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    March 14, 1857.] THE LEADER, 253

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    FOREIGN POLICY REFORM. 3?bcebb is no dou...

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    RETIREMENT 03? THE SPEAKER. The scene in...

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    Liberals At The Elections. The Formation...

    be passed over . To reject Mr . Cobdejst , Mr . Bbight , or Mr . Milnbb Gibson would be to discredit the -very principle of independent representation . Nor can . it be said , that Mr . Wilkinson ancl Mr . "Wiltliatvi Williams have failed in their Parliamentary duties . Mr . Wiguelin has proved a respectable accession to the party , by the side of Mr . Wncox , a genuine Liberal . Mr . M'CTTiiiiAGH is

    a little iesitating in his professions , but Mr . Watkin " , at Great Yarmouth , speaks out with emphasis and candour . But the contest coining on is not one of names , but of principles ; not an appeal on Lord Palwceestoin's Chinese policy , bat the trial of an issue between Liberalism and Toryism . " We should regret if one suffrage were given exclusively with reference to the recent vote . The

    policy for Liberals to pursue is that of retuTning members to represent their general opinions . To expel a man from Parliament because lie acted with the coalesced opposition would be almost , though not quite , as insane as to elect his rival for seven years to a seat in the Imperial Legislature simply because he thought the lorcha Arro w entitled to protection .

    March 14, 1857.] The Leader, 253

    March 14 , 1857 . ] THE LEADER , 253

    Foreign Policy Reform. 3?Bcebb Is No Dou...

    FOREIGN POLICY REFORM . 3 ? bcebb is no doubt that Lord PaL / Mebstoit is resorting to electioneering arts to obtain expressions of public confidence . Whatever may be his success , it is certain , also , that the country begins to be dissatisfied with the system of secret diplomacy . Some explanations iai connexion with that topic may advantageously be solicited on . the hustings . IProm officialism stamped with pedantry only one answer can be expected . Lord Palmerston , lord AuEBDEEBr , Lord JohnHtjsssxl , theEarl of Derby , would afiirm that , without the practice of confidential negotiation , it would he impossible to keep up relations with foreign states . Other persons , not quite so experienced , might consider this a bugbear . Supposing we had no foreign relations ? We should probably continue to liave foreign commerce ; but it is a practical impossibility to cut off one government in Europe from the body of contemporary governments . There might be an end of secret treaties , undeclared

    understandings , arrangements concluded within closed doors ; but a powerful state would retain its power , and influence the world for good or evil , though wax should no longer be used in its diplomatic bureau . At least , the results of the secret system have been far from satisfactory . War with Hussia , subservience to France , treachery to the Italians , double-dealing with tlie Swiss , embarrassment everywhere , have arisen from our policy of converting every diplomatic

    deliberation into a political conspiracy- It is true that we have ratifiod a peace with Itussia , that ve are engaged in settling the Neufchatel difficulty , that we are on terms of official amity with Prance , that wo keep abreast of European questions in general ; but where are our securities ? in the sealed chests of diplomacy , presided over by a board of directors sworn to secrecy . What we wish to insist upon is , that a great industrial nation should have better guarantees against war than tho temper or

    the ability of any single minister . According to tho tlieory of the Constitution , Parliament controls the Foreign Office ; but if the Foreign Office entangles tho country in a diaputo , the dispute may have carried too far in tho whispering galleries of diplomacy for Parliament to interfere before the question has burnt itself out . The issue raised , however , affects not only declarations of war , but friendly compacts also ; there aro some friendly compacts possible that would excite as much regret

    as any declaration of war . Against these we are without protection . The nation must recognise the acts and fulfil the pledges of its officials . Every minister for foreign affairs is for the time being , a plenipotentiary ; every ambassador , if not a plenipotentiary has an unlimited facult y for mischief ; every consul lias the privilege of quarrelling with authorities abroad ; and , the spark once kindled , a long supplementary

    process is conducted an secret , the consequences of which are never known until they are irretrievable . Six months of negotiations pass ; Ministers come down and say , " Gentlemen , we have determined our differences with America , and we invite you to congratulate us ¦; " or , " We have been unable to settle that matter , aud have advised the Crown to declare war . You will , of course , give us a patriotic support , and pay the bill . " It is thenceforward held to be

    un-English to question the policy of the conflict ; at the dawn of a pacific hope it is declared impolitic to discuss a question still pending ; upon the conclusion of a treaty , all discussion is deprecated as too late , since the nation , through its Executive , has entered into binding engagements and must keep faith with a reconciled enemy . Excepting , therefore , that lightly rising vapour called the ' -moral influence of public opinionupon the policy of Grovernment , the nation has no check upon , the diplomacy of the Executive . Supposing that a majority of the House of Commons had condemned the

