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    248 The Leader and Saturday Analyst. |T£...

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    THE REPORT TO THE EMPEROR. T HE reports ...

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    . Italy Ax I) Iirngaky. The Inhabitants ...

    according to the census of 1853 , and could not have been very much larger when the ¦ . migrations began . - : If the Austrian Government does not seek an opportunity for renewing the war , its conduct in Italy is inexplicable ; and if such a contingency is reckoned upon , its behaviour in Hungary is still more perilous , and without reason . Instead of appeasing the anger of the Protestant churches , Count Thtjn is driving them to rebellion ; and it is not improbable that , before long , we shall witness a renewal of the old sort of religious war , but with the difference that the tyrannical and Popish party does not possess its former strength ! On the 11 th January the Protestants held a great meeting in defiance of t he prohibition of the Court .

    Forty or fifty thousand people assembled , and the Imperial , functionary . commanded them , in the name of the Emperor , to disperse . The Protestant leader , in the spirit of an old Covenanter or Croinwellian , thundered out , "In the name of God I command you to stay . " The people obeyed what they accepted as a Divine injunction to support their faith . At this meeting- it was decided that another meeting should be held on the 20 th April ; and on the 1 st and 2 nd March smaller gatherings took place , at which many of the nobles of Transylvania were present , including Count Degenfeld , the brother of the Austrian commander in Yeu . etia ; and it was resolved with unanimity that the 20 th April meeting should he held . If

    the Government should resort to forcts it is probable that a collision may occur ; and , if religious zeaLshould not betray the Protestant " churches into imprudence , the rickettyEmpire of Austria may find that the nineteenth century will overthrow and avenge the crimes against the llefofmation , of which its rulers avere guilty two centuries ago . The Court of Vienna has degenerated ; its superstition has none of the ancient grandeur about it—it is eflete and contemptible ; and if ' the Protestants can produce a Hungarian GurSTAvrs , their enemies will not be able to bring another Wallp . nstein into the field .

    There-is nothing in the Austrian system to p roduce great . , and if one should arise , he would be likely to consign . Ms beloved Emperor to Leicester Square or Sp ielberg * an'fl grassp the power himself . " We watch this movement in Hungary with an interest that will be felt all over the kingdom when its bearings a . if & unders-tood , not only because it may lead to most valuable results ^ but from its strong' resemblance to those important passages in English history which contributed so much to make ii s great and free . If a fresh rebellion occurs in Hungary it will not be an outburst of " Godless . democracy , " nor a political

    struggle in which the younger and less prudent part of the , population will take the lead ; but a solemn , determined , " Godfearing " business , resembling that , magnificent mingling of the Bible and the sword whiclv carried the Ironsides in triumph through every . field . The great danger is lest the outburst should be premature . If it is well timed it may stir up old associations in Tiohemin , and do much to redeem even Austrian character . ' from its levity and frivolity , giving to her Court and aristocracy something better to believe in than licentiousness and superstition , or roughly " improving them off the face the enrth . " . . The stories of Austria's alliance with Russia are much doubted , although it is known that the Czarina was in favour of such a scheme . For the present , GoivrcwAKo * % who htites Austria , is believed to have triumphed , and n new -rumour is afloat that tlie French Emperor has improved his relations with St . Petersburg , by offering ' to cancel that part pf the Treaty of Paris , which excludes , ships of war from the Black Sea . We oiler no opinion , on the truth of this story , and place no reliance in the conventions which diplomatists concoct . , There is no putting faith in princes ; one after another breaks his word or his oath , and few continental potentates are entitled to complain if the Tuileries should prove treacherous , for most of them have acted as if perjury belonged to the insignia of royalty quite as much as the sceptre or the crown . Last week our correspondent from Hanover gave im excellent p icture of the state of opinion in Germany , and the wonders of the excellent beer drinkers nnd tobneco smokers at what they fancy our apathy in tlie fnco of the designs of Trance . It is quite true thnt we have recovered from everything like panic , nnd entertain a good hope of escaping from any serious convulsion ; still our dockyards nnd arsenals are actively at work , nnd the number of our volunteers proves the wide-spread determination not to trust the chapter of accidents , but our own well-developed and organized strength . The Savoy business does not alarm us , and , efforts to make a bugbenr of it in the House of Commons have ended in ridiculous failure . We do not , however , wonder that any revival of Napoleonic aggression should frighten the Germans about their Rhine ; but if Germany will mn mad in its intestine quarrels nnd jealousies , it is from herself and not from the character or ambition of her neighbouy that her danger will arise .

