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    1192 ^ THE LEADEB, [Saturday,

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    'SPrfiVniYfttviv. . SHuVUiUlT,

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    Critics,are not the legislators, bub the...

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    .' ¦ .,. - FOREIGN POLICY. Thirty Tears ...

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  • 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.

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    1192 ^ The Leadeb, [Saturday,

    1192 ^ THE LEADEB , [ Saturday ,

    'Sprfivniyfttviv. . Shuvuiult,

    ICttenitttrL

    Critics,Are Not The Legislators, Bub The...

    Critics , are not the legislators , bub the judges and police of literature . They do ,. . not make laws— -they interpret arid try to enforce them .. —Edinburgh Review .

    .' ¦ .,. - Foreign Policy. Thirty Tears ...

    . ' ¦ .,. - FOREIGN POLICY . Thirty Tears of Foreign Potky : a History qftke Secretaryships of the Earl of Aberdeen and Viscount Palmerstori . By the Author of " The Bight Hon . B . Disraeli , M . P . ; ' a- Literary- and PeHtical Biography-. " Longman and Co . This is an interesting and , in some respects , a powerful book . B y reason of tRe' anonrnaotis ' author ' s single known c ' antecedent "—his ' Biography , " rather abuse , of ¦ Mr . Disraeli , which , excited so much attention some time ago , the . book has teen expected with some degree of curiosity .,. It is different from what we had been led ta anticipate from the advertisements . It is not aa attack upon anybody or any system ; on the contrary ^ it is an elaborate justification of the policy of both our celebrated Foreign Secretaries . Yes of both—for it is the author ' s paradox that the popular notion is wholly wrong which regards Lord Aberdeen and Lord Palmeraton as

    incarnations of opposite systems , and is consequently always putting the ffijffiw * gainst ;; the other man for the championship of England * The main ; doctCme jpf his l > ook is , that since the Treaty of Vienna in 1815 * or at » jl events since' the death of Castlereagh , one apbit in the main has 4 % g This paraddi-r-which we must sav the author bv no means succeeds the

    hi c ^ prying completely home to ourjconvictions ^ pei ^ ades book . Tlhe Yolume ^ liowever ,. ; has ; many merits independent of the worth of this daaring attempt to sefe tibte public right ; respecting the mutual relations of the two great ministers * It is an able volume in a department in which it is a novelty to have ^ a volume at alb It is written evidently iout of full knowled ge * the author appearing perfectly at home in the history of our Foreign Office and of European diplomacy for the last fortyyears ; and the style is emphatic , earnest , and characterised by a sort of stern glow and warmth . The first part , of the work seems to us the best ; but the interest never flags , and that is much to say for a work of this nature . The work is not a History of the Foreign Policy of the last thirty yearsthere are few Or no quotations of documents or detailed references ; it is an essay on , or a summary sketch of , that history . The author ' s purpose would bebettex known , if his name and circumstances -were . known ; we might

    then judge better than we can from internal evidence how far ? he is an independent ^ main uttering his free sentiments , or how far an interested pleader 1 Serving others with ' ulterior motives . We do not mean to insinuate the ' sfecondi for tlie authorVinahtier of thought is firm arid hearty ^ 'but we 86 te ^ bgnise a twang of officialism in * the boofci—as if the author had personal prospects before him vvbich aided [ his views of things . Indeed , ne professes that'he looks at matters not from thepopular , but from the Dowriing-street , point or" view . "Events as they arise , " he says , ^ are considered as they would appear to the English Secretary of State in Dtawning-street , and not asj th ' ey ~ niight appear to a member of the Opposition , or to any extreme thinker . " Having thus indicated the character of the book , we shall best give an idea of its contents by making a series of extracts of its best bits , giving to each sir title in our own ' words ;— -. - ¦

    , -.. . , COUNT FICQUEr-BIONT AND HIS MATUIBES AGAINST ENGLAND . - Tbe ' . Cirystal Palace occupies no inconsiderable portion of Count , Ficguelmonfs first volume . A careful reader must see that the fajry structure -was the cause of much of this author ' s indignant eloquence , ite did us the lionour of visiting Engfland' at that exciting-season . His august form mingled with the crowds of sight-seers , who sated their delighted « yes with the .-wonders of industry and art . As he mused on the objects "before him , two dark spectres crossed Ids path , and disturbed his pleasant dreams . These were Mazzini and Ledro . Rollin , walking arm in arm about the galleries , as comfortably as though there -wore no monarchical scaffolds in the World . Was it 5 a human nature that this should be endured ? Count Ficquelmont ' s- heart

    almost burst with , indignation ; Ms fingers itched to inflict summary chastisement on the $ wp revolutionists and rebels . . Jflu , t h ^ iwas obliged to restrain his emotions ; and from that moment Jo ^ t oUrploasuro in visiting tho Crystal Palace which Ijord Falmoratbn had , just christened the Temple of Peace , Count Ficquelmont never , pot his foot fat it again , "A nice Temple of Peace , indeed , ? ' \ xa said , sardonically , in which such men or « the wprahjppera ! " Ho resolved to make a literary crusade against England ; and it must be acknowledged that he has faithfully kept his vow- Ho has powerfully contributed to produce 4 b ; at violent antipathy to everything English , and that absolute idolatry of everything -Russian , which ia so prevalent among the ' Austrian aristocracy .

