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Leader (1850-1860), 15th October 1853, Edition Country of 2, Page 3, Mr. Ifonry Drummond luis answered with e...

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      The English People And The Eastebn Quest...

      the royal prerogative was not hampered by clubs , forced upon the Sovereignty a family compact , or a majority in Parliament , there would be no such daring as they had witnessed on the part of a Calmuck prince , and no danger of the overturning of Europe . " These statements were received with loud cheers . ME . BBIGHl ' s VIEWS . Mr . Bright has written a letter to the promoters of a Manchester meeting against Russia . He says : — '¦ " I can conceive nothing more unwise than to endeavour to excite public opinion to drive the Government into a ¦ war with Russia in defence of Turkey . If such a war should be undertaken , I believe our children and posterity will judge us precisely as we now judge those who involved this country in' war with the American colonies , and with iVarice ^ vntb . this difference only , that we shall be held to

      be so much more guilty , inasmuch as , having had the blunders and crimes of our forefathers to warn us and to guide us , ¦ we shall have wilfully shut our eyes to the lessons which their unfortunate policy has left us . Manchester and the two millions of people in its district will , I hope and believe , regard those men as their worst enemies who by any act at this moment shall weaken the efforts of Lord Aberdeen to preserve the peace of Europe . If men would let their reason guide them rather than their feelings , I am sure the pressure of public opinion would be for peace , and not for war . War will not save Turkey , if peace cannot save her ; but war will brutalise our people , increase our taxes , destroy our industry , and postpone the promised Parliamentary reform , it may be for many years . " A memorial to Lord Aberdeen " against war" has been signed , of all places in the world , in Sheffield . ¦ Finsbury is to have a meeting on next Tuesday , to pronounce in favour of the independence of Turkey .

      ¦:. Jp? •. ¦ ¦ . . . . ¦ " . October 15,...

      ¦ :. jp ? . ¦ ¦ . . . . ¦ " . October 15 , 1853 ] THE LEADEB . 987

      The Peace Conference. In The Harndsome M...

      THE PEACE CONFERENCE . In the harndsome Music Hall of Edinburgh the English friends of peace held their annual meeting on Wednesday , to take counsel together and talk over the question . All the leading gentlemen of the sect were present ; Cobden , Bright , Cowan , Miall , J . B . Smith , Hadfield , Hindley , and Bell—all Members of Parliament . Joseph Sturge , Elihu Burritt , and Henry Vincent , were also present . Ladies were in the gallery and clergymen in the body of the hall . The Lord Provoafc of Edinburgh took the chair ; the Reverend Doctor Brown read a " prayer ; " and the Secretary read letters from sympathising persons . Mr . Hume wrote that international arbitration was the proper course ; Sir David Brewster that war would die out like duelling ; and other public men expressed sentiments in a similar strain . The Lord Provost then made a short opening speech , and the Secretary told how the Society had distributed half a million tracts , and had held its meeting this year in Edinburgh purposely to counteract the warlike frenzy of the English people . Professor M 'Michael made the first set speech . ; he denounced war as inconsistent with Christianity , and characterised the soldiers' trade as " damnable" and dishonourable .

      ' Better be a shoeblack , a chimney-sweep , a scavenger , than a soldier . " Mr . Miall , M . P . was the next speaker . H « justified his part in the proceedings as obedience to the call of duty , even against the rising temper of the times ; denied that the press ( which is " gregarious" and follows the Times ) is on this question a representative of the people ' s will ; stigmatised the late " war" meetings as " seedy affairs , " and refused to consider the " vague sentiment" in favour of Hungary aa the' sign * of a positively warlike spirit . Touching the present question , the Czar was doing- in Turkey what some people wished to see done in Tuscany .

