On this page

• Text (3)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    344 The Leader and Saturday Analysl. [Ap...

  • 

    NAPOLEONIC TACTICS. j ' ¦ • > mHE Govern...

  • 

    3rETllOPOLITAN BOAHI) OF WORKS. A BILL t...

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    344 The Leader And Saturday Analysl. [Ap...

    344 The Leader and Saturday Analysl . [ Apuii , 14 , laeo .

    Napoleonic Tactics. J ' ¦ • > Mhe Govern...

    NAPOLEONIC TACTICS . j ' ¦ > mHE Government of Xapoleox III . may do good things ^ as j [ I well as bad things , but it has no capability forsunple straight- | forward intelligible conduct . Its foundations were laid in unye- j racitv and its superstructure does no discredit to its corner- | stone \ little ^ -liile ogo a London journal predicted that some j attacks would be made upon England in pursuance o ; t _ orders j fmnv head-quarters , and accordingly we were accused of inciting , the insuiTection in Sicily , and the Carlist movement m _ Spain . ; If we compare these attacks with those which , occurred at an 1 earlier date , we notice a diminution of virulence , and , after they j had served their purpose , a remonstrance from our ambassador ; caused an official communication to be sent to the JPap and the ; .. Ttitrle in which the " imputations against a neighbouring power ; were called " lamentable , " and the papers in question weie informed that " they ought not to have accepted these imputations , , knowing that thev were devoid of authenticity . j . The fact is the ¥ reneh Government is in the habit of provoking animositv against Eng land by way of a . counter-irritant when- , ever Imperial schemes require such a diversion , and as an apotne- , carv rembves a blister when he thinks it has done its work , jso : the \ apoleonie practitioner ¦ . withdraws his international cantna- - . ' . rides placer as soon as the cuticle of his patient has been suth- ¦¦ cieutlv disturbed . Such a plan is not honest , and may one day end in producing more -inflammation than is required , and it has , moreover , the characteristic of exciting a taste for recrimination and scandal that it may not- always be convenient to ^ gratify There are states of society in ^ hich making accusations first and withdrawing them afterwards , damages the reputation ; , and inftij .-ence of the person so actin « - ; but where a genuine public lite is , not permitted to exist , there fa a probability tluife the slander will . - tro further : and Iiv 6 longer hi men ' s minds than the retractation , and this is why we regret that the . Imperial information manufactory should ' so often be employed in producing a fraudulent But we do not argue , from these incidents that an important separation of French and English interests must necessarily , occur In both countries there are parties who dislike to witness an extremity of friendship , and whenever the Emperor hnds himself accused of leaning too much towards England , ^ orders v the Gallic cock to utter a qiierulous or a threatening " Cock-a- , doodle-do ! " In England we have parties finite as mischievous ; as the Anglophobists of Prance , and they get what they want- . ; said in the newspapers , without troubling the Queex . or the FiiiNCE-CoNSpitT to drop . a communication in the editor s box . The merchant and speculator gro ; v * weary of the uncertainty that : han < rs over foreign affairs , and which continually proves a hinderance to business , and checks the ardour of trade . It is always , easy to get up « C 1 T asn ™ ¦ letting Prance grow too powerful , and dominate too much over mundane affairs , . V \ e do not take upon ourselves the function of prophets , because , judging from the past , great movements have usually the character ot a surprise and such movements are possible at any moment ; but we have reason to believe that an , occasional difference of opinion between the two countries is precisely what the French Government wants in order to flatter the national vanity by an appearance of independent arid -. autocratic action . We are therefore ready to imagine that when the Swiss or other difficulty has served , its object , we may find it susceptible of removal without any particular harm being done . The French empire was itselt a surprise , and it lives upon surprises and states of bewildering expectation . If the French were not always expecting that the lessee of their Imperial theatre was on the point of bringing , out a new piece with startling effects , they would endeavour to become managers themselves , but they are content to be spectators 30 long as there exists enough - prosperity to supply bread , and their rulers furnish the cirous games . ( Napoleon 111 . is like Metterxicsu in being too jealous ot rivals to give any prominence to able men , and wore it not for an occasional exhibition of public spirit by the bar , France would ¦ ¦ be apt to forget that a pcoplo can have any other relation towards its Government than that of being cither its tools or its slaves . Looking to the importance of any dignified protest on behalf of freedom , it is gratifying to see the way in which the bar of Paris nnd fourteen other cities have espoused the cause ot Emile ' OLMYihit ; and although the Court of Cassation has sunk-deeper into disgrace b y rejecting his appeal , there is son ™ hone for the future , when ( Jovernmont usurpation in courts ot law is strenuously condemned by all the principal lawyers ot the land , ^' o trust the day is not ftu distant when 1-ranee will become an object of imitation for civil liberty ; but , in ooatejnplntin" the faults of the Empire , we cannot forgot t-hnt the elder , Bouitlioxs lnu'u proved themselves the unscrupulous enemies of liberty pi nil kinds , while the Chlbaxs branch worked the constitutional svstem . so dishonestly , us to bring- it to destruction

