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allianceberate inionsThusord Gbetwhose N...
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NOBLE PRESSURE FltOM WITHOUT. There was ...
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BANKRUPTCY REFORM. We shall now finish o...
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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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_ The French Alliance. Loud Fai^Mebston,...
would have been perfectly fair , had the forms of the House permitted it , to have replied by recapitulating the history of the December days , and for this ' personal attack' the Premier would have been distinctly responsible . A key to the whole discussion is supplied by this incident . The claim of the Empire in France and of the Cabinet in England is , to utter what they please , and to remain unrefuted . So far as I / ord Paxmebston is concerned , the
French Emperor must be abundantly satisfied . There has been no reply to M . Viiewski ' s despatch ; but the rough draft of a Conspiracy Bill . " When members of the House of Commons , in the exercise of their undoubted right , remark upon the transactions between the two Governments , the Premier rises and solemnly adjures Parliament not to endanger the alliance . We , at least , can speak plainly and calmly on this subject . We have no
enthusiasm to recant , no panegyrics or - tives to recal- Every line we have written since the partnership with France was established , has been consistent with one principle , and with one view of the relations that should subsist between Great Britain and the French Emperor . France and Great Britain are allies ; we value and respect the alliance ; but it is one that can only endure upon certain conditions , and upon a national basis . The two countries have for centuries
competed in the race of wealth , power , and grandeur . They imagine themselves equal . That is to say , France invariably assigns to Great Britain , and Great Britain to France , the rank of second among nations , which is merely an admission of mutual equality ; and we most sincerely believe that , in order "to preserve this balance , which is the true basis of the alliance , the strength and dignity of
England must be uncompromisingly asserted . " We have nothing to gain by unworthy concession ; we have but to sacrifice the respect of France in order to lose her co-operation . There is no such principle as that of friendship in diplomacy . We said , long ago , that Lotrrs Napoleon had the sense , perhaps the magnanimity , to grasp the hand of England , but let us say now that he who grasps your hand knows better than others when it
trembles . Yet , that concord which arose with the necessities , of usurpation , may become national , and precious to mankind . To the name of France has been dedicated by far the greater part of that generous good-will which has been ostensibly rendered to the person of the French Emperor . The spirit of Waterloo has departed , from England at least . Even a Bonapabtb may now forgive that victory . He wears the garter of Wei ^ ington ; he has paid the legacies of St . Helena . Therefore no bitterness is justifiable on either side . As public writers , we would rather throw away the pen for ever than utter a word of oftence to the French nation . And
we protest against . Lord PALMErtSTON s insinuation that Louis Napoleon ' s Government has been gratuitously attacked . It was the Emperor who began the controversy . Aimed at by Italians , he denounced the English ; he gave official circulation to praetorian insolence ; he dictated n round impeachment to the English Cabinet , Parliament , and nation ; an apology which was ££ torjipjy ^ tions has not been published in Franco ; it is he , therefore , who raises a painful question , and renders recriminations unavoidable . Lord
PALMisttSTON excuses , easily enough , the violence of the French colonels , adopted Bolemnly by the French Government :, but he blames Parliamentary observations , which , bo far from being violent , are not even hostile , and appeals to English public
opinion in defence of the French . He might justly be told that to permit London to be overrun by imperial spies , to legislate under a fire of French legionaries , to be humble in the presence of arrogance and comp limentary in reply to threats , is to sacrifice the first and last condition of the bond contracted between the two empires . We rest , as a nation , upon our power ; and our power is represented by the public conduct of our Ministers .
Three years since , we put into the mouth of Louis Napoleon the words of his uncle , Tout m ' est sownis , et tout me manque , which may be interpreted , " I have eight millions of votes , and no supporters . " There has been no change since Loins Napoleon stood where Kossuth stood before him , to receive the adulations of the stall-fed Corporation of London . The intelligent classes throughout France are the members of one vast
conspiracy , and , in addition to this , the conspiracies of other nations explode in Paris . Is this our fault ? It brings upon us threats , insults , maledictions ; it fills our streets with spies ; it wrings a capitulation from our Government , and we are asked to apologize . For what ? For having been outraged . There was once a solicitor with a leaden face who was employed to stare Ebskine out of countenance ; Lord Palmeeston , with another sort of grhnace , puts Parliament out of
conceit with itself . Now , it must be repeated , the meek attitude simulated in Downingstreet never gained for us a great ally . We peed not be dictatorial ; we have a right to be proud , and , unless we would abandon our position , we must be independent . If we cannot establish with the French Emperor an ^ alliance of sympathy , we can accept from him . an alliance of policy , not incompatible with , but preliminary to , that alliance of the future , which shall unite in common interests two nations of reasoning men .