      Mr . Cobden then rose to speak , and was received with loud cheers . He plunged boldly into the middle of the argument . No one ever meant to attack our shores—not even Napoleon the Great ; but wo have an idiosyncrasy of seeking quarrels in the remotest quarters of the glole . We have been successively fighting the battles of almost ovory people on the faco of the earth ; but wo have missed our objects and loaded ourselves with debt . " I do not wish you to bow down your necks to sin invader . Nobody wants or intends to attaok you . " The speaker then referred triumphantly to the change from the former writings of the presH' on the subject of the French aggression ; and

      attributed to those "writings the present situation—the Emperor of Russia having believed that England and * ranee would not unite to resist him . But ho now JjnuH that ho was misled . Mr . Cobden thon gave a uty ' ^ * t > on ° f the chan ge in public opinion . " Now , I have often thought , supposo an individual had wee n ordered , as many pontons arc , for the benefit of their 'itittltii , to leavo our shores laflt January , take a voyage to AilHtralin , and return homo again at the end of nine months ~ -ho would have left England preparing her militia and

      for-• 'lying her coasts ; ho would havo lof t general ofReorn writw » g to me , olfiiriiig to lay a wager that tho French wore coming —( laug hter and cheers ); ho would havo loft artillery and other military oflicora holding consultations , ukotchl S plans , and inspecting our fortifications ; ho would havo . «« deputations from the principal railway companies waitln ujK » n tho Admiralty and Ordnance to koo how noon tho « oj « u > i « aariat and advance supplied might l ) o transmitted jroin the Tower to Dover or Plymouth ; and ho would havo j ° » fc » n tho minds of all a dread of a French invasion . Well , 'e inmlo the circuitof tho rrlobo . ho saw no liownnanorH

      , or ono reason wliy invalids aro ordered abroad lor the j ^ 'noflt of thoir health ia that thoir minda may not bo la * " 088 od by politico , and . what thoy rood , in

      nowBpaporaand the month of September saw Mm landed again in England . The first thing he reads when he takes up a newspaper is that the French and English fleets are lying side by side in Besika Bay . He immediately says to himself , There is going to be a great battle . ( A laugh . ) He turns to the first article in the very newspaper which told him in January that the French Emperor was a brigand and a pirate , and that the French people were coming to attack us without notice or declaration of war , and he finds it declared that England and France are now so cordially united that their joint fleets in Besika Bay are under the command of Admiral Dundas , and that we are prepared to place an army under the command of a French general , with the view of acting against the forces of the Emperor of Eussia . The first question

      he naturally feels inclined to ask is , can you trust the individual of whom you were saying , when I left England , that he was a brigand and a pirate ? If so , you are bound to admit that the friends of peace were right , and you were wrong . What security have you that the Emperor of the French , when the joint fleets go into action in the face of the Bussian navy , will not , in accordance with a recent engagement with the Emperor cf Russia , demolish your fleet with his guns instead of turning them against the Russians ? Moreover , having thus destroyed your ships of war , what security have you that he will not attack your coasts , sack your towns , burn down your houses , seize the Bank , carry off the Queen , and commit all those nameless a trocities with which you frightened the people nine months ago . " ( Cheers . )

      Mr . Cobden proceeded to denounce the Turkish Government for their general treatment of their Christian subjects , and denied the reported progress of the Turkish nation . We who have shut up the Grand Mogul in D » . hi , and have attacked the Burmese empire with as little cause as a ruffian" walks into a market place and kicks down an apple-stall—we have no right to object to the Emperor of Russia ' s quarrel with the Turks . Besides , there is no treaty binding us to fight for the maintenance of the Turkish territory . Mr . Bright was the chief speaker in the eveningsitting of the Conference . His speech was a rapid and

      pithy summary of the expense of war , with a current exposure of the absence of all necessity for it , and an indication of the family interests which cause military armaments in this country . He first pointed out how peace was yearly proclaimed from thrones , and daily preached from pulpits : how that peace had lasted for thirty years ; and yet the nations of Europe are now spending 100 , 000 , 000 Z . a-year on preparations for war . These expenses have driven Russia to frequent loans , and had caused a yearly deficiency in Austrian finance . But we—having had no coup d ' etat—having no Lombardy , ai « d no Hungary—spend more on military preparations than any nation in the world , independently

