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Leader (1850-1860), 26th July 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 698, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      retorts It was a great speech ; the wrath which it urovoked only showing the cap fitted , and how securely the majority relied upon its numerical 8 remainder of the debate was less stormy . M . Baroche , of course , spoke in favour of revision . But he received a bitter lesson when he ventured to call in question the authority of the Constituent Assembly . It was not , he said , the representative of France .

      So great was the agitation that the sitting was suspended . When it was resumed he insinuated a retractation . The other speakers were M . Dufaure and Odillon Barrot . Both these statesmen confined themselves with more closeness than the preceding speakers to the technical question—shall there be a revision ? Dufaure concluded against , and Barrot in favour of , revision . Then , although Jules Favre demanded to be heard , the majority closed the debate .

      The division lasted two hours , and the issue was that there were—For revision , 446 ; against it , 278 . Legal majority against , 90 . The terms of the constitution require a majority of three-fourths of the total number of voters , or 543 ; consequently the revision is lost . The principal members who voted against the revision were , in Tiers parti—Generals Cavaignac , Lamorciere , Bedeau , and Leflo ; Messrs . Dufaure ,

      Come , Creton , Monet , Valette , St . Beuve , Oscar Lafayette , and Ferdinand de Lasteyrie ; in the Orleans party—Messrs . Thiers , Baze , General Changarnier , Jules de Lasteyrie , Delessert , Desmousseaux , de Givre , Hernoux , De Mornay , Piscatory , de Remusat , Roger du Nord , Mispo . ulet ; and in the ultra-Legitimist party—Messrs . La Rochejacquelein , Leo de Laborde , Raudot , Bouhier de l'Ecluse , Comberel de Leyval , Favreau . Also Messrs . Napoleon Bonaparte , * Piene Bonaparte , De Lamartine , General Fabvier , and M . Du-ia . bixajelf , voted against the

      re-. "When tLe . & _«* & : £ V . t r . eit met a second defeat awaited * J ~ i MiidK :. « . vt .. M .. de Melun presented his report mz > z > z *; tit- TieTi- ' iciii i r revision , and in it eomplalsVi exz--M : t :: j ' ¦> ' "in * * - ' - ¦ ¦ - ' ' duct of some prefects and subordint ^ fuu ' . ' . uomin * * ir ..-setting up petitions . Thereupon M . iur . t v . wJ ' . :-.: rjt ; Charras moved an order of the dij . v . s : j . v-u . v 1 :. 2 M ¦ n . isiers , which was carried by 333 : o L _' .. Tht time night Ministers resigned , and Louis Napc / k-on refused to accept their resignation . The Moniteur du Soir says : —

      " M . Thiers is positively expected at V ienna in the month of August , where he will remain ten or fifteen days . M . Thiers has demanded and obtained from the Assembly leave of absence for a month , commencing on the 25 th of July . He is immediately to leave for England ; on the 25 th of August he is to return to Paris . " It is stated in diplomatic circles in Paris that the Sovereigns of the minor German States purpose visiting Vienna in the course of the present month , and that the visit is connected with politics .

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      Lord Palmerston , in reply to a question put by Mr . Anstey on Tuesday night , in the House of Commons , stated that her Majesty ' s Government had , in common with the Government of France , protested against the admission of the non-German provinces of Austria into the Germanic Confederation , and that the Government of her Majesty could not regard that question us one purely German . lie added that , us yet , the Government had received no reply to that protest . In its sitting of the 17 th instant the Frankfort Diet deliberated on the joint protest of France and England . According to the Cologne Gazette it unanimously decided that it would not permit any foreign Government to interfere in this affair , which it regarded as exclusively German .

      Letters from Lugo , in the Komagna , state that a commissary of the Jtotnau police , named lialdani , has been found to have been an accomplice of Passatore , the celebrated brigund ; he in at present under trial . The i » rrent of this man is said to have released some twenty young men from captivity , they having been incarcerated on account of an imaginary Mazzinian plot , invented by this Roman official . Such facts us these serve to throw a light on the Htate of things in that part of the peninsula . The Roman police nlwaya had a bad inune , and deservedly ho , as the above nerves to sliow .