    fmd contempt . Whatever may be its defects or collisions with Other . Euro ] jean ' Powers , thore is reason to hope that England will be far less dissociated from Prance as an empire , than . from prance under aiiv form of Bourbon , misrule . It may prove well ' for the ultimate interests of Europe that a strong arid dexterous Government should exist oil the other side of the channel , which is bound , for its own safety , to lower the influence-of the Ultra- ; montanists and the Pope / The Holy Father cannot forgive the seizure of the papers he had intrusted to M . \ kuillot , nor is the exposure of the plots of the Vatican likely to soothe the mind of the occupant of the Tuiieries . In the Papal quarrel , however , as in other things , the Imperial Government plays a tortuous ' course , and , by sanctioning the strange . act of Lajio-BiciKHE , he gives his eiu-my an able general in exchange for the maledictions which Pro Xo ^ o is pouring forth-. There is , however policy in this ; and LamouiciEuk is encouraged to lose his character ' and reputation , just as Oi > illon BakuOt was victimized at an earlier date Imperialism is a gainer when Prance is taught U * despise and ' distrust , her public / men ; ami the spectacle o ?;\ iV republican g " eiieral acting against the liberties of . Italv m -weft calculated to produce this effect . In a ' few days ,, iiniversal . suffrnge ,. worked according to the Imperial patent , * will have obtained , the predetermined . vo te . from Savoy . Triekerv and coercion wilL prevent the tV-clings if-the ¦ inhabitants of the Swiss valleys from expressing tlieirV ^^^ ^^^ thoii- ' -hts . llavilie- cleared away all jiistice and right ,. the groiiHcF ^ will then be five for an aci of grace , and it is not improbable that Napoleox . III . may think it \ vortli Avhile to purchase' laudation : bv the- prudent step of conciliating ; , tlie Swiss , who might be dangerous enemies if forced to abandon their neutrality a ml seek safeTy in .. an alliance with the German str . tes . \ Vv may ' also look to the forthcoming pamphlet for a further exposition of tluj ^ prbo-tamme for lSGl i according to . report it- \ vill threaten to balancrt The nationalities against any monarchical coalition , that is likely to occur . . ., ¦ / ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ .. - . . . .,. ^ N ext month Quakers are in season , and . peace principles , w iu resound from the . platform of Exeter Hall ; but the country is more . likely to pay attention to the ' Take care of your pockets . ¦ .. alarm iriven !>/ the Dl . ke or CambUidce at the taster ^ loiulny M-amioii House ¦ mixture ' of war and turtle . 1 lis Itoval Highness reconimends a ' judicious lout iunplc expenditure" for th ' e ¦ saiety . _ of our island . ' Tax-payers may be sum it will be " ample , and evervthpur is ' judicious " that adds to the patronage ot . the Court the Jobbery of departments , and the depressiotL ot merit to inake way for rank- __ ~

    3retllopolitan Boahi) Of Works. A Bill T...

    3 rETllOPOLITAN BOAHI ) OF WORKS . A BILL to confer increased powers on the ¦ ¦ . Metropolitan Board of Works-has . been prepared under the direction of that body , prhitof , nnd privately . circulated , previous to its consideration in Parliament . The degree of publicity tints trivdi to the designs of our legislators for London , as well as the pressin » - importance of tho ' subject , renders any apology supvriiuoiis from us for directing early attention to the subject . - Questions of the utmost practical ' moment arc raised by the contemplate ! . [ Extension Bill . -.-The act , under which' the Metropolitan jjoiml was culled into existence thivc years ago , was oonk-ssally nu experiment , it may possibly be snid that it is too soon to ciiii for public judgment on t | io , cmustion , whether or not that experiment has succeeded ; but if thoso to whom its conduct has bcon confided insist upon a verdict , they must nbidc the i . ssiu-. i- 'i'tt ' persons outside the narrow circle ; in which Messrs . JiovAi'm , Tite and Company live and move nnd have their Mctropnlitnn boin » - can doubt what that verdict will bo . As ¦ ndiunnstr . ntors , the ° p » st career of t | ia Bonvd has been elum . cU'wml l ) . v nu ineptitude and indneiuney pninliilly surprising . As ! inaiu'u ; i = thev have contrived to enm ibrthnnsolves the reputation o ticin ^ unequal taxers and public wnstivl-s . As a corporate body tin ; . have coino to be rea-arded as about the most precociously afoom- plished jo 6-i > iTti w ~ gQ \\\ ii ; . " In this jiulgmout the uiulisivniii ^ public will of course be told by its Guildhall tnx-innsters that it is ' entirely in the wrong . . 'niligencv , they will ^ told , jm »» never moroexomplarv , or disinteivstciliu'ss more tnul . *| i ; uviu tnnu that of the existing Board . If hardly imv minor iinprov » 'iii » ii « - are to be shown for tho vast resources miulo availubli' lor "j ' . " politan purposes gonerallv , it is because those resources niv 1 > 1 ' 111 ^ hoarded frugally to meet the miulroneuts of the lun . w niuefiiidesigns for seeunnjr tho health and comfort of unborn » vncn » tioi ^ bv the -hcuvv tnxtiMon of this . And when some ( juvnilou . * t nm exclaims , How about the estimates?—ho U met with . tho - paiit icnlv , that a wide disparity bi « t \ voou tciulers lor lai ^ i piu" oontpneta * is a fact familiar . in railway undertaking-, «« " ''¦ Others of like liiiiguittulL-: —a ivply ealeulated to jirovoko I'l-Mjii " sharp' wjoimlitrs , rather than to . sileiu-o gmve i } " * f » " r ; - But whatever may havo boeix tho logieal pr ocess by wiiu-n . im

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 14, 1860, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14041860/page/4/