We recur without apology to the opinions long since expressed in this journal . The policy adopted in support of the alliance has been false from the beginniug . It was so when , in 1855 , w e wrote , " " We have idolized the usurper and not obtained the respect of the army , the sole support of that Government . " It is so when the French colonels , at a safe distance , clamour for the invasion of England . Without representing the passions of any defeated party , without oscillating from slander to flattery , without at one time accepting a government of repression , darkto that
ness , and silence , as preferable of a great constitutional party , and at another vilifying it with undiscriminating animosity , we have been faithful to a policy of conciliation , not to the Emperor , but to the nation of France , and we repeat once more that " we avow tlie responsibility of every printed word ; but , if there be justice in history , it will never be said that the British press has broken faith with the French people by pointing out the infatuation and the recklessness of the Empire . We have taken a decided part , but it has not been the part of faction or of levity . "
Allianceberate Inionsthusord Gbetwhose N...
allianceberate inionsThusord Gbetwhose No . 413 , Eebbttaby 20 , 1858 . 1 THE LEA DEB . 181 11 .. — _^ m ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^~ , 4 t » 1 ¦ • mi Tr * "l J ^ i 1
Noble Pressure Fltom Without. There Was ...
NOBLE PRESSURE FltOM WITHOUT . There was a noble Lord who , in 1831 , offered to arm his tenantry in order to beat dQwjiiJlio _ qry _ jFoJ ! L ft . Itof 9 EiftmBiU . —T hat-hereditary Conservative was a fierce declaimer against the ' pressure from without . ' He did not appear to understand that buckling on the awords of the yeomanry to stifle the public opinion of the townB would have been ' pressing * with a vengeance . Lords and gentlomon , however , have abandoned that mode of polemics . Tho fashion is now to publish books containing statements of
deliop . , L , father was said to stand at the door of the Upper House , * as though his face had been the . face of an angel , ' has produced a volume , * of which it may be said that politicians should read it , since it is an exposition of party opinion ; but the essay is condemned by its preface . We have been reminded that Earl Gbet forgets the essential distinction between an organism and a mechanism ,
and that he treats the constitution of Great Britain as a watch to be taken to pieces , cleaned , oiled , repaired , laid out to dry in the sun , and repaired according to an artificer ' s rule . This , we think , is the vitiating principle of the book ; it proposes to treat the constitution as an old house requiring a new staircase , and he insists that a committee of surveyors should sit to inspect the dilapidations of the structure and send in an estimate
for repairs . We have not discovered a single practical suggestion in Earl Gbet ' s essay . It is an attempt to anticipate Parliamentary discussion . The author praises the rotten-borough system , and proposes that a certain number of Privy Councillors ( Radicals included ) should assemble to debate the necessities of Parliamentary Reform . But Lord Gbet is mistaken on one point . He thinks the country will accept a new Reform Bill as a favour from the governing classes . He thinks that
whatever improvements a set of political patentees determine to propose maybe screwed on without resistance to the machinery of the constitution . He thinks that the change to come will be welcomed * from above to below ' by a grateful and acquiescent people . He is grossly in error . The question is not one for the peerage to decide . It depends upon the verdict of public opinion . That public opinion is clearly in favour of Reform upon a large and liberal scale . The proposals of the United City Reformers have
met with general acceptance throughout the country . It is acknowledged that the Tory programme , involving a readjustment of the electoral system in favour of the landed interest , is simply ridiculous ; while Liberal politicians seem to be agreed that the shout for manhood suffrage , as the only possible concession , is the merest clamour . With this clamour , however , the working classes , as a body , are not identified . That was sufficiently proved by the conference held at St . Martin ' s Hall . Neither Lord Gbejt nor
the champion of manhood suffrage has hit the real tone of public opinion , which , powerful in its moderation , asks for that which may be conceded without difficulty or danger .
Bankruptcy Reform. We Shall Now Finish O...
BANKRUPTCY REFORM . We shall now finish our discussion of this subject for the present , by giving a resume of the different defects that we have touched upon from time to time , and which we consider it will be necessary for any bill to remedy that professes to be an effective and comprehensive measure of bankruptcy reform . The primary duty that such an Act of Parliament has to perform , is to secure us the
administration ot the bankrupt cheapness , simplicity , and despatch . The framers of such an act , and the men whose duty it is to discuss its merits and demerits in . committee , are unfortunately , in most cases , uftorly "ignorant of "the pract'ical"Uotails of the court . It is for this reason that we feel compelled to dwell upon the glaring defects of the present ) rotten and ineffective system to an extent that may seem wearisomo to persona not directly interested * Parliamentary Government Considered with Reference to a JUetorm of Parliament . By Earl Grey . Bontloy .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 20, 1858, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20021858/page/13/
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