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      PERSECUTIONS OK KRKlLIGltATH : OUR 1 'UUSSIAN' ALLIES . In our numbers of the 16 th of February and 3 rd of May last , we gave Home account of the manner in which the German poet Freiligruth was at that time vexutiouwly persecuted by the Prussian Government , in Hpite ' of more than a year ' s retirement from all political uctivity . For tin ; manner in whi h his nationality itself was disputed , we must refer to our former articles , merely reminding our readers that , alter a complete defeat in their first endeavour to disprove his claim to bo considered a Prussian at all , they referred him to the police authorities at Dussel-Uorf , to decido tho question of hia right to the

      citizenship of that place , to insure which had been the sole aim of the previous litigation ; thus involving him in a repetition before a lower court , of the prolonged and vexatious lawsuit which he had just brought to a successful termination in the higher , for no other purpose than to secure that which by the words of the law was expressly involved in the justice they had been unable to refuse him . This evident endeavour to tire out and disgust him , and to produce either some indignant expression which might be made use of as a constructive treason ,

      or so to weary down by a formally legal oppression a resistance that they could not legally overcome , in the hope that a voluntary expatriation would at last become preferable to a continually harassed existence in his native country , produced neither of the desired effects , but simply an indignant refusal to furnish to the police any further grounds in support of his claim to the citizenship of Dusseldorf , than he had already produced to establish his right to be considered a Prussian under conditions which rendered the refusal of the citizenship no longer possible .

      After a fortnight's siJence , the police authorities replied , that although he had established his claim in the most insufficient manner , they would no longer offer any opposition , and admitted him as citizen of Dusseldorf at last . This unconditional surrender , after a conflict of so many months , points unmistakably to collateral motives in entering upon the conflict at all . It cannot be supposed for an instant that the authorities had any doubt as to the state of the law , or as to what must be the result if the point were brought to a legal issue . It is manifest from this result , that the whole purpose and aim of their proceedings was to tire the poet out , and relieve

      themselves of a hated presence , either by his imprudence or impatience ; failing this desired end , they suffered ( what they must have foreseen as at least possible ) a complete and ignominious defeat . But such conflicts fall more heavily on the victorious party than on the defeated , and leave even to success the thought only of escaping from such struggles . After Freiligrath had successfully carried hia case through every form of defence , and in this manner done what he conceived his duty to his countrymen , by giving them an example of an oppressive Government defeated by their own laws ; there etill remained for him to consider his own future and that of his family . A Government which had given such notice of their intentions would clearly bring every future publication of his before their tribunals , with or without hope of conviction ; for whether they were pronounced treasonable or not , the trial would at least place the means of provisional imprisonment at their command , and involve an expensive , litigation which must in the long run ruin their opponent , if they should fail of speedier or more brilliant

      success . These considerations induced Freiligrath , about the middle of last month , to apply for a passport for England , which , in the face of their recent defeat , they could not refuse in optima forma . Since his arrival in England he has published a second volume of Political and Social Lyrics , and great , no doubt , is the disappointment of his paternal Government , that they cannot at once lay hold of the poet , and imprison him during inquiry into their character . Ah it is , they have searched the house of a bookseller in Dusseldorf , with a view to find a pretext for imprisoning a friend , whose liberation could only be effected by the poet ' s surrender—and this in spite of an express notice on the cover of the little volume , that it was published by the author himself .

      Ibeir search , however , was ineffectual . After a few days another little tinny of police favoured the poet ' s wife , who lives alone in a small village near Dusseldorf , with a like domiciliary invasion , and were not content till they had examined the very pockets of that lady herself , in the hope of finding a copy of a work which was openly circulating with the author ' s public acknowledgment on its cover . The purpose of such proceedings seems hardly to be guessed . A bookseller supposed to be friendly is harassed , and his wife intruded on by men witli drawn swords , surely not to establish an authorship which is avowed on the book itself . Is it possible that the Government of a great country can descend to such practices from merespleen , und vent its anger in such small persecutions ? It seems incredible , but how else explain such supererogatory tyrannies ?

      We have seen in one of the Cologne papers a report , that a private warrant of arrest is out against Freiligrath , and that shortly he will be formally summoned to appear before the courts , to answer un indictment for treawonable expressions in his late book . These steps , if taken , will of course render his return to his native country an impossibility ; for though to an English ear there is nothing in his book that would not pass us the natural expression of an advanced Democrat ( indeed nearly half its bulk consists of translations from Barry Cornwall , Thomas Hood , and others ) , yet in the present reactionary state of things in Prussia , there can be but little doubt a conviction would ensue , and a consequent imprisonment of years at leust . On the whole it docs not seem to uh that the Prussian Government at all Jiopo for hia nppouranco

      before the courts ; it would much b etter answer their purpose , should he remain in England , and lose by his own non-appearance his right to Prussian citizenship , and consequent claim to the poor protection of Prussian law , as in that case they could treat him , should he ever return , as a foreigner , and make him live under the constant surveillance of the police where they pleased , and for no longer in any one place than they chose , ordering him to quit the country at twenty-four hours' notice whenever their

