must thereforo seok an electioneering agent in the priest . Apparently , therefore , it is a aorious blow to the peoplo for tlio people ' s prelates to warn tho people ' s priests from the hustings and tho platform ; and , in this case , tho injury is

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 11, 1854, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11111854/page/10/