    Looking to tie false and hollow character of diplomacy , we are glad to find our Government growing less diplomatic ; but a fuller recognition of great principles is needed , and there is something like hypocrisy or vacillation , when we find Lord Palmerston saying that England may be proud of having given her moral influence to bring about the present state of things in Ital y ^ whereas both he and Lord John Russell onlylast year spoke very strongly against'the very , course which they now praise . Nor do they seem to have learnt wisdom from experience , for , as will be seen from the '' Further Correspondence on the Affairs of Italy , " Lord John Russejll now urges the King of Sardinia not to do anything- for the liberation ¦ of Venetia , just as last year he urged Miiin to do nothing- for Lombardy and the Duchies . If the patriotic efforts of Victor Emmanuel and liis great ¦ minister should succeed , and Italy be free from the Alps to the Adriatic , Lord PalmerstoNs next spring , will boast of the moral aid his Government gave to bring about such a happy state of affairs . We want a reconstruction of foreign policy , and need some one to arise in the House of Commons and defend a cause because it is right , and urge its prosecution whenever it is practicable . The cant of pretending friendship for Austria , and helping her enemies , is a national disgrace . The English people wish all Italy to be free , and no language should be held to Count Eegiiberg or any body else , which" is inconsistent with the plain rules of Christian morality , applied to neighbours who have a moral r ight to our support .

    248 The Leader And Saturday Analyst. |T£...

    248 The Leader and Saturday Analyst . | T £ arch 17 , I 860 .

    The Report To The Emperor. T He Reports ...

    THE REPORT TO THE EMPEROR . T HE reports of Hiinisters in France serve , like our -debates in Parliament , but . in . a more succinct and connected ' for in , to make known the reasons on which legislation is founded . They stir up . no strife of ai-gument , they awaken no passions and impress no convictions on . the people-j - but they record facts and motives , and are historical documents of ' cousiderable importance . The modifications made in the commercial , relations of the two countries by the late Treaty have been regarded as . so

    momentous as to . require " the publication in . full ( mus reserve ) of the report made to the Emperor by M . BXrociie , " the President of tlie Council of State , and 51 . Rouiier , the Minister of Agriculture , of the manner in which these two negotiators carried into execution his order to negotiate the Treaty . It serves better than any conjectures or even statements of what the French think , to make us acquainted with the causes which have . so . long , impeded the mutual trade of the two countries , and with the advantages they now expect from the Treaty . "

    The report begins by referring to the previous attempts ' . made by the several Governments of France , from thnt of the Restoration to that of the Emperor , to unite France and England by a treaty of commerce , all of which , except the Treaty of 1826 , establishing the ; perfect equality of the shipping of the two nations when proceeding directly from the ports of one to those of the other , were fruitless . With Louis Philippe ' s Government , soon after the Revolution of 18 & 0 , negotiations were active , but the zeal of the negotiators on both sides soon cooled . Tlie King was himself , us . a forest nnd coal owner , interested in Protection , and before the end of his reign the doctrines of his cabinet were less commercially liberal than at its

    commencement . In the interest of despotism , the two ministers adroitly ascribe this general fhilure to the development of the parliamentary system , which they say subordinated the general interest to the interest of individuals ,-Mid established a formidable organisation against every modification of the tariff . They are right in saying that in a parliamentary system privute interests continually struggle to obtain advantages in disregard of the public welfare ; : bat it is done openly , and fails to * effect its object in proportion as the people become enlightened , and cease to be corrupt . There is , too , over more confidence to bo placed in the public

    for enlightenment and patriotism than in any individual . Our parliamentary system has accordingly led us much more rapidly and more continuously to put down all attempts , by whomsoever made , to substitute . private advantage for the public good , than the Imperial systems of the Continent , with which the negotiators tacitly but flatteringly contrast the parliamentary system . Political agitation by private interests , operating here tlirough Parliament , has gradually put an end to almost every monopoly and every prohibition } but the two . ministers tell us in another part of their report , without thinking , apparently , of the bear ?

    ings of what they say on the flattering complimont they pay to despotism , that every Government in France for the last thirty years—all of which havo boon more imperial than paxliajnentary—have endeavoured in vain to get rid of the prohibitions born , not of private interests , but of war ( pnfantdes pur Ian ma £ ~ hwrs da la gwrrti ) . Experience proves , therefore , that a paru ' a-

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 17, 1860, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17031860/page/4/