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Leader (1850-1860), 14th April 1860, Edition 2 of 2, Page 13, April 14, 1860.J The leader and Saturday...

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      A New Theory 01? European Public I^Avv.F...

      and received those impressions -from a parent -whovtaught him to regard with affectionate reverence Lord John lliusell , to whom the book is dedicated . As for his profession , he is " an Unworthy member of the Fourth Estate—a fellow of the reading and wri m ? sort ! What a pity he did not avail himself <> f his experience and submit h , s preface to sbnie able editor , xvho would have cut Ins . thirty pagesof declamation dowii to ten of sober prose to the profit of t e novv irate reader , for our « fellow of the writing sort' gives signs , of power , and , well reined in , might probably do useful work .

      April 14, 1860.J The Leader And Saturday...

      April 14 , 1860 . J The leader and Saturday Analy st , ^ ^

      Social Liberty Tn France. Filhe Si«-Ht O...

      SOCIAL LIBERTY TN FRANCE . filHE si « -ht of an Arab steed drawing a sand-cart would not be J- more unpleasant and incongruous than is the spectacle of Jonx Bkight ' s espousing the cause of despotism . That a inan who has so nobly and unweariedly defended the interests of the _ so-called lower classes at home , so fearlessly exposed the iniquities of nepotism and so generously sacrificed himself to procure the liberty of the English people , should now come forward and warmly advocate the policy of « i ruler who turned a free republic into an absolute autocracy , and who is only tolerated lest he should be succeeded by a dynasty eq «» llv hostile to freedom but more incapable , is a fact as melancholy " to think of as it is difficult to explain . Opposed as we are to the line adopted in foreign affairs by the Conservative . ^ arty , in want of something else , we cannot but deplore that an , ndependent statesman like Mr . BiuanT should go out of Ins way _ to support so illegal a measure as the annexation of Savoy to the Flinch empire , and should utter . sentiments such as those ^ fortm-lit a > jo , declaring , that the loyalty and allegiance ^ of the majority of Englishmen are matters of pounds , shillings , and pence . Double their annual income they will venerate with double respect any Government which secures it . Philosophers say that states of mind result from states of body . Can it be that the offensive ' - atmosphere of Manchester has begun to affect the moral perceptions of the inhabitants , and is making them as cloudy and impure as itself ? Undoubted . }' , it must have been a violent fit of indigestion which prompted the memorable exclamation , " Perish , toavoy ! and the same speech in another place shows unquestionable SYmptoms of jiiundice . If IVIr . Bright ' s bile had not reached _ his organs of vision , and so deprived him of the penetrating insight ¦ which has hitherto distinguished his political career , he would scarcely have ventured to say that " perhaps the French prefer their social liberty which we have not , to the political liberty which , we enjoy . " As somebody in ILamlel says , " This is the very coinage of his brain . " , Banishing all considerations of national pride , and looking at the matter with entire candour , we confess that : this statement of the superiority of social liberty in France to that of England seems singularly rash and unjust , and we have yet to learn in what points such superiority consists . , It is not easy to invent a satisfac ory definition of social liberty , but taking Mill ' s account of it , that in its perfection it gives each member of the community the right ot doing anything whatsoever , provided it be not positively nn . moiis to the interests of anybody else , and making proper allowance for the vet incomplete development of society , both in our country and the other , we maintain that at the present moment social liberty is more advanced in -England than in France . . , In the first place , what can be more essential to the existence of social liberty than the power of free expression pt opinion on all sSects , iucluding polities ? -for we presume that Mr . Bkight only uses the phmse political liberty in its ordinary andgen »«« o woeptation—that is , as liberty in exercising political rights . Now open dSatio of . > pini < m is not a political but a social riphfc . and ito tolemtion is a \ li « tiuguishing characteristic o all , social Irjedora . Free discussion n . nd unrestricted expression of views arc tl e . ^ e / alohabet tho first elements- of a social emancipation ; without tlna a oc ety c . » have only a spurious imitation of liberty Now any one w . o sat a 1 acquainted with the French nation at home , who has conversed ' th average Bpeci . nens of intelligent . Frenchmen must bo aware fhut on most of the great questions which into . rost c . vil . / . ed comtnuniS , aa active and developing organizations , they display con-Sablo rehietance to argue openly and boldly , not ^ m lack of views or information , but from a suspicious timidity which want o political ¦^ dom iSvuSnblv begets . Not only in the fettered press of Franco , bu " e ?! a ly ) ioJial intercourse , we may ob . sorve this unwillingness and rescrvo in oonvemition on Hcrious matters , however open , frank , ad Mit ho rted pe (» ple aeem when pleasure is tho topic . Unless , ? leUore , M . SuiolcT « lmres the opinion , the gentleman who dnouneed conversation as the bane of society , we , mu . cortamjj admit that tho restraint upon its freedom in Iiranoe is a bo no us da nn-e dono to the liberty of French society . The slavery o tho pjessls another gross and flagrant infringement , not of political but S r , borty , bnt of BOi » a toiit a description that it is unnecessary to dW BitT £ Hot only aovorninont intorferonco and repression whioli wo iSituVi na » i ) p . « od to Mr . Bu . qht ' b noU jn of the reodoin of France , There is another , coarser , and atill more hateful 1 } lanny tlmn that of the imperial government 5 a tyranny whose brutnl hisoleuco is not to ho ooneSvpd in thift country—wo nlludo to tho S & . Crs . ^ a ^^ is ^ r ^ : ^!^