      wisdom or ill-feeling should prompt them to do so . Thus at last the Government remains master of the field , for few can hesitate between expatriation and imprisonment , and no one who has a family dependent upon his exertions . That some field may offer itself in England for those exertions we sincerely hope , and that in this country may be withdrawn the sting from the _ poet ' s own touching words to his children in anticipation of his present position : " Die Heimath bloss macht heimathlos Die Kinder ihres Dichters . " Note . —In Ernest Jones ' s " Notes to the People , " some of the poems in question are translated with great spirit .

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      THE PEACE CONGRESS AT EXETER-HALL . The sittings of this congress commenced on Tuesday . The hall was well filled ; the attendance of foreign notables tolerably numerous ; and a fair sprinkling of British members of Parliament appeared on the platform . Sir David Brewster presided this year , and his inaugural address was very fine , and his concluding description of the Crystal Palace eloquent . The characteristic act of the first day was the following resolution : — " That it is the special and solemn duty of all ministers of religion , instructors of youth , and conductors of the public press , to employ their great influence in the diffusion of pacific principles and sentiments , and in eradicating from the minds of men those hereditary animosities and political and commercial jealousies which have been so often the cause of disastrous wars . " The speakers on the first day were—Reverends Arigell James , W . Brock , Athanase Coquerel , jun ., and John Burnett ; M . Jules Delbrook , editor of the New Educational Review , at Paris , Don Mariano Soler , M . Visscher , and Dr . Beckwith . The event of the second day was the speech of Mr . Cobden , who proposed the resolution against standing armaments : — " That the standing armaments with which the Governments of Europe menace each other amid professions of mutual friendship and confidence , being a prolific source of social immorality , financial embarrassment , and national suffering , while they excite constant disquietude and ir itation among the nations , this congress would earnestly urge upon the Governments the imperative necessity of entering upon a system of international disarmament . "

      He treated the whole question in that quiet , plain , practical style for which his speeches are distinguished . He said : — "All great advances had been carried by a system of propagandist !!—not by masses going forth , but Bingle men , or a few ; and these few would accomplish their aim in spite of opposition , if they were earnest and their cause was right . " Public opinion was making way on this question . He felt that in the House , which listened to him now more patiently . He pointed out that the Continental powers were shy of fighting each other , and he prophesied that their standing armies would fall by their own weight . As to England , her attitude was more aggressive than that of any other nation . She had a chain of fortified poBts all round the world . " They would find that in no history was it ever shown that a standing urmy hud achieved liberty for any country . " Just as Mr . Cobden finished , M . de Qirardiu entered the hall . Mr . Henry Vincent moved the non-intervention resolution , maintaining that every state had an inviolate right to regulate its own affairs . There was another meeting on Thursday .

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      THE LATE DR . LINGAKD . The Morning Chronicle furnishes the following account of the Catholic Historian of England . We cannot help observing that it reads as if written bv a Catholic : — J "He departed at the ripe old age of righty-two , leaving behind him I he reputation of an orthodox and enthusiastic ltoman Catholic , but one who iu his most learned and elaborate writings never wilfully sacrificed candour and truth to sectarian ends and religioiiiBtic narrowness of view . Vr Lmgard ' s historical writings were of course to a certain degree influenced by the point from which ho ooked , and the corresponding prepossessions with which He wrote . ISut weighty testimony ha « vouched for tho candour and fairness of his views . Dr . JLingurd while pointing out the advantnges derived in an early stage of civilisation from monachism , m . Ver attempted to wrup up the coexistent abuses ; but , on the contrary , candidly acknowled ged thut certain evila almost inevitably ( spring out of certain advanta eH ; and fairly and truly , and in the most thoroughly Catholic apiiit , painted the one and the other . Had all ecclesiuHticul writers , indeed , been inspired by the philosophical uml broadly tolerant and wisely und grundly beneficent spirit which prompted the historical works of Lingurd , many a religious feud would , have been averted , und itmny a drop of theologie black ) blood spared . The illustrious deceused was one of the earliest to direct public uttcntion back into the reiuoto and tlien littlo known times of the Heptarchy This wa in hiu History of the Anglo-Saxon Church . When i wan iaoued , Dr . JLingurd wits an obscure and hard-workin

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      * ¦ i ¦ qqq 4 Ef ) $ %£ && £ ?? [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 26, 1851, page 698, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1893/page/6/