    THB » AKt | TITIOTI OF ^ OI ^ AND THE SOUKCjH QF UNDRESS MIBCHXKF . ¦\!^ h « n Georj ^ fchp Tl \ u ;< i came , to itlja throve ,, ho jreaplved to be peaceful and , conciliating . , The , ol ^ , sjfateml pf foreign « oli , cy was abandoned , and , the consequences aoon b « gan to do ' ve ^ p themselves . Tho greatest c , r £ ma in modern history was perpetrated , and ' from the effeit of that crime wo ipind all Europe are ' still suffering . !' ,. It would not be rliflicult to ' show that most of the wretchedness nnd turbulence of thia generation , the formidable aggrandisement of Ittissia ; and all the ovuVwoare now called upon to resist , eprang from the flrat partition of Poland in 1772 . Our ministcra ought raver to bo forgiven for their culpable blindness and apathy while that iniquity Was in , progress . The- » ina of the fathers have , indeed , been vioitod upon tho children . , W « , should not now with France be at war In defence OJf Turkey , hud we wisely intervened with Franco in defence of Poland seventy-eight years ago .

    CA 8 TLEnEA < JH AT TUB CONOIlEaS OP VIENNA . The individual who conducted our negotiations at Yicnna is now no moro ; tUo groat warrior to whom the triumph of tho European doapots w « 8 principally owing has also departed j the airangemont contomplated by the Congress has been almost in Very respect unsettled : it can now nerve no purpose eithor of ministers or of leaders » f opposition to conceal tho truth . It ia then the painful but imperative duty of tho historian and tho philosopher to declare loudly that the treaties to which tho broad coal of England wan affixed at tho Congreaa of Vienna were moat dishonourable to tho

    nation , and to the , statesman who represented the English Government . These treaties are , indeed , indefensible : the object which they professed to accomplish was not attained ; Europe was not tranquillised ; the progress of revolution -was n . ot checked ? it -was even provoked and encouraged by such wicked compacts . How , indeed , could it be otherwise ? This agreement was in the strictest sense revolutionary ; established rights were even more unscrupulously violated than by the Jacobins of 1793 ; every sentiment of patriotism and nationality was outraged ; nothing but the selfish interests of three great monarchies was respected . Even the healing influence of Time , that sooner or later alleviates the injustice inflicted by man , has not Tendered the stipulations of the peace less revolting . Turn where we may , the wounds then given are still green ; prescription has not sanctified those incongruous unions ; the progress of forty years has not made them venerable . The treaties made " In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity" at Vienna , remain accursed both by God and man . England has won great battles , founded mighty empires , established a constitutional government such aa has never yet been equalled , produced the greatest of dramatists and the greatest political philosophers ; but she has never been able to

    negotiate successfully a great , advantageous , and glorious peace . Again and again have the acquisitions of . her arms been sacrificed through the incompetence of her diplomatists . At . the peace of Utrecht , the triumphs of Marlborough were rendered fruitless through the dishonesty of Bolingbroke . At the peace of Paris , the trophies of Chatham were , surrendered by the Earl of Bute . And now , at the congress of Vienna , ihe political and commercial advantages of England , dearly purchased as they had been by six hundred millions of debt , were abandoned through the weakness and ignorance of Castlereagh . He doubtless meant well ; he did not act wrong through any sinister motives but he was , from , the beginning to the . end of those important . conferences , overreached by the European sovereigns , and their able but unscrupulous ministers . He believed that they -were sincere in their professions . He supposed that they would fulfil the promises they had made to their subjects . His vanity was flattered by thus meeting on equal terms the great potentates of the world . Their insidious compliments almost turned his head ; and during his residence at Vienna , he evidently forgot that he was the minister of a constitutional monarchy .