      nence and rudeness of swnggering officers ? But in Par : s the military are to a certain extent restrained , and it is left for the provincial towns to feel the full exuberance of their pride : frequeiiUy the visitor may see a tri . ) of officers striding along the footpath of the streets , and forcing all who meet them , men and women alike , ¦ into the gutter ; suid not seldom are the townspeople prevented from enjoyment of their out-dqor amusements by the ill-bred jeers and insuiting remarks of their red-breeched rulers . We might readily give a score of examples of military insolence in salons , in cafes , in theatres , and in the streets ; but we are content to appeal to the abhorrence , in Paris sc 4-c-ely disguised , which the majority of civilians' feel for the soldiery , an -abhorrence arising , almost entirely from the repression of souiul liberty by their unscrupulous and resentful behaviour . A lar ^ e measure of social liberty is impossible where you have an overbearing officer on one side and on the ^ other an imperial spy ; for the employment of this odious , vermin ^ did not cease with the life of M . Foxjche . A sort of distrust , suspicion , timidity , prevails through the whole of French society ; and wherever this element enters it is fatal to free and open intercourse . In short , all history proves clearly that a despotic political government is incompatible with the co-existence of social liberty . A people may possibly be politically free and socially enslaved , but the converse—a nation politically enslaved and socially free—13 rarely if ever to be found , either in cotemporary or . past history .. Hie details and particulars of the political and the social position are constantly and inevitably interdependent , so that the latter can scarcely ever free itself from the indirect or even tne direct influence of the former . There is an unfailing correspondence between the two , between the political and social constitutions of a people . X * et us pass for a moment to the inuch-calunmiated social liberty ot this country and even here we find a strong connection with the political liberty which we are fortunate enough to enjoy , and one point wil suffice to show it . The chief evil in our political institutions is the undue influence of the aristocratic element , and whence arise the o-reatest defieiencies in our inheritance of social liberty r * ± roni the excessive desire to follow the aristocracy and the clergy , and the excessive fear of breaking the etiquette of the one , and of thinking counter to the dogmatic orthodoxy of the other . There Are many sivrns that we are going to tlirow off this double yoke . The popiilarity of authors like Cahlyle , Mill , BccKle , and EirFKSON is proof abundant that Heterodoxy is rapidly losing all her terrors , whilst the whole tendency of . political feeling is to effect a gradual but certain abolition of aristocratical pre-eminence . But more repressive upon society and its liberty than aristocracy and church is an autocracy , and of all autocracies none more fatally crushing than a military autocracy such as that of the French Emperor . . But in England , some may argue , we are tod closely restrained by public opinion : in France it is not nearly so absolute or powerful We do not attempt to deny that in England the influence of public opinion is in excess ; but we believe that its exercise even _ in excess , is on the whole salutary , and much to be preferred ^ to . the absence of public opinion which marks tlie present state of . things in France . In France , puhlic opinion has been annihilated—and replaced by what ? By one man ' s opinion , and that . opinion ssupported by the most degrading of arguments , that of might . But in the present state of circumstances , we are unw . lhng to prolong thfcse remarks ; we are anxious to do all honour to France , and we fully appreciate the valuable services which she has received from her present ruler ; only we must protest against a s atement such as tliat of Mr . Bttioui We will just remark in closing , that there are certain French custom ,, which we wi 1 not par > ^^ . ^ may have struck Mr . BniaiiT as ind . cative of high soc . * J ^ ot j . and they are so if social liberty involves indelicacy ; but in onlicisin- a broad statement , it is necessary to take high ground .

      Parliamentary Lletllorsjauct. Whe Sessio...

      PARLIAMENTARY llETllOrSJAUCT . WHE Session of Parliament , as far as it has proceeded , must , be J- pronounced a busy one . The public business which b >» boon initiated or fully transacted , is in character both varied and mo t ft ilSes huvo been introduced likely to make a pro . nn . ont -, re i « , history " . notions have been brought forward connected w ! In , tiers of the highest public interest , and questions " » yc ^ en nn oundedlnd answered involving materials for future eg . slat . ion SJ imrLv hostilities . Government has passed through the . parlia , metv-y ordeal with negative advantage . It h . is voi muuod in urnericul atreiiKth in the House ; it has not gained in moral weight tho cou »? try On the other hand , it has lost no important sup-Voter- * h , i retained about as much public con Wojoo nj . t J er nossesBod and it has stood its ground agninat all the toice wnicn K Oppositbn has hitherto organise ! against it . <^™™ * j £ haan on the whole , very fortunate . It has boon forced into some ugly ' i " u ' tio ,: 8 and lit- tad t . . « k . the Irum ntomg £ mmn > nfora thai , onoa or linvliiB bw d » coivo . l , iu d ( . 1 »™ S >»»™» » £ members meet nff iun with n the tour walls o tli « Now 1 ^ Igtci » t vmi

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 14, 1860, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14041860/page/13/