    attitude assumed by Lord Clarendon" towards Naples , any member moving the House to a condemnatory resolution , before the act , would have met ^ vith . the objection that he interfered with the prerogative of the Grown and the functions of the Grovernment ; afterwards le would have been appealed to not to interrupt a course of delicate negotiations which were being carried on with every prospect of success—or failure . Then , we have escaped an American war ; but how ? Admit that we have escaped it through the wise and conciliatory policy

    adopted by Lord Palmetxstoh " . Had Lord Palmebston ' s policy been less conciliatory aud wise , what then ? We might have been dragged into a war ; for , right or wrong , the Minister is the arbiter of our foreign relations . It is true that a vote of censure , or want of confidence , may deprive him of power ; but he has lit the fires of international dissension , he has broken the bonds of peace ; and , supposing even the most favourable issue , the same result is arrived at , after convulsion and disaster , that might have been attained by a simple appeal , iu tlie first instance , to the Imperial Legislature .

    We will not go so far as to say that before the Government is permitted to promulgate a hostile declaration agninst a foreign state , " a Bill for Making War against ltussia , " or America , or Persia , should have passed tlireo readings iu the Xords and Commons ; but we contend , and the' spirit of tlie times is with us , that tho course of negotiation should be open , and that Parliament should guide tho movements of diplomacy , exactly as it

    marks the plans of legislation . It is true , aa we have frequently said , that if Parliament fulfilled its proper aim , diplomacy could do no wrong ; that if legislation were under real national control , tlie Foreign Office would submit to a reformed influence ; and it is among the most palpable truths of our ago that , if tlio House of Commons were no longer a club , tho band of foreign ministers and ambassadors in Europe would no longer constitute a guild .

    It would be worth a national effort to place our foreign relations upon a secure and intelligible footing . The next few years aro

    wanted for the settlement of home questions ; but while Continental disputes are simmering in one direction , American differences fermenting in another , there is no chance for the principle of Beform . This belief has made great progress iu the public mind . It is felt that secret diplomacy is an abyss of lurking

    dangers , and that while we are distracted by affairs beyond the seas , in which we can only have a partial interest , the growth of our institutions is arrested , and our enthusiasm frittered away . Meanwhile , our international sympathies bear no fruit , so that while we neglect our our own necessities we afford neither assistance nor consolation to the peoples of the Continent .

    Retirement 03? The Speaker. The Scene In...

    RETIREMENT 03 ? THE SPEAKER . The scene in the House of Commons on Tuesday night was one of the most impressive ever witnessed within the walls of that assembly . Mr . Shaw Lefevbe had announced his intention of retiring from the Speakership ; . Lord PaIjMERston , as the leader of the House of Commons , stood up and made a plain statement of facts , the effect of which was , to declare , that . in the most important permanent post of the House of Commons ,

    requiring the highest qualities—knowledge to conduct business , firmness to . control disorder , conciliation to win support , patience to assist members who go wrong through inexperience , incapacity , or other foible , memory to recal the laws applicable to each unrehearsed situation , tact to keep up old privileges in the midst of constant and rapid reform- —Mr . Shaw Lefevke had passed eighteen years of his life , a , nd had gained the esteem , of every party and every person in the

    House . This is a simple truth ; and it is , we hold , a great and valuable public event that those high qualities , which constitute the very spirit and substance of chivalry , should be thus bodily presented and receive their homage , at a day when political intrigue , jointstock gambling , the superciliousness of aristocracy , and the pride and meanness of the purse , appear to have obliterated all signs of chivalry . Yet chivalry is the great ^ safeguard of every nation : it is the religion of man in action .

    Mr . Lefe vre , indeed , has not displayed one quality which might , perhaps , have been called forth by rougher times . He has not shown a legitimate ambition to recover , as well as to preserve , the powers of the House of Commons . For it is the House of Commons after all which really should rule the State , and which should , upon occasion , bring a mutinous or a shifty Minister witli n cord round hie neck and make him cry jpeecavi . On the contrary , Mr . Lbfevhk has , to a ccrtaiu extent ,

    suffered the sacred unity of his post to be invaded , by sanctioning tho appointment of a Deputy Speaker . Ho did not do so until his strength in some degree had begun to fail ; and then he forgot that one advantage in keeping tlie Speaker without a Deputywas , that it excluded from the post any but that strong typo of man who ought to bo the Speaker of a strong popular assemblage . Who will bo the next Speaker ?—that is the question suggested by the retirement of the present . There aro several candidates

    for tlio post . Amongst those who have been named are , Mr . Walpolk , Mr . Fitzuox , Mr . Stuaut Woiitt / ey , and Sir Eredehick Thesjcgeh ; all of them good men , "but not one of them proved to possess tho spirit , or the strength to embody and assert popular power , as contrasted with aristocratic or royal power , which is demanded in a Speaker . On the contrary , the election of tho Speaker on tho reassembling of Parliament will probably be made a question to try tho strength of Ministers ; and thus , perhaps , again tho

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 14, 1857, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14031857/page/13/