    . canning ' s foreign polict . Mr . Canning ' s return to the Foreign-office ushered ia a new state cf things . It was the commencement of the political era which extends to the present day . The diplomatists of the Holy Alliance soon had reason to recognise the ne-w spirit -which ruled over-the foreign policy . The minister could neither be duped nor' despised . The necessities of the time were urgent ; on the day when he accepted the seals the proceedings of the Alliance demanded bis undivided attention . . . . . . He died prematurely , and had a mighty nation for his mourners . But he had accomplished that which he had been sent to do . He had bequeathed his example to ; his followers , and even to his enemies . The race of political vampires , who fatten on corruption , and exult over the graves of brave nations , had shrunk away at the approach of his meridian glory . The iniquities of the Congress of Vienna began to be confessed . As the eyes of the people opened , they asked themselves what they had really gained by their glorious victories , and what sort of men were those , who in their name professed to make and unmake kingdoms , to barter away the rights of millions , and to subsidise the armies of sovereigns , who mystically proclaimed a crusade against those eternal principles which had made England great and Englishmen free .

    lord Aberdeen ' s foreign rower * It was not until Lord Aberdeen assisted Sir Eobert Peel in repealing the corn-laws , and lost the support of the Protectionists , that they ever raised their voices against Ms manner of conducting the business of the IToreigu-office . It was not until they quarrelled with him on a domestic question that they ever blamed him for his foreign policy , and began to admire that of Lord Palmerston . During the administration of the Dube 6 f Wellington , from 1828 to the November of 1830 , and during the administration of Sir Robert Peel , from 1841 to 1846—that' is , during all "the time when Lord Aberdeen was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs—the vehement partisans on the benches of the Opposition were the most determined supporters and the most enthusiastic admirers of the very minister whom they now reprobate . The extreme Liberals , who always thought Lord Aberdeen too indulgent towards the despotic sovereigns of the Continent , may , consistently , still continue to oppose him ; but it is not for * those who supported Sir Robert Peel and the Duke of Wellington now to

    turn round and denounce Lord Aberdeen for betraying the freedom of nations . Some of these reproaches are as ignorant and as unscrupulous as they arc unjust . It can easily be proved that Lord Aberdeen never'had that violent attachment to Russia which has been attributed to him , and that his leaning object while Foreign Minister was to encourage Austria in maintaining her independence of her northern neighbour . Events 1 indeed , have- been more powerful than the efforts 6 f the English statesman -, but it is duo to him to own that while Austria maintained a free course of action , the ambitious schemes of Russia were in some measure frustrated , and tho Turkish empire preserved from direct attack . He has , indeed , ever been friendly to an Austrian alliance . It was in Austria that ho won a great diplomatic victory , when he induced that country to join the confederacy against Napoleon . All who could judge of the difficulties ho overcame nt that timo , have borne testimony to the able manner in which ho Conducted that important negotiation . This is not the place to dwell on his career as a diplomatist , or it might easily bo shown what good service lie did to Austria ,

    and how natural it was that he should have friendly sympathies with the ablest statesman of that empire . It might even l > e shown that some of the arbitrary proceedings of tho Court of Vienna , which wore at once so impolitic and unjust , and which havo produced so much misery to Austria and tho world , were deeply regretted by Lord Aberdeen , and that he did all ho could to prevent thorn from being adopted . Ho never was a Tory of the school of Sidinouth and Perceval . A nobl « man of a highly cultivated intellect , distinguished in his youth by a love of literature , his mind enlarged by foreign travel , it is not going too far to say that he hoaitily despised tlio cant and bigotry so prevalent in tho first quarter of this century , ami that there were s 6 mo very respectable politicians who considered him rather a dangerous Liberal . Ho never approved of tho Holy Alliance . In his placo in Parliament he declared , while Lord Castleroagh was still Foreign Minister , that such confederacies of monarebs wore to bo watched with tho greater jealousy , because tho system was liable to ao much abuse that ft could not bo too Htrongly condemned .

    SYMPATHY WmiTUKKUT A BKCKNT GROWTH . Tho flrat act of Lord Abordeon aa Foreign Secretary was to aid the Porte , and ho w «» as much attacked by tho Opposition of that day for saying that it was our duty to support tho independence of Turkey , as ho has livtely been accused of being rendy to consent to tho partition of tho Sultan ' s dominion a . It is forgotten thut thin violent sympathy for tho Turkish cause ia of a very recent dnto . Among Liberal politici » Ds » especially , it in only within tho last fow y « nr » that tho exigence of Turkey has ovor been admitted to bo a political necessity . Tho statesmen of tho last generation , -with perhaps tho exception of Wllliwm Pitt , utterly < detostcd tho Turkish Goveminont . Even IJurko , with all his eloquont > v » tcloin , his migucious jealousy of Russia , and bb abhorrence of tho partition of Poland , hated tho Turks an much an ho hated Warron Hustings and tho Jacobins . Ho called thorn a race of eavages and worse thun flava ( j « 9 , and Bald that any minister who allowed thorn to bo of any weight in tho European

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 16, 1854, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16121854/page/16/