      of the 28 , 000 , 000 £ . we pay for the policy of our fathers —a burthen that , in our coming race "with America , will tell against us . Not content with this , we now spend 17 , 000 , 000 Z . a-year on our army and navy . We take from India 29 , 000 , 000 Z . of taxes , and spend 12 , 000 , 0 OOZ . in warlike preparations there . When this expense is stated in millions , the people do not know anything about it . Arthur Young , writing before our last French war , put it thus : —'' A very little calculation would show that the expense of our three last wars , which had no other effect whatever but to spill blood and fill gazettes , would have made

      the whole island of Great Britain a garden—her whole coast a quay—and have converted all tho houses in her towns into palaces , and her cottages into houses . " Or wo may uso another illustration . Tlie value of Lancashire , at twenty years purchase , would be 140 , 000 , 000 ^ . ; but take tho 17 , 000 , 000 ^ . a-year that wo are now spending , and throw it into a principal sum at the rate of three per cent ., and it represents a principal sum of 560 , 000 , 0001 . In short , every four years wo appropriate tho whole income of all the land and all tho buildings in England to support our military expenditure . All this money comes from tho taxes of tho people : —¦ .

      " But what arc taxes ? The gold with winch you pay your income-tax , your succession-tax , your imports at tho Custom-house , and your double price of many of tho thing * you consume , is not picked up in tho streets . No , it is tho labour of all thin population that you meet day by < lay in town and in country , many suffering under bo . < l health and tulvorao circumstances . What class i » it that tho postilence sweeps down ? Why , not the c 1 o . hr that i » comfortably off , but the class which hi the lowest in society , whoso labour in most sovoro , wIiono toil in least rewarded , and which paHsea from tho cradle to the grave , knowing little of those many coinfortH , which many of uh every day enjoy ; that is tho'dfiHs who aro pressed by poverty , by misery , by ignorance , by crime , and by nil the evils to which men can l > o

      subject , aud pressed by infinitely heavier screw when tho Government oxtorts from the people any amount of taxes , Which are not absolutely necessary for tho Horvieo of tho Stato . Every man who knows wluit Christianity in , who known tho diameter which Christianity gives to the Creator of tho world—wonders at times why there is ko much misery and wretchedness , and guilt in tho world . But men can onl y bo happy in no far as thoy follow out thono great , and just , and Christian principle * * which aro laid down for their guidance ; and if wo , who ar < i tho moro comfortable * , tho well-to-do , the educated , and the influential classes of oocicty , shut , ourwelvos up in our comfortable hotinoB , and fancy that all goes woll—if wo imagine that wo havo no need whatever to foijco any caro or thought of politics—if wo allow a monarch or a' Parliament to triflo with , tho wooHh and industry of tho country—w ^ o may bo

      well assured that below our feet there is a vast mass of sorrow and of misery which we might alleviate , if we could not remove , and which , , if wo neither alleviate nor remove , win , some day or other ^ become an element in society dangerous _ to our own peace and comfort , and dangerous to the institution * under which we live . ( Cheersf ) Wei ) then why should not we look at this question as a Great practical question ? Our forefathers did many thines in ^ Jf > ^ , d wo la ™ done some . Why cannot wkdo this ? The Emperor of the French mav say , ' I cannot reduce my army to 200 , 000 men ; my position is not verv secure ; I have not the prestige of a venerable and ancient monarchy like England . ' The Emperor of Austria mav say , 'IhaveLombardy on one side and Hungary on the other ; ' buj ; we can say none of these things . We liavo n

      trovernment wincii we respect ( hear , hear ); we have a monarch who , perhaps—yea , certainly—will bear comparison , and a favourable comparison ( cheers ) , with any or with all of her predecessors upon the English throne and We have a people more united , I undertake to say , at this moment , in regard to the law , and as a nation , than we have had at any former period of our history . ( Cheers . ) We have no necessity for an armed force to keep down the people , or to enforce obedience to the law ; and yet our Government , by a succession of tricks — by cajoling the people— -by persuading them to be frightened by one story after another— -has induced them to permit them to raise the military expenditure from 11 , 000 , 000 / . in 1835 to 17 , 000 , 000 ? . in 1853 . " '

