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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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    _ 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 .

• Citation
  • 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/