      Instead of defending the Peace party , Mr . Br io-fat then attacked the war party , and compared this country with America : — " I am ashamed to belong to a country that conducts itself as if it were a tribe of Red Indians . We never bury the hatchet . We never give up war . We have fleets prowling about on every sea , and bullying somebody on every coast . ( A laugh . ) We cannot be as rational as the United States . The population of the United States is about 24 , 000 , 000 , and by the time of the next census it will be as large as that of this country . Now , it is a fact that , taking' into consideration the expenditure of the Federal Government , the expenses of all . the States , the cost of education , the payment of the debts both of the Union and of the separate fctates , and the expenditure for military the whole i and

      purposes , ncome expenditure of that great country is not more than 14 , 000 , 000 ^ . , so that we spend oh the army and navy alone , after thirty years of peace , and apart from our expenditure in India , 3 , 000 , 000 ^ . more than a nation of " nearly equal population , of far greater extent of territory , and of a trade nearly approaching to ours , expends in every department of government , education included . I would like to ask you now , if you ever met an American who believed himself less safe in the world than an Englishman ? Did you ever know an American cause pleaded before any Itoyal Court in Europe which met with less respect than an English one ? Did you ever know , whether in Austria or Tuscany , of an American less secure than an Englishman ? Is America a country less peaceful , or is it making- less progress than we are P " He asked for a public opinion against the war cry :

      " , I ask you , citizens of Edinburgh , and gentlemen from all paiti of the country , if this should not be remedied even in our own day to some extent ? I ask you whether , with the freedom of the platform which we enjoy — with the partial freedom of the press , and I hope ero long to see it entirely free—with the freedom and universality of the pulpit — with publications pouring out from every press , and nowhere to a greater extent than in this city—I ask you whether , with all these elements for ascertaining truth and spreading information , it is not possible for us to create a sounder opinion in this country ; to aay to the Government , govern wisely , govern well ; we require no military force to keep the peace in England ; treat all foreign nations courteously , kindly , and honourably ; adhero to tho great principle of non-intervention

      , and you may thon cut down to an extent ., which I will not now stay accurately to describe , tho army and navy oj £ this country . Having ' but twenty miles to crows the channel to a nation more populous , and as powerful and wealthy aa our own , I havo no hesitation in saying that ; a Government which was honestly disposed to take the course wo ndvifio would make some definite and tangible ! proposition to tho Government , of Franco , by which tho rival navies of tho two nations might bo diminished in amount , mid therefore in cost ; and every diminution of tho navies of I'Yance and Unglaml tends to promote peace between those two countries , while every diminution of our army at homo tends to permeate tho minds of tho people wilh the love of peace . Wo Hhould then see a pure , enlightened , ami ( 'hriKtian love of peaco among th « people of this country ,- and when that is tho cane 1 believe there never will come an

      occasion m which an honest , intelligent , and patriotic Ministry may not adjust our fliderenoes with foreign countries without involving hm in the horrors aud calamities ot war . " ( Great cheering . ) He thiiH ended a speech full of facts and figuron , ami Hpokcn with great fluency and omphaMiH . The HpuecheH by other persons are vyry nhortly reported in the daily panel's , and do not ( loaorve note .

      Mr. Ifonry Drummond Luis Answered With E...

      Mr . Ifonry Drummond luis answered with effect n letter inviting him to the Conference . After tartly repudiating the tone of cxolunivo love of peace asmimod by tho members of tho Conference , he miyn ;—" You endeavour to cast obloquy on the profession of arms , and are indignant at ' successful warriors occupying posts of distinction in C ' ourtH aiuK ' abinots . ' Take t , |» e army and the navy as a cIuns , and tnko any other class of men in this -country — merchants , tradesmen , manufacturers savants , lawyers—compare them together for talents , pn * triotisni , honour , virtue , diHinloroHtodnesH , kindnesn ' selfdevotion—for , in short , ovory-quality that , ( Mumblon ' and I assort , that the military class in , beyond measure ' superior to any other . You would prefer to hoo statuc » orootod , to those who huvoboon moat cxninoat in tho m , onoy ~

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 15, 1853, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15101853/page/3/